As he watched Brimstone send Crush flying away yet again, Gray gritted his teeth, leaping over Sentry Titan's shoulder. He had the Titan charge Brimstone while firing every single weapon it had.
Bullets and small caliber missiles of all sorts flew out of the Sentry Titan's body as it closed the distance, finally locking Brimstone's ankle with a crushing embrace.
Gray took a deep breath, bracing himself for the pain before he jumped at Brimstone's face like a speeding bullet, his fist radiating a brilliant golden hue as he buried it in the flaming giant's face, making him reel back.
Gray stilled as he felt no pain while falling to the ground as Brimstone staggered. He looked down at his fist in shock as he noticed it intact and covered in a thin, transparent green film.
Quickly turning back, Gray couldn't help but sigh in relief at the sight of Hal Jordan levitating in the air, ready to continue fighting, having charged his ring.
"Sorry to keep you waiting..." Hal Jordan said as he eased Gray's fall with his ring and extended the protective barrier to the Sentry Titan that was falling apart because of the heat.
"I've got your back. Go wild," The Green Lantern said, smiling as he willed an entire squadron of attack jet constructs into existence that immediately began bombarding Brimstone with explosive projectiles.
Still, Gray did not, in fact, go wild. He made his way towards the now barely functioning Sentry Titan and began manually repairing the machine while Hal Jordan kept Brimstone busy.
Crush was quick to rejoin the fight, and with the green ring's power protecting her from the flames, she was free to use her full power, tossing Brimstone around with every punch she connected.
Looking at this scene, Hal Jordan dismissed the jet squadron. He willed a giant baseball bat, roughly the same size as Brimstone, into existence and smashed it into the latter's head.
Dazed, Brimstone swayed and almost keeled over. However, Crush came rushing from the ground and tipped him the other way before he could fall.
Before the flaming giant could even process the situation, Gray rejoined the fight, along with his Sentry Titan, as the former delivered another devastating strike that finally sent Brimstone to the ground. Titan, however, kept its distance and continued firing from range.
"I tire of your meddling, pretenders...!" Brimstone bellowed as he remained on the ground. "I shall suffer it no more...!" he exclaimed, and the air became scorching with his words.
He slowly stood up, the heat radiating from his colossal figure enough to make the trio hesitate as he spread his arms apart, causing the flames covering his body to grow more pronounced and intense.
"Witness me, father...!" Brimstone wrathfully exclaimed, unleashing a giant omnidirectional wave of flames so intense it made his former attacks look docile in comparison.
Everyone's expression turned ugly, and Hal Jordan was the first to react as he pulled Crush and Gray to his side, creating a giant protective dome that covered Brimstone and stopped his attack.
However, The Sentry Titan did not survive as Hal Jordan did not have the time or energy to pull it away as he had to invest all his power into renewing the protective dome.
Still, no matter how much The Green Lantern renewed and fixed the barrier, it kept shattering, and Jordan quickly ran out of energy shortly after stopping the flame wave.
"And we're back to square one... shit..." Gray cursed as he caught Jordan before he could fall headfirst into the ground. "The police have almost evacuated all the civilians nearby... but we need to buy more time," he added, gritting his teeth as he turned to Crush.
"Whatever that attack was, I don't think the bastard can do it often," Gray went on as he gestured towards Brimstone, who was on his knees, seemingly exhausted.
"Whatever you say, chief. It's not like I have anything better to do," Crush replied as she cracked her neck, clearly unfazed by the flaming giant's display of might.
...
Blackgate
Floyd Lawton had a blank expression as he lay on a bench in the prison's yard, calmly lifting his weights, unmindful of the commotion going all over the correctional facility.
News of Brimstone's rampage had gotten to Blackgate, and many inmates saw it as a golden opportunity to stage breakout attempts, causing riots all over the place.
The prisoner population was split in two, those who wanted to escape and those who were huddled in their cells, trembling in fear, with the exception of Deadshot.
He was not interested in escaping and wasn't particularly attached to his life now that he knew his daughter's future was in good hands. While the guards and inmates were panicking, Deadshot thought nothing of it. It was just another day for him, no different than any other.
However, despite his careless appearance, Deadshot was still alert enough to notice the inmate sneaking up on him. He calmly lowered the weights, pretending to be oblivious as he sat straight.
Lawton's body suddenly jerked as the inmate lunged at him. He threw himself to the side before correcting his posture and counter-attacking the assailant.
It didn't take Deadshot long to subdue his attacker, and he sighed as he looked at the latter's face. "I see Waller is still working you to the bone, Multiplex," he remarked, raising an eyebrow at the clone.
"Tell me about it. The pole in her ass gets bigger every day. She didn't want to waste a chance to take you out, what with all the commotion," the clone replied, chuckling as he remained motionless on the floor.
"Whatever, get out of here. I've got company," Deadshot said, getting off the clone's body with a sigh of annoyance, and Multiplex obliged with a chuckle, dissipating the double.
"How nice of you to wait for me," Deadshot said as he turned to a pillar not far away. "I never took you for the polite type, Batman," he added with a chuckle as he watched the caped crusader step out from behind the pillar.
"The experimental rifle you used to take out Brimstone..." Batman said as he slowly approached Deadshot, getting straight to the point. "Hand over the schematics," he instructed in a tone that brokered no argument.
"Why should I?" Deadshot with a scoff, crossing his arms as he argued for the sake of arguing, clearly not a big fan of the caped crusader's commanding tone.
"Grayson Whitlock," Batman briefly replied, causing Deadshot to frown. However, he remained silent and merely shrugged as if asking, what about him?
"You owe him," the caped crusader added, causing Lawton to sigh and relax his crossed arms.
"Why am I not surprised?" Deadshot muttered, shaking his head. "Get me a pen and paper or something," he went on, reaching forward as if to demand them from the caped crusader.
...
"FUCK!" I cursed, lying on the ground as I looked down on my scorched body, feeling intense pain as my healing fact went to work, slowly healing my skin, bones and organs.
I tried to get up by my body didn't listen to me, and I could do naught but helplessly watch as Brimstone smashed Crush into the ground and started raining punches on the crater.
Despite my and Crush's best efforts, we couldn't give him any long-lasting injury as he'd tank our average attacks like they were nothing and immediately heal whenever we managed to get through his defenses.
All Brimstone's attacks managed to injure us, and our healing factors were barely keeping up with the flaming onslaught, not to mention a great deal of pain we had to suffer.
The pain wasn't as great as tearing down my muscles with my energy, but it wasn't that far off. Still, I persevered, gritting my teeth through the agony without losing consciousness by sheer willpower, but even I had my limits, and I was steadily nearing them.
I retrieved Ebony from my Inventory, grunting as I tried to raise my arm and aim. However, my muscles were too damaged to even twitch, and I couldn't move them, try as I might.
Suddenly, my arm shined in white light, and it was like my healing factor was on crack as it fixed it, and I immediately took the shot without questioning it.
I didn't miss, and the energy projectile hit Brimstone with enough power to force him away from Crush as the white light moved the rest of my body, fixing it as it helped my healing factor.
I realized the white light was an energy that didn't belong to me and scanned the area to find the person who helped, only to frown at the sight of a woman in a revealing green-golden costume floating in the air.
"You... you're one of Waller's people..." I remarked, unmindful of my nudity as I'd already ran out of clothes by now. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
...
"This thing is my responsibility. I made a mistake, and I intend to fix it," the sometimes heroine, sometimes villainess resolutely said, and I honestly didn't have the energy or leeway to be paranoid.
"Whatever. I'll take all the help I can get right now," I said as I raised my gun and resumed firing before Brimstone could gather his bearings and continue attacking Crush.
"Thank you," Enchantress said as she flew ahead of me, wildly gesturing with her arms, to which a portal opened, and a gigantic dragon-like creature emerged from within it.
It was gigantic, a couple of sizes larger than Brimstone. The creature's size immediately got the latter's attention as he ignored Crush, Enchantress, and me and charged the giant lizard, clearly feeling threatened.
The dragon took to the sky to avoid Brimstone's attacks, and the latter raised his hand, attacking it with concentrated beams of heat that didn't hit as the dragon flew around with incredible agility.
Looking at this scene, I frowned, finding something weird, and it didn't take long to put my finger on it. "An illusion?" I muttered, connecting the dots after noticing several peculiarities.
It had to be an illusion of sorts. Otherwise, how could such a gigantic creature generate no wind and not stir up the dirt and debris when it took off the ground? It was also weird how the dragon was only dodging without counterattacking.
"It is," Enchantress replied, raising an eyebrow. "The illusion should keep Brimstone busy and deplete some of his stamina..." she added, turning towards the crater where Crush was getting battered earlier.
"In the meantime, we should make sure your friend is fine, regroup, and prepare to counterattack," she concluded, and I could only nod as I made my way towards Crush.
"You okay?" I asked as I stood at the edge of the crater, looking down on Crush, lying on the ground in three pieces (literally) with fleshy tendrils sticking out of them, wriggling as they reached for each other.
It was a sigh that, under normal circumstances, would make me lose my lunch, but I was too tired and distressed by the flaming giant chasing behind a dragon in the background behind me to care.
"I will be once you put me back together," Crush said, grinning as she looked at me. "So stop staring and help me up," she added, causing me to sigh as I reluctantly jumped into the crater.
"What's got you all bothered...?" Crush teasingly said as she looked at my uncomfortable appearance holding her torso. "Haven't seen a pair of knockers before? Or is it the guts hanging out of my stomach?" she asked, her grin growing more pronounced at the frown I gave her.
"No, it's mostly your fucking mouth, so please keep it shut," I said, feeling the urge to drop Crush's torso to the ground and leave, to which she just chuckled as I put her torso down next to her lower body.
"I can take care of the rest," Crush said as she used her left arm to attach her torso to her lower body and stood up as the two body parts joined immediately.
She looked around and quickly located her right arm a distance away. Grinning, she walked towards it, picking it up and attaching it to her shoulder before cracking her fists.
"Let's get back to crushing," she concluded, leaping out of the crater and towards Brimstone without waiting, to which I could only scratch my head and follow reluctantly.
...
Gotham
Wayne Enterprises
"I hope you don't mind me saying so, but you look like hell, Bruce," Lucius Fox, the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, said, raising an eyebrow as he sat behind his office, staring into Bruce Wayne's eyes.
"I know," Bruce Blankly replied. "Can you build this for me?" he asked as he retrieved the schematics he received from Deadshot and offered them to Lucius Fox.
"Let's see," Lucius said, putting on his glasses as he took the schematics and examined the design. "For the 70-foot monster wreaking havoc outside, I presume?" Lucius asked, raising his head to look at Bruce, and he received a nod of acknowledgment.
"I'll see what I can do," Lucius said, returning the nod as he opened the laptop and started looking for the materials needed to create the rifle, having already memorized the design.
"I have good news and bad news..." Lucius said after fiddling with the laptop for a minute. "We have the required materials to create the rifle, however..." he added, sighing as he trailed off at the end of his sentence.
"We can't build it," The CEO went, causing Bruce to frown wordlessly, prompting him to continue speaking. "It's not out of our creative range..." he added, shrugging his shoulders.
"However, the facilities necessary to assemble such an advanced piece of technology were destroyed by that thing's rampage," he concluded with a helpless shake of his head.
"Fine, prepare the materials then. I'll think of something," Bruce replied as he contemplated the issue after watching Lucius nod and excuse himself, leaving the office to get the materials.
His first thought was to contact Ted Kord and get his help to assemble the rifle, but he dismissed the idea as that would take too long since Kord Omniversal was too far away. It would take too long for him to get here and vice versa.
If The Flash were present, the idea would have been plausible. However, the speedster was off-world fighting a terrestrial threat along with most of the League's heavy hitters.
Bruce contemplated and dismissed many ideas until he settled on one that was more of a gamble than anything else but was all he had, so it had to suffice.
"I have everything you need here, Bruce," Lucius said as he calmly walked into the office, moved behind his desk, and put a black suitcase on top of it.
"The schematics are inside as well," The CEO added as he sat down, gesturing for Bruce to take a look, but the latter wasn't interested, picking up the suitcase without peeking first.
"Thank you, Lucius," Bruce said as he stood up and picked up the suitcase before heading towards the exit.
...
"Is this fucking thing even beatable...?" I murmured, gritting my teeth as I watched the fucking tsunami Enchantress created evaporate in front of my eyes before hitting Brimstone.
No matter what we did, including hitting Brimstone with everything we had, energy attacks, brute strength, magic, a rainstorm, and tsunami, it barely staggered the flaming giant, and he'd immediately recover as if nothing happened.
Still, the rain clouds Enchantress summoned seemed to slow him down somewhat and didn't allow him to accumulate enough heat to use that flame wave thing he used earlier, but we still had no means of harming Brimstone.
'The police should have evacuated everyone by now...' I thought to myself, contemplating my options as I tried and failed to find a method to defeat Brimstone.
I could barely distract the flaming giant whenever he managed to pin Crush or Enchantress, as he was beyond my weight class, literally and figuratively speaking.
I might have been able to do something about Brimstone if I'd known about him and had time to prepare countermeasures, but I didn't, so buying time and shifting his focus was the best I could do for now.
I felt so helpless that my obsession with power might come back if I made it out of the fight alive, which I could if I turned tail and fled. But what good would that do?
I'd ruin my reputation and be known as a coward for the rest of my life. I could live with people calling me a coward, but I'm not sure I could live with repeating my first encounter with Firefly.
The images of those people burning as they ran around crying for help were still fresh in my mind, and it was more than enough. I didn't need an entire city's worth of melting chees faces showing up in my nightmares, thank you very much.
I didn't get to overthink the matter any more than I already did, anyway. The roar of an engine broke my line of thought. I looked around and immediately noticed the Batmobile speeding towards us from the distance.
'Boy, am I happy to see you, for once...' I mused, bitterly smiling at the sight of Batman jumping off his car, a black suitcase in hand. If anyone knew how to beat Brimstone, it had to be the caped crusader.
Sure enough.
"Take this," Batman said as he threw the suitcase in my direction and went on as soon as I caught it. "Inside are the schematics of the experimental rifle Deadshot used to defeat Brimstone and the materials to create it."
...
"Why not the rifle itself...?" Or so I wanted to question, but I honestly couldn't care at this point. The solution fell from heaven into right my lab, and, despite many shortcomings, Batman was trustworthy when people's lives were at stake, at least.
I promptly opened the suitcase and noticed several parts and materials neatly arranged in size fitting container at the bottom and a blueprint of a rifle at the top.
I scanned the blueprint. My Mechanics skill and Mind attributes were high enough to grasp it, and I immediately activated my Machine assembly power to build the rifle.
I reached forward towards the parts and materialized, watching as they floated in the air and merged together, creating a black rifle that looked futuristic but not overly so.
"The rifle uses gravity-bending projectiles capable of going through Brimstone's plasma-like skin," Batman said as he approached me and stopped beside me.
"You only have five bullets; aim for the center of the chest and make it count," he added as he raised his head to look at Brimstone, who was busy trying to swat Crush as she kept leaping around his gigantic figure, performing her best impression of a pesky fly.
"I only need two, but the rifle would be most effective at close range," I said, turning the rifle in my hand to get a feel for it. "I'll need to get close," I added as I raised the weapon and looked through its sights.
"I need your car," I went on as I lowered the rifle and looked at Batman, grinning at him, and the blank expression on his face told me he wasn't too pleased by my request.
"I'm spent. My healing factor isn't doing it anymore. I need extra protection to get within range," I explained, shrugging my shoulders. "The heatproof paint job on your car should do the trick," I continued as I turned the Batmobile, then back to Batman, who still didn't seem too enthused by the idea.
"We can give the rifle to Crush or Enchantress, but I doubt either of them held a gun their entire lives," I went on after a brief silence. "You could do it yourself, but you're definitely not coming back from that," I concluded.
"Fine," Batman grunted, reaching toward his utility belt and pressing a button, to which the Batmobile's roof opened, revealing the driver and passenger's seat.
"Good," I said as I turned away from Batman and towards Enchantress, who was floating in the air, sending a slew of elemental attacks flying towards Brimstone, calling her to get her attention.
"I've got an idea, but I need your help..."
...
Louisiana
Belle Reve Penitentiary
As she stood in the operations room, Waller had her arms behind her back, calmly staring into the footage from the heart of Gotham, showing Brimstone wreaking havoc in the city.
Her countenance was calm, a glaring contrast to how uncomfortable everyone looked as they watched with guilt-ridden faces, clearly not on board with her crazy plot.
"There were at least three thousand casualties caused by Brimstone, five thousand more caused by the chaos..." an agent reported, wincing as he kept reading the paper in his hand.
"The number of injuries is still unclear, but most cases have sustained life-threatening wounds..." he went on, clenching the paper in his hand as he gritted his teeth and stopped reporting.
"This isn't right. It isn't what we signed up for..." the man said, unable to hold himself back any longer. "I joined this task force to protect this country, not stage terrorist attacks on its people...!" he added as he threw the report to the ground.
"Terrorist attacks...?" Waller remarked as she calmly turned to the man, raising an eyebrow at him. "You've all seen the footage... Batman, Enchantress, and Clayface sabotaged the experiment," she added, raising a hand and opening her palm to the side.
"We all signed up to do the dirty work no one else would; it is our sacred duty," Waller went on as she turned away from the man and scanned the room, looking everyone in the face, one after the other.
"No one forced you, me, or anyone to join. We all knew what was at stake and what needed to be done," Waller continued, shaking her head. "It is too late to back out now," she explained, much to the subordinate's chagrin.
"Now proceed with the plan and extract the priority target," Waller concluded as she turned back to the screen to spectate the fight with fleeting interest.
...
"So many buttons..." I muttered to myself, fighting the urge to smash every shiny button in front of me as I looked at the Batmobile's dashboard, seated behind the steering wheel.
"I'm good to go," I remarked as I turned to Enchantress, who was gently hovering over the Batmobile. She nodded before gesturing with her hand while chanting a spell.
Enchantress joined her hands and unleashed a giant tsunami that manifested right in front of the Batmobile, heading straight towards Brimstone, who was busy with Crush.
The flaming giant noticed the colossal wave, but he didn't care, confident in his ability to vaporize the aquatic attack before it reached him. Too bad, Brimstone misunderstood the magic's intended purpose, for him, that is.
Enchantress's eyes glowed icy blue as she channeled her energy into the tsunami. I took that as my cue, revving the engine as I firmed my resolve and prepared myself.
The heroine spread her arms, and the giant wave froze, turning into a gigantic ice ramp before reaching Brimstone, prompting me to step on the gas as the tires screeched before moving.
I didn't really need the Batmobile. I might have been exhausted, but I could still survive a couple more hits from Brimstone without kicking the bucket.
Still, it was there, and I couldn't resist. And now, I can finally scratch driving the Batmobile butt-naked off my bucket list. Hell yeah!
It only took a second for The Batmobile to reach its top speed, quickly reaching the ice ramp. I pushed a button on the dashboard, and sharp nails came out of the tires to make climbing the ice easier.
I'd already scanned the Batmobile, so I understood what every button did, because why the fuck wouldn't I? I'm definitely building myself a Graymobile once I'm back in the hideout, though I'll probably need to work on the name first. It sounds too suspicious if you know what I mean.
Unsurprisingly, the climb to the top didn't take long. I'd already activated every weapon the Batmobile had halfway through and laughed my ass out as tactical missiles, lasers, and every imaginable weapon of destruction flew out toward Brimstone.
As fun as it was smashing buttons and watching shit happen, it was finally time to finish off Brimstone, so I reluctantly opened the car's roof and stood up.
I raised the experimental rifle with my right, taking a deep breath as I looked at the driver's seat I'd already filled with explosives from my inventory. There was also one additional surprise for Brimstone.
"Get out of there!" I shouted to Crush, and she immediately started sprinting away as I activated the Batmobile's self-destruct function and jumped off, rifle in hand.
Brimstone finally noticed me, and his eyes stopped at the rifle for a fraction of a second before they widened. "NO!" the flaming giant exclaimed as he crossed his arms before his chest to protect himself.
"Yes!" I replied, grinning as the Batmobile hit Brimstone's arms, exploding and triggering the explosives in the driver's seat. More importantly, it set off the little surprise I left for Brimstone, which was one of the gravity-bending projectiles.
The car exploded with a loud bang, sending flames everywhere, which didn't faze Brimstone. However, what happened next did. The Batmobile sucked the explosion back and started collapsing on itself.
Suddenly the Batmobile disappeared, along with a good chunk of the flaming giant's arms, as a small black hole appeared and disappeared in a mere second.
Under ordinary circumstances, I might have been too amazed to move after witnessing such a sigh. However, the current situation was anything but that. I immediately snapped out of it and raised the rifle to aim.
I squeezed the trigger, and the gravity projectile flew out of the rifle's barrel, heading straight toward Brimstone's vulnerable chest. He tried to move, to shield himself, but it was too late.
I allowed myself to smile, letting out a drawn breath as I relaxed my muscles and fell to the ground while watching the projectile hit Brimstone's chest.
The incredible scene from earlier repeated itself, and I had the leisure to appreciate it this time on my way down as the battle was finally over...
Or so I thought.
...
Watching Brimstone's chest cave in, collapsing on itself and revealing the half of a pulsating red stone, cleanly cut in half, I let out a drawn breath and relaxed my muscles as the adrenaline sustaining me left my system.
'That should be his core... or what's left of it...' I muttered to myself as I adjusted my posture to land on my feet after noticing the red stone. My landing, luckily without injury, cracked the ground and sent a wave of debris flying.
I raised my head just in time to see Brimstone falling to his knees. The red core in his chest brilliantly shined, and cracks appeared on its surface as if about to explode.
"Father...!" Brimstone wailed as he raised the two stumps that used to be his arms to the sky religiously as if praying. "Do not forsake your foolish child...!" he pleaded, and I had the urge to scoff at his words.
Darkseid was many things, but merciful or sympathetic to the plights of his so-called children was not one of them. Brimstone should consider himself lucky the intergalactic warlord doesn't send an omega beam to smite his ass.
'Might as well put him out of his misery... I don't want to take any chances...' I mused as I raised the experimental rifle and retrieved a gravity projectile from my inventory.
I loaded the bullet at my fastest speed and aimed at what remained of Brimstone's core. I let out a breath as I squeezed the trigger, and the projectile flew toward the flaming giant.
And just when I relaxed and lowered the rifle, it happened. Before the projectile hit its mark, a dark red beam broke through the cloud, flying in a zigzag pattern.
"Fuck..." was the only thing I could say as I watched the beam hit Brimstone before the gravity projectile, causing his body to shine in a dark red light.
A fraction of a second later, Brimstone's body exploded, engulfing my vision and everything nearby in a dark red light that brought a feeling of desolation and darkness. Of evil and tyranny.
It brought a crushing sensation to the very depths of my soul, and then there was nothing.
Only a dark red abyss.
...
Louisiana
Belle Reve Penitentiary
As she stood in the operation room, Amanda waller's calm expression had long evaporated, replaced by a scowl. The situation had gotten out of control as things took an unexpected turn.
The plan was simple, let Brimstone loose and use him as a distraction so her team could work in peace and extract a specific target whom Amanda believed would help her get rid of Gray with none the wiser.
The flaming giant's revival didn't go as Waller planned. She had one of her agents temper with the elderly scientist's energy measuring device and supplied him with faulty experimental rifles.
Brimstone would get enough energy to revive himself and wreak havoc in Gotham, hopefully getting gray's attention and taking him out of the equation, the good old-fashioned way.
Though Clayface and Batman's interference was an unexpected surprise, it wasn't unpleasant per se, as she had three people whom she could blame for Brimstone's rampage.
On paper, the plan was for Brimstone to take out Gray, but Waller's instinct told her it wouldn't be enough to put down the latter, so she made backup plans and intended to milk the situation dry of any advantage she could gain.
Waller sent a team of her best operatives to retrieve Gray's father from East End and use him to threaten his son into submission. She knew Gray and his father, Logan, didn't see eye to eye, but blood was thicker than water, or so she assumed.
She also had another elite team on stand-by, fully equipped with experimental rifles to take down Brimstone once everyone else failed to claim the credit and improve her public image.
Alas, Gray managed to defeat Brimstone, which would have been fine since she already had Logan, but Darkseid involved himself and somehow rescued his self-proclaimed son.
Not only did Darkseid rescue Brimstone, but he also empowered the flaming giant, evidenced by how the experimental rifles had no effects on the fiery goliath and how the newly arrived Justice League members were struggling against him.
"Send the experimental rifle's schematics to Starr Labs... we need to get this thing under control," Amanda instructed after a slight pause as she watched the empowered Brimstone pummel Hawkman and Hawkgirl into the ground.
...
"Ugh..." I grunted as I opened my eyes and saw the lower profile of a beautiful face, so exquisite I might have mistaken it for an angel had I not recognized it.
Feeling a breeze hit my face and a lightweight on my aching body, I looked down and saw a blanket covering my body and two arms wrapped around my torso as they kept me afloat in the high air.
"Brimstone he... what happened...?" I groggily asked the woman carrying me as she flew in the air, and she immediately turned regarding me with a gentle smile.
"Hush. Don't concern yourself with that monster any longer..." the woman said as she turned away from me. "Your bravery has saved countless lives... you've done more than enough," she added as she slowed down her flight speed.
"Luckily, we arrived in the nick of time... Flash was able to save you and the others before the Omega force explosion wiped you out..." the woman went on as she slowly levitated down to the ground and gently put me down on top of a car.
"You may rest easy. We will protect the city in your stead. You have my word as Diana of Themyscira..." the woman, as in Wonder Woman, concluded as she stepped back and prepared to fly away.
"Suit yourself," I said with a sigh, too tired to overthink the matter or form a more sophisticated reply. Besides, if Wonder Woman tells you she's got it covered, you can only lean back and enjoy the show. She is the man, after all. (*)
Wonder Woman smiled at me before raising her arms and disappearing as she flew away before I could even blink.
'I can't believe I just got princess-carried by wonder woman, butt-naked at that...' I mused, chuckling as I shook my head upon feeling the car's cold metal on my naked rear.
"Well, I guess that's another thing I could write and scratch off my bucket list," I muttered to no one in particular as I tried and failed to stand up, causing me to sigh.
I could barely move a muscle since my healing factor had drained every ounce of energy I had to keep me alive, and my adrenaline glands were already as dry as bark.
'Time to put my new power to work...' I mused as I retrieved whatever food I had in my inventory, struggling to raise my arm and stuff my mouth full of snacks.
Luckily I managed and activated my new Metabolism Manipulation power to accelerate my metabolism and turn the food into energy and nutrients at a faster rate.
Still, it took almost 15 minutes of stuffing myself with food and using most of my remaining energy to maintain the Metabolism Manipulation power, but I recovered enough to walk.
'Let's get some clothes first...' I mused as I climbed down the car and looked down on Gray Junior, freely swinging in the air. Shrugging, I located the closest clothing store and made my way toward it, still stuffing my mouth with food.
I hastily picked the closest set of clothes that looked like it would fit and exited the clothing store, sighing in relief at the familiar sensation of cloth keeping my privates, you know, private.
'I wonder if everyone's ok... Ben and Richard should be ok, but the others...' I wondered for a second before accessing my Personal Computer power to peek into my hideout, smiling at the sight of Little Soot trying to destroy my couch.
'Looks like J'onn is gone as well...' I deduced after switching to the rest of the camera one after the other and finding no trace of the martian telepath in my hideout.
'Good, the little demon is ok...' I nodded to myself as I accessed the cameras I'd installed in the theatre and was relieved to find it intact and empty.
To be safe, I accessed the nearby camera footage and saw them evacuate with Crush escorting them, keeping her promise to protect Patrick and the others if something happened to me.
'Let's see how Mark and his family are doing...' I mused as I tried to access the apartment complex cameras and failed. 'They must have been damaged...' I thought to myself, scratching my head as I checked my current location.
"The apartment complex isn't too far away... might as well go check..."
...
'Looks empty...' I mused as I stood in front of the apartment complex upon finding no signs of life. 'It seems they properly evacuated... good...' I shrugged but still headed inside to check, just in case.
'The camera might be down, but the footage should still be intact...' I concluded as I entered the guard booth and quickly found Mark's work laptop.
It didn't take me long to crack the password, which was a mixture of his wife's and daughter's names, causing me to smile as I looked for the recorded footage.
However, my smile promptly dropped as I found none. I frowned as I fiddled with the system and discovered someone had deleted the footage, recently and thoroughly at that.
"Shit..." I cursed as I activated my Personal Computer power and looked for any traces of the deleted footage in the system. I somehow managed, but whoever deleted it had done an excellent job, and I only retrieved bits and pieces.
I viewed what I found. It was cut-off footage of Mark helping everyone out of the complex as he urged them to take what was necessary and travel lightly to get to safety as soon as possible.
The footage cut off again to Mark hugging his daughter and wife before they got on the evacuation bus after he said something about a stubborn idiot who won't leave.
Mark waved goodbye, promising he'd be right behind them before he went back into the complex, and the footage cut off again, showing people in tactical gear armed to the teeth as they rushed into the building.
"Fuck..." I couldn't help but curse again as I exited the guard booth and sprinted toward the apartment building.
...
"Where the heck is Superman?!" Hawkgirl exclaimed, spinning in the air as she flew towards Brimstone before burying her mace into the flaming giant's face doing absolutely no damage.
"Superman, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, and the others are fighting Kalibak, Darkseid's firstborn off-world," Wonder Woman replied as she flew in front of Hawkgirl to shield the latter from Brimstone's counter-attack with her bracelets.
"This thing... also claims to be a son of Darkseid..." Hawkman commented from the side after attacking Brimstone to give Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl time to get away.
"Is this a coincidence...?" he wondered aloud as he flew away, watching flash sprint around Brimstone, creating a speed force cyclone that suppressed the omega force within the flaming giant, weakening him temporarily.
"Unlikely," Wonder Woman replied as she capitalized on the opening The Flash created and flew straight towards Brimstone's chest, punching it with her bare hand and causing him to exclaim in agony.
"Darkseid and his followers don't act without purpose..." she added as she began raining a barrage of punches on Brimstone's chest, and the others weren't slow to join the assault.
"They must be planning something," Wonder Woman said as she continued her attack until the very last second before Brimstone recovered from the speed force suppressing him.
"Move...!" Wonder Woman exclaimed as she watched Brimstone's body shine, preparing to release an omnidirectional heat wave. However, the others were slow to react.
The flame wave engulfed everyone other than The Flash and Wonder Woman and quickly dissipated after a couple of seconds, revealing an intact Hawkman and Hawkgirl wrapped in thin transparent barriers.
"What did I miss...?" Hal Jordan said as he floated in the air, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Brimstone's changed appearance as the latter glowed dark red.
"Darkseid," came a gruff, deep voice from Behind Hal Jordan as the Batjet soared in the air, flying past him and dropping a cluster of missiles on Brimstone.
"Well, that definitely explains it," Hal Jordan said, bitterly chuckling as he shook his head and created a giant hammer, which he buried in Brimstone's gut.
"Enough chit-chat; we've got a giant monstrosity's ass to kick," Hawkgirl exclaimed from the side, roaring as she charged Brimstone.
...
"Dammit..." Gray cursed, his complexion paling as he kneeled in front of Logan's, his father's apartment, reaching for an almost dry puddle of red liquid.
He quickly stood up and rushed into the apartment after realizing it was blood to scan the area. He couldn't help but curse again as he noticed signs of struggle all over the place with no sign of anyone in sight.
He exited the apartment and turned to the puddle of blood before looking around. He noticed a trail of blood leading deeper into the hallway and followed it.
Gray's expression turned uglier with every step he took as the blood stains became bigger and bigger until he reached the janitor's room, where the trail ended.
He stopped before the closet entrance, his expression apprehensive as he reached for the handle, only to stop before opening the door, his body stiffening.
Gray firmed his resolve and opened the door, only to raise his hand in front of his face as a loud bang echoed in the dark room. He looked at his hand to see a deformed bullet.
Slowly raising his head, Gray's expression became frantic as he spotted Mark lying in a pool of his own blood in the janitor closet's corner, holding a smoking gun.
"Mark!" Gray exclaimed as he rushed to the security guard's side. "It's me, Gray!" he added as he kneeled next when he noticed the latter raising his gun and reaching for the trigger again.
"Oh... Hi, princess..." Mark jokingly greeted, bitterly smiling as blood leaked in between his teeth. "I'm so- sorry, kid... they took your dad..." he added, struggling to talk as he began coughing, blood spilling out of his mouth with every word he spoke.
"Never mind that piece of shit," Gray replied, gritting his teeth as he removed Mark's shirt, putting it in his inventory. "I'll fix you up, so stay still and stop talking," he added, going still for a second at the sight of almost a dozen bullet wounds on Mark's torso.
"Sure, kid..." Mark said as he coughed, letting out another spray of blood straight into Gray's face. "I was never the brave, heroic type... but I couldn't help it, you know..." he added as he watched Gray reach towards his stomach with a glowing hand.
"After everything you did for my family..." Mark said, genuinely smiling as he felt the warmth of Gray's energy healing his wounds. "I couldn't sit back and let them take your dad away..." he added, sighing as he turned to stare at the dark ceiling.
"Besides... Leah's been talking my ear off about heroes since you last visited..." Mark said, fondly smiling at the mention of his daughter as he turned back to Gray.
"I thought I'd do something heroic for once... maybe Brag to her and Jannet once I see them again at the shelter..." Mark said as he let out another sigh through bloodied teeth.
"I didn't have a cape on me, but I hear it's not mandatory these days..." Mark said as he gently reached for Gray's glowing hand as it hovered above his abdomen, having already closed all his bullet wounds.
"That's enough, kid..." Gray said, his expression turning serene as the cold, clammy feel of his rapidly paling skin gave pause to Gray, causing the latter to go blank.
"I know it's selfish of me to put this on your shoulders..." Mark said as he gripped Gray's hand with whatever strength he could muster. "But I'm done for, kid... I lost too much blood..." he added, his expression turning complicated as he looked at Gray's blank, almost hollow expression.
"Take care of L-Leah and her mom for me, will... will you, kid...?" Mark asked, his pupils dilating as he struggled to speak and maintain consciousness until Gray nodded.
"You're a good kid, Gray... thank you..." Mark said, relaxing his grip on Gray's hand as he went limb and suddenly stopped breathing right before the latter's empty, soulless gaze.
Gray's hand trembled as Mark's own slipped off it. He slowly reached towards the latter's neck to inspect his pulse, and his already pale complexion turned paler.
He slowly stood up and carried Mark's unmoving body, leaving the janitor's complex. He slowly walked toward the apartment complex exit and stopped, gently lowering the security guard to the ground.
Gray then sat next to Mark's body and reached to check his vitals, clearly in denial. Alas, he still found no pulse, no breathing, and no signs of life.
He lowered his head and buried it in his hands as he tried and failed to process the situation. He remained in that state for an entire minute before raising his head to look at Mark's unmoving body.
"Waller..." Gray muttered, his expression turning grim. "Amanda waller..." he added, gritting his hard enough to chip his teeth as they began rapidly breaking and healing.
"Kill... kill Amanda Waller..." Gray slowly and deliberately remarked as he stood up, unconsciously leaking whatever energy he had left, his eyes turning red.
It was a particular shade of bloody red, matching the color of the small object breaking through the atmosphere and flying towards him at an incredible speed.
...
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