Chapter 32

Superman had been fighting his son for some time now. The two of them were evenly matched and neither could gain an upper hand on the other. When Superman saw the arrival of the Tamaraneans and Thanagarians, he thought he would be able to get Lash to surrender once he saw his forces decimated.

Lash appeared to get angry over the arrival of the League's reinforcements and took it out on Superman. Lash started moving faster and punching him more furiously. Superman was able to hold his own for a short while, but eventually he found himself succumbing to his son's relentless force.

Lash was able to get a really good hit in against his father and Superman flew back and crashed through a wall of the command tower. When he hit the ground he tried to get up immediately, but felt too weak to move at all. He recognized the feeling well, he was being hurt by kryptonite.

Superman looked up to see his son walking towards him, a green glow emanating from his belt. Superman began coughing as his breathing became labored. He saw Lash walk behind him and grab something. He looked up to see Lash strapping a small jet pack to his back.

"I didn't want to resort to this, but having to use Kryptonite to subdue you leaves me no choice." When he was finished with the jet pack he grabbed Superman and activated it. The two of them flew off at a great speed.

Helena reached the fresh hole just in time to see Lash blasting off with Superman apparently attached to him. The Tamaranean and Thanagarian soldiers took notice of them, but they recognized Superman and were unsure what to do.

Helena saw her mother flying after them. She apparently didn't have such hesitancies about what to do. As she closed in on them Lash found another gear on his jet pack and started putting distance between himself and Wonder Woman. Helena then saw a door open in the sky, flying alongside her mother. She went through the door and it disappeared. She immediately recognized it as the invisible jet and guessed her father was aboard as well. Her parents were carrying out the plan they had set for themselves.

Helena knew she had to follow the jet and she had to do it quick. Following them alone wasn't her first choice, but she didn't have time to put a team together. The homing beacon on her belt beeped as it indicated the Batwing was close. She ran towards the camp's wall, took a big leap, and landed on top of it. She used the wall as a springboard to jump higher and farther. She located her homing beacon and pressed the button to open the Batwing's cockpit.

The Batwing came into view and stopped under her. She fell into the open cockpit and strapped herself in the seat as she closed it up. She took off straight north; the direction she had seen Lash fly off with Superman.

Helena needed to know exactly where they were going, and the only way she knew to find that out was to try and track the invisible jet that was following Lash and Superman. There was one way to track the jet, and that was to look for its unique exhaust stream. This made the jet trackable, but only to someone who knew exactly what to look for.

From the Batwing, Helena was able to access everything in the Wayne Enterprise's system, including their satellites. She quickly had every satellite with the proper capability scanning the Earth's atmosphere for the unique exhaust signature of the invisible jet. She found the exhaust stream pointing in the direction of the North Pole. She didn't need to follow it anymore to realize they were headed for the Fortress of Solitude.

Diana flew into the jet's open door and closed it behind her. She took a moment to rest as she could feel the jet speeding off in order to keep up with Lash and Superman. She didn't feel physically exhausted as much as mentally spent. She was still upset from the close call she had that required her daughter to kill four Furies.

She headed up to the cockpit and took a seat at the scanning controls. Bruce and Lois didn't pay her much attention at first; they were both concentrating on keeping Lash in their sites and keeping up with him. She wondered if he knew they were following him.

Bruce took a quick glance back at her and had to do a double-take when he saw what condition she was in. "What happened to you?" he barked at her.

"I got in a little scuffle," she said to him. She could see the concern on his face. "I'm okay," she yelled back at him as she knew he was concentrating on the blood splattered on her face and shoulders. "None of this is mine."

"Whose is it?" he asked. The look of concern on his face changed to one of skepticism.

"It doesn't concern you," she yelled back at him. "We have other things to worry about." She couldn't tell him about what their daughter had done. He had always insisted that Helena never kill. While Diana had never been as absolutist on the issue as Bruce, she had always wished Helena would never have to make that decision to take the life of another.

Bruce was willing to let it rest and he turned his attention to following after Lash and Superman. Diana looked at the scanners to see what information they had. The computer recognized the ground they were flying over as the Northwest Territory of Canada. They appeared to be heading towards the Fortress of Solitude, but it could have easily been a ruse. They had to stay on his tail to make sure.

Bruce moved away from Lois and took another seat. "I should have expected this," he said. "I have should have prepared for going to the Fortress."

"We know the Fortress," she reminded him.

"I need to refresh my memory about some things," he snarled.

Diana got up from her seat and walked up behind Lois. She could see intensity on her face as she worked to keep the jet following her husband. Diana knew full well the terror she had to be feeling.

"I can take the controls if you want," she said to her friend as she laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not giving them up," Lois replied. Diana could sense the grit and determination in the woman's voice.

She thought Lois would be better off left alone. She went back to he previous spot and punched a few buttons on the computer in front of her to access the Wayne satellites. She wanted to see if her daughter was following them, but refrained from doing so. She knew Helena would be livid that they took off without her. The previous night she, Lois, and Bruce had made the plan to follow Superman wherever he went. They knew he would need their help. Diana was the one who insisted Helena be left out. This was their fight, not hers. The three of them would work together just fine. Diana went over all the reasons they had left out Helena and they got less and less convincing. Deep down Diana hoped Helena had found a way to follow them. They might just need her help after all.

Lash could feel the intense cold of the North Pole affecting his father as they flew over the ice. He knew that normally his father didn't feel intense cold or heat, so this was relatively new to him. Lash smiled that this would further make him submissive to him.

Lash slowed down as the Fortress came in view. He stopped in front of the pool that acted as the entrance to the fortress. He let his father drop to the ground as he took off the jetpack quickly. He knew the Justice League had numerous ways to follow him and he wanted to work fast in case anyone tried to disturb him.

Lash had other reasons for working fast as well. He wanted to have all his powers when he entered the fortress. He wasn't sure what kinds of defenses it had. He flipped down the lid of the lead compartment so the Kryptonite was hidden. He knew his father would need a few minutes before he regained his strength. Lash was immediately at full strength, though.

Lash lifted his father off the ground and flew through the pool, coming out on the inside of the Fortress. He paused on the other side, waiting to see what the Fortress's defenses would do. From the information they had, the scanners should have been able to recognize Superman, and when they did they would deactivate, no matter what state they found him.

Lash was unable to detect anything making a move on them, so he began walking the long hallway towards the main hall with the computer. He opened the compartment again so the Krpytonite was weakening his father. When he reached the main hall he immediately focused on the computer that stood under the monument to Jor-El and Lara. He jumped over to the ledge it was on and looked over it.

Brainiac of course saw everything that he did. I recognize the basis of the crystal technology, he said to Lash. Brainiac instructed him on what to do, and he worked the controls of it. After he had entered a few commands a scanner protruded out from the crystal panel. Lash grabbed his father's head and held his eyes up to it. The scanner recognized Superman and pulled back as the voice Jor-El welcomed him.

No longer needing his father it was time for Lash to permanently subdue him. He threw him to the ground and grabbed the Kryptonite off his belt. He crushed it in his hand so that it was little more then dust. He then held his hand up to Superman's nose and mouth so he was forced to breath in the dust.

Lash held his hand against his father's face long enough to make sure all the dust worked its way into his lungs. He then threw him back on the ground to leave him coughing and weazing. He went back to the computer and let Brainiac guide his hand so they could find the information they needed.

Bruce, Lois, and Diana all sat quietly as they looked at the entrance of the fortress. They had seen Lash and Superman disappear inside moments earlier. They were all waiting for someone to speak with a plan as to what their next move should be.

As usual, Bruce took the initiative. "We should go in and follow him. Lash will be occupied by whatever it is he wants in there. He is also in an enclosed space and it will be hard for him to get away. We need to make these things work to our advantage."

"Bruce is right," Diana said in agreement as she looked at Lois. "You should stay here and watch the entrance, if Lash makes it out use all the weaponry against him. He can't be allowed to escape."

Lois nodded in agreement. If she was left to face Lash on her own she would have little chance of winning, but Diana knew she had to have something to focus on to feel useful. The thoughts of what might be happening to her husband had to be driving her insane.

Bruce and Diana walked down to the lower deck together. "Any ideas on how to take on Lash when we get in there?" she asked her husband.

"I tried to observe Clark's fight with Lash at the camp," he began. "I didn't notice any special patterns or weaknesses out of Lash. I have nothing more to offer beyond the old strategies we developed for fighting a super-powered Kryptonian."

Diana thought back to their battles with Zod and his two minions, when she had first come to live in man's world and take up the mantle of a superhero. With that fight they had very much lucked out by finding a way to send them back to the phantom zone. Their team had been able to do little against the three super villains. While the odds in this fight were better in their favor, it still seemed there might be little for them to do to subdue Superman's son.

Diana opened one of the doors of the jet and jumped out, along with Bruce. She noticed Bruce shiver as the cold got to him. He put his mask on and after a few seconds seemed to be more comfortable.

"Do you have a heating system in that suit?" she asked him.

"One of the latest things I added. I also made it waterproof, for situations such as this."

They reached the pool entrance and they each paused for moment. "Do you want me to fly you through?" she asked her husband.

"That would probably be best," he answered. She picked him up and quickly went through the pool entrance. They came out on the other side and paused to assess the situation. The fortress's defenses were set to recognize them, so they didn't have to worry about that.

Bruce took a step and started walking down the hallway as his wife followed him. They started moving slowly, but when no sign of danger showed itself they started moving more briskly, and eventually started running towards the main hall.

"I'm detecting the presence of two intruders," Brainiac informed Lash. "The computer of the Fortress recognizes them as Batman and Wonder Woman."

"What do you want me to do?" he asked the computer.

"Just continue to work at the computer and don't pay attention to them when you hear them come in. They will attack you and then you can just do your thing to fight them off. I trust you."

"It's about time," Lash replied. The information Brainiac had been looking for flashed in front of them. Brainiac copied everything that Lash's eyes saw.

Helena brought the Batwing to a stop a slight distance from the Fortress. She figured her parents were already in there and on their way to confronting Lash. She knew he wouldn't simply be able to escape by using a Boom Tube in the Fortress. She opened the cockpit and immediately felt the cool North Pole wind blow across her face and body.

She stepped out and stood on the edge of the Batwing surveying the landscape. The cold wind continued to blow and caused her cape to flutter. She didn't see any sign of her parents, but did see indentations in the snow near the entrance that indicated where the invisible jet was waiting.

She was a bit surprised Lois and her parents would be so sloppy as to give themselves away like that, but she knew they probably weren't thinking straight due to their concern over Clark. They really should have brought her along and made her take the lead as she was actually able to keep a clear mind now.

Helena estimated from the indentations in the snow where the cockpit of the jet must be. She jumped right to the spot and heard the clang of her boots hitting the metal. She looked and saw herself suspended in mid-air. She took a light swing where she thought the windshield would be and heard the bang when she hit it.

"Let me in," she yelled. "I need to talk to you."

She saw a door slide open and she jumped through it. She landed in the cockpit to find Lois waiting for her. "I'm sorry, Helena," she began. "Your parents wanted you kept out of this, and I wasn't going to question them as I needed them to help Clark."

"You should have realized the best thing for your husband was to have me watching his back."

"I'm not questioning that now. I want you to help. I know how you can get in undetected. The computer systems of the fortress are programmed to not recognize your parents as threats, but you are different. You will need to go in through Kara's old private entrance. She insisted that there be no surveillance of that area."

"Is it hard to get in?" Helena asked.

"You'll need to be able to lift a key that was designed to be so heavy only someone with the strength of a Kryptonian can do it. It's small, but incredibly dense. Do you think you can do it?"

Helena looked at her gauntlets. "Yeah, I can do it."

"Good, go to the ledge on the southeast side of the fortress. Feel around the crystals until you find the holographic one. The mirage is hiding the key. Just stick it in the keyhole of the fortress wall and it will open for you."

Helena immediately jumped out of the jet. She saw little reason to thank Lois for her help. She made it to the ledge Lois told her about in two leaps. She ran her hand along the jagged crystals and found her hand could pass through one of the spires. She stuck them both through and could feel the key.

She grabbed it at both ends and tried lifting it. She lifted it an inch and it proved so heavy she had to drop it.

She continued breathing heavily as she thought about how she could carry it. She grabbed the key again and slid it over to the edge of the rock. When it was there she braced herself and put her arms around it. She pulled it off the rock and held it against her chest as she carefully walked over to the door. She started sweating and grunting over the exertion of carrying the thing.

She became exhausted carrying it the six feet to the door. When she reached it she summoned the last of her strength and hoisted the key up into the lock. She paused for a moment to regain some energy as the door opened automatically for her.

She stepped through it cautiously, as she wasn't sure that Lois might be right. She was afraid Clark might have made changes she didn't know about. When she took a few steps in and didn't meet any automated defenses, she figured she was safe.

Helena walked into the hall and couldn't help but notice the blinding lights that were coming from the room to her right. Despite the knowledge her parents needed her she couldn't suppress the curiosity she had to take a look at the hibernating body of Supergirl, someone she had only seen in old videos. She was encased in glass, naked as that would help her body absorb more sun rays. She looked like she was sleeping peacefully, though her body showed no signs of breathing or performing any other functions. Realizing she had more important things to do, she ran down the hall to the main control room.

As Diana and Bruce reached the end of the hallway they slowed down. While they weren't sure, they had a feeling Lash was in the control room. It was likely he was after something in there. They approached the doorway one slow step at a time in order to be as quiet as possible to minimize the chance Lash would hear them.

When they were a few feet from the doorway Diana stopped. She knew Bruce was much better at the stealth thing and she could just let him report back to her. He walked to the doorway, hugging the wall. He slowly moved his head forward so he could see just far enough inside the room. He saw Lash working over the controls of the computer, oblivious to their presence. He saw Clark lying on the floor next to him, obviously feeling the effects of Kryptonite. Bruce immediately formulated a plan for taking him out. He knew if they could keep Lash around the Kryptonite, the two of them could beat him easily.

Bruce walked over to his wife and told her the situation. "Lash is at the computer and doesn't realize we are here. He has Clark subdued with Kryptonite and he himself is without his Kryptonian powers now. This should give us the opportunity to defeat him. I will swing over there with one of my grappling hooks. He probably won't see me as much of a threat and will be willing to fight me even around Kryptonite. When I have him engaged and distracted, you are to fly over and complete the job. He should go down without too much trouble."

To Diana, Bruce's plan sounded good. She had no holes to poke in it other than the fact that it all seemed to easy. She had a feeling that it just couldn't be this easy for them. Were they really going to be able to catch Lash off guard in the presence of Kryptonite like this?

Without having to worry about Lash hearing them, the two of them walked to the control room entrance. Bruce jumped into the air and fired his rocket boots. He aimed himself directly at Lash.

Both Bruce and Diana were utterly shocked when Lash turned around the computer and flew right at Bruce. Diana had to react quickly and she flew right at Lash with no thought as to what she was going to do when she met him. Lash had expected Diana's reaction and gave her a roundhouse kick when she reached him. She went flying back into the wall.

Diana had succeeded in protecting her husband. He had been able to maneuver around the two of them and reach the ledge with the computer on it. Bruce knew Lash would turn around and attack him, but he believed he had just enough time to throw away the Kryptonite that was subduing Superman. The instant Clark was free of the effects of the Kryptonite he would be able join the fight, even if it took a short amount of time to reach full strength.

Bruce ran over to his friend and turned him over. He scanned the ground where Superman had been laying and found nothing. Before Bruce could ask Clark where the Kryptonite was, Lash was on top of him. Bruce's heart sank as he realized his time was up. Lash grabbed Bruce and through him as hard as he could at the nearby wall.

Bruce hit the crystal hard, but the shock absorbers of the suit drained all the energy of the impact. Unfortunately, the suit's power was completely drained by the work of the shock absorbers. There was no power for Bruce to activate his boot thrusters as he fell the great distance to the pool of water below. When he hit the ice cold water there was no power in the suit to activate the heating mechanisms. Bruce could feel his body temperature dropping rapidly and reached for a grappling hook to try and get out.

Diana was flying back to take on Lash at top speed when she saw her husband thrown against the wall. She saw him take a blow harder than anything she had known him to experience before. He started falling to the water below, his body limp.

In any fight they were supposed to worry about the mission and the villain first. Saving each other could come later. They had to depend on each other to be able to take care of themselves. Diana knew this, but she saw her husband in such dire straits she just had to try and save him. She believed she could swoop down, grab Bruce, and fly him to safety all while avoiding Lash.

She flew in Bruce's direction, but before she could reach him Lash rammed into her at a great rate of speed. She was thrown back against one of the walls and Lash was on top of her again before she could recover. He grabbed her and spun her around, letting go of her at a point so she was thrown onto the computer ledge next to Superman. Lash flew over her and then did a pile driver maneuver right on top of her head, making her woozy. Momentarily subdued, he grabbed her and flew straight up with her. He held her over his head. Diana could have simply flown out of his grip, but she was too dazed to realize what was happening.

Lash threw Diana down on the computer console with all his might. The console was flat, but had several crystals to serve as controls sticking out of it. When Diana landed on the console the crystal protrusions tore right through her body. She howled out as she experienced a level of pain she had not felt in over two millennia. One crystal cut through her lower right leg, another through her left thigh. Her torso had three crystals sticking through it: one on the right side of her waist just under her stomach, another one a foot higher on her body, and the third ran through the bottom of her shoulder and came out just above her left breast. Her right arm was held in place by a crystal that had torn through her elbow. Her head and her left arm were the only parts of her body untouched.

The pain she was feeling from the impalement had brought her out of her daze. She lifted her head up slightly so she could examine the wounds on her body. She saw the blood seeping out of the wounds and began to feel woozy again. She laid her head back as she realized she was beaten. She wondered if Lash would finish her off or leave her there to die slowly.

As she laid there growing weak she thought about her husband, her daughter, and her family back on Themyscira. She knew Bruce would die with her and that Helena would curse them for their hubris and stupidity. She thought about how proud she was of her daughter. Nothing Diana had done in her two and a half thousand years of life had been as meaningful as raising her.

Bruce's shaking hand found a grappling hook on his utility belt. The cold water was affecting him so much he could feel himself going into shock. He knew he didn't have much time. Kicking his legs furiously to stay afloat he aimed his hook at the ceiling and fired. It grabbed onto a stalactite, but before he could usethe hook to pull himself up, Lash used his heat vision to burn through the rope. The lower end of the rope fell back down onto Bruce.

Shaking violently, Bruce looked around for some other way to safety. He saw a crystal rock in the water by the cliff he thought he could grab on to. With difficulty he was able to swim through the ice cold water over to it. He pulled enough of his body on top of it so that as he went into shock and lost consciousness he wouldn't slip under the water and drown.

While he should have been thinking about his impending death he couldn't let himself believe the end was near. He was sure there would be some way out of this, there always was. Instead of spending his last moments thinking about his family, he was thinking about how they would defeat Lash once he made it out.

Lash hovered near the ceiling of the control room and surveyed the damage he had caused. Batman was a hundred feet below him, freezing to death in a pool of ice water. Wonder Woman was impaled on the console of the computer, twitching as the life slowly left her. His father was just below her, lying on the ground, motionless, the Kryptonite in his lungs working to suffocate him.

"We should go outside so we can activate a Boom Tube and return to Apokolips," Brainiac said to Lash in his head.

Lash continued looking down at his vanquished opponents. He couldn't just leave this great victory he had achieved. Especially the one he had achieved over his father. He wanted something more; he wanted to finish off his father personally.

Lash flew back down to the ledge with the computer. He stood over his father and relished his suffering. He gave him a kick in the chest, but Superman was too weak to make any sound in pain.

Lash wanted to finish him off and tore a sharp piece of crystal off a nearby stalagmite. He stood over his father and raised the crystal shard high above his head. He was going to bring it down and through his father's heart when he felt something wrap around his arm and pull it back. He whirled around with the tug on his arm to see who was now trying to fight him.