CHAPTER 33:
"Fighting A Friend"
The minute Damian saw his friend Jon Kent rise from the open crevasse his body electrified with an energy that seemed almost demonic in nature, lighting bolts dancing around his body in a mad rage, illuminating his white teeth with the power of a god, he knew that everyone present was in serious trouble. And he knew the power that Kent possessed. He had felt it head on.
Ever since their short partnership stint, affectionately called Super Sons, he knew when Jon got angry he could be a force to be reckoned with—and yet more like a wrecking ball. He was clumsy and he still hadn't fallen into his full powers yet despite powering-up his abilities at one point. Damian knew his friend still did not know the full extent of his Kryptonian abilities. And that was scary. With the control collar around his neck Damian was afraid without self-control Jon Kent had an ability to blow a hole in the world.
However, luckily, he knew this situation was about to be nipped in the bud. He won't need to fight his friend this day. His father—Batman—was always prepared for situations like this with a little surprise he always carried with him whenever he and Superman, Clark Kent, interacted. It was a safety catch just in case he needed it, hidden away, but ready to use at a moment's notice if something unforetold happened with Superman and he needed to be suddenly neutralized.
But as the moment's dwelled on, his father didn't act the way Damian had hoped. He looked back at his father. Batman seemed still, frozen in place, but not out of fear, but he was somewhat hesitating. It didn't matter if Kent was a friend, Batman needed to act on impulse and use their secret weapon. It was the only surefire thing that would halt a Kryptonian in their tracks.
"Well, father? What are you waiting for?"
Batman looked at Damian. "Well, what?" he responded with an annoyed retort.
Sudden realization crept in, Damian swore. "Of all the times to forget Kryptonite!" he growled. "Now we're going to have to fight him!" Damian didn't want to fight his friend. And besides, in this state, he knew for certain that he would lose. It wasn't about giving up, it was abut relenting to reality. And Jason's words rang in his ears about knowing his limitations. He was only human, after all.
"We all know Bruce thinks he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders," Dick said with a hint of sarcasm, "but his Utility Belt can't hold everything. It's not a magician's bottomless hat." He gave Batman a smirk.
"Then do you have anything useless to help us in this situation like, say, Kryptonite?"
"Well, no."
"Then your comment is worthless."
Dick Grayson frowned. "God damn brat!" he muttered under his breath.
He told himself on the way here, after they rescued Damian from Jake Handles, that he would spread his arms open wide and give the kid a great big hug for bringing him back from a life of isolation and amnesia that Handles had caused. Now all Dick could think about after that remark was slapping Damian across the back of the head for insolence. But this was typical Damian.
"Stand back," Jason said, stepping forward, raising his gun. "Time for some real fire power to brighten our day."
"Are you an idiot?" Damian chided.
"If this is the real Jon Kent, then this won't harm him, but if this one of Handles' PK constructs, this I'll blast it to obliteration."
"And if it's the real Jon Kent, then you'll piss him off and then you'll become the main focus of his retaliation," Damian rebuked.
"Hey! I don't see you coming up with a plan—"
Damian's warning fell on deaf ears as Jason pointed his gun at Jon Kent. Just then, Superboy snapped his attention to Jason, and two beams of red light jettisoned from his eyes and cocked the end of the "man-stopper" into liquid metal, forcing Jason to drop it. But when it fell, the magazine exploded form the intense heat and Jason was thrown back.
"You okay?" Damian asked
After a moment of shock, Jason said, "Yeah. Oh man, that was a sweet gun! I was hoping to add it to my collection back home. Harvey Two-Face had modified it and everything. It was a one-of-a-kind."
"So are you, and there's only one of you. I don't want to see you dead," came an unusual response from Damian. "Now stop being an idiot, or we'll never get back."
"Don't be such a downer. There's always a Plan B." Jason got to his feet.
Jon Kent did not attack further. He hovered in the air as if waiting for instructions—Handles's instructions.
No one dared to move against him. His eyes could fry everyone within seconds. It seemed the situation was at a stand still, and everyone remained as if frozen to the spot, not wanting to move or risk Jon Kent to target them. As long as no one made a foolish move, things would remain calm.
But then Damian made a move and got out in front of the others. Jon Kent followed his movements, but did not attack.
"Damian, what the hell are you doing?" Batman said, with an urgency to withdraw. "Stand down!"
Damian ignored his father. He spread his arms out wide, Escrima sticks in hand. And then, all of sudden, dropped them both into the sand, disarming himself. It wasn't like they'd be any use to him against Kent anyway, but he had decided to try a more diplomatic approach to the situation. Jon Kent was his friend, and no matter what, there was always another alternative to fighting. Jason's words struck true with him when he spoke them on the beach and Grayson's teachings throughout the years edged his mind.
There was a collective gasp from the everyone.
"Hey jackass! That's suicide!" shouted Jason.
"Kent!" Damian elevated his voice. "It's Dami!" He used the nickname Jon always called him. The nickname he always chastised Jon for calling him because it sounded too familiar. "Don't fight it! Give into the anger! Let it burn inside you!"
Nightwing saw a volatile situation beginning to erupt and moved in. But then Jason stopped him, putting his hands up to halt any advancement or attack. He shook his head. "I see what he's doing. Don't. Let him be. Damian knows what he's doing. If I recall what Harvey Two-Face told me about how the collars work, this is the only way to defuse the situation."
"I don't understand," Nightwing said, hoping for a better explanation.
"Trust me, and watch. This time Damian's using his head."
"Kent!" Damian repeated. "You're annoying, you're irritating, and you're a nuance, and when it comes down to it, I can kick your ass from here to kingdom come!"
Jon Kent hovered for a moment, looking at him, and then floated towards Damian, landing within a meter. Then he walked across the sand and faced Damian nose-to-nose. Their faces inches apart. They had fought each other, argued on issues of importance, and when they got ticked off with one other, even got into fist fights. Jon Kent was powerful in his own rite, but he always showed restraint because Damian was human, after all.
"That's so funny, I forgot to laugh," Jon Kent rebuked straightly, his eyes still aglow with angry red. "You were always an arrogant brat, Damian. Even when we teamed up, you always thought you were better than me. But now I have the upper hand. Perhaps it's time I show you just how powerful I can be and kill you all right here."
"You could, Jon," Damian said back, using his first name instead of his surname, showing restraint. He felt nervous this close to his friend. One blast from Jon's eyes and not even the Lazarus Pit could restore him back to life without a head. "Now, I'm going to do something, and want it to reflect the immediate moment, and nothing else. Let me say something first: A wise person recently made me realize the value of a friend. And even though we've had our differences, I consider you a good friend."
Suddenly, Damian wrapped his arms around Jon Kent and embraced him in a tight hug.
Jon Kent stood motionless, but if Damian could see his friend's eyes he would have seen that they were open wide with shock. But it was a mere distraction—a lesson he learned from Grayson; how he used conversion while he fought to distract his enemies—and used the moment to unhook the clip of the control collar from Jon Kent's throat. He had examined the collar beforehand, the one Jason had saved, and remembered that was how it stayed on. The collar dropped to the ground.
For a moment Damian kept still, kept the hug. In truth, he really did consider Jon Kent a friend.
Suddenly Jon Kent wrapped his arms around Damian and both kids were now hugging the other. This time it was Damian who was shocked when he felt Jon embracing him. "Thanks Dami," he heard Jon mutter into ear. "Thanks for saving me. We've had our issues in the past, but you're a good friend, too."
"Aww, that's so cute," Barbara remarked. "I wish I had a picture of this."
With a finger tap on the side of his cowl, Batman used the mini-cam embedded in his optic eye lens to snap a silent picture. Nightwing was close by, seeing the action. Giving a glance over, he said quietly, "I want a copy of that."
"So you can use it as blackmail whenever he gets out of line?"
"It's scary how well you know me so well, Bruce."
Batman smirked. "I'll send it to you via email."
Dick then looked back to the boys.
"He used compassion to defuse a tense situation, that was smart," Dick heard Jason comment. "He pulled a Grayson!" Nightwing opened his mouth to say something, but then sighed with a smirk. Everyone knew he was a hugger. But that's just who he was, because he was a sensitive guy who was thankful of everyone who made life worth living, even a stinker like Damian.
Damian and Jon then separated. They looked away from each other for a moment, their faces flushed with slight embarrassment. Both of them cleared their throats and then clasped hands and shook, thanking the other in a more manly way. Suddenly, the handshake turned into a squeezing competition—that Jon Kent easily won.
Damian pulled away and grabbed his hand. "Bloody fool! You could've crushed the bones in my hand."
"You started it!"
"Did not!"
This time Nightwing did get between them. "Okay, enough guys. Let's not ruin this beautiful reunion."
x x x
Jake Handles grumbled angrily under his breath as he watched the events unfold on a floating projection screen in his lair.
Twice the control collars had failed to do the job. Unlike Damian Wayne, Jon Kent had less of a tainted, angry heart, and therefor the collar hadn't work on him as effectively, allowing his friendship with Damian Wayne to interfere with the control. It was a terrible oversight. The algorithmic principles obviously worked differently with emotional types. He thought he had worked that issue out. And yet, unless AI, he knew humans were unpredictable creatures and never hampered to pure logic.
Harvey Two-Face chuckled. "No longer grandstanding, eh, Handles?" he said gloating. "Temper, Handles."
"It's Annex—Jake Handles doesn't exist anymore. My name is Annex!" He squeezed his artificial hand into fist in an attempt to control his anger. "I chose the name because I annexed my own humanity and became something more."
With a swipe of a hand, Annex pushed the floating projection screen away, then turned back to the main computer. He typed furiously at a console for a moment and a series of code came up for which Handles computed into an algorithm. Harvey Two-Face expressed confusion with it. But when the coding was complete, Annex then pressed a button, and another projection screen came to life next to him that he enlarged. On it were four pillars unlike Egyptian Obelisks and then accompanied the SHSD.
"This island is my playground, it and I are one—joined as one being," Annex explained. "And whatever I can imagine, it can become reality here. I'll destroy Batman and his party, and as Dick Grayson wishes, I'll finish what I started with him. But this all began with Damian Wayne—as his persona as Nightwing Junior. If it wasn't for him interfering in my plans, the world would be mine. It's time to show that brat that this is truly an adult world. And kids have no place getting involved in adult affairs."
Harvey looked at the projection screen. "They destroyed your bats easily, Annex. What can you construct now? They know how to destroy your hard-light illusions. Your secret is out. And even though we used that miniaturization ray on Jason Todd, he's just as big a threat as he ever was. Why can't we just kill them the old fashion way? Bullets never fail."
"You're correct, bullets don't. But people do. You failed to kill Jason Todd and Jon Kent when they first docked on the island with your gun bombs. But what I have planed it surefire. And Batman and his party will not leave this island alive!"
Suddenly, something popped onto a screen. It was a biological analysis of one of Batman's company, the one he did not know—the one they called Arkells. The bat that bit him sent back readings just before it was destroyed.
The man had a bio-metric AI with nano-technology fused inside his body structure. This reminded Annex of himself. When he was near death, the super computer of this island saved him and rebuilt his damaged parts. The genius that he was made provisions for such a disaster and he was glad he had—or he would be dead.
But the readings of this particular AI matrix was unlike anything he had ever seen. He would even say it was pure genius. Who was this person, or meta-human?
Annex looked at his artificial hand and then at his burnt face in a reflective surface of a computer console monitor, and an idea struck. Forget Nightwing Junior, he told himself.
He wanted Arkells.
To be continued...
