Chapter 64

"This explains a lot."

Dio said.

"What did you sense?"

Diana asked curiously.

"Aside from the scent of your blood and metal, one of the bullets smells like a chemical, probably the one Steve fired."

"Poison?"

"Likely."

A healing factor like hers provides incredible immunity against poisons and toxins. A poison that affects her as it's doing now is not a simple matter.

"Can your magic help? We have to save Steve and the city."

"No need. Now that I've removed the bullets, it won't take long for you to heal, and the toxin will leave your body. We can wait."

She's not the type to wait when she has the chance to act.

When she tried to get up, Dio put his hand on her shoulder and forced her to sit back down. Dio ignored the annoyed look she was giving him now and sat beside her.

"So, how's the new team going?"

Diana asked while trying to pass the time and giving up on acting immediately.

"We just got a new member, and you'll like her."

"She? Great, that sausage fest needed more estrogen."

Diana joked.

"How do you know what a sausage fest is?"

Dio asked with curiosity.

"I spent some time at a university and wanted to learn more about your people's customs."

Diana explained.

"You picked one of the worst places possible."

"Yeah, I realized that at one of their parties within the first few hours."

Diana agreed while laughing.

"Now, why don't you tell me how you met your new friend?"

Dio told her about the mission in Kaznia, but to his surprise, her next comment wasn't about the underground fight.

"It was the first time you saw a battlefield; it must have been quite frustrating, wasn't it?"

Diana asked.

"Yes, I couldn't do anything to help those people."

Dio agreed with her.

"It was the same with me when I saw the trenches in Germany. I still imagine myself doing more in that war."

"Seriously, Diana, you and the Justice League of America practically won the war and saved thousands of lives."

"That's one of the burdens every hero carries, Dio. Your conscience will always haunt you with the idea that you could have done more. It's hard to learn the harsh truth that you can't save everyone."

Dio fell silent while digesting what she had told him and looked at the full moon in the sky.

"I'm not so naive as to think I can save the whole world, but hearing that from the most powerful woman on Earth carries a certain weight."

'If she can't save everyone, I will be much worse. That's what I truly think, and I can't do anything against this thought except strengthen myself.'

"How are you?"

Dio asked.

It's been half an hour since he removed the bullets.

"I am completely recovered."

Diana responded with a smile as she stood up.

Dio looks at the streets and sees that the activity has increased significantly.

Earlier, the controlled people were pretending to be normal, but now they've stopped caring about that. They were walking on the streets with weapons in hand and were ready for a fight.

They were probably just pretending to trick Dio because the metahuman couldn't control him.

"How are we going to do this?"

Dio asked her while still looking at the puppets below.

Diana remained silent for a few seconds before responding.

"Steve and the meta are in city hall. It's time to deal with this madness. I've got a plan."

"Let me guess, you'll attack directly while I come in from behind and hit the boss on the head. If that fails, we'll run away with your boyfriend?"

Dio asked sarcastically.

"Exactly! Any problem?"

Diana asked after seeing his expression.

'How do I answer this without sounding like an idiot?'

"Well, Diana, you know I consider you one of the greatest warriors in the world, but your plans are always simple at first. You only develop them during the fight, which is not a problem when you're fighting alone, but now..."

"Batman told me something similar when I expressed my desire to fight alongside him. You're spending too much time with him."

Diana interrupted him.

Dio contained a genuinely happy smile for being slightly similar to one of his favorite heroes and responded.

"I only see him for a few seconds in days or weeks. No, I'm not seeing Batman too much. I'm just giving my opinion."

"If my plan doesn't please you, then tell me yours."

Diana requested.

Dio took the situation seriously and fell silent while thinking for a few seconds.

"First, is your communicator working?"

Dio asked, even though he knew the answer.

"No, the metahuman must be using some kind of signal jammer."

Diana responded.

'I needed to ask, but since she hasn't asked for help until now, the answer is obvious.'

"They still don't know that I'm with you, so let's use that."

Dio said.

"What do you mean?"

Diana asked.

"Instead of you, it will be me who starts the front attack by shouting and yelling for you. Then you will take advantage of that by going from behind. It's not easy to catch a telepath off guard, so I'll use one of my tricks, but it has to be on my signal."

A few psychics can see through the eyes of those they're controlling.

Dio doesn't know the skill level of the idiot responsible for this mess, but he can't rule out this possibility since he certainly has the necessary brute strength.

"That's my plan, Dio."

Diana said it seriously to him.

"I have improved it, so it is not the same as before."

Dio replied with a smile.

Diana sighed and nodded her head in agreement.

Dio turned to go down, but just as he was about to go down, an idea crossed his mind, which caused him to look back at her.

"This wasn't one of your tests, was it?"

Dio asked.

"What do you mean?"

"A test to measure my ability to create strategies or something like that,"

Dio explain further.

"Of course not."

Diana responded with a serious expression.

Dio turned back to the front, and he swore to all the gods that he felt the smile she gave behind his back.

Dio looked at her again, just to see Diana's smile disappear, and her face returned to its serious expression.

"What's the matter?"

Diana asked.

"I remembered something. Are we invulnerable to mind control, or do we have some resistance?"

Dio asked and ignored the smile.

This is an important question.

A powerful telepath becomes more dangerous at close range.

If Dio and Diana are the only ones who can stop them, they might be able to control their actions or at least figure out what they are thinking, and if that's the case, the whole plan is futile.

"So, if demigods don't have natural resistance, how couldn't he control me on the way here?"

Dio asked while trying to understand.

"I don't have it, but you can. That's what Martian Manhunter said."

Diana told him.

"I've never met Martian Manhunter."

"Batman called him to examine your mind when you went into a coma the moment you awakened your powers. But Martian Manhunter couldn't even enter your mind. He described it as a black hole."

Dio will ignore the fact that no one told him about this until now.

It's not the time for that, and it also raises the question of what else Batman discovered about him while he was in a coma.

Now they have work to do, and there's no time to think about it.

In addition, it's good news.

If not even the most powerful telepath in the world can read his mind, the idiot responsible for all this mess surely won't be able to do anything to him.

They walked to the ground and stayed close so his ability could conceal their presence, but it wasn't really necessary.

Diana moved very smoothly through the shadows and avoided all the patrols, which was something Dio had never seen her do before.

As they got closer to the city center, where the town hall was located, the number of armed people searching for them began to increase.

Still, they managed to keep walking at their own speed without being noticed. When they were just a block away from our destination, they split up.

Diana would take a detour and wait for the right moment. But they had to be quick.

As soon as the battle started, the leader would call all these scattered people from around the city, and an army would surround them.

Finally, Dio arrived at the town hall.

The building was quite large, three stories high, with a long white staircase leading up to the entrance.

The place was well-lit with a lot of people.

There were at least forty armed people scattered on the stairs while waiting for him.

What mattered was that it got people's attention, which was the whole point.

Dio jumped out of a small alley, crossed the main road, and landed right in front of the stairs with that spirit in mind.

"Blaam!"

"WONDER WOMAN!"

Dio yelled at the top of his lungs.

"WHERE ARE YOU?"

He shouted again.