In the hotel room.
Su Sheng dressed slowly, sitting beside the bed as he watched Sarah Lance enter with Diana and Donna Troy.
"Let's review. The first time we met, you brought me to Paradise Island and altered a significant part of history. For instance, this extraordinary girl, Donna Troy, shouldn't even be here at this time. The second time, you lost Hawkman, who was then kidnapped by me, and I ended up taking over the Waverider before letting you go. Now, on our third meeting, you're here to tell me that Atom Ray Palmer, Heatwave Mick Rory, and one-half of Firestorm, Martin Stein, were captured by the Soviets during the Cold War in 1986."
"Let me ask you seriously: Are you really a 'Legends' team, or more like a 'Mistakes' team?" Su Sheng looked at Sarah Lance with a serious expression.
Sarah Lance responded gravely, "I can gather everyone together and let you mock us all you want, but you have to help us rescue our people first."
"Why should I?" Su Sheng retorted.
"If we don't rescue Martin Stein, the Soviets will get the formula to create a Firestorm, win the Cold War, and the future will be ruined," Sarah Lance explained with urgency.
She wouldn't have come to Su Sheng unless she had no other options. Her teammates were now imprisoned in the Gulag, a camp built in the 18th century, from which no one had ever escaped.
As the saying goes, actions have consequences. The first mission of the newly formed Legends team was to stop Vandal Savage from selling a nuclear bomb in 1975. As a result, Vandal Savage learned of Firestorm's existence and became obsessed with creating his own Firestorm in the future.
After separating from Su Sheng in Redemption Town, the Legends wanted to correct the time anomaly on Paradise Island, but reality had already been altered. Making further changes could have caused time to rebound, leading to even more problems. So they moved on to deal with Vandal Savage, their primary enemy. They discovered that in 1986, Savage was secretly funding a Soviet scientist named Valentina Vostok, who was working on a project called Operation Svarog.
Svarog is the Slavic god of fire, and Vandal Savage intended to create a Soviet version of Firestorm!
To prevent this, the Legends naively tried to warn Valentina that she was dealing with a first-class villain. What happened? Three team members were arrested, failing to stop the plan and possibly accelerating its success due to Martin Stein's capture!
But how could the remaining Legends save their teammates? Rip Hunter, despite being the captain, was essentially powerless, with only a small gun at his disposal. Hawkgirl Kendra was traumatized by Hawkman's death and couldn't contribute much. Jefferson couldn't become Firestorm without Martin Stein. This left Leonard Snart, the cold captain, and Sarah Lance as the only ones capable of fighting. But an assassin and a thief rescuing people from a high-security Soviet camp? It seemed impossible!
At her wit's end, Sarah Lance thought of Su Sheng. Despite causing a lot of trouble and even hijacking the Waverider, Su Sheng had managed situations well enough and had the ability to save people. So, Sarah Lance came to him.
"Honestly, I'd love to see the scenario you described," Su Sheng said with a chuckle after Sarah finished explaining. "After all, even if Firestorms were flying everywhere, it wouldn't affect me."
"Doesn't great power come with great responsibility? You have the power to save the world, to save Star City from a future Firestorm attack, so why not help? Maybe you won't be affected, but what about my sister? What about Felicity?" Sarah Lance pleaded, her voice a mix of emotion and logic.
"Do you really believe that line, which is specifically meant to deceive children?"
"Do you know how miserable a person can be if they believe that? His adoptive father dies, his girlfriend almost runs off with someone else, and he exhausts himself every day—until he finally dies for real. And who knows if he'll even be resurrected?" Su Sheng scoffed. "If having the power to save the world means you have to do it, does having the power to destroy the world mean you have to destroy it too?"
"If the Soviet Firestorm does come into being and rules the world in the future, many people you care about could die because of it!" Sarah Lance suddenly said.
Su Sheng smiled.
"Like I said, I really want to see that scene, but I didn't say I wouldn't help."
"Then we need to move quickly," Sarah Lance said with a sigh of relief, her heart racing from the emotional rollercoaster.
"Tell me the time and place," Su Sheng replied.
Sarah Lance quickly provided the details, and after making plans, she left to return to the Waverider.
"Are you coming?" Su Sheng asked Diana and Donna Troy.
Diana remained silent for a moment before shaking her head. "No. I just received word from Athena that it wasn't Ares who caused the downfall of the gods, but the Firstborn."
"The Firstborn? Zeus and Hera's first child? I remember there was a prophecy that he would rise on the corpses of the gods and sit on his father's throne. So Zeus abandoned him in the wilderness, expecting him to die. But he survived, returned to Olympus, and was then banished to the depths of the earth by Zeus, right?" Su Sheng said casually.
"You remember?" Diana looked at Su Sheng in surprise.
"That's not important. What's important is that you'll be meeting other gods soon. Since you have something to do, I won't take you with me. See you next time." Su Sheng glanced at Riley, then left the hotel with her.
Diana hesitated but didn't say anything.
"He'll come back for you," Donna Troy suddenly said.
Diana looked at her suspiciously, only to see Donna Troy chuckling. "Maybe after he falls in love with you, or maybe after he stops loving you!"
When he loves you, he can't help but miss you.
When he doesn't love you, he'll come back with full confidence to have his fun!
Whether he loves you or not, he'll return—sooner or later!
Diana didn't quite understand why Donna Troy said that, but she didn't have time to dwell on it now.
…