Chapter 32: Saving Reality
Kara:
"Watch out," I shout. I push The Man behind me and raise my arms.
"Everyone get down," The Man yells. Everyone gets down as soon as they hear The Man. They jump onto the floor just as Bruce fires. He shatters and breaks all the windows, glass falling and flying everywhere. The walls explode with holes as I cross my arms to shield myself from the machine gun fire.
"Kara," The Man says from the ground. "Super breath! Blow that flying bastard away!"
I nod and inhale, taking a very deep breath. Shooting my arms back, I exhale, shooting a powerful gust of wind toward Bruce. However, it seems Batman is more than prepared. Even from inside the building, I can see Bruce pushing a series of buttons on the Batwing's control. As he does, thrusters on the back turn on and stabilize the Batwing. Still exhaling, I see Bruce push another button. The side of the Batwing opens and a white and red rocket comes out.
"Oh no," I say, stopping to catch my breath. Watching as Bruce fires the rocket, The Man pushes himself off the floor and runs toward the rocket. He jumps into the air and kicks the rocket out of the way. The rocket flies away from us and into the air before exploding.
"Kara," The Man shouts again. "Super breath! On the count of three!"
I nod again and inhale. As I inhale, The Man pulls back his hand.
"1! 2! 3!"
Exhaling again, I shoot out a powerful gust of wind toward Bruce but again, he activates the extra thrusters on the Batwing to counter the wind. However, The Man seems to helping me. Shooting out both his hands, The Man shoots out his own gust of wind. With our combined power, Bruce's Batwing can't handle it and spins through the air before crashing down just outside the wall of New Metropolis.
"We did it," I say, running to The Man's side as he looks out the window. "We defeat Bruce."
"Yeah," The Man says, staring out the window. "We did it alright. We defeated Bruce but we still have the rest of them to deal with."
The Man points out the window toward the army of One Earth soldiers. Grabbing whatever weapons they have, they all start to run inside the building.
"Everyone," The Man shouts, turning around. He runs to help the others to their feet. "Get ready! It's going to be a 10 to 1,000,000,000 fight. This hallway is going to get uncomfortably crowded."
Jason Todd:
As the four One Earth soldiers escort me from the interrogation room to a prison cell, we all stop when we hear an explosion.
"What was that," one of the soldiers asks.
"Come in, Command," another soldier yells, speaking through the radio on his shoulder. "Command! Can anyone hear me!"
Holding the buttons down, I hear the sound of screaming and gunfire on the other end of the radio. It's only a few seconds later when the alarms start ringing.
"All personnel," someone shouts over the speakers on the wall. "Attention all personnel! New Metropolis is under attack! I repeat! New Metropolis is under attack! All soldiers report to the infirmary in the S building immediately!"
"Screaming people," I think, looking around. "Explosion. Alarms. Yeah, that's all three."
Looking down at my hand, I see the glass jar the invisible man gave me. Making sure none of the guards are paying too close attention to me, I slam the jar against my handcuff. Whatever is in the jar burns right through the metal and in less than a minute, I can pull my hands apart with ease.
Even before the soldiers can realize it, I quickly disarm and knock all of them down, slamming the last soldier's head onto my rising knee and pushing him onto the floor. With the soldiers down, I look around and see something wrapped in plastic. It must have been inside the glass jar because it's covered in whatever burns through the metal.
Careful not to burn myself as I pick it up, I remove the plastic.
"It's a note," I say, unrolling it. Quickly reading the note, it tells me where to go to get my stuff back. Once I have it memorized, I run down the hallway toward my stash. Luckily for me, all my equipment isn't too far. After a few twists, turns, and some One Earth soldiers, I make it to what looks like a supply closet. Surprisingly, I'm not the only one there.
"Slade," I say, seeing Slade reach the supply closet with me.
"Jason," Slade says, giving me a nod. "You got a note too?"
"Yeah. This is where our stuff is supposed to be."
"I hope it's not our stuff."
I stop and look at Slade.
"What? I really like that gun The Man gave me. It comes with turrets."
I laugh as little as I open the supply closet.
The Man:
Punching out a soldier before dropping to the floor and spinning around, I kick another soldier on his knee, knocking him onto the floor. While I do this, Beetle and Cyborg activate their arm cannons and keep a bunch of soldiers back. The soldiers they keep back hide behind some corners before popping out and firing at us.
Grabbing Cyborg and Beetle, Ivy pushes them back and steps forward. Using her suit, Ivy throws out some seeds that sprout into a root wall that protects us.
"We're surrounded," Ivy says, turning back around to face me as I push myself up. "And there are too many soldiers."
"I'm starting to regret helping you guys," Cyborg says. "What's the plan exactly? Why aren't you guys leaving?"
"We can't leave yet," I answer. I look toward Ares and Constantine as they prepare a spell. Ares is drawing a circle on the floor with runes while Constantine is preparing the ingredients for a potion. While they do that, I look at Cyborg and Kara.
"I know you two have seen them. The glowing cracks."
"Yeah," Kara says. "What are them?"
"They're literal cracks in reality," I answer.
"Cracks in reality," Cyborg repeats. "What?"
"In an attempt to either erase us or change us, the Lords of Order altered the timeline."
"They did what," Cyborg yells.
"That explains it," Kara says. She looks down as she rubs the side of her head. "My memory. Why am I having trouble remembering you or any of them. Even my own mother. It's because of these Lords of Order people. But wait. Why do you remember? And them? And Cyborg?"
"The Lords of Order choose not to alter Cyborg's memories," The Man starts. "At least, not too much. As for them, they were hidden safely away in my base, shielded from the altered timeline. That's also why there are cracks in reality. Your, all of your timelines, are linked together. Connected. Without them, there are gaps and empty spaces in the timelines, and because of these gaps and empty spaces, reality is closing in on itself. I don't have much time left to stop it."
"Stop it," Kara says. "What can you do about it? How are you going to stop reality from closing in on itself?"
"By confronting the Lords of Order."
"We're ready," Constantine says, showing me the glass bottle with the potion in it. "According to you, this should stabilize reality and give you a few extra minutes."
"Yes," I say, walking over to Constantine. I take the potion and pour it onto the circle with the runes. As the potion hits the floor, the circle and all the runes glow brightly. I look around and see the cracks shrink slightly.
"Repeat the chant I taught you," I say, handing Constantine the empty bottle. Constantine nods and together with Ares, they place their hands together and begin the sealing chant. While they chant the spell, I turn to everyone else.
"Protect them the best you can," I say. As I look around, I eye Cyborg. "Are you with us?"
"Reality is breaking and apparently, you are the only one that can save us," Cyborg says. "Yeah. I guess."
"Awesome."
I turn my head when I hear gunshots and see the root wall start to chip.
"They're pushing through. Everyone. Into position!"
Everyone, even Cyborg, nods their heads. They get into position, preparing for the soldiers as they force their way in. However, as Kara prepares herself, I grab her hand and pull her in close. With everyone leaving the infirmary and stepping outside, Kara and I are alone.
"I don't know what's going to happen when I face the Lords of Order," I say, looking into Kara's eyes. "But whatever does happen, I want you to remember this version of me. Please, don't ever forget it."
With Kara looking right at me, I lean in close to her. Seeing this, Kara leans in close too. Even before either of us can stop, our lips meet and we kiss.
As I feel the press of Kara's lips against mine, I swear I can feel something in my chest. Kara's lips are so soft. Her skin is incredibly soft as I rub the side of her face. Her warmth makes me feel something besides bitterness and anger. Pulling back, I see Kara gasping for air. Her mouth is hanging open as she looks at me. Before I can see anything, Kara and I turn our heads when we hear an explosion, and then the sound of heavy footsteps and men charging.
"You're needed," I say, "And I'm needed somehow where."
Giving Kara a quick nod, I turn away and run toward an infirmary's wall. With no time to pull out a teleporter, I instead cast a spell with the swing of my hand.
"Oprtal Neop," I chant, summoning a portal. Jumping into and through a blinding bright light, I land on the other side. Standing back up, I see a golden sky and with white marble platforms floating around.
"Been a while since I was last here," I say, jumping from platform to platform. It doesn't take long before I see the Lords of Order surrounding a sparking orb. All of them have their hands out, pointed at the orb.
"That must be it," I say, eyeing the time orb. Moving faster, jumping and running across the marble platforms, a few of the Lords turn their heads and see me.
"He is here," one of them shouts.
"What? That's impossible!"
"No, it is not! There he is!"
"How did he get here!"
"Who cares! This is the chance we have been waiting for! Lords of Order! Attack!"
With that said, half of the Lords pull back their hands and charge toward me.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
QuickShot1445
QuickShot1445 Someone please leave a comment and tell me. Is there a worse place to share a first kiss? Enjoy the chapter and I hope it brings a bit of delight to your day.
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