Chapter Twenty One: Chasing Demons.
A young female looked up with utter contempt at the figure hovering in the sky above her, before the figure shot towards her in a blur. She tried to struggle to get out of the way but never the less, she was unable to slip free of an attempt to grab her.
"Let me go!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
"WHERE IS SHE!?" the figure in the shadows demanded as he roughly wrapped his hands around the arms of the girl, who struggled with all of her might to break free of his grip. "I know that you know! You have her mark on you. You've been tainted by her!"
"I have not been tainted! I have been saved. My parents worked too much, they didn't have any time for me, but Granny, she showed me the way. I was a poor lost little lamb until she saved me!" she stated with the zeal of a fanatic as Harry blocked an energy rod being shot into his stomach.
"This one's been given a going over," Barda commented as she tried to punch her in the face but the young girl dodged out of the way at super speed. "And she's a quick bugger too."
"Yeah, I noticed," Harry commented in a dry voice as he looked at Barda. "Try not to hurt her, she's just a kid."
Barda ducked her head and rolled out of the way as the girl spat acid at her, avoiding the attack. Harry was forced to use a shielding spell as she was now shooting energy blasts towards them as well.
"Okay, did her parents get her meteor powers for Christmas?" Tess asked as she showed up out of the shadows to join them. "The other ones weren't like this….she can't be…."
"Granny's pumped up her children," Barda commented as she tried to remember that this was a little girl, albeit a little girl who could spit acid, shoot plasma blasts from her hand, and attack them at the speed of light.
"Enough!" Harry yelled as he blocked the second blast with his heat vision. He then used his ice breath to freeze her hands blocking off her ability to shoot energy blasts from them. "I don't want to hurt you but if you don't cool down. I'm going to have no choice in the matter."
"Yeah right! That's what they said. I'm going to take you down, you've been very rude to Granny!" the girl commented as she lifted her hand despite the fact it was frozen solid, when suddenly, a blonde blur pulled her off the ground then slapped an inhibitor collar around her neck.
"There, that should block everything, including whatever fail safes that Granny has put on her," Kara said in a tense voice. She hadn't gotten any sleep in a month and despite her powers, she was showing that she wasn't in a very good mood because of it.
"M'gann, you're up," Harry told the white Martian who stepped forward.
"Relax. We aren't going to hurt you, you're mind has been messed with," M'gann commented as she tried work her way into the mind of the girl before her, who squirmed and shuddered at the contact. The mental probe was not as easy as it looked on the surface.
"So, any good?" Barda asked M'Gann and the White Martian looked over her shoulder towards her, biting down on her lip in thinly veiled despair at the interruption. "Sorry, I'll be as quiet as I can but you've got to realize that…."
"Granny's been picking up runaways, tempting them with the prospect of family," M'gann informed them.
"Claire wouldn't be….."
"I don't know," Barda commented to Harry as she put her arms around the shoulders of both Kara and Harry, pulling them in close. "I know Granny, she can be oddly manipulative."
Tess's pupils dilated as she flashed back, it was a rainy night much like this one, and then she found herself locked in a basement. She struggled to free herself and yelled for help but there were no answers.
'Child, you will always be one with him, you shall never forsake him,' the voice commented and Tess shook her head as Harry grabbed her around the shoulder.
'I'm….I'm…'
"Tess, is it another one of the episodes?" Harry asked her in a quiet and calm voice and Tess slowly nodded her head.
"Yes it's one of the episodes, they're getting worse than they were before," Tess offered as she threw her head back with a frustrated sigh as Harry wrapped his arm around her. The redhead's body pressed against his as Harry offered her a reassuring smile which gave her strength.
"I wish I could help but….."
"No, don't apologize, you have far bigger problems than my psychological issues," Tess offered to Harry with a smile that went across her face. "You've got to worry about things….regarding your own daughter."
"You do realize that it wasn't Claire that she was after," Hope commented quietly and Harry looked at her. Perhaps it was Hope's imagination or perhaps a trick of the light but Harry did not quite look her in the eye when he said the next thing.
"I know," Harry offered with tension in his voice as he looked towards Hope. He didn't mean to be so short with her, it was just that everything was crashing down hard on him, all at once.
"I have something," M'gann commented.
For the first time in a while, Harry felt some slight hope, or perhaps a lead he'd be able to pursue.
"Claire overheard the girls talking about Granny and she thought….well I think that she thought that she could prove herself to you by going to her and trying to get information regarding Darkseid," M'gann offered and she closed her eyes, waiting for the other shoe to drop as a pained expression passed over both Harry and Kara's faces.
'Oh Claire,' Harry thought to himself as he shook his head. That sounded like something he would do when he was that age which made him all that much angrier at this situation.
'After she….after she ran away, she must have run into them…..it was a trap,' Kara commented as she watched him and Harry looked strangely tranquil.
Something caught his eye having fallen out of the girl's discarded purse when they took her down. Reaching down her proceed to pick up a business card that seemed to be made out of metal giving it a hard unfeeling look. There was a single name stamped into it.
"Club Desaad," Harry whispered.
"Desaad," Barda commented, the name causing her to close her eyes with a full body shudder. "That's one of Darkseid's stooges."
'Chloe, please, find me information you can about Club Desaad,' Harry projected to her.
'Right,' Chloe commented seriously, without any of the usual humor in her voice.
Time was running out.
X-X-X
A month ago, Claire Potter tore out of her home as fast as her legs could take her, breathing heavily, she was about ready to blow her top but she somehow managed to reign her temper in slightly. The redhead teenager pulled herself up and made her way forwards until she nearly collapsed against the side of a building. Once she allowed herself to cool down, she would be able to figure out what this situation was and how much she didn't like it. The redhead's eyes widened as she hung onto a wall as she absentmindedly peered over it.
"We're going to figure this out, there's no way he's going to be able to stop this. No matter how hard he tries."
Claire's ears perked up, that was not something that sounded familiar, at least not to her. She wondered who they were referring to, and she took a half of a step forward, nearly pivoting on her foot. It was really hard to keep her balance.
"Yes, Har-Rell, he's gotten in Granny's way once more, now he's…."
Claire tuned it out and the redhead folded her arms as she nearly lost to balance.
So they were after her father, well that was something, but it was tricky to even concentrate right now. She wanted to be useful, she wanted to help out, but at the same time Claire felt that knot twist in her stomach. There was this tell tale sign that she was stepping into a situation where she was in way over her head.
'So….what are they doing?' Claire asked and she edged carefully forwards. There was a back and forth battle going on in her head, and she once again took another step but it was hard to stay on her feet. The redhead felt a huge amount of dizziness fill her being as she was pulled back and forth between two different thoughts. She had no idea what she wanted to do, except for the fact that she knew what she had to do now.
"Are you lost?" one of the older girls asked in a calm voice.
"I think she is, I think she's lost," another one of the girls commented.
Claire was standing in the middle of Metropolis about two blocks from the Shining Light Foundation.
"Yeah, I'm lost," Claire commented to them, making a snap decision of what she was going to do. If she could figure out what this Darkseid guy was doing, then she could prove that she was ready. She didn't need to move mountains and crack moons in order to be ready after all.
"Well then come with us, we'll help you find your way home," one of the girls offered and the other girls all nodded, looking like wind up toys as they did.
Claire hesitated but one of the girls grabbed her firmly around the arm.
"It's okay. It's going to be okay," the eldest girl said to Claire and the other girls all nodded, smiles across their faces. "Just come with us. Trust us, it's going to be okay."
Claire swallowed the lump that was in her throat, if they said that it was okay, well she knew better but she never the less stepped forward.
There was a club behind her and then one of the girls shoved a paper bag over her head, which caused her to drop to the ground. She caused the bag to light on fire, and another girl stepped forward, touching her.
One touch caused Claire's nervous system to shut down briefly.
"We have her, Granny," the tallest, who was the eldest of the girls commented. "She's just like her father, so idealistic, so predictable."
"Good work, my angels, now bring the precious thing here, oh she must be so confused, her mind being filled with ideas of false hope, why she has forsaken what is true."
Claire could barely figure out what was going on here, only that she'd been dragged into a trap. She tried to struggle out of the predicament that she was in, only to find out that she could not because her arms were held together. The redhead panted heavily as she was lifted up. She tried to push her way free but there was no escaping.
"Come here, child, it's going to be fine, I'm going to fix things where you never have to feel the pain and the despair ever again."
Claire heard the voice but her senses were not working right. She was pushed back and knew by the time that everything happened, it would be much too late for her to do anything. She should have turned around and went home, she really wish that she did not leave now. Now she was in a fix, she felt the ringing go through her head. It was much too late.
Back in the present, Claire's mind rebelled against the changes and the redhead's eyes flashed with panic. She tried to staved off the splitting headache she received.
"It's alright, Volcana," one of the Furies breathed in her ear. "It's going to be alright."
"It's not….yes, I understand," Claire commented.
"She's mentally one of the toughest so far," another of the Furies commented, she had been with Granny for a long time. She cracked a whip against the ground. "However that makes the fun of breaking her even greater."
Two other hooded figures stepped forwards as another Fury watched them.
"These two lost lambs also rebelled against Granny's tender touch," one of the Furies offered with a smile. "But in the end, they were brought into the pack, brought into our family. We worship him, no false idol from the stars will ever defeat him, no mere Herald of Death, for he is the Anti-Life."
Claire closed her eyes.
"They are getting closer," one of the Furies commented as she pushed herself forward. "We're going to have to give them a cheerful welcome."
X-X-X
'I found information about Club Desaad and keep in mind, a lot of this is off the record,' Chloe thought to Harry. 'Rumors….'
'I know better than anyone else that rumors have a degree of validity to them,' Harry thought as he looked over his shoulder. 'Speak your case, Chlo.'
'Right,' Chloe commented as she allowed herself to get her thoughts together. The blonde was trying to figure out how to phrase things properly. 'It's a club for S and M fetishes, but a lot of supposedly upstanding politicians, you know the type that classify themselves as family men, they set up shop there.'
'Okay, that's fascinating,' Harry thought as he closed his eyes.
'It's just the tip of the iceberg, there is prostitution, drug rings, child pornography sales, all kinds of backdoor stuff and who knows what else they could be into,' Chloe commented and Kara looked over her shoulder to Harry.
'Are we sure this is the place?' Kara commented but never the less she cracked her knuckles. Determination flowed through her eyes as she hovered a few inches off of the ground. The blonde turned her head from one side to the other to make sure they were not being followed. Then she started forward at a steady pace.
'Trust me, this is the place,' Harry thought as he cracked his neck. The young wizard leaned a little bit closer and he felt a bit of an arch in his back. He held his head up high or at least as high as he could manage. He took a half of a step inside the club.
There was a group of thugs who were in the club laughing. In the back of the club, one of the Senators that had supported the Super Human Registration act sat with red eyes, surrounded by a thick cloud of smoke. The Potters took a step forward as Harry placed his arm around Kara.
"May I help you?"
Harry recognized her face, it was one of the Furies from one of Tess's memories. He had gotten a peek at them through the bond. She was a bit older but she did age rather gracefully.
"You seem like the type of guy who needs a good time," the female offered to him as she held the whip in her hand and offered him a saucy grin.
"My husband and I, aren't here looking for a good time. We're looking for our daughter," Kara commented with a heated tone to her voice.
Harry couldn't help but face palm at that. Wishing that she'd exercised a little more tact but given the circumstances, he could understand.
Barda turned up then and everything stopped around them. The girl stood up, her dark hair framing her face and flowing down her back. She was dressed in a skin tight black bodysuit that clung to every one her curves as well as her D-Cup breasts. The bodysuit wrapped around her tight ass as well. In fact it was so tight that it showed off everything that she had to offer to the point she might as well have been naked.
"I can't say I'm surprised to see you here, still hiding under Granny's skirt after all this time," Barda commented and the woman stepped forward.
"I have no idea…"
"Oh I think you have an idea, I think you have a really good idea," Barda said in a threatening voice as the woman grabbed the other one by the arm.
"Help, security, I'm being assaulted!" the woman yelled as Barda held her with a firm grip.
"You bitch, you're not going to pull that trick," Barda commented as she grabbed her arm harder but the woman released the whip and smashed it around her ankle.
"And that was for forsaking our dear, sweet, Granny!" the woman yelled out as her eyes flashed with malice and she cracked her whip. The whip slashed out at her but Kara caught it with her hand and hoisted her up, causing the woman to dangle in the air.
"Oh, you want to fly!" the woman commented but suddenly another three women appeared on the floor.
"Good, I needed a work out," Barda stated as she cracked her knuckles and the patrons of the bar started to panic. Two of the women tried to jump her at the same time but she grabbed one of them and hoisted her up. She then slammed her enemy down with a huge Muscle Buster. The woman crumpled under the force of the impact.
Harry saw a flash of magical energy shoot towards him. He blocked it immediately with a shield spell. The woman with the magical powers blasted at him again and his shield was just barely able to block the assault. Harry counted with an attack of his own that pushed the woman back. The dark haired woman closed her eyes and Harry saw a hint of her eyes underneath the bulky cloak that she wore. It hid any assets that she might have had otherwise.
'Okay, one of them….they couldn't have brought Claire here, could they?' Kara asked as she blocked the metallic claws that one of the woman swiped at her with.
Hope appeared from the other side and the leader of the Female Furies looked at her with a smile on her face.
"We have the one," the leader of the Furies commented and she tried to snap her whip but the redhead blocked it.
"No, I don't think so," Hope commented as she used a telekinetic punch to drill her in the face.
Harry strode forward, only for a large man of African decent walk forward and intercept him. The Furies all stepped back, bowing before him. He was huge and hulking, and dressed in a dark suit. His eyes were glowing red and Harry recognized him immediately.
"Wilson Fisk," Harry commented and the large man cracked his knuckles.
"No, Har-Rell, I'm the one that will bring about your end," Fisk commented as his eyes glowed brighter for half of a second before a huge beam of energy shot forth to nail Harry hard in the chest.
Harry flew back from the impact and crashed hard into the closest wall. He felt pain for the first time in a long time. He had been caught off guard and as a result he took three or four more beams to the chest.
"You're no longer safe in your own house, Harry Potter-Kent," Fisk commented as his voice got deeper and more sinister as he was once again blasted the Kryptonian in front of him. He was being curbed stomped but he struggled to his feet, only to be blasted down once again. "You will fall before me."
Kara, Barda, and Hope tried to get through but an energy field blocked them.
"Your daughter sends her regards," Fisk told him as a portal opened with a thunderous boom and he stepped on through, some of the Furies following him.
Not all of them however, as at the last minute, Harry lifted his hand and levitated the discarded whips into the air, before using them to bind the field leader then pull her towards him.
Harry smiled, despite the blood dripping from his mouth. He had hit upon something tangible.
X-X-X
The captured member of the Female Fury hung upside down from her own whip. She tried to kick free but found herself held tightly in place.
"You will pay for this," the woman growled out as she watched Harry with a furious look on her as she swung back and forth.
"Hardly, Lashina," Barda commented as she wanted to smack around this snotty little bint a little bit. She was holding herself back but they needed information. Information they weren't going to get if they knocked all of the woman's teeth out.
"Have you been collecting traitors?" Lashina asked as she looked at Tess standing in the shadows. "You could have been as great as any other member of your bloodline but you chose to live a mediocre existence. You are nothing…."
"We have a very different idea of what it means to be nothing," Tess told her coldly as she glared at the woman that was hanging before her, her contempt was obvious, although she tried not to let it show on her face.
"You don't know anything!" Lashina stated as she watched the redhead. She had been given a home by Granny and this deserter threw it away. That made her less that nothing, that much Lashina could say for sure. She swung her legs back and forth as she tried to break free from her bindings.
"I know a lot of things," Harry said to the woman as he stared her down. "You know more than you've let on and you know what Darkseid's final plan is."
"His final plan is liberation," Lashina commented fiercely as she stared down at the trio who stood in the background. "You are nothing. You've always been nothing, you will never be anything. You are merely a patchwork copy that was thrown together in a attempt to prevent Darkseid from taking over, but our great leader. He will not be stopped by the likes of you! You are inferior to him in every way that matters!"
"You'll find out that I can stop him," Harry commented but his voice was lacking in confidence. His eyes closed as he tried to figure out what she was doing.
"You will tell us where Claire is," Kara demanded hotly as she was trying to keep her temper in check but considering that it was her daughter, she found it very hard to keep calm and collected.
"Do not blame me! Do not blame Granny! Do not blame Darkseid! Claire had her true potential stifled by you!" Lashina stated with a taunting sneer as she looked at him. "Do not blame me for her forsaking you! When you have forsaken her first."
Harry did not like this statement being thrown up in his face, especially given that there was some validity to it. He had been distracted with other things but he figured that Claire could take care of herself just fine given that she was a teenager. However, as Harry saw it, that was the problem. She was teenager, prone to random fits of insanity. Therefore, for better or for worse, her emotions got the better of her.
"I'm going to give you one final chance," Harry threatened her.
"So talk," Barda commented as she would sooner crack the skull of this woman but Lashina smiled back at her.
"You don't have any pull against me," Lashina commented as she stared at Harry, almost daring him to attack her. "You know it, I know it, we all know it. You're nothing compared to him and you'll be even less when it's over. You need me a lot more than I need you. And if you kill me, you lose the one life line to the one that you've forsaken."
"She's not cracking," Tess whispered to Harry and unfortunately it was the truth. Harry was at his wits end trying to figure out a way to make this woman speak, even though her tongue had been less than cooperating.
'So what will we do now?' Chloe asked Harry and there was a few seconds where Harry paused.
That was a good question. There were so many times in the past that he had all of the answers, mostly because he manipulated the chessboard. However, someone changed all of the rules and now for the first time, Harry was on the outside looking in. It was a very sobering experience and not one that he took pleasure in but never the less it was one that he had to experience.
'Harry?' Chloe asked him, thinking that he dropped from the call.
'I honestly don't know, not this time,' Harry thought to her as he figured out everything. He tried not to betray how much he was out of control but at the same time, his emerald eyes flickered with even greater frustration. The young man placed a hand on his hip and looked outside the Shining Light Foundation.
He looked at the computer.
'Locate Claire Potter,' Harry thought to it.
'Invalid parameters,' the computer fired back in a droll voice and Harry sighed, that was not what he had in mind but that's what he heard.
'Not a thing,' Chloe commented and there was another pause. 'We'll find her, you know that right.'
Harry knew that they would find Claire, eventually. The state that she would be in at the time, well that would be another matter entirely. They caught the Field Leader of the Furies but that was a hollow victory. She was not saying anything, M'gann and Hope together could not crack through her mental barriers.
'If only I had a better clue,' Harry commented as he turned around.
He had another daughter that he was worried about but the moment that Claire was kidnapped, Amanda was brought to New Krypton where she would be under the watchful eye of Alura and Lara. They would be able to keep an eye on her and hopefully this would allow Harry and Kara to get Claire back.
On the other hand, Harry went face to face with the vessel Darkseid chose and he nailed Harry with everything. He still was feeling the burn of what happened.
He beat Darkseid in the future but he had already been beaten pretty bad by Harry according to what the Legion said. Given the fact that the future was not set in stone, Harry wondered for the first time how much of a sacrifice it would take to take Darkseid down in the present time.
He prepared to go to war.
X-X-X
"He is nervous, you've got the poor little lost lamb on the ropes," Granny commented as she leaned back and watched, looking through the window of the Orphanage where dozens of little girls were being groomed. Some of them had future potential for their army. Those who were not strong enough for combat would be sold for other services to wealthy buyers. "My Lord, you have him right where you want him.
"Naturally," he commented from the shadows. While the mortal shell of Wilson Fisk had certain drawbacks, Darkseid could not fully manifest himself in this realm yet. With each passing day, he grew stronger. More souls were tempted, their darkest desires converted into energy for him. "He is strong, he cannot be tempted, so we must take his heart but she is but one component."
Darkseid smiled or rather Wilson Fisk smiled. Fisk bargained with Darkseid for his life and got everything, a new lease on life as Darkseid flattened the dimension that he was in. The lord of Apokolips got a vessel that would allow him to acquire resources. Even though Harrison Luthor had been an unfortunate spanner in his plan, he had contingencies.
"A force as old as life itself will be mine, and soon the Anti-Life Equation will also be at hand, therefore I will no longer need to limit myself to one world at a time, others would fall beneath my heel," Darkseid offered with a twisted tone to his voice. "It will be mine alone, she thought that she could protect it by putting it in her progeny, but just as I flattened that universe's version of Harry Potter, I will flatten this one."
"He will not be able to stop you, great Darkseid," Granny commented as she gave a slight bow. "Those who have been forsaken you will suffer unimaginable pain and they will be taught a lesson. They will obey the darkness and you will be almighty.
"I am already almighty. And they will learn as much," Darkseid offered as he stepped back and watched the girls, every happy memory from their past lives was drawn out of them. "She still resists."
"She is not like the other ones, great one, her origins…are complicated, I wonder if Harry Potter knew the truth of them," Granny told Darkseid.
"The point is irrelevant now," Darkseid told her.
Darkseid thought about it, he could have crushed Harry Potter right then and there, Har-Rell was nothing to him but a cockroach. However by crushing him now, it would dilute the importance of his inevitable triumph. The darkness would reign supreme and all would obey him. The Phoenix Force was this close to being within his grasp.
Yet it slipped out of his grasp, the other half of the Phoenix Force, the half that was placed within Hope, it was trapped. No hope would remain once he had had it. He was hoping that the Potter girl was going to be the bargaining chip that he needed.
All Hope would be lost.
"Day by day, even if the VRA has not been passed, people lose faith in their heroes, time after time, they question their actions when they fail to save the day," Darkseid commented as he looked out. Glorious Godfrey had been silenced by Harrison Luthor but that was just one minor annoyance. There were other ways for him to undermine the heroes and sour public opinion against them.
Despite how powerful these heroes were, they could not always be there. Darkseid crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at the girls in front of them. He sensed some power in the girls, although others, they were weak. They should be put down not as to not dilute the power of the others. He felt the despair as a small part of all of them continued to resist.
"Every day, I grow stronger," Darkseid commented.
"Forgive me…."
"I know what you're going to say, and I will dispense with him when the time is right, you need to learn about context, you need to learn about timing, I will allow him to see the world burn underneath his feet, no matter how hard he tries he will be unable to save it," Darkseid said as he looked up. "I will have the blood of his worthless mates run at his feet, all of them crying out for help but there will be no help. He will lose them all one by one, until all he has left is his life. Then he will beg me to take that as well to spare him the misery."
The woman's eyes widened as she saw it.
"There will be a bloodletting, and the traitors are first on the list," Darkseid commented as he turned himself around and walked forward.
Granny nodded, she knew that Barda and Lutessa thought they were safe but they had turned their backs on her, after all she done for them. She took steps to ensure that her little angels would not lose their way ever again.
They would be Granny's forever.
To Be Continued.