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SM/DC Chapter 83 : The Hunt
🕑 Added 2025-04-08 21:46:42 +0000 UTCEarth - Jump City
The air was heavy with a tension that could almost be felt, a weight pressing down on the Blackwynd tower as Kara stood before Arthur's mother, and his brother, Adam. The constant, ever-watchful presence of Blade standing like a sentinel, his gaze fixed firmly on Kara. Atop the Blackwynd Tower, Kaisel, the wyvern, perched like a looming shadow, its wings spread wide, watching over the family with the intensity of a predator ready to strike.
Kara, her expression dark and uncertain, finally broke the silence. Her words hung in the air, heavy with the weight of what she had seen and what she could not say.
"I don't know for sure..." Kara began, her voice quiet, her eyes searching for something, anything, to hold onto. "I—I don’t know if he’s dead. What I saw... The chaos, the shadows, the destruction... but no body. He’s powerful, but even he can’t..”
Adam, Arthur’s older brother, laughed. It was a sharp, disbelieving sound that echoed off the walls, a defiant challenge against the reality Kara had just spoken. He refused to believe that his brother, the embodiment of strength and resolve, was gone.
"Dead?" Adam scoffed, his voice thick with incredulity. "Arthur?" He gestured toward Blade, his eyes fierce with conviction. "Look at this! , look at his shadow, it's still here. They’re still here. You think Arthur would just die and they’ll remian? You are a kryptonian yet you saw his power as well, I know it. He’s out there. I know it."
Kara’s gaze faltered. Her frustration was palpable as she shook her head slowly, her voice laced with regret.
"I don’t know how his abilities work, Adam. He never fully explained them to me" she replied, her voice strained and raw. "I can’t promise you that he’s alive. I just... I don’t know." Her eyes averted from his, staring into the distance, the weight of the uncertainty pressing on her chest.
Adam took a step forward, the fire in his eyes undiminished. His injured hand clenched into a fist as his voice rose with a burning, fierce determination. "You might not know but I do because he is my blood." His gaze shifted to Blade, the shadows around the silent sentinel moving in response to his words. "I refuse to believe Arthur is gone. Not until I see it for myself.”
Blade’s expression remained unchanged, but he made a subtle movement as if reacting to Adam’s certainty.
Kara met Adam’s eyes again, her heart heavy with the burden of her words. "I don’t want to give you false hope," she said softly, her voice breaking slightly. "But if there’s anyone who could survive this... then maybe it’s him." She turned her gaze toward his mother.
"I’ll do everything I can," she continued, her resolve hardening. "But we need a plan. Arthur might be out there somewhere, but we need to prepare for the worst."
Adam’s anger began to soften, but his resolve remained as unyielding as ever. He stepped forward, his expression a mix of defiance and determination. "I don’t need a plan, Kara. I need my brother back. And if he’s out there, wherever that is... he'll do it by himself. He already proved that to me."
His words were like a vow, one that Kara couldn’t help but respect, even as they carried the weight of impossible odds.
Before Kara could reply, a sudden, violent surge of energy shattered the calm. A flash of dark magic flared in the distance, and with a sound that cracked the air like thunder, Raven teleported into their midst, her expression fierce and troubled. Her eyes locked onto Kara with an intensity that could burn through stone.
"You!" Raven's voice was like a whip, her tone accusing and full of anger. "What happened to him? Where is Arthur? I can’t sense him anymore. I’ve been trying to reach him, trying, but nothing. I..." She paused, her breath sharp and erratic, as though trying to steady herself. "What did you do? Where is he, Kara?"
Kara flinched at the rawness in Raven's voice. She had known that Raven cared for Arthur, even if she had never shown it openly. And now, the overwhelming sense of loss and frustration was clear in her eyes.
"I...I don’t have an answer, Raven." Kara's voice cracked as she spoke, the weight of her failure heavy in her chest. "I didn’t, I didn’t do anything to help. I just... I don’t know." She closed her eyes briefly, as though the very thought of failing Arthur, of not having an answer for Raven, was too much to bear. "He... he’s gone. I think he’s gone, but I can’t be sure. I wish I could tell you more. I wish I could do more. But I..."
Her voice faltered. Raven’s piercing gaze softened for a fraction of a second, the fury dimming, replaced by something far more raw, grief.
"I should’ve known," Raven whispered, almost to herself.
his mother who was silent all this time, stepped forward, her eyes meeting Raven’s, her voice steady but filled with quiet anguish. "If Arthur were truly dead, I would know it... but if there's one thing I know about my son, it's that he does not give up easily."
Raven nodded grimly, as if realizing the truth in his mother's words. "Then i'll find him. His powers have a darker nature much similar to my own, I can try and search for traces of that magic, no matter what it takes."
Arthur’s fate was still a question to them, and none of them had the answers.
****
Bludhaven – Earth 3
Arthur leaned casually on the cracked stone wall, his breath steady, his hands slick with sweat and blood. The man beneath him groaned, his face practically embedded in the rubble, his once-proud figure now reduced to a mere shadow of itself. Arthur smirked, wiping the blood from his knuckles as he stared down at the broken figure beneath him.
"Well, this is getting boring," he muttered to himself, his voice dripping with sarcastic amusement. "I’ve been committing crimes and fighting crime at the same time, and so far, nothing." He leaned down, pressing his boot into the man's back, the weight of it making the guy wince in agony. "Guess I expected more from this place."
He glanced around, the chaos he'd unleashed still simmering in the streets, the screams of the city echoing in his ears. Yet, something felt... off. Galatea wasn’t back yet. He hadn’t heard from her since she set out on her mission to find the resistance, to locate Luthor. She was reliable.
Arthur stood up, brushing the dust from his cloak with a resigned sigh. "Oh well," he said to himself, wiping his hands on his pants. "I’ll continue. I didn’t come all the way here just to sit around."
Without a moment’s hesitation, he vanished into the night again, his form blending with the shadows as he moved through the streets.
****
High in a steel-walled command center hidden deep within a certain place, a man watched the chaos unfold on several surveillance monitors. His cold, calculating gaze never wavered as the flickering images danced across the screen. Owlman, the twisted reflection of Batman, observed with an unnerving calm.
His fingers tapped rhythmically against the console, his sharp eyes studying every moment of the destruction, the merciless violence on display. Guards crumpled to the ground in a haze of broken bones and shattered armor, their screams lost in the rising fires that ate away at the city's heart. Buildings burned, flickering flames casting a grim orange glow across the cold, glassy screens.
A small smile tugged at Owlman’s lips, but it was not one of satisfaction. No. This was annoyance, frustration. "It’s not new," he murmured to himself. "This kind of destruction, this chaos... but something’s off. Who’s doing this? Where are they? There’s no clear origin, no definitive signs. Damn it."
He leaned forward, narrowing his eyes as a particular piece of footage caught his attention, someone moving too quickly for the cameras, too fast to be fully captured.
"Impossible," he growled. "Whoever this is, they’re evading every single camera. There's no way they're just some random street rat."
With a sharp motion, Owlman hit a button on the console, activating the communication system. The screen flickered, and the face of a familiar, super-speeding figure appeared—Blüdhaven's own version of the Flash. His costume, a dark blur of red and gold, was a perfect mockery of the Flash from the true world.
"Johnny Quick" Owlman snapped, his voice a cold, mechanical drawl. "I need you to check something out. Something’s happening in Bludhaven, and it’s... annoying the hell out of me. A lot of guards are getting wiped out, buildings are burning, but the source? Unclear. Whoever’s behind it is fast. Too fast."
Johnny on the screen nodded without hesitation, a glint of curiosity flickering in his eyes. "You want me to hunt them down?"
"Exactly. This person’s leaving no trace. No face on the cameras, no clear direction. You’re fast enough to keep up with them, and I’m sure you’re smart enough to figure out why they're doing this. So go, before they become a bigger problem." Owlman’s voice dropped to a cold hiss. "I don’t care who they are. Just find them. Now."
Johnny cracked his knuckles, the challenge stoking the fire of competition in his eyes. "I got it, Owlman. I’ll track them down. No one’s too fast for me, whoever is out there is dead."
As the screen cut to black, Owlman remained seated, his fingers drumming once more on the console. He could feel the tension rising in that city, the pressure mounting with every passing second. Whoever was out there, whether they were a potential ally or a threat, it didn’t matter to him. What mattered was the order he had to uphold, their reign. And if someone dared to disrupt that, they would face the full wrath of the Syndicate.
