Then

A.R.G.U.S Armory, somewhere in Maryland

Diana Prince hurries through a corridor deep inside the vast underground complex. She isn't running but she certainly isn't walking casually as she passes through various doors and scanners and brushes by sentries and agents. Behind her, barely keeping pace, is Steve Trevor.

'Diana, this is the safest place for-'

'With respect, Steve,' says Diana sharply, as she leans forward into a scanner next to a heavy metal door, 'your people could not safeguard Kronos' Scythe, I am not leaving my weapons here.'

'We'll get it back-'

'And second,' she walks a little faster. 'Second, if Batman is right and that was Superman's attack, he is going to need my help to put an end to this.'

Steve dashes in front of her, barring her way. 'Then let us help you get ready. You're a tactician, you really think going out there-'

Sidestepping him speedily and gracefully, Diana enters an antechamber. The walls and floor are metallic rather than the concrete of most of the corridors, and there are a series of grooves in the floor. Near the middle of the room is a large table-like object covered with 'bumps'. Beyond the antechamber is something that looks like a massive underground arena. Aircraft of various sizes, although none larger than an SUV, can be seen performing manoeuvres and firing at things out of sight, and somewhere below.

She looks back at Steve and says, 'I've observed him since we arrived. He's breathtakingly strong and fast but he's clearly untrained.'

Diana presses her palm on a panel and red and blue lights scan it. A section of the metallic wall beside her slides open to reveal her armour and equipment and she pulls out a short sword and inspects it.

'You think you can match him?' asks Waller, gruffly and almost with a snarl, as she strides into the room. Diana ignores her and continues inspecting her equipment. Stepping forward, closer to Diana, Waller says, 'Beat him?'

Placing an arrow back in a quiver, Diana turns to face her and says, 'Only one way to find out.'

Waller sighs and gestures at the strange table. It hums and lights up and begins displaying a suite of holo-screens. 'You've watched him, Princess. We've been studying him.'

A rocket launch goes wrong. Suppressant gas is sprayed on the craft by the automated safety systems, but the audio recording of the conversation between the astronauts and the command centre mentions locked doors and the air supply being disabled. Superman swoops in and tears the capsule from its moorings and connections to the body of the rocket and starts to fly away with it. The rest of the rocket ripples and explodes, engulfing everything. Superman flies through the flames and sets the capsule down. He opens the door and helps the would-be astronauts get out.

An accident on a bridge has over a three dozen cars in a pile up, crossing both directions. Cables have been wrapped around two truck containers, which are dangling over the channel below. Superman rises up alongside the bridge, holding a passenger coach above his head. He sets it down beside two truck cabs then helps firemen and EMTs with freeing people trapped in wrecked vehicles, and carries the dead to the side.

In a town that has been ravaged by an earthquake, the front of a building peels loose and falls towards a group of rescuers. Superman catches it, bracing it against his back, buying the people below enough time to get away, and then the wall crumbles around him and the air is filled with dust. Rubble begins to appear on the sides of the rescue site as Superman uses his speed to clear the area and get to the survivors below. He then calls down the rescue workers to help him bring the survivors up.

There are dozens of other images and recordings, including ones of him delivering food and supplies to refugee camps in different parts of the world, and footage of him shoring up a dam.

Then, expanding the screen, Waller shows Diana footage of the stadium attack, and the room is filled with the sound of screams.

'Something is not right,' says Diana, and she starts pulling at the holo-screens and re-ordering them.

'Excuse me?' snarls Waller.

'All of this, everything that he has done, he would not have attacked that stadium.'

'Are you not seeing what we're seeing?'

'I see someone saving lives time and time again. I see someone talking to people. Checking on them.'

'I see someone buying people's confidence. Deceiving them.'

'Is that because that is what you do?'

'No one is altruistic.'

'I am not saying he is. I am saying he tried to help. Over and over again.'

Waller stabs at the screen displaying recordings from the destroyed stadium and shouts at Diana, 'Look at that screen! There's only one being that can do that.'

Exasperated, Diana shakes her head and steps back a little. 'You think he would spend hours helping to evacuate destitute people in Indonesia only to then murder thousands here minutes later?'

'He's an alien!' roars Waller.

Diana shakes her head again and reaches out to touch one of the other screens, replaying footage from the interrogation room Superman and Lois had been in two years ago. Although not seen, Professor Hamilton can be heard speaking:

"…Sir, you… you can't expect us to not take precautions. You could be carrying some kind of alien pathogen."

"I've been here for thirty-three years, Doctor. I haven't infected anyone yet."

'He's lived among you his whole life,' says Diana firmly, pushing her hand through the holo-screen and pausing the recording.

'Doesn't matter,' growls Waller. 'He's still not one of us.'

'Study him,' says Steve to Diana, gesturing at the control panel, 'you'll see.'

Press conference held by the President of the United States

'For two years he has helped not just us, here in the United States, but people across the world. He's calmed tsunamis and helped plug oil leaks. He's saved mountaineers and avalanche victims, helped find lost planes and given families closure.

'He has done many things, but we still don't know him.

'We, along with every other nation, have asked him to surrender himself. It doesn't matter where or to whom, only that he do so before we, collectively, have to escalate things.

'We have heard the people who have said that we're wrong. We know he was in Indonesia but we also know that he left the region's airspace just as the attack happened. And it was an attack, make no mistake about that.

'We know that he is fast but we do not know the extent of his speed. On one occasion, he travelled halfway around the world in less than ten minutes, and he did so to save many lives, yet that occasion only serves to add to our concerns.

'But there are other things we know:

'A beam of heat was sent from somewhere above us. Somewhere in orbit.

'There were no weaponised satellites in that region.

'That… death ray liquefied parts of Metropolis Stadium.

'Over a thousand people died because of what happened. Many have yet to be recovered and some may be saved, and we, and the dedicated rescue workers on site right now, are hopeful that we will find some alive.

'These are concrete facts but we need answers, and I, and the rest of the world, say this:

'Superman. Kal-El. Turn yourself in. Turn yourself in and help us get those answers.'

G Gordon Godfrey Has This To Say – the newly set up webcast of the increasingly popular talk pundit

There is no sign behind him this time, but he is, again, seated without a desk creating a barrier between him and the viewers.

'Days have passed and the so-called 'Man of Steel' continues his reign of terror, in absentia.

'He didn't disappear straight away, mind. Having scorched the Earth and murdered and terrorised he then descended to 'help'. He truly believed we would be blind to what he had done and just accept him.

'The height of narcissism. The height.'

He shakes his head and stands up, looking sombre.

'Men, women, and children were screaming, choking, dying and dead, and he descended as if a magnanimous god to ease our pain and suffering. Pain that he had caused.

'But we chased him away. We protected our own,' he punches his right hand into the palm of his left, 'and he fled.

'He fled and tried to 'help' elsewhere. He fled, believing the world had not seen what he had done, but the world had and the world rejected him. Again and again.'

He looks up and then thrusts his arms up and punches his hands into the air.

'We reject you!' he shouts. 'We. Reject. You!'

He lowers his arms and looks at the camera. His face is flushed and he brushes his hair back, adjusts his suit, and composes himself.

'I say again: days have passed and the so-called 'Man of Steel' continues his reign of terror.

'That's what it is, my friends: a reign of terror.

'How many of you have actually stepped out of your homes today? This week?

'I can see it my colleagues' brave eyes, all around me, none of them wanted to be here. None of them were sure they would even make it.

'This is not hyperbole. You, my friends, know that it is not.'

Press conference held by the UN Secretary-General

'Within months of him stopping the attempted invasion, I met and spoke with Superman on more than a dozen occasions. We coordinated the delivery and distribution of aid and supplies to those affected by the World Engine's… alterations.

'He has done much and there are many, across the world, who would consider him a friend. As a friend, I'm asking him, Kal-El, to help us find out what happened and turn himself in.

'For the sake of everyone.

'You've saved the world before. Save it again.'

Batcave

Thick armour plating is lowered onto a metal skeletal frame. The Batplane turns on a pedestal and cables attach themselves to it and raise it up above a platform. At a workbench next to a computer array, Alfred and Bruce tinker with various objects. Small handheld units beep diagnostic readings.

Luke Fox's voice can be heard:

'The updated drones have been sent out and we're working with Stagg and the others in coordinating deep recon and retrieval. We've found two hundred and nineteen survivors so far but there are still over a thousand people unaccounted for. The scans are positive, it's just… with the risks of debris shifting, there's no way of moving any faster to get to those trapped across nineteen areas of the stadium.'

Bruce looks up for a few seconds and says, 'Get in any and every necessary specialist on our database. Palmer over at Ivy might have some ideas. Tap into Michael Holt if-'

'They've already offered to help,' interrupts Luke, 'and so have dozens of others.'

'Good. Good.' Bruce looks at Alfred and then says, in a slightly deeper voice, 'Luke, I'm going to do some things behind the scenes for now.'

There's a pause and then Luke says, '…understood. Good luck.'

Alfred checks something on a handheld device. He pauses for a couple of seconds, his fingers hovering over the small screen, and says, reluctantly, 'The caches of ammunition you diverted are in place and-'

Bruce straightens up and massages his neck. 'It's okay, Alfred. I know you're doing everything you can.'

'Sir?'

Bruce holds up a glowing green mineral, almost the size of his head. 'This rock… it's not like I can just do what David did.'

Alfred looks at Bruce and then over the equipment on the worktop. 'No,' he says with a sigh, 'but David used his unique skills to his advantage, much like you're doing, and you have much more than just a slingshot.'

Bruce puts the rock down. 'Do you believe in providence?'

'…Bruce…'

'There's a veritable god out there, right now. Unstoppable, as far as the world's concerned.' He shrugs. 'Maybe we could use nukes. Maybe.'

'And risk wiping out-'

'Exactly. But… look at all this.' He picks up the helmet from the worktop and holds it out. 'Decades ago, before anyone knew about any of this, Professor Winton came to my father with calculations and formulae for these alloys… Energy absorbers, transformers, all sorts of things.' He points at a screen displaying the S-shield, 'His notebooks are littered with that symbol and so somehow, we have the means to stand up to a god. He came from the sky, but so did all this.'

'"Providence"?'

'Or the universe trying to put things right.'

'Because he shouldn't be here?'

'This isn't his world, Alfred.'

'And you have to take it back.'

Bruce doesn't say anything as he places the helmet back on the table. The two of them are silent for a few seconds and then, as Bruce moves around the table to check on another gadget, Alfred, tired, sits down and rubs his eyes, and Bruce speaks.

'He can move faster than I can see. My reactions, my intuition, even with that bio-suit… The Kryptonian woman took down thirteen soldiers in seconds, and she was toying with them. The armour we've built, the alloys we've used… they're not enough, not for a prolonged encounter. But something like this…' he holds up the rock again. 'That island out there likely has tonnes of this stuff and it only starts affecting him from a couple of miles away. An island we can't get to because he's likely watching and waiting. This… he doesn't know we have this. He doesn't know that we know what it can do.'

'And there's still no guarantee.'

'Lex's studies, my observations-'

'Quite, but no guarantee. Those blips could be something that lasts a few seconds even at close proximity.'

'He's never been back to the island properly since. Always at a distance. Always hovering-'

'Because he knows-'

'Or is afraid of knowing. Maybe…' Bruce's eyes widen a little and he dashes over to a small warning-labelled containment area.

'What is it?' asks Alfred, hurrying after him, wiping his hands with a cloth.

Bruce holds out a couple of vials containing liquids of various colours. 'Maybe fear? Crane's formula. Concentrated.'

Frustrated, Alfred tosses aside the cloth and says, a little louder, 'The man inhaled a radioactive gas cloud last year, and you think-'

Bruce holds up a sliver of the glowing mineral and the green light on his face casts strange shadows and, for a split second, Alfred sees his old friend, Thomas Wayne, and his heart aches. Bruce says, 'But he didn't inhale this.'

'Do you really want to risk a frightened Kryptonian lashing out?'

Bruce grits his teeth as a part of the vision flashes in his mind: the shudder of the ground as Superman lands forcefully.

'No, you're right. You're right.'

The First Church of Superman - webcast

'This is a time for mourning for many, and a time of rejection. I advise you, my Brothers and Sisters, to not take the rejection to heart. Just as the Lord has accepted their rejection of Him and allows them to be, so, too, must we be patient.

'It is hard, I know. It is hard to hear what people say about Him, but we must hold on to the Truth.

'They have struck out at Him. Attacked Him. Endangered the lives of those around Him. And He has not punished them. Not yet.

'I cannot pretend to speak His mind and will not pretend to know His reasons. I will share this with you, however, that more and more I doubt that what happened did so by His hand. More and more, I see the work of those who have strived against Him.

'It is with that belief, my Brothers and Sisters, that I ask you not draw attention to yourselves if you choose to attend the mourning. Just as He has let them have their time, so should we.'

LexCorp's Rockies Facility

The 'Superman' kneels in a chamber. Its eyes are closed and its breathing is slow and shallow. Machines beep and hum and display all sorts of images, and several of them flash red words and errors.

Lex walks into the room and casts his eye over the scattered equipment. He lifts a few machines and sets them right, and then dusts off his hands and wipes them down the sides of his shirt.

He walks towards the chamber and glances at the screens. 'Why did you fly, little one? What angered you so? I didn't call you, did I?'

He stops and touches his forehead and he remembers looking at Diana and hearing her voice deep inside himself: What are you not telling us?

He remembers all sorts of secrets tumbling around inside him. Malicious software loaded onto a business card and given to Lucius Fox; the secrets of Wayne Industries; Northcom and the millennia-old spaceship; cave paintings of the war between a god and a goddess; a dark planet spewing fire and another bluer than Earth; Shugel and his knowledge-quest, and so many others. He remembers the words compelling him to speak and he remembers choosing one of the secrets while holding on to another. He remembers choosing The Collector and its warnings while he held on to the 'Superman'.

He checks through the bio-readings and sighs, sadly. Stepping into the chamber he walks around the kneeling figure before crouching down in front of him. Its skin has greyed and Lex reaches out to touch its face but then stops himself. He looks at the back of the 'Superman's' right hand and shakes his head a little. It's swollen and something is protruding from the skin.

'It's happening faster, isn't it?' he says gently.

The room is silent and Lex looks at the 'Superman' for a few more seconds and then takes in a breath and slowly releases it as he stands up.

'OB-AP,' he says, conversationally, 'I know you're still here. A lot has happened these past few days, otherwise I would have been back here a lot sooner. You've looked after him, though, so thank you for that.'

'Hello Lex,' says a mature voice, similar to one that had been heard before, that seems to come from everywhere. It's still a little distorted, but it no longer sounds like a teenager. 'I was not sure if you would return. The suddenness of your last departure…'

'I thought we were friends.'

'I thought you were giving me knowledge.'

'I was.'

'And yet, there is so much you did not share. Fifteen Earth years and-'

'So you punished me by using him?'

'I have no control over him, Lex, we agreed on that.'

'Then how-'

'It can only have been you. As you told your slaves, the Faraday Cage is never absolute.'

'"Slaves"?'

'You know all this already. You understand more than you want to. Perhaps.'

Aerial images of the stadium flash in Lex's mind and he remembers seeing a formation on the playing field, during the pre-game entertainment. An 'S'-shield… if seen from above.

And then anger.

Lex touches his forehead again and his fingers scratch at the skin a little.

'I would never have wanted-'

'Are you sure? We have been together a long time. Time in which you helped build Metropolis into what it is. The City of Tomorrow. Time in which your name was on everyone's lips. You heard the whispers of reverence, and when they turned to you in their terror and gratitude, and you embraced them-'

'I am not a murderer.'

'But you have wished it.'

Lex doesn't respond to the statement. Instead, he asks, 'What will you do now?'

'I must prepare to collect and preserve. The war is coming. The Persuasive One is here.'

'Who is he?'

A metallic skull, the size of an average adult human male's, on spider-like metal legs scuttles across the floor and leaps onto a worktop.

'Thank you for helping me piece myself back together,' it says. Its eyes flash but the 'face' remains still.

'I have to know who he is!'

'You will. In time.'

'OB-AP!'

'Thank you again, Lex. It has been… enlightening.'

The skull rises into the air and the legs fold in and metal tendrils appear instead. The air around the base of the skull shimmers and Lex grits his teeth and scowls as the skull glows a little and then disappears through the hole in the ceiling.

Lois and Clark's apartment

Papers are scattered across the floor and dining table, and pinned to various cork boards.

'It doesn't make any sense,' says Clark as he paces back and forth by the window. 'How can it be heat vision?'

'Anything more from the analysts about what blacked out those satellites?' asks Lois. She switches quickly between search tabs on her desktop and scribbles down a few notes.

'Nothing.' He scrolls through the emails on his tablet and then says, 'my contact at Wayne Industries says that the blackout was indiscriminate, as far as he's aware.'

'And there's still nothing from LexCorp.' She pushes her chair back and stands up.

'Even about the break-in?'

'Complete denial.'

'None of this is making sense.'

'Are you sure?'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean, ever since Zod's attempted invasion, ever since you revealed yourself and started helping, people have been out to get you. Accusations, mostly, but you've had everything from survivors to local politicians to world leaders trying to tell everyone that you were dangerous. That we shouldn't trust you.'

'And there have been plenty saying the opposite, too.'

'Until now,' says Lois, and she points at the television Clark had set up to display half a dozen news channels at the same time. Five of them have, in the corner of the broadcast and behind their respective presenters, the S-shield covered with either a 'no entry' symbol, an 'X', or just a diagonal line.

'Until now.'

'Over a thousand people are dead, Clark. Some of them…' she shudders.

'I know. And there are hundreds still in there but-'

'So now everyone is afraid. Now everyone knows what you can do if you ever wanted to. I know it wasn't you. We know it wasn't you-'

'But all the evidence says that it was. If it didn't… if it didn't, I'd be out there right now, helping.' He gestures at the television screen again, and one of the broadcasts is showing rescue personnel pulling at misshapen metal.

'You can't help those who don't want to be helped.'

'I can try.'

'You did, Clark.' She walks over to him and takes his hands in hers. 'You did and they sent fighter jets and an arsenal after you. They risked hundreds… thousands of lives to get to you. Each time.'

'I thought… I was just trying to help.'

'I know, and a lot of people out there do know.'

One of the channels starts to show a new story, about a ship in trouble somewhere in the Atlantic. The headline banner reads:

Mysterious rescue.

Clark smiles, knowingly.

'Lex and the others have to be linked to this somehow. Those bullets, they have to be for you. Something they can use when they've lured you in.'

Clark nods. 'No one's used them yet, though.'

'No one's lured you yet.'

An overgrown field on the outskirts of Gotham

There is a low whirring sound and then, for three seconds, a series of 'booms' cascading into each other and echoing across the field. Concrete explodes and thick sheets of metal are punctured, torn apart, and even partially melted. The booms stop and the whirring slows down.

'A round from a Gatling on an F-35 snapped his head back before,' says Bruce, 'but he's stood up to Gatlings since then.'

'I dread to think what these might do,' says Alfred, and he kicks at a case of rounds.

'They'll do what they have to, Alfred. They have to.'

Alfred frowns and says, 'And you still haven't looked into how these designs came about?' Bruce grunts as he hoists the Gatling from its tripod. 'Ones your father rejected and Professor Winton made quite clear that he had regretted coming up with?'

'If we had had these ready when those aliens came,' snarls Bruce, lowering the gun into a container, 'everything would have been different.'

'Everything already is different.'

LexCorp's Rockies facility

A hologram of Mercy follows Lex as he walks through the abandoned labs, watching him as he tinkers with equipment and checks readings on various experiments.

'The caches have not been located,' says Mercy, 'but all records have been deleted. If they resurface then they won't be traced to us.'

'You're sure?'

'All LexCorp marked paraphernalia was left behind.'

'He knows, though.'

'Sir.' Mercy looks down and then says, 'The Consortium members are getting restless. There's rumour spreading of something happening in Gotham and they don't want to talk to Luke Fox about it.'

Lex tuts and shakes his head. 'The Old Guard were never ones who liked a change they didn't bring about.'

'And Silas is missing.'

'Missing?'

'His son... the attack…'

Lex braces himself against a table. 'Victor?'

'Silas took his body from the site.'

'He took him? Then that's a good thing, Mercy. A good thing.'

'But he's gone off the grid.'

'Just… trust me.'

Mercy lowers her tablet and flickers a little. 'It's been almost half a week, Lex. Come back to Metropolis.'

'It's going to happen soon, Mercy.'

'What is, Sir?'

'God is going to die. Soon.'

'No one has seen him since he was chased away.'

'They will. He has to come back. It's what gods do when their faithful denounce them. And then we'll deny his godhood, take it away from him, and make him humble.'

The Oval Office. The White House

'How did you get this number?' asks the President, as he stands, warily.

'I'm going to deal with the problem,' says the gruff voice on the phone. 'Soon. But I need you to have Swanwick ready if things go wrong.'

'"Ready"?'

'He'll know what to do. Swanwick, not Eiling.'

Metropolis Central Park – Memorial Square

Mourners have assembled to pay their respects to those who were killed and injured in the stadium attack. Although there is a massive police presence, the gathering is peaceful, with many attendees just holding each other and sharing stories. Some look up to the sky – some fearfully, others hopefully – most just stare, tearfully, at something beyond their sight.

Outside the park, at each gate and at the main junctions, are even more police officers. Most are wearing body armour and are armed with non-lethal weapons for crowd control.

Some of the officers begin to move from their positions but their activity goes unnoticed by the mourners. A small barricade is quietly formed around the edges of the square and riot shields hum as they are joined together to form a wall. There is a distant rumble that gets louder and louder and the peace is broken when dozens of activists storm the square, shouting and roaring, and firing gas bombs into the air. They swing batons and bats and some have guns.

Activists shout into their megaphones and demand that Superman show himself.

'You came out to "save" people before. Come do it again. Come on! Save these people! We dare you!'

The riot shields glow and repel the projectiles thrown at them, and the rioters surge and charge only to find that the shields push them back, too. As they step back, some of them fire their guns into the air and then aim at the mourners. Shielded as they are from direct attacks, the mourners are effectively penned in.

'Your shields don't go over your heads, you pigs!' shouts one of the lead activists. There is a soft boom and a rocket propelled grenade arcs into the air and then down into the crowd. The mourners scream and run towards the officers trying to protect them, and the grenade hits the ground and explodes.

Wind buffets the activists, pushing them back from the barricade, and yellow and blue lightning flashes in the air around them. Horizontally.

Barely five seconds pass and those among the activists who were armed are now weaponless, but unaware of this new fact. The shouts from the activists grow quieter and quieter and the officers forming the barricade look at each other, wide-eyed and confused, as they see the activists disappear.

Outside the park, at the main North entrance, officers who had been tackling groups of activists who had been trying to join the others in the park, lower their shields as the baton-battering they were trying to protect themselves from stops. In the middle of the road is a pile of weapons.

Over at the main South and East entrances, the officers experience a similar but different scene: as the attacks come to a end they find scores of rioters in the middle of the road, all handcuffed to each other.

Everyone, whether mourner or police officer or journalist or activist, looks up to the sky, but it's empty.

Under a road sign that says 'Metropolis 900 miles', a young man leans against one of the posts. His legs are vibrating so fast that they look like a blur and he huffs and gasps as he tries to catch his breath.

Now

Channel 52 News

The Bat-signal shines in the sky.

'Although the rumours were unverified before and the continued evacuation of Refuge Isle over the past week only adding to the rumours, it's now clear that The Bat-signal has been moved from the roof of Gotham's Central Precinct. Speculation abounds that The Dark Knight of Gotham is going to challenge the Man of Steel.

'Gotham and Federal authorities have imposed a no-fly zone around the island and most of Gotham, and Commissioner Bullock has said, and I quote, "Don't test us. Any of you newsies or anyone else who enters the zone will be shot down". That's quite the threat, and given Commissioner Bullock's history…

'With confirmation now that the island has been completely evacuated, and further verification of Federal involvement, it looks like whatever The Batman is going to do is sanctioned by the Government.'

White House Situation Room

After the events of the Black Zero Incident and his continued interactions with Superman, General Swanwick found himself offered the position of Secretary of State of the US. It was never a role he wanted or had ever aspired to but he saw how things had changed and were continuing to change, and he was afraid.

Still flushed and irritated from his argument with one of his aides, Swanwick pauses as he enters the room and casts a glance over the range of personnel from the military, technical and legal fields that had been pulled together.

'Status,' he says, firmly, and his voice prompts a quick hush to descend on the room.

'Drones are in the area, armed and ready, Sir' says an analyst.

'All commercial flights are grounded or diverted, Sir,' says another.

'Airspace is clear.'

'Press corps helicopters are just outside the zone.'

Swanwick takes in a slow breath and picks up the phone. 'We're ready, Sir.' He listens to the voice on the other end and nods a couple of times. 'I understand, Mr President. Are you sure you don't want to be down here?' He leans forward and presses a button on the speaker in front of him. 'You have the room, Sir.'

'Ladies and Gentlemen,' says the President, 'what may happen in the next few hours is something you have all prepared for over the last two years, and its initiation is something I did not do on a whim.

'The safety and security of the citizens of our country are paramount and there will be no discharge of nuclear weapons within or around our borders. None.

'I don't know what The Batman has planned but I do know that Superman has to be brought in.'

LexCorp's Rockies facility

'The story of Babel isn't as unique as people think. You probably have something similar where you're from, too. Mortals rising up against gods. Mortals sacrificing everything to gain justice.

'That's what this is all about, you know? A war of gods with us caught in the middle, as always. The gods fight, get bored, and leave us to pick up the pieces.

'What's the story from your world? I hear "Rao" but then I just see… a red giant. An aged star pulsing in the sky. Is that what's to come or what you have seen? I'm assuming the latter.

'"Rao". Did he divide you all, too? Did he lure you together and then scatter you? Our gods did. From the Lozi people to the Tohono O'odham and the Sumerians and onwards. All of them tell the story of the tower and the gods fearing us and destroying it. Thousands of us die. Millions, even. All because we wanted to be better and the gods knew we could be and became terrified of us.

'Soon they will come together. Night and Day. Man and god. One more time, and they will fight and god will fall.'

Lex kneels in front of the 'Superman' and cradles his face in his hands.

'Dying. You're dying and all that you are will come to an end. Everything inside will be gone. I've tried to encourage you to share. I've helped to heal you. Nourish you. Nurture you. I even clothed you.

He leans forward and touches his forehead against the 'Superman's'.

'All this and you still close your mind to me. You refuse to teach me. To let me see and learn and understand.'

He lets go and stands up.

'Yet you're dying and all will be lost.

'I'm your father, I rebirthed you. You're my son, you were reborn by me. But now, the son becomes the father, the father the son.'

He closes his eyes and three small discs, hidden under the skin, glow on his forehead.

Gotham

The Bat Signal lights up a part of the rainy sky and helicopters can be seen circling, with the no-fly zone being wide enough for them not to be heard. Other searchlights comb the sky, some

Superman hovers in the air, just beside a cloud that has been illuminated by the signal.

Lightning tears through the sky, masking the spotlights and signal, and thunder claps and rumbles.

He glances at the drones and helicopters and then down at the area below. His eyes glow a little and he frowns when he sees some of the traps that have been set up. The furrows in his brow deepen and he squints a little before relaxing his eyes as he realises that some sections of the buildings and grounds around Batman are lined with lead. He remembers the Wayne Foundry and what he had said to the firemen there.

He focuses on Batman and sees him look up at him, and then he hears him say, 'The signal's lit, Kal-El. What say you?'

He takes in a deep breath and lets himself fall through the light of the signal. He hears the confusion and excitement broadcast through the air around him and he slams into the ground.

Long range microphones in the helicopters squeal, forcing sound engineers in their respective studios and cameramen in the helicopters to remove their headphones.

He holds up his hands. 'Bruce. Batman, I'm not here to fight.'

Batman snorts, rolls his shoulders as static fills his ears, and steps forward. 'You came to me years ago, asking me to train you. To teach you. Today, here, right now, I'm going to give your first and last lesson.'

Superman walks towards him. 'Dammit, you're the best detective this world has ever seen, why are you being so blind?!'

'I was never blind to your threat, Kal-El, I just wasn't ready for it.'

'"Ready"?' He glances at the traps again and at Batman's armour and takes in a slow breath.

Batman grins and fires half a dozen tasers from his gauntlet. Their gooey ends stick to Superman's suit, hands, neck and face. There's a hiss as a panel casing detaches from Batman's forearm and Superman frowns again as he notices the thin cables trail off into a vent behind Batman.

As he reaches for the cables, Superman says, 'This isn't-'

Electricity pours into Superman and, in the distance, the city's lights go out.

Superman roars.

Batcave

'Sir, nothing is transmitting. Newsfeeds are blind. Bruce… say something.'

Gotham Globe

'Get those other generators up and running. No point keeping the server rooms live if there's nothing coming in.'

Various helicopters circling the area

'Keep filming.'

'Keep transmitting.'

Situation Room

'Sir, the Presidential comms are dead.'

'Get him back on the line.'

Superman's roar as he struggles against the electricity coursing through him causes the nearby buildings to crack and heave.

Batman hunches over himself as the vibrations rattle through him. He gasps and laughs hoarsely as he watches Superman stagger and tug off the tasers. Around them, a couple of buildings shudder as their walls and facades peel loose and fall to the ground.

'Guess that makes this next one a little easier to introduce,' Batman growls, and he tosses what looks like a grenade. It doesn't explode. Instead, it screams.

'Hypersonics,' says Batman, but no one can hear him.

Batcave

'Auto-scanning through all encrypted frequencies. The plane is ready but I can't hear you.'

The computers ping and Batman's voice says, 'It took years.'

'It took years for us to decode Shugel's logs. Barbara and Dick did it. After her father was… after Jim was murdered, it was one of the few things she insisted on doing after the Clown…'

A memory of the wheelchair flashes in his mind.

'He had a lot of interesting things to say about you, 'Clark'. He was very thorough.'

'Shugel?' Superman shakes his head as he lets the crushed grenade fall from his fingers and then grinds the pieces with his boot.

Batman smirks. 'You didn't find out? Not surprising.'

Superman frowns a little and then his eyes widen as he understands. 'The… containment place. Was Shugel?'

Machines whine and whir and three Gatling guns rise up out of their enclosures and point at Superman.

'Nothing short of a bursting shell can pierce your skin, that what his files said.'

A barrage of bullets strikes Superman, puncturing the ground around him and forcing him to cover his face. There is a shift in the sound of the guns and explosion after explosion, each one less than 30 milliseconds apart, and the air is on fire. Beyond the crouched Kryptonian, buildings explode and collapse. Despite being pushed back by the concussive force of the waves of explosions, Superman stands tall and rises into the air. His eyes glow red and a beam of heat cuts across the battle area and destroys the guns.

'Maybe seventeen years ago, sure. I'm not that teenager anymore, though.'

He catches some of the last few bullets as he descends and looks at them and sees they're the ones he and Lois had been investigating.

'You?' He lands, looks at the bullets again and crushes them, ignoring their small explosions, smothered by his hands. His mouth twists with anger and he stalks forward. 'All this time?' he growls, and his eyes turn red again.

Surprised at Superman's anger, Batman steps back a couple of paces and reaches for a gun holstered on his right leg.

Superman mutters again, 'It was you the whole time. I thought you understood.'

He grabs Batman and flies up through a building and then tosses him onto the roof.

'Stay down. If I wanted it, you'd be dead already.'

Breathless, surprised and confused by Superman's anger, Batman pushes himself back onto his feet. The HUD in his visor tells him that his armour is intact and that the impact had charged his back-up power cells. In the lower right of the display, it says that the sound absorbers are active.

He looks up at the sky, at the symbol shining on the clouds, and pulls out a canister.

Superman shakes his head and steps forward. 'There's no need for any of this, Batman. If you'd just listen we can work together and makes things right. Get to the truth.'

Batman tosses the canister and readies himself. A dense cloud of lead particle gas explodes from the canister and Superman's eyes glow a bluish-white as he tries to look through the thick cloud. The split second of blindness frustrates him and Superman dashes into the cloud and disperses it.

The Batman is not there.

'Hnh,' says Batman, a small smile breaks across his lips, and Superman turns to look at him and sighs. The armoured vigilante stands a dozen feet away, shouldering a grenade gun. 'You never answered my question last time. Tell me: Do you bleed?'

Batman fires.

Superman catches the bullet-grenade at arm's length and frowns as he looks at it. It bursts open and green gas envelopes the Man of Steel. His eyes sting and the sudden pain makes him breathe in in surprise.

He shakes his head, suddenly groggy and disorientated, and drops the bullet-grenade.

'You will.' Batman holsters the launcher and steps forward.

Superman coughs, staggers, and falls. Batman's gauntlets whir.

Channel 52 news chopper

'Superman's on his knees and our mics are out of range!' shouts the cameraman. 'We have to get closer!'

'I told you,' shouts the pilot, 'we're not taking chances with Bullock's threat!'

LexCorp Rockies facility

Lex opens his eyes and sees himself standing slightly hunched and with his eyes closed. 'This is quite strange,' he mutters, 'and I definitely need a trim.'

The 'Superman' turns and looks at itself in the reflective metal. It sees the reversed symbol on its chest.

Images flash through Lex's mind – a blond woman wearing a grey version of the symbol, shouting angrily. A panel of people wearing strange robes and headdresses. The inside of a spacecraft, with space visible outside. The blue-green Earth coming closer and closer.

The blond woman lunging with a crystal in her hand.

'Argh,' Lex roars, as he grabs his right hand. The 'Superman's' right hand. He grits his teeth and shakes off the pain, clenching his fist as he does so.

'The things you can see and hear,' he whispers. 'The things I can see and hear. And do.'

He breathes out slowly and adjusts the cape around his shoulders. He looks down at the floor and shifts his stance a little wider, then he holds his hands out a little wider than his shoulders, palms facing upwards, and rises into the air.

'Let's go see what's happening in person.'

Superman's head snaps back as Batman drives his armoured fist forward. Again and again.

'You're a Trojan Horse made flesh.'

'No,' murmurs Superman. His eyes are closed and his skin is tinted green. On his knees, Superman pushes him back but Batman barely moves. 'You don't understand.' His hands slide down the armour and his body contorts as a wave of pain crashes through him.

Batman kicks Superman across the face. 'Shugel was right to capture you. The mistake he made was in keeping you alive.'

Superman pushes himself onto his knees again. His hands shake and his breath is wheezy and ragged.

'The mistake I made was in setting you free.'

Batman's fist stops as Alfred's voice comes through over the cowl's communication device: 'zzz- come in.'

Superman staggers and tries to stand as he gulps in air, and Batman dashes to the side and fires his grapple, punching through the wall of building opposite.

'Send it in. Now!'

He soars through the air and smashes through a wall and rolls to a stand on an empty floor. Loud hums fill the air and a strong wind takes hold of Superman's cape. The Batplane hovers and its gun turrets target the Kryptonian.

Hundreds of explosions, each one more violent than the ones caused by the Gatling barrage, tear up the ruined building and set the air on fire.

The building collapses.

General Eiling storms into the situation room, flanked by half a dozen soldiers with another dozen close behind. He ignores anyone who tries to block his path, allowing his soldiers to push them out of the way.

'The President has been moved to Camp David and has authorised me to take over,' he says, authoritatively, signalling at his men to take their positions.

Secretary Swanwick, visibly enraged, walks over to Eiling. 'The President told me, in person, that you were not allowed down here under any circumstances.'

'The President, Mr Secretary, has been moved to Camp David and has authorised me to take over.'

'Sir,' says one of the technicians, 'the comms are still down.'

'The drones are picking up explosions and fires,' says another.

'Clearly,' says Eiling, 'the President realised things were getting out of hand, which is why

'Sir,' interrupts Major Farris, 'Camp David says they don't know anything about the President coming and the House staff says the Oval Office has been sealed.'

Eiling glares at her and then at Swanwick.

'Tell your men to stand down and sit down, General,' says Swanwick, his face inches away from Eiling's.

'The President-'

'Sit down, General.'

Eiling smiles and turns away. 'Let's watch them make a mess of things, boys,' he says, and he waves his hand and walks over to an empty chair.

The HUD in Batman's visor shows an intensely hot fire burning away where a building used to be, as the Batplane hovers just at the edge of the inferno.

'Stay ready.'

'Sir.'

'The gas worked but he's still too strong. I didn't even cut him.'

'According to these scans the whole building is being liquified. Everything. Perhaps… maybe he drowned?'

'Just stay ready.'

'Satellite imaging is telling me there's something human-sized in the sky. Nearby. Hovering.'

'It must be her.'

'In the sky?'

'You have any other explanation?'

A fist punches its way out of a mass of fiery liquid-rubble and Superman grunts as he wades his way through a white-hot 'lava' made of concrete and metal and pushes aside huge chunks of the burning remains of floors and walls.

The sky groans and rumbles and rain begins to fall.

Superman looks up at Batman and slowly rises from the 'lava'.

'Drop it!' shouts Batman and the undercarriage of the Batplane opens and lets go of a green gel.

A.R.G.U.S Armory, Maryland

Waller and Steve watch footage being displayed on a wall of screens. Along with the media footage, some of the feeds are from bodycams of A.R.G.U.S personnel heading to the battle and others are from drones already on site.

'He just couldn't leave it alone, could he?' moans Waller. 'Damn night rat.'

Steve shrugs and says, 'Seems to be doing okay. That gas he used…'

They watch the green gel smother Superman and both of them lean closer to the screens as he falls from the sky and slams onto the roof of another building.

Dense rain obscures the drone's camera as Batman leaps down.

'Superman hasn't punched him yet. Fool's going to get himself killed.'

In the sky

The 'Superman' frowns and focuses its attention on the battle raging far below as Batman grabs Superman by his cape and throws him across the rooftop. It looks past the helicopters circling the area and concentrates on the man dressed in blue and covered in green goo.

Superman struggles to push himself up and then his arms give way and he collapses onto his back. The 'Superman's eyes widen when it sees the S-shield on the Man of Steel's chest.

Images of the blond woman kissing and eating and then shouting, fighting and laughing bombard the 'Superman'. It then sees images of people in strange headdresses and hears the words 'By Order of the Council'. It sees its hands bound and hears the word 'Guilty' repeated over and over.

It sees the blond woman again and understands that she has a link to the blue-clothed man far below.

'El!' it roars, and it tries to propel itself down.

Punctuating his words with punches, forcing Superman to the ground, Batman roars, 'Who. The Hell. Do you think. You. Are?!'

He huffs and steps back, his gauntlets humming, and Superman pushes himself up from his knees and stands. His cheek is cut and bleeding and his mouth is swelling. 'A friend.'

Batman snaps out a sidekick, the enhancements in his armour giving him the power he needs to send Superman soaring backwards across the rooftop and onto a skylight. He grunts and leaps, twenty feet into the air, and then grins as he drives himself into Superman's chest and smashes them both into the room below.

Superman kicks Batman off himself and through a bathroom wall. They both roll onto their feet and look at each other. Water from burst pipes sprays and pours around them and Batman tosses something into a puddle near Superman and then turns to shield himself from an explosion. The building shudders and chunks of it peel off as the floors give way, exposing the inside to the rain.

Batman charges at Superman rams into him, pushing them both out of the building and down to the empty and broken street below.

Again, Superman kicks Batman off himself. Again, they stand and face each other.

'Across the world,' says Batman, 'people are dying because of you. The tsunami that would have washed away hundreds of thousands-'

'Didn't. I stopped it, Bruce.'

'It happened because of you.'

Superman stands up a little straighter and holds out his hands. 'I've made mistakes, I know that. I accept that I bear responsibility for Dick and Barbara and-'

'Helena. I would have suggested Helena.'

'I accept all that. I do. But Jason and Gordon, that isn't fair-'

Batman punches him again and the gauntlet crumples.

'And you know it's not.'

Batman's arms are raised, ready.

'Your gas worked. Your gloop worked. You found a weakness, like you always do, but now we-'

He suddenly pushes Batman, sending him flying backwards and skipping along the ground, tearing up the asphalt.

The glowing discs on Lex's forehead flicker and turn dull.

News chopper overhead

'Looks like the talking is over, folks! Superman just-'

The helicopter jerks in the air, battered by the shockwave of something streaking past it.

'El!'

Superman looks up as the roared name fills the air and then there is an explosion and dust and rain.

Batman picks himself up, stunned by what has just happened, and hurries to the edge of the newly-formed crater.

The ground shudders and explodes and the HUD flickers as it skips through different viewing modes. In murky infra-red, it shows two figures, one on its knees and the other raining down blow after blow.

'Alfred, what the hell just happened?'

'Somehow… there's another one.'

'Shit.'

General Eiling leaps out of his hair and points at the screens. 'What the hell is that?!'

'Another Superman, sir.'

Eiling turns and jabs at Swanwick's chest with his finger. 'He lied to us when he said they were gone.'

'He didn't lie, General.'

'Then you explain it, Mr Secretary, Sir,' snarls Swanwick through grit teeth.

'Sir,' interrupts Major Farris, 'reports are coming in of tremors in Gotham and Metropolis.'

'They're-'

'Hitting so hard they're causing an earthquake.'

Swanwick looks up at the dust-filled screens. 'How do we know which one is Superman?'

'Like it matters,' says Eiling, and he gestures at his men. 'This is why the President sent me in. Tactical. Precision. Nukes.'

'What?'

The Batplane banks and flies in a wide circle around the area.

The 'Superman' grabs Superman by his head and throws him out of the crater and into one of the helicopters.

In the facility in the Rockies, Lex, eyes still closed, staggers and slumps to his knees. The skin on his forehead looks normal and beads of sweat trickle down his temples.

The disabled helicopter, tail missing, spins in the air and then jerks to a stop. The rotors are bent and hang limply but, underneath, Superman, fingers pressed into the metal, takes control of its flight and moves it away from the battle site.

'That's the real one,' shouts one of the technicians.

Eiling scowls at him.

The 'Superman' walks up the side of the crater and looks around. It sees Batman and then turns to see where Superman is.

It looks at Batman again.

'No,' murmurs Lex.

The 'Superman' looks at his right hand and then at Batman again.

Lex's eyes flicker and then he squeezes them tight and the discs on his forehead light up again. 'No, no, no. Kal-El is fine, Batman isn't.'

Batman stares at the 'Superman' and begins edging backwards. His breathing becomes rapid and shallow. An alert flashes in his HUD and Batman sees the vision Kronos had given him: of Superman coming towards him.

Dev-Em stalks forward, drifting, snarling, his feet scraping along the ground. His face contorts and the grimace shifts from looking like Kal-El to looking like someone else. He reaches for Batman but Superman grabs his arm and pulls him away from him.

Dev-Em keeps trying to reach, his right hand opening and closing, as if not noticing that Superman is holding him back. He steps forward and Superman's foot slides a little and he grunts and looks at Batman earnestly.

'Run.'

Batman's nod is almost imperceptible. He vaults backwards, the enhancements in his armour pushing him many times further than he would be able to leap otherwise, and shouts 'Ears'.

Superman grits his teeth and scrunches his eyes tight. Dev-Em roars as Batman deploys another hypersonic grenade. He pulls away from Superman and covers his ears.

The Batplane swoops round and fires.

'Forgive me, Superman,' Alfred mutters, as the bullets rain down on the two Kryptonians, exploding on impact.

Batman leaps away again and activates some jets hidden in the armour, just as Dev-Em unleashes his heat vision on Superman and the Batplane.

The blast tears up the ground around Superman and Dev and the fire spreads out quickly, adding to the fires started by the exploding bullets. Pieces of concrete and rubble are thrown into the air and some hit Batman and send him tumbling. He staggers to his feet, bracing himself as the ground shakes.

'Your heart is racing, sir.'

'I'm running for my life, Alfred. Shut up.'

Dev-Em roars and, suddenly, he begins morphing. His legs swell and tear open the blue leggings and he grabs at the S-shield on his chest and rips it off. Multi-coloured lightning dances across his chest and limbs and he roars again and tears at his face.

Superman steps forward, reaching out for the roaring figure, but a burst of energy pushes him back.

In the Rockies' facility, Lex stumbles backwards and clutches his chest as his face contorts with pain.

Dev-Em throws his hands up in the air, clenches his fists, and slams them into the ground. 'El!' he roars, and then he turns to look at Superman. Lightning sparks across his face and in his eyes. 'El,' he growls.

'I am Kal-El,' says Supeman, in Kryptonian.

Dev-Em's snarls and his skin cracks and bursts. He looks at his hands and flexes his fingers, and his skin pulses and throbs. The blue sleeves tear and hang loose.

'I don't know how you're here,' says Superman, again in Kryptonian, 'but I want to help you.'

Dev-Em falls onto one knee as his skin turns grey and stoney. The scar on his face glows and the skin on his right hand tears and pushes out pieces of crystal. He stares at it and then at Superman's chest.

'El!' he roars, louder than ever, and there is a massive discharge of energy.

Lex cries out in pain and holds his head and slumps to the ground, unconscious. The three circles on his forehead spark and disappear.

Waller taps her ear and says, 'Get the bio-foam ready.'

Steve glances at her and then looks at the monitors. 'Don't you dare go down there, Diana,' he mutters.

In the control room of a television news station scores of people rush around. A producer grabs the shoulder of one of the monitor crew and points at his screen.

'What the hell is going on down there?'

'There're two of them.'

'Two of what?'

'Supermen.'

The screens go blank.

The pulse of energy grows and, within seconds, it covers an area almost a mile wide. It then collapses in on itself, and back into Dev-Em, before pulsing back out again.

Helicopters in the 'safe zone' start to fall.

Superman leaps into the air, determined, and tries to catch and save each one. Some he tosses a little higher into the air so he can deal with the ones closer to crashing, others he cushions with blasts of his breath.

On the ground, Batman stands immobile, his suit rendered useless by the energy wave released by Dev-Em. His fingers flex and his gauntlets pop off but his arms refuse to move. His HUD is blank and one of his lenses is obscured. In the distance, he sees Dev-Em shudder and grow.

Dev-Em clambers upright and looks around himself. Standing at eleven feet tall, he looks like a huge rocky beast. He rolls his shoulders and growls and then laughs. He turns and sees Batman frozen in place.

The front of the armour hisses and falls forward.

'Bah!' Dev-Em snarls, and purple-white lightning fritzes across his eyes as the whites turn red.

Batman's eyes widen as he realises what's about to happen. 'Oh sh-'

Red and white and purple energy blasts out of Dev-Em's eyes.

The energy hits something and there is a strange humming sound as it is redirected, striking the ruins in the immediate area and turning things to dust.

Batman lowers his hands and squints to see through the bright light.

Diana stands in front of him, arms raised and crossed, her bracers glowing. She glances at Batman and shakes her head a little.

Dev-Em roars and Diana takes a couple of steps forward and then slams her bracers together, sending out a sonic shockwave, disorienting the beast and tearing up the ground, knocking him back.

Superman lands between Batman and Diana.

'That's bought us a little time,' he says to Diana, and she nods and looks out over the ruined island.

'What the hell is it?' says Batman, stepping out of the rest of the armour. 'He looked just like you.'

Superman looks out over the ruined area and at Dev-Em, crouched on the ground and pounding at his head to clear it of the ringing noises. 'He's from my world.'

'What? How? You have a brother?'

He shakes his head and takes a few steps forward. 'He stowed away on the scout ship that came here eighteen thousand years ago. I saw the logs.'

Diana shrugs. 'Immortality is nothing new.'

'He's supposed to be dead.'

'The door to Hades has opened many times,' she draws her sword and twirls it quickly and takes off the shield strapped to her back. Then she, too, steps forward, and past Superman. 'And I've killed things from other worlds before.'

'She with you?' Superman asks Batman.

'Thought she was with you.'

'I know I don't have to tell either of you,' says Superman, 'but mind your surroundings. He's at least as strong as me and we don't know what the energy he keeps emitting is doing.'

He disappears, dust dancing in the air where he had just been, and Dev-Em roars as Superman slams into him.

'You were wrong about him,' says Diana.

'Maybe,' says Batman.

She shakes her head. 'Let's make things right,' she says, and then she leaps into the fight.

As the ground shakes and the air rumbles, Batman moves back to his armour and starts taking off weapons and other parts. He attaches things to his belt, gauntlets and boots.

'Come in!' Alfred's voice crackles over the communications device in Batman's cowl.

'I'm here.'

'Thank God.'

'He's not here.'

'Droll. The President called but his line was garbled. He said Eiling had taken over.'

'How long do we have?'

'Ten minutes, maybe fifteen until the disruptions in the area lessen enough.'

'How long to reload the plane?'

'At least twenty.'

'And the drones?'

'They won't be able to get through the interference yet, but I have them on the way.'

'If you see an opening, do it.'

'Sir.'

'Alfred.'

'Sir?'

'I'll make you Eggs Florentine for breakfast.'

'I look forward to it, Sir. Keeping the comms open.'

Superman and Diana tag-team Dev-Em. The beast now stands at over twenty feet in height and thick bone spurs are protruding from its elbows and knees.

Diana dashes in, ducking under the beast's swinging arm, and slashes the back of its right leg. Lightning sparks from the gaping wound and Dev-Em roars and swings wildly. Superman drives himself into its back with his feet and the ground heaves as the beast slams into the ground.

Superman quickly flies up into the sky and uses his heat vision to liquify the area while Dev-Em scrambles to get some purchase and sinks into the dense 'lava'.

'That's not going to hold him long,' says Superman, landing beside Diana.

'How much like you is he?'

'Enough. I think.'

'So, the gas?'

'You saw that?'

'I tried to keep an eye on things, especially after-'

'That wasn't me.'

'I knew that before he appeared.'

Superman smiles a little, the cut on his cheek healed, and then looks up and frowns. 'The helicopters are back.' He focuses on one helicopter in particular and sees Lois holding onto a hand strap, dictating into her phone.

'They don't give up, do they?'

'And neither do we,' growls Batman.

'They're calling him Doomsday,' says Superman.

'Hnh.'

'Reporters aren't superstitious and cowardly, it's just some of them like creating a headline.'

Batman's mouth opens but he holds back on his retort and says, 'The drones are on their way.'

'Drones?'

'Loaded with the gas and gel.'

'How long?'

'Five minutes.'

'Shall we?'

Dev-Em breaks free, roaring and laughing. He rushes at the trio, moving faster than before. Superman catches his punch, spins him around and slams him into the ground. Diana leaps in and 'Doomsday' twists and throws Superman into her.

The beast laughs again and leaps at Superman, grabbing him by his legs and slamming him into the ground, repeatedly. He then tosses Superman into the air and lunges at Diana. She blocks his punch with her shield and kicks at his left knee, breaking off the protruding bone. Electricity sparks around him and Diana dashes past him, cutting the side of his chest open with her sword.

Doomsday roars and stomps at the ground. His shoulders twist and roll and he grows wider.

Gold cord wraps around the monster's neck and then around its left hand. He tugs and his arm is pulled to his side. Confused, he reaches for the cord with its free hand, only for Superman to punch him and break its jaw.

Doomsday staggers back and shudders, its left arm still immobile.

Superman appears beside Batman and says, 'Your drones are a minute away.'

'Alfred's keeping them at a distance so this thing's EMP or whatever it is doesn't affect them.'

'It's like some kind of…' he looks at his fist and Batman frowns when he sees the grazed knuckles. 'He's healing, rapidly regenerating, but his body is doing it wrong and adapting.'

'To what?'

'Us.'

Diana slices Doomsday open from his right hip to his left shoulder and the beast roars as it unleashes another energy blast, one that knocks them all back and cuts out Batman's comms.

In the distance, circling a little ahead of the news choppers, the drones begin to fall.

Batman grabs Superman by the shoulders and points at the drones. 'I'll distract him, you two catch them!'

Pushing herself to her feet, Diana stares at him, wide-eyed, 'Are you crazy?'

Batman shakes his head. 'He's fast but he doesn't have either of your speed.'

'Yet,' she says.

'Go,' he urges them. 'It's our best chance.'

Superman and Diana leap into the air, over the energy-crackling monster, towards the two silent drones.

Batman turns something on his left gauntlet and vaults towards Doomsday. As the energy-shell encasing the beast calms down, Batman fires tasers plugged into power-pack he had retrieved from his armour. He drops the power-pack as Doomsday writhes and shouts, once more: 'El!'

Twisting and turning, Doomsday finds the cables and pulls them off the back of his arms and legs. He glares and them and then sees Batman crouching next to some rubble.

'Bah!' he says, and he stalks towards the Dark Knight. Batman empties a clip of the explosive bullets, forcing Doomsday to cover his face, but it doesn't stop the behemoth from quickly approaching.

Batman fires a grapple at the fifth floor of a shell of a building and leaps away, evading Doomsday's punch. Barely.

Pausing next to the grapple head as it winds back into the grapple-gun, Batman fires another dozen rounds before using the grapple-gun again, moving out of the way just as Doomsday barrels into the wall.

In the sky, holding the drone above her head, Diana watches Batman's cat-and-mouse game with Doomsday. With a grim look on her face, she punches into the drone and pulls out the gas canister hidden inside. She tugs at some cables and turns a couple of dials. As Batman leaps to another ruined building, Diana tucks the canister under her left arm and throws the drone at Doomsday.

The drone explodes against Doomsday's back and he turns to look up at his attacker. Diana then throws the gas canister at him. He roars and writhes and punches at the ground as the gas envelopes him. He staggers but doesn't fall.

Superman suddenly tears open the drone he was holding and the green gloop contained within slithers out and smothers the monster.

Doomsday falls to his knees; his roars stop and his arms hang loosely by his side. Silent, the monster collapses.

'Is it over?' asks Diana.

'I can't hear his heart,' says Superman.

Batman steps out from behind some rubble, the grenade-gun in his hands, and walks towards Superman and Diana.

'Is there any way to destroy it?'

'Maybe on the scout ship.'

'We have to make it quick. If Eiling gets his hands on it-'

'He won't.'

'And neither will Waller,' says Diana.

Ba-dum

'No,' breathes Superman.

Ba-dum

'What is it?' asks Batman. Diana raises her shield and steps closer to Doomsday.

Lightning crackles over the massive body and the green goo starts to smoke and burn.

Superman looks up at the sky, squinting for a couple of seconds. 'I've got a four-minute window,' he says.

'For what?'

'To limit the risk of him affecting any satellites.'

'What do you mean?' asks Diana.

'He can't fly right now.'

'Yet,' says Batman, chambering his grenade-gun.

Doomsday snaps awake and leaps up around two hundred feet into the air, energy tendrils punching into the ground and air. Diana shields Batman against the stray blasts.

'I'm taking him to the island.'

Batman holds out the gun, 'I have-'

'What you had isn't enough. We have to end this and the island's the only place.' He gestures at Diana. 'We need to bind him first.'

Diana lowers her shields and brandishes the lasso. 'What island?

'Away from here,' says Batman.

'From everyone,' says Superman. 'Tell Swanwick to be ready.'

Diana and Superman rush at Doomsday as he slams into the ground, and flank him, taking advantage of Doomie's desire to grab Superman. With speed and grace, Diana binds him, leaping back as Superman barrels into writhing creature and pushes him up into the air and disappears into the dark clouds overhead.

'Up, up, and away,' whispers Batman.

'Where's the island?' asks Diana.

'At the end of the world,' says Batman, his fingers dancing over a small keyboard on his left gauntlet.

'And Superman?'

Batman doesn't say anything. He looks up as dozens of drones surround them, hovering and waiting.

'The interference is gone,' says Diana.

'Track them,' says Batman.

'Of course,' says Alfred.

Doomsday flails and writhes but the golden lasso doesn't stretch or give way. The air thins and crystals begin to form on both him and Superman. Superman pushes harder and the warps as he shifts to ten times the speed of sound. He then banks slightly and the Earth is a bright blue below them.

Doomsday's face begins to glow and burn.

On the ships surrounding World's End island, anchored 30 miles away, dozens of people look up and watch the 'comet' streaking across the sky.

Superman and Doomsday slam into the heart of the island and a cloud of dust half a mile high fills the air.

Somehow, the continued growth of the beast, coupled with the heat and the impact, the lasso has loosened. Superman rolls onto his back and coughs, tired, with flecks of green on his face. Doomsday grunts and growls as his body knits itself back together and more bone protrusions tear through his flesh.

Littered throughout the crater their impact created are green crystals. Doomsday lurches to his feet and stumbles forward.

'No,' says Superman, and Doomsday stops and looks at him.

Superman staggers and raises his fists. He looks like a punch-drunk boxer and his skin is greener than before.

'El,' growls Doomsday, and he steps towards the Last Son of Krypton. He frowns and looks at its hands. The cuts from the new bone protrusions are not healing.

Superman pushes off the ground and punches Doomsday with an uppercut. Red stains the white bone-spurs on Doomsday's jaw.

Doomsday brings both its arms down to slam into Superman but Superman catches them, grunting with the effort, and then kicks off the bone protrusion on Doomsday's right knee. Doomsday howls, throwing his head back in pain and pushing himself away from Superman. Superman dashes in and throws a series of punches at Doomsday's throat and, when the beast covers its neck with its massive hands, he follows up with a barrage of blows to its chest.

Doomsday swings his arms out wide, back-handing the Man of Steel, and sends him careening into the side of the crater. Superman slumps to his knees, his face bloody, and coughs up blood. Doomsday staggers forward and stomps on Superman, repeatedly, driving his head into the ground. He then reaches down and tears off Superman's cape and tosses it away.

Superman grabs Doomsday's massive ankle and slams him into the wall of rock. His face is caked with blood and dirt and his eyes are red.

'Bah!' snarls Doomsday, and his eyes turn red, too.

A heat vision battle ensues, and the two Kryptonians cut loose, melting rocks and crystals around them. The red beams turn white and then blue and the air begins to burn.

The two are so focused on their battle that they don't notice the missile streaking down towards them. The ensuing explosion catches them unawares and forces them apart.

Kal-El tumbles through the air, desperately trying to regain control and fly, turning over and under, searching for Doomsday.

And then he falls.

Doomsday slams into the ground and stares at the sky. Memories of the blond woman crying as she held the body of a dead man to her chest tug a smile at the beast's mouth. He tries to get up but collapses back. Pieces of green rock are embedded in its chest and the purple-white lightning darkens and flickers and then turns black.

Its enhanced healing falters and then stops. A memory of the blond woman shouting at him and the head-dressed people glaring at him makes him growl and he says, one last time, 'El.'

As the last of the flames dance and crackle and hiss, the island falls silent.

Doomsday's skin tears and peels away and his flesh turns black and into a rotten goo littered with pieces of green crytal.

Half a mile away, Kal lies on the ground, face down. His suit is torn up and his back is bloody.

Aerial drones hover over the island. Distorted images appear on the screens in the Situation Room.

'No movement, sir.'

'Take out that blasted island,' snarls Eiling. 'Finish it.'

'It's over,' says Batman.

'Are you sure?'

'They're going to wipe out the island.'

'And Superman?'

Batman doesn't say anything. Instead, he looks up at the helicopters hovering overhead, and one in particular: the Daily Planet one.

'So you got what you wanted?' says Diana.

'Kronos… in the museum, you said I should be wary of what I saw-'

'Kronos likes to play games. He shows… things, but they're not always true and almost never in context.'

'What I saw-'

'Do you still believe he would have tried to bring about the end of the world? Even now?'

He looks around at the devastated area and then up at the sky. He remembers Dev-Em's contorted face and his clawing hand reaching for his heart, stopped only because of Superman. He remembers Superman getting to his feet after all the attacks and blows inflicted on him, his face swelling and cheek bloody, and saying, 'A friend.'

'I thought… I believed-'

'You were hurting. You still are, but he's not your enemy.'

'I told you the same thing,' mutters Alfred.

'Who was that?' asks Diana.

'Is there any privacy with you two around?'

'This is interesting,' says Alfred, and Batman cocks his head a little as he looks at the screen in his gauntlet and listens to something on his cowl's comms device.

'… Maybe it can still happen,' he mutters.

'What do you mean?' asks Diana, frowning.

'Look.'

The island

'How many times am I going to have to rescue your behind, Clark?' says the tall man as he helps Superman out of the crater.

'You love it, really,' says Superman, and he takes his cape from the man and wraps it around his shoulders.

'Ha! Come on, let's get you away from here.'

'Thanks, Arthur.' Superman picks up the lasso and wraps it along his arm.

'Thanks for saving the world. Again.'

'Anytime.'

'Yeah, you seem to be making a habit of it.'

'So do you.'

'Don't know what you're talking about, my friend. I'm just the son of a lighthouse keeper.'