The meeting with Batman left an unsettling thought in my head.
He did not trust me.
Not that I blamed him. If I were standing in his shoes confronted with something unfamiliar, something beyond the common threats I'd be cautious too.
But it was not his mistrust that I resented. It was the warning.
"Stay out of Gotham."
As if I were some ordinary criminal. As if I were a threat.
Perhaps I was.
I had only just started to scratch the surface of what I could do, and already I could sense the thrum of power coursing through my veins. Constant and humming, contained but barely. It was like keeping a tidal wave at bay with nothing more than pure force of will.
I craved control.
So I escaped Gotham.
Not because I was ordered out by Batman, but because I needed room to breathe, somewhere apart from others, apart from prying eyes.
Metropolis was not an alternative. Too many eyes. Too many questions.
I ended up in a run down industrial area just outside of the city. Rusty shipping crates piled on top of one another like forgotten monuments, broken asphalt that stretched on for miles, and not one person to be seen.
Perfect.
I released a breath, rolling my shoulders. My body felt normal, but I was smarter than that.
I fisted my hands, concentrating. How much strength do I actually have?
I drew a breath in, then
Boom
The earth *shattered*. Not cracked. Not split. It broke apart like it had been made of glass.
Boulders of asphalt and concrete burst into the air like shrapnel from a bomb. A shockwave radiated outward, knocking the rusted containers into the air like they were weightless.
I took a step back, my heart racing. That was
Before I could even think about it, my ears caught something.
A whistle.
Then
BOOM!
A sonic boom rent the air. The clouds above split, and in less than one second, a red-and-blue blur appeared before me.
Superman.
The dust dissipated, showing him in all his Kryptonian splendor cape fluttering, arms folded, face inscrutable.
His gaze swept the ruins surrounding me. The devastation.
Then, he looked at me.
"...That was you, wasn't it?" He spoke quietly, but I felt the underlying unease.
I swallowed hard. "It was an accident."
His brow slightly furrowed. "That amount of force wasn't an accident."
I opened my mouth, but before I could get a word out
Another boom. This time, from above.
A golden streak descended, lingering just above ground level.
Wonder Woman.
Her icy blue eyes fixed on me, hand on the pommel of her sword.
"I sensed the shockwave from miles off," she said, voice crisp, controlled. "Who are you?"
I gritted my teeth, anger welling up. First Batman, now them?
I was attracting too much attention.
"I don't want trouble," I said.
Superman moved forward. "That's dependent. You don't have control over your strength."
I breathed sharply. He wasn't wrong.
But I wasn't going to let them determine who I was.
"I'm in the process of figuring things out," I stated, looking directly at him.
Wonder Woman narrowed her eyes. "Figuring things out does not need to lead to devastation."
I gazed at the cracked earth under my feet, at the destruction I'd done inadvertently.
Shit.
Superman stepped another pace closer. "Listen," he said, his tone gentle. "Whatever you are, whatever this is. you need direction."
I stiffened. "And you figure you're the one to provide it?
His expression remained calm, but there was steel behind his words. "Better us than someone else."
The unspoken warning hung in the air.
I wasn't just powerful.
I was dangerous.
And now, the world was watching.
---
**End of Chapter 4**