Part Twenty-Three

Ground Zero

“How much time do we have before your bomb goes off?” Batman inquired. He gripped the steering wheel as the bus roared through another barricade.

 

            Joker looked up from the device; Batman glanced at him through the mirror and Joker’s stare told him something was terribly wrong. “We have under a half hour,” Joker slowly rose and hung onto the railing, “That last bump… triggered the detonation sequence by mistake I’m afraid. There’s no turning back now Batman, we have to place this precisely in the right place to get the full effect. If we’re lucky, we will have enough time to get out.”

 

            “Can’t you turn it off?” Batman watched him through the mirror.

 

            Joker grinned and said, “There is no off switch old boy. You’re forgetting one thing Batman. I’m the villain here. It’s what I do best.”

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            Superman followed the thumps to a pile of rubble, he stood listening and scanning the area with his x-ray vision. He lifted huge chunks of cement as if they were weightless and put them aside. The beats were off and were getting louder as he dug through the wreckage. As he lifted another chunk of building debris, a hand was visible as it rested on rebar. It was a woman’s hand and his heart raced as he stood in shock. Slowly he crouched and reached for it, embracing it in his own. Diana! He thought. It was cold and his eyes began to water as he thought of the unthinkable. Quickly he tossed aside more rubble revealing the owner of the hand.

He stood in bafflement, it was Harley Quinn’s hand he had been holding and she lay alongside Cat Woman and Wonder Woman. It was Harley’s heartbeat that was irregular and not Diana’s as he thought; he stood there knowing she was going to die. Flashbacks of his father struck him. Watching his father die ripped him apart and those painful memories haunted him.

 

“No! No!” he looked upward, “I’m too late, I’m too late!” he spluttered.

 

He then checked for the other women’s heartbeat to be sure and they were fine. He shut his eyes and tears ran down his face, it was selfish of him to be glad it wasn’t Wonder Woman. He took a deep breath and knelt down beside Harley. Superman took her into his arms and removed the hair from her face, her blood turned black as it ran down her face which was covered in soot. He could feel the warmth of her body slowly turn cold. He stroked her hair as he held her, to comfort her, to ask for forgiveness and he trembled.

 

            “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he shut his eyes holding her close.

 

            Cat Woman began to move, when she had opened her eyes it was foggy. She lay there blinking until they focused. She then lifted herself up with her arms and debris and soot rolled off as she sat up scanning her surroundings, wondering where she was before remembering the building collapsing. Her head snapped as she looked for Harley. She spotted Wonder Woman beside her and then crawled toward her to check her pulse.

 

            “You’re a strong one; I admire your will to live.” Cat Woman had said considering how badly Wonder Woman was hurt. “Now to find Harley and get us out of here and you to a hospital.”

 

            Cat Woman stood and searched for Harley, she called out her name twice before she turned and seen a figure in a red cape hunched over. She stopped and stared in bewilderment, the figure’s back was facing her and she couldn’t comprehend what she was looking at. She took two steps forward reaching out with her hand; she stopped and cupped her face. She shook her head in disbelief, was he there or was she hallucinating. She built the courage to move ahead and again with her hand out, she wanted to touch and see if he were real.

            

She swallowed air as she moved closer. Maybe this was a dream; her heart raced as she became frightened. Who or what was this in front of her? Her curiosity edged her forward; she now stood behind the figure. She reached out and touched his shoulder.

            

The figure turned to face her, with red eyes he looked up at her, she gasped as she recognized who he was holding. It was Harley and she was dead. Cat Woman stood in shock and staring before her eyes filled with tears as she watched Superman lay her down. The beast thundered off in the distance, her eyes gazed upon the destruction. And when she looked back, Could it be? She thought, was it really him? She knelt down before him and looked him in the eyes. Her hand rose to her mouth in astonishment and then she reached out and wrapped her arms around him.

 

“It’s you, it’s really you.” she snivelled. “You’ve come back, I thought you were gone.” she pushed back to look once more, then she kissed him on the cheek and cupped his face staring momentarily before she smiled and continued. “I thought you were gone. You can save him now, you can save him.” Cat Woman stood holding onto Superman’s hand.

 

“Save who?” Superman watched her.

 

“Batman!” Cat Woman said with surprise. “You can save him right, you must. You have to save him from that, that thing. You can stop it right?” her voice was frantic.

 

“Cat Woman!” Superman raised his voice as he gripped her, “Where is Batman?”

 

“He and Joker are trying to stop that monster with a bomb.”

 

“A bomb?” Superman was stunned, “What kind of bomb?”

 

Cat Woman was hesitant, her mouth opened but no words followed. She turned to look at the wounded Wonder Woman before she turned back to Superman. “You have to save her first; her life means more than mine.”

 

Superman was unsure what she had meant, but he released her and quickly strode over toward Wonder Woman. The ground shook as another building toppled from the beast. Superman stopped and looked on, his eyes gazed upon the ruins and he heard the beast roar, slowly his eyes shifted down. He began thinking of his dreams, his nightmares, and his visions. Even what his mother had said at his father’s funeral.

 

“Superman… Superman! Are you alright?” Cat Woman’s voice snapped him out of his day dream.

 

He glanced at Cat Woman and shook his head; “I’m okay.” he said and continued toward Wonder Woman. He examined her with his x-ray vision and then grasped the metal shard, he looked at Cat Woman, “What is Batman doing with Joker anyway? I mean it’s not like him to go this way. And what kind of bomb are you talking about?” he looked at Wonder and said, “I’m sorry princess, this may hurt a little.” he pulled the metal shard from the Princess and she screamed, Superman then he used his heat vision to close and seal the wound.

 

Cat Woman watched him for a moment. “You were gone and, we all thought you were gone. It was chaos and after watching the world fall apart on television, to come here and try to help all those people, the League… but we arrived too late. Many soldiers gave their life, Green Lantern, The Flash, now Harley, they’re all dead. Joker said he was going to help Batman; that’s why we came but that thing, it wiped out the entire US Army, and it walked right through the League like nothing. Joker said he couldn’t stand by and watch this monster kill Batman; he even told Batman the only one who can kill him… was Joker himself.” Cat Woman thought for a moment, “You don’t suppose Joker is going to use Batman, to get the Kryptonite bomb close enough to detonate and…”

 

“Kryptonite?” Superman tilted his head. “Lady, you have a lot of explaining to do, but right now I have to take you and the Princess to the main land. Can I count on you to get her to the hospital?”

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