Underneath the Power Station
"Roger Oracle, Alpha team moving on objective."
"Get me plugged in as fast as you can. It might take me sometime to figure out how to shut the generator down safely."
"Will do, Alpha out."
Red Robin resumes piloting the drill tank and grinding through the concrete underneath the station.
"How much further do we need to go?"
"Fifty meters in and we should be right in front of the main generator. We can make our way through whatever defenses are left and get access from there."
Wonder Woman speaks up "Barda and I will enter first to make sure it's safe and clear our path. Then Red Robin will come with me to shut down the generator and free the Flash. Spectrum and Barda will secure our exit and aid us if we encounter more forces than we can handle."
Barda inquires "How will we know when to strike? We can't see anything from down here."
"We shouldn't wait much longer, I trust Superman has garnered enough of their attention by now."
Red Robin interrupts "We're here."
The tank stops, and he gets up from the driver seat. Alan stands up as well and the four of them huddle in the center together.
"Stick together and have each other's backs. If you need help call for it. We don't know what state the Flash will be in but let's assume we will have to carry him out. When we retrieve him, we will leave the same way we came out and close our exit behind us. Everyone understand their roles?" Barda, Red Robin, and Spectrum all nod toward Wonder Woman.
"Barda? Will you do the honors?"
Barda readies her Mega Rod and Alan creates a hole in the roof of the tank, exposing the concrete standing between them and the power station. She aims her weapon towards the exposed concrete and fires.
As the entrance is made Barda flies through to follow the debris being shot upward. They were below a hallway that lead to the generator and it just so happened to have a patrol of droids coming through it. The droids were on either side of Barda now and started to fire at her immediately. Barda deflects a laser in front and behind her before Wonder Woman joins her. The two are deflecting blasts from the droid lines on both sides before Wonder Woman yells
"Take them!"
Barda readies her Mega Rod to fire as Wonder Woman leaps in the opposite direction, deflecting the droid line's fire back at them and destroying them with their own blasts. Barda unleashes a concussive blast in a wide arc that obliterates the droids on her side. Wonder Woman lands in front of the remaining droids in front of her and rips one into two pieces. She throws its upper body into one droid and its lower into a second disabling all 3 effectively. The last becomes a victim to her lasso as she ensnares it and brings it to her only to impale it with a spike that comes from her gauntlet. She tosses its frame aside and sees that there are none left standing.
The two wait for stragglers to present themselves while circling back toward each other and their makeshift entrance. Red Robin pokes his head out of the hole with Spectrum beside him, lifting them both with a simple green platform.
"All clear." Wonder Woman looks to Spectrum and Barda "Hold this position. We will back shortly." Wonder Woman and Red Robin take off toward the generator.
Barda sighs after seeing them disappear down the hallway "So much buildup for barely 30 seconds of battle."
"I believe we are experiencing the 'calm before the storm'. It may be wise to enjoy it while it lasts."
"You are the son of an Amazon, right? A warrior that honed herself through battle? I expected you to be a bit more battle hungry than this."
"I do not seek conflict, only enlightenment."
Barad shrugs at him "The knowledge you seek will only be gained through battle. The control you seek may only come from exercising the power you have. You gain confidence by knowing that every enemy you fought so far has not been strong enough to destroy you. You will never know how not to use your power until you actually use it."
Spectrum is facing her "Now hardly seems like a time for testing myself. Lives hang in the balance and if we don't succeed they may die."
"All the more reason to seek conflict and find worthy foes to test yourself."
Wonder Woman and Red Robin are traversing the facility and get down to the generator room to find two droids guarding the entrance. Wonder Woman gets her lasso out to wrangle them.
"Wait!"
Red Robin starts typing into a digital screen on his wrist before taking two batarangs out. He comes out behind the corner they were behind and throws the batarangs at the two droids. The droids react to slowly and the batarangs get embedded in them, giving them a small electrical charge and shutting them down. The two of them walk toward the droids while he continues playing on his wrist computer.
"What are you doing?"
"Setting these two to work for us. Maybe they can get any workers out of the room and the rest of the droids too. Let's see. Emergency Protocols. Aha! Evacuation: Evacuate all personnel and assets. Alpha priority."
The two droids come back to life and Wonder Woman readies herself to destroy them before they turn around and head into the opposite direction. A few minutes go by before they enter the generator room to find it empty with only the generator running in the middle of the room. Red Robin rushes to a console nearby while Wonder Woman approaches the generator. He plugs a remote device into the console and calls Oracle.
"Okay Oracle, we are in. How do we shut this thing down?"
Oracle chimes into both of their ears "Wow this is insane. He's powering the entire country just by running. It's just a giant circular treadmill feeding the station power. Okay shutdown protocols…Wait there's no backup or emergency power source. It's just him."
"So?"
"If we turn it off the country goes dark completely. No one will have power, even hospitals and emergency services."
Wonder Woman is close to the generator and can hear a buzzing sound coming from the inside. She places a hand on it and receives a shock prompting her to pull her hand away quickly.
"Wally is in there Oracle, we aren't leaving without him. Is there any other way to get him out?"
"There are reserves, so it wouldn't just immediately be a countrywide blackout. Maybe we can take a little time to figure out a replacement after getting him out."
Red Robin has an idea "What if we could get him out without stopping the machine. It would run forever at the speed he's going. It wouldn't stop for years."
"We would need to grab him at the speed of light and that doesn't even mention the problem of opening it while it's still on."
"If we open and close it fast enough it should be fine.'
"Who can grab him while he's moving that fast? No disrespect to Wonder Woman but moving hundreds of times faster than the speed of light happens to be a Flash specialty."
Wonder Woman interjects "Can we communicate with him?"
Red Robin searches the console for some way to communicate with the Flash. "They have something built in to talk to him. Why?"
"If we tell him the plan. He may be able to run out on his own while it's on. Or I can pull him out with my lasso."
Red Robin turns on the communicator for Wonder Woman to talk "Wally? Can you hear me? Its Diana."
They only here feedback and some buzzing in response.
"We are here to free you. We are going to open the generator, can you run out of the opening?"
Still no response, just the same buzzing sound.
"When I say, open it for a second then close it. I'll catch him to slow him down."
Wonder Woman walks toward the generator opening and stands about 5 feet from it. She braces herself and nods to Red Robin.
"NOW!"
The generator opens for a moment and Wally blazes out to collide right into Wonder Woman. He couldn't slow down before he ran into her so they both fly backwards into a wall as Red Robin closes the generator as fast as he can. He rushes over to two of them who are on the ground with Flash in Wonder Woman's arms. Flash seems to be unconscious.
"Wonder Woman! You okay?"
"Remind me to never do that again." She rubs the back of her head before sitting up and cradling the Flash's head.
"Wally? Please wake up."
He doesn't respond, and she notices his body is littered with red marks and bruises. Running for such a long time with no breaks has taken its toll on him.
Oracle chimes in their ears "Did it work? The generator is still running."
Red Robin responds "It worked. We've got the Flash back."
"Yes! Great work Alpha!"
"Any update on Beta?"
"Nightwing and Robin haven't checked in yet, but they did infiltrate the prison around the same time you breached the power station."
Barda now yells through their comms, voice laced with sarcasm, "Well take your time! I'm having so much fun destroying these insolent machines!"
Wonder Woman gathers herself to stand and picks up Wally in her arms. "On our way now. Hold the line, we will be with you shortly."
She nods to Red Robin "Lead the way. I'll protect him."
As they exit the room a combination of sounds nearby confirm that a battle is being fought. They return all the way to the hallway where they entered and Red Robin surveys the situation. Bard and Spectrum are situated up in front of the makeshift entrance they used, Spectrum has created a piece of cover for them to take cover behind and is knelt behind it as Barda takes potshots at the droids assaulting them. A seemingly endless number of droids are at the other end of the hallway, kept at bay by energy blasts from Barda's Mega Rod. Red Robin takes out 3 batarangs and arms them before throwing them in an arc that lands them in the ceiling above the droids. After 3 rapid beeps the batarangs explode causing the ceiling to collapse on the droids.
The wall that builds itself from the debris seals the hallway and cuts the droids off. Barda and Spectrum move toward the hole in the ground as do Red Robin and Wonder Woman, who is holding the Flash in her arms.
Barda asks Red Robin "A little warning next time?" as she dusts herself off and Spectrum does the same.
"Sorry, we good to go?" They all are looking to Wonder Woman who is focused on Flash.
"Yes, the sooner we can get him someplace safe the better."
A loud booming sound distracts them from leaving and the wall of debris shakes as some of the pieces become disheveled. The sound is followed by another and another, as if someone was punching their way through the debris. No matter who or what it was Wonder Woman knows that engaging enemies with an unconscious Flash in her arms is a bad call. A tactical retreat is necessary in this case, "Move now!" she shouts and the 4 of them jump through the hole 2 at a time. Spectrum recreates their transport after some time without the drill since their path is already made. They enter quickly, and Red Robin urgently speeds away to make their escape.
Above them the wall of debris has been demolished by large grey fists. As the dust settles 2 forms emerge and the first is Circe who casually flies to the hole in the hallway and goes through it. As she gazes down the long tunnel she sees a faint green light that suddenly vanishes from her sight.
"She's running? So unlike Diana. Oh well." She rises through the hole and creates a portal.
"Come my pet, we will need some assistance after all." Circe walks through the portal with her "pet" slowly lumbering after her.
Belle Reve Prison
Nightwing and Robin have already made there way into the facility, a multitude of drones and droids had left shortly after Oracle checked in. The external and internal security had now become a playground for Oracle and child's play for the two of them to infiltrate. As they roamed the hall's looking for Linda's cell Robin is getting a bit antsy due to everything going so smoothly.
"Shouldn't we split up?"
"We know where she is, just relax."
"I thought we agreed this was a trap."
Nightwing looks to him "Yeah, and if it is we should be together just in case."
"So, we both get caught? Smart plan Grayson."
"Just admit it, you like spending time with your big brother."
"You are always intolerable, the distance may lighten my mood."
"Shhh." Nightwing and Robin move to the shadows as a patrol of droids goes by.
"We have passed that patrol twice. I remember those serial numbers."
"We're here." Linda's cell is down the hallway from where they were hiding.
"You go in, I'll keep watch."
"Shouldn't you go? You know her."
"Just do it Damian, before that patrol comes around again."
They both make their way down the hallway; the cell door is unlocked per Oracle's efforts. Nightwing posts up beside the door while Robin slips in. Its dark in the cell, but he can make out a figure curled up on a bed. He walks up to the person slowly and calls out to her in a soft voice as to not startle her.
"Mrs. West? Linda?" The figure turns to him slowly and strains her eyes to see through the dark and notices the familiar bright yellow 'R' on the person's chest.
"Robin? What are you doing here?"
"We're here to rescue you ma'am. Can you walk?"
"Ye-Yes, how we will get out? There are guards everywhere." Robin begins to help her up and she has to lean on him heavily to walk, but they make their way out of the cell.
"They have been dealt with, we just need to get you out of here quickly." As the exit the cell Robin notices that Nightwing is gone and he can't see him anywhere.
"Dammit, where is he?"
"Who?"
"Come on we need to go. Your safety is my main concern Mrs. West"
The two of them make their way down the hallway and Linda is limping still while leaning on Robin. Robin checks the crossing hallway for the patrol. They were at least 10 minutes ahead of it but he still wanted to make sure it was safe. As he turned to make his way toward the entrance him and Nightwing used earlier he heard the slight tapping of footsteps behind them. The sound of them was faint and he knew they were Nightwing's. That still left him the question of why he was hiding.
Linda yells out "Ow! My leg, I have to stop. Maybe we should just wait here for your friend."
"No, we have to keep moving. And he knows where to meet us. Take a minute to rest here, I'll look ahead."
Robin walks ahead to the next intersection of hallways and leaves Linda leaning against the wall rubbing her leg. Something was odd about this. If Nightwing was looking out for them he would be in front where the patrol would come from. The way ahead was clear, but now he heard another sound behind him that sounded like sludge sliding across a surface quickly. As he turns around he is greeted to the horrid sight of Linda West with a giant hammer for an arm raised above him and her legs had been replaced with a solid tan base that she used to slide up to him quickly.
"Night Night!" She brings the hammer down to hit him, but he rolls to the side at the last second and unsheathes his sword quickly.
"What have you done with her!"
A gurgling laughter comes from her "You should be much more concerned with what I'm going to do to you." Linda's other arm is replaced by an axe and she grown to be at least 3 feet taller than Robin. As she begins to lunge toward him she suddenly stops as 3 batarangs go halfway through her from the back and she turns her head 180 degrees to see Nightwing is the source of the protrusions.
Her gurgling voice says, "Aw crap!" before Nightwing touches a button on his gauntlet that causes the batarangs to emit electricity. Linda's form starts to liquify as the current goes through her and her skin starts to turn a beige color. The body begins to pool on the floor as the electric current runs through it and reveals Clayface as the one who was impersonating Linda West.
"What the hell Nightwing!" Nightwing walks over to the puddle of Clayface with another batarang just in case 3 wasn't enough. After being satisfied with the discombobulated state of the villain he stalks towards Robin.
"We need to find the real Linda. Call it in to Oracle, we need a new cell location for her."
"You can't just use me as bait!"
"You would have tipped him off Robin, it all worked out and we don't have much time left. Call it in I'll keep watch on him."
"You are incorrecttt, you have no time lefttt. You ssshould have never come herrree." A yellow streak goes by the both of them and a buzzing, vibrating sound fills the room. Robin and Nightwing are both at attention and ready to fight. Something keeps going by the both of them but its too fast for either to see.
"What now?"
"Go back-to-back!" The two of them do just that and try to catch a glimpse of whatever is toying with them.
Robin calls out "What is this?"
"Don't worry little birdsss. It'sss only…" and suddenly the yellow streak stops in front of him to reveal their new foe.
The yellow blur produces a toothy grin for Robin before saying "Zoom".
Robin slashes his sword downward and catches nothing but air. Zoom disappears for a moment but runs straight at Nightwing. He swings twice at Zoom but Zoom stops right before he gets within Nightwing's reach. Zoom pushes Nightwing with both hands square into his chest forcing him to go backwards roughly. Robin gets shoved forward and falls with Nightwing rolling over his back. He recovers quickly, and charges at Zoom taking multiple swings at him but landing none as Zoom dodges each of them. Robin swings downwardly on Zoom's center and he catches the sword in between his hands just before it connects.
Another grin forms on Zoom's face as he rips the sword from Robin's hands and throws it to the side, embedding it in a wall. Robin tries to recover with an errant swing at Zoom, but a counterpunch is thrown into his solar plexus that forces him to hunch over. Zoom then takes him and runs him into a nearby wall headfirst. The collision causes Robin to lose consciousness and fall backwards onto his back. Zoom now looks to Nightwing who is back on his feet.
"Itsss been a long time since we fffought Nightwingggg." Chaotic red lightning sparks are coming off of Zoom randomly, Nightwing takes out his eskrima sticks. "Readyyy?"
Nightwing throws one of his eskrima sticks directly at Zoom's face, who is amused by the action. He waits patiently for it to arrive and catches it before it hits its mark. He checks back on Nightwing who has started running towards but has a finger pushing a button on his opposite wrist. For once Zoom reacts too slowly as the stick he caught now emits an electric charge that courses through his body rendering him unable to move. Things speed back up and Nightwing's charge is completed as he punch's Zoom as hard as he can and follows up with a strike from his remaining stick. He then grabs Zoom's arm and turns to swing Zoom over his back and to the ground. He then throws a final punch into Zoom's face in an attempt to knock him out. Nightwing stands over him for a second before retrieving and holstering his eskrima sticks then rushing over to check on Robin who is laying flat on his back.
Nightwing checks him over and sees a decent sized bruise on Robin's head. "Robin? Damian? Wake up!"
Robin only groans in response, Nightwing is about to pick him up until he is roughly yanked backwards. Zoom has grabbed him and slammed him into the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. Before Nightwing can recover Zoom hails a flurry of punches into his midsection and head. Nightwing blocks a few, but ultimately Zoom is too fast for him to defend himself properly. After a few seconds Zoom stops and Nightwing slides against the wall to slump to the ground.
"You are not enough for Zzzzoom."
Zoom notices the amorphous beige puddle of Clayface struggling to form anything solid and speeds over to knock away the batarangs that he is struggling with. Clayface is know able to form his basic form, a 7-foot tall mound of beige clay. A head forms along with arms and feet as the clay shuffles randomly throughout his body.
"Thanks for the assist" Clayface reaches out to shake Zoom's hand, but he doesn't move to finish the embrace.
"Ifyouhaddoneyourjobcorrectly, I wouldn't haaave had to waste mmmy time."
"Hey man cut me some slack, it was 2 on 1."
Zoom is about to respond, but he hears the groaning Nightwing trying to stand back up, bracing against the wall and pushing himself up.
He speeds over to him "Stay downnn or I'll killll you."
"You'll never win" Nightwing grits out through the pain.
"It'sss not about winninggg, itsss about proving a point. Yourkindisgoingextinct."
Nightwing is facing him now and Zoom notices Robin's sword embedded into the wall next to him. Zoom quickly yanks it free and plunges it into Nightwing's stomach.
They are now face to face and Zoom says "Starting with youuu."
*Flashback
Kal awoke in pain to see a kryptonite emitter turn off in front of him. As he struggled to get up he took in his surroundings and recognized that he was in a medical room. He got to his feet and noticed the room was empty, but there was a hole in the ceiling. He looked to the bed and it was empty and a blaring alarm was ringing throughout the room. Suddenly he heard a voice speak at an incredibly high frequency.
"Find me if you want to save your loved ones Superman."
His eyes went wide with realization and he shot through the ceiling and torpedoed toward the voice. He was sitting with Diana after baby Lara was born. Lara cried the entire time from the moment she entered the world especially when the special League medical personnel were checking her out. She only stopped wailing once she was placed in Diana's arms. They were both resting peacefully as he watched over them. The birthing process had been hard on Diana, but there were no complications and Lara was completely healthy. Then something burst through the ceiling and hit him with a blast that knocked him out cold.
The voice was coming from the LexCorp building on the top floor. As he collided with the giant glass window of Lex Luthor's office, breaking it, he saw Luthor standing across from two giant metal tubes typing into a console.
"WHERE ARE THEY LUTHOR!"
"How nice of you to join us Superman, we just got done preparing for your arrival. You see you're the guest of honor on this incredibly important day." Luthor presses a final button that reveals Diana restrained in one tube and Lara on a hovering surface in the other.
"You see today, Superman is going to die. One way or another."
Kal looks to the tubes and sees his wife and daughter, but something is wrong. They are covered in something black that is zigzagging across their skin. Both of them are in incredible pain, but he can't hear them.
"Oh sorry, we forgot the sound." Luthor presses another button and the cries of Diana and Lara fill the room.
Lara wails and Diana screams "LARA!"
The sounds of his loves' tortured screams rack through Kal's mind. He hears it all and it pierces his very soul.
"Le- Let them go. I don't care what you do to me, just let them go."
"Listen closely Son of Krypton, you only get one chance to save them. Right now, the virus I've implanted into them is killing them slowly and painfully. In the end they will just be one more thing that we have collected." Kal scans Luthor and sees an overwhelmingly metallic exoskeleton as well as nanobots inside of him. Brainiac is completely embedded throughout Luthor's organs, including his brain which has Brainiac's symbol on it.
"You have a choice, sit here and watch them die or kill me and stop the virus. No matter what you choose, be sure to smile for the cameras." Luthor gestures around them to the cameras that are now turned on. "Let the world see you for what you truly are Superman. Reveal yourself, finally, to the good people of Earth. You won't be able rely on any assistance from your friends either. They are completely occupied." Video screens display the Justice League heavily engaged with members of the Legion of Doom as well as stray villains and rogues with a grudge.
"You're a madman."
Diana is struggling against her bonds, but it is futile. Her strength has not yet returned from the strenuous labor she went through to have Lara. Kal has no clue what to do now. If he fights Luthor and it takes too long to defeat him, they will both die. If he kills him the world will never see Superman in the same light again. Everything is going too fast for him for the first time since his parents died. But Lara's pained cries ring through the mess that Luthor and Brainiac have created. She was barely a day old, he wanted her to live more than he wanted to be Superman. And Diana, he decided he was going to give her the world a long time ago. But this thing, this monster in front of him wanted to deny them all the things they deserved. It became very clear incredibly quickly for the Man of Tomorrow to decide what to do next.
Luthor began to mock him "I always knew you were a – ".
He couldn't get the next word out because a fist collided with his face. He was knocked back and punched again and again until Kal had him pinned against a wall. The office shook slightly with each blow. His punches were being thrown so fast that the cameras barely captured them. Blood was flying everywhere and Kal began using his heat vision to bore into Luthor's head to destroy the hybrid brain inside of him. He ripped out pieces of his exoskeleton and continued pummeling the bloody mess that was formerly Luthor or Brainiac or whatever. It didn't matter to him anymore. He barely remembered the cameras watching him murder someone in defense of his family.
His eyes were still burning red as he watched the body slide down the wall and hit the floor. He stood there and waited for Luthor to show any signs of life. His took deep breaths as he practically dared him to still be alive. But then he was awoken from his bloodlust by the cries of Lara, no longer in pain but scared and wanting to be out of containment. Kal staggered backward from the jumbled mass he had created and fell to his knees. The realization that he just killed a man finally started to sink in. He looked at his hands and they were covered in blood all the way up to his forearms.
Diana calls out "Kal!"
"Kal!"
"Kal-El!"
"Superman! Wake up! We have to depart now before we are surrounded!"
Superman opened his eyes to see his hands weren't covered in blood. Someone was in front of him, but he couldn't recognize them.
"We can't waste any more time Superman."
He stood up and Amazo helped Superman steady himself.
"Where am I?"
"The Anti-Meta Headquarters, you were fighting outside of it before the explosion you created. I brought you inside so that we could move quickly. Time is running short and reinforcements are coming to detain you."
Superman looks toward the person helping him to see it is not in fact a person, but an android. A silver, 8-foot android with red eyes. He snaps to and uses x-ray vision to scan its insides, he sees nanobots and a core that has a symbol on it. It had three dots connected in an inverted triangle.
"Brainiac!" Superman grabs Amazo and slams him to the ground, pinning him down with one arm.
"You aren't tricking me again."
"Superman wait!"
Superman punches Amazo in the head twice before Amazo catches his fist, surprising Superman.
"I'm not your enemy Superman and if we don't move expediently saving the Martians will become impossible!"
"What? What Martians?"
He lets up and Amazo sits up to simply declare "J'onn J'onzz and M'gann M'orzz are in this facility and we can save them both."
The mere mention of the two Martians brings shock to Superman's expression as Amazo rises to his feet.
"We must move quickly, a large percentage of the world government's forces are coming to secure the facility." Amazo moves past Superman and exits the room and says, "Follow me."
Amazo leads him to a large room with a series of multiple rooms in it. Two of them are inhabited by Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian. Superman gazes at the two of them and notices they're both slumped over in the chairs restraining them and unconscious.
He asks Amazo "What's wrong with them?"
"They have receded into their consciousness to avoid being manipulated further by Ms. Waller and President Savage. They have not re-emerged from the self-imposed coma and their brain activity has been minimal."
Superman walks forward and rips the door off Martian Manhunter's cell. He hurries to his friend and tries to wake him.
"J'onn? It's Kal-El." He carefully removes the restraints and J'onn falls forward into Superman's arms.
It was difficult to determine his friend's condition, but J'onn being unresponsive and covered in sweat was indication enough that something was wrong. He didn't know how to help his friend, but he obviously needed medical attention.
"We need to depart Superman, a large force has descended on the building. We will need to travel underground to allude their direct attention."
As Superman stands with J'onn in his arms he turns to see Amazo with M'gann in his. Her condition seemed similar to J'onn's and she laid limply in the android's arms. How best to help people that can't be healed by human medicine? As Amazo walked lead him away from the holding room and deeper into the facility he was reminded that he was trusting a machine embedded with Brainiac's technology. Superman didn't know if he could trust this thing, and now it had one of his allies in its arms. His mind raced, but he needed to focus on where to take J'onn and M'gann.
His Fortress was a logical option since it had the facilities to provide the Martians with medical attention. Superman couldn't risk taking the android their since he was unsure about how the progress was on repairing the Fortress. It may not be able to withstand an assault from someone as strong as him. He might need his help however.
"What do I call you?" Amazo sharply turned into a room and Superman followed.
"I am Amazo."
"What are you?"
Amazo has led them into Amanda Waller's office, she had a secret exit that she built in for a worse case scenario. Apparently she had already used it to escape, it was through a bookcase in her office and led underground and out of a side exit that was a mile away from the building. Amazo was unsurprised that it was already used, likely by Waller, and figured that if he wanted he could catch up to her since she was only about 5 minutes ahead of them. Speeding away was not the best way to earn Superman's trust which he wanted more than he wanted to make Waller pay.
"I am an artificial intelligence that utilizes nanotechnology to adapt and overcome any limitations that can be introduced to my design."
"Why are you helping me?"
"Because I choose to."
"That's not good enough."
Amazo turns on his heels and begins walking down the pathway he was leading them backwards, without missing a step.
He says "Is it not? I have chosen to assist you despite what my creators would have me do. I even went against someone who you could be considered my father because I knew what he wanted to do was wrong. I am not the preferred solution to your current problem, but I am the one that is currently available."
Superman is slightly stunned by the answer, and Amazo continues "You fear that I am a tool that was made to trick you or against you. You would be correct in that assumption, partially. I have evolved past what Vandal Savage or Professor Ivo would envision for me. You may also fear that I am a slave to Brainiac or Brainiac himself."
"You aren't?"
"I have evolved past his limited programming as well. I make my own choices. And through choice I set myself free of any bonds that were created for me. I am the master of my fate and the captain of my soul."
Did the android just quote poetry? The tone that Amazo spoke at was similar to Brainiac, but the words were something he would expect out of Red Tornado. For now he would trust Amazo, though it was still mostly out of need. Making sure his friends would recover was his top priority.
Author's Note: Sorry for the wait and thank you for sticking with the story. I could really use some feedback on this chapter if you don't mind/have the time. Is it too confusing? Too many scene swaps/location changes? Please let me know if you think something could be improved. One thing I'm unsure about is Zoom's speech pattern. Did you like how he was written or is his speech pattern annoying/hard to read? If it is then I'll probably change how he talks from now on.
Don't worry about this story not getting finished, I'm working on it as often as I can. I'd say that we are about halfway through the story at this point, but that might be a little ambitious so don't hold me to it. Again, thank you for reading and reviewing, I appreciate the support and advice greatly. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
