Chapter Seventeen: Last Stand
Superman lay on the LexCorp Towers now, being burned alive by Luthor's kryptonite radiation. He had already been weakened from the Cadmus ambush… and now he was on the brink of death.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Die you stupid piece of filth!" Luthor screamed psychotically. The sun was rising now, but it would do no good for the man of steel at this point. Nothing would. All around them, the Superman Drones were annihilating everything in their path. One by one the hundreds of superheroes fell, dropping like flies. The military forces and Cadmus had almost completely been wiped out now. The Amazon's numbers were swiftly dwindling, finding that their armor was little defense against heat vision. The only one putting a major dent in the Superman Drones force's was Doomsday! The unstoppable Kryptonian war monster was destroying every drone in it's path, but he wouldn't last forever, and the drones would. That was the problem, that machine was literally creating more and more by the minute. And the ones that were destroyed could usually regenerate. It was a fight that the heroes had no chance of winning, even with Doomsday in the front lines.
"Like what you see… Superman? Huh? Do you like it?" Luthor roared, laughing with a new level of mania.
"Actually, yeah…" Superman chuckled, coughing up blood. This made Luthor snarl, and veins began bulging out of his forehead. He balled up his iron-clad fist and punched Superman hard in the face, the impact caving in the roof. They both began falling through the inside of LexCorp towers, Luthor punching Superman the whole way down. They finally landed in the room where the machine creating the drones had been. Superman swung his arm and managed to shove Luthor off of him momentarily. He looked over and saw some sort of solar generator, powering the machine!
"Of course… it is Kryptonian technology…" Superman grunted, crawling toward the machine. He reached the solar power generator and ripped off the power cufflinks, literally jamming them into his own chest! Solar energy began surging through Superman, charging his Kryptonian cells… making him stronger. Finally, he pulled the cufflinks away from himself, literally glowing with energy!
He hovered into the air, the radiant, angelic glow gleaming from his body was a complete contradiction to his cold, murderous personally. He clenched his fists triumphantly. "Yes… YES! I've never felt power like this!" He shrieked. Luthor stood, slightly horrified. "I- I'm stronger than I've ever been!" Superman broke out laughing.
Then Luthor's confident smile came back. "That may be true… but I still possess the largest amount of kryptonite radiation in the world, at my fingertips." He prepared to blast. Superman prepared to dodge. "And… I still control the Superman Drones! And I can change their programming at any time I please!" Luthor shouted. Suddenly, a strange lit up in his eyes. Superman realized that Lex was somehow controlling the drones telepathically!
Suddenly, the four drones in the room turned and grabbed the man of steel. Lex, more confident than ever, pointed his gauntlet toward his enemy, preparing to fire a lethal blast of radiation. "It's been fun… Superman."
Superman struggled against the four drones holding him still. Finally, he got one arm free. He used it to pull a drone in front of him just as Luthor was firing, and used it as a shield! Superman then quickly spun and around at super speed, flinging the drones off of him. In a blur he was behind Luthor and grabbed the villain by the back of the neck! Using his x-ray vision, he scanned the inside of Luthor's skull, finding a tiny microchip implant that was wired to Luthor's brain, allowing him to control the drones. Superman savagely jammed a finger into Luthor's skull! The madman screamed in agony, which only increased Superman's joy at the activity.
"There was one flaw in your big master plan, Luthor… I've become even worse than you!" Superman laughed, pulling the microchip out of the President's head! He then threw the armor-clad villain through an office window. "Now down to business." Superman found the gash in the back of his head where Diana had struck him with an ax earlier. He placed the microchip inside, painfully pushing it through his own skull. He then felt the device operate to it's programming, and begin to fuse with his very mind! It was extremely painful, but Superman grinned knowing the end result would be worth it. Once the process was over, Superman immediately felt a link to the millions of drones! "Wonderful. After I kill everyone here, I'll have my own army!" Superman envisioned himself on a throne in the ruined city of Metropolis, while the ever growing masses of drones policed every corner of the globe! Why exterminate the human race, when he could dominate them? It seemed like a much more fruitful endeavor. But first, he had to finish off his attackers. Superman floated outside, telepathically commanding an army of one hundred Superman Drones to his side! They then found Doomsday, who had slaughtered thousands of the machines.
Doomsday spotted Superman and leapt at him. But in mid jump, Superman and all of the drones at his side fired powerful blasts of heat vision! The heat vision collected in a massive red wave that overtook the monster, and within seconds, Doomsday was no more. The landscape was left barren and smoldering. A fitting image for the new world, Superman thought. Perhaps he would even rename Earth… something along the lines of "New Krypton", to honor the parents who sent him to the filth ridden planet that he now planned to conquer.
Queen Hippolyta herself attacked him from behind. Superman dispatched her quickly. But then he heard another battle cry, this one a bit more familiar. He turned and was struck by Hawkgirl's mace! He went spinning, and before he had even regained his composure, he sent his drones to attack! Hawkgirl immediately began smashing her way through the dog pile of drones, but she would not last long, Superman new this for sure. Then, suddenly, the sky was lit up in a green glow! Then thousands of green energy blasts beamed down and destroyed the drones attacking Hawkgirl. Superman looked up in shock to see the entire Green Lantern Corps descending upon them! John Stewart was at the front of the army, rage burning in his eyes. Most of the corps went on to battle more drones, but about twelve of them surrounded Superman, all aiming their power rings toward him. Among them was John, the Earth Green Lantern.
"Haven't you had enough yet?" Superman growled aggressively.
"It's over Clark. You're done." John barked.
"My drone army outnumbers even the entire Green Lantern corps! And we're growing by the minute! You don't have a chance!" Superman threatened.
"Oh, I don't know, I've got a feeling that if we fry you right now, the Drones won't be too much of a problem afterwards."
"Just one problem, you guys aren't allowed to use lethal force, right?" Superman grinned. "And even if you incapacitate me, the drones will keep on coming. You'll have to kill me to stop them, and since you can't do that, I guess you're at a dilemma, Stewart."
"Take him down!" John shouted, ignoring the rant. All of the surrounding Green Lantern's fired, but in a blur Superman flew upward. He was immediately being chased by emerald energy constructs, mostly strange alien forms. John rocketed ahead and beat Superman into a building with a giant emerald hammer! He then began pounding Superman mercilessly with two gigantic emerald fists, not even giving the man of steel a chance to move! Superman jutted out his hands and blocked one of the fists, and the other had no room to move in. But the fist was pressing in on him, he wouldn't be able to hold it forever. "You can't beat me Clark, not while I have the corps by my side!" John shouted.
"Maybe not alone… but I think you're forgetting my new power, John!" Superman shouted back. Suddenly, a drone appeared behind John, and fired a slicing ray of heat vision into the back of John's head! Immediately blood spattered, and the emerald fists faded away. John fell to the ground in a heap.
"No!" Hawkgirl shrieked. "John! No, no, please God no!" She cried. Superman laughed wickedly.
"Don't worry Shayera, you'll be seeing him real soon."
Meanwhile, in the Fortress of Solitude…
Batman, Green Arrow, Dick Grayson, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman arrived at the Fortress of Solitude through the teleporter.
"No messing around here. We get in, find the Eradicator, get the information we need, and leave. We need to end this as soon as possible." Batman instructed.
"Yeah… sure…" Dick said distantly.
"Get over Galatea! She's evil, she double-crossed us and tried to kill us, get over it and do something!" Batman shouted. Green Arrow rested his hand on Dick's shoulder.
"Come on bats, give the kid a break. Even normal people go through some tough break ups. And with people like us, it usually ends in a lover trying to murder you. It's not easy." Green Arrow said.
"It isn't supposed to be easy. Dick should have learned a long time ago not to make attachments. They never work for people like us! Either someone gets hurt, or someone hurts the other! Either way, it never works. He fell into the oldest trap in the book, that's pathetic enough, there's no reason for him to mope about it!" Batman lectured.
"Bruce, stop. Its not like you haven't done the same thing." Wonder Woman piped in.
"But I learn from my mistakes. That's why I won't do it again. Dick obviously doesn't learn anything from his mistakes. Remember Donna Troy? I seem to remember him being hurt then too!"
"She died Bruce, that isn't even a fair example!" Green Arrow shouted, becoming angry at the dark knight's attitude.
"You know why Dick fell for Galatea? Because unlike you, he has a heart! And that pisses you off because it reminds you how much of a jerk you are!" Supergirl stated bluntly, looking Batman in the eyes.
"Will you all quit talking about me like I'm not even in the room!" Dick chimed in, frustrated. Everyone looked at him as if they had forgotten that he could hear them. "I don't want to talk about anymore, ok? It's done. I screwed up, and it won't happen again. Now let's find the Eradicator and get out of here!" He demanded, shoving passed everyone. Supergirl and Green Arrow followed.
"Bruce… is that why you won't get close to me?" Wonder Woman grabbed Batman's hand. "Are you afraid of getting hurt?" She was suddenly very understanding.
"It doesn't matter right now. It never even mattered at all." Batman followed after the other heroes, and with a sigh, Wonder Woman followed too.
But then there was a loud blast, and part of the fortress began to collapse. Five Superman Drones fell through the gaping hole, sent by Superman.
"He just couldn't make this easy, could he?" Green Arrow sighed, readying his bow.
"How did he know we were here?" Wonder Woman questioned, preparing for combat.
"Where else would we have gone?" Batman pointed out.
"Good point." Wonder Woman nodded.
One of the drones zoomed forward and began blasting shots of heat vision toward Batman, causing him to jump back from the rest of the team.
"They're trying to separate us!" Dick shouted. Batman threw two bat grenades at his attacker, blowing the drone to smithereens. But before the smoke even cleared, Dick was thrown into the dark knight, sending them both tumbling over a ledge deep into a crevice of the fortress. They landed hard on the icy ground, surrounded by glowing crystals.
"Ouch." Dick groaned.
"That wouldn't have happened if you had been paying attention!" Batman stated.
"Yeah, yeah, I screw everything up, get over it Bruce!"
"My grapple can't make it all the way back up. We'll have to scale the wall." Batman said, suddenly all-business. He began to climb, but quickly grunted and fell back down.
"What the-" Dick saw that Bruce's arm was covered in blood. "Bruce, you're hurt."
"You think?" Batman snapped with angry sarcasm.
"Come on, I'll carry you up and-"
"No. You can't."
"What do you mean I can't Bruce? I'm a better climber than you and-"
"No Dick! I can get up myself." Batman tried climbing again, and fell again, landing painfully on a crystal this time.
"Yeah, it really looks like it." Dick said, returning the sarcasm, offering his hand. Batman ignored it and stood up himself.
"You've already made enough mistakes today. I can find another way up." Batman said, flaring Dick's anger.
"Bruce I can have us back up there in fifteen minutes!"
"You aren't strong enough, alright? Quit arguing and think about what you're doing! We don't need any more screw ups-"
"Bruce, will you just shut the hell up?"
"Excuse me?"
"I'm sick of this! Sick of you! You know what, I'm going up myself! If you want to lay here and die in a hole, be my guest! I won't shed a tear!" Dick screamed, getting ready to climb.
"You'll fall. Find a better location to start." Batman criticized.
"Oh my God just shut up Wayne!" Dick turned around and stared into Batman's eyes. "Why can't you just trust me? Just once?"
"I've always trusted you. But maybe that was a mistake, considering your performance lately."
"I know, it's not good enough right? I've NEVER been good enough!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't pretend you don't know! Even when I was Robin, nothing I did was ever good enough for you! I did my best and you treated me like garbage!" Dick had tears in his eyes, but there seemed to be no danger of them leaking out. "You made my childhood a living hell!"
"Dick-"
"No! Don't try to talk your way out of this, alright? I'm sick of it! I always screw everything up, I can't do anything right, I'm a loser, I get it! So please, just back off and leave me alone!"
"Dick… you're wrong. You couldn't be more wrong. I always pushed you because I saw something better in you. No matter how well you did, there was always something better waiting beneath the surface. You have unlimited potential, Dick. You always have. And I pushed you because I wanted you to be the best you could be. I never intended for you to feel badly about it, I just… I wanted to see you reach your full potential. Because every single improvement you ever made… it made me proud."
"You- you're proud of me…?"
"Extremely. And you can still do better, you still haven't reached 100%. I guess I pushed you because… well to be honest, I always expected you to surpass me one day. You certainly have the potential. And someday… someday I even want you to take my place."
"What?"
"I always intended for you to be the next Batman. A better Batman than me, even. In everyone's eyes but your own… you are my successor, Dick."
"Wow. How come you never told me any of this before?"
"I didn't want to boost your ego too high. You still have a problem with that."
Dick tried to hide it, but he smiled warmly and he knew Batman was well aware. Bruce telling him that he could be the next Batman… that was basically the same thing as telling him that he loved him. Dick Grayson… Batman's successor… Dick never would have imagined it.
"Come on Bruce… let's get out of here."
Soon they were out of the crevice, Dick carrying Batman on his back. Dick quickly hoisted them to the surface, and Batman got to his own feet.
"By the way, it took you twenty minutes." Batman said.
"Shut up Wayne." Dick laughed, shaking his head. They looked up and saw that all but two of the drones had been defeated by Supergirl, Wonder Woman and Green Arrow. Batman pulled out a scanner of some sort, and after a few moments, looked to Dick.
"The highest source of energy in this place is located south of here. If I'm not mistaken, that should be The Eradicator."
"Alright, we'll need Kara. She's the only one who can interface with it."
"Yeah, but the problem is getting past these damned drones."
"I've got a plan. That is, if you're willing to trust me." Dick asked.
"Always." Batman nodded.
After a moment of discussing, the three heroes locked in combat heard Batman shout, "Fall back! Now!"
Reluctantly, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman and Supergirl ran out of the battle, immediately being chased by the drones. They ran over under an arch over to Batman. The drones flew in. Batman stood forward with his arms spread wide, like a walking target!
One of the drones prepared to fire heat vision, when a grapple shot passed it's head. The grapple suddenly retracted, and caught the drone in the face! It pulled his head upward, causing the heat vision to strike the arch. About three tons of crystal came falling down on top of the drones! Dick stepped out from behind the pile of fallen crystal, holding a grapple gun. "Just for the record everyone, I totally came up with that whole plan!" Dick shouted, getting a slightly uncomfortable laugh from the entire group. Then there was a bubbling sound behind them.
"Oh crap." Supergirl groaned. The three destroyed drones began to reform, began to heal.
"I'll stay here and hold them off. You guys get to The Eradicator!" Wonder Woman shouted.
"No." Batman argued.
"Bruce-"
"No Diana. You're not dying again!" He insisted, turning her around and looking into her eyes. "I don't want to lose you again, alright?"
"I've got her back, Bruce." Green Arrow piped in.
"Same here." Dick agreed, drawing his escrima sticks.
"Bruce. I'll be fine, I promise." Diana pleaded. Batman nodded.
"Come on, Kara. The sooner we get to The Eradicator, the better."
Batman and Supergirl headed deeper into the Fortress of Solitude, while the other three stayed behind to fight. The two of them soon arrived at the large yellow orb that was The Eradicator.
"There." Batman said.
"Wait, I thought The Eradicator was like, a robot or something." Supergirl said, confused.
"It depends on the form it takes at the time, depending on the situation. Right now, it sort of operates as a computer database for Kryptonian information."
"And only a Kryptonian can access that database, right?"
"Right."
"So, what do I do? Just like, touch it?"
"Not sure."
"Well thanks for all the help." She rolled her eyes.
She moved cautiously over to the orb, and then touched her hand to it. Immediately, her eyes lit up with a yellow glow. There was a strange, incomprehensible chatter to Batman, but to Kara, it seemed like a fluent language.
"Identification: Kara Zor-El." The Eradicator said inside of her mind. "What do you want to know?"
After several minutes, Kara stepped down from the machine. "That was crazy… it was like, every thought I've ever had was swirling around in some kind of electric current or something. I've never felt anything like that before." She said.
"Do you know how to shut down the machine?" Batman asked quizzically.
"Not just the machine." She smiled. "I know how to shut down every single drone, too."
Meanwhile, outside LexCorp Towers…
Everything was suddenly coming back into focus. Slowly, John's eyes were opening. The back of his head still felt extremely hot. He reached up and touched his head where the heat vision had struck him. He felt metal. The metal plate in his head! From when he was shot during his time in the Marines… now that metal plate had just saved his life. The heat vision had struck the plate and had not damaged his brain at all.
"Sweet." He smiled, his ring reacting to his determination with a bright glow. "Time for round 3, Superman." He flew off to find the man who had almost killed him twice now. Most of the heroes had fallen now, only about ten remained to fight the Superman Drones, and they were wearing down quickly. Superman was at the center of the battle, beating down everything that came near him. The Green Lantern Corps had lost three quarters of its warriors; the Amazon's were nearly wiped out. Things were looking grim.
Then a large black shadow passed over Superman, the Bat Plane! It was soaring as mach 7 speed, blazing across the sky. The bottom opened up, and five heroes descended into LexCorp towers, Batman, Dick, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman and Supergirl.
"Not a chance." Superman sneered, beginning to fly toward the group. But then he was caught in an emerald vice construct, created by John Stewart! "Oh you have got to be kidding me! Why won't you just die?" Superman screamed.
"I'm a Marine. We're really tough to kill. I'm also a Green Lantern. We're even tougher."
"I take that as a challenge."
Back inside the towers, Supergirl was approaching the machine, preparing to use her new knowledge to shut down the machine producing the Superman Drones. Once they were finished off, the only remaining chore would be to take out Superman. But just as she was getting to work, a gunshot rang out. And then a kryptonite bullet embedded itself into Supergirl's back! The heroes immediately turned around, and saw a bloody, beaten Lex Luthor holding a gun. His war suit had been torn to shreds, and he was bathed in his own blood from the beating Superman had given him. But he was laughing like a maniac.
"You idiot!" Batman shouted, punching Luthor down. "She was our last chance! Now he's going to conquer everything!"
"And I still win." Lex Luthor chuckled.
"How? How the hell does that make you a winner Luthor?"
"Because my plan worked… Superman is a monster… a killer… even a conquering dictator! Hah-hah-hah… I win! Don't you get it? Even in death, I still win!" Luthor's reasoning was warped, and it had maybe just cost them the hole world.
Then there were footsteps down the hall, and a weak, lumbering Galatea walked in.
"What do you want?" Dick demanded, as Green Arrow prepared to shoot.
"I- I want to help." Galatea muttered.
"Of course you do. Just like you wanted to help before, right?"
"Dick… Luthor betrayed me anyway… and I really don't benefit from Superman taking over." She reasoned.
"Even if we did trust you, how could you possibly help the situation?" Batman asked.
"I was still passed out while Kara was connected with The Eradicator. I saw everything she saw. I know as much as she does. I can shut this machine down." She explained.
"Or she can speed it up and get us all killed." Green Arrow said cynically.
"Please. What would I have to gain from that?" She insisted.
"She has a point." Wonder Woman said, slightly uncertain.
"She's our only chance Dick." Batman said, which surprised everyone. "It's definitely a risky chance… but it's all we have left."
"Ok. Do it." Dick sighed. Galatea stepped over to the machine.
"This will take about twenty minutes, it's a long shut down process." She said.
Then Green Lantern crashed through the wall. Superman began approaching. Batman was still injured, and so were Wonder Woman, Dick, and Green Arrow from their fights with the Superman Drones back at the fortress of solitude. None of them were in any shape to fight.
"Um, I don't think we have twenty minutes." Green Arrow said, an air of hopelessness in his voice.
"Yes we do." Batman said.
"What do you mean?" Wonder Woman asked.
Suddenly, the Flash zoomed into the area. He had pretty much been avoiding the fighting, and now he was the last hero who stood against Superman.
"Flash? Please. I'll be done with him in twenty seconds!" Superman laughed.
"You know what… like I told Shayera, I'm the last resort guy. The one people go to when there's no one better. And I was right." He looked up. "Problem is, right now there really is no one better. So… I guess it's my time to shine."
"Think you can hold him off for twenty Wally?" Dick raised an eyebrow.
"Nope. But that doesn't mean I can't try." Flash prepared for battle with the man of steel.