REIGN
By FAH3
It felt so good to have the use of his legs again and not sit in that wheelchair, but it was somewhat annoying having to walk around with a cane. At least he was able to do more around the control bunker than he had been. But he had to admit, he was sometimes very envious of Wade flying around Metropolis in the suit. The only thing Irons couldn't figure out was how they were able to get this suit working when the prototype he had created several years ago had malfunctioned on him. He wasn't sure if he would ever know what had happened to the prototype. All he could do was make sure that this one stayed functioning, which was what he was doing now. He had just finished updating the HUD display for the helmet and was trying to get some of the dents out of the armor.
This was one thing he wasn't expecting when they built the suit. The gangs were starting to become more heavily armed. Just about all of them were packing his BG-80's now, and the armor wasn't designed to handle so many blows. It might not be such a bad idea to think of some more upgrades. In fact, it might be safer to also build another suit if the ordinance turned out to be too much for this one to handle.
"How bad is the damage?" Wade asked as he came in with a fresh load of groceries for the kitchen section of the base.
"Not too bad. You were lucky." Dr. Irons said to him.
"Lucky that they were bad shots." Wade said as he walked into the area that was laughingly called a kitchen and began putting everything away.
"I've been thinking, Wade. I think we should create another suit as a back up. At the rate the gangs have been arming themselves, this thing might not last that much longer." Dr. Irons said aloud.
"I was thinking the same thing. There was a lot we underestimated, and we're lucky this thing hasn't been fried yet." Wade said.
"You might get your chance." Dr. Irons shouted in an alarmed tone. Wade rushed back into the control room and saw Irons was at a terminal and analyzing a transmission that the computers had intercepted.
"What's wrong?" Wade asked.
"The Sharks and the Bloods are waging a turf war near the Hobbs Bay Bridge. Both are armed with what the police are calling hand-held cannons."
"Toastmasters. Please tell me the suit is ready to go."
"The HUD system has been updated, and the power cells have been fully charged. But I haven't gotten a chance to properly fix the right shoulder. So try and be on the defensive this time, otherwise one shot right there may short out the servos. The last thing you need is to become a flying brick." Irons told him as Wade began to suit up.
"In other words, take them out fast and hard." Wade said.
"And don't do anything stupid."
"Who? Me?" Wade asked with a small grin.
"Why do I have a feeling I should start building the back up now?" Irons asked himself.
The Daily Planet
Just another day. At least, that was what Lois was trying to tell herself as she sat at her desk and worked on another boring filler piece. She hated it when she was stuck writing about simple things of day-to-day life. Today, she had to write about the winner of yesterday's charity golf tournament. She would rather write about how most of the proceeds to the charity event are actually, and most likely, filling cooperate pockets and how little was actually going to charity. Let those rich assholes deal with having their dirty little secrets exposed to the light of the world. But here she was, stuck inside the office today.
"Kim, please tell me you've got some gossip for me today." Lois said as she turned to face her partner's desk and immediately kicked herself for doing so.
Several weeks ago, Kim's mother and brothers had come and cleaned out her desk. The desk next to her was so barren that it was hard to believe that her friend and fellow reporter used to sit there at all. With Metropolis trying to rebuild from Doomsday's attack and no sign of Kim being found, she had been declared legally dead. Jimmy wasn't any help either sometimes. He meant well when he kept saying Kim would show up soon or that she was still alive. But frankly, it made Lois just want to pull her hair out by the roots. She just wanted to finally make everyone shut up and tell them that Kim was Superwoman and that she wasn't coming back. That she was gone and for everyone to keep their condolences and everything else to themselves. In fact, she was ready to throw someone out the window the next time they said anything hopeful.
"You know, WGBS has been really banking on the Supergirl. Maybe the Planet should start supporting one of the other ones. I think the cyborg is the real deal." A young intern said as he was walking with Jimmy and Ron Troupe through the bullpen of the City Room.
"Oh, please. If anyone's the real deal, it's got to be the girl. It makes more sense to clone Superwoman than making her look like something from a Terminator movie." Ron said.
"Would you both just knock it off?" Jimmy shouted, causing several reporters to look their way. "No one can replace Superwoman, ever! Especially not that little snot nosed, smart mouth little"
"ENOUGH!" Lois shouted and marched her way to the young trio. She was so sick and tired about hearing those four clowns that she was ready to draw blood. "Look, it's a fact I knew Superwoman. She saved me enough times that I actually got to know her. And I can tell you right here and now that none of those fakers out there are her! GOT IT?" Lois demanded.
"S-sure, Miss Lane." The intern said as he tried to control the shaking in his knees. "I think I need to get – someone – some coffee." The intern said and quickly ran off.
"I think I need to contact a source." Troupe said as he quickly tried to get as far from Lois Lane as he could.
"What about you, Jimmy?" she asked him.
"I'd buy you a drink if I could." He said with a smile and saw the small smile appear on Lois' face. "It's good to know I'm not the only one who thinks a bunch of these guys are frauds." Jimmy said to her.
"Right now, I think she'd be spinning in her grave if she knew what was going on. I see all those phonies on the TV and I can't help but cringe. It's like they're disgracing her memory and everything she stood for, Jim." Lois said.
"Whoa. Heavy." Jimmy said. "Do you think they'll ever find them?"
"Them?" Lois asked.
"Superwoman's body. And – Miss Possible's." Jimmy said as he looked at the empty desk. "She's not coming back, is she?" he asked.
"No, Jimmy. She's not. A world without Superwoman is one thing, but it's something completely different in a world without Kim Possible." Lois said.
"Lane, can I see you in here?" Perry asked her.
"Sure, chief." Lois said as she made her way to Perry's office. "What do you need to chew my butt out about this time?" Lois said as she took a seat.
"Lois, I need to talk to you about something." Perry said as he took his seat behind his desk and placed something on his desk. "Do you recognize this?" he asked her.
"Your dirty laundry?" Lois asked him.
"The janitor found it when he was cleaning out one of the closets yesterday. It's a set of Kimberly's clothes." He said as he started to give Lois a look that she knew well. A look a reporter gives someone when they're on to something big.
"How do you know they're Kim's?" Lois asked. She'd been in several situations like this before and knew how to keep her cool. Being here with her boss was no different than facing a drug lord or lunatic with powers coming out the wazoo.
"A Press Pass with her name and photo were in it, along with this." He said as he tossed an old plane ticket on top of clothes. "That's a ticket to Japan for a story I gave her three years ago. She was in Japan the day after I gave her the assignment. How did she get there if she didn't have a ticket?" Perry asked her.
"Chief, what are you trying to get at?" Lois asked him.
"You tell me, Lane." was all Perry said to her.
"With the clothes, it's easy. I always told her to bring a spare set of clothes with her. You never know what's going to happen when you're out getting a story. The hard thing is trying to find a place to put them and remember where they are. And the ticket is even simpler."
"It is?" Perry asked her.
"Perry, she was dating one of the richest men in the world. She probably called Stoppable when she found out she forgot the ticket, and he flew her there in his jet. I wouldn't be surprised if he has his own personal concord." Lois said to him.
"You do have a point." Perry said to himself as he looked at the clothes and ticket again. "But with Kim always rushing off, these clothes, and her getting those scoops. And to this day, I never saw her and Superwoman anywhere near each other." Perry said out loud.
"Perry, the same can be said for a lot of people. But think about it. Why would someone like Superwoman hide as a reporter? Someone with that much power and they try to hide it?" Lois asked him.
"Maybe you're right, Lois. Possible had so much potential, and I just hate to see that snuffed out by that – that thing." Perry said.
"I did too, Perry. But life isn't fair, is it?" Lois asked him.
"No, it isn't. I've found that out the hard way too many times." Perry said.
"So have I." Lois said to herself.
"CHIF! CHIEF!" one of the interns shouted as they barged into Perry's office.
"Can't you see I'm in a meeting here?" Perry shouted at the young man.
"Sorry Chief, but news bulletin just came on the TV. There's a gang war going on at Hobbs Bay Bridge. The bulletin said that both gangs were packing cannons!" the intern said.
"Lane,"
"I'm on it!" Lois shouted, walking past the intern and already halfway through the busy City Room.
"Just be careful, Lane. Superwoman isn't around anymore to pull your ass out of the fire." Perry whispered to himself.
Under the large aging bridge in Hobbs Bay, the thunder of the deadly Toastmasters rang out in deafening volumes. Pieces of the bridge, as well as several parts of various surrounding buildings, had been destroyed by wayward shells while several cars and bodies were laying burned to an unrecognizable state. Everything around the two warring factions was either burning or lay in smoking heaps. Most of the bodies had been ripped in half while others were barley being held together with only the smallest strands of muscle or bone. All around the fatal wounds, the flesh had been burned away from the combined friction and heat fired from the merciless Toastmasters. Police had cornered off the area, but were too afraid to try and stop the brutal carnage before them. Several SWAT officers, and others in riot gear, had already been killed in the crossfire alone. The weapons the gangs were carrying had torn through their gear and protective armor like it had been made out of tissue paper.
Above the horrific urban war zone, several choppers hovered above. Two were police choppers while the rest were from various news networks. One of them was a dark green chopper with the logo of the Daily Planet on the side in bright yellow paint. Inside, Lois was describing what she was seeing below her.
"I hope you can see everything from here Miss Lane, because I'm not going to risk getting any lower." The chopper pilot said.
"That's okay, Dusty. I wouldn't want you to try either. I saw one of those thugs take out two cars with only one shot. Who knows what their range is." Lois said as she felt part of the army brat emerge. When your father was a decorated commanding officer, you couldn't help but learn a few things here and there.
"Isn't anyone going to try and stop them?" her pilot, Dusty, asked.
"I don't know if they can." Lois said and continued to describe what was happening in her hand held recorder.
As Lois described more of what she saw, she couldn't help but begin to remember some of the horror stories her grandfather, a World War II veteran, used to tell her. She paused her recording for a brief moment when she saw something appear on the rooftops not too far from the gang war. She was a little confused and doubted her eyes for a moment until she looked again. A small smile appeared on her lips when she realized she was seeing a red cape attached to a large figure. She realized and knew it could be one out of several heroes, but she knew who it was. The clues that revealed the identity of the red capped figure were the large yellow diamond shape on the cape, and the large hammer the figure was holding.
"YOU WANT SOME OF THIS? SHOW YOUR PUNK ASS AND I'LL SHOVE THIS STRAIGHT UP YOR ASS!" the young man screamed as he fired the large weapon at random, and did his best not to fall backward from the recoil.
"Would you shut up, fool? You ain't shooting Sharks! You're shooting at the damn police!"
"So what? After we kill them Sharks, we'll kill them to! Metropolis belongs to the Bloods!" the gang banger said as he fired his weapon again, seconds before a shell from the opposing gang tore through his torso.
"Told that idiot to shut up." The older ganger member said as he took aim at a Shark lieutenant.
"WHY DON'T YOU TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE FOR ONCE!" a voice shouted before a large hammer came down on the weapon, breaking the canon housing and almost breaking the gang member's hands at the same time.
A metal fist struck the side of the man's face before another launched several large bolts from a wrist mounted gauntlet, piercing the weapon's barrels and sending their wielders to the ground. Several others were beginning to take noticed of the metal man in the red cape and began to take aim at him. As several fired the deadly ballistic shells at his position, the boots on his feet quickly roared to life and propelled him several feet above them as he launched several more bolts at both gangs.
"Time for a game of twenty questions. Starting with who gave you these!" the metal man shouted as he landed in the middle of the Sharks. He quickly reached for his buckled and firmly grasped it, making his armor emit a low hum. Before most of the Sharks knew what had just happened, their weapons were pulled out of their hands and began to pool around the large armored man's feet.
"Did you see that?" one member of the Bloods asked.
"Yeah. The Man of Steel just made them sitting ducks." Another Blood grinned as he switched the weapons modes from the large shell to the automatic rifle that had been built into it.
"HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY!" a loud, young, and very feminine voice sang out above the battle scene.
A large gust of wind caught several by surprise and knocked them onto their backs as the armored man looked up. In the sky above was none other than the young teenager that had claimed to be Superwoman's clone. Several of the still armed gang members raised their weapons and began to open fire on her. She was drawing their fire away from him, giving him an opening he needed to try and stop this.
"Miss me! Missed again! I think you guys need glasses!" the young woman said as she weaved in and out of the paths of several weapons as they continued to fire. However, only the Man of Steel could see that she had done more harm than good. Behind the young teen, several of the media helicopters had come in to try and get a better shot of the young heroine and into the line of fire. One of them was also the helicopter that had the large logo of the Daily Planet on it.
"Dusty, what are you doing?" Lois screamed when she noticed how low they were going.
"I can't help it, Miss Lane. If I didn't lower the chopper, that damn Spike Network chopper would have hit us head on." The pilot said.
"Just be on the look out. That Supergirl kid is right below us." Lois said as she looked out the window.
"She's what?" Dusty asked and quickly looked. HE had spent a few years flying helicopters in the armed forces and knew when he had flown his butt into the middle of the hornet's nest. He easily recognized the girl purposely drawing the fire of the warring factions, but cold realization also hit him hard in the face. While trying to save their lives, he just endangered them. He had flow directly into range of the heavy duty cannons that most of the punks beneath them were carrying. And one was heading toward the chopper he was flying!
"MISS LANE, GET OUT!" he shouted as he reached over and unbuckled her harness.
Before Lois could protest, he shoved Lois as hard as he could toward the helicopter's door. He had pushed her hard enough that the door came open and Lois immediately began to fall from the helicopter. As Lois saw the chopper fall away from her, her eyes widened in horror as she saw the large shell strike the helicopter and cause the fuel to explode in a massive fireball. It was several seconds before realized that she was falling toward the ground without a parachute and didn't even know if she was heading toward ground or water. The thought this might actually be the last few of moments of her life began to enter her mind before she felt cold metal press against her and realize she had fallen into someone's arm. She looked up to see a large black visor of a helmet covering the face of her rescuer and the bright red cape that hung from his shoulders.
"Are you all right, Miss Lane?" he asked in a deep, digitized voice.
"I-I'm fine. H-how do you know who I am?" she asked as the man used his rockets to maneuver them to the roof of a building and sat both of them down gently.
"You should be able to get down from here safely." He said as he turned to leave her.
"WAIT A MINUTE!" Lois shouted as she grabbed the cape's collar and forced him to turn back around to face her. "So far, all the others are claiming to be Superwoman. So what's your story?"
"I'm not claiming to be anyone, Miss Lane. I'm wearing this shield in honor of her. Now, excuse me." He said as he propelled himself back into the fray.
The Man of Steel touched down several yards behind the young Superwoman as she started hamming it up for the press. All the gang members had scattered, meaning that he had lost his chance at pumping them for information. And instead of offering to carry the wounded to the hospital, she was acting like a dancing monkey for the press. It was time for this little brat's ass to get shoved into time out.
"It was nothing, really. Nothing I couldn't handle." The young clone said, not even noticing that the Man of Steel was almost on top of her until he grabbed her by her leather jacket.
"We need to talk Supergirl." The Man of Steel growled as he launched himself into the air, and dragged her with him.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" the young teen clone shouted as the large armored man landed on top of the bridge towers and held the young woman inches from his covered face.
"I don't care what you want to be called. Did you even know what the hell you were doing? Those gangs had information I needed! Weapons In planned to destroy!" he shouted at her.
"I drew their fire so you wouldn't get hurt! So sue me!"
"Didn't you even think about who might be behind you?"
"Behind me? What are you talking about?" the young clone asked.
"The Planet chopper was behind you. It was destroyed by one of those shots you dodged." The Man of Steel said as he saw how pale she suddenly became.
"B-but Miss Lane!" she said as her face was filled with horror. She had seen Lois in the helicopter as she flew into the fire fight. But when everyone started shooting at her, she hadn't given the reporter a second thought.
"Your lucky I was able to save her. But her pilot was killed. It could've been any of them! Including that prissy rich bitch you've been brown nosing up to." He said.
The young woman quickly shoved the large man away from her, breaking his grip and hovered a few feet above him. Wade quickly thanked John Henry for making sure everything was still functioning in the suit. If even the smallest thing was malfunctioning, that shove probably would have sent down toward the suspension bridge beneath them.
"You're saying it's my fault the pilot died?" the young girl demanded.
"I'm saying that you should keep to the shadows until you're ready to think things through. Or else more people might get killed!" Wade shouted.
"For your information, I'm Superwoman! Or at least her clone, so what damn right do you have to lecture me?" the young girl demanded before she turned and flew off into the Metropolis skyline. "I do think things through. Don't I?" she asked herself as she continued to fly, not sure where she wanted to go.
Gotham City
In the deep confines of the batcave, Hanna Stoppable's right eye began to twitch as she watched the latest Metropolis news reports on the main computer. As she did so, her grip on the arm rests were becoming so tight that it looked like she may actually have pulled the arm rest off the chair.
"That little – bruha." She growled to herself as her blood began to boil. Like Ron, she had an excellent understanding of the Spanish language and would often used it. Especially when she was feeling angry and needed to use colorful language in order to express herself.
"Hanna? What are you still doing up?" Dick asked as he climbed onto the platform from where his and her cycles rested. Ron had sent her homw from patrol early because of her lack of sleep lately and thought she could use the rest. After the patrol, Ron sent Dick back to the cave while he went and checked on a few things.
"I wanted to see what these – fakes were up to." Hanna said in a voice that almost matched Ron's bat voice. Ever since they learned was actually Hanna's biological father, Dick began to see more and more of Ron in her from time to time. And if she was starting to sound like Ron as Batman, then that meant she was really upset.
"Did something bad happen?" Dick asked as he removed the domino mask that had covered his face.
"That little super bitch." Hanna growled. "The one claiming to be Kim's clone. She acted like such a total – IDIOT!" Hannah screamed, causing Dick to jump. Now he knew Hannah was pissed. It was rare when Hannah got very angry. But if she was trying this hard not to curse in English or Spanish, then that meant she was about ready to explode like Mt. Saint Helen's.
"I'm guessing what you saw wasn't good." Dick said, hoping he wasn't the victim of his girlfriend's wrath. He had seen first hand what she did to criminals on a daily basis, and knew what she was capable of.
"She acted like a hot head! She actually got a chopper pilot killed, and she's acting like a high school quarterback that made a winning touchdown! Doesn't she even realize what she did? AND SHE'S CALLING HERSELF SUPERWOMAN? MOM MUST BE SPINNING IN HER GRAVE RIGHT NOW!" Hannah screamed so loudly that the bats in the cave began flying toward the cave opening as fast as they could.
"Hannah, you need to calm – did you say mom?"
"I SAID KIM, DICK! NOW WATCH IT!" Hannah shouted as she stormed past her boyfriend and toward the chamber that housed her bat suits.
"Hannah, I think you should just calm down." Dick said as he followed her.
"I think I should give that little whack job a piece of my mind." Hannah said from inside the vault.
"No offence Hannah, but it looks like this kid clone has most of her powers. How are you going to give her a piece of your mind?" Dick asked.
"I'm Batman's daughter, aren't I? I'll think of something." Hannah said as she exited the vault with a traveling case. Dick automatically knew that those cases had two, maybe three, suits already packed in it. Hannah wasn't serious about this, was she?
"Hannah, be reasonable."
"No, Dick. I don't care what you or anyone else says, that brat is putting a stain on Kim's name. I'm sorry if you don't like it, but someone's got to put that little bitch in her place." Hannah said as she climbed up the stairs to the computer and to the main elevator that would open in the silver closet above.
"No, Hanna." Dick said as he stood in front of her. "You're not thinking clearly. I'm not going to let you walk into a fight you're not going to win just because you're pissed off." Dick said, determined to keep her in the cave. He had seen what Ron had almost done when he was grieving for Kim, and it had almost gotten him killed. He'd be damned before he saw his best friend, the woman he loved, laying on that table near death.
"Dick?"
"Yes?"
"Flash bang." Hannah said.
"What?" Dick asked her.
Before Dick had a chance to figure out what Hannah had meant, a bright flash of blinding white light went off. Dick closed his eyes brightly to the bright light and covered them with his hands as he felt fresh hot tears begin to fall. He didn't know how she did it, but she had set off one of their flash-bang grenades. Very smart. Dick rubbed his eyes and began to blink as hard as he could several times before his sight began to return. The first thing he noticed was that Hannah was no where to be seen in the cave at all. As he looked, he heard the elevator behind him beep. He looked to see that it was returning back to the cave after reaching the mansion above. She sneaked right by him! As soon as the elevator doors opened, he quickly got in and hit the button for it to ascend. She had a large head start, but there may be a chance he could still stop her before she did something stupid.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Robin ran as fast as he could to the door of the silver closet, and crashed face first into it. Ron stumbled backwards to the floor as his nose and part of his face surged with pain. He had turned the knob to the door, so why didn't it open? Dick wiped away the blood that had fallen from his injured nose and jerked the knob and pushed the door, but the door wouldn't open. He pushed harder and harder against the door, but it wouldn't budge. He couldn't figure out what was wrong until his brain remembered something. Whenever they had parties at the mansion, they kept a padlock on the outside of the door so no one steal the silver, or discover the entrance to the cave. Hannah locked the door after she used it!
"Very cute, Hannah. But there's more than one way out of the cave." Dick said as he returned to the elevator.
As soon as the elevator had stopped, he bolted to the stairs that would lead to the clock in the study. That was usually their main way into the cave anyway, and probably his best way out. As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, he was shocked to find that the clock wasn't moving at all. He pulled at the door as he could, but nothing. This didn't make any sense! Why wouldn't it move? It shouldn't be doing this. That's when Dick's mind came up with one idea. It was a safety program Wade had installed into the computer and security systems before he had left. Dick quickly ran down the stairs two to three at a time until he was in front of the large view screen of the computer. Dick began brining up everything he could about the mansion's security systems until he saw it. Hannah had activated the lockdown measure by remote. In case it looked like the cave security might be compromised, all entrances to the cave were locked down. Except one. The main entrance they used for the Tumbler and their cycles. It was still open, but not for long. How she was able to rig this, he might never know. But Hannah had set the computer to run a diagnostic on itself, and then every entrance and exit to the cave would be sealed close. And the only two people who could deactivate the diagnostic were either Wade or Ron. And Wade was somewhere in Metropolis, and Ron was still investigating something.
Dick saw he only had less than a minute until the cave sealed itself completely. Hurrying as best as he could, Dick jumped onto the guard railing and leapt down to where his Red Bird cycle and bat cycles sat. Grabbing a helmet, he swiftly put it over his head as he leapt to his cycle and activated. He throttled the bike to full speed and held on for dear life as he flew through the tunnel that would lead to the deserted dirt road to Gotham. He could see it in the distance, and only had a few feet to go. He knew he could make, he knew it. He was only ten feet away when he saw the entrance seal closed and the locks engage. Dick quickly applied the breaks and put the bike into a side skid, stopping within a few inches from the large door. He was trapped. That means he only had one option left, and he didn't like it.
"Robin to Batman." He said as he touched the device that was in his ear, but was rewarded with silence. "Robin to Batman. Can you hear me, Batman?" he asked again, but still was rewarded with nothing but silence. "Robin to Watchtower. Watchtower, can you read me?" Robin asked, knowing that contacting the League was drastic. But still there was nothing but the sounds of silence. Hannah had jammed the transmissions! Hannah was off doing something stupid, and she made sure he had no way of stopping her! And Dick didn't know how long it would be until Ron would be back. One thing Dick was sure off was that he wasn't going to like Ron's reaction when he had to explain all of this.
Metropolis
Lois was sitting in her recliner at her apartment and sipping on a glass of wine. She had written her story on the turf war and turned it in within an hour after she had gotten back to the Daily Planet. Then she had gotten a rough ass chewing from Perry about putting herself in danger. She knew he was upset about the chopper pilot, Dusty, getting killed. Perry had known Dusty longer than Lois had and knew he wouldn't have flown lower if he could have avoided it. That still didn't make it easy to let his family know what had happened. Lois offered to help breaking the news, but Perry insisted that he do it himself. Then that brought the reason why Lois was trying to relax in the first place.
The stupid kid. The Supergirl. She still couldn't believe that idiot kid would pull such a stupid stunt. Kim would have never done anything like that if there were civilians around. Never! But that just drove that fact home even more for Lois. Clone or not, the kid just simply wasn't her friend. What was worse, she found out a new reporter was going to be taking Kim's old desk. Why did time have to keep moving on when everyone else wasn't ready yet?
Lois took another sip of wine and used her universal remote to put on a CD of some slow jazz. Lois wasn't really into that kind of music at first. But after Kim and her interviewed a source that was a musician at a Jazz club, Lois had stated developing a taste for it. And right now, she needed everything she could to just make her forget about the world outside and just make it go away for a while. Lois set the glass of wine on a near by table and eased herself into the soft cushions of her recliner while the music began to let her brain drift into a dream of her relaxing on a beach in the south seas. A small smile began to form on her face before a loud knock on her door broke the trance she had begun to put herself in.
"Now what?" Lois asked herself as she stopped the CD and went tot he front door. "Who is it?" she called out, and kicked herself for that. You never let anyone know you're home in a city unless you know who's there.
"It's Cat." A woman on the other side of her front door said.
"Cat?" Lois asked herself for a minute as she looked out the peep hole. "Cat Grant?" Lois asked again as she unlocked the door.
Cat had once worked for the Daily Planet years ago, but went to work for WGBS when Vincent Edge, the owner of WGBS, had made her a better offer. Ever since then, they had sort of a childish rivalry going on as reporters. But they also still had a good friendship between them which was somewhat hard to believe every now and then.
"Cat, what are you doing here?" Lois asked her.
"I didn't know who else to turn to." Cat said as she bit her lower lip, and Lois could see how bad she really looked. Her eyes were red from crying as tearstains covered her cheeks. Her hair was a mess, and what little make-up was still on her face was severely smeared.
"What's happened?" Lois asked her.
"It's my son." Was all she said before she collapsed in the reporter's arms and began crying.
SCANNING POLICE FREQUENCIES
So far, nothing that required its immediate attention. Petty crimes were the only things its scanners could detect so far. Robberies, assaults, nothing major. Crime wise, the police bands were quiet for once. It might be because of itself and the other three supposed "super" beings. Maybe it should scan other frequencies for the time being.
SCANNING ALL EMERGENCY CHANNELS . . . . NO IMMEDIATE EMERGENCIES DETECTED.
It was still silent, even on the other bandwidths. It didn't predict this type of lull in criminal activity for another few weeks in the least. At least, the computer portion of its mind did. Sometimes, it was just so confusing. It had all these emotions and incredible sensations from senses of the body, but it conflicted with the machine half. Sometimes, the machine felt so numb at times. Like when your foot falls asleep. Not to mention that the computer that was active made calculations so fast. And some of the programming felt like it was trying to dominate her brain and body. It was as if her body was trying to reason with the machine, but the machine wouldn't budge wit anything.
TRANSMISSION DETECTED. LOCATIONG SOURCE.
The machine half was trying to take over for a minute. For the moment, she would humor it. But as she flew through the various tall buildings of the city, she soon realized that the transmission her sensors had picked up was nothing more than a new bulletin. She was in the hears of Metropolis, and one of the giant television monitors was reporting local events. With things being so slow for a moment, it wouldn't hurt for her to catch up on current events.
"Earlier in the week, we reported that Adam Gran,t the son of WGBS reporter Cat Grant, had become one of several children that been kidnapped in the recent weeks. Police were stunned when several of the missing children were located near the Superwoman memorial in Centennial Park and were able to tell the authorities where they were being held.
"The children led the authorities to a converted toy factory that had been changed to what would seem a child's wonderland. Their captor turned out to be escaped mental patient, Winslow P. Schott; also known as the Toyman. The escaped mental patient had been kidnapping various children and putting them in what he thought would be paradise for them. Trying to atone for the children that were hurt in the bomb explosions he created as revenge against his former employers. One of the children being held captive turned out to be Adam Grant. The escaped children told authorities that it was Adam Grant that had found a way for them to escape.
Sadly, after authorities had apprehended Schott, they found the body of Adam Grant a few feet from where the children had been able to escape through an open air duct. Toyman confessed to fatally stabbing Adam Grant because he had let his play things escape, and bad boys didn't deserve a paradise. Toyman is currently in police custody."
UNACCEPTABLE.
Several reporters had gathered, as well as photographers, to get a shot of the Toyman's face. Many people in Metropolis knew it had been a mistake that he was found innocent of bombing his former employers homes. Now everyone was absolutely furious. Instead of going to prison, he had been found innocent but still was sent to an asylum for observation and treatment. The lunatic had escaped, and now look what he had done. When he was arrested the first time, his mind had snapped because children had gotten hurt. Now here he was, arrested for kidnapping children and murdering one of them.
The man that had gotten out of the car looked completely different than the way he had when he was first arrested. His skin had become severely pale from spending so much time in doors. His dark hair was long and greasy from not being washed with several strands blocking his eyes. He was now somewhat skinny and malnourished. His glasses were being held together by garbage bag twist ties and scotch tape with his yellowed teeth exposed as he sneered at the surrounding officers. He wore a tattered t-shirt that was stained from sweat, and a pair of old and holy sweatpants. He looked more like someone you would find under a bridge than someone who was once a brilliant inventor.
As Toyman was being lead up to the entrance to the jail, a lone figure landed in front of him. A figure that made the reporters and police part like Moses and the Red Sea. Most of them didn't know how to act or react to the figure's strange appearance. A woman with long red hair, and a long red cape. Under her hair, her face was young and smooth with the exception of her right eye, cheek and forehead. What seemed to be a smooth piece of metal, sculpted to almost be a skull, started at the front of the woman's face and seemed to wrap around to under her long mane of red hair. A glowing red eyepiece sat, looking like it was constantly glaring at everything within its range. The suit she wore seemed to be a combination of skin tight clothing and body armor at the same time. Her left arm was real while it was obvious her right arm was completely cybernetic. No one could tell how far because of her clothing, but it looked like most of her legs were even cybernetic. And on her chest was a dark, burgundy red pentagonal S shield. If it weren't for the cybernetic eye, everyone could almost swear it was Superwoman.
"Is there something wrong?" one officer asked, noticing the cold stare the cyborg had.
"I need to have a word alone with the prisoner." The cyborg woman said as she griped Toyman by his collar and flew into the air with him before anyone could object.
"Can – she do that?" another officer asked as they watched them soar high into the sky.
"I know my right, you know. I don't have anything to say to you!" the Toyman shouted as the cyborg kept her attention glued to flying higher and higher. When they finally stopped, they were floating several feet above the city. They were even past the top of Gough Tower, which was one of the highest buildings in Metropolis. At their height, the cars below them seemed to be no bigger than flees off of a dog's back.
"I'm not saying anything to you! Do you hear me?" Toyman insisted as the cyborg looked at him, her face devoid of any and all emotion as the cybernetic eye began to glow bright red.
"How about – goodbye?" she asked in a monotone voice and let go of the Toyman. As he screamed in pure abject terror and fell away from her and out of sight, a sadistic and satisfied smile crossed her face.
The Toyman crashed down onto the top of a police cruiser with a loud and echoing crash! Part of the cruiser jumped as the car was bent inward while all the glass was shattered and the metal warped. Everyone had ducked and crouched low when they heard the crash, fearing an attack or something worse. When everyone looked at the destroyed cruiser, no one could believe what they saw before them. Lying on the cruiser, partially sandwiched between the warped and twisted metal, was the Toyman. His eyes were rolled into the back of his head as his body shook and convulsed in jerky spasms. Blood dripped from his ears as more and more blood exited his mouth and coated the rest of his face in a sickening chuck berry red. Above them, the cyborg Superwoman just smiled.
ACCEPTABLE.
The cyborg heroine began to lower herself closer to the ground in order to get a clear reading on the body of Schott. The reporters sieged forward as the cyborg came closer, asking and demanding questions in an incoherent mess. She merely ignored them as she looked at the body of Winslow Schot and used her sensors to examin it. There was no pulse, no heart beat, and all brain activity had ceased with the massive trauma. Toyman was dead.
"Why did you kill the Toyman?"
"Was this necessary?"
The cyborg's smile disappeared as she looked up to face the gathered reporters. All of them seemed to go quiet all at once as they were met with the cyborg's cold gaze.
"Toyman would have killed again, that much was clearly obvious. This way, everyone is safer without having to bother with the process of going through a trial. The end justifies the means. Even when I was younger, I always used my powers for the greater good." The cyborg said before flying away.
The televised event of Toyman's death was broadcast all around the world. Watching the broadcast in horrified shock were three people in particular. Wade Load, Anne Possible, and Ron Stoppable as he drove back to his home in the Tumbler. All of them couldn't believe what they had just seen before them. And as they watched the cyborg's cold and heartless interview, all of them glared at their TV's. At that moment, all of them said one thing and one thing only.
"That's not Kim."