Chapter 12: Signs of the Times
Superman had flown up high as soon as his short call-to-arms to Captain Atom had ended, only waiting long enough for a short-lived look back to Lois, to make sure that she understood that he had to do this. Her slight nod of response had been all that he had needed. After that, there was nothing else for it. It was time to destroy this energy cloud, and hope that it didn't manage to take many of the citizens of Metropolis out with it.
Every last molecule of breath in his lungs was being expelled at the energy cloud, freezing it, almost solidifying it. Simultaneously and not too far away, Captain Atom had begun unleashing radioactive bursts into the energy mass as well.
And it was clearly working. The cloud was visibly shaking, starting to vibrate uncontrollably as if struggling to keep itself together and not break apart as that tentacle had earlier done. It also seemed to be being ever so slightly pushed back by the attack, out away from the city, but Superman could tell that it wasn't moving quick enough for that to be relied on. Captain Atom, without a fuel source, had limited energies he could expel at that thing, and they only had one shot at this. Much as it pained him, they had to destroy the cloud, and hope the costs weren't too high afterwards.
But they had to save as many lives as they could in the process as well. That was what the rest of the Justice League were up to. Now that Superman and Captain Atom had their way of stopping the cloud, it was wasted energy for the others to be assaulting it too, especially as all of their efforts had proved so very futile. Therefore they had taken on new roles. The vast majority, lead by Shayera, had dropped down into the city, directly beneaththe cloud. They were taking people right out from under its shadow, moving them away so that if the cloud collapsed and fell they wouldn't be caught in the radius, so they wouldn't die as those people had earlier. The exception there was Green Lantern. He too was under the cloud, but his ring had proved to at least be better at holding the energy being at bay than anything else the League had at their disposal. He was the safety net, the last chance if Shayera and the others didn't get people out in time. He was there to catch the pieces when they crumbled.
Superman had faith in his friends. It was a key part of his character. He always trusted his friends, he always had hope. Even when distraught about his involvement in those citizens' deaths just moments ago, he never lost the abundant good in him. He knew that, one way or another, at least one of his friends would help him ensure that they saved these people. He couldn't be who he was if he didn't have that hope.
But in such a short time this cloud had come damn close to ridding him off it. There could be no doubts that it was deadly, that it was a menace worthy of having so many of Earth's finest focussing solely against it. That it had got this far unchecked was almost unthinkable, yet this cloud had found a way to not only manage that feat, but to also likely cost him a lot of good friends along the way.
Perry. Jimmy. Wally. J'onn.
Diana... Bruce...
He kept the freeze breath coming, puffing it out even harder than ever as those thoughts crossed his mind. This cloud had to be stopped. He would stop it.
And he was stopping it, with Captain Atom's help. He could see it. He was watching the cloud very closely, and he could definitely see it. The cloud was starting to break up. With the rest of the League in place, they were about to defeat it. They were going to win. They were about to destroy the menace before it could do even more damage...
But then, suddenly, Superman's entire mindset changed. Before his eyes something started to happen, completely out of the blue. It was something totally unexpected, something that shocked him so much that Superman completely forgot to keep his freeze breath blowing. For before him the cloud was changing shape, into a very familiar one instead. Roughly, perhaps requiring a weather eye, but Superman spotted it, no doubts about it. He also knew deep down in his heart of hearts – though he couldn't explain how – exactly what it must mean.
The cloud had formed the Bat-symbol. Batman was still alive and, somehow, he was within that cloud...
But that wasn't even the end of it. The Bat-symbol had hardly even begun to solidify when the cloud began to alter again. The Bat-symbol remained in place amid the swirling hulk of energy, only it was now not standing alone.
Wonder Woman's logo had formed right across its centre. Diana was in there too. They were both alive...
And they were both in the cloud... So therefore J'onn, Flash and all those people from Metropolis could well be too. The cloud that he and Captain Atom were about to destroy...
The friends they were about to doom...
Superman could literally feel as his eyes widened in horror. What were they doing? He had to stop this. Now. He had to save the cloud. He couldn't sacrifice those people inside that thing. He couldn't doom them to die. There was no safety net to guard them if the cloud was destroyed. There would be no way out for any of them. He knew that Batman, Wonder Woman and the others would be prepared to sacrifice themselves should they have to, which was why he also knew that their emblems appearing before him was a sign, a message. He had to stop what he and Captain Atom were doing. His friends inside the cloud had their own plan to stop it. He had to have faith in them. He had to have hope.
He had to trust them. It was the only way.
As soon as he got his reactions back under control, Superman's eyes darted up towards where Captain Atom hovered a few metres away. It was immediately clear that the ex-military man hadn't noticed the change that was now all that Superman could think about. Superman may have stopped unleashing his freeze-breath on the cloud the moment he had realised it was a Bat-symbol forming, but that didn't mean that there wasn't plenty of it already frozen. What was more, Captain Atom was still unleashing the radiation at the menace, still making it look ever nearer to its the final end, and the final end of all those within it. Superman had to stop him.
Shouting would take too long, too. Words would take longer to reach Captain Atom than Superman himself could manage thanks to his super speed. Explanations could wait. They weren't needed until after Batman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the countless innocents were saved. That was why Superman didn't bother to use them yet. He just flew. Fast.
And then he tackled Captain Atom. Hard.
It took Captain Atom a moment to figure out what was happening, by which time Superman had been able to spin the man around, to redirect the radiation out harmlessly into empty air.
"Superman, what are you–?" Captain Atom began to protest in confusion.
"Reacting to that! We have to stop this!" Superman answered before Captain Atom had even finished his question. As he spoke he had gestured across to the cloud. To the Batman/Wonder Woman symbol, to be precise, the combined logo still formed strong amongst the mass of energy, practically glowing. Captain Atom's jaw pretty much dropped as comprehension hit him too, but Superman wasn't done.
"GL!" he shouted out to the nearby Green Lantern, who had been watching closely what Superman was doing from his position beneath the cloud. His experience both from his role as a Green Lantern and from his past life as a marine had meant that John Stewart had been keeping a watchful eye on things, so he had not missed Superman's action. That meant that he was also ready to listen to Superman's shout, and react to what he was to hear. "Our people the cloud took, they're still alive! They're inside that thing! And I think they have their own way of stopping it destroying the city! We have to undo what we've been doing! We can't let the cloud die! Help me warm it back up!"
"You got it!" was GL's shouted reply. He had evidently picked up on the combined logo in the cloud himself, be it off his own back or as a consequence of Superman's gesture. How, though, didn't matter. All that mattered to Superman was that John immediately got to work. Superman didn't wait around himself either. Captain Atom, who had listened in on what Superman had been saying, could do nothing but watch on as Lantern unleashed the power of his ring and Superman used his laser vision to undo everything they had been doing. They put the heat and energy back into the cloud. They stopped it from crumbling.
They gave Bruce and Diana a chance.
Before Superman could see if it was a chance that was taken, though, his earpiece was going off again.
"Err, Supes," Green Arrow's voice reverberated out of the unit. He sounded nervous, doubtful. "Care to tel–"
"Superman!" General Mulligan's voice took over tumultuously, cutting Arrow off completely. If the comm call hadn't been over a device firmly in Green Arrow's ear Superman would have sworn that the General had just stolen the mike. "At the risk of repeating myself, what the bloody hell are you doing?"
"I'll explain everything to you in a minute, General," Superman replied even as he continued to use his laser vision on the cloud, knowing Arrow could forward on the words if Mulligan hadn't actually somehow nabbed his comm. The job wasn't done yet. The General would have to wait. "Until then I'm afraid you'll have to trust me. Just know that we have a new plan. We're not giving up."
"That's not good eno–!" Mulligan began to roar in countenance, but Superman didn't want to hear it. Risking the General's rage when he went to explain things, Superman cut the connection. He and Green Lantern were giving Bruce and Diana this chance, regardless of the General's feelings.
And it was a chance that the two, who he had thought lost, were taking.
The cloud, now that it wasn't under assault, was truly backing away. Without being pushed, the thing was actually starting to leave the city...
Somehow, Batman and Wonder Woman had saved the day. Somehow, they were still alive.
Superman cut his heat vision at last at that thought, though Green Lantern did continue the work using his power ring. Superman had decided their was something else that he quickly had to check on.
"Mr. Terrific, it's Superman," he called out into his comm the instant he hit it on. "The cloud's backing off but I need a status report. Batman, Wonder Woman, J'onn and Flash. How are they doing? Has their condition changed?"
"Am I glad to see that cloud in retreat! I thought it had us for a moment there," Mr Terrific commented before actually answering Superman's question. "There's been no word from the doctors yet. But I'd have been notified if there had been any change, for better or worse, so their conditions must all still be the same as when you left. I'm sorry."
"Perhaps you shouldn't be," Superman gave the rather odd sounding reply. "It might sound crazy but I'm sure that its them who just saved the city. Listen, I'll explain everything later, There's more work to be done down here."
"Roger. Good luck Superman." Mr. Terrific ended the call there, not delaying things despite surely having plenty of questions. Superman was thankful to him for that. As he watched, the cloud continued to back away. Even as Green Lantern halted heating it too, even with none of them acting against it at all any more, it was still heading both up into the skies and out across to the bay beyond Metropolis' harbour. Green Lantern had soon flown over to join Superman and Captain Atom in watching it go, but before he even said anything Superman knew that there was something else he had to do.
"Any idea how the hell they just did that, or is this one of those times when its better not to ask questions?" GL's baritones rang out through the air.
"Considering what we've just seen I don't think there'll be any stopping those questions," Superman commented in reaction before turning to Captain Atom. "Captain, gather up any of the League who aren't busy with the evacuation and stand guard up here. Keep an eye on that thing. We need to be ready if it starts coming back."
"You got it," Captain Atom saluted, before heading off across the skies to do his duty, following Superman's instructions.
"And what about us?" GL was quickly asking, wanting to know what Superman was thinking.
"I've got to go and explain the situation to the men on the ground, and then we start thinking up a new plan," Superman answered, though he sighed before he said any of it. "We've got to figure out a way of getting our people out of that thing before it decides to attack again. But I'll give you a heads up. I think the General I've got to go and speak to might be a little annoyed that I halted the plan to destroy that thing. He might be of the more trigger happy variety."
"I've seen plenty of them in my time," Green Lantern quipped, looking like that wasn't the best news that he had received today. "Come on, let's go."
Shayera had witnessed the events unfold. She had been down in the city, helping evacuate people from the as yet untouched skyscrapers, but she had still seen the combined logos form within the energy cloud. She had figured out what they must have meant, and she was more than glad when it seemed that Superman had too. Batman and Wonder Woman had just saved them. Somehow.
And Shayera wanted answers. She wanted in when the explanations were given, or the questions voiced. Once she had her civilians dropped off at the military's evacuation point, she was quickly soaring over to the forward command, to where Green Arrow was stationed with General Mulligan. She knew that with that cloud heading off to the skies over the ocean, that would be Superman's first port of call, and the big Kryptonian was the one who seemed most in the know at the minute. Not that he likely knew much though...
Superman had already landed at the forward command post by the time Shayera had arrived. And he had brought GL with him. Great. More time forced to be spent in his company. Shayera could still hardly believe it considering the fact she loved him with every aspect of her being, but she really wished that the two of them could just keep away from each other until he could sort out his damn feelings. But no, duty always came before her needs.
No one said a word as Shayera landed and joined the group. They were all too busy focusing on what was being said to even seem to notice her arrival. With her included there were five of the there, all stood in a circle, seemingly in the midst of a conference of sorts. Green Arrow had definitely tagged along to hear the news, but it was General Mulligan who was doing most of the talking. The man certainly seemed furious, which was odd considering they had actually managed to see the cloud off for the time being.
"...ven thought about what happens next? Hmmm? What happens if that damn thing decides to come back? What if it manages to find a way to counter the only thing that we've found that works against it? You should have destroyed it when you could, Superman! You should be up there destroying it right now! You could be sentencing millions to die by your failure to act!"
"I'm sorry General, but we can't do that," Superman responded, remarkably calmly and diplomatically considering the thundering tide of words that had just been thrown his way by the experienced military leader. "It's difficult to explain, but I believe that the consciousness of all the people that the cloud absorbed are still active, inside the cloud. I'm convinced that there must be a way of saving all the people that the cloud took, we just have to find out what it is. We can revive them General, the countless people who are otherwise lost. But if we destroy that cloud then we're giving up that chance. We'll essentially be killing them. We can't do that."
"Damn it man, haven't you ever heard of the greater good?" Mulligan countered, though part of the wind seemed to have been knocked from his sails. He might be brash, he might be perhaps a bit too ready to pull the trigger, but it did seem that deep down he was a good man. What was more, in that moment, Shayera realised that he was actually a good man right up to the surface. He just happened to also be a scared one, scared of what that cloud could actually do, to him and to everyone else. He couldn't show it being a man of his position, which was why he instead seemed impulsively aggressive, but at that second Shayera's view on this man changed. If they weren't in such a life or death situation, she might even have started to pity him. "I know the term 'acceptable losses' isn't a good one to ever use, but this could well be one of those situations when we have to use it. You might have to sacrifice everyone who could still be alive up there to make sure everyone stays alive down here!"
"I'm sorry General, but while there's any hope at all for those people up there we have to fight for them too," Superman held his ground firmly. "Besides which, I think we have some help from those people on the inside."
"Bats and Diana," Green Arrow chipped in. "One of the spotters down here saw the cloud change its shape for a while back there. You think they've actually somehow got control of that thing?"
"I don't know," Superman answered with a shrug. "But considering their track records I wouldn't put it past either of them – or J'onn and Flash – to find a way. We just have to give them help from our end. We have to find a way to get our people out of there."
Shayera looked up to the skies as Superman said that. She knew that it would be something that was definitely easier said than done. The combined Batman/Wonder Woman symbol had long vanished from the cloud's surface by now, but it was firmly retreated from anywhere where it could do harm. It hung far away in the sky above the ocean, no one near it, but that didn't mean much. It had gotten past the Justice League easily enough the last time. Shayera hoped dearly that whatever Batman and Wonder Woman were doing it was not a short term thing. Time was something that she and the others would dearly need if they were to help truly stop this thing as Superman was saying.
As Shayera turned back to the group, she noticed that John Stewart had been doing the exact same thing she had been doing, looking up at that cloud in the break in the talks. For the briefest of moments their eyes met after that, but Shayera was more than glad when Mulligan started talking again and gave her an excuse to break away. She didn't want to feel the tears forming right now. She didn't ever want that.
"Well then I suppose I had best leave to you," Mulligan virtually muttered, sounding slightly despondent. "You're more than showing me today that all these supernatural things are best kept away from an old duffer like me. I'll get to work keeping the evacuation going. Just in case you guys fail to come up with something in time..."
And with that, the old man actually backed away, leaving the group to it, clearly having had enough of the talk. Shayera was slightly suspicious of the way he had said those last words, but she didn't even have a chance to think about why before things were being moved along by John.
"So how do we go about helping our boys and girl up there? I don't know about the rest of you but I don't have a clue where to start with this thing. My ring's not exactly built to be psychic."
"Yeah, we could sure do with a telepath about now," Green Arrow agreed. "Shame ours is all tied up and the minute..."
"Well we're going to have to think of something," was all Superman could say in response. "Start liaising with Mr. Terrific and everyone else you think could help. I'll be there to help you out in a minute. There's just something else I have to do first."
"Just so long as you're not trying to run away on us," Green Arrow commented jokingly, though he then did move to get straight to work. GL went to go with him straight away, though once again his and Shayera's eyes met for a moment beforehand. This time Shayera forced herself to break away by immediately chasing off after Green Arrow, despite not knowing where exactly he was moving to.
Despite all that though, considering John Stewart would quickly be following too, she didn't know how useful she would be in coming up with a plan to stop this thing and save the missing people.
Her mind was rather distracted.
"You did great up there, you know."
"I thought I'm meant to be the one with the superhearing?"
Pretty much the minute that the other three heroes had moved away, Lois had stepped out from nowhere, moving immediately to Superman's side. Of course, he had known that she was coming, and it was actually this that he was delaying helping the rest of the League for.
"Hey, can't blame a girl for keeping up with a good story, can you?" Lois quipped in response, before turning more serious. "Is it true what you said? Are they all still alive? Snapper, Perry, Jimmy? Bruce?"
"Lois, I meant every word," Superman answered, hopefully reassuringly.
"Then don't let me keep you, tough guy," Lois remarked, virtually as an order. "You get back on the job of saving them, just like you always do. Oh, and Superman. One quick question before you do that the reporter in me just can't let go. When people hear of a giant combined Batman and Wonder Woman symbol forming in the skies, they're going to start asking questions. Probably also going to be jumping to all manner of wild conclusions. Just so I know what to say to them, is there anything between those two? And before you play dumb with me, you know in what way I mean."
Despite all that was going on, despite the dangers they all still faced, upon hearing that Superman found himself having to fight off a laugh. Those two were his closest friends in the world, and yes they had a close friendship with each other, but they were just so different. The idea of them, in that way, just seemed so off to Superman that he found it funny.
"Between Batman and Wonder Woman? No, there's nothing there beyond the platonic. You can tell all your readers that."
"Will do," Lois said with a smile, pretty much giving him a wink too. "Now get back to work. Stop talking to reporters about idle gossip when you could be saving the day."
Superman smiled himself at that, before turning away to head off after Green Arrow and the other two. Lois was right, there was still a lot of work to do, a lot of work he had to get on with fast.
But as he went, his mind couldn't help but wander back to Lois' question. What was more, the more he thought about it, the more the possibility that such a notion wasn't laughable occurred to him. It was a thought that he would quickly shake off when he properly got back to the task at hand.
However, right then it had certainly left him wandering about where Batman and Wonder Woman were right now. In more ways than one...