Injustice 3: Rings War (Book 2)

Chapter 7: More

Cyborg:

"Raven," I whisper while everyone else is distracted by Superman and Dr. Fate.

"What is it, Cyborg," Raven asks, her attention also focusing on the two.

"Don't go through with this," I say, "This is too much. The Lords of Order want something else. Besides killing that man. I just know it."

"Calm down," Raven snaps. "I know what I'm doing. Superman knows what he is doing."

"Do you really," I ask, "Do any of us really know anything about these Lords of Order?"

"We know they want the man in sunglasses gone as much as any one of us, and that is enough."

"I'm just saying," I say before I'm cut off.

"You are saying what," Wonder Woman shouts, kicking me to the floor. Hitting and sliding across it, I push myself up and rub my chin. Standing where I was, Wonder Woman eyes me.

"Raven had volunteered for this, and the Lords of Order are more than willing to share their limitless power with her. With their aid, we may finally put an end to the Insurgency."

I want to say something. I want to object to this. This seems like a horrible idea, especially considering how the Lords "handled" things during Brainiac's invasion, but I don't. Instead, I take notice of everyone's eyes on me. Standing in the center of the room, I feel their gaze on me.

Shutting up, I walk back to where I was before I was kicked to the floor. I cross my arms as I watch Superman walks away from the floating shell once known as Dr. Fate.

"Raven," the shell says, extending his hand. "Take my hand, and the power of Order will be bestowed upon you."

Nodding her head and smiling, Raven walks up to Dr. Fate. Wasting no time, she takes Dr. Fate's hand. All of a sudden, the bright glow that covered Dr. Fate rushes from his arm onto Raven's arms. It travels along her arms before reaching her head. The second it does, Raven is screaming and it's only seconds later when she falls to her knee.

"Raven," I scream, running to help her but Wonder Woman stops me.

"No," she cries, pushing me back. "You will not interfere."

"But they're killing her."

"We are not killing her," Dr. Fate says. "We are giving her power. Powers she had never had before."

Screaming and on her knees, Dr. Fate uses his free hand and places it on her forehead. I watch as a second glow appears on Raven's head, this glow seeming to burn her. Despite how far I am, I can still see faded trails of white smoke rising.

It takes everything in me not to move. If I do, it would only be a waste. Wonder Woman, and probably Black Adam would knock me back down. All I can do is watch as an outline of a cross begin to form on Raven's forehead.

Flash:

"Until we can figure out what it is exactly that the Lords of Order want," The Man starts, "Then we can't do anything."

"So what does that mean," I ask, tapping my foot.

"It means until we know more, there's nothing for us to do. So for now, you're all dismissed."

"Dismissed," I repeat, "What, are you stupid? One of us is in trouble, and you're going to do nothing. For all we know--"

"Exactly," The Man says, cutting me off. "For all we know, and we do not know much."

"We know that the Lords of Order revived Dr. Fate for a reason, and while all those Fates we guys fought may not be the real, it doesn't mean one of them, just one of them isn't Kent Nelson. He could be in trouble, and need our help."

"And exactly how are supposed to help him," The Man asks. "You weren't there. Those Dr. Fates won't exactly be in a 'talking mood'. At least, not about whether or not they were Nelson or not."

I feel my blood starts to boil. All I see is the color red and the man.

"The reason I wasn't there was because you knocked me out you stupid, son of a b--"

"Hey, hey, hey," the man says, trying to cut me off but I yell over his heys.

"Bitch," I finish, my voice echoes throughout the room. "You stupid son of a bitch. I could have been out there if you didn't crack my skull during your 'assessment test'."

"Well maybe if you could actually hit me," the man replies, "Then you would have gone."

Biting my tongue, grinding my teeth, I run out from the side of the table and toward the man. Preparing to knock him out, prepare to show him I can hit him, I stop when he grabs me by the throat and slam me to the floor.

As my back hit the floor, everyone else gets up from their seats and rush to us. They pry the man off of me while the other helps me to my feet.

"Still can't hit me. Can you?"

Breaking free of Selina's and Oliver's grips, I run toward him but Cold stops me.

"Don't," he says, oddly holding out his hand and not his cold gun. "Just, don't."

Cold turning to the man, Jason's and Jaime's grips still on him.

"You said we're dismissed," he asks, the man nodding. "Then I'm going to room for a little bit. The rest of you, don't bother me."

The first to leave the room, the rest of us begin to slowly follow after him, each of us going to do our own things.

I leave after Harleen, leaving The Man, Jason, Martin, and Supergirl alone. As I wander alone in the hallways of the base for a while, I somehow find myself at the massive portal built right into the wall. Walking up to it, I hit it over and over again with the bottom of my fist.

"Damn it," I say, not even leaving a dent. "We're trapped in here, with him and Captain Cold and Reverse-Flash, and all these others. We need to leave, but how. How? The only way in and out of this base is with one of those teleporters. The only two who have these, and can even use them, are the man and Scarecrow."

I think it over for a bit.

"I can't steal one from the man, but I can sure as hell steal one from Scarecrow. Once I do, I can figure out how the thing works, and then we can all leave. Oliver. Dinah. Jason and Martin. Iris."

Memories of Iris working with Scarecrow creep their way into my head. Turning back, I walk toward the infirmary.

The Man:

I enter my room before closing the door behind me, making sure the locks are locked. Walking over to my computer, I sit down before turning it on. As soon as it's ready, I push an icon and a silhouette of Christel appears.

"Howdy," I start, shooting the hacker a wave.

"Howdy," Christel repeats, also shooting me a wave. "Is this how we're greeting each other now? I like it."

"No. I thought I'd try something new. I did, but I didn't like it. Anyway, what is this about?"

"Okay, earlier this morning, while scouting around the One Earth network, seeing what's new and what I can find, I discovered this."

A bunch of payrolls, along with reports and logs, appear all over my screen.

"There's something going on in the beta factories," Christel says. "Something big."

"Yes, there is," I say, reading over the reports and logs. "If this is right, then Superman is pouring millions upon millions of dollars in raw materials and electronic parts into the factories also daily. He also hired a bunch more people. Engineers and programmers mostly. Did you try hacking the cameras on the inside?"

"I've tried, but can't. Whatever Superman did, he made his cameras hacker-proof."

"Okay. Thank you though. Keep trying and call me once you have something."

Christel nods his head before we end the call. Once the call is over, I bring up the profiles of all the engineers and programmers Superman had hired.

"Why you," I ask myself. "Why all of you? What is it you bring that others do not?"

About to read their files, I stop when I hear my door start to open.