Superman vs. Captain Atom
Disclaimer: All characters belong to DC Comics
"I'm currently assigned to General Eiling's special projects unit," Captain Atom said. "My orders are to prevent you from taking Question out of this facility. So how is this gonna go down?"
Superman couldn't believe what he was hearing. Less than a week ago, Captain Atom helped him defeat another one of Apokolips's crazy world conquerors, now he was an agent of Cadmus? How? Did Cadmus pay him off? No, the Captain was too noble for that. Did they threaten him somehow? That couldn't be it either, he was pure energy, what could Cadmus threaten him with? The Man of Steel shook his head; the why would have to come later, right now he needed to get Huntress and the Question out of the vicinity.
The high pitched intruder alarm echoed through the whole underground base, alerting every soldier they had on staff. From the pace of their footsteps and their current distance away from the main barracks, reinforcements would arrive in three minutes. Not that they could do anything to him, but they could easily overwhelm Huntress and Question. Superman shot a quick glance at the two. Ever since Captain Atom revealed his new orders, Huntress's heart-rate skyrocketed. Superman could already see the beads of sweat forming on her forehead under the mask. To her credit, she managed to keep her tough exterior but for how long was another matter.
Question was a wreck in every definition of the word. His surface wounds were bad enough, but internally his body was a mess. The conspiracy buff had been beaten, electrocuted, burned, and worse. His quiet muttering of various conspiracy theories told Superman that the damage had done its mental toll as well.
Superman heard an order being yelled out by one of the approaching corporals to hurry up. They were running out of time, and Superman was running out of patience.
"This is just ridiculous!" he said. "If you're not going to help us, then get out of our way."
The captain floated down to the floor. "Not an option Superman. I have my orders, legal and proper."
He was a good soldier that much was for certain.
"Dude," Huntress cut in. "Superman just told you to step aside."
"I heard him ma'am," the Captain said. "Not gonna happen."
It was like talking to a wall. There had to be a way to reach him. Convince him that he was more than just a soldier for Eiling. Atom was Justice League, a hero. Maybe he just needed to be reminded of that.
Superman approached the pale skinned captain and reached out for his shoulder. A comforting gesture, but Atom most likely didn't see it that way. A right cross fully charged with red sun radiation collided with the Man of Steel's face. Superman could feel himself being hurled back into the far wall, his cheek throbbed and red stars danced around his vision.
Talking was definitely out.
"I control radiation Superman," Atom reminded him, not that it was needed. "That includes red sun radiation."
Superman shook his head, getting the stars out of his line of sight. This would take a while, but at the very least it would allow Huntress and Question to escape. He gestured for Huntress to approach him as he pulled out his comm-link.
"Get Question out of here," he said. "Don't wait for me."
"What made you think I was gonna?" she shot back, despite her speeding heart rate.
"Call J'onn for transport," he instructed. "This building is comm.-link shielded."
Captain Atom approached his hands and eyes red with the radiation. "No one's going anywhere with Question, I thought I made that clear!"
This time Superman was ready. A quick duck and the Captain's right cross hit only air. The soldier's overextension exposed his ribs and back. Two fast but powerful jabs slammed the Captain into the wall. Superman fired a third, dousing the red radiation from his suit, and tossed him into the next wall, the impact bringing Atom to his knees. Before he could continue his offensive, a blast of red radiation struck the hero like a truck. Suddenly his back was against the wall while Atom hammered into him. Right hook, left hook, jab, uppercut, and finally a right haymaker that hurled Superman to his back like an amateur boxer.
The Man of Steel let out a groan. He could feel the red radiation assault the yellow radiation he had absorbed for the day. To his memory Superman had never gotten nauseated but he certainly felt like he was. The room spun and his stomach couldn't seem to tell if it was upside down or right side up. He felt heavier too. For a few precious microseconds, Superman thought he'd be unable to stand from the sheer weight he suddenly felt. His fingers twitched at their normal rate, indicating that his yellow radiation was adjusting to the inclusion of red in his system.
He heard Atom start to walk away from him and in the direction of Huntress and Question. Superman rolled over, his eyes fixed on Atom's exposed rear. He could feel the temper rise in his chest. Heat simmered in his eyes. The melting point of Atom's suit was unknown to Superman but 4,000 degrees Kelvin seemed like a decent enough estimate. The Man of Tomorrow took a breath and shook his head, easing down the building heat. Something that hot could possibly set off a chain reaction with the radiation and other energies confined in Atom's suit that would destroy the entire facility, Question and Huntress included, and who knows what else.
Ice breath was a no go either. Superman recalled Atom being frozen by the Apokolips goon earlier and the captain freeing himself very soon afterwards. Atom was near the end of the corridor when Superman launched himself at the wayward league member. He would just have to risk close combat.
Superman cleared the four yard corridor in a microsecond. Atom realized far too late that their fight wasn't over when Superman's shoulder rammed into his torso, sending the soldier flying back to the far wall. Superman gripped Atom's head, holding him in place. The captain struggled against his kryptonian strength but a single punch ceased his resistance. Superman pulled back for another blow, his earlier anger seething through his teeth. But the still form of Captain Atom convinced the Man of Steel otherwise. The fight was over. Or so he thought.
The moment the kryptonian relaxed, Atom's crimson eyes snapped open and tackled Superman to the floor, his gloves gripping Superman's head, the red radiation slipping through his invulnerable body. The second they struck the ground, Atom hammered his head into Superman, the red radiation adding to the sting of the blows. Atom relented for a moment before lifting the Man of Steel and throwing him to the floor head first. The soldier continued his offensive by grabbing the hero's red cape and hurling him further down the room.
Superman crashed into another wall and looked down to see a major tear in his cape. Atom floated towards him and the Man of Steel narrowed his eyes.
"My mom made me that cape."
"My heart bleeds."
Atom shot towards him, firing radiation blasts as he went. The blasts struck, causing Superman to stumble back two steps. The captain closed in, seeing an opening no doubt. As he approached, Superman's hands slammed together in a massive clap. The shockwave from the impact shook the entire facility and reduced much of the walls around them to rubble. Atom's hand flew to his ears at the unbearable sound and was forced back by the shockwave. Seeing his chance, Superman sunk a deep jab into Atom's ribs and followed up with a head butt that sent Atom back 70 yards.
Superman pursued the recovering captain and threw a strong right hook to maintain his offensive. Atom, despite his hurling body, managed to deflect the blow and blast Superman back with another red radiation blast. The heroes crashed through several walls before coming to a complete stop.
A mixture of smoke and dust from the debris covered the area, giving Superman some time to recover. The red radiation was starting to take its toll; he could actually feel several bruises begin to form. There were only so many blasts he could take before he would be in trouble. As if on cue, twin blasts shot out from the smoke. Superman grabbed a nearby wall panel, the square steel protecting him from further damage. The Man of Steel pushed forward, Atom's continued blasting having no effect on the metal, rammed into the captain. The pale soldier shrugged off the attack and fired another blast directly into Superman's chest, knocking him upwards and into the ceiling before crashing back down on his stomach. Atom leapt from the new crater in the floor and rained blows on the downed Superman.
Superman held in a groan. This was getting annoying. But as long as his suit remained intact, Captain Atom wouldn't relent, which meant there was only one way to end this fight.
Superman arched his elbow back, meeting Captain Atom's left rib. The force of the blow would have been enough to topple a building. As expected, the pale captain flew off his target and crashed through yet another wall and toppled an energy silo as he went. Atom managed to stand again, but his hand held where the blow struck his ribs. A quick scan of the captain with his x-ray vision exposed a small but significant rupture in Atom's suit. Superman could see all the energy in cap's body pulsing and converging to maintain homeostasis. But he wouldn't give it that chance.
The Man of Tomorrow flew straight into the former league member, tearing into the next room where Huntress was obstructed by a locked door. The vigilante attempted to disengage the security system with one of her disruptor tools, but from her frustrated mutterings it wasn't doing the job fast enough. Superman upped the speed of his flight, carrying Atom through the chamber and through the next wall, giving Huntress a new way out.
"That's convenient," he heard her say.
The dueling heroes reached the basement stairwell, where Atom finally broke Superman's grip and kicked the blue hero away from him. But Superman was undeterred. An uppercut to his chin followed by a right haymaker grounded Captain Atom. The soldier attempted to rise but Superman was upon him before he could blink.
For the briefest of seconds Superman paused. The small ruptures in Atom's suit were beginning to show but not enough for him to stop fighting. To end this, he would need, at least for a few seconds, his stronger punches.
He threw his first punch, with enough power behind it to punch through Metallo's armor.
He threw the second, enough to break through Brainaic's barrier.
The third, the one that made Mongul bleed.
The cracks in Atom's suit ran up his body and split off like forks in a river. By the time the soldier managed to blast Superman off him, the damage had been done. His energy levels were in a constant state of flux, trying to compensate for all the ruptures. The captain trying to maintain the red radiation didn't help matters. It was taking more energy than he or the suit had to give.
Atom approached him, his movements slowed to the point of molasses. At this point, continuing the fight was useless and there was no need to hurt Atom more than he already had. Instead Superman grabbed the floor panels in a wave motion; enough to hurl the captain back into the wall and fall flat on his face unharmed, for the most part.
Superman moved in, grabbing a metal rod from the uprooted floor as he went. Atom was already struggling to get up by the time he closed the distance. A light and brief shove, slammed Atom against the wall and allowed Superman to bind his troublesome hands with the metal rod.
"I've had just about enough with the energy blasts," Superman said.
But Atom didn't seem to agree. One last blast struck Superman, sending him airborne. But the blast lacked the stopping power of the ones earlier. Atom attempted to continue his offensive with a double uppercut that landed straight on Superman's chin. The captain brought down his bound hands for another blow, but an upward block from Superman stopped that attempted. A one-two punch combo brought Atom crashing back down to Earth.
Superman landed several feet away from him. Atom charged with a defiant yell. The Man of Steel merely sidestepped and the courageous captain slammed headfirst into the wall.
Why couldn't he see that it was over?
"You fought a good fight," Superman said, and it was true. Very few of his opponents could last this long against him. "Stay down." The longer Atom tried to fight, the more stress he put himself and his suit under. And the more stress meant the higher likelihood of it rupturing completely, unleashing all the pent up energy within Captain Atom, with the potential of killing the thousands inside the facility.
"I can't do that, Superman," Atom managed.
He charged his attacks wild and desperate. The radiation in his hands was so weak that Superman was able to grab Atom's glove with no ill-effect. The captain paused for a brief second in disbelief before an uppercut from Superman sent him flying back into the wall. Captain Atom let out one last groan before falling to the ground, still.
Superman stared at the still form of his comrade, unable to believe that for the last eight minutes he had been fighting a friend. What did Cadmus do to him? Who else on the league did they have leverage over? How long until he would be fighting everyone he thought was a friend?
The door slid open to reveal a doctor and three soldiers with their oversized guns aimed for him. None of them were a threat. The doctor ran to Atom's side.
"Don't you touch him!" Superman snapped. Whatever Cadmus did to Atom, they weren't keeping him. "He's Justice League!"
Wisely, the soldiers and the doctor stepped back as he took Captain Atom in his arms made his way to the door.
Whatever it took, Cadmus's days were numbered.
OOOOOO
The moment the doctors and engineers on the Watchtower informed it was safe, Superman entered the captain's recovery room.
"S-Superman?" he muttered.
"Take it easy, Captain," Superman said as he pulled up a chair. "I just wanted a few questions answered that's all."
"You want to know what I was doing with Cadmus," Atom translated.
"More or less."
Atom sighed. "I was a soldier before I became a leaguer Superman. And when my country calls me back into service, that's something I can't pass up."
"Even if the one doing the calling is General Eiling?"
"He's a good man, honorable," Atom insisted. "Or at least….he was. I did four tours with him in Bialya before I volunteered for the experiment. I thought maybe I could reach him somehow by going back under his service. I was just trying to do what I thought was right you know?"
Superman chuckled. "Trust me, I know. It's not easy is it?"
"Neither is fighting you."
"Be sure to spread that around and maybe my enemies will finally take the hint."
"Don't worry, I'll send a mass e-mail."
The two shared a light laugh for a few moments before Superman rose. "Get your rest Captain. I need to go check on Question and Huntress."
"Before you go, I have a question for you Superman."
"Yes?"
"I hit you with everything I had. I used every trick I could think of and then so, even used the red sun radiation, but you still managed to beat me. I just gotta ask, how?"
"Common misconception Captain," Superman said with a shrug. "Hurting me isn't the trick. It's actually a lot easier than most people think. The trick is outlasting me."
Atom chuckled. "I get it. No wonder I was huffing and puffing after only 6 minutes."
"Get your rest, Captain. We're all going to need it."
AN: This is just something I whipped up after watching a bunch of Justice League: Unlimited episodes on Netflix a couple days ago. Just wanted to get in Superman's head a bit and see what he was most likely thinking about while fighting a friend. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it.