Chapter 36: The War for Metropolis Part Two.
"The citizens of Metropolis are hereby advised to stay off of the streets, and not to answer their doors. The Metropolis Special Crimes Unit has claimed that they are making every attempt to maintain the peace. However, until everything cools down, and all of the escaped criminals are ushered back to prison, then the entire city of Metropolis is hereby under a state of emergency."
That was the announcement that echoed throughout the news. Everyone felt the stone cold reality of everything. The Death of Superman quickly got brushed to the side, but in many ways, the current events in Metropolis were something that was a byproduct of that unhappy event. There were many deaths and several injuries. The toll was mounting. It seemed like the demise of the Man of Steel had opened up the flood gates. While there was not a panic as of yet, there could have been soon.
It was to the point where even the most hardened of individuals were afraid to go on the street, yet some refused to allow this to uproot their lives. The loud sirens could be heard, with the police being called. Explosions and gunshots through the city was not an uncommon occurrence. In fact, such an event was practically expected when the situation boiled over at its most ugly level.
"The actions of Arcane, Supergirl, and Power Girl have somewhat tapered the peace, but even those three remarkable heroes cannot stop the swell of gang violence from consuming Metropolis. The events on this day have been dubbed truly War for Metropolis. Do not panic, we repeat do not panic."
It was funny how telling someone not to panic was often the main element that led to mass panic. There were screams of terror, and groups of citizens taking up arms themselves, with a rush of vigilante activity That was not to discount the mass rioting on the streets, which made the jobs for everyone quite easier. It seemed as if the death of their favorite son had caused the entire city to go completely haywire.
Lois looked out of her office window, and wondered what was going on in the world. Actually, she had an idea; the entire world had gone nuts. It was hard to maintain the illusion that Clark was still alive, because she knew the fact that he was not. There was almost a sense, a hope, that Lois thought that he would walk into her office, and think that this was some kind of April Fool's gag. Despite it being in October, but it was the thought that in fact counted.
Lois tapped her foot on the floor, and drummed her fingers on the desk. If she had gone out there, chances are that the next front page story could be her own obituary. Not that Lois was one for self-preservation, she lived on the edge of insanity every single day. It was all for getting the news.
'He's not coming back,' Lois thought, struggling to keep ahold of herself despite all that happened. 'He's really and truly gone.'
For some reason, Lois thought that saying it out loud would make it truer. The woman had been to his funeral, and had visited the monument. The monument which could be destroyed at any minute by the rampant gang violence and Lois closed her fists at the very thought. It was a dedication for the hero of tomorrow, but they did not care.
Lois stepped forward into the hustle and bustle. Jimmy stared out into the distance, really half distracted by everything that was going on. The other reporters half expected a rocket launcher or something crazy to blast through the windows of the Planet, and kill them all.
The dark haired reporter busied herself with the latest news. Arcane, Supergirl, and Power Girl had busted up another battle between Intergang and the False Face Society. There were several other warring factions, but those were the main two. Black Mask was more ruthless than anyone, given that his gang members had led to the death of many civilians, mostly women and children.
It was hard to be sickened by anything, given that she was in the news business. Not to mention, hearing about the atrocities committed in war from her father, but Lois saw some of the reports, and the graphic news, as an opportunity to test that. It was very much a body count.
The only thing Lois took some amount of solace with was the fact that there was a body count being racked up on the criminal side. She could actually see a few images of battle. Supergirl had just smashed into a giant robot from outside of the window, her eyes glazed over with fierce determination. The girl's heat vision sliced through the robot, and utterly decimated.
'Looks like she's taking out her frustrations on what happened,' Lois thought, grimacing when she watched what happened.
The dark haired reporter had a sense that Kara blamed herself with what happened to her cousin. Not that it was any of her fault, but that was a complex of heroes.
Lois took a moment to listen for the latest news, and sure enough there were reports that Batman had been sighted. The interest was heightened by even more reports coming in that the Justice League may be touching down momentarily. Lois weighed every single one of her options, and decided on the best course of action.
She decided that it would be doing a disservice to both herself, and the rest of the city if she was not out there in the thick of things. Lois Lane would cover the story, until the bitter end, no matter how long it took or how bitter the end would be. The woman bit her lip suddenly, and hoped that the end would not be as such. Right now, all she could do was grab her notepad and pen.
No one had even batted an eyelash at her reckless actions. The sounds of gunshots from not too far had given Lois a bit of pause. It almost had her hesitate to head out. The woman bit her lip, and then looked up at the poster of Superman hanging in the basement.
Even in death, Clark was her inspiration and her muse, and somehow Lois thought it would do his memory a disservice if she did not recklessly risk her life. Somehow that made sense, to her, in her moment of grief.
The war zone that was once the city of Metropolis was absolutely crazy, and the riots continued to escalate in the streets. The tension snowballed into an inferno of chaos. It seemed like every time one problem was solved, about three more came up. The criminal element in the city declared open season. Despite their great powers, and the fact that tempered the situation somewhat, Supergirl, Power Girl, and Arcane were being ran ragged.
'What are we going to do now?" Karen asked them. Her head looked around, but bright blue eyes were determined with what they had to do. 'We took out that huge pocket outside of the city.'
'Yeah, but there are many more coming,' Kara thought, and her fists clenched together with fury. 'Did every criminal on the East Coast just decide to throw a party?'
'It does seem so,' Karen thought to herself, sighing at the very thought.
Harry used his energy ring to scan the scene. He saw a great glowing energy signature.
'We better take out that bomb,' Harry thought to both of his wives. The two of them nodded, and waited for more advice. 'You two get the people around the bomb, I'll get the bomb itself.'
'Right,' Kara and Karen thought to Harry, their posture straight and proud while they hovered in the air.
Like a super nova, Arcane blasted through the front lines of the attacks. With a quick motion, he absolutely annihilated the bomb, and the two tripods that had been around it. The mobsters tried to use their guns on them, but Supergirl and Power Girl had yanked the weapons from their hands. The weapons clattered onto the ground with a thud, and the two Kryptonian blondes blasted forward, knocking them down. The loud cracks of the bones, and bodies of the attackers could be heard.
Kara and Karen spun around on their feet, and there was a sniper on the edge of the building, trying to take a shot at some civilians who were trying to get away. Supergirl shot into the air like a bottle rocket. She intercepted the bullet, and threw it back into the head of the sniper. The sniper was struck down, and fell off of the edge of the roof.
'Okay, I got those guys down, get this one,' Harry thought to them.
More explosives had been found, and deactivated. Supergirl and Power Girl took out the snipers with their heat vision before they could fire. They were then blasted off of the building. The police arrived to try and pacify the rioters, but they were fighting what seemed to be an uphill struggle.
Batman popped up out of nowhere, and several ice pellets had been flicked on the ground. It froze the attackers in place. Batman dodged a shot, and pulled out a Batarang. With an expert throw, he knocked the guns out of the hands of one of the attackers. The Dark Knight stood back to back with Arcane.
Batman continued to fight and analyzed the dire situation.
"So, just another day at the office?" Arcane asked to him coolly.
Batman offered a swift nod, and had knocked several of the mobsters back. Power Girl picked up an armored van and had swung it, knocking several of the attackers back, including another giant robot.
"Where do people find all of these giant robots?" Supergirl remarked, before she sent a blast of heat vision out, disabling it.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Power Girl responded in a dull voice. The busty blonde bombshell swooped down, and raised her arms up, before cracking it down onto the pod. The blast echoed throughout the entire city.
Power Girl and Supergirl locked hands, and the two Kryptonians swung around, creating a huge gust of wind. Their momentum propelled each other off in either direction. Kara caught the members of Intergang and knocked them off of the roof. Power Girl caught the members of the False Face Society, and sent them flying off of the roof on that end.
Arcane pulled another person out before he blasted him. Suddenly, there was the sense that people were around them even though they could not be seen. And they were smart enough to line whatever cloaking suits they had with lead to block out the X-Ray vision.
"Great, people are invisible," Arcane said. He tried to listen closely for them, and blasted two more cloaked thugs down.
"Likely some kind of cloaking technology, there was a theft of it three days ago in Gotham City," Batman replied, and he back handed a thug in the face that tried and sneak up on him.
"So, this was premeditated," Arcane offered, and he stopped the attackers, in their tracks with a paralyzing curse before he put them down further.
"Black Mask has his schemes, and he's always able to think a few steps ahead," Batman advised Arcane. He had fought the criminal in the past. Black Mask was not the usual brand of criminal that Batman had found. Or to put it bluntly, he was not one of the Arkham crowd. He was completely sane, and sadistic, a dangerous combination.
The sounds of the Javelin arriving, and several members of Intergang stormed the street. The doors of the Javelin opened, and the Main Man himself had exited, eyes widened and guns blazing.
"Alright you plebs, you're about to get fragged for the Main Man."
Lobo rushed forward, and sent his guns blazing, blasting at everything that moved. Harry cursed, because one hand, this guy was taking out the members of Intergang and the False Face Society. On the other hand, his psychotic attitude, with no planning, had caught several civilians in the crossfire. Harry, Kara, and Karen worked damage control, and protected the people from the flying debris.
The one thing that they would praise Lobo for was his take no prisoners attitude. That was a good thing, but what was not such a good thing was the wanton property damage he caused without any way to mitigate it. Arcane stepped in when he could, and some of the members of Intergang slipped away. Harry let them go, with a tracking charm. With any luck, they would lead them to the stronghold of Intergang.
"I thought I told you to wait!" Green Lantern yelled, nearly getting up in Lobo's face when he said that.
Lobo took a step back, and stood before Green Lantern, brazen as ever.
"Nah, I didn't need to wait, and man I sure smoked them," Lobo said, shrugging off.
"Part of being in a team, is listening to each other, and you didn't listen," Hawkgirl yelled, eyes flaring and her mace held.
Lobo took a step back, and held his hands up, in mock surrender. The Main Man stood across from the members of the Justice League, and their associates. He tried to pacify the situation, only as Lobo could.
"Hey, no sweat, we really just took them all down," Lobo said, a twisted grin over his face. He dusted off of his hands to emphasize this point. "We took them out, and if they're all that easy, who really needs a Superman? I mean, the guy was decent and all, but he got himself blown up and all."
Kara immediately reached forward, and grabbed Lobo by the throat.
"What the hell is your problem, woman?" Lobo asked.
"You aren't to say one word about my cousin, Czarnian," Kara growled through gritted teeth and glowing eyes. "After what you nearly did to him last time you met, getting him captured…"
"Hey, that was just business, nothing personal," Lobo said, and Kara relaxed her grip, only slightly. "So, cousin, eh? Are you legal?"
Kara felt absolutely repulsed at what Lobo was implying, and felt the need to take a shower in acid.
"Yes, but I'm married, to my husband," Kara said, and Harry put an arm around her.
"Oh, the Main Man knows not to nose around in a married man's domain, no money in the world will get me to do that," Lobo said, throwing his hands up, and he turned to Power Girl. The Main Man's eyes lingered on a certain part of her body, and the older blonde Kryptonian felt a bit angered at this action. "How about you, babe? Are you single?"
"No, I'm married, to my husband," Karen said, and Harry put an arm around her.
Lobo's eyes widened.
"Wait, you're married to both of them?"
Harry just responded with a swift nod. Lobo gave a hearty laugh, and looked at him.
"I don't know whether to pity you, or to buy you a beer for that one kid. Especially this one, she's got quite a pair of…"
Karen was not about to hear about it. Lobo had been crude, rude, and socially unacceptable her in her dimension as well, and they had crossed paths more than a few times. To her, that gave her just cause to pick up this version of Lobo, and hurl him halfway across Metropolis. The members of the Justice League watched with a smile, even if some of them tried to hide their efforts. Lobo screamed, and landed with a thud.
"Karen, was that really necessary?" Harry asked to Karen, looking at her.
Karen just smirked. "No, but you can't deny it wasn't entertaining."
"No, none of us can deny that," Wonder Woman chimed in.
"Well, if she wouldn't have done something, I would," Kara remarked in a fierce voice. Lobo would be returning any moment now. "Why did you bring him along?"
"Would you have rather us left him in the Watch Tower?" Green Lantern asked, and everyone grimaced at the thought.
"Good point," Kara agreed, and Harry and Karen also seemed to be in like minds. The two of them nodded, and smiled.
Lobo walked forward, and Hawkgirl stepped in front of him.
"Hey, no broad gets the better of the….FRAG!"
Hawkgirl just nailed Lobo in the shin with her mace.
"Behave," Hawkgirl said, like she was scolding a small child, or maybe a dog.
"Trust me when I say this, but you better quite while you're ahead," Flash told Lobo, the most serious that he had been in his entire life.
Lobo just grumbled, and shifted his weight. Batman turned to the three Potters, and Harry was prompt to give an assessment.
"Intergang is being tracked, and hopefully we'll be able to shut them down for good," Harry told them.
"And then we can worry about Black Mask and his gang," Kara added.
The Justice League and Lobo all stood by each other.
"Well what are we waiting for, an engraved invitation?" Hawkgirl asked. She looked ready and raring to go. "Let's go bust some heads."
Lobo nodded, now these plebs were speaking his language. He preferred busting heads. Green Lantern kept an eye on Lobo. It had been his turn on the babysitting Lobo.
"Stay with us, and do everything that we say," Green Lantern ordered. This tone left absolutely no room for contradiction.
"Remove the stick from your ass already," Lobo grumbled.
There was no more time to talk; rather there was time for action.
'Tracking charms indicate that Intergang's stronghold is downtone,' Kara thought, when she, Karen, and Harry determined what they were up again.
They prepared to track down Intergang, and shut them down, once and for all.
After traveling for nearly a day, there were many things that Clark found weird about the world that he was in. There were two burning questions that went through his mind that the Kryptonian resolved to answer before too long.
How long was he out?
Where was he?
And how could he find a way to get home?
Technically that was three questions, but Clark shook his head to clear the cobwebs. The mutated wolves had started to get tired, and Clark decided that it would be prudent to set up camp. Pretty soon, he would have to eat, especially without the yellow sunlight sustaining him. The problem was that there was nothing edible around. Clark wished he had packed something to eat in case of an emergency.
He sat on the ground, on a rock. It was not the most comfortable seat in the world, but it would allow him a few moments to sit down, and reflect. Clark also tried to get a spark, anything for the communicator to work. He was still unsure what happened to it. There would have to be a great deal of energy to fry such advanced circuitry.
'None of this makes any sense at all,' Clark pondered to himself. He tapped on the device, and strained his hearing. He still retained some degree of his super senses, although the longer he lingered underneath this red sun, the more he would become mortal. And then he would be susceptible to hunger or death.
Clark needed to locate a sustainable food source within the next day. The problem was that there was no civilization, and no one around who would be able to provide him with anything. His wolf companions snored away, and Clark rubbed his face. The Man of Steel felt amusement at the growth that he felt. There was no way for him to shave it.
He sighed, and once again tried the communicator. It just felt like he was going around in circles, yet the stubbornness of Clark Kent was not something that would be denied.
"Superman to Watchtower, if you can hear me, if you can hear any of this, I'm setting up camp. I'm going to try to send a signal, if you can reach it. I have no idea where I am, but time might be running out. If you can hear this, please respond."
Clark honestly tried to keep all of the desperation out of his voice that he could. Yet, given the circumstances, desperate times called for desperate actions. His shoulders slumped, and he took a deep breath. Clark shook his head once again.
The moon was also eerie for some reason. It resembled Earth's moon in many ways, but also gave a faint purplish glow. Clark scratched his arm. It had been a while since anything as petty as an itch had bothered him. It actually gave him a dose of the normality that he had sometimes craved for, but this was done in the worst way.
A cold wind blew, and Clark also felt the misery of coldness for the first time ever. Clark took a deep breath, and gathered up a few broken branches and twigs he managed to salvage. With all of the energy he mustered, Clark used his heat vision to light a fire. Hopefully that would keep him warm, at least for a little while. As Clark thought this, winds threatened to blow out the fire.
Morning would come, when Clark did not know. All he could rely on was the sun coming up. The red sun that sapped him of his powers, and Clark shook his head. It was hard to believe that all of this started with a simple battle with Toyman. A foe that sometimes Clark took for granted, even if he admitted deep down that he was dangerously resourceful. That battle proved that much, and here Clark was marooned in this hopeless world.
He gave the League communicator one futile tap. If he had the proper tools, it might have been fixable. With Clark stranded with no resources, then fixing such a device was an uphill battle.
The winds blew, the wolves snored, the fire burned, and Clark Kent waited, impatiently, to see what would transpire. Time was not on his side, and the scratches and bruises on his arm proved that he was more normal than he ever had been. And dare Clark admit it, he was very vulnerable. The wolves had been tamed, yet Clark could potentially encounter other threats.
'The lack of civilization is quite strange, but this planet might have been dead for hundreds or even thousands of years,' Clark thought, and grimaced at the thought. 'Wiped out in an instant, just like the people of Krypton was.'
Clark tried to get some sleep on that note, but it was troubled. If nothing else, the Last son of Krypton slept with one eye open, and realized that he would be sore in the morning sleeping on rocks.
Morgan Edge slammed his hands down on the desk of his office with absolute fury. His men had just gotten through giving him a report that had been utterly dismal. The fact of the matter was that Edge was enraged about everything that was going on.
"I give you technology that will make you masters of the city, and you get stopped," Edge said in a towering temper. He stood on his feet, and the men backed up, trembling in fear.
"Hey, cut us some slack boss, some of us got away."
Edge felt his blood pressure boiling, and the mob boss took a moment to take a deep breath. He began to rock from side to side. It was days like this where drinking was not only a requirement, but absolutely needed. His bloodshot eyes fixed on his gang members, and his breath grew rather faint. Crossing his arms, Edge looked at them, and spoke in a crisp, dangerous, and quite sinister voice.
"You got away, which means they let you get away. And if they let you get away, and you came here, that means they could be blowing down my doors any minute!"
Edge reached underneath his desk. The doors of the office bust open, and Edge half expected the Justice League. Instead, Black Mask walked in, flanked by several of his bodyguards. They all wore masks. Black Mask stood in front of Edge, dressed in a white suit. Some had said that the only reason Black Mask wore a white suit was so he could see the blood of his enemies when it had stained the suit.
"What do you want?" Edge demanded, standing with a twisted expression on his face.
Black Mask held his hand up, and spoke in a calm and crisp voice. "Mr. Edge, I understand that you've been having problems with many of your men dropping dead. A few of my best men have been caught in the crossfire as well. What I propose is a partnership, with Intergang."
Edge could hardly believe that these words came out of the mouth of Black Mask. It took him a couple of moments before he regained his composure. Cracking his knuckles, he stared down Black Mask, and there was no fear whatsoever in his eyes.
"Forget it," Edge said, and he reached underneath his desk. "I don't make deals with Gotham trash like you."
Edge tried to shoot Black Mask, but the gang leader was a bit quicker on the draw. With three sickening shots, two the chest and one to the head, Black Mask had gunned Morgan Edge down in his own office. Edge's own men could not help him, on the account that they had been executed gangland style as well.
The bullets riddled their bodies, and blood splashed onto the office floor. Black Mask stood, and shot Morgan Edge in the head several more times, just to ensure he was dead. He left nothing to chance.
Black Mask surveyed the entire situation of the office. He had his men clear out quickly, and take the back way out. With his hostile takeover on Intergang completed, now he could take all of their resources. Edge's laptop was taken as well, it would be a valuable list of resources. Black Mask snapped his fingers, and his men poured gasoline in the office.
With a flick of a match, the office with Morgan Edge, and his men inside went up in flames, as they exited through the window, and to the roof where a helicopter awaited.
Black Mask departed from the hideout, leaving everything burn behind him. He had the resources that he needed, everything else would be torched. This would lessen the chance of fingerprints.
The Justice League was on their tails, but Black Mask checked his laptop. The score he wanted would be theirs by nightfall. The city continued to be somewhat chaotic, even if the rioting had tampered down. Black Mask had sent an announcement to all the television stations, to report the huge explosive device he had planted inside the city. It would vaporize everything within six blocks on all sides.
That would keep the Justice League off of his tail, and Black Mask would be able to clear out the Metropolis Gold Reserves. Then he could blow the town, having gotten what he came for.
Harry had arrived, following the tracking spells he had placed on his enemies. However, he had arrived to nothing, but a scene of a burning building. Kara and Karen followed behind him. Batman also was behind, with the remaining members of the Justice League and Lobo following in the rear. The two blonde Kryptonians took a deep breath, and managed to blow out the fire, with Harry contributing a little magic while he could to help douse the flames.
"So, I'm guessing that this was Intergang's hideout," Hawkgirl remarked, breaking the silence.
"Ain't any hideout anymore," Lobo said, surveying the situation. "My Saturday Night's don't even get this wild."
Flash shook his head at this, he didn't really want to know. He really did not want to know. The Fastest Man Alive sped in, and saw that everything was torched. Batman stood behind him, with Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Lobo.
"Black Mask has been here, and got what he came for," Batman replied, getting down to business as usual. "He's never one to leave behind much evidence."
Batman knew that better than anyone else regarding the criminal. There were no finger prints, no identifying marks, and Black Mask had never been caught. He was a tactician who was a few steps ahead. His fast network of criminals caused Batman more than a few headaches, and even when captured, they refused to divulge any information regarding the whereabouts of Black Mask.
"The gang war part is over, at least," Flash commented.
"Maybe," Green Lantern said, in a skeptical voice.
"Black Mask and his gang are still out there, and given the vast network Intergang operates with, I would not be surprised if there were many more pockets of them operating in this city," Batman informed them.
The Justice League all nodded, and understood what need to be done. Green Lantern tried to scan for anything. Even the Lantern Ring was unable to pick up anything. Whoever, this guy was, he's good.
"Man, we came all of this way to bust some heads, and there was no heads to bust," Lobo grunted.
"Stay focused," Green Lantern warned him.
It was at that point where Harry gave a cry of triumph.
"There might not be anyone to bust, but I found a clue of what Black Mask might be after."
The Justice League hastened to scramble over, and see what Harry had uncovered. Kara and Karen hovered in the air, and both blondes had a fixed expression on their faces.
'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' Kara asked Karen and Harry through their mental link.
'Black Mask's entire operation is merely a diversion,' Harry thought to them.
"So, Black Mask is after all of the gold at the Metropolis Gold Reserves," Wonder Woman summarized.
"Can't say I blame the guy," Lobo added.
Lobo got his share of cross expressions from the members of the League.
"You'd blame him, when you realize what has just come through," Batman answered, and he zeroed in on Black Mask's frequency so the entire team could listen in closely.
"To any capes out there, my men have placed a bomb in the heart of Metropolis, and make no mistake about it, it will be detonated if you try and stop my men again. I'd worry about defusing it before you try anything funny. I've got a detonator in my hand. And if you get one of my dupes instead, well that automatically sets off the real deal."
Harry tried to close his eyes, and his three wives did likewise. All three of them focused on what they had to do to locate the bomb. The bomb could have been in one of six points, but it was obvious that five of them are dummies.
"See what you can do about defusing the bomb Black Mask put in the city," Batman suggested to them.
"Will do, and the League will handle Black Mask and his men," Arcane replied.
"Yes, we're all in agreement," Green Lantern responded, and was glad he had the foresight to recharge his ring before this mission.
"Certainly, he won't be able to hurt anyone else," Martian Manhunter remarked.
"So, again, what are we waiting around for?" Hawkgirl asked, impatient as always.
The Justice League went off, with Lobo following. Harry, Kara, and Karen turned to each other. They had a bomb threat to deal with. They isolated the signal for the bomb and pinpointed what the real McCoy was.
This type of bomb would take hours to defuse without magic, and thankfully it would only take a minute or two. The bomb was simple and deadly in its design.
'Okay, Harry, lift the top of the bomb,' Kara thought to them, analyzing it carefully. 'Karen, time your heat vision with me so we can cut the wires.'
Karen agreed with this, and the two of them began to slowly cut the wires. The bomb would be defused before too long. It was a delicate process, but at the very least, Harry was able to put up some shields so if they sliced the wrong wire, half of the city would not go up in flames. They would be able to survive the explosion, even if all three of them would be sore in the morning.
Clark had continued his journey, and finally he had made his way to some form of civilization. Or at least what was once a civilized area. Given the fact that it had been utterly decimated, and torn down, it was highly likely that no one lived here any longer. Clark took a few steps to take a look at everything. Then one horrific realization struck him faster than a speeding bullet.
He was standing right at the edge of the Metropolis city limits.
Clark stared, dumbstruck and unable to believe it. Instinctively, he tried to fly in, but remembered in an instant that he could not even jump that far off of the ground. Metropolis was not what it used to be. Clark now took a few tentative steps. This had to be some bad dream, some nightmare that had taken ahold of him.
If this was a nightmare, than Clark most certainly was not waking up from it any time soon. Eyes shut, breath heavy, and feet planted firmly on the ground, Clark continued to step forward. He opened his eyes, and the chaos was there. There was not a creature in the city. Even the rats had left, and Clark stepped forward, walking into the city. The globe of the Daily Planet laid in the middle of the city street, cracked and decayed, not at its original luster.
'How long was I out?' Clark thought to himself. His breath grew so very much frantic, and his head shook from side to side. 'It must have been more than a few hours or days. It's almost as if…no it can't be.'
Superman stepped forward, and saw a huge statue of himself toppled on the middle of the town. It was part of a monument of some sort. The world had believed that he was dead, or at least gone. Clark's hands curled into balls, and his blood ran cold at the next sight he saw. His blue eyes stared forward, transfixed. The cold wind blew through the air, making the dust in the city water his eyes. However, Clark blocked every single sensation out of his head, and saw one thing in particular.
The Watchtower had been toppled in the middle of the city. It was almost as if the Watchtower had fallen out of the heavens, and crashed straight to the ground. Again, it would have taken quite a force to knock it out of the sky. Harry had said as much, and Clark wondered how long he was here. He looked for something, anything, a newspaper to give him a hint of the date.
Yet, there might not have been a newspaper around. Everyone had perished. Clark stood out on the ground, and the red sun continued to ominously hover over his head. Everything Clark knew and loved was gone. There was only one structure that stood secure in the middle of all of the chaos. The Patronus Incorporated office building remained standing. Clark had hoped against hope that Kara, Harry, and Karen were still there, and could make sense of what was going on.
Clark walked inside. The hustle and bustle of the office building had long since ceased. In fact, the building was like a ghost town, silent and still, and to be honest, Clark half expected a tumbleweed to roll by like in a cliché Western scene. The Kryptonian took a few more steps, and the elevator did not even work. So Clark had to take the long journey up the stairs, and found where Harry and Kara's office had been located. The doors were already unlocked, and there was one thing on the desk.
A glowing white crystal sat on the desk. Clark took a step back, and reached forward to interact with the crystal. It lit up, with Kara standing there.
"If you found this crystal, first I'd like to say congratulations, and I'm sorry," Kara remarked, in a somber voice. "Both of those statements were for actually surviving what has happened. More people are dying, and the Earth's sun just died. We have another place where we can go, all of us….the Potter wives, and Harry himself, but never mind that. The fact of the matter is that if you find this, and are still living, you might not be for long."
Kara paused, seemingly unable to look what to say.
"I failed everyone, but that's just something I'm going to have to get over," Kara continued. "I guess without Superman, everything kind of went nuts. And I really failed to protect my cousin, and for that, I'm the sorriest of all."
"Kara, none of that was your fault," Clark said, but then he stopped and felt stupid, that he was talking to a memory.
"Just find a way, anyway to escape, or the roaches will get you," Kara replied before she held up her wrist to emphasize a device that was strapped to it. "This wrist band filters red sunlight into yellow, but it's not needed where I'm going. We thought about sending everyone to the Phantom Zone until we found a planet to recolonize them on, but we delayed too long. So, I'm leaving now, if you see this, you should do."
Clark could tell that Kara was trying very hard not to break up. He took a few deep breaths, and just got an appraisal on the situation. Everyone that he knew and loved had long since ceased to exist, or had left.
He walked down the stairs, and took Kara's warning to get off the planet to heart. How would he get off though? That was the question, and that dogged Clark in his mind. He opened the door, and took a few final steps towards the Watchtower, but paused and turned around.
There was someone else who was there, another survivor.
"I must say, you were the last person I'd expect to see, Superman."
Clark's eyes narrowed with disdain, and he spotted Vandal Savage standing there. Savage was an enemy that the Justice League had gone up against a couple of times so far, while Harry and Kara had been doing their own thing. Savage was an immortal, who had been around since the days of Neanderthal man. His powers were received from a meteor rock that had fallen from space.
"What are you doing here, Savage?" Clark asked, bracing himself for a fight.
"It seems like my immortality has offered me a gift to outlive the end of the world," Savage said to Clark. "And it does seem like you are among the last of a planet once again, Kal-El."
"What happened?" Clark demanded, standing up to face Savage. "I have a feeling you know."
Savage chuckled, and his eyes snapped across Clark's face.
"I do indeed," Savage agreed. "I had no small part in the destruction of the planet, and believe me, I think about it on every day."
Clark narrowed his eyes, and took out his frustration on the only target that was left in the world. With all of the strength that he could muster, Clark knocked Vandal Savage to the ground. Savage did not even bother to block the punch. Clark reached over, and grabbed a large piece of debris. Savage looked up, fearless at Clark.
"Do it, Kal-El," Savage encouraged Clark. "Maybe, you'll be able to succeed where I've failed in ending it all."
Clark paused, was he really a killer? Could he even kill Savage? That was two questions that went through his mind.
Savage got up to his feet, and stepped back.
"I am not the Vandal Savage that you once knew, and I have had much time to think," Savage answered. A reflective look was in his eyes. "And much time to repent on the sins of years past."
"How much time?" Clark asked, skeptical at this supposed change of heart.
Savage's face twisted into a grin.
"Welcome to the year three thousand five zero nine."
This revelation was one Clark had not taken well. He had been gone for over twenty five hundred years.
To Be Continued in "War for Metropolis Part Three."