Issue #4: Aftermath

Rain pours down from the sky onto the wooden box. The coffin lowers into the ground, as a swarm of black stand around the grave. To the left, the Justice Society stands dressed in uniform. To the right, stand civilians. Among those civilians are Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen, and the others. The crowd watches as the hole in the ground is filled with dirt. The crowd disperses afterwards, with only Bruce Wayne left standing. Superman comes and stands next to him.

SUPERMAN: Bruce...

BRUCE: I've been to many funerals throughout my life. I've learned it's best not to talk at these things.

SUPERMAN: This nonsense needs to be brought to an end.

BRUCE: Then you can bring one of your soldiers to kill me too.

SUPERMAN: Stop it. We're not soldiers.

BRUCE: Yes, you are. That's what ARGUS considers you. You're expendable, worthless. Ollie dies, Waller has another one of you to replace him. The Justice Society is just an inanimate weapon for Waller to pull a trigger on. When the ammo runs out, just reload the gun.

Bruce walks away, leaving Superman standing there alone.

In STAR labs, Barry is running around the room, writing various equations on multiple boards around the room. Bruce walks in from the funeral.

BRUCE: Barry, you should rest.

BARRY: Can't. I'm ready to end Zoom for good.

BRUCE: You've figured out a way to stop him?

BARRY: Yeas. I'm going to kill him.

BRUCE: What?

BARRY: I'm going to kill him. For all that he's done. This is what he gets. This is what he deserves.

BRUCE: Barry, you know that's not the way to handle this.

BARRY: (Upset) Why not? He's a murderer. He killed Oliver - my friend - and hundreds of others. Killing him is doing this world a favor. It will stop him from taking any more lives.

BRUCE: Barry, sit down.

BARRY: Wha-

BRUCE: Sit.

Barry sits down on the steps to the forensic room. Bruce comes down and sits next to him.

BRUCE: (Pause) I've been thinking about killing him too.

BARRY: Who? Zoom?

BRUCE: No... the Joker. Ever since Jason, I thought, what is the reason for sparing these low-lives, especially him. The lowest of them. All of the people he's murdered, what good is it to not end his reign of terror - for good.

BARRY: So why don't you?

Bruce: You're right. (Laughs) It would be so easy. I've had the chance a countless number of times, each one considering it more than the last. But if I kill him, then why not kill the next one, and the one after that? Why not just kill them all then? If I cross that line, I become the very thing I fight against, the thing that took my parents from me. The people we are, the path we have chosen, cannot cross that line. No matter what the reason.

BARRY: (Tears) He killed Oliver...

BRUCE: That rage your feeling right now. It can be used for good. It's what gets me through each day. Use it.

Barry put his head in Bruce's chest and begins to cry. Bruce hugs him.

BRUCE: It's going to be okay, Barry.

Superman is flying in the sky. Down below, he sees a building exploding. He swoops down to the action. People are running around, screaming for their life. The Joker is is being held up by Batman.

BATMAN: Tell me where the other bomb is, Joker. I'm not going to ask again.

JOKER: Hahahahahha, and what would be the fun in that? A joke can never land if the punchline is delivered too early!

The Joker takes out a knife and swings it at Batman's gut. A deep slice in the abdomen causes Batman to drop the Joker, as a building behind them blows up. Two bright streaks of yellow and red pass the scene. The Flash and Zoom are brawling in the streets of the city. Zoom spins and tosses the Flash through the base of a building. The Flash gets up, rips two beams off the building, and begins racing towards Zoom, smashing him through another building, each hit sending the building downward. Wonder Woman comes flying down and smashes into a bus full of people, flattening it. Destruction is happening all around Superman as he watches. In the distance, Shazam soars through a building. The building starts shaking, and Superman realizes that it is the Daily Planet.

SUPERMAN: (Frightened) Lois!

He springs into flight, dodging objects of destruction and zooming around building. As he flies, the building starts crumbling down. Superman pushes faster and faster, the building seeming like it's not moving any closer. It falls to the ground with a loud thud. Superman lands in the area, looking around for Lois. As the debris clears, he spots her laying on the ground covered in rubble from the building. Superman lifts it off of her and looks down.

SUPERMAN: No... no, no, no.

He falls to the ground. There is no body under the rubble, just the detached head of Lois, looking lifelessly back at Superman. He brings his face to the ground and cries out loud.

Superman jolts up in his bed, breathing heavily. He looks to his right in a panic, only to see that sleeping there is Lois, safe and sound. Superman gets up, and leaps out the window into the sky.