Multiverse: Deathstroke

Chapter 338: Ch.337 Arch-Enemies

Chapter 338: Ch.337 Arch-Enemies

"Grodd?"

Barry stared in astonishment at the figure emerging from the door. No, it was a gorilla—a shocked expression appeared on his face. He never thought he'd see his arch-enemy this deep underwater.

Su Ming also paused in his mincing activity, looking at the large gorilla who now appeared smug. The fact that a gorilla could show such a human-like expression was quite amusing.

Gorilla Grodd was originally just one of a group of ordinary gorillas living on an island called Gorilla Island.

But one day, a meteorite fell from the sky, landing on Gorilla Island and giving the gorillas intelligence comparable to that of humans.

Grodd, however, awakened a genius-level intellect and gained the ability to control minds.

He killed his father and became the king, building a human-like city on the island named Gorilla City, which even surpassed human technology.

This gorilla had a dream of conquering the Earth, so he led his troops to the human world to stir up trouble. For some reason, he chose Central City as his first target.

He was then beaten down by the combined forces of the Flash and the Rogues, locked up, and after that, his life became an endless cycle of prison escapes and recaptures—he was fixated on Barry.

At this moment, the large gorilla was wearing a sci-fi-style suit of armor, not his usual double-lightning uniform. In front of his thick armor was a baby, strapped in a metal frame.

Aquaman immediately spat, "Only cowards use a baby as a hostage."

The light reflecting in the gorilla's eyes indicated that his telepathic powers were operating at full strength. He mocked, "You think this is an ordinary baby? Come and find out, then."

Suddenly, in the middle of Su Ming's group, a burst of green light exploded. The color was somewhat reminiscent of Green Lantern's energy, but the group seemed to be trapped in a bubble.

"Still Force," Su Ming muttered, feeling his entire body frozen. He could exert strength, but space and time around him were completely locked.

"Is this baby Turtle?" Barry activated the Speed Force—he was the only one among them who could still move. However, his charge at Grodd was slower than walking speed.

This feeling was too familiar, only now it was thousands of times stronger than before.

"Correct, Barry Allen. Don't you want to greet your old friend?" Grodd directly revealed the baby's identity. "He has been studying you for a long time. Every time you use the Speed Force, the Still Force outside the Source Wall becomes more evident. But studying the Still Force has made him grow old, and this is already his fourth reincarnation."

Using the Speed Force had indeed brought people back to life before—it wasn't unheard of. But Barry hadn't expected the Still Force to have a similar effect.

However, reincarnation through the Still Force was more akin to what people in the East called samsara—it required growing again from infancy.

Su Ming enjoyed it when villains like Grodd talked too much. Everyone had been in the dark until Grodd explained, and now even Aquaman, who wasn't the brightest, could understand what was happening, let alone Barry, a Speed Force user.

So, Turtle's powers were still intact, and Grodd was using telepathy to control him.

"Oh dear, isn't that Queen Diana? How come you're frozen here? Heh heh."

Another voice came from behind Grodd. A graceful, yellow-furred feline humanoid with a body covered in spots walked in.

Her head was feline-shaped, she walked with classic cat-like grace, and her long tail swished behind her, clearly in a good mood.

"Barbara Minerva..." Diana was completely immobilized at this moment and could only glare at Cheetah. Cheetah was Diana's arch-enemy, though her real name was unknown. Dr. Minerva was merely an alias—she approached Diana to be her friend to gain access to the A.R.G.U.S. warehouse, where she stole an African magical artifact, the Cheetah Goddess's dagger.

She drove the dagger into her own chest, transforming into a half-human, half-cheetah, gaining immense godly power.

She was excellent at deception, mastering numerous languages, and had a cunning mind.

Beyond that, her combat power was formidable. She once clawed at Barry while he was running, injuring his leg and causing him to drop out of the Speed Force.

Her claws could pierce Superman's skin, and her teeth could turn anyone she bit into a mindless leopard-like creature.

The key was that she and Diana had been so close—Diana had defeated her several times but couldn't bring herself to kill her.

And Wonder Woman was not like Batman; she had killed even her own brother, Ares.

However, Cheetah wasn't wholly evil—sometimes, when Diana needed help, if she managed to say a few nice words to her, Cheetah would help.

In conclusion, Cheetah was more of a power-centric individual. She preferred strength and benefits rather than having any particular desire to destroy the world.

Behind her, a silent figure emerged—a man in black armor with a disc-shaped helmet and large red eyes.

He looked less like a marine creature and more like an alien.

This was Aquaman's archenemy—Black Manta. He was indeed human and used to work in the same line of work as Deathstroke.

A not-so-successful colleague, you could say.

He was hired to kill Aquaman, Arthur. But with a twitch of his hand, he ended up killing Arthur's father, Thomas.

Arthur then hunted Black Manta across the world, even reaching his home, where, in turn, Aquaman, with a similar twitch, killed Black Manta's father.

Having killed each other's fathers, they formed a blood feud. Whenever they met, it was a life-and-death battle.

Black Manta wasn't a good assassin, but he was an excellent engineer. His Manta suit was his own creation, capable of amphibious action and firing red lasers from the helmet's eyes.

Before the Flashpoint reboot, Aquaman had suffered numerous defeats at his hands.

Black Manta killed Arthur's parents, killed Arthur's son, and even cut off one of Arthur's arms.

Yet, despite all this, Black Manta was still alive and kicking, and there was little Aquaman could do about it. After the New 52 Rebirth, Black Manta transferred his hatred to all Atlanteans, and he dreamed daily of destroying Atlantis. He was an obsessive maniac.

Su Ming watched the corridor behind Grodd with interest.

Everyone else's archenemies were here—so who was his opponent? Could it be that lunatic father of the main universe Deathstroke? Or a super-assassin from another planet?

However, no one else emerged from behind Grodd.

Su Ming felt quite annoyed. Were they looking down on him?

The Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman—all had their archenemies here, but where was his? A 4 vs. 4 showdown, and his opponent was just a reincarnated Turtle baby?

An idea immediately formed in Su Ming's mind. He would soon prove to these guys what it meant to ignore the deadliest mercenary in the world.