GODS FALL: CHAPTER ONE
Fall from Grace
...
Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time,
Ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime.
They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed.
Speak not a whispered word about them, or they'll send the Talon for your head.
...
The history of Earth-2 is long and filled with secrets. One of the most well-kept secrets was the Court of Owls.
The Court of Owls had a vast influence on Gotham- despite that, they were shrouded in anonymity. They controlled Gotham and even small parts of the surrounding area like a puppet master. Pulling the strings from above until everything fell into place. It seemed they were invincible, untouchable. Gods among men, controlling lives with a mere wave of an invisible hand.
This seemed to always be the case. At least…up until the Crime Syndicate was founded.
In order to keep their perch among the significant and powerful, they made a deal with Thomas Wayne Jr. Also known as Owlman. They trained him, and even allowed him to pick out a Talon from their army to keep as his own.
It was a prosperous relationship, at least until Owlman's Talon was killed in battle. Whatever trust and respect either party had for each other dissipated. It was only when Owlman attempted to coerce the Court for another Talon, did it become even more strained.
When denied, Owlman later created some of the first Made-Men with the Syndicate's help. Made-Men are those that; through science, have brought out a latent meta gene that lie dormant in their blood. Giving them incredible abilities. With Owlman's Made-Men, he launched the first attack on the Court. Perhaps to prove a point about not needing the Court anymore, or maybe to get revenge for whatever perceived wrong that the Court had done to him. He eventually flushed the Court out of Gotham- for the first time since it had been built, Gotham was free of the Court of Owls. Not long after he completely claimed the entire territory as his own.
The truce was cut, and the Court was forced to make a new alliance with the remnants of the League of Assassins. Nyssa Al Ghul was now the head, as both her sister and father were killed by the Syndicate in order to 'keep them in their place'. Resentment on both sides for the Crime Syndicate made both of the usually independent factions decide to join forces.
The next Talons were children either abducted or born into the order, first trained by the League, then put through the more intense training of the Talons- they were enhanced into ruthless killing machines. A single Talon is rumored to have gone through at least sixty surgeries to make them the ultimate breed of assassins. Stronger, faster, more agile- even some could heal from impossible wounds do to their enhancements.
This is the life that Jax was born into. He wasn't always named that, in fact he was nine before he even met his mother- it was only sometime after then that he was given his name. Or 'earned' it rather, as she told him.
Jax was born into the order, with his mother being the Court's right hand. She was one of the few Talons that were obedient enough that the Court didn't wipe her mind. Making her an empty husk that simply took orders like many of the Talons. She instead retained her freewill. That same privilege was passed down to him as well.
The Court did not hesitate to remind him that it was a privilege, and not a right- should he ever fail.
He never failed.
The war between the Court of Owls and the Crime Syndicate had been brewing for years before his birth. Though it had only come to a head when the assassin had turned thirteen.
Then- everything changed.
...
[Earth-2]
||January 4, 2010, 13:00 PKT, Nanda Parbat, League of Assassins and Court of Owls Headquarters.||
He had gotten back to the current base of operations in Nanda Parbat from an assassination, his target had been a high-end supporter of the Syndicate that had helped fund the creation of Made-Men. It would be enough to put a chip in the Crime Syndicate's operation for a while. He had been in the Court's sanctum inside the east wing of Nanda Parbat. A grand area with a high-rise ceiling. The room was largely circular and cut out of the very mountains that Nanda Parbat was chiseled into. The council's faceless masks at this point did nothing to intimidate him. He has seen their smooth ivory featureless faces since he was a toddler. He knows he has done exceptional, and the Court acknowledges that as well.
This was one of the rare times that he had been able to see his mother. She was cold and distant as usual; however, she did give him the slightest acknowledgement of a head tilt when he walked into the room. Her way of informing him that he did well.
Sometimes he wonders if she ever had maternal instincts at all, or if she just saw him as another tool. He never thinks to hard on it, because he already knows the answer- and he is not fond of it.
As the grand minister went to give him his next task, it was then that Jax felt something amiss. It was only a second later that the very foundations of the very earth shook, and the ceiling above them caved in from a massive explosion.
The Court members ducked for cover as debris fell from the ceiling above. Keeping his footing, the Talon glanced up and narrowly dodged out of the way, only just avoiding a large granite pillar from crushing him. Landing in a roll and skidding to a stop, he narrowed his eyes behind his mask as several Made-Men stormed the fortress. It seemed to be the lower tiered Made-Men. There was only one Made-Men that was an S tier, which he recognized as Artemis. Superwoman's protégé.
How could they have possibly tracked them down at Nanda Parbat? It wasn't possible. It was one of the most hidden fortresses that the League had. Did the League sell them out, or were they being attacked too?
Shaking his head to displace the distracting thoughts, he looked around for his mother- only to find her missing from the crowd. She was probably already fighting, as he should be doing as well. He briefly scans over his foes for any weaknesses and starts cleaving through the lesser Made-Men with ease. He heads straight for the demi-god who is currently ripping lesser Talons apart. He needs to take her down first so that the Council members will have time to escape.
Flipping out of the way of Artemis' spear she had thrusted towards his throat, he twisted before slamming the palm of his hand into the handle of the spear. The wood splintered, and the spearhead clattered to the ground uselessly. She snarled like a frenzied beast and lashed out with the spear again, despite the weapon now missing it's pointed tip.
Crouching he then leaned back into a back-hand spring, simultaneously he brought both feet up until they collided into the Amazonian's jaw. She recoiled as he landed back on his feet and settled into a fighting stance. She tossed her broken weapon to the side, cracked her knuckles before charging with a fierce battle cry.
He spun and ducked under the fist being aimed for his face, slipping on his brass knuckles from his utility belt- he returned with an upper cut to the jaw. On a lesser human being it would have shattered it. She however, just stumbled back before snarling. She yelled in outrage before jumping into the air and bringing her hands above her head. He rolled out of the way as she collided with the floor and left a crater, the shockwave of the landing still hit him, and he only barely managed to reorient himself midair. His back painfully hit into a pillar, driving the air temporarily from his lungs.
Eyes widening behind his mask, he jumped up, used the pillar behind him as a platform to kick off of, he launched out of the way from a large piece of debris being hurtled towards him that the Amazonian had thrown. The debris hit the pillar, the pillar's foundation was damaged and fell to the earth like a fallen giant. The room couldn't take another blow like that, the structural integrity had already deteriorated beyond acceptable levels. It was obvious, he needed to finish this fight- and fast, before the Amazonian caused any more damage.
Artemis swiftly lashed out in a kick, he twisted his body a few inches as her foot caused another small crater in the earth. He did a front handspring using her shoulders as a platform, before he used his own momentum against her to throw her. Though mid-air she used her flight to stop herself. "Enough!" She yelled as she sped forwards. She grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall. He hissed as his hand came to grip at her arm that held him. His clawed gauntlets creating small cuts in her skin.
She didn't even seem to notice the pain as she smiled sadistically. Leaning forward- probably in an attempt to watch as the life drained out of him- he acted quickly and dug his thumbs into both of her eyes. He curled his thumbs into her sockets before ripping them out quickly. She let out a blood curdling shriek as streams of blood poured from her sockets. They looked like bloody tears. She threw him to the side and dropped to her knees. "I can't see! By Hera- I can't see!"
Unsheathing his sword- standing slowly, he leisurely made his way back across the room- she was too distracted by pain to care about her surroundings, which would be her downfall, he thrust his blade through her throat. "Guess you didn't see that coming then." He remarked dryly as she gurgled on her own blood.
The Talon took only a second to take a deep breath. However, a second was all his enemy needed. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, and that was the only warning he had.
He reacted too late as a blurred force slammed into him. He bounced off of the ground before landing at the base of the broken pillar. Should he have been a lesser human, he likely would have died from a hit like that. In this instance however, he only had broken ribs- a small price to pay. Looking up, the Talon scowled in anger behind his mask as Ultraman slowly floated towards him.
He glanced around wondering where the other Talons were, and a cold chill ran down his spine he realized that the smell of death was suffocating. Broken bodies of Talons and League of Assassins members were strewn across the fortress. They had lost. It seemed that the League of Assassins had also been a victim.
"You're a rather feisty one, aren't you? Superwoman isn't going to be happy about the loss of her protégé." He tutted. "Then again, you did do her a favor. Weeding out the weaklings."
The Talon's thoughts ran rampant for any way to take down the enemy in front of him. He kept coming up empty.
Ultraman didn't have any weaknesses since he destroyed all the world's supply of kryptonite. Unless…
He made a mad dash for the glinting broken spearhead that was on the ground, Ultraman didn't stop him- didn't see him as a threat. Hoping that the Amazonian's weapon had been magical, the assassin firmly clasped his hands around the spearhead and lashed out just as Ultraman grabbed his wrist. He let out a grunt of pain as he felt the bone of his wrist snap in Ultraman's hand, though he felt a sick sort of satisfaction as the spearhead cut across the alien's cheek. Rivulets of blood dripped from the cut, and as he lifted the spearhead again to stab him- the alien knocked it out of his hand.
He writhed in Ultraman's hold. The alien brushed the cut on his cheek- with his thumb he collected the blood and looked at it. As if he was not used to bleeding. Seeing that it was in fact blood, the kryptonian's eyes flared red with rage. He chuckled darkly. "Oh…you'll pay for that."
"And you'll pay for this." The assassin growled out. "The Court and the League of Assassins will be coming for you." He threatened, though this only caused Ultraman to smile.
Ultraman dropped him, before promptly stepping on his back- not crushing him- but just keeping him pinned. At this point it was beyond delivering a message, it was about petty revenge. About putting his enemies under his boot. It must be a sort of power trip for him- the Talon thought bitterly. "You think this is the first fortress of yours that we've attacked?" The alien snorted, increasing the pressure slightly. "How naïve. This was the last. There is no more Court of Owls, no more League of Assassins. No more annoying thorns in my side. Well, except for you. You're the last. Tell me, how does that feel?"
He grinned ruefully behind his Talon mask despite the way his heart clenched painfully in his chest. His mother always taught him to show no fear. "I don't know, how does it feel to be the last of your kind Ultraman?" He spat.
The alien's eyes widened before he snarled viciously. He lifted his boot off of the assassin's back only to drive it into his already battered ribs. He was sent a few feet across the room. "I should skin you alive, gut you and hang your corpse up on my front door as a warning to anyone who messes with me." The kryptonian reached down before pulling off the Talon's mask. "This souvenir will have to do. White Martian, Zatara- finish this for me, will you? I have a date I need to get ready for."
The ultimate cowardice is to not finish an enemy off yourself- Jax thought. The boy spat at the man's boots in distaste. His face feeling naked without the Talon mask shielding his features.
Feeling an invisible grip surround him and lift him up, he fights just to turn his head a few inches. It's like his entire body is lead, it takes a huge effort to even twitch his fingers. He sees the monstrous Martian phase out from behind a wall, while Zatara comes out of the shadows- flipping his hat on top of his head. The magician smirks. "Of course, Ultraman, though I thought you'd like to do the honors."
The alien let out a small 'hmph'. "He's beneath me. Now, get this done. I have other places to be." The alien lifts upwards before leaving through the hole made from the initial explosion.
The Talon tries to fight against the invisible bonds, however the Martian just flicks its eerie colored red eyes to watch as he squirms helplessly. It was predatory, sadistic- they had no honor in killing. They only did so because they enjoyed it, they didn't care about collateral or being professional. They did it because they wanted to, because they could. It made rage bubble and fester under his skin like a kettle fixing to let out steam.
Zatara stepped in front of the Talon. "Ooh, as much as I love to see you crush them to death, can I do the fun part this time? I have a spell I've prepared just for this."
The Martian didn't say anything, however the Talon wasn't convinced that the Martian hadn't said something through telepathy, as suddenly the magician's grin became foreboding. "Oh goodie, now- stay perfectly still boy."
He couldn't talk, couldn't breathe, every muscle was under the control of the Martian. There was no way out of this, he would die here. He tried to resist though felt the vice like grip only become tighter, he weakly coughed up some blood as his vision got blurry. The broken bodies of the other Talons around him made his stomach churn.
"Esrevinu siht morf nolaT citehtap siht evomer!" The incantation sounded like gibberish. Everything felt like it was underwater. He couldn't even scream as black magic consumed him and seemed to rip him apart from the inside out.
...
It was a day later when the Crime Syndicate members came to regroup to discuss their most recently felled enemy.
Johnny Quick leaned back in his seat and propped his feet on the table. "Well that outta show 'em who's boss for a while, yeah? Two birds with one stone." He grinned before shoving a handful of chips into his mouth. Where he got them is a mystery, perhaps he had run out of the room in between words to get them.
Superwoman glared. "You idiot, Owlman- when you told me of this mission you insisted that this would be an easy fight. Why is it that Artemis is dead?" She slammed a fist onto the table, making a dent in it- the only reason it wasn't completely demolished was because Owlman reinforced everything in the room particularly for situations like this. Damn metas.
Owlman didn't look up from his wrist computer- where he was typing. "There were always risks associated with this mission. Though I admit, I wasn't expecting any casualties. In fact, I wasn't even expecting any major injuries. It seems there were a few Talons more skilled than I gave them credit for."
"Bullshit!" The woman snarled, Owlman didn't even flinch as she lifted her chair and tossed it only inches away from his head. It crashed against the opposite wall. "I want compensation. First my Lieutenant is assassinated, and now this?"
Owlman finally looked up. "With a tighter hold on the public we now have more funds to make more Made-Men. I'm certain you can find someone of your choosing, yes?"
Only this seemed to satisfy the woman's rage, and she nodded.
Ultraman sighed. "Now that everything is settled-"
"Not so fast." Owlman lifted a hand. "Bring Zatara in."
Ultraman glared, not liking to be interrupted. "Why?" The kryptonian asked.
"Do it."
Ultraman scowled at the other man giving him orders, though he pressed the comm on the table anyways. "Zatara, please get your ass in the Syndicate meeting room. Now."
Johnny Quick groaned and spun in his chair. "Come on Owly, we finished up with this. Why are you dragging this meeting out so long?" The bored speedster complained.
Leveling Johnny Quick with a deadly glare, the speedster froze and gulped before looking away. A few minutes passed and Zatara walked in. Owlman only moved his glare off of the speedster when the magician walked in. The room felt at least several degrees colder as Owlman narrowed his eyes at the magician. Zatara cleared his throat awkwardly and tugged at the collar of his suit.
"Tell me-" Owlman started, as he pulled up video footage of the fight between the Talons from Nanda Parbat. "-What exactly you did to the Talon that killed Artemis."
The magician raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry to disappoint if you wanted a sidekick-"
"An interesting idea. But no." It was true that it was a waste of talent. Owlman would have preferred having White Martian wiping his mind before taking the Talon on as his own. Perhaps as retribution for the lost protégé of his own. It was too late now. "However, you did not answer my question. What did you do with the Talon?"
Superwoman glared. "He should have been brought to me for torture, he killed my protégé, it is only fair." She gave an accusatory glare towards Ultraman.
The Krptonian scowled. "Enough! Zatara, answer the damn question."
The magician nodded. "I killed him of course. Removed his very essence from the universe."
Johnny Quick jumped up. "See, told you there's no reason for this little interrogation Owly. Now everyone can go home and-"
Owlman scowled. "Sit." He ordered the man like a dog. The speedster promptly did as he requested. Owlman's attention then turned back to the magician. "You may have removed his essence from the universe, but you didn't kill him." There was a collective pause as Owlman let that sink in. The shocked faces of the other Syndicate members slowly morphed to either confusion- or in Ultraman's case- rage.
"You were supposed to kill him damnit! You had one job!" He roared, the magician promptly shrunk back.
"Wait wait wait, before everyone gets hysterical over this- if he removed the Talon from the universe then it would have to kill him. Where else would he go?" Johnny Quick asked.
"The first smart thing you've asked." Owlman remarked dryly before connecting his gauntlet computer to the Syndicate's mainframe to share data. In a moment there was a picture of the earth projected above them. "This, is our earth, this earth is in our galaxy, and this galaxy which is in our universe. Also known as Earth-2." He then pulled up a simulation. Thousands upon thousands of other earths appeared. "These are other earths… which are each housed in a different universe. Essentially- there are infinite earths, infinite universes, and infinite realities. Each of them radically different with different versions of us, or- perhaps some are so alike you could look for years and not find a single difference."
Superwoman was the first to speak up. "You mean- there is an alternate universe in which we are poor and weak?" She asked. Flexing her hand into a fist like she despised the very idea.
Johnny Quick waved his arms around to get the attention of the others. "Hello! Am I the only one that thinks this whole 'infinite worlds' thing is kinda I dunno…insane? How do we know that Owlman isn't tryna tell a joke with us as the punchline? Huh?"
Owlman growled. "I. Do. Not. Joke." He pulled up something else that seemed to be a line that tracked the position of something across the different earths. "This is the quantum flux I picked up on earlier today. Something…someone with the quantum signature to our universe went beyond our universe's bounds. I am currently trying to figure out where the trail stops, though I'll need more sophisticated technology to pinpoint the location- or rather- which dimension."
The senior members of the Syndicate seemed to be at ease with the explanation. All except Johnny Quick, it looked like he wanted to argue- though he said nothing. Ultraman looked at Zatara. "I guess we should thank you Zatara, if it wasn't for you- we might have never discovered this…potentially interesting fact. We've conquered this world, have it under heel. But why stop there? Am I right?" Ultraman stood from his seat to clap a hand on the magician's shoulder.
"Ah, yes- I suppose now we will plan world domination? Or rather the domination of worlds." The magician asked. Ultraman gave a slight nod.
"All except for one thing." The magician looked at him, however Ultraman suddenly shoved his hand through the magician's chest. Zatara's eyes widened as he gurgled on his own blood. Ultraman sneered and leaned forward. "We will be continuing this plan without you. Enjoy retirement Zatara." Ripping his fist out of the other man's chest, the magician fell to the ground in a spluttering heap. Though after a few more seconds of his limbs twitching, the magician fell silent. No one even blinked twice at the sight. Ultraman turned to Owlman. "How long until you can track down the Talon's quantum signature and make us a way to get there?"
"I'll need time." The man answered vaguely.
The kryptonian glared. "How much time?"
"I don't even have the materials, perhaps a year- maybe two?"
Ultraman shook his head. "Make that six months- or else." The kryptonian walked towards the exit. "Meeting dismissed." Owlman glared at his back as it retreated.
Ultraman doesn't know that there is indeed still a small amount of kryptonite left in this universe, and Owlman is the one that has it. He had better be careful.
None of the others moved, Ultraman might have named himself the leader- but they all know who was really in charge. Finally, Owlman stood. "I agree, meeting dismissed."
Now it's time to hunt.