All right! As said before, this is the end to the Hex storyline, and the beginning of another, shorter one, as well as a big change to Eric's character. Point: before "This Little Piggy" there were hints starting from "Kid's Stuff" about what's happened to him, if you look back you might see 'em.
But hey, Attack on Titan Season 4!? Damn good start, and man, does it feel good to be a manga reader right now. I will say this, the ending has spoilers man, and it is amazing how easy it is to be confused without context.
Now, to reply to some reviews!
DrWhoFan13: I love your questions, they're so good! But I can't answer 'em exactly 'cause that'd spoil the story!
The Johns don't recognize the aliens 'cause that'll be explained soon (You'll get this answer a lot, sorry). Pyrrhic is Eric's Albedo. He's a clone created by Vilgax and will get a flashback chapter dedicated to their first confrontation. I also have something special planned for him, something familiar. And for Batman's contingency plan, he pretty much has one for each of the forms he knows, and against Eric himself his plan's to incapacitate him as fast as possible and find a way to lock the Omnitrix away from use, like sticking Eric's left arm in a block of cement and trapping his right one in a metal casing while taping his mouth shut.
And for master control, spoiler, but it'll be kind of like Ben 10: Unlimited and Sandman Unlimited. You'll understand when I get to that point. And for your last question, also a spoiler, but it'll be explained soon.
Akashic Vinyl: Thank you! I'll be honest, Charmcaster might not appear much in this story, but in a sequel I have planned she'll definitely have a bigger role in it. Maybe Zee might have an idea, maybe not, we'll see.
Ben 10 Fun Fact 5: The only reason for there being two different Upchucks is because Derrick J. Wyatt—the art director for Omniverse—wanted it.
Well, that's all from me up here, on with the story!
Anam
Zatanna
I groan and stretch my arms upward as Dad and I are teleported back home. Almost immediately after, Eric sent me the text about him and John going off to check something out, the entire League was called to Metropolis because Mordru—a Lord of Chaos—was doing what he does best, cause chaos.
The fight lasted hours, but eventually we were able to beat Mordru back and managed to save the day, though it took the might of the entire Justice League, reserves included. Well, almost the entire Justice League, John wasn't there, obviously, but Eric's absence was felt.
"Dad, I'm taking a bath!" I shout as my body already moves to the bathroom.
"I'll get food ready!" He shouts back.
I go into my room and get a change of clothes, once I get all of them, I notice my phone on my desk, I had left it there when we went off to Metropolis. I unlock the phone. Nothing. Eric hasn't sent a reply in hours. I have to tell Dad.
I get out of my room and head over to the kitchen, ready to show Dad when I feel a sharp pain in the back of my head. I use the wall to keep me steady as I shout in pain, listening carefully, I can hear the same thing's happened to Dad and Rachel. What's going on?
Leaning against the wall, I slowly make it to the kitchen where I find Dad leaning on the counter, sweat running down his brow as he takes some deep breaths. "Are you okay?" He asks.
I slowly nod as I get back up. "Y-yeah,"
Rachel walks out of her room and stands next to me, holding her head in her hand as she looks to be in pain. "What was that?"
"I-"
My ringtone goes off, interrupting Dad. I look down to see Esmeralda calling me. "Hey, Esme?"
"You guys felt that too, right?" She asks, her voice strained.
Even though she can't see it, I nod and put the phone on speaker. "We all did. Do you have any idea what it is?"
"Yeah, I do. Meet up at the Tower of Fate?" She suggests. "I'll meet you guys there, I've gotta tell Eric."
"Esme, wait," I call out, hopefully she didn't hang up.
"Yeah?" Oh, she didn't, good.
"Before everything went down in Metropolis Eric texted me, said he and John Constantine were gonna go scout something out, and to look for him if he didn't reply in three hours. It's been eighteen," I say.
"I'll go look for him, you guys- Oh, hey, Dr. Fate," She says. She's quiet for a moment before sighing deeply. "Meet you at the Tower of Fate," she then hangs up.
Dad sighs before turning off the stove. "Such is the life of a hero, one fight after another."
"I'm coming with," Rachel says as her suit appears over her, her hood down. "Come on, I can teleport us there," Dad and I stand next to her. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" A pitch-black raven with a white outline appears from her shadow and wraps over us, taking us to our destination.
Tower of Fate
We arrive just outside of the Tower of Fate, and shortly after, a magenta pillar appears next to us, from it comes Esmeralda, Nova, and Morrigan, who I haven't seen in almost a month. "Ah, Zatanna! How is my grandson?" She asks.
I nervously rub the back of my head. "I think he might be in danger," no need to hide it.
Morrigan's eyes narrow before she glares at the Tower. "This better be worth it."
"Trust me, it is."
The doors open, and from them, Dr. Fate and Etrigan come out of the Tower. Even with his helmet on, Dr. Fate looks serious.
"What is it? Do you know anything about that feedback we felt?" Dad asks.
Dr. Fate nods. "Indeed," he then looks at Esmeralda silently.
The girl looks confused for a moment before she gasps in surprise. "The Keystone's been found!"
My eyes widen considerably. "Well, that would explain the pain. Do we know where it is right now?"
Dr. Fate folds his arms and a globe appears in front of us, two locations lit up. "Here, in Mexico, the Keystone is. This other location, Ireland, is where the other Charms are. All four of them."
I clench my fist. "And where Hex is."
"We will split into two teams. The first team, Victorious, Etrigan, and Zatara will go to Mexico, find the Keystone. The rest of us will go to Ireland to stop whatever is being planned. Hopefully, we can stop whatever they hope to do before it even starts," Dr. Fate says.
"Wait," I say. "What about Triumph? Before we fought Mordru he sent me a text saying him and John were going to check something out. He said that if he didn't check-in in three hours to search for him."
Rachel hums and folds her arms. "Constantine should've felt the shockwave as well, so Triumph should've sent a message," she then narrows her eyes and looks at me. "What if Constantine's fighting alongside these guys? Hex, I mean."
We all look at each other. The thought of that doesn't sit well with a lot of us, but then I think about it. John does have a history of screwing people over to help him survive, I wouldn't put it past him to try and screw over Eric.
I shake my head. "I have to go to Triumph's house first. I don't care what you say."
"We can go with," Esmeralda quickly says as she transforms into her Victorious form. "He's my brother, I have to make sure he's safe."
Dr. Fate hums, seems like he's unconvinced.
"The maidens wish to go to Triumph's place. With them, I shall go. To complete our quest, we must make haste. And after, we defeat Hex and co.," Etrigan interrupts.
Dr. Fate nods. "Very well. Zatara, you will be with us, Zatanna and her team will investigate Triumph's home and then go to Mexico," he turns around and opens two ankh shaped portals. "Do not take long," he then flies into the portal on the left.
Rachel and Esmeralda fist bump before my adoptive sister follows Dr. Fate. Dad walks over and kisses me on the forehead before going through, and Morrigan does the same with Esmeralda, once she walks through the portal, it closes.
I take a deep breath before looking at my teammates, Victorious, Luna, and Etrigan. "All right, let's do this," I then walk through the portal.
Eric, please be okay.
Seattle
A flash of light later and we end up in Eric's living room.
The house is completely dark, but in the air, I can smell a faint whiff of alcohol and cigarettes. I crinkle my nose in disgust. Yeah, Constantine was here. What did I even see in him? God, if I ever get the chance, I'm stopping nineteen-year-old Zatanna from ever meeting those two and apologizing to Eric, that'd make her life a whole lot easier.
Etrigan sniffs the air loudly, taking me out of my thoughts. "In the air, blood I smell. Among other unsavory scents. Two men were here, now in Hell. This stench will stay in the vents."
"Well that's great," Victorious mutters. "Guess I won't visit for a while then. Come on let's-"
She stands stock still and stares at something in the kitchen, her breathing becomes shallow and erratic. Etrigan and I share a quick glance before running over to her to see what she's seeing, and I don't think I wanted to see it.
On the ground, is a small pool of blood.
I feel my heart skip a beat before I shakily hold Victorious' shoulders. "C-come on, Eric's lost more blood then this and walked away from it. He's fine, I'm sure of it," who was I trying to convince? Me? Or her?
I start to get flashbacks of Italy. When Eric died. That was a definite low point, seeing his body fall as a spike sticks through his chest, right where his heart would be. But I'm right, Eric's lost more blood then this when fighting freaking Clancy, and he still kicked ass.
Etrigan sniffs the blood and shakes his head. "In this blood I smell mana. Triumph uses no magic in this era."
Wait, if it isn't Eric's blood then who's is it?
Zatanna you moron! It's John's blood!
"Esmeralda, it isn't his," I assure her. Victorious looks up at me with a hopeful look. She smiles and stands up straight as I give her a nod of reassurance. "Maybe we can use this to find where they are though."
Victorious nods and lightly pokes the blood. "Erehw si eht ecruos?" Her eyes glow magenta before they widen in surprise. "He's in Ireland."
I narrow my eyes in suspicion. "Of all the places to be… Okay, so Triumph's probably in Ireland, where the other four Charms are. And John. And Hex with probably some Forever Knights and Cult of the Cold Flame members. Something's off."
"We can worry about that later," Victorious says as she points at the ankh portal still open in the living room. "Come on, let's go to Mexico!" She then runs through the portal but quickly sticks her head back out. "Actually, I've gotta do something real quick."
Before I can ask, Victorious runs over to the garage. I then see a flash of light before she runs out of the garage. "Okay, now we're off to Mexico!" She runs through the portal again, this time with a cheer.
Etrigan grumbles, probably not happy to be around someone as cheerful as Victorious. Eh, he'll get used to her. He then walks through the portal.
Before I head through the portal I look down at the pool of blood on the ground. "Naelc," I whisper. Once the blood's gone, I look forward at the portal. "We'll find you, Eric, just hold on," I then walk through it.
Ireland
Eric
I take a deep breath but quickly regret it as my ribs seem to dig into my lungs, feels like they're stabbing into them.
It sure is fun being beaten for hours on end.
Right now, I'm locked in an empty room in the House of Mystery. I haven't seen anything out of it since I woke up in here. I'm tied tightly to a chair by energy draining shackles, with a bracer over my left wrist, blocking the Omnitrix and a metal glove over my right hand, which won't let me activate the touch screen.
Every now and again, Enoch and some Forever Knights would come in. They'd gloat for what feels like hours on end before beating me, and thanks to the enchantments from the Cult of the Cold Flame members, I feel every hit full force.
One of the high-ranking Cultist also managed to put some weird collar around my neck, as soon as it was locked on, I lost my ability to sense mana.
I'll be honest, that scared me. For years I've had my ability to sense mana, now to have it suddenly silenced feels like an affront to the universe. The world seems duller, the gentle hum or the beating of mana gone like that. I don't like this collar; I want it off.
I can't mull over this for long. The door to the room opens, and Constantine's bloody and beaten body is thrown in unceremoniously by a Forever Knight. The two Knights then force Constantine into a chair next to me and tighten him to it, the shackles seem to dig into his wrists a little, what with him hissing in pain.
Once that's done, the Knights get up and stare down Constantine, the one on the left then punches him hard in the gut, forcing the mage to spit up some blood and saliva on the floor. "Next time, don't you dare mock Lord Enoch," the Knight warns before he and his comrade leave.
The two of us sit in silence as I hear an argument go on outside, though I'm not sure what exactly, pretty sure my senses have been muddied a little. That and the people arguing seem to be far away. I also hear ransacking, wonder what they're doing to the place.
Whatever. Instead, I turn my still covered face to look at Constantine. "So, was this a part of your plan, oh, Master Con Artist?"
"Shut up," he whispers.
"Oh, no. See, here's the thing: I've spent years being the adult, trying to focus on the mission, don't let anyone get under my skin, work with what I have. But now? Well, I think I've earned the right to be an annoying little shit. Don't you think?" I ask with a tilt of my head.
"Shut-"
"I mean, what were you planning anyway? I sacrifice myself to defend you from your "friends", you go and tell the others what happened, you guys come back here and run through these morons, and you end up with the Charms of Bezel during the chaos?" I ask, creating a story in my head. "Oooh, or maybe when I am killed, you go back and comfort Zatanna, all with the hope that you two will get back together again?" I make a show of sniffing the air. "Yeah, I don't know… Even with all the blood you still reek of alcohol and cigarettes."
Constantine glares at me. "I thought you were supposed to be a hero."
"Actions speak louder than words, Constantine," I reply. "Besides, just 'cause I'm a hero doesn't mean I have to be nice to everyone."
Constantine grumbles and looks away.
"What was your plan, anyway?" I interrogate.
"And why should I bloody tell you?"
"Maybe I can find a way to get out of here if I know what your deal with them was," I counter.
"I don't have to say a damn thing," Constantine then looks away and stays silent.
I look at him for a moment before sighing in annoyance and looking around the room, looking for a way out. "With friends like these, who needs enemies?" I whisper to myself.
The door then opens, and in walks in two members of the Cult of the Cold Flame.
They walk forward close to each other, keeping someone behind them hidden. The two Cultists then stand in front of us, staring us down intently, studying us.
"What? Never seen handsomeness personified before?" Constantine taunts.
I narrow my eyes to try and get a better look behind them. "So, who's your friend?"
"How nice of you to ask, Eric."
My eyes widen as I notice Constantine's face pale significantly at the familiar voice.
The two Cultists step aside, revealing the person hiding behind them.
Nick Necro, definitely not dead.
Well, I have a lot of questions.
Mexico
Zatanna
I have no idea where we are. Thankfully, we're not in a crowded city, otherwise Etrigan's appearance would probably cause mass hysteria. That and our sudden appearance, but a demon would cause more problems.
Victorious looks around excitedly as I notice that Luna isn't here. "Where's Luna?" I ask.
"He's out scouting," she answers. "Y'know, ever since Abuela Morrigan came to Earth, Luna's been more powerful. Smarter too. Which I didn't think was possible, he was already a really smart cat."
I nod before looking at Etrigan. "So, how've you been? I don't think we've ever got the chance to officially meet," I hold out my hand. "Zatanna Zatara."
He stares at my hand for a long time, making me feel awkward. Just as I go to pull my hand back, he reaches out and shakes it. "I am the demon Etrigan. Fused with Jason Blood, I was brought to life again," he then shakes Victorious' hand.
"So, do you always rhyme?" Victorious asks.
Etrigan just nods.
"Cool," she says with two thumbs up. She then turns around as we see Luna come around the corner to us. Victorious picks the cat up and rubs his head. "There are some Forever Knights and guys in black and blue cloaks excavating at one of the Aztec Pyramids nearby. They don't seem to be close to getting it, but we should stop them as soon as possible."
"Agreed. All right, team, let's do this!" I shout as Victorious and I fly, and Etrigan leaps with us.
Victorious flies next to me with a smirk. "Wow, "let's do this", you really do suck at war cries."
I blush in embarrassment before glaring at her. "Shut up."
She smiles widely. "Love you too."
I roll my eyes as the three of us quickly come across our target.
Like Victorious said, there are some Forever Knights and members of the Cult of the Cold Flame here. In the distance, I can see some people corralled a distance away, some Cultists keeping them down.
One of the pyramids is surrounded by ten enemies on two sides. The Knights have two giant mech suits burrowing into the pyramid. A few Cultists are looking around as well as some Knights with high-tech rifles. Okay, nothing the four of us can't handle.
"Victorious, you and Luna rescue the civilians. You gotta be quick, as soon as Etrigan and I deal with the hopeful miners, the hostages will be in danger," I plan.
"Geez, you sound just like my brother," she comments with a smirk. "Come on, Luna! Let's kick ass!" Her and her cat then teleport away.
"Victorious is an excited child. An annoyance, in what I call my life. Her demeanor is oh so wild. Many demons like her, met their end by knife," Etrigan growls.
"Hey, she isn't a demon," I reprimand the actual demon.
Etrigan just grumbles before crouching down, ready to leap forward. I get serious and get a fireball spell ready. I look over to see Victorious ready to leap on one of the Cultists, Luna grows larger, now becoming a sabretooth tiger. We nod just before the attack begins.
Etrigan roars as he leaps into the fray, while in the air, he claps his hands together before stretching them out, fire quickly takes the form of a pitch-black sword in his hand. He swings down and cuts off the drill arm to one of the mechs used by the Forever Knights. I quickly take flight and shoot the fireballs at the Cultists aiming at Etrigan, the explosion sends them flying all over the place.
In the distance, I can see Victorious land on two Forever Knights and kick another in the helmet as Luna bites down on a Cultist's leg and swings him into some other Cultists and Knights. Victorious then quickly shouts out a spell that makes the grass rise up, creating a barrier that lets the hostages run away.
The Forever Knights recover quickly. The other mech slaps Etrigan away with its drill arm as a few more Knights swarm him and hit the demon with a multitude of weapons. With a roar, Etrigan sends them all flying back with an explosion of fire, from the smell of things, he burned some pretty bad.
I narrowly dodge a stone spear as some Cultists try to get me in a pincer maneuver. I fly above their attack before aiming at the one to my left. "Esaercni ytivarg!" The man is slammed into the ground, a crater forms around his prone form.
A thrown Forever Knight nearly hits me as I stand on the pyramid. I look over to see Etrigan has another Knight's helmet in one hand, he then punches the Knight towards me, narrowly missing me again.
"Hey! I'm right here!" I shout in annoyance.
"Move!" Etrigan shouts as he catches the drill arm of the remaining mech.
I growl in annoyance before jumping away and flying away as a few of the remaining Cultists fly after me. I do a barrel roll (Eric would've loved to see that) to avoid their attacks before aiming my hand at one of them. "Kaolc fo enots!"
The cloak of the one closer to me turns to stone, greatly surprising her and sending her falling to the ground where she hits her head and is knocked out. The other one gets close but a magenta bolt of lightning slams into his chest, sending him falling to the ground hard.
I then land next to Victorious and Luna, who's still in his sabretooth tiger form, and he has some blood dripping from his fangs. Victorious notices my worry. "Oh, they weren't fatal."
I just hum as the three of us go over to Etrigan, we then watch as he and the mech fight, though it's obvious he's playing with it. "Hey! Quit playing with your food! We still have to get the Keystone and save Triumph!"
Etrigan frowns and grumbles before leaping up to the cockpit of the mech and punching inside, pulling the Knight out. Victorious, Luna, and I watch as he tumbles to a stop in front of us. He shakily stands up and shakily draws a sword as he stares us down, but then Etrigan's massive frame lands behind him, boxing the Knight in.
"I-I-" The Knight stutters. He then sighs and drops his sword. "Ah'm not payed enough for this," he says in a very heavy southern accent.
Etrigan grumbles and looks at the Knight in disappointment before heading towards the pyramid to get the Keystone. While he does that, the three of us interrogate the very southern Forever Knight.
"Where's my brother?" Victorious demands as she creates tendrils of energy that hang the Knight upside down, his helmeted head in Luna's maw.
"I-I-Ireland!" The Knight shouts.
Victorious shakes him, his helmet rattling against Luna's fangs. "Why!?"
"T-to draw Zatara over!"
What? I step forward and fold my arms as I glare down at him. "Why do you want my Father?"
"Ah don't know! Ah swear!" He shouts hysterically. "Ah'm literally a rank above Forever Squire! Ah don't know anything!" He then breaks down and cries hysterically.
I sigh deeply as Victorious slowly moves him out of Luna's mouth and gently places him down. "Wow, I actually feel kind of bad," she admits. "Yeah, that's not my expertise, I'll leave Triumph to the interrogation from now on."
"Yeah, he's a little too good at that," I agree. My thoughts then go to Narcissus, a form apparently so ugly that looking at his face makes anyone wet their pants. So glad I've only seen him use that guy once.
"Hey, Zee," I look to see Victorious look at me in concern, Luna's now back to normal and resting on her shoulders. "Why would these guys want to lead your dad somewhere? And why use Eric as bait? Wouldn't you be more effective? No offense."
"No, I agree with you completely," I nod. "If you wanted to bring the most powerful magician into a trap, his daughter would be a much better hostage."
"You don't think Constantine had anything to do with Eric getting captured, do you? I mean, isn't he supposed to be a good guy?" She asks, her eyes welling up in tears, no doubt thinking about what could've been done to her brother in all those hours he's been missing.
I pull her into a hug and run my hand through her hair. "I'll be honest with you, Esme, I think he does. But hey, Eric's tough, and whoever's holding him captive wouldn't do too much to harm him. Okay?"
She nods before hugging me back. "Okay."
Etrigan walks over to us, the Keystone of Bezel floating above his hand.
I can feel the power radiating from here. And man, it is a lot.
It glows with a golden energy, and as Etrigan gets closer, we get a better look at it. Unlike the others, its design is far simpler. There are two vertical lines from the top and bottom, the latter being shorter. There's a square lower-case N over the bottom line, completing the design of the magical artifact.
"Whoa," Victorious whispers in awe.
"Indeed," Etrigan simply agrees.
"Okay, let's get going. The sooner we get to Ireland, the better," I say. "Etrigan, hand me the Keystone."
Etrigan does so, and holy shit.
My mana reserves skyrocket to unprecedented levels. I mean, I could shoot off spell after spell after spell and not feel any bit of fatigue. Not only that, I'm confident I can fire off spells that I would normally have problems casting. That's not all, while Eric's mana sense is on a whole other level compared to us magic users, with the Keystone in my hands I can sense every magic user nearby acutely. I know what Circle of Hell Etrigan's from, I can feel how different Victorious' mana is compared to mine.
Honestly, it's a lot.
I take a deep breath to calm down. "Okay, let's go. Ekat su ot dnalreI."
Ireland
Zatara, Morrigan, Raven, and Dr. Fate arrive in Ireland atop a hill, from their vantage point they're able to get a good look at the House of Mystery. Morrigan hums as she scans for traps. "No traps," she then kneels next to Raven and Zatara, the two watching the house intensely. "So, these Forever Knights, what should I expect from them?"
"As seen in their name, they're a group of knights from the days of King Arthur. They're main goal is to collect many artifacts of great magical power, Excalibur being their main goal. They're secondary goal is to either evict or exterminate anyone with alien blood on Earth. They believe they are stains among the populace," Zatara answers.
Morrigan hums. "And they have my grandson captive, a quarter alien."
"They don't know that," Zatara assures. "Though of the superhero community they're mainly Eric's to deal with."
"So, they hate him for different reasons," Raven comments. "Wonder why they haven't killed him yet."
"Rachel!" Zatara admonishes.
"No, I agree with the girl," Morrigan says. "If he's one of their most hated enemies why not kill him as soon as possible?" She turns to look at Dr. Fate, who was silent the entire time. "What say you?"
"The Books of Magic and Charms of Bezel are here," Dr. Fate says, ignoring Morrigan's question. "They obviously plan something powerful if all of these artifacts are to be brought in one place."
From the front door walks out Hex, followed closely by two high-ranking members of the Cult of the Cold Flame. Zatara winces at the appearance of the three, particularly the Cultists, something Morrigan notices.
Before she can ask questions, two Forever Ninjas, two high-ranking members of the Forever Knights wearing streamlined crimson red armor, the right arm and belt are a sangria-red color, and they have katanas on their backs. But in the center of the group is Enoch.
And then the last person walks out of the House.
Nick Necro.
Zatara's eyes widen as he rubs his eyes before taking a closer look. "What!? How-how is he alive!? Hex…killed…him… Oh. I should've known! Dammit!"
"Who's that?" Morrigan asks.
"His name is Nicholas Nolan, though he prefers Nick Necro," Dr. Fate answers. "He's a known practitioner of dark magic, he also has an obsession with collecting the Books of Magic."
"He's Zee's ex-boyfriend," Raven adds.
"Even more reason for him to want to hurt Eric then," Morrigan prepares some sonic bomb spells. "Let us attack."
"Yes, let's," Dr. Fate agrees as his hands glow.
Black electricity arcs along Raven's hands. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
Black bolts of electricity slam into a Forever Knight and a Cultist, knocking the two out instantly. As the Cultists and Knights realize they're under attack, the older heroes are already in action.
Morrigan then tosses her sonic bombs, the explosions send many Cultists and Knights flying away, the others clutch their ears in pain. Morrigan then shoots multiple mana crows at her opponents. The bird constructs swoop in and terrorize mainly the Cultists, as the armor of the Forever Knights protects them for the most part. Morrigan puts up a shield that absorbs a fireball, it then shoots it back, her own energy added into it, the explosion tears up the terrain and takes out a few Cultists.
"We need to get closer!" She shouts as she telekinetically throws some Knights into a concussive blast from Zatara.
"Regit!" A massive tiger materializes next to Zatara and leaps at a Cultist, who manages to quickly create a lion, the two magically constructed big cats are then locked in battle.
The fight doesn't last long, because the lion was hastily made and the caster isn't that powerful, a few swipes from the tiger manages to destroy it, leaving the Cultist alone.
"Peels!" Zatara shouts. The Cultist's eyes roll up before he falls asleep on the spot.
A crimson boot kicks Zatara in the chest and sends him flying back. The magician slowly gets up and rubs his chest as he looks up to see one of the Forever Ninjas ready to fight him, the other targets Raven.
The Forever Ninja tosses some shurikens that Zatara barely dodges, in fact, two manage to cut through the back of his blazer. Zatara then runs forward and shoots blasts of pure mana, the Ninja manages to avoid them all. Once in range, Zatara conjures two massive swords that clash against the Ninja's katana as they float beside him.
While those two fight, Raven deals with her own Forever Ninja.
Realizing her opponent's far more agile than her, Raven decides to fly above them, giving her some breathing room, though it doesn't last long. The Ninja throws an assortment of weapons, shurikens, throwing knives, and kunai, at the girl.
Raven blocks most of the weapons, using either shields or blasts of magic to destroy them, but a kunai manages to stab into her shoulder, breaking her concentration and letting the Forever Ninja leap up higher than expected and kick her down to the ground.
The Forever Ninja then draws their katana and attempts to stab Raven in the back as she recovers and pulls the kunai out of her shoulder. As the blade is thrusted down, a black bird appears out of Raven's back, enveloping the Forever Ninja.
Raven then slowly gets up and turns around to glare at the Ninja, a fist extended towards her trapped opponent. "You're good, but not good enough," Raven then clenches her fist.
The Forever Ninja shouts in pain as their armor is torn apart to reveal a man possibly in his thirties under the armor. The magic attack not only tears off his gear, but also does a large amount of damage, knocking him out.
Raven barely avoids a crossbow bolt from a Forever Knight before retaliating by throwing the unarmored Ninja at them, knocking both enemies over. "At this rate we'll have no mana to save Triumph!" She shouts as she creates a large barrier blocking a massive concussive spell.
"She's right," Dr. Fate agrees as he opens an ankh portal below many Cultists, sending them all screaming as they plummet into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
"Whoa, th-that's Dr. Fate!" A Cultist shouts.
One of her comrades claps her shoulder, many other Cultists behind him. "Come on! He can't take us all on!"
She nods before her and her allies rush the Avatar of the Lords of Order, spells ready to be casted.
"You'd be wrong," Dr. Fate comments as he waves his hand. The ground beneath the Cultists opens up, and tendrils of dirt and stone wrap around them before pulling them under, the ground then closes, leaving them all in a dark pit, a mana nullifying spell around it courtesy of Dr. Fate.
"Animo Cataractum!" Hex shouts.
The water from the behind the House of Mystery quickly takes the form of a large monster with two long arms that end in claws. Its body is thin and long, and there are two, glowing red eyes on each side of its head.
The creature swipes at the heroes, they all manage to dodge the attack, though the remaining Forever Knights, Ninja, and Cultists aren't so lucky. The only ones left standing are the heroes, Hex, Necro, Enoch, and the two high-ranking Cult of the Cold Flame members.
Hex's face stays neutral as he floats towards Dr. Fate, his water creature looming in the distance, keeping an eye on the heroes. "Doctor, it's been some time," Hex replies.
"It has, Hex," Dr. Fate responds. "I trust you've been improving your spellcasting?"
"I have. And you?" Hex responds as he folds his arms.
"Of course," Dr. Fate answers.
"Then let us battle. Creature! Kill!" Hex shouts.
As the creature lashes out, this time directly at Dr. Fate, a blue magic circle appears behind him, Etrigan, Zatanna, and Victorious appear from it.
"Hey, we're he-OOOOH MIERDA! TURBO!" Victorious shouts as she notices the claw coming towards them.
A magenta tornado appears in front of the girl and blasts the water creature's hand away, sending massive water droplets raining down on the House of Mystery and those around it.
Morrigan and the others stand next to the new arrivals, she pats her granddaughter's shoulder. "Nice reflexes."
"Thanks," Victorious nods. "Is Eric safe?"
Raven grumbles as Zatanna heals her shoulder. "Not yet. They're the only ones blocking the way."
The others follow her gaze. Zatanna glares at Hex and prepares a powerful fire cone spell then she sees Nick Necro waiting at the front porch of the House of Mystery, a smirk on his face as he waves at Zatanna.
"W-what? How is Necro alive? I thought Hex…" She blinks before groaning. "Oh."
Hex's water creature disappears as Enoch, Necro, and the Cultists stand next to Hex.
"As much as I would've loved to watch Hex and Fate duke it out, sadly, we've got other things to worry about," Necro then looks at Zatanna and winks. "Zee."
She growls and prepares her own Turbo spell.
Necro notices this and raises a hand, the doors to the House opens and two forms tied to chairs come flying out. Constantine tied to one chair, bloody, bruised and beaten, and Triumph tied to the other. Thanks to his armor he doesn't look to be as bad, but Zatanna and the others are more than aware that magic can find ways past his armor and enhanced durability.
Triumph slowly lifts his head to look at the others. "Oh, hey guys. What took you so long?"
"An attack in Metropolis, took almost the whole League to stop it," Zatanna answers nonchalantly, though her heart does beat rapidly at seeing Triumph. "Are you okay?"
"He's alive, that's all that matters right now," Necro interrupts. "Now, follow us inside, if you don't…" the ropes around Constantine and Triumph let off black energy, the two groan in pain and discomfort as the heroes notice spikes emerging from the ropes, digging into the two.
Necro and his entourage then turn around and head towards the House of Mystery, halfway there, Necro looks over his shoulder. "Oh, and I wouldn't think about attacking me out of nowhere. These are dead-man binds, I lose concentration and bye-bye to your friends."
As they walk away, the heroes huddle to quickly plan their next moves. "So, what now?" Victorious asks. "He's got Eric with those dead-man binds; I don't like that."
"Neither do I," Dr. Fate agrees. "But it is as he said, we can't attack him, otherwise Eric and John Constantine will die as well."
"Then what?" Victorious demands. Thanks to their bond, Luna begins to act up as well, his fur shoots up and he bears his little fangs.
"Calm down you two," Morrigan says, putting a hand on her granddaughter's shoulder, she then takes a deep breath. "For now, we should do as they say, get a better understanding of what we can and can't do."
"Hey!" They look to see Necro glaring at them from the front door. "If you aren't gonna come then we may as well kill them now!"
Dr. Fate walks towards the House. "The Keystone?"
Zatanna holds it up. "Right here."
"MrahC fo noitcerruseR ot em," the Charm appears in Dr. Fate's hand.
"Hey, I have an idea," Victorious says. "If they let them go, and that's a big if, stay away."
Zatara looks at his daughter confused, Zatanna just shrugs, just as lost as the others are.
Raven, on the other hand, looks at Victorious with narrowed eyes. "The hell did you do?"
"You'll see," Victorious whispers back. "Just hope Eric forgives me."
Zatanna
We enter the House of Mystery and stand inside of the living room. Hex, Enoch, Necro, and the Cultists stand on one side, the fireplace behind them and Eric and John to the side, next to Necro. We stand at the other end of the room.
In the center, on six pedestals, are the five Books of Magic, and the center has a necklace made of brown leather and silver, four of the Charms of Bezel imbedded into it. The center two spots are open, for the Charm of Resurrection and Keystone of Bezel.
"All right, we're here," Dad says gruffly. "What do you want, Necro?"
"Isn't it obvious? I want all the Charms of Bezel, and you want Triumph," he then kicks John's chair. "And maybe this one. Even if he did betray Triumph, which leads to where we are now."
Victorious and Luna growl. "You bastard!"
John just lazily looks at her with his one good eye. "Been called worse, luv."
Necro claps his hands with an eerie smile on his face. "Actually, while we're talking about betrayals! Guys!"
The two Cultists step forward, glaring at Dad the entire time. I arch a brow in confusion and look at him, why's he sweating nervously?
The two men take off their cloaks to reveal themselves.
The man on the left looks to be from somewhere around Egypt. He wears a large, white headwrap with a crimson gem in the center. He wears a black suit with a white dress shirt and has a ruby red cape flowing over his shoulders.
The other is a thin man wearing a white suit with a red tie. His skin's pale white as well as his hair, which also goes down into sideburns. His eyes are two pitch-black pits, with a vertical scar going over each one. In one hand he has a bone-white cane, the head is a crimson gem. They both look to be about Dad's age, maybe a little older.
"Might I introduce, Sargon the Sorcerer and Mister E!" Necro announces. "Two of the four founders to the Cult of the Cold Flame. Sadly, Tannarak's busy elsewhere. But-"
"We don't need him," Sargon interrupts. "It's been some time, Giovanni."
Okay, so these guys know Dad, no surprise there, he's well known in the magic circle. But how do they know him?
"It has, hasn't it, John," Dad replies. He has a fist clenched and looks ready to lash out at a moment's notice.
Damn, I've never seen him like this. I mean, the angriest I've ever seen him was when Eric and I broke up years ago, but this is different, he seems, I don't know, scared. The fact that he looks at all of us—me in particular—from the corner of his eye doesn't help alleviate my worries.
"Okay, great, you've introduced yourselves," Victorious says, agitated. "Let me guess, you want the Charm and Keystone then you'll give us my brother?"
Necro smirks and looks at Triumph. "Well, she's just as blunt as you," he then turns back to us. "But yes, give us the Charm of Resurrection and Keystone and we'll give you John and Eric."
"Oooh, his name's Eric?" Mister E smirks and looks at Triumph. "My name's Erik! Is yours with a C or a K?"
Triumph looks at him for a moment, most likely glaring, before looking at us. "Look, I know that no matter what I say, you're gonna give them the Charm and Keystone. But this's also gonna be a trap and they're gonna weasel out of the deal-"
"I swear to let Triumph and John Constantine go once the deal is done," Necro chants. "There, done. Now, the artifacts?"
"MrahC fo noitcerruseR ot em," the Charm appears in Dr. Fate's hand again. He then looks at me and nods.
As we walk over, I keep a close eye on the other enemies in the room. Dr. Fate and I then walk in the center of the room and put the two items on the pedestal next to the other Charms, in response, they begin to glow gold.
"There, now give us Triumph and Constantine," I demand.
Necro waves a hand and the binds disappear, the chairs also push them forward. They both stumble towards us, though Triumph's better off and nearly falls over twice. John falls over a few times, but I really couldn't care right now. I quickly walk over and hug Triumph and pull him over to the others, here, Victorious and Morrigan hug him as well.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Victorious whispers.
He pats her head. "We're not out of this yet."
She looks away guiltily. "No, we're not," she then whispers a spell.
Necro smirks and walks over to the Charms of Bezel, he then picks up the Keystone and Charm of Resurrection and laughs. "Oh, this. Is. Amazing. Thank you all so much for-" He's cut off as we hear a strange noise: Mexican music, the kind Triumph and I would listen to sometimes.
And it's getting closer.
"The hell is that?" Necro wonders aloud as he, Sargon, Mister E, Enoch, and Hex look around.
Suddenly, the roof caves in as a car smashes through the roof and lands on top of the pedestals. We're all thrown back by the sudden appearance of the vehicle. Eventually the dust settles, and we get a good look at the car.
"My car?" Triumph asks. Hex blows it up. The explosion sends us all flying away. Triumph is the first to recover and looks at the wreck in horror. "MY CAR!"
"How sad, your vehicle of choice is gone. But there is no time to mourn, for there is Sargon!" Etrigan shoots forward and prepares to punch Sargon.
The sorcerer sees this coming, and the ruby gem on his forehead glows red, shortly after, parts of Triumph's car come to life and become metallic beings equal to Etrigan's size, two of them then intercept the demon and tackle him to the other side of the room.
"Oh, come on!" Triumph shouts as he gets out some shurikens.
I quickly put a hand over his. "Eric, you're hurt. Stay back, we can do this."
"Zee, you know I won't listen to that," he counters.
I sigh deeply. "No, you won't," I then look to notice the Charms of Bezel and Books of Magic all over the room, our friends keep our enemies busy as I also notice Constantine's missing. Great. "Okay, the Charms of Bezel and the Books of Magic, can you get them out of here at least?"
He nods before scrambling over to the nearest Book of Magic.
As that happens, I run over to Dad as he crouches behind a couch, holding back attacks from Mister E. "So, how do you know these guys?" I ask as a metal shard narrowly misses my head.
"Now isn't the time, Zatanna," Dad chides. "Latem og kcab!"
The metal shards flying towards us stop midair before flying backwards to Mister E, who teleports away, now on the same side of the couch as us. "Dlo roolf!" I shout. The wooden floor below Mister E breaks down, having him fall down to the level below.
It doesn't last long, the wood floats into the air, Mister E slowly rises up with the wooden planks below him. "Interesting use of magic," he muses. "Too bad the House isn't in your favor though."
"What? I thought John was the owner," I say as Dad prepares a spell behind me.
"Magic's full of loopholes," Mister E says as the gem on his staff glows. "Don't expect me to tell you the owner thou-"
Dad interrupts him with a talking head bomb. It bites down onto his arm before glowing brightly and exploding, sending Mister E flying back.
"Zatanna! Help Eric! I can deal with this cretin," Dad orders.
I nod before running over to Triumph, currently fighting Enoch for one of the Charms of Bezel, the Charm of Luck, to be precise. He also has two Book of Magic in another arm, he's defending them from the Forever Knight leader.
I also see that his left wrist is covered in a block, and he's got a metal glove over his right hand. With a controlled mana bolt, I blast the two off, which gives Triumph more options to fight.
Though because of his injuries, Triumph's getting beaten back. I run forward as Enoch goes to punch Triumph in the face, once I get close, I dropkick Enoch in the chest, sending him skidding back.
Triumph looks at me. "You're taking your combat training serious," he compliments.
I give him a smirk and ignore the pain in my feet. "I've got a great teacher. Come on, I'll keep him busy."
"Careful of his armor, its capable of repelling even some master level spells," he warns.
"Good thing I know a lot," I reply.
Enoch runs towards us, a hand along the ground as he and Triumph run towards the Charm. "CirE, deeps tsoob," I chant. The spell increases his speed, letting him grab the Charm quickly. Buuut he's a little too fast, so he runs right into Enoch, thankfully he doesn't drop the Books or Charm.
"Repeewsenim," the ground around Enoch becomes a minefield, something only I'm able to see. The Forever Knight leader then marches towards Triumph, but his first step ends up on an ice mine, the explosion freezes his entire leg, trapping him in place momentarily.
Out of the corner of my eye I notice Triumph run through the battlefield, every attack in his way seems to veer off course as he collects another Book of Magic. Man, that Charm of Luck really lives up to its name.
A wooden floorboard is thrown and slams into the side of my face, good thing the spell mine tied to it doesn't go off, what with me being its caster, but with it, Enoch's able to jump over to me and punch me in the face, also managing to break the board in the process.
I shake my head and spit out some blood as I duck another punch, while down, I kick Enoch in the nuts. Yes, in the moment, it seemed like the right idea, but then I realize: he's got armor there. My shin explodes in pain as I hiss and rub my leg, hopping on the other to keep balance.
"Really?" Enoch asks, sounds like he's kind of shocked. "This isn't a bar fight, have some class."
"Nehtgnerts," I feel my strength increase exponentially and then headbutt Enoch, sending him flying back and leaving a dent in his mask. "That classy enough?"
Enoch grumbles and flicks his right arm; a sword appears in it. "Better, but not classy."
Just keep him busy, Zee, Triumph's almost got another Charm.
As he reaches for it, the floor beneath him explodes upwards, sending all of us flying off of our feet. I slowly get up to see Necro in the center of the room, floating above the new hole in the ground as he glares at us, the Charm of Pyrokinesis in one hand, a powerful ball of fire in the other.
"House, pin 'em down," Necro orders.
The wooden floor below us snakes out into multiple tendrils, managing to trap us all to the ground. Necro then smirks as he looks over all of us, the wooden boards tightening around all of us. "Well, it would normally take hours to clean this mess, but thank magic God it's magic."
"So, you're the owner of the House," I say as I try to wiggle out of the binds. "How'd that happen?"
The bindings around me tighten. "Loopholes," is all Necro says. "And don't try to escape, I really don't wanna cook you guys. The smell of burnt flesh really knows how to linger like an unwanted guest," he pointedly looks at Triumph.
With his left hand, Triumph flips him off.
Sargon crosses his arms and stands next to Hex as a metal being walks over to him with the necklace in its hands, four of the Charms back on it. Of course, the Charm of Pyrokinesis isn't on it, but I notice the Keystone isn't there as well.
"One of them has the Keystone," Sargon says.
Hex growls as he steps forward. "Badickinis Metalarca," the metal beings break apart and become multiple knives, all then float above us dangerously. "We kill them, take the Keystone from their corpses."
"We can't kill them all, we still need to unlock the Books of Magic," Necro says.
The knives around Dad and me float back, giving us space as Necro has the House of Mystery slowly sit us up. "Well, gonna do it, Zatara?" Necro asks.
"What do you want with him!?" I demand.
"We want to unlock the Books of Magic," Sargon answers. "When your father left, he locked them, only those of his bloodline can open them."
"Sargon…" Dad hisses.
Raven and I share a confused glance. "What does he mean "when you left"?" She asks.
Dad looks at us. "Just ignore them, they're trying to get into our heads."
Mister E laughs loudly. "Oh, this is great! You didn't tell them!?" He breaks out into another fit of laughter before calming down. "The Cult of the Cold Flame had four founders, myself, Sargon, Tannarak, and the Great Magician, Giovanni Zatara."
We all look at Dad, his skin pale as he glares at Mister E.
"We were founded a little over thirty years ago," Sargon continues. "With the hope to gather all those proficient in magic to fight off threats to this universe. We were strong. Within months, we had over a thousand mages, sorcerers, champions, and others on our side. Any demon stupid enough to invade with hopes of destruction or conquest were swiftly pushed back or defeated without mercy-"
"Doesn't explain why you're all assholes now," Victorious interrupts.
In reaction, a metal knife digs itself into her thigh, which leads to her crying out in pain.
Triumph jolts forward and tries to break through the wooden binds, but instead a knife, now glowing red, digs into his thigh as well. He groans in pain as he slowly lays back down. "I'm gonna make sure you regret that, Hex."
Another knife digs into his other thigh. "Why explain your story? Just let me kill them all, heroes have a tendency to escape seemingly unescapable traps," Hex looks at Dad. "Especially this one."
"Hexy, Hexy, Hexy," Mister E shakes his head. "You don't know a thing about drama, do you?" He puts a hand over Hex's shoulder. In response, Hex stabs a metal knife into his hand. "Okay, okay! Geez."
Sargon looks at them with a blank look before turning back to us. "Eventually, Zatara grew distant from us, his heart wasn't in our crusade anymore. On his last day with us, I had found him locking the Books of Magic with a powerful curse, if anyone outside of his bloodline were to open them, they'd be petrified for all of eternity."
Mister E steps forward. "Thirty something years pass and we find a promising student in Nicholas Nolan here-"
"Nick Necro!" Necro corrects.
"Necro," if he could, Mister E would probably roll his eyes. "And would you look at that? He happens to be in a relationship with our hated enemy's daughter! How fortuitous!"
"We had hoped to get you to unlock the Books, but in the end, you were a lost cause. But hey, daddy dearest is here, even better," Necro says with a smirk. "I'd say that's an improvement."
Triumph takes some deep breaths as he keeps an eye on his sister before looking at Enoch and Hex. "So, how'd you two get roped into this mess?"
Hex, unamused, folds his arms. "I am not Animo, nor the Vreedle Brothers, I will not tell you my plan."
"We want you dead, boy, they proved useful in that regard. For a moment," Enoch says as he also folds his arms.
"Well, enough explaining the history of the Cult. So, Zatara?" The Books of Magic fly over to Dad, and as they do, the knives float closer to us. "Unlock the Books please," Necro says.
"No," Dad says, glaring at Necro.
The knives dig into them. I look at Raven and Victorious. They're also gritting their teeth in pain, though Victorious looks like she's about to cry out in pain at any moment.
"If you don't…" Necro warns. Hex then has another knife stab into Victorious' shoulder, she cries out again.
"Your ass is grass, Hex," Triumph growls.
Hex just hums. "Do not forget the Keystone of Bezel, Necro."
"I won't," Necro says over his shoulder before turning to Dad. "So, wanna tell us now or should the other kid get a knife to her kidney? That might actually be really painful."
"Don't. Do. It," Raven says through gritted teeth. She looks ready to tear through these guys.
Dad looks at her and then Victorious with a sad look on his face before sighing and turning to Necro and the others. "I unlock a book, you let them free."
"All of them for one Book?" Mister E asks incredulously.
"One Book, one of them," Dad bargains.
"Victorious first," Morrigan and Triumph add.
"Triumph stays," Enoch argues.
"No way," I counter with a glare.
"Better idea," we all turn around to see John at one of the doorways. "Turbo."
A massive gust of wind sends the knives flying back at Necro and his allies, which stabs into most of them, Enoch and Hex being the only uninjured ones. The wooden binds also let go of us, which lets Triumph quickly get up and carry Victorious to the other side of the room, Morrigan then takes her and gently puts her down as she heals her wounds, all of us now standing next to John.
"Where the hell were you?" Triumph demands.
"Preparin'," is John's response.
"Where is the Keystone?" Dr. Fate asks.
Triumph's left hand extends out, the Keystone in it. "I managed to nab it while the floor was hugging us. Here."
A roar of rage stops Dr. Fate from taking the Keystone, the massive pillar of black energy is another factor. From the fireplace, Necro walks out of it, Enoch, Hex, Sargon, and Mister E slowly stand beside him. The mages then prepare a large fireball spell, their magic circles fusing into one.
"The hell are they doing?" Triumph asks.
"Union Spell. Magic users are capable of fusing their spells together, making it far more powerful," I answer.
"Can you guys do the same?" He asks.
"It takes a lot of energy to make one. And not only that, they have the Charm of Pyrokinesis, no spell of ours can stop it," Morrigan sighs. "We need to get out of here."
The fireball then flies forward.
Everything seems to slow down. With the speed it has, we won't have time to utter a spell of any kind. Of all of us, Etrigan and Morrigan seem most likely to survive, what with the demon's affinity to fire and Morrigan's whole being made out of mana deal. But this looks like the end. At least I'm with Eric this time.
I reach out to hold his hand, but he isn't there. Instead, he's standing in front of us, intending to take the fireball. He doesn't have enough time though, the fireball will be on us before he can even touch the Omnitrix, so what's he doing?
I notice purple energy flicker from his hand for a moment, his eyes glow black with purple edges along the energy.
What the hell?
He raises his left hand in front of him.
"CHANT OF TOTH!"
Then there's an explosion.
Eric
Well, we aren't dead. I mean unless the afterlife begins with an explosive entrance and I just don't remember from my last death.
I don't know why I moved forward. Was it some heroic attempt to save my allies, my girlfriend, my grandmother, and my sister? Did I think I could transform into Heatblast fast enough to absorb the fireball? I'm not sure, but that leads to the bigger questions.
What's up with this purple and black shield in front of us? And why is there a magic circle in front of my hand?
The smoke eventually clears, and I smirk at the shocked look on Necro and the other's faces, though I'm not so sure about Enoch, his body language does seem surprised, though.
I look back at the others. "You guys okay?"
They also look just as shocked. Zatanna, Esmeralda, Abuela Morrigan, and Zatara look at me with wide eyes. Raven arches a brow and looks around in confusion. I'm not sure with Dr. Fate, he's just staring at me. Hell, even Etrigan's surprised.
"That was unexpected," he says.
Necro shouts in anger before shooting more spells at the barrier. Like the fireball, they impact the shield, nothing happens to it, I don't even feel fatigued.
"E-Eric?" I turn to see Victorious looking at me with wide eyes.
"I'm just as lost," I admit.
"Well stop being lost," Constantine interrupts. "Hit 'em with another spell."
"Okay," I think of spells to shoot, but nothing happens. "Ummm…how do you do that?"
"Are you bloody serious?" Constantine facepalms as another lightning bolt hits the shield. "How can you stop Charm-enhanced spells but don't know how to be offensive!? How'd you bloody know that spell!?"
"I've heard my sister say it!" I shout back.
"We can focus on this later," Dr. Fate interrupts. "Triumph, push the shield forward."
I nod and smirk. Now that I can do. I bring my arms back before pushing them forward, using the clearing smoke as cover. Hex barely manages to fly out of the way and Mister E teleports as Sargon, Necro, and Enoch are slammed into the wall behind them.
The others then go to fight, Zatanna, Raven, and Victorious stay behind. I then turn to look at the girls. "Raven, can you keep her safe?"
Raven nods. "I promise."
"Thanks," I bring the Omnitrix up. "As much as I'd love to test my new magic, I think it'd be best if I stuck with what I know best," I then touch the touchpad. Nothing. I try again, and again, nothing.
I slap the Omnitrix a few more times. "What the hell?"
"Performance issues?" Zatanna snarks.
I turn to glare at her. "Seriously? Now?"
She smirks. "Yes, now," she then points at the Omnitrix. "Why's it purple?"
I follow her finger to see that she's indeed right, the previously orange parts of the Omnitrix are now purple. The hell? Has it ever been that color in any of the shows? It's never done anything like this until now, so what's purple mean?
"Whatever. I can still fight," my side flares up just to spite me. I ignore it and look over to see Enoch locked in battle with my Abuela and Etrigan. "I'll deal with Enoch; think you can help fight Necro?"
"Don't even have to ask," Zatanna then flies forward as she creates a hammer that slams into Necro's side.
I run forward, narrowly avoiding chairs intent on tripping me, and dropkick Enoch in the face, he then breaks through the wall and the three of us follow into a kitchen. "Why don't you transform?" Morrigan asks.
I show her the purple Omnitrix. "Can't. Besides, I don't need to be an alien for all my fights."
Etrigan claps his hands together, he then extends them out, the fire between his hands becomes a sword. "Enter combat, no matter your form. When you fight Enoch, become the storm."
"How inspiring," Morrigan comments as Etrigan and Enoch run towards each other, their swords clashing. "There are others to fight, let them have their duel."
Morrigan flies through the hole in the wall, I follow after just to get punched across the face by the freaking fireplace, courtesy of Sargon and his Ruby of Life. The Keystone then flies out of my grasp, attracting the attention of everyone. I slowly get up to see everyone rushing towards it, and I happen to be in between them and it.
Reacting quickly, I clothesline Mister E and Hex, making it easier for my friends to get the Keystone. While they're down, I stomp hard on Hex's chest and reach into my belt and put down a foam bomb on Mister E's chest, the device quickly explodes and traps him to the ground.
"You have any idea how much this suit costs!?" Mister E shouts as he tries to fight his way out.
"Don't know, don't care," I'm then shot up into the air and land hard on what's left of my car. I groan and turn around to see Hex getting up, wiping the dust off of his chest. "I've got some unfinished business with you."
In retaliation, Hex creates a magic spike similar to the one back in northern Italy. "I have a correction to make. This time, it will go through your thick skull."
I crouch down and flip out of the way as it shoots forward and stabs through the passenger door. Seriously, how'd my car get here? Question for another time.
The spike gets out of the car and flies after me as I approach Hex, I quickly jump above it as it speeds up. I then land next to Hex and punch him in the side, which manages to knock him off balance long enough for me to wrench his staff out of his hand. I then break the stick over my knee.
"That's the second time you lost it. Who destroyed it first? Oh, that's right, Hope did," I taunt.
Hex roars. "Berdi Mordo Nata!" A gout of flame shoots from his hand and manages to get me by the arm before I roll away.
"Y'know, after she left your sorry ass, she and I were together. It wasn't for long, but we had fun with the time we had. You do catch my drift, right?" I further taunt. Man, I hope Zee didn't hear that.
Hex growls as he throws some familiar rocks down, three golems then grow from them. "I was too generous when I killed you last. I will be slow this time."
"Hey, gives me more time to plan myself out of it," while I talked, I managed to grab a smoke bomb from my belt. As the golems charge me, I throw it down, blinding everyone nearby as I hop around and end up behind Hex. Thank you, infrared setting.
Once behind him, I kick Hex in the back, sending him flying into a golem that catches him, but as soon as it does, a golden blast of mana slams into them, sending them flying out.
Dr. Fate then flies next to me as he mutters a spell. Two more golems appear from the floor in front of us, these ones having glowing gold lines. Dr. Fate's golems then fight Hex's. "Triumph, make physical contact with one of the enemy mages, and whatever you feel, follow it," he then flies out to fight Hex.
The hell was that about?
I don't have long to think, I'm telekinetically lifted up and brought in between a spell from Zatanna going for Necro.
I'm not sure what would've happened if I didn't have my armor, but I'm eternally grateful that I have it on, 'cause that hurt like hell.
"Eric!" Zatanna shouts as Necro tosses me into Constantine.
I slowly get up and rub my head as I glare at Necro. I then pull out some shurikens and throw them at him as I run with them. Instead, the shurikens veer off course and take a spell meant for Sargon from Morrigan, turning them into flowers.
I then jump up and pull Necro into a headlock, my arm around his neck also tightens. While I'm holding him, Dr. Fate's advice comes to mind. A weird feeling comes over my body, similar to when I'm absorbing energy as Feedback or Chromastone. So, I keep going. Necro shouts in anger as he pushes me back in an explosion of fire, sending me skidding along the ground, I then bump into a stand, a vase then falls on my head and shatters, water and dirt raining down.
I shake my head to get the dirt out when I look up to see Necro laughing loudly as he picks up the Keystone, which leads to the end of the fighting. We can hear Etrigan and Enoch still dueling, but the Forever Knight leader is then thrown through the wall, he slowly gets up and rests his sword in the ground as Necro rises up, Etrigan walks through the hole and notices what's happening.
"Finally!" Necro shouts. "All the Charms are here in my hands; I have ultimate power! I can kill you all with a wave of my hand! I am the most powerful mage ever!"
"Great. Now unlock the Books of Magic, please?" Mister E demands.
Necro looks at him. "Yeah, I will. But for me."
"That wasn't the plan, Necro!" Sargon shouts in rage.
"You work for us! Remember that, boy!" Mister E shouts, his normally jovial attitude doing a complete one-eighty.
Necro scoffs with a condescending smirk. "Why would I work for people weaker than me? With the Charms of Bezel and Books of Magic I'll be unstoppable! I could take on the Ol-"
My tongue tendrils shoot out and wrap around the necklace with the Charms of Bezel, I then rear my head back and the tendrils return, bringing the necklace into my mouth. Whoa, that's a lot of power.
Everyone stops and stares at Necro's neck in shock before slowly turning around to me, now in my Murk Gourmand form, Bombit.
I'm a short alien with swampy-green skin and a tanned stomach and muzzles. All over my skin are dark green-black spots and I have six small spurts going down the back of my head, three on each side. My eyes are sharp, and orange and I have three black whisker-like marks going down either side of my face, the top two are long enough to go down to connect to my mouth. I also have a short tail. I wear a black open front suit with orange over-sleeves and orange bands around my legs with orange pads on the soles of my shoes. The Omnitrix crest is over my left hand.
"Did-did he just eat the Charms of Bezel!?" Mister E asks in shock.
"I- yes?" Sargon answers, just as shocked.
My stomach glows bright orange as my cheeks puff out, something Zatanna notices. "GET DOWN!"
The others barely get down as I spit up the energy at Necro.
He barely manages to put up a shield, protecting him from the massive explosion. I'm sent flying back as I barely notice Enoch, Sargon, and Mister E are also sent flying back due to the explosion.
Raven manages to walk over to me and help me up from the wall as she coughs out the dust that managed to enter her system. "The hell was that?"
"Bombit," I answer as I point at myself.
"Oh, this guy pukes, right?" She asks.
"Essentially, yes," I narrow my eyes. "How do you know?"
I think I see her blush in embarrassment, can't tell with that hood of hers as she looks away. "The internet."
I grunt as the two of us walk to the living room, Raven helping Victorious stand. The dust clears to reveal our friends are all okay, whereas Enoch's halfway through a wall right now. But it's what's across from us that's most surprising.
The entire wall (and my car) is gone. Necro's laying down at the edge of the cliff behind the House, his body smoking, and Sargon and Mister E are unconscious a little closer to the House, their bodies smoking as well.
Zatanna limps over next to me pick me up and hugs me tightly. "Y'know, when you said this guy was powerful with the right fuel, I didn't believe you, but I'm woman enough to admit, I was wrong."
"Bloody hell!" We turn to see Constantine looking around frantically. "What'd you do to my house!?"
I glare before hopping out of Zee's hug and slapping the crest and transforming back to normal, I then march to Constantine and lift him up by the shirt (ignoring the spike of pain) and pin him to the wall. I think I hear a tiger growl next to me, I'm not sure. "Don't you even start with that, Constantine! Because of you, this whole mess started!"
"Elaborate?" Abuela asks.
"Constantine had me come here 'cause he had a deal with our friends outside. He shot me in the face with a mana blast that knocked me out and got us in this damn mess!" I shout as I slam him against the wall.
"Mate, mate! Calm down!" Constantine tries to alleviate the situation. "Why's it matter how we got in this mess? In the end, we won. Necro, Enoch, Hex, and two of the leaders to the Cult of the Cold Flame are all defeated, the Books of Magic are in our possession, and the Charms of Bezel are gone! That's a win in my book. All's well that ends well, right, Zee?"
"No," she replies, standing next to me and glaring at him. "You know something, Constantine, I didn't want to believe them, the others thought that maybe you led Eric into a trap, but I didn't want to believe it. But deep down, deep down I knew there was a possibility, and would you look at that, I was right."
"Zee-"
"No! You don't get to call me that!" She interrupts. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the others slowly leaving the House of Mystery through the hole I made. "Come on, Er, let's get out of here."
I drop Constantine and look down next to me to see a white sabretooth tiger. I nearly jump before he rubs his head against my side and purrs. Oh, it's Luna. Cool. The three of us follow the others, walking around the wreck that used to be my car on the way.
"Wait!" We turn around to see Constantine glaring at me. "What about the House of bloody Mystery!? You can't just leave it like this! I live here!"
I shrug. "Oh well. Oh, and Constantine? Your reserve membership to the Justice League's been revoked. Your communicator will be disconnected from the network, you won't be allowed to utilize our resources anymore, and I'm not so sure anyone'll want to help you after news of this spreads."
Zatanna and I join the others outside as we ignore Constantine swearing us out. We notice Morrigan has all our enemies trapped in a cage construct. "What'll we do with them?" She asks.
"There's a prison in Seattle for supervillains, Hades, we can leave them there," Victorious answers.
"Are you okay?" I ask.
She gives me a gentle smile. "I'll be fine. I wanna talk about something else, though: you just used a spell!"
"Right, how did you do that?" Raven asks.
"I can answer that," Zatara says, catching me by surprise.
"Okay…?" I reply with an arched brow. I look over to see Zatanna avoiding eye contact with me. I really don't like the look of this.
"You see, Eric, you are an Anam user," Zatara begins.
I blink in confusion as I look at Victorious and Morrigan, both of their eyes wide. "And that means what?"
"Anam users are like magic vampires," Zatara says.
"Still confused, man."
"It means you can absorb mana," Dr. Fate clarifies. "And with it, you can use spells of your own. As you saw before, your own spells have a resistance over those with mana in their body. Though why have you only learned now? You should've known about this for years."
He's got a point, why do I have these powers now?
My eyes widen in recognition. Northern Italy when I was resurrected. Not only did the Omnitrix's full potential get unlocked, so did mine. But why was it locked? What stopped me from using this "Anam" before today? Wait, how did Zatara and Zee know?
"When'd you two find out?" I ask them.
"When we were in Gotham, at Sal's shop," Zatara answers, bringing a sour taste to my mouth. That was almost a month ago. "He wasn't against you for your ethnicity, he was against you for your Anam. I returned later, that book you touched? It's mana was drained."
"Okay," I turn to Zatanna.
"Dad told me the following morning, after you left the room," she answers.
"And neither of you told me why?" I ask with narrowed eyes.
"I was going to, and I swore Zatanna to secrecy, if you are to blame anyone, blame me," Zatara says. He isn't lying, so there's no reason to be mad at her, but him, I can still be mad at. "I said nothing because I wasn't sure how to approach the topic. I needed time, but every idea I had was shot down for one reason or another."
"Right. What even is an Anam user? How do they come about?" I ask, changing the topic.
"I can answer that," Morrigan says. "Anam users are a subspecies of magic users, they come about in mutations."
"So I should be on the X-Men then?" I ask rhetorically. "How do you know about this?"
"There are Anam users on Anodyne as well. Though, they tend to be looked down upon and no one ever trusts them. See, Anam users—as Zatara so eloquently compared—are magic vampires, they can only use spells when they have absorbed the mana from someone else. Most of them can't control the hunger, and yet, you can," Morrigan answers.
"Great, just great," I mutter. "I'm a magic vampire who's supposed to be insatiable, that's exactly what you want to hear after hours of torture and losing your car."
Dr. Fate nods as he opens an ankh portal. "I can take the criminals to Hades. Etrigan and I will leave. You have all done good work today."
Etrigan just grunts and nods before walking towards the portal, Dr. Fate follows.
"If you don't have any more questions than I've got one," Zatanna turns to Zatara. "Were they telling the truth, Dad?"
Zatara's silence is answer enough.
"Great. Just freaking great," Zatanna says as she shakes her head. "Why?"
"It's as they said, we wanted to protect our universe, so we-"
"No! I mean, why did I have to find out through them?" Zatanna demands. "I understand that you were young and made stupid decisions, I mean, other than Eric, have you seen the guys I've dated? So, I ask you this: why didn't you tell me your history with the Cult of the Cold Flame as soon as you knew we were fighting them?"
Zatara sighs deeply before taking off his hat and sitting on a small boulder. "Because I was afraid of this, how you would react to my history. All of you. I had hoped we could end this war of ours without them saying a thing."
"Would you have ever told us?" Rachel asks.
"…no," Zatara answers.
"You-" Zatanna paces around as she fumes, muttering curses. She stops pacing and takes a deep breath. "Dad, if you had said something earlier, yeah, I would've been mad, but I'd come to understand. It's the fact that I had to find out from guys like Necro and Mister E that angers me."
Zatanna then falls silent, the rest of us look between the two in an awkward silence as Zee looks down, lost in thoughts.
She then looks at me. "Come on, Eric."
"Wh-where are you going?" Zatara asks.
"I need some time away from home," Zatanna then puts a hand on my shoulder. "Ekat su ot s'cirE emoh."
I get a quick glimpse of Zatara before we leave. He looks down in shame as the two of us teleport away.
Seattle
We arrive in the living room of my house. Zatanna goes upstairs immediately, muttering about taking a shower.
I head over to the garage to see that my car is, in fact, gone. Great. I'll have to get back what's left of it and use Chronos to repair it. But that'd be hard, most of it was either destroyed, and what's left was in the House of Mystery, and Constantine definitely threw those parts in the ocean.
I head upstairs and sit on my bed as my armor dissipates, I can hear the shower turn on as I raise my right hand up and focus. A few seconds later, a black ball with a purple outline appears above it. I toss the ball up and down as I look over at the Omnitrix, the orange hourglass is again purple.
Back there, it took about ten minutes for the Omnitrix to be usable again, so there must be something about the Anam that conflicts with the Omnitrix, I'll need to look into it.
I snap my fingers and the ball goes away. I then look down at myself, looking pretty dirty, Eric, I should take a shower. I get up and enter the bathroom, after taking off my clothes, I join Zee in the shower.
"Hey," I whisper as I hug her closely and rest my head on her shoulder.
She turns her head to look at me. "Hey."
"Wanna talk about it?" I ask.
Zatanna shakes her head and leans into me. "Not now. Let's just enjoy the moment, okay?"
I leave kisses along her neck. "Okay."
A few hours later, Zatanna and I lay down in my bed. She's been asleep for a while now, I'm just staring up at the ceiling blankly, wondering about my new powers. If I absorb mana, isn't it dangerous for me and Zatanna to be this close? What if I absorb too much mana when we're sleeping?
I should sleep in the guest room, until I know I have my absorbing powers under control. I try to get up and leave, but Zatanna's arms around me and her leg stay wrapped up tight, if I leave, so does she.
I sigh and decide to stay in bed. I hope Esme's okay. After the shower, I called her to check in on her, she assured me she's okay, but I'm still worried, I'll check on her tomorrow.
My eyelids then become pretty heavy, time for sleep.
But I'm with Zatanna, chances are, I'll meet with The Passenger in my head instead.
"I see you've unlocked your powers," they say in lieu of a greeting.
Yup, here with The Passenger.
"What, you knew?" I ask.
They nod. "Ever since your resurrection."
I turn to look at them with a furrowed brow. "How?"
The Passenger sighs and looks ahead, a sad look in their eyes. "For nearly a decade, I've been trying to contact her, Zatanna, but the cage stops me from reaching even her. But then, she brought you back to life, which created an opening for me, after all, your Anam and her mana are now interconnected."
I have so many questions.
"I don't have time to answer them all, sadly," The Passenger apologizes.
"Okay, so you've been trying to talk to Zee for almost ten years, why?" I ask.
The Passenger looks at me with a smile, the fog around their face lifts, revealing a woman that looks like an older Zatanna with blonde hair and green eyes. "Why, has my daughter never told you about me?"
"Sindella…" I whisper with wide eyes.
Sindella smiles. "Glad to see you know who I am," the prison begins to break apart. "Go, if they find you things won't end well for the both of us."
"Wait! I have-" She pushes me into the dark before I can finish.
My eyes shoot open as I stare up at the ceiling before slowly looking at the clock to my left, it's 4:59 AM. My eyes then slowly turn to my right, a sleeping Zatanna on my other side.
Holy crap, Sindella's alive.
Boom.
Won't lie, you probably already knew who The Passenger was, but if not, SURPRISE!
Man, this is a big chapter. I had an early birthday party for Eric planned for this chapter, but I realized that'd make this chapter even bigger, and sometimes it can be too much, next chapter, Eric.
Oh, and Necro was never dead! Whoa! But yeah, this won't be the last we see of him, that's for damn sure. And the Anam! Yes, a lot of you got it or at least an idea of it pretty early on. Now, while Anam has strengths over mana, it's got its weaknesses, such as a limited pool, Eric doesn't have a pool of Anam like his sister or Zatanna with their mana, he has to absorb mana to use Anam. And there's another weakness that will explain why the Anam users have to absorb mana that'll be revelated later.
Next chapter will be "The Return", followed by "Ultimatum" and then a flashback chapter and the last original chapter of this season.
Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you next time you beautiful people!
