Chapter Twenty Two: A Night in Gotham City.
Harry arrived in Gotham City, dressed in his nicest business suit. Of course, he thought that a suit did not suit him at all but he was going to play nice for the evening because it was an important business venture and potential partnership between LuthorCorp and Wayne Industries. This could put both companies even further on the map then they were.
If Harry was even more paranoid, he would have thought that there was something up regarding the fact that Bruce Wayne offered the partnership. He talked it over with Tess, Kara, and Karen and they all agreed that it would be useful to have another ally in the business world. Especially given the RAO Corporation was becoming more suspect as Zod's grip on reality was slipping. He wondered if Zod had caught onto the fact that all the females in his army were defecting in droves.
Harry entered into the press conference where the camera flashes bombarded him. Kara stood to his right, dressed in a red dress that wrapped snugly around her curves, along with a matching pair of heels. Her blonde hair was tied back and she wore a pair of glasses.
Karen stepped through next, dressed in a white dress, that wrapped around her even more prominent curves. She wore a pair of glasses as well and smiled, it was important to grin and bear it, even though some of the vultures of the press were getting on her nerves. The blonde crossed her arms under her breasts as she got a good look at the masses of people that were present.
'Wow, I didn't think that there would be that many people here,' Karen thought to herself as she shook her head.
'Guess we thought wrong,' Harry offered to both of his wives who stood beside him but a third showed up to join them.
Diana was dressed in a business suit, with her dark hair tied up into a loose bun, and a pair of glasses on. She stepped forward, looking rather severe and determined. She played the role of Harry's bodyguard, although it was not really necessary. It was more that she was here to protect people from doing something stupid that would get them hurt by Harry.
'Well it is a pretty big event,' Tess thought to Harry from across the room. 'Wayne made us an offer that we couldn't refuse.'
'He's good at doing that,' Kara projected to them all and they agreed.
Harry turned around as he noticed Lois standing there in the press area. Clark was a bit further back his eyes locked on Zod who had showed up shortly after Tess did apparently.
Diana led the way, with Harry, Kara, and Karen following a short distance behind her. The quartet reached Zod.
"Zod," Harry offered to the Kandorian and Zod responded with a crisp nod.
"Well, I must admit that I was interested by Mister Wayne's proposal, given that the partnership between the RAO Corporation and LuthorCorp is still intact," Zod offered to them and Harry and Tess locked eyes. "So I did wonder if our billionaire friend would be interested in a three way partnership."
"I'm open to negotiation."
Bruce Wayne joined them with a calm expression on his face as he walked forward, watching the young man. He extended a hand towards Zod who looked at him before giving him a firm handshake. "Bruce Wayne."
"Zod," Zod remarked as he looked in the eyes of this billionaire. Zod calculated that he was the type who could be easily manipulated. "I've heard of your company's work Mister Wayne, and I'm quite impressed with it."
The members of the press settled in for the conference. Tess sat down next to Harry on his left, Kara was next to Harry on his right, Karen sat next to Kara, and Diana remained standing though she was a bit further back towards the wall behind them, which would allow her to keep an eye out for any potential danger. Bruce Wayne sat on the other side of the podium from Tess, and Zod took the seat next to him two of Zod's retainers milled about, Harry recognized them as members of the Kandorian army. The two of them folded their arms and turned their heads around as they scanned the crowd, a grim expression on their faces. They were not the type to mess with.
'So, this should be a nice night, hopefully we won't have any problems to deal with,' Kara remarked hopefully to Harry.
'Yes, let's hope so,' Harry agreed through the mental link they shared.
"Innovation is the pillar of all business," Bruce stated as he walked up to the podium. "But if there is one thing that is greater than innovation, it is cooperation. This partnership between Luthorcorp and Wayne Industries will be something that will allow both companies to continue to thrive. Together we will innovate beyond anything thought possible. We will take both our companies to new and previously undreamt of heights."
There were loud cheers as everyone got up to their feet and clapped. Bruce waited for the applause to die down.
"Our partnership will…."
There was a loud ringing that kept Bruce from getting the rest of his statement out. Diana shifted forwards, looking even more alert then before.
Tess whispered in Harry's ear. "Now what?"
Harry shrugged; he had no idea what was going on. He rocked back in the chair, his head arched off to one side. His heart began to beat quicker as he waited for something to happen. The sorcerer bounced up to his feet.
Kara followed him up to his feet and pointed out something.
There were a group of cloaked figures dressed in ninja garb that dropped down into the crowd, smoke flowing in the air around them. The quartet of ninjas rushed forwards and Bruce got up to his feet.
For a second, he thought that he was the target, but he was thrown through the stage like he was an afterthought. The billionaire playboy got close enough to plant a tracking device, even if he had to take a relatively huge dive to accomplish that task.
There was an explosion that blew up bits of the stage. Harry, Kara, and Karen levitated several members of the Wayne Industries Board of Directors out of harm's way.
"Get him!" a woman cloaked in green stated, her eyes flickering from beneath the half mask she wore.
Harry thought for a moment that they were talking about him and moved to defend himself accordingly. A trio of ninjas dropped down twisting a dial on their sleeves as they landed. A glowing green fluid pumped into their veins. The Heralds watched this and they picked up on what was happening in a hurry.
'The chemical….no that's….we cleared that all up,' Kara thought as she watched them grow.
'Missed some,' Harry remarked as he analyzed what he had to do. A frown crossed the face of the Herald of Death. 'And they've seemed to have fine-tuned the formula just a bit.'
'That figures,' Karen thought to herself, her eyes narrowing as she placed her hands on her hips, the blonde's face curling into a frustrated expression.
The three Heralds of Death rushed towards the three super enhanced ninjas. The ninjas grabbed all three Heralds around the waist, holding them into place. They all struggled, kicking and thrashing against the grip that they had been put in. There was no question about it, this wasn't going to be a night where they could phone it in.
'Yeah, this isn't….going to end well,' Kara thought but never the same she blasted out of the attack.
The super enhanced ninja staggered and Kara unloaded on him with a series of punches. Shot after shot nailed him in the face and staggered her enemy, each punch getting more brutal. The blonde made her knuckles bleed on the face of the individual then the young lady grabbed the ninja around the leg. She pushed the leg back and with a solid crack knocked him down.
Diana went toe to toe with three normal ninjas at once. They were not enhanced but they did a brutal job of keeping the woman on her toes. The Amazon's attacks become more frantic, with the dark haired woman knocking them around.
"These guys….they play for keeps," Diana breathed.
Clark edged over, hearing the sounds of battle and the chaos reigned around them. An individual dressed in a trench coat along with a black latex mask stepped towards him.
"A nice night, isn't it, Mr. Kent?" the man stated with a slight hint of a Hispanic accent. "Or shall I call you the Blur?"
"Who are you?" Clark demanded, as he knocked two of the ninjas back and saw Batman had arrived to join the chaos.
"You see, I am someone who is far superior to your inferior intelligence," the man stated. "I shall be the bane of your existence, Mr. Kent."
Clark eyed this man who continued in a gruff tone.
"Come with me willingly and there's no need for you to get hurt."
Clark's eyes flickered before he looked outraged at that thought. "You really think….that you can hurt me?"
"Think, I don't think, I know that I can break you."
The Last Son of Krypton looked over this man from head to toe, true he was in good shape, but Clark had went toe to toe with muscled up thugs before and won. Despite the confidence that he's lacked, Clark thought he could take someone like this.
"I've already exceeded you in strength of the mind but this…." he stated pulling off the trench coat to reveal a dial and a system of tubes going through his body. "Can also match you in strength of the body."
He turned the dial and the substance slowly pumped into his body.
Lois rushed forward, as a preemptive strike and tried to punch him but her hand impacted his chest which in hindsight was not the best idea.
"DAMN IT!" Lois yelled in agony as she felt the bones crack in her hand. She was picked up by the scruff of the neck and hurled across the room like a ragdoll.
Bane turned around to face him, and Clark tried to nail him but his hand was blocked with a bone jarring impact. He wrapped his hands around the Kryptonian's neck and began to choke him out with great fury. Clark tried to break himself out but he tried to break the choke with a series of frantic elbow strikes.
Bane coked him into unconsciousness. His head became even lighter headed as mountain of a man was stood on Clark's chest for that extra point of emphasis. A collar snapped around his neck, along with a chain, before he was dragged off.
"We have the two targets," the cloaked woman stated, as the Dark Knight dropped down. She looked over her shoulder, to the trio of ninjas standing next to her. "Stall him."
The three ninjas rushed Batman and tried to attack him. The Dark Knight made quick work of them but not quick enough. Another bomb went off which caused the people around them to scream in agony.
Zod and Clark had been kidnapped and they didn't know where they had been taken.
Clark Kent's eyes flickered open; he had never been knocked around so much barring Doomsday. His head was swimming, and he swore that he saw more ninjas than there actually were.
"I demand to know what the meaning of this is," Zod stated, as he felt the pain, his ribs were broken, his powers should have healed him but they were not doing their job.
"Do you not like it when your own experiments are turned against you?"
Zod's expression flickered towards an aged man dressed in a green cloak who stood at the top of a pedestal looking down upon them. The man's arms were folded across his chest as he kept his gaze upon his enemies. He had the air of a man who had aged a great number of years in an extremely short amount of time.
"Your little serum might be temporary, but it will do the trick quite nicely," the aged man suddenly slumped forwards against the pedestal in front of him using it to brace himself from falling to the ground. Moving in any way appeared to cause him great agony, and the woman beside him moved forwards to help prop him up.
"Father you should rest," she informed him.
"In a moment, Talia, I wish to address them and explain to them why I invited them here," the man stated as he forced himself to stand once more to his full height and Talia bowed her head in a respectful manner before stepping back.
"Invited us, that's rich, given that you put a lot of innocent lives in danger, for what," Clark yelled but the old man pushed a button and a painful pulse of energy shot through his body.
"You will be silent," the man stated as he continued to shock Clark until the sheer agony dropped him to his knees. "You remember me, Star Child. We've met once before, you won your battle with the Destroyer. Congratulations, you've proven yourself to be competent enough to be allowed to be part of this experiment."
Clark's eye twitched as he tried to push his head up only to collapse back down to the ground. He mouthed the next few words, practically stammering as he spoke.
"W-what experiment," he breathed, trying to turn his attention to the individual that stood above him.
Clark was at a loss for words and he knew his time was about to run out. His hands became quite numb as he tried to once more to lift his head up towards his enemy.
"Age is a mistress that has left me ship wrecked over the years," Ra's Al Ghul rasped. Moving from the Pedestal he took hold of a cane which his daughter offered to him, he turned his gaze back towards them. "There have been many years in my life, some that were good, others not so much."
Ra's paused, looking reflective as he used the cane to sustain a stance.
"The years that I was among the prime of my life were the ones that I was strong," Ra's offered them. "I sustained myself much longer any anyone should thanks to the assistance of my Lazarus pit."
Ra's placed his hand on his heart as he suddenly started to let out rasping cough. It ended nearly as soon as it started, and his expression became mournful and dare Clark think it, almost regretful.
"Your minders will not be able to track you here, do not even bother sending a mental beacon to them," Ra's added as he sat down, his head lowering, as he finally succumbed to his own weakness. His expression did not falter despite the fact that he was losing sense of himself. "Age….is a misery and a mistress. We must all learn to cope with it, for it will be our demise in the end."
He twisted his head back up to face the two Kryptonians that had been captured. The two of them waited next to each other, both powerless. They noticed the red solar lamps that pumped over their heads, of course someone like Ra's Al Ghul would allow for their weaknesses.
"I have a sacred mission so you must forgive me, but I do not wish to leave the mortal coil just yet," Ra's offered them in a crisp tone of voice. "I wish to have a vessel to continue my life."
"So, what does that have to do with us?" Zod demanded fiercely as he tried to push himself up but he collapsed down to the ground, still weakened.
Ra's thought it was natural to see this Zod kneel before him.
"I need a body, I need strength, I need something that is immortal, therefore I will switch my brain patterns for one of yours," Ra's offered to them. "Underneath the yellow sun I will be able to sustain my life indefinitely and there is nothing that will be able to stop me."
Ra's paused for dramatic effect before he offered them a few more words.
"You will fight, to the death."
Ra's kept his expression neutral as he watched them.
"What if we refuse?" Clark demanded and Zod knew that this human was not going to go to all of the trouble of bring them here if he did not have some way to force them to comply.
"I know your weakness, Star Child, you wish to save as many lives as possible, no matter how meaninglessly or wasted they are," Ra's explained to them and his eyes flickered to challenge Zod. "And I know your weakness, Zod, despite your false bravado, you care about your fellow Kandorians and do not wish to see harm come to them. It's not a front but it has made you weak, soft, someone who is not even fit to kneel before myself."
Ra's twisted his head around to look at his minions before he continued to speak.
"And I will retrieve the Book of RAO, mark my word, and the League of Shadows will have dominion on this world,' Ra's concluded as he folded his hands over his lap. He offered another coughing sound as his head twisted around.
Zod's expression did not falter, it got more ugly by the second, before he spat out a question.
"How do you know all of this?"
Ra's offered the most succulent explanation possible. "Do not think that I am without my resources. Even your Kandorians can be brought if I can offer them what you were unwilling to give them."
Zod felt a swipe at his own heart, it hurt to think that a Kandorian would give anything up to someone like Ra's Al Ghul. His fist clenched as he imagined choking this Demon Head out.
"And now you must fight," Ra's offered as he held up a detonator to show them what they were dealing with. "Or I will poison all of Metropolis and that includes your precious Kandorians as well."
That statement was let out and Ra's turned towards them.
"You must kill me," Zod offered as he turned to Clark, without missing a beating.
"What?" Clark asked Zod, unable to believe this brazen request.
"If you don't kill me, all of our brothers and sisters will suffer the consequences," Zod remarked, but that was not the real reason.
The real reason was that he would rather die at the hands of a fellow Kryptonian with honor, then sacrifice one second of his life as a vessel for this particular human. Clark's eyes widened as he watched him.
"Do it, or he'll kill everyone that you care about," Zod offered and he nailed Clark hard with a punch to knock him across the room. "No one can breach this temple, your protectors cannot save you from this, not in time."
Zod nailed Clark once again but at the second attack, the punch was blocked. The Kryptonian pushed his hand to push Zod's arm back with the two of them struggling for positioning but neither was able to get the dominate position over the other.
"Fight me!" Zod yelled to Clark as he pushed him back into the wall hard. "Unless you're as weak as the Kandorians and everyone else suspects you to be."
Clark lost it and slammed his fist into Zod's face. The Kandorian staggered back as Clark fired punch after punch into his chest, staggering him back. Zod struggled to maintain some kind of stance but he faltered as his knees wobbled beneath him, a bloodshot expression in his eyes.
"That's good, fight me," Zod encouraged him before he took another few punches.
The explosive punches rocked Zod and Clark did not get this at all. He did not get why Zod was not fighting back. He stood before him, his eyes flickered and blood poured from his nose as he tried to stand back up but he collapsed once more.
The guards stood around outside the temple and looked up in the air towards each other. There was a few seconds before they heard an echo crash around them. The guards stepped towards the sound.
"Spread out they have to be…."
There was an explosion as the guards were flipped over. They hung upside down and struggled, kicking and squirming. They stopped as they tried to get themselves out of their troublesome position but it was hard to do so no matter how much they kicked and screamed. The two guards dropped to the ground with a loud thump.
One of the ninjas rushed forward, swinging a sword. The sword shatter as it impacted with Kara, not even effecting her. The blonde's hand wrapped around his throat. With another fluid motion, she flung him into the wall. The ninja bounced off it and his eyes rolled in the back of his head, as he slumped down.
'C'mon,' Kara thought to Harry and the wizard nodded.
Harry looked over his shoulder and heard some footsteps behind him. The wizard stood still for a moment before he rocketed up into the air. He scouted the surroundings below him taking account of his enemies locations, before the wizard pulled his fist back and hurtled back towards the ground with blinding speed. His fist connected with it in an explosive punch that was enhanced further by magic that sent out a shock wave of such intensity that it sent the League of Shadows members he landed among flying in all directions. As he moved to stand once more to his full height Harry was forced to dodge to the side suddenly as darts flew through the air in his direction. Karen rushed over to aid him.
Karen offered her contribution to the fight as she squinted her eyes and launched heat vision at the darts. The poison dripped to the ground and Karen took in a deep breath. Then she let out her ice breath to punish the enemies which had fired the darts at Harry. They ended up frozen in place, unable to move from where they stood and Karen shot towards them with blinding speed knocking them off their feet with a viscous double clothesline. The ice melted around them but they'd been knocked unconscious due to the force of her attack.
Diana deflected a dagger with her bracelets but the ninja caught the dagger in his hand. He watched Diana, before motioning for her to come forward. The brunette Amazon's eyes narrowed in an intense glare at the individual. The Amazon placed a pair of hands on her hips and spun quickly shooting her lasso out. The lasso wrapped around the torso of one of the Ninja and Diana rolled, sending him flying through the air at another Assassin.
Both of them smacked together with a huge crack.
Batman dropped down and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He evaded each of the ninja's attacks. A bone shattering kick to the back of the leg took one down and Batman knocked the katana out of the hands of another with a well placed Baterang.
"So have you figured out a way inside?" Batman asked Harry as the two fought side by side. The ninjas went down as easily as a sack of flour.
"Yes, some kind of mystical lock is blocking me, it's taking a lot of time to decode it," Harry offered as he shielded them from several shuriken with a magical attack. "It's a work in progress but give us some time, and we'll crack it."
Batman continued to fight; only offering Harry the barest of acknowledgements. He deflected more of the attacks with swift precision and kept circling his opponents. The World's Greatest Detective always kept two and three steps ahead of his opponent.
"Just hang on, we'll break it open," Kara breathed as heat vision incinerated the weapons of several assassins simultaneously. Karen followed this up by knocking them out.
The assassins thumped onto their asses as magically conjured ropes wrapped around them and secured them into place. More of them kept coming but if there was one thing that Harry found out was that the more ninjas there were, the less trouble they were going to be. It's almost like the odds of them being actually competent decreased as their numbers increased.
'Just one more second,' Harry thought to Diana, Kara, and Karen.
'We believe in you, Harry, no pressure or anything,' Diana thought back to him and Harry nodded.
'Thanks a ton,' Harry offered her, a smile brightened around his face as the lock swayed next to him.
They had mystics on this team but Harry was not going to back down without a fight. He cracked his knuckles and the doors blew open.
As much as Harry wished he was done, he knew better than that. Their work was only just beginning.
Clark knocked Zod around with a few more punches that rocked him. Every now and then Zod returned fire to make sure the Kryptonian was not going soft on him.
"If you don't kill me soon, you might live to regret it," Zod whispered, blood dripping from his mouth.
"I'd live to regret killing you," Clark offered but Zod picked up a busted piece of brick from the ground before he smashed it into Clark's head.
He slumped to one knee and Zod maneuvered around him. With a deft motion, Zod took Clark's own tie and began to choke him out.
"If that doesn't knock some sense into you, I don't know what will," Zod breathed in Clark's ear before letting him go. "This weakness is your greatest Achilles heel Kal-El. You will never survive a war if you don't learn that you should kill. It is the same failing that your father had."
Clark pushed himself out of the hold Zod had on him and grabbed him around the waist. Rushing forward, the Last Son of Krypton slammed Zod against the stone wall. His punches hammered into Zod's face, he delivered one after another, raining them down upon him. Zod struggled, closing his eyes as he watched the fists come in.
Once again, he stopped and an explosion resounded. Ra's arched his eyes towards the smoke and stood to his feet, leaning heavily on his cane.
"It's the detective," Ra's breathed out in a heavy tone of voice before he twisted his head to survey the ninjas. "Take them out."
His men rushed forward with swords blazing but Kara, Karen, and Harry flew in and caused the metal objects to fly from their hands. They brought the ninjas up into the air in a cyclone and flung them around with expert precision. The ninjas crashed to the ground hard and all of them gasped gave a pained groan as they struggled to get up.
Smoke pellets flung to the ground and an explosion resounded as Batman arrived. Ubu stampeded forward to try and attack the Dark Knight but he dodged the attacks. Punch after punch was dodged as Batman crouched down. He flipped up suddenly into the air and landed a huge kick to Ubu's chest, He followed that up by twisting his arm behind his back. With a huge crack across the back of the head the Dark Knight knocked him unconscious then tossed him to the ground with a thud.
Batman stood over him but there was a sound of an individual clapping slowly.
"Bane," Batman growled as he watched the man standing before him.
"I'm pleased you've heard of me, Batman, but now you're going to learn one thing and that is that I'm your executioner," Bane stated as he twisted the dial as the venom pumped into his body. His eyes became even more bloodshot as he spun around and kept his expression focused. "I will break you."
Bane charged Batman but the World's Greatest Detective ducked his head and rolled around the attack. The Dark Knight shot his grapnel up high and it retracted into the sky. He positioned himself on the podium, making Bane follow him.
"Come down here and fight me!" Bane yelled but Karen kicked him in the back of the head, sending him flying head over heels.
"Not in the mood to deal with this shit right now,' Karen offered before she dropped down one more time. Bane cracked his knuckles and rushed towards her but Karen ducked it.
Harry immobilized him and hoisted him up into the air. The Herald of Death flung him back to the ground with horrendous force and this allowed Batman's movement to become undeterred. He climbed up the wall and dropped down to face the Demons Head.
"One step closer, and I push this button, Detective," Ra's offered as he lifted his hand up with the remote control device and he turned his hand over. "Don't think that I will not…"
Kara sped past him to pluck the remote from his hand.
"You were saying," Batman offered but Ra's reached into his coat, and pulled out a dagger. He tried to stab Batman in the chest but the Dark Knight dodged the attack. The Dark Knight flipped over his head before he sent out a grapnel to wrap around the dagger.
The Caped Crusader slid around and grabbed Ra's around the side of his head but the Demon Head flung him off to the side. Batman landed on his feet and tried to wrap Ra's up but despite his advanced age, he dodged it.
"Looks like you weren't in the grave as much as you thought you were," Batman offered but a smoke bomb flicked into his eyes.
"I've got more than a few tricks up my sleeve, Detective," Ra's offered him as he slammed a hand into his chest and drove him back a few inches. "Now, shall we continue our dance?"
Ra's flipped up and briefly saw Bane barely hold his own against Power Girl, Arcane, and Supergirl on the ground.
"You think you can outrun me?" Bane asked taunting him. "My mind is strong, just as my body is."
"Well your mouth is pretty strong," Kara fired back as she focused at where the main tube was feeding him. "And congratulations for leaving the most obvious weakness in the world."
The blonde did not say much more than this, rather she allowed her actions speak much louder than her words. A shot of heat vision incinerated the tube and caused Bane to stagger for a moment but he recovered quickly.
"It's not going to be that easy, did you really think that would stop me?" Bane asked them but Karen knocked him in the face with a huge punch.
"You think you can outrun me?" Bane asked taunting them. "My mind is strong, just as my body is."
Bane dropped to the ground, now without the drug, he was fairly receptive to pain. When the ability to feel pain returned, it came back with a vengeance. He was knocked cross eyed and was out like a light from the punch.
"You're race is run, Detective," Ra's stated before he slammed him down over the railing and hung him, he dangled from one side to the other. "I'm going to make this really easy for you, but just think of what we could have done together."
Ra's was about to bring the sword down on Batman but Clark came back up and knocked him off the ledge. Ra's had a sword extended and the next thing he knew, he fell of the ledge. His body went first and then his sword perilously hung over him as it impaled into him.
Clark's eyes widened, he could not believe that he did something like that. The blood from the sword wound splashed out of his chest as he rolled over, the sword having gone straight through him, the tip extending outwards from his back.
"You took quite the shot at him,' Batman offered as Clark helped him up but Ubu rushed over, before scooping up his master and sprinting out the backdoor.
Clark stepped forward but Batman grabbed him around the wrist.
"Let him go, this temple's likely to collapse upon itself," Batman told Clark and the Last Son of Krypton nodded as he realized what was happening.
It was time to book it out of there, double time.
The Temple did self-destruct and most of the members of the League of Shadows vanished into the night. The Dark Knight's expression flickered towards Clark as he waited.
"Your friend's left," Batman offered to him in a calm expression.
"Zod isn't my friend," Clark said to Batman as Batman's kept his gaze upon him. Clark was not as good at reading people as Harry was so he became rather annoyed. "This is my fault, isn't it?"
"Depends on what you're referring to," Batman offered in a calm tone of voice, his hand closing and opening but his eyes were fixed on Clark. "You could stand to be a bit more specific."
"Zod, I should have ended it when I had the chance," Clark offered as doubt flooded through his mind.
The wind whipping through the air was extremely cold.
"Perhaps you should, perhaps you shouldn't have."
Harry popped up now and edged over to face Clark. The two young men, stubborn in different ways, locked eyes with each other. Neither of them wanted to back down from the position that they were in. There was a pause before Harry spoke up once again.
"Zod is a situation that we're learning that there are a lot of uncounted variables to," Harry offered but Clark's eyes focused on Harry's.
"Here's an uncounted variable for you, there's someone in the Kandorian army feeding Ra's Al Ghul information," Clark offered Harry. Kara and Karen walked up behind him. "Why would they betray Zod like that?"
Kara decided to try a different tact. "Why wouldn't they betray Zod like that?"
No one could argue a statement like that. The blonde's eyes narrowed as she faced her cousin.
"Zod could be playing mind games with you, I guess," Kara remarked as she shrugged. "But that explains how he knows about the Book of RAO."
"I've been searching for it, so far nothing," Batman commented to Clark.
'Could it be that we've pulled one over the big bad bat?' Harry offered to them, scarcely able to believe it. Even Kara, Karen, and now Diana ,who re-joined the group after keeping guard on the outside of the temple, were skeptical by this.
Batman in particular had his own suspicions; he had been trying to make inroads into Checkmate in order to track they were up to. So far the World's Greatest Detective had hit numerous dead ends, one after another. He was not about to give up, not now, not ever. That was not in the genetic makeup of Batman.
There were a lot of things that Batman wanted to know.
"I trust you're keeping an eye on the Kandorians," Batman told Harry but the wizard's smile spread over his face.
"Trust me, Batman, this isn't my first rodeo," Harry offered to him.
'He thinks you're new at this, doesn't he?' Diana thought as she kept her eyes locked onto that of Batman's. She sensed the mistrust radiating off of him. Then again she had a feeling that this was just a part of who he was.
That's just how Batman is,' Harry thought to them. 'We should try and salvage the rest of the night although something tells me that a meeting with ninjas attacking us is going to delay a lot.'
'You figure,' Karen thought to them.
Clark meanwhile was haunted by the words that Zod told him. Zod informed him that he would live to regret letting Zod live. It seemed like the easiest thing in the world take a life but he could not bring himself to do it. The experience with Doomsday nearly caused him to lose his humanity and that was not a step that Clark wanted to take ever again.
He wondered how much more he could reach out to Zod. The Major turned General was one of the greatest war criminals in all of Krypton.
It was times like this where he wished he could go to the Fortress to speak to Jor-El, to seek out his advice but he would not be able to go there. He had strictly been forbidden by his mother to set one foot into that place. He did not know how she could tell him to do anything, he was a grown man.
Clark had many thoughts on his mind as Lois met him at the edge of the road before he made his way off.
Harry was back at the Shining Light Foundation and he sat down on the edge of the desk in his office, just thinking about what had happened tonight. The emerald eyed sorcerer threw his head back and sighed.
"It been a busy night already, hasn't it?
Alura popped up, carrying two cups of coffee and handed one to Harry.
"Hey, Alura, yeah it was a busy night tonight," Harry offered to her as he stepped back. "We're fixing for an ugly battle."
"You have the book, you could end this right now," Alura whispered to him.
"I don't even know what it does with one hundred percent certainty, I'm trying to decode it," Harry offered to her and the blonde raised an eyebrow. "It could be any number of things, but…."
Harry slapped his palm down on the table and he looked at the computer.
"Just relax Harry, I'm concerned about you," Alura remarked as she wrapped her arms around Harry from behind and pressed her face into the back of his neck. "And I'm kind of upset with you as well."
Harry's eyebrow raised as she continued.
"I heard what you did with Lara, and what you're doing with Kara and Karen," Alura offered as she placed her hands on his hips, and dug her nails into them hard causing him to light out a long hiss as her lips moved to brush against his ear. "But then you're doing it with the Kandorians. Granted, that's a hell of a way to get your powers back and I wouldn't fault them if they wanted a piece of you."
Alura licked her lips, her tongue nearly brushing against the edge of his ear as she did so and Harry's face broke into a knowing smile.
"But, the thing I'm mad about is that you haven't given your poor mother-in-law a taste of what you have to offer," Alura continued as she wrapped her arms around Harry's waist. "I mean, the only person that I ever had relations with was Zor-El, even though it hasn't happened yet and…..well I don't think that I need to tell you about how how unsatisfying it must have been."
Harry smiled as he turned to face her, he'd gotten the message loud and clear. He ran his lingering gaze slowly down her body as he took in her features. She looked the same as Kara did, down the last detail but they were their own person, both with their wonderful attributes and also different faults. Harry reached around Alura's waist and pulled her into him.
"If you wanted to have some fun, all you had to do was ask me, Alura," Harry stated as he reached up underneath her shirt and brushed the underside of her breasts.
Alura whimpered with need as he pulled her into a searing kiss. Their tongues clashed together for dominance as he scooped her up. The Kryptonian woman's legs tightened around him as Harry popped them over to the bedroom.
The blonde's eyes flickered as Harry undid the clasps of her robes and smiled as more and more tantalizing flesh was revealed to him.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
-PROFILE-
Smut/Lemon Ends.
As their activities concluded, Alura and Kara were both draped over Harry's chest, an arm wrapped around both of them.
"That was amazing," Kara breathed, enjoying the erotic feelings that coursed through her body.
"Yeah it was," Alura offered Harry before he tightened around them.
"Love both of you," Harry commented as he proceeded to pull them in close.
"Love you too," Kara stated as she leaned over and kissed Harry on the lips.
"Likewise," Alura added, kissing him on the lips.
The three drifted off to sleep, content with each other, the bonds of family strengthened in their own unique way.
To Be Continued in the Arc "Lantern's Light."