And here we are with the big chapter, and the beginning of the last original chapters of this season to Triumphant! 'Cause honestly, I'm gonna split this story up in seasons whereas my others are in arcs.
So, watched Mortal Kombat (2021). Wasn't the best movie (In my opinion Sonic the Hedgehog is still the best movie adaptation) but it was nice. With the way it played they definitely have plans for a sequel. Hell, if I remember correctly Joe Taslim (Sub-Zero) signed on for five total MK movies, so nice.
This is going to be an interesting chapter to write, as you'll see soon.
Time to reply to a review!
God of the Challenge: Eh, it's happens to all of us my man. But uh…keep reading them Ben 10 fanfics, yeah? Good.
Triumphant Fun Fact 3: Esmeralda and Tim Drake were the original magic user and Robin on the Teen Titans, replacing Rachel and Damian. Tim Drake also would have been Esmeralda's love interest.
Anyways, that's all from me up here, on with the story!
The City of Magic
Eric
Portland, Oregon
After a quick, two-minute flight, I land in the backyard of my Aunt Johanna's house. I look around before carefully walking up to the window leading into the kitchen, I look inside to see a light coming from the living room.
"Omnitrix, text Uncle Hector that I'm here," I whisper.
The dial on my chest beeps before replying. "Done."
After a few seconds, I notice Uncle Hector's head peek over the corner. He jumps a little at seeing me before walking over and opening the window. "Dios mio, Eric. You're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days."
I chuckle. "Hey, I told you I was here, didn't I?" I transform back to normal. "How're Sara and Aunt Johanna?"
Uncle Hector yawns and stretches his arms upward. "They're fine. Sleeping now, though."
"Right, right…" I nod. I then look upstairs with a concerned frown. "And Jessica? Is she…?"
Uncle Hector has a small smile on his face. "She can go out to the backyard now! Granted, it has to be late at night, when no one else is really around, but hey, it's an improvement!"
I have my own proud smile. "Yeah, it is. She still awake?"
"You know how she is—real night owl, that one," Uncle Hector pats my shoulder before heading over to the living room to continue watching his telenovela. Holy crap, is that a new episode of Señora Acero? Wonder if Mom's seen it yet.
I tear my attention away from the TV before I head upstairs. I pass by Sara's room, the bathroom, and the master bedroom. At the end of the hall to my left I come face-to-face with a "Do not enter" sign. Jessica's room. Looking below, I can see a shadow moving along the lights.
With a deep breath, I knock the door.
After a few minutes, Jessica, now with her hair cut short to jaw length opens the door. She's wearing a Green Lantern shirt and some black shorts. Her eyes widen in surprise once she sees me, and she smiles a little. "Eric! You came!"
I pull her into a hug. She stiffens a little before reciprocating. "Of course I did, you're my cousin, and I promised I'd visit, remember?"
"Yeah, you did," Jessica whispers. She then backs up and looks at my armor. "You're wearing your suit. Is there somewhere you have to be?"
I fold my arms and nod. "Yeah, headed to Europe for something really important. I just hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew."
"You're you, you always triumph," Jessica says, which puts a large smile on my face. She just frowns. "God, that was so bad…"
Aaand there goes the smile.
"Well, I didn't visit to get constantly slandered by you," I raise my head in a haughty manner. Jessica's small laugh brings a small smile to my face. "Hey, Zatanna's been wanting to meet you, y'know? Maybe you can come over? She's really nice, trust me."
She seems to shrink in on herself as she rubs her arms and looks around. "I-I'm not so sure about that, Eric."
"Oh, right," I frown.
"Sorry for disappointing you," she whispers.
I lift her head up and put my hands on her shoulders, looking into her brown eyes. "Hey, Jessica, you could never disappoint me. You went through some shit, and instead of letting it eat you up, you're moving on. I mean, your dad said you've gone out to the backyard! That's an improvement from last year!"
That doesn't persuade her though. "It was years ago, Eric, and I'm barely able to go outside. Nothing to be proud about…"
"Everyone recovers at their own pace," I reply. "Besides, I'm proud of you. Your parents and sister are, my Mom and Dad are. Hell, Esme's English class is writing papers about their personal heroes, and I think she's gonna write about you. Expect a call or text from her."
Jessica looks surprised before nodding. "Y-yeah, okay. H-how's Kyle?"
"He's good," I answer with a smile. "Just a few days ago he and I arrested Rojo and her gang. He misses you; you should see him."
"I should," Jessica whispers. "Anyways I won't keep you for much longer, thanks for visiting, Eric."
I hug her one more time. "Always got time for you. Good night, Jessica."
Once the door to her room closes, I nod and smile a little. Yeah, she's gonna be one hell of a Green Lantern in the future.
I turn around and start to head downstairs, but the door to Sara's room is open, and she's sticking her head out.
"Hey," she whispers.
"Hey," I whisper back before walking over. "Don't you have school tomorrow?"
She shrugs. "I'll be fine. Besides, Spanish is my first class, (and I think I'm fine.)"
"(Yeah, our moms did make sure to beat grammar into our heads as well, didn't they?)" I reply.
"(I was sure we also beat bedtimes into your heads, didn't we?)" Aunt Johanna yawns as she walks next to me, bonking Sara atop the head. "(Bed. Now.)"
Sara grumbles before smiling at me. "(Good night, Eric! Tell Esme I said hi!)"
"(I will. Good night, Sara,)" Once she goes back to bed, I turn to Aunt Johanna and give her a hug.
"(Wow, didn't think you'd be the one to initiate this after these past couple of years,)" she snarks as she pats my back.
"(Shut up.)"
"(There it is!)" The two of us then walk downstairs. "So, how've you been? What's it like on the Justice League?"
I shrug. "It's whatever."
Uncle Hector scoffs. "Of course, it'd be whatever to you; you've been at this for what, thirteen years now?"
"I guess nothing would surprise you after fighting aliens, monsters, androids, cyborgs, and whatever after over a decade," Aunt Johanna whispers. "Hey, how's your dad? Ashley told me about the whole thing with him and his mom."
I sit down in the other couch as Aunt Johanna sits with her husband. "He's getting really wound up, scared he might explode one of these days."
"That would be bad…" Uncle Hector agrees with a nod. "Well, Día de Muertos is coming up, maybe they can use that time remembering his dad together?"
"That's what Mom, Esme, and I are hoping," I groan and run my hands down my face. "God this is so stressful. I'm gonna get gray hairs before I'm thirty."
"And that's in seven years, ooooo~" Uncle Hector says.
I groan again. "I know I'm getting old, don't remind me," with a sigh, I get up from the couch, and I think my back cracked a little. And it was audible.
Aunt Johanna gasps dramatically. "You hear that, Hector!? Eric's already got back problems!"
Uncle Hector laughs. "Don't worry, gramps, we'll get you in a good retirement home!"
The two then break out into peals of laughter.
I glare at the two of them. "I hate you both," I then dial through the Omnitrix and transform into XLR8. I will admit, now that they know, it really takes a weight off my shoulders.
Uncle Hector wipes a tear away before becoming serious. "So, what's the plan for you? You're obviously off to somewhere. Does Zatanna know?"
I kick a leg forward and back and hop around on the other before replying. "It's something big and really important. But no, she doesn't know."
"You sure that's a good idea?" Aunt Johanna asks. "We heard about what happened in Ireland."
I blink in surprise. "How the-?" I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Esme. No, don't worry, I'll be fine. I take a step towards the kitchen window, but just before I go, I look back at them. "But just in case shit hits the fan, call Zee if I don't get back to you in four-and-a-half hours, 'kay?"
"Wait, we don't have her num-"
"Right, thanks," I lower my mask. "See you two during Día de Muertos!" And with that, I speed towards Turkey.
Man, I really hope I didn't bite off more than I can chew.
Near The Hidden City, Turkey
I trip over my feet and tumble a few hundred feet before coming to a stop thanks to a boulder.
Holy crap that's a lot of mana.
I mean, the Tower of Fate also has a lot of mana, but a lot of it comes from the objects from within and the Tower itself. Whatever I'm sensing is on a whole other scale. I transform back to normal before closing my eyes and increasing the intensity of my mana sense.
The energy I get back nearly knocks me on my ass.
The whole area reeks of magic, really old magic. And there are magic items too, some extremely powerful. And to top it all off, the people, so many magic users, all in one place. Honestly, if it weren't for the weird resistance I have to the Feed, as Zatara calls it, I bet I'd lose control and try to absorb as much mana as possible.
I shake my head and slap my cheeks before focusing northward, in the direction of the massive signature. It's a few miles out, a full-on sprint would get me there in about ten, maybe twelve minutes.
I could transform, but that might be a bad idea. I plan on a prison break in a city full of mages, most likely as skilled, or maybe even more skilled, then Zatanna and Zatara, I don't think an hour-and-a-half as an alien would work.
Then again, this is a city full of magic, I can use my Anam on anything and get energy for spells, just need to be careful of the feedback from using too many spells. Then again, this is a city with magic left, right, and center, that also shouldn't be a problem.
I slowly begin the walk to the city.
Well, time to begin the infiltration of whatever the hell this place is.
After nearly an hour of hiking, I climb over a hill and stop just short of the massive mana well. I look in its direction to find a large space against one of the mountains. There isn't much to it, but if I squint, I can see the air's wavy, like something's bending light to be invisible.
Bingo.
Okay, well, I can't exactly slide down the mountain towards the city, they'll definitely have defense that'll see me coming a mile away. Hell, they probably know I'm already here and are holding back an attack out of curiosity.
And I shouldn't use the Omnitrix yet, the flash of light would give me away if they didn't know I was here.
But how am I gonna get closer? It's the morning here and there's snow all around—my primarily black armor isn't doing me any favors. And I can't give my grappling hooks a proper test, there's nothing to swing from.
What can I-
Wait.
The Omnitrix made this armor. Kind of. Maybe I can manipulate it? Make it predominantly white?
I bring the watch up and enter the settings, specifically the one pertaining to my suit. Let's see…armor thickness, visual design… Aha! There it is! Color!
I tap it, and I get a color wheel. I turn my finger through it and my armor changes from black, to red, to lavender, and brown. And with the camo designs I can add this means I can do a lot more with stealth without having to change into Chamalien or Silencio. Good to know.
Eventually I get to white, so now my armor's mainly white, and the orange is now gray. I then back out and add snow camo, which helps me further blend in with the snow.
Okay, I should be able to better avoid their eyesight at least.
Well, time to get all Solid Snake on these guys. Man, I should've brought a cardboard box.
Wait a minute! If I absorb some mana, I can conjure one! But would they fall for it? Oh, I don't know if I should test that theory. Then again… I open my palm and a ball of purple energy appears. Well, I've got enough to make one now.
I then look back at the direction of the city and squint. "But how do I get in?" I whisper.
Obviously, they have to have some defenses against unwanted visitors, I mean, Shadowcrest teleports you away if you enter the grounds without being invited, so the same should be assumed for here. Or worse.
Huh, maybe the cardboard box plan is the best way to start this.
Well, let's go. I hold a palm out to the snow in front of me. "Cardboard box."
For a few seconds I hold my breath, hoping I get a cardboard box instead of a metal pyramid or a rubber ball. But eventually, I get the box, and it's big enough to accommodate me comfortably.
I head over to the edge of the hill and kick off from the ground with one leg, the other in the box. As I slide down, I quickly hop into the box and close the lid, it magically seals itself up with some tape.
There are two holes to get a handle on the box, one in front of me and one behind me, and with them they let me get in fresh air.
I slowly come to a stop after a few minutes of sledding and wait silently. They're not gonna wipe me out with a disintegration spell, are they?
I don't wait much longer. A gate suddenly appears in front of me. It's a massive black gate with two symbols on either side, a star with seven points, three on each side and a seventh going down.
The gates open and two men in intricate black and gold armor, the star in the center of their chestplates, come marching out. They stop just in front of me and look down curiously, and thanks to my magic, I can see through the box like it's a one-way mirror.
They look at each other in confusion before the one with red hair pokes the box with his spear. It barely avoids the back of my head before he reaches down to open it, but before he can, the other guard, with brown hair, stops him.
"If this is someone's package, they won't be happy to find it open," he says, the Omnitrix translating from Turkish. "Take it into processing, we can see what's inside from there."
The younger guard nods before grabbing a hold of the box with the handles and lifts me up.
He stumbles a bit and I bounce around a bit before he eventually utters a strength spell and finds his footing. "Man, whatever's in here is heavy."
Ow.
"Stop complaining," the older guard grunts. "Come, the faster we get it to processing, the faster we can return to our post."
We go past the gates and they close, and once they do, I see the city in its beautiful glory.
It's made of primarily white stone, with gold and silver arches about. The streets are perfectly made, and people walk across them, and children play on them, a game of soccer but with magic involved. I listen carefully and I can hear a market in the distance, people trying to sell either food or goods.
The hum of the mana's increased tenfold, and I'm sure if I were standing on my own two feet, I'd be knocked down onto my ass. Honestly, there's so much mana in the air that I think it's actually fueling me, even if I normally need physical contact to absorb.
All in all, this is a beautiful city. But if they're holding Sindella without any probable cause, then it's all just a cover. A gilded city of magic.
And I just invaded it.
Seattle
Zatanna
I blink a few times before slowly getting up from the bed with a yawn. Eric must've taken me here, 'cause I remember knocking out on the extremely comfortable couch downstairs. Wonder where he bought those couches, they're pretty damn comfy.
I pat the other side of the bed, expecting my hand to land on his face or chest, or maybe even lower, but instead I just feel bed. I pat more. More bed. I eventually look to see Eric isn't in bed. He's probably working on his new car or something.
I get up and stretch a bit before exiting the room and heading downstairs.
On the way down things get trippy. My feet become a little harder to move, and my vision shifts, making the stairs look like that one time at Shadowcrest when Dad was teaching me how to fight illusion spells. Was not fun, zero out of ten, would not recommend.
I finally reach the bottom of the stairs and sit down on them, taking some deep breaths and resting my palms against my eyes. Craaap that sucked.
"Zatanna?" I open my eyes to see Silver Bolt in front of me, his eyes show his concern. "Are you okay?"
I nod and stumble a bit before getting up. "Yeah. Yeah, totally. Just a little dizzy, that's all."
Silver Bolt tilts his head. "Are you sick? Maybe you've caught a flu? If you'd like, I can scan you and find the root of the problem."
I shake my head and give him a grateful smile. "Thanks, SB, but I'm good. If it is a flu it should pass in time. Probably won't be able to work much with the League or Teen Titans though," I return my small journey to the garage, but stop just before taking another step. "Hey, have you seen Eric?"
Silver Bolt blinks and avoids eye contact, enough to wake me up completely. I slowly turn around and pin the helpless Galvanic Mechamorph hybrid with my intense gaze. "Silver Bolt. Where. Is. Eric?"
"He-he left! Yes. After dropping you off he left for a quick patrol around the city. He said he did not feel right to not do it at least once," Silver Bolt eventually answers.
I hum. While that does sound like Eric, there's something more to this. I mean if it were a simple patrol then why would he struggle to answer me? There's more going on, but I'll let him off for now, knowing Eric, he's got something planned.
"All right, when he comes home, he'll come home," I finally say. Out of the corner of my gaze I see Silver Bolt slump his shoulders in relief. I smirk before continuing on to the garage. "Hey, Eric said you were helping him on his new car? Mind showing me?"
Silver Bolt walks right by me, taking my hand and leading the way enthusiastically. "Right this way!"
I smile before following after him.
It's a short journey, and eventually the two of us enter the garage, and I whistle in appreciation at his new car.
While I don't know much about cars, I do know a fast one when I see it. It's matte black with an orange strip going along the right side of the hood, top of the car, and trunk. The handles to the doors are right next to each other, so the back doors open backwards. The rims are silver and behind the tires the color is purple. Inside, the seats look really comfy and the seats are black with some white strips going down them.
"Whoa… How long did it take you two to make this one?" I ask.
"Two months, three weeks, fifteen days, ten hours, forty-two minutes, and thirty seconds," Silver Bolt answers. "All of the parts come from alien species from all over the universe, and then upgraded by Eric and myself."
"Well, definitely won't end up like his last car, that's for sure," I whisper. On the work desk I see a gas can sitting there, but there's something off about it. The smell, it doesn't smell like gasoline normally does.
"What's that?" I ask, pointing at it.
"Because very few parts of the car are human made, gasoline was needed from a different planet entirely," Silver Bolt answers. "But Eric and I were able to find a way to replicate it."
I nod before walking up to it and opening the lid. I look inside to see a blue liquid inside the container, and with the lid gone, the smell punches me in the nose. Hard.
I quickly step back and stumble a bit. Suddenly, a bucket appears at my side, I don't question it. I crouch down and puke into the bucket, Silver Bolt's hand reaches out and holds my hair back.
I puke for probably another minute before sitting back and leaning against the car. I rest my head against the hood of it and take some deep breaths, getting in some air that doesn't smell like puke really helps, but getting out of the garage would be better.
"Come on," I slowly get up and walk out of the garage. Once out, I sigh in relief and stagger over to a couch and flop right into it, sinking a little into the furniture. "The hell was in that?"
Silver Bolt hums and sits cross-legged on the table. "I was told the smell of the gasoline was noxious to humans, but I didn't know it would be that bad."
My eyes widen in surprise as I quickly sit up. "I'm sorry, "noxious"!?"
"Ah, I should have been clearer. Disorienting is the term the seller used," Silver Bolt clarifies.
My heartbeat goes back to normal as I slowly lay down on the couch. "Oh, well that's better," I yawn before closing my eyes. "I'm going to sleep right here."
"Good night," I hear Silver Bolt say.
"Good night," I reply. I hear him get up and leave, but before he gets too far, I call out. "Oh, and Silver Bolt? When I wake up, you'd better tell me where Eric really went."
It's silent for a long time. I almost open my eyes to see if he's gone, but eventually he replies.
"Of course, Zatanna."
As I hear his little metallic feet walk away, I roll onto my back and open my eyes to stare up at the ceiling of Eric's house.
"Dammit, baby, where the hell are you?"
The Hidden City
Eric
I hold back a groan as I'm unceremoniously dropped on top of a pile of boxes.
"Damn whatever's in there weighed a ton," the guard muttered.
"That or you aren't keeping up with your physical training," the other guard snarks.
"Jerk," and then the two leave the room.
I look around the room to find a multitude of boxes, and of course, I'm on top of a giant stack of them.
The room's filled with boxes of varying sizes, a few bigger than me and some smaller. I see some mages going around, scanning the boxes, and sending them into portals to somewhere else. My best guess—instant drop off to whoever ordered the items. Definitely better than Amazon Prime.
A girl, who looks to be about Esmeralda's age, groans as she reaches the stack I'm on top of. She groans before getting a scanning spell started. "You need a job, Key. You can't spend the entire day practicing spells, Key. Ugh, get off my back, Mother."
Oh, her parents wanted her to get a job, pretty sure Mom and Dad are starting to get on Esme's ass too. Hm, these people aren't as pretentious as I thought they would be. Then again, she's a kid, I bet the older mages are assholes.
As she scans another box, she accidentally moves the one on the bottom askew, which I take to my advantage and fall over backwards. I hold back a grunt as I hit the ground and look up to see a few other boxes falling as well.
The lid of my box quickly opens, and I hop out, quickly leaping into some shadows.
I hear the girl shout in surprise as the boxes all tumble down, catching the attention of the other mages in the room.
As I press myself closer into the wall, I notice something important. I never got to use my winter camo. That sucks, but better luck next time. I press a pattern on the touchscreen to the Omnitrix and watch as the armor returns to its normal black, orange, and white color.
As mages continue to restack the boxes, I slowly bring my right arm up and flex my fingers, the blade under my wrist extends and then I shoot out the blade. Other than the sound of it getting launched, the grappling blade's silent, and once the blade stabs into one of the metal beams above me it makes another noise.
With another flex of my fingers the rope detracts, and I quickly swing up, once I near the beam, I move myself atop it by swinging with my left arm. I then crouch atop it and look down at the mages. No one knows I'm here yet, good.
And my hidden grappling hook works like a charm. Perfect. Will definitely make traversing as a human without using magic so much easier.
I could transform into Silencio or Chamalien, but the flash of light would more than likely give me away. I'll just do it later.
I slowly crouch out and find a convenient open window. Okay, I can work with it. I crawl out the window and look around the city. It's different looking at it from up above rather than below—still gilded, but it looks worse. Over here I can see that while the city looks like your normal middle-class suburban neighborhood, the deeper in I look, the better life seems for the denizens of that district.
Zatara did tell me that mages who followed the old ways were classist and always looked down on those below them, now I get to see that firsthand.
I climb up to the roof of the building and stay low as I look over the city, watching as the mages of this place enjoy their everyday lives. Which is great and all, but where would they hold Sindella Zatara?
Well, if Zee did get her medulla jewel from her mother, than she's gotta be a high-priority prisoner, so deeper into the city, that's where I have to start searching.
I slide along the roof, and once at the edge I leap over to the next building, rolling as I land and moving on as silent as possible. I continue on, leaping from building to building. A few need more power from my legs because they're farther apart, but the grappling hook helps.
I land on a building and quickly fall flat on my stomach as a door opens, and a young, dark skinned man walks over to the edge of the roof.
He sighs deeply before opening a book and practicing, a white magic circle appears before his other hand and snow swirls around, taking different shapes.
I keep an eye on him before listening for anyone else. After a few minutes, I sense no one else, so, I quickly shoot over, grab him in a headlock, and slam him into the ground, my other hand over his mouth.
I tighten my arm around his neck as he finally realizes what's going on and struggles. With a flex of my muscles, he stops.
I then lean over and whisper into his ear. "I have questions. You have answers. You see how this works."
He nods and I slowly take my hand off of his mouth. "Now, first question. What is this place?"
"Th-the Hidden City," he stutters.
"And why are you hidden?" I interrogate.
"From the mana-less mongrels of the outside world. Like you," he states, his voice steeled with conviction.
I smirk and have the glove over my right hand disappear. Most of my hand then becomes pitch black, with a purple outline. "I'm not exactly mana-less…"
He tries to fight, his legs kick out, his one free arm elbows me in the side, but my armor and durability make that useless, and his head thrashes about. I frown before grabbing him by the face. I take a deep breath as the now familiar feeling of euphoria that comes from absorbing mana washes over me.
A few seconds later and his thrashing becomes lethargic, and once he stops, I take my hand off. "Now you know what'll happen if you piss me off. Oh, and if you call for help, I'll absorb all of your mana."
I obviously won't, that'd kill him, but he doesn't know that.
I smirk as his heartbeat picks up, sounding like the wings of a hummingbird beating. He begins to sweat profusely, even with the light snowfall coming down. "O-o-o-okay," he weakly whispers. "W-w-what are your q-questions?"
"One: how many prisons does the Hidden City have?" I ask.
"O-one. We don't have as many criminals as the outside world," he answers.
I hum. That's weird, practically every mage I've run into was either a good person, or a villain. Then again, I'm generalizing, so that's bad. "How many people are in this prison?"
"A few hundred. I don't know, I'm just a student at the university."
"What do you know about the prison?" I interrogate.
"Just that it's near the center of the city, and only the most heinous of criminals are held there," he quickly answers. "How many more questions?"
I tighten my arm around his neck a little and he chokes in response. "I'm asking the questions, not you. Now, Are there any female prisoners with a medulla jewel?"
"Wh-what do you-" he cuts himself off as he realizes he's about to ask a question. "I-I've only heard of a prisoner with a medulla jewel. Didn't know they were a she, so you know more than I do."
"Sucks for you," I shrug.
I put my hand on his face and he kicks around again for a few seconds before he falls unconscious. I gently put him down before getting up and bouncing on my feet. Man, I haven't absorbed this much mana in a long time, it's one hell of an energy boost that's for sure.
The door to the roof opens, and I quickly run by and leap over to the next building, quickly hiding as two people head to the roof of the building I was just on. I watch as they hurry to the other guy, while they're busy, I continue towards the center of the city.
As I parkour around, I sense some stronger mana signatures moving around, a few come from the building where the university going mage was and then move out. I quickly hide as I feel a flare of mana, and shortly after, a golden owl made of mana flies up and circles the area, searching for any sign of me.
Let's hope this doesn't bite me in the ass.
"Cloak," I quietly chant.
Thankfully, my magic works for me instead of against me. My body is outlined by a faint black-purple light, and I get the feeling that I am invisible. Metal.
I run forward and leap over to another building, an eye still on the owl as I leap. Once I land, I see that it's continuing its patrol, completely unaware of my jump. I'm getting good with my magic.
But I shouldn't get careless, if I do, I'll get captured, or killed, and that won't do anyone good.
I continue to parkour along buildings, but eventually one building with a slanted roof causes a little problem. I hit it and because of my luck, my foot lands on some ice, and I slip and fall.
Just before I fall off the building, I manage to catch the edge of the roof, but it still sucks. Because of my slip, two magic owls now circle the building, their eyes scanning everything thoroughly. I look down to see mages running towards the building, and a pile of snow directly below me.
An owl hoots.
I look up to see an owl perched between my hands, its golden eyes zeroed in on me. It opens its beak and lets out an even louder hoot, and I hear the mages on the hunt run towards my location.
I grit my teeth before enveloping my fist in Anam. Then, with the energy billowing off of it, I punch the owl, destroying it in one hit. I then let go of the roof and fall in the pile of snow just as the mages teleport to the roof.
"Dammit! Whoever it was they were just here!" I hear a mage shout.
"What about your owl?" A female voice asks.
"It was destroyed," the first voice answers. "They're either an extremely powerful mage, or…"
"Or?" A third voice, male, asks.
"Or it's an Anam user," the first voice finishes.
Even from here, under the snow, I can hear their hearts skip a beat as they absorb the news.
"B-b-but we w-would know if one entered. W-wouldn't we?" A fourth voice, which sounds like a boy a little older than Esmeralda stutters.
"Don't worry, Percy, I'll protect you," the female voice says.
"Th-thank you," Percy stutters.
Jeez, had no idea I was a boogeyman. Makes sense though, in the books at Shadowcrest that talk about Anam users it all sounds like propaganda, making us look like insatiable monsters who live only to absorb mana.
I can use this to my advantage.
I notice I'm still invisible, so I carefully and slowly get out of the snow pile. As I press myself against the wall of the building, I notice the four mages fly away towards the center of the city.
I contemplate shooting them down, just one little "Adfishio Potentia" here and I could take them down. But in doing so I'd give myself away, so they can fly away this time. Hopefully, I don't have to shoot them down, I'd much prefer a stealthy rescue and a stealthy exit.
But I know better than that.
I look around the corner of a backstreet and see that it's empty, but I still dart around, trying to make myself as small as possible while being cloaked.
I continue this bouncing around from shadow to shadow for the next few minutes, barely avoiding mages, both civilian and military looking, as I head towards the center of the city.
Eventually I hide behind what I'd guess to be a bank, and a few feet ahead of me I see a massive gate, with a checkpoint in the wall. Mages enter the checkpoint, but after going through a very thorough scanning, and these mages wear clothes more expensive looking than the ones living in this part of the city.
A group of four stops at the checkpoint, and after a scan, they're allowed in, one at a time. After the last person enters, the gate closes, locking this part of the city from the other side.
I'm not even gonna try and fly over the wall, I know there're spells that stop that from happening.
Dammit, but I know I'm nowhere skilled enough to sneak through the security of the checkpoint, and if I'm right, they've got more than enough countermeasures for Anam users that have been practicing for years. I've only had these powers for months.
I begin to move back, but just before I do, the checkpoint opens, and a group of mages, ten strong, step out. The one in the center, with white, gold, and black robes holds a hand over his mouth, and a conjured horn appears within his hands.
"Attention all citizens!" He begins. "You are to return to your homes and stay in them until noticed otherwise! This is not a drill! I repeat…"
I sigh deeply and hide around the corner again.
"(Damn.)"
And shit has officially hit the fan.
Seattle
Zatanna
I puke into the toilet, using my left hand to keep me steady while my right hand holds my hair back. Don't want vomit in there now, do I? It'd be a bitch to clean up.
I groan and sit back, pushing my hair back and cough into my elbow. God, that alien gasoline sucks. At least, I hope it's the alien gasoline. Maybe stomach flu? We just fought the Dark Heart, maybe it brought some kind of disease with it?
I need to find out if it is the gas or some alien disease.
It has to be one of those two. It has to.
Oh God…
"You know, couches are better for sitting on rather than the bathroom floor."
"MERDA (SHIT)!" I shout in Italian, jumping to my feet and creating two knives in my hands.
With a smirk, Morrigan tilts her head and hums. "Italian and Spanish are really similar, I've just realized that."
I take some deep breaths and the knives disappear as I put a hand over my rapidly beating heart. "God's sake, Morrigan, why is it you're missing ninety percent of the time, and when you do show up, it's to scare the crap out of me!?"
Morrigan chuckles and shakes her head. "It's not my fault you aren't aware of your surroundings. And here I thought Eric was training you. Or are all your physical training "sessions" not exactly combat-oriented?"
I feel a blush on my face as I flush the toilet before turning on the sink and washing my face.
"I see I'm correct," Morrigan comments as she leans on the doorframe.
"Shut up," I mutter. After drying my face off, something catches my scent. "You're cooking?"
She nods. "Yeah, your dad and sister are here to visit and I'm making some breakfast. Come on."
"Okay, yeah, let me just change," I say.
After entering the master bedroom, I get some of my clothes out of the closet—some baby blue pajama pants with clouds on them and one of Eric's shirts—and head downstairs. I find Dad and Rachel at the dinner table, with some tea in front of them and Morrigan putting down five plates of food.
"-so that's why you shouldn't electrocute Kineceleran blood," Silver Bolt tells Dad. Not sure what they're talking about, and I don't think I'd even begin to understand.
Dad doesn't understand either, but he nods regardless as if he did. "Ah, I see…" He then notices me at the bottom of the stairs. "Ah! Zatanna!" He gets up and hugs me, kissing my forehead. "How are you?"
"I'm good, Daddy. Didn't know you two would visit so soon," I then mess with Rachel's hair before sitting next to her. "Hey, Rae."
Rachel fixes her hair before giving me a small smile in greeting. "Hey, Zee. So, where's Eric?"
I shrug before eating some of the breakfast. Hm, it's good, definitely better than Daniel's bland cooking. "I have no idea where he is. Disappeared when I woke up."
Dad stops sipping his tea and looks at me with an arched brow. "He disappeared? What, was there no message telling you to go somewhere in a few hours if he doesn't check in?"
I shake my head.
"Oh, that won't end badly," Rachel sarcastically comments. "After all, the last time your boyfriend vanished he was totally fine."
"I know, I know… But c'mon, it's Eric! He's more than capable of taking care of himself! He'll be fine!" I say, trying to convince them. And myself.
Dad, Rachel, and Morrigan just look at me completely unconvinced.
Dad then sips his tea again while Rachel eats her breakfast. Morrigan reads one of my magic books I've lent Eric, and Silver Bolt just eats his breakfast, not at all looking up from his plate. Still surprises me when I see him eat, reminds me he's not entirely robot, but part Upgrade, or Galvanic Mechamorph as they're called.
Now that I think about it, I haven't seen anything about Eric's aliens in the outer universe, other than his Martian, Kryptonian, Thanagarian, and Tamaranean forms I've never seen another Pyronite or To'kustar.
Weird.
I'll interrogate him about this. I just need to keep an eye on his left index finger and thumb—they tap together when he's lying.
"I must go. I am overdue an update," Silver Bolt suddenly announces. He quickly gets out of the seat and walks towards the garage, not even giving us a moment to say a thing.
"What was up with him?" Morrigan wonders.
"Couldn't you read his emotions?" Dad asks Rachel. "He is a living being."
Rachel shakes her head before taking a bite out of bacon. "Zee's confused, you're worried, and Morrigan's curious. That's all I can read. Reading Silver Bolt's emotions is like trying to read a sci-fi book in Ancient Greek. And every other word's missing while the pages are water-logged."
"Descriptive. I should get you more books," Dad compliments.
"I wouldn't be against it," Rachel smirks.
"Neeeerd," I give her a shit-eating grin as she glares at me.
"Zatanna read romance novels when she was your age," Dad suddenly says before finishing his tea. "She thought she did a great job at hiding them. She did not."
I feel my face light up as I glare at him. "DAD!?"
"She still does," Morrigan joins in. "I found one in one of her bags."
My head whips to her. "MORRIGAN!?"
"I bet Eric knows, almost nothing gets past him," Rachel adds in.
Oh God, he probably does.
I groan loudly and drop my head on the table. I don't wanna bring it up, for all I know he actually doesn't know, and if I bring it up then he'll find out. Fuuuu-
I quickly cover my mouth and run to the nearby bathroom. Once in there, I quickly lift the toilet seat and puke into it.
I feel a hand pull my hair out of the way, and another moving in soothing circles on my upper back. Thanks, Dad.
I continue to vomit for a few minutes before sitting next to Dad. "Zatanna? Did you catch a virus or sickness of some kind?"
I hope.
"I think so," I shakily answer. "I mean, the Dark Heart could've brought some alien disease with it, yeah? Then there's this alien gasoline Eric got, really nauseous to humans, that could be why."
"It could…" Dad whispers.
"Eric is in Turkey."
Dad and I turn to see Rachel, Morrigan, and Silver Bolt in the doorway, the little cyborg being the one who spoke.
Dad's eyes widen as he slowly turns to him. "I'm sorry? Where did you say he was?"
"Turkey," Silver Bolt repeats. "He did not tell me why, just that it was important, and to inform you of his location if he did not check in within five hours. It has now been five hours, one minute, and fourteen seconds."
Dad helps me up before crouching down in front of SB. He puts a hand on his shoulder and looks deeply into Silver Bolt's eyes. "Please, Silver Bolt, did he tell you why he went to Turkey? Any specifics?"
Silver Bolt backs up and his eyes glow before a hologram of him working on his arm can be seen, it then shifts to show a recording of Eric.
"Yeah, it was," He whispers before closing the door to the room and sitting on Silver Bolt's bed/charging station. "Look, SB, I need your help with something."
We see as Silver Bolt stops welding his arm together. "Of course, anything for my creator."
"Right," Eric sighs. "There's…someone close to Zatanna. Someone that I have to save."
Dad stiffens a little.
"Whom?" Silver Bolt asks with a tilt of his head. It's something he picked up from me, and something I got from Mom.
"I can't say. All I can say is this: she's very important, and I plan on rescuing her. But in all honesty, I might be biting off more than I can chew," Eric admits "I'm gonna go now, and I most likely won't be here when Zee wakes up. What I need you to do is keep this a secret, say I had to go fight the Vreedle Brothers off-planet or something, just make something up, okay?"
And the hologram cuts out.
"That was all Eric said," Silver Bolt tells us.
Dad gets up with a deep sigh and his eyes scan over all of us. "Rachel, Morrigan, go get Esmeralda, we'll need her and Nova's help. Silver Bolt, with me."
"Whoa, wait, what about me? My boyfriend's in trouble, where do I play into this?" I ask.
"You'll stay here just in case everything does go well and Eric comes back," Dad orders.
I just glare at him. "We all know that's not gonna happen. What the hell, Dad?"
Dad sighs deeply and folds his arms. "Zatanna, you literally threw up a few minutes ago, you aren't ready to pull Eric out of whatever fire he jumped into this time."
"Bullshit! I can still help!" I shout in response.
"What's to stop you from puking in the middle of a spell?" Rachel asks. "Actually, come along, that'd be something to see."
"Rachel!" I turn to glare at her.
Morrigan, puts a hand on my shoulder and raises the other one, silencing Dad. "Zatara, you of all people should know how stubborn Zatanna is, and how futile it is to talk her out of something once she's put her mind to it."
Dad sighs. "I do."
Morrigan then turns to me. "And Zee, you should understand where your father is coming from. I mean, you did just throw up a few minutes ago like he said. And you're a little pale, my girl."
I begrudgingly agree with her assessment.
"So, Zatanna will go with Zatara and Silver Bolt, but only in a support role. You won't stay close, and at the first sign of things getting too dangerous," I feel her place a teleportation mark on my forehead and then watch as she puts the anchor on the couch. "This will bring you back here. Agreed?"
Dad and I share a look before we turn back to Morrigan. "Agreed."
With a smile, Morrigan claps her hands together and shifts into her suit.
Morrigan wears black pants with a magenta jacket with the back of it going down to behind her knees. Her jacket's also the opposite of Esmeralda's, black with magenta flower designs along the edges and sleeves.
The rest of us do the same and I step aside to stand with Dad.
"You okay, Dad?" I ask concerned.
He takes a deep breath before turning to me. "No, Piccola, I am not. Let us all hope Eric is fine."
And with that, he teleports the three of us away.
Turkey
Hearing is always the first sense that returns from teleportation, and the first thing I hear is the blizzard. Then my sense of touch returns, and I shiver violently as the temperature drops considerably.
I shiver and hold myself tightly as the snow bombards us. "S-s-s-on of a b-bitch!"
"R-retniw staoc," Dad chants. And suddenly, the cold's all gone thanks to Dad's black winter coat and my navy-blue one. And as an added bonus it matches the rest of my clothes. "Good?" He asks.
I nod and rub my mitten-covered hands on my cheeks. "Good," I then look around and arch a brow in confusion. "Why're we here, Dad? If Eric's in Turkey, then why'd you teleport us here of all places?"
"Silver Bolt, Eric told you no names at all? Not a one?" Dad asks the little cyborg, ignoring my question.
"No. Not one," Silver Bolt answers. "Why?"
"Yeah, Dad, why?" I ask, folding my arms.
Dad sighs and looks ahead blankly before replying, "Zatanna, Eric said he was rescuing someone, someone close to us," he finally turns to look at me. "Think—why are we here in Turkey of all places?"
Doesn't answer my question, hell, all it does is raise more.
Who do I know from Turkey? I mean, as sad as it is to admit, I don't have a lot of friends outside of the superhero world. Kory's from Tamaran, Dinah's from Gotham, Diana's from Themiscyra and so on and so forth. Definitely not someone from my celebrity life, Eric doesn't know many of them, and Eric wouldn't do this for Sophie, those two barely tolerate each other.
Turkey…Turkey… Who do I know from-?
My eyes widen considerably as I gasp. "N-no…"
Dad nods slowly. "It's entirely possible."
"B-but she died ten years ago," I whisper.
Ten years ago, Dad had a cross-country tour, and we were nearing the end. But just before we hit Phoenix, we were attacked by a demon of some kind. Dad got me away and he and Mom fought it, but she died in the process, and the demon even took her body as a trophy. I did see the demon though, and I still have nightmares about it occasionally.
"The demon… i-it had an illusion spell, so it looked like it killed her—like with Necro and Hex—but in all reality it just kidnapped her and brought Mom home," I say, my voice shaky. I then fall to my knees and feel tears run down my cheeks. "She was alive this entire time, and we didn't even look!"
I hear Dad crouch down next to me and feel him pull me into a hug. "Zatanna, it isn't your fault. It isn't anyone's fault. The Silent Voices, if they wanted us to think she was dead, then we thought she was dead."
I sniffle a little before wiping some tears. "Who're the Silent Voices?"
"Do you remember the Hidden City? The one in your mother's stories?" Dad asks, rubbing my back in a soothing manner.
I nod. "Let me guess, it's real and they run the place?"
He chuckles. "Always so smart. Yes, they are in charge of the Hidden City, and their word is law," he then sighs deeply. "I am also a wanted criminal within the Hidden City."
"Why?" I ask after sitting back and cleaning my face of tears.
"The Cult of the Cold Flame," is all he says, and it's all he needs to say.
I go to reply, but Silver Bolt interrupts me. "We have incoming from ten meters to our north. Three lifeforms."
"Morrigan and the others?" I ask.
Dad shakes his head. "They would teleport in. Besides, it'd be four lifeforms including Luna. Silver Bolt, infrared."
Silver Bolt looks ahead, his eyes shifting to a yellow light. "The three are shaped like men, wearing clothing suited for the environment. They are searching the area."
"Unbelievable, Eric actually infiltrated the Hidden City," Dad whispers in awe. "I think I'll get him a pet dragon for his next birthday. You think he'll want a dragon? Of course he does, he's a boy, boys love dragons."
"I want the dragon, Dad," I glare at him.
He smiles and helps me up. "Of course you do, Zatanna. Come on, if we hide, we can catch them by surprise and find a way in."
Well, let's hope this doesn't go to shit.
And that you really are in there, Mom.
Seattle
Morrigan and Rachel appear in the backyard to Daniel and Ashley Mercer's home, and after looking around for any possible neighbors who caught their entrance, Rachel walks over to the window leading to the kitchen and knocks on it.
As they wait, Rachel thinks to herself, 'just hope Daniel isn't the one to-' Daniel opens the window. 'Dammit.'
Daniel's confused for a moment seeing Rachel in her Raven suit, but he eventually smiles in greeting. "Rachel! How are… Oh, Morrigan."
Morrigan's tentative smile shifts into a frown. "Hello, Daniel."
Daniel's eyes stay on her for a moment before he turns his attention to Rachel. "So, considering what you're wearing I'd guess you're here for Esmeralda?"
Rachel nods. "Can we come in, actually? The longer we're out here, the higher the chance someone'll look over the fence and see Raven and a woman in opposite colors to Victorious in your backyard."
Daniel's eyes dart to Morrigan and the two can see him become conflicted before he nods and steps aside to let them in.
"You two want some water or anything?" He asks once they're inside and after closing the window.
"We would appreciate it. Thank you, Daniel," Morrigan says.
Daniel silently nods and hands them the bottles before the three head to the living room. Rachel and Morrigan sit on the same couch on one side of the dinner table, and Daniel sits on the couch on the other side, the center couch empty.
"So, where is she?" Rachel asks.
"She's with her mother. They went to pick up Victor, Ashley's dad," Daniel clarifies. "I think they should've landed by now."
"Why didn't they teleport?" Morrigan questions.
Daniel shakes his head. "Victor doesn't know about this life my kids lead, so Ashley and Esmeralda took a plane to Cancún, they left almost six hours ago and it's a five-hour flight. But knowing Victor, he didn't start packing his bags until thirty minutes before they went to his place. I swear that man..."
"So, it'll be another ten hours until they get back?" Rachel asks.
"They're gonna spend some time there, get some authentic stuff for Día de Muertos and then fly here, so they won't be back 'til tomorrow. Why?" Daniel asks.
"Eric's jumped into a fire. Again," Rachel sighs. "This time in Turkey. Zatanna, Giovanni, and Silver Bolt are already there, we just came to get Esmeralda and Nova before joining them."
"Well, Nova's with them too," Morrigan suddenly says. "I just looked through his eyes to see the four at a store buying some…makeup?"
"It's tradition, you'll…see," Daniel begrudgingly says. "Sorry they aren't here. If you want, I can call. Don't know how Esme would explain this to her grandpa though…"
"It's fine, I know a way around it," Rachel says before she and Morrigan stand up. "Thanks, Mr. Mercer."
"It's Daniel, remember?" He reminds her with a small smirk. "Mr. Mercer was my dad."
Morrigan flinches a little at the reminder and Daniel frowns.
Rachel feels the negative emotions from the two and holds back a sigh. 'I bet if these two just talked it out things wouldn't be so tense. Adults are so weird.'
"Well, goodbye, Daniel," Morrigan whispers.
Daniel just nodded politely. "Yeah, see you."
And with that, the two teleport away.
Cancún
After teleporting in an alley, the two shift into normal clothes. Though before they exit, Rachel is grabbed by Morrigan. "Yeah?" She asks.
Morrigan is a usually confident woman, with a smile almost always on her face and a quick wit. But in moments that involve her son, that all quickly fades away and she becomes a woman unsure of herself and drowns in regret.
"Before we go, I was wondering—has Esmeralda ever talked about what Daniel thinks of me?" Morrigan asks. "You're her best friend, so it would make sense she would tell you."
Rachel slowly takes Morrigan's hand off of her arm before replying. "Daniel's just angry that you left, and that even after you got your memories back, you didn't come back. That's all Esmeralda's told me. The Mercers have kept this whole thing close to their chest, I doubt even Zatanna knows all the facts."
"I see… Well, thank you," Morrigan says with a small smile, slowly returning to her more well-known persona.
Rachel shrugs. "It was nothing," the two go to leave the alley, but just before they do, Rachel stops. "If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you come back? If you knew you had two sons and a husband wouldn't that be enough?"
Morrigan looks down with a scowl and clenches her fist. "Let's just say Daniel and I aren't the only ones with a troubled parent-child relationship."
Rachel nods in understanding. "I get that. Come on, we won't find Esme and Nova by talking about this stuff."
Morrigan nods in determination and the two exit just before stopping in surprise.
Rachel knew Cancún was a tourist spot, what with its amazing beaches and whatnot, but she didn't expect to see this many people in the city late October. A cool breeze and early nightfall doesn't exactly make for great beach-going weather. And yet there is a number of people in the marketplace.
The people behind stalls screaming to get attention, in both Spanish and English. Children running around and their older siblings chasing after them. Adults at the stalls, looking over little stylized skulls and buying picture frames.
'Wouldn't mind coming back here sometime in the future,' Rachel thinks.
Morrigan immediately uses her link with Nova to call the cat to them. "We can wait here. I called Nova to us, so Esme should follow soon," Morrigan smiles a little as she watches Rachel look around in awe at the festivities. "You want to go check things out? I can wait."
Rachel looks up at Morrigan before looking back out to the market. She contemplates going before shaking her head. "We're on a mission, distractions like this only serve to lower our output for the mission."
Morrigan smiles gently before patting Rachel on the head. "Well, looks like you've picked up some of Eric's quirks."
"Hard not to when he pushes us hard when he's in charge of the Teen Titans," Rachel mutters. If she were being honest, she liked it the least when Eric was one of the mentors, he pushed the team damn near to the breaking point. She preferred Kory and Zatanna, they respected privacy and make sure everyone's having fun.
"Eric's just doing what he thinks is best for you," Morrigan tries to reason for her grandson. "Though, from what I've gathered in my nearly six months here I can easily say he doesn't know how to interact with you. Hell, I'd say he's intimidated by you."
Rachel scoffs. "He's intimidated by us? Jaime and Gar practically wet themselves when it's Eric's week to be a mentor. Don't even get me started on Jon."
"Changing the subject—who is this Jon boy? I've heard about him from Ashley, Eric, and Zatanna, but I don't know much about him," Morrigan asks.
"He's Superman's kid. Everyone says Superman's the boy scout, but honestly, Jon's taken the throne," Rachel describes him roughly. "Oh, and he and Esmeralda like each other, they're just too scared to admit it."
Morrigan hums and adopts a thinking position. Rachel quickly regrets telling her about him.
"I should pay this Jon boy a visit soon," Morrigan then palms her fist. "Yes, I will! How do I get a hold of him? Without Esmeralda knowing," she quickly adds.
Rachel adopts a matching thinking pose. "Well, you could always visit the Watchtower. Someone on the League would have to let you up, and even then, you'd need to be approved by the Founding Six."
"How would Jon come to the Watchtower? I was led to believe the Teen Titans operated out in Jump City," Morrigan points out.
"His dad could just bring him up and you could meet there," Rachel says. "Or you could go to the Daily Planet. His parents work there, if you just wait on the roof one of them are bound to see you up there, then you could talk to Jon."
Morrigan smiles before patting Rachel's head again, much to the girl's annoyance. "Thank you, Rachel!" She then perks up. "Oh, Nova's here!"
"(Nova! What the hell!?)"
Nova suddenly jumps into Morrigan's arms and purrs as he rubs his head against her cheek. He then jumps over onto Rachel's shoulders and does the same with her. Rachel tries, and fails, to fight down a smile.
Esmeralda slowly comes to a stop and blinks in confusion. "Rachel? Abuela?" She then smiles and she and Morrigan wrap each other in a tight hug. "Abuela!"
She then goes to hug Rachel, but Rachel just holds her back with a hand to Esme's face. "No."
"Not even a quick hug?" Esmeralda asks with a pout.
Rachel just stares at her blankly before sighing. Again, she tries and fails to hide a smile as her best friend hugs her.
"So, what're you two doing here?" She asks after pulling back from the hug. Esmeralda smiles a little as Nova hops onto her shoulders and lays on them.
Rachel sighs. "I'll get right to the point: Eric's probably in another Ireland Incident."
Esmeralda's smile quickly makes way for a frown and she groans deeply. "Really? And so soon after Ireland?" At their nods she facepalms. "Sometimes I wonder if all those hits to the head Eric took over the years has led to a lapse in judgement at times."
"Esmeralda!?"
The four look to see Ashley and her father Victor walking through the crowd, looking for said girl.
"Over here, Mama!" She calls out, standing on her tippy-toes and waving to catch their attention.
The two eventually reach the others and Victor looks at Morrigan in confusion before his eyes light up in recognition. "(Oh! That's… What's his name?)"
Ashley sighs deeply. "(Daniel, Papa. My husband for nearly thirty years is named Daniel.)"
"(Right, right. But this is Daniel's mother, yes?)" He asks.
"Sí, Papa. Morrigan, this is my Father, Victor Guerrero. (Papa, this is Morrigan Mercer,)" Ashley introduces the two. After they shake hands, she puts her hands on her hips. "So, I expect this is a…business meeting?"
"You could say that," Esmeralda shrugs. "My moron of a brother's in another Ireland Incident."
Ashley stares ahead blankly before frowning and groaning deeply. Morrigan and Rachel notice it was an exact copy of Esmeralda's earlier reaction. "Seriously? The hell, Eric?"
"Yeah, I know," Rachel agrees. "We need Esme and Nova, can they come with or is now not a good time?"
Instead of answering, Ashley turns to her father. "(Papa, Esme's going to go show her friend and grandmother the city, is that fine?)"
Victor nods. "Sí. (Though now I'm wondering, how'd they get here?)"
"(Forever a mystery,)" Ashley then turns to the two. "You're good."
Esmeralda hugs her grandfather and mother before the two return to shopping. After that's done, the four head over to the alley and change into their superhero personas. "So, where to this time?"
"Turkey, we'll just teleport to Zatara," Morrigan answers.
Esmeralda arches a brow in confusion. "Turkey? Why there of all places?"
"There's only one way to find out," Rachel says.
Esmeralda nods. "Ekat su ot arataZ."
And with that, Raven, Luna, Victorious, and Morrigan are gone.
Ooh man, that's a chapter. Originally it was all supposed to be done in one go, but as I was writing I realized it wouldn't fit in one chapter. Well, it could, but I'd have to compact the whole rescue into four to five thousand words, and for something this important that just isn't right. So, there's gonna be a part two to this, and as I said before, I'll try the bi-weekly update and post part two to this two Fridays from now.
So, by the time I finished this (01/02/2021) I just finished Xenoblade Chronicles 2—Torna the Golden Country, and man, that ending fucked me up. Now, I recently bought the first Xenoblade Chronicles for Christmas after hearing how good it is, and now I want the full second game, but for some reason physical copies are rare. Thing is, I like physical copies, in my opinion, some games just have to be physical, and I have Xenoblade Chronicles and Torna the Golden Country physical, and I don't want to ruin that by getting the second one digital. So, it looks like buying a $70 copy off of Amazon is my best bet. Damn, why's it so hard to buy that game?
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!
