Chapter 51: The Final Game 1

"talking"

'thinking'

"Ghost Rider Voice"

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Chernobyl, Ukraine, September 1, 20:22, 2016 (2 days, 14 hours after The Light's ultimatum to the League)

Chernobyl, a city with an area of more than 250 km2 that, until before 1986 was known as one of the most progressive and important cities for the USSR. It had more than 16,000 inhabitants. All living there with a simple purpose: to work for one of the largest nuclear power plants in the world, the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Memorial Nuclear Power Plant.

However, by 1986, tragedy struck and the city was the victim of one of the biggest disasters of the current era. Specifically, on April 26 of that same year, the plant suffered the most serious nuclear accident in history.

Thousands of stories can be told about how it happened. An error in the machinery that was not treated in time. A human error due to the arrogance of the top management. Or even sabotage on the part of the different countries that wanted to see the USSR and the communist role destroyed.

In any case, one thing was clear. The disaster that occurred on that date was devastating for the people who lived there.

Even to this day, the aftermath of the accident continues to this day, turning the city into what is known as a ghost town, and where the authorities continue to say that people should NOT live due to the high radioactive dose that continues to this day.

However, the reality was different. All those warnings to the people of Ukraine that they should not live there for their safety, was a facade to cover what was really happening. Since, in that city, where on the surface it looked destroyed and empty, actually housed the base of operations of the group The Light, and that this city, in the subway, had the most important and secret projects of the group of villains. Specifically, the Project Cadmus.

And even if someone were brave enough to venture into the area, they would see that the high radioactivity readings actually tended to decrease to zero the further you went into the main area.

Naturally, The Light would maintain discretion from the eyes of the world to prevent the hero resistance from attacking. But today...today was different.

Right now, hundreds of thousands of troops were scattered throughout the city, divided into two main zones. The outer zone and the inner zone.

The outer zone was composed of a multitude of troops and tanks that guarded and safeguarded the place in case movement or an external invasion happened.

And the inner zone, was worse. For, although it contained almost 10 times fewer armed troops than the outer zone, all of those troops were elites, with metahumans (villains of the other heroes) being the ones there. From the Rogues of The Flash, to the greatest fighters of Star City.

Also, in the inner zone, specifically in the sky, there were dozens of Red Tornado type robots, each one handling a different element to the previous superhero robot. Some sent powerful blasts of water, others lava, others wind, and so on. However, these were not programmed to do good, far from it. These were only programmed for one purpose. To guard the fort and destroy anyone who was a threat to The Light.

Also, the outer zone and the inner zone had protective barriers. The outer barrier only had a barrier that would warn if there was external movement. But the inner barrier (around the last 100 km2) was a total fortress.

It had an electromagnetic barrier so powerful, it could prevent nuclear missiles from getting past it. And if that wasn't powerful enough, Mordru had implemented a magical barrier with his power to prevent anyone magical from teleporting. Even with Edgar's portals or Doctor Fate's power they would not be able to get there with such a barrier.

In short, Chernobyl was a fortress. And all for one simple reason. The final game had begun.

In the subway area, specifically in the main executive area, all the senior members of The Light were gathered. Each was solemnly waiting for the heroes to attack. They had no illusions that they would give up so easily. They were heroes and they would not give up without a last fight.

The worst thing was that now there was a new group with them (The Outsiders). New players whose skills and threat level they didn't know, and that changed the whole game.

The good thing is that Vandal had neutralized the main threat, namely Edgar, with the capture of the children from the orphanage. At least they wouldn't have to worry about the force of nature that was Ghost Rider.

In the room, at this point, were: Lex Luthor, Ra's Al Ghul, Ultra-Humanite, Star Sappire, Black Adam, Queen Bee, Count Vertigo, Mordru, Poison Ivy, Killer Frost, Reverse Flash, Deathstroke, Talia Al Ghul, Gorilla Grodd, Shiva, Solomon Grundy, Merlyn, Emerald Empress, Livewire, Major Force, Harley Quinn, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, Killer Croc and Shadow Thief.

In addition, as a hologram was Thinker, but in reality his body was in the special command area, monitoring everything.

Each had left their territory and had come to protect this place. All for one simple purpose. To keep the heroes from preventing Vandal from succeeding in his transformation.

"Lex, how's Vandal?" asked a slightly concerned Zazzala (Queen Bee). Even though they had stopped being lovers and had returned to their normal working relationship, she still respected him quite a bit.

She couldn't understand how he could have put himself through the torture of a failed project like the Project Cadmus.

Project Cadmus was a failed project, derived from the false theory given by Samuel Jones. No matter how hard they tried, they never managed to combine both DNAs to create a perfect serum.

The only advantage Vandal had was that his powers did not allow him to die, but that only made his ordeal more unbearable. Because, at this moment, his superior cells, which allowed him not to die, were struggling in a constant metamorphosis to force the Kryptonian DNA into his body.

"Wrong, Zazzala. We're going bad. It's been over 62 hours, and we're barely 77% successful in synergizing the DNA. We even had to delay the process because the power used by the machine was such that it almost gave us a total blackout on the security systems. Practically a generator is working completely to keep the machine running. The worst thing is that Vandal stopped moving, complaining or screaming. The only thing that tells us he's alive are his vital signs, and we don't know what's going on inside the machine. But one thing is clear. His cells are practically proliferating almost three times more than a normal cancer. The pain Vandal is going through right now would have driven anyone here crazy by now"

"I must admit it. Vandal has a lot of balls. But that makes me question... What will happen if it doesn't work?" Killer Frost commented.

"What are you talking about, Miss Frost?" Ultra-Humanite asked in his always friendly tone.

"Vandal is the leader. He is core of the group. Without him, this group would break up. And that would make me wonder… who would take his place as core of the group"

Frost's words brought a silence in the room. What she was saying was true. Vandal was the only person that brought this group of powerful people together. But without him...

If it were by power, Mordru or Black Adam would rule the group. No one could say or prove otherwise. The problem was that they didn't like that leadership thing.

If it were for intelligence, Lex or Ultra-Humanite would be the main ones, but neither respected them enough like they respect Vandal.

Lex was too spoiled and self-centered, and the other… well, most wouldn't want an ape ruling them. It sounds racist, but that was everyone's collective thinking.

Besides, the group was divided in two. Those who were there out of loyalty or friendship to Vandal and those who were there for the power they could wield with said group. Each had their own interests.

"That doesn't matter. Not at this time. First we must make sure we win the last battle in this great war. And soon, Bruce will bring everyone here. And I can assure you that the way he will arrive will be clever and unexpected. We must be vigilant" Ras closed the conversation with his words.

Silence reigned again as everyone watched the screen displaying every camera and sensor in the area.

"Thinker, remember that as soon as there is movement, you let us know. And Mordru, if you sense your brother or the Ghost Rider, we go out to meet them"

"I know"

"Understood"

The three-day deadline they had proposed had not yet passed. But they were under no illusions. They knew the heroes would attack soon.

Everyone was tense, even if on the surface they looked calm, they were actually very nervous. No one said anything, no one did anything, until....

"PIP, PIP, PIP" a beep in the outer east zone began to sound.

"Guys, there's movement. A heat signature is detected in the area"

"Send soldiers to check it out and a tank just in case"

"Roger that"

With that, Thinker sent the soldiers' commands. Each soldier had subtle programming that did not prevent them from feeling or being, but would cause them to accomplish their goal, that is, to follow The Light's orders without question.

Finally they moved. A large tank began to move to the east quadrant where movement had been detected. There were no cameras there, so everyone was in the dark without seeing what the soldiers saw.

"Sir, there is movement, confirmation to attack?"

"Check, and if they are hostile, you have permission to attack" commanded Lex.

"Roger that, sir"

For a moment, the silence seemed to grow heavier. A cold sweat began to run down everyone's backs as they waited for the soldier's words. The wait was interminable. When several seconds passed without the soldier saying anything, and Lex was about to ask again, the soldier spoke.

..

..

..

"Sir…. it was a rat. I repeat, it was a rat"

"Damn it" Killer Frost said as she let out a sigh that she didn't know she had contained. They all calmed down as well, as they were warned by this.

"Sir, do you want me to shoot it?" the soldier asked.

"Negative. Let it be. Here these rodents abound" Ras spoke. Such an animal was not a threat. On the contrary, that warned that the sensors worked so well that they could detect even such small animals in the area.

"Roger that, sir. Returning to the usual position"

With that, the soldier cut off the communication.

"That's right, if we killed all the rats here, we'd run out of bullets" Deathstroke commented humorously.

"Hahaha, you're right, Slade. After this, we need to move the base to something cleaner. Maybe Washington would be convenient"

"I prefer New York. The city at night is beautiful" Zazzala commented.

"As long as it's not Las Vegas it's fine. With Lex's luck, he would lose all his money there"

"Hahahahahaha"

After that tense moment, everyone began to relax. The rat, who was there, had brought the fractured group back to communicating like before. And that a joyful atmosphere began to emerge in the place.

However, the cheerful mood didn't last when Thinker communicated with everyone.

"Guys, we have a problem. See"

Thinker started projecting on the main screen. The image showed Superman in his classic costume. Although he looked thinner, the smile he wore conveyed confidence to everyone. That security that only the symbol of the world's hope could bring. The great man of steel.

"Hello, people of the world. My name is Kal-El, or Clark Kent, although you know me as Superman. The real Superman, and not that impostor who impersonated me all this time. While that impostor was wearing the symbol of my family's house, I was going through unimaginable torture from my captors, and that until not long ago I was able to get out. That same group, that when I got out, I realized has you living in fear. That's right, I'm talking about The Light"

This entire broadcast was playing on every television, computer, and electronic device in the world. Even on the radio, Clark's voice was playing. Lex seeing this, asked Thinker.

"Thinker, can you do anything?"

"Negative. I even wanted to submit a blackout to the different cities, but I've been blocked. All thanks to that robot man, Cyborg. We can't do anything to stop him from talking. Ha, and it's all live. It's not a recording"

'Shit' they all thought as they listened to The Thinker's words. They could do nothing but continue to listen to the Kryptonian's words.

While all this was going on, the rat that had set off the alarms was moving at a rapid pace throughout the area, and was reaching the first generator that powered the outer barrier warning of outside invaders.

Reaching the generator, this animal approached and looked at the various wires that were connected to the machine. There were quite a few.

'Which one was it?' the rat mentally asked itself.

Actually, this rat was no ordinary rat. It was being controlled by Deadman. Being a spirit, his powers allowed him to possess inanimate objects or people and animals with weak minds.

The problem was that Mordru could sense him if he had possessed someone as a person, however, in a rat, his presence was minimal and thus, he could avoid attracting attention.

He had an important mission, but now he saw that he had miscalculated the situation. He had to cut the blue wire that gave power to the machine, but the problem was that at the moment he could only see shades of gray. All the wires looked the same to the living spirit.

'Shit' he could only think. 'Well, there are three main wires in the power and one of them looks darker. My logic says it might be the blue one. Here goes nothing' with a leap of faith, the rat being controlled by Deadman started gnawing at the darkest wire. Finally, he managed to cut it and, by divine luck, the generator began to shut down.

When that happened, a portal opened revealing Cyborg, who was accompanied by Atom, the diminutive hero.

"Well done, we have a minute to keep Thinker from thinking there's something wrong" Cyborg said to Atom who was on his shoulder and the rat who squealed happily. By cutting the power, the sensor would not work and would not give warning that there is something wrong. The problem is that Thinker in a minute would know that the power was cut and thus that there was something wrong in the area.

Cyborg started using his powers and began to connect everything. He then raised a tiny device and connected it to the Motherbox. Meanwhile, Atom flew at full speed to the area below. He had to analyze where the electromagnetic barrier generators were, and where Mordru's magical barrier seal was. Everything had to be done in less than a minute.

His suit, in addition to allowing him to shrink, was special, as it had a subsonic flight function, and weapons such as powerful lasers.

At this time, his size was smaller than a fly and he was practically invisible to the thousands of soldiers he passed by.

To him, all these soldiers were an endless wave of people, and that worried him. Because it only indicated one thing... a lot of people would die today.

However, he didn't let his mind wander and quickly got to the generators. There were 6 total, but he only needed to intervene 4. He set up Cyborg's special devices and flew on in search of the magic seal.

A magic barrier was powered by a magic seal where someone had to administer its power every so often to continue to maintain the barrier. It didn't have to be laborious. Some were even simple drawings with chalk on the floor, but that was enough to do the job.

Finally, he reached a wall and there he saw what he was looking for. It was a simple drawing on the wall, made with a kind of white paint. A heptagram with Hebrew symbols. He didn't even touch it, just put a small device, which was a tracker and left. He had accomplished his mission.

The rat (Deadman) was running all over the area, and was reaching the other generator outside. When he arrived, he bit the cable and deactivated the second generator. Cyborg reopened a portal and got to the location quickly. He then reattached his device and set it up with the Motherbox.

Finally, Atom arrived and everything was ready. They opened one last portal and left the site as if they had never been there.

When they left, the devices were once again activated and generating the signal from the site. Thinker was never aware of it, as the failure only presented itself as a signal disruption.

While all this was going on. The Light were angry watching the Superman broadcast.

"I grew up on the farm with my foster parents. From a young age showing that I was anything but normal. And, despite everything, all I wanted was to be. To be normal. For I was taught that these powers I had, came with responsibilities. And that, in the future, I had to figure out what to do for the world. To hide and pretend to be normal or to use them for the greater good. To help. And I became this. Into Superman. But that's when I realized. No matter how hard I tried or how powerful I was, I couldn't save everyone"

Superman looked down, then looked back up at the camera. A look of utter sadness was visible on his face that conveyed feelings to all who saw him.

"Daisy Jones was the name of the first person I couldn't save. She was a little girl with cancer who asked, NO, begged me to do something to cure her to spend more time with her family. I knew, my powers were telling me, she was dying and there was NOTHING my strength, MY power could do to stop it. Many will think it wasn't my fault, that I couldn't do anything, and they are right, but that doesn't make it any less sad. That day I saw that little girl die in the hands of her mother. That's when I knew that, I alone, could not save the world. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't do it"

Superman again looked solemnly into the camera.

"However, that also opened my eyes and, just as I regretted every person I couldn't save, I also gave thanks for every person I did manage to save. And I learned the most important lesson for me. A hero is not his powers or his strength. A hero is his conviction. There I promised myself that I might not be able to save everyone, but that I would give my best effort to try to do so. And that is why I come before you, people of the world. To ask for your help to save everyone, because I cannot do it alone"

Superman finally began to speak with great conviction. 

"I know that right now you live in fear. That you are afraid of being the next victims of the Liberation Front. A group that patrols your streets and looks imposing with their mighty weapons. But I know you are tired of being told what to do. Being told how valuable or how worthless you are. Well, that's a lie. We are ALL valuable. We are ALL capable of achieving what we set out to do. They do NOT own us. People of the world, what I will ask of you is something impossible. Something that in your wildest dreams you could not even think of, but I come here today to tell you to fight. Fight for your freedom. Fight for your value. That true value that they CANNOT see. Become the heroes the world needs right now. Become MY heroes"

Superman, smiled slightly and took his leave.

"I hope this message has reached at least a few of you who have listened. Do not be afraid. You are stronger than you think"

With that, the transmission went dead.

..

..

..

"HAHAHAHAHA, OH MY GOODNESS, HAHAHAHAHAHA"

"I can't believe it!"

"Was that really the smartest thing they could think of?, to turn the world against us. What a laugh. They could never oppose us. They are mere sheep"

More and more jeers began to erupt from the group. They couldn't believe that the smartest thing the Justice League could come up with was to appeal to the good heart of the world. How naive they were.

"Well, that was fun to watch, I'll keep monitoring the broadcasts in case there's another such transmission... oh, that's weird"

"What's weird, Thinker?"

"My sensors picked up that there are power drops on the outside generators, and four inside. We need to take a look at that. I'll send a couple of troops to analyze that"

"Understood-"

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

A loud explosion erupted precisely from those generators, destroying the outer barrier.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM" A louder explosion followed right after on the inner barrier, which even shook the subway foundation of the place.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?"

"Explosive devices, but... how?"

"I didn't pick up anything magical... wait, I pick up my brother's presence in the outer zone"

"The outer barrier has fallen, the inner barrier too. Only the magic barrier remains!"

 Outside the outer zone, whose barrier had already been deactivated, thousands of golden portals began to open. From there, thousands of beautiful women came out, all on horseback. They were the Amazons. In front of the group, none other than Queen Hippolyta herself.

"My sisters, they have violated our home. Now let us show the world of man the fury of the Amazons"

"AUH, AUH, AUH!"

If this was not enough, thousands of Atlantean troops also came out, led by Vulko, who nodded to the queen as a sign of respect. There were also powerful vehicles, which, although not at sea, could easily move like tanks on the surface.

"Atlanteans, our king asks to release the subjugation of the world. Today we demonstrate why we are the most feared kingdom - FOR ATLANTIS!"

"FOR ATLANTIS!"

With that, they both moved. The Light did not stand idle, and sent the thousands of troops to defend. Metal on metal clashed, tank shots and missiles were launched. The missiles decimated dozens of Atlanteans and the Amazon arrows decimated dozens of soldiers. A carnage was beginning to emerge from the area. However, the Justice League was not seen.

The only one who was in the area was Doctor Fate, who was in the sky and had opened the portals for the troops to leave. Unfortunately these portals were on the outskirts of the city and a lot of territory would have to be covered if they wanted to reach the main area. However, Doctor Fate could do nothing, as quickly Mordru arrived to meet him.

"Brother, where are your little hero friends. We are waiting for them"

"They will come, Mordru. They will be here soon"

"Good, then first let me finish you off quickly to collect my next victims. This is for everything you did to me brother. Die" Mordru opened his mouth and thousands of insects came out of him. It was a huge plague. These insects were not common. They were insects of Beelzebub's legion, a plague that was known to eat human flesh.

Fate did not stand idle and quickly summoned thousands of golden arrows that shot out at these insects, annihilating them completely.

Then he activated a giant seal and thousands of golden lightning bolts shot at Mordru's humanity. But Mordru just took the lightning with his bare hands and turned them into powerful reddish ribbons which he then sent to trap Nabu's limbs.

Having trapped him, Mordru summoned a great and powerful spear with his power, and was about to impaled Doctor Fate with it, but he couldn't do it when he had to move when a blur passed right next to him. It was Superman. He barely managed to move to stop it from hitting him with its fist.

After that, with the inner barrier destroyed, thousands of portals produced by Cyborg's Motherbox reached the place, both from heaven and earth. From there the entire Justice League and The Outsiders came out.

(AN: Doctor Fate cannot summon portals in the inner zone, only the outer zone. Cyborg can open portals with the Motherbox, but the sensors would warn of his presence. That's why they generated the explosions first to break down the technological barriers)

An all-out war was beginning to break out as The League and The Outsiders faced the numerous soldiers, robots and tanks that were in the area. However, despite being outnumbered, the heroes were proving why they were complete menaces and were slowly gaining ground.

There, The Light finally moved to intercept this group, their goal being to prevent The League from reaching Project Cadmus before Vandal's transformation was complete. They knew it. If this project succeeded, they would win.

And at this point, that machine was 82% complete.

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While all this was going on. On a beautiful hill, where a large tree stood. A handsome man was sitting, lying in the shade of this tree.

His eyes were closed and his breathing was calm, giving the impression to anyone who saw him that he was asleep. But in reality, his mind was active, and at this moment he was there, inert, waiting to hear the good news.

Next to the man, there was a beautiful motorcycle with a chain attached to its body. The motorcycle was a Harley Davidson Sportster, quite sleek and beautiful black in color. The chain looked like a kusarigama because of its spike on the end that helped to embed and catch any victims they might grab.

The man lying down was none other than Edgar, who was waiting to hear the long-awaited warning. Time had passed, but there was still no news. However, that changed when the communicator in the ear was heard.

'Edgar, all children found and safe. We made it!' Miss Martian's excited voice was heard.

He heard no more and finally opened his eyes revealing their beautiful gray color. However, this didn't last long when....

"SHUUUUUUUUUU" its head burst into flames, transforming into the skull so beloved by all, with its demonic form with its orange fire with black speckles.

As that transformation passed, the bike, which was standing still, lit up in a "ROOOAMMM", denoting that it was ready for the mission. 

Edgar grabbed the chain and with a quick movement, this chain was tied to his torso. He then picked up his beloved shotgun and placed it in his motorcycle holster.

"Ready, old friend. Time to act" 

With that, he opened a portal to Ukraine, hopped on the bike and shot off at sonic speed.

The Light was in a fight with The League and The Outsiders, but a new player would join the fray. A player who would bring nothing but misfortune to the group of villains.

The Ghost Rider was ready to fight....

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AN:

My P@treon 

TioIroh99 (12 chapters ahead). Finished this arc on chapter 64 in P@treon.