บท 154: Omega #154
Author's note: Someone asked me not to put my author notes in the middle of the chapter, because, apparently, it bReAks thEir imMerSion, whatever the fuck that means. Anyway, it doesn't take any time or effort, so from now whenever there's something I need to elaborate on mid-chapter, I'll add (*) at the end of the paragraph which means there's an author's note explaining it at the end of the chapter.
So there you go folks, enjoy your iMmErsiOn.
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Watching Brimstone's chest cave in, collapsing on itself and revealing the half of a pulsating red stone, cleanly cut in half, I let out a drawn breath and relaxed my muscles as the adrenaline sustaining me left my system.
'That should be his core... or what's left of it...' I muttered to myself as I adjusted my posture to land on my feet after noticing the red stone. My landing, luckily without injury, cracked the ground and sent a wave of debris flying.
I raised my head just in time to see Brimstone falling to his knees. The red core in his chest brilliantly shined, and cracks appeared on its surface as if about to explode.
"Father...!" Brimstone wailed as he raised the two stumps that used to be his arms to the sky religiously as if praying. "Do not forsake your foolish child...!" he pleaded, and I had the urge to scoff at his words.
Darkseid was many things, but merciful or sympathetic to the plights of his so-called children was not one of them. Brimstone should consider himself lucky the intergalactic warlord doesn't send an omega beam to smite his ass.
'Might as well put him out of his misery... I don't want to take any chances...' I mused as I raised the experimental rifle and retrieved a gravity projectile from my inventory.
I loaded the bullet at my fastest speed and aimed at what remained of Brimstone's core. I let out a breath as I squeezed the trigger, and the projectile flew toward the flaming giant.
And just when I relaxed and lowered the rifle, it happened. Before the projectile hit its mark, a dark red beam broke through the cloud, flying in a zigzag pattern.
"Fuck..." was the only thing I could say as I watched the beam hit Brimstone before the gravity projectile, causing his body to shine in a dark red light.
A fraction of a second later, Brimstone's body exploded, engulfing my vision and everything nearby in a dark red light that brought a feeling of desolation and darkness. Of evil and tyranny.
It brought a crushing sensation to the very depths of my soul, and then there was nothing.
Only a dark red abyss.
...
Louisiana
Belle Reve Penitentiary
As she stood in the operation room, Amanda waller's calm expression had long evaporated, replaced by a scowl. The situation had gotten out of control as things took an unexpected turn.
The plan was simple, let Brimstone loose and use him as a distraction so her team could work in peace and extract a specific target whom Amanda believed would help her get rid of Gray with none the wiser.
The flaming giant's revival didn't go as Waller planned. She had one of her agents temper with the elderly scientist's energy measuring device and supplied him with faulty experimental rifles.
Brimstone would get enough energy to revive himself and wreak havoc in Gotham, hopefully getting gray's attention and taking him out of the equation, the good old-fashioned way.
Though Clayface and Batman's interference was an unexpected surprise, it wasn't unpleasant per se, as she had three people whom she could blame for Brimstone's rampage.
On paper, the plan was for Brimstone to take out Gray, but Waller's instinct told her it wouldn't be enough to put down the latter, so she made backup plans and intended to milk the situation dry of any advantage she could gain.
Waller sent a team of her best operatives to retrieve Gray's father from East End and use him to threaten his son into submission. She knew Gray and his father, Logan, didn't see eye to eye, but blood was thicker than water, or so she assumed.
She also had another elite team on stand-by, fully equipped with experimental rifles to take down Brimstone once everyone else failed to claim the credit and improve her public image.
Alas, Gray managed to defeat Brimstone, which would have been fine since she already had Logan, but Darkseid involved himself and somehow rescued his self-proclaimed son.
Not only did Darkseid rescue Brimstone, but he also empowered the flaming giant, evidenced by how the experimental rifles had no effects on the fiery goliath and how the newly arrived Justice League members were struggling against him.
"Send the experimental rifle's schematics to Starr Labs... we need to get this thing under control," Amanda instructed after a slight pause as she watched the empowered Brimstone pummel Hawkman and Hawkgirl into the ground.
...
"Ugh..." I grunted as I opened my eyes and saw the lower profile of a beautiful face, so exquisite I might have mistaken it for an angel had I not recognized it.
Feeling a breeze hit my face and a lightweight on my aching body, I looked down and saw a blanket covering my body and two arms wrapped around my torso as they kept me afloat in the high air.
"Brimstone he... what happened...?" I groggily asked the woman carrying me as she flew in the air, and she immediately turned regarding me with a gentle smile.
"Hush. Don't concern yourself with that monster any longer..." the woman said as she turned away from me. "Your bravery has saved countless lives... you've done more than enough," she added as she slowed down her flight speed.
"Luckily, we arrived in the nick of time... Flash was able to save you and the others before the Omega force explosion wiped you out..." the woman went on as she slowly levitated down to the ground and gently put me down on top of a car.
"You may rest easy. We will protect the city in your stead. You have my word as Diana of Themyscira..." the woman, as in Wonder Woman, concluded as she stepped back and prepared to fly away.
"Suit yourself," I said with a sigh, too tired to overthink the matter or form a more sophisticated reply. Besides, if Wonder Woman tells you she's got it covered, you can only lean back and enjoy the show. She is the man, after all. (*)
Wonder Woman smiled at me before raising her arms and disappearing as she flew away before I could even blink.
'I can't believe I just got princess-carried by wonder woman, butt-naked at that...' I mused, chuckling as I shook my head upon feeling the car's cold metal on my naked rear.
"Well, I guess that's another thing I could write and scratch off my bucket list," I muttered to no one in particular as I tried and failed to stand up, causing me to sigh.
I could barely move a muscle since my healing factor had drained every ounce of energy I had to keep me alive, and my adrenaline glands were already as dry as bark.
'Time to put my new power to work...' I mused as I retrieved whatever food I had in my inventory, struggling to raise my arm and stuff my mouth full of snacks.
Luckily I managed and activated my new Metabolism Manipulation power to accelerate my metabolism and turn the food into energy and nutrients at a faster rate.
Still, it took almost 15 minutes of stuffing myself with food and using most of my remaining energy to maintain the Metabolism Manipulation power, but I recovered enough to walk.
'Let's get some clothes first...' I mused as I climbed down the car and looked down on Gray Junior, freely swinging in the air. Shrugging, I located the closest clothing store and made my way toward it, still stuffing my mouth with food.
I hastily picked the closest set of clothes that looked like it would fit and exited the clothing store, sighing in relief at the familiar sensation of cloth keeping my privates, you know, private.
'I wonder if everyone's ok... Ben and Richard should be ok, but the others...' I wondered for a second before accessing my Personal Computer power to peek into my hideout, smiling at the sight of Little Soot trying to destroy my couch.
'Looks like J'onn is gone as well...' I deduced after switching to the rest of the camera one after the other and finding no trace of the martian telepath in my hideout.
'Good, the little demon is ok...' I nodded to myself as I accessed the cameras I'd installed in the theatre and was relieved to find it intact and empty.
To be safe, I accessed the nearby camera footage and saw them evacuate with Crush escorting them, keeping her promise to protect Patrick and the others if something happened to me.
'Let's see how Mark and his family are doing...' I mused as I tried to access the apartment complex cameras and failed. 'They must have been damaged...' I thought to myself, scratching my head as I checked my current location.
"The apartment complex isn't too far away... might as well go check..."
...
* "Ha! I, Ken, am home from the masculine world of work. Wife, feed me while I ogle your bulbous femininity. Display for me your subservience, for I am the man!"
— Diana of Themyscira (Wonder Woman)
...
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