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Chapter 512: When I was here, you detested me. Only when I am gone, do you need me.
(The title of the previous chapter was "Justice League VS Avengers: Omen of a Civil War." I uploaded the chapters in the wrong order, with the second one going up first. The content has been corrected, and I will contact the editor in the next few days to fix the title. My apologies, and thank you for your patience.)
Parallax's expression was one of immense struggle as he let out a series of low roars.
Hal was still fighting, his eyes red and his consciousness hazy.
"It's not enough!" Parallax roared. It was unclear whether this was the entity's demand or Hal's, but he wanted to kill more people.
Tony acted immediately. He moved with astonishing speed, kicking up a storm as he brutally slammed Parallax's head into the ground. With a deafening boom, half of Parallax's body was smashed deep into the earth.
Massive cracks spread out, with a deep crater forming in the center. In slow motion, the chunks of rock that hadn't yet reacted to the speed seemed to hang in the air for a moment before being launched faster than bullets, imbued with kinetic energy from some unseen force.
Parallax was pinned down by Tony like a rag doll.
"ROAR!!! TONY!!!"
Parallax's insane voice rang out, this time filled with the rage of the entity itself.
It was Parallax! The embodiment of fear for all living things!
No one had ever humiliated it like this, not even the Little Blue Men of Oa would dare treat it this way!
But Tony did just that. In his eyes, Parallax was nothing, no different from a beast.
Besides, Parallax was one of the more troublesome Lantern Entities. Fists were always more effective than words with it.
"I look forward to your true form coming to the Cybertron System to seek revenge on me," Tony said calmly.
Parallax was unwilling to give up. It suppressed Hal's will and tried to draw out the fear in Tony's heart. It wanted to evoke fear in the others as well, to drive them to madness and despair, even to the point of suicide.
Tony felt some memories from deep within his mind being forcibly dredged up, and scenes he never wanted to see appeared once more.
A street, a bustling market, a monster, a small truck, blood...
"You're courting death!"
Tony's face became incredibly savage, his entire expression twisted. With bloodshot eyes, and ignoring the changes in the others, he grabbed Parallax by the neck and slammed him down again, bit by bit erasing the entity's will.
"I told you, you would feel fear too!" Parallax's voice was piercingly sharp, laced with triumph.
Tony's face was grim, his killing intent surging. "And I told you, that's bullshit!"
"You think I'm afraid? Then I'll kill fear itself for you to see!"
With his blood-stained hand, Tony pulled out a writhing mass of yellow energy. Waves of fear continuously spread from it, causing the expressions of the others to change.
"It's useless. You can't kill me. No one can kill me," Parallax's will cackled strangely.
"You've pissed me off, you son of a bitch."
Tony crushed this wisp of will, his face dark as he looked towards a specific direction in the universe, a cruel smirk playing on his lips.
*You really think I can't find you?!*
Besides... Parallax seemed to have some misunderstanding of what "fear" was, treating unwilling memories as a weapon to invoke it.
Perhaps to a fear beast like Parallax, this was indeed fear, because it could influence such emotions. But to Tony, it wasn't.
This would only make Tony even angrier.
Tony was already calculating the possibility of killing Parallax.
If he couldn't kill it, he would replace it.
If he couldn't replace it, he would imprison and torture it.
In any case, Tony had no need for a Parallax host; he just needed to be able to forge Yellow Lantern rings. Capturing Parallax and taking it back to Cybertron to be imprisoned as an inexhaustible battery for energy extraction was undoubtedly the best choice.
Periodic torture, periodic energy extraction.
Hal collapsed limply to the ground. As Parallax was stripped away, he seemed to lose the last of his strength. He buried his face deep in the dirt, dazed, and then let out a wail of anguish.
"Why didn't you come sooner?! You clearly had a chance to save everyone!"
Just as Clark was about to console him, Hal suddenly raised his head. His eyes were blood-red, filled with blood and tears, and held an extremely crazed emotion as he stared at Clark.
"It's all your fault! He came looking for you! All the residents of Coast City died because of you!" Hal had gone mad. He threw a punch at Clark's face. With a loud crack, the impact shattered his own wrist.
Against the Kryptonian's body of steel, the weakened Hal had broken his own wrist. His hand, covered in tiny cuts, hung limply.
But this pain was nothing compared to the agony in his heart.
Clark froze on the spot, bewildered. He subconsciously looked around, dazed, and a huge wave of guilt washed over him. In silence, he closed his eyes in pain.
His proud head slowly lowered, as if in mourning and repentance for the seven million lost souls.
Although he didn't quite understand Cyborg Superman's hatred, he knew it likely involved a feud from his father's generation.
Having lost his wife and child, Cyborg Superman had traveled across the stars to Earth to seek revenge on the descendant of the House of El.
The seven million people of Coast City had become innocent victims.
Captain America slung his shield onto his back and said solemnly, "Son, I understand your pain. I saw too many tragedies on the battlefields of World War II. I lost my comrades, I lost my love, and I slept alone until now, only to wake up to this drastically changed era, feeling like a superfluous old man."
Hal wouldn't listen. When his right hand broke, he used his left. When his left hand broke, he used his teeth. When his teeth loosened, he used his head, continuing to wail even as he bashed his skull until it was bloody.
He suddenly looked at Tony. "And you, why didn't you come sooner! If you had come just a few minutes earlier, this wouldn't have happened!"
Tony had regained his composure. He pushed aside Captain America, pushed aside Stark, and pushed aside Clark. He walked over and looked down at the wretched Hal. The high-spirited, carefree young man had long since vanished. All that remained was this monster filled with resentment.
"I am no longer Earth's guardian, Hal. I haven't been for two months. I have my own planet, my own family, my own subordinates, and my own purpose."
Tony didn't look down on Hal. Instead, he spoke to Hal as an equal, very, very seriously, and explained, "Many people wanted me to leave because I exceeded the limits of what they could control. So, I left."
"You can't say their thinking was wrong, because they were worried that I might one day lose control and, for various reasons, start destroying the world. If that happened, no one would be able to stop me."
"But you, Hal, and people like you... during times of peace, you distrust me, drive me away, and humiliate me, even though I have silently protected Earth many times—more times than you can possibly imagine. Yet some people still choose to forget. But when a crisis arrives, you can't wait to shout my name. And when disaster strikes, you point at me and start cursing me for not coming sooner..." Tony said seriously.
"No, I didn't!" Hal couldn't help but roar.
"You did, Hal. You had to," Tony said, looking at him with utter seriousness.
(end of chapter)
(The title of the previous chapter was "Justice League VS Avengers: Omen of a Civil War." I uploaded the chapters in the wrong order, with the second one going up first. The content has been corrected, and I will contact the editor in the next few days to fix the title. My apologies, and thank you for your patience.)
Parallax's expression was one of immense struggle as he let out a series of low roars.
Hal was still fighting, his eyes red and his consciousness hazy.
"It's not enough!" Parallax roared. It was unclear whether this was the entity's demand or Hal's, but he wanted to kill more people.
Tony acted immediately. He moved with astonishing speed, kicking up a storm as he brutally slammed Parallax's head into the ground. With a deafening boom, half of Parallax's body was smashed deep into the earth.
Massive cracks spread out, with a deep crater forming in the center. In slow motion, the chunks of rock that hadn't yet reacted to the speed seemed to hang in the air for a moment before being launched faster than bullets, imbued with kinetic energy from some unseen force.
Parallax was pinned down by Tony like a rag doll.
"ROAR!!! TONY!!!"
Parallax's insane voice rang out, this time filled with the rage of the entity itself.
It was Parallax! The embodiment of fear for all living things!
No one had ever humiliated it like this, not even the Little Blue Men of Oa would dare treat it this way!
But Tony did just that. In his eyes, Parallax was nothing, no different from a beast.
Besides, Parallax was one of the more troublesome Lantern Entities. Fists were always more effective than words with it.
"I look forward to your true form coming to the Cybertron System to seek revenge on me," Tony said calmly.
Parallax was unwilling to give up. It suppressed Hal's will and tried to draw out the fear in Tony's heart. It wanted to evoke fear in the others as well, to drive them to madness and despair, even to the point of suicide.
Tony felt some memories from deep within his mind being forcibly dredged up, and scenes he never wanted to see appeared once more.
A street, a bustling market, a monster, a small truck, blood...
"You're courting death!"
Tony's face became incredibly savage, his entire expression twisted. With bloodshot eyes, and ignoring the changes in the others, he grabbed Parallax by the neck and slammed him down again, bit by bit erasing the entity's will.
"I told you, you would feel fear too!" Parallax's voice was piercingly sharp, laced with triumph.
Tony's face was grim, his killing intent surging. "And I told you, that's bullshit!"
"You think I'm afraid? Then I'll kill fear itself for you to see!"
With his blood-stained hand, Tony pulled out a writhing mass of yellow energy. Waves of fear continuously spread from it, causing the expressions of the others to change.
"It's useless. You can't kill me. No one can kill me," Parallax's will cackled strangely.
"You've pissed me off, you son of a bitch."
Tony crushed this wisp of will, his face dark as he looked towards a specific direction in the universe, a cruel smirk playing on his lips.
*You really think I can't find you?!*
Besides... Parallax seemed to have some misunderstanding of what "fear" was, treating unwilling memories as a weapon to invoke it.
Perhaps to a fear beast like Parallax, this was indeed fear, because it could influence such emotions. But to Tony, it wasn't.
This would only make Tony even angrier.
Tony was already calculating the possibility of killing Parallax.
If he couldn't kill it, he would replace it.
If he couldn't replace it, he would imprison and torture it.
In any case, Tony had no need for a Parallax host; he just needed to be able to forge Yellow Lantern rings. Capturing Parallax and taking it back to Cybertron to be imprisoned as an inexhaustible battery for energy extraction was undoubtedly the best choice.
Periodic torture, periodic energy extraction.
Hal collapsed limply to the ground. As Parallax was stripped away, he seemed to lose the last of his strength. He buried his face deep in the dirt, dazed, and then let out a wail of anguish.
"Why didn't you come sooner?! You clearly had a chance to save everyone!"
Just as Clark was about to console him, Hal suddenly raised his head. His eyes were blood-red, filled with blood and tears, and held an extremely crazed emotion as he stared at Clark.
"It's all your fault! He came looking for you! All the residents of Coast City died because of you!" Hal had gone mad. He threw a punch at Clark's face. With a loud crack, the impact shattered his own wrist.
Against the Kryptonian's body of steel, the weakened Hal had broken his own wrist. His hand, covered in tiny cuts, hung limply.
But this pain was nothing compared to the agony in his heart.
Clark froze on the spot, bewildered. He subconsciously looked around, dazed, and a huge wave of guilt washed over him. In silence, he closed his eyes in pain.
His proud head slowly lowered, as if in mourning and repentance for the seven million lost souls.
Although he didn't quite understand Cyborg Superman's hatred, he knew it likely involved a feud from his father's generation.
Having lost his wife and child, Cyborg Superman had traveled across the stars to Earth to seek revenge on the descendant of the House of El.
The seven million people of Coast City had become innocent victims.
Captain America slung his shield onto his back and said solemnly, "Son, I understand your pain. I saw too many tragedies on the battlefields of World War II. I lost my comrades, I lost my love, and I slept alone until now, only to wake up to this drastically changed era, feeling like a superfluous old man."
Hal wouldn't listen. When his right hand broke, he used his left. When his left hand broke, he used his teeth. When his teeth loosened, he used his head, continuing to wail even as he bashed his skull until it was bloody.
He suddenly looked at Tony. "And you, why didn't you come sooner! If you had come just a few minutes earlier, this wouldn't have happened!"
Tony had regained his composure. He pushed aside Captain America, pushed aside Stark, and pushed aside Clark. He walked over and looked down at the wretched Hal. The high-spirited, carefree young man had long since vanished. All that remained was this monster filled with resentment.
"I am no longer Earth's guardian, Hal. I haven't been for two months. I have my own planet, my own family, my own subordinates, and my own purpose."
Tony didn't look down on Hal. Instead, he spoke to Hal as an equal, very, very seriously, and explained, "Many people wanted me to leave because I exceeded the limits of what they could control. So, I left."
"You can't say their thinking was wrong, because they were worried that I might one day lose control and, for various reasons, start destroying the world. If that happened, no one would be able to stop me."
"But you, Hal, and people like you... during times of peace, you distrust me, drive me away, and humiliate me, even though I have silently protected Earth many times—more times than you can possibly imagine. Yet some people still choose to forget. But when a crisis arrives, you can't wait to shout my name. And when disaster strikes, you point at me and start cursing me for not coming sooner..." Tony said seriously.
"No, I didn't!" Hal couldn't help but roar.
"You did, Hal. You had to," Tony said, looking at him with utter seriousness.
(end of chapter)
