by J. E. Bright
call on your friends.”
Batman narrowed his eyes and got into Superman’s
face. “I keep my friends close,” he growled, “and my
enemies closer.”
“I hope not much closer than this,” Superman
joked. Then he realized how serious Batman was.
“You’re not implying that—”
Interrupting Superman, Cyborg leaped over and
started singing and dancing in victory, delighting the
Boy Scouts.
“We caught Gorilla Groddy,” Cyborg chanted,
“and now we’re going to party. Villains going to prison’
cause the Justice League is winning! Booyah!”
Chapter 4:
trouble
alert!
THAT AFTERNOON,
the Justice League gathered
around a big table in the Hall of Justice, their head-
quarters.
Superman hovered at one end of the table. “Great
work out there, everyone,” he said. “Especially our two
new recruits, Cyborg and Guy!”
Cyborg grinned at Batman. “The Man of Steel said I
did great!” he cheered. “Fist bump!”
Great work out
there, everyone.
“I don’t fist bump,” said Batman.
“When we join forces, no evil can match us,”
continued Superman. “That’s why we formed the
Justice League. Together we fight for the liberties
of all living creatures. I am proud of your individual
accomplishments today... ”
Batman’s mind wandered
during Superman’s speech.
I joined the League to keep
an eye on the most powerful
being on Earth, he thought. The
hearts and minds of man are
no mystery to me. But an alien
Superman ... Hidden from view,
Batman pulled out a lead con-
tainer. Good thing I have my
box of Kryptonite! He opened
it, and inside a chunk of space
rock glowed.
Superman dropped to the floor.
Batman shut the box and hid it.
Groaning, Superman stood and glanced around
uncertainly. “I’m okay,” he grunted. “Not sure what
came over me. I must have eaten some bad buffalo
wings. Now where was I? Ah, yes. A hero sandwich
sounds good.” Cyborg followed Superman toward
the kitchen.
“Superman sure left in a big hurry,” Batman
growled suspiciously.
A loud alarm suddenly blared across the room.
Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Batman
hurried over to the monitors.
“Great Hera!” cried Wonder Woman, studying the
screens. “There are reports of Superman attacking
LexCorp in Metropolis.”
Batman pounded his fist into his glove. “Aha!” he
said. “I knew he would snap one day! I tried to warn
everyone, but no one would listen—”
Right then, Superman and Cyborg returned to the
Great Hall, holding their lunches.
“Uh,” said Cyborg, “we were just making sand-
wiches.”
“Don’t think I won’t check that alibi,” muttered
Batman.
Superman peered at the monitor. “I have a pretty
GREAT HERA!
good idea of who’s behind this,” he said nervously.
“Why don’t I take care of this one solo, guys?”
“I don’t think so,” replied Batman. “Let’s go!”
Superman sighed, but he flew after his teammates
as they rushed to the scene of the crime.
Chapter 5:
in the
villain’s
lair
THE BATWING
and Wonder Woman’s Invisible
Jet landed outside the LexCorp tower in Metropolis.
Superman and Green Lantern touched down near
them. Cyborg rode with Batman.
A wide, ragged hole gaped in the wall of the
building.
Superman chuckled unconvincingly. “Yeah, really,
guys,” he said. “I’ve totally got this.”
“And miss all the action?” asked Cyborg.
“Uh-uh.” He ran toward the hole.
Superman sighed, and flew into the hole ahead of
everyone else.
The Justice League followed Superman down
into a gloomy basement laboratory. Various weapons
lined the walls in display cases.
“Is this a villain lair?” Cyborg squealed in excite-
ment. “It’s my first villain lair!”
By one wall, Batman discovered an open box with
a cylinder inside. It was labeled as a Kryptonite bomb,
and it included a hologram of plans for destroying
Superman. “Lex has been busy plotting our demise,”
he said, peering at the plans.
Superman flew down beside him.
Batman turned off the hologram.
“Leave it to you to dispose of Lex’s evil plans for
me,” said Superman.
“Yeah, that’s what I was doing,” said Batman.
“Took you long enough!” Lex Luthor hollered,
running into the chamber. “My lab is destroyed!”
“Lex Luthor,” Green Lantern sneered. “Do we
really have to help this guy?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Lex
sharply.
Superman glared at Lex. “You spend all day creat-
ing weapons to destroy us.”
“How many times have you framed one of us for a
crime,” asked Batman, “and then run for president on
a platform to stop us?”
Lex smiled. “That reminds me,” he said, pulling out
a stack of buttons, each printed with the words vote
for lex
He tossed them onto all the heroes’ chests.
You
treacherous
snake!
Behind them, Bizarro burst onto a high balcony.
“Bizarro!” cried Superman.
Batman tightened his hands to fists.“Another
alien!” Cyborg glanced from Superman to Bizarro.
“Whoa,” he said. “Are you twins?”
Superman smacked his forehead. “We are not
twins.”
Then Superman noticed the weapon Bizarro held.
“Great Scott!” he exclaimed. “The LexCorp duplicator
ray that created you. You broke in here to steal it? Why?”
WE’RE NOT
TWINS.
Bizarro raised the gun. “Bizarro show you.”
“Don’t!” shouted Superman.
Bizarro fired the ray. Superman flew out of the way,
but the purple beam of energy hit Wonder Woman,
Batman, Green Lantern, and Cyborg full blast.
The heroes grunted and groaned as they writhed
in pain. They twisted as they were cloned, and
collapsed onto the ground.
As Superman sat up, he blinked blearily. . . and
saw five creatures standing nearby.
The first looked like a wrong version of Batman.
He turned his mask so it was on straight. “I Batzarro,”
he introduced himself. “World’s Worst Detective.”
“I am Greenzarro,” said the next one. He whim-
pered, forming a teddy bear with his power ring,
which he cuddled. “I scared.”
A junky robot tottered forward. “I Cyzarro—” he
said, and
then slumped, fizzling. Bizarro flew behind
him and turned the windup key in his back.
“I Bizarra,” said the female creature. “Pretty, pretty
princess.”
I SCARED.
“Bizarro,” ordered Superman, “give me that ray
before you do more damage.”
“Nothing stop Bizarro!” hollered Bizarro. “Not even
Superman!” He focused his freeze vision on the
Justice League, encasing them in thick ice.
“Can we go?” whined Greenzarro. “I scared.” He
used his power ring to make a five-seat bicycle
spaceship.
Bizarro noticed a cylinder in a case on the floor.
“B-O-M-B,” he read. “Boom!” He grabbed it before
hopping onto the bicycle spaceship. “Okay,” he
decided. “Let’s stay!”
The rest of the Bizarro League hopped onto the
bicycle and it streaked into outer space.
Superman melted the ice block with his heat
vision, freeing the Justice League.
“That was weird,” said Cyborg.
“How do we know this wasn’t always part of your
secret alien plan?” asked Batman.
“Because Bizarro can’t keep secrets,” Superman
answered. “He can barely keep his pants up.”
“Why make duplicates of us?” wondered Wonder
Woman.
“I don’t know,” replied Superman, “but if one
Bizarro can cause this much destruction, think what
an entire Bizarro League can do. I know where they’ve
gone: Bizarro World. Let’s go!”
As Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Cyborg
followed Superman out of the lab, Batman hung back.
“So,” Batman murmured, “you want us to follow
you to some distant planet. Well, I’ll play your little
game for now, alien.”
Then Batman hurried to catch up with his team-
mates.
Chapter 6:
Bizarrotropolis
Superman and Green Lantern
traveled
through space on their own power. Wonder Woman
flew in her Invisible Jet, and Batman and Cyborg took
Batman’s spaceship. They reached Bizarro World in
the far reaches of the galaxy.
“Merciful Minerva!” cried Wonder Woman.
“Bizarro’s planet is a cube?”
“I should warn you,” said Superman, “things here
behave a little—”
“Um,” Wonder Woman interrupted, “bizarro?”
Batman’s spaceship shuddered and shook.
Wonder Woman’s jet vibrated uncontrollably, too.
Both vehicles shattered into tiny bricks.
Cyborg, Batman, and Wonder Woman plummeted
toward the surface.
“One rescue rocket
coming up,” said Green
Lantern. He concentrat-
ed, but his power ring
created a big green
Merciful
Minerva!
chicken instead.
“A chicken,” said Batman as they landed. “How
degrading.”
“I call that use of power ring a clear foul,” joked
Cyborg. “Get it? Fowl?”
With a scanner, Batman studied a gold crystal.
“These rocks are emitting a weird form of radiation.”
“We should call it weirdiation,” said Cyborg. “I like
that name!”
Batman shot Cyborg an annoyed glance. “It’s this
radiation—”
“I do not know what you’re talking about,” Cyborg
said. “Radiation? There are so many kinds.”
“Fine,” seethed Batman. “It’s this weirdiation that
created the planet and is now interfering with the
team’s powers and equipment.”
“Equipment?” Cyborg peered down at his body,
worried. “That’s what I’m made of—” His arm fell off.
“Hey,” Green Lantern asked Superman, “why
doesn’t this place affect you?”
“Well, not much does, I guess,” Superman replied.
Batman eyed Superman suspiciously. So, he
thought, the Kryptonian lured us to a planet that
renders our powers and weapons useless. Well, I have
something that will affect him. Batman patted his
secret box of Kryptonite.
Then Batman froze. He hid the box. “Shh,” he
hissed. “We’re being watched.” He rolled on the
ground stealthily, before popping up beside a
figure on a rocky ridge. “What do you want?” Batman
demanded.
Green Lantern flew over. “I think he wants to know
why you’re talking to a rock.”
Batman narrowed his eyes. Now it was obvious
that the figure was crudely formed from crystal.
“It’s a citizen,” explained Superman. “I tried to
make this place feel more like home for Bizarro.”
From the ridge where they stood, the Justice
League now could see a vast city. It looked like
Metropolis, but warped and
weird, and filled with crystal
citizens. “It’s Bizarrotropolis,”
said Cyborg. “I like making
up funny names.”
Superman’s smile faded
when he heard the sounds
of a distant battle. “I’m going
to investigate.”
“Not without me, you’re not,” said Batman. As
Superman flew off, Batman snagged the corner of
his cape and hitched a ride.
With a glance back, Superman asked, “Beautiful
from up here, isn’t it? Oh . . . unless you want us
both to fall and become pancakes, I’d keep your lead
box full of Kryptonite closed tight. . . Bruce Wayne.”
“Ha!” cried Batman. “I knew you’d use your X-ray
vision on me! But how did you see through my
lead-lined mask?”
“I didn’t,” replied Superman, “but somebody
stitched your name onto the elastic band of your
underwear.”
“Alfred,” grumbled Batman.
Superman smiled. “You can trust me with your
secret identity. I’m Superman!”
“I don’t trust anyone,” said Batman. “Also, you’re
an invulnerable alien whose motives remain
mysterious, which means I should especially not
trust you. . . Clark Kent.”
“Hey,” protested Superman, “how did you know
my secret identity?”
Batman smiled. “I’m Batman.”
Superman slowed for a landing on an outcrop-
ping. He and Batman witnessed a surprising scene in
the wide valley below.
“That’s the source of the sound I heard earlier,”
said Superman.
An enormous space destroyer floated above the
plain. The front of it was shaped like the giant, familiar
head of a villain. Behind the destroyer was a hopper
filled with golden crystals. Bolts of electricity snaked
out of the sides, hoisting more crystals into the ship.
“Darkseid,” Superman and Batman said in unison.
Chapter 7:
tickled to
death
The Bizarro League
rushed to the scene,
battling to stop the ship from grabbing the rocks.
“Must not save citizens from big head machine!”
bellowed Bi
zarro.
Bizarra pulled rocks back with her lasso, while
Greenzarro blocked levitation beams with teddy
bears. Batzarro and Cyzarro saved citizens, too.
Inside the destroyer’s control room, Darkseid
sat on a throne. “Who is stealing my rocks?” he
demanded of his henchman Desaad who was
working the ship’s controls.
“No one, Master Darkseid,” Desaad assured his
boss. “This is only a minor interference.” Desaad
peered at a monitor. “Unleash the drones!”
A horde of drones detached from the destroyer
and whizzed toward the Bizarro League.
The drones blasted the Bizarros with lasers,
knocking them to the dirt.
“It tickle!” cried Batzarro, giggling.
Up on the outcropping, Superman asked, “They’re
being tickled?”
“Tickled to death,” growled Batman.
Batman and Superman leaped into the fray,
smashing drones into scattered bricks.
Inside the ship, Desaad gasped. “Superman?”
“Superman is here?” hollered Darkseid.
“And Batman,” Desaad replied. “They have unex-
pectedly joined forces.”
“Crush them,” ordered Darkseid.
Down below, Superman and Batman freed the
Bizarro League from the tickle attack, and they all
fought the drones together.
Superman gasped as he spotted a vast boulder
flung from the destroyer.
The boulder smashed down atop the heroes,
flattening the area completely.
With the heroes crushed, the ship picked up
the remaining crystals in the valley. Then it headed
toward the horizon to find more rocks.
When the second the destroyer left, Superman
spun upward from a tunnel in the ground. Batman
and the Bizarro League climbed out.
“Good thinking,” Batman told Superman. “Creating
a tunnel saved us all.”
Superman grinned. “Was that a compliment?”
Green Lantern carried Wonder Woman and
Cyborg into the valley on green chickens.
Batman greeted his teammates. “We’re dealing
with something big now.”