Injustice 3: Rings War (Book 2)

Chapter 14: Choices

The Man:

All of us entering the infirmary, I'm once again surprised to see Kent Nelson still awake. The cabinet with the propofol doesn't seem to have been open, and somehow, the Doc isn't screaming or running around.

"See," Iris says, standing in between the tied-down Kent and the Doc with his arms crossed. "Everything is fine. Everything is clear up now. There's no need for any more threats."

"I'm not even going to ask," I say as I walk in.

"Oliver," Kent starts, shaking against the restraints. "Dinah. Barry. Oh my god, am I glad to see all of you."

"Kent," Oliver and Dinah scream, running to Kent but I shoot out my arms and stop them.

"Not yet," I say, pushing the two back. "I just want to make sure this really is Kent and not Fate. Stay back."

I make sure everyone is at least six feet away from me before I walk up to Kent. At his side now, I lean over him.

"Kent Nelson," I start, "Or Dr. Fate Let me ask you this. Do you know who I am?"

"No," Kent sighs, "No, I don't know who you are."

"Do you know where you are?"

"Iris told me I'm in some sort of hidden base that belongs to you, but she didn't know where it is exactly. Neither does Scarecrow."

"Dr. Crane," the Doc interrupts, "It's Dr. Crane. Nowadays, it is Dr. Crane."

"Yeah, thanks Doc," I say, shooting him a quick wave. "Anyway, final question. Is Barry Allen a stupid man, or a big fat baby?"

"Excuse me," Flash says, pushing through the crowd. "Why did you just call me that?"

"He isn't any of these," Kent yells, "Barry Allen, despite what he was a few years ago, is still a very noble and honest man."

"Sure," I say, lending back and turning to face everyone. "He's fine. Everyone, this is indeed Kent Nelson, not Dr. Fate."

I unhook the restraints and set Kent free. Quickly pulling them off of him, Kent turns to sit up. The second he is up, Oliver and Dinah run to his sides.

"Hey man," Oliver starts, patting Kent's back. "Easy there. Easy there. How are you?"

"I'm fine," Kent replies, "At least, I think so. My head is killing me. What happened? The last thing I really remember, I was talking to Batman and Superman when, when, something happened."

"Uhh," Oliver says, suddenly looking around.

"Here," Iris says, handing Dinah a bottle of water. Taking and handing the bottle to Kent, he practically rips the cap off and drinks the whole bottle in one gulp.

"Are you sure about this," Ivy asks," Just letting him go like this."

"As I said, this is Kent Nelson, not Dr. Fate. He's not under the control of the Lords of Order anymore. If he was, he would have answered all these questions differently. For one, he would have called Barry a stupid man. Not a 'noble and honest one'. I for one would have called him a big baby."

Kent hands Iris the empty water bottle, she tosses it into a nearby trashcan.

"After Batman and Superman, everything is just a blur. I'm at ten different places at the same time, and I'm fighting all of you at once."

"Sound about right," Reverse-Flash says, Kent turning to look at him. "Your bosses, the Lords of Order, copied you a few hundred times over, creating an army of you."

"An army of me," Kent repeats.

"Yeah," Reverse-Flash yells, "You spend the whole day trying to kill all of us. Mostly him."