ASPECT: Eclipso - Black Sun Part 5

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feebadger

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5. A Dark Prince.

“Batman had locked himself away within the Batcave when Eclipso had first struck, desperately trying to devise a way to stop the Dark Gods plans. Yet, when the news came to him of what had happened to Superman, he came immediately. I was bloodied and broken, barely able to breathe when I saw him land in his Batwing. Saw him stride out from it's shadows as he always had; calm, confident, like a commander entering a battlefield he had already won. He didn't say a word, simply strode past me, directly to Superman until they were face to face. Superman, wild and dark, was stunned that anyone would dare, never mind a weak and powerless human to approach him in such a way. But this was Batman and deep in Superman somewhere, fear must have stirred. I remember hearing it, the one word that Bruce... that Batman spoke. It was almost a whisper, a plead that most didn't hear but me.

“Clark?”

“There was nothing for a moment, no trace of acknowledgement, then a flash of anger from the dark Kryptonian and knowing that there was no way to reach him, Batman moved. I saw his arm fly and stretch out before him, just as I saw the flash of green upon his ring finger; the Kryptonite ring. Batman had always kept it as a fail safe, a weapon to bring Superman down if ever such a situation had arisen.

“What I did not know until later though, was that Batman had taken even greater precautions after the appearance of Eclipso. Knowing the nature of the Dark Ones power, Batman had Green Lantern forge him a ring of his own, grafting the emerald band to the Kryptonian ring so that whatever the ring made would be forged in Kryptonite itself. So it was that Batman unleashed his considerable will through the ring, blasting Superman with a light so great that it blinded me a moment and all I could hear were Clark's screams. I almost pitied him and when my eyes cleared I could see Batman standing over him, the ring having forged a Kryptonian box around Superman, the Man Of Steel's skin burnt and torn from the blast. Yet,though he was shaken and hurt, Superman still stood and though no one else might have noticed it, my years of experience working with Batman had taught me to recognise when he was troubled. He looked at Superman, unsure as to how or why he was still standing after such a blast and before he could react, Superman broke free of his prison and his hand was at Batman's throat.

“The darkness. That which had been Batman's ally his whole life had betrayed him. Of course, it now lived within Superman, coating not only his soul, but his flesh too and it was this impenetrable darkness, the stuff of magic, which now made him immune to the full effect of Kryptonite. Batman may have suspected such a thing, we will never know as the next moment, the unthinkable happened. The two locked eyes a moment, Superman's face twisted into rage and torment by the shadows and Batman... he smiled a moment at his old friend.

“Then Superman burnt him.”

“With no pause, no hesitation, his heat vision flared and he burnt Batman to ash. Bruce... Bruce never made a sound and when Superman scraped the last of the ash from his hands it was as if that silence was still there, Batman's unspoken judgement hounding Superman... surrounding us all. In the confusion that followed I made my escape, knowing any stand at that time would achieve nothing and I ran to the underground as hero and villain alike fell before Eclipso's ambition. That was twelve years ago, twelve years of hell... of fighting. Twelve years since the League fell and now... now we are all that are left.

“Thanks to the good graces of Mister E, we have all been spared the effects of Eclipso's crystal... but there is no spell he can cast to save us from the crystal's effect on the world around us. So we hide here, where once Batman spearheaded justice... a place which the young amongst you have rechristened, 'The World.'

“Here is where you decide for yourselves what the word 'hero' means to you. I cannot define it for you. You need to define yourselves first, then perhaps you will know what it means. But know this... what was done for you... for us all, was not done in vain. You are HERE. You are ALIVE...

“The rest is up to you.”

With that, Diana lowered her gaze from all in the room and rose into the air, disappearing into the darkness beyond without a word.

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BumpyBoo

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#2 BumpyBoo  Moderator

@feebadger:

Whew, this one was pretty intense! And this part:

“Here is where you decide for yourselves what the word 'hero' means to you. I cannot define it for you. You need to define yourselves first, then perhaps you will know what it means. But know this... what was done for you... for us all, was not done in vain. You are HERE. You are ALIVE...

“The rest is up to you.”

Such an epic speech, not overly written either. This series is packing a real punch so far, gonna be sad when I get to the end. More! MORE! :):):)