Rise of the Mystic Mutants the Tale of Henry John Braddock

Chapter 5

Henry sped across the snow-covered ground, snow billowing out behind him in his wake. An icy wind bit into his exposed skin, turning it pale pink, but he ignored the pain, continuing to focus his Psionic power on his legs.

Henry skidded to a stop at the facility's location, spraying snow toward Madalyn and Cain as he stared at where the building once was.

Where is my mother, Henry panted as Madalyn lowered her hand, a pulse of destructive energy having destroyed the snow on their clothes.

"Henry," Madalyn began, but she stopped as an oval portal opened 10 feet off the ground, releasing streamers of rainbow-colored energy.

Cain angled his head upwards, light reflecting off his bald head, "What the heck is that?"

Henry stared upwards, his eyes glowing, "it looks like a portal into the astral plane, but I've never seen one quite like that before."

Lily Braddock floated out of the portal; her body clothed in a long sleeve dark green velvet gown. She hovered in the air, her eyes closed, her red hair billowing around her.

"Mom!" Henry called, slowly drifting up toward her.

Lily's eyes snapped open, burning with an inner light just as Henry came level with her. "Henry," she whispered. Slowly, she drifted forward.

Closing the distance between them, she cupped his face in her hands, "I can touch you," she took a deep breath, "I can breathe." She looked around, squinting at the sun's light, "How is this possible?"

Everything had been muted in the astral plane, but she felt alive for the first time in fourteen years.

Wrapping an arm around her, Henry gently guided her to the ground, "I don't know," a smile spread across his face, "but I'm not complaining."

Madalyn moved forward as they settled on the snow-covered ground, "I think I can explain."

Mother and son turned to Madalyn, "How?" They asked in unison.

Madeline shook her head, "So creepy." She turned to the space where the facility once stood. "The two of you arrived in this universe thanks to technology developed by my village."

She glanced at the two of them, "the facility did horrible things to you." Her gaze focused on Lilly, "they removed your brain from your body, trapping you in the astral plane."

Her gaze switched to Henry, "they turned you into a living weapon," she turned her head, staring at nothing, "So when we came up with a plan to take down the facility using a magical ritual. I altered it a bit, using transmutation principles; I used your brain as a base and designed a portion of the ritual circle to reconstruct your body out of its DNA, using matter taken from the facility."

She turned back to them, "I didn't mention anything before because I didn't want to get your hopes up," the corners of her lips twitched, "but I am happy to see that it worked."

Cain moved up behind her, wrapping his large arms around her slender form, "My lady is so smart."

In a blink, Henry moved forward, wrapping his arms around Madalyn, "Thank you, aunt Madalyn."

Madalyn stiffened for a moment, not having expected that reaction. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around him. For a moment, they just stood there, the cold wind whipping around them and chilling their skin.

Finally, Henry pulled back and stepped away, allowing his mother to move in for a hug.

Once his mother had finished hugging Madalyn, she pulled away and dabbed at her eyes, "So, what are we doing now?"

"I am only fourteen, but I would like to visit Giovanni Zatara and the Lebow family?"

Lily looked at him, "I know about Giovanni; he is the one that helped us get Rachel and her son to safety, as well as Laura and Sarah, but who are the Lebows?"

"The Lebows are a family of, in a broad term, artisans," Madalyn began, "a lot of their members work on portal technology."

Lily inclined her head as Madalyn turned to Henry, "How do you know about them?"

Henry glanced at his mother; "there are certain people, their actions send a ripple through the astral. The Lebows are such a family."

Lily moved towards him, her footsteps leaving light impressions in the snow, "Interesting, and what do you want to learn from them?"

"The Lebows can create. Most of the family can manipulate technology of some kind. After all the death I caused, especially today, I would like to learn to do that. I am hoping by studying with the Lebow family; I can learn to manipulate technology and learn to build instead of destroying."

"I don't have a problem with that," Lily looked at Cain and Madalyn, "do you?"

Cain shrugged, "It's not like I have anywhere to go."

"I can't exactly return to Eden village now that I know James Benedict Potter was the one who sabotaged the portal technology. I suppose I could go to Hampton village, but I'm not ready to return to an island. So, I'll tag along and see if the Lebows can teach Henry their craft."

Cain scratched his bald head, "I know Henry can teleport us, so that takes care of travel, but aren't we going to need money to get a place to stay?"

Henry shook his head, "We're going to have to get some distance away from here before I teleport us. There's too much psychic and magical energy in the air, and I don't know what condition we would arrive in if we tried to teleport from here."

A smile stretched across Madalyn's face, "as for money," she stretched forth her hand, runic symbols swirled in her palm, forming a cube. The white energy flared, merging into a metal box.

"This contains the facilities' budget, including the accounts of the people working for them. So, I don't think money will be an issue." As they watched, the box shifted into a card form.

"Maybe I should just have you teach me."

Madeline shook her head, "Now that we're out of the Facility, I have more I can teach you, especially regarding runes, but my creation power and desire for this to happen did most of the work, everything else the runes established the needed connection."

Lily clapped her hands together, "Alright, people, let's get moving; I'm freezing my tits off out here."

Henry blinked, "Mom!"

Lily laughed as she turned and began walking away.

–XX –

Giovanni Zatara sat cross-legged in the air, an aura of silver energy clinging to his body. Slowly, his eyes opened, and he stared at a metal gyroscope-looking device buried deep within the basement of his brownstone.

Glass woven into the rings glowed with a pale blue light.

It'd been over a thousand years since he arrived in this world. Since that time, he had grown incredibly powerful, but he would give it all up to be able to see his daughter once more.

"Soon," he whispered into the quiet, "soon, Zatanna."

Suddenly, the world spun, and star-filled darkness filled his vision.

–XX –

when the spinning stopped, Giovanni found himself standing in the void of space. Shifting his legs, he moved into a standing position and floated in the air, "where am I?" Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, "thgis decnahnE." His vision zoomed outward, allowing him to see planets in the distance. 'Well, I'm not in Kansas anymore,' he thought with a wry smile on his lips.

The Wizard of Oz was one of Zatanna's favorite movies when she was a little girl. Just saying a version of the phrase made him remember her smiling face as she clicked her heels and spun around, pretending to be whisked away on an adventure.

"No, you're not, but maybe I can help with that."

"Who's there?"

The void before him shifted, stars floating up to form the outline of a colossal humanoid individual wearing a cloak. Beneath its hood, two large eyes burned like moons.

The ground beneath Giovanni shifted. Looking down, he realized he was standing in the figure's palm.

"Hello, Giovanni Zatara."

Giovanni was surprised to find that despite the being's size, his voice was surprisingly soft. Swallowing, Giovanni floated into the air, "Who are you? What are you? What do you want with me?"

"I am The Fifth Cosmos. As for what I am, I am the embodiment of a previous universe, specifically the universe where magic was born. As for what I want from you." The fifth shook his head, "it is not you specifically I want."

"You are going to be visited by a boy that will ask you to train him; I want you to join several other individuals to do that."

"Why?"

"Long ago, I had a wife that was a being from your home universe. Together, we created a race. Unfortunately, specific individuals in your home universe did not like that my wife was making a universe that would go on forever, so a fight ensued. My wife was sealed away, our creations destroyed, and I was eventually forced to sleep when it was time for the next multi-verse to take the stage."

"However, the founding of Eden village woke me up. The inhabitant's mutations enhanced by magic are similar enough to my creations to interest me. However, two incarnations cannot be awake at one time, so I moved here," the fifth gestured around himself, "to a space created by my wife and me to join our two universes."

"If you're interested in Eden village, why have me train just this individual?"

"Most of Eden's inhabitants are content to hide, but this individual will shake things up."

"And if they don't?"

The fifth shrugged, "then I continue watching."

"What is your end game? What is all of this for?"

The fifth shook his head, "There's no point in speaking of it at these early stages."

Giovanni folded his arms behind his back, "Say I do this; what do I get out of it?"

Large luminescent white eyes peered at him for a long moment, "The mark on your soul will fade in six years. Stay here for seven, and I will open a portal to your home universe. Otherwise, you will have to step through the portal and navigate your own way through your universe is multi-verse."

Giovanni's hands twitched. Ten years and he could finally return home. "If I do this, what would you have my student do once I leave?"

"Nothing"

"Nothing," Giovanni repeated

"Right now, the boy has a particular set of skills. He has potential, and I was hoping you could help him realize that potential. Because I am curious to see what he can do if he would have more tools at his disposal."

"You're doing this for curiosity," Giovanni asked, a note of disbelief in his voice.

The fifth shrugged his shoulders, "I have nothing else to do. So, what do you say?"

–XX –

Henry, Lily, Madalyn, and Cain appeared a block away from Giovanni's brownstone in a flash of pale blue light. Turning, Henry began making his way down the sidewalk.

"Where are we?" Madalyn asked from her position beside Cain.

"New York City, about a block from Zatara's apartment."

"You couldn't have gotten us any closer?" Cain asked.

"It would've been rude to appear in his living room, besides when I tried to appear close to the brownstone, the magical protections around it shunted me to the location where we appeared."

"We're just lucky we appeared in an alley."

"Luck didn't have anything to do with it," said a man emerging from the shadows.

He was 5'11" tall with blue eyes, short black hair that grayed at the temples, a thin mustache, and a black beard with a gray stripe down the center.

He wore a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black slacks, shoes, and suspenders.

His gaze swept over the group, "Maddie," he inclined his head to Madalyn, "it's good to see you." His gaze flicked to each person in the group, "when I agreed to help you get those people new lives, I didn't expect a visit, let alone with friends."

Madalyn moved forward to stand beside Henry, "Well, I wasn't planning to visit, but my friend here," she laid a hand on Henry's shoulder, "was interested in what you could do and was hoping you would train him."

Giovanni arched an eyebrow, "Train him in what?"

"From a young age," Henry began, "I have been taught to destroy. Now, I would like to learn to create."

"Magic is a form of creation, but it always comes with a price. Are you willing to pay that price?"

"It depends if I know the cost ahead of time."

Giovanni inclined his head, "Fair enough; the simplest rule is the more you change, the higher the cost. More importantly, remember this, the cost may not always come from you."

Henry inclined his head, "Does that mean you will train me?"

"Yes, depending on how well you do, I may call in some help." Giovanni looked around him, "Now, come, we can't stand on the street all night."

As the group walked away, Madalyn moved beside Giovanni, "You wouldn't happen to know of any homes for sale, would you?"