I watched from the shadows of LexCorp as Luthor interacted with Lois. My eyes glanced up to the night sky seeing Gotham in the distance. The familiar bat symbol visible in the night sky. Bruce had lit the bat signal to lure in Superman it looks like.
I didn't listen much to what Luthor was talking about. It all sounded like nonsense anyway. The constant rambling about random topics he gets on. I about gave away my position when Luthor pushed Lois off of the roof. Then I saw a flash of red and blue. Should have known he'd show up.
Luthor seemed almost giddy seeing Superman swoop in to save Lois. His dug in his pocket and took out a kitchen timer. His hands fidget with it as he took a seat on the roof. Seconds later, Superman appeared just above him.
"Boy, do we have problems up here! The problem of-of evil in the world. Uh problem of absolute virtue." Luthor rambled on. He turned the dial on the kitchen timer and stood up. The only problem I see right now is him.
"I'll take you in without breaking you. Which is more than you deserve." I'll gladly break him…and zap him.
"The problem of you on top of everything else. You above all. Ah, 'cause that's what God is. Horus. Apollo. Jehovah. Kal-El." Superman slowly descended until his feet met the roof. Him and Luthor continued to get closer to the other.
"Clark Joseph Kent." Superman stopped as he stared at the crazed man. He didn't know Luthor knew about him.
"See. What we call God depends upon our tribe, Clark Jo. Because God is tribal. God takes sides. No man in the sky intervened when I was a boy to deliver me from Daddy's fist and abominations. Mm mm." I frowned at that. Luthor's father beat him as a child?
"I've figured it out way back, if God is all powerful, he cannot be all good. And if he's all good then he cannot be all powerful. And neither can you be. They need to see the fraud you are. With their eyes. The blood on your hands." Luthor held up his bandaged hand.
"What have you done?" Superman asked.
"Hmm. And tonight they will. Yes. Because you, my friend, have a date!" Luthor walked past Superman and pointed to the bat signal in the sky.
"Across the bay. Ripe fruit, his hate. Two years growing. But it did not take much to push him over actually. Little red notes, big bang. You let your family die!" Luthor exclaimed and clapped his hands.
I glared intensely at Luthor from my spot as he spoke. I was right, Luthor did forward the checks to himself to write those messages. Keefe's apartment was staged, he had vandalized the apartment to frame Keefe.
"And now, you will fly to him, and you will battle him…to the death. Black and blue. Fight night! The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world. God vs man." Thunder rumbled in the sky above Gotham, "Day vs night. Son of Krypton vs Bat of Gotham." Luthor stated.
"You think I'll fight him for you?" The way Superman was talking about fighting Batman was different now. Had Lois said something to him?
"Yes, I do. I think you'll fight, fight, fight for that special lady in your life." What was he talking about? Lois was just saved.
"She's safe on the ground. How about you?" Luthor shook his head.
"Close, but I'm not talking about Lois." Luthor walked by Superman again, "No. Every boy's special lady is his mother." Luthor turned back around as Superman stared at him in disbelief.
Luthor let out a gasp and showed polaroid's to Superman. Those made Superman freeze in his tracks. I stared at Superman in slight shock. He had a mother here on earth? Bruce was wrong about him. Superman is just as much of a man as he is. Clark Kent has a mother and he has a significant other that he'd do anything to keep safe. Superman isn't pretending to be human…he is one.
"Martha, Martha, Martha." Martha Kent. So that's Superman's mothers name. She shares the same name as Martha Wayne. Then again, how common of a name was Martha back in the 50's? Fairly common I think.
"The mother of a flying demon must be a witch. The punishment for witches, what is that? That's right. Death by fire." Luthor taunted and threw the polaroid's at Superman.
Superman kneeled down and picked up one of the pictures. My heart felt heavy seeing him break down. I'm sure I would feel the same way if a villain had taken my mother to use against me. Superman's body then began to shake in rage.
"Where is she?!" He yelled with his eyes glowing red.
"I don't know! I wouldn't let them tell me! If you kill me, Martha dies. And if you fly away, Martha also dies. But if you kill the Bat…Martha lives." My hands clenched into fists and my jaw tightened. I was right about Luthor's plan. He wanted Superman to kill Batman or vise versa or both of them. Superman's eyes ceased their glowing and he lowered his head in defeat.
"There we go. There we go. And now God, bends to my will." Superman looked back up to glare at Luthor.
I could hear a chopper approaching the roof. That must be his ride out of here.
"Now the cameras are waiting at your ship. For the world to see the holes in the holy. Yes, the all mighty comes clean about how dirty he is when it counts. To save Martha, bring me the head of the Bat. Mother of God, would you look at the time." He stared at the kitchen timer. The helicopter landed behind him.
"When you came here, you had an hour. Now it's less." Luthor began to back to the chopper.
I took that as my moment to show myself. I shot a bolt at the helicopter and the engine immediately cut out and the blades slowed down. Luthor stopped seeing the blue electricity crackle around the helicopter.
"You're not leaving. At least not yet." I announced as I walked forward. Luthor turned his head to me and a grin appeared on his face as he chuckled.
"Voltess, Voltess, Voltess! I hadn't the slightest clue that you were here! Let me guess. You learned that little trick from the hubby right? One with the shadows. Very dramatic." He backed up slightly as I continued to approach him.
I let my mask drop to below my chin revealing my face to Luthor and Superman. My eyes glanced at Superman who slowly began to stand back up. His eyes stayed on me.
"Or should I say Melody Wayne. You know, when I found out the truth about it…I was actually shocked. Pun intended. Then I started digging deeper. All of your records as Melody Wayne are only five years old. Birth certificate, social, degrees. That's it. It's almost as if you suddenly just…poof! Appeared." Luthor gestured with his hands to me, "You, Voltess, are a complete mystery!" He pointed at me. I came to stop just in front of Superman.
"Go. I'll be right behind you." Luthor grinned and tilted his head.
"You do know he will be killing your husband tonight, correct? Trouble in paradise?" I ignored Luthor and kept my gaze on Superman.
"Clark, trust me. Go." I pleaded with him. Superman slowly nodded and bounded off the roof towards Gotham. I turned my attention back to Luthor.
"I'll admit Luthor. Quite the elaborate plan you came up with here." I began as I circled around him, "You know you don't have the means to take on Superman but you knew somebody that did. Batman. So you pit the heroes against each other. See who destroys the other or rather hoping to see them destroy each other." I stopped my circling and face Luthor.
"Except I've seen this plan before. Baron Zemo. That's the man that did it first. I didn't see it back then because I was one of the heroes targeted in his plan. I had no idea I was being manipulated until it was too late. The damage was done." I shook my head as I glared at the small man in front of me.
"But this time is different. This time I can recognize the man behind the curtain pulling the strings." I took steps towards Luthor. He shook his head with a smirk on his face.
"That's only half of the plan, Voltess." I immediately froze mid step, "Gold star on figuring it out this far, but I have a second verse coming up. You won't know that second verse until after Superman brings me the Bat's head or…" He trailed off. My eyes followed him as he paced.
"I'll make an exception just for you, Voltess. I know the Bat took the crystal and I know he's probably fashioned a weapon out of it. You and the Bat kill Superman and bring me back his head instead. Either way, it's a win-win scenario for me." I glared at the man.
"No deal. I can bring you in right now!" I growled out.
"Ah ah ah!" Luthor yelled as I took another step. He held out his phone, "You come another step closer and I will give the call to end Martha Kent's life." My upper lip moved from the anger building up in me.
"That's better. Now, be a dear and undo whatever it was you did to my ride. Then you can go play hero with the others." I begrudgingly sent a spark to the helicopter and the blades began to whirl back to life.
Luthor gave a smirk before climbing into the helicopter, "Tick tock, Voltess. That's the sound of your husband's life running out." I unhooked my board from my belt and jumped off the edge of LexCorp.
My mask formed back around my face as I landed on my board. My electricity crackled under the board as I continued to dive. I need to stop them before it goes too far. I can stop Bruce myself but Clark not so much. The only person that could get him to stop is… A light bulb went off in my head. Lois. She could get him to stop!
"Athena, call Lois!" I yelled. Athena connected the call and seconds later, Lois answered.
"Mel! Clark told me what happened!" Lois immediately stated.
"Where are you?" I asked.
"I'm in a cab headed to Gotham. Why?" She was already planning on heading over there.
"Get out and tell me what street you're on. I'm picking you up. Bruce and Clark need to be stopped before they kill each other. I can stop Batman but I can't stop Superman." I informed her.
"But I can." She whispered into the phone.
"Exactly. Lois, we are the only two people in the world that can stop them. Now. Get out of the cab. I can get us there quicker than any car." I repeated to her.
"I'm on the corner of 9th and Central." Athena pulled up the GPS coordinates on my lenses.
"Got it. Heading there now." I bent backwards as I grabbed the back of the board as I took a sharp turn. Now I just need to hope Lois and I will get there in time.
No One's P.O.V
Batman stood in the rain as thunder and lightning crashed over head. He donned the new metal suit that had bits of the green rock incorporated into it. This suit was by far the bulkiest he had ever worn but he needed defense over offense in this fight. The eyes of the suit glowed a blue hue as he had Athena's AI installed into the suit.
The interface of the screens showed everything Batman needed to see. Athena would be able to detect Superman's fighting patterns which would help him counter attack as needed.
"He's here." Athena's voice sounded from his helmet. Batman lifted his head seeing Superman floating directly above him. Finally. He'll finally pay for all the death he's caused.
Superman landed on the ground below. Causing mud and water to splash around him. Batman let out a smirk.
"Well, here I am." He taunted with his deep robotic voice.
"Bruce, please." Superman begged. Batman wasn't shocked in the least that Superman knew his real identity. He had figured out himself that Superman was Clark Kent the night he appeared to threaten him. Clark didn't go to great lengths to protect his identity to begin with.
Batman began to back away as Superman walked forward, "I was wrong. You have to listen to me. Lex wants us-" Two sound pulse emitters popped up from the ground and blared soundwaves at the caped hero. The sound stopped Superman in his tracks. The sounds of pain coming from the alien put a smirk on Batman's face. So he can feel pain. Good to know.
Superman grabbed for a manhole cover before tearing it in half. He threw either half at the emitters and took them out. He stood up tall again.
"You don't understand. There's no time!" Superman stated. The two men now started to walk towards each other.
Batman gritted his teeth as Superman placed a hand on his armored chest, "I understand." Batman replied.
Superman easily pushed Batman and sent him flying. Batman felt his back hit the ground twice before skidding to a stop. He let out a groan in pain feeling his old injury in his lower back flare up. Batman slowly started to get back up as Superman walked forward to him.
"Athena." Batman managed to stay through gritted teeth.
"Phase two in progress." The heavy powered machine guns were lifted up from the old shipping containers they were attached to. The bullets wouldn't stop Superman but it'd buy Batman enough time to get back on his feet.
The loud gunfire sounded as the machine guns emptied their rounds onto Superman. They moved Superman back until they ran out. He floated above the guns and his eyes heated up red as his laser destroyed the weapons. Fire engulfed the small area as Batman finally got back up on his feet.
Superman landed in front of him and took long strides to the vigilante. Superman put a hand on his armored chest and easily lifted Batman up. He tossed Batman to the side as if he was a featherweight. Batman felt his back hit the pavement first before his body flipped to the front. His front half skidded to a stop on the pavement.
Batman grunted as he pushed himself back up. He knew this was not going to be an easy fight. This fight beat anything he had gone up against before. Scarecrow, Joker, Bane, Cyclone none of them came close to this.
He stood back up and watched Superman circle around him. Superman sent him a glare before springing forward in a jump. Batman felt the wind being taken from his lungs at the sudden impact. Superman flew Batman through the building and up to the roof.
Batman felt himself get thrown and his back went through the bat signal below. He hit the roof and skidded back. His armor destroyed the corner of the building upon impact. Batman gave heavy breaths as his adrenaline coarse through his veins. He once again began to pick himself back up.
"Stay down!" Superman yelled and landed on the roof, "If I wanted it, you'd be dead already." Batman smirked and grabbed a smoke bomb from his belt. Time to play at his strengths.
He pulled the pin back and dropped the smoke bomb on the ground. Smoke filled the area as Batman used his stealth to quietly sneak around the smoke. He bent down and picked up the gun he had made for the gas of the green rock. He held the gun up as Superman rushed through the smoke. Superman stood there confused as to where he went.
Superman turned around in time as Batman fired the gas capsule at the alien. Superman easily caught it which was exactly what Batman was hoping for. A nice up and close dose of the toxic compound for him to inhale.
The capsule went off in Superman's hand and a cloud of green smoke surrounded him. A satisfied smirk spread on Batman's face as he tucked the gun on his belt behind his cape. Superman struggled to get a breath in. The only sound coming from him being the sound of choking and gasping for air.
"Breathe it in." Batman taunted, "That's fear. You're not brave." Superman glowered at him. He stood back up and went for a punch. His movements were slow and sluggish.
Batman put up his arm and blocked the hit, "Men are brave." Superman went for another hit but Batman easily blocked it. Now they're even. Superman may be inhumanly strong, but he has nowhere near the level of training as he had.
Batman countered and dealt several good blows of the blue and red clad hero. Batman lifted his foot and delivered a swift and hard kick. Superman was sent back and stopped as his back collided with the glass roof. Batman picked up his speed as he got a running start before jumping. The bottom of his feet connected to Superman's chest and sent them through the glass. They landed on the floor below.
Batman gave another smirk as he got off the withering in pain Superman and sent a kick to his side.
This. This is what Batman was waiting for. Vengeance. Vengeance for him, for Melody, and for their child.
Batman didn't let Superman have time to pull himself together. He went for another kick. Superman would get up and Batman went for more blows to daze him. He grabbed Superman by the neck and proceeded to bash Superman's head into the concrete wall. He stopped to deliver a quick headbutt then a strong right hook into the alien's jaw.
Superman fell to the floor from the strong punch. Batman noticed a change in Superman's demeanor. He stood back up faster than he did before. Not good. The gas is wearing off.
Batman went to kick him again but this time Superman caught his kick. Superman gripped his armored shin and threw Batman through the adjacent wall. Batman felt his back connect to a concrete wall. Pain surged through his lower back.
Batman growled in pain and got back up in a kneeling position. He sprinted forward as Superman did. The two men collided in the middle. Batman spun Superman into the wall and delivered several punches to the head.
After several punches, Batman began to realize that the gas had completely worn off by now. Batman backed up knowing he was in hot water. It was Superman's turn to smirk now. Superman lifted off the ground before grabbing Batman and forcing them through the floor.
They landed in a bathroom and Batman rolled onto his front. He felt himself getting picked back up. With some difficulty, Superman picked up the vigilante and threw him through several bathroom stalls.
Batman landed on his back and his teeth clenched feeling pain shoot up his lower back again. He grunted as he reached for the gun that held another canister of the gas. He wouldn't be able to last much longer like this. He needed to weaken Superman again.
Batman loaded the next canister and fired the weapon just as Superman yelled and charged at him. The gas hit but not before Batman felt Superman's fist connect to his cowl. The two men were sent in opposite directions.
Bruce rolled to his side and fought through the pain. He could hear his helmet short circuit from the blow it took from Superman. Green smoke surrounded Superman again as the man coughed and gasped on the ground.
Batman managed to get up one knee as he could see Athena's UI flick in and out of the remaining lens before it completely went dark. Batman stood back up on both feet and walked to the porcelain sink. He ripped it from its base and stumbled forward to Superman.
Batman clenched and bared his teeth as he raised the sink above Superman. He threw it onto the alien's head which was strong enough to knock him out for the moment.
With heavy breaths, Batman picked up Superman by his cape. He gripped Superman by his hair to pull back his head. Batman picked up the alien with his shoulder and a grip on his arm and throat. He walked to the staircase just ahead.
He flipped Superman over the railing and watched as he descended down all the floors. He watched with a neutral expression as the man fell. He heard the loud thud of him landing and the cry of pain coming from him. Batman pulled his grapple gun out and shot it at the support beam above.
Batman stepped off and descended down to the same floor as Superman. He tied the wire around Superman's ankle and then began to pull him across the ground.
"I bet your parents taught you that you meant something. That you're here for a reason." Batman's robotic voice sounded distorted. The voice of Bruce Wayne being heard first then an echo with the voice changer.
"My parents taught me a different lesson. Dying in an alleyway, for no reason at all." Batman hit the button on his grapple gun which caused Superman to get pulled towards him. Batman then began to swing around Superman and caused him to go through several pillars. Batman let out a cry as he let go of the gun and let Superman crash into the ground.
"Melody and I could have taught our son or our daughter a better lesson, but because of you that chance was taken away from us." Batman spat out filled with spite.
Superman looked to Batman with realization coming to him. Voltess had been pregnant that day two years ago? Now he understood why Batman wouldn't listen to him earlier. Voltess must have lost the child during the attack. An attack that happened all because of him. Batman blamed Superman for the death of his child.
"Bruce…I'm sorry." Batman lost his composure for a moment hearing the man on the ground apologize. His anger quickly came back.
"Sorry isn't going to bring back what I've lost." Batman growled out. He gripped his hand on the spear's handle beside him. He pulled out the weapon to show the glowing green crystal at the end.
Batman walked forward until he stood over Superman. The green light the crystal emitted glowed in Superman's face. Just the crystal being close to him sapped Superman of his strength.
"You were never a god. You were never even a man." Batman's voice quivered with rage. He cut Superman's cheek and saw the red blood sprout from the wound.
Batman lifted up the weapon for the final blow. As he went to thrust the weapon his movements suddenly stopped. The familiar sound of crackling electricity filled the room. Batman looked down to see blue electricity spark around his armor.
"That is enough!" Batman grunted as he was suddenly yanked back. The force caused him to lose grip on the weapon. The spear fell harmlessly to the ground next to Superman.
Batman skidded against the ground as the electricity faded from his armor. He could see a red headed woman rush over to Superman. She flung the spear away from the man and cradled his head in her lap.
A shadow suddenly loomed over Batman. His eyes flickered forward. His hazel eyes met the furious icy blue orbs of the woman he married. Her Voltess suit up to her neck. He could see beads of water fall along the metal of the suit.
"Mel." Bruce's voice came through as the voice changer finally went out.