United States, Louisiana
"Our test is a complete success".
Inside a hidden building located in a dense swamp land, a female voice uttered with a bit of joy in her tone.
"We may proceed as planned".
"Agreed".
Her statement received a reply. In the darkness of the monastery building, a deep raspy voice echoed, followed by a male figure walking slowly out of the darkness.
"But we have hidden in the shadows for far too long".
Stepping into the open space, his figure could be seen clearly.
He wasn't the only one, though.
He had white hair, tanned skin and wore a special costume that constituted the colors light green and dark green. A special yellow medallion was fixed on the chest near the neck area.
The male was dressed up like a count from the medieval era. But compared to the others around him who had equally stepped into view, he at least looked normal.
"It is time for the Injustice League to step into.... The Light".
Seven figures stood while watching the successful test run in the monitoring globe.
Each and every single one of them carried either indifferent or malevolent expressions on their faces and a sinister look in their eyes.
One in particular, more than anyone else.
"Admit it. You can't turn away. Haha hahaha". The Joker laughed out loud with a crazy grin on his face and eyes that sparked with pure madness.
His words were meant for the other members beside him.
Looking at the death and destruction the giant plants were causing all over the world, who could turn their eyes away from such..... Fun. He certainly couldn't.
Count Vertigo looked on indifferently.
"It marvels me how you are still alive despite everyone here saw you die".
Joker once again let out hearty laughter.
"Well let's just say that lady death and I..... Have a special relationship".
His grin was smelted on his face.
No one responded to him. This wasn't the first time that Joker had publicly cheated death.
"Get the communicator ready. Soon, we will contact the United Nations to name our price....".
However, Midway through his sentence, Poison Ivy's expression changed drastically causing Vertigo to pause.
"What is the matter, Ivy?" Wotan, a medieval Viking sorcerer from the early 1100s asked.
Due to his complexion, dressing, weird hairdo and his overall demeanor, he looked more like an alien than Superman, the actual alien.
"It's my baby". Ivy placed her hand on her head and squinted.
"Look!" Black Adam suddenly called out while pointing towards the monitoring globes.
In Gotham. A wave of pure undulated power swept through the entire city, causing drastic changes to take place. Wherever it passed through, all the chaos, the destruction, the giant vines, it all disappeared.
The space around the city squirmed with multiple phases appearing then vanishing.
After which, it was gone.
There was no more panic, no more chaos. The citizens who just experienced one minute of terror didn't seem to feel a thing and continued the way they were a minute ago.
It looked like someone had just picked up an eraser and cleaned off everything they had done.
"This....". Wotan's body trembled.
".... Impossible".
"What the hell..... Who ruined our good work?" The Mad clown yelled in outrage.
"Wotan. Explain". Seeing the scene before them, Count Vertigo asked with an unsightly expression.
"... I see. Something just... Altered reality". The black sorcerer uttered with a solemn expression.
Raising his hand up to the sky, his palms glowed as orange orbs surrounded them.
Several seconds later, his complexion fell even more.
"The plants attacking the city were wiped out from existence".
Ivy frowned. "Someone destroyed them".
"Not destroy, someone erased them".
Everyone's expression changed.
"Erased?"
"Yes erased. Not just that, the memories of The Gothamites were probably altered as well. They move on as usual as if our attack never happened in the first place".
"So someone's playing a magic trick?" So said the Joker.
"This is no Magic trick". Wotan gave the clown a slight glare.
"Altering reality is something that can only be accomplished by the highest level of magic. In the thousand plus years I have existed, with all my years of learning and mastering the arts, I have never touched the threshold of this level. Nor seen anything that can accomplish reality alteration to such an extent".
"So this is just your roundabout way of saying that you can't do something like this?" Joker's expression was that of one looking at a loser.
"You….". The dark sorcerer was outraged.
"Enough! What about the attacks on other cities?"
Vertigo interrupted their squabble with an important question.
He was a bit worried that Wotan would turn the clown to ash in a fit of rage. As a member of their alliance, the prince of crime was very useful to their cause.
"The attack everywhere else is normal, just Gotham". The reply came from Black Adam.
Vertigo nodded. If all the plants disappeared, then their plans would hit a brick wall.
"Wotan. What is the cause?"
"I don't know".
Werner raised an eyebrow.
"Can you find out?"
"Forgive me but quite frankly, I do not want to die".
The Dark sorcerer uttered before turning away, leaving the rest of his teammates with unsightly expressions.
As a medieval sorcerer who relied on transferring his soul to new host bodies to achieve immortality, Wotan was not a fool.
Finding out what exactly had happened in Gotham was not too much of a risk, but prying into what caused it was another thing.
Gotham itself was a very sketchy city. There were a lot of things about it that just didn't make sense.
Wotan had been in the city before. The negative aura that placed released was so toxic that it gave someone as horrifying as him death chills.
This city was cursed... And he meant it in the literal sense.
Whatever was responsible for this was above his league and if he was discovered, his very soul might be erased from existence.
Seeing his departing back, Count Vertigo narrowed his eyebrows.
"Should we try again?" Poison Ivy couldn't help but ask.
"No". Werner shook his head.
"Proceed as planned. Send out vines in new cities. Gotham.... can be ignored".
Something was wrong and Vertigo wisely chose to avoid it. Wotan was the most powerful one among them. If even he could show such an expression, then whatever was wrong with that city was not something he wanted to trifle with.
After all, it was just a small change in the original plans.
It would have zero effect on the original outcome.
Meanwhile, Wotan moved to a secluded corner. A silencing spell was cast in his surroundings and a magic circle appeared in the air.
Following which, a figure appeared, hovering over the magic circle.
"Wotan. What is it that can make you bother me?" The Witchboy asked with a crazy smirk.
"Klarion". Wotan frowned. "There's been a new development".
....
Gotham City was the living, breathing embodiment of a city gone wrong, and is often as much a character as the heroes and villains that lived in it.
The city itself was cartoonishly corrupt and actively resisted modernization. This was just a few things to mention.
I wasn't going to take the time to list them all.
I could feel it, though. Something.... No..... Someone was prying. Probably the ones responsible for the plant incident in the first place.
Ok..... So this cosmic awareness came in pretty handy. At least..... Part of it was handy.
I'm not sure what happened… But my outburst seemed to cause a change with this ability.
It was sealed... A large part of it anyway.
I could sense someone investigating what exactly was happening and immediately knew who it was. Probably because the strength of the detective wasn't strong enough to properly camouflage himself. In front of Cosmic Awareness, even one in a sealed state, Wotan's attempt to shield himself was no better than a naked woman trying to cover herself up with transparent clothing.
However, he didn't dig any deeper and scurried away faster than a rat in a sewer.
I couldn't muster the urge to care, though.
Nevertheless, my brows couldn't help but furrow.
Cosmic Awareness was the ability to perceive and understand things on a cosmic level. The workings of the universe would be laid bare to the possessors of such power depending on the degree in which they could harness it.
I didn't know how powerful mine was, but just from what happened earlier, I could approximate.
This thing.... Nearly drove me mad. So much so that I had to alter reality on myself and seal it away.
Just so you know, I could warp reality now.
I'll fill you in on the how's later.
Despite that, I could still hear them. Not as loud and not as much as before, but still. The negative energy this whole city exuded was horrendous and mentally destructive.
It granted this city's citizens the misery they experienced and twisted their minds to keep them from leaving it.
Gotham was cursed. And I meant it quite literally.
Between the portal leading to hell in Arkham's basement, the magical resurrection swamp outside the city that gave birth to Solomon Grundy, the evil warlock that had been sleeping underground for Forty thousand years and the demonic Bat God locked in the city center.
Let's face it. This city never stood a chance.
And so, with a slightly throbbing headache, and thousands of thoughts in my mind that belonged to me, I walked into an unpopular location in the DC universe.
Finnigan's Bar. Just a stone throw away from the GCPD.
Heard of it? Probably not.
There's not much reference to this place anyway.
It was owned by a former Gotham officer and was a clear zone for villains. Even Joker never messed with this place once but that could be chalked up to the fact that there was never a chance for him to do so.
I walked up to the bartender and took a seat with my head low.
"Give me a glass". I said apathetically.
"Which one?" A female voice replied.
"The strongest one you've got". I answered without much thought.
I wasn't thirsty, neither did I think that a shot of anything there was on Earth would be strong enough to affect me.
I could create one though... But that wasn't the point.
I just said it out of...
The familiar fading out happened again, and I found myself in black and white scenery.
"What can I getcha?"
"The strongest one you've got".
The face of a dark-haired female appeared in my vision. Which was weird was that the facial features were blurry.
So blurry that I couldn't make out her face.
That was the end of it before I returned to reality.
The frown on my face deepened. Another one?
At least now I knew why I suddenly had the urge to go take a drink at a bar. It could be considered a previous habit.
But this was precisely the problem.
The new revelations I was facing was somewhat beyond what I ever expected.
The moment I first opened my eyes, I knew what I was.
Energy..... Gaining consciousness. A rare feat that wasn't even supposed to happen.
A circumstance that due to the specific capabilities I possessed, put me at the top of the pyramid.
That's what I am.... Or what I thought I was.
Now, I was realizing something else.
I... I had a life.
I used to be someone. A real person with a history.
That wasn't what bothered me.
What I was curious about was...
When the hell did this happen?
"Strongest thing we have is a Martini. You want it?"
"Sure".
I replied, still not bothering to raise my head.
"You don't look like you're from around here".
"I'm not".
The dark-haired bartender raised an eyebrow while looking at me with amusement.
"Do you always answer this way".
"Not always, just whenever I'm not in the mood".
"And when is that?"
"Almost all the time".
"Conversation killer, aren't you?"
"I..... Have a lot on my mind". I couldn't give much thought to her. My mind was actively trying to shut the negative energies that was trying to cloud my mind.
This.... Was honestly my first priority. I couldn't understand why I was feeling so much.
"I know. I can tell".
She raised her finger and pointed towards me.
"And you seem to be plagued a lot by negative emotions". And there it was.
My body froze for a second. Now I realised it.
Something was wrong. After leaving Peter's house, I specifically altered the space around me so that I wouldn't be recognized by anyone.
I wouldn't be pestered by anyone either.
No matter who it was, under normal circumstances, people would actively ignore my existence.
I made it that way, yet I was being chatted with so enthusiastically.
That was weird.
And so, I raised my head up to look at the bartender who was serving me for the first time since I stepped into the building.
Black eyes, pale white skin, dark hair, she wore a black sleeveless top and dark jeans.
A wide smirk stretched over her well sculpted face as she looked at me with strong interest.
And there it was.
My sealed cosmic awareness seemed to be on fire the moment I set eyes on her. It was tingling constantly, almost trying to tell me that this person before me was someone truly worthy of notice.
And from the way she looked at me, I could tell she was.
"Take a picture. It'll last longer". Her smile looked particularly bright. And with that, she dropped the Martini right before me then turned around to do something else.
"... Ok". Numerous thoughts came to mind on what words I should say.
'And who might you be'?
'You're strange'
'Should I really?'
Some were bland, some were straight to the point, some were witty... I even contemplated unlocking my recently sealed awareness but ultimately decided against it.
And so, I uttered a single word made up of two letters as my reply.
Then I took the glass and downed it all in one go.
Tasted bland.
"I'm guessing you're the one responsible for what happened a few minutes ago?"
She asked while arranging bottles of alcohol in different places in the cabinet.
"Are you talking about the appearance of the plants or their disappearance?"
"Yeah".
Placing another bottle in place, she answered without turning around.
"There aren't many beings in the multiverse who can alter reality".
"I'll take a wild guess and assume you're one of them".
I didn't answer.
Just looked at her with squinted eyes.
"Didn't I say you could take a picture?" She said while twisting her waist slightly to look at me.
To which I shook my head.
"I'm good. I hope I'm not offensive, but it's rare I find something quite interesting".
At that moment, The nearby television screen changed suddenly showed static.
"Oh! Looks like they're ready". She said while turning her attention to the TV.
The next moment, a picture replaced the static on the screen.
It was the picture of a green-haired male with chalk white skin, blood-red lips and a crazy grin on his face.
He tapped his fingers against his head twice.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. Miss me?"
Seeing the person appear on-screen, my face suddenly crumpled with a feeling of disgust and annoyance.
"Well... Make that two".
The Joker on the screen moved away from the camera.
"We interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem, to bring you this... Important announcement".
He uttered while bringing out a knife with the flick of his wrist. Then, he pushed the camera aside to show six other figures.