Inside Wayne Manor's medical room, Daniel lay unconscious on the examination bed.
Crimson markings spread across the left side of his body, slowly crawling beneath his skin like glowing cracks.
Alfred stood beside the medical equipment, studying the monitor with a troubled expression.
"There isn't a heartbeat." He checked the readings again.
"The equipment isn't detecting any vital signs. Either these instruments are completely useless for someone like Mr. Haken... or his body simply doesn't function like a human's."
Barry looked at Daniel. "What exactly is happening to him?"
Diana remained silent, her eyes never leaving him.
Clark stepped closer and used his X-ray vision, scanning Daniel from head to toe. After several moments he frowned.
"I can't find any internal injuries. His organs appear intact, but... I can't see whatever's causing those markings." He turned toward Diana.
"Has this happened before?"
She slowly shook her head. "This is the first time I've seen him in this condition."
Barry looked between them. "I thought he could heal from almost anything."
"Daniel isn't a normal human," Diana said after a long silence.
"He's the God of Death. Someone like him shouldn't be affected this badly. I've known him for a long time, and in all that time... this is the first time I've ever seen him like this."
Barry and Clark exchanged surprised looks. Barry had assumed Daniel was another metahuman.
Clark had sensed immense power from him, but had never imagined he was standing beside an actual god.
Clark looked back at Daniel lying unconscious. "If he's truly a god..." He stopped, looking at the crimson markings spreading across his body.
"...what could possibly leave someone like him like this?"
Without warning, Daniel suddenly drew a sharp breath and sat upright. "Gah...!"
The crimson markings covering his neck and chest rapidly retreated, flowing back beneath his skin until they were completely absorbed into the Mark of Nexus on his left hand.
Everyone turned toward him immediately. Diana reached his bedside first, placing a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "Daniel. Can you hear me?"
He took several slow breaths before nodding. "...Yeah."
Barry let out a relieved sigh. "You were unconscious for hours."
Clark studied him carefully. "How are you feeling?"
Daniel glanced at the Mark of Nexus before looking back. "Other than some weakness, I'm fine. But the problem isn't fully solved."
Diana's expression became more serious. "What happened?"
"It seems I somehow got infected with some kind of cosmic virus. I'm pretty sure it came from the Mother Box."
The Mother Boxes were sentient machines — it seemed the one he had come into contact with had infected him with the virus to eliminate what it perceived as a threat.
Barry frowned. "So just physically touching one can cause something like this?"
"I don't know. It's the only explanation I can think of."
He pushed himself off the bed and took a step forward. Diana immediately placed a hand against his chest and guided him firmly back.
"You should rest."
Daniel let out a resigned sigh. "I'm fine. Nothing's going to happen to me."
Diana didn't move. "You said it's a infection. We don't know what it's capable of. Take it easy."
Daniel looked at her for a moment before giving up. He knew from the look on her face that changing her mind was going to be far more difficult than fighting Steppenwolf.
***
Victor sat before the Batcomputer as streams of alien data flowed across his cybernetic interface, his red eye flickering while he traced the signal emitted by the three Mother Boxes.
"I've got their location."
Bruce stepped beside him. "Where?"
Victor expanded a world map and highlighted a single point. "Pozharnov, Russia."
Bruce immediately opened a live feed from Wayne Enterprises' surveillance satellites, the image zooming in on the abandoned nuclear disaster site.
Both men watched in silence. The area no longer resembled earlier photographs — black metallic structures stretched across the landscape, enormous spires rose from the ground, and the terrain itself had begun reshaping into alien architecture.
Victor compared the live feed with archived images. "The environment is changing far too quickly."
Bruce studied the screen. "It seems what Daniel said is correct. Once the Unity begins, we won't have much time to do anything."
"Then we go now."
Bruce nodded and immediately informed everyone of the discovery. Nobody wasted time asking questions. A few minutes later everyone was already aboard the aircraft, heading toward Russia.
Bruce sat in the cockpit while Clark, Diana, Barry, Victor, and Daniel remained in the cabin, the atmosphere unusually quiet as the aircraft crossed the Atlantic.
Daniel stood near one of the side windows, looking out into the evening sky. The faint crimson traces on the Mark of Nexus hadn't disappeared, but he ignored them.
If they were too late, Earth would become another Apokolips.
*****
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