Chapter Eleven: Cultivating Hope Part Two.
Hope felt as if she was unable to properly lift her head and get a good look around despite her best efforts. There was no way for her to properly move her head and focus on her surroundings. In fact all she saw was a few blinking lights and wondered if this was the manifestation of her powers or the drugs in her system starting to take hold of her. Her heart steadily beat as she tried once more in vain to lift her head but she found that there was no easy way out of where she was restrained.
Trapped didn't even begin to describe how she felt right now. Hopeless didn't even begin to describe what Hope was feeling and she was trying to figure out a way to get herself out of the sticky situation that she was in, but there really was no easy way out, not this time, maybe not ever. She tried to free herself once more struggling fiercely against her bonds but Sinister grabbed her around the neck and pushed her back into place. There was a sense that he was annoyed that she was giving him more of a fight than he would have liked.
"Don't fret, it will be over soon, this will be less painful then going to the dentist," Sinister murmured in a taunting voice but he heard the crunch of minion skull on the outside of the door. It was not a sound that he was at ease with and there was another crunch as one of the minions flew through the door and landed against a crate with a sickening crack.
"Hope you don't mind, but we made our own way inside."
Shayera stepped inside, holding her big mace, and she was not alone.
"Hawkgirl," Sinister stated as he took a good look at the all star cast that was making their way into his domain. "As well as Wonder Woman, Power Girl, and Zatanna, all this attention for little old me? I'm touched."
"Okay, so you've read a few papers, you know our names, big freaking whoop," Karen stated dryly as she was a few inches away from putting her fist through his skull.
"Ahh but you see my dear, well I know everything about you, you know absolutely nothing about me," Sinister said to them all. "Therefore since I know you all so well, I know what it takes to annihilate you!"
Sinister pointed his hands in their direction and tried to blast Power Girl but she ducked under his attacks with ease and she blocked his follow up attack by grabbing his hand. The buxom blonde Kryptonian tightened the grip she had on him then twisted sending him smashing into the closest wall.
'Distraction, you need a distraction? Okay Harry, no problem, one distraction coming right up,' Karen thought tensely as she lifted her hands up before clapping them together at super strength causing a sonic blast to ring outwards.
It didn't have the effect on Sinister that she intended it to. Shayera's mace on the other hand? It more than had the effect which she wanted it to have. The mace smashed into Sinister's face with a sickening crunch, causing him to fly back with a solid impact to the ground.
"Got you…."
Diana moved in and tried to tie up Sinister but he dissolved into a black puddle of goo.
Harry nailed him in the face after popping up out of nowhere.
Sinister just reformed into a more solid form but never the less, he still felt the effects of being nailed. Artemis shot an arrow at him but he went intangible allowing it to phase through him.
"I have enhanced my own body with the DNA of other mutants from my world and quite the powerful specimens they were," Sinister stated as he took out a pack of playing cards and super charged them with kinetic energy before flinging them at his enemies.
The playing cards exploded in mid-flight, just narrowly missing them as they exploded too soon. Harry dodged out of the way of a second hand of cards and picked up a nearby drill to try and drill Sinister with. He once again was one step ahead of them.
"And now we go around and around and where I stop….well you know the rest," Sinister stated with a smug expression on his face.
Harry was getting sick and tired of this run around and he dodged the attacks as they came in. The Emerald eyed wizard was one step ahead of his enemy, maybe a half of a step if truth be told but he had to get him into the position.
Kara, meanwhile, while Sinister and Harry were having their go around, she had a very important job to do. She stepped over and found the young girl, strapped to a gurney. She could already tell that the girl had been pumped with enough drugs to kill a huge animal but because of her powers, she staved off most of it.
"It's okay, we're going to help you, just….try not to panic," Kara managed, almost pleading with the female.
Hope watched, wondering if she was going to be saved just to put in another prison. Her trust, as it was, was not at it's strongest right now. The blonde grabbed the straps and pulled them off.
The redhead, despite her mistrust, managed to hold her hands into the air and grab onto Kara's neck, allowing her to be pulled up. The blonde was trying to remove her.
Sinister was not that keen to allow his lab rat to be removed from the building and the fury that penetrated through his eyes showed this in spades.
"You won't…."
Harry nailed Sinister hard with a plasma blast from his hand. The energy blast broke through Sinister's shell and Harry noticed that a healing factor was kicking in nearly immediately.
He hated healing factors, so he needed to figure out a way to negate it and soon. His hand was raised into the air and he launched another bolt of energy towards Sinister. It staggered him back a few steps and Harry used the distraction to flip up over the top of his head. Sinister spun around to watch him standing there.
"Come on," Harry told him, waving for Sinister to come for him.
"You think you have any hope in beating me?" Sinister taunted him.
Har-Rell didn't even bother to respond to that verbally. His eyes closed for a moment before he opened them and unleashed his heat vision in it's most powerful form to blast Sinister backwards.
Hope watched his face and she couldn't help but take note of his eyes. It spooked her to see those emerald green eyes again and her heart began to thump even harder in her chest as she had one thought.
'No, it can't be, it's impossible,' Hope thought in abject disbelief.
Diana and Kara exchanged a nervous look. Some of those chemicals looked really flammable and the fact that Sinister fired optic beams back at Harry, it made things very dangerous.
'If those chemicals heat up….yeah it's time to go,' Karen stated in a frantic voice.
'Opening a portal, no need to leave this to chance,' Zatanna commented as she closed her eyes and channeled the mystical energies in the air.
The portal popped open and it allowed her to slip inside. The young enchanter was the first to slip through.
"I don't need to beat you," Harry told Sinister stated as he sensed the chemicals heat up and Sinister tried to take him down but Harry blocked his best attack and repelled it back at the Sinister with greater intensity.
Essex watched as his lab was about ready to go up around him and the chemicals, dangerous as they were, they were about ready to blow.
Harry gave him one more parting blast of heat vision and saw that his lifeline reader hit black, which meant that he was already dead on arrival.
He should have been dead a long time ago but he had used artificial means to enhance his life. Harry super sped out and vanished into nothing as there was a huge explosion around him.
X-X-X
"We have a problem."
Kara was the one to deliver those words to Harry, words that he despised so very much. The blonde looked extremely apologetic as Harry locked his eyes onto hers and Harry noticed that there was someone missing from their number. The young Herald of Death looked at his Alpha and there were only two words that spilled from his mouth.
"What now?"
Kara offered a smile to him. "Well you might notice that there's someone who should be here, is missing."
"Of course she is, but I could sense that she was disturbed out of her mind," Harry told Kara as he looked at his wife. "Poor kid, actually she's about eighteen or nineteen but the point still stands. She had a hard life so far."
"How can you tell?"
Harry smiled at Kara's inquiry. "I see the same haunted look in her eyes that I saw in the mirror in mine before I met you."
"Technically you didn't live that life, you know," Kara whispered to him but Harry put his arms around Kara and offered a smile.
"Technically I still remember living that life," Harry offered as he pulled his Alpha into a long kiss, as the other members of the Justice League stood anxiously around the two.
"Sinister's….well I don't see him anywhere," Diana informed them and Shayera offered her a frustrated grunt and she looked fiercely at Diana.
"Doesn't mean anything, if there's no body, then there's always a chance that he's out there," Shayera told her and Diana nodded, that was a rule of war. "Which means he's still out there, if there's no body, then it always means that they're still out there," Shayera told her and Diana nodded, that was a rule of war.
"I'm going to find our runaway," Harry told them and the girls looked at him.
They were about to ask how he could find her but then again, they realized that this was Harry. They would find a way to find her.
Harry stepped forward and threw his head back with a sigh as he teleported off with a slight pop and knew where he could find her.
Hope stood in the Arctic, the chill winds blowing in her face as she looked around nervously. There was a twisted knot in her stomach as she took in the sight that was in front of her.
She took a step forward and allowed the sights and the sounds to sink in at this moment. She saw the glowing Fortress, given her unique heritage, she could see it. She had seen wonders that many would only dream about and also horrors that still resided in her worst nightmares.
She felt a bit feverish but chalked that up to the drugs.
"It's beautiful isn't it?"
Hope turned around and saw Harry standing there.
"No, please stay away from me, you people have done enough!" Hope shouted to him as she felt a throbbing pain in the back of her head.
"You've lived a hard life, haven't you?" Harry asked the woman and she got on her feet. Harry could sense some anger coming from her.
"Don't pretend that you care, don't pretend you…."
"I'm not going to pretend anything, but I know where you're coming from, you're getting chased by monsters but what you're really trying to escape is the demons in your mind," Harry told her and Hope watched him. "You're in a brand new world, where nothing is familiar."
"No, the world….trust me the world I'm in, it's not….it wasn't worth staying in the old world," she stammered although she wondered how much of that she really meant. Harry smiled as he watched her.
"You feel the pain, it's obvious that you do," Harry told her in a gentle tone of voice and the woman watched him, nerves racking through her body.
Hope wondered where he was coming from.
"It was…."
"You lost everything that you knew, even if the world that you knew, was not the most….friendly place," Harry offered, with Hope noticing that Harry switched out what he was going to say at the last possible moment and there was a nod of her head.
"I guess one could say that," Hope admitted as she kept her eyes locked onto his.
She held the Phoenix pendant in her hand, thankfully it was not lost. She was going to guard it with her life, it was all of her mother that she had left.
"What is it?" Harry asked her.
Hope shook her head. "You remind me of someone that I used to know, no big deal really."
"Oh, well, I think that we should get you back, run some tests on you, make sure that Sinister hasn't done anything to your head," Harry offered to the woman and Hope kept her eyes on him and decided to allow him to lead her away.
The healing process began with a single step and she was more willing to trust him. There was just something about those eyes that invited a certain amount of trust.
Her body was weak, the chemicals….
"What was he after?" Hope asked Harry.
"He was after the ability to dominate those around him in order to force them underneath his heel," Harry offered the redhead female and Hope's wide eyes watched him.
"That much," Hope told him and Harry smiled.
"It's time to go home," Harry offered her and there was a long pause as he held her. "If you want to…."
"Yes, I want to," she said with a smile as her heart gave a leap, a jump, and a hop. It nearly pounded through her ribcage as Harry grabbed her.
She felt dizzy so it was likely for the best that she get checked out. He grabbed her around the waist and brought her home with a solid pop that resounded outwards for all to hear.
X-X-X
"So….that was quite the mission?"
Artemis didn't do as much as she would have liked but she contributed a little bit. Performing crowd control on the outside along with Batgirl and Alex to make sure that the minions did not overwhelm the Justice League so they could get to Sinister, well she also shot an arrow at him, but that was the extent of what they did.
"They all are," Alex offered with a shadow of a smile as she leaned back and rolled her shoulders. "What a day."
Harry smiled.
"You can say that again," Harry offered as he showed up and he saw the newest arrival standing in the hallway. "Hey, Alison, how are you doing?"
Alison Blaire, the pop star and mutant heroine known as Dazzler, smiled.
"Better now that I'm here with you," Alison commented with a grin.
"Claire hasn't been bugging you, has she?" Harry asked her.
Alison smiled. "No, I've had excited fans before so it's really nothing that I'm not used to, it will be okay. You have a very spirited daughter."
"Yes, both of them are," Harry agreed.
"So another survivor of the lost world," Alison told him and Harry nodded. "I didn't expect….is she like us?"
"I don't know, if she is, she's not saying anything," Harry told Alison and the blonde nodded, as Harry watched her. "I guess we'll find out what she is, all too soon, for better or for worse. I'm still trying to figure out what I am half of the time so I can only imagine what she's like. She has this great cosmic power that could destroy entire star systems if she can be pushed enough."
"And Darkseid would kill to get that," Alison whispered and Harry raised an eyebrow. The pop star offered him a shrug. "Of course he would, obviously he would, that goes without saying."
"Yes, that goes without saying," Harry offered Alison as he put an arm around her waist and stole a kiss which she happily returned.
"We need all of the help than we can get," Alison replied as she leaned back. She had brushed up on her own abilities, she had some combat training that proved to be useful although being on tour, she didn't have as much time to train as she would like. She was hoping to fix all of that, immediately.
"Yes, but she has a long way to go before she recovers but she'll get there," Harry told Alison and the blonde pop start nodded.
"Strength builds in her mind, adversity is something that causes the best to be brought out of all of us," Alison told him as she locked eyes and hands with Harry. "So you met him, didn't you? You met, Sinister."
"I take the two of you met before," Harry told the pop star and she offered him a shadow of a smile as she kept staring in his eyes.
"Yes, we met and it was….we'll demented was not the word to describe what he is, he is after the genetics of the most powerful mutants out there and now that he's in this new world, I think that he has a lot of new subjects to play with," Alison said grimly.
"I was hoping that he would get popped off when I was in there," Harry stated to her and Alison smiled at him.
"That is a good hope although with Sinister, it's kind of too much to hope," Alison offered as she slowly let go of his hands. The blonde was about ready to lift her hand to the top of her head but stopped. That was a bad habit that she picked up when she was under a lot of stress. "He'll find a way out. Providing the one you took on was the real deal."
Harry raised an eyebrow at her.
"Clones, he tends to pull that trick a lot," Alison offered him with a slight shrug of her shoulders and Harry smiled with a nod.
"Figures, it's either clones, robots, or a clone of a robot," Harry said.
"Don't forget shape shifting alien," Alex chimed in helpfully and Harry smiled.
"Yes, there's that as well," Harry admitted. He looked at her and Alex watched him, a smile crossing her face.
"Hope's ready to speak to you I think or at least look you in the eye," Alex told him and Harry smiled. He was ready to enter the other room and find out all about this mysterious girl that appeared out nowhere.
Hope was sitting on the bed, cross legged dressed in a green nightshirt and reading a book.
"Hello," Hope told Harry with a smile, weak as it was.
"Hey," Harry offered her as he moved closer towards her. "How are you doing?"
"Better since I'm here," Hope admitted but then she looked back at him. "Still sore."
Harry watched her and he decided to make all pretext of anything resembling tact. "So, what's your story, seriously, what's…."
Hope offered him a tense smile but it was rather strained. "To make a long story short, I'm the daughter of an alternate version of you."
"Well, that explains the green eyes," Harry said but he paused. "Slightly different shade though."
"You noticed, no one notices these things," Hope offered to him with a smile. "Dad told me that I got them from my mother….she wasn't around, she died when I was young or maybe ascended to a higher plane because of some higher power. I got her gifts, you know, the Phoenix Force."
Hope paused as she sighed.
"It's a curse," Hope offered to him.
"It can be but it's what you do with the power that matters in the end," Harry told her and she smiled.
"Right, right, it is," Hope concluded as she felt herself opening up a little bit although it would be a long time before she felt truly at ease in this new world that she was in.
X-X-X
Sinister tried to recall what happened during the battle with the Herald of Death. It was not one that went the right way for him. In fact, his head had a certain amount of fuzziness. He wondered if the tables had been turned and he had been set up in a lab as an experiment of his own.
That would be twisted and very delightful irony if that was the case. He tried to sit up but found that he could not. His head was killing him and his eyesight was blurred. His body was numb as well so this was a series of events that would not be considered ideal in the slightest.
"I would not try to move if I were you."
That was the voice that sounded like Harry Potter but at the same time, it was not him. There was a few seconds where he tried to push his head up but failed and every nerve ending in his being exploded.
"I did warn you that the pain would be immense."
Sinister could not even lift his head enough to see who he was making a retort to but he had heard enough of the voice to piece together exactly who he was dealing with. His voice was smooth as if he thought that he was getting out of this in his own way and bringing down upon the heads of those who kept him here.
"Harrison Luthor I presume."
"Very good," Harrison replied briskly. "Shows that you have a moderate amount of intelligence, but do you have enough to not try anything that will drastically shorten your life span?"
Sinister turned towards Harrison and suspicion appeared in his eyes. "What are you….."
"Nothing major, well I suppose it's a matter of perspective. In fact it was something really minor for me to do, but then again I'm functioning on a different level then anyone else. I would imagine you know how that goes," Harrison offered in a cryptic voice. "I can see the wheels turning in your mind but I can tell you that trying to defy me will not end well for you at all."
Sinister kept his eyes on Harrison as he stepped forwards out of the shadows.
"Something happens to me. If I'm harmed in any way. You're going to die," Harrison offered in the most simple of terms as Ultrawoman and Fury took a few seconds to step out of the shadows to join and they nodded in unison at what he'd just said.
"So, treat this situation as if your life depends on it," Ultrawoman stated, her eyes glowing in an eerie manner as she gave Sinister a death glare.
"It appears you got me stuck then, unless you're bluffing," Sinister remarked but Harrison smiled as Sinister felt pain beyond anything that he ever felt before. To the point where he wished for a sudden death.
"You'll find that I never bluff," Harrison told him in an ice cold voice. There was a sense that Sinister might have bit off a little more than he could chew dealing with Harrison. The stare down between the two of them was creepy.
"There has to be a reason why you kept me here as opposed to killing me," Sinister offered Harrison and the smile crossed the young man's face. It was so cold that even Sinister felt the chill.
"Very good, you're finally catching onto the game," Harrison told him with a slight smile on his face, it was filled with the type of smug superiority that could only be learned after years of hard work and dedication. He saw Sinister try to lift his head up.
"So…."
"I'm sure you're going to ask how you fit into this situation," Harrison continued, as if Sinister did not speak.
The thought did cross through the mind of Nathaniel Essex.
"I've never been one to squander a resource," Harrison offered as he held the surgical tool in his hand. The shoe was now on the other foot. "Beautiful, isn't it? It can cut through any metal and despite the fact you have strengthened skin, it could cut through you as well."
Harrison paused.
"I have abilities beyond that of most people, abilities that people can only dream about," Harrison commented as he stepped back, inclining his spine as he rested against the wall. "And I have abilities to find out about certain things that would blow your mind."
"Do continue," Essex told him in a tone that indicated that he was very interested in what Harrison was saying. He found himself released but Fury grabbed him roughly around the throat. He could not shift out of her grip no matter how much he tried.
"Let this be perfectly clear, Mr. Luthor is not one of your science projects and if you even consider treating him like such….."
Ultrawoman offered a slight smile as she continued. "Well, I'm sure that your short term memory is up to par and you remember the demonstration from earlier. If not, here's a reminder."
She tapped the button and once again Sinister felt pain beyond all measure.
"If anything happens to any vital organ, that's the end of you," Ultrawoman remarked to him and she paused. "If I don't rip you limb from limb first."
"Sounds like you take your job seriously," Essex offered and Ultrawoman offered a ghost of a smile to the man before her.
"Deadly seriously," Harrison offered as he put the arm around the blonde who stared back at Essex with malice flickering through her eyes. "Stick to the plan, my plan, and your life will be extended. Fail and well….you will experience a fate that will be worse than death."
Essex knew that he was over a barrel, no matter how much he hated to admit it.
"So, what is your plan?" Essex asked him.
A smile crossed over Harrison's face and he watched the man before him. "It's elementary, follow me."
Essex followed Harrison, with Ultrawoman and Fury staying closely behind him. Both of them kept their eyes locked onto Essex as if he was their prey.
"Behold the future."
Essex saw what was behind the door and needless to say, he was intrigued.
X-X-X
"Oh, I'm not stressed, what makes you think I'm stressed?"
This extremely stressed out declaration came from Lois Lane as she turned her head towards Harry who was making his daily rounds at the Daily Planet office. He motioned for Lois to sit down.
"There's being dedicated to your work which you are and there is this," Harry told Lois, normally he might have found a little bit of amusement in her frustrations.
Lois tried to get her thoughts together, it had been a rocky last few months. Remembering what happened before the merger….well she wondered why she was so fortunate to remember. Harry and Kara told her it was due to the fact she had a strong will and due to that fact her mind was going to rebel against any rewritings of reality. The thought of that made Lois smile just a little bit, it did boost her confidence.
Of course, one could look at the merger in a couple of ways. Clark Kent, Kal-El, whatever you want to call him, he got a significant upgrade.
There was a small mean voice in the back of Lois's head that reminded her that Harry merging with Clark meant that he could have potentially got a downgrade. Although really, when one put things in perspective, it was the best aspects of both, merged together. Both Harry and Clark did have their flaws, granted, it was due to things that were beyond their own control.
Lois thought that flawed AI copies of parents should be banned but that was her. Although the real thing could cause someone to yank their hair out as well.
Of course there was a reason why she was stressed, so she had to break the news to Har-Rell very gently. It was a taxing effort to keep it blocked from him because Har-Rell had powers that both Clark and Harry could only dream about.
Harry could tell something was off and as Lois sat on the chair, he started to rub her shoulders and the back of her neck.
Lois closed her eyes; it was hard to focus on keeping her face serious when she felt so good. And his touches drifted close to certain parts of her body but they never actually touched. It was a tease, a torment, and those teases, those torments, they felt so good, Lois thought that her mind was about to come undone because of his efforts.
"What?"
Harry said that statement with a playful smile on his face.
Lois decided to change subjects, at least for the moment. The dark haired woman felt herself succumbing quite quickly to Harry's tender efforts, as he kept rubbing the back of her neck.
"Nothing just….ah that feels so good," Lois breathed as Harry kept working over her neck. "So….how is your newest guest?"
"Adapting," Harry offered to her with a smile as he looked up. "Hey, Iris."
"Hey, Harry," Iris said to him as she sighed. "Slow news day here. VRA talk has dried up since Luthor put a muzzle on Godfrey."
"But there's this Fisk guy," Lois protested, feeling that she was dodging the elephant in the room and given the size of Fisk, it is a pretty massive elephant.
"Yes, there's Fisk," Harry offered to Lois and he knew what the official story was with Fisk. He was figured into reality as a big time CEO for a major tech company and he contributed a lot of money to charity, which made him beloved in certain circles.
There was a vibe to Fisk that Harry did not like at all. There was a sense that he made a deal with the devil to get where he was.
"I've got to prepare to go in five minutes," Iris said to him.
"Well plenty of time for you," Lois chimed in.
Iris smiled, that was true but super speed or not, she needed a few moments to get into the proper mindset. She gave Harry a quick kiss before setting off in the other direction.
"The VRA isn't quite dead yet, you know?" Lois offered Harry, who smiled.
"No matter how many times a stupid piece of legislation gets cut down and proven to be idiotic, the government will find someone, anyone to have it enhanced and reintroduced in new and inventive ways," Harry said to Lois.
Lois smiled as she informed Harry of something that she just learned. "Did you know that Slade Wilson is holding a rally in Smallville next week to drum up support?"
Harry nodded, he had heard, Slade Wilson would pick Smallville, due to it having more super powered people thanks to the various meteor showers. Even though this latest one hit Metropolis, Smallville was still known as the Meteor Capital of the World.
"Yeah, I've heard, oh believe me, I've heard," Harry offered as he took the chair opposite Lois and filed through the news story.
Someone like Slade, he would have to have to have a past that was completely dark. The man looked to be middle aged on the surface, but it was obvious to anyone who know what to look for that he was built like a tank underneath his suit. Harry knew better than anyone else to look beyond the surface.
"The government is rounding up people," Lois offered to Harry and Harry smiled. "And they want the support of more people to get the VRA moving."
"Not going to happen," Harry offered, he would not support such an act even if he was paid money.
"The General thinks that it will help increase national security," Lois commented to Harry, breaking the news. "By the way, he's coming into town, tomorrow."
Harry raised an eyebrow, Harry Potter had not met General Lane but Kal-El had or technically Har-Rell had in the merged timeline. This could end up being a fairly interesting meeting.
"And I'm sure he's stopping by the Kent Farm," Harry told Lois and Lois nodded, with a smile.
"Yes, and he's bringing Lucy along for the ride, you know my sister?" Lois offered with a smile as she grabbed Harry's hand and he raised an eyebrow.
"Well, it should be interesting to meet her," Harry commented.
'Another notch on your bedpost,' Chloe chimed in.
'What do you think?' Harry asked.
He needed to take care of things at Shining Light, including making sure that the branch on the East Coast that was set up would be up and running. Lana was over there doing the bulk of the work, with Harry figuring that it would give her something constructive to do.
The game was on.
To Be Continued.