Broken(DC)

POV Brian Forman

It felt as though I had been plunged underwater—sound and sight blurred into a distorted haze. I could barely sense what was happening to me: being carried somewhere, then someone doing something to my body. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't take control again, couldn't rise. Something was keeping me in this state.

My consciousness flickered, fading in and out of awareness. I struggled to piece together the sequence of events. The last moments I could recall were saving a child, then freeing a man who was trapped. After that, there had been an explosion—an agonizing pain that surged through every part of me, plunging me into this state.

I didn't understand why my regeneration wasn't healing my injuries or why I hadn't yet regained full consciousness. Maybe the wounds were just too severe.

One day, while trapped in this darkness, a faint light suddenly pierced through the void, like someone had torn a hole in the veil. I decided to move toward it; anything was better than this endless solitude. As I drew closer, fragmented images and sounds began to flicker in my mind. With every passing moment, they grew clearer until they finally came into sharp focus.

Before me stretched a desolate wasteland—a scorched earth scarred as if by a meteor storm, its terrain utterly transformed. A few buildings, miraculously still standing, were all that remained to hint at what this world might have been before the catastrophe.

I stood in the heart of this devastation, dressed in nothing but tattered pants. My body was covered in burns shaped like chains, wounds from all kinds of weapons, and strange, unrecognizable marks.

I was breathing heavily. No, not me. I was once again merely a witness, yet I felt this body as if it were my own, even though I couldn't control its movements.

It seemed this body had endured countless battles. The last thing I remembered before this fight was the dream that had preceded it.

I felt like I was trying to decide what to do next. Standing still, I was overwhelmed by confusion. I could sense fragments of this body's thoughts, thoughts that weren't entirely mine. I had no idea where to go. My kingdom was no longer my home. I had destroyed all my enemies, leaving me with no purpose. That realization kept me frozen in place.

Finally, I took a step forward, and the body launched itself into the sky with terrifying speed. As I watched through its eyes, I saw unusual creatures inhabiting this world, their settlements resembling those of a medieval era. In the distance loomed a massive city, aglow with bright lights. Its towering walls were as tall as skyscrapers, and its spires stretched even higher. I landed atop one of these towers, silently observing the people below.

Questions whirled in my mind: "Who was I fighting for?" "Why did I spill so much blood?" "Did I live only for others?" My entire life had been a battle for something, but never for myself.

These questions circled endlessly in my head until the answer became clear: I had lived for one purpose—to protect humanity. It was what I had been born to do.

Shaking off my thoughts, I refocused and moved as though walls no longer existed. I began searching for a specific person. I found him in his luxurious office, sipping fine wine. Without hesitation, I propelled myself forward, shattering the window as I burst into the room.

The man sitting at the desk jumped up, spitting his wine across the table. He stared at me with shock and fear in his eyes.

"You… you're supposed to be dead," he stammered, his voice trembling.

I didn't say a word, only stared at him, debating what to do. Moments later, the guards burst into the office, weapons drawn, ready to repel the intruder. But the moment they saw who was standing before them, their swords dropped, and they hastily apologized before retreating from the room.

"Why did you betray me?" I asked the man before me, my voice echoing with a grave, otherworldly tone.

"We didn't betray you it's all a misunderstanding. Let's just talk" His words were abruptly cut off as my fist slammed into the desk, shattering it into splinters.

"I know everything," I snarled. "And you were directly involved." My anger exploded as I struck the wall. Cracks radiated outward like spiderwebs. The man cowered, his body trembling, afraid the next blow might land on him.

At that moment, another figure entered the room. His name surfaced in my thoughts Theodore. He had been my closest friend.

"You survived, and you've learned the truth," Theodore said, his tone resigned.

"Tell me," I demanded, "why did you betray me?"

Memories surged in my mind like an unstoppable tide fragments of our shared past. We had grown up together, joined the service together, fought side by side like true brothers. That was what made this betrayal cut the deepest.

"We feared your power and you," Theodore admitted quietly, his gaze dropping to the floor.

"My power?" I roared. "It was because of me that we won every battle! Because of me, we became the most powerful nation! And you feared me? I never harmed a single one of my people!" My furious shout shook the walls, causing dust to fall from the ceiling.

"You became too dangerous, too unhinged," Theodore said, his voice low but firm. "You stopped caring about anything except fighting. But even our last enemy, that force from unknown lands they would have lost eventually. And then what?"

"I would have retired," I replied, my voice softening for a moment. "Do you think I enjoyed fighting? The answer is no. I fought for you, for all of you."

The truth settled heavily in my chest. I had accepted it. There was no more room for thoughts or questions in my mind. Only a single, burning desire remained a purpose that had drawn me back to this world.

I fixed my cold gaze on my once-best friend. With a swift movement, my hand pierced through his chest.

As I stared into his wide, horrified eyes, I could see the terror frozen within them. Blood gushed from the wound, cascading down my arm in torrents, pooling on the floor below. Slowly, I lowered his body, still holding him as his strength faded. He tried to speak, but the blood filling his throat made it impossible.

"Forg…ive me," he managed to choke out between bloody gasps. And then, his spirit left his body.

I gently closed his lifeless eyes and turned to face the man who was still huddled in the corner, trembling.

What followed was a massacre. The halls of the palace ran red with blood as I ended the lives of everyone complicit in the betrayal. Countless warriors and mages tried to stand against me, but their efforts were futile. Every attack was meaningless.

When the last of them had fallen, I left the city behind, taking to the skies. My destination was a familiar place a cliff I had often visited to reflect.

The massive precipice offered a breathtaking view of a sprawling forest and the river that wound its way through the landscape below. The wind was fierce here, strong enough to sweep any careless traveler to their death. But it didn't bother me in the slightest.

I pondered the purpose of my life.I had none. Living held little meaning for me anymore. I had longed to die as a warrior, falling in battle against a powerful enemy—but now, there was no one left who could defeat me. Death by old age was impossible for me, and yet the prospect of continuing to live was unbearable.

For days, I sat in this state of contemplation, until I made a decision. Rising to my feet, I began to stoke the sensation I had felt during my imprisonment—that burning within me, as though something was consuming itself from the inside out. The energy flared again, this time bringing excruciating pain. I didn't flinch. It continued to grow, and I could see streams of yellow-red energy coursing through my veins, melting the body beneath them.

I had resolved to destroy myself.

In an instant, I ignited like a torch. The wild fury of energy engulfed me entirely. My hands began to evaporate, and soon the rest of my body followed. I closed my eyes with a sense of peace as the darkness took me, leaving nothing behind.

*****************************

I was abruptly pulled into a torrent of recollections, finding myself immersed in my past. I saw my own birth, my mother's face as she abandoned me, my childhood in the orphanage, and the life I had built with my new family. Events played out like a story, only to halt abruptly at the moment of the explosion.

After that, it was as though someone flipped a switch, flooding me with blinding light. Instinctively, I tried to shield myself from it, wincing in discomfort. Squirming, I finally opened my eyes.

I was in a bed.

Tubes and wires were connected to my body, leading to machines displaying a variety of metrics. Sunlight poured into the room through a nearby window, revealing a skyline dominated by skyscrapers with elegant spires.

I attempted to move my body, but it barely responded to my commands. With great effort, I managed to lift an arm, only to find it unrecognizably frail. The skin stretched tight over protruding veins and bones. My entire body felt emaciated.

The unfamiliar surroundings confused me. I couldn't place this building within Gotham, and the absence of snow suggested that spring had already arrived. I realized I had been unconscious for a long time.

Apparently, I had been severely injured. But why had I been incapacitated for so long? There should have been a nurse-call button somewhere, I thought. My fumbling fingers eventually located it on the left side of the bed. I pressed it several times and waited.

Moments later, a nurse entered the room, her expression turning to surprise as she saw me. She hurried to check the machines by my bedside.

"You're awake—that's good," she said, relief in her voice. "I'll call the doctor."

After confirming everything was stable, she left the room, leaving me alone once more.

I waited for about ten minutes before a man, presumably the doctor, entered the room. His balding head glinted under the light, and he wore glasses with a neatly trimmed short beard.

"Brian, you're finally awake," he said, relief and curiosity evident in his tone. "We expected you to regain consciousness quickly, but to my surprise, you remained in a coma for far longer than anticipated." He began to examine my body carefully, observing my reactions. "Your nerves appear intact. How about your memory? What's the last thing you remember?"

"The accident and the explosion... Have I really been in a coma for over two months?" I asked, struggling to comprehend how much time had passed.

"Your memory seems fine," he noted. "But you've been in a coma much longer than that. In fact, you've been unconscious for a year and three months," the doctor revealed, his words hitting me like a thunderbolt.

A year and three months? My mind raced. That long? How could this have happened? And why hadn't my regeneration worked?

"When can I be discharged?" I asked impatiently. I didn't want to stay in this hospital any longer. I had already lost so much time. Alice must have been missing me terribly, and Bruce too.

"Oh, you've only just woken up, and you're already in a rush," the doctor chuckled lightly. "First, we need to ensure you're completely stable, and you'll need rehabilitation therapy to restore your mobility. We can likely release you in about a week."

"A week?" I sighed in frustration. "That's too long."

"Although," the doctor added with a raised brow, "given your regenerative abilities, it might only take a couple of days."

I froze, my eyes narrowing slightly. "You know about my ability?"

"How could I not," he replied, his tone almost amused. "I've been watching your wounds heal and bones knit themselves back together before my eyes. That's not something you can chalk up to good health."

"What's going to happen to me?" I asked warily. If word of my ability got out, I could easily become a target for experiments or worse.

"Nothing," the doctor said firmly, meeting my gaze with calm reassurance. "You'll go on living your life. That's all."

His words surprised me, and I couldn't hide the expression on my face.

"Why so shocked?" he asked with a faint smile. "You're just a kid. Go live your life. I'll keep your secret, and so will my assistant."

"Thank you," I said sincerely, relief washing over me.

"No need for thanks. You're an extraordinary boy. But there is something about your condition that concerns me," he added, his tone turning serious. "Your body almost devoured itself while trying to heal you. Be careful with your powers."

"I will," I promised with a smile.

"Alright, rest up. Soon they'll bring you food, and I'll call your family to let them know you've woken up," the doctor said before leaving the room.

Left alone, I stared at the ceiling. The hardest part was dealing with the boredom. A nurse came by once to check on me, but most of the time, I simply watched the sky and drifting clouds outside the window. Evening rolled in, and I heard the door open again. The doctor walked in, followed closely by my family: Elizabeth and Alice.

Alice rushed to my bedside, carefully taking my hand. She'd grown taller already eleven years old and had become even more beautiful.

"Brian, you're awake! I was so worried," she said, tears welling in her eyes. She sniffled quietly as she tried to hold back her sobs. "We came to visit you every week, but I wanted to come every day. Why did you have to take such a big risk?"

"I'm sorry, Alice. I had to save those people. By the way, did that man survive?" I asked, hoping for good news about the man I had tried to rescue.

"No, he didn't make it," Elizabeth replied, her voice distant. Although she stood to the side, I noticed her eyes glistening with unshed tears. She tried to maintain an air of detachment, but the sorrow peeked through.

"That's unfortunate," I murmured, disappointment settling in my chest. "At least the child survived."

"Why would you risk your life like that? You're not some comic book hero," Alice scolded me, her tone a mix of frustration and concern.

"When will he recover, and when can we take him home?" Elizabeth asked the doctor, her tone firm and direct.

"That depends entirely on Brian's rehabilitation progress," the doctor replied.

"Don't worry. I'll recover quickly," I assured them, relying on my abilities to speed things up.

The rest of the evening was filled with conversation. Alice chattered excitedly about her school life, her hobbies, and her progress in martial arts. She confidently claimed she could now beat me in a fight, which earned a small chuckle from me. Eventually, visiting hours ended, and they had to leave. Left alone again, I was already frustrated by my inability to move freely and eagerly awaited the next day, hoping to take my first steps toward recovery.

My rehabilitation began with a hearty breakfast to replenish my energy. Oddly, no matter how much I ate, I still felt ravenously hungry. I asked for seconds, but they refused, saying overeating could upset my stomach. Once I get home, I'll eat properly, I thought, trying to ignore the gnawing hunger.

My first steps were wobbly, and the nurses had to support me to maintain my balance. However, my legs quickly regained strength, as though they'd been waiting for the chance to move again. By the evening, I was walking on my own with the help of a crutch.

One of the best parts of the day was my family's visit. They decided to come every day, which filled me with joy and gave me something to look forward to.

By the third day, I was walking unassisted, and my body had begun regaining weight. The gaunt appearance I'd had when I first woke up was disappearing. The doctor examined me each day, marveling at the rapid pace of my recovery.

On the evening of the third day, after confirming my full mobility and strength, the doctor made the decision to discharge me.

"Take care of yourself, Brian. I hope you grow up to be a good man," the doctor said as I was about to leave.

"Thank you, and take care of yourself too," I replied, suddenly realizing I hadn't asked his name. "By the way, I never got your name."

"My name is Charles McNider," he replied simply.

"See you," I said, waving to him before heading toward Elizabeth, who was waiting for me.

"See you, young Brian. I hope you become a great hero," I heard his farewell, though the last part was spoken too softly.

Finally, I was going home. I couldn't wait to cook something delicious and eat to my heart's content.