"This is a calculated attack from the Light. It has to be," Batman grunted as he dove from the rooftop of a skyscraper, flaring his cape out and gliding to the next rooftop as cackling laughter followed closely after.
"Come on, Batsy~ You didn't think Belle Reve would hold me for long, did ya?!", Joker cackled as he hung from the side of a Joker-styled helicopter adorned with his face on the front.
Batman didn't respond as he landed on the rooftop and threw down a trio of smoke bombs, obscuring his form from view before bursting through the rooftop exit and rushing down the stairs.
He had called the Justice League to tell them that he would be busy for the night given that it was not only Joker but also Poison Ivy and Bane going rampant in Gotham, but it was as he connected to the Watchtower that he was bombarded with calls from the other members.
For Flash, he was facing down Captain Cold, Mirror Master, the Weather Wizard, Trickster, Pied Piper and Captain Boomerang all targeting jewellery stores and vaults across Central City.
It wouldn't have been an issue for the speedster if not for the fact that the very second they were caught, each one 'managed' to 'escape' and try to steal again.
'There was definitely foul play at work there, but unfortunately, I cannot help there,' Batman thought as he leapt over a railing, shooting his grappling gun to hook to the railing while falling down to the first floor.
It was not just Flash as Wonder Woman, Red Tornado, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman and Hawkwoman, Zatara, Captain Atom, Black Canary and Captain Marvel were all busy fighting their own groups of rogues as well.
The Green Lanterns were also a choice he tried to call, but Hal informed him that they had to take care of the Sinestro Corps that tried to attack the Green Lantern Corps HQ itself, which was an outlandish idea that he did not think Sinestro would even consider.
The only thing that made him worry was the fact that everyone had tried to contact Superman only to hear nothing but static on the other side and the fact that Dr. Fate had went to check on Metropolis' hero only to find the city blocked off by a barrier of chaos magic.
'Klarion's work, most likely,' Batman thought as he heard tires screeching, leaping into the air and into his Batmobile as it drove past.
"Hahahaha! There ya are, Batsy!", He heard Joker shout, typing in the coordinates for the bank that Bane was targeting before taking control of the steering and starting his drive.
After all, he needed to finish this quick so that he could make sure nothing has happened to Superman.
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The air exploded as Doomsday was sent flying through the sky, Superman turning away from the behemoth to fly and catch the building slowly falling towards a group of people.
"Keep! Moving!", He gritted out as he slowly dropped with it, waiting until everyone was clear before he let it drop and dove through it.
His eyes were a deep red as he unleashed concentrated bursts of heat vision, welding together parts of the buildings around him to make sure they didn't fall over onto the people trying to run away.
However, he didn't get to finish as a shadow soon fell over him, immediately turning and catching the punch thrown at his chest.
The force of it still sent him flying towards the ground as he crashed back first into the concrete, raising his arms as Doomsday crashed down onto him with a heavy double punch.
The blow made glass shatter for blocks as car alarms blared and the shockwave knocked civilians off their feet, Superman gritting his teeth as Doomsday let out a devastating roar in his face.
With a grunt, the Kryptonian twisted his body to the right, pushing Doomsday's fists away before delivering a double stomp to his chest that sent the monster rocketing upwards.
Shooting up after him, Superman delivered another punch to the behemoth's jaw, making him fly and bounce off of the solid air above before Superman caught him and threw him towards the outskirts of the city again.
Flipping through the air before slamming face first into the river flowing outside of Metropolis, Doomsday shot out of the water with a roar only for another punch to smack into his nose.
Even as he felt the pain and exhaustion caused by his wounds to begin creeping up on him, Superman didn't stop as he took a deep breath and dove after the monster, wrapping his arms around Doomsday's neck as he kept him underwater.
Gritting his teeth as Doomsday smacked his elbows against his side, Superman kept his grip on the man before his eyes widened when he saw gills forming on the monster's chest, who ripped himself free and landed a vicious backhand against his side.
The water around them evaporated as the shockwave created from the blow pushed away all of the water around him, the monster spinning around and landing another powerful uppercut that made Superman fly through the suspension towers of the Metropolis Bridge.
Feeling the world spin as he bounced across the concrete, Superman staggered as he flipped over to his feet, his eyes widening as he quickly leapt back to dodge Doomsday coming down with a bellow.
"Go! Keep! Driving!", He shouted as he caught Doomsday's fist and threw him towards the water, freezing the large steel cables as well as welding the towers as best as he could.
'He grew gills to survive underwater. Does that mean...his body is adapting as we fight just like the first one, but a lot worse?,' Lunging in after Doomsday, Superman had a grimace on his face when he saw his opponent's body twisting and warping.
The gills on his chest retracted to look like scars while more spikes grew along his chest and knuckles, the runic markings on Doomsday's body pulsing with every second before the monster let out a roar that sounded distorted as something monstrous echoed behind it.
"I don't know how much longer," Superman murmured as he clenched his fists, already feeling his body fighting to stay away as he rocketed forward.
Slamming fists first into the monster's midsection, he drove him towards a shipping yard that was already abandoned thanks to their battle, hearing the civilians screaming in the distance as stacks of containers collapsed around them.
Flipping over his foe, Superman pivoted and threw Doomsday upwards, following with a flurry of heat vision pulses that the monster blocked.
The bone spikes on its forearms shifted into bone plates that grew and absorbed the energy, Superman's eyes widening when the monster clapped his hands and unleashed a concussive wave of energy that sent the Kryptonian tumbling through the air.
His ears rang when Doomsday warped above him, distorting the space around his fists as he swung his clawed fists in a rapid barrage.
Superman blocked the first and caught the second, but he hissed as the third grazed his ribs, cutting through the skin before his eyes widened when he felt the wound burn.
'This...is this what they used on Chris?', He thought as he kicked Doomsday away, flipping over to catch himself in the air while holding a hand to the burning wound.
It wasn't a dull burn either as it felt as if someone was holding Krptonite to his wound, making him grit his teeth as he looked at his side and burned it shut.
Looking back at his foe, he saw Doomsday snarl before it shot at him, the man doing the same as they roared and swung their fists forward.
The collision sent out shockwaves that cratered the shipping yard before Superman roared, pushing Doomsday's fist back before landing a powerful jaw punch that sent the monster blasting into the air.
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'This is taking longer than expected,' Lex thought as he watched the chaos through the multiple monitors connected to the many drones that were currently observing the fight.
He had expected Superman to fight back for a bit before he was taken care of, but the fact that the Kryptonian was still keeping up with the weapon meant to kill him was worrying.
'Still, he is weakening with every clash and with every second, Doomsday adapts more to his capabilities. As much as I hate to say it...'
"It appears that your help was indeed needed."
"Of course I was needed. A little magic, here and then and your little brute became much more fun. However, the little Kryptonian is playing a bit too much," Klarion spoke as he spun lazily in his chair, balancing himself upside down with his legs draped over the headrest and his familiar Teeki purring on his chest.
"Indeed, but I do not think that it will be long before he finally passes."
"And what if he does, Mr. Luthor?", His bodyguard asked with a stoic gaze, to which Lex looked at Mercy Graves beside him before he smirked and nodded.
"Then a symbol of hope dies, the League fractures and the world finally realizes who it truly needs to lead them: The Light," Lex finished and Klarion snickered as he nodded.
"Ohhh, it's going to be a glorious little apocalypse, Lexie. Just you wait."
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Diving after Doomsday as he skipped across the surface of the water, Superman swung upwards and sent him spiralling through the air, shooting past him before turning and raising his hands high.
Bringing both fists down onto the head of Doomsday with a grunt, Supermna hissed as the behemoth stabbed his spear-knuckles and tore through his side.
Both attacks sent the two flying in different directions, Superman grunting as he slammed into solid air before glaring down at Doomsday who floated out of the river with a glare.
'Protect the city. Keep him away from the city,' He thought as he launched himself forward with a roar, Doomsday unleashing its own bellow as their fists collided one last time.
He could feel the knuckles digging into his skin, but he didn't stop as he pushed through, forcing the monster back before swinging his other fist forward as Doomsday did the same.
The sound of thunderous booms echoed in the sky as the two clashed over and over, Doomsday's spikes tearing through his skin while Superman's heavy blows shattered his bone plates and his runes.
'The city stands because I stand. It lives because I live! It is unfortunate, but for them to survive, one! Must! Fall!', He growled as his punches flew faster and faster, Doomsday being pushed back as Superman landed a heavy uppercut that sent it crashing into the solid air above.
The symbol of hope was not done as he shot after the monster, ignoring Doomsday clawing at his chest as he roared and unleashed a monstrous blast of heat vision into its chest.
His roar echoed across Metropolis as the rune markings shattered both on Doomsday and on the barrier itself, Superman turning around as he grabbed Doomsday and dove towards the ground.
"No! MORE!", With a final roar, he spun rapidly as he dove down before slamming it back first into the cratered shipyard, splitting the ground apart as shockwaves rippled outwards and the steel towers and contains fell down like dominoes.
Doomsday thrashed for a few seconds as Superman pushed it down, ignoring the pain from the spikes that had broken off and were stuck throughout his entire body as the monster slowly stopped thrashing.
The runes on it cracked before shattering and fading away, staring at the still corpse below him before he fell onto his side.
In the distance, he could hear the citizens shouting in relief and panic, taking one final glance at Doomsday's still corpse before his eyes grew weak and everything went black.
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"Hihihihihi! The big, blue boyscout is dead!", Klarion exclaimed as he clapped his hands happily while Teeki let out a pleased roar, Lex not saying anything even as he had a blissful smile on his face.
"Finally, the symbol of hope has fallen," He whispered, raising his glass of wine as triumph gleamed in his eyes and he took a sip from it.
"The League will now fracture, the people will despair and when they look for people to lead them out of the darkness, the Light will find them and lead them to a greater tomorrow."
"You make evil sound so classy, Lexie!", Klarion squealed with a cackle, making Lex lose his smile as he simply placed his glass of wine down and nodded.
"That is because unlike heroism, being a villain is not for everyone. Now, go and inform our leader that Project Doomsday was a success."
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"No, no, no, no! No! NO!", Lois screamed as Match held her back, fighting back his own tears as Batman sombrely draped a black cloth over the body of Superman.
All around them were barriers made by Dr. Fate to keep the citizens away as Batman, Flash and Wonder Woman stood beside the still body, the latter clenching her fists while Flash stared at the crying Lois.
"Bats, shouldn't she come through?"
"She should. Match," The man called out, Match nodding as he followed after Lois while Aquaman took his place in making sure no one got through.
Match could feel the woman shaking in his arms as he kept his grip light, making sure she stayed upright until she knelt beside Clark's hidden body and slowly took the top of the cloth off to see his face.
"You...you were supposed to win. You always win," No one said anything as they looked away, letting the woman have her final goodbye while Match gritted his teeth as he looked at the building in the distance.
"Titan," Batman spoke in a warning tone, already knowing where he was looking as Wonder Woman looked over and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Titan, look at me," She spoke sternly, narrowing her eyes when she saw the rage burning behind the anguish in his glowing scarlet eyes.
"I know what you're trying to do, but it is not worth it. You need to stay strong for when Paragon wakes up from his coma," She whispered, Match breathing heavily with a snarl as he nodded slowly and forced himself to calm down.
"R-Right."
"W-Who...Who was it?", Lois asked and Batman didn't say anything, simply shaking his head as she gave an empty smile and nodded.
"I...I see. I'll...have to make some calls."
"We understand."
"Ma-Titan, would...you want to come with?", Lois asked, Match taking one final glance at Superman's still body before he nodded and followed Lois away from the scene.
"Bats, the Light...this shows that they're not messing around anymore," Flash murmured and Batman looked on in silence at LutherCorps, narrowing his eyes before he nodded.
"Indeed and neither are we."
A/N: And we end it off here~! Like I said, there are going to be massive changes to the canon overall so it's from here that it feels like the story begins to deviate from the actual Young Justice storyline.
Next chapter: Aftermath.
Also, to add this, if a character is dead...they're gone. No more revives or brought-backs. Just making that clear here.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!