AN: Had a hard time writing Stride, since we don't know too much about him, but I did my best here. So here ya go! ENJOY.

ARC Nine: Infinite Crisis

Chapter Ninety Five: Power of Pride

Heaving breaths, panting, sighs and sweat dropping to the ground, these were the things Petra was audibly feeling as she readied herself against Sado.

Sado activated his wind control ability, floating in the air. Petra ran forward as he tossed a dagger at her, she spun the broom around and knocked it out of the air. Sado seemed impressed as he observed her pushing the broom pole against her chest, soon kicking off the ground and straight towards him. Reading the wind itself, he knew where the strike was coming. He moved out of the strikes way, only to be surprised with Petra spinning rapidly in the air and hitting him across the face. She lost her balance and fell to the ground on her back.

She got up, keeping the pole close again, only to see Sado toss another dagger at her, only for her to this time have the dagger get stuck on the pole, of which she shoved the pole forward and had the knife fly off the pole and stab into his shoulder.

"AGH!"

"HIYA!"

She whacked him several time with her weapon, before using her hands to shift it forward and jab him in the face with it. She spun it around several times before she hopped into the air and slammed the weapon hard on his head, making everyone watch as the broom broke to pieces and the Cultists head make a cracking sound.

Sado fell to his knees as Petra landed and held her knees and panted from exhaustion. The refugees were shocked having seen such a young girl having defeated a Witch Cultist.

Only for Rem to notice something odd hovering next to her.

"PETRA-CHAN! LOOK OUT!"

"Huh?"

The air ripped and a loud cracking sound was heard, the space next to Petra exploded sending her flying forward towards a nearby wall. She gasped for air as she tried standing up, only for her to be kicked away by another Witch Cultist.

Removing his hood, he was an older gentleman with short brown hair; with some sinister looking eyes. He began smoking a cigarette as he looked down at the crying Petra.

"Not trying to get flak for killing some random kid, but you took down one of my subordinates, so I gotta do this. Stride'll have my head otherwise."

He walked over to Petra with a knife in hand, her face was covered in so much blood, that she was having a difficult time even keeping her eyes open. But as the Cultist named Faust raised his dagger high, puffing smoke out of his mouth, he felt a presence coming towards him, he activated his Explosion technique, causing the same attack behind him. They all watched as the Flash got flung away by the explosion.

"Flash-sama!"

Flash rolled on the ground, coughing from the attack. He shook his head as he got back up on his feet. Faust sighed as took big puffs of his cigarette. He read the wind around himself and sensed Petra standing up, grabbing a pole she found on the ground. He sighed loudly, expecting her to die in the next explosion.

Only to have Flash appear right next to him, a stream of electricity flowing around him. Caught by surprise, Faust made another rift next to him, planting an explosion in it; the Flash saw the world in slow motion at this point, pushing his running body around Faust dodging the rift and resulting explosion, landing two massive punches to his face, without even having the cigarette fall out of the Cultists mouth. Flash stepped his foot down.

The explosion missed, and Faust spat out blood along with his cigarette. He tried to float away only to have Petra stab him with the end of the pole, impaling him through his groin.

"GRAGHHHH!"

He fell to the ground just as Flash hit him with consecutive punches on the face. As he was flinging himself back up, Petra landed a headbutt on his abdomen, making him lurch over…

Just as Petra let out a frightened shriek and stabbed him in the neck with a Witch Cultist dagger.

"UGHHKK!"

He slapped her away and aimed a fireball at her, only for icicles to stab at his arm and shoulder.

"AGHKKK!"

Rem furrowed her brows as she lowered her arm, surprising her son Rigel with the deed.

"M..Mom…"

"Rem is sorry you had to see that, Rigel."

She fixed her long hair as she watched Faust stumble back...and then begin to glow.

Flash saw the danger and grabbed Petra, running away from the self destruction he committed.

Having Rem and the others look over Petra, Flash kicked himself over the fact he couldn't help Petra more.

Petra of course put on a brave face, even if the pain wanted to make her cry. All of their resident healers were working to help her out. Petra looked up at Flash and smiled at him.

"Thank you for helping me."

"No no, I should be thanking you. You really did good out there."

Petra nodded to this and gave a beaming wink to him.

She felt good in some way, that she was able to fight. She hoped Emilia and Rem would be impressed. That Slade would be proud of her. That the others would see her in a different light.

She hoped Subaru would look at her differently.

The thought of him, still sent a shiver down her back. She prayed silently to herself.

Hoping the others were okay.

"Bollocks!"

Once again, Constantine fired a bolt of energy at Stride, only for the attack to...go through him.

"The hell is...shit, I get it."

Constantine showed off with a pat to his back that he figured something about Stride.

"This is a bloody Authority right?"

"Correct sorcerer. I have the Authority of Pride; though not as powerful as Pandora's 'Whispers of the World' or Regulus' 'Stillness of an Object's Time', my 'Corinthians' and 'Tohuvabohu' are testament to my unyielding goals."

"Pardon?"

He smiled as his ninja guards charged forward, leaving him to aim his fingers at him. Only for Constantine to roll away from him. Sure enough Aquaman leaped down and stabbed on the ninjas in the face with his trident. The other ninja went around and tried to stab him with a long blade. Only for Aquaman to stomp on the ground, causing rocks to fly at him. He jumped back and was crushed to death by a giant vine.

Pamela jumped down and spat fire at Stride...as the fire cleared, Stride walked through the fire without so much as a blemish.

"How did he-"

"-Keep calm Pamela! This obviously some form of power he has, and if so, there must be a trick to it."

Stride aimed some of his rings at them, causing Aquaman to clutch his head in pain. He felt his head was spinning.

Meanwhile, Pamela threw up and clutched her stomach.

"Th-those ri...ngs…"

"Metia rings girl. Each a unique one...to protect someone as important as me."

Aquaman fired an electric bolt at him-

Stride activated his first Authority, Corinthians.

He unbounded himself in time, making any physical occurrence be negated by him. Thus the attack went through his body and did no damage to himself. He brushed off his shoulder, like nothing happened.

Pamela readied her vines to attack as well…

Stride activated his second Authority, Tohuvabohu.

He created a void around himself and was able to see the outcomes that could possibly happen to him from the oncoming attack. Seeing many of them land on him, he saw one potential reality of the attack missing him, so he decided to choose that one.

Once chosen the reality came to be and the vines missed him completely, stabbing at a back wall instead.

The two realized how futile it was becoming to attack him now. Stride created a light sword and charged forward, Aquaman clashed with him, only to see his leg begin to rot suddenly.

"GR, you and those acursed rings!"

Stride sighed as he activated Tohuvabohu again and chose a reality where he landed a strike on his foe. He stabbed into his shoulder and used one of his rings to levitate him away, slamming him into a building.

"Aquaman!"

Pamela ran forward and retrieved her rapier, she tried to stab him, but the attack went through him and did no damage. Stride slammed his sword down on her and it broke apart. He then used his ring and lifted her body straight at a building and slammed through the walls.

Stride stepped forward, only for Constantine to fire bolts of magic at him.

They either missed him entirely.

Or shot through him, like nothing happened.

However, Constantine noticed how Stride was beginning to sweat profusely.

Stride saw him and clicked his fingers, Kilowog charged at him making a giant fist construct. He made a barrier, which saved him from damage. Stride aimed his hand at him like a gun, firing a beam at him, shooting through the barrier and through his shoulder.

The resulting attack destroyed the barrier, giving Kilowog the chance to land a strike on him...only for Green Lantern to tackle him into the air, getting him away from his ally.

Raven kept Nightwing busy as he was still under the influence of one Stride's rings.

Stride himself kept moving forward, with Pamela using thorny vines to strike at him, none of which landed on him...making Pamela notice his growing sickly expression.

Only for her to have a beam fired by Constantine phase through Stride's back and cut open her face. She took the damage and tried to land a kick on him, only for her to be levitated away and have her leg begin to rot away.

"Shit!"

Pamela blew a kiss at him, making the Sin Archbishop snicker a bit as he activated his Authority again and had the kiss miss him completely. Only for him to sneeze and cough loudly.

The Flash made it to the battlefield as he ran toward him with all his might, only to phase through his body. Making him trip at in incredible pace, tumbling on the floor as he crashed into a destroyed car. Flash shook himself free, leering at the Sin Archbishop. He vibrated himself at a dizzying speed making sure to find out his secrets. He sped forward, seeing everything in hyperspeed, he threw a punch at him, finally seeing the way Stride made himself unbound by time, then saw his eyes glimmer a bit as the void formed around himself, a few meters at best.

Flash kicked himself away from him, surprising Stride, but also making him chuckle a bit. Stride chose a reality; he tossed a knife at Flash which stabbed through his hip and made him fall on his behind.

Aquaman made it over with his trident, but his attack went through his body as well. Stride used one of his rings to cause Aquaman to lose his sight momentarily, just as he created a light sword and slammed across the face with it, shattering it apart. Aquaman threw a punch, but Stride used Tohuwabohu to make the punch miss. Stride then fired a palm thrust blast at him, knocking him to the ground.

Pamela made it over to him with her rapier in tow, trying to stab him in the face. Once again, it missed and hit the ground, shattering the sword to pieces. Stride coughed again, then made an angered expression as he covered his mouth with a handkerchief. He levitated Aquaman right a Pamela, tossing them away and landing painfully right next to the Flash.

The three got up and narrowed their sights on Stride.

"H..Hahhh, how the hell are we supposed to take him out?!"

Pamela's painting continued as she held her leg, with it continuing to rot away. Flash nodded to her as he now saw it all.

"This guy has time manipulation powers."

"...! Barry, what kind?"

"...It seems he can make his molecules transparent for small moments of time, and not only that he can manipulate the future, probably by seeing different outcomes and choosing one that it will follow."

Aquaman rubbed his eyes as his sight was slowly returning to him.

"There has to be a weakness."

"There is."

"Well?"

"It seems when he uses these Authorities of his, his health deteriorated. So in essence, he probably has a limit to how many times he can use it, before he starts to get hurt or worse from it."

"So we need to-"

"-We need to put him in a situation where he has to overuse it. Then, at that moment we can strike him."

Pamela had vines surround her as she looked over at the two.

"I have an idea...it involves you two, Constantine and Raven…"

"And?"

"...And you're not going to like it."

Raven summoned shadows underneath Stride.

"Hmmm.."

He saw they would only hold him by his feet, but soon saw Aquaman toss his trident at him, making the man smile a tad. Only to be shocked as Flash ran by it and disappeared with it in a strike of electricity.

"What are you fools planning?!"

Constantine had magical symbols surround him, shooting him with countless beams of magic. He made them go through his body, but it was taking its toll on his body as he began to sweat heavily.

With the barrage over, he coughed loudly as he deactivated his Authorities. Only to have a dome of vines surround him as Pamela was now inside as well.

"Plant lover, whatever you are planning, it's not going to work at all. My plans will be executed with perfection, most of which involve you all dying."

"...I sort of planned it, that way."

"HUH?!"

The shadows covered the dome of vines and tossed them far away. He tried to gain his composure as Pamela used some kicks to try and get him, each strike missed completely. Thorns would shoot out from the dome's sides, attempting to impale Stride.

Again, they either missed or phased through him, but now his eyes were getting bloodshot and his face had nerves forming. He was overusing it indeed.

"Blasted tramp! I will not have you get the best of me!"

Unknown to them, magical symbols were forming around the vine domes.

Stride charged forward and stabbed through Pamela's stomach with a light sword.

She coughed out chunks of blood, but had enough energy to wrap the two of them in vines...she looked over at the conversing mirror she had in hand...speaking to Ferris.

"Ferris, are you there?"

"Pamela?! Where are you?!"

"In a sticky situation...listen to me."

"Please just come back! Come back with us! Ferri-chan needs-"

"-FELIX!"



She stopped her scream as she coughed out more blood.

"Ferris, listen to me. I want you to know that I love you and Crusch so much."

"And it hurt seeing her that way, hurt seeing you so sad...hurt so much seeing Wilhelm die."

"Pam...ela…"

"So I don't you to be hurting as well...I want you to be happy, okay? I want you to be happy for Crusch's sake. Take care of her. Take care of yourself. Keep eachother safe."

The symbols began to glow all around the falling vine dome they were in.

"Ferris…do you-"

"-YES! Ferris loves you too! Crusch does as well! No matter what! So please...PLEASE JUST COME BACK!"

As the light formed around them, Stride let out a growl.

Pamela saw as her leg disintegrated into nothing, closing her eyes. Thinking of the days back in the estate. Days of splendor. Of joy. Of Love.

Wilhelm, her teacher.

Ferris, her friend.

Crusch, her...sister.

She smiled, but still had the strive to cry. She was never friends with too many people, but right here and now, she loved these people.

Her own father and mother treated her with unkind actions.

But now that young girl who found no friends, but in plants...could finally take these peoples hands and smile.

Subaru and Batman were her heroes, and she prayed that they would find a way to win...they always did.

She saw Wilhelm and Reinhard for some reason, but she assumed they were there for her...she appreciated it.

Otto. Otto Suwen. She just remembered at that moment, something else important.

"Ferris, do me a favor tell Otto, I love the guy."

"Pamela…"

"Also, can you-"

A blinding light was seen just over the city. Making everyone stop their fighting to stare at it.

Ferris screamed out, his face plastered in pain and suffering, reaching out to the sky before covering his weeping face in despair.

Otto fell to his knees, having just figured out who he had just lost.

Both of their weeping, were drowned out by the explosion.

As they did so, little specks of light littered the land...and as they did, beautiful red roses sprouted from the ground. Mesmerizing everyone.

Petra touched one and cried.

The entire war zone, became a splendorous example of nature's beauty. The city was now covered in vibrant roses.

Pamela Isley, once known as Poison Ivy; a villain who found redemption in another world and found the will to love again...was now dead.

Stride was now in freefall as he survived the explosion, but h overdid it and felt he could only use his Authority one more time.

"Damn bitch! Her sacrifice really put a damper on my Authority! I'll just crashland and have-"

Aquaman's trident suddenly pierced through his chest.

"WHAAAAATT?! AGHK!"

Flash shot through the speedforce right next to him.

His plan to have the trident travel seconds into the future after Stride reached his limits was a success. Even if he had to bear the guilt of Pamela sacrificing herself to accomplish it. Flash ran on some clouds away from him, before landing on a nearby rooftop. Stride roared at him, his teeth smothered in blood. Just as Aquaman made it next to him, having a lightning bolt strike through the trident, frying Stride and destroying several nearby rooftops.

"AQUAMAAAAAAN!"

"STRIDE!"

He gripped the trident, just as Stride fired a beam at him, ripping apart his left eye. But the Atlantean spun in the air several times, before launching Stride straight into the ocean. He flopped across the water's surface, clearly breaking countless bones. Stride found himself having a hard time floating in the water, especially with all the bones he lost function to.

"Damn! No! I am Pride! I am Vollachia!"

He coughed and spat as he flailed around in the icy cold waters.

"I will see Lugnica fall! I will….huh?"

He felt something touch his feet in the waters. Before he could even react he looked up and saw a floating Aquaman whispering…

Just then a shark shot out of the water and bit his shoulder, he screamed out in pain. He activated his Authority...only to see in the void he was surrounded by deep sea predators...all wishing to tear him apart.

"Oh."

He tried to get out of there, choosing outcomes where he would survive, but the overwhelming masses of animals made him reach his limits and he began puking and crying blood.

Eventually the onslaught was too much and a shark bit off his leg. He tried using his rings to get them away-

CHOMP!

"GUAHHHHHH!"

His hand was bitten off by a barracuda, then he was stabbed in the hip by a swordfish. He screamed in pain as his other arm was eaten by a great white shark. Crabs began ripping out the flesh in his legs. He yelled and screamed. He cursed and whined.

But nothing could be done about it. He was dragged into the waters by a school of hammerhead sharks, he began to drown on top of being eaten alive. Sure enough a giant squid emerged from below and wrapped it's tentacle around his head, he screamed as it began pulling and the suction cups it had, crushed his face.

His head was pulled off and the squid proceeded to eat it.

The rest of his body was devoured by the gathered aquatic predators...leaving his bones to sink to the bottom.

The Sin Archbishop of Pride, Stride Vollachia, had died.

Otto charged forward, his eyes clearly tired from the tragedy he just underwent.

He faced his doppleganger as earth spikes shot forward at him. Otto kicked off one of the spikes and landed a strong punch against him. He cackled as he slammed the staff against his face. Only for Otto to press his foot down and land a headbutt against him, then tossed a magic stone of fire at him, ripping apart his left arm.

"OOF!"

Fearmonger spat out an incantation as another earth spike shot at him, cutting open his cheek, he then tackled him back, making him land awkwardly on the ground. He kicked him across the face, chipping some of his teeth.

As Fearmonger raised his staff up, he was stabbed through the neck by Halibel. He clutched his neck wound tight, but felt his strength wane...putting on a tired smile as he fell over dead.

Otto hurried over and got a hold of the staff, gazing around as he saw the fighting was coming to a stop. He sighed loudly as he picked up a rose, he sniffed its fragrance and shut his eyes. He placed it on the other side of his hat...just as he lost his composure and began crying again.

Ferris clutched the ground and wept.

He cried to a painful uncontrollable point...only for Crusch to walk over to him and pat his back softly.

She made a concerned face and grunted at her, making the knight rush to her and give her master a strong hug.

Crusch was confused by this, but she nodded as she rubbed his back. Ferris kept up with his crying, his tears fall atop of a rose.

The battle was now over.

Cyborg surveyed the area as he and the others were now free of their mind control. He scratched his face, looking at everyone as they mounted Pamela's sacrifice.

Petra looked up a the sky...she closed her eyes, and hugged her arms.

"Please...just let this all end."

She opened them again, having sadness, but a sliver of hope shine in them.

"Let's all go home."

Her small prayer was heard, as a small breeze blew past them, making the roses dance around them, a small moment just for them.

Al rolled on the ground as he dodged a fireball attack from above them. Priscilla swung her fan and shot out a shockwave against them. Only for Iris to focus and jet them away from the attack. There they encountered Batman who threw a punch at them, Pride fired his ray gun at him, forcing him to twist himself in order to dodge. Pride pulled out a magic stone and tossed it, making an icicle shoot towards him.

Batman punched it to pieces.

Frederica was running up the side of the tree, her arms and legs transformed. Sarah was holding on to her, getting a ride to get closer to Pride.

He saw this, but noticed a earth spike shooting towards him, he had Iris fire another blast of fire, incinerating it and barreling down. It shot through Al, leaving a trail of smoke and blood where his chest would be.

Only to see he was there once again.

"This is bullshit. You and your Authority of Pride is such a pain!"

"Being a pain in the ass, is sort of the charm I have, no?"

Pride sneered down at him, firing his ray gun, only to have Priscilla launch a light spear at him, Iris focused her eyes on it.

"HRAGH!"

Her cute voice, finally heard by all, launched a lightning bolt through her mouth. Shattering the spear into nothing. The spirit then launched a fireball at Frederica, who jumped off the tree at this point, straight at them. Braving through the fire around them, Pride and Frederica stared each other down.

Frederica then let out a small howl spinning in the air as Sarah kicked off her back and shot at them at incredible speed. Her forearm blades shined with the fire around her, and she shot forward at speeds comparable to that of a bullet. Pride tried to defend himself...only to have a batarang stabbed his shoulder.

"FUCKER!"

He turned his enraged face to see Batman.

Then, Sarah shot between him and Iris, slicing away...and cutting out his right eye.

Pride let out a pained scream, but also-

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

Pissed off at the fact he lost the same eye, yet again, he fired his ray gun at her, only for Batman to catch her mid-air and let the shots pass next to him. Iris fired another lightning bolt from her mouth barely missing Batman by his cheek. The bolt landed down and caused a humongous explosion.

Then…

The Sin Archbishop of Pride, Natsuki Subaru and his Artificial Spirit, Iris, were sliced in the back by Frederica's paws.

They both were taken by utter surprise, just in time for them to be both kicked to the ground below by Batman.

They crashed, with blood oozing out of Pride's wounds. He looked over and saw Iris beginning to break apart.

"I...IRIS!"

He crawled over to her, seeing her beginning to look at him, while still laid out on the floor. She reached out her hand to him.

"H-Hang on...fuck, hang on!"

When he noticed Al creeping over to him, he fired his ray gun wildly at him.

"FUCK OFF! FUCK YOU! ALL OF YOU! ALDEBARAN! PRISCILLA! BATMAN! EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!"

Tears began to well up in his eyes as he kept firing, not even coming close to hitting Al...so the knight stopped his approach and watched as he made it over to his spirit.

Batman landed nearby with his fiance's in tow.

Pride cradled Iris, who softly touched his cheek, his new reptilian arm cupped her cheek...making her smile somberly.

He felt the pain of loss take him, this spirit was with him since he killed Petelgeuse back in his world, seemingly sacrificing itself when it started the fire in the capital that overtook the rest of the kingdom. But when he was spared from death by the Anti-Monitor, he also plucked the spirit from its final moments and had Omega upgrade it using her knowledge of creating Artificial Spirits.

He had grown a slight liking to her, like an adopted child. He held her highly in his rankings of the other Society Members. He trusted her, and she did as well.

In the years of her life, she found no one who would accept a weak meager spirit like her. Yet, it was that day when the odd man named Natsuki Subaru found her and made a contract with her, that she found her new home.

She like him. She even grew accustomed to his other "allies" such as Elsa and Meili, though she was jealous of the Guthunter.

She was able to touch him and while this spirit was unable to.

When the time came and she was to sacrifice herself for her contractor...she accepted it wholeheartedly…

Only for her to have a second chance with an actual body. She was ecstatic about it, she was able to hold his hand, be closer to him and do thing more effectively with him.

But now…

Pride let his tears continue to fall...just as Iris cupped his cheeks.

"..."

"Iris?"

She smiled at him, just as her body shattered like glass.

"AH, NO!"

"...S…"

"HUH?"

She smiled, teared up and whispered to him. The person she grew to care for the most.

"...Subaru…"

"My name…"

"Subaru….live-"

Her body broke apart leaving small specks of light to float away from him, drifting away into nothing.

"IRIIIIIISSSSSSS!"

Pride shot back up and glared insanely at everyone.

"FUCK! I'M TIRED OF LOSING THE PEOPLE CLOSEST TO ME! SO WHY?! WHY ME!?"

He aimed his ray gun at them, foaming at the mouth as he fired and killed Al...only for his Authority to activate, nullifying his death.

"Cause' you brought this on yourself, Pride."

"MY NAME ISN'T PRIDE! MY NAME IS NATSUKI SUBARU!"

He clutched his face with his new arm as he began to laugh maniacally. He laughed and snickered, coughed and shouted to the world around him.

"I AM NATSUKI SUBARU! I...I AM THE HERO OF THIS STORY!"

Subaru charged forward pulling out a large blade, only for Al to dodge it, he then spun around and tried to slice open Sarah's throat only to eat a kick to his stomach. He coughed out bile and blood, before stepping back and trying to haymaker it at Priscilla...who blocked it with her fan and kicked him in the face...he rolled to the ground and was now at the edge of the branch they were all standing on.

He struggled to get back up, he leered at them as he did...only to smile...he ripped open his tracksuit and showed he was wearing a vest littered with red magic stones…

"OH SHIT!"

Subaru ripped off the vest and tossed it at them, intending to blow them to smithereens. Only for Batman to smack it back at him...feet away from him, the stones began to glow.

Batman pulled everyone back and shielded them from the blast.

Subaru watched on as the explosion shot him back, covering his body in grisly wounds. He looked up and saw the main base of the tree.

"So...close…"

He was now falling.

He kept falling and as he did, he began to think.

"Where did all this go wrong? How could things have...oh."

He thought long and hard about it, continuing his descent. He smiled, but it was genuine one, the kind he hadn't made in years.

He saw the image of a silver haired girl telling a group of thugs to cease their misdeeds, her shimmering purple eyes made his heart beat a little faster.

It made him realize.

"I never should...have met you."

He began to chuckle to himself...before he slowly closed his eyes and began seeing the moments of his life...Petelgeuse, Regulus, Felix, Puck, the blazing capital, Iris, Emilia, Batman, Roswaal, the Black Lantern Ring, Nekron speaking to him, the Super Heroes, Reinhard….Meili...Elsa.

"I wonder...should I...have saved….those...two…?"

He closed his eyes shut as his body continued falling into the white void around them...until finally he disappeared without a trace.

The curse of Pride, was no more.

Batman was on the edge, looking down at the empty white void below them. Frederica and Sarah held his hands.

"Bruce, you didn't kill him."

"Yes, he could have dodged."

Bruce sighed as he looked up this time.

"I wonder about that."

"Sorry, just a bit exhausted."

He walked hand and hand with them, back to Al and Priscilla...just as the others had begun slowly arriving to meet them.

With everyone together, they all began to notice it.

Batman walked over to Felt, only for her to run into his arms.

"Felt?"

"I'm...I'm so sorry…"

Batman looked over at Superman.

"Clark...where is Reinhard?"

Superman simply closed his eyes.

Julius fell to his knees as tears trickled down his cheeks.

"That's impossible."

"Julius-"

"-HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?!"

He slammed his fist on the ground, clearly upset by it. Everyone was indeed upset by it, Batman shut his eyes under his helmet as he hugged Felt tightly. Garfiel and Deathstroke also seemed visibly upset by the news.

Wonder Woman looked over the crowd to speak.

"S...Starfire and Wonder Girl are gone too."

Batman let out a small click of his tongue, he was becoming more and more upset with each second. Rem stepped forward, showing off her grisly wounds.

Frederica ran to her.

"Rem!"

"It's okay, Rem is fine, no worse for wear."

"But your eye!"

"Rem...Rem is willing to lose anything, to get Subaru-kun and Emilia-sama back."

It was quiet for a moment, when they noticed how Roswaal was quiet and being comforted by Ram.

"What happened to him?"

Ram narrowed her eyes at him, surprising all of them. So, Kararagian Batman explained what he did to him, while it did shock them at first, there was a sense of understanding. With Black Adam surmising.

"His foolish actions led to the death of countless innocent people, he's been dealt the necessary punishment. If it was me, I would have broken his neck."

Ram glared up at Black Adam, but he gave her a stern look...making her back down, even she knew there was no way she could take him on. She'd be slaughtered.

Rem tried to comfort her...but slapped her hand away, angering Tia, but she was stopped by Kararagian Batman.

"Nee-sama?"

"...Let's just save your precious man and get out of this forsaken place."

Rem seemed hurt by her cold tone, making Frederica and Sarah frown down at her.

"Ram, can't you see that you're sister is worried about you?"

"Yes, and aren't you worried about her? She's been injured quite heavily!"

Ram snarled at them.

"Right now, I just want this day to be over and done with! So forgive me, for being on the tempermenta side!"

"Ram…"

"I am worried about her...but I also am tired of all this crap! All this suffering and death...all of it, FOR HIM!"

She pointed at Knight Subaru, confusing him greatly.

"Ferris-sama is right! This is all your fault! The witch's obsession with you has led to all this!"

"Ram that's not fair, Subaru-sama never asked for any of this to happen!"

"I don't care if he asked for it or not! His very existence has caused us all this tragedy! My sister lost her eye for him!"

Ram glared at him, almost as if she wanted to attack him outright, only to be knocked out by chop to the back of the neck by Wonder Woman.

He caught her before she fell forward and laid her down, Roswaal held her, even as his eyes were devoid of light.

Rem kneeled down and patted her head.

Wonder Woman apologized to her, which she accepted.

Kyle Rayner floated down, having defeated the last of the Shadow Demons. He looked around and saw the many injuries they all had.

"A ton of work for me today, huh?"

He began healing everyone around them with his ring, even brining Rem's eye back to normal.

She was ecstatic by the gesture, bowing to him.

"Thank you Rayner-sama, Rem is deeply indebted to you."

"Nah, no worries, just had to do it, right?"

"Yes!"

She smiled at him, making him blush a bit, but cleared his throat a bit to calm himself down.

"Besides, had Rem continued being injured as such, Subaru-kun would most likely have reprimand Batman-san."

Batman sneezed hearing this, while his two finances looked at him with amused expressions.

Batman rubbed the back of his head, making him wonder how this was going to all end for them. He went over to Julius and spoke a bit with him...learning about him losing his spirits.

"I'm sorry Julius."

"There is nothing to apologize for. I lost them due to my inability to save them, nothing more."

"But-"

"-I know you very well, and I know you feel some responsibility for it. But you did not attack me, the Warlock did...so please, just let it go."

Both men stared at each other, before giving one another a nod.

Deathstroke met with Beatrice.

"You think we can get to Subaru and Emilia?"

"Yes, Betty has to search around, but the area they are in should be easily found, I suppose."

"Once we get to them, how do we get Flugel out?"

"...Betty will get to that moment when the time comes."

"I really didn't like that pause just now."

He kneeled down next to her.

"Beatrice, could something go wrong?"

"Anything can wrong Deathstroke. We just have to hope we can do this right, I suppose."

"...Keep this info to yourself, everyone's already stressed enough about Reinhard's and the others deaths."

"And you?"

Deathstroke stood up and put his hands on his hips, looking away from the spirit.

"Maybe just a little."

Dr. Fate was observing the area as he held Daphne in his arms, she nuzzled his chest, taking in the odd smells he exhibited...making him just a bit uncomfortable.

Sekhmet saw this and decided to make her move. She went over to Batman and hugged his arm. He was startled by it, but eased when he saw it was Sekhmet...only to feel something ahead of him.

He saw Felt, Frederica and Sarah smiling at the two...as they were cracking their knuckles. Even the Dark Knight was a little unnerved by the sight, making Sekhmet lazily giggle at the sight.

Then, they heard a crack…

"Huh?"

"THE TIME HAS COOOOOMMMEEEE!"

Behind them, the white void broke and the Anti-Monitor bursted through the shattered realm. They all looked up, being unable to see the Unseen Hands following behind him.

Still, Deathstroke surmised their internal thoughts with just two words.

"OH FUCK."

Emilia was holding two large swords made of ice, panting and sweating. Ahead of her, Subaru, still possessed by Flugel floated there as well. Unknown to her, he had his Invisible Providence activated and a gravity field surrounded him.

"Are we done here Emilia?"

"NOT A CHANCE! Not until you get out of Subaru!"

"I can't do that, not until I finish what I started."

She tossed a sword at him with incredible velocity...only for him to fire a Minya spear at it, breaking it apart.

"What do you want?! Why are you doing this?! I don't understand."

"Easy to explain, it's the very reason you were born Emilia."

"Huh?"

He raised his hands towards her and smiled.

"You were meant to bring us to the center of the Algol Tree, just as your previous ancestors before you did. But not just that, something much more important."

"More important?"

"Yes."

His smile lowered into a neutral glare.

"You will fulfill your duty."

"Huh?"

"You...will become a vessel for Satella, and with your death, you will save the world."

However, Flugel turned his head and saw a rift open up next to him.

"I was wondering when you would show up."

"Sensei."

Floating by him was a gorgeous woman that Emilia instantly recognized, though her pained expression threw her for a loop. Subaru's eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms at her. The scorpion tail style hair fluttered as the rift closed behind her.

"Flugel-sensei."

"Hello, Shaula."

The dark intentions of Flugel are revealed, as Emilia begins a fight to save both hers and Subaru's very lives...with Shaula now entering the fray.