Angel among Heroes

Chapter 21: Echo's of Reality

It was cold. My eyes opened to dim light, my eyes adjusting as I pulled myself from the ground. My heart and head drained of everything I could think of. Love, hatred, happiness, sorrow, even confusion. My entire body was numb to the world, my eyes seeing a hollow shadow of who I was in a puddle on the ground. My eyes looked to my surroundings at the rubble and chaos, and screams could be heard in all directions. The sound of fighting rising and falling with the shrieks. 

My weakened legs were wobbling as I stood, and a gash on my left leg caused me to cry out. My eyes returned to the scene in front of me, my friends and foes in an all-out war with each other. Several of their corpses piling the disaster zone, and my eyes stopped as I saw a peek of yellow and red. My feet pounded into the ground as I ran to Wally, his eyes wide open and distant as I approached. My voice caught in my throat as I fell to the ground, Dick's headless body only recognizable by the uniform it wore. A pin on the shoulder that I had given him. 

Looking to the sky, I saw Superman fighting in the air with Lex. Their fight is one of many still carrying on. Batman's voice echoed as he and Joker squared off, Ra's assisting Joker through the madness. A scream finally erupted from my lips as I turned to watch as my friends were all murdered in front of me, their now lifeless bodes falling to the ground. Standing back up, I jumped out of the way with my instincts running through my body. My feet barely dodge an explosion of red magic, a demonic shade of my former self staring at me. 

"Did you think that you could win? That you could escape me?" He asked, snarling, his demonic wings spreading to the air as he shot upwards. My wings rushed out in their angelic glory as I raced after myself, a sudden blast hitting my attachments. My heart raced faster as I sped up, the pain only bearable due to my numbness. 

"I don't have to beat you. I have to keep fighting," I cried out at him, his smirk from the attack falling as I collided with him. The snarl returned to his lips, my eyes wide as he seemed off guard. 

"Is that what you think? So you can persevere, and it will all work out?" He laughed, another blast knocking me backward from him. "Look around you!! Your friends, the people you call family!? They're all dead!!"

My eyes traveled to the ground below as I saw Ra's and Batman strike each other. Bruce was struck in the side of his neck by Joker's knife. A tear escaped my eyes as I turned to him and resisted the urge to burst into hysterics. 

"They may be dead, but I'm not. As long as I'm alive, their legacy lives on. I will rebuild their dreams, hopes, and the future they lost," I firmly stated, my magic being drawn in front of me. The familiar crescent-shaped weapon appeared before me, my counterpart smirking in my direction as he brandished a demonic-looking sword. The blade curved and spiked along the back. 

"Then let's end this the way it began together!!" He yelled out, his wings pushing towards me. 

"So be it. Only I can save myself. This needs to be done," I yelled back, my wings flapping as I soared toward him. Our bodies clashed as I felt a searing pain in my back and my neck. My perspective was shifting as if I was experiencing an out-of-body trance, my eyes crying out in horror as I watched my head fall from my body. 

A scream erupted from my lips as I opened my eyes, both lovers looking at me in confusion and concern. The pair pulled me into them to calm me, my body shaking as I bawled. The apparent dream felt way too real to have been just that. My eyes stained red as I finally found a sense of composure, looking up at them, the love in their eyes clouded with questions. 

"What happened?" Wally asked, his hand reaching to my face as I flinched away. The memories of his darkened eyes wavering over me, the sight of Dick's head remembering his decapitated corpse.