Justice League: Vertigo

Chapter 34 - Superman Returns

Robin never thought he would know what it felt like to fight Superman. And frankly, he was happy about that. But now, they were fighting Superman and winning. At least for now. Superboy, Zatanna, Aqualad and M'gann were the only ones who could hurt him. Kid Flash and Artemis were evacuating the area while Rose took care of Adam. But he; he had the secret weapon. He had the kryptonite. And he saw the perfect chance to use it. Zatanna had grabbed him in a giant magic hand and he was grounded at least temporarily. Robin brought out the kryptonite and flipped it in his hand.
Adam stretched out his hands and tried to tell him something but he couldn't form his words. His wounds were still healing.
"Shhh. You're still healing." Said Rose.
Robin grappled to Superman and put the kryptonite in front of him.
He was in pain writhing. Robin knew that this would be over soon. He brought it closer and realized Superman wasn't in pain. He was laughing.
"Green kryptonite doesn't hurt him." Adam wheezed.
"You really think that that would save you." He laughed. He broke out of the hand holding him and Adam and Rose watched in horror as he beat their friends to a pulp.
"Hold on, Adam. I have to go help." Said Rose. She unsheathed her sword and was about to go down, but a bunch of soldiers poured into the room and aimed their guns at her.
While Rose fought, Adam managed to get on his feet and was using the wall for support.
Adam knew what he had to do. He didn't try it at first because he held on to the small chance that he could beat Superman alone and go back to his Team. But now he knew that would not be able to happen.
"Adam. Before you do anything rash." Mumbled Batman. "I have a fail-safe."
"What is it?"
"Reach into my utility belt. The second pouch from the left. There's a watch with a button. Press that button."
Adam did what he was told and pressed the button. A high pitched sound, too loud for any normal human to hear, but Adam could hear it and winced.
"Oww. Are you trying to damage me more?"
"I'm calling in the Calvary."
Rose took out the last soldier with a karate chop to the neck.
Superboy got punched into the ship and must have hit something important, because the ship started falling. Rose didn't know what to do. Adam could walk, but the rest of the League were in no shape to get out on their own. And there was still Astrid. But then her pre-cognitive abilities kicked, and she knew what would happen next.
Adam tried to go help Astrid, but Rose stopped him.
"No, not yet! Grab on to something!" She told him. As the ship was about to crash to the ground it hurriedly stopped. It then landed softly on the ground.
In moment, a long dead man in a red and blue costume floated into the ship
"Are you okay?" Said Superman.
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"You're alive?" Asked Adam.
"I think that's quite obvious." He replied.
"How?" Rose asked.
"All thanks to Batman. I wasn't exactly dead. Deathstroke didn't finish the job. Batman here sent what remained of me to the Earth's yellow sun so that I could heal. Although it took awhile, I'm back stronger than ever."
"Fantastic. Hey, can you see the guy that looks like you but with the black and white suit over there?"
"I probably need to stop him, don't I?"
"Duh!" Adam and Rose said together.
Superman flew over to him and punched him, making him go through a building.
A/N: I have no idea how to differentiate between the two Supermen (or is it Supermans) so I'm  just going to say Good Superman and Bad Superman.
"Take a break guys."said Good Superman. "I'll take care of this."
"I can help!" Said Superboy. He had bruises all over his body and was barely standing.
"Don't worry. You've done more than enough already. You did well." He said, with his hand on Superboy's shoulder. Superboy smiled and returned to the crashed ship where the others were freeing the captured Leaguers.
Adam was about to cut off Astrid's bonds but before he could, her bonds were covered with frost, and she broke out by herself.
"Adam, what happened?" She asked.
"It's complicated. But right now , Superman from our dimension is getting his ass handed to him by the not-so-dead Superman of this dimension."
"That makes my head hurt even more."
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Shockwaves were sent out from the clash of the two titans. They ravaged the city as they battled. Although, it seemed that Good Superman was doing most of the punching.
As the two Supermen slugged it out Zatanna had the job of healing her damaged teammates. Kid Flash and Artemis were okay, but Robin had broken his arm and the others were also badly damaged.
"Ouch! Is magic supposed to hurt?" Asked Robin.
"Wow, Robin. I never knew you were such a whiny baby."
"I'm your whiny baby."
"I think that came out a bit too 'Wally'."
"I regretted saying it the moment it left my mouth."
"It seems that our Superman is winning." Said Aqualad.
"Things may just turn out alright." Said Kid Flash.
Rose hit him upside the head.
"Now you just jinxed it, genius." She said.
Good Superman punched Bad Superman to the ground and landed on him with a kick.
"You're finished. Give up." Good Superman said.
Adam had a sliver of hope.
"I think I have one more trick up my sleeve." Said Bad Superman.
Bad Superman fired his heat vision into Good Superman's eyes and kicked him aside. Then Bad Superman flew straight for the crashed ship. He bashed another hole into the ship, making it look a little like Swiss cheese.
"Well, Astrid. It's time to test our new experiment." He said, with a sickly smile.
He reached for Astrid but Adam tried to protect her. He didn't do a good job as he was flung aside by Bad Superman. He stabbed an injector into her and a bubbling reddish orange liquid collected in the injector.
Astrid fell limp to the ground. Bad Superman put injected the liquid into himself and immediately, he felt a rush of energy. His eyes turned the same colour Adam's eyes turn when he's using Dragon Vision.
"The power!" He yelled.
"Astrid, are you OK?" Asked Rose.
"He used my powers to create a serum to make himself stronger. My powers are drained temporarily." She said.
"He flew with superspeed over to Good Superman and hit him with both fists. Bad Superman grabbed Good Superman out of the air and flew him through a building and kicked him to the ground.
"I need to help him." Said Adam.
"The last time you fought him, he high fived your heart!" Said Rose.
"Well I have a plan now. Punch him harder" He jumped to were the Supermen were fighting.
He had his Dragon Vision on.

"Hey, Superman!" He yelled.
Bad Superman stopped pummeling Good Superman and looked up, just in time to receive a kick from Adam. But the kick did nothing at all. He didn't even feel if. He grabbed Adam's leg and threw him to the ground.
"I there no one in this world that is strong enough to beat me!"
He grabbed Adam's neck and was about to punch him, when he sensed someone right behind him.
He turned around and saw Astrid with a charged spark ball as big as his fist, right in front of his face.
"Leave my brother alone, you bastard."
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I know that the name of the chapter name makes what is going to happen in the chapter obvious but I couldn't resist. We have 9 comments now! And less than half of them are me! Thanks to gf_obsession. Your the best!