My eyes fluttered open as I awoke from my slumber, wincing with my every movement as I felt pain rippling through my body.
"Careful there," A voice spoke up and I looked to see Clark sitting beside me with his warm smile. M'gann stood right behind him, unshed tears in her eyes while Match was beside her with a grin that looked a bit too sharp.
"W-What...happened?"
"The kryptonite bullet was a lot worse than we expected, but we got you to the Watchtower in time and got you stabilized. Batman and the others helped," Clark explained, making me blink.
"R-Really? Wait, why is space so red?" I asked as I looked past them, watching as M'gann's eyes glowed while she smiled.
"Don't worry about that. The Justice League is already busy there. You just think about resting."
"Okay, I guess I still feel some pain," I murmured, lying back on the bed. Match just smiled as he leaned over and patted my shoulder with a smile.
"Do not worry, brother," He whispered, my eyes locking onto his red ones as they shone with malice. "You just rest and we'll take care of everything."
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"Father, why have you called us all here?" A beautiful woman asked with a frown as she walked beside Ra's al Ghul, wearing a green and black bodysuit with matching gloves and boots.
Beside them were the entirety of the League of Shadows, an old light-skinned man with white hair and dark brown eyes having a frown on his face.
"The young Mistress speaks the truth. It is rare for you to call us all back, Master," Sensei spoke with a frown, the other elite members of the League of Shadows following closely behind as Ra's responded.
"Twenty three hours prior to my commanding you all to return, Paragon killed Lex Luthor and declared that he will come for the other leaders."
"And you fear that you may be next?"
"I do not fear. I know. He informed me that he will be coming for me next," Ra's spoke with a frown, drawing one from his daughter. The other assassins looked wary before they immediately moved to their stations as Sensei gave the signal.
"Is there any chance that he may have been lying?"
"Perhaps, but the Kryptonian clone is overcome with grief. Therefore, he has no logic tempering his wrath," Ra's finished calmly, folding his hands behind his back as he stopped.
"Then, why stay and wait here? We could simply move the League and disappear as we've always done."
"Because fleeing from the storm does not stop the rain, my daughter. It only delays the drowning," Ra's spoke, Talia narrowing her eyes before he turned to Sensei.
"Ready the Pits. If it comes that I fall, I shall simply rise again."
"Understood, Mast-" They all stopped as the sound of a jet echoed above, Ra's having a slight smirk on his face when he noticed the bat-shaped wings on the side.
"Well, it appears an enemy has arrived in our territory," The man whispered, watching as both Batman and Robin dropped from the jet with frowns.
"Why are we here?"
"Because this is the logical path for Paragon to follow."
"Batman, I see that you have heard news of my imminent battle," Ra's began, Batman simply walking closer with Robin following close. However, Sensei held up a hand before the Dark Knight could get too close, Robin holding his staff to the man's arm in response.
"You believe you can do anything to me, boy?"
"Try me."
"Robin, enough," Batman spoke with a frown, the boy grumbling as he pulled his staff away while Sensei did the same with his hand.
"We have received reports that various of your bases and hidden safehouses across the world have been decimated. With the death of Lex Luthor and your identity as a co-leader of the Light being public, we can only assume that you are the next target for Paragon."
"I am. Does that mean you are here to help us put an end to this threat?"
"We are here to help you capture him. Nothing more, nothing less," Batman spoke with a frown, which Ra's mirrored as he held up a hand to stop his daughter from interrupting.
"The boy has made it clear that this is a threat upon my life."
"And he will be dealt with accordingly as the law dictates, not by you killing him."
"Oh? And what if we were to accidentally put a fatal wound on him while trying to capture him?" Ra's asked, smirking when he saw Batman's frown deepen behind his mask before they both glanced to the side when they heard a soft rumble in the distance.
"That is him?"
"Robin?" Batman asked, Robin immediately typing at his computer before nodding with a grimace as he saw the feed from his new Robyn drone.
"That's him," As he finished speaking, the clouds were torn open as the northern side of the area exploded when something crashed into the ground.
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of assassins surrounded the area, each aiming a gun at the cloud as they waited for the dust to settle.
As the dust settled, they lowered their weapons as they saw a single stone pillar jutting from the crater, the sound of rumbling beckoning their attention.
Batman turned before everyone else and watched as hundreds of boulders rained down onto them like artillery.
"Get to cover!", He shouted as he and Robin took off, dodging and moving in between the bombardment.
Ra's, Talia and Sensei were running away as well, the leader clicking his tongue as he saw that the rubble had been thrown haphazardly to make it seem as if it was done randomly.
'That means this is but the first salvo,' As he expected, he turned and saw another hail of stone falling down, realizing that their foe was more powerful than they had expected as they ran into the main building.
It was built more sturdy than the others around, withstanding the storm of rocks as Batman and Robin leapt through the doors right as Sensei and Talia closed them.
"Cheshire, Black Spider! Search the area! Make sure he is not in here."
"No need to. I'm here," A voice echoed from behind them, everyone turning to see Paragon sitting on Ra's throne with one leg thrown over the other and a smirk on his face.
Batman narrowed his eyes when he saw the red in the eyes of Superman's clone, turning to Robin who nodded with a grimace.
'Klarion's magic is still running through his system.'
"Paragon, the fallen hero. I see that you were speaking the truth in coming for me first."
"Of course, I was. After all, I can't make a threat and leave you to run around as you pleased," Paragon spoke as he stood up, rolling his neck while making his way down the stairs to the throne.
"Also, don't worry about the Lazarus Pits below. I buried the cavern under tons of rock and stone...and then I compressed it further until it collapsed onto itself."
"That was why you threw the stones. You wanted to hide the rumbling of the ground with the impact of the rubble," Robin spoke up with a grimace, everyone looking at Paragon as he smirked and shrugged.
"Caught me. In any case, Ra's al Ghul, I remember telling you that you are my next target, yes?"
"Indeed, but are you prepared to face me, boy?", Ra's asked as he unsheathed the sword at his side, revealing the Kryptonite lining its edges. Batman frowned at that before it deepened when he saw the kryptonite-lined weapons of the other assassins.
"Ah, Kryptonite? Damn, my big weakness," Paragon spoke with a shake of his head before he stomped onto the ground, unleashing a shockwave that shattered the floor as well as crack the ceiling and walls around them.
Lifting his other leg high, Paragon brought it down with a bellow, sending a plume of dust and stone billowing upwards. Everyone scattered and hid away as the shockwave ripped through the building, a massive fissure tearing through the hall floor.
"You call yourself immortal," Paragon began, everyone looking out to see him slowly advancing. "Then tell me this, Ra's. How do you rise again when there's nothing left to bring back?", With a distorted growl, Paragon shot forward and swung.
Ra's moved from his cover as the hero tore through it, turning and swinging his blade at Paragon's neck. To their surprise, the boy reached up and caught it, uncaring for the Kryptonite or the shallow cut it left on his body.
There was no pain on his face either. Instead, he grinned, taking a deep breath before blowing out a freezing gale that pushed everyone but Ra's away.
The man in question dug his boots into the cracked floor, his cloak whipping violently as frost crawled up his sword. Paragon didn't say anything, simply turning his body and catching the dagger Ra's tried to stab into his eyes.
"So, you can still fight? Good, I'd hate for this to end early."
"That arrogance...will be your undoing!" Letting go of his dagger, Ra's ducked and unsheathed the short sword hidden under his cloak. The blade cut through the air and struck true, Robin's eyes widening as he saw the blade sinking into Paragon's chest.
"No!" The young man exclaimed as he went to rush over, Batman holding him back with a frown. Yet, their eyes widened as Paragon reached up and gripped Ra's arm tightly.
"Was that your big plan?" Paragon whispered, tilting his head at Ra's surprised look with a smirk as he grabbed onto the man's arms. Then, he surprised everyone when he walked forward, pulling the blade deeper before stomping forward.
Ra's gagged as the heavy boot slammed into his chest and hurled him across the chamber, the man shattering a stone column and crashing back first into the wall beside his throne.
"You believe I'm like you foolish mortals?" Paragon asked, pulling the blade free while relishing in their horrified looks when he pulled at his wound.
Smearing the blood on the sword against his wound, Paragon pulled on the cells in the blood and pulled them into the stab wound. Then, he spread them outwards, letting out a sigh as he rapidly stitched the wound with his mind until his wound was fully gone.
"I am a Kryptonian, Ra's al ghul! A god compared to you and today, I will show you that!"
"Raven, now!" Batman barked out, the shadows below Paragon twisting as tendrils shot outwards and wrapped around his limbs.
As the Kryptonian was captured, Raven emerged from his shadow and grabbed his head firmly. Her eyes turned a deep scarlet and Paragon's eyes widened as his body went slack.
As she did, Batman rushed forward, snapping out a pair of Meta-Restriction Cuffs that had Kryptonite embedded into them. Snapping them onto Paragon's wrists, he quickly hopped back as he saw Raven gritting her teeth.
"Raven?"
"He's...corrupted! There's something...suppressing his consciousness!" She gritted out, feeling the corruption trying to push her away.
"Ah, little bird! I was wondering when you were going to find me," Kiarion's voice echoed from Paragon's mouth and Raven's eyes widened when she felt the hero grab at her tendrils.
With a roar and a burst of Tactile Telekinesis, he ripped himself free before swinging a kick. It crashed into the tendrils that tried to protect her, but the shockwave still sent her flying back as Batman grimaced.
"Great, these things are on me," Klarion's voice spoke with a frown as Paragon stared dully at the handcuffs, blood dripping from his wrists when he strained to pull them apart.
However, with a snap of his fingers, Batman activated the hidden runes on the inside of the handcuffs. A deafening screech erupted from Paragon's lips as Zatara's spell activated, tearing through the chaos magic that kept him under control.
The spell lasted for seconds before it finally subsided, Batman moving forward when Paragon fell forward. Looking the young man over, he felt slightly relieved when he saw that he was simply unconscious.
"Get away from him, Batman," The hero in question didn't respond as he looked up, staring at the sword held a few inches from his face with Sensei being its wielder.
"No."
"He attacked my master."
"We all saw that it was Klarion."
"But who is to say that it will not happen again? The boy was burdened by despair over the loss of his brother. Who is to say that won't occur again?"
"Unless you want to fight me, put that down," Raven's voice echoed from behind Batman, Sensei looking and frowning as he saw the girl's red eyes focused on him.
"You have no say here."
"Neither do you. Your master is the one who decides," She continued and Sensei didn't respond, instead turning and looking at his master.
Ra's didn't say anything as he looked at Batman, who looked back with a frown of his own as the two men held each other's gaze.
Neither said anything and yet, everything was said as Batman picked up Paragon while Ra's signalled for everyone to stand down.
"It is only because it is you that I let him walk freely."
"And it is only because it is you that I came to stop him," Batman responded, confusing Robin with his words as Ra's nodded.
"Come. We need to head back to the Watchtower immediately."
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"So, how is he?", Flash asked as Martian Manhunter exited the room, Wonder Woman's gaze focused on the young man that was handcuffed to his bed with Meta Restriction cuffs while Kryptonite lined the room's door and windows.
"Physically, he is at the peak of his condition. Mentally is a different story, however. His mind...Fractured doesn't even begin to describe it."
"Didn't we already deal with the fractured state of his mind when we stopped him from dying to that Chaos-infused Kryptonite bullet?"
"No, that was simply to remove the poison from his system. The aftermath of the Chaos Magic is still running rampant inside his mind and with his mind filled with nothing but grief due to Superman's passing..."
"Should we consider taking him off-duty?", Wonder Woman asked, looking at Martian Manhunter. He looked at her before he sighed and nodded.
"That would be best."
"I'll inform Batman and Match. Make sure you stay close to him and inform us if any changes occur."
"Will do," Martian Manhunter nodded, Wonder Woman giving a smile in thanks before she walked away with Flash following after.
"So, what are we going to tell the kids?"
"The same thing as always. Paragon is injured and needs his rest."
"And what if they want to see him?", He asked, the woman pausing for a moment before she shook her head.
"For now, they'll have to wait."
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I groaned as I woke up from my slumber, feeling a bit of a headache settling in. Yet, as I went to rub my head, I frowned as I felt my arms being pinned down.
"What the-" My eyes widened slightly as I stared at the handcuffs keeping my wrists pinned to the bed's railing, noting the Kryptonite on it and the fact that they were Meta-Human Restriction Cuffs.
'What the hell happened? Last thing I remembered was...the bullet? No, something happened afterwards. I think I talked to M'gann and...what happened?'
"Paragon," I looked up as I heard Batman's voice, but it was not just him as Wonder Woman and Flash entered the room as well, all three looking displeased as I frowned.
"Before anyone gets mad at me, what happened?"
"What is the last thing you remember?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. I remember the bullet and Klarion's magic. After that, though, it's just...flashes," I responded with a grimace, catching their glances at each other before Batman clicked on the TV behind him.
"And we have just received evidence that Paragon, the young hero himself, is responsible for the murder of Lex Luthor," I watched as numerous news channels flashed on the TV, slowly turning my gaze to Batman before I spoke.
"...What did I do?"
A/N: And we end it off here~! I was going to make this one giant arc, but I'm going to keep that saved for a later date as I figure out whether or not I want to commit to the whole revenge shtick.
It's weird. Last week, I was all for it, but as I continued writing, I realized that I could do something a lot different here, but I won't spoil anything.
Next chapter: Aftermath.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!