Multiverse: Deathstroke

Chapter 463 - Ch.463 Sculptural Art

Nightshade tilted her head at Deathstroke's question. Why bring that up out of nowhere?

Could it be...

Rachel recalled the Goldfish Guy legend—stuff like that was common in the West too.

Her mind conjured the scene.

On a quiet street, a sleazy old guy with a smirk and a lip-lick sidles up to a little girl: "Hey, kid, like goldfish? Uncle'll take you to see some, how's that?"

If the girl falls for it, she's led to a dark corner, and then this happens, that happens...

Scammers evolve—questions keep coming. "Wanna go to the zoo, little girl?" "Want some ice cream?" All sorts of bait.

Western creeps were blunter—offering to show off a "new toy" or a "magic stick."

Nightshade shivered. "No, I don't like rabbits one bit."

Truth is, what girl doesn't love fluffy things? Nightshade adored small animals—she'd even kept bats.

Her Suicide Squad days left her jaded about humans. Only critters didn't lie, she thought.

But if reality didn't match that—like how Magic Prince Holloway sacrificed his pet rabbit as a spell cost—then that plan was dead in the water.

With Laurie in a symbiote state, Eve could feel her thoughts too.

So Eve's mind veering off-track left Laurie speechless.

Deathstroke wasn't the type to harass female teammates mid-mission. Any Deathstroke had cash—cash meant women.

No need to graze the home field, stir up trouble for no gain. Mercs dodged headaches.

Black Alice might be young, but her messy upbringing gave her a sharper grasp of money's power than Eve, the shadow-realm's fallen princess.

Laurie was a stunner. Back in the day, a few creepy old geezers offered to pay for her dad's treatment—if she'd be their mistress.

And, gotta admit, when she was desperate, Laurie wavered.

Her family had nothing—every cent went to her dad's meds. No cash for food, too starved to even work. What else but a rich guy's toy?

But then her powers kicked in. No streetwalker path—instead, the Secret Six scooped her up, turning her into a killer.

Luthor, alias "Mockingbird," ran that villain squad remotely, aiming to off his rival from Earth-3—'Little Luthor'—in Infinite Crisis

His alternate-world son.

Luthor nailed it. He set a chain of traps, and after Little Luthor got wrecked by Batman and Wonder Woman, wandering the streets dazed at night, Luthor and Joker ambushed him.

Joker had his fun, then Luthor blew Little Luthor's head off with one shot.

Enemy gone, goal met, Secret Six disbanded.

Laurie was broke again—no severance from villain gigs. After that, she pulled bank jobs and the like.

Until the Shadowpact came calling—still no match for her. Later, teamed with the Birds of Prey, Black Canary's talk-down took her out.

They saw Laurie was just a kid with a hard story behind her crimes.

So the Birds took her in, got her dad treatment via the Gordon Charity Fund, sent her to school.

Now, Laurie still hit hard, but she'd flipped to doing good—a sort of antihero.

She poked her face out from Eve's shoulder, looking like a two-headed freak. "Deathstroke, don't listen to her—Eve loves all little animals."

"Laurie!"

Eve spun around, gobsmacked. Betrayed! What happened to love?

Su Ming wiped his mask. In the comics, Nightshade adored critters—she'd even raised bats.

No big deal if the kid lied. The drainage was set, but time was tight.

What if the enemy, failing to flood Earth, switched to orbital bombardment? Better hustle.

He explained the rabbit-life-and-soul-as-spell-cost trick to Eve, stressing it needed self-hypnosis to work.

It'd tear you up inside, but at least it wouldn't hurt your body.

"Now, activate the magic circle. Save Earth."

He gave the order.

Nightshade still hesitated.

"Really doing this? It's so weird."

Su Ming turned, his red eye piling on the pressure.

"I brought you all here to work, not question me. I give orders—you follow."

Nightshade gritted her teeth, silently chanting to fire up the drain.

Their spot now? Right by the Origin Wall.

Not the breach side—the exact opposite, the far edge of the universe.

Sneaky drainage needed a hidden spot. What's more hidden than the cosmic fringe?

DC's toxic water dumped elsewhere might spark a nasty chain reaction, so internal disposal was best.

This side of the Origin Wall, the giant statues stood lifeless, same as ever.

Countless unknown powerhouses, arms spread, stacked layer upon layer into a wall—expressionless, eyes fixed afar.

Su Ming had Nightshade paint the array's exit on a statue. Even if spotted, wrecking it would take X-Metal—tough luck.

Just don't touch the wall and get petrified while drawing.

Prep done. Time to see the results.

Nightshade triggered the array.

A purple liquid jet blasted from the statue's waist.

Magic seawater, unfrozen by cosmic cold, flowed free toward the multiverse's flipside—the Dark Multiverse.

Blood Domain was still intact, so Su Ming figured it'd pool somewhere, maybe forming a toxic liquid planet.

Nice. Mission accomplished.

Though it kinda looked like the Origin Wall giant was taking a leak.

But isn't a peeing statue art?

It doubled as camouflage and a warning.

To most, the Origin Wall was a sculpture gallery—a pissing statue fit right in. No one'd guess it was Earth's drain.

And those who knew the Wall's dangers wouldn't touch its 'urine.' Call it Su Ming's cosmic PSA—don't mess with this water.

Plus, it was a decent view.

"How majestic."

A thousand-meter statue, a purple waterfall gushing from its groin, splashing like a river into the unknown.

The giant stared ahead, proud and solemn, as if gazing at the universe, at history's flow.

Below its hips, the purple liquid did the same—just adding to that river.

Su Ming nodded, satisfied. This'd be a cosmic tourist spot someday.

"Hahaha, brilliant!"

Blue Devil clapped. True art—like the B-movies he'd starred in: crude, but fun.

Laurie and Eve blushed, missing Deathstroke's long game. Just awkward—couldn't look straight at it.

"Plan's a success. Back to Earth."

Su Ming didn't have a phone—no pics this time. He just took a long look to remember.

The Upside-Down Man got them here, but no free ride back—they'd fly themselves.

Good thing the Magicape flew fast, and Laurie mimicked Su Ming's physique pre-space. They could cross the void.

Took a while, though.

By the time they neared Earth, the alien Sea Clan fleet was methodically breaching the atmosphere in waves—looked like a landing op.

Su Ming planned to slip in via the poles, low-key, but then a big ship sprang a hole, and a figure tumbled out the bottom.

Human-shaped, not Sea Clan.

Too far to catch—hope that martyr's body held up reentry, left some bone scraps at least.

But that breached ship had Earthlings popping up.

Intriguing. Su Ming decided to check it out.

Some iron-headed Earth hero trying a 'decapitation' strike on the aliens? Who's that dumb?

So, with a spectator's itch for honest fools, he led Nightshade, Black Alice, and Blue Devil around the fleet's blind spots, slipping into the ship's gash.

They might have detection tech, but Su Ming had a sorceress.

A shadow-master like Nightshade whipping up an untraceable dark veil in space? Easy.

Just dodge the aliens' naked-eye range.

Slipping through the hole, he found the bridge—gravity and oxygen still humming. Some alien corpses, no Earth ones.

"Hm, aliens need gravity and a bit of oxygen. Noted."

The aliens died ugly—looked scared to death. Someone peddling Fear Toxin again?

He followed footprints and fight marks along the floor. Soon, he saw Chang Wei beating Lai Fu.

No—an old white-bearded guy about to kill Donna.

Not happening.

Donna was on Deathstroke's crew last night—Luthor's chaos chain wasn't over, so she was still a teammate.

Deathstroke's squad was Su Ming's people. These alien god-things think they can touch them?

No chit-chat. Magicape maxed his speed, Nightfall Greatsword in hand—he backstabbed Zhenhai.

No words. Sneak attack first, talk later.