re: Bard's Poor Attempt at a Combined Marvel/DC Universe (an ongoing project)

To Clark, the Skull had been right in front of him… until he suddenly wasn’t. He stopped mid-air and looked around. There was no portal. No Skull. No JSA. He was hovering about a thousand feet above a small, island of rock made into a manmade fort, with a circular building in the middle. Nearby, another such island fort, this one rectangular. Beyond that, a shoreline pocked with the remains of a massive battle.

In an instant he had been teleported hundreds of miles away to Normandy Beach. Clark had not been a part of that important battle, he had been asked to escort the 5th fleet out of Pearl Harbor and into the South Pacific. As soon as he had met up with Aquaman and his team he had headed back to Europe but was too late for the landing.

He shot straight up into the air for a few miles then stopped and used the coastal geography to orient himself on where the thought their battles against the Skull’s minions had taken place. Once he thought he was facing the correct general area, he raced faster than a speeding bullet back to the battle site.

Will Everett’s parents had moved he and his siblings from the deep South not long after he was born. Detroit had become the place of dreams where work was easy to find and anyone could get hired, as long as they were willing to work hard. Will never quite fit in with any groups growing up. He was smart and incredibly athletic but his quiet demeanor often made him a victim among his peers.

By the time he was twelve, he was the only one left in the home after school. All three of his older siblings had married and were making their own way in the world now and his parents both worked long hours so it was no surprise that a young boy would become restless and begin to wander. As luck would have it, his wanderings eventually brought him to a boxing gym. A few months after that some of the kids stopped picking on him. A year later and not even the older kids picked on him.

Will took to boxing like a duck takes to water. He was strong, quick, had good instincts and could take a punch. He continued boxing even after graduating high school, even after he took his job as a janitor at a nearby medical research facility and did not stop until a year later when the accident which turned him into Amazing Man happened.

Three months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Will was approached by an English woman. Peggy Carter was a recruiter for an Allied task force of super-powered people called The Invaders, who were put together in order to stop the Nazis forces. He would train in other fighting methods with Ted Grant, known as “Wildcat”, but most of his training came from teammate Steve Rogers. Steve was very much like Will, wanting to train every moment possible.

Will had never had close friends before so his intense and near-constant training with Steve, and then Diana as well, had created a bond for him that he often wondered was stronger than what he had with his own family.

He thought he had reached the limit of his powers when he absorbed the properties of Diana’s Uru bracers earlier that day. That incredible and constant charge of energy from the strange, other-worldly metal was difficult to contain, even when exerting himself to his fullest. Letting go of the power had left him feeling weak and nauseous. He had never wanted to do that again.

The Doomsday monster had tossed him aside as if he were a toy, even in his steel form. Will had made it back to the battle area in time to see the gigantic beast dislodge the shield from Steve’s arm, the shield landing between himself and the two remaining combatants. He knew his steel form simply wasn’t enough but he was frightened, no… terrified, of what Steve’s shield might do to him. Will would try his steel form again and hope for the best, he picked up the shield on his way.

The creature’s foot narrowly missing Steve’s head subconsciously triggered his power and he had absorbed the properties of Steve’s shield before he had realized it.

The power he felt now was similar to what he had experienced from Diana’s bracer. There was more there, much more, but it wasn’t as wild and demanding. This power, he could control.

He used the power to speed his steps, taking him across the clearing with far more power than even steel gave him. When he slammed into the beast’s side, he sent it flying.

The beast was quick to recover and came charging at him like a massive, spiked bull. It was so much larger than Will, and possibly stronger, that he decided to fight it a bit differently. Will braced himself as the beast put all its forward momentum into a roundhouse swing, and hit the monster directly in its fist.

The howl of pain from the monstrosity quickly turned to rage as it tried to hit him again and again, only to be met with the same tactic each time. Its hands healed almost instantly, but that didn’t stop the impacts from hurting. It wasn’t used to being hurt and it didn’t like it much.

As the Doomsday monster changed tactics from trying to pound to attempting to grasp, Will also changed tactics by dodging and weaving out of the way, powerfully batting the hands aside when possible. He caught a monstrous hand as it came down from on high, holding back the creature’s incredible strength with his own. The beast’s other hand came in from the side but Will caught that with his own other hand. They stood there, locked in a stalemate with strength matching size, leverage and strength. In his mind’s eye Will saw what it must look like: an irresistible force meeting an immovable object and it made him fiercely proud. He was finally living up to his name, he was being amazing.

The beast must have realized it couldn’t win so instead of attempting to push down with its right hand, it simply closed its hand around Will’s, engulfing it. Will braced for the creature to disengage its left hand to punch again, instead it simply jerked Will from the ground. Before he could react, the unearthly creature began whipping him down against the ground over and over. Had Will absorbed any other metal, even Diana’s bracers, he was sure his arm would have broken.

The rag-dolling of Will Everett stopped when a familiar green light slammed into and around the Doomsday creature’s head. It reached for the glowing ball around its head with both hands, dropping Will completely.

Will hit the ground then immediately launched himself at its nearest kneecap. There was a large cracking sound and a roar of pain as the knee gave way and the beast fell onto it. The Flash made his return known as he zipped through the battle scene, putting his incredible speed behind the large rock he was carrying in his hand. The rock had enough energy to make the Doomsday beast flinch as it hit a nerve cluster under his arm.

It was angry now. Blinded by the Green Lantern construct over its face, it was taking turns between swinging wildly and pounding at the construct on its head. Under the constant barrage of attacks from The Flash, Amazing Man and the pressure and blindness from Green Lantern’s construct, the gargantuan monster’s other knee dropped to the earth as well. It then ignored the others to focus on its head. It began squeezing the construct, contrary to logic, squeezing harder and harder.

Alan Scott had to change his focus from putting the pressure on this Doomsday’s head to reinforcing the construct so it wouldn’t break under the outside pressure from the creature’s incredible strength. As he began to feel light-headed he thought that maybe letting go of the construct might be a good thing, so he did. The beast’s hands smashed against its own head but all it did was slightly daze it. Before Alan could refocus enough to reapply the forcefield, the beast had already shaken its head to clear away any cobwebs.

Clark was flying so fast he could hear nothing but the wind. The world was a blur beneath him, he had never gone so fast before. He slowed to reorient himself again, saw the troops which had been behind him, focused where he thought he remembered being last, then saw the fight. Someone silver was fighting a massive beast with spikes coming out of its body. He shot toward the battle at the fastest speed possible then arced down. He timed his arrival to strike the giant assailant right as it swung over the head of its opponent, the person Clark now realized was a silvery Will Everett. His punch connected squarely on the monster’s jaw, knocking it from its feet.

Will jumped back, not quite sure what that blur of motion over his head portended.

“Amazing Man?”

Without looking away from his opponent, Will answered Superman’s question. “More ‘amazing’ than ever, I think. I took on the shield’s properties, I think I might be as strong as you.”

Superman raised an eyebrow at that.

“We’re going to need all we’ve got. This thing, the Red Skull called it ‘Doomsday’, it’s killed the Hawks. Steve, Flash and Lantern are out of the fight. It’s just you and me now against it now.”

“Not quite,” the Atom said as he trotted over. “If I can shrink small enough, I think I can get between this thing’s cells so I can get into its brainpan, grow back and bit and give it a lobotomy.”

“Do it,” Superman stated as the creature began to get up. “We’ll keep it occupied.”

Superman flew back at the beast unleashing an incredible punch to his face once again. The beast oriented on him then stopped. The two combatants looked at one another for a moment as Amazing Man circled in behind then tossed the shrinking Atom up to Doomsday’s head. Clark let the staring contest last, knowing that every extra second it went on was another second for the Atom to get in place and do his work. After almost a full minute Doomsday cocked its head to the side then grunted out a single, questioning word: “Kryp...tonian?”

Superman returned the look as he responded, “Yes, I’m-“

The sentence wasn’t finished as the creature lunged at the floating hero. While he wasn’t set quite well enough to stop Doomsday’s leaping charge fully, he was set enough that they didn’t leave the clearing. The two combatants were ruthlessly pummeling one another as they fell to the ground.

When they landed, the monster was holding Superman with one giant hand while pummeling him with the other. Having a shorter reach, Superman was holding himself to within his own reach of Doomsday by clutching a wad of the beast’s untearing skin with one hand while returning blows with his other. Amazing Man leapt upon the beast’s back, he rained down blows of his own to the back of the creatures skull.

Doomsday twisted, dislodging Amazing Man enough for him to grab with his free hand. He weathered Superman’s repeated blows while he pulled Amazing Man free of his back then tossed him beyond the clearing.

During this exchange, Clark heard a small voice. “Superman, if you can hear me, it’s Atom. I’m still not able to get through this thing’s hide, I’m going to have to go even smaller.” Clark put wild abandon into his swings, beginning to let loose. With Fate’s magic helping him back to full power, he was hitting Doomsday far harder than he had hit even Nefaria. It threw Will out of eyesight then returned its attention to Clark.

Unfettered by a third party, Doomsday turned its full attention on Clark. The two powerhouses gave in to their deepest, most primal instincts and fought savagely. Neither held one another any longer, they just traded devastating blow after devastating blow. The ground shook, birds took flight away from the scene for miles around. The troops a mile back thought they were under attack from Nazi artillery, except there were no blooms of smoke and debris near them.

Will Everett returned to the battle to find Doomsday holding Superman to the ground by pushing down with his massive hand on the Man of Steel’s torso. Both combatants were bruised and bleeding. Will intercepted Doomsday’s punching arm and held firm.

Clark had tripped and fallen backward during the fight. Doomsday had taken full advantage by leaping atop him. Will had just reappeared and was keeping Doomsday from hitting him for the moment. Doomsday slammed a huge need on Clark’s chest as he moved his unhindered hand to Clark’s neck and began squeezing. Clark’s battle frenzy had ebbed just enough for him to realize he had two choices.

If he focused his strength on keeping Doomsday from choking him to death, he could hold out for a while longer against him. Maybe he, the Atom and Will could stop Doomsday, maybe they couldn’t.

The other option was he put everything into a full dose of his heat vision directly into Doomsday’s eyes, through his skull and into his brain. The Atom was in there somewhere so this wasn’t an op-

“Oh my God, I'm not able to reverse the shrinking” it was the Atom, his voice sounded weak,, tinny and as if it were receding. “…stars… It's full of stars...I don’t think I’m going to-“.

That was the last Clark heard from Ray Palmer.

Epilogue:

Flash’s leg was healing, but he still couldn’t stand. Green Lantern was still out cold, dried blood caked under his nose. Amazing Man had let go of the shield’s properties and returned the shield to Captain America. Everyone else was... gone. They were the only ones left alive when the strange vessel appeared in mid-air.

Will moved to stand in front of Steve, knowing he was the only real defense left to face whatever this was.

A platform slid from an unseen opening in the craft, creating a ramp which touched the ground. At the top of the ramp, a door silently slid open. Men with blue skin, dressed in purple and white uniforms descended the rank in a quick, precise fashion; fanning out before the platform with their firearms pointing at the remaining combatants. Another similar being, but this one in a uniform of blue and white strode confidently down the metal path. He eyed took in the battlefield, the dead hulking mass of Doomsday and then the forms of Amazing Man and Captain America before adjusting some piece of technology on his wrist.

Although the movements of his mouth did not match his words, his words came out in clear, unaccented English. “I am Jat Leck, Commander of this vessel, loyal citizen and representative of the Kree Empire. I am here to collect the abomination lying there before you. It was the result of a prohibited Kree experiment many years ago. We were just recently made aware of its existence and whereabouts and those who committed this transgression have long since been dealt with. I understand your world is at war and the battle against this…” the next word dripped from the commander’s mouth with disgust, “…aberration has taken a heavy toll on your forces. We are not here to fight you, but we will. We outnumber you and have superior firepower.” He looked directly at Will, “we understand you possess abilities which might lend you to believing you could prevail, and in a melee situation your possibly could.” He now looked at both men once again. “However, at the slightest provocation this ship will speed to orbit and begin bombarding the entire region. Your current level of technology gives you absolutely no defense from us. Again, we do not want a war, we simply wish to reclaim our lost property and leave.”

Will Everett tensed, on the verge of absorbing the awesome power of Cap’s shield once again, until Cap moved it out of reach by taking a step back. “At ease, soldier,” he said under his breath. “We’re exhausted. We have wounded to attend to,, dead to mourn. They’ve come in peacefully and all they want is to take a weapon used against us off the field. There’s nothing to win with this fight and even more to lose.” Will let the tension pass as he too stepped back.

The Kree leader nodded his acceptance of the two men’s movements back as agreement then barked an order at his men in another language. Four soldiers broke off from the others then tied bands around the limbs of Doomsday’s corpse, another four went to the capsule Doomsday had been released from and attached magnetic clamps to it. One of the soldiers from each group pulled out a small disc, touched a button on it and both Doomsday’s corpse and the capsule rose into the air. Another couple of button taps had the objects floating in the air behind them. Without another word the commander walked back up the walkway, followed eventually by the soldiers with their bounty in tow, then the rest of them withdrew up the plank, in reverse of the order they had come down.

Once they were all aboard, the door closed, the metal walkway retracted back into the ship, then the ship began to fade away as it rose into the sky. A slight whooshing sound and a small disruption to a nearby cloud were the only things to give away that the ship had left.

quote:

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another has pushed itself forward. It's going to be a while as I'm not quite sure where it's going yet even though I think I know all of the characters involved.

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Sorry for the delay. I have most of it done and I have the idea for the ending in my head, I just need to make myself sit down and write it.

He closed his eyes as he focused on the taste of his sandwich; these small, quiet moments were what he lived for these days. It wasn’t the sandwich itself he was really enjoying (although it was a very tasty chicken salad), it was the peace and solitude of being away from the controlled chaos of the gamma generator he and his team were working on for the military. While his goal was to create a clean and endless source of energy for the world, the military wanted a bomb. The military considered the project so important they had teams of scientists and engineers working on it around the clock. Until a couple of months ago, he had been the secondary lead on the project, running the night crew, behind the day crew’s Dr. Arthur Light.

Being in charge of the smaller, more informal crew had not hampered his work at all. Being in charge of the entire program was the exact opposite.
He had found this table behind a little-used building not far from the base cafeteria, it had become his port in the storm of dealing with over-bearing military brass and his chaotic beehive of workers. He was used to being here alone with his thoughts so it was simple for him to be startled by an unexpected voice.

“Oh! I didn’t think anyone else knew about this spot.”

He opened his eyes as he turned toward the spot where the voice had come from… and he was speechless. Bruce Banner had never been good at speaking to women and women had never seemed to care much about speaking to him, this was different. She was stunning, her auburn hair moving slightly in the small breeze. In that moment he somehow knew there was something special about her. They locked eyes for a second, he was one of the smartest people in the world but her presence here had struck him dumb and mute. Somehow, some gear in his brain turned enough to re-engage his vocal chords enough for him to squeeze out the words, “don’t worry about it.”

Think of something to say. Think of something to say! “I could actually use some company.” CRAP! Why could I use company right now? Think, man! THINK!

She smiled at him as she sat down then began unpacking plastic containers of food from her insulated bag. Bruce’s heart began to beat faster. He mentally began trying to work his way through the Lagrangian Standard Model as in an attempt to calm his nerves.

“I’m Betty.”

“Bruce.” Bruce was kicking himself for not being able to think of some interesting way to start a conversation. He had always been a little socially awkward; but unlike many of his peers he was completely, painfully, aware of the awkwardness. In his desperation he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. “Can I give you my pickle?” Okay, it wasn’t his first thought, but it was the first safe thought.

She looked up suddenly and stared at him with a look between shock and hurt. “E… excuse me?”

Okay, maybe it wasn’t that safe after all. Damage control!

He held up the pickle the cafeteria workers always include in the sandwich lunch sacks. “Cucumis anguria acetum abominatio. Most people like them but I can’t stand vinegary stuff. I ask the staff not to include one in my bag but they do it anyway.”

She stared for a second longer then snorted with laughter.

Oh, thank God! She continued to laugh for a few moments, it was one of the most pleasant sounds Bruce could remember hearing.

“I’m sorry, Bruce. The guys I’ve encountered lately seem to be interested in only one thing and I instantly assumed you were as well. I didn’t even realize I was doing it until just now. That was unfair of me. I really needed that laugh though, so thank you.”

Bruce smiled slightly. “You’re welcome… I think.”

As Betty started digging into her pack again, Bruce held the pickle up again. “So… the offer still stands. Pickle?”
She looked up with an impish smile, whispered “yes” just loud enough for him to hear, then snatched it from his hand.

“Back again, I see.”

Betty looked up and smiled at Bruce. “I got lost is all,” she joked. She had enjoyed their talk the previous day. He had told her he came here daily so she hoped her presence hadn’t changed that, she as glad to see it hadn’t.

“I hope you weren’t planning on getting another pickle. Today they finally remembered that I have asked them for weeks to not give me one.”

She held up two pickles. Betty had explained the problem to the corporal who worked the counter at the cafeteria. The corporal knew who her father was so when she suggested giving her the extra pickle “that scientist guy” didn’t want, he did.

Bruce smiled as he sat across from her and began unpacking his lunch.

“Bruce, I think I need to apologize for yesterday.”

Bruce stopped what he was doing and looked up and cocked his head, curiosity written across his face.

“You may not have realized it yesterday, but when you offered me your pickle I… took it wrong.”

“You did seem a little miffed, but I’m used to it.”

She smiled again. He was so easy-going, not like the brash, alpha males she normally came into contact with, that he was like a breath of fresh air. In order to keep that air fresh, she knew, she had to be honest with him even if he didn’t realize she had done something wrong to him. No, she corrected herself, especially because I did something wrong to him. “No, it wasn’t you, it was me. Most of the guys I meet tend to want to jump the gun a bit and after a while of that, girls can get overly sensitive to anything any guy says.”

“You mean like offering you their pickle?” The innocence of how he said that touched her. She almost let it drop, but she knew it would bother her to no end if she did.

“Yes, when I first meet them and right off the bat they offer me their... ‘pickle’.” With the last word she used her fingers to do air quotes.

Still with a confused look Bruce responded, “oh,” and then as realization dawned across his face, “ohhhhhhhh! Yeah… no. I really just meant the disgusting green thing.” In that moment she realized two things: that he was a little flustered by that revelation and that she liked that it flustered him. He was definitely not the arrogant, blowhard type she normally ran into.

“I know. I realized you weren’t that sort of guy the more we talked. I put my history of bad experiences on you and it was wrong and I’m sorry.” There, she said it and she felt good about it.

“Thanks. I’m sorry you keep meeting guys like that.”

Before she realized what she was doing she said, “Thank you, but I don’t think it’s them so much as it is me.” Why had she said that? Honesty about being unfair to someone was one thing, but what had caused her to admit this about herself to someone she had only known for a day?

“What makes you say that?”

She sighed inwardly. She opened this can of worms, it would be rude to just shut it down now. “My mother died when I was very young and my dad has always been an alpha male’s alpha male. Sometimes he’s like a force of nature, like a storm.” Like a ‘thunder’storm, she thought to herself. “I guess with his being such a dominating figure and my only parents, something about how he raised me attracts others like him.”

“You don’t seem like you like that type though.”

She sighed outwardly. “I’ve always kind of liked that ‘real manly-man’ kind of guy but I think a lot of it’s been because that’s what I grew up around. It's all I've known, even in college.”

“I sense a ‘but’ in here somewhere.”

“’But,’ I’m just tired. I’m tired of the possessive jealousy, I’m tired of the pictures I don’t want, I’m tired of being asked for pictures I’m not going to take, I’m tired of being treated like a cross between a maid and a murse-“

“A ‘murse’?”

“A man’s purse.” She tilted her head to the side, smiled and batted her eyes at him, “Something pretty dangling from their arm?”

Bruce snort-laughed.

“Seriously, I would just like to meet a guy who’s interested in guy who’s interested in getting to know me.”

Bruce looked at her, amused. “Okay, so tell me about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?”

“You aren’t military. That I can tell, you aren’t a scientist either.”

“Okay.” She didn’t like where this was going…

“So how is it that you have a job doing accounting at one of the most secretive military bases in the entire country?”

She had been afraid this question was going to come up eventually. Many of the people she worked with knew who she was simply because of her last name. That she wasn’t military but had enough security clearance to even know about the base, much less be there, cemented who she was and how she got there. And she hated it.

Around the other side of the building behind Bruce, a door slammed open and was followed by a shout.

“BANNER!”

She knew that voice in an instant.

“LAST CALL! THAT MEANS YOU TOO, HIGHBALL!”

The few patrons of the Oasis Bar grumbled a bit, but Hal wasn’t one of them. He and Sally had been… friendly… a couple of years back but she had been wanting more of a commitment than Hal could give. The only thing Hal Jordan had ever been able to commit to was flying.

Sally wasn’t the type to settle for being a runner-up so she had ended things between them, but just because she had been the one to end it didn’t mean she didn’t hold a grudge. Sally, being the owner, manager and head bartender at the Oasis, had let Hal back in only because she had started dating Hal’s friend Wendell recently and he had apparently put in a good word for Hal. Indian Springs, New Mexico wasn’t known for its extensive variety nor large collection of bars, so Hal was thankful for Wendell’s help. He grinned at the thought as he raised his drink to Sally as an acknowledgement.

“I’m going to settle up then be right back”. Hal was halfway to the bar before his companion realized what was going on. She and Hall had known each other years ago, but had lost touch. She had been in the bar to meet some other guy she thought she had a burgeoning romance with, but he didn’t show so Hal considered his running into her as a stroke of good luck. He wasn’t sure if it was something about the night, something about her hair, something about how she carried herself, but as Hal made his way to the bar he realized he was genuinely attracted to her. He knew that because of who she was; getting involved with her could end up being a problem for him professionally, but no one had ever accused Hal Jordan of having an over-abundance of caution. As he pulled out his wallet he told Sallie “I’ve got hers too” as he motioned to the woman at the table behind him.

Sally looked at the woman who had been talking with Hal all night, then looked back at Hal. She knew who the woman was. “I think that’s a mistake.”

Hal put on his best innocent smile, “why does everybody keep saying that to me?”

Sally shook her head but took his money for both tabs.

“Keep the change,” as he began to turn away he said “love ya, Sally!” It was something he had said for years before they had ever gotten involved. There were many nights he had drank too much and tried to overpay, nights where Sally steered him away from hitting on the wrong woman, and nights where she had let him sleep it off in a booth or on a pool table with nothing left but the keys to the bar and a note saying “lock it up and leave the keys in the mailbox”. He had loved her as a dear friend but had overstepped that boundary by pushing it into being more. It hadn’t worked and he had lost a good friend over it. He hadn’t meant to fall back into the pattern, but in the moment it just felt so… natural.

He regretted it the moment he said it.

Almost immediately she responded, “no you don’t.”

He turned back to her, with what he thought must be the millionth apology to her on his lips when he saw her smiling broadly at him. “I ain’t a jet, flyboy.” With that, she winked at him then turned back to closing down the bar.

Hal was elated at the idea that his friendship could be mended, he briefly wondered if this night could get any better then realized it absolutely could as her turned and his eyes rested on the woman he had been drinking and talking with all night.
“I know it’s late, but tomorrow is Sunday so neither of us have to work. I’ve really enjoyed tonight but I’m not quite ready for it to end and I’m hoping you feel the same.”

She gave an amused, yet skeptical smile to Hal. “What do you have in mind?”

“I know this great place out in the desert where it’s quiet and there’s no light pollution. On a night like tonight you feel like you can see forever.”

“I’ve always been a big fan of the stars.”