Themyscira, 38 minutes laterMy soldiers retreat from Krypton, while I am forced to sit here and wait. The pain is still here. Why? Zod is dead, by my hand. Is it because Superman still lives? Is it because I am forced not to fight my enemy? Why?Batman rushes down the hall, carrying Wonder Woman. He is met by two of her warriors.
"Take her back to her quarters. Her right ankle needs tending to."
They took their commander from him and carried her away. Batman watched Diana; he saw her bruises, and her bloody nose. As much as he wanted to help end this war peacefully, he couldn't just let Superman get away with hurting her so badly.
--
Krypton, a hidden fortressKal-El wandered down the hallway, covered in blood, cuts and bruises. He gave a slight start when saw his mother and father, sitting on a bench. For some reason, he thought his father was dead. They looked back at him as Lara tended to a cut on Jor-El's shoulder. She smiles at Kal-El, who smiled back.
Jor-El frowned in puzzlement, then focused on his son. "Kal-El! Great Rao! What happened?"
"I-I tried to follow the troops, I wanted to help them get you back father."
"You could have gotten yourself killed!"
Lara looks at Jor-El, uneasiness in her eyes.
Kal-El hung his head. "I'm sorry, father."
Jor-El slapped him. "You left your mother to die! What fool would do that!?"
Lara put out a restraining hand. "Jor-El I'm fine. I can handle myself you know that!"
Jor-El shook her off. "No Lara, I cannot tolerate his actions any longer! Kal-El, what do you have to say for yourself!?"
Kal-El did not speak While he was filled with anger at his father's hypocrisy and cowardice, he restrained himself. He choose to leave instead of fighting. Jor-El stared after him.
Kal-El wandered around outside, eventually finding a destroyed home. He wandered inside to think. He wanted to hate his father, and indeed he was infuriated with him, but he simply couldn't cut all ties.
Perhaps, he thought, blowing out a lungful of air,
I hoped he was dead because it would make things easier. His morbid brooding was cut off by a shuffling noise in the darkness of the ruined house.
"Who's there?"
The sound stopped. Kal-El looked left, then right. Suddenly, a blast of yellow energy struck him in the chest, causing him to fly backwards and break through a wall. He formed his uniform and created a shield. He stood, only to find himself surrounded by five droids. He waited for them to make the first move, seeking a weakness he could exploit.
There was a long, tension filled pause.
Finally, one of the droids charged Superman. He grabbed one of it's arms and ripped it off, then blasted it in the head, frying it's positronic brain. A second droid leapt for him; this one, he simply punched through, destroying it's power source.
The last remaining droid hesitated, seeming to scan him. "METALLO UNITS 2 AND 3 DESTROYED. SOLUTION: RELEASE YELLOW ENERGY. TERMINATE TARGET"
The chest of the Metallo unit opened, revealing a chunk of glowing yellow rock.. Before it could fire, Superman ripped the droid's head off. The unit fell to the ground, the yellow radiant energy of the rock trapped within.
Superman blew out a sigh of exhaustion and relief.
--
Themyscria, Diana's personal bedchamberDiana woke, squinting against the glaringly bright light. A dark blur solidified into Bruce.
"Bruce?"
"Good morning. How do you feel?"
She made to sit up, but he motioned her to lay back down.
"No, lay down. Your back has a few bruises that need healing."
Reluctantly, she lay back down. "What happened?"
"Superman was about to kill you. Your had multiple broken bones, including your ankle.”
"So you took me back here?"
"Yes."
She wanted to be angry at him for taking her away from the fight. But he had saved her life. ".... thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. Superman still lives."
"What!?""And I need your help. Do you know where I can find him?"
--
Krypton, Zor-El's labZor-El studied the programming of the METALLO unit. He was shocked by the programming. "I can't believe anyone would program anything like this. Why did they program it to attack YOU?"
Superman leaned against a nearby wall. "I don't know, that's what I was hoping you could find out."
"Well I'm afraid I won't be able to. Forgive me."
"Do what you can. I'll try to figure this one out myself." Superman wandered over to the balcony.
"Wait, before you go; I'm curious to know-" he pulls out the yellow energy rock. "What is this for?"
The energy gave Superman a sick feeling. "I'm guessing that gives the METALLO droids their energy. Other than that I don't know. Maybe you can figure it out."
Superman floated off the balcony and, with a sonic boom, shot into the sky. Zor-El was vaguely annoyed by the unnecessary display, but shook it of and continued to study the energy rock.
--
Superman flew over the buildings. Suddenly, a ray blasted his back! He didn't even realize what was going on before a lasso was thrown around him. His arms and torso were trapped! He was slammed hard into the ground, creating a small impact crater.
A shadow loomed over him. He looks up to see both the Amazonian Princess and the Dark Knight from Earth standing over his prone form.
Batman puts his away his ray gun, but then yanked Superman to his feet. He smashed a fist into Superman's jaw. Wonder Woman followed up with three hard blows to his ribs, and finished off with a blast of energy. Superman crashed into a wall, hard.
"Why?" he gasped in pain.
"Revenge" she replied, in a voice as cold as ice.
He lifted his right hand to fire his ring ather, but she grabbed his wrist and yanked it upwards,and his emerald blast discharged harmlessly into the sky. He should've thought to use a construct. But before he could correct that, she ttied him up with the lasso and threw him to the ground. Superman, already bleeding from the mouth, suffered further as Batman started stomping on him.
Superman burst free from the lasso with a flaming green aura. He grabbed a surprised Batman by the neck, and started punching him in the face. Wonder Woman came charging in, colliding with Superman and knocking Batman free of his grasp. Gritting his teeth, Superman punched her in the stomach.
Batman took Superman by surprise; smashing his elbow with a devastating blow. Once again, Superman hadn't shielded himself properly; the elbow gave way with a sickening crunch. Superman shouted in pain. Batman started smashing his head into the cold ground.
This time it was Wonder Woman who intervened. "No. We are done here. He has been humiliated, and this war is now over. We can go home."
Batman looked at her, then back to Superman. Wonder Woman, he realized, had learned mercy. His own mind cleared, and he nodded in agreement.
Batman and Wonder Woman flew away. Superman sat up slowly and painfully, watching them go. He grited his teeth in pain and frsutration.
I understand why she did this. Just let her go, don't make the situation worse. Sighing in frustration, Superman used a ring to make a cast for his broken arm, and hobbled away.
--
The Palace, Jor-El's roomJor-El waited in the dark. He sat on his bed in silence for a time, then he said....
"Come out, I know you're here."
A pair of eyes opened in the shadows. "The Amazons have retreated and Zod is dead.”
"Yes," Jor-El agreed.
"A shame, this will cause some revisions to my plans, but we will adapt. And what of your son?"
"Worse than before. He left his own mother to die the other day."
"That's your problem. But Kal-El's behavior can be explained."
"How?"
"As of late, I picked up a strong green energy force coming from him, the same that my METALLO droids have detected in Superman."
"Wait, what?!"
"Meaning that Kal-El has been keeping a strong secret from you. This will require further revision of my plans."
The figure steps out of the dark. "But I can confirm that he can not defeat
BRANIAC."
To be continued!Let us know what you think
here!--
Dear Readers,
There you have it! Jor-El's secret has been revealed to us all and the Trinity War is complete. These recent events will set up some more story arcs for the future, although I can not confirm that it will be any time soon at the moment. And now you will be seeing some appearances from more DC characters that we all know and love. So stay tuned and wait for next month's issue to see what happens next!
From the author,
Mitchell Underwood
