The white noise echoed through the silence as his mind raced, his thoughts lost in the dull ringing in his ears as he stared dumbfounded down into his hands, stained red with blood.
The tall dark haired superhero stood there frozen in time, his red cape falling down his back slowly in the breeze, the red and gold S on his chest glinting against the rays of sunlight peering through the rubble and glass of the walls beside him. At his feet, the crumpled body lay still, lifeless, his limbs contorted with his neck bent sharply outwards, blood pooling under his skull as his large, green eyes stared up at the man hovering over him, judging him, and condemning him!
Superman stared down at the face of Lex Luther, and asked himself "what have I done?"
"Superman!"
Clark's world snapped back into focus, time returning to normal as the dust cleared, the sounds of a city in turmoil erupting through his senses. The man of steel whirled around, staring wide eyed at the destroyed head office of Lex Corp tower, a large gaping hole where Lex's desk should've been, revealing the gleaming Metropolis outside as hundreds of comets rained down from the heavens.
"Superman!" the voice cried in his ear again, the sound of Batman waking him from his daze. "Are you there? Talk to me!"
"I'm here" Clark responded, taking a deep breath as he focused on Bruce's gravelly voice.
"You went radio silent for a while. Everything okay at Lex Corp?"
Superman glanced down at Lex's lifeless body, then back at his own blood stained hands. "Yeah" he lied. "Everything's fine. They all made it out."
"Good. We need you back out in the field. The meteor shower's getting worse and the Justice League is stretched thin."
"I'm on my way" he replied, cutting off his communicator as he walked towards the wall, keeping his gaze away from Lex as he flew out into the chaos.
Metropolis was a warzone. The meteor shower had hit earth's atmosphere twelve minutes ago, having drifted off of Saturn's rings following a run in with some space marauders looking to raid the planet. Superman stopped then with ease, but not until one of their explosions sent asteroids shooting towards Metropolis, leading to earths heroes racing the debris to save as many lives as possible. Superman could've vaporized all of them given enough time, but several had already broken the stratosphere and people were dying.
It's what led Superman to Lex-Corp in the first place. One such meteor had smashed through the building and nearly caused the top twelve floors to collapse with several employees still inside. Clark managed to catch the building before it could fall, holding it up long enough for the Flash to run in and set up sturdy supports in the blink of an eye, saving everyone inside.
He flew up to the offices to check on everyone to see if any injured needed to be taken outside in a hurry. Thankfully, everyone was okay and good enough to walk. Including the CEO of the company; Lex Luthor.
"Haven't you done enough damage?" the shady businessman and long-time rival to the kryptonian yelled, storming towards him from the rubble.
"You're building's still standing Luthor" Superman told him, trying to keep his voice level. Being face to face with this man always made his skin crawl, knowing everything he's responsible for but never being able to lock him away for it due to lack of evidence. "We need to get these people to the evacuation sites."
"I'm quite capable of looking after my staff" Lex replied curtly, nodding to his security detail ushering people out of the room to the fire stairs.
Superman nodded, satisfied his work was done. But before he could fly to leave, he saw another meteor heading straight for them. "look out!" he shouted, launching forward to grab Lex, shielding him as the asteroid smashed through the office window with a boom, exploding against the kyptonian's back harmlessly.
Lex immediately pushed himself away from the alien. "Get off me! You're the last person I trust to keep me safe."
Clark ground his jaw as he rose over the bald man. "You're welcome" he smiled emptily, marching towards the open window.
"For what?" he snapped, eyes full of anger. "For destroying my city? I know about the space pirates Superman. I know your battle with them caused all this, my satellites recorded the whole thing. I wonder if the people of Earth will thank you for saving them when they see it."
Clark stopped at the wall, glancing back at the man. "Are you trying to threaten me Luthor?" he said slowly, fighting the urge to turn back and give him any more of his time. He wasn't worth it. He could release the footage for all its worth, Clark had weathered much worse growing up with the Kent's.
Lex walked up to him confidently, his breath long and shallow, like a predator in the board room. "I know you think you're above such things like "due process", or politic and civil liberties, but mankind can still be illuminated to the truth. Ever since you came here, it's been one disaster after another. One alien invasion after the last. How many more innocent lives must be taken before you realise you're not helping us, you're bringing the monsters to your front door yourself."
Clark stood there listening, his jaw clenching as he listened to the man who had killed hundreds of people in the last year alone call him a killer.
"Metropolis will learn the truth about today. And then tomorrow, I'm going to make it my mission to expose everything about out. Every secret weapon you've hidden away after those battles, every covert monster you've imprisoned here on earth, every stone will be turned till you are revealed as the greatest threat mankind has ever known." Lex paused, drawing up to the tall man of steel with the confidence of a man who've on the verge of winning a takeover. "This game we've played over the years…this is where it ends. However long it takes, I will destroy you, and everything you have will be ground to dust."
Superman's eyes burned red, the anger and frustration of years fighting Luthor combined with the stress of the last hour fighting pirates and saving innocent lives, boiling up inside him for the first time in a long while. All the rage, fear, pain, hatred, all hitting the surface, sparked by Lex's words.
I will destroy you.
"SHUT UP!" Superman snapped, whipping around to the man, hand extended out to strike the human across the face in a backhand. Lex went flying through the air, head spinning with wide eyes as he shot across the office space into a pillar, crashing into it with a loud thud before collapsing to the floor like a ragdoll.
Superman stood there, his eyes glowing read as his chest heaved with furious breath. After a minute, his breath slowed, his eyes returning to normal, the anger passing. He let out a breath and waited for Lex to get up off the floor.
Except he didn't. Clark heard his heartbeat flicker…then vanish.
He stared down at the man on the floor, his eyes widening, his breath catching as he darted to Lex's side. "Lex?" he said, lifting the man's head up to face him. Lex's gaze was blank, vacant, as they stared back. "Lex!" he shook him, listening for a heartbeat, a pulse, a breath. But then he felt the liquid on his fingers behind his head, pulling his hand away to see the blood. A quick look through X-ray vison showed the back of his skull cracked open, his neck broken, ribs cracks and organs ruptured. Clark dropped the business man to the ground, staring down at his blood red hands in disbelief.
Lex Luthor was dead. He killed him.
Clarks mind replayed that memory over and over again as he jetted around the city, pulling people out of burning buildings, smashed cars, away from debris and collapsing roads. He blasted as many asteroids as he could with his heat vison while the sight of Lex's vacant eyes haunted his vison, following him everywhere.
What have I done?
He kept asking that over and over, refusing to believe the truth. Lex was dead by his hand. He was in such a tail spin he didn't hear Diana's voice as she called to him from across the rooftops. "What?" he stammered, his gaze finding her as she drifted up to him silently.
"I said its over" she called, gesturing to the city below. "That was the last one."
Clark looked down. Sure enough, the sky had stopped falling and the city was finished burning. He listened and heard the clear of thousands of people as they realised the threat was over. "They're safe" he said quietly, scanning the streets, the people.
"You did it" Wonder Woman smiled, looking proudly at Clark.
He looked back up at her, Lex's face returning to his mind. "We need to go!" he told her, panic setting in, the memory of him striking the man replaying once more.
Diana's expression grew concerned, seeing him change right before her. "What's wrong?" she asked him worried.
"Just follow me" he said urgently, shooting off before she could press for answers, leaving her to catch up as he flew back to Lex-Corp tower.
He got there in a matter of seconds, scanning the interior until he found him, his blood running cold as he saw Lex's body being carried away in a stretcher by two paramedics out of the building. Diana arrived beside him and hovered over the crowd as he watched them zip his arch-nemesis up in a body bag before pushing him into an ambulance to be carried away.
"Clark?" Diana spoke softly, reaching out to him full of concern. "Clark, what the matter?"
But Clark didn't hear her. All he heard were the sirens, the screams, the ringing in his ears, Lex's blood dripping from his fingertips as he stared into space.
What have I done?