Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any other fandom I manage to squeeze in this story.
BTW, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY, MOTHERFUCKERS! Coincidentally, isn't Harry's birthday today, too?
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Lightning Dragon's Roar
A Harry Potter Fanfiction
By Zero Rewind
© 2015
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Chapter 37: TeleRape
My mind wandered as I lay in my new apartment's bed, the sun's rays filtering through the windows.
I had only been here for a little more than a day, and I had already made both friends and enemies alike.
Chased by Mundus' fiends, being searched for by mad scientists from Luthorcorp… On the other hand, I made a reluctant ally out of Clark Kent, a headstrong— to the point of blind stubbornness— and incredibly powerful individual.
Yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure of battling against him.
To put it simply, the only reason I even won that fight was because he didn't expect my attacks to even faze him, let alone send him packing.
If he did, then the battle would have been excessively prolonged. All he had to do was dodge every attack of mine, until I would pass out from exhaustion, hours later.
But then again, I wondered what the Summoning Spell, Accio could do to him. He had no special resistance to magic. It made sense that an instant effect spell like that could put him out of the fight.
That was, if I could get a spell off by the time he took to get to me.
"As if any of that matters, anyway." I muttered to myself. Clark was an ally, now.
Wanting to make a guild.
"Fairy Tail." I said slowly, before turning to lie on my right side.
Lately, I had been wondering what exactly I wanted to do with my life. I couldn't see myself sitting my NEWTS and becoming an Auror, or anything of the sort.
Fred and George's idea of simply cashing in on a third of their profits was highly tempting; I was likely to take them up on it.
But that was simply money I gained passively. Plus, at some point of time, I doubted that they would appreciate me leeching off of their hard work for all time, especially since the money I gave them was the equivalent of seven thousand US dollars; basically good for a few months, maybe a semester if they pushed it.
Then again, I had over a million dollars, simply by virtue of forcing Mundus back into the Demon World. I didn't even know how much I had in my regular vault, back in London; but I had an idea that it was a sizable sum.
I could live comfortably for the rest of my life, all things considered.
I had lightly thought of opening my own Devil Hunting company with Sirius. When we had talked about that on the way to Temen Ni Gru, he seemed intent on opening one for himself, to restore the Black name to its former, Devil Hunting glory.
The idea appealed to me; but so did Clark's.
Opening a guild for myself…
What would I have called it?
I could have simply called it Fairy Tail. I doubted anyone would question a group named after a popular anime. We would likely have been brushed off as a bunch of amusing, nerdy screw-ups rather than the actual threat we truly were.
But, who would join it?
Better yet, who did I even want to invite?
Names flew through my head, and images of people I've met flashed before my mind's eye; names like Ron, Hermione, Neville, Daphne, Tristan, Sirius, Dumbledore, Dante and Clark.
A gentle knock on the door interrupted my reverie. I rubbed at my eyes, before getting off of the bed. The knocking persisted.
"Hold on!" I put on my pants, foregoing the shirt entirely, and opened the door, revealing Chloe and Clark.
Clark gave me a nod in greeting, while Chloe let her eyes roam over my form, fixating on my upper chest for a while, before finally greeting me with a blush.
"What's up?" I smiled, and stood to the side to allow them entrance. "You have the information?"
The duo entered my apartment, looking around, before taking a seat on some nearby chairs.
A few seconds passed.
"Well?" I asked, starting to feel a little impatient.
"It's nothing concrete." Chloe blurted out. "But I checked with a few of my sources at FedEx, and they told me that there was a massive— and expensive— haul of Luthorcorp tech to an abandoned complex at the outskirts of Metropolis."
"Which means the complex is back in business." I stated, nodding hurriedly. "The guard I interrogated said as much. Anything else?"
"Well, there are two abandoned complexes under Luthorcorp, at the edge of Metropolis." Chloe explained, biting her lip. "Problem is, they're on different sides of the city."
"I see." I said in comprehension. "So this is a one man gig? Clark takes one, and I take the other?"
"That's about it, yes." Clark spoke up for the first time since he got here. "You think you can handle it?"
"Hah!" I smirked. "Strong words from the guy who was at my mercy."
He scowled.
"Thanks for the concern, though." I smiled, before grabbing my shirt. It was getting quite smelly, but it was all I had, for now. Considering the circumstances, I was lucky to be free, at all.
I snatched a few Strengthening Solutions, as well as Pepper-Up Potion, for a power boost when I needed it, placing the potions in my enchanted pockets. It was a good thing I managed to keep these pants.
There were a few tears, here and there, but the enchantments I had put into them before going on the Temen Ni Gru field trip— if any students act out, feed them to Cerberus, or Erebus!— held quite nicely, despite the grueling abuse they'd suffered.
"Are those, actual, real life potions?" Chloe said, staring at the substances with interest.
I gave her a quick look, before fishing a small vial of Strengthening Solution out of my duffel bag and moving to her. On the way, I grabbed Erebus, and held the dark Falchion in my left hand as I handed Chloe the vial.
"This is called a Strengthening Solution." I explained, listening to the sentient sword greet me. "It will increase your strength fivefold for about ten minutes."
"Wow!" Chloe got a starry look in her eyes. "Five times your strength? I bet that would consume incredible amounts of energy! Wouldn't it destroy my body, that way? Your body was never made to handle that much pressure."
"Maybe not yours." I retorted. "But mine can handle it."
I gave her an appraising gaze and latched my energy onto hers. It was a strange sensation. I had clashed auras with different fighters, people, and even Demons.
Usually, with Demons, it was a whole lot of decay, death, and evil; images so horrifying they would leave a man frozen from fear.
As for other humans… Tristan felt like a wild animal. He barely kept a lid on his powers for the most of time. I briefly wondered who would win between us if we clashed again.
Voldemort's presence was dominating, almost overpowering you if you let it. Considered by the wizarding community to be the pinnacle of power in the area of Dark Magic.
On the other side of the fence, stood Dumbledore. Strangely enough, his energy rarely had traces of the serenity he projected to the world around him. Perhaps it was a mask to hide his own weaknesses from others?
From him, I usually felt the same overwhelming presence that Voldemort had.
It was a strange thought.
Chloe's energy, on the other hand… It was like silk in my hands. Completely peaceful; serene, even.
I found myself not wanting that to ever go away.
I handed her the vial.
"Take it." I said.
"No, I couldn't—" She tried to hand it back, but I pushed it roughly back into her hands.
"Just shut up and take it." I retorted, a wry grin on my face. "You might need it in the future."
"All— All right." She said, placing the vial in her purse. "Thank you, Harry."
Clark eyed us with a smile.
"No problem." I answered, the man's smile infectious enough to cause me to smile as well. "So, these two complexes?"
"Well..." She said. "The first one is in the south-west outskirts of Metropolis. Its exact address is..."
An hour later found me floating above the aforementioned "abandoned" complex.
My Air Raid was a little loud, but thankfully, I was high enough that the sound was either completely unheard or misinterpreted as a light bulb or a generator not functioning quite right.
The trip didn't take too long.
After my conversation with both Chloe and Clark, I took the time to grab a quick meal, and get ready for the festivities that were about to ensue.
Then, five minutes after that, I was floating above the complex, staring at the guards positioned at several key spots.
Whoever was working security was quite good, as the guards had several avenues of infiltration simultaneously covered.
Judging from the way they regularly spoke on their walkie-talkies, they also most likely checked in with each other.
"Good, but not infallible." Erebus whispered in amused contempt.
They didn't have the roof covered. Then again, the Luthorcorp building was the biggest one in the area, easily dwarfing the small housing districts surrounding it.
It made sense to simply not place anything on the top. To Muggles, it was impossible for anyone to enter through the building.
For that same reason, they found it completely useless to look up.
It made my arrival excessively easy. I landed on the roof with barely a sound— courtesy of a Silencio casted while on the way.
I looked around for a way in. I could see a door nearby; I could go through that, but it would increase the chances of getting caught. I could find no vents on the rooftop— oh, wait, they were on the side of the building.
I couldn't risk entering through the vents; I would have had to break the hatch open, which would cause a considerable amount of noise even with Silencio on it.
If that didn't gather any attention, the light emanation from my use of Air Raid would easily do so.
No, the door was the only way in.
I calmly walked up to the door, and turned the handle, before giving it a firm push.
It didn't give.
"Locked." I muttered. "Not a problem, there."
I pulled out my wand.
"Alohomora." I incanted, and the lock clicked open, the door squeaking loudly as it opened— probably for the first time in years. I was greeted with the scent of dust, and the silence of a supposedly empty complex.
Though, if there were guards, it wasn't so empty, now was it?
I entered through the threshold, and went down the stairs. I silently stopped by the first door, placing my ears against the wooden frame to listen in on any possible conversation.
Complete silence.
I stayed that way for another thirty seconds, before slightly opening the door, and peeking. The floor was completely empty, showing the remnants of old, broken desks and scorches on the walls.
A few checks for four more floors down revealed the same thing.
What had happened to this place? It looked like a platoon of warriors had rampaged through the area, setting fire and breaking anything they could get their hands on.
When I reached the fifth floor, I finally heard people talking near the doorway.
"So, you know what happened?" The first guy said.
"No, I've been busy doing my job." The other guy snidely replied.
"Dude… Grow a nut sack." The first man insulted him, before continuing. "Specimen T destroyed one of the nurses' brain completely. In five seconds flat!"
"Seriously?"
"I'm not kidding, dude."
"How?"
"Apparently, according to the guy, she said something Specimen T didn't like, and Specimen T ended up destroying her brain from the inside, before throwing her to the side like garbage. They had to sedate her heavily after that."
"What happened to the nurse?"
"Sent in for an autopsy, my guess would be. Who knows, though?" The man sighed, probably scratching the back of his head in frustration. "For all I know, the men could be having fun with her dead body."
I heard the sound of sputtering liquid.
"Dude..." The second man said. "Just, no. I don't even know why you even thought of that possibility."
"It only seemed reasonable to assume so." The first man replied.
"What makes you say that?"
"Getting your power trip..." The first man explained. "It's addicting. It causes you to make some incredibly strange decisions when dealing with other people— dead or alive."
"Honestly." The man continued. "We're not like those others, man. The only reason I'm here is because it pays for my son's medical bills."
"Yeah, I know." The second one sighed. "How is—"
I tuned out the rest of the speech, partly because I needed to concentrate, and partly because the guilt was starting to overwhelm me.
Men and women with families, responsibilities, and a lot of stress. When I had woken up, I was in a state of panic, and made split second decisions that killed people who might have had sick children or worse.
Now, I was calm, and cool. There was no impending doom hanging over my head. I could think logically, and morally.
Was that the sort of person I wanted to become?
It was a bit annoying to admit, but Clark was right— not that I'd ever say so in his face.
I could easily pretend like the enemy is all things evil and lay waste to them wholesale, but something about that simply didn't sit right with me.
I pocketed my wand, and rubbed at my eyes.
I took a deep breath, silenced Erebus' murderous whispers with a thought, and burst into the hallway, throwing Lightning bolts at the two guards, immobilizing them before they could tear me to shreds with their guns.
"C—Can't move..." One of them slowly got back to his feet, but I was already on him like a moth to a flame.
I grabbed the assault rifle he was carrying— an M4 Carbine, if memory served correctly— and violently ripped it from his grasp, hearing the sound of his shoulder dislocating, followed by a loud, agonized shout.
I may not have been willing to kill him any longer, but some punishment had to be given, right?
"Fuck!" The guy swore violently as I pointed the rifle in his face. He froze at the sight of the weapon. "Who are you?"
"I'm asking the questions." I retorted, before pointing the rifle at the unconscious man next to him. "Tell me where the kids being experimented on are."
"You're not getting anything fro— AHHHH!" He tried to say, but I slammed the butt of the rifle hard onto his right knee, sending him sprawling back onto the harsh concrete floor.
"Let's start back from the top, shall we?" I continued, heedless of his pained whimpers. "If you answer my questions, maybe your kid will get to see you."
The man froze at the mention of his child, before looking up at me with rage.
"If you ever go after my son—"
"Spare me the threats." I snarled, kicking him in the ribs. "You've got as much of an intimidating presence as a piece of chewed up gum."
I knelt down, and raised his head to look him in the eyes.
"So, tell me what I need to know." I said softly, lightly waving Erebus. The man's eyes were glued to the powerful, black Falchion. "Or I'll kill you, and then your family."
Of course, I wasn't really going to do anything of the sort, but he didn't know that, now did he? If this was a normal situation, the guard would have realized that I had no idea what his name was, or what his kid's name was, either.
But, in the heat of the moment, people tended to forget certain crucial details.
"Okay. I'll tell you everything!" The man caved in, suppressing frightened sobs. "The labs are accessed by an elevator in the middle of the second floor."
"The second floor?" I repeated for confirmation.
The man nodded, whimpering à la Wormtail. "Yes. They use a different elevator from the regular one, probably to avoid detection."
I nodded; it sounded like a good strategy.
"There's something you're leaving out." I pointed out, grabbing him by the hair and pulling roughly. "Talk."
"In my right pants p-pocket." He said. "There's a key-card which you need in order to go down."
"I see." I said pleasantly, fishing into the aforementioned pocket. I felt the cool, sleek feel of plastic, and pulled out a simple looking white card, with black bars on one side— a series of numbers displayed underneath.
I pulled out my wand and leveled it at his form. "Stupefy."
A jet of red light pulsed from my wand, knocking the man unconscious. I repeated the same process on the other man, as a precautionary measure.
Judging from the way his muscles went completely slack, I assumed he was awake, and biding his time.
I pocketed my wand, and the new key-card, before getting back onto the staircase. I went straight to the second floor, unlocking the door with a quick Alohomora.
I found myself in a series of long, quiet hallways— with barely any form of illumination. Small amounts filtered through the black-tinted windows, giving the area an almost frightening atmosphere.
I silently moved through the halls, heart beating at a mile a minute. I waved my wand at some security cameras at certain points, making sure to make it look like they were simply disabled on their own.
I stopped suddenly, and backed up a tad, before beginning to listen in. I thought I heard something, as I was turning the corner.
A full minute passed with no interruptions to the overwhelming silence. I let out a slow, silent breath. Had I been imagining things? Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me.
True enough, I turned the corner again, and nothing happened. I reached a dead end.
"Shit." I swore under my breath, and began to look around once more. A few minutes passed, in which I doubled back, retraced my steps, tried different paths; it all kept putting me back at that dead end.
I observed the wall a bit more closely. It was like the spot I stood in shouldn't have been a dead end. Judging from the halfway covered tiles on the floor beneath me, There must have been a wall placed, simply to make people believe that the hallway ended here.
Maybe I should have kept that guard awake longer, still.
So, how to get past this obstacle? I could simply overcharge a Breakdown Fist and tear the wall apart, but that would be like showing up to someone's doorstep with fireworks signaling my coming— a day before.
And besides, there had to be a way to get past this wall without breaking it. Economically, it would be a stupid decision to break the wall every time someone needed to get to the labs.
I felt around the wall, every crevice, every crack, until I hit a button. The sound of machines whirring to life was heard, as the wall split into two parts, each receding into the walls on either side.
Ahead of me, I saw an elevator door, with a card swiper sitting next to it. I fished out the key-card I took from the guard, and swiped it in the machine. A series of gentle beeps were heard, and the card swiper gave off a green light, indicating that no errors occurred in my infiltration.
I stood off to the side of the elevator door, readying up a salvo of Lightning bolts, just in case I was about to fight an entire army of soldiers.
I heard the elevator's bell chime, and the steel door opened slowly, revealing… Nothing at all.
I sighed in relief, before going into the elevator. There were only two buttons; "Two" and "Lab".
I pressed "Lab", and the doors closed. I felt the telltale dizziness that always came with a high speed elevator ride, before the elevator stopped. I stood to the side, hearing the door open to the new section.
I stayed that way for a few seconds, before mustering up the nerve to peek. There was a small, circular table that functioned as the reception area. Behind it, was a long hall, with doors lined up on each side.
But, something was wrong.
The reception was empty. I felt the beginnings of panic seize control, but I beat it back down into submission, and took a long, and deep breath.
There was no way any one of them knew I was here. I came in from the roof, an unguarded spot. I made sure to use the stairways— those didn't have many cameras.
On the second floor, I made sure to neutralize every piece of surveillance they had with my magic.
So, either something bad happened, or they had some kind of seer.
I opened my mouth to draw in some air, but froze as a hint of a certain something hit the enhanced taste buds of my tongues.
It was blood. I was smelling someone's— or something's— blood.
'Gonna go with; something bad happened.' I thought to myself, tightly gripping onto Erebus, and moving further in the hall behind the reception.
From the end, I heard the agonized moans of a group of men. I quickened my step, passing by rooms with the same children I had seen under the Metropolis General Hospital.
I made it to the end of the hall, and listened in.
"Please, stop..." One man begged, before a cracking sound, followed by a loud thud was heard. Judging from the shocked gasp coming from the others, I surmised that the man was dead.
"We didn't mean to..."
"Please! You don't have to take your medicine, I swear!"
A few more seconds of their ceaseless whimpering continued.
"You want to know what I think?" I heard a female voice say. It was a playful voice, seemingly innocent. "I think you don't need your fingernails."
"No— Please— AHHHHH!" I heard a loud ripping sound, as the two remaining men almost blew my eardrum apart with the incredible noise they were making with their voice boxes.
Their yells slowly dwindled down into agonized whimpers, and the female— Specimen T— laughed joyously.
"You can come out, you know." I felt an invisible hand on my shoulder as the woman spoke. I froze.
That touch came completely unexpected. Did I even stand a chance against something like that? What were even her powers? I doubt she tore off the men's nails without having some kind of power that involves direct manipulation of matter.
But what kind of manipulation, and what kind of matter?
I figured, she was most likely some sort of telekinetic, or something.
"I'm waiting." The woman said pleasantly, the touch of her invisible hand disappearing suddenly. "Please come in."
I entered the room.
There was blood everywhere. The floor, the walls, the ceiling. I quickly glanced around the room, getting a feel for the place. The only exit was right behind me.
A black haired woman with green eyes, dressed in a hospital gown stood over the bowed bodies of several guards. By the right wall, I could see several clumps of metal simply laying there.
She smiled at me, an insane expression in her eyes as I felt sudden pressure pervade throughout my body. I felt something pushing me down, but I resisted.
Lightning answered to my call, bathing the room in a bright, blue light. The Lightning overpowered whatever pressure this woman— this Specimen T— had on me, and I brandished Erebus at her.
She answered by hurling the clumps of metal that used to be guns at me. The projectiles flew towards me with great speed, but I managed to dodge every single one, my Lightning increasing my sensory input, as well as my speed and agility.
As I landed, the ground beneath me cracked.
I stumbled right into the path of one of the projectiles. I met the attack head on with my scaled arm, shattering the metal with ease.
Specimen T extended her hand at me, frowning in concentration. I took a step back, and took a steadying breath— only to realize that I was no longer breathing any air.
I began to choke.
She could control the air particles? The ground? The metal?
I dropped to my knees. She merely watched me struggle in vain against her power.
Was this how I was going to die?
No.
No!
I didn't come this far to simply die.
But what could I do? I needed to take a breath for Lightning Dragon's Roar.
I wasn't sure what Erebus' Darkness element could do to her either— wait.
I grinned, despite the incredible pain that the oxygen deprivation was giving me. Any more of this, and it was entirely possible I could suffer brain damage.
I got back up, and raised my hands up high.
She merely stared on, curiously.
I collected my power, and directed it into my hands, and outwards. The Lightning exited my palms, forming a vicious looking halberd.
'Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!' I gripped the weapon, before launching it as hard as I could at the wide eyed black haired woman. The halberd flew at her with great speed, and hit a strange barrier around her.
I heard a loud crack as the Lightning Halberd shattered her shielding, causing her to lose her concentration. Air started to rush into my lungs, immediately easing my intense pain into a more manageable level.
I coughed a few times, my lungs feeling quite strained from the action.
"You're different from the others." She smiled. "Are you their special reinforcement?"
"I suppose it is of no consequence." She continued before I could even get a word in. "Here to save me, or imprison me, it doesn't matter. I will kill you all."
The entire room vibrated from the force of her manipulations.
Telekinesis. Was that kind of power even beatable?