[One Week Later]
Dakota City had seen a lot of strange things over the years.
Meta fights tearing through downtown. Bang Babies lighting up the skyline. Random explosions that somehow became part of the weekly routine.
Still, this?
This had people stopping mid-step on the sidewalk just to stare.
JH&M Pizza stood there like it had been pulled out of the past and polished to perfection. The crooked sign was straight now. The faded paint had returned to a clean, bold shine. The windows reflected the street like fresh glass instead of dull dust. Even the door, with that same old bell, looked like it had never been broken in the first place.
Nobody missed the detail.
John Mason, ruler of Kahndaq, walking natural disaster, the guy governments argued about in closed rooms, had apparently decided to reopen a pizza shop.
With Harley Quinn.
And a blue-skinned cryokinetic girl who could freeze a city block.
People had questions.
A lot of questions.
"Bro, I'm telling you, this has to be some kind of front," one guy whispered while standing in line, eyes locked on the building like it might explode.
The girl next to him shook her head without looking away. "A front for what? He literally owns a country. What's he laundering, pizza money?"
Another guy further back leaned forward, lowering his voice like it mattered. "Nah, nah, this is definitely one of those 'stay low' moves. Like, when people get too powerful and then suddenly act normal."
"Yeah?" the first guy replied. "So your version of acting normal is running a pizza shop?"
The line kept growing anyway.
Curiosity had dragged them in first. Then word spread. Old regulars started showing up. People who remembered the place before it shut down. People who swore the crust used to hit different. People who just wanted to see if the stories were real.
By the time the doors opened, the sidewalk was packed.
Inside, it didn't feel like a global headline.
It felt like noise, heat, and movement.
Harley was everywhere at once.
She slid across the floor, spinning around a customer while balancing two trays on one hand like she had done it her whole life. "Alright, who ordered the Harley Special?" she called out, voice bright and way too loud for the size of the room.
A guy near the front raised his hand slowly, already looking nervous. "Uh… I think that's me."
Harley grinned as she dropped the tray in front of him with a dramatic flourish. "Congratulations, you absolute legend. You just signed up for the spiciest decision of your life."
He stared at the pizza, then back at her. "How spicy is it exactly?"
She leaned in slightly, lowering her voice like she was sharing a secret. "Let's just say if you survive this, I might actually respect you."
Behind the counter, Maureen watched the interaction while handing over a drink to another customer. Her eyes still flicked toward the crowd every few seconds like she expected something to go wrong.
A kid pointed at her from the side, whispering loudly to his mother. "Mom, is that her? The ice girl? She's so cool."
Maureen didn't react at first. She just placed another order on the counter and said, "Next," like it didn't matter. But in her mind, she did a little jump. 'I'm cool! Hehehe.'
The mother gave an awkward smile and nudged her son forward. "Sorry about that. He watches too much news."
Maureen glanced at the kid for a second, then pushed a small box toward him. Then she took out an ice-pop, "On the house." She held it before the kid.
The kid blinked, then smiled as he took the ice-pop. "Thank you."
She smiled a little.
In the back, the heat was constant.
John worked without rushing. Dough stretched between his hands in smooth, practiced motions before landing on the counter. Sauce spread evenly. Cheese followed. Then toppings, measured without thinking.
A man in a suit stood near the open counter, watching him like he was trying to solve something. "You're really doing this," he said after a moment, adjusting his tie. "You could be anywhere in the world right now."
John didn't look up as he slid a pizza into the oven. "I am."
The man frowned slightly. "You know what I mean. Kahndaq, global negotiations, whatever comes next. This doesn't seem… efficient."
John wiped his hands on a cloth and finally glanced at him. "It's not supposed to be."
The man hesitated, clearly not expecting that answer. "So this is what, then? A break?"
John picked up another piece of dough. "Call it that if you want."
Out front, Harley leaned over the counter, watching Maureen stack boxes. "Y'know, Bluebell, you're doing that scary quiet thing again," she said, tapping the counter lightly.
Maureen didn't look up. "I'm working."
"Yeah, yeah, I see that," Harley replied, lowering her voice just a bit. "But you're also thinking too hard. Your face does that thing."
Maureen paused, then sighed under her breath. "There are too many people."
Harley tilted her head, studying her for a second. Then she reached over and flicked Maureen's forehead lightly. "Hey. You're fine. They're here for pizza, not a fight."
Maureen blinked at her, then frowned slightly. "You say that like it means anything."
Harley grinned. "It means if someone tries something stupid, we get to throw them out dramatically. Which I am very excited about, by the way."
That got the smallest reaction out of her. Not quite a smile, but close enough.
The bell above the door rang again.
More people stepped in.
The line didn't shrink.
Across the room, someone took a picture. Then another. Within minutes, it was already spreading online.
The ruler of Kahndaq.
Harley Quinn.
Permafrost.
Running a pizza shop like nothing else in the world mattered.
...
Later that night, JH&M Pizza finally settled into silence.
The rush was gone, the heat from the ovens had faded, and the shop felt smaller without the noise filling it. The faint smell of dough and cheese still lingered in the air, clinging to the walls like it belonged there.
Harley and Maureen had taken the last delivery about twenty minutes ago.
The church wasn't far, just a few blocks down, but Harley had insisted on going herself. She had loaded up two large pizza boxes, garlic bread, and drinks, then dragged Maureen along.
"Relax, big guy," she had said on her way out, flashing that grin. "We're doin' a good deed. Try not to miss us too much."
Now he was alone in the shop.
John moved through the space at an unhurried pace, finishing what was left. He wiped down the last counter, straightened a stack of boxes, and checked the oven without really needing to.
When he was done, he stopped.
His eyes moved across the shop slowly.
The repaired walls. The clean counters. The sign that no longer leaned like it used to. Everything looked better than it had back then, but something about it still felt the same.
For a moment, he just stood there, hands resting lightly against the edge of the counter.
'Maybe one day,' he thought.
The idea stayed unfinished, but it lingered long enough to matter.
The bell above the door rang.
The sound cut through the quiet, sharp enough to pull him out of it immediately.
John turned toward the entrance, already shifting back into that calm, controlled state. The door had opened just enough to let someone slip inside, bringing a draft of cool night air with them.
"We're closed," he said as he reached for the cleaning cloth again. "Come back tomorrow after eight."
No response came.
That alone was enough to make him pause.
John's attention sharpened as he looked up fully this time. The figure near the door hadn't moved further in, but something about her presence felt off in a way that didn't belong here.
Then he felt it... the overwhelming dark energy around the girl. To normal people, she was just another girl in a hoodie, but for someone with the power of twelve Gods, he could sense the disgusting energy.
'Dark magic... Demon...'
His posture shifted just slightly.
The girl reached up and pulled her hood back.
Pale gray skin caught the light first, followed by short strands of purple hair framing her face. Her violet eyes lifted last, unfocused for a fraction of a second before locking onto him with unnatural clarity.
John didn't move from where he stood. He knew who that girl was. 'Raven!'
She tilted her head, studying him in a way that felt invasive without her taking another step. Her eyes flickered, adjusting, like she was processing more than what was in front of her.
"You're exhausted," she said quietly. "Not your body... your mind and soul. Even though you've found happiness, there's a part of you that wants a simple and peaceful life."
John's expression stayed neutral, though his gaze hardened slightly. "You need to stop doing that."
She stepped forward anyway.
Her movement was slow, and the faint echo of her footsteps carried further than it should have in a closed space.
"You don't stop," she continued, ignoring him completely. "Even when you're standing still, you're still moving. You don't give yourself time to think, because thinking leads back to things you can't fix."
John set the cloth down.
"Stop," he said, more firmly this time.
Her lips parted slightly, not quite forming a smile, but something close to it. "You miss her."
John's eyes widened.
"Not the one who's with you right now," she added, her tone quieter but more certain. "The one you lost. The one you couldn't bring back the way you wanted."
"ENOUGH!" John yelled as a burst of divine lightning swept over the area.
==
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[13 advance chs]