Chapter Fifty-Four: Reign of the Supermen
'Superman has returned', that's what the reporter had said. Silvia scoffed at the thought. She remembered the aching shock that ran through her body. She remembered her own eyes staring at the television screen, not even daring to blink... and then she remembered the man they had shown, if you could even call him that.
He was massive, his sharp jaw only intensified by the cold metal adorning it. Half of his body was missing and replaced with cybernetics, including his face. Martha had fainted at the sight of it, and Silvia almost joined her.
He looked like Clark... but he wasn't. He couldn't be. There had been many threats since Superman's death, and without him there to stop them thousands of people had died. Maybe even millions. There were projects to build a new hero, one that could equal Superman. Surely this was one of those. Either way Silvia knew it wasn't really him. Clark was dead, she was there. She saw him take his last breath.
Since then there had been two more reports on various Supermen claiming to be Clark. Over time it evolved from being shocking to disrespectful then all the way up to disgusting. Martha and Silvia would watch the news trying to decipher which one of them was the real Superman as if they'd forgotten he had died. It enraged them both.
They stayed in the farm, never once making the trip to Metropolis to see the supposed flock of Kryptonians for themselves. None of them visited, and this only solidified their certainty that none of them were really Clark. Still the longer this charade continued unanswered, the more irritated Silvia became. The name of Superman meant something, Clark had spent years building it up, and now a group of misfits thought they had a right to claim it for themselves.
Silvia had tried to distract herself by learning how to take care of the farm. She did everything that Jonathan use to do, though she wasn't exactly good at it. The dairy cows had kicked her at least a dozen times when she first attempted milking them, and the sheep refused to be herded into their places by her. She was, however, quite skilled at carrying large stacks of hay out to the animals.
The days work had just been completed when she walked in to find the television on again. On the screen were the three people claiming to be Superman; the half robot that was now being called 'Cyborg Superman' (which was the most ridiculous name Silvia had ever heard, by the way), another that looked exactly like Superman but wore a big yellow visor over his eyes named the 'Eradicator', and the last one that went by 'Superboy'. He looked no older than nine, but according to Martha, he looked like Clark when he was young.
Silvia pulled the old straw hat from her head and glared at the images. She wanted to prove that none of them were who they say they were, she wanted to stop the ridiculous amount of coverage this story was getting... and more than any of that, she wanted to get through one day without having to hear about these pretenders.
"Looks like you'd better start packing." Martha said from across the room, gaze fixed on Silvia's expression.
The girl furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"
"You're going back to Metropolis, right?"
Silvia took a deep inhale and shook her head. "No, I'm not. You're one of the only family Clark has left... that I have left... Without Superman around people are dying by the minute. I've got to stay here."
"I can take care of myself." Martha reassured though she didn't quite believe her. "They're impersonating my son. It's insulting to me as much as it is to you. I'll drag you back to the city myself if I have to."
"I might not even be able to do anything about it." Silvia sighed.
"You can. I know you can."
With the sheer amount of confidence that Martha had in her, how could she possibly say no? The elderly woman had helped her pack a few things that night, even storing away a few containers of homemade cookies beneath the few articles of clothing.
She left the very next day, a sorrowful look caught in her expression as the bus pulled away from Smallville. If her life had gone differently, she wouldn't have minded owning a farm of her own...
Silvia had taken a nap on the journey to the city, and when she opened her eyes again she thought that she had caught the wrong bus. Metropolis, Superman's city, had fallen into chaos without him. Shops had their windows boarded up, houses were almost collapsing, and the cemetery was so full now that they were trying to build another. In short, Southside was no longer just a small section of the area... It had now extended its talons to the rest of the city.
Silvia was surprised to see that Clark's apartment was still standing, though now it was plagued by vermin and looked similarly broken down as her old place. Technically, the apartment was still being rented under Clark's name so it wasn't too hard to get it back. She had been paying for it since Clark's death, despite moving away she could never bring herself to let someone else live there.
The wind crept up her shirt and laid goosebumps across her skin. She shivered, it seemed like even the weather had been effected by Superman's death. She rolled her shoulders in a failed attempt to halt the numb feeling seeping through her shoulder blades, but before she could even calculate whether this had helped or not, she felt her jean pocket shift.
Her gaze quickly darted around to see someone beginning to run away, her wallet grasped tightly in their hand. Silvia's reaction was immediate. She dropped her luggage in front of the staircase and bolted in the opposite direction. They didn't have a chance at outrunning her, and soon she had grabbed their arm and yanked them backwards.
The man's red hair shuffled out of his face, and when Silvia twisted his arm in a sickening direction she could see his eyes brim with tears and fear. He yelled out in agony, punching his free hand against the concrete to try and distract himself from the pain. "L-Let me go!" He cried out. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"
"You didn't mean to steal my wallet?" Silvia scoffed, shifting position until she could see his face completely under the flickering lamp light. He had big brown eyes, the kind that feigned innocence, and still carried a little baby weight around his cheeks. "You're... just a kid."
"I-I'm Sixteen..." He gasped through his fear. "I didn't w-want to do it but I had no other choice. My sister, she needs to eat..."
Silvia let go of his arm, grabbing hold of his collar instead. She took her wallet back but didn't once break eye contact with him. "We always have a choice. Next time you think of doing something stupid, be ready to face the consequences for it."
The boy nodded desperately and Silvia, very reluctantly, let him go. She growled to herself as she watched him sprint away. Crime was at an all time high. Without Superman to stop them criminals became bolder than before, and eventually took control of the entire city. The only money to be made now was through illegal actions, not through honest work.
The blonde gave a heavy sigh as she continued back towards her bag. Instantly she felt tense, like someone would walk up behind her and slit her throat or something. This wasn't a new feeling by any means, growing up in Southside made sure of that, but it was something Silvia had hoped to never experience again.
The apartment was exactly how she had left it, which made the whole situation even more unbearable. Clark's clothes were still hanging up and waiting to be worn, his coat was draped over the couch, and his notepad full of quotes for the Daily Planet sat untouched on the table. Silvia threw her luggage onto the floor, trying to avoid looking at any corner of the room for too long.
She found the remote control discarded on the couch cushions and she tried to forget how she'd tossed it over there in frustration during her fight with Clark. Thankfully, she knew she wouldn't be spending much time there... Her underground lair, the one she had still not yet named, would become her more permanent residence.
Silvia had just started unpacking when she spotted the television screen in her line of sight, they were covering a story from downtown Metropolis where a group of people were being held hostage. The girl quickly unbuttoned the top layer of her clothes, revealing her old costume beneath it. She hadn't worn it for a while and she was only now becoming aware of how tight and itchy it was. She grabbed her mask from the bottom of her bag, and without a second of delay, she rushed out of the apartment window.
An office tower in the lower Tomorrow District was the scene of the commotion. Squad cars were piled upon the structure on each side, and police officers flooded the immediate area. Silvia watched from the top of a work crane perched on the construction site across the street. She knew that there weren't many ways inside now that the cops had it under tight wraps... So, the only entrance involved an insane jump. Unfortunately, she didn't have access to a grapple gun or anything, but she did have some degree of durability.
Reaper inhaled sharply, clenched her fists, and shot forward down the arm of the crane like a bullet. She pushed herself harder and harder until the crane ended and the open air greeted her. With an incredible thrust, Silvia propelled herself off of the machine and over the street. Her bound managed to clear the gap, and she barrelled through the glass window with startling force.
She landed with a roll and instantly brought a pistol up. Her eyes and gun swerved around the room to make sure it was clear. It wasn't long before she heard the crackle of a voice several rooms away saying "What the fuck was that? I thought the cops were down to negotiate..."
A tinny voice from a handheld radio answered. "They are. Probably a cape."
"Oh goddammit...of course."
"You're just two floors down from us, don't let them get up here. I'm sending backup."
Silvia slinked up behind the closed door and pressed her ear against it. Steady footsteps drew closer to her room, and when they were directly in front of the wooden door, Silvia reeled back then rammed her shoulder into the door.
She and the door were sent flying into the corridor with a crack, easily toppling the lone soldier. Smiling after seeing the guy unconscious under the solid wood, she bolted for the stairwell before anyone else on this level could even notice what happened. The two floors were nothing for her to ascend in seconds. Not wanting to waste any more time. Silvia brought her two energy pistols up and kicked in the next wooden barrier.
She saw a group of office workers grouped up on the floor, hands behind their heads. Standing amongst them were five armed men, none of which reacting in time. With minimal effort and her guns on low power, Silvia capped each of them with a single shot each. As they fell unconcious, she felt fairly underwhelmed. "Amateurs..."
A hostage trembled to his feet. "T-The leader went to the roof; they took some of us with them!"
"Ah shit. Make sure your buddies don't go anywhere." Silvia ordered, spinning back around and slipping into the stairwell once more. Before too long, she reached the roof and came out with her guns ready to fire.
"Don't fucking move!!" One of the criminals screamed at her, holding a hostage tightly in his grasp with a pistol pressed against her temple. Silvia kept the guy in her sights despite his warning. Behind him was a helicopter, undoubtedly sent by the police as a term of releasing the hostages. The man shouted over the chopper once more. "I'll fucking kill her, lady! I'll do it if you don't back the fuck up!"
"Come on man...just...come on!" Silvia conceded, lowering her guns.
"That's all you have to say?!" He laughed and backed up towards the chopper.He forced the hostage inside, snarling like an animal.
Silvia gritted her teeth. "Fucking asshole..."
She watched the helicopter slowly and surely take into the sky. Just as it was about to spear off into the sky, a heart-stopping impact engulfed the air with a tremendous bang. A red and blue missile slammed into the nose of the craft, crushing it like cardboard.
The pilot, either dead or severely injured, ceased steering and the chopper began to spiral downwards until it was caught...by Superman. Silvia's grimace didn't disappear. He lowered the wreck to the roof, showing no regard for the lives inside as he dropped it like a rock. Not even Wonder Woman showed that level of brutal disregard for life.
This Superman sent his eyes to Silvia, not even checking on the hostage inside.Half of his body was replaced by chrome silver metal, and only one quarter of his face wasn't robotic. Silvia was shocked because he looked just like Clark...his one eye was unmistakable. It was as blue as she remembered it. The shifting of pistons and servos distracted her, but that wasn't the thing that bothered her. It was his blatant carelessness. This wasn't Clark.
Silvia saw the woman crawl free from the crash, fear in her eyes as she glanced at this Cyborg Superman.
"Get back downstairs, alright?" Reaper told her, eyes unmoving from Cyborg Superman. The woman didn't object and vanished like a wisp. No one was ever that afraid of Superman... Just more evidence that this terrifying being wasn't him. "What is it you're saying to people? That you've been rebuilt?"
The Cyborg's eye narrows. His other eye was blood red, glowing brightly. "It's the truth. The White House believes it. So should you." His voice was almost Clark's...but it was strange, slightly digitised.
"Why don't you remember me then?" Silvia pressed, not buying his act for a second.
His fierce stare didn't relent, even for a second. "My memory is...fuzzy."
"Nice try. I don't buy it. Not if you keep endangering lives like that...wearing his symbol...his face. You're spitting on his grave." She growled.
The Cyborg's stare only grew in intensity, like he was ready to pop Silvia like a balloon. He definitely exerted the same level of strength that Superman had. "I am Superman. And I'm more efficient than I ever was before."
Without thinking, Silvia's right hand whipped out with a hook to the Cyborg's jaw. This was the nail in the coffin for Silvia's doubts. Her fist slammed against the man's unmoving chin, causing a clean snap of her wrist.Not reacting from the pain, Silvia simply frowned. "You aren't. Not even close."
Clark would never do that. He always shifted to prevent things like this happening. He'd move with the blow, dodge the attack to ensure the person didn't hurt themselves. This thing didn't even budge at all; it was like punching a solid brick wall.
The Cyborg stared at her, even his single blue eye was empty of emotion. He looked at her, but he didn't see her. He might have claimed to be Superman, but he could never be Clark... and that was enough to confirm that he was a fake.