"You!"
Black Canary glared at Adrian, her eyes burning with resentment.
"Don't get cocky!"
After a long silence, she gritted her teeth and forced the words out.
"Cocky? Do you think that's what this is?" Adrian replied slowly. "No. You're mistaken."
His voice was calm, but there was a chilling edge beneath it.
"What you're seeing is mercy. Mercy for everything you've revealed. Otherwise, you would have been reduced to pieces the moment this began."
He had not suddenly become a good person. A living Black Canary was far more valuable than a dead one.
"Ha!"
Black Canary let out a bitter laugh.
"What are you trying to prove? That you're a good person? Or that saying something like that will make me feel guilty?"
She stared at him with undisguised fury.
"You're the most powerful being on this planet. Stop pretending your choices aren't yours. If you refuse to take responsibility for what you've become, then you're more pathetic than I thought."
Her eyes blazed.
"With your vision, do you really expect me to believe you haven't noticed yourself turning into a tyrant? A bloodthirsty dictator?"
Her voice rose with every word.
"You should consider yourself lucky that Jonathan Kent died before he had to see what you've become!"
Before she could finish, Adrian vanished.
In an instant, he appeared directly in front of her.
His gaze became frighteningly cold.
"Don't say that name."
The temperature in his voice seemed to drop with every syllable.
The killing intent in his eyes felt as though it could erupt at any moment.
"Angry?" Black Canary challenged him. "Because I mentioned someone you loved? Then you'll finally understand what it feels like to lose someone you love."
She stood her ground.
The distance between them was almost nonexistent. A slight movement would have brought her into direct contact with him.
Bang!
A gunshot shattered the silence.
Adrian lowered his gaze.
A scorched mark had appeared on his chest.
Across from him, Black Canary held a handgun she had somehow drawn without him noticing.
Thin smoke drifted from the barrel.
Her expression remained unwavering.
"A kryptonite bullet..."
Adrian stared at the projectile lodged in his body.
Unlike Clark, kryptonite was not a crippling weakness for him. However, years of conditioning and caution had left him with an instinctive reaction whenever he encountered it.
The discomfort was real.
The fear was not.
More importantly, he needed others to believe it was.
Every ruler required weaknesses. Every enemy needed a target. If his opponents focused on kryptonite, they would overlook everything else.
"That's right," Black Canary said, tightening her grip on the weapon. "A kryptonite bullet."
She locked eyes with him.
"No matter how fast you are, can you really move faster than that?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she lowered the handgun and spun into a powerful kick aimed at his abdomen.
Adrian immediately retreated.
Although her attack failed to connect, Black Canary noticed the apparent decline in his strength.
The bullet was working.
Or so she believed.
With that confirmation, she no longer appeared rushed.
Hatred filled her eyes.
"That shot avoided your vital organs. I promised Batman I'd show you more mercy than Oliver ever received from you."
She raised the gun and slowly advanced.
"You've committed every crime imaginable, and I still can't believe Batman wanted to spare your life."
Her voice trembled with emotion.
"But your reign ends today. The nightmare you brought to Earth ends today."
Years of grief and rage poured from her.
"Without you, the Yellow Lantern Corps will collapse. Without you, your empire will crumble. Everyone who followed your twisted vision, everyone you manipulated into fighting for you, they'll all fall apart."
When she finished speaking, she finally turned away from him.
Activating her communicator, she spoke with barely concealed excitement.
"Oracle, do you read me? We did it!"
The channel connected.
No response came.
But in her excitement, she failed to notice.
"What exactly did you do?"
Adrian's voice suddenly sounded behind her.
Black Canary spun around immediately.
Her heart nearly stopped.
Adrian was standing upright.
The weakness she had witnessed moments ago had vanished completely.
Before she could react, Adrian appeared before her and wrapped a hand around her throat.
He lifted her effortlessly into the air.
"Hrk...!"
Pain flooded her face.
Her mouth opened desperately, trying to draw in oxygen.
Nothing came.
Her lungs emptied while no fresh air entered.
Her face quickly turned red.
Her hands clawed helplessly at the air.
"You really think I couldn't see through your little trick?" Adrian asked.
A mocking smile appeared on his face.
"You think I couldn't stop you from firing?"
His grip tightened.
"If I want to avoid something, I avoid it."
His eyes locked onto hers.
"I can move faster than a bullet."
His voice became colder.
"I can track its trajectory from the instant it leaves the barrel."
Black Canary's eyes widened.
"The green kryptonite inside that bullet was destroyed by my Heat Vision the moment it was fired."
Her body went rigid.
Everything she had relied on had been meaningless.
"The weakness you saw was nothing more than a performance."
Adrian's words crushed what little hope remained.
"I simply decided to play along."
"No!"
Black Canary struggled with everything she had.
It made no difference.
His grip remained immovable.
Darkness crept into her vision.
Every breath became more difficult than the last.
Death slowly wrapped itself around her.
Using the last of her strength, she reached toward Adrian.
A crimson beam flashed.
"Agh!"
Her left arm was pierced instantly.
The agony nearly made her lose consciousness.
Yet she refused to stop.
She reached forward again.
Another beam flashed.
"Aah!"
Her right shoulder was pierced as well.
Both arms hung uselessly.
Her strength faded rapidly.
Tears gathered in her eyes.
Whether they came from fear, pain, or simple exhaustion, even she no longer knew.
"Dinah!"
Far away in Gotham, Barbara Gordon suddenly rose from her chair.
A terrible feeling gripped her chest.
She stared at the monitor before her.
The aftermath of the nuclear detonation above Coast City had disrupted satellite surveillance, preventing her from seeing what was happening.
All she knew was that Black Canary's aircraft had entered Coast City's airspace.
If her calculations had been correct, the confrontation with Adrian had already begun.
Now there was nothing left to do except hope.
Hope that Dinah's plan had succeeded.
Hope that she was still alive.
Meanwhile, Black Canary's consciousness continued slipping away.
Each wave of darkness threatened to consume her completely.
She hovered on the edge of unconsciousness.
Just as Adrian prepared to snap her neck, he heard something.
A heartbeat.
Faint.
Yet remarkably strong.
His attention sharpened.
The rhythm did not belong to Black Canary.
It belonged to something else.
Using his X-Ray Vision, Adrian looked through her body.
His expression shifted.
Inside her womb was a child.
The baby was not fully developed, but it already possessed a heartbeat.
A living soul.
His grip loosened unconsciously.
He had no hesitation about killing Black Canary.
But the presence of an innocent life complicated matters.
Adrian lacked empathy for most people. He could watch tragedy unfold without intervening.
Yet there was a difference between indifference and personally taking an innocent life.
Chloe had once described him perfectly.
He was complicated.
A long moment passed.
Then Adrian released her.
Thud!
Black Canary collapsed onto the ground.
Pain shot through her body as she landed.
Immediately, she clutched her throat and inhaled desperately.
Air flooded her lungs.
She gasped repeatedly, greedily drawing in every breath she could.
Like someone rescued from drowning.
After several moments, her breathing finally stabilized.
"You..."
Her voice was weak.
Fear lingered in her eyes.
"Why didn't you kill me?"
"What?" Adrian replied casually. "Disappointed?"
He dusted off his hands.
"Are you trying to show mercy again?" she asked between breaths. "Save the act. I'll never be grateful to you."
"Mercy?"
Adrian had already begun to leave, but he stopped and looked back.
"My mercy is not something anyone receives twice."
His gaze settled on her.
"You should consider yourself fortunate."
Black Canary frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Adrian answered bluntly.
"You're carrying a child. Otherwise, you wouldn't be alive."
"A child?"
The words struck her harder than any blow.
For a moment, she froze.
Pregnant?
She was carrying Oliver's child?
Memories flashed through her mind.
Her missed cycle.
The unexplained physical changes.
She had dismissed them as stress.
Now everything suddenly made sense.
A storm of emotions swept through her.
Joy.
Shock.
Grief.
Confusion.
None of them seemed appropriate.
Yet all of them felt real.
"That's the only reason?" she asked quietly.
Adrian's actions no longer matched the image she had built of him.
She had always viewed him as a monster incapable of compassion.
A cold, ruthless tyrant.
Adrian offered no response.
Instead, he raised his head toward the sky.
Above Coast City, a green light tore across the heavens.
Hal Jordan was completely out of control.
===
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