Chapter 36

Baton Rouge

Supergirl and Ben, now as Jet Ray, were teleported to Baton Rouge just in time to see a police car fly through the air. Before either of them could do anything, Green Lantern showed up to grab the car with his ring. They flew over to him, where they were met by Vixen.

"Hey Lantern," greeted Jet Ray, "hey, Vixen."

Ben had worked with Vixen before; she was an African-American woman with short, black hair. She wore a revealing orange bodysuit with claws. The necklace she wore allowed her to tap into the powers of animals. Coupled with her natural athleticism, she was a force to be reckoned with.

"Hey, you two," said Vixen with a smile, "I guess this is a double-date, huh?"

Another fact about Vixen was that she was very attracted to Green Lantern. The feeling wasn't mutual, however; apparently, Lantern was still holding out for a certain redheaded Thanagarian. Still, that didn't mean that Vixen couldn't try.

"Maybe," said Supergirl, "but I've never considered zombie-fighting to be my way of enjoying a night on the town."

"Come on," said Lantern, "we've got to move!" he flew off, the other three heroes right behind him.

"Dr. Fate called it in to J'onn," said Lantern, "Solomon Grundy's back."

"The zombie guy?" asked Vixen, "He's a heavy hitter."

Green Lantern nodded. "Yeah, he's tough, but we can take 'im. Funny thing, though, is that he's supposed to be dead."

"Aren't all zombies, by definition, dead?" asked Jet Ray. The two women laughed, while Lantern tried to come up with a response. Before he could, though, a loud roar shook the air.

The heroes looked ahead to find people fleeing in fear. The street was littered with debris, crushed cars and flames. They saw a bus slowly rise into the air, held by Solomon Grundy. The zombie was big, close to 10 feet tall, and nearly 6 feet wide. He was pale-skinned, all muscle, and covered with the rags he'd died in so many years ago.

"Aw, man, don't do it," said Lantern, seeing Grundy heft the bus. With a roar, Grundy hurled it through the air.

"I've got it!" yelled Jet Ray, as he moved to intercept the bus. When he got in front of it, he slapped the Ultimatrix dial.

"LODESTAR!" using his magnetic powers, Lodestar halted the bus in midair, and slowly lowered it to the ground.

While Grundy picked up another car to throw, Vixen tapped into the power of the elephant, and she and Supergirl slammed into him. They crashed through a truck and then into a building, before Grundy grabbed them by the wrists and jumped back outside. He slammed them against the floor, then threw Vixen against a fence, and Supergirl into a light-pole.

Supergirl wasn't used to pain; only Kryptonite and magic could really hurt her, or another Kryptonian. Since she didn't feel the weakness associated with Kryptonite, and Grundy had been human, that could only mean that the zombie was being affected by magic somehow. And that magic hurt.

Vixen, on the other hand, was badly bruised, her costume was torn, and her arm was broken. Grundy moved to attack her, but he was interrupted by Green Lantern peppering him with energy-blasts and Lodestar throwing cars at him.

While the guys kept him distracted, Supergirl rose to her feet, shaking off the pain; she moved over to Vixen, who was clutching her broken arm.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

In response, Vixen touched her necklace again, tapping into the regenerative power of the lizard. With a few sickening pops, the arm was healed. She nodded at Supergirl, and the two moved to support their teammates.

Green Lantern had Grundy wrapped in emerald energy, while Lodestar wrapped him in several car doors. Grundy roared in anger, but the two heroes thought they had him. They were proven wrong, however, when Grundy somehow floated into the air; a pulse of energy flew from him, shattering his bonds. Both heroes were sent flying in opposite directions; Supergirl moved to catch Lodestar, while Vixen tapped into the power of the cheetah to catch Lantern.

The sudden change In air pressure had knocked Green Lantern unconscious. As Vixen tried to revive him, she heard very large footsteps behind her. She turned to see Grundy approach them.

She flexed her claws, prepared to defend her teammate. "Come with it, then!"

Just as Grundy was about to crush her, a blue-and-red blur smashed into the Zombie, sending him flying. Superman looked down Vixen, who was again tending Green Lantern.

"Get Lantern somewhere safe!" ordered the Man of Steel, as Supergirl and Ben, who'd turned into Big Chill, caught up with him.

"I could've handled him." Protested Vixen, as a loud roar echoed from down the street. Superman, Supergirl and Big Chill prepared themselves.

"You may get your chance," said Superman, "in the meantime, humor me." As Grundy approached, Superman tried to reason with him. "Come on, Grundy, we've been through this before; you don't have a chance against me, let's talk it over, maybe I can help."

"I don't think he's in the talking mood." Warned Supergirl.

"Yeah, if he was, I don't think he would have thrown that bus." Added Big Chill.

Grundy made no response, save for charging forward and smashing his fists into the ground; he would have hit the heroes, had they not taken to the air. Superman rushed towards him, hoping to finish this quickly; instead, Grundy caught Superman's fist with his own. He didn't even flinch.

Both Supergirl's and Big Chill's eyes widened; the number of people who could catch one of Superman's punches could be counted on one hand, and Grundy's case file did not suggest that the zombie qualified to be on that list. Apparently, something had changed.

Grundy tightened his fist; the bones in Superman's hand started to crack, before Grundy delivered an uppercut that sent Superman flying a dozen blocks away. Supergirl tried to attack next, but was backhanded into a truck. The zombie charged towards Big Chill, ramming him with his shoulder. The blue mothman collapsed near Supergirl.

"Though you'd have gone intangible," moaned Supergirl, as she started to get up.

"That's the thing," said Big Chill, pain evident in his voice, "I did go intangible; whatever's powering this guy is crazy!"

They heard a roar behind them and saw Grundy marching towards them.

Here we go again, both thought.

…

The Tower of Fate

Checkmate. You are improving; this time it took me sixteen moves to defeat you.

Aquaman glared at the android.

That's nearly double the moves it took last time.

Aquaman sighed. "Set up the board."

Before Amazo did just that, a purple ankh flared into existence, and Dr. Fate returned to them. Though his face was covered by his helmet, he seemed greatly disturbed.

Without preamble, he announced, "Solomon Grundy's grave is empty."

Aquaman stood, rage on his face. "Tell me where to find those responsible, then dig more graves."

Though Grundy had been a criminal for his entire life and un-life, he'd sacrificed himself to save the universe from an extradimensional invasion. That should have assured him a peaceful, undisturbed rest.

Fate shook his head. "We are dealing with something far more sinister than mere human avarice; Grundy's grave was forced open from the inside and the site reeks of Chaos magic."

Amazo was intrigued by this.

He left under his own power?

"Far more power than he ever evidenced before." Fate held out a hand, and an orb appeared that showed the ongoing battle. "Behold."

The orb showed Grundy holding a Kryptonian by the cape in either hand, while Green Lantern and Heatblast attacked him. Distracted, Grundy momentarily forgot about the alien cousins and jumped into the air, punching Heatblast into a building, then throwing a rock at Green Lantern, knocking him down.

As the images continued, Aquaman said, "They need our help."

"So does Grundy." The three turned to see Shayera walking up to them. "Let's try and get there before the League kills him."

Amazo turned back to the orb, which now showed Grundy using Vixen like a baseball bat to knock Supergirl away.

That scenario seems… unlikely.

"In any case, are you certain you're up to this?" asked Fate.

"Doesn't matter." Said Shayera. "Bad guy or not, he sacrificed his life to save ours. We owe him the benefit of the doubt."

"Very well." Said Fate, who held out his hand. A white hole appeared in thin air. "I've learned the hard way that the energy-dampening properties of this device can disrupt fundamental forces, so I've kept it hidden in pocket dimension, away from the magic that must flow freely in my home. But if you are truly ready to take up the fight again…"

Shayera hesitated only for a moment, before plunging her hand into the hole and withdrawing a spiked mace. Her spiked mace. She hefted it in one hand.

"I'm ready."