Injustice 3: The Might of Magic (Book 3)

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 red humanoids with white hair and glowing hands.

"We found him," one of the humanoids says, raising his hands. "Capture him! And kill anyone in our way!"