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The battle was already in full swing by the time Mr. Terrific and his team arrived. A giant lizard-like creature stumbled around Metro Park, swatting at a blue blur as it whizzed around its head like a fly. Of course Clark had gotten here before them. He usually did. No amount of alarms, radios or satellite communication systems could beat good old fashioned super hearing. Whenever something odd or otherworldly was wreaking havoc in Metropolis, Superman was always first on the scene.
“It's the Justice Gang!” a cry from a civilian, who was probably being compensated for their brief role in today’s battle, heralded their entrance. Michael felt Kendra cringe beside him. In his own opinion there was nothing wrong with the name. Sure it was a little juvenile and gave their group the tone of a rag-tag group of amateurs, but that was mostly true. With Gardner at the helm, this group didn’t deserve anything more sophisticated. Not yet. They’d need to earn their way to a “society,” “association,” or “league.”
On cue, Superman halted mid air, turning to see the Justice Gang’s arrival. The next moments would unveil like clockwork. Guy and Kendra would dive into the fray, guns blazing, and Michael would reconvene with Superman, and get a quick briefing on the situation. It’s how most of these battles started. But today, something was different. Because today, Superman threw both hands up in front of him and yelled: “No! Guy, wait!”
This break in routine was enough to make Michael hesitate, but Guy was already on a one track mind. He dove towards the creature, forming a giant green fist in front of him, and plunged it into the creature's head. A bright blue shockwave pulsed through the creature's skin, almost like its scales were made of LED’s, and stopped in the center of its chest. It glowed for a second, as the creature roared, then the light shot back across the surface of the creature, leaving it at least six feet taller, and with several more spikes on its back and teeth in its mouth than before.
“What the-” Guy pulled back slightly, as the others joined him hovering above the creature.
“I was trying to warn you,” Superman suddenly appeared beside them, “This thing seems to absorb any kind of physical hit and uses it to become stronger.”
“Like it's evolving,” Kendra added, looking disgustedly at the creature.
“How do we hurt it?” Guy asked, seeming slightly annoyed that his usual approach was out the window. Michael pretended not to notice when Clark flinched at the word “hurt.” He always was a big softie.
“Big Blue,” Michael interjected, “Have you tried burning it with your laser eyes?”
Superman looked at him, shocked, “L-laser eyes?”
Guy echoed his statement, but with a little more envy in his tone: “You have laser eyes?”
“Don’t play dumb with me Clark." Michael said, tightly, "I watched you fight your own clone. I saw what he could do. It doesn't take a super genius to put two and two together!”
Superman hesitated for a second, as if hurtling some sort of obstacle in his head.
“Alright fine,” he said finally, “I don’t like to do it. It's hard to control, usually causes unnecessary damage, looks scary and quite frankly feels really weird but… I’ll try it.”
Michael smirked at the shocked look on Guy’s face and the impressed look on Kendra’s, though even he was impressed that there were still things to be learned about Superman.
“Guy, can you hold him in one place?” Superman asked, as he prepared to take off.
“Sure thing, Laser Eyes,” together the pair shot off towards the beast. Michael prepped his T-Spheres to scan the creature's vitals as their experiment began, while Kendra mumbled, “Badass,” under her breath.
“Hawkgirl, go help Superman distract the thing,” he instructed.
“On it!” she replied, and took off after them, mace in hand.
The plan was good… in theory.
Guy did his best to hold the creature in one spot, crafting a giant lizard harness and leash around the thing, making it look like someone's class pet was let loose in downtown Metropolis. Despite how it looked it did it's job, no longer allowing the monster to rampage over park benches, spike ball nets and picnic blankets. Guy would pull on the leash, causing the lizard to rear on its hind legs, exposing its unscaled belly. Kendra flew around its head, screaming at the beast, causing it to swat at her, leaving fleshy flanks unguarded. While the other two distracted, Superman unleashed a fiery beam of light at the beast every time it left a patch of unscaled skin exposed.
Michael flew around the battle, collecting thermal imaging scans and cellular readings from his T-Spheres.
Detecting third degree burns on lower neck, abdomen, and upper flanks, the spheres reported, no damage to scaled areas.
“It’s working!” Michael said over the comms. He knew Superman didn’t have one, but again… super hearing. “Keep hitting the weak spots!”
That’s when it all went to shit.
The creature seemed to be getting frustrated with being tied up and blasted at. It couldn’t catch Kendra or Superman, so it tried something else. With a mighty roar, the creature bucked, flinging its leash, and by association, Guy into the air in front of it. Before Guy had the chance to find his footing (can you call it that if it's in the air?) the creature swiped a giant clawed hand in his direction.
“Guy!” Superman yelled, before taking off like a bullet in his direction. He collided with the lizard’s hand a few feet in front of Guy’s face, stopping its momentum. Unfortunately, his hit also sent a ripple of blue energy down the creature’s arm.
“Uh-oh,” Guy said quietly, as the creature withdrew its hand. But this time, instead of moving down its body toward its core, the light simply reverberated up through its shoulder and back down its arm. It gave one more mighty swipe, with Superman as the target. Big Blue barely had time to brace before the creature's fist, and a blast of bright blue energy, struck him. The creature had taken the energy from Superman’s hit and had thrown it right back at him.
His own power, weaponized.
Oh shit, Michael thought, thinking once again of Ultraman, We’ve seen how that turned out.
Once the blast dissipated, Michael watched as Superman’s crumpled form plummeted to the earth below, landing so hard he formed a crater in the grass below.
Michael quickly switched his scans from the creature to Clark.
Multiple internal injuries, loss of consciousness, potential mild traumatic brain injury.
“Shit,” Michael cursed aloud. Loss of consciousness? As far as Michael knew Superman had never been KO’d… ever. An image of Clark barely being able to stand after being rescued from Lex’s pocket universe flashed through Michael’s mind. His glassy eyes, clammy skin and inky black veins. The fear Michael had felt seeing a god brought low.
Michael pushed the image from his head. He didn’t have time to think about that.
“Guy, get that thing under control!” he ordered. Then he shot towards Clark.
He touched down a few feet from the crater.
“Superman, you read me?”
Nothing.
“Clark?” His tone was sharp, urgent. “Talk to me, kid.”
A groan. Then a cough. Michael climbed through the rubble towards it.
As the dust cleared, Clark shifted, just barely, crumpled awkwardly on his side. There was a shallow, but nasty gash across his temple, and blood (actual Kryptonian blood) dripped into the dirt below.
“You still with me?” Michael asked as he crouched next to Clark.
“Yep,” Clark managed, “I'm fine.”
His voice was slurred. Eyes unfocused.
“You are very much not fine. You fell out of the sky and crumpled like a ragdoll.” Michael retorted, already reprogramming his spheres. If he was gonna heal Superman he needed to figure out how to magnify the UV rays emitted from the sun by… a lot. He needed the T-Spheres to create a focused UV amplification field or at least simulate some sort of direct solar exposure.
“I’ve had worse,” Clark said, grimacing, trying to get up. Michael was pulled out of his thoughts by the movement.
“Nope,” He said, pushing Clark gently but firmly back to the ground, “Absolutely not. You’re staying down, kid.”
“I’m fine-”
“Clark, you were unconscious ."
“I woke up.”
Michael gave him a stern look, making Clark avert his gaze. He continued to reprogram the T-Spheres.
Clark laughed. Delirium? Confusion? Michael added to the list of potential concussion symptoms, Could Kryptonian's even suffer from concussions?
“What?” Michael asked, eyes fixed on the holographic screens in front of him. Clark closed his eyes, grinning.
“You’re funny when you're worried.”
“I’m not worried,” Michael said tightly, “I’m strategizing under pressure. There’s a difference.”
Truthfully, his hands were shaking.
He’d seen Clark take some really big hits. Punches from which no being should be able to recover from. But he always got back up again. It wasn’t until he pulled Clark’s half conscious body from an interdimensional portal that Michael truly had the thought that maybe, just maybe, Superman could be defeated. Again, he pushed the idea from his mind, not giving into the distraction. He didn’t have time for emotions right now.
Finally the T-Spheres were programmed for Kryptonian field medicine. Or as close as any human technology could get to it. They assembled above the pair in a small circle, essentially creating a giant magnifying glass in the center of their circle, and an impenetrable shield on the outside of it, shielding Clark from any debris from the fight while he healed. Clark flinched when the beam of light hit his face.
Michael stood.
“Stay put. Five minutes, minimum . This isn’t your secret lair in Antarctica, but it’ll do.”
Clark gave a low, half-conscious hum of agreement. Michael hesitated a moment (expecting Clark to give him grief over his use of the word “lair”) before jumping back into the fight.
The fight that was still going to shit, by the way.
Guy had given up on the harness idea and now had a giant muzzle on the creature, while Kendra, unsuccessfully attempted to dive at its weak spots, having to pull up and abort more often than not.
Michael thought fast. Maybe if he could get his remaining spheres inside the creature, he could blast a major organ, just like he’d done with the Kaiju. He voiced his plan over the comms. However, Guy and Kendra were surprisingly less concerned with doing away with the monster.
“What happened to the Boy Scout?” Kendra asked, dodging a killer blow from the beast.
“Oh God, did I kill Superman?” Guy asked in a panic.
“No, Guy, if anyone were to kill Superman it would not be you,” Michael shot back, “He’s fine, he’s just… taking a moment to heal. We can handle this.”
Michael did his best to keep his voice steady. He didn’t appreciate this new emotion he was feeling in the midst of a battle, whatever it was. If the rest of the team heard any break in his resolve they didn’t let on.
“Got it boss,” Kendra replied, “Let’s do it.”
With the new plan in place the Justice Gang took their places.
“Ready?” Michael readied his team, “One, Two, Three!”
Immediately Guy released his hold on the monster and Kendra dove from behind it towards its face. When the monster opened its toothy mouth to snap at her, Michael sent his T-Spheres in for the kill. Only this monster was a lot faster than the Kaiju had been. It snapped its jaws quickly, completely destroying Michael’s extremely expensive tech, then opened its mouth wide again, ready to have three corporatized superheroes for lunch.
“Shit!” Kendra screamed, already flapping her wings, trying to gain altitude.
That’s when the blur of red and blue appeared once more in front of the group. Superman leveled his gaze at the creature and fired a blistering ray of red down the back of its throat. The monster screamed, only widening its maw to Superman’s attack. Clark screamed with effort as he doubled down on the creature, beams of energized fire erupting from his eyes. The air was filled with the disgusting smell of roasted flesh.
Finally the beast collapsed to the earth below, the heroes following swiftly after it.
Michael landed first, already moving towards Clark as he descended slowly from the air, and thankful that he did. As Clark landed, he stumbled, knees nearly buckling. His chest was heaving, and there was still a steady stream of blood flowing from his temple.
“What the hell was that?” Michael questioned the Kryptonian, “I told you to stay down.”
“I heard you,” Clark replied, “I just didn’t listen.”
He took a step forward and without ceremony, or warning, his knees buckled and he collapsed. Michael was by his side in two strides, catching him just in time to stop his head from hitting the ground.
“Goddamnit Kent,” Michael muttered, “I said five minutes. ”
Clark gave the faintest smirk through cracked lips, “two and a half... close enough...”
And then he passed out cold.
Michael adjusted his grip on the kid, pressing a hand lightly to the back of Clark’s head. His fingertips came away bloody.
“Shit,” he looked up at Guy and Kendra who were standing nearby watching. Stunned. “Get the T-ship prepped for medevac, now.”
Kendra was in the air in two seconds. Guy moved to a crouch beside Michael, helping him support the unconscious Kryptonian. This freed Michael’s hands to guide the T-spheres through another vitals check.
“I didn’t…” Guy started, “I didn’t think he could bleed… ”
After Michael’s silence he added, “I mean I knew he could but…”
Michael ignored him, continuing to work on stabilizing his friend.
“It’s gonna take a lot more than a little blood to take him out,” he said, finally, “
He’s goddamn Superman.”