Chereads / Injustice 3: Rise of the Supervillains (Book 1) / Chapter 23 - The Clown and the Cat

Chapter 23 - The Clown and the Cat

The:

Pushing a button on the dashboard, a small disc fires out from the front of the car, landing only a few feet ahead. A blue light shooting out from it forms into a portal that I drive right into. Finding myself back in the hidden base, I park my car in the garage of the base. Getting out and walking to the trunk, I place my hand on the handle but stop.

"What are you doing," Cold asks, getting out with Barry and Kara.

"Trying to figure out how to do this exactly," I reply, thinking it over. Running through a few different scenarios in my head, I shrug my shoulders and just pop open the trunk.

Shooting up like a zombie from a horror movie, Reverse looks around for a bit before seeing me. Pulling back his fist, he tries to punch me but I dodge it. Grabbing his head, I slam it against the rear bumper, knocking him out. Cheetah jumping out a few seconds later, her claws out and ready for a fight, I punch her in the throat. Choking and holding her throat, she then drops back too, knock-out. Reaching in and grabbing Reverse, I pull him out and drag him away.

"Someone please grab Cheetah and follow me," I say, walking away. "Also, Doc! Where the heck are you! Get out here now so I can punch you!"

Superman:

"Who are you," I say, slowly hovering above the lifeless rock monster. Watching as Bane and some other soldiers destroy the head, I turn to look at Firefly in the regime ambulance.

"Firefly," I say, dropping to the ground and walking up to him. Laying in a stretcher, I push the paramedic aside and look right at him. "Tell me again what happened. Tell me exactly what happened."

"He summoned that thing," Firefly moans, placing his hand against his head. "That giant rock monster thingie. The man! The man in the sunglasses! We didn't stand a chance! He took all of us single-handedly! Before sinking into the ground with Supergirl."

Screaming and turning around to punch the street, I look at Firefly before leaving, the paramedic going back to treating. Flying over to the man's rock monster, I punch and destroy a whole arm by myself, boulders raining down on me. Destroying them with my laser vision, I stop when I see Diana flying toward me.

"Clark," she screams, landing in front of me.

"Diana," I reply, walking up to her. 'Have you learned anything yet? Did Bruce get anything from the salvage Watchtower's footages."

"Yes, Bruce was able to recover much from the footage but I'm afraid nothing useful. There is footage of Blue Beetle, Firestorm, and even Kara, but none of the man. It was like he was never there, to begin with."

"Impossible," I say, thinking back to when we fought when he pinned me to the ground and beat me. "He was there! He summoned those animals to attack me! Check again!"

"Bruce had checked them dozens of times over. The man never appears once. There is much footage of our betas being destroyed, Bruce getting knocked out, and the green animals attacking you, but there is none of him."

"How is that possible," I ask, looking at the rock monster once more. "He can't be captured on surveillance, he can summon animals strong enough to trap me, can summon and control whatever this is. Who is this man? Where did he come from? What does he want?"

Thinking it over, I look at Diana.

"I think it's time to reveal a few of our 'secret weapons," I say, jumping and flying into the air. "I'll go and get them."

The:

"Go and get them you moron," I say, crossing my arms and falling back against a wall.

The five of us in the base's infirmary; Barry, Kara, Cold, the doc, and me, look at the incubators with Old guy, Old guy's partner, and Buggie inside. Rubbing his chin, where I just punched him, Crane pushes himself back up and dusts himself off.

"Are you sure," he asks, turning back to me. "They're not at 100% yet."

"Yeah," I reply, "At this point, if their health is above 50%, then they can fight, fly, and do whatever else. Let them out."

Nodding his head, he pushes the release button, the incubators splitting open.

"Rise and shine lazies," I say, clapping my hands and waking the three. Moaning and groaning as they wake, they rub their eyes before jumping back when they see me. "How are you feeling? Rested and fully recovered?"

Swinging my arms in a 'jolly' mood, my smile turns upside-down and I shove my hands into my pockets.

"Come on y'all," I start, turning around to face everyone. "It'll be a while before Reverse and Cheetah wake up and maybe a while longer before the others get here. Kara, you and I are going to fight in the training ground. The rest of you, feeling free to explore the base. Just watch your steps. This place is bobby-trap. Ask the doc if you don't believe me."

"Trust me," Crane says, putting up a finger and nodding his head. "He is right. This place is overflowing with bobby traps. We're talking pitfalls, swinging pendulum axes, and even acid rains."

"Pitfalls," Barry repeats.

"Swinging pendulum axes," Kara asks.

"Acid rains," Cold yells, looking up at the ceiling. "What is that even!"

"Hydrochloric acid rain," I answer. "A highly, corrosive, colorless inorganic chemical with a strong pungent smell. It will burn and melt anything it hit."

"Are you serious," Barry screams, just as Cold collapses onto the ground.

"Hmm. There's also the gas trap that we forgot about."

Noticing a nearby stack of gas masks on the table, I grab and pass them out.

"Here," I say, tossing one to Barry. "Put that on fast. You know, before you pass out again."

Tossing the reminder masks back onto the table, I walk out a little before turning to face everyone.

"Slight change to the plan. I'm going to get some vaccines for the gas so you don't have to keep wearing the mask. Trust me, after a while, they do get itchy. Afterward, doc here is going to take you on a tour of the base. We will regroup here when Oliver and Dinah get back. Are there any questions?"

"I have one," interrupts Old guy's partner, stepping off the incubator but almost falling down. Rushing to grab him, Barry gently places back on top of the incubator. "What about Harleen and Selina? Where are they in all of this?"

"Last I checked, I sent them to the Batcave."

"What," Jason shouts, his wide eyes and hanging mouth mirroring everyone else's face. Well, everyone except the doc and Cold.

"Don't worry. They'll be fine. You know, assuming that Batman or anyone else isn't there."

Clearing my throat, I hang my head before looking back up.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. We have horrible luck. I'll go and check on them later. For now, let's just get this whole vaccines thing out of the way first. Stay right here and don't go anywhere."