Injustice 3: The Might of Magic (Book 3)

Oliver Queen:

"Your son," I repeat. "He was your son! You had a son? You were married?"

"Yes," the man with the sunglasses answers. "Yes. Yes. No. Juba was my son but I was never married. I also never had a girlfriend. Over a billion years old and always had been single. A little bit sad."

"But wait," I say, trying to make sense of what the man is saying. "Juba was your son but you were never married."

"Juba Nobu was my adopted son. His parents abandoned him. Left him on the street. That's how we met."

Hearing shouting and screaming, I look up to see trash flying through the air. Looking to my left, I see the man with the sunglasses. He's still wearing the sunglasses but his clothes are different. They look old and torn, with holes all over them.

I stand up and watch as the man is bombarded with trash. The villagers are yelling at him while they throw things. The man raises his hands and backs away.

"Hey," I say, walking up to one of the villagers. "Hey. Hey! Knock it--"

I try to grab the villager's shoulder but my hand goes right through it. Almost tripping, I catch myself and look at my ghostly hands.

"You can't do anything," the man shouts from the bench. "Even if you wanted to. This is a memory."

"A memory? A memory. This is your memory, isn't it? I--I don't get it. How is your memory killing me?"

"Just watch."

The man pats the empty seat beside him again. Letting out a breath, I sit back down and watch. I watch the man run from the villagers. He tries to escape them but trips and is attacked. They punch and stomp on him. After almost killing the man, the villagers leave him. They leave him bloody, bruised, and covered in mud. It's now when a little boy is standing over the man.

"Juba Nobu was the first person to treat me with kindness after I was thrown out."

As the man starts talking, the whole memory changes. It turns from day to night, and now, instead of being in the middle of the road, the man and Juba Nobu are sitting in a forest.

"After helping me to my feet, I learned of Juba's condition."

"His condition? He was sick?"

"Vestibular schwannoma. Also called acoustic neuroma. Juba had a tumor that was left untreated. It destroyed the nerves in his right ear, leaving him completely deaf in that ear. His parents, having discovered this, abandoned him on the side of the road. He walked and walked until stumbling into this village."

"And meeting you. What happened after you learned about his condition?"

"After I learned about Juba's condition, I sought out doctors to help him. I called and called. Most doctors hung up the seconds they heard me, but finally, one actually decided to hear me out. He told me if I wanted, he could examine Juba Nobu. The only problem was, he was on the other side of the island. Juba and I walked and walked for weeks. As we traveled together, we grew closer and closer."

Hearing this, I turn and look at the man and Juba Nobu. The two are camping, sitting in front of a campfire. As the two sit together, the man reaches into a badly sewed shoulder bag. Pulling out a spoon and a jar, I watch the man open the jar and pour something into the spoon. Looking like a rock, the man reaches into his bag again and pulls out a water bottle. He pours some water into the spoon and the rock breaks apart.

"Here," the man says, offering the spoon to Juba Nobu.

Juba Nobu shakes his head and covers his mouth.

"Yes," the man says, "I know it's very bitter but it's medicine. It'll help you."

Juba Nobu shakes his head again and pulls back his head. Letting out a sigh, the man hears something and turns his head. Seeing a little rat crawls into the clearing with them, the man smiles and reaches into his bag again. The man pulls out a flute.

"Hey," the man says to the rat. "I need your help. Can you help me?"

The man puts the flute to his mouth and plays it. As the man plays the flute, the rat raises its head. It crawls to the man. He lowers his hand and the rat climbs right onto it. Switching the flute for the spoon, the man pours a single drop onto his palm When he does, the rat drinks it and shakes its head.

"See? The rat took its medicine. Your turn. Come on. Open up."

Juba Nobu still had his hands on his mouth but when the man showed him the nodding rat, Juba lowers his hands. Juba takes the medicine and despite his face pulling in on itself, keeps it down.

"Thanks for the help," the man says, lowering his hand and letting the rat go. The whole memory changes again, and now, the man and Juba Nobu are standing in front of another village. Standing between them and the village is an elderly man with a bald man.

"As we walked and walked," the ghostly man goes on, "Juba and I stumbled onto a small village. Walking into that village. It was one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made."

The memory changes again and now, all the villagers are watching as the man lays a trail of white powder through the whole village. There are about two dozen trails, all of them leading outside the village. 

"When we first walked into that village, we were treated like guests. They gave us food and bedding. Juba played with the kids while I tried to repay everyone's kindness by solving their problems. I fixed a broken swing. I helped dig out a new well. I even managed to fix the village's main problem.

"Main problem? What was the village problem?"

"Rats."

Hearing the sound of a flute being played, I turn and see the man playing the flute again. As he plays the flute, rats, hundreds, maybe even thousands of them, all come out from the villagers' homes. They run to the powder and eat it. As they eat it, they follow the trail out of the village.

"I made a deal with the village elder. If I helped get rid of the rats, then he would pay me for it. He was supposed to give me some 'priceless family heirloom'. Well, I kept my end of the bargain."

The memory changes again and now, the man is on the ground, bleeding and covered in mud again. Juba is crying and trying to run to the man but a man, one of the villagers, is holding him back. The two are surrounded by the villagers, who are holding torches.

"They all betray us. The village elder told them that the village shaman did it. He told them I did nothing and then tried to kill us."

The memory changes from the village back to the forest. Only this time, the man and Juba aren't camping together. The man is crying. He's holding Juba in his arms.

"They gave us poisonous rice balls. Juba ate his rice ball because he was exhausted. The only reason he was exhausted was because he ran to get me some water."

The man nudges his head at his past self. Looking closer, I see a half-eaten rice ball laying on the ground by Juba's hand. As the man holds Juba in his arms, he raises his head and screams at the night sky. The memory changes again, and we're back in the village.

Now back in the village, I see rats everywhere. More than before. The thousands of rats turned into billions of rats crawling all over the ground. They're not only all over the ground. They're also crawling all over the houses, the gardens, and even on the dead bodies. I hold my stomach and cover my mouth. I try my best not to puke when I see the rats eating their bodies.

While still trying not to throw up, I see the same elderly man running away. Despite having a katana in his hand, he is still running away, screaming at the top of his lungs. About to turn around and see...someone walking after the elder.

The 'someone' is wearing the same clothes as the man but his face is blurred for some reason. Also, he's walking but not walking. It's more like stomping. The 'someone' is stomping and his arms are crooked. As I look at the 'someone', the someone looks at me. He tilts his head and looks at me.

"Wait," I say. "Can you-he--it see--"

Before I can finish, the 'someone' charges toward me. It hits and knocks me down. Falling to the ground, I look up at the blurry face while it looks down at me.

"It can see me! It can attack me! How?"

Sharp teeth grow out of its blurry head. Growing until they're longer than the elder's katana, the 'someone' then lunges at me. However, before the 'someone' can take a bite out of me, the ghostly man grabs my shoulder and pulls me away.

The ghostly man pulls me to my feet. Once on my feet, he shoots out his hands and pulls his swords from thin air.

"Meet what's killing you," the ghostly man in sunglasses says.

"Wait, wait, wait," I say, putting my hand to my head. "A memory is what killing me? How can a memory be killing me? How can your memory be killing me? How can you, from ancient Korea, be causing my heart and lungs to fail?"

The man doesn't answer me. Instead, the monster with a blurry head and sharp teeth does. It growls and snarls before throwing itself at us. Pulling and throwing me back, the ghostly man starts fighting with the 'someone'.

Sparks jump into the air as the man's swords clash against the blurry monster's face. Pushing against each other, the two then pull back, their feet scraping against the ground. The monster recovers faster than the man. Once it does, it charges toward the man again.

The man sees this and drops to his knees. Jumping and rolling, the man swings his sword and cuts the leg of the monster. It doesn't faze it thought. Turning around, the monster lunges at the man. It picks him up and bites him. Screaming as teeth enter the man's back, the monster throws the man to the side.

"Sunglasses," I shout. When I shout, I accidentally remind the monster I'm still here. It turns to me and roars. Reaching behind me, I try to grab an arrow but all I get is air.

"Shoot," I think. "I don't have my gears!"

As the monster charges toward me, I look around and try to find something I can use as a weapon. Seeing something like a gardening hoe on the ground, I shoot out my hand and reach for it. However, even before I can grab it, I hear the monster again. It's still roaring and growling but it sounds weak.

Turning around, I see the ghostly man standing behind the monster, his two blades sticking through the monster's chest.

"Rest in peace," the ghostly man says. "Your journey is over."

Pulling the swords out, the monster roars one last time before dropping to his knees and falling. As soon as the monster hits the ground, I feel something rush inside me. It forces its way down my throat and into my stomach. Holding my throat, I see the man flipping his sword around while walking toward me.

"You're healed," he says. "My burden will no longer haunt you."

As the man says this, I feel myself getting strangely better.

"What was that," I ask.

"One of my many inner demons."