Chapter 148: CHAPTER 146
[Connor Kent's POV]
My original plan involved using the jet, but the thought of being tracked down quickly made me reconsider. I couldn't risk anyone discovering my whereabouts or my intentions. So, I ditched the jet and opted for a more inconspicuous look: blue jeans, a simple black shirt, and a hoodie. I added a face cap and left the hood down.
Dressed like an everyday teenager, I made my way to the subway, taking several winding routes to ensure I wasn't being followed. About half an hour after I left, I finally boarded a train bound for Metropolis.
Fortunately, the train was sparsely populated, a stroke of luck in a city as bustling as this. While I proceeded towards Lex, I couldn't shake the thought that Lex's security detail included both highly skilled individuals and metahumans.
He was a frigging billionaire who had both money and power, of course his security detail would be tight and unpredictable. Especially after the last incident with him and the League the other time at his private estate.
While deep in thought, my reverie was broken by a voice beside me, and I turned to see Dick sitting next to me on the train. "How did you…?" I began, but he interrupted with an answer that actually made sense.
"Come on, you think I wouldn't know you had intentions of searching for Superman, even if it meant stepping outside your comfort zone? If it were Batman who got kidnapped, I'd do something similar," Dick said, glancing around the empty train.
I couldn't help but wonder how I hadn't noticed him earlier, especially with my enhanced senses. "How were you able to stalk and follow me without my knowing?" I asked as it still marveled me as to how he did it, he even went as far as sitting right next to me in the train.
"When you grow up with Batman and gain many years of both training and live action experience with him, you pick up a few tricks," he explained, brushing off my question and steering the conversation back to our mission.
"I plan to talk to Lex, hoping he'll be reasonable enough to give me the location of Superman and that of Flash. In some way I am like a son to him and he might hear me out or at least lend me a listening ear as a father. Even if he wants me ti join his cause in return, am okay with that because I know the League would put an end to this madness soon enough." I looked down at my hands as I spoke, wondering how it all got to this.
*UGH…*
I could feel Dick's exasperation even before he sarcastically smacked his forehead and gave me an earful of lecture. "Sometimes, you acted too naive, seeing the good in people when you should see them for who they really were. You know how diabolical Lex Luthor can be. He manipulated the League, lured them into a trap, captured the Flash and Superman, turning heroes into criminals in spandex, all in one night. What makes you think he won't do the same to you? What would you do if he refuses to go ahead with youe request?"
He bombarded me with a barrage of questions which needed indepth thinking before giving my answer. I needed to be smart about it because this might also be part of Lex's plan, a plan to draw me to himself.
Dick waited for my response, but before I could speak, he continued, "Let me guess, you plan to threaten him. Do you really believe threats work on someone like Lex?"
"Of course not, I know how terrifying of a person he can be. A piece of my genetics came from him. Do you think I don't understand what he's capable of?"
"I know," Dick said, "I just needed to make sure you were thinking straight. When a parent is involved, most people tend to let their emotions cloud their judgment. And in this case Superman is involved." He turned over to me as he added. "You might be brainy and good with tech, but Lex has been in this game way longer than you have."
I smirked at his indirect reference to my intelligence compared to his. "Word of focus, 'brainy.' Not smarter than most." He said as he saw the smirk tugged by the side of my lips.
As the train pulled into Metropolis, we disembarked from the train and Dick's attention was abruptly drawn to a shocking news broadcast displayed on a screen as we disembarked. I looked up and saw Superman standing alongside Lex Luthor and the President of the United States.
They announced that Superman was no longer a member of the League but was dedicated to protecting the nation. They even shook hands, seemingly putting an end to their long-standing rivalry, something Clark would never do. Something was wrong, he wasn't wearing the psychic dampener that Bruce made and it all made sense at that point.
Without hesitation, I grabbed Dick and dashed at superspeed. We headed straight for a building near LexCorp, the very spot where the broadcast had taken place. However, they were no longer there.
"So, what now?" Dick asked, relinquishing control of the mission to me, normally he would take command and lead the mission but this was my mission and he intended to follow my lead.
I pondered our next move, my mind racing with possibilities. Lex had orchestrated this situation brilliantly, and it was clear that this was a game we were unprepared to play. But I couldn't back down now. "We need to find out what Lex is really up to and try to rescue Superman from his grip before Superman ends uo doing something that might hunt him for a long time. We'll need more allies, and we'll have to be smarter than ever."
Dick nodded, his trust in me evident. As we gazed out at the sprawling city of Metropolis, we both understood that this mission had just become more challenging than we ever imagined. Now the Man of Steel was one of Lex's security detail.
…
[Tom Hendricks POV]
I strode down the blood-splattered hallway, the lifeless forms of soldiers left in my wake. Their initial bravado had crumbled into sheer terror as they realized the peril they faced. My relentless pursuit of Raven had brought me to this grim scene.
Raven lay on a sterile medical bed, her pallid form connected to an array of tubes, draining her blood. A man in a pristine white lab coat, adjusting his glasses, dared to question me, "Who are you, and what do you want?"
I couldn't help but scoff at his audacity. "Amid the chaos I've unleashed until getting here, you still wonder who I am?" I approached Raven's side, unplugging the invasive tubes. The scientist's voice grew stern, "Stop that!" He yelled at me while reaching an arm to his face as he adjusted his glasses.
I ignored him and laid my hand on the bags of extracted blood, heating them to such extremes that they nearly vaporized. "Didn't you hear me? I said stop!" he yelled, brandishing a blaster.
I glared at him, my disdain for his obsession with Raven's blood evident. "You scientists and your sick obsessions. If you desire demon blood so fervently, perhaps I should send you directly to hell to fetch some." With a telekinetic pull, I yanked him toward me, my grip like a vice around his neck. "Say hi to the devil for me, will you." With those words, his fear bubbled to the surface as he struggled against my grip. I snapped his neck like a twig, then dropped his lifeless body as I turned to Raven.
Gently, I cradled her in my arms, levitating off the ground as she began to regain consciousness. Her voice was weak, drugged. "Where are you taking me?"
"You're safe now," I assured her. She noticed the trail of lifeless bodies I'd left behind, a testament to the price they'd paid for crossing me.
Exiting the underground research facility through the hole I'd initially created, I glanced at the general's lifeless form, dangling from the wall, blood staining the ground as it created a puddle of blood below.
The soldiers above ground were paralyzed by fear, unable to retrieve their fallen leader who was brutally murdered, unsure of what I might do to those who dared take down his lifeless body from the wall before I left the base.
I offered a parting nod to the trembling soldiers. "Goodnight, gentlemen. If you have no unfinished business with me, I'll be on my way." Most shook their heads in response, and with a graceful motion, I took flight.
As we soared through the night sky, Raven groaned softly, her head throbbing. "Ugh... My head."
"Relax," I murmured, my voice reassuring. "You lost a lot of blood and need to rest. The headache is just a side effect of the sedative they used on you. Don't worry; you're in safe hands. I'll make sure you're okay."
"Thank you... Tom," she mumbled drowsily, drifting back into unconsciousness. I continued to carry her through the night, my thoughts consumed by her unexpected words.
'Wait… Did she just say Tom?'
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