Fic: Shoulder to Shoulder Against the Gods
Title: Shoulder to Shoulder Against the Gods
Pairing/Characters: Clark/Bruce, Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Darkseid
Rating: PG
Warnings: None needed.
Continuity: Justice League Unlimited
Summary: Parademons are invading Las Vegas, and the League is there to stop them--with a brief detour.
Word Count: 1700
Notes: A very late WFGE fill for prompt F25: Bruce asks Clark to marry him. Cryptic or straightforward is up to author. comicverse, toonverse or movieverse(SR/BB/TDK.) Happy-ending please.
"If two stand shoulder to shoulder against the gods, happy together, the gods themselves are helpless against them while they stand so." - Maxwell Anderson
That Darkseid had chosen Las Vegas as the battleground for his latest invasion of Earth seemed incongruous at first. However, when Superman battled a parademon through aisles of slot machines and only a few people even looked up from the whirling bars, the choice began to seem like a more natural one.
Tossing the parademon into the fountain out front, then freezing the water into ice around it, Superman looked up to see the skies of Las Vegas dark with Darkseid's shock troops.
"Preparing the way for their twisted Lord." Batman was next to him, looking up at the cloud of steel wings. "He'll be here soon."
"And we'll be ready for him," Superman vowed, his fists clenching. He poised himself to spring upward into the air, but Batman's voice stopped him.
"Kal. Be careful. Please."
Superman caught himself in mid-leap, his motion going from purposeful to awkward in an instant as he stared at Batman. However expressive Bruce Wayne might be in private--and Clark had discovered he could be expressive indeed--it wasn't like Batman to admit to being concerned.
Batman shrugged at Superman's expression. "It's Darkseid. He has a personal grudge against you."
"A lot of people do," Superman said lightly, smiling.
Batman didn't smile back. A muscle jumped in his jaw. "Just...be careful," he said.
Then he turned and ran into the neon-drenched shadows without waiting to see Superman go into battle..
There was an ululating cry in the skies above; Superman looked up to see Wonder Woman smashing two parademons together. Another was coming up behind her, snarling; Superman launched himself upward to intercept its blow and guard her back.
She turned at the sound of his opponent's wail to give him a fierce smile. There was a smudge of blood on her cheekbone that gave her a rakish look as she dove back into the maelstrom of clashing wings and howling demons.
The next half-hour or so was a formless blur of battle: razor claws slashing at him, steel armor clashing under his fists, Darkseid's army howling as they tried to drag him down through sheer overwhelming numbers. The brilliant lights of Vegas whirled beneath him as Green Lantern and Hawkgirl flashed by in a blur of emerald light and crackling energy. Somewhere down there was Batman, fighting on foot. Maybe alone. Maybe injured--
A parademon took advantage of the infinitesimal break in his concentration to get through his guard and land a pulverizing blow on his jaw. Clark felt his head snap backwards and he was falling, plummeting downwards, the parademon snarling with glee as it rained punches upon him. He heard Wonder Woman crying out through the whistle of the wind, and then there was a shattering impact as he crashed through the roof of some building and smashed into the floor in a cloud of dust and glass splinters.
The parademon was standing on his chest, and he couldn't rise, couldn't catch his breath. He clasped its horny ankles, ready to shake it free, but there was a crackling and the parademon's smile shifted to a rictus of pain as it stiffened and fell over, energy writhing around its body. "Kal," said a voice, and black gloves were reaching for him, dusting shards of pink glass off him. Superman blinked up at Batman and--
Pink glass?
In fact, Superman realized, there seemed a lot of pink all around. As the clouds of plaster dust settled, his surroundings solidified into a mass of pink and white--faux-Grecian columns, cherub statues holding wreaths, stained-glass windows (one shattered) adorned with twining pink roses.
"That's it," Batman said as Superman gazed blankly around the cheerful little half-destroyed wedding chapel. "That. Is. It." He was staring at Superman, his hands clenched. "Kal, I've been looking for the right time and the right way to say this. But there obviously is no right time, and no right way. So this is as good as any, and better than most." He went down on one knee in a puff of plaster dust. "Kal-El, will you marry me?"
"What, now?" was not the most cogent or romantic response, but Superman felt somehow at a loss.
"Now. Here. This might be the last day of our lives, and I'd like to be married to you for some of it, just in case it is. If you'll have me, of course."
"Of course," Clark hastened to say, "But--I'm pretty sure you still need a wedding license, paperwork...it isn't binding..."
"Binding enough for me," Batman said. "We can get it finalized later." He took Kal's hand in his, wiping a smear of ichorous blood off the back with his thumb. "Say you'll be mine, Kal."
"Only if you'll be mine."
"Done." Batman stood up, looking around. "You," he said, and pulled a cowering pastor out from under a pew. "Marry us." Superman glanced reproachfully at him, and Batman added, "Please."
The doors of the chapel burst open and Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Green Arrow and Black Canary charged in. "Superman!" cried Wonder Woman. "The parademons are preparing for another assault!"
"There's a wave right on our tails, as a matter of fact," Green Arrow noted. "We'll have to make a stand here."
"All right then," said Batman. "Green Arrow, you're the best man."
"You'd be surprised how often I hear that."
"For our wedding," Batman clarified. "So we'll need you to lay down some covering fire."
"I knew that," muttered Ollie, drawing his bow and aiming it at the door.
"Diana, mind being the maid of honor?" asked Superman.
"It would be a pleasure, Kal," said Diana, taking a position next to Superman and dropping into a combat crouch, her eyes on the door.
"Is this all right, sir?" Superman asked the pastor, who chuckled weakly.
"I don't seem to have anywhere better to be."
Batman grabbed Superman's hand. "Let's get started, then."
"Here they come!" yelled Black Canary, and the parademon troops began to claw through the entrance, shrieking in triumph. Green Arrow released a volley of concussive arrows and they fell back for a moment, covering their ears.
The pastor cleared his throat, a tiny sound in the din. "Dear beloved, we are gathered here today--"
"--to kick some anti-life ass!" yelled Hawkgirl, her mace crackling as she waded into the fray.
"You can probably skip to the actual vows," noted Superman as the first of the parademons reached them. Without thinking, he whirled to stand back to back with Batman, feeling the reassuring pressure of his shoulderblades against his back. There was a solid thump as Batman kicked the first of the parademons squarely in the teeth, echoed by a satisfying whump as Superman leveled a roundhouse punch against another parademon, sending it sprawling through another stained-glass window.
"Um, do you, Superman, take Batman to be your lawfully wedded spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, till...uh... till death do you part?" gabbled the pastor in a tone that indicated he was a little worried that might be only a few minutes from now.
"I do!" yelled Superman. Beside him Hawkgirl was pummelling a parademon with a plaster cherub, while Black Canary was throttling another with a string of pink plastic roses.
"And do you, Batman, take Superman to be your lawfully wedded spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"
Batman ducked as Wonder Woman smashed a parademon with a church pew, sending it spinning past them. "I most certainly do," he said in an absolutely conversational tone of voice.
"By the power vested in me by the state of Nevada, I now pronounce you to be married. You may kiss your husband," the pastor said.
Superman turned around to meet Batman's embrace--and a parademon came lunging straight at them.
It stopped dead as Batman held up a warning finger, glaring at it. "The question you need to ask yourself, minion of Darkseid, is this: do you really want to interrupt Superman and Batman's first kiss as a married couple?"
The parademon cocked its head for a moment, puzzled. Then the question became moot as a boxing-glove arrow collided with its head, knocking it directly into Hawkgirl's mace.
"I didn't think so," said Batman, sweeping Superman into his arms with a flourish of his cape.
When they kissed, the massed parademons mewled as if in pain and fell back for an instant. The heroes pressed the advantage and soon the battle was being pushed out of the chapel and into the streets.
"Thank you," Superman said to the shaking (but smiling) pastor. "We'll be back to help rebuild, I promise."
A cold metallic voice rang out across the streets of Las Vegas. "Mortals, are you prepared to cower before the majesty of Darkseid, to taste the ultimate despair of anti-life itself?"
A smile touched Batman's lips for a second. "I think we're prepared for him," he muttered to Superman. "Shall we?"
: : :
Later, Green Arrow would describe it as "the best wedding ever" and detail it over and over again to an admiring and envious crowd. But as far as Clark was concerned, the best moment of the day was when he was trading blows with Darkseid, each impact a thunderclap that shook the city. The dark god had reared above him, smashing him to the ground with the crushing weight of his fists. Spitting out blood, Superman struggled to his feet and was readying himself for the next barrage with a voice rang out above the battle.
"Darkseid! Lord of emptiness, pale shadow of New Genesis, pathetic echo of greatness!"
Darkseid glared up, snarling in fury, and Superman followed his gaze to where Batman stood on a building, cape whipping around him in the gathering storm. Superman would remember forever Darkseid's facial expression when Batman stabbed a finger at the dark god, his voice a clarion call, and announced:
"Take your palsied, anti-life hands off my husband!"
Pairing/Characters: Clark/Bruce, Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Darkseid
Rating: PG
Warnings: None needed.
Continuity: Justice League Unlimited
Summary: Parademons are invading Las Vegas, and the League is there to stop them--with a brief detour.
Word Count: 1700
Notes: A very late WFGE fill for prompt F25: Bruce asks Clark to marry him. Cryptic or straightforward is up to author. comicverse, toonverse or movieverse(SR/BB/TDK.) Happy-ending please.
"If two stand shoulder to shoulder against the gods, happy together, the gods themselves are helpless against them while they stand so." - Maxwell Anderson
That Darkseid had chosen Las Vegas as the battleground for his latest invasion of Earth seemed incongruous at first. However, when Superman battled a parademon through aisles of slot machines and only a few people even looked up from the whirling bars, the choice began to seem like a more natural one.
Tossing the parademon into the fountain out front, then freezing the water into ice around it, Superman looked up to see the skies of Las Vegas dark with Darkseid's shock troops.
"Preparing the way for their twisted Lord." Batman was next to him, looking up at the cloud of steel wings. "He'll be here soon."
"And we'll be ready for him," Superman vowed, his fists clenching. He poised himself to spring upward into the air, but Batman's voice stopped him.
"Kal. Be careful. Please."
Superman caught himself in mid-leap, his motion going from purposeful to awkward in an instant as he stared at Batman. However expressive Bruce Wayne might be in private--and Clark had discovered he could be expressive indeed--it wasn't like Batman to admit to being concerned.
Batman shrugged at Superman's expression. "It's Darkseid. He has a personal grudge against you."
"A lot of people do," Superman said lightly, smiling.
Batman didn't smile back. A muscle jumped in his jaw. "Just...be careful," he said.
Then he turned and ran into the neon-drenched shadows without waiting to see Superman go into battle..
There was an ululating cry in the skies above; Superman looked up to see Wonder Woman smashing two parademons together. Another was coming up behind her, snarling; Superman launched himself upward to intercept its blow and guard her back.
She turned at the sound of his opponent's wail to give him a fierce smile. There was a smudge of blood on her cheekbone that gave her a rakish look as she dove back into the maelstrom of clashing wings and howling demons.
The next half-hour or so was a formless blur of battle: razor claws slashing at him, steel armor clashing under his fists, Darkseid's army howling as they tried to drag him down through sheer overwhelming numbers. The brilliant lights of Vegas whirled beneath him as Green Lantern and Hawkgirl flashed by in a blur of emerald light and crackling energy. Somewhere down there was Batman, fighting on foot. Maybe alone. Maybe injured--
A parademon took advantage of the infinitesimal break in his concentration to get through his guard and land a pulverizing blow on his jaw. Clark felt his head snap backwards and he was falling, plummeting downwards, the parademon snarling with glee as it rained punches upon him. He heard Wonder Woman crying out through the whistle of the wind, and then there was a shattering impact as he crashed through the roof of some building and smashed into the floor in a cloud of dust and glass splinters.
The parademon was standing on his chest, and he couldn't rise, couldn't catch his breath. He clasped its horny ankles, ready to shake it free, but there was a crackling and the parademon's smile shifted to a rictus of pain as it stiffened and fell over, energy writhing around its body. "Kal," said a voice, and black gloves were reaching for him, dusting shards of pink glass off him. Superman blinked up at Batman and--
Pink glass?
In fact, Superman realized, there seemed a lot of pink all around. As the clouds of plaster dust settled, his surroundings solidified into a mass of pink and white--faux-Grecian columns, cherub statues holding wreaths, stained-glass windows (one shattered) adorned with twining pink roses.
"That's it," Batman said as Superman gazed blankly around the cheerful little half-destroyed wedding chapel. "That. Is. It." He was staring at Superman, his hands clenched. "Kal, I've been looking for the right time and the right way to say this. But there obviously is no right time, and no right way. So this is as good as any, and better than most." He went down on one knee in a puff of plaster dust. "Kal-El, will you marry me?"
"What, now?" was not the most cogent or romantic response, but Superman felt somehow at a loss.
"Now. Here. This might be the last day of our lives, and I'd like to be married to you for some of it, just in case it is. If you'll have me, of course."
"Of course," Clark hastened to say, "But--I'm pretty sure you still need a wedding license, paperwork...it isn't binding..."
"Binding enough for me," Batman said. "We can get it finalized later." He took Kal's hand in his, wiping a smear of ichorous blood off the back with his thumb. "Say you'll be mine, Kal."
"Only if you'll be mine."
"Done." Batman stood up, looking around. "You," he said, and pulled a cowering pastor out from under a pew. "Marry us." Superman glanced reproachfully at him, and Batman added, "Please."
The doors of the chapel burst open and Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Green Arrow and Black Canary charged in. "Superman!" cried Wonder Woman. "The parademons are preparing for another assault!"
"There's a wave right on our tails, as a matter of fact," Green Arrow noted. "We'll have to make a stand here."
"All right then," said Batman. "Green Arrow, you're the best man."
"You'd be surprised how often I hear that."
"For our wedding," Batman clarified. "So we'll need you to lay down some covering fire."
"I knew that," muttered Ollie, drawing his bow and aiming it at the door.
"Diana, mind being the maid of honor?" asked Superman.
"It would be a pleasure, Kal," said Diana, taking a position next to Superman and dropping into a combat crouch, her eyes on the door.
"Is this all right, sir?" Superman asked the pastor, who chuckled weakly.
"I don't seem to have anywhere better to be."
Batman grabbed Superman's hand. "Let's get started, then."
"Here they come!" yelled Black Canary, and the parademon troops began to claw through the entrance, shrieking in triumph. Green Arrow released a volley of concussive arrows and they fell back for a moment, covering their ears.
The pastor cleared his throat, a tiny sound in the din. "Dear beloved, we are gathered here today--"
"--to kick some anti-life ass!" yelled Hawkgirl, her mace crackling as she waded into the fray.
"You can probably skip to the actual vows," noted Superman as the first of the parademons reached them. Without thinking, he whirled to stand back to back with Batman, feeling the reassuring pressure of his shoulderblades against his back. There was a solid thump as Batman kicked the first of the parademons squarely in the teeth, echoed by a satisfying whump as Superman leveled a roundhouse punch against another parademon, sending it sprawling through another stained-glass window.
"Um, do you, Superman, take Batman to be your lawfully wedded spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, till...uh... till death do you part?" gabbled the pastor in a tone that indicated he was a little worried that might be only a few minutes from now.
"I do!" yelled Superman. Beside him Hawkgirl was pummelling a parademon with a plaster cherub, while Black Canary was throttling another with a string of pink plastic roses.
"And do you, Batman, take Superman to be your lawfully wedded spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"
Batman ducked as Wonder Woman smashed a parademon with a church pew, sending it spinning past them. "I most certainly do," he said in an absolutely conversational tone of voice.
"By the power vested in me by the state of Nevada, I now pronounce you to be married. You may kiss your husband," the pastor said.
Superman turned around to meet Batman's embrace--and a parademon came lunging straight at them.
It stopped dead as Batman held up a warning finger, glaring at it. "The question you need to ask yourself, minion of Darkseid, is this: do you really want to interrupt Superman and Batman's first kiss as a married couple?"
The parademon cocked its head for a moment, puzzled. Then the question became moot as a boxing-glove arrow collided with its head, knocking it directly into Hawkgirl's mace.
"I didn't think so," said Batman, sweeping Superman into his arms with a flourish of his cape.
When they kissed, the massed parademons mewled as if in pain and fell back for an instant. The heroes pressed the advantage and soon the battle was being pushed out of the chapel and into the streets.
"Thank you," Superman said to the shaking (but smiling) pastor. "We'll be back to help rebuild, I promise."
A cold metallic voice rang out across the streets of Las Vegas. "Mortals, are you prepared to cower before the majesty of Darkseid, to taste the ultimate despair of anti-life itself?"
A smile touched Batman's lips for a second. "I think we're prepared for him," he muttered to Superman. "Shall we?"
: : :
Later, Green Arrow would describe it as "the best wedding ever" and detail it over and over again to an admiring and envious crowd. But as far as Clark was concerned, the best moment of the day was when he was trading blows with Darkseid, each impact a thunderclap that shook the city. The dark god had reared above him, smashing him to the ground with the crushing weight of his fists. Spitting out blood, Superman struggled to his feet and was readying himself for the next barrage with a voice rang out above the battle.
"Darkseid! Lord of emptiness, pale shadow of New Genesis, pathetic echo of greatness!"
Darkseid glared up, snarling in fury, and Superman followed his gaze to where Batman stood on a building, cape whipping around him in the gathering storm. Superman would remember forever Darkseid's facial expression when Batman stabbed a finger at the dark god, his voice a clarion call, and announced:
"Take your palsied, anti-life hands off my husband!"