Night,Max's House
The house was quiet.
Thena and Terra were asleep on the couch, curled against each other. They had cried themselves to sleep after returning from the funeral,Thena especially, who had awakened the Sharingan through grief . Diana sat beside them, one arm resting lightly across both of them as she caressed their hair while they slept.
Max was glad she had stayed. Honestly, he didn't even know where to begin when it came to comforting them. But he knew he had to be there,as their father,to show them that he felt it too. That he wasn't somewhere above it all, untouched. He was carrying it just the same as they were.
But right now, he needed a moment alone.
With that thought settled, Max quietly rose from his seat and slipped out the door.
Not long after, Diana heard a sonic boom in the distance.
She opened her eyes slowly. Of course she had felt him leave the moment he stood up. She had chosen not to stop him. He needed this,time alone, away from everything, to grieve without an audience and finally let out everything he had been bottling up since it all ended.
She understood that much.
She let her eyes fall closed again, her arm still resting gently across Thena and Terra.
Though she had to admit,when he came back, there were a lot of questions that were going to need answering.
After a few minutes of flying, Max arrived at a cliff just above the entrance to his hideout. Below, he could see the overwhelming amounts of chakra being emitted by the Gedo Statue, pulsing steadily in the dark. He walked to the edge and sat down, legs dangling over the drop, and took a long, slow breath.
"You can come out now, Zetsu," he said. "I know you've been here for the past few days."
Zetsu slowly emerged from the ground.
But something was different. The right side of his body had changed,his pale white skin replaced by a dull, earthy brown, small branches growing from it like something taking root from the inside out.
"Ah, you got me," Zetsu said. "Still sharp as ever."
Max ignored the comment. "I was wondering why you weren't at the funeral today. Now I know."
"Yeah." Zetsu glanced at the branches growing from his arm. "I don't know what's happening to me, but my body seems to be turning into a tree. I've lost the ability to transform as well. Wouldn't have been great showing up looking like this." He paused. "Hopefully it passes soon. Any idea what's going on?"
"It's because you're dying, Zetsu."
The words landed quietly in the night air.
"The Omega Beams," Max continued. "Did Darkseid hit you with them?"
"Yeah," Zetsu said. "Got me good while I was fused with Nina. Liquefied my body. Took me a whole day to pull myself back together,and then this started happening."
"That's what I thought," Max said. "The Omega Beams are corrosive by nature. After hitting you, they continue destroying your body from within. If your body isn't strong enough to withstand it, the destruction keeps going until there's nothing left." He paused. "But your body is fighting back,replacing the dead cells as fast as it can. The problem is, what it's replacing them with... is wood."
Zetsu was quiet for a moment.
"Ah," he said finally. "So that's what's happening."
He walked over and sat down a few meters from Max, looking out over the drop below them.
"So I really am dying." He was quiet again, then: "And I haven't finished my list."
"How far along are you?" Max asked.
Zetsu began counting on his fingers. "I've eaten a person. Traveled around the world." He paused. "I found out I couldn't actually use a toilet the way humans do, so I changed that one to just figuring out what it feels like ,and so far none of the answers I've gotten have satisfied me." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "So the only things left are dying peacefully under a sunset... and that other thing. Though dying under a full moon isn't so bad either, come to think of it."
He looked up at the moon hanging large and bright in the sky above them.
A silence settled between them.
Then Zetsu turned to Max.
"Last time I asked you, you said you'd kill me if I ever brought it up again." A beat. "But since I'm already dying... how about telling me now?"
Max sighed heavily.
"I'll humor you. Just this once." He was quiet for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully. "The best way I can describe it is... it's relieving. And sometimes,sometimes it's so good you find yourself wishing it would just keep going."
Zetsu sat with that for a moment.
"Ah," he said softly. "I finally get it. It only just made sense hearing it from you."
Another silence fell between them, longer this time. Comfortable.
Then Zetsu spoke again.
"Max."
"Mm."
"Tell the kids not to miss me too much." A pause. "And... don't forget me."
"I won't, Zetsu," Max said quietly.
"That's all I ask."
And so they sat together through the rest of the night, side by side on the cliff's edge, saying nothing more. The hours passed in silence.
When the sun finally crept above the horizon, its light spilling warmly across the cliff and washing over Max,Zetsu was gone.
In his place stood a vibrant, lush green tree, its branches catching the first light of morning.
Max looked at it for a long moment.
"Goodbye, Zetsu," he said quietly. "My friend."
Max remained on the cliff as the sun continued to rise, its light spreading slowly across the horizon and warming the air around him.
A single leaf drifted down from the tree that had been Zetsu. Max caught it without thinking, turning it between his fingers for a moment before letting it go. It spun lazily downward, carried by the breeze, disappearing into the dense canopy of trees far below.
Then he heard a sonic boom.
He knew instantly who it was. She had been searching for him since the sun came up. And as for why, he already had a pretty good idea.
A few moments passed before she spotted him. She descended and touched down at the cliff's edge, then walked forward and sat down beside him.
Neither of them spoke right away.
End of Chapter
Chapter 34:Kara's True colour's
Chapter 35:A looming threat
Chapter 36:Exchanging Eyes