Fall of Justice

Red Son

Gotham glistened under the white coat of the ice storm. By the time Bruce had led the helicopters and drones away from Supergirl, he had gone so far out to sea that it took him the entire day to return to the city. The Batwing was running on fumes.

He watched his city below as he skimmed the clouds. It looked oddly peaceful tonight. He returned to the Batcave, expecting to find Clark and Kara but there was no one. He removed his cowl and made his way to the manor above. The television echoed down the hall. Bruce took a deep breath of relief.

When he entered the room, Lois sat on the couch alone, her leg bouncing up and down, nervous. She also breathed relief when she saw him, hopping to her feet and rushing to his side with a smile. "Thank God," she said. "Where's Clark and Kara?"

"I thought they'd be here..." he said. Her smile faded.

"It's alright I know where he was headed, Kara did too, she went there to help..." he turned and rushed back to the Batcave, knowing full well they should have returned hours ago.

The Batmobile roared to life, its top sliding to let him in as he approached. Bruce once again donned the Batman cowl, he wasn't done yet. He jumped into the vehicle, it screeched as he tore from the cave, making his way to Metropolis as fast as the car would go.

Once in the twin city, Batman crouched on the ledge of a gargoyled bank as he watched the Mayor's mansion, his electric binoculars zooming two blocks, scoping the home. No guards stood at their usual posts, the house was almost entirely empty, inside and out. Only one warm body showed up on his screen. Batman knew something wasn't right but there was no one else left to call. His wings spread behind him as he jumped, gliding silent and dark through the white storm.

Batman broke through the balcony window. The bedroom was empty. The only person in the home was down the hall straight ahead. He crossed the room-- something caught his attention. He looked to the floor. Blood. He tapped his comms, alerting the police.

He hurried out the room and sprinted down the corridor, crashing through the doors to a wide and open room at the other end.

Batman stopped. The man standing in the middle of the room did not turn around, he didn't flinch at the sound of the doors breaking, he only stood there, his back to the Dark Knight. The room was dim. Only one lamp in the entire library, making Luthor no more than a silhouette.

Luthor dipped something in a bucket on the table. Water cascaded from the table to the floor below as he continued to do whatever he was doing. Batman could barely make it out.

"I've been trying to figure out just what to say when you arrived..." Luthor said. "But there isn't much to be said is there?" he stepped aside. Superman's body lay on the table, his face thin, his frame skeletal. Luthor had been washing him. "His cells can't hold the energy from the Sun so they're deteriorating incredibly fast... There's not much I can do."

Bruce approached the scene ahead, his mind lost to horror. He looked into his friend's eyes. They were white. His mouth agape. His heart had been ripped to shreds in his chest.

"The world is on even ground now," Luthor said. Batman wrapped his armored hand around the man's throat and squeezed. Luthor remained perfectly still, simply taking it. His eyes rolled back as the air could no longer reach his brain. His legs grew weak beneath him.

Bruce saw Clark holding the hand of his toddler as they toured the Kansas farm, he saw Lois and Kara laughing at the sight of father and son, one so big, the other so small.

Batman squeezed harder. And then, he wondered why no one was coming to stop him. Where were his security detail?

"You want me to kill you..." Bruce said, letting him so. Luthor tumbled to the floor, gulping for air. Bruce thought of what had happened before this, how it all began, he thought of Harley Quinn leading Kara to a trap and the Joker being there when Dick came searching for clues. "Joker did this..." he said.

Luthor coughed as he stood, rubbing his neck. "So close..." Luthor said. "Doesn't matter to me, my part's done."

"You would die to protect him?"

"I'm dying anyway. Seemed like a fair deal. He gets me Superman, I let you take my life, in doing so, I take your code, the very ground you stand on, the thing that separates you, from him. You have to admit, for a lunatic in clown make-up, he's pretty clever."

"Where is he?"

"Our deal is done, I have no idea."

Batman pulled zip-cuffs from his belt and wrapped it around Luthor's wrist. He tied him to the table.

"It's done Batman," Luthor said. "One by one, all of you will fall."

Bruce, ignoring Luthor, turned to the body on the table. He slipped both arms beneath Clark and took him up.

Outside, the police were just arriving, their lights beat against the falling snow, making the flakes stutter blue in the air, as if time itself had stopped. The front door flew from its hinges, cracking to splinters as it dropped to the floor. The officers took aim at the black doorway.

Batman walked from the house, Superman in his arms. The police lowered the their weapons, mouths open, eyes wide. The silent storm raged on, as if the sky itself had broke open above them.