Injustice 3: The Might of Magic (Book 3)

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. 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.


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