Back on Earth

The Man:

I watch as Iris and the Doc try their hardest not to throw up when I cut into Oliver's chest.

"Please do not throw up," I say, "It's not sanitary."

"I'm trying my hardest," the Doc answers as he covers his mouth with his elbow. While he gasps, I open Oliver's chest. I then grab the rib spreader from the tray and insert it between his ribs.

"You know what you're doing," Iris says while choking a little. "Right? I mean, you mentioned something about it being a few years or something like that."

"Yes," I answer. "It had been a few years since my last operation. Of course, at the time, the patient who came in was in because he had gotten into a car accident. It wasn't my fault."

"Your fault," Iris repeats. It's like a lightbulb just turn on in her head. "Wait, I remember you grabbing Oliver and saying he looked right? Is that what you're talking about? What was all of that about? How did Oliver become like this because he looked at him?"

"I'm too busy to answer all your question at the moment," I say, grabbing another knife. "But I will say this. These sunglasses are only one of the two things that keep this world from total destruction."

"Total destruction," Iris repeats. I can see a question mark floating over her head. However, I have to ignore it and get back to the problem at hand.

"Oliver's heart isn't beating the way it should," I say out loud. I examine the heart arteries before cutting them open. "These heart valves will help regulate the beating and blood flow."

I spread the heart out so I can insert the valves. Once they're carefully inserted, I grab a needle and some threads. I then stitch the heart up before removing the rib spreader. I place the spreader on the tray in Iris's hands over closing and stitching up Oliver's chest. It's a long and tedious process but nonetheless, it's done.

Once Oliver's chest is closed, I take a look at Doc and Iris. Their knees are shaking, their foreheads are shining with sweat, and judging from the wide chin, their mouths are filled with vomit.

"I've done all I can," I say, pulling up. "Now, all that is left for us to do is wait. That's the hardest part of this. Come on. Let's get out of here."

Doc, Iris, and I all walk back into the infirmary. We take off our gloves and masks and throw them into the trash bin. While the Doc drops to his knees and throws up into the trash can, I hear the sound of rapid footsteps and open the door. As expected, everyone is there.

"How is he," Jaime asks.

"Is Oliver alright," the Professor asks.

"Let me see him," Dinah demands.

I nod my head and step back. Everyone tries to run in, but I only let Dinah in. While Iris guides her to Oliver, I step in front of everyone and start to explain everything.

"Oliver's condition is stable," I start, looking at a bunch of worried faces. "But I'm afraid he'll be out of the fight for some time."

"How long," Jason asks.

"Hard to say," I answer. "His condition is stable but only because I have machines doing the jobs his organs are supposed to be doing. If he is removed from any of those, it could be lethal."

"Damn," Cold says, shaking his head left and right.

I lean forward, pushing a few back before slapping Cold on his head.

"Don't swear," I tell Cold while he rubs the back of his head.

"Really," Cold yells.

"Yes. Anyway, I did all I could. Now the only thing left to do is wait."

"Wait," Flash repeats.

"Wait and see what happened," I go on. "My hope is that Oliver wasn't too badly affected by me. If he's lucky, he should be able to recover with only a few minor problems."

"What do you mean by minor problems," Reverse-Flash asks.

"Minor problems," I repeat before putting up my hands. "Listen, enough with all of your questions. I have some of my own. Where is Kent?"

"Over here," Kent says, a hand popping up from the crowd. Everyone moves aside and makes a pathway for Kent to walk through. "What do you need?"

"I need you and Iris to tell me everything that happen while we were gone."

Iris Ann-West:

"Are you feeling better," I ask.

"A little bit," Dinah answers after The Man places a cup of tea in front of her. She holds the cup with both her hands and takes a quick sip. "Are you sure Sunglasses knew what he was doing?"

"Yes," I answer without waste. "Sunglasses, or as I've been, The Man, knew what he was doing."

Dinah smiles when she hears this. I secretly let out a sigh before taking a sip of my own tea. After everything that happens, between Oliver's operation and waiting for Dr. Crane to stop vomiting, The Man leads all of us to a long dining table. While we take our seats, The Man grabs us an assortment of drinks; tea, water, and even some sodas.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," The Man says while putting out his phone. Using it like a remote control, The Man pushes a button on his phone. A few seconds later, a half-circle opens from within the center of the table. Lights shoot out from the half-circle into floating squares, and on the floating squares is a familiar silhouette.

"Hey Higgin," The Man starts. "How's life?"

Anthony doesn't answer at first. Instead, we all hear the sound of things falling. It takes a few seconds but finally, Anthony answers.

"Oh my god," he shouts, "Oh my god! Oh my god! You guys are back from Oa! How was it?"

"Nothing too big," The Man answers. "Green lanterns. Yellow lanterns. Red lanterns. Blue lantern."

"Blue lanterns," Anthony repeats. "Wait, there are blue lanterns now? And what about the red lanterns?"

"There is a blue lantern," The Man says. "And a red lantern. Listen Higgin, as much as I would like to have storytime with you, there are other matters to discuss. For one, what's going on with Superman and his One Earth government?"

"Nothing much," Anthony answers.

"Nothing much," Supergirl repeats. "That can't be right."

"It is," I say, joining in. "With all of you in space, even Superman himself, there hadn't been any big fights down here."

"Any big fights," The Man repeats. "What about small fights? And Gotham City? Is Gotham City still standing, or have the Lords of Order turned it into a rock pile?"

"Surprisingly," Kent says, putting down his glass of water. "According to Anthony, Gotham is still standing. In fact, most of the small fights seem to be coming from Gotham."

"You lost me," Harleen says. She stops playing with her silly straw and left it against the rim of her soda cup. "We were all in space. Millions and millions of miles on a different planet. Who was fighting?"

"I have some audio recordings and footage from One Earth patrols," Anthony says. "See for yourself."

Anthony's silhouette disappears and is replaced with a single, thin blue line. The blue line spikes up and down as some voices could be heard.

"This is Hunter Squad #29. I repeat this is Hunter Squad #29. At the moment, we are at Gotham City's pier. No sign of any recent activity. Wait, hold on. I think I see someone. Squad, advance."

We then hear the sound of boots stomping against rotting wood. The sound lasts only a few seconds before there is screaming and gunfire.

"Sneak attack! It's a sneak attack! Everyone, fire--"

The recording is cut off. The blue line disappears as well and is replaced with footage. It shows One Earth soldiers on Gotham's pier. As they raise their weapons, two figures run out from the shadow and attack them. They move quickly, almost faster than Barry, and take down the whole squadron.

"Who are those two," Supergirl asks.

"No way," The Man says, "The one with swords is Slade Wilson but he's better known as Deathstroke. The one with the dual pistols is Jason Todd, but nowadays, he goes by Red Hood. What are they doing?"

"They're helping," I answer.