There was no warning, no action, no hint of any kind. Nothing one would associate that could lead to the destruction of a half Martian, half cyborg killing machine.
Perhaps....... Nothing but a fingersnap. But this alone made it all the more outrageous.
A fingersnap? Could destroy Martian Manhunter? Damian felt like his three views were being challenged. And considering that he had seen a lot of things during his time on this earth, that was definitely saying something.
In the early days, Damian had seen the Justice League in action. He had seen the heavyweights go head-to-head with existences on their own level. Hence, he knew how powerful Martian Manhunter could be at his peak.
Strength, speed, and a plethora of abilities that made him a troublesome existence to deal with.
It made it all the more difficult to accept what he was seeing now before him.
Had the Cyborg lost so much of its power after being transformed into what it was now, or was this person before him so strong that he could do what he just did with ease?
Or perhaps........ It was some sort of trick.
Damian didn't know, but as the Grandson of the Demon's Head and the son of Batman, his mind carried their brilliance and cunning. Hence, analyzing everything he saw to see if there was a hint of deception before him.
The scene was silent, and the atmosphere carried an inexplicable hint of tension.
Damian narrowed his eyes and didn't speak, while Amari didn't seem to be in a hurry either.
And so, Amari and Damian stared at each other. During this time, Amari examined the boy before him with a bit of scrutiny.
Dark hair, green eyes and sporting a Robin costume. Like the one on Dick Grayson of earth sixteen but with slight modifications.
Seeing the narrowed eyes of the boy wonder which carried Five points of doubt, Four points of wariness, and one point of surprise, Amari couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Like father, like son.
“You're practically a spitting image of a younger Batman”. This boy wonder should be Damian, the actual biological son of Batman. Not adopted like the other three.
His words made the boy's eyes narrow even further
“Who are you ….”. He said while attempting to rise to his feet.
The result ........
“Ugh!” The slight movement of his body made the boy wonder let out a pain groan. At the moment, his uniform was soaked with blood as the injury caused from The Martian Cyborg's attack left him bleeding out.
Coupled with the earlier mentioned injuries, a slight movement meant experiencing unbearable pain and would cause his injury to worsen.
“You shouldn't move”. Amari uttered before walking towards Martian Manhunter's head. The only thing he had left intact when destroying him.
“Unless you want to die”.
“...... Is that a threat?” Resisting the pain and warning, Damian stood to his feet defiantly. The expression on his face stating that he was ready to face death.
'…. Yep. Exactly like Batman'. Amari felt amused. He was just giving a light warning, but the latter directly took it as a threat that he would kill him.
“If I wanted to kill you, You'd already be dead”.
He replied, his gaze fixed on the Cyborg.
'Alice?'. Amari called out inwardly.
'Am in'. The AI's voice rang out in his ears as information was transmitted from the computer chip within Martian Manhunter's skull.
“Then who are you?” Damian asked again with a frown. Someone with such power...... Why did he have no information on the other party?
“I'm a visitor”.
“From where?”
“Another Earth”.
'Feeding back necessary data now'. Alice's words fell and everything he needed and wanted to know about this world was directly extracted from the memory files of the Martian head.
This world's earlier timeline, how the Justice League came together. Some major events happening in between and the change afterward. Superman going rogue, the destruction that ensued, his death..... And everything it could remember right after.
The reprogramming, the assignments given to it by Superman, the files on Wonder Woman's appearance. Everything.
Despite only having a head, Alice was able to directly connect with Superman's network and retrieve all data required that was not in his memory.
It included the current state of the resistance, why it was after Damian Wayne and Deathstroke, and the true location of the Helmet Of Fate.
As well as another very interesting addition. Something Amari hadn't expected either.
However...... 'No Ares'. Amari muttered with an expressionless face. He felt no surprise at that. Time hadn't even reached an hour since the God Of War fled to this world.
It would be surprising if he came into Superman's line of sight. Especially in his current state, The Old God would definitely be beaten to death by this world's darkened Superman with very little resistance.
That was if he wasn't dead already. From Amari's speculation, Ares should have been consumed by the curse marks at this point, his soul destroyed.
This was why he wasn't in a hurry to chase after Ares. After all, the dead couldn't run away.
He just wanted to confirm that he was truly dead. Then, he would be on his way.
“Another Earth?” Damian's eyes widened.
“You're from Wonder Woman's world”.
“Correct”. Amari replied and turned his gaze away. He had gotten everything he needed. Hence he wouldn't continue peering at a head any longer.
He turned around only to see Damian's eyes had lit up with renewed hope.
“Wally did it. But.....”.
Then, those eyes dimmed.
“Why's there only one of you? Are you the advance guy?”
A frown emerged on his face. If Wally had made it, then their world was supposed to arrive with a full team. To deal with their situation, their Superman had to be involved.
Then he remembered how this guy had destroyed Martian Manhunter literally with a snap of his fingers, and he realized.
If this was his true strength, then Perhaps this guy was the reinforcements they needed.
However.
“You're mistaken”. The apathetic tone fell into his ears.
“I do come from their world, but I'm not part of the Justice League”. Turning to the side, a thought flashed past causing him to chuckle.
“In fact, you can say that we don't really get along well”.
Hearing this, the Boy Wonder took a step back.
“So you're an enemy?”
“No”. Amari uttered blandly. “But I'm not a friend either. So if you expect me to help you defeat your world's problem, then you're thinking too much”.
“Then why did you save us?” Damian opened his mouth to speak, but someone else beat him to it. Both turned their gazes to a man had sat upright at some point with blood flowing from his open eye.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Despite his sight being completely deprived, he looked towards Amari's direction with a serious face. As if he could actually see him.
Slade wanted to know why this newcomer had saved both their lives.
“Because I can”. The reply he received, however, was contrary to his expectations.
Even Damian, who was prepared for many things, didn't expect it.
“I'm sorry, what?”
“There's no specific reason. I saved your asses simply because I felt like it”. Looking at their expressions, Amari felt like laughing. Though, he wasn't surprised.
“My world doesn't have a Damian Wayne. Or it does, and I haven't seen him yet. And if he does exist, then he's probably still an arrogant five or six-year-old brat living under Ra's Al Ghul and Talia. So call me curious to see what exactly the son of Batman would look like. If it were me two months ago, I would definitely leave you to your fates, so don't think too much and take it as it is”.
Deathstroke's face didn't change. As for whether he believed the reason or not, Amari didn't know, neither did he care.
Slade remained silent but Damian certainly wasn't finished questioning.
“You're not here to help, so why are you here?”
The tone in which the boy wonder spoke had obviously changed. If initially, he was wary, then he was pleasantly surprised, now that he knew Amari wasn't here to help, his tone was annoyed, displeased and obviously unwelcoming.
Despite being a teenager who had spent years under Batman's tutelage, his arrogant, pampered brattiness was ever present.
It sounded like he was just a little short of giving him an eviction order to leave their planet, since he was useless.
But what he did inherit was Batman's desire to get to the bottom of things.
“I'm looking for someone”. Amari replied, completely ignoring Damian's tone. He could feel it the moment he stepped into this universe.
Earth -1 wasn't far off from collapsing into nothingness. After all, the key characters that brought this world into existence in the first place was the Positive Multiverse Batman's fear of Superman turning into what he always feared he would.
Hence, The Superman of Earth -1 was the key factor of this Earth's stability.
The moment the fear was killed off, then this earth wouldn't last longer than ten minutes in existence. Everything and everyone that remained on that planet after that would be swallowed by the cosmic nothingness ad cease to exist.
Point being, these two were equivalent to dead men in Amari's eyes. And who would bother punishing dead men?
“Who?”
“A God”. Amari's answer caught both of them off guard. He ignored there gaffe and continued.
“Ares. The God Of War. He fled from my world into this one just as I was about to kill him, but not without death inducing wounds. So I'm here to make sure I see his corpse”.
He said nonchalantly. Then squinted his eyes with a pondering look as he fixed his gaze at the tallest building in Metropolis that had now been transformed into Superman's' evil fortress.
“Now ....... it seems like his corpse isn't the only thing I'm leaving this world with”. Amari's vision penetrated the buildings, through the fortress walls, down into the lowest layer where he saw the unexpected surprise in Martian Manhunter's memory.
In the lowest underground room, several spherical wheels were spinning constantly around each other in different directions.
And at the center of these spheres was a figure in a red flash suit, running on a treadmill with a plug inserted into the back of his neck.
Earth Sixteen's original Flash.
...........
Meanwhile ......... Two Superman from different Worlds and different dimensions stared at each other solemnly.
The wind blew past them both and the surroundings lost all sound. Both men released their auras on each other instantly, bringing the atmosphere to a suffocating level.
A distance away, within a collapsed restaurant building that at this point, was nothing more than rubble. The rocks began to tremble uneasily for a few moments.
Following which, a slender hand struck out of the rubble.
Then....... Bang! Everything within the vicinity was blasted away as a figure emerged from underneath with great momentum.
She wore a strapless red bustier held up by a brace of gold resembling two W's. Silver bracelets around her wrists, red star earrings and a golden diadem with a red star on her forehead.
Blood poured out from the wounds that surrounded her body as the slender figure took deep breaths and let out heavy pants.
Her pink lips were stained with blood and her uniform was in a mess with a lot of tears and cuts.
“Where is that bastard?” Diana cussed in a low tone and took a step forward. Following which, she fell to the floor with a look of pain on her face.
Her entire body was aching, and he muscles practically screamed to her that she couldn't go any further.
Nevertheless, she still struggled to stand by supporting herself against a firm object.
She couldn't fall. Not here, not now. Not u till that monster was put down for good. And by her sword and by Hera, she would make sure it happened...... Or die trying.
Focusing her gaze, she peered into the distance to see what was happening. However, what she saw left her stunned.
Two...... Two Supermen were flying in the sky, facing off against each other in a staring showdown.
At first, she didn't understand........ But then. Behind one of them, a large weirdly shaped airship disengaged camouflage mode and appeared in the sky for all to see.
Diana instantly recognized it. That was Miss Martian's Bioship. And that meant ...... Her gaze returned to the Superman and her eyes lit up with hope.
“Clark .......”. She whispered softly.
In the distance, Earth 16 Superman clearly heard her voice with his hearing.
“Diana”. He called out back. “I'm sorry, I should have gotten here sooner”.
“It's not...... Your fault..... Ugh”. The pained groans she released right after left Clark feeling slightly distressed.
“Just wait right there, ok?” Clark said calmly. His eyes showing unconcealed anger.
“I'll take care of this”.
Following which, he placed his gaze on the other him on the opposite end solemnly. He knew that what he was about to face wasn't going to be easy to deal with.
It was another Superman.
The silence remained for several seconds. Until...... The first one spoke.
“...... You're from the other universe”. His voice was clear and calm, but his eyes were filled with hostility. He turned his gaze to the position where Wonder Woman stood and raised an eyebrow.
“Just like her”. He took had Superhearing.
“This is over. Your world's Batman has already stated it. I won't let you harm anyone else ever again”.
Murderous intentions burst out of the Negative Superman at the words of his other self.
“You don't belong here”.
“Perhaps. But you hurt my friend”. Clark wasn't one to back down.
“And I'm going to make you pay for that”.
“In that case ......”. Both figures tensed. The fight was about to begin.
“Go ahead and try”. And then......
Crack! The asphalt under their feet cracked as they both dashed towards each other simultaneously at their fastest speed.
Bang!
Both figures collided and exchanged blows. One hand to punch and the other to catch the other party's punch as well.
The shockwave spread out, causing the glass in the surroundings to shatter and buildings to crumble.
Batman who was still in a state of shock was blown away by the aftershock and his body flew into the air. Thankfully, Superman didn't come alone.
The Bioship opened, and a figure flew out to catch the body of the out of control Batman.
Similar to Superman, she also wore red and blue tights and carried the symbol of the house of El, but the bottom was a skirt instead.
“Gotcha!” Catching Batman, she quickly supported him and flew off into the distance.
Similarly, the Bioship retreated a distance away from the point of collision.
“Why don't you help him?” Batman turned his gaze towards Kara who was taking him away and asked.
The first question was not who they were but this?
“I .....”. Kara was also taken off guard. But thereafter, she didn't know what to say.
“Put me down”. Seeing this, Bruce uttered with narrowed eyes.
Kara didn't refuse and placed the Card Crusader on the floor. As they had retreated a safe distance away, the Bioship also landed and the door opened up to reveal several figures.
A streak of lightning rushed out and appeared before Batman.
“Thank Goodness you're alive”. Wally from Earth -1 uttered with joy.
“You're late”. Bruce, however, didn't reciprocate. As soon as Clark appeared, The Dark Knight understood what was happening.
The reinforcements they longed for had finally arrived. However, Bruce wasn't relieved but felt his teeth itch with anger.
One day. If they had waited one more day, the reinforcements would have arrived. So many people wouldn't have had to die today.
“I ..... It wasn't.....”. Wally was momentarily dumbfounded and wanted to refute, but didn't know where to start.
“It wasn't his fault, Sir”. At this moment, a calm, composed voice spoke up for him.
Aqualad and the rest of the team arrived.
“You're Aqualad. Arthur's protégé". Bruce narrowed his eyes.
“Yes. We're all from the other earth”. Aqualad nodded. “And the six of us are here to help”.
“Six?” Batman frowned. He turned to Wally West (-1) who he automatically excluded and counted.
“There's only five of you”.
“Huh?” Aqualad was stunned and looked at his teammates...... Then they discovered. One of them truly wasn't here.
“Superboy dropped earlier to save that old man”.
Megan called out through the mindlink.
'Right. Call Superboy. Check his status and have him regroup with us. We will need it'.
'Right'. Megan nodded and called out.
'Superboy, respond'.
One, two, three....... No answer.
Megan frowned.
Boom! The sounds of collision continued in the distance.
'Superboy, are you there. Respond'.
Seconds passed. Still nothing.
'Guys, we might have a problem'. Megan called out in panic.
'Superboy's gone'.