The Dawn Of Justice Rewrite

by Fearinflicted

After the battle of Zod, Lexcorp tries to regain the world engine from the govt. and points the blame at Superman. But Bruce Wayne isn't buying into the media frenzy. Find out what he must do and who he must team with in order to change public perception against these heros.

24

Written by Rodrigo Rodriguez

Story by Mark Llamas & Rodrigo Rodriguez

4/1/16

Dawn Of Justice

The Battle of Zod Metropolis, Destruction in downtown as seen from Bruce Wayne's point of view racing to his Wayne Enterprises building located in downtown Metropolis. George Grant, an employee security guard of Wayne is found under rubble with his legs and body seemingly amputated due to the sheer force of falling debris. "Mr. Wayne! I got out as many as I could I'm sorry I couldn't get anymore." "How many are still underneath?" George goes into shock and is unresponsive. Bruce then orchestrates a rescue with thousands of volunteers to help amidst the destruction to help those still trapped and in search of survivors. A week after the incident a press conference is held in outside Wayne Enterprises Headquarters in Gotham City. "Mr Wayne! Mr Wayne! John Smith, Daily Planet, how are the efforts coming along in Metropolis? And has Wayne tech fully focused it's commitments to supplying our government's defense to prevent such a disastrous event in the future?" "Let me first say that, I am heartbroken over the loss of many whom I had considered friends and family. And to those closest to the victims I want you to know that I personally will be taking care of all the funeral arrangements and as for Wayne tech, we will gladly work with our government, so long as we find a consensus on how such tech should be used." "Mr Wayne! Phil Rivers, Gotham Daily, would that be a wise strategy considering Lexcorp already has a leg up working within government and not mention Senator Luthor's candidacy for president?" "This day shouldn't be about me and my company, this about those who lost their lives, and those affected by these beings. Are we alone? No. Are there more of them? Maybe. Were we prepared? Well … Obviously not" "What's your stance on the Superman then?" Wayne is Silent for a moment "people still need help." Then storms off the podium. Meanwhile across the bay in Metropolis, Senator Luthor gives a heed of warning to the general public. " Ladies and Gentlemen the time to take caution has come and passed, blasted in front of us in the rubble of our concrete jungle that we held so dear for generations. Do not kid yourself into thinking this was some sort of isolated incident, these other worldly beings have struck in the dark without the eyes of the world looking on."

Silas Stone, head engineer at Lexcorp watches the live broadcast from his office in the S.T.A.R lab sector of Lexcorp. "Yeah, and you're the bastard who brought one here"

George Grant also watches the news from his hospital bed recovering from the amputation of both of his legs and right arm. A nurse walks in "Mr. Grant you really shouldn't be watching this" "Leave it!" he grunts. Senator Luthor continues, "Yes, we gathered as much of the alien ship remnants we could, to try and understand their vulnerabilities and fight fire with fire." "Lois Lane, Daily Planet what do you mean fight fire with fire? Are you suggesting that your company is going to build some sort of retro engineered weapon out of Zod's ship? Do you realize the potential of these sort of blue prints falling into the wrong hands? It could very well lead to something even worse"

"Miss Lane is it? Are you suggesting we do nothing at all but mourn? Then what? We get hit again? And again and again and again! No, what I'm suggesting is someone, a home born savior who will fight on our side with their technology against them, it's smart tactics Miss Lane. Samething we do to combat snake venom. We use it against itself. If a Kryptonian decides they want to slither in and coil around the worlds neck, we'll have an answer they won't like. And as president, so long as I am president, this country can sleep better at night knowing that WHEN not IF anything tries to attack us we'll be ready for them, Thank You and God Bless Us All!" The crowd applauses and cheers the candidate on with a standing ovation. Back at the hospital as Grant watches the coverage of Luthor and scenes of Superman flying into buildings he begins to tear up. "Nurse! Nurse! My phone! I need my phone!" The caption on the TV reads "Who will be Lex Luthor's volunteer?"

Luthor's campaign manager congratulates him on his quip responses " You were great out there Lex but it looks like the media still doesn't share your philosophy with the Kryptonians, look." She hands him a newspaper with the headline reading "Superman saves Metropolis from General Zod"

"Unfortunately the media weren't there to witness the horrors that some of these creatures are capable of, just ask Dr. Stone's wife and son when they retrieved the MotherBox, speaking of which is congress ready for our hearing? Dr. Stone's team is standing by to move forward with Project Metallo" "Yes Sir, but with articles like this confusing public perception it'll be hard to convince congress to hand over Zod's ship" "Congress will be easy Liz, what I'm more concerned with is the amount of time we have to find our volunteer, to adequately field test and get him out ready to end superman and the rest of the beings coming to ravage our world. As for this propaganda, haha no one reads the Daily Planet!" Luthor then tosses the newspaper away.

Meanwhile at the Daily Planet, the offices revel in the success of their latest press, although not everyone agrees with the Headline, the amount of sales garnered admiration for the efforts of the journalistic duo. "Lois, Clark great job making front page actually mean something!" "You two do realize superman is the reason Zod came in the first place right?" "I'm just glad I got my review for that horrid movie tucked in the back, no ramen for me tonight!" Were just some of comments thrown at two.

"Clark this is getting out of hand, with Lex's crosshairs pointed squarely at Superman, I think it would be best if he lay low, maybe the world isn't ready for it's beacon of hope" Lois cautions Clark. "Maybe I-he needs to show the world that it is ready. The world is fixated on the aftermath that perhaps the answer lies in what Superman is willing to do for everyone around the world, fundamentally change those moments of fear and despair into Hope. If I choose to cower then Luthor is right about me-him."

A month later, the world is seemingly glued to the news coverage like never before. "Carla Stevens Action News 5! Now getting reports of Superman half way across the world in what looks like a staging of a rescue after the catastrophic tsunami, was he at fault? Find out what our experts had to say, and remember to download our app for up to the second coverage!" "Matthew Dent KROQ news, Superman seen helping in the efforts of a massive explosion in Leon, Mexico. Some reports are saying with the Superman aiding in the rescue, the death toll dropped significantly to 78%. We here at KROQ are just glad everything that could've been done was being done, and remember to download our app for up to the minute coverage!"

"We're joined now by expert James Tull, So James has your stance changed seeing reports for months now, Superman saving countless lives?" "Thank you for having me Jenny, NO, my stance has not changed! In fact I believe he's at the root cause of these 'incidents' to get people to rally with him but I ain't buying." "What will get you to rally behind him?" "Nothing! He's sick, he's a menace! hand him over to Lexcorp to dissect the bastard!"

"Speaking of which we now join Senator Luthor in congress appealing his motion to grant his company full access to General Zod's ship already in progress thanks again for joining us James." "I HATE SUPERMAN!".

"We can no longer isolate ourselves from kryptonians and other inter-dimensional beings. We don't have the necessary firepower to fight back. But If we expect to do this on our own we will fail, make no mistake once phase one of Project Metallo is complete it will successfully know the difference between human and alien. Giving us access to Zod's Ship will in turn allow us to reverse engineer their tech against them. Now I urge you members if you continue to withhold the ship in order to make our cars more efficient our entertainment more streamlined and make our people even more stupid, then you're no better than the ones at fault in downtown Metropolis."

News headlines read "Government to fully back Lexcorp" "The End of Superman is Near" "Wayne Enterprises Stock Plummets after CEO's Comments Against Lexcorp" "News app downloaded an unprecedented 150 million times!" "Top 10 reasons why we NEED Superman! Click Here!"

"Who reads all this rubbish Master Wayne? If I may Sir, I can't help but agree with one thing that Luthor said" "What's that Alfred?" "People are getting stupider, anyway anything new to report?" Both inside the Batcave for the first time in years since the retirement of Batman. "From what I could gather of the Lois Lane reports and related articles I can definitely conclude our friend Superman and Clark Kent based on facial recognition software are indeed the same person, more importantly his Kryptonian birth name being Kal-L." "For being out of the game all these years, you're still a master of deducing Bruce, even I still get impressed, once in awhile." "Right, what I can't seem to figure out is what Lex's planning on doing with all of Zod's ship. Lexcorp were some of the first on scene rummaging the remnants of his ship, but why need it all? And unsupervised if he wasn't planning something bigger?" "Right but what about the company's shares? Your big mouth outing Lexcorp wasn't exactly the smartest financial tactic especially in the state of hysteria that we're all in." "With The Cobblepot Industries fiasco I doubt we need worry about our company's financial future we can take the hits we always have, but once the dust settles on Lexcorp's dealings I can refocus on the company." "Am I getting the sense you're thinking about donning the cape and cowl again?" "There's a shipment docking with a foreign substance near Metropolis Harbor it's emitting a different radioactive wavelength, almost alien it's nothing like I've ever seen I can almost say with certainty that Luthor is behind it he's planning something big Alfred." "Bruce, do you remember what you said to me when Master Todd passed on?" "Alfred," "You said never-" "Never again! But this is different, this is beyond what I want, I can't help but remember why I hung my cape up, Alfred. The people who've been hurt indirectly by me, but directly because of me. Jason, Barbara, Harvey, Thalia... I feel this pain in my dreams, but no matter what I do, I can't relieve theirs," "What happened in the past isn't your fault Bruce. You can't blame yourself for the evil in the world. I was relieved when you decided to retire, but I knew deep down that the only thing that stood between the innocent and the evil, was you. Don't forget, you've trained master Dick and Tim well. So well, they stand on their own now. You don't need to be Batman anymoreBruce" "This is who I am. I need to embrace my past, own it. I can't drown my demons, because they always ascend to the surface. I shouldn't have tried to leave it behind me. I have to find out what Luthor's intentions are, for you, for everyone it's the least I could" Alfred takes a deep breath "Then let's get to work, I'll take command of the mainframe." Alfred quickly takes a seat at the terminal, press' several buttons to adjust his seat height and comfortability "Ah much better, Go on and suit up, I'll upload the coordinates to the Batmobile now" "But Batmobile hasn't been operational for years" "Well after all the madness that's been happening as of late, I took the liberty to refuel and tune up all your bells and whistles this past week just in case you were crazy enough to do this without me" "Great thinking Al" "Always three steps ahead as you always say Bruce, you know if I were still in my prime I'd give the Batman a run for his money." "No doubt about it" "Right then, I'm reading the shipment has begun docking they must be unloading the cargo now, you best get out there with haste sir." Bruce rushes to the armory to begin suiting up once again, he then jumps inside the old Batmobile and ignites the engine. "How is she purring sir?" Alfred yells "Like it was yesterday" The Knight rebuttals as he blasts out of the Batcave.

Back at the S.T.A.R lab facility, Silas finishes the coding on Project Metallo, an autonomous skeletal humanoid, made of a Kryptonian/Earth alloy. Lex Luthor enters the lab to check on progress "How soon till we get him out on field tests Doctor?" "Soon, our team is finishing up the coding sequence and will be uploaded soon, but I still think artificial intelligence, although can adapt it won't outsmart Superman, we need a brain who can think on its feet rather than rely on programming" "I'm well aware Doctor Stone, that's what phase two is for" "Phase Two?" "Cybernetic Organism, we are waiting for our mystery donor. Someone compatible with Metallo to bring life to him, sorta speak."

"I was not aware, could it bring someone out of a comatose state?" "You weren't aware for a reason, I couldn't let you get too distracted so much more important things at stake Stone. Show me the specs for our friend here, strength, agility, speed, what do we have?" "Well this is all theoretical but Metallo should lift 13 times his own strength, we've designed the limbs after some of the best gymnasts, the points of articulations in him are surreal, and can reach a top speed of 97 mph at full sprin-" An assistant of Lex rushes into the lab and interjects the conversation "Mr. Luthor! We've got trouble with our shipment! Someone had a drop on us at the docks" "Where's my rock?!" "We've got it out on the Truck and it's on it's way to the wear house sir but we're gonna need some assistance quick!" "Send the choppers out now! I want that rock back as soon as possible! You! get Metallo up and running I want him out there now!" "We haven't even field tested him yet Lex" "This is the test Stone! Now flip the switch!" "Sir the choppers are on their way" "I wanna find out who it is and why he's after it, where the hell did it come from?!" "Gotham".

Batmobile gives chase through the streets and highways of Metropolis weaving in and out of traffic, when then the back of the truck holding the cargo opens up to reveal several gunmen opening fire at Batman unloading many clips of ammunition. After realizing their weapons are no match for the Batmobile they turn their attention to the civilian drivers shooting at them lobbing grenades and other explosives to deter Batman's efforts on them. Two henchmen pull out rocket launchers taking aim at an upcoming overpass to crush the upcoming Batmobile. Taking the brunt of the bullets aimed at the civilian drivers as best he can, Batman notices the rockets exploding the upcoming overpass about to crush him when just then The Man of Steel flies in to brace the falling concrete leaving just enough room for the Batmobile to squeeze through. "Bruce! are you alright?!" "I'm fine Alfred". "The truck has quite a lead on you now, wait a minute, it's gone? it's not showing up on my radar" "Must have gone underground" "Sir I'm picking up three airborne hostiles, two coming up, the other is trailing behind" The two choppers begin fast approaching the Batmobile hovering over head

"Luthor, affirmative it's the Batman awaiting your orders" "Lead him away from our location and shoot to kill" The choppers then begin to rain down their ammunition while the Batmobile begins to evade all hellfire "Alfred some assistance please" "Just a sec sir, okay locked on" Alfred hacks both helicopter's navigation system and takes control of them and begins to inch them ever closer to frighten the pilots, "The hell's going on here?!" "Shit I lost control! We're about to hit!" Alfred then stops the collision and maneuvers to drops them near the bay, swimming distance from shore. "Alright Bruce should be done with these fellas momentarily, I believe the last heli should be closing in any sec. Wait a minute this one isn't armed like the last two, it does however show a large payload aboard" The helicopter closing in on Batman releases a metallic coffin shaped box in front of him. As the dust settles an M is clearly visible on the metal container. Batman exits his vehicle to investigate but the hatch shoots open to reveal a large mist hidden figure with glowing eyes "Metallo" Batman affirms himself. The two begin to rush at each other though Batman evasively slides under Metallos legs leaving underneath a small charge of plastic explosives but Metallo reorients himself a full 180 degrees and catches Batman's throat, rising him up as he attempts to squeeze the life out of him, Batman however detonates the charge and sends them both flying. They both get up and Metallo advances towards the Knight ready to strike. Batman prepares himself and grabs a set of bollocks from his utility belt and throws them around Metallos waist and arms. The steel cable isn't strong enough to hold Metallo in one place and he bursts through and begins to charge, slamming him against a wall. Batman grabs a few batarangs, reaches behind Metallo and lodges the batarangs in between the joints of his foes back. Metallo's joints jammed by the knight's tools can no longer move and batman uses his legs with his back against the wall to push the temporarily disabled machine off of him. Metallo reorients itself to take out the batarangs from his joints, leaving his back exposed. Batman grabs a data transmitter and attaches it to Metallo. "Alfred, I need you to upload a virus to Metallos internal drive!" "Right away, sir". Metallo then removes the blockage and advances towards him again. Batman shoots his grapple hook just past its head into a light post, then runs towards Metallo maneuvering over its shoulder, simultaneously attaching the cable around it's neck, allowing the grapple gun take Metallo away by the neck hanging from the wall scrambling to get free. "Virus upload at 90% sir". Metallo struggles for a few seconds but breaks loose and falls to the ground and begins to charge towards Batman once more. "Alfred, what's the eta?! I'm almost out of tricks!" "98%, sir!"

Superman is then seen rescuing a man trapped under his car "Help! Someone please get me out!" "I'm here to get you out, just stay calm what's your name?" "Tull, James Tull. Ah! My leg, it's trapped" "Okay James I'm gonna get you out, stay still" Superman rips open the car debris off of James, then pulls him out and flies him to safety. James in utter disbelief, as the man who he's been trying to fight against across the media, whisks him away without regard for his own ill intentions, sovereign from the ideals of insecurity that plague humanity. Would he have done the same? He begins to question himself, the first sign of empathy to break his xenophobic shell. Superman finishes with the last civilians in need after the destructive pursuit The Batman left behind. He then rallies the wounded together in a safe area "There's multiple ambulances on their way. You folks are safe here and no longer in danger." Superman then hears the rustling of the ones responsible from miles away. "Superman! Thank you" James breaks down as the gravity of his close demise sets in. Superman smiles and nods as he then blasts away.

"99% sir" Batman exhausted trying break free from Metallo's clutches "okay sir upload comple-" Superman grabs Metallo splits him apart whilst using his heat vision. "I had it under control" says Batman "Like you had it under control back there, before I came and rescued you?" "More like the control to not level out half of Metropolis" "You were being reckless out there, just who or what were you after?" "That's exactly what I was chasing after, answers. Now get out of my way I've got work to do" "I can help" "You've done enough, No you know what you can do to help? Get the hell off of my planet Kal" "I didn't ask to get sent here, it wasn't some thought out plan to wreck havoc here. My planet was on the edge of its own demise when my father sent his only son away to give our species a surviving chance" "Since I take it you've been living here for a while, I can imagine you're familiar with natural selection" "The world is way too big for you to protect by yourself, Bruce. I can see through that mask, but more importantly I saw your distrust in Lex on the news, we want the same thing." "What you want is acceptance not Justice, you've been so busy showing off what you can do around the world that you've let this madman get what he wants. Now go back to the Daily Planet and pat yourself on the back, Clark." Batman carries himself back to his vehicle and takes off leaving Superman stewing in self doubt but quickly snaps out of it to head back to the site of the victims to make sure everyone is taken care of.

"He's been destroyed Mr. Luthor, but it's okay all the data from the battle was collected" says a member of the project Metallo, as he's seen watching on screen a point of view perspective of the battle with Batman, seen choking him with stats on how much pressure is being applied, up until it looks down for a brief second and sees Superman's hands crush it's torso splitting him apart and heat temperature rising exponentially before the video feed stops abruptly. "This couldn't have gone any better Lex, not only did we get to test Metallo on Batman's defensive fighting style but we actually got a read out on Superman's crushing grip, the force he applied to rip open Metallo, and how hot his heat vision can get. I mean we sent him thinking he was taking out private mercenaries after the Rock which would have provided almost no information compared to what we have now!" "Is Grant ready for phase two?" "He is, should trick Superman into thinking he's a regular Joe. Also designed some modifications to reinforce the Kryptonite, it'll be lead lined to insure that Superman can't tell it's coming" "Well done, but this ain't over, the real works just getting started. We'll need to see quick results before the campaign trail ends." Luthor then rallies the scientists and engineers working on Metallo to let them know some new information. "People we've found our savior in one George Grant, A former Wayne Enterprise employee. The poor bastard was nearly crushed to death during the Metropolis attack helping evacuate those still stranded, this man's a true American hero and he's rightly blaming these aliens for his critical condition. So now I've got Wayne's employee working for me with a personal vendetta against Superman. I also got a chance to briefly speak with him before succumbing to some of his injuries, and he told me he needed to do this not for himself but for everyone that lost their lives that day, he made me promise to do everything I can to bring down Superman, But now Grant needs you, all of you to work together to help defend ourselves and more importantly, let's give Grant his cathartic rebirth to avenge himself. We have the Kryptonite, we have the MotherBox, but do we have the will and courage to protect ourselves? I have to believe we do, now let's get to work." The burden of immediate security ultimately fell among those listening, and the necessity to strive for perfection enforced the quality of their work. Silas approaches Lex mentally exhausted "Lex you know I've been at this for months I need to get out of here" "Silas you're my top engineer, this was your project to start" "I just need to clear my head" "Hey listen, you're teams on top of it, you've already given me Metallo and hope for us all go home and call me Monday morning, before you go though just want to ask how you been holding up at home with Vic? I know you're still watching over him and it can get stressful so I want you to know if you need anything you know where to find me" An awkward weight of silence followed "I'll see you Monday morning"

Meanwhile at Lois Lane's apartment, Clark Kent and Lois starts discussing the events of that night. "With you gaining this much momentum it'll only be a matter of time that people start realizing Luthor's paranoia about you" "Can I tell you something Lois?" "Anything" "It's what Batman said to me earlier. He said what I was doing was for acceptance and not Justice, and I'm starting to believe him." "What are you talking about? You're doing this because you have a responsibility to spread your symbol of hope remember? You said you needed to show the world it was ready. Otherwise what the hell are we doing" "Since I was a kid I've always known I was different from everyone else and I guess I've always been fighting for acceptance" "I'm writing telling everybody to take a second chance with you, that you're on our side and you want to self loathe and pity yourself? I'm fighting for your acceptance because YOU need Justice. It isn't fair that everyone rallied against you while you fought for us, but you made that choice not because you wanted acceptance or thought it would have gotten you a fancy statue, you did it because it was the Just thing to do." "You're right Lois, and I thank you for everything you've been doing and making me see clearly." The two share a kiss "But the statue would be cool though right?"

Africa, somewhere in the Ethiopian desert, Batman is up against 6 militants taking them out with precision, fighting with a heightened sense of urgency "I have to hurry up and get to him, he's killing him" Batman then takes out the last thug, but before long he hears Robin's intercom finally responding "Hello is this thing on check 1 2." "Robin! Can you hear me?" "You really should've seen the look on baby birds face just now Bats! Hahahahahahaha, what's left anyway." Batman commandeers a clunky heavy truck and races towards the origin of Robin's signal "I told you not leave on your own Jason! I'm coming just hang on. Please." A building is seen on the horizon "That must be it!" He steps on the gas pedal even harder than before, the dust and sand making it difficult to navigate, but he does see another truck fleeing the area. It's the Joker making his usual escape, using the intercom earpiece he stole from Robin he pops out of the trucks sunroof waving and laughing "Sorry I couldn't stay for the fireworks Batsy, but don't worry Jason is going to be so blown away to see you I guarantee it hahahahahaha" "JASON!" EXPLOSION! "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Bruce wakes up drenched in a cold sweat with tears in his eyes. He makes his way Down to the Batcave to glare upon Jason's old Robin suit. A symbol of his biggest failure to keep someone safe, a reminder that he isn't all powerful, an embodiment of what they both stood for, Justice. As he continues to collect his thoughts, the lights around him begin to dim and brighten, oscillating erratically until what seems like a lightning storm before his eyes rips open a portal, and a mysterious figure only half emerges through. "Bruce! Listen to me right now! It's me Barry! Am I too soon?! Damn you were right I owe you! Here are our coordinates find us! You have to come find and unite us Bruce! And protect Lois at all cost!" The portal closes in on the cryptic messenger leaving behind a cloth with 6 Names and 6 geographical coordinates written next to them. "Master Bruce the alarms tripped I figured you were down here, is everything alright?" "Yeah, Alfred I'm gonna need you to help me check these coordinates right away" "I'm off the clock sir, but I guess I can put in the overtime." "You work on salary Al" "Don't remind me Bruce" Bruce finally cracks a smile "Well then let's have a look see, well this first one seems rather odd sir it's in the middle of the Atlantic" "I have a feeling I made sure these coordinates were right." "Diana Prince, Greece. Checking last known whereabouts, looks as though she just boarded a flight to Metropolis 15 hours ago and should arrive relatively soon, you throwing me a get together Bruce? Because I don't know any of these people" "Guess I can't keep a secret from you can I? And here I thought I was the detective, I better get going I'll explain everything when I get back" "No suit Bruce?" "I'll be wearing a suit, just not one that gives people nightmares."

Metropolis International Airport, baggage handlers start unloading all the luggage cargo. "Hey Carl, watch out for this one, it seriously weighs a ton!" He barely musters the strength to toss the effeminate looking suitcase towards Carl "Jeez you weren't kidding man, I feel sorry for this girl's boyfriend having to lug all this crap around" He leverages both arms around it and struggles to leave it on the conveyer belt. Inside baggage claim an arm reaches out for the hefty suitcase but calmly picks it up as if only two notebooks and a sweater were inside. She then makes her way towards the exit but stops as she notices world famous Bruce Wayne holding a sign reading "Prince" he looks down at the sign "People keep waiting around hoping to see a rock star, need a lift?" She stares and smiles.

Lexcorp Headquarters main office, Lex is in the middle of an interview over the phone with one of the major news networks broadcasting the exclusive scoop "Well Ben I'm glad you asked me that, you know I think the reason the general public agree with me is that they're scared, they're scared that today in an instant they may never see their loved ones again. I think they feel the current administration has put them on the sidelines while people are dying, and they want a leader who isn't going to stand around with his thumb up his-" "Senator could you keep it civil with the language please this is a family network thank you. Moving on, So how is progress with Project Metallo coming along? Anything new to report?" "Well I'm really not supposed to disclose but since you've been so polite I can say that field testing has been going extremely well and we can't wait to show you our protector" One of the scientists barges into Lex's office "Sir! Sir! We have a huge problem!" Lex gestures to keep quiet and to not interrupt, the interview continues "So has Lexcorp found it's brave volunteer?" "Let's just say we're not ready to reveal that jus-" the scientists yells it out "The MotherBox is gone Lex!" Lex's heart skipped a beat for a second then started pumping like never before he begins to see red "F# %!" "Okay we are sorry about that folks not sure what happened must gotten some wires crossed we apologize for that. Be sure to stay tuned to MCN Metropolis Central News for updates on what's important to you, we're really sorry."

"What do you mean it's missing?!" "It's stolen sir! The alarm never went off". His compulsive nature of leadership and needing to keep everyone safe got the better part of his logical side, he clenched his fists and punched through the drywall. "Turn the T.P.K.P (Thorium Powered Kirby Portal) back on!" "But Lex, we don't know what may come through or get us noticed" "Do it now and I want to know the son of a bitch that let this happen!" " Yes Mr. Senator" as Lex races back to S.T.A.R lab he stops dead in his tracks as he notices the one office room with the lights off.

Silas races back through the highways weaving dangerously through traffic to get back to his secret laboratory. "I'm coming Vic!" As Silas arrives he begins unloading some equipment that he stol- borrowed from Lexcorp. He enters his lab and there on a medical table lie his son Victor Stone. The star athlete prospect that recruiters dream of, now comatose with both shins and left arm amputated waiting for death to take him. "Hey son I'm back, I think we have enough for this to work this time" As Silas starts assembling and measuring the spare Metallo parts taken from Lexcorp to attach them to his son, he cannot help but remember what happened that fateful day. It started out like any other, well any other when dealing with a high powered Thorium Portal. Silas along with his loving wife Elinore helped solve Kirby's equation for inter-dimensional travel, to harvest and bring back ultra rare substances not from our galaxy to advance our knowledge of the universe. But that one day when Lex demanded another MotherBox to make a weapon out of and forced the couple to comply, happened to be the day Victor came to visit. He held a letter in his hand with excitement but something unexpected happened, something came through the portal. The fact that it was on was attracting unwanted attention from the other side, when finally an unfathomable creature came through. As Victor walked in through the door Silas turned to look at him smiling and happy to see him but the look on Victor's face looked mortified he runs towards him, Silas confused looks back at his wife. It went after Elinore first, Silas went in to stop it but was safely push out of the way by his son trying to save both. Victor tried saving his mother from being consumed that day, but ultimately was attacked and severely wounded. The creature retreated back through the portal before being shut off. Silas crawled as fast as he could to cradle what was left of his son. Next to him was the letter that Victor had brought to show them "Congratulations on your Acceptance to the Athletic Scholarship Program". It took two weeks for Silas' voice to return from all the screaming.

Four days later… one of Lex's lead engineers Sven Aldrich yields a cab and heads out on break for a pack of smokes to clear his head. He decides to head to the farthest convenience store across town to escape work. Once he sparks he strolls by the alleys mindlessly scrolling through his social media apps on his phone before getting yanked into the dark alley. "Ahh let me go now!" The thick accent confirmed this was the correct engineer. The slight glimmer of light that leaked from the streets revealed Batman's gauntlets and cowl peaking through the darkness "You're Sven one of Lexcorp's top engineers, Tell me, what is he planning to do with Zod's ship?!" "I tell you nothing Betmen!" "Alright, it's your turn." "Uh?" A lasso is then wrapped around Sven extremely tight "Ahh how many of you are there?! I won't tell you anything!" Wonder Woman steps forward and tightens the lasso even harder "The trick is Batman, you have to ask more politely to get any answers."

"Lex I think we may have tracked down Stone, what are your orders?" "Bring him to me and make sure to recover the old MotherBox." Lex's team finishes the final touches on the George Grant Metallo, attaching the new MotherBox they recently acquired now allowing Metallo to shape shift his arms into weapons as it sees fit, and now powered by the Kryptonite Luthor harbored in to finally destroy the one person who can foil his plans. "Alright team this is what we worked so hard for, he's ready now, send him out."

Back at Silas' lab he finishes work on Victor bringing him back from near death with amazing abilities similar to Metallo except Victor can manipulate technology around him a power known as Cyberkinesis. He can also remotely access data from any server across the world and store it locally in his brain, 6 petabytes of information accessible in an instant all at will making him a true Cyborg. "Alright my man here goes nothing" Silas finishes his coding, and uploads his uncrackable software "C'mon Vic pull through bud" the surge of electricity begins to amplify, the brain activity readout starts spiking erratically, while Silas begins to notice signs of cognitive life. "MOM! MOM!" "Oh my god Victor!" "DAD! HELP ME!" Silas breaks down as all his hard work finally pays off "Vic I'm here you're gonna be okay son just relax the uploads almost complete" "What?! What's happening to me! what is this stuff on me Dad?! Where's Mom?!" "Listen to me when this finishes uploading they'll be coming after us we have to leave son we can't stay here!" "Where's Mom?!" "She didn't make it Vic I'm sorry, but listen to me, Lexcorp they're coming after us, they're using a cyborg like you named Metallo you're gonna be the only one to stop him, you have a code implanted in you that allows him to self destruct should he find us" The door breaks open with two armed men "Alright Silas you're coming with- what the hell is that?! Shoot!" In a panic the armed men aim and shoot at Victor's oddly shaped appearance but Silas instinctively thrust himself in front of the bullets "NO!" "DAD!" The computer pings "Upload Complete" The Cyborg gets up his arm transforms into a cannon shooting a concussive blast at the two thugs and kneels to grab his father whom had given him a second chance at life. "Dad c'mon let's go they'll be more of them soon" "Ahh I'm finally finished son, listen to me Metallo's only the first of many things coming but you now have a fighting chance to protect yourself and everyone around you, oh god this is it, Eli! *cough* I did it I'm finally coming baby" "No Dad fight through it you gotta stay with me! Dad? Dad!"

That night Metallo is revealed to the public as George Grant, humanity's last hope but as the public readies itself, Metallo breaks loose and reigns havoc on Metropolis as George and Metallo's programming both work together for one thing, Superman's demise. He scales a building to signal his target. He breaks through an high office building and grabs a night shift cleaning lady. Takes her to the roof as she kicks and screams for help "Dios ayudame! (God help me)" "I am helping you" he throws her off the building and shouts out "I'M HELPING ALL OF YOU!" As she rapidly falls she is caught by Superman, he lands and reassures she is safe "You're gonna be okay ma'am" "Gracias!" As she leaves the scene Superman looks up and gets landed on by Grants boots straight through the street into a sewer system. Superman punches his way out not seeing his attacker, before he can scan the area he gets a truck thrown at him. Shaken by the force the truck was thrown at Superman sees a man running towards him "Sir you have to leave the area! It's not safe here-". He gets tackled by Grant through a wall, "Why don't you leave earth first!". Superman uses his X-ray vision to look at Grant and sees no humanity in this adversary allowing him to fight back without restraint. As the two battle it out in the crowded streets of Metropolis, civilians start calling for help and start fleeing, while some stay captivated by the fight and start recording and broadcasting on social media. Before long the news choppers arrive to start filming, Superman realizing he might be undoing everything he's been fighting for, tosses Grant in the air and flies him to Stryker's Island an uninhabited construction site while the choppers follow. Superman begins to deliver blows to Grants chest as he seemingly has the upper hand until the chest plate gets damaged, the cavity then opens to reveal a green translucent Rock, Kryptonite. Superman begins to weaken from the radiation the Kryptonite emits, giving the now revealed Metallo the upper hand punching Superman into the ground mercilessly. "How does it feel to be as helpless as we were that day?! See them watching up there, I'm gonna show the world that we can protect ourselves from demons like you"

"Bruce the radiation from the Rock has appeared on Stryker's Island and it appears Superman and Metallo are there causing a fuss it's all over the news sir, I'm sending the Batwing to your location now." "Got it, we've gotta go" "Where to Batman?" "Help a friend, and solve the first piece of this puzzle" Wonder Woman and Batman leave Sven on the rooftop "You won't stand a chance against Metallo girl!" She punches him unconscious and they both make their way to the island.

Victor uses his Cyberkinetic abilities to go inside the internet and figure out what happened to lead his father to do what he did but starts noticing blips of information starting to fixate on Lexcorps' Metallo and sees live news footage of him nearly killing someone with a red cape.

"You feel that? That's fear, the fear of helplessness as the world watches you slowly slip away superman, you're no man! I'll make sure there's nothing left to bury!" A batarang gets thrown at Metallo from behind but he catches it mid air and crushes it "Ah yes Batman my programming recognizes you're silly tricks" as he turns towards him, Batman looks dismayed "George?!" as his former employee assumed in critical condition is now defeating Superman "It's Metallo now". As Superman glances in his beaten state he extends his hand towards Batman and utters "Bruce!" Metallo looks down at Superman then back at Batman "Bruce? Bruce Wayne?! You've been the Bat this whole time and did nothing to stop him?! Look at what they did to me! I gave my body to protect your company but now you're as guilty as he is!" "Jason-George, George I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough" "Don't! you don't get to apologize knowing you could have done something, you'll have to live with that but don't worry it shouldn't be much longer" Metallo then gets punched into a wall by Wonder Woman "Batman hurry and help your friend, I'll take care of Metallo" she unsheathed her sword as Metallo reemerges from the rubble she leaps at him to strike just then Metallo's arm transforms into a sword like weapon countering her attack, the two begin to duel.

Batman rushes to aid Superman "Bruce, you came back, why?" "Because you were right, I can't protect the world on my own and neither can you, but we want the same thing I know that now, that's why I came back". Wonder Woman's brawl starts losing momentum as she's getting tossed and thrown into the ground. She gets up grabs Metallo and flings him into a combustible gas tank, Batman sees this and yells "No!" But the explosion mutes his scream. Metallo once again reemerges from the flames only half of his face and body is covered in burnt flesh while the other exposes the familiar skeletal alloy with glowing green eyes. The Seemingly unstoppable human rage of Metallo sets in and begins going after all of them. Superman starts regaining strength again "Bruce I see another one coming" Alfred also relays the information "Sir there's seems to be another Cyborg closing in on you three, you'll never make it out if you don't retreat now sir". The trio unleashed everything they have on Metallo but he seems to have an answer for every blow, shapeshifting to counter their attacks and begins to seem unstoppable, Batman tosses electromagnets to immobilize him while Wonder Woman uses her lasso to hold him down before this new foe arrives. Victor drops on the island and the news choppers begin focusing attention on this new hero, Superman draws back from his heat vision at Metallo to attack Victor "Stay out of my way Superman I'm here for him!" Metallo believing Victor to be sent from Lexcorp as backup is surprised that he comes after him. "What are you doing?! Lex! Your bots malfunctioning!" Back at Lexcorp one scientist comments "Sir, he's not one of ours!" Victor grabs Metallo and hacks into Lexcorps' system remotely, he transmits his voice over the facility' intercom "Luthor! this isn't over I know what you did to my father and you ain't getting away this time, people will know what you did to us!" "Victor?" Luthor realizes "You're death machine has two minutes till he self destructs then I'm coming after you" The trio realize they must get Metallo away from the city if he's to self destruct not knowing what the fallout of Kryptonite may do to civilian life. Wonder Woman takes it upon herself to fly him out of the atmosphere tugging him with her lasso "No! You can't let him live! He'll do to you what he did to me! Help me!" Metallo pleads with her "Sorry my dear but you've made the choice to follow a madman's orders and that's forever inexcusable!" She launches him into orbit before he explodes.

Back on the ground Victor warns against them standing in the way "I'm going after Luthor you can either join me or get the hell out of my way" Batman interjects "No, not like this. If you go after Luthor you'll start a war against us all that will undo everything we've fought for. I take it you're Victor Stone of uptown Metropolis listen we're going to have to pick our battles and do it strategically not emotionally otherwise what is the difference between you and Grant? Fight with us Victor" "I'm not interested in taking over the world" Wonder Woman steps in "You think that's what we're doing? I've been fighting for peace since before your grandfather's time. If I wanted what you claim, I assure you, you would not be here boy, none of you would" "Military interference is likely on its way, I think I speak for everyone when I say no one else should get hurt tonight Victor" Superman tries reasoning. "We need to leave now, we can retreat to the Batcave. If you decide to stay and take out Lex I promise I will do everything in my power to stop you" Victor raises his arm and shoots a massive emp to shut the video feeds from the cameras overhead and all nearby lights leaving them in darkness only emitting the red LED's on Victor's body "Let's go". The lights kick back on only to reveal the island empty again.

One month later, "We're once again joined by James Tull, an outspoken opponent of Superman and an anti-" "Jennifer let me stop you right there, I uh, I came back to apologize, I want it to be known that the views I had on Superman have since changed." "Are you saying we should no longer fear and hate him?" "The only ones who need to fear him are those thinking of doing harm to this world, I was wrong about him I now see the hope he brings to us all. I don't want my son growing up thinking when a helping hand extends it's reach out, it'd be okay to concern himself with whose hand it is." News headlines begin pouring in as the citizens of the world begin to take in the state of affairs of Metropolis, as it's likely their problems will eventually reach their own shores. "Luthor and Lexcorp exonerated from any and all wrong doing's" "Silas Stone to blame for Metallo sabotage" " 'A politician with secrets, what a concept'-Bruce Wayne continues to bash presidential hopeful Lex Luthor" "Insider secrets: Project Metallo what went wrong? Can we do better?"

Back in Luthor's office, an assistant walks in to deliver a letter "Luthor we found this letter for you, came in a couple weeks ago I apologize for the delay sir" "Who is it from?" "Umm I'm not sure it's signed by an SS" Luthor opens the letter and begins reading "Lex Luthor, the name of my pain, the insufferable bastard that ripped my heart out. I want you to know after everything that happened you never gave me a second chance working here, I used YOU! I used you to repair what you couldn't, phase one of Metallo was the only way to bring Victor back after what you made us do. I've bit my tongue and smiled for far too long now, Consider this my resignation. P.S. I hear Wayne Enterprises are hiring. Sincerely Silas Stone." Lex can't help but smirk and tosses the letter way, "Liz, have the invitations gone out?".

"Channel 6 news, Polls are now closed and we are Projecting Alexander Luthor as our next President of the United States Of America!" "We here are projecting Senator Luthor as the next president" "America has voted its next president, Alexander Luthor".

The Middle of the Atlantic Ocean, "You sure you can swim down there with us Vic?" "Hey You don't hear me asking for an itinerary of all your super powers Soups, I got this. I just wanna be able to clear my father's name before it's too late." "Can we please get moving gentlemen we are still at war here" "She's right, hurry and put your diving gear on. Follow my lead, we don't know who or what is down there yet, so stay focused and watch each other's back, okay let's go." Batman takes point as the four jointly take the plunge into the depths of the unknown. The End.

Written by Rodrigo Rodriguez

Story by Mark Llamas &

Rodrigo Rodriguez

…

Beyond the Cosmos, "Counsel, Sector 2814 has attracted the unwanted attention of Planet Apokalypse, it will need a protector." "Has the ring found someone worthy?" "It has".