The Man:
Tilting my head, leaning slightly to the side, I see someone in the back.
"Oh," I start, raising my hands. "Hey, Deadman. Where is Gentleman Ghost?"
"Deadman," Oliver repeats, along with most of the others. Slade and Jason Todd turn back to look at Deadman as he walks toward me. Walking right through Jason Rusch, Jason screams and jumps.
"Ahh! Don't do that!"
Deadman walks right up to me. He raises his hands and begins signing.
"Okay," I say, nodding. "Okay. Yeah. Hey, congratulations."
"What?" Kara asks. "What's happening right now? Who is this?"
"Deadman," I answer, "And he's signing."
"Signing?"
"A-S-L," I go on, signing an A, S, and L with one hand. "American Sign Language."
"Sign Language? What's that?"
"It's how deaf people, people who can't hear, communicate," Professor Stein answers. "It's a marvelous form of communication. I remember taking a few classes, but that was years ago."
Stepping forward, Professor Stein raises both his hands and starts signing.
"My name is Martin Dirty? What?"
"What?"
"That's why you just signed. You signed that your name is Martin Dirty? Wait, did you mean stain?"
"No. I meant to sign Stein. My name is Martin Stein."
"Why are you telling me your name? I already know your name. Deadman also already knows your name. We all know your name."
"He already knows my name? How?"
"Oh, Deadman has been with us since even before I rescued Kara from Stryker's Island. You guys remember Hub City? During that whole apartment fight?"
"That's why you looked so familiar," Harleen yells, slapping herself on the forehead. "I thought your suit looked familiar. Thank you!"
"Yeah. Who do you think held Raven off while you, Jason, Professor Stein, and Cheetah escaped? It was Deadman, or if it helps, you can call him by his first name, Dick."
"Dick?" Oliver screams. "As in Dick Grayson? The first--"
"Robin," I finish, nodding.
"But wait, I thought Damian killed him."
"He did. That's why Dick Grayson is a ghost."
I turn to Deadman and nudge my head.
"Show them. Give me the gemstone."
Deadman rolls his eyes before throwing the gemstone at me. As soon as the gemstone leaves his hand, Deadman, suit and mask, all disappear.
"Via all the known rules of ghosts, they are invisible, can phase through solid matter, and cannot be seen or heard. Of course, there are exceptions."
Turning, I shoot my hand back.
"Not yet, Casper. I'm still trying to prove my point."
"Wait," Barry says, looking around, his head snapping left and right.
"You can still see Dick, can you? And hear him? Even without sign language. You can talk to him."
"Yes," I say, throwing the gemstone back at Deadman. Catching it, his body, suit, and mask begin to solidify, becoming visible to everyone. "Remember when the Lords of Order attempted to rewrite time? How Dinah, Snart, and even Kara were part of Superman's One Earth Government."
"Please don't remind me of that," Dinah says, placing her hand against her head.
"Yeah," Snart says. "Please do not remind me of that either."
Looking down, I notice Snart's shaking hand.
"Anyway, do you remember that despite being outside the base when it happened, I wasn't affected by it?"
"Yes," everyone answers. "More or less. Kind of."
"Do you remember why I wasn't affected?"
"You explained that it was because you existed outside of conventional space and time," Professor Stein answers. "That you existed on your own plane."
Smiling and nodding, I clap my hands together before spreading them out. A large blue holographic square appears between my hands, growing bigger as I spread them out.
"This is the main timeline," I explain, tapping a bunch of random spots on the square, dots appearing where I tapped. "Each of these dots represents key events."
Pulling my hand back, I flick the square over. Grabbing both faces, I spread out my hands again, and two more blue squares appear. I tap the bottom one first.
"This is my plane. It overlaps with your plane. This one in the middle? That's Dick's plane."
"He had his own plane of existence?" Selina asks.
"It's not exactly his own plane. Like mine, it's still connected to the main plane, but more."
I flick Dick's plane, making it perpendicular instead of parallel.
"Dick is still affected by time, unlike me. As for being solid and visible, that's because of the gemstone he's holding. By the way, that's mine, too."
Deadman holds up the gemstone for everyone to see.
"Uhh, I hate to interrupt," someone says, grabbing all our attention. Turning and leaning to the side, I see the Doc and Iris waving at me. "But Aquaman would like to see you."
"Who?"
I point at Wilson, Oliver, and Eobard.
"Please be specific."
"Aquaman would like to see you, the man in the sunglasses."
"Darn. I hope it would be someone else. Oh well. I might as well see what the Lords of the Fishes want with me."
"Wait," Oliver says, "We need to tell you about everything that happened. Gentleman Ghost--"
"Came. He and Dick fought. You all tried to help, but couldn't. Your attack went through Gentleman Ghost. Iris appeared. She slapped the talisman I wrote on Gentleman, making him solid and vulnerable to your attack. He shot at him, knocking him into the water, but he still escaped. Am I missing anything?"
"...No, but how did you--"
I point my thumb at Deadman.
"Dick signs fast."
Walking back to Aquaman's cot, I see the mighty king sitting upright. His skin is still covered in rashes and white blisters, but they're only in small patches. His veins have stopped glowing, and while he still sounds out of breath, he isn't coughing anymore.
"You," Aquaman says, panting while pointing a finger at me. "You saved my people and me."
I look around.
Most of the other Alteantans are also sitting up. Like Aquaman, their skin is still covered in small patches of rashes and blisters, but they're sitting upright, drinking salt water from cups. However, I do notice a few with blankets on them.
I lower my head and give them a few seconds of silence.
"Yeah," I say afterward.
"But I have to know. Before, you yelled that you were going to murder my people and me. Why?"
"Oh, that's easy. It's because you were mean to me."
"What?"
I slap Aquaman's hand away and point a finger right back at him.
"Meeaaannn," I yell, shaking my stern finger. "You were mean to me! So I have to be mean to you, and then you'll be mean back at me. This creates an endless cycle of us hating each other. Like how I hate Flash."
"Really?" Flash asks.
I pull back my hand and hit Flash with my elbow. He stumbles back, but Oliver catches him in time.
Oliver grabs Flash's shoulder and nods.
"Yeah," Oliver says with a nod. "He's still mad at you for almost betraying him."
"You sound like a toddler," Aquaman says.
"Meeaaannn," I yell again, pointing a finger at Aquaman. "You were mean to me."
"If I was so mean to you, then why did you save me? Why save Atlantic?"
"Because despite our growing hatred of each other, we still need your help, King Crabby."
"My help?"
"We came here in the hope of asking you and your kingdom to join us, the Insurgency, in defeating Superman and his One Earth Government. So, what's your answer?"