Somewhere in Gotham, in some rundown apartment, Slade, wearing nothing but a pair of shirts, was busy doing aggressive push ups on the floor. He was currently trying to build up strength after his scuffle with Batman. After push up he performed, he added a clap to it.

Then, he heard the sound of his communication device going off and jumped back up to answer it. He walked to his desk and placed the device in his ear.

"Agent Wilson."

"Agent Wilson, what happened last night?"

He groaned upon hearing the voice of his boss. "I had the target. He's gotten better at combat. But I was still able to almost stop him."

"Until your efforts were halted by Batman?" Slade did not respond to the question and looked at his reflection in a mirror, reflecting on his failure. "Agent Wilson. Were your efforts into eliminating Superman terminated by Batman. Can you confirm it, or not?"

"I confirm." Slade replied.

"You were close to getting rid of the problem and yet you retreated like a deserter."

"Well we can't have the Gotham police force after us." Slade replied. "If Batman finds out about this, who knows what investigations will be implemented on us."

"You make a compelling case."

"I will need to double my efforts and make sure that Batman does not get in my way." Slade said.

"And what if he does?"

"Then I shall leave him to die, just like he did to me." Slade replied.

"What?"

Slade removed the ear piece and placed it in a drawer so that way he wouldn't be able to listen to his boss.

Then, he got back to working out by jumping back into doing push ups. As he did, he began to list the names of the people he wanted to kill.

"Superman. Waller. Sam Lane. Bruce Wayne. Superman. Waller. Sam Lane. Bruce Wayne. Superman. Waller. Bruce Wayne. Superman. Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne! Bruce Wayne!" He clenched his floor in anger, leaving some scratches.

Elsewhere in some dark underground bunker, Jimmy, now shirtless, was hanging from the ceiling by his wrists on a pair of chains in some sort of chamber that looked to be a dungeon.

He stirred himself awake. "Uh….Where…Where…" He looked around the location he was in and saw that it was dimly lit, there were stone cobbles, chains on the wall and water dripping from the ceiling. He then looked down and noticed that he was shirtless. "What?! Where's my tux?!"

"Do you feel cold?" Bane walked out of the shadows to reveal himself to Jimmy. "Perhaps that's why I got rid of that terrible getup."

"Do you have any idea how much that cost?!"

"Eight hundred and seventh-two dollars." Bane replied. "A poor child raised in prison wouldn't eliminate someone in the shower for something so tacky." He walked up towards Jimmy and punched him in the chest, causing him to cough up spit.

"Consider yourself lucky, I could have destroyed a vital organ." Bane said.

"Where am I?" Jimmy asked.

"Remnants of older Gotham." Bane replied. "A ruined city buried by progression. It thought itself powerful until something stronger, brought it down to a new reality."

"What do you want?" Jimmy asked. "You want money?"

"Money is worthless." Bane replied. "But if things go in a way I won't anticipate, then I guess I will transfer every money in your bank into my own deposit. It'd be a waste of good money."

Jimmy looked afraid as to what Bane had planned. "Well what?"

"I could explain my plan here and there, but then there is a chance he might hear you and my plans will be ruined." Bane said.

"You want to lure Superman into some kind of trap?" Jimmy theorised.

Bane chortled. "No wonder you're a journalist. You're incredibly intelligent."

"Why though?" Jimmy asked. "Are you working for the government?"

Bane punched Jimmy in the face. "You're also a bit dumb. Do you think I'd work for the government even though they're after me? They would have to be desperate to recruit me. So stay here Mr Olsen. Enjoy the cold. Because that's all you'll feel."

Jimmy watched as Bane walked toward what looked to be an elevator. He walked through the sliding doors and pushed the button.

"I suggest you stick around for a bit." Bane suggested.

"How about hang around?" Jimmy suggested. "It's like you're missing an opportunity for a good joke."

Bane stopped the door from sliding and laughed. "You are a funny young man, Mr Olsen. I hope Carla will have a sense of humour like I have." He let go of the door so it closed.

Jimmy gulped in fear, worrying what ever Bane's second-in-command will have planned for him. He looked up to the ceiling and exhaled. "Come on, Superman. Please hurry."

Many floors above, the elevator stopped and Bane walked out. He cracked his shoulders as he looked at his new base of operations.

It looked to be some kind of underground lab that looked to be built with a ton of money, perhaps stolen. One section was dedicated to a lab which appeared to be manufacturing all sorts of drugs, another manufacturing weapons and bombs and another was a fighting circle dedicated to training exercises.

There were countless henchpeople all over the bunker, around hundreds or a dozen. But needless to say, there were countless members.

Carla approached Bane holding what appeared to be a duffle bag. "What's in those?"

"Blow torches, jumper cables, knives, brass knuckles, whips, bats, canes, hammers, nail clippers-"

"Carla." Bane interjected. "Torture him. Bruise him, give him small cuts. Don't break any bone, don't make him bleed severely. I want him alive and stable for when he witnesses the death of Superman."

Carla bowed her head. "As you wish." She began walking toward the elevator with her duffel bag in hand while Bane walked to a door.

There, there were two guards standing by at the ready. "¿Ellos estan listos?" (Are they ready?)

"No." The guard replied.

"Ellos nunca son." (They never are.) Bane walked through the door to be greeted by three people strapped to chairs in what looked to be three separate glass chambers.

One of them was Drury Walker, the other was Matt Hagen and the other was Leslie Willis. "Good afternoon."

"Screw you!" Hagen exclaimed.

"They say that all the time." Bane sat down on a chair. "How do you feel?"

"Like I wanna fry you!" Livewire replied.

"Like you did with our boss?!" Hagen asked angrily. "You know he's in a coma, right?"

Leslie rolled her eyes as a response. "He should be lucky to be alive."

"Well because of you, I got stuck with Killer Moth over here!" Hagen shouted.

"If it weren't for you, then Superman wouldn't have found us!" Walker shouted.

"My fault?!" Hagen argued. "He was just there at the wrong time!"

As they argued Bane, picked up a canister. "Perhaps if you listened to what I had to say then maybe-" Bane crushed the canister in anger with his inhumane strength, silencing the three of them.

"You want to defeat Superman, correct?" Bane asked.

"Correct." The three replied.

"I want to defeat Superman." Bane replied. "Personally."

Matt and Drury looked at each other before chuckling. "You?" Drury asked.

"You think you can defeat Superman?" Matt asked. "I gotta say, that's impossible."

"Unless you have my gift." Livewire remarked.

"Unless you have your gift." Matt said to Livewire. "Good point."

"Or unless you're him." Livewire motioned to Bane. "I saw him. He was beating the living snot out of Superman."

Matt and Drury looked surprised. "What?!" Drury exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

"You three, I need you to understand that I want to face Superman personally." Bane explained.

"What for?" Matt asked. "Are you trying to prove something to him?"

"I want to prove that a God isn't as powerful as they think they are." Bane replied.

Livewire however, did not believe him. "That's not the reason. You must have a reason for doing this."

"Is a man not allowed to like a challenge?" Bane asked.

"I'm not saying it's wrong, I just think there's a deeper reason I'm not getting." Livewire said. "Compensating for something, Bane?" Livewire laughed at her joke as well as Bane.

"Big talk for someone who was captured and imprisoned by someone with lesser power than you." Bane's retort caused Livewire to narrow her eyes angrily at Bane. "You might not believe I could beat Superman, but I assure you, you will be placing bets on who would win."

Matt, Drury and Livewire thought about Bane's offer for a moment before they all simultaneously shrugged their shoulders and pulled sinister grins.

"Alright, we're in." Matt said. "Mainly so I can see Superman get his butt beaten."

Bane pulled a drawer open to reveal three syringes on some styrofoam. He gently removed the first one and began walking towards the chamber.

"But there's a problem, how are we going to claim him?" Drury asked.

Bane entered Walker's chamber with his syringe in hand. "A little something I call the Meta Compound. You probably don't know this, but the green substance I insert into my system, Venom, was something I was tested with. I was an experiment, tested by some dogs in lab coats. But now, those so-called scientists have created something far worse than what they had intended."

"What's that got to do with me?" Walker asked.

"Let's refresh your memory. Remember that lightning storm that hit Central City?" Bane asked.

"Yeah."

"Around 3 percent of the population were affected. And in turn, they were granted abilities, locked in deep in their DNA." Bane explained. "It's not a big number, but regardless, they were still a challenge for the police and their mascot."

"So, you think I got a gene inside me?" Drury asked before Bane inserted the needle into Walker's skin.

"You do." Bane responded as he removed the syringe from his skin. Then, he retreated from the chamber and slammed the door shut so that way Walker wouldn't escape.

Bane watched in fascination while Matt and Livewire watched in horror over what was happening to Walker. At first, his body was jolting like he was having a seizure for a few moments until he screamed.

Then, his body began to extend with bone crunching noises being emitted. His body began to turn all brown and crusty. His fingers extended longer and his nails turned into claws.

His legs extended and his toenails turned into sharp claws. His eyes began to extend and turn into bright red.

Then, some grey and white fur began to sprout all over his body. A pair of mandibles formed from his mouth.

He pulled himself from his straps and fell from the chair he was strapped on and with a hard hit on the floor. Then, a pair of antennas sprouted from his head and then a pair of wings from his back.

Once the transformation was done, Drury Walker growled to reveal himself as a monstrous insect creature.

Livewire look of horror turned into a look of admiration. "Woah. That is horrific."

Hagen on the other hand looked horrified at what had become of his partner. "Drury? Is that you?"

Walker looked at what had become of him with horror over his face. "What…What happened to me?!" He spoke in a high pitched raspy voice that he noticed which made him hold his neck. "My voice! What's happened to my voice?"

"You have been granted your gift." Bane replied.

"No!" Walker screamed in horror. "Change me back!" Walker punched the glass, causing a crack to form.

"That change is permanent." Bane explained. "You cannot be Drury Walker ever again. You shall be whatever Flamebird will name you." Walker growled angrily. "Be grateful you are strong enough to beat 8 members of my crew."

Bane entered Hagen's chamber with a syringe in hand. The strapped up man began to struggle to escape his confinement. "Hey! I'm not being transformed into that!"

"You don't know if you'll be changed into an insect." Bane retorted. "Who knows? Maybe you could be transformed into a bat?" He inserts the syringe into Matt's skin. "Or perhaps you could control all the plants around you." He exited the chamber and locked the door all while Matt began to seizure himself. "Or maybe you might gain an immunity to all the known poison on the planet."

Then, Matt screamed in pain as his hands turned into some sort of mud-like brown substance that began to drip off of him. Then, more of the substance began to ooze out of his pants and his shoes. Soon, his hands melted into strange muddy clay, his clothes sunk as each body part melted away before his head melted into a brown puddle.

Livewire looked shocked by what had transpired, Walker looked on with a traumatised expression while Bane looked disappointed.

"I expected something else entirely." Bane remarked at his disappointment. "Perhaps this is a sign that he was not-" Then, he saw the substance began to twitch, causing him to stop talking. "Hmmm…"

"Well, I never really liked Matt." Drury remarked. "I guess the plus side of being…" He began to look at his body. "….What would you say this was, Leslie?"

"I think you look like a moth." Livewire remarked.

The substance on the floor in Hagen's chamber began to move slowly. It began to slowly stick to another piece of the substance next to it, forming a bigger piece.

Walker smiled at being compared to a moth. "A moth, eh? Well, I guess you could call me….The Mothman!"

"Unless you wanna be sued by the Mothman of West Virginia." Livewire joked.

"He's not real!" Walker argued. "But…To be fair, I could be mistaken for the Mothman. How about, Killer Moth? Oh and Bane, tell that Olsen man that!" He noticed that the substance that Matt was right now, began to grow bigger with every piece attaching itself back on.

Every bit of clay continued to reattach itself to ever growing form. Eventually, it grew to about eight foot tall with its head bashing into the ceiling.

Soon, the head formed into a face with sunken eyes, a large mouth and a pair nostrils. Then, the form grew a pair of arms, fingers, toes, legs, a torso, abdominals and shoulders.

The creature that was formerly Matt Hagen growled like a sinister monster. Bane was surprised by the outcome that he slightly backed away a bit to admire his work.

"Mr Hagen, how do you feel?" Bane asked.

Matt began to look at his new form, doing his best to take in all the change that had happened to his body. "Hmm, I feel sticky…"

"That's what he said." Livewire chuckled to herself.

"…I also don't feel any kind of feeling. I can't exactly breathe, but I smell what I am, I can taste what I am, it's almost like I am entirely clay." Then Matt had an idea. "If I am made of clay and I managed to form myself together…" He looked at his hand and thought hard to turn his hand into a mallet. He grinned at his gift. "Huh, I think I like this."

Walker tapped on the glass. "You're the lucky one. I'm just a giant insect."

"Hmm, but if I am clay…I wonder…" Matt closed his eyes like he was focusing on becoming something. Then, he began to shrank. His sticky limbs began to look like skin, his hair returned, he also managed to form a fancy suits. And soon, he managed to mould himself into his human form.

He smiled at his reflection while Walker groaned. "I don't believe it! You just moulded your body!"

Matt shape changed into Walker's human form. "I honestly think that what I'm seeing right now is an improvement from this." He motioned to the form he was currently taking and laughed.

"Why you…."

Matt then moulded into his human persona and shook himself off. "Best part is, I can change the size about everything in my body."

"Does that include a special asset?" Livewire laughed just as Bane entered her chamber, causing her alarm. "Hey, what are you doing?! I already got my powers!"

"I know." Bane replied. "I have theory about people who have already unlocked their meta gene. What will happen to the Metahumans if they're infected with the Meta Compound? Will they mutate? Or will it be too overwhelming for them?"

For the first time, Livewire looked fearful of what Bane had planned out for her. "I don't wanna find out."

"I do." Bane retorted before inserting a syringe into her neck, causing her to scream. Bane ran out of the chamber and quickly slammed the door as a means to not be hit with the electricity.

He, Matt and Walker watched as they watched Livewire seizure on her chair. They saw her veins began to glow a light blue as sparks of electricity began to shoot out of her body.

"Uh….I think she's having an overcurrent." Killer Moth remarked.

Then, Livewire screamed louder than before as her eyes glowed a light blue and then the clothes that she was wearing fried away into nothing.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Livewire screamed.

Then, Livewire gave a gut wrenching scream that became distorted that it flung her chamber door open. Bane stood back and pulled out a hose from underneath a table and aimed it at Livewire.

Then, the straps that were strapped to her burnt away into nothing. Then, the Metahuamn's screams become distorted once again as her body began to disappear into sparks that traveled into a nearby computer.

Bane dropped the hose and turned the computer one to see if he could find Livewire. But all he saw was a desktop with nothing on it.

"Where did she go?" Killer Moth asked.

"Is she….In the computer?" Matt asked. "Try searching for her."

Killer Moth narrowed his eyes at his partner. "Really?"

"You used an electrical pun earlier." Matt retorted.

Bane looked at the lights that hung above the ceiling and noticed that they were flickering. He stared at them with intrigue for a moment before saying, "It appears that Livewire won't be joining us for a while. So it will be you two who will take care of Superman and our little bat problem."

Matt and Walker gave each other knowing nods and raised their fists. "When do go out?" Matt asked.

Meanwhile at Wayne Enterprises, Lucius Fox was on a phone call to someone. "Yeah. Yeah…I saw….Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she blames you for a tornado in Tennessee…It's getting ridiculous…" Lucius laughed. "….Anyway, I'm still checking the armoury and the labs. I wish you the best of luck Mr Wayne on your end….Alright, I'll see you later."

Later, Lucius had arrived in the designer department where he noticed Edward playing around with what looked to be a finger trap. "How are things going?" He asked.

"Still nothing." Edward typed on his computer. "I don't know how these weapons keep going in and out without any kind of jurisdiction. Been trying to figure it out. But, every blueprint has been accounted for and so have the components for the weapons."

"What about our boxes?" Lucius asked.

"Oh I've been trying to find that out…None of our boxes have been taken." Edward replied. "What customers do to our boxes once they've been delivered?"

Lucius shrugged his shoulders. "Some return them, some just use em for firewood. I got no clue."

Alex walked into the lab with what looked to be a bag of takeout. "Hey Ed, I got some Thai."

Edward span on his chair to turn to his partner. "Ah! Splendid."

Then, an African American man with black poofy hair, a black moustache and appeared to be in his late thirties; Ran into the room.

"Is it here?!" The man asked.

"Yes Gus!" Alex handed the man his container.

"Thank you, Luthor." Gus said. "Is it lactose intolerant?"

Alex sighed. "You know, a lot of Thai food is dairy free, right?"

"Of course." Gus responded. "Sure, why not? Why is that a lot of foods in other countries seem to have milk in their dishes? Whereas Thailand always use coconut milk? I mean, do they just hate cows?"

Alex stared at Gus with an unimpressed look, Ed on the other hand was shaking his head while Lucius just gave an unamused exhale.

"I don't think humour is your forte Mr Gorman." Alex remarked. "So if you wish to make friends, don't make any useless attempts to-"

"Luthor." Lucius interjected. "Your Dad might be a powerful man, but in my lab, you're not anyone's boss. Understand?"

Luthor exhaled. "Very well."

Lucius clapped his hands. "Okay. I will be going back to business. You three enjoy your Thai and be careful to not get any of that chicken on the equipment."

"Thank you, Mr Fox." Edward said while Lucius left the lab.

Alex handed Edward his container of food which he began to consume. "So, any idea who this Mockingbird is? I have a few theories…"

"It's Bruce Wayne." Alex said. "Come on Ed, I get he's your boss but even you must realise that."

Gus slurped his noodles. "I mean, if you think about it, he is rich."

"So?" Edward responded. "Have you seen Basil Karlo? He's rich and he hasn't committed any crimes."

"Mediocre theatre actor." Alex remarked. "Honestly, who could blame him if he turned to a life of crime. Bruce Wayne is rich. He's just testing the waters on what he can get away with. Ya know, with all that money, who wouldn't start trying?"

"Yeah! Plus, he's an orphan." Gus remarked. "You know what happens to the head when you got no guidance."

Edward narrowed his eyes at Gus. "I'm an orphan, Gus. You think I got something wrong with my head?"

Gus began to panic. "No! No! No! Ed, I assure you, it's not like that! I-" He stood up and accidentally dropped his container of noodles on his shirt. "Ooooh, my shirt! My shirt! Oh man!"

Alex laughed at Gus' misfortune. "See Gus, that's how you be funny!"

"Oh, darn, shoot." Gus groaned. "I'm going to change shirt. Sorry about what I said, Ed."

"It's fine, Gus." Edward assured him. "Really."

Gus left the lab to change his shirt while Alex and Ed just continued to eat their food. "You know, Alex. I feel sorry for the guy. He's trying to fit in even after going through a hectic divorce with his wife."

"Uh huh." Alex continued eating his food without any sympathy.

"Oh, could you imagine this, Gus Gorman is actually Mockingbird?" Edward continued eating his food.

"Too weak and pathetic." Alex replied as he continued to stare at him. "Not a decent actor."

Meanwhile, in a locker room, Gus had managed to change into a nice clean shirt which happened to be a Superman shirt.

He looked at his reflection and sighed. "Oh man, I hope Alex doesn't shoot me for wearing this. Oh who cares at this point? His Daddy will get him out of jail. Rich people." Gus exhaled. "Mama always said, 'If you wanna make a good impression, make em' laugh'. Well Mama, how do you think that's working out?" Gus groaned. "Now you're just rambling, Gus." He sighed. "I hope Ed will let me share his chicken."

He began to walk out of the locker room when all of sudden, he noticed something that caught his eye. There appeared to be a locker that looked slightly unlocked. "Huh? Oh, someone's locker's unlocked." He then noticed that there was a piece of blue paper sticking out.

He knew that he shouldn't let curiosity get the best of him as it was someone's private property. But he wanted to know what these blueprints were for and wanted to check them out for himself. When he opened the locker, he got a look at what these blueprints were.

They were WayneTech blueprints. But, that's impossible. All of the blueprints were accounted for. Unless, someone copied them.

That was when, Gus heard someone approach him. "Oh hey, it's you! What are these blueprints doing in your locker?" He laughed. "You're not Mockingbird are you?" The person he was talking to gave a heavy breath.

Then, Gus' laugh got more nervous. "You're not Mockingbird, right?" Then, the person began to approach Gus. "Wait, you are Mockingbird aren't you?!" Gus became panicked as he dropped the blueprint. "Oh my God! You are Mockingbird! Wait until Mr Fox, finds out! Wait, what are you doing with that wrench?! Oh, no! No!" He tried running away but the unknown assailant got ahold of his wrist and knocked him in the head with one hit, knocking him out cold.