Miscellaneous - http://maxpages.com/theinterface2/NJU13

New Justice Union#13: Corruptible Battle, Part 1

The sun shone brightly upon the stands and the open stadium floor. Thousands had gathered together to witness the ultimate free-for-all battle between heroes and fighters of all ages and sizes, duking it out on a strategically placed ring above the ocean depths. Whoever was knocked off from the coliseum plummeted to a watery defeat, and elimination from the tournament. The winner of the tournament would face Lantern City's hometown hero, Ackiles, and a chance to win fifty-thousand dollars.

I sat in the stands watching avidly at the excitement below. Since I had been recuperating from a long-term injury inflicted by Lady Cancra and Kimo, my hip bone had to be replaced, but to my surprise, it was replaced with a bionic one. In a few weeks, my left leg would be as good as new, and much stronger than ever before. My crutches rested beside me. I had to be careful, for if I made a wrong move with my leg, than the possibility of dislocation would increase. Searching below, I saw a few of my old friends from the Union itself, amongst the crowd of battling fighters who continuously made their efforts to knock each other out of the ring.

"My money's on Stephen to win the $50,000. When he does, he'll be able to afford me a trip to the Caribbean Islands," Clare said confidently. She yelled out through the crowd for Stephen to hear. "Hey Stephen, do your best, and get me that trip!" She yelled.

Stephen looked up as he easily pummeled an opponent to the depths of the water below. He waved at her.

"It sure is a surprise to see that you entered your son in this tournament, Mrs. Dent. He's just a young teenager," I said to Mrs. Dent.

"Well he's twelve, actually, and you know my son, he wants to be just like his father. Plus, I wouldn't mind winning that batch of money," she answered.

"I'll bet that he and the Green Phoenix will be the final match," Clare predicted. "And of course, Stephen will win."

"What? You underestimate my son! He's no match for any fighter out there!" Mrs. Dent argued.

"Oh yeah?!" Clare answered back.

"Yeah!" Mrs. Dent replied. They gave each other an intense, competitive glare through each other's eyes.

I looked down at the stadium to see my friend, Phillip, or Zig Zag, easily disposing of some of the contestants, but he didn't look too confident.

"Great, I came all this way to find that other super-powered heroes are entered in this thing. Elastiguy and Maraudess I might've been able to handle, but the Bulk and Goldman#2?! This is too crazy!" He thought to himself, using his skateboard to knock out four opponents into the sea.

Maraudess, who I also knew as Angeleen Bo, masked in purple and wearing a dark bounty hunter costume also felt at ease in dispatching foes. She dodged a jab by a nearby male fighter and swept him off his feet, literally with a kick below his leg. She finished him off with a punch to his face which sent him reeling into the water.

"That fifty-thousand could really help my family, and some of those college debts I have to pay off..." She though to herself.

I also caught a glimpse of my old pal, Sam Lee Kim, one of the greatest martial artists I knew, taking out his fair share of entrants. In another part of the stadium was young Byron Dent, son of the great Ultraman, taking out as many as ten contestants at a time. It was quite an impressive sight. I was expecting some great battles ahead.

In a private, secluded room high above the coliseum floor stood the hero of Lantern City, Ackiles, who was supposedly known for saving the entire region from an alien attack, (which was most likely foiled by the likes of Stark Dent, or Ultraman, and falsely credited to him.) He looked outside with eyes widened at some of the contestants. One of his managers was standing beside him.

"Whaddya think, Ackiles, great turnout, eh?" The manager asked.

Ackiles was too shocked in fright to answer, frozen in deep thought.

"It can't be... those... those heroes! I've heard of them. They're from that Union of Heroes or whatever! They're too powerful for me to handle! I can't sit here and watch this! I gotta get outta here!" Ackiles thought.

Back outside, the announcer began proclaiming names of those who were entering into the semi-final round.

After a sweeping blow by Angeleen knocked two more opponents into the waves, the announcer cried, "The challenger, Maraudess, advances to the semi-finals!"

Elastiguy stood, awaiting his three opponents' next move.

"Let's all gang up on him!" One of the three cried. Agreeing, the three struck, but were hit back by an enlarged fist and stretched arm by Elastiguy.

"Hah, this is too easy," Shawn proclaimed, confidently. But soon, the confidence ran short, as his four-to-six hour duration of stretching pills ran out, and he became regular old Shawn Wultern.

"Wha!?" He wondered in shock, staring at his completely normal limbs. "This is a great time for those pills to expire!"

The three men all rushed him, and sent him backward. But overestimating his strength to stop them, they all plummeted into the ocean together. Shawn's head emerged from the water in surprise.

"Over... already?" he hopelessly wondered.

The announcer announced a few more expected names that were to enter into the next round: The Bulk, Goldman#2, The Green Phoenix, Byron Dent, Zig Zag, and Sam Lee Kim. However, yet another name caught me completely by surprise.

"And also entering the next round is the contestant, Shriek!" The announcer bellowed.

Shriek, the once evil villainess-turned-do-gooder had entered the tournament. But as to what aim, I was unsure. It was puzzling as to why she would enter a tournament which only had a huge amount of money as the grand prize.

After a brief intermission, a bathroom break, and a trip by me to retrieve some hotdogs, popcorn and soda, I sat back down in my seat to listen to the new instructions for the contestants.

"Great fighting everyone!" The announcer echoed. "The next round consists of one-on-one battles to determine who will continue on to the final challenge, and then the chance to battle Ackiles! Names were randomly drawn and matched with fighters from the list of those who have passed the preliminaries. And here we go!"

I sat eagerly watching the giant Jumbotron to see who would face whom.

"The battles will be as follows... in no particular order: Shriek vs. Zig Zag, The Bulk vs. Goldman#2, The Green Phoenix vs. Sam Lee Kim, Byron Dent vs. Terp the Boxer, and Maraudess vs. Elisa the Assassin!"

The crowd roared at the selected names and eagerly awaited the first battle.

Phillip sat worriedly, thinking of his next challenge.

"This is great, I get to fight a psycho-kinetic freak of nature," he said to himself. "Ah well, I hope Anya's watching," he said. "Or maybe, I hope she isn't..."

"The first two contestants to fight have been selected, and the battle between The Green Phoenix and Same Lee Kim will now commence!" The announcer yelled.

The crowd bellowed cheers once again, like an overactive tribe of gongs being pounded by hammers.

Stephen and Sam Lee Kim took their stand on the coliseum floor. I knew that the match was heavily in favor of the Green Phoenix, who had super-strength, speed, and invulnerability. It seems that Sam Lee Kim, though a formidable adversary, would be no match.

"Well, once this one's over, Stephen'll be a step closer to getting that money," Clare said hopefully.

Stephen stood, in his green and black attire with arms folded. Sam Lee Kim stood across from him, waiting silenetly.

"There is no need to hold back against me, Stephen. I know you are a formidable fighter, and I do not wish for you to hesitate in revealing your true strength," Sam nobly said.

Stephen nodded his head and smirked. "Alright then," he greeted back.

Sam Lee Kim took his battle stance, and each fighter stared at each other intensely. The gunshot fired into the air, signaling the beginning of the match. The first battle of the semi-finals had begun.

1

New Justice Union#14: Heroic Standoff

Sparks flew as the first battle of the semi-finals began, and Sam let out an aggressive first hand attack. Leaping from the tiles of the stage, he was able to successfully flip in mid-air and outstretch his leg in order to land a kick against the Green Phoenix.

Easing into a defensive stance, Stephen blocked the attack with his right arm, and Sam leapt backward in retaliation. Once again, Sam went on the offensive, rushing toward the Phoenix with great speed and sending a barrage of fist punches straight his way. Stephen showed surprise in his eyes as he witnessed his friendly opponent's great speed and worked to block each attack with his own hands.

I watched in the stands cheering the guys on, periodically glancing into my binoculars to get a close-up view.

"You better get me that prize money," Clare said, routing for Stephen.

The barrages continued, and Sam once again let out a furious kick to the chest. Stephen, realizing this, quickly dodged by floating upward and continuing to do so. With the advantage of flight, it would seem that the Phoenix would have no problem staying safe. But alas, he was reminded that he was facing no ordinary fighter. Sam, with great leg strength was able to leap up to where Stephen resided and land a powerful, surprising blow to the face with his bare foot. Stephen's head swayed backward from the force of the kick and saliva had escaped from his mouth at incredible speed. He looked back, surprised, yet unwavering and smirked.

"You're pretty good," Stephen said, as Sam succumbed to the force of gravity and drifted to the ground.

Stephen, realizing that he should end things quite soon, shifted his power into gear. A green aura surrounded him in a flash of light, signaling an increase of strenght and power. Sam knew he was in for a strong attack, and readied a defensive stance. Once finished, Stephen held his fist high and head straight for Sam at high velocity from the air. As he closed, Sam stood his ground and put up his arms as a defensive shield. Preparing to block, but knowing he would be knocked backward quite a bit, he did his best in order to calculate how much of blow would be landed so that he could recover. However, instead of sacking him head on, Stephen disappeared from sight, and reappeared behind Sam. Shocked at this new strategy, Sam slowly turned around only to be met with a powerful fist to the face which sent him flying across the stage and into the water below. Stephen had won the match and would move onto the finals. The crowd cheered in excitement at the entertaining battle. Meanwhile, Stephen flew down to where Sam was and helped him out of the water. Afterwards, they shook hands and departed in separate directions.

"Wow, what a great match! Incredible, who could have known such great fighters would be entered into our tournament today! Well, here we are with our next match: Shriek vs. Zig Zag!" The announcer spoke through the microphone.

Phillip, though nervous at his new opponent, skated calmly onto the stage in order to meet his foe. He waved to the crowd in a showy manner, and even delighted fans with some complicated techniques while on his board on the jumbotron screen.

Shriek also entered the stage, in style as well, using her psycho-kinetic powers to hover onto the tiled floor. She stood on her feet, folded her arms and closed her eyes.

"Alright, this is it," Phillip thought. "You've got to show them all what you're made of. She may have powers, but I've got skill!" Phillip said confidently, getting ready to fight. He clenched his fist in determination and stared down his opponent.

Unfortunately, to his surprise, Phillip's opponent payed no attention to him. Phillip was shocked and dismayed at this outcome and demanded to be heard.

"Hey, aren't you gonna fight?! We're here to entertain the people, aren't we? Let's get going and get the battle going!" Phillip yelled over to Shriek.

Shriek breathed calmly and stood perfectly still.

"Alright, that's it, if you're not gonna attack, I am!" Phillip said in slight rage. He pumped his leg upon the ground, gathering speed upon his skateboard. "Wait 'til she gets a load of this!" He thought.

Using his skillful technique, Phillip jumped with his board and headed straight for Shriek. Unfortunately for him, his direction was a bit off, or so he thought. Instead of hitting her, he missed, and was heading straight for a watery defeat.

"Oh #U$@" He said. It turns out that Shriek had moved in the blink of an eye to avoid the oncoming attack.

Phillip, along with his skateboard, fell over the stage and plummeted toward the water. However, to his great relief, he was stopped by Shriek's psycho-kinetic powers. A purple shroud had engulfed he and his board, and both were returned to the top of the stage.

Shriek flipped her hair and scoffed. "I thought there were going to be real challenges here..." And with that, she flew off into the distance.

Phillip, though shocked at the sight, was thoroughly relieved.

"Ah, since Shriek has left the battle arena, Zig Zag is the winner by default!" The announcer yelled. And Phillip raised his arms in triumph as the crowd cheered.

"That's pretty interesting..." I said to myself, while silently chuckling to myself at the situation.

A brief intermission was held, and I went down to congratulate Sam on a job well done against seemingly impossible odds. We shook hands and sat down.

"Some fight, huh, Sam?" I said.

Sam sipped some soda and nodded his head. "You bet," I don't think I could've lasted much longer than that.

"Hey, it's no problem, you did your best," I replied.

"How's the hip going?" Sam wondered.

I looked down at my left leg and exercised it to see how it fared.

"It's doing alright. A couple of weeks of a few hip precautions and I should be able to use it again. But I still've got to keep my endurance and strength up. Once the swelling goes away I'll be able to exercise the weakened muscles and strengthen them again."

Our attention shifted to the stadium floor as the announcer signaled for the next match. The Bulk was supposed to battle Goldman#2 in what would seem to be an epic battle. The two friends reached the stage, but only one was in a normal state.

"Richard," John Steel, the second Goldman, greeted the Bulk's alter ego. "It's great to see you again. I hope you're ready for a good battle."

Richard nodded his head. "It'll be a good one," he replied.

"Let's put on a good show for the fans, eh?" John requested, using his chromium gloved hand to give a thumbs up.

"No problem," Richard replied. "You just get ready."

Richard assumed a battle stance, slowly bending his knees slightly, and bending his elbows so that his fists pointed upwards. A constipating look appeared on his face, as sweat beads formed and glided down his cheek. In an awesome transformation of sheer power, Richard's muscles began to bulge into extremely large masses of humanity, and his skin transformed into a bright yellow. It seemed that Richard had mastered the ability to control the transformations into the Bulk through his own sheer will. The crowd cheered at the wild display and the match began.

"This should be good," I said to Sam.

"Let's roll," Bulk said to Goldman.

"No doubt about it," John replied.

The third match of the semi-finals was about to become an intense, one-on-one battle of strength beyond human proportions.

2

New Justice Union#15: Test of Strength

Richard began the battle with a crushing blow to the face which was caught by John Steel's golden-armored hand. The two titans then engaged in a complete lockdown, testing their strength against each other. The audience yelled in glee at the clashing of super powers below.

Meanwhile, on an island not too distant resided the four warriors which the finalists would have to face. The five men sat, confidently relaxing before their debuts.

"Hah, can you believe we're getting ten-thou just to be in this stinkin' tourney? I should do this every year!" One of them said.

"Yeah, and even if we don't win, we still get that money," Another grunted. They all laughed in glee at their seemingly beneficial situation. Little did they realize how swiftly the tide turns for mankind.

Out of the shadows of the wooded area surrounding the fighters, a young female with long, flowing red hair, bright blue skin and snake-like eyes emerged wearing strange, and unfamiliar clothing. She smiled at the men and halted, almost as if she were observing them. The five men stared at her, gawking at her unprecedented beauty, and then they smiled. Their stares were not, however, met with compliment.

"It's a shame such mindless, pathetic beasts of the universe are allowed to parade around in such a senseless manner," she said to them.

One of the men became increasingly angered. "What did you say, redhead?" he asked.

"You heard what I said. You're a mindless beast, inferior to those who deserve such a beautiful planet."

"What are you saying, red, you ain't from around here?" A second fighter replied.

"Why don't I just tell you that I'm from a galaxy far, far away, which was taken away from my race by brute force. And the same fate will befall your precious planet just as ours did." The woman sat down upon a rock and crossed her legs.

"Hey, why don't we just get along, and help repopulate your planet, red? I'll start with you!" One of the men proposed.

The woman flipped her hair, and winced. "Please, I'd rather eat raw flesh," she insulted.

"Why I oughtta!" The insulted fighter said.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do..." she said, raising her arm.

In an instant, she flashed forward at incredible speed, striking the insulted fighter in the throat, and collapsing his esophagus. Before any of the other fighters knew it, their ally had collapsed upon the ground never to return to his feet again.

The other fighters' eyes widened in shock as they witnessed such a horrific event. None of them had even began to fathom what happened. No one had seen what she had done to the man to make him fall in one quick blow. The female, with eyes closed and composure cool, raised her arm in a knife-like manner.

"Who's next?" She wondered.

Richard sent a crushing blow to Goldman's abdomen, whose gold-plated armor could hardly protect from the attack. However, Goldman's retaliation was quick, for he was able to return the favor with a jab to the Bulk's face, sending him backward. Spit flew as Richard's head was knocked backwards, and he wiped the side of his mouth dry with his hand.

"You're getting stronger, Goldman. Who knew you could increase your strength like that," Richard complimented.

"Well, after your battle with the original Goldman, he filled me in and I had a few extra lessons on how to take you down if I ever needed to," John replied.

"Too bad it won't be enough..." Richard taunted.

The two battlers grappled once again in yet another test of brute strength. Sheer muscle mass vs. chromium gold tested the limits of each fighter. It seemed though, that the Bulk gained the advantage for he was able to head but Goldman's face and knock him off his feet. John fell to the ground and rubbed his helmeted head, surprised and in shock of the blow dealt.

"Who knew your head could be so tough..." He said to Richard. "Even with my chromium helmet."

"A hero is only as good as his weapon," Bulk replied.

I sat back at the great match that was being played out, and saw my old friend Angeleen near the sidelines awaiting her chance to fight. I was wondering how she would fare against her unknown opponent.

The match ended with Richard barely being able to overtake the chromium-plated Goldman with a skillful seismic toss off the stage. However, due to his excess weight in gold, John Steel was in danger of sinking to the ocean floor. But due to his good sportsmanship, the Bulk was able to rescue him and return him to dry land.

The next match ended quite quickly. Terp the Boxer didn't know what hit him, even after he was knocked out by one blow in the stomach by Byron Dent. After all, he was the son of the great Mennonian, Stark Dent, the one and only Ultraman.

Next, it was Angeleen's turn to fight. She was matched against the elusive Elisa the Assassin. Both contestants proved to be evenly matched, as each female fighter traded fantastic blows against each other. I was routing for my friend, Angeleen, and she put up a great battle. However, using a skillful technique called the tiger claw, Elisa caught Angeleen off guard and ended the match. After that, she vanished and I didn't get to congratulate her. But for Maraudess, that's quite a normal occurrence.

The announcer alerted the stadium of the next round to come.

"Alright, ladies and gentleman, we are now approaching the greatest part of the entire tournament... the final round, and the chance to battle our own hometown hero, the great Ackiles!" He echoed.

However, in Ackiles' own private office, he was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, where'd that Ackiles go?!" His manager asked.

"I don't know, he must have had to run an errand," his assistant replied.

"Well go fetch him!" The manager said.

"Right away, sir!" The assistant relented.

The next part of the tournament was close at hand.

3

New Justice Union#16: Danger in the Midst

Events were underway as the next part of the tournament began. In an amazing shift, the make-shift island where the preliminary and semi-final rounds were held moved to the next one. The thousands of viewers were eager to find out what the fighters taking on the next task had to endure. I still sat with Sam Lee Kim at a table near the the old stage and watched on the jumbotron screen the five finalists getting ready for their next challenge. I sipped a soda and sat back, resting my crutches against the table.

"Welcome back to the Tournament of Champions!" The announcer yelled. "Next up is what you've all been waiting for... the last round of the contest! In this challenger our contestants, whom I will remind you of right now, Zig Zag, The Bulk, The Green Phoenix, Byron Dent, and Elisa the Assassin, must endure a heart-pounding race to the finish within these race pods. Each contestant will board their randomly selected vehicle and proceed to enter a battle ring. In this battle ring, the five finalists must each battle one of Ackiles' students in order to advance to the next leg of the race. Once defeated, each fighter must race to a single tower, and run up a narrow flight of stairs. At the end of the stairs will be four doors, and each will correspond to the contestants' battle ring. The first fighter out of their corresponding battle ring door is the winner!"

Each of the five entrants readied themselves beside their vehicles.

"Alright, a race!" Phillip said. "I'll definitely have the advantage here..." he confidently thought. "And then I won't have to fight the Bulk or anyone like him! This'll be a piece of cake!"

"Alright racers, are you ready?!" The announcer asked. "Well, if you're not, now's the time to back out. After the countdown, you're off!"

From ten, the announcer and audience counted down to the nerve-wracking single digit number which prompted the contestants to go. When the "one" was screamed by all each racer boarded their racepod and went down a narrow tunnel which entered into their battle zone.

Phillip ended up in an icy cave-like chamber, where his racepod accidentally crashed into a pillar of ice. Luckily for him, he was swift enough to board his spaceship and escape the crash.

"Now all I need to do is find that fighter, make quick work of him, and rush out the winner," Phillip thought.

He looked around but could not see anyone. But after some quick glancing around the area, he spotted the silhouette of a fighter behind a wall of ice.

"Alright, there's the fighter. Now I gotta show 'im what I've got..." Phillip thought.

He rushed to the wall, but was surprised to see the figure of a woman with bright blue skin, fiery red hair, and snake-like eyes staring at him through the transluscent ice.

"A girl!?" Phillip said in shock. She didn't move.

"Alright, since you're a girl, maybe you're thinking I'll go easy on you. But you've got another thing coming! I defeated Shriek you know, that woman with those psycho-kinetic freaky powers!" He continued triumphantly.

But like a knife through leather, the female struck her hand through the block of ice, shattering it with ease, and headed straight for Phillip. Caught off guard, Phillip was unsure what to do and stood in shock. The female fighter then continued her assault and struck him in the chest, knocking him off his board. She wasn't done though, for she rushed behind him and repeated another blow into the back this time, sending him forward into a block of ice once again. Phillip was down for the count.

Meanwhile, in the stadium, the audience gasped at how quickly Phillip fell, and how brutally he was defeated. They began to question the authenticity of the game and its true intentions.

In the next sector was a heavily wooded area. Elisa the assassin looked around warily and was surprised to see a heavily muscle-bound man with aqua blue skin and a yellow tuft of hair on the top of his head. Her eyes widened at the mass of her opponent, but she was caught by the neck before she could even breathe a breath of air. Her windpipe closed and she fell to the ground, defeated.

"Murderer!" Someone in the crowd yelled at the jumbotron screen.

"What's happening out there?!" The manager cried. "They're not supposed to kill anyone!"

The assistant looked closely at the tape viewed. "Those aren't the fighters we hired, sir! They must have sabotaged the battle rings!" He yelled.

The audience gasped in horror at the sight being displayed as Elisa was left on the ground, with no words to speak. Soon, thousands began to panic and rush out of the stadium to get to safety.

Sam and I looked upward at the screen and the horror that was before our eyes. My mouth gaped open at the sight and my eyes winced at the travesty. This could not be real. I looked at Sam and he had the same look on his face. He nodded to me, and though it was quite painful with each step, and we had to fight through the oncoming crowed, I ditched my crutches and followed Sam to the arena to the racepods so we could help.

The Phoenix landed in what seemed to be a makeshift abandoned city, with a dark atmosphere and an eerie silence all around it. He slowly walked through the rubble and examined the buildings with sharp eyes. Just in the corner of his right eye he saw a punch headed straight for him, which he quickly caught with his own hand and turned around. The figure of a bright-blue skinned man with strong, bulging muscles, yet somewhat normal width and stature and a gold necklace stood before him. The blue man lifted his hand straight up, taking Stephen with it. He threw him backwards toward a pile of rubber. However, Stephen was able to stop and touch his feet to the ground once again. A blast of yellow light was sent hurling his way, and he hardly was able to block it. His skin burned as it seared through his black gloves, and he was surprised at the power of his lethal foe.

"Something tells me this isn't part of the tournament!" He said. "Or they're making it really hard on us!"

Stephen crossed his arms to shield another blow, but his guard was shattered and he was sacked in the gut by a strong fist. His eyes winced from the pain, no one he had known was able to hit him so hard before. He powered his Phoenix abilities and a green aura blasted around his body, and he sent a punch toward the powerful man. He was able to make a direct hit in between the eyes and send the foe flying backward. But to his amazement, another fighter suddenly appeared before his eyes. It was the larger man who had strangled Elisa, and he grabbed the Phoenix's ears with both hands and kneed him straight in the face. He then grabbed him by the hair, threw him to the ground and pummeled him even more, with a flurry of jabs and a final, kick from high in the air.

Young Byron Dent had landed somewhere in a dark land filled with rocks and low, mountainous hills. He looked around for the fighter he was supposed to battle and readied his hands. A small, dark blue man appeared in front of him, with an orange moustache and beard, and dark blue vest. He laughed at the young teenager and folded his arms.

"You're my next challenge? Should be easy," Byron said.

But young Byron underestimated the small goblin, for he unleashed a fury of giant boulders telikinetically against the young hero. Fearing for his safety, Byron dodged the rocks which shattered as they missed him and made contact with rocky ground. Four more boulders were thrown, and Byron had to dodge quickly from those as well.

Byron flew forward and connected a tremendous blow onto the little man's nose and let him fly backward. After charging at him once more, the little man fled into the remnants of old ruins further away. Byron followed.

The young hero followed the little man to what looked to be shattered palace, and at the front steps stood four, somewhat blue-skinned warriors. One was a female with red hair, another had huge muscle mass and a yellow tuft of hair on his head, the other had a gold necklace, and the last was the little man he had faced earlier.

Unfortunately for Byron, his comrades were fallen before him in one pile. The Phoenix, Zig Zag, and even Richard Stanner. What made matters worse, yet another large-muscled man came out from the shadows of the palace, wearing white pants, and a bandana atop his head. He had orange hair as well, which flowed from beneath his bandana to the sides of his chin.

"Ah, young boy, you're the only one left. How unfortunate. We'll make quick work of you as well, don't you worry," the assumed leader said.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Groukin, and these are my fellow warriors," He introduced. "The female's name is Saldra, the man whose muscles resemble my own is Flamboo, the gentleman with the gold necklace is named Trenton, and last but not least, the small soldier you just fought is Monter."

"Thanks for the introduction, but I'm not obliged," Byron said, viewing his fallen and battered comrades. "What do you want here? Why are you doing this?" He asked, almost in fury.

Groukin slowly stepped down the few stairs of the palace.

"It's simple really. All we want is a place to call our own. Our planet was destroyed, and we need a place to habitate and repopulate once again. You should feel honored. We have chosen this planet as our new home. The only problem is, our two races cannot coexist. We need different elements, and that's why getting rid of you would be our first move in settling our place here."

"Who said you could pick our planet?" A voice, which happened to be mine, chimed in at that moment. I, while in my old Face costume, and Sam had emerged from the shadows and stood side by side with Byron. In front were the pile of fallen friends. I was shocked to see both Richard Stanner and The Green Phoenix in the pile. The odds were stacked pretty high against us.

"You will take this planet over our dead bodies. Do not worry, young Dent, we will protect you," Sam said.

I raised a brow and made an awkward, puzzled face. "For one, I'm not with my friend's dead body plan, and two, I don't think Byron's the one who's gonna need protecting," I pointed out.

"We fight with honor to the end; defending our friends and allies," Sam stated, readying a battle stance. I just went with it, and did the same. Though my left hip was feeling very soar. I was thinking I was in over my head.

Groukin laughed, and so did his allies.

"Is this what the earth has to offer? Hahaha! If this is your best, we shall have no problem dispatching of you and your comrades."

My eyes stealthily shifted to view Sam, and he quickly signaled a nod. We each charged forward hoping that our martial arts techniques would guide us to victory. However, each step I took was painful, the muscles around my new hip bone were severely weakened and tight, but I still trudged on.

Flamboo and Trenton vanished as we rushed towards them and they appeared further in towards the ruins. I was slightly relieved to see that I had what looked to be the lesser of the two, and let fly a fist in the vicinity of his the alien's gut. However, his speed was extraordinarily beyond my own, and he easily dodged it, and kicked me hard in the chest. My body flew upward in shock, and the alien dragged my head across the ground to the pile of fallen heroes. Extreme pain blasted through my head, and I fell unconscious at the site. At least they didn't touch my hip.

Sam met a similar fate, he punched and kicked with all his might, but the oversized Flamboo blocked each attack with his massive arms. Each blow felt like a fly swatter to him. He knocked Sam straight into the air with a jab to the chin, and threw him into the pile with the other heroes. The attack had failed.

Things were looking grim for the young hero, Byron Dent, and hopefully with a little luck, things wouldn't get a whole lot worse...

4

New Justice Union#17: The Heroes Fall

The young hero, Byron Dent stood alone against the powerful tyrants who were aiming to claim the planet Earth for themselves. He had no choice but to face these monsters without the aid of others. Each of his allies had been easily thrashed.

In an instant the four of Groukin's henchman charged forward and attacked the boy, who proved to be surprisingly resilient. He matched each of the foes' blows with guards and parries from his hands and feet. It was clear that Byron Dent would not easily be defeated.

A fist flew toward Byron's face, but he caught the attempt with his own hand. A knee rushed toward his gut but he quickly dodged. The barrages kept flowing, yet he was able to hold them off.

Groukin watched in silence, with arms folded, silently thinking to himself as he observed the battle. He knew that Byron was quite strong, yet he was still surprised to see that his four underlings could not land a hit. However, this was only the beginning for them.

The midget, Monter, was able to let loose from his body an array of electrically charged tentacles which were able to immobilize young Byron in his tracks and continuously drain him of some of his power. Byron cried out in pain at the attack, and the three others continued to pummel him with a buffet of jabs and kicks. A foot to the face made Byron spew out some lost blood and spit. His eyes flinched at the agony.

Fortunately, back up had finally arrived. Behind Flamboo stood a stout and resolute, armored Goldman, who took Trenton by the head and thrust him into the rocky ground below.

"Four against one isn't fair odds," his voice spoke through his armored helmet.

"Who is this jerk?" Trenton asked, wiping his mouth and looking upward at the large man.

"I'll take care of it," Flamboo said, thrusting his massive arm into Goldman's chest, which knocked him backward.

He proceeded to fly straight into John, picking up his chromium armor and him with it for a swift, seismic toss from high in the air to the solid stones below.

Trenton was about to join in that battle, but was quickly halted by a fist to the jaw, which sent his face upward. When he recovered from the shock he saw a recovered Green Phoenix, surrounded in a green aura, floating before him with a peeved look upon his face.

"Not so fast, friend," he greeted. "You've got to deal with me before anything else."

The Phoenix followed with a quick kick to the gut, and then a two-handed hammer fist upon his head aiming downwards. Trenton coughed, gasped, and groaned at the powerful blow. The Phoenix struck once again with a knee to the face, this time in the upward direction to counter the previous force he expelled upon his foe's head.

Still immobilized, Byron was on the verge of breaking free, but was prevented once Saldra sent out the same attack. Now more tentacles had constricted him and he felt even more pain.

But a blast was heard as Saldra screamed a high, shrill, groan. Her beautiful face and hair had been singed by a smoke bomb from Angeleen's belt.

"Sorry about that. I meant to aim it directly at your face." She took out a thin, cylindrical bar which then elongated into a long, purple bo staff. She was ready for a fight.

Saldra, angered by the remark and damage, rushed toward her in fury. She charged one hand with energy and was about to thrust, when she was suddenly whacked in the face by Angeleen's bo staff. Saldra moaned in pain and covered her ailing face with her hands.

"You'll pay for that!" she yelled in anger.

"We'll see," Angeleen said, readying her bo staff. She rushed forward for another attack, but was startled to see that Saldra had vanished.

But little did she realize that the elusive blue-skined female had reappeared behind her and punched her in the back. Angeleen flew forward at great speed from the powerful blow, unknowing of what had hit her at the time. She crashed into a pile of rocks and lay unconscious after that.

Byron was free, and he proceeded to pummel the midget Monter with all the punches he could muster. Desperately trying to fend for himself, little Monter did his best to dodge and block. But all was in vain, the young warrior was too much and he let his guard down for one moment, spelling disaster. Monter was pummeled to a pulp with a fury of powerful blows and was knocked out of his senses in just a few moments.

Goldman sacked Flamboo with all the strength that he had and attempted to keep him down. He then sent a blow to his head with his own and left him upon the ground. To his surprise, however, he felt a piercing in his back that left him utterly speechless. Groukin had intervened and thrust his arm right into Goldman's chromium arm, leaving a harsh dent in the back, which Goldman could feel. The leading monster ravaged the armor with his bare hands leaving dents all around and bruises everywhere upon John's body. He then crushed the helmet which he was wearing and elbowed his chest into the ground. Goldman was down for the count.

"He should have been the most troublesome of our problems," Groukin concluded. "Now that he's out of the way, there's no one that will stop us."

5

New Justice Union#18: Burning Rage

Without hesitation, Byron landed a surprising, powerful blow against Groukin's jaw that caused his head to reel backward with saliva trailing behind.

The young hero then touched down silently opposite to where he began the attack. Groukin stood quietly, and slowly turned his head to the side so that his right eye could see the assailant. He wiped his mouth with his hand.

"Well done, boy. It shall be the last blow you'll ever make," he said to Byron. The boy stood in resolute silence and stared solemnly.

"Get him," Groukin ordered to his three remaining warriors.

Each of them burrowed through the air at great speeds straight toward the young teen. Once contact was made, a barrage of fists, elbows, and kicks were being thrown Byron's way while each fighter hovered in mid-air. Byron matched each blow with incredible speed and precision by his own two limbs. Nothing seemed to be able to stop him.

After some time, the three warriors fell back, unable to penetrate his defenses. Saldra once again used her elongating tentacles in order to try to subdue the boy once again. Realizing this, Byron flew upward to evade the attack. However, as he flew upward, he was met with a surprise attack from Trenton, who appeared right above him and pounded him back toward Saldra's trap. Byron was envoloped in constriction once again, fighting for his life.

A burst of electrical energy flowed through the vines and coursed through Byron's body. Extreme agony could be felt as he winced with every passing shock, and the muscles in his body succumbed to intense tension.

Once again, fortune was on his side, for a Saldra's constriction had weakened considerably, and then faded due to a surprising, exploding shock that penetrated and burned her back. She was propelled forward and faceplanted the ground.

Shriek had arrived with a smirk on her amused face. "Finally, a challenge," she scoffed at her female adversary. Saldra shot a glare back at the heroine, and burst like a speed of light to her.

A flurry of blows were traded between the two, and Shriek fared well in matching her parries against Saldra's jabs.

Meanwhile, a burst of energy flowed through the raging Byron, who had his fair share of agony for the time being. He rushed straight toward Trenton with a burning hand, and struck his fist right through the target's abdomen. A purplish fluid splattered out from the force, and Trenton slowly faded to the ground below.

Saldra had then grasped Shriek with her elongated limbs. Pain scourged through Shriek's body, and she flinched at each oncoming shock. But to make matters worse, Saldra continued to batter the heroine by smashing her into jagged rocks that collapsed with each strike, until finally Shriek lay on the ground in a paralyzed state.

It was not long until revenge was taken, and Byron had shot a beam of red laser energy from his own two eyes that penetrated Saldra's skin and soared straight through her body. Eyes widened, and mouth gaping, she let out no scream and finally floated to the ground, limp and lifeless.

Flamboo took this time to strike against the recuperating Byron, and struck his fist downward against the boy, and forced him to plummet into a freshly built crater upon hitting the rocky ground below. But Byron spared no time in returning the blow even before the dust settled and struck him backward with full force. And while Flamboo was still in shock in flight from the pain, Byron sped behind the monster of a man and elbowed him down to the ground before he could utter a sound. With one final blast of outward yellow energy from his hand he blasted the being to his final resting place, as the ground shook as if a horrendous earthquake had seized the area.

Dust clouds settled and Groukin hovered in the air, with arms folded, smiling at the events that had occurred.

"Very well, done, boy. It was a mistake to underestimate you, I see," He said to the raging lad.

"It serves you right," Byron spat back.

"It looks like it all comes down to this. You and I... we're the same you know, in a way. Great power that almost no one can compare to. If you were to join me..."

"Shut it," Byron snapped, his eyes glowing red with anger.

"Hmm... quite the attitude there. You must be brimming with fury right about now," Groukin surmised. He was absolutely right.

"You have no right to be here!" Byron angrily yelled, sending a burst of energy flying against the villain. Groukin blocked it with his hands, but before he could even retaliate, he was met with a fist to the face by the young boy, which sent a shockwave through his skull. However, he recovered quickly, and caught Byron's fist before it connected once again. He then raised his arm with Byron in hand, and leveled his knee to the boy's stomach, causing both blood and spit to propel from the boy's mouth. Once that was accomplished, he elbowed the boy's head downward to the ground and finished with a blast of dark purple energy that exploded just as Byron hit the surface.

"That should make quick work of you..." Groukin said, turning to leave.

"Not so fast!" A feminine voice cried. The voice belonged to Shriek, who had enveloped her enemy in a case of psycho-kinetic energy, immoblizing him temporarily.

"Hurry Byron, kill him!" Shriek cried as urgently as possible. Her powers were beginning to weaken, as Groukin fought vigorously against the shield.

Byron soon began to build up his strength and energy, tapping into the vast powers that lay deep within. He opened his eyes after a brief moment of closure, and sped towards his victim with fist outstretched.

Once again, his hand was glowing with a bright yellow aura, and Groukin's eyes widened at the oncoming threat. His defenses were lowered, and there was nothing he could do. He struggled greatly in order to try and break free from immoblization, but all was in vain. Soon enough, Byron ripped through Groukin's very chest, with his sole burning hand claiming his strength. Groukin's eyes became ghostly white, but soon dropped, as he fell to the ground once Shriek's shield had dissipated. He was finally destroyed.

Byron fell to the ground and one knee, and breathed heavily. Shriek had dropped to her knees and did the same. Never had she faced an opponent so strong before. she was satisfied... yet still felt unfulfilled. For if there were a next time, someone with even greater strength than this foe... she had to be prepared. Once she was able to summon the little energy she had left, she fled from the scene with a determined look in her eyes.

Byron watched, still breathing heavily with scars and bruises upon his entire body. He looked at the pile of allies that lay unconscious just a distance away, and slowly walked to it with his remaining strength. Somebody would have to clean them up. And that somebody was him.

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