Chapter 183: Butterfly Effect Part 1

It was just a little past 9 PM in Gotham, but the city was incredibly lively. Following the news of Arias's presidential pardon, many of his supporters, who had initially gathered to protest, were now celebrating. 

However, not everyone shared in this festive mood...

While the city was loud and chaotic, the Ark Academy grounds were much more controlled. Following the incident with the HS virus, students were under strict regulations, and even now, those measures had yet to be lifted until it was confirmed safe. Normally, children, teenagers, and young adults weren't the type to follow rules, especially when they had gotten used to the freedom normally offered by the academies. However, after witnessing hundreds of their peers die, no one was stupid enough to test their luck, so they celebrated in isolation.

One such isolated area was the common eating space, where children and teens living in dorms without cooking facilities could go to eat or purchase a wide variety of food. The area was packed with students cheering and chanting, banging tables and stomping their feet. Despite many not being hardened supporters of Arias, they simply joined in due to peer pressure—everyone except one.

Sitting at a lone table, Raven watched her celebrating peers with a side glance before turning her attention back to her plate of food. She hadn't eaten much and seemed lost in thought, simply twirling her fork in her hand. 

In such a lively atmosphere, it was easy to stand out if one didn't partake in the action, and soon, that's exactly what happened. An excited boy bumped into her table.

"Oof, sorry about that. Hey, how come you aren't celebrating? Didn't you hear? Are you wearing headphones or something?"

Whether ignorant of personal space or simply drunk on adrenaline, the boy took a bold action and pulled down Raven's hood, causing her to shuffle back uncomfortably, her mood souring. "I don't want to celebrate. Just leave me alone," Raven quickly raised her hood, ignoring the boy, not wanting to draw attention to herself. Unfortunately, her attempt to avoid attention only made things worse.

"Look, I said I was sorry, no need to be so bitchy about it. The least you could do is be happy the man who gave you a new life is free." The boy didn't appreciate Raven's attitude, assuming she was one of the students who doubted Arias's innocence despite everything he had done for them.

Raven, however, didn't care about his words. "Whatever," she dismissed him, not wanting to interact further.

Her tone only made the boy more frustrated. "Hey, what the fuck is your problem, huh? If you don't wanna celebrate, you can just leave instead of ruining everyone—"

"You're my problem, you insufferable little worm!" Raven suddenly yelled in anger, and for a split second, her pale white skin turned redder, while two pairs of glowing red eyes appeared beneath her hood. Her voice echoed loudly and frighteningly, bringing the ongoing celebrations to a halt as everyone's attention shifted to her.

Realizing what had happened, Raven quickly regained her composure, but the damage was done. The boy she had yelled at retreated, falling on his backside and staring at her with wide, fearful eyes. "What the fuck are you?"

The crowd began whispering as they gazed at Raven. She looked around, feeling her anxiety rising, just as her inner voice echoed in her head.

'They think you're a freak!'

'They're scared of you now, it's your fault!'

'You can't run away from what you are!'

Unable to take it anymore, Raven stood up and hurried out of the room, leaving the building entirely.

By the time she stopped running, she found herself near the sports field. But, feeling like she was being pursued, she chose to enter it and hide beneath the bleachers, sitting in a dark corner and hugging her legs.

'What the hell am I doing? Dammit.' She sighed and lowered her head in resignation.

...

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., news of Arias's pardon had caused even greater outrage at the Hall of Justice.

It hadn't been long since Batman and the League had held a meeting to discuss how they would handle the Arias situation, and they were already receiving a second set of shocking news. This particular news about his pardon was incredibly hard to swallow.

"Are they serious? Bats, are you seeing this?" a dumbstruck Flash reacted more energetically than anyone else present, perhaps because most of the members had already left.

Martian Manhunter, who hovered beside Flash, also observing the news on a large screen, couldn't help but comment, "This does not bode well." Although his tone was calm, he found the situation deeply unfavorable.

As for Batman, he didn't say a word, his expression only growing more displeased.

Without commenting on the news, Batman turned and left the area, prompting Flash to call after him, "Hey! Where are you going?"

Batman didn't stop, offering only a cryptic reply, "To get answers," before disappearing around a corner.

Once Batman was gone, Flash turned back to the screen and shook his head. "Arrow is definitely not gonna be happy about this."

Martian Manhunter nodded subtly. "True, and he won't be the only one. How do you think Superman will react when he recovers?"

"Right, Supes is gonna lose it," Flash agreed, before watching the rest of the news in silence.

...

As for the man of the hour himself, Arias had received a police escort to Markovic Tower, where he was welcomed by Mercy, with Terra already en route from their residential tower.

Although the choice to pardon him came as a surprise, Arias could guess that the government would likely present him with some terms soon. Until then, he wanted to avoid making any public comments about his side of the story. Since the government had chosen to end things, he saw no need to fan the flames or escalate the situation. In his mind, the government had already lost, and there was no use in beating a dead horse.

After being escorted inside, Arias was welcomed by the employees still present in the tower. Most of them gathered in the lobby, clapping for him as he walked toward the elevator with Mercy in tow. Technically speaking, he wasn't their boss anymore and had no stake in Leviathan, but they treated it as red tape.

Once inside the elevator, Arias finally stopped smiling charismatically and sighed. "What a night."

Mercy scoffed at his attitude and replied with her usual fiery, seemingly uncaring demeanor, "Well, if you had given me a heads-up about this presidential pardon, maybe I could've made things easier. You know they might question the legitimacy of your transfer of assets since you came waltzing back in here like nothing happened, right?"

Although Mercy had grounds for concern, Arias remained unfazed. "You worry too much. You and I both know they'll do no such thing. And if they do, I know I can count on you and our legal team to solve it."

"Sure, just pile more work on me. You really have no idea how hard it is running a mega-company, especially one with so much to hide! I did all that and still made us profits while you were away. Do you think just anyone can do that?" Mercy argued, clearly irritated by Arias's laid-back demeanor, which reminded her of the arrogant Lex, who always acted like everything would work out fine for him.

"Of course I don't. That's why you're here—to do the tedious work for me. Now, do you have anything useful to actually tell me, or are you just going to keep complaining?" Arias replied while loosening his tie, still clearly indifferent to Mercy's venting.

Without saying anything, Mercy handed over a large sealed envelope to Arias and crossed her arms, leaning against the elevator wall with a frown.

Arias retrieved the envelope and opened it. Its contents were various documents, some with images and others with redacted lines.

"What is this?" Unable to make immediate sense of it, Arias turned to Mercy and asked.

"Many criminal organizations increased their activity ever since you became the League's most wanted criminal. It was fine at first, but now they're cutting into your profits, and they don't look like they'll be slowing down. They never do," Mercy answered flatly, but this time Arias showed a small smile.

"Oh, I'm sure they will—after a little… negotiating."