It hurts.

Your body lays beaten and bloody on the dirty floor as John watches from the corner, his face obscured by shadow, lit up only by his cigarette. He fiddles with your ring between his fingers, the conduit of your power, and you can feel his gaze piercing through you, waiting for something to happen, for your power to spike without the ring and give him an excuse to put you out of your misery.

But it never happens.

He exhales a plume of smoke, slipping your ring into his pocket, stepping forward with heavy footfalls before crouching in front of you, tilting his head slightly. "Luv, I know you don't know why this is happening." John says gently, reaching down with his free hand to stroke your hair.

"You're probably thinking, 'Oh Johnny is such a fucking bastard, how could he do this?'"

He takes another drag of his cigarette.

"Well, that's alright. Because if I'm being completely honest, your only mistake was doing exactly what I asked of you. If I asked you to rip this world in half using your powers, you would have done it. Which is too much power for one person. I mean, what if someone used an illusion to look like me, or I lost my mind one day? Or, far more likely, you lost that faith in me and latched onto some other, equally terrible person."

John drops the cigarette onto the floor and shifts a little to crush it under his boot, quickly lighting up a new one.

"I am flattered that you trusted me this much, although, as you probably know, flattery will get you nowhere."

Standing up, John turns on his heel to leave you there before pausing and glancing at you over his shoulder. "By the way... Don't get it in your pretty little head that the League will help you get your powers back." He turns his head forward, a toothy grin on his face that you can hear in his voice and resumes walking out. "They agreed to this."