ELEVEN: How It Started

The first one to trigger my new telepathic talent was Billy. It wasn't for the reasons I expected. Instead, I found myself stuck in his head as he had a nightmare.

There were bodies everywhere. Apophis had destroyed Metropolis first. Clark had called the rest of the Justice League for help, but most of them had been intercepted before they could get there.

Billy had made it. He stood with Clark. Together, they were trying to hold Apophis off. Lex came into view and began laughing.

"Isn't it beautiful, Superman?" He asked. "This is what the whole world will look like soon! Sometimes you have to destroy everything to create something new!"

"Why are you doing this, Lex?" Clark asked.

"Because this world took something from me!" Lex shouted.

"What was it? Your hair?" Billy asked sarcastically.

Lex glared at him before looking back at Clark. "You would have done the same thing in my place, Superman," he said. "If you knew my loss, you'd want to watch the whole world burn with me."

The fight resumed, and Billy got caught up in battling Apophis. His attention was drawn, however, when a familiar voice screamed, "Superman!"

Lois Lane was in Lex's grasp. He had her head tilted at an odd angle.

"Lois!" Clark shouted. He flew to her side, but right before he could reach her, Lex snapped her neck. He tossed her body aside like trash and laughed coldly.

Clark cradled Lois in his arms, but there was nothing he could do. She'd been killed instantly. Clark wept as he held her body.

Billy was distracted. Apophis hit him with a powerful blast of electricity. It would have killed most people, but Billy's connection to Zeus allowed him to simply absorb it. He was still knocked backward pretty hard, and he wisely played dead for a minute as he regrouped.

Apophis went for Clark. He injected something into his eyes as Clark was still distracted by his grief for Lois. It spread through his veins quickly.

"He is ours now," Apophis told Lex.

"Excellent," Lex replied.

Clark's face was full of rage now. He attacked Lex, but Apophis got between them. He grabbed onto Clark's shoulders and said, "This is the fault of the heroes. You suffered this loss because they took something from Lex. He knows your pain, Superman, and he has allowed me to take it from you."

"No... Lex did this! He murdered Lois!" Clark argued. He was struggling against the poison in his veins, fighting to remain good.

Billy tried to help. He flew to Clark's side and attacked Apophis, but it didn't matter. Lex pushed a button and Apophis injected Clark a second time. As Billy watched, Clark's eyes turned cold and dead. Without warning, he attacked Billy.

"Superman, stop!" Billy cried in alarm. "We're on the same side!"

"Not anymore, Captain Marvel," Clark replied. He continued attacking.

It's Superman, Billy thought. I can't hurt him.

"This isn't a place for little boys," Clark said as he attacked again. The look in his eyes told Billy he was still trying to fight, but he couldn't stop himself. "Get out of here." He hit Billy's chest as hard as he could.

Billy was hurting, and he coughed up some blood, but he still had fight left in him. He was about to get hit again when Diana showed up and wrapped her lasso around Clark tightly.

"Billy, take this," Diana said softly. She handed him a necklace. "It is a talisman from Zeus. It will protect your mind. Of all of the heroes, he chose you for this."

"Me? Why me?" Billy asked. "What about Superman?"

"I will help Superman, but this is only for you. Zeus made that quite clear. Take it and go."

Billy slipped the necklace on, hiding it beneath his suit. "Go, Billy," Diana said. "Get to safety. You will be needed."

Reluctantly, Billy fled. Time moved forward. Suddenly, I saw flashes of the horrors Billy had witnessed. I saw M'Gann's death again. I felt the injection in Billy's eyes, and I felt the talisman activate and burn the poison out of his body almost immediately, before it could touch his heart or his mind.

I watched the heroes I respected, the very ones Billy idolized and fought beside, die or get turned evil. I saw Katana die by her own sword rather than allow Apophis to turn her evil. I watched Barry get captured, knocked unconscious, and tied down until Apophis could turn him evil. I felt Billy's struggle as he wanted to interfere but knew he couldn't.

Over the next three months, Billy witnessed the unspeakably evil things the now enslaved and brainwashed heroes did. Every time Lex found another survivor sanctuary, he sent his people in to slaughter them. Most of the survivors were ordinary humans with no powers. Many were women and children. Billy tried to rescue as many as he could without blowing his cover, knowing he could do more good from inside of Lex's empire, but his heart shattered a little bit more every time he was forced to watch another innocent get tortured and killed.

At night, he had severe nightmares. He was haunted by the screams of the dead. He kept trying to help people, but it wasn't enough. He couldn't save most of them.

Why did Zeus choose me? Billy wondered. I'm nothing but a scared kid. I'm failing...

As a little girl sobbed and begged someone to save her, Billy was about to blow his cover, no longer caring if he got caught. Before he could, Vic ripped her head off like she was a doll. Even Cyborg was nothing but Lex's puppet now.

Billy woke up screaming. I ran into his room and immediately hugged him. "I saw it," I told him as his entire body shook with sobs. "I saw your memories. I saw the kid."

He didn't question how. Instead, he said, "Her name was Bonnie Blaine. She was seven years old. She was seven, and scared, and one of my friends murdered her while I watched..."

"You tried, Billy."

"It wasn't enough. She was just a little girl, Dick... She was so innocent... How could Lex order us to kill her after what he lost?"

"Billy, what did Lex lose? Why is he doing this?" I asked.

"He doesn't talk about it... But I was snooping around and I found a photograph in his office of a little girl who was about Bonnie's age. I don't know what her connection was to Lex, but it's obvious he cared about her, and I'm pretty sure he lost her."

"We need to find out who she was. I'll have Harley or Gar look into it."

"Dick... Get Gar out of there," Billy said softly. "He shouldn't have to see what goes on... And Lex will make him hurt someone eventually."

"Billy, did you hurt someone?" I asked cautiously.

"I had to help the others capture a few people, but I mostly just watched... He thought I lost my powers, so he couldn't demand much of me. He knows Gar still has his powers. He'll force him to hurt people. He may even force him to kill. And if Gar refuses, he'll realize Gar's not evil and he'll turn him." He looked broken as he added, "Don't let Gar go through that, Dick. Please. Don't let Lex break him."

"Gar will be safe. Harley's watching his back, and M'Gann and Conner and even Wally are watching everything that's going on."

He stared at me. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"M'Gann's spirit came to me. She shared some of her telepathy with me. That's how I know what you dreamed. I slipped into your mind because you were upset."

"M'Gann... I saw her burn," Billy said with a slight whimper. "That's how they caught me."

"I know. I'm sorry, Billy. I also know that the talisman Wonder Woman gave you protected you from being turned evil."

He pulled it out from beneath his shirt. "This reminds me to keep fighting when I'm broken and want to give up," he said. "Wonder Woman got captured by Superman right after she gave it to me... I have to believe she took the risk for a reason, even if I don't always believe that I'm worthy of being the one Zeus chose to save."

"You are worthy, Billy. You saved a lot of innocent people while you were undercover."

"But not everyone... And not Bonnie." He sighed. "I have to keep fighting... For the people we lost, and for our friends who were captured, and for everyone else who's still alive and in hiding. The apocalypse came, but it wasn't the end, and as long as people are still alive, we have to try to fix this world for them."

"And we will, Billy. I promise. None of us are giving up, and you're not fighting alone anymore."

Billy nodded. "What happens next, Boss?" He asked with more enthusiasm than he was probably capable of feeling after everything he'd been through.

"We gather the others. I need to tell them what Miss M told me, and explain about the telepathy. This way, in an emergency, they know they can try to reach out."

We headed into the living room. The fire was still burning in the fireplace. Zatanna was sitting on the couch. Kara sat beside her, but she looked up at me curiously, probably wondering why she'd woken up alone.

I focused, deciding to try out my new gift. I'll explain soon, I promised.

Kara's eyes widened in surprise. I smiled, realizing she'd heard me. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to get the hang of this after all.

Can you hear me? She responded. I nodded. She smiled and added, I can't wait to hear how you're doing this.

I withdrew from her mind and took a quick head count. Raven sat on the floor in front of the fireplace, watching the flames dance. Damian stood close by with his back against the wall, giving himself a full view of the living room. His vigilance was a little unnerving but also kind of impressive, especially for an eight-year-old.

"Where's Constantine?" I asked.

"He said he'd be right back," Zatanna replied.

Right on cue, Constantine appeared. He had a woman with him. She frowned as she spotted the rest of us.

"And here I thought you were just bringing me here to get me naked, Constantine," she said.

"Sorry, luv," Constantine replied, "but I know where you've been. Keep those knickers to yourself."

"Who's your friend, John?" Zatanna asked. I could have sworn I detected a little bit of jealousy in her tone.

"This is Tala, former student of Felix Faust," Constantine replied, "and current expert Sorceress."

"Is she here to help us?" Kara asked.

"Not in the way that you think, luv. Tala is Team Luthor, and not because of any poison. She's loyal to him out of greed. Also, rich and powerful men turn her on, apparently even if they're bald."

"You took a hostage?" I demanded.

"I borrowed someone who holds information that may be of use to us," he corrected me. "Tala is shagging Luthor. I figured they may have discussed building his empire during their pillow talk."

"Correction. I was shagging Luthor. We both moved on years ago," Tala said firmly. "Now, I simply work for him because we share a common goal."

"Destroying the world?" Billy asked.

"We're making a new world... A better world."

"How is it better when everyone's dead?" I demanded.

"There is no good, no evil, no conflict... There is peace under Lex's rule."

"You're delusional," I replied in disgust.

"No," Damian said. "She's rational, Grayson. She knows what Luthor is doing and she agrees with it."

"Superheroes thrive on chaos and destruction," Tala continued. "They do so much harm in the name of what they swear is good. They never think about the collateral damage they leave behind!"

Her emotions were raw, and I knew there was more to her outburst. Before I could say anything, Raven did.

"You lost someone," she said softly.

Tala looked at Raven and seemed genuinely sad. She knelt down beside her. Damian moved closer and looked like he was going to attack her, but Tala said, "I will not harm her, Child. She is just a little girl."

"I'm right, aren't I?" Raven asked. "What happened?"

I had my suspicions. "One year to the day before Apophis attacked, there was a battle in Metropolis. A group of so-called heroes engaged in a battle against the Joker and Harley Quinn," Tala began. She looked right at me as she said, "They ended up taking out a nearby building. Most of the citizens had fled, but a little girl was trapped inside. Her name was Hannah. She was just a little bit younger than you are, Raven. And just like you, she had magic, but that wasn't enough to save her when the building collapsed."

I knew the battle she was talking about. Bruce and I had been there. So had most of the Justice League and the Young Justice team. Billy paled as he seemed to realize what must have happened that day.

"She died?" Damian asked.

"She died," Tala confirmed. "Those heroes killed her."

"We didn't know," I said in horror. "The building was supposed to be empty, and we didn't realize Joker had wired it with explosives. We were trying to stop him and Harley when Green Arrow accidentally tripped one of the wires."

"That accident changed everything," Tala said firmly.

"Who was she?" Zatanna demanded. "Why did Lex care about her? Why do you?"

"That's simple, Zatanna," Tala replied. "She was our daughter."