Chapter Thirty Five: Absolute Power Part Three.
Reality fractured all around them. The webs of energy that shot around the air erupted from D'Ken. The power continued to spill through his body and his hand shook. He was growing mad, at least madder than ever before.
"YES!" D'Ken yelled.
"Okay, do I need to leave you and that crystal with a moment alone?" Claire asked, trying to get in close. There was a field blocking her. She had to try. Damn it, she had to try.
The one thing that really made her vulnerable was magic. Not in the sense that she was particular weak to it. It was just that she was vulnerable as anyone else. She didn't have a drop of prowess with it dancing in her body. The closer she got, the more she felt completely weakened.
"Perhaps you don't understand what's going on here!" D'Ken howled.
Harry understood perfectly, he was a deranged lunatic who had more than his fair share of power. His eyes traced around the area of this crazed lunatic. If he could somehow get in close, and engage him in closed quarters he might have a chance.
A throwing dagger fired from his hand and made an overaching throw. It shattered the edge of the barrier. It connected with it.
"We need to break his hold on the crystal now," The Phoenix whispered. She place her hand gently on Harry's hand. "I know you have it within you, beloved. The power might be locked partially away, but the mental will to exert that power is not."
Harry muttered underneath his breath as some kind of everlasting and crazed mantra. "Right, right, I can do this. I have this, I can do this. I have the power."
Harry removed a pair of glowing daggers from the sleeves of his robes and twirled them in his hands. Again, he tried to rush through.
He wasn't failing as much as he was trying to find a weakness.
"You insolent insect, you dare doubt my power!" D'Ken shouted and he slammed his hand onto the ground.
He expanded in size and mass, not to mention power and ego. His eyes flared with the agonizing power that absorbed. It was like he drew power from reality himself.
"You know, you've made a believer out of me now," Harry said and his hands closed together.
Believer or not, Harry had to keep trying. The Phoenix grabbed him around the shoulders, and flashed him out of the way.
Claire got up to her feet and she was pulled out of the way. Large pieces of debris flew everywhere like a cyclone.
"You know, I don't think that he has the control that he thinks that he does," Claire whispered.
Harry nodded in response. "Yes, but the crystal is attached to him."
There was a crackling sound through his head. Harry was almost certain that someone tried to break through the bond link. He didn't know who and he most certainly didn't know how. All he knew was someone tried to push their way through his mind.
"Okay, let's do this now," Harry said, cracking his knuckles together. He had one good shot to do this, he better make it count.
D'Ken stepped back from him, his Elite Guard rushing the Phoenix, Arcane, and the Blur.
"I took him down once," Claire said. She felt the cosmic energy rush her body. She clapped her hands hard and rocked D'Ken with the full force of her attacks. "I can do it again!"
Claire zeroed in on Gladiator. The large enemy swung his fist at the Kryptonian. She zipped out of the way and jumped onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to squeeze the life out of him.
Gladiator reached around and hurled Claire down onto her back. The girl bounced off of the ground with a huge impact.
The Phoenix knocked Gladiator down.
"I could have gotten that one," Claire crossly declared. The Phoenix's burning gaze made her reassess her statement.
"I think that you might have, yes," the Phoenix whispered. The cosmic entity raised her hand into the air and a portal open, to vanish the Elite Guard. "But you can't deny the value of working together for a common goal."
That was one thing that she learned during her previous light. As parts, they might have been good. As a whole, they were strong. The sum lifted the parts into being the best as they could be.
"I understand," Claire said in an agreeable voice.
Harry tried to break through the barrier. He could feel reality warping around him and he got an unfortunate flashback for when he got sent through the barrier the first time. All of the stomach curling agony slammed into him at the speed of light.
'Stay strong, your mind remains powerful,' the Phoenix urgently reminded him.
Harry understood, and he could be all that he could be. The true power never left him.
"I won't bend to you!" Harry yelled.
D'Ken felt his hold on the crystal weaken a little bit. That allowed Harry to bolt in as fast as he could go.
"Close, but not quite," D'Ken said, he blocked him. His body bounced off of the silver shield. "Your pathetic gambit was all for nothing."
"We both disagree with that, D'Ken," Harry whispered to him. With those words he raised his hand up as high as it could go.
He cracked his hand down onto the back of the enemy's head and caused him to go hurling.
The crystal, he had to get to the crystal, nothing else mattered.
Shayera touched down to Earth and she felt ravaged. Perhaps she was losing her mind, but things had gone from bad to worse.
"Great Rao," Karen whispered.
She didn't want to mince words. This situation sucked. She could feel a headache and the fact that she couldn't feel Harry didn't improve her move. The fluctuations of enemy erupted around her.
"I don't understand, what's going on," Diana whispered.
"You tell me, and we'll both know," Shayera interjected.
She doubted that hitting the energy field with her mace would do any good. It wouldn't even make her feel better. It would likely kill her to be honest. The woman raised her mace into the air and considered her thoughts.
"It's like fighting a temptation, isn't it?" Karen asked.
Shayera lowered her mace calmly and nodded. She didn't attack, mostly because she had other things to be distracted by. Energy flickered in and out of space out of the corner of her eye.
Time and space distorted where they saw different places on Earth that they shouldn't.
'Harry, Harry, Harry, are you there?' Karen asked and there was no answer. A dull buzzing bombarded her brain.
Karen fell over onto the ground. Diana only barely was able to reach over and catch her.
"I didn't think that would ever be a problem," Karen said. She realized that her top heaviness might hinder her ability to fight.
That was something that she never had to deal with for the simple fact that she dealt with the powers underneath the yellow sun.
"We'll figure this….." Diana said and she saw a pair of pinpricks from the darkness. She looked and she pulled both of her companions off to the side. "LOOK OUT!"
A large ship warped through the barrier and crashed out into the middle of the city. A huge wind blew and warps ripped through time and space.
"I don't even know what to make of this anymore," Shayera said and she could see D'Ken's fleet above her head.
The blinking of the ships going in and out caused her to stop and stare. She thought that it was insane that D'Ken would sacrifice his own people to satisfy his extreme bloodlust of power. The ships flickered out of focus.
They disappeared into the night one more time. Shayera's shoulders slumped down.
"I think I've figured out where the pattern is going," Karen said. She frantically waved her hand in the direction of the problem. "This way, come on."
The form of Gladiator flew through the portal and crashed down at their feet with a thud. They saw Kara zip through the light and nearly smack into Karen.
The younger version rested her face in Karen's breasts and arrived at a shuddering stop.
"Hi, Karen, fancy meeting you like this," Kara said and she slid down to the ground. "But why am I in the middle of the city? I was helping on the island."
"The next step you take, you could end somewhere else in the world or…" Diana started. She could see someone else appear.
Zatanna dropped to her knees in the middle of the city. She placed her hands on the top of her head and screamed.
"It's becoming unravaled, the balance, all hope might be lost if the Avatars do not restore it!" Zatanna yelled.
She screamed out loud and then started speaking in tongues. Maybe she started speaking backwards, it was hard to tell.
"Zee, you need to hold it together," Karen said nervously. She grabbed the dark haired girl around the shoulders and started shaking her.
The lights were on but there was nobody home. Karen felt her hands burn the moment that she touched the area where Zatanna once was.
"It's affecting the magic users more than anything," Kara said and she dropped to one knee, feeling the burst of power through her. "And it's a double whammy for the Kryptonians…."
Her statement was cut off and she felt the wave of energy pass through her body. The ringing cascading through her ears assaulted her hyper sensitive hearing.
Diana closed her eyes, she could feel the rush of power that Kara described and had driven Zatanna down to her knees.
"Harry's our hope," Diana whispered underneath her breath.
Her knees staggered for a few seconds and there was a crashing of several buildings.
Kara rushed in and stopped the buildings from falling to the ground. The blonde's hands scrapped up thanks to her attempts of heroism. The sun turned red above her.
"No, it's not happening again," Karen said and it was almost scary how determined that she looked.
The ships crashed into each other. Shayera figured that she had the best chance to get up there.
She hoped that her wings didn't fail her now. She pushed herself as far up as she could. The cascading impact of the ships slamming into each other made her wonder if she ran out of time.
She ignored the dull ringing that passed through her ears. She ripped open the ship and she could see the terrorized people who were frozen in place.
Shayera could see something flicker and she felt the presence of D'Ken. His presence crawled down her spine.
'Close, so close, yet so far,' Shayera thought.
The world continued to spiral out of control and several moments later, it would become undone. Where would they be when that happened?
Harry ignored the dull throbbing in his head. Many strands of light and darkness surrounded him. They flashed in the air above and taunted him. He was in the center of several interconnecting points. The portals threatened to overlap each other and suck everyone inside.
"Damn," Harry whispered.
His gifts were a curse this time. The artifacts he merged with prior to being send to the Earth that he left three years ago, allowed him to see everything. Lives slowly ceased to be, the power of the crystal drained them.
D'Ken gave the illusion that he was two times his size. The Phoenix assisted Harry in pushing on forward.
Harry stopped and realized one thing. If he could see how the universe was becoming unraveled, then perhaps he could see where he could break the connection.
He saw a portal break open and Shayera flew out. She nearly slammed down onto the ground off to Harry's side.
She winced, her wing joint slightly damaged. Not one to be taken down so easily, the winged warrior woman pushed herself to her feet. The mace clutched her hand and she waved it fiercely.
"Keep it together," Claire whispered. She nervously looked high up into the sky. There was something flashing up above her head. She didn't like the looks of it, at all.
D'Ken grew in power and also in madness. As promised, the crystal warped his mind. The man was a snarling beast and he continued to worsen with each passing moment.
"I have you!" D'Ken howled at the top of his lungs and he raised his hands into the air. "I WILL DESTROY YOU!"
Harry sighed and he locked onto the crystal that was merged with him. He would be a liar if he thought that this would be easy.
The world unraveled even more around him and Harry Potter thrived on pressure like this. He locked onto the crystal and pushed himself in.
"You think that you can try after you've failed so much."
"SHUT UP!" Harry yelled and no sooner did he say this, he channeled a burst of energy through his hands.
Every single nerve ending of his body felt like it was on fire. Not to mention he was racked with indescribable pain, but he was alive. He raised one of his hands into the air and slammed it into D'Ken.
"Give me the crystal," Harry said.
Reality flickered back and forth. The Phoenix jumped in and joined forces with Harry.
The very balance of reality was on the line. One wrong move could cause everything and they meant everything to come undone.
Nothing like a little pressure to put things in perspective.
"I'll have the power!" D'Ken yelled at the top of his lungs and he grabbed onto the Phoenix. "I'll have all of the power. I'LL HAVE YOUR POWER!"
The man was stark raving mad and it was terrifying to see what his madness descended into. Harry lifted his hand into the air but the Phoenix shook her head.
'At the moment of truth, you'll know what to do,' the Phoenix thought.
Claire and Shayera felt a barrier go around them. It blocked them from the power that was shooting out.
Reality dropped down to what passed as normal, although there was some surreal quality. It would be a long time before everything that had become undone was redone.
Reality only warped in the box where the Phoenix and Arcane dueled D'Ken over the crystal. The deranged man was not giving this up without a fight.
"You lose, you lose," D'Ken whispered. He grabbed the Phoenix and throttled her.
"That was the biggest mistake you could have mad," Harry said and he drew upon the power of the crystal.
He filtered out the corruption and it was the spark that he needed. Energy flowed through his hands.
"One of my jobs is to make sure the balance of power in this reality is restored," Arcane whispered. "And you're breaking my world. And I'm not losing another one."
He broke the entire multiverse but why quibble over things like that. Harry slammed both hands into the chest of his enemy and doubled him over.
The crystal yanked out. D'Ken screamed when he felt his skin fry and his blood boil. The crystal caused him pain. Yet at the same time, he could not bare to let it go.
The addiction of the crystal warped his mind like it did so many before him. His eyes glowed.
"No, I won't let go of this power!" D'Ken howled. His voice cracked when he struggled to keep it together. He was losing control over everything around him.
He could feel an entire multiverse around him. If he wasn't already quite mad, he would have been driven so.
His inhumane screams could be heard and the man's grip on reality broke.
The Phoenix thought that he bit off more than he could chew and this was proof of it. "You can't hold on. You've lost control. It's a pity, but you brought this upon yourself."
D'Ken flew into the air and the crystal broke free from him.
Harry sped out and caught the white hot crystal in his hand. He felt the power burning into him. He felt D'Ken's body sucked into the crystal and he screamed.
He was trapped with other souls over time who had tried to use the crystal for their own devious means. His scream filled their ears for several more moments.
Harry took a step back, but held himself back.
The barrier around him faded and Harry drew a sharp breath from his body. Everything that was undone was redone.
'Harry?' Karen asked, tentatively. Everything suddenly turned back to normal on her end. The only things that weren't there were the invasion forces.
Funny how that worked out nicely like that but Karen nervously spoke and wondered what Harry would say.
'Yes?' Harry asked her.
'I'd ask what happened, but I'm almost afraid to,' Karen thought to her.
'Do a head count and make sure everyone is safe, I'll talk to you in about an hour,' Harry said.
Harry turned to Shayera, who was grounded for the time period. She looked at him, impressed.
"That was very likely to get yourself killed, you know," Shayera commented lightly.
"You know, I could have said the same thing about that stunt that you pulled," Harry told her and Shayera looked at him. She grimaced very obviously. "Are you okay?"
"It's merely a flesh wound, it will heal," Shayera commented and she looked rather rocked. Then again, she just had to deal with the cards that were dealt.
"If you're sure?" Harry asked her.
Shayera nodded in response. "I'm positive"
Claire looked up into the sky. Things calmed down at least for now.
"And no one knows where the chaos started or where it ended. One thing that can be verified for certain is that there are a growing number of costumed heroes out there. The Military has remained silent and the authorities caution anyone to emulate the activities of these vigilantes. As for the general population, the efforts of these heroes are much appreciated, and we hope to see them continue to help us in our hour of need."
Harry descended a set of stairs down the basement area of the RAO tower. It was so deep underneath the ground. He held the crystal in his hand. For now it remained dormant. There was something about the crystal that left him uneasy but it remained dormant.
He hoped that there would be a way to humanely dispose it where no one could use it and caused the damage that D'Ken did. The fact such an object did not destroy the entire universe really was a testament to how lucky they were.
He would be deaf to not know that the people were talking about a co-op effort regarding heroes. And he would be lying if he didn't consider making the arrangement more permanent. They did fine working together, but if this were going to be a regular event, they would need to learn how to work together.
Many moving parts in one moving machine, that's what Harry hoped to accomplish in due time. He slid the crystal into the vault where it hopefully rested in hibernation for quite some time. After all the trouble that little thing caused him, Harry wouldn't be too happy if it got into someone's hands.
"You restored the balance," Zatanna said. She walked down the stairs, wearing a tight tank top and jeans. "Everything is okay here, but, you do realize that was a scary couple of moments, don't you?"
"I had a theory that it might be," Harry agreed, watching Zatanna make her way the rest of the way down the steps.
She approached Harry, slowly edging her way towards him. The two of them were really close to each other, but neither of they closed the gap yet.
"I'm going to check up on Alex in a little bit but…"
"She coped rather well, actually better than many of us adults, I think," Zatanna said with a smile on her face. "So, the crystal, what exactly did you do with it?"
"If they can break through the vaults codes, without using an arm or their head, they can have it," Harry told her. He leaned towards her with a smile. "So, I heard you did fairly well out there."
"Maybe," Zatanna replied in her most grudging tone of voice and she sighed. "You know, at least until I was overwhelmed….but…well I need to thank you."
There was some nervousness in her voice and she wrapped her arms around Harry. He pulled her in tightly to ensure that she wouldn't leave until she did what she did next.
Zatanna was glad that Harry made that decision for her. She didn't think that she could handle doing it. The two of them leaned in.
His strong and powerful lips captured hers with a kiss. Zatanna felt blown away with his kiss.
It was a shame that she had to go right now, a couple of things she needed to check on back home.
"Um, I've got to go," Zatanna said nervously. She shook her head, Harry made it difficult to keep her mind on her duties.
"Yes, I know you do," Harry said and he smiled. "We're going to have to get to that date that I promised you."
Zatanna smiled. "When everything gets worked out, I promise that we will."
She gave him one last parting kiss and took her leave. She didn't honestly trust herself to stick around too much longer without taking more drastic action.
'Someone has it pretty bad,' Kara chanted over the bond link. there was a look from Karen that told Kara to behave.
Harry made his way up the stairs, he was going to pop in and check on Alex. First through he needed to check on Shayera and find out how she was holding up.
The woman laid on the bed, dressed in nothing but a gown, which showed off her elegant legs. Her wing was in a splint.
"Good thing we didn't have to amputate it," Shayera commented without a word. "Then again, it's a good thing that you have someone who has a knowledge of how to treat these wounds."
"Did that ever happen where anyone has to amputate a wing?" Harry asked her.
"Well there were a few Thanagarans flying around with prosthetic wings," Shayera admitted, shaking her head. "And I should know, because I think I had my wings ripped off in about three of my past lives."
Harry grimaced, feeling her pain. "That's nasty."
"It's not a picnic," Shayera agreed and she wished that she could stretch her wings just a little bit. Right now she was grounded for the foreseeable future. "So, you've been busy I'm sure."
"Lana's earning her pay, there's a weird rumor going around that RAO is funding a few of the vigilante heroes," Harry said. "Rumors that Harry Potter is in bed with several of them and plotting a takeover of the world."
Shayera laughed, she looked kind of amused to be honest. "Well the being in bed part is right about some of them."
Shayera groaned, the wing was nearly healed. It was through the trickiest stage of healing.
"Let me know if you need anything," Harry told her.
Shayera gave him a knowing smile in response. "Yes, I'll let you know if I need an injection."
Harry smiled. "Get some rest, Shayera, I'll see you later."
Harry walked down the hallway, and he could see Alex in her room. She frowned when she worked through a difficult piece of transfiguration.
"Visualize it Alex, visualize it," Harry told her.
She dropped what she was doing and rushed over to Harry, giving him a crushing hug.
"It's good to see you as well," Harry said. Without another word, he picked up the eleven year old girl and put her on her chair.
"Sooo, you saved the world again?" Alex asked and she looked at Harry. "Something's different about you."
Harry thought as well to.
"I touched the crystal and for about ten seconds, I had brief access to all of my powers," Harry told her.
Alex didn't miss a beat. "But you didn't later."
"Well, the blocks returned, but they're far weaker, and some of them vanished," Harry said. He would have to run another test to be sure.
His twenty first birthday came up tomorrow and that would be the real test to see if his theory worked.
"That's weird, isn't it?" Alex asked him.
"What about either of us is normal?" Harry asked and he decided to add on. "Actually what in this world is really normal?"
Alex didn't have an answer to that and really neither did Harry. He would just have to wait and watch.
"Let's see if I can figure out where you went wrong with that Transfiguration."
It had been an extremely long time since the Phoenix had been brought down to Earth. She found herself submerged in the deepness of space for so long that she forgot who she really was. Her powers gifted many extraordinary women through the years, but none might have been more extraordinary than the last one that she gifted.
They truly became one as they were and the Phoenix retreated, leaving an entire world behind. Something happened to bring her out of her state.
The redhead wore a tight pair of white robes, with a silver Phoenix emblem on her back. The woman approached the main lab. She saw Shayera resting in her room right across from it, waiting to get a clean bill of health.
The warrior woman was valiant even though there was a total lack of sense that came from her. Then again, the Phoenix reminded herself that she didn't have that much room to talk. She shifted herself through the doorway of the lab.
She reminded herself to knock.
"Come in"
The voice of Harry Potter was jovial and that made Phoenix happy. If her mate was happy, that means she was pleased. If anyone upset her mate, then they would be completely and totally fried.
Harry walked out of a machine, wearing absolutely nothing but a pair of boxer shorts.
"Good thing it was just me and no one from the media," Phoenix said without missing a beat and she looked over Harry's healthy form.
"I've got some good news, not that it really matters right now," Harry said.
After the lesson he learned, he knew not to rely on his powers, whether they be magical or otherwise. The true power remained as always within his mind.
"Oh, what do you have?" Phoenix asked him.
"My powers returned to a shade underneath their normal level from before I walked through he barrier," Harry said.
"Give that you're at a fraction of your complete power, that's pretty impressive what you could do," Phoenix said. She stepped towards him, placing her hands on him.
She felt something different. While it was within her abilities to remove the barriers that had been placed upon Harry, it was not without some kind of horrific consequences. She didn't want to go down that road because she had no wish to harm Harry.
"So, what are your plans?" Harry asked.
Phoenix looked extremely thoughtful. "I have been drawn here for a reason. Everything happens in the grand scheme of the universe for a reason, and now that I'm here…"
Phoenix paused and she struggled in an attempt to articulate her thoughts. She didn't know what she would do next per say.
"Phoenix was not the name that you were born with, you've taken on the primary aspects of your most prominent avatar," Harry said to her.
Phoenix nodded. "Yes, many women over a countless number of years. But the one that I last took as an avatar was Jean Grey. The two of us learned much from each other, and I guess that is who I am."
Jean looked at her mate, a burning expression of lust dancing through her green eyes.
"We are destined to be mated," Jean whispered when she pulled a lock of Harry's hair back and looked into his eyes. "The master of death and the avatar of life, it's a match made throughout the universe."
Harry thought that entire Master of Death thing, combined through his trip through the Veil was what got him in trouble in the first place. He wasn't completely sure though.
The one thing he knew was Jean's hot lips captured his with a burning kiss. Her mouth opened and allowed his tongue entry when he returned the kiss.
Flames surrounded both of them. Their clothes faded from their bodies. In the case of Harry, thanks to the examination he was under, that didn't mean that he had to go that far.
Jean smiled and she stepped back so Harry could see her surrounded by the flames.
"I feel your power call to me," Jean whispered, hair dropping down to her face and she looked rather seductive.
A come hither tone and look flashed through Jean's eyes.
"Beautiful," Harry said. When he looked at her beauty, he grew so hard that it hurt. He thought that there was something tugging on him to entice him to come forward.
The city of Metropolis had many questions in the month that passed since the mysterious invasion. Where the invaders had been repelled just as quickly as they arrived thanks to the heroes, there were a lot of questions and not a sufficient amount of answers for some people.
That was the case with most things and some of them remained silent. It was a game of waiting and seeing to see what these heroes would do. In the meantime, pretty much everyone could only guess.
The only thing that they couldn't guess was that this was a bright and sunny day in Metropolis. It was the type of day that was good to be alive. The type of day people could agree that nothing bad could possibly happen.
A portal opened up in the skies above a park in Metropolis. The nearby people screamed when they saw an object sail out of the portal.
The woman dropped down to the ground. She dressed in tattered clothes and she looked very weak. Her brown eyes flittered open but it was hard to breath from where she was.
Several large chunks of meteor rocks flew and that really panicked the people even more than the woman. There were maybe about a dozen pieces, but they were the size of a bowling ball. They glowed in the light, those who were close to them felt the power that they emitted.
Seconds later, a large dark ship flew through the portal and landed on the ground hard with a thud, several hundred yards away from where the woman first landed.
The panicked population in the park screamed their heads off. After the recent alien invasion, they were on a hair trigger.
The screams woke up Patricia Swann, who was dazed and confused. She didn't have the slightest idea how she got here.
The sounds of approaching military vehicles told her enough that she was in for it now.
To Be Continued On January 2nd, 2015.
And that's quite a way to leave you hanging on this for the next six weeks.