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6 months later….
1997
A day I never thought would actually come, the wedding day. Safe to say, I’m nervous. Even though there’s about 10 people here, lois and I agreed to have a small wedding. I tap my foot repeatedly until I hear dad behind me.
“Nervous?” he asks.
“Y-Yeah.” I stammer out.
“Don’t be, it’s a big day for you and her. Plus I’m pretty sure she’s just as nervous as you are.” He pats me on the back.
“But what if I mess it up? What if she gets hurt because of me?” He gives me a soft smile before replying.
“She said yes when she could’ve said no, she could’ve walked from you, run away, or anything else. But she said yes. That tells me she truly loves you, and is willing to accept it.” A smile escapes me.
“Thanks dad, i really needed that push.”
“No problem, good thing too. Because the wedding is starting right now.” I look back to see lois walking down the aisle, being escorted by my friend Pete. They then stop at the end of the aisle with lois holding my hands. I hear Father McCray speak.
“Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join Clark Kent and Lois Lane in matrimo-” I get distracted looking at lois and think back. It’s funny, I always thought, growing up, I'd end up alone and miserable, until I met lois. It’s kinda funny how someone like me, a guy who can fly into space with lasers coming out of my eyes, thinks of her as one of the weirdest people I've ever met.
“Mr. kent?” I hear from father McCray. “Are you alright?” he asks.
“Sorry, thought about dry cleaning.” I say with a nervous chuckle. He ignores it as I say my wedding vows. “I Clark Kent, take you Lois Lane to be my wife, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live.” She then says her vows.
“I Lois Lane, take you Clark Kent to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live.” We exchange our rings.
"I Clark Kent give you Lois Lane this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you." and she says hers. "I Lois Lane give you Clark Kent this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you."
"By the power vested in me by the State of Kansas, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride". We then kiss. I always thought i didn’t have a place in the world. But I was wrong. I do have a place in the world, and it’s with her.
Operator : Cobalt Air
Aircraft : Airbus A319-112
Registration : 5B-DCU
Airport : Zürich (ZRH / LSZH)
Photo Date : 07.07.2017
Remarks :
December 19th of 1997
“It’s a cold night, children are flooding the malls to ask a druggie dressed in a santa suit what they want for christmas. Me? I’m just here get a decent drink, and some answers.” I stare down as the said druggie walks out the back door, meeting with a dealer. I watched on as he does his transaction, I’ve heard of this prick before…
“Johnny ‘The Prick’ Pryor, infamous for dealing with pornography, child pornography to be specific. Mainly worked in gotham, but likely due to the rodent, he started dealing in Metropolis a few days ago.” I watch as he finishes his deal before getting ready to get some answers.
“It’s funny, I was in the middle of an investigation involving, and god decided to give me his head gold on a golden platter.” I grab my pistol before heading after him into an alley. The bastard chuckles to himself before I make my grand entrance.
“Cold night, huh?” I let out. The guy looks back before rushing off in fear.
“Oh, I love when they run.” I remark before chasing after him. He tries his best by using trash cans and such to block my path, with little to no effort. I keep giving chase until he stops at a dead end. He turns and pulls out what I consider a poor excuse for a switchblade, and attempts to stab me. I grabbed his shoulder and slammed him into the ground. I press my knee into his shoulder and hold his arm up against his back.
“What a shame, I was hoping you were going to put more effort than a switchblade.”
“What d’ya want? You want the kiddie crap right? Take it!” He yells out.
“Oh no no no Johnny boy. I don’t want the kiddie porn, I want answers. You give me them, and I’ll just give you to the cops. Plain and simple.”
“Y-Yeah sure, what d’ya wanna know?” The guy asks while clearly eyeing the blade.
“I’d like to ask what you know about Ellen Lane?” The guy hesitated before replying.
“She was uh…. A re-reporter, that died in a car crash.” He’s lying, I know it.
“Anything else, specifically in 1988?” The guy’s silent, he’s clearly hiding something, something big. He attempts to snatch the blade, but I grab my snub nose revolver to shoot his finger off. He screams in pain.
“You fucker! You shot my fucking finger o-” I push him against the wall and grab him the collar of his shirt.
“I’ll ask again Johnny boy, what happened in 1988?” He smiles before asking me.
“What makes you think I’ll tell you? You’re not batman.” I chuckle before replying.
“No, you’re right, I’m not batman, I grab his arm and dislocate his shoulder.
“I’m much worse.” He screams out in pain before falling onto the ground.
“So I’ll ask one more time Johnny boy. And this time, don’t piss me off.” He looks at me in horror before screaming.
---------------------------------------------
Somewhere else
Lois Lane Kent, famous reporter for the Daily Planet, is currently working on her story, when she is greeted by Ron Troupe.
“Hey Lois, how’s the report on the recent on the toyman incarceration story coming along?” Ron asks, Lois looks up to see what she considers her ‘first actual friend’, before responding.
“It’s going pretty well actually, which sucks.” She says with a groan. He chuckles before responding.
“Go figure.” He responded with a comforting smile.
“Oh really?” She turned directly to him, arms crossed.
“And what is that supposed to mean?” She asked with her piercing gaze. He glanced away nervously before moving on.
“Anyways.. I was wondering why you were still here. It’s already closing time.” She looked at the clock. 11:49 pm.
“Crap.” She slipped out. Ron started chuckling a bit before asking.
“So I was wondering if you had time get a bit of coffee.” She looked back at him, puzzled.
“Coffee?” She asked.
“Yeah, coffee. You’ve been busy all week, and with your husband been gone for a few days, I figured you could use a bit of time with your old friend.” She stays quiet for a moment, pondering before responding.
“Sure.” She grabbed her coat and headed off into the city.
---------------------------------------------
Midnight
Lois Lane Kent was walking through the streets, laughing with Ron about the times they had before all this crazy superhero stuff came in. When she stopped at the entrance of her apartment.
“Good night Ron.”
“Good night Lois.” He started walking away, before saying the two words she hoped he wouldn’t say.
“And Merry Christmas!” She groaned in a distaste. She didn’t mind christmas that much, but it made her uneasy after what happened. As soon as she entered her and Clark’s apartment, she noticed, the door was unlocked, she’s sure she locked it earlier. Which could mean two things either she needs to call her landlord again, or someone broke in.
“Good morning Mrs. Kent.” She gets frightened and pulls out a can of pepper spray.
“Or is it good night? Honestly, I can’t much care for the greeting itself.”
“Who the hell are you?” She asked with bated breath.
“Who am I?” He turned on the light. Revealing a lack of a face, covered with a jacket and a fedora.
“Now that, my dear, is the Question.”
“Hey.” I look up to see Lois, carrying two takeout bags. “This is for you.” she says while handing mine. She sits down next to me. I’m silent before replying.
“Thanks.” She turns to me before asking.
“No problem.” she replies before. It’s silent for a bit before she asks. “So…….. have they told you anything?”
“We’ll be able to meet with him in a couple of minutes.” She gives a positive nod before replying.
“That’s good. But that’s not why you’re being silent is it?” It’s quiet for a few seconds before she adds. “You don’t have to tell me.” I take a deep breath before replying.
“I-I could’ve killed her, the electricity could’ve fried and killed her. I could’ve been a murderer.” She lets out a kind and gentle, the kind of smile that mom gives me before replying.
“I’ve been a reporter for a while, I’ve seen murderers, and that is one of the many things I know you’re not, a murderer doesn’t go out in tights without a mask trying to be helpful to everyone, all the while being a clumsy news reporter.” A chuckle escapes me.
“Thanks Lois, I appreciate it.” she smiles and we share a kiss before we’re interrupted.
“Ms. Lane?” I move my head to the side to see a nurse with a clipboard. “He’s ready.” I follow her along with Lois through the hallways, when we stop as she opens a cell door. “I hope he won’t be much trouble.” She then closes the door behind us as soon as we get in.
“So? You’ve got me.” He chuckles while showing his cuffed hands.
“We need information.” He scoffs.
“What do ya wanna know?” She immediately brings out the file from the diner.
“Nearly every person in this file is dead. Except two people,” She brings out a packet of papers, which showed conversations between Him and someone that was redacted. “You, and this anonymous person.” She then gets closer, “Tell me who he is.”
“I-I can’t! The guy’s a psycho,” He yells out. “H-He’ll freaking kill me if I tell you!” His response is very panicky, whoever this guy is, he must be feared by everyone.
“Fair enough.” I comment.
“What?!” Lois replies back “Clark!”
“He’s right, he can’t tell us.” I walk closer to him and hand him a pencil and paper. "Would you give us a moment?" I ask the guard. He raises a brow before walking off. “Would this do?” I whisper to him.
"Seriously?" he asks with a scoff. "I can't, they're out for blood. How would I even know that I can be safe?"
"That's the issue, we don't but we can help. You allowed us to interview for a reason, Lois and I are willing to give you a chance, will you?" He’s silent, but nods.
He grabs the paper and pencil, and writes a name that’s small, but small enough to where I could read it. “Thanks. You're doing the right thing, trust me.” I say as I take the paper and pen. We then walk out of the room, through the hallways, Lois asks me quietly.
“Who did he write?”
“Lex Luthor.” I whisper back.
I wake up from my sleep and check the alarm. 7:30 am. Good, enough time to get ready for the first day. I get up, take a shower, and get dressed to leave the hotel room and pick up some coffee. Nearly 30 minutes go by before I get back to see lois waking up from the alarm.
“Morning!” I say cheerfully.
“Morning.” she replies groggily.
“Still tired?” she nods. “I figured you would. That’s why I brought some coffee and reese’s.”
“My favorite combination. Thanks.” she plants a kiss on my cheek. “So, what are gonna do to start the day?” that’s a good question.
“Well…. I did hear that apparently a certain electronic band are having a performance at a club in a few hours that I happened to get tickets to.” She then stares at me with anticipation.
“Clark, you didn’t.”
“I did.” She squeals and hugs me, thanking me several times like a teenager excited to see a boy band. “But until then, let’s go check out some places. The keys are on the dresser, I’ll be in the lobby downstairs to meet with you.” I plant one more kiss before leaving the room.
------------------------------------------------------------------
A few hours later…..
“What’s next?” she asks.
“Well there’s the last and biggest landmark, the eiffel tower.”
“Sweet!”, she replies, before grabbing my hand and running off into the entrance, when we stop to see a waiting line, a long one…… “You gotta be kidding..” She lets out with her hand on her forehead.
“Well, it is the biggest landmark in paris.” I reply. She lets out a sigh before i add. “Don’t worry, just wait here and i’ll pick some food and drinks.”
“Thanks honey.” she says before I run off to pick up some stuff.
I stop by a bakery to get some sweets, chocolate-flavored mainly. But then i hear something from a few feet. I turn to see three beings in red and black. Doing what looks to be confronting a guy wearing a superman shirt.
“We are looking for the being you call superman. Tell us where he is, and we will spare your short existence.”
{“I ain’t telling you anything you cretin!”} the man shouts out in french.
“Very well. Prepare for eradication.” it says while it’s head glows red. Before the man could ask what it meant, a laser blasts at him, turning him into a pile of ash. Which causes everyone around them to panic and run. “Would anyone else like to tell us where the being you call superman is.”
“Looking for someone?” I remark. They look towards me.
“Greetings, being called superman. We have been sent by our leader to escort you.”
“What if I say no?” readying myself to fight against them.
“Then you will be eradicated.” before it gets a chance to blast it’s laser, I punch it against a wall before the other ones fly right at me, pushing me against the wall, I swatted the one on my right side away, while the other one blasts a laser at me. I grab it and slam it into the ground, destroying most of it.
“One down, two more to go.” I say before it the second one flies right at me, blasting lasers from it’s hands. I counter it with my lasers, I fly at it while doing so. As soon as it finishes blasting the laser, I grab it by arm and slam it into the ground before I land dozens of punches within seconds. Leaving it as a smashed up mess. “Two down, one more to go.” I look to see the last one standing there. I fly right at it before it says something.
“Halt Kal-El!” I stop at it a few feet away.
“Kal-El? Are talking about me?” it chuckles at me.
“Ah yes, I forgot, you’re referred to as Clark Kent, yes?” how? How could he know my identity?
“What do you want?” I ask coldly.
“Very well, I’ll be blunt, I want vengeance.”
“Vengeance? Vengeance for what?”
“You took away my purpose, and now you’re life will have to compensate.” it starts glowing red. “Farewell Kal-El.” the robot explodes. But it doesn’t make sense, why would he want vengeance? Wait, if he knows my identity, that means he…
“Lois!”
The tide struck hard against the docks near 'The Harbour Inn', the bar John had been to a few times. Whenever he and Arthur Curry, the Aquaman, would meet up they would come here. If Arthur wasn't in Atlantis, which he assumed he would be, he would be here. It was best to look here first though, just in case.
The door shot open, inside, there were multiple people who sat behind turned over tables. A blast of a shotgun hit John in the shoulder, but his ring's protective aura stopped any damage. He followed the trail from where the bullet was shot from, behind the counter.
"Green Lantern?" Asked the man with the shotgun, a look of regret on his face. "I'm so sorry, I thought-"
John raised his hand to stop him. "It's alright. I understand why you would." He looked around for a moment, "I take it Arthur hasn't been here?"
The man shook his head. "I haven't seen Arthur at all. I'm worried, is he ok?" John nodded.
"I'm sure he's just making sure to defend his kingdom, he'll be fine." A lie. He knew that Arthur was one of the targets, that he would be attacked the same way Hal and he were.
"What's going on? Why are aliens invading? H-how are you gonna stop it?" John looked at him, then the people cowering behind tables. The fear that was stuck in their eyes. The hope they had in him.
"By having the will to push through it."
-~-~-
Standing in the main hall of the Atlanteans Royal Palace was General Murk, commander of the Atlantean army and head of the Elite Guard. Clad in his golden armor, he held his spear in one hand, his other mounted with a golden hook. He stood in front of the army. Next to him, his ally Tempest.
"What is the word on the king, general?"
"Is his highness alright?"
"What caused his blackout?"
The questions rolled in from his soldiers, though he couldn't answer any of them. A few hours ago some creature had entered the palace. It had a form of disguising itself, as it made its way to his King. After they arrived and slayed the monster, Arthur was already unconscious and twitching on the floor.
"We do not know what is wrong with the King yet, though our doctors and scientists are working diligently to help him." Informed Murk, trying to calm his soldiers.
Murmurs occured in the crowd before Tempest spoke up, "We know you all are worried, but we need you to have faith. This is Aquaman we're talking about, he'll make a recovery." Murk gave off a smile to the younger boy. Even as an adult now, he still shows the hope that only a child should have. It was a nice change from the world they were so used to.
Suddenly the doors of the palace were burst open, sending all the soldiers to turn at the ready. In front of them was John Stewart. "GL?" Asked a confused Garth. "What are you doing here?"
"You don't know? That means the invasion isn't here yet, only the surface."
Murk's eyebrows raised, "Invasion?"
John gave a brief rundown of what went on above, telling them about the White Martians and their "hit-list". Tempest was shocked that such a thing was occuring, while Murk simply grit his teeth. "So he was incapacitated by a psychic attack? How long will it take for him to recover?" John looked at them both then dropped the bomb shell.
"You don't."
Varied gasps were heard from the crowd. "What do you mean?" Shouted Garth, worry taking over his voice completely.
"The White Martians set up some sort of blockade in your mind, leaving you trapped in your own head." John paused before continuing. "There may be a way for me to get him out though. A friend of mine is able to link minds together, almost like a therapy session inside his head. If I can break the blockade, then he'll wake up."
"Then we'll be joining you." Stated Murk immediately.
"No can do," John replied. "The psychic link between you and my friend needs time to set in, otherwise he'll lose you, leaving you trapped in his head as well."
"He is in the medical bay." Stated Garth, hope resonating in his voice. John nodded, walking towards the bay. He stopped and turned as he felt a hand place itself on his shoulder. "And Green lantern? Save my friend."
-~-~-
Arriving at the medical bay, John enters to see multiple doctors and scientists tending to Arthur as his body sweats and spasms. Mera sits at his bedside, holding onto his hand. She notices the door open and sees him standing there. "John?"
He walked forward and looked at Arthur, his condition looked horrible. "I don't have time to explain, but I can save him, though I need your help with something else." Mera's eyes widened as she nodded her head.
'J'onn, I need you to add someone to the psychic link. Queen Mera of Atlantis'
'It is done John. She will be the one to rescue Diana Prince?'
'That's what I'm hoping for.'
"What is going on? Why can I hear you and someone else in my head?" Mera held the side of her head.
"Like I said I don't have time to explain, but I need you to find someone. They are in the same state Arthur is in, and alone." He looked to Arthur again, trying not to imagine what others would look like at the moment.
"But I can not just leave him!"
John places his hand on Mera's shoulder. "Please Mera, I need you to trust me right now. I will save Arthur."
She looked at him for a moment before nodding. "Alright then. Now who am I looking for?"
"Have you ever heard of the Amazons?
-~-~-
"Sound sleeper, isn't he?"
The moment was on repeat. The light flicking on. The glowing red eyes staring back into his soul. The blood, oh god the blood. It stained the sheets, his clothes, the walls. His fingertips mutilated, lacerations and stab wounds riddling his body. His mouth hung open, his tongue was removed. Teeth cracked, some gone. His lips were stained red, as was the area around his nose. There was a slight noise.
Slap. Slap. Slap.
The sound of his eyeball, hanging from it's socket, softly swaying. It made contact with his cheek creating the sound.
Then it went black. The light suddenly turned on again.
"Sound sleeper, isn't he?"
The scene replayed. Over and over again. An infinite amount of times, he just watched. Watched his son's lifeless body. The boy was tortured for a mistake he made. The pain he must have felt.
Off in the distance of the blackness, there was a green light, unbeknownst to Arthur. John only could watch what Arthur saw. 'Oh my god. This… this is what happened?'
Arthur had told him he lost his son, that it was his fault. But this wasn't a death, it was inhuman. Like some wild beast ripped him apart. He had to save him. Arthur would be trapped here forever if he couldn't.
"Arthur!" John shouted, not gaining his attention. He tried again, but still it had no effect. He got closer and eventually his call reached him.
His head turned back. "John? Why are-? How are you here?"
John walked closer, kneeling down next to him. "I'm here to bring you home." John reached to place his hand on his friend's shoulder but a yellow energy blast hit him, sending him away.
Black Manta was walking forward, his eyes glowing yellow rather than the usual red. Arthur was confused, this hadn't happened before. It was always rinse and repeat. He watched as his enemy made his way to his friend. John got up, realizing that this must have been the failsafe to keep anyone from saving Arthur.
"Another person that will suffer because of you." The killer extended an energy blade from his wrist, bright yellow in color. John recognized it as ion energy, the direct counter to his ring. As Manta rushed forward, John formed a shield on his wrist. The blade went right through the construct, piercing his skin. Meanwhile, John's free hand had formed a gauntlet construct. The gauntlet made contact with Manta, sending him flying backwards, giving John time to stand. John raised his ring, firing a blast of
energy off. The Black Manta projection countered it, firing a blast of yellow energy that began eating away at John's own beam.
"Arthur, you need to snap out of this! This event is in the past! You're stronger now because of it!" John screamed out, being overcome by the ion energy.
"I'm not. I'm not strong… not at all. This is my fault. My own son is… is…" tears drained from his eyes. "I failed him. He needed me and I wasn't there." Arthur's mind was shot. He was broken. This moment was his lowest point in his life. One man had brought him from being the King of Atlantis, to someone who couldn't stand on his own two feet.
"Then what would he say right now!?" Arthur's eyes left his son's corpse and looked at John. "What would he think of you!? What would Arthur Jr. want you to do!?"
Arthur's mind began to playback memories like a film reel.
"Daddy, why do people not like the up world?"
"We can be friends again! Like Papa and Gramma!"
"You're like a superhero daddy! Aquaman!"
"I don't want to go to sleep daddy, I want to hear about my favorite hero's adventures."
Arthur's eyes shut, feeling tears well up.
"Daddy, why do you look sad?" Arthur looked up, seeing his son. He was older by a few years, still just a child though. He lowered his head and felt more tears.
"Don't cry daddy! You have to fight the bad guys!" Arthur kept his head down facing the ground.
"I failed you. I let you down. I let him..."
"You didn't fail me! You could never let me down." Arthur's sob hitched, looking up at his son once more. "As long as you keep being a hero, my hero, I can never be let down. You honor my memory with every single life you save."
Arthur stared at his son, tears were still streaming from his eyes. He suddenly lunged forward, pulling the boy into a tight embrace. His face was buried into his son's shoulder.
John slowly felt the power of the ion energy fade, as his eyes opened he saw the projection of Black Manta fading into dust, as did the room with Arthur's murdered son. The only thing he saw was Arthur, holding onto some kind of bright light. He felt weird, as he looked down his arm began to fade. "Mission accomplished."
Arthur felt the same, as his legs began to disappear.
"Thank you. Thank you so much."
"No problem, dad. Now, go and save the world."
As Arthur's eyes opened, he felt lines of tears on his cheeks. The room around him was bright white, a contrast to the previous blackness. He tilted his head to the right to see John up on another medical bed, rubbing his head.
"Thank you, John."
John smiled at him, "Anytime."
________
Follow BluJay for issue seven of DCU Justice League, releasing tomorrow!
I stare at the street, just your average street, cars passing by, people walking their dogs, teenagers traveling either by bike or skateboards. Lois wanted me to meet with her in a pizza restaurant because she had something she wanted to show me that could help with her investigation.
“Clark!” I’m interrupted by Lois, greeting me with a backpack of what looks to be papers, files to be specific.
“Hey to you too Lois. Can I ask what those files are for?” I ask while pointing at the backpack.
“They’re not JUST files Clark,” She says while putting the backpack on the table. “They’re evidence.”
“To what?”
“The people that have collaborated with intergang.” She says while taking out each document.
“The problem is, nearly every member of intergang is either dead or anonymous.” She then pulls out one file she’s looking for. “Except one. His name’s Winslow Schott, AKA ‘Toyman’.” She hands me his file, he looks…… odd to say the least.
“Toyman?” I ask, eyebrow raised.
“He was well known in the criminal underworld, he operated from Bludhaven to Gotham. He originally worked for Okamura Toys until he was fired due to some controversial features in his toys, he tried to assassinate the CEO with his prized jester toy, but was officially apprehended by the GCPD. However, unofficially, it’s believed that he was taken out by the Batman. He currently resides in Stryker’s Island.”
“Okay, when can we interview him?” She gives a sigh before replying.
“I don’t know. I tried contacting them this morning, but got no answer.” I then hear sirens and gunshots coming from somewhere close by.
“I’d love to help you out Lois, I really would but-”
“I get it, just let me know if you find anything.” She gives a kiss on the cheek before I leave the pizza restaurant, suit up and fly off.
“The Gargoyle?” She asks, sounding unimpressed.
“Yes, he was the one who killed your mother.” She looks back at the warehouse.
“So why are we here?”
“I asked around, and they said he’s been staying here for awhile, waiting for his buddies to spring him out.” She looks back at him.
“What do we do now?” She asks, he chuckles before responding.
“It’s your call Mrs. Lane, what do you think we should do?” She looks back at the warehouse before thinking to herself that she likely was gonna make a stupid decision. But then again, for the last few days, she’s already been making some stupid decisions. In the end, she has no choice, if she’s gonna solve her mother’s death, she needs to confront him.
“Let’s go.” She mutters out before they sneak into the warehouse, they hide behind shelves with boxes. They stop at a man who looks to be basically armoured to the teeth. As the man with no face looks around the warehouse, he notices a foot sticking out of a wall of boxes, he peers to see a corpse, a very familiar corpse.
“Shit!” He thinks internally before rushing back to Lois, yelling.
“Lois, he knows we’re-!”
“Standing right behind me?” The Gargoyle turns around.
“Of course I knew, I may be deaf, but I’m not a moron.” The man with no face gets in front of Lois, almost like he’s trying to be a human shield.
“So Johnny boy ran to you, huh?” The Gargoyle lets out a chuckle.
“Yes, as much as I appreciated him confessing to me, I can’t let a rat loose.” He looks to Lois before letting out a sadistic smile.
“And you must be Lois Lane, look at how much you’ve grown. Honestly, when I thought I was going to get my comuppance, I thought it would’ve been from the sister of a politician, or the wife of a crime boss, not from the daughter of an idiotic journalist.” She gives him a look, a look of pure hatred.
“Shut up.” She lets out.
“You have a lot to pay for.” The man with no face says staring at the Gargoyle. The Gargoyle lets out a laugh before remarking.
“That’s implying you both even survive.” He rushes at the both of them, with the man with no face pushing Lois away, while pulling out his snub nose and letting out a few rounds at the Gargoyle. But it barely fazes him as he pushes him against the shelf and throws him at another shelf, causing it to collapse on top of him. As the Gargoyle walks towards him, Lois pepper sprays him in the mouth before kneeing him in the gut. As she does that, he grabs her by the foreleg, and throws her several feet. He approaches the man with no face and picks him up by the neck.
“Any last words?” The Gargoyle asks, the man with no face wheezes before asking.
“Cliche much?” The gargoyle grimaces, but as he’s about to snap his neck,
“Enough’s enough.” He turns around to see Lois with the snub nose pointed in his direction. He responds by giving an amused, yet terrifying grin.
“Run you idiot.” The man with no face says, trying to get her to run away. But she stands her ground. Her hands are shaking while holding the snub nose, not just from the fear, but also from the pain in her head, she can barely stay conscious. Her vision starts getting blurrier, her legs get weaker, until she finally starts collapsing. However, before she can land on the ground, she feels a hand on her back to catch her. She looks up to see her husband. She tries to utter his name, before falling unconscious.
“It’s good to see you too.” He whispers to her before lying her down on the ground, he glared at the two men.
“Well shit.” The man with no face remarks. While the gargoyle stands there, trying to find an opening to escape, but he couldn’t find any, so he decided to let go of the man and rush at Superman. But before his hand could even land near him, he grabs his hand and starts bending it to wrist, and then he stops, he stands there, within half a second he could break off his hand at the wrist. But he gives him a light push, which causes him to fly against a wall, rendering him unconscious. He turns to the man with no face, before saying.
“We’ve got a lot to talk about.” The man with no face stands there, before replying.
“So we do…”
Swansea Bus & Coach,Fforestfach,Swansea
Temsa Opalin
New to Pagan,Heston
© CBN - The Wesh Connection - Copyright - all rights reserved
Metropolis, a city of big opportunities, huge futures, and such. Back when I was a child, I thought metropolis as a way of being successful, a way of being….. someone else. But as soon as took the first steps, I saw the true horrors of this city, the corruption, the murder, and such. Hell, I’ve even seen the true colors of america, Red, for the blood of it’s citizens. Blue, for the upper class that feeds off of them. And white, for the balance of the city. Unfortunately, the city cannot last longer with it’s rate of crime, and it doesn’t help that a guy in tights is trying to give the city hope. As if someone named ‘Superman’ could turn the city around. I knew what I have to do to fix metropolis. But it doesn’t help that ‘he’ is interrupting my plans.
“Mr. Luthor?” I hear from my assistant.
“Yes Mercy?” I ask with a sigh.
“We’re here.” she replies, opening the door. I then follow her through the building, arriving to the lab.
“Good evening Mr. Luthor.” Hank Henshaw says with smile. “I-It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He gives out his robotic hand, presumably to shake. I stand there, staring. It clearly makes him nervous, given his awkward chuckle.
“Mr. Luthor’s not here for formalities, he’s here for results.” He immediately pulls back and apologizes before leading us to him. “When we woke him up at first, he lashed out, we had to turn him off and-”
“Is he still alive?” I interrupt him, staring at the at the empty, metal husk of a human being.
“Y-yes. But! If we shut him down again he won’t-”
“Wake him.” I interrupt again.
“But Mr. Lu-”
“Do it.” I interrupt a third, giving an obvious hint of frustration, I’m not a fan of being frustrated. He then silently complies as he goes on the computer board and proceeds to wake up from his temporal coma. “Hello John.” It’s silent before replying coldly.
“You…… You did this to me!” It yells out. He approaches, trying to intimidate me, but it won’t work.
“Oh come off it John, we both knew what you were getting into when you agreed for this deal. I gave you a chance, a second chance.”
“A second chance?! I’m barely human!”
“You’re right, you are barely human, but that’s the best part! You can’t get sick, you can’t feel pain, you have hydraulics, which is much stronger than muscle might I add. You aren’t human; no no, you’re much more, you’re stronger. Strong enough to beat ‘him’.” I say up close. He’s quiet for less than a minute, most likely weighing his odds, before replying.
“Yeah right, how am I supposed to beat him if he can’t feel it.” I let out a chuckle before replying.
“Oh he will feel it. Especially with this, Mercy!” Mercy then opens the briefcase, revealing a green glowing crystal.
“A rock? You’re gonna beat him with a rock?”
“It’s not just any rock my dear John.” I grab the crystal, and press the small button on his chest. Opening the hatch. “You see, around five or so years ago, my workers noticed fragments of a meteor that had crashed near metropolis. I didn’t regard it at first, however, around the same time ‘he popped up’, I had second analysis, along with readings from my security cameras, I had made a discovery, this was his weakness. This to him is what lead is to us. But instead months or years, hours, maybe even seconds could affect him.” I finish as I put the rock into him.
“Alright, when do I start?”
“In the morning.”
Huge credit to my man BluJay for cowriting the issue with me on this. www.flickr.com/photos/148814185@N06/
============================================================================================================
2003
“Here we are.” John says, stopping near the front of the elementary school for Jemahl and Nat’s first day in second grade.
“Alright, you two know which classes you need to go to?”
“Yeah, see you.” Jemahl replies immediately, grabbing his backpack and heading out the door.
“And you Nat?” John asks Nat, looking nervous.
“Uncle John,” She looks up at him. “W-will daddy be able to pick us up?”
“Yeah, but if he doesn’t, I’ll knock some sense into him as always.” He remarks, shaking his fist in a joking manner. Which causes her to giggle.
“Okay, love you Uncle John.” She kisses him in the forehead before hurries out of the truck following her brother.
“I’ll see you two at home!” Johns yells out before driving the rally near Metropolis Square.
---------------------------
“Alright, settle down people, it’s not like you’re meeting Oprah or some shit like that..” Maggie Sawyer mutters out. Attempting to make distance between the crowd and her cruiser
“Like you had plans.” Turpin retorts, to which Maggie rolls her eyes.
“Look, I’m just sayin’, you’ve been sitting in your office, trying to deal with that Psycho guy's death, along with your unnecessary obsession to hunt down Superman.” He adds almost nonchalantly.
“He’s a vigilante who’s been parading around as some second coming.”
“Look kid, I get your suspicions with Superman. Hell, I was like that at first as well, but over time, I understood what he’s trying to do.” She looks at him.
“And what exactly is he trying to do?”
“He’s trying to make sense of this world. Hell, he managed to beat that redheaded jackass Luthor to his knees, any person that’s able to do that is good in my book.”
“I still have doubts..” He lets out a sigh before replying.
“Look, you've only been around here for what, a couple of months? So I get that you still don't understand him, or at least, what we see in him. You'll need your moment. Everybody has their Superman moment when it clicks for them; when they see him for what he truly is, what he does, what he stands for. When you need him most and you look up for him, he'll be there, and you'll understand what I mean."
“Wow Dan, when the hell were you so philosophical?” He shrugs.
“I’m full of surprises kid, full of surprises.” She looks back at the crowd and notices some guy behaving suspiciously who spots her before disappearing into the crowd.
“Dan, take my spot, something doesn’t feel right.”
“Copy.” He jokes. She sighs before moving through the crowds of people to follow that man.
---------------------------
“I’m here to see my brother?” The assistant looks up from her clipboard.
“Of course, good to see you John. Clay’s been waiting for you.” She says with a smile before guiding him to a room where Clay is, as John opens the door, he hears his brother arguing with someone on the phone.
“Look, I understand your concern, but I can assure you, we should keep going for tomorrow, and the threats about today are just that, threats.” He finishes before hanging up his phone.
“Something wrong?” He turns to notice John.
“Ah, John, good to see you.” Clay gives him a warm hug.
“Was wondering if you wanted to finally see your little brother have his moment to shi-”
“You okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard your call, or at least your side of it, something I should be worried about, if it’s the 100 again I-”
“Oh no, no it’s the 100, they’re busy dealing with that Black Lightning guy. No it’s uh, this group that’s been ‘causing minor troubles here and there’ for a while now.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, they’ve been called A-” He waves it away.
“Nevermind about that, how are the two?”
“They’re doing okay, starting second grade.” John walks up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Clay, if there’s anything wrong, you need to tell me, I can help you.” Clay moves his hand away from John’s shoulder.
“I’m fine, trust me. Now if you’ll excuse me,” He goes to his mirror, preparing himself.
“I have a city to run, take care of yourself John.” John stares for a few seconds before he could reply.
“Yeah, uh, yeah you too, don’t forget to pick up the two from school.” Clay nods as he opens the door and heads out. John glances by to notice guards escorting reporters outside. He fails to notice someone walking in front of him.
“Shit!” John mutters, picking himself up to see the person he crashed into, a kid with auburn hair and a camera hanging from his neck.
“Sorry, in a bit of a rush.” He says, jumping back up and checking his camera for any potential damages.
“No problem, probably should’ve noticed where I was walking too.”John responds. He gives a nervous laugh before realizing.
“Oh right, James Olsen,” He gives his hand out to John, who shakes his hand.
“John Henry Irons”
“Oh wow, so you’re his-”
“Yeah. You’re not here to-” Jimmy gives him a confused look before realizing.
“Oh no! Just here to take pics, I’m a photographer for the Daily Planet.” He shows his camera with both hands.
“I see, nice to meet you, but I have somewhere to be.”
“Oh, right. Nice to meet you, sir.” He waves a bit before rushing again through the halls. John walks to the exit. He stops to hear a rumbling before being thrown across the street from an explosion. He gets up to see the doors and windows destroyed with massive amounts of smoke rising from the building.
“Clay.” He rushes through and sees people running the opposite direction trying to escape, some carrying or people who look horribly injured. One of which being the red headed kid from earlier. He heads through one of the empty hallways, trying to protect his mouth from the smoke.
“Freeze!” John hears from the door across. He walks quietly to see the source of that yell. He sees a young woman, presumably a cop based on the badge hanging from her left pocket, with a pistol aimed at two armed assailants.
“Pequeña dama, you’re outmatched, dos a uno.” The first thug says before pulling up his gun. John darts to him, keeping him busy while she takes care of the other guy. He rips the pistol from his hand and ejects the magazine before driving the metal into the cartilage of his nose.
“Arde en el infierno negro!” John hears the second thug rack his gun with a curse word, but he's quickly interrupted by the lead rippling through his body. He drops, like meat.
“Goddamn ballsy for you to attack the guy emptyhanded.” She says while cuffing the unconscious thug and leaving him at a wall.
“Why aren’t you outside with everyone else?” She asks.
“My brother’s in here. I can’t leave without him.”
“Fair enough,” She mutters, grabbing the pistol and handing it to him.
“You’ll need this then.”
“You’re trusting me with a pistol?” John grabs it from her hand.
“If what we’re dealing with was able to cause this much damage, then you’re gonna need it.” We see the doorway leading to the auditorium. Seeing mostly injured or dead civilians standing still for seemingly no reason.
“Agh!” A scream from an older man being held aggressively by a thug without a mask and in a vest, presumably a mercenary. The older man attempts to throw a left hook before the thug grabs his right arm and slams him into the ground, he turns, blood drooling from his bruised and cut up face.
“Turpin!” She whispers out before jumping out and aiming at him.
“MPD, put your hands in the air!” She yells out, catching the thug’s attention. The guy’s reaction is unexpected, but he starts to laugh.
“That’s cute, real cute.” He pulls a pistol from his back and points it at Turpin’s temple.
“Don’t you dare!”
“It’s kind of funny how you try and try to fight against death, when in the end, it comes for everyone. Well, except me.” He unloads a round at Turpin, ending his misery right then and there. Maggie’s pistol spat round after round that were all quickly and decisively flattened with loud pings. The thug stared down at his torso before stepping forward and grabbing Maggie’s gun hand, lifting upwards sharply. The pistol fell from trembling fingers as she gasped in pain, her feet clamoring for the floor, and she drove her free fist forward into the thug’s face.
“Damn you!” She screamed in unison with the loud CLANG that reverberated from the thug’s face before being quickly silenced with a response in kind. The thug’s punch sent her stumbling several feet backwards across the floor, arms pinwheeling. He ran forward with a rising yell before springing forward and kneeing her in the ribs. She flew backwards, slammed against the wall behind her, fell forwards and was promptly punched back into the wall. Viselike fingers grabbed her throat and the hulking goon pushed her into the concrete. Dust fell around her as she gasped for her life.
Suddenly, a loud impact rang out as John swung a punch into the goon’s side.
“Fuck!” He swore in pain as the massive mook dropped Maggie, who began wheezing and clutching her neck. The goon blocked his next haymaker and what would’ve been a devastating uppercut from the left. He swung yet again, increasingly less confident, and his opponent grabbed his arm. Quickly and efficiently, the goon yanked him forwards and pinballed him backwards with a jab. John tumbled backwards with a choked gasp as the unstoppable henchman marched forward.
The thug stared coldly as he looked up, a bruise already forming around his eye. John opened his mouth to speak and the goon dropped me with a whip-like kick to his temple. A few feet away, Maggie was slowly and painfully pulling herself across the floor, groaning softly. The goon was calm and collected as he approached her, grabbed a fistful of blonde, and slammed her face into the floor. He pulled her head up and examined her - she was unconscious but relatively undamaged. Once again, and for the final time, he lifted her by the neck and tightened his grip.
“Tragic, you were kinda cute too, but ah well. You gotta do what you gotta-” He’s silenced by a hard jab at the jaw, forcing him to let her go and fly into a wall. He crawls out of the wall to look up and see that red and blue prick that he’s been wanting to see all this time.
“Took you long enough.” He tries to dash at him before Superman flies at him through the wall into the street. John picks his head up, vision blurry, and he feels like he’s suffering a concussion. He crawls to Maggie to see if she’s alright. He checks her pulse.
“She’s still alive, good.” He glances at the people escaping the building through the hole Superman made and notices an arm hanging out from the rubble, he recognizes that arm, oh god.
“Clay...” John gets up, stumbling and struggling to get to him.
“Clay!” he yells out, moving the rubble to see Clay, badly burnt.
“Clay, c’mon man. C’mon!” He yells out again, shaking his body,his voice getting weaker, he puts his head to his chest to hear his heartbeat, nothing.
“No, no, no!” He holds his body close, tears streaming down his cheeks.
“Damn it. Damn it all to hell!” he painfully cries out. But through his tears, he sees something. A sledgehammer...
---------------------------
Superman gets up and stares at the thug, keeping his eyes focused on his movement.
“Could’ve crushed me, I thought you had a no-killing rule or something?” He remarks.
“I do, however, I don’t make exceptions for robots, Metallo.” He says. The thug turns his head revealing half of his face ripped off, showing his robotic endoskeleton.
“What gave me away?”
“Your heartbeat. You didn’t have one.” Metallo shrugs
“Ah well.” He sprints at Superman with a hard left hook, which he grabs with his fist.
“I’d advise surrendering before you get hurt.” Metallo chuckles in response.
“Don’t worry, I learned from last time.” He grabs his vest and rips it off, revealing his chestplate with a single window holding kryptonite. It weakens Superman, forcing him to back away.
“Gotcha.” Metallo says with a half-smirk before landing a hard blow at Superman, causing him to slide several feet across the street. He attempts to get up only to be met with another smack. He can barely move as the robot keeps pummeling again and again. He looks up, blood running down from his nostrils.
“I’ll be honest, when I was respecting revenge, I didn’t think it’d be this easy, yet we are. Suppose I should go with the cliche of any last wor-” The left side of his head and neck is crushed from the impact of a sledgehammer which is lifted away for him to turn around to see the assailant before it’s swung again at the jaw, decapitating him. His body in response shuts down and collapses. Superman looks at the man, a man he saw before with Maggie. The man takes a few feet back before falling, only for him to bolt and catch the man and have him land safely.
“What the heck happened here?” Superman asks as he looks around and sees people being evacuated by police. Along with the injured being escorted into ambulances.
“Ample Apartments.” I head to the front desk, where a man tells me the room number and floor where she and a roommate are located, presumably a friend. I stop at the door.
“Alright, let’s do this.” I stop myself from knocking on the door.
“Although, how am I supposed to explain that I know her and her sister have powers without sounding very suspicious?” I ponder before shrugging it off. I’ll just wing it, Lois has done it before, can’t be that hard, right? I knock at the door, it takes a moment before I hear a response.
“I’m coming!” I hear from the other side. It takes a few seconds before the woman behind the door unlocks and opens the it. Which reveals a woman with short white hair.
“Uh, hello. Clark Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet. I came here to talk with a woman named Beatriz da Costa?”
“Oh, well she’s not here right now, I can let her know you were visiting for-”
“I need to talk with her desperately, it’s about something important.” I interject.
“You can wait in the living room if you don’t mind?”
“Thank you.” I say as I walk into the apartment and sit on the nearby couch.
“I never got your name by the way.” I add.
“Tora Olafsdotter.”
“Very nice to meet you Tora.” I reply kindly with a smile.
“Thanks.”
“So, how long have you and Beatriz been friends?”
“Since before we came to Metropolis, she was very nice to help me find my way through America.”
“Has she ever told you about her life in any way?”
“Like her desire to be a fashion designer? She’s always wanted to be the next Coco Chanel or someone like that. Not really invested in all that, I mean it’s an interesting job, but-”
“No, that’s not exactly what I meant.” She looks back at me, puzzled.
“What do you exactly mean?”
“Like has she ever talked to you about her famil-” We turn to the sound of keys and the door opening as a young woman, with bright emerald eyes and spiky green hair enters the apartment.
“Sorry I was a bit late, was busy dealing with some douche at the subwa-” She stops as she notices me.
“Oh Bea, this is a reporter from the Daily Planet.” She explains.
“Hi, Clark Kent.” I greet with my hand out. She just stands there staring at me.
“What do you want?” She asks, sounding almost offended.
“Bea! Manners.”
“It’s fine, Ms. Olafsdotter, the reason I came here was…” I take a deep breath.
“Well, it’s because of your sister, do you happen to know the last time you saw Claire?” She gives a brief look of shock before it turns to anger.
“You didn’t tell me you had a sister Bea.” Tora says, slightly concerned. Beatriz stays silent, her eyes closed, taking a deep breath. There’s a brief moment of silence which I attempt to break.
“Um, Ms. da Costa, are you oka-”
“Why can’t you damn people leave me alone!” She yells out before green fire bursts out of her hands, throwing me across the living room.
“Bea, what did you do?!” Tora yells out.
“It was either him or me Tora, we’ve got to go now.” She responds, grabbing Tora by the hand.
“But-”
“Don’t worry, at worst, he’ll get first degree burns. But we have to go-” I groan out, getting up from the blasts. She breaks from Beatriz’s grasp and rushes over to me.
“Are you oka-” Tora attempts to ask before she stops herself.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” I get up to see them staring at me very weirdly. I glance down to see that most of my coat and shirt was burnt off, revealing my suit.
“Uh…” Crud.
“How are you okay? And why are you wearing a Superman shirt?” I let out a sigh. She doesn’t get it. Before Tora shrieks excitedly like a teenager. Oh no, she gets it.
“Oh my gosh. You’re, the glasses, Superman!” She jumps up with glee. Beatriz gives her a look of bewilderment.
“What are you…?”
“Don’t you get it Bea? He’s Superman!” She points at me ecstaticly. Beatriz looks back at me, almost like she was asking me if this was true. I groan before finally speaking.
“Yes, it’s true, I’m Superman.” Tora rushes to me, grabbing Bea by the forearm with her.
“We’re so sorry that we attacked you, especially Bea.”
“Uh..” Bea attempts to muster a response after the bombshell that was revealed less than a minute ago..
“Right Bea?” She asks, pulling her ear.
“Ow ow ow, yes. I’m.... sorry.” She finally answers.
“It’s ok.” I reply calmly.
“But that’s not what’s important right now. I need your help with your sister, she’s been attacking recently, and she’s involved with people. Which by my guess, none that mean any good”
“What makes you think I’ll be able to help?”
“Well, given what just happened, I feel like you can help me with her.” I stop to hear sirens and radio chatter about Volcana attacking the police station.
“What is it?” Beatriz asks.
“Your sister, we need to stop her.”
“Oh, me too!” Tora interjects.
"Tora, no-" but before she can finish her sentence, Tora rushes to her bedroom.
“Wait, does she-”
“Yeah.” She replies.
"Look, even if I wanted to help, I can't. She's just too powerful. And I… I barely know how my powers work. The fact I was able to use them against was just… chance."
“It’s okay, I understand.”
“If Beatriz can’t help, then maybe I can!” Tora says, walking out of her room in a bright blue suit with white highlights.
“Tora..”
"Bea, we have these powers... But that also means we have a responsiblity, to use them for good." Bea sighs in response.
"You did not just reference Spider-Man to try and convince me..." She gives a soft smile before looking back at me.
“Let’s get going.” I change into my suit before carrying Tora and flying to the police station, I give one last look back to see Beatriz, her head down.
2002
I wake up from my exhausting rest.
“Hey kiddo.” I hear from my side. I turn to see a good friend that I met a while back who’s been letting me take the guest bedroom. A bar owner named Bibbo.
“Hello Bi-Bi-Bobbo.” I stutter out. He gives a soft smile.
“It’s Bibbo, but I’ll let it slide, kiddo.” He gives me a light pat before getting back to cleaning the bar. I’ve been hanging around the bar since I made it to Metropolis.
“Want something?” He asks while wiping the table.
“No thanks B-Bobbo.”
“Again, it’s Bibbo.” But he shrugs it off.
“How about some TV to pass the time?” He grabs the remote and starts flipping through channels, I notice something from the Metropolis news channel.
“N-News.” He looks at me, slightly confused before flipping back to the news channel.
“People are in an uproar at the upcoming election with Clay Irons competing with current CEO of LexCorp, Zeiko.”
“LexCorp. You’d think after the founder goes to prison, the company would be gone.” Bibbo scoffs at the mention of the company.
“I’m surprised it hasn’t died yet.” I ignore him and keep watching.
“We got to talk to one of the electees, Zeiko himself.” The reporter then walks to him.
“So Zeiko, what can you tell us about this election that’ll be different compared to the others?” He chuckles before replying.
“All I can say is, it’s gonna be one hell of a surprise.”
“Could you elaborate?”
“Apologies, I must be going.” He says before heading inside the building.
“Well you heard it here folks! Be sure to tune in next week for-” He flips the channel to an airing of Dexter’s Labratory.
“Sorry kid, wasn’t a huge fan of tha-” He stops when he notices my gaze.
“You okay?” He asks, shaking my shoulder, causing me to get out of my daydream.
“Sorry, was reminded something.” Something tells me whatever Zeiko was referring to, it’s not gonna be good.
“Me have to go now. Me be back soon-ish.” Before I’m able to leave, I hear him shout.
“Two o’clock ” I turn back to him.
“I’ll be closing by then.” he finishes before walking to the back.
“Thank you B-Bobbo.” I leave the bar.
-------------------------------------------------------
I arrive at the facility, wearing a purple costume a nice lady made for me that has an odd belt. I walk inside the facilty, which seems almost abandoned. And yet, the electricity seems to be working, by my guess, it’s like it was abandoned on purpose. I suddenly hear the sound of a car arriving, and then a flash, within seconds, I run as fast as I can with my superspeed to get out of the building before it explodes. I’m about a dozen feet from the explosion
“I’m surprised you’re still alive.” I hear near me. I get up to see Zeiko himself. With someone who looks to be wearing the same clothes I was wearing years ago.
“I gotta admit, you’re stonger than you look. Very bizarro looking, but who am I to judge a book by it’s freakishly deformed cover.” I stand up, eyes aimed directly at him.
“P-Psycho!”
“It’s Zeiko, eh, but it doesn’t matter at this point.” He snaps his fingers, gesturing the boy towards me, with great speed, he pushes me at a tree, grabbing me by the neck and giving me a hard uppercut, sending me through several trees and far up in the air. He finishes it off by flying at me, grabbing me by the neck and throwing me right into the ground, leaving a small crater. I attempt to get up, only for him to grab my head and slam it back into the ground.
“You d-don’t d-do this. Y-You need not to do.” I say, trying my best to stay awake. He tilts his head slightly, he shrugs off the confusion and attempts to finish me off with a harsh jab. I roll to the side just before the impact hits me and use my heat breath to throw him off for a brief seconds before I fly as high as I can away from him. Unfortunately, I’m not fast enough as he grabs me with both arms around my body and pulls me down into the ground, crashing into a half-dozen trees. I stumble trying to get up and find him on the ground, unconscious. I look closer to see a small black pellet on his neck. I accidentally grab it too hard, shattering it. I turn to the sounds of people getting closer, I glance back at his unconscious body.
“Darn it.” I mutter out, grabbing his body and carrying him with me out of the woods.
It’s been a while since I’ve last seen Pete Ross, he’s been wanting to meet with me for awhile.
“Look who it is, the golden boy himself.” I look to see Pete, dressed very strange for just meeting in the park. “Clark Kent.” I let a chuckle before greeting him.
“It’s also good to see you to Pete.” I give him a quick hug. “So what brings you here to Metropolis?”
“Can’t I see my best friend?” I have my eyebrow raised.
“Alright, I was sent by Lana.”
“Oh.”
“She heard about the Superman appearances.” He then puts a hand on my shoulder. “Are you sure this the right idea? I mean I know you weren’t a huge fan of it in the first place and-”
“Don’t worry Pete, I know what I’m doing. And I think I’m making the right choice, plus it’s too late to give it up now.” He sighs before replying.
“I guess.” It’s silent before he says it. “So………. I heard you’re already dating someone.” Crap.
“Uh……. Yeah?” He then lays back ands ask
“And this special someone’s name is?”
“Lois Lane.”
“Seriously?” he immediately starts laughing. “The news reporter?”
“What?”
“Nothing, I just wouldn’t expect you to date someone like that.”
“What do you mean?” He calms down a bit before continuing.
“I mean, you’re Clark freaking-kent, the guy who wears jeans and a hoodie in a business meeting. And Lois is…… someone who seems slightly professional when compared to you.” Now I start laughing.
“I bet you’d love to meet her then.” He gives me the look he always gives to express his face of annoyance.
“Why do I feel like you’re joking?” I wave my hands while I try to compose myself.
“I’m sorry, i’m laughing because you haven’t Lois and believe me when I tell you that-” I suddenly hear gunfire close by. “Um sorry, there’s a robbery close by.”
“Seriously, alright fine, but I’ll still need the details when we continue talking about this.” I give him a nod before running off, changing into my costume and flying off.
---------------------------------------------------------------
The air is a mixture of gunpowder and smoke.
“Is there a problem?” The man asks.
“He’s here. And he’s taking out all our men!” The thug replies. The man smiles under his mask.
“Perfect.” he replies. “Time to make my entrance.” He says before he walks and approaches the man of steel. Revealing himself to be a man in an empty husk of moving metal.
Sorry for the really crappy photo, but I wanted to actually see them all together for a change, and get a better sense of their heights. Other than being a little surprised that Constantine looks taller than Two-Face...this is about what I wanted, so yay!
Now searching actively for Catwoman...who will be last unless I am lucky enough to get ahold of a Rumpeldoll Morfeo. Then there will be Man-Bat.
Constantine is half out the door because he was on the other side and I moved him because I figured all the "good guys" should be together. Shortly after this I moved Joker, Harley fell and took Pam and Harvey with her, they hit Batman and damned if he didn't hold all three of them up on his own...also, he's not leaning on the wall. #becausebatman
*deep breath*
Constantine: Granado Hansel on Miro 66
Batman: Iplehouse EID Bane (lol)
Joker: Ringdoll Norman Dark on Dollshe Pure/Hound mix
Harley Quinn: Luts Junior Delf Summery 10 event1 on SDF 2
Poison Ivy: Supia Dolls Ariel on Impldoll Star 1
Two-Face: Heavily modded Dollzone Cosmo on Miro 68
Stagecoach East London 10110 LX12 DCU enters Stratford bus station on the 238. Saturday 6th August 2022. DSCN53699.
AD E40D - AD Enviro400 10.2m.
“What do you want with me?” He chuckled before replying.
“I know about Ellen Lane.” She froze up slightly.
“And I wanna help.” She gave him a confused look.
“You, want to help me?” She asked.
“That’s what I just said.” He replied snarky.
“Why?”
“Because something about her death intrigues me, a car crash on the surface. But in actuality, it was-”
“A car bomb, I know, I was the one who found out and told the police about it.” She interjected.
“Right, and the police said they looked into it, only they gave so much as a glance before putting it back into storage. The difference is, I know who made it.” He finished.
“Who?” He scoffs in amusement.
“Sorry Mrs. Kent.” He walks up to her, face to face.
“I don’t kiss and tell. Besides, I have a gut feeling you’re gonna tell the big blue boy scout.” She gives him a cold stare before asking.
“And what makes you think I won’t tell him.” He’s silent before replying.
“A simple answer Mrs. Kent, I have what you’ve been wanting for nine years, information. But don’t worry, I’ll give it to you, provided you meet me tomorrow night.” He walks past her to the door.
“How will I be able to contact you?” He stops before turning back and replying with three words.
“Check the windows.” He left, she walked out the door to find him nowhere in the hallways of her apartment building. She closed and locked the door before running to the windows, locked, thankfully. She noticed a piece of paper, no, a post-it note. Which said ‘49 Maryville Ave’.
“What have you gotten yourself into this time Lois.” She muttered out before heading to bed.
---------------------------------------------
“Ugh.” Was the first thing she let out in the afternoon. She checked the alarm, 1:34 pm. She lazily got up and checked her Nokia phone. ‘Two missed calls.’ She fully woke up and called back, hoping he picks up.
“Hello?” He asked.
“Hey! Sorry I couldn’t pick up, just y’know, exhausted and all with the story and all.”
“Really, because last you told me you were bored out of your mind and said you could finish the report in a few hours.” She’s silent for a few moments,
‘Shit, I did say that.’ She says internally, mentally cursing herself. Before replying.
“I…. did, but y’know, I had to do other stuff with Jimmy and Ron, y’know.” She replied, trying her damndest to sound convincing.
“So, how’s Kasnia?”
“It’s doing pretty well helping out the citizens with the damages and all, I might be able to come sometime tomorrow in fact. How about you?”
“Oh well, it’s as I’ve said before, helping Jimmy and Ron, along with finishing the story.”
“Are you sure that’s all?” She’s silent for a bit, she wants to tell him, but…. She knows she can’t.
“Lois?” He asks, pulling Lois back from her distraction.
“Oh, yes. Sorry, just had my head up in the clouds for a second the-”
“Lois.” He interrupted.
“Is everything ok?” She let out a sigh before responding.
“I’m fine Clark, I’m just reminiscing about my mom.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” A smile escaped her.
“I’ll be fine, Clark, although as soon as you get here, Prankster will probably break out again.” I hear a soft laugh from him before I join in.
“Just know I’ll always be open.”
“I know, Clark.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.” She says before hanging up. She lets out a deep breath. She knows she shouldn’t have to lie to him. But she has no choice, if she’s gonna solve her mother’s murder, she’s gonna have to do this without Clark.
---------------------------------------------
A few hours later
She walks around the address that was written on the post-it, which lead to a warehouse. There, she saw the man with no face.
“So glad you ca-”
“Cut the shit, let’s just get this over with.” She interrupts.
“Of course.”
“So, why are we here?”
“I’ll explain on the way to the wareho-” She grabs him by the shoulder forcefully turns him face to face.
“We agreed that you would tell me here, so tell me.” He lets out an exaggerated sigh of defeat.
“Fair enough Mrs. Kent, I’ll tell you why we’re here.” He turns back to the warehouse before he explains.
“I’ve been investigating the murder of your mother, when last night, I encountered a witness who was there around the time of the crash. Johnny Pryor, who I managed to get some information on the bomb.”
“And what about the bomb?” She asks with her arms crossed.
“It’s custom-made, the parts are mainly from a small nation of the Balkins known as Modora, which are well known for their rare type of wool and bombs. So I had a gut feeling that whoever used the bomb must’ve been born somewhere in eastern europe, so I asked a friend if there were any mercs from eastern europe. And there was only one I got.”
“Do they have a name?” She asked, eyebrow raised.
“No, but they have an alias, they’re known as, The Gargoyle.”
A day later…..
Lois opens her eyes to find herself in a hospital room, she looks around to see the tv playing what looks to be an episode of Law & Order, which she assumes must mean Clark must’ve taken her here.
“Hey.” She looks at the entrance to see Clark, with a cup of coffee, dressed in his sweater.
“Hey.” she responds.
“Got you some coffee and sweets, wasn’t sure which you wanted, so I just got cookies.” He said with a warm smile.
“Thanks.” She replied softly, focusing on the cup of coffee, trying to avoid “the talk”. The awkward silence lasted for what seemed like minutes until she finally spoke up.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what I was doing.” He gives a somber look before replying.
“I got the gist of it from your detective friend.” He walks up and sits beside her on the hospital bed.
“And I get why you were investigating this lead, you probably wanted to get the criminal who was responsible for countless murders throughout the decades, you thought it was a way you could honor the people he’s wronged.”
“You make it sound like what I was doing was heroic.” She lets out with a weak laugh.
“What do you mean?” He asks, looking concerned.
“It was in ‘88, the day of school before christmas break, I was getting dropped off by my mom, and on the way there, I noticed some files, when I asked her what they were, she said it was some paperwork about a business meeting.” She gives him a look he’s…. Never seen before, a look of pain, not physical, but emotional.
“A couple hours later, the school day ends. I spent nearly two hours waiting for my mom to pick me up. When someone finally picked me up, it wasn’t her, it was Perry. When I asked where she was, he said……” She choked up for a few moments. Tears started to form from the corners of her eyes.
“She died, and I later found out those files weren’t paperwork for some business meeting, they were case files that involved the guy I was dealing with yesterday. He said the police claimed it was an accident, but I knew it wasn’t. I spent night and day for years trying to find out why and who did this, I found bits and pieces, but I could never find him. He was what made me kept going.” She finally looks up to him, tears streaming her cheeks.
“What made you stop?” He finally asks. She sniffles before letting out a soft laugh and says.
“You.” She looks down.
“I bet I’m not so heroic now, am I.” She mutters out. He got closer and hugged her tightly.
“You’re wrong, you are a hero. Even if you thought the reason to do it was to solve your mom’s death, you also knew that you had to stop this man from hurting other people. The way I see it, you are a hero.” He lets go to see her let out a smile before joking.
“Please stop praising me, you’re gonna make me blush.” He smiles back.
“There’s the Lois I know and love.”
---------------------------------------------
Hours later...
I’m standing around, waiting for the boy in blue to show up. Been waiting for an hour for the prick to show up. As I’m midway through my cigarette, I notice a giant shadow in front of me.
“Took you long enough.” I look up to see the big blue boyscout himself, Superman.
“I would’ve come sooner, but I had to deal with some stuff.” He responds
“Of course,” I mutter.
“So what did you want to ask that I haven’t already answered?” The boy in blue is silent for nearly a minute before asking.
“Why?” I look back at him.
“Why? Why what?”
“Why did you get her involved?” I scoff, she told him.
“I didn’t force her, she chose to meet with me. I just simply offered her a chance to meet her mom’s killer.” He stares at me, a long stare, before letting out a few words.
“You’re lying. You wanted her.” I let out a laugh.
“Why would I need her? She didn’t provide anything new to the case.”
“I have a feeling you knew her mother.” I’m silent. I look down to the ground before I tell him.
“I did, she was a nice woman, had a nice kid, helped me from a dark place. Wanted to do her justice.” I look up back at him. He gives a… confusing reaction before landing onto the ground, walking towards me and gives his hand out.
“Thank you.” He gives a soft smile, I grab and shake his hand. I walk away and pull a new cigarette out.
“This doesn’t change anything!” I yell out.
“I think it does.” He says before he flies off into the night. I look to the city lights before I think to myself.
“Case closed I suppose. But where one mystery ends, another mystery is made.” I walk to the edge of the roof, thinking to myself.
“Clark.”
I fly over to the Bank of Metropolis close by; there seems to be a robbery in pursuit, I hear 4 heartbeats, most likely the criminal’s. So I round up all but one and leave them near a police cruiser. I head to the last one, when I’m approached by what seems to be……. A robot?
“So glad to meet the man himself.” I use my X-ray vision to search for anything, but it seems that most of his organs have been replaced with machinery, with something in the center that’s glowing green.
“We don’t have to do this.” I say, showing empathy towards him. He scoffs, sounding almost offended.
“What is it with schmucks like you trying to find the ‘good’ in people? I almost feel bad for what I’m about to do. Before I ask what he meant. He punches me. I immediately recover and attempt to strike him, but he grabs my forearm, and backhands me. Which throws me at a wall. I try to get up, but kicks me in the stomach and throws me at a car. Which explodes, blasting me into the street.
“How-?”
“How am I kicking your ass? Simple really, Voila.” He fully opens his chestplate, revealing, the green rock from earlier, but for some reason… It’s making me feel like I’m sick or something. “You might be feeling a bit of nausea, or agonizing pain. That’s cause this bad boy is the only thing that can make you crawling to your knee.” The pain is getting worse every step he takes. I can’t even attempt to get up. “Now now, as much as I like to see you suffer, my boss wants you dead.” He says as he pulls out a handgun.
“Say goodnight Superman.” But before he’s able to pull the trigger, he gets hit with a piece of debri.
“Hey! Why don’t you leave him alone you jackass!” ‘I know that voice!’ I look up to the person. ‘Pete!’ The robot starts laughing.
“Really? What do you plan on doing about it?” He turns away from me and starts approaching him.
‘No! I can’t let him get hurt! I can’t just let my best friend die!’ I put in the best of my strength to get up. ‘Come on Superman! Come on!’ I’m able to get up and fly towards the metal man as I yell out.
“Move!” The robot tries to turn around, but I zoom towards against a wall. I then grab him by the neck to throw over my head into the ground. That’ll keep him down for a bit, but not for long. I need something to contain it. I notice a newspaper box, so I grab it and throw at his chest. He tries to get up, but I press it against him, I then use my heat ray vision to fuse it to him, containing the rock. He tries to punch me, but I grab his fist and rip the arm off his shoulder. I then grab him and fuse him into the street lamp with my heat vision.
“I think you need a timeout.” I say. I immediately hear cheering coming from the entire street, I look over to see Pete, with his dopey, yet confident grin, which causes a smile to escape from me, as I fly away.
2003
“Alright, so that’s nearly everything in the list, last thing I need to get is…. A Flash onesie?” I finish with a soft chuckle. I head to the clothes store to pick up the onesie that was paid in advance.
“Lois, if there’s one thing I know you’re not good at, it’s subtlety.” I think to myself. As I walk through the streets back home, I stop to see people flocking to a department store window with tvs on display that shows live footage of a museum robbery with a gunfight between officers and armed militia. I run to the alley and fly up to the rooftop to leave the bags before changing into my superman outfit and flying to the museum. I look to see a large fire and can hear some screams inside, I deal with gunmen swiftly before flying through museum wall to create an exit. They all look at me.
“Superman!” I see a kid yell out in excitement. He along with most of the people leave through the exit I created except for a guard.
“Superman! You have to help Sergeant Sawyer, she’s in trouble!” I nod before rushing through the hallway and seeing Sergeant Maggie Sawyer hiding behind a wall, surrounded by a burnt corpse. I also see a woman wearing a red suit with hair glowing of ember.
“Ah, I was wondering when you were gonna appear.” She remarks as fire manifests from her hands and she starts blasting at me, I dodge all but one, which gives her enough time to try to escape. I shake off the hit and fly outside in an attempt to chase her. We fly through the city, we almost play a game of cat and mouse until I decide to go a different direction, giving her the impression I gave up, and then catch her by the side, grabbing her by the forearms and pressing her to a wall.
“Do you mind explaining to me what you were trying to do by robbing a museum?” She lets out a sly smile before replying.
“Who says I was trying to rob a museum?” I give a bewildered look.
“Then why were yo-”
“I just wanted to get your attention.” She interrupts, her face getting closer when one of her arms somehow breaks free and hits me in the stomach with a fireball. Causing me to fly through a watertower.
“And to send a warning to you. Leave Metropolis, or you will suffer.”
“Is that a threat?” I wheeze out. She lets out a scoff.
“No, it’s a promise.” She responds before leaving, I try to search for her nearby, but I somehow can’t find her even with my x-ray vision.
---------------------------------------------
Several hours later..
I got home and have been spending the rest of the day trying to figure as much as I can with the woman who I fought earlier. Based on her accent, I looked up anything on a woman with fire powers in South America, specifically Brazil. Unfortunately I’ve found nothing so far.
“What are you checking on?” I heard Lois ask behind me. I look back to see my wife, who seems to have woken up from her nap.
“I’m just investigating some lady..” She looks at me with an eyebrow raised.
“Not like that.” I immediately add. She replies with a laugh.
“I know, I know.” She sits next to me, grabbing the remote to turn on the tv.
“So… how’s he holding up?” I ask, gently placing a hand on her swollen belly.
“He’s been kicking a bit, but doing fine. How much longer do we have until ‘this’ is over?” She gestures to her swollen belly.
“It’s only been 27 weeks Lois, it’ll take at least a month. And there’s the issue that we don’t fully know what could happen due to…. What I am.” She sighs in response.
“It just makes my body sore, especially my back.”
“So, back to the topic at hand, that lady?” She asks.
“Oh, she’s just a fire-based meta I fought recently, from somewhere in South America I assume based on her accent And then there’s the gunmen she was with, which I still haven’t figured what group they’re from specifically.”
“Interesting…” She says, flipping to a different channel.
“Oooh! Clark, they’re having a rerun of the Golden Girls. Can you make some popcorn?” I roll my eyes before closing my laptop and cook some popcorn.
---------------------------------------------
The next day...
I arrived at the Daily Planet. I could barely sleep with what that woman said yesterday. As soon as I sit on my desk chair, I’m greeted by Jimmy.
“Hey Clark, how was last night for you?” He asks, looking exhausted with very visuable bags under his eyes.
“I slept a little later than usual, but I feel the same as always, looking for the biggest scoop and all that jazz. How about you James…” Probably shouldn’t have said that. He gives me a face of contempt before asking.
“What do you think?” Yeah, I really shouldn’t have said that..
“Uhm..” I’m saved by the ringtone from my phone. He lets out a groan and turns back to his desk.
“Excuse me. Hello?”
“Hey Clark.” I hear from the other end.
“Lois? I thought you were sleeping?”
“I was faking it, had to get some information on your friend.”
“Information? Why were you- ” Then it hit me.
“Were you using my lapto-” I catch myself.
“Did you have to snoop through my laptop?” I whisper
“I just had to check what you were finding. Reporter’s instinct.”
“Right. So did you find anything?”
“I found a bit, you should’ve been less broad with your searches, there was something from a conspiracy forum about a supposed meta in Brazil who was named Claire, so I dug up a missing persons database through a close contact and got Claire da Costa. Who was abducted in ‘96 and there were no leads, although there was speculation that she was taken to Zandia. Where she was nicknamed ‘Volcana’. But after that, she just went off the map.”
“Until now.” I add.
“It gets even better, I talked with a good source of mine and coincidentially, she has a younger sister in Metropolis, named Beatriz. Who lives in the Ample Apartments off Bridwell road. How much do you wa she also has powers as well?”
“Got it, thanks.” I finish before hanging up. I get up and grab my coat to head out of the office.
“James, let Perry know I won’t be able to attend the 8:00 meeting, I have an emergency. Thanks!”
“What?! But Clar- Ugh!” He yells, giving up.
I rush through the entrance of the hospital, making sure I don’t damage the flowers and stop at the receptionist’s desk. It’s been less than two weeks since the bombing and the fight with Metallo, the police have been trying to track down the people responsible with no such luck.
“Hi, I’m here for James Olsen?” She types a bit on her keyboard before answering.
“Second floor, room 214.” I give a quick thanks before heading to the elevator to the second floor. As the elevator stops I walk out to glance at each room number.
“210, 211, 212, 213, room 214.” I mutter out before poking my head into the room to see Jimmy laying in his bed watching Friends.
“Hey James. Sorry I’m late” I apologize, catching his attention.
“Clark!” He shuts off the tv.
“Glad you came.” He gives his usual goofy smile.
“Lois would’ve come as well, but.” Jimmy waves it away.
“Ah it’s fine, after having Jon, it’s completely understandable for her to not visit. Besides, I don't think I’d like to see her post-birth.”
“She would definitely kill you if she heard that.” We both share a small laugh before it dies down.
“I got you, uh flowers.” I hand him the bouquet.
“Oh, uh thanks I suppose? Not really a flowers guy.”
“I know, but Lois told me that it usually helps brighten up the room. Plus, I heard Lee loves flowers.” He nods in agreement.
“So is he busy or..?” Jimmy’s silent, scratching behind his neck.
“Oh, he-he had to go to his shift, but he’ll come back in around an hour or so, if you’re willing to wait a bit...”
“Oh no, I have to head back home pretty soon, gotta get some work done for Perry. You know him and work schedules.”
“That I do. Well it was good to see you Clark.” he gives me that goofy smile once again before I wave him goodbye and leave the room. I wander down the hallway to the elevator.
“Ok, now comes the hard part.” I think to myself before the elevator door closes.
---------------------------
“Police are still baffled by the explosion caused by the self proclaimed ‘Atomic Skulls’. Which has caused the city council to figure out how to deal with this gang. With speculation of bringing in the Coast Guard. Especially since the attack has racked up a body count, including the tragic deaths of our beloved Mayor Clay Irons and detective Daniel Tur-” Lois turns off the tv.
“Clark, you need to slow down, you’re giving yourself too much pressure with these guys.”
“I can’t, I need to find them. It’s my fault, i-if I had been there, then maybe-” she sits next to me on the couch, putting a hand to my shoulder.
“Clark, I’ve known you long enough to tell you don't have to be alone in all of this. We’re in this together.” I sigh, glancing towards her before looking back at the map.
“Still, I need to find these guys before something worse happens.”
“What’s the map for?”
“It’s Metropolis sewer system, which I’ve been cross repherencing to see if there was any recent activity between now and the last few years, since Metallo’s boot prints had remnants of sewage water. And so far..”
“Nothing?”
“Nada.” Lois takes a few glimpses at it before noticing something.
“What about here?” She points at a closed off section.
“It’s closed off.”
“I know, but this looks familiar, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s the one where Bruce and I fought X.”
“Well, I mean besides that, before I got parental leave, I heard Lexcorp was working on this section, they were apparently about three quarters of the way done before their ex-CEO’s death. Which died of “being burnt from the inside”, which correlates to reports of what the Atomic Skulls gang did to certain victims. Couple that with what happened recently. Something tells me these are more than just coincidences.”
“Still leaves the bigger question, who’s the ringleader in all this?” I add.
“There’s only one I could find of him,” She says before picking a photo from her purse and putting it on the table. I move the photo closer to get a better look.
“His name’s Joseph Martinez, he originally worked for the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico, before disappearing after the group disbanded, no one’s seen him until a few years ago, said to have had “the power to summon green fire”. I look at her, slightly impressed.
“Even while having a kid, nothing can stop Lois Lane, huh?” She gives an eyeroll.
“Right, I’ll check it out, let you know if there’s anything going on.” I immediately change into my suit.
“Be careful.” I nod back at her before soaring out the window into the air through the city.
---------------------------
I walk through the sewers, trying to find any clues of recent activity here, I spot a dead end, with the most obvious indication being of course the Lexcorp logo. I walk to leave, I stop myself however. Just to be safe, I go back to the dead end. I use my x-ray vision to see anything off. There’s nothing, no hole, no wreckage, nothing. I grab it by the side, it only takes me a few moments for me to remove the wall.
“Lead covering.” I walk through the fake dead end to the new path. An immediate smell of chemicals hits my nose. I go further to see a lab with Lexcorp machines containing what seemed to be radioactive material.
“When can we expect your arrival sir?” I turn to the source of the voice, which appears to be Martinez talking to someone on a screen.
“In several hours. Until then, continue progress with Project Metropolis.” Martinez nods before cutting the broadcast. He stops to notice something and tells one of the workers he needs to do something.
“Alright guys, let’s get the final touches done so we can get out of here.” He yells out before pointing to another worker.
“Make sure to tell our contacts to pull out before noon. We wanna make sure none of the casualties are our own.”
“Chemicals? Lexcorp machines? Project Metropolis? Just what in the heck are they building exactly?” I think to myself before it hits me.
“My god, they’re building a nuclear bomb. I gotta let Sawyer know befo-” I get hit with a major blast that sends me across the lab into a wall, I crawl out of the crater to see Martinez approaching me, green flames eminating from his fists.
“Hombres, aclaren.” The workers turn to the crash before they proceed to rush out of the lab, some of which carry the bomb. I'm gonna have to deal with this guy before I get the bomb.
“I'm guessing you’re the leader behind all this?” I gesture to the lab, he shrugs.
“Something like that.” He charges at me, throwing hit after hit. I try to block a few, but get most of the hits, with one knocking me to the ground. I attempt to get up, but he strikes me in the back of the head. He then proceeds to snatch me by my cape and hurl me at a wall, I land on one of the paths with a wide array of pipes. Martinez picks me by the head to slam me into another wall, he pulls me back, letting go of my head, causing me to fall onto the ground.
“So much for the man called ‘Superman’.” He chuckles. I attempt to give a soft blow, but he catches my fist and grabs my throat, pressing me against a wall.
“You’re probably thinking how it’s possible that I’m beating your ass. My powers takes and uses nuclear energy, it’s not Kryptonite, but it packs a punch strong enough to be close.” I look behind him to see the hole into the lab.
“Anything left to say?”
“Yeah, I apologize in advance.” I say weakly. Before he has a chance, I push him as hard as I can, making him almost fly into several pieces of tech. I land on my knees, I put my hand to my throat. I see him get up and spot a small nuclear fusion reactor. He glances at me before rushing right towards it.
“No!” Is all I can say before he reaches in for a few moments before pulling it out, his right hand consumed by the flames, he falls to his knees with a cry of pain before his eyes glow bright green he explodes in flames with the blast pushing me through the wall of pipes into another tunnel. I look quickly up to see the path blocked off by the rubble. I groan in pain, clutching to my side as I get up, coughing up blood. I attempt to get up and take a few steps before stumbling and catching the wall to prevent my fall. It takes close to an hour before I find any light at the end of the tunnel, I get closer to the exit before my legs give out.
“Unless I get sunlight, I’m not gonna be able to make it.” I attempt to get back up only to trip over but catch myself with a nearby wall, I take deep breaths, but my sight starts to slowly blur as each second passes by.
“Hello Superman.” I look to the side to see someone. It’s hard to spot any details but he’s tall and has a cape. However the most noticeable feature is his red eyes, it was almost like they were staring into my soul.
“W-Who-” I grit my teeth as I feel the pain to my side from earlier returning..
“Please, do not overwork yourself. You’re in enough pain as is.” he says, kneeling to me.
“Wh-Who are you?” I ask, mustering all my strength to say those words.
“My name is J’onn J’onzz, and I am here to help. Now please, we must go-” Is all I could hear before everything went dark.
“So…. Lemme get this straight.” Bibbo asks, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“You were hunting down the guy who currently runs LexCorp, Zeiko, who created you?”
“Yes.”
“So you decided to go to a facility where you met said guy that used another of you to take you out, but he got knocked out.” He continues, gesturing to the young clone that’s unconscious.
“Mhmm.”
“So you decided to bring him here to do what exactly?!” He looks back at me.
“To help us take out Ps-Psycho.”
“When did I ever say I wanted to take out Zeiko?!”
“You say you di-dis-disliked him. And Psycho is bad, me can tell.”
“There’s a clear damn difference between disliking and outright wanting to stop someone like Zeiko. And the second reason doesn’t justify anything!”
“How was me supposed to know that?”
“It’s common fucking sense, you moron!” He yells back, causing the child I rescued to move around. We look back at the child before Bibbo looks back and responds.
“We’ll deal with this later.” He walks to the kid, who begins to wake up.
“Hi.” Bibbo says, as nicely as he can.
“Where… Where am I?” The kid asks.
“You’re in a bar, my bar to be specific.”
“Oh.”
“What’s your name?” He’s silent for a moment before replying.
“Connor.”
“Nice to meet you Connor, names Bibbo Bibbowski. And this here is….”
“Bizarro!” I interject.
“Nice to meet you, I guess.” He responds.
“You never told me your name was Bizarro.” Bibbo adds in.
“That’s because Bizarro just made up Bizarro.”
“Why am I not surprised...” He sighs
“Anyways, what do you remember?”
“I… remember some things, a farm, me being in a room, and then I got something on my neck, and then nothing.”
“Ok, that…. Does not help us in the slightest.” He finishes with a sigh.
“Was man name Psy-Psycho?” I ask. He turns back to us.
“Tell me Connor, was there a man wearing a suit, with gray hair, who looked like a typical rich guy named Zeiko?” Connor glances away before responding.
“I don’t remember much, but I do recognize the name Zeiko.”
“Well that somewhat helps.” Bibbo responds with a relaxed sigh.
“What are next?” I ask.
“Well, now all we need to do is get the kid to the big blue and this’ll be over faster than you can say-” The door is kicked open by a guy in tactical armor followed by several more. They point their assault rifles on us.
“We found them sir.” One of them says as they clear a path for Zeiko himself.
“Hello.”
-------------------------------------------------------------
An hour ago
“Do you have the signal?” Zeiko asks, tapping his index finger intensively.
“We’re tracking the signal from where he was last detected when he wasn’t moving.”
“How long could that take?”
“I-It depends, this technology is still experimental, it’s possible that it’s not working-”
“Not working?” Zeiko gets closer to the scientist’s face.
“Not working?!” He screams at him before walking away.
“Then what the fucking hell am I paying you cunts for?!” He turns back around to yell out.
“W-We’re trying our best Dr. Psycho-”
“It’s Zeiko!” He interjects, slamming his hand, everyone in the room looks to him, some scared, some silent. He takes a deep breath.
“Fine, just make sure you find them.” He finishes before leaving the room.
“Sir.” He turns to his assistant, looking visibly nervous, and holding a cell.
“It’s him.” She hands out the cell to him.
“Shit.” He mutters out. He grabs the cell and shoos his assistant away.
“Hey, how’s it goi-”
“Do not attempt to distract me, Zeiko.” The man on the cell interrupts.
“I have heard you’ve lost another subject of mine. Is this true?” He continues, Zeiko is silent for a brief moment before answering.
“Yes, but-”
“You lost another subject, five years and several million dollars worth of advanced technology, and you lost another subject? What do you have to say about it?” Zeiko’s silent, the fingers on his right hand are twitching. He spends the next few moments of silence regaining his composure before answering.
“Yes, I sent him to destroy the facility to get rid of all traces of us being there, but someone found us, and this someone could be an important asset.”
“...Continue.” The man on the phone replies.
“My men are looking for the test subject via tracker, it’s likely that this issue is with the subject, if we can find them both, and then take ‘em back, you get two for the price of one.”
“You’ve made empty promises like these before, I hope for your sake you make sure you hold it up this time.” Is the last thing he says before hanging up.
“Sir?” Zeiko turns back to his assistant.
“We’ve found them.” A smirk creeps up to his face.
“Uh…. Hello.” I say kindly, I get elbowed by Bibbo, who gives me a look of unamusement.
“Great to see you both, makes my job all the more easier.” He gestures to the guys behind him.
“What do we do?” Conner whispers. I rush at Guy #1, he lets out a few rounds which barely miss me, grazing my arms and legs.
“That was Bizarro’s favorite suit!” I yell out, grabbing him by the collar and throwing him out the window. Guy #2 aims his rifle at me, as he pulls the trigger, he’s met with a shove from Conner. I give him a thumbs up before jumping at guy #3, he tries to shoot me, but I grab the handguard, crushing it and headbutting him in the shoulder, dislocating it.
“I recommend you both surrender!” Zeiko yells out.
“You first Ps-Psycho!” I yell out.
“It’s Zeiko goddammit!” Zeiko shouts back. Suddenly, the remaining guy next to him walks ahead of him, taking off his mask and putting on one that resembles more of a skull with a gas mask.
“What in the fuck are you doing?” Zeiko yells out. The guy looks back at him.
“What I’m being paid to do.” He replies before turning back to let out some strange greenish energy at both of us. He hits both of us, causing us to fly out of the and into the street.
I get up to check on Conner who’s out cold, which distracts me long enough to not notice the guy blasting at me again, which hurls me right into the path of a minivan. I crawl out to rush at him, he discharges the energy at me a third time, but I dodge it and attempt to strik him, only for him to grab me by the wrist and hit me with another bang, hurling me above ground. As I’m momentarily in the air, he grabs me by the cape, and launches me up at a building. I get up to see him flying towards me, I jump to grab onto the wall of another building. He turns to me.
“Listen freak, why don’t you make my job a lot easier and just stop moving?” He lets out several more bursts of energy, some of which hit me in the right foot and left shoulder. I wince in pain, but I can’t hesitate now. I grab him by the shoulders and slam him down to the lower floor of a building. He throws a right hook which I block, but I didn’t notice his other hand as he throws his left hook, he throws a few wild jabs at me, causing me to stagger a bit.
“L-Leave… Bizarro and f-f-friends… alone!” I catch his next punch, grab him by the forearm and slam him at a wall. I look at him, or rather, what’s left of him. A bloody mess, he sounds like he is barely breathing. I get up and walk away.
“You… idiot.” I look back at him, flames now emerging from his hands, I can see green smoke eminating from his half broken mask.
“Now you’re dead!” he roars out with anger, I try to stop him, but he counters it with a blowout from his left hand, tossing me at a car. I try to get up, wheezing. I look up at him, he looks to be getting more powerful by the second.
“Don’t worry, there’s plenty more where that came from!” He lets out a combined blast from both hands, but just as I’m just about to be hit, a blue blur catches and moves me away from the hit. I look up at the person who saved me.
“Who-.”
“Thought you could use some help.” He says lending a hand to me. It’s me, or rather who I was cloned from. Superman. I grab his hand and get up.
“Bizarro need help to stop green man.” He looks at said green man.
“Stay here, I’ll deal with him.” I grab him by the shoulder.
“N-Need Bizarro to stop help with green man.” He looks at me, slightly confused before moving my hand from his shoulder.
“Trust me, I’ve dealt with worse.” he flies at the green man. He tries to give him a few light blows, but it almost seems like they don’t affect him as he starts attacking him. He throws blast after blast until he he grabs and throws him at truck, causing it to explode, tossing him into the ground. He attempts to get up, but is pressed back into the ground by the green man.
“Y’know, for a guy who’s dealt with robots and freaks, you’re pretty easy to beat.” He remarks with a mild chuckle.
“Who are you?” Superman asks.
“My name doesn’t matter, however you should learn to never mess with the Ato-” He’s interrupted by getting hit with foam from a fire extinguisher, he turns to me, holding a fire extinguisher.
“A fire extinguisher?! Really?!” He starts laughing before blasting at me, causing me to fly into a wall.
“Not.. good of.. idea.” I groan. He runs towards me, throwing a wild punch, which I block. But he then throws an uppercut at me, which I’m unable to stop. He finishes it with a large boom into my shoulder, giving me extreme pain. He tries to attack me, but is grabbed by Superman.
“Super..man?” I ask, watching him struggle as hard as he can grappling him.
“Bizarro… fire hydrant.”
“Huh?” I ask, slightly tilting my head.
“Fire… Hydrant…” It takes me a moment to realize what he meant. I get up and grab it off the pavement.
“Like this?” I ask, holding the hydrant. He then throws the green man into the water and immediately freezes it, causing him to be frozen in a block of ice.
“Wasn’t what I meant, but close enough.” He turns to me, giving his hand out.
“Thanks for saving me.” I shake his hand.
“Eh.. n-no pro-problem. Bizarro n-need go now, help friends.” I turn as he asks.
“Need a lift?”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Look, I’m innocent, just let me explai- Ow!” Zeiko yells out as he’s dragged and shoved into a cruiser.
“Hope I never see you again Psycho.” Conner mutters out.
“Oh for fuck’s sake, it’s Zei-” Is the last thing Conner and Bibbo hear him yell out as the door closes on him and the police can leaves.
“Well I’m glad that’s over.” Bibbo lets out.
“But, where’s Bizarro?”
“Hello!” They both hear and look up to see me being carried by Superman.
“Good to see you again, with company.” Bibbo says.
“B-Bobbo, Conner, Superman. Superman, Bobbo, Conner.” I say, trying to introduce them to each other.
“It’s Bibbo, but it’s nice to finally meet the man himself.”
“I could say the same for you Mr. Bibbowski.” Superman replies with a warm smile.
“And you as well, Conner.” He says, looking towards Conner.
“Oh yeah, thanks.” Conner murmurs out, walking away back to the bar. I follow him.
“Something wrong?” I ask. He looks back at me.
“It’s just…. When I was created, I was meant to be a weapon, something that could harm people, innocent people, birthed from ….him.” He points to Superman.
“And now…. I have no purpose.” I attempt to say something before stopping myself, trying to find the right words as I put my hand on his shoulder.
“Conner is Conner, like Bizarro is ...Bizarro.” He lets out a smile.
“That’s strangely comforting, even though it makes no sense. But where do I even go?” We look towards the man of steel himself.
“Go with him, learn who you are and mean.” He gives me a slightly confused look.
“You mean a journey?”
“Yes?” He ponders it for a moment, making his decision.
“Maybe I will, thank you Bizarro.” He finishes, giving a hug. It feels… nice. He walks to Superman.
“I know this is probably too much to ask of you. But is there a place I can stay and figure out my place in the world?”
“I might know a place. Can you fly there?” He shakes his head.
“I’m gonna have to carry you then, if you don’t mind?”
“Not at all.” He turns back to me and Bibbo.
“Thanks.” He says before he’s carried by Superman and flies away.
“Bizarro has saved the day!” Bibbo lets out a sigh.
“Well hero, someone’s gotta help me clean up the bar, and since you’re the only one here..”
“A funny?” I ask.
“No.”
“Oh. Oh.”
“God. Fucking. Dammit!” Zeiko yelled out in between breaths, looking slightly dishevieled. He walks through the hallways of a nearby Lexcorp facility, where his assistant just notices him.
“Dr. Zeiko! Are you okay?” She asks.
“Nevermind that, just had to deal with escaping the police, losing my experiments, the usual.” He replies in a snarky tone before continuing his way to his office.
“Oh, Dr. Zeiko! I forgot to mention-” She’s immediately brushed by Zeiko.
“Not now! I have to-” He stops as he opens the door to his office and sees three men in military grade vests, two of which wearing the exact same masks he saw earlier, the one in the middle being the only one without a mask, he’s probably the leader. The one without the mask turns to him.
“Hola, I was wondering when the boss of this establishment would show up.” He puts his hand out, expecting a handshake. But Zeiko doesn’t respond with anything but silence with his arms crossed.
“Right. Anyway, the name’s Joseph Martinez.” Martinez says, sounding almost annoyed.
“Yes, well Mr. Martinez, why did you find the need to enter my office instead of waiting with my people?” Zeiko finally asked, walking around Martinez and his men to his desk.
“Well Dr. Zeiko, I was informed that due to a very recent history of incompetance and failure, including this… newest one with the clone and a so-called Bizarro, I was sent by the Ultra-Humanite to, well let’s say terminate you from his services.” Zeiko looked back at him, infuriated.
“Really now?” Zeiko asked before letting out a laugh of mockery to Martinez.
“I’m not joking, Zeiko. The Ultra-Humanite has decided that your vision of the future doesn’t fit quite well with his, which is quite evident given your failures these last five years.” Zeiko walks to a nearby safe.
“And just who the fuck are you?”
“I’ve already told you, my name is-”
“No,” He turns back.
“No, I mean who the fuck are you to terminate me?!” He yells out before pulling out a baton and attempting to strike at Martinez, but is stopped by Martinez. He notices a slight green glimmer from his eyes.
“Oh, my apologies.” He lets out a calm, yet somewhat menacing smile.
“Let me show you.” He hits Zeiko in the jaw, breaking it and causing him to fly directly into a wall back first. Martinez walks to Zeiko and drags him by the collar.
“You see, Zeiko, you seem to not understand what I’m trying to say, so I’ll say it again. The Ultra-Humanite has seen that your goals do not align with his. Do you understand?” He nods shakily.
“I knew you would. You see, where someone like you would want money and women, he wants the next step in evolution, starting with Metropolis. So he’s sent me and a few others to handle it ourselves. So sorry we have to do this, but you know how the boss is.” He drops Zeiko’s body to the ground.
“Oh and if you’re wondering who me and men are,” His fist punctures into Zeiko’s gut, causing Zeiko to scream in agony.
“We’re known as the Atomic Skulls.” He finishes before his irises glow a yellowish green, and Zeikofeels a growing burning pain, he realizes his insides were aflame. He struggles and claws Martinez before his body slams into the ground.
“Sweet dreams, Psycho.” He pulled out from his gut, the blood around his arm was steaming due to the heat radiating from his body.
“Toalla!” He yells out, and grabs a towel that one of his men throws at him. He wipes away the blood before calling his contact.
“He’s been dealt with.”
“Good, you know what’s next. Make sure to send in Miss da Costa to keep our man of steel busy.”
“Got it.” He says before hanging up, he beamed as he watches the news from the monitor showing footage of Superman.
“This is gonna be so much fun.”
“We should be close.” J’onn says as we fly through the city, we land on the top floor, where we immediately spot a large figure.
“Good to see you’ve arrived.” The large figure says.
“I’m guessing you’re the Ultra-Humanite?” I ask. He turns, revealing himself fully.
“Aren’t you the smart one.” He replies, staring us both down.
“I’d rather not have my time wasted. It just doesn’t wait for the new world.”
“New world? What new world?” I ask. He grins.
“Why, my new world, Superman. One where humanity has evolved like me to their peak. One where humanity is not halted by stability. I’ll be blunt, humanity’s going to fall apart. It's an inevitability. I’m doing them the favor of jump-starting their evolution.”
“History isn’t kind to people who try to play god.” J’onn interjects.
“History has not met anyone like me before.”
“Somehow I doubt that.” I add, which he ignores.
“If you believe you have a chance to stop it, I’d argue you’re doing a fool’s errand.” He turns back, presses a button on his left forearm, which causes the walls surrounding us to blast us with sonics. We fall to the ground, screaming in pain as Ultra-Humanite stands there, observing.
“I was expecting a more dramatic approach, tragic.” I move my head up, spotting the cybernetic arm. I then blast a hole through it with my heat vision which causes a small explosion, resulting in the sonics to short out.
“Damn it no!” He roars out, backhanding me across into a wall. J’onn rushes in, shapeshifting into a serpent, tethering his arms and head. I crawl out of the crater, looking up to see the struggle.
“Superman, I don’t mean to sound rude, but I would appreciate some help!” J’onn says as his grip seems to be growing weaker. I charge right at Ultra-Humanite, throwing him off his balance. He responds by grabbing my leg and flinging me across the room. I stumble slightly, trying my best to get up. He tries to get the drop on me, J’onn appears before him for which he trys to strike, but he vanishes before reappearing by his side, he tries to throw an uppercut but is grabbed by the shoulder and flung through the ground into the floor below where the bomb is located. He rises from the floor and surveys the room.
“If you think I am someone to be impressed so easily.” He takes several glances around before spotting a glint of red through the smoke that he immediately attempts to punch in response, but J’onn phases through it.
“You’d be dead wrong.” He beams before clutching his fist, it somehow activates a high voltage charge that electrifies J’onn. He screeches in pain before crumbling to the ground. I fly up through the hole, shoving Ultra-Humanite through the floor. I add an uppercut that he attempts to block but fails.
“Is that really the best you’ve got?!” Ultra-Humanite remarks before swatting me out of the air followed by a wide array of blows, pummeling me to the ground.
“Pathetic.” He tries to land a knockout blow. But I grapple his fist, scanning it with my x-ray vision before using all my upper strength to rip his cybernetic arm off. He stumbles back, inspecting the sparks blasting out of his arm socket. I barely give him any time to react any further before I thwack him in the snout. I continue with several hits to the chest area and finish with a body blow. He slows his descent across the room with his remaining hand, he then pulls a gun and blasts at me which I fire back at with my heat vision. Causing a small explosion as a result that throws me at a wall and ends with falling to the ground. Ultra-Humanite attempts to get up, but is tied together and thrashed around into unconsciousness by the giant tentacles of a green creature.
“J’onn, you’re-”
“As much as I would appreciate the formalities.” J’onn telepathically communicates, pointing to the bomb.
“We don’t have much time, I will deal with him, you deal with the bomb.” I nod in agreement back to him before, rushing to the bomb and looking at the countdown.
“Twelve seconds to take it to space. Right, you’ve done it once before, albeit through much different circumstances. Still, no pressure.” I grab the device and fly as fast as I can through the roof and into the sky past the mesosphere. I take a quick peep to the device.
“Seven seconds.” I go even farther, I can barely see the city behind me, I’m at least several hundred miles from earth to space, passing through the karman line with ease. I stop to use all my strength to throw it far into the vaccum of space. A few seconds go by before I can spot a giant explosion, which slams me back down to earth, far deep into the ocean floor. I swim above the water, taking in a few breath.
“Superman, can you hear me?” I get another telepathic message from J’onn.
“Loud and clear.”
“Have you handled the bomb?”
“Yeah, what about your end?”
“Ultra-Humanite has been dealt with.”
“Good, good.” I gaze towards the sky, taking in the momentary quietness before breaking it.
“Anything from John?”
“He’s taken care of the Atomic Skulls, we’ve won.” A sigh of relief escapes me as I stare into the sky before I soar out of the ocean and to the skies back to Metropolis.
---------------------------
“It’s been several days since Ultra-Humanite and the Atomic Skulls have been taken into custody by the DEO, it has also been confirmed by Special Forces Officer Rick Flag that Ultra-Humanite will be transferred into Belle Reve by Argus. And with that a brand new day is shining upon Metropolis. While there is a cause for concern with the rise of metahumans. I think we need to be cautious and not repressive.” I finish typing to give the article a quick skim.
“Hmm, I might need to work on a few words.” I glance down at my watch to see that it’s almost nine.
“In the morning.” I turn off the computer before grabbing my phone and heading out of the Daily Planet offices, heading down through the elevator and leaving the building through the front doors. I pick up my phone to call Lois. There’s no response probably due to her taking care of Jon, so I leave a voicemail.
“Hey Lois, just letting you know I’ll be there in less than five, so I’ll be making some of your fav-” I pause to hear a frequency coming straight from the roof of the Daily Planet.
“Anyways, I’ll be there soon, bye.” I hang up before heading to an alley to change into my suit and fly to the roof where I had heard the frequency. I spot J’onn from the edge, staring at the streets below.
“It always ends up being me meeting other heroes at rooftops, huh?”
“Good to see you again Superman.” He turns to my direction.
“I could say the same to you too.” He smiles.
“So, is there a reason why you called me up here?”
“Just to talk. If that isn’t any trouble.”
“No! No trouble at all.” I scratch the back of my head.
“Although, I’m gonna have to make a decent excuse for not being home soon to my wife. Regardless, what did you want to talk about?” He hesitates for a moment before asking me.
“Tell me, what do you know of your people?” I just stare at him.
“I-uh, well excluding the fact that I’m not from here, nothing at all. I mean, for all I know, I could be the son of some space police officer. I’m not, right?” I hear a slight chuckle from J’onn.
“No you’re not. I was once a peacekeeper on my home planet. A Manhunter, not unlike the police officers of this one. I would travel the cosmos hunting criminals that took refuge in nearby galaxies. One of which contained the now dead planet Krypton, your birthplace”. My heart drops at the sound of that name. Krypton. It sounds...familiar.
“How do you know I’m from this...Krypton?”
“When I reached into your mind, I detected faded memories of your infancy. If you’ll allow me to re-enter and find them again, I can show you where you came from. May I?” He asks. I nod in response, it takes a brief moment before his red eyes glow even brighter, blinding my vision. I’m immediately hit with flashes of cities, filled with millions of people, being illuminated by a red sun. I immediately notice the organic ground of the planet begin to show cracks and shudder, thunderstorms brewing. And then suddenly, silence, just pure silence. And then within less than a second, it explodes. I flash back, staring at J’onn, he examines me, seeing the pain behind my eyes.
“I apologize if that disturbed you.” He says with a look of remorse.
“I appreciate it. Do we know if anyone besides me made it?”
“I wish I could tell you, I really do. But I genuinely don’t know, I’m sorry. Besides your family line, there’s nothing I can find.” I’m silent, trying to take in the reality of things, I focus back on J'onn.
“Thank you, for telling me all this.”
“You’re truly something Superman, even through your pain, you manage to end up stronger than ever.”
“Well, they don’t call me Superman for nothing.” I look down to my watch, noticing the time.
“Oh shoot, sorry to break the atmosphere, but I need to be home now. But again, thank you J’onn.” As I’m about to get off the roof, I hear.
“Martian Manhunter.” I turn back to him.
“What?”
“I had never told you before, but I am called the Martian Manhunter.”
“Well, it was nice to work with you Martian Manhunter.” I walk back to him, holding my hand out.
“Same to you, Superman.” He shakes it with a small grin.
“Fortunately, I must be going as well. Until we meet again.” I nod before waving goodbye and heading home.
Go-Ahead London Central WVL325 LX59 DCU in Woolwich New Road at the Woolwich Arsenal station stop on route 180. Friday 12th January 2018. DSCN43920..
Volvo B9TL-Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini 2 10.4m.
1995
“I think I saw him with a few gang members.” A young woman says.
“Gang members?” John Henry Irons asks.
“Yeah, y’know the 100 gang or something like that.” John’s face goes pale.
“Where?” She pointed several blocks towards Centennial Park, as he runs to the park, he calls 911 just in case things got rough. John runs inside the park to spot two teenagers standing behind an older man, who’s likely their leader, kicking his brother Clay.
“Look at this little shithead, thinking he could cross Joey.” He then goes down to his knees to face the bloodied and bruised face that is Clay.
“No one crosses Joey and thinks they can get away with it unscathed.” Clay takes a few weak breaths before spitting blood at Joey’s face in response. Joey gets back up in disgust.
“Sounds like Joey needs to be less of a jackass.” Clay adds with a bloodied smile that he can barely pull.
“Cute.” Joey responds before giving him a harsh kick to the stomach, knocking out what little wind was left.
“You know what we do to shitheads boys,” He gestures for a pistol, which one gives to him. John clenches his fists before rushing right at them.
“We flush the-” He’s interrupted as John swings a right hook as hard as he can at his lower jaw, smacking him unconscious with a painful crunch before he turns to the other two. One of them tries to grab the gun, but is shoved by John into the other guy which both struggle to stand back up.
“That’s right, get your asses outta here!” He shouts as they both run off, abandoning their leader. He goes down to grab the gun and dismantles it easily. He looks to Clay, who looks at him, looking like he was the last person he wanted to face.
“I-I didn’t need your-” He’s stopped by a smack at the back of his head.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” John yells out.
“What? I didn’t ask for your help!”
“Seriously? I came here, searching through half the goddamn city, worried sick, to find you trying to deal in drugs again and all you can say is you didn’t need my help?!” John sighed before putting his hands in his pockets.
“Look, I didn’t just come here to argue, I heard about what happened with Blondell.” Clay gave him a momentary look of shock before looking away.
“It’s none of your business.” Clay said, trying to give a resentful response, but failing.
“It is when Grandma Bess calls me, telling me you’re not in the hospital.” Clay holds his breath, trying to find something to say.
“Look, I know what happened with Blondell. I’m sorry.” Clay scoffs, looking down.
“I didn’t ask for your pity.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing? Giving you pity? I’m not just doing this because I feel bad, I’m not just doing this for you or Grandma Bess, but for Nat and Jemahl too.” He looks back at him, shivering even though the air isn’t even cold.
“N-Nat and Jemahl?” Tears start forming.
“Your kids, Clay.” He stares at the ground.
“They need you, and I’ll help you with them. But only of your own choice.” He struggles to take a calm breath.
“Okay.”
“Okay? Okay what?”
“Okay, I-I-I’ll quit.”
“So, what about him?” He gestures to Joey’s unconscious body.
“Don’t worry, I already called the police. So for now, let’s just sit here until they arrive.” They sit at a nearby bench. Letting the minutes pass by, before John randomly asks.
“So, what’s next?” Clay looks back confused.
“What’s next?”
“For your future, I mean.” He laughs a little in response.
“Man, you give the shittiest questions.”
“What do you mean shittiest?”
“What’s next for your future? Really? I understand you don’t talk to many people cuz of your job, but christ.”
“Alright, I’m bad. But I’m still asking..” He sighs before responding.
“I dunno, maybe I’ll run for mayor.” John snickers.
“Yeah right.”
“What? You don’t see ‘Clay Michael Irons, mayor of Metropolis’?”
“Not in a million years.”
“Well then I can't see the look on your face when I become mayor.” Clay remarks. As we spot the red and blue blinking lights of a police cruiser arrive.
My eyes open as I get up with a sharp intake of breath. I immediately block the sunlight from my eyesight, still in a slight daze from earlier. I look down at myself,
“I’m still in my suit.” I get off the bed, looking around what seems to be a garage of some sort. I walk around the room, noticing small details. As the minutes pass by, most of my powers start to come back. I use my superhearing to detect two heartbeats, one of which getting closer.
“I see you’ve finally woken up.” I turn to see a guy who looks familar before it hits.
“Y-You’re the man who helped me with Metallo.” I look around again.
“Where am I?”
“My garage, where I usually make stuff. Like most garages.” He remarks.
“Right,” I walk up to him, putting my hand out.
“Superman, nice to meet you, properly I mean.” He looks up at me, eyebrow raised before shaking my hand.
“John Henry Irons.”
“Right. Um, I heard about your brother. I-I’m sorry, I wish I could’ve been there sooner.””
“It’s fine.” Right, clearly not a good topic to go on. I glance away, trying to change the topic
“How’d you find me?”
“He didn’t.” We turn to see a man dressed in black, with his hair completely gray and his eyes clouded by his sunglasses.
“I did.”
“And you are?”
“Calvin Hunter, special agent of the DEO.”
“The DEO?” John asks.
“Department of Extranormal Operations, the DEO for short. We deal with extraterrestrial beings. However, that is not my purpose here.” I step in, using my x-ray vision to notice his heat signature isn’t very prominent.
“And what is your purpose?” He gives a slight smile before replying.
“I should warn you to not be afraid of what comes next.” Before any of us can ask, his eyes start glowing red before shifting into the humanoid form I saw earlier.
“Well that explains a few things.” I comment.
“As I’ve said before Superman, my name is J’onn J’onzz, and we have much to discuss.”
---------------------------
Lois sits in her son’s bedroom after taking him out for a trip to the park, checking her phone almost every other minute while playing with Jon to keep herself somewhat busy. Suddenly, she hears the ringtone coming from her phone, which she picks it up immediately.
“Hey honey.” I answer, trying to sound as positive as I can.
“Clark! Thank god you’re okay. I haven’t heard anything from you, what happened?” She asked with a sigh of relief.
“A lot, But I’ll try to give you the cliff notes, we’re dealing with a militia of metahumans that are being led by a cyborg gorilla man hybrid to destroy Metropolis with a metagene bomb.”
“Oh, so the usual then?”
“I’m not joking.”
“I know, you’re terrible at jokes. So what do we do?”
“You need to take you and Jon far away from the city before everything goes crazy.”
“We might be too late on that.” I hear from John. I turn back to see news footage of a shootout between cops and the Atomic Skulls along with a break-in at Lexcorp. I raise the phone back up.
“Nevermind, just lock the front door and make sure to not let anyone in, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Be careful.”
“I always am.” I hang up.
“We have to make sure Ultra-Humanite doesn’t activate the bomb.” J’onn says.
“I understand that, but I’m not allowing any more people to get hurt by these guys any longer. I’ll deal with the Atomic Skulls while you deal with Ultra-Humanite.” Before J’onn can argue against it, John intrudes.
“That won’t be necessary.” We look to John, suited up in high-tech armor.
“I’ll deal with them.”
“John, you don’t have to do this.”
“You’re right, I don’t, I’m choosing to. Look, this isn’t just about me, I’m doing this because whatever this guy is, he’s dangerous, dangerous enough that both of you need to stop him.” He reaches for his helmet, but I grab him by his forearm. He turns to me.
“I need this Superman.”
“For closure, or revenge?” I stare at him, searching for an answer through his emotions.
“Neither.” He grabs his helmet and hammer, putting the helmet on and applying the hammer onto his back..
“I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do.” Moments go by before I finally reply.
“You know, I have a friend in Gotham who shares similar sentiments.” He scoffs, almost like he’s close to laughing.
“Now I know you’re crazy.” We all head to the roof of the garage.
“Lemme know when you guys have finished with the cyborg gorilla. Man does that still feel weird to say.”
“Try not to get too far into danger.”
“Are you kidding me?” The rockets in his ankles blast off into the sky. He looks back to make one final remark.
“Danger’s my middle name.” He flies offthrough the city.
“Well that’s a lie.” I reply when J’onn walks next to me.
“Shall we?” He asks. I nod before we fly straight for Lexcorp tower.
---------------------------
A lone figure stands in the office for the once infamous Lex Luthor, the sunrise obscuring his look. As he waits patiently for their arrival, a thug walks into the office.
“Sir, we found him.”
“How badly damaged?”
“Honestly? With how fucked he looks, it’s a shock he’s still alive.”
“Of course he’s still alive.” The figure turns around.
“I made him as powerful as Superman, maybe even moreso. I’d be damned before I let my research go to waste.”
“Yes sir, what do we do with him?” The figure stands there a few moments before walking out of the light of the slowly rising dawn, and into the office light, revealing a tall, albino gorilla, his body modified with cybernetics.
“He may be a foolish mercenary, but he’s gotten farther than the rest. Bring in subject 323, it’ll help him in the long term.” The henchman nods before heading out to complete his tasks. The figure walks back to the window, staring as he sees two figures flying their way into the tower.
“Yes, things are now falling into place. And they will succeed.” He says with a smile.
“So says I, the Ultra-Humanite.”
“Metropolis’ finest.” Volcana clicks her tongue in disappointment. Surrounded by the burnt rubble of several squad cars, She sprays out a torrent of fire from her hands, it almost hits a nearby cop, but I zip by to catch the lone officer from getting hit. I rush back to face her.
“And here I’d thought you’d be on the other side of the country.” She comments with a displeased sigh.
“Like I’d leave my city behind.”
“Ugh, cut the shit, your city? A bit selfish if you ask me.” She scoffs.
“So anyway, are you gonna back off or do we have to do this the hard way?”
“Claire, listen, I don’t want to have to fight you. But I can’t let you hurt anyone else.”
“Fine, your funeral.” She shrugs before letting out streams of fire at me, it throws me off from her as the force shoves me at a building. I could barely react as she finishes it off with a blast, propelling me onto the roof of another building. As she gets close, I grab her by the forearms and toss her across the roof, it barely fazes her as she lands on her feet.
“Didn’t expect it to be that easy did you? Especially after last time.” She asks as she uses both hands to shoot another combined line of fire in my direction, which I try to counter with my freeze breath. Her fire grows bigger in response, which pushes back my freeze breath; Fortunately, I’m not trying to stop her. She’s interrupted with a splash of ice that freezes her left side, she turns to see Tora.
“Hi! I’m Ice, nice to meet you!” she says as she throws more ice in her direction, Volcana dodges and counters as she melts the ice on her side.
“So you brought a friend to share your torment, fine by me!” as she’s about to let out more streaks of fire, Tora flings streams of ice at her, resulting in massive amounts of steam that nearly engulfs the rooftop. As soon as that happens, Volcana tosses darts of fire at Tora, she attempts to dodge while some graze her arms and legs. I race in front of her to block the rest with my body, I look back at her and she nods at me before running ahead, throwing several ice projectiles at Volcana, all of them melting without even getting near her and she finishes it off with a giant ice blast, which Volcana almost easily melts with her hands. I fly up to use my breath again to slow her which she tries blocking. Tora realizes my move and joins in, casting ice at Volcana. We both close in on her, slowy freezing her.
“What part of the name Volcana can’t you get through your thick skull?” She questions before slamming both her hands onto the ground, creating what almost seems like a wave of fire, the impact causes me to fly downwards over the roof and smack right into the street below, while Tora nearly falls off. As she attempts to get up, barely holding on.
“And you thought you had a chance, pity, I kind of liked your costume.” Volcana sniggers as she tries to let out a torrent at Tora. Which is blocked by a wall of fire, however this one was green.
“I would hope so, considering, y’know, I made it?” Beatriz interjects as she lands inbetween Volcana and Tora.
“Bea!”
“Bea you’re-” She stops herself, wincing in pain before noticing Bea staring at the burn marks on her body.
“I’m fine! I’m fine, you don’t need to-”
“I’ll deal with her.” She says turning back and turns to Volcana. She throws balls of fire at Beatriz that barely affect her. She continues by tossing more darts at her that she easily blocks, but is too late to see a fist connecting to her stomach and a foot sweep causing her to land on her side.
“Oh Bea, always wanting to go headfirst,” She remarks.
“Screw... you.” Beatriz wheezes out.
“Oh Bea, sempre o tolo impulsivo.” She whispers to Beatriz’s ear.
“Don’t make the same mistakes mother and father did.” Beatriz stares at her, scowling.
“Aww, little fire girl Jr, gonna cry?” she asks as she’s hit with a snowball. She turns to Tora.
“You’re gonna have to go through me for that to happen.” She says, her hands already glowing.
“Suit yourself.” she remarks flying towards her. While Beatriz lies there, sparks of green igniting from her hands.
“Not again,” She whispers, being reminded of her house where everything burned, where her sister lost it, where she was surrounded by the charred corpses of her parents. Where she lost everything.
“Not again.” She repeats, getting up from the ground, the flames growing larger.
“Not again!” She finally screams out, igniting an astounding amount of fire, the largest she’s ever created, directly at Volcana, who attempts to block it, but ends up being pushed back by the force of the fire.
“Finally, I always knew I could get under your skin to reveal your potential.”
“Shut up.” She replies, throwing ball after ball of fire.
I get up to the roof as I immediately notice the clash of fire between the two sisters, and she’s completely engulfed in flames. I try to get up, but I’m still weak from earlier.
“Shut up, shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” She yells out, Volcana hurls back with a blast which directly hits Beatriz. For a brief moment, she thinks she’s already won, she couldn’t be more wrong as she spots Beatriz pushing back, the green flames now consuming her body. Volcana is momentarily taken aback but shakes it off as she shoots out a combined wave at Beatriz, but it’s not enough.
“No way.” She mutters.
“There’s no way a brat like you is more powerful than me!”
“You want power?” Beatriz asks under her breath.
“Here, have at it!” She shouts as she flies right at Volcana, shooting through her attacks and crashing her onto a different roof, letting out punch after punch. I rush to her and grab her right forearm. She turns to me, tears running down her cheeks.
“It’s over.” I tell her. She looks back at her sister, beaten, but breathing.
“Bea?” Tora asks, looking incredibly worried. She takes a deep breath before getting up. I let go as she runs to Tora, hugging her tightly.
“It’s okay Bea. We won.” Tora whispers, trying to calm her.
---------------------------------------------
“Well shit. Looks like you paid her too much than she was worth.” The unmasked thug comments to Martinez, both watching as Volcana is carried away into custody.
“She did what was asked of her.” Martinez responds
“And that is?”
“Cebo. for our plans required a distraction for the hero. Or more accurately, heroes.”
“Alright, well, nevermind then, so now what?”
“The final phase can begin.”
National Express Urban 2 2091 passes Castle Street whilst carrying an 11A service for Walsall
Vehicle Details
Operator: National Express West Midlands
Fleet Details: 2091
Registration: BX12 DCU
Vehicle Type: Volvo B7TL, Wright Eclipse Urban 2
Vehicle History
New to Pensnett 03/12
transferred to Wolverhampton 01/20
transferred to 12/22