As usual, Daniel spent most of the day inside his office doing absolutely nothing productive besides sitting in his chair and occasionally smiling for no reason at both Catwoman and Harley Quinn.
Selina had ultimately accepted the job because, in her professional opinion, only an idiot would reject four working hours a day for five million dollars a month.
Harleen, meanwhile, felt strangely irritated watching how naturally Selina had settled into the office already.
Which was annoying because as a psychiatrist she understood exactly what that irritation probably meant and preferred not thinking about it too deeply.
Currently, Harleen sat across from Daniel with a notebook resting on her lap while observing him carefully. Unlike Selina, Harleen was less interested in the money and more interested in understanding how Daniel's mind actually worked.
Because the more she spoke to him, the clearer it became that his way of thinking fundamentally differed from normal people.
And naturally, that only made her more curious.
Honestly, only someone like Harleen Quinzel would treat obvious psychological abnormalities as an interesting research topic instead of a warning sign.
"So," Harleen asked while tapping her pen lightly against the notebook, "what's your personal judgment of life?"
Daniel leaned back in his chair thoughtfully before answering.
"It's fleeting," he said calmly. "Human life is basically like a candle flame. You never really know when it disappears."
Harleen quietly wrote something down before continuing.
"Then you wouldn't be emotionally affected if someone died in front of you?"
Daniel's expression barely changed.
"Death itself doesn't really shock me," he admitted. "People die every second somewhere in the world. Human life and death are part of a cycle."
His gaze shifted toward the office window afterward.
"Compared to the scale of existence, one death usually doesn't change much."
Harleen wrote another note beneath the word emotionally detached.
Then she paused briefly before asking something more personal.
"What if it was me?"
Daniel looked back toward her again.
"Hmm…"
He thought for several seconds before answering casually.
"Then I'd probably just bring you back to life."
Harleen blinked once.
"Bring me back to life?" she repeated slowly while staring at him strangely.
The way he said it sounded so casual that it almost felt absurd. Like resurrection was some inconvenient paperwork problem instead of literally reversing death.
"Yes," Daniel replied simply.
Harleen ignored the impossible statement for now and focused on the contradiction instead.
"But you just said you normally wouldn't bother interfering with death," she pointed out carefully.
Daniel nodded once.
"Yes," he agreed. "But there's a difference."
Harleen lowered the pen slightly.
"What difference?"
Daniel looked directly at her afterward, his expression unusually calm compared to the joking attitude he normally carried.
"Strangers dying and people important to me dying are two completely different things."
Harleen smiled slightly after hearing that answer.
It was small. Barely noticeable.
But while absentmindedly writing down her observations, her pen moved on its own for a second too long.
When she finally looked down at the notebook again, she froze briefly.
Written beside Daniel's name was a small heart-shaped symbol circling it.
"...Hmmm."
Harleen immediately closed the notebook halfway and cleared her throat awkwardly.
As a psychiatrist, she suddenly disliked how much easier it was to analyze other people instead of herself.
Because at this point it was becoming increasingly obvious she was being affected by Daniel far more than Daniel was being affected by her.
Which honestly felt slightly unfair.
At that moment, Catwoman returned carrying coffee for both of them.
Selina casually placed one cup in front of Harleen before her eyes briefly caught the notebook page still partially visible on the desk.
She saw Daniel's name.
And the small heart drawn around it.
Selina slowly sighed like someone witnessing another person walking willingly toward disaster.
Daniel reached toward the second cup of coffee immediately afterward.
Selina smoothly moved the tray away before he could touch it and returned to her desk area with complete indifference.
"...What was that for?" Daniel asked with genuine confusion.
"Employee rights," Selina replied calmly while drinking the coffee herself.
Harleen quietly lowered her face behind the notebook afterward, pretending nothing embarrassing had happened.
Daniel was about to continue teasing her when his expression suddenly shifted.
His head slowly turned toward the southeast, eyes narrowing slightly as if sensing something far away.
Because at that exact moment, he felt it clearly.
A massive tsunami heading toward Central City.
"Well," Daniel muttered while standing up from his chair, "I should probably stop a large environmental disaster before the government starts blaming climate change again."
Before either Selina or Harleen could respond, space around Daniel distorted slightly and he disappeared from the office instantly.
***
Central City coast area had already descended into chaos.
Emergency sirens echoed across the streets while civilians ran in panic through traffic-filled roads. Police officers screamed evacuation orders while helicopters circled overhead broadcasting warnings.
The ocean itself looked terrifying.
A gigantic wall of water towered over the coastline like a moving mountain, large enough to drown entire sections of the city once it hit land.
Red lightning flashed across the streets at impossible speed while The Flash evacuated civilians one after another.
Barry finally stopped near the coastline afterward, chest rising heavily while staring at the incoming tsunami in disbelief.
Then darkness twisted beside him.
Daniel appeared calmly near the shore with his hands still inside his pockets while hurricane-force winds from the approaching wave violently shook the streets around them.
Barry immediately looked toward him.
"Can you stop that?" he asked without hesitation.
Daniel observed the approaching tsunami quietly for several seconds before nodding once.
"Hmm. Yeah, I can."
He slowly raised his left hand afterward.
The Mark of Nexus glowing across his skin activated instantly while the symbols within it began rotating slowly.
0001
Space distorted faintly around Daniel.
Then the impossible happened.
The entire tsunami suddenly stopped moving.
Millions of tons of ocean water froze in place directly before Coast City like time itself had paused only for the sea.
Barry's eyes widened immediately.
Even from his perspective—where he regularly moved faster than sound—the scale of what Daniel just did felt absurd.
Daniel casually waved his hand afterward.
The gigantic wave immediately reversed direction and began moving back toward the ocean.
But the things carried inside the tsunami did not return neatly with it.
Mountains of plastic waste and ocean trash suddenly began falling from the sky across the city after the water disappeared.
Broken fishing nets, plastic barrels, damaged containers, rusted metal, bottles, tires, and endless garbage rained down onto the empty streets and rooftops below.
Barry stared upward at the literal storm of human pollution falling from the sky.
"...What the hell?" he muttered.
*****
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