"Limited to ones' Imagination" - DC Fanfic

The living room buzzed with an odd mixture of energy and tension.

In one corner, Green Lantern Hal Jordan sat cross-legged on the floor, playing with James and the supposed "toy" dinosaur. The Mechazord-inspired dino moved with an unsettling fluidity, reacting to James's movements almost too perfectly, as if it had a mind of its own. James, of course, was completely oblivious to this and was having the time of his life, giggling as Hal conjured up constructs of alien creatures to "battle" the metal dino.

Across the room, however, the atmosphere was entirely different.

Seated around the dining table were John Constantine, Raven, and Batman, their expressions ranging from amused to unreadable. Margaret sat nearby, her hands gripping her chair tightly, her gaze flickering between Alex and the newcomers with nervous confusion.

Alex, on the other hand, looked aggravated as hell.

His eyes locked onto Batman, and his voice dripped with accusation as he muttered, "You went to the window on purpose to get James to squeal, didn't you?"

John chuckled, clearly entertained, while Batman simply responded in his usual deadpan tone, "It was a coincidence."

Alex didn't believe that for a second.

Margaret sat quietly, eating the meal Alex had made, though it was clear from the slight tremble in her hands that she was unsettled. After a long moment of silence, she finally spoke, her voice hesitant.

"D-Did I… or Alex… do something wrong?" she asked, her fingers tightening around her fork. "I-I'm sure Alex didn't do anything bad… did he?"

John, ever the charmer, waved a hand dismissively and leaned back in his chair. "Of course not, love," he assured her. "It's just that Alex here has abilities I'm sure he hasn't quite told you about yet."

Margaret turned to Alex, her expression searching.

Alex let out a deep sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was gonna tell you eventually," he admitted. "I just… didn't know how you'd take it."

Before Margaret could respond, a familiar sound cut through the tension—

Her phone buzzed.

She grabbed it, expecting a normal notification, but as soon as she looked at the screen, her eyes widened. The same distorted voice that had once given her information about Robert's experiments spoke once again—

"Heya, Margaret! Long time no see!"

Margaret's breath caught in her throat.

She turned to Alex, realization dawning over her. "Wait… that was you?" she whispered. "You were the one who gave me the info?"

Alex nodded, eyes steady. "Yeah."

Margaret swallowed, but her shock only deepened when Alex continued.

"Oh, and… remember that Hulk that helped Superman out a while back?" he said casually.

Margaret blinked.

Her fork nearly slipped from her fingers.

"...That was you?!"

Alex exhaled through his nose, giving her a lopsided shrug.

Margaret stared at him, her mind racing as she tried to process everything. This entire time… the person she had trusted, the one who had looked out for her and James… was secretly capable of standing toe-to-toe with Superman.

Silence stretched for a long moment.

Then, to everyone's surprise, Margaret smiled.

"I still love you, Alex," she said softly.

Alex felt something in his chest loosen, like a weight he hadn't even realized was there had suddenly lifted.

Margaret shook her head playfully. "Just… tell me sooner next time, okay?"

Alex chuckled, relief washing over him as he gave her a small, grateful smile.

Then, his attention snapped back to the three sitting across from him.

His expression hardened again.

"Alright, out with it," he said, leaning back in his chair. "You didn't just come here to expose me, so what else?"

Batman, ever the pragmatic one, wasted no time.

"We need to look into your soul," he stated bluntly. "We've been encountering… problems. You might be connected."

John, ever one to cut straight to the point, added, "To be real with ya, mate, we wanna check if all this power is safe within you—and maybe even figure out if there's a limit to what you can do. And yes, there is an actual problem."

Alex raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Oh? So you wanna see if I'll go off the deep end and start throwing planets around, huh?"

John smirked. "Something like that."

Raven, who had been silent up until now, finally spoke, her voice calm but heavy with meaning.

"This isn't a joke, Alex." Her dark eyes locked onto his. "If there's something corrupting your soul, we need to know now—before it's too late."

Alex held her gaze for a long moment before finally sighing.

"Well?" He spread his arms out. "What are you waiting for? I'm ready for some soul investigation."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the atmosphere shifted.

The room's temperature seemed to drop as Raven, John, and Batman closed their eyes in unison. A faint, mystical energy began to radiate from them, washing over the room like a slow-moving tide.

Alex felt something pulling at him, a sensation that was both foreign and strangely familiar—as if someone was gently peeling back layers of himself.

His own eyes began to close on instinct, and the moment they did—

The world around them faded.

Meanwhile, in the background, Margaret turned away from the table and joined Hal and James, who were still enthusiastically playing with the dinosaur.

James barely even noticed the strange shift in the air as he made pew-pew noises, commanding his dino to charge at one of Hal's light constructs.

Margaret, however, stole one last glance at Alex—

Then forced herself to look away, trying to pretend that nothing was happening.

She had faith in him.

She had to.