Batman & Superman in Action FanFic #17
Bizarro II
Superman
It's quiet in Gotham when I arrive. It's 3 a.m. now, which makes me realize just how much time I spent at the Fortress. I've got to find Batman quickly, but I haven't the foggiest where to start looking. I think it might be wise to go back to the warehouse. I'll use my telescopic vision to see if maybe I can pick up a footprint trail as to where Batman went. Even if he's been swinging places if I can grab a general direction maybe, just maybe I can find another print going the same way. There has to be an easier way to get in touch with him, though I'm at a loss to figure out how. It's not like he was going out of his way to give me a phone number. He's made me realize just how good I have it in Metropolis in comparison with Gotham. As bad as Suicide Slum is, it's nowhere near the level of bad as Crime Alley. Even in daylight, the city looks like it's still in perpetual night. It's almost like something out of a Bogart film. Just being here makes me feel weaker somehow. It hits me almost as soon as I enter the city borders. It's not like when I'm exposed to Kryptonite, but like there's something slightly draining here. It tugs on the very soul of an individual and wants to twist them. They need a beacon of hope, yet somehow the beacon has to be on the city's terms. It doesn't make sense to me either. It's just a vibe telling me I'm tolerated, not wanted. Maybe it was Batman's influence that did it, or perhaps it was the city telling me that through Batman. Listen to me, it's almost like I believe in magic or something. Whatever it is, it's not stopping my resolve to end this evil.
My first thought as I left the Fortress is, who is Dabney Donovan? What made him do this? I've never met the man, so what is it that made him decide to clone me. I'm still conflicted, is it the government? Is it Conduit? Is it Luthor? All of them could've done it. The more I try to discount the possibility of Conduit, the more I was convinced that it was possible that it might've been him. What if he started have me cloned to find other weaknesses. To somehow find a way to imbue himself with my powers? Nothing like the ultimate revenge of destroying me with my own abilities. Then there's Luthor; a man that wants a Superman of his very own. Still, even though he wants one there's no way he'd accept an imperfect clone. He wants to replace me with a subjugated version; someone who would go out and do things against his better judgment. I would hope that no matter what he did, even an imperfect clone of me wouldn't go out of the way to do those sorts of things. Sadly, there's no way of knowing what sort of alterations a man like Luthor could do. If he could manage it, then I don't want to imagine what the world would be like. That brings me to the thought, what if it is the government? What if they're doing it for any or all of the reasons that the other two would do it? A Superman of their own, tracking my genetic coding down to the last sequence so as to give their people superpowers and beyond that give them a means to bring them down should they get ideas beyond their station. Who wouldn't be frightened by that thought? The fact is that any number of people might want what I have, and even more frightening is that it could be anyone doing it. It could be another country bent on having their own Superman. There's so many countries that don't have their own metahumans popping up. If someone from an American hating nation should get a hold of a sample and did such experiments, they could create an individual that would be everything I've strived to fight against. Too many questions, too few answers and a lot of conclusions that can be easily jumped to. Deal in facts, Clark.
I take a look at the footprints on the roof where we last spoke. I hover just slightly and scan with my Telescopic Vision, I've got to find another roof he's landed on. Maybe I can follow his trail... Or maybe not. He must have been using his grapple lines to get him from place to place. He didn't want to be followed by me. This is on his terms and he wants me to know it. Kenny used to be that way. He's put up with so much in his lifetime that I suppose he just decided on certain things he wouldn't budge, it was his way or no way. Trying to talk to him when he got like that was beyond difficult, to be honest it was impossible. I remember once we decided we wanted to run track when we got to high school. A couple of excited pre-teens went down to the track at the high school to run a few laps and were just having a great time. We were there about an hour when some of the faculty showed up. They were getting ready for the start of the school year, which was maybe two weeks away, and they had dragged out the hurdles. The coach had this thing about training his football players with them. Some people he'd make run around them and some he'd make jump them. He said it helped with coordination which would lead us to victory. We helped to put them out on the track since we were there. The coach went to go get us a soda for our troubles, when Kenny decided he wanted to try the hurdles himself. At that time neither of us had a chance to clear them, but that didn't stop him from trying. I told him that it was a bad idea, but he said that he wasn't going to chicken out. He ran back and started to pick up speed. He jumped and amazingly cleared the first one. That built his confidence that he could do it. He reached the second one and again made it over, but just barely. He was getting so full of himself, that he looked back towards me to see what sort of expression I had. When he turned his gaze back towards the front of him, the next hurdle was nearly on him. He jumped, but due to miscalculation his foot caught the hurdle sending him crashing into the ground. He skidded across the ground ending up bruised and bloodied, not to mention a twisted ankle. I ran to him and tried to help him up, but he fought me tooth and nail. He wanted to do it on his own. The coach showed back up and I told him what happened. He took Kenny to his dad, which probably ended up with something worse happening. I wish I knew. The next time I saw him after that was in class two weeks later. I see Batman almost in the same way, he can do it, but there's too much confidence. I just hope that when he falls it's not going to get him killed in the process. In this sort of work that's something that's all too easy to imagine, especially from someone who doesn't want help.
My thoughts get broken, there's high-pitched whistle going on. What is that? I'm trying to pull back my hearing because it's almost deafening otherwise. It's pulsing now, coming in short and long bursts. Dogs are howling in the streets, I guess only the dogs and I can hear that. There it is again! Short bursts, long bursts, short bursts.... Wait a minute; that's Morse Code! S.O.S.! I've got to find it! I start to move through the city quicker and quicker. The closer I get to the noise the more it intensifies I've gone about 5 miles from where the warehouse was located and the noise just stops. I look around and there's a light flashing in the same S.O.S. pattern as before. I scan in with my Telescopic Vision; it's Batman! Good, now we can get this investigation under way. He folds himself back under his cape as I land in front of him. He wastes no time, "What did you find out?"
"The white cell was put in place under the approval of Krypton's High Council. It was a way to end a war that raged on due to excessive cloning."
"Then the clones became like Bizarro?"
"Yes, the longest any of them lasted was 15 minutes. Most of the came out of their cloning tubes mummified."
"Did they have a curative?"
"No. The solution was made the problem of Krypton's central computer, Brainiac. Besides that, if it actually had the formula it was told to only give it out if it deemed it necessary. "
"If it deemed it necessary? That's a rather subjective solution."
"I wish I could say it wasn't warranted, but after the war ended, the death toll was tallied in the millions. No one could allow that to happen again."
"That's understandable, but it doesn't help us here."
"I was told however, that it's possible that they could find a way around it. It wouldn't stop the white cell entirely, but it would give the clone the opportunity to live."
"That isn't a comforting thought."
"I know, now to add to the mystery I was also informed that they found a group of scientists locked in a bunker outside of Metropolis a few hours back."
"Yes, the exact ones we chased after. That included Dr. Li Teng. The bunker is owned by Lex Luthor."
"How did you get all that information so quickly?" He turns to me and stares. "Right, never mind. So what's the next move?"
"I've found a lab with Bizarro still in his tank. The man running the experiment is one Dabney Donovan, he's the one that kidnapped the scientists in the first place. Come on, we need to put an end to this before something worse happens."
We start to move through the city. I actually slow my pace to keep up with him. I would have offered just to carry him, but something tells me he's not going to be fond of that idea. It's best to keep on his heels. It seems as if it were going to be a silent trip until I break the ice. "You found the next Bizarro?"
"It wasn't difficult, the trail of breadcrumbs they left were massive. The person running the operation is trying to have us find it."
"But they know that if we found it, we would shut it down. I don't see how that helps them any."
"The final nail in the coffin. We were meant to find the Bizarro. There's something more to this blue chunk of Kryptonite, it needs something activated within the Bizarro itself in order to make it work effectively. The reason that the Bizarro we found was hurt by it, but managed to break free is because he destroyed whatever was producing the element that hurt him."
"Why do that? Wouldn't it be more effective just to have him weakened by the K-Synth?"
"No. It's the reason we have it to begin with. "
"How do you mean?"
"The encounter was planned. My belief right now is that they sent you on a wild goose chase to come after me and they'd set Bizarro loose onto the city. If you hadn't found me, it would have flushed me out of hiding and the chance encounter would've happened. His entire purpose for living was to test us."
"But we made him stop his rampage before it became an all out slugfest."
"Yes, they didn't account on the genetic memory. At least they couldn't suppress it any further, which means it lead to another set up. They knew if we beat him we would chase down the scientists. We would have the K-Synth and that would lead us to find the other."
"So they were planning on us working together?"
"I doubt it. The one thing that's known about me is I don't work as a team. I think it was expected that you'd either arrest me or the Bizarro would kill me, barring that I could escape while you were busy and try to put an end to it myself."
"To what end?"
"Overconfidence and further testing. To see if I would just use the K-Synth on the next Bizarro and have it rip me apart while you tried in desperation to stop the other one. If you managed and you came to find me, then there you would be with my mangled body and the police would have a murder to pin on you. He was obviously ripped apart by someone who's strength is so great that a human body may as well be tissue paper."
"Someone's thought this out... Are you sure you're not just jumping to conclusions on some of this?"
"Can you honestly tell me you're not seeing it too?"
"Point taken, and I'm pretty sure I know who did this."
"Lex Luthor. He hasn't been secret about his dislike of you, and his story about the Conduit events might have held true with police, but I didn't buy it either. I've seen the work he's tried to do here, I knew he had interests in less than legal matters."
"I understand why he wants to stop me, but why you? How does he know you exist at all?"
"I'm sure he's got an informant in the GCPD. They've seen me all too many times. I'm known basically for attacking illegal operations. One of Luthor's microchip plants is here. They've been designing a new chip that will distribute radiation of exotic energies. The guns would have a power source that would virtually be limitless in war like conditions. It would take a decade or better to exhaust it. Someone was trying to bomb the place, it turned out it was one of Luthor's employees. He said he had orders to do it, Luthor brought forth enough evidence against him to prove that all money and orders received weren't from him. In fact, it was from one of the anti-LexCorp groups. I have reason to believe that this particular group is funded by Luthor himself, but it comes through dummies and charitable donations, so no one sees who did what. It's a literal sea of paperwork that would fill an entire warehouse just to find out where a few measly thousand dollars went."
"He said he knew a revolution in metahumans was coming, and I was going to be a catalyst."
"He was right. Those that have abilities have come forward with them because you've inspired an age."
"I just wanted people to do what they could to help, I'm just able to do more than the average individual."
"And that sentiment is what men like Luthor prey on. The media loves a hero, but they love tragedy more and what more tragic than a heroes fall from grace?" It hit me like a ton of bricks. It's been said I don't know how many times, maybe it was just never that clear to me. Maybe it was and I just tried to look past it. What would it be like if Superman were to fail in the eyes of the people he protects? What sort of look would they give me if I toppled a building without so much as a thought? Someone got hurt because my Heat Vision somehow missed the target? I know people who have quit jobs for less reasoning than that. The lesson here is determination and fine tuning.
I didn't realize how far we'd traveled. He perches and stares at the building across from us. It's the GeneTech building. I look inside with my X-ray Vision, hmm...not a lot of hiding going on here. Though they've got plenty of security. They're trying to move out of this facility. We're not going to be able to let that happen. "They're packing up to move."
"I expected once they discovered the infiltration they would try to scurry to get out of the area."
"How do you want to handle this?"
"The time for subtlety is over. We'll need to hit hard and fast. You take care of the creature, I'll deal with the round up of the scientists."
"I don't see the Bizarro."
"What about the tank?"
"I see one, and it's empty."
"He's loose! Find him!"
"Do what you can, I'll be back as fast as I can stop him!" In a flash I take off using my X-Ray Vision to pinpoint him. I listen for the labored breathing the last one had, any little sound that might indicate where he is. I concentrate more on the building, as I don't see there's any physical signs that he left via breaking through the ceiling. Wait, there he is. He's in front of a man... that's got to be Donovan. I've got to get in there quick! Like Batman said, no time for subtlety.
The ceiling shatters as I go plowing through it, I have to be careful not to hit supports. That would look real good on the front page of the Planet; 'Superman Stops Crazed Clone and Kills Scientists in the Process!' That wouldn't be a shining moment in my career. As my feet hit the ground, Bizarro stares at me. He's different than the other one. His eyes are wider, almost bulging. His eyes are very yellowed and bloodshot which shows off the blues that much more. His skin while jagged looks more like he's peeling than the angular appearance of the last one. What's worse is that the gentleness that the other tried to exude isn't there either. This one was born to fight and he looks like he's ready to start with me. Donovan starts to panic the moment he sees me. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? BEAT HIS BRAINS OUT!"
He raises his fists and swings them hard towards my head. As they come down I catch them, and he grunts in anger. His eyes flash with hatred and determination. This one is a great deal stronger than the last, I'm straining to keep him from finishing the blow. It takes every bit of strength I can muster to separate his arms so I can come eye to eye with him. His anger is brutish, almost as if he's angry for no apparent reason. He bears his teeth and pushes harder with all his might; he grunts again. I'm surprised he hasn't tried to talk to me. I try to concentrate on not getting bludgeoned by him, but at the same time I'm trying to look for any piece of me still in this creature. As we struggle to keep each other in check, I break the ice. Is that even the right expression in a case like this? "Superman? Kal-El...?" Bizarro rips his hands away from mine and at his fastest speed belts me across the mouth and sends me flying through the wall of the building.
Bizarro comes charging towards me at Mach speeds. The booms shatters a lot of glass and the buildings around shake and he plows into me. As we both go through building after building, we're demolishing so much. I'm thankful that these buildings are abandoned, otherwise we'd have killed several hundred or more in the creature's assault. I've got to do something fast! All of these buildings can't be empty! I reach up and grab his throat, trying not to squeeze too hard, and I hit him back several times at superspeed. He finally drops one of the fists that was firmly planted in my stomach as I keep pounding away at him. His haggard expression doesn't give up on the sheer amount of anger pouring from him. As he finally plummets to the ground, I correct my posture quick and take the advantage. Grabbing him and putting him in a bear hug, I ask in his chalky ear, "What do you remember of your childhood?" He thrashes against me. "Superman, don't you want to help people?" I ask him with hope it'll reach some part of his mind that's me. Instead he looks toward some people on the street and I see the glow of his heat vision about to blast them into oblivion. I reach up quickly to cover his eyes and as I do my hands start to burn. I grit my teeth as best I can, but then he elbows my gut and sends me flying backwards. I dig in my heels and stop, but not before I clear some of the rubble his rampage has caused and I fall to my knees. The pain I'm in is excruciating at this point. I'm trying to pay attention to lives, making sure that no one comes near enough to us to get killed.
Bizarro stalks closer to me; he's like an animal that's toying with its next meal. It's eyes are trained on me. Those eyes of his are as blue as mine, but they're so different. They're beyond anything I, or the other clone, have. They've got a look of destructive force behind them. Something's agitating him so much, and I don't know why. He's an imperfect me, and I think somewhere he knows it. I'm grasping at so many straws, but I want him to understand I'm here for him. I want to help him become better than what he is, even if father said it was nearly impossible. This creature is a living being that should have a chance at a happy existence, but right now his only end to all his suffering is beating the living daylights out of me. As he walks towards me, he stands perfectly upright and with heavy enough foot falls that he's causing the ground to shake a little. I'm trying to get to my feet, but it's nearly impossible to find the strength after fighting two Bizarro's and going to the Fortress all in the same night. To think, all I was here to do was arrest Batman. Now, he might be the only person that can stop this madness.
Batman
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? BEAT HIS BRAINS OUT!" I hear Donovan shriek as I enter through the hole that Superman created. The scientists are in a panic to get out of their quickly now. I hit the ground as soon as the Bizarro has decided to take chase after Superman in a hurried frenzy. Superman better stop that beast from destroying my city! This is the sort of devastation I was trying to keep out of Gotham in the first place. I'm going to have to step up my game, none of the usual scare tactics.
No sooner have I started to try and deal with the fleeing scientist contingent when I see Donovan trying to sneak out the backdoor. I don't have long before he'll reach it, but other problems prevail. There are some guards after all, they must've just shown up. I recognize them almost instantly as Rupert Thorne's men. "Ratface" Borelli, "Napalm" Norton, and Sid "the Squid"; two thugs and their slightly more intelligent caretaker. They pull guns the moment they see me and start firing. I've got to deal with them before they kill Donovan. The scientists are almost to the forward most exit. I'm glad their fright has kept them from thinking things clearly through. That means I won't have to chase them into the city. I want to see what these clones know and what sort of cellular breakdown they have. Cloning is becoming too popular worldwide, and it's going to cause a lot of problems. That's especially if they can perfect the process of cloning Superman. Pandora's box, when will humanity learn? When will it care?
The rounds keep coming, I'm keeping one step in front of them all the while reaching into one of my pouches. I grab a series of knockout gas pellets and toss them towards the mid of the room. As I put my rebreather on, they start trying to cover their mouths with their hands. A chorus of hacking and coughing soon mellow until a final thud tells me they've fallen asleep. That's a strong sedative in these, they'll be out for at least an hour. That's good, because Donovan snuck out during the firefight. Luckily he's frightened, he's going to make mistakes.
As I go through the door, I can hear his footsteps down the hallway and his cursing for not being able to find the way out. I follow at a dead run after him, as I turn the corner he's fumbling with keys trying to open a locked door. As he finds the one he's looking for, I plant a shuriken into the lock of the door, the second one hits the sleeves of his coat and shirt which pin him to the door. His breathing is labored, panic stricken. He fights against the blade, but it's buried far too deeply into the door for his meager strength to rip away from it. He notices a small dot of blood on his coat. Nicked him with the edge of one of the blades; nothing serious. Though the way he carries on makes one think that I'd lopped his arm off with a sword. No time to stalk him slowly, the fear factor is plenty instilled. If Superman weren't out there battling the creature, it would be different. Nice and slow process to point that he passes out from pure fear and then leave him hanging from a lamp post awaiting police arrest. Behind the glasses, his eyes disappear. The lenses are so thick, that it's amazing he's able to even see. He's looking at me, and he too is searching for eyes behind the soulless whites of my lenses. He's soiled himself out of terror. "How do we stop the creature?" It's a question, but it sounds more like a statement. Inflection makes things sounds like polite asking. I'm commanding an answer.
"YOU CAN'T! There's no way!"
"That's not possible! How did you plan on shutting him down if things went badly?"
He laughs slightly, "Superman's fists are the only thing that's going to stop Bizarro. I created him specifically to beat the hell out of Super-doof so I could get all the DNA samples I like or maybe have Blue Boy pulp my creation so that I can further study his inner workings!" He continues his laughing fit until he notices that I'm not amused.
"What about the white cells? How are you inhibiting them from doing what they're supposed to do?"
"You know about those? Clever little Batboy!" I slam my fist against the door, inches away from his face. He jumps slightly as he looks towards my gloved fist.
"WHITE CELLS..."
"Yes...yes... The white cells were attacking two parts, the physical and the mental. The mental attack was towards a cell group we identified as being some sort of memory store. A biological wetworks facility! Amazing, eh? " I scowl. "Any...anyway, upon creating a clone these memory cells activate in a rather chaotic event that gives the clone all the memories of the individual, at least up to the point the sample was taken. Which mean if the individual was still alive at the time his new clone was complete, he's have to find some way to put in the newest memories, perhaps he does it telepathically? I mean he's Superman, how do we know? In any event, the minute these memory cells become active in droves to give the brain full retention the white cells attack in force. They basically make a dumbass clone. While in other parts, the cells start to attack physical attributes and the genes. We found however that once we applied a lot of solar radiation to the clone that these cells can be beaten back."
"It burns them out of the system?"
"Only partially. It burns out the white cells that are weaker in nature. I don't know why they're weaker, or maybe that they're overtaxed with turning muscle mass into calcified chunks and trying to turn the genes into soup, but memory cells are outright being eradicated as fast as they can, because they're stronger cells and reproduce quickly. We found by studying Superman's blood that he's like a huge solar battery! The application of which is all his nifty little superpowers! So what we did was we've created a stem cell that, much like the Parasite, draws more energy into it and introduced it into Bizarro's cell structure. It all went to guzzling solar energy since his system was set for that anyway. Besides, we didn't want to have a Supersite on our hands! Although, that could be fun..." I grab him by the throat and draw his attention back to me.
"So he's burning off the overtaxed white cells while his memory is being eaten alive, yet it won't kill all of them. I'm also assuming that since at least some muscle tissues have been calcified that some of the brain has been as well?"
"Oh, surely a safe bet!" He smiles as I punch him in the face. I unhinge his arm from the door and take him back to the main warehouse where I tied all of my newest captures together and get ready to help Superman. I now know what's going to have to happen. We're going to have to burn out his cells enough to paralyze him then put him into some sort of stasis. Maybe Superman has something that can help with that, just until they can reverse the process of his transformation. I'm going to follow the destruction to see if I can't get to Superman quickly. I'm outside of my normal parameters, and the Kryptonite was easy enough for them to engineer out of the creature. I won't see Bizarro die, but I'm not sure how he can be beaten yet. There's got to be something more to Superman than he knows.
Superman
I'm bleeding from my mouth, my nose, and at least one of my ears. Equilibrium is shot and the rage of the creature is beyond my ability to calm down. He's going to kill me. It's not like with the other two I've faced. Kenny wanted to toy with me before he executed me, Parasite wanted to use me like a battery. Bizarro is just angry, there's frustration at the sight of me, some sort of physical pain that my being here is causing him. Unfortunately the pain isn't slowing him down, it's causing him to hit harder and harder. As he lurks forward his eyes flash red and in moments I feel the intense beams hit me like two hot pokers. I wince in pain, trying not to scream out as they burn the S off my chest. As he walks closer and closer the heat increases, the intense pain of the burns seers my flesh. It's not going to be long before it pierces through my body. Mustering all the strength I can manage, I run towards him and rake my fingers across his eyes to stop him. He screams out in pain and rage as he swings wildly to hit me. At first it was clumsy and slow, but as I move away within inches he starts to move his arms at Superspeed. He keeps waving them about and not quite reaching me. He takes to the air and bolts towards the skies, that's when I notice Batman has made an appearance.
"I thought you were rounding up the scientists and bad guys?"
"I already did. You look like hell."
"Thanks a bunch... What did you find out?"
"The clone's cells are being supercharged. When the sun comes up he's going to be taking in more solar energy than you could hope for. We're going to have to find a way to drain him enough to let the white cells do their work."
"Drain him? Won't that kill him?"
"If we do this right, no. We need to put him into Kryptonian conditions for a few minutes at most. After that we put him in stasis."
"There's one way I can think to drain him quick, and one place I might be able to keep him locked away until that curative can be found."
"Your Fortress, and what else?"
"The rays of a red sun."
"You have a red sun projector at your Fortress?"
"Yes, though I'm unclear as to why. Are you coming with on this?"
"I'll do what I can here in the city, there's no way I could get to Antarctica in time to help you."
"Okay, then I'll do my best. Thank you Batman." He nods and takes off over the city. I do the same thing. As I reach the skies I start to look for Bizarro anywhere I can. He's not gone back to the building, which surprises me a lot actually. Where would he have gotten off to? I fly into the general direction he was heading and look out over Gotham. I finally find him looking at the Daily Planet branch that we have in Gotham. He looks at it, like he's trying to figure things out. The more he stares he more he starts to get angry. That's the problem! His memory is so destroyed that the more he tries to remember it frustrates him to the point of violence. His brain's been eaten badly enough that he can't control his anger. He spots the miniature globe spinning at the entrance of the building and speeds towards it. As soon as he goes to move I hit the speed and get in front of his grasp. I swing a hard uppercut to his jaw and he soars upwards fast. As he finally levels himself out I go to meet him and blast him with Heat Vision. It hurts a little, but not enough to actually slow him down. It's making him madder and madder. He screams in anger towards me and bolts at me as quick as he can. I pour on all the speed I can muster and head towards the South Pole. I'm regretting every minute for what I'm about to do, but I can't do anything for him right now. This at least gives me the chance to save him later.
Batman
Superman's taking off towards the pole and I see his doppelganger in tow. I'm very relieved that he's taken this headache with him, but now I'm going to go and meet with Rupert Thorne face to face. He's not going to get away with this, I've got enough evidence to take him out of play for a long, long time. He's got one of two locations he'd be at right now, the first is his mansion about 3 miles out of downtown Gotham. Unlikely to be there tonight of all nights. He's in the city, thinking I'll look outside for him. He tells no one about the hotel that his private penthouse is at. He owns the hotel, the Three-Rose Hotel. A five-star hotel that also has an illegal casino in the basement. No one is supposed to know about it, but he doesn't hide it as well as he thinks. The few of his men that he lets in to the place have been associates with my alter-ego "Matches" Malone. They frequent a few of the bars and such. Their drunken escapades are enough to slip tracers in their fillings if I wanted to. Their fedoras suffice for my needs. I wired one hat with a camera and sound, switched it out and got confirmation of this fact. Some people call it paranoid, I call it well planned.
I go to the Three-Rose and perch on an adjacent rooftop of another building. I pull out the binoculars and peer into the window, looking for Thorne. I see him come out in his bathrobe with a very beautiful blonde woman hanging off his arm. Stupid woman, she knows what she's doing and doesn't stop to consider that much like other women before her, she'll get her head blown off if she takes one misstep. The problem is that evidence in some of this is hard to come by, these men know how to cover their tracks. I've been tracing back other murders to Thorne's organization, much like that of Carmine Falcone's. Of course they employ men that know how to clean after their messes, and they make it known that if a mess isn't cleaned up properly then the cleaner's family is as much in danger as they are. It's understood, that's why most cleaner's don't have them. Still, you can find a share of them that do, and I've seen the results of a bad cover job.
Thorne goes to the phone and he starts to scream into it. He's got a panicked look on his face. He must have sent another round of enforcers to GeneTech to make sure that they have enough back up. They didn't see Superman enter the building, just the fact that Batman was rumored to be inside, and now the anonymous tip that I left is going to have cops crawling all over the place. It's a bad day to be Rupert Thorne or any of his cohorts. I want him and I want Luthor, this has got him written all over it and he worked with the perfect patsy. Why not? Falcone uses Thorne the same way, so if Luthor uses him too then he comes under a lot of fire and he falls victim. Someone will fill the void left over; likely someone will place someone in that void. I'll be on watch for that, try to stay on top before they fill it with something far worse.
Davis said that the government was involved. I'm wondering who came running to Luthor and how far their security clearances go up? Their new Department of Extranormal Operations doesn't know anything about this, at least not as of yesterday. This goes further down, and I'm betting that soon this will take root elsewhere. There's bigger fish to fry on this one, but they won't be first in the fire. They're going to knock everyone else in and walk across to avoid being burned. I hate politics and the bed fellows it makes when someone agrees on an agenda. The worst part is that Thorne is truly the victim on this, as much as he can be considered one. Alfred has been doing research on Thorne now for most of the day and found that he and Falcone are closer to butting heads than ever. He's in a bad position, and looking to either wipe the Roman off the map or get enough to escape the vengeance of his mob better. Either way, the smell of desperation is there.
The girl's trying to calm him down as best she can. He's screaming at her, loudly it seems. She's backing away slowly and trying to protect herself from being hit. As she starts to open her mouth wider, he waves his hand back, time to strike. As I swing I see his hand starting to make its way back down, it doesn't quite have time to make it to her face before the glass crash under the pressure of having me being flung through it. I cover myself with the cape so not to be cut by the glass. Thorne immediately forgets the girl, and screams for his men to come and get me. I'm at a perfect vantage point. If they come through either the bedroom or foyer I can strike at them with a barrage of Batarangs or shurikens. Either way, they're not in the best position. In moments his thugs come busting in from the foyer, their guns drawn ready to make their target. As I see the glint of steel I throw my first Batarang which ends with the snap of his wrist. He screams in pain as 4 others try to push themselves out of the way. They're huddling in as Thorne goes to run. As he turns to get out I plant my next Batarang in the back of his knee. The bulk of his weight goes crashing down on him, he screams as he hits the ground hard. In a split second the other 4 manage to clear the way to get in and start to fire. I rush forward and grab the girl to get her out of the way and as I push her towards the bedroom I use Thorne as a ramp to leap forward. I kick the first thug sending his nose into a spray of crimson. His eyes well up under the pain and he drops to tend his wound. The other three try fan out as I start to throw punches and kicks. One pulls a knife and charges, I move out of the way and throw him into a wall as I pull the knife from his hand. The next tries to use his gun again to make a quick kill, I toss knife into his leg throwing off his aim. I knock the gun away and clock him quick. The last man drops his gun and runs. As he makes for the door I throw a line around his ankles and I pull him back in. He's screaming in fear as if the devil had him, which makes Thorne that much more nervous. Small contingent of his best, which are great in a gun fight. In close quarters, they're more than useless, they'll react as thug 3 did. A knife and a prayer, not even basic Karate lessons. The school of hard knocks are cruel on these idiots. It takes no effort to cuff them all and put them into the corner.
Thorne rolls over and sees me coming. He's trying to crawl backwards and screams as he tries to use his bad leg to thrust himself. I walk towards him, hunched and letting the silhouette do the work. His eyes prove that it's well worth it. He stops screaming as I reach him and pull his face closer to mine. "You were working with GeneTech. You helped them commit a terrorist crime. Admit it!"
"I don't know what you're talking about! I never helped anything, especially not terrorists!" I apply a little pressure to his knee cause him to wail.
"Don't lie to me Thorne!"
"You got nothing Batman! You got less than nothing, you're attacking a private citizen and I'll see the police haul your carcass into a prison cell after they unmask you!"
"I've got you Thorne, and your personal computer. I've got plenty without either, but after the damage done to my city by that bio-weapon you facilitated in creating, I wanted to be the one to look you in the face first knowing you were going to be spending a long time rotting in a prison cell. It won't be like the cells you've seen before, this one is reserved for a special kind of terrorist. They won't be gentle, and you're too soft to make it with the other terrorists. You know, the ones that actually have the guts to follow through personally instead of letting lackeys do the work? That's right, you were working with them, weren't you? You didn't do it alone, did you? You had a lot of help."
He starts to breakdown after he realize he doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hell to get through this. He's trying think of every way he can to get out of this. Thorne, for all his money and his mob connections can't deal with the real heat he's brought down upon himself. He wants to squirm away; his gut is already starting to react to the major amount of stress he's feeling. He looks around the room a moment and sees that his guards are useless to him. For the first time, in likely a long time, Rupert Thorne feels completely alone. He's got no one in the room but me; that's uncomfortable. He finally looks at me and his fearful expression goes to anger and back again. His hatred is seething, but he's afraid of what I'll do. I'm not a cop, I'm not a bought man, and his pull in Gotham won't get him anywhere without Falcone's approval. Twisting in the wind right now, I think he finally came to realize there's a lot of people he should never have crossed. I have no pity for him; I have contempt for his plight. So much good he could've done and how has he lived his life? Thorne's the kind of man that killed my father and mother, he's the kind of man that said that everything he did was in the line of business. He lowers his eyelids, squeezing out the last tears. "I was funded by Donovan. He was working with someone else. I never talked to his boss, just got enough money from Donovan's people to keep me interested. I was told to supply muscle and buildings, everything was done in physical cash payments."
"You never bothered to ask where it was coming from? Knowing the heat would come down on you?"
"Six million dollars to start with an addition thirty at stake. The company was studying alien genetics and trying to make it viable for other things. It was a scientific venture, figured it be a great front for charitable things. I took it because it promised to get me a bigger cut of Gotham than the Roman has and it made me look more legit. I tell the world that thanks to me we've got a cure for some horrible disease or the next big thing in whatever enhancement thanks to generous donations I made, then I'm well loved and on my way to a bigger and better empire. This magnificent venture with so much promise and all the while I was taking a payoff to let it happen. I had it all worked out so well, then it came crashing down. My guys told me what was going on and I tried to pull the plug. That's when I was informed that if I tried to stop it that their creature would be set loose to destroy me. Still, I figured despite the threat it was a good enough. I mean what were they doing so wrong? Superman's an alien, and possibly a threat! Everyone trusts Superman even though he could wad us like paper in one hand. So this gave us the worst case scenario and possibly a weapon able to fight back with. In the end I was still getting the money and sending my men to hold guard."
"You didn't think this through. The feds might've double crossed you; have you arrested for your mob connections, then you'd be in jail and they'd have their weapon."
"Cayman account and rolling over on Falcone guarantees my out. They want him and I'd gladly hand him over."
"You were looked at as a smart man. Falcone has made you desperate, and you ran with it. That was a huge mistake." I pull out a vial of knock-out gas and put him to sleep. I go to his computer and put in my password crack. I get into the system, download most of it to private drive and then print off a great deal of it, plus the things I found in my investigation. I put them in a folder and I call Capt. Jim Gordon. I tell him that he needs to get the Feds to Three-Rose Hotel penthouse and to bring his reading glasses. In a few moments time I hear the wail of sirens coming. I clean up my equipment and swing out of the room. Hopefully Superman is having better luck, because what Thorne gave me is hardly conclusive to busting Luthor or anyone else for that matter. If it were the government backing this up, then Thorne still gets used as a patsy to be busted when the operations over. A huge sting on a suspected mob affiliate. If it's Luthor, he gets out knowing Donovan and Thorne take the fall. Scientist doing illegal cloning research, creating his bio-weapon. Thorne not only supplying him with help and space, but taking graft for it knowing what's happening. No real paper trail on any end because Luthor wouldn't do that, neither would an 'off-the-books' government agency. They played his desperation well.
I'm going to search other Thorne haunts and see if GeneTech shows up anywhere else. I feel confident that tonight I've taken at least one major headache off the streets, hopefully Superman's having as much success.
Superman
This is going to be difficult at best. I know that at the Fortress I've got a few different things to stop him, but as I told Batman before; it was never meant to be a jail. The worse part is that I'm afraid of the damage that battling Bizarro will do to the Fortress, but without a Red Sun Reactor, I don't have a chance to beat him. I'm healing rapidly, but it felt like he cracked my ribs for a short time. The immense strength that he has really has taught me just what sort of destruction I'm capable of causing if I should be careless. That frightens me a little bit. Parasite was tame next to Bizarro. I thought about Rudy when this idea to drain his power came up. I came to the conclusion that I'd lost my mind to even think of it. The Parasite would drain Bizarro dry, killing him in the process and then be able to fight me on my terms then drain me dry and have all that power to do some real damage. Real damage... Funny Clark, like the damage he did up to this point was all imaginary.
He's not too far behind me now. Just far back enough thanks to a few stops he's made. It's too bad I had to make those stops too, far away enough that I had to hit him with Heat Vision to keep him interested in me. The beam was nothing more than a cigarette burn against his hide. That's all I needed, and we were back on the chase. I see him in the distance and he's closing fast as I reach the Fortress. As soon as I enter, father and mother come online.
"Kal-El? I register it has been but an hour since your last visit. What troubles you?"
"I've got the last clone on my heels and he's likely to come in and start wrecking the Fortress."
"Why did you bring him here, Kal-El?"
"I need to get the Red Sun Reactor online and ready to fire at him."
"That will take some time my son, the reactor needs to charge."
"Do it! I'll try and keep him busy. Later, I'm going to ask why I needed such a thing."
"It is charging, eight minutes to full capacity."
"Eight minutes to keep him busy. We can do a lot of damage in eight minutes..." No sooner did the thought pass my lips when crystals started to fall from the ceiling. Standing there in front of the holographic images of my mother and father was Bizarro. Both had the expression of complete shock on their faces. It looked at them wide-eyed, trying to fully comprehend what it was he was staring at. I think part of him realized they were important, but couldn't full comprehend that importance. Father tried speaking to him.
"My son, is that you?" Bizarro stared into the eyes of father as he tried to remember what was there in his memories he started to get angry. I couldn't wait anymore, not without taking the chance of him destroying the whole of this Kryptonian preserve. Moving with all due haste he turns in time to meet my up swinging fist which knocks him through the ceiling once more. He soars out like a rocket and I turn back to father.
"Tell me when the charge is ready. I'll bring him back down."
"Be wary my son. For this charge may well depower him, but it will depower you too."
"Understood. Get the Yellow Sun Reactor ready too. Just in case." He nods and I take out after Bizarro. I don't have to wait long to meet him. He's corrected his path and his heading back towards me. He bashes me across the face with his fist. My nose bursts into a gusher of blood. He doesn't let up; next thing I'm aware of he's got hold of my cape and swinging me around like a rag doll. He tosses me towards a crevasse which I break like it was a pile of ice cubes. The force shakes the ground rather heavily. Luckily, he's lost interest in the Fortress because I'm the more interesting target now. He opens up with a volley of blasts from his Heat Vision melting things which start to collapse on me. As soon as it does he uses his ice cold Super Breath to push it further down on top of me and refreeze it. He's trying to trap me. His brain isn't fully eaten away by the transformation! I wonder if the white cells are being fought back or if he's instinctually using his powers to trap me. I manage to fly upwards and crack through the ice, but it takes me a moment due to some slight disorientation. As soon as I reach outwards I notice that he's still hovering above, I guess he was curious if it worked or not.
I decide to plow into him with everything I have. My attack is short-lived as his fist meets my mouth with relative ease. I'm fading in and out of consciousness, the few blows I've sustained are heavy enough that this fight's going to seem like an eternity more. As I meet the snow once again, he fires another intense beam. I move as quick as I can to avoid it, but it still singes my boots. He's a virtual tank. Makes me glad he's not as cognizant of what all he's truly capable of doing. His brute force alone has been enough. As he gives change I keep flying faster and faster over the ground. He's picking up speed now too, he' could catch my boot heel at any time if I slow down. Wait! Maybe that's what I want?
I slow my pace a little bit and have him get closer and closer. As he does I come to as full a stop as I'm capable of ramming my feet directing into his face. The impact sounds like two super-sonic jets crashing into one another. Calcified bits of his face fly off and he bleeds profusely as he falls to the ground. My legs hurt from the impact, but I'm lucky I'm strong enough to take the abuse. Not without severe bruising and what feels like I've jammed my legs through my torso. I get back to him quickly and he's laying on the ground unconscious from the looks of things. I try to pay attention to him, he's breathing oddly. That blow hopefully didn't kill him! I go to inspect him a bit closer when he kicks me in the stomach flings me back the way we came. I hit the ice and crack it hard sinking into water. That's not good, Clark. I don't think I'll suffer hypothermia, but I feel drained so I may not want to take that chance. I try and fly out the same hole I went in and for my troubles I get a punch to the face that sends me flying back into the water. I see billows of crimson in the water; he's really done a number on me. I look upwards with my X-Ray Vision and I see that he's looking at me too. He's trying to keep me down here and if I tried to get out he'll only follow and punch me back down. If my powers run out, I'll drown or freeze to death. He realizes I'm staring at him finally and he uses his Super Breath to freeze the hole I went in over. He bares his teeth to me. I've got to do something fast, but what? It's had to have been eight minutes by now! It seems like forever ago since father told me it would only be that short amount of time.
Bizarro paces back and forth above me, he knows he's got me beaten. He's just waiting to see the signs of my giving up. As he does he looks away for a moment interested in the wind that's picked up. That's it, a whirlwind action. I start to spin faster and faster. I catch a quick glimpse of him staring down at me in confusion. As I finally build up enough speed I crash through the ice. He's not able to hit me before the water collides with him. The moment I'm out of the water and the last of the water reaches him I use my Super Breath to freeze the water that he's drenched in and encase him in ice. Anything to slow him down. I'm very lucky I can hold my breath for a long while. Not that I'm looking to test that any time too soon. I hear the ice cracking underneath his strength. It sounds like the bending of steel. Soon I hear the voice of my father. "Just a few more moments Kal-El. The seismic activity you two have caused has been jarring to certain systems." I sigh heavily because the thought of having to fight Bizarro much longer tires me out.
He comes screaming out of his ice prison and I decide to take a page from his book and punch him as he comes towards me. The blow hits right where the skin chipped off and as he falls backwards he screams out in pain and anger. He sends a full powered burst of Heat Vision my way and it burns my cape to cinders. I'm burned rather well myself. The smell of hair burning and the seer of flesh is acrid, and he keeps pouring on the heat. It's time I get him back towards the Fortress again. Hopefully the reactor is built enough charge to knock him out. As I start to charge towards there, he follow quickly up until he sees the spires of the Fortress. As I approach, I notice he's come to a grinding halt. He's picked up on the idea he was being led there. Not good... "What's the matter Superman? Afraid to fight me over here?" I try and antagonize him. He gets angry, but his better judgment tells him to stay away from here. I blast him with another dose of Heat Vision and he repays the favor, but he won't budge near here. There's some sort of animal instinct telling him I'm trying to trap him.
"Kal-El, all is in readiness. Direct him towards the Fortress." I wish it were that simple, father. I really do. I know how I'm going to have to do this and it's going to hurt us both.
"Father, I need you to set the radiation burst for 30 seconds. He won't come near."
"Is that enough time?"
"I hope so, father. Just give me the burst in 30 seconds now."
"It is done." As soon as he says the words I fly at top speeds away from the Fortress. I look behind to see Bizarro still standing there unsure of what's going on. I've got about twenty-three seconds left to pull this off. I round back after about four seconds and start to get directly behind him. He's still got his eyes fixed on me. As I get the Fortress aimed right in front of me again, ten seconds, he starts to charge forward. I pour everything I have into this. I blaze with speed towards him and as we collide I feel the sting of another blow, but I can't let that affect me now. He's feeling groggy too, I know that. I hook him under the arms and I fly with all my speed towards the opening and as we get there I put on the brakes as hard as I can because the detonation is close. Five...four...three...two...one... A brilliant red flash fills the room and he and I both start to seize from the lack of powers we're feeling. We both plummet to the ground and I hit hard against him. We're both lying there, drained of our powers. I feel so human right now! Haven't felt this human since I was!
I get up slowly and as I do he starts to get up as well. Must've been a concentrated burst of red sun radiation because my powers are completely zapped. I hope he's got the same problem. As his eyelids flutter I step back, ready to start swinging if need be. Bizarro starts to get up himself. He's moving very slowly, groggy from all of the fighting we've done. He steps forward and his joints stiffen a great deal. He looks down at his failing limbs and looks back at me with renewed anger and hatred. "I'm sorry this had to happen, Kal-El. I promise that I will try to find a cure for you."
I see in his face that he's trying to use powers he no longer has. At this moment I realize how relieved I am he doesn't have them. He'd tear the place apart and me with it if he did. I dealt him a serious blow, and his rage would cower a world if he were able. I go to him, and he swings wildly. I dodge blow after blow, catching a few to the jaw as I can't move at his speed. He's tiring quickly, and his arms are stiffening along with the rest of him. The fight's not out of him, it's merely being taken. I drag him to the stasis chamber slowly, but surely and place him inside. "Father, activate it!" A flow of what appears to be crystal covers the figure as if entombed in a sarcophagus. I touch the crystal and I lower my head. I wish this could be any other way.
"The yellow sun generator is ready my son."
"Thank you father."
"What more troubles you, Kal-El?"
"A few issues. The first is if the stasis chamber will completely keep the white cells from completely killing him."
"It will keep him suspended in time, yes. If it should fail, then the process will renew and will likely kill him."
"That's at least something I suppose. The next is why do I need a sun reactor in the first place? Red or Yellow?"
"Simply put, Kal-El, the yellow sun reactor is for such a time when you need your powers. This will charge your cells enough to get you back out into the natural sun in which you will be full restored in a very short time. By my calculations you intake solar radiation at an exceptional rate. Your expenditure of said energy is only proportionate to the task you face. Obviously the battle with Bizarro took quite the toll on you and your powers."
"To say the least. Now what of the Red Sun Reactor? To take them away in case I go renegade?"
"That is one use, yes. The other is for any potential Kryptonian incursion."
"But you are all dead! I'm the last one, father. At least that's what I've been led to believe."
"You were the Last Son of Krypton, that is true from a certain point of view. But other Kryptonians live. At least they may still in the Phantom Zone."
"The Phantom Zone? The criminals of Krypton?"
"As I calculated, time has no meaning there. Some of Krypton's heretics, insane, and villainous reside within it. If they should find some way out and come to battle you the reactor would give us the ability to depower them before they could hurt you."
"I don't know what to say… I thought I was the last living Kryptonian."
"Believe me, my son. It is best you keep believe so. The Kryptonians in there cannot be trusted. Even if they were wrongly imprisoned, their minds will no longer be theirs. They are likely either insane or bitter. Do not seek them out Kal-El, for your safety and that of the world." He looks at me with concern.
I look back with what I can only imagine to be hurtful eyes. Knowing that I'm so close to people that I can learn more from and relate to in being Kryptonian and yet they are separated by dimension and possibly morals. The risks of letting such a thing out and being wrong outweigh the want of finding a way to release them. As the yellow sun burst hits me I feel myself healing. I need to get out and think for awhile. Father looks at me as I take off and I merely say, "Watch after him, father. He's part of this, and he needs us." I turn my face to the sky and I take off back to Gotham City. I need to complete my task.