July 4th, 1997

Bruce Wayne POV

“Clark, you find anything?” I called out on comms. We spent the last six hours searching the entire city. Every member of crime in Metropolis got a visit from one of us & we still found nothing. We have to find Trey.

“Still nothing. We need to expand our search outside of this city. It’s possible whoever took him has something to block my senses.” Clark responded.

“Negative. Though we were an hour late finding out he was captured. I checked no flight has left since then. They couldn’t have escaped by car either. Not enough time to escape the city with all the traffic from the concert. No, he has to be in the city or close by.” I concluded. I kept wondering if this was the work of one of my enemies. Most of my rivals swore they didn’t have him after I threatened them as Bruce. Lex was at the concert. He’s not above kidnappings but doing something to children isn’t his style. That leaves the League. I can’t see Talia or Ra’s doing this to get back at me.

“Bruce, come to my position. I just heard an explosion right outside the city.” Clark informed me, breaking me out of my thoughts. I piloted the jet at top speed to his location. Landing by a row of warehouses for storage, I watched Clark scan the warehouses with his x-ray vision. Oddly enough, there was no sign of the explosion he mentioned.

“I think it must be underground. This unit is the only one I can’t see through. Can you hack this door? I rather go with a stealthier approach when a child’s life is on the line.” Clark said, landing next to me. I took out my encryption device from my belt to unlock the warehouse.

“Do you have any idea who could've done this?” Clark asked, frustrated at the situation.

“My working theory is someone small time working for one of my enemies. There’s no other reason to kidnap Trey. He’s an innocent bystander in all of this. Now come on, let’s go save him.” I said as the door unlocked.

We looked around the mostly empty warehouse. There was nothing inside besides a couple of empty containers. At the back, we found an elevator shaft that went down. I grumbled as Clark grabbed my shoulder, taking us down instantly. The both of us were greeted by a destroyed military bunker. Shrapnel was littered everywhere with scrap from what looked to be a car explosion. At the end of the bunker stood a familiar face. He seemed to be staring intensely at the last fire that hadn’t gone out.

“Creed, what are you doing here?” Clark called out. Our friend didn't move an inch. I got a bad feeling before I felt a tug at my mind.

‘He’s safe. Open your mind & I’ll show you what happened.’ Creed said to me telepathically. Great, another new power to put into his file.

‘Show Clark first.’ I replied. I trusted him somewhat after our last meeting. However, it was better to be cautious. I watched Superman close his eyes. When he opened them again, he had a pissed-off look on his face. He looked over at me, urging me to do the same.

Opening my mind, I was flooded with memories of a group of men. They committed every crime in the book collectively. All forms of assault, battery, kidnapping, & rape. Worst of all was the last memories from the brothers of the operation, Davey & George. The bastards committed some of those acts on a young boy for fun. The memory I saw made me just as livid as I was in that alley that fateful day. At the end of the memory, I saw Creed save Trey, placing him into some kind of cube. When I returned to reality, I saw Creed dump all the tied-up kidnappers out of the cube onto the floor. I heard muffled pleases for us to save them. Creed then turned around, taking off his mask. His face was still covered, but we could now see his eyes, which were bloodshot with rage.

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“You know when I came to this world. I made promises to myself. Live life to the fullest, cherish the people in my life and protect this world, this universe. I have been so focused on myself & the world I never acknowledged the people like them—the scums of the earth. The people everyone knows exist in society, but you never talk about them until after they’ve done something. It’s one thing to hear about them. It's another to see the horrific acts in vivid detail.” He said softly, taking a slight pause before continuing.

“I punished them already telepathically. Every crime they have ever committed has been reenacted with them as the victim, and you know what? It’s still not enough. If they’re convicted to life in prison, it still won’t be enough. I set off the explosion in anger and alerted you to my position. Truthfully I was going to kill them. It’s taking every ounce of restraint I have to stop myself from slaughtering them. You’ve been doing this Hero gig longer than me. Tell me why I shouldn’t end them right here & now?” Creed asked. I could tell he was hoping for an alternative.

“I ask myself that question every time I don’t kill the Joker. He’s taken 21 lives so far. Each time he or someone else breaks out of prison & takes a life, I question myself. I try to rationalize why I don’t just end them. Is it a line I can’t cross? Will killing villains make me just as bad as them? Do people as vile as these men deserve a second chance? The one answer I could ever come up with was to have faith in humanity. Faith in that as bad as these men are, there are just as many good people. As long as free will exists, bad things like this can occur. I also know just as many good things can occur as well. So long as I live, I will do everything in my power to protect the innocent & the good people of this world. What’s not in my power is controlling the actions of others. I’m no God. No one is. He’s the biggest proof of that.” Batman explained, looking over at Superman.

“So you do like me,” Superman said with his patented smile. I grumbled at his comment before continuing.

“He’s the sole survivor of his race. Orphaned onto this planet. He probably already had enough power to take over the world when he was a teenager. I have some of the strongest armor & technology in the world, but he could end me with just a flick of his fingers. He could blitz the planet from outer space at his top speed & destroy the entire planet anytime he wanted. Every contingency I’ve ever made for him is with the knowledge that he’s somehow holding back. He’s a God walking amongst men that doesn’t look down on us or think he should rule over everyone. Instead, he’s a man with God-like power with the highest hopes for us despite all he’s been through and what he's seen from us. Even with all his powers, he can’t save everyone but tries anyway every day. We can’t control the actions of others like Gods, but we can always try to improve the world. Superman is living proof of that. Proof that there’s an equal amount of good to evil and that we don’t need to kill to better the world. ” I concluded. Superman took a happy look at me before turning back to Creed. Looking into his eyes, I could tell he was debating with himself. He was weighing the weight of my words. He looked up at the ceiling before yelling out.

“AHHHHHHHHHH!” He screamed as bloodlust was felt all around us. Creed was letting out some unknown power you could feel in the air. The men he tied up all passed out. I was about to step forward when Superman put his hand in front of me. They both shared a look before Creed lunged at him.

“Damn you, Boy scout!” Creed screamed, punching Clark’s chest as his power left the area. He looked directly at him, furious, but I knew he had made the right choice.

“I just had to be a fan of you assholes. Dammit! This discussion isn’t over. There will be times when it’ll have to be done. Times where killing will be the only option.” Creed cried.

“We’ll be there for those times, too.” I said. I wouldn’t let him fall down that path. I watched as his eyes glowed, looking over at the kidnappers.

“They will admit to all wrongdoings whenever asked in explicit detail. They will donate any money they have to charity & the families affected by their actions. These bastards will spend the rest of their lives trying to repent for what they can never be forgiven for. I will let the courts decide their fates once they know everything. I’m going to bring Trey back to his family. Know that this isn’t over!” Creed said, jetting out of the bunker. Clark & I shared a look before focusing on the kidnappers.

“I didn’t know you had such a high opinion of me,” Superman said, tying up the men with some steel.

“I said what I needed to so he wouldn’t become a killer,” I replied curtly.

“Sure you did.” He said in jest, not believing a word I just said, as he began carrying the men out of the bunker.