Chapter two: Aftermath

Raven and Terra were flying in to investigate the strange happenings, or rather lack there of, that are occurring. Animals lay twitching on the ground, cars lay in ditches, even an airplane lay crashed in the middle of a corn field. All around various heroes from all over were scrambling to help anyone they could, but the damage was so great, that not enough heroes could be dispatched and the nearby police departments and even the national guard are slowly putting out fires and trying to save as much as they can. Raven and Terra however flew on, only looking in horror at the destruction that occurred.

"What could possibly have done this?" asked Terra.

"I don't know, but we can't let it happen again." Raven said.

"Can't we go down and look for survivors though? I feel like I should be doing something."

"We are doing something, we're looking for the source of this EMP. Only from there can we begin looking for who did this."

Raven was cold in her voice, almost as if she didn't care for the people. Terra however, reluctantly flew on, determined to at least carry out the orders given to her. Perhaps then she can do more.

The two heroines came up to the edge of a small town and stared for a moment to take in the amount of damage that has been done. People lay face down on the street, some smoldering. Various cars are crashed into buildings with a huge pileup at an intersection. Even stranger is the further they move toward the center of town, more objects become distorted. A small car was even flipped upside down atop a satellite dish that was for the local radio station.

At the epicenter of the destruction, one lone house remains standing, only slightly damaged with scorched earth surrounding it.

"This is it, this is where it happened." Raven said.

"Look at the destruction. Who could do something like this? Even worse, how did we not see it coming?" Terra said in awe.

"Much as we don't like to admit it, the Justice League, or any group or single hero for that matter, can't see everything at once. Even if we do, we can't always stop it. It's bound to happen eventually."

As she finished talking, Raven walked slowly toward the house, being cautious to any sort of traps that may spring. Terra followed silently behind, looking at the carnage of it all. They reached the door of the house and slowly opened it. Raven had her hand up, power at the ready for anything that might happen. Terra followed Raven's lead and lifted a few rocks.

In the house, the two heroines were taken aback by the sheer lack of damage. A few light bulbs were broken and shattered across the floor, and the television and computer in the other room were distorted, but otherwise the damage was very minor. In the middle of the floor lie two lifeless bodies, and one lone man kneeling over them, void of any expression or knowledge of the two girls presence.

Raven remained at the ready for anything that may happen. Terra however, moved slowly over to the young man.

"Are you alright?" Terra asked sincerely.

"Careful Terra, it may be trap." Raven said.

Terra ignored Raven's warning and slowly approached the man.

"C'mon, it's going to be alright. We're here to help."

Terra touched the man on the shoulder. Instantly a jolt of electricity surged through her body and she froze up.

"Terra!" Raven yelled as she pulled her ally toward her using her dark powers. She held Terra in her arms and checked to make sure she was alright.

"Ouch…" Terra said faintly.

Raven lay Terra gently on the floor and rose to her feet.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

The young man remained motionless, save for the small breaths he was taking.

"Well? Say something!"

Raven was beginning to get angry and her powers were engulfing the area around here.

"Raven stop!"

Raven paused for a moment, and the darkness that was shrouding the room disappeared. Raven started to relax.

"I don't think he meant to do that." Terra said as she sat up.

"Look at him, I think those are his parents."

"So what, we say its ok for him to knock out an entire state so long as its because a relative of his died?" Raven was being cold as ever.

"I don't think he meant to do that either. Just, step outside a moment. Call Batman and let him know what we found."

sigh "Fine."

Raven left the house and Terra moved slowly toward the frozen man.

"Its ok, I'm a friend, I promise."

Terra was now sitting right next to him, but being careful not to touch him again.

"Can you tell me what happened? Maybe I can help."

The man faced Terra with a face void of expression. Slowly he spoke, "Can bring the dead back to life?"

"No" Terra said hesitantly.

"Can turn back time?"

"No"

"Then how can you possibly help?"

"Well, maybe if you can tell me how this happened, I can tell you how I can help."

The man explained everything, very slowly.

"Well, it seems to me then that you have some special powers, like me and Raven. I'm sure we can help you control them so nothing like this ever happens again."

"What's the point? I have nothing left. No family, no friends, no home, and I'm the one who took it all away too."

"It wasn't your fault. You didn't know you had this power. Don't blame yourself."

"Even so, do you know what its like to be the one who kills their own family? Hell, from what you said, I killed a LOT more than just my own friends and family."

Just then, Raven came back in.

"Try being the one to end the entire planet." Raven retorted.

"I've been the catalyst for the destruction of the entire planet, and you think what you've done is bad?"

The man looked sternly at her, sparks flying from all around him.

"Even if that's true, what you've done has been undone. I can't bring all the people I've killed back from the dead or fix the damage I've done. As we've seen, I'm not even worth being around anymore, lest this happen again. I've already got a lot to pay for, I couldn't handle any more."

"You're right, you do have a lot to pay for. Tell you what, you learn to control those powers of yours, and I think I can find a way for you to make amends."

The mans expression changed from anger to curiosity. How could he possibly live with what he's done, much less make up for it? Terra was watching quizzically as Raven stood there. The man's face started contorting, and his mouth moving as if talking, with all sorts of expressions going across his face as if he's talking to himself. Finally he spoke.

"How?"