The green of Swamp Thing's body deepened, vines along his arms writhing like venomous snakes waiting to strike.
Animal Man wasn't backing down either. His body contained the peak abilities of every animal on Earth—a T-Rex's strength, a moth's sense of smell, a cheetah's speed, a worm's regenerative powers. With all these traits combined, he stared down Swamp Thing without an ounce of fear.
Seeing her "boyfriend" standing up for her, the equally strong-willed Abby couldn't access the Rot's power yet, but that didn't stop her from pulling a handgun from behind her back and aiming it at Animal Man.
This is getting ridiculous, Thea thought. Batman's wariness of superpowered individuals sometimes had merit. These people were volatile—quick to anger, ready to explode at the slightest provocation. The sudden power had changed them so drastically that they'd forgotten who they used to be.
And these were the *good guys*—heroes with strong moral character. If even they acted like this, it was easy to understand how ordinary people with weaker personalities could become villains at the first sign of trouble.
*Two pseudo-gods.* Thea saw through them instantly. Like the Furies under Granny Goodness, they carried traces of primordial power but lacked true divine authority.
The difference was that Apokolips had Granny Goodness to brainwash and discipline their pseudo-gods, preventing them from losing control. Earth had no such expert. The sudden surge of power had thrown both men off balance. They hadn't even reached their full potential yet—they had the template of pseudo-gods but hadn't fully grown into it.
To Thea, pseudo-gods were a joke—flashy but hollow. And these two, still incomplete, barely registered on her radar.
"Sit down." Her voice was soft and measured, almost casual.
No one else in the room noticed anything unusual.
But the two about to clash felt an overwhelming pressure—not physical, but emanating from deep within their souls. They had a strange, visceral sensation: if they didn't sit down immediately, their very souls would be crushed.
Stunned, they slowly lowered themselves into their seats. Abby, still holding her gun, saw the conflict defuse and sat down as well, confused but compliant.
Batman spoke up again. "The Rot is only temporarily suppressed. Every second we talk, it's pushing back. I need to ask Abby—is there someone controlling all of this from behind the scenes?"
All eyes turned to the silver-haired woman. Even someone as tough as Abby felt awkward under the scrutiny, stammering, unable to form a coherent response.
Even without reading her facial expressions, it was obvious she had no information. Batman looked at Thea. *Now what? Are we just holding a town hall meeting with everyone involved?*
Thea thought for a moment. "Abby, can you still connect to the Rot?"
The silver-haired woman's shoulders trembled slightly, as if recalling something unpleasant. She hesitated. "For years, I've stayed within the Green's domain specifically to suppress the Rot's call. As long as I'm alive, I should still be able to connect to it."
"Are you thinking of going in to investigate? Like you did with the Green?" Batman asked cautiously.
"Uh, no. I'm not going." Thea firmly rejected the idea. "Time flows differently between realms, and I'm not at the point where I can ignore time yet."
Since merging with the Source, her lifespan had become an infinitely large number, but that didn't mean she could disregard the passage of time.
New Gods who had merged with the Source existed across the timeline—at both the beginning and the end. The Source was her, and she was the Source.
At the start of time, there was the Source. At the end of time, there was her. This was why their lives were infinite.
Even if a Flashpoint event occurred, she, anchored at the Source, wouldn't be affected. Anyone directly connected to her would resist being rewritten by the timeline, and even if altered, they'd be automatically corrected.
In the worst-case scenario, even if Moira were erased, the timeline would conjure a sister with Moira's exact bloodline—Moira 2.0, Moira 3.0, whatever—to fall in love with Malcolm and give birth to Thea, regardless of time or place.
This illogical, unscientific ability was the passive trait granted by the Source. She *was* trade itself, wealth itself. Unless those concepts were erased, she would continue to exist.
But even with such an incredible ability, time still affected her. The differing flow rates between realms still applied. She wasn't about to waste time vacationing in the Rot just to gain insight into some "Decay Godhood." That didn't fit her style at all.
"I'm definitely not going, and I'd advise you not to either. However, Abby, if you want to permanently avoid the Rot's call, I have a solution."
"What solution?" Both Swamp Thing and Abby perked up, staring at her intently.
"Split off a portion of your soul—cut away the part connected to the Rot completely. Create an entirely new person to inherit the Rot in your place. The cost is that you'll become a normal human from then on."
Actually, making a clone would be easiest, but with Batman right there, it wasn't convenient. Using magic as a workaround was a bit more troublesome but still doable.
*Is that even possible?!* Abby and Swamp Thing looked at each other, half-believing, half-doubting. For them, being normal was a blessing—being a monster was never their choice!
"That's amazing! What do I need to do?" Whether it was Thea's reputation as a superhero or her credentials as a leading biomedical genius, Abby trusted her. The chance to sever the bloodline connection and become an ordinary person had always been her dream. She responded eagerly.
"First, your blood is the Rot's primary identification marker. I'll need to extract a large quantity. As for the body, I can create one with magic. The body doesn't matter—your soul and blood are what's essential."
"When this substitute enters the Rot, it can take your place and fulfill your role. At that point, you'll be able to use the soul connection to investigate what's actually happening inside the Rot."
Thea recalled that Abby's uncle had exploited a loophole to gain partial control of the Rot's power, eventually causing things to spiral out of control and threaten the entire world's balance.
But whether he was the one causing trouble several years ahead of schedule, she wasn't sure. Official records listed him as dead for years. Thea wanted to confirm the mastermind's identity first, then trace the problem back to its source.
To gain their trust, Thea conjured matter from thin air. She claimed it was magic, but in reality, she'd infused it with divine power. Even Zatanna, who had been skeptical of Thea's boasting, stared wide-eyed.
As Thea chanted and cast the spell, it didn't take long before a shadowy, featureless figure—like a censored silhouette—materialized before them.