Okay, wow. This is the longest chapter yet, and I had so much fun and enjoyment writing it that it's almost unbelievable. It's currently 1 AM, which isn't too late, and I really hope you'll enjoy this one:)

Disclaimer: I don't own Superman. Unfortunately.

Chapter 25 - A Wonder of a Fighter

„Sarah, get down here right now! You need to see this!" yelled the distressed voice of her uncle.

Sarah immediately bolted up from her bed and started running down the stairs, expecting something terrible. And she was not wrong. Wordlessly, her uncle pointed at the television, which was currently feeding LIVE from what seemed to be Metropolis.

The sky had a green tint to it, and based on what she saw on the screen, the place looked like a battleground. She faintly heard a reporter say something about metahumans going absolutely berserk and the Justice League, when something on the corner of her eye caught her attention.

A blue blur.

Apparently, the cameraman, as well as the reporter, noticed it, too, and immediately positioned the camera to the direction of the blur's last location. There, upon focusing the camera, was a sight to behold.

Sarah's boyfriend was currently flying overhead, assessing the situation, before flying down and gently knocking out metahumans with the flick of his finger.

Sarah took the notice of the green tint in the air, and deduced that it was some kind of gas, making all the metahumans go completely crazy. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.

Quickly putting some shoes on and grabbing her jacket, she bolted right out of the house, leaving the stunned members of her family looking at where she was just a few seconds ago.

She started running at full speed, not caring how it must have looked like, and made her way over to school, where the science lab was. Technically, she is more like a biologist, but under the circumstances, she reckoned she could make an exception.

Finally making her way to the school, which was closed, but she did not care at the moment, she made her way inside (don't ask how), and quickly entered the science lab, where she found the equipment she'd need to contact her dumbass of a boyfriend, who just had to be wearing a skin-tight suit with no pockets, therefore, with no phone.

You owe me one, Kent.

The city looked like a war zone. People running, building facades and windows broken, scorched, cracked; cars demolished. And a small army of metahumans destroying everything in sight. Oh, and apparently, some new superhero with blue tights flying around, trying to help.

That's the sight that greeted the members of the Justice League, namely Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Black Canary. Batman, being the detective, immediately noticed something was wrong with Wonder Woman and Black Canary, who seemed to be having a strange reaction to something in the air.

Out of nowhere, Black Canary used her canary cry, almost making the dark knight wince. His eyes widened when he realized what had happened.

While Wonder Woman, being the daughter of the Amazon queen, Hippolyta, relies mainly on her magic and fight experience, she still carries the metahuman gene, which seemed to be affected by the green gas in the air. The same could be said about Black Canary, who is a metahuman herself.

Thinking through his options, he did the thing most rational people would do - get as far away from Wonder Woman as possible. He knew he could take Black Canary down, even though she is a very experienced fighter, but even he knew he never stood a chance against a literally bloodlusted Wonder Woman.

„Cyborg," said Batman into his comm, „the strange gas in the air seems to be affecting both Black Canary and Wonder Woman. The gas seems to be affecting metahumans only, so we can't send any other metahuman members of the League down here. Got it?"

„Got it, Bats," answered the half-man/half-machine member of the team.

Batman decided that he would do anything in his power to help these people, while trying to come out at least half alive, if that's even possible.

Clark, for his part, was taking this harder than he would've thought. The metahumans were pretty easy to knock out, since none of them were very powerful, but he almost forgot that while they couldn't hurt him, they could hurt the innocent. Quickly rising up in the air, he was preparing to focus his vision abilities and find other metahumans, so that it could end once and for all.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his ears, followed by a high-pitched sound and a voice he recognized too well.

„Clark, I know you can hear me, and I know it probably hurts you, so I'm going to be quick. The gas seems to be affecting only metahumans, and I think that with a sample of the gas, I'll be able to create a counter-gas of sorts, therefore, I need you to get your ass in here pretty quickly, and take me to S.T.A.R. labs along with a sample."

Clark already figured the part about the gas out himself, but if Sarah could create a counter-gas, and end this, then this would end once and for all, and no more innocent people would have to get hurt. Quickly making his mind, Clark scanned the city for the closest Justice League member, which, conveniently, seemed to be Batman.

He flew over to him and landed beside him, not giving him the time to ask him any question.

„I know you don't know who I am, but you can trust me. I'm trying to help people, just like you do. Now, I know your name wasn't mentioned in the article, but my guess is that you are in the League, anyway. I know someone who can create a counter-gas of sorts, and end this once and for all," he said, Batman, while looking a little bit surprised, just nodded at him to continue.

„I'll have to fly away for a few minutes, and I need you to keep doing everything you're doing. Alright?"

Not giving Batman the time to respond once again, Clark bolted straight up into the sky, turning into the direction of Smallville, Kansas.

Who the hell is this guy, thought Batman. He knows about every metahuman in the U.S., but if even one of the metahumans could fly, Bruce was sure he'd remember him.

About a minute later, in which Clark was also able to take a sample of the gas, the Kryptonian was hovering above Smallville High, in front of which stood Sarah, already waiting for him.

Landing quietly, but quickly, beside her, she gave out a little yelp of surprise, but her eyes softened the moment she saw it was him.

Even though she knew there was no time, she took the few seconds to appreciate her boyfriend's physique in a skin-tight armor, which left very little to the imagination.

„Told you it would look better with the cape. Now, I need you to take me to S.T.A.R. Labs, preferably in Metropolis. You have the sample?" she asked him.

Clark held out a little vial, inside of which was the sample she'd been asking for. Quickly grabbing it, he pulled her into his arms, not giving her the time to adjust, before he took off into the sky again.

Sarah was scared shitless, and as if he sensed it, he held her a little tighter. A few minutes later, she felt Clark slowing down. Carefully opening her eyes, she was that they weren't that high up in the air. They seemed to be hovering about a hundred and fifty feet from the ground. Clark gently landed in front the S.T.A.R. Labs bulding in the outskirts of Metropolis, where three guards immediately cornered them.

„Hands in the air, freak!" yelled one of the guards.

Clark sighed, and rolled his eyes, much to Sarah's amusement. „Listen up, guys. She can make a cure for all of this. She just needs a lab. We're not here to do any harm. Pinky promise."

Sarah, in a different situation, would have laughed right there and then. There, right next to her, stood her boyfriend, an alien, the last of his kind, the most powerful being on Earth, giving sarcastic remarks to three guards of a lab, while not even a mile away, all hell was breaking loose.

They looked dumbfounded, but apparently, they decided to believe him, though they looked at her a bit strangely.

They led them inside the lab, and there, in the middle of the lab itself, stood a beautiful brunette, approximately in her mid-twenties, wearing a tight black skirt and white blouse. She looked at them questioningly, as if asking Who are you and what are you doing in here?

„Hi, I know this is not the time, but my name's Sarah Wilson, and I think I can cure the metahumans." At her questioning, and slightly curious look, she decided to elaborate. „Someone leaked a gas in the air, which seems to attack the metahuman gene, whether it's activated or not. Luckily, not all people have the gene, or else it would be a completely different situation.

I have the sample of the gas, thanks to the tighty-pants over here," she gestured at Clark, who looked at her with a little surprise and a great deal of amusement in his eyes, the woman cracked a smile, too, though she looked at Clark as if it was the first time she noticed him, „I think I can reverse engineer the gas."

She spoke so fast without taking a breath that she felt like she was suffocating right now. She breathed in deeply, and looked at the woman again, her expression unreadable. After a few seconds, her face broke into a warm smile.

„Hello. My name's Caitlin Snow, and I think we could use your help over here. As for your friend," she looked at Clark pointedly, „I think he should go back to the city and help the others."

She then strolled somewhere and came back in less than ten seconds, and much to Clark's surprise, she handed him a phone.

„It's my collegue's, so be careful. When we're done, Sarah over here will call you and you'll come here to pick up the counter-gas. Or the antidote. Or the cure. Call it whatever you want, just be here the moment we call you. Got it?"

Clark just nodded, putting the phone in his pocket, which seemed to be.. in his cape? and gave Sarah one last, reassuring smile, before making his way out of the fortress.

Paul was scared shitless, and that's an incredible understatement.

Let's have a trip to Metropolis, they said. It'll be fun, they said, he though sarcastically, while he was hiding under the table in some random café he and his friend, Mark, managed to find in the busy city.

He heard a growl somewhere above him, and he saw Mark looking at him with so much wildness in his eyes, that he almost peed his pants. Yeah, not the most bravest death ever, but who gave a shit right about now? Oh, and apparently, his best friend is a metahuman. Who forgot to mention this little fact to him, despite the fact that they've known each other since they were little kids.

Just as Mark was about to punch his brains out, a blue blur figure appeared in front of him, giving Mark a flick on the forehead, which, apparently, knocked him unconscious, much to Paul's surprise, fear, and delight.

The blue figure turned around, and instead of some malice looking creature or another metahuman, he saw a young man, teenager even, with inhumanly blue eyes and a kind expression.

„You should stay here for a while. You're safe here," the man said, giving him a reassuring smile and turning around, apparently planning to leave. Before he could leave, though. Paul had to ask him a question.

„Who are you?"

The man turned around, his eyes softening even more. „Someone trying to help."

And just like that, he was gone. If you asked Paul, he would have said that the man flew away, but that wasn't possible, right? Right? Well, except for that Wonder Woman chick, but apparently, that was magical or something.

Talk about the world going crazy.

So, for now, Paul made his way deeper into the café, and curled up himself under the counter, thinking about the man who has just saved his life. Whoever the man is, Paul sure as hell will be forever grateful to him.

Diana, being the tough Amazon, and daughter of queen Hippolyta she's always been, tried extremely hard to fight back, she tried to regain the control over her own body, which seemed to be betraying her constantly. The gas seemed to have weaker effect on her than the other metahumans, seeing she was an Amazon, whose physiology was slightly different than the average mortal, but that didn't mean that she would get the control of her body back easily.

She fought the hardest she could, but she couldn't win. That didn't mean she was going to stop, though. She'd rather end up in Tartarus than to hurt these people.

She was about to take a swing at some tired-looking man with a pot belly, when somebody caught her fist. But that's not possible. She was the strongest being on the planet. There is no way in Hades' underpants that someone would be able to catch her punch, while not getting hurt themselves in the process.

She looked at the person, who apparently caught her fist, and she'd be lying if she said that she was surprised. There stood a man, taller than even her, wearing a blue suit, which looked like a mix of an armor and a skin-tight leather, with crimson boots, crimson belt, and some kind of a shield with an S inside of it, adorning his chest. But what surprised her most were his eyes.

They were deep blue, but they held so much innocence in them. The man. The boy, she corrected herself immediately, couldn't be more than seventeen, even with his size.

His eyes bored into hers, with an intensity so strong for such a young soul, that she couldn't help but be shocked, once again. They held a lot of compassion and support, as if he could see her internal fight.

„You can fight it, Wonder Woman. I can see it in your eyes. You're trying to fight it. And you'll win," he said, his voice deep and rich, full of support and honest believe.

She tried to fight harder, harder than she thought was possible, but still, she could not defeat the gas she was still breathing in. Without her permission, her body charged at him, making a round-kick, without holding back, for the first time in her life. He dodged, but just barely.

She could see it. He was untrained. He's probably never had a fight in his life with someone nearly as powerful as her. He had no experience. And she knew that if she kept fighting him, he'd eventually lose.

She tried to tell him, but instead of her voice, a low growl could be heard.

The boy sighed, but not with annoyance. More like.. acceptance. Acceptance that he would have to fight her.

„I admire you a lot, you know? You, and other heroes, were the reason I decided to help people. To come out, so to say. I don't want to fight you. I really don't. I can see you're trying to fight it, and I want you to know that I still believe in you, but I can't let you hurt these people. I just can't."

He shook his head at that, and his voice sounded so honest and heartbroken, like a little child. She could see that he didn't want to fight her – didn't want to hurt her. But he didn't want the innocent people to get hurt, either. It was a tough choice to make, and she knew it.

She was tired of fighting the gas, and with one look into his eyes, she knew exactly what to do. And with that, she finally let go, let the gas take control of her body, because she believed that he would be able to restrain her.

Maybe not defeat her, but restrain her long enough so that the gas would stop having this effect on her.

She punched, she kicked, her moves graceful even without her having proper control of her own body. And surprisingly, he indeed did fight back, although with a certain level of reluctance. She kicked, he ducked, she punched, he caught, she punched again, he ducked again, and counter-attacked. She could see him holding back a lot of his power, and even with that, his punches still hurt her like nothing she's ever felt before.

If she gets.. no, WHEN she gets out of this, she's going to train the hell out of him, and it's going to be fun. For now, she let him take control of the situation, and hoped for the best.

Clark, in the meantime, was having an inner conflict with himself. He didn't know why he just didn't knock her out. Maybe it was because of the look in her eyes – the eyes of a fighter, a warrior, a spirit that never gives up. Or maybe because he just admired her so much, as she was one of the first public superheroes.

Nevertheless, she was tough. Really tough. Clark let his instincts take control, while he focused on finding the source of the gas. He used all of his vision powers, including the microscopic, when he noticed something.

It looked like a machine (duh, Clark). It was tall, slender, and, with a little bit more focus with his x-ray vision, he noticed that the machine was indeed leaking some kind of gas into the air. The Kryptonian didn't even have to guess what kind of gas it was. What did surprise him, though, was the building the machine was currently on top of.

LexCorp.

Lex was having an angry fit in his office, tearing papers, paintings and throwing his table across the room. Mercy Graves, her expression cold and calculating, just stood there, observing him.

„THE GAS WAS SUPPOSED TO GIVE ME CONTROL OVER METAHUMANS, NOT LET THEM CUT LOOSE!" he yelled at no one in particular, and yet, Mercy, even if cold and calculating, still flinched under the tone and volume of his voice.

After another few minutes of tearing apart everything and kicking a particular spot on the wall, his breathed started to become even, and he closed his eyes. He was finally calming down.

„Okay. Okay. I have to calm down and just check the formula once again. There has to be a mistake somewhere. It shouldn't have worked this way," he mumbled to himself, although Mercy heard him crystal clear.

Taking it as her cue to leave, she turned around and left his office, leaving Lex Luthor mumbling to himself, while checking the formula of the gas that the machine was currently leaking into the air just a few floors above him.

„So, Sarah.. you have any plans after finishing high school?" asked Caitlin Snow. Both of the girls, or rather, both of the women, were currently waiting for the last process of the reverse-engineering of the gas, just so Sarah could finally call Clark and let him pick up the counter-gas.

Both of the girls, while extremely worried, found the time to talk in-between the science-talk. Sarah discovered that Caitlin was the current head-scientist of the Metropolitan S.T.A.R. Labs office, while Caitlin discovered that Sarah was still a high school student.

„I'm planning to apply to Metropolis University. I want to study Biology. Why?" answered Sarah, giving Caitlin a questioning glance.

Caitlin bit her lip, then looked at the young girl beside her. „We could use somebody like you. You're young, smart, resourceful. Just what we need. And I know college isn't the cheapest business, so, maybe.. an internship?"

Sarah's face slowly broke into a shit-eating grin. „I would be honored, Ms. Snow," she answered earnestly.

Caitlin just smiled at her. She was ready to say something, but then, the computer started beeping, signalizing that the counter-gas was ready. They looked at each other and nodded. Caitlin picked up the phone and searched through her contacts, trying to find the name of the collegue whose phone she gave to the young hero.

Finally locating the name, she dialed.

Clark was certainly not expecting for his cape to start buzzing, which broke him out of his concentration, and earned him a very hard punch into his jaw from Wonder Woman. And yeah, it hurt like a bitch, but why wouldn't it? He's pretty sure that Wonder Woman is one of the most powerful beings on Earth, including him. There's a big chance that she could hurt him really badly.

Quickly pulling the phone out of his pocket, he looked at the ID of the person calling and saw the name Caitlin Snow. Recognizing the name, Clark immediately answered, and put the phone next to his ear, while blocking another one of Wonder Woman's punches, this time aimed for his stomach.

„Is the gas ready?" he asked right after answering the phone.

„Yes. I need you to come for it. Is everything alright?" she asked him, a little bit of concern in her voice. He heard Sarah asking in the background if everything's alright.

„Yeah, everything's peachy, just having a little chat with Wonder Woman over here. I'll be there in a minute," he hung up right after the finished the sentence. Deciding that the game had to end, Clark used a little bit of his superspeed and approached Wonder Woman from behind, getting a hold of her neck, cutting her air supply.

„I'm truly sorry it had to end like this," he said, seconds before she passed out.

„Did he just say that he was fighting Wonder Woman?" asked Sarah, fear itching into her eyes.

Wonder Woman was extremely powerful. No one has ever defeated her in one-on-one fight. Rumors had it that not even Batman was able to do it. Clark stood no chance.

Seconds later, she heard the unmistakable sound of a sonic boom, and not too late after that, she saw her boyfriend at the door. He looked pretty much normal, except his suit looked a little dirty.

Clark would rather not mention the uppercut he had received after the phone buzzed. Luckily, the bruise had healed before it was even visible.

„Are you okay?" asked Sarah as she approached him carefully.

„Yeah, I'm alright," he gave her a reassuring smile.

They stared into each other's eyes intensely, before a gentle clear of someone's throat interrupted them. Quickly stepping away from each other, both of them blushed at Caitlin, who stood there, a big vial (well, more like a tube) of blue liquid in her hands, her eyes full of amusement betraying the expressionless expression plastered on her face.

Clark shrugged sheepishly and made his way over to her. She gave him the vial-tube. Yeah, let's call it the vial-tube.

„Just.. be careful, okay?" said Sarah quietly, outside of Caitlin's hearing range.

Clark slowly nodded, leaned down, kissed her forehead, and in a flash, he was gone once again, leaving Sarah there, in the company of a gusted wind.

Clark easily located the LexCorp building – quickly flying to the top, he x-rayed the machine, so that he could become familiar with the structure, wiring and such. After a few seconds, he figured out precisely how the machine itself worked, and immediately got to work.

He was interrupted when he heard the panicked screaming, and saw one of the skyscrapers slowly crumpling down. Without hesitation, Clark abandoned the vial-tube and started flying to the direction of the skyscraper, and even though it was less than a mile away from him, he broke the sound barrier approximately four times.

Getting there, he was that most of the pillars on the ground floor were extremely damaged, and that they would not be able to support the weight of the building. He saw a.. kind of man/robot hybrid, who he guessed was Cyborg, another Justice League member, trying to hold the weight of the pillars, with no such luck.

Without hesitation, Clark flew over to the main pillar, which statistically held the most of the weight, and started pulling. The weight was barely straining his muscles, but he had to keep his focus, unless the whole building would come crumbling down at him, and more importantly, other people.

With a quick nod to Cyborg, the half-man/half-machine let go of the pillars, giving the rest of the weight of the skyscrapers to Clark. Clark used his x-ray vision and saw that there were still people inside the building.

„Cyborg, I need you do to something," said Clark. Cyborg looked at him questioningly, and nodded. „The machine that's spreading the gas is on top of the LexCorp building. I left the counter-gas right next to it. It's your job to do it now, as I am a bit too preoccupied."

Clark chuckled at that a little, as did Cyborg, before nodding again. Before Cyborg went, he produced something small from his hand, and put it into Clark's ear. Clark immediately realized that it was a comm.

Clark nodded at Cyborg in thanks, before giving his entire attention to the skyscraper he was currently holding in his bare hands.

He, of course, heard the whispers of people, looking at him in awe, fascination, or horror. He hoped it was the latter, though. He didn't want people to be afraid of him.

So, for now, he'd just hold this skyscraper for as long as he needed to, because that was his job now. And he would make sure that he did a damn good job at it.

I hope you liked this one. Please, write a review and let me know what you think about this chapter:)

See you around:)