Action and Re-Action 7: Alone
Title: Alone
Pairing/Characters: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Green Lantern
Continuity: Comics, set during the first arc of Justice League, 1-6 ( scans)
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: It's Bruce's second night out in his new suit, and the GCPD already has a nickname for him. When "Batman" runs into a guy with a magic ring and finds himself on a team that includes the recently-returned Superman, events start to race out of control.
Word Count: 2600
Notes: Action and Re-Action is a series retelling the new versions of Action Comics and Justice League with a Superman/Batman angle. All chapters and notes on the series available here.
The man loping over the rooftops had a wry grin on his face as he listened to the bullhorns shouting down at him. Only his second night out in the suit, and already the Gotham City Police Department had a name for him. He'd been hoping they'd pick something a little more dramatic or threatening, but he supposed it was going to be his job to put the drama and threat into his name.
Bruce--Batman--dodged the pitiless circle of light that sought to pin him down and continued to chase his fleeing suspect.
It moved like a cross between a beetle and a dog, skittering and bounding across the rooftops, and Bruce felt a shudder of visceral repulsion crawl down his spine. There was something uncanny going on here, something more than just the muggers and thugs he'd been taking down in his ninja clothing. The rumors he'd read about a man who could run at impossible speeds, the recent reports about some guy calling himself a "space policeman" with a magic ring--not to mention the incontrovertible physical reality of a man from another planet, a man Bruce had touched (had kissed)--
Things were changing on Earth, and Bruce wasn't going to get left behind just because he wasn't an alien, or magic, or a mutant.
Just like he wasn't going to get left behind by whatever this thing was. He put on a burst of speed and tackled it, only to have it writhe out of his grip with incredible strength, its fist slamming against his jaw. Dazed and furious, Batman whirled--just in time to see the thing get whumped with a glowing green fire truck.
"Hi there," said a figure standing in mid-air, surrounded by a corona of emerald light. "You must be that Batman guy the police are after."
: : :
"The creature is not connected with Superman," said Batman.
Green Lantern brandished his ring in something dangerously close to a rude gesture. "It's extraterrestrial, he's an alien, it seems likely there's a link."
"Superman isn't even on the planet," Batman growled. "He's still up in space--"
"--My ring tracked him as arriving back on Earth about four hours ago," Green Lantern said. "So let's go to Metropolis and find out what the deal is, huh?" He waved his hand and a shimmering green jet sprang into existence. "I'll even give you a lift. Unless you can flap your cape and fly there," he added, flopping his arms to illustrate. "That way you can have a ringside seat for Green Lantern's takedown of Superman!"
Batman swung into the luminous jet rather than show hesitation in front of a showboater who liked to refer to himself in the third person. It felt solid enough. The jet lifted into the air in an uncanny silence--Batman was surprised Green Lantern didn't make appropriate vroom vroom sound effects--and soared toward Metropolis. Batman ignored several attempts at conversation, looking at lights below them.
Superman was back on Earth. Bruce--Batman--was on his way to meet him, at the side of a man who was very likely to spark a confrontation. Not exactly an ideal introduction, Bruce mused.
However, if there was any chance this lunatic with the magic ring of unknown power might be able to overcome Superman, Batman wanted to be there to help Clark out.
: : :
It seems he didn't need my help in this case, Batman thought ruefully as the Man of Steel advanced on him. Green Lantern was nowhere in sight, knocked maybe miles away by Superman's punch. Hands locked around his throat, and Superman growled, "You two are behind this attack? Your buddy almost killed everyone in this building when he blew up! What's going on?" There was no recognition in his eyes.
Bruce tried to speak, but it only came out as a croak from a bruised windpipe. Superman's fingers started to relax, but then green chains appeared to wrap around Superman's form, squeezing him. Green Lantern was yelling insults and threats--that's definitely going to help, thought Bruce, Good work--and Superman was furious, with an edge under his voice that Bruce recognized as panic.
Superman shattered the chains; the shock wave of his fist hitting the ground drowned out Batman's voice once more. Bruce had to get control of this situation--he couldn't be seen as buffeted about by titanic powers, helpless. As the super-speed hero Green Lantern had paged arrived on the scene and distracted Superman for a moment, Batman stepped into the space between Superman and Green Lantern. "Stop this," he said, putting his hand on Superman's shoulder. "Please."
His voice came out scraped and rough, gravelly, and Bruce wasn't surprised when Superman glared at him like a stranger. On the other hand, he couldn't help but notice there was a definite edge to his altered voice, and he made a mental note to see if he could replicate the effect later--without getting throttled, preferably.
"We're not working with the monsters," he continued. "We've all been attacked by them. We're all on the same side."
It was amazing how quickly the anger drained out of Superman's face, leaving it distrustful, sullen--and a touch chagrined. He shrugged off Batman's hand, but his fury was gone. Flash and Green Lantern were chattering; Superman was frowning like a boy who found himself on the edge of a group he wanted to join, but wasn't sure if he was welcome. Bruce considered various ways he could tell Clark who he was, but he wasn't sure if it would be a good idea right now. First, it would definitely be a distraction, not to mention he'd risk revealing his identity to both of the other heroes. Also...well, he wasn't sure he wanted Superman to know he'd tried to strangle his friend. Not yet.
Soon. Once there was a chance to breathe a little.
And then the next wave of assault hit them.
: : :
Clark punched another of the winged and armored monsters and tried to get his bearings. Things were moving too fast. He'd just come back to Metropolis only to find it under attack again. All he wanted to do was go find Bruce and tell him about the amazing things he'd found on Brainiac's ship, the boggling possibilities. He wanted to take Bruce back to the ship somehow, let him explore, watch the cold white light of the stars mingle with the warm blue glow of Earthlight on that aristocratic face. Instead, here he was, punching monsters side by side with an entire team of improbably-costumed heroes. It was just as well that Bruce was safely back in Gotham, or he'd insist on helping, and no matter how athletic and smart he was, Clark didn't think he'd stand a chance against these vicious gargoyle-machines.
But Superman didn't have to face them alone.
He remembered Brainiac's taunts about how he would always be alone in this world, then glanced over at the group of people fighting at his side. He'd gone from isolated to one of a group of people with powers in just a few hours. They all had some kind of augmented abilities: amazing speed, astonishing strength, the ability to control man-eating sharks, a magic ring, and--well, he wasn't sure what powers Batman had yet, but they had to be impressive if he'd been willing to stand in between Superman and Green Lantern like that.
As Superman watched, Batman twisted away from clashing razor fangs to vault over a bronze-winged demon with an almost preternatural grace. Something about the way he moved tugged at Clark's memory, some connection nearly clicking into place--
And then the ground rocked and harsh light flooded the street like a hammer-blow. A figure that seemed carved from malign granite stepped onto the soil of Earth, and the ground seemed to cringe away from his footfalls.
The being--Darkseid, from his own corrupt lips--wasn't hateful, he was Hate. Clark could feel it emanating from him like steam from dry ice, a roiling miasma of cruelty that made his gut clench. Darkseid glanced at one of the military helicopters and beams of light stabbed from his eyes, congealed malice that obliterated the craft in an eyeblink.
Darkseid looked at Superman.
Flash was yelling something, he was pushing Clark away from the lancing crimson light, but the eyebeams bent impossibly to follow them, homing in on them. Superman launched himself into the sky, dazed and awkward, still unsure of himself in the air, he still wasn't even sure how he was doing it--the city reeled beneath him and the scarlet beam was faster that he was, it was catching up, it--
Agony exploded between his shoulder blades, under his breastbone, like his heart was bursting. It wasn't heat, it wasn't even pain, it was despair made solid that shattered him and sent him tumbling broken from the sky. He heard a shriek of triumph from above, and a demon's brazen claws seized him, piercing his shoulders and yanking him upward, away from his city, away from his world.
He glimpsed the scene below one last time, through a veil of scarlet mist: Flash's face blank with horror, Wonder Woman's contorted with fury. He saw Batman with one hand raised upward, his mouth open as if to call a name, and then it was all gone, blotted out in anguish.
: : :
A spray of droplets pattered on Batman's cowl, speckled his outstretched fingers with crimson. He watched his hand clench uselessly at the air and bit back a futile cry as Superman was borne away by one of the winged monsters, his torn body limp in its grasp. The sky was filled with people struggling in the grip of other demons, their cries shrill and hopeless, but Batman watched the battered figure in red and blue until it disappeared into the black clouds.
"Keep him busy," he said to the rest of the team as they picked themselves from the rubble. His voice was cold with fury, and he let that icy rage lash him onward. No time to think, only to act.
Green Lantern was still staggering to his feet. "Keep who busy?"
"Him." Batman pointed at the massive figure gazing out over the destruction.
"Gladly," said Wonder Woman, snapping her lasso between her hands with a grim smile.
"Back her up!" Batman yelled at a dazed-looking Green Lantern and Aquaman as she soared into battle. "I'm going after Superman!"
"You're what? Are you crazy?" Green Lantern's mouth hung open with a dismay that would be amusing under different circumstances.
"Just go!" Batman gave Green Lantern a shove in the small of the back, pushing him toward where Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the just-arrived cyborg kid were charging at Darkseid. Then he turned his back on the battle and ran.
In the shadows of a sagging parking garage he yanked off his cowl and detached his cape. Superman was being taken away to somewhere. He needed to be where Superman was. There seemed to be only one way to get there. The demons were fighting people in costumes, kidnapping people in civilian clothes: therefore, Bruce had to be a civilian again. Simple.
He ran up the ramp to the roof of the garage and threw his hands in the air, flagging down a flying demon like some satanic taxi. A monster stooped from the sky in a clamor of metal wings; there was an instant of panic as claws clamped around his wrists, but he tamped it down ruthlessly. He was the one in control of the situation, not the thing carrying him. He knew what he was doing.
He was going to save Clark.
: : :
Had he been here minutes or months? Clark couldn't tell anymore. Visions of worlds aflame, hope crushed into fragments, entire races in chains flickered and blazed through his mind, searing him more than the bonds of sullen light that penetrated his flesh. Despair was a lead weight on his chest, burrowing into his heart. He could break his chains, assault the leering figures that stooped over him--but to what purpose? He was alone on a world of sulphur and ashes, unimaginable distances from earth. No one could cross the light-years, infiltrate this hellish tower of iron and find him. No one would come for him. No one.
He heard himself choking on blood and grief, a small, lost sound among the howls of the damned ringing through the halls. No one would miss him--just one person, not even a human being, an alien. The thought wormed into his brain, devouring all hope: the gentle green and blue earth festered and dripped with maggots, the golden fields of Kansas weltered in filth and blood. His parents turned away from him, their smiles fading into disgust, receding into darkness. Everyone had feared and hated him, everyone who cared for him was dead and gone, this was all he had now, an eternity of suffering.
A word, a name, came to him through the crushing despair, and he seized at it like a spar: dark laughing eyes, a voice filled with self-mockery and affection. A promise: Someday I'll leap into the unknown for you. But it was impossible, it slipped away from him into the scarlet darkness, the inflection and rhythm of it lost under the tormented sounds in his ears, the tumult in his heart. Only the mockery remained, turned outward to cut at him like bitter blades. His hopes were feeble and foolish, a last taunting cruelty. Better to let them go entirely, to let faith fall into ashes like the lie it was. He knew now that Bruce would laugh to see him here, stripped of his pride, powerless at last. With a final stab of panic, he realized he could no longer recall Bruce's eyes or the curve of his mouth; the face in his memory receded into blankness and pain.
Despair obliterated him like a wave, a crash of surf on an endless aching shore, seeking to sweep him into its depths forever. He struggled against it, but he was alone, and he had nothing left to hold on to. Images filled his mind of himself kneeling at Darkseid's feet, emptied of volition, an instrument only of Darkseid's malignant will. Visions of himself at Darkseid's right hand, turning the tide of the battle into darkness, crushing out the light of Earth, the light of a thousand suns. This was his destiny, there was no escape.
No, he thought, through the pain that negated all he was. There remained one way to thwart Darkseid's design. One way to prevent that future. He narrowed his world to that thought, the only one left to him.
One final way.
----------
( Part 8)
Pairing/Characters: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Green Lantern
Continuity: Comics, set during the first arc of Justice League, 1-6 ( scans)
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: It's Bruce's second night out in his new suit, and the GCPD already has a nickname for him. When "Batman" runs into a guy with a magic ring and finds himself on a team that includes the recently-returned Superman, events start to race out of control.
Word Count: 2600
Notes: Action and Re-Action is a series retelling the new versions of Action Comics and Justice League with a Superman/Batman angle. All chapters and notes on the series available here.
The man loping over the rooftops had a wry grin on his face as he listened to the bullhorns shouting down at him. Only his second night out in the suit, and already the Gotham City Police Department had a name for him. He'd been hoping they'd pick something a little more dramatic or threatening, but he supposed it was going to be his job to put the drama and threat into his name.
Bruce--Batman--dodged the pitiless circle of light that sought to pin him down and continued to chase his fleeing suspect.
It moved like a cross between a beetle and a dog, skittering and bounding across the rooftops, and Bruce felt a shudder of visceral repulsion crawl down his spine. There was something uncanny going on here, something more than just the muggers and thugs he'd been taking down in his ninja clothing. The rumors he'd read about a man who could run at impossible speeds, the recent reports about some guy calling himself a "space policeman" with a magic ring--not to mention the incontrovertible physical reality of a man from another planet, a man Bruce had touched (had kissed)--
Things were changing on Earth, and Bruce wasn't going to get left behind just because he wasn't an alien, or magic, or a mutant.
Just like he wasn't going to get left behind by whatever this thing was. He put on a burst of speed and tackled it, only to have it writhe out of his grip with incredible strength, its fist slamming against his jaw. Dazed and furious, Batman whirled--just in time to see the thing get whumped with a glowing green fire truck.
"Hi there," said a figure standing in mid-air, surrounded by a corona of emerald light. "You must be that Batman guy the police are after."
: : :
"The creature is not connected with Superman," said Batman.
Green Lantern brandished his ring in something dangerously close to a rude gesture. "It's extraterrestrial, he's an alien, it seems likely there's a link."
"Superman isn't even on the planet," Batman growled. "He's still up in space--"
"--My ring tracked him as arriving back on Earth about four hours ago," Green Lantern said. "So let's go to Metropolis and find out what the deal is, huh?" He waved his hand and a shimmering green jet sprang into existence. "I'll even give you a lift. Unless you can flap your cape and fly there," he added, flopping his arms to illustrate. "That way you can have a ringside seat for Green Lantern's takedown of Superman!"
Batman swung into the luminous jet rather than show hesitation in front of a showboater who liked to refer to himself in the third person. It felt solid enough. The jet lifted into the air in an uncanny silence--Batman was surprised Green Lantern didn't make appropriate vroom vroom sound effects--and soared toward Metropolis. Batman ignored several attempts at conversation, looking at lights below them.
Superman was back on Earth. Bruce--Batman--was on his way to meet him, at the side of a man who was very likely to spark a confrontation. Not exactly an ideal introduction, Bruce mused.
However, if there was any chance this lunatic with the magic ring of unknown power might be able to overcome Superman, Batman wanted to be there to help Clark out.
: : :
It seems he didn't need my help in this case, Batman thought ruefully as the Man of Steel advanced on him. Green Lantern was nowhere in sight, knocked maybe miles away by Superman's punch. Hands locked around his throat, and Superman growled, "You two are behind this attack? Your buddy almost killed everyone in this building when he blew up! What's going on?" There was no recognition in his eyes.
Bruce tried to speak, but it only came out as a croak from a bruised windpipe. Superman's fingers started to relax, but then green chains appeared to wrap around Superman's form, squeezing him. Green Lantern was yelling insults and threats--that's definitely going to help, thought Bruce, Good work--and Superman was furious, with an edge under his voice that Bruce recognized as panic.
Superman shattered the chains; the shock wave of his fist hitting the ground drowned out Batman's voice once more. Bruce had to get control of this situation--he couldn't be seen as buffeted about by titanic powers, helpless. As the super-speed hero Green Lantern had paged arrived on the scene and distracted Superman for a moment, Batman stepped into the space between Superman and Green Lantern. "Stop this," he said, putting his hand on Superman's shoulder. "Please."
His voice came out scraped and rough, gravelly, and Bruce wasn't surprised when Superman glared at him like a stranger. On the other hand, he couldn't help but notice there was a definite edge to his altered voice, and he made a mental note to see if he could replicate the effect later--without getting throttled, preferably.
"We're not working with the monsters," he continued. "We've all been attacked by them. We're all on the same side."
It was amazing how quickly the anger drained out of Superman's face, leaving it distrustful, sullen--and a touch chagrined. He shrugged off Batman's hand, but his fury was gone. Flash and Green Lantern were chattering; Superman was frowning like a boy who found himself on the edge of a group he wanted to join, but wasn't sure if he was welcome. Bruce considered various ways he could tell Clark who he was, but he wasn't sure if it would be a good idea right now. First, it would definitely be a distraction, not to mention he'd risk revealing his identity to both of the other heroes. Also...well, he wasn't sure he wanted Superman to know he'd tried to strangle his friend. Not yet.
Soon. Once there was a chance to breathe a little.
And then the next wave of assault hit them.
: : :
Clark punched another of the winged and armored monsters and tried to get his bearings. Things were moving too fast. He'd just come back to Metropolis only to find it under attack again. All he wanted to do was go find Bruce and tell him about the amazing things he'd found on Brainiac's ship, the boggling possibilities. He wanted to take Bruce back to the ship somehow, let him explore, watch the cold white light of the stars mingle with the warm blue glow of Earthlight on that aristocratic face. Instead, here he was, punching monsters side by side with an entire team of improbably-costumed heroes. It was just as well that Bruce was safely back in Gotham, or he'd insist on helping, and no matter how athletic and smart he was, Clark didn't think he'd stand a chance against these vicious gargoyle-machines.
But Superman didn't have to face them alone.
He remembered Brainiac's taunts about how he would always be alone in this world, then glanced over at the group of people fighting at his side. He'd gone from isolated to one of a group of people with powers in just a few hours. They all had some kind of augmented abilities: amazing speed, astonishing strength, the ability to control man-eating sharks, a magic ring, and--well, he wasn't sure what powers Batman had yet, but they had to be impressive if he'd been willing to stand in between Superman and Green Lantern like that.
As Superman watched, Batman twisted away from clashing razor fangs to vault over a bronze-winged demon with an almost preternatural grace. Something about the way he moved tugged at Clark's memory, some connection nearly clicking into place--
And then the ground rocked and harsh light flooded the street like a hammer-blow. A figure that seemed carved from malign granite stepped onto the soil of Earth, and the ground seemed to cringe away from his footfalls.
The being--Darkseid, from his own corrupt lips--wasn't hateful, he was Hate. Clark could feel it emanating from him like steam from dry ice, a roiling miasma of cruelty that made his gut clench. Darkseid glanced at one of the military helicopters and beams of light stabbed from his eyes, congealed malice that obliterated the craft in an eyeblink.
Darkseid looked at Superman.
Flash was yelling something, he was pushing Clark away from the lancing crimson light, but the eyebeams bent impossibly to follow them, homing in on them. Superman launched himself into the sky, dazed and awkward, still unsure of himself in the air, he still wasn't even sure how he was doing it--the city reeled beneath him and the scarlet beam was faster that he was, it was catching up, it--
Agony exploded between his shoulder blades, under his breastbone, like his heart was bursting. It wasn't heat, it wasn't even pain, it was despair made solid that shattered him and sent him tumbling broken from the sky. He heard a shriek of triumph from above, and a demon's brazen claws seized him, piercing his shoulders and yanking him upward, away from his city, away from his world.
He glimpsed the scene below one last time, through a veil of scarlet mist: Flash's face blank with horror, Wonder Woman's contorted with fury. He saw Batman with one hand raised upward, his mouth open as if to call a name, and then it was all gone, blotted out in anguish.
: : :
A spray of droplets pattered on Batman's cowl, speckled his outstretched fingers with crimson. He watched his hand clench uselessly at the air and bit back a futile cry as Superman was borne away by one of the winged monsters, his torn body limp in its grasp. The sky was filled with people struggling in the grip of other demons, their cries shrill and hopeless, but Batman watched the battered figure in red and blue until it disappeared into the black clouds.
"Keep him busy," he said to the rest of the team as they picked themselves from the rubble. His voice was cold with fury, and he let that icy rage lash him onward. No time to think, only to act.
Green Lantern was still staggering to his feet. "Keep who busy?"
"Him." Batman pointed at the massive figure gazing out over the destruction.
"Gladly," said Wonder Woman, snapping her lasso between her hands with a grim smile.
"Back her up!" Batman yelled at a dazed-looking Green Lantern and Aquaman as she soared into battle. "I'm going after Superman!"
"You're what? Are you crazy?" Green Lantern's mouth hung open with a dismay that would be amusing under different circumstances.
"Just go!" Batman gave Green Lantern a shove in the small of the back, pushing him toward where Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the just-arrived cyborg kid were charging at Darkseid. Then he turned his back on the battle and ran.
In the shadows of a sagging parking garage he yanked off his cowl and detached his cape. Superman was being taken away to somewhere. He needed to be where Superman was. There seemed to be only one way to get there. The demons were fighting people in costumes, kidnapping people in civilian clothes: therefore, Bruce had to be a civilian again. Simple.
He ran up the ramp to the roof of the garage and threw his hands in the air, flagging down a flying demon like some satanic taxi. A monster stooped from the sky in a clamor of metal wings; there was an instant of panic as claws clamped around his wrists, but he tamped it down ruthlessly. He was the one in control of the situation, not the thing carrying him. He knew what he was doing.
He was going to save Clark.
: : :
Had he been here minutes or months? Clark couldn't tell anymore. Visions of worlds aflame, hope crushed into fragments, entire races in chains flickered and blazed through his mind, searing him more than the bonds of sullen light that penetrated his flesh. Despair was a lead weight on his chest, burrowing into his heart. He could break his chains, assault the leering figures that stooped over him--but to what purpose? He was alone on a world of sulphur and ashes, unimaginable distances from earth. No one could cross the light-years, infiltrate this hellish tower of iron and find him. No one would come for him. No one.
He heard himself choking on blood and grief, a small, lost sound among the howls of the damned ringing through the halls. No one would miss him--just one person, not even a human being, an alien. The thought wormed into his brain, devouring all hope: the gentle green and blue earth festered and dripped with maggots, the golden fields of Kansas weltered in filth and blood. His parents turned away from him, their smiles fading into disgust, receding into darkness. Everyone had feared and hated him, everyone who cared for him was dead and gone, this was all he had now, an eternity of suffering.
A word, a name, came to him through the crushing despair, and he seized at it like a spar: dark laughing eyes, a voice filled with self-mockery and affection. A promise: Someday I'll leap into the unknown for you. But it was impossible, it slipped away from him into the scarlet darkness, the inflection and rhythm of it lost under the tormented sounds in his ears, the tumult in his heart. Only the mockery remained, turned outward to cut at him like bitter blades. His hopes were feeble and foolish, a last taunting cruelty. Better to let them go entirely, to let faith fall into ashes like the lie it was. He knew now that Bruce would laugh to see him here, stripped of his pride, powerless at last. With a final stab of panic, he realized he could no longer recall Bruce's eyes or the curve of his mouth; the face in his memory receded into blankness and pain.
Despair obliterated him like a wave, a crash of surf on an endless aching shore, seeking to sweep him into its depths forever. He struggled against it, but he was alone, and he had nothing left to hold on to. Images filled his mind of himself kneeling at Darkseid's feet, emptied of volition, an instrument only of Darkseid's malignant will. Visions of himself at Darkseid's right hand, turning the tide of the battle into darkness, crushing out the light of Earth, the light of a thousand suns. This was his destiny, there was no escape.
No, he thought, through the pain that negated all he was. There remained one way to thwart Darkseid's design. One way to prevent that future. He narrowed his world to that thought, the only one left to him.
One final way.
----------
( Part 8)