You weren't sure about how long you were laying there. In fact, you weren't sure about anything.
'Am I about to die?'
That feeling, the same one you got when you let out one final, a defiant yell at the Squad began to swirl in the back of your mind.
Truly, you had been hurt before. Many times over you've suffered injuries that should've killed any other person, your scars were a reminder of that.
However, this was different. Even more so than the Auction.
Ever since the fight had started, you had continued to act and move physically as if you were fine, with only glimpses of the strain on your body present throughout.
It wasn't due your body managing to continue to fight, in fact, even with how enhanced and inhuman your body was, it had given out long ago.
Rather, it was your will. The sheer, unfiltered need to keep going had pulled your destroyed and tattered body like a puppet on strings, willing an already broken toy to keep dancing despite falling apart.
Except now, the strings were being set down, and you were left to deal with the aftermath. The aftermath that came with that ever-present defiance of yours.
Two holes penetrated through your midsection, something that would've killed or at the very least, permanently put someone in a bed for months.
Your ribs, which weren't even completely healed from your previous encounters in this world, had been cracked and splintered. Even now, some of the broken off pieces were piercing your internals, causing blood to rise in the back of your throat from your laid down position. That wasn't made better by the continuous hits that Freeze had delivered to them with his monstrous strength.
All of this was without mentioning the numerous bullets which were swirling within your limbs, your arms and legs' continues sudden movements only driving them deeper
Another wave of lightheadedness nearly put you out. Whether permanently or not was unknown, but it was a fact that the world nearly went black.
Choked breaths left your body at it's almost pitying attempt to breathe, as from your position on the ground it was a very well possibility that you could drown in your own blood.
There wasn't a point in moving your arms. They felt teared, as if every muscle within them had been ripped apart in the final jagged movements you had done before your body gave out.
Unfortunately, your legs were in the same state. The speed you used, the pure limits of your body that you broke in that split second would've put you out if you were at 100%. However, in your body's corpse-like state, it was a death sentence.
'Can I.........let go now?'
The thought was nearly blissful. Your current state of body was probably the worst it's ever been, something you didn't think possible with how much you went through in your original world. In fact, there were only two other times that ever felt comparable to the agony you were in back on your original earth.
Breaking limits was an accomplishment, yet the limits you had in place were there for a reason.
However, that was in your world. A world not normal, a world changing, but not as outlandish as this one. Not where a man could destroy a city and more with a single punch, like what was possible in DC.
'I mean we did it, or at least I think we did. Can't tell from where I am'
It was silent. Although you weren't sure if that was reality, or if it was because your state of mind was waning along with your battered form.
'We got a Lord. I got one of the guys making this shithole a hellhole. That's good enough right?' You questioned yourself, asking no one in particular.
'I'm.......really tired. Fuck I'm so tired' A certain lack of presence was clear through your opened eyes.
'I can stop here. Can't I? Can't I just rest. After everything, after everything that happened here and at home, can't I just this once?'
"Hypocrite until end I see" A voice from in front of your caused your eyes to barely focus, and you could see shoes in front of your face.
From that sickening voice alone, you already knew who this was.
"Not going to say anything back? Or right, you're too close to death to do that, my bad~"
'I swear to god if you're the last voice I hear, I'm rising on the third day' As you thought that, a few sputtered coughs escaped your prone body, each accompanied by blood.
The person in front of you crouched down, their vivid red hair visible to you now.
"That's your own fault. I warned you what would happen if you kept using your mask until you were on death's door"
'And-....And I should be taking your advise? Yours?' Questioning her with a choked laugh, your thoughts trailed off as you momentarily lost consciousness right before you snapped yourself out of it.
"It's not advice, it's common sense. I mean, look at you. You already had bullets in you before this all even started. Are you trying to kill yourself just to spite a version of me you made up in your mind?" She questioned teasingly, something that made you feel even more sick than you already were.
Wheezes were the only thing that could be heard through the silence that had taken over the destroyed area. It was a silence that was broken a few seconds after it started.
"So is that it?"
Faintly, your eyes flickered closed before you opened them, and you saw that she was laying down beside you, eyes still unnaturally crossed out.
"You go back to your hypocritical ways, take down a Lord, and that's it? Your gonna just die here?" Her voice held a certain seriousness, something that made you want to die instantly just because she wanted the opposite.
"Well congrata-fucking-lations Skyfall, you accomplished nothing" Giggling a little bit, you had no visible reaction to her words as your eyes slowly turned foggy.
"Atonement? I believe that's what your little speech to Static was about. In of itself, that's impossible for you, Y/N, both for the things you've done and for the fact you have nothing to atone for" Gently, she placed a hand on your cheek.
"Let's say though, for right now, you did have something to atone for. This isn't even close to enough. One Lord? That spot can be taken over the by the other ones, and at it doesn't change the fact Gotham is still falling apart" Her voice was soothing, completely contrasting the choice of words being used.
"Nothing Y/N. It's like your little friend said, this is only the first step. A small, first, step. Don't tell me you're so weak you can't place one foot in front of the other anymore?" Chuckling a little, she saw that you still didn't react to a word she spoke.
"Y/N, I know you're not dead. If you were I'd disappear- you're rather close though. Oh well, get up" Encouragingly, she gave you a light tap on the side of your face from her mirrored position of you.
"Oh, this is what you do isn't it? Get up? Refuse to stay down? So come on, do it again. Like you have now, and like you always will" The way she spoke was reminiscent of someone asking their dog to do a trick, an underlying tone of authority mixed with care clear to those who heard it.
There was no visible response as you blankly stared at the ground in between you and her, your breaths getting more shallow.
"Did you know something Skyfall, today is May 17th?"
Your hand, which was laid out beside your face, twitched at that.
"Ah, there you are. You're too stubborn to go out like this, I mean it goes against the entire facade you've made for yourself" With a warm smile, her hand gently went to yours, causing another twitch.
"I guess you haven't been paying attention. You've seen the dates but they've never registered in your mind. Thankfully, everything you see I see too!" Another smile that showed teeth followed, as if you were being done a service.
"But I can't believe you forgot. The others will be so disappointed that you didn't show up, I mean, they probably think you're dead" She spoke in a pout, her statement being one that would've riled you up without a doubt. However, you just continued to lay there.
"Imagine how sad Adam would be to see that you, out of everyone, didn't come to commemorate him"-
"Pl-........stop. T-Tired. Stop" You heaved with every breath, your blank look never changing. Despite this lack of outward change though, you saw snow gently fall on the ground in front of you.
The woman also looked at the place where the flake landed, before her look of surprise turned into a grin.
"You're not just gonna give up here are you? Isn't that he did to you?" Another twitch of the hand followed her statement.
She moved, her head ending up close to yours and her voice tickling your ear, except the feeling was nauseating.
"I knew you were hypocritical Y/N, but this is something else. You're no better than him. Seriously, are you going to allow yourself to go here? Right after you've just taken that first step?"
"Are you going to give up like he did?"
Your hand, which only twitched before, scrunched up into a light fist.
"And leave behind someone to pick up the pieces?"
Her words caused you to freeze, and at that response what can only be defined as a cruel grin crossed the woman's face.
"You'd be leaving Static behind too. He'd be here by himself, just like you were. Just imagine what'd that do with him"
Cloudy eyes turned clear as you utterly glared at the ground in front of you, unable to turn your head to meet her's as she continued to whisper into your ear.
"Do you remember that look Y/N? When Static just burst through the door for his heroic save before this entire area was destroyed?"
The glare turned into realization. "That look that he masked right after, that look you yourself still let slip every now and then?"
It was as if you were still being held by the neck by Freeze as Static bursted into the room. His face one of an ever present emptiness that held no emotion.
"I think he's about to act on it"
Immediately your hands planted itself into the ground, your palms hitting the frozen ground as with more than everything you had, you pushed your body upwards.
The strain in your body was clear via the shaking in your arms, cracks coming from your body due to the movement of broken bones and the pressure that was being put on them. It was as your back was against a wall, and you were trying to move it.
Not a sound escaped you as your face maintained a fixed expression of pain, and for a second it nearly became too overwhelming.
'I need to let go- NO. If I do th-that my body won't register how close it is to breaking. If that happens....'
Another wave of lightheadedness made you lose consciousness, but you regained it before your arms gave out, your head snapping upwards.
'It'll give up. Fuck I need to- I need to......I'm sorry' Remorse could be heard from your thoughts.
'I'm sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to break another promise'
Another lock on your mind came undone, and you forced your body to move.
"Finally! I thought I'd have to do this myself" An ecstatic voice somewhere beside you yelled in excitement, but you continued to try to push yourself up, blood from your body staining the ground.
"It's so fascinating watching it again" You tried to block out her sickeningly sweet voice, but it was no use. It only added to the agonizing experience.
Limits. There were limits you had put on your advanced body, ones that you yourself couldn't break. In essence, you had reverted your body simply back to it's state before......well, before everything years before you were transported here.
However, currently, almost like a sentient creature, your body was attempting to break through the suppressors in order to survive. Something which you had decided to stop interfering with.
"Perfect. Per-..........what are you doing?"
Her voice went from something akin to pleasure, to downright fear and anger.
You had lifted your body up enough to place a knee under yourself, but as you did that you collapsed to the ground, unable to hold yourself up a second longer. A result of the mutation your body was undergoing to survive being halted during it's beginning stages.
"What. Are. You. Doing?!?!"
There was no reaction to her outburst as you once again strained, attempting to push yourself upwards again.
"No no no no no- stop"
Something in your arms cracked as for a moment, you grasped at whatever strength you had left to once again push yourself up enough so that your knee was under you, this time without your body changing.
"You're killing yourself" Ignoring her warning from behind you, you grabbed onto Rose's sword which was on the ground beside you and stabbed it into the ground.
"You've already allowed yourself to regain so much. That state of black and white. Letting go. Embracing everything. This isn't any different from those situations!
Shaky breaths escaped you as tried to use the pinned weapon as leverage to hoist yourself up, but you fell back down to your knees after trying.
"This is worse! This is the one time you should give in. Why now are you refusing? You've already broken so many promises, so why are you deciding to keep this one?!" She exclaimed, her voice filled with her incomprehension.
'You're right. I know you're right. You're usually right about a lot of things'
With nothing short of a miracle given your nearly shattered state, you hoisted yourself up using the sword, getting yourself to a standing position while still leaning against it.
'I've already broken a lot of promises. It'd make sense to just break a few more I guess'
Nearly staggering as you withdrew the sword, you planted it a bit more in front of you, using it to hold your weight as you took a step forward. Despite that, a small smile was on your face.
'But I'm a hypocrite'
Turning your head so that you weren't looking at the ground, you found that she was in front of you. Even without sight of her eyes, from the rest of her face you could see that she was utterly furious.
Before anything else could be said, you felt your heart stop.
For a moment, you thought it was because of your injuries, but you instantly recognized whatever caused this momentary freeze wasn't internal.
If you weren't so weak, you would've thrown up at the sheer end you could feel weighing on you, even more so than what you were already experiencing.
You, as well as the woman both turned your heads to where the cause of the sensation came from, that being in the shadows of a piece of the factory that was still standing after Static's opening move against Freeze.
Both of you stared for a few moments, the feeling coming and going in less than a second, her expression matching yours.
There was nothing else. As if you had imagined it. Maybe you had, given your condition. However, you trusted whatever was left of your instincts.
And those instincts were now screaming at you to get to Static.
Limping, you repeated the process of stabbing Rose's sword into the ground, your mush of an inside of a body creaking as you did so. Looking to your side, you found that the woman was gone.
You were making your way through the rubble, the area around you terraformed into a mixture of debris and ice. It was utterly devastating the effects the battle had had on the area.
The direction you were taking led to a crater metres ahead of you, one you believed to hold the former? Hero.
Barely, just barely, with each passing step you could see further into it, your injuries scathing against the cold wind that blew by.
A light that you could faintly see from your position appeared, it's shine barely visible. Yet, it was impossible to not recognize who it belonged to.
"St........." Any attempt to speak was met with hoarse pants, ones that weren't helped by your currently dried throat. Calling it painful to speak would've been an understatement.
Taking more shaky steps forward, the brightness of the light died down and as you stood atop of the crater, you finally saw the reason behind it.
Static was standing over a decimated Freeze, his suit ripped apart from the inside leaving it a far cry of the formidable fortress it had once been.
Freeze seemed to be conscious, but he was frozen. The electricity that was sent into his body directly by Static during both exposed hits would've killed any normal person, but Freeze's body even without the suit was strong enough to withstand it.
That, and his unrelenting will were the only reasons he was still alive.
You looked to the other side of the crater's edge from you were, and saw Hugo standing there. His eyes looking down on the situation, then to you.
None of that mattered though, as the former? Hero was holding a dagger of electricity in front of the Lord's neck from his position of one foot on top of him.
Static too was panting, his body a mess and the amount of blood leaking down it fatal. However, he too, just like you, pushed that aside. Even with the threat of death.
"St-...Static" Originally coming out in a mutter, you managed to quietly voice the former? Hero's name, something he heard even with his back to you.
You didn't get a response, just the rhythmic sound of deep breaths from Static, one's that he didn't even notice he was taking.
The weapon of condensed energy he held against the barely alive Lord's neck was longer than his usual daggers, nearly sword-like in nature. Resounding with a low hum, all that radiated off of it was a faint, dulling light.
"Static"
Despite the protest of your failing body, you managed to utter his name correctly and without a stutter, causing the former? Hero to flinch.
Even with this, it was silent. No response came, nor movement, just the faint hum of the weapon that was pointed towards the downed Lord.
"I-....I f-found something.......earlier" His voice matched yours in how forced it sounded to speak, yet even with that his words held a certainty behind them that made you tense.
"People............there were s-so many people, Y/N"
Even with this certainty, you couldn't tell whether or not Static was in his right mind or not. Whether he was delirious from the sheer damage his body had taken, or whether that damage was allowing him to think freely.
"Strung up........all of them. Animals" He muttered.
"Yeah, that's th-the word. It was like I w-was looking at animals"
The rhythmic sound of his deep breaths continued after each second, and although you couldn't see it you knew there wasn't a cloudiness that had set inside of Static's eyes.
"We need him..........alive, Static" You spoke, but your voice didn't seem to reach him.
"H-..How could someo-one do that?" Despite how quietly the question was asked due to the former? Hero's lack of strength, it echoed so loudly that it felt as if it were drowning out all other sound.
"It doesn't......it doesn't make sense?" He questioned.
"Static"
"Does it make s......." Static's voice trailed off, his heavy breathing betraying him.
"Does it make sense......to you, Y/N?"
There was absolutely no way you could answer that question, as it was one you had been on either side of. Both the one questioning, and the one understanding.
"A person.......A person couldn't do that- wouldn't, do that. How cou-could you see others...as animals? Animals that ar-are in your way?"
"How could you do that?"
The former? Hero looked down onto Freeze, who was barely breathing himself. Without falsehood behind it, the blade Static constructed moved closer to Freeze's neck.
Something you didn't care to notice was that his weapon hadn't dissolved yet despite how long ago it had been made. The reason for that was because, even with himself on the brink, Static was continually imbuing his powers into the blade to keep it from fading, his will not allowing it the disappear.
"Say something"
A disdain and hatred that you knew shouldn't have been present in Static made itself clear in his voice, unfiltered in it's anger.
"At least this m-much. A-At least tell me how?"
Freeze's head stirred slightly, his eyes opening just a bit.
"How?!"
"M-........"
Freeze's voice came out in a croak, his body drained of any strength or even ability to speak due to the sheer amount of electricity that was forced into his body.
"M-My wife" It came out in a raspy way, a two worded response that made Static twitch.
"Your wife?" The former? Hero repeated, asking the question as if he heard it wrong.
No response came from the fallen Lord, but his eyes remained trained on Static all the same.
"Is th-that why you did it?!" He asked, nearly unsure of the response.
"Why you froze them?.....held them- they were be-being filled by tho-those things?!" The memory of what he saw came back in full force.
"All of that. You'd do that to-to others because of your wife!?!" Static's voice came out in a scratchy yell, one that was filled with both disgust and anger.
"Static!" You choked as the blade got closer to the Lord's neck, but despite the threat of immediate death, the Lord maintained his gaze with the now former Hero.
"I would............." His whispered, his voice despite how weak holding a resolve to it that made both you and Static stop.
"I would do whatever it takes to protect those I care about, even if it meant losing everything I stood for, and killing anyone who stands in my way"
Behind those words were an utter, resolute will that made both you and Static flinch at the sheer truth that drove a man who was on death's door. It was made ever so present as there was not a single stutter in his words, his convictions unwavering.
Instantly, both you and him knew. You both knew that Freeze didn't believe these words, but that they were his law. They were his world, the world he would follow no matter how much laid waste because of it. No matter how much even he questioned it, he would still follow it.
Static's blade wavered over the Lord's neck, his body far past it's limits, yet that wasn't the reason veins were visible along his arm and neck.
Gritting his teeth, Static's sword began to shake as did his arms, his face scrunching up slightly.
Something akin to a strained, barely concealed yell escaped Static for less than a second before he managed to once again lock his jaw, no electricity radiating off of him due to his drained state.
His breaths, which were previously slow and deep, were now shallow and shaky through his closed-teeth grimace, his eyes going between emotions that were too much to put into words.
It was suffocating. The feelings that were engulfing him, all while he stared at the previously impossible figure of the now crumpled Lord before him. Who, even with a blade to his neck, stared back with unwavering eyes.
Static's grip on his weapon caused it to slightly crack, but that was automatically healed by the barely remaining power that the former Hero continued to unconsciously pour into his sword.
Another short, muffled, and frustrated yell escaped for a moment, Static's blade shaking to the point where it accidentally touched Freeze's neck, drawing a bit of blood. In spite of this, he didn't seem to notice.
Static stared at Freeze, his eyes moving past him into something else.
At that moment, both your hands, even the one one holding the hilt of the sword, rested themselves on either of Static's shoulders, and you leaned your head onto the back of his.
For a few seconds, neither of you moved.
Unable to continue, Static's blade faded away, and he fell to his knees alongside you, his body still shaking.
Struggling to do so, you slung Static's arm over your shoulder, and put your other one around his.
"We- We did it Static" Was the only response you gave, unable to say anything else.
His breath shaky, Static contained his cries and spoke lowly.
"We did it?" It was asked as if he couldn't believe it himself.
"Yeah" You smiled, as you leaned backwards to use Hugo's legs not to fall, who had walked down not a second before.
Looking up into the sky of Gotham, despite the lack of stars, despite the unorganized destruction around you all, and despite the fact you were on death's door, you all smiled.
Your's confident, Static's hopeful, and Hugo's in anticipation.
"We took the first step"
At 11:13 pm, three men entered the premises of one of the Lords of Gotham, Mr. Freeze.
At 11:37 pm, a Lord of Gotham fell.
By the time 12:00 am came, the small force belonging the Mr. Freeze had been completely eradicated with no survivors, and the Lord himself had gone missing.
Chapter 1 is done. What a fucking ride, never thought I'd get this far.
Just wanna let you all know this book isn't over, just going on a break for a bit. I'll probably go on a small break in general, or maybe I'll actually update the other book I've been neglecting.
Hope you've been kept entertained so far, and hope you'll continue to do so in the future. Also, I hope I showed how dangerous a Lord is in general.
Thank you all for reading up until this point, and if this is a few months from now and I have a bunch of chapters posted PLEASE take a break from the book here, reading too much of the same story all at once can cause burnout.
See ya next chapter, and Merry Christmas.