Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2015 5:49:42 GMT -5
Titans of Justice Unlimited Chapter 64 - “You Can Go Home Again Part 15”
Written By: Power Guy & Scotty2Hotty
Edited By: Power Guy
The coast of the panhandle…
The Anti-Monitor stood over the seemingly defeated Titans of Justice with a smug look of victory on his usually emotionless face. “Well, it seems your short-lived assault was in vein. Now you all shall die before the rest of your world…”
“Not yet, Anti-Monitor,” came the voice of Harbinger.
The Anti-Monitor looked upward to see that Harbinger had split into her twenty forms. She had him completely surrounded. “Ah….my brother’s old serving wench. Do you still miss him? I’ll bet there’s not a night that goes by that you don’t dream about the day I had you end his pitiful existence!”
“Damn you!!!” shrieked Harbinger as her twenty forms fired a series of energy blasts at the would be destroyer of all positive matter. The beams hit the Anti-Monitor head on, battering him from all directions. Once the smoke had settled, he countered with an energy attack of his own, knocking the multiple Harbingers out of the sky, causing them to merge back into one. As Harbinger struggled to pick herself up, the Anti-Monitor grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up, “Pathetic!” he barked while shaking the blonde historian. “You were able to hurt me even after I have absorbed the life-force of four earths but that won’t happen again but first I want you to see something,” he said while pulling something from a compartment on his containment suit. As he opened his hand, the object became visible.
“The Cosmic Egg!” whispered Harbinger as she struggled to breathe with the Anti-Monitor’s hand still wrapped around her throat.
“Yes, thanks to this, you and I were reborn,” advised the Anti-Monitor. “This device is most likely the most powerful in existence. It can reshape time and space. Once my Shadow Demons are done stealing this world’s life forces, I shall use the Egg to wipe out this last universe and replace it with another anti-matter universe thus negating all positive matter but first, I am going to kill you and we both know you do not have the power to stop me!”
“No, but I do!” came a booming voice. It was Power Guy. He slammed into the Anti-Monitor with the force of a freight train, knocking Harbinger from his grasp.
Before the Anti-Monitor knew what was happening, he was hit fifty times. Power Guy had the element of surprise and thanks to it, he was knocking the dark conqueror around like he was a rag doll.
After taking several more blows, the Anti-Monitor launched a counter attack and blasted Power Guy with a devastating blast of energy, hurling him almost half a mile backwards. “You foolish humans never quit!” fumed the Anti-Monitor whose containment suit was significantly damaged.
“I’m not human but I’ll certainly take that as a compliment,” Power Guy said as he came flying forward again ramming into the Anti-Monitor. “See now, you’re the one who just doesn’t get it. As many times as you rise from the grave, there will always be someone to stop you. Whether it’s Supergirl, the Spectre, Superman, or myself, someone will always put an end to your sinister plans!” he declared, punching away.
Suddenly, the Anti-Monitor back-handed the Kryptonian powerhouse, dazing him. “Not this time. I am more powerful than I have been in a long time and barring the Spectre, there is no-one in existence who can destroy me,” he proclaimed, blasting Power Guy several times
The devastating blasts ransacked Power Guy’s body, shredding his costume. As Power Guy struggled to see straight, the Anti-Monitor grabbed him by the hair, pulled his head downward, and kneed him in the face, blackening an eye and breaking his nose. As the Anti-Monitor’s assault continued on, the rest of the Titans began to awaken.
Green Lantern was one of the first to notice what was going on, He summoned every ounce of strength he had to pick himself up but it was too late. “Noooooo!!!!” he cried out witnessing the horrible act in front of him.
THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The dark visitor from the Anti-Matter Universe released his most powerful blast of energy yet and it stuck the Kryptonian crusader point blank sending him flying into the air. Seconds later, his body dropped to the ground like a lead weight, completely motionless.
***
In the cities surrounding the area….
Ms. Creeper looked around as her eyes widened in horror. Despite being barely visible from the infinite number of shadow demons, who were flying full throttle towards the streets, the sky was blood red. Pedestrians and heroes alike were struck with panic as screams filled the air. Normally she would be unfazed, but the sheer horror unfolding around her was too much too comprehend.
“Don’t just stand there, girl!" We have to get these people to safety!” Captain Triumph shouted to the stunned young woman.
“But…but what can I do?” she replied, her voice quivering slightly.
“Be a hero. That’s what you can do.” He replied, glancing back as the shadow demons attacked a bus full of school children.
“I’m afraid.” She said wincing at the sight of the children being wiped from existence, like they had never been there to begin with.
“It’s ok to be afraid.” Captain Triumph said running off to a lady who had fallen. A shadow demon was almost on her. “As long as that doesn’t stop you from doing the right thing!”
Miss Creeper watched as he pulled the woman to safety and Sargona cast a spell, making the demon disappear.
A few streets over, the shadow demons had leveled a building and the Huntress was trying to help the injured survivors get to safety. She reached out to an elderly man who gasped, “Thank you, thank you. I survived World War II, but this…this is the end of the world.”
“Not if I can help it.” She smiled. “Here, lean on me.”
The Huntress and the old man stumbled along the sidewalk as chaos ensued.
“Huntress!! LOOK OUT!!!!!” came Vigilante’s voice.
The Huntress looked up to see a shadow demon almost on her.
“Oh God.” She barely whispered and closed her eyes. For a moment, she felt déjà vu, not quite knowing why. She opened her eyes to see Kid Vulcan shoving her and the old man out of the way.
“Get him to safety! I’ll keep these things at bay!” the young warrior yelled.
Before the Huntress could say anything shadow demons engulfed him and within seconds nothing was left, save the echo of Kid Vulcan’s scream.
In the air, Lt Atom was blasting shadow demons left and right. It seemed his powers were quite effective at stopping the demons. On the ground the Human Bomb only needed to reach out towards the demons and they dissipated. Phantom Lady and Uncle Sam were trying to get a group of tourists into a building as a swarm of demons noticed them.
“Get them inside Sandy! NOW!” Uncle Sam demanded, shoving the buxom heroine along with the terrified citizens.
“Sam! No, I just found you again!! Please!!” she cried.
“I can handle these no gooders, they’re probably some Nazi experiment gone wrong!” He said as he braced himself for the coming demons.
“Don’t be such a show off, Sam! Let me help you.” Lt Atom said as he landed beside the man who was America personified.
“I can help too!” Judomaster said.
Uncle Sam and Phantom Lady entered the tenuous safety of the building as Lt. Atom blasted demons with all of his might. Judomaster led many of them on a wild chase, using her athletic ability to dodge many near hits from the demons. She was beginning to tire when she noticed Lt. Atom losing ground with the demons. She saw the Human Bomb nearby.
“Bomb! Can you lend a hand!?” she shouted.
He couldn’t hear her over the screams and the all of the destruction around him.
Just then Blackout was at Lt. Atom’s side.
“Maybe this will help.” She thought as she used her darkness powers. The demons seemed confused for a moment and Lt. Atom tried to catch his breath. Just then, debris from a falling building struck Blackout, knocking her unconscious. The shadow demons, now free from her powers, were on Lt. Atom like ants on candy. He screamed in agony as he felt his skin being pierced.
“GET AWAY!!!! Get away!” he screamed as the demons ripped him apart.
“No! I won’t leave you!” Judomaster screamed running to his side.
Hawk Warrior was nearby as Lt. Atom exploded, killing Judomaster. Many of the demons evaporated as well.
“The radiation….” Hawk Warrior gasped.
Quickly, Sargona and Ibis used their combined powers to contain the blast.
“I….I can’t keep the spell up….” She groaned.
“Yes, you can! We will do it together!” Ibis said, sweat pouring off his forehead.
The White Wraith joined them. “I can take care of this, God help me!” he said as he raised his hands and opened a portal. Sargona and Ibis guided the contained blast into the portal, as well as a few of the shadow demons. White Wraith dropped to the ground, totally drained.
Around them the battle raged on. Dark Arrow and Sonic Boom struggled to fend off the shadow demons. Blackbird, Queen Bee, and Whirlpool all helped pedestrians to safety.
Under a bridge, Tula was helping some fishermen off their boat.
“Hurry! Get to safety!” she said, noticing a swarm of shadow demons coming across the sea.
They didn’t seem to notice her, but attacked the bridge overhead.
Tula didn’t have time to run as she dropped to her knees and covered her head. Instead of the impact she expected, she noticed something soft and fragrant. She looked around and noticed she was covered in beautiful, tropical flowers.
“What?” She asked, thankful to be alive. She looked up to see Miss America.
Thanks to her transmutation powers, Tula had been spared.
“Thank you!” Tula shouted.
“No problem.” The star spangled heroine replied with a wink.
In the heart of the city, Miss Creeper, Wonder Girl, Totem, Living Doll, and Captain Triumph were in deep battle with the shadow demons. Overhead, Nightvision had fixed a Bat-line and was escorting people from a burning building to the ground. Liberty Belle helped the people off the Bat-line, while Robin ushered them to safety.
All around them, buildings were crumbling and the very earth itself quaked. The Living Doll was not fast enough to avoid an overpass from falling on her, crushing her legs.
“Hold on! I’ll get you out of this!” Wonder Girl said, racing to her side.
“No…no, it’s too late for me…” The Living Doll said, her mouth pouring blood.
“Th..they’re coming….run…” she grunted. With her last bit of strength she shoved Wonder Girl out of her way as a pack of shadow demons surrounded her. For a moment they just stared at her as her eyes filled with tears. The woman known as the Living Doll clenched her teeth and gave the demons a stare of defiance as they ripped her apart.
“NOOOOOO!!!!!” Wonder Girl shouted.
“This is hopeless! There’s too many of them!” Totem said, noticing that the shadow demons had now blocked out the sun due to their rapidly expanding numbers.
“Don’t say that Totem. There’s always hope….no matter how bad things are. If we give up, they win.” Captain Triumph said as the shadow demons swarmed overhead. “I will fight till my last breath to save this city and the world.”
Just then before anyone could react , the shadow demons were on him. Captain Triumph screamed in sheer pain as his eyes met the horrified Miss Creeper’s. She started towards him, her hand extended as if to help.
“Remember what I told you! Be a her-------“ he managed to say as the demons reduced him to nothing.
“I…I will….I promise!” she whispered.
For a moment she was quiet. Hawkgirl, Arachnid, and Superlad had all gathered around her.
She started laughing manically.
“She’s done it. She’s snapped.” Arachnid noted as he fired one of his “Beetle Sings“ to destroy an oncoming Shadow Demon.
“Can you blame her? She was never stable to begin with…and all of this is enough to make any of us question our sanity.” Hawkgirl replied.
“What are you knuckleheads waiting for!?” Miss Creeper laughed. “Captain T gave me a mission!! Let’s kick the daylights out of these party crashers!!!”
The assembled heroes all nodded their heads as Miss Creeper lept into the air and the battle raged on.
“This may be the end, but we’re not going down easily!” Ground Zero shouted as he blasted a couple of shadow demons with his explosive powers.
“No one else dies at their hands today!” Sonic Boom declared as she shattered a demon with her Sonic Scream.
The battle was causing complete chaos as Robin made his way towards the Huntress. “Something about all this….It’s like the end is coming.” He said to the girl he considered a sister.
“I know. I can’t shake this feeling. “ The Huntress replied, her voice full of worry.
Suddenly from out of nowhere the top of a building came plummeting towards them.
The duo embraced and closed their eyes.
“Move it you two!” Wonder Girl cried. “I can’t hold this forever!!!” The young Amazon had lassoed the top of the building and managed to toss it into the air at the Shadow Demons, which they promptly evaporated.
“Great Hera! Nothing stops them. It’s hopeless!” she said thinking how she wished she could see Wonder Man, Wonder Warrior, and Jemstone one last time.
“ White Wraith! Can you create another portal? I have an idea.” Nightvision said. White Wraith was now awake, but unsteady.
“I can, but I don’t know how long I can keep it open.”
“I can help you.” Dr. Fate added.
“Lady Light! Ray! I need you two to really pour on the light. Don’t hold back and don’t worry about us on the ground. Dr. Fate and White Wraith are going to open a portal back to the anti-matter universe! As soon as you see it open, really go all out and I have a feeling they will retreat to the darkness.” Nightvision shouted.
“It’s worth a chance. “ Lady Light said hesitantly.
The Ray smiled at her and said, “It’s the only chance we have. Come on.”
The two of them floated in the air. The light pouring off of them was so intense no one could see them anymore. The Shadow Demons screamed with all their might as glass shattered throughout the city.
“WRAITH!!! FATE!!! NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Nightvision beckoned.
The two mystic heroes joined hands as the portal began, a tiny hole at first but it rapidly expanded.
The demons suddenly seemed to merge into a giant black mass and hurtled through the portal almost faster than the eye could see. Dr. Light and The Ray both dropped towards the ground exhausted. Luckily, Offspring shaped himself into a net and caught them.
Sargona could see into the portal, now wide open.
“Look at them! Lady Light and The Ray did something to hurt them, Thank God!”
“They’re heading towards that cannon….or whatever that thing is!” Phantom Lady said.
“Quick! Close the portal before anything comes through!” Dark Arrow yelled.
All of the shadow demons slammed with such force into the anti-matter cannon that White Wraith and Dr. Fate were knocked to the ground. Whatever the cannon was, it was destroyed. They closed the portal and both of them passed out.
Kid Comet looked around. It was so quiet for a moment one could hear a pin drop. He looked around at the burning, demolished city. He noticed almost all of his friends were in torn costumes and bleeding, himself included.
“Everybody! We still have lots of work to do here. People are hurt and need our help. Let’s go!” he instructed as the assembled heroes went about freeing people from debris, putting out fires, and tending to their own injuries.
Wonder Girl, her ponytail now loose and blowing in the wind, walked over to Nightvison. His costume was ripped and he was bleeding. She kissed him on the cheek.
“How did you know that would work?” she asked.
He looked up at her with an uncharacteristic grin and said, “I didn’t but like the rest of the Bat-clan, I take chances.”
***
Back on the coast…
“Power Guy!! Nooooo!!!” Green Lantern cried out, sick to his stomach over his fallen friend. He then turned and looked at the Anti-Monitor, “You just made a BIG mistake.” Summoning every ounce of his will-power, he created a giant sledge-hammer which promptly slammed into the Anti-Monitor several times, further damaging his protective shell.
Becoming further irritated, the Anti-Monitor fired off another energy blast, destroying Green Lantern’s hammer as he spat, “A Green Lantern thinks he can stop me? Your bravery will be your undoing boy!”
“And your arrogance will be yours, dark one!” decreed Fausta as her enchanted whip secured the Anti-Monitor’s neck. As the would be conqueror turned to see who his latest attacker was, he found his arms ensnared by the two Wonder Man and Wonder Woman’s magic-lassos. Donar’s lightning flowed through Fausta’s whip while Jemstone flew toward’s the Anti-Monitor, blasting him with all forms of light and sound with Wonder Warrior right behind her, hitting the Anti-Monitor with constructs created from his Lansinar bracelets.
“You idiots just don’t stop but never the less, I will destroy all of your kind. There won’t even be a memory left of your existance!!!“ screamed the Anti-Monitor.
“Your kind?” repeated Fausta, having never been referred to in that manner before.
“Yeah, how does it feel to be on the receiving end of prejudice?” teased Wonder Man as he tightened his grip on his lasso.
Before Fausta could answer, the Anti-Monitor lost his temper and released yet another blast of energy, battering his five attackers and rendering them unconscious.
Picking up where the Wonder Family and Fausta had left off, the Elongated Lad and Nucleus were teaming up. The Elongated Lad had stretched himself around two trees like a slingshot while Nucleus had grown to twenty feet tall and was loading the stretchable teen up with various rocks and trees and firing them off hoping to at least keep the Anti-Monitor distracted. “We’ve got to get the Cosmic Egg!” reminded Nucleus.
“We’ll slow him down so that one of you can grab it!” Velocity offered as he, Junjie Quick, the Flash, Quicksilver, and Lightspeed raced by and started circling the Anti-Monitor. As the five speedsters pressed on, the dark conqueror felt the world around him come to a hault. The five speedsters had stolen every bit of his speed and had basically rendered him immobile for the most part.
“I know what you’re trying to do,” growled the Anti-Monitor in slow motion. Though he could not move, he could still see. Releasing a devastating beam from his eyes, he incinerated both Junjie Quick and Velocity before they even saw it coming. The Flash Quicksilver, and Lightspeed screamed in horror as their two comrades were disintegrated before their very eyes. As a result they paused for a minute. “You speedsters are always getting in my way!” barked the Anti-Monitor as he readied to finish off the two remaining speedsters. Before he could act, Green Lantern blasted him in the face at full-force, thus disorienting him.
“Green Lantern - secure the team!” directed Isis as she flew towards the body of water behind the Anti-Monitor. “Your reign of terror ends now Anti-Monitor!” announced the Queen of Khandaq as she floated above the Gulf of Mexico. While Isis took her place, both Green Lantern and the Jade Sentinel formed a power-bubble around themselves and their teammates in preparation for whatever Isis had planned.
The Anti-Monitor turned to face Isis, completely enraged and ready to kill once again.
The bride of Black Adam stood defiant, ready to act, “I call upon the full fury of the HURRICANE!!!” she cried out, summoning nature’s most brutal weapon.
“Holy $%*#!!! She can do that?” Starman asked Black Adam.
“She is one with nature,” replied Black Adam, “There is little she cannot do.”
Suddenly, the winds picked up significantly while storm clouds appeared in the sky. Nature was heeding Isis’ command and mustering all of it’s strength. Soon, the Anti-Monitor found himself being blown around by gale-force winds. His body was shoved through a series of trees along the beech front until he was finally slammed into the ground with force of small bomb. Instantly, a giant wave arose from the ocean and further battered the dark conqueror’s body, leaving him soaking wet. As Isis continued to hover from above, she raised her hand and called down the lightning, striking the Anti-Monitor repeatedly. The lightning was so intense, many in the area were temporarily blinded. The Anti-Monitor was in severe pain, his body still shaking from Isis’ attack. He thought he had gotten lucky as the weather seemed to calm down. Looking upward at the Queen of Khandaq, he noticed her still floating above with her arms crossed. He was about to strike her with an energy blast when suddenly, the modern-age Marvel Family attacked. Black Adam, the new Captain Marvel Jr, Sherry Marvel, and Teen Marvel all bombarded him with a series of punches. As he dropped to the ground, the Marvel Family each of them grabbed onto a limb of his. Knowing what they had planned to do he screamed out in defiance, “I will teleport out before your magic-lightning ever reaches me!”
“Not this time!” countered Starman, smugly as he blasted the Anti-Monitor with his gravity-bands.
‘Wha….what are you doing to me? Why can’t I teleport away?!??!” demanded the dark conqueror.
“I’ve increased the mass in every single one of your molecules by a thousand fold. Not even you’re powerful enough to teleport that much mass.” replied Starman, “Take it away guys!”
“SHAZAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” the four Marvels said in unison calling down their mystical lightning. The lightning hit the Anti-Monitor harshly, finally destroying his protective shell, thus releasing the Cosmic Egg from his grasp.
Nucleus wasted no time in catching the egg and immediately looked it over, trying to figure out how it worked.
As the dust settled around the Marvel Family, it appeared as though the Anti-Monitor was destroyed as he was nowhere to be found until suddenly, he raspy voice was heard from up above. The large group of heroes assembled looked up in horror to see that the Anti-Monitor was now a mass of pure anti-matter energy. “You fools have ruined everything!!! My Shadow Demons and anti-matter cannon are destroyed as is my outter-shell!!! I shall kill you all if it is the last thing I do!!!!!”
“Someone needs to buy me some time! I’m still trying to figure out how the egg works!” Nucleus said, a bit frustrated.
“You shall have the time you need but don’t take any longer,” Argos said racing forward to confront the Anti-Monitor. His face was still badly burned but Fusion had created a helmet to place over his face to avoid any further injuries. As Argos got closer to the Anti-Monitor his body started to morph into something no-one had ever seen before: his true form. Like all of the New Gods, his true form was made of shapes and colors that the human eye could barely comprehend. It was almost like he was made of some unearthly energy. He began to wrestle with the Anti-Monitor, summoning every once of strength he had to hold back the dark conqueror’s anti-matter touch from destroying his teammates.
“What do we do?” asked Wonder Man, feeling a bit helpless.
Green Lantern looked back at the prince of Paradise Island and replied, “We pray….” as he bowed his head and asked God to help them win this all important battle. The rest of the heroes followed Green Lantern’s queue and began offering up prayers to God in hopes of being heard.
Argos continued struggling against the Anti-Monitor until finally Nucleus shouted, “Incoming!!!”
Argos turned his head to see the Elongated Lad wrapped around two tress in the shape of slingshot again with Nucleus loading him up with the Cosmic Egg. Without hesitation the egg was fired at the Anti-Monitor and flew into his mouth, instantly exploding and bending all time and space…………….
TO BE CONCLUDED
Written By: Power Guy & Scotty2Hotty
Edited By: Power Guy
The coast of the panhandle…
The Anti-Monitor stood over the seemingly defeated Titans of Justice with a smug look of victory on his usually emotionless face. “Well, it seems your short-lived assault was in vein. Now you all shall die before the rest of your world…”
“Not yet, Anti-Monitor,” came the voice of Harbinger.
The Anti-Monitor looked upward to see that Harbinger had split into her twenty forms. She had him completely surrounded. “Ah….my brother’s old serving wench. Do you still miss him? I’ll bet there’s not a night that goes by that you don’t dream about the day I had you end his pitiful existence!”
“Damn you!!!” shrieked Harbinger as her twenty forms fired a series of energy blasts at the would be destroyer of all positive matter. The beams hit the Anti-Monitor head on, battering him from all directions. Once the smoke had settled, he countered with an energy attack of his own, knocking the multiple Harbingers out of the sky, causing them to merge back into one. As Harbinger struggled to pick herself up, the Anti-Monitor grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up, “Pathetic!” he barked while shaking the blonde historian. “You were able to hurt me even after I have absorbed the life-force of four earths but that won’t happen again but first I want you to see something,” he said while pulling something from a compartment on his containment suit. As he opened his hand, the object became visible.
“The Cosmic Egg!” whispered Harbinger as she struggled to breathe with the Anti-Monitor’s hand still wrapped around her throat.
“Yes, thanks to this, you and I were reborn,” advised the Anti-Monitor. “This device is most likely the most powerful in existence. It can reshape time and space. Once my Shadow Demons are done stealing this world’s life forces, I shall use the Egg to wipe out this last universe and replace it with another anti-matter universe thus negating all positive matter but first, I am going to kill you and we both know you do not have the power to stop me!”
“No, but I do!” came a booming voice. It was Power Guy. He slammed into the Anti-Monitor with the force of a freight train, knocking Harbinger from his grasp.
Before the Anti-Monitor knew what was happening, he was hit fifty times. Power Guy had the element of surprise and thanks to it, he was knocking the dark conqueror around like he was a rag doll.
After taking several more blows, the Anti-Monitor launched a counter attack and blasted Power Guy with a devastating blast of energy, hurling him almost half a mile backwards. “You foolish humans never quit!” fumed the Anti-Monitor whose containment suit was significantly damaged.
“I’m not human but I’ll certainly take that as a compliment,” Power Guy said as he came flying forward again ramming into the Anti-Monitor. “See now, you’re the one who just doesn’t get it. As many times as you rise from the grave, there will always be someone to stop you. Whether it’s Supergirl, the Spectre, Superman, or myself, someone will always put an end to your sinister plans!” he declared, punching away.
Suddenly, the Anti-Monitor back-handed the Kryptonian powerhouse, dazing him. “Not this time. I am more powerful than I have been in a long time and barring the Spectre, there is no-one in existence who can destroy me,” he proclaimed, blasting Power Guy several times
The devastating blasts ransacked Power Guy’s body, shredding his costume. As Power Guy struggled to see straight, the Anti-Monitor grabbed him by the hair, pulled his head downward, and kneed him in the face, blackening an eye and breaking his nose. As the Anti-Monitor’s assault continued on, the rest of the Titans began to awaken.
Green Lantern was one of the first to notice what was going on, He summoned every ounce of strength he had to pick himself up but it was too late. “Noooooo!!!!” he cried out witnessing the horrible act in front of him.
THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The dark visitor from the Anti-Matter Universe released his most powerful blast of energy yet and it stuck the Kryptonian crusader point blank sending him flying into the air. Seconds later, his body dropped to the ground like a lead weight, completely motionless.
***
In the cities surrounding the area….
Ms. Creeper looked around as her eyes widened in horror. Despite being barely visible from the infinite number of shadow demons, who were flying full throttle towards the streets, the sky was blood red. Pedestrians and heroes alike were struck with panic as screams filled the air. Normally she would be unfazed, but the sheer horror unfolding around her was too much too comprehend.
“Don’t just stand there, girl!" We have to get these people to safety!” Captain Triumph shouted to the stunned young woman.
“But…but what can I do?” she replied, her voice quivering slightly.
“Be a hero. That’s what you can do.” He replied, glancing back as the shadow demons attacked a bus full of school children.
“I’m afraid.” She said wincing at the sight of the children being wiped from existence, like they had never been there to begin with.
“It’s ok to be afraid.” Captain Triumph said running off to a lady who had fallen. A shadow demon was almost on her. “As long as that doesn’t stop you from doing the right thing!”
Miss Creeper watched as he pulled the woman to safety and Sargona cast a spell, making the demon disappear.
A few streets over, the shadow demons had leveled a building and the Huntress was trying to help the injured survivors get to safety. She reached out to an elderly man who gasped, “Thank you, thank you. I survived World War II, but this…this is the end of the world.”
“Not if I can help it.” She smiled. “Here, lean on me.”
The Huntress and the old man stumbled along the sidewalk as chaos ensued.
“Huntress!! LOOK OUT!!!!!” came Vigilante’s voice.
The Huntress looked up to see a shadow demon almost on her.
“Oh God.” She barely whispered and closed her eyes. For a moment, she felt déjà vu, not quite knowing why. She opened her eyes to see Kid Vulcan shoving her and the old man out of the way.
“Get him to safety! I’ll keep these things at bay!” the young warrior yelled.
Before the Huntress could say anything shadow demons engulfed him and within seconds nothing was left, save the echo of Kid Vulcan’s scream.
In the air, Lt Atom was blasting shadow demons left and right. It seemed his powers were quite effective at stopping the demons. On the ground the Human Bomb only needed to reach out towards the demons and they dissipated. Phantom Lady and Uncle Sam were trying to get a group of tourists into a building as a swarm of demons noticed them.
“Get them inside Sandy! NOW!” Uncle Sam demanded, shoving the buxom heroine along with the terrified citizens.
“Sam! No, I just found you again!! Please!!” she cried.
“I can handle these no gooders, they’re probably some Nazi experiment gone wrong!” He said as he braced himself for the coming demons.
“Don’t be such a show off, Sam! Let me help you.” Lt Atom said as he landed beside the man who was America personified.
“I can help too!” Judomaster said.
Uncle Sam and Phantom Lady entered the tenuous safety of the building as Lt. Atom blasted demons with all of his might. Judomaster led many of them on a wild chase, using her athletic ability to dodge many near hits from the demons. She was beginning to tire when she noticed Lt. Atom losing ground with the demons. She saw the Human Bomb nearby.
“Bomb! Can you lend a hand!?” she shouted.
He couldn’t hear her over the screams and the all of the destruction around him.
Just then Blackout was at Lt. Atom’s side.
“Maybe this will help.” She thought as she used her darkness powers. The demons seemed confused for a moment and Lt. Atom tried to catch his breath. Just then, debris from a falling building struck Blackout, knocking her unconscious. The shadow demons, now free from her powers, were on Lt. Atom like ants on candy. He screamed in agony as he felt his skin being pierced.
“GET AWAY!!!! Get away!” he screamed as the demons ripped him apart.
“No! I won’t leave you!” Judomaster screamed running to his side.
Hawk Warrior was nearby as Lt. Atom exploded, killing Judomaster. Many of the demons evaporated as well.
“The radiation….” Hawk Warrior gasped.
Quickly, Sargona and Ibis used their combined powers to contain the blast.
“I….I can’t keep the spell up….” She groaned.
“Yes, you can! We will do it together!” Ibis said, sweat pouring off his forehead.
The White Wraith joined them. “I can take care of this, God help me!” he said as he raised his hands and opened a portal. Sargona and Ibis guided the contained blast into the portal, as well as a few of the shadow demons. White Wraith dropped to the ground, totally drained.
Around them the battle raged on. Dark Arrow and Sonic Boom struggled to fend off the shadow demons. Blackbird, Queen Bee, and Whirlpool all helped pedestrians to safety.
Under a bridge, Tula was helping some fishermen off their boat.
“Hurry! Get to safety!” she said, noticing a swarm of shadow demons coming across the sea.
They didn’t seem to notice her, but attacked the bridge overhead.
Tula didn’t have time to run as she dropped to her knees and covered her head. Instead of the impact she expected, she noticed something soft and fragrant. She looked around and noticed she was covered in beautiful, tropical flowers.
“What?” She asked, thankful to be alive. She looked up to see Miss America.
Thanks to her transmutation powers, Tula had been spared.
“Thank you!” Tula shouted.
“No problem.” The star spangled heroine replied with a wink.
In the heart of the city, Miss Creeper, Wonder Girl, Totem, Living Doll, and Captain Triumph were in deep battle with the shadow demons. Overhead, Nightvision had fixed a Bat-line and was escorting people from a burning building to the ground. Liberty Belle helped the people off the Bat-line, while Robin ushered them to safety.
All around them, buildings were crumbling and the very earth itself quaked. The Living Doll was not fast enough to avoid an overpass from falling on her, crushing her legs.
“Hold on! I’ll get you out of this!” Wonder Girl said, racing to her side.
“No…no, it’s too late for me…” The Living Doll said, her mouth pouring blood.
“Th..they’re coming….run…” she grunted. With her last bit of strength she shoved Wonder Girl out of her way as a pack of shadow demons surrounded her. For a moment they just stared at her as her eyes filled with tears. The woman known as the Living Doll clenched her teeth and gave the demons a stare of defiance as they ripped her apart.
“NOOOOOO!!!!!” Wonder Girl shouted.
“This is hopeless! There’s too many of them!” Totem said, noticing that the shadow demons had now blocked out the sun due to their rapidly expanding numbers.
“Don’t say that Totem. There’s always hope….no matter how bad things are. If we give up, they win.” Captain Triumph said as the shadow demons swarmed overhead. “I will fight till my last breath to save this city and the world.”
Just then before anyone could react , the shadow demons were on him. Captain Triumph screamed in sheer pain as his eyes met the horrified Miss Creeper’s. She started towards him, her hand extended as if to help.
“Remember what I told you! Be a her-------“ he managed to say as the demons reduced him to nothing.
“I…I will….I promise!” she whispered.
For a moment she was quiet. Hawkgirl, Arachnid, and Superlad had all gathered around her.
She started laughing manically.
“She’s done it. She’s snapped.” Arachnid noted as he fired one of his “Beetle Sings“ to destroy an oncoming Shadow Demon.
“Can you blame her? She was never stable to begin with…and all of this is enough to make any of us question our sanity.” Hawkgirl replied.
“What are you knuckleheads waiting for!?” Miss Creeper laughed. “Captain T gave me a mission!! Let’s kick the daylights out of these party crashers!!!”
The assembled heroes all nodded their heads as Miss Creeper lept into the air and the battle raged on.
“This may be the end, but we’re not going down easily!” Ground Zero shouted as he blasted a couple of shadow demons with his explosive powers.
“No one else dies at their hands today!” Sonic Boom declared as she shattered a demon with her Sonic Scream.
The battle was causing complete chaos as Robin made his way towards the Huntress. “Something about all this….It’s like the end is coming.” He said to the girl he considered a sister.
“I know. I can’t shake this feeling. “ The Huntress replied, her voice full of worry.
Suddenly from out of nowhere the top of a building came plummeting towards them.
The duo embraced and closed their eyes.
“Move it you two!” Wonder Girl cried. “I can’t hold this forever!!!” The young Amazon had lassoed the top of the building and managed to toss it into the air at the Shadow Demons, which they promptly evaporated.
“Great Hera! Nothing stops them. It’s hopeless!” she said thinking how she wished she could see Wonder Man, Wonder Warrior, and Jemstone one last time.
“ White Wraith! Can you create another portal? I have an idea.” Nightvision said. White Wraith was now awake, but unsteady.
“I can, but I don’t know how long I can keep it open.”
“I can help you.” Dr. Fate added.
“Lady Light! Ray! I need you two to really pour on the light. Don’t hold back and don’t worry about us on the ground. Dr. Fate and White Wraith are going to open a portal back to the anti-matter universe! As soon as you see it open, really go all out and I have a feeling they will retreat to the darkness.” Nightvision shouted.
“It’s worth a chance. “ Lady Light said hesitantly.
The Ray smiled at her and said, “It’s the only chance we have. Come on.”
The two of them floated in the air. The light pouring off of them was so intense no one could see them anymore. The Shadow Demons screamed with all their might as glass shattered throughout the city.
“WRAITH!!! FATE!!! NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Nightvision beckoned.
The two mystic heroes joined hands as the portal began, a tiny hole at first but it rapidly expanded.
The demons suddenly seemed to merge into a giant black mass and hurtled through the portal almost faster than the eye could see. Dr. Light and The Ray both dropped towards the ground exhausted. Luckily, Offspring shaped himself into a net and caught them.
Sargona could see into the portal, now wide open.
“Look at them! Lady Light and The Ray did something to hurt them, Thank God!”
“They’re heading towards that cannon….or whatever that thing is!” Phantom Lady said.
“Quick! Close the portal before anything comes through!” Dark Arrow yelled.
All of the shadow demons slammed with such force into the anti-matter cannon that White Wraith and Dr. Fate were knocked to the ground. Whatever the cannon was, it was destroyed. They closed the portal and both of them passed out.
Kid Comet looked around. It was so quiet for a moment one could hear a pin drop. He looked around at the burning, demolished city. He noticed almost all of his friends were in torn costumes and bleeding, himself included.
“Everybody! We still have lots of work to do here. People are hurt and need our help. Let’s go!” he instructed as the assembled heroes went about freeing people from debris, putting out fires, and tending to their own injuries.
Wonder Girl, her ponytail now loose and blowing in the wind, walked over to Nightvison. His costume was ripped and he was bleeding. She kissed him on the cheek.
“How did you know that would work?” she asked.
He looked up at her with an uncharacteristic grin and said, “I didn’t but like the rest of the Bat-clan, I take chances.”
***
Back on the coast…
“Power Guy!! Nooooo!!!” Green Lantern cried out, sick to his stomach over his fallen friend. He then turned and looked at the Anti-Monitor, “You just made a BIG mistake.” Summoning every ounce of his will-power, he created a giant sledge-hammer which promptly slammed into the Anti-Monitor several times, further damaging his protective shell.
Becoming further irritated, the Anti-Monitor fired off another energy blast, destroying Green Lantern’s hammer as he spat, “A Green Lantern thinks he can stop me? Your bravery will be your undoing boy!”
“And your arrogance will be yours, dark one!” decreed Fausta as her enchanted whip secured the Anti-Monitor’s neck. As the would be conqueror turned to see who his latest attacker was, he found his arms ensnared by the two Wonder Man and Wonder Woman’s magic-lassos. Donar’s lightning flowed through Fausta’s whip while Jemstone flew toward’s the Anti-Monitor, blasting him with all forms of light and sound with Wonder Warrior right behind her, hitting the Anti-Monitor with constructs created from his Lansinar bracelets.
“You idiots just don’t stop but never the less, I will destroy all of your kind. There won’t even be a memory left of your existance!!!“ screamed the Anti-Monitor.
“Your kind?” repeated Fausta, having never been referred to in that manner before.
“Yeah, how does it feel to be on the receiving end of prejudice?” teased Wonder Man as he tightened his grip on his lasso.
Before Fausta could answer, the Anti-Monitor lost his temper and released yet another blast of energy, battering his five attackers and rendering them unconscious.
Picking up where the Wonder Family and Fausta had left off, the Elongated Lad and Nucleus were teaming up. The Elongated Lad had stretched himself around two trees like a slingshot while Nucleus had grown to twenty feet tall and was loading the stretchable teen up with various rocks and trees and firing them off hoping to at least keep the Anti-Monitor distracted. “We’ve got to get the Cosmic Egg!” reminded Nucleus.
“We’ll slow him down so that one of you can grab it!” Velocity offered as he, Junjie Quick, the Flash, Quicksilver, and Lightspeed raced by and started circling the Anti-Monitor. As the five speedsters pressed on, the dark conqueror felt the world around him come to a hault. The five speedsters had stolen every bit of his speed and had basically rendered him immobile for the most part.
“I know what you’re trying to do,” growled the Anti-Monitor in slow motion. Though he could not move, he could still see. Releasing a devastating beam from his eyes, he incinerated both Junjie Quick and Velocity before they even saw it coming. The Flash Quicksilver, and Lightspeed screamed in horror as their two comrades were disintegrated before their very eyes. As a result they paused for a minute. “You speedsters are always getting in my way!” barked the Anti-Monitor as he readied to finish off the two remaining speedsters. Before he could act, Green Lantern blasted him in the face at full-force, thus disorienting him.
“Green Lantern - secure the team!” directed Isis as she flew towards the body of water behind the Anti-Monitor. “Your reign of terror ends now Anti-Monitor!” announced the Queen of Khandaq as she floated above the Gulf of Mexico. While Isis took her place, both Green Lantern and the Jade Sentinel formed a power-bubble around themselves and their teammates in preparation for whatever Isis had planned.
The Anti-Monitor turned to face Isis, completely enraged and ready to kill once again.
The bride of Black Adam stood defiant, ready to act, “I call upon the full fury of the HURRICANE!!!” she cried out, summoning nature’s most brutal weapon.
“Holy $%*#!!! She can do that?” Starman asked Black Adam.
“She is one with nature,” replied Black Adam, “There is little she cannot do.”
Suddenly, the winds picked up significantly while storm clouds appeared in the sky. Nature was heeding Isis’ command and mustering all of it’s strength. Soon, the Anti-Monitor found himself being blown around by gale-force winds. His body was shoved through a series of trees along the beech front until he was finally slammed into the ground with force of small bomb. Instantly, a giant wave arose from the ocean and further battered the dark conqueror’s body, leaving him soaking wet. As Isis continued to hover from above, she raised her hand and called down the lightning, striking the Anti-Monitor repeatedly. The lightning was so intense, many in the area were temporarily blinded. The Anti-Monitor was in severe pain, his body still shaking from Isis’ attack. He thought he had gotten lucky as the weather seemed to calm down. Looking upward at the Queen of Khandaq, he noticed her still floating above with her arms crossed. He was about to strike her with an energy blast when suddenly, the modern-age Marvel Family attacked. Black Adam, the new Captain Marvel Jr, Sherry Marvel, and Teen Marvel all bombarded him with a series of punches. As he dropped to the ground, the Marvel Family each of them grabbed onto a limb of his. Knowing what they had planned to do he screamed out in defiance, “I will teleport out before your magic-lightning ever reaches me!”
“Not this time!” countered Starman, smugly as he blasted the Anti-Monitor with his gravity-bands.
‘Wha….what are you doing to me? Why can’t I teleport away?!??!” demanded the dark conqueror.
“I’ve increased the mass in every single one of your molecules by a thousand fold. Not even you’re powerful enough to teleport that much mass.” replied Starman, “Take it away guys!”
“SHAZAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” the four Marvels said in unison calling down their mystical lightning. The lightning hit the Anti-Monitor harshly, finally destroying his protective shell, thus releasing the Cosmic Egg from his grasp.
Nucleus wasted no time in catching the egg and immediately looked it over, trying to figure out how it worked.
As the dust settled around the Marvel Family, it appeared as though the Anti-Monitor was destroyed as he was nowhere to be found until suddenly, he raspy voice was heard from up above. The large group of heroes assembled looked up in horror to see that the Anti-Monitor was now a mass of pure anti-matter energy. “You fools have ruined everything!!! My Shadow Demons and anti-matter cannon are destroyed as is my outter-shell!!! I shall kill you all if it is the last thing I do!!!!!”
“Someone needs to buy me some time! I’m still trying to figure out how the egg works!” Nucleus said, a bit frustrated.
“You shall have the time you need but don’t take any longer,” Argos said racing forward to confront the Anti-Monitor. His face was still badly burned but Fusion had created a helmet to place over his face to avoid any further injuries. As Argos got closer to the Anti-Monitor his body started to morph into something no-one had ever seen before: his true form. Like all of the New Gods, his true form was made of shapes and colors that the human eye could barely comprehend. It was almost like he was made of some unearthly energy. He began to wrestle with the Anti-Monitor, summoning every once of strength he had to hold back the dark conqueror’s anti-matter touch from destroying his teammates.
“What do we do?” asked Wonder Man, feeling a bit helpless.
Green Lantern looked back at the prince of Paradise Island and replied, “We pray….” as he bowed his head and asked God to help them win this all important battle. The rest of the heroes followed Green Lantern’s queue and began offering up prayers to God in hopes of being heard.
Argos continued struggling against the Anti-Monitor until finally Nucleus shouted, “Incoming!!!”
Argos turned his head to see the Elongated Lad wrapped around two tress in the shape of slingshot again with Nucleus loading him up with the Cosmic Egg. Without hesitation the egg was fired at the Anti-Monitor and flew into his mouth, instantly exploding and bending all time and space…………….
TO BE CONCLUDED