Chapter Seven: Punishment before Crime
Superman was out on patrol. He had already killed six people, because he had caught them littering in a park. He still had not had the opportunity to finish off J'onn, not with Flash and Hawkgirl buzzing around the building. Sure, he could have killed them both, but then there would be no one left to take the fall. Superman shook his head while flying. He did not have time to be thinking about these things. He had something more important to do. He arrived at NASA within a few minutes, which was now owned by LexCorp. There would soon be a covert launching. A rocket would be launched into space here, but there was reportedly a chemical leak in the area, so no one was around to see it. The perfect cover up, the world would be completely unaware of the launch. The JLA would have had Superman wait back and not get involved unless it became a problem, but now Superman was through playing that game, he was going to stop the launch before it happened. After all, President Lex Luthor had orchestrated it all; nothing good could come of it. Superman flew up into a cloud bank so that he would not be detected, and looked down with his x-ray vision, but it was no good. The entire complex had been reinforced with lead. Superman could not see through lead. He flew down with incredible speed to the launch site, and hid behind a tower. The rocket was more of a space station, it was massive. Garage doors opened, and a group of five figures stepped out. Among them were Major Force and Captain Atom.
Captain Atom was a hero, but he was also a soldier. It wasn't the first time he had sold himself out to the government. He disgusted Superman. The other three people were Dr. Hamilton, who was a S.T.A.R. Labs scientist, Hank Henshaw, he would be the astronaut going into space. The fifth person was Hank's wife, whose name Superman did not know. "Here is the shuttle you will be travelling in, Mr. Henshaw." Dr. Hamilton said.
"You mind telling me exactly what I'm going to be doing in space?" Hank asked.
"Don't worry about that, Mr. Henshaw. All you have to do is report back to us on your coordinates daily. The shuttle is programmed to do the rest; you'll hardly have to lift a finger."
"Okay, then what is the shuttle doing?"
"Again Mr. Henshaw, don't worry about that."
"Be safe." Hank's wife said.
"I will, darling." Hank promised. Superman cracked a smile. No amount of safety would help him. Superman glanced up at the bodyguards, Major Force and Captain Atom. He would have to catch them off guard. Hank began to board the shuttle. Superman zoomed out to stop him. But just before Superman was about to get onto the shuttle, he was struck hard by Major Force. Superman sailed into a wall, caving it in. A cloud of dust rose around him.
"Well, well, well, the big blue Boy Scout showed up for a beating." Major Force said with a smile, cracking his knuckles loudly. Superman got to his feet, ready for a fight. Captain Atom stepped up next to Major Force.
"Mr. Henshaw, get off the ground now!" Captain Atom demanded. Hank Henshaw heard this cry and activated the thrusters. The shuttle began to leave the ground. Superman zoomed around past Major Force, but Captain Atom reacted and let loose all the energy he had been storing up, blasting Superman down. Superman began to get to his feet, a smoldering hole in his cape and in the back of his suit, revealing charred flesh. Major Force leapt into the air and came down with unbelievable force, Superman barely managed to get out of the way before Major Force smashed into the ground, creating a massive impact. Major Force doubled back and fired a powerful black energy blast from his hands, striking Superman and sending him tumbling through the air, only to be caught in a crushing embrace by Captain Atom. Captain Atom crushed as hard as he could, and felt the man of steel's ribs crack. Captain Atom was a powerful hero, but Superman's strength was still greater. If he could just get his arms free…
Major Force blasted Superman again, focusing only on the face this time. Superman screamed as the energy slowly burned away his steel-like flesh. In a bout of desperation, Superman huffed with his super breath as strongly as he could, sending Captain Atom flying backwards through the air. Captain Atom crashed into a flag pole, completely bending out of shape. He slouched down, and Superman ripped himself free, lifted the Captain into the air, and chucked him at Major Force, putting them both on the ground. Superman then took off into the air after the shuttle, which had not yet escaped the atmosphere. But he found himself dodging more energy blasts, as Major Force fired from below. Major Force then leapt into the air, pounding Superman with three thundering punches. Superman delivered an equally devastating punch into Major Force's throat, causing him to choke on his own blood. Superman then punched the invulnerable tank of rage in the jaw, sending him spiraling down. He knew that Major Force would not be down for long. Major Force was never down for very long. He took off, full speed this time, but Captain Atom had taken off in flight and came up next to Superman! Major Force fired an energy blast into Captain Atom, who absorbed the energy. Great, Major Force was acting as a battery for Captain Atom! Superman purposely stopped flying and fell back behind the other hero, and released a gust of freeze breath, which froze up Captain Atom's feet. The hero began to fall, his weight too much in the back. He began to melt the ice with radiation, but in his confusion Superman delivered a kick to his chest that send him spiraling down like a meteor! Superman watched him crash into the fueling station below, and he fired a wave of heat vision into the fuel tanks, creating a massive, fiery explosion that caught both the enemies. Captain Atom and Major Force were probably both dead. Good. Superman turned around and went after the space shuttle, which was just now beginning to exit the atmosphere. Superman caught the shuttle just in time and ripped the entire back door off!
"W- what are you doing!" Hank Henshaw screamed.
"My job. Keeping people safe. Nothing good can come of this little exhibition." Superman yelled, flying in toward Hank.
"P- Please Superman… I- I got a wife down there!" Hank begged.
"Not anymore." Superman said darkly, firing a shot of deadly heat vision down at Mrs. Henshaw. She immediately burst into flames, and her scream could be heard even from where they were.
"No! You- You monster!" Hank shrieked.
"Don't worry. You'll be able to join her very soon." Superman said, shooting Hank as well. Hank fell back into the control consol, streaking blood. Half of his flesh had been burned off! "Good bye." Superman said with a wicked gleam in his eyes. He then fired heat vision down into the floor, right where the gas tank is located. Hank reached for his gun, but it was too late. The shuttle burst into the flames, and Hank Henshaw died. A few remaining chunks drifted off into space, but they were no threat. Superman flew back down to Earth, smiling the whole way.
Meanwhile…
Green Lantern sat perched atop a building, thinking. "I guess I should go back to headquarters now… Shayera's probably worried about me." He stood and stretched his arms in the sun. "I hope J'onn's ok." He sighed hopefully.
But as he was getting ready to take off, he heard a massive, thundering explosion not too far off. "What the hell is that…?" He turned to see a dome of fire off toward the NASA Space Station, and then a slightly smaller explosion in the sky above it. Soon the explosion faded, and Green Lantern immediately flew off to see what was going on. A few moments later he arrived at the NASA Space Station, which lay in ruins! Everything had been destroyed in the explosion. He heard a rustling over to the left, and then held out his fist. A luminescent but solid light shone from the ring, and began pushing away rubble. Underneath some of the debris was the damaged, broken body of Captain Atom, moaning painfully. Green Lantern ran over to him immediately.
"J- John?" the Captain groaned.
"It's me, cap. What happened here?"
"S- S- Superman… stop him… please…" And that was all Captain Atom managed to say before he fell into unconsciousness, or maybe death, Green Lantern couldn't quite tell which. The hero stood and looked off into the horizon.
"Superman. Damn it I should have known!" He looked down and flashed a light from his ring. "I'll take him down tonight." Green Lantern said in a strong, confident tone of voice. "For Diana, and J'onn, and lord knows how many others!" He raised his glowing into the sky. "It ends tonight!"
Meanwhile, at JLA Headquarters…
Hawkgirl entered into the infirmary after she had checked to make sure Superman was not in the building. She moved over to J'onn, who had still not woken up from his battle with Superman. There were several candles lit throughout the room, to keep him from escaping if he did wake up. Hawkgirl sat down next to the bed and touched J'onn's shoulder.
"I know you didn't do it J'onn. I just don't know who did." She said distantly. "But I trust you… just like you always trusted me. Even… even when I didn't deserve any trust." A sad shadow slid into her eyes, remembering when she had betrayed the team for her home world.
"Huh… what am I doing. You probably can't even hear me." She smiled, but then J'onn's voice rang out like a knife inside her mind.
"Yes I can. I hear every word!" He said.
"J'onn! Is that you?" She exclaimed.
"Yes. My body is currently inactive, but my mind is actually very functional. Listen Shayera, please, this is important."
"What is it?" She gasped.
"The one behind the killings, and the disappearances, and the one who framed me, it's Superman."
"Clark? Are you sure J'onn?" She gasped.
"Yes, during our battle I read his mind. All he could think about was killing me, and his thoughts were filled with memories of other murder's too. Many other murders. He knows that Bruce is on to him, and he plans to try and frame him next, but first he wishes to finish me off. Please Shayera, find help." J'onn pleaded.
"Ok J'onn, I promise I'll try." She said through what was almost tears. J'onn was about to respond, but then she heard heavy footsteps down the hall. Superman had arrived back. She knew she had to leave quickly. "Goodbye J'onn, I'll come back later." She said in a whisper, then she left the room and ran to her own. She didn't know what to think. There was always the possibility that J'onn was lying to her, what if he really did do it? But the way Clark had been acting lately… she just didn't know.
During all this, Flash was watching old horror movies in his room, when there was a heavy knock on the door. "Yeah?" Flash called, and the door opened revealing Superman. The man of steel stepped in with an all-business look on his face.
"Where's Shayera?" He asked.
"Last I saw her she was talking in the infirmary visiting J'onn. She was talking to herself too, it was kind of weird." Flash said through a mouth full of popcorn.
"Really… and what about John? Has he been around lately?" Superman asked.
"GL? No, he hasn't been her since he flew off when we took down J'onn."
"Good to know. Good to know." Superman nodded. Then he turned and left Flash's room. Then he looked off toward Shayera's room. "Hmm… if I play this right,
maybe I can kill two birds with one stone." He smiled.
A few hours later…
Batman, Question and Galatea had taken a scenic route toward the batcave, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves. But as they moved through the woods, Galatea suddenly stopped.
"Wait!" She called.
"What is it?" Batman asked.
"No reason to walk anymore. I can get us shelter right here." She smiled.
"What do you mean?" Question asked. In response, Galatea turned to a large boulder to the left of them, at the base of a hill.
"One sec." She said, walking over to the hill. She then grabbed on the rock, and heaved it away, revealing an entrance into some sort of bunker inside the hill! "This is an old Cadmus hideout, it isn't in use anymore." She said, entering in. Batman and Question cautiously followed.
The room was filled with supplies like food, mattresses, and a radio. "This was supposed to be a hideout place in case of… well in case they needed to hide from something." She said.
"Why isn't it in use anymore?" Batman asked.
"I don't know, probably spiders or something." She shrugged, plopping down on a mattress. "I know one thing; I need to find something else to wear. This jumpsuit is really bothering me." She sighed.
Batman and Question sat in the far corner. "So what next? What's are plan of action?" Question asked.
"I say we go back to the place where this all started. The bank where that little girl died, that was when Superman started slipping down the deep end." Batman said.
"It's a good thought, except I just don't know what we could find there." Question shrugged.
"Then what do you suggest?" Batman said.
"We need to find where Superman is keeping all these bodies. If he's killing people, there have to be bodies right? We find them, we have proof."
"Good plan, except that there are about a million places where they could be hidden!"
"It would make sense to check his fortress of solitude, nobody else goes there right?"
"No Question, it wouldn't make any sense for us to go there. That's his castle, and we can't afford to step off our playing field. Or we'll die." Batman snapped.
"Why don't you just find Zatanna?" Galatea called from across the room.
"Zatanna? What for?"
"She can talk to dead people and all that, right? Have her ask the victims where their bodies are at." She said as if it were no big deal. Batman and Question suddenly felt like idiots.
"We probably should have thought of that before." Question laughed.
"Maybe. We'll track down Zatanna, but first we make a quick stop at the bank where that girl died. I need to look for something…" Batman said vaguely.
"What?" Question asked.
"Lets just say that if I find what I think I might find, then Superman isn't the only criminal here." Batman said, and Question and Galatea decided to not ask anymore questions.
"You know he's going be coming after us soon." Question said. "He knows you're onto him right? First he'll eliminate the closer threats like J'onn and probably Green Lantern, but then he's coming after us." Question said grimly.
"I know. That's why we recruited her." Batman looked toward Galatea.
"Yes, but it's no secret that we busted her out of Ryker's, Batman. We made a pretty big scene back there. So it's not like he hasn't heard about it by now, he most likely has."
"What are you getting at Question?"
"He's going to attack in more ways than one. That whole little bat family thing you've got going on, none of them are safe." Question said.
"They can all handle themselves." Batman said.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I trained them." Batman said it with absolute confidence. "They'll be fine. It's getting dark now, let's eat, rest up a little, and then move out." Batman said.
"Fine. Just one more thing Batman… why do you really want to go the bank where that girl died? Is it because you really want to find something, or is it because your afraid to go to Zatanna, because she can verify that Diana is dead." Question said.
Batman said nothing, so Question continued. "If we talk to Diana's spirit, then she's dead, that much is obvious. I think you're afraid to go to Zatanna, so you're sending us on this crazy bank detour. Am I right?" Question demanded.
"Eat, rest, and then we'll head out." Batman repeated. And that was the end of the conversation.