Sell you a Bridge

by MalcolmTent6730

Have you ever gotten an email telling you you've won a free cruise? Or one for a work out that will get you ripped in ten days? Wouldn't it be crazy if those offers were legit? Well for Morgan O'Malley they can be. Spam becomes real life when his meta powers finally manifest. Hopefully the perks of the super life aren't false advertising.

46. Chapter 46

April 21st 2016 Gojo Penthouse 4:00 PM EDT

We headed up to the roof, leaving Morana and mom to play with Hana. I admit to being slightly nervous. I'd gotten much stronger since I met Gojo, but regardless of who I'd run into so far, his aura was always...next level. It was like looking into the heart of a black hole, just raw, endless power. It was profound in a way I'd never seen from anyone else. Qualitatively different, as well as quantitative. I didn't know exactly what his deal was, but I was pretty positive I'd never met anyone quite like him.

Del was probably the closest, just in terms of the feeling of being around her. Regardless, Gojo and I were similar in some ways and if anyone could help me learn how to use my powers it would be him. When we reached the roof I looked out over the city, exhaling loudly before turning to him. "Like you said. I want you to train me. I know that isn't ideal for you. You don't want students, I'm pretty sure of that. But you have a power that works similarly to mine, so I was hoping you could help me learn to use it properly."

Gojo put his hands behind his head and leaned back...against nothing. That was actually unusual, he didn't really flex like that so it was either a nervous habit or a deliberate move to show me what kind of power I was dealing with. He made a noncommital sound. "What makes you think my power works like yours? Do you even know what my power is? Because most people get it wrong when they guess." He reached into his khakis and pulled out a familiar plastic bottle full of orangish liquid, popping the top and taking a pull.

I just stared at him. "Why are you still drinking that stuff? You know it's got genetic tracer chemicals they're using to find people with the meta gene right? Like we straight up told you that stuff is chemically treated." I watched with horrified fascination as he continued to swallow down the rest of the bottle before holding it up. The plastic shape crumpled inward and vanished in a flash of blue light.

He grinned at me. "Tracking chemicals huh? Let's see how that works out for them. besides, I really like the peach flavor. It's impossible to get peach juice in Gotham. Reminds me of home. Regardless, you didn't answer the question. What makes you think I can teach you anything?" He looked at me over his sunglasses, letting me see those weirdly intense blue shattered glass eyes of his.

I gestured to his empty hand. "Because I saw how you did that. Or rather, I saw your power when you did it. It's not the same, but it feels...similar, to other beings I've seen that I know have a relation to my powers. Not to mention you've made comments in the past about conceptual abilities that make me think you have at least some idea what I'm dealing with. So, the question becomes, will you help me? I don't know how much use the training will be, but it's better than nothing."

That got a light chuckle. "Well, fair enough. You have better eyes than most, I shouldn't be surprised. Still, I don't know exactly how similar our abilities actually are. I suppose I could give you a bit of advice on how to use what you've got. But honestly I'm not sure you can handle my training. I don't softball it in like everyone else around here. Learning from me is going to hurt." Despite the grim warning his cheerful smile never slipped. His tone was light and unconcerned through the entire speech.

My answering snort probably wasn't the most diplomatic response, but I'd been through some shit. I wasn't scared of learning from Gojo. "I can handle whatever you need to throw at me, as long as it helps me get stronger I'm not concerned about-" I stopped talking at that point. Not because of any conscious decision but because my brain caught up to the fact that I'd traveled about ten feet and was lying on my back. Gojo appeared in my vision, occupying a big chunk of the empty sky I found myself staring up into.

He grabbed my hair and hauled me up carelessly. "Well, fair enough. If I'm going to teach I need to learn." He reached up and removed his sunglasses, folding them up one handed and slipping them into his khaki pocket. "If you have some kind of transformation to use or something, I'd do it now. You're going to be a bit busy for a while." Despite my ringing head and those terrifying eyes I triggered my torc instantly.

The liquid metal coated me and I grinned beneath it as I hauled back and punched Gojo right in the fucking face...to literally no effect. He just stared at me. I hit him again. His head didn't even turn. I hit him six more times, so fast my fist would have vanished to any other person. He just stared drolly. "No, sure, that's obviously working. I'm sure one more punch will be the last straw. Try it another few times. That'll do the trick."

I reached out for the darkness, slipping into it. I felt some resistance for a minute but then it slid away. I reappeared on the other side of the roof. Before I could blink Gojo was standing right there in front of me. I tried to dodge his lazy kick but for some reason I just...couldn't escape. It slammed into me and I felt it through the armor, the crushing force smashing into my ribs and sending me flying.

Gojo caught me by the ankle, swinging me down into the rooftop, which didn't crater at all like it should when I hit it. Once I was on the ground he just started kicking me. The whole time that cheerful smile never left his face. He was just happily beating the shit out of me. I saw what he meant by his warning. This wasn't like any training I'd ever had, because I could tell he absolutely didn't plan on stopping. I would have to stop him myself or he would just keep beating me until I blacked out.

I was pretty sure he wouldn't kill me, given how pissed mom would be, but he wasn't letting that stop him from fucking demolishing me either. I didn't even know what he wanted me to do. he hadn't given me instructions or advice, and I couldn't imagine what he was 'learning' from all this nonsense. Whatever I was supposed to figure out I wasn't getting any help with the process. I couldn't even think properly because he just kept fucking hammering down kicks on me. His foot smashed me down onto the roof so hard it should have been rubble but it felt like I was hitting a solid plane.

I tried to think. How was he hurting me? Was he that strong? Was I that weak? I should be able to at least touch him, but every inch of him seemed impervious to attack. I'd been lashing out as best I could so far and nothing was happening. Hell I didn't even know if I was making contact. I was hitting SOMETHING but who the hell knew what that was. His power was total bullshit. I could see why people were so annoyed fighting me, if my power could do something like this...then I froze.

Well, no I laid there and got my ribs caved in, but I had a thought. That's what the whole fucking point of this mess was. My power being like his. If he could hit me and defend with his ability, maybe I was supposed to hit him with mine. i reached out with my power, touched the universe around me, and then swung a kick at his shin as hard as I could while I told the universe that it would land. I lied to the world like I had before, and this time I focused on using that to make sure a hit I knew wouldn't hurt him would find its mark and seriously fuck the bastard up.

I felt the impact of my leg on his shin, though I also felt some resistance before it made contact. Regardless he dropped my foot and hopped back. "Ouch! Hey, you should be careful. You might hurt somebody." I climbed to my feet, my body feeling like stepped on bubble wrap, and glared at him, but he just grinned happily. "Well, that was all the information I needed, how about you? You learn anything important?" His voice was teasing, and I absolutely wanted to knock his block off despite knowing I couldn't take him.

I'd landed a blow, but whatever the hell Gojo was doing he was a hell of a lot better at it than I was. I could barely keep my feet after that one kick. I deactivated my armor, pretty sure he was finished beating me. I spat green glowing blood on the ground. "I learned you're an asshole. How was that teaching? You just assaulted me for five minutes." He raised an eyebrow, stepping forward, and I threw my hands up quickly. "Wait! I...I learned that I could use my powers to hit you? That they could cancel out yours? You were waiting for me to do that."

He rolled his eyes, taking his sunglasses back out and slipping them back on. "No. Once again you missed the point. Put since you got part of it I'll just tell you the rest. You're lucky I'm such a cool doting stepdad. You're using your ability wrong. You use it like it's this special gift, an ace in the hole. For a power to really be yours you need to be able to use it at any time. You need to flex it constantly. Integrate it into everything you do. Until it's part of you you aren't going to really be a master of it."

I let my head fall back, groaning in annoyance. "But I can't DO that. I need to get better at my ability before I'll have enough power with it to try using it more. I'm looking for some kind of insight into how to use it BETTER. Telling me 'practice makes perfect' isn't insight, it's not even really advice. I didn't need to get my ass kicked for you to tell me THAT. You don't have any other pearls of wisdom here? Nothing you can tell me except 'use it a bunch and you'll get better?"

I was about to lose it. If I went through all that just for some trite practice more bullshit I'd be pissed. To my surprise though, he nodded. "That's a fair criticism. But you're missing the obvious. You already have a training mechanism. Your power gives you these points to get abilities. The abilities are supposed to be the bridge between your normal power and your automated purchases or whatever right? So wouldn't the common sense move be to use your power ON the automated purchases?"

That...was a totally valid point. I'd used my ability on my point gain before. It had almost killed me granted, but that was a REALLY direct application. What if I used it on my shadow port to make it cost less, or cost nothing? Or used it on one of my clones to make it free. My abilities already made those things function, what if I just used my powers to fine tune them and make them work BETTER.

I blinked a few times and Gojo chuckled. "See, there's the lightbulb. Good work." He turned and headed back towards the door into the building, waving casually behind him without looking back. "Yay team! If you need anymore training time just let me know, I'm, always happy to help out my precious stepson." I glared at the bastard as he walked into stairwell. He had literally just beaten me for five minutes and made me figure it out myself. As soon as I was strong enough, I was so kicking his ass.

April 21st 2016 Gojo Penthouse 5:00 PM EDT

I stayed up on the roof after Gojo left. Despite his departure I still had training to do. Actual training that would help me get stronger, not a complete nonsense beating before getting some bullshit advice. Ok, that wasn't fair, it had been decent advice, but it pissed me off that I'd just gotten knocked around before having the obvious pointed out to me. Effective maybe, but it was still humiliating.

What pissed me off even more was that I was positive that Gojo KNEW how pissed I'd be, and how I'd channel that into training, and that he might very well have done what he did to make me try harder EXACTLY AS I WAS NOW DOING. I shook off that thought though. It was a pointless road to go down, I needed to focus on my training now. I'd retracted my torc, I didn't need it right now, and that left me with my other abilities to test out my powers with.

I had to consider exactly what to try first though. I had to use something that I considered small to start out. Even with the help from it already being part of my powers I couldn't use my real power too heavily yet. I considered everything and then decided the easiest start would be a bolt of ectoplasm. I held up a hand, calling to my ghostly nature to form an orb of ectoplasm above my palm. Unlike usual though, instead of paying with points, I reached out with the same part of me I used to lie to the world.

As usual it was difficult, like using a muscle that wasn't developed enough to properly flex, but it wasn't AS difficult as normal. The strain felt intense but manageable, and it was actually faint enough to allow me to function while I used the ability, which wasn't really the norm. For the most part using my real power was debilitating, and required absolute focus or some horrifying circumstances that forced me to operate on a higher level completely. Despite all that, this time I managed to use it to offset the cost of the bolt.

It was fascinating to watch. Using my powers like this meant the bolt was slow to form, literally crawling out of the air to form on my palm, this had the unexpected benefit of letting me watch the thing form, and I had to admit it was absolutely beautiful. Individual motes of ectoplasm, a material that was both physical and spiritual, blazed up into existence. It was amazing watching this sort of slime energy coalesce out of thin air and gather together into a burning orb of power over my hand.

I flicked my wrist, sending my first free bolt of ectoplasm sailing off into the sky to explode in a burst of green light. I grinned and tried again. A few more blasts. I expected each one to be easier, and at first they were, but as I went on it got more and more tiring and I eventually had to stop. Sweat dripped down from my forehead and into my eyes as I panted for breath. Despite the tiring nature of the exercise though I felt invigorated. I was doing it. I was getting stronger.

Granted I'd been training like this for a while, but I could usually manage only one or maybe two small changes in a short span of time. This was exponentially more effective in terms of expenditure and most likely development. I spent the next ten or fifteen minutes resting before restarting my exercises. I conjured bolt after bolt, interspersing them with shadow constructs I offset the same way, and even managing one of my spike bombs for absolutely nothing before finally deciding to call it a day.

This kind of training was good for my abilities, but I knew that if I pushed too hard I could hurt myself. I felt something...straining. Nothing I could identify, but something I knew somehow I absolutely did NOT want to break. So I decided to call it a day with working on my power and head back down to spend time with my family. I walked back down the steps and made my way into the penthouse. Morana was still with mom and Hana, my little sister was on my daughters back, squealing with joy as her niece played horsey for her in the cutest tableau possible.

Gojo noticed me coming in and gave me a cheerful nod. After some time cool off and heal (high vitality took care of the bruises pretty quickly) and some training I wasn't as annoyed at my stepfather anymore. He'd warned me the training would hurt, and it already seemed to be paying off, sure he'd been a dick about it, but that was pretty on brand, and he'd helped in the end. I walked over and slumped down next to my mother on the couch. She looked over at me with concern written plainly on her face. "Morgan, baby why is your face so red. Are you sick?" She reached up to feel my forehead for a fever after seeing my exhaustion, which seemed unlikely to say the least given I was half ghost.

I caught her hand with a smile. "I'm fine ma, I was just working out upstairs. Gotta keep in shape you know. So how was your time with Rana? She's something else isn't she?" Her face lit up at the reminder and I couldn't help but fell my heart warm. I remembered our lives before when I was younger. Seeing her like this, married and happy with a new baby and a grandaughter she obviously already adored was...it was special.

My mother had been my only constant for such a long time, and I hadn't ever really given her enough to repay that. I didn't think I ever could. But despite that, some of my actions had helped lead her here. In a big penthouse with a husband who loved her and her two children and one grandchild. It wasn't perfect, or even enough, but it was something. She deserved every second of it. She must have seen my expression because she smiled fondly. "What is that look about exactly? Feel like letting your mother in on the joke?"

I just chuckled and shook my head. "It's nothing. Just happy to see you happy. You and Hana both." I looked at my little sister, giggling up a storm as she played horsey with my daughter, and I felt real peace. This had been what I wanted to kick The Reach off this planet for. This had been what I was protecting. My family. Their peace. But I wasn't done yet. The Reach had come because of The Light, and they had come because of Savage, and ultimately because of Darkseid. If I wanted real peace for my loved ones I needed to show Apokalips that this world was off limits.

My mom bopped me on the head. I blinked at her owlishly and she just rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Will you stop that? It makes me feel old to have my sixteen year old son sit there looking like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. I know what you've been upto. Paula keeps me in the loop. You are not single handedly responsible for the protection of this planet just because we live here. You want to see me happy? Live your life. I'll be happy if my kids are happy. If my happiness comes at the cost of my son's peace of mind it isn't worth having at all."

I looked her in the eye, and all the power and experience melted away. I was just sitting with my mom, like I used to do when I was a kid. She was still worrying about me, even while I was worried about her. She leaned forward to hug me tightly. "Hana does need our protection because she's just a baby, but you're still my son. Don't run yourself ragged trying to make things right. We'll be fine. Satoru and I can protect her perfectly well. Just take care of you, and your girls, and now my granddaughter."

I felt the strength go out of my body as I rested my head against her shoulder. It felt nice to let go a bit, to finally stop bracing for impact. But it wasn't time for that. Not really. I pulled back, kissing the top of her head. "And I'm part of this family, no matter what my age is. But don't worry. I'm almost done. Just one last thing to take care of, and everything will be fine. You guys just spend time with Hana. She needs you, and she's lucky to have you. She couldn't ask for a better mom. I know I couldn't have possibly had one better than you. I love you ma."

She kissed my forehead. "I love you too Morgan. I always will. And I'm so damn proud of the person you've become. Just remember, no matter what happens, you can always come home. You always have a place here with us." She flicked her green eyes to one side to see my daughter crawling around with her daughter on her back. "Both of you. Zee and Drea too." She grinned at me wolfishly. "I notice neither of my daughter in laws are here for this little meeting? They chicken out and stick you with telling your terrifying mother about her new grandaughter?"

That surprised another laugh out of me. "Drea was a bit nervous, but in the end it was my call. I wanted to do this myself since I was the one who spent the last week avoiding it. Zee probably would have come the same day if I asked. You know she's not afraid of anything, and she loves showing Rana off and talking about her. She adores you too." I couldn't help a fond smile as I brought up my girl, she really was one of a kind.

Mom knew that too, and she knew why she had such a special place in Zee's heart. Having lost her own mother at a young age Zee adored my mom for how close we were. She reminded her of her own mom, and my mother saw Zatanna as her daughter in law already, ring or not. She knew me and Zee were solid and that she was already part of the family. It was one of the reasons she took a bit to warm up to Drea.

She shook her head in amusement. "True, that girl doesn't have an ounce of quit in her. Still, I think it's cute that Drea is so worried about what I think despite being a literal goddess. It shows how much she cares about you. She's a good girl. " Her face became serious, and she reached out to grip my shoulders. "I'll trust her and Zee to bring you home safe. I know this 'one last thing' you have to do is dangerous. I'd make you bring Satoru if I wasn't sure that you would both say no. He insists that really letting loose in a fight would bring attention from things we don't want attention from."

That was a troubling thought, but probably a smart one. "He's most likely right. I certainly drew some when I started going all out. No, he's better off here protecting Hana. I'm more than confident that I can handle this, and I have friends to bring with me too. Don't worry so much, everything will be ok." I pulled her into another hug, this one a bit tighter, and held it, just enjoying the feeling of being home.

Her chuckle this time sounded a bit wet, and I knew I didn't want to see the shimmering of unshed tears in her eyes, so I didn't let go. "Stupid boy. A mother always worries. Just keep everyone safe and bring them home. We'll have a big family dinner afterward, so I can give those girls some more advice on how to handle my idiot son." I was looking forward to that, and to all of this finally ending. Being in danger myself didn't bother me, but dealing with threats to my family really got to me. Thank the gods it was almost over.

April 22nd 2016 Doomhallow Hall 4:00 PM EDT

My talk with my mother had brought home the stakes for this next fight, so of course I'd consulted with all my mentors and friends about what we were likely to face when we got to Savage. Which was, luckily, not Darkseid. Earth was too backwater for him to come in person to deal with this nonsense. He would send some of his lieutenants at worst, probably his furies and a few squadrons of parademons. Earth was just one planet among an endless number, and he had other things going on more important than a planet The Reach and Green Lantern Corps were already fighting over.

Still, the god of Tyranny wasn't big on letting people weasel out of his control, so he was going to send who he could spare to try to get us under his boot. Dreamer had seen this a dozen times on other planets, and she had a good idea of what was coming, which led me to making a decision I probably should be reconsidering. I made my way down to the Hellfire Oubliette to try and do something that might have been a big mistake. I was down here to try to get some help.

Don't get me wrong. Most of the people in the dungeon were useless or worse when it came to defending earth, but I still had hope for at least one of them, and having a Superman level threat at our back was going to be a godsend (no pun intended). So I was down here to appeal to Black Adam's better nature. Assuming he wasn't insane now, but I was pretty sure his power would be blunting the worst of the influence this place had on him.

Adam genuinely wanted to help his people, he was just convinced that Darkseid and his ilk weren't something he could overcome. I suspected he was even hoping The Reach would keep the New Gods from directly interfering in the world, one more layer of security for Kandaq. With all that in mind though, it meant Adam didn't want Darkseid in charge or his people any more than I did. If I could convince him we might actually win I was pretty sure I could get him on my side for this fight.

I didn't know specifically what was coming, but I did know it wouldn't just be something we could bash our way through without some serious muscle. The Reach, The Light, those had all been some very serious enemies, but they had also been mortals. We were going against gods here, real true blue deities, and no one had more experience with gods on earth than Adam. Dreamer had fought them plenty and she would be a huge help, but the more help we could get the better our chances here.

I strode down the hall, stopping to glance through the oculi of the cells to check on the inhabitants. Ra'as was meditating, Klarion was pretty much catatonic from the circumstances that landed him here, though I was pretty sure that was bullshit to try to get me to check on him, which I definitely didn't do. Lex was in a comfortable furnished room that I'd had set up for him, and seeing him dressed in a superman onesie complete with tiny cape and sitting on a racecar bed complete with superman bedsheets made me grin my ass off.

I'd set the room up to add insult to injury, because Lex had succeeded in genuinely pissing me off with his shit talking in a way almost none of my other enemies had managed. The guy just fucking irked me. So I'd done my best to humiliate him, just one more thing to pile on top of the awful atmosphere down here. His face was calm and composed as he sat on the bed with his legs folded, but I could see his aura churning with rage and humiliation, which was a nice pick me up as I headed down to the specific cell I wanted to find.

Of all my prisoner, Adam seemed to be the one who was the least affected by the battle and subsequent imprisonment. Even the trip through the corridor, though it had left him pale and seemingly a bit shaken, hadn't done any real damage to the powerful warrior. I stopped outside the cell triggering the lid that covered the oculus and opening it as wide as possible so he could see me properly. At the grinding noise, Adam, who had his eyes closed turned his head and slowly opened them to look at me calmly.

I expected him to say something, but the egomaniac apparently considered my defeat of him a testament to my power or something because he didn't taunt or belittle me, or even demand to be released, just say and patiently waited for me to speak. "The Reach is out of the picture. We mopped up their century of scarabs. With The Light off the board already we only have one more thing to deal with. You know who I mean. So, are you really going to just roll over and let HIM conquer our world? I mean...I've never been to Apokalips, but I've heard some extremely unpleasant things about the place."

His placed expression hardened into a glare. "If you had just stayed out of it The Reach would have conquered this world and he would have left it alone. The insects are unpleasant, yes, but their cruelty is impersonal. They step on others because they see them as an obstacle, not for their own joy. If HE takes control my people will suffer unending torment. I take it that's why you are here? To plead with me to help your drive him back?"

I'd been right. Adam was playing both sides, helping The Light in hopes to allow The Reach a win. Apokalips was more than capable of dealing with the bugs, but they had no real reason to bother. He knew as well as I did that The Light wasn't going to come out from between the two sides unscathed like they seemed to think. "I'm pleading for your people Adam. I can just leave. Grim as it is there are other places for me to go, other worlds, but in the end that's just delaying the inevitable. I'd have to make a stand sometime. Same for you, or are you planning to run forever?"

Despite being my best attempt to piss him off, that was also actually true. You couldn't run from everything forever. Sometimes you had to make a stand. I didn't want my sister to grow up on the run to other worlds, and if Darkseid chased me off now who was to say something else wouldn't do it next time. Fighting a couple henchmen was my best possible bet here. Adam seemed to come to the same conclusion, because rather than snap back at me he furrowed his brow in consternation.

He looked almost torn, but somewhere deep down I could tell he just...didn't believe we could win. He was still scared, legendary courage or not. "I applaud your nerve boy, really I do. I wish I shared that optimism, but I see no way for us to triumph. Maybe if the League was on this world, if Superman took the field with us, I could allow myself to hope...but as it is? You are mighty, but they are legion."

I glared at the powerful warrior. "Ok enough of this. Enough of your woe is me bullshit, you're fucking Teth-Adam, ruler of Kandaq, one of the oldest and strongest beings on this planet. You've fought Superman to a standstill, beat down Captain Marvel, and generally terrorized the whole fucking planet for more than a thousand years, and now...what? You're giving up? It's too hard and you don't want to be a badass anymore? There's a word for people like that Adam. It's coward."

He flinched as if physically struck when I said it. I knew it wasn't just the word. Adam had been alive for millennia I was hardly the first person to call him a coward. No, what hurt him so much was that he fucking agreed with me. He FELT like a coward. I could use that. I kept going, my tone still even but firm. "Tell me what you're scared of Adam? Is it dying? Have you been alive so long you're too afraid to make the ultimate sacrifice for your people? Because that's the worst outcome here. You stand and fight and you die or you win. One way sees your people safe, the other sees them just as damned as if you did nothing. All you have to lose here is your life."

That seemed to wake him up. He blinked at me. "You...you are right. I do not fear death. I never have. I only fear failing my homeland. My wife. My gods. I do not bow to threats or danger." He looked almost...confused. He shook his head roughly like he was trying to physically dislodge the thoughts in his head. "I was a fool. I listened to the lies that Darkseid spewed, allowed him to twist me to his own ends. Should my courage not have stopped this? Should my wisdom not have seen?"

I just sighed. "Darkseid is the god of Tyranny and evil. He's an OG badass. You courage and wisdom come from other, younger gods. Sure, they would have made it hard, but to assume he could manipulate them is to assume the same of you. Besides, he didn't just break your courage and wisdom, he used them against you. It's kind of his thing. Regardless, I'll ask you just this once, directly to your face. Will you help me? Will you stand against the forces that threaten this world? Your world?"

He gave a sharp nod. "I will. On my honor as the ruler of Kandaq. I will stand." There was firmness in his eyes now, a resolve that hadn't been there before. I wondered if being down here had softened him up for me to convince him, chipped away at whatever conditioning Darkseid had done, because that had been easier than expected. I was a bit worried about letting him out, but there were defenses on this place, and I had my torc. Empowered by my demonic magic I could literally beat the bastard back into submission if I needed to.

I stepped back and focused on the wall, which faded from existence, freeing Teth-Adam. I watched him carefully as he stood and walked, head held high, out of the cell. If anyone else in here had given their word to have my back I'd have laughed them off until I passed out, but Adam considered himself an honorable warrior, as dickish and condescending as he could be at times, so I would give him the benefit of the doubt, though Morana would be meeting us at the exit just in case.

More than any of that though, this little encounter scared the shit out of me. Not because of Adam, but because I had seen his aura when I finally got through to him. I'd watched it change, and I knew he'd been telling the truth. He absolutely had been manipulated by Darkseid, but even with my aura sight I hadn't been able to tell. I hadn't known his mind had been messed with until I undid it.

Darkseid's manipulations were so fucking subtle that even in retrospect, and with perfect memory of his aura before and after, I could BARELY spot the changes he had made. Barely detect the ways he'd altered Adam to get the result he wanted, and if I couldn't understand it, I couldn't prevent it. It shouldn't work on me, not with my mind protection, but the others? My girls? My daughter? I needed some way to counter that corruption, that influence, and to detect it. Luckily I had something for that. I closed my eyes for an instant, staring at the blazing number forty thousand behind my eyes. Time to pick up a new trick.

April 22nd 2016 Doomhallow Hall 6:00 PM EDT

So I was in the market for a new perk. Forty thousand points and I needed something that could counter Darkseids influence. That asshole was like the Da Vinci of fucking with peoples heads and I needed some way to identify and counter that influence or I was going to have a bad time. I pulled out my phone of course, scrolling through the options I had available to try to find something that would work.

It wasn't that I couldn't find some kind of mind reading ability. I had access to A LOT of mind reading abilities. I wanted literally none of them. The reason I picked the sending stones way back when and had picked up my mind blinding power was that I absolutely HATED the concept of telepathy. The stones bypassed my issues by being focused enough to not expose anything personal about the user, but the idea of having anyone in my head or being in anyone elses made me incredibly uncomfortable.

The mind is your sanctuary, your identity, everything you are or have ever been is locked up inside your head, and poking into that is wrong in my opinion. I knew other people were fine with it, and I didn't begrudge them that, as long as they didn't play in MY head they could do their own thing, but I didn't want the power myself. Which kind of limited my options as far as this problem went.

Every power I could find that would help was some variation of telepathy, a power I absolutely didn't want. So I went to my foremost expert on the subject of mental bullshit. Dreamer. My violet eyed goddess was upstairs in her room, so after I escorted Adam to somewhere comfortable (and out of the way) and left him with Morana and Jim, I went to go get some advice from the only psychic I actually liked. I knocked on her door softly, knowing she could hear no matter how softly I tapped given her godly hearing.

She opened it with a smile, pulling me into a hug when she saw me. "Morgan, come on in! I was just thinking about you." She put an extra sway in her hips when she led me into the room, but sadly there wasn't time for that. I walked past her and flopped down on the bed, which drew a laugh from my goddess. "Not in the mood for playtime, fair enough. So you here for a therapy session or just some bonding time? I admit we haven't really had time to ourselves since our last date." She climbed into bed next to me. "I've been missing you."

I leaned in for a kiss, deciding that an extra second or two wouldn't hurt anything. Dreamer was right, we hadn't had enough time together. She responded eagerly, and we just lay there for the next ten minutes or so, cuddling and making out. Neither of us was in a rush to push things further, we were just enjoying each others company. Eventually though she pulled back, breathing hard. "As much fun as this is, and believe me, it's very fun, I believe you had some kind of question or something? You seemed focused when you came up here."

I blew out a long breath, focusing and cooling myself down. You would thinking being half ghost would help with that, but no such luck. After a minute or so of deep breathing, through which Dreamer smirked like a cat who caught the canary, I finally let out a chuckle and got to the point. "Right. So I came up here for some advice. Specifically advice on mind reading. I'm looking into a power so I can identify and counter Darkseids ability to twist people to his will, I figured as a mind reader yourself not to mention my expert on all things Apokalips you might have some ideas."

She snickered a bit. "Ah, the mind reading phobia." I glared at her and she threw both hands up defensively. "Which is completely reasonable. Sorry. But yes, I can understand the issue. Can I see the list of possible abilities?" I glared for a second, weighing how sincere that apology was, but in the end I just rolled my eyes and handed her my phone. She took it and opened my email, scrolling through them slowly, scanning for something useful she could point out."

I was pretty sure she couldn't see the actual point costs, but I didn't need her to. If whatever she found was too expensive

I could just wait a bit. We weren't in so much of a hurry we couldn't afford to take a beat so I could charge up my points. I hovered nervously as she scrolled, trying to look over her shoulder much to her annoyance. Finally I slumped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling while she looked. "So I'm trying for something that'll let me do what I need to do without actually having to deal with the downsides of telepathy."

I heard a hmmm of understanding but she took a second to respond. "I know you worry about the ability to read minds, even though you're protected you insist you don't want to know what people think of you, which is fair but it makes things harder. My personal pick for this would be something that requires an initiating action. Touch based telepathy is possible, but it's still not what you're looking for. You want to learn more about things without knowing the persons thoughts, so we want touch based but not telepathically rooted. Something like...this."

She stopped scrolling and handed me my phone, letting me read the email on the screen. I scanned through the email and what I saw was...good. Psychometry. It was definitely a psychic ability, but it had more in common with my aura sight than telepathy. It would synergize well with aura sight actually, and it required touch to be active. Plus I could learn to control it if I worked on that, something Outer Body should help with immensely. It was, in a word, perfect. Also a steal at twenty five thousand points.

Still, psychometry sounded good, but it also sounded risky. I'd read books where it was mentioned and that particular power pretty much turned the used into a glove wearing shut in. "Are you sure I'll be able to learn to control it?" I read through the email again, just in case. I knew what it said of course, but the action of skimming over it was one that brought me a small measure of comfort, perfect memory or not. It didn't mention debilitating side effects, which normally wouldn't matter with spam, but considering my power treated the emails as gospel was a good sign, but not enough to take to the bank.

She shook her head. "Not entirely I suppose, but I don't think it will be an issue. Psychometry is a powerful gift, but those who are crippled by its use are normally relatively weak of mind and body. You are neither, so I don't see you having a problem with it." She leaned up to give me another kiss, this one slow and reassuring. "I think this will help. The email mentions the ability to find out anything you want about a person or object. Normal psychometry is limited, and I don't think it would work to root out Darkseids corruption, but this should."

I'd noticed that line too. In the end, I decided if I wasn't going to trust her advice it didn't make sense to have asked for it, so I nodded, sighing bitterly. "Well, I guess it's better than being a telepath at least. Besides, I bet I can find some nice gloves." Before I could change my mind I hit the button to order the 'draft of the touch reader' which was apparently some kind of potion that would give me psychometric powers. It cost about a hundred bucks on top of the twenty five thousand, but that was basically a grain of sand in the Sahara in terms of my finances.

I'd considered stealing everything Lex had after our fight. My computer skills were up to it still, but in the end decided it was a stupid risk for not much reward. I was already one of the five richest people on the planet, and while the money might be useful, I could just get more with my powers if I needed it. Considering Nightwang had been combing through my bank statements with a fine tooth comb looking for stolen cash, stripping Luthorcorp for parts was pretty much asking for trouble.

Still the money I had was pretty much enough to live lavishly on for the next hundred years and a hundred dollars wasn't even worth thinking about so the money was easily and quickly deducted. The predictable knock on Dreamers door came seconds later of course, and I popped to my feet, slinking over to open the door and pick up the box that was waiting for me.

This one was lacquered black with a bronze latch on it and only about the size of my palm, and I was excited to add it to my collection after I finished using it. I bumped the door shut with my hip and turned to show off my prize to my girlfriend. I flipped the latch and opened the box as I did, so both of us could see the draft. "In case you were wondering, this is what magic potions look like" I told her with mock seriousness, figuring a little teasing might lighten the mood. Though to be fair, she probably didn't need it. I was the one feeling nervous.

She rolled her eyes good naturedly, smirking a bit, and I set the box down, removing the glass vial. I rolled it in my fingers experimentally, a bit surprised by how warm it was. The inside of the glass was a riot of glowing gold liquid, made even more mysterious by the container. The vial was round and fat, with a pair of tiny glass rings extending off the sides and a tightly latched gold stopper. The body of the piece was raised, with swirling patterns of glass tracing along the face of it. I held it up to my mouth, popped the stopper, and opened it, ready to swallow down whatever was inside the bottle.

I didn't get the chance. Instead when I popped the top a torrent of gold energy came barreling out of the bottling and literally crawled down my throat. Luckily as a half ghost breathing wasn't so much of a problem, but it absolutely wasn't a pleasant experience either. I wasn't down for the count on this one, just a bit dizzy, so I took a beat to center myself and then looked at Dreamer with a pretty big smile. "I believe I need a test subject. Any volunteers."

She rolled her eyes, walking over to throw her arms over my shoulders and plant a kiss on me. I could feel the power there, feel that I didn't NEED to use it, which was a relief, but clearly Dreamer was fine with me reading her, so I did. I kissed her back, and as I did, I reached out with psychometry, and I could FEEL her. The love, the kindness, the bravery. I could feel everything about her, and it almost brought a tear to my eye just taking it all in. I pulled back, swallowing hard as I held one of the most amazing women I'd ever met.

Which was interrupted by the OTHER most amazing woman I'd ever met barreling into the room. I assumed it was just her playing eavesdropper again for a second, but then the bottom fell out of my stomach as I saw her face. Zee looked...terrified. "Gotham is under attack! Vandal savage and a huge army of flying demon things are laying siege to the city." That stopped me in my tracks. Huh. I'd spent so long preparing for this final battle that I'd kind of forgotten the enemy could attack first...oops.

April 22nd 2016 Gotham City 8:00 PM EDT

We put out the call to all of our allies and then headed for Gotham via the teleporters. I was fucking pissed. I had been planning this entire thing for days if not weeks if you counted the whole plan as a single series of ideas, and I'd basically been fucked over by my own hubris. Lex and Ra'as hiding from me made perfect sense, they were cautious and I was a badass. Hell, even Savage was known to lie in wait at times. What was NOT a reasonable expectation was that the assholes Darkseid sent to play babysitter would just sit around and wait.

I should have expected them to try something before me in retrospect, but now wasn't really the time for that, we just had to react and hope we could prevent them from messing up Gotham too bad. Gotham may be a shithole, but like...half my stuff was there. So we met up with the others outside the clocktower. Not just the Team, but the League (or what there was of them that wasn't in space), Blood and Xanadu, Adam, The Shadowpact, Artemis and Paula, Reggie and Bette, Jade and Roy, hell even my dad had shown up with about two dozen mobsters strapped for mayhem.

Taking in everyone I was pretty shocked. This was...a lot of people. Like the raid on infinity island had been a decent force, but there was like a genuine crowd here. More than that though...I had zero fucking clue what to do here? Planning and executing a raid was pretty easy. Punch the other guy where he tries to block. Defenders show you their weak spots when they protect them, but this...this was going to be a fucking free for all. Which, I reflected, staring up at the fucking warships coming into view over the skyline, was probably a given.

The Team was glaring at the villainous contingent, including my dad, but their attention was half-hearted, and I felt the need to interrupt. I cleared my throat, getting everyone's attention. "Excuse me." No real reaction so I put a touch of ectoplasm in my voice. Not enough to actually damage anything, but enough to give it some punch. "I said excuse me!" Everyone jolted, knocked a bit askew by my shout. I just grinned as their glares turned on me. "Thank you. Now I realize this is last minute and not everyone here is happy to be working with everyone else."

Barbara, who was in a bat costume and standing by Nightwing, was glaring over at dads group. "They're criminals. Literal scum of the earth. And they're all carrying guns! Like we're just going to let them commit mass murder in the streets of Gotham!" Her blue eyes were blazing with anger, and while I understood where she was coming from, I also wasn't going to be dealing with any of that bullshit.

I didn't talk around it, or try to build up. I just cut her off. "Get over it." Her eyes went wide, and she turned on my angrily, but a flick of my will formed a gag out of shadows around her mouth. "No, we don't have time for this. I humored you all during the raid on The Reach because they're sentient creatures, but from what I know Parademons are barely even that. The majority of the forces here are going to rabid alien war beasts with no conscience, bred for wholesale slaughter, and they're about to be let loose on my fucking city."

She glared from under her bat cowl, but I didn't back down, in fact I stepped forward, looming over her as I spat out. "You want to bitch about ethics, I'll throw your ass in a dark hole until this is over, because I'm not putting my family and friends in danger because you want to respect the rights of all living creatures. That's an army, which means this war, and we're going to fucking fight it like one, because your morals aren't worth the lives of Gotham citizens. You under-fucking-stand me?"

As soon as she was able to open her mouth she retorted, even as I let the shadow gag fade away, zero points used as I'd flexed my power a bit. Before she could talk though a voice cut her off. "You're right." I blinked in shock and turned to see fucking Nightwing staring back at me. He turned to Barbara, or Batgirl I guess. "He's right, and you know it. Parademons are monsters. They barely think, and we need to prioritize human life here. I'm not saying mow them

down." He glared at me. "But...if some of them don't make it that's better than thinking feeling people dying. And we

need all the help we can get."

Blue eyes were absolutely blazing with fury ash she basically spat at him. I could tell the very idea of letting criminals run loose with guns to kill things was anathema to her, probably something to do with being the daughter of a cop. "How can you say that? Batman-"

Nightwing cut her off. "Isn't here. I am. And I'm making this call. I don't like it any more than you do, but Gotham is our town, and I'm not letting innocent people get killed because I want to spare emotionless cannon fodder. It might not be what Batman would do, but it's what I've decided. So get on board, or I'll let that smug prick leave you on Mt. Kilimanjaro or something for the rest of the battle." His voice was flat, and I saw her actually flinch a bit at that, her aura rippling with hurt and shock.

Black Canary stepped forward to stand between them. "This isn't necessary. Batgirl, I understand your hesitation to end lives, and commend it, but Nightwing is right. This is an emergency situation, and we need to stand together here. We don't need to go all out trying to slaughter them, but they're going to need to be taken down. There are too many of them to take the time to hold back." She looked up at the ships, and despite her calm facade I could see real fear in her aura. She wasn't at all prepared for a fucking alien invasion, but she was a pro, so she played it cool.

Honestly I think all of us were freaking out. Bad odds were one thing, but seeing a literal handful of Apokaliptan troop transports over my home town was...chilling. Still, I was more focused on the insides. "Savage is in there. But he isn't the problem. I see about ten auras that are absolutely blazing with power, and I'm thinking those are probably New Gods. Not sure which ones but...this is going to be fucking rough." Almost two dozen New Gods was a tall order even with this force, especially considering how many of us were human and would be on Parademon duty by default.

The worst part was we couldn't plan this out the same way we had the last few times, we couldn't deploy our forces to best advantage, all we could do was go out and fuck shit up and hope we ended up in the right spot to do some real damage. I turned to Artemis. My best friend was probably the least defensible member of our group. She was a glass cannon when it came to fights like this. "Artie, I need you with my dads guys. Parademons are mindless thugs but they're still powerful. The guns might not be enough."

My dad actually chuckled at that from where he was standing nearby. "Guns aren't all we've got. Every one of my boys is strapped with enchanted armor from the dungeon along with a melee sidearm. We'll be fine." I glared at him, I'd been hoping to stick her and Reggie with babysitting duty to keep them out of the god fight, but that was officially out of the question after that comment.

Artemis, knowing me better than anyone, rolled her eyes and slapped me upside the head. "Don't be a dipshit Morgan. You can't keep me out of this. Besides, Wally has my back as always. Just because I can't punch out Superman doesn't mean you get to leave me behind, you try it and I'll take a sledgehammer to your nuts while you're asleep. We'll see how weak and fragile you think I am then."

I was positive I could survive that of course, but I was equally positive I probably wouldn't want to while it was happening. Every guy there winced in sympathy at the phantom pain. I knew she was right though. This was her town and I couldn't stop her from protecting it with the others, but that didn't mean I had to like it. "Fine you vindictive bitch, but if you die I'm not talking to you any more." This was bullshit. If we'd planned the attack I could have made sure Artemis was safe and attacking in the right place for her talents. But in this free for all she was easily in the most danger out of all of us.

Even Reggie was better able to protect himself, since he could just transport himself away. Plus he'd spent years honing his powers but Artemis... She just rolled her eyes, stepping forward to hug me. "Don't go all power snob on me now, you dick. I survived New Genesis, I can survive this. If you think I'm letting my brother and BOTH of my sisters fight a bunch of gods without me you're very stoned. Plus Roy is here, and gods know he needs someone to keep an eye one him during all this."

Aforementioned redhead looked scandalized at the implication, but sadly we didn't have any more time for pep talks. The Parademon armies had deployed, and I saw the flare of godly auras between them. I didn't know who was who, but it didn't matter. I triggered my torc and with the power of augmented wings and ghostly flight, exploded from the ground toward the nearest godly signature and the demons around it. "Don't die!" Was the last thing I said, to both Artemis and the rest of the group, with a pulse of love through my connection to Dreamer,Rana, and Zee to let them know I was thinking of them and to stay safe.

I hit the crowd of Parademons like a fucking blender, I'd conjured the Abyssal Alloy teeth on Tartarus again as I called it to my hand, and there was a dull roar as my chainblade ripped through demonic supersoldier flesh. I took out about a dozen of them with each swing, but even then they kept coming. Those transport ships had more of the things than I'd been expecting. I could see whichever god was there past the curtain of cannon fodder, but couldn't reach them, and I tore through wave after wave of Parademon as I tried.

Before I could process it though, the signature vanished, and while I didn't stop killing Parademons I DID strain my senses to try to detect where the hell it might have gone. It was the only reason I caught the signature behind me in time to move out of the way of the lunging sword blow aimed at my heart from behind. As I did, I caught some of the blade on my ribs, and was shocked as my armor actually parted under the blade, scoring a long line across my side that began to bleed freely. It knitted up pretty fast given my ghostly nature, but it was still a surprise, and I turned to face the god I was about to fight.

Tall, blonde, and honestly kind of hot, she held a massive razor sharp longsword of some gleaming metal I didn't recognize. Her face was set into a glare. "I am Gilotina, New God of the sword." That was it, nothing past that as the flying disks beneath her feet drove her forward in another lunge. I deflected it neatly and despite everything, a slow grin crawled across my face. It had been a while since I'd had a proper match with the blade. Worry or not, I was going to have fun with this.

Alright folks, next chapter will see the end of the arc and the beginning of the next, which I'm SO excited about. I think you guys will enjoy it, even if its going to be a bit new to some of you. As usual pat-reon has the advance chapters at that site /malcolmtent if you want to check it out early, if not see you all in ten days!