Legends of Superman #16

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The Multiverse Presents

Legends of

Issue 16
The Prize

Written by Joel Sawyer (Glippernip)

Edited by Daniel Dyer (Spider-Man Beyond)

Multiverse logo created by Tony Peterson (Starfall)

(Editor’s Note: Continued from Legends of the Flash #18)

[Spider-Man Beyond]

"Rise and shine, sir,” the tinny electronic voice chimed. “You have appointments today!” The small ovoid mechanism floated out of the bedroom as Michael Jon Carter wiped the crusties from the corners of his eyes.

Appointments. Right.

Michael had experienced some difficulties since coming to Metropolis. Simply put, he had failed to build a reputation as a hero so far, so he couldn’t capitalize on his fame. Skeets possessed some general information about crimes that would be committed, but generally not enough to really help. Arriving at the wrong time period messed them up. Michael had saved a police officer moments before he would have been gunned down, and he had captured a metacriminal of some importance named Shockwave. That was pretty much it.

But today! Today was the day where all of this would change. Superman would be out of town for a while, and every criminal out there knew it. The race against the Flash had been promoted for the last month. With Skeets monitoring all police frequencies, Booster Gold would protect the streets of Metropolis this day.

After breakfast, of course. After all, the race didn’t start for another hour.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

This is going to get ugly, Heatstroke thought as the police cruiser pulled up outside. A young 19 year old girl shouldn’t be chasing down a fat rich guy, but a young girl shouldn’t have fire bursting from her hands, either. She would have to kill the officers, as well. Not a promising start as a kidnapper/extortionist. Her shoulder length hair blazed an unnatural bright orange-red, dyed to match the flames on her black leather jacket. She wore black denim jeans with a line of flame running up each side, and black sneakers with their own fire emblem. Not a terribly good outfit, but once she made some money, she would fix that. As the fat guy opened the back gate and shouted to the police, Heatstroke sent a gout of fire to finish the job.

Her jaw fell open as someone else suddenly jumped in the way, taking the attack for fatty. She stepped back when the newcomer stood unharmed.

“Superman may have stepped away,” the costumed man stated, standing tall with his hands on his hips, “but Booster Gold still protects Metropolis!”

Heatstroke became scared, but didn’t want to show it. The fireball in each hand grew to beach ball size. “You don’t scare me,” she shrieked. “I don’t even know who you are.”

She launched her weapon only to have the flame turn back on her. Eyes wide, she tried to back up only to find something blocking her way. Booster had encased her in a neat force field bubble, roughly egg shaped.. Heatstroke tried to burn through the field. Then her eyes bulged, she grabbed her throat, and began to cough while dropping to her feet, her flame dying. Moments later, she slumped to the ground unconscious.

“What did you do?” one policeman asked as he verified that she was still breathing.

“Cut off her air,” Booster said. “Her flames consumed the oxygen in my bubble, leaving her without air to breathe.”

As the police secured Heatstroke, a series of shadows crossed the street. Booster looked into the sky to see a wave of flying humanoid creatures, each carrying a vicious looking weapon, soaring toward downtown.

“Parademons. Oh, no,” Booster whispered, his mouth suddenly dry.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Now:

Their charity race around the world interrupted by a hostile extra-terrestrial force, the Man of Steel and the Fastest Man Alive sprinted to Metropolis to see more of the alien beings attacking the city. Even as they began to defend the city, a huge, thickly muscled being with greyish skin, dark black hair that merged with a tightly cropped beard, and a green tunic, gloves, and boots, emerged from some sort of portal before them. Its huge feet having only two large flat toes, and it held a huge golden metallic club in its fist.

“Parademons, to me!” it bellowed as even more of the strange, misshapen humanoids dropped from additional portals.

“Wait,” Flash beckoned, concern written on his face. “What is going on? For an invasion, you seem undermanned and terribly uncoordinated.”

“What would we want with this miserable little orb?” the hulk growled, as if speaking to Flash were somehow beneath him.

“Then what do you want?” Flash pressed.

“Him!” the creature shouted as a whitish beam of power erupted from the tip of his club, striking Superman square in the chest. Superman shot backward through two parked cars, a lighting pole, and then the brick wall of a ground level bank.

“Monster!" Flash grunted, not really knowing how much Superman could take. Flash charged, but then another being, still muscular but more the height of an average human, leapt out at the speedster. It wore a two-tone green armor from head to toe, with only the face showing. It looked vaguely insect-like. Flash shifted his direction, but the being adjusted its trajectory in mid-air, tackling the speedster.

“Heh, heh,” the green one muttered as he pinned Flash to the ground. “Can’t have you disrupting Kalibak’s challenge. He prefers single combat. I’m here to preserve the sanctity of his battle.”

“And who are you?” Flash grunted under the newcomer’s weight.

“I don’t give my true name to lesser creatures,” he answered. “Call me Mantis, the Predator.”

“Fine,” Flash said, vibrating his way out of Mantis’ grip and through the pavement. He rose out of the ground a few feet away. Mantis grinned.

“Wonderful It surprises me that my Lord does not want you, as well. Maybe if I bring you to him, he will reward me!”

“Fat chance,” Flash replied, instantly crossing the distance and smashing his fist into Mantis’ face.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

As security alarms shrieked, Superman stepped out of the bank while Kalibak advanced. “I don’t want to fight you,” he said to the huge cromagnon-like humanoid. “I just don’t see the point.”

“You don’t have a warrior’s heart,” Kalibak rumbled. “I am Lord Darkseid’s greatest champion. I only need a challenging opponent to fight.”

“Sounds like you need a hobby,” the Man of Steel offered. “Would you mind telling me who Lord Darkseid is?”

Kalibak smiled, showing teeth too large for his mouth. “You will bow to him soon enough!”

Kalibak swung the club down like a hammer, and Superman caught it with his right hand. The shockwave from the blow tousled his hair and whipped his cape around, and the pain shot from his palm to his shoulder. He wasn’t injured, but it was more pain than he had felt since his invulnerability had developed. Reacting swiftly, Kalibak kicked Superman in the side, sending him flying. The Kryptonian circled and flew into his opponent fists forward. Kalibak stumbled back and almost fell, but he caught himself and rammed the tip on Superman’s gut. Swinging like Barry Bonds, Kalibak smashed the club across Superman’s head.

“You will have to fight better if you stand any chance,” Kalibak explained.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

“So, your records talk about the race and Heatstroke’s triple murder that we prevented, but nothing about this?” Booster asked as he and Skeets rocketed across Metropolis between the dazzling skyscrapers of the city.

“I’m afraid not, Sir,” Skeets regretfully answered. “While I downloaded exacting data from the time you had planned to arrive in, my data on this time zone is not complete.”

“Figures, though this seems to be a pretty big event to overlook,” Booster said, spying a trio of parademons accosting several young men. Two of the men held pistols, but the weapons did not have much effect. Booster blasted two creatures with his wristband energy beams, then KO’d the third with a punch to its abs and a second shot to its face.

“Hey, man! It’s Superman,” one of the men shouted excitedly.

“That ain’t Soup’man,” the other corrected. “He calls hisself Goldmember or sumptin’.”

“Do not record that,” Booster hissed to Skeets. Then he turned to his floating friend. “These things aren’t human. Can you detect and track their lifesigns?”

“My sensors are not that acute, Sir,” the mechanism regretfully answered.

“How about their flying devices? Can you track their energy signature?”

Skeets hovered for about ten seconds, humming softly. Then it said in a strong voice, “Yes, I can!”

“Great. Where should I go from here?”

“The Parademons are congregating in three general locations. The nearest is the Daily Planet Building.”

“Then they are here for Superman,” Booster said grimly, launching himself again into the air.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

I’ve got him now, Barry thought as he circled the block and came at Mantis from a different direction. They had dueled for about eight minutes, and Flash had never faced an opponent with faster reflexes. But Barry had found just the right level of speed where he could out-quick his adversary without wasting energy. “Coming through,” Flash shouted as he smacked Mantis airborne. As Mantis came down, Flash circled and hit him upwards again. After the third time, however, Mantis did not fall back down.

“Did you not know I can fly?” Mantis chortled, firing a beam from his hands. Caught by surprise, Flash almost didn’t evade the attack. “You can’t dodge forever,” Mantis stated, firing several times over. Instead of dodging, though, Flash threw debris into the air. His aim not perfect, he compensated with the amount of debris he used, filling the air with chunks of stuff that effectively blocked the beams. He followed this with a running right cross to the alien’s jaw, the alien surprised that Flash’s momentum allowed him to jump high enough to reach him.

Mantis countered with another attack, this time a wave of heat with no concussive force. Flash ran in a tight circle, pushing the heat away while drawing cool air away from above to protect him. Mantis pressed on, firing a bluish ray of intense cold.

Man, this is like fighting all of my rogues at once, God forbid that ever happening, Barry mused. A stray part of the beam touched Flash’s shoulder, and he screamed and dropped to one knee. Mantis grinned broadly and fired the cold beam again. Beginning to tire, Flash pushed himself hard. Having deflected the blast and faking injury before, he now moved so fast that he left an after-image behind. He grabbed Mantis and dragged him to a spot ahead of the ray. The alien groaned as his own ray froze him.

“Who’s the lesser creature now?” Flash asked.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Superman pounded his fist into Kalibak’s chest, sending the warrior tumbling head over heels. The big one stopped his roll and charged forward, swinging his club. The Man of Steel jumped over the swing and kicked his attacker, knocking him back again.

His attacks are actually getting stronger, Kalibak wondered. Most of my opponents weaken as the battle rages. How does this one get better?

Superman dove in and Kalibak had him, bringing the club up into the Kryptonian’s midriff and discharging the energy blast. Superman flew backward crashing through every obstacle in his way, ending up in a theater lobby. That one hurt, and when Superman brought his hand to his mouth, he found blood on his fingers.

I’ve never faced anyone so strong, Superman thought. I must stop worrying about hurting him and give this everything I’ve got.

“Come to me, Superman,” Kalibak called from the next street. “Come to me so we can end this. Lord Darkseid does not like to wait!”

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Perry White was ready to pull what grey hair he had left on his head out. Simply put, these creatures had attacked several American cities, including New York, which had already been under attack. Clark was off today, and Lois and Jimmy were still trying to get back to Metropolis. Now, apparently, Superman and the Flash were back and having some kind of wrestling smackdown in downtown Metropolis, and his best people weren’t available.

Of course, that didn’t really compare to the moment when several of the stony-faced invaders flew through the window of the Planet Building.

“Where is Superman?” a voice called from one of the creatures. The thing itself didn’t speak, it seemed to carry a receiver.

Seeing a golden opportunity, Perry stepped out of his office, raised a camera to his face, and took a nice, close photograph. Instantly, the three beast-men crouched into fighting stances and attacked. Just as quickly, two bursts of light hit two monsters and dropped them. A man floated outside the now broken window, a man wearing blue and gold with a star on his chest. A silvery football hovered behind him.

“Superman is a bit preoccupied,” Booster Gold stated. “Mind if I help?”

Perry used the entire roll of film as Booster dismantled the remaining Parademon.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Superman pounded Kalibak with three solid punches, but the huge humanoid, crouched and ready, took the blows. The Man of Steel pursued and Kalibak showed his combat knowledge by deflecting the punch and letting Superman’s momentum carry the Kryptonian past the immortal, and then kicking Superman in the back. Earth’s hero knelt while trying to catch his breath, and Kalibak pounced. Without missing a beat, Superman surged to his feet and caught his hunter with a clean, hard uppercut. Kalibak lifted off his feet for a second and stumbled back. Then he smiled a wide, toothy grin.

“I have you now!” Kalibak growled. “You caught me flush with that one, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as before. You are weakening!” With that, Kalibak laid into the Man of Steel with club attacks, knees, and kicks. Superman evaded the first four strikes, but failed to block a punch. Trying to back Kalibak up, Superman nailed the huge being in the face with heat vision, but Kalibak shook it off and renewed the attack. He grabbed a fist-full of the hero’s cape and smashed him into the street,, into the stone wall of another downtown business, and into the front of what had been a full-sized Dodge pick-up. Still, Superman fought, clipping Kalibak in the knee and throwing him into a wall. Still, Kalibak grinned. “Fight to the end? How insignificant.”

Then a beam of white force slammed into the invader, sending Kalibak rolling across the sidewalk.

“Nice shot, sir,” Skeets said helpfully.

“Yeah, but I don’t think I hurt him much,” Booster replied with a bit of fear.

“I think you did just enough,” the Flash offered as he zoomed to the scene. Inside, Barry felt shock and concern looking at Superman.

“So, you would come between Kalibak and his prey?” the off-worlder roared. “Then your lives are mine to dispose of!”

>>Kalibak,<< Lord Darkseid’s voice said only to his son’s ears, >>return to Apokolips.<<

“Father, please!” Kalibak howled. “I can beat these Earthers!”

>>They have reinforcements arriving. I’ll need you for the next battle.<<

Looking at the trio of heroes, he snarled, “I will remember this.” Then, with a loud Boom, he was gone.

Flash rushed to Superman. “Are you all right?” he asked.

“I will be,” the Man of Steel responded. “I made a grievous error. Worried that I would hurt or kill him, I held back. By the time I realized how tough he was, he had weakened me. I’ll be ready should we meet again.”

>>And that may be sooner than you expect,<< a voice echoed in their heads as three figures dropped slowly out of the Metropolis sky. Flash and Booster readied themselves for another fight, but Superman stood up tall, looking at one of the newcomers who sported a head of flames.

“I’ve heard of you,” Superman began. “You are Firestorm, aren’t you?”

“Yup. I’d tell you about the day I’ve had, but by the look of things, yours didn’t go much better.” Firestorm landed along with a man also in a brightly colored costume floating on discs and a muscular, green-skinned humanoid.

“This is Mr. Miracle, and ‘Hulk’ here calls himself J’onn J’onzz.”

“We have a great deal of work to do,” J’onn said with perfect English, “and others to recruit.”

To be continued in Legends of the Justice League #1

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Epilogue:

Lex Luthor sat in his office alone. Most of his employees had gone home due to the ‘alien invasion’. Apparently, these creatures had come for Superman, but failed to capture him. Pity, that. But Lex, ever practical, made several phone calls and even closed a deal with an electronics manufacturer for new technology computer screens.

His computer chimed as if they were receiving an E-mail, except the E-mail program was not running. Instead, a cold voice echoed from the system’s speakers.

:I am an artificial intelligence beyond measure on your world. My own world named me Brainiac. I’m here to ease your troubles with your Superman. Shall we talk?: