The Batarang That Should Not Exist

Kara slowly approached the small mountain of countless bones and stopped. She looked up toward the cave.

It was about sixty meters away and more than twenty meters high. An ordinary person would probably need tools to cross that distance, but for Kara, it only took a jump and good eyesight.

Under the light of this "aging" sun, Kara had almost lost the powerful physique she once possessed. She could no longer control the Bio-Field, but the residual energy still made her far stronger than ordinary people.

Her foot slammed viciously into the ground, and Kara launched herself forward, hurtling at tremendous speed as she brutally "smashed" into the cave.

Yes, "smashed" into it.

Kara did not believe that whatever was barely surviving in here could hurt her. Nor did she care whether she would alert it. At this moment, she had only one goal: drag the monster hiding in this dark corner out and beat it senseless.

The cave was pitch-black, but that was nothing to Kryptonian vision.

Everywhere she looked, there were scraps of flesh left on the ground. This seemed to be where that thing ate. The sloping floor allowed blood spilled across the ground to flow out along the incline, and the creature had even dug a trench for use as a "drainage ditch."

Several "cages" stood in an open area nearby. They had been made by something using immense strength to bend steel, and there were rags and torn clothing inside. Kara did not need to think hard to know what they had been used for.

Dried blood covered the cave floor, staining the place blackish-red. An aura of death filled the air, and the deeper she went, the more pronounced the nauseating stench of rot became. It was hard to imagine what kind of grotesque thing lived here.

The only sounds in the entire cave were Kara’s breathing and the stench unbearable to ordinary people. Anyone else would have been scared out of their wits by now, but Kara was not.

At this moment, her heart contained nothing but endless fury.

Closing her eyes, Kara fell silent for a moment. She believed her violent "break-in" had certainly alarmed the creature inside. It was still here, even if it did not dare to come out and face her.

Not long afterward, Kara opened her eyes.

"I found you."

Her fist gradually clenched. Without the slightest hesitation, Kara charged straight in.

At the deepest part of the cave, Kara saw her target—the culprit behind the string of tragedies in the area.

It was a humanoid creature. No, strictly speaking, it could no longer be called human. Its body was covered in long hair, a thick fleshy tail extended behind it, and its eyes glowed red as it stared fixedly at the intruder before it.

The monster seemed to know it had been discovered. Its heartbeat raced, saliva gathered at the corners of its mouth into white foam, and it let out brief, hurried growls, trying to frighten Kara into stopping.

Kara felt nothing but disgust. She even thought that touching it would dirty her hands.

Just as she was about to gather power and unleash Heat Vision—

Something embedded in the wall in a corner of the cave suddenly caught Kara’s attention—

It was a Batarang.

The monster trembled as it glared at Kara, but the wariness for danger and fear of natural predators embedded in its beastly genes kept it from mounting any resistance at all.

With reddened, terrified eyes, it watched Kara, who stood before it in a towering rage.

Yet what puzzled it was that no devastating attack came. The female human had actually stopped. Judging from her expression, she seemed to have seen something and fallen into thought.

Following Kara’s gaze, it quickly discovered the thing that had caused this change. It was the dart weapon embedded in the rock wall of its cave. Its sluggish mind began to turn, and a hazy memory slowly surfaced.

It remembered. It still remembered what had happened.

The owner of that dart had hurt it. He had used it to slash its throat. If not for its powerful defenses and regenerative abilities, it might very well have died at that strange human’s hands.

But fortunately, it had survived.

And that meant that guy was doomed.

Though it could not defeat that human, people living in this miserable world always had moments when they let their guard down.

Perhaps he had fallen asleep. Perhaps he had been infected with disease. Or perhaps another hunter had set its sights on him!

That had been the longest pursuit it had ever undertaken. To kill the human who had dared hurt it, it had raced for months, crossing a distance that spanned two continents.

But it had all been worth it!

That guy had been hurt. That guy was finished!

At that thought, a savage smile involuntarily appeared on its ugly face. It stuck out its tongue and licked its lips, as if savoring the sweetness of that human’s flesh and blood.

The next moment—

An enormous force struck it. It only felt the world spin before a searing pain erupted across its back. Opening its mouth wide, it tried to let out a wail, but the delicate little hand around its neck was like steel, clamped tightly around its throat and making it difficult even to breathe.

"What have you done!?"

Kara gritted her teeth, destructive energy blazing in her eyes.

".Grr. Ah."

The humanoid monster struggled, but its resistance was as adorable as an infant’s.

In Kara’s memory, there were not many people who used strange weapons like Batarangs. There was only one, and in the previous world, he had been one of the people who saved her. He was a good person.

Kara had known for a long time that there were countless worlds in the Multiverse. They were connected to one another, yet distinctly separate. Crossing the Multiverse was no easy matter, and crossing between "major worlds" was even harder.

There should not have been a Batarang here.

This should have been a world without Metropolis, without Gotham City, without Kryptonians, and without Batman!

Kara had never expected to see this here—in this world, in this cave.

And that could only mean one thing.

Staring at the bloodstains still remaining on the Batarang, Kara felt the corner of her eye twitch involuntarily. She slowly turned her gaze back to the hideous monster before her and watched it continue to struggle.

Kara’s fist clenched tight.

Boom!

The thunderous sound of shattering tore through the stillness of dusk and echoed throughout the valley.

Outside the cave.

Pietro, who was relieving himself, jolted at the sudden explosive sound.