Chapter Seventy-Five: Nightmare in Red Part One
Star Labs bustled with a fair amount of activity and one of those activities was a large item which had been found. Some of the employees wheeled the object in on a cart. Patricia Swann followed a few steps behind the people involved and was very careful not to upset the object as she walked behind the people wheeling in the object. Patricia hitched in her breath when taking a couple of steps.
They found this meteor and it was almost like nothing they have seen in their entire life. It could have been something amazing or it just could have been nothing at all. Patricia honestly could not tell at this particular point. All she knew was the fact it gave off a surprisingly warmth.
'At the very least, we've found something which gives off power and energy. At the very most, we've stumbled upon the key of something else.'
Her initial findings indicated that the meteor was most certainly not Kryptonite. She did not know what the meteor was however. It was just something else, something she could not quite figure out. They rolled it on a cart into the lab where Eliza Danvers waited.
Eliza, dressed in her usual lab coat, bent over as she half watched the news. She picked up the remote control and started to press a button to mute the news on the television screen. Her attention turned over towards Patricia who flashed a very obvious smile at her colleague.
"So?" Eliza asked.
"Make sure to get it into the lab where we can take a look at it."
The technicians all nodded and rolled the item into the lab where they could all get a look at it. Patricia's fingertips rubbed together as she looked at the item jutting out from underneath the sheet. They were dealing with something amazing and potentially something very powerful.
"I want your opinion on this."
The sheet had been taken off of a large chunk of black rock. Eliza could feel the heat pulsing from the rock the moment she stepped over. Her surprise and astonishment at the rock as it glowed underneath her gaze made her look very surprised.
"Do you think there's something to this?" Eliza asked.
Patricia threw her head back and had been very surprised at the question being thrown back at her. She endeavored to answer it the best she could.
"Sometimes a rock is just a rock. And sometimes, it's a lot more entirely."
Eliza figured about as much. Her answer made a lot of sense. They rolled the cart into the next part of the lab. A small part of the rock looked ready to chip off. Eliza swiped a cotton swab over the rock and got some particles off of it. She stepped into position with the glistening part of the rock just glowing off of the edge of the swab. She moved it underneath the microscope and leaned in.
The more she looked at the strange formation of the rocks involved, the more Eliza found herself very intrigued by what was going on around them. She was pretty much certain about something though.
"It's not of Earthly origin."
Whether or not it was anything special or a space rock was just a space rock, Eliza had no earthly idea whatsoever. Her eyes followed the edge of the rock as she maneuvered around it. Her frown deepened.
"We're going to have to run tests. And we're going to have to keep it in storage. I don't know what it is. But, my first thought is this object has some distinct energy which could be harnessed."
Patricia answered with a very brief nod of understanding. She figured about as much that the object could in fact he harnessed for something. She hoped to uncover the secrets providing the rock had any secrets to uncover. There was a chance it was just a rock.
Something in the lab started to squeal and then beep very loudly. Patricia stood up as straight as possible and almost dropped down to the floor.
"That's….please tell me that's not the scanner I think it is."
Eliza threw her hands back and moved to the other option of the lab. Star Labs acquired some equipment which helped them monitor activities. One of the pieces of equipment showed them any type of alien invasion intrusion which was about to happen. Eliza's fingers whirled on the computer to get a closer look to it. Needless to say, she frowned.
"Someone has sent a huge amount of energy past the satellites. I've never seen anything like this…there's a potential danger threat."
No question about it, Eliza had to take drastic action and this drastic action was to place a call to the Fortress of Solitude. Her fingers pressed on the button to activate the communication link straight to the Fortress. Eliza drew in her breath a moment later.
The blipping came up and she heard Lara's voice on the other side. "Yes."
"Are you getting this?" Eliza asked.
"I'm just getting that energy wave," Lara said. "Either something really big is coming through. Or a whole lot of someone is coming through?"
Both theories sounded pretty awful as far as Eliza was concerned. They understood the threats were only going to get more immense as time went on and there was really no going around that.
Lois flew side by side with Clark. She was not going to lie, this was one of the best feelings ever. The freedom of having the air just blow through the side of her face as she flew. Clark smiled when he moved back around. The two of them separated to cover more ground. Then the two of them moved back together with each other.
"This is the best!" Lois cheered.
Clark just gave her a knowing smile and squeezed her shoulder. "I figured you'd get some excitement out of this."
The brunette Green Lantern recruit tossed her hair back and smiled. Excitement? Was he really kidding? Lois pumped her hand in the air and gave a very loud cheer when moving about in the air. As excited as she was, a feeling of morose spread over the body of the thrill seeking heroine.
"I have to say though, as exciting as it is, there's a part of this which is a little bit boring!"
Clark raised his eyebrow at Lois. He was about to ask her a million questions about how she could be bored when she was showing this much excitement. Lois reached over and cupped the side of Clark's hand to hold him into place. Clark took a deep breath and smiled.
"I mean, we haven't run into any trouble. When I came home, the bar was set pretty high with those Intergang goons. You can't blame me for having some pretty high expectations, can you?"
Clark suppose that he could not blame Lois at all for having those high expectations. They circled around the city. Clark's scanned the area and found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary which mandated his attention. He did not see anything not even a rogue pickpocket or a carjacker.
"To be fair, Metropolis is not Gotham."
Lois laughed. "Wow, that's the understatement to end all understatements. I mean, Metropolis is kind of the day and Gotham City is kind of the night. You would think there would be something….."
A red glowing pure with immense heat coming off of him zipped past Lois and caught her off in mid conversation. Her mouth hung open as she followed the progress of the man dropping down onto the ground. His eyes glowed with hatred when dropping out of the way.
"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?"
The man raised his hand and sent a glowing knife at one of the civilians.
"You've got to be kidding me," Lois said.
"Looks like our break is over," Clark informed her.
Clark dropped down onto the ground in front of the crazed gentlemen who appeared to have acquired some kind of strange powers. He dropped down to the ground and looked at someone who had a ring who was just like Lois which took him aback. Only the ring was not precisely like Lois, no it was a red energy ring as opposed to a green energy ring.
"That's a Red Lantern," Lois said.
"There are Red Lanterns now?" Clark asked.
Lois answered with a sigh and put her hand on Clark's shoulder to squeeze it. "Yes, there unfortunately are Red Lanterns. And Earth is one of the worst possible places for them to be, I'm afraid. They feed off of anger and….."
He slammed down on the road to send some trash cans flying which stood in his way. Lois let out her breath in a very obvious his through her teeth.
"There's a whole of a hell lot for him to be pissed off about when he's here on Earth. I think we can both agree about that."
Clark could not argue with Lois on this particular front. Another thing he could not argue with Lois on the fact of was this Red Lantern was a dangerous threat.
"If there's one, there might be several," Lois said. "Well, we'll worry about the several after we worry about this one and take him down."
The super powered pair dropped down on the ground in front of the Red Lantern. His eyes widened and suddenly, he sent a chainsaw at both of them from the Red Lantern ring. Lois avoided the attack and rolled onto her back. She blasted the chainsaw construct.
"You will not stand in my way!" the Red Lantern yelled. "You're going to die, Superman! It's people like you who make sure honest folks like me don't make a living!"
Clark could tell he was either a follower of the hate spat out on a weekly basis by G. Gordon Godfrey or he was something else entirely. Regardless of the fact, the Red Lantern threw his hand back and whipped it through the air. A burning red light shot inches from Clark as he tried to spike him.
A huge gust of super breath brought the Red Lantern flying backwards into position from Lois to grab onto him. The cage the Red Lantern entered did not serve to calm him down. It was on the contrary. The cage only served to enrage the man who howled and trashed against the bars the deeper he pushed against him. The Red Lantern's anger increased with a very obvious fever pitch when repeatedly slamming himself against the bars.
He broke free and sent Lois flying. The Red Lantern smashed through the building and moved out of position. Lois dropped down to her knees, her hands aching.
"Okay, I'm fine," Lois said.
The Red Lantern disappeared into a blast of Red light. One could almost hear the breath deflate out of Lois as she dropped to her knees on the ground. Her heart raced a couple more steps when she turned her attention towards Clark.
"But, there are more on the way."
Clark and Lois made their way back to the Fortress. Lois could not help, but smile at how amazing this place was.
"Not bad. Granted, the architecture is a bit bland, but hey, it functions."
They dropped down through the entrance into the Fortress and then came down from underneath. The array of crystals surrounding the room flashed at hyper sensitivity when glaring around them. Lois really wished she had three more sets of eyes.
"Welcome back, Lois."
Lara, Clark's birth mother, smiled when ushering Lois into the Fortress of Solitude. Lois was glad to feel welcomed. The smile on her face increased. She made her way over to see Astra standing there.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Lois asked.
"Everything is going as well as expected," Astra said. "The Kandorians remain fit as usual, although Faora is mostly holding down the field with the training on that front. And you've succeeded in your training as well. A Green Lantern, well they rarely recruit from Earth. In fact, you may be the first human recruit in recent memory. I figured you would have a strong enough will power."
"Yeah," Lois said. "They weren't fond of my attitude."
Astra put her hand on the shoulder of the younger girl.
"Sometimes, a strong and a headstrong attitude can ruffle people the wrong way. You have to be true to who you truly are, to accomplish some great things. And you can make no mistake about it, you will accomplish many great things during your time, Lois Lane."
Lois did think she accomplished something great by surviving the very rigorous and intense Green Lantern training.
"The Red Lanterns arriving might be a problem. I had no idea Atrocitus was recruiting on Earth."
Lois, Astra, Karen, and Lara realized they were not alone. Not only did Raya continue to work in the Fortress as always. Karen turned up and walked closer towards them.
"Atrocitus?" Karen asked. "Boy, that's…why do I have a feeling that name is a very appreciate one?"
Astra put a hand on her daughter's shoulder and responded with a very labored sigh. "It often is…and there are Red Lanterns now. It's beginning to get hard to keep track of the various different offshoot groups. And it's all of the Guardians' fault for all of these groups popping up."
The newest Green Lantern Corp recruit necessarily could not disagree with Astra's assessment. The Guardians of Oa most certainly picked a lot of unwise battle over the past several years. Some of them lead to their own recruits being mistrustful of everything they said. And some lead to some valuable former allies becoming their worst enemies.
'I guess you deal with that no matter where they go.'
"I've been able to trace the energy signature," Raya said. "And I think we can safely say this Atrocitus is going on a recruitment drive here on Earth. Three more rings have been signaled, and three more recruits throughout the world."
"What kind of person gets their hands on these Red Lantern rings?" Karen asked.
Lois took a moment to sigh. "They most certainly aren't always bad people, and they have good reasons to be angry. But, they can hold a lot of rage which Atrocitus weaponizes through use of the rings. They are not happy people any way you look at it."
"So, we're dealing with people who are just burning with rage," Astra said. "And three of them at the very least are on Earth."
"Yes," Lois said.
Atrocitus came here, Lois felt strongly about this, because Earth was a very fertile breeding ground for the type of rage which was necessary from a recruitment standpoint. The Green Lantern picked her hands off of the top of her hair and brushed said hair back with a sigh.
'This is going to be a long one.'
The planet Earth currently burned with people who were angry about something. There were many individuals who wished to gain vengeance on those who had committed perceived slights against them. The hatred lead to wars and general mistrust involving the people. The anger caused by certain outside elements continued to fester with each passing moment as these people grew even more enraged when time went on.
Atrocitus broke into a very grim smile at the look of the planet. He hovered with a small armada of his best recruits, ready to distribute his message. The fact a new Green Lantern had been recruited and had been sent to his planet was a declaration of war as far as the menacing individual had been concerned."
"You are perfect," Atrocitus said. "You are beautiful!"
That bellow caused all of the Red Lanterns to smile and nod. Three more recruits, two men and a woman, moved up from them. The first of the men lost his job, the second of the men lost his fortune, and the woman just experienced hardship where her children died in an attack in Gotham City by the Joker.
"And you are all beautiful as well. Your anger, and your rage is quite stunning. You shouldn't hold back on your anger. No, you should allow it to bloom, my children. And all of you are my children, the children of Atrocitus!"
They all looked forward to their leader who smiled and stared down at them like a proud father. All of them grew excited as Atrocitus looked down upon them with a warm smile, but it was under a pretext of something far greater.
"You have been ripped away from lives which has ruined you, to become better people. There's a Green Lantern here on this planet. Do you understand what the Green Lanterns are? They have caused all of this. They help the Guardians of Oa rule with an iron thumb. They've allowed countless home worlds to get destroyed because we refuse to concede that they are the ultimate home authority. Mine was not the first home world which had been destroyed, nor would it be the last that was destroyed!"
The loud cheers echoed from the long lived recruits. An attractive woman who burned with hatred moved in. Her deep cleavage was offset by the blood which splattered against her body.
"Long live Atrocitus!"
"Long live Atrocitus!"
They all moved outside of Earth's atmosphere. They all prepared to move down and to show why the Red Lanterns were made of.
"Thank you, Bleez," Atrocitus said. "Yes, you all have grown to see me as your father and as a guiding light. But, I'm much more than that. I give you an opportunity to succeed where the Guardians of Oa would have liked you all to fail. And there's a brand new world which deserves to be shown that the Red Lanterns are not to be pushed to the side.
Chanting in several different languages started up. One common thread was they all exhibited their worship for the one and only Atrocitus who broke out into a very obvious and deep smile.
"Keep your heads up and prepare for war. And we will not only prepare for war, but we will bring the war to these humans. They are ignorant for the most part of what goes on around them. They are a world which is ripe for change. And we will change that particular world!"
All of them yelled out and started to pump their hands up and down. They kept cheering even more loudly as they all mobilized in the center.
"On my word, we will strike."
Atrocitus motioned for Bleez to come over in his direction. One of his top recruits gave her master a smile as she closed into him.
"They are hungry for blood," Bleez said.
"Yes, they are," Atrocitus said. "As are you, my dear. All of what has happened to you is because the Guardians and their Green Lanterns have done nothing. And what are you going to do to the Green Lantern of Sector 2814?"
"I'M GOING TO RIP HER PRETTY LITTLE HEAD OFF!" Bleez snarled.
She had a score to settle with the woman on Earth. This Green Lantern recruit had humiliated Bleez the last time they had fought. Bleez shook as the blood lust burning through her body reached a fever pitch.
"They say there's a Kryptonian on the planet," one of the Red Lanterns said. "Shall we make their race extinct?"
Atrocitus found this bit of news to be very intriguing for a number of reasons. He did not think any of the Kryptonians survived the explosion of the planet. They were a very weak and soft race as far as Atrocitus had been concerned. They would have been ripped apart had the Red Lanterns drew their attention towards them.
'It's a pity, because underneath a yellow sun, they would have been gods. But, if there is a Kryptonian here, they are too pure of heart.'
A loud roar came from the Red Lanterns. Bleez in particular rocked herself back and forth in thinly veiled excitement. Her eyes flashed for a second.
"Let me at him!"
"If he gets in our way, he will be taught a lesson for his arrogance like all of the others," Atrocitus said. "All move forward upon this world. The message of the Red Lanterns will be spread as it should have been throughout all of time!"
Another loud bellow and the words "All Hail, Atrocitus" came on in. The Red Lantern in question broke into a smile as he motioned his followers to move into position to follow him.
Daisy and Alex heard of the attack. Clark sent them a message to meet them in a Metropolis park. It looked like someone smashed through the fountain the second they arrived. Daisy put the hands on the top of her head and let out a very obvious sigh.
"Okay, why do I have feeling this is going to be a lot worse than it even looks? And it looks pretty bad?"
Alex smiled and put a hand on Daisy's head.
'I sense something…that shouldn't be,' the blue beetle scarab said. 'It's darkness and it decays everything it touches. I should destroy it with extreme prejudice!'
The two women approached the scene to see Lois and Clark standing there. The Green Lantern and the Man of Steel greeted the two women with smiles.
"Wish we could have gotten together under better circumstances," Alex said.
"Yeah, no kidding," Daisy said. "I don't think this is the double date either of us would have wanted."
Clark looked up in the sky. It most certainly was not a bird or a plane up in the skies. It looked like trouble coming down to face them. The trouble dropped down onto the ground with several resounding thuds.
"Red Lanterns," Clark said.
Alex and Daisy turned their attention to the Red Lanterns. A cannon retracted from Alex as it pointed at them. Daisy's hand started to vibrate as they fought them.
"Well, more pretty little heroes who we can rip apart!" the woman yelled.
"Bleez," Lois said.
Bleez would have been an extremely attractive woman if she was not bathed completely in blood and not a raving psychopath. Those two qualities were a real turn off for Lois. She pitied what happened to the woman, of course anyone who knew her story did.
"Hey, pretty!" Bleez yelled. "You won't look so pretty when I rip you apart and tear your head off!"
A blast of energy came through the area and came inches from ripping Lois apart. Lois avoided the attack from utterly destroying her just seconds later.
More Red Lanterns dropped out of the portal as Alex, Clark, and Daisy engaged them. The numbers overwhelmed then even with the Blue Beetle scarab firing everything. Daisy rocked the ground underneath them as they tried to gain a foothold. One of the Red Lantern drilled the ground underneath where Daisy stood and caused her to land down onto the ground.
Clark rushed the Red Lanterns and send them flying. They nailed Clark with several blunt force attacks to drop him down to the ground. Daisy returned fire with an attack of her own to send the Red Lanterns hurling to the ground and just in time too by the looks of things.
A machine dropped down from one of the portals and started to drill through the pavement. Lois zipped over into position to stop the machine from doing its damage. Bleez created a wall to prevent Lois from doing so. Lois flew back so Clark could catch her.
"Are you okay?"
"It's a machine that the Red Lanterns use," Lois said, ignoring the inquiry about her own well being. "it could level all of Metropolis if it's not offered."
"We're going to have a lot of angry people if their homes are destroyed," Bleez said.
Alex and Daisy blasted their way through the field of Red Lanterns. They needed to get to that machine before it had been activated at all costs. Lois and Clark joined them. The four of them moved towards the machine. Each second was precious to their abilities to stop this evil plan.
"It doesn't take much to insight humans to hatred, does it?"
"These alien menaces should all be hunted down and destroyed!" ranted G. Gordon Godfrey, almost on cue as his loud voice blared over the television screen.
"My point exactly."
Lois nailed her hard with a large fist. Clark took on the larger Red Lantern who guarded the machine. His fists glowed as he tried to take Clark down. Clark evaded each of the attacks as his rage increased. The Man of Steel jumped down and drove his elbow into the back of the head of the Red Lantern.
Clark moved down to the Machine and prepared to rip it out before it drilled in completely. A large red blast of energy shot through his ring towards him. The energy created by the Yellow Sun sucked out of Clark's body and left him weak and down on the ground.
Atrocitus moved into position in front of Clark. The Red Lanterns all positioned themselves and created a shield around in the sky preventing any fresh energy from recharging Clark.
"So, you're the Kryptonian? I'm not impressed."
Atrocitus created an ax from his ring and prepared to finish the job the planet's explosion started all those years ago against a young man working from only reserves and determination.
Chapter Seventy-Six: Nightmare in Red Part Two
The Kryptonian Survivor stood up to his feet. Every inch of his body felt like some runaway train rolled over it. Determination blocked out the pain Superman felt. He would have to stand up and most important he would have to fight Atrocitus. The Man of Steel planted his feet firmly onto the ground and came up to fight the leader of the Red Lantern Corps. The other Red Lanterns buzzed around like angry bees above the top of his head.
"I'm not impressed."
Atrocitus forcefully nailed Superman with everything he could behind that violent punch. The Man of Steel struggled to his feet and took a deep breath. Superman eyed Atrocitus with a beery eye. Atrocitus came at him with a huge battle axe. Superman dodged the attack and struck Atrocitus with a huge uppercut to the side of the face. Atrocitus stepped back another inch.
He decided to use a construct of a red fist to pound the Kryptonian Survivor down to the ground. Atrocitus watched as the Kryptonian male rose to his feet. The Red Lantern threw his full force attack towards him. He flew backwards into the side of the building. Superman slid down on the building and left a skid mark behind him. His fingers curled against the ground.
"Superman, hang on!" The Green Lantern yelled.
Lois Lane pushed herself through the Red Lanterns who surrounded the weapon in the ground. She had to get to Atrocitus. Unfortunately, they were making this a lot easier said than done. Bleez dove through the air and went to spike down into Lois's chest. Lois avoided the spike from coming down into her just seconds away.
The Red Lantern moved closer towards Superman like the raging wind. Superman sucked in his breath when standing up to face Atrocitus. Atrocitus pounded him down to one knee with a spiked fist down to the back of the head.
"They call you Superman. I don't see it."
A huge blast nailed Superman so hard it flipped the Man of Steel over onto his back. He tried with all of his might to raise up to fight Atrocitus. He could not sustain the attacks for very long.
"There is little about you that is Super!"
Atrocitus beat Superman down into the ground so hard that a small crater manifested. He barely even acknowledge the battle going on around him. He only wished to rip into the Kryptonian one last time and spill his blood.
"And there's little about you that's manly."
A dazed part of Clark's mind was very amused. It was a damn good thing Grace Godfrey did not hear Atrocitus's words. The self-proclaimed feminist would have gone off like a howler monkey about toxic masculinity if she heard what Atrocitus considered to be a man.
"I don't know," Superman managed. He took in several pained breaths. His face swelled up and it was very hard for him to breath. "I might surprise you."
"There are no surprises without your yellow sunlight," Atrocitus said. "You live by the power. And you die by the power. And today, you are going to die without the power of the yellow sunlight."
The Man of Steel's expression focused on Atrocitus just seconds before the adversary brought his elbow down onto the top of Superman's head. A blur shot out of nowhere and caught Atrocitus to send him flying head over heels and crashing down onto the ground.
The distraction of the new arrival allowed Daisy to break free from the enemies who attacked her. Lois swooped in with a giant green glove and flipped her enemies up into the air. The Red Lanterns scattered. Alex stepped back a couple of feet from the scene as well to get a clear shot at Atrocitus.
'Relax your fire,' she told the scarab.
Power Girl came in front of Atrocitus. Atrocitus held of his hand which flickered in simulated red solar radiation. He reared back and went for a huge punch to the head of his adversary. She dodged the attack and came back with an uppercut punch to the side of the head. Atrocitus only came back a few inches with Power Girl jabbing away at him.
A raven haired woman dropped down. Diana's eyes narrowed when she came face to face with Atrocitus. She withdrew a large sword from the sheath against her belt. Atrocitus created a red sword in response and the two circled each other. They jumped into the air to attack each other. The two weapons clashed together with them going down on the ground.
Diana's determination came through at the best possible way. She pushed her power into another attack and rocked Atrocitus back with all of her might. The Red Lantern staggered back a couple of steps and almost dropped down onto the ground. The Amazon Princess drew in another breath and jumped high into the air. Atrocitus blocked the attack with a shield.
Bleez and Lois surrounded each other. Both of the Lanterns fired their vicious attacks. Multi-colored lights cut through the air. Neither backed off from the attack. Lois's will-power pushed through Bleez's attacks and were stronger than the woman's rage.
"NO! NO! NO!"
These screams of anger flashed out with Bleez attempting to break through from where she stood alongside Lois. Her hands twitched and twisted. Lois flew into another attack and brought Bleez down to the ground. The Red Lanterns swarmed over the top of them.
Atrocitus disappeared in a flash of light. The Red Lanterns all disappeared into a flash of light. Lois flew down to the ground when Bleez nailed her with a blunt force attack. She tried to nail Lois in the ribs with a dagger made of Red Lantern Energy. Lois avoided the Red Lantern Dagger being plunged into her stomach. She fought with all of her might, her arms thrashing around as she attempted to block the dagger from slamming into her stomach.
Diana caught Bleez with a glancing shot. Bleez turned around and fought the Amazon Princess. The two brunette women encircled Bleez on both sides. Lois caught her in a green fist and forced her to her knees. Bleez broke free from the attack.
The lasso Diana carried wrapped around Bleez's arms and forced her to drop down onto the ground. Her breathing became very labored as she collapsed down to a kneeling position. The compulsion to tell the truth burned at Diana.
"What is Atrocitus planning to do?"
"He's targeted the Earth!" Bleez yelled with the scorching fury building through her body. "He's after a more potent power battery….forged out of the rage and despair of a hopeless world. And that world is….."
Bleez's body burned underneath Diana's lasso. She blacked out from the agony, the rage getting the better of her. Bleez fell back.
Karen already scooped Clark off of the ground and flew off now the sky was clear of Red Lanterns. Time was of the essence, and it was time to get him back to the Fortress.
Karen carried Clark over towards the table and put on down. Raya already had the simulated yellow solar radiation lamps ready to go. She pushed a button and the lamps activated to their full capacity. The solar energy flowed over Clark's body the second Raya got everything into place.
"You were very lucky to get him back here in time," Raya said.
The Kryptonian hero on the table did not really feel all that lucky. There was a rather frustrating feeling going through his mind. Atrocitus beat him down to the ground. Rage caused him to win the day. It should not have happened. Rage should not have been the contributing factor to this battle or any other battle.
"Just relax," Lara said.
Lara tried to remain calm. They needed to break this red shield around the Earth. Not only was it causing the vital solar radiation to be blocked, but Lara feared that given what she learned about the Red Lantern power source, it would have an adverse effect on the people in general.
"It's important for us to break it," Alura said. "The red energy taps into the most base, the most primal parts of an individual. Those most primal parts lead the individual to bouts of sudden rage. That rage will rip anyone apart if they can't handle it."
Everyone who met Atrocitus or one of his Red Lanterns saw what the rage was doing. Alura and Raya adjusted the frequency of the yellow solar radiation lamps. Clark groaned when he felt his body perform a healing ritual. His heart beat a bit faster.
Karen sat down beside him wordlessly, and held his hand.
"It's going to be fine."
"Nothing's going to be fine," Clark said.
He had been out there and fighting Atrocitus in a huge battle. He could have defeated that monster. Clark should have defeated that monster.
"Your weakness is not the problem here," Raya said. "The problem is Atrocitus and his strength. He feeds off the rage of his followers. And he only recruits those who have the biggest reasons to be angry."
Clark did not feel any appeasement from Raya's words. He just felt a greater sense of discomfort and also a greater sense of dismay. The Man of Steel locked his fingers against the edge of the bed sheets and slowly turned upon it. His heart beat a little bit more prominently as he took a deep breath.
"I'm going to have to get back up there."
A single attempt to rise to his feet only forced Clark to fall back down on the bed. Clark's eyes glazed over and his head throbbed. He could feel like something ripped apart his body and put it together back in the wrong way.
"That's not advised."
Lara look towards Clark for a few seconds. She looked at him like only a mother could look at a son. Not only that, but she was looking at him like a mother who could look at a son doing something very foolish.
"I would have to agree," Raya said. "Your solar reserves are only up to a fraction of what they should be. Those are nearly not enough for you to go out and fight Atrocitus."
It was like Clark received a stab to his own gut at these words. Raya gently informed him of the facts of the matter. Clark put a hand to the top of his head and tried to think of another way. There had to be another way for him to defeat Atrocitus.
"How much?" Clark asked.
Raya consulted the readings. She understood Kal-El's despair about as much as anyone else. He wanted to be out there and more importantly he wanted to fight. He did not just want to, he had to fight.
"Seventy-three percent," she informed him.
"Good enough."
Clark rose to his feet. The injuries were healed, but he saw a sense of sluggishness. All of the women in the Fortress sighed, and Karen just moved alongside with him without a word.
Alura returned her attention to the readings.
"With the shield up, there is not much time," Alura said. "Whether Kryptonian or human, you're going to be feeling what's happening."
Alex leaned against the wall as she waited for the next move to be made. The skies still burned red over the top of all of their heads. She felt like they were just waiting for the next shoe to drop and it was going to be ugly when it was. Daisy moved over towards the machine and crouched down against it.
The hacking skills of the girl could only override this firewall. She learned several alien languages over the years, and they had served her well.
"It's a shame the Red Lantern wasn't able to help us," Daisy said. "She's back at the DEO, and I know she won't be happy."
Alex just nodded in a second. She looked up to the sky and saw something. It was not a bird or a plane, rather Captain Marvel who dropped down onto the ground right next to her.
"I just got back from off world," Carol said. "And I see we've run into something pretty awful. Red Lanterns and they've swarmed the Earth as well."
"Yeah, pretty much," Alex agreed.
The two sisters exchanged pleasant smiles in what was proving to be a very tense situation. Carol moved closer to Alex and put a hand on hers. "What can I do to help?"
"Well, you being here is a good thing in case the Red Lanterns come back," Alex said. "They just left all with Atrocitus after he beat Superman half to death on the ground."
That particular statement floored Carol like nothing else. They always all saw Superman as someone who would keep getting back up no matter how hard or how much he had been hit. Then again, perhaps that was just some wishful thinking on their part.
"And how long have they been gone?" Carol asked.
Alex thought about it for a second before coming back in for an answer. "They've been gone for about ten minutes, give or take. Daisy has been trying to figure out a way to break in through the alien encryption."
Daisy chewed down on her tongue to avoid the rant she wanted to give from spilling out. This was one of the most finicky things she's ever seen. She looked up just in time to see their other back up coming over. The newest Green Lantern looked down, flashed Carol a smile, before disappearing into a pulse of light.
"If I had any luck, I would be….hang on I got something!"
Speaking too soon had been a problem Daisy had been trying to avoid as of late. She accessed the machine and brought the computer up.
"Maybe I can help," Alex said. "The scarab can translate the alien language."
"Oh, yeah, why didn't I think of that?" Daisy asked.
Alex just smiled and walked over. She held her arm and the energy ran over the glowing numbers. Alex spent approximately thirty seconds scanning the readings coming from the machine. They were among the longest thirty seconds of her life as she moved back.
"Oh boy, that's not good," Alex said.
"What's not good?" Daisy asked.
She had a sense of nervousness from Alex's words. And she rarely minced words a lot of the time. Alex put her hand on the side of the machine and took in a deep breath. She was double-checking to see if her calculations were on point. A deep breath came from Alex when she looked over the machine.
"They are going to drill into the Earth. It won't destroy it, but it will create a fire pit. Countless will be killed."
"And more Red Lanterns will be born," Daisy said. "Fan-fucking-tastic."
An angry buzzing rose over the top of all of their heads. Daisy, Alex, and Carol were not alone. They had company and the Red Lanterns returned to protect their machine.
Atrocitus would have to see the fruits of his labor up close. The Red Lanterns noticed the three heroes moving around the machine. His newest Red Lanterns swarmed the machine to protect their leader.
"Soon, Earth will be a fertile breeding ground for those who are going to just give into their darkest torments," Atrocitus declared. "There's nothing that's going to stop me now."
"Daisy, take care of it," Alex said. "We'll take care of them."
Alex turned her attention towards Atrocitus, while Carol moved to engage the Red Lanterns. Carol was joined seconds later by Lois. The two women dove into the pile of the Red Lanterns and sent them scattering back a few inches.
Atrocitus looked at this human government agent on the ground and he contorted into a very amused smile. He came just this close to breaking into a fit of never ending laughter at the audacity of this human girl who dared fight him. Atrocitus stepped back an inch to further survey his prey.
"You dare fight me?" Atrocitus asked her. "You amuse me, child."
"Maybe."
Alex closed her eyes and the Blue Beetle scarab clicked into place. The armor covered her body from head to toe. She held a large arm cannon towards Atrocitus and fired at him.
The impact rocked Atrocitus for a minute. Atrocitus jumped up into the air and nailed the Blue Beetle directly in the chest. The scarab absorbed most of the impact from Atrocitus. Atrocitus reared back and created a glowing red energy scythe from his Red Lantern ring.
"I will rip it off of you."
Atrocitus drove his attack down onto the Blue Beetle. She pushed her attack back.
The woman inside of the scarab felt the heat. Daisy was working off to the side, and Alex knew to keep Atrocitus busy enough to prevent him from attacking Daisy. Alex sucked in her breath.
'Oh, I'm going to be feeling this one in the morning. There isn't a doubt I my mind that I am. That gruesome son of a bitch, he'll rip me apart if given half of a chance. Just got to…..just got to keep fighting even though the fight seems pretty hopeless right now.'
Alex sprung up and knocked Atrocitus back a fraction of a step. Atrocitus turned and grinned down at the woman. That grin showed so much sadistic that Alex wanted to throw herself to the ground in frustration. Atrocitus reared back and tried to spike through the armor.
She returned fire with a slash of her own. Atrocitus's own blood spilled down to the ground. This only invigorated the man in front of her because it gave him something to be angry about.
Alex felt the burn with Atrocitus rearing back and nailing her with a huge heart stopping attack. She could feel Atrocitus burn into her costume.
"You will look pretty mounted on my wall, scarab. I'm not certain about your filling, but I'll rip her apart all of the same."
A thunderous attack dropped down onto the back of Atrocitus's neck. Atrocitus staggered back a half of a step and looked up.
"Impossible."
"It's very possible."
Superman, now dressed in a brand new solar radiation suit, walked forward to engage Atrocitus in battle. Atrocitus rushed towards Superman who dodged out of the way.
"Getting slow," Superman said.
"You're going to pay for…"
Superman clapped his hands and sent Atrocitus flying a little bit off. He went underneath Atrocitus and swept him down to the leg. Superman hit three vicious blows all to vital pressure points. Atrocitus's body sized up before he got underneath Superman and propelled him back down to the ground.
The energy suit worked like a charm. Atrocitus kept moving forward with a swift purpose. The anger dancing in his eyes could not be replaced by anything. Pure unbridled rage swam through the eyes of the monster which destroyed many words. Atrocitus whipped his hand back and smacked down against his enemy. Atrocitus reared back one more time and rattled his enemy with a vicious attack. The Red energy coming from the ring rattled Superman and dropped him down to a single knee.
Superman just led Atrocitus into position. He grabbed the man around the arm and hoisted him up off of the ground. Superman twisted Atrocitus around by the arm and cracked his arm back. Atrocitus fell down to the ground, the impact having caused him a great deal of pain.
"You're finished."
Atrocitus drew upon the energy around him. The energy caused the yellow solar radiation to shine back through. Superman came back through and rocked Atrocitus with some punches.
"Come on, come on!" Daisy yelled "Damn it!"
Superman blocked the red dagger and grabbed onto Atrocitus's ring hand. Superman squeezed his hand and a loud crunch echoed. Every bone in Atrocitus's arm had been crushed by the sheer force of the Man of Steel. Superman nailed him with two punches in succession and a massive headbutt.
Lois shot down from underneath him and put Atrocitus in a cage. The Red monster broke free. The usage of his powers caused his Red Lanterns all to drop to the ground. They felt the same pain that he did from the broken arm. Atrocitus refused to back off.
He swung at Superman. Superman bobbed underneath the attack and came back. Superman caught him with a punch to the back of the head. Another punch to the back of the head and Atrocitus had been rocked.
Superman extended three fingers and caught Atrocitus in the neck. Blood splattered out of his nose from where Superman's fingers connected him. He dropped Atrocitus to the ground who lapsed into a catatonic state the moment he hit the ground.
The rest of the Red Lanterns dropped to the ground. They resembled puppets who had their strings cut completely from underneath of them. All of them fell one at a time to the ground.
The final push inside of the doomsday device and Alex moved over. The tandem assault of Alex and Daisy worked together to get the machine disabled.
"Thank…well just thank anyone at this point," Daisy said. "Three more seconds and that thing would have drilled into the Earth."
They did wonder who was going to clean this mess up. An energy beacon erupted in the air and several Green Lanterns dropped down to the ground.
"Late as always," Lois remarked.
The Red Lanterns and Atrocitus were carried off to have their day in court by the Guardians of Oa. Lois returned back to the Fortress and waited for Clark to get released from his clean bill of health. She had been doing a lot of thing and Lois would be the first to tell you that her doing a lot of thinking was a very dangerous thing indeed. She brushed her hair way from her face, blew it away, and sighed.
Clark returned and put a hand on her shoulder which caused Lois to almost jump halfway in the air. The Man of Steel wrapped his arms around Lois's waist and pulled her in tight.
"I've just been thinking about what Bleez said," Lois said.
Clark raised an eyebrow and he had his share of questions. "What did she say?"
Lois put a hand on Clark's shoulder and smiled at him. "Well, there's something about her words that rang true. There's someone who sicced Atrocitus on the Earth. And you can't deny you've felt something was off for a long time."
Ever since the Thangarian invasion, there had been a sense of something dark that was coming. Clark had been mentally preparing himself for a battle the likes of which had never been seen.
"Someone sent Atrocitus here, or at least riled him up enough to think Earth could be his own personal playground," Lois said. "And then….someone is giving gang members, human gang members, these high-tech weapons which is powerful enough to take you down."
Lois absent mindedly put her hand on Clark's shoulder. Clark just smiled at her.
"Someone is," Clark admitted. "But, I really want to know, whose doing that."
"Yeah, me too," Lois said.
The two enjoyed a very quiet and somber moment inside of the Fortress of Solitude. Lois eased herself closer to Clark who wrapped an arm around her and pulled Lois in very tightly.
"You were amazing out there. We could really use your help out there."
"Building a little group of Super Friends, are we?" Lois teased.
Clark just gave her a smile and leaned into kiss Lois. It had been a long time and Lois returned to cup the back of Clark's head to kiss him.
"My father and sister, they're both freaking out right about now," Lois said. "And I'm going to have to face them tomorrow, especially Lucy. Because she saw me snatched out from underneath her nose. The poor kid's traumatized even more than she already is for having me as a big sister."
Clark cracked out with a smile. Lois put her hand on Clark's shoulder and started to rub it.
"But, we're here right now and we should take advantage of this area. And I…might be using this ring tonight for some purposes that are not officially approved by the Guardians."
The two met in the middle with another kiss. Things were about ready to get hot and steamy a few seconds later, as Lois pushed the door open and pushed Clark back. Her legs ensnared Clark's body and kissed him even more deeply than ever before. Their tongues buried together against each other in a sign of lust.
Lois pulled Clark back onto the bed. She created some extra hands with the Green Lantern ring and pulled off Clark's outfit. She folded it up, at least the best she could.
"Nice to see that laundry still isn't your strong suit."
"Oh, you're going to pay for that little quip," Lois said.
She ran her actual physical hand down Clark's body. The other hands created by the Lantern construct rubbed over Clark's chest and through his hair now. She cupped his face roughly and moved down to grab the underside of his cock. The throbbing organ rose up with Lois sliding her hand down on it and making sure it was nice and big.
"It's almost so nice I don't want to wait," Lois said. "I'm still going to make you wait, though."
Lois swirled her tongue about the top of his head and made Clark rise in height. His massive prick came close to her lips. Lois leaned down and sucked Clark's big cock into her mouth.
The Kryptonian Survivor shifted his hips off of the bed in time with Lois and her perfectly shaped mouth. She looked down at Clark with those beautiful eyes and sucked on his hard cock the deeper she went down on him. Her warm lips ensnared Clark and released him. Clark grabbed the back of her head and bucked up to meet her mouth. Lois ensnared him and released him with a hungry suck which popped around his engorged prick.
"Oh, Lois," Clark groaned.
Lois just responded by sucking on him a little more. She reached over to fondle her balls. A third hand clutched around the base of his cock to prevent any explosion from happening.
A loud popping sound released Clark's cock. It coated with salvia with Lois pulling herself up. She undid the front of her uniform with a very wicked grin on her face.
"I think I better match you."
Lois stood before Clark wearing nothing other than underwear constructed completely by the Green Lantern ring. The woman climbed on top of Clark and rubbed her body against his. The Green Lantern kissed Clark's jawline and then moved down to worship his body with more kisses.
These tormenting attacks done from Lois became too much for Clark. He reached behind her and grabbed Lois's ass before turning her over onto the bed.
Her breasts sprang free from their confinement. Clark attacked the large breasts and made Lois whimper out in pleasure. Her lust increase with Clark's hands cupping her chest and then releasing it. His strong hands rubbed all over her breasts and got her nipples excited.
Where Clark wanted to really be was right between Lois's legs. She teased him a little bit, so it was now time to return the favor. Clark would have to hold back his more primal thoughts of lust to instead grab onto Lois's chest and squeeze those breasts tightly. Lois shifted up just in time. Clark ran his hands over her warm chest and lightly rubbed her all the way down. He took her nipples in hand and squeezed them tightly.
"Oh, fuck, Clark," Lois breathed heavily.
The very second Clark touched those nipples he got Lois soaked and very much ready for more. His hands tempted her and went down to rub the heat between her thighs. Lois rose up to meet Clark's strong fingers as they prepared to part her thighs.
"You know what you want?"
"Fuck me," Lois growled.
Clark planted kisses down her body. Lois's eyes glazed over as Clark moved closer and closer. His hand cupped the back of her leg and parted them further. Her pussy dripped with arousal the second Clark moved closer to it. His warm lips touched the slit. Clark rubbed his tongue over the edge of Lois's warm pussy.
"Oooh!"
The slight vibration of his tongue bouncing in and out of Lois's slit made Clark taste her juices. Those juices coated Clark's tongue when he lapped them up. He slowed down his motions just enough to make Lois moan in need. She wanted even more and Clark was going to give her more.
Lois clamped down on the back of his head. She did not want this tongue lashing to end. Still, at the same time, Lois wanted even more. A conflict of very powerful emotions flooded through the body of the reporter the deeper Clark brought his tongue inside of her body.
The loud pop of his tongue leaving her center made Lois fall back onto the bed. Clark climbed on top of her. His throbbing hard cock just smacked against Lois's stomach. He moved it down her body and eased it to her body.
"Hold me down and fuck me like I'm your bitch."
Those words coupled with Lois's steamy glare caused another part in Clark to erupt. He positioned himself directly in front of Lois's opening. The heat pumping from her beckoned him in. One more push and Clark buried himself into Lois's pussy.
Lois threw herself up to meet Clark intruding inside of her. His massive member speared into Lois's tight center. Their hips rolled together with Lois hanging onto Clark. Her moan increased the further Clark pushed into her body. Their bodies merged together.
Clark slapped his hand on Lois's leg as it wrapped around him. He ran all the way up her leg to go down the side of her body. He reached her chest and squeezed it. Those nice round breasts pushed into Clark's hand. He squeezed them and then pushed down onto them. His hands made their way around Lois's breasts. He explored them and made them his.
A warmth spread through Lois as immediately, the orgasm came to a fever pitch through her body. She reached a peak and broke one of her nails in Clark's back. Not that Lois cared about such a thing, all she cared about was getting the most out of it. Her pussy clamped and released his rod to feel the huge push inside of her.
"CLARK!"
He drove himself deep into Lois. Their bodies merged together with Clark's hands moving all over Lois's body at the speed of light. She copied his motions, using the Green Lantern ring to shift the hands. She maneuvered one of the hands to cup and squeeze at Clark's balls as he pushed deep inside of her body.
The force of Clark's cock pushed inside of her body. He was as rough as he could be with someone like her and Lois appreciated it. She would feel the force of him inside of her in the morning. His big cock buried deep inside of her wonderfully tight womb.
"Clark!" Lois moaned. "OH CLARK!"
The Man of Steel pushed his rod deeper inside of Lois. Lois's wet pussy dripped with desire the further Clark buried himself inside of her body. She stretched around him when rising up off of the bed. Clark shifted himself completely down in her with one large push inside of her. He stretched Lois's body against his cock.
She loved the intrusion of Clark buried inside of her. His cock, his hands, everything just made Lois feel really good. And when she felt really good, it kept her out of trouble. His manhood spiked inside of Lois and made her loins tense up against his rod.
Her slick pussy dragged Clark into her as swiftly as possible. The woman underneath Clark pushed her hips up to meet his hard and throbbing cock.
"Oh, Lois!" Clark groaned. "LOIS!"
"CLARK!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Both met each other at the center. Clark's big manhood just drilled its way past Lois's juicy walls. She clamped down onto him and groaned when he shoved off.
They were both getting close to the end. Clark shifted himself back up and drove back down into Lois. Her wet pussy ensnared Clark the deeper he pushed into her.
Lois threw her head back and moaned. Her legs never left Clark's waist to hold him in tightly. Her body heated up to reach the end before exploding. She waited for Clark's turn to come.
Clark would not cum until Lois received two more very potent orgasms. The two pushed against each other with Clark's massive prick driving deep inside of her tight center. Lois flexed her pussy muscles around Clark to milk him. His balls gave a lurch and spilled their essence into Lois's very wet pussy.
Lois threw herself back down into the bed in content. Clark drained his balls into her center. She loved every single last scorching dose of his cum firing into her body. Lois brought her nails against his back and whimpered in delight the deeper Clark pushed into her.
"Thank…you!" Lois cheered.
Clark pulled out of her and smiled as Lois dropped down onto the bed. She sat up and cupped his balls and still-half hard cock.
"Don't go away just yet. We have a lot of lost time and lost orgasms I want to make up for."