The Horsemen of Apokolips are Darkseid, Supergirl, Agent Smith, Superboy, Megatron, The Juggernaut, Apocalypse, The Flash, Sarumon, Shazam, Poseidon, He-Man, Battle Cat, Red Robin, Miss Martian, Wonder Girl, (Legends) Leia Organa-Solo & C3PO in Leia's Y-Wing, Grand Admiral Thrawn in Chimera w/ crew: Pilot, Co-Pilot, Gunner, and Crew Member #1-5, Seaworm #1-10, The Red Hood, Arsenal, Starfire, Granny Goodness, Bloody Mary, Stompa, Mad Harriet, Lashina, She-Ra, Swift Wind, Eric Cartman in a Hulk-Buster Iron Man Suit, Kyle Brovloski, Stan Marsh, & Kenny McCormick.
The Doctor's Madhouse are Dr. Manhattan, Silver Surfer, Ranx the Sentient City, Brainiac in His Skull Ship, Kang the Conqueror, Darth Vader in The TIE Advanced 1A, Abeloth, Capt. Marvel, Batman, Robin (w/ a purple lightsaber), Alfred Pennyworth (w/ a double-bladed yellow lightsaber), Batgirl, Nightwing, Invincible, Atom Eve, Dupli-Kate, Robot, Rex Splode, Allen the Alien, Zorack, Brak, Black Widow, Moltar, Creature King, Metallus, Transat, Lokar, Lord Voldemort (w/ yellow lantern ring), Hancock, Kid Flash, Ocean Master, Kit Fisto, Swamp Thing, Jango Fett in Slave 1, Ethan Hunt (w/ green lantern ring), Kryptonian #1 & 3, Mutant #1-4, Frodo Baggins (w/ Dwarf Ring #2), Frank "Wendeezys" Metvier (w/ endless Zyn and Variety 4 pack of 4 Lokos).
FFL Historians have noted for many years, since the very beginning actually that the two most powerful teams so often meet in The American League Finals. And although only time will tell and it may be too early to say so definitively at this moment, it would seem that this year may be more in line with the past than an exception to it.
Neither of these teams take up a defensive posture as the individual members move towards their desired settings. Both stand with confidence, both come prepared, and both approach this battle with a feeling of mutual respect in the talents of the other; but not so much that they lose sight of the victory they so seek.
From a clear vantage point in the city, Megatron uses his advanced optics to see a target he thinks to be worthy of his time. He grabs the unwilling Eric Cartman and begins to fly into space. "Dude.... What the Hell, Oh.... hey Kenny". Cartman says as he is snatched up by Megatron, but as he also notices that Kenny McCormick has bravely grabbed a hold of Cartman's suit in an attempt to help out his teammates in whatever quest they are about to undertake. Although as they approach the upper atmosphere, Cartman is protected within his suit but Kenny is unable to handle it. Megatron didn't even realize the small meatbag was along for the ride as Kenny's eyes begin to bulge out of his head. Cartman begins to yell at Megatron: "OH MY GOD YOU KILLED, oh.... actually that was kind of sweet. Super gross though".
As Megatron and Cartman fly into space, they see the skull shaped ship of Brainiac on the approach. Cartman starts asking the mighty Megatron a series of annoying questions. Why did he bring him here?? Is that a spaceship shaped like a skull?? That's pretty bada**, who thought up that idea?? What am I supposed to do about it?? Megatron sighs and answers the heavily armored, fat, little human with: "Yes, it is made to look like the naked skull of a worthless meat pet, yet made of metal. A monstrosity for certain that you are going to help me destroy".
Megatron then transforms into his gun form; which Cartman is just big enough to hold in his massive Hulk-Buster suit. Cartman catches the gun points it at Brainiac's ship and pulls the trigger. Cartman is blown back by the fully powered blast which hits the Skull Ship and blows it to pieces. A shocked Brainiac survives the blast due to myriad, redundant fail-safes to protect himself and recuperates quickly. Brainiac searches his segmented brain of acute knowledge for the perfect phrase to utter before he seeks his revenge and inevitably goes with: "You are going to make for a handy massive trash can when I am done with you, you metal piece of &*^%$#!!"!
Megatron transforms back into robot form and slaps Cartman aside, whose Stark controlled suit takes over and begins rocketing back to The Playoff Planet. "Screw you guys, I'm goin home" Cartman says as he exits away from the battle not too fast enough.
A giant smirk comes across the metal face of Megatron as he knows one epic throw down is about to take place. Brainiac, even in his largest variable form is still significantly smaller than Megatron; but his strength scale is right there at the same level. Brainiac comes in swiftly and delivers the first several punches surprising Megatron as he had never been hit so hard, by such a smaller foe. He thinks to himself, that those felt like Optimus Prime punches and can't help but think that he kind of likes this guy. Megatron delivers a closed fist left hook back to Brainiac sending him back a ways; but they both use the emptiness of space to their advantage, floating about and keeping the fight going for an extended amount of time. Megatron is wrong in assuming that he would be so much stronger due to his size; but Brainiac also is proven wrong in his assumption that he would so easily be able to outsmart the many million years old Decepticon Tactician. Megatron is left dented and even leaking energon in a few spots; but he is able to get a grip on Brainiac with his left hand. From that point he manages to shove Brainiac's large, protected head into his arm cannon, getting it wedged inside. "Only one way to get this unstuck old friend". Megatron says with a laugh as he laser blasts Brainiac in the brain clearing the barrel of his cannon.
Megatron begins to fly somewhat slowly back to The Playoff Planet when he gets a com call from The Horsemen leader himself. "Megatron, this is Darkseid. This time frame is unacceptable, were you successful in your mission"?? "I still function" Megatron replies before turning off his com.
Flying high above the city, Captain Marvel is doing battle with Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel hits Captain Marvel with a midair roundhouse kick; but Captain Marvel returns the favor to Captain Marvel when Captain Marvel hits Captain Marvel with a marvelous and captivating blast of energy. Eventually the DC Captain Marvel and the Marvel Captain Marvel both lean back and hit each other simultaneously with such force that they join each other in such a death that any Captain would marvel at.
Both of these teams, as mentioned previously are not just here to fight but here to win. They are in close communication as they move forward with their plans. Darkseid, using a highly advanced com system and Dr. Manhattan with a mental link are in constant contact with their troops making sure their well laid plans are laid out well. As Darkseid meets in person with some of his top generals Supergirl and Agent Smith in order to make sure everything gets underway; Dr. Manhattan summons The Silver Surfer to the Sentient City known as Ranx for a similar meeting. Silver Surfer races there; but cannot help himself from doing a quick fly by when he sees an opportunity to cosmic blast vaporize an unsuspecting She-Ra and Swift Wind on the way there.
Deep in the oceans of the Playoff Planet two factions of water dwellers search the expanse of the Sea for enemies they know dwell within. They come upon each other and waste no time beginning to do battle. Poseidon finds it funny that a mere mortal and not even a greatest of his kind would dare refer to himself as The Ocean Master. As Ocean god he makes quick work of the Atlantean. Although Kit Fisto swims into the scene to exact some revenge, igniting his glowing green, waterproof grip-skiddly for when Nautolans get silly. The Seaworms begin to rush in towards Master Fisto, when they all of the sudden turn back around and begin attacking their master Poseidon. Now under the control of Swamp Thing, The Seaworms break free from their trained response to obey Poseidon and bite the hand that had been feeding them. Poseidon grows angry from this insult and thrusts his trident through the water skewering Swamp Thing, before he causes an underwater earthquake which triggers the genetic programming of the Seaworms. Derived from ancient Arrakis Sandworms, these genetically altered creatures still cannot help but move towards the thump of the ground far below them and die in the process of their investigation. Kit Fisto, in this mess had retreated to the surface to help his team above ground rather than to face the mighty Poseidon all alone. He is picked up on the surface by Batgirl in a speed boat and brought back to the fray.
Dr. Manhattan reaches out to Darkseid telepathically so the two adversarial team leaders can communicate; but Darkseid does not allow the connection to last long. Just long enough for one tauntful message. "You know we must face each other one on one Lord of Apokolips. We have both seen this in our dreams. It cannot be avoided"........ But before they begin to move towards each other they both make pit stops along the way. Darkseid in the city and Manhattan in the jungle. They wish to each prove themselves to both teams before they face off against each other which is why they request no help from any of their teammates. Darkseid does not hesitate for a second while he single-handedly attacks Invincible and his crew, while at the exact same time on the other side of the planet Dr. Manhattan does the same to Granny Goodness and her Female Furies. As if either of these beings so far beyond men needed an ego boost, even they manage to gain confidence as their foes fall in the following order Rex Splode, Dupi-Kate, Robot, Atom Eve, Allen the Alien, and then Mark Grayson last. Manhattan goes for the leader first in his skirmish, killing Granny Goodness, then Lashina, Stompa, Bloody Mary, and lastly Mad Harriet.
The Chimera is moving in towards Ranx the Sentient City for a space battle but both are reluctant to throw the first proverbial punch as they are both hoping for backup from the planet soon. Their wishes are about to be true as Supergirl, The Flash, and a reluctant Juggernaut in a space suit being drug behind them are on their way to help out Thrawn and the Chimera crew, while Silver Surfer, Abeloth, and Kryptomian #1 fly in fast to back up Ranx. Up in the terrestrial skies on the other hand, several aerial dog fights are already taking place. If this was a movie this part coming up would be everybody's favorite part; so don't nobody get up for popcorn. Jango in Slave 1, who has Frank: The Crack Dank Diddler himself riding upside down shotgun whilst killing all the fries, zyn, and 4 Lokos Jango's Bounty hunter cash account could buy. They follow Vader in his TIE Advanced 1A, along with Zorack and the rest of The Council of Doom in The Quinjet, Ethan Hunt (who doesn't know how to fly an F-15, but his green lantern ring does (I honestly always kind of questioned this weapon assignment; but that doesn't mean Ethan Hunt isn't an awesome character and that green lantern rings aren't awesome weapons on anyone)). Kang the Conqueror is formulating a plan in a Republic Shuttle hoping that his passenger Frodo's Dwarf Ring does more than just bling out that dirty Hobbit finger. Alfred is pulling loops that guys half his age couldn't pull off in a Y-Wing, while Nightwing is way too smooth in the cockpit of his X-Wing. And last but not least for the Madhouse Kit Fisto dried off just in time to jump into a Naboo Starfighter and join the combat pilots in this laser, missile, bullet, bomb filled air extravaganza. As for The Horsemen, Leia and 3PO are leading the way in her specially modified, never seen anywhere else but the sort of cannon, sort of not Splinter of the Mind's Eye 2 seater Y-Wing. As for Red Hood and the Outlaws, they are just too good of pilots to stay on the ground. With Red Hood in his F-15, Starfire in her F-5 Tiger, and most importantly Arsenal w/ Stan Marsh riding shotgun in his Stealth Bomber. Miss Martian is in a B-Wing lighting up the skies as well. Down below them in the city, the streets are not taking the vehicle abuse nearly as well as the sky. Batman is in the Tumbler with Robin on the R-Cycle keeping his distance but being the best scout he can be while T-Rex and The Landmaster driven by Agent Smith and a way too young Kyle Brovloski are doing more Ramming then Dodging. Not to mention the damage Cartman is doing in his oversized Iron Man Suit. Red Robin uses a bit more finesse as he tries to take Damien out of the equation by jumping on a motorcycle as well and bringing the race/fight into the back alleys. I will let this mid-story action sequence digest in the minds of the readers for a while, whilst we address battles elsewhere.
Out in the jungle a mismatched crew of Horsemen find themselves a mismatched crew of Madhousers and yet another skirmish begins. Agent Smith leads the way with Superboy, Apocalypse, Sarumon, Wondergirl, He-Man, and Battle Cat while Voldemort, Kid Flash, Hancock, and the third Kryptonian follow behind the four Mutants who make up a small rogue break off of the X-Men. This "X-Crew" led by the telepath Justineth, consists of a power absorbing strongman named Kylo, a speedster named Zachariah, and a manipulator of ice named Kcurtt. As the battle is about to begin He-Man recognizes them and speaks. "Ah.... Justine. Your team's reputation has been spoken of highly".
But, Kcurtt interupts saying: "HER NAME IS JustiNETH!! ARE YOU DEAF OR JUST STUPID".
"We shall do battle then". Wondergirl retorts.
As the small battle gets underway Kylo adds simply: "Good. I'm done with talking that s&#@ is a**".
Apocalypse begins by putting a huge hurting on Hancock who is initially beaten into the ground; but much to the surprise of Apocalypse pulls himself out of the mud and reveals the most pissed off face that the ancient mutant has ever seen in his centuries on this earth. Hancock then returns the favor with a good old fashioned motor city beat which eventually ends with the head of Apocalypse being punched clean off. Voldemort is a wicked powerful wizard and the fear he puts into the hearts of those he comes across is increased even moreso with the great assignment of his yellow lantern ring; but he still isn't quite the wizard enough to take out the white wizard so powerful that he was selected even above Gandalf to lead the order. Sarumon in a classic battle akin to Satan Vs. Lucifer destroys the dark Lord with the bringing of light. Kryptonian #3, a tall muscular type who was probably quite the bruiser even back on the red sun planet of Krypton goes after Superboy one on one. Knowing his story, the Kryptonian known as Sal Yn attempts to taunt and ridicule Superboy by pointing out that despite wearing the symbol of the noble House of El, that he isn't even a real Kryptonian. Superboy does seem to realize that his strength level and flight capability were less than that of Yn's, but Superboy training under the JLA and Superman himself was able still to give him the upper hand and come out as the sole survivor of a bloody and brutal throw down. I was about to take this moment to make some silly jokes about the fight taking place between Wondergirl and Kid Flash. I was going to make fun of the bubble gum, tickle butt nature of comics back in the day with the introduction of silly side kick characters such as this; but truth is, that is when comics were actually good. And, it was that that made characters so interesting for so long; before modern culture at first perfected and then later ruined the idea of comics and media off shoots of the character. But needless to say I will just say that the playful fight between these two Teen Titans ended the way so many kid interactions do, typically interrupting a conversation between their parents. They were both moving too fast and they bumped heads really hard knocking them both down. Although this time it didn't end with them dying, because they hit with such force that both of their heads exploded. Kcurtt blasts Battle Cat with an intense blast of ice that freezes him over completely, allowing his teammate Kylo to walk over SNES Sub-Zero style and punch the large cat busting him into hundreds of ice shards. "LET'S GO" Kylo screams as he high fives Kcurt, but He-Man was not too happy with the show of power. He chucks his axe at Kcurt, which spins through the air before it plants in his forehead. Kylo then gets into a good old fashioned wrasslin match with the Eternian Prince. The two powerful sweaty, shirtless dudes press up on each other and trade blows in a totally non-ghey way. But eventually He-Man gets the upper hand, body slamming Kylo sending him deep underground. Justineth and Zachariah are keeping Agent Smith at bay; but the head Matrix Cop manages to grab ahold of the speedster Zachariah and throw him back at their team leader. Justineth uses her well established mental link with her squad to take control of the mental stream of Zachariah and Agent Smith as well as they are in physical contact with each other. The organic brains of the remaining X-Crew meld with software inside the mind of Smith and cause an electrical synapse explosion and mind meld that travels through all three combatants. As the remaining fighters of this skirmish begin to separate and head back to the main city battle a very bruised and battered Superboy looks over at a just as bruised and battered Hancock causing them both to utter simultaneously: "Uhh..... Maybe later".
Before we return to the three pronged space, air, and city battle that are all happening in unison with each other I bring you to the Desert. The dead center of the Play-Off Planet Desert that is. A place that is surrounded by nothing except nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Here we find the one on one battle of between the two namesakes of these powerful playoff teams. Darkseid walks up slowly towards Dr. Manhattan; but with a stride just slightly different than normal. Only trained eyes like mine would notice within his steps that it is not a slow stride of arrogance; but that he may actually be dreading what lies ahead. Dr. Manhattan believes time to be a construct of the human brain; but that that construct is on his side. He at least hopes as he knows the time before this fight is finally running out and that it is going to have to happen. No words are spoken from either combatant, just a single nod of respect from both of them before they begin. And once they begin it is hard for even I Joshatu the Spectacular to keep up with the flurry of attacks and counter-attacks that these two throw at each other. They engage in a battle so pitched that it would knock the Yarmulke right of Beckerman's head. The one on one skirmish goes back and forth between flurries of cosmic energy expulsions that light up the already bright sky and straight up haymakers that send airborne the arid, sun-beaten sand. The two hit each other so hard that both are knocked back about fifty yards. They both dust themselves off and begin moving back towards each other, but when they get about ten feet away from one another they both stop walking. The two of them drop to their knees in what appeared to be the two of them simply taking a break. A planned intermission in a scheduled sport. But instead of standing back up they both just freeze. Looking not like something that was ever alive, but more like two guardian statues worn and beaten from a time long forgotten. It was as if neither of them actually died or was defeated; it seemed like they both simply agreed to stop fighting.
Up in space, the battle rages on. The Chimera has unloaded quite a bit of firepower onto Ranx and is looking like the massive Star Destroyer may be able to finish the job when Abeloth approaches the vessel. The people inside the ship feel a sudden loss of oxygen and the controls malfunction throughout as The Mother of Mortis envelops the ship with her aura, proving that the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force. The Flash and Supergirl see this happening and rush towards Abeloth with the greatest burst of speed ever recorded. They show up in time to deliver the second and third strongest punches in The DC Universe from the first and second fasted people. They get there in time to destroy Abeloth; but not to save The Chimera and its crew. Juggernaut is floating in space aimlessly, when Flash begins to wonder why they brought him here in the first place; but he also knows that Supergirl received those orders directly from Darkseid and that Darkseid always has a plan. Supergirl and Flash being to move to regroup with Juggernaut, when they are confronted by Kryptonian #1. Supergirl makes quick work of her planet's brethren and grabs a hold of Juggernaut. Flash looks over at his two teammates and says: "You aren't really going to do what I think you are.... Are you??"?
As Supergirl begins spinning Juggernaut to build up momentum, both Juggs and The Flash realize that he wasn't brought up to space to fight, but that he was to be used as a weapon. Supergirl lets go of Juggernaut throwing him in the direction of the sentient city, saying: "Hey Ranx, try stopping this". The unstoppable Juggernaut then, with the momentum started by Supergirl goes right through the massive yellow lantern and doesn't stop until long after he pops out through the other side. Silver Surfer is too late to the party once he figures out what is happening but he hits a similarly bewildered Flash with a cosmic blast that would boil Lake Eerie before attacking Supergirl. Supergirl and Silver Surfer begin leveling each other with punches and take each other stumbling back down to the Play-Off Planet main battle where they see it raging on. Once they get there they see that all of the air and ground vehicles have been destroyed but that many of the combatants are still battling throughout the city. They both know as they bounce of the top of a skyscraper that this setting will be where this battle ends.
Stan Marsh and Kyle Brovloski have both somehow survived this long into the match; but they are scorched from a quick burst of flame from Jango Fett's torch. Miss Martian has more raw power in her left leg than Nightwing and Batgirl do combined; but Dick and Barbera know that teamwork is what makes the dreamwork. Plus, they both read every file that Bruce Wayne had on the Young Justice member and knew exactly how to take out a White Martian, even if she was pretending to be a green one. Kang tried to get all super-smart-time-traveler-I-
Only a few remain of both battered squads as they converge on what was once a beautiful city. Burning buildings and debris are all that remain in it, along with only Sarumon, He-Man, Megatron, Leia, Arsenal, and Starfire for The Horsemen and only Vader, Nightwing, Batgirl, Jango Fett, and Ethan Hunt for The Madhouse.
Darkseid has prepped his people well, and they know who the biggest threats are on The Madhouse; so when it comes to the who fights who, they know who needs to be double-teamed. Megatron and Starfire both take flight in an attempt to gain the high ground over Vader. Nightwing moves at Sarumon with swiftness, while He-Man decides to test the tensile strength of Beskar with his fists on Jango Fett (holding up pretty good so far). Leia has drawn her lightsaber against Ethan Hunt who has generated two green energy batons to hold her back, while Arsenal and Batgirl are going at it in full on hand to hand DC combat action that they were always better at showcasing than Marvel.
He-Man pulls his shield just in time to repel a rocket blast from Jango and then manages to find a kink in the former foundling's armor when he thrusts the Sword of Power through the bounty hunter's neck. Sarumon just barely fends off the bo staff and birdarang attacks from Nightwing before catching the former sidekick with a blast of light from his staff, Sarumon then gains full bro status when he is able to send another healthy blast of magic to protect Arsenal who was about to get a stiletto to the face from Batgirl. The two of them take that opportunity to finish off Babs Gordon. Ethan Hunt on the other hand is able to take advantage of the hand to hand combat setting that Leia has gotten herself into, while the green ring itself has been able to ward off any pressing Force powers. The IMF Agent is able to tie up her lightsaber with his two energy staffs and then with a spin move drop everything, pull a knife and send it into the jugular of the best Disney Princess. Vader is able to deflect every eye blast sent by Starfire with his crimson lightsaber; but her real mistake came when she tried to fly in fast for some melee combat. Knowing that she is physically stronger she thought she would have the upper hand; but The Dark Lord of the Sith pulls her in even faster with The Force and grabs her by the neck. He then chokes her out the old fashioned way assuring her that her lack of faith was disturbing. Megatron, from the air then unloads an enormous blast from his arm cannon towards Vader who does nothing but put up a single hand at the powerful laser. The explosion is massive causing Megatron to chuckle; but the laughter abruptly stops as the smoke begins to clear and Megatron sees through his optics the silhouette of Darth Vader is still standing. Vader then continues to concentrate as a confused Megatron feels a sensation he has never experienced. The Force grip used by Vader then finishes its job of crushing the spark of the mighty Megatron while still inside his Cybertronian Metal body. Ethan Hunt moves in fast; but succeeds where Nightwing did not and goes for the immediate kill shot on Sarumon, whose protective aura penetrates through the green energy aura of Ethan causing the agent to join the wizard in death.
Darth Vader, exhausted from what has certainly been one of the most impressive displays of Force Power ever, lets go of his Force grip on the lifeless Megatron and instantly must ignite his lightsaber to perry the attacks of He-Man and the Sword of Grayskull. Arsenal hangs back shooting specialty and novelty arrows over Vader's shoulder that miss on purpose but burst behind him to disrupt his electronics and attempt to distract him. He-Man has the upper hand in physical strength; but Vader is seemingly the better duelist. Vader, focuses what Force power he can still muster to come down hard on The Sword of Power and actually manages to cut the all powerful Sword in half. Vader then goes in for a kill shot on He-Man, but He-Man pulls his shield just in time to block it. From there He-Man gathers his strength, drops his shield and catches Vader with a wicked upper cut that breaks his helmet, destroying the seal of the former Anakin Skywalker's suit.
He-Man picks up the broken Sword of Grayskull, the very weapon that gave him his power and looks over to his teammate: "Where do we go from here skinny one??"?
Arsenal tips his trucker hat and replies: "We go to The Universe Bowl Big Hass".
Posts
