"The time has come, Dinah."
Guy Gardner's voice echoed through the Green Lantern ring as he contacted Black Canary.
"We'll launch the attack soon, but we need at least one more day to prepare. We still have to bring out our secret weapon."
His tone remained steady.
"We only get one shot at this, so we need every fighter ready. I hope your people are prepared on the ground when we arrive."
Black Canary went silent for a moment before answering.
"I understand."
But her expression quickly tightened again.
"The Green Lantern Corps, the Guardians, Homelander's team... are you seriously certain this war won't destroy Earth?"
There was a brief pause on the other side.
"No, it won't."
Guy's voice lowered slightly.
"Because we're bringing our own planet."
Black Canary froze.
"What?!"
Smallville, Kansas.
The Talon.
The warm scent of roasted coffee beans drifted through the old theater turned café while classic rock played softly from the jukebox near the wall. The neon lights outside painted the windows with faint red and blue reflections, giving the place its usual late evening atmosphere.
"What'll it be?" Nell Potter asked while holding a notepad. "Folgers, Maxwell House, or Thai coffee?"
She glanced toward Adrian as she spoke.
Barry Allen sat across from him at one of the corner tables, awkwardly adjusting himself in the seat.
Trying to lighten the mood, Barry cleared his throat.
"You have Boss Coffee? Chocolate flavor?"
Boss Coffee was popular across the country for its heavy flavor and ridiculous caffeine kick. Barry loved the brand, especially the sweeter blends. Whenever things became too overwhelming, coffee was one of the few things that helped quiet his thoughts.
"A latte is fine," Adrian said.
Nell looked slightly surprised.
"That's not your usual order."
A faint smile crossed Adrian's face.
"People change."
Nell's eyes shifted toward Barry.
"Maybe because you brought company with you."
Barry awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.
"I'll bring the drinks over in a minute," Nell said before walking away.
Barry leaned closer once she left.
"So you two know each other?"
Adrian casually picked up one of the Talon discount cards from the table.
"This is a small town. It'd be strange if I didn't know the people working here."
"Fair point."
Barry looked around the café while speaking.
The Talon still carried traces of its old movie theater design. Egyptian themed decorations lined the walls, old lights glowed overhead, and the second floor balcony overlooked the entire café. Truckers played cards near the back while a few bikers crowded around the pool table.
Barry immediately looked away from them.
Something about the group made him uneasy.
More specifically, Adrian being near them made him uneasy.
He already knew Adrian wasn't the kind of person who tolerated unnecessary noise.
"If I lived in a place like this," Barry continued, "I'd probably know everyone too. Though honestly, I'm not really good at socializing."
"You'll learn eventually."
Adrian accepted the coffee from Nell as she returned and gave her a small nod.
Barry took a sip from his own cup before glancing toward the bikers again.
"It's just... weird talking in a place like this."
"Barry."
Adrian rested his coffee cup down slowly.
"Lois Lane once said that politicians sit in coffee houses drinking cup after cup while discussing the fate of the world."
Barry blinked.
Adrian continued.
"Coffee houses were originally gathering places for debate, politics, and conflict. Since their creation, governments have viewed them as dangerous places."
Barry raised an eyebrow.
"Dangerous?"
"The Ottoman Empire tried banning coffee entirely," Adrian explained. "In seventeenth century Istanbul alone, there were hundreds of coffee houses. Rulers believed people gathered there to criticize authority, spread unrest, and organize rebellions."
Barry looked genuinely surprised.
"They banned coffee?"
"Religious leaders labeled it immoral. Governments shut down coffee houses because they feared what people might say inside them."
Adrian lightly rotated the coffee cup in his hand.
"Then coffee reached Europe, and everything changed again. Before coffee became widespread, people drank alcohol from morning until night. Beer and wine were breakfast drinks."
Barry nearly choked on his coffee.
"You're kidding."
"No."
A faint amusement appeared in Adrian's eyes.
"When people replaced alcohol with coffee, productivity increased. They became sharper, more focused. In a way, coffee helped drag Europe out of centuries of drunken stagnation."
Barry nodded slowly.
"I guess coffee really does help people think clearer."
"Sometimes I treat it like alcohol," Adrian said. "I don't drink much, so this works instead."
He raised the cup slightly without taking a sip.
"Which is why coffee houses are still useful places for conversations like this."
Adrian's gaze settled directly on Barry.
"Tell me honestly. Do you think what I did in Gotham was wrong?"
Barry immediately tensed.
"I..."
He struggled to answer.
"I don't know."
He looked down at the coffee in his hands.
"I'm confused."
"About Star-Spangled Kid?" Adrian asked.
Barry nodded.
"He admired heroes. Superman, you, all of us. He wanted to help people. Now he's stuck in a hospital bed."
Barry's voice grew quieter.
"That shouldn't have been how things ended for him."
Adrian listened silently.
Barry continued.
"In another world, maybe he becomes a real hero. Maybe he gets hurt. Maybe he sacrifices himself someday. But not like this."
"That's the fantasy version of the world," Adrian replied.
Barry looked up.
"The world changed a long time ago."
Adrian's voice became colder.
"This isn't an era where people can put on costumes and pretend evil disappears after punching criminals in alleyways."
He leaned back slightly.
"Look at Gotham. It's a city rotting from the inside out. Even if Batman existed there for thirty years, the system itself would still remain broken."
Barry stayed silent.
"And you already know the real cause of Gotham's problems," Adrian continued. "Corruption. Power. Money. Fear. Those things don't disappear because someone wears a cape."
The coldness in his voice deepened.
"Real change always creates resistance. People fight to protect what benefits them."
Barry frowned.
"But if you lose compassion completely, then what separates us from them?"
"I didn't say abandon compassion."
Adrian's eyes sharpened.
"I said don't let it weaken your resolve."
The noise from the bikers faded into the background as the tension at the table thickened.
"If you carry only sympathy, you'll hesitate every time it matters. Save your anger for your enemies. Otherwise, you'll never move forward."
Barry lowered his head slightly.
"I understand what you're saying."
But even as he said it, uncertainty remained in his expression.
"You want to change things. I get that. But I keep questioning myself. Every time something happens, I start wondering if I'm really cut out for this."
"Then stop overthinking."
Adrian stood from his chair.
"Just keep moving forward."
Barry looked up at him.
"All suffering comes from hating your own helplessness," Adrian said evenly. "Watching your mother die. Failing to change the things around you. That frustration never left you."
Barry's hands slowly tightened.
"Maybe one day you'll become fast enough to outrun all of it."
Barry stared at him.
"Fast enough to outrun time itself."
Adrian turned and began walking away from the table.
Barry remained frozen in place.
Fast enough to surpass time.
Fast enough to change everything.
His fingers slowly curled into a fist.
"Then I'll just have to become stronger first."
At that moment, Chloe Sullivan walked downstairs from the Talon apartment above the café, carrying several books under one arm and a fresh cup of coffee in the other.
Near the counter, one of the bikers slammed his hand onto the bar.
"Give me whiskey," he barked. "The cheapest garbage you've got."
The bartender hesitated.
"You want bourbon?"
"If it burns going down, even better."
Curious, Chloe slowed her steps.
The bartender reluctantly brought out a bottle and a shot glass.
The biker poured the whiskey himself.
The liquid looked cloudy enough to qualify as engine cleaner.
Even from several feet away, Chloe thought the smell alone might kill someone.
The biker threw it back in one gulp.
His face instantly turned red.
For a second, it looked like his internal organs were trying to escape his body.
But somehow, he forced himself not to react.
"Tastes great," he wheezed before immediately pouring another.
Chloe stared at him in disbelief.
What kind of psychopath drinks that willingly?
Shaking her head, she started toward the exit.
Unfortunately, her foot caught against the edge of a chair.
The coffee spilled directly onto the biker.
Silence.
Then:
"What the hell?!"
The giant biker shot to his feet.
Several others stood beside him immediately.
Chloe's stomach dropped.
One of them looked like he walked straight out of a post apocalyptic biker gang. Nearly seven feet tall, covered in tattoos, with enough muscle and fat packed together to resemble a moving wall.
Another had long white hair hanging over his eyes.
The third was short, wide, and built like an angry refrigerator.
Chloe forced out a nervous smile.
"Sorry. Accident."
The massive biker glared down at her.
"You gonna pay for cleaning this?"
"How much?"
"Five hundred bucks."
Chloe nearly laughed.
The white haired biker stepped closer.
"And buy us another round while you're at it."
Chloe looked around.
Nobody nearby seemed eager to help.
Her expression slowly changed.
"Sure," she said.
Then she drove her knee directly into the giant biker's crotch.
The man collapsed instantly with a strangled scream.
Chaos exploded across the Talon.
The white haired biker swung at Chloe, but missed and smashed his hand against the edge of a nearby table instead. A sickening crack echoed through the room as two fingers bent the wrong direction.
The short biker charged her next.
Before he reached her, Barry moved.
A chair slammed into the white haired biker's stomach while Barry blurred forward at super speed, shoulder checking the shorter biker straight off his feet.
But the moment Barry stopped moving, the giant biker smashed a pool cue across the back of his head.
Crack!
Barry stumbled hard.
His vision spun instantly.
The biker grinned viciously and tackled him onto one of the tables.
Everything spiraled out of control.
The white haired biker pulled a knife.
The shorter one grabbed Chloe from behind.
The giant raised the broken pool cue again, aiming directly for Barry's skull.
Then a voice cut through the entire café.
"If you don't want to die, stop now."
The room went silent.
Everyone turned.
Adrian stood near the corner of the Talon, one hand in his pocket, his expression unreadable.
The sheer pressure in his gaze made several people instinctively step back.
Even the giant biker hesitated.
Still, pride quickly overtook fear.
"Who the hell are you?" the biker snarled. "Mind your own business."
Originally, Adrian had no intention of getting involved.
But this place mattered to people he knew.
Nell had helped him before.
And after watching Barry nearly get himself killed in the most embarrassing fight imaginable, Adrian decided stepping in was probably necessary after all.
===
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