I heard the sound of distant police sirens as I approached the Batplane. We had contacted the police to come pick up Martha and arrest the men. I watched as Batman climbed into the pilot's seat of the plane. I hovered up with my board. I lowered my mask as the two of us shared a look.
"There's nothing I can say to have you stay away from Metropolis…is there?" Bruce's unaltered voice came through. I gave him a smile and shook my head.
"You know I can't stay put while there's something like that thing out there. It needs to be stopped. Remember, you married a superhero." Bruce chuckled and stood up in the plane. He reached his hands up and removed his cowl. I moved my board to hover closer to him.
"I married Melody Moser. Voltess just happened to be part of the package." He corrected me. He reached his gloved hand out and lightly took my wrist in his hand.
I grinned, "And Batman is part of yours." Bruce leaned forward and I met him in the middle. Our lips melded together in a longing kiss. I pulled back and gave him a serious look.
"Don't die on me tonight." I said softly. Bruce gave a soft smile and squeezed my hand in his.
"I don't plan on it. After all, we have an adoption process to start tomorrow." My face lit up hearing those words come from him. Martha's words had affected him too.
"Be careful tonight, Mel. I love you." He followed up.
I nodded, "I will. I love you too." I let go of his hand and hovered back as my mask covered my face again. Bruce clicked the cowl back into place before sitting down. The hatch closed around him and the engine of the Batplane roared to life.
I shot off into the sky towards Metropolis. I flew over the flashing red and blue lights of the stopped police vehicles. I could see Martha below and had her hand out in a wave. I waved back as the Batplane hovered up in the air and followed after me.
I canceled my electricity and swapped to the hover tech to conserve the amount of charge in my body. I passed over the outskirts of Gotham and was now flying over the water that separated Gotham from Metropolis. I frowned when I saw a pulse of red electricity come from a tall building. Blue sparks appeared around my body as my powers subconsciously responded to the high energy source. This thing was giving off a lot of energy. Enough so that I could feel it from here.
"What's going on over there, Alfred?" I heard Batman's altered voice.
I heard a sigh come from Alred, "How best to describe it? Destruction perhaps."
"Whatever this thing is, it just emitted a lot of energy. My powers are reacting to it and I can feel it from here." I said into the comms. I looked down at my left arm as my electricity danced up my arm. My powers have only ever acted like this when I'm around Thor using his own lightning.
"That's a bad thing, right?" Batman asked.
"I'd be happy if I knew it was Thor but it's not so…yeah. This is bad. Very bad." I said with disdain in my voice.
A sudden light began to shine down and reflect off the water. My brows furrowed as I looked at the light. It wasn't even close to time for the sun to rise. I looked up in the sky and my mouth dropped seeing the light coming from up there.
"Athena, what was that?" I asked.
"It appears a nuclear weapon was launched into the upper atmosphere. It was targeted at the creature and Superman." They fired a nuke at Superman?!
"That's not good." I heard Batman's voice.
"Why is it always the military's response to launch a damn nuke at aliens?!" I growled under my breath. The military did that with New York in 2012. If it wasn't for Iron Man sending it away it could have killed millions of people.
"Something is re-entering the earth's atmosphere." Athena's voice interrupted my thoughts.
I flew under the bridge with the Batplane next to me. I looked up to see something hurtling back towards the ground. I had a gut feeling telling it wasn't Superman. I watched as it landed on a distant island just ahead of us.
I silently prayed that the nuke did some sort of damage to it. My question was soon answered when I saw the same red electrical energy shoot up in the sky. I could feel the power this thing was giving off. My electricity pulsed around me in response. It felt even stronger now.
"This just got worse. I think this thing absorbs energy. Getting hit by the nuke just made it a lot stronger." I stated. I began to fly over the burning island with Batplane now in front of me.
I leaned my body to the side as I turned. I stared at the creature in horror. It had evolved since I last saw it on the news cast. I could see its eyes and mouth begin to glow orange in color. You've got to be kidding me…this thing is Kryptonian?!
"Mel, get out of here!" Batman's voice yelled in my earpiece.
I immediately pulled back as the Kryptonian monster fired his attack at us.
"Why did this thing have to be Kryptonian?!" I yelled as I flipped over the laser. My electricity ignited once again under my board. I shot off as the Batplane managed to escape the laser and pulled up alongside me.
"This means only Kryptonite weapons can kill it." Batman stated.
"Kryptonite? You named the rock?" I asked in surprise.
"It's a form of crystal and yes." I rolled my eyes at the technicality.
"In any case, we don't have any left except for the…" My mind went back to the spear that was left back at the building.
"The spear and I have one round left of the gas. We could weaken it with that and kill it off with the spear." Batman finished my sentence.
"One problem, the spear is back in Gotham." I argued.
"I need to get it to chase me." My eyes widened hearing this.
"What?! Bruce, no! We can get the weapon and come back!" I argued.
"We don't have time for that, Mel! People are going to get killed by this thing! It's better if I lure it back to Gotham, back to the kryptonite. That thing would be focused on me and no one else."
"Bruce…" I said with my voice becoming weak.
"I'll be fine, Mel. I made a promise to you. I'm not dying tonight. Now please, head back to Gotham and get the spear ready. I don't want this thing chasing you." He said softly.
I gritted my teeth in frustration, "You better keep your promise." I muttered. I looked at the Batplane's cockpit and met Batman's eyes. He gave a nod before he turned the plane back around.
I took a deep breath before increasing my speed back towards Gotham. My heart weighed heavier the further away I got from Bruce. I didn't like this plan.
"Athena, call Lois! She should still be at the building!" I ordered the AI. The dial sounded in my ear before it was picked up.
"Mel, what is happening out there?!" Lois asked frantically.
"There's this really big, really scary monster that happens to be Kryptonian! Are you still at the building?" I asked.
"Yes…this thing is the same as Clark?"
"I don't know any other alien species that can fire lasers from its eyes, do you?" I stated a rhetorical question.
"The spear. You need the spear."
"Yes! Can you get it?! I'm heading there now. Bruce is leading it back to Gotham so we can kill it."
"Yeah…yeah I can get it." Lois hung up the line as I heard an explosion from behind me.
I looked back and my heart dropped seeing the Batplane had taken a direct hit. It flew in front of me and crash landed on the ground.
"Bruce!" I yelled and headed down to the crash. I jumped off my board and landed on the plane.
"Mel, you need to get out of here!" He said as his eyes laid on me. He was struggling to remove the seatbelt of the plane.
"And leave you here like a sitting duck, I don't think so!" My hand sparked with electricity and hit the metal of the seatbelt. A clicked sound was heard as the belt undid itself.
The ground shook as the Kryptonian creature landed in front of us. It growled at us before its eyes and mouth glowed the same orange color.
"Oh shit." I muttered. My suit could reflect the laser but with how strong this thing is. I would still get blasted away.
I felt Batman grab my arm and pull me back. He put his cape around both of us in any hope of defending against the attack. I closed my eyes waiting for possibly our last moments, but nothing happened.
Batman slowly put down his cape and I turned around. My eyes widened in shock seeing Diana standing in front of us. She was wearing a red tunic with a blue skirt. She had a shield on her back and a sword and lasso on her hip. She had her arms in front of her and the silver bracers singe from the attack.
She let out a cry as she slammed her braces together. It created a high pitch ringing sound. It caused the creature to be sent skidding back. My sensitive hearing picked up distant popping sounds. I looked up and saw a flash of blue and red. Superman's back! Superman crashed into the creature and sent it flying to a building that went up in a fiery explosion.
"Diana?" My face mask dropped as I walked off the plane. Diana turned her to me with a slight smile on her face.
"You're a meta-human." I whispered and a small smile appeared on my face.
Diana nodded, "Just like you." She responded. I finally got to meet another meta-human. It just took five years.
Diana then turned to Batman, "Why did you bring it back to the city?" Diana asked.
"The port is abandoned and there's a weapon here that can kill it." Batman stated as he too got out of the plan.
Superman landed in front of us, "Did you find the spear?" He asked.
"Lois is still in the building. She's grabbing it." Superman's eyes glanced at me as I spoke.
"This thing, this creature seems to feed on energy." Diana stated.
"Yeah, I could have told you that. You see this?" I held up my arm to show my electricity sparking around it, "My powers only react like this when something with a lot of power stored in it is near. I'm a bad match-up for this thing." I said with a shake of my head.
"How come?" Superman asked. He and Batman began to walk up next to me and Diana. Batman loaded up his last gas canister in the gun in his hands.
"It can absorb my attacks just as much as I can absorb its energy when it releases it. I can't use my powers on it as it is right now. It would have to be significantly weakened." I stated.
"Then provide support and keep your distance until then." Batman ordered.
I let out a huff, "Why do aliens always have to make this difficult?" I said.
Superman let out a light laugh, "I'm sorry. This thing is from my world."
I shrugged, "Eh, I've killed things from another world before. Granted there was a lot more of them and not nearly as strong as this thing. This is Thanos on steroids." I stated. Superman and Diana gave me a strange look.
"Who?" Diana questioned.
Batman smirked, "It's a long story." He commented. I focused back on the creature and the same red pulsing electricity was forming around it.
"You guys might want to stand back." I commented and walked up front. My electricity crackled around me and I grinned in anticipation. If this thing is anything like Thor. Then when I absorb its electricity, it's going to supercharge me.
"Voltess, you sure?" Superman asked. I looked over my shoulder with a smirk on my face.
"If I can absorb lightning created from a god, then I can easily do this." I commented.
The red electricity pulsed out from the creature. I put my right hand in the air and in an instant, the spherical pulse changed direction. The red electricity funneled to my hand. The red electricity turned blue as my body absorbed it. I leaned my body forward as I felt the power start to push me back. I lifted my left hand up and the red electricity immediately began to pour into that hand as well. I felt my feet skid along the pavement below.
I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes as I felt the familiar feeling of my body getting over charged. I stumbled forward as the last of the electricity got absorbed into my body.
I stood up tall with my fists to my side. Blue electricity flared out of my body and hit the ground and up in the air. I opened my eyes to reveal they were glowing and sparking the same blue electricity. My mask formed over my face and the white lenses of the suit were glowing blue now.
My feet began to lift off the ground as the power of my electricity was now strong enough to fly without the help of my board. The creature roared and began to charge at us. I used one hand to send electricity to the destroyed Batplane behind me. I flexed my hand and let out a cry as I lifted it up with ease and threw it at the charging creature. The sudden hit of the plane caused the creature to crash onto the ground. I couldn't directly hit the thing with my electricity but I could definitely throw big hunks of metal at it.
"Did you know she could do that?" I heard Superman ask behind me.
"No. No I did not." Batman answered.
The creature began to get up and let out another roar. I think that pissed it off. It bounded off towards us again.
"A little less talking boys and a little more action. Don't let us girls have all the fun." Diana stated. She pushed off the ground and it sent her flying towards the creature. She swung her shield at the creature's calf and took its legs out from under it.
Superman soon followed after Diana and slammed into the creature's chest. A ring of dust formed from the impact. Diana jumped forward again with her sword. The creature dodged and got up. He punched Superman away and Diana took that chance to cut it with her sword.
The creature roared in pain before recovering. He grabbed a car and threw it at Diana. Blue electricity formed around the car as I got a hold of it. I swung it around Diana and made it smack into the creature, causing it to stumble backwards.
Superman came back for a follow up but the creature stepped back and grabbed him. The creature threw him before jumping at Superman and kicking him further. Diana clang her bracelets together causing the high pitch ring to stop the creature.
I magnetized two steel beams and flew above the creature and launched them at the creature. The first beam hit but the second one the creature blocked it with his forearm. It roared at me and jumped at me. Electricity sparked around me as I quickly avoided the leap. It landed and spun around to fire the orange laser at me. I put my arms in front of me and used my electricity to keep me still as the laser was repelled off the vibranium. It bounced back and struck the creature in the shoulder. It let out a wail in pain from being hit with its own attack.
Diana saw her opening and charged in. She swung her blade and cut one leg before twirling around and cutting the other. The creature let out another cry and was forced onto its knees. It brought its arm around and Diana put her shield up as it made impact with it. Diana was sent flying into the sky. I sent a stream of electricity that caught her. She put her shield in front of her as I launched her back to the creature.
Her shield slammed into the creature as it stood back up. The hit to its chest caused it to get flung back. It skidded on its back before stopping. Diana landed in a crouched position as I flew just above her. She glanced up at me with a smirk. Not too bad for a first time team up with her.
The creature got back up and turned around as Superman fired his own laser at it. The creature responded by using the same attack. Its laser overpowered Superman and sent him flying back.
The creature then turned around and my eyes widened seeing it was looking at Batman.
"Bruce, get out of there!" I yelled. Batman used his grapple in time to dodge the creature's charge. He landed on the side of the building and moved around to quickly grapple another building. Before he fully left the other building, the creature slammed into the building he was holding onto moments before.
I sent a stream of electricity that stopped him from hitting the side of the building. I pulled him back as he threw a smoke bomb to give himself cover. I landed back on the ground as I canceled my electrical stream on Batman. The smoke providing us with cover.
"You alright?" I asked softly.
Batman stared at me in awe and nodded, "Yeah. Thanks." I heard the creature give a roar in front of us.
"Get to higher ground." I ordered. I ran and jumped away from Batman as my electricity lifted me off the ground again.
I chained a stream of electricity on two cars and sent them flying at the creature to get its attention. The first car hit but it grabbed the second and flung it back at me. I caught it once again and swung it around me. The creature jumped at me but the car swung back and hit it before it reached me. The attack caused it to slam back down into the ground.
"And I'm married to that woman." I smirked under my mask hearing Batman's voice. He was still close enough for me to hear even as he grappled his way to high ground.
Diana let out a battle cry as she charged at the creature with her shield up front. The creature roared and slammed his arm against the shield causing Diana to go skidding back.
She scrambled to grab her sword back as the creature jumped towards her. I sent a stream to another steel beam and launched it at the creature. It connected against its shoulder causing it to miss its grab onto Diana. Diana grabbed her sword and swung around and managed to cut through its arm.
The creature held up its severed arm and cried out in pain. It then launched its laser at Diana which sent her flying back. It then grabbed a piece of concrete and launched it at me. I tucked my body as the concrete slammed against me and sent me crashing to the ground. I let out a grunt as I pushed myself up with one hand. That was the first time it didn't throw something metal at me. This isn't good, it's learning.
The creature roared and red electricity formed around it again. I watched as disturbingly sharp spikes grew from its severed arm. They almost resembled bones. I could see the energy begin to gather around it again.
"Mel!" I turned my head as Diana ran up to me. She had her lasso in her hands.
"I'll hold it back, you absorb its energy!" I nodded and stood back up. She swung her lasso before throwing it around the creature. I held my hands up and the red electricity it was emitting immediately funneled into my hands.
Diana put her feet against a chunk of concrete while I leaned forward to stop myself from skidding. Just how much power did this thing have stored in it?!
A cloud of green smoke suddenly hit the creature. I felt its energy stop funneling into me as the gas made it start to gasp. Kryptonite. I turned my head to see Batman on the higher ground with the gun raised that held the last gas canister.
Moments later Superman flew over my head with the kryptonite spear in hand. He stabbed the creature in the center of its chest. Suddenly it's energy was back. I quickly tried to absorb it but it proved to be too much. I let out a cry as I got knocked back and skidded against the ground on the front of my suit.
I looked up in time to see the concrete underneath Diana's feet broke. The lasso lost its tension which caused the creature to grab Superman. I watched in slow motion as it impaled Superman with the sharp bone on its severed arm. Superman cried out in pain before gritting his teeth. He grabbed hold of the creature and pushed forward with the spear but at the same time digging the bone in his chest deeper.
Then everything stopped. The red electricity stopped and the cries and shouts quieted. I slowly stood up to my knees as I watched the creature fall to the ground dead. In its hand was Superman with a hole in his chest. He didn't move…
"No…" I muttered as my mask dropped down to my chin. I stood fully up as Diana stood beside me. The two of us shared a look of disbelief. I heard footsteps come from above. I looked up to see Batman walking around the creature's body.
I walked forward as Diana did. Batman kneeled down next to Superman. I heard sounds of someone trying to catch their breath. Diana and I both looked over to see Lois. I gave the woman a solemn look before back at Superman. He sacrificed himself to get the killing blow on that thing. He knew the kryptonite would weaken himself if he used it.
I watched as Batman folded Superman's arms on his chest before wrapping his cape around him. He began to move Superman down and Diana and I both lifted our arms up to carry the Kryptonian. We took a step back and lowered him to the ground. Lois picked up his head and set it on her lap.
I looked up as Batman hopped down from the ledge. He walked over to me as the two of us shared a look. He put his hand around my other shoulder and pulled me to him. I felt him plant a soft kiss on my head before pulling back and rubbing my arm with his hand.
I watched with sad eyes as Lois cried silently and kissed Clark on his cheek. This was heartbreaking to watch. I couldn't imagine how I would feel if Bruce had died during this.
That's when something strange happened. I felt something I haven't felt since five years ago. That weird sensation was back in my chest. No. No it couldn't be! I let out a gasp and backed up as I put a hand on my chest.
"Mel? What's wrong?" Batman asked in alarm. Diana and Lois both looked at me.
"No, no, this can't be right." I muttered as I looked down at my hands. My suit was beginning to crack and turn brown.
"What is happening?" Diana asked in alarm.
I shook my head, "The stones. I don't know how but the stones were used," the cracking and browning traveled up my arms, "I don't know how much time I have left."
Batman's eyes were filled with something I had never seen before in them. Fear.
"Bruce, listen to me. I promise you, I will find a way back!" The cracking and browning now reached up to my neck. My hands and legs began to turn to dust and float away.
"Mel!" Batman yelled, frantically.
A tear fell down my face, "I love you, Bruce." I whispered just before I felt my body completely turn to dust.
"Melody!" I heard Batman's voice one last time before my world went black.
Elsewhere…
I gasped as my body jolted up. My hands flew up to my chest as I patted myself. My eyes looked around to see that I was sitting in a field and not just any field. The grassy field of Wakanda. I looked up to see the towering city just ahead.
"Athena." I whispered out.
"I'm here, Mel."
"Please tell me that wasn't a dream. Please tell me that it was all real." I pleaded. The other world felt so surreal now that I was back in my world. I didn't want those memories to have just been a dream. I wanted to know that Bruce was real.
"This should answer it." I frowned and l suddenly felt a breeze on my left hand. I lifted up my hand and looked down. My breath hitched in my throat. The vibranium had pulled back on my hand. My wedding ring still adorned my left ring finger.
I cradled my left hand to my chest. I bit my lip as a tear fell down my face. It wasn't a dream. It actually happened. My heart felt like it was getting ripped in two. I wanted to be with Bruce. I didn't want to be in a world without him.