A/N Thank you for taking the time to read this fanfiction. I hope you enjoy it, I hope it brings a bit of delight to your day, and by chance, if it does, please do leave a review. It would make my day. Best regard readers and once again, enjoy.

There's something, no, someone, coming. No. No, no, no, no. He is already here. I can feel his presence. I can sense it. The magical plane is shaking non-stop. In all my years of magic, I have never seen anything like it.

There are rumors of a man. A man that appeared out of thin air a little over a month ago. Nothing is known about him. Nothing, except that he wears a pair of sunglasses. According to the rumors, this man in sunglasses single-handedly broke Supergirl out of Stryker Island. He saved the poor girl and then, together, they joined the Insurgency. I heard the explosion in the sky was because of him. Supposedly, that was Watchtower.

I can't be sure but I think the reason the magical plane might be shaking is because of him. Magic doesn't flow like it once did. It used to run like a river, just flowing in any and every direction. Now, however, that river is crooked, and the magic isn't flowing. It's crashing and it's turning and it's eating and it's throwing. All stuff you never want a river to do. Unfortunately for the man, the wild river had drawn the attention of some dangerous people. The Lords of Order.

The Lords of Order are powerful magical beings with near-limitless power. Their sole job is to ensure 'order' by any means necessary. So the crashing and turning river is very bad for them. I sense it when they revived Kent Nelson to try and destroy the man. When he failed, I then sensed it when they gave Raven a portion of their powers. Strangely, things were quiet for a while. There's a rumor it's because he went somewhere off of Earth. That was then. This is now. Now, the river of magic is even worse. It's a raging river, eating and splitting things out. Destroying anything and everything it runs past. I know the Lords of Order are disgusted by this and will do anything and everything to restore it to the calm and gentle water it once was. I, however, cannot let them.

Years ago, a dear friend of mine lost his wife and unborn child to the Joker. He drove him mad, and he ended up ruling all of the world. It was only thanks to Batman and his Insurgency that the world was set free, but only for a short time. A few months ago, Superman and Batman had to team up to defeat an alien named Brainiac from destroying the planet. It was then that Superman defeated Batman and took over again. I couldn't be there to help when Superman lost Lois and I couldn't be there to help Batman when Superman defeated him.

This time, I'll be there. I'll be there to help this strange man in sunglasses. I will use everything I know to protect him, because without him, the world will once under fall Superman's rule, and I cannot and will not let that happen.

2: Chapter 2: Square 1

Oliver Queen:

I try to swallow a lump in my throat but it feels like the lump is scraping against my dry throat. I toss and I throw but no matter what I do, I can't seem to rest. My body feels like it's on fire while my head and mind feel freezing cold. Every time I close my eyes, I see something I can't explain and my head starts to hurt. I scream as I kick the blanket off and wipe my sweaty forehead.

The door opens and Dinah runs in with a cup of water.

"Oliver," she shouts, running to my side. She hands me the cup of water and I practically swallow the whole thing. I regret it almost immediately. The water feels like sand in my throat, and it too is scraping against my throat.

I push Dinah to the side to split out the water. As I do, I fall back.

"Oliver," Dinah says, grabbing my head. "Oliver! Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you," I answer. "I just feel a little under the weather."

"A little under the weather," Dinah repeats, "No. This isn't a little under the weather. This is, this is, this is something else. Oliver looks at yourself."

Dinah grabs my hand and shows it to me.

"You're pale. You're white as a ghost. I don't even have to touch your forehead to know you have a fever. Come on, let's go and get you to Scarecrow. I'm sure he can help you."

"I don't need to see Scarecrow," I say, shaking off Dinah's hand. "It's just all this space travel. It's making me sick. Ahh. I'm sure once we're back on Earth, I'll be fit as a fiddle."

"Are you sure? Are you sure you don't want me to at least ask Scarecrow if he had something for this?"

I have to swallow some sandy splits before I could talk again.

"I'm sure. Go now. Come and get me when we're back on solid ground. Solid Earth ground."

Dinah slowly nods her head before leaving my room. She closes the door quietly and I listen to her footsteps as they get further and further away. Once I stop hearing them, I reach down to grab the blanket. As I reach for the blanket, I notice my arm and stop.

"Wait, what's that?"

I stare at my arm as the veins inside start to glow black. It goes from glowing to pulsing. I close my eyes and shake my head. When I open them again, the black glow is gone.

"A hallucination. Oh god, I can't wait to be back on Earth."

I rest my head against the pillow, cover myself with the blanket, and try to get some sleep.

The Man:

"Land ho," I yell as I close my telescope and put it in my pockets. My hands going back to the Rusted's wheel, I push a button and prepare the teleporter. While the teleporter warms up, I grab a nearby speaker.

"Attention everyone," I yell, "We are about to enter a portal. I repeat we are about to enter a portal. Brace yourself for turbulence."

I push the speaker back and enter in the code for the hidden base. Blue energy gathers in the Rusted's bowsprit before shooting out. It forms a portal only a few yards in front of the Rusted. Turning the thrusters on, they push the Rusted into the portal. I should be thankful there's no one on the deck because the wind from the portal is intense.

Having to grab onto the wheel so I wouldn't be blown off my feet, I look up when the wind dies down and I see familiar walls.

"Back to square one," I say as I pull levers and switches and prepare the Rusted for landing. With the solar sails folding in on themselves and the thrusters turning off, the Rusted then slowly comes down.

"Everyone off," I yell, pushing one final button. The ramp shoots out and falls. With that done, I leave the wheel and walk down the stairs to the deck. One by one, everyone slowly comes out from below deck; Doc, Cold and Ivy, Professor Stein and Jaime.

When Kara walks out, she sees me but then quickly looks away. I can't help but look away. I stare at the floor and wait for the last two people to come out.

"Where are Oliver and Dinah? Has anyone seen them recently?"

"I haven't Oliver since we left Oa," Cold answers. "That was what, almost a week ago?"

"More or less," Harleen says with a shrug. "Around five days. I did see Dinah though. Walking around in the hallways."

"Walking around in the hallways," I repeat. "Odd. That doesn't sound like Black Canary."

About to ask Harleen more, I stop when we hear a ding, and then some voices.

"Hey! Is that you guys? What happened? Where are the green lanterns? Hello?"

I walk over to the railing and peek over. There, I see Kent and Iris standing in front of the elevator. For some reason, Kent is waving his arms left and right.

"We see you," I shout. "You can stop signaling now. It looks really stupid by the way."

Despite the distance, I can still see a frown forms on Kent's face as he lowers his arms. I nudge my head, telling the others to follow after me as we all walk down the ramp.

Greeting us the moment they can, they barrage us with dozens and dozens of questions.

"What happened on Oa? Where are the green lanterns? Shouldn't there be green lanterns with you guys?"

"Enough," I say, shutting the two up. "Listen. There's no easy way to say this so I might as well just say it. We lost O--"

"Help," someone screams. "Someone help!"

Immediately, we all turn and look back up. There, on the Rusted's deck, we see a half-dead Oliver being carried by Dinah.

"Oliver," Flash says, running back up the ramp and to Oliver's side. The rest of us without super speed make it to Oliver in a few seconds

As I reach Oliver, I notice how pale he is. He's whiter than a glass of milk, and his breathing is incredibly shallow. Also, I can feel a strange heatwave coming from him.

"What's going on," Flash yells. "Why does Oliver look like a ghost?"

"I don't know," Dinah answers. "He had been like this for almost the whole week."

"A week," the Doc repeats as he pushes his way through. "Why didn't you come to me earlier? I could have done something."

After saying that, he drops to his knees and examines Oliver.

"This is strange," the Doc says. "I have never seen anything like this before. Not even in your books."

"That's because this isn't a sickness," I answer, noticing a fading black pulse on his arm. The second I see it, I know what happened.

"What are you talking about," Dinah asks. "If this isn't a sickness, then what is it?"

"Move," I yell, pushing everyone aside. Even Dinah. With everyone out of the way, I grab Oliver by his neck collar and lift him up.

"Hey," Flash says, grabbing my arms. "What are you doing? Let him go."

"Let him go," Stein and Jaime yell as they jump onto my back.

"You look," I say, shaking Oliver, "Didn't you? You looked!"

"You looked," Iris says, "What are you talking about?"

"When I took off my sunglasses," I answer, turning to Iris as even she tries to pry my hands from Oliver. "Back on Apokolips, Oliver must have looked. That is why he is dying."

"Oliver is dying," Dinah repeats.

"Yes, and I'm not sure even I can save him."

3: Chapter 3: Health Scare

The Man:

Raising my foot, I stomp against the infirmary's door, the door flinging open.

"Follow me this way," I say.

"Of course," the Doc says, following right behind me. With Oliver in our arms, we carry him through the door, everyone chasing after us as we go through.

"Put him there," I say, quickly but gently letting go of Oliver. It isn't even a full second after I let him go that Cold is throwing Oliver's arm over himself.

"In the incubator," the Doc shouts. He and Cold turn toward the incubator but I stop them.

"No," I scream. "The incubator can't handle this!"

"What do you mean," Dinah asks.

I open a cabinet and grab everything inside. I throw all the bottles and the dressings to the floor and reach deep inside. Feeling around for a bit, I find the hidden button and slam it.

Part of the wall starts to move. The moving wall grabs everyone's attention. Even Oliver. The door shoots out before splitting apart. It reveals a hidden section and that same hidden section goes up and disappears. It now reveals an operation table with lights hanging above and clean, shining tools right next to the table.

With the table ready, I walk up to Oliver and examine him. His skin is very pale, and he's having trouble staying awake. I check his pulse but hardly feel anything.

"Oliver," I say, grabbing and shaking his shoulder. "Oliver! Can you hear me?"

Oliver, with his mouth hanging open, nods his head.

"A clear change in breathing," I note, "Along with an irregular heartbeat. Over 100 beats a minute. Tachypnea and tachycardia."

"Tach--what," Iris says. "Wait, what are those?"

"Also, extreme fever," I go on. I look down and see the fading black pulse. "I know what's going on. Oliver's organs are shutting down. One after another."

As if timed, everyone simultaneously yells before bombarding me with countless questions.

"Oliver is suffering from organ failure," the Professor asks, "How can you be sure?"

"His organs are shutting down," Jaime says. "Why? What happened?"

"Can you help him," Dinah says. She grabs me by the arms and turns me around. "Can you help him? Please, tell me you can."

As I look Dinah in the face, I can see as clear as day the tears she's trying to hold back. Kara must have seen them too. She grabs my arms and turns me toward her.

"Can you," Kara asks. "Can you help Oliver?"

I look back at the black pulse in Oliver's arm. I then look at the operation table.

"I can try," I say, shutting everyone up. "Listen to me. All of you! I'm not going to make a promise I can't keep, but this I can promise. I'm going to do everything I can to help Oliver! I know how that sound, but that's all I can give at the moment."

With that, I look toward the Doc and Cold.

"Carry him in there," I order, pointing at the operation table. "Place him down gently."

The Doc and Cold don't waste a second. They carry the dying Oliver toward the table. Meanwhile, I turn toward Isis.

"Iris. Please get everyone out of here."

"What," Iris asks. "Why?"

"I work better without a crowd. Besides, there are a few things I need to grab and prepare. After you're done, please come back in here."

Though clearly confused, Iris did as I asked. She and even Kara start to push everyone out of the room.

"I'm sure Oliver will be fine," Kara says to Dinah. "The Man knows what he's doing."

"I know what I'm doing," I repeat to myself. I drop to my knees and open a cabinet. I reach deep inside and pull out an old, dust-covered doctor's coat. I inhale deeply before blowing all the dust away. "Yeah, I would know what I'm doing if this was a normal medical case. However, this isn't."

Dr. Crane:

"What in the world," Mr. Snart asks after gently placing Mr. Queen down. He looks at the surgical tools on the table nearby. The tools appear to be wrapped in plastic, hence why they're clean and shining. "Hey, Scarecrow."

"It's Dr. Crane," I correct.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Did you know about this secret operation table?"

"No. No, I did not. Which is funny because, for the past three months, I've been sleeping in the infirmary."

We both turn our heads when we hear footsteps.

"Cold," The Man says, now dressed in what looks like a doctor's coat and mask. "Thanks for the help, but now, get out of here."

"Yeah," Cold says. He quickly leaves the room. I try to follow after him but The Man stops me.

"I said Cold and only Cold. I need you, Doc."

"You can't be serious," I say, stepping back. I look at the very pale Mr. Queen as he lies on the table. "This--This is way too much for me. What's wrong with the incubator?"

"The incubator can't handle this level of trauma," The Man answers. "Oliver needs help. Professional help. Genius-level help."

"Both of which I am not," I shout. "I mean I can handle broken bones and maybe, just maybe, internal bleeding but this. This is too much right here. I can't solve this."

I try to run but The Man grabs me once more and pulls me back.

"Of course, you can't solve this," The Man says. "I know that. You know that. Higgin even knows that and he doesn't even know about this. Maybe one day, you can do something about this, but not now. Now, it's all on my hands."

"So why are you stopping me?"

"Because I need extra arms. I need you to be my assistant."

My throat goes dry. It feels very hot all of a sudden. I feel sweat beads pouring down my face.

"Your assistant," I repeat. "Are you serious?"

"I can't do this without help," The Man says. "I need your help. Well, yours and Iris."

"Iris," I repeat.

"Me," Iris repeats. I look past The Man and see Iris standing in the entranceway.

"Yes," The Man answers, turning to face Iris. "I need both of your help if we're going to save Oliver. We need to move fast. Every second, Oliver's condition is getting worse."

"What do you mean worst," Iris asks.

"Oliver is suffering from total organ failure. His organs are all shutting down, and with each organ that shuts down, a chain reaction will start. If Oliver's lungs shut down, then his heart won't be able to pump blood. If Oliver's heart shuts down, then it will lead to a build-up of fluid in the liver. That build-up can and will lead to neurological dysfunction. Brain Failure."

"How can we possibly help with any of that," I ask, on the verge of pulling out my hair. "I mean, it's not that I don't want to help, but I don't know what to do!"

The Man grabs my shoulders and pushes me down.

"It's okay not to know what to do," The Man says. "Just listen to me and do exactly as I said. Okay?"

I swallow a lump in my throat. I think I can see Iris doing the same. I take a very deep breath before wiping my sweaty forehead. As I wipe my forehead, I feel metal against my skin. Looking up, I see my robotic hand.

"Just listen to you and do exactly as you said," I repeat, "Right? You know what you're doing."

The Man lets go of my shoulder and dusts his doctor's coat.

"It had been a few years," The Man answers, "But I still remember my training as if it was the first day."

"Okay," I say.

"Count me in as well," Iris says. "So, Doctor, what's our first order?"

"Proper uniform," The Man answers. "I have spare uniforms back in the infirmary. Doc, behind the bottles of peracetic acid, there is a hidden button. Push that button to unlock a closet. The spare uniforms are in there."

"How many hidden components are there in the infirmary," I ask as Iris and I run to the cabinet filled with peracetic acid.

"136," The Man answers. "Not counting the two I have already activated."

I shake my head at the very thought of over a hundred hidden components hidden in my room.

4: Chapter 4: Steady Hands

Dinah Lance:

"Well, in case anyone is curious," Leonard says as he pushes against the infirmary's doors. "The doors are locked. We can't get in."

"Back away," I say, pushing Leonard out of the way. Taking a breath, I'm about to scream when Jaime stops me. He gets in between me and the infirmary's doors.

"No," he shouts while shaking his head. "Dinah. Please don't."

"Jaime," I say, "Get out of the way."

"No. Dinah, I don't think The Man would be too happy if you go breaking down his doors."

"Yeah," Harleen says, joining in. "I kind of agree with Bug Boy on this."

"Who cares," I say with all eyes on me.

"Who cares," I repeat, staring right back at all of them. "Enough with the secret. Enough with the half-truth and surprise! Enough with all of it! My husband is in there dying and I want to be by his side! Jaime, I'm only going to give you one last chance. Get out of my way!"

Jaime refuses my warning. He holds out his arms and shields the doors. When I see this, I take a deep breath.

"Dinah," Harleen says, running and getting in front of Jaime. She too spreads out her hands. "No!"

"Don't do it," Selina begs.

"Dinah," Supergirl yells.

A second from using my canary cry and blasting the doors off their hinges, I only stop when the doors open and The Man walks out.

The Man isn't wearing his vest with a dozen pockets anymore. Now, he's wearing what looks like one of the uniforms doctors wear when they perform an operation. Also, he's not the only one wearing those uniforms. Scarecrow and Iris are wearing the same uniform. All three of them even have gloves and masks on.

"I know I'm going to regret this," The Man says, pulling his face mask down. "But what the heck is going on here?"

I push Harleen and Jaime out of the way and walk right up to The Man.

"Take me to Oliver," I demand. "Or I will break down your doors!"

"Believe me," Harleen says after getting back to her with help from Leonard and Ivy. "She will."

"Again," The Man says, looking at me. "I tend to work better without a crowd."

"One person is not a crowd," I say with crossed arms. "And besides. What about them?"

I point to Scarecrow and Iris.

"The Doc and Iris aren't a part of the crowd," The Man answers. "They're my assistant."

"Your assistant," Reverse-Flash repeats. "Why do Scarecrow and Flash's ex-wife know about total organ failure?"

"Dr. Crane," Scarecrow yells. "It's Dr. Crane, not Scarecrow! Why can none of you remember?"

"Not now, Doc," The Man says, turning his head to Scarecrow before turning it back to me. "Listen. I get it. You want to be there with Oliver. I know that feeling, but I can't let you go in there."

When I hear this, I inhale, preparing to use my canary cry. However, The Man stops me once more. He puts up his hand.

"But I do have an alternative," he says. He grumbles as he pulls off his gloves. "I'd hate to waste a pair of gloves so Dinah, please remember this. You owe me 70 cents."

With that, he throws the gloves into a trash bin in the infirmary before leading everyone down the hallway.

Barry Allen:

As everyone, even Scarecrow and Iris, follow after The Man, I stop for only a second when I see something hanging on the wall. It's Scarecrow's doctor coat.

The Man:

Leading everyone down the hallway and around the corner, I turn and face a wall. I then start to bang my fist against the wall.

"What are you doing," Jason asks.

"Wait, wait, wait," the Doc says, holding his hand over his head. "Don't tell me. Secret panel."

"Secret panel," I reply with a nod. A few bangs later, a small part of the wall opens up, revealing a rusted lever. I pull down on the lever and more part of the wall opens up. This time, it's a whole viewing audience with a glass window. On the other side of the window is Oliver, who is now wearing a hospital gown.

"Make one sound," I say, putting up a finger and pointing at everyone. "And I will kick you out of here. Literally."

Dr. Crane:

I bite my tongue as I fight the nervousness taking over me. I feel sweat forming all over my forehead. I feel the shakiness of my whole body despite standing still. I can even feel my teeth as they hit each other.

"Where is that coming from," The Man shouts, looking around. He and Iris turn toward me. Despite the mask over my mouth, they both know it's me.

"What," I say, "I'm nervous. Okay?"

"Stop that," The Man says. "It's annoying."

I try to stop my chattering teeth but I can't. All of this is too much for me to handle all at once.

According to The Man, Oliver's condition is stable but barely. He hooked up to nearly a different machine, most of which have names I can even begin to pronounce.

"Iris," The Man says. "Please hand me the needle."

Iris nods her head and hands The Man the needle in her hand. He takes it and feels around Oliver's arm for a bit before injecting him with the needle.

"What is that," Iris asks.

"A dialysis machine," The Man answers. "It filters out the waste in Oliver's blood, cleaning it before returning it to his body. It does the job Oliver's livers are supposed to do. Doc. Doc? Doc!"

I shake my head and blink my eyes.

"What," I say, "What? What's going on?"

"The breathing tube," The Man says, holding out his hand. "Please hand me the breathing tube."

I turn my head and look at some sort of machine with a long, plastic breathing tube attached to it. I take the tube from the machine and give it to The Man.

"Hey," he says as he takes the tube. "You're hyperventilating. Calm down."

"Yeah," I say, nodding my head. As I nod my head, some sweat beads come falling down. They hit my eyes and I'm about to wipe them with my arms but The Man stops me.

"Don't," he says, his voice stopping me dead in my tracks. I freeze with my arms in mid-air. "Iris, please help the Doc. Grab a napkin and wipe his face."

Iris nods her head and grabs a napkin. She then walks over to me and wipes my face.

"Thank you," I say.

"You're welcome," Iris answers. She throws the napkins away. "Hey, you're still hyperventilating."

"I am? Sorry."

Once I realize I'm still breathing heavily, I close my mouth and begin to breathe through my nose.

"Hey," I whisper, leaning close to Iris. "I just have to ask this. How are you so calm right now?"

"Who said I'm calm," Iris answers. Iris turns and looks at me. As she looks at me, I can see tears in her eyes. When I see the tears, I feel a lump form in my throat. However, I swallow the lump and look at The Man as, after taking the mask off of Oliver, he inserts the tube into his mouth.

"This is a respiratory ventilator," The Man says. "It'll help Oliver breathe."

With the tube helping Oliver breathe, The Man turns toward Iris and me.

"Can one of you please open that drawer?"

"I'll do it," I say, stepping up. I walk to a nearby metal drawer and open it. Inside are a bunch of plastic circles with handles. They're all carefully placed in plastic bags. Grabbing one of the bags, I open it and hand The Man whatever these are.

"Iris, please stand here."

Iris nods her head and walks to where The Man asked her to stand.

"Grab and hold up that tray."

Once more, Iris nods her head and picks up the metal tray with surgical tools. When I see the tools, I feel myself start to breathe heavily again. Taking one big breath after the other, I notice Iris is doing the same.

She's breathing heavily as she holds up the tray.

"Are you two okay," The Man asks. When he asks, Iris doesn't answer. Instead, the tray starts to shake and the tools almost fall. The Man catches them before they can. When he does, he sighs.

"Iris. Doc. If you two want, you can leave."

"No," Iris shouts. She inhales so sharply I can hear it through her mask. "No. I'm staying. You said you needed help. Right? Well, here I am."

"And so I am," I say. I crack my neck and look at The Man. "So, what's next? I mean, after the dialysis and respiratory ventila-thingy."

"Next," The Man says, grabbing a knife. "I'm going in for the heart. Hope the two of you aren't squeamish."

5: Chapter 5: Back on Earth

The Man:

I watch as Iris and the Doc try their hardest not to throw up when I cut into Oliver's chest.

"Please do not throw up," I say, "It's not sanitary."

"I'm trying my hardest," the Doc answers as he covers his mouth with his elbow. While he gasps, I open Oliver's chest. I then grab the rib spreader from the tray and insert it between his ribs.

"You know what you're doing," Iris says while choking a little. "Right? I mean, you mentioned something about it being a few years or something like that."

"Yes," I answer. "It had been a few years since my last operation. Of course, at the time, the patient who came in was in because he had gotten into a car accident. It wasn't my fault."

"Your fault," Iris repeats. It's like a lightbulb just turns on in her head. "Wait, I remember you grabbing Oliver and saying he looked right? Is that what you're talking about? What was all of that about? How did Oliver become like this because he looked at him?"

"I'm too busy to answer all your questions at the moment," I say, grabbing another knife. "But I will say this. These sunglasses are only one of the two things that keep this world from total destruction."

"Total destruction," Iris repeats. I can see a question mark floating over her head. However, I have to ignore it and get back to the problem at hand.

"Oliver's heart isn't beating the way it should," I say out loud. I examine the heart arteries before cutting them open. "These heart valves will help regulate the beating and blood flow."

I spread the heart out so I can insert the valves. Once they're carefully inserted, I grab a needle and some threads. I then stitch the heart up before removing the rib spreader. I place the spreader on the tray in Iris's hands over closing and stitching up Oliver's chest. It's a long and tedious process but nonetheless, it's done.

Once Oliver's chest is closed, I take a look at Doc and Iris. Their knees are shaking, their foreheads are shining with sweat, and judging from the wide chin, their mouths are filled with vomit.

"I've done all I can," I say, pulling up. "Now, all that is left for us to do is wait. That's the hardest part of this. Come on. Let's get out of here."

Doc, Iris, and I all walk back into the infirmary. We take off our gloves and masks and throw them into the trash bin. While the Doc drops to his knees and throws up into the trash can, I hear the sound of rapid footsteps and open the door. As expected, everyone is there.

"How is he," Jaime asks.

"Is Oliver alright," the Professor asks.

"Let me see him," Dinah demands.

I nod my head and step back. Everyone tries to run in, but I only let Dinah in. While Iris guides her to Oliver, I step in front of everyone and start to explain everything.

"Oliver's condition is stable," I start, looking at a bunch of worried faces. "But I'm afraid he'll be out of the fight for some time."

"How long," Jason asks.

"Hard to say," I answer. "His condition is stable but only because I have machines doing the jobs his organs are supposed to be doing. If he is removed from any of those, it could be lethal."

"Damn," Cold says, shaking his head left and right.

I lean forward, pushing a few back before slapping Cold on his head.

"Don't swear," I tell Cold while he rubs the back of his head.

"Really," Cold yells.

"Yes. Anyway, I did all I could. Now the only thing left to do is wait."

"Wait," Flash repeats.

"Wait and see what happened," I go on. "My hope is that Oliver wasn't too badly affected by me. If he's lucky, he should be able to recover with only a few minor problems."

"What do you mean by minor problems," Reverse-Flash asks.

"Minor problems," I repeat before putting up my hands. "Listen, enough with all of your questions. I have some of my own. Where is Kent?"

"Over here," Kent says, a hand popping up from the crowd. Everyone moves aside and makes a pathway for Kent to walk through. "What do you need?"

"I need you and Iris to tell me everything that happened while we were gone."

Iris Ann-West:

"Are you feeling better," I ask.

"A little bit," Dinah answers after The Man places a cup of tea in front of her. She holds the cup with both her hands and takes a quick sip. "Are you sure Sunglasses knew what he was doing?"

"Yes," I answer without waste. "Sunglasses, or as I've been, The Man, knew what he was doing."

Dinah smiles when she hears this. I secretly let out a sigh before taking a sip of my own tea. After everything that happens, between Oliver's operation and waiting for Dr. Crane to stop vomiting, The Man leads all of us to a long dining table. While we take our seats, The Man grabs us an assortment of drinks; tea, water, and even some sodas.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," The Man says while putting out his phone. Using it like a remote control, The Man pushes a button on his phone. A few seconds later, a half-circle opens from within the center of the table. Lights shoot out from the half-circle into floating squares, and on the floating squares is a familiar silhouette.

"Hey Higgin," The Man starts. "How's life?"

Anthony doesn't answer at first. Instead, we all hear the sound of things falling. It takes a few seconds but finally, Anthony answers.

"Oh my god," he shouts, "Oh my god! Oh my god! You guys are back from Oa! How was it?"

"Nothing too big," The Man answers. "Green lanterns. Yellow lanterns. Red lanterns. Blue lantern."

"Blue lanterns," Anthony repeats. "Wait, there are blue lanterns now? And what about the red lanterns?"

"There is a blue lantern," The Man says. "And a red lantern. Listen Higgin, as much as I would like to have storytime with you, there are other matters to discuss. For one, what's going on with Superman and his One Earth government?"

"Nothing much," Anthony answers.

"Nothing much," Supergirl repeats. "That can't be right."

"It is," I say, joining in. "With all of you in space, even Superman himself, there hadn't been any big fights down here."

"Any big fights," The Man repeats. "What about small fights? And Gotham City? Is Gotham City still standing, or have the Lords of Order turned it into a rock pile?"

"Surprisingly," Kent says, putting down his glass of water. "According to Anthony, Gotham is still standing. In fact, most of the small fights seem to be coming from Gotham."

"You lost me," Harleen says. She stops playing with her silly straw and leaves it against the rim of her soda cup. "We were all in space. Millions and millions of miles on a different planet. Who was fighting?"

"I have some audio recordings and footage from One Earth patrols," Anthony says. "See for yourself."

Anthony's silhouette disappears and is replaced with a single, thin blue line. The blue line spikes up and down as some voices could be heard.

"This is Hunter Squad #29. I repeat this is Hunter Squad #29. At the moment, we are at Gotham City's pier. No sign of any recent activity. Wait, hold on. I think I see someone. Squad, advance."

We then hear the sound of boots stomping against rotting wood. The sound lasts only a few seconds before there is screaming and gunfire.

"Sneak attack! It's a sneak attack! Everyone, fire--"

The recording is cut off. The blue line disappears as well and is replaced with footage. It shows One Earth soldiers on Gotham's pier. As they raise their weapons, two figures run out from the shadow and attack them. They move quickly, almost faster than Barry, and take down the whole squadron.

"Who are those two," Supergirl asks.

"No way," The Man says, "The one with swords is Slade Wilson but he's better known as Deathstroke. The one with the dual pistols is Jason Todd, but nowadays, he goes by Red Hood. What are they doing?"

"They're helping," I answer.

6: Chapter 6: On Fire

Lords of Order:

We all raise our heads simultaneously. Our eyes glow as they fill with magical energy.

"He had returned," we say.

The Man:

"Higgin," I say, pushing the speaker button on my phone so Cold could hear as well. "Higgin, are you there?"

"I'm here," Higgin answers. "Are you and Captain Cold at the pier?"

"Yeah, we're here," Cold answers. "And we don't see Deathstroke or Red Hood anywhere. Are you sure this is the right place?"

"He's sure," I say, taking over. Looking down, I notice a bunch of bullet casings all over the abandoned pier. I drop to one knee and pick one of them up.

"This bullet casting was freshly fired. See for yourself."

Throwing the bullet over to Cold, he catches it and examines it.

"Still shiny. Almost no sign of rust or wear. That means it hasn't been here long."

"Told ya," Higgin shouts.

Despite Cold wearing goggles, I can still sense his rolling eyes.

"So this is where that hunter squadron was attacked by those two," Cold starts, looking around. "Well, I don't see them anywhere around here. They must have disappeared after taking down those hunters. By the way, what's with the 'hunters'?"

"The hunters aren't anything too special," Higgin replies. "As far as I can tell, they're just One Earth soldiers, but with one very important mission."

"Let me guess," I say, clicking my tongue. "To find me?"

"You and everyone else," Higgin answers.

"Listen Higgin, Cold and I are going to drive around for a bit. We're going to see if we can find Deathstroke or Red Hood. Bye for now."

"Bye," Higgin says before I end the call.

I pocket my phone and look at Cold. He nods and nudges his head and the two of us walk back to my car.

"Hey," Cold says after getting in and closing the door. "I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What," I ask, stepping on the gas and driving forward.

"When you split us into different teams to try and find Deathstroke and Red Hood," Cold starts, "Why did you pick me as your partner? Why didn't you pick Supergirl?"

"Reasons," I quickly answer.

"Reasons," Cold repeats. "What reasons?"

"Reasons," I say again. "That's all you need to know."

"Hey, listen, it's really none of my business but--"

"Shut up," I yell, stomping on the brake. As I yell, I feel something inside of me almost snap. It takes almost all my willpower to hold it back.

"Hey, hey, hey," Cold screams, leaning against the door and raising his cold gun. "What the heck? Back up! Back up!"

As I look at a trembling Cold, I see thick black smoke rising up. Holding out my hand, I breathe onto it, fire coming out.

"Shoot," I say, realizing this is dragon fire. I inhale through my nose and calm myself down. I feel the fire in me die down a little as I sit back down. "I'm sorry about that."

Cold, who is still trembling, slowly pushes himself off the door.

"Uhh, no problem."

"But like you said, it's none of your business."

"Sorry I asked."

About to step on the gas again, I sense something incoming and instead, put the car in reverse. Stomping on the gas, I back up before an orb hits the street in front of us, exploding and burning it. Cold and I recognize the orb instantly.

"You have got to be kidding me," Cold says as he gets out.

"That can't be right," I say, getting out myself. "Kent is with us. That displacer orb couldn't have been from a Dr. Fate copy."

"It wasn't," someone answers. Cold and I watch as a purple smoke cloud appears in front of us. It spirals and rises before spreading out and disappearing and revealing two familiar faces.

"Raven," Cold says, aiming his cold at a glowing Raven. "And you? Who are you?"

"His name is Felix Faust," I answer. I stare at Felix as he very creepily smiles back at me.

"So you're this fabled man in the sunglasses I have been hearing so much about," Felix says. He holds out his hands in front of him and summons a displacer orb in between.

"A displacer orb," I say, stepping back. "That's Lords of Order's magic. No way."

As the sparking blue displacer orb grows bigger and bigger in between Felix's hands, his dark-blue sorcerer robe shaking like crazy, he pulls it back behind his head before throwing it at us.

"Watch out," I say. Looking down, I see my car's door. As much as I don't want to do this, I much rather not explain to Ivy why Cold smells like bacon.

Raising my foot, I stomp it against the car's door, the door flying off from the car and toward the displacer orb. The two hit each other, it creates an explosion that knocks Cold and me back.

Backflipping through the air, I land on my feet. Cold on the other hand just falls to the ground.

"You okay," I ask, looking at Cold pushing himself up.

"Peachy," he answers.

"Awesome because here comes another!"

Felix is already throwing a second orb at me, I charge forward. Swinging out my hands, I pull out my swords. Skidding to a stop, I then make an X with my swords, just as the second orb hits me.

"This is the Lord of Order's magic alright," I think as the orb pushes me back. "I can feel it."

Swinging my swords, I throw the orb to the side, it erupts and burns the street once more.

"He is strong," Felix says, backing up.

"Yes he is," Raven says with a smile. "Luckily, the Lords of Order are stronger!"

Raven's hand glowing black, she then shoots it out at me. I cross my swords again, expecting some sort of blast or orb. However, I'm wrong.

Instead, what comes out is an unkindness.

Leonard Snart:

"Ahh," I moan as I push myself up. "God, I really hate magic."

Shaking and rubbing my throbbing head, I look up to see The Man being attacked by a bunch of ravens.

"What the," I scream. I look to the side to see Raven, the crazy bird lady, holding out a glowing hand. "Go figure."

Aiming at Raven, I prepare to freeze her. With my finger on the trigger, about to squeeze it, I stop when I hear growling. The growling sounds all too familiar. I turn my head and look at The Man.

Screaming and swinging his arms as the ravens keep attacking him, he grabs a single raven in his hand and brings it in front of him. Again, I see black smoke flowing out of The Man's mouth.

"Burn," he yells as he breathes fire, incinerating the bird.

"Holy cra--," I say, jumping back.

Nothing is left of that raven. The Man then turns all around, burning the rest of the ravens. Feathers on fire fall all around him as he growls and his skin starts to pulse. It looks like his veins are glowing pitch-black.

"What in the world? Wait, didn't I see this before? With Oliver? Oh no."

7: Chapter 7: Dragon Fire

The Man:

I lower my head and inhale. I take in a very deep breath before raising my head again. I scream and out comes a blast of pure dragon fire. The dragon fire is so intense, so hot, as it runs, the street beneath it melts and turns into boiling tar.

Raven and Faust also scream when the dragon fire hits them. They both raise their hands and summon a shield to block it but the shield breaks and shatters after only a few seconds. Before the shield breaks, Raven flies back and out of the way.

Screaming as he falls to the ground, Faust moans and groans as he pushes himself up.

Raven looks at Faust as he painfully pushes himself up. She doesn't seem to concern about him. Instead, she turns around and faces me.

"Such power," she says as she slowly flies down toward me. "The Lords of Order are right. You must be destroyed. For the sake of this planet and the future."

Black smoke shoots out of my nose as I turn my head toward Cold who is standing almost 20 feet away from me.

"Cold," I say, little bits of fire coming out of my mouth. "I will hold off Raven. Get back to the base."

"I'm not leaving you here to deal with Bird Lady," Cold yells. He brings up his cold gun and aims it at Raven. About to shoot, Raven swings her glowing hand. As she does, I see dark-red portals appear all around Cold.

"What the heck," Cold says as a cloud of thick black and red smoke shoots up from each of the portals. The smoke disappears and in its places are three humanoids with red skin, horns, and four glowing red eyes. They attack and grab Cold before he can shoot.

"That can't be right," I say, watching as the three demonic minions pick up Cold and throw him to the ground. "That isn't Lord of Order's magic. That's Trigon's magic! Raven can summon demonic minions now!"

I rush to help Cold but stop immediately when the street in front of me launches up. I turn around and see Raven with her hands glowing and spread out.

"You are not leaving," Raven yells, her voice now echoing like thunder. Raven swings her hands and telepathically grabs the part of the streets that launched up. She starts to pull it down, the streets falling toward me.

Once more, I use dragon fire to burn a hole right through it and jump. Landing on the other side, I quickly turn around and unleash a fierce beam toward Raven. Raven uses her telepathic magic once more and picks up what's left of my car. She uses it as a shield, my dragon fire hitting and destroying my car.

As my car is destroyed, it erupts into a cloud of smoke that engulfs Raven.

"Raven is hiding in the smoke," I tell myself. "I can't see her but I can smell her."

With my sense of smell, I follow my nose and turn to the side. There, I see an assortment of bricks and even a whole street lamp flying out of the smoke toward me. I swing my head while breathing dragon fire. All the bricks and the lamp explode when the fire hits them. However, as I was destroying everything Raven was throwing at me, I feel someone grabbing my feet.

"What," I yell, looking down to see a pair of red hands on my feet. It pulls and knocks me down. I fall onto the street, where all the reminder bricks bury me.

Raven:

Once the target is buried beneath the pile of bricks, I put my hands together and summon a displacer orb, one unlike Dr. Fate or Faust. Combined with my own father's power, I throw the orb at the pile of bricks. The displacer orb explodes once it hits the pile, the explosion forming a black sphere that destroys everything in it. By the time the sphere vanishes, there is a giant hole in the middle of the street.

"No one could have survived that," I say. I turn my head when I see one of my minions being frozen in ice by Captain Cold. My minion shoots out a bolt of lightning at Captain Cold but somehow, Cold's cold gun is somehow able to overpower it. He freezes one of my minions before ducking and dodging a swing from another one of my minions. With my minion's back to Cold, Cold freezes him right there.

"I don't know what you are," Cold says after freezing my final minion, "But I know this. You got nothing on me."

I use my power and grab Cold. He screams and struggles as I pull him from the street into the air and in front of me.

"Let me go," Cold demands, shaking non-stop.

"No," I reply as I slowly close my hand.

Captain Cold:

I scream as I feel my arms being squeezed into my body. The air is being forced out of me and I swear, I hear cracking and I see my arm bending a way it shouldn't.

"Ahh!"

"The Lords of Order told me to destroy the man in the sunglasses," Raven says. "And if anyone gets in my way, for them to meet the same fate."

My legs crush against each other as Raven tightens her hands. I start to see a bright light. Only, the bright light is heading for Raven. It hits and knocks her into the street. There, she bounces off the street and onto the wall of an abandoned building.

Screaming as I start to fall, I stop when I feel someone grabs my jacket. I look up and see The Man. His veins are still pulsing black, and the fire in his mouth seems to be stronger than before.

The Man flies to the street where he throws me down.

"Stay here," he yells, the whole sky shaking as he yells.

"Yeah," I say, stepping back. "Sure."

With that, The Man stomps toward Raven. As he walks, his shoes catch on fire, and he starts to leave a trail of burning footprints.

"No way," Raven says as she claws against the wall and drags herself up. "No way! That was a combination of my father's magic and the Lord of Order's. How could you have survived it?"

The Man's only answer is a puff of fire through his nose. Raven pushes herself off the wall, she waves her hands once more, and summons those red-horned guys. They charged toward The Man but he quickly grabs two of them and smashes their heads together before throwing them to the sides. With the third guy, he again quickly grabs the head and twists it. The snap is so loud it echoes.

When The Man finally reaches Raven, he grabs her by her neck and slams her into the wall. He then inhales, the light from the fire in him burning so bright, it lights up Raven's face. Her wide eyes, mouth hanging open face.

"Do it," I shout, "Burn that woman!"

The Man:

As I prepare to use dragon fire, only an exhale from unleashing it, I look up and see Raven's face. I see her wide, shaking eyes.

"Raven," I tell myself. As I look at her, I think back to my time as a Teen Titan. I think of all the fights we had. The adventures. The countless pizza parties. As I think about these, I look down and see my arms. It's pulsing. My veins are pulsing, and they are almost completely pitch-black.

"No," I say, stepping back as I look at myself. I am pulsing all over. From my head to my feet, the pitch-black is covering me. I turn around and see my footprints on fire. "No! I have to calm down! Calm down! Calm down!"

I repeat to myself over and over to calm down. However, I stop when I hear Cold's voice.

"Behind you," he shouts.

I turn around and see Raven holding out her hand. Preparing to summon more minions or telepathically grabs me, I didn't give her the chance. Exhaling and breathing fire, I hit the building Raven is standing under. It starts to fall and before Raven realizes it, it falls right onto her, burying her.

"That's for before," I say, looking at a pile of bricks. I turn to leave but Cold stops me.

"Hey," he shouts, "What didn't you finish her off? You could have so. What didn't you?"

I don't answer Cold. Instead, I reach into my pocket and pull out a teleporter.

"We're leaving," I told Cold. "We're leaving right now!"

"Why?"

"Because I need to be contained," I answer. As I answer, I see dragon fire coming out. The dragon fire forces Cold to step back.

"I need to be contained," I repeated, "Before something bad happens. Before it happens again, and I destroy something."

8: Chapter 8: The Glass Box

Supergirl:

"So wait," Dr. Crane says as he and Iris apply some dressing to a cut on Leonard. "What exactly happened?"

"I told you," Leonard yells. "Sunglasses over there had a chance to--Ouch! Hey! I need that arm!"

"Sorry," Iris says after wrapping some more dressing around Leonard's right arm. "But keep still and you might be able to keep it."

"Enough," Leonard says, snatching his arm back. He takes his jacket from the table and puts it back on. "Listen here. I'm okay. Really. Those red guys, whatever they were, barely scratched me, and no one ever died from a scratch."

"I beg to differ," Dr. Crane says, putting the remaining dressing and putting it away.

"It's more than a scratch," I say, stepping up. "I x-ray you. Remember? Your bones aren't broken but they are damaged. You really should let the Doc and Iris finish."

"I'm fine," Leonard shouts. He zips up his jacket and pushes him off the table. "If anything, we should be more worried about Sunglasses. Where is he anyway?"

"That's uhh, a hard question to answer," Dr. Crane says. He adjusts his glasses as he heads for the infirmary's doors. "Uhh, follow me."

We all look at each other for a bit before following Dr. Crane. As Dr. Crane leads us for a little bit, he stops along the way and gathers everyone else.

"Why did you have to call us," Reverse-Flash asks, walking with crossed arms. "I wasn't asked to go outside and pick a fight with Raven or Felix Faust."

"Who is Felix Faust anyway," Jason asks. "And what was he doing with Raven?"

"Felix Faust is a sorcerer," The Man answers from within a suspended glass box. Without realizing it, Dr. Crane had gathered everyone and led us into a wide, circular room. Starting at the door is a bridge that leads to a large empty glass box suspended in the air by four glass pillars. For some reason, standing in the glass box is The Man.

"Higgin," The Man starts, taking into his cell phone. " Bring up the files I sent you."

The Man then holds out his phone, and the screen comes out and floats right in front of us. On the screen, we see pictures of a man in a suit and another man in a dark blue robe. In the pictures, the man in the suit is teaching a class while the man in the blue robes is throwing orbs of magic at Flash and Wonder Woman.

"Many years ago, Felix Faust worked as a history professor at Gotham University. He was a respectful professor until he became a little too interested in magic."

"Magic," Jaime repeats.

"Hey, hey, hey," Barry says, snapping his fingers. "Now I remember why that name sounded so familiar. Felix Faust was an old enemy of ours."

"Ours," I repeat.

"The Justice League," Barry says. "You know. Superman. Batman. Wonder Woman. Myself."

"Fun times," The Man says from within the box. "Anyway, from what Cold and I witnessed, it seems Faust had not only joined the One Earth Government but had been blessed with Lord of Order's magic."

"That is crazy," Kent shouts from the back. "There is no way the Lord of Order would give someone like Felix Faust even a faction of their magic. Felix Faust is a joke."

"He's a joke with powerful magic," The Man says. "And it gets worse."

"Worst than Faust having powerful magic," Dinah asks.

"Faust isn't the only one to get an upgrade. Raven got one too, and I'm afraid it's from her father, Trigon. I'm sure Cold already told you about the red guys with horns. Well, those are demonic minions. Usually, they can only be summoned by Trigon, and hence, only obey him. Since Raven was able to summon them, it means Trigon's magic had been unleashed."

"Is that bad," I ask. As I ask, all eyes turn to me.

"What do you think," Cheetah asks. "Even I've heard of Trigon."

"Well, I haven't."

"Trigon is Raven's father," The Man says. "He is the king of all demons and has very powerful and dangerous magic."

"What should we do," Dinah asks. "How can we beat Trigon?"

"If Trigon had been unleashed, then believe me, we would. I think only Trigon's magic had been unleashed. Not Trigon himself. My best guess is the Lords of Order use their own magic to give Raven a little taste of her father's magic."

"Awesome," Leonard says. "So now what? We got a powered-up wannabe Dr. Fate and a demon-summoning Raven after now."

"Now," The Man says, stopping to take a deep breath. "Now, I ask that all of you please split into different teams and go to different cities. Hub City. Star City. Jump City."

"What," I ask, "Why?"

"Because in our effort to bring down Superman and his One Earth Government, we have made a costly mistake."

"And what would that be," Selina asks.

"We drew too much of Superman's attention, and because of that, he had withdrawn patrols from cities all over. Crime has risen and without us, the people in those cities will be hurt."

"Not our problems," Cheetah says with a wave.

"It is our problem," The Man shouts. As he shouts, the glass box he is in shakes. It also shakes the bridge and knocks us around. When The Man sees this, he inhales through his teeth before shaking his head.

"It is our problem," The Man says again, "And if you want my help, then you will help those people got it."

"Yeah, yeah, Cheetah says, steadying herself. "I got it."

"What about you," I ask, looking at The Man. "What are you going to do? Better question, what are you doing in there?"

With my super hearing, I can hear The Man swallow.

"Everyone except Kara, please leave."

Almost immediately, everyone leaves the room, leaving me alone with The Man.

"Kara," he starts, putting his hand on the glass box. "Before I tell you anything, I want to say sorry."

"Sorry," I repeat, "For what?"

"For," The Man says before stopping and turning away. He clears his throat before turning back to me. "For what happened back on the Rusted."

As soon as I hear those words, I remember crying in the hallways. I feel my fingers digging into my palms.

"What about it," I say.

"Kara, there's something you need to know about me."

"That's a first."

With that, The Man brings up his arm. He points to what looks like pulsing black veins all over his arms.

"When I am like this, it means I'm too dangerous. When you or anyone else sees this, please, run away from me."

I look at the black veins. As I do, I feel my fingers stop digging. Instead, they just fall.

"Kara, you know how you and your cousin can fly, have super strength, laser vision, frost breath, and a bunch more superpowers."

"Yeah."

"Well, think about it like this. To get all those powers, you cost you and your cousin your homeworld, and everyone you know. Right?"

"Right," I say, still not understanding what's going on.

"And as for Batman, what many refer to as the world's greatest detective, he lost both his parents. Well, for someone who is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, can match both yours and Superman's strength, and can build a whole secret lair with more hidden components than number can reach, can you imagine how much I had to lose?"

Somehow, it feels like I was kicked out of my body. Like I'm floating. Not flying, but floating. I don't know how but despite my legs feeling weak all of a sudden, I'm still standing. As I try to regain my sense, I swear I could hear The Man sniffling.

"These black veins represent raw, unfiltered power," The Man goes on. "And most of the time, most of the time, I can control them. However, there have been times when I couldn't. Times when I couldn't hold it back, and that's when people got hurt. Kara, I did want to kiss you."

"What," I say. I step back and hold my hands over my mouth. I take all my control to regain control.

"I did want to kiss you," The Man repeats, "But I can't. Because of the things I did. You deserve someone better."

I look at The Man as he lowers his head. I don't know if it was in shame or sadness, but I know I had to do something. Despite what The Man thinks, I think something else.

"Hey," I say, tapping on the glass. He looks up and sees my hand on the other side of the glass. My hand is across from his.

"I like that you're broken," I start, trying to remember the words. "Broken like me. Maybe that makes me a fool. I like that you're lonely. Lonely like me. I could be lonely with you."

9: Chapter 9: Hub City

Dr. Crane:

"Strange," I think as I pat myself down. "Where's my teleporter? I could have sworn I had it earlier."

I scratch my head as I try to remember where exactly I left it.

"Where could I have placed it? I always keep it in this pocket."

I turn my pocket inside out again but all that comes out are pocket lints. I scratch my head once more, only stopping when I hear the set of doors sliding open and Supergirl walking out.

"Supergirl," I say, stepping forward. I look around but I don't see The Man anywhere. "Uhh, where's The Man?"

"He's, uhh, still in there," Ms. Supergirl answers. She turns and points behind her.

"He's still in that glass box," Mr. Barry asks. "Why?"

"Because apparently," Mr. Leonard says, taking over. "He's a damn coward."

"What are you talking about," I ask.

"Sunglasses had a clear shot to end Raven," Mr. Leonard shouts. "A clear shot to burn that stupid Bird Lady, but does he take it? No!"

Mr. Leonard screams again before slamming his fist against a wall. When he does, I step back.

"Hey," Professor Stein says after a few seconds. "What about the other thing? About us drawing too much of Superman's attention and him withdrawing patrols from various cities? Did he say anything else about that?"

"Yeah," Ms. Supergirl says. "He said he wants us to patrol the various cities in their places. The first city is Hub City."

"Hub City," Mr. Jason says. "Wow. There's a name I haven't heard in a while."

"There's a name we haven't heard in a while," Professor Stein adds. "I guess the question is now, who's going?"

"Count me out," Mr. Leonard says with a wave. "If Sunglasses isn't doing anything, then neither am I."

He turns around and walks away. My best guess, Mr. Leonard is heading to his room.

"We'll go," Mr. Jason and Professor Stein answer.

"Me too," Ms. Cheetah says. Her reply makes a few of our eyebrows crooked. "What? I could use some fresh air. We cheetahs like to run in the open. Not in the underground."

"Thanks but no thanks," Mr. Jason says.

"I'm not asking," Cheetah says with crossed arms. "Besides, you may need some extra help. You two may be going but you're only one hero."

"She got you there," Harleen says. "Speaking of fresh air, I could use a breather myself. Mind if I tag along?"

Mr. Jason opens his mouth but I interrupt him before he could talk.

"Of course," I shout, pointing up a finger. "Yeah. You can come. In fact, you should go."

I pull Harleen in and whisper in her ear.

"Seriously, you should go. Before Firestorm sets Cheetah on fire. Or Cheetah scratches out Firestorm's eyes."

"Whatever works," Harleen says with a shrug. "Hey, Scarecrow, crack open a portal, would you?"

"Dr. Crane," I correct. "It is Dr. Cran--Oh, forget it. Just give me a second. I need to find my teleporter."

"You can search for it later," Mr. Barry says. "There's that teleporter built right into a wall. You used it earlier when half of us decided to leave. Just use that."

"Fine," I sigh. "Follow me."

"Oh boy," Harleen says while clapping her hands. "Outside world, here we come!"

Harleen:

"Can we go back now? The outside world sucks."

I stomp my foot against the back of the driver's seat.

"What are you," Jason yells, turning around. "Six?"

"You're one to talk," Cheetah says from beside me. "Don't you still get your underwear from the little boy section at the supermarket?"

Jason turns from me to Cheetah.

"At least I can walk around without looking like a total creep?"

Cheetah snarls and pulls out her claws. I roll my eyes and shoot out my hand.

"Please don't," I beg, holding her back. I turn toward Jason. "And you. Don't make the woman with razor-sharp nails mad."

Jason rolls his eyes as he turns back up front. Meanwhile, Cheetah pulls her claws back in.

"May I remind all of you to please be careful," Professor Stein asks. "This is a rental from The Man with the Sunglasses. I doubt he would be happy to find it in a different state than when he lent it to us."

"Oh forget that rat bastard," Jason cries out. He swings his hands into the air and sighs. "Who cares what he thinks anyway? He trapped himself in a glass box. What can he do now?"

"That's a question I don't want answers to," I whisper. I turn my head to look out the window. "Hub City sure has changed a lot. I mean, I visited the city once or twice so I can't be sure, but still. I imagine most cities don't look like this."

Each and every single building I see is crumbling and covered in graffiti. Whether big or small, lights or no lights, it seems there are at least three windows each that are boarded up. Also, despite the clock on the dashboard saying 2, the sky is black and filled with smog.

"Reminds me a lot of Gotham. You know, past Gotham. Before--"

"Yeah, yeah," Jason says. "We got it."

As the four of us drive around a pitch-black, very Gotham-like, Hub City, I can't help but see something.

"Hey, hey, hey," I say, tapping the back of the driver's seat.

"What," Professor Stein asks, finally stepping on the brakes. "What is it, Harleen?"

"Excuse me," I say, opening and running out of the car.

"Where are you going," Jason yells.

"To buy a soda," I reply. I walk toward a convenience store. The sliding doors ring as I enter the store.

"Hey," I say, nodding my head as I approach the masked gunman. The second he hears my voice, he turns around and aims his saw-off shotgun at me. However, my arm is faster than his trigger finger. With a rise of my arm, I hit his shotgun as he fires and blows a hole in the ceiling.

As dust and broken ceiling bits sprinkle onto the gunman, they stun him. While he rubs his eyes and splits, I pull back my fist and send it flying into his face. He falls onto the counter before sliding off it.

"Hey you," I say, giving a nod to the cashier with his hands in the air. "Call the police, or the One Earth soldiers, or whoever."

The cashier doesn't answer me. He tries to answer me but all he does is stutter. I shrug my shoulders and walk for the door. However, as I take a step, I step on something and look down.

"Dip," I say, grabbing the saw-off. "I wonder if I could put this into my suit."

Spectre:

I watch from inside an abandoned building as Raven bursts out from beneath a pile of broken bricks. Screaming and yelling as she wakes up, broken bricks shooting everywhere, I have to step back when one goes through the floor and almost hits me.

"Where are you," Ravens shouts as she looks around the empty Gotham street. "Where are you? Show yourself!"

Even the wind doesn't answer her. Even where all the way up here, I can still hear her growling. She sees Felix Faust laying on the ground. She stomps her way over to Felix and slaps him awake. Once awake, she presses a finger to her ear and calls someone. A few seconds later, a boom tube opens, and both Faust and Raven walk in.

As I stare at where the boom tube was, a voice calls out to me.

"Quite a scene," someone says, "Isn't it?"

I don't even have to turn my head. I recognize the voice right away.

"Phantom Stranger," I say, turning around to see a man with a hat and long blue cloak.

Phantom Stranger:

"Spectre," I say, greeting my old ghostly friend in the dark-green cloak. "Long time no see."

"No reasons to see each other," Spectre answers.

"Not until now," I go on. "You sense it too, didn't you? That's why you're here."

"That unbelievably burst of magic," Spectre asks. "Yeah. I sensed it, and I saw it too. You should've gotten here sooner. You would have seen a burning man almost kill Raven, and I am not referring to Firestorm."

Spectre turns away from me and back out the window. I give him a few minutes before I talk again.

"Spectre, what is your plan here? You didn't come all the way for a show."

Spectre doesn't answer me. Instead, he asks me something.

"What is your plan, Phantom Stranger? Are you going to watch or are you going to aid? And if you are going to aid, then who? Superman and his One Earth Government, who protect the people but through fear and violence? Or the mystery man and the Insurgency, who desire to bring the world back to when heroes would only slap villains on their wrist?"

10: Chapter 10: Unwanted Attention

Harleen:

"Could you please not put that down?"

Jason backs away as I find a place to put my new sawed-off shotgun.

"What," I say with a laugh. "Are you scared?"

"A little bit. Yeah."

"Come on," I say, hitting the kid on his arm. "You're a thousand times scarier than this little piece."

Looking at the pocket behind the front passenger's seat, I pull it back and gently place the shotgun inside it.

"I'm not a thousand times scarier," Jason says. "Firestorm is."

"Either way, don't worry. The safety is on. It won't fire."

"Still."

Jason backs up as much as he can until he's squeezing against the door. Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't fall right out of the car.

"Congratulations on stopping that robbery," Professor Stein says from the driver's seat.

"What? Surprised I did actually stop a robbery?"

"What? No! No! No. No. A little. Yes."

I roll my eyes, shake my head, and cross my arms.

"You know," I say, pointing a finger at the Professor. "Just because I have white make-up on doesn't mean I'm crazy."

"Understood."

The Professor nods his head and I fall back into my seat.

"Besides," I say, "We're supposed to be patrolling. You know, keeping an eye out for trouble."

"I don't think we need to keep an eye out," Cheetah says. Sitting in the front passenger seat, she leans forward before turning around.

"What," I ask, feeling my face. "Do I have something on my face?"

"I'm not looking at you," Cheetah shouts. "We're being followed."

"What," the Professor, Jason, and I shout. We all turn around and see three black SUVs directly behind us.

"Wait, wait, wait," Cheetah says, grabbing Jason and me. "Don't all turn around at once! They'll see!"

Unfortunately, Cheetah's warning came too late. Whoever they are, the moment they see our heads, the headlights go from low to high. A few seconds after that, the car in the lead starts to speed up. It then hit us.

We all scream as the car jumps up and shakes. Thankfully, the Professor is able to save us in time.

"Hold on," he screams as the SUV rams us again. Kicking us forward and onto a sidewalk, the Professor manages to get us back on the road.

"Way to go," I shout, watching as the Professor knocks down a streetlight and the streetlight falls onto one of the SUVs. I lend forward and hit the Professor on the shoulders. "That's how you drive! Smart thinking there!"

"Uhh, of course," the Professor says. "I did that on purpose."

Despite having a whole streetlight fall on it, the SUV kept on driving. They chase us down every street and follow us after every turn.

"Who are these guys," Cheetah shouts. "Why are they chasing us?"

"No clue," I answer. I take another look at the SUV but their windows are tinted. "Tinted windows. Always a bad sign."

"We need to call for help," Jason says. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a radio but before he could say a word, I see a person in a suit and mask climbing out of the window. He reaches in and pulls out a machine gun.

"Duck!"

I scream as loud as I could before grabbing and pushing Jason down. Cheetah does the exact same. She grabs and pushes the Professor down as gunfire echoes throughout. The windows all around us shatter and I feel the shards fall onto me. Jason screams as he covers his ears.

"Everyone, hold on," Cheetah says, turning to look at me. I look up and see Cheetah's face but only a few seconds. The whole car then crashes and Cheetah's face vanishes as the window in front breaks apart and broken glass flies everywhere.

Lady Shiva:

I watch as the car crashes through a wall and into an abandoned building.

"Stop here," I order. The driver stops the SUV and I, along with my men, quickly get out. I survey the scene, waiting for anyone to try and get out of the car. After a minute or two, I shoot out my hand and my men all rush forward.

While my men rush ahead, I stay behind and call Black Mask.

"Black Mask," I say, speaking into my cell phone.

"What is it, Lady Shiva," Black Mask answers. "Did you get them?"

"I believe so. We chased them down and made them crash into a wall. We're checking the car now."

"Alright. Be careful though. If what we heard is true, then this 'man in the sunglasses' won't go down easy."

"Will do."

I end the call and look back at the crash. By now, the car is completely surrounded, and since the dust is gone and we can see everything clearly, there will be no surprise attack.

One of my men, armed with a machine gun, grabs the door handle. He looks at me and waits for my approval. I nod my head, and he opens the door.

The Man:

With my legs crossed and my hand resting on my knees, I focus on my breathing.

"In," I repeat. "Out. In. Out. In. Out. Remember. Everything starts with a breath."

I inhale deeply before exhaling. I can still feel the energy pulsing throughout me but luckily, it seems to have died down a little.

"In. Out. In. Out. In. Ou--"

While exhaling, I start to sense something. My eyes snap open and I look around. I'm still alone in the room, trapped in the glass box. However, I'm still sensing something.

"You know I can see you. Right? The others can't see you but I can. What do you want? Can't you see I'm meditating?"

I listen to his answer for a bit.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't remind me."

I walk up to one of the walls of the glass box and tap it.

"This box can't hold back all my power," I say, "Despite all my modifications. Still, it's enough for the time being."

As I examine the glass box, he tells me what he sees.

"The others are in trouble," I repeat, my hand freezing in mid-air. "Who exactly? What team? Harleen's team? She, Cheetah, Professor Stein, and Jason are all in trouble. They need help. What happened? Was it One Earth's soldiers? No? Lady Shiva? There's a name I haven't heard in a while."

I listen closely as he keeps on explaining to me what he heard between Doc and Higgins.

"Their suits' readings are showing bad colors. Oh boy. Can any of the others arrive in time to help them?"

He shakes his head.

"They're busy in their own cities. Aren't they?"

This time, he nods his head. He then points at himself.

"You. You want to help them. Are you sure? It had been a while since you last fought anymore."

He explains to me it's his time. That he's done hiding and he needs to go outside.

"Besides," he goes on. "Oliver is still recovering, and with all due respect to Iris, Kent, and Scarecrow--"

"I think he prefers to go by Dr. Crane nowadays," I interrupt.

"With all due respect," he starts over. "They're not fighters. I am. Just give me what I need and open a portal for me."

I put my hand to my chin and think it over.

"Fine," I say after only a few seconds. "But you need to be careful. Remember. This isn't yours. It's mine."

I reach into one of my jacket pockets and pull out a small necklace. At the end of the necklace is a small, red gemstone. Holding it in the air for a bit, I then tap the glass wall.

The black energy moves from my finger onto the glass wall. It spreads throughout the wall before breaking off a very, very small section.

"Catch," I say, throwing the gemstone through the tiny opening. It flies through the air before he catches it. From anyone else's perspective, it would look like the gemstone is floating in mid-air.

"You can use the teleporter built into the wall," I say. Looking down, I use telekinesis power to restore and seal the opening in the glass wall. While I do this, he nods his head and runs toward the teleporter.

"Remember," I shout, watching from afar. "You need to time everything just right. I know you can do it."

11: Chapter 11: The Unseen

Cheetah:

Jumping out of the car as soon as one of the men in suits opens the door, I land on top and scratch him. He tries to fire but instead screams and falls to the ground. Landing on top of him, I look around at the other men in suits as they aim their guns at me. I snarl before running toward them with my claws out.

They fire their guns and the night sky is filled with only the sound of gunfire and brief flashes. Running as fast as I could, dodging the gunfire by the skin of my teeth, I can still take down one guard after another. Grabbing one guard by his hand, I twist it and force not only a scream out of him but also for him to drop his gun. I then punch the back of his head and knock him out. Another guard running toward me, I drop down and leg sweep him, knocking him to the sidewalk. As he pushes himself up, I stomp on his head and knock him out as well.

While standing on top of this thug, I look behind me and see both Harleen and Jason carrying out the Professor from the car. They carry him inside the building we crashed into.

"You guys owe me for this," I think as I turn back around. However, as soon as I turn around, someone kicks me in the stomach. They kick the wind out of me and me onto the ground.

"Ahh," I moan, holding my stomach as I push myself up. Looking up, I see some woman with long black hair standing before me. She's wearing a dark-red jumpsuit with a trench coat.

"Who are you," I ask.

"My name is Lady Shiva," Lady Shiva says, walking up until she's standing over me. "And I am the one that will hang your head on my wall. Of course, after I claim the bounty on you and your friends."

"I wouldn't call them my friends," I say, looking at Lady Shiva raises her leg high into the air. Slamming it down toward me, I roll out of the way as she cracks the sidewalk.  Rolling and landing on my hands and feet, I look up at Lady Shiva as she raises her feet. "I may not call them my friends, but that doesn't mean I let you get them."

I show off my sharp teeth before pushing off the ground and lunging at Lady Shiva.

Harleen:

"I'm too old for this," Professor Stein says as Jason and I carry him up a flight of wooden, creaking stairs. Stumbling into a near-pitch-black hallway, I let go of Professor Stein only for a second to kick down an old door. The door flies off the hinges, I shoot out my hand, and a pistol forms right in it.

Stepping into the empty room, I scan it for any threats.

"Nothing but a busted lamp and an old mattress," I think. With that, I nod my head and sheathe my pistol. I then return to Professor Stein and Jason. Together, we carry Professor Stein into the room.

"Oh god," Professor Stein yells as we approach the old mattress. "What is that smell? I am not sitting on that."

"Sorry but from the looks of it," I say, giving the place another look around. "The previous tenant didn't leave a chair behind."

"It's fine," Jason says. Together, Jason and I slowly lower Professor Stein down onto the mattress. He tries to pinch his nose but can't. His hands are too busy being over his bruised ribs. At least, I hope it's only a bruised rib.

"Who the hell is that lady," Jason asks. He peeks out through one of the boarded-up windows. "And why did she attack us all of a sudden? Is she with Superman?"

"Doubtful," I answer. "Those men. Those guns. Those suits. None of them look like standard One Earth equipment. I think she and her men are unrelated to Superman."

"Okay. Still doesn't explain why she attacked us."

"Hey, Batman and Mr. Sunglasses are the super geniuses. Not me."

While Jason and I are peeking out the boarded-up windows, we hear footsteps and voices coming from outside the rooms.

"Go, go, go," someone shouts. "They're in here somewhere. Come on!"

"Oh god," I say. I walk toward the doorframe and peek around. I see beams of light moving all around follows by the sound of doors being broken down and footsteps running up.

"Oh no," I say. I back up into the room and try to close the door. Only, the door is laying on the floor. And I'm standing on it.

"Oh yeah," I say, slapping myself on the forehead. I turn toward Jason and Professor Stein. "I don't suppose Firestorm can help. Can he?"

Jason's crooked eyebrows answer for me.

"Fine," I sigh. I raise my hands and my suit forms a pistol in each of them. "Stay here."

I step out of the room but before leaving, I grab the door.

"Uhh."

I try to put the door back but instead, it just falls back onto the floor.

"Well I tried. Bye."

With that, I leave the two and silently run toward the stairwells. Dropping to my knee and slamming my body against the railing, I peek through them. I see what looks like dozens of men in suits, each armed with a machine gun. They're searching relentlessly for us, breaking down each and every door and entering the rooms before coming back out.

"They're only a few floors from us," I think. "What can I do? What can I do? I can't take them all by myself."

As I think of all my limited possibilities, I stop when I hear screaming. Only, this screaming isn't someone barking orders. It's terror.

"What the hell," one of the suited men screams as a sudden flash of lights appears. The lights grab my attention as well. I peek through the railing and couldn't believe my eyes. A portal had appeared.

"A portal? But who's coming through? Everyone else is in another city. Wait, could it be The Man?"

I keep an eye on the portal, waiting for someone to step through. Only no one does. The portal closes after a few seconds. All of the men in suits stood before the portal with their guns aimed at it. They waited for something to happen but seem relaxed once it disappears a few seconds later.

"What was that," I yell. "Was that a joke? That was a bad joke."

I stare at where the portal was, wondering why or what was the point of that. I keep staring until someone shines a light on me.

"She's there," one of the men in the suit screams. "Three floors up!"

"Crap," I say. I barely have time to jump out of the way as the men fire and completely destroy the railings. Lights light up the stairwell as I hear countless footsteps heading toward me.

The Invisible Man:

"Harleen," I think, watching from below as Black Mask's men found and fire at her. Thankfully, she manages to hide in time. However, everyone starts to run up the stairs toward her.

"I have to move fast. I don't have a second to spare."

Looking to my right, a few of Black Mask's men run right through me and onto the stair, I open my hand and look down at the gemstone.

"Here goes nothing."

I clutch the gemstone in my hands before chasing after Black Mask's men. I reach the stairs in no time and grab the first person I could.

"Hey," he shouts, "What the hell?"

I first disarm him, slamming the machine gun out of his hands before kneeling him in the stomach and throwing him down the stairs.

"The fuck," the person in front of him says. He aims his gun at me but since he doesn't see me, doesn't shoot. I take this opening and kick out his leg before throwing him down the stairs.

One by one, floor by floor, I knock out Black Mask's men. I disarmed them. I punch and kick them. I even threw a few off the staircase. Those particular men landed on the floors below us.

By the time I reach Harleen, she's as confused as the men.

"Uhh, what happened?"

12: Chapter 12: Catfight

Jaime Reyes:

"How do you think the others are doing?"

I look away from the window and at Selina and Dinah

"I'm sure the others are fine," Selina answers from the driver's seat. "I mean, Poison Ivy is with Supergirl, and Firestorm is one of our heaviest hitters. He, or they, can make anything from nothing. If anything, it's us that you should be worried about."

I'm about to ask Selina what she means but Selina quickly turns around and looks at me. She then nudges her head over to Dinah and Barry.

Dinah had been quiet this whole trip. She hadn't said a single word, even before we all split into different teams and went to different cities. The same is with Barry. He had been quiet this whole day. Besides also not saying a single word, he had been looking down this whole time, playing with his thumbs.

"Dinah must be worried about Oliver," I thought, "But what is Barry's problem? Why hadn't he said or done anything?"

I look at Barry who is sitting next to me. The only thing he's doing is looking down at his hands, playing thumbs war with himself.

"Hey Barry," I say, "What are you doing?"

I try to grab his hands but he shoots back.

"Nothing," Barry shouts. "I'm doing nothing!"

He coughs as he shoves his hands into his pockets. Sighing as he looks around, Barry stops at the window.

"What is this," he asks. "Where are we?"

"We're in Star City," I answer. "Remember? We're supposed to be on the lookout for any trouble because Superman pulled out a lot of his troops and now the cities are in danger."

"Oh yeah," Barry says. "Yeah. I remember. Well, we've been driving around for a while, and so far, nothing. Ha, so much for the cities being in danger."

As if somehow on cue, we hear the sound of someone screaming. Selina stomps on the brake and we turn our heads.

"The screams are coming from in there," I say, pointing at what looks like a large, abandoned building. The metal walls are rusted, the windows and doors are all boarded up, and the whole place is surrounded by a chain-link fence. Despite all of this, I can still see lights coming from the inside.

"I'm going to check it out," I say, opening the door. While running to the building, I activate the scarab, the armor quickly taking over. My casual shirt and pants disguise are destroyed and in their places is the black and blue armor. As I approach the building, I stop when something catches my leg.

"Ahh," I scream as I grab my leg and look down. The thing that caught me, it's a bear trap! "What's a bear trap doing here?"

I don't have much time to think about it. As I try to pull my leg out, I hear a voice coming from the building.

"A new patient," someone in a pink pig mask says. "Excellent. Please go and get him."

The boarded-up doors slam open and all these people start coming out. They're wearing what looks like nurse scrubs, and they're all slowly limping toward me. A gate in the fence opens, ensuring a clear path to me.

"Ahh man," I say, trying to pull my leg free as the people get closer to me. "I wonder how the others are doing."

Cheetah:

Wads of split fly out of my mouth as Lady Shiva punches me in the stomach. Bending down as she does, Lady Shiva then jumps onto and rolls over my back. She grabs my arm while rolling over my back and throws me into one of her SUVs. Moaning as I push myself up, I shake my head and look at Lady Shiva.

"She hadn't even broken a sweat yet," I say, wiping my otherwise sweaty forehead. As I push myself back onto my feet, Lady Shiva shoots out her arms and legs. She readies herself, holding out her hands.

"You never should have disturbed us," Lady Shiva says, "You should have just let that store be robbed."

"Let that store be robbed," I repeat. It takes me a second to understand. "Oh, that was one of yours. Hmm. The joke's on you, Ninja Lady. That wasn't me. That was Harleen."

"Whether it is your or your friend, one thing is for certain."

Lady Shiva runs toward me. She pulls back her arm as she does. Jumping and rolling out of the way, I look to see Lady Shiva punching the front of her SUV. The hood bends after she punches it.

"The bounty on all your heads will be quite pleasing for my boss."

Lady Shiva turns around and runs toward me. She unleashes a fury of blows that, even with my speed, I could barely dodge them. After dodging a karate chop by mere inches, Lady Shiva steps back. She raises her leg and spins around. Doing a roundhouse kick, I raise my arms and block her kick. Despite hearing the sound of the bones in my arms breaking, I see an opening.

I let out a roar and grab Lady Shiva's leg. I then pull it. Lady Shiva screams as I spin her around before throwing her at The Man's car. A loud thud echoes throughout the night as she hits the truck.

"Did that hurt," I ask. I growl as I slowly drop onto my hands and feet and slowly crawl over to Lady Shiva. Shaking her head and recovering, Lady Shiva looks at me as I leap into the air. Like a true cheetah, I pounce at Lady Shiva, scratching her as I fly by. She screams as she tries to stop me but it's no use.

Skidding against the ground after I land, I turn around and pounce again. Over and over, again and again, I pounce and scratch Lady Shiva as I practically fly past her. Delivering one last cut to her leg, I force Lady Shiva onto her knee. With Lady Shiva on her knee, she can't do anything when I run right up to her and uppercut her.

My fist shoots up like a rocket, I hit her chin and knock her into the air. Sailing through the air, Lady Shiva falls back to the ground, and there she stays.

Growling as I look at the unconscious Lady Shiva, I then look at my claws. Crawling over to Lady Shiva, I place my hand against her face.

"Be thankful I don't kill you right here, right now," I say, growling. "Because if I do, then The Man won't lift me of this curse."

With that, I leave. I run toward the building where I last saw Harleen, Jason, and Professor Stein. I follow a trail of broken doors and beat-up henchmen until finally, I see Harleen. For some reason, she's standing by herself, her head looking left and right.

"Harleen," I say, running right up to her and stopping. "What are you doing?"

"At the moment," Harleen starts, "I'm wondering how crazy I am."

"You're only wondering that now," I ask, crossing my arms. "Where are Jason and Professor Stein?"

"They're in there. Follow me."

I nod my head and follow Harleen as she leads me to an empty room. There, I see the two.

"Ahh, Cheetah," Jason says. He moves away from the window and toward me. "We're glad to see you're okay."

"Yeah. I'm okay, but what about him? Is Professor Stein okay?"

"Hard to tell," Harleen says, taking over. "That crash was bad. Even with the airbags."

I look at Professor Stein. I don't see any cuts but I do see some bruises on his face. Also, Professor Stein is holding his chest.

"Here," I say, dropping to a knee. "Let me see."

I gently grab Professor Stein's hands and move them away. I then place my hand on his chest.

"What are you doing," Jason asks.

"I'm feeling around for any bumps or breaks," I answer. "If any of Professor Stein's ribs are broken, I might be able to feel them."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Trust me on this, Junior. Even before Wonder Woman rules the world, she hits hard. Broke a few of my bones."

I feel around Professor Stein's chest for a few more minutes before pulling back.

"I couldn't find any bumps," I say, looking at Jason and Harleen before turning back to Professor Stein. "You're bruised and a little beaten, but not broken."

Professor Stein smiles and nods his head. Meanwhile, I stand back up and look at Jason and Harleen.

"Time to go," I ask.

"Time to go," Jason and Harleen say. Harleen taps her wrist. She starts the call but as she does, I notice a bright light coming from outside.

"Harleen," I say, tapping Harleen on her arm. "Harleen. Harleen!"

"What," she yells. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

I nudge the window at an approaching Raven.

"Any chance you can call faster?"

13: Chapter 13: Clear as Day

Cheetah:

"Watch out," I scream, grabbing Harleen and pushing her to the floor. One second after we hit the floor, the wall bursts, and dozens and dozens of black birds fly into the room. We all scream as the birds flying inside start to attack us. They peck and pick at us with their beaks.

"Ahh," I shout. I growl as I push myself up and swing my claws. Catching and cutting a few birds, they freeze in mid-air for a few seconds before exploding and turning into black dust.

"These are normal birds," I think, cutting a few more birds, all of them exploding and turning into more black dust. "They're magical birds, forged from magic!"

I keep clawing and clawing, but no matter how many I destroy, they keep flying in. Eventually, the birds all gather together and attack me. They pick me up and throw me into a wall. I scream as I cover my eyes. Through the crack in my arms, I can see Raven hovering just outside the room. She waves her arms around and summons more birds before pointing inside. With that, all her birds rush in here.

The room is overflowing. All the birds flying around push me, Harleen, and the other two against the wall. I can't move my arms because of all the birds pushing them down.

"Get off of me," I say, trying to push myself up but all the birds push me back down. They push me harder and harder into the wall until I push right through it.

Falling through the wall and onto the floor of the next room, I use the momentum from being thrown to flip over and onto my feet. Looking up, I snarl before pouncing at the birds. Slashing and cutting my way back into the room, I make a beeline for Raven.

My claws, only inches from cutting her, she shoots out her hand and grabs me while in mid-air. I swing at her but I can't close the distance.

"Birds aren't always afraid of cats," Raven says with a smile as she brings her hands together. As she does, I feel my feet start to close in. My head is being pushed down. I scream as Raven, using her magic, cramps me into a ball. Her magic is pushing down on me, my knees being shoved into my forehead.

Harleen:

"Come on," I say, pulling out my pistol. I see Cheetah being crushed by Raven and I try to line up the shoot. Closing one eye, I try to shoot Raven but one of the annoying birds flies by and cuts my hand. I scream and accidentally drop my weapon. I have no choice but to shield myself as the birds all gather me and peck at me.

"Professor," Jason cries as he pushes himself through the birds. "Professor! We need to merge! Professor!"

Jason's only replies are the birds as they scream and call.

"Professor," Jason yells one more time. This time, however, someone does answer him.

I hear an explosion follows by Raven screaming. A second later, all the birds in the room start to flicker. They fade in and out before disappearing completely, leaving behind only a poof and some black dust.

"What the heck," I say, looking around. As I look around, I see the Professor curls up in a corner. He's covered in cuts.

"Professor," Jason yells, running to him. However, as I run to help the Professor, I hear someone else screaming. I turn around and see Cheetah falling.

"Cheetah!"

I turn to run and help her but before I could, I hear footsteps coming up from behind me. I turn again to see someone tall and in a black and red jumpsuit running toward me.

"Hey, hey, hey," I shout, stepping back. I activate my suit and call forth another gun. I prepare to shoot the person but as it turns out, I don't have to. The man in the black and red jumpsuit runs right past me. He runs toward the opening in the wall and jumps right out. A few seconds later, a rope shoots up and hits the ceiling. It pulls up both the man and Cheetah, Cheetah begins in the man's arms.

"Okay," I say, looking at the man as he lets go of Cheetah and pulls back his grapple. "I'll ask. Who the hell are you?"

The man, not the one in the sunglasses but the one in the black and red jumpsuit, doesn't answer me. Instead, he points at me, Jason, the Professor, and Cheetah, and then at the door.

"What," I ask. "What? What? What about the door?"

He points at the door again but again, none of us have any idea what he wants. This time, he starts to play charades. He places his hands beside his ears.

"A phone call," I say, "You're calling someone?"

The man shakes his head. He keeps his hands beside his ears before pointing at me.

"You're calling me," I ask.

The Invisible Man:

"Call Scarecrow, you stupid, stupid idiot," I shout. Of course, no matter how loud I shout, scream, or yell, they still can't hear me. Only The Man can hear me.

I shake my head and cover my eyes.

"Hey," Harleen says. "Give me a break. It's been a few years since I last played Charades. Anyway, we don't have time for games. Now that Raven is here, we need to leave. I'm calling Scarecrow to prepare a portal."

"Yes," I say, "Yes! That's exactly what I wanted you to do in the first place."

I sigh knowing they would be out of here in a few seconds. However, in less than a few seconds, I hear a familiar voice. Turning around instantly, I see Raven flying back up.

"I got this," I say. "Oh right. None of you can hear me."

Once more, I point at all of them before pointing at the door. I then look back at Raven.

"Who are you," she asks. She raises her hands as they start to glow.

"I would tell you, but that would be a waste. Instead, how about this!"

I reach for a kunai and throw it at Raven. As expected, Raven catches it in mid-air.

"This knife," she says. "I know this knife! But wait, you are not the man in the sunglasses! You have a different aura. A strangely familiar aura. Who are you!"

Again, I don't answer. Instead, the beeping of the kunai answers for me. Raven hears the beeping and turns her head. Her eyes go wide and she tries to throw the kunai but it's too late. The kunai explodes and knocks Raven away. However, before she could get too far, I pull out my grapple hook and catch her.

Pulling her in close, I swing my arm and knock Raven down. She flips through the air before falling down. With Raven on the floor, I take a chance and look around.

"Oh my god," I say, slapping myself in the face. Harleen, Cheetah, Jason, and Professor all are still here. They're watching me fight Raven. I shake my head and run to Harleen. Harleen is the first person I push out of the room. She's followed by Jason and Professor Stein. Cheetah tries to put up a fight but after being pecked by a hundred birds, she can't do much.

I grab Cheetah and carry her out. I then give her to Harleen before taking Harleen's wrist and tapping it.

"The call," Harleen says. "You were trying to tell me to call Scarecrow. Wait, are you with us? Are you friends with The Man?"

"Sort of," I think. I hold out my hand and tilt it up and down. I then point at the staircase. Harleen gets the message and quickly makes her way to the stair. While she and the others escape, I look back at Raven as she pushes herself up.

"I don't know who you are," Raven says as she gets back on her feet. "But you will regret doing that!"

Raven pulls back her glowing hands before shooting them back out. Unleashing a swarm of birds, exactly like before, I open my hand and look at the red gemstone. Throwing the gemstone in the air, I become intangible once more. My jumpsuit falls to the ground and birds go right through me.

"What the hell," Raven says. She watches as the gemstone flies through the air. Running and catching the gemstone, I become tangible again, and once I do, I spin around, doing a roundhouse kick.

Once more, knocking Raven to the floor, she doesn't hit it. Raven manages to catch herself. Now, floating in mid-air, she uses her power to grab the mattress from before and throw it at me.

The mattress catches me and throws me out of the apartment building. Before I know it, I'm falling from the top floor toward the ground floor.

14: Chapter 14: Passing Through

The Invisible Man:

"Crap, crap, crap," I think as I fall toward the ground. I look down at my hand and see the gemstone. Throwing the gem to the side, I become intangible again. Instead of hitting the ground, I pass right through it.

Screaming as I fall through the ground and into the Hub City's sewer, I catch myself before falling any further. Taking a leap, I fly back up through the solid street. Once I'm back outside, I look around for Raven.

"She didn't follow me," I tell myself. "She must be going after the others! I have to catch them, but first."

I look around again and see the red gemstone. Immediately picking it up, I look to where I fell through and see the jumpsuit The Man lent me. I put it back on before running into the building and up the stairs.

Harleen:

Despite being covered in cuts and feathers, I still fight through all of it as I guide Cheetah, Jason, and Professor Stein down the stairs.

"Hurry," I say, looking back at the hallway. "I don't know how long that guy can hold Raven."

"Who is that guy anyway," Jason asks as he and Cheetah carry Professor Stein over an unconscious henchman. "Is that The Man?"

"What kid," Cheetah says, kicking an unconscious henchman to make some room. "Got an ear full of wax? Didn't you hear Raven? Their auras, or whatever, don't match. Whoever that is, he's new."

"New or not," I say, tapping my wrist to try and call Dr. Crane. "I'm just glad he's on our side."

I tap on my wrist again and Scarecrow finally appears, his face hovering in front of me.

"Harleen," Scarecrow says. "What's going on?"

"Emergency," I answer. "We need an immediate portal! Now! Raven is here!"

"Raven," Scarecrow repeats. "I'm on it! Just give me a few minutes."

I jump when I hear the sound of a bunch of ravens cawing. It's followed by the sound of breaking wood and a few seconds after that, I see part of the railing falls down the staircase.

"I don't think we have one minute."

Tapping my wrist again, I end the call and walk back.

"Go ahead," I say, pushing the three down the stairs. The three don't even hesitate. They keep going down the stairs. Meanwhile, I walk back up. Activating my suit, I summon a pistol and aim up.

"Where are you," I ask. I carefully walk up the stairs until, without realizing it, I had made my way back up. I see where the rail that fell belongs and carefully approach it. When I do, I examine the broken railing.

"This wasn't because of termites," I say, feeling the broken wood. There are tiny holes all over. "This was because of birds. Ravens, but where is Raven?"

"I'm right behind you," Raven shouts. I turn around and see Raven still standing in the hallway. As I raise my gun at her, she raises her cloak and unleashes a second onslaught of birds. They shoot out and attack me even before I could fire a shot.

I scream and cross my arms as all the birds peck at me again. They blind me with their beaks and feathers and push me right off the ledge.

Jason Rusch:

"Harleen," I shout, watching as Harleen falls right past us. In only a white blur, I see her fall past all the floors toward the bottom. About to run to the railing, Cheetah grabs and pulls me back.

"Watch out," she shouts. Professor Stein and I fall, our backs hitting the wall.

"Cheetah! Why?"

Cheetah growls before pointing. I look behind me and see a whole bunch of ravens flying down after Harleen.

"Harleen," I shout again. I grab the railing and look over. There, at the bottom of the staircase, I see the birds flying around. The birds blanket the bottom floor. I couldn't see anyone past all the feathers flying everywhere. "Harleen!"

I scream and grip the railing before shaking it. I only stop when I hear someone laughing and look up. There, I see Raven as she flies out. Now hovering in mid-air, she holds out her glowing hand.

"One down," she says with a smile. "Three to go."

I grind my teeth when I see Raven.

"You want a fight," I say, "Fine! Let's see you fight with Firestorm!"

I turn around and walk toward Professor Stein.

"Wait, wait, wait," Cheetah says, putting up her hands. "You can't fuse. The old guy can barely stand, let alone fight. Go. I'll deal with her."

"You can't fight her," I say, "She's too strong! Only Firestorm stands a chance against her!"

"Maybe but that's only at full strength! Not half!"

"Ahh! We don't have time for this!"

I push Cheetah out of the way and drop to my knees.

"Sorry about this, Professor."

I grab the Professor's hand and clap it. Together, we fuse and become Firestorm.

Firestorm:

Instantly, as soon as we are made, we feel this sharp pain in our hip.

"I told you," Cheetah says as we drop to our knees. She tries to help us but we push her back.

"Get back," we say. Holding out our hands, we prepare to shoot a fireball. The fires around us all flow toward our hands. "Raven! Time to burn!"

We shoot the fireball at Raven. It hits her and she disappears into a cloud of smoke.

"We told you," we say while holding our hips. "Only Firestorm stands a chance against Raven."

"Yeah," Cheetah says, pointing at something. "Don't start putting yourself out yet. Look."

I look at where Cheetah is pointing and see birds. They are sitting on the railing, looking at us.

"If Raven is down," Cheetah starts, "Then how are her birds still here?"

As soon as Cheetah points this out, all the birds start to caw. They flap their wings and yell at us.

"Oh no," we say, looking back up. Still seeing smoke, we wait until it's clear. The moment the smoke is gone, we see Raven safely inside some sort of magical force field. She waves her hand and the magical force field fades away.

"If that is all the best you have, then you have lost. Birds! Attack them--"

We hear something pop and then Raven screams. From where we're standing, it looks like something had wrapped around her legs.

The Invisible Man:

Using one of The Man's custom grappling hooks, I shoot it at Raven. As the kunai wraps around Raven's legs, I pull out another grappling hook and link the two together. Aiming this hook at the wall, I set both of them on retract. In less than a minute, the two hooks are pulling Raven down. Even before Raven could react, she is laying on the first floor.

"You!"

Running toward her, the gemstone in my hand, I punch her hard across the face. She stumbles back but only for a little bit. Closing her hand, she turns back and tries to hit me but by this time, I had thrown the gem into the air. Her fist goes right through me.

As I spin around, I catch the gem and punch her again, this time knocking her to the side. She stumbles again and while she stumbles, I run toward her. The next few minutes are me throwing and catching the gem while at the same time, running through her and punching her all over.

Throwing the gem over her, I run through her back and to her front where I catch it one last time before turning around. I knee Raven in her stomach and force her to bend over. I then step back and jump. Flipping through the air, doing a full 360, I kick Raven on her back and knock her to the floor. As Raven falls unconscious, all the birds puff into smoke and disappear.

"Scarecrow got the portal ready," Harleen says, running out from an employee's office. "Where are the others?"

I point up and then at the stairs.

"Oh come on," Harleen says. "They're still on the stairs? Really?"

I shrug my shoulders.

Harleen rolls her eyes and runs up the stairs. I follow her and the two of us find the three a few floors up.

"Harleen," Jason shouts. "You're alive? But how? We saw you fall."

I raise my hand.

"He," Harleen says, pointing at me. "Uhh, Silent Man saved me."

"Silent Man," I repeat. "Oh god. I miss my old name."

"He fired something like a grappling hook and caught me before I hit the floor."

Harleen, along with Jason and Cheetah, look at me. I nod my head before pointing down.

"Come on," Harleen says. She reaches down and wraps one of the Professor's arms around her neck. "A portal is ready. We're getting out of here."

"Finally," Jason says, "I can't believe I'm going to say this, I miss the base."

15: Chapter 15: Going Places

Superman:

"Superman," Felix Faust says as he enters the New Metropolis's command center. Wonder Woman, Black Adam, and I all turn toward him. As Faust is approaching us, Black Adam shoots out his hand and fires a bolt of lightning at him.

Faust screams as he is sent flying into a wall.

"Do not interrupt us," Wonder Woman shouts. "We are in the middle of a meeting."

"We have news about the Insurgency," Faust moans as he pushes up against the wall. Upon hearing this, I grab Black Adam's hand and lower it. I quickly fly to Faust as he climbs back to his feet.

'What news do you have," I ask.

"We got calls from both Hub City and Star City," Faust answers. "According to the people in the cities, there are attacks on the streets."

"So," Wonder Woman asks with crossed arms. "We have bigger issues than a few small fights. You mentioned something about the Insurgency."

"Yes," Faust goes on. "According to the people, the ones who are attacking are the Insurgency."

"The Insurgency is attacking the cities," I say. I shake my head. "No. That's not possible. There's no way Kara would be attacking cities. At least, not without a reason."

"Whatever the reason," Wonder Woman says. "This may be our chances."

Wonder Woman walks up to the command center's outpost. There, she pushes the intercom button.

"Cyborg," she shouts. "Are you there?"

"I'm here," Cyborg answers through the intercom. "What's up?"

"Bring Bruce up here, and make sure you two have it."

"Got it," Cyborg says. The call ends and a few minutes later, Cyborg and Bruce are walking into the command center. In Bruce's hands is a long silver laser cannon with glowing purple wires.

"Is that it," I ask. "The disruptor cannon?"

"Yes it is," Cyborg says. "The latest in the string of inventions. With this, we can disrupt the man with the sunglasses power and stun him."

As soon as Cyborg says those words, Black Adam rushes toward him. He flies to Cyborg in less than a second and pushes him to the floor.

"We don't want to stun him," Black Adam says. "We want to destroy him! Build it again!"

Cyborg glares at Black Adam. His arm starts to transform but I step in front of him and hold out my hand. Cyborg sees this and stops.

"No," I say, taking the cannon from Bruce. "It's fine. I asked Cyborg to design it like this."

"Why," Wonder Woman asks. "I thought we wanted the man with the sunglasses destroyed."

"The Lords of Order want him destroyed," I say. "But if possible, I want to turn him. Like Bruce."

I line up the shot, my eye looking straight through the sight on the top of the cannon. When I'm done, I hand Bruce the cannon.

"How is the other project," I ask.

"Unfortunately," Cyborg sighs. "Not well."

Cyborg brings up his arm and taps his wrist. A hologram display comes up with pictures of me, Wonder Woman, Black Adam, Cyborg, and Hawkgirl.

"The excellneno-suits, as the man called them, are unlike anything I have ever seen before. I could spend decades studying the wiring alone."

"Hopefully it doesn't come to that," I say, making circles with my hand. "Go on. What have you discovered?"

"Nothing," Cyborg says.

"Nothing," I repeat.

"Nothing," Adam and Wonder Woman repeat.

"How is that possible," I ask. "The man gave them to us and never took them back. So I gave them to you to study them. How is it possible you haven't learned anything about them?"

"The suits are sealed," Cyborg answers, "And I tried cracking the seals anyway I know how. I tried breaking them with brute force. I tried welding into them. I even tried hacking into them but when I did, the suits unleashed some sort of virus that blew up my computers. And the materials alone. Despite all my scans and examinations, I can't figure out what they're made from. It's unlike anything on Earth or any of the other planets we know. All I know for sure is that whatever material that is, it can withstand extreme force and heat."

"Damn,"  I say, closing my fists. "Fine! Cyborg, you and Bruce go back to studying these suits. I want to know something about them before the day is over. Meanwhile."

I take the disruptor cannon from Bruce and walk back to Wonder Woman and Black Adam.

"Prepare a squadron," I order. "We're going to Gotham City."

The Man:

I slowly open my eyes when I feel the power slowly calm down. I stop pulsing and I can exhale without fire coming out. I look down at my hand and see the black glow gone.

"Finally," I say. I stop meditating and get up. Walking up to the glass wall, I swing my hand and the glass wall shatters. Cracks cover the wall before it breaks and glass flies everywhere. I walk onto the bridge and toward the exit. Before leaving, I look back at the shattered wall.

I hold out my arm and with a flick of my wrist, I grab all the pieces of glass and place them back together. I then fill the cracks before leaving. Walking through the hallway and into the base's infirmary, I'm surprised to see only Iris there.

"Iris," I say as soon as I step in.

"You," Iris says. She drops the book in her hands and looks up at me. She takes a step toward me but stops. "Wait. You. Are you...safe?"

"For the moment, yes. Where is the Doc?"

"He went to that portal built into the wall," Iris answers.

"The wall portal," I repeat. "Why would he use that when he had a teleporter in his pockets?"

Whatever Iris is about to say, she doesn't because the doors to the infirmary swings open. Turning around, I see the Doc holding the Professor. Besides him are Cheetah, Harleen, and Jason, all of which are covered in cuts.

I ignore the question buzzing in my head and walk to one of the infirmary's incubators. Preparing and setting it up, the tube opening, I then help both the Doc and Harleen gently place the Professor into it. Once he is inside, I close the tube and the healing process starts.

"Can I ask what happened or would you rather I not?"

"Honestly," Harleen pants. "I'd rather you not, but what the hel--hey! What the hey? I said hey."

I nod my head.

"We were attacked," Cheetah shouts, taking over. She looks over at Iris as she disappears and comes back with some bottled water. Iris hands her one and she rips off the cap before drinking the whole thing down. "By Raven."

"By Raven," I repeat.

"Yeah," Harleen says after a drink of water. "She used some sort of spell that summons a flock of ravens."

"An unkindness," I say.

"An unkindness," the Doc repeats. "Wait, what? Who's unkind?"

"Most of the time, but that's not what I'm talking about right now. A flock of ravens is called. An unkindness. Harleen, you said Raven summoned an unkindness of ravens."

"We didn't get these from pigeons," Jason shouts, pointing at the dozens and dozens of cuts on him. He doesn't go for his water bottle. Instead, he's waiting for either Iris or the Doc as the two prepare some supplies.

"Raven summoned an unkindness of ravens," I say to myself, thinking it over. "Her spells are getting stronger, fueled by both her father and the Lords of Order."

As I think of what to do, I look around the room.

"Where are the others," I ask. "Where is Kara? Iris. Doc. Have either of you two heard anything from the other teams?"

"No," the Doc says. "We just assume since everyone minus Mr. Jason and the Professor had excellneno-suits, they would just call us if something is wrong."

"Doc," I say, pulling out my cell phone. "Never assume anything. 9 out of 10 times, you assume wrong."

I press call and wait for the dial tone to end.

"Come on. Come on. Pick up. Pick up."

"Hello," Kara answers.

I let out a sigh.

"Kara, it's me."

"The Man," Kara says. "Oh, my god. You're out of the glass box? Are you okay? Are you still... pulsing?"

"I'm fine," I answer. "More importantly, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Kara answers. "I'm fine."

"What about your team? Who's on your team? What city are you patrolling?"

"We're all fine," Kara says. "It's just me and Ivy, and we're patrolling Central City. Nothing so far."

"Okay. Listen, come back to base."

"Okay, sure."

I hang up.

"Look like you were wrong about that 9 out of 10 times," Iris says.

"Believe me," I say, calling another number. "I want to assume the others are safe, but I think not."

I put the call on speakerphone and show it to everyone.

"No one on Beetle's team is picking up."

16: Chapter 16: Health Check-Up

Oliver Queen:

My teeth are grinding against each other as I look at the sight in front of me. My blood is boiling, turning into steam that flies out of my ear. I feel nothing but anger. I want nothing but revenge.

"Juba Nobu," I say, holding my dead son in my arms. As I raise his body, I look at the poisoned rice ball beside him. Screaming as I slam down my hand and crush it, I look back at Juba as he sleeps.

"You deserve so much better than this. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to save you, but I can avenge you."

I climb to my feet and make my way through the forest, carrying my dead son. As I carry Juba Nobu, something happens. A flash blinds me and now, I see myself standing before a crying old man.

"You," the man cries, stepping back. "It can't be. You're supposed to be dead."

The old man waves a katana around but despite his sword, he still steps back as I approach him.

"You murder Juba Nobu," I say. "You murder him! After all we did for you and your village, you murder my son!"

I look down at the flute in my hand. Slowly rising it, I stop with it inches from my mouth.

"My only regret is that I cannot watch you die again."

With that, I start to play the flute. The rats hear the flute and immediately charge toward the crying man. He doesn't even try to stop and fight. He drops the sword and runs. As he runs, I slowly walk after him.

"Where are you going? There's a war out there! Don't you remember? It's not safe out there! Not like here. Right? Right!"

I watch as my rats chase him down. He tries to climb up a swing but one of the ropes breaks and he falls back to the dirt ground. In less than a second, the rats climb onto him.

I watch as he is covered from top to bottom in rats. Before I know it, I see more flashes. I see myself holding a young boy as we walk through a jungle. Another flash and now I'm running through a field before a spear flies out and hits my shoulder. I scream as I fall to the ground. Another flash and I see myself in a small cave with rats approaching me.

It became too much for me. I couldn't handle it all. I twist and turn and shake.

"What is this? What is this? Are these memories?"

I see one last flash of a black and white photo except it's torn in half. The next moment, my eyes snap open and I see lights above my head. The second I can, I shoot up like a rocket, my body launching up.

"Aww," I cry out. "Where am I? What is all of this?"

Looking around, I see tubes inserted into my body. I see myself on what looks like an operating table. I'm even wearing a breathing mask.

Tearing the breathing mask off, I turn to get off the table but the moment my feet hit the ground, my legs die and I fall to the floor.

Screaming as I fall, I accidentally knock over a nearby table. Moaning as I push myself over and crawl, I hear something and look down. I see a door opening and two people running in.

"Mr. Oliver Queen," Scarecrow screams. He and Iris run to me. They help me back up onto the table.

"Scarecrow," I say. As I speak, my throat feels dry. It feels like sand. I practically have to cough up words in order to talk.

"No," Scarecrows says. "It's Dr. Crane. Dr. Crane. Not Scare--Oh, forget it."

"Oliver," Iris says with a smile. "Oh my god! You're okay!"

"I'm okay," I repeat.

"Yeah," Scarecrow says. "You're okay. Oh, man. Iris, we did. We actually did it. We saved Mr. Oliver."

"I know," Iris says.

"Hey, hey, hey," I say, waving my hands in front of them. "Save me? From what? What happened to me? What is this place? Where am I?"

"You don't remember anything," Scarecrow asks. "Apparently, you looked at The Man when he wasn't wearing his sunglasses. That somehow almost killed you. You were dying of organ failure. The Man brought you in here and performed surgery on you. He saved your life."

"With our help," Iris adds.

"The Man performed surgery on me," I repeat. "He knows how to?"

"So far, it's the most normal thing I've learned about him," Iris says.

"Hey," I say, looking down to see my whole chest wrapped in bandages. "Where is everyone? Where is Dinah?"

"She's on a mission," Iris answers.

"A mission? What mission?"

"She's patrolling Star City with Barry, Selina, and Jaime."

"Also The Man," Scarecrow interrupts. "When no one on the team was answering, The Man decided to go after them. You know, with us being wanted and all, you can never be too sure."

"Wait, she went on a patrol to Star City and now she's not answering. Oh no."

I push myself off the table and head for the door. Scarecrow and Iris follow after me. They say something but I ignore them.

"I need to get to Star City," I say while holding my chest. "Where's my bow?"

Dinah Lance:

Jumping and twisting in mid-air, I kick and knock back one of the people. He stumbles back, hitting someone else as he falls to the ground. Landing on the floor, I watch as somehow, more and more people walk out of the abandoned building. The way they're acting, moaning and holding their arms out, it's like they're zombies. I quickly find myself surrounded.

"Stay back," I shout. "I don't want to hurt any of you!"

The people in the scrubs ignore me. They just keep walking toward me.

"Vamos," Blue Beetle yells as he pushes a whole group of them off himself. "What is wrong with these people? Why are they attacking us?"

"I don't know," Selina answers. She steps back as three of the zombie people lunge at her. Pulling out her whip, Selina uses it to pull one of the zombies toward her. She then kicks him in the face, knocking him out and onto the floor.

"Hurry, hurry," some guy in a pig mask shouts from the second story of the building. "Bring them in! Bring them in! I need more patients!"

"You're going to need a doctor," Barry says from right behind the guy. "Not more patients!"

Turning around, the pig mask man screams as Barry pulls back his arm and punches him. He flies out of the door and onto the ground with Jaime, Selina, and me.

The second I can, I grab the pig mask man by the collar and raise him up.

"What have you done to all these people," I shout, shaking him. "Whatever you did, undo it. Now!"

I pull back my own fist and prepare to deck the bastard across the face. However, before I can, someone grabs me.

"What the-Hey!"

One of the zombies grabs me and pulls me off the pig mask man. He grabs me and throws me onto the ground. I try to get up but before I can, a bunch more zombies pile onto me. They keep me pinned down.

"My, my, my," the pig mask man says as he pulls himself up. "You seem to have quite a temper. That's quite a flaw. That is something I can and must fix."

He turns toward his zombies.

"Bring her inside," he orders. "And keep the others back. I will need proper time to fix this one."

17: Chapter 17: The Green Arrow Returns

Oliver Queen:

As soon as I jump through the portal and land on the other side in Star City, I immediately drop to a knee. Screaming as soon as my foot hits solid ground, the nerves inside catch on fire. I bite my lips and breathe through my nose.

"I have to find Dinah," I tell myself. I take deep breaths through my nose before reaching behind and grabbing an arrow. A crosshair appears in the visor of my excell-neno suit. It targets the top of a nearby building. Loading and firing the arrow, it sticks in the side of the building. As the arrow flies through the air, it leaves behind a cable.

"I don't weigh that much. Do I?"

I cross my fingers and push a button on my bow. A part of the bow starts to spin. As it turns, it pulls in the cable and me up. In only a few seconds, I reach the top of the building.

"Yeah," I shout, nodding my head and smiling. I have to stop since I'm starting to feel hot again. I wipe my sweaty forehead and prepare another grapple arrow. My visor targets another nearby building and I fire.

"Hold on, Dinah," I say as I zipline through the cold night sky. "I'm coming!"

The Man:

I look down at the radar on my motorcycle. It shows a map of Star City with me quickly approaching the targets.

"Yeah, try all you want," I say, shaking my head. "You'll never get rid of all these trackers I have on you, Barry."

With over a hundred red dots on top of each other, I notice one of these red dots is moving away.

"Who is that?"

I tap the moving red dot and a picture of Black Canary appears.

"Dinah," I say. I lower my head and pick up speed. I'm less than a mile from where Dinah, Selina, Jaime, and Barry are when I sense something incoming. Turning the front wheel, I skid to a stop, just as something hits the street in front of me and explodes.

The surrounding cars honk as they swerve out of the way. Afterward, they all drive off, leaving me alone.

Focusing, I sense not one, not two, but three powerful magical users approaching me. I climb off my motorcycle and walk onto the empty street. Now, in the middle of the street, I turn my head when a cloud of green smoke appears.

The green smoke is blown away and there, standing to my left is a tall woman with long black hair tied into a large bun. She is wearing golden armor, a golden mask, and a golden crown on top of a large red gown.

To my right, a glowing red circle appears, with cursed symbols written on it. A black circle appears in the red circle and a young boy with pitch-black hair, blue skin, and a suit crawls out. He smiles when he sees me, his sharp teeth shining.

Directly in front of me, a bolt of red lightning strikes the street. The red lightning leaves behind a man with a single streak of white hair in his long black hair. This man is wearing a black suit lined with gold.

"Morgan le Fay," I start, looking to my left. I then turn to my right. "Klarion the Witch Boy, and you. Mordru."

"You know us," Morgan le Fay asks as she approaches me. "How?"

"Who cares how this man knows us or doesn't know us," Klarion shouts. "All that matters is that the Lords of Order want him dead!"

"And they are willing to offer us a reward each for doing so," Mordru finishes. The three of them then approach me with various-colored glowing hands.

"Listen," I say, holding out my arm and bending my knees. "As much as I wouldn't mind settling some old scores, I have somewhere to be. So I'm only going to ask this once. Get out of my way!"

"No way," Klarion says. Chanting a spell, Klarion pulls back his hands before shooting them out. A beam of pure chaos magic is hurling toward me but I jump back while making a circle with my hands. As the beam hits my hands, it dispenses and disappears.

"What the hell," Klarion screams as his eyes go wide. "How--How did you do that?"

"I learned a lot since the last time we fought," I answer. To prove my point, I hold two of my fingers up while holding the other two down. Chanting my own spell, one of pure order, a golden cross then appears before me. I scream as I swing my hands, the golden cross flying toward Klarion.

Dinah Lance:

"Let me go," I shout, still trying to shake loose the darn zombies. Despite my struggle, I couldn't break free. I couldn't break free of all of them as they strapped me down onto a dirty table inside the building.

"What are you doing? Who are you?"

"I am Professor Pyg," the pig mask man answers, holding his hand over his chest. "And I am the doctor that will fix you."

"Yeah," I say, shaking against the table's restraint. "I don't think I'm not one that needs fixing."

I watch from the table as Professor Pyg grabs something off a nearby table. It looks like a tiny microchip.

"With this in your head," Professor Pyg says. "I will be able to control you. Your mind will be resting while your body helps me in my study."

"The microchip," I say. I look at the tiny microchip before looking at the surrounding people. "That's it! That's how you control all these people!"

"All of these people were like you," Professor Pyg says. "They had flaws that only I could fix."

Professor Pyg approaches me with a knife in one hand and the microchips in the other.

"No! Get away from me! Get away!"

Professor Pyg holds the knife above me. He's about to cut my head open when, just before the knife touches my skin, I hear a loud thud.

"What," Professor Pyg says, looking back. Turning around, I see Oliver standing on the second floor.

"Hold it right there, Porky," Oliver shouts as he fires off an arrow. The arrow hits Professor Pyg's hand and knocks the knife out of it. Oliver fires a second arrow, this one hitting and knocking Pyg down. With Pyg down and on the floor, Oliver jumps from the second floor onto the first.

However, as he jumps down, he falls to his side.

"Oliver," I scream. I try to get up but I'm still tied to the table.

"Dinah," Oliver screams while on the floor. He slowly gets back up but Professor Pyg beats him to it.

"Get him," Professor Pyg orders, yelling at his zombies. "Get him!"

Pyg's zombies nod their heads before walking over to Oliver. Oliver is still on the ground. It looks like he's in pain. He's holding his hip while trying to load trick arrows into his bow.

"Oliver," I scream again. The zombies block my view and now I can't see him. "Oliver!"

About to cry, I snap my head back up when I hear something explode. Looking up, I see a bunch of zombies trapped in a net. They all struggle to get out of the net, moaning as they pull on it.

"Dinah," Olive says, limping his way around the trapped zombies. Using his bow as a walking stick, he slowly approaches me. "Hold on! I'm coming!"

"No," Professor Pyg shouts. He runs and gets in between Oliver and me. "You cannot have her! She is my patient!"

"Buddy," Oliver moans as he raises his bow and loads an arrow into it. "You just made a mistake."

18: Chapter 18: The Warning

Kara:

"Ahh," Ivy says, scratching her neck. "I hate these disguises. Why do we have to wear them?"

"Because you and I are wanted fugitives," I answer. I wait until Ivy is done scratching before turning to walk down the street. "Besides, they're not so bad. I like what I'm wearing. It's not bad."

I look down at my yellow shirt with a dark-brown skirt and leggings. Ivy on the other hand is wearing a long dark green coat underneath a light green shirt. We're both also wearing glasses and have our hair tied into a bun.

"Yeah," Ivy says, looking down at her own outfits. "I'll admit, it's not bad, but I am a little curious as to why these are programmed into our excellneno-suits. I mean, did Sunglasses buy these and somehow scan them into our suits, or were these outfits already in that weird head of his?"

"Please don't call him weird," I say. "The Man is not weird. He's just...He's something else but he is not weird. Okay?"

"Oh yeah," Ivy says. "He's something else alright."

I bump Ivy in her arms. She screams and falls to the sidewalk.

"Ouch," she says. She looks up at me with crooked eyebrows.

"Sorry," I say, reaching down to help Ivy up. "I'm so sorry about that."

"It's fine," Ivy says, pushing me back. "It's fine. Kara, stop! You're drawing a crowd."

I stop what I'm doing and look around. Ivy is right. A group of people started to gather around us. They look at us as I help Ivy up.

"Remember what The Man said," Ivy whispers, pulling me in close. "Patrol the city but do not draw attention."

She then lets go of my arm and faces the crowd.

"Nothing to see here, people," Ivy says. "Go back to your days. Come on. Come on."

Ivy claps her hands and waves at the crowd. Slowly, they start to leave us alone.

"Okay," Ivy says. "We patrolled Central City. We haven't seen any trouble. Let's go."

"Yeah," I say with a nod. "Let's go."

I look back at all the people. Most of them have already forgotten about Ivy and me, but there were still a few that looks back. I turn around and hide my face when they do.

"I have to be careful," I think. "As The Man said. Do not draw attention."

I imagine what would happen if someone saw me and recognized me. What would happen if someone saw me and recognized me as Supergirl. I shake my head at the thought and pull down my sleeves.

Making sure no one is looking at us, I tap my wrist and a hologram screen comes up.

"Kara," Iris answers, her face on the screen. "Ready to come home?"

"Yeah, Ivy and I are ready to come back home. Can you ask Scarecrow to prepare the portal?"

"I'm on it," Iris says before both her face and the screen disappears. I lower my arm and look at Ivy.

"Let's go find a quiet place for the portal," I say. "Ivy. Ivy? Ivy!"

For some reason, Ivy is looking at the sky. I tap her on the shoulder. She shakes when she looks at me.

"Ivy, what's wrong? Why are you staring at the sky like that?"

Ivy opens her mouth to say something but before she could, red smoke appears around me. It grabs me and teleports me away. Before I know it, I'm standing on a building's rooftop.

"What," I say, spinning around. "How did I get up here?"

"I brought you up here," a voice answers. I turn around and see a man with charcoal skin. His eyes are red and he's wearing black armor with a cape. "Hello, Supergirl."

I step back when I hear what he calls me.

"There is no need to hide who you are," the man says. "I can see through your disguise."

"Fine then," I say, taking off the glasses. "Who are you?"

"I am Ares, the God of War."

The Man:

Chanting a chaos spell, Klarion the Witch Boy spreads out his arms and splits himself into magical copies. Making five of themselves, they all charge toward me.

The first copy pulls back his fist as he runs. He tries to punch me but I step back and dodge the swing. Shooting forward, I then grab his head, my whole hand wrapping around his face. Picking him up, I then slam him down onto the street. Keeping him down, I pull back my own fist and punch this Klarion. My fist goes right through this Klarion's head and into the street. With his head gone, the copy vanishes into dust.

Hearing screaming, I look up to see the four other Klarions running toward me. Quickly getting back up, I shoot out my hands with two fingers up and two down.

"Shields of Fate," I chant. My hands start to glow, and a second later, golden crosses appear out of thin air. As the Klarion copies reach me, they split into teams. The first team tries close combat, punching and kicking while the second team stays back. From their glowing hands, they summon bolts of black and red lighting to strike me.

However, the shields of fate block all their attacks. The crosses appear and disappear. They shield me from all of Klarion's attacks.

"Impossible," one of the Klarion copies says, exhausted after a cross blocked all of his punches. "How are you doing this? You shouldn't be able to do this!"

I ignore Klarion and turn my head when I hear Morgan le Fay and Mordru charging up a spell. Side by side, their hands join together underneath a green and black magical orb, they finish the spell and throw the orb at me.

Ares:

"Ares," Supergirl shouts. She spreads out her legs and brings up her fists. "I've heard of you from Wonder Woman. You're a dangerous villain."

I laugh when I hear that.

"I don't think you can say that. Aren't you wanted by your cousin and his entire One Earth Government?"

Supergirl flinches when she hears this. She looks down for a minute before looking back at me.

"I don't get my powers from destruction and chaos," Supergirl says. "I used my power to help others. You on the other hand create wars and conflicts just to keep your powers."

"Hmm," I say. "So Diana told you that. Did she tell you that because of Superman's One Earth Government, I have been greatly weakened? In my current state, I am no match for you."

"That's not true. You were able to bring me here."

"That is only because of the conflict created by you and your Insurgency and the One Earth Government. However, even with that added conflict, it's not enough. I am still weak when compared to you."

It seems Supergirl believes me. She opens her hands and brings them to her sides.

"So, if you're not here for a fight," Supergirl starts, "Then why did you bring me up here?"

"You may call it a courtesy," I say, holding my hand over my chest. "I am here to warn you."

"Warn me? About what?"

"The Lords of Order," I answer.

"I already know about the Lords of Order. They want to bring order and believe Superman is the only one to do so."

"If you know that, then I imagine you know they are currently hunting a man in a pair of sunglasses. For some reason, it seems this fabled 'man in the sunglasses' is bringing much dis-order with him."

"Yes, I know that as well."

"Then you should know that to tread carefully. You, the man in the sunglasses, and the rest of your allies. The Lords of Order have already done many unpredictable things to try and destroy the man and have failed. At this rate, there is no telling how far they may or will go."

My words seem to have hit Supergirl. She starts to look incredibly worried, with her eyes looking down and her mouth hanging open.

"Why--Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I cannot warn the man myself. He is well hidden from all verses of magic. Bye-bye, Supergirl."

With the warning delivered, I use what little magic I have left to teleport away. Reappearing in a temple on the hidden island of Themyscira, I turn my head when I see someone leaning against a stone pillar.

"Did you deliver the message," John Constantine asks while adjusting his long brown trench coat.

"Yes," I say. "I delivered the message to Supergirl. Why are you here?"

"The House of Mystery is being watched by the Lords," Constantine answers. "I need a place to crash for a while. At least until Zatanna comes back."

I turn and walk away.

"If Zatanna comes back," I correct. "She is strong and so are the Lords but unlike them, Zatanna is not immortal. Now, wipe your feet before anything else."

19: Chapter 19: The Mighty Emerald Archer

The Man:

I stomp on the ground before drawing a circle with my arms.

"Llpospe tion," I chant. A golden cross appears out of thin air right before me, immediately followed by a large golden shield. As Morgan le Fay's and Mordru's magical orb hits my shield, it shatters and breaks apart.

"Impossible," Mordru says, lowering his arms. His eyes shake with worry as I draw ancient runes with my fingers. The ancient runes hang in the air as I draw more and more of them, each rune glowing with more power every passing second.

"What magic is that," Morgan says. "I have never seen any magic like that before!"

"Nor have I," Mordru says.

"Who cares," Klarion the Witch Boy yells. "Attack that old fart!"

Klarion pulls back his glowing arms before shooting them forward. Hitting the street with two magical red beams, the street then starts to shake. The street shakes for a few seconds before two large stone arms erupt.

Klarion screams as he moves his arms, the two large stone arms moving with him. The stone arms lunge at me. Drawing another rune, a circle with a bolt of lighting through it, I slash the rune before chanting the activation phase.

"Darrwiin's Bolt!"

In less than a second, the rune sparks with pure magical power. It fires a blue lightning bolt that shoots through Klarion's stone arms and destroys them. The Darrwiin bolt travels further and hits Klarion. Screaming as Klarion raises his arms, he summons a shield to try and block Darrwiin's bolt but it's no use. The bolt hits the shield and explodes, the explosive shatters Klarion's shield and knocks him back. He bounces up and down before finally staying down. With Klarion down, I prepare to turn around to face Morgan and Mordur, but as I do, I see Morgan standing in front of me.

Morgan slams her glowing hand onto the top of my head. A dark-green glow shines through her mask.

"Give me your youth," she screams. Trying to absorb the life energy right out of me, I clap my hands together and grab her wrist.

"Trust me," I say, keeping her hand on my head. "I'm older than I looked."

As Morgan tries to siphon my life energy, the dark-green glow shining through her mask changes. It changes from dark green to black, and Morgan starts to scream. As she screams, Morgan le Fay tries to pull her hand back but I keep it right where it is. A few seconds later, black sparks erupt between us. They travel up Morgan's arm and electrocute her. Letting go of her hand, Mogan twitches and smokes as she falls back.

"Two down," I say, "One to go."

Turning toward Mordru as he shakes in the air, he clutches his fists before pulling them back and then throwing them forward. With a massive beam of dark magic heading toward me, I use both rune magic and order magic, combining the two together.

"Ziao's Fire," I start, slashing a fire rune. "Breath of Gyosta! Kurkur's tsunami! Stone of Koshiy!"

Slashing an air rune, a water rune, and an earth rune, I then put two fingers down and two fingers up. Pulling my hand back and then pushing it forward, I chant another spell to come forth Crosses of Fate. The crosses merge with the elemental runes and before Mordru's eyes, they turn into elemental copies of me. Together, the elemental copies of me simultaneously swing their arms. They make a shield out of air, water, earth, and fire that blocks Mordru's attack.

While Mordru is stunned by my copies' ability, Morgan le Fay and Klarion slowly push themselves up. However, I don't have time to fight them anymore. I hear a beeping coming from my motorcycle.

"What," I say, seeing a fifth dot on the radar. "Who's that?"

With everyone still busy, I run over to my motorcycle and tap the dot.

"Oliver Queen? Wait, what? Oliver, you freaking idiot!"

I turn toward my elemental copies.

"Can you four handle this? I have to go."

The air copy of me nods his head. He flies into the air before clapping his hands together. Unleashing a powerful windstorm, the air copy pushes Mordru back. While the water, earth, and fire copies fight Morgan and Klarion, I jump back onto my motorcycle and ride off.

"Oliver may think he's okay, but the effects don't wear off that easily. I only hope Oliver's not in the middle of a fight."

Oliver Queen:

Screaming as Professor Pyg kicks the back of my knee, he forces me down. Swinging the scalpel in his hand, I jump back but he still manages to hit me. I scream again as my arm is cut and I fall back.

"Oliver," Dinah screams, still tied down to the table.

"It seems you are sick as well," Professor Pyg says, standing over me. "Well, as a doctor, it is my oath to fix you."

"Yeah," I say, holding my arm. "I don't think I'm the one that needs fixing."

As the darn Professor approaches me, a scalpel in his hand, I spin and kick the Professor in his stupid pig mask. Falling to the side, I push myself up and onto my knees. Reaching for one of my trick arrows, I aim at Professor Pyg. However, before I can fire, Professor Pyg grabs a nearby stand and throws it at me. I pull back my arm and shield myself as the stand, a tray, and a bunch of scalpels hit me.

Professor Pyg then screams as he charges toward me. Running toward me, a scalpel in front of him, I look down at the Professor's feet. An idea sparking in my head, I hold one end of my bow with both my hands. Winding up like a baseball player, I swing my bow and hit Professor on his feet. Tripping the Professor, I watch with a little bit of a smile as he once again falls to the floor.

"Not going to lie," I think, jumping back and reaching for another trick arrow. "I kind of enjoy doing that."

Loading the trick arrow into my bow, I pull back the bowstring and aim at the Professor. As he pushes himself back up onto his feet, he turns around, sees, and freezes.

I scream as I fire my arrow. My arrow flies through the air and lands at the Professor's feet. It unleashes a thick cloud of smoke that blinds the Professor. With him stuck in the smoke cloud, I fire three more arrows, one right after the other. The arrows land around the smoke cloud. They beep for a few seconds before exploding. They push Professor Pyg left and right before kicking him into the air.

While in mid-air, I run and jump, sliding with my knees on the fire. Now firing a grapple arrow at Professor Pyg, the arrow wraps around him. Pulling him back down, I reach for another trick arrow and throw it on the floor.

Professor Pyg falls right onto my sonic arrow Once he does, it activates and kicks him back into the air. With one last trick arrow, I quickly fire a stun arrow that shocks Professor Pyg as he falls to the floor. Since he stays on the floor for a while, I carefully approach him.

"Not the possum trick," I beg. "Not the possum trick. Not the poss--Baa."

As I approach the downed Professor Pyg, I'm hit with some sort of disgusting burning smoke. It hits my nose hard and I have to turn away.

"Well, that sucks," I say, kicking Professor Pyg but not getting a response. "I'm going to have a hard time eating bacon now."

"Oliver," Diana shouts. I turn to Diana and still see her on the table.

"Hold on," I say. I quickly walk over to Diana and free her. As soon as she's freed, she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me in for a hug. I hug her back, and we stay like this for a while.

"Diana," I say, "Are you okay?"

"Am I okay," Diana repeats. "I should be asking you that! Are you okay? How are you here?"

"I'm fine," I say. "I--I--I'm fin--"

Before I can finish, my legs start to feel weak. A second later, they give out completely and I fall.

"Oliver," Diana shouts. She catches me before I can fall to the floor. Throwing one of my arms over her neck, she starts to test me. She places her hand on my forehead. She checks my pulse.

"Oh no," she says. "You're sick again. Come on! We need to get you back to the base!"

"Wait, wait, wait," I say, pulling back a little. As I pulled back, I feel an intense sharp pain in my hip. I scream as I hold my hip. "Not yet. Not yet."

I turn around but couldn't believe my eyes.

"Professor Pyg," I say, looking around. I blink a few times to make sure I'm not seeing things, but no matter how many times I blinked, I don't see Professor Pyg anywhere. "Where is he? Where did he go?"

Diana turns around and looks to but we don't see Professor Pyg anywhere.

"He must have escaped," Diana says. She shakes her head. "A problem for another time. Come on. Let's get out of here."

As Diana approaches the set of large metal doors, the doors slide open, and standing on the other side is The Man.

"Oliver, what are you doing out of---Oh no."

20: Chapter 20: Ally and Enemy

The Man:

With the final tube interjected into Oliver's arm, I close the incubator and type the command code into the control pad. Oliver starts to slowly drift off, a few seconds later falling gently back.

"Are you sure about this," the Doc asks. He, along with Iris and Dinah are standing directly behind me.

"No," I answer with a sigh and a shake of my head. "No, I am not."

Despite not facing them, I can still hear Dinah's gasps.

"Oliver's organs are fine," I start. "At least, as fine as they can be given the circumstances. It's the other side effects I'm worried about."

"Other side effects," Iris repeats. "What other side effects?"

"According to what I've read in books and The Man's personal notebooks," the Doc says, "Some side effects of surgery are fatigue, appetite loss, pain, bruising, swellings, and a few other things."

"I'm not referring to those side effects," I say. "Those I can handle. I have years of medical experience with me. I've taken the doctor's exam over 700 times."

"700 times," Iris repeats. "What?"

I shake my head and wave my hand as I explain.

"The first few times I've failed but after 6th times, I pass. Afterward, I retook the exam under a different name and passed. I have 692 medical degrees, each under a different name. And that's only in medicine."

"You have almost 700 medical degrees," the Doc says. "Each under a different name? Why?"

I open my mouth to say something but Dinah says something first.

"Can we please get back on Oliver," she asks. I turn around and face her.

"Of course," I say with a nod. I look at the health monitor. "Surprisingly, and thankfully, it seems Oliver's condition is stable. His breathing and heartbeat are steady, and minus a few cuts and bruises from Professor Pyg, he seems completely unharmed. Speaking of Professor Pyg, we need to have a group meeting."

"Go without me," Dinah says. She walks up to the incubator and places her hand on it. "I want to stay with Oliver for a bit."

"Actually Dinah," I say, placing my hand on her shoulder. "I kind of need you at the meeting. Can you please come with me? The Doc and Iris can stay with Oliver."

Dinah doesn't answer at first. She stares at Oliver for a few minutes before nodding her head.

"Sure," she says. While she heads for the door, I turn to Doc and Iris.

"Do not let him out without my permission," I order, pointing a finger at the two. "I do not care how much he begs or pleads. He is staying in there until I say otherwise. Got it?"

"Got it," the Doc and Iris say.

With that done, Dinah and I walk out of the infirmary and into the meeting room. There, I see everyone sitting around the table—everyone except Captain Cold.

"Oh for crying out loud, where the heck is Cold?"

"I told him you wanted to see him," Kara says, "But he told me to fuc--"

I cough and cut Kara off before she can finish.

"Okay, okay, you don't need to finish that sentence. Give me a second."

With two fingers down and two fingers up, I shoot out my hand and cast a spell. I see and hear people gasping as they see a golden cross appear in front of me. I walk into the cross and back out a few seconds later, dragging out Captain Cold.

Kicking and screaming as I drag him, I finally let go of Cold's leg. The second he can, Cold climbs up and yells at me.

"What the hell is your problem? What the living hell is your problem?"

Cold gets right in my face but I don't move an inch.

"Enough of your hiding," I say. I nudge my head toward an empty seat. "We have important things to discuss. Take a seat and shut up."

Cold is grinding his teeth. There are pulsing veins on his forehead. He is huffing and puffing. He looks redder than Firestorm. Despite all of this, Cold grumbles as he takes the empty seat. He slams his butt down and crosses his arms.

"Okay," I start, placing both my hand and cell phone on the table. "There are a few things we need to immediately talk about. Starting with Lady Shiva and Professor Pyg. Higgin. You know what to do."

The holo-display comes to life, with Higgin's silhouette appearing on one of the screens. He brings up the files I send him.

"Lady Shiva is a skilled hand-to-hand martial artist. She specializes in various forms of Chinese and Japanese fighting styles."

Pictures of Lady Shiva appear on the screen. They're followed a few seconds later by pictures of Professor Pyg.

"Professor Pyg, whose real name is Lazlo Valentin, was a doctor who worked at Gotham Hospital. At least, until he was fired and disbarred. Based on the stories you guys told me, some things are starting to make sense."

Along with the pictures of Lady Shiva and Professor Pyg, there are maps of Starlight City and Hub City.

"According to recent stories and articles, in Starlight City, there had been an increase in disappearances and kidnappings. Meanwhile, there had been an increase in robberies in Hub City. Close to 10 robberies per week."

"10 robberies a week," Jason repeats.

"Yeah," I say, "And here's the funny thing. Most of the robberies seem to be happening in a pattern."

I tap my phone and bring up more stores and articles.

"It seems first there's a store robbery. Convenience stores. Gas stations. A quick smash and grab. One or two weeks later, there's a major robbery. Banks. Jewelry stores. Armored trucks. If I had to guess, I would say the store robberies are something like a test.

"A test," Selina says. "What kind of test?"

"A test to see whether or not you can handle the big times."

"Well, if that's true," the Professor says, "Then it means with all these robberies, whoever is assigning these tests has grown quite an army."

"Not an army," I say. "A gang. Black Mask."

"Black mask," Kara says. "What black mask?"

"Not what," I say, sending Higgin another file. "Who?"

On cue, Black Mask's profile picture and records appear on the screen.

"Black Mask was one of Gotham's most feared gang lords. He, Batman, and I sparred quite a lot back in the day."

"Black Mask," Harleen says, staring right at the picture I have of Black Mask. "There's a name I haven't heard in a while."

"That's because right after the destruction of the first Metropolis and Superman's first regime, he went off the grid. I guess with us drawing too much of Superman's attention and him pulling back his soldiers, Black Mask saw an opportunity. I bet that store robbery you stopped with another test for another potential recruit."

"Which means," Cheetah says, now turning over. "That Lady Shiva is working for Black Mask."

"What about Professor Pyg," Jaime asks. "I've never heard of him before. Why is he kidnapping people?"

"From what I remember, Professor Pyg kidnapped people to, quote on quote, 'better them'. He used microchips implanted in the back of the neck to control them. To make them 'right'."

"Guau," Jaime says, falling back into his seat. "If he's doing that, it's no wonder why he lost his license."

"Okay," Ivy says, "That's Hub City and Starlight City but what about Central City? Supergirl and I went there and we didn't see any trouble. Minus those few minutes Supergirl disappeared."

"Wait, wait, wait, what? Kara, you disappeared? Why? For what reasons?"

"Someone named Ares--"

"Ares? Ares the God of War?"

"Yes. You know him."

"Sunglasses knows everyone apparently," Harleen says.

"Harleen, quiet. Kara, why did Ares teleport you away."

"It was to give me a warning. Well, to give you a warning."

"A warning? What was the warning?"

"To be careful when dealing with the Lords of Order," Kara says. "They want you gone, and there's no telling how far they will go."

"Oh believe me," I say, "I already experienced just how far they've already gone."

I think back to Mordru, Morgan, and Klarion.

"Still, that's odd. Why would Ares give you a warning like that?"

Before I could wonder, I sense many powerful shockwaves coming from Gotham.

21: Chapter 21: New Magic

Raven:

I watch from above as Felix Faust uses his newfound power to shoot a beam of magic at a passing building. The building explodes, leaving a wide hole in the top floors. Meanwhile, Klarion is using his own magic to shoot red bolts of lightning everywhere.  Laughing as he shoots, Klarion hits buildings, forgotten cars, and even the street.

"Be careful," I yell, using my telekinesis magic to pick up a stone and throw it at Klarion's head.

"Ouch," he cries, rubbing his sore spot as he turns to me.

"We're walking here," I say.

Klarion growls as he, along with Felix, Morgan le Fay, Mordru, and even Superman himself enter the forgotten Gotham City. Laying waste to anything and everything we see, our soldiers and tanks shake the abandoned streets as we walk.

Our tanks fire at the sky, turning it red and making it rain fire. The One Earth soldiers, with their dark-red goggles, aim their guns at the surrounding area.

"Anything," Superman asks, holding his fingers to his ears.

"Nothing, sir," one of the soldiers from below answers.

"Nothing," Cyborg answers, hidden in one of the buildings. "I don't see the man in the sunglasses or anyone from the Insurgency.

Superman then turns toward me.

"Anything," he asks again.

I close my eyes and press my fingers to my forehead.

"Nothing," I answer. "I don't sense--Wait!"

I open my eyes and lower my hand. Finally, I sense a very strong presence.

"He's here."

The Man:

Rapidly firing off a series of arrows, they all land in front of the One Earth soldiers and tanks. The arrows explode a few seconds later and stop the marching. The soldiers scream as they wave away the smoke. They scream again and raise their guns when they see me.

"I'm guessing the only reason you're attacking Gotham City is because you wanted to see me," I ask, reaching behind to grab some more arrows. "Well, I'm here. Now what?"

Superman steps forward and points at me.

"Men," he screams "Att--"

"Attack," Raven screams. She steps forward and points at me. "Everyone! Attack him!"

With the order given, all the One Earth soldiers and tanks move toward me. The magic users begin chanting and casting spells. In less than a minute, a barrage of bullets and magical bolts are all heading toward me.

Jumping back, I aim at the street and fire a smoke arrow. The arrow hits the street and unleashes a thick, black cloud of smoke. It quickly consume me before being hit by the barrage. A massive explosion happens within the cloud that sends shockwaves throughout, forcing all the soldiers and magic users back.

"There's no way it was that easy," Superman says. Jumping from the tank in front, he flies through the air and uses his super breath to blow all the smoke away. As he does, he reveals to himself and everyone else me, Kara, Captain Cold, Reverse-Flash, Poison Ivy.

"Howdy," I say, giving Superman a nod. I then pull back the bowstring. Lining up the shot, about to shoot an arrow at Superman, my bow starts to glow black and purple. I look to my side to see Raven hovering nearby. With her magic, she telekinesis grabs my bow and pulls both me and it toward her.

Supergirl:

"The Man," I shout, watching as he is thrown from us to Raven. About to fly after him, I stop when something shoots past me. Barely dodging in time, I look to the left and see a group of people I don't know at all.

In the group of people, I see a young boy with blue skin, a tall woman with golden armor, and an elderly man in a golden-lined black suit.

"Who are they," I ask.

"No clue," Captain Cold says, stepping forth, "But who cares! Supergirl, you fight your insane cousin! Ivy and I will handle the weirdos with glowing hands! Reverse-Flash, can you take down the soldiers and the tanks?"

"Yeah," Reverse-Flash says. One second later, Reverse-Flash runs toward the soldiers and tanks. He quickly disarms them before running around them and knocking them out. Meanwhile, Captain Cold and Poison Ivy work together to fight the, as Captain Cold said, "weirdos with glowing hands". That leaves only me and Superman.

I look up to see Superman flying through the sky. I quickly chase after him, following him as he flies past a bunch of buildings. He stops after a few minutes and turns around to face me.

"Here we are again," he says, hovering in mid-air. "Family fighting family."

"Don't call me family," I say. "You haven't been a family member to me since the day you threw me in that cell."

"I threw you into that cell," Superman says, "But I didn't transform you like I did Bruce, and do you want to know why? Because I wanted you to see with your own eyes what I was doing."

"I did see with my own eyes what you were doing," I yell back. "I saw with my own eyes what you did to Earth, and worst, what you did to Oa. You destroyed Oa!"

"That wasn't me," Superman yells, swinging his arm. "That was not me! I never wanted to destroy Oa!"

"You're lying," I say, shaking my head. "And now, because of you, hundred of green lanterns are gone."

I feel something building up inside of me. Whatever it is, it's making my arm shakes. I feel my fingers slowly fold in. I feel power gathers in my eyes. Looking at Superman, I scream as I fire laser visions at him.

Cyborg:

From the top floor of one of the buildings overlooking the marching party, I watch through the scoop as Raven fights the man in the sunglasses.

"Raven," I sigh, shaking my head. "What are you doing?"

Through the scoop, I can see Raven grabs the man in the sunglasses and throws him onto the street. He makes a crater as Raven throws him up and down repeatedly. After the 10th or 11th time, she turns, taking the man with her. This time, she throws him into a building and runs him against the wall.

"What the hell," I say, noticing something. As I keep watching, I start to notice something on Raven's chest. The golden cross, a symbol of power, given by the Lords of Order seems to be glowing brighter and brighter. As the cross glows brighter, lights start to come out from Raven's eyes and mouth.

"Raven," I say, putting my fingers against my ear. "Raven! Come in! What's going on? Are you okay?"

Raven doesn't answer me. I look through my scope again and see Raven using some new magic. She's using some sort of new spell I have never seen before.

I watch as Raven holds out both her hands. Her hands are glowing but not their usual black and purple colors. It looks more gold and white. As Raven holds out her hands, she also holds out the man in front of her. His arms and legs appear to be stuck to his sides.

Slowly, as Raven spreads out her hands, something starts to come out from the man.

"What the hell, "I repeat. The something, looking to be human-shaped, is peeling off the man's back. It looks like the man is trying to resist it but apparently, he's not strong enough. The human-shaped thing already had a whole upper body!

As Raven keeps pulling the thing off the man, a windstorm suddenly appears. I scream as I raise my arm to shield my face from flying pebbles. The situation only seems to get worst.

Besides the sudden windstorm, the ground starts to shake and the massive waves begin to form.

"What's going on?"

22: Chapter 22: Dangerous Magic

Poison Ivy:

Swinging my arms up, I summon a wall of roots to block an incoming attack. The annoying little brat with blue skin curses and screams after his bolt of red lightning failed to strike us.

"Stupid plants," he yells, stomping his foot. "Stupid plant lady!"

"Hey kid," Captain Cold says, running up to the wall of root and slamming his back against it. "Anyone ever tells you you look stupid with that blue skin? What are you, just sad and miserable all the time? Or did a big shadow drain the color from your face?"

"Meanie," the brat yells while shooting more lightning bolts at us. The wall of roots protects us against him, but while the two of us are busy with the brat, the other two fly past us.

They flank us and, before I can summon more walls, attack us.

"Watch out," I shout, grabbing and pushing Captain Cold to the street. Cold screaming as he falls, I turn back and cross my arms. I brace myself for the worst, preparing for whatever magic these two had planned.

Whatever they did, it's causing the wind to pick up. I scream as the wind cuts my face with little pieces of stone. Looking through the little gap between my arms, I see the two gone.

"What in the world," I say. I look to the side and see the two struggling against the wind. Like me, they're shielding themselves by holding their arms in front while pushing against the wind.

"What is this magic," the woman in the golden mask yells.

"I--I don't know," the man in the suit answers.

The two try to push against the wind but it's no use. A few seconds later, the two are thrown into the distance. Screaming as even the wind starts to pick me up, I'm about to follow the two when someone grabs my hand.

"Hold on," Captain Cold shouts, grabbing my hand and pulling me down. The second my feet hit solid ground, he jumps on me and covers me.

"Hold on," Captain Cold shouts again. Aiming his cold gun up, Captain Cold fires it. A short beam shoots into the air before getting caught in the wind. The beam runs in circles before freezing and turning into a small dome.

"We should be safe in here," Cold says. He looks down at me, and I look up at him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I say, brushing my hair back. I slowly crawl out from underneath him and sit up. "What is going on out there?"

"I have no clue," Cold answers, "But fingers crossed we survive it."

As Cold brings up two fingers crossed together, the street starts to shake and what I think are giant waves are smashing onto the ice dome, causing it to crack and melt.

"Screw it," Cold says, his hand dropping to the side. "We're dead."

Cyborg:

Punching a hole in the floor, I grab onto the edge of the hole and hold on. On the verge of being picked up and thrown out by this sudden windstorm, I literally have to hold on for my dear life.

"What the hell is this," I cry out, my metal fingers scraping against the wooden floorboards. Barely holding on, I look through the scope of the disruptor cannon again.

Through the scope, I see Morgan le Fay and Mordru begin thrown around in the wind, going around and around in circles. Meanwhile, the soldiers and tanks are busy surviving the earthquakes and tsunamis. Felix and Klarion are using their magic to fight against the tsunamis but all they're doing is breaking one wave while three more hit them.

"Superman," I shout, placing my fingers against my ears. "Superman! Please come in! This is Cyborg! Come on!"

It's quiet at first, but after a few seconds, I hear the sound of walls breaking and laser being fired.

"Cyborg," Superman answers. "What is it? Is the trap working?"

"No, it's not," I yell. "No! It is not! Something is happening! There are tsunamis and earthquakes and a windstorm so strong, it's about to blow Gotham City away!"

"What," Superman yells. "Cyborg, what is going on? You're not making any sense."

I look through the scope again and see Raven and the man in the sunglasses. It seems the man is fighting against Raven's new spell. The human-shaped outline that was peeling off the man is slowly coming back onto him. However, it seems Raven herself isn't done yet.

The golden cross on Raven's chest starts to change colors. Small red cracks appear all over the cross before spreading out to Raven. Raven soon starts to scream as the red cracks cover her.

"Raven," I yell. "Raven! Raven!"

No matter how many times I yell, Raven doesn't answer me. It's clear something is wrong with her. I don't know if this is her doing or the man in the sunglasses, but I do know this.

"I can't let this go on," I tell myself. "If I do, then everyone here will be wiped off the face of the Earth."

Lining up the shot, I place Raven in the center of the crosshair. Turning on the assistant aim and powering the cannon, it quickly charges up. Within a few seconds, the disruptor cannon is ready to fire. Glowing bright purple, I squeeze the trigger and fire the cannon.

A single beam of purple energy shoots out and travels through the uncontrollable wind toward Raven. Raven begins too busy with the man in the sunglasses, doesn't see the beam until it hits her.

Once it does, she stops with the magic and the man falls down to the street. Now glowing a blinding purple, she screams and shakes as all the excess power is taken from her and put it into the cannon.

"Shit," I say, dropping the cannon as it itself starts to shake. Bouncing up and down as it glows brighter than before, I look back at Raven. It seems the transfer drains her. The red cracks are gone and the cross on her chest stop glowing. Worried about Raven after seeing her fall to the street, I grab the cannon and call forth a boom tube.

The boom tube allows me to come to Raven's side almost instantly. Running from the top floor to the street, I throw down the cannon and drop to my knee.

"Raven," I say, holding up my friend's head. "Raven! Are you okay?"

Raven moans at first. She doesn't answer me but she does moans. I let out a sigh of relief but that sigh quickly turns into something else.

"Victor Stone," Raven yells, getting up suddenly and grabbing me.

"Raven," I say, pushing her back. "What are you--"

"We are not Raven," Raven says. It takes me less than a second to realize who I'm talking to.

"The Lords of Order," I think. "They've taken over Raven's body."

"What have you done," the Lords yell. "Why did you do that?"

"Didn't you Lords see anything," I answer. "The windstorm? The earthquake? The tsunamis? Something had to be done. Otherwise, all of us here would have been killed!"

"Your lives matter little when compared to the much greater need to restore order," the Lords answer. "You should not have done that."

I feel the wires inside of me start to fry.

"Yeah well, I did it anyway," I say, pushing the Lords away. "It's too late to change anything now. And spreading of now, get out of Raven's body. Now!"

For some reason, the Lords stay completely still in Raven's body. It creeps me out how Raven's glowing eyes are just staring at me.

"No it's not," the Lords say. "It's not too late to change everything."

With that said, the glow overtaking Raven's eyes disappears and Raven falls down again. However, this time, I catch her.

"Raven," I say, shaking her. "Raven, are you okay?"

Once again, Raven moans. She moans and groans before opening her eyes. Her normal, non-glowing eyes.

"Ahh, what happened to me?"

"Oh thank god," I say. I feel a bit of oil coming out from my eyes but I manage to keep it in. "I'll tell you later. First thing first."

I turn around and reach for the disruptor cannon but it's gone.

"What the hell? Didn't I put it right here? Where did it go?"

I look around but the cannon is gone. I look around again and see the man in the sunglasses is gone as well. Also, the ice dome that Captain Cold and Poison Ivy used to take cover from all the wind and waves. It had a massive opening in it and from where I'm sitting, it looks empty.

"Superman," I say through the earpiece. "Superman, are you there?"

"I'm here," Superman answers. "What is it?"

"Is Supergirl with you?"

"No. She vanished through one of these portals.

"Okay," I say, ending the call. "So they're all gone. Supergirl. The man with the sunglasses. Captain Cold. Poison Ivy. They're all gone. That's lucky."

As I help Raven to her feet, I look around.

Most of our tanks are overturned or on top of each other. Felix, Klarion, and all our soldiers are soaking wet. I don't even know where the hell Morgan and Mordru are but honestly, I don't care.

"It's not too late to change everything," the Lords of Order said to me. Those words repeat themselves over in my head.

"What did they mean when they said that? It's not too late to change everything."

23: Chapter 23: Research Partner

Supergirl:

"Go to the doctor," I say. I stand in front of The Man, blocking his path. I hope The Man would listen to me and go see Dr. Crane but I'm wrong. Instead, The Man crosses his arms and looks right at me.

"Kara," he says, "I'm fine. Please get out of my way. I need to get to my workshop to examine this."

The Man brings up the strange-looking gun he stole from Cyborg.

"It can wait," I say, crossing my own arms. "I think you really should go see Dr. Crane, or at the very least, Iris. From what Leonard and Pam told me, Raven tried to rip you apart."

"Okay, one," The Man says, putting up a finger. "I am my own doctor. I do not need to see the Doc. In fact, I was the one that taught him everything he knows. Two, I do not need to see the Doc or Iris because again, I am fine. Raven did not try to rip me apart. Judging from what happened, she actually try to rip my magic from me."

"Your magic," I repeat.

"Yes. In case you haven't noticed, I can use magic. Three, and I think this is the most important, I need to study this."

Once again, The Man brings up the strange-looking gun. Holding it between the two of us, The Man and I examine it.

"Based on its design and what happened when it hit Raven, I think this is some sort of power disruptor gun, and I think it was meant for me, not Raven."

"Okay," I say, "But can't you study it later? I'm worried about you. Out of all of us here, you're the only one that hadn't been getting checked up. Even after what happened at Harleen's base, when all those One Earth soldiers and regimes beat you, you didn't even use an ice pack."

"I did use an ice pack," The Man says. "You were there."

As soon as The Man said those words, we both stop. We both stop and stare at each other. Everything else goes quiet. Even the air still stays.

"You were there," The Man repeats, clearing his throat. "You placed ice on my hands."

"Yeah," I say, turning around. "I was. I almost forgot about that."

"Thanks," The Man says. "Anyway, I'm fine. Besides, I really need to study this. Kara, this gun isn't just earth technology. It had signs of alien technology as well. I can't be sure but I think there may be some Kryptonian techs in here."

"Kryptonians," I repeat. I grab the gun and examine it myself. "No way. Krypton doesn't exist anymore. There can't be any Kryptonian techs."

"Krypton doesn't exist anymore," The Man says, "But the city of Kandor does."

"Kandor," I repeat. Almost immediately, I see my mom. I see the two of us talking and taking walks together. I remember once, even racing through the park near our house. The two of us were jogging, trying desperately to beat each other. The jog ended with us laughing and congratulating each other.

"You're thinking of your mother," The Man asks, his voice snapping me out of it. "Aren't you? Alura In-Ze?"

I freeze the second I hear my mother's name.

"You knew my mother? But how?"

"I think I've told you this already, but I know about Kryptonian Culture. I also know about the House of El and your mother's study into the planet's unstable core."

"I do remember," I say, crossing my arms. "I also remember you promising me that you would explain how to know about Kryptonian Culture. I think it's time to keep your promise."

"Not now, Kara."

The Man brings up the gun again.

"Kara, I'm going to try my best not to sound rude, but I think this is slightly more important than my promise to you. I mean, unless you want to study it with me but--"

"Fine then," I say cutting off The Man. "Let's go."

"What?"

"You said it yourself. If I want answers, then I have to study the gun with you. So that's what I'm going to do. Where's your lab or workshop?"

"Kara, again, this is me trying not to be rude, but I seriously doubt you can help me."

"What? Why not?"

"Kara, you're not a scientist. I am."

"Okay, fine. I'll admit it. I may not be a scientist like my mother, but I do know something about my own planet's technology. Come on. Are you really telling me you can't use the extra help?"

"I cannot use the extra help," The Man bluntly answers.

"Well then," I say, holding out my arms and blocking the hallway. "You have two choices. Either don't go to your lab and go see the doctor, or let me help you. Choose one."

The Man sighs as he brings up the gun again. I smile as I stand to the side and let The Man pass. Together, we walk through the hallways until coming to a set of double doors I have never seen before. Pushing it open, I see walls covered in different tools, some I recognize but most I don't. Underneath the walls of tools are tables, all of which are covered in even more tools.

The Man walks up to one of the tables and places the gun on it. Grabbing some nearby tools, The Man starts to examine the tools.

The Man:

"Now that I think about it," I say, pulling back after examining the inside of the power disruptor gun. "I could have fought you, and chances are I would have won. Why didn't I?"

"Because that would have been rude," Kara answers, handing me a screwdriver. "And you were trying your best not to be rude."

I shake my head as I use the screwdriver to open a small panel in the cannon.

"I was right," I say, putting the screwdriver down. Now grabbing a plasma cutter and electric divider, I store the energy in the divider before using the plasma cutter to cut off a few parts. One of the parts I show to Kara is small, green, and covered in black wires.

"This is something called a transactor chip," I say. "A race of aliens named the Deeker made them. Their main purpose is to be able to within incredibly high voltages when used in machinery."

I place the transactor chip down and grab another part. This part is light blue, slightly bigger than the transactor chip, and cylinder-shaped.

"This looks like a Phasr."

"A what," Kara says.

"A Phasr," I repeat. "Recently developed by Luthor-Wayne Industry, it's supposed to act as a sort of barrel for laser weapons. If I remember correctly, the WatchTower actually had one of these. Until we destroyed it."

I place the Phasr barrel down and grab one final part.

"From the look of it, this is a--"

"A Craven power inductor," Kara says, cutting me off. She takes the small box-shaped part from my hands. "This is Kryptonian tech. These are used--"

"To store energy and powers," I say. I take the Craven power inductor back and hold it up. "These were often used in Kryptonian's weapons; mainly the laser pistols and rifles."

"You were right," Kara says. She turns from me to the disruptor gun. "This is made from Kryptonian tech. I can't believe it."

I look at Kara as she stares at the gun. I don't know what Kara is thinking but whatever it is, it seems to be bothering her a lot. I couldn't stand to see Kara sad so I place the power inductor down.

"Hey," I say, tapping Kara lightly on her arm. As Kara turns to look at me, I cross my fingers and open my mouth. "You know, if your mother were to see you now, I think she would be happy."

"What made you say that," Kara asks.

"Because I actually knew your mother," I answer. "Alura In-Ze and I. We were research partners."

"Wait, wait, wait," Kara says, shaking her hands in front of me. "You knew my mother. Like, you actually knew her? You and she were research partners? But that would mean--"

"That I have actually been to Krypton," I say. I nod my head. "It was years ago before you or Kal-El were born."

"Years ago? Before Kal-El or I was born? Wait, research partner? What exactly were you two studying? Was it the--"

"It wasn't the unstable core," I quickly answer. "Alura started researching that after I had already left. However, when I was on Krypton, your mother and I did study the rocks and land formations of the planet. I believe that's what lead her to Krypton's core."

"No way," Kara says, her mouth hanging open. "So that's how you know about Krypton. And about the S, the symbol of the House of El. It's because you lived on Krypton."

Without any warning, Kara then hugs me.

24: Chapter 24: The Partnership

Cyborg:

"Raven," I say, holding my throat as Raven lifts me into the air. My feet dangle in the air as I try to break Raven's grip. However, there's nothing to break. I shoot out my hand and transform it into an arm cannon. With energy gathering in my arm cannon, all I have to do is shoot.

"Shoot," I tell myself. "Come on! Just shoot! Shoot! Shoot."

I try to shoot. I try to fire my arm cannon but I can't. This is Raven. At least, part of Raven.

"How could you stop us," the Lords of Order scream through Raven. "We almost had him."

"Did you not see anything," I say, still shaking my legs. "Did you not see the tornado? The tsunami? The earthquake? Whatever you were doing, it was destroying Gotham! It would have destroyed all of us if I didn't use the cannon on Raven instead of the man!"

Raven swings her hand, and I'm thrown into a wall. Screaming as dust and little bits of stones wall onto me, I try to push myself up but Raven slams me down. My face is grinding against the stone as Raven keeps on pushing me down.

"Your life, as well as the lives of the others, is a small price to pay for the death of the man in the glasses," Raven shouts. "You--"

"That's enough," a voice yells, cutting Raven off. A second later, I hear her screaming. Her scream is followed by a loud crashing sound. Gasping for air as I finally push myself up, I look to the right to see Superman standing there.

Superman turns to see me. He walks up to me and helps me to my feet. As soon as I'm back on my feet, I turn to Raven.

"Raven," I shout. Running over to Raven who is on the ground not moving, I drop to my knees and slowly pick her up. "Raven! Are you okay? Superman, why did you do that?"

"She was killing you," Superman answers. "I could hear the two of you from the command center. What the hell is going on here anyway? Why is Raven trying to strangle you?"

"It's not Raven," I say. "It's the damn Lords of Order!"

I feel the blood and oil in my robotic body start to boil.

"This is all your fault," I say, pointing at Superman. "Why did you agree to help them?"

"Because we both have a common enemy," Superman answers. "The man in the sunglasses!"

I look down at Raven as I stand back up. With Raven resting in my arms, I start to head to New Metropolis's infirmary. As I walk past Superman and through the set of double doors, I stop and look at him.

"I'm beginning to wonder about this 'partnership'," I say, looking Superman right in his eyes before carrying Raven away.

The Lords of Order:

With the connection cut off by Superman and Raven unconscious, I slam my fist down. Grinding my teeth against each other, I turn around to look at the other Lords.

"We are failing," one of the other Lords says. "The man in the glasses is still alive."

"And it seems Superman and his regimes are not as much help as we previously thought," another Lord goes on.

"I say it's time," one final Lord says. "We have tried many things to find the man or any of his allies but it seems someone is interfering with us. We have tried alliancing ourselves with Superman and his One Earth Government and they have shown us close to no results. We have even reached out to other magic users and gifted them a small portion of our power but it seems his magic is just as strong. I say it is time to activate one of our contingency plans."

"Which one," I ask.

The final Lord raises his hand and a large magical orb appears above us. Inside the magical orb, we see the events of the past; Supergirl being rescued from Stryker's Island, Green Arrow and Black Canary fighting Poison Ivy and Swamp Thing in Slaughter Swamp, and even Reverse-Flash fighting soldiers in the abandoned Gotham base."

As I look at the magical orb, I soon realize what the final Lord is suggesting.

"Show of hands," I say, looking at all the other Lords. "Who agrees?"

It takes no time for all of us to raise our hands.

"Then it is settled. We will rewrite time so that the man never exists."

"Before we do that," the first Lord says, "We must lure him out."

"Believe me," I say, "That will be the hard part."

All of us Lords of Order then raise our hands and shoot a beam at the time orb.

The Man:

I feel Kara's warm embrace as she hugs me. I feel her soft skin as her arms wrap themselves around me. I also feel something else. Something very strange. I start to rise my own arms and hug Kara back.

I pat Kara on her back as she rests her head on my shoulder. I can't be sure how long we still like this but after what feels like forever, we finally pull apart.

"What was that for," I ask.

"I'm sorry," Kara says, sniffing. She wipes a tear from her eyes. "It's just...I'm happy to know I'm not alone. I'm happy to know that someone else knows about Krypton, and more importantly, about my mother."

"You were never alone," I say. "You had your cousin. I mean..."

As I try to come up with something, I see Kara's eyebrows turn into a V.

"Nevermind."

I clear my throat as I look away from Kara. Staring at the floor, the walls, and the ceiling, I then remember something important.

"Wait," I say, reaching deep into my jacket pocket. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!"

"What," Kara asks. "What are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for something I really hope I still have," I answer, still reaching around in my jacket pockets. "Luckily for me, I don't clean this jacket out as much as I should."

It takes a while, almost longer than the hug, but I finally find it. Pulling out an old picture, I hand it to Kara.

"I think you might like this," I say, handing the picture to Kara. As Kara takes it, she once again starts to cry.

"This is...This is impossible," Kara says, holding her hand over her mouth.

"There is no such thing as impossible," I say. "It's just really hard to do."

I smile as Kara stares at the picture. There, in the black and white picture are Kara's mother and me. Alura and I are standing side-by-side, in front of a small cave. Around us are some hovercarts with rock samples and some mining tools.

"What is this," Kara asks, her hand falling. "And why is everything black and white?"

"That picture was taken with my monochrome camera," I answer. "It was a souvenir from a store I used to own. Unfortunately, the camera with color wasn't invented yet. Also, I was on another planet at the time."

"Okay," Kara says, slowly nodding her head. "What about my mother?"

"As I said, your mother and I were research partners. We study the land and rocks. About a week into one of our studies, we posed for that picture. I almost forget about it until you reminded me of her. If Alura were to see you now, I know for a fact she would be beyond proud."

Kara keeps looking at the old picture. I imagine she had tons of questions, on top of the tons of questions from before, but she doesn't seem to concern about any of them. I think she is just happy to see her mother again. She hands me the picture but I hold up my hand.

"Nah," I say, shaking my hand. "Keep it."

Kara smiles as she holds onto the picture. Meanwhile, I keep on disassembling the gun. The more I disassemble it, the more I find unique parts.

"This gun is a combination of Earth and aliens tech," I say, placing my plasma cutter down. "The funny thing is, most of the aliens' tech used are from races Brainiac had captured."

"What does that mean," Kara asks.

I'm about to answer, but once again, I sense incoming shockwaves.

25: Chapter 25: The Setup

Felix Faust:

"Destroy everything," I say, putting my hands together. Magical energy gathering in between my hands turns into a displacer orb which I throw at a car. The orb hits the car, causing the driver to stop. He gets out and runs, barely surviving the car explosion.

As the man crawls away, Klarion the Witch Boy, Morgan le Fay, Mordru, and I all enter Central City, laying waste to anything and everything we see. We use our mighty magic to destroy all that stands in our way.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Klarion says, blasting a bunch of buildings and signs with bolts of red lightning. "We know the plan, you old fartbag! I just hope this works and we don't get beaten up for nothing."

"We will be fine," Morgan answers. As Morgan enters the city, she brings up her hands and flies into the sky. A few seconds later, Morgan chants a spell that summons red storm clouds. The storm clouds begin to rain. They begin to rain acid that melts everything. All the cars, the buildings, and even the streets start to melt. The people caught in the acid rain begin to scream as their skin burns.

While they all flee inside the melting buildings, Morgan casts another spell that shields the four of us from the acid rain.

"This will surely draw this fabled man," Mordru says. Like me, Mordru brings his hands together. As magical energy gathers in between them, Mordru fires the magical energy at an already melting building. In a few seconds, the building starts to shake. It shakes, twists, and turns before stepping up on stone legs and walking. The building roars as it stomps the streets.

"Come on out," Klarion says, blasting a building and causing the window to shatter. "Come on out."

Superman:

With red lights flashing and alarms blazing, I walk into the New Metropolis's monitoring room. There, I see a mess of people as they all run around. The sound of people typing on keyboards is almost louder than the blazing alarms.

"Diana," I say, pushing my way through toward Diana and Black Adam. Diana who is holding a tablet in her hands turns to me. "Diana, what is going on? What is happening?"

"It seems Central City is under attack," Black Adam says.

"Under attack," I repeat. "By who?"

"By Felix, Morgan, Mordru, and Klarion," Wonder Woman answers. She taps on the tablet in her hands and gives it to me. Taking the tablet, I see camera feeds of the four relentlessly attacking Center City. They had already laid waste to enitre city's blocks and the four show no sign of stopping.

"What's going on," I yell, looking up. "I never gave orders to attack Center City! Did you?"

"No," Diana answers.

"Neither did I," Black Adam says.

"Then who--," I say before realizing it. "The Lords of Order. It was them who ordered this attack."

"But why," Black Adam asks. "Why attack Center City?"

"I don't know why," I say, clenching my fists. "But I'm going to stop it."

I turn and walk but stop almost immediately. There, floating in front of me is Raven. At least, it's Raven's body.

"No," the Lords say through Raven's body. "Kal-El, you must not interfere. This is all part of the plan."

"The plan," I repeat. As I look at Raven, I realize something else. "Where is Cybrog?"

Raven swings her hand and shows us through a magical circle a dying Cyborg leaning against a wall.

"Cyborg!"

I bend my knees, preparing to launch at Raven but before I can, Raven holds out her hand and stops me.

"No," the Lords shout again. "If you interfere, then you will lose your cousin."

"What?"

"If this plan works, then you will get your cousin back. The man will be erased, and Kara Zor-El and you will be enemies no more."

I stop as I look at the shaking tablet still in my hands. I look at the people as they scream and cry. They run and hide but it's close to no use. The four of destroying everything and many people are already hurt.

"Kara and I will be enemies no more," I repeat to myself. "Kara and I will finally be on the same side."

Supergirl:

Screaming as I fly through the portal, I charge right toward the moving building. The building sees me but can't do anything as I already fly right through it, leaving behind a massive wall. The building roars as it crumbles and breaks apart. As the building breaks apart, the broken pieces fall toward the people below.

"Oh no," I say. I push against the wind and try to stop them but they're too far away. Thankfully, I'm not alone.

From the side, I see a white beam hitting the broken pieces, freezing them. With the pieces now frozen, I hear a loud, ear-piercing scream and a series of explosions. Looking to the side, I see The Man holding a bow and arrow, Black Canary, and Captain Cold.

The Man:

As Kara flies past us, I turn to Canary, Cold, and everyone else as they jump out from the portal.

"Stay here and help the people," I say.

Ivy nods her head and with her power, she summons roots to cover the people from the acid rain. Flash and Reverse-Flash run around the streets, grabbing and picking up as many people as they can and dropping them beneath the buildings with root roofs. Canary and Harleen stay with the people and try and help them.

"Firestorm! Blue Beetle! You two are with me! Come on! We're stopping this!"

"Okay," Firestorm yells.

"Si," Beetle shouts. "Let's stop these bastardas!"

With that, the three of us follow Kara and charge toward the four.

The Lords of Order:

"It seems our plan is working," one of the Lords of Order says. "The man in the sunglasses is here, along with Kara Zor-El and the rest of the Insurgency."

"We must do this fast," another Lord says, "Before they disappear again."

All of us Lords nodding our heads, we raise our hands and fire at the time orb. However, it seems something is shielding the orb. Our magic isn't reaching the orb. In fact, it's not only preventing our magic but it also seems to be pushing back.

We scream as our hands shake and most of us have to grab onto our risen hand.

"Push," I yell. "Push! This is the opening we need to bring Order! Come on! Push!"

With our combined effects, we break through the shield and our magic hits the time orb.

Zatanna:

I try my best to stop the Lords of Order magic but it becomes too much for me. I scream as I lose my concentration and fall to the ground.

"Ahh," I cry as I push myself up after what feels like being hit right in the face. Shaking and clearing my head, I close my eyes and focus again.

"Please, no," I say. "Please no. Please no. No. I'm too late. The Lords have completed the spell! I have to go!"

Casting a teleportation spell, I'm teleported away.

The Man:

Klarion screams as he throws a bolt of red lightning at me. However, I catch the red lightning in my hands and hold it. I feel the power as it flows through me. I start to mold it, and in a few seconds, I turn the lightning bolt into a sword.

"No--No way," Klarion says, his wide eyes stuck on the lightning sword in my hands. Jumping into the air, I pull back the sword before slamming it into the ground. As the lightning blade hits the ground, it shoots forward and strikes Klarion. He falls to the ground, stinking of smoke.

While Klarion tries to recover, I see the acid rain stopping. Looking at Morgan, I see Kara punching and knocking her out, Morgan's unconscious body falling to the ground. Firestorm and Beetle manage to hold their own against Felix and Mordru.

"Something is wrong," I say, looking at Beelte as he swings his arm and shield bashes Felix. Meanwhile, Firestorm and Mordru are in a duel, both shooting each other with fire and magic. It seems Firestorm's fire is too much for Mordru to handle and he is forced onto his knee.

"This is far simple a plan. Why go through the trouble of destroying Central City? What does Superman want? Wait, no. This can't be Superman. There are no regimes or One Earth soldiers."

I turn toward the four.

"Felix, Mordru, Morgan, and Klarion. Four magic users. Four powerful magic users. Wait. Magic users. The Lords of Order! This must be their plan, but what do they want? What do they get out of destroying Central City?"

I look around and see out of the corner of my eyes Harleen and Dinah as they help a man and woman get underneath the root roof Ivy made. While Harleen and Dinah help the people, everyone else is surrounding them, making sure they stay safe.

"Everyone else," I repeat to myself. "Everyone else? Everyone else! The Insurgency! Everyone, fall back!"

Pulling kunai out from my jacket pockets, I throw them at Mordru. My kunai explodes, knocking him off his feet and leaving him for Firestorm to cook.

As Mordru falls, Firestorm rushes to finish him off but I stop him.

"Firestorm," I yell. "Beetle! Kara! Get out of here! Run now!"

"Que," Beetle says.

"What," Kara asks. "Why? We're winning!"

"This isn't a fight," I yell. "This is a trap!"

As if on cue, the whole world shakes. The ground and the sky shakes, knocking Beetle and Firestorm off their feet. I manage to catch them in time and push them back on their feet. As I do, a bright light can be seen in the distance.

The bright light engulfs the world as it heads for us.

"Again," I say, turning around. "Run! Grab everyone else and run! I prepare the portal!"

Beetle and Firestorm don't need to be told a third time. They leap into the air and fly away. Meanwhile, Kara grabs my hand and carries me.

"What's going on," Kara asks. "What is that?"

"A twist in time," I answer. "Kara, drop me off here!"

Dropping me off on a slightly melted building, I immediately pull out my teleporter and begin the process. While I prepare the teleporter, Kara, Beelte, and Firestorm rush to grab everyone else.

With everything ready, I throw the teleporter on the ground and a portal shoots up. Turning around, I see Flash already behind me.

"Where is everyone else," I yell.

"They're coming," Flash answers.

I roll my eyes and point at the portal.

"Ladies first," I say. I grab and throw Flash through. One by one, Kara, Beelte, and Firestorm drop them onto the roof and everyone jumps through the portal. Soon, it's just Kara, Dinah, Cold, Beetle, Firestorm, and myself left.

"They're the last ones," Beetle says, dropping Cold off. Beetle is shortly followed by Firestorm who is carrying Dinah.

"Okay," I say. I point at the portal. "Quickly, get in now."

"Wait," Kara says, looking over the ledge. I can tell she's looking down at the people below. "What about them?"

"They will be fine," I say. I nudge my head toward the portal. "Come on. The light is getting closer!"

"What is that light," Cold asks. "Why are we running from it?"

"Are you kidding me," I ask. "Why would you even ask that?"

"Because I am sick of you," Cold yells, pointing his cold gun at me.

"Hey, hey, hey," Beetle yells, getting in front of Cold. "Easy, Leonard. Put the gun down."

"No," Cold yells. "Not enough of me! Enough of you! For once, for once, the man will give me a straight answer."

"We don't have time for this," I yell but Cold doesn't budge. As the light gets closer and closer, everything that it touches is gone, swallowed by it whole.

"Cold," I say. "Look at that. We have to go now!"

I turn to walk away but stop.

"Wait," Kara says. She flies forward and grabs my hand. "What about the people? We can't just leave them to whatever that is!"

"The people will be fine," I yell. "It's us that need to go! That is for us!"

"How do you know," Cold yells. "How do you know that light is for us? How do you know the ungrateful people we saved will be safe from it? How could you possibly know every single thing?"

"I just do," I yell.

"The people," Kara shouts. "We can't leave the people behind!"

As Klarion, Morgan, Mordru, and even Felix are all swallowed by the light, Kara starts to drag me back toward the ledge. I pull Kara free and grab her by the shoulders.

"Kara," I yell, "Listen to me! We need to leave! We need to get out of here!"

"But the people!"

"The people will be fine!"

A blue beam goes into the air and both Kara and I look at Cold.

"How do you know," Cold yells. "Give me a straight answer! Starting with why didn't you kill Raven when you had the chance?"

I look Cold right in the eyes.

"I am a killer," I answer, "But I am not a murderer."

My answer seems to have some sort of effect on Cold. He starts to breathe in and out as he looks at me.

"What," he starts, shaking his head. "What is that even supposed to mean?"

Before I can explain, we all hear a voice coming from the portal.

"Leonard," Ivy shouts, holding out her hand. "Behind you!"

We all look behind us to see the bright light only inches from us.

"Pamela," Cold says, running toward the portal. However, it's too late. The bright light engulfs him.

"Jaime," Firestorm shouts.

"Firestorm," Beetle yells before the two are engulfed by the light. As Kara and I watch Dinah vanishes, I push her back and hold out my hands.

"Stay behind me!"

Kara stays behind me and I try to shield her but it's too late. As the light hits us, we find ourselves in a blinding white void. It isn't long before Kara starts to fade away.

"Kara," I say, "I promise! I'll find you! Remember me!"

26: Chapter 26: Reset

Teenager:

"Come on," I say, slapping my friend's arm. "Come on! Hurry!"

"I'm moving as fast as I can," my friend yells back. Reaching down, he pulls out a spray can from our backpack. Shaking the can up and down, he starts to spray the wall. While he starts at one end, I start at the other end. We meet up in the middle after a few minutes and immediately pack everything away.

"Hurry," I say, throwing the spray can into the backpack. "Hurry! Before they see us!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," my friend says. With the last can put away, we throw our backpacks over my shoulder and run. However, I barely take three full steps before running into a wall and falling over.

"Ahh," I cry out after falling on my butt. "What the hell?"

I look up, expecting to see a wall but instead, I see a tall woman with long blond hair in silver and purple armor.

"No, no, no, no, no," my friend and I shout. Pushing myself up, I then run away. Once again, I take only three steps before something flies out from the sky and hits me. Whatever hits me, it wraps around my feet and knocks me to the street.

"I surrender," my friend yells, backing up with his hands high in the air.

Supergirl:

"Again," I sigh, shaking my head as I look at the graffiti the two boys painted. I show a red S hovering over the Earth.

"That's enough," I shout at the boys, causing them to jump a little. Walking up to one of the boys, the one on the ground, I grab and lift him into the air.

"I'm sorry," the boy cries. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I really didn't!"

"Then why did you do it," I yell. "What did you do this if you didn't mean it?"

The boy cries something but I can't really understand. I shake my head again and drop the boy. As soon as his feet hit the ground, the boy crawls into a ball and stays like that until One Earth vans arrive and arrest the two. I watch as the two boys are escorted into the backs of the vans before the vans drive off. The second they're gone, I turn around.

"I don't get it," I say, crossing my arms. "What do the people have against Kal-El? Or me?"

I wait a while for Bruce to jump out from the shadow. Hearing him as he fires his grapple gun, Bruce swings out before landing right beside me.

"Who knows," Bruce answers after looking at the graffiti himself. "Who cares? They will always be people that take things for granted."

As Bruce and I shake our heads, we get a call through our earpieces.

"Attention Supergirl and Batman," Cyborg says. "Attention Supergirl and Batman."

"We're here," I answer. "What's wrong Victor?"

"We need some help back here at New Metropolis," Cyborg answers. "How long before you two can get here?"

"Give us five minutes," Bruce answers.

"Okay."

Bruce and I then lower our hands.

"Need some help," I ask, jumping and hovering in the air.

"No thank you," Bruce quickly replies. "I have my own ride."

Throwing his cape behind him, Bruce pulls out his grapple gun and fires it into the sky. I hear the sound of the hook latching onto something metal only a second before Bruce ziplines into the air. He vanishes into the clouds. A few seconds later, I see the Batwing as it descends from the clouds. Bruce doesn't even wait for me before flying off toward New Metropolis.

I shake my head while seeing the Batwing turn into nothing but a tiny black dot. About to fly after Bruce, I take a look back at the two boys' graffiti.

"There's something off about the S," I think. "But why? Ahh."

I shake my head before flying after Bruce.

It takes us less than five minutes to make it back to New Metropolis. As Bruce and I land in the courtyard, all the One Earth soldiers get out of the way. The moment our feet hit the ground, all the soldiers cheer us on.

"Wooo," they shout. "Yeahhh! Amazing jobs!"

"Hey," I say, taping Bruce on his arm. "What's going on? Why are they cheering us?"

"You don't remember," Bruce says while climbing out of the Batwing. The soldiers once again clear a way for us as we walk toward the command center.

"We arrested Black Mask only a few days ago."

"We...did?"

"We did," Bruce answers. "You, me, Leonard, and Clayface. We found Black Mask's lair beneath Gotham."

"Oh yeah," I say, nodding my head. "I remember. I remember."

Bruce nods his head and looks ahead. I look ahead myself but for some reason, I can't remember arresting Black Mask.

"Black Mask," I repeat. "Black Mask. Why does that name sound familiar?"

I shake my head as Bruce and I enter New Metropolis's command center. There, standing around a large, black table, I see the rest of the regimes and Kal-El himself.

"Kara," Kal-El says, my cousin walking up to me and hugging me.

"Hey, hey, hey," I say, smiling as I push Kal-El off me. "Easy there. We're at work."

"Come on," Kal-El says. "We're family."

"So are we," Leonard says, raising his hand. Leonard points to himself and then at a medium-height woman with long brown hair and very smooth skin. "But we're not that close. Stop being creepy."

The woman bumps Leonard in the stomach.

"Leonard," the woman says. "Don't ruin the moment."

"Lisa," Leonard starts. "I'm not sorry."

"Enough," Diana says, all of us turning to her. With all of us facing her, Diana brings up a tablet in her hands. "We're here to discuss a new threat. Everyone, take your places."

With that said, all of us take our seats. Meanwhile, Kal-El joins Diana and Teth-Adam. Diana gives Kal-El the tablet and with it, Kal-El begins the presentation.

"According to multiple sources, Slade Wilson and Jason Todd, better known as Deathstroke and Red Hood, have been attacking many of our convoys in both Hub City and Starling City. We can't be sure why, but from the looks of it, the two are stealing supplies from the convoys."

Kal-El wipes at the screen and brings up four pictures. The first two show an elderly man with gray hair and an eye patch beside a man with a black and orange mask, the black and orange split down the middle. The second two pictures show a young man with short black hair beside a man with a shining red mask.

"Slade Wilson," I repeat. "Jason Todd? Deathstroke? Red Hood? Why do those names sound so familiar?"

Again, I feel like I'm supposed to remember those names but for some reason, I can't. I can't remember why their names sound so familiar. As I try to remember, my head starts to hurt.

"Ahh," I cry out. It seems my outburst draws everyone's attention.

"Kara," Kal-El says, turning away from the presentation. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I say. I shake my head before heading for the door. "I'm sorry everyone but I think I need to get some fresh air. Continue with the meeting. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Before anyone can object, I quickly leave the command center and head outside. Walking into the courtyard, I do a few laps while inhaling.

"Slade Wilson," I repeat to myself. "Slade Wilson. Jason Todd. I know those names but why?  Also, why don't I remember arresting Black Mask?"

I try my hardest to remember anything about the arrest, but nothing came to mind. It's almost like it never happened.

As I keep walking around the courtyard, I pass by some One Earth soldiers. They're all lined up equally, each armed with One Earth body armor and a machine gun.

"Mam," the soldier in front says, saluting at me as we walk past each other. I nod my head at him. The soldiers behind him greet me and I nod my head at each and every one of them. However, as one soldier approaches me and salutes me, I can't help but look at him.

He didn't look any different from the other soldiers besides his ID number.

"8-0-88," I read. As I look more closely, I see a pair of sunglasses.

27: Chapter 27: Under Attack

Supergirl:

I lunge forward, pushing all the other soldiers out of the way to grab the sunglasses.

"Hey," the soldiers yell after I pushed them. The soldier with the sunglasses, however, doesn't move at all. He stays still even as I pull the sunglasses right off his body armor. I stare at the sunglasses.

The sunglasses have blue lenses with black rims. As I look at the sunglasses, I can't help but feel like something is off.

"No," I think. "Not just off, but familiar. Why do these look so familiar?"

The more I look at the sunglasses, the more something starts to form in my head. It starts as flashes at first but very soon, it turns into something else.

"What is this?"

I look around but I'm not in New Metropolis anymore. I'm in a glass cell, with red lights over me. The only thing in the cell with me is a small bed. As I stand in the cell, I start to panic. The air becomes thin. I feel myself start to choke on it. Everything becomes blurry and my knees go out.

Falling onto the floor, I begin to cry. I don't know why I'm crying but the tears push their way through. I see them drop onto the floor as I feel something crushing me.

"I wouldn't go that far," a voice says out of nowhere. As I hear the voice, whatever it was that was crushing me disappears and I can stand up again. "Don't worry. I'm here to help."

Following the voice, I turn around and see the outline of a person.

"Who--Who are you?"

Before the person can answer, the world around me shakes. It shakes and everything crumbles. The world around me crumbles to nothing and I find myself back in New Metropolis.

"Kara," Dinah says, shaking me. "Kara!"

"What," I say, shaking my head. "What? What is it? Oh. Hey Dinah. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong," Dinah repeats. She lets go of my shoulders and looks at me. "I should be asking you that. What are you doing out here? The meeting ended and now we're all wondering where you've been."

"I...I was..."

I try to answer Dinah but for some reason, I can't. Instead, I look down at my but see nothing.

"The sunglasses," I shout. I step back and look at the floor. "The sunglasses! Where did they go? Where are they?"

"They," Dinah repeats. "What? Kara, what are you looking for?"

"A pair of sunglasses," I answer.

"A pair of sunglasses," Dinah repeats. As I keep looking for the sunglasses, I hear a scream and look back at Dinah. Dinah is stumbling around with her hand against her forehead.

"Ahh," she cries out. About to fall, I rush ahead and catch her. After I catch her, I help steady Dinah before pushing her back onto her feet.

"Now I'm asking what's wrong."

"I don't know," Dinah answers. "Something about sunglasses."

As soon as I hear the words sunglasses again, a flash goes off and I see cracks all over the world.

"What the heck," I say, stepping back. I look around and see bright-glowing cracks everywhere; on the ground, on the wall, even floating in the air. The cracks stay there before another flash and the cracks are gone.

"Dinah," I say, looking between everything and Dinah. "Dinah! Did you see that?"

"See what," Dinah asks. She shakes her head before looking around. "What am I looking at?"

I look around again but don't see anything. In fact, everything looks normal here. There are soldiers marching around. Mechanics fixing tanks and jeeps. A few regimes are hovering, guarding New Metropolis. Everything looks normal.

"Ahh," I sigh, lowering my head. "I think I need to see down for a little bit."

I turn around and head for my room. As I head for my room, I see the soldiers around Dinah looking at me.

"Weird," I think, looking right back at them. "There's only four soldiers. But wait. I could have sworn there were five before. Five soldiers."

I stop and count again.

"No. Only four soldiers. Where did the fifth one go?"

Before I can get it much thought, I hear Kal-El's voice over the speakers.

"Kara! Dinah! Report to the meeting chamber immediately! I have a mission for you two!"

"Come on," Dinah says, hitting my arm as she runs past me. I shake my head and follow after her. As the two of us enter the meeting chamber, we see Kal-El with Diana, Victor, and Bruce.

"What's the mission," I ask, landing in front of Kal-El.

"Deathstroke and Red Hood," Kal-El answers. "They're attacking another convoy en route to Hub City! You two, along with Bruce, capture them and bring them back here!"

"Of course," Dinah says. We all nod our heads and run outside. While Dinah flies with Bruce in the Batwing, I fly alongside them toward the convoy.

"I have them," Bruce says. "Straight ahead!"

"Thanks," I reply. Flying a little faster, I go ahead and look down. Outside Hub City, on an empty interstate, I see unconscious soldiers around One Earth supplies trucks. Looking closely, I see two people still standing. Only, there's not One Earth soldier.

Deathstroke:

"Hey kid," I say, ejecting the empty clip before reaching into my back pocket for another one. "You ready for this."

"Yeah," Jason says, twirling his knife. "Are you, old man?"

"Oh yeah," I say, slamming the clip into my machine pistol. "I'm ready."

As Jason and I look up, we both raise our guns and fire. As expected, our bullets deflect right off Supergirl. We can't do anything except jump back as Supergirl crashes into the ground. Both of us aiming at her, I look up and see the Batwing.

"Take your pick," I say, looking at Jason. "The girl with bulletproof skin or the man with the giant, flying, war machine."

"I pick the man with the giant flying war machine," Jason answers.

"Rather fight your dad than Supergirl?"

"We don't exactly have much of a father and son relation," Jason says, stepping back. As he steps back, Jason pulls out some grenades from within his jacket and throws them into the air. The grenades explode and knock the Batwing around. While Jason deals with his daddy issue, I look at Supergirl as she stares me down.

"That's not going to hurt me," she says. I look at the machine pistol in my hand.

"Normal bullets don't hurt you," I say with a smile. "These aren't normal. They're explosive."

I then shoot at Supergirl. She crosses her arms as dozens and dozens of tiny explosives hit her. Forcing her back, I stop shooting and switch to the gun's secondary fire.

With the secondary fire ready, I aim at the ground and pull the trigger. A small, silver disc shoots out. It lands on the ground only a foot or two from Supergirl. As it lands, a tiny head and legs shoot out. The tiny little disc sees Supergirl and starts shooting at her. She screams as she raises her arms and shields herself.

Switching back to the primary fire, I shoot more explosive rounds at Supergirl as I walk toward her. With me on one side and the turret on the other side, we keep Supergirl pinned down.

Now standing over Supergirl, I keep shooting her until I hear a click. As my machine pistol clicks, I reach for another magazine but Supergirl must have heard the click as well. Swinging her arms outward, she hits and knocks me back.

Hitting the ground, I look at Supergirl as she stomps on my turret, crushing it. I bring up my gun again but Supergirl uses her super speed to reach me in seconds. Even before I can squeeze the trigger, Supergirl slaps the gun out of my hand and grabs me by the throat.

"What are you waiting for," I say, choking as Supergirl holds me up. "Just do it! Use your laser vision! Burn a hole in me!"

"I'm...I'm not going to do that," Supergirl says. "We don't do things like that!"

"Cleary," I say with a chuckle. "Your memory's a bit off."

"My memory is a bit off," Supergirl repeats. She looks away as I say this.

"Supergirl," Batman says. He and Black Canary are standing side-by-side, with Jason tied up at their feet. "We got Red Hood. Time to go back to New Metropolis."

"Yeah, sure," Supergirl says. She nods her head and throws me to Batman. He ties me up as well and throws Jason and me into the trunk of the Batwing.

The Invisible Man:

Watching as Bruce throws both Jason and Slade into the Batwing's trunk, he and Dinah then climb in. As the two climbs into the Batwing, the window closes. As soon as the window closes, I jump on, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Off to New Metropolis," I think, holding onto the Batwing.

28: Chapter 28: Interrogation

Supergirl:

"My memory is a bit off," I repeat to myself. "My memory is a bit off."

I repeat Deathstroke's words over and over.

"My memory is a bit off. Is that...true?"

I think back to Black Mask's arrest. According to everyone, I was there when he was arrested, but no matter how hard I tried, I can't seem to remember it. In fact, now that I think about it, I can't remember...anything.

"What happened to me," I ask. "How did I get here?"

As I asked this, a headache comes charging it. I scream a little as I start to see something. I see white flashes of a woman with short blond hair.

"She...looks like me," I think. "Who are you?"

Before I can get an answer, I hear a voice and look up.

"Move it," the One Earth commander says. He, along with a few soldiers, grabs Deathstroke and Red Hood and pushes them to their feet. With their hands bound and their weapons gone, Deathstroke and Red Hood couldn't do anything as the soldiers hit them in the back with the barrels of their guns, forcing them to walk.

Looking at the soldiers as they walk behind the two, I see a familiar set of numbers.

"8-0-88? Hey. Hey! Hold up!"

Running and flying into the air, I push all the other soldiers away and approach the soldier.

"Hey," I say, putting up my hand and stopping him.

"M'am," the soldier says, lowering his gun and saluting me. "What seems to be the problem?"

"What's your name?"

"My name?"

"Yes! What is your name?"

Despite all the soldiers muttering and looking around, I still ask the question.

"What is your name," I repeat. I take a firm step toward the soldier. "I am ordering you to tell me your name."

I use my X-ray vision to see through the soldier's helmet but for some strange reasons, I can't. Even with my X-ray vision, I can only see his mask.

"My name is--"

Before the soldier can give me his name, something hits and knocks me to the ground. Screaming as I fall, I quickly push myself up and look around.

"What the heck," I say, snapping my head left and right. As I look around, Bruce, Dinah, and a bunch of soldiers gather around me.

"Kara," Bruce shouts, he and Dinah running and helping me up. As soon as I'm back on my feet, I look around for the soldier. I check all the series numbers on all the soldiers around me but none of them have the 8-0-88 series numbers.

"Where did he go," I ask, turning to Bruce and Dinah.

"Who," Bruce asks.

"The soldier," I answer. "The soldier I was talking to. Where did he go?"

"What soldier," Dinah asks. "Kara, you weren't talking with anyone. You were just standing right here, besides the two of us. Then, you fell."

"I...fell? No, no, no. Something hit me. I felt it."

"Something hit you? Bruce and I didn't see anything and we're standing right next to you."

I place my hands on my head as I try to make sense of everything happening.

"What's going on? What happening to me? Am I going crazy? No, that can't be it. But, according to Dinah and Bruce, nothing hit me. And there was no soldier. But I saw him! He was standing in front of me. He told me his name is--"

Something snaps inside me and once again, I see another flash. Once again, I see cracks all over. They're on the ground. They're hovering in mid-air. I look down and see a bunch of tiny cracks on my own hands.

"What's going on with me?"

It's not even a full second after I asked that question that I see another flash and all the cracks are gone. I flip my hands back over but don't see any more glowing cracks on them. When I stop looking at my hands and instead look at my friends, I see them staring back at me with raised eyebrows.

"Excuse me," I say, getting up. "I, uh, have to go talk with someone."

I quickly leave Bruce and Dinah and head for New Metropolis's command center.

Raven:

Slade screams and shakes as I use my power to electrocute him. With the two of us alone in an interrogation room, and Slade's hands cuffed to the table, he can't do anything except answer my question.

"Tell me," I say, watching with a smile as Slade starts to sizzle. "Why did you and Jason Todd attack our supplies conveys? What are you planning?"

I stop for only a second to let Slade catch his breath. Falling to the table, panting like the dog he is, Slade growls as he looks at me.

"Let me ask you a question," Slade slowly moans. "Does this seem a little too familiar to you?"

I roll my eyes as I hold out my hand and electrocute Slade again.

"Enough with the game, Slade," I say. Slade's screams fill the room as I keep shooting him with dark magic. "Tell me what I want to know, and maybe, just maybe, I'll stop doing this."

I stop again and watch as Slade is now gasping for air.

"Fine," Slade shouts before coughing. "Fine. I'll tell you what you want. Just stop. No more."

"Finally," I say. I lower my hand and look right at Slade. "Why did you attack the--"

Before I can finish, the door to the interrogation room swings open.

"M'am," a soldier says, walking in.

I scream as the stupid soldier walks in. Swinging my hand at him, I grab him with my magic and throw him into a wall. Landing with a thud, I push him into it.

"What," I yell. "What it is? Didn't I give explicit order not to be disturbed!"

"M'am," the soldier groans as I push him harder against the wall, his helmet cracking. "Supergirl wants to see you."

Sighing and shaking my head, I let go of the soldier, the soldier falling flat onto the floor.

"Watch him," I say, stepping over the soldier as I head off to see Supergirl.

Slade Wilson:

I watch as the damn One Earth soldier pushes himself up and onto his feet. Once he's back on his feet, he adjusts his broken helmet and stares at me.

"What," I say. I try to get up to confront him but with my hands still cuffed to the table, all I can do is sit down. "What the hell do you want?"

The One Earth soldier slowly leans in toward me. I move back as far as I can but it's no use. I can't do anything as the soldier flicks me on the side of the head.

"Ouch!"

"Don't swear," the soldier says, pointing a finger at me. It takes me less than a minute to realize who the soldier is.

"Seriously," I say, raising my shoulder to scratch where the man flicked me. "What are you? A preschool teacher?"

"I was a teacher once, yes," The Man answers, "But never a preschool teacher."

Somehow managing to scratch the spot, I raise my head back up.

"I heard your scream," The Man says. "I remember you being tougher. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I yell. "And all of that earlier, that was just fake. Okay?"

"Sure. Whatever you want to believe."

The Man then reaches into one of the pockets on his body vest. He pulls out a small glass jar, filled with some purple liquid and drops it into my hand.

"In case you're wondering, Jason is fine too. I have someone else watching over him. Listen, when you hear the signal, you and Jason will use these to break out of your cuff. Got it?"

"Shouldn't you be a little more subtle?"

I nudge my head toward the surveillance camera in the room.

"Oh please," I say, blowing a raspberry. "Those haven't been able to capture a picture of me in years."

The Man turns his head when we hear approaching footsteps.

"Pretend to be dead," The Man says, going back to staying guard over me.

"Wait, what's the signal?"

"It's screaming people, explosions, and alarms. Hard to miss."

As the door opens and a group of soldiers walk in, I close my hand and hide the glass jar.

Cyborg:

I watch from the control room as a group of soldiers enter the interrogation room to watch over Deathstroke. I switch the dial and change the feed to Red Hood's interrogation room. Similar to Deathstroke, Red Hood's interrogation room is filled with One Earth soldiers, all of whom are aiming their weapons at him.

As I watch the two, making sure they aren't trying anything, I can't help but hear voices coming from behind me.

"You're hallucinating," Raven shouts. "Stop being crazy!"

"I'm not being crazy," Supergirl yells back. "I'm telling you! There's something wrong here. I can't explain it, but it feels like something is off."

"And you want me to use my magic to try and figure it out?"

"Yes. Raven. You're one of the most powerful magic users I know. Can't you sense it too?"

I hear Raven let out a major sigh before the sound of stomping footsteps.

"You're crazy," Raven says. "That's it! You're just being crazy and stupid and seeing things! Just because you're Superman's cousin doesn't mean I have to listen to you! Now, if you excuse me, I actually have work to do! Unlike you!"

Getting up from my seat, I walk out of the control room and into the hallway. There, I see Supergirl staring after Raven as she leaves. Supergirl sighs and turns around. She walks only a few steps before stopping.

"Oh hey, Victor," Supergirl says, waving at me. "I'm sorry. Did you hear all of that?"

"Yeah," I answer. "What was all of that? Is something wrong?"

Supergirl sighs again as she looks at me.

"I guess there's no harm in telling you. Victor, I think I started to go crazy. For some reason, I keep seeing things that aren't there. And I haven't trouble remembering anything. Including the Black Mask's arrest."

I pull back my head when I hear all of this.

"What do you mean by seeing things? What exactly are you seeing?"

"It sounds dumb, I know, but for some reason, I keep seeing this one soldier. At least, I think it's one soldier. His ID number is 8-0-88."

"8-0-88," I repeat. "Wait, Supergirl, that can't be right."

"What do you mean by that? What can't be right?"

"Supergirl. No One Earth soldier had that ID number."

"What?"

"No One Earth soldier had that ID number," I repeat. "All One Earth soldier's ID numbers start with either a 1, a 3, or a 5, followed by a dash, then two additional numbers, another dash, and four more numbers, the last number being an odd number. That One Earth soldier you've been seeing, he can't be real. His ID number is too short."

I can hear the gears in Supergirl grinding against each other as my words sink in.

"But," Supergirl says before stopping and placing her hand on her head. "But, his sunglasses--"

"Sunglasses," I say. "Supergirl, did you just say sunglasses?"

I grab Supergirl, apparently scaring her a bit.

"Yes," she says, pushing me back. "I did say sunglasses. The soldier I've been seeing, at least, I think I've been seeing, with the fake ID number, he had a pair of sunglasses on him. What's so important about sunglasses?"

I look away as I try to think what to do next.

"Sunglasses," I tell myself. "Do I do it? Should I tell her? No, I can't. But..."

As I think about it, I see a flash, and all of a sudden, I see glowing cracks everywhere.

"What the hell? What are those?"

Seeing the cracks, I shoot out my arm and activate my arm cannon.

29: Chapter 29: The Man

Cyborg:

In a flash, all the cracks disappear.

"What the hell," I say. My head snaps left and right as I look all around. "What the hell?"

I swing my arm cannon all over but I don't see any more glowing cracks anywhere.

"Victor," Supergirl says. "Victor!"

I gasp as I look at Supergirl. She's looking at me with raised eyebrows.

"Victor. What are you doing?"

"I--I--"

I stop and transform my arm cannon back into a regular, metal arm. Placing my hand on my head, I look around again and see nothing out of the normal.

"What were those?"

"Those," Supergirl repeats. "Wait. Victor, did you see those? Those weird cracks everywhere?"

"Yes," I shout. I feel like the air is being sucked right out of me. I have to struggle to catch my breath.

"I---I---Supergirl. Listen. There's something you have to know."

I bite my tongue and close my shaking hand as I look at Supergirl. Looking past her at some surveillance cameras on the ceiling, I nudge my head.

"Follow me inside," I say. Supergirl follows me into the surveillance room. Once inside, I lock the door and begin typing away at the computer.

"What are you doing," Supergirl asks.

"Just hold on," I say, putting up a finger. "I'll explain everything in a minute. Just give me some time."

Deleting the footage of me from a few minutes ago, I replaced it with edited footage of Supergirl and me just walking into the surveillance room. Nothing more. I then fake a reboot, temporarily shutting down most of the nearby cameras.

"Supergirl," I say, turning around. "I know what I'm going say is going to sound unbelievable, but know that every word I say is true."

"Okay," Supergirl says. "What do you have to tell me?"

Leonard Snart:

"What the hell is wrong with you," I ask. I shake my head as I stare at my sister eating a bunch of doughnuts. First eating a jelly doughnut, Lisa moves on to a doughnut with whipped cream in the middle. "Seriously. Why are you so hungry? I've never seen you eat this much before."

"I don't know," Lisa says, whipping some whipped cream from her mouth. "It just feels like I haven't eaten in a while."

"Well that can't be right," I say, watching as Lisa grabs another doughnut. "The last time you ate was..."

As I try to think back to the last time Lisa ate something, all I can think about is a blank.

"Was," I repeat, trying to finish my sentence. "Was...When was it?"

"When was what," Lisa asks.

"The last time you ate something."

"You can't remember the last thing I ate something," Lisa asks, putting down her doughnut. "What the hell is wrong with you? It was..."

I'm no mind reader like Raven but even I can't tell that my sister is having trouble remembering the last time she had anything to eat.

"It was...," Lisa says, putting down the doughnut. "It was...Ahh...Ahhh!"

Without any warning, my sister slides out of the chair and onto the lunchroom floor.

"Lisa," I shout. Getting up from my seat, I drop to my knees and hold my sister. "Lisa! Lisa!"

"Leonard," my sister whispers. Her whisper is so low I can barely hear her.

As I hold my sister in my arms, I see a flash and now, I see glowing cracks all over my sister.

"What the hell!"

The cracks seem to be growing. They started off small but are quickly growing, reaching her face in seconds. I try to get rid of the cracks but when I try to hit them, my hand goes right through them.

"What the hell are these," Lisa says, staring at her hand. Before I can even give a guess, my sister pulls back her head and screams. As my sister screams, she shakes and holds her stomach.

"I...I was.....I was killed," Lisa moans.

"Wait, what? Killed? What are you talking about?"

As soon as I ask this, I see another flash of light. Now, instead of being in New Metropolis's lunchroom, I see myself standing in an empty room. I'm looking down through a window and for some reason, I gasping for air. As I keep looking, I see a large group of people cheering.

"Why are they cheering? What's going on?"

I look at where they're all facing and see Wonder Woman standing on a stage. She's holding a sword in her hand, and she's walking toward a tied-up Lisa.

"Lisa," I shout, banging against the window. "Lisa! Wait, what is this? What is going on? Why is Lisa tied up? Why is Wonder Woman walking toward her?"

With no other choice, I throw myself against the window, hoping to break it and stop this, but as my shoulder hits the window, I feel a sharp pain overtake my whole body. Screaming as I fall to the floor, I look down and see myself covered in cuts and bruises.

"How did I get these?"

Biting my tongue as I painfully pull myself up, I look out the window and see it. I see Wonder Woman pull back her sword before sending it forward. A second later, Lisa falls to the ground.

"Nooooo!"

Another flash of light blinds me and I'm back in the lunchroom. I look left and right as I try to understand what the hell I just saw. However, I forget about all of it when I see my sister lying unconscious in my arms.

"Lisa. Lisa! Help! Help! Someone!"

I hear a loud bang and then the sound of the double doors swinging open. Turning around, I see a One Earth soldier running in.

"Cold," he shouts. His footsteps echo throughout the empty lunchroom as he runs toward me. Dropping to his knees, this soldier pulls out a flashlight from one of his pockets and examines Lisa.

"What happened to her?"

"I don't know. Everything was peaceful. We were just sitting here, talking with each other. Lisa was eating a doughnut, and then, she fell."

"That's odd," the soldier says. "I never thought the doughnuts here were that bad."

"What?"

As the soldier keeps examining Lisa, I notice something off about him. For some reason, his helmet is cracked.

Kara:

"The man in the sunglasses," I repeat.

"Yeah," Victor says, nodding his head. "That's the name we gave him. Considering we didn't really know what else to call him."'

I lower my head as I try to process everything Victor told me. According to him, I was never a part of Kal-El's One Earth government. In fact, I was against it. I teamed up with this "man in the sunglasses" and we've been fighting my cousin and his regimes for months now.

"But wait," I say, shaking my hands. "Assuming that everything you said is true, why don't I remember anything? Why do you know?"

"I don't know," Victor says. He rubs his hands against the sides of his head. "I don't know why I remember all of this but I do. You. Dinah. Even Captain Cold. None of you were ever a part of the regimes. You all were a part of the Insurgency! Even Bruce was until..."

"Until what," I ask.

"Until Superman beat him and placed him under his mind control."

"Mind control," I repeat. I see another flash of light, but this time, it's not just vague pictures. I see myself in my old blue and red suit. I'm in a glass cell with red lights over me. As I stand in the glass cell, I see Kal-El approaching me, and right behind him, is Bruce covered in glowing wires.

Another flash of light hits me and I fall to the floor.

"Kara," Victor yells, running to help me up. Despite being back on my feet, I can't help but still hold onto Victor. My legs feel weak as I see more and more cracks appear in front of me.

"Do you see them," I ask.

"See what," Victor asks.

"The cracks," I answer. "Do you see them?"

"The cracks," Victor repeats before his eyes go wide. "Yeah. I see them, and no, I have no idea what they are."

"Maybe you don't," I say, fighting through my ever-growing headache and my shaking legs. "But I have an idea who might."

Taking a deep breath, I stumble toward the door and into the hallway.

"Who," Victor asks, following me. "Raven?"

"No. Not Raven, but him."

"Who?"

The Man:

With the cracks growing uncontrollably all over Lisa's body, I click a button on my flashlight and turn it off.

"Your sister is dying," I say, pocketing my flashlight. I then turn to Cold. "She needs to get to the infirmary as soon as possible."

The second he hears this, Cold doesn't waste a second. He picks up his sister and runs toward the double door. Running ahead of them, I yell and scream.

"Out of the way," I shout. "Move! Everyone get out of the way! This is an emergency!"

Grabbing and pushing a soldier out of the way, the three of us make it to New Metropolis's infirmary. The doctors there don't have enough time to turn around before Cold grabs and shakes them.

"Help her," he says. "Help her!"

"Easy there," I say, prying Cold off the shaking doctors. Getting in between them, I look at the doctors.

"Get out," I order, pointing at the doors.

"Excuse me," one of the doctors says.

I shake my head and reach into my back pocket. Pulling out my old Colt 1861 revolver, I fire a shot into the air, knocking a part of the ceiling down.

"Get out," I repeat. This time, the doctors run out of the infirmary. With the doctors outside, I lock the double door. As I turn around, I see Cold staring at me.

"What the hell was that," he asks. "Why did you tell the doctors to leave?"

"I told them to leave because this isn't a medical emergency," I answer, pocketing my old six-shooter. "It's a lot worse."

"A lot worse? I don't get it."

"Cold. As much as I don't want to say this, I have to. Your sister isn't supposed to be alive. She died months ago."

"What," Cold shouts. Grinding his teeth, Cold pulls out his cold gun and aims it at me. "What-What are you talking about? My sister died months ago? Bullshit! She's right here, and she's dying right now!"

Looking down at his sister, I reach into another one of my pockets and pull out a kunai. Throwing it at Cold, it hits his cold gun and knocks it out of his hand. Now disarmed, I walk up to Cold and push him back. As I push Cold back, he drops Lisa but I catch her and gently place her on the examination table.

By now, the cracks have completely taken over Lisa's body.

"She's had minutes to live," I think. "I can't save her but maybe I can still do something."

I reach into my pockets again and pull out small glass jars filled with various ingredients. Placing them side-by-side, I stop when I hear footsteps.

"I--I know you," Cold says, holding my kungai in his hands. He looks at my kungai and then at me. "I know you. I can't remember you but I do know you."

I smile as Cold hands me my kunai. As I take it back, I slap Cold on the side of his head. Twice.

"Ouch," Cold cries.

"Do you remember my rule on swearing," I ask.

Despite the steam coming out of Cold's ears and the smoke coming out of his nose, Cold just rubs the side of his head. Instead, he looks at Lisa.

"Can you...do anything?"

"Possibly," I answer, putting out a small wooden bowl. About to open one of the glass jars and pour in the herb, the door then bangs and we hear shouting on the other side.

"What's going on," a familiar voice shouts. "Why are these doors locked? Who in these? What's going on?"

It takes me only a few seconds to realize whose voice is on the other side.

"Hal Jordan," I say. Through the cracks around the doors, I also see a bright yellow light. "Oh no."

Looking around, I see Cold's cold gun. Cold follows my sight and eye his weapon.

"Don't stop what you're doing," he yells, grabbing his cold gun. Once Cold has it, he turns around and freezes the double doors, barricading them with ice.

"I'll handle Yellow Lantern."

30: Chapter 30: Breaking Reality

Yellow Lantern (Hal Jordan):

While Nightwing is talking with the doctors, I'm focusing on the doors. With my yellow ring in front of me, I fire a beam that should have knocked the doors right down. However, something must be holding them together.

Pouring on more power, the beam glowing brighter and bigger, I can see the doors shake as they're pulling apart. I stop with the beam and pull back my hand. Holding my hand over my head, I focus and summon a giant third hand. Throwing my hand forward, my third hand flies forward as well. It slams through the double doors, breaking them down.

"Careful," Nightwing says, walking to my side with his stun batons in his hands. "According to the doctors, Captain Cold and a One Earth soldier barged into the infirmary with Golden Glider in Cold's arms. They forced them out before shutting the doors."

"I'll be careful," I say, holding out my yellow ring as I slowly hover toward the infirmary. Despite the doors being down, there's still a smoke cloud. It's covering the entrance and making it impossible to see inside.

"Hold on," Nightwing says, shooting out his hand and stopping me. Nightwing turns his head toward the squadron of One Earth soldiers, all armed with machine guns.

"Go," he orders.

"Yes, sir," the soldier in front says. He, along with his squadron, all carefully walk toward the infirmary. However, even before the first soldier can take a step into the smoke, a white and blue beam shoots it. It hits the soldier in front, knocking him down while covering him in ice.

"Cold," I yell, shooting out my yellow ring and making a fan. The fan taking all the smoke and blowing it out, I can see as clear as day Captain Cold standing in the infirmary's entranceway.

"Cold," Nightwing says, spinning his stun batons. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Sorry about this," Cold replies, bringing up his cold gun, "But I'm afraid the doctor is busy with a patient right now, and he cannot be interrupted."

Squeezing the trigger of his cold gun, Cold fires a cold beam at me. Seeing this, I shoot out my hand and summon a shield to block the beam. Ice quickly covers my yellow shield as Cold tries to push me back but he forgets there are two of us. Too busy with me, Cold can't do anything as Nightwing charges him.

 Cold screams as Nightwing hits him with his stun batons. Forcing Cold to lower his gun, Nightwing then wraps his arm around Captain Cold, putting him into a headlock.

"What's the meaning of this," Nightwing asks. "Tell me now before I squeeze the air out of you!"

It seems Cold can't, or doesn't, want to answer. He's struggling to pull Nightwing's arm away but Nightwing's grip is too strong.

"That's enough," I say, aiming my ring at the two. "You're going to strangle Cold!"

"If Cold is going against the One Earth Government," Nightwing says, "Then this isn't even the worst thing that's going to happen to him!"

Nightwing pulls at Cold's head, choking him. Looking at Cold as he starts to turn blue, I aim my ring at Nightwing.

The Invisible Man:

Seeing Hal about to shoot his yellow ring, I charge from the side and jump into the air. Performing a flying kick, I knock Hal off his feet and onto the ground.

"What the hell," he shouts as he looks up at me. Moving fast, I look at Nightwing as he strangles Cold. Pulling back my arm, I hit Nightwing on the back of his head. Nightwing screams and lets go of Cold. With Cold free now, I grab Nightwing and throw him into the wall.

Falling to the floor, gasping for air, I help Cold back onto his feet. Cold, who is holding his neck, turns to me.

"Who the hell are you," Cold asks in between his coughs. I know there's no point in telling Cold anything since he can't hear me so I just pointed inside. Cold looks at where I'm pointing before looking back at me. "You're...You're friends with that guy? That's what you're trying to tell me."

I nod my head. I then point at myself, then at Nightwing, and then at Cold and Yellow Lantern.

"Yeah," Cold says, still coughing. "I got it!"

Bringing up his cold gun, Captain Cold charges toward Yellow Lantern. Meanwhile, I spread out my legs and arms as Nighting pushes himself up.

"Who are you," Nightwing asks as he spreads out his own legs and arms.

"You and I have a score to settle," I say. I know Damian can't hear me but it's still something I have to say. With the red gemstone firmly in my hand, I rush toward Damian.

The Man:

Still working on the potion for Lisa, I look out the infirmary to see the two busy holding off Nightwing and Yellow Lantern. However, because they're busy fighting, they don't see the One Earth soldiers recovering. They manage to break the ice and free the soldier Cold froze.

I gently put down the wooden bowl and glass jar and walk over to them.

"Hurry," one of the soldiers shouts. He, along with the others, gets into shooting positions. With half the team on their knees and the other half standing behind them, they all raise their standard issue M4A1 and aim at Cold.

As they put their fingers on the triggers, I come up from behind the soldiers standing and punch two of them out. As they fall to the floor, the other soldiers see me and turn toward me. Given the distance, the soldiers drop their guns and engage me in hand-to-hand combat. They try punching and kicking me but I block and counter them, knocking them out in seconds before returning to the infirmary.

"Darn it," I say as I enter the infirmary. "Lisa's condition is worsening. She's breaking apart."

The glowing cracks have taken over Lisa's body. She's shaking uncontrollably and her eyes have turned white. Also, as I hold Lisa's hand, her skin cracks and the pieces fall off. They fall onto the table before vanishing to dust.

"I have to move fast," I tell myself. "No more distraction!"

As I pour the lilyroot water into the bowl, I close the jar and open another. Sprinkling dried butterweed into the mix, the potion turns a neon-blue color before shooting some sprinkling dust into the air. Putting down the jar with the butterweed, I open the final jar with dried pink racantion.

I sprinkle in the pink racantion and the potion turns from blue to pink. Now that the potion is done, I rush to grab Lisa's head and carefully help her drink the potion but as I place my hand behind her head, pieces of Lisa's face fall off.

"Quickly," I say, "Drink this. It will help."

Lisa can't even talk anymore. All she can do is nod her head weakly as I help her drink the potion. Once Lisa is done with the potion, I set both the wooden bowl and Lisa down. The cracks on Lisa have gone down a little. She stops shaking and the color returns to her eyes.

I place my hands on the table and sigh.

"This is only a temporary solution," I say to an unconscious Lisa. "I hope you know that, and I hope Leonard understands. You died Lisa. Months ago, and that's why this is happening."

As I look at Lisa, I see another flash of white light, and once more, I see glowing cracks all over. They're brighter than before and have practically covered everything. Eyeing the nearest wall, I walk over to it and place my hand on it. Exactly like Lisa, pieces of the wall break off and vanish into dust.

"It's happening faster and faster," I say, watching as most of the wall breaks into pieces. "Reality is breaking apart. I have to move fast."

I pull out my cell phone and dial a number.

"Come on," I say, jumping up and down as I listen to the dial tone. "Come on. Pick up. Pick up, you idiot. Finally!"

I stop jumping when I hear John Constantine's voice.

"Hey! Is everything ready? Things out here aren't looking the best."

"Yes," Constantine answers. "Everything is ready! Ares and I have everything ready! You're set to go!"

"Thanks," I say, hanging up the call.

Pocketing my cell phone, along with all the glass jars and the wooden bowl, I pull out a teleporter. Dropping to my knees, about to place it on the ground, I stop and jump back when lasers shoot out from the side. They cut into the floor and leave behind scorch marks as they run up the wall.

Turning to the side, I see a red-eyed Superman and a glowing Raven flying into the infirmary.

"It's you," Superman says, "Isn't it? I know it's you."

31: Chapter 31: Picture Memory

A/N Thank you for reading. I hope it brought a bit of delight to your day.

Superman:

I can't be sure but somehow, somehow, I know it's the man in the sunglasses. I can't remember exactly why but I know I have to stop him.

"It's you," I say. "Isn't it? I know it's you. I guess we can't call you the man in the sunglasses anymore."

The man, whoever he is, stands up. He shows Raven and me what's in his hand. It's some sort of circle-shaped device.

"Trust me when I say this," the man says, putting up both of his hands. "We don't have time for a fight. Every minute I don't leave, reality gets that much closer to breaking."

"Breaking," I repeat. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me ask you this," the man says, stepping back. "Do you remember why you started the One Earth Government?"

"Do I remember why I started the One Earth Government," I repeat. "Of course. I remember why. It's because...It's because..."

My mind goes blank as I try to remember why I even started the One Earth Government. It was because something happened. Something happened that made me do it. Something happened because of something I did.

"What did I do?"

As I try to remember, I see flashes of a woman. A beautiful woman with long black hair. She's wearing a purple coat and skirt, and when she smiles, I feel the butterflies in my stomach.

"Lo--Lo--Lois," I say. As I try to remember who Lois is, I drop to my knees screaming. A headache comes on, slamming my head, and I can't concentrate.

"Lois," I repeat, trying to fight through the headache. "I--I know you. You're--You're--"

The Lords of Order:

"Kal-El is remembering," I yell, looking through the portal as Kal-El's memory is quickly re-forming. "We must do something at once!"

"We are trying," the other Lords shout. "But the time orb is losing stability! We cannot hold it and keep Kal-El's memory from coming back!"

"You saw how much the orb shook when we left it for only a few seconds to blast Kara Zor-El! We cannot risk doing that again!"

"Then keep doing what you all are doing," I yell. "I have an idea!"

Putting my fingers to my head, I start to chant a powerful spell.

The Man:

Even without my power, I can see Superman's memories slowly reforming themselves.

"He's remembering," I say. "Come on, Flyboy! Remember! Remember! You were never a genius but you were always one stubborn bastard! Come on! Remember! Remem--"

Now sensing something, I turn to the side and immediately jump back. A golden, glowing Raven throws a displacer orb. Barely dodging it, the displacer orb appears stronger than any of the previous ones. It burns a clear hole in the wall, parts of the wall orange, black, and simmering.

Turning back to Raven as she hovers in the air, she slowly spreads out her arms and the golden glow intensifies.

"Order magic," I say, bringing up my fists. As I do, however, I see the teleporter still in my hands.

"I have to go," I think. I look past the golden Raven and see the glowing cracks. More and more energy is leaking out from them, and it's causing the walls and floors to turn into dust. A few of the soldiers that I fought previously have woken up, only to scream as they fall onto the level beneath us.

"Raven," I say. "Listen to me. Reality is shattering. It's breaking apart. The Lords of Order are responsible! They think they can handle it but they can't! I have to stop them!"

"No," Raven shouts. She sounds different and her voice is echoing. "You will not stop us!"

"Us," I repeat. I then roll my eyes. "Oh. 'Us'."

I shake my head and reach into one of the pockets of my vest armor. Pulling out a smoke pellet, I throw it onto the ground, blanketing the whole room in a thick cloud of green smoke.

"This does nothing against us," the Lords say. "We can still see you. Even in this smoke."

Waving Raven's hand, the Lords push the smoke away. As they do, they reveal me, standing against the wall. When they see me, I raise my head and show them the gas mask I have on. I smile as I see Raven's mouth drop just a little.

"This isn't a smoke screen," I say through the gas mask. "This is knock-out gas. My own formula. Very powerful."

It doesn't take long for Raven to start coughing. She drops to her knees while holding her throat. A few seconds later, she falls to the floor.

"No more distraction," I shout, dropping to a knee. Slamming down the teleporter, I input the code and step back. A portal shoots into the air, hovering just above the teleporter. One by one, members of the Insurgency jump through.

"Sheesh," Firestorm say as they jump through. "What took you so long?"

I slap Firestorm on his burning forehead.

"Ouch," they cry.

"Look around and figure it out yourself," I answer. "I have to go! Can you two handle this?"

I look at John Constantine and Ares as they are the last two to drop in.

"Of course," Constantine says with a nod and a smile. He waves his hand and chants a spell. A few seconds later, a fireball appears in his hand. "Go and do that thing we talk about."

I nod my head and push the deactivation button on the teleporter, shutting down the portal to the hidden base. Once it closed, I reset the portal, setting it to a new destination.

"Remember the plan," I say, looking at Constantine, Ares, and everyone else as they prepare for the incoming fight. "Protect Constantine and Ares the best you can. At least until I can deal with the Lords of Order."

"You are a fool," Ares says. "No one can single-handedly 'deal' with the Lords of Order."

"Yeah," I say. "Screw you too. Anyway, see you soon."

About to jump through the second portal, I hear an ear-splitting scream before we're all knocked off our feet.

"Ahh," I yell as I push Beetle off me.

"Ahh," Beetle says, holding his head. "Mis oidos. What was that?"

"Not what," I correct, "But who."

There, standing in the doorway to the now crowded infirmary is Black Canary.

"Attention all personnel," Dinah says, speaking into the radio on her shoulder. "Attention all personnel! Intruders in the infirmary! I repeat! Intruders in the infirmary! All available personnel and regimes get here immediately!"

"Bloody hell," Constantine says after getting up. Coming up from behind Constantine, I slap him on the side of the head.

"Ouch. What was that for?"

"Don't swear," I say, closing the portal as I hear dozens and dozens of footsteps.

Kara:

"All available personnel and regimes get here immediately," Dinah screams over the radio.

"Oh no," I say. I turn to Victor and imagine his worried look is the same as mine. "Do you think it's about the man in the sunglasses?"

"Without a doubt," Victor says. He nudges his head. "Come on! Dinah said he was in the infirmary. That's on the floor below us. There's a staircase nearby!"

As Victor starts to walk toward the staircase, I jump into the air and punch an opening in the floor.

"This way is faster," I say, looking at Victor as he stops walking. Jumping and flying through, I turn back to see Victor kneeling at the ledge.

"Sure," he says while examining the opening. "This way is faster. As long as I ain't the one that had to fix it."

Victor falls on through and together, we run toward the infirmary. However, it doesn't take long before we see a mess of One Earth soldiers, betas, and even a few regimes all fighting in the narrow hallway.

"What's going on," Victor yells. He steps back and activates his arm cannon. Aiming it at the crowd, he swings his arm cannon left and right. "Wait! Who do I shoot! Who are we trying to help?"

I turn back toward the mess of soldiers and betas as they all bump against one another. However, despite all bumping into one another, they're all facing one general direction. Looking over the mess, I see some people not in uniform.

I see a man with his head on fire. I see another man with some sort of black and blue armor with wings on his back. I even see a woman with long red hair and some sort of brown armor, the armor looking to be made out of wood.

"I--," I say, trying to force the words out. "I--I know you. I--know all of you."

I see flashes once more. This time, the flashes show me and the people, fighting side-by-side. The man with his head on fire. The man with the black and blue armor. Even the woman with wooden armor. I see myself fighting with them, not against them.

"Help them," I say, tapping Victor on his shoulders and pointing over the soldiers and betas and at the somewhat familiar people. "Shoot at the soldiers and betas."

Victor looks me in the eyes and nods his head.

"Oh boy," Victor says, his arm cannon warming up. "Kara. I really, really hope you're right about this. Otherwise, Superman will have my head."

With his arm cannon powered up, Victor fires at the soldiers and betas. His sonic blast knocks all the soldiers and betas to the floor. As they all fall down, the soldiers in front turn around and look at us.

"M'am," a soldier says before another soldier hits him on the back of his head and knocks him out. That same soldier then ducks underneath another soldier's swing before grabbing and throwing the One Earth soldier into a wall, also knocking him out.

"8-0-88," I read. "Victor! I found him! Cover me!"

  Using my super breath, I blow a bunch of soldiers away, clearing a path. As soon as I can, I fly through the mess and toward the fake soldier. Reaching him as he disarms a soldier with a stun stick and then uses the same stun stick to knock out the soldier, I drop down in front of him.

"It's you," I say, staring at the fake soldier. "Isn't it? The man in the sunglasses."

The man, whoever he is, stops when he sees me.

"You...remember me," the man slowly says.

"Not entirely," I answer, putting my fingers to my head. "Just parts and pieces but I do remember enough to know this. I'm not with my cousin. I'm not with Kal-El. I'm with you, and them."

I then point to the other fighters.

"Can you tell me what's going on? I keep seeing flashes and glowing cracks and people that I feel I'm supposed to know but don't. What happened to me?"

"It's not happened to you," the fake soldier says. "It's what happened to the timeline. The Lords of Order tried to re-write it."

"The Lords of Order tried to do what? Wait! Who are the Lords of Order?"

"At the current moment, they're rat bastards. Kara, listen to me. I know this is asking for a lot, especially considering you still don't fully know who I am, but I have to go! I have to stop the Lords of Order before all of reality is destroyed! Can you help us!"

As I look at the fake soldier in his goggles, I begin to sense something. I feel something inside of me. It feels warm and comforting. As I hold my hand over my chest, I see another flash. In this flash, I see a man with sunglasses.

The man with the sunglasses and I are sitting together. We're smiling as we talk. A few seconds later, the man gives me something. It's a picture.

"A picture," I think. "Wait."

Twisting and turning all over, I search my pockets.

"A picture," I repeat. "The picture. The picture! Please! Still have it! Still have it!"

Checking a pocket hidden in my cape, I find the picture. Pulling it out, I look at it. The picture shows a woman and the same man with sunglasses standing side-by-side. As I look at the picture, I begin to remember who the woman is.

"Mom," I say, looking at the woman again. "It's my mother."

I turn toward the fake soldier. No. The man with the sunglasses. No. Just The Man.

As I look at The Man, I hear something and turn to see Bruce flying inside the Batwing.

32: Chapter 32: Saving Reality

Kara:

"Watch out," I shout. I push The Man behind me and raise my arms.

"Everyone get down," The Man yells. Everyone gets down as soon as they hear The Man. They jump onto the floor just as Bruce fires. He shatters and breaks all the windows, glass falling and flying everywhere. The walls explode with holes as I cross my arms to shield myself from the machine gun fire.

"Kara," The Man says from the ground. "Super breath! Blow that flying bastard away!"

I nod and inhale, taking a very deep breath. Shooting my arms back, I exhale, shooting a powerful gust of wind toward Bruce. However, it seems Batman is more than prepared. Even from inside the building, I can see Bruce pushing a series of buttons on the Batwing's control. As he does, thrusters on the back turn on and stabilize the Batwing. Still exhaling, I see Bruce push another button. The side of the Batwing opens and a white and red rocket comes out.

"Oh no," I say, stopping to catch my breath. Watching as Bruce fires the rocket, The Man pushes himself off the floor and runs toward the rocket. He jumps into the air and kicks the rocket out of the way. The rocket flies away from us and into the air before exploding.

"Kara," The Man shouts again. "Super breath! On the count of three!"

I nod again and inhale. As I inhale, The Man pulls back his hand.

"1! 2! 3!"

Exhaling again, I shoot out a powerful gust of wind toward Bruce but again, he activates the extra thrusters on the Batwing to counter the wind. However, The Man seems to helping me. Shooting out both his hands, The Man shoots out his own gust of wind. With our combined power, Bruce's Batwing can't handle it and spins through the air before crashing down just outside the wall of New Metropolis.

"We did it," I say, running to The Man's side as he looks out the window. "We defeat Bruce."

"Yeah," The Man says, staring out the window. "We did it alright. We defeated Bruce but we still have the rest of them to deal with."

The Man points out the window toward the army of One Earth soldiers. Grabbing whatever weapons they have, they all start to run inside the building.

"Everyone," The Man shouts, turning around. He runs to help the others to their feet. "Get ready! It's going to be a 10 to 1,000,000,000 fight. This hallway is going to get uncomfortably crowded."

Jason Todd:

As the four One Earth soldiers escort me from the interrogation room to a prison cell, we all stop when we hear an explosion.

"What was that," one of the soldiers asks.

"Come in, Command," another soldier yells, speaking through the radio on his shoulder. "Command! Can anyone hear me!"

Holding the buttons down, I hear the sound of screaming and gunfire on the other end of the radio. It's only a few seconds later when the alarms start ringing.

"All personnel," someone shouts over the speakers on the wall. "Attention all personnel! New Metropolis is under attack! I repeat! New Metropolis is under attack! All soldiers report to the infirmary in the S building immediately!"

"Screaming people," I think, looking around. "Explosion. Alarms. Yeah, that's all three."

Looking down at my hand, I see the glass jar the invisible man gave me. Making sure none of the guards are paying too close attention to me, I slam the jar against my handcuff. Whatever is in the jar burns right through the metal and in less than a minute, I can pull my hands apart with ease.

Even before the soldiers can realize it, I quickly disarm and knock all of them down, slamming the last soldier's head onto my rising knee and pushing him onto the floor. With the soldiers down, I look around and see something wrapped in plastic. It must have been inside the glass jar because it's covered in whatever burns through the metal.

Careful not to burn myself as I pick it up, I remove the plastic.

"It's a note," I say, unrolling it. Quickly reading the note, it tells me where to go to get my stuff back. Once I have it memorized, I run down the hallway toward my stash. Luckily for me, all my equipment isn't too far. After a few twists, turns, and some One Earth soldiers, I make it to what looks like a supply closet. Surprisingly, I'm not the only one there.

"Slade," I say, seeing Slade reach the supply closet with me.

"Jason," Slade says, giving me a nod. "You got a note too?"

"Yeah. This is where our stuff is supposed to be."

"I hope it's not our stuff."

I stop and look at Slade.

"What? I really like that gun The Man gave me. It comes with turrets."

I laugh as little as I open the supply closet.

The Man:

Punching out a soldier before dropping to the floor and spinning around, I kick another soldier on his knee, knocking him onto the floor. While I do this, Beetle and Cyborg activate their arm cannons and keep a bunch of soldiers back. The soldiers they keep back hide behind some corners before popping out and firing at us.

Grabbing Cyborg and Beetle, Ivy pushes them back and steps forward. Using her suit, Ivy throws out some seeds that sprout into a root wall that protects us.

"We're surrounded," Ivy says, turning back around to face me as I push myself up. "And there are too many soldiers."

"I'm starting to regret helping you guys," Cyborg says. "What's the plan exactly? Why aren't you guys leaving?"

"We can't leave yet," I answer. I look toward Ares and Constantine as they prepare a spell. Ares is drawing a circle on the floor with runes while Constantine is preparing the ingredients for a potion. While they do that, I look at Cyborg and Kara.

"I know you two have seen them. The glowing cracks."

"Yeah," Kara says. "What are them?"

"They're literal cracks in reality," I answer.

"Cracks in reality," Cyborg repeats. "What?"

"In an attempt to either erase us or change us, the Lords of Order altered the timeline."

"They did what," Cyborg yells.

"That explains it," Kara says. She looks down as she rubs the side of her head. "My memory. Why am I having trouble remembering you or any of them. Even my own mother. It's because of these Lords of Order people. But wait. Why do you remember? And them? And Cyborg?"

"The Lords of Order choose not to alter Cyborg's memories," The Man starts. "At least, not too much. As for them, they were hidden safely away in my base, shielded from the altered timeline. That's also why there are cracks in reality. Your, all of your timelines, are linked together. Connected. Without them, there are gaps and empty spaces in the timelines, and because of these gaps and empty spaces, reality is closing in on itself. I don't have much time left to stop it."

"Stop it," Kara says. "What can you do about it? How are you going to stop reality from closing in on itself?"

"By confronting the Lords of Order."

"We're ready," Constantine says, showing me the glass bottle with the potion in it. "According to you, this should stabilize reality and give you a few extra minutes."

"Yes," I say, walking over to Constantine. I take the potion and pour it onto the circle with the runes. As the potion hits the floor, the circle and all the runes glow brightly. I look around and see the cracks shrink slightly.

"Repeat the chant I taught you," I say, handing Constantine the empty bottle. Constantine nods and together with Ares, they place their hands together and begin the sealing chant. While they chant the spell, I turn to everyone else.

"Protect them the best you can," I say. As I look around, I eye Cyborg. "Are you with us?"

"Reality is breaking and apparently, you are the only one that can save us," Cyborg says. "Yeah. I guess."

"Awesome."

I turn my head when I hear gunshots and see the root wall start to chip.

"They're pushing through. Everyone. Into position!"

Everyone, even Cyborg, nods their heads. They get into position, preparing for the soldiers as they force their way in. However, as Kara prepares herself, I grab her hand and pull her in close. With everyone leaving the infirmary and stepping outside, Kara and I are alone.

"I don't know what's going to happen when I face the Lords of Order," I say, looking into Kara's eyes. "But whatever does happen, I want you to remember this version of me. Please, don't ever forget it."

With Kara looking right at me, I lean in close to her. Seeing this, Kara leans in close too. Even before either of us can stop, our lips meet and we kiss.

As I feel the press of Kara's lips against mine, I swear I can feel something in my chest. Kara's lips are so soft. Her skin is incredibly soft as I rub the side of her face. Her warmth makes me feel something besides bitterness and anger. Pulling back, I see Kara gasping for air. Her mouth is hanging open as she looks at me. Before I can see anything, Kara and I turn our heads when we hear an explosion, and then the sound of heavy footsteps and men charging.

"You're needed," I say, "And I'm needed somehow where."

Giving Kara a quick nod, I turn away and run toward an infirmary's wall. With no time to pull out a teleporter, I instead cast a spell with the swing of my hand.

"Oprtal Neop," I chant, summoning a portal. Jumping into and through a blinding bright light, I land on the other side. Standing back up, I see a golden sky and with white marble platforms floating around.

"Been a while since I was last here," I say, jumping from platform to platform. It doesn't take long before I see the Lords of Order surrounding a sparking orb. All of them have their hands out, pointed at the orb.

"That must be it," I say, eyeing the time orb. Moving faster, jumping and running across the marble platforms, a few of the Lords turn their heads and see me.

"He is here," one of them shouts. "The man is here!"

"What? That's impossible!"

"No, it is not! He's there!"

"How did he get here!"

"Who cares! This is the chance we have been waiting for! Lords of Order! Attack!"

With that said, half of the Lords pull back their hands and charge toward me.

33: Chapter 33: Fighting the Lords

Leonard Snart:

I scream as Yellow Lantern hits me with one of his annoying yellow beams. As Lantern's beam hits me, it knocks me off my feet and onto the floor. Groaning as my chest burns, I look at Yellow Lantanter as he flies toward me, his stupid, stupid ring glowing like a fucking sun.

"Give it up, Snart" Yellow Lantern says, bringing up his ring. "You can't beat me. Even with your cold gun."

"Damnit," I say, looking down at my cold gun. My memory is still a bit hazy but I could have sworn my cold gun had some sort of "ice bomb" setting before. "I could really use it now."

Biting my tongue, fighting through the burning pain, I turn around and fire my cold gun at Yellow Lantern. However, Yellow Lantern blocks it with another one of his see-through walls. The wall is quickly covered in ice, all of the ice falling to the floor when Lantern calls back his wall. Grabbing at the floor, I start to crawl away.

"Come on," I say, kicking against the floor and pushing myself away. "Come on. Come on!"

I turn around and fire again but the same exact thing happened. None of the ice from my cold gun even so much as touches Yellow Lantern. With my finger still on the trigger as I shoot, I look behind me and see the stairs leading to the floor above me. Somehow, while fighting, the floor beneath Lantern and I disappeared, turning into dust. While Lantern hovers, I fall down to the next level.

"I have to make sure Lisa is okay," I tell myself. "Lisa needs me! I can't let her down. I can't let her--"

I stop talking to myself when I hear a beeping sound. My head snapping around, I see the lights on my cold gun flickering.

"Oh dammit," I yell, watching my cold gun stop firing. With the battery cells dead and needing to recharge, I'm left defenseless as Yellow Lantern approaches me. He grabs me by the shirt collar and lifts me up.

"Listen to me when I said this," Lantern whispers, placing my ear right next to him. "Give this to him."

Lantern reaches from behind himself and slams something into the palm of my hand. Whatever it is, it's flat and silver-colored.

"What the hell," I say, looking at the thing. Looking like some sort of credit card, I look back up to see Lantern pulling back his yellow ring. Shooting his hand forward, Lantern blasts me with another yellow beam. Screaming as I fly through the air, I expect my back to hit solid ground any second. However, something happens and instead, I feel a strong wind, and then I find myself on my knees.

"Snart," someone in a red suit says. "Snart! Are you okay?"

"Who the hell are you? Wait a second. I know you."

"Of course, you know me," the jackass replies. "We fought each other so many times I have permanent frostbites."

It takes me a few seconds but I think I finally recognize the fucker from the One Earth's most wanted.

"Your name is...Barry," I say. "You're...You're the Flash."

"Yes," Flash says, nodding his head. "It's me. Do you remember me?"

I pull back my fist and punch Flash across the face. He screams and holds his chin.

"Yeah," Flash says. "You do remember me."

"More or less," I say, pushing myself to my feet. "I remember you and I don't get along."

"Stay here," Flash tells me. Turning around, he leaves me, running down the stairs. Letting out a moan as I raise my shirt and look down, I see a large purple bruise near my waist. It's surrounded by some more bruises but I pull my shirt down and look around.

"Flash carried me up a floor," I think. "The infirmary!"

Biting in tongue and fighting through everything, I make my way to the infirmary. My cold gun isn't fully charged yet but it still had enough power to freeze some soldiers I passed. Turning a corner, I stop when I come face-to-face with Wonder Woman.

"Captain Cold," she says, raising her sword and shield. "Come with me! We have the intruders trapped!"

As Wonder Woman swings her hand, I remember what she did to Lisa.

"Wonder Woman," I shout, Wonder Woman stopping and turning to me. I then bring up my cold gun and shoot.

Barry Allen:

"I can't believe it," I say, looking at Hal Jordan. "After everything that happened, after I vouched for you, you've gone back to yellow! Dammit Hal! Why! Why would you go back!"

"You don't understand Barry," Hal with his new yellow ring says.

"Of course, I don't understand," I yell. "Is this because of what The Man did? Is it because of that sword dual?"

"Yes," Hal replies. "Barry, I---"

I don't even bother listening to Hal. Instead, I push off against the floor and charge toward him. Hal summons a wall to try and protect himself but with my speed, I break right through it and tackle Hal.

Kara:

Using my frost breath, I freeze some soldiers, stopping and making a wall out of them. With the frozen soldiers stuck in place, they block more soldiers from entering. Looking behind me, I see about half the team shooting out from the windows while the other half is keeping the other hallway block off.

"Please," I say, looking at where The Man disappears. "Hurry. I'm not sure how much longer we can keep them back."

As I say this, I hear a sound and turn around. A thick cable and claw shoot through the window and grab me. Even before I can do anything, it pulls me out through the window and onto New Metropolis's courtyard. In only a few seconds, One Earth soldiers and tanks surrounded me.

"Kara," Batman says, running up to the front of the soldiers and tanks. "What are you doing?"

"Bruce," I yell. "Listen to me! This isn't right!"

"I know," Bruce yells back but I yell even louder.

"No, you don't! Remember what really happened! Just think! You're one of the smartest people I have ever known! I know you will remember what really happened!"

"What really happened," Bruce repeats. "What are you talking about?"

About to explain everything, I stop when a bolt of lightning hits the ground in front of me, scorching the earth.

"The girl speaks lies," Black Adam says, his hand crackling with lighting. "All! Attack Supergirl!"

With their order given, the soldiers step out of the way as a tank prepares to shoot me.

The Man:

One of the Lords of Order slams his hands together and creates illusions. Summoning more fake Dr. Faiths, the fakes all fly toward me. Jumping from marble platform to marble platform, I place my own hands together. Magical energy gathers in my hands before I swing them out, shooting out a wave that not only destroys all the fake Dr. Faiths but also knocks out the first Lord.

Another one charging toward me shoots out his arms and fires magical golden beams at me. Jumping over the beams, I take out a glass jar from my jacket pocket and throw it at him. The glass jar breaks once it hits him, unleashing the potion inside. The Lord screams as he burns, steam coming off him. Distracted now, I jump up and grab his feet. Pulling him down, I throw him onto the platform before landing on the Lord's back, knocking him out.

Sensing a third Lord incoming, I turn quickly and turn one of my kunai. However, this Lord is more prepared. He holds out his hand and summons a magical shield to block my kunai. Throwing my kunai to the side, the third Lord disappears, teleporting away.

My shoes skidding against the marble as I stop, I look left and right for where the Lord could have gone. As I look for the missing Lord, more Lords tackle me from behind. They pile onto me, forcing me off the platform and into the empty sky.

"Get off of me," I yell, trying to shake off all the Lords of Order as they grab onto me. Putting the palms of my hands together, I chant another spell.

"Leiji," I shout. Pure electricity gathers in my body with sparks shooting out. A few seconds later, the electricity erupts like a volcano, shooting out in all directions, knocking back all the Lords. Still falling through the sky, even after the Lords let me go, I quickly search through my pockets and find my hoverboard.

Throwing my hoverboard into the air, it shoots out with the fans coming on. I land on the hoverboard and steady myself. Once I stop bouncing up and down, I look up at the time sphere. Now with half of the Lords gone, the time sphere is getting even more unsteady. More and more energy is shooting out of the time sphere, some of the energy hitting and electrocuting the few remaining Lords. About to fly toward the time sphere, I stop when I feel power shooting throughout my whole body.

Screaming a little as I look down, I see horrifying black lines travel all over my arms.

"No," I say, pushing the power down. "I have to be careful. I have to be care--"

As I push the power down, trying my hardest not to let it escape, one of the Lords tackles me. The Lord pushes me off my hoverboard and onto a marble platform. We roll around for a bit before I manage to kick him off of me. Reaching into my pocket, I throw a kunai at the Lord. Hoping my kunai would glue him to the platform, the Lord quickly deflects it.

Running toward the Lord, pulling back my fist, I'm about to throw a punch but before I can, all the other Lords from before pile onto me. They force me onto my knees and hold my arms. No matter how much I struggle, I can't break free.

"This is all your doing," the Lord that tackled me says. He slowly walks over to me, his shadow standing over me. The Lord then shoots out his hand. Hands grab and turn my head so I can see a magical window appearing right beside us. In the magical window, I see the others being overrun.

One Earth soldiers placed bricks of C4 on the root walls and detonated them. The explosive manages to break down one of the walls and shockwaves from the explosive knocks both Ivy and Harleen to their feet. As troops flood in, Beetle holds them back while Reverse Flash and Cat grab the two and cover them in the infirmary. The second Beetle steps in, they slam the doors shut and throw their weight against the doors. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman had Captain Cold pinned against a wall, his feet dangling in the air. Even Kara is having trouble. Trapped between firing tanks and Black Adam, all she can do is cross her arms and take the beating.

"You have disturbed the natural order of magic long enough," the Lord states. "With you gone, everything will be in order once more."

As the Lord keeps talking, I feel myself start to pulse with power. I turn toward the magical window and see Black Adam electrocuting Kara. I see Beetle and Firestorm working together to keep the doors shut but jumping back as soldiers shoot through the door.

"My only question is how," the Lord says. "How did you survive the alteration? We literally used our magic to alter the very history of the world, and yet, somehow, you were not affected by it at all? How is that possible?"

I raise my head as I answer the Lord's question. Letting the power flow through me, I feel the teeth grow and sharpen. The air around us drops significantly and the other Lords seem to have noticed. Ice starts to grow on them and all of our breaths are seen.

"What is going on," the Lord standing over me asks. "Is this one of yours doing?"

"No," the other Lords answer. "It is not."

"This magic," the Lord says. "This is unlike any magic I have ever sensed before. What is it?"

As the Lords all look around and not at me, I feel myself changing. My fingertips are sharpened. My skin is hardened. I feel the raw power cover my face.

"The answer is simple," I say. All the Lords seem to have remembered me. They all turn toward me and jump back. Letting out a breath, what is seen isn't a white mist. Instead, what is seems is a pitch-black smoke.

"The reason I wasn't affected by your alteration of the timeline is because," I say, raising my hand into the air and summoning a powerful blizzard. "I too have both the power of order and chaos magic!"

34: Chapter 34: Snow Beast

The Lords of Order:

"What are you doing," I scream, stepping back as we all watch the strange man in the sunglasses transform right before us. However, with the blizzard still in effect, it makes watching him nearly impossible.

I scream as another gust of freezing cold wind hits me. It hits me and immediately, I feel a shiver run down my whole body. I put my hands together and blow into them—something I have never done before.

"Where," I yell, covering my eyes as I look around. "Where did the man go?"

"He's gone," another Lord shouts.

"Impossible," a third Lord screams. "We were all watching him! He couldn't have gone anywhere!"

I force myself to look at where the man was last seen. Through all the blinding snow and freezing wind, I see what looks like a large hole in the already deep snow.

"Wait," I say, looking left and right. My head snaps in all directions as I look at the snow. Fighting through the urge to shield myself, I keep looking until I see something moving beneath the snow, heading directly for one of the Lords.

"Behind you," I yell. The Lord hears my warning and turns around but it doesn't matter. As he turns around, some sort of beast, a monster, with pitch-black skin and sharpened teeth jumps out. It bursts out of the snow and grabs onto the Lord, latching onto him with razor-sharp claws.

The Lord screams as the monster's claws dig into his skin. We all watch as the monster pulls back his head before biting the Lord!

We all yell, scream, shout, and fly away. I jump into the air and try to fly away but the wind forces me to slow down. As I slow down, I turn around and see the monster still biting down on the Lord. It's only a few seconds later when the Lord falls.

"Impossible," I think, still watching the monster sink back into the snow, pulling the Lord with him. "That's impossible! No beast can defeat one of us!"

"What was that," a nearby Lord asks.

"I do not know," another Lord answers. "In all of the years, I have never seen anything like that before!"

"Where did it take him," I ask. I search for the missing Lord but with all the snow and the blinding wind, it's impossible.

Shooting out my hands and raising them high into the air, I chant a spell to bring sunlight. I try to banish this blizzard and melt the snow but no matter how much I chant, the blizzard stays.

"Profer lucem solis," I chant repeatedly. Despite how much magic I am using, I doubt any of the other Lords can see my glowing hands due to the blizzard. I try to repeat the spell a few more times but as a gust of wind hits me, I pull my arms in and hold myself.

"I'm...cold? That is not impossible!"

Even though it is impossible, I cannot fight the cold. Nor can any of the other Lords. We're all shaking and shivering. Either blowing into our hands or rubbing our arms. Feeling my fingers go stiff, I use my magic once more but this time, instead of trying to banish this darn blizzard, I instead summon a small fire to warm my hands. The other Lords see the fire and all come to me. With no choice, we huddle around the fire.

"This is no doubt the man in the sunglasses's doing," one of the Lords states. "After all, he himself confesses to having both the power of order and chaos magic!"

"This must be a lie," I say. "No one can hardness such power! Let alone powers!"

"Do you see what is around us," another Lord says. "This blizzard had frozen our realm! No magic, not even ours alone, can do something like this! The man tells no lie!"

As we argue among ourselves, we all turn our heads when we hear more screaming. Through the cold wind and snow, I can see fainted lights, similar to magical blasts.

"That is coming from the time sphere," I shout. "The man! He had reached the sphere! We must go!"

We Lords waste no time and fly to the time sphere.

The Man:

Quickly digging through the snow, I come up the other Lords easily. Exploding from beneath one of them, I grab and pull him down. The Lord I captured screams and struggles as he tries to escape me but I hold onto him. Biting down on him, I freeze him in seconds. Frozen now, I throw the Lord down before digging my way back up. Not bursting out this time, I peek out from beneath the snow.

"The other Lords have flown away," I say, scanning the surroundings. "They left the sphere exposed. This is my chance. I have to fix the time before anyone is killed."

Jumping out from the snow, I run toward the shaking time sphere. Skidding against the snow and stopping right in front of me, I look it over. A massive sphere of pure magical energy, shining an almost blinding variety of colors, I swing my hand over the sphere. As I do, magical circles are drawn and hovering in the air.

Twisting my hands, a series of symbols and runes quickly appear in the magical circles. They also twist and turn before all rotating at once.

"The time sphere is unstable," I think. "The damage to it is severe but I can still fix it."

As I prepare the right spells and incantations, I stop when I pick up a growing smell.

"The Lords of Order. Shoot."

I look at the magical circles already prepared and growl.

"I have to make this fast."

Turning around, I stomp my foot deep into the snow. Despite the powerful blizzard, I can still see as clear as day, and not too far from where I am are the approaching Lords of Order. It doesn't take long for them to see me.

The second he sees me, the closest Lord swings his hand forward. As he does, a magical beam shoots out from thin air and hits me. It hits me, shattering me into snowflakes that fall all over. Falling onto the snow, I watch from below as all the Lords gather around my footprint.

"That was too easy," one of the Lords says.

"It was," another Lord agrees.

"That is because he is not defeated yet," a third Lord shouts. I recognize this particular Lord. He was the one who stood in front of me while the other pinned me down. I keep watching as he turns his head.

"He is still here," the third Lord goes on. "I can sense him. And what are these?"

He walks over to the magical circles and runes still in the air. Scanning them with one of his hands, he screams and steps back, slamming his hands on his head. Seeing this, the Lords run up to him and catch him.

"What--What is this," the Lord stutters. "This magic...is...It is....It is..."

Before the Lord can finish, I shoot into the air. Quickly shooting into the air, I circle all the Lords, trapping them in a snow tornado. The Lords all scream and fire beams as they slowly freeze, ice covering them. With one final gust, I blow all the Lords away, knocking them into the snow. Reforming in the air, transforming back, I land on all fours on the snow with a heavy thud. Growling as I look at all the Lords, I lunge forward.

Grabbing at one of the Lords, he screams and grabs at the snow. He tries to escape my bite but it's no use. Digging into the snow, I drag him behind me and freeze him. Leaving behind a frozen Lord, I dig through the snow before lunging out and grabbing another Lord. Once more, I drag him down and freeze him. Leaving him buried deep, I jump out of the snow and look around.

Growling as I look around, I smell something coming from behind me and jump out of the way. Multiple beams, some forged from magic and some pure fire, shoot out from the sky. As I jump and run out of the way, I look up to see many Lords shooting at me. Despite the blizzard, the snow, and even the ice on them, they're still focusing on me.

A few breaking off, they fly ahead of me and prepare a rune of their own. Recognizing the symbol but not stopping, I lower my head and start eating the snow. Basically inhaling the snow as I run, I lift my head back up and fire a blueish-green wad of goo. It flies through the air toward the Lords in front of me.

The Lords must have seen it. As they finish chanting their spell, their golden ruin spins, turning into blurs. A few seconds later, beams shoot out from the ruins. They all start out from their own ruins but as they travel together, they combine, and turn into a massive, near-unstoppable magical beam. As this beam travels, it melts the surrounding snow and drives away the blizzard.

"The beam holds the power of the sun," I think, watching as the beam hits my wad of goo. As the two collide, they unleash both a blinding light and a powerful windstorm. Both the lights and windstorm push all of us back, either with the sudden immense heat or the deafening wind.

The Lord:

Using my magic, I summon a shield to protect me from the colliding attacks. I watch from behind my magical shield as the other Lords' sunbeam hits the snow beast's slimly attack. As the two collide, they unleash a wave of pure magical energy that shatters my shield instantly.

I, along with all the other Lords, scream as we are thrown around by wild winds and hit by an unbearable heat. It takes whatever magic I have left just to stabilize myself. Screaming and covering my head as I fight through the wind and heat, I shoot forward before stopping. Feeling drained, like all the energy is gone from my body, I wipe my head.

"That...That is impossible," I say after wiping my head and looking at my arm. "I'm...I'm sweating. That is impossible. We Lords of Order do not sweat. We Lords of Order do not feel drained. We Lord do not--"

I try to finish but when I look around, I stop myself.

"That...That is...That is....not possible."

As I look around, I see all the other Lords of Order floating around. They're either floating around in the air or on the marble platform. They're either still covered in ice or dripping wet. I look past the Lords and examine our dimension. The sun is shining, its orange glow spreading far. Our marble platforms, while still wet from all the snow, are sparking. As for the other half, ice and snow had somehow reformed. The sky is covered in dark clouds, blocking the sun. Ice and snow covered the platforms.

I breathe in and out as I fly through the snowy half of our realm. While flying through, I hold out my hand and magically scan the other Lords.

"They're alive," I think. "But wait. Where is that monster?"

Stopping, I scan my surroundings. It takes some time, given the wind and snow, but I finally can get a general sense of where the beast should be. Flying directly toward it, it doesn't take long for me to see something on a frozen platform.

Looking like a large, white, and red stone, I carefully fly over to it. Landing on the platform, I hold out my hands and prepare some spells in case. Carefully and slowly approaching the strange stone, I hold my hand over it.

"I am not detecting anything. No sign of life or magic. What is this?"

Still holding out my hands, I take a step back. Preparing to shoot at the stone, it cracks open and something long and white shoots out. The thing hits me in the chest, latching onto me and pulling me in.

I try to use magic to escape but before I can even use one spell, something out bursts from the stone. Looking like a different monster, one made from white, boiling flesh and covered with dark-red veins, four arms quickly glow out from the sides of this monster. This monster uses all four arms to grab me. The last thing I see is the monster's sharp teeth as it opens its mouth.

The Monster Man:

Sucking the magic right out of the last Lord, I then freeze him before throwing him to the side. Letting out a breath, my breath coming out in a red mist, I scream and shout as I quickly transform. The sound of bones cracking echoes in my ears as I shrink back down. My four arms are pulled back in and my sharp teeth are turned into square. I squeeze back down into my shell, my shell disappearing into my back as I stand back up. When I'm on my feet, I look at my hands. My normal human hands.

Dropping to a knee, I hold my stomach and open my mouth. Nothing comes out but I still feel awful.

"I...I.....I can't..."

I scream and slap myself. I slap myself over and over again until I push myself back onto my feet.

"I can't do this now," I tell myself. "The others need me."

Back to being just 'The Man', I run and jump from platform to platform. I reach the time sphere in a few minutes and complete the restoration spell. Using the very magic I stole from the final Lord, I chant spells and draw many more runes. Holding out my hands, glowing with order magic, I chant the final incantation.

"The past, the present, and the future," I start, "Join forces and become one. Fix the errors and mistakes of this forced time, and become one again. Join together and flow like a calm river. Let these remember the past, live in the present, and live on into the future."

After a few seconds later, the time sphere stops sparking and I lower my hands.

35: Chapter 35: Faded

Batman:

Watching from the back as Supergirl screams and throws a bunch of One Earth soldiers off her, I reach into my utility belt and pull out a pair of brass knuckles. Mostly black and grey, these brass knuckles are lined with dark green kryptonite.

Running through the mess of flying soldiers, I pull back my fist before throwing it forward. Supergirl hearing my footsteps turns around just in time for me to punch her across the face. She stumbles back while holding her cheek. Judging from the widened eyes, Supergirl is surprised I can actually hurt her. She looks down and sees my kryptonite brass knuckles.

"Why are you doing this," I shout, stepping forth. "Supergirl. Why are you doing this? Why are you going against the One Earth Government? Against all of us? Against your own cousin, Superman?"

"It's because I remember the truth," Supergirl shouts back. "I remember what really happened."

"What really happened," I repeat. "What is she talking about?"

I think back to only a few minutes ago, just before all of us started attacking Supergirl.

"This isn't right," Supergirl told me. "Remember what really happened. Just think!"

"What really happened," I repeat to myself. "What really happened? What did happened?"

I start to think back to what happened. At least, I try to. As I try to think back to what happened, to everything that led up to this point, all I remember is talking to Supergirl after arresting these two teenagers for spray painting.

"That can't be right," I tell myself. "That can't be right. Why can't I remember anything before that? Wait! Why did I become Batman in the first place? It's...It's because..."

Out of nowhere, it feels like something inside of me snaps, and I see all of these flashes. Something in my head starts to hurt. It's a pain that I don't recognize but at the same time, seems so familiar.

"Thomas...Martha.....Who...Who are you...Ahhh!"

I scream through my teeth and drop onto one of my knees. Slamming my hands against the sides of my head, I fight through the pain.

"Thomas and Martha. I know you. I know who you are! I will remember!"

Fighting through the burning headache, panting through the small gaps in my teeth, I try to remember who Thomas and Martha are. I look up and through some sweat beads, I see Supergirl, no Kara, watching me.

"She's not fighting me," I think. "She's not fighting me! I'm completely defenseless but Kara isn't fighting me. Is it because..."

As I look at Kara, I see someone hovering right behind her. Shooting out his hands, Black Adam fires bolts of lightning right at Kara.

"Watch out," I shout, pushing myself up. Running up to Kara, I grab and push her out of the way. Meanwhile, I spread out my arms.

Supergirl:

"Bruce," I shout, watching as lightning bolts are about to hit Bruce. Pushing myself up, about to take Bruce's place, I stop when I see a bright white light near the horizon. The light looks hundreds and hundreds of miles away but somehow it reaches us in only seconds. I raise my arms to shield myself from the bright light but it's no use. As the bright light reaches all of us, we find ourselves in a white haze.

"What is this," I ask, looking at my hands and arms. They look almost ghostly in the strange haze. As I stare at my ghostly self, I start to see myself with my mother.

"Mom," I cry.

John Constantine:

"Holy hell," I say, lowering my magical glowing hands. As I lower my own hands, I turn and see Ares lowering his own hands. I can only imagine his face mirrors my own. "You sensed it too. Didn't you?"

Ares turns and looks right back at me.

"He did it," Ares says. "The man in the sunglasses actually did it."

"He somehow did it. The fucker restore the timeline. He defeated the Lords of Order and restored the timeline."

Sensing a powerful wave of magic incoming, I walk toward the set of double doors and push it open. Ignoring all the shouting, fighting, and gunfire, I walk across the hallway and look out the window. I smile when I see a blinding light heading toward us.

"It's time to leave this place," I shout, everyone turning to face me. Waving my hands in a circle, I prepare a teleportation spell.

"Hold on," Ms. Ivy shouts. Kneeling a One Earth soldier in the face before throwing him to the floor, Ms. Ivy runs up to me. "What about the others? Leonard, Supergirl, and even The Man aren't here. We can't leave without them."

"Then I would suggest we find them fast. This hallway is getting quite crowded."

I turn my head again when I hear the sound of something cracking.

"Get behind me," I say, quickly grabbing Ms. Ivy and pushing her behind me. Shooting out my hand, I cast a spell that summons a barrier. As expected, the root wall Ms. Ivy summoned is shattered. Cracks appear on it before it breaks apart, roots flying everywhere.

Shielding us from the roots, I watch as Black Canary steps in.

"Again," I say, waving my hand and dispensing with the magical barrier. "I would suggest we find the others fast. Ares. I would also suggest going with her. In case "

Ms. Ivy gives me a nod before she and Ares run off. Meanwhile, I step forward.

"Believe me when I say this," I say, flicking my hands and summoning magical runes. "I'm only doing this because you need a reality check."

"Reality check," Ms. Black Canary repeats.

I smile as the two of us are engulfed by the white light. Almost instantly, Ms. Canary drops to the floor, holding her head. Despite what I can only imagine is a painful headache, Ms. Canary still raises her head at me. Inhaling, she uses her sonic scream.

Leonard Snart:

I keep my mouth shut as the bitch picks me up via my neck collar. I refuse to give her the satisfaction of hearing me scream in pain.

"What is the meaning of this insubordination," Wonder Woman yells, shaking me. She places the tip of her sword right against my eyes.

"Easy," I say, spitting in her face. "You killed my sister. And now, I'm going to kill you."

I bring up my cold gun but Wonder Woman slaps it out of my hand.

"I don't know how you remember any of that," Wonder Woman says, pulling her sword back. "But I will make sure this time, you don't remember anything."

Wonder Woman pulls back her sword as far as she can before lunging it forward. Watching as the tip is about to pierce my skin, I let out a gasp when something hits Wonder Woman. She screams as a golden beam hits her, her arm and shoulder almost immediately turning to solid gold.

Wonder Woman screams as she is turned into gold. Letting me go, Wonder Woman stumbles away. Meanwhile, I see someone.

"I recognized that anywhere," I say with a smile. Barely standing and holding up a shaking gold gun is my sister, Lisa. Smiling as she limps over to me, Lisa offers me a hand. I push it away and push myself up.

"You're...alive," I say, covering a wound on my waist. "Come on. We need to get out of here. We need to regroup with the others."

I pick up my cold gun and with my sister, we limp away. However, as we drag our feet behind us, I see something out of the corner of my eyes.

"What now," I say, covering my eyes as some sort of white light hits Lisa and me. Finding ourselves in a white haze, I begin to see everything. I begin to remember everything correctly.

"This...This is what really happened," I say. "Mick Rory. Heat Wave. You bastard."

I smile as I remember my old friend. However, my smile disappears when I hear someone collapse.

"Lisa," I shout. Without any warning, my sister drops to the floor. It doesn't even take a second before the glowing cracks return. They cover her whole body in the blink of an eye.

"The Man," I think. I get up and look around. "Hey! Hey! Help! Someone help me! Sunglasses! Where the hell are you! Where are you! Lisa needs your help!"

I keep screaming and screaming until I see someone turn a corner. Bringing up my cold gun, in case it's another regime, I lower it when I see Poison Ivy running toward me. With her is some guy in black armor and a horned helmet.

"Ivy," I say, smiling as she and the guy arrive. "And you. Who the hell are you?"

"I am Ares, the God of War."

"Son of a bitch," I say, shaking my head. "You couldn't have been the god of healing."

Ares, or whoever the hell he is, growls like some dog. Whether or not he would bite me, it's not answered because we hear the sound of approaching footsteps. A few seconds later, we see a half-golden Wonder Woman stumbles in with a bunch of One Earth soldiers.

"Ares," Wonder Woman says. "You're here as well."

"Diana," Ares says, standing up. "My, my. It seems you had a run-in with King Midas. How unfortunate."

"Attack them," Wonder Woman says, pointing at us with her non-golden hand. The One Earth soldiers then charge toward us.

"Get out of here," Ares says, stepping up. Shooting out his hand, a red mist appears before disappearing, and in its place, a black and grey sword. Swinging his new sword, Ares unleashes some sort of red wave that knocks all the soldiers back.

Poison Ivy:

"Come on," I say, grabbing and putting one of Lisa's arms around my neck. Leonard wastes no time and does the same with Lisa's other arm. Together, we stand up and run down the hallway. However, we only make it around the corner before Lisa screams.

"Stop," she shouts. "Stop. Stop!"

Stomping her foot on the floor, Lisa stops us.

"What are you doing," Leonard asks. "We need to get out of here."

"No," Lisa moans. "No. Not we, but you. Both of you need to get out of here. Leave me."

"I am not leaving," Leonard says.

"It's not your choice," Lisa pants. Looking down, we follow her gaze and see glowing cracks all over her legs. She practically standing on the cracks now.

"Listen to me," Lisa starts. "I have memory back. I know everything. Wonder Woman. She killed me."

"You remember that," Leonard asks.

"Yeah. I remember it. I shouldn't be here."

"Don't say that."

"I don't have to say it."

By now, the cracks have traveled from Lisa's legs to her body. It's only a few seconds later when they reach her face, and parts of her start to turn into dust.

"Lisa," Leonard shouts. "We need to find The Man! Where is he?"

"It's too late," Lisa says. "I know that. The weird guy in sunglasses knows that, and even you know that."

Lisa, who is almost completely glowing now, turns to me.

"Listen to me. Please, promise me this."

Lisa moans as her legs vanish.

"Lisa," Leonard shouts. "Help! Sunglasses! Where are you!"

As Leonard looks for The Man, Lisa looks at me.

"Promise me," Lisa says. "Keep my brother safe. He's a tough son of a bitch but he got a soft spot."

With that said, Lisa turns to her brother.

"Hey," she says, her arms disappearing. Leonard stops looking around and looks at Lisa.

"Don't say it," Leonard says. "Damnit Lisa. Don't say it."

"Fine then," Lisa smiles. "I won't. I will say this however. I'm going to beat up Dad when I see him, and I can't wait for you to join me."

Lisa gives Leonard a nod before she turns to dust.

36: Chapter 36: Regroup

The Man:

Stepping through a portal, back into New Metropolis, I look around and the first thing I see is Batman being struck by a lightning bolt. Screaming as his whole body lights up, Batman somehow stays on his feet. It's only a second later when I see Kara behind him.

"He's protecting Kara," I think.

I follow the lightning bolt and turn to see Black Adam in the sky. With his hands out in front, Black Adam keeps shooting lightning at Batman until finally, he stops. As Black Adam stops, Batman is left shaking and smoking. Even from where I'm standing, I can still hear Batman moaning. He's trying to suck it up, but it's no use. Batman drops to his knees before falling flat against the ground.

"Take her," Black Adam orders. With the point of his finger, One Earth soldiers surrounding Kara and Batman advance toward them. For some reason, despite the advancing soldiers, Kara isn't moving. It's like she's in a trance.

Seeing Black Adam high in the sky, the advancing soldiers, and a stunned Kara, I grind my teeth. I dig my fingers into the palms of my hands. I breathe in and out through my nose as I feel the power rushing throughout my body.

"No," I cry, shutting my eyes. "I can't!"

I think back to only a few minutes ago when I became something else.

"I can't," I repeat, opening my eyes. Instead, I pull in my arms before shooting them back. As I shoot out my arms, dual black boxes appear in my hands. I push a button on both of the boxes. They open up with shining blades coming out of them.

"Just because I refuse to use powers," I think, "Doesn't mean I can't use skills!"

Spinning the handles, I hold my swords with the blades facing down before charging into battle. As I let out a battle cry, I then grab the attention of all the soldiers and even Black Adam himself.

John Constantine:

"I don't fight it," I say. "Stop fighting it! Just let yourself remember!"

Holding up my hand, standing behind a magical shield, I watch from behind the shield as Ms. Lance struggles with the sudden intake of her real memory. On her knees, screaming into the air, holding her head, I smile when I see Ms. Lance open her eyes.

"Oliver," she moans. "Oliver Queen. He's...He is...He is my husband."

"Not exactly," I say, lowering my hand and causing the shield to dispense. "He is but at the same time, not exactly."

Walking up to Ms. Lance, I offer her my hand. Though a little hesitant, Ms. Lance still takes it. As I pull Ms. Lance up onto her feet, I immediately sense the presence of a powerful magical begin. I feel myself smiling again.

Despite Ms. Lance being back on her feet, I can tell the sudden flood of her real memory is still messing with her head.

"She's in no condition to fight," I think. "Bloody hell."

Letting Ms. Lance lean on me, I turn to see the others still managing to hold the soldiers back. As I watch young Mr. Reyes shoot and knock a One Earth soldier to the floor, I start to hear a voice in my head.

"Constantine," the voice yells. "Constantine! Can you hear me? Answer me, you British bastard!"

I recognize the voice and roll my eyes.

"Well, hello there," I telepathy say. "How was your trip to the Lords of Order realm?"

"It was really chilly," the man in the sunglasses answers.

"What?"

"Never mind. Listen, is Dinah Lance with you? Does she have her real memory?"

"Yes."

"Awesome. Gather everyone around! We're getting the heck out of here!"

"Wait! Ares, Mr. Cold, Ms. Ivy, and Mr. Flash aren't with us!"

"Who is with you exactly! Ahh! I'll call you later!"

The Man then ends the call.

"What a dick," I think.

"Yeah, screw you too," The Man says, startling me.

Poison Ivy:

"Lisa," Leonard says, dropping to his knees. "Lisa. Lisa!"

Raising his arms into the air, Leonard then slams them onto the floor. He slams his arms over and over, screaming Lisa's name the whole time.

"Leonard," I shout but he ignores me.

"Lisa," Leonard says again. "I'm so sorry! I couldn't do anything! Again! Again! Again! Again!"

"Leonard," I shout. I reach for Leonard's shoulder but he shakes my hand away.

"Poison Ivy," someone yells. I turn around to see Ares holding a soldier by his throat while pushing another back with his sword. A third soldier rushes in but Ares raises his foot and kicks him back. "I am getting a telepathic message from The Man. He is telling us it is time to leave! We must leave New Metropolis at once!"

"Got it," I say. "Just buy us a few more seconds!"

Ares nods and throws the soldier he's holding into the soldier he's pushing against. With his arms free now, Ares throws his sword, his sword vanishing into thin air. Ares then brings his hands together and fires some sort of blast. The red and black blasts hit a group of soldiers and knock them all down.

"Promise me," Lisa said to me. "Promise me. Keep my brother safe."

I look down at Leonard as he keeps on shouting and slamming his hands down. I close my hand and look at my shaking fist.

"I will keep my promise," I say to Lisa. "Please don't be mad at me for what I'm about to do."

I grab Leonard's shoulder, holding onto it despite him trying to shake me off and make him turn around. Face to face now, I slap Leonard across the face.

"We have to go," I yell. "Now!"

Leonard holding his chin looks at me. He looks at Ares and then back at me. Staring right at Leonard, I step back as he grabs his cold gun. Getting up, Leonard turns his cold gun on.

"Ares," he yells. "Move!"

Ares hearing Cold uses his magic to disappear. The second Ares is out of the way, Cold fires and makes a thick ice wall. The soldiers get back on their feet and fire at the ice wall but they don't even crack the ice.

"Get us out of here," Leonard says. Before I know it, red smoke start to surround Leonard and me. It's only a few seconds later before we disappear as well.

Supergirl:

Letting out a sigh after reliving all those memories with my Mom, I look around but I can't believe what I'm seeing.

A One Earth soldier screams as The Man punches him across the face. This soldier is the last one. He falls to the ground, adding to the dozen and dozen of other soldiers already lying there.

"Shazam," Black Adam yells from high in the sky. I watch from behind The Man as Black Adam fires a massive bolt of lightning at him. Seeing the lightning charging toward The Man, he places his swords together, making an X out of them.

The lightning hits The Man, pushing him back a little. However, The Man somehow is able to absorb it. He absorbs all the lightning from Black Adam before turning around and swinging his two swords. As The Man swings his sword, he unleashes a wave of lightning that lights up the whole sky. The wave of lightning hits Black Adam and electrocuting him before knocking him back.

A smoking, twitching Black Adam falls out of the sky, the ground shaking as he hits it. The Man turns around and sees me. He runs over to me, dropping to his knees and placing his hand on my shoulder.

"Kara," he says, "Are you...okay?"

"I'm better than okay," I cry. "I remember everything. I remember everything that really happened. I remember my mom. I remember running with her, helping her with her research. I even remember her sacrificing herself so I could escape."

"I'm sorry you had to remember that last part."

"Don't be. As painful as it is, I still want to remember. She sacrificed herself so I could come here."

 The Man smiles, and seeing him smile, makes me smile.

"Come on," The Man says, offering me a hand. I take his hand and together, we stand up. About to walk away, I stop, pulling The Man's hand and stopping him as well.

"Wait," I say, "We can't leave yet. Bruce!"

I look around and see Bruce lying on the ground. I let go of The Man's and rush to Bruce's side.

"Bruce," I say, slowly lifting him up. "Bruce! Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

I shake Bruce gently. As I shake him, I notice glowing wires appearing on him.

"What are these? They can't be breaks in time. Can them?"

"No," The Man answers, dropping to his knees beside Bruce with me. "These aren't breaks or cracks in time. They're the wires Superman used to control Bruce. They're coming back."

"No way! Can you do anything about this? Can you stop the wires?"

"Not at the moment," The Man answers. "This is Brainiac's technology. I don't have the right tools or the right environment."

"You don't!"

The Man is about to say something but Bruce cuts him off.

"Listen to me," Bruce says through his teeth. "I can feel Superman's mind taking over. I can't resist much longer!"

Bruce's shaking hand hits his utility belt. He starts to open a bunch of the components. Pulling things like pellets and batarangs out, he throws them away. A few components later, he pulls out what looks like a small black box.

"Take this," Bruce says, slamming the box into The Man's hand.

"An external hard drive," The Man says. "What on this?"

"Important data," Bruce answers, "But it's encrypted. You have to break it."

"Of course," The Man says. He nods before putting the hard drive into one of the pockets. The Man reaches for a different pocket and pulls something out of it.

"Here," he says, giving Bruce a strange red and gold coin. "You may need this."

"What is that," I ask.

Once again, The Man is about to say something but before he can, Bruce's hand shoots up. He tries to grab me and The Man but The Man grabs Bruce's hand first. Pulling back his first, The Man punches Bruce to the ground.

"Come on," The Man says. He helps me up again and together, we run a few feet away. Dropping to his knee again, The Man pulls out a teleporter. He sets it up and then slams it on the ground.

A portal shoots up. The Man looks at me and I look at him. We nod our heads and jump through together.

37: Chapter 37: Timelines

The Man:

Putting my head through the portal, I look left and right and see him fighting against Nightwing. Jumping back as Nightwing swings his batons, he lands on his invisible feet and swipes Nightwing's legs. He knocks Nightwing down but only for a second.

Spinning on the floor, Nightwing jumps back onto his feet. He backs away, not realizing he's backing toward me. Waiting until the right moment, until Nightwing is side by side with the portal, I shoot out my fist, hitting Nightwing and knocking him into a wall and down onto the floor.

"Hey," I shout, waving my fingers. "We're done here! We need to leave! Now!"

He shakes his head and points at Nightwing. He takes a step toward Nightwing but I pull out a kunai and throw it at his feet, stopping him.

"I know you two have unfinished business," I say, looking between him and Nightwing, "But now is not the time. We have to go."

He looks at me and then at Nightwing, before turning back to me. His shoulders drop as he sighs and runs over to me. Following me through the portal, he jumps into the base's meeting room. The second he's through, I close the portal. Dropping to my knee, I pick up the teleporter.

"I can't believe you lost your teleporter," I say, pocketing my teleporter. "Idiot."

The Doc sighs as his head falls onto the palms of his hands.

"I can't believe it either," the Doc says. He then slaps himself in the head over and over again. "How could I lose it?"

I shrug my shoulders and look around the base.

"You," I start, counting in my head. "Ares. Ivy. Cold. Flash. Slade. Red. Constantine. Stein. Rusch. Reyes. Dinah. Harleen. Kara. Yeah. I think that's everyone."

I look at Doc and Iris as they help Slade and Red with their injuries.

"I still can't believe you're a doctor," Red says while Doc wraps his arm in some bandage. "Ouch! Hey, watch it! I need that arm."

"Then stop moving," Doc answers. "Those darn One Earth soldiers. They sure did a number on you and Mr. Slade."

"Oh please," Slade says, stretching his fingers after Iris is finished wrapping his hands. "I've taken worst hits from Batman. What those guards did. It was nothing."

I think back to when Slade screamed and begged during his interrogation.

"Sure," I say. "Whatever you want to believe."

Slade looks at me but once again, I shrug my shoulders. I turn around and open one of the infirmary's cabinets. Grabbing some medical supplies, I join Doc and Iris in tending to the others.

"Stay still," I say, placing an ice bag on Harleen's shoulder. She flinches as soon as I place it but I keep her still. "Easy. You don't need to be a doctor to know a purple shoulder is a bad thing."

Harleen moans a little but keeps the ice bag against her shoulder. Afterward, I go over to Cold and Ivy. Strangely, Cold doesn't seem to anger. Especially considering the last time we were face-to-face and he pointed his cold gun at me.

"Nothing to say," I ask, handing Cold a water bottle.

"Nothing to say," Cold answers, staring at the floor.

"Leave him alone," Ivy says, taking the water bottle out of my hand.

"Sure. I will but only after I examine you two."

"We're fine," Ivy says. She tries to push me away but I stay where I am.

"Just a quick examination. That's all."

I expected Cold to put up a fight but he raised his head and looked at me.

"Yeah. Fine. Whatever. Let's go this over with."

I nod before holding a small flashlight against Cold's eyes.

"Follow the light."

Cold nods and follows the light. Seeing him follow the light, and how his pupils are reacting to it, I switch the light for a rubber hammer.

"Now for your reflexes."

Gently tapping Cold's knee, his knee jumps a little. I give Cold a nod and switch to Ivy. I check her pupils and her reflexes. Seeing that they're fine as well, I finally leave Ivy and Cold alone.

"I still don't get it," Dinah says, her hand on her shaking head. "How did all of you not get affected by the 'time change'? And how did Slade and Jason even get in here? They weren't with us before. Right?"

"Right," Oliver says. Using his bow as a walking stick, Oliver walks over to Dinah and hands her a water bottle. He then sits down next to her. As Oliver sits down, he moans slightly.

"I told you it's still too early for you to be moving," I say. I shake my head as I walk over to Oliver to look him over.

"I feel fine," Oliver lies. I shake my head again and poke Oliver in the arm. Despite my light poke, Oliver jumps into the air.

"Ouch! Hey!"

"You don't know what fine means, do you?"

I drop to my knee in front of Oliver and reach into one of my jacket pockets. Pulling out a small glass bottle with a blue potion, I give it to Oliver. While Oliver drinks the potion, I turn to Dinah.

 "To answer your questions," I start, "The reason everyone wasn't affected by the time change is because when it happened, Ivy, Beetle, Flash, and everyone was inside the base. They were shielded from it."

"This base isn't affected by the Lords of Order magic?"

"No, it's not."

"But wait," Kara says from across the room. "I can't be completely sure, but if I remember this right, weren't you outside the base when the time change hit us? Why weren't you affected by it?" 

"It's because I don't exist in time and space."

"What," everyone all asks. "What does that even mean? You don't exist in time and space? How is that even possible?"

I checked Dinah before putting my light and hammer back into my medical kit. Standing up, I clap my hands together before spreading them out. Making a timeline, I show it to everyone.

"Think of this as time and space," I start. I then tap a few spots on the timeline. "These right here are events in all of your lives. Let's say this is when Professor Stein and Jason Rusch first fused and became Firestorm. This right here is when Jaime got his scarab. This dot, it's when Oliver got stranded on that island."

I move to a certain dot closer to the end of the timeline.

"This, as much as we want to forget about it, is when the first Metropolis was nuked. It's also the start of when Superman started to take over."

I see some people frown when I say this. The Doc especially. He looks away.

"Anyway, this is how all of you see time, right? Well, this is how time and space work for me."

I flick the timeline, turning it on its side. I then grab the timeline and pull it apart, making another separate timeline. On this timeline, I tap a single dot.

"This is my timeline. I exist only on this timeline. I don't exist on the other timeline with all of you. That's why the time change didn't affect me."

It seems everyone isn't frowning anymore. Instead, all their eyes are stuck on the two timelines.

"You're not joking," Reverse Flash says, walking up to the timelines. "Are you?"

"You really do exist outside of time and space," Professor Stein says, joining Reverse Flash. He adjusts his glasses to see the two timelines better. "This whole base too. It exists outside of time and space. Incredible."

I smile as I tap the dot on my timeline. Moving up, I draw a line up to the other timeline, linking the two.

"I have no past or future here. I only exist in the present. Only in this one second. Right here. If you were to travel back in time, back to the beginning of this conversation, you would see everyone staring at an empty spot."

I decide to shut up and give everyone a minute or two to understand what I am saying.

"Oh, and as for Slade, Jason, Constantine, and Ares. Constantine and Ares used their own magic to shield themselves. Shortly afterward, I found them. I then found Slade and Jason. They weren't as affected by the time change as the rest of you. It seems the Lords were only interested in changing your timelines, not theirs. Okay, I have someone else I need to check on. Doc. Iris. I'm sure you two can handle the rest. See you soon."

With that being said, I leave the medical kit with Doc and leave the infirmary. I walk down the hallway and into a second infirmary. There, in the second infirmary, is Zatanna lying in one of the incubators.

Walking over to the incubator with Zatanna, I check her heart rate. It shows 90 beats a minute. Despite the slow heartbeat, I know Zatanna is still very active. Her mind is moving non-stop.

"Reprehendo Mens," I chant, checking her mind. I check Zatanna's mind and I am right. Even in a near-comma state, she is still using her magic to fight the Lords. At the moment, she's using both telepathy and astral projection magic to shield us, keep us in hiding.

I hold one set of fingers in front of me and the other set of fingers in front of Zatanna.

"Calm down Zatanna," I say through telepathic. "This place is shielded. The Lords of Order cannot, and will not, find us here. We are safe. Rest now."

As I open my eyes and pull back my hands, I turn around.

"What do you want?"

"There's a second infirmary," Reverse-Flash asks, walking in.

"In total, there are 56 infirmaries in here. All fully stocked and well equipped. I do planned to build more however."

"Of course you will," Reverse-Flash says. "Listen, I'm not going to lie. When you first told me you could get me back to 2151, I thought you were just bullshi--"

Raising my hand, Reverse-Flash steps back.

"Mocking," Reverse-Flash corrects. "I thought you were just mocking me but you weren't. You can cheat time."

"I wouldn't call it cheating time. I just know a few tips and tricks."

"Call it what you want, but you really can get me back. Despite being a paradox, despite my ancestor dying, I can really go back to my time. Can't I?"

"I don't lie, Speedy. There's really no point in doing so. Keep your end of the deal and I'll keep mine. You help us bring down Superman and his One Earth government and I'll help get you back to 2151."

"Deal."

38: Chapter 38: Alone

The Man:

Pulling back my bowstring, I fire an arrow. My arrow sails through the air before sticking to a building on the other side of the road. Taking a thick metal cable with it, I flip a switch on my bow, and the grip starts spinning, pulling me with it.

Jumping and swinging onto the side of the building, my bow then carries me up the rest of the way. Now on the roof, I walk to the ledge and drop onto my knee. Pulling out a pair of binoculars, I look around Hub City.

"Come on," I say, shaking my head at the sight. "We haven't been gone that long."

Not taking into account the 'time change' from the Lords of Order, it had only been six days since Harleen, Cheetah, Beetle, and Firestorm were in Hub City. Somehow, in less than a week, the city had turned even worse.

With my binoculars, I can see another robbery in progress. This time, it's a freaking bakery.

"What kind of rat bastard rob a bakery?"

I shake my head as I put my binoculars away, switching it out with another arrow. Firing it, my arrow flies through the air, carrying with it another metal cable. Jumping onto the cable and using my bow as a grapple, I slide down it before landing in front of the bakery's glass doors.

"Howdy," I say, walking into the bakery. As soon as they hear the bell rings, the four thieves turn around. Two of the thieves point their guns at me while the other two keep their focus on the cashier behind the counter. "Hey, do you by any chance have any apple pie or do you need time to bake them? I'm kind of in a hurry."

"What," one of the thieves asks.

As the two thieves aiming at me look at each other, I quickly grab an arrow from my quiver and load it into my bow. I fire the arrow, the arrow bursting into a large net that captures the first thief. He screams as he is thrown into the counter and knocked out. The second thief fires his shotgun but I run out of the way in time.

Running around a metal shelf, I jump and kick the metal shelf, knocking it into the second thief. He screams as the metal shelf hits him, also knocking him down. Everything on the shelf, all the loaves of bread, the cookies, the croissants, they all fall onto the thief.

The last two thieves, realizing I'm a threat, turn away from the cashier and toward me. Landing on my knee, I roll to the side as the two thieves shoot at the tilted floor. Rolling and pushing myself up, I turn and throw a kunai.

My kunai explodes once it is in between the two. It explodes and unleashes a thick cloud of black smoke. The thieves stop shooting and start screaming and coughing. Walking through the smoke, I hit the thieves with my bow, knocking them both out.

"Sorry about the tilted floor," I say, waving the smoke away. The cashier can't answer me. He's still coughing, hitting his chest. "And the metal shelves."

Noticing a few apple pies on a nearby display case, I pull out some cash and put it on the counter. Grabbing the pies as I walk out, I stop when I open the door. Hearing something, I turn and look at the glass door.

I scream when I see a monster with sharp teeth. Dropping the pies, I rush forward and punch the monster. Shattering the glass, breaking the door, glass flying everywhere, I look back up and see it.

The monster with sharp teeth is still there. Its pitch-black skin makes it almost invisible against the night sky and its sharpened claws look like it can cut through steel. As I look closer, I notice every time the monster breathes, there's a white mist. Like when a person breathes on a cold day. It doesn't take long for me to realize what I'm looking at.

"Ahh," I moan, shaking my head. Pulling out my fist, I look down and see the ruined apple pies. "Darn. Sorry about your door too."

I pull out some more cash and leave it by the broken door. Leaving the bakery, I fire another arrow and climb onto the rooftop of a nearby building. The second my feet land on the rooftop, I put my bow in my quiver. I then pull out my cell phone and my binoculars.

"Higgins," I start while scanning the city. "Add another tally mark. Robbery on Gaston's Street, Hupert Family's Bakery."

"Another," Higgin yells through my phone. "That's the fourth robbery this night alone. Oh, man. Hub City really needs some heroes."

"Yeah," I say, noticing some more trouble nearby. "Gotta go. I see the fifth tally mark."

"Wait, wait, wait," Higgin yells, stopping me from hanging up.

"What? I'm busy. I'm all alone tonight."

"Exactly! Why are you alone? Shouldn't you have someone by your side? A partner?"

I roll my eyes when I hear this.

"Higgins, you weren't there for the whole 'time change' ordeal."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You explained everything to me. Lords of Order tried to change the timeline. Supergirl, Captain Cold, and Black Canary all worked with Superman. You and the others all charge into New Metropolis to save them and restore the timeline. The only reason I missed it all was because I was in another one of your bases when the Lords altered the timelines. What does that have to do with anything?"

"You weren't there, Higgins. Everyone was fighting, and I mean everyone. They're tired. Beaten up. They're resting for now."

"And what about you? Going by your own logic, shouldn't you be resting? I may have missed the whole time change thing but I get the feeling you weren't exactly sitting on the sidelines. If anything, you were the one doing the most fighting."

As Higgins says this, I open my mouth and press my thumb against my sharp teeth.

"I, uh, you're wrong, Higgins. We all fought."

Higgins is about to say something but I cut him off. Through my binoculars, I can see a massive fire spreading. It started in one building but is quickly moving to the adjacent buildings. If nothing is done, the fire will reach some houses.

Shooting an arrow as far as it can go, I practically fly through the air before landing on another rooftop. Reaching into my quiver, I stop when I remember something.

"Shoot. Wrong quiver. No foam arrow. Okay. Plan B!"

Grabbing a bunch of explosive arrows, I aim at the bottom of the burning buildings. Rapidly firing the explosive arrows, they explode within seconds of each other. My explosive arrows destroy the base of the building, causing it to collapse to the side. This causes a chain reaction. The collapsing building falls onto the adjacent buildings and buries the fire.

"Strange," I think, looking at the fire as it quickly dies down. I look closer at the buildings that caught ablaze. "These buildings don't look occupied. Even if people were living in them illegally, there's no way they would or could have started a fire that big. There would be no gas in the pipes."

Thinking it over and analyzing the scene of the crime, I then hear footsteps from behind. Turning around, I try to shoot an arrow but in the one nano-second of me loading my bow, I see Black Mask, Lady Shiva, and his gang all around me. Black Mask is holding what looks like a K11. Instead of shooting me with the assault rifle, Black Mask instead pumps the forend and shoots a whole grenade at me.

I still manage to shoot an arrow but I hit Black Mask's grenade instead. His grenade explodes and the explosive knocks me right off the rooftop.

The Doc:

"Ahh," I scream, slapping myself on the head. "Where is it? Where is it?"

I re-check my coat pockets. I open all the drawers in the infirmary again. I look under and on top of everything, but no matter where I look, I can't seem to find my teleporter.

"How could I lose it? How could I lose something so important? Ahh!"

I slap myself again before turning around.

"Anything?"

"No," Ms. Iris says, pushing herself up and dusting herself off. "Are you sure you didn't leave it in your room?"

"I haven't been to my room in almost five months. I've been sleeping in here. This is my room."

"Well, in that case, the teleporter isn't in your room. Unless you found one of The Man's secret components, threw it in there, and forgot about it."

I can't help but laugh a little when I hear this.

"Ms. Iris," I start, adjusting my glasses. "Overall, I haven't been in this base that much longer than you or anyone else here. Am I right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well, in that short time, I have searched for any secret components. Do you know how many I've found?"

"No. How many?"

I make a big fat zero with my fingers.

"You can't be serious. I mean, practically every wall in here has a secret component in it, but you're telling me you've never found one?"

"Yes, and for the record, I haven't been the only one that had been searching. We've all been searching for secret levers and buttons but all we found are traps. Wait, hold on. Have you and Mr. Nelson not been searching? I mean, just a week ago, we were all gone. You two didn't search? You two didn't look around?"

I see Ms. Iris looking away while scratching the back of her head.

"Uhh," she says, clearing her throat. "Well, we did at first. But then Kent got trapped in some sort of small box. I guess we found a trap instead."

"Oh, I know that one. I fell for that one too. The crushing cube. I spent three hours in a shrinking box before The Man finally let me out."

This time, it's Ms. Iris who laughs a little. As she laughs, I can't help but smile. However, Ms. Iris's laugh doesn't last long. The infirmary's doors swing open and Supergirl walks in.

"Have you found it yet," she asks the second she can.

"No," I answer with a shake of my head. "I swear. I always leave the teleporter in my pocket. I don't put it anywhere else, but for some reason--"

"It's not there," Ms. Iris finishes.

"So how are we supposed to leave the base," Supergirl asks. "I mean, what if The Man needs our help?"

"Don't worry," I say, taking a step toward Supergirl. However, as I step toward her, she steps back. "There's still the big teleporter built into the wall. Remember? The one I used to teleport all of you back to Harleen's base in Gotham? I can use that. I just need to know The Man's location."

"Uhh," someone says from behind us. Turning around, I see the computer on the infirmary's desk turn on and a familiar silhouette appears. "That might be a problem."

"Mr. Higgins," I say, stepping toward the computer. "What do you mean by 'problem'? I thought you were keeping track of where The Man is. Shouldn't he be in Hub City?"

"Oh, he's in Hub City alright," Mr. Higgins states. "That's not the problem. The problem is that I can't track him anymore. I lost him."

"What do you mean by you can't track him," Supergirl asks. "What do you mean by you lost him?"

"I mean what I've said," Mr. Higgins answers. "I was tracking The Man via a signal he sent me but the signal suddenly died. It disappears off the map."

"It disappears," Supergirl repeats.

"It disappears," Mr. Higgins says again. "I don't know what it means but I get the feeling it doesn't mean things are peachy."

"Oh boy," I say.

"Listen," Higgins starts, "I know what The Man said, sort of, but beside you, Supergirl, is anyone else up? Can they help?"

"No," Supergirl answers. "It's just me but I think I'm more than ready. Besides, I need to talk to The Man about something."

"Whatever," Mr. Higgins says. "Just go! I'm getting a very bad feeling about this."

"Fine," I say, walking to the computer. "Mr. Higgins, send me The Man's last known coordinate. Supergirl, please follow me."

Mr. Higgins sent me The Man's last GPS location based on the tracker he mentioned. Numbers and letters appear in a small box on the screen, I write them down before heading to the teleporter in the wall.

"I'll see you later, Ms. Iris."

"See you later, Dr. Crane."

"Dr. Crane," I repeat to myself. "Ms. Iris just called me Dr. Crane. Not Scarecrow."

I feel myself smiling again.

Black Mask:

Reloading an explosive round into my assault rifle with a grenade launcher, I look back at Lady Shiva.

"Lady Shiva," I start, "Gather some men and go see if the fucker is dead. But make sure we still have a body. The bounty is only valid if there's a body to trade."

Lady Shiva nods and looks at my men. Six of them nod their own heads and follow after Lady Shiva as she walks to the ledge. However, still about six feet away from it, something up and grabs the ledge. As it grabs the ledge, it sends some sort of shockwave that knocks Lady Shive off her feet.

"What the hell," I say, seeing something massive hanging onto the ledge. It couldn't be this mysterious "man in the sunglasses" hand. This didn't look human. It looks like a monster hand.

39: Chapter 39: Monster Man

Lady Shiva:

As the giant monster picks me up and throws me against the rooftop, I feel a sharp pain shoot throughout my shoulder before spreading out to my whole arm. It takes everything I have not to scream out.

"Ahh," I moan. Looking back up, I see the man in the sunglasses, at least I think it's him, swinging his arm. Somehow, the man in the sunglasses had transformed. Now, he is some sort of giant white monster, with no eyes but hundreds of teeth. It looks like he's wearing some sort of armor but this armor is unlike anything I've ever seen before.

"Attack him," Black Mask yells, "Attack him! Go! Go! Go!"

Black Mask and the whole gang approach the monster. They fire everything they have at him. Even Black Mask fires more explosive rounds at it. Fire and smoke engulf the monster. As it burns, the monster raises its head and roars into the night sky.

It seems even the sky is shaking as the monster roars. Its roar forces some of our men nearest to the monster onto their knees. They drop their guns and slam their hands against the ears. They stay on their knees for only a few seconds before falling over.

"Sir," I say, pointing at the fire and smoke as they die down. When the final fire flickers, we can see the monster still standing. The monster, now covered in what looks like blood veins, is breathing heavily through its pitch-black nose. Its teeth are grinding against each other, turning themselves into dust.

"Holy shit," Black Mask says, stepping back. He's loading another explosive round into his gun but as he is doing this, the monster charges toward him. The monster shakes the whole building as he runs toward Black Mask.

Spectre:

Before the man in the sunglasses can do anything to Black Mask, I fly through the building's rooftop, phasing right through it.

"Stop right there," I say, holding out my hand. "This is not---"

The man in the sunglasses, no, the rampaging monster doesn't even let me finish. He swings his arm and somehow, despite using the same power I use to phase through the rooftop, hits me. I scream as I fall to the rooftop, bouncing off of it before landing with a loud thud.

"Ahh," I moan, holding my chest. "Wha--What was that? How did he hit me? It's not possible. My powers."

I watch from a distance as the monster grabs Black Mask. Black Mask, despite being in the monster's gasp, still tries fighting. He raises his rifle and fires right into the monster's head. However, the monster just swallows them. The monster opens its mouth as Black Mask fires and eats all the rifle bullets. By the time Black Mask's rifle goes empty, the monster's mouth is smoking.

"Oh shit," Black Mask says, dropping his rifle. Blowing a thick cloud of smoke right in Black Mask's face, the monster opens its mouth impossibly large. It then lunges forward.

Supergirl:

"What was that," I ask, stopping to look around. While flying through the night sky above Hub City, I see a massive fire not too far away. About to fly to the fire, I stop when I hear a massive explosion. The explosion must have happened at the fire because, after a few minutes, the burning buildings collapsed and the fire died down.

I don't even have time to ask what happened because almost immediately, I hear gunfire. A loud scream follows the gunfire. I don't waste a second and fly to the scream. It doesn't take long for me to locate the source of the scream.

"I know you," I say, seeing a man in a white suit and a black mask. "I know you but from where? Oh, shoot!"

I was so focused on the man in the white suit that I didn't even see the giant monster holding him. I rush to save him but it's too late. The monster lunges forward and bites the man on his shoulder.

He screams into the night sky as the monster bites him. Charging right into the monster, I punch it, knocking it back while freeing the man in the white suit.

The monster, whatever it is, slams its massive hands into the ground. It makes a trail in the roof as it skids against it.

"Get out of here, you," I say, looking at the man. The man in the white suit holds his shoulder as he turns around and runs. The other people around him start to run away too. Everyone around us heads for a fire escape. They push and pull at each other as they climb down the rusted ladder as fast as they can.

"Anthony," I say after tapping my wrist. "Anthony! Are you there? Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you," Anthony answers. "What's going on? Did you find the man in the sunglasses?"

"No," I answer. "But I did find what looks like a giant monster!"

"A giant monster," Anthony repeats. "Wait, did I accidentally give you the address to the Hub City's drive-in theater?"

The monster slams its fists against the rooftop, shaking the whole building as it roars into the night sky.

"That doesn't sound like a giant slime."

Tapping my wrist again and ending the call, I land on the rooftop and prepare to fight the giant monster. Bringing up both my fists, I watch as the monster looks at me and roars. About to use my laser vision, I stop when the monster falls onto its hands and knees.

From the sound of it, the monster is now choking. It's not roaring like before but instead is choking and growling.

I watch from a distance as what I think is the monster's armor starts to shrink away. It looks like it's sinking in, disappearing into the monster's body. It doesn't take long before the armor is all gone. When the armor is gone, the teeth disappear too. The hands, the body, and the head all return to normal.

"No way," I say, lowering my hands. "It's The Man?"

With everything gone, all the extra teeth and the thick white armor, I can see The Man on his hands and knees.

"Are you okay," I scream. I run over to him as The Man falls to his side. I drop to my knee and gently shake him.

"Ahh," The Man moans. "Kara? Wha--What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here."

"I shouldn't be here," I repeat. "What do you mean by that? And what was that? One minute, you're a giant monster that took a bite out of a person! The next minute, you're lying on the ground! What happened?"

"It's nothing," The Man yells, pushing me back.

"Nothing?"

"It's nothing," The Man yells again. "Now, if you would please exclude me, or at the very least, give me some privacy."

"Privacy?"

As The Man and I step away from each other, I finally realize why The Man needs his privacy. I guess during The Man's 'transformation', his clothes were destroyed. I clear my throat as I turn around and cover my eyes. Meanwhile, The Man stomps one of his feet and shoots out his hands. As he does this, a solid wall of rock shoots up between us.

I try my best, I really do, but I can't help it. Using my X-ray vision, I take a quick peek through the wall. As I look through the wall, I see The Man with long pants on but no shirt.

"What in the world?"

As I look at The Man's upper body, I see scars, cuts, and purple bruises all over. There are long and short scars overlapping large purple bruises. I see three cuts side by side on the back of The Man's shoulder. They look like claw marks from Cheetah. Directly across his chest is one long faded scar.

It takes everything I have not to ask what happened to The Man. I have to bite my lips to keep my mouth closed. A few minutes later, The Man walks out from behind the stone wall.

"Kara," The Man shouts, now fully dressed. "What are you doing?"

"I came to help you," I answer. "You were by yourself. All alone. You told no one you were leaving! No one except Anthony."

"Higgin, you idiot."

"Don't call Anthony an idiot. Why didn't you tell anyone you were leaving for Hub City? Wait, no. Don't answer that just yet. Answer this first. What was that 'form' from before? Could you always do that?"

"Kara, I'm not going to answer that."

"Why not? I just saw you take a bite out of someone! I saw you without any eyes but a hundred teeth!"

"Kara," The Man says, putting up a finger. "You walking on thin ice here. Please be quiet."

"No. No, I think it's time. I'm sorry but I really think it is time you tell us. Especially me. I mean, you kiss me during the---"

"Kara," The Man yells. His yell startles me and makes me jump.

The Man, who is now breathing heavily, looks at me. Even though he's wearing a pair of sunglasses, I can still see the red eyes.

"Kara," The Man repeats, putting up a shaking finger. "I don't know what you think happened during the time change, but whatever did happen, did not happen. And that, before, that was nothing. Okay? Okay!"

"Okay," I say, keeping my shaking fist down. With that said, The Man then turns away.

40: Chapter 40: The Hunt

Spectre:

Moaning as I fight through a headache, my headache only gets worse when someone slaps me across the face.

"Hey," someone shouts. "Wakey, wakey, Sleeping Beauty!"

The person slaps me again. I don't know if it is because of me or him, but after the third slap, my eyes snap open, and I see the mysterious man standing over me.

His hand is behind his head. He's swinging it toward me but I catch his hand and slam it down with enough force to break it. However, despite how hard I slam it down, the man seems unfazed.

"Never do that again," I say. The man still looks unfazed. He pulls back his hand and stands up. Once fully up, he crosses his arms.

"I thought I sensed someone creepy lurking around. Spectre, what are you doing here? And why?"

 Pushing myself up and dusting myself off, I look right at the man.

"I came here to stop you from possibly killing Black Mask," I answer. As I answer the man, I try to pull in my green cape but when I do, I feel a sharp pain in my arm.

"Ahh," I cry, stopping. Looking down at my arms, I see a large bruise on my right forearm. "No way. That is--that is---"

"Not possible," a female voice says, finishing my sentence. Looking back up, I see Supergirl standing behind the man. "Yeah. That's 'The Man' for you. Always making the impossible possible. And being annoyingly mysterious."

Despite the strange bruise and my wonder about how the man could have actually hit me, I ignore both of them for now and painfully pull in my cape.

"You cannot kill Black Mask," I say.

"Why not," the man asks, "Not that I really care or was about to but why not? If I remember correctly, you're actually one for 'punishment', not just a slap on the wrist? Shouldn't it be Phantom Stranger who is telling me to stop? Where is he anyway? I only sense you."

"You sensed me," I repeat. "Interesting. Normally, no one can sense or even detect me. My power keeps me well shielded."

"I have heightened senses, and I'm not just talking about the normal five senses."

"You are truly an interesting person," I say. "Nevertheless, and as much as I hate to say this, you cannot kill Black Mask."

"You already told me that. It's why that you haven't told me yet. Why can't I kill Black Mask? What? Is he somehow important all of a sudden?"

I turn my back to the man and Supergirl. Using my power, I start to fade away. Before I disappear into thin air, I turn back to the man.

"I know what Black Mask is doing is horrible, and what he had planned is even worse," I say, "But you cannot kill Black Mask. There had been enough senseless deaths already."

The Man:

With that said, Spectre then faints away. When he vanishes from sight, I look around, my head turning left and right. I close my eyes and focus my hearing. I try to sense whether Spectre is still somewhere around, lurking, but I don't sense anything.

"He's gone," I say. I turn around to look at Kara but as I do, I see her eyebrows in a V-shaped. "Kara. Is everything oka--"

I stop myself before I can finish. I know what is wrong, and honestly, I think it would be better if Kara and I don't ever talk about it again. Besides, I think we have something else to talk about.

"Did you hear what Spectre said," I ask. "Before he disappeared?"

"What," Kara asks.

"Just before he left," I explain, "He said what Black Mask is doing is horrible, but what he had planned is even worse. What does Black Mask have planned?"

Black Mask:

"Ahhhh," I cry, holding my shoulder with my hand. "He bit me! The fucker bit me! What the hell! And what the hell was that? What the hell was that giant monster he turned into! Ahhh!"

"Stop moving," Lady Shiva says while wrapping my shoulder. She throws my hand to the side and wraps the bite marks on my shoulder. Despite my screaming and cursing, she goes on, finishing the wrapping.

"Come on," I yell, kicking the back of the driver's seat. "Faster! Faster! I want us there now!"

"Understood, boss," my driver says. Stomping on the gas, we don't even stop to open the garage door. Instead, we run right through it, tearing a hole in the metal door. The car coming to a stop, I push open the door and walk out.

"Boss," my driver says as he gets out himself. "Just give me sec--"

"Too slow," I yell, pulling out a pistol and shooting my driver. A few minutes after he falls to the ground, my other henchmen arrive. They drive through the hole in the garage door and quickly get out. Once everyone is out in the open, I switch my pistol for a remote control. Pushing the button on it, a secret elevator rises from the ground. It opens and I, along with Lady Shiva, and two of my henchmen get in.

"Someone clean him up," I order before I disappear beneath the floor. As the elevator carries us down, I turn to Lady Shiva.

"Do we have everything," I ask, rotating my bitten shoulder.

Lady Shiva reaches into her pocket and pulls out a cell phone. She makes a few calls before lowering her cell phone.

"We have everything ready," Lady Shiva answers.

"Finally," I say. "Prepare the artifacts. I want to start the ritual as soon as we can."

The rusted elevator dings as its doors open, and I walk out.

Dr. Jonathan Crane:

"On average," I say, checking the heart rate monitor. "About 80 beats a minute. That's not bad. In fact, that's very healthy. Ms. Iris, please write that down."

"80 beats a minute," Ms. Iris repeats. She writes down everything I said in a notebook.

I check the rest of the monitors, saying out loud the numbers on them while Ms. Iris writes them all down.

"Based on everything here," I say, turning to Ms. Dinah. "And everything I have read and studied, Mr. Oliver is recovering extremely well. As far as I can tell, there is no need to worry."

I feel a little happy when I see Ms. Dinah let out a sigh of relief. She smiles as she turns to her husband who is still sleeping inside the incubator. She places one of her hands on the glass and places her head against it.

"Thank you," she says. I decided to give her a few more minutes before clearing her throat. She turns to me.

"Okay," I say, "Ms. Dinah, with all due respect, it's time for you to go. The Man gives strict orders not to let anyone out of their beds until he sees them again, and I already let Supergirl out. Ms. Iris, could you please?"

"Of course."

Ms. Iris places her hands gently on Ms. Dinah and slowly guides her out of the room. They disappear back into the infirmary while I do some last-minute checks on Mr. Oliver. However, as I'm checking on the dialysis machine, I hear screaming.

"Ms. Iris," I shout. I start to run but stop.

"No, I can't! I'm not a fighter! Not anymore! But--but--but Ms. Iris!"

Looking to the side, I see a small scalpel. I grab the knife before charging into the infirmary.

"Ahhh," I shout as I charge.

"Put my scalpel down," The Man shouts as he and Supergirl step into the infirmary through a portal. Immediately, I put the scalpel down.

"You're here," I say. "Wait. I can explain about Supergirl. I know what you said, but Supergirl was insistent that she was ready. That she was 100 percent and that she could---"

The Man claps his hands in front of me, shutting me up. When I stop talking, The Man then slaps me on the side of the head.

"Ouch."

Turning away from me, The Man pulls out his phone and starts calling someone. While he's on the phone, I walk up to Supergirl.

"How was Hub City?"

"Bad," she answers, "Very, very bad."

"Oh."

The Man puts his phone down and turns on the infirmary's computer.

"Higgins," he shouts. "Higgins! Are you there? Higgins!"

"I'm here," Anthony yells, his silhouette appearing on screen. "What's going on? Why are you yelling?"

"Are you still trying to break the encryption on the hard drive Batman gave Kara and me?"

"Yeah," Anthony answers. "I'm making some progress, but unfortunately, not a whole lot. This encryption, it's different from Superman's usual encryption. Whatever is on this drive, it must be super sensitive."

"Stop with the encryption for a second," The Man orders. "I need you to do something else."

"What's that?"

"I need you to try and find Black Mask. According to the Spectre, he had something planned. Something big and something bad. We need to know what is it."

"The Spectre," Iris repeats. "Who's that?"

"A ghost with a green cape," Supergirl answers. "I don't really know, but according to him, Black Mash has something planned and it's worse than all those robberies he committed."

"Worse than almost 100 robberies in the last month," I say. "Oh boy."

"Higgins," The Man says, "Can you find him?"

"I'm trying," Anthony answers, "I'm trying, but Black Mask had close to no digital footprint. It's like he's living underground. I can't find him anywhere. There are only a few signals but they're here and there. They're not enough to get an accurate location."

"Show me what you got."

Anthony's silhouette then minimizes. While he's in a tiny box in the upper right corner, a map with a few dots takes up the rest of the screen.

"That's strange," The Man says, leaning in closer to the screen. "Doc, come here for a second."

I waste no time and walk over to The Man's side. I lean in and look at the screen myself.

"Notice something," The Man asks.

I study the map and the dots for a second before noticing something.

"Wait. There is something strange about these dots."

"What's that," Anthony asks.

"Well, it doesn't look like it but most of these dots are actually in or around Gotham."

"Gotham," Ms. Iris repeats. "Gotham City? But wait, I thought Black Mask was robbing stores in Hub City."

"He is," The Man says, turning back to Ms. Iris.

"But most of these dots are in or around Gotham," I say again, also turning back to Ms. Iris. "Including the latest ones. They're located only a few miles outside."

"Well, that may be the case," Anthony says, grabbing all our attention, "But I've looking through the cameras of Gotham City and I haven't seen him or any of his henchmen walking around the city. I've seen a few cars drive around but no suspicious SUV."

We all look at each other as we try to figure this out.

"Most of the signals Anthony picked up are in or around Gotham City," I say again.

"But Higgin hadn't seen any of them," The Man goes on.

"Could Anthony be wrong," Ms. Iris asks.

"Hey wait," Supergirl says, stepping forth. "What if Black Mask really is living beneath Gotham?"

41: Chapter 41: Deep Down

Supergirl:

"What do you mean by that," The Man asks.

"I mean," I say, turning to Anthony. "What if Anthony is right? What if the reason we can't find Black Mask is because he really is living underground?"

Everyone looks at each other as they try to understand what I'm saying.

"Nope," Anthony says. "I still don't get it."

"Neither do I," Iris adds.

"I'm still lost," Scarecrow says, raising his hand.

"Well," I say, taking a deep breath. "I can't be sure how accurate this is, but during the time change--"

"Oh no," Dinah says, "Not the time change."

"Hey," The Man shouts, grabbing all our attention. Looking right at Dinah, The Man points at her before zipping his lips. "Go on, Kara. Something about the time change."

"Yeah, well," I repeat, "During the time change, I was told we had captured Black Mask. I wasn't told how, but according to Bruce, Black Mask's hideout was beneath Gotham."

"Beneath Gotham," Iris repeats. "So, he's living in a giant cave underneath Gotham City?"

"No," The Man says, "Not just a giant cave. A whole forgotten city!"

"A forgotten city," I repeat. "Wait, now I'm lost. There's another city underneath Gotham City?"

"Thanks for everything, Higgins," The Man says, walking over to the computer. "Please get back to breaking the encryption on the hard drive Bruce gave us."

"Sure thing," Anthony answers. "Wait, before I go, what is this about a whole forgotten cit--"

The Man ends the call with Anthony and starts searching for something. It takes a while but I think The Man found what he wanted. He downloads something from the computer onto his phone. Once the download is done, The Man takes his phone and turns around.

"Everyone meet me in the meeting room," The Man yells, "Now! We found Black Mask's location."

Raven:

With my eyes closed and my hands on my knees, I meditate while floating in mid-air.

"Azarath," I start, "Metrion. Zinthos. Azatath. Metrion. Zeinthos. Azatath. Metrion. Zeinthos!"

As I meditate, my eyes snap open and I uncross my legs. With my feet back on the floor, I put my fingers on my head and telepathically speak to the others.

"Felix Faust," I say, "Klarion. Morgan le Fay. Mordru. The Lords of Order have detected the beginning of a powerful spell. It can only be the man with the sunglasses. Prepare yourself. We leave now."

When I am done, I swing my hand, the floor turning a dark red. A few seconds later, red arms burst out from the red floor. They push themselves up, my father's horned minions, and bow at my feet.

"Your Highness," one of them growls. "Your bidding is our only duty."

I smile when I hear this.

"Prepare yourself," I say again, "All of you. We were going to Old Gotham."

The Man:

"Old Gotham," Ivy repeats. "That's real?"

"Yes," I say, nodding my head. "Old Gotham is real."

"Wait, what 'Old Gotham'," Kara asks.

"Old Gotham is the 1st, original, Gotham City," I answer. I push a button on the table and a hologram of Old Gotham, along with many old photos and newspaper clippings appear. "Built in the early 1600s, Old Gotham started as any small town before quickly growing into one of the most populated cities. By the time it reached its peak, Old Gotham had a population of almost 350 thousand, only short of Paris, the most populated city at the time, by 50 thousand."

"Okay, I have to ask," the Professor says, raising his hand before stepping up. "These photos and these articles. They don't look...fake. They look almost genuine. Like you got them the day they were printed. How is that possible?"

"Easy. It's because they are genuine. I took these pictures and brought these newspapers the day they were printed, and have been saving them ever since. I used to live in Old Gotham."

"What," Harleen shouts. "That can't be right! Based on what you just said, you would have to be, what, at least 400 years old."

"I am 600 million years old," I correct. "Give or take a few million years."

It was almost like it was on cue. How everyone's eyes went wide. How everyone's mouth fell open. How they all said 'what' simultaneously.

"Anyway," I go on, "It was in the 1800s that Old Gotham was buried, and Gotham, the present-day Gotham, was built right on top of it."

"Okay," Rusch says, now it's being his turn. "Ignoring the fact that you're apparently 600 million years old--Seriously?"

"More or less. When I got to the age where I could drink and drive, I stopped keeping track."

"But you don't drink," Selina says.

"But I do drive. A lot. Over the years, I have gotten behind the wheels of a lot of cars."

"Ignoring that fact," Rusch yells, grabbing our attention again. "Are you saying that Black Mask is living beneath Gotham City? In Old Gotham? How would he even get in?"

"Easy."

I tap another button on the table. The news clippings and photos disappear while the hologram of Old Gotham enlarges. When the hologram is about 30 percent bigger, a bunch of lines appear above it. They draw themselves while going further up.

"Despite being buried, there are still some very old tunnels that connect Gotham to Old Gotham. The most accessible being this one."

I tap at one of the tunnels, causing both Old Gotham and the other tunnels to disappear. Now, a new hologram appears.

"Arkham Asylum," Ivy says. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Why is there even a tunnel to a forgotten city in an asylum?"

"I don't know," I shrug, "Maybe a few inmates at Arkham Asylum were historians and wanted a quick little tour of Old Gotham? It's actually a very interesting city with some unique builds."

"Wait, wait, wait," Harleen says, shaking her head and hands. "Did you just say you don't know? You don't know something? Wow. That's a first."

"I know a lot, but not everything. Anyway, as I said, the most accessible tunnel to Old Gotham is beneath Arkham. Thankfully, it had been abandoned since Superman's first regime. We should have no problem getting in. Once we find the tunnel and use it to get into Old Gotham, we can find out what Black Mask is planning, and stop it."

I push one last button on the table and all the holograms floating in mid-air vanish.

"Oh yeah," I say, snapping my fingers. "Todd. Slade. I forgot to give these to you two before."

Reaching into my jacket pockets, I pull out two custom discs. Throwing them into the air, the discs bounce off the wall and table before Slade and Todd catch them.

"Those are called excellneno-suits. They're custom suits designed and built by me. Just slap them on yourself and you'll find yourself in a new suit with a few other 'tricks'."

"Tricks," Slade repeats.

"I'll show you," Harleen says, leaning in and whispering. "These are so awesome. I can fly!"

"Are you high," Todd asks.

"I really, really hope not," I say, "After all, in about 30 minutes, we're all going spelunking."

42: Chapter 42: The Asylum

Poison Ivy:

Throwing one of his knives, The Man breaks the lock on the old Arkham Asylum's gate. Kicking the rusted gate right off from the weed-covered pillars, we all walk into the old asylum's courtyard.

"Okay," The Man a few steps onto the field of dead grass and brown leaves. "Everyone. Slap your wrist and activate your comms."

We all do as The Man said. Slapping our wrists, The Man begins role calls. One by one, we place our fingers against our ears and say our names.

"Harleen here," Harleen says, "Hearing you loud and clear."

"Firestorm here," the two say, "We both hear you."

"Ivy. Ivy? Ivy!"

"What," I say, realizing only now The Man is calling me. "Yeah. I'm here. I'm right here."

"Yes," The Man says. "I know you're right there. I can see you. I need to hear you."

The Man taps his ear.

"Yeah," I say, nodding my head. I copy The Man and place my fingers against my ear. "I can hear you. I can hear everyone."

"Okay," The Man says, turning away from me. He quickly finishes role calls before telling us the plan again. "Split into teams and search all of Arkham Asylum until we find that tunnel. Once one of us finds it, call the others. We re-group around the tunnel before entering Old Gotham. Got it?"

"Got it," a few of us reply.

"Understood," Deathstroke says.

"Let's go," Reverse-Flash and Flash say. The two run off, quickly kicking up a windstorm before disappearing around a corner.

"We got the east wing," Blue Beetle says. He, along with Supergirl and Red Hood, leave on their own.

"We'll search the basement and the rest of the underground floors," Selina says. She, Firestorm, and Deathstroke gather together before leaving us. Now, it's just Leonard, me, and The Man.

"Come on," The Man says, waving his arm. "I guess we're left with the top floors."

"Top floors," I repeat, following The Man as he kicks the front doors, again, the doors flying off the hinges and onto the dusty floor. "Shouldn't a tunnel to an underground city be somehow closer to the ground?"

"Yes, but I'm hoping to find something in the offices on the top floors that can point us in a certain direction or to a certain room. It's better than us just running around looking for a secret button or a lever."

"Make sense," I say. "Somewhat."

As the three of us make our way through the empty halls, filled only with dust bunnies, I make sure to keep a constant eye on Leonard. Leonard is moving with us. He's not slow or anything, but something seems off in the way he's moving. Also, since the time change, Leonard hasn't really said anything. Before, he used to talk. He used to make comebacks against The Man. Not just The Man but everyone else, but now, he just stopped. It's like he's dead.

"Promise me," Lisa said, "Keep my brother safe."

"Hey," I say, slowing down until I'm side-by-side with Leonard. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Leonard answers coldly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"I'm only asking because--"

"Ivy, not now. I think we're here."

"Oh. Yeah. Okay."

Walking up a flight of stairs and onto the top floor, the three of us walk down another hallway until coming to a set of rusted double doors. For the third time this night, The Man stomps his feet against the doors, knocking them down.

I turn to Leonard, expecting him to say something like "You really don't like doors, do you" or "You know, the doorknob is right there". Instead, he stays quiet.

"Nothing," The Man says, picking up and going through some old papers. "Nothing. Nothing."

Leonard and I copy him. We both pick up our own stacks of papers from the ground and start going through them.

"What exactly are we supposed to be looking for," I ask. "Mention of a secret tunnel to Old Gotham?"

"No," The Man answers, picking up another stack. "More like a certain room that no one is allowed in."

As The Man says this, he sighs, slaps himself on the face, and drops the papers.

"A certain room that no one is allowed in," The Man repeats. "Oh my god. Cold, Ivy, drop the papers. They're not important. You are, Ivy."

"Me?"

"Well, you and Harleen. Both of you two were inmates here, right?"

"Yes," I say, throwing down my stacks.

The Man taps his wrist.

"Harleen, are you there? Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, fearless leader," Harleen answers.

"Harleen, you were an inmate here at Arkham Asylum. Right?"

"Yeah. Actually, we're in my old padded cell. I'm looking at a few of my old drawings on the wall. Wow. I was an amazing artist."

"Yeah," Firestorm says. "They're amazing. They're really 'amazing'. Totally not scary at all."

"Harleen," The Man shouts. "Ivy. Do you two remember any rooms we were never allowed to enter? Or even ask about that? A room that didn't seem like much but was always guarded or under watch? A room or certain area with too much attention?"

"A room with too much attention," I repeat, thinking it over.

"A room that didn't seem like much," Harleen says, "But was always guarded?"

I hear Harleen snap her fingers and the snap triggers something in my head.

"The south wing's tool shed," we both yell.

"The south wing's tool shed," Flash repeats. "What?"

"I didn't go there a whole lot," I start, "My cell was in the west wing, but now and then, we inmates could take a walk around. I remember once, walking into the south wing's garden and seeing a bunch of guards around a simple-looking tool shed."

"Yeah, yeah," Harleens says, taking over. "I remember the exact tool shed Ivy is talking about. I saw it too and asked but the guards told me I shouldn't worry and to go away."

"South wing's tool shed," The Man says. "Okay. We have a location. Everyone, gather at the south wing and look for a tool shed."

The Man turns to me and smiles. He then leaves the office. When he leaves, I turn to Leonard.

"Come on," I say, nudging my head. "Let's go."

Leonard doesn't seem too focused on what's going on at the current moment. He looks more focused on his wrist. Leaning to the side, I see the time and day on a hologram display.

"Leonard," I say.

Leonard slaps his wrist, the hologram disappearing, before looking at me.

"Yeah," he says. "What? What's going on?"

"Tool shed," I say. "Let's go."

"Yeah," Leonard says, heading for the door. "Let's go."

The Man:

"Will you please do the honor," I ask, stepping aside. Slade pulling out his pistol, shoots the lock right off the door. "Beretta 92. Not a bad gun."

"Thanks," Slade replies, sheathing his beretta. "You got one yourself?"

"Yeah, but I don't use it a whole lot. I prefer the basic Glock 17."

"Not a fancy gun," Slade says.

"Not a fancy guy," I answer, walking up to the tool shed's doors. A simple yellow tool shed, as Harleen and Ivy said before, it's is nothing. Barely any taller than me, the windowless shed is covered in weeds and roots. Having to cut through them, I struggle to slide the doors open. When it is open, I enter.

"Nothing much," I yell from the inside. "Some tools. Shovels. Trowels. A ripped garden hose."

Grabbing the rusted tools, I start throwing them outside.

"Head up," I shout as I pick up a rusty, web-covered shovel. The others quickly get out of the way as I keep on throwing things out. Once the floor is clear and I can see it, I close my eyes and place my fist on it. Putting my hand up, I then slam it back down, my palm hitting the floor.

"What are you doing," Todd asks.

"Quiet," I say, trying to listen to the vibrations.

"Listen to the earth," Toph once told me. "Sense the vibrations."

Everything around me is pure black. My eyes are closed and I see or hear nothing. I punch the floor again but it's still hard to sense anything. The tool shed's floor is made from rotting wood. The tool shed is surrounded from all sides by loose dirt. Also, Barry won't stop tapping his foot.

"Barry! Stop tapping your foot!"

Thankfully, Barry stops tapping his foot. Better yet, he didn't even ask how.

"I need to use semi-sense more," I tell myself as I punch the wooden floor again. As I punch the floor this time, I sense some strange shaking. "That's odd."

I feel the wooden floor as it bounces up and down against the dirt. I feel the dirt as it shakes against each other. As the dirt shakes, I feel a sudden stop. The sudden stop is followed by loose bits of dirt. I sense them at first, shaking before disappearing.

Smiling as I get up, I turn back to everyone who is watching from the doorway.

"I found the tunnel," I say. Nodding my head, I walk to the back wall of the tool shed and raise my foot once more. Stomping against the wall, I make a hole in the wall before crawling through. Now behind the tool shed, I start digging in the dirt. It only takes a few seconds.

"Ivy," I say, stepping back and revealing an old, manhole cover. "If you and your plant could."

Ivy nods and summons weeds to pull the cover off.

43: Chapter 43: Old Gotham

Kara:

"This is absolutely disgusting," Selina says, her voice echoing all over the tunnel. Selina stops and looks at her hand. If it's anything like my hand, it's also covered in dirt and rust. "Aww. I feel like I'm going to throw up."

"Don't," Firestorm yells. "We're right underneath you!"

"Hey," Selina says as all of us keep climbing down the tunnel toward Old Gotham. "Why don't you two just fly down?"

"This is too narrow for anyone to fly," The Man answers from somewhere below. "There's barely enough room for us to squeeze down here in the first place. Hey! Watch where you step! That's my hand, you moron!"

Despite how far I am from The Man, I can still hear him punching someone.

"Ouch," Barry cries out a few seconds later. "Hey! Don't hit my feet! I'm trying not to slip here!"

"So am I."

"Enough," I yell, shaking the dirt and rust from my own hands before grabbing the ladder again. "This tunnel is small. It's crowded. Let's just get out of here fast."

"I couldn't agree more," The Man says. "Watch your steps, Flashy. Otherwise, I'm going to be using my broken hand to pull you off the ladder."

It takes some time, and a lot of threats from The Man, but finally, we all reach the bottom of the tunnel. With my feet hitting solid ground, I turn around and see something almost unbelievable.

"Welcome to Old Gotham," The Man says, clapping his hands clean before turning around and spreading out his arms.

Despite its name, its age, and the whole city being buried, Old Gotham is still standing tall and strong. There aren't any lights but the massive buildings are still shiny. Mostly made from bricks or stones, the buildings are all lined with either iron, gold, or both. The iron and gold appear to be only a little rusted. The windows are only covered in a little dust and nothing seems to be broken.

"Oh my god," Harleen says after climbing down the ladder. "This is Old Gotham? It's not old at all."

"Yeah," Cheetah says, joining in. "Look at the streets. And the stores. And even the cars. They're all fine. Almost in working condition."

"Like someone just froze Old Gotham in time," Slade says. "I can't believe all of this is right underneath Gotham City."

"Neither can I," Poison Ivy says. "And I lived in Gotham my whole life."

"Come on," The Man says, waving his hand. "This way."

We all follow after The Man as he leads us down a small hill right into the forgotten city. As I step into Old Gotham, I can't believe my eyes. Everything is set up like everyone is just minding their own business. While passing a dinner, I see plates and cups are properly set up. Across from the dinner, I see a new stand with papers all evenly aligned.

"I don't get it," I say. "Why was this Gotham buried? I mean, looking around, I don't see anything wrong. Everything looks fine."

"Better than fine," Jason adds. He reaches into one of the buildings nearby and turns on a light above the door. "This place had electricity?"

"Shouldn't," The Man says, stopping and turning around. He walks over to where Jason is and examines the light himself. "Black Mask and his men must have fixed the city's generation. If that's true, then the guardians must have power too."

"The guardians," Flash repeats. "What's the guardians?"

"It's one of these," The Man answers, pointing to something nearby. Nudging his head, we all follow The Man as he leads us across the street to a glass display with the word "wonder" written in bold across it. In the glass display is some sort of robot with brown and green armor. It had a cone-shaped head and yellow eyes but no mouth. On its back are what looked like pipes.

"These are the guardian robots," The Man starts. "They were the wonder of Old Gotham."

"Look like something from an old sci-fi movie," Firestorm says.

"Why are these considered the 'wonder of Old Gotham', Jaime asks, his helmet coming off.

"It's because these aren't just for decor."

"Wait, wait, wait," Harleen says, shaking her hands. "You can't be serious. Are you saying these--"

"Are actual robots that can move? Yes. A combination of both steam and electric power, these robots can not only move but also fight."

"Fight," Reverse-Flash repeats.

"They were called the guardians for a reason. They worked with Gotham's coopers for a few years until they were all deactivated and put on display."

"Why were they deactivated," I ask.

"It's because they were too strong," The Man answers, turning back to look at the old robot. "According to over a hundred reports, these guardians would break people's hands, arms, and legs, almost killing them in many instances. Despite being a marvelous innovation, for the time being, they were also a danger."

The Man taps the glass before walking out into the street.

"Okay," he shouts, "Black Mask is somewhere in Old Gotham, and we need to find him fast. Split into teams, the same as before, pick a direction, and go in that direction until you see something. Once you see something, call the rest of us, and we all come charging your way. Understood?"

Black Mask:

"Hey boss," one of my hackers says. I turn around from my men as they prepare both the artifacts for the ritual.

"What is it," I ask, walking over to him.

"Motion sensors in the robots just went off," my hacker answers. "You need to see this."

My hacker turns his laptop and shows me the whole Insurgency in Old Gotham.

"Son of a bitch," I say, grabbing the laptop. "The whole Insurgency is right here. How? How did they even get in?"

Increasing the volume, I practically slam my ear against the laptop so I don't miss a single word any of them are saying.

"Aye aye, Captain," Harleen says, saluting someone before leaving with Black Canary and Cheetah. One by one, they all leave each other and go in different directions.

"Son of a bitch," I say again, throwing the laptop back at my hackers. "They're all going in different directions. No doubt they're looking for me. Fuck."

I turn back at my men. According to what I've learned, the ritual is almost ready, but I still need some time to prepare everything.

"Lady Shiva," I shout. "Where the hell are you? Lady Shiva! Get over here now!"

A few minutes later, Lady Shiva appears before me.

"What is it," Lady Shiva asks.

"The Insurgency is here," I say. Lady Shiva shakes when she hears this.

"Is...he here too?"

"I can't tell. He didn't appear in the recording, but it won't matter if he is. Once the ritual is done, then I will be the one with powers."

I rub my shoulder as I think about the man in the sunglasses.

"For now, gather any men you need and stop them from coming here. And you."

I turn to my hacker.

"Unleash the guardians."

My hacker nods his head and starts typing on his computer.

"It's done," my hacker says after a few minutes. "The guardians have been unleash."

I look toward the main part of Old Gotham as I hear the sound of glass breaking.

"Bye-bye Insurgency."

Flash:

Skidding to a stop, both Reverse-Flash and I look around.

"What is that sound," Reverse-Flash asks, the sound of something breaking echoing throughout all of the city

Blue Beetle:

"Is that...glass breaking," Red Hood asks, pulling out two pistols.

"I think so," I say, activating my arm cannons. "But why?"

"Guys," Supergirl says, pointing at a glass display as the guardian inside starts moving.

44: Chapter 44: Ancient Technology

The Man:

Watching as one of the Old Gotham's guardians comes to life, it breaks through its glass display before charging toward Cold, Ivy, and me. Making holes in the street as it runs, the guardian pulls back its arm.

About to punch Ivy, I jump in between her and the guardian. Shooting out my hands, I pull my dual swords from thin air. Spinning them in circles, I slice the guardian's arm off before spinning around and slicing the head off.

The three of us all watch as the guardian's head falls right off, the sound of it hitting the street echoing in the old city. It's followed by the sound of the guardian's headless body falling.

"That's strange," I say, looking at the guardian's dead body.

"Strange," Ivy repeats. "That's strange! That's all you can say!"

"No. I cannot say this whole sentence. And the word no."

Ivy's face turns redder than her hair but I don't care. I care more about the robotic guardian. More precisely, how an almost 200 years ago robot came on. Before I drop to my knee to examine it, I spin my sword again before stabbing it through the guardian's chest, at the very least, impaling it.

Once impaled, I rip both the chest and head apart and examine them.

"Keep an eye out," I say, already examining the inside of the guardian's head.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Ivy says, she and Cold standing guard.

"I knew it," I say. Inside both the guardian's head and chest are transmitter chips.

"The first transmitter chips were first invented in 1959," I think, looking them over. "Over 100 years after Old Gotham was already buried. But these chips aren't from 1959. They're almost brand new. Can't be more than one, maybe two years, since released."

Throwing the chips to the ground, I then check the screws.

"These are new. No rust on them whatsoever. Not brown but still silver-colored. That confirmed it."

I stand back up and turn to Cold and Ivy.

"Someone modified this guardian recently. I found transmitter chips and new screws in them."

"Someone modified them," Ivy repeats. "Had to be Black Mask or one of his men."

"No doubt."

Pulling the sword from the guardian's chest, I tap my wrist.

"Attention everyone," I shout, "Be aware! Black Mask knows we're here! He activated the guardian robots! Be careful!"

It takes a few seconds before anyone can answer me. When Beetle does answer me, I can hear something else in the background.

"Yeah," Beetle says, his voice mixed in with the sound of blaster fires and stone breaking. "We know! Supergirl! Cuidado!"

Hearing Beetle tells Kara to watch out, I lower my wrist and look back down the street.

"Come on," I say, running down the street.

"Where are you going," Ivy yells. "We just came from that way!"

"We're going back," I answer.

"Why?"

"I didn't know about Black Mask modified the guardians. Don't you remember what I said about the guardians? About them breaking arms and legs? About them being a danger! We have to regroup with the others and change tactics!"

I try to walk back down the street. I try to regroup with Kara and everyone else. I think it would be better for us to split into bigger groups instead of the small ones we're all in now. I try to do all of this but before I can, I hear the sound of stone breaking. I then see bits of dust raining from above.

Looking up, I see more guardians on the building. They're crawling down toward us.

Jason Todd:

Reaching into one of my jacket pockets, I pull out a small grenade. Pulling out the pin, I throw the grenade at a group of guardian robots. It explodes and the guardians are swallowed by black smoke and fire.

I thought it would be enough, that the guardians would be destroyed, but I'm right. Walking out of the black smoke, each with one missing arm and a few exposed wires, the guardians charge toward Supergirl, Blue Beetle, and me.

The first guardian tackles Blue Beetle, knocking him off his feet. The second guardian follows Supergirl as she flies back. The third guardian pulls back its arm as it runs.

"Son of a bitch," I cry, jumping and ducking underneath a swing. Rolling across the street and landing on my feet, I pull out dual pistols and turn around. "Die already, you damn hunk of ancient junk!"

Despite all the bullets hitting the guardian, it does nothing more than make sparks. The guardian stomps its metal feet as it walks toward me. Sheating one of my pistols, I switch it for my combat knife.

"Wait for it," I tell myself, "Wait for it. Wait for it! Fuck. I'm going to hate this."

The guardian grabs my throat as soon as it can. Lifting me into the air with almost no effect, I look at the exposed wiring on the side of its head. Twirling my knife in my hand, I stab the guardian in its head, my knife entering through the exposed wiring.

The guardian shakes as I twist the knife around. It shakes, sparks come off it, and its eyes turn off and on. A few seconds later, the guardian lets go of me before falling over.

Gasping after the guardian lets me go, I look up to see Supergirl burn through her guardian with her laser vision, the robot melting before splitting in half. Meanwhile, Blue Beetle places one of his hand cannons against the guardian's face. Firing, Blue Beetle is now pushing a guardian with a hole in its head off of him.

"Hijo de un arma," Blue Beetle shouts. "Those freaking robots are tough!"

"Yeah," I say, rubbing my throat. "Sunglasses wasn't kidding when he said those things are dangerous."

"But wait," Supergirl says, slowly flying down toward the Bug Boy and me. "How did they even turn on? And why did they attack us?"

"Black Mask," I answer, sheating my knife and reloading my guns. "Had to be him."

"I thought Black Mask was a crime boss," Blue Beetle says, "Not some sort of genius hacker, programmer, robot guy."

"He's not," I say, dropping an empty clip and replacing it with a loaded one. "But I'm betting he hired a few computer and robot geeks that can."

Pulling back the barrel, I look through the sights on the top before lowering it.

"Where to now," I ask.

Blue Beetle opens his mouth. He looks like he's about to say something but before he can, Supergirl cuts him off.

"Watch out," she yells, getting in between the two of us and pushing us back. As Supergirl pushes us back, I see a rocket heading for us. It's being fired by a group of men, and standing right next to the one holding an empty launcher is Lady Shiva.

Punching the rocket, and flying right through the fireball, Supergirl reaches the group of men. She grabs the one with the launcher and lifts him up. She throws him into the other men, knocking all of them down.

Kara:

"You're going to need more than rockets or bullets to stop me," I say, turning to face Lady Shiva.

"I know," Lady Shiva answers, reaching behind her. Pulling out a golden staff with a purple crystal on it, Lady Shiva aims it at me. As she does, the purple crystal lights up. It glows brightly and before I can do anything, a lightning bolt shoots out.

I scream as the lightning bolt hits me, electrocuting me before throwing me back.

"Ahh," I moan, holding my chest. Fighting through the shock, I raise my hand a little and look down. There, I see the S on my suit. It had a tear right through it, with the end being slightly burnt. A shadow growing over me, I look up to see Lady Shiva standing over me.

"Rockets or bullets don't stop you," Lady Shiva says, the golden staff in her hand and the purple crystal already lit up. "But I know magic does."

Thinking fast, I use my laser vision against Lady Shiva but she shoots out her golden staff again. Another lightning bolt shoots out, overpowering my laser vision and hitting me.

Reverse-Flash:

Vibrating my hand at high speed, turning it into a blur, I stab a guardian robot with it. My hand goes through the robot, the damn thing freezing up. Its eyes turning off and its arms falling to the side, I swing my hand out. As I swing my hand out, the whole left side of the guardian's chest explodes, and the ancient robot falls to the empty street.

Looking at the Flash as he shoulder charges another guardian and knocks it to the street, he then runs over to the guardian before it can get up and stomps on his feet.

"How many is that," he asks, looking at all the guardians we've destroyed.

"Too many," I answer. "The better question is how many more are there."

Flash and I both look up when we hear the sound of someone screaming.

"Is that...Supergirl," Flash asks.

"I don't know."

"Whatever."

Flash bends down. He bends his arms and legs and prepares to run off, but as he pushes off the street and runs, he almost immediately trips afterward.

"Ahh," he screams as he falls a few feet from me. "What the hell? Ahh!"

I jump when I see Flash being dragged back to where he was. It was like something invisible had grabbed his leg. It grabbed his leg and dragged him back to where he took off. Letting go of his legs, I look past him when I see a large black circle appear in the street.

The circle expands, shooting into the air before splitting apart and revealing a golden Raven and others.

"Flash," Raven says, her voice sounding like thunder. "And Reverse-Flash I see."

"Oh shit," Flash says, pushing himself up.

"Oh boy," I say, bringing up my fists.

Black Mask:

Hearing explosions, gunfires, and screaming, all coming from the Northern part of Old Gotham, I turn to my men.

"Hurry," I yell. "Hurry! Hurry!"

My men move as fast as they can. They finish painting the ground according to the spell book. They place the three artifacts in the center for me. Snapping my fingers, another one of them hands me the potion Lady Shiva prepared. I bite down on the cork and split it out. Drinking the whole potion in one swallow, I walk toward the center.

I don't even get to the center before the symbols on the ground start glowing. I begin chanting while assembling the artifacts, putting them together into a key.

45: Chapter 45: Portal Opening

The Man:

Jumping and flipping through the air, I grab the guardian by its head and slam it down onto the street. It doesn't destroy the guardian right away but it does stun it long enough for me to stab the guardian in its head.

The guardian shakes and twitches as the lights in its eyes go out. Pulling out my sword, I hear footsteps coming up from behind me. Spinning around, I slice the arm right off a second guardian. Its arm falls to the ground, the wires sparking and the fingers moving slightly. The guardian pulls back its other arm. It throws a punch but I dodge it, crouching down and slicing off both its legs. Exactly like the one before it, I stab this guardian in its head while it's on the ground. As I pull out my sword, I see more guardians approaching us.

"This is getting us nowhere," Ivy shouts, raising her hands. As she raises her hands, the street cracks and opens, and thick, dry, brown roots shoot up. They stab a few guardians but the guardians are resilient. Despite some of them losing their arms and legs, they still walk or crawl toward us. As for the ones that weren't stab, they simply break the roots and walk toward us.

Reaching into my jacket, I pull out a handful of kunai and throw them at the guardians. My kunai either explodes or releases an electricity charge that short-circuits the guardians. One by one, they're either blown up or fall to the street smoking. Watching as a guardian is electrocuted, I hear Ivy screaming and turn around.

One of the guardians that lost its legs grabs Ivy and is pulling her down. It pulls her down until she's on the street. With one hand on her throat, the guardian pulls back its arm. About to punch Ivy, Cold kicks it off her.

"Get off her," Cold yells, freezing the guardian and stomping on its frozen head. Once the guardian is disabled, Cold turns to Ivy, dropping to his knees.

"Are you okay," Cold asks.

"Yeah," Ivy answers. Cold offers her his hand and she takes it. Together, the two stand up and look right at each other.

"Excuse me," I say, struggling to keep rid of the guardian that has me in a headlock while keeping another guardian from pulling me down. "I could really use some help here!"

Reverse-Flash:

Running around Raven and her pathetic group, I dodge all the incoming magical blasts and bolts. Running and ducking, I slide underneath some beam attack from some stupid kid with horns and blue skin. Running right up to him, I punch him across the face, knocking him to the ground.

They all turn toward me and fire but using my super speed, I run around them and punch some tall woman with a gold mask. She screams as she falls to the street. With his back turned to me, I'm about to punch some old man with black hair and a suit. However, before I can, something hits me. It hits and knocks me to the street.

Moaning as I push myself up, I look up to see Raven. Using her dark magic, she crushes a bunch of guardian robots, turning them into green and silver metal balls. She throws them at me. Dodging them, I run up to Raven. Pulling back my arm, I throw it forward, trying to punch Raven. Throwing it with all my might, I stop all of a sudden.

Holding out her hand, Raven smiles as she picks me up. My feet hover in the air, and my arm is pushed back.

"I know speedsters like you can heal fast," Raven says with a smile. "But I wonder if you can heal from a broken neck?"

Using her other hand, Raven magically grabs my head and starts turning it. I try to fight back but Raven's magic is too strong. All I can do is scream as I feel my head turns against my will.

"Aghh," I cry out. With my neck already hitting its limit, I can't even see Raven anymore. However, I can hear her screaming. When she screams, my head snaps back and my feet hit solid ground again.

"What the," I say, seeing a smoking Raven on the street.

"You okay," someone asks. I turn to see Barry standing behind me. As he asks this, I see both his arms smoking.

"Yeah," I answer. "Come on. We need to move now!"

"What," Barry yells. "Are you insane? We should leave now! This is too much for us! Raven and the rest of them are here! And in case you've forgotten, Raven is getting a power-up from the Lords of Order! Even with our speed, we can't beat them!"

"Think you," I say, tapping Barry's forehead over and over. "We don't have to beat them! We don't even have to fight them! We just have to find Black Mask!"

I turn around and lower myself.

"You can go back," I say. "I'm going to find Black Mask!"

About to run off, I stop when I see the old man from before. He's pulling back his hands, preparing another spell. Already, his hands are covered in red lightning.

"Dammit," I think, "Raven stopped me before I could punch him. Son of a bitch."

I watch in slow motion as the old man shoots out his hands. Red lightning bolts shoot out from them, heading for me. About to run out of the way, I hear Barry shouting and look around me.

"Get out of the way," Barry yells while running in circles. As he runs around, he generates electricity. After only a few hundred laps, he stops and throws out his arm. All the electricity he generates shoots through his arm and into the air. His lightning bolt overpowers the old man's lightning bolt. It hits the old man, electrocuting him and knocking him down.

Watching as the old man stays on the street, I turn to Barry. I bite my tongue and swallow my pride.

"Thanks," I say. It seems I shocked Barry slightly. He freezes and looks at me.

"Uhh, no problem," Barry says.

I turn my head when I see some strange lights coming from somewhere deeper in Gotham. As the strange lights glow brighter and brighter, the ground starts to shake.

"Hold on," I yell, Barry and I dropping to our knees as whole buildings shake left and right. The shaking gets so bad a few guardians that are still climbing buildings are thrown. They're thrown from the buildings and hit the street with a loud thud. Surprisingly, despite being thrown from high up, they're still moving toward Barry and me.

I look back at Barry and he looks at me. We both nod our heads and run over the guardians toward the strange lights.

"Attention everyone," I say while running at super speed. "Barry and I see strange lights coming from the south of Old Gotham! We're heading there now!"

Kara:

Hitting a wall again, I fall off it, screaming when my burning chest hits the floor.

"Ahh," I moan as I push myself up. Pushing myself onto my knees, I hear a thud and look up. Lady Shiva, still holding the lightning staff in her hand, jumps through the hole in the wall and lands in the empty apartment room with me. Taking many breaths, I push myself onto my feet and bring up my hands.

Lady Shiva, seeing me back on my feet, raises her lightning staff. Power gathers inside the crystal, lighting it up. A few seconds later, it fires another bolt of lightning at me. Instead of trying to fight it, I fly over the bolt. The lightning bolt hits and destroys the wall behind me. Flying past Lady Shiva, she turns around but as she turns around, I use my frost breath to freeze the floor beneath her.

Lady Shiva jumps away. She's trying to dodge my frost breath but I follow after her, freezing the whole floor. As Lady Shiva lands on the frozen floor, she slips, falling to the floor and dropping the magical staff. It slides across the floor and out of the building.

"No more lightning bolt," I say, slowly approaching Lady Shiva as she struggles to stay on her feet. As I hover toward her, Lady Shiva spins in the air and kicks me. She doesn't knock me back. Instead, Lady Shiva pushes against me, sliding across the floor. Sliding out of the room and through the hole, she spreads out her arms as she falls down.

"She's going after the staff," I think, "I can't let her get it!"

I waste no time and follow Lady Shiva. She flips through the air and swings from ledge to ledge as she quickly climbs down. Landing on the street, she looks around for the staff. Seeing it nearby, Lady Shiva lunges for the staff but before she can grab it, I grab her first.

Holding her by the arm, I look right at Lady Shiva. She tries all sorts of tricks to escape me. She hits me all over the place. She pulls out knives and daggers but they all break immediately.

"What is Black Mask planning," I yell. "Tell me!"

Lady Shiva doesn't answer me. Instead, she turns her head. Wondering what she's looking at, I turn my head and see one of the henchmen bursting through a door. He sees Lady Shiva and me and comes charging toward me. Pulling out a pistol, he fires off a few shots as he runs toward us.

The bullets bouncing off of me, I fly over to him and grab his hand. Lifting him into the air, I bring the two of them together.

"What is Black Mask planning," I yell again. "Tell me!"

Before either of the two can tell me anything, something else hits me. It's not a bullet but something else. I turn around and see a little girl standing not too far from me and the two. In the little girl's hand is a rock.

"Let go of my daddy," she yells, winding up her arm.

"Daddy," I repeat.

Black Mask:

I scream as I feel the magic rushing into my body. The runes on my body start to glow and the massive rune on the ground is already brighter than the sun. The glow only intensified as I put the three pieces together. Once I'm finished putting the key together, I jam it into the ground and turn it.

Turning the key, the ground within the rune split opens. The whole cavern shakes as the ground quickly splits open. A few seconds afterward, a large bony arm bursts up.

46: Chapter 46: The Clash of Two Armies

Kara:

"Daddy," I repeat. I look closer at the little girl. The girl can't be more than six, maybe seven years old. She has long black hair and wears a pink shirt and blue jeans. She also wastes no time and throws another rock at me.

The rock bounces off my head before falling to the ground.

"Daddy," I repeat. I look at the thug I'm holding in my hand.

"Michelle," the thug yells. "Get out of here! Now! Go! Run!"

"No," the girl, apparently named Michelle, yells back. "I'm not leaving you!"

Michelle picks up another rock and throws it at me. This time, I drop both the man and Lady Shiva and catch the rock. The second his feet touch the ground, the man runs over to the little girl.

"What are you doing here," he yells, "This isn't safe! Go home! Now!"

The man turns around and looks at me. He reaches behind and pulls out a pistol.

"Stay back!"

"Hey, hey, hey," I say, putting up my hands. "I don't want to hurt you!"

I step back while holding up my hands.

"You don't want to hurt us," the man repeats, still holding his gun at me. "No! No, that's true! You don't want to hurt us! You don't want to have anything to do with us! That's why you left us all alone to die!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You left us," the man repeats, shaking his gun. "You left us all alone to die. We didn't have anyone. We couldn't do anything to keep ourselves safe. It was just us. All of us. Left alone." But Black Mask came! He came and he offered us everything!"

"Again," I say, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not Superman. I'm not one of his regimes or with his One Earth Government. I'm a part of the Insurgency--"

"None of that matter," the man screams, cutting me off. "One Earth Government! Insurgency! None of that matters! What matters the most to me is protecting my daughter! And I will do anything to protect her!"

As the man shouts this, his daughter hugs him.

"Daddy," Michelle whispers.

"Michelle," the father says. "Quickly! Get behind me!"

Hearing this, Michelle runs behind her dad. Despite hiding behind her dad, she still peeks out and looks at me.

I don't know what to do. Everything inside of me is telling me not to hurt the man or his child. He's pointing a gun at me but even he had to know it won't do anything against me. All I can do is just stand there with my hands in the air.

As I stand there, however, the ground starts shaking. It shakes violently, causing everyone to lose their footing. Dropping to my knees and placing my hands on the ground, I look around and see bright lights coming from behind some nearby buildings.

"Black Mask," I think. "Whatever he's doing must be causing all of this! I have to stop him!"

I push myself up and am about to launch myself into the air when I hear the cry of a little girl. Turning, I see Michelle on the ground. Her father drops his gun and quickly picks her up. Not wasting a second, Lady Shiva picks up the gun and aims it at me.

"Go," she shouts, the gun pointing at me but Lady Shiva looking at the father and his daughter. "Get back to the others!"

"Thank you," the father says before he runs off with his daughter.

"Others," I repeat. "There are others here?"

With the father and daughter gone, Lady Shiva can now entirely focus on me.

"You will not harm them," she says, holding the pistol in both her hands.

Harleen:

Screaming as I raise my giant hammer into the air, I scream even louder as I swing it down, crushing the freaking robot's head.

"Ahh," I sigh, looking at the guardian's eyes as they turn off. "Is that the last one?"

Cheetah, using her claws, rips the wires out of the head of another guardian.

"Dear god, I hope so," Cheetah answers. "I can't believe kids play with these!"

"Normally," I say, using my suit to transform my giant hammer into dual revolvers. "The robots kids play with are a little smaller. Also, they don't attack people."

As Cheetah, Dinah, and even I catch our breath, the whole city starts shaking, knocking us off our feet.

"Oh, now what," I yell.

The Man:

Dropping down onto my knees, I steady myself as the ground starts shaking.

"What's going on," Cold says, he and Ivy dropping onto their knees too. Ignoring them for now, I focus on my phone call right now.

"We're heading there now," Reverse-Flash says.

"Hold on," I shout, trying to be louder than the shaking ground. "Hold on! Do not go there by yourself! Wait for us! Thawne! Thawne! Can you hear me? Barry! Oh, for crying out loud!"

In their message, Thawne mentioned something about lights coming from south of Old Gotham.

"Strange lights," I repeat to myself. "That goes with what I'm sensing."

I turn my head toward the south of Old Gotham.

"Whatever Black Mask is doing, it's giving off a lot of dark magic. I sensed nothing but unrest and anger, and for once, it's not coming from me. Black Mask. What are you doing?"

Raven:

Flying through the air, chasing after Reverse-Flash and Flash, I stop when I sense an incredible surge of dark magic.

"This is what I sensed before," I tell myself. Hovering in the air, I concrete and locate where the surge is coming from.

"This way," I shout, looking back at the three as they teleport from rooftop to rooftop. Klarion, Mordru, and Morgan all nod their heads before disappearing again. Preferring to fly instead, I reach the source of the dark magic in only a few minutes.

As I approach the surge, I stop when, instead of seeing the man in the sunglasses, I see Black Mask standing in the middle of a massive rune. The rune is drawn into the ground and is glowing. It is filled with holes. Despite how far away I am, I can still hear Black Mask chanting.

I don't know what spell he is chanting or the rune he is standing in but I recognize the dark magic being used.

"Summoner magic," I think. I watch from high above as large arms shoot out of the ground. One by one, undead soldiers, made from blackened, broken bones, pull themselves up. They quickly assemble themselves and in only a few minutes, Black Mask has a whole army of them.

"Bow before me," Black Mask shouts, spreading out his arms. As he orders, his army of undead soldiers bow before him, dropping to their knees. As they drop to their knees and Black Mask laughs, I see a little bit of leftover dark magic climbing onto his face. They climb up his face, and now his "black mask" is covered in red lines.

Still watching as the red lines travel all over Black Mask's head, meeting up on the top, I hear someone shouting.

"Sir," one of Black Mask's goons shouts, pointing at me. "We have an intruder!"

"What," Black Mask asks.

Turning to the goon, he picks up a rocket launcher and aims it at me. Firing the launcher, the rocket flies toward me but using my own magic, I catch it. The rocket, now encased in a black grow, turns around and flies back toward the goon. The goon, along with the other ones surrounding him, all jump and run as the rocket hits them, unleashing a fireball.

"Attack them," Black Mask orders. His undead army wastes no time and gets up. They turn around and charge toward me.

I roll my eyes at this and swing my hand. Coming forth my own army, of red-horned minions, they too pushing themself from the ground, my army clashes against Black Mask's army.

My minions use their powers to fire beams of magic at Black Mask's army. However, Black Mask's undead army can quickly put themselves together after being blasted.

Flash:

Skidding to a stop when I see a bunch of red demons fighting black skeletons, I look at Reverse-Flash.

"Do you...know what's going on here," I ask.

"No clue," Eobard answers with a shake of his head. "What did we just run into?"

"I don't know but I think we should call The Man."

I nod my head and raise my wrist.

"A little head-up," I say after tapping my wrist and bringing up my suit's screen. "Uhh, Raven's here!"

"What," Dinah shouts.

"Oh seriously," Jason screams. "Like we don't have any issue!"

"That's not all."

"Of course not," Deathstroke adds. "What there now?"

"I can't be sure," I start, "But I think Reverse-Flash and I are looking at an army of 'black skeletons' fighting against red guys."

"Red guys," Cold repeats. "Flash, do these red guys have horned, white hair, and multiple limbs?"

"Yes," I say. The red guys vary from person to person but a majority of them do have horned, white hairs, and at least two extra limbs. "How do you know?"

"The Man and I fought them before! They're, come on, what are they? What are they? They're Raven's minions! Her demon minions!"

"Raven can summon a whole army now," Reverse-Flash asks.

"Barry," The Man shouts, now talking over. "Did you mention something about black skeletons?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Barry! Listen to me. I need you and Thawne to look around. Do you see anything like a rune, a magical rune drawn into the ground?"

Reverse-Flash and I look around for a few minutes before seeing a massive glowing rune. As The Man said, it's drawn into the ground, and the inside is filled with holes.

"Yeah! Yeah! I see the rune! It's where the strange lights are coming from! Do you know what the rune is?"

The Man says something but the ground shaking cuts him off. It shakes so violently this time Reverse-Flash has to grab and pull me out of the way of a falling rock.

"You okay," he asks.

"I'm fine," I quickly answer. "I'm fine."

Reverse-Flash and I look as more rocks fall from the ceiling, crushing Raven's minions and the skeletons.

"What the hell," I shout, watching as some of the skeletons that were crushed start putting themselves back together. As I step back, something hits me in the back of the head.

"Ouch."

I turn around and see Reverse-Flash.

"Don't swear," he says, pointing a finger at me. I roll my eyes and shake my head.

"What do we do," I yell, bringing up my wrist again.

"Nothing," The Man answers.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing! Everyone, listen to me! All this fighting, all this magic, that rune, it causing Old Gotham to fall apart! This place is falling apart! We need to get out or we'll be buried alive!"

Lady Shiva:

"What," I think, still holding the gun at Supergirl. "Is the man in the sunglasses lying? No! He cannot be!"

I look around and see cracks in the walls and in the ground. As the shaking intensifies, whole buildings begin to fall.

"The people," I shout. I drop the gun and run to where the families are.

"Hey wait," Supergirl yells, flying after me.

47: Chapter 47: The Collapsing City

The Man:

"Everyone," I yell while still on my knees. Another earthquake cutting me off, I do my best to keep myself from falling over while yelling into my phone. "Everyone! Old Gotham is falling apart! The whole city is collapsing! Evacuate! Now! Regroup at the tunnel we entered through!"

Cold, Ivy, and I start running but quickly stop

"I can't," Kara says. Hearing this, I skid to a stop.

"Kara," I say. I bring my phone to my ear and make sure I can hear Kara loud and clear. "What did you just say?"

"I can't leave yet," Kara repeats.

I sigh and roll my eyes.

"Why not?"

"Because Lady Shiva is heading away from the tunnel! She's running somewhere else!"

"Where?"

"I don't know but I can't leave her! I'm going to try and grab her and take her with us!"

"Just leave her," Cold yells, he and Ivy still running. "She's not with us! She's an enemy! Leave her! Who's cared if she's crushed or buried alive!"

"Leonard," Kara says. "I don't think Lady Shiva is just running. I think she's running toward something but I have to be sure."

Even though I'm looking at the back of Leonard's head, I know immediately he doesn't care. I, however, do.

"What could Lady Shiva be running toward?"

"A father and his daughter," Kara answers.

"A father and daughter," I repeat. This time, I shake my head and sigh.

"This is going to be a whole thing," I think.

I roll my eyes and change plans.

"Everyone who isn't me or Kara get to tunnel and get out! Kara! Keep following Lady Shiva! I'll meet you wherever she's going!"

"How do you know where Lady Shiva is going," Kara asks.

"I don't," I say, activating the tracker in Kara's excellneon's suit. Getting her position, I take a sharp right turn and run through an alley toward Kara. Running out of the alleyway and onto the street, a whole building starts falling toward me. However, even as the building falls, I run toward it.

Jumping directly into it, I leap from falling debris to falling debris, my feet pushing off against the broken pieces of concrete. Timing it right, I jump one final time before flipping through a falling window. Landing on the other side of the falling building, I push myself up and run toward Kara and Lady Shiva.

Lady Shiva:

"Thank god," I say, seeing the building still standing. The two-story building is shaking but it hasn't collapsed. Yet. Running as fast as I can, I reach the front door in seconds and kick it down.

Supergirl:

"Oh my god," I say, following Lady Shiva in after she kicked the door. Inside the building, I see more than just a father and a daughter. I see families. At least, I think they're all families. I see fathers and mothers all around crying kids.

"Don't worry," a woman with long black hair says. "Don't worry! We'll be fine! We'll be fine!"

The woman herself starts crying as she says this. She covers her eyes and starts crying too.

"Everyone just stays low to the ground," a man shouts. He stands up and looks around. "Okay! I'm sure Black Mask will come and save us any moment now!"

"Daddy," a little girl says, hugging the man's leg. The man sees the little girl and bends over to pick her up.

"It's okay," he says, holding her. "It's okay, baby girl. Don't be scared. Don't be scared!"

As I look around at all the families, one of them, a small boy sees and points at me.

"It's...It's a super," the small boy shouts. Immediately, all eyes turn on me. As they all turned on me, it felt like they were throwing burning hot knives at me. However, that feeling lasted for a second.

Right after they see me, they start screaming and running. The fathers and mothers pick up their children and run away. Meanwhile, a few fathers stand up against me. They either bring up their shaking fists or hold out their arms, shielding their families.

"I don't want to fight," I say, backing up. "Please! Listen to me. I don't want to fight any of you!"

"You're lying," one of the fathers shouts. "Why else would you be here?"

"To help you," a familiar voice answers. A second later, something flies through the air and lands on the ground in front of the shouting father. The father falling back, is helped by the other fathers. As soon as he's back on his feet, we all look at the ground and see a throwing knife. Smiling when I see the knife, I turn around and see The Man running toward me.

Skidding to a stop right next to me, The Man pulls out his swords and spins them around. Seeing this, the father backs up.

"Wait," I say, grabbing his hands and stopping him. "Don't! Those are fathers! And mothers and children! There are whole families here!"

"What," The Man yells, lowering his swords. "There are whole families here? Right here? Why?"

"Because Black Mask offered us a chance for a better life," one of the fathers shouts. The Man and I turn to him as he goes on. "Black Mask offered us a home not just for us but for our families too. He promised us a home and safety and food and so much more!"

"And let me guess," The Man says. "All Black Mask asked for in return is help with a few robberies. Am I right?"

It seems The Man is right. When the fathers hear this, they all turn their heads. It takes a few minutes but one of them faces us again.

"All I have ever wanted for my wife and kids is a life where they don't have to worry about their own safety. A life where they can walk down the street without having to worry about getting hurt or kidnapped by someone in a pig mask! We lost that life when Superman pulled out his regime patrols! And it was all because of you!"

The fathers all nod their heads and look at me. The way they're looking at me, the way they're saying everything is my fault, I couldn't handle it. I try to run away, to get away from all of this, but I can't. As I turn to leave, The Man grabs my hand. He stops me from leaving. He's looking at me too, but when he is, I feel a little better.

"With all your superpowers and your weapons," the father goes on. "Can you protect us? Can you?"

The Man opens his mouth to say something but before he can, another earthquake strikes. It shakes the whole building, knocking all of us to our knees. A few seconds later, we hear screaming from above us.

I don't waste a second and jump. Flying through the air, I break through the ceiling and enter the second floor. The whole second floor is crowded with women and children. However, none of them seems to be harmed. The only person who is harmed is Lady Shiva.

Lady Shiva's head is bleeding. Right beside her is a large stone and right above her is a hole in the ceiling.

"Lady Shiva," one of the mothers says. "Are you okay? Say something!"

Hearing footsteps, I turn around and see The Man jumping through the hole I made. He lands on the second floor with me and sees Lady Shiva.

"Move," The Man says, pushing his way through the kids and mothers. The kids and mothers try to stop him at first but when they see bandages in The Man's hand, they move aside. The Man drops to his knee and begins wrapping Lady Shiva's head. As he wraps Lady Shiva's head, The Man turns to all the mothers and children.

"We all need to get out of here," The Man shouts. "Old Gotham won't stand up much longer."

"We can't leave," one of the mothers says. "This is our home. Our only home. If this place is destroyed, then we have nowhere else to go."

"Listen to me and listen to me well," The Man says, standing up and facing all the mothers and children. "Your home is not in this soon-to-be destroyed rat trap. Your home is not buried a few hundred miles beneath sea level. Your home, as cheesy as this sounds, is where your family is. It's where you want to go because when you do, you see the people that bring you the most happiness. The people that you would do anything for. The people that you both hate and love, that will make you regret so many life decisions but also will make you smile and cherish those tiny precious moments."

As The Man goes on, I hear more footsteps. I turn around and see the same fathers from before. They come in charging, their fists ready for a fight, but when they see The Man, they stop. Now, they're just standing there, listening to The Man.

"I'm sorry about everything that happened to you. I don't blame any of you for making the choices needed to protect those you loved. Fully, but it's time to make that decision again. You and your family can't stay here. You all need to leave now! And for what is it worth, we will protect you."

The Man turns to look at me. As he does, everyone else does too. Again, everyone's eyes are on me. Almost immediately, I feel an almost unbearable feeling in my stomach. I want to leave. I want to run away, but something tells me not to.

"You can't leave," it tells me. "Not yet. Not until all of these people are safe out of here."

Whatever it is, I know it's right. I can't leave yet.

"Everyone," The Man says, all eyes turning back to him. "This is Supergirl, not Superman. They're both super, but only one of them still believes in absolute justice, not absolute power. Now, everyone. Do me, her, and yourself a favor and get out of here!"

The people waste no time. The fathers and mothers start grabbing their children and run back down the stairs toward the front door. A few mothers and even some children help Lady Shiva to her feet.

The Man makes sure the last kid is with his mother and father. Begin the person in the very, he starts pushing them.

"Come on, come on," The Man yells, "We don't have all days! I still have to cook dinner later! And I'll need at least 90 minutes of prep time!"

As The Man pushes a family of three, the ground shakes again. As the ground shakes, I hear crumbling, and a moment later, a large stone starts coming through the ceiling.

"Move," The Man yells, pushing the family away. He turns around to shield them but he doesn't have to. Flying as fast as I can, I shoot toward the stone and break it with a single punch. All that fall onto The Man are pebbles and dust.

"Thanks for that," The Man says.

"Don't mention it," I say back. "That was...quite a speech you gave."

"Yeah, well, I'm surprised it actually worked. Normally, my speeches are just really long insults. So no one really listens to them."

"What?"

"Come on," The Man says, "The whole city is collapsing and even you would have a hard time digging yourself out."

The Man follows the families as they run down the stairs. I follow him and altogether, we head for the exit. As we head for the exit, I realize something.

"There's no way we can get all of these people out of here with that small tunnel we climbed down. At least not before the city falls in on itself. We need another exit."

"I know," The Man says, "But where?"

"There's one in the southern part of the city," Lady Shiva moans. "It's how we moved supplies into Old Gotham. I can lead you there."

"Awesome. Thank you, Shiva."

As the first few families leave the building, they stop immediately.

"What's going on," I ask.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this," The Man says. "Kara, get ready."

I nod my head and together, we make our way to the front. There, we see bright red humanoids with white hair and glowing black hands.

"We found him," one of the humanoids says, raising his hands. "Capture him! And kill anyone in our way!"

48: Chapter 48: The Exit

The Man:

Raven's demonic minions firing their dark spells, I push everyone behind me and spread out my arms. Acting as a shield, I protect all the people and even Kara from the minions' dark spells. Despite screaming as the dark spells burn me, I still stand my ground. I refuse to fall over and let any of these people get hit.

"Hold on," Kara yells, jumping into the air. Flying and then hovering, Kara uses her laser visions and knocks them back. The minions see Kara and change target. They're now shooting at Kara. However, the second they forget about me, I turn around and throw kunai at all of them.

Hitting them directly in the head and chest, my kunai then explodes, knocking the rest of them back.

The children scream as the minions fall back. Kara lands in front of me and hits me in the arm.

"Relax," I yell, "They're not humans! They're demonic minions. Summoned by Raven."

"Raven's minions," Kara repeats before pulling back her head. "Wait, Barry mentioned something about these. Those are the demonic minions!"

"Yeah," I say, turning my head when I hear the sound of bones cracking. Turning around, we all watch as the demonic minions quickly push themselves up. Their arms and backs are bent in impossible ways and their heads are twisted beyond just a head snap but despite all of this, they can still fight. All they need is a few minutes to realign everything.

"Go," I shout, pulling out my twin swords. "They want me, they'll get me. Kara. Go with Lady Shiva and the people. Get them to that tunnel and out of here!"

"I'm not going to leave--", Kara says but I cut her off.

"Kara, these people need protection. They need you! I can handle myself just fine. Just go now!"

I see Kara opening her mouth, about to say something but I run off. As expected, the demonic minions ignore Kara and the people completely. They chase after me and leave the people alone.

Running down the street, away from the tunnel Lady Shiva mentioned, I turn back to see some of the minions stop and disappear into the ground. They turn into red shadows that move across the street. The shadows moving faster than me, the minions begin to reappear. However, before their bodies can fully materialize, I jump and stab the red shadows. The demons scream as they shiver and shrink away.

"Back down you go," I say, pulling out my swords. As I pull out my swords, I hear footsteps quickly approaching and turn around. The first of many, this minion throws his fist forward, his sharp black claws more than ready to cut me.

Blocking his claw, I swing my sword, slicing the minion's throat. Chocking and gasping, this minion steps back while holding his throat. Stepping back and trying to recover from a slit throat, two more minions take his place.

They throw and swing their claws, coming at me from every direction but I manage to block all their attacks. Ducking underneath a swing, I spin around and slice the minions' knees. Screaming as the minions drop onto their knees, I quickly stand back up and stab both in the heads.

Pulling out my swords, I think back to what I remember about these minions.

"They're like batteries. They can recover from any wounds as long as they have enough power! However, if I can damage them enough, they'll run out of power and be forced back down!"

I tell myself this as the two minions I stabbed fall back. Their faces are healing but as they heal, they shake and turn into blurs. Judging from how blurry they are, it means my attacks are causing a lot of damage.

"These two can't have much power left," I say. Sensing incoming dangers, I look up and see the rest of the minions charging. Altogether, they shoot out their hands and fire bolts of dark magic at me. About to bring up my swords and block them, I sense more dangers, this time coming from behind. I turn around only to have minions jump out from the shadow and lunge at me. They lunge at me and wrap their arms around me, forcing my arms down.

I can't do anything as the bolts of dark magic hit me.

Supergirl:

Everyone screams when they hear a massive explosion. Turning my head, I see a burst of black smoke shooting into the air.

"That's where The Man was running," I think. I want to fly over to him. I want to make sure he's okay. Despite everything he said and did, I still don't want to lose him. "The Insurgency needs him."

As much as I want to leave, I know I can't. I turn around and see all the people. The explosion scared them. They drop to their knees and group together. About to say something, I hear cracking and look up. Another part of the ceiling is breaking off and falling toward us, the biggest piece yet.

"Nooo," I yell, shooting up into the air. Catching the part of the ceiling, it takes almost everything I have to keep it from crushing the people. Screaming as I keep it up, I look at the people below.

"Go! Run! Get away!"

The people waste no time and start running. The parents pick up their kids and run as fast as they can. As soon as they're all gone, I drop down and the giant piece of ceiling crushes me.

"Ahh," I moan. Pushing my way through all the broken pieces, I punch through the last layer before erupting from the pile. Crawling out, I try to stand up but somehow, my legs feel weak and I fall over. However, before I can hit the broken pieces, someone catches me.

"Are you okay," someone asks. Rubbing the dust from my eyes, I see the same father from before; the one with the daughter, the one that yelled at me and The Man.

"I'm fine," I say, pushing myself up. "Are you okay? And everyone else?"

"Yeah," the father answers. "We're all okay. Come on! The exit tunnel is this way."

Running down the rock pile, the father picks up his daughter and altogether, the three of us head for the tunnel. More and more pieces falling off, I use my laser vision to destroy all of them.

It takes much more time than I like but finally, we all reach what looks like a large metal gate. The gate is circular and rusted. It looks built into the wall.

Pushing his way to the front, the father gently places his daughter down and starts tapping on a keypad.

"Come on, come on," he says before slamming his hand down. "Dammit! I don't know the passcode!"

"There's a passcode?"

"Yes. Black Mask and his team installed a passcode here. I guess he wanted to make sure no one would ever go outside without his permission, or something like that!"

The father turns around and yells at the crowd.

"Hey! Hey! Does anyone know the passcode! Anyone?"

"What about Lady Shiva," someone in the crowd answers.

"Yeah," someone else goes on. "Lady Shiva should know the code!"

"Wake up," someone screams. "Come on! Wake up!"

I follow the screaming and see a man shaking Lady Shiva.

"Wake up," a man yells. "Come on! Come on! The code! What's the code!"

"She's out cold," one of the women holding her shouts. "She can't answer you!"

Still shaking Lady Shiva, we all stop when we hear a familiar roaring.

"Oh no," I say, jumping and flying into the air. Once in the air, I see a bunch of demonic minions with glowing hands approaching the people. They have us trapped.

"Where is the man with the sunglasses," one of the minions says as he steps toward the crying people. With his hands already risen, the minion fires off a beam.

Without even thinking about it, I fly down and get in between the minions and the people. Screaming as the magic hits me, burning me, I drop to my knees. Holding my burning chest, I look up at the minion as he approaches me. Grabbing me by the throat and lifting me up, the minion places his glowing hand near me.

"Where is the man in the sunglasses," the minion asks again.

I keep my mouth shut. I refuse to tell this monster anything.

The minion throws his hand forward, but before he can punch me, someone runs into us and knocks us over.

"Ahh," I cry, rubbing my head while pushing myself up. "Who was that? What the--"

I rub my eyes to make sure I'm not seeing things. Unfortunately, I'm not. It wasn't a person who saved me. It was a black skeleton.

A bunch of black skeletons are attacking the minions. The minions are shooting the skeletons with their magical beams but the skeletons are quickly putting themselves back together. Once they're back together, the skeletons go back to punch and throwing the minions.

"It's Black Mask," one of the fathers shouts. "He saw us in trouble and he's saving us! He's saving u--Ahhh!"

Before he can finish, one of the black skeletons grabs the father by the back. He raises him into the air before throwing him down and stepping on him.

The people all scream and run away. Seeing this, both the minions and skeletons start chasing after them. I try to help everyone but skeletons stomp on me.

49: Chapter 49: No One Gets In

Supergirl:

"Get off of me," I yell, pushing myself up. Slamming my hands on the ground, I push against it, raising myself up. However, more skeletons jump on me, forcing me back onto the ground. As more and more skeletons pile onto me, they punch and scratch me.

"Ahh," I cry as I feel one of the skeletons scratch my arm, leaving long cuts on it. A bunch of hands wrapping around my head, altogether, they push me down onto the ground and keep me there. Through the cracks in the fingers, I can see the families begin attacked by both the skeletons and demonic minions.

The mothers are trying to protect their kids while the fathers are trying to fight back but it's useless. I see father after father being thrown around by the horrifying black skeletons or being blasted by the demons. They scream and shout as they fall to the ground smoking. Once the fathers are dealt with, the skeletons and minions move on to the mothers. They do their best to shield the kids but are quickly taken down. The kids cry when they see their mothers being attacked.

"Come on," I yell, "Come on! Come on!"

Using my laser visions, I burn through the hands of the skeletons holding me down. Freeing my head, I try to push myself up again. Punching cracks in the ground, I begin to push myself up slowly. I fight through all the skeletons attacking me. I fight through all the punches and scratches they bring. I ignore everything and focus on getting back on my feet. About halfway up, something happens and something hits me.

Screaming as I again fall back onto the ground, even more skeletons jump onto me, and more hands cover my face. Barely able to see with all the hands on my head, I can only see the outline of someone in blue clothing with glowing hands. Whoever the person is, he aims at me with his glowing hands. I look past the person and at the children.

The children are all surrounded by skeletons and minions. They're crying and shaking. A red minion grabs one of them, a young girl. She's crying as the minion shakes her.

"We will protect you," The Man said.

The Man said we will protect these people but we can't. He and I can't. I know that explosion from earlier was him. If he survived whatever it was, then he would have been here by now.

"He's gone," I think, "And I'm pinned. I can't do anything! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

I watch as the demonic minion holding the girl raises his glowing hand. Pulling back his arm, the demonic minion throws it forward.

Flash:

Screaming at the top of my lungs, all of Old Gotham echoing with my scream, I pull my arm before throwing it forward. My fist goes right through the demonic minion. He shakes and turns into a blur before turning around to look at me, the sound of bones cracking as his whole head turns to me.

Opening his mouth, and showing off his sharp teeth, the minion drops the little girl. Again, I hear the sound of bones cracking as his arms rotate. Now face to face, the minion prepares to attack me, but with my speed, I vibrate my hand at a high frequency before punching the minion directly in the head.

Vibrating my whole body at a higher frequency, I watch the minion shake and blur with me. A few seconds later, the minion disappears, turning into red dust.

With the minion gone, I look at the little girl as she looks up at me.

"Don't worry," I say, "We're here to help."

Hearing something, I look to the side and see a black skeleton running toward me. Pulling back my arm and leg, I prepare to run toward it and destroy it. However, before I can, Reverse-Flash runs up to it from the side and punches the skeleton. Doing the same things I did, punching the chest first and then the head, he vibrates at a high frequency before ripping the skeleton apart, broken bones flying everywhere.

"Keep the kids safe," Eobard shouts, pointing at the kids before turning to face the mess of demonic minions and black skeletons. "I got these bastards!"

Slamming his fist into his palm, Eobard pushes off the ground and charges.

Black Canary:

Shooting Felix Faust with his arm cannon, Blue Beetle keeps him and everything else back while I use my Canary Cry to kick all the skeletons off of Supergirl. Shattering and breaking into thousands of pieces, I run over to Kara and help her up.

"Kara," I say, wiping some dirt off Kara's face. "Are you okay?"

"III--II--II," Kara stutters, looking around and seeing all of us here. "I don't understand. You're here? All of you?"

"Yeah," I answer with a nod. Turning my head, I smile when I see all of us here; Harleen, Catwoman, Firestorm, and the rest. All of us fighting apparent skeletons and demons.

"The only things missing are zombies," I think while pulling Kara up. "Kara! Where's The Man?"

The Man:

Feeling the rush of raw powers flowing through me, I swing my sword, cutting the final demonic minion in half. As his upper half is sliding off his lower half, both halves vanish. Growling and grinding my teeth, I look around the empty street.

The whole street is covered almost entirely in burnt marks and scratches. All the nearly windows are shattered and there's a massive hole in the ground.

"Something is wrong," I think, crushing my sword handles. Sniffing the air, I pick up the heavy scent of dark magic and follow it. Running as fast as I can, through whole buildings, I run in the same direction Kara and the families took. I'm expecting the worst. I'm expecting Kara to be hurt and for the families to be gone but I see everyone, every single member of the Insurgency, fighting together, I stop.

"What--What is going on," I ask. "Is this right?"

Somehow, everyone is fighting together. Everyone works together to defeat the minions and skeletons while defending innocent families. Despite the overwhelming numbers, the magical blasts, and the regenerating skeletons, everyone is still fighting with everything they have.

Seeing how everyone works together, even former enemies, even Kara, I feel something different. I stop crushing my sword handles. I stopped growling and grinding my teeth. I take a deep breath and breathe. Closing my eyes, I feel the raw powers inside me slow down.

Opening my eyes, I see a large gate built into the wall, with a keypad beside it.

"That must be the exit Lady Shiva mentioned. I'm guessing no one knows the passcode. Okay. Plan B."

Jumping into the air, I run along the heads of minions and skeletons before jumping higher into the air. Slamming my swords down, I slice the gate open. The pieces fall, and everyone, alive or undead, stops and looks at me.

"Fathers," I yell, raising my sword. "Mothers! Grab your children and run out of this tunnel!"

Thankfully, the fathers and mothers listen to me. They move fast and grab their families before running past me and into the tunnel. A few skeletons see the running families and follow them but I quickly stop them, slicing off their arms and legs before going for the heads.

"No one gets in," I say, holding up my swords.

"No one gets in," someone repeats. I smile when Kara lands beside me, also blocking the tunnel exit.

"No one gets in," Flash repeats, running to my side.

"No one gets in," Red Hood joins.

"No one gets in," Harleen yells.

One by one, we all stand side by side and say "No one gets in".

"Attack them," Felix Faust orders, all of the demonic minions charging toward us. The black skeletons charge alongside the demonic minions. It seems they stopped fighting each other and decided to fight us. However, that doesn't matter to us.

I raise my head and shout, my battle cry fueling the others as we all charge ourselves.

"Ahh," I scream and run. A demonic minion raises his hand and fires a beam but I drop to my knee and slide underneath the beam. Shoulder bumping the minion and making him stop, I then cut his body in half before slicing the head off.

Another minion coming in from the side, I spin my sword around before jabbing it through the minion's head. This time, a skeleton comes forth. It tries to grab me but I kick out its leg, the bone breaking off. Tipping to the side, I swing my swords all over, cutting and breaking every bone.

As I destroy this skeleton, I sense an incoming threat and turn. I see Harleen using her giant hammer to hit a skeleton but even after being hit, the skeleton is pulling itself together.

"Kara," I yell, pulling out some kunai and throwing them. "Cold! Ivy! You three are the best at dealing with the skeletons! Kara, use your frost breath! Freeze them! Ivy, use your plants to trap them! Keep them from pulling themselves together! Everyone else! Focus on the demonic minions! Keep attacking and draining their powers!"

Captain Cold:

"On it," Supergirl yells, immediately using her frost breath to freeze a bunch of skeletons. Ivy raises her hands and summons a bunch of thick brown roots. Commanding them, she uses them to grab a bunch more skeletons and pull them apart. The skeleton parts try to pull themselves together but can't. Meanwhile, I'm shooting and freezing a bunch of skeletons one by one.

As I freeze another skeleton, I see a little boy and girl holding hands. They're running toward the tunnel but a minion grabs the little girl.

"No," the little boy shouts. He turns around and lunges at the minion. "Let go of my sister!"

Seeing this, I see flashes of Lisa, and immediately, I run toward the minion. Tackling him, I place the barrel of my cold gun right up and against his forehead. Squeezing the trigger, I freeze the bastard's head, sealing it in a block of ice.

With the minion stuck, I push myself up and run to the kids. Helping the little girl up, I push her toward her brother.

"Go," I yell, pointing at the tunnel. "Get out of here!"

The two nod and leave. Meanwhile, I turn to more demonic minions and skeletons.

"As the saying goes," I say, aiming with my cold gun. "When hell freezes over."

Felix Faust:

Putting my fingers to my forehead, I telepathically speak to Raven.

"Raven. I found The Man. He's--"

Before I can finish, someone hits me.

50: Chapter 50: Magical Warframe

Ares:

Hitting the wizard, Felix Faust, in the back of the head, he screams and stumbles forward. Holding his head as he stumbles, Felix Faust quickly turns around and faces me.

"You," he yells. He shoots out his hands, encasing them in blue fire. "I still owe you for all those years of pain and suffering!"

"I regret nothing," I shout. I wave my hand around right and left, and a sword appears in a red mist. "You were nothing more than a pretender! Seeking powers you could never understand!"

"Oh I understand," Felix Faust says. "I understand you were nothing more than a power-hungry tyrant who should have stayed buried in Hades!"

Pulling back his hands, Felix Faust shoots them forward. He shoots the blue fire at me. Seeing this, I quickly hold up my sword to block the flames but somehow, it doesn't work. I scream as my hands burn and I am forced to drop my weapon.

"I have new power," Felix Faust says, approaching me. "Courtesy of the Lords of Order! Begins of true, endless power!"

The fire around Felix's hands disappears as he raises them. Magical energy gathers between his hands, forming a large, electrifying orb. When he is ready, Felix throws the orb at me.

John Constantine:

"Ouch," I say, shutting my eyes. Despite shutting my eyes, I can still hear Ares screaming. He screams and is thrown from the rooftop onto the streets below. Still watching as Felix follows Ares onto the street, the two then enter a magical fight.

Snapping my fingers, I summon a small fire to light my cigarette. Taking in a deep breath, I turn and see the bitch herself, with her small squadron, flying toward The Man.

Blowing out some smoke, I wave at the bitch. She sees me and lands in front, her small squadron landing with her.

"John Constantine," Raven says, clenching her fists. "You dare help The Man?"

I don't answer right away. Instead, I take in another deep breath before blowing some smoke.

"Uhh, yeah," I say, nodding. "The man in the sunglasses. I'll admit, he's a bit of a weirdo, but I prefer him over you. And that goes for your Lords of Order buddies too. Tell those fuckers I send them this."

I show Raven my middle finger.

"Oh, you're going to get it now," Klarion the Witch Boy shouts. Pulling back his hands, Klarion shoots them out. Black and red lightning bolts flying toward me, I smile when the bolts vanish, turning into harmless gusts of wind.

"What the--," Klarion says.

"My turn," I say, still smiling. Holding out my hand, I flick my cigarette toward Klarion. As my cigarette flies toward Klarion, it turns into a fireball that hits and knocks him down. While everyone else turns to Klarion, Raven still staring at me.

"You don't have to hide," Raven shouts, "I can see you."

As Raven shouts this, bright lights appear in mid-air. They sprinkle and shine before transforming into white smoke. The white smoke lets out a puff before disappearing, and there, standing in the disappearing white smoke, is Zatanna.

Zatanna:

"So much for that trick," John Constantine says, walking up to my side.

"I knew it wouldn't work for long," I say, tipping my head so my top hat can slide down my head, along my arm, and into my hand. Adjusting my black and white magician robe, I straighten my red bowtie before pulling out my black and white magical wand.

"Raven is mine," I say, "Can you handle Klarion and the others?"

"I do what I can," John answers, raising his hands and putting up fists. "But I would ask that you hurry. Klarion, Morgan, and Mordru are stronger than usual."

"Thanks," I say with a nod. Running forth, John begins chanting spells. With fireballs appearing in his hands, John throws them at the three, forcing them back. Meanwhile, I'm left alone with Raven.

"You should've stayed down," Raven says, spreading out her hands as they glow with a combination of her father's demonic magic and the Lords of Order magic. "The last time you tried to go against the Lords, they almost killed you."

"Yeah, but he, along with Iris and surprisingly, Scarecrow, helped get me back on my feet," I reply with a smile. "And this time, I planned on staying on my feet!"

The first to make a move, I tap and twirl my wand against my hat. Magical energy gathering together turns into a ball that flies toward Raven. However, Raven raises her hands and summons a shield.

My attack hits the shield and dispenses, leaving Raven completely unharmed.

"Pathetic," Raven says. Spreading out her hands again, only wider this time, Raven disappears into the ground.

"What the heck!"

I watch as Raven shrinks into a large black shadow. The shadow jumps from one end of the rooftop to the other. It appears beneath me before lunging out and grabbing me.

Harleen:

Screaming as I raise the bat over my head, I hit the demon in his 'sensitive spot' over and over. Each time I do, he screams and yells out loud, which makes me feel a little better for some weird reason.

Going in for another swing, a blast from the side knocks me to the ground. I fall to the ground and my bat slides away from me.

"Son of a--" I shout, looking behind me. A demonic minion with smoking hands is running toward me. Looking at my bat, I crawl and jump for it. However, before I can grab it, the demonic minion grabs my legs and pulls me back.

"You will not--"

Before the red bastard can finish, The Man jumps and rolls onto the ground. He takes my bat while in mid-roll and uses it to hit the demonic minion. The minion cries out as The Man hits him and sends him back to Hell.

I watch as The Man, using both my baseball bat and one of his swords, slices and hits countless demons and skeletons in minutes. No matter what they did or how many there were, The Man quickly destroyed them.

Hitting a skeleton with my bat, The Man knocks the skeleton into a demon before spinning around and stabbing both of them in the heads. Kicking a skeleton in the leg, he knocks out its bone, forcing the skeleton onto the ground. Now using my bat as a golf club, The Man winds up his arm before swinging my bat.

"Fore," he yells. I watch as the flying skeleton's head hits another skeleton in the head.

"Hey," I shout, walking up to The Man.

"What," he asks.

"Can I please have my baseball bat back?"

"Technically, it's mine but sure. Thanks for the loan."

Throwing me my baseball bat, I see something coming from behind some buildings and even more something coming from rooftops building.

"Hey, what's going on up there?"

The Man turns and looks at where I'm pointing.

"Dark magic," The Man answers after sniffing the air like a dog. "Black Mask and Raven. They're the source of these two armies. Are the families out yet?"

I take a quick look around.

"All of the families have entered the tunnel, but they're not outside yet."

"Tell the others to keep fighting," The Man says, running off.

"Sunglasses, where are you going!"

"To break some skulls," The Man answers, leaving the fight and disappearing through an alleyway.

"Break some skulls," I repeat. "What? The skeletons here aren't enough!"

Black Mask:

"Be born," I yell, raising my hands high. "Be born, my endless army!"

As I yell, more and more black skeletons pull themselves up from the ground. They claw and dig at the dirt before pulling themselves out. When they are out, they charge toward the Hub City's tunnel.

"Boss," my hacker yells.

"What," I shout. "Do not interrupt me!"

I order a few of my new skeleton soldiers to advance toward him.

"Wait, wait, wait," my hacker says, stepping back. "No boss. Look. Look!"

I look at where my hacker is and see someone fighting his way through my skeleton soldiers. Slicing their bones, he stops in front of me.

"Black Mask," this man with sunglasses yells. "Stop this. Now!"

Running toward me, the man lunges at me with dual swords. However, I catch them with my bare hands.

51: Chapter 51: Breath

The Man:

Trying to push my swords further down, I look at Black Mask as he laughs. Without even breaking a sweat, Black Mask pulls back one of his hands before shooting it forward. Screaming as he hits me, I skid against the dirt, barely catching myself.

"So I'm guessing you're this 'man in the sunglasses' that got Superman all shaken up," Black Mask says, slowly approaching me. As he approaches me, Black Mask starts to unbutton his suit. "You don't seem like a big deal to me."

Stopping only a few feet from me, Black Mask pulls down his suit top and vest. He takes off his shirt and reveals to me giant muscles with dark red lines covering all of them. The horrible smell is more than enough to confirm my suspicions.

"Dark magic," I say, twirling my swords. I twirl them in the air for a few seconds before stabbing them into the ground. Leaving my swords standing on the ground, I bring up my fists.

"You know," Black Mask says, also raising his fists. "There's a bounty on your head. 50 billion dollars for any information leading to your capture. I wonder how much more I can get if I bring you directly to Superman."

Slamming his fist into the palm of his hand, Black Mask unleashes an invisible shockwave that pushes me back.

"Don't start counting those bills yet," I say.

Black Mask laughs as he runs to me. Pulling back his fist, Black Mask throws it forward. However, I duck underneath the straight punch. Now standing behind Black Mask, I throw repeated blows against his waist. Despite all the repeated blows, Black Mask lets out a small, quiet cry. A cry so quiet that even Kara can't hear it.

Turning around while swinging his arm, Black Mask hits and sends me flying through the air. Screaming as I hit the ground, I hold my chest while pushing myself up.

Shaking my head, I hear laughing and look up.

"Easy money," Black Mask says, cracking his knuckles as he approaches me.

John Constantine:

"Ahh," I scream, holding my waist. "Bloody hell!"

Quickly pulling back my hand, I see blood flowing out of a cut. Biting my lip, I look back up and see Klarion smiling as he holds out his hand.

Pushing myself up, I raise my hands and prepare a spell. Already, my hands start glowing bright yellow.

"Agicst o'--" I chant before someone else hits me from behind. Screaming again as I fall onto the ground, I fight through the burning sensation and turn around. There, standing in front of me are Mordru and Morgan, both burning with dark magical energy. Mordru and Morgan put their hands together and combine their next attack. The dark magical beams combing together shoot toward me. Pushing myself up as fast as I can, I swing and wave my hands, summoning a barrier to block the beam. However, the shield doesn't even last a full second.

The combined beam shoots right through my barrier and hits me. It burns and knocks me into the air. Bouncing up and down while stinking like burnt bacon, I painfully push myself up before holding my arm.

Barely sitting up now, I look at Klarion, Mordru, and Morgan all approaching me. The three of them holding out their hands, preparing for another magical beam, I sigh and show them my middle finger.

"Final words are mine," I say with a smile.

Zatanna:

Raven crushing me, my arms squeezing against my chest, I instead wiggle my fingers. Using my magic, I summon a deck of cards to appear in my fingers. Bending the cards, I shoot them out, hitting and destroying the shadow.

The shadow dispensing and fading away, I fall to the ground. Moaning as I push myself up, I look up in time to see a large shadow form in front of me. Raven slowly rises up from the shadow. Once out, she then shoots out her hands.

"Damn," I think, "The Lords of Order gave Raven more power than I thought. She's going to be tough to take down. But I can't stop! I can't!"

Flicking my hands, I summon my magical wand and top hat. Waving my wand around my top hat, I swing my wand out, and out comes a bright-yellow blast. The blast shoots through the air and toward Raven. It hits Raven dead-on, but it doesn't even faze Raven.

She's smiling as my blast turns into dust.

"Is that all you got," Raven says, shadows shooting out from her hands. Stepping back, watching as the shadows grow over me, already darkening the city, I prepare for the worst.

"Take a deep breath," a voice tells me.

"What the hell," I say, looking around. "Who was that?"

"Don't swear," the voice says. "And it's me. The man in the sunglasses."

"You! But how?"

"Pleasure to finally meet you, Zatanna. Now, take a deep breath, and breathe. Calm your mind, and let the magic flow through you."

As the man in the sunglasses says this, I feel different. Suddenly, I feel so energized. I feel more powerful than even before. It feels like something new is rushing through me, charging me up.

"Breathe," the man in the sunglasses repeats. "Breathe. Magic is like a breath of energy. Breathe in and out and turn the raging energy inside you calm."

I close my eyes and breathe. Despite the giant shadows shooting toward me, I slowly inhale and exhale. I breathe in and out as the man tells me.

Opening my eyes, I summon a magical trick box and enter it.

Raven:

My attack destroy the trick box Zatanna summon. The shadows tear the box to pieces, turning into nothing more than woodchips.

"Wait! Woodchips?"

I look again but all I see are woodchips. There is no blood.

"She's...gone! But where!"

Looking around, my head snapping left and right, I feel someone tapping my shoulder. Turning around, I see Zantanna standing right in front of me, and behind her is another black box with stars all over it.

"Ta-da," Zantanna says, tapping her top hat again. Another blast shoots out of it and hits me, knocking me back.

"What the hell," I shout. This magical blast is almost completely different from the previous one. The one before only tickled me, but this one. This one pushed me back.

Pulling myself up, I look at Zantanna and immediately, I sense something off about her.

"She too is getting extra power," I think, "But from where?"

Black Mask:

Screaming as I lunge forward, I try to punch The Man but he dodges underneath my lunge.

"What in the hell is he doing," I ask. For some reason, The Man isn't fighting me anymore. After pushing himself up, The Man reached into his jacket and pulled out a long black rag. He wrapped the rag around his eyes and blinded himself.

Now, all he is doing is holding out his hands while breathing in and out.

"What is this," I yell, walking up to him. "Some damn yoga thing!"

I throw more punches but The Man dodges all of them. I punch right, he jumps left. I throw a straight, he steps back. I pick up a boulder and throw it but The Man leans to the right, the boulder flying past him.

The Man finally doing something, walks toward me. I smile and walk to him. Waiting until he's less than a foot from me, I throw another swing. Thinking he's too close to dodge it, The Man's hand shoots out. It shoots out and The Man hits me in the ear.

I scream and pull back my hand. Screaming and covering my ears, I look back at The Man as he stands there.

"Don't swear," The Man says, shaking his head.

Shaking my head, I lower my hands and charge toward The Man. Jumping into the air, I pull back my fist and slam it down. The Man steps out of the way and I punch a hole in the ground instead.

Standing to my side now, The Man karate chops me on the side of the face. I scream again and stumble back. Covering my eyes now, I can barely see The Man as he walks toward me. Pulling back his hand, The Man throws it forward. I think he hits me somewhere on the shoulder. Whatever he did, I don't feel a thing.

Once I can see again, I smile.

"Is that it," I yell. "Ha! What was that?"

I walk toward The Man. I walk toward him while trying to raise my hands, but that's when I realize it.

"Wh--What the--What did you do!"

For some reason, I can't raise my left arm. I can't feel my left arm! No matter what I do, my left arm stays dead.

"I stuck a nerve bundle," The Man answers. "You won't feel a thing, but that left arm of yours will be immovable for the next few hours.

"Next...few...hours," I repeat. I look down at my left arm and try to move it again. "Come on! Come on! Move!"

Grinding my teeth, I forget about my dead arm and look at The Man. I charge toward him again and attack him with everything I have. Punching with my right arm and kicking with my legs, I still can't hit The Man. One-by-one, limp by limp, The Man hit and paralyzed them. Before I realize it, I fall onto the ground with one stiff left leg.

"Ahh," I cry. Split falling out from my mouth, I try to get up but can't move. "How! How! I did everything! The ritual was supposed to make me invincible!"

"The ritual grants you super strength, increased speed, enchanted reflexes, and control over the dead," The Man says, standing over me. "It does not grant immunity against certain pressure points."

Taking off the rag, The Man looks away. He then places his hand on my shoulder and does something. I immediately feel sleepy. I try to keep my eyes open, but they grow heavier with each second.

"Nnooo," I say before everything turns black.

52: Chapter 52: Fallen

The Man:

"Nnooo," Black Mask cries as I squeeze another pressure point on his shoulder, knocking him out almost immediately.

With Black Mask not only paralyzed but now knocked out, I can work in peace. Walking over to the rune Black Mask drawn on the ground, I pick up a knock-over table and slam it down. Reaching into my jacket pockets, I set the ingredients on the table. While setting up the ingredients, I look at the massive red rune still glowing very brightly.

"I have to move fast," I tell myself. "With Black Mask unconscious, the skeletons no longer have a target. They'll attack anything and everything they see."

Hearing footsteps coming from behind me, I pull out two more glass jars and open them. Combining the ingredients, pouring the loyh awert into the cempazuchitl, I seal the glass jar and shake it. Waiting until the ingredients are properly mixed together, I then throw it behind me. The glass jar breaks on the skeleton's head, and the loyh awert with cempazuchitl leaves spills over it. The skeleton covers its head as it shakes and burns.

Looking behind me, I watch the skeleton slowly drop to its knees before falling to the ground. It turns from black to white before finally turning into ashes and blowing away.

"Sorry about disturbing your sleep," I say, bringing out more jars with loyh awert and cempazuchitl leaves. "But don't worry. Once that rune is destroyed, all of you will be able to sleep soundly again."

While setting up all the ingredients, I can't forget about the others. Now setting up with one hand, I place the fingers of my other hand against my forehead.

Zatanna:

I don't know how or even where it's coming from, but I'm definitely getting a boost from somewhere. I smile as I reach into my top hat and pull out a bunch of silver rings. Throwing the rings into the air, they hover above in an arch pattern. Watching Raven jump into the air, she fires magical blasts at me.

With the wave of my hand, I move the rings, positioning them into two rows in front of me. Raven's magical blasts heading for me, I move one of the rows of rings. The blasts all disappear into the row I moved. A few seconds later, they reappear, shooting back out of the second row.

Re-directing Raven's attack, she shoots out her hands and summons a shield to block it. Her blasts dispense as they hit her shield. Seeing all the blasts dispense all over Raven, an idea sparks into my head.

Using the rings again, I position them all around Raven. Saving one for myself, I leave it hovering in the air while I reach for my wand and top hat again.

"Incoming," I shout, tapping my top hat with my wand and preparing another blast. The blast shooting out of my top hat flies into the ring. It disappears into one ring before flying out of a second ring. Flying into a third ring, it hits Raven along the way. Flying into and out of multiple rings, always hitting Raven along the way, the trick ends when Raven catches the blast in her hand.

"That is enough," she shouts, crushing and destroying my magical blast. Pulling in his arms and legs, she then shoots them out, knocking all my rings to the ground.

Watching Raven explode with dark magic, I step back while mentally preparing for whatever she does next.

"That is enough," Raven shouts again, now surrounded by a mist of both her father's and the Lords of Order magic. "That ends now!"

Once again, Raven shoots out her hands and feet. Black beams come rocketing out of her in all directions. They go for miles and miles, shooting through buildings before latching onto the cave's walls.

"I will bury all of you alive!"

Pulling in her hands, the beams of magic pull themselves in, taking large chunks of the walls with them. This causes the shaking to intensify, and section by section, Old Gotham is crushed and buried.

"Noo," I shout, looking at the Insurgency as they fight to keep out the demons and skeletons.

Firestorm:

Throwing dozens of fireballs, we hit a mix of minions and skeletons. However, only the skeletons burst into flames before exploding.

"Our attacks don't seem to be having any kind of effects on the minions," the Professor states.

"Yeah," I say, "I know. Remember. We see the same things. What's your point?"

"I have an idea," the Professor goes on. "But we will have to move fast! Quickly drop--"

Before the Professor can finish explaining his idea, a large stone falls from the ceiling, flattening some of the minions.

"Never mind."

"Wait! Professor! Look up!"

Looking up, we see more and more of the ceiling falling off. Some large stones falling toward us, we put our hands together and unleash a firestorm. An almost blinding mix of orange, yellow, and red lightens the cave as we burn and destroy the falling stone. However, it's not enough.

Even more stones are falling. Whole buildings are collapsing, throwing mountains of dusts into the air and blanketing everything. Stopping to rub our eyes, we look around the fight.

"You don't see anymore, right?"

"No," the Professor answers. "I don't."

"Awesome!"

Looking around again, I see Supergirl and Flash nearby and quickly fly over to them.

"Supergirl," we shout, "Flash! I think all the families are gone! Now, it's our turn! Let's go!"

"Alright," Flash says, "I'll go and tell the others! Let's leave this place behind!"

All of us nodding our heads, split up. While Flash goes to tell the others, Supergirl and I go to the exit. Landing in front of it, we use our combined powers to clear a path for the others to run to. While I torch them, Supergirl freezes, burns, and throws countless skeletons and minions.

Two by two, we see other Insurgency leaving Old Gotham. Black Canary running with Cheetah. Red Hood and Blue Beetle. Harleen and Reverse Flash. It doesn't take long before almost everyone is out.

"Wait," Supergirl shouts. "Wait! What about The Man! Where is he?"

"I don't know," Flash answers. "I ran all over but he wasn't in there!"

"He told me earlier he was going to go 'break some skulls'," Harleen says, "But I have no idea what that is supposed to mean."

"Hey," Captain Cold yells, "If there's one thing I learned about Sunglasses, it's that he always had a plan! I'm sure he'll able to survive this somehow, but for now, we need to get out of here!"

Grabbing both me and Supergirl, Cold pulls us back before shooting the top of the tunnel with his ice gun.

"Slade," Cold yells, pointing at the ice-covered tunnel top. "Throw some grenades! Now!"

Deathstroke nods his head and pulls out some grenades. Throwing them at the ceiling, the exploding grenades cause a massive cave-in. Rock, dust, and debris begin filling the tunnel, and the minions and skeletons that try to enter are buried.

"Come on, Speedy," Cold says, all of us running out of the tunnel. As the tunnel cracks and collapses right above our heads, Flash, Supergirl, I, and even Reverse Flash and Blue Beetle all jump into the air. Running and flying as fast as we can go, we grab our fellow fighters and carry them out of the tunnel.

The last to exit the tunnel, we barely make it out as the tunnel finally collapses. A rock hitting our feet as we fly out, we trip and fall to the ground. Moaning as we push ourselves up, we see a hand. Looking up, we see Supergirl, and everyone else, both Insurgency members and even some families surrounding us.

"You okay," Supergirl asks. "Uhh, both of you?"

"We're fine," we answer, taking Supergirl's hand. Helping us up, we look back at the tunnel, or at least, what was the tunnel.

"It's completely buried," Flash says. "Even Superman would have a hard time digging himself out."

"I hope you're right about The Man," Red Hood says, crossing his arms. "Otherwise, the Insurgency is done for."

"The Insurgency is already done for," a voice yells, echoing throughout the sky. All of us jumping into action, we watch as black storm clouds cover the blue sky.

"Guard the families," Supergirl yells, flying into the air. Black Canary and Cheetah jumping and landing in front of the families, shoot out their arms. Meanwhile, the rest of us keep our eyes open.

Purple lightning travels throughout the black clouds, and thunder almost deafens all of us. Still keeping an eye out, something grabs our feet and pulls us away.

Supergirl:

Hearing Firestorm screaming, we all turn around to see them get swallow by a large shadow. The shadow bursts and there, standing over a knocked-out Firestorm are Raven and the other magic users. All of them hold out their hands, glowing with magic.

About to fire my laser visions, I stop when Raven grabs Firestorm with her magic and holds them up.

"Lower your arms," Raven threatens, "Or you lose two members."

Felix Faust pulling out a dagger, places the tip against Firestorm's neck.

"Lower your arms," Raven repeats, her voice shaking the sky.

I keep my eyes red but I don't fire. Through my red eyes, I see everyone keeping their arms up.

"Fine then," Raven says. She looks at Felix and nods. Felix smiles and presses the tips into Firestorm's neck. The second I see blood, I shoot out my hands.

"Wait! Okay! Okay. We'll lower our arms."

Landing back on the ground, I hold my hands up. I look back at everyone else and slowly, they lower their own arms.

"Excellent," Raven says, smiling. Raven shoots out her other hand and uses the same magic to force us onto the ground. Now lying on the ground, our faces pinned against the dirt, we can't do anything as Raven and the other magic users walk toward us. Reaching me, Raven steps on my head.

"Superman told me to bring you alive," Raven states. "But the Lords of Order have other plans. You, all of you, have interfered too much in their plans, and we will not tolerate it anymore! Kill them all!"

Raven raising her hand, quickly lowers it. As she does this, a purple lightning bolt heads for all of us. Looking at the lightning as it gets closer and closer, I prepare to use my laser vision.

Burning a hole in Raven's foot, she screams and steps back. As Raven steps back, the purple lightnings turn suddenly. They turn away from us and disappear. Almost immediately after they disappear, all the other magic users fall to the ground.

"Oh my god," Eobard says after pushing himself up. "Hey, Supergirl. What did you do?"

"I have no idea," I answer. I imagine I look like Raven as she snaps left and right, looking at her fallen team.

"What did you do," Raven shouts. "What did you--"

Raven never finishes her sentence. Before she can finish, she drops onto her knees.

"Did...I do that?"

"No," a familiar voice answers. "I did."

Following the voice, we all turn around to see The Man standing behind us, with a stick in his hands.

"By the way guys. Thanks for burying me alive. I really appreciate that."

Walking past us and toward Raven, I push myself up and follow The Man.

"What is that," I ask.

"My blow gun," The Man answers. "I shot every one of them with a paralyzing dart."

"Your...," Raven moans, "Your...dart...will...not...last..."

As Raven talks, her hand snaps up and it glows a little.

"I know," The Man answers. "But I think this will."

The Man stepping forth places his thumbs on both Raven's head and chest. About to ask what he's doing, I stop when I see lights appearing from both The Man and Raven. Lights so bright, not just me, but all of us have to cover our eyes and step back.

Staying in the shadow of my arms, I look at The Man as he glows a bright blue color while Raven's glows a dark purple color. Raven's dark purple glow travels from The Man's hand onto him. It climbs up his arms and spreads through his whole body. Before long, even his head is covered.

"What are you doing," I shout.

The Man doesn't answer me. The only part of him that I think is safe is his eye. It hasn't been encased by the purple glow yet, but in a few seconds, it will.

Watching as the purple glow reaches The Man's one blue eye, something happens, and The Man's blue glow returns. It returns and overtakes Raven's glow in less than one second. Now Raven is glowing blue, and there's a purple beam shooting and disappearing into the blue sky.

"Ahhhh," Raven screams as The Man pulls back. "Wha--What did you do to me?"

Raven tries to swing her hands but falls back down.

"I took away your magic," The Man answers. "You no longer have your father's or the Lords of Order's powers."

53: Chapter 53: Useless

The Man:

"Noo," Raven shouts, pushing herself up and throwing her hands. We all watch as Raven only throws her hand. "Noo! No! No! No! What did you do to me? What did you do to me!"

Running toward me, Kara prepares to do something but I shoot out my hand and stop her. Instead, after pushing Kara back, I drop to the ground and do a spin kick. Hitting Raven's feet, I knock her to the ground.

"I took away your magic," I repeat, standing back up. "You no longer have any telekinesis or can summon any more demonic minions. You can no longer fly or go intangible. You are powerless."

Staying on the ground for a bit, I listen to her breathing as she tries to take in everything I said. Looking past her shaking body, I can see her clenching her fist. A few seconds later, Raven screams as she turns around. She tries to hit me but I immediately block her. Grabbing her cloak, I throw her behind me. Raven hits and lands on the other magic users. They all yell and scream as they fall.

By now, the effects of my paralyzing darts are slowly wearing off. Felix and Klarion are back on their feet but can barely move their arms. Morgan le Fay and Mordru are helping Raven up but their stiff arms and legs are making it a challenge.

"Get off me," Raven shouts, pushing Morgan and Mordru. Looking like a rabid dog, drool falling out of her mouth, Raven looks at me. She takes a step but quickly stops.

"This-This isn't over yet," Raven says. "I will get my powers back! And when I do, I will rip you limbs from limbs! I will torture you! All of you! Forget Superman's order!"

Raven throws out her hand again but nothing happens. Throwing out her hands a few times more, Raven stops and runs away. Her 'allies' wobble after her.

We watch them, all of them, wobble away. Someone must have called for a boom tube because one appears in a flash of light in front of them. As all of them run for the boom tube, I see Slade, Jason, and even Snart bringing up their guns. They start lining up shots but I raise my hand and place it on the barrel of Snart's gun.

"Don't," I say, lowering the gun.

"Why not," Snart asks. "This may be the best opportunity we have. Raven lost her magic, and those fours can barely lift a finger. If we all attack now, we can kill them all!"

Snart tries to raise his gun again but I keep it down.

"Don't," I repeat. I turn my head and look at something. Everyone else seeing me, follows my gaze and sees the families from Old Gotham. They're all hugging each other, and shaking. Honestly, I can't tell if it's from the cold or fear. Either way, the solution is the same.

"Come on," I say, walking toward Zatanna, John, and Ares. Waving my hand, the invisible wall vanishes and the three are revealed, standing around my lightning rod. Picking up my lightning rod, I fold it back up before putting it into my jacket pocket.

"Hub City is this way. We should move fast. Dawn is in 30 minutes."

Thankfully, no one wasted a second. All the families, and every member of the Insurgency, follow me toward Hub City. As we walk toward Hub City, Zatanna runs to my side.

"I still sense the dark magic," Zatanna whispers. "You didn't do it. Did you?"

"I didn't have time," I answer. "As I was preparing the ingredients, the cave started collapsing. I dropped everything and rushed to get the three of you out of Old Gotham before it was buried. Forever."

"Three of us? Wait, what happened to Black Mask?"

Black Mask:

Coughing as I'm being dragged out of Old Gotham, my skeleton army, or what's left of it, throws me on the ground. My head hits the hard dirt but I shake it off and push myself up. Screaming as I painfully push myself up, my bones feeling like they will break any second, I look ahead of me.

"This...," I say, grinding my teeth. "This...isn't over yet."

Cyborg:

"Son of a bitch," I say, shaking my head as I look at the monitors.

As soon as I got the call, I summoned a boom tube that brought Raven and the others to the One Earth's infirmary. I waited for them to come through the boom tube, and when I saw them, I screamed.

I hear the doors to the infirmary open and turn my head. I see Superman, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam, all running in.

"What the hell happened," Superman screams. He walks right up to Raven's bed and checks the monitor she's linked to.

"I don't know," I answer. The second I answer, Wonder Woman grabs my neck. She grabs my neck and lifts me.

"What do you mean by 'I don't know'," Wonder Woman asks.

"I...don't...know," I repeat, struggling to breathe.

"Put him down," Superman orders. Wonder Woman listens to Superman and puts me down. Rubbing my neck and trying to catch my breath, I turn to Superman as he looks at me with crossed arms.

"What do you mean by you don't know," Superman asks.

"I got a call from Felix Faust," I start, "According to him, he, Raven, and the others needed immediate pick-up."

"For what? I don't remember hearing anything about a mission."

"Neither did I, but it's what Felix Faust told me. He told me they all journeyed to Old Gotham and fought the man in the sunglasses and the Insurgency."

"What!"

Hearing about the man in the sunglasses, Superman crushes one of the metal corners of Raven's bed. This causes all the doctors in the infirmary to jump. It takes a minute or two but I order them to get back to work.

"It gets worse," I say.

"Worse," Superman repeats. "How?"

The Lords of Order:

"How is this possible," I scream, slamming my fist on the ground. "How is this possible!"

"That is one question we find ourselves asking many times lately," another Lord says. "How? How did the man in the sunglasses drain Raven of not only her powers but ours too? How did the man in the sunglasses do it so we cannot bestow Raven with our power again? How is this, and everything he had done, possible?"

"He had trespassed into our realm against our wish," a third Lord goes on. "He had humored us by biting and burying us in deep snow. And now this. This!"

"We have had enough," I scream, lightning and thunder accompanying my scream. "The man in the sunglasses must die!"

"There is no discussion as to whether or not the man in the sunglasses must die," the second Lord states, "But it is a matter of, once again asking the question, how? We have seek other magic users to defeat the man. We have given a portion of our powers to Raven. We have even gone so far as to have rewritten the timeline, but no matter what we do, we cannot destroy the man! His skills. His technology. His own magic that we have yet to even study or understand! It is all too much for us! Too much!"

"Silent," I yell, shutting the second Lord up. The second Lord, along with the rest of the Lord, all stop to look at me. "You are right. We have tried and tried again, but nothing we have done is enough. It is time for us to meet the man head-on."

The second I bring this up, the other Lords whisper among themselves.

"You cannot be saying what I think you are saying," a Lord asks. "Are you?"

"You must be crazy to suggest something like that!"

"If we do it, we risk destroying the balance of magic in the world."

"The balance of magic is already destroyed," I say. "The man in the sunglasses had destroyed it the very moment he came into existence, and now, it is up to us, the Lords of Order to fix it."

Again, the Lords whisper among themselves. I have to wait with a tapping foot before they talk again.

"We shall do it," the other Lords say. "We should manifest our bodies and invade the moral world."

While all of us nod our heads, one Lord speaks up.

"Even if we do manifest our bodies," the Lord starts, "It may not be enough to destroy the man. Remember, he invaded our realms, and despite our magic and number, he defeated all of us. We will still require help."

"It cannot be Raven or any of those pathetic magic users. They are useless."

"Felix Faust. Klarion the Witch Boy. Morgan la Fay. Mordru. Yes. All of them are useless. Except Raven. Raven still had one use. She is the gem."

54: Chapter 54: Secrets

Oliver Queen:

Watching with a smile as Jigoku is eaten by the rats, my smile only grows when I see him screaming and crying.

"Ahhh," he goes, shaking as he tries to throw the rats off him. However, there are too many. They jump from the roof onto him, grabbing onto him with their tiny little hands and biting him. He throws them off but is quickly knocks to the ground as rats start biting at his feet.

"Ahhh," he yells, kicking the rats away. The second he's on the ground, my rats crawl onto his body. They bite him all over, taking whole chucks off.

"Juba Nobu," I say, walking up to the shaking Jigoku. "Juba Nobu. Hear his name!"

I grab him by the shirt and pick him up. Shaking him back and forth, I bring him face-to-face.

"Hear his name," I say, "Before you're eaten! Juba Nobu."

Punching him across the face, Jigoku looks at me with crying eyes. He tries to crawl away but my rats quickly overtake him. As I watch Jigoku drag himself toward some cats, I see another bright flash and now, I'm sitting in an airplane.

"Son of a--," I cry when I hear an explosion right beside me. Looking outside the window, I see dozens and dozens of planes, all shooting at each other. Turning back, I take a hard look at all the control. Something is telling me to grab the stick in front of me.

Fighting the urge at first, I find myself grabbing the stick, the plane's control Tilting it to the side, I flick a series of switches and push a bunch of buttons. Joining the dogfight, I take down some airplanes, shooting and destroying them before flying through the exploding fireballs.

"Hotshot," someone shouts. "Come on! Hotshot! This is Red Rooster!"

Looking around for a bit, I see a radio and grab it.

"Hotshot here," I say. "What's going on, Rooster!"

"I got two on my tail, and I can't shake them! I need help."

"I'm coming!"

Not wasting a second, I turn my plane around and charge to Rooster's location. As I fly through the sky, barely dodging incoming fire, I begin to realize something.

"This...This isn't me," I think. This feels like a memory, but it isn't my memory. "What--What am I doing here? Where am I even? When am I even?"

Looking out the window again, I take a harder look and see older airplanes. Old-school fighter planes. The ones only on display in museums.

As I fly to Red Rooster, whoever that is, another flash appears and blinds me. Screaming and covering my eyes, I now see myself in...the military?

I see people, both men and women, running in unison. I see tanks and jeeps all driving in one direction like they're heading somewhere.

"Hey Hotshot," someone yells. Turning my head, I see a young girl with long blonde hair looking at me. She's wearing one of these old-school fighter pilot helmets with goggles and straps. Also, she had on a brown leather jacket and long pants.

"Hey Blondie," I answer, jokingly. "What's up?"

"Hand me that wrench."

I turn my head again and see a set of wrenches.

"Give me a number," I say.

"1/8."

"Here," I say, grabbing my 1/8 wrench and throwing it at Blondie. Blondie catching it, starts tuning her plane.

"Hurry up, will you? I have to go in a few min--"

Before I can finish, Blondie throws my wrench back at me. Catching it in my hand, I look back at Blondie.

"That was quick."

"What can I say? I worked fast."

Going back to fixing her plane, I smile at Blondie as I take all my tools and place them in my toolbox. Once all inside, I take my toolbox and walk over to the next warehouse. As I walk to the next warehouse, I catch my reflection in one of the airplanes.

"Oh my god," I think when I see myself. "Is that me? I'm...the man in the sunglasses."

Despite the green, oil-covered overall and messy, greasy hairs, I can still tell it's The Man. This time, instead of wearing his sunglasses, he's wearing a pair of goggles. Similar to the one 'Blondie' was wearing earlier but with no helmet. Another flash takes me to a city.

The city or I guess the better term is village, I'm in looks small. All the buildings are made of wood, and only two or three are two stories. The streets are very muddy and the doors and windows all have papers on them. There are a few signs here and there, and they all appear to be written in Japanese. 

"Am I...in Japan? How did I get here?"

I don't get the time to answer. As I take a step, a bunch of angry villagers appear out of nowhere. The second they see me, they start throwing rocks and trash at me.

"Foreigner," they yell, "Leave! Leave our home! You have done enough damage here! Leave!"

I throw up my arms to shield myself as I run away.

"Since when I can understand Japanese," I ask myself as I run away. Running as fast as I can, I slip in the mud and land right in it. My whole front side is covered in mud, I push myself up and try to run but the villagers reach me. They push me back down and step on me, forcing my head beneath the mud. I almost drown but the villagers leave after a few seconds.

"Ahhh," I moan, fighting through the pain as I push myself over. Staring at the blue sky, catching my breath, I'm surprised to see a little boy standing over me.

"Minster," the little boy starts. "Are you okay?"

"Dandy," I answer. "Who are you?"

"My name is Juba," the boy says. "Juba Nobu."

Juba Nobu helps me up into a sitting position. Cracking my back and rotating my arms as I sit up, I turn to Juba Nobu. He's a little kid, at the very most, 6 or 7 years old. He's very thin and is wearing torn clothes.

"Juba. Why are you talking to me? Your parents wouldn't approve."

"I have no parents," Juba states. "They left me."

"What?"

Juba Nobu nods his head.

"My parents left me where because I am not well."

"Not well? Kid, you lost me. What are you talking about? Wait, don't tell me yet. How about you tell me over a bowl of ramen?"

The second I say ramen, I hear Juba's stomach grumble. Juba places his hand on his stomach.

Pulling myself up and cleaning myself off, I offer Juba my hand.

"Come on, kid. I'm sure there's one restaurant around here that'll let me in. If not, then I guess you and I can talk while looking through the trash."

Juba smiles when I offer him my hand. He smiles and takes it. As soon as Juba takes my hand, I feel something inside of me heats up. It starts as a spark before turning into something else. I feel the feeling in my arms and legs returning. I watch as I pull my fingers back in, curling in on themselves.

The spark shooting throughout me, I turn my head up and scream, before another flash takes me away. Shooting up, I hit something and fall back down.

"Ahhh," I cry, holding my forehead. Blinking at first, my eyes taking a few seconds to adjust, I see glass in front of me. Looking down, I see a breathing mask and tubes inserted into me.

"Again," I say. "Ahh. I'm getting sick of waking up in this thing."

Shaking my head, I take off the breathing mask and remove the tube. Pushing open the glass cover, I turn myself around and place my feet on the floor. As my feet hit solid ground, I think I might fall over again but I'm wrong.

Standing up, fully up, I look myself over. Nothing burns. Nothing is in pain. Everything feels fine. I stretch my arms. I rotate them. I even do a few flamingo poses. All without anything hurting.

"Did Juba Nobu do this? But how? That was a memory, and it wasn't even my memory. At least, I think it was The Man's memory. Right? But wait, how did I see The Man's memory? None of this makes any sense."

As I try to put together an impossible puzzle, with too many pieces missing, I hear a screaming and turn around. There, in the doorway, I see Iris West.

"Oliver," Iris shouts, "You're awake!"

"Iris," I say. I don't waste a moment and run over to hug Iris West. Literally lifting her up, I then quickly place her down. "Sorry about that, but I am just so happy."

"No, no," Iris says with a smile. "It's fine, it's fine. I understand. You've been out of it for a while now. Since fighting that Professor Pyg guy."

Hearing that name, I feel a cold shiver runs down my spine. Despite the cold shivers, I remember something important.

"Wait, where is everyone? Where is Dinah? Where is The Man?"

Dinah Lance:

Watching with all the families and everyone else as The Man kicks down an old wooden door, he turns back to us. Going inside first, The Man comes back out a few seconds later.

"Welcome home," he says, nudging his head toward the door. The families, still a little scared, slowly and carefully walk inside.

Following the families inside, I can't help but hold my breath.

"Ohhh," Poison Ivy says, pinching her nose. "You couldn't have picked a slightly better-smelling building."

"I didn't pick this building by random," The Man says. Shooting his fist into the air, The Man orders all of us to stop. Turning his head right and left for a few seconds, The Man walks up to a rotting wall. Placing his hand on the wall, The Man moves it around.

"I recognize this movement," Professor Stein whispers. "The Man did this when he was looking for hidden buttons back in the hideout."

"Hidden buttons," I repeat.

Before anyone can say anything, we all hear a loud grinding sound. Turning our heads, we see The Man opening a secret wall component. Revealing a single, tiny keyhole, The Man reaches into his jacket and pulls out a key. Inserting and turning the key, the floor beneath us starts splitting open. We all have to jump to one side as the floor opens, and a large stone building quickly rises.

"Do all buildings in Hub City have secret rooms built into them," Harleen asks. "I thought that was only Gotham."

"Usually it is," The Man says, taking the key and closing the secret component. "But this building doesn't belong to Bruce Wayne. It belongs to me."

"You own this whole building," Selina asks.

"Yeah, plus a few more."

"And do they all have secret rooms built into them?"

"Yes."

"What is it with you and secret rooms and secret components and building secret things," Jason asks. "Sheesh, I mean seriously, even Batman wasn't this paranoid."

"What can I say," The Man answers bluntly, the door to the stone building opening. He walks into the stone building and motions for a few families to accompany him. "I like building secret things because I don't like it when people take my things. Anyway, go in shifts. Three families and one Insurgency. See you at the bottom."

The door closing and the stone building sinking back into the floor, we wait a few minutes before it comes back up. Families by families, one by one, we all disappear into the floor.

Getting in when it's my turn, I wait with the families for the door to open. When it does, and we all walk out, our mouths drop open.

"Welcome to my private city," The Man says, waiting for us with crossed arms. "Rule 1. No swearing."

55: Chapter 55: When Stars Align

Supergirl:

"You have a private city," Jason asks.

"Yes," The Man says while on his knees. "Please raise your arm. The girl, not you."

The little girl in front of The Man nods her head and raises her arm. When she does, The mean looks her in the face.

"Now this is going to hurt for a little bit. Just a little bit. Can you be brave for me?"

The little girl, despite shaking, nods her head again. Seeing this, The Man sprays a bit of ointment on her cut. She jumps a little but stays sitting. Once The Man is done spraying, he reaches into his medical kit and pulls out some bandages.

"Thank you for being brave," The Man says, "Now, I have a question for you. I have three different bandages. One with a panda on it, one with spaghetti and meatballs on it, and one with an S on it. Which one would you like?"

The little girl smiles as she points to the one with an S on it.

"Awesome choice," The Man says. He peels off the paper and applies the bandage to the little girl's cut. "Okay. You can go now."

"Thank you so much," the little girl's mother says after The Man applies the bandage.

"Don't mention it," The Man replies with a wave. With the mother and little girl leaving the room, The Man stands up and turns to face us.

"You have a private city," Jason asks again.

"Yes," The Man repeats. "Will you please stop asking me? You have asked me 36 times in the last hour, and the whole time, the answer has been the same. Yes, I do have my own private city. It's not much but---"

"Not much," Barry says, cutting The Man off. "Are you kidding me? This place is massive!"

To prove his point, Barry walks over to the window and points outside, his arm swinging from left to right.

"There are whole streets here! With dozens of houses and even apartment buildings! And some of them even have furniture in them!"

"A fridge and a stove are not furniture. They are appliances, moron. Both of which are kind of useless considering there is almost no food here."

"Not yet anyway," Leonard says, joining in. "But I think with those farms over there, those fridges and stoves won't be useless for very long."

"You have a private city," Jason asks again. "With its own farms and lakes?"

"Yes," The Man repeats. "And if you keep asking me that, I will throw a slime pellet at you. Remember these?"

"Honestly," Harleen says, "At this point, I can't even really be surprised anymore. I mean, Sunglasses has his own hidden base with thousands of rooms and an infinite amount of traps. He had a giant pirate ship/spaceship. Now, he had his own city. Okay. What's next? His own state? County? Planet?"

"Yes, yes, yes," The Man says.

"Really," Jason shouts. "You have a private--"

Before Jason can finish, Professor Stein cuts him off.

"I think what my 'other half' is trying to say is," Professor Stein starts, "Is how is all of this even possible? You building a whole secret city? Underground? Under Hub City?"

"For the record, we're underground but not underneath Hub City. The elevator we all took wasn't just an elevator. It also acted as a transporter. We're actually miles from Hub City."

"Yeah, sound better right," Professor Stein whispers.

"How on Earth do you build all of these so fast and so...hidden and out of sight," Jason yells. "I mean, seriously, who can build a whole city with farms and lakes and a hidden elevator/ transporter without anyone noticing? It's...It's not possible. Even with super strength and super speed and super smart, it's just not possible."

"Hey Jason," The Man says, snapping his fingers in front of Jason's face. "Sorry to interrupt your brain as it cracks, but I have other patients to attend to. While I stay here, can you guys help the other settle in?"

"Sure we can," I say, pushing Jason and Barry toward the door and out of the room. "Let's go, everyone. I'm sure there are a lot of people who need help adjusting to their new environment."

"Really," Leonard asks. "Before, all of these people lived in Old Gotham. An underground city. Now, they're here, in an underground city. Minus working lightbulbs, I don't see much of a difference."

"Go," The Man shouts, pointing at the door.

As all of us start to leave, someone grabs my hand and pulls me back.

"Hold on," The Man says, "I need a nurse to help me with the patient. Can you stay with me?"

"Uhh, sure I guess, but I have almost no experience in medicine."

"Neither did the Doc or Iris, but unfortunately, I only have two arms. Help me out here. Please?"

I look at The Man before looking at the others.

"Go on without me," I say, "I'll stay here and help The Man."

"Sure," Harleen says. "We'll go."

For some reason, Harleen winks at me as she and the others leave. With the others gone, it's just me and The Man.

"Hey," The Man says, "I just wanted to say a quick thank you, and I'm sorry."

"Sorry," I repeat. "For what?"

"For...everything. And thank you."

"Thank you?"

"Thank you to you and everyone else for reminding me of something important. For reminding me a lot of important thing."

"I'm confuse. What are you talking about?"

The Man doesn't answer me right away. Instead, he puts his hands together and blows into them. He does this a few times before speaking again.

"Kara, I'm not much of a people person. Quite frankly, I'm a private man who like to keep to himself. I really like my alone time."

"Yes," I say, nodding my head. "I have notice."

"However, despite that, I still need people at my side. Otherwise, I slowly turn into something else. Do you remember that time in Hub City, when we first met Black Mask and the Spectre? You saw me transform from that thing?"

"Yes," I say, memories of what The Man said running through my head. "I remember that."

"Yeah, there have been a few more 'incidents' similar to that. The time Cold and I went to find Slade and Todd. Shortly after, I locked myself in the glass box. Then, there was the time I went to fight the Lords of Order by myself during the whole time change events. And even in Old Gotham, when we had to separate. I lost control for a bit there, and I risk destroying everything."

"Destroying everything?"

"I'm a private man who like to keep to himself," The Man repeats. "I'm not much of a people person but at the same time, I need people around me. To keep me from losing control. Because if I lose control, I risk destroy everything."

As The Man says this, he plays with his sunglasses.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because again, I want to thank you and everyone else out there for helping me not lose control. The way I saw all of you fighting to protect those families as they run out of Old Gotham. All of you working together like that. Friend or foe. Hero or villains. It doesn't matter. What matter the most was getting those people out of there. You all fought here, and somehow, that calm me down."

"Well," I say, giggling a little. "Glad we could help you."

The Man giggles with me for a little bit before stopping.

"It's also why, no matter how much I wanted to kiss you again, I can't."

This time, it's me who stops laughing.

"I told you I want you to remember this version of me," The Man says. "This version of me that is somewhat human. That doesn't have fangs or claws. This version of me that rely mostly on swords and kunai and punches and kicks than 'other things'. Let me ask you this. When you look at me, what version do you see?"

When The Man asks me this, I take a hard look at him. I see his short black hair and tan skin. I see a jacket with a dozen pockets on it, a black shirt underneath it, and long brown pants. I also see a pair of black and blue sunglasses

Taking another look, I see The Man when he gave me a picture of my mother. I see The Man when he helped me break free of Darkseid's control. I see The Man when he first appeared in front of me on Styker's Island. Walking over to The Man, I grab his hands and pull him up.

"I see this version of you," I answer.

The Man smile when I answer him. Both of us, standing there, holding hands, and looking at each other, I feel my chest flutter as I lean in close. The fluttering grows as The Man leans in himself. Inch by inch, we get closer and closer until our lips are touc---

A ringing sound cuts us off and we both pull back. Letting go of each other's hands, we look around.

"What is that," I ask.

"It...uhh," The Man starts, checking his pocket. "Me."

Pulling out his phone, The Man answers it.

"Hello Higgins. What do you want?"

"Sorry about calling so suddenly," Higgin says, The Man putting the call on speaker. "Is this a bad time?"

The Man and I look at each other before looking away.

"No. It's fine. Again, what do you want?"

"I just got a call from Dr. Crane and Iris. They're asking you to prepare a portal. Dr. Crane still can't find his teleporter."

The Man shakes his head before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his teleporter. Tapping a few buttons, The Man throws it onto the ground, and a portal appears a few seconds later. A few more seconds later, someone jumps through.

"No way," I say.

"Impossible," The Man says.

Landing on his feet, with his suit on, and a bow in his hand, is Oliver.

"Hey," Oliver says, spreading out his arms. "Miss me?"

"Oliver," I say. Not wasting a second, I give the archer a hug. "Oh my god! I can't believe you're here!"

"How is that even possible," The Man asks. "It should've been months before you could even stand up again. This is too fast. You should go back to the infirmary and let me do a proper examination."

"Before you do that," I say, pushing The Man back. "Come on. Diana needs to see you. So does Barry and everyone else."

The Man:

Shaking my head as Kara drags Oliver out of the room to show off to the others, I open my mouth. About to tell the next patient to come in, I stop when I feel my hand burns.

"Ahh," I cry out. Looking down, I see my left hand shaking and smoking. Grabbing my wrist to steady my left hand, I turn it around and see something burning through my skin.

It leaves a glowing, dark-red impression. I hope I'm wrong. I crossed my fingers and hope I'm wrong but I'm not. When the burning is done, it leaves a mark. A dark-red S. It stays dark for only a few seconds before glowing again.

"The Mark of Skath," I say. "There's only one reason why I would see this again. Trigon."

The Lords of Order:

Using our magic, we push the planets and stars into the proper alignment. When they are all lined up, I wave my hands and chant the incantation. As I keep on chanting the incantation, four glowing red eyes then appear before us.

"Who dare summon me," Trigon says, his voice echoing like thunder.

"We did," I answer. "We, the Lords of Order, summon you, Trigon."

"Why? For what purpose?"

"To destroy this world."

56: Chapter 56: Signs

Pamela Isley:

"Here," I say, smiling as I hand over some bread to a little girl. The little girl smiles as she takes the slice of bread and immediately bites down on it.

"Thank you," the mother says, wiping a tear as she watches her daughter eat.

"Don't mention it," I say, standing back up. I give the mother and her daughter a quick nod before leaving their small room. As I leave their room and enter the hallway, I see Selina and Harleen in the hallway with me.

"You know," Harleen says, "I really, really hate Mr. Sunglasses. I mean, come on, a freaking genius with superpowers and advanced technology, and yet, you don't build an elevator that goes past the 5th floor. Why!"

"Why are you complaining," Selina asks. "You used your rocket boots to fly all the way up here. If anyone can complain, it's me. I'm the one that had to take the stairs."

"Hey you two," I say, waving at Harleen and Selina as they walk toward me. "How are the families doing?"

"Well besides being a bit exhausted due to the lack of elevator," Harleen starts, "They're fine. Sunglasses fixed them up and sent them to their room. There, they're eating whatever they can find in the fridge, and quite frankly, what's in those fridges isn't too bad. I'm starting to get a little hungry myself."

Rubbing her stomach, Harleen licks her lips.

"I wonder what we're having for dinner tonight."

Harleen starts listing off a bunch of things she hopes The Man would make. As Harleen starts to drool, I turn my head and see Leonard standing outside the apartment building.

"Hmm. What is Leonard doing out there? He should be helping the families cope with their new surroundings."

Stepping over the drool puddle, Selina looks out the window beside me.

"Maybe he's done," Selina suggests. "I mean, he was with Barry. Knowing Speedy, he probably ran from room to room."

"Yeah, but Speedy was a regime. I imagine most people remember that, and that not many of them will be happy to see him."

As Selina and I keep watching, I see Leonard uncrossing his arms. He uncrosses his arms and taps her wrist. A second later, something happens in front of him.

"What is he doing," I ask. "What is that?"

"From the look of it," Selina says, leaning closer to the window. "He's checking his suit's features."

"His suit's features," I repeat.

"Yeah. You didn't know. Here, watch this."

Holding out her hand, Selina taps her wrist, like Leonard. The second she does, a futuristic, hologram screen shoots up.

"Son of a---," I shout, jumping back. "What is that?"

"It's some sort of fancy floating screen," Selina answers, tapping a few things on the screen. As she taps away, the screen switches over and over again. "It shows off a list of things our excellneno suits can do."

"I did not know about that," Harleen says, wiping her mouth. Raising her hand, Harleen taps her own wrist, and a screen shoots up. "Oh my god! This is awesome. What's the jelly doughnut feature?"

As Harleen reads over her features, I look out the window again. From where I'm standing, it doesn't look like Leonard is checking his suit feature. It looks more like he's checking something, but what? While wondering what Leonard is checking, ringing and flashing lights grab my attention.

I turn around and see Harleen's and Selina's screens flashing red. A few seconds later, The Man's face appears on the screen.

"Attention everyone," The Man shouts, "There's something I need to check on so I'm going to leave the city. Just stay here and watch over the families for now. Bye."

The Man's face disappears, and both screens return to normal. Looking out the window again, I see The Man rush out of the city's 'hospital', heading toward the stone elevator.

"What was that about," Harleen asks.

The Man:

Running as fast as I can along Central City's rooftops, I jump into the air before firing an arrow. My arrow sails through the night sky before sticking into the wall. As my arrow sails, it leaves behind a cable that I use to pull me toward the wall. At the last second, before I can slam into the air, I reach into my jacket and pull out two kunai.

Stabbing the wall with my kunai, I start climbing up. It takes me only a few minutes to reach the top of the building. Once I'm there, I take off my backpack and start unpacking everything I brought.

I lay out all the spell books and ingredients and quickly assemble my telescope. Once it's set up, I look through it. While checking the position of the planets and the stars, I shoot out my hand and, using his own powers, telekinesis grab a book.

The book shoots itself into my hand. I open it and flip through the pages, reading it all before throwing the book into the air. This book hovers open in the air while I telekinesis grab another book. I repeat this process over and over, going through every book I brought, reading every page, and comparing what the books said to what the planets and stars are doing.

"I knew it," I say, adding the last and final book to the floating collection. "This shouldn't be happening. Not now. It's too early."

Bringing up my hand, I turn it over and look at the Mark of Skath. Burnt right into my hand, it glows a dark bright.

"The planets and stars are aligned, and the Mark of Skath has appeared. Two out of the three signs have happened. Only one last thing must happen for Trigon to cross into this world. Raven must sacrifice herself at the ritual ground. We have to stop her."

Waving my hand around, all the books floating into mid-air fly into my backpack. While this is happening, I quickly disassemble my telescope and put all the parts into my backpack too. Once everything is safely tucked away, I pull out my cell phone and input a code. A minute later, I see something shining in the sky. 

A few more minutes later, my small, black, nearly invisible plane can be seen. It flies through the night sky before hovering near the ledge of the rooftop I'm on. The glass cover opens and I jump and land into the pilot's seat.

"Night Bird activate," the screen reads, coming online.

"System check," I say, flipping some switches and pushing some buttons.

"System check," the screen repeats. "Engines? Check. Weapon? Check. Cloaking? Check."

"Satellite links established?"

"Satellite links established."

"Awesome."

Pushing one last button, I place one hand on the steering wheel while using my other hand to pull the gear shift into place. Mini rockets coming on, I fly at high speed to New Metropolis.

"There's no doubt about it," I tell myself. "The Lords of Order are forcing the prophecy. They want to unleash Trigon. I guess I pushed them too far. I have to stop Trigon from crossing over and to do that, I have to kidnap Raven from them."

57: Chapter 57: In Plain Sight

One Earth Security Guard:

"Keep an eye on both monitors," the chief of the One Earth Security team says. He points at the massive monitor at the front of the security room. The screen changes every few seconds, showing us a new perspective from different cameras. While we all watch the monitor in front, we also have to watch the monitor in front of us.

"Status check," the chief yells.

"Checking the floors," a handful of security team soldiers say. "New ID cards and chips are working. ID cards are matching the implanted chips. No false soldiers detected."

"Excellent. Next."

"Checking the ground," another handful of security team soldiers say. "Only One Earth trucks and jeeps are visible. No sign of any disturbance within 1,000 miles of New Metropolis."

"Wonder Woman will be pleased. Finally."

"Checking the sky," my team says. "No air traffic to be reported. One Earth or otherwi--"

"Hold on," I say, seeing something on the monitor. "I think I have something."

"What!"

The chief, along with almost everyone else in the security room runs to my computer. They all gather around me, trying to take a peek at my computer.

"What is it," the chief says. "I don't see anything."

"Wait, what?"

I check my computer again but the chief is right. My computer shows me an empty sky. A yellow bar runs around the screen but nothing shows on the radar.

"That's strange. I could have sworn I saw something."

I try adjusting some of the settings. When I'm done, I check the radar again and again, I don't see anything.

"Must have been my imagination," I say after a few more adjustments.

"Yeah," the chief says, "Must be. After all, there is no way any aircraft can enter New Metropolis's airspace without appearing on our instruments. If they do, they would be shot down without hesitation. Okay. Everyone, return to your station."

As everyone returns to their stations, the chief looks at me.

"You should probably get your eyes checked," the chief suggests. "No need to scare all of us like that."

"Yes sir," I say.

The Man:

Turning my head again, I make sure "chameleon mode" is on. Once I see that chameleon mode is on, I push another button on the control. The rockets on the back of the Night Bird shut off and the wings extend. Now, instead of flying in and giving a heat signature, I'm quietly gliding in.

Watching from inside the cockpit, I make notes of several upgrades from the last time I was here.

"Anti-aircraft guns. From the look of it, they're Skyshield guns. Dual revolver cannons with a rate of fire of 1,000 rounds a minute. Have to be careful now. The Night Bird can handle a few rounds, but not a 1,000."

I look up and see the rooftops. They're covered in One Earth soldiers, each armed with a laser-pointed sniper rifle. Despite the soldiers, I put the Night Bird in hover mode and jump out from the cockpit.

Landing on the crowded rooftop, on my hand and knee, I push myself up and step back. Hiding in the shadows, pressing myself against a wall, I watch a squadron of soldiers walk past me. As they walk past me, I smell something.

"Radio waves? A lot of them. More than before. Something else is new here. Besides the Skyshield."

I follow my nose and the smell of radio waves guides me to the squadron of soldiers. Waiting until most of the squadron has pass and the last soldier is within sight, I step out and punch him. Covering his mouth so he can't make a sound, I put him in a headlock and drag him into the shadow. 5 seconds later, I dust off my new uniform and walk back out, grabbing the dropped rifle and running to regroup with the soldiers.

Raven:

Mediating in my room, my legs crossed and my hands on my knees, I raise my head when I sense a familiar presence. A powerful familiar presence.

"The man in the sunglasses," I say. I uncross my legs and stop hovering in my mid-air. With my feet back on solid ground, I wave my hand, covering the walls of my room with dark magic. As my walls shake, red hands jump out from them.

"Demons," I shout, demons pulling themselves out of my wall and bowing at my feet. "I sense the presence of the man in the sunglasses here in New Metropolis. I don't know why he had come here but I don't care. Find and kill him. Now!"

"Yesss," my demons groan before running outside my room. Following them as they run out, I hear screams and shouts a few minutes later. A few more minutes later, I hear Superman's voice through my earpiece.

"Raven," he shouts. "What the hell! Why am I getting reports of red demons breaking into every room in New Metropolis? What are you doing?"

Placing my fingers against my earpiece, I answer Superman.

"The man in the sunglasses is here. He is right here in the compound, and I'm going to find him."

Ending the call, I pick a room and rip the door open.

Superman:

"The man in the sunglasses is here," Raven answers. "He is right here in the compound."

The call ends with the sound of metal ripping.

"Raven," I say, tapping my earpiece over and over. "Raven? Raven! Answer me!"

Hearing no answer, I slam my fist down, breaking my desk in half. Walking over the broken desk, I head for the main control

"The man in the sunglasses is here. He is right here in the compound. These were Raven's last words. Is the man in the sunglasses really here? I wouldn't be surprised if he has some sort of way to bypass all the added security measures. If what Raven said is true, then I have to act fast."

Walking up to the control, I push and hold down the intercom button.

"Attention all personal," I start, "Attention all personal. Priority fugitive #1, The man in the sunglasses had broken into New Metropolis. I repeat, priority fugitive #1, the man in the sunglasses had broken into New Metropolis!"

The Man:

All of us look up when we hear the announcement.

"The man in the sunglasses," one of the solider repeats. "No fucking way! He's here!"

"Son of a bitch," another soldier cries out.

"Check your guns now," the squadron leader orders. Immediately, we all check our guns.

"Scorpion EVO 3," I say, looking over the gun in my hands. "Fully loaded with 30 rounds in the magazine and one extra in the chamber. Well oiled. Well maintained."

When we're done checking our weapons, the squadron leader brings out a scanner.

"ID check," he yells. "Everyone, bring out your ID card now!"

"Yes sir," we all yell. Simultaneously, we bring up our ID cards and hold them up for the leader to scan. One by one, he starts scanning the cards. "Check. Check. Check. Check. Check."

As the squadron leader gets closer and closer to me, I look to the right and left and make sure no one's eyes are on me. Once I'm sure no one is looking at me, I subtly and quietly reach into my jacket pocket, which is behind the body armor. Getting my cell phone, I start dialing in a number.

Cyborg:

"What the hell is he doing here," I think, speed-walking down the hallway. "Why the hell is the man in the sunglasses here?"

I ask myself the question but I already know the answer. At least, part of it. Walking down the hallway and taking a turn, I finally find her.

"Raven," I shout, seeing Raven rip the iron door right off one of the spare rooms. With the door gone, Raven walks into the room, completely ignoring me. "Raven. Raven!"

I follow Raven into the room. When I do, I see her using her magical power to lift a bunch of things into the air. Tossing them all over, I scream when a bunch of submachine guns hit me.

"Raven!"

Again, Raven ignores me. She ignores me and walks out of the room. She's about to pass me but I grab her shoulder.

"Rav--"

The second I grab Raven's shoulder, she turns around and magically grabs me. A black aura covering me, it throws me into a wall and pushes me against it.

"Do not touch us," Raven shouts, her voice sounding like thunder. Holding up her hand, it glows brighter, half black and half white. As the glow intensifies, I feel myself being squashed even more.

"Ahhh," I cry, the sparks jumping off my body. "Raven! Stop! Stop! It's me! Cyborg! What are you doing!"

Raven ignores me and keeps on pushing. As she keeps on pushing, I see a red cross slowly grow over Raven's chest. It almost takes over her whole body.

The pressure getting to me, I start to hear the sound of glass breaking. I see a tiny crack appears in my right eye. It goes from tiny to big in only a few seconds.

"Raven," I shout. "Raven!"

All of a sudden, the lights around us turn red and start flashing. Alarms ring throughout the hallway. Seeing this, Raven pulls back her hand and I peel off the wall.

"We found the man in the sunglasses," someone yells through the speakers. "We found the man in the sunglasses! Hallway D-11! Hallway D-11!"

"Keep the man there," Raven orders, placing her fingers against her ear. "He's mine!"

Waving her hand, another red cross appears, only this time, it's in mid-air. Raven flies into the red cross and disappears.

"Shit," I say, pushing myself up with shakey, sparking arms. "I--I have to warn the man. Hallway D-11. That's on the other side of New Metropolis. There's no way I can get there before Raven. Not unless I teleported like her. But how? I don't have any magical power. Wait, I don't have any magical power but I do have something else. Fuck. I hope Raven doesn't destroy the Mother box inside of me."

Having to do some quick re-wiring first, I redirect enough power to my Mother Box to activate it. Calling forth a boom tube, it appears right in front of me. Limping my way inside and through it, I reappear in Hallway D-11, and there, in the very crowded, I see a bunch of soldiers surrounding someone.

The person, another soldier is putting up a fight but within seconds, One Earth soldiers jump onto him and force him onto his knees. That's when I see Raven.

"The man in the sunglasses," she says so coldly that it sends shivers down my spine. "We finally caught you."