Third Person's POV
(Time Skip)
After Laia left, Bruce was looking over what was left in her file. There was one video left. He clicked on it and it showed adult Lex Luthor. He looked tired.
"My name is Lex Luthor." He said. "Today is test 2,555 of Project Witch...Oh, who am I kidding?" He sighed as he ran his hand over his face. "My father has banned me from using Laia's powers anymore. He also said that I cannot continue the Meta-Human testing. He wants Laia to have a normal life. To be a normal girl. But that's the thing. She isn't normal. She's...She's a girl who has the ability to manipulate a person's mind. Okay? She's not just a normal girl. She...She could be very dangerous if she wanted to. And that's why I created Project Witch. Laia thinks it was to help her control her powers, but no. It's not. It's so that I can understand people like her and put an end to them. It's people like her that will destroy us. And I can't let that happen. She's fully in control of her powers now. I gotta make sure she doesn't use them against us. This is Lex Luthor, signing off for the last time on Project Witch. The testing may be complete, but the battle has just begun." The video ended, and Bruce stood up, wanting to warn Laia but then he remembered she wasn't there anymore. She would already be at Lex's by now. And there was nothing he could do.
(Time Skip)
Alfred walked into the living room of the old, burned, Wayne Manor. Bruce stood there, staring at the wall.
"You know you can't win this." Alfred said. "It's suicide."
"I'm older now than my father ever was." Bruce said. "This may be the only thing I do that matters."
"20 years of fighting criminals amounts to nothing?" Alfred asked.
"Criminals are like weeds, Alfred." Bruce said. "Pull one up, another grows in its place. This is about the future of the world. This is my legacy." He looked down at a spot on the floor that had the family crest of the Waynes on it. "You know, my father sat me down right here. Told me what Wayne Manor was built on."
"Railroads, real estate, and oil." Alfred said.
"The 1st generation made their fortune trading with the French, pelts and skins." Bruce said. "They were hunters." Bruce walked away. Alfred watched him, knowing that this man was no longer the man he raised anymore. That man died a long time ago, and something else grew in his place.
(Time Skip)
Laia's POV
I walked out to the place where Lex was standing. He stood there, looking out at the city. The bat signal was in the distance.
"Lex." I said. He turned to me.
"Laia!" He said, running over to me. He hugged me. I hugged back, acting like nothing was wrong. He pulled away. "Thank god you're alright."
"What is happening?" I asked.
"You'll see it." He said, and I knew it wasn't good. Suddenly, a helicopter flew over and landed. A redhead girl got out and the helicopter flew away. I recognized her. She was a reporter from the Daily Planet. "Plain Lo in the morning. Lola in slacks." He sighed. "Lois Lane. Mm, come see the view. Mm!" He walked over and put his arm around her. She tried to pull away, but he held her in place. "Mnh-mnh. Now the secret to the height is the building material." He walked her over to the edge. "It's light metals, which...which sway a bit in the wind. Hmm." He let go of her and stood in front of her. "And you know something about LEXCORP metals, don't you, Miss Lane?"
"I've proven what you've done." She said.
"Wow, you're feisty." He said. "Unfortunately, that will blow away. Like sand in the desert."
"You're psychotic." She said.
"That is a 3-syllable word for any thought too big for little minds." He said, waving his hand over her forehead. "Mm, next category...Circles." He walked around her. "Round and round and round they go to find Superman. Wrong category, boy. No, no, triangles. Yes, Euclid's triangle inequality." He walked around her again. "The shortest distance between any two points is a straight path." He stopped behind her. "And I believe the straightest path to Superman is a pretty little road..." He sniffed her hair. "...mm...called Lois Lane." He turned her and pushed her off the edge.
"Lex!" I said, running over. He held me back.
"No, no, no." He said, causing me to look at him like he was crazy. "It's okay. She's alright. Just watch." I saw Superman catch her and fly to the ground. "See. He always comes for her." He pulled me back away from the edge. He let me go and sat on the ground. Suddenly, Superman flew and stopped a few feet away from us. "Boy, do we have problems up here! Mm." Lex started a timer. "Uh, the...Mmm." He stood up. "The problem of...of evil in the world. Uh, the problem of absolute virtue."
"I'll take you in without breaking you, which is more than you deserve." Superman said.
"The problem of you on top of everything else." Lex said. "You above all. Ah, cause that's what God is. Horus. Apollo. Jehovah. Kal-El." Superman flew down and landed in front of us. "Clark Joseph Kent." That's Clark?! "See, what we call "God" depends upon our tribe, Clark-Joe. Cause God is tribal. God takes sides. No man in the sky intervened when I was a boy to deliver me from Daddy's fist and abominations. Mhm-mnh. I figured out way back, if God is all-powerful, he cannot be all-good. And if he is all-good, then he cannot be all-powerful. And neither can you be. They need to see the fraud you are. With their eyes. The blood on your hands." He held up his hand that he had a bandage on.
"What have you done?" Clark asked.
"Hmm, and tonight, they will." Lex said. "Yes. Because you, my friend, have a date." He walked past Clark, to the edge. "Hmm!" Clark glanced at me. I looked at him and shrugged, showing him that I was as clueless as he was. Then we looked at Lex. "Across the bay. Ripe fruit, his hate, 2 years growing. But it did not take much to push him over, actually. Little red notes, big bang. You let your family die! And now, you will fly to him, and you will battle him to the death. Black and blue. Fight night! The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world. God versus man. Day versus night. Son of Krypton versus Bat of Gotham." My heart dropped into my stomach.
"Bruce." I whispered, figuring it out. He wants Clark to kill Bruce.
"You think I'll fight him for you?" Clark asked.
"Mm, yes, I do." Lex said. "I think you will fight-fight-fight for that special lady in your life."
"She's safe on the ground." Clark said. "How about you?"
"Close, but I am not talking about Lois." Lex said, walking past Clark and back to me. "No, every boy's special lady...is his mother." I was speechless. Clark turned to him and started walking over but stopped when Lex gasped and pulled pictures out of his pocket "Mm. Martha, Martha, Martha. Hmm. Why, the mother of a flying demon must be a witch. The punishment for witches, what is that? That's right. Death by fire. Mm." He threw the pictures on the ground. Clark fell to his knees and looked at them. He picked up one and looked at it. Clark looked up at Lex.
"WHERE IS SHE?!" Clark yelled, showing his laser eyes.
"I don't know!" Lex shouted. "I would not let them tell me! Now, if you kill me, Martha dies. And if you fly away, mm, Martha also dies. But if you kill the Bat...Martha lives." I bent down and picked up a picture of Martha Kent. She was gagged and had the word Witch written on her head. I didn't want this. I didn't want any of this. I never wanted to hurt people. "There we go. There we go, hmm." I dropped the picture. "And now God bends to my will. Ooh, now the cameras are waiting at your ship for the world to see the holes in the holy. Yes, the Almighty comes clean about how dirty he is when it counts. To save Martha, bring me the head of the Bat." I've had enough. A ball of red energy appeared between my hands. The helicopter landed. "Ah. Mother of God! Would you look at the time?" He pulled out his timer. "When you came here, you had an hour. Now, it's less. Come on, sis." Lex started walking away.
"Lex, that's enough!" I demanded. He stopped. "Let his mother go. I'm leaving."
He turned to me and he glanced down at the power ball in my hands. He looked back at me.
"You would betray me?" He asked. "After all we've been through, after all we've done, you would betray me?"
"I haven't done anything." I said. "You did. You killed Mercy and all those people. You've pushed Lois off a building, and now, you've kidnapped Clark's mother. I never asked for any of this!"
"Yes, you did!" He said. "Yes, you did! The day where I asked you, would you help me make the man suffer who killed our father, you said yes."
"I was angry." I defended. "I lost my parents and then I lost the man who raised me. You were the one who wanted to kill everyone!"
"Ah, yes, dear old dad." He said. "The man who loved his adopted daughter more than his own biological son. You didn't know him like I did. You weren't the one who was thrown aside for a child who didn't even belong in the family! You didn't belong in MY family! It was MY family! Not yours! Mine! And you took it away from me. So now, I get to take away what is left of yours. Bruce Wayne. The man who loved you and didn't even try to look for you."
"He did." I said.
"Oh, did he?" He asked. "Really? Well, how about the day you saw him again? Hmm? You were 16. I was 23. I took you to your first house party. We saw Bruce there and he didn't even notice you. Like you didn't even exist. Who cared for you? Me. Who was there for you in the dark times? Me! Who was there for you when Batman didn't come to save you?! ME! But you still loved him more. It makes me sick. A witch in love with a creature of the night. What a sob story."
"Just let them go." I said. "Martha had nothing to do with this!"
"Oh, yes she did." He said. "She adopted a child like you. A Meta-Human. A demon. And she deserves it."
"Fine." I said as he walked to the helicopter. "Then, I'll have to stop you."
"Oh, sister, if you do that, everyone will fear you. Including yourself." He said, getting in.
"I can't control their fear." I said. "Only my own."
The helicopter took off. I tried to throw the energy ball, but it disappeared, causing me to fall to the ground, out of energy. I looked up at Clark, who was now standing.
"I'm sorry." I said. "I didn't know he was gonna go this far. I never wanted this to happen." He nodded.
"And I'm sorry..." He said. "If I have to kill Batman to save my mother, I will."
"What?" I asked. He flew off. "No!" I stood up and looked out at the bat signal. I gotta warn Bruce.