Martian Manhunter had awakened, and with his cooperation, the rest of the battle could be handled by Su Ming.
J'onn was powerful, but his weaknesses were equally apparent. As an alien cop and a forr mber of the Justice League, he was a paragon of morality and compassion—a hero who wouldn't kill.
Not only that, but he was also a consummate good guy. In the past, his thod of dealing with villains was to stand there and let them punch him until they were exhausted.
Once the enemy was too tired to fight, he'd use his telepathy to initiate a heartfelt conversation, often leaving the villain in tears, filled with remorse and ready to reform.
He had adopted many stray cats, and if it rained in a city, he'd fly there to check if any cats were getting wet. He also had many goddaughters, having raised many young heroines with tragic backgrounds.
It's almost unbelievable that the Blue Lantern Ring, symbolizing hope and compassion, never sought him out.
Unfortunately, his fate was also tragic. Every person he ever loved died, and during the New 52, he discovered he was actually a Martian weapon designed to destroy Earth. When this pre-programd psychic directive activated, he had no choice but to comply.
His friends in the Justice League, whose values completely conflicted with his, were now his enemies—sothing he dreaded.
So, after being forced to fight a few tis, he eventually took his own life.
In the *Brightest Day* event, he was resurrected by the White Lantern but has mostly remained in seclusion in recent years, spending his days cooking for a few adopted girls, watching TV, and eating Oreos.
This was his first ti coming out of hiding in a long while because the world was facing a dire threat. However, sothing went wrong, and he ended up captured.
It was likely that the Nightmare Batn used his greatest fear—fire—against him. His experiences on Mars had left him with a deep trauma. If he was set on fire, his entire body would go limp, and he'd be unable to use any of his powers.
"Can you still phase and turn invisible?" Su Ming asked. J'onn had just co down from the tuning fork, so it was inevitable that he'd been affected, but his green skin made it hard to tell if he'd aged.
"I'm fine. What do you need to do?" J'onn flashed his bright white teeth in a smile that was more dazzling than Barry's, probably because of the contrast with his green skin.
Su Ming frowned. Despite J'onn's reassuring smile, Su Ming could sense that his condition wasn't as good as he claid, both from his tone and his overall deanor.
So, Su Ming placed his greatsword horizontally between them, removed his glove, and pressed a glowing spot on the sword, causing the tal to flow and soften, reverting to its original X-tal form.
"Take this drop of liquid, focus on it, and think of so happy mories from the past."
Without hesitation, Martian Manhunter touched the droplet. As he recalled the joyful tis he'd spent with his friends, the smile on his face grew even brighter.
Although it was just a single drop of silver liquid, Su Ming could feel J'onn's energy rapidly rising, quickly restoring him to his peak state.
The droplet remained the sa size, seemingly unchanged, as J'onn returned it to Su Ming.
Su Ming had expected this result. In the comics, the Justice League had used a single drop of this liquid to connect with all of humanity, lifting Earth back into the Light Multiverse. The energy contained within this tiny bit of tal was imnse, more than enough to replenish J'onn's depleted reserves without diminishing.
Casually, Su Ming pressed the X-tal droplet back onto the greatsword, where it reford into a star-shaped dot. He then removed a few silver grenades from his chest and handed them to Martian Manhunter.
"Fly up there using your phasing and invisibility powers, attach these grenades to the back of Barbatos' robe, pull the pins, and then get out of there."
"Sure, Barbatos doesn't count as a person, right?" J'onn asked, looking to Batman for confirmation.
Even though Barbatos had haunted him for decades in his nightmares, Bruce still couldn't definitively classify the Dark God. Was he not human? Perhaps a bat? Or maybe sothing else entirely?
Su Ming dismissed the question. "Don't worry, do you really think a few grenades could kill Barbatos? With his size, these grenades would feel like static sparks to a normal person."
J'onn and Batman accepted this explanation. Large size usually ant significant durability, and for a multiversal entity like Barbatos, being killed by a few grenades would be ridiculous.
Of course, Su Ming's grenades were standard-issue Arican pineapple grenades, with X-tal applied only to the raised sections to ensure each fragnt had maximum lethality.
The explosion should be enough to injure Barbatos, but the real fight would still depend on Su Ming.
As Martian Manhunter began to turn transparent, his clothes and blue cape disappeared into thin air. However, due to its unique properties, the X-tal grenades didn't phase with him.
So, Su Ming and Batman watched as the grenades floated out of the cave, seemingly ascending into the sky on their own.
Fortunately, the grenades were small, and Barbatos likely wouldn't notice them.
"Can I use so of that X-tal liquid?" Bruce asked, anticipating that he might need extra energy to save Cyborg. "I'm not sure why, but after we left the World Forge, I can't manipulate the X-tal like you can."
Su Ming nodded readily, hearing the sound of a cash register *cha-ching* in his mind.
At the sa ti, he speculated that it had sothing to do with the strength of their souls. His own soul was double the strength of anyone else's, allowing him to perform feats others couldn't. He had noticed this earlier but hadn't ntioned it.
Revealing this to Batman wasn't an issue; Bruce would find out eventually. Besides, the X-tal inside Su Ming was his true trump card.
Su Ming generously handed over a droplet of X-tal to Bruce, who successfully used it to revive Cyborg. The process was sowhat akin to oiling a sewing machine.
But while robots had their perks, they also had their drawbacks. Upon waking, Cyborg needed to run a full system diagnostic. In that nightmare, his Mother Box had almost rebelled, even trying to detach itself from him, leaving him uneasy.
Ignoring Batman and Cyborg, Su Ming crept to the cave entrance to observe the situation above.
The timing was just about right.
A sudden, intense explosion echoed, and a bright silver light illuminated the entire battlefield like a starburst. All the dark creatures scread in agony, shielding their eyes.
Barbatos was no exception. Countless shards of X-tal had pierced his back, embedding deep into his flesh. While the wounds were minor, it felt as though his body was filled with hundreds of tiny stones, causing excruciating pain and stiffening his entire form.
Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have been a significant problem. However, he was still locked in a power struggle with the Silver Sorceress on the other side.
In that brief mont, the Silver Sorceress seized the opportunity, her power surging as Order Magic began to alter the local reality.
The silver energy seed to transcend space and ti, dispersing Barbatos' dark light and striking him directly, forming phantom hands that grabbed his neck and violently yanked him down.
Finally, Barbatos was torn from the tuning fork, plumting at breakneck speed.
Su Ming imdiately vaulted out of the cave, sprinting toward the spot where Barbatos would land. Several other heroes, whose origins were unknown, made similar moves, but Su Ming was the closest.
Suddenly, Barry appeared behind him, lifting him up. Although Barry was still a bit shaky after vomiting for so long, he managed a sheepish smile at Su Ming.
"Sorry, I'm late."
"No, your timing is perfect."
"Oh, just like I said, I'm always on ti."
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