"..... You.....". Kara had her eyes wide open in disbelief, and Megan equally had her teary eyes widen in shock.
"You mean…. You can….?"
"Bring him back to life?" Amari interrupted with a raised eyebrow and waved his hand.
"Superman's been revived under worse conditions in many universes. You Kryptonians are different, after all".
Turning his head to Conner's dead body, he added.
"He's been dead for less than three minutes and his brain is still active. As long as the right conditions are met, for Kryptonians, this can't even be considered a real death".
"That..." Slightly stumped, the young Kryptonian was a bit astounded. Her mind processed the words several times in a split second before her eyes widened once more.
"... Wait! You've been to other universes?"
"You could say that I come from other universes". He shrugged indifferently.
"Your cousin has a knack for getting killed and being brought back to life".
Kara fell silent.
This was.... Good.
A bit too good when she thought about it.
Knowing that under a yellow sun, Kryptonians got all these cool abilities was one thing, and knowing that The Axiom was in a separate dimension belonging exclusively to him was another, knowing that the multiverse theory was true took the cake..... But this?
This was death they were talking about.
Did he have the ability to resurrect the dead? Or was he going to use some kind of healing technology from another universe or a higher civilization or something similar to achieve it.
Even Krypton couldn't achieve such thing. The last known attempt was her aunt's creation, known as the Eradicator. And even that was far from perfect.
Also, why?
It sounded too easy. Naive as she was, she didn't believe that this guy who wouldn't move a muscle for anything that didn't concern him would suddenly ask her to give him a reason to "help".
From what she could understand, this was practically a done deal. As long as she said something, he would do it.
Then the problem came. Why would he want to do this when he could have just stopped it in the first place?
Or was something as unimaginable as revival a causal thing that required no price for him?
Kara wouldn't believe the last one even if he told her so.
"You'd actually do it?" She asked with a bit of uncertainty and caution in her tone.
"If that's what you really want, then yes". Amari nodded.
"... Why?" Even after much deliberation, Kara couldn't help but ask.
"Am I really that bad?" Seeing her hesitation to accept even when she was the one who brought up the topic, he couldn't help being amused.
"Um.....". She resisted the urge to say yes.
"Simple. Because I owe you a request". Putting his hands into the pockets of his shorts, he looked at the surprised blonde with no expression.
"Huh?" Kara was stunned. "When did he.....?"
Her thoughts were cut off before she could even finish them.
"Don't remember?" Tilting his head to the side, he continued without waiting for a reply.
"Theoretically speaking, our paths are not supposed to intersect. And according to the original timeline, your cousin, and you should have already met by this point. I intervened due to my need for your genes and altered that fate".
Gazing into the distance, his purple eyes showed a slight glow.
"I know you think I care about nothing, but that's far from the truth". Looking directly into her eyes, the young Kryptonian felt a little flustered.
What was he trying to say?
Where was he going with this?
Could it be….?
The countless Romance movies that she had watched couldn't help but flash through her mind.
Could something so cheesy actually happen in real life?
But they had just met not long ago.
"I always... Keep my word". Kara's eyes that were going wide dimmed instantly.
Looking at the indifferent face that held all seriousness, she felt that what he said made absolute sense.
Now she understood why he was even giving her the opportunity. This guy simply didn't want to owe anyone anything.
She had no idea if reviving Conner would cost a heavy price for him, but he definitely wanted to use this opportunity to wipe the slate clean. Obviously, he didn't want her to use whatever favor he owed her to make him shift his "neutral" status for any reason in the possible future.
At least, that was what she thought.
"What a..." Countless words emerged in her inner dialogue.
Amari didn't know about her inner thoughts.
"So basically, you'd be using the promise I gave to you to revive him".
And there it was.
For a minute, Kara had the urge to go up and slam him in the face with her small fist.
He could have just stopped the whole thing from happening, but he watched on the sidelines like a movie spectator.
This was obviously the rhythm of chasing somebody away.
Did he want nothing to do with her?
Seeing the change in her facial expressions, Amari knew what this blonde female was thinking about. Although slightly speechless, he made no effort to correct her thinking.
Amari simply felt like letting her know she could have the clone revived if she wanted.
That it was an option in the first place.
After all, he took something from her and felt like doing something in return. This wasn't an emotional response. It was simply him standing on his principles of an equal exchange.
Although this exchange might not be completely equal, but he didn't mind that much.
He took several steps forward, standing in front of the kneeling Miss Martian and the dead Superboy.
She was still slightly dazed with all the information she had received.
"However, you need to make sure that's what you really want to use your request on".
Kara frowned when hearing his words.
"What do you mean by that?"
Amari bent down and replied without turning to face her.
"I mean, you can choose to have the clone revived, but you are automatically giving up on every other possibility".
"Don't consider your request to be a simple promise. Think of it like a genie granting you a wish. A wish on a more reasonable scale, of course. You can ask for the same level of power as your cousin, or perfect control of your abilities, which will only grow more powerful and out of control with each passing day. You could ask for the removal of your people's inherent weaknesses, or the addition of a special ability even Superman doesn't have. In short, as long as it doesn't exceed the standard, I could grant you anything you want".
His plain voice and casual tone that seemed as if he were talking about nothing special was nothing short of a bombshell.
"Of course, you could just have him resurrected, if you feel it's worth it. Like is said, It's your decision".
Kara was completely dumbfounded.
Megan at the side was shocked, and the paralyzed black Canary was even more wide-eyed.
Was this akin to a devil's temptation?
Megan looked at Kara who was staring at Amari's back and a felt anxious.
Amari didn't turn back, but he could feel that Kara's eyes that were on his bending back wasn't focused on him at all.
The young kryptonian was lost in her thoughts.
"In the face of Power, countless possibilities and the life of a stranger, what would someone from the House of El, aside Clark Kent, choose".
Amari thought to himself with interest.
Supergirl wasn't Kal-El, and she hadn't spent any time with him to be instilled with his beliefs and reasoning.
However, the House Of El were an exceptional oddity in the kryptonian race. They all seemed to uphold that principle of doing the right thing above everything else.
Even their race and home planet. Of course, they might not be the only ones.
Conner and Kara had no intersection. It was only this evening she came to know that her cousin even had a clone. If he had just offered to save him, Kara might agree without thinking about it.
But when a choice was placed, would she still do the same?
This was testing her character. Did she have the same selflessness as Superman who would happily trade his own life for the world if need be?
Amari knew that the chances of her showing the same level of selflessness were quite high, but he wanted to see it himself.
With his level of vision, even when he wasn't looking in her direction, he could see everything that was happening around him.
And the look of contemplation on her face truly left him a bit surprised. If it were Clark Kent, as long as he knew that nothing was wrong with the revival, Amari was sure that he would give up the opportunity without a second thought.
Black Canary, who at some point, had her back resting against a tree, watched the scene intently.
Kara, who was in deep contemplation, was weighing her options.
If she had met Clark and spent a good amount of time on Earth, she would probably also be selfless, but that wasn't the case now.
To her, Krypton was just destroyed. Although the trauma had passed somewhat, Kara still wasn't all that open.
She was now on a new planet, with no one familiar to her except her cousin, whom she hadn't even met yet.
And not only had they not met, that cousin who she was supposed to protect, had suddenly grown far older than her, living out most of his life while she had been trapped in a Goddamned timeless void for almost thirty years.
Apart from survival which was her primary task, her secondary task, protecting Kal'El, was over before it even began.
With the level of Power he now held, who needed protection wasn't even a topic up for debate.
No matter how it was, Kara, who was originally the older one, was a bit unwilling to suddenly be relegated to the level of a junior when she gave it much thought.
And after using the Cerebral Transducer, although she didn't gain knowledge of everything in the world, she knew some general concepts.
For example, Superman wasn't invincible.
As long as someone had the right tools, even a regular human could take down the mighty Superman under the right conditions.
The fact that her race would become weak and helpless under the influence of a little green rock honestly left her uncomfortable.
Sure, it wasn't everywhere, but there were dangerous people who still possessed it.
Clark had nearly been killed several times by an Android robot with that same rock in his chest.
Kara didn't see herself as an earthling. Without meeting Clark, she couldn't integrate with Earth's lifestyle and thus, didn't feel at ease.
And seeing the amount of chaos and darkness in this world didn't help matters either.
Humans were dark hearted.
Now, the chance to solve one of these two problems was here. Although this.... Superboy was the clone of her cousin, was it truly worth it to use such an opportunity on him?
The wind blew, and the area was silent.
Amari didn't push. Just waited quietly.
Megan had her heart in her throat, but she didn't say a word.
Less than thirty seconds later.
Kara, whose eyes were unfocused had a firm expression return.
"Do it".
"Oh?" Amari was slightly surprised. Even after hesitating, her final decision came back to this?
Hearing his exclamation, Kara lowered her head and said.
"If my parents were here, they would have told me to do the same thing. And..... it's what "he" would have chosen". Her slightly wavering voice fell into his ears.
Apart from being slightly surprised, he didn't have much reaction.
Amari had expected this result. He just asked out of curiosity.
In the end, Kara's choice was due to three reasons.
One, she was raised with such a heart.
Two, Superboy, clone or not, was kryptonian and was created directly from her cousin's genetic code. In a way, he was one of the few two blood relatives she had left in this universe.
Three and most importantly, the other chips weren't high enough.
At least Amari thought so.
If Kara knew that she and Clark weren't the only Kryptonians out there, he wondered if she would still show such selflessness.
But he wasn't going to tell her that. The blonde had made her choice and he would respect it.
He just owed her a favor.
Speaking of which, that Brainiac who had a hobby of shrinking planets as collectibles should be coming soon?
If he remembered right, the Artificial Intelligence with 12th level or was it 10th level intellect shrunk the city of Kandor and took it away.
Not to mention, the city, Argo miraculously survived the destruction of krypton all due to the efforts of Kara's father.
All that aside, soon earth with half the Justice league left would have to defend against the scary AI. This was.... Something to look forward to.
Amari, who was squatting stretched his hand towards Conner's chest without, making any physical contact.
"As you wish". His hand glowed with a bright yellow light covering it. The same light enveloped the dead kryptonian, lighting up his entire body for a few seconds before both glows disappeared.
The night was silent.
One....
Two....
Three seconds…
"Gasp!" The motionless body suddenly moved as Conner opened his mouth slightly and took in a deep breath.
The stagnant heart was completely repaired, gained vitality and began to let out powerful heartbeats.
Ba-dum
Ba-dum
Ba-dum
"Conner!" Seeing the breathing teenager, Miss Martian let out a cry of Joy.
Kara by the side let her heart fall from her throat. Well..... Now the deed was done. There was no need to continue thinking about it.
"I admire your selflessness". Standing upright, Amari uttered without turning back.
"Very few people would choose to do what you did in your shoes. It's somewhat admirable".
The words seemed to have an effect, putting her in a much better mood.
"Foolish, but still admirable". And another sentence made that good mood plummet once more.
"You....." Kara had her teeth itch with anger. Why was this guy so annoying? Nothing good ever came from his mouth.
She wanted to retort, but was interrupted before she could.
"You should stay here".
Amari said nonchalantly. He swept his gaze around the place, took a look at the mountain before turning around to face Lara and started walking forwards.
"Huh?" Kara looked puzzled.
Why?
"Mount Justice is the League's first HQ. Its significance is there".
At this point, he was standing side by side with her, except they're facing opposite directions.
"The Justice League is currently Understaffed and Superboy literally died. What happened here will require Superman's attention. You don't have to go anywhere….".
Saying that, his paused footsteps resumed normal pace as he walked away.
"He'll come to you". Listening to his words, Kara, whose attention was on the mountain hastily turned around to see his leaving figure.
"What about you? Where are you going?" She called out.
He stopped yet again.
"After the speedster, of course. Like I said, I have detours to make". He replied without turning around.
"Besides, although I saved him, it was under your request. He should be able to see his cousin who saved him by the time he wakes up". Amari said, referring to Superboy.
Understanding his words, Kara turned yet again to look at Conner. Although he wasn't awake, his chest was, thankfully, rising and falling rhythmically.
"I...."
Boom!
The sound of something breaking the sound barrier, alongside the strong whooshing of the wind, interrupted whatever the blonde wanted to say.
She turned around only to catch a figure disappearing into the sky in a split second.
Vaguely catching his departing figure, Kara was slightly depressed for some reason.
On the back of Mount Justice, a blonde female stared blankly into the night sky with twinkling blue eyes.
......
Meanwhile, Somewhere in the Grand Canyon National Park
Arizona
United States
ZOOM!
A streak of blue lightning flashed throughout the entire area as if searching for something.
ZOOM!
Deep inside, the lightning stopped to reveal a humanoid figure dressed in black and wearing a demonic mask.
In his left hand was some sort of device, while his right hand held the collar of the Flash suit.
Being dragged miserably was the figure of Wally west, the Flash of Earth -1 like a rag doll.
"Where is it". The distorted voice questioned to no one in particular as he moved the device in his hand from one angle to another like a female teen searching for signal on her phone.
His figure flashed away, appearing in another location and repeating the same process.
It continued as such before he finally arrived in a cave.
The readings on the device started spiking off the charts.
"Ah! There it is". Turning his gaze towards a certain direction, he picked up a stone and threw it over.
The stone disappeared into thin air and the space where it disappeared distorted. The next moment, a blue portal appeared in the originally empty space.
"My way home". Looking at the portal, Zoom uttered darkly.
He turned around to look in the direction outside the cave.
"This world.... Once I prepare, I'll be back for you. Just wait….". Uttering those words like a declaration, his gaze dropped to Wally west, who cut out a sorry figure and sneered under the mask.
"Nothing can stop..."
"That can't be what I think it is, right?" Zoom, whose declaration was interrupted, had his eyes widen as a voice from behind him fell into his ears, frightening him to no end.
The speedster quickly turned around.
Lo and behold, a man stood in front of the portal, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, with a hand on his chin, the other in his pocket and a scrutinizing expression on his face.
When?
How?
When did someone get behind him?
How could he not have noticed?
Did he come through from the portal?
Zoom immediately put himself in battle mode, urging his speed at full power.
The newcomer, however, didn't seem to register his existence.
"Who are you?" The speed demon, looking at the causally dressed Amari and asked solemnly, but with him actively changing his voice, if sounded so intimidating, like a demon king from hell.
"Me? No one of significance". Amari shook his head, turning his back around to face the black flash.
ZOOM!
Dropping the body of the flash, Zoom rushed forwards at his fastest speed. For this new arrival, Zoom didn't take any chances and vibrated his hand while attacking at his fastest speed.
He didn't ask any questions, and went straight for the killing blow.
He rushed forward at lightning speed and returned the way he came, just as fast.
A heavy, well controlled strike to the chest sent the Black Flash flying towards the cave wall like a meteor.
"That, was a bad idea".
Amari replied casually.
"Unlike the young Kryptonian, your current speed isn't fast enough to enable you to phase through me".
Saying so, he took several steps forward, towards the heavily injured Zoom, who couldn't move due to the injury and pain.
"You.... What do you want?" Hunter behind the mask asked in fright.
Wally was right. He had barely been in this world for half an hour, and he already crossed paths with such a perverted existence.
His hand at the moment felt unbearable pain. Like he had struck against an iron wall at full strength.
Just like Superman in his world, this was someone whose cells were too dense for him to vibrate through.
Squatting down to Hunter's eye level. Amari let out a small chuckle and a smaller smile.
"From you.... Well... Let's start with everything you know". Saying so, Zoom felt a strong force suddenly invade his mind.
....
Wanted to wait till I added two more chapters on my Patreon but I'm in a good mood. Happy Saturday.