Chapter Forty: Godfall

Clark was practically fuming when he took Silvia back to his room. Despite her constant reminding that she was a fast healer he still checked her vitals and cleaned up the cut above her eye. Her Clark tended to worry about her as well, but nothing like this. He knew that she could stand her own ground against someone like Damian, as much as he disapproved of it. This Superman though... he treated her like some fragile little doll.

Silvia wasn't one to enjoy being treated like a child but she knew that, after everything Kal-El had gone through, it wasn't unjustified. She sighed, trying to suppress any rude comments that urged its way up her throat. She was there to help. She wanted to help. To do that she'd have to get to know this worlds Superman, just like Clark had done with her.

"Hey... Clark?" She said in the softest voice she could manage, it definitely didn't come naturally. Not only was it a struggle to call this stranger the same name as the man she loved, but sweetness often sounded like mockery when coming from her mouth... probably because it was most of the time. "I know you're really busy and you've already sacrificed enough time on my behalf, but I was hoping that we could, you know, talk?"

Kal-El looked a little taken back by her words, meaning that he stared at her and blinked a few times instead of avoiding her gaze altogether. He cleared his throat, shifting on the spot and trying to hide the slight spark of light that had quickly appeared and vanished in his eyes. "I always have time for you."

Silvia wasn't sure how to feel; flattered, saddened, or sceptical. Still she took the opportunity while it was still there. "Well... umm... In my world, when you and I met, the first thing you did was arrest me. I was wondering if it was the same here?"

Kal-El's brow furrowed. "Why?"

"It would be cool to see what our worlds have in common, if there is anything." Honestly, she was craving some sense of familiarity. She hadn't even gotten accustomed to her own universe yet... let alone this one. "If that's alright with you, I mean."

Something flashed beneath the surface of his hardened expression and she was quick to investigate the sudden shift. It was too late, the emotion disappeared before Silvia could identify it, like reaching desperately for an escaped balloon; the string dangling so tantalizingly close but the wind pushing it away.

For a while it seemed like the man would never answer her, then he straightened his posture and spoke. "There was a mass breakout at Strykers. I was the first on the scene, but just when I was about to finish rounding up the prisoners, Atomic Skull started attacking. I had to refocus my attention to recapturing him. While I was distracted Parasite started making his way towards me, hoping to catch me off guard. You... Silvia... shot him."

Her eyes widened slightly in disbelief. "Shot him? And that's all it took?"

"No, the gun used plasma... pure energy, and Parasite feeds off of energy. It made him stronger but the shot also made me aware of his presence. When she kept shooting him I thought she was insane. He was growing bigger, getting stronger, and no matter how many times I told her to stop shooting she didn't listen." His face was as unreadable as always but she could tell that thinking about it brought him some degree of peace. If it hadn't he would have gone silent by now. "Eventually the energy build up became too much for Parasite to store and he exploded."

"So... she killed him?" Silvia asked, not sounding at all surprised that a completely different version of herself killed as well.

"I thought so at first, but then I looked again. A weaker, skinnier version of Parasite stood where the explosion had gone off. Silvia had meant to kill him but I didn't know that at the time. I thought she was one of us... A new hero to help bring light to the world."

Well, that was definitely different to her own Clark's first impression of her... They had hated each other the moment they saw one another.

Kal-El continued. "Turns out she was an inmate, she'd been arrested a week beforehand. She had gone to the evidence locker and stolen her gear back then spotted Parasite on her way out. He was on her hit list... One of her bigger jobs. She knew how strong he was but didn't back down for a second. I've never been able to properly word how amazing she really was; brave, productive, independent, strong, kind...well, when she wanted to be at least. She both does and doesn't fit into the description I give of her. She was unconventional. It was hard to pin her down, even when it came to her personality. You would tell her that she was kind and she'd redouble her efforts to prove you wrong."

A shaky breath moved through her lungs. That sounded a lot more like her than she was expecting. "So, you liked her right away?"

"I wouldn't say that." Kal-El answered. "I respected her but once I found out who she really was and what she did I was instantly against it... and her. I was foolish. I couldn't comprehend her way of thinking... or maybe I just didn't try. Now I see that she was right and even if she had lived, I would have killed her eventually with my idiotic ideals."

Silvia's lips tugged into a frown. "That's not true... She believed in your ideals too. It might have taken her a while but that's because her life was full of hurt and regret... She didn't have any hope that there was another way, you gave that to her."

"Then I killed her before Joker ever had the chance to make me..."

"No, you don't get it. You gave her something worth living for, you proved to her that there was good still to be found in this world. If she had one greatest fear I can guarantee you that it wouldn't be death..." Silvia felt her fingers twitch as she reached out to graze them against his cheek. "It would be seeing you like this."

Finally he showed some kind of emotion, but it wasn't anything positive. His expression scrunched up and he grabbed her wrist to push her hand away. "You don't know that."

"I do though... because I can't imagine anything worse than knowing you'll be like this for the rest of your life." Silvia tried to move her arm out of his grip but knew that it was pointless. The pill had made her stronger... but she still couldn't compare to Superman. "You said that she was hard to understand, but I know exactly how she felt. This is a different world but, at her core, she was still me. If anyone knows what she'd think about all this..." Her voice trailed off when she started the feel the pressure her wrist was being held with. She growled. Any restraint she was trying to give herself disappeared. "If you don't fucking let go of me right now I won't only leave you again, I'll skin you in your sleep!"

Kal-El stared at her, blue eyes widening slightly but enough for her to notice. It seemed like this was the first time he truly saw her as similar to his own Silvia. A hot-headed, foul-mouthed woman with a short temper... but one with their heart in the right place. His own Silvia threw out insults and threats to anyone that dared try to intimidate her, or anyone that was getting too close. She got better the longer she was with him but that temper could never be erased.

Kal-El's fingers uncurled from her wrist and she swiftly brought the limb closer to her body so he couldn't grab it again. She was starting to regret snapping at someone that she was meant to be helping, but there was a small moment when Superman's eyes flicked to the draw where Silvia knew the photograph was. That's when she saw it, something familiar in his expression. Something softer... kinder. It was the moment when Silvia knew that he really might change if she stayed long enough and pushed against his knew ideals.

These quick few seconds of mutual realization were interrupted by a loud but hesitant knock on the door. Kal-El gave them permission to enter, and for the first time he actually looked grateful for the distraction. Shazam stepped inside, nervously glancing around the room to make sure he hadn't interrupted anything. "Sorry, but there's something the Regime wants to discuss with you."

Kal-El nodded and when Shazam left he leaned back down towards Silvia. "I don't want to argue with you, Silvia." He said despite the monotone that had returned to his voice. "We can talk about this more when I get back."

His fingers gently touched the side of her face, and before Silvia could react, he brushed his lips against hers. She saw his mouth visibly twitch when he drew back, almost into a smile but he stopped it before it could. Without even waiting to see how Silvia felt about it he left, leaving the girl vigorously wiping her mouth on her sleeve. She felt a gag arise in her throat, then she started scrubbing her lips again. He may have looked like Clark, he may have once even been Clark, but it still felt wrong kissing anyone but the man she loved.

Following Superman and listening in on their plans was getting old fast, but she knew that she had to do it... She had to know what was going on outside of the Fortress. When she got there she could already hear them talking and hoped to god that Superman wasn't listening out for her, that she'd just fade into white noise like last time.

"The reality is that there's an uprising. People are starting to side with Batman, and the more vocal of the citizens are starting to encourage more of them to betray us." Black Adam spoke in a deep, heavily-accented voice.

"I made them safe. Shielded them..." Superman suddenly growled from the circle of Regime members, the only few outside of the group was Flash, Yellow Lantern and Shazam who stood a few feet behind Kal-El. "But are they grateful? Do they appreciate my protection? No... They whine. Complain. Side with those criminals." His fist pounded against the table and Silvia had to wonder how it didn't break under the force. "If they prefer chaos, I'll give it to them. Metropolis and Gotham... I'll flatten them. I'll set an example."

Silvia's hand slowly crept up to her mouth, cupping it and forcing any sounds back down her throat... She had never expected him to get this bad.

"Wait." Billy's voice pierced the air and the people still standing in the circle turned to face Shazam. "We're wiping out whole cities? We've already interfered in other dimensions by keeping Silvia here, haven't we done enough?"

Kal-El gritted his teeth. "You have a problem with how I'm running things, Billy?" He spat his name out like poison on his tongue.

"Well, yeah... It's crazy! It's going too far." Shazam didn't hesitate to reply, nor to step forward, and Silvia's heart swelled proudly. She felt like a parent watching their kid stand up for what was right. When all these adults failed, someone much younger was the only one with any sense.

"Man's world is incapable of self-rule. We will preserve order." Wonder Woman said firmly.

Shazam stepped forward once more. "No... There have to be limits. Even on us. Especially on us!"

Flash looked like he was going to stop Shazam from speaking any more but Hal pulled him back. It was too late now.

"That's enough!" Kal-El yelled and it seemed to shake through the entire building.

"You can't do this! Have you gone nuts?!" Billy's voice cracked and it was a grim reminder of his young age. "Silvia would never have wanted this! Even the one you've brought here will turn against you when she finds ou-"

Superman clutched onto Shazam's neck and held him into the air. From where she was Silvia could see the struggle on his face but her legs wouldn't move. She was paralysed in shock... and fear.

"Shaza-" Billy tried to summon his powers but Superman blew ice cold wind around his mouth and froze it shut. He was screaming now but it was muffled by the ice. Having something so cold setting against his skin eventually felt more like fire... like his mouth was being burnt off.

Silvia willed her legs to move, she forced her body to make it to the door but before she could turn the handle the screams grew louder... then there was nothing but an eerie silence. She took her hand off of the handle, heart thumping in her chest. She shuffled to the side and peaked through the small window.

Agony spread throughout her body like icy, liquid metal. Her feet trembled and her legs twitched, fighting the impulse to whirl around and sprint down that damp, shadowed corridor; her throat closed in threat of screaming. Kal-El's heat vision had fried a hole right through Billy's head. He dropped the body and it crumpled lifeless on the floor. The older form of Shazam disappeared and suddenly he was the same age as her. Even at twenty-four he still looked like a teenager, smaller and weaker than his other persona.

Silvia's skin was greyed in a way that made it look thicker, more leathery, as if all the blood had been leached from her entire body. An awful hollowness washed over her, the waves of grief threatened to engulf her mind, body and soul. For a moment she saw her own Billy in that corpse... The young twelve year-old that she was so protective over.

"Anyone else?" Kal-El hissed and no one dared say anything.

Silvia wanted to burst through that door and stab that man in the skull, but she was crying so hard that her vision was blurry and her mind was throbbing. She wouldn't be able to get anywhere near him in her current state and she couldn't forgive him, not after this, and so she ran. She ran so far and for so long that she thought her legs might give way beneath her.

It was all pointless though. Superman may not have heard her approaching but the guards had seen her leave. They were following her now, and not only them, but Hawkgirl as well. She could take on the guards easily but her?... No way.

One by one she knocked out the armoured soldiers as they caught up to her but soon enough she couldn't outrun Hawkgirl who was so fast in the air that she was like a mini jet. The flying woman threw her mace at Silvia who barely managed to roll out of its path. One its sharp edges scratched her shoulder, ripping through her shirt and drawing blood. Silvia hissed.

There was no where she could run, so instead she dived for the mace... Hawkgirl got there first. "You're coming back with me." She stated simply, swooping down to grab Silvia's arm.

Before she could be dragged back to the Fortress another voice pierced the air. "Halt, Hawkgirl."

"Diana? What are you doing here?"

"This woman is a traitor. Not only has she spoken out against our cause, she now seeks the refuge of Batman." Her voice boomed strictly, just as loud and strong as Kal-El's. "She has turned against us. If she were anyone else she would have been killed the moment her tyranny started."

"Yes... but Superman gave us orders to capture her unharmed." The girl glanced at the red liquid dripping from Silvia's arm. "Well, almost unharmed."

"I'm well aware of his orders. Unfortunately the councillor isn't in the state of mind to make these decisions on his own. He's blinded by his feelings for our Silvia... but she's dead. This woman is nothing more than a shameless copy."

"Are you sure you're not just upset that he's not rooting you anymore?" The words spat out of Silvia's mouth without any thought to them."I kinda ruined the whole prospect of you being the rebound girl, ay?"

"I am nobody's rebound!" Diana hissed back.

"You are." Silvia replied quickly, but this time there was no bite in her tone. "You've abandoned everything you believed in for some man that can never love you... I thought amazons were above all that."

Diana's teeth bared. "Silence, traitor, or I'll cut out your tongue!"

"Then do it knowing that you are no Amazon princess. You're a fucking coward that bends to the will of a man, not because it's what's best for him, but because you know you'll get him if you go along with it. You're not Diana, you're not even a shadow of the woman she was."

Diana nodded at Hawkgirl who reluctantly released Silvia and stepped aside. For a second she thought maybe Wonder Woman had listened to reason... that is until her fist went whirling into the side of Silvia's face.

The blonde was sent flying backwards, grazing against the ground until her clothes had tatters in the back. It felt like she'd been hit by a train, but somehow survived. The pain was so intense that she wondered if those pills were worth it... if maybe it was easier to die then to feel even half the weight of a punch like that.

Diana cracked her knuckles, muscles rippling beneath the skin of her arms. Silvia's eyes widened as she flew through the air and thumped back down in front of her. A loud ringing noise was produced as the concrete split. "You do not fight back because you know it is pointless."

She backed away frantically, until she felt the cold touch of the brick wall behind her. Dead end. Her throat dried and her body screamed at her to at least try and fight... to die with a little dignity. She refused it. "I don't fight back because I choose not to, Diana."

"Then you are a fool." She brought her fist back up, and with one swift movement, crashed it against her jaw. Silvia felt it move and almost dislocate.

One hit came after another, punches and kicks both. She felt her bones jolt with every hit. One final hit and she was down again, coughing up blood until her teeth, chin and left cheek was colored crimson. She could feel the damage being done and her body frantically trying to heal her before her heart completely gave out. Bruised lung, fractured ribs, broken hip, she could feel it all... but Silvia also knew that had she not taken the damn pill then the first hit would have killed her.

Finally, Wonder Woman unsheathed her sword and started marching towards her. "You are the coward now. You made no attempt to fight for your life even when it was handed to you."

"That isn't cowardice." Silvia gritted her teeth and more blood spilled from her lips. "I would fight almost anyone else, Diana, but never you... You were my fucking inspiration. When I was a child I stupidly wished that I had someone to look up to. Someone to show me that I was not powerless in my situation. Then I heard about you... I saw you in pictures from the old world wars. The first female superhero, but one that took no crap from anybody. Not the government, not men, not other women. You've been around as long as I can remember and I've wanted to be you for most of my life."

Diana's gaze didn't waver. Her hands tightened against the hilt of her blade as she came even closer to Silvia. The blonde sighed, resting her head against the brick wall in defeat as she continued. "No matter how far you've fallen I won't fight you, even if I had the power to win. The idea of you got me through when I thought I was nothing but a piece of trash and you did the same for other little girls, that respect will never disappear. We should be helping one another not ripping at each other's throats."

"You will not sweet talk me, traitor, like you did Kal-El." She growled angrily.

"Is that what this is about? You want to kill me so Superman will look at you again?"Silvia's brow furrowed, voice raspy and broken. "Diana, you never needed Clark. You never needed anybody. With or without him you were an incredible woman... There was a time when you knew that as well."

"This isn't about Kal-El!" The woman yelled and it wasn't clear whether she was lying or not. "This is about the world he is creating."

"A world you would never have agreed to had he not persuaded you." Silvia tried to move but winced at the pain that shot through her body. "To die by your hand would be an honor... if only you were the Diana I remember."

Wonder Woman's face scrunched up in fury. "This ends now."

She raised her sword above her head, and with all of her strength she brought it back down upon Silvia like the wrath of the Gods. Lightening struck somewhere in the distance, either with approval or disapproval for the woman molded from clay and granted her gifts by divine beings. Blood was already stained on her hands, but now another would be added to the innocent people punished for something beyond their control; Richard Grayson 'Nightwing', Oliver Queen 'Green Arrow', Princess Koriand'r 'Starfire', Billy Batson 'Shazam'... and Silvia Stone 'Reaper'.