She stood at the statues, looking up at the eyes of the two men she'd loved who'd died saving her from an attack by Black Manta. Looking to the statue on the left of the first man she'd loved, she felt her heart go out to Wally, the young speedster having lost someone he loved a few days after she did. She felt her heart break all over again, remembering cradling the two men's bodies as their life left them, and she collapsed to her knees again. She kept replaying the scene in her mind, always the same thing.
"Connor, you need to get to her!" La'gann's voice yelled as the Atlantean kept throwing Black Manta's soldiers around, activating his powers and towering over them as he slammed them into the ground.
"Throw me!" Connor yelled, throwing his hand out. Usually, the two wouldn't be seen working together at all, but when someone they both loved was at risk and in danger, having been kidnapped a few weeks before, grudges soon became a thing of the past as they put their differences aside to find M'gann. La'gann grabbed Connor's hand, spinning around and throwing him through the crowd of Soldiers, knocking out the wall. "M'gann!"
"Connor…" M'gann's voice whispered, low but still enough for Connor to hear. Her hair was matted to her face, her eyes bruised, her left one swollen shut. She had cuts on her arms and legs from the torture she'd endured, and she looked rail thin, almost like she'd been starved. "Shouldn't have come for me…"
"I can't leave the girl I love," Connor whispered, using his strength to break her bonds before lifting her up gently. "La'gann's outside fighting off Manta's men. I'm getting you out of here." "Connor, you can't win…" M'gann whispered, looking up into her first love's eyes and pleading with him. "Please…leave me here and get out. You have to…" "I can't!" Connor snapped, all color draining from M'gann's face as he yelled. "I can't leave you! I lost you once, M'gann, and I won't lose you again. I lost you to my anger the last time, and I'll be damned if I let these bastards have you!"
"Connor…"
The one known as Superboy didn't listen anymore. He just blasted through the wall with his shoulder, keeping M'gann's head down as long as he could before breaking free. He saw the cruiser descend before he heard the voice coming from inside.
"Superboy, La'gann…step away from the woman. She's to pay for what she did to my son," Black Manta snapped, stepping out of the cruiser before unclipping his helmet and holding it at his side.
"Like hell!" La'gann snapped, anger in his eyes. "You kept her here, we worked to bring her back! I'll be damned if I let my Angelfish go again!"
"M'gann, stay here," Connor whispered, setting her inside the door he'd made where she'd be out of the line of fire. He turned to go back to the fight, but he felt her hand on his lower leg. "M'gann…"
She used the last bits of her strength to pull Connor down, kissing him softly. "Come back to me," she whispered, drawing her cape around her to try and keep warm despite it being almost eighty degrees in the Central City sun.
"I promise," Connor whispered, squeezing her hand softly. He ran outside, standing beside La'gann. "She's safe. Let's end this prick."
"Couldn't agree more," La'gann growled, rushing forward before seeing Manta's hand raise. He dodged the blasts easily, each one missing. Except for the last one. As La'gann went to juke to one side again, Manta swapped around, blasting the Atlantean boy in the chest, his lifeless body smacking onto the hard ground, Connor looking furious.
"Son of a bitch!" the Superboy snapped, his eyes glowing as his body shook. He rushed forward, slamming hard into Black Manta, knocking him down the steps of his cruiser before slamming his knee into the armored man's chest, being one move ahead.
Manta saw no other openings or options, charging his suits power to one hand before blasting Connor hard in the chest, his lifeless body crashing beside La'gann's.
M'gann looked out at the remains of her two loves, and something inside of her snapped. Her eyes glowed a dangerous white, and her hands shook. "You BASTARD!" she screamed. "You son of a motherless bitch! I'll kill you for this!" She threw her hands out, catching Black Manta in a field that lifted him off of the ground. "I will make you suffer for what you did to them!"
She concentrated, ripping Black Manta apart small piece by small piece. After she'd ripped his fingers off, she tore his feet from his legs, anger driving her and knocking her pain away. She severed his legs at the knees very slowly, his screams of agony and pain music to her Martian ears. She proceeded to break his arms, tearing them off at the elbows. Finally she reached his thighs and upper legs, severing them from the hips excruciatingly slow, savoring the feel of his pain in her mind. She proceeded to tear his upper arms from his shoulders, each piece of him falling to the ground. M'gann saved his head for last, making sure his body reacted to everything she was doing. Finally, she looked at him from a very close range.
"Now you will know true pain, Black Manta. For this is the punishment you get for killing two heroes, and two men I love," M'gann growled, using her powers to press in on his skull, each inch she pressed adding pounds of pressure. Finally, she'd squeezed his head like a grape, hitting her knees beside Connor and La'gann's bodies.
"Idiots," she whispered, hugging them tightly to her as tears fell from her eyes. She felt a familiar hand on her shoulder, looking up into the grey eyes of Artemis, still clad in her Tigress uniform.
"Come on, M'gann. Let's get you home," her best friend whispered, helping her up and leading her back to the Bioship.
"M'gann?" Wally asked, clad in his usual red and Yellow. He headed over to her, kneeling beside her and taking her hand. "M'gann, are you alright?"
"No, Wally. This pain in my chest won't go away. No matter what I try to do, it doesn't want to leave. I can't eat, I don't sleep, and any time my eyes close I see what I did to Black Manta," M'gann whispered, turning and burying her face against Wally's neck, sobs wracking through her again.
Wally tightened his arms around M'gann, rubbing her back and whispering calming words. "I know it's hard, M'gann. I really do know how tough it is," he whispered, closing his eyes softly. "I…I felt like this after Artemis died. Not wanting to eat, not sleeping. Always seeing her death again and again. What you need is some time away from the Cave. And…I've got some time to spend if you want."
M'gann looked up at Wally, putting her hand on his cheek softly, tear streaks down her face. "You'd spend time with me…after what I did?"
"You killed a criminal that was wanted to be hanged anyway. The way I see it, you just did the justice people a favor," Wally said, taking M'gann's hands in his own. "I do want to make sure you're alright. I know that this is tough, but both of them, even Artemis, would want to make sure you're still living your life."
M'gann nodded softly, and she smiling a bit, her first smile in days. "Thank you, Wally. Can I meet you outside the Cave in ten minutes?"
Wally nodded, helping M'gann stand before kissing her cheek. "You're going to be alright. I know you will," he said, smiling softly.
M'gann nodded, squeezing Wally's hands before heading off towards her room with a backwards look at the three statues. "Thank you…all three of you…"