3 Years Later…
The elevator doors dinged as they opened to the top floor of a building. I walked out from the elevator with several other people and smiled seeing a familiar face waiting.
"Morning Mr. Fox." I greeted.
Fox smiled back, "Good morning and thank you for agreeing to come by last minute. We're trying to launch Wayne Enterprises' new branch here in Metropolis City. We're having some difficulties with the Technologies Department here however. The board is hoping you can help solve that matter." Fox clarified as I walked down the hall with him.
I grinned, "I'll see what I can do. Hey, by the way did you see what weird broadcast that happened last night?" I asked in a quieter tone.
Fox nodded, "Quite eerie isn't it? Here I was beginning to think meta-humans would be the only thing walking amongst us. Now the list can include aliens." I chuckled and paid attention ahead as we neared the glass doors.
"It was bound to happen at some point. I've fought with and against aliens where I'm from. Let's hope that this one is on our side." I stated and opened the glass door to the conference room.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the board. Let's get started, shall we?" Fox greeted everyone. He took his spot at the head of the table and I took the empty seat next to him.
"Before we get into the nitty and gritty we need to go over numbers. The new branch here in Metropolis has been taken off better than we had predicted. Now there ar-" I spaced out what Fox was saying as I turned my head to the right to look at the glass windows.
My eyes narrowed at something massive descending from the sky. I slowly sat up from my spot and walked over to the glass. I've seen my fair share of alien tech and that thing is most definitely alien.
"What in God's name is that?" I heard Fox's voice whisper from next to me. I turned my head to see the other board members also staring at it in concern.
I looked back at the alien tech, "Something to do regarding the aliens of last night's broadcast." I muttered just loud enough for him to hear. A beam suddenly shot out from the massive machine that caused the earth under us to quake. I could see dust and debris fly from the impact of that beam. This was not good.
"Everyone out of the building! Do not take the elevators, take the stairs! Go! Now!" I yelled as I turned around. The other board members didn't argue and quickly fled for the doors. I walked over to the fire alarm and tripped it.
Once the board left the room I hit my bracelet and the Voltess suit grew around my body.
"Fox, you too. You need to get out of here." I ordered the man through the voice synthesizer in my suit.
Fox shook his head, "I'm not leaving until I know for certain everyone in this building is out." I let out a huff.
"Get down to the other floors and get people down the stairwell. I'll be back for you once everyone's out." Another shake came from the ground below.
"We don't have much time, go!" I ordered. I ran and jumped through the glass of the building. I landed on my board and flew down to the ground below.
Some people were panicking and running, others pulled out their phones to record what was going on. My eyes landed on some police officers and firefighters that arrived nearby. I flew down to their location.
"These people need to get out of the streets! Start funneling them down to the subways! It's safer to be underground then above right now!" I yelled to the first responders.
The cops looked at me confused, "Who the hell are you to order us around?" One of them asked. Right, I'm not in Gotham. These guys have no idea who I am.
I heard a scream come from behind me. I looked over just as a car got flung in our direction. Blue electricity crackled from my hands. I sent both hands forward as a stream shot forward and engulfed the car. My board moved backwards slightly from the momentum of the car. I set the car back down harmlessly on the ground. I looked back over at the officer. His jaw was slack before he turned around.
"You heard her! Get these people down to the subways and out of the street!" Huh…so this is how Cap must have felt back then. I looked back over at the machine with narrowed eyes. This was the Battle of New York all over again but this time there's no Avengers to fight this.
"Mel, you have an incoming call from Mr. Wayne." Athena's voice sounded in my ears.
"Answer it." The active call screen appeared on the bottom left corner of my lenses.
"Mel! Please tell me you are out of the building!" I heard Bruce's frantic voice on the other line.
"I pulled the fire alarm and Fox is making sure people are evacuating. I'm clearing the street right now. Bruce, stay in Gotham. It's way too dangerous." I shot another stream of electricity at flying debris that came hurtling towards the people below.
"It's a little late for that. I took the company's helicopter as soon as I saw it on the news. I'm headed to the building now." I cursed silently.
"You don't have your suit, Bruce! You could get hurt!" I argued with him.
"I'm not letting my wife handle this alone!" He shouted back at me. The phone line then began to crackle.
"Bruce? Bruce, can you hear me?" I called out. No response and the call dropped.
"There's been damage to the satellite. All communication is currently down." Athena informed me.
"Damnit." I looked away from the machine and I could see the last few people from the building funnel out. That should be it.
"Athena, locate Fox!" I ordered and flew back up to the building. Athena scanned through my lenses until it stopped on one of the floors.
"He's on the 56th floor." I flew towards the building and crashed through the window.
"Everyone's out. Your turn." I said as I stepped off my board.
Fox nodded, "I've had my fill of excitement for one day." He said light heartedly.
That's when I suddenly felt nothing. The ground wasn't shaking anymore and the vibrations in the air stopped. I hesitantly walked back to the glass. My feet crunching on the broken glass on the carpet. I watched as something hit the machine to form what looked like a black hole that sucked it up.
I narrowed my eyes seeing two figures collide in the air and hurtle towards a building.
"Athena, can you give me a visual?" My vision zoomed in on the figures. They appeared to look like men. One had a dark outfit on and the other a red and blue one with a red cape attached to it. They both had these symbols on their chests. Those are the aliens.
My eyes widened as I noticed they were heading straight for the building we were in. I backed up and hurried over to Fox. I stumbled forward as I felt the impact of them colliding into the floors just below us.
"We need to go now." I walked to Fox and grabbed him by his wrist. An orange beam suddenly shot through the floor. I instinctually pulled Fox behind me and lifted my arm to protect my face as the beam headed in my direction.
I waited for the pain but to my shock the vibranium reflected the orange beam away. The beam stopped and I looked down at my arm. That was just like what happens when Tony uses his blasters on Cap's shield. I looked up at hearing a cracking sound. Not good, the building's collapsing. I quickly got on my board and put Fox's arm around my shoulder and my arm around his waist.
"Hold on tight!" I yelled and shot off just as the roof above us collapsed.
I flew out from the building as it began to collapse forward. I looked down to see several people still down in the street. I looked at Fox.
"Do you trust me?!" He stared at me for a moment before nodding. I grabbed one of my magnetic disks and clipped it to his belt. I grabbed one of my repellent disks and threw it down at a nearby lamp post. I sent a bolt of electricity and threw Fox in the direction.
Blue electricity shot up to the magnetic disk attached to Fox and he hovered in the air with the electricity surrounding him.
"Athena, forward all the suit's powers to my hands! I'm not letting another building collapse on innocent people!" I ordered as I shot down to race the falling building.
A diagram of my suit showed up on my lenses and electricity crackled and sparked around my gloves and arms. That beam that hit my suit earlier had seriously charged it. Not as much as Thor's lightning would do but enough.
I flew far enough down and shot all of my power to the top half of the building above. My blue electricity spread around the building like wildfire. I let out a cry as I felt the weight of the building push me down. I clenched my teeth as I sent more electricity through my arms. I began to stall the fall of the building. The people below that were screaming and ducking for cover were now watching me intensely.
"Everyone get out from under here! Now!" My voice boomed out from Athena boosting the microphone. In an instant people began to scramble to get out of the direct path of the building.
"Mel, you're losing charge and fast." Athena warned.
"I just need to hold it a little longer!" I grunted out. I could feel the strain on my body as I pulsed more electricity to the building above. I watched as the last of the people got clear of the direct path.
"Athena, get ready to transfer power to the board!" I canceled my electricity above and began to fly down and out from below the building.
Just as I was about to make it out, a piece of rubble knocked my board out from under me. My body turned up as I looked at the rubble coming towards me in slow motion. I recalled my board but it was too late. A piece of concrete slam into my abdomen. I let out a cry held onto my board with my arms. The ruble fell around me and I came to a sudden stop.
I let out a groan and clutched at my abdomen. That could have been worse without the vibranium protecting me. My insides would be mush. I looked around as the debris settled. I was in a small pocket with the remains of the building surrounding me.
I looked up, "Athena, find me a weak point to bust out of here." I ordered out of breath.
"Directly above. There's a small gap where the structure is at its weakest." I ignored the cramping sensation coming from my abdomen as I crawled on top of my board.
"Power up the thrusters on the board." The hover technology installed below my board began to lift me up. I sent the remaining of my power to my left hand. I threw a bolt out and had my board carry me out of the opening I created.
I could see people surrounding the ruble and looked at me in awe and relief. My eyes fell on Bruce's from the crowd. He had a look of panic and worry on his face. He could see that I was hurt.
"Athena, engage autopilot. Get me out of here." I said weakly as the cramping got worse in my abdomen.
"Right away." Athena took automated control of the board and I held on with one hand as my trusted AI flew me away.
Athena flew me over to a nearby alley and I rolled onto the ground. My back leaned up against the building wall. I tapped my bracelet and let my suit disappear back into the bracelet.
I soon heard pounding footsteps, "Melody!" Bruce's voice yelled out. I turned my head to the side seeing him sprint down the alley. He slowed down and kneeled down next to me and immediately put his hands on my face.
"Where are you hurt?" He asked in concern.
"A piece of concrete hit my abdomen." I winced as the cramping sensation was back.
"Athena read me vitals." Bruce ordered the AI.
"Blood pressure and pulse are high. Contusion detected at the lower abdominal area." Athena's voice came from my bracelet.
Bruce looked down and I saw him freeze, "What?" I was almost afraid to know.
Bruce turned back to me, "Mel, you're bleeding." My eyes widened and I looked down and sure enough I saw a small trail of blood on my exposed ankle from the lifted pant leg.
Bruce put an arm under my legs and one around my back, "We're getting you checked out." He said with urgency in his voice. He easily lifted me up in his arms and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he hurriedly carried me out of the alley.
I was currently in a hospital bed with an IV in my arm and a fluid bag running through it. I refused to have the heart monitor on considering they'd be alarmed of how fast my heart rate is. My abdomen still hurt and cramped but it was duller now thanks to some pain pills the nurse gave me earlier.
Bruce was sitting at the side of the bed with both hands clasping one of mine. He hadn't really spoken since the doctor left after tests were taken. He was deep in thought and I couldn't tell what. I did notice that he'd occasionally look at the tv that had Metropolis' news station on. He glared at it particularly when they showed the alien that the world was calling Superman appeared on it. He was angry no…furious at what happened.
A knock sounded on the wooden door to the private hospital room. Bruce stood up as the doctor walked in. He had a glum expression on his face.
"Mr. and Mrs. Wayne, I wish I had good news to share." He started off.
"What's wrong with my wife?" Bruce demanded. He didn't want the sugar coated version.
The doctor shook his head, "Mrs. Wayne is just fine. Her internal organs are intact and we didn't see any damage on the ultrasound we took." I could see the relief spread on Bruce's face.
"How is that not good news?" I asked warily. Bruce glanced at me before back at the doctor.
A look of realization hit the doctor's face, "Neither of you knew…" He trailed off.
"Know what?" Bruce asked with an edge to his voice.
"Mrs. Wayne…you were four weeks pregnant." My body went numb, "The trauma you took to your abdominal area was too much. Your body forced a miscarriage. I'm prescribing you a medication to help your body fully pass the miscarriage. You'll continue to have some cramping and bleeding up to two weeks after a miscarriage is normal. I'm sorry for your loss." I stared at my hands in my lap. I was pregnant? How could I have not noticed?
"Mel?" Bruce said gently. He knelt down by the bed and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"I didn't know." I whispered. I felt Bruce squeeze my hand.
"We both didn't know." He corrected and his thumb gently stroked my hand.
"If I knew I wouldn't have done-" I couldn't finish the sentence and I placed a hand over my mouth. Tears welled up in my eyes and my body shook.
Bruce immediately sat next to me on the bed and pulled me against him, "I know, Mel. I know you wouldn't have done what you did if you knew. I would have never let you come here in the first place if I knew. I wouldn't have wanted you out of my sight." Bruce whispered and rubbed my arm and kissed the side of my head.
I leaned against Bruce and clutched at his vest, "We were going to be parents." I trembled against my husband, "I lost our baby." A sob came through me. Bruce held me tighter to him.
"It's not your fault, Mel." He assured me. I felt him lift up his head, "This is not your fault." He repeated but with an anger to his voice.
18 Months Later
I let out a huff as I stared at the test in my hands. Negative. I threw it in the trash and walked out of the bathroom. I walked over to the bust that sat on a pedestal. I pushed in the two eyes and the hidden door opened to reveal the elevator down to the Batcave.
I walked onto the elevator and pressed the button. The secret door closed and the elevator traveled down.
"So last night was productive?" I heard Alfred say as the elevator came to a stop.
"Nope. He's too low level, he knew nothing." I heard Bruce reply back, "This is a man who knows things. Anatoli Knyazev. He's Russian. Contracts all over the globe but he's based out of the port of Gotham. Weapons and human trafficking." Bruce stated.
"So, the White Portuguese is a Russian, that's the theory?" Alfred asked.
"No, the theory is that he'll lead us to the man himself." I spoke up as I walked in. Bruce and Alfred turned to me. I grabbed the glass of whiskey that Alfred just poured.
Bruce grimaced seeing me take a sip, "Negative again?" I nodded and set down the now empty glass.
"We'll keep trying, Mel. It has to happen eventually." Bruce comforted me and walked over to me. He placed his hands on my upper arms.
I gave a sigh, "That's the eighth negative test in the past span of months, Bruce. I'm getting ready to throw in the towel and accept that it might not happen again at all." Bruce gave a comforting smile and gently kissed me on my forehead.
"It's up to you, Mel. We can keep trying or we can take a break and try again at a later time." I let out a sigh.
"Easy for you to say, men aren't on a biological clock." I reminded him and walked past him to the monitors.
"Plenty of women are having children much older than yourself, madam. You're only thirty-five, you still have plenty of time." I smiled at Alfred.
"Thank you, Alfred." Bruce gave me a look.
"Oh so when Alfred mentions that he gets a 'thank you'. I mentioned it two weeks ago and you about bit my head off." I grinned in amusement and shrugged.
"Well, he's Alfred and you're you." Bruce rolled his eyes. I pulled up the hologram and swiped through the information. I stopped at the new article that read "Another Criminal Branded by the Bat".
I turned my head to Bruce who held an impassive look on his face, "Again? This is the second guy you've branded. You do realize the first guy you did this to was killed in prison for that mark."
"It's none of my concern what happens inside prisons. He was a child predator. He deserved what he got." I frowned at Bruce.
"Are you hearing yourself right now? Batman doesn't kill!"
"I didn't kill him." Bruce snapped at me.
"No, but you might as well have. Bruce, you are playing judge, jury, and executioner right now and it's leading you down a dangerous path. You need to stop this branding criminals thing or it's going to attract something big your way." My bracelet suddenly beeped causing me to look down at it. Martin's calling.
"I gotta go. We're not done talking about this." I whispered to him and pointed a finger at his chest. I went to walk away but Bruce pulled me back and kissed me fully on the lips.
"I love you." He said as he pulled back.
I huffed and gave him a smile, "You can't keep doing that and expect it to work every time." Bruce smirked.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He feigned innocence.
I rolled my eyes and placed a kiss on his cheek, "Love you, bye." I told him and walked off towards the main hub of the cave.
"Love you too, bye." He called out.
"You see it?" I heard Martin's voice in my ear. I looked down below to see the car chase happening.
"I see it." A lot has happened since that night with Joker. Martin was promoted from Detective to Lieutenant over the years. Blake had once again left Gotham City. It was too dangerous for him to stay while Joker knew his secret identity as Robin. It just put him more at risk. We still keep in touch with him from time to time.
"They just robbed Gotham City Bank. They're armed, Voltess. Heavily." Martin warned.
"Noted. Keep your men on standby. I'll stop them." I flew down to the road below. Flying over people's heads as they stared and pointed.
"Yeah, get'em Voltess!" I heard a random man shout.
Ever since what happened in Metropolis, Voltess has gotten more attention now. Global attention. Someone had recorded me on their phone stopping the half of the Wayne Enterprises building from falling onto the civilians below. It was a bittersweet moment of my life that was recorded. This world now knew about Voltess, not just Gotham but that was also the worst day of my life.
It took me months after that day to mentally recover. I blamed myself for being so reckless and it cost me dearly. Bruce never once blamed me for the loss of our child. Instead, he blamed him…Superman. If Superman had never happened then I would never had miscarried and now eighteen months later we would have had our son or daughter with us. I've tried to tell Bruce it wasn't Superman's fault but that advice fell on deaf ears.
I've been in Superman's shoes. After the Battle of New York it was the Avengers that were called into question about all the casualties. We did our best but the world didn't care about that. It wasn't enough…it was never enough. I can't bring myself to blame a man that did his best to save his home from aliens that threatened it.
Once I stopped beating myself up about the miscarriage, I then told Bruce I wanted to try. He was more than thrilled to start a family. We've been trying for nine months now and it hasn't been happening. It's incredibly discouraging.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when one of the bank robbers aimed his assault rifle at me from the back seat. I shot a stream of electricity forward that gripped the gun. I clenched my fist and the gun crumpled in on itself.
I charged a bolt of electricity and sent it flying to one of the tires. The blow caused the hubcap to shoot off and the entire tire to roll away. The car swerved onto its side and was heading straight for pedestrians on the sidewalk.
I sped up my board and jumped off. I threw a magnetic disk that clipped onto a street lamp. My feet landed on the roof of the car and I sent an electrical current through my hands and feet. The blue electricity connected to the metal disk and I hovered with the car in mid air over the pedestrians.
I grunted as I pulled back my arms and made the weight of the car flip back onto its tires. The robbers quickly got out of the vehicle and pointed their guns at me and began firing.
I huffed behind my mask and stayed still as the bullets were smashed against the vibranium.
"Guys, guys. Come on, we need to talk about this. This isn't working out. It's not me," I quipped and spread my hands out as electricity engulfed the robbers, "It's you." I brought my hands together and the three men smacked together now magnetized.
I ended my stream and placed them on the trunk of the car, "Great talk guys." I joked and hopped off of the roof of the car as Martin and his men pulled up. I had attracted a crowd at this point. I ignored the crowd and walked up to Martin.
"Nice work as always, Voltess. I think you managed to attract a bigger crowd this time." I chuckled and looked around.
"I've been noticing that." I watched as Martin's men worked together to get the robbers off the trunk of the car. I held my hand up and my magnetic disk flew back to my palm.
"So huh, how's the side project been going?" Martin hinted at. I gave him a look under my mask even though he couldn't see it.
"Still nothing?" I shook my head. Martin patted me on the shoulder, "Hang in there. Who knows, it might happen after you stop trying."
"Maybe. How's your side project been going?" Right, I should probably mention Martin and his wife had a kid of their own four years ago. A little girl who was three now approaching four.
"Great, I'm building a treehouse in the backyard currently for her." I grinned under my mask.
"Oh yeah? I didn't take you as a handyman." Martin shrugged and showed me his bandaged hands.
"I'm learning. I need to process these guys back at the station. I'll see you around." I patted Martin on the back as he headed back for his car. I pressed the button on my control panel to recall my board.
I took a single step onto my board, "Voltess!" I stopped hearing a deep voice. I removed my foot from my board and turned around.
A 6'1" man with short black hair, blue eyes, black framed glasses, wearing brown khaki pants, with a dark button up shirt and tie with a green jacket over it approached me.
"Can I help you?" I asked through my voice synthesizer. The man tilted his head.
"A voice changer. You really go all out to protect your identity." I rolled my eyes behind my mask. No duh.
"That's kind of the point. Who are you supposed to be?" I asked him.
"I'm Clark Kent. I'm a reporter with The Daily Planet. I was hoping I could ask you a few questions?" Clark asked.
I frowned under my mask, "I don't talk to reporters." I answered and went to turn around.
"I just want to know your opinion on Gotham's Bat." I froze and looked over my shoulder.
"Alright, you have my attention Clark. What about Batman?" Clark grabbed a notepad from his side bag and a pen. I was hoping I wasn't going to regret this.
"I've talked to everyday people in Gotham. Good people are scared that they're next. He's been branding his victims and that leads to a death sentence in jail. He's pretending to be the justice system without having a proper trial." Damnit Bruce, this is what I was talking about! A reporter noticed it and is asking questions. I need to get him to knock off that damn branding.
"Good people have nothing to fear from Batman. He's only after the corrupt and wicked of Gotham City. As for the branding, I've been trying to get him to stop that new habit of his." Clark tilted his head curiously.
"Why would the Bat listen to you?" Okay, now I've had enough of answering his questions.
"Look up some Gotham history and you'll see. You're a reporter aren't you? I'm sure you can do a little digging." I stepped back onto my board, "Let's not meet again Clark." I sent a pulse down to my board and flew off.
AN: Finally made it to Batman V Superman. I want to point out that the Batman in this is still the Christian Bale version of Batman. Not Ben Affleck's. That version of Batman is supposed to be in his late 40's almost early 50's. Bruce Wayne is only 37 in this. I'm hope everyone is liking this story so far. Feel free to leave a review and let me know. It really helps :)