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Dark Harvest	By : Riot Storm Category: DC Verse Comics > Superman Views: 81691 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Superman, Poison Ivy, Justice League or related characters and am not making a profit from this story. The characters are owned by DC Comics.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Dark Harvest
Chapter 10: Downfall
Written and Edited by R.S.
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They landed in the middle of what would’ve been a bustling intersection, had it been earlier in the day, in the heart of the business district in downtown Metropolis. Gleaming towers and high rises flanked each side of the four way intersection forming long canyons of steel, brick, and glass almost as far as the eye could see. The traffic lights blinked from red to green but the few cars that had been waiting to go st Dark Harvest
Chapter 11: Feint- Part 1
Written and Edited by R.S.
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The Watchtower
“What’s going on?” Black Canary wondered aloud.
Her bright blue eyes widened as they scanned the multitude of glowing monitors before her, trying to comprehend what had just taken place.
The myriad of fierce battles raging coast to coast across the country between Earth’s heroes and Poison Ivy’s plant hybrid army had quite suddenly come to an abrupt halt. She considered whether it was a blessing that Ivy’s female soldiers had suddenly decided to retreat in the midst of what was basically an all out war but a part of her refused to let down her guard.
One by one the battles had unceremoniously ended in similar fashion as the extremely powerful green skinned women had rocketed off to the skies and not looked back.
But something did not seem right. Why had they all simultaneously decided to retreat? The battle had seemed far from being decided. One could even say that Ivy’s army, over two dozen strong and possessing all of Superman’s impressive abilities, had slightly gained the upper hand as more battles had tipped in their favor then not. Even outnumbered by the Justice League and their allies they had not taken so many losses to where a retreat was warranted.
The highly sophisticated and normally very reliable scanners of the Watchtower could not locate a single one of Ivy’s forces. Then again, the scanners as well as other more minor systems had seemed to be malfunctioning as of late. For all her efforts she could still not locate Superman.
Canary wondered for a bit if Red Tornado were having any more luck down in the bowels of the enormous base. The android had volunteered to go down and check on the internal workings and computer systems and repair anything that required fixing. She hadn’t heard from him in what seemed like a good amount of time but with all that was going on she could not remember exactly how long he had been gone.
Hailing Reddy on his COMM link produced nothing but static but such was to be expected with the abundant electronic interference and shielding that was required from all the complicated technology housed there.
Still, there were much more pressing matters now at hand. Dinah wasted little time in considering the reasons for the mass exodus of their enemies and began coordinating things immediately. She did not want to squander this new break in the action.
From the command center in the monitor room, she confidently sent out orders and instructions to every hero in the field that could respond. Some of the physically stronger heroes that had only suffered minor wounds would stay behind to put out fires, remove debris, and rescue civilians from the tons of rubble from the destroyed and ruined cities. The rest would gather up their injured or fallen comrades and go back to the Watchtower to regroup and plan their next move from there.
Whatever Ivy had planned next they would need to be prepared and ready for it. The League had been hit and hit very hard but they were only staggered not out quite yet.
There was a feeling of general relief but also restlessness of wanting to strike back that began to fill the Watchtower as more and more of the team and their allies trickled in through the teleporters. Dinah shared their sentiments, deep down wishing to be in a more direct part of the fight. She had trained and honed her body and mind for years as a fighter and sitting apart from the action, even in an absolutely crucial role as she had, did not altogether sit well with her.
They would get their chance to repay Ivy and her soldiers, she thought grimly. Though she had an ominous feeling creeping over her, like black tendrils of dread, that before the night was done, they would all have to sacrifice much to see the sun rise the next day.
*********************************************************Downtown Metropolis
She’s dead.
Lois is dead.
The words kept repeating in his brain over and over again in a cruel anthem. His eyes fell to his hands- the very hands that had killed his own beloved wife- with disbelief. It was as if his brain could not comprehend what had just happened. He could still hear her screams echoing in his ears and see the look of utter shock, disbelief, and finally fear on her lovely face. Superman made an anguished sound, choked and utterly miserable, deep in his throat.
“Well, that was a fine job of taking out the trash,” Ivy said with a pleased little grin. “The nosy little bitch deserved it for trying to interfere with my plans again.”
Superman slowly turned to face Poison Ivy. That simple movement alone was difficult and felt like he was wading through wet cement. He didn’t care. In fact, in the moment, he could barely even notice his movements being heavily labored by the villainess’s mind altering powers.
Responding to his rage, his eyes lit up and blazed brightly like two red hot coals. The single tear of anguish he had shed over Lois’s death was burnt away like a drop of water falling into an open flame. In that moment he could’ve melted Ivy into a puddle of goo had he been in full control of his body and powers. He thought he would’ve even enjoyed it. As enticing as the thought was, it gradually lessened and then faded.
Killing was not his way and not what he was brought up to believe in- even if the person in question had caused the death of his dearest love. No, he would see her rot behind bars, shut away forever from all her beloved plants and sunlight.
The one thing he had to be thankful for at the moment was that the sizable crowd that had gathered was finally beginning to flee after witnessing his attack on the helicopter. Even the police and reporters had followed suit, terrified his wrath would be turned against them next. Superman knew that flinging a few cars and crashing a helicopter were just the tip of the iceberg of the damage he could do if forced against his will.
“Ivy,” he growled, his voice low and harsh. “I swear to you that you will not get away with this. I will bring you to face justice if it’s the very last thing that I do.”
He took two slow but deliberate steps toward her, the embarrassment he had endured at her hands pushed to the back of his thoughts.
Ivy’s eyes grew wide. She took a cautious step back and for the first time she became truly alarmed. She had given him the mental commands to be silent and to stay where he stood, yet Superman had shoved a portion of her control aside and defied both of those orders.
A thin line of perspiration had begun to collect at her brow. A tell tale sign of the great effort she was expending in order to keep the Man of Steel in line. He had bucked against her control, had bucked hard, straining mentally against her absolute stranglehold on his mind. The pure rage and anguish from witnessing that reporter bitch die could be the only answer as to how he had managed to accomplish this impossible task. The waves of hostility were radiating out from him in powerful bursts.
As if to even further illustrate her slipping control, he laboriously managed a couple more steps forward. A few more feet and she would be within his grasp and she was fairly sure going in for another kiss to re-strengthen the mind control would be dangerous proposition indeed. But she wasn’t done yet. No. As always there was a back up plan. She wouldn’t let this muscle bound brute- this mere man- get the better of her now.
“No, your will is not stronger than mine!” she shouted, alarm tingeing her voice. “You will do as I command, you brainless Neanderthal!”
Superman ignored her challenge and slogged ever forward. “No escape this time, Ivy. No more minions to stand in my way. No more pawns to throw at me. This time you won‘t get away.”
He reached for her and his mind practically jumped at the satisfying thought of getting his hands on her at last. The final remnants of her mind control were sloughing away from his mind like sand being washed away by the tide.
Ivy’s green eyes widened in fear and her mouth hung partly open, making her look like a scared little girl for a brief moment. Superman strained even closer and was about to make good on his promise when an out of place rush of wind pelted his face, forcing his eyes momentarily shut.
When they opened one of Poison Ivy’s plant hybrids stood between them. Superman could see it’s glowing jade eyes narrow and it’s dark green lips set into a determined thin line.
“I won’t allow you to hurt my mistress!” the green woman hissed angrily.
Behind the statuesque plant hybrid a mocking smile spread across Ivy’s face. Being saved at the last second by one of her creations had obviously pleased her. It only ratcheted Superman’s rage a notch higher.
The plant hybrid raised a hand, palm out toward him, in a stopping motion.
“Stop now, worm, before I’m forced to kill you,” she warned sternly. “I will crush you as easily as you killed that woman in the helicopter!”
The damn holding back Superman’s emotions burst. All of his pent up frustration, humiliation, grief, and rage exploded outward. The feeling of restrained slowness brought on by Ivy’s control had disappeared completely. He lashed out with blinding speed and ferocity, smashing his fist with a very satisfying crack against the plant woman’s jaw. He wasn’t holding back at all this time and it felt great. There was an indescribable, almost primal, feeling to cutting loose at long last.
His opponent shot off into the air from the force of the blow but he easily caught up, quickening her trajectory into a skyscraper with two more savage hits. The building put up little resistance as the green woman’s body slammed into it with so much force that rows of windows from buildings across the street shattered from the shockwave, raining down glittering flakes of glass to the streets.
Superman felt his fists pull back and slam forward again and again, almost as if he had no control over it anymore. It was cathartic and liberating all at the same time. He was completely consumed with grief and thoughts of vengeance and he now had the perfect opportunity to take it out on an opponent that could withstand almost anything he could dish out. It wasn’t even a person really- it wasn’t even truly alive- just a lab created abomination. The small part of him that might have normally held back against a female opponent did not.
A grim but savage satisfaction settled in with each punishing blow. He let all of his anger, humiliation and pain speak through his fists. Those emotions poured it into each movement as he brutally dismantled his opponent with alarming efficiency.
He didn’t care that they were destroying buildings in their wake though subconsciously he had kept the battle contained to a relatively small area instead of bringing the whole city down around them.
The plant hybrid was rapidly weakening, not putting up much of a struggle anymore at all. It didn’t matter. It would receive no quarter or mercy. Superman wrapped a handful of her green tendril like hair in a fist and savagely pounded her face as dark green blood leaked out of her nose and mouth. Then still holding her hair he slammed her down into the street cracking the concrete in a huge violent spider web.
As he purposefully stalked over to the thing’s unmoving form, he effortlessly hefted a moving truck that been parked at the curb and brought it crashing down, cab first, onto the still body of the plant creature. The screeching sound of twisting metal echoed into the night as Superman repeatedly and unrelentingly smashed the truck down like the world’s largest jackhammer.
It wasn’t until the vehicle had been obliterated and pulverized into an unrecognizable lump of deformed metal in his hands that he realized his throat was burning and painfully raw. He was surprised to find that he had been screaming in rage at the top of his lungs the entire time. As his anger somewhat quelled, he distractedly surveyed the immediate area. They were only a few streets away from where the fight had started.
The battle, if it could be called that after being so one sided, had destroyed a handful of buildings and kicked up a hell storm of debris that was only now slowly dissipating. Dozens of car alarms blared into the now quiet night air even from several blocks away. A few dogs barked and howled. A parade of sirens screamed away in the distance.
Superman felt a low rumbling behind him and turned to face Ivy as a thick protective wall of vines that had sheltered her from danger slithered back beneath the streets. She looked past him to where her creation was lying defeated and to his utter shock she began laughing loudly and cruelly.
“What the hell are you laughing at!?” he seethed.
Poison Ivy’s laughter came to a slow halt as her eyes widened in mock sympathy. She placed hand on her chest as she spoke.
“Why, Superman, just look at what you’ve done. Its just so terrible.”
Confused, he threw the cinderblock sized remains of the truck away in tired disgust and turned back to follow her gaze. He walked over and looked down at the plant woman lying disturbingly motionless at his feet. A part of him could not help but feel sorry for her.
Dark green fluid oozed lazily from her nose and mouth. Her face was puffy and swollen and dotted with large bruises. The once fine green tendril like hair that now partially covered one cheek had fist sized clumps missing from it. As he was about to turn away, not wanting to watch any more of her suffering, her chest suddenly jerked up as she made choked gasping noises that sounded as if she were trying to speak.
“K-Kal…“ she uttered weakly.
Superman’s blood turned to ice in his veins at the same time he felt his heart sink to his gut.The image of the plant woman faded away to reveal the awful truth of what he had done. The spores. The damn spores still in his system had allowed Ivy this one last ruse to escape defeat.
“Kara,” he said in a harsh whisper. “Oh god, no, please no.”
Still reeling from disbelief and shock Superman fell to his knees and cradled the near lifeless form of his protégé in his arms. Supergirl lay broken and battered in his embrace. Her once vibrant blue eyes were only half open, tears gathered at their corners, and her youthful, beautiful face was now bruised, bloody, and caked with grit from the buildings and dirty streets.
“Kal…please stop.”
Kara coughed weakly, a sputter of blood dribbling down from the corner of her mouth.
The super heroine’s entire petite body appeared horribly mangled and was obviously rife with intense pain. The red cape she wore was in tatters as was most of her blue uniform. Her scarlet stained lips curved into a faint but sad smile.
“Don’t worry…I…I…did what I could for…”
Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly a few times as if trying desperately to speak. Her breath came in increasingly labored, wheezing gasps. Then the light suddenly left Kara’s eyes as they closed and her entire body went lifeless a child’s doll.
The nightmare that had plagued the Man of Steel just days ago flooded his mind again. He remembered gazing upon the lifeless bodies of his friends and allies as Poison Ivy told him that he had been the one responsible. Now it had all come true.
“KARA!!” he half screamed half sobbed into the night.
Superman continued holding Kara close to him, gently pressing his cheek to the top of her blonde head while he sobbed quietly. Grief overwhelmed him in a flood that could not be stopped. It smothered his mind and rendered his body completely numb. All strength seemed to flow out of him even as he felt Poison Ivy’s foul mental fingertips slowly creeping back into his mind to reassert their control. He had not the heart to fight it this time.
Poor, poor, Superman.
He could faintly hear her thoughts echoing in his skull but ignored them.
You just seem to keep hurting the people you care about. Not much of a hero at all now, are you?
His body had become devoid of any power he possessed at the thought of losing both Lois and Supergirl on the same night- and that they had both met their ends by his own hands. On top of everything else he had been through it was all too much.
In his moment of utter grief he forgot all about Ivy. He failed to notice as a plant hybrid, a real one this time, landed wordlessly beside him. He didn’t feel the vines slithering around his body, sapping his solar energy reserves and strength away. He couldn’t hear the gorgeous villainess laughing behind him. And he never saw the vicious, clubbing blow to the back of his head that rendered him mercifully into complete and silent darkness.
*************************************************End of Chapter 11
Comments welcome.ayed put, their drivers too shocked by the sight of Superman touching down in the middle of the street with a gorgeous red haired woman in his arms.
Poison Ivy surveyed the area with palpable and growing disdain as if every building, car, and person were in a place they absolutely should not be.
“Do you know the reason why I had my plant hybrids spare Metropolis, slave?” Ivy asked with one of those cunning grins. “Its because I was saving it for you to destroy. What better way to pay back the very people who have admired, cheered, worshipped you than by destroying them and everything they have ever known?”
She took several steps back from him toward the far curb. “Throw some of these cars into these hideous buildings. That should be good to start with. But don’t go overboard yet, I want an audience for this.”
Superman moved to carry out her command with guided obedience. It was growing more difficult to assert his own will against her orders but he could still think on his own somewhat. Ivy had said to throw some cars into the buildings. He was pretty sure she had meant ones with drivers still in them but she had not specified. So he walked up the nearest parked car near the curb and easily hefted it with one hand like it was a toy, his fingers digging into the metal driver’s side door as if it were soft clay.
He quickly scanned the nearby office buildings. His enhanced hearing and x-ray vision detected no signs of life inside the old brick building nearest to him. Luckily this late in the day the office crowd had already gone home for the most part. So for now no one would be harmed.
The drivers that had been waiting at the intersection suddenly regained their wits and peeled off in different directions in a hurry- apparently none of them wanting to see what he was going to do next with that car.
The Man of Steel then pitched the white sedan like a giant metal baseball into the building with a resounding crash. Glass and chunks of bricks and metal rained down onto the empty street below. A large ugly wound now marred the side the old office building. Car alarms blared and mixed with scattered screams in a growing cacophony of noise.
Five minutes later sirens whaled in the distance, rapidly approaching their direction. Ten minutes more and the police had blocked off all the streets leading into the intersection to keep the growing crowd of onlookers from foolishly wandering in too close.
He could see their wide eyes and hear their hushed but lively conversations and questions. What the hell is Superman doing?
Why’d he throw that car into that building?
Who is that hot red headed woman with him?
Is she part of the Justice League?
They craned their necks like curious birds, as if trying to take in every detail of some grand show put on just for them. Superman wanted desperately to shout to all of them to get as far away as possible, that he wasn’t in control of himself, and that blocked off streets would do little to stop a man that could fly and raze the entire city in minutes.
But he could only watch and obey Ivy’s orders now. The spores and kryptonite laced kiss had his mind in a stranglehold and he could scarcely begin to pry at its slithery, choking fingers.
Ivy eyed the steadily widening crowds of people gathering behind the wooden saw horse and metal barricades with the same contempt she had shown the city itself. But she also wore an amused smile, one that Superman had come to learn meant nothing good was to come at all. There were at least a dozen reporters mixed in with the regular people now, and he could see the cyclopean stare of television cameras fixed on the both of them recording their every move from multiple angles.
Poison Ivy raised her right arm in front of her, palm down, and issued a mental command to the ground below her. An instant later, a thick green vine shoved its way through the street and carefully wrapped about her slender waist, before gently depositing her onto the roof of a parked yellow taxicab. Standing proudly, she faced the curious onlookers with another look pure contempt. When she spoke, her voice carried easily and her words followed each other in a precise and confident manner.
“People of Metropolis! Your time on this planet, along with every other human, has come to an end! As you are all probably aware by now, my army of super powered plant soldiers is busy turning every trace of human creation to rubble.” she announced in a clear voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “You will all die and no one will be spared. Now marks the beginning of Mother Nature’s rightful reacquisition of the earth!”
Low murmurs passed through the crowds like buzzing insects at that.
“I have your hero and savior under my control. The very man you have all come to adore and worship. The larger than life hero that has saved your miserable city and this entire planet countless times is a slave to my power now and forever!”
She took a deliberate pause to allow her words to sink in. It was only fair to give these dense simpletons a chance to realize their end was close at hand.
“Allow me to give you a demonstration of my power over the once proud Superman. Let me convince you he will not save you this time. Maybe then you will begin to realize that there is absolutely no hope left for you selfish, wasteful, and murderous humans!”
Her finger shot downward at the Man of Steel.
“Get down on your knees!” she ordered forcefully, her voice carrying to every ear in the increasingly uneasy crowds of humanity.
The words “Yes, mistress” left his mouth in an obedient reply.
Superman felt that irresistible pull, like invisible puppet strings, force his knees to buckle and then bend until he was kneeling before her on the dirty street like someone in deep prayer. He looked up at her as she stood on the roof of the cab. Her cold jade eyes met his and he saw a deep satisfaction swirling within their depths.
Murmurs of disbelieving panic swept through the crowd. The flash of cameras erupted all around them. As embarrassing as this moment was, he was no longer concerned or aware about the images and footage of him kneeling before Poison Ivy being seen by millions around the world at the moment. Now he could scarcely concentrate on more than her beautiful, cruel face and powerful words.
Ivy placed her hands on those lustily curvaceous hips and laughed long and loud.
“Do you see that everyone? Do you see what a sad, worthless, and pathetic husk of a man your champion and hero really is? Super loser is much more fitting name for him.”
She lowered her voice to a harsh whisper so only he could hear.
“Remember my innocent baby you killed?” she asked. “This is just a taste of the payback I’m going to inflict on you. I will keep breaking you down until your proud spirit is crushed beneath my heel.”
She snapped her fingers and then all at once the confusing, brain altering cloud of adoration he felt for her evaporated from his mind. He was aware of everything once again. Aware that he was kneeling in front of the villainess, aware of the gawking stares, and of the cameras-television, cell phone, and picture. That happily unaware, do everything to please mistress fog that usually polluted her slave’s minds was completely gone. And that made all of this even worse for Superman.
The only thing that remained the same as before was that his body was still firmly in her control. But now he could feel the hundreds, if not thousands, of scared and curious eyes boring into him from all directions. They were waiting to see what would happen next instead of running for their very lives like they should be doing. It was all some sort of fascinating reality show to them now.
Superman could feel spots of redness forming on his cheeks as Ivy moved to a seated position on the roof of the car and let her long legs dangle off the side. Her petite feet were swaying back and forth in a little arc not far from his face.
“I want everyone to see this!” the villainess cawed to the crowds. “Watch what your former hero has been reduced to. See how far he has fallen.”
To add Superman’s growing shame and horror, Ivy produced the small bottle of plant extract and proceeded to drizzle the light blue liquid all over her feet and toes. She extended her right foot in front of him. Her forest green toenail polish gleamed brightly beneath the thin coating of the extract.
“You know what comes next, slave” she said with a sly grin. “Lick it off. I want you to clean my feet with your tongue. Make sure you get every drop.”
He felt his cheeks flare up a bright scarlet red.
“Y-yes, mistress,” he answered quietly.
Screams of disbelief and shock, along with a few laughs, registered from the citizens of Metropolis as Superman’s head leaned forward. He carefully took her big toe in his mouth and began obediently sucking, taking in its smooth, creamy texture along with the alarmingly sweet drops of the plant extract.
More cameras flashed at this unbelievable sight and with his enhanced hearing Superman picked up many of the comments from his fellow citizens.
Oh my god look at him!
Look at Superman! What is he doing?!
He looks like he’s enjoying sucking her toes!
No way! I can’t believe I’m seeing this!
I think Superman’s letting her humiliate him. That’s the only explanation- he likes it.
He felt great torches of crimson burning in his cheeks, lighting them up even brighter, if that were possible. His shame was growing exponentially but he could do nothing as Ivy removed her toe from his mouth with a wet “plopping” sound and inserted the next.
Even worse, sucking up the plant extract was beginning to have an effect on him as well. He was actually starting to enjoy what he was doing. It tasted so exquisitely sweet, causing an explosion in his taste buds, and was making him feel good to lap up every drop. It was also stimulating his pleasure centers to nearly unbearable levels as it was intended to do. Every caress of his tongue against her skin caused new ripples of ecstasy rolling through him.
Wafting up above and seemingly all around him, though it sounded strangely distant now, was Ivy’s melodic, mocking laughter. Judging from the sound she was having a delightfully splendid time.
A part of him didn’t even care any more. His cheeks were concave from sucking on her delicate toes and when he was done with one he would hurriedly move on to the next. But not before his tongue lolled out from his mouth, greedily licking the spaces between her toes like a dog- like her dog- desperately trying to lap up any trace of plant extract.
All of this he knew was horribly wrong and his shame and guilt was amplified ten fold but he simply couldn’t help himself. He was disgusted by what he was doing yet still he went on. When Ivy pulled her right foot away, his head momentarily tried to follow its movement, but he forgot all about that as she introduced her left to his mouth and rudely shoved her foot into his gaping maw.
The satiny bottom of her sole and high arch, were slick with the light blue liquid and lit up his pleasure centers like a Vegas casino at night. She wiggled her toes in his mouth, smirking at the moistness inside and how his tongue tickled a bit trying to follow their movement. The wet slurping sounds were also quite amusing, she thought, as she watched Superman engage in a deep French kiss with her foot. His eyes were closed, seemingly lost in concentration at the task at hand.
The extract’s narcotic pleasure was overwhelming and unrelenting. The juxtaposition of raw hatred he felt for Ivy at the moment and pure lust from the liquid caused a paradoxical awakening of his sex organ. He could hear more shocked gasps and loud laughter as his red trunks began tenting outward at an alarming rate. The longer he sucked her toes and licked her feet the harder he became.
Ivy wore a huge, bright smile on her lips the entire time. Now she threw her head back, her long silky red hair cascading down her shoulders, and burst out laughing yet again.
“Such a good little superhero,” she praised in an overly kind tone. Oh, she was in high spirits now. “On your knees where you belong, licking the feet of your mistress like the dog you are. I‘ve dreamed of this moment ever since you and Batman spoiled my plans the last time. Now, here we are again in downtown Metropolis and the tables have turned in my favor, slave. I think it is so fitting that everyone can see you taste defeat.”
Her words floated through the pleasurable haze that enveloped him, but he could say nothing in response as his raging hard on was threatening to burst through his red briefs at any moment. His whole face was on fire with a potent mix of embarrassment, shame, and humiliation.
And still he sucked and sucked and sucked even more hungrily than before, only interrupted by a few loving caresses of his tongue against the smooth skin of her arches and heel. A part of him thought that surely there was no finer place to be yet a sound in the distance, rapidly getting closer, was nagging for his attention.
As the sound neared he knew exactly what it was- the steady “thup thup thup” of a helicopter closing in. Ivy and everyone else could hear it now and all eyes turned skyward to see a white helicopter stop at a hover high above them with the words “DAILY PLANET NEWS” emblazoned on the sides in large dark blue letters.
Ivy ordered her slave to stop what he was doing and then rudely shoved his head away with her other foot for good measure. Superman fell back and stayed there, too ashamed and shocked to move quite yet.
The door on the side of the chopper slid open. Superman’s heart immediately sank to his stomach. A woman’s voice reverberated loudly over the scene as she leaned part way out. She was speaking through the helicopter’s PA system.
“Superman you have to stop this! You have to fight Poison Ivy’s mind control!”
It was Lois. His first instinct was to fly up to her, take her in his arms and rush her to safety but of course he could not.
Ivy’s face lit up with immediate recognition- a look that sent an ice cold dagger of dread into his stomach.
“Well, well, this day just keeps getting better,” the gorgeous redhead remarked.
She hopped lithely down from the roof of the cab and back onto the street. “It’s that brunette reporter bitch from the Daily Planet. So now I get to pay her back for ruining my plans last time, destroy this city, and hand Superman his worst defeat ever- all in one day!”
Lois spoke again, and he could hear the hidden urgency in her voice. For a split second she began to call him “Clark” then caught herself just in time. She couldn’t let on that she knew who he really was and that she was married to him.
A wife speaking to her husband.
“Superman, I know you don’t want to hurt anyone and that you’re trying your best to get out of her control. You have to keep fighting! Don’t give up because I know you can do this! You’re stronger than she is!”
Lois Lane’s voice rushed into him like a life saver being thrown to a drowning man and seemed to partially take that mountain like weight of Ivy’s control off his shoulders. The sight of her- the long raven hair, her clear blue eyes, and her voice, the voice of the woman he cared for most in the entire universe, contained an unexplainable but almost tactile power to it. It reawakened his inner spirit and gave him newfound strength while renewing his will to fight.
Suddenly the memories of countless nights together with her- picnics on top of the Daily Planet watching the sun set, their wedding day, and a thousand other private and loving moments they had spent together rushed through his mind.
Her presence and spirit, along with his own force of will now, was struggling mightily against Ivy’s influence. And they were winning. Despite the spores and mind control kiss he could feel the villainess’s iron clad grasp begin to slip and crack along the edges as it steadily weakened.
His wife’s words of encouragement washed over him in a pure wave that was cleansing the sticky tar like blackness from his polluted mind. A couple of more minutes and he was sure he would be free once again.
“My, my that is most annoying,” Ivy said eyeing the helicopter with obvious contempt. “Destroy it at once, slave, and kill that loathsome reporter. I want to hear her dying screams before they are choked out with her own blood.”
Superman hesitated, still fighting with everything he had, and turned to face Ivy.
“N-no, I won’t do it.” It felt like there was a clamp on his jaws. Even saying one short sentence took a significant effort.
Her eyebrows raised with surprise.
“What did you say to me?” she demanded. “No one refuses my commands.”
She shut her eyes then opened them again. In that short time Superman had felt her mind rake across the surface of his like white hot fingernails. And he knew before she spoke that she knew how he had refused her.
“That woman has weakened my control over you, hasn’t she? Just like before.”
He made no attempt to answer.
“Well it doesn’t matter because this time my hold is unbreakable.” She spoke with calm confidence but there was a trace of anger below the surface. “Allow me to demonstrate, slave.”
Without giving him a chance to react, Ivy forcefully grabbed two handfuls of his dark hair and gave him a passionless but aggressive kiss on the lips. There was no savoring the moment here. This time it was strictly business. A jolt of something sharp and cold coursed down Superman’s spine that could only mean she still had the kryptonite lipstick applied.
The villainess stared up at the bitch in the news chopper, relishing the look of disgust, jealousy, and most of all, anger that flashed across her face. Oh, how satisfying it was to shut her up in addition to all of those other lovely emotions.
And just like that the weight of Ivy’s will was bearing down on Superman again with its former force and then some. His puppet strings were yanked taught and almost to the snapping point while she violently reasserted her control. Superman was noticeably rocked back on his heels by the hostile takeover. It was too much to resist. Not even Lois’s voice could help him and god did it ever sound so far away now.
Ivy’s lovely emerald eyes gleamed brightly.
“The spores along with my kiss are too powerful a combination to be broken so easily.”
She ordered the Man of Steel back to his feet and then gestured skyward. “Take them out now and make it quick.”
His words were slurred as he spoke through gritted teeth. It took every ounce of will to speak.
“No…mistress.” Then he added. “Please…no…”
Ivy’s splendid features twisted into a nasty knowing sneer, and a look of complete understanding dawned in those calculating jade eyes. It was amazing how such a breathtakingly beautiful woman could look so cruel at the drop of a hat.
“You care about that nosy little slut, don’t you?” she spat. “And it sounds like a lot. Maybe you even love her?”
The pained expression on his face and the look in his blue eyes told her all she needed to know. She could see the desperation there and almost hear his thoughts.
No, not her.
The crowd of onlookers, which had ballooned to a ridiculous size, talked among themselves as they attempted to decipher what was going on. Bodies strained against the wood and steel police barricades as they craned their necks to listen. The strobe lights from police cars painted sections of the crowd in alternating swatches of red and blue. Reporters from all the major networks were speaking into their cameras in serious and concerned tones.
But Superman could scarcely see or hear any of this now. He turned away from his mistress and effortlessly picked up the yellow taxi she had been standing on earlier with one hand. Still, he hesitated again.
“I’m not going to ask again, slave,” Ivy snarled, forcing her will upon him like a tsunami. “Killer her. Now!”
“Yes…mistress,” he grinded out. Each word was poison in his mouth.
His arm was trembling but not from the weight of the car. No, it was trembling form the sheer effort he was expending to try and stop himself from what he knew was coming. But even with every fiber of his being screaming to resist, he felt his arm pull back in an exaggerated pitcher’s stance. He simply couldn‘t stop. Then the yellow cab was hurtling toward Lois’s helicopter like a runaway missile.
Time stretched and slowed down to a painful crawl. Superman could see every minute detail on his beautiful wife’s face. He could see the stunned look of confusion and disbelief melt into absolute fear in her bright blue eyes. He could see her mouth drop open in utter shock and hear the beginning of a scream emanating from those sweet lips he had kissed countless times with joy and passion. It was a look now burned into his mind and one that would haunt him until the end of his days.
The car smashed into the tail of the helicopter with devastating force, completely destroying the rear rotor, and with it all control of the vehicle. The sound of metal against metal was terrible and deafening. Even through all of Ivy’s machinations he had managed to divert the car away from striking the cockpit directly but it made no difference now.
The chopper hung suspended in the air for a split second longer, then spiraled into a precarious spin behind a glittering downtown skyscraper. Superman could see the trail of hideous black smoke and hear more screams of terror and he knew in his heart and mind that one of them belonged to Lois.
He faintly heard Poison Ivy curse vehemently to his side but in his grief it barely even registered. A moment later a huge explosion rocked the ground and a large fireball erupted in a bright orange plume from behind the building where the chopper had crashed.
Superman wanted to scream. He wanted to fall to his knees and shout so loudly into the night that the gods would know his pain but he couldn’t. The only emotion he managed- was allowed- was a single, silent tear that slid its way past Ivy’s mind control and slowly trailed down his cheek.
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The Watchtower

The inner workings of the majority of the computer and scanner systems lay in the very bowels of the Watchtower, near the base.
It had taken Red Tornado much longer than usual to get down here this deep with all the hustle and confusion from the wounded coming in and out. Twice he had stopped to help others; carrying two gravely wounded League members out of the hallway where they might have otherwise bled to death and then rearranging some of the large medical equipment too heavy for normal humans to move easily, but now he was finally here. Black Canary had said the scanners had been malfunctioning and he meant to find the reason why.
There was minimal staff in this part of the Watchtower even on normal days, but with all the recent activity the long narrow hallways were silent as a tomb.
The sliding metal door leading to the scanner equipment room “whooshed” open upon his voice command. Darkness permeated outward from the large rectangular room and into the well lit hallway but this wasn’t too surprising given that it was not a high traffic area to begin with.
“Lights,” he said aloud, with the nonchalance of someone who expected this simple command to happen at once. When they didn’t turn on he repeated the command again and was met with the same results.
“Strange,” Red Tornado uttered thoughtfully. The Watchtower was always in tip top running shape, even down here.
He hadn’t brought a flashlight but then again he didn’t need one. A panel slid aside on his chest and bright circle of white artificial light flooded the room. Just one of the perks of being an advanced artificial life form.
There were over a dozen long aisles stretching into the darkness on either side of him. Nearly everything was cloaked in heavy shadows that seemed to reach out for miles. After carefully maneuvering around the maze like rows of electronic equipment, his enhanced android eyes investigated a jungle of tangled wires in a dimly lit area near the back of the room.
“What’s this?” Red Tornado said with some concern. “No wonder Dinah was having problems in the command center.”
Many of the wires from the scanners stood out with frayed ends, a few of them still coughing up small yellow sparks. They had been unmistakably cut with some sort of sharp object and cut recently at that.
“Now who would want to sabotage the sensory equipment?” he asked to no one in particular. He pressed a finger to his COMM link communicator. “Red Tornado to Black Canary.”
No response, not even static. The shielding must be causing interference with my communicator, he thought. Well he would fix the problem now then notify Dinah later.
A hidden compartment on his right forearm slid open and a plethora of neat mini tools rose up to within easy reach. Reddy set about pondering which equipment needed repairs the most when his own sensors lit up. They had picked up a life form approaching him with cunning speed.
Someone was in the room with him.
“Who is there?” his modulated voice demanded.
“Sorry, but I’m going to have to stop you right there, tin can. I’m not quite finished with the equipment yet,” a voice said from behind.
Red Tornado whirled around toward the voice, the light from his chest panel painting the intruder in that ghostly white light. Shock registered over the android’s face.
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End of Chapter 10
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