A New Life
Chapter 14
Mount Justice
Seated on his bed in preparation for the two-man mission The Dark Knight had just briefed them about, Connor gazed at the crystal in his hand.
A long, thin pentagonal prism that tapered down to a point at its opposite end, the crystal bore a symbol that had, in the past decade, come to be synonymous with the word 'hope'.
It was a cheap crystal replica of Supergirl's access key to the famed Fortress of Solitude...
‹‹‡››
FLASHBACK
"Here, I'd like you to have this." Supergirl smiled as she presented the crystal to him. "I know it's not the original but I think you should have it anyway. It'll act as a reminder that you're never alone."
Gently taking the object from the blonde, Connor turned it over in his hand until he noticed the symbol engraved into the flat head. A wave of shame swept over him as he was again reminded that while he bore the symbol, he couldn't claim to understand what it meant.
Somehow, the young woman beside him noticed his unease and, guessing that it had something to do with the little gift she'd just given him, she slung an arm around his shoulders and turned his head until he was watching the sunset. "I'm guessing you've heard of the Fortress of Solitude?" When he nodded his assent, she continued, "Well, while it's Superman's little hideaway, he gave me access to the Fortress a while back when it felt like the world was crushing me in. And while I know I can't grant you access there yet since it's not really my place, I feel like you deserve to bear the symbol of the House of El.
"I know you still have a few issues with yourself, Connor, but I trust you. You weren't obligated to help Robin and the rest of your friends back at the Labs but you did because you have a good heart. You had no duty to upholding the character that the shield represents yet you did. And you're still doing it because you have a heart of gold. The symbol of the House of El has always ever stood for hope and you have continued to follow in that line by your own choice. You deserve it, Connor, and I'm happy to be related to you."
The young teen had turned his head away from the blonde to hide the bittersweet tears that found their way past his eyelids. He knew that he had come a long way from the rage-filled, bitter teen that he had been when he'd first joined the team but hearing this from a woman that was, for all intents and purposes, an aunt, felt like a tremendous achievement to him. Yet...
Again the blonde read him perfectly and was ready to support him: "Now I know that gaining Superman's acknowledgment probably means the world to you but my cousin, our last living relative, is nothing if not incredibly stubborn. To be fair to him, I've had a few people say that stubbornness might just be a Kryptonian trait so you really shouldn't be surprised if a few people call you stubborn too." The two shared a laugh at that before she continued, "We once had a falling out because I took on a challenge that he felt was too much for me. He didn't say a word to me for months until I ended up pulling him out of a tight spot and then he realized that maybe I wasn't so fragile.
"My point is that Superman tends to be too stubborn to accept certain things until they're literally shoved into his face." She put a hand to his cheek and turned his face until their eyes locked. "But I'm absolutely certain that he will come around even if I have to drag him to it."
FLASHBACK END
‹‹‡››
The trust that Supergirl had put in him combined with his time with Naruto spent learning how to see himself as a human and the team's treatment of him as a regular teen, albeit an inhumanly strong and durable one, had given Connor such confidence that, for the first time since he'd opened his eyes within the Sumdac pod, he felt whole.
As it stood now, he wasn't living to earn Superman's acknowledgment anymore; now he just wanted to make his family proud of him.
If Superman ever came to be counted among that group then so be it.
"Connor?" M'gann's shy voice broke him from his thoughts and he turned to the girl that had, over the time, become more to him than the annoyance he'd first seen her as. "We're ready to go."
She'd already taken the guise of Tuppence Terror, one half of the fraternal twins that they would be taking the place of for their mission. His transformation would take place on the flight over to Louisiana.
"Let's go."
‹‹‡››
Kaldur stood at in the midst of three open holo-screens, Black Canary by his side, as he awaited word from the M'gann and Superboy in Louisiana. Having been briefed alongside Naruto and the two in question, he knew that they should have arrived at the warehouse about fifteen minutes ago via Zeta Tube, allowing room for Connor's wardrobe to be fitted on to the young man as well as for Superman and Martian Manhunter to finalize the capture of the Terror Twins and he so he was clearing communication channels and feeding the system some of Robin's encryption programs to keep the lines safe while awaiting a check-in from the two.
Right on cue, M'gann radioed in: -Miss Martian to Aqualad. Are you there Aqualad?-
The young Atlantean let out a sigh of relief that he hadn't realized he was holding in. "This is Aqualad."
-We arrived sixteen minutes ago and have encountered no deviations from the plan. Superboy just finished changing.- Even though they were thousands of miles away, Kaldur could have sworn that he had detected a faint hint of amusement over the comms. Too bad this was a live mission.
"Good to know. You'll be leaving soon?"
-As soon as I get what we need from Tuppence.-
"Alright then. I'll be standing by. Aqualad out."
-Miss Martian out.-
With that, the holo-screen tracking their conversation went still.
"So how well do you think they'll do?" Canary asked as she watched the young Atlantean confirm the strength of the multi-step connection linking him through the Watchtower to the Bioship.
"I believe my friends will do excellently." He replied. "M'gann is capable of adapting to situations as they come and Connor has become much calmer and is less likely to make impetuous moves. Supergirl's visit was most helpful with that."
"I'm glad to see that he's getting more and more confident." Canary smiled, thinking back to the angry and insecure teen the young Kryptonian was when they had first met. "Hopefully she can wear her cousin down as well."
However the conversation would have gone, it was stalled when Naruto walked over to them.
"They've begun?"
Kaldur nodded once. "You just missed M'gann's call."
The blond shinobi swore in his native language. "I wanted to talk to Connor before they began."
Guessing the reason for the blond's concern, Canary placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, from what M'gann said, he doesn't seem particularly bothered by the presence of Superman. Kaldur thinks it has something to do with Supergirl's visit."
As the heroine spoke, she could feel the muscles beneath his shoulders relax bit by bit until all the tension drained from him. 'For all his talk about being dedicated to Kaguya, he really does care about them.'
"Yeah... I can definitely see that happening." The shinobi sighed. "For someone whose self esteem issues stem from a desire to belong, having someone like Supergirl acknowledge him would definitely be a tremendous boost to his confidence."
"It certainly seems that way." Kaldur agreed.
"Well then, Kaldur, if you don't mind, I'd like to borrow our beautiful teacher for a few moments."
"Not a problem, my friend." The Atlantean nodded and turned his attention on to the holo-screen tracking the movement of the Bioship while the two blonds walked over to the unoccupied main computer hub.
It was one of the few times the hub was left unmanned, this time caused by Canary who had finally convinced the usual occupant to try mending his frayed relationship with his father.
"So, what was so important that you felt you had to slip in that little bit of flattery into your request just now?" Canary asked with a touch of amusement.
"Are you saying that you're not beautiful?" The shinobi was, of course, ready with a witty comeback.
"Hitting on your teacher is frowned on, young man, particularly when she's already spoken for."
The Uzumaki's features took on an appropriately somber and chastised look with his eyes cast toward the ground. "I'm sorry sensei, I'll remember to never compliment you again."
Canary just laughed and punched the younger man's shoulder lightly. "You are impossible."
"I know." Naruto replied, still sounding somber. "It's one of my more annoying traits, or so I'm told."
"I'm pretty sure you didn't call me here just to remind me what a smartass you are Blondie." She replied, her smile still very much on her face.
"Sorry," Naruto smiled back, finally breaking out of character, "but it's fun teasing you." Now that the fun was over, the shinobi turned to the computer and began punching in a series of commands even as his demeanor became more serious.
'I wonder what's come up? He's not in what I've come to dub mission mode but he's definitely not joking anymore.' The heroine wondered as she watched him scroll through a list until he highlighted a program simply labeled 'accords'.
"I've been following the series of events following the proposal of the Justice League Charter and the subsequent negation of the passage of the charter." The blond stated as he ran the program. A few seconds later, six windows opened, all showing live feeds of the Rhelasian Peace Summit holding in Taipei. "Some of the leads I obtained pointed me toward a possible connection between the negation of the Charter and the ongoing Summit."
To be honest, Canary found herself wondering what kind of lead would have resulted in the direction he was currently pointed but she decided to say nothing yet, trusting that he was as stable as he'd promised following the attack on the Queen of Vlatava. Though he'd promised to unearth the perpatrators of the crime and bring them in, he had also assured her that it was not a vendetta on his part. He simply wanted to find the people that had nearly killed the young Queen.
She hoped it was so.
Just as the presenter launched into a spiel detailing the negation of the Charter ruling out the likelihood of a Leaguer being the arbitrator, an encrypted external call came in.
-Cyborg? Cyborg are you there? This is Red Arrow.-
Naruto and Canary glanced at each other before both nodded simultaneously as Canary joined him at the keyboard.
Red was not the kind of person to call in for a light chat. Something was up.
"Red Arrow, this is Maelstrom. You called?" Naruto took the call as Canary swiftly ran one of the programs Cyborg had shown her to backtrack the incoming call and ping its location.
A hologram of the Earth popped up and spun furiously.
-Yeah. I hope you know how to operate that hub bro 'cause I need intel. Stat.-
"What do you need?" Naruto asked as the hologram stopped and a red dot flashed intermittently.
The two blonds glanced at each other again.
Though the signal had been bounced through a number of satellites, the program had located an origin point.
Taipei.
-I need to know the exact height of a League of Assassins' agent, code-name Cheshire. Look through the Justice League database.-
Canary, knowing exactly how to obtain the information, took over from Naruto and swiftly pulled it up for the shinobi to read.
"One point six seven meters. That's five feet six inches."
-Thanks.-
"Mind telling me what's going on?"
-I'm at the Rhelasian Peace Summit. Informants had me believe that there could be a spot of trouble here.- The archer swore softly, though the two in the Mountain heard him clearly. -And judging by the fact that I've just spotted a possible match, I'm glad I followed my gut.-
"Need any help?"
-I should be fine on my own. No offense but I'd like to see if I really am good enough to go full on solo.-
"I respect that but you're sitting on a powder keg there." Naruto warned as he watched a scowl mar Canary's features.
-I understand that and the instant I so much as think I'm in over my head I will yell as loudly as I can for backup.-
"We'll be by the Zeta tube then."
-Red Arrow out.-
"That idiot is so goddamned stubborn!" Canary exploded the moment the connection died. "He's sitting on a situation with so much potential backlash and he's trying to act all macho?!"
Naruto, recognizing that she was in full-on rant mode, chose to remain silent.
"For God's sake, neither of the two Rhelasias supported the Charter! Thanks to the Bialyan Queen's efforts, they, along with almost every second and third world country believes that the League only cares for the US! And now he, Red bloody Arrow, one of the most famous sidekicks known to man and a protege of a certified Leaguer, wants to just-"
"Huh. So Lex Luthor's the arbitrator." Naruto interrupted as he took notice of the events at the Treaty. "Didn't see that one coming."
"-up at the Treaty and- wait what?" Canary cut herself off, sounding almost stupefied by what she had just heard.
Naruto just gestured toward the screens.
Just as one of the feeds caught the image of a very familiar assassin dropping out of a tree with a sniper rifle in her grip.
And then all hell broke loose.
Black Canary dropped her head into her hands, watching almost fearfully between her fingers, as Green Arrow's former protege broke cover to take down the assassin who was almost literally carving her way past the security.
The camera crews, ever hungry for the best shot, had zoomed in, thus capturing the ensuing scuffle as well as the arrest of the assassin.
Then, when the redheaded archer was apprehended by the leftover security forces, the heroine moaned.
"There there." Naruto said consolingly, patting her on the shoulder for good measure. "At least he caught the assassin. Oh and look! Mister Luthor just vouched for him. Like that's not suspicious at all."
The last bit was stated with cutting sarcasm in a dry voice.
"This doesn't make any sense." The mortified look on Canary's face gave way to a confused frown as she absently began tapping a finger against the keyboard casing. "Why would the United Nations choose Lex Luthor as the arbitrator for this kind of meeting? He's a businessman, he's never once shown interest in diplomatic roles or playing an active role in politics on home soil to say nothing of the international level."
"I'm just glad my informants were able to pick this up." Naruto muttered, his eyes still staring at the screens where the billionaire, having settled the security issue revolving around Red Arrow, now walked into the conference hall, Red Arrow and his own assistant at his flanks.
Canary's eyes narrowed at the shinobi's comment. "How did they pick this up? I really don't see the UN simply leaking the name of their mystery arbitrator online..."
The Uzumaki shrugged, eyes still glued to the screens. "To be honest, I try not to get too involved in the 'hows'. Some of these guys have had or even still have connections to the criminal underworld but are too small fry to bother apprehending. Keeping an eye on them grants me a few snippets like what I got today."
The entire statement was a carefully crafted mix of lies and truths. While he did keep tabs on his slowly expanding ring of spymasters, the reason he'd made this connection was that Kennedy had overheard a discussion between Desmond and Terra about if the Taipei mission would require more resources. The head of Cadmus had dismissed Terra's suggestion that she be sent with Kennedy, stating that the security at the Summit was already tight enough.
It was why he was a bit suspicious of Red Arrow's presence at the Summit.
The shinobi continued his discussion with Canary by playing his source off as probably having heard of a possible League of Assassin's hit.
"It's how I came to know about the hit on Queen Perdita." He added.
Mollified by the offworlder's explanation, Canary's thoughts turned to other things. "That's just disturbing though. The Assassin's influence, I mean. How could they have known who the arbitrator would be?"
Naruto finally turned away from the screens as he shook his head. "You're looking at it wrongly. The Assassins typically only take hits. If they'd set this up internally, we likely wouldn't have caught wind of this. No, someone likely hired the Assassins which brings up a number of questions: who the hell are they? How did they know about Luthor being the arbitrator? Matter of fact, did they?"
The last question had the color draining from Canary's face.
Because if the Assassins' mystery sponsor didn't know about Lex Luthor's role in the Summit, then the mission parameters were never about killing the arbitrator.
They were about disrupting the Summit itself...
‹‹‡››
HAPPY HARBOR
'If there's anything we've gotten right as a species, then it's gotta be a tie between music and literature.' Raven breathed, feeling the tension that had knotted her shoulders all through the briefing in Mountain ebbing away as she curled snugly into her couch in Hailey's living room, reading through her novel of the day. Humming along as the strains of Hiroyuki Sawano's Vogel im Käfig played through her earplugs.
It had been a terrible couple of days for the young girl, so much so that everyone, from Canary and Naruto to Kaguya and even Connor had picked up on it. Her nightmares, bad as they usually were, had taken on a more disturbing turn; her father's visage had turned up each and every night, cursing her existence one moment, planting insidious thoughts that required all of her mental discipline to fight down the next and, worst of all, threatening to torture her teammates in the most horrific manner.
And, while none of that really took her by surprise anymore, it was the way he had delivered each threat; with a calm, quiet confidence that made her fear that he would escape the confinement she had wrought upon him.
'But he can't.' She thought, her mind secure in the certainty of her own memories. 'Even he can't break the spells I cast to imprison him and I know none of my siblings can either. If he could have he wouldn't resort to mind games; he'd just up and destroy everything.'
Assured by her own thoughts, Raven settled in to continue her reading when a gentle tap on her shoulder returned her to the physical world. Seeing Hailey standing beside her, the young magic user sat up and pulled the ear plugs out with one hand while pausing the song on her phone with the other. "Hey Mrs. Gonzalez. Do you need me for something?"
"Well dear, the young man I told you I'd like you to meet is around." The elderly woman winked conspiratorially and dropped her tone a few octaves for her next sentence. "Do be nice to him. He seems like he could be a good one."
Shaking her head in an over the top expression of painstaking endurance, Raven sighed. "I guess this one time wouldn't hurt."
A few seconds later, the two snorted in amusement at their own act and Hailey led the way into the main bookstore.
Raven would never be able to figure out how she'd missed it; the toll of the nightmares abrading her defenses, perhaps, or maybe she'd subconsciously come to see the bookstore as a haven of some sorts.
Either way, she had somehow ignored the warnings her internal radar had been blaring at her, going as far as to have missed her own mental defenses jumping into overdrive.
Either way, she did not miss the sudden screech of every ounce of self-preservation instinct in her being absolutely rejecting the very existence of the person standing a few feet away, quietly perusing Hailey's shelves.
Every fiber of her beingscreamed for her to get the hell out of the building and to do so yesterday!
When the person turned to her, a slight, smug grin on his face, she wished for a second that she'd done as her instincts had demanded.
‹‹‡››
BLÜDHAVEN
Stretched out languidly on the large windowsill of the warehouse Kakashi laid, calmly watching the workers at other storage facilities hustling about, constantly harried by the supervisors and managers.
'Life,' the silver-haired shinobi mused, 'you're either leading someone or being led. And even the leaders have leaders.'
It was a fact that every shinobi learned at a young age; your jōnin sensei, the ANBU captain, the Academy instructors... Every one answered to the Kage who, in turn, answered to the Daimyo. And, when one hit the topmost echelons of their society, they would come to realize that even the Daimyo's commands were often dictated by the desires of the financial dynasties that had invested in their rule...
"Yo One-Eye!"
'And now I've got to meet my leader.' The shinobi thought dryly. With a slight adjustment of his position, he sent himself rolling off his perch to come plummeting toward the ground. At the last second, though, he twisted himself and landed on the balls of his feet with only the barest of whispers telling of his little stunt.
"And the 'Gymnast of the Year' of the year award goes to..." The same, annoying voice that had called him down now echoed in the largely empty warehouse bearing a note of mockery.
Kakashi didn't seem even slightly fazed. "Gizmo. Did you call me down here to try on yet another ineffectual insult?"
Judging by the slight twitch in the lanky teen's left eye, the comment had hit its mark.
The shinobi just slouched against the wall behind him, sparing a single glance at Mammoth before seemingly closing his eyes. Even if, and it was a huge if, Gizmo tried to attack him, Kakashi was certain that Mammoth wouldn't lift a finger to help. The huge, shaggy young man, for all that he looked more like Bigfoot than a twenty-something year old human, was quite level headed if he wasn't provoked, kinda like Jūgo. Plus, he had a huge crush on Jinx and would ever go against her commands.
Her last words to the Techie and the Tank were to 'not jeopardize the mission' and starting a fight could certainly break that rule.
Gizmo knew this as well as the shinobi did. Furthermore, he knew that he had no hope of taking out the shinobi without Mammoth's assistance.
So, teeth ground together tightly, the techie backed off the issue, pulling up a holographic map of the Earth from his wrist-mounted computer. "Jinx has sent our mission details and co-ordinates." The map zoomed in on North America, then zoomed further until a single location glowed red in the Belle Reve Parish. "With Icicle Junior already in position, our job is to be the pick up for the person Icy will be busting out."
The timing of the mission was definitely suspect. Thanks to a quick update from the Boss, Kakashi knew about the mission to infiltrate Belle Reve Penitentiary. As far as the Boss knew, though, Icicle's function was to help with an overall prison break; that the young cryokinetic boy had a second objective threw in a new angle entirely.
Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to fish for additional information before sending a message back, the shinobi asked about the inmate to be broken out.
"Zachary Crane; the Scarecrow." Gizmo replied immediately. "We are to deliver him to a set location in D.C by sundown tomorrow."
Mammoth whistled softly upon hearing that. "That's a hell of a distance; how are we going to get around fast enough?"
"Our benefactor dropped off a gift. It's in the back."
The reminder that he still hadn't cracked the issue of the team's mystery benefactor brought a tiny scowl to Kakashi's brow. It remained one of the two things he still hadn't sussed out yet; neither Mammoth, Icicle nor Stacey had a clue and both Jinx and Gizmo remained tight lipped about that. It was getting to the point where he was considering the use of a genjutsu to have them tell him.
"According to our benefactor, the ship was found shortly after the first world war, somewhere around modern day Poland. Designed to be years ahead of anything available as at that time, some rumors claim that it is, allegedly, Wonder Woman's 'invisible jet'." Gizmo informed them as they made it to the warehouse's rear end, the last statement uttered with complete scorn. "Like she needs an aircraft; the damned woman can fly faster than any of aircraft currently in production."
"It does sound very silly when you put it like that." Mammoth agreed. "So where's the ship?"
"Right..." With a smug grin, the techie pushed a button on his belt and a slickly designed, pitch-black aircraft simply appeared right before their eyes. "here. The ship may not belong to Wonder Woman but it is one hell of a wondrous work of art!"
Kakashi and Mammoth barely held in their groans at the terrible play on words while the tech-head continued.
"...upgraded to simply outclass any other aircraft the world's got. It's weapons' systems are amazing and the the cloaking tech on it renders it invisible to practically every sensor!"
Deciding that enough was enough, Kakashi surged ahead toward the open hatch of the craft. "Enough romancing the damned aircraft and let's go. We're on the clock here."
"Tch! Killjoy."
"Would you get in here?!" The shinobi prodded. "Also, what about Jinx and Stacey?"
"They've got their own mission." The techie groused as he swiftly moved to the cockpit and strapped himself in. "Remember the cute Asian chick you guys met at the Iceberg Lounge?"
It took less than a second for Kakashi to remember the person in question. "Miss Chan?"
"Yeah, Jade." A few switches were flicked and instruments hummed to life mere moments before a powerful, low but steady vibration ran through craft. "Whoo! This baby is awesome!"
"The girls?"
"Ah don't get your panties in a twist One Eye. Look, something came up and Jinx decided that they should go check it out. So they did. Satisfied?"
"For now." The shinobi found a seat and, after a few tries that led up to Mammoth showing him how, finally strapped himself in.
Whatever Nirvana was, it seemed Jade's search for it was proving to be interesting. Combined with this little mission... Well, the Boss would have quite a bit to process from his next message...
‹‹‡››
HAPPY HARBOR
"I'll just leave the two of you to enjoy a nice chat." Hailey smiled as she walked out of the living room, pausing for an instant to wink again at Raven before walking back to the main store.
Raven's cordial smile died the instant the woman was out of sight and she instantly and silently cast a privacy spell upon the room. Beyond these, though, she showed no further reaction to the being standing a few feet away, the same smug smile he had borne since she had first laid eyes on him still twisting his roguishly good looking features.
"Take a seat?" She offered politely, her tone perfectly neutral as returned to her usual couch.
'If you are ever caught by surprise, particularly by an enemy, never give even the slightest hint that you were caught off guard unless it is a part of your plan...'
Raven had never expected that Kaguya's advice to herself, Donna and Kaldur on what to do in diplomatic situations would come in handy but, as she stared into his eyes, she found herself giving thanks that she had paid attention to those lessons.
"Well, this is quite the cozy place." He smirked at her, an eyebrow arched mockingly. "I'd never have expected the Daughter of the Devil to dwell in such a... peaceful... environment."
"It's a living." She shrugged neutrally, doing her best to keep her emotions from showing. "Plus, the old lady's nice and she gives me lots of space."
"You don't seem very surprised to see me." The young man mused, dropping his jaw into his left hand while his right tapped absently on the cushion of his couch. "How come?"
'If you can, try to draw up emotions in your enemy's mind. Pride is one easy way to achieve this; make it seem like something else caught you off guard to belittle their efforts and bruise their pride or find a way to stroke their ego and make their heads swell. Whether a bruised ego or an inflated one, pride always leads to a fall...'
Raven knew all about pride.
The dark haired teen snorted dismissively. "You and your brothers tend to leave a stench wherever you've been, Belial. Not noticing would have surprised you much more." Step one; bruise the ego. "Though, to be honest, seeing you surprised me just a bit; you've always been quite the busy one." Step two; inflate the ego.
"First off, sis, I go by Jared when I'm on this here ball of dirt." The young man corrected primly, before continuing, "Second, you're right. I usually am the busy one among us three, after all, I am the most civilized of us. However when I got news of Daddy's little girl's whereabouts, well I certainly couldn't delegate that to the Bludgeon Brothers now could I?"
Once again, Raven had to force her body to remain calm. Whether he realized it, she couldn't tell, but Belial had just given her a bit of information in his last statement. 'Someone tipped them off about my whereabouts.'
That little tidbit of information changed things drastically. If it had been any one of Belial's two siblings or the eldest himself, she could have dealt with the intrigues on her own. However, the addition of a third party feeding them information meant that, somewhere out there, someone had something to gain from setting them on her trail...
Still maintaining the veneer of calm, Raven shrugged mildly. "True, Jake and Joe aren't quite interested in the arts of subtlety."
"No they are not. And so, I chose to check up on my source's intel... Well, here we are." The thing that wrapped itself in human skin tried for a smile but it came off a little too smug to be genuine. "And I have to admit, you have changed, little sister, and not just physically either."
Raven simply arched an eyebrow questioningly, though she could feel a stirring in the air; a slight charge in the air that had the hairs on the back of her neck standing.
Something was about to happen.
Belial continued, seemingly oblivious to the slight tensing of her shoulders. "I mean it, really! You couldn't lie to save yourself when dear ol' dad brought you home and you were barely any good at it by the time you'd trapped him in that slab of Azarath soil but now? Damn girl, if I didn't know you were lying through your teeth when you started talking, I'd have been suckered! Your tonal inflection, your poker face... I really need to find out just who taught you all that and thank them for corrupting you so well!"
The little pin-pricks of warning from before gradually morphed with each word the entity said until, with a silent cry of rage, the young girl snapped.
Aware of the fact that she was still in Hailey's house, Raven stymied her initial desire to simply blast Belial away, opting instead to grab hold of his hand and, calling forth her power in a rush of emotion, teleporting them to a forested clearing on the edges of the Happy Harbor docks.
The instant they appeared, she lashed out with a blast of dark energies that sent Belial flying. Unwilling to let him rest for a second, she flew over to him and pinned him beneath a roiling flow of energy from her hand, her hair flying wildly in the swirling vortex such an unbridled release of her power commanded.
"Enough!" Her voice, normally calm and a bit of the soft side, had become deeper, darker and as demonic seeming as the rest of her appearance. "What are you doing here?!"
Instead of fear, or even a hint of anxiety, though, Belial simply laughed heartily. "Whoo! I have got to meet your new friends! This is a whole new you!"
Not even the increase in her energy output was enough to faze him as he continued.
"I mean, I didn't even have to threaten you with that sweet old lady's life to get you smoking pissed off! Damn, Jacob and Joseph will owe me a whole bunch for this!"
That was it; though she'd tried to keep a tight leash on her emotions, trying not to tap into the sheer destructive power her demonic heritage granted her, the mere thought that the demon pinned beneath her had even thought to use a person she considered a friend against her was enough to bring down the gates.
With a roar of rage, her power exploded outward from her, her output nearly tripling as she lunged at him, her hands curled into claws that sought to gouge his very eyes out, demonic energies crackling and spitting around her hands like an inferno.
Her initial assault went unblocked and each strike brought a dark, heady, satisfaction to her mind that she found herself enjoying. For every bit of flesh that she gouged out, a part of her gloried and for his every scream, she felt a twisted pride surging, empowering her yet seeking more.
It was a cycle she knew well, one that would lead to her own self-destruction.
And so, with tremendous effort, she pulled herself out of the dark waters, switching from her devastating melee strikes to ranged attacks that would grant her the freedom to return to a mental equilibrium without ceasing her attacks on Belial.
She was on the verge of regaining control when a powerful bolt of raw power struck her from behind.
With a savage scream of pain and fury her aura surged again and her clothes, a pair of black jeans, a dark purple top as well as a leather jacket the same color as her jeans, all unraveled. In a split-second, her nude form was concealed by the last gift her mother had given her; the one piece suit with the cape and hood attached.
In that instant, the Demon returned.
She'd barely flown a meter forward when she regained control of her tumble and spun around to track the new source of danger. Her eyes, now a pair of blazing crimson orbs, swiftly tracked the two newcomers; her half brothers, she noted with a sneer. Surging forward so quickly that the air around her screamed, she moved to their center and began unleashing a barrage of claw strikes and jabs that had the mortal bodies the two demons wore scampering in a bid to avoid damage.
They were not so lucky and as her fingers connected, gashes appeared in their wake, streaming blood profusely. Their screams of anguish rent the air and her grin grew wider as their pained expressions grew.
For the second time in about as many minutes, her assault was stopped by a blast of dark energy. Her rage grew and she dashed over to the source of the attack, her skin darkening to a maroon shade.
She never made it to Belial when another blast cut her off. Enraged, her cloak billowed out as she changed directions, moving to intercept the brother that had just attacked her.
Over and over, the attacks continued, spearing out at him from different angles, never allowing her rage-addled mind the chance to focus, never giving her rational mind a chance to establish control.
And, as her rage grew, the changes continued; the purple outline of energy an inch above her skin darkened till it was almost black, her aura grew continuously until the very air hummed with her power, stinger-like constructs of light-absorbing darkness stabbed out of her cloak in an uncontrolled fashion.
And then, with a roar that shook the Earth itself, a second pair of crimson eyes opened above her normal pair.
Reacting with practiced efficiency, the three brothers launched beams of their own into the ground beneath her feet. As the shockwave threw her into the air, they lashed out with controlled energy whips to bind her.
"Do not let go!" Belial roared at his siblings as they strained to hold on to the violently struggling girl. "We did not go through all this just to lose her again!"
"Too bad for you then."
That single second's loss of focus cost the brothers immensely.
In that second, Raven, sensing their loss of focus, outright overpowered their bonds in a surge of power, flooding the clearing with a stifling aura.
At the same time, three flashes of dull gray gleamed in the evening light before the brothers stumbled backward. Looking down, they found the round handles of gray knives lodged in their sternums. Attached to the handles were simple scraps with unintelligible squiggles on them.
"Katsu."
A powerful 'whump' rang out from the clearing as the demons' burnt and bloody bodies were flung back violently. Seconds later, the bodies aged rapidly until they dissolved into dust.
Raven's eyes darted around the clearing warily, the crimson orbs seeking the new presence out.
"Hey, Rae, I'm not going to hurt you." The voice seemed to be coming from a single spot a few meters to her right and her head turned to focus on the spot, her hands curling into claws again.
"Easy Rae... Easy..." The figure slowly walked out with his hands lifted palm facing her in the universal gesture for peace. It was Naruto, dressed as he had been when she'd left the Mount earlier that day, though the lower half of his face was concealed by his half mask.
She didn't trust that this wasn't a trap of some kind, though, and so she tentatively reached out with her esoteric senses to ascertain his identity.
For the second time since she'd left Azarath, she felt an all-encompassing peace that finally chased the intoxicating power of her demonic heritage away from her mind.
Without the tremendous boost, however, she felt so exhausted that she couldn't stand on her own anymore and simply collapsed. She would have struck the ground too if the blond shinobi hadn't moved to her side in a burst of speed and caught her.
"It's okay, Rae." He whispered to her as he gently rubbed her back, trying to calm the violently retching girl's heaves. "I'm here, Rae. Don't worry."
Tears sprang into her eyes as her body revolted against the dark energy that had coursed through her uncontrolled and they poured as she realized what all of this meant.
Trigon was coming.
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UNKNOWN LOCATION
"You don't seem particularly surprised at the failure of those three to acquire the girl." Savage stated calmly as the scrying circle the Lord of Chaos had summoned blanked out when Trigon's three children faded from the Earthly plane. "Considering how much you warned them to ensure that they caught her, I'd have expected a bit more... Pique from you."
The Witch-boy simply smirked as he set his familiar free to run around while he summoned a pair of glasses and a bottle of wine. "Now now, Vandie, I know you understand one of the basic tenets of rendering service in business is to make it seem like you're putting in more effort than you actually are to make the client think you deserve the hefty price you're asking for." Klarion replied as he filled the glasses. "I'm simply doing the same."
"You'll have to be a bit clearer."
"You see, Vandie, I never expected those three to pick the girl up, in fact, I knew they'd fail. As much as using the girl is a possible way to get Trigon out, there's a way to do it that will be spectacularly chaotic and will keep the heroes off our back and focused on Trigon. Plus, Trigon will be further indebted to me and, as an added bonus, the whole thing will be a nice little test for your Secret Society's mage."
"And what exactly does this plan entail?"
"Let's just say it'll be a... World splitter...
‹‹‡››
And here's the next on the list, banged out way quicker than even I expected, to be honest.
The exact reason Raven reacted as she did during that little fight WILL be explained in the next chapter. Meanwhile, as regards her slow transformation as opposed to an instant switch to a demonic side, consider it that she's placed blocks on her own power because she really doesn't want to go about destroying shit. As such, for each level of control she loses, her appearance becomes more demonic.
First, her normal eyes go red, then the other changes as they are listed until the final two appear: the dark stingers from beneath her cloak and her second eyes opening. At this point, she's in full demon mode and becomes a conduit for Trigon's power.
Now, to address a few things [i'll specify reviewer names if the issues aren't general topics]:
Madara F'inUchiha- I'm kinda sorry the story seems to be delving into the characters more than the plot. It's mostly cause I tend to focus on character development to a great degree. I'll do my best to push the plot onward from now on.
The Amazo Issue: I stand by what I did there. That bloody android has stolen everything, from biological abilities like Martian Manhunter's phasing to Energy based abilities like Captain Atom's to enhanced abilities like Flash's speed [enhanced because it is granted to him via Speed Force]. Having seen all these, including the fact that it copied superman's strength which is based on solar radiation, the I fully believe that the Android could have, possibly, copied Naruto's chakra-based abilities.
So, that's it for now.
PS: Go get Baron Corbin's entrance theme, 'End of Days'. That's gonna be Trigon's theme as we go on.
Please Read and Review.
The Ethereal Lord.