The Dark Knight Under Metropolis

"Well, well…" Luthor said as the message outside his window dissolved. He tried to spot Batman swinging away through the buildings, but he was unable to. He walked back to his desk and buzzed Pearl. There was no answer.

He buzzed her again. "Pearl?"

No answer. More puzzled than livid, Lex walked to the door and opened it, finding Pearl's chair empty. He walked past her desk and into the outer offices. One of the five year associates walked past. "Ramone, have you seen Pearl?"

"Mr. Luthor?" he blanched. "N-no, I haven't seen her."

Sensing her opportunity to make an impression, Diana Calhoun all but jumped from her cubicle. "She ran out of the office, not five minutes ago. She was talking on her phone."

"Did she say where she was going?"

"Family emergency, Mr. Luthor, and she sounded really worried."

"Well played, Brucie." Lex muttered under his breath. "I like perceptive people, Diane. How would you like to talk about your latest projects? I'd be happy to hear more about them."

"Why, Mr. Luthor, I'd be delighted."

"Call me Lex." He gave her a card, all smiles. "We'll set something up."

He returned to his office and closed the door. He took his cellphone and dialed the first number. Hope you used your prep time wisely, Batman. I've had months to use mine. He got an answer on the second ring.

"Carter? Status."

"Just a moment sir," He heard papers shuffling in the background and a not-quite-frantic keyboard tapping. "Scanners are fine, no extra foot traffic, no break-ins, no alarms tripped."

"Good. Code Black."

"Black, sir? But we've had no…"

"Precisely."

"Right away, Mr. Luthor."

Several dozen phone calls and Code Black notices were exchanged during the next 40 minutes, when a welcoming sight crossed his office door.

"Pearl!"

"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Luthor." Her mascara looked hastily reapplied and her eyes were still puffy. "I received a call saying that my mother had been run over in Shuster Lane and I didn't have time to …but it was just a prank, Lex… a cruel, heartless prank." She took the handkerchief Lex provided and dabbed her eyes. "My mother is fine…she was with my aunt and when my mother's phone didn't answer, I called my aunt and they were together. They're having tea and scones at Swan's Café." She looked angry and apologetic at the same time. "When I get my hands on…"

"Don't worry, Pearl. I understand family must always come first. Now…have a cup of tea, relax and when you're ready, I need you like I need my legs. We got a Code Black."

She blinked, her anger forgotten and her professional demeanor reinstated. "C-code Black? I'll have the tea sent to me, sir. Where are you up to?"

"Page six. We should be at ten by now."

"I'll get right on top of it, Mr. Luthor."

"See that you do."

Half an hour later, Lex's phone rang. "Mr. Luthor, this is Sansweet."

"What do you have?"

"Sir, we picked up some chatter to the Belfry, doing the usual run around the net before disappearing."

"Expected. We know who receives. What was sent?"

"A jpg. It was encoded all to hell and it defeated everything we threw at it, until we gave it a whirl with the, heh, super computer. It's blurry and taken from a tiny camera held around hip level…but it's our facility, all right."

"What's the picture showing?"

"A right arm."

He smiled. "Good. Call the labs and upgrade them to Code Red." He checked his watch. It was half past one. "Have all the LexWings ready to take off before 14:00. We're cutting it short."

He grabbed his personal communicator and dialed. It didn't ring more than once.

"Yes, Mr. Luthor?"

"Wilson, are your men ready?"

"Locked and loaded."

"Perfect. We leave in ten minutes." He hung up. "Pearl?"

"Yes, Mr. Luthor?"

"Confirm my dinner reservations. Tell them I'll be there between 9 and 9:20 pm."

"Yes, sir."

It was close to midnight in Gotham City. The high-profile Top Hat room, one of Gotham's most prestigious spots, was bustling with activity. The sounds of music, laughter, carousing and two hundred pair of feet stomping to the latest dancing fad. On the roof of the western Gotham Tower, in the myriad of shadows on the roof…nothing stirred.

You think he's coming? A female voice sounded reassuringly in his ear.

A completely innocuous shadow never moved, but a throat mike picked up a whisper with surprising clarity.

Maintain radio silence.

Baldville was a hornet's nest today. Lots of people coming in and out, terabytes of chatter out of every source…no eyes on Cueball He had dinner reservations at 9, but no-one in his usual haunts reported his presence.

Almost a full minute of silence went by when he answered "Shh."

Hundreds of miles away, a man crawled through a waste pipe. It was barely wider than he was, and at some points, he had to compress his frame in order to wiggle through, but he kept going forward. His elbows, knees and shoulders were battered and bruised –and the thin mesh suit did its best to keep his skin from scrapping against the sandpaper-like walls, but he advanced inch by inch.

Tied to his foot was a tether line, attached to a bag full of equipment. The tunnel was pitch-dark and the stench was almost unbearable, but his smallish cowl compensated for the zero-light environment with state-of-the art sensors and lenses and his nose filters cleaned the air the best they could. He had memorized the plans from the extremely hard to find blueprint of the Cmelak bottling plant, lost in the industrial sector of Metropolis. Through long hours of work, investigation and extrapolation, he discovered that the old steam tunnels lead to an ordinary and seldom used maintenance area that, after a few strategically placed ounces of C4, could be used to access the waste ducts of the Koul-Brau Brewery. This was a subsidiary of Good Food Groups, which after several twists and turns of the corporate landscape, were part of the LexCorp family.

He reached the end of the pipe, and it continued upwards, at a punishing 90° angle, which meant he had arrived. He rolled to his back, fired the grapple gun to the top of the duct and, rather painfully, managed to get his body past the bend and climb upwards. The pipe opened to a bigger area, right under a heavy iron grate. He used a telescopic mirror to look for alarms and mercury switches. He found and disabled three of them and then used a laser to cut the grate and climb out of the tunnel.

He unfastened the tether line, opened the bag and put on the rest of his suit, feeling more and more complete as he covered his hands, feet and body with boots, gloves, cape and cowl. He looked up, dramatically, with his fists balled, hanging close to his waist.

When that little ceremony concluded, he took a vial from his belt and sprayed himself from head to toe with a scent-eraser. After crawling through those filthy pipes, superhuman levels of stealth would not fool the most amateur nose. He opened a panel on a wall and placed a bat-shaped item around the cables.

That takes care of the cameras.

He padded softly out of the room; his sensors showing the brewery in a wireframe-like display, with red shapes dotting the landscaped, tallying up to 26. A long way away was a chamber, almost at the end of the labyrinthine facility. Odd thing about it: the walls pinged at a different color. This meant different density. Power lines converged in it, glowing red, indicating the place consumed massive amounts of electricity. That was where he needed to go.

He spotted a distracted guard; he took a batarang from his belt and threw it at him. The guard fell in a heap. He took the guard's radio, hacked the frequency and moved along.

We got a boogie.

Where?…ah, there. 10 o'clock, 90 mph…wait…is that who I think it is?

Is that… Superman? The female's voice sounded carefully optimistic.

Not enough information.

Be careful, Batboy.

The figure flew around the roof of the tower, landing no more than 20 feet from him. It looked like him…the suit, the cape, the spit-curl…even the stupid, boyish grin of his. His piercing blue eyes turned towards his hiding spot. He smiled and waved. "Hello, old friend. You're a hard man to find."

There was no use hiding. Not from him, if it was really him. He emerged from the shadows, gravel cracking under his feet.

"What are you doing here?"

"I went to Metropolis and couldn't find Lois. Where is she?"

"Where have you been?" Batman said, gravely.

"I'm sorry, I was called away to solve a crisis in Systus 2. I had a few other adventures along the way." He sounded apologetic. "Warp times in space aren't exactly easy to navigate once you lose your bearings. I checked a paper…I've been gone since September?"

The cowl's sensors worked overtime to check the barrage of information he was receiving…body measurements, size, shape, color, weight…his audio analysis had already checked his voice as genuine, but he had to make sure.

"Where was our first meeting?"

He looked bashful. "We shared a cabin in an ocean liner. There was a fire and I changed into my suit, taking advantage of the dark. When the fire blazed, I was able to see you changing into your costume. We had to keep our identities from Lois."

Batman grunted. "Where do you live?"

"Before or after I got married?"

"Both."

"344 Clinton and 1938 Sullivan Place. Bit upscale for two reporters, but it was your gift."

Batman asked another question while he used the eye-typing lenses to type in a virtual keyboard, located in his heads-up display. He typed "r u gettn dis?", while asking Superman who his parents were.

"Lara and Jor-El. Unless you mean Martha and Jonathan."

An answer was typed back. Not him. Luthor. Busy. Keep him talking.

He nodded. "Cut the crap, Luthor. I know it's you."

Superman looked surprised. He stood there, arms akimbo, his thumb barely touching a small protuberance in the belt. "Batman, what's gotten into you? I'm your friend Kal-El."

Someth…g's…rong, Bat…. The female voice cut in, but interference kicked in.

We'r.. losing th. sig….

Wha..'s g..ing o.?

Ta..k t….me!*

Inside his cowl, Batman saw the audio levels drop to zero. A small pulse of energy flickered for a second from Superman's belt and then, nothing.

Superman crossed his arms over his chest. "Really? Not even a minute and you found me out? Kudos, master detective." The visage flickered and Luthor's face appeared on top of Superman's body. "It wasn't much of a ploy, really. I just wanted to see the look on your face. All right, I'm here. What do you want?"

"Where. Is. He.?"

"Who?"

"Don't play games, Luthor."

"I'm not playing games." He looked down. "Well, I do indulge in a bit of cosplay." Superman's face flickered back on. "He's…around."

Batman's eye-slits narrowed.

"So…when did you find out? Took you a while, didn't it? What gave it away?"

"A sample from the Bulldog tanks..."

"Yes, but that was when? Two weeks ago? Three? I have the video of you snooping around my facilities while I was up north." The cape fluttered in the wind. "I wasn't too surprised when Lois went to see me eight months after he went missing. She's a great reporter, but as a detective, not even in your league. But you? Taking this long to put it together? People might think we're in cahoots." He laughed. "What happened? Did you have something to do? Something when you're not the 'dark knight detective?"

"What…?"

"Did your life as Gotham's most decadent playboy took a nasty corporate turn?"

Batman balled his fists and his gloves crackled.

"I've known for a while, Brucie. Which is why not even one month after he was gone, Wayne Enterprises were hit with a steady stream of lawsuits, IRS meddling, EPA complaints, SCC accusations…basically anything I think to keep the CEO busy as hell."

"That was you?"

"Of course it was me. I knew that you'd come after me. By simple elimination, I was the most likely suspect. Hey, did you like when Senator Thornton proposed to restore and open to the public the caves under Wayne Manor that were used for the Underground Railroad? I laughed my head off when the beleaguered Bruce Wayne had to tell the public that due to unstable foundations, the Underground Railroad could not be viewed by the Native American public." He chuckled. "Native American and Americans alike absolutely hated you until you acquiesced, but that cost you big time, right? You had to relocate the Batcave…."

Keep monologuing you bastard. Hurry up, Bruce.

The last guard crumpled to the floor, his access card already in Batman's hands. The door was made to look like it turned on its hinges, but it was too heavy for that. No, more likely it would slide over a heavy rail or massive hinges on the other side. He typed the password, swiped the card and used the guard's palm print on the panel. The door slid to the side, a foot and a half thick slab of titanium. He walked through.

The corridor twisted and turned, with doors opening to the side. He ignored them. The door he wanted was behind two more corridors, all of them heavily trapped. Massive slabs of stone, walls rigged to blow, red-sun lamps covering every inch. He zip-lined over the pressure-sensitive floor, disabled yet another alarm system and sealed the last secret door to the garrison.

The door to R&D Lab 21 loomed ahead. Two more sensors, simultaneous key accesses and retinal scans points stood between him and the lab. He bypassed them in 18 seconds.

The laboratory was very large, with high ceilings, littered with red sun lamps. In the middle of the room there was a gurney, with a metallic base that looked like it was screwed to the floor. On top of it, a large sheet covered all but the right arm of a very powerful shape. Dozens of cables and wires came from the top of the figure's heads, next to several computer servers of high capacity. Even with his suit, he could feel the air conditioning pumping at full power, trying to keep the room cool.

The door closed behind him.

The trap-detecting capabilities of his visor bounced all over the room, the walls showing as opaque. He'd have to eyeball it. Slowly, he made it closer and closer to the gurney. He managed to make it through by following a faint set of prints, small, maybe a nurse's or a petite orderly, navigating through a complex pattern on the floor.

He reached the gurney. He took a device from his belt, aimed it at the ceiling and fired. It emitted a high-pitched sound that shattered the red sun lamps one after the other, pitching the room in complete darkness. Glass cascaded to the floor, but not enough to trigger traps. He took another device from his belt and…

"Well, hello Brucie." A voice boomed from all around him. In the distance, he saw that a light had been switched on in the observation deck…and there was a silhouette standing there. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up."

"Luthor!"

"Yes." He pressed a few buttons and from the corners of the room, four panels slid open and high-powered floodlights were turned on. Batman seemed to shrink when the light covered every inch of the room. Even he couldn't cast the slightest shadow.

"My, my. How ridiculous a bat looks in broad daylight. I'm guessing you spent the past 2 hours navigating through the most tortuous labyrinth we could design…and you used most –if not all- of your bat-tricks. And I'm thinking you're feeling pretty secure, because of that concentrated yellow sun lamp you have in your hand will get him to 30-40% power and that's enough for you two to escape. It's a good plan and I would be very, very worried …if he was indeed under those blankets."

Batman pulled the sheet off and winced. It was just the glove-like skin of an arm, next to a life-size medical dummy that breathed in and out thanks to the machines it was connected to.

"Yes, that's part of a creep suit. The real deal is nowhere near this place."

"So the energy drain, the extra security…this was just to trap me?"

"You guessed wrong; don't beat yourself down for it. We have six or seven locations just like this one, each one with a different body part exposed. I knew you had spies in my organization and this was a way to weed them out and find out how much you actually knew." He pressed a button and panels from the top sides of the lab walls slid open, revealing dozens of men in LexCorp uniforms, armed with high-caliber rifles leveled at Batman.

"So…if you're here…who is in Metropolis?"

"Slade Wilson. And if you're here, that means Dick is in Gotham, right?"

Batman remained silent.

"You left your protégé alone against the well-oiled killing machine that kept him under wraps since his capture? Yeah, that was smart, Bats. Well, my friends and I are going to finish your interference. You know, for a billionaire, you seem to forget the resources I possess. I have entire armies in my payroll. Wearing you down is just a matter of numbers. High numbers, but still."

"And you're forgetting one thing, Luthor."

Lex's "open fire" hand gesture stopped in mid-air.

"What?"

"I'm the goddamn Batman."

Lex didn't even see what happened. He just noticed the world went white and he was thrown backwards, hitting the wall behind him.

It was a movement that would have surprised even the kryptonian sap. Batman must have taken something…two things from his belt and hurled them to the ground. They exploded, creating a blinding, deafening wall of force that shattered everything in its path. It was as if he had found a way to miniaturize Superman's thunderclap, add a bit of lightning and use it in case of extreme emergency. It was a potent combination in a miniature package…something even Batman must have considered too dangerous to carry en masse.

Lex was back on his feet in less than ten seconds, but when he looked into the lab, he found it was empty. He looked at his watch, saw that he was within the parameters and went to the door.

"All stations, he's escaping through utility corridor three; the west exit is the closest to him. Make him work for it. Wilson? Go."

Batman ran through the corridors, his sensors guiding him to an exit. He had one of the sharpshooter's radios and tried to hack it on the run.

"Nightwing, get out of there! It's a shell game! Luthor is in Metropolis!"

***Gotham Towers***

"Ah, but I'm having the feeling that I'm not talking to the real Batman."

"What are you talking about, Luthor?"

"No, you're not him. You're slightly thinner than he is, not quite as tall and your voice doesn't sound like you gargle gravel every morning…"

Batman remained silent.

"You're younger, therefore less experienced, less capable."

"He's running the show, trying to accomplish the main goal and you here are just the distraction."

He kept goading him. "Of course. Professional distraction."

"A decoy."

"The eternal boy hostage."

"Lifelong member of the Dead Parents Society."

Batman kept his arms crossed, but he looked like he was very, very angry.

"Circus brat, used to neglectful parents endangering his life."

"What was he thinking? Green shorts and pixie boots?"

"I always wondered why he kept a kid in a yellow cape, brightly and visible, while he cowered behind that black pair of bulletproof long johns." He laughed while Batman's eye slits narrowed further.

"Hey Robin…say 'holy" for …"

The right hook came out of nowhere and it deadened the left part of his face. He remembered his instructions to the letter: goad him, taunt him, and rattle his cage until he's ready to hit you. Let him, but make it seem like a light breeze just struck you. That punch must not faze you, let alone drop you. Make it through that, stick to the script and we have it made.

"You're lucky I rolled with that punch." He said, calmly. "Otherwise you would have broken your hand."

"You son of a bitch." Batman took a few steps back. "I'm going to make you regret you came to Gotham."

"I'm sorry, old friend, but what's wrong with you?" Superman seemed to scan the horizon and nod. A second later, there was a whistling sound and a black, metallic object flew at him. It came from behind Batman and Superman caught it with one hand. "First you punch me and now a batarang?"

The batarang exploded in a bright, red light, sending Superman backwards.

Superman fell to the ground, his face and hands smoking, screaming in pain. "What did you do to my powers? What did you do to my powers?"

Batman ran through the corridor, hearing massive footsteps behind him. He rounded a corner and hit the two guards that laid in ambush, pirouetted to a third –knocked him out with a knee- and used his rifle to bash the head of a fourth. He found the stairwell and moved to the next floor. The place was designed with short stairwells, placed in opposite sides of the building, in order to further delay any escape attempts. His right side felt tender…probably a bullet…but he kept running.

Suddenly, Lex Luthor barred his way, wielding a shotgun. "Did you think we'd let you escape that easy?"

"Didn't cross my mind."

"Tell you what…get past me and you're home free."

"I get past you and I'll beat his location out of you."

Lex smiled. "You're welcome to try."

The shotgun barrel deflected the batarang and the cloak blocked the shotgun blast, but by then Batman had gotten to melee range. A vicious uppercut sent Lex staggering back, the shotgun falling to the ground, and Batman following the hit with a punch to the solar plexus that unexpectedly hit something hard. It sent shocks through Batman's arm.

"Armor." Lex threw a jab straight to Batman's chin, grabbed the pointy ears and twisted, hard. The ears detached as Batman grinned and delivered a fierce head-butt. Lex fell down.

He sat astride on his chest, grabbed his lapels and shook him. "Where is he?"

It was at that moment when it downed on Batman: Lex wasn't bleeding. The hit should have turned his nose into mush, but he wasn't even bruised.

He checked Lex's collar and found a thin, metallic loop around his neck. He ripped it off and Lex's face vanished, revealing a stranger with a full head of hair, shifty eyes, a broken nose, split lips and bleeding gums.

"…Luthor?"

"…yeth? …"

Batman pressed down on the bloody nose. "WHERE IS LEX LUTHOR?"

The mook screamed in pain. "…Idonnow"

He slammed him once again against the floor and ran away. He tried his communicator once again, hoping against hope that the signal would not be blocked anymore. He called Nightwing once again, with a deep feeling of foreboding.

"Chairman Siegel, Members of the Board of Trustees, President Plastino, Former Presidents Boring and Waid, Provost Weisinger, Division Chairs, Faculty, Vice Presidents, Staff, Distinguished Guests, and above all, students of CalTech, good evening. For those of you who don't know who I am, my name is Lex Luthor."

"When President Plastino asked me to contribute to your fundraising efforts, I was delighted. As one who went from the alleys of Suicide Slum to the boardrooms of Metropolis, I know how important it is to put together the best talent with the greatest opportunities. But it got me thinking…am I doing all I can? Is writing a check enough to help science and technology advance?" He shook his head.

"Sadly, no; that simply won't do anymore. This year, LexCorp will do more than just write a check. Don't worry, President Plastino, I still have it here. I'll even sign it before the physicists devour the hors d'oeuvres."

A bit of laughter spread among the audience.

"No, the reason why I am in Pasadena tonight, is to tell you that LexCorp has made a pledge to CalTech. I have put, in writing, that LexCorp will give employment to each graduate from any and every class of CalTech in any field. LexCorp is at the moment, starving for new ideas, for fresh minds to think, not only outside the box, but in a completely different wavelength. This past year, we've taken LexCorp to a whole new level –and that is with a tired old brain that's simply out of this world. But to get to where we need to be, in scientific and technological terms, we're going to need a bigger brain. I'm going to need every one of you, for the next ten years, at least, if we are to make significant progress within my lifetime." Lex smiled, folded his speech and put it in his pocket.

"You know, we are not too different. Making huge deals every day are a fine way to spend time, but to tell you the truth, sometimes the thrill of being in the lab, ground zero for a new concept, idea or discovery is like nothing else in the world."

The fight on top of the Gotham Towers was not going well.

No way is this guy Luthor. He dodged jab to his head, but got nailed with a knee to the side.

Style is too refined…a chop to neck and an instep hit. His Amazon trainers have said that he is below average…this guy's a bruiser...

He feinted to the left, when Superman dropped a pellet to the ground. It released a pea-soup fog almost instantly, completely surprising him. Just as he peered into the fog, trying to find either Superman or the way out, Superman lunged forward and plunged a heretofore unseen knife under his chin. Indescribable pain flashed for a few seconds and then it all went dark.

Quickly, Superman took a plastic bag full of blood from a pocket inside the cape and ripped it open, spilling it on the gravel floor. He stuffed the bag back into the pocket, picked up the twitching body, engaged the thrusters and flew away, making sure he was well clear of the area the cameras were covering.

"We are people of passions… we think of nothing else but doing that which give us pleasure. What do we get out of that? A feeling of accomplishment, the knowledge that throughout the day we worked in what we feel passionate about. That we are making the world better….that somehow, somewhere, we are changing the world. And if we happen to receive obscene salaries for it, well, ladies and gentlemen, that's my definition of Nirvana."

"I am a man that looks for the wisdom in any investment. And let me tell you that this agreement between LexCorp and CalTech is the wisest deal I've ever made. I have complete faith in humanity; I have the greatest confidence in our ability to rise to the challenges life throws our way. And I'm more than happy to do my part in helping the world to be a better place, by helping knowledge replace ignorance. The world expects great things from you. It's time to stand and be counted."

Thank you very much."

The assembly applauded at Lex Luthor, as he made his way down from the podium and into his seat at the table for the guests of honor. Before long, he saw how a student showed the screen of his phone to another, and then both showed it to others and they typed and texted in them.

He stood up and went to the nearest one. "Anything good?"

"Mr. Luthor, I…"

"Ah, don't worry. Speeches are boring, anyway. I also check my phone from time to time, but mostly to check my stocks."

"It's a video from Gotham City. Batman kicked Superman's ass a little while ago.""

"He did? How? Why?"

"Don't know, sir. The fight is short, but Superman gave as good as he got. Look, it's about to end…see how Batman hits Superman in the face with one of his batarangs? And then there's the gas covering both and when it clears, they're gone."

Lex shrugged. "Just another dust-up. It looks like they have one of those every Wednesday." He returned to his table.

Batman emerged from the Koul-Brau brewery, battered and bloodied, but still on his feet. The last batch of guards had really done a number on him. His uniform was ripped and torn in several places, almost all of his bat-tricks were gone and he had to leave his utility belt hanging in an electromagnetic trap. What little evidence he gathered inside was long gone, but he was already planning the next phase of the plan. He ran a few blocks towards the place where he hid the Batwing, when he felt a paralyzing discharge of electricity go through his body. He fell.

"Well, well, well…" a throaty voice rasped behind him. "if it isn't my favorite nighttime rodent. Looks like Ol' Baldy was right on the money."

He picked him up and dragged him away.

"Let's put a smiiiiiiile on that face."

It was almost dawn when Lex boarded his plane. Before it took off, he called his agents.

"How's the clown?"

The man in the video looked very ill. He looked behind him, at a closed door from where maniacal laugh emanated. "He's been there for hours, only coming out to ask for…supplies."

"What kind of supplies?"

"C-crowbar, a comb, chocolate, lint, green apples, a razor, finger puppets."

"Great. He's in our special room, right?"

"Yes."

"Proceed, with confirmation."

"Yes, sir."

Lex saw the guard signal the other guards and lots of things happened at the same time: two barred the door, five climbed up a ladder and took positions all over the roof. A dozen hoisted automatic weapons and stood by.

The laughter inside the room stopped abruptly and the door rattled.

"Hey, what's the big idea?"

The guards on top opened small hatches and dropped grenades. The blasts shook the door almost off its hinges, as the voice inside screamed. "…no flash photography, please. Bats is kinda shy."

The guards dropped a grenade every few seconds, and their instructions were to do so until each guard had dropped its allotment. The door buckled when shrapnel hit it and smoke wafted from under the door until the blasts ended.

Slowly, the armed contingent of guards opened the door and entered, guns blazing. The flashes illuminated the room and Lex saw that the walls were smeared with blood. Finally, a guard came out and addressed him.

"It's done, sir. J and K are out."

"Show me."

The guard removed his mask and Lex identified him as one of his employees. He then took the camera and went into the room. It was as ghastly as he expected, but he clearly identified the body of the Joker and the broken, charred remains of Bruce Wayne.

"Dispose and disperse. Well done, people." He switched to another channel. "Report."

"Arrow fired. Belfry is toast."

"Good. Gibblets?"

"As many as we could spare."

Lex nodded. "Fingerprints?"

"Scrubbed. Untraceable, sir."

"Good job."

The plane took off and flew in the direction of Metropolis. Lex Luthor leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He was asleep before long.

"Our top story today, experts reveal that the large explosion that all but destroyed Wayne Manor early this week has been confirmed as 'superman' made, as no traces of explosives were found in the wreckage, but traces of kryptonian tissue were found all around the site. At first, the only body found belonged to Alfred Pennyworth, the Wayne's long serving butler, and the tissue was thought to be his, but as the investigation continued, tests performed by Homeland Security revealed it was of Kryptonian origin. A substantial amount, they added."

Images of people walking over smoking rubble covered the screen. One of the workers pulled out a piece of blue fabric; another held a torn piece of red cloth. "Bits and pieces from his uniform seem to support that theory. Here at WGBS, we hesitate to speculate any further, but it appears that the loss of such a large amount of tissue could be fatal to the Man of Steel."

"Authorities have tied this event with the violent Superman/Batman's confrontation that occurred on top of Gotham Towers that very same night, as blood evidence found on the roof was also confirmed Kryptonian. Sources inside GCPD revealed that they were puzzled when they found it mixed with a few drops of human DNA, belonging to Richard Grayson, former ward of Bruce Wayne. There are many unanswered questions, but sources close to Homeland Security have revealed that Batman, Bruce Wayne and Richard Grayson are being sought for questioning, though none of them have come forward, issued a statement or answered calls from the Batsignal. In other news…"