April 16th 2016 Doomhollow Hall 6:00 PM EDT

The next day saw me back at the island (my island) to meet Nightwing to show him our secure detainment facilities. I considered making an issue about letting him on the island, but honestly I could swat him like a fly if I wanted and it wasn't like he could find it again once he left. Still I watched the bastard like a hawk as he stepped out of the teleporter, especially paying attention to aura sight in case he tried to plant some bugs or something. Which he did. Obviously. I destroyed them all immediately.

The Hellfire Oubliette was, of course, underground, as I led him down towards the entrance I noted that he hadn't come alone. Wonder Girl and Superboy were along for the ride, and I had to smirk at the looming figure of Nightwing. "You really so worried about little old me you had to bring out the big guns for a social call? Not that any of this was necessary. Don't you have financial records you need to be combing through? I'm sure you'll figure out where I'm getting that money any day now, and then I'll get mine."

I gave him a big innocent smile and tried not to enjoy the sound of grinding teeth. Still, it didn't matter. They really were alive and captive. I had held up my end, and if Superboy and Wonder Girl tried shit I would shove their asses in the cells right night to Klarion and Black Adam. Not forever obviously, but a time out might do them some good. I gestured at them to follow me and headed down the halls until we got to an ominous looking black door in the stone floor. I gestured down to it. "After you guys, please."

Nightwing looked suspicious but eventually nodded to Superboy, who grabbed the ring of the trapped door and pulled up on the massive slab of volcanic stone. Under the door was a claustrophobic set of black stone steps. Rather than any torches or light source, the walls and steps were veined with crimson cracks that seemed to flicker with an unholy glow. The steps were only wide enough for one person to walk at a time, and I gestured for them to go ahead, with Superboy taking the lead and Wonder Girl bringing up the rear, presumably to pen me in in case I tried anything.

I had to fight not to roll my eyes as we mounted the stairs and descended into my dungeon. "So, Superboy heard you and Miss M broke up. Sorry about that. You guys were a sweet couple. If it makes you feel any better Lagoon Boy seems like a tool to me. You should try dating someone. Dreamer has been worried since she heard about the break up. Thinks you'll retreat into yourself. You know how she has to psychoanalyze everyone. I love the girl but she just can't help trying to fix people."

He tensed at the beginning, thinking I was messing with him, but as I went on he relaxed a bit. I wasn't lying, Dreamer DID think he would isolate himself, and she was worried. Superboy had been one of her first friends on Earth and Drea was the nosy type when it came to her friends. When he heard my sincerity his tense shoulders relaxed a bit. "Tell her I'm fine. This is probably better for everyone." I was positive that wouldn't reassure her, but I could also see the pain in his aura. I'd said my piece, any more was none of my business.

Luckily we reached the base of the stairs and we all had something else to focus on. "Drea worked on Ra'as for a while yesterday before we transported him back. She got a bit of info, but we'll need to question the old man for weeks to get it all. Being down here is far from pleasant, so I'm guessing he'll soften up over time. For now though he's in good shape physically, and I'm happy to show you him or any of the other prisoners." I didn't mention that we had a possible lead on savage courtesy of the Demon's Head. I'd tell them if it led anywhere, they had proved useful in the last raid.

I led them down the stone hall, and I could see them looking around in confusion. There were no cells visible, or any locations to keep prisoners. When we got to Ra'as I gestured at the wall. "He's in there." They stared at the ridged stone in front of them blankly, turning to look at me in question. I rolled my eyes and reached out through my connection to the island. There was a grinding as the stone in front of us peeled back a pair of great stone lids opening. Before us, in the wall, sat a massive eye. The sclera was tempered glass, the lids were dark stone, and the iris was a field of glowing red energy shot through with runes. In the pupil there was an empty space about the size of a fist too look through, showing the inside of the cell.

Ra'as Al Ghul sat cross legged inside, face looking uncomfortable. I smiled, gesturing to him. "As you can see he's alive and well." I didn't mention that the red in the cracks was hellfire, and that prolonged exposure would cause slow and most likely irreversible soul damage. It wouldn't kill him or anything, but it would make him skiddish and unsettled. long term I doubted it would be good for him, but I also didn't really care if it was good for him or not, because he was an asshole.

I touched the connection again, and the eye closed. "As you saw, he's fine. They all are. I'll show you if you want." Well...fine was an exaggeration. Klarion wasn't exactly feeling like himself, and Black Adam was still twitchy from traversing the corridors, but neither were human and they would probably recover. Eventually. Regardless, this was a huge step in taking down The Light. Klarion was their heavy, and Adam and Circe were powerful resources. Nightwing sighed. "No. It's fine. I pretty much figured you would keep up your end, seeing Ra'as proves it. He's easily the most fragile. Makes no sense to keep him alive and kill the others. You're sure this place is secure though?" He looked around at the cracked stone walls, clearly not sure it would hold up.

I just chuckled. "Tell you what. Superboy, do me a favor and punch that spot on the wall that just opened. Hard as you can." Between a tier four material and the magic keeping it secure I doubted he could really hurt it, plus I could always move Ra'as to another cell. If it had been a full Kryptonian like Superman I wouldn't have offered, but Superboy was markedly weaker physically, from his aura I knew he wasn't a danger.

He raised an eyebrow at Nightwing, who just nodded, and then shrugged before taking up a stance in front of the oculus. Feet spread for stability, he hauled back and threw a massive haymaker with his whole back and upper body behind it. As his fist met the stone there was a loud crash and the red cracks over the oculus flared a deeper, darker red, but no obvious signs of damage occurred. Superboy shook his hand out, staring hard at the stone with his telescopic vision before turning to his leader. "No obvious signs of damage. This place is pretty damn sturdy."

I laughed again. "That's just the outside. They're prison cells. They can take way more from the inside. The walls are several feet thick aside from the door, and that red magic shield takes the hit from inside before you even get to the eyelid where Superboy hit. Even I'd have trouble breaking out of here." I wouldn't actually, my corridors of darkness underpinned all of reality and even the spiritual binding of this place didn't seem to be able to stop them, but we'd tested shadow porting and a dozen other kinds of teleportation and they were all completely sealed.

With security settled I led them out of the basement and through the trapped door. "Anyway, you saw what you needed, thanks for stopping by, and whatever other pleasantries are needed to get you to go away. Having you here makes me uncomfortable." I paused, looking between them. "Well, just Nightwing. I don't like you. You're nosy and annoying, and if you drop one more fucking listening device I'm going to start shoving them up your ass instead of just destroying the damned things."

Nightwing's face didn't show any change, but Superboy looked annoyed, and Wonder Girl was giving him a reproachful stare. The looks were cut off as we ran into Morana coming out of the room in front of us, specifically the training room, hair up in a ponytail and dressed in workout clothes. She paused coming out the room, looking between us uncertainly, but when she saw this appeared to be a mostly friendly visit she relaxed. I wondered if she had gotten my aura sight, and if it was picking up Superboy's annoyance or Nightwing's dislike.

To my surprise though, from her aura, she wasn't really paying attention to the boys, she was kind of focused in on Wonder Girl. The blonde smiled a friendly smile and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Cassie! I saw some of your fight back on infinity island. You were really impressive. I'd love to spar sometime if you're up for it." Morana took it, seeming hesitant but somewhat happy as she shook it.

It occurred to me that my daughter had absolutely no friends her own age. Or apparent age. She spent her time with her mothers, and while she had been created pretty recently and that wasn't a surprise, a bit of socializing might do her some good. I made a snap decision. "You know what? I was rude asking you all to leave like that. How about I show you the restaurant. I'm sure everyone is hungry. Rana' why don't you get cleaned up and meet us up there. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind you joining us."

I stared at Nightwing, informing him with my eyes that if he threw a bitch fit and messed up my daughters chance to make her first friend I would break my foot off in his ass. Luckily, he wasn't oblivious, and seemed to be generally...ok, when dealing with people who weren't me. So he forced a smile. "Yeah, sure that does sound like..." He trailed off, unable to force himself to finish the thought until he caught an elbow from Superboy. "Ugh-fun. It sounds like...fun."

Morana looked thrilled, agreeing and running off to get changed as I lead the others to my restaurant. I was ten thousand points over my one million that I was hoarding for a new ability after they left (I hadn't wanted to deal with them while I was figuring out how to use the thing), so I could afford a nicer meal if I wanted to bump myself up a few points. Maybe Strength. Regardless I led them up to eat, considering exactly what to do with my points.

I was on the fence about my new ability and what I wanted. I had a few ideas, but was hesitant to commit my windfall to it without knowing what was coming next. I was thinking either something for combat or something that would make learning void magic faster. Though I also considered something that would let me take people along through corridors. There were plenty of options. As I settled down to eat, Morana joined us, clearly excited to make a new friend, and she sat down to talk to Cassie as we all ordered our food. I could worry about my new ability later. Now I just needed something to eat.

April 16th 2016 Doomhollow Hall 9:00 PM EDT

Dinner was pleasant. Morana had a nice time getting to know Cassie and the two of them arranged some time to go to the movies together in a few days. I considered getting my strength stat bumped up with the points I had, I could always use a good meal, but I decided to save every point for the new power, and I didn't want to get a powerup in front of Nightwang the nosy anyway. So I mostly just ate and acted civil with Superboy, throwing the occasional jab at the bat brat.

Once they left and Morana bolted off to tell her mothers about her new friend, I got down to the serious business of NOT KNOWING WHAT THE FUCK MY NEXT POWER SHOULD BE! I was at a loss. I had so many options. I mean, I always had so many options, but usually my points range helps narrow it down or I have some pressing need to meet. This was different. A purchase this big was going to massively effect my abilities going forward. I needed to think it over. To make sure that I spent the points on something that could be useful in the long run.

My three main possibilities then were as followed. Mobility. Some kind of device or power that would let me travel with more people. My corridors were absurdly useful, but I couldn't use them to travel with anyone but myself, and that seriously limited my combat efficiency. Second, ACTUAL combat efficiency. I could invest in a power that would let me fight people head on. Some kind of attack ability.

The thing was my existing abilities scaled, so I didn't really need any new ones, except maybe a passive. Finally utility. I could get some new and unusual power that could let me do something off the wall. That one honestly seemed like my best bet, if only because I needed something to act as a defense against higher level enemies. I had mental protection, but it only worked on intrusion, illusions and other bullshit could still fuck with my head. I opened my phone and flipped through. I needed something defensive that would help me hang in a fight with the big dogs, mental and physical both would be ideal.

I skimmed through the list, trying to find something that would work, until I finally stumbled on something...interesting. It was an email offering a chance to buy a secret armored suit that was possessed by an underground force that policed the world. It sounded like something I would have heard of, so I decided to ask my resident expert on all things magical and mysterious, Jim. It took me almost no time to find him, he spent most of his time in the map room, and once I did I flopped down next to him.

His monocle turned to regard me. "Evening Morgan, what can I do for you? I trust the hero children managed to accomplish their goals and leave? I don't much enjoy having such riffraff in my home." He cocked his head. "Well, your home I suppose, but I've lived here long enough to get attached, and places of leisure don't tend to last very long when the League and their spawn are involved."

That got a laugh from me. "No. Nightwang and his muscle have since departed. I actually wanted to ask you about something. I was looking around for a new power and I stumbled on something interesting. It's a suit of magic armor, they attributed it to a secret society type group that protects the world from monsters. Now the fact that its in one of my emails means the armor is bullshit, but the group themselves might be legit, much like keyblades do exist, despite the email I got this one from being a lie. You ever heard of the Drood family?"

Jim's head snapped up so fast his hat tipped over, wobbling precariously before he reached up to pull it down on his invisible head. "You...you have an email that mentions the Drood family? That is...unusual. They aren't often spoken of in mixed company. Yes, the Drood's are real, though most people think they aren't. I suspect the person who made that email is among the happy oblivious many, lest they wouldn't have dared to make light of them. They're...formidable, an incredible force of powerful spies and assassins that secretly control the world as we know it."

I raised an eyebrow. "Well then why haven't I heard of them. Or why have you? I thought I was pretty clued in on the weird world, what with Madame Xanadu and the Court and all that. What makes them so scary? And if these guys are that low key why do you know who they are at all?" I noted with interest that Jim sounded...afraid. Genuinely scared of these people in a way I'd never known him to be afraid of anything. Jim didn't do fear. He was about as casual as they came.

He looked from side to side, almost as a matter of habit. "I was once...friends, with a young lady who ran in the same sorts of circles. This was in my younger days back in merry old England. Sweet Molly was a pretty little thing, though terribly violent and extremely powerful. This was back when I wasn't quite to laid back as I am now, and Molly would wax poetic about the Drood's and their evils. Eventually we split up, she was a bit too ruthless for me, but I do still remember the stories."

He flicked a finger and conjured a pot of tea, which he poured into a likewise conjured tea cup. He must have been really spooked to need it. Jim was a huge tea snob, and insisted that conjured tea was hardly worth drinking. He took a shaky sip. "The Drood armor is the source of their power. A magical golden torc that hangs from their necks. It protects them against magic and mind control and can expand across their bodies and coat them in a strange liquid metal that's night impossible to damage. It's terrifying magic."

That sounded...perfect to be honest. "So you would suggest I go with that as my next power up? Because it'll cost me most of my points. The million I have saved up for this, though I'll still have another ten thousand. I think I get some kind of discount because it's void related? I remember it being more expensive, but when things get cheaper it isn't really explained why, it just sort of happens."

Some relation to the void made sense in context though. Clearly Jim agreed because he gave a sharp nod. "Regardless, I suggest picking that one. It's not actually invincible, but it's damn sturdy, and it should provide a solid counter to The Reach and their scarabs." That was all I really needed to know. Having a head on way to confront scarabs would be a game changer for me. I'd had to lean hard on Morana and the Soulless in our recent fights, and I had the sinking suspicion that things would only get worse if I didn't address it.

I walked over to the door, pulling it closed. I looked over at Jim. "You looking to sit in on this? Sounds like it's going to be a big one and I could use a spotter." I wasn't sure how this next one would manifest, but I was guessing something that powerful wasn't going to be plug and play. I was figuring I'd need some kind of initial connection or something. I was guessing that connection wouldn't be fun.

Once he confirmed he would help I hit the order now button. A thousand dollars was taken out of my account to pay off the sale, but that was literal pennies to me now, so I didn't bother to think about it much. As always there was a knock at the door, and when I walked over and opened it, there was a box.

I expected the box to be big and fancy, but honestly it was mostly just really shabby wood. There was no latch, no visible hinges, just a beat up ragged old box. I set it down and Jim stepped away. "Alright, sometimes opening the box is dramatic, sometimes it's fine and I have to do something else to get this going, but either way I'd step even further back because...here goes." I lifted the lid, staring down at the box hesitantly, but this wasn't one of the dramatic ones.

Laying on the beat up red pillow inside was...a necklace. Well, not really. It was a torc from what Jim said, but I hadn't heard the term. The actual object was weird. Some kind of open ended necklace slash collar made of heavy spiraled gold. It looked like it would be uncomfortable to put on, like I'd need to slide my neck through the opening. I hesitantly reached down and picked the thing up, and nothing happened. I raised an eyebrow at Jim, who just shrugged. I stared at it a bit...and then it activated.

Or rather, it started to PULL. Void energy started manifesting, drifting off my hands, and I felt a suction as it was siphoned out of me into the torc. The gold darkened, quickly turning pitch black, and when it did, the torc melted. Tiny spears of black metal shoved themselves into my skin, diving into my veins and tunneling through my body. They merged with my blood, sucking the void energy out of every part of me they could reach, and I had to choke back a scream as the metal wove itself through my body until it was sated.

Then it bubbled up through my throat, cutting off the sound of me shrieking in agony, and exploded out the sides of my neck, reforming into the same torc as before. Pitch black and mixed with my blood, and from what I could tell shadows and even some ectoplasm. Abyss Alloy had merged into the object and was now part of it. I put my hands on the table, breathing hard and riding out aftershocks of the pain.

Jim whistled. "Well, I can see why you might have wanted someone along lad. That was...distressing. Seems like whatever you are changed the torc though. From what I know they're always gold. Black is new, though very on brand for you. How do you feel otherwise?" He sounded fascinated, which to be fair, I could understand. Hell, I was fascinated. I stood there and stretched, making sure I had the range of motion I wanted. Everything worked, including my neck. The torc was surprisingly unobtrusive.

I grinned at him. "I feel pretty good. Same as ever, a bit of metal under the skin isn't much to someone with my vitality. I don't expect to see the actual benefits of the armor until I manifest it, and I don't want to do that in the map room. I have a feeling this'll take some getting used to." I was just thankful for the Outer Body Training Technique. I was pretty sure it would save me a ton of time and effort, not to mention property destruction.

But before that I needed some data to actually use it with, which meant I needed to train. I had the perfect person in mind for a sparring partner too. I wanted to see what my new armor could do against someone much more powerful than I was, someone who, in fact, was probably more powerful than anyone on this island. I reached out through our connection and called to my daughter. I got a sense of joyful acceptance through my heart and smiled. She did love to spar. Time to take this new armor of mine for a test drive. I wanted to see what it could really do.

April 16th 2016 Doomhollow Hall 10:00 PM EDT

I met Morana at the training room excited to test myself. I supposed she got her anticipation of sparring from me. While I wasn't always a fighter, months of constant Outer Body Training daily had drilled a love of combat into me. The fresh thrill of discovering a new power, the joy of matching blades with an equal opponent, the stronger I got the more I grew to love fighting. Morana seemed to have inherited that love, judging by the bouncy way she entered the training room.

I had to smile at her enthusiasm. "You're a sweet kid, willing to humor your old man even though I was barely able to touch you last time." I knew she'd treated our last sparring session as more a fun workout than a serious fight, and it was sweet how she was willing to do it again despite not getting much out of it. As we both limbered up for the fight I finally decided to ask her something I'd been wondering about. "So, how long are you planning to do the whole 'robot daughter doesn't understand' schtick when you want to avoid being called on something."

She gave me a wry smile. "You noticed that huh? it works better when you aren't around. Your aura sight makes it a tough sell even if you didn't know I wasn't like that from our sparring sessions." She shrugged. "It's just convenient to be underestimated, not to mention it gets me out of trouble when I say or do something someone else doesn't like. Why? Do you want me to stop?"

The casual ease with which she admitted her deception made me smile. She really was my kid. "Nah. Do what you need to do, just don't think it'll work on me or your mothers. So, you seemed to connect pretty well with Cassie. It's nice to see you making a friend." I walked to the center of the training room, taking a position off to one side while she took the other, standing directly across from me in preparation for our fight.

The bright smile this time was warmer, but tinged with wry amusement. "Yes dad, my playdate went very well thank you." She paused. "Seriously though, thank you. It's...weird. Being a new person. I have these emotions for our friends and family but they come from you all, and they don't know me well enough to feel the same for me. It's nice to make a friend of my own. To form a bond with someone I didn't inherit from you and the moms. It makes me feel...real. Like I actually exist."

I crossed the space between us to pull her into a hug. "You are real. You might be new, but you're still a person, still you. We don't see you as some knock off of anyone else. We're still getting to know you, but you are important all on your own." My heart ached as I remembered my cousin. Poor Kit, who always felt like second best. Her father, my father, hell even I had sidelined her. I wouldn't let my kid feel like that. I wasn't going to be the next Falcone to join the bad dads club, even if I hadn't been expecting it.

Morana squeezed me tightly. "Thanks dad. I know that. I do. mom has been showering me with affection, and mama too, albeit more subtly." I could tell without needing to ask that Zee was mom and Dreamer was mama. Aside from the labels just fitting them pretty well that description was pretty on the nose. Zee hadn't done anything subtle in her life. Her loud personality was one of the things that drew me to her. She was just nonstop fun unless things got bad. She could do serious when she had to but she was always able to lighten my mood.

Stepping back I bounced on my toes a bit. "Now, what's say you throw some hands with your old man. I have a feeling this fight will be more of a challenge than our last sparring session. I summoned Tartarus to my hand as she called Oblivion, but more than that I reached out with my will and triggered my torc. The black metal washed over me, a liquid suiting of gleaming dark plate that coated every inch of my body, conforming to me like a second skin. Before I knew it I was standing there like a perfectly sculpted black statue, no features or defining characteristics except my muscles.

That got an impressed whistle from my daughter. "Wow. Swanky new suit. It's not going to be enough to take me o-" Her eyes widened and she hurled herself backwards as I blurred across the room, my fist speeding through the space her head had just occupied. She narrowed her eyes as she caught herself, twisting midair to land gracefully on her toes. "Ok. That wasn't bad. You're certainly faster now. How about stronger?" She hurled herself forward, blurring just as fast as I did, smashing Oblivion down at my skull.

The torc amplified absolutely everything about me. It was like having my body and mind both turned up to eleven. With my advanced dexterity I normally didn't notice the triple reflexes anymore, I was either faster or slower and reflex rarely played a part, but in the armor to think was to move, and that tripled reaction time essentially made me three times as fast. I blurred sideways, lashing out at her hands where she held the keyblade.

Unfortunately for me she had the same ability to call the thing I did. She just let go and dodged, reconjuring it once she was clear. Her eyes were blazing with excitement. "See! Now THIS is a sparring match." She sounded almost giddy with anticipation at the fight to come, and I could understand why. It was no wonder Morana had crushed Circe so badly, she was pretty obviously holding back during out initial fight.

Now though, I could take her toe to toe and she was ready to let loose. She lashed out at me with a series of moves I recognized as my own. Bits and pieces of the warlord, Myrina, and Blood's style, mixed together with various small time enemies and a not small amount of hardcore training in Outer Body against myself. I'd polished and perfected the style over months in my own head, putting it all on the line in scenarios where I never tired and no mistakes could affect me, with perfect memory against endless waves of enemies.

Morana had the technical understanding of my style, but she didn't have the experience. It had been less obvious the first time because she could compensate with an overwhelming advantage in power and speed, and the holes hadn't shown, but she just wasn't as smooth as I was, wasn't as practiced. She didn't use the Hole bloodline or the darkness, I didn't call the Soulless, neither of us wanted this to end. This was combat on a level we couldn't get from nearly anyone else, and it was amazing.

I'd fought people stronger than me, fought people faster, hell I'd fought equals, and even myself. But this was my first time fighting someone so evenly matched against me without it actually being me. Morana had access to my skills, but her mind and choices were different. You give two chefs the same ingredients and no directions, and there's no guarantee they'll make the same dish. Morana had all my ingredients, but she was cooking up her own way of using them, and it was forcing me to genuinely push myself.

As I pushed on I also realized why this armor was so amazing for me. It put a massive amount of strain on the body to use it, but with my insane vitality I was able to handle the stress. As we fought it became clear that Morana wasn't my match without using her magic, but then again she wasn't built for pure physical combat. Breaking out pattern of pure assault I stepped back through the shadows, feeling myself slide through the corridor effortlessly in the armor, like I was greased up and slipping through a waterslide.

The corridors had been better for long rang than mid combat capabilities before, but with this new speed I could use them much more effectively mid fight. Once I came out I funneled power through my keyblade and rained down a series of Abyssal Alloy spikes across the room at Morana. Seeming to pick up the change in tempo she immediately flicked her fingers and a series of black tendrils leapt from her shadows to pick them all from the air, a second flick sent them hurtling back at me.

I opened a series of Holes, my bloodline responding just as quickly and effortlessly in this armor as everything else, costing pittance in the way of points and being infinitely easier to control. A series of layered Holes had half the spikes emerging aimed right at the others, destroying each other midair in an explosive surge of demonically detonated charged ectoplasm. The Abyssal Alloy spikes were basically explosive metal spears and I saw Morana begin to eye me more warily.

I opened another Hole beneath my feet, and curled into a ball as I slipped into it, opening a corresponding and much bigger Hole over Morana's head. She sensed it, but couldn't get out of the way in time, so as my massive curled up armored form came through she bellowed and let loose a dark infused Ghostly Wail right at me. it wasn't the same. She used the void to fuel it instead of ectoplasm, but the mechanism worked just as well if not better with concentrated nothingness.

My armor tanked the blast but it stopped me dead long enough for her to shadow port out. I slipped through another Hole, returning to my normal size as she held up her hands in surrender. "I give! You win dad. Damn. That armor is no joke. It channels all your abilities even better than the keyblade does, and with a hell of a lot more versatility. Can you use demonic strength augmentation on that stuff?"

I let the armor recede, having to brace myself as it came down so I didn't stumble. Damn, even my vitality couldn't take the edge off that kind of consumption. "Yeah, but even with the armor eating some of the cost that would be expensive to keep up for more than a few seconds. That's a last resort kind of ability, and not one I would use during a sparring match. That's more something for if I was massively outmatched and needed to beat someone to death."

My demonically enhanced armor would put me on a level similar to a fucking kryptonian, for a few seconds at least. It absolutely wasn't to be fucked around with. It made me almost look forward to the fight with those fucking scarabs though. In this armor I wouldn't need anything but my keyblade and skills to put the bastards down. Even if there were a hundred of them.

I tried to trigger the stuff again and winced as my head throbbed. I wavered slightly on my feet. "It's far from perfect though. Apparently it leverages the power against a ton of my vitality over a longer period. Basically taking out a loan for combat. Tough stuff, but I have to be sparing with it until I can build up my vitality some more." Regardless though, it would be plenty to see me through this crisis.

I turned to my daughter. "Anyway, we should do this more often. I need to get some practice in with this stuff before I take it into real battle." I didn't, not with Outer Body, but it was nice spending time with Morana, and the fighting was a blast. "Now, how about you help your old man back to his room. I feel like I got hit by a truck."Despite the headache though, I was happy. I'd definitely had worse days.

April 17th 2016 Doomhollow Hall 12:00 PM EDT

The next day found me preparing for the raid on Lex Luthor. Dreamer had managed to pry the secret of his most secure safe house out of Ra'as, who had investigated the shady billionaire thoroughly when they were "working together". Lex had no clue the Demon's Head knew where he was holed up, but that was one of the reasons we went after a guy who ran an organization called the League of Shadows first. Take down the spymaster you can get access to all his info. He had plenty of it too, but despite what I'd expected, it was looking like Lex's place would be even harder to crack than infinity island.

We'd made a mockup of the compound in the Appalachians and managed to get it uploaded in the map room. It wasn't real time since it wasn't within range, but it helped with planning at least. Unfortunately we were hitting a bit of a wall based on the information presented. "Why the fuck does he have so many robots? Like I get that he's Lex Luthor, but that's too many robots for one person. Like does he even own other stuff? Is everything he has secretly a robot? Because seriously, I can't figure out how the hell he managed to put to together a hundred thousand robot army."

The number wasn't even certain. It was a fucking estimate Ra'as had come up with after tracking shipments he'd been able to find and estimating storage space. There could very well be even more of them. Nightwang, who had come when I'd mentioned having info, was grimacing down at the map. "Unfortunately that's just Lex. He's paranoid at the best of times. It won't just be robots either. I'm pretty positive he has some kind of powered armor that lets him fight evenly with superman."

That wasn't as big a deal as it sounded. I had my own armor now. But from his expression he had worse news he was less than willing to share. "Ok, just spit it out. You've spent the last fifteen minutes looking like you were in the process of trying to shit out a blackhawk helicopter. You clearly have some sort of insight I don't or some sort of bad news, and unlike my girlfriend, I'm not a mind reader. So how about you cut the shit and just tell me."

I expected a sneer or an eye roll, but he genuinely looked uncomfortable. "We...can't help." I blinked at him, taring dumbly and waiting for him to make that make sense. "Infinity Island is a known criminal hotspot in international waters housing an organization made up of literal murderers for hire. As an extension of the League the team was more than able to intervene when faced with evidence of collusion with outside forces. Lex Luthor however is a well known and respected businessman with a team of very expensive lawyers and a habit of not leaving evidence."

I sighed, gripping the bridge of my nose. "He's also on US soil, and because of your UN charter you have to respect national sovereignty. Without evidence of wrongdoings on Luthor's part you're completely unable to touch the bastard. Why the hell didn't you mention this before?" I wasn't exactly in a position where I needed them on this, but it was annoying to find out my op would be short a few powerful superhumans right after finding out I had to fight a robot army and a guy in a super suit.

He actually looked genuinely unhappy about the circumstances as he answered. "We didn't think he would be in the US. It's too obvious. Plus, the other members of The Light are international criminals. If he'd been holed up with Savage or Ra'as we would have had an excuse to bring him in for harboring a fugitive. Since he appears to be running things in the bunker on his own though I doubt we have a leg to stand on." I doubted that actually. I was pretty sure given his position as primary partner we'd be dealing with the scarabs when we got there, but I chose to keep silent.

Savage would be the last one there, and if he was like his buddies he would have someone waiting for us when we arrived. Probably one of Darkseid's goons, or multiple goons, but that was a problem for future Morgan. For now we needed to handle Lex and his alien buddies, and what occurred to me here was...I didn't WANT the team around. The Reach had hit my berserk button, and I was in a position to massacre those bastards wholesale. Without the junior heroes to deal with I could get away with it too.

But I wasn't about to let Nightwang catch onto that fact, or he might follow me just to double check. So I looked at him coldly, like I was furious. "Ok well you told me. Now get the hell off my island. But hey, don't worry about the fight with Savage once we find him. I'm sure I'll call you when you're useful again." He actually flinched at that, clearly no happier with this than he thought I was, and the turned and stormed out of the room. A white clad form faded into existence next to me once he was gone.

My mentor's voice was amused. "I notice you don't seem nearly as upset by this turn of events as you let on. I don't suppose you'd like to share whatever thought is percolating in your absurd little head?" He wasn't judging, Jim wasn't the type, just interested to hear what I'd noticed. I could tell from his aura he'd noticed something too, but as I'd mentioned I wasn't a mind reader so I wasn't sure if it was the same something, nor was he. He was obviously testing me, and it brought a slight smile to my lips as I was reminded of better times.

It was hard to put my suspicions into words exactly, but I figured Jim trusted my intuition enough that I could just say it. "I think The Reach will send their scarabs to reinforce Lex. He's their main partner here. They're using his factories, working with his company, and his whole tech thing fits better than Ra'as and his Shadows or Savage. From what I can see the Shadows were more magic leaning than the other factions, with Savage preferring to work with metas and Lex having a hard on for tech. The Reach century goes with that theme."

It was thin, but it kind of went with the whole thematic nonsense that The Light seemed to enjoy. i wasn't even sure if they did it on purpose, but they seemed to hyper focus on a single niche, which I supposed WAS sort of the point of a team. Jim didn't seem to disagree with my read on things either. His hat tipped in a nod. "I could see that. I take it based on our last encounter with them you're hoping to avoid their nattering about the grim realities of combat? Against a large force of scarabs I daresay even your new capabilities would be hard pressed to disable then en masse."

I snorted at that. "If I can even engage. These Light guys seem to run from the same playbook. I imagine there will be a big gathering of heavy hitters clustered up around Lex aside from the scarabs and robots. We won't be able to bring our weaker members on this run. The robots will overwhelm anyone who isn't a legit heavyweight. Blood, Zee, Dreamer, Artemis, you, me, Morana, and Madame Xanadu. Eight of us along with the soulless. I don't know how everyone is at wholesale destruction, who should we have on the robots?"

That got a malicious snicker from the ghost. "Blood. Etrigan is an army crusher who specializes in property destruction. It basically doesn't matter how many they have on hand if we let him deal with it. I suspect Nimue will be more than capable of playing second to him. I take it you'll be handling the scarabs yourself then?" He seemed eager to watch my torc match up against the scarabs, and I was right there with him but sadly I had other things to concern myself with during this fight.

I made a promise to myself to jump in if I had time, but I still shook my head. "No. Morana will be taking care of the scarabs. She's more than strong enough, but if Nightwang's info is legit then I'll need to handle Lex himself. What kind of bullshit power armor lets you punch at kryptonian levels I have no idea, but I'm going to take a can opener to the thing and pry his ass out of it one limb at a time. See how clever that Mr. Clean looking son of a bitch is when I shove him in an inescapable demon prison."

I checked my points. I wanted to make sure I was topped up for the battle. Twenty thousand, which was plenty for some demonic augmentation if it was necessary. I was about to move onto more of the tactical delegation, but I was interrupted by a demure cough. I turned to see Dreamer entering the room. I gave her a wide smile and leaned down for a long, slow kiss. "Hey Drea, what brings you down here? We're happy to have your help planning things out if you're not busy. You have been to actual war a few times and your input would be welcome."

She nuzzled against me, inhaling the scent of my clothes deeply, clearly enjoying the chance to just relax in my arms, but eventually she breathed out deeply. "I would love that Morgan, truly I would, but I'm afraid I have some bad news to pile on. I've been working with Zee to establish contact with some of my old sources around the galaxy via magic, just to try to get a better idea of what The Reach is willing to commit to this endeavor and exactly how much we have to deal with before they consider earth a sunk cost."

She looked troubled, biting her lip in agitation. "They aren't sending more this way, but apparently one of their operatives has been on the planet lying low for some time. He appeared a few months ago hunting Kroloteans, and engaged in battle with the League and it's affiliates. An alien bounty hunter of exceptional power and skill who calls himself Lobo." She paused. "Well apparently he calls HIMSELF the Main Man, but everyone else calls him Lobo, because it sounds much less ridiculous."

I snickered at that. It was a pretty stupid name, but if The Reach had this guy in their back pocket it wouldn't do to underestimate him. "That's good info to have going in. If this little throw down is going to be The Reach's last hurrah, they'll put it all into one last push. We just need to beat them and we'll be home free." We wouldn't. As much as I wanted to believe this would end with The Reach I knew it wouldn't. We would have to chase off Darkseid's posse too. Probably not as many since he was doing the whole shadow war thing, but they wouldn't go quietly.

It was just one thing after another since we got back, hell since before that. Once this was over I was taking a fucking vacation. Me and my girls on a beach somewhere, me sipping umbrella drinks while I watched them frolic in tiny bikinis. Well, watched Zee frolic. Dreamer wasn't the frolicking type, too serious.

In any case to get there I needed to get through this battle, and then the next. Before that though, we needed to recharge a bit. If this was going to be such a huge fight I could use some more points, so we would wait a few days to move. I turned to my goddess. "Hey Drea, what do you say to a second date tomorrow?" In the end, if I wanted downtime I'd have to make it myself, and this seemed like as good a time as any.

April 18th 2016 Tukahoe Funland 8:00 PM EDT

This place wasn't as nice as the other park I took Dreamer to. I'd heard some big goofy guy ranting about it at a burger place I went to, and had decided to check it out as a fun day, but it was kind of run down. However, that didn't stop us from going, or stop our daughter from deciding to tag along, completely ignoring all mentions of dates and proclaiming this 'family fun day'. Zee had finally managed to get a meeting with Doctor Fate (which I made Jim accompany her to, just in case) so Morana, Dreamer and I had the day to ourselves at the park.

Dreamer was over the moon. She was excitedly showing Morana all the games, and at the moment they were standing in front of an old beat up dunking booth. Morana looked confused. "So, I throw this ball at that circle and the guy in the glass box will fall in the water? But...why? Does he have some problem with bathing? He needs to be attacked to wash himself or something? Sorry Mama, I don't really understand your fascination with this game. Like I could open a shadow portal and dump water on his head if you want him to get rinsed off."

Dreamer tsked knowingly, as if she hadn't asked almost the same questions not too long ago, but I didn't call her in it. She was sharing her hobbies with our daughter and it was frankly adorable. She placed a soft hand on Morana's shoulder. "Because Rana, the bathing isn't the point. It's a test of skill. For people with duller senses or less strength hitting the target is a challenge. That man risks falling into the water so people will wager money on their ability to hit the circle. Essentially taunting them in order to inspire monetary reward."

Morana nodded seriously. "Ah, that's pretty brave I guess. I can't believe normal mortals could have trouble throwing a ball that far. It's only a few feet. I think I'd have to actively try to miss at this range." Which was true, but only because she'd inherited my skill at throwing weapons from my ninja training. She was being diplomatic too. Neither of us had a possibility of missing that shot without purposefully throwing off course, there was no thinking involved. Still, she looked serious as she wound up and hurled the ball.

It hit the circle and the dry but rumpled booth attendant dropped into the water with a wince that probably had to do with how absolutely disgusting the water was. I was pretty sure most people missed, because he looked moody when he climbed out. The man off the side selling the balls and giving out prizes snickered a bit as his coworkers misfortune as he gestured us over. "Well done miss. What prize would you like? You got it in one shot so you select anything on display that looks like your kind of trophy."

Morana glanced seriously around the booth, eyes roving over the prizes like the selection was a life or death decision, and after a few seconds of perusal she snagged a stuffed puppy with a whisky barrel around its neck and clutched it to her chest. Her expression didn't even twitch, but it was still the most adorable thing I'd ever seen, and she was radiating so much happiness it made me want to burst into laughter and sweep her up in a hug. I turned to Dreamer. "So Drea, you're clearly the experienced one here, what's our next stop on Rana's tour?"

Dreamer lifted her chin haughtily. "Well obviously any true park connoisseur knows that your last stop has to be the ferris wheel. Parking is serious business, you need to get that perfect final view before you leave." I had to fight down the urge to burst into gales of laughter at the incredibly smug expression on my girlfriend's face, and at the absolute awe on my daughters as she took in her mother's 'knowledge'.

I pulled Dreamer against me, putting my other arm around my daughter as I steered them toward the giant wheel. "You just used a noun as a completely made up verb to prove a point. That's the most Earthlike thing I've ever heard you do, I've never been so proud. We can head to the ferris wheel, but how about we send Rana to go pick out some snacks for the ride. They have funnel cake here."

Dreamer cuddled against me, grinning at our daughter, and pointed to the food stand. "Go get as much as you want to eat and grab extra for us." She handed her a hundred. "That should cover as much as even you can eat." I passed her the spatial ring on my finger to carry the food in, though only after making sure she understood that it was a delicate piece of equipment and needed to be handled with respect. After a fair bit of eye rolling and promising to be careful she darted off to the booth, agreeing to meet us at the giant mechanical wheel.

I kissed Dreamer on the head. "So why do I have the sneaking suspicion you just wanted some alone time to talk without out excitable progeny listening in. Hope you aren't mad our date got pushed back, you aura seemed pretty calm at the idea and I think you're having fun, but if you're mad about our alone time I can promise to make it up to you." I very deliberately looked into her eyes and not down her low cut shirt when I said that, but her smirk made it clear she knew what I was talking about.

She shook her head, her glistening black hair bouncing. "Not at all. I'm not worried about having you to myself, I'm well aware I'll get as much of you as I can take anytime I ask." She winder suggestively before resuming her thought, her smirk turning into a soft smile. "I just wanted to thank you for letting me take the lead. It feels good to be sharing a part of the things we've done together with our daughter." She shook her head in wonder. "I still can't get past that. We have a daughter. All three of us. Even for New Genesis that's not exactly the usual method. It's a surprise, though a pleasant one."

I didn't blame her for the shock. It was still blowing my mind, but contrary to what you hear about teen pregnancies and guys my age having children I just couldn't really bring myself to feel overwhelmed or scared. Not really. There was some initial shock, but being around Morana, the connection we had because she was still a part of us, she just...clicked. Like a missing puzzle piece that fir in perfectly between the three of us as a family. Well, mostly I wasn't afraid, I was still dreading telling my mother.

I squeezed her against my side. "I get you, but I know you're as glad she's here as I am. I'm just worried about my mom. She was just getting used to me dating two girls. Finding out she's a grandmother to a girl almost as old as her son is going to be a tough thing to sell her on. Not that she would take it out on Rana, she's going to spoil that girl rotten, no, I'm more worried about what she'll do to me."

Dreamer was grinning from ear to ear. "Big bad ghost devil keyblade wielder is afraid his mommy will be mad at him. It's always cute when you show your humanity like that. Most people with your levels of power would have long since gotten over any fear of their mother." Her voice was fond as she stared up at me adoringly, and I leaned down to give her a slow kiss.

When I pulled back I had to shake my head though. "I think you're underestimating mothers, bet you any superhero you ask who still has one is petrified of their mother, most of the villains too probably. It's just the power balance. Unless you're a complete monster your mom is always going to be able to make you feel like shit with a glance. Doesn't mean I always listen to her mind you, but she can always stare me down. I owe her that much. The woman gave her whole life to raising me..." I trailed off. "I don't suppose you would be willing to be the one to tell her."

She burst out laughing. "ME? Gods no. That woman terrifies me. You ever notice all the men in her life, even the ones that aren't her son, are powerful and important, and every single one of them does everything she says? Even Jim listens to her, and they never even got romantic. No dear heart, she just now finally likes me, if you want someone to tell her, ask Zatanna. She absolutely adores our girl."

I just sighed. "No, you're right, it should be me. I'll just bring Rana along to hide behind. Speaking of which, here she comes." We'd reached the ferris wheel, and out daughter was weaving through the crowd carrying armloads of junk food. She flicked my ring at me, and a quick check showed a few snacks for the two of us, and I caught the obvious implication the rest of it was for her. I raised an eyebrow. "You get enough to eat? Sure you won't be hungry later?"

She stuck her tongue out at me. "You know as well as I do that both of us eat more than any ten people you can name. But I decided not to get too much this time. It wouldn't be ladylike." She raised her chin haughtily, just like Dreamer had done earlier, and I had to marvel at the similarities to us yet again. She had little bits of all of our mannerisms in there. Little reminders of both of my girls and me besides.

I held up my ring. "What about me. You just said both of us. Why did I only get two churros and one small funnel cake. You get your vitality from me. Least you could do was pick me up a few things of nachos, maybe a bag of popcorn." We stepped up to show our wristbands to the attendant and boarded the ferris wheel. He checked we were seated and slammed the door, gesturing for us to take a seat. I say down on on side with Dreamer and Morana sat on the other, stacking her piles of food next to her smugly as she challengingly bit into a deep friend twinky.

Dreamer held up her hands. "Enough you two. Rana, give your father a box of nachos and two of those corndogs. Morgan, pass me whatever is in there for me." The ride lurched into motion and she smiled over at our daughter, who had frozen halfway to handing over the goods to stare out the side of the compartment. "It's gorgeous right? I know you can fly, but this is a pretty spectacular view, even for someone like me. So what do you think, this what you expected in a family day?"

Morana's eyes were glued to the lights below as we ascended, but she swallowed hard and nodded. "I...yeah. Thanks, both of you. Sorry if I ruined your date. I just...I wanted to spend time with you. I know I can be pushy, but I didn't mean anything by it." She handed over the food, doing her best not to meet our eyes.

I popped a nacho in my mouth, crunching it obnoxiously. "I told you kid. You're not an imposition. I had a great day with you today." I turned to look out over the illuminated park, the setting sun painting the whole thing a gorgeous shade of red. "We should do this again sometime. Making time for Drea is important, but so is making time for you. Maybe we can set up a regular day to do things as a family. After all, I'm still getting to know you. " I didn't mention it, but I was pretty sure she was still getting to know herself. Regardless this had been a good day, and I looked forward to many more like it. It was just one more reason The Reach had to go.

Ok folks, bit of family time and training before the second big fight. I had lots of fun writing that. the Drood armor is a hint as to the location of the next arc, it's not in Secret Histories but it is adjacent, I have this whole plan for it and it's going to be a blast to write. I can't wait for everyone to read it. As usual pat-reon has the advance chapter at that site/malcolmtent . Also kudos to anyone who noticed the easter egg in the last segment.