Part 7: So what? I'm…

rmarcano321: Hard to say what the moral is. Story hasn't ended yet.

Brave2000: Thanks for your condolences. Yeah, it'd been a while. I hadn't forgotten about the story but sometimes I do need to work up the motivation to write somedays.

blazingpheonix123: Blossom and Mimi will get more stuff between them, don't worry. If I'm understanding your question correctly, yes, I do still get ideas and inspiration from the official Grim Tales comic and its more recent uploads, though not a lot that I've yet to incorporate into any of my stories. Grim's father/Junior's grandfather as a Grim Reaper before him I've thought a lot about since that bit in the comic but I haven't done anything with those ideas quite yet.

AMTT94: Yes, the Flash in this story was the original Kid Flash of the Teen Titans. In Justice League Unlimited, Flash was always Wally West, not Barry Allen, though the show left it ambiguous whether Wally was ever Kid Flash or if there even was another Flash before him in its continuity. Since I feel like Wally becoming the Flash was one of the best examples of a legacy character in comics, I decided to have his time as Kid Flash on the Teen Titans be canon in this story. And in this chapter you'll see that there's also another reason I wanted Flash to have that connection.

Zach Pottinger: They're not likely to take it well (when they find out). John had a lot of great interactions and relations on JLU with the rest of the original seven, most notably Hawkgirl, Flash, and Batman. He was more than just a teammate and more than just another Green Lantern.

F.E.: Yeah, the universe is probably much better off without Vexus in it but she still left her mark on certain individuals within it.

Yinyang2017: I have actually thought a lot about why Mimi only uses powers like her father's and not like her mother's, namely being able to fly. The headcanon I've got going right now is that Mimi does actually have the potential to fly but that power is a lot like how it is for Starfire in the Teen Titans cartoon. To be able to fly would require "unbridled joy" and in present day Grim Tales Mimi genuinely cannot remember the last time she was happy. Jeff and Chi can give her times of peace and contentedness but Mimi lost a lot of ability to feel positive emotions after what HIM put her through, including the death of her mother. She had to shut down emotionally just to make it through, so a lot of Powerpuff abilities are inaccessible to her because they require stronger emotions to even function.

nightmaster000: I was initially worried how well John's death would go over. I'm glad it's not being taken as killing off a character just to show that the story is "fo serious, yo" like too many comics do.

1.) Yep, and you're not the only one who feels that way.

2.) I always love when a hero and villain are in a situation where they have to just listen and talk to each other, where they can't just exchange punches. Batman and the Joker in Arkham Knight, All Might and All For One in Tartarus Prison, and Spider-Man and Green Goblin in the Return of the Goblin graphic novel are probably the examples I most immediately think of and the Jenny/Vexus dynamic was especially inspired by the first one.

3.) Still, better Clockwork than the Observants, whom wanted him to just straight up kill Danny to prevent Dan Phantom from ever existing. Clockwork at least gave Danny a chance (after putting him through the wringer).

4.) Indeed.

CHAPTER START

"How did I get stuck with the freaking clown?" Buttercup asked, being far from shy with her gripes as she easily dodged the acid spray sent her way.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Did you want to fight the zombie or the telepathic gorilla? Because I've got both of them over here for you to choose from!" Danny yelled at her through the comms, narrowly avoiding the massive clumsy fist of Solomon Grundy. Danny's already bleeding nose was proof of him finding out the hard way that he apparently couldn't phase through the undead creature. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't also have Gorilla Grodd firing at him with a…what was that, a laser rifle? ...and protected by a mob of mind-controlled hostages on all sides.

"We'll try and help in a minute, Danny." Jenny assured him as, high above the battle in the streets, Jenny and Static were having their own duel between the tops of the skyscrapers, their opponent none other than Sinestro; the power of his yellow ring as relentless as during the press conference.

A force equivalent to a nice big bundle of TNT then smacked Buttercup across the face. Apparently the Joker's oversized mallet had a few explosives hidden underneath its wooden surface.

"Focus on the opponent in front of you." Buttercup then heard Batman order in her ear, getting her to furl her brow in annoyance. Outside of a little soot she was completely unharmed from the strike but she'd still allowed herself to get sucker punched like that. "The Joker is human but he's still dangerous. He likes to talk. He'll try and distract you but don't listen. Tune him out and power on through."

"You mean like I'd really like to be doing with you right now?"

"Buttercup…" Jack joined the call.

She gave a defeated sigh. "Fine…"

Ripping open the jacket of his purple suit, Joker proudly showed off the many wired and ready to blow containers of some strange green chemical attached to his body, no doubt it being his infamous Joker Toxin.

"Now stop me if you've heard this one before." He said, showing off the single button trigger in his hand. "Th-!"

With a single punch to his face, the Joker fell over onto the street, knocked out cold.

"Powered through enough for you?" Buttercup asked, wiping off the knuckles of her fist despite not being dirty in the slightest.

There was no response from the other end of the line. If she had to guess, Batman was probably glaring at her.

"Well…she did do as you said." She heard her sensei speak in her defense.

"Your judgement call now, Buttercup." Wonder Woman said in place of the other two. "Go assist where you feel you're most needed."

"Finally!" Buttercup cheered, legs bending, about to take flight.

"Restrain him."

Just before she would have leapt, Buttercup gave a deep scowl at Batman's words. Honestly, it was the tone she hated more than anything else, because she couldn't exactly say what he was telling her to do was wrong.

Walking over and ripping a nearby lamppost out of the ground, she tore the chemical vials off the Joker's clothes and tied the post around his body, her hand bending the solid steel with ease.

Making a show of it, she presented the bound up clown to wherever Batman was watching her from.

"…Go."

Buttercup gave a salute. "Yes, O' wise all-knowing leader." She said sarcastically, flying off before he could demand she check Joker for a napalm enema hidden up his butt or something.

Her destination was already obvious. In the center of the city rested a tower that stretched above the rest of them, shaped almost like a bizarre tuning fork. And a battle raging on around it between Buttercup's sisters and a man in golden armor. The man? None other than Lex Luthor.

…Sort of.

If the blueish discoloration of his face wasn't the first clue, then the three lit-up circles across his forehead would be a dead giveaway. This was the Luthor-Brainiac hybrid; the same one the original seven of the Justice League had fought years back.

"You won't stand in the way of my ascension." Buttercup could hear him/them say to Blossom and Bubbles, as from the tower composed of the Dark Heart technology emerged seven shapes, each one bearing the form and image of a different Justice League member (though with odd different costumes that she wasn't familiar with any of them wearing).

At their master's command, the doppelganger Leaguers attacked the Powerpuffs.

"Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this more than I should." Buttercup smiled to herself as she dove straight at the Batman copy.

As that battle was going on, Wonder Woman's voice could be heard again over the shared comms. "Dexter, how goes it at the tower's base?"

"You have a surprisingly violent archnemesis!" He replied back, the screams and roars of a jungle cat able to be heard in the background.

Currently, Dexter was in the middle of a battle with the villainess known as The Cheetah. Well, "battle" might be a bit of an overstatement. At the moment Dexter's back was quite literally up against the wall on the tower, with Cheetah's relentless claws doing a considerable amount of damage to his forcefield, draining its power further and further by the second.

"I thought Cheetah's abilities came from genetic splicing of her DNA."

"That's the previous Cheetah you're thinking of." Wonder Woman corrected him. "This is Barbara Ann Minerva, an archeologist. Her powers are the result of the curse placed upon her after being forcibly wed to the African plant god Urzkartaga."

"…Oh, well, yes, of course. Now that you say that it's all so obvious. Cheetah magic through a planet god." Dexter mumbled, diverting power from other systems in his body to reinforce the shield. The energy repaired what'd been damaged but Cheetah was still tearing her way into it A few more minutes and Dexter's flesh would be what she'd be ripping through next. "Uh…honey?"

"Yes, dear?" Blossom answered him on the comms other end. She knew full well what his situation was and why he was calling but she couldn't resist the urge to tease him a little, especially since Dexter only ever called her honey when he was about to ask her for something.

"If you don't mind-" Slash. "-when you have a minute-" Another slash. "-I'd be very thankful if you'd send a little heat down my way!" Cheetah decided to throw in a kick this time, pushing him and his bubble even further against the tower before she started hacking away at him again.

Pretending to think about it for a minute, Blossom was already getting into position above to help her husband. "Welllllll…okay. Since you asked nicely." She said, her eyes lighting up red as she pushed her way past the imitation Superman and Martian Manhunter to look down at the ground below, towards the tower's base.

Cheetah's fur stood up on end, like some sixth sense; an early warning of danger. From a standing position, the villainess did a backflip, dodging out of the way of the single bolt of heat vision. She was hardly given time to breathe, as from heaven above more of the same attacks rained down. Impressively, not a single one managed to strike her, Dexter supposing to himself that he shouldn't be surprised a woman named Cheetah would possess superspeed.

Still, their objective had been fulfilled where it counted. Finally no longer under attack, Dexter could drop his forcefield. With wires spreading out from one arm to connect with the circuitry of the tower, Dexter's other hand shot forward at Cheetah, the mechanical limb stretching out well past what any arm of flesh could until it grabbed the surprised Cheetah by the leg.

Her claws moved to take a swipe and sever him at the wrist but it was too late for that. Draining the tower itself for all the juice he'd need, Dexter zapped Cheetah with volts upon volts of electrical power, creating quite the lightshow in the process. He put more energy into it than he would have for any normal human. If she was the enemy of Wonder Woman, it stood to reason Cheetah would be able to take quite a bit of damage and thus Dexter could not let up until he was certain it'd be enough to take her out.

Finally, Dexter released her and found his calculations had be right on the money. Cheetah collapsed to the street, groaning to show that she was still alive but far too exhausted to fight anymore. The smell of singed fur hung unpleasantly in the air.

"Hmm… First White Kitty, now her." Dexter mumbled as he retracted back his arm. "Next time we fight a cat themed villain, I should let someone else fight them. I'm afraid I might start getting a reputation at this point."

As he got to work on deactivating the tower, other members of the team were also finally making some headway with their own foes.

Jenny made a dive down towards the area of the city where Danny fought Grodd and Grundy. Hot on her tail, Sinestro thrust his ring forward, about to blast her out of the sky.

It happened in a millisecond; too quick for him to react in time. Metal leapt to his hand, almost like it was alive, coating the majority of his fist.

It was too late to cancel his attack and the blast went off, striking only the metal and everything it backfired upon.

Sinestro let out a howl of pain that could be heard for blocks on end. The destroyed metal fell away, revealing five badly broken fingers and a rapidly cracking ring.

Scratch that. The cracks spread throughout and the yellow ring shattered apart.

The aura around Sinestro's body faded and with it his ability to stay airborne. Gravity took effect and he soon started plummeting to the ground.

The electricity that'd attracted that metal sheet to Sinestro's hand was now the very same electricity that caught him and prevented him from becoming a puce splatter on the pavement.

"I'm glad I talked over a plan with Jenny before we started." Static commented with a satisfied smirk as his powers clung Sinestro to the wall of the nearest building. "I'd far rather be blowing up your hands than hers."

Back on Jenny's end, her left arm transformed into a classic weapon of choice; a sonic cannon. The end of her weapon screamed with over a thousand decibels of concentrated white noise, ironically completely destroying Grodd's concentration as she passed over him. The gorilla's hands slapped over his ears, trying to drive the tune out as much as possible so that he could fight back, but to little avail. Even his mental attacks did little good against a mechanical mind.

His telepathic hold broken, the mob of innocents around him started to wobble before soon fleeing, regaining their free will. Though, much to the interest of the two heroes, the same was happening to Solomon Grundy, the hulking zombie tiredly rubbing his eyes. It would seem Grodd had him under his mental control too.

"Grundy not feel so good…" The creature moaned.

"Grundy gonna feel a lot worse." Danny quipped as he went intangible, his body slipping seamlessly through the sidewalk. Opening his eyes, Grundy looked around for him in confusion, not finding even a trace for where he could have gone.

Grundy's eardrums then burst, right before he was sent flying off his feet. Danny had reemerged from behind to strike the zombie with a sonic attack of his own from his mouth, though one combined with ectoplasmic energy to give it quite a bit more punch than Jenny's.

The Ghostly Wail cutting into Grundy's back like knives, he was hurtled right into Grodd, with the collision between the two weighty villains knocking both out cold.

Slowly, the output of Danny's Wail weakened until he could finally case the attack safely. His body had adapted to the power a great deal since he was fourteen, when even just a single use would leave him completely drained and reverting back to his human form, but it was still not something to treat lightly. Cutting off the Wail too soon, before it'd expended all its energy, could result in him knocking his own teeth out, if not worse.

His throat feeling a little dry but none the worse for wear, Danny gave a thumbs up to Jenny. "Thanks for the assist."

"No problem, though I do want partial credit on that takedown." Jenny joked as her flight wings receded back into her body as she landed beside him. "So you've got yours, Static's got ours, and the others are-"

A booming crack of thunder from above and a single body was smashed down into the quickly cratering street just a short distance from the two. When the dust settled that body was revealed to be that of a groaning Lex Luthor.

Specifically a groaning and very naked Lex Luthor.

"For the record, that was not intentional. His armor just kinda broke apart from all the punches." Blossom's voice called down to them from above, Danny and Jenny turning to see her flying towards them with her sisters following close behind.

Dexter's voice chimed in over the comms. "Tower is deactivated. I'm heading back to you."

"I'll come pick you up." Static offered, already on his way to pick up the still-bound Joker and Dexter wasn't too much further than that.

After a few more minutes and all the heroes were gathered around the circle of restrained supervillains, Cheetah, Sinestro, and Joker cuffed up next to Luthor, Grodd, and Grundy.

Once Jenny placed an inhibitor collar around Grodd's forehead, one designed to keep him from using his telepathy should he awaken, a computerized female voice echoed from above.

"Legion of Doom simulation: Complete. Good job."

The exercise over, the holograms of the six villains ceased their projection, revealing the model Z-8 combat robots underneath.

"By the way, what was the point of that tower anyway?" Danny asked out of curiosity. "I mean, I know it was made by the bad guys but it didn't really do anything during that fight."

Dexter adjusted his glasses knowingly. "Well, it can, in a manner of speaking, be thought of as basically a giant USB drive that the Luthor-Brainiac inserted into the planet. His/their goal was to download all the information and knowledge on Earth in a single stroke."

"Really? Well…that doesn't sound that bad."

"And then he/they were going to blow up the planet, thus ensuring he/they were the only ones in the universe with that knowledge and thus astronomically increasing its value."

"…Ah."

Despite its massive size, aided even further by Hard Light holographic constructs, the simulation room was not infinite. Its fake sky stretched up far to accommodate those with the power of flight but it did still have a ceiling, with its own observation deck, hidden behind the intense glow of the "sun".

Inside, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Jack were all seated before the monitors and controls, having perfect access to multiple vantage points around the simulated city where they could watch the team in action, all allowing the three to give comments, advice, praises, and critiques in real time.

Admittedly though, Jack was splitting his attention, for a very good reason. They were not the only ones within this room, as right behind them two couches sat with their ends against the wall. On one sat cross-legged the Martian Manhunter, and on the other facing him sat Mimi. The eyes of both were wrapped in a soft red glow and neither spoke a single word nor moved a single muscle. Whatever was going on in the mental scape between the two could only be seen by them.

Having been keeping one eye on them both this entire time, at her mother's request, Jack was the first to notice when the two finally came back down to reality, the glow from their eyes vanishing and the Martian Manhunter giving the girl an exasperated smile.

"I have known literal supervillains whom deal with losing better than you."

Mimi stuck her tongue out at him. There wasn't any true anger behind it but there was no way she was going to let him have the last word like that.

Rotating his chair around towards the two, Jack finally asked "Forgive me for prying, but what is it that the two of you have been doing? Some sort of mental exercise?"

"Not an exercise so much as…well, as a game." J'onn answered him. "It is one Martians use for helping children learn to control their telepathic abilities but it's purpose is primarily for fun. Though I may have to inform Blossom that her daughter is quite the notorious cheat." He added with an off-hand smirk at Mimi, whom crossed her arms and turned away from him with an indignant "Humpf!"

Intrigued, Jack questioned further. "What sort of game is it?"

J'onn rose his hand up, stroking his chin as he tried to think up the best way to explain the concept. "In reference to Earth games, M'arack is something of a combination between Tic-Tac-Toe and checkers, though each piece has a specific purpose like in chess and the gameboard is three-dimensional superimposed sphere."

Jack's eyes went up to the side of his head, trying to put such an image together in his head. "That is…quite difficult to visualize." He admitted, chuckling in embarrassment at his own inability.

"It is a game that can be played with more than two players but it does require each person to contribute in shaping the board. It's a great way to help teach focus and construction of images in the mind."

As they were busy chatting, Batman and Wonder Woman went over the data and recordings from the exercise, checking efficiency, technique, damage output, and the like.

"First time through and they've almost broken the record for fastest time." Diana remarked to the two men at both her sides. "You've taught most of them, yes Jack? You must be very proud."

"Of course. Most of them had already surpassed me before they even became adults." Jack said with a thankful bow of his head. "Though that being said, I fear this type of training may feel a bit like they're being talked down to. This simulation was having them go up against duplicates of the original seven's main archenemies, with the addition of one of your biggest missions involving the Dark Heart. I know this is just to help them prepare for what might be coming but I know the Powerpuffs, especially Buttercup, well enough that this must feel like the new members are just being handed the League's leftovers."

"Since it was unlikely you had the same technology at your disposal, how did you train with the girls?" J'onn asked out of curiosity. "Did you face them directly?"

Jack rubbed the back of his head. "Well…actually…yes. For the most part." He admitted. "When I was first teaching martial arts I had them practice on straw and wood dummies so that they could learn the moves. But once Buttercup became proficient, she and I would spar directly, and she was allowed to use her powers, as I was training myself just as much against her as she was me. The Z-8's may be more advanced but they are still training dummies. These heroes may be on the Justice League but it does not feel like they're being treated as equals."

"We agree." Batman said simply, getting Jack to turn his head in slight confusion.

Then, much to his interest, Wonder Woman gave a small smirk.

"Then they're either going to really love or really hate this next part."

While everyone else was chatting amongst themselves, Dexter noticed the look of soft concern on his wife's face. "What's wrong?"

It took Blossom a moment before she answered him, still looking around. "We beat the simulation, right? So why are all the buildings still up?"

The rest of the team overheard the Powerpuff's comment and soon they too came to that realization. It wasn't exactly clear where the exit was in this massive dungeon while the holograms were still on and they were told before going in that there were safeguards in place to keep any cliché Holodeck shenanigans from occurring. Something odd was going on.

"Uh…Wonder Woman? Mr. Batman? We beat the simulation, didn't we?" Bubbles was finally the one to use the comms and ask.

"You did." Batman said, giving only those two words as his answer and nothing else.

The group looked around between itself, completely lost as to what was happening.

Most didn't notice when the pebbles and specks of debris started clattering softly along the ground. But the Powerpuffs, those in the group with hearing far beyond the norm, became well alerted to what was approaching.

"EVERYONE DOWN!" Blossom gave the immediate order, no time for anything else before it arrived.

The colossal bullet of air that blasted through felt more like a train bombarding the group than anything remotely less solid. Windows exploded around them and everyone became completely blinded as the winds ripped apart the very street upon which they stood, sending rubble and dust flying up everywhere around them until all sides resembled the inside of a sandstorm. Everyone reacted in their own ways; going intangible, throwing up forcefields, or even using their own unbreakable bodies to shield those whom were less so. In the end, when the winds had finally passed, any injuries were nonexistent, though the surprise attack had certainly left a few of them quite a bit shaken.

A large cloud from where the blast had originated was still settling. From within it, a single voice could be heard.

"Who cares if I destroy this city?" The lone figure's silhouette asked arrogantly through the thick smoke and dust as he walked towards the team. "With just a single footstep I could crack in half this entire planet of puny humans!"

Whether an intentional emphasis on his point or not, the man's bright red boot was the first part of him to step out of the cloud; its very stomp cracking forth another quick torrent of wind and his full figure soon following its path into sight.

Upon his reveal, the entire team, even its most fearless members…froze.

"Guys…that's not a Z-8." Jenny's voice trembled. While not always perfect, her eyes could tell the difference between a robot and whatever it may be trying to mimic. This was most certainly no mimic.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Static said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Batman's voice echoed in their comms. "Conditions for victory: immobilize, take down, or otherwise incapacitate the target before time runs out."

Facing down the entire team all on his own, with every set of their eyes not daring to look away from him, the last son of Krypton stood proudly in a pose, bearing a smile sinister enough to match that of any in his rogues gallery.

There was no telepathic link between this section of the Justice League. Yet unbeknownst to them, they all shared the exact same screaming thought.

"WE HAVE TO FIGHT SUPERMAN?!"

Everyone then gave a sudden flinch and all Superman did was cross his arms. "What's the matter, heroes?" He asked, his sneering face looking down on them all. "Aren't you supposed to be the protectors of this planet? Do I really have to rip up another street for you to do something?"

No one moved. They were too on edge. Was he trying to bait them?

"Nothing? Fine then. First move is mine." Superman stated, his eyes in an instant blazing like fire.

That alone was enough to shock the team back to their senses but unfortunately, they chose the wrong course of action to counter him. Everyone was prepared for a direct assault by his heat vision but instead his laser gaze swung itself far above their heads. Seconds later and the severed tops and debris of skyscrapers came tumbling down atop their heads.

"I got you!" Danny called out to everyone, grabbing hold of Bubbles and Dexter, the two closest to him. In a second he'd split off duplicates from himself to get to the others. Turning everyone intangible at once would keep them unharmed from the falling rubble.

It was a solid plan. Unfortunately…

"Phantom, wait-!" Dexter tried to stop him before Danny's white glove touched upon his metal arm. The moment he did, electricity of a much greener variety than the kind he'd used against Cheetah surged visibly through Danny, getting him to scream in pain and smell more than a little cooked.

There was no time to explain that his cybernetics included anti-ghost measures to keep him from ever being possessed. No time to give an apology for Danny's pain. Certainly not enough to explain what a waste of time it would be to turn them all intangible when over half their group were invulnerable and had super strength. It would seem too many of them were used to acting on their own and being the only hero in a dire situation, as it was Static whom acted next.

From how it'd been explained to them, the fake city was made up of Hard Light, much like the constructs created by the Green Lanterns. Technically none of it was real but, for the sake of training, it was programmed to act like whatever it was mimicking would. That's why it could be cut by Superman's heat vision and thus why Static's powers, while it could do nothing to the concrete, could affect the rebar within and get the majority of falling chunks to slow their decent and float. Though given the sweat running down his face and the bits that were still falling through, such a thing was no easy feat.

With the veritable sea of stone floating over their heads, the Powerpuffs were ready to charge forth and go on the attack. However, in their distraction over the avalanche, Superman had completely disappeared.

With that idea out the window, the sisters huddled together, standing almost back to back in a triangle as they used their x-ray vision to try and find him.

"Steady, girls." Blossom urged the other two, slipping into the role of leader as her eyes still saw nothing other than more and more empty buildings. "The minute we see him, we have to either bind his arms or cut off his line of sight. Either way we'll limit a lot of what he can do."

"Oh?" A voice then asked, following behind a quick gust of wind that blew their hair forward. "And then what will you do?"

The three immediately turned in panic, the smiling Superman having appeared at their backs in an instant.

"Behind us-!"

"How-?!"

"He's so fast-!"

They were quick to recover and attempt a counterattack but their opponent was already making his move. A fist to Blossom's gut, another to Bubbles', and an elbow to Buttercup's and Superman sent all three flying off far in different directions, the only signs of where they'd once been being the upchucks of split and bile they'd left on the ground around him.

Jenny's arms morphed into cannons as soon as he'd appeared but a sudden blue knee closed the distance and struck her in the face before she could fire, sending the robot girl hurtling through just as many buildings as the Powerpuffs. The multiple trails of destruction had left an X across the city and at its center as him.

"Please tell me he did not just take out our big guns in five seconds flat." Static begged to the only two remaining members of his team left around him.

Still slightly dazed from the shock he'd been given, Danny looked around, brain running a mile a minute to think of some options for fighting such an imposing opponent. However, in doing so he was the first to notice something.

"Um…where's Dexter?" He asked, the cyborg scientist having apparently pulled a disappearing act of his own, as he was nowhere in sight.

Static whipped his head around as well, spotting not even a speck of his "teammate's" white coat. "Are you kidding me?! Did he seriously just run away?!"

"Just you two then?" Superman asked, his back turned, getting the spines of both to give a jump as indeed they are all alone with him. He'd sent their most powerful members flying so the fact that he hadn't already taken them down was definitely a deliberate decision.

"How is he so intimidating?!" Danny's mind screamed at itself

"I suggest you stop hesitating, Justice League." Superman told them, flashing a sinister smile over his shoulder that made their blood run cold. "I'm a villain now, which means I won't be pulling my punches."

Using the ammo he had, Static threw forward all the rubble he'd saved the rest of the team from being crushed by. Unsurprisingly, at superspeed Superman was easily able to turn and avoid the cumbersome lumps sent his way. But curiously, once they sped past him, he then heard the rubble slow down and then change direction.

And then he noticed it; the small but significant stream of electricity running from the sole of Static's foot all the way over to his own. The attack had just been a distraction and now that electricity scuttled up his leg and over the rest of his body.

"Clever." Was the last the two heard him say before the thick rubble struck at his back, not giving any indication that it harmed him in the slightest, though it was soon joined by more hitting his front, then his sides, top, more at the front, and then more at the back; everything evening out create a makeshift concrete cocoon many feet thick.

Seeing the sparks flying from the bits of exposed metal, as well as Static using his powers to keep a continuous hold going on the mound, Danny got the picture of what had just happened.

"You gave Superman a reverse charge! You magnetized him and made all the metal attracted to his body!"

"Yep." Static said, still sweating, partly due to the continuous use of his abilities on so much mass and partly in relief that it'd even worked at all. "I doubt it'll hold him for long, but like Blossom said, I got his limbs and eyes restrained. He starts breaking out, I'll feel it, so we have at least that long to regroup and-!"

Static cut his own words off. He'd just felt something but just looking Danny couldn't yet tell what it was. Then, the mound of rubble started to clatter slightly. It didn't seem like anything was falling off or being pushed away. The static cling was keeping everything nice and bound up tightly. So why did it still seem like the cocoon was moving.

Answer? It was going up.

It was just a few centimeters at a time but soon it was very clear the misshapen prison was floating above the ground, stopping once it'd reached a full foot.

The sphere of rubble then shot forward like a cannonball.

"ShitohshitohshitohshitohSHIT-!" Poured out of Static's mouth. Unable to get out of the way and his powers doing nothing to slow the massive projectile's approach, it hit his full body with full force. He wasn't knocked back as far as Jenny and the Powerpuffs has been but the clear dent he'd made in the nearest brick wall and his slump over onto the ground made it clear just how much misery that impact had given him.

With the cling considerably weakened now that Static was no longer providing a direct charge to it, a simple flex of his muscles and the rocks blasted off Superman's body and into the surrounding buildings, setting him free.

"Gravity affects mass." He said to the groaning Static. "You should take that into account when someone has the ability to defy gravity." He glanced over his shoulder. "Where are you going?" He asked Danny, whom had backed up slightly in preparation to retreat and come up with a plan.

A blink and Superman was right in his face. On combative reflex Danny fired off an intense blast of ecto-energy from his hands, the force pushing him away from his opponent as it struck him.

The smoke cleared and Superman was revealed again, not even a scratch across his emblem.

"Heh. Tickles." He smiled, saying it in a tone that told Danny he was about to pay him back for that attack.

Flying forward, Danny split off into multiple duplicates of himself; four in total. Ice and ecto-blasts? Pretty doubtful it'd leave even a scratch after everything he just saw. Quite frankly, even his current plan was questionable in whether it could succeed. After all, this was freaking Superman! Could he actually even be overshadowed? But it was Danny's best option and all he needed was just one of his copies to reach him.

Superman stood his ground to face them, noticing quickly that his four opponents had all gone intangible, probably out of fear of his heat vision the minute they saw the whites of his eyes.

Faster than a blink, Superman slammed his hand together for a single clap.

It was like a boom of thunder had gone off right in the Dannys' faces.

The four ghosts screamed, covering their ears in a reflex to the pain. The entire world was ringing around them; their hearing completely shot and all suffering a splitting headache.

"Just because I can't touch you doesn't mean I can't hurt you." Superman informed them, not that any of the Dannys were aware of a single word he said. The pain had halted their forward assault and they were only aware he was talking because his lips were moving.

Superman's eyes glowed red again, the signal that he was about to use his heat vision. However, it was no solid line of concentrated power that shot out this time. Instead, the glow that was intense as the sun flashed like a strobe light, on and off in rapid succession.

The pain in their heads only got worse and the Dannys were forced to shut their eyes to save them from more, all of them now blinded.

His concentration completely broken, Danny's clones faded as he fell to the broken street, his tightly closed eyelids still heavily wincing. Not a single hand had been laid on him like with the others but it was hard for one to stand their ground and fight when they couldn't even tell where they were anymore.

Aside from Static's groans and Danny's pained winces, quiet had returned to the battlefield. Yet Superman's shoulders remained tensed.

"There's a flicker." He spoke, seemingly to no one but himself. "Different from that of the buildings. Cycle 512 times a second. Projecting itself onto the surface and directing all the communications traffic around it. Nobody else would ever be able to see that."

His arm then lashed out at his side. To an onlooker, it would seem like he was grabbing nothing but air. To his fingers however, there was the unmistakable presence of a throat in his hold.

"But I'm Superman, and everything that's making your stunt work is broadcasting at 18 terahertz." He said, quite impressed how well the trick was masking all the noise his opponent was doubtlessly making. "You ever heard white noise at 18 terahertz?"

It was impossible to describe what came out of Superman's mouth next. Any device that tried too hard to record it was doubtlessly fried in the attempt and Dexter himself was the proof of that, popping back into sight in Superman's hand as sparks flew and circuits snapped across well over half the electronics in his body.

Superman ceased the white noise, finally giving Dexter a break, before dropping him uncaringly to the ground.

"…..Oowwwww…" The scientist moaned, sounding just as burnt out as his tech and not getting back up into the fight anytime soon. There was a thick electronic collar that'd fallen out of his hand. Most likely it was some kind of power dampener, like the kind used in Belle Reve Penitentiary. Dexter was letting the others distract Superman while he tried to sneak up and put the collar on him. Again, not a bad plan, but room for improvement.

A noise then came from off in the distance behind him and Superman quickly turned to face it.

…Turning too late, it would seem, given the fist that then impacted his jaw.

It was finally his turn to be sent through a wall, and then a few others for good measure. It was only once he'd cleared a line straight through the building's first floor and was back outside that he then saw it was Blossom whom had hit him, flying in fast for another strike.

The power of flight activating and halting his path through the air, the ready Superman caught her fist in his palm.

"You get one." He told her, catching her next punch as well, both of their arms now restraining each other.

"I've got two." Blossom retorted, her eyes glowing just as his had done before.

The heat vision of the Kryptonian and the Powerpuff collided in the space between them, turning the entire street red and the air around them into fire. The two grappled but refused to be pushed back even an inch, even as the area around them became engulfed in an inferno.

From far behind Superman's back, Jenny was fast approaching from the sky, propelled by her rocket wings.

"Ooh! Use the plasma cannon! Wide dispersal." Vexus suggested, her image replacing Jenny's reflection in the windows she passed. "Probably won't do much to hurt him but you'll be able to get all the other wastes of space out of your way."

"Shut up." Jenny said, doing her best to tune her out. Though Vexus was right (to an extent). Any attack she had that was powerful enough to possibly hurt Superman had the risk of catching her downed teammates in its radius, with even the most precise still leaving open the possibility of Blossom getting hurt.

Choosing a different tactic instead, Jenny's palms widened and her forearms armored up, transforming into her Shock Gauntlets, as she and her mother called them. She'd heard somewhere that significant electricity was actually a surprisingly effective method of attack against invulnerable opponents, as it strikes at the nerve endings directly and causes them pain rather than trying to break through their unbreakable skin and hurt them that way.

With her gauntlets, all she'd have to do is grab him. There was no risk of hitting anyone else and thankfully her electronic eyes were not impaired in the least by the lightshow going out between the two.

Suddenly, Superman twisted Blossom's wrists in his grip. It did little to hurt her or even get her to back off but soon she saw the move was simply to give himself leverage.

Before she even knew what was happening, Blossom found herself being yanked up over Superman's head. The move was not without its penalty. Her path had caused her heat vision to pass right across the area between his neck and shoulder. It must have hurt him. Blossom's nostrils flared with the smell of burnt flesh and saw him wince, but it still did little to impede him.

He'd taken her off her feet, swinging her by her arm in a full arc above his head as he turned, making the eyes of both women go wide as Superman smashed Blossom into Jenny like a club, sending them right into the ground. In the collision, Jenny's Shock Gauntlets did exactly as she'd tried to avoid and backfired, giving both Blossom and herself quick the powerful jolt upon touch.

Superman then collapsed to his knees down on the concrete, holding both sides of his head in agony. It felt like a drill directly into his brain, entering from his ears. Despite the difficulty in being able to even think, it didn't take much for Superman to realize what he was being attacked by was the same sonic scream Bubbles had used against the Giant Fishballoon Monster during their first mission together.

Forcing his eyes to peel themselves open despite the pain, he was just in time to see Buttercup's fist crack into his face and then his solar plexus. Apparently the remaining Powerpuffs had found their way back to the fight.

The blows stumbled Superman back considerably. It was a good bit of teamwork. Bubbles' screams from above were keeping him off balance and Buttercup, arguably the best fighter among her sisters, used it to her advantage to keep hammering away at him. Even Jenny, with a slightly smoked Blossom on top of her, caught onto the tactic and transformed one of her free gauntlets into the Sonic Cannon she'd used against the Z-8 mimicking Grodd earlier and unleashed it on him, adding to suffering even more.

"Not bad at all." Superman mentally complimented the them all, though he still wasn't without options of his own.

Just as Buttercup was about to land another blow, Superman slammed both his fists down into the street like a caveman, sending a shower of debris flying up all around him. The explosion of dust managed to push back the two women and halt their assault on him for just a few seconds but that was all he needed. From within that cloud, a streak of red shot past Buttercup and off towards elsewhere in the city.

"He's running away?!" Buttercup yelled in disbelief, unable to comprehend that one of the supposedly greatest heroes on Earth would do such a cowardly thing. Still, Bubbles was already ahead of her, going after the fleeing Superman. With a groan that the fight had now become a chase, Buttercup flew after them both.

To any onlookers it was just a show of colors; two streaks of green and blue respectively racing across the sky to try and catch the red one. They shot between skyscrapers at unimaginable speeds, almost playing chicken with how close they get to crashing right through any number of the buildings before making a sharp turn away at the last second.

Not even a minute had passed by and the three had covered the majority of the cityscape, about ready now to loop back around.

And then, when another of the countless skyscrapers passed before him, Superman had vanished, the two Powerpuffs suddenly losing all track of him.

"Where'd he go?" Bubbles asked her sister, stopping their flight and searching around in a panic. There were no people in this fake city other than them and their teammates. Their x-ray vision should be able to spot him easily. So why couldn't they?!

Then, from out of the blue, the red streak appeared again. Just for a second, and then Bubbles was gone now as well, just a sharp gust of wind alerting Buttercup to her forced disappearance.

"Bubbles? Bubbles?!" Buttercup called out, twisting her head around in every direction but her eyes and ears finding nothing. It was just her alone up here in the sky now. "What did you do to her?! Where'd she go?!"

"Orbit." Superman's voice echoed between the buildings to answer her, seeming to come from nowhere else but everywhere. She couldn't pin down his direction. "She flew into orbit at Mach 7."

And then, there he was, appearing just a few yards before Buttercup, floating in front of the skyscraper with the most reflective windows so she wouldn't miss him.

"You have super-hearing too, right?" He asked her with a malicious smirk. "I'm sure any minute now you'll hear the…pop."

She knew he was just trying to get to her. This place had a ceiling and there was no way he'd actually kill Bubbles. Still, it was a hell of a performance, as evidenced by the small bit of sweat running down the side of Buttercup's temple.

Fists clenched, she shot forward, ready to fight him head-on.

Close combat was to Buttercup's strength and that what she played to, reacting quickly and keeping careful watch on her opponent's moves to make sure he couldn't run away again. To her credit, she was doing quite well compared to what most of her team had been able to do so far. She and Superman were roughly even with each blow they exchanged, with Buttercup actually landing a few extra whenever she changed up her fighting style and threw him off what he'd predict she'd do next. Sensei Jack had often commented that even if she didn't have invulnerability and super strength, just being able to flying and thus fight and think 3-dimensionally gave Buttercup a massive advantage over most martial artists. Superman's hits hit certainly but she was able to see hers were having an effect too.

The next punch that was thrown, Superman sidestepped it, but kept himself in close, then jabbing two fingers at the pit of Buttercup's elbow. The fingers of his other hand struck in a similar manner at her upper arm barely a second later. His attack continued on like that, jabbing at her shoulder and a few other choice spots along his opponent's outstretched arm. He only ceased when Buttercup quickly pulled back, flying backwards to get herself some distance away from the assault.

However, as soon as she did, she felt it hit her stomach; her arm flopping uselessly at her side.

"What-?! What the hell-?!" The arm didn't hurt, nor was it broken. Rather there was just a feeling of numbness all over and her curved fingers had gone completely stiff, refusing to obey the commands of her brain. "What did you-?"

"You're quite the well-trained fighter." Superman said. "Even as I was soaking up your blows I couldn't pin down a pattern right away because you kept switching your styles. Karate. Muay Thai. Wrestling. Even some I've only seen Diana use, so I'm assuming Jack taught you a lost art or two."

Leaping forward as he was in the middle of monologuing, Buttercup aimed a kick right at his head. But her flopping arm threw her weight off just enough to make her slow enough for Superman to counter her, jabbing at the leg at middle points just as he had with the arm. And just like it, Buttercup lost control of the attacked limb. She was left wide open and as soon as she raised her remaining arm up to defend herself, her opponent struck and incapacitated that one too.

"Me? I focused more on learning Pressure Point combat." Superman stated, while pulling his fist back. "And boxing."

The following one-two combo, just as he'd been taught, hit Buttercup hard enough to create a boom and down to the street she went.

A second boom went off right beside Superman's head, rocking his brain and causing the world to tremble around him. He'd been too focused on Buttercup and now Blossom had returned, silently getting as close to him as she could before speeding up and breaking the sound barrier. She had no sonic scream like Bubbles did but her attack worked just as well to discombobulate her opponent. With everything within his vision spinning wildly, Superman could only barely make out Blossom circling back around and flying right at him, soon feeling the now familiar impact of her fist.

She did not have the same fighting prowess as her sister but she was still plenty fast, opting to just keep hitting him as many times as she possibly could in order to keep him off balance. Still, even if they were of roughly equal strength, such a tactic could only hold out for so long until he, or really any kind of competent opponent, would get used to the assault enough to counter her.

"There's another plan at play here." Superman noted to himself as he pulled his forearms up to protect his face, and soon he was able to put together what it was.

Even through ringing ears, he could still hear them below. The others were slowly but surely starting to get back up. Within maybe a few minutes they'll have nursed off the beatings he gave them well enough to at least get back into the fight. Blossom was just trying to buy time, and doing a fairly good job of it so far.

Her punches not breaking through the wall that were his arms, Blossom went for a gut punch instead. But that gave Superman the opportunity he needed, pulling apart the arms protecting his face. With a quick puff of air from his lungs, Blossom's entire head was slammed back and encased in a thick, jagged layer of ice.

"Time to wrap this up." She heard him say through her covered ear. Just a single flash of heat vision and Blossom instantly melted the ice away. But by the time she could see again, Superman was already gone from view. Though where he'd gone was not a difficult guess.

The red streak was leaving its trail across the circumference of the city; Superman flying in a large circle across its width. Faster and faster did his flight increase as his pattern became more regular. The winds started to pick up at a rapid pace, following the Man of Steel's path.

The heroes who were just starting to get back to their feet now found themselves being swept off them; caught in the strides of the near-solid red tornado that'd formed in the city's center. Static was too groggy to use his powers to pull him towards anything metal so Jenny had to extend her arms up to catch both him and Dexter, before then bolting her feet to the ground so she wouldn't be dragged in as well. Sadly there was no helping Danny, whose gaseous body couldn't be grabbed by anything solid and thus was swept away into the winds. Bubbles and Buttercup couldn't even be seen through all the spinning dust.

Fearlessly, Blossom flew straight into the vortex, right into the eye of the storm. One thunderclap of her hands right at its center theoretically could dispel the tornado but that'd have little effect if Superman was still flying around and actively creating it.

"I have to take him out first."

Blossom's senses expanded wide. That was the easy part, and why she needed to get inside the tornado first. Outside, every little breeze would be a roar in her ears. Every little moment of dirt would attract her eyes' attention. The senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and even taste of she and her sisters were more acute than that of any living being on Earth. It was dangerous to just let everything in unfiltered; such risk that even the smallest sensation could completely overwhelm her, break all focus, and leave her wide open.

But here in the eye, where everything outside was completely drowned out by the spinning wind, all that existed was her. And just one other thing.

What had been a blur flying around and around her started slowly coming into focus. She could hear his very body cutting across the air like a knife before his speed pulled it along behind him. Smell just the faintest bit of iron from what little blood the attacks of all of her teammates had drawn from him. Slowly but surely, the outline of a lone man started to solidify inside that thick wall of wind.

"Don't aim for where he is. Aim for where he's going to be."

Blossom tensed herself, waiting for the right moment. Seconds were just barely squeaking by but the anticipation stretched them out considerably.

"Almost… Almost…"

The shape had to have passed by her eyes at least a hundred times by now. There were slight alterations in the pattern…but…

"THERE!"

Blossom's body blasted through the air. Whether she was faster or not than her opponent was a minor obstacle, as she had far less of a distance to cover than he did with the path he was using to keep the tornado going. Even if Superman saw her in time, and that was a big if, trying to change direction or outright stop would only cause the tornado's winds to work against him now, as he'd get caught up in its force.

Her aim was perfect. Getting the timing right when she went into the wall, Blossom's fist struck directly at Superman's head just as his path took him right to her.

Only one problem.

There was no solid contact. Blossom's blow passed right through his forehead and hair.

"A mirage?!" She exclaimed, putting together very quickly what'd just occurred, though how was something she had little time to dwell on. Blossom had been so sure he was there and now she was being buffeted by the same currents she'd tried to use against him.

Then, from out of the darkness, she felt two strong hands grip her wrists and use the leverage to twist her arms back to her sides.

Superman had been far ahead from where he'd left the afterimage behind that Blossom had been tricked into attacking. Now his path had finally taken him back around to her.

With her arms bound, Blossom could only watch as Superman tilted her head far back.

"…Ahhhhhh crap." She swore, resigning herself to what was about to happen.

Superman's head swing forward, smashing his forehead into Blossom's.

The shockwave from the headbutt dispelled the tornado. Everyone whom had been struggling against its pull now fell hard to the ground, though the first to make it there was the orange haired Powerpuff; laid out in quite the crater, settling debris clacking all around her.

"…..Oowwwww…"

The air horn echoed throughout the sky.

"Red Son Exercise: Failed. You suck."

"That seemed a bit uncalled for." Superman remarked at the computer's last comment, rolling over the list in his head of people who would have programed it to say that. It unfortunately wasn't a very short list and most of it was made up of adults. He'd have to give Batgirl a call and see if his cousin put her up to it.

As he descended, the buildings around him started to lose their color before becoming translucent. With the exercise declared over the simulation was shutting down, causing the cityscape to fade away. Every street, every building, even every drop of blue in the sky broke apart into code and disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a massive white room. And that adjective overstated nothing. This big barren box was almost a full mile wide, giving its combatants plenty of room to move around and cut loose as they trained themselves deep underneath the city of Metropolis.

As excessive as it may seem, it at least was not the Justice League whom had created such a taxpayer nightmare but rather the old Project Cadmus. This had been one of their old training facilities for Galatea; the clone they'd created of Supergirl. How the government had managed to build such a thing underneath Superman's own city without anyone knowing had been a mystery until the discovery that Lex Luthor had been bankrolling various Cadmus projects. Then it made all too much sense. Still, one couldn't deny the usefulness of such a place and once it'd been gone over multiple times for spyware and any other nasty surprises, the Metro Tower was built over the secret base rather than letting it go to waste. It even made for a handy bunker to keep civilians safe in during Earth's various disasters and invasions.

Blossom rubbed her pounding head as she heard the soft clomp of boots onto the ground nearest her. With painful effort, she squinted her eyes open to see Superman offering his hand out to her. It was actually quite impressive the change now that he was able to drop character. A simple relax of his muscles and an honest smile devoid of any malice and all the intimidation from before was gone. He felt like the Superman she knew again and Blossom, smiling and scoffing a little at her bruised pride, took his hand and allowed him to help her back up to her feet.

Even though this void was designed with superhuman brawling in mind, that still didn't make it completely unbreakable. There were a few choice splintering idents along the expansive floor where the team had been pummeled into, including the crater Blossom just got pulled up from. Even high above them there was a nice big crack in the ceiling near the observation deck. Given Bubbles was wobbly flying towards them from that direction, that was probably the "orbit" Superman had chucked her into.

From where she'd been watching the brawl ever since the sound of impacts had gathered her attention, Mimi sank down into her seat with quite the air of depression. "…Cheater." She grunted the name-call at Superman under her breath. Clearly that was the only reason her mom would ever lose to him.

"It doesn't feel so good, does it?" J'onn couldn't resist the urge to tease the child.

Angrily, Mimi started bouncing indignantly in her chair. "Cheater! Cheater! Cheater!"

As Jack tried to politely get her to calm down, he heard Wonder Woman turn her chair to face Batman.

"I believe that's another $100 you owe me." She said, leaning her elbow against the control panel with little attempt to hide her smugness.

"I'll try and see if I can find the time to look between my couch cushions." Batman replied dryly, though even through the mask Diana could still see the playful challenge in his eye.

Jack turned to them, letting J'onn handle the pouting Mimi for the moment. "You bet that they would lose?" He asked, a little offended on the team's behalf. "And you bet that they would win?" He then asked Batman, seeming to find that even harder to believe.

"No." Batman replied with just that one word and nothing more. Thankfully Wonder Woman was more open.

"I bet that the team would be able to draw things out until time was up. He bet they'd drop out before then."

"…Wow." Was all Jack could manage to utter in his shocked state.

"It's nothing personal." Batman explained, though not seeming to really care that much even if it was taken that way. "No one ever beats him on the first go and we have had people give up."

"To bet on the outcome seems a little much though."

"I bet that they would win." J'onn chimed in innocently.

"Was it because Mimi might read your mind during your games and find out who you bet on?" Diana asked knowingly.

"I admit nothing." He replied with a smile, zipping his lips and getting another pouting stare from Mimi.

Superman waited patiently for all the other heroes to walk and stagger their way over to him before he started talking.

"So…that could have gone better for you all."

"Ya think?" Buttercup muttered, flexing and bending her arm now that she'd finally gotten feeling back into it. She wasn't the only one nursing her injuries. Static was walking with a bit of a limp and Danny was still rubbing his eyes and blinking heavily, still seeing wide spots in his vision. Dexter and Jenny, in a bit of amusing synchronicity, both had small blow torches coming out of their index fingers so they could work on repairing the damage caused to their mechanical parts. "So, was there any actual point to all that or did you just feel like showing off how much better than us you are?"

Superman raised an eyebrow at the Powerpuff. "Is that how you feel about the exercise?"

"Well…to an extent." Static answered while checking out his hoverboard, happy to see it miraculously hadn't gotten trashed when he'd been smashed into the wall earlier. "I mean, we've worked together before. I've seen you take a tank shell to the face and walk it off. My powers are great but they're gonna do much to hurt a guy who can bench press half of Dakota City."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration. It'd fall apart under its own weight."

"It would, but that's not quite the problem." Dexter remarked offhandedly, his glasses flashing as they reflected the light from his repairs.

"I mean, I know the whole thing about the Justice League is that we all bring something to the table and that we're all supposed to be equals but…well…haven't you saved the entire planet like fifty times on your own?" Danny pointed out. "I'm not saying that there's no chance of us winning but…you know…you're Superman."

From what Superman could see, everyone present was mostly in agreement with Danny's point, though some of the more prideful ones like Buttercup only gave a small grunt in acknowledgment. From that point of view, he supposed the odds did seem very unfair.

"I suppose I am."

From its base, Superman pulled up his shirt.

Everyone before him was struck silent and some like Bubbles could not keep their hands from instinctively covering their mouths in horrified shock.

"Oh my god…" Blossom mouthed with wide eyes at what she saw.

Running down the majority of Superman's chest was a massive scar, from the center of his pecs to nearly all the way down his stomach. The jagging at the ends could maybe be said to resemble a lightning bolt, though a rather fat one at that.

"I take it most of you are at least somewhat familiar with a creature named Doomsday." He continued on talking, his face not betraying the feelings of awkwardness inside. Outside of his wife and a few close friends, this wasn't something Clark had shown most people. "We've fought several times over the years, and each time he's beaten or killed he evolves and comes back, immune to whatever brought him down the time before. An altered molecular density to make him less susceptible to blunt force. Thicker bones inside and out to protect him from heat vision. The battle that caused this wound Doomsday's spikes had evolved, becoming retractable and a lot more punishing, hurting me more than I was him whenever I landed a blow. Any time a piece of him was chipped away a spike would take its place, thick and stronger. Doomsday lost a hand and then he impaled me with what grew back. If it hadn't been for the League's quick work, I would have died…again…though I was in and out of seizures for a few weeks while in medical care. And now I have to wear a layer of synthetic skin whenever I want to go to the beach." He added in jest that last part, though no one else was laughing.

He then pointed at a spot on his chest near his heart.

"The scar tissue mostly covers it up now but this cut is from when I was shot by Metallo with a piece of Kryptonite that'd been chipped off his artificial heart. Batman had to surgically remove the bullet and that was only after we walked through over a mile of sewage after being buried alive and having to use a bomb to dig our way out."

Turning around, he kept his shirt lifted up just enough so that the group could see his back, moving his cape out of the way. It wasn't as bad as what was on his front but the way the line running across his bad was so bunched up and blistered, it was definitely a burn scar. A bad one.

"This is from General Zod's heat vision. It's thankfully not as bad as it used to be. I was too distracted by Non and Faora and he got the drop on me. He said one way or another he'd get me to kneel and that me on the ground desperately trying to get away from the burning was good enough."

Turning back to them, Superman lowered his shirt back down, before then lifting up on of the legs of his pants, showing off a large scar that ran across the back of his knee.

"Darkseid's general, Steppenwolf, used a Boom Tube to teleport us both to a planet with a red sun where he could hunt me down as my powers faded. The fact that they weren't completely gone at the time is likely the only reason my leg didn't come off completely when he caught me with his axe."

He set he clothes back to normal and then continued on.

"Then I have the injuries that were thankfully less permanent. Silver Banshee bursting my eardrums with her sonic scream. Live Wire causing my synapses to misfire as she messed with my brain electricity. Coldcast of the Elite using his EMPs to screw around with my electrons. Mongul's Black Mercy plant. Darkseid's Agony Matrix. Half of what Mister Mxyzptlk has done to me. It's turned my body into quite the mess over the years.

"So, I'm curious; how many of you have been through the same?" He asked them all. "How many of you have fought supervillains who far outclassed you, in either power or skill? How many times have you fought someone who exploited your weaknesses? Fought someone who swore they'd never rest until they'd found a way to kill you and more than had the resources to do it? I feel it'd be almost all of you and if that's the case…how are you all still alive, when you supposedly had no chance of winning?"

Slowly, his point did start to dawn on the others. Like him, they thought of the absolute worst villains they'd ever fought. Armagedroid. Pariah Dark. Ebon. Dr. X and Bell. It was subtle but almost like he could read her mind, Superman was looking right at Blossom as she thought of HIM. And how did they survive against such enemies?

"As your new foes become more powerful, as your old foes became more inventive, you were forced to become more resourceful to counter them. Nearly every tactic I used against you all were ones I've had to be drilled into me over the years as ways to counter my own enemies, or even methods they've in turn used against me. There's a reason I immediately separated the most powerful in your team from those with more unique abilities. Super strength, speed, flight, heat vision. I'm familiar enough with those but ghost powers? Electricity manipulation? Gadgetry? That's a lot of unknown and I had to take you out fast. Taking you on one or two at a time is manageable but I've been beaten on by Zod and his minions, Mala and Jax-Ur, or even the aptly named Superman Revenge Squad enough times to know divide and conquer was my best bet for winning, and even then still I took some knocks, because you've had the exact same experience with your rogues." Superman explained himself, pointing towards each of them. "We've got more skill, more knowledge, more experience than any two-bit world conqueror or despot who thinks he's entitled to everything he sees just because he can shoot fire from his eyes. We don't just sit on a mountain of skulls and call ourselves tough. Darkseid might be behind what we're facing and he's a literal god. I'm just an alien. None of you would ever knuckle down to him so why would you to me? Yeah, I'm Superman but what the hell should that mean to you?"

Among all present, his body was easily the one with the most scars, but he wasn't the only one with them. The other heroes felt the itch of their own past injuries, remembering every past trial that'd taken them to this point. What should have killed them. What should have crippled them. But as they stood here now, they'd apparently chosen to follow the cliché instead and make them stronger. Make them better than they had been.

"None of you are here because you begged for a spot on the team. The Justice League came to you, because you all have proven yourselves to be some of the greatest heroes on the planet. So when I say "I'm Superman", your response should be "So what? I'm…" and so on. Show me it's no mistake you're here."

Slowly, against their own reluctance, the various heroes whom had just minutes ago been getting beaten on by Superman were now having their faces split into exasperated smiles. They could not exactly say he was wrong in what he said and they started straightening their stances. They should be able to pick his argument apart but for the life of them they just couldn't find the words. Perhaps they didn't want to.

From up in the observation, Jack finally gave a true smile of his own.

"I see now why he was the one picked for this."

"He's well known at this point for being able to give some decent speeches." J'onn said, Mimi now sitting in his lap so she could have a better view.

Taking a few steps back, Superman stood off against the group once more, an appropriate distance between them.

"Now then… Are you all ready to go another round? Or do you really feel like getting me go undefeated at a 1-0 record?" He asked them, allowing the cockiness to come back into his voice as he tiptoed back into character.

Superman had just thrown down the gauntlet, and judging by the renewed determination in the other heroes' faces, they were more than ready to accept.

Once more, the Hard Light cityscape sprang up to life around them.

Mini-epilogue:

The door to the Utonium household opened up, Mimi holding the door as she sucked down on her juice box so that the other three may enter.

"Ow. Ow. Ow." Blossom winced with each step, even with Dexter and the Martian Manhunter on both sides supporting her so she wouldn't have to put more than one foot on the ground.

"I'm not certain which is worse; that even during practice combat he didn't hold back, or the possibility that he still might have been." Dexter remarked.

"I was holding back too."

"Of course, dear."

"I was! If I had gone all out Superman and I would have turned that place into a crater."

"I appreciate then that you didn't." J'onn said. "The Metro Tower was expensive enough to build the first time, let alone the times we've had to rebuild it since."

"And yet, you're still thankfully not as competitive as your sister." Dexter commented, rubbing his very sore face as he and J'onn led the way to the couch. "We would have gone through half as many drills if it hadn't been for Buttercup's insistence. And I would have half as many bruises."

The group turning around in unison, Blossom was able to flop back against the couch, her husband soon joining her. "Yeah, well… There's only so much Sensei Jack can tame her." She yawned tiredly. "And I'd be lying if I said it wasn't nice to get at least a little bit of payback on Superman for that first round."

"Sounds nice. I must have missed that part around the fourth or fifth time my face was shoved into a wall. I highly suggest ordering a pizza for dinner tonight. I am far too exhausted to cook."

"We're both terrible cooks. That's all Jeff and Buttercup." Blossom remarked, her shoulder leaning against his.

"Oh, right." Dexter said apathetically, leaning against her just as much.

Then, the doorbell rang.

"AHRGGG…!" Both husband and wife tilted their heads back against the couch in a long groan, neither having the energy to get up and do anything more today.

As their houseguest, J'onn felt obliged to get it for them, his eyes first glowing as his telepathy reached out to sense who it was outside. He was given his answer fairly quickly and the Martian smiled.

Blossom took notice. "Is it the person you were telling us about?"

"Indeed, though I did think they would have gotten here before us." J'onn said as he moved to go answer the door. "Then again, the fastest man alive always being late for events of lesser importance is something of a private joke between us."

Opening up the door and indeed, on the other side was the Flash, beside him a figure in a long, dark blue cloak and hood that hid the majority of the person's features.

"Sorry about the delay. Monsieur Mallah was trying to break The Brain out of prison before we left, so putting him in a cage of his own took up a bit of our time."

"It's fine. The important thing is that you're here." J'onn said, seeing no need for Flash to explain himself. He had made this request of him very last minute.

Dexter's eyes went to the corner of his vision, feeling like those names sounded familiar. "Mallah and The Brain… Aren't those the two supervillains who are-?"

"Yes." Flash raised his hand up to get Dexter to stop. "Yes, they are, and please don't say any more. I really don't like thinking about how monkeys and jars do…THAT…with each other."

Being invited in, the two newcomers entered, with Blossom forcing herself to stand up and greet the person she did not personal recognize.

"Thank you for coming."

"It was no trouble." The hooded figure said, her voice revealing her to be a woman. "Though I am surprised I was picked out of everyone the League knows. There are those connected to the mystic world far more powerful or knowledgeable than I am."

"Yes, well, Doctor Fate has expressed concerns about the Helmet of Nabu as of late, fearing it's taking him to the more extreme ends of order." J'onn explained. "And John Constantine is…"

"Constantine?"

"Among other words I should avoid saying with a child present."

Flash placed a hand on the cloaked woman's shoulder. "Besides, we needed someone we could trust for something like this and there's no one I trust more than a fellow Titan." He assured her with smile, one that proved somewhat infectious as what could be seen of the woman's mouth under the shadow of her hood smiled ever so slightly as well. "Not to mention that out of everyone we could have called, your perspective is the one that probably matters the most."

Away from Flash and the others, the woman finally turned to see the young girl whose psychic tickle she'd been feeling in the back of her mind ever since she'd arrived.

Mimi's eyes watched the mystery woman very close as she approached. It wasn't as if she'd never encountered someone whose mind she had trouble looking into before. Her own stepfather was one such case thanks to his cybernetics. But this woman's mind…it was different. Like she was using Mimi's own connection to look right back at her.

Now right in front of Mimi, the woman knelt down to be on a more eye-level. Lowering her hood, she revealed short cut hair just as violet as her eyes.

"Hello, Mimi. My name is Raven." She greeted her, her soft voice still holding some warmth to it. Holding up her hand, Mimi's eyes went wide in surprise as the older woman's palm and fingers became engulfed in a pulsating dark energy, like Raven was holding a piece of her own soul out for Mimi to see. "I am like you."

CHAPTER END

Author's notes: This is oddly appropriate timing for this chapter, since the actual PPGD comic recently uploaded a new page referencing the Justice League and seems like the comic will be bringing the team into the story. It's a happy coincidence.

There were a few different inspirations for this chapter but the biggest and most obvious was the Midoriya and Bakugo vs. All Might fight in My Hero Academia. There is just something so enjoyable about one of the world's greatest heroes just getting to have fun pretending to be a villain. Not because of brain washing, alternate universes, or bad character writing. The good guy is just given a reason to act hammy and evil and have fun with it. Also the scars that Midoriya and a few other characters like All Might and Iida have. I like the idea of a hero's own body showing the journey they've been on over the years; what they've been through and survived. You aren't a superhero for as many years as Superman and don't get pretty badly f**ked up over time. Batman still has more scars on his own body though, mostly because he doesn't heal nearly as fast and there's a lot more that can hurt him. But other JL members have a few choice ones as well (I think Flash has a small one on his chest where he was struck by the lightning bolt that gave him his speed).

Another odd inspiration was, oddly enough, the Atop the Fourth Wall review "15 Things Wrong With Identity Crisis", where Linkara pointed out that the writer was a big fan of The New Teen Titans and went overboard in how badass he made Deathstroke, arguably the team's most famous villain. He fought a good majority of the Justice League while not moving from a single spot and barely even trying. It was making Deathstroke badass at the expense of the other characters. In Teen Titans, Deathstroke was also facing a large team of superpowered heroes but he was constantly moving and being smart about his tactics, and even then he'd still take some hits. Deathstroke got to be badass but not because the Titans were being downplayed, and that's something I tried to incorporate in this chapter with Superman. Even though Superman is supposed to have the edge over the team in either power or experience (depending on the individual character), the people he's facing are still supposed to be great heroes, so he does still get knocked back, take damage, get surprised, and have to retreat so he can regain the advantage. These are people who can win against him and Superman winning in the end should be because of how good he is, not how bad those he's facing are.

QTP: How will the team's experience fighting Superman aid them in the future? How many rounds do you think the team won, lost, or drew? And how can Raven help Mimi?