Chapter 73:

You Believe Lines Meant for Children?

DC: The Infinite Villain

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Inside the hotel room, Damon dressed at an unhurried pace, sat on the edge of the bed, and looked at Sara Lance, who had entered with Diana and Donna Troy.

"Let me get this straight. The first time we met, you took me to Themyscira and changed a good deal of history. For instance, Donna Troy here should not exist at this point in time. The second time we met, you lost Hawkman and I hijacked your ship. Later, after I got the Disciple, I let you go. The third time, which is now, you tell me that Ray Palmer, Mick Rory, and one half of Firestorm, Martin Stein, have been captured by the Soviets during the Cold War in 1986."

Damon looked at Sara Lance with complete seriousness.

"So I have a sincere question. Are you really the Legends, or are you Team Disaster?"

Sara's expression was heavy.

"I can gather everyone together and let you mock us properly, but first you have to help us rescue them."

"Why should I?"

"If we do not rescue Martin Stein, the Soviets will obtain the formula to create Firestorm and win the Cold War. The future will fall."

Sara described the consequences in a low voice.

If there had been any other choice, she would not have come to Damon. Her teammates were being held in a Gulag camp, a prison built in the eighteenth century, a place no one had ever escaped from since the day it was constructed.

Every cause had its effect.

The Legends' first mission after forming had been to travel to 1975 and stop Vandal Savage from selling a nuclear warhead. Instead, they had allowed Savage to witness Firestorm's existence. He had remembered it ever since and had spent the years that followed trying to create one.

After the team split from Damon in Salvation, it was not that they had never considered correcting the temporal deviation on Themyscira. But reality had already hardened around the change. If they tried to alter it again, the backlash from time itself could create even worse problems.

So what could they do?

Continue dealing with Vandal Savage. He was still the priority.

Then they discovered that in 1986, Savage was secretly funding a Soviet scientist named Valentina Vostok on a project called Operation Svarog.

Svarog was the Slavic god of fire.

Vandal Savage wanted to create a Soviet version of Firestorm.

To prevent the birth of Soviet Firestorm, the Legends naively decided to warn Valentina that her sponsor was a first-class monster and villain. The result? Three members of the team were captured. Not only had they failed to stop the project, Martin Stein's presence might actually accelerate its success.

And if they wanted to rescue them, they had to look at who remained.

Rip Hunter might be the captain, but beyond firing a small pistol and shouting orders, he had little direct combat ability. Hawkgirl, Kendra Saunders, was still shaken by Hawkman's death and could barely bring her strength to bear against Vandal Savage. Their top fighting force, Firestorm, could not transform because Martin Stein had been captured, leaving Jefferson Jackson unable to merge.

That left only Leonard Snart and Sara Lance with real usefulness.

Unfortunately, one was a thief and the other an assassin. Breaking three people out of that prison with only them was practically impossible.

Cornered, Sara thought of Damon.

He had caused plenty of trouble. He had hijacked the Waverider. But they had dealt with him before, which made him easier to approach than most. And he had the ability to save the captured team.

That was why Sara Lance was standing here.

"Actually, I would not mind seeing the world you described," Damon said after she finished explaining. "Even if Firestorms filled the sky, it would not affect me."

"Isn't there a saying? With great power comes great responsibility. You have the ability to save the world, to save the future Starling City from Firestorm attacks. Why refuse? Maybe you are strong enough that it will not affect you, but what about my sister? What about Felicity?"

Sara tried both emotion and reason.

"You actually believe a line meant to trick children?"

Damon clicked his tongue.

"Do you know how miserable one kid became after believing that? His uncle died, his girlfriend almost left him for someone else, he exhausted himself every day, and in the end he died too. Whether he comes back is still anyone's guess. Having the power to save the world means I must do it? I also have the power to destroy the world. Should I do that too?"

"If Soviet Firestorm is truly born and rules the future, many people who interest you may die because of it," Sara said suddenly.

Damon smiled.

"That is why I said I would not mind seeing it. I never said I would not help."

Sara let out a breath. The sudden rise and fall nearly exhausted her heart.

"Then there is no time to waste. We should leave now."

"Tell me the time and location," Damon said.

Sara quickly gave him both. After arranging the meeting, she returned to the Waverider first.

"Are you two coming?" Damon asked Diana and Donna Troy.

Diana remained silent for a long moment, then shook her head.

"I am not. Athena just sent me a message. The one destined to destroy the gods is not Ares. It is the First Born."

"The First Born? Zeus and Hera's first child?" Damon said casually. "I remember that on the day he was born, a prophecy said he would one day sit on his father's throne atop the corpses of the gods. So Zeus abandoned him in the wilderness, expecting him to die. Instead, he survived, came back to Olympus, and Zeus struck him down into the depths of the earth. Is that the one?"

"You remember?" Diana stared at Damon in surprise.

"That is not important. What matters is that you will be meeting the other gods soon enough. Since you have work to do, I will not bring you along. See you next time."

Damon glanced toward Lilah, took her with him, and left the hotel.

Diana wanted to speak, but in the end she said nothing.

"He will come back for you," Donna Troy said suddenly.

Diana looked at her in confusion.

Donna gave a faint smile.

"Perhaps after he falls in love with you. Perhaps after he stops loving you."

If he loved Diana, he would be unable to control how much he missed her.

If he did not love Diana, he would return without worry, ready to draw pleasure from her again.

Whether he loved her or not, he would come.

The only difference was whether it happened sooner or later.

Diana did not understand why Donna would say that, but she had no time to dwell on it now.

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