A gloved hand picked up a ringing phone and brought it up. "Hello?"
"Hey Robin, it's Harry."
Robin smiled at hearing from his friend, trying to ignore the noise of Cyborg and Beast Boy playing a shooter. "Hey Harry, what's up?"
"I have a small situation over here that I would like to consult Raven about. Could you put her on, please?" Harry said.
"Sure, she's here anyway, one sec." Robin replied as he walked over to where Raven was sitting with a book by Agatha Christie.
She looked up at him with raised eyebrow before taking the phone from him and bringing it to her ear. "Yes?" Robin watched as the pale girl's passive face slowly became alarmed, what little color she had seeming to fade away. "Harry, I swear to every single deity that if this is a joke…" She seemed to listen intently. "Alright, how long till the event?" A second's pause before something in the kitchen exploded, much to Robin's growing consternation. "I'm sorry, how long!? And you're just calling me now!?" Raven's eyes twitched. "You need to disrupt the ritual. I don't care if it's a major historical site, don't hold back. It can't be allowed to be completed. I'll contact the League and we'll get there as soon as possible." She nodded to something he said. "Understood, see you soon." She quickly hung up.
"I imagine it is bad news, yes?" Starfire asked from where she sat on the floor, Silkie in her lap.
Raven clenched her jaw before turning to Robin. "Contact the League. We have a major problem."
Normally Robin would ask for some clarification before doing so, but from what he could tell they didn't have the time. He quickly moved to do so, the other boys having already paused their game and switched he screen to comm mode.
Harry walked out of his portal into the cool night, making sure his gear was secure with one hand while the other held his gun at the ready. Behind him followed Dumbledore, several members of the Order, and some aurors. Most of the wizards looked unnerved at having gone through a portal of pure darkness, but they kept quiet about it.
"Alright, I dropped us off about half a kilometer from Stonehenge." Harry said as he looked around, Dumbledore stepping up to his side. "With any luck we haven't been detected and we won't be till we're there. We'll need to walk the rest of the way. We have…" He looked at his watch. "About twenty five minutes till we're too late, so we should get a move on." Without waiting for a response he began to move in the direction of Stonehenge, from which a faint glow was emitting.
One of the aurors moved close to Harry as the group began to move, scowling. "Who the bloody hell put you in charge, boy?"
Before Harry had a chance to respond Tonks spoke up. "Shut it, Daniels. He alerted us to the threat and got us here. Not to mention he has some clue about what he's doing, unlike you."
Daniels turned to Tonks with a snarl. "I outrank you, you bint, and unlike you I didn't have to spread my legs to get my position."
Tonks' eyes narrowed, but before she could retort Harry did so. "Auror Daniels, shut the hell up. In case you forgot, we're in hostile territory, and pissing off somebody that might have to watch your back soon doesn't seem like the brightest idea. Besides which, I like and trust her more than you, and I wouldn't lose much sleep over breaking your kneecaps."
Daniels sputtered. "Are you threatening me, you little-!"
"Enough. I believe I see something." Dumbledore said, and the belligerent auror growled but went silent.
As they approached they began to make out several fires placed at what appeared to be specific locations, darkly robed figures moving in the firelight. Harry pulled some night vision binoculars from his bag and brought them to his eyes.
The figures were definitely Death Eaters, patrolling the edge of Stonehenge's circle. There was more movement the closer one got to the center of the formation, along with a glow above the center stone.
He pulled his binoculars away and offered them to Dumbledore, who promptly brought them up to his own eyes. "Alright, looks like it's begun. I see some sort of glow not caused by fire at the center. We need to move now, and move fast. Take the Death Eaters down with extreme prejudice, cause we don't have time to waste on protracted battles just to keep them alive."
Daniels once again felt the need to speak up. "Just because you've gone dark, Potter, doesn't mean the rest of us have. We'll follow procedure and-"
"For fuck's sake, Daniels, don't you have a damn brain?" Moody practically snarled. "Bones already authorized lethal force, and this is more important than you posturing to get that promotion you want. Now shut your trap and do as you're told. I'm already of a mind to tell the Minister that you put the entire mission at risk. And considering we're dealing with the threat of a major demonic incursion, don't be surprised when you get shipped to Azkaban."
Daniel's teeth clicked as his mouth shut, and he proceeded to glare around at everybody gathered, fuming.
Harry had mostly ignored the byplay, putting away his binoculars. "I'll take point. I'm immune to the AK, not to mention a higher priority target. They'll focus on me and Dumbledore, allowing the rest of you to take them out. Me and Dumbledore will focus on making our way to Tom and disrupting the ritual, since we're the most likely to be able to do so."
Dumbledore nodded. "A sound plan." The Elder Wand was in his hand, and Harry focused on ignoring its siren song. "Ready when you are, my boy."
Harry gave everybody a moment to prepare themselves before beginning to run forward, hearing the others follow behind him. He brought up his gun, and a Death Eater went down with an agonized cry, clutching his shoulder. Even as he continued to run, streaks of light shot from behind him, aiming for the other Death Eaters nearby, who were just then turning at the sound of their compatriot's screams. Most missed, but some enemies dropped.
Unfortunately it appeared that they had less time than they thought to disrupt the ritual. The various fires were wavering oddly, changing colors. Harry sped up.
Apparently Voldemort's flunkies had grown brains, however, as suddenly a wall sprung up from the ground as they were getting close, blocking their path. It was long to either side, meaning they'd have to take time to go around, stalling them for a few more precious seconds.
"Fuck!" Harry growled. Some of the team began to move to the edges of the wall, but before they could get very far Dumbledore waved his wand almost lazily, and the middle of the wall seemed to melt away like it had turned to liquid. For all Harry knew, it might have.
The Death Eaters who had been looking at the edges of the wall were caught completely by surprise by the fact that their obstruction was useless, giving the attackers precious moments to go on the offensive. A couple of darkly robed figures managed to duck away and get behind pillars, but most fell to gunshots and spells.
By this point every Death Eater was on their way to intercept, making Harry scowl. They couldn't allow themselves to be slowed down by the dark wizards. He kneeled and put a hand to the ground, glaring at an incoming group of five. The approaching Death Eaters shrieked as, with an application to will, the ground under their feet suddenly erupted into a forest of large spikes, impaling them. More than one managed to survive, at least momentarily, but that just meant they were left to scream. His backup was quick to launch spells at them, putting them out of their misery.
Harry was getting worried. The stone pillars had begun to glow, eldritch designs appearing along their surfaces. He traded glances with Dumbledore, who nodded, and the two quickly resumed moving, ignoring everything beyond the center of the circle the best they could, trusting their companions to deal with it. More than one Death Eater fell to spellfire for focusing on them too much.
Soon they reached the center, finding Voldemort standing in front of the center ritual stone, arms raised to the sky, chanting in a language that hurt the ears as an orb floated before him, emitting dark energies.
Harry didn't hesitate or stop to banter, immediately raising his gun and firing at the back of Voldemort's head. The bullet comprised of his power slammed into a shield that appeared inches from Voldemort's form. Harry scowled and fired again, this time focusing on a penetrating bullet. It too was stopped by the shield. Harry glanced down and saw a circle of power drawn on the ground around Voldemort's body.
"Well damn." He glanced at Dumbledore. "Any ideas?"
The old man stepped forward, brow furrowed, and began to wave his wand in a complicated series of patterns even as the madman ignored them entirely, focused as he was on what he was doing. He stepped back after almost half a minute. "It's an extremely complex shielding matrix. Virtually unknown. It's only downside is that it takes an absurdly long time to prepare, but it will block anything, magical or physical, short of the Killing Curse."
Harry growled low in his throat. He knew Dumbledore would never cast the Killing Curse. He just didn't have it in him, and normally Harry considered that a good thing. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a problem at the moment. So he sighed and raised his hand, pointing at Voldemort. He ignored Dumbledore's frown and gathered his energies. "Ava-"
*BOOM*
He was interrupted by a sudden blast of hot, dry wind which was emitted from the orb that floated above the ritual stone. It was so strong it launched the unprepared Harry and Dumbledore back, making them smash against the ground and stones. They could vaguely hear Voldemort's high voice rising into a crescendo through the howling wind.
Harry forced his eyes open, trying to figure out what was going on.
Before Voldemort the orb that had been the focus of the ritual seemed to have dropped down to rest against the ritual stone, seeming to be partly embedded into it. Above it a portal was opening, similar to Harry's except for the sheer amount of wrongness that emanated from it. Once it got large enough a demon stepped through.
It towered over Voldemort by over a foot, with a large form that seemed to be made up of barely cooled molten rock, rivulets of glowing red liquid running along its form. In its clawed hands it held a large axe made of what appeared to be ebony.
It grinned, its large mouth filled with razor sharp fangs. "Good work, human. As per the pact made, Lord Belial's legion shall aid you."
Voldemort grinned malevolently even as more demons began to step through the portal. "Yes, and in return for your assistance, the souls of my enemies are yours."
Harry coughed and got up, groaning slightly. "Tom, I knew you were an idiot, but this really takes the bloody cake."
Voldemort turned to him with a scowl. "Potter!" He spat. "I suggest you lay back down and wait to die. It's over. I've won."
Harry eyed the growing number of demons, glanced at his allies, still busy dealing with the remaining Death Eaters, and turned to see Dumbledore slowly getting up, a gash on his head oozing blood. He looked back at Voldemort. "Meh, I've seen worse odds."
Voldemort was about to retort when the demon began to chuckle darkly. "I see. So you are the usurper, thief of Samael's power." Its horrible grin somehow managed to widen. "Destroying such a champion of the light… That will surely please my Master."
Harry held out his hand to the side, summoning his gun back into his hand as he gazed back at the demon fearlessly. "Funny, I was just thinking about how pissed Belial will be when a send your head back through the portal to him."
The demon laughed. "Foolish mortal, not only are you hopelessly outnumbered, but facing one of Lord Belial's greatest champions!" It sneered. "I'd like to see you try to harm me."
That's when the speeding rhino slammed into it with the force of a freight train, launching it flying.
Harry blinked, taken off guard. Voldemort wasn't any better, mouth gaping slightly. Even Dumbledore, who was finally on his feet, looked like he couldn't believe what had just happened.
One of the demons that were coming through the portal was suddenly pierced through by a spear of green light, making it fall, as a woman with wings fell from the sky like a meteor, her mace pulping the head of yet another demon. Harry grinned and looked up, seeing many shapes flying down from a glowing tube like portal in the sky to attack, while another, similar portal appeared at the edge of Stonehenge, letting more figures rush into the fray.
The cavalry had arrived.
"I thought I told you to stop the ritual before it got to this point." A near monotone voice said from beside Harry as a ball of darkness was launched into another demon.
Harry gave Raven a sheepish smile even as he aimed his gun and started firing. "I tried, ok? The ritual was completed faster than I thought, and Tommy boy grew a brain, using some sort of shield to protect himself." He glanced over to see that Dumbledore had engaged Voldemort, who looked more than slightly pissed, their wands blurring in a dazzling display of magical combat.
A green cheetah rushed over to the dark pair before transforming into Beast Boy. "Did you see Big Ugly's face!? It was great!"
Harry chuckled. "Excellent entrance, mate. Nine out of ten. Now let's deal with the rest." Beast Boy grinned, saluting playfully, before a gorilla was suddenly pouncing on another demon, bringing it down.
Harry looked around at the rest of the battle. Cyborg and Robin were back to back, Cyborg blowing enemies back with his sonic cannon while the other teen watched his six. Flash was rushing around the battlefield, mostly knocking out Death Eaters. Superman and Supergirl were primarily engaging the demons, knowing that their weakness to magic would put them at a disadvantage against the wizards. Wonder Woman was deflecting several spells with her bracelets, including AKs, to defend a downed Kingsley while Tonks tried to move him away. Starfire rained down energy bolts on the heads of anything stupid enough to enter her range.
Unfortunately the portal had grown even as it continued to disgorge demons, meaning that for every one that was taken out, two more appeared. Harry turned to Raven. "We need to shut the portal down, or we're never going to finish this."
Raven eyed the portal. "I'll see what I can figure out. I'd say break the focus, but considering how much energy it's pumping out, it might cause a significant explosion, so I need to check it out first."
"Ok, let's…" Harry was interrupted when a loud roar rang out, and he turned to see the demon leader rushing in, snarling angrily, a large wound on its chest glowing brightly. "On second thought, you check that out, I'll distract dumbass." Without waiting for acknowledgement he rushed the large and pissed off demon. "Hey buddy, have a nice trip?"
The demon howled. "I'LL RIP OUT YOUR HEART, FOOL!" It swung its axe, Harry only barely dodging.
"Yeah, that's how I feel when I fly coach too." He quipped as he raised a leg surrounded in dark energies in a kick to his opponent's chest. The demon was forced back a step before once again swinging its axe down. Harry danced aside and launched a high pressure stream of water at the fiery demon, hoping it would have an effect. It was gratifying when he heard the demon shriek in pain, steam wafting off of it.
"DAMN YOU, YOU PEST!" It cried.
"You are such a fucking cliché…" Harry said before bringing his gun up and firing piercing bullets without pause even as he continued launching water at it. He continued on for almost a minute before the demon stopped moving. He stopped and waited for the steam to clear before relaxing as he saw that his enemy was now a statue of dark rock, looking solid and unmovable. He sighed and holstered his gun before turning back to the portal, intent in assisting Raven.
His only warning was the sound of shifting rock.
He cried out as something slammed into his shoulder, turning with the blow to find the demon moving with what looked like great effort in an attempt to kill him, having brought its axe down on him. Thankfully the blade hadn't penetrated his coat, though it was a near thing. Without thinking Harry slammed a darkness wreathed palm strike into the demon's wrist, shattering it. He quickly grabbed the falling axe, shifted his hold on it, and brought it around, striking the demon's neck and removing its head from its shoulders in an explosion of debris.
Harry grunted, scowling at the dead monster and rotating his shoulder, feeling it ache immensely. "…Prick." He quickly made his way to Raven, who was taking down another demon even as she tried to study the portal. He brought his new axe down on a demon that was trying to get her while she was distracted. "Got it figured out yet?"
Raven nodded. "I know enough. The focus needs to go, and when it does it will release a burst of energy. I'm not sure what it'll do, but we should be fine if we get some distance from it."
"Alright, you get to telling everybody to get away." He reached into a pocket and pulled a cylinder out.
Raven's gaze went flat(er). "You brought a high explosive."
Harry shrugged. "I figured it might come in handy. I even added some magic to magnify its power a bit. Should do the trick."
Raven sighed as she watched him set it. "Fine. Let's get everybody out of the blast zone. How long are you setting it?"
"Thirty seconds seems good. Let's get…" Harry whipped around when he heard Voldemort cry out triumphantly to find the madman standing over Dumbledore, the Elder Wand clutched in his hand. The demon behind Dumbledore, fist raised to crush his head, made what happened obvious. Harry didn't think.
With a terse "Get out!" to Raven he launched himself forward. He brought his hand up and fired an overpowered blasting curse at the demon before it could smash Dumbledore's head, launching it feet in the air. Voldemort turned, face surprised, as Harry brought his axe down and cleaved the arm holding the Elder Wand off at the shoulder. Voldemort shrieked, staggering back even as Harry summoned the Hallow into his free hand and brought it up to aim at Voldemort's face, only vaguely noticing the feeling of exultation he felt from it as he did so. Voldemort's eyes were wide and more than slightly fearful, and before Harry could launch a piercing curse into his eye he apparated, leaving behind part of his foot as he splinched himself in his haste.
Harry lowered his arm and turned to Dumbledore. The headmaster was groaning, but his eyes were open, if slightly unfocused. Mindful of the impending explosion Harry quickly conjured a stretcher and directed it away from Stonehenge as quickly as safely possible after loading the old wizard onto it. He briefly glanced at the Elder Wand in his hand. He'd forgotten how much easier magic was with a wand. He shook his head and moved to get away as well as he put the wand in his pocket, noting that he was the only one left in the circle of stones besides the still incoming demons. Unfortunately he was just slightly too late.
The bomb he'd set by the focus orb went off with the force of the equivalent amount of C4 despite being a lower grade of explosive just as another demon stepped through. The orb, and the ritual stone it was embedded in, shattered into so much shrapnel, some of it hitting Harry even as he was knocked off his feet. That wasn't the worst of it, however. The portal began to slowly close, which was a good thing. However, it began to suck everything nearby into it. This included Harry.
Ears still ringing from the explosion, it took him a few precious seconds to realize what was happening. He quickly began scrabbling against the dirt, trying to keep from being dragged into a portal that lead to a demon lord's realm. He felt his feet leave the ground as the force of the suction steadily increased. "Ah fuck!" He yelled as his fingers lost purchase. Just as his entire body lifted into the air, a large hand grabbed hold of one of his arms. Harry looked up to see a green gorilla holding onto him with a bruising grip, its other hand holding onto the edge of Wonder Woman's lasso.
"Holy shit, am I happy to see you, Beast Boy." Harry exclaimed over the now howling wind, making the gorilla grin. Unfortunately that grin promptly dropped when his large hand began to slip from the lasso.
The two hung there for several endless seconds, Beast Boy's feet soon leaving the ground as well. The looked at each other, both knowing that they needed to think of something fast. Finally Harry spoke. "When I say so, let go, BB." Beast Boy looked at him like he was a moron. "I'll open a portal of my own to the area nearby where I first arrived at Stonehenge before we hit the demonic one. We'll be fine." Beast Boy huffed, but reluctantly nodded.
Harry turned towards the portal again, again and focused on opening his own. It was fighting him, not interacting well with the magic of the already open portal, but he kept at it. Unfortunately he ran out of time. Beast Boy let out a loud bellow of warning before he finally lost his grip and the two began to fly into the portal. In desperation Harry managed to open his own portal. As they approached it he noted that it wavered and fluctuated oddly, strange colors appearing in what should be inky darkness. Then the two were through.
The heroes searched for them in the surrounding area for an hour afterward to make sure they were alright, having heard Harry say where they should appear, but they couldn't find hide nor hair of them.
They were gone.
Harry sighed as he walked out of his portal into the London Underground. A day of fruitless searching were wearing on him, especially after the last revelation. He opened his eyes… and stopped.
In front of him were two people, neither of which had noticed him, making him glad he'd learned to layer a notice-me-not on the portals so nobody would notice him coming and going.
On the side near the tracks was a tall man, brown hair and beard neatly trimmed. He wore a brown, well-tailored suit with a top hat. He was looking at a pocket watch and playing with an old key.
Opposite him was a girl that appeared to be a few years older than Harry. She had sickly pale skin and disheveled shoulder length black hair. Her cheeks were gaunt and she looked unhealthily thin, which along with the darkened skin around her pale green eyes made her look quite unwell. She wore a filthy black and white dress with a striped, long-sleeved top and black skirt, complete with black stockings, ankle-high boots, and a dirty white apron.
The girl was glaring at the man, who appeared unconcerned. She stalked forward and snatched the key from his hand, catching him off guard, before turning and walking away from him, facing the entrance stairs to the Underground. She stopped, appearing to be in thought. Then she turned, and both the man's and Harry's eyes widened when she seemed to change.
She no longer looked unhealthy. Indeed, she looked quite beautiful. Her complexion was healthier, and her hair was longer and straighter, with a reddish tinge. She appeared to also have some light make-up, peach lipstick and black eyeliner with dark pink eye shadow. She wore a pretty blue dress with a white apron over it tied in a bow in the back, an odd adornment shaped like a skull in the knot of the bow and two astrological symbols on the front pockets: the symbols for Ceres and Jupiter. Around her neck was a necklace with the symbol of Omega. She also wore striped stockings under black, buckled knee-high boots. Quite worryingly, the front of her apron appeared to have some blood splatter.
The man looked shocked, unable to believe his eyes at the transformation the girl had undergone. Then she once again stalked forward, appearing calm but focused. He stumbled back a step when she got a foot away. Harry only had a moment to realize what she was about to do, hearing the train coming, when the girl suddenly shoved the bearded man hard, sending him onto the tracks. The man hadn't even hit the ground when the train slammed into him, obviously killing him instantly.
The girl stood and stared at the train passing by before looking down at the key in her hand, clutching it tightly. Harry decided it was time to make himself known, stepping forward. "I hope you had a good reason for what you just did."
The girl whipped around to stare at him, surprised, and Harry couldn't help but think that this might be trouble as what looked like a kitchen knife, though beautifully crafted and detailed, appeared in her hand.
And so, the multiversal journey begins!
Let's see how many know what the first world is with that scene at the end. Only one person guessed in the reviews. I'm glad. That means I'm not doing what's expected. ^.^
Pretty much everybody wanted Tomb Raider. That is coming, but not just yet. I haven't played Rise of the Tomb Raider yet, and want to do that first. I'm actually installing it on my computer as I type this.
Also, nobody guessed that Beast Boy would be the one to join Harry on his journey. Almost everybody assumed it would be a girl, and most thought it would be Raven. While that would have been entertaining, I have plans for Beast Boy. Oh yes, plans. Mwahahahaha…
I've recently gotten into the Worm fandom, reading stories such as Queen of Blood and With Grace and Elegance. However, I have not read Worm itself. From what I know, it's too grimdark for me. Warhammer is grimdark, but its absurdity acts as a buffer. Worm isn't like that. However, I do want to use the setting in this story sometime in the future. So I'm asking for anybody well acquainted with Worm canon to contact me so I can ask questions about things that haven't been touched on in the fics I've read so I can know enough to use it. The wiki only goes so far, after all. I already have ideas for it. Besides, Taylor's cool. And I could do amazing things with her. Radscorpions, anyone?
Let's see, what else… Well, I'm not really happy with this chapter in general. I've said it multiple times, I'm not great when it comes to combat, and this chapter was mostly that. Hopefully it'll do as we get into more interesting things.
Anyway, I think that's all I have to say for now. Please review with further theories of where he'll go next. They give me delicious, delicious ideas. Till next time.