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

Dr. Fate arrived with the others shortly thereafter. Cap’s injured arm was covered in a golden light, it was obviously still hurt as he kept it cradled in front of him. Amazing Man was looking better, now walking under his own power and without help from Atom.

After discussing their options, it was decided that Nefaria was far too strong for any normal prison to hope to hold him, so Dr. Fate would keep him in a specially prepared area in his tower fortress. It didn’t hurt that Fate’s home existed outside of normal time and space.
Steve spoke up. “Doctor, this whole ordeal is being run by the Red Skull. One focus of he and his Hydra goons is on occult items. He was here earlier holding a glowing orb which allowed him to create doorways to other places out of nothing. Could that be causing the problems with Superman?”

“It’s possible, if the orb is some sort of artifact.”

“Artifact… Could a spear be an artifact?”

Dr. Fate turned to Captain America. “Did he have a spear?”

“Yes, but…”

“What did it look like,” Fate interrupted as he took a step forward. His tone had the slightest tinge of fear to it. Everyone stopped. This was the most extreme emotion any had ever experienced from the JSA’s resident mage.

“The shaft looked new but the blade itself looked old. Possibly bronze. The quarter nearest the tip was darker than the rest, possibly dark red.”

Dr. Fate didn’t speak, didn’t move for the next few seconds then suddenly he began frantic spellcasting movements. Jay started to ask what was going on but Dr. Fate answered before Jay could utter the first word.

“The Spear of Destiny is in play! He’s trying to master it in order to take control of Superman, I must make haste before he learns how!” And with that, both Dr. Fate and Count Nefaria disappeared from the battleground in a quick flash of golden light.

Captain America took charge immediately. “Jay, it may be that this isn’t over. We need to start acting and stop re-acting.”

Jay Garrick, the Flash, the leader of the Justice Society of America nodded his agreement. “Alan, go back and check on the troops, we need to make sure they aren’t being attacked by someone like Nefaria. I’ll begin running a perimeter to a mile out.” With that, both the Flash and Green Lantern took off.

Superman looked to Captain America as he started to lift off, “I’ll head to-“

“No!” Cap was emphatic. “We can’t risk you being loose if the Skull manages to figure out how to use the Spear to control you before Fate can stop him. Combined, we may not have much of a chance against you –especially as banged up and depleted as we are- but it’s a better chance than any of our troops would have.”

Clark and Steve stared at each other for a long minute before Clark looked down, nodded his reluctant agreement, then gently floated back to the ground. They both knew they may well had just signed the death warrants of most –if not all- present. Still, it was better than the certainty of knowing Superman could be used to kill thousands of Allied troops with little to no effort. War is often a choice between committing the lesser of two evils.

Steve changed the focus as he looked to the others in the group. “So what do we know about the Spear of Destiny?”

Carter and Shayera Hall, known throughout the world as Hawkman and Hawkwoman, were aliens from the planet Thanagar who had been stranded on Earth thousands of years ago. Due to a botched spell and the desires of their god, each time they died they reincarnated again in what became known as Lazarus pits. Sometimes they reincarnated decades apart and missed one another’s lifetime entirely, sometimes not. This cycle was the latter.

For the last three life cycles they had been studying Egyptian archaeology and mysticism in an attempt to free themselves from what they had begun to view as the curse of eternal rebirths. Because of their expertise, the remaining heroes looked to them hoping they could explain Dr. Fate’s last words.

Carter took the lead. “The Spear of Destiny is alleged to be the spear used to stab Jesus Christ,” he explained, a slight awe slipping into his voice. “It’s believed the wielder can use it to control the minds of people, it’s also believed to be a myth. Myths, however, sometimes prove to be based on some truth.”

Shayera stepped in before the questions could begin, “It’s been lost for over a thousand years, but Skull created Hydra to discover and use objects like this. There’s no telling where he found it nor how long he’s had it.”

“It’s far too late for zat, my little vogelweibchen,” the Skull’s voice came from a portal he had silently opened nearby. Superman was in motion before the Skull’s speech ended but just before he reached the mad Nazi, another portal appeared. It lasted just long enough for Superman to speed through, then shut behind him.

Cap shouted, “SPREAD OUT! Watch for more of those doorways!”

As the remaining heroes scattered, the Skull continued. “How are you liking my play, Herr Kapitan? I call it ‘Project: Doomsday’ and I designed it especially to zvart ze advancement of you und your ilk.”

Cap squared off against the Skull, his injured arm holding his shield in front of him while the others made their way to surround the portal the Skull had created. “We’ve beaten your boys and are now re-grouping. We’ll be knocking on yours and Hitler’s doors soon enough.”

The Skull chuckled. “Vat makes you zink zis ist over? Ze name of zis drama comes from ze name of its finale. I give to you now your Doomsday!”

The Skull’s portal disappeared only to be replaced by a massive metal box. The object was as larger than a tank. Pressurized gasses whooshed out as it opened to reveal a humanoid creature larger than even Solomon Grundy. It’s skin was a rough looking gray, like it was a living piece of stone. It had large white, bone-like, spiky protrusions from its shoulders, smaller such spikes from the backs of its elbows and fronts of its knees and smaller but more pointed ones cresting its brow and extending from its knuckles.

Its eyes opened and all hell broke loose.