Getting a Handle
The energy blast raced through the air. Seeing it coming a mile away, Shayera swooped out of the way, dodging it as it passed by harmlessly.
The source of the blast stood at street level, an arm raised and pointed in her direction. Further down the street were damaged buildings, including a broken fire hydrant that was spewing out a geyser of water.
Yeah, what had started as a simple crime-in-progress had turned into an all-out brawl. Funny how those seemed to happen around the Thanagarian with a certain regularity. Soaring through the air, the winged woman began directing her flight towards the strange man.
In response, he fired another blast, which she nimbly dodged. Beam after beam was sent racing towards her, Shayera swinging from side to side as she avoided them. Her mace was held by her hip with both hands, ready to be used.
Then she tucked her wings in and sped forward rapidly, "Haaaaaaa!" she shouted as she swung her mace, hitting the man's arm and knocking his blasting hand away. With a quick backswing, she nailed her target against his face, snapping his head to one side. Back and forth she swung her mace, each blow causing the man to stumble a step backwards.
Suddenly, the blue-skinned man shot a hand up, one that grabbed onto her right wrist, stopping her attack. "A crude mode of attack," he mused even as he drew his other hand back. "Effective so long as the target is unable to retaliate."
Then it threw its fist, one that slammed right into Shayera's face. The force of the blow was astounding as stars exploded before her eyes. Fortunately the man didn't hang onto her arm, which allowed her to fly backwards through the air.
Even as she careened through the air, the winged woman cracked an eye open. Only an idiot allowed himself to take his eyes off an enemy. Because of this, she saw another energy blast be fired from her foe, one that rammed right into her and carried her further and faster across the city. She finally came to a stop when her back crashed into a building, a spider's web of cracks forming from the impact. Gravity then set in and she fell to the ground, landing in a heap.
"Oww," she moaned as she laid there, taking a moment before she began to push herself back up. That had hurt. Baring her teeth, she forced herself back onto her feet, squeezing her hands tightly around the shaft of her mace.
Alright, playtime was over. This guy had some surprising strength and she was feeling it right now. No more Ms. Nice Hawkgirl. Looking down the street, she saw her foe calmly approaching her, his feet moving at a steady pace.
Electricity began to dance all over the head of her mace. The sight of this caused the man to stop his approach. "An unexpected phenomenon," he remarked.
Shayera then launched herself forward, yelling a war cry. In response, the man raised his blasting hand again and fired a large beam. Immediately, the Thanagarian swung her electrified mace, hitting the blast and knocking it up into the air. Timing herself perfectly, she swung the mace again, hitting the man against the side of his face.
This time, the guy's entire body was forced to a side, causing him to lean to better balance himself. Swinging the mace upward, she landed another blow just beneath his chin, snapping his head upward. Leaning backwards, Shayera then raised a foot up before snapping it forward, ramming a kick right into the man's abdomen and forcing him back several steps.
Leaping up into the air, Shayera held her electrified mace high above her head. Dropping back down, she swung her weapon, aiming to bash the man on the face.
At least, that was her plan. Almost inhumanly fast, his arms shot up and crossed over each other, forming an X. Her mace then collided with the blocking arms, stopping her blow from landing. "An unexpected development," she heard the man say, though there was something different with his voice. Peering around his arms, the redhead was surprised to find his face appeared broken, revealing a skeleton of metal.
Holy crap, this was a robot!
"I would very much like to study the properties of your mace," it droned on. "Your assistance, while welcomed, is not necessary."
"Like hell!" she exclaimed before she drew a leg back before swinging it forward and beneath its crossed arms. Her knee rammed right underneath its chin, causing its head to tilted backwards, though not nearly as far as her mace had.
That was when electricity began to spark out from the broken side of the robot's face, right before the electricity poured out and surrounded its body. The voltage struck the winged woman's body, frying her as it absorbed into the parts of her body touching the thing.
Crying out, she lost her concentration and collapsed to the ground, smoke wafting up from her body. Drawing a foot back, the robot then swung it forward, landing a kick to her face, which once again sent her flying backwards until she landed back on the ground.
Alright, now she was really hurt. Wincing, the Thanagarian was slow to pick herself back up, only managing to push her upper body up. This allowed her to see the robot holding both of its arms up, one hand fiddling with something on its opposite arm.
Then it took aim at her. "The power behind this attack will be more than enough to incinerate you while leaving your weapon unscathed. Your presence is no longer required."
"Back off, gruesome!"
Suddenly, a green locomotive crashed right into the robot, knocking it off its feet. The old time train carried the machine all the way until it collided with a building.
Coming to a stop, the train then lifted up into the air, turning until its front was facing the ground. Then it rushed forward and crushed down on the robot.
Finally, the construct faded away. Turning her head, Shayera saw John coming in for a landing, touching down on the ground next to her. "Are you okay?" he asked her.
"I've been better," she winced as she gingerly got onto her feet. "You sure took your time getting here."
"Flash, J'onn, and I ran into another one of these guys in Central City earlier. We split up to come help the rest of you."
"I have the entire situation under control, you know."
"Of course you do, I just—"
Turning away from the Green Lantern, the Thanagarian marched right up to the robot, which was starting to push itself up with its arms. Holding her mace up with both hands, activating its electricity, she then swung it down, crushing its head with one blow, then two. She added a third to ensure the head was nothing more than scrap metal. There were a few twitches with the robot's body, but it didn't try to get up again.
"See?" she said snidely to her compatriot.
"Yeah, I see," he replied deadpanned.
Wonder Woman wasn't panicking, even as the metal-based bindings gripped her in their thrall. Her current predicament reminded her of a time when had found herself struggling against the snakes of Medusa, and no, she would not explain how that one came about.
Unlike the snakes, full of lethal poison and trying to bite her, these cables seemed to be only trying to restrain her. Moving about, they restricted her movements, pressing against her at key points. Slowly, her struggles began to lessen, her squirming reducing in their resistance.
"Release me!" she grunted, refusing to yield.
"Negative. You have expressed antagonism to my objective. Your intrusion will not be tolerated." If anything, the cables tightened their hold.
"These bindings...will not...hold me!" a snarl responded to the refusal.
"Perhaps. But restraining you indefinitely is not my intention," the man agreed. From the knuckles of his hands, electricity flared then sped along the cables until they reached the bound heroine.
A cry escaped her lips, one that Diana was not proud of. However, she was unable to hold back the scream that followed as the electric current continued flowing into her. Between the crackling and the agonized breaths she somehow managed to take, Wonder Woman was able to hear the man finish his commentary.
"It is much simpler to terminate you."
Despite the pain, she would not give in. No, this was not the way a warrior like her would end. There were too many people counting on her to give in to oblivion and make the final trek to the River Styx. She had to keep fighting, but if only she could free herself—!
The only thing that gave away what happened next was the bare whisper of a whoosh, several, rapid clinking sounds, then a sudden descent that was stopped by a pair of arms.
"That was a close one, Wondy! Good thing I'm light on my feet, eh?"
"Flash?" Wonder Woman cracked open her eyes—when had she closed them?—and caught the sight of the scarlet speedster himself. Immediately, her gaze darted to the robotic man that had once held her because it was never reasonable to take your eyes off your enemy.
Sparks flared out from the long, cable-like fingers, each cable looking as if they had been torn apart while still connected to the hand, and now limply hung from its hand. Infuriatingly, the automaton's face kept the same blank, emotionless look that it had possessed for the entire fight.
"Looks like you've been having a tough time here. Not to worry, we'll make quick work of this guy and then go for the next one," Flash continued to speak, his back turned to the robot. A part of Wonder Woman wanted to reprimand him for placing himself in such a position, but she knew he was fast enough that he would be able to avoid anything coming at him from behind.
Then she picked up on what he said. "Next one? There are others?"
"Yeah, so let's take this one down—"
The world blurred for a second, the detonation of an explosion following an instant later. Their opponent was not going to make it easy for them.
"You are one of the three that interfered in Central City. Your speed, while impressive, has limited effect over my body. Whatever aid you render here will be miniscule," the automaton stated, an arm extended and a hand covered in energy.
"Yeah, I've been thinking about that," Flash replied flippantly as he stood to his full height. Wonder Woman slowly, but successfully, got back onto hers. "Came up with something I want to try out. Hope you'll stay still."
Whatever the robot would say next would never be known, for the Flash did not give him the time to speak. A red blur zoomed into close quarters, and appeared to stand in front of the automaton. However, the Amazonian warrior knew that the speedster was doing nothing of the sort. He was practically vibrating in place with his legs while his upper body seemed to stretch out. There was a constant hum of thuds, a din that made the dark-haired woman think that her fellow Justice League teammate punching the surface of the robot's chest.
But why? Even her strength had accomplished little with that approach. She knew for a fact that Flash did not possess her strength, and the automaton seemed to know it too, what with somehow identifying the self-proclaimed fastest man alive without having met him until now.
Abruptly, Flash pulled back, returning to Wonder Woman's side. "Okay, your turn. Hit him as hard as you can, preferably in the chest."
The dark-haired warrior raised an eyebrow in askance, but trusted that her teammate had a plan. Zeroing in on the center of the robot's chest, she tensed the muscles in her arm, readying herself for the instructed attack. The robot, though was firing another energy blast, which forced her to go on the move. There was no more time for planning, it was all about reacting until she could get close.
She dodged a couple more blasts, anticipating where they would be going and moving accordingly. Closer and closer did her opponent come, standing still as it continued to fire its attacks on her. When she entered close range, Wonder Woman threw her arm back then swung it forward with all her might, giving a war cry as she did so.
Before, the metal that made up this robotic man would have absorbed or deflected the force behind her blows. This time, her fist pierced through the armor with the greatest of ease. Only now did she notice the multitude of dents, ones that Flash had to have made during his assault. Her hand met something deep within the pierced chest, and without a second thought, she yanked her hand out, pulling what looked to be a core of sorts out.
The automaton's heart.
"System...failure…" the robot slurred, its movements becoming more jerky with each passing second. The Amazon pulled away, watching it warily. "Self...des...uct...error...shut…"
With a loud boom, it fell to the floor, deactivated.
"Nice!" Flash cheered, at her side suddenly and expectedly.
"What did you do?" she asked immediately, her curiosity overwhelming her exhaustion.
"Hit it about a million times, attacked the crystalline atomic structure, weakened the bonds, no biggie," Flash remarked. "The trick was doing it fast enough that the Terminator here missed half of them. Otherwise, I don't think he would have let me get away with it all."
"I do not know how you came up with such a stratagem, but I am thankful nonetheless." She shared a soft smile with the talkative man, showing her appreciation of his help.
"What can I say, sometimes I get ideas," Flash dismissed. "Right now, we got a bunch more to find. Think you can keep up?"
Recalling the confirmation of this fact from earlier, Wonder Woman's eyes alit with determination. "We will find out what their purpose is later. We need to stop what they are doing before they place other lives at risk." She tightened the fist of her free hand, being mindful of the core she still held in the other.
With a carefree smirk, Flash said, "Then let's get to it."
The wind pulled at Batman as he fell through the air. This wasn't too worrisome. Calmly, he reached to the back of his belt and pulled out his grapple gun, firing it at a building across the street, the grapple claw attaching itself to an anchor point. The moment the line went taut, he went swinging through the air.
That was when an energy blast shot right by him, hitting the street below where it exploded.
Of course this couldn't be simple. That strange robot was going to try and kill him, though it would find its efforts to be in vain. Arching upward in his swing, he landed on top of the same building his grapple had attached to, releasing the claw so that the line would return to the grapple. Turning his head, he looked back to Wayne Enterprises.
Much to his surprise, the blue-skinned robot was flying towards him, rocket boosters firing from its feet. Oh great, so this mechanical man was capable of flight. With a raised arm, it fired another yellow beam.
Taking off running, Batman avoided the blast as it detonated where he had once stood. A roof access was nearby and he took cover behind it, a hand reaching to his belt. For a moment, he hesitated above the pouch where his shuriken were located. So far, they hadn't done much save for the exploding ones; unfortunately, he had a limited supply of those. He needed to try something else.
Before he could make a decision though, his foe suddenly flew into view, firing another blast. Instinctively, the vigilante ducked, the beam ripping into the roof access. Darting forward, he ran beneath the mechanical man, raising up his grapple and firing it up at it.
The grapple claw struck the robot's outstretched arm, latching onto it. Adjusting his grip on the grapple gun while grabbing the line itself, Batman pulled down on it as hard as he could, succeeding in only pulling the hovering man's arm down.
"A useless effort," the robot remarked before it pulled his arm back. However, the strength it had used was much greater than the Dark Knight had expected and he found himself being yanked off the ground, hurling upwards towards his opponent. Dropping his arm, the blue-skinned robot drew back it other, throwing a perfectly timed punch.
At least, it would have been perfectly timed had Batman not shot a hand up, his hand wrapping around his foe's wrist. Immediately he was swinging his body out of the way of the punch, flipping his lower body upwards. Swinging a leg, he kicked the mechanical man's head, only to feel pain run up and down his leg, and causing the robot to tilt slightly to one side.
Alright, that hadn't gone as planned—time for Plan B. Tightening his grip on the robot's wrist, the dark-clad man lashed out with his legs, wrapping them around his opponent's head to hold himself in place. With his other hand, he shoved it into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a small, futuristic grenade.
Then he abruptly let go of the floating man, beginning to fall back to the roof as he did so. However, Batman threw his grenade right at the blue-skinned robot's blaster hand, where it erupted into a cloud of blue gas.
For once, a startled expression appeared on the robot's face as it stared at the dissipating cloud. Soon, it found its hand encased in ice, thanks to the Freeze grenade. In the meantime, Batman flipped his body in midair until his feet were below him, his hands grabbing onto the edges of his cape to form a parachute, slowing his descent until he landed back on the roof.
"Intriguing," the robot intoned as it studied its ice-encased arm. "I was unaware humanity had such technology. I must learn more."
Then its hand began to glow within the ice, steam beginning to waft up from the ice block until it fractured and then broke apart. All the while, he lowered itself through the air until it landed with a thud on the roof. Well, that had only provided a small distraction. Damn, what else could the Dark Knight do against this thing?
Again reaching to his belt, he pulled out a number of shuriken. If this didn't work, then he didn't know what else he could do. Sweeping his arms out in front of him, he sent a storm of bat-shaped shuriken flying at the robot.
Of course, the mechanical man saw the projectiles flying right at him. Taking aim with its hand, it began firing energy beams, one for each shuriken. Batman had to dart to one side to avoid the blasts as he watched each shuriken be shot out of the air.
However, one managed to hit the robot in the chest, the tip of its wing embedding into the metal armor. Immediately, electricity was discharged, sending a large voltage into the robot. It flinched from the jolts pouring into its body, but then calmly reached up with its other hand and grabbed the projectile, crushing it in its hand and stopping the voltage.
"Your resistance is futile," it told him, turning its attention to the dark-clad man. "Termination is your only option."
"The hell it is," he retorted.
That was when a black shape suddenly shot up high into the air. Jerking his head up, Batman saw a woman with blonde hair streaming behind her going into a flip, descending downwards towards the robot. With one leg extended out and the other curled beneath her, she landed a heel strike to the top of the mechanical man's head.
The blow tilted the robot's head down, but no other sign of damage was shown. Landing in front of it, Black Canary crouched down only to spring upward, throwing a punch for the thing's head. Her fist slammed right into its face.
And then she immediately winced from that ill-advised attack. "Jesus," she swore as she stumbled back a step.
"That was a miscalculation on your part," the robot intoned as it drew a fist back. "One you will not live to repeat."
Then from one side came a streak of grey and red—Manhunter. Sliding across the gravel-covered roof on her knees, she swung her bo staff just in time to strike the robot on the side of its knees, causing them to buckle. Like a falling tree, the robot collapsed onto the roof, allowing the two female vigilantes to draw back.
"You look like you could use some help," Manhunter said as she came to a stop near the Dark Knight, the same with Black Canary. "Mind telling us what's going on?"
"Highly advanced robot, can fire energy beams, fly, and has super-strength and durability," he immediately informed them, even as the robot climbed back onto its feet.
"Now you tell us," Black Canary muttered as she rubbed her injured hand.
"So what you're saying is that we shouldn't hold back," Manhunter replied. "I can get behind that."
"Your increase in numbers will not change the outcome of this battle," the robot called out, raising both of its arms up.
"Move!" Batman barked, the two women vigilantes darting off in different directions, just before the robot began firing energy beams from both hands. Batman dodged one that had been aimed at him, even as he pulled a smoke pellet from his belt. Throwing it, he sent it flying towards the mechanical man, where it erupted into a cloud of smoke at its feet.
Charging forward, Batman rushed into the dark cloud, going low as he led with his shoulder. He ran right into the robot, his shoulder ramming right into its abdomen even as he wrapped his arms around its waist. Powering forward, he forced the robot backwards until they both went right off the edge of the roof, the two dropping down to the street below. Shifting himself against the robot, the vigilante, pressed both of his feet against it even as he let go with his arms. Pushing off of it, he went into a flip just before they hit the ground, the robot hitting the pavement hard on his back, causing the asphalt to crack and crumble beneath it.
As for Batman, he landed on his feet on the sidewalk, crouching as he did so. He had no doubt that fall hadn't done much to damage this thing, but rooftop was getting cramped and there weren't a lot of places for cover to hide from its energy beams.
As expected, the robot began to climb back onto its feet. However, before it could retaliate, Black Canary came swinging through the air on a grapple line, both of her legs extended out in front of her as she slammed her feet into the side of the mechanical man. The force of the hit actually caused it to whip around, spinning in place. Taking advantage of this, Batman began to circle around the thing, looking for an opening.
Then Manhunter descended downward, grappling downward until she landed right in front of the robot. A part of her gauntlet raised up, revealing twin barrels-her lock blaster. Thrusting her hand up to the robot's face, she fired the lock blaster right into its face, the force of it snapping the blue-skinned man's head backwards.
Unfortunately, the blast wasn't enough to daze the robot as it instantly countered. Sweeping an arm across its body, it smacked Manhunter across the face, the force of the blow sending her spinning wildly through the air until she collapsed onto the street, skidding across it until she came to a stop.
By that time, Batman had gotten into a position that allowed him to look at the robot's face. There were cracks radiating out from a central impact site. Chips of its blue surface crumbled off.
That was when Black Canary darted into Batman's sight. Stopping short of the robot by several feet, the blonde woman braced herself as took in a deep breath. Then she unleashed her Canary Cry, a force of wind slamming right into the robot as the shrill scream echoed throughout the street.
Thanks to his cowl, Batman didn't have to bother covering his ears, even though he couldn't help but wince from the scream. He knew what it was like being the target of that cry, though being outside of the wind tunnel it created was preferable than being inside of it.
The robot even seemed to flinched from the Canary Cry, raising its arms as if to ward it off. It was sliding away from the blonde vigilante, its feet digging into the asphalt as it began to break apart.
Then the robot aimed one of its hands. Instead of firing a blast, however, its hand detached from his arm and surged forward, a metal cable following in its wake. The mechanical man's hand reached Black Canary in seconds, its fingers wrapping around her throat and clamping down tightly. Abruptly, the Canary Cry stopped, the woman gagging from being choked.
The force she was hit with then sent her flying backwards. Immediately, Batman jumped into her flight path, realizing she was being forced headfirst. Whatever surface she hit would assuredly crack open her skull, killing her.
A moment later and Black Canary crashed into his chest. Instead of stopping her, Batman felt himself be pulled right off the ground, the two vigilantes flying backwards until the dark-clad man felt his back slam into a brick wall. Crying out, he instinctively wrapped his arms around Black Canary, securing herself to him.
Then they dropped to the ground, landing on the sidewalk in a heap. The detached hand released its hold on Black Canary's throat, returning to the robot. This allowed her to start coughing hoarsely, trying to catch her breath.
"Hey, dickhead!" Batman heard a feminine voice shout. Looking up, he saw Manhunter on one knee, holding her bo staff in both hands as one end glowed brightly. "Have a taste of your own medicine!" she shouted before she fired her staff's blast. The beam slammed right into the robot's body, exploding where it stood as it was enveloped with fire and smoke.
A shockwave shook the city around them, a tremor running up Batman's body as he felt the shaking. Staring at the rising cloud, he waited for any sign of the robot to show itself, seeing none. He glanced down to Black Canary, who was just starting to get her breathing back under control. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked her.
The blonde vigilante just nodded, still coughing. "Just...give me...a minute…" she managed to say between laughs.
Satisfied with that answer, he looked back up, just in time to see the smoke dissipating. His stomach sank the moment he spotted a figure emerging, soon being revealed as the robot, looking no worse for wear. It was even facing the Manhunter, whose mouth was gaping wide open.
Without a word, it then raised a hand and fired an energy blast at the brunette. Immediately, Manhutner fired another beam from her staff, the two opposing blasts colliding with each other between the two, but unfortunately closer to Manhunter. The collision resulted in an explosion, one that sent the vigilante flying backwards through the air, crashing into a nearby parked car, denting it from where she hit it.
"I grow tired of this continued resistance," the robot proclaimed. Taking aim with its hand at Manhunter's slumping form, it then said, "I will finish you all with this next attack."
As much as Batman wanted to respond, he couldn't. Black Canary was still lying against him, not to mention most of his arsenal had been rendered ineffective by the mechanical man. Maybe if he used one of the Freeze grenades on its head, it might do something, but the distance between it and the dark-clad man was too far for him to throw it, not to mention he too was lying slumped against the building behind him. There was nothing he could do as the robot prepared to blast Manhunter to bits.
Then something big and green dropped down from the sky. Blue boots slammed down on top of the robot's shoulders and it immediately crumpled like a beer can on a frat boy's forehead. Sparks and volts of electricity shot out in all directions as the robot was crushed to the ground.
Standing in the middle of the broken robot was J'onn J'onzz, his arms crossed over his chest, looking very much like a tower of green muscles. "I hope I am not too late," he spoke stoically.
Staring at the Martian, Batman then glanced down to Black Canary, who looked up at him with the same look of sheer disbelief. Then he leaned his head back against the brick wall behind him, letting out a sigh.
A body bounced off the side of a building, debris falling to the streets below, but unlike rubble, the body did not fall with it. This was becoming frustratingly common for Superman. While this wasn't the first time he had faced off with an opponent that was durable enough to go toe-to-toe with him, that didn't make it any more enjoyable.
This, however, was getting ridiculous, and it all had to do with that force field that made the most inconvenient of appearances. No matter how hard or how much he hit it, that barrier would not give in.
As a result the fight had moved throughout Metropolis, and the property damage the Man of Steel had hoped to avoid, well, was a moot point. Evading another blast of energy, Superman made another rush, swinging a fist as he did so and hitting the force field once more. This time, he felt the force of the hit reverberate up his arm. How strong was that thing?
"You have consistently used the same stratagem without variation," the strange man remarked. "Your ability to improve and adjust is very underwhelming."
He wanted variation, huh? At this, the dark-haired Kryptonian's eyes began to glow red before firing two red beams into the force field. To his increasing frustration, his heat vision did not penetrate the force field, though it did leave a small, glowing area at the site of impact.
"Interesting. You continue to show a wide array of abilities, each one wholly unpredictable from the one that came before. Are the inhabitants of this planet capable of such feats as well?"
"I guess I'm just one of a kind," Superman spat out as he ended his heat vision. He wracked his mind, trying to see if he couldn't try something else.
"Highly doubtful. In all my travels, I have never met a single individual that could be called 'one of a kind,'" the strange man refuted. "I must know what exactly you are."
"Good luck finding that out." His irritability was making him less cooperative, but Superman had a feeling that whatever means this man had to learn about him, it wasn't going to be painless.
Unexpectedly, the strange man rocketed forth, taking the initiative to be the instigator of this next round. Superman waited, deciding that taking a defensive approach might give him some opening or chance to bring this whole thing to an end. As it turned out, that had not been his best idea today.
The fingers of one of the strange man's hand began to stretch out and then whipped about the Kryptonian as soon as they were within range. Immediately, Superman tried to resist, but the way these cable-like fingers behaved made it difficult to do that. They flowed and snaked about his body, quickly restraining him. This wasn't the first time he had found himself in such a situation before; all it took was figuring out the right amount of strength needed to break out.
Then the strange man's other hand clamped down on his throat. The next thing the Man of Steel knew, he was struck with a burst of electricity, one that disrupted his nervous system and drew a cry of pain from his throat.
"Subject is incapacitated. Preparing to extract DNA sample," the strange man commented. The ends of those restraining cables began reaching out to any and all exposed areas of his body, primarily his hands and head. The Kryptonian felt odd sensations on his skin, but by the way those cable ends fruitlessly tried to press themselves down, he figured they were trying to penetrate.
It was a good thing his skin was tough.
Eventually, one cable made it up to his hair where it succeeded in pulling out some of the follicles. "DNA extraction complete. Proceeding with scan."
This wasn't making any sense. A DNA scan? Here? Now? Without any equipment or machines? However it was happening, it sounded like a distraction, the perfect opportunity for Superman to seize. Flexing his muscles, he increased his struggling, fighting against the unyielding hold of the cables.
Then the cables began to tighten, reducing the dark-haired man's movements. "A fallacy that you would assume I would be distracted. That is typical of lower lifeforms. I compensated for this long ago."
Now he tells him.
Despite the reprimand, Superman was not about to give up. If he could get himself in a good enough position, perhaps he could turn this around somehow.
"DNA scan complete," the strange man announced. "Result, DNA sequence matches Kryptonian descent." That was informative, but not to the Kryptonian himself. This was no secret or revelation. However, the strange man finally showed some emotion by narrowing his eyes. "This is not possible. Krypton was destroyed long ago."
"Tell me about it," Superman grunted.
Abruptly, he was pulled closer to the strange man. "Explain." It was a harsh demand accompanied by a tightening of the cables. Their faces were inches away from one another now. "It should not be possible for you to be on this planet. Your abilities included. There is no record of any Kryptonian exhibiting any of the powers you have demonstrated. Explain."
Through gritted teeth, "I've wondered about that too." There was no way he was going to tell this man anything about himself. It seemed knowing about his lineage was bad enough.
"Your claims of ignorance are unacceptable. I will learn everything about this anomaly, your compliance unnecessary. Yield to me your secrets, now."
Though the cables restricted most movement, they didn't restrict everything. Thanks to being pulled close, the Man of Steel's hand was near enough that it could grab onto the strange man's shoulder. That attracted the man's attention away from him, long enough for Superman to throw his head back then slam it forward, striking a blow hard enough that it broke his opponent's concentration. There was an immediate loosening of the cables, giving the Kryptonian the very opportunity he had sought.
Throwing both arms out as far as he could, Superman could feel the cables reaching their limit. Bringing his arms back in, he grabbed at the cables then, threw his limbs back out once more, tearing the restraints off him. There was a crackling of electricity, revealing some kind of wiring within the cables as well as exposing the mechanical nature of his enemy.
If this was robotic, what else was?
Not giving the unveiled robot a chance to get the upperhand again, Superman threw another punch, and struck the force field once more. Okay, now this was beyond annoying. Thinking quickly, he noticed how one of the restraining cables, though stretch out, still connected this robot to himself as it hung off his leg. Grabbing it, he pulled on it harshly while simultaneously hitting the force field. This caused the robotic man to fly backwards but not too far.
Like a yo-yo, Superman pulled back and punched the robot away several times. While the force field was preventing any direct damage, the constant back and forth put enough strain on the arm the cable remained attached to that eventually, after one particularly harsh blow, the limb tore off.
The robotic man reached towards the wound, and once more Superman charged forth, this time hitting his opponent instead of the shield. The losing of an arm seemed to be distracting enough for that barrier to be dropped if only for a moment.
It was a moment Superman would take full advantage of, striking the robot a second time, then jackhammering it with both of his hands clasped together, sending the robot down into the streets of Metropolis. There was a loud boom that accompanied the robot's landing along with a large cloud of dust, dirt, and asphalt.
Descending, the Kryptonian landed near the crash site and took in the sight. While the robotic man did not appear too damaged, the way it was jerking erratically meant there was some on the inside. Even the best hides could not protect the insides if enough force was placed on them.
"Send...ing...trans...miss…" Hmm, must have damaged whatever was used as its voice box. Either that of the circuitry and wiring was to blame for this.
Grabbing the damaged machine, Superman pulled it up and demanded, "What are you sending?"
"Send...miss…" the metallic voice croaked out.
"What are you sending?" the Kryptonian repeated heatedly.
"...ng...tr...sion…"
Superman's head snapped to a side, the robot's remaining fist striking him. Snatching the limb by the wrist, the man in blue and red, wretched it aside. "Enough of that. Tell me what you're talking about."
The robot's face remained blank, though slack. Several heartbeats' worth of silence passed before any sort of life could be seen. "...elf...truct...se..quen...vate…"
He could hear something happening inside of the machine, and preferring not to find out what it was, the dark-haired Kryptonian tightened his grip and with all his might, threw the robot up into the sky. It barely cleared the rooftops before an explosion tore it apart with an ear-splitting boom, leaving only a rapidly dissipating cloud of smoke in its wake.
Taking a breath, Superman allowed himself to relax slightly. However, he didn't drop his guard, already recalling the last few minutes and going over it in his head.
Something had happened back there, but what it meant, he was unable to figure out. Whatever that robot was, it seemed upset about his heritage. While this was not the first time he had met with any kind of scrutiny, the reactions tending to be that of wonder, surprise, or curiosity, this was the first time he had met anything that resembled anger.
Lastly, it tried to send something out. Was it a transmission? Is so, then where was it going? Instead of finding answers, Superman was finding out a lot of questions. These questions, though, he was determined to find answers to.
But first, where did he start? The obvious starting place was the robot itself and it had destroyed that. So where else could he look to find clues? Well, there was the rooftop of Luthor's skyscraper, but he highly doubted that man would accept his presence anywhere near the heart of his empire in Metropolis.
No, he wouldn't let something like Luthor's hate for him stop him from solving this. It was the only thing he could look into, and that was what he was going to do.
Whatever the robot wanted, it had chosen the headquarters of LexCorp for a reason. If he found out what that reason was, maybe he could make this all start making sense.
FlackAttack: I think this chapter has resolved most of your questions. As for the family get together question, that'll have to wait for a Batman story. For the time being, we're going to be focusing on more other things for a bit.