Post by The Wonderful Wachter on Mar 29, 2012 21:13:03 GMT -5
by
The Wonderful Wachter
Infamous
“It’s time to end this,” Superman declared, his voice colder than Metallo’s skin.
Fury such as Metallo had had never known as John Corben washed through him. It gave life to his metal body. Superman… The cause of his new body… his enslavement. His eyes flickered to Parasite, burning wreckage from the van dripping from both men’s shoulders. On the purple one’s face was a hunger that could never be sated. That was his primary objective. He had to kill the purple freak. Superman had been regulated to secondary before the energy stealer. And yet…
And yet… Metallo flexed his fingers in anticipation. The clinking echoing sound of his metal knuckles brought him an ounce of solace. He could do what John Corben had been unable to do as a mere man. Already he knew he could take on Superman based on his… master’s… research. He was more than a match for Parasite who in turn was a match for the man usually in blue.
The hungry Parasite seemed to have forgotten all about Metallo in the nanosecond it had taken him to come to terms with the way to carry out his wish and objective in one go. Leaping straight for Superman, Parasite flew faster than speeding bullet though it remained not fast enough. Superman’s armored fist met the wrinkled face of the energy vampire, sending him rocketing back down to the ground and into the waiting grasp of Metallo. Reacting faster than both flying beings, Metallo caught Parasite and used his momentum to spin until he launched the freak at Superman with more force than he could have done on his own.
The resulting sonic clash shattered windows. The whumpf of the sound wave bouncing off Metallo sent him stumbling back through the burning pieces of the family van, feet scraping against the concrete. The two arced over the sky of Metropolis until they crashed down thousands of feet away in yet another sizable crater.
An instant later, they took the air once more. Parasite tried to tear at Superman’s armor. His ferocity, his ravenous appetite, called for him to claw and claw at the metal. Blood streamed from his fingers as they failed to make any headway. Superman brought his forehead forward, slamming the helmet into Parasite’s bald brow. Metallo’s missiles met them before he could fall to the earth.
”Die, Superman.”
Superman found Metallo’s grip tightening around his throat when the smoke cleared, his feet inches from the ground. Metal bit into metal. The android grinned, his mouth opening to breathe superheated fire across the helmet. His fingers began to sink in. Superman gasped in horror, unable to pry him loose. Thankfully, he was saved by a massive pain in his backside.
Parasite’s tackle drove all three men through the streets of Metropolis until they all came to a stop in an upturned bus featuring an endorsement for LexCorp. The purple man finally succeeded in tearing the helmet from Superman’s face. In his glee, he reached forward without hesitation. Two little pinpricks appeared on the back of his hand, quickly followed by intense pain. The heat vision blasted his head backwards when it broke free of his purple skin. He stumbled backward as Superman steadied himself.
Before Metallo could do anything else, Superman superheated the remains of the bus to melt onto his feet. Frost-breath cooled it before any explosion could happen, imprisoning the android momentarily. Then he was on Parasite once again. Every punch was stronger than the last. The force was far more powerful than what came before. Superman was returning to a hundred percent. And with every hit, Parasite became weaker
Slam!
The creature soared up into the air after Superman’s uppercut. The Man of Steel was waiting for him at the peak of his climb, ready to slam him down to earth. With more force than he should have used, the two collided with the streets of Metropolis. Buried beneath the rubble and broken through to the sewers, Superman kept on punching, burning through the reserves of his energy trapped within Parasite’s purple body.
The sounds of his own racing heart masked what he should have noticed. His pounding heartbeat drowned out everything else, overcompensating for his superhearing. So much so, he missed the woman’s voice calling out to him.
“Superman! Superman! Stop!” the voice broke through the haze. “He’s not moving!”
Superman lifted Parasite up by his throat, readying another blow when he realized what had been said. In horror, he dropped the man who had once been Rudy Jones. What had he done?
The look was matched on Maggie’s stricken face. Her unsteady gun was pointed at Superman. He glanced up at her, unable to hear a heartbeat from his foe. His father’s words spoken what had seemed like an eternity ago came back to him.
What if it takes more…
---
Lex laid a reassuring hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You did what you had to do.”
“I killed him…”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?” Clark couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Hadn’t believed since he missed the sound of that fading heartbeat. Once more, Lex and he stood in an observation chamber while Dr. Irons examined Parasite. Only this time, they knew what, knew who, was on the table. “He’s dead.”
“We don’t know that,” Lex responded with every confidence. “We’re taking no chances after he absorbed that electricity. Can’t examine the remains the traditional way. And I won’t allow any autopsy to be performed. For all you know, you just need to go down there and give him mouth-to-mouth and our Sleeping Beauty will wake up.”
Clark leaned forward, every sort of vision he had saw Rudy Jones… Irons had confirmed that much. “He’s dead.”
“Your point? He’s a monster that killed his own family.”
“A monster created by STAR labs.”
“I knew nothing about that research,” Lex said.
“I’m sure.” With one last look at the unmoving body, “See you later, Lex.”
“Wait… Tell me more about this Metal Man. You might need my help to catch him.”
“I said later…”
---
Clark lay atop his blankets, staring at the ceiling. The sounds of the city, of the world whirled about him. So many voices crying out for help. So many he could help, should help. Yet he knew even Superman needed to take a break. He had been too caught up with being the hero, in saving the day. He forgot to hold back… Forgot all about the world of glass he lived in.
If he wanted, he could blame it on the unstable nature of his powers returning. But he wouldn’t. From the moment his heat vision burned through Parasite’s hand, he had been fully in control of his actions. He could have, should have, stopped at any time… He hadn’t.
So now he stared at his ceiling, through his ceiling, stargazing like only he could. His apartment was dark this evening, the only light coming from his computer monitor. It was sparsely decorated with the taste only a wholesome farmboy could have. Kept a few books from his childhood, the telescope he used to have back in the barn, and pictures of his friends and family. Even his TV and the furniture in the other room were secondhand despite Lex offers for a more suitable bachelor pad.
Space was so vast. If he flew high enough, he could break free of Earth’s gravity. Truly floating alone… He had done it before but the noise… the noise. That’s what should have drowned out Rudy’s hearbeat. Not his own.
A chime sounded from his computer. Probably a message from Lois bragging about how she had finished the article on the three-way brawl. Or maybe it was a picture of Superman standing over Parasite’s broken body from Jimmy. He tilted his head to stare at the monitor, focusing slightly so he could see what it was.
Glassesarecool. One of Clark Kent’s readers… A major contributor to the Copy Room Floor site he maintained.
You okay? I saw on the news what happened. When you didn’t log into your site today… I got worried.
Was he okay? Would Superman be okay?
Clark didn’t have an answer.
---
The cold, sterile laboratory was empty save the wrinkled corpse of the man who in life had been Rudy Jones and the small form of Maggie Sawyer. Luther had allowed her this visit before his scientists would figure out what to do with the body to prevent it from escaping again… if he was still alive in some small form. The warnings of Dr. Irons were still fresh in her mind. No touching. Stay far away. No smoking. And bring coffee next time.
The detective folded her arms across her chest as she looked down on the still form of Rudy strapped to the operating table. As far as she could figure, Luther would do nothing for the Mayor and the police force other than seal Parasite away to be forgotten. No autopsy. No examinations. No proof that Superman was responsible for the man’s death.
“I’m sorry, Rudy,” she said softly to the still form. “I couldn’t protect you or your family…” her voice choked off before she could add that she had been too late.
After this failure, she’d be lucky if she wasn’t demoted down to meter maid. Nothing on Edge. Their witness mutated and dead. Numerous officers dead and countless civilians injured. Millions in property damage. The Mayor was looking for someone to point a finger at and no one was looking to blame Metropolis’s golden boy Superman. The MPD would take the brunt. The early reports were already out there, casting doubt on their capabilities.
And now there was that Android on the loose. An android who according to Superman’s statement reminded him of someone.
Maggie gave Rudy one last look. “I’m so sorry.” She brushed a tear from her eye and turned on her heel to leave abruptly before she would start sobbing in public.
The door slid open and closed behind her, leaving the room empty except for Parasite’s remains. A stray hair, pulled loose when Maggie wiped her sleeve against her face, floated though the still air. Back and forth it hovered ever lower. Lower and lower. The room was silent as it landed on the shriveled purple nose.
No one was around to hear that single intake of breath.