章 29: A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings
(Nathan POV)
As I carried Harley through the sewers so as not to be interrupted, I delved deeper and deeper in. The reason for this was actually to see if Dr. Gotham was down here in this universe while also making sure that what I was about to do would not be interrupted. Luckily, I did not sense him, so I breathed a small sigh of relief.
The woman in question began to groan as her eyes opened, but by the time she had done so, I simply tied her legs and arms together, and I dropped her on the ground as she saw me; she tried to stand but then realized she couldn't.
I then whispered, "Ecnelis ni su dnuorrus," A small field appeared around as I then simply looked down at the woman as she tried to escape her bonds, but I had simply taken the cuffs she had on her and put them on.
"Harleen Frances Quinzel is ironically a well-thought-out name for someone so dull. Even with your own degree in psychology, you could see how your own actions went against everything you stood for. How does that feel, by the way?" She simply narrows her eyes at me as the water droplets drip around us.
"What's it to you skull face? You're here to make me repent, ha! I don't need fixing; I am free, just like he will be soon enough. So do me a favor and uncuff me so I can show you a good time with my bat and gun." I don't respond as I sigh to myself, seeing that she doesn't deserve it while the potential is there for something it matters not.
So I try something new. I reach into the Dark Side, and as I spread my senses, I feel the deluge of negative emotions envelop me. Opening my eyes, glowing red and yellow, I reach my hand out towards her. Lightning begins to arc across my hands and then streams at lighting, enveloping her.
"AHHHHHHHHHH! You Fucker! AHHHHH!" The screams satisfy the dark side as I then stop and see her skin start to scar as my lighting burns not only the mind but the body as well. She can't laugh this one off as I'm zapping every individual cell all at once.
As I stopped, she took a breath as I continued, "You know I recall you having a daughter. I wonder how she would feel if she knew her mother and father were de ranged psychopaths that will be denied by history as the two that nuked a city on the whims of a madman." I then continue to zap her as she screams in pain and endless agony.
I embrace the satisfaction from this as I take some form of vengeance for those, that is, both of them. I dare not do this in a Metropolis as I would fear the negative emotions of an entirely destroyed city. I then take a part of the lined paper from my inventory and, using the dark side of the force, I show Harley a picture of her daughter, Lucy.
"Do you see this? This happiness she is showing by not being near you, and you know that. The whole Bonnie and Clyde thing you and the Joker had been doing was an escape for you, wasn't it? You enjoy not having to live by the rules because you simply couldn't take it. The Joker is charismatic in his own way, and I understand that, but it takes more than Charisma to take a person from one side of the spectrum to another. No, You joined him because you were dissatisfied with your life and decided to make your own decision, and look where it got you in dying a dirty sewer with nothing." She can barely look at me as the pain causes tears to appear in her eyes.
She then manages to choke out a few words, " I have nothing to give you, so if you want to kill me, then just AHHHH!" I zapped her again as my guilt then disappeared altogether.
Her screams of pain appeased the dark, but I wasn't stopping now, so I threw a good amount of my rage and frustration into the lightning, and as it grew and spread, I saw smoke appearing out of her mouth as her insides burned away.
"I have killed people before, but I felt nothing from it. I will fully admit that I'm taking some satisfaction from this goodbye, Harley Quinn." I then shocked her over and over again, one time for every hundred people she killed, and as her skin peeled away and her bones showed, she was still alive, screaming out for anyone to help her. No one was coming.
I simply continued to do so, and as she looked up at me with a barely cognizant look, I saw the smallest amount of regret. Still, it didn't matter anymore, so in one final blast, her body down to the very cells disintegrated as slowly as I could.
But before her body completely dies, I absorb enough of her brain to learn from her memories through Blacklight, and the rest of her body turns to dust, which I then use the force to toss into the sewer water.
I disable the silencing field and change my face again, allowing myself to breathe and using my phasing ability, I appear in an alleyway in Gotham, and upon entering a crowd of people, I disable the camera scrambler and wait for the dominoes to fall into place.
I thankfully have my license and passports for ID as Loid Mercer, which would help with things unless I am cashing out at an ATM, which I don't need, or flying through an airport, which again doesn't matter.
But I should find an identity to use that doesn't have a terrible rap sheet.
Right now, though, I knew whether I was going next. As much as I loathe to do so, as I search through Harley's scrambled memories, I am able to locate several safe houses in Gotham that the Joker gang uses, and no one is going to miss them, right?
And what makes this better is that I see Superman flying overhead, completely oblivious to what happened. I could feel the virus's desire to take in his DNA and evolve, and for the first time in a while, I agreed with it.
(Superman (Injustice) POV)
Never in my life had I thought that this would happen. I had heard many stories of those who lost people, and while I could say that I identified with them after losing my world, I never actually connected with it enough to actually realize how little I cared.
But now, after seeing the pillar of my life collapse in seconds, I put things in perspective. How often was this happening around the world? I refuse to use the full range of my hearing as even I would get overwhelmed by the screams and noises, but now it just makes me wonder if I was just simply ignoring them to stay sane.
Maybe the world didn't need Clark Kent anymore. Maybe it just needs Superman now. And as I make my hundreth sweep of Gotham and find nothing, I simply float above the city, but I can't shake the feeling that something has changed without me realizing it. I also feel someone staring at me, but I often feel that, as I know, satellite imagery is often watching where I go. How annoying.
Looking at the blood on my head and chest, I simply shake in rage, pain, and doubt. The blood just seems to stick to everything, and as I lose concentration, I hear so many voices.
"Put the money in the bag bitch!"
"Mom, when is Dad coming home?"
"AHHHHHHH!"
"Wonder how Superman is doing?"
"¿Cómo pudo pasar esto?" (How can this happen.)
"Je suis vraiment désolé mon amour." (I am so sorry my love.)
"Shut up!" I think to myself as I need space, so as I blitz across the planet, I stagger to the fortress and sit down on a chair as Jor-El appears.
'My son, what happened?" I couldn't even answer him as I couldn't even hear myself anymore, yet as I closed my eyes, I still heard the laughter. It just never seems to end!
"Be quiet! I can't even hear myself think!" I didn't even know I said that out loud, and as Jor-El frowned, he disappeared, and I simply sobbed into my hands and screamed in rage.
As I was able to lift my gaze, I saw the man sitting there, and I was too ashamed to allow myself to stare back. I wonder how the others are doing with this.
The laughter won't stop.
(Third Person POV)
-Titans Tower (Jump City)-
A large T-shaped tower overlooks a sprawling city from a lone island off the coast. Yet all is not well here as three individuals arrive back at the tower with Superboy and Beast Boy entering the building but allow themselves to be sprayed and scanned down for traces of harmful radiation.
The process takes a couple of minutes as all three of them stand in separate chambers for detoxification.
[Scans Complete. Welcome Back, Kid Flash, Superboy, Beast Boy.]
They all then walk into the main room and see all the Titans there with Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, Wonder Girl (Cassandra Sandsmark), Red Robin, and even Nightwing was there as they see the news channels report on what had occurred in Metropolis.
As the three enter the room, Star Fire is hugging them. She says, "Thank goodness you all are safe. What happened back there? Your comms went dead after the bomb went off."
Superboy, sitting down, says, "Well, all of us were going to take a small break from patrol, and Garth said he knew a good pizza place for all of us in Metropolis, but as we entered the city, we saw a guy in a skull mask wearing a white/black uniform running away from the place as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop. He seemed to be running from something, and as he saw us, he didn't even look at us but yelled out that the city was going to blow and we should get out of there."
As Superboy stopped to breathe, Kid Flash piped in, "Yeah, it was insane. The guy went from jumping from rooftop to rooftop to straight up gliding through the air, and when Superboy here tried to touch him, his hands just fazed through, and as we kept going, he got faster and faster using some kind of biological means of propulsion."
Nightwing then narrowed his eyes at this as he asked, "Did you get a name? A gender? Anything?" Superboy shook his head while the person disguised their voice to sound like either gender.
Nightwing then used his communicator and contacted Batman: "Bruce, we got a lead. Yeah, a new player may be involved. Gotcha, I'll be there, and Bruce make sure to keep all satellites watching the fortress. Superman may have killed him, but he is still Clark. Let him mourn, then talk. Nightwing out." He then looked to the team as his shoulders sagged, seeing the looks on the team's faces.
Superboy then walked up to Nightwing and gripped him by the shoulders, and yelled, "What did Clark do?!"
Nightwing looked away as Wonder Girl tried to pull him off Nightwing, and as she did so, Nightwing then began to walk out of the room but not before saying, "Don't do anything rash; wait for the league to issue new orders. And Connor, for the love of all that is holy, do not attempt to talk to Clark. It may make things worse. Can you give me a sketch of the guy?"
Bart then nodded as he gapped a sketchbook and, using his superspeed, drew an entire portrait of the guy after leaving one for the team, he said, "No, this is hard for all of you, but we need to focus our efforts on finding this guy, or gal. But under no circumstances should you try to contact Superman. The world is at a tipping point right now, and we don't want to be on the side where the tree falls. Robin, Batman wants you back at the cave tomorrow. He may need your help with this."
Tim Drake or Red Robin nods as the team begins to talk amongst themselves while Superboy sits on the couch thinking about his next move. Cyborg hugs Beast Boy as he struggles to breathe. And Star Fire sighs in exhaustion as dark times may lie ahead.
(Apologies if nothing really happened in this chapter. It's kind of difficult to juggle all of these various characters and all of the stories together, but I will try to keep a reasonable pace here. Let me know if you guys have any recommendations on what our intrepid main character's next move should be.)
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