Chapter 45: Cognitive Dissonance
There had been a joke between heroes that it always seemed like if you were Batman, you weren't allowed to take breaks. 'Vacation' or 'time off' weren't terms that seemed to exist in that man's lexicon. The reason being that if you did, even for one night, the entire fabric of Gotham City would fall apart. This was often said in jest – a form of sarcasm meant to make fun of the fact that Batman never took any real downtime.
Lo and behold, however, the one night Batman took the night off to lick his Superman-inflicted wounds, the night Selina had come to him with her issues, was the exact same night the entire power structure of Gotham's criminal underworld was thrown into disarray. It seemed par for the course when it came to what had been going on lately.
Eleven minutes. All it had taken to assault the (alleged) stronghold of the city's top crime lord was eleven minutes. 33 armed crooks, officially listed as security for the building, but in reality, under the employ of no one but Black Mask, all lay dead or wounded. Those who survived didn't talk, even the ones that had been taken into custody by GCPD, but security footage placed Red Hood at the scene.
Red Hood had been declared as the suspect, but there was more to it than that, and Batman knew it.
Perusing the building in the aftermath of the shootout, long after police investigators had cleared the scene, Batman made his way up to the floor that had also suffered its share of damage. Gotham City police had accepted that Red Hood had been the one to tear through the building, but as Batman looked closely, it became less likely that he had worked alone.
It had been a sloppy scene, and normally that would have made Batman's job easy. But in this case, 'sloppy' was a bad thing. The scene had been badly compromised. Mr. Freeze had made a mess of the floor, the ice he had created during whatever fight had occurred had melted, making a mess of much of the forensics lying around that Batman could have analyzed.
Black Mask was supposed to be a fugitive, meaning for him to be staying at the building there was officially never supposed to be a record of him. There were no cameras on that floor to see where he went and how he was removed from the building. He was gone; in the wind. Given what had happened and who was involved, this didn't mean good things.
Even in his own city, it felt like things were slipping. Jason coming back and running amok hit home, even harder than he thought it had at first. What he had done would be sure to ripple out across Gotham sooner rather than later.
After everything that had happened with the Justice League and The Society, the tensions with the other heroes, with Superman losing control and nearly destroying the Watchtower and killing him, with Maxwell Lord's death, with his own loss of control over Brother Eye – at least in Gotham City, it felt like he could still make a difference; do his job, business as usual. At least, it had.
Run ragged from recent events and still healing from his injuries, Batman returned to the Batcave, but that didn't mean his work was done. There was still the issue of Brother Eye. The O.M.A.C.s under its control had been deactivated, but the physical A.I. itself was unaccounted for.
There was so much going on. But stopping was unacceptable. He had to keep doing all he could until he couldn't any longer.
In a spare moment, Batman returned to what was left of the Justice League Watchtower on the moon. It had been destroyed during Superman's brainwashing by Maxwell Lord. Martian Manhunter had been missing ever since. The sight of the once proud stronghold of Earth's mightiest protectors turned to ruins was depressing. Of course, compounded with everything else happening, it just seemed to bleed into everything else.
In the rubble that used to be the main hub, Batman dug until he was able to find the black box for the Watchtower. Everything that came across the Justice League's monitors and cameras for the last two years was stored there, unbeknownst to anyone else.
There was no such thing as having too much information.
XxX
Ever since the incident with Rose, Max had been staying with Selina. He had gone back to defuse and clear out the explosives that Grant had set in his townhouse and his hideout, but hadn't returned aside from that. While it wouldn't take much effort to find a new home, getting his hands on a new base of operations would be more complicated. That had put a damper on his activities as Null for a while. It wouldn't do for him to spring out of Selina's penthouse in full Null regalia.
This meant impromptu vacation time. With all of the chaos that had engulfed the streets and seemingly the world around him lately, it seemed best to keep his head down. He definitely didn't feel like venturing out at night.
Returning to her home, Selina walked through the front door to find Max asleep on the sofa at six in the evening. Rolling her eyes, she walked over and pulled the couch pillow from beneath his head to wake him up. She clicked her tongue at her young ward, "I really should have just taken you in," She said as she dropped the pillow on his face.
"I'm a little old for that to have ever worked out," Max yawned, replacing the pillow back beneath his head.
"Mmm... you'd be surprised," Selina commented as she went to set her things down. She ruffled his hair as she passed, "It's been nice having you around. Makes me wonder what it would have been like if it was permanent."
Max stretched and stood up, heading to the kitchen for a bottle of water, "That's just because I haven't worn out my welcome yet," He didn't plan on doing so either, "Hopefully I'll find a new place before you get sick of me."
"And if you don't?"
"Do you think I've been dating Kara for long enough to couch surf at her place?"
"I'm actually surprised that wasn't your first choice."
"I feel there's a certain lack of propriety that would come with that," Max replied.
Selina smirked at him, reaching out to pinch his cheek, "Let's not pretend you care about that."
"...Yeah, you're right," Max admitted, pushing her hand away, "Do you think I should head that way anyway?" He still had two more weeks until the start of the school year to play around with.
The idea of Max straying into the potential cross-hairs of Superman put a bitter expression on her face. Under normal circumstances, the city would be considered dangerous enough for her, but with the threat that so many supervillains were posing these days, it was more of a concern. Just the other day, the villain Ruin had attacked Metropolis in an effort to take down the Man of Steel.
"You know how I feel about Metropolis," Selina said, letting her displeasure be known, "But again, let's not pretend you care about that."
"It's not like I'm going to Metropolis to work," Max reasoned grumpily, "I'm just going to put the moves on Superman's little cousin, and dear God, when I put it that way, that does not make it sound like a better idea."
Selina snickered to herself, "Now he realizes it," She remarked as she left the room.
Max stuck his tongue out at her retreating form. He had always realized it; it was just that he'd grown tired of keeping himself away from things that could be good just because there was a possibility that things could go bad. He'd dealt with his share of chaos and turmoil even when he had been doing his best to avoid them. While he didn't want to just let chips fall as they may, and while he did want to start staying one step ahead of trouble, it was a fact that some things that were potentially troublesome were worth the risk.
Kara Zor El was one of those things.
XxX
(Gotham City – Cape Carmine – Industrial Complex)
Black Mask was no stranger to torture. Many unfortunate individuals had been subjected to his 'tender mercies' over the years. When it came to instilling fear, it was an effective means to an end to keep aspiring crooks in line. If they saw what you were willing to do to your enemies, they would do their damndest to keep from finding themselves classified as such.
Of course, it hadn't just been all business. Black Mask enjoyed torturing others. He enjoyed harming them, making them feel pain basking in the feeling of control and power that he had over another person's life.
Having the shoe on the other foot left him feeling resentful, to say the least; along with a significant amount of pain. But when it came to the efforts of his captor, Black Mask had to say, his efforts left a lot to be desired.
Not that Red Hood hadn't been giving it his best effort.
Having passed out from a recent session with his would-be interrogator, Black Hood awoke to the feeling of something small bouncing off of his face.
*CRACK!*
Opening his eyes, he saw Red Hood cracking open the shell of a pistachio. Staring directly at Black Mask, Red Hood popped the nut into his mouth before flicking the shell into the crime lord's face. The pile of shells on the floor and in Black Mask's lap signified that he had been doing this for a while.
"Well, hey there, sleepyhead," Red Hood said once he noticed Black Mask begin to stir, "Hope you don't mind, I stopped for a snack. Gotta keep that energy up, right?"
Black Mask had lost track of just how long he had been there. There were no windows, no clock, and the only excuse for sleep he'd gotten were the amounts of time he'd been allowed to lie unconscious after blacking out. Even those moments were few and far between, never for long. Red Hood was a machine. Whenever they stopped, it seemed like he'd be right back on it after just a moment of rest.
There were rumors in the underworld, that Red Hood might have at one time had an association with Batman. Perhaps one of the former Robins. Anyone paying attention for long enough would know that the title of 'Robin' was a legacy, one that had seen some turnover historically. It would have given some credence to Red Hood's skill and his familiarity with the city.
But if he had been with Batman at one time, there had to have been a falling out of some sort. A difference in opinion on how to operate perhaps, because Batman would never have done some of the things Red Hood had done to try and pry information out of Black Mask. And to what end?
"You dumb motherfucker..." Black Mask rasped, "You seem to be slow to wrap your head around this. I'm the final seal keeping the gates of hell from creaking open."
"Oh?" Red Hood cracked another pistachio, again flicking the shell into Black Mask's face, "Do tell."
Black Mask tried to ignore the indignant rage that sprang up every time Red Hood disrespectfully threw another shell his way, "My control over crime in Gotham City has kept the all the freaks that you know and love from running roughshod over this place. What's worse, I've shown the ambitious ones just what's there for the taking if they sack up enough to put the work in. You kill me, you're calling down the storm. The levies will break, and this city will drown in bullets and blood."
Red Hood stopped eating and sat silent for a moment, as though he were contemplating Black Mask's words. Eventually, he leaned forward, "Has it ever occurred to you that I want all of your competition to step up and take a shot at the top?"
"What?" Black Mask asked, "Aren't you my competition?"
"Nope," Red Hood replied.
"But you've been turning all of my dealers! My smugglers!" Black Mask shouted, "They say they work for YOU! YOU'VE been cutting into my power base on the street level! So, what are you? You some undercover badge?"
At that, Red Hood leaned back and started laughing. Him? A cop? With the number of corpses he had to his credit? Not a chance, "Nah. I'm not worried about getting convictions, building evidence, putting guys behind bars, closing cases. I'm more into closing caskets," The laughter stopped, "That being said? No. We've tried it Batman's way, the police's way. How's that been going?" He asked rhetorically, "Now we're doing it my way. Sometimes, you need a forest fire to burn away all the nasty, harmful underbrush. Consider your ass to be the match."
True enough. Once Black Mask was out of the way, there was no telling how things would transpire, but it didn't take a genius to know what would happen, "And then what? You want another gang war? You gonna put anyone who steps up after me into the ground? And what about after that? That's gonna be one long carousel ride, kid."
"Not necessarily. I'm just waiting for one of you fucking morons to get the picture," Red Hood said, "I'm not the kind of guy who thinks you can clean up crime. That'll never happen. Not completely. I'll leave that idealism to Batman. Instead, I'm going to control it."
Black Mask found this to be funny, "You think you can?" He laughed, despite his situation, "You're gonna become a crime lord. You really think you can pull something like that off?"
"Not so much a crime lord as a kingmaker," Red Hood corrected him, "When one of you finally smartens up, when one of you finally stops treating my city like their little fiefdom, when one of you stops sweeping the general public up into your dirty business, when one of you runs your business with some goddamn decorum-!" He reached out with a painful grip around Black Mask's jaw, "-That's when the bodies'll stop dropping!"
"Never gonna happen," Black Mask mumbled. Red Hood released his grip before the criminal continued, "Besides, even if you get some jabroni that plays nice at first, a taste is all they'll need to start pulling at their leash. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Expecting perpetual obedience had never been in Red Hood's plans. He had fully accounted for the fact that things at the top would likely change fluidly, "That's when they catch a bullet, and I'll pick the next one who'll play ball," There was no shortage of candidates, and there never would be, "You act like you're irreplaceable. Criminals are the most expendable lot I've ever come across. There's never a shortage of people who'll come along and fill in the gap someone else left behind if they think there's something in it for them."
Red Hood would simply repeat the process as many times as needed until things were to his liking.
At a loss, Black Mask simply started to laugh maniacally, "You still don't get it. I'm the straw that stirs the drink! You're talking about what you're gonna do when I'm gone. How things are gonna go when I'm gone. Newsflash! This city isn't gonna last 7 days after everyone realizes I'm gone!"
"Ooh," Red Hood said in interest as he eased back into his chair, "That sounded like a very specific time frame you mentioned there. Please... tell me more."
XxX
(Gotham City – The Hill – Society Headquarters)
A conference between members of The Society had been called. Luthor had departed headquarters shortly after Black Mask's defeat to tend to necessary aspects of the plan elsewhere. Still, he had checked in on multiple fronts, making sure things were still being carried out as planned across the globe.
Still at the HQ, Deathstroke and Dr. Psycho had sat through the briefing, the dictating of marching orders to the lesser members, and still remained once everyone else had cut their transmissions. Luthor still had business with them, pertaining to Gotham City itself.
"Red Hood has Black Mask," Luthor stated.
"I thought you said Black Mask wasn't important," The diminutive Dr. Psycho remarked, standing on the conference desk in the middle of the room.
"That was when we thought he was dead," Luthor said, "There's no corpse, and Black Mask hasn't resurfaced yet. From what we know of him, I would have put my money on Red Hood executing him and making it public viewing."
Red Hood's m.o. certainly hadn't been to take his enemies alive up to that point. And he had never shied away from letting the world see his handiwork. For a get as big as Black Mask, for no one to hear anything of it in nearly a week's time, it had to mean he had found a use for him alive.
"If Black Mask is compromised, we have to consider Gotham City forfeit for our needs," Deathstroke said, "He was key to our presence here."
"How long do you think he will hold out?" Luthor asked.
"Given who has him, I wouldn't account for very long," Deathstroke said, "It's all a matter of what he says, however."
As far as Luthor was concerned, Black Mask knew just enough that anything he could divulge would be detrimental to their efforts, "Very well then. We're done with Gotham City. Issue the order to activate the contingency."
"I could head that up, if you'd like," Deathstroke offered, "To make sure the job is done right. Also, I'd like to say goodbye in my own way."
"You want to take part in this?" Luthor said, clearly recognizing that it more of a request than an offer, "I have need of you elsewhere, Slade."
Deathstroke nodded, "I've been very agreeable since our partnership began, Luthor."
"I wish I could say the same for your children."
"And the person responsible for some of that insolence lives in Gotham City," Deathstroke said, "The same boy that's been a pain in your neck since he's come onto your radar."
Luthor noticed that Deathstroke refused to even say the boy's name, even though they both knew he was referring to Null, "It's a bit overkill for a child, don't you think? Personal vendetta or not."
"It's not for him. It's for the plan," Deathstroke said, "That it will probably kill the boy as well, and knowing I had a hand in it... I'd consider that a bonus in this case."
"Anyone we need from Gotham City isn't in Gotham City at the moment," Dr. Psycho added to try and sway Luthor's opinion, "You won't see me shed a tear to watch it go."
Luthor seemed to consider things for a moment, "This needs to be done quickly," He eventually said, "We won't have the time to warn our allies left in the city, unfortunately. In dire times, some sacrifices have to be expected."
"Unfortunately," Deathstroke replied, "I'll let you know when it's done. However, I'm sure that won't be necessary."
For what they had in mind, when it happened, there wouldn't be anyone in the world who wouldn't know about it.
XxX
(With Null – Metropolis)
Kara had a cat. Max was aware of this fact, as it had come up in conversation several times, but it was different hearing about Streaky and then sitting on a couch in his girlfriend's place with her pet sizing him up.
Streaky was just a cat. Not a Kryptonian cat, or some creature from outer space; just an orange and white striped tabby. Pretty mundane for a pet owned by Supergirl, but then again, why not? Everyone needed some kind of company.
Kara leaned over the back of her couch, grinning as Max seemed to regard Streaky suspiciously. The cat kept walking past his legs, rubbing up against him curiously. He hadn't been scratched yet, so Max chalked that up to a win.
"Are you allergic to cats?" Kara asked, poking Max's cheek playfully.
Max chuckled and shook his head. Selina had four of them. If he didn't like them, they never would have gotten along, "No, I just never got to have any pets when I was a kid. Kinda don't know how to act around them."
"Well, you're doing a good job so far," Kara reassured him, "Just let him come to you. And sorry if he scratches you. It's not malicious."
Max glanced at Streaky warily as he jumped up next to him on the couch, "How would it not be malicious?"
"He's used to breaking his claws on me whenever he tries," Kara explained, reaching down to rub her cat's head, "I wouldn't be surprised if he just figures that he won't hurt you because he never hurts me."
Max wagged a chiding finger at Streaky, "Don't pull that stuff on me. I'm not an invulnerable alien. I'm a significantly squishier human," Streaky responded by taking a swipe at his finger, which Max pulled away from, "Hey, what did I just say?"
He occupied Streaky by magnetically pulling over a cat toy with a bell in it, shaking it in front of him. It worked a treat, getting his full attention as Max pulled it all over the room.
As Max occupied Kara's pet, she floated through the air and over onto his lap where she had his undivided attention. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead to his. The fact that they had found any time at all to get together had been a miracle. She had been running all over the world, trying to help with any issue she came across or was informed of. It was much harder to coordinate without Martian Manhunter manning things at the Watchtower, but it was still a given that any moment, her communicator was going to go off, or some catastrophe would catch her ear, and she would have to dash off in an instant to try and save the day. For the time being though, things were comfortable. He was comfortable.
This couldn't have been a bad thing. He couldn't have been bad.
"You look like you have something on your mind," Max said, slipping his hands underneath her top, "Care to share?"
Kara grinned, feeling his fingertips run against her bare skin, "What would a thief know about sharing anything?"
Max raised an eyebrow, "Yes, we've established that I'm a bad example," He said, sliding his hands down to Kara's backside where he gave her a firm pat. Kara vengefully bucked against him in response, "Grr..."
The Kryptonian girl's expression turned cheekier, "So... you and Ravager, huh?"
"You're sitting on me," Max replied, "You sure this is how you want to have this conversation?"
Kara sat up straight, hands on Max's shoulders, "Can't think of a better way. So, does that mean you're actually gonna talk to me about it?"
Max shrugged, "What do you want to know?"As far as he was concerned, he had nothing to hide.
So many questions sprang to Kara's mind. Did you love her? Would you have kept her if you could have? But that seemed wildly inappropriate to ask, given she had previously espoused her faith in Max to Ravager directly.
"I don't know," Kara said before she came up with something to ask, "Could you... tell me how you felt about things, when you were with her?"
Max took a moment to think about the question. Kara was a good girl and deserved an honest answer. To her credit, Kara simply sat as Max stared straight ahead. She would have accused him of staring at her breasts if he didn't have a pensive look on his face. She noticed he often took on that expression when he was in deep contemplation.
"We had a lot of good times," Max said, "I had her back, and I'd like to think she had mine too when it mattered," There was still a part of him that felt that Rose was going softer on him than she would have on real enemies, "That doesn't answer your question, does it?"
Not really, but Kara was patient, "You tend to talk around your points when you're nervous, but you always get to them."
"Right," Max sighed before attempting to do just that, "It was fun, like how BASE jumping is fun, or cage diving with sharks is fun," He said, "There's more to her than the crazy, violent side, but she always fell back on it as a defense mechanism."
There was a point when he thought he was close to getting through to her for real, to the point where they could have had something. But that had resulted in Rose leaving, and it had taken him weeks to get out of the rut it had put him in. Then Kara came along.
"I did like her – a lot, and I did miss her when she left, but I don't think what we had was sustainable," Max continued, "It wasn't really pretty to begin with, and with some perspective between then and now, I'm sure it would have just gotten uglier the longer it went."
Kara simply sat in place, digesting everything that Max had given her to consider, only speaking up once he'd made it clear that he was done, "Thank you for telling me that," She eventually said, "You never really dive very deep when you talk about yourself."
It was a matter of trust. The less someone knew about what made you tick, the less they could use against you if they felt like it one day. Much like Rose's anger, it was a defense mechanism, one that similarly enough wasn't good for a healthy relationship, "Kara, you tell me when something's bothering you all the time. You tell me about your insecurities. You put that much faith in me... it wouldn't be fair if I couldn't return the favor on that much."
While confiding in another was a big risk for someone like him, as he told himself back in Gotham City, he felt that Kara Zor-El was worth it.
Kara gently grabbed Max's cheeks in her hand, caressing them with her thumbs, "Max, I don't want you to tell me stuff because you think we need to be even. I want you to want to share things with me."
"There goes that goddamn 'share' word again," Max grumbled, eliciting a giggle from Kara.
"This is..." Kara struggled to find the words she wanted, "You're my first boyfriend, so I don't really know what I'm doing. Kinda learning as I go along."
Max couldn't help but joke despite the depth of the conversation, "If I'm your baseline experience for a boyfriend, you're gonna get some fucked up lessons out of this."
"I'm serious, you know," Kara insisted, "About this. About you."
Max held back the urge to swallow nervously. Therein lay one of the things that made him nervous about being with Kara – something that he hadn't worried about with Rose – that she was serious. It was one of the fundamental differences in his relationship between Kara and Rose that went beyond one being a superhero and the other being an assassin.
Rose, had always been willing to indulge him in the poorer aspects of his personality. She liked watching him do bad things, encouraged him to do them if it was what he wanted. She cultivated what existed of his mean streak, and while she had never actively prevented him from doing anything that could be construed as altruistic, she would vocally let her displeasure be known, not that it ever stopped him. That being said, there had never been a point that he would have considered her taking whatever they had seriously. There were times when it was nice, when it felt right, but the commitment had never been there.
Kara, on the other hand, believed Max was capable of greater things, and encouraged him to feel the same. While she had toned down her pushes to get him to give heroics a try, a part of Max believed that he might not have gotten as deeply involved in some of his more recent escapades without her influence. He wasn't about to go around patrolling for trouble to thwart, but if there was something within his reach that he had the power to prevent, he wouldn't turn away from it outright. The only issue was that he would do it his way, which probably wouldn't always be to the liking of Kara and her friends. All the same, Kara seemed prepared to work with him and fight for whatever fledgling intimacy they had.
'I'm gonna screw this up,' Max instantly thought to himself, 'It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but it'll happen eventually. There's no way I'm not.'
But if he wanted to make an attempt at anything beyond a superficial fling, he had to try.
As if to steel his resolve for such a decision, Max reached up and pulled Kara down into a long kiss. He was going to try. He would probably end up crashing and burning in the attempt, but he would be damned if he didn't savor the ride down.
"In a West End town, a dead end world. The East End boys and West End girls. In a West End town, in a dead end world. The East End boys and West End girls... West. End. Girls.~~"
Kara had reached down to begin removing her sweatshirt when Max's personal phone began to go off. Mid-motion, Kara paused, lowering her top with a raised eyebrow, "Really?" She asked in regards to the ringtone.
"Hey, don't judge me. Pet Shop Boys bang," Max defended. Kara rolled her eyes and reached back toward the table for the phone as the song continued to play, "I don't have to answer that right now."
"You sure?" Kara asked.
No. More specifically, Max didn't want to answer it at the moment. Not until he saw just how far Kara was willing to take this particular session. He wanted the call to go straight to voicemail, and was about to send it when he saw it wasn't one of his very limited contacts calling him. Begrudgingly, Max took the call.
"You turned your work burner off, you little asshole?"
"Hood," Max had a hunch it had probably been him calling, "I'm kinda... in the middle of something right now," Kara grinned, knowing she was the something he was referring to.
"I don't care where you are, who you're with, or what you're doing. This is big."
He sounded frantic. It was a stark departure from every other interaction Max remembered having with the violent vigilante, "Big enough that it can't wait?"
"Big enough that if your ass isn't with me in the next hour, hundreds of thousands of people are going to die!"
"..." Null was rendered speechless for a moment before springing into action, "Kara!"
Kara had already gotten off of him and changed into her Supergirl outfit, "I heard. Come on!"
XxX
(Undisclosed Hideout – North Pole)
The plots of The Secret Society of Supervillains had been going south for some time. While certain aspects had been moving ahead as planned, several key portions had been indefinitely put on hold due to the actions of heroes and others who were not so heroic.
Much in the way he'd held Firestorm captive, prior to the combination hero's freeing by the Secret Six, he required a member of the Marvel Family.
Projected through a communicator on Lex Luthor's wrist, Black Adam floated, arms crossed and attitude testy, "KZZT-Disappointed, Luthor. Sivanna said we would find Mary Marvel- KZZT—Fawcett High. KZZT—have taken Captain Marvel," Though the connection seemed to be spotty for some reason, there was enough context for Luthor to understand what he was getting at, "There are other things we should be focused on instead of kidnapping these men and women for your delight."
"It's for justice, Black Adam. As we agreed," Luthor said as their connection seemed to stabilize, "My machine needs specific test subjects. We don't want to power it on and wipe the minds of the entire world, do we?"
Black Adam scoffed, looking around unimpressed, "You said you needed one of the wizard's children. But Mary Marvel is not here."
"Yes, I know that," Luthor said, "But you are."
In that instant, Black Adam was set upon by the cadre of villains he had taken with him as backup to capture Mary Marvel. Silver Banshee, Amazo the android, Gorilla Grodd, Ubermensch, and The General all attacked him at once. Despite his strength, they overwhelmed him with the element of surprise and their own formidable abilities.
"You dare betray me, Luthor?" Black Adam howled as he was overwhelmed, "Your blood will be on my hands next!"
Luthor replied calmly, "When this is all over, you won't even remember me."
As the brawnier members of the conspiracy battered Black Adam, Silver Banshee took over speaking to Luthor, "I'll calm him down. He'll be wonderfully agreeable the next time you see him."
Luthor nodded. It seemed that everything was in hand on that front. He would have his member of the Marvel Family after all, "Call Faust. I still need Nightshade," He ordered.
"He's on his—FZZT!"
The previously spotty communication cut off entirely. Heavy footsteps prompted Luthor to slowly turn around as a familiar voice began to speak.
"I've been intercepting your signals for months... tracking them through a dozen different satellites," A second Lex Luthor, donning a high-tech warsuit stepped forward, "Gathering information, trying to find out where you were, and who the hell you really are."
Despite his heavily armed counterpart, the comparatively under-dressed Luthor seemed unconcerned, "I'm Lex Luthor."
The two Lex Luthors came face-to-face, both appraising the other, "No, you're not," The warsuit-clad Luthor insisted, "You're not me."
"You're right. I'm better," The unarmed Luthor smugly stated.
Warsuit Luthor glared, "You tried to take my place. Why?" He stumbled, clutching at his head, "I need to know... who are you? Who...unngh..."
"Trouble thinking?" Unarmed Luthor taunted as the other one fell to a knee, "I'd theorize it's out proximity. Intellect has always been a Luthor's greatest strength. But my theta brainwaves are much more advanced than yours. They operate on an anti-frequency, one could say. Therefore, I would guess they're interfering with your cognitive functions."
The words seemed to echo in warsuit Luthor's ears, turning into a splitting pain in his brain.
"Is it a static in your ears? Or an overpowering headache?" The unarmed Luthor continued, "Tell me, Lex Luthor; how does it feel to be stupid?"
Angry and hurting, warsuit Luthor lashed out with a destructive blast from the palm of his armor, "GAH!"
Despite the blast occurring at point blank range, when the smoke cleared, the unarmed Luthor was entirely unharmed, "See now, Lex, that was stupid," Manifesting purple energy to his own hand, he set it upon warsuit-clad Luthor and began to torment him.
Even with the combat capabilities of his armor, warsuit Luthor found himself overpowered. After all of the time, effort, manipulation, and work that went into finally tracking down his imposter, he found himself outclassed. Granted, he had never expected someone capable of effectively replacing him to be a pushover, but a more even battle. It was not to be.
Warsuit Luthor found himself thrown around by his doppelganger, "ARRGH!" Blown about the imposter's lair, thrown through glaciers and crystals strewn about the area, no matter how he tried to fight, it seemed to be wholly ineffective.
Your blasts have no effect on me," the unarmed Luther said, "Surely you've learned that by now."
"I have," Warsuit Luthor breathed out, "But your computers on the other hand..."
*BA-BOOM!*
Despite being unable to harm his double, the warsuit had done plenty of damage to the markedly more fragile technology set up around the hideout. As everything exploded and collapsed around them, the form of the unarmed Luthor changed. The bald, business-clad attire had been a disguise – a holographic projection.
"What in the?" Warsuit Luthor stood to take in the image of his adversary. Though their facial features were similar, this version of him had short red hair atop his head and a golden bodysuit adorning his frame, "Who are you?"
"I told you. I'm you – only better."
*KRAACK!*
Without warning, impossibly powerful hands tore the warsuit open from behind, as though it were made of paper mache. Luthor's body was left unguarded and vulnerable. His brain also suffering due to his proximity to his double, he fell to the ground.
The alternate Luthor sneered at his fallen counterpart and looked over at his cohort. Clad in blue and red with an 'S' on his chest – a Superboy, a different version from the one the fallen Luthor and much of Earth was familiar with, hovered above.
"He's evil," The Superboy said, tossing aside the scrap metal that used to comprise the warsuit.
"-And he's useless to us," The alternate Luthor replied, "Erase him."
Though he wasn't at his best, Lex Luthor was still alert enough to know when things were going south. The moment his suit had been destroyed, he had been preparing for his retreat. As Superboy's eyes burned red with heat vision, Luthor disappeared in an instant, just in time to avoid being incinerated.
Superboy turned off his heat vision, surprised by the sudden departure, "Where did he-?"
"-A teleporter," The alternate Luthor quickly surmised, "Probably short range."
"Let me go find him, Alex," Alternate Superboy demanded, "Let me get out of here. You know what I can do when I'm in that yellow sun."
"No," Golden Luthor said, "I have another job for you to handle. And I think you're going to like this one."
Things were so close to coming together. If he could go a little longer without showing his hand, there would be no stopping his plans.
XxX
(With Null – Gotham City – The Hill)
Supergirl flew faster than Null's Gravboard, easily so. Together, they were able to make it to Red Hood's location in a quarter of the time he had asked. Null and Supergirl approached him as he kept watch out of sight of potential watching eyes. They noticed him observing a massive tower that seemed to blend in with the rest that surrounded it. Security gates isolated it from the rest of the Gotham cityscape.
Null instinctually slipped into hiding along with him, guiding Supergirl by-hand until they were in position. Red Hood's helmet didn't show facial expression, but from the way he kept his head turned to them upon their arrival, he was likely momentarily stunned.
"Hi," Null greeted tersely, "Also, fuck you. You didn't have better options for this?"
"Seeing as how I don't exactly have a lot of people on speed dial, no!" Red Hood snapped, "Thank God, you were with her though. We're gonna need the heavy artillery on this one."
Being referred to as a weapon by a person that she only knew as a noted killer didn't sit well with Supergirl. He didn't even introduce himself, "Not until you tell me what 'this one' is," She said, mistrustful of the outlaw who seemed to have her boyfriend's ear, "What do you mean hundreds of thousands of people will die?"
Red Hood made his explanation as succinct as possible, "The Society is on an incoming plane. If we don't figure out which one and stop it, they're gonna drop a massive chemical weapon!"
Given the urgency of Red Hood's call, those details had been left out when they had spoken last.
"Drop it where?" Null asked.
"Drop it here! On Gotham City!" Red Hood snapped.
"Fuck!" Null cursed, "How are we supposed to find a plane? One plane out of all of the ones that end up flying through this place? And if you know that, why are you here?"
"Because this is it. This is Society HQ," Red Hood answered, "Black Mask gave up more than just The Society's plans for if Gotham went bust."
Kara's eyes went wide as she came to a realization, "Null... remember when you asked me to tail Ravager and, err... Ravager? This is where I told you I lost them," Even at night, even at ground level, it looked familiar to her, right up to the part where she found herself unable to peer inside.
Null's foot drummed fitfully off of the ground as he tried to think, "Kara, I need you up in the air. You're our best bet at spotting something before worse comes to worst."
"On it," Kara dutifully took off, leaving Null and Red Hood alone staring down the enemy stronghold. It left him with an ill feeling in his stomach, but not because of what he was expecting to deal with. While Kara was the most likely of the three of them to find something quickly, putting everything on her shoulders because she was a hero was entirely unfair, "Hood, call Batman."
"You think I'm in contact with the old man?" Red Hood scoffed, "Unless you've got a bat signal handy, we're shit out of luck on that one, kid."
The moment Null heard the sarcasm in Red Hood's tone, he'd already started getting in touch with his next best option, "Selina, get in touch with Batman right now. Tell him The Society is about to drop a big-ass bomb on Gotham City."
"What?" Selina shouted, reacting with concern, "Wait, I thought you were in Metropolis."
"I was, but now I'm back in Gotham. Look, never mind that, just get him if you can! Gotta go!" Null ended the call before too much time could be wasted. Explanations were need-to-know only in the moment.
Red Hood waited until Null hung up before saying anything else, "Wow. I'm surprised you didn't tell her to send him here."
"I'm more worried about the weapon of mass destruction than whatever's actually gonna be in here," Null deadpanned, "This is bullshit! You could have told me the whatever was going to happen here," Null gestured to their immediate surroundings.
"I thought that went without saying," Red Hood replied, "Besides, if you knew, there was a chance you wouldn't have shown up to help."
Null neither confirmed nor denied the possibility, "Goddamn, man," He complained as he hopped on his Gravboard, offering Red Hood a ride the short distance to the building, "There'd better be something in here we can use to stop this."
The two kept quiet as they carefully moved into staging position. Eventually, Red Hood spoke up, "So, do you have a plan to sneak in, or-?"
"What?" Null reacted, "I got here two minutes ago!"
"So, no," Red Hood surmised, "Alright, direct approach it is then! Let's go be polite."
Null hovered them to the top of the building where he saw the tip of the skyscraper. Reaching out with his magnetic powers, he grabbed onto every ounce of metal he could feel and twisted. It took a moment, but the top of the tower was removed like a bottle cap and disposed of as casually. Red Hood let out a whistle at the sight.
There was no fanfare, theatrics, or subtlety to their approach. They went right inside, ready to face an onslaught of villains set to run interference. Yet, as the seconds passed and they tentatively crept further inside without being attacked, they found themselves confused.
"Hello?" Red Hood called out as he walked through the re-purposed, now ruined, office building, "Anybody home?" The place was properly outfitted to look like a base of operations for a cabal filled with evil geniuses. It was almost more unnerving to find nothing waiting for them at all.
Null kept quiet and followed his senses, gently floating through on his Gravboard. The place was brimming with power, "This place has to have a stupid-huge electric bill..." He muttered as he managed to locate a place that filled him with recollections of when he had been from the Justice League Watchtower.
"Teleporter. Console's still warm," Red Hood identified. The technology was slightly different in design, but it served a similar purpose, "Want to bet everyone cleared out ahead of Gotham City's impending doom?"
"They didn't destroy it," Null said, "Do you think whatever the last setting was is still good to use?"
Red Hood was slightly surprised by the audacity of what he felt Null was suggesting. All the same, he didn't dislike the idea in theory, "Just putting it out there – we go through that thing, it might be a one-way trip."
"It's either go through and maybe get killed by whatever's on the other side, or stay here and definitely die when that bomb drops," Null reasoned, "At least this way, we might find some info to help Supergirl stop it."
"Right," Red Hood agreed, "Or, you can get on your board, fly right back out of that hole you made, and get as far away from here as possible."
"Wow," Null deadpanned, "Tell me you think I'm dead weight without telling me you think I'm dead weight."
"Not at all," Red Hood chuckled, giving his weapons one last check while he had the chance, "You're actually starting to grow on me. You aren't what I first expected at all."
Null breathed out a laugh as he and Red Hood took their places in the teleportation pods, "I'm scared to ask; what did you expect at first?"
"A lot more of a coward, really," Red Hood casually admitted, "From what I heard about you before we met, you seemed more like the type to run away before anything else."
A perfectly reasonable expectation, given how Null had made his name, "Oh, I was. I'm still an expert on running away. That means I also know when you really shouldn't run away," That being said, he didn't think he had been that person for some time.
"I guess when you're trying to impress Supergirl, you've got to start showing more backbone," Red Hood sighed as he watched Null magnetically levitate a piece of metal over the console, "Well, time to hit the big green button."
"See you on the other side, Hood," With that, Null activated the transporter. The machine hummed to life. Within moments their molecules vibrated out of existence.
XxX
The time for takeoff had come. Deathstroke strode into the cockpit and took his seat in the copilot seat. For the duration of this mission, he had enlisted the services of an entire team of villains; the Brotherhood of Evil, formidable enemies of the Titans, whom he also had no love lost for.
"They say you can't go home again," Deathstroke said, "I want our enemies to believe it. I want Batman out of the picture, and I want Null to suffer."
"Null is just a child," The voice came from a disembodied brain suspended in fluid inside of a skull-shaped metallic container, "You give Phobia five minutes with him, Slade, he will believe anything."
"Brain is right, Deathstroke," Phobia purred. She was a woman with a forest green cape with a high collar, a pale green bodysuit with black accents, and a black balaclava covering her ears, neck, and hair, leaving her face exposed, "I could make that little brat so madly in love with me he'd tear out his own heart."
"I am eager to see him pay," Brain declared, "The rest of the Secret Six too. But Null will be a good place to start for what they did to my Mallah."
"Houngan," Deathstroke said to the Haitian voodoo master behind the stick of the bomber plane, "Get this thing in the sky. It's time to get this show on the road."
XxX
(Meanwhile – With Null)
Null and Red Hood hadn't expected a friendly reception when they arrived at their destination – a nondescript hangar. The moment Null was cognizant of their new location, he threw up a magnetic shield as a storm of bullets flew toward them. The automatic gunfire ceased when the magazine of the shooter ran dry.
Red Hood took a moment to glance around, finding the source of the gunfire, a man in a dark purple bodysuit and full yellow mask with a spider emblem on the front. From his body language, he seemed momentarily stunned before quickly trying to reload. Red Hood raised his handgun and unceremoniously shot him in the head.
"Huh," Red Hood remarked, as the sound of a plane taking off from the nearby runway rang out, "Black Spider. I thought that guy was dead."
There was hardly any time after that instant to identify just what they were up against. Deadly globs of protoplasm were thrown at them. Null and Red Hood avoided every drop, taking note as the walls and floor burned at its touch. A large, man-shaped creature made of the same corrosive material continued the attack, turning more of his focus on the thief.
Red Hood took aim and fired at a young woman with neck-length black hair. Clad in a black leotard with silver layered light armor underneath, she stretched her way out of the line of fire until a man in a yellow and orange outfit and cowl opened a portal for her to slide into.
A flash of recognition ran through Red Hood, "Well-well-well, the Brotherhood of Evil!" He said, "Should have figured when I saw Plasmus. You're down a few good men, aren't you? Where's Brain or his gorilla?" He taunted.
The black-clad woman reacted testily, shouting at them in French, "Ask your partner, since he's the one who killed Mallah!"
"Easy, Gemini," The yellow-garbed teleporter said, also in French, "He will be made to pay tonight, in so many ways."
Null found himself at a loss as one of his enemies seemed to be brought out of a rage by the other, "I have no idea what they just said," He admitted.
"They said they're gonna make you pay for killing Mallah," Red Hood, fluent in the language, informed him.
"Hey, I didn't kill Mallah! I was just there when Deadshot killed him! Get your facts straight!" Null angrily yelled back at them, "I hate getting blamed for shit I didn't do..."
While Null sulked, Red Hood cleared his throat, "The plane? We gonna go catch it, or what?"
"Warp! Gemini! Stop trash-talking and start killing," Plasmus demanded of the other two Brotherhood members present, "There's a chance Null could pull that plane out of the sky if he gets close enough."
"How do they know who I am?" Null whispered.
"Are you kidding?" Red Hood asked, "After all the crap you've been in the middle of, you still think nobody knows who you are or what you can do?"
"I mean, I liked it better that way," Null admitted. Before the attack could resume, Null magnetically grabbed the container Warp and Gemini had retreated to and threw it at Plasmus. They teleported away as it lifted off of the ground, but Plasmus, too slow to do so was smashed by the flying container. The impact sounded like a clump of mud hitting the side of a tin shed, "Get on the board. We need to catch that plane. I can still feel it."
Red Hood did as requested, following Null's lead. They took off into the dark night sky before Warp could properly identify their position and potentially open a portal to pursue them, "How fast does this thing go? Faster than a heavy bomber, I hope."
"Oh yeah," Null said, quickly pushing the Gravboard to its top speed. Going fast on the board was never an issue since his powers granted him protection from the wind and the forward acceleration force, "Especially if the plane is loaded down with a weapon big enough to destroy Gotham City."
XxX
(Gotham City – Batcave)
There was no rest for the weary. Without the Justice League Watchtower active, and Martian Manhunter present onboard to coordinate heroes, it was a scramble, with heroes getting to wherever they could to handle whatever issues they were aware of. Even Batgirl and Robin were out doing their part outside of Gotham City, working with the Titans.
Batman had mixed feelings on that. But just because he had sore feelings in regards to his heroic contemporaries, that didn't mean his apprentices had to go without meaningful support.
During a quick stop back at the Batcave to resupply, Batman activated his super computer. The sheer amount of activity he came across, just that his algorithms were aware of, was staggering.
"Three hours until Black Box 73 is scanned and repaired."
That was right. He also still needed to find the time to take a look at the security logs for the Watchtower. Even though he already knew what had happened, there was no such thing as being too thorough.
Batman fought back a tired groan. There had to be something that could be done. There had to be something he could do. But it all just seemed like it was too much. Not just for him, but for everyone. Still, he had to keep going. The innocent people caught up in these calculated pushes from The Society deserved everything he could give. He was still badly injured, but he could move around properly now, and that would have to be enough to make a difference.
Alfred noticed a slight hitch in Batman's gait, but didn't mention it. It wasn't until he saw the red staining the black material of the man's costume that he couldn't go any longer without mentioning his physical state, "Master Bruce, it seems your stitches have come out. Those need to be retreated."
"Later," Batman said, getting up from his seat as Alfred approached with first aid at the ready.
"No, now," The butler sternly insisted, "Hold still,"
"I said later!" Batman smacked the kit from his friend's hand. The two stood off tensely until the door leading to and from Wayne Manor proper opened.
"Bruce!" Selina cried out, running down the stairs until she noticed the belligerent atmosphere, "...Am I interrupting something?"
"No, nothing at all, Miss Kyle," Alfred smoothly remarked, scooping the contents of the first aid kit up from the ground, "Master Bruce has made it abundantly clear that he would prefer to be alone while he works."
There was something personal that needed to be sorted out, but Selina didn't have time to dig, "Well, that isn't going to do here. Maxie says The Society is going to drop a chemical bomb on Gotham City."
An expression of horror drifted across Batman's face before being replaced with one of resolute determination, "When?"
"Now," Selina said, "He... I think he's trying to stop it, or at least find out more. He couldn't say much. I don't even know where he was-," She paused when her phone went off again, giving a quick check of the message sent, "Wait, he says the plane took off out of Toronto right before he got there. Does that mean he's in Toronto? How? He just told me he was somewhere in town 15 minutes ago!"
Batman stomped over to the Batplane, "That plane will be over Gotham airspace in less than an hour," he said, shaking his head, "If he can't stop it... if we can't stop it..." He didn't even want to speak of the possibility aloud.
After everything that had happened. Everything he had gone through to protect Gotham City, the disasters, the gang wars, the physical and mental trauma, the friends and loved ones he had lost – all of that, and the city could be gone before the stroke of midnight.
Batman paused and set his hands on the outside of the Batplane in consternation. Behind him, Selina approached, gently resting her hands on his shoulders, "He can do it," She said, "I don't think he's alone, which means you don't have to do it alone either."
Accepting the gesture, Batman took a breath to compose himself before popping open the cockpit of the Batplane. He jumped in, and as he prepared to thank Selina and leave, he found her climbing into the passenger's seat behind him, "You're coming?"
Selina gave him a wink and a smirk, "I just told you, you don't have to do it alone. Besides, if a chemical bomb goes off in Gotham City, I'm going to die. If it's going to kill me anyway, I might as well die trying to stop it."
"That sounds a lot like something your ward would say," Batman said.
"It better be the only reason his little ass is anywhere near this thing," Selina replied.
XxX
(The Moon – Justice League Watchtower Ruins)
Volcanic fires erupting internationally. Intergalactic warfare. Sixty category-five storms affecting coasts worldwide. Super tornadoes touching down all over the Midwest United States. The destruction of the Rock of Eternity disrupting magic throughout the realm. General attacks and ambushes from supervillains all over the globe. The latest casualties for the heroes were Black Condor, Phantom Lady, and the Human Bomb, their corpses found at the Washington Monument.
And those were just the problems that were on Earth. It was the end of the times. It had to be. At least, that was what it felt like.
What had happened? When had things slipped this far down? Despite the advantage villains had in that many of them had no limits on what they would do to accomplish their goals, heroes always had the advantage of teamwork. There were rarely times when there wasn't someone around to lend a helping hand if needed. Now, the villains seemed more coordinated, while the heroes were fractured.
The Justice League Watchtower had been decimated. Apparently, Superman had done it when he had been under Maxwell Lords thrall. But it didn't seem right. Even if Superman hadn't been aware of what he'd been doing while his mind was being controlled, he remembered what it felt he had been fighting like. Even though he had envisioned himself fighting against Darkseid, he hadn't gone nearly far enough to destroy a facility like the Watchtower.
It didn't make sense, but then again, there were many things that felt like they didn't make sense lately.
"Sometimes..." Superman said to himself, standing in the shadow of the Watchtower's ruins, "Sometimes, I just wish I could start over."
"Kal-El, you can start over."
Superman reacted with a start. He had been aware of someone approaching via flight, and had chalked it up to being one of the Green Lanterns or Justice League members capable of self-sustaining space travel. Instead, he found himself staring at a mirror of what he would look like years down the line. Considerably older, with a more weathered face and extensive gray hair along the sides.
The resemblance was uncanny, but Superman had dealt with clones and cyborgs sharing his appearance before. This, however, there was enough variance here that he didn't jump to such a conclusion. That, and the fact that this version of him didn't seem to bare any malice toward him.
"Are you supposed to be me?" Superman asked, granting this seemingly peaceful copy of him a chance.
The older Superman nodded with a patient smile, "Yes. I'm you. But not the you that everyone is used to. At least not in this universe," He held up his hands defensively, "Trust me, I know, it'll be a lot to take in. But what matters now is that you do have the chance to start over."
"You can't be serious," Superman said as his older counterpart held up a red crystal that began to illustrate everything.
"At the beginning of time," The older Superman started to explain, "It happened billions of years ago. A being from Oa gazed into the infinite, hoping to witness the origin of creation. To learn how the universe was made, why it exists, and what we're here for. But he failed, and his blasphemous actions corrupted the innate nature of the cosmos. Instead of one universe, a multiverse was born."
Endless parallel worlds, similar in some ways, bizarrely different in others – all occupying the same space, but vibrating at entirely different frequencies. Over time, the parallel worlds began to interact, dozens of them, but they were never meant to exist, let alone influence each other, and disaster struck. Five alternate Earths were annihilated by a being called the Anti-Monitor before it could finally be stopped.
Earth-Two Superman, the Lois Lane from his universe, Superboy from Earth-Prime, and Alexander Luthor from Earth-Three managed to escape into a pocket dimension where they were able to watch over the aftermath.
The universe was then reborn as one. Any remaining doppelgangers from other Earths were negated and erased from history or folded into the existing heroes of the New Earth.
"The potential was there, and it started off so well, so full of hope. I felt confident that Earth was in good hands. But we soon learned there was something inherently wrong,'" "This... New Earth was anything but better. There was something twisted, warping heroes' lives. Some died. Others lost their way. We watched for years, hoping everyone would find inspiration again-."
"-But things always seemed to get worse..." Superman finished for his alternate universe version. He would know, he had lived through much of it, "And here we are."
"Here we are," The alternate Superman agreed with a grim smile, "My Earth was a universe we ended up labeling Earth-Two. It was a wonderful place, Kal-El. It was a place full of hope and love. And the heroes acted like heroes. We made mistakes, but it was nothing like what's happening here. Things have gotten out of hand, down to the core. You included."
Superman raised an eyebrow at that, "I've gotten out of hand? Now, how do you figure that?"
The alternate Superman's smile fell, "I saw, Kal-El. I've seen everything. I saw what happened with Maxwell Lord. I've been watching. I've always been watching. Ever since this universe was created. Everywhere I look, darkness grows. And now you're giving up," He accused.
Giving up? Was that what it looked like? Was giving up rushing from disaster to disaster all over the globe while only giving oneself the smallest moment to rest? It had been 48 hours since most heroes had last slept, himself included,
"How can you say that?" Superman asked, "If you're me, you know I would never," He gestured to the Earth, "I would give my life for this place, and everyone on it!"
The older Superman nodded, "You did. I told you, I saw. And I was so proud. Sad, but proud. You died like the hero Superman is supposed to be. And in doing so, you inspired your friends, your peers, and the ones who would follow them. And then... you came back," He drawled in a downcast tone, "That was the last time you inspired anyone. And ever since then, you and the rest of the ones they call heroes... you've all been a disappointment."
A stoic countenance fell over Superman, but it was clear he had been affected by the words of his inter-dimensional double. Batman, his closest friend, had become closed off, paranoid, obsessive. Wonder Woman was toeing the line between hero and a mere superpowered warrior with morals.
Earth-Two's Superman pushed forward, "Everything that's happened is because the heroes of your Earth can't trust each other. You can't trust them to be honest with you, each other, or themselves. You can't trust them to do the right thing, even when it really counts. But we can make a new Earth. One better than this."
He continued to show what Earth-Two was like. While there were struggles, while there was danger, it seemed so much tamer – safer. It was something Superman couldn't deny, "Your Earth sounds better than this one. It sounds downright perfect."
Earth-Two Superman smiled again, feeling he was beginning to convince him, "It was."
"I just have to wonder then..." Superman said, "What's the point of being Superman in a perfect world?"
That hadn't been what the alternate Superman had been expecting, "What?"
Superman floated away, turning his gaze to the Earth, "You're right about one thing. This world, it's messy, there are more dangers than ever. There are more threats to the planet and the people both on the surface and in the stars than I can count," He gazed down at his own hands, "And the heroes aren't perfect. I'm not perfect. I'd like nothing more than for there to be no need for Superman, or the Justice League, or anything else like them. But erasing EVERYTHING and starting over just because things are bad? You said I'm giving up. That's giving up."
No. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. Kal-El, flawed as he was, as far as the Earth-Two Superman was concerned, he was the only one in this universe capable of being convinced to do the right thing. But even he seemed to have been corrupted by the darkness of New Earth.
"And what happens to everyone on this Earth when your replacement Earth is created?" Superman asked.
Despite knowing that thus far he was failing in his pitch, the older Superman couldn't bring himself to lie, even to serve his own purposes, "They'll be folded into its historical fabric."
He could try and make things sound as peaceful as possible. It was still obvious what he meant, "You mean they'll die."
"They'll be replaced, just as everyone on my Earth was. But they'll be better."
"Better... like you," Superman said, mulling over something in his head, something that would have driven him insane had it happened; something Maxwell Lord had made him see when he had been under the man's control, "When your Earth was replaced... did you lose your Lois?"
"I would never let that happen," Earth-Two Superman said resolutely, "Even you can't stop this, Kal-El. I just wanted you to know."
One moment, he was there, the next, he was gone, as if he had never been there at all. A phantom of the mind? A remnant of having his brain tampered with? But then, it had felt so real.
Superman looked around, but couldn't see anything that would have teleported his alternate version away from there. Still, his warning rested ominously in his mind. Superman took off for Earth once more.
Just as he wouldn't let The Society have their run of Earth, he wouldn't let the planet simply cease to exist either. He would keep fighting, even if he had to do it without his closest allies.