Injustice 3: Rings War (Book 2)

Chapter 63: Fakers

Arisia:

The rockets all hit me, knocking me into a building. As I hit the building, I bounce off of it and fall onto the ground. Pushing myself up, I turn my head when I hear the sound of more rockets being fired.

Thinking fast, I rise my ring and focus my will into a force field. The force field shields me from the rockets. The other Arisia prepares to fire more rockets but before she could, Harleen appears beside her and shoots the launcher out of her hands.

"Draw," she screams before pulling her pistol back and blowing away smoke. "Too slow."

The launcher falls far from the other Arisia's hood. At least, that's what I thought. I watch as the other Arisia stretches out her hand and punches Harleen.

"What the hey," I say, still watching as the other me shoots out her arm once more. Her arm stretches out so far, she grabs the launcher with ease and pulls it back up. Once back in her arms, she aims the launcher at me again.

Back on my feet, I aim my ring at the other me but as I was about to shoot, I hear someone screaming and turn.

"Head up," Lobo shouts, shooting me with his own ring. A green blast hits and knocks me to the ground. Screaming as I fall, I then hear the sound of rockets being fired.

The rockets are about to hit me but as they get closer, I hear the sound of someone screaming once more.

The Man:

Seeing the rockets as they fly toward Arisia, I pull myself up and run toward them. Screaming as I jump into the air, I spin and kick them into one another. The rockets explode on impact, destroying each other.

"Arisia," Ganthet says, flying toward me. He grabs my hand and picks me up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I say. "Wait, Ganthet? Where did you come from? Why are you here?"

"I am here to help in the fight for Oa," Ganthet answers. "And I am not alone."

Ganthet points to me and I give Arisia a quick nod. As Ganthet helps Arisia up, his eyes go wide.

"Wait," Ganthet says, looking at one Arisia and then the other. "Two Arisia? How can that be?"

"Easy," I say, watching as the fake Arisia fires more rockets at the three of us. "There isn't two Arisia. There's only one."

Reaching into my pockets, I pull out and throw kunai. The kunai cuts through the rockets, destroying them as heading for the fake Arisia. As expected, the kunai cut right through him, leaving behind large gaps.

"Showtime is over," I yell. "Time to take off the borrowed face, Clayface."

"Clayface," Arisia and Ganthet repeat.

As soon as he hears his name, the fake Arisia begins to morph. Brown mud pours out from his skin, covering him in only a few seconds. A few seconds later, the mud melts away and reveals a large, tall, muddy Clayface.

"Clayface," I say, watching as Clayface drops the launcher and steps off the spaceship. He shakes the whole building as he lands. As he does, green lantern Lobo walks up to his side.

"Ganthet," I say, shooting out my hands and pulling out twin swords from thin air. "Meet the real traitor and spy."

"Lobo," Ganthet says, leaving Arisia and flying to my side. "You're the traitor? You betray us? Why!"

"What can I say," Lobo answers with a laugh. "I would rather be a regime than a green lantern. Though I do really appreciate the ring. Bastich."

Lobo rises his green lantern ring and fires a strong green beam. Clayface who is still standing beside him rises his arm and shoots us with a giant mud ball. Pushing Ganthet behind me, I rush forth and swing my swords. I destroy Lobo's beam and slice the mud ball in half. I then charge toward the two, jumping once I'm close enough. Landing in between the two, I leg swipe Lobo, knocking him to the ground. Pushing myself up, I swing my swords at Clayface, forcing him back.

Harleen:

"Ahhh," I say as I push myself up. A headache coming on, I rub and shake my head. "What happened? Where am I?"

Looking around, I see myself laying on the ground. Still laying on the ground, I hear footsteps and turn to see betas marching toward me. They reach me in almost no time and shoot grapples at me. However, I roll out of the way and shoot at the betas. I manage to destroy a few but mostly, I just knock them down.

"Still work," I say as I push myself up. With the extra space, I activate my rocket boots and fly back up.

Flying as fast as I can, I land back on the platform where I last saw Arisia. Only now, it's not only Arisia. I also see Ganthet and The Man fighting Lobo and Clayface?

"Clayface," I repeat, thinking back to when Arisia stretched out her arm and punch me. "That wasn't Arisia. That was Clayface. It was Clayface who damaged the battery. It was Clayface who pretended to be Arisia, and most likely Laria too. It was always Clayface. Oh, and Lobo. I guess he was also involved."

"Harleen," Arisia shouts, waving her hand. "Over here!"

I see Arisia and Ganthet picking up and throwing rocks away. Realizing what they're doing, I run over to help them. Altogether, we grab as many rocks as we can and throw them to the side.

"Step aside," Ganthet says, "I can do the rest."

Arisia and I step back while Ganthet holds out his hand. Using his power, he lifts a bunch of rocks and throws them to the side. We wait for the dust to clear, but the second it does, we see the other Guardian and even the big ugly guy. Whatever his name is.

"Kilowog," Arisia says, stepping onto the rock pile to help him. While she helps him, Ganthet and I rush to help the other Guardians.

Moaning and groaning as we wake them up, Kilowog screams the second he sees us.

"You," Kilowog shouts. He rises his ring at Arisia but I move faster. I shoot out my own hand, a pistol forming right in it. With the pistol in hand, I slap Kilowog's hand down and point at Clayface.

"You see that big ugly guy right there," I ask. "And I'm not talking about you. He is the traitor. He is the one that damages your stupid battery. His name is Clayface and he had the power to shape his body into anything or anyone! He pretended to be Arisia and set that bomb! You got it!"

As I yell, I point Kilowog on his forehead over and over again.

"You got it? You got it? You got it?"

Kilowog slaps my hand away. He looks like he was about to say something but one of the Guardians stops me.

"Lobo," the Guardian screams. He pushes his way through and watches as Lobo and Clayface battle The Man.

"It can't be," the Guardian says. "Is Lobo a traitor himself?"

"I'm afraid so," Ganthet answers, everyone now turning to him.

"Ganthet," the Guardians say. "You're here."

"I am here with our true ally," Ganthet starts. "That Earthling over there is but one of them. The others, such as Supergirl, Atrocitus, and even Laria are here as well. They are desperately trying to hold off the yellow lanterns, betas, and even the regimes. Ranakar. Appa Ali Apsa. Kilowog. It is time you open your eyes! Look before you and tell me what you see!"

Ranakar, Appa Ali Apsa, Kilowog, and the other Guardians turn to watch The Man fight against Lobo and Clayface. The Man slides underneath Clayface and cut off his leg. He falls to the ground, bits of mud flying everywhere. However, before he could get up, Lobo shoots out his ring and grabs The Man's foot. He then pulls him back before throwing him into a growing Clayface.

With Lobo and Clayface working together, it becomes clear who is who.

"You're right," Ranakar says, his arms falling to his side. "He's right. The Man is our ally. So are Supergirl and Atrocitus. We were wrong. We were betrayed by our own but it wasn't Arisia or Laria. It was Lobo."

"And Clayface," I say, putting up a finger. "Don't forget Clayface."

"Forget Clayface," Kilowog screams. "What is that?"

We all look at where Kilowog is pointing. Directly overhead is the yellow storm cloud from before. Once it's over us, a large face emerges from the cloud. It opens its mouth and fires a yellow beam at us.