Superdog: Apocalupus

Part Two: The Pain

Kevin massaged his arm, wincing as he did so. He had pinched himself so many times today, each time hoping he was just having some crazy dream. And yet, he was still seeing that new report and images that came with it. Kevin had always been sure that Superman was invincible, and that no bad guy possibly beat him. But there it was, right in front of him, set to a soundtrack of a brokenly sobbing new reporter who could hardly speak.

Kevin's mother started to cry right away, while Kevin's father comforted her while wearing a stone faced expression. Kevin however, in between pinches, could only think of one thing.

"Poor Krypto. . ."

The hours Kevin sat sitting in his room waiting for Krypto seemed like days. He sat on his bed, just staring at the window, watching the sun set. The boy sniffed and wiped his nose. He got up and paced around the room. "Come on, Krypto," he said softly, "Please come home. . .let me help you."

He then sat back onto his bad and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. "He must be miserable," Kevin muttered, "The first friend he ever made, and the only Kryptonian friend he ever had, gone forever."

A sudden whooshing sound outside the window cause Kevin to jump up and turn towards it. However, his expectations were short lived when he saw a Supercat hovering outside instead of a Superdog.

"Hey," Streaky said, neither looking nor sounding very happy.

"Hi Streaky," Kevin said.

The pair just stood in silence for a moment, then Kevin sighed and sat back down on his bed. The boy patted the space next to him, and Streaky flew in a curled up onto the mattress next to Kevin.

"How's Andrea?" Kevin asked.

"She cried," Streaky said simply, still wearing a frown, "She's better now, but she's kinda worried about the K-dog. Figured this would hit him the hardest. Heh. Maybe not as hard as that Lois Lane lady, but still pretty hard." Streaky would always crack jokes, but this attempt at one was completely humorless.

Kevin nodded silently.

"He'd always get so excited when he was about to go on a mission with the guy," Streaky went on, "That'd usually mean I'd have to team up with Ace, Stretch, or the Dog Stars to fight whatever villain decided to attack while he was away. Heh. . ." the cat sighed before continuing, "And after the mission, he'd be even more excited. I swear that he can talk as fast as he can fly."

Kevin knew what Streaky was talking about. Krypto loved to talk about his adventures with Superman. His tail would wag and thump the ground with the force of a jack hammer (literally), his eyes would be bright and happy as a puppy. He'd even smile and wink as he'd explain how he couldn't reveal any secrets about the "Fortress of Solitude." He did let it slip that Superman owned a super robot, like how he had Dogbot, but that was the only tidbit Krypto ever revealed.

"So, how is he?" Supercat asked, breaking Kevin's chain of thoughts.

Kevin huffed and got up angrily and leaned on the windowsill, "I don't even know where he is! He could be anywhere! Doing anything! I just don't know! He might not even come back. . ."

Supercat stared at Kevin for a while, then he got up and floated by Kevin and out the window. "You two need each other more than ever right now," he said, "So I ain't eating again till I drag Krypto back here!"

Kevin watched as Supercat became a streak of orange lightning in the sky over Metropolis.

Superdog sat on the very top of the Daily Planet building, on the top of the golden globe. He wasn't crying, his tear dugs had long since run dry. He wasn't howling either, he had done plenty of that in Death Valley, where no one would hear him. While he was there, he had taken out all his anger on a few hundred boulders. The desert now had a bunch more sand.

Krypto's thoughts were a mess. The word "Why?" was bouncing around his head a lot. At the same time, accusatory questions were assaulting him as well.

"Why weren't you there, Superdog? Why weren't you there to help him?"

"I had to help that planet. Mechanikat would've conquered it if I hadn't been there."

"The Dog Star Patrol could've done it without you. They've saved countless world before you cam along. Don't make excuses."

Krypto whimpered and hung his head low.

"Then again, a weakling like you would've have just died along with him. That might have actually been for the best."

Krypto's whimpers got louder as he covered his face with his paws.

"I knew you'd be here," a deep gruff voice said.

Krypto uncovered his face and looked up. "Bathound. . ." he choked.

Ace stood on his Bat Rocket Glider, looking down at the depressed Superdog. He stepped off his glider and said, "Well, can't say I wasn't expecting to see you like this."

"I know you're sorry about what happened. I know you wish you could've said something. So please don't even bother," Krypto said darkly, then he looked up and glared at Ace, "Because you do not know how I'm feeling right now."

Ace glared back at Krypto and said seriously, "Yes I do."

"LIAR!" Krypto barked as he fired his head vision in a fit of rage. Ace had lightning fast reflexes and easily dodged the beams.

The two dogs circled each other dangerously. Ace was calm, cool, collected, but Krypto was growling and snarling in rage. Ace felt painful memories of dog fights begin to resurface, but he quickly shoved them back into the abyss for the time being.

"You don't know how I feel!" Krypto barked angrily, "Batman's still alive isn't he? Oh, wait, it's not like you care. He's just your partner, right? You're a lone wolf. You could care less, couldn't you! Well Superman and I actually care for each other. So you-."

Krypto was cut off when a bolas shot out of Bathound's collar and wrapped around Krypto's legs. He fell over onto his side and struggled against the ropes, and to his shock, he found that he simply could not break free. Krypto's eyes darted to the glowing blue sphered of the bolas, and then looked towards Ace, who was wearing a slightly saddened frown.

"I knew that you'd be. . .unstable. . .considered what's happened," Ace said, "I'd be a fool to try to talk to you without any precautions. My Partner is always prepared for everything. Which is why he keeps a few anti-superhero weapons in the Bat Cave, in case of things like mind-control or Red Kryptonite. My Partner made yellow powder weapons for Green Lanterns, Kryptonite weapons for Superman, and so on and so on." Ace closed his eyes and hung his head, "However, despite the potentially dangerous situation I'd be putting myself in, I couldn't bring myself to even touch any of those Kryptonite devices. I could never hurt you, Krypto. Loyalty is something that dogs can't compromise. I assume you already know that. Luckily, I had another option."

Ace pointed to the glowing orbs, "Blue Kryptonite. It takes away your powers, but it doesn't hurt you. It's purely necessary, and not a bit excessive. But enough of that. Now, I want you to listen what I have to say to you."

Ace glared at Krypto hard as he stared back up at him.

"Alright," Ace growled, "First, let me tell you about how my Partner and I met." Ace closed his eyes for a moment and spoke as the memories began to come back. "When I was a puppy, I was put into an illegal dog fighting ring. Imagine Hell on Earth. Years of it. My entire early life was constant fighting for my life. The fact that I'm still alive proves that there's a God. Anyway, I eventually managed to escape. I soon ran into my future Partner. We were kindred spirits. But it really began after a bunch of Joker wannabes ganged up on him. I saved his life, and he saved mine. And we've been Partners ever since. Despite what you think, we really do understand each other."

Ace stared off into space for a moment as Krypto studied him. Bathound then growled softly, "So you can imagine how I felt when he almost died on me. . ."

Krypto couldn't help but gasp at that.

Ace looked down at Krypto and continued, "There was a super villain named Bane. A masked lunatic who possessed a drug he called Venom. This drug caused the man to grow three times the size, and his strength rivaled that of Superman. My Partner fought him. . .big mistake. . ."

Ace closed his eyes for a moment before continuing. "When I came back after taking care of Joker's Hyenas, I found my partner lying on a table with a broken body, internal bleeding, you name it, he had it. If it wasn't for Al-. . .a friend. . .he would be dead. And what's more, I wasn't there to help him. You can imagine how I felt."

"Yeah. . ." Krypto said softly.

Ace nodded, "Of, course, he got better. He even built a robotic suit to take down Bane. But that's not the point. The point is that I realized that I could possibly loose my partner. The Superhero business is always dangerous, there's no denying that. I knew that I had to do continue despite all this. People are going to need us to help them, and evil needs us to stop it. That's why I don't stop. It would be an insult to my Partner."

Ace pressed a button on his collar, and a mini-lazer shot out and burned through the ropes tying Krypto's legs.

"So, my friend," Ace said, "Don't say I could care less about my Partner. We're much closer than you'd think. True, I don't know exactly how you feel, but you have to admit, I came pretty close."

After gathering the blue Kryptonite and putting it back in collar, Ace stepped back onto his glider.

"Ace, wait," Krypto said.

Ace turned to the Kryptonian dog.

"I. . . I'm sorry. I was angry and shouldn't have said that stuff. . .or used my heat vision," Krypto added with a sheepish smile.

Ace let the corners of his mouth curl up a bit. It looked like Krypto was getting a little better.

"Don't worry about it," Ace said, and as he turned toward the sky he said, "I understand that it will take a while, but I know you'll get back that super hero passion and that cheerful disposition. In memory of him."

Ace started up his glider and flew off into the distance. Krypto sat in silence as he watched the dark hound fly off into the night.

"HEEEEEY!"

Krypto turned to see Streaky flying over to him, looking visibly displeased.

"Krypto! Kevin's worried sick about you!" Supercat exclaimed.

Krypto's ears and tail shot up at this. He had completely forgotten about his human boy.

"We're all sad about what happened, but couldn't we at least be sad together? I mean, being depressed is bad enough! But depressed and alone? That's being trapped in a canned tuna factory without a can opener!" Streaky complained.

Krypto sighed and nodded resolutely, "Yes. You're right Streaky."

Streaky rolled his eyes and continued his speech, "Oh, so that's how your gonna be? Well you should've seen how worried Kevin is! He even was worrying that you might never come back-" Streaky suddenly stopped and blinked, "Wait, did you say I was right?"

Krypto stood up and nodded, "Yeah. I doubt I'll ever get over this, but I shouldn't isolate myself or anything. Especially if I'm worrying Kevin. He's my best friend, the only one who helped me get used to Earth, and I'm not going let him down or push him away. Right now, I think I'm gonna need my friends more than ever."

Streaky flew to Krypto's side and threw a foreleg around his shoulder, "Now you've got it, K-dog. Now let's get back. I told Kevin I wouldn't eat again til I found you-."

"Really?!" Krypto said incredulously.

"Ha-ha," Streaky snarked, "Anyway, let's head back. I heard a healthy appetite helps with depression anyway. . .I think. . ."

Krypto let out a small grin, but inside he knew it meant nothing. All the guilt, the anger, and the pain was still there. The excitement, possibilities, and positivity was still gone from him. And deep down inside, Krypto couldn't find any reason to care if he go it back or not.

It was night-time when the pair arrived back in their neighborhood. The pair hovered in front of Kevin's window.

"Tennis ball's in your court, Krypto," Streaky said as he flew back to Andrea's house without another word.

Krypto flew in through the open window and landed in the room.

"Krypto?"

The dog turned to see Kevin sitting up in his bed. He nodded, "Yeah, I'm back Kevin. I-."

Krypto was cut off when Kevin jumped out of bed and hugged him tightly.

"We're in this together, Krypto. Don't go it alone," the boy said.

Krypto could feel it all click into place in his mind. Just as he had felt horrible about loosing Superman, Kevin felt horrible at the thought of possibly loosing him.

Krypto sat there in the human's warming embrace. . .

He still felt cold inside. . .

Author's note: The origin story of Ace came from the animated series "Batman Beyond". the episode was "Ace In the Hole." The story of Batman vs Bane came from the animated series "The Batman". The episode was "Traction."