Just to be clear, this story is a sequel to Superman: Redemption, making it the third installment in my Superman series. This is also going to be the final story in the series, and bring closure to all the loose ends left in Redemption. This is a pretty lighthearted chapter, for the most part. It won't last long though. I'm planning for this to be the darkest story in the series, even darker than Superman: Corruption. The purpose of this chapter is just to get you caught up on what's happened while Superman was away, and prove a little set up for coming events. So… enjoy!
Chapter One: Fourteen Years Later
"Is that Earth?" The blue-skinned girl asked, studying the large blue ball that the ship quickly approached.
"Yes Liluo. It is." The dark haired man smiled. "It really is."
"You weren't kidding. There really is lots of water down there." Liluo stated. Then she looked to the man seated next to her, and popped off another question. "You really used to live there?"
"I did."
"Why did you leave?"
"It's a long story Liluo."
"I like stories."
"Well…" The man sighed, and a sad looked drifted into his eyes. "I did some bad things. Some really bad things. And everyone on Earth got pretty angry at me. So I left."
"Then why are we going back?" Liluo craned her neck. She had a tendency to do that when asking questions.
"Because I feel like its time to go back." The man leaned back in his chair tiredly.
"And your family is down there, right?" Liluo continued her interrogation. "Your other family?"
"Yes."
"You have a son, right?"
"That's right."
"So…" Liluo hesitated, and looked away for a moment.
"What is it Liluo?"
"Will you love your son more than me?"
The man looked over at Liluo. She had asked the question with such innocence, yet such sadness, that he couldn't help but give her a hug. The man had sort of adopted Liluo a while before. She was the last of her kind; all others on her planet had been wiped out by a plague.
The man knew plenty about that. He knew what it was like to feel alone in the universe. So he took her under his wing, and she had become somewhat of a surrogate daughter to him over the years. "No, Liluo. Don't worry about that." He told her. "I'll love you both just the same."
"Good." Liluo offered a smile, and then, apparently satisfied with the results of her interrogation, fell asleep in her chair. The man smiled and looked back at the ship's monitor. Back at the image of planet Earth. While he was excited to be returning, he was also terrified. It'd been fourteen years since he left. How much had changed? Would his friends be willing to forgive him? Was everyone even still alive?
The questions were endless. He leaned back and sighed. "I guess I'll know soon," he muttered to himself. "Clark Kent is coming home."
Gotham City – Wayne Manor
"Mom, do you know where my book bag is?" A thirteen year old girl asked as her eyes darted around the room.
"Hera... 'lyta, you really need to keep track of things better." Diana said as she stepped into the room and looked around, taking a mental note that she would have to make her daughter clean the room over the weekend. "Where is the last place you put it?" Diana asked.
"On the bed... it was right ther-.. OH!" Athena shouted as she dove under the bed and pulled the backpack out. "I forgot that I cleaned off my bed last night." Athena Wayne said proudly.
"You put everything under your bed?" Diana asked as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"No... Just the stuff that's on my bed. I got to go mom! I'll be late for school!" Athena ran out of the room and down the flight of stairs.
"Mama... I don't fee so good." A young boy said as he walked into Athena's room.
"Thomas what's wrong?" Diana groaned.
No sooner had she asked then the boy became sick and threw up a pile of half-digested pancakes all over the carpet.
Diana frowned. "Hera… give me strength!"
Batcave
"Are you sure?" Bruce Wayne questioned, eyeing the Martian on the other side of the screen..
"Yes Batman, The ship is Kryptonian in nature. I believe that Kal-El is coming back to Earth." J'onn said.
Bruce leaned back his chair and folded his hands. He thought to himself, Fourteen years Clark. Fourteen long years you've been gone. Diana's finally gotten better. Everything's gotten better. And now you come back. So the question is… are you an ally, or an enemy?
"What should we do Batman?" J'onn asked, bringing the dark knight back to reality. Bruce had taken control of the Justice League in Superman's absence. Under his leadership, they operated more like an organized military unit than… whatever they had been in the past.
"Contact Lantern and Shayera. I'll contact Flash." Bruce ordered. "I'll contact Flash. On the off chance that he's reverted… we need to be ready."
Blüdhaven – Grayson House
"Mary... For the love of God stop running in this house!" Galatea shouted to her twelve year old daughter.
"Sheesh mom!" Mary crossed her arms and looked at her mother.
"The glare doesn't work missy. Now what did I say about going outside to play?" Galatea asked.
"Only after I've done my chores." Mary said as she shook her head.
"That's right... So have you done your chores?" Galatea asked.
"Well I..." Mary started.
"Let me rephrase that... have you done them today?" Galatea asked.
"No..." She answered.
"Then get to it. The faster you do them the faster you can get outside." Galatea smiled at her daughter, but the look in her eyes made it clear that she meant business.
Galatea smirked as she watched Mary head upstairs and then turned back toward the dish she was making. Although she never thought she would get into it, she actually loved to cook. In truth she loved the entire domestic thing. Cooking, cleaning, raising two wonderful children, making love all night to a wonderful husband, and of course helping with Patrols. She loved it because it was normal.
Galatea had lived most of her life as a weapon. She attacked what Cadmus told her to attack, and that was about it. It was only after Dick came into her life that she began to see things from a different perspective. And now that she had finally gotten away from her old life… she loved the normality of her new one.
She picked up a glass, and to her surprise it shattered easily. She groaned and eyed the fragments. Three months ago she started getting her powers back. She hadn't told Dick yet. In truth, she hadn't quite admitted it to herself yet. Galatea didn't want her powers back. She wanted humanity, normality… sure, it had been infuriating at first, how easily she was injured after she lost her invulnerability. And sure it had been irritating to suddenly not have super strength anymore. But over the last thirteen years she'd grown accustomed to the human life, and she wanted it to stay that way. So now, the idea of her powers returning… it terrified her.
A pair of hands found her waist, jerking Galatea out of her thoughts and pulling her to reality with a startled yelp.
"Hi sweetheart." Dick Grayson kissed her neck.
"Hi handsome. So what are you doing home?" She asked.
"Early day today. No need for the court appointed attorney." He said softly.
"Well then, you're just in time to help with dinner." She grinned.
"Honey, remember what happened last time we tried that? The fire entire fire department wound up here."
"I think you can handle slicing some cheese." Galatea laughed and handed her husband a block of cheese and a cheese grater. "By the way, Dick… has Little Bruce shown any more, um, signs?"
"Yes." Dick's expression was suddenly very serious. "It looks like Little Bruce did inherit some of your powers after all."
"Damn it."
"It's not such a bad thing 'Tea…"
"I suppose." She sighed. "I just really wanted a normal life for our son."
"Normality is overrated Tea." Dick smiled.
"Not to someone who never had it before."
"We can teach him to control his abilities. If we start young, he shouldn't have any trouble later on." Dick kept his expression calm as always. "But he will have to transfer to the same school as Jon Kent."
"What? Why the hell does he have to change schools?"
"Because Jon has the same type of powers, and Kara has been teaching him to control them since he could walk. It'll be good for Little Bruce to be around him."
"I suppose. But they hate each other. Remember the last time they were together? Jon made Little Bruce cry!"
"Tea, they were six years old…"
"Well, still, I don't like my boy being bullied."
"It'll all work out for the best Tea." Dick assured her. "The fact is, LB doesn't have the control over his powers that he needs yet. And Jon and Kara are the best people I can think of to teach him that control."
"I know, I know." Galatea breathed another sigh. "I guess normality is just a dream in the Grayson household, huh?"
"Baby, it's not a dream. It's a delusion."
(Central City - Wally and Linda West's Apartment - That evening)
"Iris, Jai, why is the house a mess? I guess that someone doesn't want to go out for pizza tonight." Linda West said as she smiled and held up her hand. "Five, four, three, two, one"
By the time she finished counting the entire living room, kitchen, and hallway was picked up. She walked toward the sofa and saw her daughter Iris walk toward her. The young red head smiled at her mother and took a seat near her.
"How was work mom?" Iris asked, looking at her mother.
"It was the usual, so... how about school? Do anything exciting?" Linda asked.
"Well... Our class dissected a frog. I couldn't get into it so the teacher is going to let me use a computer program that simulates it. Jai got into trouble though." Iris said before her brother sulked into the room.
Linda rubbed her forehead and groaned a little. "What did you do?" She asked her son.
"Nothing..." Jai lied.
"Jai..." Linda asked again. Silence. "Jai Bartholomew West you better tell me what you did right this second!" Linda glared at him.
Jai gulped a little and backed up. "I ummmm... Well I sort of saran wrapped all of the girls toilets on the second floor. I would have gotten away with it though if it hadn't of been for Olivia Queen... She spotted me doing it and then she told on me the little rich brat!" Jai exclaimed.
"After dinner you're grounded. No TV, video games, or cross country runs, and don't think that I won't call your father and have him make sure that you aren't doing it anyway." Linda said as she looked at him.
"Man... Why am I in trouble? I mean you haven't even gotten on to Iris for letting Jon Kent feel her up!" Jai spouted as he noticed his sister's death glare, "Oops, well I better run... See ya!" Jai took off for his room.
Iris started to take off after him, but her mother stopped her.
"What happened?" Linda asked her.
"It was nothing mom... Jon... Well I saw him with the titans... and we kind of got to talking and then he kissed me... and maybe, just maybe I let him get to second base." Irissaid as she watched her mom.
"Sweetheart... We've had the birds and the bees talk right?" Her mom asked.
"Yeah..." Iris said.
"Alright... Just remember that I trust you, and if you break that trust then... well believe me it won't be pretty." She said as she stood and walked out of the room.
(Kent's Farm house – Outside of SmallVille Kansas)
Jonathan Kent looked up at the evening sky as he held an apple. He took a small bite of the fruit and then smirked as he turned to see his mother coming out the front door.
"Hi Mom." He said before he turned back to the setting sun.
"Hi sweetheart. What are you doing out here?" She asked.
"Thinking about Grandpa. I miss him." Jonathan said as looked at the lonesome Kansas sky.
"I do too. Your grandpa, Jonathan Kent was a good person. He was one of the sweetest men that I knew." She wrapped her arms around him and placed her chin on the top of his head.
"Is Grandma going to die too?" Jonathan asked as he held his apple.
"Eventually dear." Came the elderly voice of Martha Kent. "Everyone does sweetface, everyone passes on eventually." The old woman sat on the old porch swing.
"So... What good are my powers, my abilities if I can't keep the people I care for, the people I love, from dying?" Jonathan asked as he turned to face his mom and his grandmother.
"Your father use to ask me the same thing." Martha said as she smiled softly. "I told him what I am telling you now. There are things that you can never, never control, but what you do with the time you have, the abilities you have, and how you use them to help people is all that is ever going to matter. Sometimes you do what is right simply for the sake of doing it." Martha said before she picked up an apple out of the bushel that Jonathan had just picked and placed on the porch.
"What happened to dad? I mean what really happened? Cause... Rex Stewart has been saying that he heard his dad and mom talk about how he went crazy... Did he really? Am I going to?" Jonathan asked.
Lois and Martha looked at each other awkwardly. "That's a conversation for another day Jon." Lois told him.
"That's what you always say."
"The right time hasn't come along yet."
"Mom, just tell me what happened to dad! If he was such a great person, how come he's never been around?"
"Oh sweetheart…" Lois sighed, and a tear threatened in her eye. Without another word, she hugged her son. "Another time, ok?"
"Fine." Jon relented, and accepted his mother's embrace.
Hall of Justice
"So he's really coming back huh?" Wally West asked in disbelief.
"We believe so." Batman nodded.
"It's about time!" The excited voice of Anthony Selton rang out from the corner.
Anthony was the son of Volcana and the hero Risk. When he was just ten years old, he'd been a key factor in bringing Superman out of the darkness. And now, Anthony was in his early twenties, tossing a fireball up and down in the palm of his hand.
He'd developed his mom's control over fire, but he couldn't create fire himself. He had to take it from another source, which was why he carried a lighter. Everyone just assumed that he smoked.
"Don't get your hopes up Anthony." The dark knight warned. "We may have to take him on."
"Doubt it." Anthony flashed his famous smile. "I was pretty young when Superman left, but if I remember right, his whole redemption thing seemed pretty legit. I'm sure he'll be the good old boy scout we know and love."
"We can only hope." Batman turned away.
In truth, the dark knight was very fond of Anthony. And though he'd never openly admitted to it, Batman someday hoped for Anthony to take his place as leader of the Justice League. He just had to grow up a little more first.
(Old LexCorp Laboratory)
Two dark figures slid in through the window of the long-forgotten LexCorp lab. They were Jason Todd and Roy Harper. The two had formed a mercenary-duo over the years, doing jobs for the highest bidder. And now, they're latest employer had hired them to steal Lex Luthor's old experiments.
"You see a light switch anywhere?" Jason asked.
"Ever heard of Consumers, dumb ass?" Roy spat. "The power in this place isn't going to be on anymore!"
"Then find a breaker or something!"
"Calm down Jason, I got it." Roy found a switch that he thought was probably a breaker, and began flipping. "I swear, you must be on your period or something."
"Shut up and get the job done. I'm not seeing any light Roy!"
"It didn't work, ok? Rats have probably chewed the wires in this place to nothing."
"Whatever then, just grab shit." Jason began shoving items off the table into his bag. "We can sort it all out later."
"You're so moody lately." Roy muttered. "Oh my God, Jason are you pregnant?"
"Go to hell Roy."
Within twenty minutes, the two had collected all they needed and escaped back out the window.
They were gone when the computer began lighting up, activating for the first time in over a decade. The switches Roy had flipped were not for the lights at all. They were part of Lex Luthor's last project.
And as the machinery slowly whirred back to life, a large pod began to open with a slick hydraulic hiss. Slowly, a looming figure stepped out into the darkness. And a moment later, it was already formulating its plan.
Jason Todd and Roy Harper didn't know it, but they had just launched what would be the beginning of a new battle.
A/N- Thanks to my awesome co-author LordFrieza, there's already a ton of work done on this story. Therefore, it shouldn't ever take me too long to update this story. Hold me to that everybody!