章 35: Shades of Grey
Dick coughed up another glob of blood as he woke up again. He had been inadvertently passing out every ten minutes or so as he tried to work on the transponder; his training with Bruce was the only thing managing to keep him holding on —he had been trained to wake himself up when unconscious, it had saved his skin more than once. The human body had limits and Dick knew that the next time he fell asleep he wouldn't be waking back up again. 'I wish I could've fixed things with Barb...' Dick thought to himself as he continued to rewire the transponders.
As he worked however a large explosion blew in the wall from one of the rooms. Clara Garcia and several dozen men that Dick had not seen before came in; anyone normal might be glad to see a friendly face, but when you've been trained with Batman you can't help but be pessimistic. Dick couldn't help but consider why they were there, the answer is as obvious and it meant nothing good for him.
"Nightwing... you look like shit," Clara said as she approached the injured hero.
"I've had better days if I'm honest," Dick said with a chuckle that quickly turned into a cough. Using the large metal frame of the transponder he got to his feet while Clara watched "I don't suppose any of you guys are doctors?" Dick asked.
"I'm afraid not... we are a rather specialist group," She said with a smile that made Dick feel uneasy.
"What're you doing here," Dick asked, getting to the crux of the issue.
"Your friends have caused a nice little distraction, we are taking advantage and grabbing equipment that'll help the cause," Clara stated.
"Everything in here is dangerous, some of it isn't even from this planet, you'll risk hurting yourself and others if you take anything, it has to be destroyed," Dick tried to reason.
"The Rebellion has been on the losing side ever since those Intergang Dogs moved here, the things in this room will change that and we can finally bring those in power to justice," Clara said stubbornly.
"There are weapons in here capable of killing thousands of people!" Dick shouted before going into another coughing fit and nearly falling over.
"Then it shall be a very short war," Clara said as she gestured for her men to start grabbing equipment.
"You know I can't let you do this... I'll have to stop you," Dick said as he reached for a single Escrima stick he had on his belt.
Clara snorted "Stay back little Robin, I don't wish to kill you but I will," she said. However Dick didn't back down, and stepped closer towards Clara, he would need to get closer in order to take her down; with his injuries, he wouldn't get a second chance. 'If I can take her hostage maybe I can get the others to stop,' Dick thought to himself, it would be very unheroic but he didn't have many other options at this point.
*BANG*
Dick fell to the floor after being shot in the chest by Clara. She wasn't the type to mess around and as soon as he took a step towards her she shot him; Clara had learned to never underestimate her opponents regardless of who they are. She looked down at Dick with a cold expression before walking away and helping her men get weapons.
Dick had to stop himself from gasping for air as the bullet managed to knock the wind out of him. Luckily for Dick, the bullets Clara used were normal and not the type the Joker used —The Joker had long since adapted to the body armour the bat family wore. Dick waited until Clara and the rest of the rebels disappeared into the aisles before he moved again; despite the fact the bullet was stopped by his costume the force still managed to irritate his injuries.
He crawled back over to the transponder. The last act of his life would be something he would never consider doing 'I'm sorry Bruce... Barb... everyone.' Dick couldn't let these weapons get out, they could hurt so many people. He hoped that despite what he was about to do people wouldn't remember him for it.
———————————————————
In the auction room, the battle was in full swing as the enhanced criminals engaged whatever heroes were able to join Wonder Woman on short notice. Mark couldn't help but feel a bit grateful that whatever device had done this hadn't put them on the same level as Superman —otherwise, they'd all be dead by now. But just because they weren't on the same level it didn't mean they weren't dangerous, a lot of the heroes who didn't have the level of enhanced strength that Mark or Kara had struggled to fight if they didn't have a meta ability that allowed them to keep some distance.
Mark also quickly realised that a lot of the heroes were still acting like heroes —Kara included. They were trying to subdue Kryponian-powered criminals like they were just any other villain 'Idiots, they are going to get themselves killed,' Mark thought to himself as he ducked under a punch then spun his dagger in his hand and shoved it straight into his opponent's neck; Mark then rushed forward and plunged it into the chest of a criminal that was trying to sneak up on Kara.
He grabbed Kara by the arm have she finished knocking out one of the criminals "Kara you need to leave!" Mark shouted.
Kara looked at him with a mixture of surprise and hurt "I'm fine, they haven't even touched me yet!" She shouted back over the sound of the battle.
"If you can't bring yourself to kill them then you're putting yourself and our baby at risk," Mark shouted, though he had to pause a moment to catch an incoming kick, he spun around and slammed the villain into the ground before piercing his brain with us dagger and ending his life instantly. The ease at which Mark did so made Kara flinch slightly; while she knew that his words made sense she had always been told killing was wrong by her cousin —ever since she had come to the planet. Her father would've been of the same logical mindset as Mark, but she still didn't know if she could bring herself to do it.
'Think of the baby,' She thought to herself as she dodged an incoming blow and slipped behind a criminal before using all her strength and twisting their neck backwards. The snap she heard made Kara feel a little nauseous and she had to step back a moment; Mark rushed over to her "You did good Kara, but maybe you should sit this one out," Mark said as he rubbed her back.
"No... I'll be fine... just give me a minute," she said in a low voice, before wiping her eyes and getting her head back into the game.
"Mark!"
Mark looked behind him and saw Diana who smashed the pommel of her sword into the face of a man before slicing him across the chest and kicking him through a wall. She then flew over to Mark "Have you seen my sister Mark!" Diana asked in a slight panic, she had expected Donna to be somewhere in the room fighting but as she looked around she couldn't find her.
"Don't worry she's safe, the criminals... they tried to... but don't worry I stopped them and put her somewhere safe," Mark said.
Diana looked at Mark with gratitude though her face quickly morphed into one of rage as she recognised what they had tried to do to her little sister. "SHOW THEM NO MERCY THEY WILL NOT LEAVE THIS ROOM!!!" Diana shouted before she charged at the enemy thrusting her sword through their neck much to Mark's surprise.
"Shit..." Mark said as he looked and saw a group of Heroes being beaten quite badly by the villains. He flew over at top speed and attacked them from behind; his dagger sliced through their necks as easily as cutting through butter and they all died quickly much to the hero's disgust.
"What the hell are you doing," Black Lightning yelled at Mark.
"You are going to get yourself killed if you keep playing hero!" Mark shouted back.
"These are not regular criminals, everyone in here is dangerous and can kill you easily, so fight to kill if not get out of here, you're just asking to die if you don't," Mark said before getting back into the fight. It seemed that Kori recognised the threat they posed as she held nothing back when attacking the villains, she grabbed one of them from behind and released a full-powered blast right to the villain's face. His father Nolan cut through them just as easily as Mark did —even if he only had one arm.
Mark sighed as he looked at the majority of heroes avoiding lethal blows they could've taken. 'At this point, they're only good for a distraction while the rest of us kill them,' he thought to himself as he continued to kill the enemies. Mark couldn't help but feel slight awe when he looked at the dagger in his hand, he would have to learn more about it as a blade that could cut through such durable people was hard to come by.
Mark rushed towards a group of criminals who were trying to box Kid Flash who was having trouble navigating the battlefield. With one hand forward he pulled the first man straight to his hand, where he proceeded to impale him in the heart and twist the blade.
The second villain turned around and released a powerful ray of heat vision that Mark was able to deflect off to the ceiling using the dagger. Creating a large blue sphere in his hand he shot it between the second and third villains which draw them towards it; both men felt their skin and muscle begin to tear as they were sucked against the sphere. While they were distracted Mark got close and finished them off with two deep slashes to the neck —nearly decapitating them. "Hey, Kid Flash!" Mark shouted.
In a flash Kid Flash was in front of Mark, it looked like he had managed to take a few hits, but was doing well. "What do you want," he said a little shortly, he still remembered what Mark had done back in Gotham to him and Connor, so he wasn't exactly his favourite person at the moment.
"Start getting the heroes out, they've managed to distract them enough that we whittled down their numbers, but now they are just in the way," Mark said bluntly.
Mark could see the angry look on the Kid Flash's face but before he could speak he put his hand on his shoulder "Your friends are dying and getting hurt for no reason, get them out," he said in a clear voice. Kid Flash cursed before running off and helping the weakest heroes first.
Before Mark could get back to the fight he found his communicator which he had assumed was damaged in his constant fighting begin to flash. 'Maybe the suit fixed it? Handy,' he thought as he turned it on.
"Is anyone receiving me," he heard Dick ask on the other side.
"Nightwing, we are a bit busy at the moment," Mark replied, as he engaged in fighting once again.
"Well, you won't be for much longer... I'm destroying the warehouse, but the explosion will probably take out the rest do the palace as well," Dick stated.
Mark's eyes widened in surprise "You're gonna kill everyone still in the palace?" Mark asked.
"I have no choice, I can't take the chance that a single weapon is taken out of here, you've seen how destructive they can be, even if I'm remembered as a murderer I'll take it over the possible thousands that will die cause of what's in the warehouse," Dick explained.
"Just give me a few minutes I can get to you, you don't need to be so rash," Mark said as he blocked a punch from a villain but was sent flying across the air.
"They're already leaving, there is no other option." Dick groaned out in pain.
"If you see Batman again... tell him I'm sorry," Dick asked.
Mark couldn't help but shake his head at Nightwing's reverence of Batman. Dick must've heard his sigh of disbelief as he started laughing "You might think we are soft Mark... but it takes much more strength not to kill someone than to kill them," Dick said through laboured breaths.
"I'm sure one day you'll learn the value of mercy... get everyone out." Dick then disconnected the link.
'Everyone, a bomb is about to explode get out of the palace now!' Mark sent out a telepathic message to all the heroes present.
Mark killed the criminal who was attacking him and flew directly to Kara to make sure she got out. Mark saw the Heroes start filing out much to the criminal's confusion; they quickly assumed that they had forced the heroes to retreat and were celebrating their victory. Mark, Kara and Kori as well as some others flew out of the ceiling high up into the air. Not long afterwards a large black sphere grew before engulfing the entire palace, when it dissipated the entire palace, as well as a good chunk of the earth was gone.
Mark floated down to the earth with a solemn expression on his face. He may not have liked Nightwing or heroes in general all too much but he wouldn't discount the sacrifices they were willing to make for the greater good. "Who set off that explosion..." Kara asked as she floated down next to Mark.
Mark looked to Kori who was standing next to her, the expression on his face said all that she needed to hear "I'm sorry Kori, he was a brave man," Mark said as he gave her a look of sympathy.
Kori's eyes started to tear up and she embraced Kara who was also upset at their friend's death. Mark looked around at the heroes who looked worse for wear; they were all mostly in shock at what had just occurred. However, a lot was also reeling from the deaths of both the villains and some of the heroes that they had just witnessed.
Mark felt panic set in as he remembered Harley and the others who were still down in that room. Though he was relieved to see that the explosion hadn't made it down that far and the hole he had made in the ground was still present 'I should probably go and get them,' he thought to himself as he started floating off the ground.
"NO! NO! NO! This isn't how it was supposed to happen!" A voice shouted out from behind the group. They all turned and were greeted by the sight of the Joker who had a scowl on his face.
"Joker!" Black lightning shouted as he rushed forward grabbed the Joker by the neck and unleashed a torrent of lightning through him.
"I don't want to play with you," the Joker said bluntly as he whipped his hand around and decapitated him in a single blow. The heroes reeled in shock at what they saw; the Joker had always been a baseline human, so for him to exhibit such strength shocked them —most didn't even know he was there.
"Oliver wait." Mark heard his Dad call out as his hot-tempered brother rushed towards the Joker with his fist wound back. The Joker easily caught Oliver's wrist and spun him around before grabbing him by the neck and holding him still.
"Hahahahhahaha this has been the most fun I've had in years, and I'm not ready to let it end," The Joker said with a manic smile stretched across his face. He then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a large metal syringe with a grey-looking liquid contained inside.
Using his long fingernails he stabbed them into Oliver's neck drawing blood. Nolan and Mark were already flying towards the Joker but both were tackled by Bizarro who stopped them from reaching Oliver; the Joker then stabbed the needle into the cut he made and injected the liquid —all while laughing.
Oliver fell to the ground as he started coughing, he threw up blood and his eyes started to turn red and bleed "Papa..." he said before he started shaking and his skin started to turn grey. Mark and Nolan slammed their fists into Bizarro and sent him flying towards the Joker; they both then flew towards Oliver who was still shaking as his muscles started to grow and his body became larger.
"What did you do to him!!!" Mark shouted at the joker.
"I made him more fun, hahahahahahahahahha," the Joker said as he started to float away from the heroes.
*ROAR*
Oliver stood up, he was now nine feet in height, his skin was grey and he was covered in razor-sharp bone-like appendages. He immediately punched Mark and Nolan who were sent tumbling across the ground; the rest of the heroes looked on in fear as they had seen this monster before.
"Wonder Woman to Watchtower, Doomsday has returned!!!" She shouted desperately.
(AN: Two more chapters, then it's the end of the arc and the start of the next one. Also in case you couldn't tell Joker only used part of the platinum kryptonite and consumed the rest, so he will be much stronger than the others. Also, I know this isn't stated but the platinum kryptonite would've worn off eventually once it got out of the villains system, though they didn't know that at the time and probably never will. Hope you enjoyed the chapter)
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