Injustice 3: Rings War (Book 2)

Chapter 34: Safe Haven

The Man:

"You have to be kidding me," Cold says, opening a cabinet only to see a bunch of pots and pans. He slams it shut before turning to me. "Seriously? Are you serious?"

"Yes," I say, cutting up porks before sliding the slices into a giant steel pot. Watching the porks sink into the red stew, I place the knife and cutting board down and wash my hands. Once clean, I move to make the salad. Quickly slicing a head of lettuce, I put it all into a wooden bowl. I then sprinkle some cheese onto the salad.

"Is that all," Cold asks, "Just lettuce and some cheese?"

"I hate tomatoes," I answer, "And Ivy is a freaking vegetarian."

"A freaking vegetarian," Cold repeats. "What, you have something against vegetarians?"

"More or less," I say, returning to the pot of stew. "I have nothing against vegetarians except when they yell meat is murder and then throw red paint at me."

"Ouch," Cold adds. "Seriously though. You don't have a single bottle of alcohol here."

"I don't drink. I never have, and after what I've seen, I never will. If you want alcohol so badly, then ask the Doc."

"He had a stash?"

"No, but he does have bottles of rubbing alcohol."

"I'll pass."

Cold reaches for a bottle of apple juice. About to take a drink, he stops when the Rusted starts to shake again. The bottle drops from his hand and juice spill all over him.

"Son of a bit-," he says before stopping. Looking up, he remembers me before grabbing his cold gun. "Now what? Who's attacking now?"

Cold leaving the Rusted's kitchen, I set the stove to low, wash my hands, and follow after Cold. Walking through the hallway and up the stairs, I have to push through the crowd just to see what is going on.

As I expected, there seem to be some yellow lanterns attacking Oa, but Mogo is easily fending them off. Unleashing a single but massive, planet-sized green beam, he pushes back the invading yellow lanterns. They didn't even make it to the planetary's shield before having to flee.

"Oh my god," Jason says, still staring at Mogo as he prepares to fire another beam. However, the yellow lanterns are long gone by the time he is ready. The glow in front of Mogo vanishes. "Is it too late to leave?"

"No," I answer, "But still, we're not leaving. Come on. Dinner is almost ready. We might as well eat before the next thing happens."

Everyone says yes and nods their heads. We all turn around and head back inside.

Arisia:

"Here," the man in the glasses says, offering me a bowl of something red. "Tortellini soup with slices of pork and kale. There are also slices of bread."

He points over to a basket with something white and brown in it.

"You should eat," the man says, "Even if it's a little."

"Thank you," I say, smiling and nodding my head. The man nods his head and walks away. He returns to a steel pot and prepares more food for everyone. He pours the soup into a bowl and hands it to everyone one by one.

I watch for a while as everyone quickly eats the soup and reaches for the slices of bread. Looking down at my own bowl, I pull my hand up and pick up a spoon. About to use the spoon, I shake my head and pull it down.

"Not very hungry," someone says. Looking up, I see Supergirl holding a bowl of soup. "Can I join you?"

"Honestly," I say, looking away. "I rather you not."

"Oh," Supergirl says. "Okay."

She then walks away. Staring at the bowl of food, I push it away. As I push the bowl away, something hits me on the head.

"Ouch," I say, watching as a piece of bread fall in front of me. Rubbing my head, I look up to see Harleen sitting directly across from me.

"Please don't waste food," the man yells.

"I'm not wasting it," Harleen yells back. Harleen reaches over to pick up the bread and she takes a bite of it. Looking back at the man, the two nod their heads before turning away. Harleen turns back to me.

"You know," she says with bread in her mouth. "It wouldn't kill you to be a little kinder to her. I mean, yeah, she's a Super, but so what? She's half a jungle cat, I'm a clown, he basically a rip-off of him, and him, over. Well, we don't know much about him, but we know there's a lot wrong with him. So whatever your issue is, just get over it."

"How can I just get over this," I ask myself. "I just got banished from the green lanterns, everyone I thought was my friends or at the very least, my teammates have abandoned me, and the only people I can rely on are all of you."

I raise my head to look around.

"The only people I can rely on are all of you," I repeat to myself, still looking around. I see people getting along and sharing things. I see them talking with each other and making conversation. Even Laria is talking. She talking with Catwoman I think. I don't know. There's one woman wearing a cat suit and one woman who is a giant cat. I can't remember who is who. Nevertheless, as I watch Laria and Catwoman talk, I can't help but feel a little better.

Turning back, I see Harleen still staring at me.

"Can you please pass the bread," I ask.

"No problem," Harleen replies, grabbing the basket and offering me it.

"Hey," Poison Ivy yells, "Why does this salad only have lettuce and cheese?"

"It's because someone once threw red paints at The Man," Captain Cold answers.

Darkseid:

"Your army is ready," DeSaad says, bowing his head as he stands at the base of my staircase leading to my throne.

With my hands behind my back, I look through the window to see Apokolips. The sky is covered with thick clouds of smoke, with mountains of fire erupting and adding to them. In the courtyard of my kingdom is my endless army.

Thousands upon thousands of parademons snarling and flying, screaming and swinging their claws, all of them are awaiting my order.

"Are the boom tubes ready," I ask.

"Yes, they are," Kalibak answers, my son bowing his head as well. Standing beside DeSaad, he raises his head. "The boom tubes are ready. They're all set for Oa."

"Excellent," I say, turning around. "There, on Oa, is where we will find the secret component to strengthen my parademons, and once we have her, we will be able to destroy the remaining lantern corps. There will be no more green lanterns, no more yellow lanterns, no more blue corps. They will all fall."

Walking down the stairs, DeSaad and Kalibak step aside as I approach. Walking behind me as I reach the doorway to my throne room, I come face-to-face with Granny and her four female furies.

"Granny," I say, "DeSaad. Kalibak. It's time for war. Prepare."