The Audience are introduced to Bat-Qrow's Batmobile. They see him have a little collision with Super-Oscar. Literally. Then the Audience see Super-Oscar go to a Senate hearing and it bombs, figuratively and literally. In the worst ways possible. As if that wasn't bad enough, Qrow receives letters that pushes him over the edge. People blame Superman for the bombing, much to some members' shock and the Man of Steel is beginning to doubt his purpose.

Full Chapter Name: "Do You Bleed?"| "People Hate What They Don't Understand."

Cast

Perry White: Coco Adel

Jenny: Velvet Scarlatina

Anatoli Knyazev: Tock

Bruce Wayne/Batman: Qrow Branwen

Clark Kent/Superman: Oscar Pine

Senator Finch: Herself

Martha Kent: Kali Belladonna

Kahina Ziri: Herself.

Wallace: Himself

Lois Lane: Amber Autumn

General Swanwick: Lie Ren (Mentioned)

Lex Luthor: Dr. Merlot

Mercy: Herself


Coco asks around for Oscar in the Daily Planet whose desk and workspace is empty. She turns to Velvet. "Where does he go?" she asked in frustration to Velvet. The Rabbit Faunus shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know." she said.

Coco sighed and turned away. "Clicks his heels three times and heads back to Mistral," she muttered. Then she turned back to her office. "Son of a-" The scene changed.

When Coco was heard looking for Oscar's counterpart, the former farmhand chuckled sheepishly on his counterpart's behalf.

Chuckles and snickers broke among some of the adults and most of the younger Audience members when Coco's swear was cut off. The Host just chuckled at the reference to the Wizard of Oz.


The White Portuguese had arrived at the port of Mantle. Tock was overseeing the operation personally. A crane lifted a crate labeled, MerlotCorp off the boat. And with a bird's eye view, perched on top of a crane stood the Batman with a sniper rifle and the Batman theme rose in a dramatic and heroic tone. The men around helped Tock guide it onto the back of the semi truck trailer with the help of a forklift.

The Bat aimed his sniper rifle at the Crocodile Faunus through his crossfires. He had to wait and time it perfectly. Once she order the men and the caravan to get a move on, she pulled the trailer door down. The Bat pulled the trigger and fired a tracking device onto the door just as it closed.

Many gasped upon seeing the White Portuguese and seeing Tock overseeing the operation. Then as the Clone Troopers Orchestra started play Bat-Qrow's theme in a more hype and exciting tone, many grew excited upon seeing the Dark Knight.

Ruby smiled at seeing her uncle using a sniper rifle like her, even if she knew that most Batman variants don't use guns.

Most of the adults thought it was clever of Batman to shoot the tracking device onto the truck just as the door closed. The two noises in sync wouldn't be noticed as different and Tock or anyone else would be none the wiser.

After the men got into their black cars and SUVs, they began to leave the harbor area only to stop when a gas truck drove in front of them. As they waited patiently, the Audience have a view of a black military graded armored vehicle. The headlights turned on with the Bat-Qrow theme kicking back in and catching the attention of one of the men in the backseat of one of the cars. A rocket thruster activated at the back of the car He sees the lights of the car driving out of a warehouse on the left of the caravan.

"Go, go, go!" he shouted urgently to the driver, pushing against the front seat in fear.

Many gasped upon seeing the armored vehicle.

"What is that beauty?!" Yang exclaimed in awe and with starry eyes shared with Nora, Ruby, Sun, Jaune and Mercury.

"That is known as the Batmobile," Darth Anarchus said, crossing his arms. "An armored vehicle that every Batman variant has and uses to chase after criminals."

Ironwood had Dr. Polendina and Penny make notes of the design for future projects back in their world.

"Watts, take some notes." Salem told her underling. "You never know when something like that could come in handy." What she didn't say was that she wanted to drive around in something like that.

The Batmobile drove out the warehouse entrance, giving a quick view to the Audience that the Batman was the driver. The man in the backseat took out his machine gun and fired at the Batmobile while the other cars drove away as fast as they could.

His gunfire didn't not even scratch the paint as the Batmobile slammed into the car, sending it rolling in the air and crashing a trailer, a Wilhelm scream heard before being cut off by the crash.

The Batmobile chased after the caravan but not before flipping a switch and a grappling line and hook shot out of the back of the Batmobile and harpooned the crashed car before dragging it behind the Batmobile as it chased after the caravan.

"Of course," Qrow rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Batman, Batmobile. Should have known my counterpart would be the driver."

Some winced as the car was sent flying before balking at the sight of the Batmobile dragging the car on a cable.

"This music is banging," Sun declared with a grin.

"Anyone hear the Wilhelm scream?" Ilia asked with amusement.

Some men looked back in fear as the Batmobile chased after them, dragging the car of their comrade behind it. One of them drifted and the men in the backseat pulled out his machine gun and fired at the black armored vehicle. The car then turned to park behind a concrete barrier to provide cover as its passengers fired at the Batmobile with everything they had. It was futile.

The Bat flipped a switch and the dragging car was suddenly released and thrown over the barrier upon impact. "NOO!" one of the thugs screamed before the car crashed down on top of them.

Most were impressed with the Batmobile's armor before they all grimaced upon seeing the car crashing down on the other.

Qrow grimaced as well, remembering that Batman variants have the no killing rule and at this moment, his counterpart is ignoring it. Robyn placed a hand on his shoulder again to comfort him. He shook his head at her dismissively. He personally didn't have anything against killing. But he would appreciate it if his nieces didn't find out how many people he has killed in his life. Who knows if they'll look at him the same again.

The Batmobile raced after the remaining vehicles of the caravan. The tailing SUV's rear broke off to reveal a man with a Gatling gun before he fired at the Batmobile. But even the higher caliber bullets just bounced off the windshield without a scratch. Inside, the Bat grabbed the controls for the Batmobile's defense system.

The mounted guns on the front of the Batmobile opened fire at the SUV, shredding the back of the vehicle to scrap bits and the man to mince meat. The SUV rolled into a crash before exploding as the Batmobile drove it without much care.

Some of the students were enjoying the action but some grimaced at the sight of the SUV and the man in the back being shredded by gunfire from the Dark Knight's car.

The only one who enjoyed that last bit was Tyrian who laughed loudly.

The caravan drove under a bridge as the Batmobile gained on them. Then one of the remaining cars' passengers fired at it, hoping to weaken the armor or damage it to the point the Bat would retreat. But as they drove around a corner to a different street, the Audience saw that the Batmobile was still undamaged.

The back of the truck opened to reveal Tock and two men beside her. The two had machine guns while the Crocodile Faunus held a large shoulder mounted rocket launcher. The Bat drove his car to hide behind the SUV and Tock could not fire without missing the SUV. The black car swerved to avoid colliding a passing semi truck that honked its horn at them.

The caravan turned onto another street. Just as the semi truck drove past an intersection, a gas tank drove from the left of the caravan. The Batman saw the truck and drove another direction while the passengers in the car kept firing. Too late did the driver see the gas truck in front of his car. He held up his arms futilely before the car collided with the gas tank and exploded.

The Audience hear a choir chanting as Batman gritted his teeth before the Batmobile drove through a brick wall.

"You can all drive, but you can't hide!" Yang said in excitement at the car chase. These were some of her favorite action sequences in movies.

"Of course that happens," Velvet said to herself as the gas truck was shown before exploding. "Almost every action film has a gas truck exploding."

"Except this isn't an action movie," Yatsuhashi stated. "This is supposed to be another universe so those criminals and the driver of the truck are most likely dead." Velvet sighed sadly at that.

Ruby, her family and Robyn grew worried along with Winter at seeing the Batmobile driving through a wall.

Their worry was for naught as the Batmobile drove through the warehouse and up a ramp undamaged.

"Where is he?!" Tock asked her remaining followers as they looked around. It was better to see the Batmobile than have it disappear without a trace.

She got her answer as the Audience watch the Batmobile's thruster ignited, boosting its speed before it broke through a wall and window right above the trailer. In slow motion, the Audience see the front of the Batmobile crushing a chunk of the trailer and killing one of the thugs in the trailer before it landed on its wheels, shoving the remaining SUV into three boats. The Batmobile tried to skid to a halt as it neared a fishing trawler boat but the boat crashed down on the vehicle in slow motion.

"Hahaha! Surprise, mother-" Nora cried before being interrupted by her partner, Ren. "Nora, there's a baby in the room." He pointed to Adrian who sat between his mothers. Nora chuckled nervously while scratching the back of her head.

Most grimaced at the slow motion kill before they grew worried at seeing the boat landing on top of the Batmobile.

Tock and her remaining follower looked at the boat with trepidation before bullets shot through its hull and the Batmobile burst through it like tissue paper and still undamaged.

Now with nothing in the way, Tock saw her chance to fire her rocket launcher. The missile flew through the air towards the Batmobile. With almost contemptuous ease, the Dark Knight flicked a switch and the front of the Batmobile launched a barrage of flares that intercepted the missile and the Batmobile raced through the fire.

"Just a normal night?" Qrow asked upon seeing how at ease his Batman variant flicked a switch.

"More or less," Darth Anarchus replied.

But then, just as the Batmobile rounded a corner, the slow motion returned and the Audience see Superman standing in the middle of the street, red cape flapping slightly in the midnight wind.

The Audience see Batman's eyes widening in surprise.

Suddenly the Clone Troopers all sang like a choir. "OH JESUS CHRIST!" they sang dramatically.

"That-That-But-! He just came out of nowhere!" Velvet exclaimed.

"He was just standing there!" Whitley exclaimed.

"Menacingly," Nora added dramatically.

Qrow winced a little. "Prepare for impact." He muttered to himself. If Superman could crash through mountains and buildings like tissue and remain unscathed from it all, he had a bad feeling his counterpart was going to have a hard crash.

He slammed his foot on the brakes but it was too late. The Batmobile collided with the Man of Steel and bounced off, spun out of control and crashed on the side against some machinery igniting a small fire. Superman turned his head to watch the car crash before walking forward.

Batman flicked switches and pressed weapons but all the computer said that the Batmobile suffered critical damage and systems had to be rebooted.

"Unbelievable," Weiss exclaimed. "We've seen the Batmobile shrug off everything thrown at it or drove through, yet it's in a critical state after being slammed into Superman."

"And he didn't even flinch from it," Adam said in agreement, both shocked, awe-struck and terrified.

He looked up and the Audience see that Superman was standing on the Batmobile's hood. The Man of Steel reached down and ripped the roof with ease like he was ripping open a sardine can. He tossed the metal armor plates aside.

The Batman stood up before Superman, fists clenched.

"Next time they shine your light in the sky, don't go to it." Superman said with an edge to his voice. "The Bat is dead. Bury it." He turns away slightly. "Consider this mercy."

Many gulped but some respected the Batman's fearlessness. Though some of the older villains and some like Jacques saw it as foolishness to stand before the god-like alien defiantly like so.

Darth Anarchus rolled his eyes upon looking to those villains with that thought and mildly wondered if they would start respecting the Dark Knight after they see a variant stand before Darkseid/The God of Darkness and threaten to destroy his planet for Supergirl's freedom?

He personally hoped so, because who wouldn't respect the Batman after that?

"Harsh but fair," Amber said with a grimace at Superman's warning.

"All things considered, that is fair," Winter stated.

"And from a man like him with his power, that is mercy." Cinder said in agreement.

"But that car though!" Roman exclaimed. "That poor expensive car!" Those who were instantly fans of the Batmobile agreed with him while a majority of the adults (Except Tyrian.) looked to the master thief as if he just declared he had a Grimm for a wife.

Onscreen, the Bat glared at the Kryptonian as if he had heat vision. Then he looked down thoughtfully as if pondering over something. "Tell me," he spoke up, causing Superman to pause and turn to him, mildly surprised at the voice he just heard. The Batman glanced up to him with red eyes. "Do you bleed?" he asked.

Superman looked him up and down before flying away with a sonic boom. Like he had anything to be concerned about.

The Dark Knight's crimson red eyes glared up to the sky. "You will." he vowed.

"Well, damn, that's just cold." Mercury said what most of the younger Audience members were thinking. The alien's strength and durability was near god like and the Bat, a mere mortal just asked if he could bleed and made a vow that he will, knowing that Superman could hear him.

Darth Anarchus snorted. There's nothing mere about these mortals.

"This mofo has balls of steel," Coco said with an impressed smile.

Robyn couldn't help but shudder at hearing Bat-Qrow's growl and seeing his glare.


The scene changed to show a secret garage door opening in the middle of the lake near Branwen Manor before the Audience see the Batmobile driving down the ramp, sparks flying through out its body as it drove through the tunnel. It came to a stop in the Bat Cave. Qrow walked out of the Batmobile and up a flight of stairs. He reached up and pulled the cowl off his face. He reached to a cloth hanging on the side and wiped most of the grease paint off his eyes as he walked to the Bat Computer.

He checked the screen to monitor the truck's progress and where it was heading. His jaw clench. The truck had arrived at the headquarters of MerlotCorp.

Those members of the Audience who liked cool cars and those who started to love the Batmobile frowned at seeing the vehicle drive with sparks. Robyn and others were relieved to see that nothing happened to cause the car to explode or fall apart and that the driver, Bat-Qrow was still unharmed from the whole thing.

The older Huntsmen and Huntresses frowned upon seeing that the truck had arrived at MerlotCorp. Sure, Bat-Qrow was going to go to war with Superman with the rock, but at least it would have been better than being in the hands of Dr. Merlot, variant or not.

And sure enough, the scene changed to show Lex Merlot standing before the semi truck with a busted open trailer as it backed up. He shared a look with Tock ordered the workers to unload the crate. Merlot watched it be opened up before its contents were placed on a pedestal and in a glass case. He leans down to look it, almost in reverence and the Audience see it. A glowing green crystalline like rock.

Kryptonite.

Many frowned at seeing Merlot with the Kryptonite and some felt unnerved, knowing that it was one of the only things in this universe to harm Kryptonians yet Superman was the only one flying around.

"After countless debates with other Council members and well known public figures, Councilwoman Finch kept pushing Superman via TV to come to the capital," The Host then explained. "Amber took it upon herself to find out what really happened at Vacuo to clear her conscious and clear Superman's name. When analysists couldn't identify the bullet she had, she went to General Ren for help."

Some did frown for hearing a Council member calling to speak to Superman, but they saw this as an opportunity for the Man of Steel to clear his name. Amber smiled a little upon hearing her counterpart setting out to clear Superman's name.

"Leave it to Detective Ren," Nora chuckled. Ren smirked in amusement

"And after some mild reluctance, because he could lose his job," Darth Anarchus went on. "General Ren did help. Told her that CIA think the whole scene at the desert was a setup to make Superman look guilty. And told her that the bullet was a prototype made by a private company. MerlotCorp."

Many eyes widened at the end of the explanation. Some of the adults rubbed their foreheads. Ironwood especially. Of course it was him. Why else would Merlot have a role in a universe like this.

"Said CEO paid the bail for Wallace Keefe and gave him an electric wheelchair," the Host went on. "As well as an opportunity to speak at the Senate Hearing."

A few frowned, thinking that it would not end well. Why was Merlot sending someone like Wallace to the hearing?

Oscar suddenly had a bad feeling about the wheelchair being mentioned. That didn't sound good, like at all.


"People hate what they don't understand." The scene opened up to show Oscar in his Superman costume as he stood at the Belladonna-Pine Farm with his mother Kali. "But they see what you do and they know who you are." Kalie said softly. "You're not a killer, a threat." the Cat Faunus said, scoffing at the idea of her baby boy being anything like so.

"I never wanted this world to have you. . . " she said sadly to Oscar and he knew what she meant.

"Be their hero, Oscar. Be their monument, be their angel." she told him as he looked downcast and uncertain. Soft music plays in the background. "Be anything this world needs you to be. Or be none of it."

Oscar's eyes glanced down as he nods slowly. "You don't owe this world a thing," Kali said with a shake of her head. "You never did."

Ghira and Blake smiled upon seeing their wife and mother on screen again. Kali herself smiled at seeing her counterpart offering advice and words of comfort to her son.

Going to his mother for advice, Salem thought. Is one of the most human thing he has done so far. After attacking Hazel in rage.

"A simple wish a mother can make for her 'super' son," Summer said with a sad smile. "To live a normal life, be happy without having to endure the pain and hate of saving people." She looked to her daughters, feeling the same.

"This parallels with what my counterpart had told Oscar," Ghira said in realization. "He had told Oscar to wait, that the world would reject him."

"But it's not going to stop him," Oscar said with a smile. "He's going to do it because he knows it is just the right thing to do."

In some scenarios, some of the villains would argue or call Oscar and the counterparts onscreen naïve, but they just watched a nightmare of a timeline of Superman without that kind of mindset and remained silent.


"Senate hearing is expected to get underway," a reporter says as Wallace held up his arms in a security checkpoint. "In an minute now and of course the big unknown is will Superman really show up? That is what they're really waiting to see."

"Mr. Keefe, Mr. Keefe," The reporter moves to stand next to the amputee in a wheelchair. "O'Brien. In the moment, quick question for you. You're heading in to meet with the Senators. What will you tell them?" she asked.

"I've come here to tell them to wake up." Wallace replied grimly as the scene changed to a meeting room at Branwen Enterprises. "This is flesh and blood." Looking up to the multiple TV screens, Qrow sees his former employee. "He has delivered a war here and this," Wallace points down to what was left of his legs. "This is what war looks like. I have nothing!" Qrow furrowed his brow in confusion as he stares at the TV.

Oscar flinched and looked guilty at the sight of the amputee. After some hesitation, Ruby grabbed his hand with hers and offered a small smile. He slowly returned it and they looked to the screen.

Yang had a UWU face while Weiss rolled her eyes fondly and Blake took a picture with her Scroll.

"There are plenty of people, Sir, who would say that he's their hero." The reporter stated.

"He's NOT a hero." Wallace said vehemently.

"Grace," Qrow called to the woman sitting at the table behind him. "Can you get Craig up here, please right now." he demanded calmly.

Willow was glad that the billionaire was seeing his employee on screen and hoped he was going to offer help to the amputee.


"Anonymous source can verify everything I told you about what happened in Nairomi." Amber said to her Scroll as she walks with a crowd from a subway.

Coco Adel was shown back at the Daily Planet. "Anonymous source?" she repeated in a skeptic tone.

"Run it." Amber replied as she walks up the escalators. "Merlot engineered the desert. It was an ambush for Superman."

"Trust your reporter, think water gate." she added in a pleading tone.

"Yeah, you need to think litigate." Coco remarked on the Scroll. "If you're wrong, Merlot will sue the paper out of existence." she warned as Amber moved up past Kahina Ziri, the woman who had told the Council that she was from Vacuo and Superman killed her family. "You need proof."

"No, it runs now." Amber said firmly. The Audience then see Tock Knyazev who turned her head away to avoid Amber recognizing her. "Before the Hearing. If Superman knows, it might change what he says." she adds.

Coco shook her head. "I'm not going to risk the paper so you can pass notes in class to the man that rescued you." she declared.

Coco palmed her face when it looked like her counterpart wasn't going to help Amber.

"She does have a point." Whitley said. "Unfortunately, words are not going to be enough to convince anybody."

Many members' eyes widened at seeing the Crocodile Faunus while Amber sighed in frustration at her counterpart failing to recognize the Crocodile Faunus.


"He paid her?" Councilwoman Camilla asked as the scene changed to the Capitol Building, walking beside Senator June Finch.

"No, threatened her," Finch corrected her with a shake her head. Kahina had come to her office, saying that she did not tell the truth. "Gave her a scripted for it. Her parents are alive back home." Finch went on. "But the girl's got a conscience. He's been using the committee as his puppet theater." she added, thinking about how Merlot had been manipulating the committee since he came to them with the discovery of Kryptonite in the Shallow Sea and came up with a deterrent for any other Metahuman that might threaten national security.

"I take it they're referring to the woman who you mentioned earlier," Ozpin assumed, drinking from his mug.

"Yes," Darth Anarchus nodded. "She finally decided to come clean to the Senator and told the truth. You also just saw her go past Amber on the escalators."

Many nodded in understanding before they realized something else.

Tock was following her.

"Senator!" Both Councilwoman and Senator stopped walking and saw Merlot standing at the entrance to the court room. "Hi you." he greeted the Senator with a smile that may border between friendly and creepy.

"Don't go anywhere. I want to talk to you about you-know-what." He said to her before turning to his assistant. "Mercy, you go in and make sure no one takes my seat." he told her and she nodded before walking into the courtroom.

The Audience tensed and felt on edge at the counterpart of Merlot.

"So what have you been up to?" Senator Finch asked, inwardly weary of why he was here.

"I'm just here to tell my story that I was willing to finance a Kryptonian deterrent," Merlot replied, mildly glaring at the Senator. "But a certain junior Senator from Mistral decided to block it."

He laughed mockingly with a glare. "Yes, the chair of the committee on Superman is soft on security." he said as Finch glared back.

"Deterrent, sure," Ruby drawled sarcastically.

"I'd say it'd be understandable if Hazel or his soldiers were still around," Oscar admitted before crossing his arms with a glare at the screen. "But they're not. So why is he acting like my counterpart's all that's wrong in the world?"

"You will have to wait." The Host replied. Some felt annoyed but didn't protest.


Meanwhile, Qrow was with a man in the meeting room, watching the footage about Wallace Keefe. "Craig, why hasn't he been getting our checks?" he demanded. His company started the Victims Fund in Mantle a few weeks after the Black Zero Event. Wallace Keefe should have been one of the first to be paid for what he had gone through in the invasion.

"He is, Mr. Branwen." Craig explained sheepishly and mildly intimidated. "He gets a check from the Victims' Fund every month." He gives some envelopes and paychecks to Qrow.

"He returns them." He added. Qrow furrowed his eyebrows and looked to see that were messages on the checks, all written in red.

Many felt respect for the billionaire for giving money to victims like Wallace Keefe but they grew confused when it was just said that the amputee returns the paychecks. Even Jacques couldn't understand it, and he normally didn't give his workers much thought unless they were causing the company problems.

Why on Remnant would he do that? Qrow thought to himself. Is he trying to make his counterpart look bad? Or is there something else at play?

QROW BRANWEN, OPEN YOUR EYES

Q. BRANWEN I AM YOUR GHOST

QROW NO TRUCE

Q. BRANWEN I HAUNT YOU

QROW BRANWEN=BLIND

It was disturbing to say the least about the messages. But it gave them some confusion as to why he was sending them back with messages like that.

"Why haven't I seen this before?" demanded Qrow after throwing the checks onto the table and glaring at his employee.

Raven couldn't help but snort at her brother's question just after he had read the last message and he is secretly a bat themed vigilante.

"I'm sorry, Sir." Craig stammered and walked back out the room. "I'll get to the bottom of it."

"And there he is! Superman is here!" The reporter's voice exclaimed, drawing Qrow's attention to the TV screens. "He's actually at the United Kingdoms Capitol." Sure enough, the Man of Steel was flying down from the sky above the capitol building.

"This is really a historic moment." The reporter went on as the Audience see Kali working at a diner in Smallville. She looked up to the TV screen, her lips smiling slight but there were worry in her eyes. "We expect Superman will give some kind of a statement to the Councils, to the people of Remnant."

Oscar smiled a little at seeing his counterpart appear at the capitol before frowning. Merlot was in the building along with a amputee from the Black Zero Event. Call it some thousand year old paranoia from the Ozpin in his head, but he just had a bad feeling about this.


Councilwoman Camilla held a Scroll to her ear. "He's here." she stated to Finch. "He came. He's above the Capitol."

"You are gonna be on the hot seat in there, June-bug." Merlot said, placing his hands on his hips with a smile.

"I grew up on a farm." Senator Finch said while putting on her white coat. "I knew how to wrestle a pig."

"That's always fun to do," Oscar sighed in a reminiscing tone with a small smile. "You wrestle pigs?" Ruby asked. The former farm hand nodded. "It's a little game the other kids and I would do during the summer to pass time." He nodded at her slightly bewildered look.

"Good times," he stated.

"I mean, it sounds fun?" Whitley asked with a shrug.

"I think it sounds delightful and want to give a try," Penny stated with a eager smile.

Merlot chuckled slightly before becoming serious. "You know the oldest lie in Remnant, Senator?" he asked her. "It's that power can be innocent." Finch rose an eyebrow at his statement but he simply waved his hand.

"Good luck." And with that he left.

Most of the good guys who met Merlot frowned at his statement. Though both Ozpin, Oscar and Salem gained a thoughtful, struck with a sudden thought. What is the oldest lie that did not come from them?


The scene changed to show Kahina Ziri at the subway, waiting for the train to arrive. The Audience then see Tock was approaching her from behind. The Crocodile Faunus glanced to the direction the train was coming from, using her heightened senses. Kahina then had the feeling there was someone looking at her. Slowly, she turned around and came face to face with Tock's face and her sharp teeth smile. Tock suddenly pushed the woman off the platform just as the train was approaching the station.

"Look out, behind you!" Ruby, Velvet and Nora cried out when they saw the Crocodile Faunus standing behind Kahina.

"No!" Many of the good side shouted when the woman was pushed off the ledge while the adults grimaced. The bad guys thought it was well executed and well timed. Why?

Because Kahina's scream was muted with the train's brakes screeching to a stop and no one saw what Tock had done. She walked away, pulling out a pocket watch and hummed to herself.

"That's why kids, you don't stand close to the edge in a subway station." Darth Anarchus stated bluntly.


Amber approached the Capitol. She was almost stopped by an officer who let her pass when she showed her reporter ID. Amber pushed her way through the crowd that was a mix of Superman fans and haters. A vast majority of them had picket signs with messages of telling the alien to leave their planet. Another was saying that Superman was an illegal alien. The fans were cheering while the haters were jeering and shouting insults at the Man of Steel.

Amber grimaced and looked to Superman with a worried expression. She tried to push her way through but both the crowd and the fence in front of her prevented from walking after Oscar.

Despite the fact that he could every insult thrown at him, Superman took a deep breath before walking up the stairs.

Just as they were recovering from the murder of Kahina Ziri, many of the students recoiled at the sight of protesters gathered around Superman.

Ruby frowned before the reminder that Oscar's counterpart could hear everything said to him with his super hearing. The others realized that as well and respected Superman for keeping his composure.


"Another one came this morning, Mr. Branwen." Craig told Qrow as he took the check, not taking his eyes off the TV screen.

"Oh great, what does this one say?" Qrow asked sarcastically. Robyn shook her head. "Nothing good."

The Host shook his head. They had no idea.


Briefly, the Audience see Superman walking in the halls of the Capitol Building, choosing not to fly. Once he entered the courtroom, save for the cameras in the room, everyone went silent as the Kryptonian walked down the aisle. The silence was deafening. This was not a celebrity or a criminal in handcuffs. This was a being close to a god. He then reached down and pushed the gate open gently.

"Why doesn't he just fly?" Mercury asked. He would choose to fly over walking.

"He's showing that he's not some god," Ozpin replied. "Showing his humbleness and humanity by not flying and gently opening the gate, he's showing that he is just a man."

"Let me say that I'm grateful to our witness for coming before us today." Senator Finch stated, gesturing Wallace Keefe who sat in his wheelchair close to the wall.

"This is how a democracy works." Finch said as Superman glanced over to Wallace before looking ahead. "We talk to each other. We act by the consent of the governed, Sir."

"He went to school, I'm sure he knows how democracy works," Kali huffed.

"I have sat here before to say shadow interventions will not be tolerated by this committee." Finch went on as the Audience see Mercy looking to front door before looking ahead. "Neither will lies. Because today is a day for truth." Finch said firmly "Because only by speaking. . ." she suddenly trailed off, much to the confusion of the Council members beside her. Superman and Mercy narrowed their eyes slightly at her change of behavior.

Many blinked in confusion at her behavior. Some looked to the Host who held up his hand.

"Only by working together can we. . ." Finch tried to go on. "Can-Can we. . ." She stammered and looked to a small jar of her drink. "Can we. . . create a free and a. . ." she tried to say before she grew curious at the label. She slowly turned it and saw the full label.

Grandma's Peach Tea

"Uh, what?" Nora asked what most of her friends were thinking.

She recoiled, her eyes widening in dread and glanced over to the one empty seat near the front next to Mercy.

Mr. Lex Merlot. CEO-MerlotCorp.

"A callback from Merlot from an earlier conversation when Senator Finch declared that she would not support him for his Kryptonite." Darth Anarchus said. "She told him "You can take a can of piss and call it 'Grandma's Peach Tea,' take a weapon of assassination and call it a deterrence, you won't fool a fly on me."

At first they were glad someone wasn't supporting Merlot before they grew tense and remembered Merlot was not in the room like he should have been.

Mercury furrowed his eyes. "Does. . . that mean he actually gave her a jar of piss?" he asked. Neo whacked him on the head with Hush while Emerald turned green as her name sake at the image and hoped not.

But to everyone's surprise, the Host shrugged his shoulders while humming "I dunno."

Superman furrowed his brows, hearing her heartrate change erratically in fear. But then he heard something else. Both the Man of Steel and the Senator turned to look over to Wallace who had been silent since the beginning of the meeting. The man remained still before suddenly, without warning.

KABOOM!

The court room and the building was consumed by the explosion coming from the wheelchair. Wallace and those closest to him are instantly killed by the explosion.

Outside the crowd recoil in shock and fear. Briefly, the Audience see Kali gasping and she drops a pot of coffee with a worried and horrified expression. Among the crowd, Amber looks on in shock and worry.

Inside the burning court room, Oscar lifts his head with a guilty expression as he looks around the burning room. All these powers. . . and I couldn't even save them, he thought as somber music plays.

Many jumped or jolted at the explosion.

"Oh no!" Many of the students cried out.

"What? But how did Superman not know about that bomb?" Glynda asked.

"Remember what I said when Cinder asked how to hide from a Kryptonian's senses?" Darth Anarchus asked in response.

"Use lead," Cinder said in realization and that dawned on everyone else. Merlot gave Wallace the wheelchair and planted a bomb inside it, lined it with lead to hide it from Superman.

"Oh that clever son of a bitch," Sienna declared both angry and impressed.


Qrow watched the event in horror and shock before he unfolded the latest check returned from Wallace Keefe.

YOU LET YOUR FAMILY DIE

"Oohh ssshhiiit," many members of the Audience said in growing dread. That was most likely the last straw for Qrow's counterpart.

Sure enough, the Audience see Qrow looking up to the screen, his crimson red eyes glowing like flames before the screen went black.


Ambulance sirens were heard before the screen went back on to show injured people sitting on the steps of the capitol building and some carried on stretchers into an ambulance. The rest were in body bags.

"Excuse me," Amber called out to one of the officers close by. "Excuse me, Officer. Member of the press, can you let me pass?" she asked holding up her ID badge.

Superman flew down, an unconscious woman in his arms as he landed and placed her on a stretcher. "Thank you, uh," the medic said, both grateful yet nervous for talking to someone like Superman and telling him what was needed. "I'm going to need room to work here." Oscar looked at the dead people in the body bags with a somber expression.

Amber looked over to him from a short distance and he held eye contact with her, looking close to crying. She debated whether she should approach him as a reporter or as his girlfriend. Before she could come to a decision, the Man of Steel suddenly took off with a sonic boom.

There were sighs of relief at seeing survivors but many were saddened at the body bags. Oscar smiled sadly at his counterpart carrying someone and interacting with the medic but saw how his counterpart look so powerless to help the people around him.

Ruby wiped her eyes as Superman took off flying.


Klein was shown chopping wood outside of the Branwen Manor. He carried his load on his back to the house. As he opened the door, he noticed that his employer/ward was not greeting him like he usual did.

"Master Branwen?" Klein called out before putting the load of wood next to the fire place. "Mr. Branwen?" he called out in a sarcastic tone before he looked to the coffee table and picked up a Victims Fund paycheck with a drawing of the capitol building in flames. Confused, the old butler looked to the TV that was playing on the wall. It was showing the Capitol bombing.

He and the Audience see a blonde woman explaining what happened."-Now initially Superman was helping pull people out of the building but now. . ." Klein tunes it all out as he walks over to the window and looks to the distance with a dreadful expression.

The dread was felt through out most of the Audience. If a Batman variant didn't tell his butler, the one person they respect the most, where they were going or what they were planning and the butler didn't look pleased that didn't sound good at all. The music building was not helping them feel reassured at the slightest.


The scene changed to show MerlotCorp with ambulances and police cruisers and the security checkpoint for the parking lot was in flames. Along came Merlot, casually driving on a red motorcycle with a white helmet. He took off his helmet and walked into his trashed building. Bullets were everywhere on the floor, sparks flying from damaged lights and signs. Most of his workers were on stretchers or being tended to on doctors and medics. Some officers and security guards stood around a computer. One of them said to rewind the footage as Merlot walked to them and turned the computer around to face Merlot.

Many balked at the sight of the damaged and burning MerlotCorp. Blake grimaced, getting some flashbacks of when the White Fang attacked a shop or warehouse that either refused to serve Faunus, used inhumane Faunus labor or had connections to the SDC.

Some fans of Batman were a bit conflicted. On one hand, they wanted to see the Dark Knight in action, on the other he technically just did a terrorist attack on a company.

The footage was black and white. It showed a guard being snatched by a winged figure from above and the other guards nearby fired heavy gunfire at the figure. Merlot looked up at the damage. He walked over to where the Kryptonite was kept.

Only to find it missing.

And a familiar Batarang was embedded in the pedestal where the Kryptonite once was.

Qrow focused on how his counterpart let himself get caught on camera like so. That meant he didn't care. Add on leaving behind a Batarang? That was just giving Merlot the middle finger.

Ever so slightly, Merlot's lips twitched upward in a smile.

Most of the Good Side of the Audience narrowed their eyes at seeing Merlot smile ever so slightly. "What are you planning, Merlot?" Ironwood asked with a glare.


Amber holds her Scroll up to her ear as she watches the news report about the Capitol Bombing and how it is suspected of Wallace Keefe was behind it. "If Superman was not involved, that he was unaware that there was a bomb within the wheelchair, where is he?" A woman asked. "This sounds like a set up to me. A way to stage himself as a hero."

"Oscar, it's me." she said to the voicemail. "Can you-?" she paused and saw Superman standing outside her bedroom window on the balcony. She hung up her Scroll and walked out as he stared off to the distance.

"I didn't see it, Amber." He said, voice laddered with guilt. "Standing right there and I didn't see it."

"Oscar, there are people behind this." Amber tried to say, to reassure him that it wasn't his fault. Or at least take his mind off of the event.

"I'm afraid I didn't see it because I wasn't looking." Oscar said sadly. Amber paused and realized he wasn't just for the events earlier. For not seeing what Keefe was doing. For not seeing how what happened in Atlas's DAMAGED people. "All this time, I've been living my life the way my father saw it. Righting wrongs for a ghost." he said more somberly. "Thinking I'm here to do good."

"They can't really think that of him," Yang said when the reporter spoke on TV. "There can't be people who think Superman was in cahoots with the suicide bomber." She and a few others looked to Darth Anarchus when he was silent. ". . . They are actually thinking that?"

"For all they know, Superman could have been speaking to Wallace into doing it," the Host shrugged. "A way to make him look like a hero."

Amber sighed a little in relief at seeing Oscar at her counterpart's window. She blinked to herself. Wait, what am I thinking? Am I just invested in the story or am I. . . invested in the relationship? she thought to herself before shaking her head.

Many of the older Huntsmen and Huntresses empathized with what Super-Oscar was going through. In one way or another, they've all felt guilty for the people they couldn't save.

"But you have done good," Ruby whispered.

"Superman was never real." Oscar declared as he turns to Amber before looking away. "Just a dream from a farmer in Mistral."

"That farmer's dream is all some people have," Amber said pleadingly as she stepped forward. "It's what gives them hope."

She reached up and placed her hand on the S on his chest. "This means something." she said, looking up to him.

"It did on my world. . . My world doesn't exist anymore." Oscar said to her sadly before stepping back and then flying off the balcony with a sonic boom. Amber looked up with a sadden expression before the screen went black.

Many gasped at Oscar's declaration. Was he saying that he was going to give up? Hang up the cape? Well, some thought to themselves. Can we really fault him for thinking that? So far it looks all the good he has done is met with tragedy and hate.

Ruby nodded in agreement with Amber's words before she felt her heart clench at Oscar's sad response.

Oscar sighed sadly and looked down with a somber expression.


Part of me feels like I should have included more of Lex Luthor's scenes, but I can't change that. No one has given me advice on that.

Next

"I miss you, Son."

"I miss you too, Dad."

"Oh, my heart!"

"This is heartbreaking."

"I'm older than my father ever was. This may be the only I do that matters."

"No. That can't be true."

Followed by

Robyn clicked on the file with the thunderbolt symbol.

"Finally, we're going to see what those symbols mean!"

"Black and Blue. Fight night. Greatest gladiator match in the history of the world. God vs Man. Day vs Night. The Son of Krypton vs Bat of Mantle."

"Okay, you got to admit, this is hyping us up."

"It would if it was a fight that wasn't rigged by someone like Merlot!"

"So, it would be better if they were fighting of their own free will?"

"No! I mean, in a friendly spar, not to the death!"

And then

"That's fear. You're not brave. Men are brave."

"Damn, talk about a badass motherfucker."

"Normally I'd take the compliment, especially since you rarely give any, but now's not the time."

"Fair enough."