155 Bye, Princess #155

'Looks empty...' I mused as I stood in front of the apartment complex upon finding no signs of life. 'It seems they properly evacuated... good...' I shrugged but still headed inside to check, just in case.

'The camera might be down, but the footage should still be intact...' I concluded as I entered the guard booth and quickly found Mark's work laptop.

It didn't take me long to crack the password, which was a mixture of his wife's and daughter's names, causing me to smile as I looked for the recorded footage.

However, my smile promptly dropped as I found none. I frowned as I fiddled with the system and discovered someone had deleted the footage, recently and thoroughly at that.

"Shit..." I cursed as I activated my Personal Computer power and looked for any traces of the deleted footage in the system. I somehow managed, but whoever deleted it had done an excellent job, and I only retrieved bits and pieces.

I viewed what I found. It was cut-off footage of Mark helping everyone out of the complex as he urged them to take what was necessary and travel lightly to get to safety as soon as possible.

The footage cut off again to Mark hugging his daughter and wife before they got on the evacuation bus after he said something about a stubborn idiot who won't leave.

Mark waved goodbye, promising he'd be right behind them before he went back into the complex, and the footage cut off again, showing people in tactical gear armed to the teeth as they rushed into the building.

"Fuck..." I couldn't help but curse again as I exited the guard booth and sprinted toward the apartment building.

...

"Where the heck is Superman?!" Hawkgirl exclaimed, spinning in the air as she flew towards Brimstone before burying her mace into the flaming giant's face doing absolutely no damage.

"Superman, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, and the others are fighting Kalibak, Darkseid's firstborn off-world," Wonder Woman replied as she flew in front of Hawkgirl to shield the latter from Brimstone's counter-attack with her bracelets.

"This thing... also claims to be a son of Darkseid..." Hawkman commented from the side after attacking Brimstone to give Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl time to get away.

"Is this a coincidence...?" he wondered aloud as he flew away, watching flash sprint around Brimstone, creating a speed force cyclone that suppressed the omega force within the flaming giant, weakening him temporarily.

"Unlikely," Wonder Woman replied as she capitalized on the opening The Flash created and flew straight towards Brimstone's chest, punching it with her bare hand and causing him to exclaim in agony.

"Darkseid and his followers don't act without purpose..." she added as she began raining a barrage of punches on Brimstone's chest, and the others weren't slow to join the assault.

"They must be planning something," Wonder Woman said as she continued her attack until the very last second before Brimstone recovered from the speed force suppressing him.

"Move...!" Wonder Woman exclaimed as she watched Brimstone's body shine, preparing to release an omnidirectional heat wave. However, the others were slow to react.

The flame wave engulfed everyone other than The Flash and Wonder Woman and quickly dissipated after a couple of seconds, revealing an intact Hawkman and Hawkgirl wrapped in thin transparent barriers.

"What did I miss...?" Hal Jordan said as he floated in the air, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Brimstone's changed appearance as the latter glowed dark red.

"Darkseid," came a gruff, deep voice from Behind Hal Jordan as the Batjet soared in the air, flying past him and dropping a cluster of missiles on Brimstone.

"Well, that definitely explains it," Hal Jordan said, bitterly chuckling as he shook his head and created a giant hammer, which he buried in Brimstone's gut.

"Enough chit-chat; we've got a giant monstrosity's ass to kick," Hawkgirl exclaimed from the side, roaring as she charged Brimstone.

...

"Dammit..." Gray cursed, his complexion paling as he kneeled in front of Logan's, his father's apartment, reaching for an almost dry puddle of red liquid.

He quickly stood up and rushed into the apartment after realizing it was blood to scan the area. He couldn't help but curse again as he noticed signs of struggle all over the place with no sign of anyone in sight.

He exited the apartment and turned to the puddle of blood before looking around. He noticed a trail of blood leading deeper into the hallway and followed it.

Gray's expression turned uglier with every step he took as the blood stains became bigger and bigger until he reached the janitor's room, where the trail ended.

He stopped before the closet entrance, his expression apprehensive as he reached for the handle, only to stop before opening the door, his body stiffening.

Gray firmed his resolve and opened the door, only to raise his hand in front of his face as a loud bang echoed in the dark room. He looked at his hand to see a deformed bullet.

Slowly raising his head, Gray's expression became frantic as he spotted Mark lying in a pool of his own blood in the janitor closet's corner, holding a smoking gun.

"Mark!" Gray exclaimed as he rushed to the security guard's side. "It's me, Gray!" he added as he kneeled next when he noticed the latter raising his gun and reaching for the trigger again.

"Oh... Hi, princess..." Mark jokingly greeted, bitterly smiling as blood leaked in between his teeth. "I'm so-- sorry, kid... they took your dad..." he added, struggling to talk as he began coughing, blood spilling out of his mouth with every word he spoke.

"Never mind that piece of shit," Gray replied, gritting his teeth as he removed Mark's shirt, putting it in his inventory. "I'll fix you up, so stay still and stop talking," he added, going still for a second at the sight of almost a dozen bullet wounds on Mark's torso.

"Sure, kid..." Mark said as he coughed, letting out another spray of blood straight into Gray's face. "I was never the brave, heroic type... but I couldn't help it, you know..." he added as he watched Gray reach towards his stomach with a glowing hand.

"After everything you did for my family..." Mark said, genuinely smiling as he felt the warmth of Gray's energy healing his wounds. "I couldn't sit back and let them take your dad away..." he added, sighing as he turned to stare at the dark ceiling.

"Besides... Leah's been talking my ear off about heroes since you last visited..." Mark said, fondly smiling at the mention of his daughter as he turned back to Gray.

"I thought I'd do something heroic for once... maybe Brag to her and Jannet once I see them again at the shelter..." Mark said as he let out another sigh through bloodied teeth.

"I didn't have a cape on me, but I hear it's not mandatory these days..." Mark said as he gently reached for Gray's glowing hand as it hovered above his abdomen, having already closed all his bullet wounds.

"That's enough, kid..." Gray said, his expression turning serene as the cold, clammy feel of his rapidly paling skin gave pause to Gray, causing the latter to go blank.

"I know it's selfish of me to put this on your shoulders..." Mark said as he gripped Gray's hand with whatever strength he could muster. "But I'm done for, kid... I lost too much blood..." he added, his expression turning complicated as he looked at Gray's blank, almost hollow expression.

"Take care of L-Leah and her mom for me, will... will you, kid...?" Mark asked, his pupils dilating as he struggled to speak and maintain consciousness until Gray nodded.

"You're a good kid, Gray... thank you..." Mark said, relaxing his grip on Gray's hand as he went limb and suddenly stopped breathing right before the latter's empty, soulless gaze.

Gray's hand trembled as Mark's own slipped off it. He slowly reached towards the latter's neck to inspect his pulse, and his already pale complexion turned paler.

He slowly stood up and carried Mark's unmoving body, leaving the janitor's complex. He slowly walked toward the apartment complex exit and stopped, gently lowering the security guard to the ground.

Gray then sat next to Mark's body and reached to check his vitals, clearly in denial. Alas, he still found no pulse, no breathing, and no signs of life.

He lowered his head and buried it in his hands as he tried and failed to process the situation. He remained in that state for an entire minute before raising his head to look at Mark's unmoving body.

"Waller..." Gray muttered, his expression turning grim. "Amanda waller..." he added, gritting his hard enough to chip his teeth as they began rapidly breaking and healing.

"Kill... kill Amanda Waller..." Gray slowly and deliberately remarked as he stood up, unconsciously leaking whatever energy he had left, his eyes turning red.

It was a particular shade of bloody red, matching the color of the small object breaking through the atmosphere and flying towards him at an incredible speed.

...

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