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

"Mister... uh... Superman, sir?"

As eye-witness accounts of his "super-human" feats had spread from battlefield to battlefield over the last couple of weeks, the soldiers had begun referring to him as a "super man" or "Superman". He neither loved nor loathed the name but he thought it sounded a lot better than "The Amazing Clark". He also understood that word would eventually get back to the States, even to Smallville. His parents were never ones for fame, they were quiet, honest folks and he would do his best to honor that.

He had been going from battle to battle over the last two weeks with very little rest, helping the Allies push against the Western Front. He had just landed under a tree and closed his eyes for a quick nap. While the individual battles weren't difficult, there were just so many and he constantly had to remind himself to pull his punches. It was one thing for the soldiers to kill, they were facing equals across the battlefield. Any one of them could die at any moment. There was nothing out there that could even scratch Clark so it went against his sense of justice to kill when he truly didn't need to.

Clark opened one eye. The soldier speaking to him was nervously twisting a grey woolen hat, something that looked like what some German infantrymen wore. "The captain says word just came in about the French trying to oust the Germans off of Vimy Ridge but they are taking a heavy beating. Sounds like they could really use you, sir."

Clark rose to his feet, "I'll need a look at a map."

Minutes later Clark was flying southeast. He stopped 15 miles out to check his direction but quickly realized he hadn't needed to, the near-constant explosions acted as a beacon. Clark could see the battlefield laid out before him, he could see the German lines and the French opposing them. He landed with a tremendous force just in front of the German line. Quite by accident he had found that the initial shock and awe of landing hard enough to create a crater would stun the enemy into ceasing their assault momentarily then focus their fire on him. The trick was finding a landing spot that didn't put Allied lives behind him in any more jeopardy than they already were.

This was a large battle so he made a large crater. He wanted as much focus on himself and as little on the troops behind him as possible. As the dust cleared he stared at the German lines, waiting for the onslaught to begin.

And waited.

Finally a murmuring chant from behind the lines came to his ears, "Hel-mut! Hel-mut! Hel-mut!". The chant was in time with a deep, pounding reverberation coming through the earth. As the chant speeded up and increased in volume so too did the pounding. At the crescendo a massive figure leaped from a German trench to land before Clark.

This giant of a man was a good head taller than Clark and about twice as wide, all of it solid muscle. His bodily proportions were far larger than natural, his could easily hold Clark's head within a single hand. The behemoth was clad in some sort of deep crimson armor on his chest and legs with his arms only covered by a couple of bands. His headgear looked more like someone had made a bubble from the metal then cut it in half and placed it on the man's head. His face was visible through the cut-out of a large Iron Cross. He looked to be of the same age as Clark.

"I understand you are the Ubermensch, this 'super man',
" the man said with his heavy German accent. "You have created many victories for the enemies of my people, that ends today! You may be the 'super man' but I... I am Helmut Gruler! I am THE JUGGERNAUT!"

Clark had torn apart trees, buildings, armored vehicles... why he had even stood up to bombs dropped from the skies by German forces. This may might be physically large, but he was still just a man. Clark swung, but he hit him just hard enough to knock the man out. Just a tap.

The man laughed. Loudly. Clark was still trying to process how his opponent wasn't even the least bit phased when one of those gigantic fists connected with his face in a tremendous uppercut. Unlike Clark, this... Juggernaut... did not hold back.

Clark wasn't sure how much time had passed by the time he woke up. By the positioning of the sun it wasn't long, but it was long enough for the battle to start back up again... Clark realized the sound of war was quite distant. Apparently this Juggernaut had knocked him at least a good mile away! He grimaced has he pulled himself from the crater he had made. He quickly rose above the treetops, confirmed he hadn't hurt anyone with his unintentional landing then sped back to the battle.

Juggernaut was still there, he had made his way to the French line and was wreaking havoc! Clark quickly that he and Gruler did not follow the same moral compass. Juggernaut had no hesitation in using his incredible strength and size to maim and kill. For Clark, defeating this man now became a moral imperative.

Juggernaut had a French soldier trapped against the wall of a trench, he was just seconds from bringing his fist down on him in a blow that was sure to kill the man. Clark tried to knock Helmut away by slamming into him but he had seen Clark coming and was ready for him.

Instead of punching Clark, Helmut had reached out and simply caught him by the head as he would a baseball. Helmut laughed as Clark struggled to pry those giant fingers from his head. He then held Clark up in the air as easily as one would a pair of pants then began beating him like an old rug.

Clark struggled. He didn't know who or what Helmut Gruler was or how he had become this Juggernaut but what he did know was that this man had the power to hurt him, maybe even kill him. He began to panic, he opened his eyes to look around, to see through Gruler and hopefully find something he could use to free himself and the awful beating he was taking. As he shifted his vision, he felt something... it was almost like another way of focusing except that instead of using his eyes to take in information, it was like he could push some sort of energy out of them.

He focused on that, he felt his eyes grow warm and then suddenly he was free and Juggernaut was screaming in pain. He drifted up 20 feet into the air then looked down on Helmut as cradled his hand. Smoke rose from his hand and when Clark looked closer he could see it came from what looked like two holes that had somehow been burned through his hand, holes that were about where Clark's eyes had been.

Clark also noticed that the holes were starting to heal.