Multiverse: Deathstroke

Chapter 101: Ch.100 Dawnbreaker

The three of them soon arrived at Coast City.

The situation here was slightly better than in Washington, at least the buildings in the city were still intact.

The reason for this was due to the various nightmares manifested by the Dawnbreaker Ring. Those monsters, brought forth from the nightmares, had immense combat strength and were endless in number. Almost all of the city's residents had been bound to the dark spire in the city center, turning this place into a ghost town.

"Clang... clang... clatter..."

An empty soda can was blown off the trash bin by the wind, tumbling a short distance along the sewage-ridden alley, making an unusually loud noise in the desolate city.

All three felt an odd sense of oppression, caused by the void manifested within that Batman's heart through the Dawnbreaker Ring. This void was so overwhelming it seemed to call everyone towards annihilation.

"That guy created a huge underground space beneath Coast City to serve as his Batcave. We need to find it," Su Ming said, drawing his weapon as he scanned the surroundings.

The area was lifeless. They were now standing at the back door of a small restaurant, but even the "Rat King" that usually inhabited restaurant trash bins had fled the city under the influence of the dreadful aura.

Cockroaches, flies, bedbugs—those insects that once thrived here in the darkness were all gone too.

"Why do these guys always like to dig holes under cities? Now, America is full of Batcaves," Barry said helplessly, as the burden of finding the enemy's trail primarily fell on him. He had to find the right clues in the shortest time possible, in an entire city no less.

**Unknown Time, Dark Multiverse, Earth -32.**

"Bang! Bang!"

Two gunshots echoed as the Waynes fell in a dark alley, their blood mixing with the filth on the ground, life leaving their bodies.

"Kneel down, kid, I'm done here." The robber who killed his parents pointed a gun at young Bruce, holding a blood-stained wallet and a string of pearls in his other hand. "Close your eyes and embrace the darkness. As long as you don't look, I won't kill you."

With that, the robber turned and ran off, his figure disappearing behind a building.

Young Bruce closed his eyes under the barrel of the gun, turning his head away, missing the bat that flew past the light.

Hearing the footsteps fade away, Bruce opened his eyes, looking at his parents' bodies. He felt as if his world had collapsed. There was no fear, no despair, only emptiness. His heart had died as well.

He felt powerless, no longer feeling human. His heart was devoid of all emotion, filled with nothingness. He wiped away his tears and chased after the direction the criminal had fled. He didn't want to live anymore.

But just then, a green light came hurtling toward him at an astonishing speed. A ring emitting a strong green glow hovered before him, bearing a symbol resembling an hourglass. A voice sounded directly in front of him:

"Intelligent lifeform detected! Bruce Wayne of Earth, Sector 2814. You possess the ability to overcome great fear. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps!"

Bruce knew he hadn't overcome fear; he had merely discarded it, leaving his heart a void.

But the ring's immense power attracted him. He put it on, and it directed him toward the murderer.

He rose into the air, thinking that maybe killing this criminal would make him feel alive, no longer empty?

"Kill him! Ring!" He finally found the murderer in a corner of Gotham, counting the stolen money. It was Bruce's father's wallet, stained with blood.

"Error! Green Lantern Corps Rule #1: Lethal force not authorized under current circumstances."

The ring rebuked him.

Bruce looked at the cowering criminal on the ground. His bullets were useless against the flying Green Lantern, and he could only kneel and beg for mercy, just as Bruce had done moments ago.

"I don't care! I said, kill him!"

"Error... Willpower level 100%, error... Willpower level 127%."

The ring did not comply, only repeating error messages incessantly.

The void in Bruce's heart made him resolute, with only one desire in his heart, his only wish.

"He deserves to die! Obey me!"

"Error... Willpower level 184%."

The ring's voice echoed in his mind. Bruce didn't understand the reported numbers, but he knew his efforts were working. He doubled down on his belief, walking steadfastly down this path.

"Error... Willpower level 200%, exceeding limits... static... screech..."

Strange noises came from the ring, followed by some peculiar gray smoke, like mist or a special form of energy. Then, a distorted, ghostly voice rang out.

"Lethal force authorized."

"Aaahhhhh!!!"

Instantly, a gray-green light surged from the ring, and the criminal bathed in its glow was reduced to a skeleton in the blink of an eye.

He had acquired one of the most powerful forces in the universe.

But this power couldn't bring his parents back to life. His heart was still empty.

He began to hunt down the criminals of the city, without confusion or regret. He simply killed. Why were so many criminals alive, yet his parents were not?

Scarecrow? Dragged into the sky and killed;

Penguin? Taken to outer space and dismembered.

One by one, the criminals vanished from Gotham.

"Green Lantern, you must stop. This isn't justice."

Gordon encountered him again on the police station rooftop. He should have been a hero.

"You don't understand me," Bruce replied coldly.

"I know who you are. Aren't you tired of it all, Bruce? Everything traces back to that murder in the alley all those years ago."

Commissioner Gordon tried to reason with him, too many people had died in Gotham.

"I said, shut up!"

A powerful gray-green light flashed, and Commissioner Gordon was reduced to a skeleton.

His parents were dead, so no one deserved to live.

At that moment, more Green Lanterns arrived to stop him. The berserk ring made them feel uneasy all the way from Oa.

But despite their numbers and the support of the Guardians, they were no match for the Dawnbreaker Ring and its light-extinguishing protocol. They all perished. Bruce's first nightmare was realized, overwhelming his opponents in the dark.

Amidst the corpses of the Green Lanterns, the most powerful Guardian, Ganthet, was barely alive. "Stop... the darkness will destroy the universe."

Bruce didn't respond. A massive nightmare creature plucked Ganthet's head like picking mushrooms.

He seized countless rings, gaining knowledge and information. He traveled to Oa, obliterating everything, and returned to Gotham with the Central Power Battery of the Green Lantern Corps.

Gordon was right about one thing: Bruce was tired. He no longer wanted to be a Green Lantern. Green Lanterns were too weak.

At this moment, he saw a swarm of bats flying past the power battery, and the small creatures made him narrow his eyes.

He recalled the cellar at home, where he had once fallen as a child, and the bats inside made him feel fear.

He no longer had any emotions, but he could make the world fear. He was the Bat.

Mighty gray-green light infused the massive power battery, filling it instantly with the power of emptiness.

He dove into it.

When he emerged, he chose the bat as his new symbol, donning a bat-shaped helmet. The Green Lantern symbol on his chest turned into the shape of a bat. Endless gray light poured from his ring, enveloping him. He became the Dawnbreaker.

He created his own Dawnbreaker Corps and recited his own oath:

In blackest night, no bright day;

Through gloom, I slay;

Morning fades, the night is long;

Dawnbreaker rules, till light is gone!

Balance was shattered, the Green Lanterns ceased to exist, and the emotional spectrum was forever incomplete.

He continued his slaughter.

Eliminating all Lanterns, eradicating all emotions.

The universe without the emotional spectrum was too conspicuous, and it soon attracted the attention of Barbatos.

Barbatos seized the opportunity, his powerful darkness beginning to corrode the entire world. The universe melted and collapsed like snow, and Earth -32 was destroyed...

The power of the Dawnbreaker saved Bruce. In the shattered universe, a truly smiling person invited him to join the Dark Knights, a man whose face bore only a grinning mouth, with no other features.

He said his master, Barbatos, loved warriors of the dark. In a distant universe, there was another Earth, and he needed the Dawnbreaker Ring to extinguish the light of hope.

When the task was done, Barbatos would grant Bruce his heart's deepest desire—his parents would be resurrected.

Bruce's heart was empty; he didn't know how to react. But perhaps reviving his parents could fill the void inside him?

"I'll join."

For the Dawnbreaker, there was no question to consider. The emptiness inside him wanted to consume everything, especially the light...