Now You're Gone

15

Donna didn't have time to scream before a shadow was upon her. Her body fell at Lois' feet, thick blood soaking through her Ugg boots. Lois frantically rummaged around her purse, hand closing around her trustee iPhone. She shone the flashlight on their assailant. A hooded dwarf stood over Donna's body. Moonlight shone on his blood-stained sword, the crimson liquid dripping onto the floor.

Dr. Klein braced hands on Clark's shoulders. "Is that a toddler?"

"No!" the kid thundered. "I am Damian Al Ghul. Heir to the Demon's head," he leaped over machinery with surprising agility, moving like a spider in the close quarters of the ambulance. "Taste my steel, old man!"

Lois instinctively moved in front of Dr. Klein, and raised her arms to block the blade. She braced for the sting of the blade cutting skin. Her heart thundered in her chest like a furious tsunami. The pain will be worth it so long as Clark and Dr. Klein were safe. The blade collided with her arm. Her arm grew numb and heavy. Then the blade shattered into a million pieces.

The force of the blow knocked Damian to his bum and he disappeared beneath the stretcher. Soft whimpering sounded. At first Lois thought Clark was whimpering. She glanced beneath the stretcher and found the toddler nestled between the support legs, crying. He acted so much like. Assman 0.2 that she forgot he was a teething toddler. He wasn't prepared to face an invulnerable fat lady. Neither was Lois. This had never happened with her other pregnancies. Twins equaled double trouble.

Somebody grabbed Lois from behind and slammed Lois' head against the window. Her head spun; the door handle dug into her midsection. "Damian you are not a baby," Talia Al Ghul's fists tightened around Lois' wrists. "You are an Al Ghul. Al Ghuls adapt, they do not cry Now help me tie the Kryptonian's pet."

"Not going to work Mother," Damian slunk to Talia's side. Through the reflection on the window Lois saw tears staining Damian's pasty face. "Did you bring the green jewelry?"

Damian reminded Lois, this was a rare occasion where she upstaged Talia Al Ghul. Lois thought of the time Talia sprayed her with knockout gas and stole her dress. She thought of those grueling three hours where Superman was missing. Anger pulsed in her veins. She broke free of Talia's hold, pleased when she heard the crack of bones snapping. Talia screamed and cradled her broken hand.

"What the hell?"

"I tried warning you mother."

"What just happened?" Dr. Klein looked confused between Talia and Lois.

"No time to explain," Lois said breathlessly. "Help me get Clark out of here."

"We can't move him in his condition!"

"Do you have a better idea?" She wasn't waiting around to see Talia's plan B in action.

Dr. Klein fell silent and grabbed Clark by the legs. Together they heaved him out of the ambulance, her thighs flaring in protest. Evidently invulnerability did not translate to super strength. Least not yet.

John Corben was waiting for them outside, his sunglasses hiding the dead emerald eyes in his skull. Corben looked down at the bump. "You are one hot pregnant lady," he whistled appreciatively, keeping step with her and Klein. "When your Boy Scout dies, keep me in mind for future rendezvous."

"Fuck off," she hauled Clark away, hitting her back on the hood of the vehicle. Biting cold climbed up her spine, taking root in her throat. A bleak whimper escaped her lips. Two hundred-plus pounds of dead weight crushed her. She used all her strength to keep Clark upright. Dr. Klein's face turned purple with the strain. John Corben kept pace with them.