With Metropolis gone and the invading Kryptonians and their black ship contained, the rest of the castle residents not trapped in the city were assembled outside the orbiting ship.
Unfortunately that group consisted of Tess, Lex, Harry, Mirage and Wolverine.
Mirage was far more interested in Lex's new getup.
"So… what is he? Iron Man version 2 to the power of 8?" She smirked as Lex hovered in space in the most recent incarnation of the Iron Man armour.
It was exactly the same colour as the previous versions with only miniscule adjustments to the decals. The real changes came from the on board systems and the fact that it had no seams what so ever. The entire thing was like liquid metal that solidified when activated.
"As long as we just call him Iron Man for short." Jean shrugged.
"I believe Tony would be thrilled to know that thousands of years in the future his legacy has spread to other universes." Emma drawled. "His ego would practically explode."
"Did you know I have a direct connection to The Vision in here?" Lex asked curiously. "Is this done through a relay on the door or is the suit actually capable of cross-dimensional communications?"
"It's a built in feature. It wasn't added until about a thousand years ago but even Tony Stark, the original Iron Man would have needed it." Jean explained.
"Well how about we focus on getting into this tin can instead of gossiping about the latest billionaire in a suit of armour?" Wolverine growled.
"Do you have any suggestions?" Emma asked.
"Just one." He grinned as he popped his claws.
"Laura, Emma and Wolverine, pick a spot and start carving. The rest of us will attempt to focus our various energy beams on one spot." Jean instructed.
For Harry, Dani and Tess this meant blasting away with magic.
"You really know how to hold your own!" Kyla called over her shoulder as she swung her lightsabre at another robot.
Not being a part of the brain trust like Chloe and Lana; Kyla and Lois had decided to do what they do best: Break stuff.
Despite being incarcerated in the miniature city the robots hadn't just dropped dead. They still kept coming. They had been trying to get civilians to safety when they stumbled across Jason and Amara battling away at larger version whilst trying to hold off a swarm of dog sized robots.
They had eagerly joined the fray and were impressed with how Jason handled himself.
"I'm a Ritchie Rich, Kyla. Like Lex I learnt the finer arts like fencing." Jason called back as he fired another round from the assault rifle he had 'acquired' from a near by police station.
"How does fencing make you so good at head shots?" Lois asked she ducked a metallic arm. The only good thing about these robots was that they didn't have energy weapons. They relied on punching and hitting and physical actions.
"Because it was in my quest to escape my fencing lessons that I honed my skills on games like Quake, Doom and eventually… Halo."
"Wouldn't that mean you were skipping fencing lessons when you were sixteen?" Kyla asked.
"What can I say? My fencing instructor was as dedicated to trying to teach me as I was dedicated to not being taught." He smirked as he made another headshot. Amara had added some quick charms to it so it had negligible recoil but infinite ammo. She had mentioned what she did to the ammo itself but it easily went into the robots before exploding.
There was an explosion as Amara punched a large robot in her lava form sending it crashing into a storefront. What had caused the explosion was unclear but the families trapped in the apartments above the store where very clear.
"I've got the civilians." Jason called out.
"I'm on your six!" Kyla added.
"You guys are just going to leave us?" Lois asked worriedly as she fired more blasting hexes at the oncoming horde.
"You're doing fine Lo'. Just watch your back." Kyla called as she ran after Jason.
"You were watching my back!"
Things suddenly got a lot hotter as Amara moved in closer. "Lois, take to the skies and fire from there. I will continue in hand-to-hand." She ordered.
"Yes Ma'am." Lois acknowledged. She was not going to argue with the woman who was tearing heads off six-foot tall robots with hands made of molten lava.
"How do we repel fire?" Jason asked quickly as Kyla joined him at the front of the store.
"Same as with everything else. Just will it. Gotta admit I'm wishing Tsukiumi and Akitsu were here though." She muttered. "Let's phase through the roof." She suggested as she took to the air.
They quickly made it through the roof and into the building with bubblehead and cooling charms on. There were six families made of thirteen adults and twenty-eight children. There was no way they could do it in one trip.
"You take them out and I'll act as the anchor." Kyla instructed.
"Where should I take them?" He asked.
Kyla thought for a moment. "LexCorp, Lex's office should be deserted but fortified."
"I've never been there."
"Me neither." Kyla admitted.
"I've got it!" Jason said suddenly. They had to duck as a beam collapsed but Kyla easily tossed it away. "I'll line of sight teleport to that building." He pointed to the flat roof across the street.
"Go!"
Jason quickly grabbed the nearest kids and teleported out. He wasn't back as quick as Kyla hoped as he had to try and pry two very scared children off of him.
Unfortunately the robots had found them and they weren't bothered by fire as they began making their way up the stairs. Amara and Lois were still too busy dealing with the rest of the horde.
"Ah shit!" Jason swore as he teleported back and saw the robots.
"Less swearing more teleporting!" Kyla shouted as she tried to do everything she could to slow the robots down without damaging the burning building they were trapped in.
Jason vanished and quickly returned. Only to grab two more and vanish again.
He made three more trips before the robots made it to the top of the stairs and Kyla was forced to engage in hand-to-hand again.
"I can't keep them back much longer!" Kyla shouted as she ripped the head off a robot and kicked the body back down the stairs.
Jason had just managed to get half the children out. It had been so hard to hear over the screaming that he had cast silencers at random people in-between trips.
He felt a hand grab him and it pointed out the window.
Standing there was a robot as tall as the building raising its fist to sledgehammer down on them.
"Kyla! Run!" Jason shouted as he pushed his way through the people back to the stairs. He just made it as he sent the most powerful banishing spell he could at the rest of the civilians sending them flying out the window and onto the street just as the fist breached the ceiling.
Around the shrunken city of Metropolis Lois, Lana, Chloe and Jodi stumbled as they felt a massive jolt of power as they lost the buffer between themselves and Clark and his Sekirei.
They didn't know what caused it but they knew they had a lot more to work with now.
Standing in the midst of the still burning building were the souls of Kyla Willowbrook and Jason Teague.
"Well… I had a good run." Jason sighed as he tried to hide the sadness he felt. He hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye to Lana.
"It's not over yet." Kyla snorted.
"Wha- whoa! You're naked! Ack! I'm naked!" He cried as he averted his eyes and quickly covered himself.
"Get over yourself." Kyla waved a dismissive hand as she stood there unashamedly. "All souls are naked, only Harry can give them clothes. Or apparently if there is enough magic in the area we can make them and appear to others."
Jason frowned thoughtfully before lowering his hands and turning to look at Kyla… her head that is.
"I am dead I guess. There isn't much Clark can do to me for seeing you like this." Jason turned around and looked off into the distance where he could see a glowing light that was clear through the burning walls. "I guess that's where we need to go. Come on." He said.
"I'm going no where." Kyla said adamantly as she indicated the ethereal streams that lead from her to Clark and Lana. "And if you love Lana you'll think long and hard about going as well."
"I do love her." He scowled. "But maybe this is meant to be my time. Maybe this is meant to be what's best for Lana."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kyla demanded as she stalked up to him.
Jason struggled to keep his eyes from lowering to her bouncing… assets.
Jason swallowed hard. "Erm… she's bound to you… technically she is bound to Clark. I know she loves him and he loves her… this way I won't be in the way." He finished with firmness in his voice.
"She loves you too you frigging idiot!" Kyla snapped. "Lana is immortal… bound to a Phoenix, she only dies if Harry says so. She has eternity to spend with Clark, can't you give her a few years with you?"
Jason turned around, his face downcast. "It's not that easy… I like Clark; I think he's great. But even if he's not with Lana physically… he still holds a big part of her heart. I can handle sharing her with her sister Amazons, but this is something else."
"Lana said the same thing." Kyla informed him in a calmer tone. Jason turned and looked at her quizzically. "That is the reason she wasn't with Clark when you first met. She didn't think she was capable of being in a multi-partner relationship. So she broke up with Clark before I even met him.
"Bitch broke his heart." She snarled. "Are you gonna break hers?"
"Clark's heart seems fine now." Jason pointed out with sad smile.
"He still remembers the pain."
Superman found the controls for the micro-stasis machine.
The whole damned thing was in Kryptonian.
That wasn't a problem as he could communicate in Kryptonian. But it just felt insulting in someway.
Besides, he had no idea how to navigate the menu system on the damned screen. It was almost as bad as trying to figure out the crystal interface of Krypton.
"Acknowledge command, reverse transportation and micro-stasis of bottle city of Earth: Met-rop-ol-is." He mimicked the voice of Brainiac as best he could.
"Command acknowledged. Beginning reversal procedure."
Superman grinned triumphantly. Just as Laura had done years before with his ship, the vocal interface worked perfectly.
He turned and sped back to the bottle room where he found Death's Hand happily hacking away at the downed being.
"What happened? Where's your arm?" Superman asked.
Sure enough Xander was missing his left arm.
"Erm… the robot cut it off."
Superman frowned. That had seemed a little forced. "What happened?" He asked again.
"Fine!" Xander sulked as he threw back his hood. "I may have tried to do a flashy spin with my lightsabre and cut off my own arm. Happy?"
Superman just smirked as he stepped up to Xander and began re-growing the arm for him.
"Nice duds by the way. Kryptonian Battle Armour, right?" Xander commented.
"I just hope they are easy to get off."
"Bet your girls do too." Xander grinned.
"There, good as new." Superman declared as he released Xander's arm.
"Thanks, how about we try and open the doors for the others or something."
"Acknowledge command: Open external hatches and permit communications with Earth."
"Command acknowledged. Airlocks open, communication with Earth enabled."
"What is the stasis of Metropolis?"
"Earth City: Metropolis, enlarged and returned."
"Nice job fellas."
The pair turned to see Mirage and the others walking in. "Just one question: Who does this belong too?" She held up a severed arm.
Superman just grinned as he patted Xander on the back. "Make sure you tell them the truth… because I will."
"Bastard."
"Possibly… I know nothing of my birth after all." He smirked.
"These aren't just scale models, are they?" Cyclops asked as he examined the cities in bottles.
"According to the jerk-of-many-pieces lying on the floor, they are the actual cities just miniaturised." Xander confirmed.
"He lied though." Superman scowled as he walked up. "There are no souls in these bottles."
"What do you mean?" Mirage asked.
"The bastard tried to make Clark choose between Kandor of his home planet and Metropolis of his adopted planet." Xander explained.
"What did you do?" John Stewart asked curiously.
"I believe the pieces of jerk all over the floor should answer that for you GL." The Flash chuckled.
"It must have been a glorious battle." Hawkgirl said in appreciation.
"Yeah, severed limbs and all." Mirage grinned as she waved the arm again.
"Why are you holding that?" Superman asked in disgust.
"If you apply magic in the right way it works as a great tool for picking things up!" She demonstrated by applying magic to the stump and making the hand bend at the elbow and wave.
"I feel violated." Xander said blankly.
"Try not to break the Father of Death." Jean sighed as she vanished the arm.
"I'm getting a lot of calls from Metropolis." Harry said seriously. "Superman, Dad, you come with me. The rest of you deal with this abomination." He waved his hand around indicating the ship.
Harry, Superman and Xander arrived next to Amara and Lois who were standing over a group of bodies that consisted of men, women and children. Behind them Chloe and Lana were trying to console a group of other children.
"There is nothing I can do. They have already crossed over." Harry said sadly.
"But you can give the kids a chance to say goodbye to their parents." Xander offered.
"True. When I am finished I will deal with Kyla and Jason." He said as he walked off.
Xander looked at Superman curiously.
"Kyla. Jason." He said as he pointed to two spots nearby.
"That ought to be an interesting story."
"Superman, can you do that… thing you did when I was out of body?" Lana asked worriedly as she stood in front of Superman wringing her hands.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't feel right. I feel like I did when I first woke up before you kissed one of your Sekirei and before Jodi joined with me."
"She's in pain Superman." Xander explained. "Kyla doesn't have a proper connection at the minute and so Lana needs a temporary patch."
"Ok, I'll give it a shot." He said as he put a hand on Lana's shoulder. "But I've never dealt with a soul in a body before."
He closed his eyes and focused.
Lana sighed in relief as she closed her eyes leant her forehead on Superman's chest.
"We'll get Kyla back in her body as quick as we can." Xander promised her.
Lana just nodded from her position on Superman's chest.
"Do you still believe that she wouldn't be better off with him than me?" Jason asked sadly as he watched the woman he love receive the healing she needed from another man.
"Everyone would be better off with Harry and Clark." Kyla said softly. "But I can see why this is hard for you." She admitted.
"So will you be coming with me then?"
They turned to see a slender, blonde woman who was just as naked as them standing there with a soft smile.
"Are you here to guide me over? Cause I gotta say, I can totally see why people would think you are an angel." Jason grinned.
"Smooth. Very smooth." The woman grinned. "But let's focus. If you want to crossover to the after life then the choice is yours. Very few people are given this choice… but you are friends with Harry and Clark." She shrugged.
Jason loved the way naked women kept shrugging around him… he just hoped Lana wouldn't castrate him.
"Who are you?" Kyla asked curiously.
"Buffy Summers, an old friend of Xander's." She smiled. "He has come a very long way from the awkward teenager I first met."
"Girlfriend?" Jason asked.
Buffy looked at him with a curious smile. "No. But he did ask me out. I was fixated on someone else but he never stopped being my friend. Never left my side.
"He was a jealous idiot of course but… he was always there." She said fondly. Then she scowled. "Until my mother went and stole him from us."
"I get the message." Jason said defensively as Kyla grinned at him.
"Good, because I would have hated to have to drop the subtlety and beat you around the head with it." Buffy smirked. "But the decision is still yours. You don't have to stay here, you can come with me."
Jason looked at Lana sadly before looking at the children and the souls of their parents.
"I can't leave. Lana deserves an explanation and… I can help… people like them." He pointed to the children.
"I'll stay." He said firmly.
"Good choice." Buffy nodded. "Just remember that Lana is one in a million… but so is everyone else."
Jason and Kyla were fully re-embodied as they joined the others at the conference table in the Great Hall that evening.
Despite victory for Superman and Death's Hand, the news of the Deaths in Metropolis were hard to take. People had been killed by the rampaging Terminauts, fires and explosions from buildings chopped in half and gas lines cut, people drowning in the Hobbs River as the bridges were sliced in two and finally there were those who where literally squashed as the dome landed.
Half a million people were dead in one day.
It was hard to call any part of what happened a 'victory'.
"We need a better system in place." Clark said firmly. "The people of Earth don't deserve to suffer when we know of technology that can save and protect them."
"We will use whatever we can to protect the planet from external threats Clark but we can't just dump new technology on the planet if they aren't ready for it." Scott reasoned.
"They never have to know its there." Chloe shrugged. "Run it all from the Hidden City. You can't even talk about the city if you haven't been told about it by Harry or Clark."
"We can do that." Phoebe nodded.
"But you have to remember that space is big." Mindee frowned.
"Far too big to effectively patrol." Celeste finished.
John Henry Irons sat there and tried to follow what was happening. His world had been turned upside down when he was told that Superman wasn't even technically nineteen yet and that Death was his brother.
Then he discovered just how useless his efforts to help people had been when they revealed the death toll of the day.
It was all getting to him.
"I want to know who is going to pay for what happened!" He said as he angrily smashed his armoured fist on the table. The magically reinforced table was not going to break.
He was the only one in costume as even Clark had managed to get his new suit off.
"Thousands of people are dead and there is no one to answer for it." He snarled. He turned to Harry. "You claim to be Death, can't you bring the bastard who did this back so we can make him pay?"
"Easy there big guy, we're all angry but you need to dial it back a bit." Barry warned.
Shayera had discreetly palmed her mace but she was surprised when she glanced at Miya and the woman gave her a calm shake of the head.
"If he's Death then he needs to explain why all those people died. Their families deserve to know why he won't bring them back!"
Xander calmly stood up and walked around the table and stood in front of John Henry Irons. "Follow me. You have questions and I have answers." Without another word he turned and walked off.
John looked to General Lane who was seated next to his daughter. "Go with him. You won't be in any danger."
John turned and stomped off angrily.
"Logan, could you…?" Harry requested.
"Sure thing. I could use a tussle." Logan grunted as he stood and followed after the two men.
"Are they seriously going to waste energy fighting now?" John Stewart asked in disbelief.
"It helps some people when they have pent up anger." Laura said quietly. "They will talk and fight at the same time and Dr. Irons will release his frustration on them."
"Back to the matters at hand." Emma brought them back on topic. "We will liaise with North Korea and Japan to install a system to monitor the solar system for intrusion. We already receive alerts from the Green Lanterns but this will also help.
"Now, what is to happen to the ship and the contained cities?" She asked.
"The Corp has taken the ship to a safe planet where they intend to study the systems and attempt to determine where each of the bottled cities came from." John Stewart reported. "Ganthet asked me to make a formal request for aid from one of your AI friends. But he didn't give me any further explanation." He frowned.
"I can take you with me back to our dimension so you can meet some people and gain a better understanding of us." Brunhilde offered. "We can bring back an AI friend with us."
"Miya, what happened with the meteor shower and the invaders?" Emma asked.
"The meteors were easily dealt with thanks to the anti-grav mines. The invaders turned out to be Kryptonians."
"I knew all that blather about being the last of your kind was just a ploy to get women." Dani grinned.
"If these two are indeed the only other Kryptonians left then Clark may indeed become the last of his kind." Miya said seriously. "I have little doubt that Clark and Harry will see them and declare their intent to destroy their souls."
"We will have them interrogated then handed over for judgment then." Scott nodded.
"I have allowed Ryan to start interrogation procedures." Miya said hesitantly. "He has back up from the Sheriff, Earl and Alfred Pennyworth, but as he pointed out, he needs to start somewhere and here is as good a place as any."
Clark smiled proudly. "He'll do fine. We'll have someone check his work and barring any major issues we will use this as a means to test what he needs to learn for the future."
"Are sending their ship to Oa?" Lorna asked.
"I had it sent to MBI." Miya answered. "Matsu was intrigued by what she found and… I caved." She admitted with red cheeks.
"Wow, you don't even give in to Kusano!" Kyla exclaimed.
"I have no excuse." Miya said slightly shamed.
"Relax, your Sekirei are tough bunch to get a grip on. If they didn't all have so much respect for you, Clark and Harry they would have ruled the world by now." Dani grinned.
"My Amazons often ask if the Sekirei will be coming to live with them." Amara chuckled. "They are conflicted over the existence of male Sekirei though."
"Who wants to tell them that Mutsu would be happy to help them learn to deal with it?" Clark grinned.
"You gotta feel sorry for him." Harry admitted. "Mikogami has just found himself a boyfriend. He is fast becoming a third wheel."
"Aren't Mikogami's female Sekirei interested in him?" Lana asked.
"Sekirei don't really see each other in that way." Miya answered. "They love each other and… as Musubi and Matsu have shown, they will… 'play' with each other, but they don't see themselves as partners for each other."
"Well he won't have much luck with my Amazons." Amara said with a roll of her eyes.
"Does anyone else have something to report?" Emma asked, once again getting everyone to focus.
"I could use some more practice in the Iron Man suit." Lex admitted.
"We should probably build the Danger Room in the castle." Lorna mused. "With people like Dr. Irons and others appearing who are looking to help with disasters and combat situations, we could use a suitable training arena."
"We could have Harry build a magical one." Phoebe suggested.
"Much more realistic." Mindee nodded.
"And so many other uses." Celeste moaned indecently making people like John Stewart very uncomfortable.
"Whilst that might work for our private use, I was thinking of something that Wayne Industries and MBI could reasonably develop and then sell for use to people like the Red Cross, Fire-fighters, Coast Guard and so on. A better training environment." Lorna explained.
"Fine, but I'm with the girls. We get Harry to build one here." Dani said firmly.
"Anything else?" Emma asked tiredly. These people were far too easily distracted. "SCOTT!"
Scott blushed as he realised Emma had caught him day dreaming about having fun in a simulation of the Savage Land.
"Sorry." He muttered.
"We can just use the portal for that." She smirked as Jean covered her mouth to hide her snickering.
"What do we tell the people of Metropolis and the world?" The Japanese Prime Minister spoke up for the first time.
"The truth." Clark said firmly. "An alien craft entered our system, we moved to intercept and determine its intent but were unable to evacuate the city in the time necessary. Superman and a small team where able to board the ship and stop the attackers and restore Metropolis to Earth but not without severe losses."
"We'll tell the truth without giving names or codenames of the people like the Amazons and Sekirei involved." Scott added. "We'll just call them 'Elite Teams'."
Jason had taken Lana back to his apartment above the Talon so he could talk to her. She beat him to it.
"You want to break up. No. You need to break up with me." She said calmly, but the sadness was there.
"Did one of the Cuck-"
"No, but in some ways I've been expecting this." She admitted as she sat on the edge of the bed before flopping backwards on it. "Aphrodite reminded me of how I felt when I discovered Clark was going to have more than one girlfriend. She said it was going to feel the same for you… even if there wasn't anything between me and Clark." She wiped away the tear that trickled back into her hair.
Jason flopped down beside her. "We're supposed to live for thousands of years now. Maybe in a few years or decade we'll both be to the point where we can handle sharing each other."
"You know that without you around the pull towards Kyla and Clark will get stronger." She said pointedly with a little hiccup as she tried not to cry.
"Yeah… and that is part of the reason why I want to go. I want you… I want you to give them a shot." He said as he swallowed tightly. This was hard to do. "I don't think you'll be able to truly be with anyone else until you are comfortable with Clark."
"More Kyla than Clark." Lana sniffled.
"You're bi?" He just couldn't help himself.
"Sneaky bitch had Harry bind my soul to hers. I am drawn to Clark through her, but primarily to her." She scowled as more silent tears rolled down her temples. Her head was pounding with pressure as the weight of the situation crushed her.
"You would have been with Clark anyway." Jason shook his head, shaking the bed slightly. "You still love him- not that you don't love me and haven't given me your full… attention… but even I could see you still loved him when we first met."
They sat in silence for a few moments.
"When are you leaving?" She asked quietly.
"I am heading through the portal tomorrow. It wasn't planned, but Harry and Scott said they had some special training available for me whenever I wanted. I figure I should go as soon as possible. I'll be back for the next school year though; I still have my position as Assistant Coach. Scott is talking about having take up more responsibilities now that you won't be there."
"We are good together though… right?" Lana asked as she turned on her side to face him.
"We were great together. We may even be great together again someday. But… we both need to work through our own things before we can be together properly.
"Maybe when we do get together next time it will be until death do us part. Well… me anyway as you are immortal now thanks to Chloe."
"I don't want you to go." Lana sobbed.
"I don't want to leave." Jason admitted as his own tears finally fell.
Jason had been told that he was not allowed to leave until after the victory celebration. It was a very adamant set of triplets that made it clear it was non-negotiable.
Everyone was at the beach at the MBI resort from the Amazons to the Emperor of Japan himself. The Sekirei and Amazons frolicked in the ocean as the Sekirei taught them various games.
There was a distinct group of people in their uniforms or suits who were not enjoying the happy atmosphere. Namely John Irons, John Stewart and Jason Teague.
"You three really need to lighten up." Lorna said as she walked over with Brunhilde.
"Thousands of people died. It doesn't really seem like the sort of thing to celebrate." John Stewart scowled.
"Well we aren't celebrating that." Lorna rolled her eyes. "We are celebrating the fact that we survived, that we drove the enemy off and that despite the fact we lost thousands of people… we saved millions."
None of the men looked convinced. "You three are heroes recognised by the most powerful being in existence." Brunhilde said sternly. "You will be called upon time and time again to face the horrors of the universe. You will see millions die at the hands of tyrants. You must learn to put the burden of those deaths aside as they are not yours to shoulder. If you cannot do this then your time as a hero will be short as they stress will kill off your spirit and corrupt it."
"If we had been faster, stronger… if we'd had more time." Irons said… almost pleading.
"Do not dwell on 'what ifs' gentlemen. Focus on what you achieved with what you have. Then celebrate your accomplishments before moving on to better yourselves.
"Jason, walk with me." Brunhilde instructed.
It was a very downcast Jason that walked quietly with Brunhilde to an out of the way spot where they could talk privately.
"What troubles you?" She asked. "We know of your decision to end your current relationship with Lana. But why would you choose to spend time in the presence of those two?"
"Because I failed." Jason said quietly. "Worse… I actually killed the people I was supposed to save."
"You refer of course to your final act of banishing the people out of the building and onto the street where four of them died from impact and six from the robots."
"Yeah… thanks for bringing that up." He said sarcastically.
"I watched the memories you submitted, Jason. I know why you did that. You tried to save them, to give them the chance at survival that they could not have under the fist of that larger robot.
"And I saw you knowingly and willingly sacrifice your only chance at survival to save them and suffer what must have been agonising pain."
"Bottom line: Four died at my hands and six died because of my actions."
"Foolishness." Brunhilde said heatedly. "If you must know of true pain because of your actions then talk to Thor when you go through the portal. Ask him to tell you the tale of The Wasp at my request. Part of his soul died that day."
"You know… humans are a resilient bunch." They turned to see Harry standing there. "I'm living proof of that when you consider my childhood. But that doesn't mean we should have to stand there and suffer and try to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders… especially if we don't have that right."
Harry held out a hand to Brunhilde. "Stay here for a while. There are some people who want to talk to you."
As Harry and Brunhilde walked off, various souls appeared around him. He recognised them immediately. They haunted his nightmares.
He saw the man who had pointed out the large robot stalk angrily up to him. "Next time you see a big stinking hand about to squash your tiny brain, get the hell out of there! There are too few people who are willing to sacrifice everything for a stranger. The world needs people like you alive… out there… saving others."
"I-"
"Give it up kid." The man growled. "I served in Desert Storm. My friends died around me and I alone survived. I picked myself up and did everything I could to honour their sacrifice. You are pretty damned unique considering you now get the chance to honour your own sacrifice."
Jason noticed the rest of the group of souls nodding and glaring at him.
A woman sat down next to him. "You probably don't recognise me." She smiled at him. "I'm the little girl who you didn't manage to get out in time.
"Don't be like that doofus!" She scolded gently as Jason closed his eyes in painful memory. "You saved my mom and brother when you tossed us out the window.
"Stop being a grumpy sour puss and go out there and enjoy yourself." She ordered. "And don't make us have to come back and tell you off again. Being back here hurts after a while."
"I've got him." Lex said with a smile as he walked up in Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. "Come on Jace, you and I are going to be spending a fair amount of time together over the next few months. We need to make sure your tolerance for alcohol is good enough or you won't remember most evenings. Thor likes to drag visitors to every drinking establishment he can find." He explained as he shoved a bottle of beer into the man's hand.
"Do you think he will be ok?" As the girl spoke a new soul appeared.
Luna Lovegood just smiled at the retreating pair. "He'll be fine. He has plenty of friends who love him and won't let him fall."
A/N: The End... ?
Of course not!
I already have 14,000 words of year five written... which really isn't much.
Yes... I broke up Jason and Lana. You lot should have seen that coming since Kyla bonded with Lana.
Like I said, it could be a month or two. Hopefully not longer but if it is I will see if I can't split the year or something and post what I have. Writing stories in one shot helps me make sure I don't leave major plot holes. There was this whole thing where Lex could/couldn't talk when he passed over or the fact that no one could see Gabe but everyone could see Dawn.
Anyway, we will have to see what happens. I couldn't say myself as I haven't written it.
Till next time!
