Chapter 57

Law PoV

Despite being a rather secretive mission, there were more than a few people that knew about it. The fact that decoy convoys were being used, who was in charge of which one, and the path we would be taking. Obviously not everyone had this knowledge, but the pool of people who did wasn’t going to be an easy one to filter through.

But there was one thing that couldn’t be easily known, even from a leak. A piece of information that stood out rather clearly.

Ravager knew the exact body part that was in the convoy.

Which was exceedingly interesting, considering we only distributed the body parts right before the mission even began. We already chose who would be guarding a body part long before then, but we never really got into specifics over which body part we would be guarding.

Because, quite honestly, no one thought it mattered.

So how did Ravager know, when we only decided that less than an hour ago?

One option was that she guessed, and that was indeed entirely possible. The only reason I had to think differently was because of the way she said her answer. Full of confidence and not even the slightest doubt in her answer.

Which wasn’t exactly the hardest evidence to have. Still, I knew better to gamble with the facts. What was more likely, that she had a 33% chance of being correct, or a 100% chance?

It was from that moment I suspected the truth, but I denied the obvious answer.

Because despite everything I’ve done, everything that I’ve been through, I was still just a fucking idiot. After years and years of training on the streets of Gotham, I decided to just ignoremy instincts. To just forget everything, I’ve been taught.

It would have been one thing if I just didn’t think about it. If I had just missed it, I could write it off as a minor mistake. Something to learn from. After all, I wasn’t a flawless being in any sense of the word. I made mistakes.

But it was entirely different case when I chose to look away.

No, I told myself. To have gotten that knowledge, they must have planted some sort of bug on us. A Titan had to have some sort of bug. And considering that not even Cyborg could sense it, it must be something near impossible to discover.

Pathetic.

It would seem that my time away from Gotham had changed me…for the worse.

Disregarding the obvious answer, I waited only after Aquaman had finished giving us a mission to start my own plan. Only talking to him after the coast had been clear of all other Titans.

And then I told him of my plan.

It was a pretty simple one, and it relied on me cashing in a favor to Miss Martian for her part in it. Truthfully the hardest part was getting Aquaman onboard with it. He seemed very against the idea of not letting everyone know about the plan, even despite the likelihood of our enemies somehow listening in on our conversations.

So, I switched tactics. Instead of relying on logic to convince him, I appealed to his emotions. Bringing up Aqualad’s case and asking him to make sure that doesn’t happen to anyone else.

Not to mention that if it works, he’d be getting to face off against the same man who put Aqualad in the hospital…

Something that the original plan didn’t call for. It took a bit of convincing, but eventually Aquaman folded. Giving his full support for my plan.

And after a pleasant enough call with Martian Manhunter and then his niece, well, the rest was history. My plan gave us a bit of a weapon, but it wasn’t enough to prepare for what was to come.

Ravager had been a strong opponent, but that meant little when outnumbered. So she was quickly overwhelmed. No, the problem was what happened afterwards.

Deathstroke putting two holes into Starfire.

Red X revealing his…identity…

…Tsk.

Anger flooded my veins. So much so that I could barely see straight. There was nothing more that I wanted to do then turn around and kill those who wronged me. No, death was too kind of a reprieve. Only after they’ve been put through absolute agony would I allow them to pass away.

My skin itched and popped. My focus was almost shattered due to my overflowing emotions. And if that comes to pass…

Then so would Kori.

The amount of tree sap I could produce was minimal due to my lack of focus. Forcing me to get creative with how I’d plug up her wound. There was only two choices that I had been given after Starfire had been shot.

To drop everything and heal her, or to run away.

There was no time to think over my choice. To dedicate what little time I had in order to think about such worthless things would shatter what little focus I had. Whatever was chosen would need to be followed absolutely and decisively.

My body would likely tear me apart otherwise.

Already I could feel my left leg going numb. Pockets of skin popping open like a zit and causing blood to pour forth from the wound. As well as whatever strange chemicals or substances that had been created behind it.

I ignored this in order to give everything I had to save Kori. Part of it was of course for her, but the other part was undeniably for me.

Blood spilled out of her body as if she had turned on a faucet. It was all I could do to simply cover her wounds with my jacket as I slowly worked on them. Having to work around the wound in a circle motion in order to patch it up. Working straight up and down would easily see it rip.

“…L-leave…me…”

…Thankfully my constant efforts of ignoring everything around me was starting to have an effect. The itchy feeling under my nails was starting to fade. Which implied that my emotional state was starting to come under my control once more.

And that singular thought was the biggest push I had gotten so far. My ability to control myself increased dramatically, allowing me to work much more effectively on Starfire.

Though by this point, she had already passed out. Which wasn’t a good sign, but it still had its benefits. Mostly negatives, but I could work past those.

I would work past them.

An errant thought runs through my mind, and I turn my head upwards. Staring up at Deathstroke. Evaluating what I could really do to him in this scenario. To which there was only one real answer.

“If she dies, I will kill everyone in this room.”

I didn’t hear what he said in response. I had already mentally filtered out all outside noises as meaningless sound. All I knew was that he said something, but not the meaning of it.

There was one thing that I’ve never done in my entire life. Because there was no situation that existed that needed me to do it. Not to mention the consequences of doing it would likely make me in the crosshairs of not only the government, but the Justice League. That is, if I even survived the fallout.

I’ve never gone all out with my power.

To fully transform myself into a biological weapon. Poison. Radiation. Plague. Carcinogenics. Anthrax. Resin. Hydrogen Cyanide mixed with Strychnodide. Phosgene.

No, with the enhancements I’ve made to my body, I could likely go even bigger. Creating some sort of hyper dense Corium that would be so radioactive that it’d make the Elephant’s Foot in Chernobyl look like child’s play.

I could…I…

I can help, you know.

…

You know what you have to say.

…

I…

Kori sputtered and coughed, immediately bringing my attention back to her. Her eyes were a bit hazy, but she was definitely awake. Her hand flailed a bit to which I quickly grabbed.

She was fine. Her wounds were sealed and she’d recover. The tree sap was absolutely amazing like that.

The sound of an explosion sounded behind me, but I ignored it. Kori’s attention was on me right now. She attempted to get up, only for me to gently push her back down. Warning her that it wasn’t a good idea right now.

She accepted my proposal.

After a few minutes of her waking up and recovering, she turned her gaze to behind me. It was only then that I watched what she did. Robin was pointing his wrist mounted weapon towards Aquaman and Deathstroke, who were currently locked in combat.

They were both pretty fierce opponents, and their movements were honestly a bit difficult to follow, though it definitely seemed like Aquaman had a slight edge.

Suddenly a nearby figure stood up on shaky legs, and started to slowly charge towards the two fighters. Robin didn’t seem to notice Ravager due to being so focused on aiming, allowing her to easily slip past him.

Considering I’ve put medicine that was specifically designed to tranquilize horses into her bloodstream through skin contact, it was pretty impressive that she was able to move at all. She likely had some sort of body enhancement or genetic ability that helped endure it.

She threw herself around Aquaman’s waist. Her legs pretty much having already given out and was relying solely on her hold over Aquaman. A hold that was as brittle as paper due to her numb nerve endings.

Aquaman was surprised briefly by the action, giving Deathstroke enough time to pull out his gun and…shoot Ravager in the chest.

…Well, can’t say that I expected that.

Aquaman was equally surprised, as he was now forced to carry Ravager as she completely dead weights onto the ground. Her mouth opening in a wide O like shape. She seemed rather surprised.

Deathstroke on the other hand didn’t waste a second as he started to bolt out of the building. Quickly slamming his hand on a button on a wall as he ran past. Causing an alarm to start blaring in the building.

Aquaman on the other hand took a step forward to chase after him, only to quickly look back down at the girl he was carrying. Ah, I see Deathstroke’s plan now. He was capitalizing on most superheroes mentality in order to get away. Sacrificing a pawn to save the king.

It was a decent move, though I think shooting Aquaman in the head would have been better.

…Or maybe not. Atlantians did have a much harder constitution than normal humans. While they may not be immune to bullets, they do have a much better resistance to being shot than us.

And then there’s the fallout if he does successfully kill Aquaman. Not only would the entire Justice League likely mobilize due to the death of one of their founding members, but the Government would also step in. A king from another nation dying in the United States would call for some form of action.

There was also the potential of the Atlanteans themselves forcefully intervening…

“Help her…Law.”

I frowned at Kori’s words. For once, I didn’t look in her eyes as she talked. That was quite possibly one of the last things I wanted to do right now. Even as a subordinate of Deathstroke, I was filled with a decent amount of satisfaction letting her die. Especially if it hurt Deathstroke.

…Who was the one to shoot her in the first place…

Hmm.

“Law…”

Ravager must have some sort of luck-based superpower, because in any other scenario, I would not be as generous as I was now. But thankfully for her, I was suddenly in a much better mood than I was seconds ago.

A much more giving mood due to Starfire’s current status of not being dead.

I quickly stood up and jogged over to a confused Aquaman’s position.

“Give her t-“

Aquaman wasted no time in handing her off before bolting after Deathstroke. Holy shit, the man disappeared in only a second and didn’t waste time opening the door. He just charged through it face first.

…Goddamn. And the Flash was supposedly the fastest member of the Justice League? Either Kid Flash didn’t even begin to compare to the Flash, or the Flash’s speed was overexaggerated.

“…ah…”

Ravager made a small amount of sound, causing me to turn my attention back to her. Her facial features didn’t seem to have changed much. I ripped off her mask earlier in our fight, so I was able to see her face clearly.

Everything except for her left eye, which was covered by a patch.

Now I had to make an actual decision.

While I may seem very calm right now, the truth was I have just successfully bottled my current emotions. Including my incredibly volatile anger. But that didn’t mean it all just magically disappeared.

So, if I really wanted to, I could just let Ravager die. Truthfully, just being seen trying would be more than enough to please Starfire.

Though if I helped Ravager, she would be in quite the massive amount of debt to me. What with not only attacking me and Starfire, but in serving Deathstroke, and now saving her life. And I would make sure that she pays it all back to the last cent…

Hmm. It was a hard choice.

On one side, logically gaining a resource. On the other, satisfying my own emotions.

The one positive for Ravager currently was the sole fact that most of her nerves were numb. Meaning she very likely couldn’t even feel the hole in her chest that Deathstroke left.

…So why was it that tears were running down her face?