Hello everyone, I'm back! :) I present to you the first chapter of the sequel to A World Without Wonder Woman? I hope you enjoy, and hopefully any questions you have will be answered throughout the story. Yet I'm open to any questions if you want to ask me anything. :) Thanks everyone for reading this.
Superman's POV
Life. It has a way of eating your very soul. Beating, and pulling against you until you are nothing more, but dust in the wind. We all have a purpose on this world, yet life just has the tendency to get in the way. To end your time before it even has really begun.
Life is made up of choices. Choices you make or don't make. Some choices are not even choices at all. They are only illusions, created to try and make you feel like you are in control when you really are not. I made choices. Bad ones, ones that you would call mistakes. Those mistakes soon became the foundation of my life.
Life is what ruined me. Caused the very thing to happen that in the end broke me, the unbreakable, scared me, the fearless, hurt me, the untouchable. You give life one inch, a moment of time and it could bring something good, or create what you feel is the end of the world.
Five minutes.
That is all it took for my already broken down world to come crashing down into a pile of ashes.
I was five minutes too late to tell the woman I loved what I needed. To hold her. To share what I had left inside of me with her. To let her in. To tell her the truth. Those lost seconds cost me everything.
It happened five and a half years ago, on this exact day and exact time. I of course, remember it like yesterday.
Flashback:
"Kal!..." A feminine voice growls out.
"Clark!..." I don't turn around at either names.
"Superman!..." This causes me to shift slightly, yet not enough to her liking.
"For Hera's sake, answer me!" She yells out frustratingly.
I whirl around and grab her by the arms, squeezing them tightly in a fit of uncontrollable rage.
"What!?" I growl out. "What do you want!?" My fingers dig deeply into her skin and I know that I am most likely hurting her. But right now I can't find it within me to care. There are tears of anger and pain in her eyes and I know. I just know what she is going to ask me already.
"Is it true? Just tell me, the least you can do is tell me the truth!"
I am heaving and panting. Something very unusual for the Man of Steel.
Stiffly I let her go and turn to grip the railing at my apartment balcony.
"How could you do this to me?" I can hear the pain in her voice, and the confusion. It breaks my heart, but I still don't answer.
"What about Lois ?" She asks softly. My body instantly goes rigid.
"You're still with her aren't you? All those excuses for work? Nothing. They were empty, you really were just going to go see her." She releases a pained sigh. "I thought that you had chosen. Chosen me Clark." I wince at her use of that name. Clark is what she used to reference me by, not Kal. She continues. "I mean what would you think when you start to date someone? I don't think that the first thing that would pop into your head is 'Oh he's just double dating' unless you're paranoid like Bruce but still..."
His name. She had to mention his name again. Why is it that no matter what, Bruce manages to wriggle his way into our conversations. It makes my blood boil. That man never deserved her in the first place. And you do? I ask myself mentally. Closing my eyes, I shake my head slightly "no" in answer to my own question. Her deep intake of breath breaks into my thoughts and I snap my eyes open once more. "The worst thing is that I should have known from the beginning, when you wanted this relationship to remain a secret."
I can't look at her. I can't face the brokenness. Not with another. In a way I fear pain. Pain for those around me, and for myself. No matter how invulnerable you are, nothing can stop you from feeling the emotional pain.
Despite the anguish, I can't help but continue to listen to her as she speaks.
"I was so happy. I thought that this was it. This is what men and women strived to find each and every day, but apparently I was so wrong and so stupid."
Hearing those words makes my heart clench. No, your'e the most intelligent women I've ever met, youv'e never been stupid. Yet the words never leave the back of my throat. I grip the railing even tighter and I can feel the steel bend beneath the tips of my fingers.
"Just tell me Clark, I want to hear it from you. Are you seeing someone else?"
I whip myself around and just look at her.
"And what does it matter to you now Di?" I ask somewhat sharply. No, that's not what I wanted to say.
She flinches and backs away from me at my harsh tone. Suddenly her cheeks turn a bright red and her eyes dangerously narrow at me. "What does it matter!?" She snaps. She definitely is angry right now.
"I'm suppose to be your girlfriend! That's why it matters." I don't respond.
"Fine! If you won't answer that, then answer me this Clark. Do you love me at all?"
I freeze. I can't move. My answer may be the only thing to help keep what I have left with her, if anything, alive. Still I don't speak. I can't.
"You have a minute Clark, then I'm leaving." She crosses her arms and stares at me, waiting. I open and close my mouth in a futile attempt to speak, but no words come from my lips. I feel panicked, but I can't do a single thing. My body seems incapable of doing one a single act. Desperately I try to reach out to her, but she moves out of my grasp. She glares at my hand for a moment before looking back up at me.
"Minutes up. Goodbye Clark." And without even another glance in my direction, she is gone.
End of flashback.
It has been five years since the last time I have laid eyes on her. Neither of us knew at the time how true her goodbye was. After that conversation she had avoided me at all costs. I soon found myself alone at Monitor duty. Not once did I have a solo mission with her and during group missions we never ended up alone with each other. We never sparred, never talked unless it was during meetings and even then it was short and to the point.
It hurt knowing that I couldn't hold her again, see her smile, listen to her voice, listen to her heartbeat, or kiss her. They say you never know how much you'll miss something or someone until its gone. That was never truer than at that moment. A part of me ached at her departure from my embrace, yet another felt... Nothing.
Six months later, despite my life of internal misery without her, I found my self traveling through space, in search of any remaining life within my home planet, Krypton. I had known that it was a long shot, but I couldn't help myself. I had to know for sure. The questions. The feeling of uncertainty ripped my insides to shreds, until that fateful day I couldn't stand it any longer and just... Left.
Now here I am, within the Fortress of Solitude, preparing myself for my return into the world as Superman. Hopefully all is well in planet Earth and with those I have left behind.
Conner's POV
The night air is cool and seemingly forgiving. It whispers sweet words into my ears, desperately trying to calm my raging thoughts, but it cannot. Despite its willingness to try and wash away the memories, the pain, and the guilt, I don't allow for it to do so. I never do, because, no matter how hard I try, I can never escape the nightmares. Whenever I close my eyes those same feelings of helplessness, anger and fear surge through me, tormenting me until I feel as if though I will snap, but I don't. I manage to rein it all in, to push through it, just like how she taught me.
Flashes of her face, her determination, the way her eyes would light up when sparring with me, her compassion and strength swim before my eyes, reminding me of the good times. The times, for when I had been confused, angry and uncertain, she was there for me... Always.
Then the bad times come in like a storm, slamming into me and beating me to a pulp. Within the eye of the storm images of her blood spilling freely unto the ground, the pain in her features, the look in her eyes as she spook to me one last time, the flash of a knife and the blur of my hand plunging it into her skin, eat at my insides.
It fills me with an uncontrollable feeling of regret and disgust. I feel unclean and unworthy, as if I should have been the one to die that evening instead of her. The thing is, that a part of me did die that night, and no, it wasn't because of the explosion that destroyed half of my body. Scarred it as a reminder of my sins.
No, It was something bigger, something that once gone, I could never regain it back again. I lost a piece of my soul that night. What had happened greatly differed from the time that Superman had left me behind.
Diana was more than a mentor, she was family. We may have not of been blood related, but the bond I had shared with her was something that went beyond that. She was someone I could rely on, someone who genuinely cared about me and who opened up herself to me. Most importantly, she was someone who I knew wouldn't leave me without a word. Even at deaths door, she spared me a sentence. One that I will never forget.
That night I changed. I changed into something that became greatly feared by those who knew me or didn't yet know me.
Bruce tried to help. He tried to bring me out of this darkness. Yet even he can't successfully fulfill such an act. How can he? When he himself is shrouded in it.
He has truly tried to help though, despite the fact that I know he holds some unspoken rage towards me. It has died down over the months, but its still there, smoldering. I don't blame him, for I mirror those same feelings towards myself also. I know that he is only doing as he had been asked of. I sense that, despite the fact that he has tried to move on with his life, within him still lies those internal feelings of longing. A deep want, that can never be filled.
He misses her greatly, to the point that he has even made nightly visits to Metropolis. On those nights I let him be, or at least now I do.
I know what he feels. That he owes it to her to try and keep her city safe. He never did truly understand why Diana had gotten the sudden interest in Metropolis. I knew that he assumed it was because of me, and perhaps because of another certain somebody. And he was right... mostly.
The first night he had payed a visit though, it wasn't on such nice terms.
Flashback:
"Scum." I mutter under my breath as I deliver a round house kick to the man in front of me. Readjusting the old worn gloves on my hands, I shift into a laid back stance and kick him in the gut, just in case he hadn't gotten my point. Suddenly the hairs on my neck stand on end, alerting me to a new presence. I can feel the heat of a penetrating gaze at my back as I begin to walk away from the now groaning body.
"You don't scare me." I call out, glaring into the shadows of the dark corners. "You can come out now! Or are you just too scared that lil old Conners gonna knife you also?" I remark tauntingly.
Slowly a dark form separates from the cover of the night, revealing the figure known as Batman. Two piercing lenses stare daggers at me, and I can't help but chuckle at his presence. Walking forward, my smirk slowly turns into an aggravated frown.
"So after all this time, you've finally decided to pay the "messed up experiment" a visit in order to see how it's doing huh?" I shake my head at his silence. "What do you want Batman? Why are you here? Why now? There's nothing else that needs to be said. I already know everything." I say darkly. I clench my hands into tight fists and stop a mere, few feet from him. I continue to speak.
"We all know that if it wasn't for me, Di would still be alive right now." His eyes narrow dangerously at this. "It seems that you don't have to be a full blooded Kryptonian in order to fail everyone that you know. Isn't that right Bruce?"
I begin to back away. "Nothing to say then?" I shrug my shoulders in a nonchalant way. "That's alright, I was just leaving anyways." Whipping myself around, I begin walking away from him.
"What your doing is wrong." He rasps out from behind me. "She wouldn't have wanted to see you this way. This is not the man you were." I immediately stiffen at what he has just said.
"No, not the man I was. I will never be like the man I was. I'm only the man that I am today." I snarl tightly at him in response.
Suddenly, a gloved hand grips me along the shoulder, trying to stop me. I immediately react by whipping myself around and ripping his hand off of me. Without a second thought I attack him with a punch, which he tries to block, but its no use. I can hear the slight hiss of pain he releases as his bone cracks slightly from the impact. Jabbing my knee upward, I slam it into his gut, to which he reacts by grunting out loud in annoyance. Swinging my right arm at his head, he quickly ducks in order to avoid the blow.
"Snap out of it Conner, you're better than this." He snarls. I pause, breathing heavily as a rush of adrenaline courses through my body. Still, I want to hear what he has to say.
He continues. "You know this is not how it's suppose to be, so get your act together and at least try to do some good with your life." He wipes a smear of blood from the corner of his lip. "I'm not saying this for your benefit, or mine. Just know that I never go back on my promises." He growls out at me menacingly before melting back into the cover of the night.
End of Flashback:
He has never truly intimidated me... that much.
When you spend most of your time around a stubbornly, fierce Amazon you can't help but gain some of her immunity to bat glares.
Still, I knew what he was talking about. That night I had finally realized that she had asked for him to watch out for me. And despite his thoughts of me, he was going to try and pull through on his end. Even in her passing, she proved to still be watching out for me.
That night I had made my final decision. I would no longer prowl the streets as just another thug looking for a fight. Instead I would forge myself into something criminals would truly fear and never second guess. If I was on their trail, then they would understand that they were truly doomed. There is no escaping the Dead Wonder.
He was right also, in what else he had said that night. This isn't how it was suppose to be. She was suppose to be here, fighting alongside with the others, stopping wars with words alone, or issuing brute force efficiently and effectively if it came to that.
Instead she has left this world, gone forever, and by myself no less.
Glancing down, I glare at the red gloved hand at my side and tighten it into a fist. The very hand which held that knife. A constant reminder of the blood that I have spilled. Of the murderer I have become.
And a murderer you shall stay. "He" remarks coldly within my head.
After the explosion, half of my body had been burnt, scarred forever due to the fact that I wasn't immediately given medical attention and that I hadn't been exposed to the sun for a long time after my surgery. Before I had passed out, the immense pain had pulled me out of my brainwashed state, returning me to my own mind once again, or so I thought.
For months on end I had become a loose canon, my emotions were everywhere and I was a threat to the league. Apparently that is what happens after you wake up to the realization that you have just killed someone you knew. Even if it was done unwillingly.
During that time I also came to the realization that, despite the fact that I had seemed to have control over my own body, and thoughts, it didn't mean that the mind of Luthor wasn't still there. Despite my deepest wishes, I could feel that he was definitely hidden deep within my brain, tormenting me, and mocking me, until I would go wild with rage.
One night, it had gotten so bad that I had fled to Metropolis, destroying anything and everything that had represented myself as Wonder Boy in the past.
The word "murderer" drumming within my head, sent me on a rage fueled riot. The statue of me had been crushed by my own hand, leaving Diana standing alone in the middle of the park. I had so desperately wanted him gone, but J'onn could only help me so much. It seemed as though "He" was something permanent.
Shut up. I growl in return.
"He" just chuckles in amusement. Make me. You can't deny the truth Conner. Face it, your nothing more than a weapon, that's what you were designed to be in the beginning? Wasn't it?
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. It's no use trying to argue with "Him." I will only end up hurting someone else in the process. If I don't keep a handle on it, "He" will take over. The Conner part of me never wants to kill, but once I'm over the edge "He" forces me to such extremes. Unveiling the blood hungry animal underneath, I become a monster. The monster I truly am.
Two years I have been living like this. Just a couple of months ago, I had dared to try and return to my life as the protecter of our... My... City. I rarely, if ever, show myself during the day. During those time I opt for wearing a Ski mask, since no one would be able to handle the sight of my deformed body. If I didn't, then I would only succeed in scaring the innocent people, which is not my intent. That is why I only conduct my job in the darkness of the night, much like the Bat, but I am no Batman. No, I am something far more dangerous in the sense that my rules are far more flexible. I am now something dark, something unpredictable and deadly. I am no longer Wonder Boy. I am now known to those in my city as the Dead Wonder. I don't work for the League no more, they wouldn't approve of my methods, but they leave me well enough alone.
Some may compare me to the Red Hood, but I'm no nut-crack who involves himself in the very crime circles he is trying to end. Others see me as more of an ally to the Bat, but like I had said before. I have less restrictions.
I am no "light" or "shining hope." I'm someone who will get the job done at all costs, even if it means that blood must be shed. I am no longer the man that I used to be. I am something far more dangerous. The blood lust Luthor cries out for within me compels me to extreme actions. Those are the times I lose control. Something I greatly detest.
Closing my eyes, I let myself float higher and higher into the night air. My head bent forward, fists loosely clenched at my sides. I even out my breathing and listen.
Listen to the sound of Metropolis preparing itself for the coming night.
The time for when the animals of the street awaken in order to search for their prey. In the beginning they had been bold. Tearing the streets apart after the absence of Wonder Woman. They thought that without her around, they could reclaim the city as theirs. They were incredibly wrong. Now they have me to deal with and even on some occasions The Batman.
Snapping my eyes open, I immediately still.
The distant sound of a sonic boom rings in my ears, shattering the silence from up above.
Narrowing my eyes to slits, I grit my teeth as I realize just what that means.
One thing and one thing only.
It means that He has finally returned.
There you go guys. I hope that you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading! Tell me what you guys think! I hope it doesn't come off as really depressing. I was aiming to exploit the feelings off anger, lost and such but not so much depressing. So yeah, let me know, I love hearing from you guys as always. :)