Just to be clear, this story is a sequel to Superman: Corruption. I strongly recommend you read that story first, or else this one will be impossible to follow :)
Chapter One: A Flawed Recovery
"Heellloooo people of Gotham!" The voice on the radio said exuberantly. "This is your Gotham News Radio, and I'm your host, MadDog! So I know you guys are probably all sick and tired of hearing about Lex Luthor's incarceration and Superman's madness and all that, so I promise that tonight I will not be talking about our old President or the man of steel. Instead, I'd like to bring up the approaching events in space! Events, plural, because there are two of them. First, Earth will be experiencing a small meteor shower within the next week or two that should up the sky pretty nicely. Second, there's going to be a huge solar eclipse next month! And by huge, I mean it's not just a normal eclipse, scientists say that this approaching eclipse could last up to three days! I'll explain why that is in a little bit, but first we're going to take callers to give their opinion on the sudden disappearance of Batman, and the-"
Bruce turned the radio off after that.
"You don't want to listen to them talk about you, Master Bruce?" Alfred grinned.
"To be it subtly… I'd rather swallow and pile of needles." Bruce said as he leaned back in his chair.
"So what is your opinion on Batman's disappearance, Master Bruce? You've only gone out on patrol once in the last two weeks."
"I've had other priorities." Bruce shrugged.
"Such as… Princess Diana?"
"That'd be one of them."
"She is a wonderful woman, hence the name Wonder Woman, I suppose." Alfred chuckled.
"Crime is down anyway. Way down." Bruce looked out the window. "It's hard to believe, but Mercy is actually doing a pretty good job as president. Since she's been in office, crime is down everywhere."
"Yes. Perhaps the time may soon arrive, when the world no longer needs Batman?" Alfred hinted. It was no secret that Alfred was not particularly fond of Bruce's double life.
"Perhaps." Bruce seemed very distant.
The doorbell rang, and Bruce grinned. "Diana's here."
"Shall I let her in, Mater Bruce?"
"I'll do it Al." Bruce got up and walked over to the door, pulling it open and marveling at the figure before him. Diana looked beautiful, as always. She was dressed in her normal street clothes, and greeted Bruce with a warm smile. Bruce looked down at the tux he was wearing, and realized that he was extremely overdressed for the occasion. He was almost embarrassed, but Diana's smile melted the feeling away quickly.
"What's with the tux?" She laughed, stepping in and handing Alfred her coat.
"I… I don't know I figured it was necessary." Bruce rubbed the back of his head.
"It's not like this is the first time we've had dinner Bruce, we're together almost every night." She giggled, closing the door behind her. "Speaking of which, I seems like we're here almost every night. Why don't we ever go out and do anything?"
"I don't do well in crowds. You know that." Bruce smiled.
"I didn't say we would go anywhere crowded." She smiled back. The two of them walked into the dining room, holding hands affectionately.
Alfred smiled wide. Diana had been gracing the mansion nightly for quite some time now. And slowly, her dinners with Bruce had turned into dinners and breakfast, and then full days at the mansion. It was nice to finally see Bruce happy. Alfred had raised Bruce since he was eight years old, and he had never really been happy before. It warmed Alfred's heart to see that finally changing.
Later that night, Bruce and Diana were cuddled on the couch watching television. Diana saw that it was almost midnight and sighed. "Bruce, I'm afraid I have to be getting home. I have a job interview in the morning." She said.
"Yeah, a job interview with Wayne Enterprises." Bruce laughed.
"Bruce, please don't just give me the job because we're together. If I'm going to be working as an ambassador, I want to know that I actually qualify." She said.
"I know. Don't worry, you'll be judged the same as anyone else who walks through the door tomorrow." Bruce assured her.
'Thank you."
Now that Lex Luthor was out of the picture, Wayne Enterprises and LexCorp had gone into business together. And Wayne Enterprises was at the head of the efforts to bring world peace, or at least something close to it. Now they were choosing a company ambassador, to travel the world and try to persuade other countries to joining in the effort. Diana was applying for that job.
Diana said goodbye to Alfred and stepped outside the mansion. But as soon as the door closed behind her, a powerful but familiar voice called her name.
"Diana. You must come with me. Now." Hippolyta said urgently.
"Mother? What are you doing here?" Diana asked.
"We need to talk. It is a matter of the utmost importance." Hippolyta insisted.
"Um, ok… do you want to come inside and-"
"No. We cannot speak here. Follow me." Hippolyta began to take off.
"Wait a minute, mother I have an important interview in the morning and-"
"Diana I promise you that it is not as important as this. Now come." Hippolyta urged, and with a sigh, Diana followed.
Meanwhile, at a Cadmus board meeting…
Amanda Waller stood before the board, the twelve people other than herself who ran Cadmus. "Ladies, Gentlemen, I have an urgent matter to discuss with you tonight." Waller said. Everyone nodded, giving full attention. "As we all know, a mere three months ago, Superman snapped. He went on a killing spree, and nearly plunged the world into totalitarianism! This proves one thing, and one thing only. These so called 'heroes' are more of a threat than we first anticipated! The event three months ago serves as indefinite proof, that they can easily be corrupted. They're dangerous."
"So what do you suggest we do, Ms. Waller?" One of the board members asked.
"Yes. With all do respect, President Mercy has already managed to shut down most of our biggest operations. We cannot afford to expose Cadmus anymore than we already have." Another board member stated.
"Agreed. At this point, we cannot act directly." Amanda nodded. "But I propose something different." She threw down a file for them all to look at. "Project SHIELD. I suggest we put together our own team, as a countermeasure to the metas who call themselves heroes."
"But you're forgetting, Ms. Waller, that strict restrictions have been placed on Cadmus! We can no longer perform any sort of genetic alteration research without clearance from Wayne Enterprises, and our entire weapon advancements program has to be focused non-lethal weaponry now!" A board member pointed out.
"True. Which is why Project SHIELD requires Cadmus to do very little. In fact, if we play our cards right, no one will know the SHIELD team has any connection to Cadmus at all."
Meanwhile, at the apartment of Lois Lane and Kara Kent…
Lois's vomiting woke Kara up. After several minutes, Lois stepped out of the bathroom and took a drink of water.
"Morning sickness?" Kara asked.
"Yeah." Lois groaned. "Nobody told me how much pregnancy sucks!"
Kara laughed and worked her way out of the bed and into her wheelchair. She wheeled over to her friend, yawning and stretching her arms. "I don't think that's how most mothers look at it, Lois." Both of them were quiet for a moment.
"Who would've known…?" Lois sighed. "Clark and I never even thought that we could have kids. And now…" She began to cry. She always did when she thought about Clark. "I'm scared Kara. I've never been so scared."
"It'll be ok, Lois. Your baby will be just fine." Kara assured her.
"I did love Clark. God, I loved him so much. But that monster… it was not Clark." She sobbed. "Oh God what am I going to tell my baby when he asks about his father? I mean, what am I going to say Kara… 'Sorry, you're daddy turned into a psychotic monster'? What else can I tell them?"
Lois was balling now, and Kara felt terrible for her. "You can tell your baby that their father was a hero. A great, great hero. Because Clark is the father. And like you said, that person he became… it was NOT Clark!" Kara told her.
"Seeing him like that… it killed me inside Kara. How could that have happened?"
"Well, I guess it wasn't completely his fault. Luthor planned it all from the beginning. And he's locked up at Stryker's now, with three consecutive life sentences! He won't ever bother you."
"Yeah." Lois looked out the window. "His lap dog Mercy took over the country."
"Mercy was never really that bad of a person though. Luthor gave her a big pay check, so she was always at his side. But you have to admit that she's done a great job as President. Crime is down all over America, Cadmus is totally under control, and she's done wonders for the Meta Outreach Program!" Kara pointed out.
"Yeah." Lois said distantly. Kara looked down at her legs. The legs she hadn't been able to feel in over three months.
"Now if only her scientists could find a cure for this crap." Kara groaned, trying in vain to stand.
"I'm sure you'll walk again one day, Kara. I mean, you are Kryptonian. Superman… he proved that a Kryptonian can recover from death! So maybe you can recover from a severed spinal cord."
"Maybe." Kara grinned hopefully. Luthor's kryptonite bullet had crippled her. And she vowed that if she ever recovered, she would fly over to Stryker's and break his legs!
"I heard you moaning in your sleep again last night. Galatea?" Lois asked.
"Yeah." Kara nodded. "She's been all over the world the last few months, but for the most part she's hanging out in Bludhaven. She keeps stopping by Dick's apartment, looking on him… but she never gets too close. After what she did, I think she's afraid to confront him. I can't say I blame her."
"At least she isn't doing anything illegal." Lois pointed out.
"Yeah. But… but I can tell her Clone Degeneration is getting worse. I can like, feel it. When I see her in the dreams, it hurts. She's in constant pain, and I can feel it too. And it's getting worse, Lois. She's dying."
"Well maybe-" Lois began to speak, but then her eyes opened wide and she ran back into the bathroom, vomiting some more.
"Ugh! I am never having kids." Kara groaned.
Meanwhile, at the JLA Watchtower…
J'onn watched the monitoring screen intently. Even though the League had disbanded, J'onn had opted to stay in the watchtower and keep an eye on things, alerting the heroes whenever he found trouble. But with Mercy in office, J'onn's job had gradually been getting slower and slower. Crime rates were dropping dramatically. Then he spotted the meteor shower that would soon be passing over Earth. And he noticed something was wrong. Hidden among them was a massive meteor that the Earth scientists had apparently missed, and it was on a collision course with Earth!
"A meteor that size will destroy the planet!" J'onn gasped. It would be about a week before it even entered the Earth's atmosphere, but he decided that would signal Batman and Green Lantern, the two most equipped for the job. However as he was preparing to call them, he noticed a strange red glimmer on the meteor. "What is that?" He muttered. Before he could zoom in, the red glimmer vanished into a crater in the meteor. "Very strange. Perhaps I signal Batman… now."
Meanwhile, in Paris, France…
"This is beautiful John!" Shayera said from atop the Eiffel Tower.
"I thought you'd like it." John said, putting his arm around her. The lights of Paris really were breathtaking from there. After the League disbanded, John and Shayera decided to take a break from the hero business. A long break. John had not even worn his power ring in nearly three months, something that he got a lot of flack about from the Green Lantern Corps. Shayera had been concealing her wings with straps on her back, and the two of them had been enjoying time in Paris. And Italy, and London, and everywhere else they had decided to go.
They were enjoying being just regular people again. And though they had not actually spoken about it, they had both thought about never going back to their lives as heroes. John wasn't exactly sure how well it would go down if he tried to retire from the Corps, but for now he didn't think about it. For now there was only one thing on his mind. "Shayera, there is another reason I brought you here." He said.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Well, I needed the scenery to be right, because I have something important to ask you." He knelt down on one knee, and pulled out a small black box, opening it up and revealing a ring. "Shayera Hall. Will you marry me?"
Shayera gasped, smiling from ear to ear. Tears of happiness threatened in her eyes. "Yes." She said immediately, and John smiled and put the ring on her finger.
"I thought about painting the ring green, but I figured the novelty wasn't needed here." He chuckled. Then they met in a warm embrace, and remained there for a long, long time.
Eventually John's communicator began to beep. "Uh… It's J'onn." He groaned, answering the communicator. "This isn't a good time, J'onn."
"There is a large meteor headed toward Earth. It could potentially destroy the planet." J'onn warned.
"How long?" John sighed.
"A week."
"Then I'll see you in a week. Maybe."
"But-" J'onn began to protest, but John turned off the communicator, and then dropped it off the tower. He and Shayera returned to their embrace.
Meanwhile, at the Birds of Prey Headquarters…
"You've been quiet lately, babe." Oliver Queen said, taking off the Green Arrow mask. He slumped down in the chair next to Black Canary, while she sat surfing the net on the advanced database that The Oracle had created before her untimely death.
"I'm still getting used to this. Being a leader, I mean. Hell, I'm still getting used to the idea that Barbara is dead. And now I'm in charge of the Birds of Prey and… I just don't think I'm ready. I mean, what if I screw up? If anyone on the team dies, it's my fault!" She clasped her hands over her face.
"Hey, you'll do fine Dinah. There hasn't been any crime worth fighting lately anyway. You need a vacation. And I know just the place, if you're interested."
"Olli, you know I can't just leave. I have responsibilities now."
"Oh, we don't mind!" Huntress's voice called. Canary turned around to see the Birds of Prey standing in the doorway, dressed like they were going to Hawaii or something! "We could use a vacation too. It's not like we've actually done anything lately anyway."
"Olli, did you put them up to this?" Canary laughed.
"Actually, Helena put me up to it." Oliver chuckled.
"Huh… ok. Where are we going then?" Canary sighed, giving up.
"There's this new hotel in Gotham, it's got a great view of ocean."
"Gotham? Not exactly the nicest vacation spot, Olli."
"The area we're going is. Wayne Enterprises wanted to make Gotham a bit more of a tourist hot spot, so they donated millions of dollars to basically make Gotham Harbor awesome. I'll show you a brochure later."
Later that night, on top of Gotham Towers…
Hippolyta and Diana finally touched down on top of one of the Gotham Towers, the two tallest buildings in Gotham, owned by Wayne Enterprises of course. "Mother, why did you bring me here?" Diana asked.
"We needed a place to speak privately." Hippolyta said.
"About what?" Diana insisted.
"Athena has decreed something to us, my sun and stars. During the battle with that bastard and his army of drones, our numbers were greatly dwindled. There are about an eighth as many Amazons now as there were before." Hippolyta stated.
"I know that. Never before have we held so many funerals for our sisters." Diana said sadly.
"Yes. And we also played into Ares' hands, my dear. Ares has fed, and now he is near his full power. With our numbers so gravely depleted, Athena fears that he may soon attack. And so, Athena has decreed that we must refill our numbers. We are to have children." Hippolyta stated.
"Is this not a good thing? After all you have often said that you would love for me to have had a sister." Diana said.
"Yes… but we must remember what Heracles did. After that terrible event… I fear that many of our sisters will object to this. And forcing them to have men lay with them… I must say that I am not typically pleased with the arrangement either." Hippolyta sighed.
"So what do you wish for me to do, mother? I doubt that I can convince all of them that it would be a good thing." Diana shrugged.
"No, you couldn't. But you can still help. Many of them have no trust in men, Diana. Especially after Heracles. But they have an infinite trust in you! And since you are familiar with so many men… I think we may all benefit if you choose mates for our sisters."
"What?"
"They will trust in your opinion Diana, at the very least it might make them more comfortable with the idea."
"Yes but mother that is not how things work here! I can't simply grab men and tell them to have children with our sisters!"
"They would have no role in the child's lives whatsoever. With that knowledge, they should be excited."
"I don't know about this mother." Diana shook her head.
"Think about it. And please, think quickly, for Ares could attack at any time. We have to begin very soon."
"I understand."
"And also, Diana, you too are an Amazon in blood. Athena will expect you to contribute as well."
"You mean I should have children too?" Diana gasped.
"You already have a mate, do you not? The one who dresses like a bat."
"His name is Bruce. And I don't really think we're ready for that yet, I mean-"
"Like I said, think Diana. But remember that every choice has consequences."
Meanwhile, on an old cruise ship…
"This isn't exactly the most adequate base, Ultraman." The Justice Lord's version of Batman said.
"I know. But for now it's all we have. This world still thinks you and Quick are dead, and that will be a huge advantage to us." Ultraman said, looking out into the ocean. The remaining three Justice Lords, Ultraman, an alternate Batman, and Johnny Quick, had taken refuge on a cruise ship that had been lost in the Bermuda triangle. The inhabitants of the ship were long dead, and they had been floating around under the radar for three months.
"I thought you guys had a plan?" Johnny Quick groaned.
"We do." Ultraman said.
"Well it's been three months on this damn ship and we haven't done anything yet! If you've got a plan, when is it going to happen?"
"When it's time." Ultraman snapped. Then he looked up into the sky. "Don't worry Quick… the eclipse will be here soon."
Meanwhile, at Stryker's Island Maximum Security Prison…
Four armed guards walked toward the detention cell, guarding the new Warden at Stryker's Island, whom they called Lock-Up. Lock-Up had worked at both Blackgate Prison and Arkham Asylum, but recently he had been made Warden at Stryker's Island, and was doing a pretty good job.
They made their way over to the detention cell, which had not been opened in three months. The detention cell was basically a locker. If a prisoner got into too much trouble, they would have to stay in the detention cell for a while. The only food they received were the leftovers from lunch, which were pushed in through a small slot in the back.
Most prisoners who got put in the detention cell were only in for three days at most, but this current prisoner had been there for three months, because he had actually killed the last Warden!
"Be careful Lock-Up. This guy's dangerous." One of the guard's said.
"I'm well aware of that. But I think I might thank him. After all, if he hadn't murdered the Warden before me, I wouldn't have this job right now." Lock-Up chuckled, fumbling with his keys. He took the key and unlocked the detention cell, finally releasing the prisoner.
"Jason Todd. You're out." Lock-Up said.
"Bout' time." Jason grumbled, pushing passed the Warden, his shackles clattering as he did so. Shackles were added to his hands, and he was taken out into the work zone. Here, it was the classic practice of hacking away at rocks with pick-axes. Prisoners really hated this job. Jason was released into the courtyard.
"Now get to work punk." Lock-Up barked.
"Sure thing. But Warden… you might want to get out of my face, before I've got a pick-ax in my hands." Jason grinned. Lock-Up immediately walked away. Jason grabbed a pick-ax and began hacking away.
Soon his "friend" Garfield Lynns walked up. Garfield was another prisoner, better known as the villain Firefly.
"Hey Jason!" Garfield shouted, patting his buddy on the shoulder. "Finally outta' detention huh? Welcome back to hell."
"Anything interesting happen while I was in there?" Jason asked, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow.
"Oh yeah. Check out the new inmate." Garfield grinned, nodding to the right. Jason looked over and, to his surprise, saw Lex Luthor chiseling away at a stone!
"No way." Jason grinned. "Luthor finally got locked up. That means something epic must have happened on the outside." Jason turned and looked into the sky. "I have got to know what it was. I'm getting out this hellhole."