answers to reviewers questions or statements:
rmarcano321: It'll have a lot.
Jason Chandler: Would be wise but than again this is the guy that's still hung up on Gwen Stacy, aka the woman that cheated on him and berated him when they first met when they were in college. But it is something that will be addressed by a few others, namely Kaine later on.
Bladewolf101: Just because Diana is now going to be in a relationship with Superman doesn't mean she's going to be his little 'Yes man', if she feels Peter is in the right, she'll support him and vice versa.
christain a lebron: It'll be a bit until it really begins to hit home to Peter about Diana and Clark. Right now it's that whole 'oh, I guess their a thing now', it hasn't really sunken in that they are now and may be a thing. The League won't find out about Peter being from a previous reality until Darkseid War, which is a real far ways off. But little hints will start to be dropped, things that don't quite add up to them.
lord web life of destiny: I have no idea what you just said.
superpirece: Julia's father wasn't a traditional hero in that he had a alter ego and all that, he was more akin to the likes of Constantine minus the asshole part of his persona. Zatanna didn't cheat on Nick with Constantine, it's been heavily implied they were in a three way relationship and it was more that they lost faith in Nick because of his unhealthy obsession for the Books of Magic.
BigTofu: It's gonna be a while until New 52 Supes bites the dust.
Logic Soldier: Peter and Batman's relationship this time around will be friendlier compared to Peter's with the Pre-New 52.
CRUDEN: Pretty much.
colbyburningham: The fight is still a bit ways off.
Flash: Well, we've me the Juggernaut a while back whose patron is Cyttorak and Cthon has been alluded to and Dormammu made a cameo of sorts way back when Zatanna, John and Nick first appeared along with the Punisher. Don't see a reason why they cant make a full appearance in a later Justice League Dark arc.
Jurassik-master: I chose the Void because that would be the being that Peter gets stuck with if he was made a avatar to a cosmic force of nature. The ending wont be sad so I suppose it can be called happy depending on your viewpoint.
DeimosVulcan12: Peter is unaware that some of the things he's been up against and are happening to him are Mephisto's doing. He knows he's out there somewhere manipulating things but he doesn't know to what extent yet. Even Batman can't prepare against someone like Mephisto, his plans have plans that are back up plans for deals he's made. Yes, Peter and Logan will cross paths. It'll be some time until Venom appears again. Peter's power set is his traditional spider powers but enhanced by a few degrees, venom blasts, stingers, magic and abilities given to him by the Void when he channels it's power which in turn can enhance his current powers and the ability to access the Web of Life directly to increase his current power set for a limited time. Other suits, new and classic will make appearances. Carnage wont appear in this story outside of flashbacks and the occasional mention here and there. I wouldn't say there's a harem officially, more of these are the women he's going to be around a lot in this story and nine times out of ten, he'll sleep with them. Currently it's Huntress, Zatanna, Wanda, Julia, and Felicia though more will appear later on. Logan here is just a metahuman, and if other X-Men characters appear, they'll be the same. There will be arcs where it's just Peter and one of the girls from the 'harem'. He will travel to space, several times. Given how the story went, neither.
Dopeenight: A Goddess will be involved, but it wont be Hebe.
96hanzo: Wanda's teetering on the edge of insanity and sanity, leaning heavily towards the former.
Guest: The Ancient One has already appeared and died in this story and Zatanna is the one helping him learn more of magic.
Spider-man: There's... a strong possibility that one of Diana's rogues, likely Cheetah, will get it with Peter just to stick it to Diana.
Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or DC characters seen, mentioned or used.
Peter was certain at this point that if he needed a drink for every crap situation he walked into, he'd be suffering from liver failure from the sheer amount of alcohol he'd consume.
After returning from the Watchtower, and discovering Batman spying on Diana and Clark of all people kissing in the middle of some wheat field, all he wanted to do was collapse on to his bed and see if he might wake up from this seemingly never ending nightmare... only to step into his living room and see Wanda passed out on his couch with her body secured by mystical restraints of some kind while Julia, Zatanna and Felicia stood above her and discussed what they were going to do with the unhinged woman.
"What the hell was that anyway?" Julia asked with a worried frown as she glanced at Wanda's form "She was like some kind of possessed animal back there"
"Not enough beauty sleep?" Felicia joked while Zatanna muttered something under her breath as she held a glowing hand over her fellow mage's chest before moving to her head.
"Not sure yet, but it could be because of her connection to C-" Zatanna began before she noticed Peter in the doorway, looking at them with wide eyes "Oh... uh, hey Pete"
Julia and Felicia both turned to see Parker looking at all of them like they were some sort of strange alien he found sitting on his pillow. They both gave him a sheepish wave while his eyes flickered between all the women before he sighed.
"What's going on here?" Peter asked in a tired voice as he reached up and rubbed his temples, a headache already starting to grow.
"Tried to have a girls night out, get these two beauties drunk enough to wanna fuck me, Wanda showed up and went all crazy and now we're here" Felicia revealed with a grin.
Julia blushed at Felicia's remarks while Zatanna gaped at the white haired beauty.
"You... you were trying to seduce me?" she said with confusion.
While Zatanna may have had a very active sex life when she was with Constantine and Necro, they never invited another girl to join them. Hell, she never even looked at another girl in that kind of light. Not that she hadn't noticed how attractive the likes of Felicia and Julia were, Felicia gave off that very fun and sensual lover vibe while Julia, in Zee's opinion, was the very definition of a milf with one hell of a kinky side of her when behind closed doors.
"I was gonna before Wanda here interrupted us" Felicia said with a nod towards the still unconscious woman "Shame, wouldn't have minded her joining in too. We'd need her if we wanna out last Peter. Damn sex beast"
"Felicia!" Julia said with a exhale through her nose "Could you please focus?"
"He asked" Felicia said with a shrug.
"And now I regret it" Peter said with a shake of his head before he glanced back at Wanda and frowned "So... what are we gonna do with her?"
"Well... I'm still trying to figure out what exactly it is that set her off" Zatanna said as she kneeled down next to Wanda and placed a hand on the woman's forehead and muttered something under her breath before the area she was touching began to glow "It could be a result of the demon she made a contract with years ago finally taking it's toll on her mind. Deals with demons never end well"
"I hear that" Peter said in a dry tone as he watched Zatanna continue to monitor Wanda's... well he wasn't sure what Zatanna was monitoring.
Probably her energy or soul or something mystical of that nature.
"Are you okay Peter?" Julia suddenly said, her gaze centered on Peter, concern evident in her eyes and tone "You seem... off"
"I'm fine, just a long day at the office is all" Peter joked with a weak smile "Fought Cheetah and nearly got turned into a scratching post because of it"
"Why the heck were you fighting Cheetah?" Felicia asked with a frown "Isn't see Wonder Gal's baddy?"
"Guess she wanted to try her luck with another hero, see how it goes" Peter answered with a shrug "Or she was here for the pizza. Heard a new parlor opened up in Brooklyn"
"I'm sure that's why she was here" Felicia said with an eye roll "Just make sure that pussy knows you already belong to another. Namely me"
"I'll be sure to let her know" Peter responded dryly.
The next half hour passed in silence as Zatanna continued to monitor Wanda's state while Felicia had excused herself to Peter's room, claiming she had to call Mary and let her know that she'd be delayed getting back and Julia simply sat and silently watched Peter the whole time. He wasn't sure if she could outright read his mind, but he knew that Julia knew him well enough to tell that he was bothered by something. And with Madam Web's abilities, Peter didn't doubt she'd soon uncover the reason behind Peter's... distracted thoughts.
'I mean, I knew those two were pretty good friends back in the old reality, and Di even admitted that Clark was handsome and she was a little jealous that Lois had gotten to him first, but that's all they ever were, friends!' Peter thought as he leaned against the wall and watched out of the corner of his eye Zatanna form several magical circles around Wanda's body 'But here? Far as I know, they've never really hung out like Di and I have. Hell, I'm pretty sure she's been around Hal more often than not...'
It was possible it was just hormones between the two, some kind of left over adrenaline that evolved into some sort of sexual tension. But Diana's never exhibited that kind of reaction to anyone before, and Superman, at least this realty's, was too much of a tight ass to ever let himself lose control like that... so what was going on?
'Maybe's it's just some left over magical residue on Supe's part and maybe Diana just being frustrated or something' Peter thought with a frown as he glanced over to see Zatanna looking at Wanda with a thoughtful look on her face while several mystical spheres orbited her 'Maybe Zee might have an idea-'
"Well, it's not Cthon that's affecting her, so I guess that's some good news" Zatanna said as the mystical spheres vanished and she turned towards Peter with a somewhat relieved look on her face "And she's not under some kind of curse, far as I can tell at least"
"Than what caused her to go all..." Julia trailed off as she tried to find the right word to describe Wanda's rampage.
"Bitchy?" Zatanna offered with a snort "It's possible she's just probably her finally reached her peak of delusions and paranoia. Even before she became the Scarlet Witch, she was a bit unhinged. Sakovia has a few graveyards in the hundreds that can attest to that"
"Somehow hearing that makes me feel even more uneasy" Peter said with a sigh as he pushed himself off the wall "So if it's not some manipulative demons or some vengeful curse laid on her, what caused this? I seriously doubt tonight just happened to be the night Wanda went off the deep end like someone out of Arkham"
"I said it's possible" Zatanna clarified with a pointed look "Just because I couldn't find anything doesn't mean that something isn't there Peter. Hard as it is to believe, but there are a number of people out there that can hide their machinations from me. And that's just on the human side of things, god only knows how many inhuman things can fool me into thinking they aren't behind something I stumbled across"
"Do you know someone that might though?" Peter asked as he spared a worried glance at Wanda "Someone that might be able to pick up something? If something or someone's manipulating her, I wanna know who and why so I can go kick the crap out of them and get them to leave her alone"
"I know a few" Zatanna said with a shrug "Constantine for one, but I'd rather not have him anywhere near Wanda as she is now. And he'd be inclined to agree"
"What about Doctor Fate?" Julia offered, causing Peter and Zatanna to glance at her which in turn cased her to blush a little "I mean, he's bound to know something, right?"
"It's possible, but finding Fate is a helluva lot harder than talking to him" Zatanna said with a frustrated sigh "No one's seen him in months"
"What's he doing?" Peter asked with a raised brow "Redecorating the Tower of Fate?"
"If I knew I'd tell you" Zatanna said with a tired sigh as she rubbed her temples "Well... we could try Xanadu-"
"Considering what happened the last time she was around a woman as powerful as Wanda, how about no?" Peter said with a snort of grim amusement "I don't think the world can handle Wanda here going bonkers"
"Xanadu made a mistake, a piss poor one, I'll admit, but she's out best bet on finding out what's wrong with Wanda here Pete" Zatanna said with a frown.
"What about K'un-Lun?" Julia said as she stood up from her seat "Can't they help Wanda?"
"Maybe" Peter said with a thoughtful look on his face "Plus they do kinda owe her since she helped defend them from the Inheritors"
"Can you get us into K'un-Lun?" Zatanna asked "The magical barriers are as top of the line as they come. Even John wouldn't be able to get in, and he's pretty good at getting into places he's not welcomed"
"I think so" Peter said with some doubt in his voice "I mean, I've never tried to get back into K'un-Lun with a teleportation spell, but I guess I can always-"
"AHHHHHHHH!" Wanda's body suddenly arched and her mouth opened far longer than it naturally should as an inhuman wail echoed from deep within.
Peter, Zatanna and Julia's hands flew to their ears in attempt to drown out the near ear shattering scream before Wanda suddenly collapsed back on to the couch. Zatanna was at the woman's side in a heartbeat while Julia slunk to her knees, her hands still over her ears while trickles of blood began to seep through her fingers.
"Jesus, Julia..." Peter said as he made his way over to his fellow spider themed friend and gently reached up to move her hands from her ears.
"I'm fine" Julia said with a wince as Peter cupped her chin and turned her head slowly to better examine the blood from her ears "Just a lot of ringing now"
"The hell was that Zee?" Peter asked as he held a hand up to Julia's ear and began to channel a small amount of healing energy into it.
"No idea" Zatanna said with a frown as she studied Wanda's energy and mind.
It was than that Felicia re-entered the room with a look of mild annoyance as she pointed towards a trickle of blood emanating from her ear "IS THERE A REASON WHY I'M DEAF NOW?!"
"WHAT?!" Peter shouted and made a show of looking like he was trying to hear Felicia "CAN'T HEAR YOU-"
"Peter knock it off and help her" Julia said with a disproving frown.
"Oh come on, you know I couldn't resist" Peter snickered as he held a hand up to Felica's ear and muttered a quick healing spell.
"Ahhh much better" Felicia sighed in content before she shot Peter a glare and kicked him in the shin.
"OW!" Peter yelped as he jumped back and rubbed his now sore shin "The hell?!"
"I know for a fact you were making a joke out of me being deaf and having to yell!" Felicia accused the wall crawler.
"Worth it" Peter said with a smirk before he glanced over at Zatanna and Wanda "So uh, how soon do we need to be in K'un-Lun?"
"We can head over in the morning" Zatanna said with a tired sigh as she stood up "If we're gonna deal with some sort of exorcism tomorrow, I'm gonna need the rest"
"Shouldn't we try to be going now?" Peter asked with some confusion.
"We could, but you look like your a second from dropping dead" Zatanna said as she turned towards Peter before pointing towards the hall that led to their rooms "Fourth rule of magic Pete, never use magic when your tired. Especially when your trying to teleport us into a place like K'un-Lun"
Peter coudlnt help but roll his eyes at this "I swear magic has more rules than science"
"And for good reason" Zatanna said before she turned towards Felicia and Julia "Do you two have a place to sta-"
"We'll take Peter's room" Felicia said with a grin as she wandered over and threw an arm around Julia's shoulders and pulled her close "We'll make sure he gets to sleep"
Julia blushed at this while Zatanna's brow seemed to twitch in annoyance. Peter on the other hand just wanted to find somewhere quiet to sit and think for a while.
"I'll sleep out here" Peter offered as he took a seat in a chair across from the couch Wanda was lying on "Keep an eye on Wanda"
"Awww booo!" Felicia grumbled.
...
Fire...
Smoke...
A red sky...
Rot...
Peter couldn't help but gag at the last one, his nostrils burning from the putrid flesh rotting around him. Hold a hand to his nose and mouth to try and block out the smell, Peter took in his surroundings with narrowed eyes. It was a city, which one he couldn't begin to decide, most of the buildings were on fire and in ruins. The sky, or what was visible through the black clouds of smoke, seemed to burn red, as if it was bleeding.
And all around Peter laid the remains of thousands, tens of thousands, old young, men, women, their seemed to be no exception made.
"What the hell happened here?" Peter said with growing horror as he began to recognize the bodies around him.
Diana... Felicia... Barry... Teressa... every person he's ever met, ever knew, laid around him in various states of mutilation. Looks of pain and terror seemed to be carved on to their faces, at least the ones that still had faces.
"Aren't you proud of your work?"
Peter froze at the chilling hiss that spoke up behind him.
Very slowly Peter began to turn and saw that lying only a few meters away was a stair case, leading up to what appeared to be a thrown of some sort. Sitting in the throne was... something. It possessed six glowing eyes, and had what looked like six spider like limbs sprouting from it's body, twitching ever so slightly in agitation. On the thing's chest was Peter's spider emblem, burning red and pulsing like a heart.
"M-My work? What the hell are you talking about?" Peter said with confusion as he watched the being slowly rise from it's throne and begin to slowly descend down the stair case, it's clawed feet scraping the stone like material, leaving thin white marks on each step.
"You don't remember?" the being said with amusement as it came to a stop in front of Peter, it's form towering over the wall crawler as it reached out with a clawed hand and cupped Peter's chin "All of your accomplishments?"
Peter flinched at the feeling of the claws touching his face, they felt warm and sticky with god knows what and smelled like the inside of a meat processing plant. Now that Peter was closer to the being, he could make out the texture of it's skin, it was a dark red, almost black color and seemed to have a web like pattern carved into it's skin.
"Such a pity..." the creature said as he it released Peter and had it's face began to slowly split apart, revealing what laid underneath.
Peter's eyes widened in shock as stared at his own face, pale, scarred and sockets as black as the void with a single blood red slit floating where his eyes should be. The reflection grinned widely, showing blood stained teeth that looked more like needles as a long barbed tongue emerged from his mouth and licked at the scars on his face before speaking.
"You had so much fun ripping them all apart-"
PETER!
...
"Peter!"
Peter felt himself jump and quickly took in his surroundings before realizing that he was still in his living room, lying in his chair. Wanda was still asleep on his couch though the blanket she had on was lying half on the ground and half over her lower body. The wall crawler also saw that it was Zatanna that had awoken him, clad in a snow white see through robe and black panties. Her front, which was on full display thanks to the front of the robe being left untied, was bare, allowing Peter to see her breasts, the nipples slightly erect.
"Zee...?" Peter said in a whispered tone, mindful to not possibly awaken Wanda "What are you doing here?"
"Couldn't sleep" Zatanna responded in a equally quiet voice as she slowly fell to her knees and rested her arms on Peter's leg before resting her chin on her forearm "Came out here to see how you were doing when I saw you. Looked like you were having one hell of a dream"
"Hell would be a accurate way to describe it" Peter said with a mental shiver "Guess it's time to lay off the sugar before bed, huh?"
Zatanna frowned at Peter's poor attempt to brighten the mood "What was your dream about?"
"Oh you know, same old same old" Peter said with a tired grin "Finding myself at school in my underwear while trying to talk to my at the time high school crush and everyone laughing at me. Real dark stuff"
"Peter" Zatanna said with a stern look on her face "What. Did. You. See?"
"What's it matter?" Peter asked with a frown "It's just a bad dream-"
"Peter, I've slept with you enough times to see when you have bad dreams" Zatanna snapped with a harsh whisper "And what I saw you having was way beyond any sort of bad dream. It was a nightmare"
"Pretty sure those are the same" Peter joked before the look Zatanna gave him caused him to sigh "Okay, okay, it was a nightmare. There, happy?"
"What happened in it?" Zatanna asked.
"City on fire, a lot of dead people..." Peter said before he trailed off at the end as the image of... of himself appeared "Me being... different"
"Different, how?" Zatanna inquired as she reached up and placed a comforting hand on Peter's own "Tell me"
"I think... I think I was responsible for it. What happened in the nightmare I mean" Peter said with a disturbed look "At least, that's what the other me was implying"
Zatanna nodded slowly at this before she glanced at Wanda "Perhaps before we go to K'un-Lun we make a quick stop at Xanadu's to see if she might have some insight to these nightmares"
"It's just a bad dream Zatanna" Peter said with a shake of his head "Little worse than the usual ones I have but nothing that won't go away in time"
"That's what I used to think too..." Zatanna said with a tired sigh.
Peter's brow furrowed at this and he leaned forward "What do you mean?"
"Ever since we fought with the Enchantress, I've been having... nightmares" Zatanna revealed with a small shrug "At first I thought they were just bad dreams. Bit worse than usual, but like you said, nothing that wouldn't go away with time. But... but than I kept having them. Over and over again. Same dream"
"What was it?" Peter asked with curiosity and dread.
"I was standing on a beach" Zatanna said with a distant expression on her face "The sand, if it could be called that, was made from ashes. I could smell them still burning, feel them still smoldering between my toes. And across the water from where I was standing, I saw a city... it was burning"
"Did you recognize the city?" Peter asked.
Zatanna shook her head "No, at least not confidently. I thought it looked a little like Manhattan but the fire and smoke made it too hard to tell. But what stuck out the most was the... laughing"
"Laughing?" Peter said with confusion "What do you mean laughing?"
"I mean something was laughing at what I was looking at" Zatanna said with a shiver "I could feel it's twisted amusement as I watched the city burn"
"Did you ever see what it was that was laughing?" Peter asked with worry "Any hint as to what or who it was?"
"No..." Zatanna said with a frown "Any time I tried to see what it was that was laughing at the image I saw, I always-..."
"You always what?" Peter asked.
Zatanna said nothing for a moment as she stared off into space with a look of fear in her eyes before she turned to meet Peter's gaze.
"I always find you standing there... watching me with these black eyes... smiling"
...
"I take it your here for the same reasons that I am?"
Peter and Zatanna both turned to see John Constantine standing only a few meters away, leaning against a light pole with a lit cigarette in his mouth. The man looked unsurprised by the appearance of the two, in fact he looked more bored than anything.
"Constantine?" Peter said with confusion "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to talk to Madam Xanadu about something private" the infamous con artist said with a shrug as he pushed himself off the street lamp and approached the two, taking a long drag from his creature comfort "You?"
Peter and Zatanna shared a brief look before the latter spoke "We're here to see if Xanadu can help us with something. It's about Wanda"
"What about her?" Constantine asked with curiosity.
"We're not sure" Peter said as he rubbed the back of his head "She's been acting... off. well off-er than usual"
"Oh well that's just bloody brilliant" Constantine said with a sigh as he pinched the ridge of his nose "Goddamn nightmares, a sense of dread and now the Scarlet Witch is losing what little marbles she has left"
"Nightmares?" Zatanna said with a frown "What do you mean by that?"
"It's nothing, bad scotch is all" Constantine said as he brushed past Peter and Zatanna and made a beeline for Xanadu's house "Look you can talk to Xanadu when I'm done getting some answers from her, sound good?"
"Uhh not really" Peter said with a frown aimed at the man's back before he glanced at Zatanna "Is it a good idea to let him go first?"
"No" Zatanna said as she took Peter by the arm and pulled him after her "It's not"
"Spidey, Zee?"
Peter and Zatanna both froze and turned to see Deadman flying towards them with a look of surprise on his face.
"Deadman" Peter nodded at the undead acrobat "What brings you here?"
"Nightmares" Deadman said with a sigh "Like really bad ones. Been having them for a while, ever since the crap with Enchantress. Thought I'd see if it was Xanadu's doing"
"Your having nightmares too?" Zatanna asked with a bothered look on her face.
"Yeah, why?" Deadman asked as he glanced at the Mistress of Magic "Why, are you too?"
"Yeah... we are" Zatanna said as she glanced at Peter with worry "Still think I'm being overly dramatic about these?"
"Could be a very ridiculous coincidence" Peter said with a nervous laugh "Right?"
"Peter in magic, coincidence doesn't exist" Zatanna shook her head before she gestured for Peter and Deadman to follow her into Xanadu's house "Come on, let's see what she has to say before Constantine fucks everything up"
"Fine with me" Deadman said as he flew ahead of the pair and into the house.
Peter can safely say he's never been in Madam Xanadu's house before, at least as far as he knows. He's heard Zatanna describe it a few times in the past, big old ancient house filled to the brim with mystical runes and spells to keep it hidden and secure and housing enough magical artifacts to arm a small country. The moment Peter stepped through the threshold of the house he felt a wave of magical energy wash over him like a wave of cold water at the beach. It was both refreshing and unsettling at the same time and caused Peter to move a little closer to Zatanna as they entered the house's main foyer to see several others had already arrived.
Thor who gave them a nod of greeting, Shade the changing man who seemed uncomfortable to be around anyone, and Swamp Thing standing silently near the wall, a glare aimed at Constantine.
"Huh, look at that, the band's back together again" Peter said as he realized that minus Wanda, it was the group of people he took on the Enchantress and Ebony Maw with "All right boys, first stop for this little reunion tour is Coast City. after that we have a booking out in Central City before we roll on over to Vegas where we-"
"You talk a a lot" Shade said with surprise.
"Talking is part of my charm" Peter said with a shrug "That and making snappy quips when I'm getting my teeth knocked down my throat. And-"
"Spider-man, please shut up" Zatanna said with a sigh before she glanced around the room for the house's owner "Anyone seen Xanadu?"
"She left to retrieve something" Thor pointed towards a hall that led deeper into the house "She will return momentarily"
"What makes you think she won't try and leg it? "Constantine asked with a raised brow as he pulled out a new cigarette to light and smoke from.
"I asked Heimdall to bring her back into this room if she tries" Thor said with a shrug as he leaned back in his seat "Even she cannot hide from his gaze, skilled as she is"
"I'll hold you to that you roided out Norwegian male model" Constantine said with a eye roll.
"Norwegian?" Peter said with some doubt as he examined Thor "I was thinking he's more like a Swiss male model"
"Nah Swiss models never get his size unless their on something" Constantine nodded at the large muscular arms that Thor possessed "Could pass for a German body builder though-"
"If you are both quite done ogling Thor's physique" the voice of Xanadu drew everyone's attention to the seer as she entered the room.
"Can you blame us?" Peter said with a snort "The guy makes Bruce Wayne look ugly in comparison"
"Oh hush you" Zatanna slapped Peter's shoulder, causing him to shoot her a scowl of annoyance.
"What the hell is going on Xanadu?" Constantine demanded as he took a drag from his cigarette "I'm having nightmares of demons doing to London what's taking property developers years to pull off"
"I doubt your nightmares can compare to mine" Shade said with a solemn look on his face "Mine have brutal authenticity"
"Could it be the work of the Enchantress?" Peter asked as he gazed at the others "Some kind of like, revenge spell for beating her? Give us bad dreams and a serious case on insomnia?"
If it was, that had to be without a doubt the biggest trolling he's ever seen anyone ever do.
"No" Xanadu said with a shake of her head "What you are all suffering is more than mere nightmares. What your dreaming of are vision of the future
"The future?" Deadman said with a tone of disbelief "Your joking"
"They are visions of what will come to pass if you all choose to go your sperate ways" Xanadu said before her gaze landed on Peter "If you allow yourselves to become consumed and lost"
"What'd you dream about big guy?" Deadman said as he floated over to Thor.
"Ragnarök..." Thor said in a grim tone as the grip on his hammer tightened "Only far worse than the one that claimed my people"
"I dreamt of the Green burning and being consumed by decay" Swamp Thing's voice rumbled through the room.
"Nothing new there I think" Constantine said with a scoff.
"So your saying we're having nightmares because we're destined to do something horrible or having something horrible happen to us unless we come together?" Shade said with a incredulous expression on his face.
"In a manner of speaking" Xanadu said with a slow nod.
"Well that's-" Shade began before Constantine beat him to it.
"It's bullocks is what it is" the man said with a long drag of his cigarette before he blew out a stream of smoke "What's going on Xanadu? You may have the others all jumpy about 'visions of the future' but I'm not an idiot. There's something coming that's connected to each of us and if we don't stop it, it'll either use one of us to make the visions we saw come true or drive us into trying to stop it ourselves and unintentionally trigger said vision to happen"
"Does that happen a lot?" Peter asked with a worried frown.
"Sadly, yes" Zatanna said with a dejected sigh.
"Oh... well than what is this great big bad thing than?" Peter asked with a raised brow.
Xanadu bit her lip for a moment before she spoke in a low voice "They call him… Cain, the sire of all Vampires"
...
And done.
Next chapter, Undead nightmare...