Chapter 44: Leveling the game 6

"talking"

'thinking'

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Metropolis

"Why are you doing this?"

Shazam asked, as he dodged the huge hail of cars that Doctor Polaris was sending at him. The problem was, some of the cars had people in them. There Shazam was demonstrating the true speed of Mercury, for, if he saw this happen, he would quickly move, and get everyone out safely, before the car fell and was destroyed by the fall.

"Recognition, hero boy. Recognition. And don't tell me, you don't do it for that either, because that would be hypocritical of you. Let's be honest, a teenager, pretending to be a hero in the big leagues. You sure enjoyed being famous. Being recognized. Let people cheer, 'Shazam', 'Shazam', 'Shazam', 'Shazam'... The Justice League are all just like us, only we do what this world needs. To really save it"

"I admit it. I liked being recognized. But now I understand... now I understand what I need to do. I'll stop you"

"Ha, then try it"

Polaris threw several metal columns at Shazam's humanity. Shazam no longer dodged, but intercepted them. Then using his Herculean strength, he turned to hit Doctor Polaris with the same columns, but Polaris stopped him with his power.

A fight of wills was beginning to emerge between the two. Polaris avoiding being hit with his power, and Shazam trying to hit him with his superhuman strength.

In the end, neither won. And the column shot out of both of their hands. But this didn't stop them from continuing their fight.

Shazam summoned the power of Zeus, and attacked Polaris with all his might. Polaris had to dodge it by flying, as this lightning bolt could damage him. Not only was it powerful, but it was magical. A power just as dangerous as Black Adam's.

"You can't win, hero boy. Besides, when reinforcements arrive all your friends will be captured. Already Thinker has surely already triangulated their location. They will soon be defeated. They won't be able to avoid it"

'No, not that' thought Billy. A strength he didn't think possible was beginning to emerge from his desperation. This caused his speed to increase which frankly surprised Polaris.

"THAT'S ENOUGH" threw a powerful punch that sent Polaris flying. That even dented the metal of his suit.

"I WILL STOP YOU" threw another blow, which Polaris could only use a metal shield to avoid. However, the shield did not hold up and all the metal was shredded by the power of his blow.

Shazam launched two lightning bolts from his hands that made Polaris' body numb. This only made him angry.

"THAT'S ENOUGH. If you don't stop I will kill everyone here"

Polaris finally summoned all his power. Everything in a 2 kilometer radius made of metal began to float.

"Now, surrender or I will throw every single thing into those buildings where thousands of people live and are currently working"

Shazam stopped for this. He saw all the metal rain back down on thousands of things. Good thing there was no one in the cars, so it was pure stuff floating. Shazam no longer hesitated. His Solomon wisdom told him what to do.

Moving at a speed not perceptible to the human eye, he grabbed Polaris and held him tightly by the back of the neck, which made all the floating things fall. Then, he placed him in a horizontal position and shouted.

"SHAZAM!"

A great white bolt of lightning struck all of Polaris' humanity. Billy knew he could only use this power to stop and incapacitate him.

However, something was miscalculated by Billy....

The lightning could incapacitate anyone. For example, the lightning incapacitated Edgar and made him lose consciousness. But, this lightning must be said to be the very power of Zeus. Its power could not be taken by any mortal.

If a mortal took it he would not only be incapacitated, he would be killed. And Polaris, for all his power... was a mere human.

When Billy released him, that's when it hit him. Neal's breathing and heart had stopped. Doctor Polaris... he was dead.

Shazam couldn't believe it

"Hey, hey, come on, respond, hey" he tried to move him, to 'wake him up', but it was already useless. Try as he might he knew there was no cause. Zeus' magic lightning had practically charred his heart. Finally, the realization hit him.

'I... I killed someone' Billy thought 'But it was necessary, he was going to kill everyone' he tried to justify himself.

But in his mind he knew that no matter how he justified himself, he had used his power in this murder. As he looked at his hands, something strange began to happen to him.

Billy began to see blood stains from them. This shouldn't even be possible since Polaris never bled. He died from his exploded heart not from bodily injuries. However, Billy was seeing blood. Blood from being a murderer.

'What would the guys think of me.....THE GUYS!' he finally remembered he was on a mission. This was a good distraction as his thoughts turned to the Teen Titans. He quickly set Polaris down, as gently as possible. There was nothing more he could do. Time was pressing. Then he flew on his way to where the Teen Titans were.

However, a part of his mind kept going over what happened. His first death.

As he flew, he kept seeing the blood on his hands....

------------

Solomon Grundy was a force of nature. He could only be described as such to the group of heroes who were trying to knock him out. Explosive arrows, black and blue electric bolts, Atlantean sword attacks, explosive batarangs, and even magic. Whatever they threw at the big zombie man, nothing could stop him.

The only thing that prevented him from committing his task was precisely his mobility. He was a big man and his speed and movements were very limited, which made it easy for the young heroes to dodge him.

"Grundy, crush heroes, RAAAGGGGGG!"

Grundy struck right where Aqualad was, who dodged said blow by rolling quickly. However, the power of the blow was so strong that it left a small crater in the pavement.

Grundy turned quickly and wanted to keep punching, but a few butterflies of magic distracted him. He used his hands to make them go away and stop bothering him. But it was a magical illusion by Zatanna and there was really nothing there, just air.

"It's very hard to defeat him, and we're wasting a lot of time. Besides, we need to go help Shazam" said Static, while throwing an electric field at the big man's humanity, which only distracted him a little and he kept attacking the group of heroes, when the illusion ended.

"I agree. We can't last any longer" Batgirl said as she dodged a blow to her humanity.

Then she used her grappling hook and generating momentum, she quickly ran and jumped to kick the big zombie's head. But it was useless, as the zombie moved faster, and grabbed her by the leg.

He was going to throw her far into the wall and make mincemeat of her, but several explosive arrows made him let go of Batgirl's leg. Red Arrow continued to attack with another arsenal. A pair of ice arrows and electricity. However, he was running out of viable options, and he knew that normal ones would only be like using toothpicks against him. 

Aqualad, was thinking what to do, but it was the experienced hero Black Lightning, who was just covering his daughters, who answered.

"Guys, we have to use all our power. Without holding back. If we generate greater power, maybe we can knock him out"

"Are you guys holding back?" Static asked incredulously, however, he was ignored.

"He's right, Lightning. On the count of 3. 1,2,3"

They all launched at the humanity of the large zombie in a full power combined attack. Electric fields, powerful black lightning, all the explosive batarangs Batgirl had and Aqualad turned his swords into electric whips that stopped Grundy's feet in case he wanted to move and dodge.

Each attack reached this zombie's humanity which, combined, generated a small explosion.

"BOOOM" a large wisp of black smoke came out of this attack.

However, when the smoke from the explosion dissipated. Solomon was as good as gone. Just a little gone. The heroes no longer knew what to do. How to defeat this thing, they couldn't even think about it.

However, just when they thought all was lost, a large projectile arrived just at that moment, which hurled Grundy away. It was Shazam.

"Leave my friends alone, monster!"

Shazam summoned his power and began to attack the giant zombie. Shazam's strength, plus his electric power were enough to hurt said zombie.

Black Lightning didn't stand still either and summoned the electricity in the area to charge his power.

His power was generated by him, but he could also use external electricity to charge his power like a battery. He didn't do it because every time he charged his body he could be incapacitated for a couple of hours, since he wasn't used to so much electricity. But that didn't matter to him. He had had enough of The Light. It was time to get out of his prison, and so were his daughters.

All the bulbs began to be destroyed as Lightning began to charge. His body began to ache, and his mind was starting to go numb, but he persisted. For his daughters.

"Leave my daughters, monster" with that said, he lashed out with a powerful black beam that matched Shazam's power. Together, they began to make the giant zombie begin to decay. Shazam also launched another powerful beam right at that moment.

Black and white lightning bolts so powerful combined that Grundy's rotting skin began to smell of burning. This was enough for the monster as his consciousness began to fade. His large body was beginning to wobble, a sign that he was about to fall. In the end, the only thing he could say before he fainted was.

"Solomon Grundy, born on Monday"

And with that, Grundy fell which generated a small tremor in the area.

"Is...is he dead?" Static asked.

"He's a zombie, technically he was already dead" Batgirl answered him. Everyone nodded at what she said. Logically, she was right. However, Aqualad focused on the member who came to help.

"Shazam, are you okay, what happened to Polaris?"

However, Shazam didn't answer. He had a blank look on his face when asked that question. Jefferson who had also done horrible things in this time with The Light could guess what had happened, and decided to intervene.

"Guys, that's not important. Let's go, before reinforcements arrive"

Aqualad no longer insisted. And he activated the device that generated a portal to go to Lian Yu. However, before they left, Aqualad heard something on his communicator that made him smile.

'Nightwing to Central. Active A, recovered. Mission was successful'

Before departing through the open portal. Aqualad took the communicator, and said.

"Aqualad, to Central. Asset B, C and D, recovered. Mission successful"

With that said, they all crossed the portal. They had made it.

-------

Just as they crossed from the sky a man arrived at supersonic speed. It was Nathaniel Adam, or formerly known as Captain Atom. A man who had only one love. His beautiful country. He had worked for The Light, because he thought or it was instilled in him that following them would make his country, the greatest of all.

However, Captain Atom's former appearance of a platinum colored metal alloy was no longer visible. His entire appearance had changed to a dark purple color. In addition, his name was no longer Captain Atom. He was Major Force. An executive member of the Liberation Front and an important asset to The Light.

The Light had done several experiments on him and had upgraded his power from atomic generation, to dark energy generation. His power was more destructive and dangerous now. His strength, speed and reflexes had also improved. However, his mind was corrupted by this dark matter. And sometimes he had fits of rage that lashed out at innocent people or his collaborators. But The Light never cared about that. As long as he remained useful, they would continue to use him.

He had become so powerful, The Light considered him an executive member and invited him to various private meetings between them. Besides, he was the main guard of the Cadmus project. And NO, it wasn't the prison. Project Cadmus was something else. Superman's blood was only a part of that project. The real project was still hidden from the whole world.

Since he was considered important, Thinker gave him a device like those used by executive members that had a direct line to him. Taking a hand to the communicator, it spoke.

"Thinker, they're gone. The prisoners are gone"

"...I see. I will report your finding to Vandal. You may return to Cadmus"

"Perfect"

Before leaving, he used his dark matter power to disintegrate the large fainting zombie. It didn't matter to kill him, as he would regenerate and return in a week, emerging from the swamp where he always emerged. Specifically, the following Monday.

With that done, leaving no evidence behind. He set off for Cadmus.

----------

Themyscira

On Themyscira, Diana and the group of women had finally annihilated the large numbers of forces that were on the beach. Most of them were tired and a bit disgusted by all the bodies they had scattered all over the place. Those bodies, however, were quickly turning to dust and returning to the underworld to reform. 

The only ones walking around as if nothing was happening was Katana who was cleaning her sword from the large amount of blood with a nimble movement and Diana, who, for her, this was practically a warm up. But obviously things would not be so easy for the group of women, as quickly another group of women was approaching.

They were: Cheetah, Emerald Empress, Killer Frost, Livewire and Giganta.

"Clap, clap, clap. I must say, I'm impressed, Wonder Woman. I thought you'd be rusty in all this time, but I see your skill is still just as good as it was before" Barbara said, as she smiled like a predator. At this moment, she did not have her feline appearance. This only surprised Diana, who did not expect to see her normal appearance again Barbara.

"Barbara... you look-"

"Incredible. I know. And I'm powerful too. What I've always sought, Circe has granted me... and that's just what we're here for. She say get the hell off her island"

"This is MY island. NOT hers" Diana replied seriously. However, she could no longer continue when Killer Frost took over the thread of the conversation.

"Her island, my island, it doesn't matter...I'm just bored by your useless talk. I came here to have fun. Now, are we going to fight or what" With that said, Killer Frost summoned his power. Thousands of ice frost erupted due to the moisture in the atmosphere. She hurled them at the humanity of the invading group, but Ice used her power to melt said ice and turn the spikes into harmless snowballs.

Killer Frost just smiled when she saw this.

"Oh, impressive. Your power is similar to mine... but weaker. Girls, she's mine"

With that they both began to fight with their ice power. Oblivious to this, the others were not idle.

Giganta used her power to grow to over 10 meters tall. She could grow even taller, but the bigger she got, the less mobility she had, so 10 meters was good enough to be able to fight this large group. Fire was the one who intercepted it by throwing heavy bursts of fire at Giganta. Who frankly was starting to get annoyed by this green-haired woman.

Livewire fought against Doctor Light. Livewire was upset because every time she used her beams, Light became light and prevented her attack from working. Livewire's power was quite versatile. If there was electricity her power was practically limitless. But, how could you beat light. Light was faster, her power was purer, she could feel it from the flow of electrons, and, although her strength was normal compared to the super strength she had, hitting her was difficult if she kept moving as in teleportation.

The most evenly matched fight was Emerald Empress versus Mera and Katana. However, just because it's 2 vs. 1 doesn't mean it was easy. On the contrary, the eye used by Emerald moved at will, and it was practically another combatant, since it launched powerful rays, from which Mera had to defend herself with water shields.

Katana fought trying to cut the beautiful green-haired woman, but Emerald was not only a great sorceress, she was also good in combat and knew how to dodge the sword of this Japanese woman quite well.

"じっとしてろ" (Don't move) Katana said to Emerald Empress. Emerald replied also in Japanese with a mocking smile. The eye allowed her to translate and speak any known language.

"ハッ,決して私を倒すことはできない,この死すべきメス豚め" (Ha, you will never defeat me, you mortal bitch)

Katana could no longer attack as she had to dodge a powerful green beam, launched by the eye. However, Emerald was not at ease as she had to dodge an attack from a large column of water coming from the sea.

In the end, Mera and Katana switched places and Katana tried to pierce the eye with her sword while Mera now fought Emerald with her power. That's how well coordinated they were.

One thing must be made clear. Katana's sword was quite special. It was a magical artifact left over from Edo period times. The sword, was almost indestructible, just as hard as Promethium, and its magical property was that, whoever was cut and killed by said sword, the soul would be retained in the sword making it harder and tougher. It was practically a soul-devouring sword.

However, this weapon had a limit and every 10 years the bearer of the sword had to perform a forgiveness ceremony to let the captured souls go, since it was the natural thing in the world and it was what the ancestors asked for. The souls could not stay forever on this earthly plane, they had to move on.

This sword had absorbed the souls of the monsters of the underworld, so its power had increased by leaps and bounds. Needless to say, this sword COULD damage Ekron's eye.

While these fights were going on. The deadliest fight of all was the one between our beloved Amazon and the feline woman.

"This is my revenge, amazon. No poison. No traps. Just our power, Roaaarrr" Minerva attacked with all her power. She didn't have the feline appearance, but she did have brown spots on her body and face indicating her Cheetah character. However, Diana knew it. Her strength and speed had improved by leaps and bounds.

Diana dodged two of the feline woman's attacks, but one she couldn't dodge and gave her a small scratch on her cheek, making her bleed. Minerva just licked the blood from her claws.

"Amazon blood, my favorite"

"Stop it, Cheetah. You know this is all wrong. Everything The Light does is wrong"

"And you... what did you do, did you help us? NO, you just detained us in prisons to rot for the rest of our lives. You are just as hypocritical with your, 'this is wrong', 'true justice is this' and blah, blah, blah. You make me sick"

Diana knew she was right. Same conversation she had with Edgar a long time ago. The League's Justice was very biased. But, still, The Light was doing more harm than good. She would do anything to stop him.

Taking a deep breath, she summoned her divine power. She had not been idle and had trained with both Fate and Inza in the tower of destiny. She had been able to stride forward and make the power of her father, Zeus, her own.

White bolts of lightning shot from her eyes, as her power built up in her body. Minerva's instincts warned her to be careful. And well they told her, for when Diana moved, she could barely keep up.

Diana threw heavy blows that numbed Minerva's forearms from the force of them. Minerva wanted to counterattack, but Diana moved. With her lasso she grabbed her and held her tightly. Diana then boosted her blows and gave her a combo to the nose and ribs that knocked the air out of the feline woman.

Then, she tied her lasso twice and held it with her foot that made her pinned to the ground. Minerva could do nothing. All that new power, and yet here she was, utterly defeated.

"Why… Why I can't beat you?"

Diana looked at her pitifully. If only she had helped her differently. If only she approached this situation better, Minerva would not be like this. In the end, she could only say to her.

"I'm sorry" with that said, she used a hook that knocked her out completely.

Diana turned to look at the situation. All the fights were very even. She was going to help Fire with the giant woman, but Mera stopped her.

"Wonder Woman, wait. Let us take over here. Go get Circe. If you defeat her, it's all over"

Diana nodded. Mera was right. Besides, without Cheetah, they were already outnumbered. She trusted her new team.

----------

With that, she flew to the main temple. When she entered there she saw the first thing Circe had changed. She had practically remodeled the whole place. And she had put up a lot of mirrors. Too many. Every hallway was folded with mirrors, pretty narcissistic if Diana could say so.

"Well done, amazon. But to get to me, you have to find me" a projection came out right in the mirror. Diana quickly slashed it with her sword, but the projection was a trap, as it quickly shattered into a thousand pieces.

Diana kept walking. More of Circe's projections began to emerge.

"You thought it would be so easy. But no. I am an expert in illusions, Diana. Your eyes will never be able to guess who I am"

Diana continued to strike with her sword at the various projections that came in. However, they were all false. She thought she would keep it up until a purple lightning bolt hit her.

"Aghhhh" Diana grunted in pain because this lightning bolt.

"Hahahaha, what fun"

Other lightning bolts were starting to come from all sides. Diana's eyes couldn't keep up as every time she thought she had found it was a false projection.

And this was what Circe wanted. Her power was strong, but her illusions were her greatest asset. Fighting in hand-to-hand combat against the best fighter in Themyscira alone would be suicide. Especially when the woman had proven that she already had a good command of her father's power.

To conquer this place, she had planned the trap well. The Amazons are the elite in combat, so she wouldn't stand a chance. That's why she used the Medusa's head to turn them to stone. With them immobilized the place would be hers alone. It was a masterfully planned and executed strategy.

Circe started throwing more power beams, hurting Diana, who was starting to bleed because she couldn't guess where those beams were coming from. Sometimes they attacked from behind, sometimes from the front. Sometimes from the sides. It was hard to guess. Her eyes were totally immersed in the illusions as each projection looked very real. 

'Sight...Edgar doesn't need eyes to see. He uses his other senses'

Finally, her mind came up with the answer. If her eyes were deceiving her. Her other senses had to do the job. Closing her eyes, she began to concentrate. Finally, as she concentrated, she heard it.

'Left' moving, a bolt of lightning flashed right past her, narrowly avoiding it.

'Back' Diana again dodged it with total grace.

Quickly, she began to dance all over the place dodging the lightning bolts Circe threw at her. Circe began to despair at this. She didn't understand how this Amazon bitch avoided being attacked. In the end, she couldn't take it anymore and screamed in total rage.

"STAY STILL!"

However, this was what Diana wanted as her senses located her by that very scream.

'I've got you' Diana moved. She finally knew where she was. Circe couldn't dodge and was quickly inserted by the Amazon's sword. Then as if that wasn't enough, Diana put all her Zeus power into her sword, burning it severely.

"Aghhhh...Fucking bitch" dark blood was starting to come out of Circe's mouth, but this didn't stop her from giving her villain speech.

"Cough, You know I can't die, cough, I'll reform and come back. And every time I come back, cough, I'll be stronger. I am inevitable, cough"

"And when you come back, here I'll be waiting to defeat you, Circe"

With that said, Circe turned to dust. She was a nymph, daughter of a titan. She was cursed not to die and reform in Tartarus. But, she would return. This would only be the beginning. She would come back for revenge.

Diana ran to the gates of the underworld and there she saw, right at the very entrance of the place, the statues of her beloved sisters. There were two ways to avoid petrification. One is to look for a magical artifact that Circe surely destroyed. Or...

Diana moved. And with a quick movement she cut the statue of her mother. When she cut it, it shattered into dust. One would logically think that Diana had killed her mother. But just as this happened, Hippolyta reformed. The Amazons could not die on Themyscira, and the fewer wounds they had, the faster they would return.

Since they had been petrified, the wounds were practically nil. So they would be immediately reformed. At least, most of them. Others might last a day longer. But most would reform immediately.

Hippolyta was disoriented to return among the dead. However, her disorientation died when she saw her daughter. Indescribable joy and tears began to flow from the queen of the Amazons. She could no longer help herself and ran to meet her.

"DAUGHTER"

"MOTHER"

Both embraced each other. A great reunion after not having seen each other all this time. However, Hippolyta finally remembered the whole Circe situation. What fools they had been falling into her damned trap. They were amateurs.

Circe with her illusions had fooled them all by pretending to be Hippolyta, while Hippolyta had been fooled by Circe being Diana. They all gathered in the same place where she used Medusa's head to make them stone. Smart of her, stupid of the Amazons. She guess the lack of conflict had made them confident.

"Circe, she-"

"Relax, she's dead...she'll surely come back, though. You know what they say. The worst vermin are the hardest to kill, Mother"

"Well done, daughter. And we'll be ready. That's a promise"

Finally, Diana remembered her friends. And she remembered that they were still fighting on the island.

"Mother, a lot has happened, there's a lot I want to tell you... but right now, my friends are still fighting, we need to help them"

"I see...we'll catch up soon. And about your friends, how about showing them a proper welcome" said Hippolyta while pointing to the other Amazon statues. Diana smiled because she had the same thought as her mother.

-------

The group of girls from The Light and The Outsiders, was pretty well matched. No one was giving any quarter. The problem was that The Outsiders had already fought a lot of monsters and frankly they were quite exhausted. The Light, despite being fewer, had the advantage of time.

However, the villains could not claim victory when they felt the earth tremble. There they saw it. Hundreds of horses were coming to meet them, while beautiful and fierce women rode to meet them.

This meant only one thing... Circe had lost, and the Amazons had been freed.

The Amazons took the biggest prey. And they quickly shot many arrows at the giant woman. Then they tied strings and made her stumble. She fell into the forest destroying a large number of trees. The fall knocked her out.

Quickly, they were getting closer. The villains knew that all was lost. So, Emerald Empress, who had Ekron's eye, acted.

"This isn't over, bitches. When we fight again, it will be different-"

"Yes, you will lose" Mera interrupted. This was their first mission, in the second they would be better. Better fighters and more powerful. They wouldn't stand a chance.

Emerald Empress didn't talk anymore. Using Ekron's eye, she summoned a portal and took Livewire and Killer Frost with her power. The latter just screamed in rage at this.

"LEAVE ME. I ALREADY HAD IT. GODDAMN IT, LET GO OF ME"

And this was true. Of all of them, Ice was the most injured. She had many cuts from Killer Frost's power. It was true that her ice ability was very powerful. But Ice believed her ability was more versatile. She just needed more combat experience. In the next one, she would defeat her.

Killer Frost was still protesting loudly, but Empress didn't mind her protests and they crossed the portal. Just as they crossed the Amazons arrived, but they couldn't stop them from leaving.

However, they had been released. That was already a gain. In addition, they had captured Giganta and Cheetah.

Diana arrived with her mother on horseback. And she quickly embraced her friends. They had won. However, just as they were about to continue congratulating each other. A golden portal materialized in the center of the place.

They all tensed at this, but Diana calmed them all down, saying.

"Calm down. This is my friend's power" she said, as she recognized Fate's power signature.

"Diana... your friend is so powerful that he can open a portal in this place. Impressive" Hippolyta expressed in amazement. It had to be said, the barrier prevented any outside magic from entering. That someone could perform a portal in this place only meant that their power was that of a god, or had come to rival one.

(AN: with Emerald Empress, Ekron's eye allows to enhance her magic allowing her to do this)

"Wonder Woman, the image is Atlantis..."

Diana was thrilled by this. She wanted to cross over and see her beloved, however, she paused looking at her mother.

"Mother, I know there is much to discuss, but..."

"It's okay. I understand. Just come back soon and let's talk" Hippolyta came over and gave her a tight hug. Then she leaned close to her ear and said something that completely blushed the young Amazon, "And when you come, you have to tell me about that special boy"

"How...?"

"Oh, Diana, I'm your mother. I know when my daughter is sad, angry, or happy. And I also know when my daughter is in love. Well go, and come back soon. In the meantime we'll fix this place from whatever that damn witch has changed"

"I'll be back, soon. I promise"

With that said. All the women of The Outsiders crossed the portal. If there was a portal, it meant only one thing....

Edgar and the others had accomplished their mission.

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AN: 

My P@treon 

TioIroh99 (10 chapters ahead)

Give me Power Stones if you want the next chapter to be released more soon