14217/The Cult's Revenge

The Cult's Revenge
Date of Scene:	22 March 2022
Location:	Cult Compound, New Jersey
Synopsis:	Batman and Superman team up to save Lois from the revenge of a cult which she just published an damning expose.
Cast of Characters:	Superman, Lois Lane, Batman

---

Superman has posed:
All is darkness. There is no sense of time, space, or self; merely the endless void of nonexistence suffocating the ego. A shining light appears in the swirling mass of black -- it burns like the sun, bright and painful, and at once Lois Lane's awareness unfurls like a flower opening for the dawn.

"Let us try this again, Miss Lane," an unrecognizable male voice declares. It is cold to the light's heat, a voice suited for oblivion. She feels a sensation of pressure in her arm, and from that pressure flows a sudden all-encompassing warmth, and the darkness is banished. The shining light focuses into a gentler stark-white lightbulb, set naked beneath a ceiling fan lazily twirling in circles. That warmth floods through her body, and where it touches, her awareness spreads in tandem -- she is unaware she has arms or legs until the pleasing sensation fills them. The pain fades away, the pressure fades away, and all there is is peace, tranquility, oneness. Lois is in a good place. Lois is laying upon a table in the good place, hooked up to a heartbeat monitor, and in her arm is an intravenous drip feeding her whatever that warmth and joy might be. Before her looms a man -- heavyset, mustached, clad in the communal outfits she might recognize as belonging to the cult she'd written her recent expose on.

But does any of that really matter, when she's so warm? She can just fade into unawareness again, and this time the dark will be warm and soft and cozy, with no need to care about a thing --

"Miss Lane, I need you to focus," comes the voice. "I know you're confused right now. I'm here to help you."

Was she confused? She must have been, if the voice says so.

"You were taken away from us, but you're back now. You're safe."

Lois Lane has posed:
If she could remember where she had been, maybe she could figure out how she got here, but right now all Lois can really focus upon is that warmth spreading through her body. It feels good -- too good, really -- a heady relaxation she hasn't managed to find in months, even when she breaks out the expensive scotch. This was better than scotch. The slow trip of her pulse on that monitor quickens just a bit as she swims closer to consciousness, her head stirring on the table, but she doesn't even have enough focus left to feel panic. This feels too nice to be panic worthy.

Then he starts speaking. Her head turns slowly, ice blue eyes narrowing on that clothing she all too well recgonizes. Her stomach drops into her feet for just a moment. That echo of her heart quickens again, some part of her drugged mind beginning to realize that she is likely in trouble. It's hard to keep focus, but she's trying to cling to that adrenaline instead of whatever they've put into her veins. She shakes her head drunkenly slow, "N-no... no. I'm... me. 'mnot one of you..." She mutters drowsily to him. Then she's trying to move, sloppy hands trying to push her body up into sitting.

Superman has posed:
The first day Lois was absent from work, it was assumed she was sick and forgot to call out. The second day, Clark Kent first tried to call her; when her phone went right to voice mail, he paid a visit to her apartment. Since then, a missing person's report was filed, a friendly contact in the police force pushing it along. Roughly thirty-five hours with no sight nor sound of Lois Lane. A few hours later...
"We're not sure, Superman," a cop answers in distant Metropolis. "The last anyone saw her was two nights ago, leaving this nightclub called Lux. We've got witness testimony saying she argued with a man wearing a white armband out in front, and then stormed off."

There's a nod, and the Man of Steel rises into the sky -- he surmounts the tallest of New Troy's skyscrapers, and in a flash of red and blue streaks like a comet westward toward Gotham.

On a private channel used by Superman and the Bat family when there's a need to speak without the whole of the Justice League, a message goes out. "Bruce, I need your help," comes Clark Kent's voice -- and as always, if Superman's asking for your help, it must be serious. "Lois has been abducted. I think by this group she exposed in the Daily Planet, some New Age doomsday cult with a bad reputation. Think Scientology, but even Hollywood thinks they're too creepy. Can you find her?"

He's Batman. Of course he can. Whether it's through hacked security feeds, tracking the cult's legal finances and investments, or revealing he had a Lois-specific tracking device implanted under her skin for years, Clark's sure Batman can do *something*.

Meanwhile, at an undisclosed facility in the Catskills, off the grid and built by an old, abandoned mine, the man interrogating -- or brainwashing? -- Lois speaks once more. He places a gentle hand on her shoulder as she tries to sit up. "Miss Lane, you need to relax," he commands, as the pulse of the heartbeat monitor quickens in a drug-resistant panic. "I'm your friend. Remember? I'm Father Samuel. You know me. You're okay."

He's Father Samuel. She knows him. It's okay... right?

Lois Lane has posed:
There is a small part in the back of Lois' mind that knows this is bad. It wants to fight back, to shake her whole body awake and try to push off Father Samuel and his soothing, hypnotic voice. She tries to cling tighter to that part of herself, but it's like clawing her way out of a bender and she's not nearly sober enough to be in control of any vehicle (even if that vehicle is her own body.) A little moan escapes her lips, head shaking, as she tries to turn away from looking at him.

"I... I know you. But... I'm not... It's over. It is... I'm not your...fl-lock." It's a struggle to get all those words out, especially as they are words that fight against the incredible temptation that fills her entire body to relax into his voice and the drugs she's been given. She could just float. She could lay back and remember these strange, linen clad 'wise men' were her guardians and guides now. She was a part of their flock to watch. She would be protected. If she just closed her eyes and smiled, she'd be home.

Her blue eys begin to flutter, head rolling back as the temptations only deepen. Then she jerks herself half up, like falling in a dream, her breath sharply catching as she tries to wake herself up again. "No! No... I have to GO..." She tries to insist. She's got a lot of fight in her, especially with this amount of a drug in her system. But she has always been a fighter. Drunken hands reach over, trying to sloppily pull at the IV on the back of her palm if she can reach it.

Batman has posed:
Lois Lane. Pulitzer-prize winning reporter. Her work has moved and swayed public opinions, even if her writing is from a personal edge it provides realism. Bruce is an admirer of her talent, though he hears Lois is quite the spitfire. But a cult? What would a cult want to do with her, rather than the mayor or a governor? Something that could cripple a city. Or maybe they know of her famous interviews with Superman? Or... they care more about the message?

No, it's deeper than that...

Bruce was in the Cave, reading the report of Lois going missing. What he wasn't counting on was Superman's call. He doesn't interrupt him and he doesn't say 'hi' at first. "I'll find her, Clark." Revenge. She exposed a doomsday cult, and she doesn't have much time. The Bat gears up and the sounds of an engine turning on echos throughout the cave.

Criminals are cowardly and disloyal. The right questions of the right people answers a lot of questions. Batman was on the move. He was close. He wasn't as fast as Superman...but he was meaner.

ETA 5 minutes.

Superman has posed:
Father Samuel Alento is the leader of the cult Sons of the Shepherd. They've been a lingering presence in the American northeast for years, beginning at first as strange Youtube videos, websites out of the Geocities era, and the occasional rumor told by someone who heard from a friend of a friend. Two years ago they went from mostly internet nutjobs to somewhat mainstream recognition; a few local celebrities joined, there was a scandal at a schoolboard meeting in Metropolis, threats of lawsuits. Their membership has steadily grown, but its full extent is mired and obfuscated.

This layer of mystery is what initially drew Lois to them, and after a period of time undercover, she wrote a tell-all -- exposing the cult's inner workings, its strange beliefs, its archaic social systems and rituals. There were even rumors she uncovered of abduction, brainwashing, and blackmail. Suffice to say, the article was an embarrassment to the cult, who immediately filed suit against the Daily Planet, Lois Lane, and her editor-in-chief. Frivolous, but expensive. Lawfare at its finest.

"You are part of the flock, Miss Lane," Father Samuel reminds her. "We would not have broken bread with you if you were not, in your heart, our sister. You have been corrupted by the outside world, and let the Devil fill your head with lies -- lies you then printed! But I know in your heart you will repent, and once more we will call you Sister." He doesn't move to stop her, almost curious to see if she can actually rouse herself.

Batman, through the right interrogations, will find a location where the cult usually stores new recruits for "processing", well before Superman will -- who is, at the moment, flying above their main compound, scanning the building and its grounds with his super senses.

It's the wrong compound, of course. But it makes sense he'd start there.

Lois Lane has posed:
Maybe it's the fact that Lois does poison her body on a fairly regular basis (mainly just booze, but still poison) that she has built up a resistence to certain types of drugs. Maybe she really is just that stubborn. In truth? It's probably a mix of both. But, she's still fighting through the drugs pouring through her system. Her hand is slow and the first few tries to get that IV out are complete misses, but eventually she does get her fingertips onto the back of her own palm. It's going to hurt. She clutches feeble fingers around the tube and starts to pull, but she's slow enough that he can almost certainly stop her if he tries. But she will succeed, otherwise. It just takes time.

"I know... know what you're doing. To those girls... women. I know how...how you brainwash... Them all. Is this it? Too? Drugs? Do you drug them if... if they don't want to come?" Of course, when she was doing her expose, she came willingly. She acted like the perfect member to get to the heart of things. Now, she can barely sit up on his table but she's still trying to fight him. Lois Lane doesn't fall into obedience easily.

"I'll... I'll destroy your flock, if I must... every... Last inch... of truth out there. Superman will come. He will... and then you'll be sad you ever... Ever tried to fight the truth." She groans out gutterly, each word a fight.

Batman has posed:
Samuel Alento. A secret society and religious cult for the mentally deranged. Celebrity presence indicates funding for expansion and recruitment. Lois'sfindings confirmed Batman's suspicions: Backroom deals, kidnapping, extortion. But they tried to make an example...a mistake they will regret.

They have many compounds. Superman went for the main one, but they are not so obvious, but the right one? Find it he does. It's around this time when Batman hones in on the right frequency of a certain device that may or may not be on Lois's person. It pings in the hud of his cowl, though the signal is faint due to the cults drugs hard at work with the chemical interactions of the body. He follows the signal, hearing it get stronger, the beeping louder on his hud, but no human would hear such a sound outside of that cowl.

Batman does what he does best. He becomes shadow. He becomes the night, the reckoning in the pale moonlight that is spoken of in harsher whispers and feared by all.

Plenty of men in this compound. If he can, he'll try and pick off outliers. Gunmen who could disappear and their absence not immediately noticed.

Superman has posed:
The beeping in Batman's cowl is something heard in the ambiguous peripherals of Superman's senses. It is rare he puts the sensation of his own perceptions into words for others -- at the moment, he hears the crying of newborns, the blare of television sets, car radios on thousands of miles of highway. He hears gunshots in Qatar, a caning in Singapore. He hears a Bible study group in Salt Lake City, Utah, recite their prayers as their meeting begins. A deep, low rumble in frequencies beneath human perception warns him of tectonic shifts; when a great number of screams rise up in chorus, he knows disaster is coming. If he truly focuses, he can even hear individual heartbeats, a chorus of humanity across the world...

... yet it is, quite simply, too much. Superman can hear almost everything. Because of that, without some idea of what he's looking for, some range to focus on, he is lost.

He shatters the compound's roof and descends on shafts of moonlight like an angel of the night, his cape flaring around him. A group of cultists look upon him in wonder. "Where is Samuel?"

At first, they don't speak. He floats closer to the most nervous one, a wide-eyed young man. "Jeremy. Jeremy, I know you -- I rescued you from that fire last year. What are you doing here?"

--

Elsewhere, at the appropriate compound, Batman finds the cult's security systems more advanced than they should be, but not enough to stop him. They've got cameras, dogs, motion-tracking sensors at the main gates, and armed men patrolling the walls. They're almost like a *militia*. The compound's layout feels military. Veterans in the cult?

As for Lois, she's treated to a scornful laugh. "The mind is a selfish thing, Miss Lane. All too often, it refuses to open itself to new ideas, to new perspectives -- it chooses to trust in the vain and banal materialism of the modern world, casting aside faith. What I have developed is not some petty *drug*. I have distilled *revelation*! And no one, not even Superman, can stop the will of God."

Put more simply: whatever drug he's developed provokes religious experiences and renders targets highly suggestible. Lois' holding out this long is a triumph of willpower.

Lois Lane has posed:
The revalation that the drug is more than some routine, old style truth serum or narcotic strikes a bit more fear into Lois' heart. She's managed to get the line out, spilling a trickle of blood from where the port had been, but it must be too late. He'd have stopped her, right, if he needed her to take more? Lois tries to roll out of the bed, but she can't. Her limbs are heavy, her entire head is swimming. It's possible the drug just hadn't entirely kicked in yet and now she has no strength left to fight anything other than pulling out that line.

"...I'll never be... your... sheep." She mutters haltingly. Every word is harder. His head looked like it was haloed in light, though that was probably just the ceiling light behind him. It was getting harder to fight his words, even if she never agreed. Her lips part, searching for more protests and, instead, Lois Lane is silent...

Batman has posed:
The security in place doesn't stop him. They can't. Worse with better, they always say. So while the villainous Samuel continues his religious babbling - his butchery of faith - Batman continues his work. The armed men at the walls are a problem, but they won't be for much longer. The motion-tracking sensors are attempted to be hacked to be shut down. He stays out of the dogs path and the cameras have not caught sight of the Dark Knight.

<"Clark. I found her."> and he gives Superman the exact coordinates. <"She's drugged and may not be able to move on her own. She is the priority for you. I will handle Samuel."> Of course, just because Batman is shooting out orders doesn't mean Superman has to follow them. Personal conflicts can often override the opinions of others by way of importance.

But Lois Lane displays such a strength of character and emotional fortitude to resist mind-altering drugs. It impresses Batman, though the lights start to flicker. Theatricality. For the uninitiated, it is the same as magic. Is that why there's a batarang aiming for the hand of the 'Father', as if to cut him off during one of his mad speeches?

Is that why the Dark Knight is in his descent, ready for a fight?

Superman has posed:
A voice rings in Clark's ears. Bruce has found her. The urge to take to the air and rocket off toward the horizon swells in him -- yet he does not ascend, surrounded as he is by the people of the cult staring at him. The one he'd spoken to, Jeremy, looks at him with faint scorn.

"I lost everything in that fire," he points out. "And insurance only covered so much. I'm not saying it's your fault, or that I'm ungrateful... but Superman, you're not the one who saved me, they are. My brothers and sisters. Father Samuel. You saved a shell of a man who had nothing left -- they're the ones who made me whole."

Superman floats there in the air, looking from one cultist to the other.

"And do you all feel that way? That this is what saved you?"

A chorus of nods, yeses, and other gestures of assent follows.

"I understand," he continues. "And I don't know if I can say you're wrong. The problems we face are sometimes greater than words can express; the feelings that weigh us down are sometimes too heavy to carry. Sometimes, they're too great even for me to help. I can't do everything."

The group stare at Superman as he admits his fallibility, and begins a long, heartfelt speech about self-love, alienation in the modern world, and the search for meaning.

What he isn't doing, though, is rushing off to save Lois. Perhaps he trusts in his super speed enough to delay; perhaps he trusts in Batman. If you asked him, he'd say he trusted in Lois.

--

"If you are not a sheep come to join the flock then you are a wolf come to prey upon it," Samuel declares, and in Lois' hallucinating eye he seems to grow larger than life, as terrible and splendid as the dawn. "And it is the duty of the shepherd to cast out the wolves, Miss Lane."

He raises his hand to strike her -- and bam, there's a batarang! He clutches his wrist and turns, hand bloodied, cradling it to his chest. The darkness comes and goes as the lights flicker. "What.. ? Come out, devil! Alan! Isaiah! To me!"

Alan and Isaiah were the rather muscular young men Batman had to beat unconscious to even enter the room. Whoops.

Lois Lane has posed:
For the moment, Lois isn't entirely aware that there is someone else there who has come to her rescue. She stares hard at Samuel, trying to keep her head about her and clinging to the last bits of focused consciousness she has. He looks terrifying, in the classical sense. Utterly awful and terrible at the same moment. Her pale eyes flutter, trying to turn away from the monsterous sight over her as she rasps quietly, "Yes. That is...what I try to do. Expose the wolves." And then she's bracing to be hit.

But it all happens very fast. She's not even certain *what* happened. Her breath drags in through her nose, head frantically turning as she tries to see who else is in the room. "Superman?" She asks hopefully. It didn't seem Superman's style, but she cannot imagine anyone else running to her rescue. She's still pinned to the table, through the restraints and the drugs in her system, but she's looking around, looking for any glimpse of her rescuer.

Batman has posed:
Batman gave Superman about 0.3 seconds to appear in this compound and save the day like he always does. When it doesn't happen, Batman is under the influence that Superman had, not quite better things to do, but he's probably at anotherl ocation giving a heartfelt speech about goodness and morality. Even in the dark, Batman had a marksman's aim. His hand never shook, he never let himself be overwhelmed by the odds.

The Dark Knight descends, landing on the ground in a classic superhero landing. Only when guns fire upon him, they strike at the metal. A form of intimidation is one inspired by Superman - how can you kill what bullets strike and fail to harm? He walks straight forward, bullets pinging off of the flexible pings of his armor, the lights completely off.

Illuminated only by muzzle flashes, the Batman walks straight towards Alan and Isaiah. He tries to kick Isaiah in the chest hard enough to send him sprawling, and lift the barrel of Alan's weapon to his face to take him down. As for Samuel?

"Your God can't save you, Samuel."

Batman lunges forward like some monster from a 90's film piece. While Batman is -certain- there are plenty of other guards around the surrounding area, Batman's focus is Samuel. Take out the leader and the flock of sheep disperse in terror.

Fear is a weapon.

Lois sees the Batman in gun flashes and strikes against metal. Only Batman maintains his barrelling posture towards Samuel, intending to brutalize him with repeated punches to Samuel's head, such so that if Samuel does nothing about it, like dodge or block, Batman will strike hard enough to give him whiplash.

This was not Superman. This was Superman's shadow.

Superman has posed:
"... and in the end, it is comforting to know there is a light in the darkness," Superman declares at the tail end of his speech. "So each of you, light one candle, and I will too."

Light? Candle? What was the speech about? If only other people had super senses, perhaps we'd know! But it has resonated with the hearts of the cultists -- not all of them, but more than one man and woman there have tears in their eyes, or have ripped off their armbands and thrown them on the ground. One has even reached out to embrace the Man of Steel and found him human instead.

When the hug ends, Superman looks around the chapel-like room he'd broken into. He stares at a wall. "There are cellphones in that office, in a bag by the bookshelf. I need to go now -- call the police, and tell them Lois Lane has been found, and you all need medical attention. I know a psychiatrist in Metropolis -- she'll help some of you, and make recommendations for the other." He rises into the air, disappearing over the broken rooftop of the building out of the cult's sight.

"Wait! Superman! The door's locked!"

Moments later, twin beams of molten heat cut through the doorknob and most of the door, letting it swing open with a hiss.

"--

Samuel stares in anger and fear at the demolished, unconscious bodies of his closest guards. As this devil-Bat wallops him in the darkness he throws his hands up into the air, arms bent to protect his head. He steps back, hit again and again, and stumbles into the medical table Lois had earlier been laid on. The heartbeat monitor is knocked aside, now emitting a dull, ceaseless beep. His hand scrambles in the darkness, and he finds an empty syringe -- hardly a fit weapon, but better than nothing, as he tries to stab the Batman. "Begone, you devil! The Lord is with me! My children, come!"

He yells into the darkness. Will others come? Sure, he's loud...but by then, odds are Samuel will be a blooded coma patient.

Oh, and given how dark it is, by 'tries to stab Batman', it's more that Samuel is about to stab Lois.

Lois Lane has posed:
Later on, Lois is going to be so angry that she was too drugged to be able to remember every moment of the exciting fight around her. The *Batman*. Mysterious, dangerous, just as effective as Superman and from a darker city. This is an incredible story unfolding around her and she's barely able to focus enough to really comprehend what is going on, much less write it down for a proper story. "Batman..." She rasps out in a mix of awe and relief. She knows who he is now. She just doesn't know how to better help him than staying still and waiting for these damn drugs to wear off.

That means she doesn't even realize the flailing that is coming from the terrified Samuel until the syringe, fortunately empty, is buried inside her leg. "F*cccck!" She groans out, kicking one leg out in Samuel's direction just to get whatever is left of his body off of her. There aren't other guards. Batman's made clean work of this. She only gets her kick in BECAUSE of the work Batman has done. But that stabbing through the meat of her thigh is the most painful thing she's felt in a while. "God, Batman...I... I appreciate the save here... I do, but... if you could help a gal get up..." She's still got a fair amount of adrenaline pumping through her, keeping her awake and aware despite the seeming flatlined monitor on the ground next to her.

Batman has posed:
"Nobody is coming."

No allies. No friends. No angels. No drugs or manipulations. Men like Samuel are a dime a dozen, masters of the long con. They make people believe a lie, even if that lie is based off of a truth, they twist it to suit their own ends. Lois is harmed and Batman continues his advance. Surely, it's better if Superman handles things. He's quick.

Batman is methodical. Tactical. Analytical. Every move is meant to break bone and shatter muscle. He reaches for Samuel's head and sharply moves his elbow forward to try and snap it against Sam's temple.

Goodnight.

The fight is done and Batman tries to pick Lois off of the table and starts to walk. The cries of Samuel are met by an eerie silence. At least Batman helps take out the needle. "I need you to stay conscious, Lois." He injects her with Zolpidem extract mixed with similar chemicals found in certain medicinal salts. Should help with the grogginess and general 'inability to move'ness. He expertly avoided nerves and hit into soft tissue, keeping it relatively painless.

Superman has posed:
Batman walks unchallenged out of the compound, no longer needing to take the side paths and camera-dodging routes he entered with. With Lois in tow, even as her faculties gradually return to her, a stealthy egress would be monumentally more difficult, anyway. What he finds at the end is a handful of armed men, one holding the leashes of four snarling Rottweilers, with their attention on the main door of the facility he needs to exit from.

"One of the boys heard Father Samuel screaming, Batman," a voice calls out, belonging to the cultist with the most seniority who isn't currently unconscious. He's the red-bearded fella holding the hounds back. "Guess you should have taken his radio, huh? We knew someone like you would come one day -- one of you demons powered by the devil, lording power over us good, regular people! We knew one day we'd have to fight back, so we've been preparing!"

The dogs snarl and snap. The men heft their rifles.

"So why don't you let our sister go, and put your hands behind your head? You can still be saved, if you -- "

At this point, from the clouded sky erupts a man arriving at super-sonic speeds; his arrival is marked late by a roaring rush of sound and air in a cone behind him like thunder. Superman slams down into the ground and then looks up, flashing a bright smile at the armed men.

"Well hello, fellas. Listen, I've been to your main compound, and the police will be there soon, too. A lot of your brothers and sisters have chosen to seek help, and I believe the law is going to take a good, hard look at what's been going on here. It's not too late for you to lay down your arms and leave Samuel's grasp -- I understand that might seem impossible to you now, but I promise, you can do it, and if you try, I will personally speak on your behalf in your court hearings."

He's positioned between the men and Batman and Lois, floating peacefully and hands on his hips.

"You don't need him to tell you where you belong, or to tell you right from wrong. The voice of God is not spoken from the lips of a madman -- it speaks through the hearts of the righteous. Is threatening an unarmed woman and the man saving her truly God's will?"

Lois Lane has posed:
They didn't necessarily want to shoot at first. They are desperate, scared, and just following orders. It's hard to shoot at a man carrying one of their 'sisters'. Batman can see it on their faces, emotionally cracked and quietly terrified, they are lost as to what to do. But when Superman comes down, announcing that the police are coming and others have given up? It's the final straw. The one that takes a bit more of a lead shakes his head. He's a man that's been trained to die for this place, and that was the plan one day. It seems this might be the day. He opens fire on the trio on front of them and his compatriot starts as well, a moment later. Sloppy, desperate, suicidial firing. They know it's over, they just need to take down the sinners with them.

Lois still isn't really awake enough to help with what is going on. She gives Batman a drowsy smile as he shoots her up with something, but it is helpful. It starts to vaguely clear her mind, making focusing a bit better even if the drowsiness kicks in heaver instead. She feels like a lead weight in his arms, but she does wearily wrap one arm around the Batman's neck, helping to counteract her weight as he carries her out of there.

As Superman flies down, her eyes do focus for a moment, widening with relief. "Superman...you... both came? For... for me?" She only has a moment to process the shock of it. She isn't important enough for both of them, but here they are. And then the bullets are flying. She instinctively tucks herself into Batman's chest, trying to hide away from them.

Superman has posed:
Superman's success rate when it comes to talking violent people down hovers around forty-five percent. A lot of times, when someone's pushed to that point, they're beyond the reach of words. Unfortunately, it seems like this is one of those situations -- and so the Man of Steel strides forward, rifle rounds punching into him and bouncing off with harmless dings, closing the distance between himself and the gunmen. He reaches out and grasps the barrel of the nearest rifle, bending it into a useless circle; another gun he stares at and it turns red-hot, causing its wielder to drop it with a pained howl and blow on his hands like he'd just touched a hot stove. The gun melts to slag.

"What faith means is different to everyone," he remarks. "But I'll tell you what I believe: faith isn't about punishing the wicked or judging the sinful. It isn't about converting others by force, or punishing them for making you doubt. Faith is about making a choice -- the choice to believe that no matter the darkness in the world, there is still light. The choice to believe that even the worst of us can be saved, and that no one is beyond mercy."

Superman could kill all of them with ease. He could bend and break their bodies and punish them for their evil ways. Yet he stands there and pleads with their better natures.

"If you ask me, faith is about trust. Please trust me. Things will get better for you again -- but this isn't the way."

Lois Lane has posed:
It's not until the shooting stops, at the hands of Superman, that Lois slowly turns her head out from being tucked hard against Batman's chest. She lets out a few ragged breaths, blinking as she tries to focus on what is happening. "Down... you... You can put me down, I think. I can... walk." Or stumble, at least. If he lets her down, she still does end up using his shoulder, leaning heavily into the barrel chested man at her side, but she's trying to look strong for Superman just as he's trying to be strong for all of them. "You came. You... both did. This... it wasn't for... Me, was it?"

The shooters have nothing left to shoot. One, the one with the bent rifle, finally hits his knees. He doesn't have words, but he's breaking into tears. He's simply, finally broken. Entirely broken. The other still has some fight left in him. Shaking his head repeatedly, he drops what is left of his gun and goes to run. Maybe he'll be able to run off and escape, maybe the cops will catch him. But Superman has saved another. He doesn't have words, but he's done fighting. Sometimes tears are the first step to healing.

Batman has posed:
Batman's attention falls on one of the cultists who how up with hounds at his beck and call. He calls Batman a devil. His eyes narrow. He didn't look fast. He lookedl ike someone who didn't understand science and tried to apply religious explanation for everything. A demented version of it. Batman watches their rifles start to go, and Batman hears the impact of the air.

There he is.

The hope of the world floating there proudly, even as Batman is ready to protect Lois at all costs. She's a non-combatant. He answers nothing about answering the call to help her. His focus is forward. He won't bat an eye.

"Took you long enough." Batman jabs, but true to Lois's wishes, he sets her down and he starts to walk forward until he's next to Superman. Ofcourse, he throws what look like small bolas, they wrap around a gunman and cause him to stand stiffly as if 1,000 bolts of electricity were running through his body. Of course, Superman decides to try and talk to them. Batman's a pessimist. He knows they won't throw down their arms.

But maybe they'll listen.

Superman has posed:
Some men can be talked down. Some men require the Batman to electrocute them. Superman prefers the first, but the second is tolerable so long as Batman's nearby -- and in this case, to Superman's endless gratitude, he is. He takes a step forward and kneels before the crying man, resting a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Hey. What's your name, man?"

The man lifts his reddened eyes to Superman. "D-Duncan. My name is Duncan."

"Hey, Duncan. I'm glad to meet you today. Listen, the next couple of weeks might be pretty difficult. You'll be asked a lot of questions and kept in custody for a little while. But I promise I'm going to come visit you, and make sure you're being treated fairly -- same with everyone here. You're taking the first step toward something better, and I'm proud of you."

Superman gives the fellow's arm a friendly squeeze and then turns, walking toward Batman and Lois. He smiles upon seeing Lois, and at first that smile's a little lopsided, before it straightens out. "You would not believe the traffic," he quips cheesily. "Batman, can you contact the police? Miss Lane -- I'm going to bring you in for medical attention, alright?"

Lois Lane has posed:
"Thank you, Batman... Truly. Thank you," Lois calls after him. As Batman actually moves off to do his job, Lois catches herself on the edge of a planter that lines the sidewalk of the too-nice edges of the compound. The place almost looked idyllic, all the better to hide the tar and sickness beneath the surface. It's taking every last inch of her own strength (and those drugs that Batman gave her) to keep herself standing, but she is managing. She returns Superman's lopsided smile, a little lopsided herself, but that's probably the drugs talking.

"'mokay... Really. I wouldn't let them... break me." Lois reassures Superman, trying to look tough as nails and not worry him too much, even if she's barely on her feet. She then makes the poor choice to let go and try to stand up straight, taking a step in his direction before one knee buckles. "F*ck." She hisses as she goes down. So much for her pride. "I'm fine, really. Go... go help the others." Medical is probably a wise idea, but she's as stubborn a woman as ever.

Batman has posed:
"They're already on their way." Batman's voice remains terse, tense, straightforward. Though Batman lowered his combative stance to stand up tall, his cape covering the majority of his body to add to that mystique of his appearance. Though he watches as Superman has a heart to heart with Duncan....and he's reminded that Superman

Batman has posed:
"They're already on their way." Batman's voice remains terse, tense, straightforward. Though Batman lowered his combative stance to stand up tall, his cape covering the majority of his body to add to that mystique of his appearance. Though he watches as Superman has a heart to heart with Duncan....and he's reminded that Superman is a better man than he is. A better human.

Batman wouldn't have given them a second chance. Highly unlikely he would've thought about it, the most he would do is get them a nice cell in Blackgate or Belle Reve.

Yet Superman listens. He tries to -change- them. Change them all, like they could be changed period. It was a strange and remarkable dichtomy. Yet Batman's attention moves from Superman to look upon Lois.

He says nothing to her. But when she starts to look a little bit lopsided, Batman moves to help her back to her feet - or try to. Let Superman handle the complicated workings of a change of heart.

Superman has posed:
"You're very strong," Superman tells Lois, watching as Batman helps her back to her feet. "Thank you, Batman. I couldn't have done this without you -- you saved her. And I think we'll save them, too."

Batman, of course, knows the secret identity of Superman; he knows, too, that Clark Kent has feelings for the intrepid lady reporter here, even if he's not managed to confess them given the difficulties of a double life. So when Superman's voice comes out thick with gratitude, the world's greatest detective knows he means every word: whatever Batman might think of himself as a human or a hero, right now, Superman thinks he's the best.

"But for now, Miss Lane, I need to take you. I can tell you've been drugged, and you need to be examined. Batman can handle things from here -- come on, he's Batman," he adds at the end, as if that should be enough to convince her.

Either way, Superman is going to pick her up bridal style, regardless. It's all well and good to get consent and respect personal space, but she is a drugged kidnapping victim and sometimes you have to make an executive decision. He gives Batman a little nod, and then ascends with Lois in tow. She's got a first-class ticket to Metropolis General Hospital.