Beyond Smallville: Fan Fiction

Chapter 6: Empire

After the charity dance finally ended, Oliver and Dinah slipped past the crowd milling around the front door of the Royal Arms Hotel. They escaped through a recently closed flower shop on the first floor across from the main entrance.

Chloe and Jimmy, Lois and Clark, and Bruce, Selena, Barb and Dick all left, passing through different exits, as they attempted with varying success to avoid the crowds. Lois and Clark headed around the corner into a dark, dreary alley.

They’d parked Lois’s car at a lot nearby. She walked arm in arm with Clark, smiling brightly. "Hey Smallville, I had a really good time tonight. Lois leaned up to kiss him. "I’m glad to hear it Miss Lane." A gruff deep voice said. A large man stepped out of the shadows.

Lois’s head spun left as she spied the intruder. He was wearing a black hoodie, pulled down over his forehead. He pointed a silver high caliber pistol at Lois’s head, clicking it, and pressing the trigger. The mugger purposely left that bullet chamber open to make a point.

Four other goons, dressed similarly surrounded them. Each had a different weapon. Some were automatic pistols, and one was a sawed off shotgun. Even with Clark’s hyper speed, he might not have been able to deflect all the shots, and Lois could be injured or killed.

For now, Superman played along. He’d already decided to use his powers in front of Lois if need be. The odd, awkward explanation would have to wait until later. "We don’t want any trouble." Clark said as he raised his hands and stepped in front of Lois. Even, so, two gunmen had clean shots at her. There will be another time, Kal thought warily.

"That’s too bad." Another hit man said as he trained a semi-automatic revolver on Clark’s head. "Please, make a move." The nearest thug challenged. Lois and Clark were still. "What do you want?" Lois yelled bravely. "First, I want you to lower your voice." The leader said.

He shoved the barrel of the silver gun against Lois’s cheek. She gulped. "Okay, I’m a mouse." The goon snickered. "That’s better Miss Lane." He lowered his weapon, pointing it at the center of Lois’s chest. "You and your boyfriend are taking a ride, likely your last."

"Get moving!" The assailant with the sawed off shotgun shoved Clark forward. He let the thug grab his arm and guide him towards two waiting black SUVs. The second creep twisted Lois’s arms behind her back. She yelped. Clark could feel his anger building.

"Get in and shut up!" The lead thug ordered. "I’d waste you both right here, but the boss wants it to be clean. No evidence, got it?" They dumped Lois and Clark into separate vehicles. "You’re making a big mistake." Lois argued. "People know that we’re here."

The goon next to her grinned evilly. "It is you who made the mistake by challenging Mowhala’s Empire." Lois stared blankly at the henchman. "Who?" She asked. "She doesn’t remember!" The driver laughed. "You just ran a story last month on the Mowhala Drug Empire. To say the least, Sunji Mowhala was most displeased." Lois noted that the creeps had slight middle-eastern accents.

Chloe and Jimmy had their own problems. Another group of goons had abducted them in much the same manner. Bruce and the others had missed the whole scene. Laura and Kara were long gone. Only Hal Jordan had remained behind the chaos, among the photographers and reporters.

Hal and his new love interest, Carolyn, just happened to catch a glimpse of Lois and Clark being herded into the SUVs. He immediately called the Metropolis Police Department, yet Hal noted that the thugs likely outgunned the MPD. "Carolyn, wait here." Hal stepped back into the lobby.

He called Bruce’s cell phone, assuming that Wayne was the type of guy that got things done. Besides, if the captors demanded ransom, Wayne could pay it without breaking a financial sweat. "Hey boss, we have a situation here." Hal explained to Bruce as Barb and Dick looked on in the limo.

"I’m betting that some of the party guests have deep pockets, hence the kidnaping." Hal added. "Thanks. We’ll handle it." Bruce said and clicked off the phone. Hal glanced at the empty parking lot behind the hotel. I hope you know what you’re doing, Wayne. Hal mused silently as he rejoined Carolyn.

"Alfred, get Lucius on the phone." Bruce ordered. "I guess we’ll be staying in Metropolis for a while." He briefed Barb and Dick on the plan. Hal’s rental sports car appeared as the valet brought it around front. He and Carolyn made plans of their own.

Chloe and Jimmy sat handcuffed together in the back of an unmarked gray car. Two abductors held them at bay with what appeared to Chloe as standard U S Government issue 9 mm revolvers. "We demand our rights!" Jimmy piped up. "You gave up your rights when you spied on American citizens."

The G Man partially hid his face from them. "I don’t know how you got out of Red Mountain, but you’re going right back to Nevada, where you’ll stand trial for treason." Chloe felt an energy surge building up in her hands. How could she use her power while she was cuffed to Jimmy?, she wondered.

Where would she go if she could escape the Feds again? Chloe reached a decision. "I want to cut a plea bargain." She began. "Oh? What could you possibly offer the National Department of Domestic Security that would interest us?" The G Man snickered. "I’ve got dirt on Julian Luthor." Chloe said.

"Really?" The Fed was skeptical and so was Jimmy. "Can we go somewhere and talk?" She asked in an even tone. "What makes you think that we care about Luthor?" The driver asked. "I can prove that Luthor has been running illicit experiments, genetic research, and shall we say, non standard, non conventional weapons." Chloe exaggerated. "Okay, we’ll head for HQ." The driver decided.

Clark felt helpless, as he rode in the black SUV. The vehicles’ wheels squealed, heading off the main highway and onto an old two lane farming road. "You’ll never get away with it." Superman warned. "People will be looking for us." The nearest thug shrugged. "It is of no consequence."

"You will be dead shortly." The driver said. "Like footprints in the sand, you will be erased." Clark sighed. I have to time this just right, he considered. Meanwhile Lois was struggling against the grip of the Asian creep holding a semi-automatic revolver against her rib cage. "Why all the drama?" Lois asked. "Why not just shoot us and dump us in a cornfield somewhere?"

"Because, Miss Lane, I want you to suffer." The Middle-Eastern said. "I will torture your boyfriend before killing him before you. If that is how Sunji Mowhala wishes it."

The SUVs turned onto a dirt and gravel access road to Dead Man’s Gorge, the limestone quarry that had always been nearby. At it’s base, the river where they’d first found Kara, ran from Reeve’s Dam and into the wetlands. Clark was biding his time, figuring out the best plan of attack.

It wouldn’t take him long to disarm and immobilize his opponents, though the risk to Lois was severely high. The SUVs slowed to a stop. Superman noted that four other vehicles faced them with their headlights on. He used his x-ray vision to assess the number of criminals. He counted nineteen.

This complicates things quite a bit, Kal surmised. Every thug had a weapon, ranging from sniper rifles and uzis to revolvers. A prisoner exchange? He analyzed. There’s a lot of hardware for a simple abduction and extortion. He swallowed hard. This was going to be tough.

Clark readied himself. He had to reach Lois’s SUV first, disable her captors, and do it without anyone getting off a shot. I learned something tonight, Kal mused, Never hesitate, never go to the next crime scene. If I’d have used my powers on the original goons, it would have been much easier.

Now there’s no other choice, Superman thought, I have to use all of my abilities at the same time. He let the goons manhandle him out of the van, and toss him to the ground. The creeps had handcuffed him, which would be of little consequence. The driver kicked Clark in the ribs.

He playacted a bit, groaning and rolling over. He did this to specifically face Lois’s vehicle. As soon as she was out in the open, he’d attack. The other henchmen took up positions surrounding the SUVs. Clark examined them. The goons looked like a band of mercenaries to him.

Was Julian Luthor behind this, or someone else? He wondered, getting up on one knee. The driver was about to clock Clark in the head with the butt of his rifle. The three other abductors dragged Lois out of the SUV, and threw her unceremoniously onto the ground.

Lois’s face scraped against the gravely access road. "Ow! That’s going to leave a mark." She muttered. Clark was furious. He was measuring the distance between him and the goons closest to Lois. At least they had enough sense to handcuff her and attach makeshift leg shackles to her ankles.

That should keep her out of trouble and prevent her from doing anything foolish while he rescued her. Kal considered. "Where is payment?" The lead goon asked no one in particular. "Sunji Mowhala will not wait." Something whistled above their heads and impacted the black limo furthest from the crowd. It went up in a fiery mess, sending flaming shrapnel in all directions.

Lois quickly took advantage of the distraction, rolling behind the SUV and curling up into a ball. She simultaneously slipped her handcuffed arms below her legs, which enabled her to extend her arms out in front of her. She slid silently around the front of the vehicle, coming up behind a confused thug.

A sleek black sports car roared down the only exit from the access road, effectively bottling everyone in, and trapping the offenders between it and the edge of the quarry. The road had been built with drainage ditches, and dense foliage along one shoulder and muddy rocky wetlands along the other.

The sports car skidded to a stop, launching four small projectiles from its front hood scoop. The objects whirled into the fray. Two were concussion grenades and two were small flash rockets. This had the effect of blinding most of the people in the area, and creating massive confusion.

Lois stood up and grabbed a silver revolver from one guy’s holster, immediately whacking him across the back of the head with the butt of the gun. He slumped to the ground. Clark elbowed the two creeps nearest to him, sending them flying in opposite directions. He dashed towards Lois.

Two black motorcycles sped in next, flanking the three limos that remained, illuminated by the still burning vehicle. They each launched the same types of flash and concussion grenades. The motorbikes crisscrossed through the center of the standoff.

The gunmen began randomly firing their weapons, each suspecting the other of a double cross. Lois aimed the silver gun ahead of her, firing off a round. "Lois! No!" Clark yelled as he swept in to cover her. They hit the ground together. Lois had been winged across the temple by a piece of glass.

Blood trickled down her cheek, dripping onto Clark’s shoulder. Lois’s round found it’s mark. By pure luck she’d hit the lead creep right between the eyes, killing him instantly. She never knew what she’d done. Clark held her head up as Lois’s eyes fluttered. She was about to slip into unconsciousness.

The gunfire continued. Superman carried Lois at hyper speed back towards the black sports car. He slowed to a stop, pounding on the passenger side car door with his knee. The gull wing door opened upward, revealing a man in a dark ...bat suit? Clark gawked at the sight.

"Put her in, Kent!" The bat guy ordered in far too deep a voice. Clark lay Lois on the backseat, as she drifted off into oblivion. Superman used his x-ray vision to identify the man behind the mask. Bruce Wayne! Clark gaped. "This isn’t over!" The bat dude said. He fired off another round of flash grenades. "Get in!" Batman directed as Kal shook his head. "Get her out of here. I’ll deal with this!"

"No can do!" Batman grumbled. "I’ve got people in there. You’ll just get yourself killed." Clark sighed, as he forcibly closed the door the machine gears whined. Without a word, Clark zipped back into the fray. Batman stared through the eye slits in his mask as Clark appeared to disappear before his eyes.

"Alfred! Selena! Code red!" Bruce yelled into his car’s bat communicator. About a mile away, the elder gentleman buckled into the limo’s safety harness. "My word!" Alfred gasped. "Would you like me to drive, Al?" Selena literally purred as she slipped on her Catwoman suit in the back seat.

"No, that will be quite all right Miss Kyle." Alfred punched the limo’s accelerator and sped down the two lane highway. Selena pressed a button on a panel in the back seat. "Whoa!" The rear seat cushion assembly rotated upward, forcing her into a crouch position. "Meow!"

The rear seat shoved Catwoman forward. She hit her forehead on the base of the dashboard. "Ow!" An infrared view screen slid down from the dash where a CD player usually sat. A joystick for each hand popped up under her wrists. "Nice! Al this is the cat’s meow!" Alfred rolled his eyes.

"Miss Kyle, please don’t touch anything else." The manservant warned as he steered the limo down the access road, pulling up behind Bruce’s sports car. He quickly launched another round of special effects - the last round that the car held. The gull wing door snapped open, though it was slightly bent.

"Alfred, Miss Lane is injured. See that she gets immediate medical care. The first aid kit is located below the center column between the seats...uh...beneath Selena." Bruce directed. Alfred helped Batman carry Lois into the limo, placing her behind Catwoman. "Is there anything I can do?" She offered, obviously sucking up to Bruce. "No thanks Selena, just get Miss Lane to safety."

"How bad is it, sir?" Alfred watched as another black SUV inexplicably flipped over. "It’s bad Alfred." Batman said with disdain. "Yet, I believe that I’ve found what I’m looking for." He curled his upper lip. "Actually, the appropriate word is whom I’m looking for." Bruce corrected.

Near the edge of the quarry, Clark was randomly throwing people and equipment around, not attempting to hide his abilities at all. Bullets whizzed past and bounced off of him. One of the motorcycles sped by, and using some type of rocket adapter, launched itself high above an SUV.

The cyclist quickly disappeared onto a nearby mountain bike trail. A second motorcycle roared past in the opposite direction, using the same launching maneuver. This rider was not as lucky.

A round of ammo pelted the bike’s gas tank, though it appeared to be reinforced steel, the tank began to smoke. The biker lost control and landed too close to the end of the trail above the quarry.

"No!" Clark yelled and used his hyper speed to catch up to the motorcycle, as the rear wheel broke off and bounded across the hood of a still smoldering black limo.

Bruce had revealed the titanium alloy ram bars at the sports car’s front. The ram bars had flipped up from beneath the radiator area. He squealed the super slick rear tires, fish tailing down the gravel road into the ongoing melee. Batman mercilessly rammed every car or truck in his path.

Thugs that were still uninjured dove into the muck of the drainage ditch to save their hides. The vehicles scattered like a child’s playthings. Cars flipped atop other cars, Suvs rolled over and bounded into the foliage. Miraculously, no one else was killed.

Batman spied Clark, what appeared to be Barbara, and her motorcycle, all flying over the edge of the quarry, supposedly to their deaths, hundreds of feet below. He threw the car into a sideways skid, and spun it around to face the quarry. He launched two high tech grappling hooks at them.

Without enough time to aim the firing line properly, both hooks fell woefully short. Everyone was gone! Batman sat open-mouthed in disbelief. "No!" He pounded his fists on the dashboard. Two goons opened fire on Bruce’s car, in a lame attempt to escape. A single missile exploded nearby.

The creeps got the message. They dropped their weapons and stood before the sports car with arms raised. "Miss Kyle! Must you touch everything?" Alfred said with some irritation after Selena had fired the small munitions rocket at the mercenaries. "What can I say? Cats are curious." She quipped.

Clark concentrated hard as they fell deeper into the darkness below. He willed himself over to Barbara, grabbing the teen by her slim waist. The bike continued toward the floor of the canyon, exploding on impact. "I’ve got you!" Superman said. "You’ve got me? Who’s got you?" Barb gasped.

Clark smirked, recalling the last time he’d heard that line, literally in another lifetime. He righted himself, slowing their descent, and landed about halfway down the quarry wall, on a rocky slope. "Well Clark, I guess we need to talk..." Barb began as her long red hair wavered in the wind.

"First things first." Superman readied himself. "Barbara, hang on. This is going to be tricky." Batgirl gaped openly at Clark’s face, taking a moment to rub the dirt off of his cheek tenderly. Kal pushed down on the craggy rock outcropping and leapt high into the air. The action sent small boulders hurtling down to the quarry base. Superman covered about half the distance back to the top.

Clark clawed into the limestone wall, securing a handhold for a moment. Batgirl smiled, and kissed his cheek. "Hey!" Superman protested mildly. She extended one arm and shot a grappling hook upward and over the quarry’s edge. It secured itself around a large boulder.

The hook began to reel them up, but Clark was too heavy. Without warning, he let Barbara go, waiting momentarily to be sure that she’d made it all the way back up. The thugs could’ve still been after them, though he hadn’t heard any more gunfire. Barb gazed down into the darkness warily. "Clark?"

He half flew and ran at high speed along the side of the wall, emerging behind her. "Yes?" He purposely startled the teen crime-fighter. "Wow! You are one super man!" Barb praised. Clark wrinkled his nose. "So I’‘ve heard." He quipped.

link to chapter 7