Okay it's almost over, just got to get the ending sorted.
Chapter 8: severed ties
Metropolis: 1:35
Earlier that day, the regime, or rather, what remained of it began decimating the city. There was no way out, as superman had destroyed the bridge, sending countless cars into the river below. The soldiers of the insurgency and regime were evenly matched; even the appearance of the prime superman was a slight edge at best. If it was any consolation, the regimes Wonder Woman was nowhere to be seen and the amazons had sided with the prime earth Diana, regime Ares, Darkseid and a handful of Kahndaq's elite guard who now have the Atlantian army at bay for the moment. So it looked as if this was a battle between an unstoppable force and an unmovable object.
The regime Aquaman was preoccupied with the red hood (now his default injustice 2 design) and Superboy, easily taking down the clone of steel and the ruthless Gotham protector after a little difficulty. He was about to impale the red hood and finish him off, when he was suddenly sent flying back by a force that cracked the pavement between the impact zone. Getting a glance, Jason was a bit puzzled to see the high councillor's son tossed Aquaman's trident to Connor. "Get that to you Aquaman" Joel ordered, before going after Aquaman "and tell him sorry about his one". That entire thing left red hood dumbstruck and asking himself "Whose side is that guy on?"
High above, superman's sensitive ears caught the sound of powerful blows in the streets of metropolis. "Joel!" Superman realised, his heart telling him to abandon his current fight with his duplicate and propel down to the ground. Right now, he had to make things right with his son.
"You're just as pathetic as Diana!"
"At least I didn't betray my family!"
Both Aquaman and Joel charged, but their clash was interrupted when Joel was tackled out of the way. It took Joel a Nano second to figure out who it was, and it only took one punch to knock his disillusioned dad off him.
As both Kal and Joel got to their feet, Kal made it clear he didn't want to fight. "Jo, please, we don't have to do this. I lost your mother; I can't lose you as well." Kal was desperate, hoping that a small part of Joel wanted to listen to him. "Why should I listen to you?" Joel questioned, his voice was extremely bitter. "Everything you ever said has been only to manipulate me. You misguided my pain, made me someone I wasn't meant to be. You never played for what you did to Mom! That changes now!" Kal realised his son wasn't going to be talked down. He hesitantly adopted his fighting stance, knowing that he had to be careful.
This was it; the final battle between father and son.
Joel threw himself at superman, trying to punch the man of steel, but Kal grabbed his son and flipped him up in the air. Both batmen caught sight of the fight and attempted to intervene, only to be stopped by a wall of chains. "This is the kids fight, Wayne" said Spawn, knowing that this wasn't going to end with them both alive. Kal refused to attack Joel, not wanting to harm his son. Joel meanwhile was throwing punch after brutal punch, occasionally hitting his father. Realising he has to incapacitated him, Kal threw and uppercut that launched Joel out of earth's atmosphere, before he flew past him, then proceeded, with great emotional difficulty, struck Joel back to the ground. "Forgive me Lois" Kal uttered.
Then Joel got up, now he was pissed. Catching his dad off guard, he blasted him with his own heat vision, charring his father's skin. Kal could do little to defend himself as Joel grabbed him be his chest plate and lifted him of the ground, reeling back his fist to deliver a blow to his face. "Lois... I'm sorry... I failed" Kal sadly uttered. All that did was get Joel more enraged, his eyes glowing with a deep and unbound rage, Joel threw his punch at his father's head, and along with impact there was another sound mixed in. A very potent
SNAP
The whole fight stopped all eyes on superman and his son. As superman fell to the ground, his prime earth duplicate scanned his body and realised what Joel had done.
Superman, the high councillor, the ruler of the regime, was dead.
The silence was broken by Joel's cry in agony as he sat in the crater made from his impact, steam rising from his eyes, the heat from his glowing eyes evaporating his tears. He sat there alone with his father's corpse, contemplating in his distraught state of mind of the death that had happened throughout his life. He didn't even notice the duplicate superman approach until he placed his hand on Joel's shoulder. By now, Joel's eyes had stopped steaming, and Clark could see the tears streaking down his face. Clark did what his heart told him to do; he sat down next to his "son" and held him in his arms, letting Joel vent his grief.
A few days later, elsewhere
"It took a few days, but we managed to round up the rest of superman's followers, or have them hand themselves in" Clark said, his voices seemed not of triumph, but of concern." Batman and Luthor had their hands full for a while getting Simmons back to his reality. Those who helped Joel's cause were pardoned, and I'm sure things will go back to normal very soon.
Lois purses her lips. She trusted her husband quite a bit, but she wasn't sure if what Clark said was true. "You think superman's kid has a future? I mean, that world probably sees him as a monster for what he did." Lois finally asked, but Clark wasn't sure how to respond. After a minute or two, Clark walked out of the room, and after what felt like forever, he walked back in with a young man, about 17 years old. He had a bit of a scar on his lip, as if he had been in a fight. But weirdest of all, as Lois noted, he seemed... sad.
"Lois, this is our son, Joel Rolsten lane" Clark introduced. "He still needs a family in his life, and I feel it would be best if we were there for him." Lois was taken aback by this. She and Clark had considered starting a family, but raising her teenaged son from another reality? It seemed a bit too much. She got up off the sofa and walked up to the boy, gazing into his amber eyes. "Nice trick you pulled Smallville." Lois teased Clark, a sly grin on her face. "How did you come up with a name like that?" "It was the name of the man that you though was your sperm donor" Joel said in a saddened tone, catching Lois off guard. "You named me that to honour the man you believed at the time gave you the chance to be a mother." Lois then took a good look at Joel, running her fingers through his hair, and realised how right Clark was. Joel had the same feel of hair she had, but he had his father's ears. "Dad said Hi" Joel uttered, before he embraced his mother for the first time in five years. Lois was startled by this, but she quickly realised what was happening and return the hug. Clark stood back, not wanting to get between his wife and son. He just smiled. He knew that Joel had what he needed now;
A new beginning.
Okay, one last chapter and its finally done. Thanks for waiting folks. Till then, ride onward.
