Justice League of America - Batman: The Stone King by Alan Grant (best books to read for self development .TXT) 📕

Abruptly, his efforts ceased, as if he had accepted the futility of further resistance. The powers that he had awakened were ready to claim their own.

The Stone King's whole body began to pulse, expanding and contracting in rhythm with his heartbeat. He swayed back and forth for several seconds, blood and sparks gushing in fountains from every orifice. His fingers clawed blindly at the air.

Then, as a final bombardment of lightning bolts burned into it, the body began to disintegrate. Blood and limbs and organs seemed to unravel, as if some unseen hand was pulling them. They spiraled away wildly, spinning with a life of their own, before they faded into a blood-mottled mist that dispersed on the night breeze.

The lightning ceased and the seething skies returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened.

The silence that followed was louder than any cry of triumph.

CHAPTER 18

Fear Is a Bat

"Were . . . were we in time?"

Batman's eyes flickered open. The pain in his shoulder throbbed as if he were being struck by a hammer, and his voice was hoarse and cracked. Every muscle in his battered body begged for relief.

But he was alive. He would recover.

Superman, Wonder Woman, Manhunter, and the Flash were grouped around him.

"We were," Superman informed him. "Wonder Woman and I churned up the planet's core. And whatever you did to the Stone King, it worked. Look–"

Batman was still lying on the grass of the ridge, propped up against the smooth trunk of a century-old beech tree. He breathed carefully, deliberately, trying to ease the pressure on his aching limbs, as his eyes followed Superman's pointing finger.

The pyramid looked as if it had been hit by a bomb. It was little more than a disordered heap of stones, blackened and burned by the incredible energies the Stone King had released. Magma still oozed slowly from several craters, fiery red turning to gray as it ran down the jumbled stones, cooling and hardening.

Otherwise, there was nothing to mark the titanic battle they had all taken part in.

"Green Lantern?" Batman murmured.

The Emerald Warrior stepped forward into Batman's view. His eyes were still a little glazed, and he held one hand to his face, nursing his badly swollen jaw.

"Well, dude, you saved the world." Green Lantern's eyes twinkled behind his mask, until he winced at the pain in his mouth. "And all it cost me was a sock on the jaw!" He looked down at Batman with mock seriousness. "Let me guess, was it something I said?"

"Explanations can wait," Superman insisted. "The Stone King may be beaten, but we still need to deal with the chaos he created!"

Without another word, the Man of Steel soared into the air and powered away at maximum speed. Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter followed at once, while the Flash raced off into the distance.

Batman took a final look at the collapsed pyramid, then reached for his communicator to call Alfred.

Cassandra had taken Jenny Ayles to the empath's own apartment, driving through the empty Gotham streets. The partygoers had dispersed when the Stone King spoke, scattering panic-stricken for their homes.

If this really was to be the end, they wanted to be with those they loved.

The women sat together on the sofa in Cassandra's living room, holding each other for comfort as they counted down the minutes to midnight.

Seconds before the Stone King's deadline was due to expire, a terrible, unearthly scream echoed around the city. A blinding flash lit up the night sky, brighter than a thousand moons, pouring through the apartment windows, throwing everything inside into stark relief.

Then it disappeared, leaving Cassandra and Jenny blinking at its intensity. There followed a long, deep silence.

"Wh-what was that?" Jenny whispered at last, her voice fearful.

Cassandra didn't answer at once. Her eyes were closed as she allowed her mind to roam free. She felt suddenly lighter, as if a vast burden had been lifted from her shoulders. For the first time since Raymond Marcus came to see her, Cassandra felt like her normal self.

"I think the Stone King is . . . dead," she said slowly, hardly daring to hope she was right. "I can't feel any trace of his presence."

"And Peter?" Jenny asked sharply. "What's happened to Peter?"

But Jenny already knew the answer. She'd known since she saw the light die in Peter's eyes, back at the pyramid, as the Stone King regained its mastery over him. Peter Glaston had made the ultimate sacrifice. He had given his life, for love.

Jenny's eyes filled with tears, and sobs shook her body as she cried for everything she'd lost.

The Earth had escaped destruction, but a high price had been paid. Millions of people had been killed, and millions more injured.

During the following two weeks, the world witnessed a frenzy of super hero activity unmatched in history, as the Justice League and its many allies strove to make good the massive destruction caused by the Stone King.

As soon as Superman managed to restore power to Gotham, Oracle used her expertise to set up a computerized databank of all reported disaster areas. Responding to computer analysis of every location, she was able to assign teams or individual heroes as the different situations required.

Green Lantern's will was tested to the limit, as he used his power ring to rebuild shattered cities in a dozen different countries. Earthquakes had struck hardest in Central and South America, destroying large expanses of land and creating millions of human refugees. The ring brought in countless tons of food and uncontaminated water before its bearer turned to the task of rebuilding what the Stone King had smashed.

Aquaman, King of the Seas, despatched legions of dolphins to assist people who'd been shipwrecked or swept out to sea when tsunamis struck the islands of Japan and Indonesia. Oracle sent the Flash, whose speed enabled him to run on water as if it were dry land, to assist. Later, the Scarlet Speedster would use friction generated by moving his hands at superspeed