April 22nd 2016 Gotham City 8:30 PM EDT
Gilotina WAS actually really good with a blade. Within three exchanges I was able to confirm she was better with a blade than the Warlord was, and the thought of a new sparring partner in my head was exhilarating enough to drown out my internal complaints about her bullshit sword got ability to cut things. Luckily for me, my keyblade could be dismissing and resummoned without and lasting damage, so the first swing I caught on the blade without compensating for it didn't permanently cut into my weapon.
Still, even managing to gouge a hole I could wipe away was damn impressive, considering I hadn't run across anything in the past that could actually damage my magic weapon. She seemed shocked when she didn't actually cut through the whole thing, and even moreso when I dismissed and resummoned the keyblade to repair the chunk her blade had bitten out of it. She also seemed frustrated as she came back in for another exchange, clearly hoping to repeat the process and actually manage to break it this time.
She didn't. With my understanding of her attack strength I switched from a hard form to a soft one. Instead of blocking, I started turning her blows, using the teeth of my keyblade to hook the weapon and drag it out of alignment before batting it aside. Her reaction to my adapted defense was mostly just to get really pissed off and try harder to cut me in half, and honestly the sloppy breaks in her timing as she sped up were a godsend.
Unfortunately, it wasn't all good news. Gilotinas defense was more offense, but it was a really well constructed one. Her annoyance left breaks in the form for me to exploit, but not big enough ones to manage to land a hit, and the battle stalled out there for a minute, with the two of us engaged more in a countering contest than a match with the blade. Rather than continue getting more and more angry though, she seemed to calm down as we exchanged, blows, seeming almost soothed by the rhythm.
It was a weird feeling to be matched against a girl who physically look about my age and was just as good as I was with a sword. I knew she was actually much older, New Gods aged slowly to maturity and not at all after, but still, this fight was the first thing I'd had like an interaction with a peer in swordplay since I'd mastered the Outer Body trance. I think Gilotina felt the same way, because the smile pulling at the corners of her mouth was obviously one of enjoyment and fun.
It was such a weird sensation I decided to reach out with my bare fingertips to brush her skin and use my clairvoyance on her in our next exchange, and that...that was a mistake. My enhanced reflexes were the only thing that saved me from her next attack, and I barely managed to turn her blade before it opened my throat as I froze at the sight of what had been done to her. As someone who grew up on Apokalips under Darkseids direct supervision, she had been subjected to much more than the light bit of mind twisting that Adam had experienced.
I was able to get back into the fight seconds later, returning to our back and forth pattern, but trying to forget what I'd seen was much harder. Clairvoyance was absolutely the kind of thing that used symbolism as well as emotions. I was able to handle Gilotina's emotions. Basically just a lust for battle, that was fine, but the visual effects of using clairvoyance showed me a physical representation of what had been done to her over the years, and that was much, much less bearable to look at.
Her eyes were gone. And the blood coming from her ears made it clear she couldn't hear. Her tongue had been removed, and she was screaming constantly, her mouth open in a silent wail that made no sound. Her heart was missing, a gaping hole in her chest where it should have been revealing nothing but a small version of what I assumed was her as a little girl, trapped in a cage of barbed wire, crying constantly. When the crying stopped, the cage tightened, making the tears come back as she curled up to get away.
I blinked eyes now filled with tears to clear away that image, trying not to be physically ill and desperately wishing I DIDN'T have a perfect memory. I had been hoping to understand some of what Darkseid did so I could undo it or detect it better in my own people but that had been...I didn't think I would ever be able to forget any of that. Suddenly, I was much less willing to kill this girl. This girl who was my age physically and had been emotionally tortured and twisted into a literal weapon for the amusement of a sick god.
Despite how sickening it was, it gave me at least a bit of insight into her as a Swordsmaster. It might not seem important, but being able to interact with each other for the last few minutes in combat had given me a good idea of what she COULD do, and understanding her better made it clearer what she WOULD do. I started to compensate for her style somewhat, more easily able to exploit the gaps in her technique with the knowledge of how to open them myself.
She'd gotten a bit annoyed during that slip, but once we got back into the fight she lost the impatience and started to genuinely enjoy herself again. I could see the twisted thorns of black malice in her aura now that I had looked deep enough to uncover the darkness inside, and where before I'd only seen the surface aura of bloodlust and ferocity, now I could actually see the small flashes of peace she felt between the blows when she was giving her all and meeting a worthy opponent. The flashes never lasted long, as the thorns choked down on her spirit, causing pain and hate to flare up and crush down any hint of enjoyment.
The whole thing made me...angry. This was wrong. Everything that had been done to this girl was wrong. I looked at her and all I could see was the way my daughter might have turned out if she'd ended up with someone like Darkseid. Morana had been an innocent, someone we had to teach and guide. She still was in plenty of ways, and Darkseid had used someone just like her to make...this. I'd heard stories about Darkseid. How he was evil and vicious, and for Dreamers sake I'd promised myself I'd get rid of him, but for the first time, I couldn't wait to be strong enough to finish that fight. I wanted to kill the bastard for this. He deserved to die.
When I first saw her I thought Gilotina was amazing. She was forged for war, obviously devoted to the blade, hell, she was the next best thing to a sword herself. But now I could see the dents where someone had used a hammer to crush her into the weapon she'd become, and it made everything about it disgusting to me. I made a mental note to absolutely not use my fucking clairvoyance and random strange gods again, but for the moment, I had this knowledge, and I needed to know what to do with it.
But I did know. Deep down. I wouldn't kill her, but as much as I wanted to help, that process could only begin after I captured her. I needed to beat her and then lock her up, and after that I could use my clairvoyance to try to undo what had been done. As cold as it sounded, she could be a test run for how much of that damage I could undo in case it happened to my loved ones. Despite that, I did hope I could actually fix her. No one deserved to be something like her. For now all I could do was fight, and win.
This had stopped being any fun for me a while ago, and it was no longer about the blade. As much as I wished I could give her more of the flashes of brief happiness our battle was causing, especially without the corresponding pain tearing it away, I didn't have time for a moral quandary. I reached out with my power, and straining hard I activated my demonic strength enhancement through the armor, with absolutely no point cost whatsoever.
I banished Tartarus as the next blow came in and ducked lazily under it. Thought became action, and with the triple speed of my reaction time multiplied by my dexterity I didn't have any trouble walking right through her previously well constructed guard. I grabbed her wrist, surprised by how durable she was since the bones didn't powder under my grip, and had to actually yank to get one hand off the pommel of her sword. I shoved the other away, sword and all, and then punched her in the face.
My head pounded as much as hers must have been, using my powers like this, even with the armor as a focus, fucking hurt, but I managed it for a few seconds, which at those speeds was enough. Once the first blow landed, the fight was over. All that was left was a beating. I was moving too fast for her to process, and she had slipped off her flying disks, only for me to catch her by her sword arm.
It made me hate Darkseid even more how badly I had to beat her to make her stop resisting. She wouldn't give up. She wanted to, deep down. I could see her desire for the pain to end, to just give in, but every time she tried to consider it those twisted thorns bit back in and drove her into a frenzy, forcing her to keep fighting, and me to keep hurting her. It took longer than I could have imagined for her to finally lose consciousness, and the second she did I dumped her through a shadow portal into the oubliette.
I felt...hollow, when I was done. And even after I let the demon strength drop and my head quieted down I couldn't get the images out of my head. I looked up as a Parademon flew in close and I grabbed it, ignoring its nonsense attacks as I tore it bodily in half with my bare hands before reaching for another. I was angry, but luckily there was a whole bunch of mindless cannon fodder flying around here for me to take that frustration out on. So I did.
I killed Parademons. Crossing the distance between them instantly through the shadows, feeling my headache increase a bit bit just pushing it down. It didn't matter. I didn't need to think to crush garbage like this. Until I felt a strange tug on my spirit, and I stopped. I was on a building, standing over a few dozen Parademon corpses, and Zee was standing in front of me. The tug has been the connection between my girls and I. She'd felt what was happening and come to find me.
She looked sad, and tired, and she opened her arms, and I stepped forward and wrapped mine around her and cried. I left my armor on. I didn't want anyone to see me crying. But I knew I wouldn't hurt her. I could never do that. It took me a few minutes to get past what I'd just seen and felt, and I mentally rebuked myself for using a new power in the middle of a battle as I calmed down. That one was going to take some getting used to. For now though, Zee just kissed my metal cheek and turned to return to the battle, not saying a word. She didn't need to, and I loved her for it.
April 22nd 2016 Gotham City 9:00 PM EDT
I took a minute or two by myself on that roof to get my head on right. My perfect memory was biting me in the ass because I couldn't scrub the image of that sobbing little girl in a barbed wire cage from my head no matter what I did, but I was able to focus and breathe through it until I was centered. Outer Body had taught me to weather some pretty awful shit mentally, even if the damage didn't stick around. It was a useful lesson here, and Zee's time with me had helped me a lot as well.
I recognized how brutal and reckless I'd been killing Parademons, and while the demons themselves weren't a threat, the New Gods around here definitely were. Gilotina had proven their bullshit god powers were hax enough to actually hurt me, so I absolutely wasn't taking my defense for granted here, and rampaging around like a pissed off five year old on a sugar crash wasn't exactly the best way to make sure I didn't leave myself open. But once I was focused and centered I lifted off the roof and flew out in search of another one of the powerful energy signatures. After getting rid of Gilotina there were nine left, and I was taking on a second now.
They were pretty spread out, and I couldn't see them physically, though from my aura vision I could tell Morana, Jim, Adam, and Blood had all engaged with at least one of the bastards. The others were mostly wading through floods of Parademons from what I could tell. The nearest signature to me was one of the bigger ones though, so I headed right for it, and while I did, tear a bloody swathe through the Parademons in my way this time too, I didn't lose myself like last time and forget to watch my back.
When I eventually reached the owner of the signature I readied myself for...whatever he could do. The New God I found when I arrived for battle was...ugly. Like really ugly. Broad and flat face surrounded by a mane of matted hair, yellowed uneven teeth and deep set red eyes gleaming like coals from the shadow of a hanging caveman brow. Despite a build like a smashed beer can though, the god was actually pretty tall, eight feet or so, and his aura blazed with hate and rage and a bloodlust similar to the one Gilotina had possessed, but so much thicker.
There was one difference though. Gilotina's aura had been thick with a lust for battle and a berserk rage, but there had been no real positive emotion, save for those few choked down flashes of joy during our battle. This guy...his aura was thick with happiness and revelry as he grinned around nastily at the invasion of my city. I wasn't going to use my psychometry here, not again, but I didn't think I needed to. This asshole wasn't just driven to hurt people, it was FUN for him, and honestly, I needed a simple target at the moment.
His twisted grin fell on me. "Ah, a champion of the realm. I do hope you're an entertaining one. I have not been impressed with the caliber of warrior on your backwater planet. I'm feeling generous today, so I'll tell you my name before you die. I am Kalibak, firstborn son of Darkseid, god of ruinous battle. I don't care about your name, but if you feel the need to state it for posterity perhaps you'll manage to impress me enough to remember some of it."
The New Gods voice was as rough and ugly as the rest of him, but despite being a big ugly asshole I was actually kind of worried. This asshole was STRONG. Like...probably stronger physically than anyone else I'd met. The weird club thing he had at his side didn't exactly look like it was flimsy either, and I conjured Tartarus into my hand without a second thought. I wasn't making the mistake of holding back on one of Darkseids kids. I was going to hit him all out with everything I had from the getgo.
I reached out with my power, and despite knowing how much this would suck, I shifted myself to my demonically strengthened state, bypassing the points cost. My head started to throb almost immediately, so I didn't wait for an invitation or anything, I flashed across the distance between as and swung my keyblade down on Kalibaks head like a ten ton hammer. A ten ton hammer he proceeded to catch on his mace with seemingly no effort at all, despite me putting every ounce of power I had into the swing.
The next thing that happened was that I came to a surprising and fairly painful realization. Kalibak wasn't a swordsman, or even a mace wielder. His weapon was there as a big stick to hit people with, and judging by the bolt of power that it fired off (missing me entirely thankfully) debilitating enemies and catching them by surprise. His actual combat style however, was not dependent on the mace, a fact that became clear as he released the haft of the thing with one hand, somehow managing to hold me at bay with just the one as he got a massive hand around one of my legs and yanked me out of the air.
I felt my body jerk desperately as he pulled me from my slight and swung me down, right into his swinging foot, which smashed into me to hard the shockwave shattered fucking windows on some nearby buildings. Needless to say I felt that shit even through my armor, and it was nothing like the light taps Gojo gave me when we were training. I felt several of my fucking ribs crack on impact as the force of both the swing and kick met against my torso. I managed to ghost out of the asshole's hand before he swung again, but still he had seriously fucked me up with just that one hit.
I backed off. This wasn't a great development. I'd been so confident in my augmented strength I'd forgotten there WERE people stronger than I was. This asshole made Lobo look limp wristed, but honestly that didn't matter. This was on me. I wasn't a head on fighter. I relied on skill not power. I'd gotten so up my own ass about being able to throw a proper punch that I'd forgotten to make sure I threw them properly. The only small upside was the shooting agony in my ribs (which were healing already, thank you two hundred fifty points of vitality) at least distracted from my splitting headache.
Kalibak came shooting in at me, ready to do some more damage. But, having remembered I wasn't a brawler, I split myself into a dozen clones and scattered. He grabbed the nearest only for it to pop, and then waded into the others looking for me. I was, of course, invisible and intangible, having been smart enough not to actually be one of the clones that he could see. Still, my clones weren't made for taking hits, even with my armor, and dissipated after a single blow.
The reflexes helped them each dodge a few hits, but they couldn't hold out for long against a warrior like Kalibak.
But then, they didn't need to. I needed more information to deal with Kalibak, and the clones were letting me see his combat style a bit more so I could get a handle on how he fought. I'd need to know how he worked if I wanted to beat him. His method of fighting was...simple, but brutally efficient. Kalibak was a walking wrecking ball. He DID have technique, and a pretty good one too, but it was all about economy of violence. The quickest most brutal way to hurt someone.
A combination of mace blows, grabs and short, sharp attacks that took advantage of his size and strength to do some real damage. By the time he managed to catch and destroy all the clones I had a basic idea of how to fight him. Which was to say...don't. I could learn and counter the brawling style Kalibak was using given some time, but I didn't have that. I wasn't suited to this battle at all.
I drew my gun, still invisible, and aimed it at his head. A pair of opened Holes closed the distance to point blank range as he glared around looking for me, and I fired six times into his skull. It was...less effective than expected. He roared with anger and pain, but much like Klarion, Kalibak was a small representation of a much larger being, an unlike Klarion, there seemed to be some horror and death mixed in there. Say what you would about the Witch Boy, he was pure chaos, and while unpleasant apparently much more vulnerable to this kind of thing.
I stayed back and watched, trying to come up with some countermeasure to this fucking beast of a man. This was an issue. I was an assassin in terms of capability. Powerful surgical strikes. I wasn't built for...I looked down at my armor. I had something for this. I hadn't used it in ages actually, but I did have a martial art rattling around in my head. The gun wasn't really suited for Kalibak but brute force could work, even if I had less of it than him. I just needed to apply it right.
I focused on the armor, on the shape, and with another pulse of pain in my head I sharpened the tips of my fingers into claws. The armor was liquid metal, and the shape of it was technically controllable to a very small level. Then I flew back in towards Kalibak. I dismissed Tartarus, as much as I wanted the keyblade in play, I didn't have any practice using my Doom Fist with a weapon.
I knew the whole style perfectly, even without Outer Body, I'd gotten a master level education in the art. With the insight I'd gained from watching Kalibak tear apart my clones I'd gotten a decent idea how to avoid his blows, and given I was still invisible, when I went solid behind him, he didn't react in time. I channeled all that demonic force into my finger tips and rammed them into his flesh.
There was a roar of pain as my hands tore into flesh, but I was already gone before the response landed, intangible again. The Doom Fist focused all my force and power (of which there was now quite a bit) into my fingers, and it was an excellent tool for an assassin. I spent the next five or ten minute ripping holes in Kalibak. He was a dangerous enemy, but he was also literally pure force. He had no counter to fighting a ghost ninja, and once I went back to my roots, it was only a matter of time before I finished the fight.
My head was pounding like a steel drum, but I was managing the pain for the moment, and as he got more and more angry I got closer to finishing it. Finally he gave me his back in an opening I couldn't pass up and I dove in to put him down. All my speed, power, and force drove into the tips of my fingers, and I used the Doom Fist as it was truly meant to be used. I drove my hand through Kalibaks back and tore out his still beating heart. He staggered, his feet coming off the flying disks he was using, and tumbled about fifty feet to the ground, a fall that was pretty much his equivalent of falling from a standing height.
I crashed down next to him, nearly incoherent from pain and power overuse, but still cognizant enough to watch his aura for tricks. It was disappointing but not unexpected to see his spirit flow out into the larger construct I saw when shooting him, but as I fell to my knees I couldn't complain. As a god Kalibak couldn't be killed so easily, but here and now he was dead. I let his heart roll limply from my fingers as I collapsed to the ground, blacking out. I needed a minute.
April 22nd 2016 Gotham City 10:00 PM EDT
I woke up in pain. Not too much pain thankfully, my armor had stayed on during my brief time unconscious, but still, it was not fun coming back to reality. My head was pounding enough that I was pretty sure I couldn't use my ability raw again tonight. Luckily I had fifteen thousand points in reserve to use in case of emergencies, and I was still strapped with my armor and keyblade. I climbed to my feet with a groan. I hadn't been out for long as far as I could tell so the battle was still underway.
Based on energy signatures my people were all still fine, none of them had run afoul of some New God who had managed to hurt them. In fact, several of them had won their fights while I was out. I'd taken down two, and three of the others had finished their own battles (Blood, Morana, and Adam specifically) and had moved on to a new fight each. Jim was still fighting his which left one more for me before this whole thing was over.
I wasn't flying anymore, though I hadn't noticed it, and I just shrugged and started walking. Fifteen thousand points was plenty to get me through one last fight, and the despite my still throbbing head the signature of the last fighter I had to face was much weaker than Kalibak. I wouldn't need my demonic empowerment, which meant this was going to be a pure brawl with just a bit of keyblade work. I walked stiffly through the rubble, looking around at the results of what had been done to my city as I casually killed Parademons when they got within range.
I'd dropped Kalibaks body through a corridor into the sun. With him dead there was no resisting or moving, even if I knew from his aura that he wasn't actually dead. I didn't feel like listening to Barbara bitch about me ripping out someone's heart. Other than some Parademons though, his was one of the few corpses I could see. I'd been expecting mass casualties here, but though I could spot the occasional dead Gothamite and felt for them, it seemed like most of them had avoided danger.
Trust people from Gotham to have the instincts to avoid damage in an alien invasion. Anyone in town would know what to do in the event of danger. It was kind of amazing. Of course it wasn't all them. With Superboy and Wonder Girl and the other Team members allocated to Parademon duty there was a massive amount of firepower dedicated to protecting civilians. They'd left the New Gods to the heavies and it had worked pretty much flawlessly. Not to mention dads people weren't the only ones packing magic gear.
I saw various street gangs armed with mystical items butchering Parademons. Axes, swords, bows, even some magic users strapped with dungeon tomes. Eventually though, I reached my destination and stepped up to battle the last of the New Gods. The last one was...weird. I actually came up short to stare at him. "Ok, what the fuck is this nonsense? Who are you even supposed to be?" I was expecting another literal monster like Kalibak, but the guy I found was some tiny Mr. peanut looking asshole.
He'd been staring out grimly at the battle, and when I spoke he turned to look at me. He wasn't up on the floating things like the others, but standing on a building, which I'd been able to jump up on easily enough. He was short. Five foot two and had slicked back dark hair and a monocle. I knew from his aura that he was dangerous, all the New Gods were, but he was such a ridiculous little man in his old school german military uniform that I was actually having a hard time considering him a threat even knowing that.
The pinched little man sneered at me. "I am Virman Vunderbar, the great tactician of Apokalips. I have commanded these troops well fool, and despite your assurance in the capabilities of your pathetic defensive force, you stand no chance at repelling our invasion. Even now I expect your compatriots are being whittled away one by one, victims of the efficiency of my Parademon army." He stared at me coldly a snide smile twisting his ridiculously puckered face as he gloated about his 'victory'.
I just stared at him through my armor. "You know Kalibak is dead right?" He froze, blinking in confusion. "Kalibak is dead, I killed him myself. Gilotina is gone. Three of the others went down and the last four other than you are engaged in combat right now, and they aren't doing great." I didn't mention what happened to Gilotina, I didn't feel like dealing with rescue attempts if they would even bother with that. "All in all there is pretty much no chance for this to end in anything other than a complete crushing defeat, so maybe you want to go ahead and surrender."
I saw his sneer fracture a bit, and I had to admit it felt good. I liked mocking the ones who didn't shut up. He put on a brave face, but I assume he had some method of reaching the others because after a brief pause his aura started to flicker with fear. He cleared his throat. "Nonsense. You seek only to delay the inevitable. Even if your forces managed to repel this scouting party you have no chance of driving off Darkseid. Earth is doomed and you will all-" He was babbling at this point, glancing around in terror as he desperately tried to figure a way out of this.
It was pretty funny. "Be absolutely fine? Bitch please. I know Darkseid is at constant war with New Genesis. Not to mention I'm guessing The Reach is pretty annoyed at him right now. This planet isn't worth the time investment for a full out invasion, not with how crazy things are in the galaxy right now. If they were he would have sent an ACTUAL invasion force, not his son and a bunch of half assed godlings. So again, are you going to surrender, or am I going to beat your ugly little face even more out of shape."
Virman scoffed. "Fool! I am Virman Vunderbar, I am the general supreme. I will not be spoken down to by-" He stopped talking mid word and turned to bolt away at top speed. Sadly for him I had seen that coming in his aura and I was already there, having walked through a corridor and show up behind just in time to punch him in his scrunched up face. He howled in pain and fear. "NO! Please I beg you please do not hurt me!" He curled up in a ball on the ground to protect himself, nose running blood like a faucet.
At this point I wasn't even having fun anymore. This was just sad. I rolled my eyes. "Call off the Parademons and I'll let you live." I would just hand him over to the League. I had no use for him, and as mentioned I absolutely didn't feel like dealing with Apokalips knowing I had one of theirs. I'd beaten Gilotina viciously and dropped her into a shadow portal so I was hoping they would just assume she was dead while I tried to fix her.
Virman stuttered, blubbering through his bleeding nose. "Fine! Just please don't hurt me!" He started muttering into a communicator. I expected some kind of double cross, so I watched his aura, but no, this guy was just a whimpering bootlicker. It was honestly a bit of a let down after Kalibak. Still, I supposed not every fight could end with me going toe to toe with progressively stronger warriors. I was bound to end up with a dud eventually.
The Parademons began to retreat, and I grabbed Virman by the neck, dragging him to his feet and then along next to me as I headed for the Leagues position. He stumbled after me, snivelling and sobbing, which was admittedly getting really old. Zee and Dreamer showed up to meet me, both of them seeming a bit nonplussed. My sorceress raised an eyebrow. "I see you've captured their most dangerous warrior. Must have been a battle for the ages, I have to say I'm grateful you survived." Her sarcasm was noted, though not appreciated.
I rolled my eyes. "This is my third New God of the day, they can't all be winners. I took down his boss earlier, he actually WAS their most dangerous warrior." I didn't mention killing his meat suit given the mixed company, but she looked pretty pleased to hear that. "The others are doing pretty well from what I saw, so I figured I'd come hand this little disappointment over to the League to deal with. A gesture of goodwill if you will."
Dreamer was just...staring. I understood why. Her people had been at war with Apokalips for so long I couldn't even comprehend it. In all that time I think the war had become less of a battle and more of a fact. Water was wet, the sun was hot, and Apokalips always came back. This time though, we had won. Even as we watched the Parademons were returning to their ships at Virmans orders. I could also see the other New Gods begin to go down, their auras dimming as they were restrained or in one or two cases going out as their mortal bodies were killed.
At the very least if the League made a big deal about it we could point out they weren't actually dead. I doubted it would come up though. Nightwang didn't want that trouble any more than we did. I dragged the little God over to the League and passed him to Captain Atom who was standing next to Black Canary. The two of them had obviously been fighting, though for Captain Atom that was only visible as a bit of dirt and for Black Canary it was bruises and exhaustion. I let my own armor drop as I felt the exhaustion hit me even harder. I barely caught myself and could only kind of stand, but with my girls nearby I wasn't worried.
They gave me a suspicious look but I just put up one hand placatingly. "That's for you. Just figured you would know what to do with him better than I would. Plus my cells won't hold a god." That was actually true, if they were in top form. After a thorough beating they would work fine though, which was why I didn't worry about Gilotina escaping before her treatment. Even a god would need time to heal the beating I'd given her. Black Canary hesitated but then smile gratefully, giving me a nod to show her appreciation as she massaged her apparently sore throat. Guess she used her canary cry one too many times.
As I turned to leave though, I heard a sound. Clapping. I was expecting some kind of sarcastic mocking slow clap so I turned warily, waiting for an enemy. To my surprise though it was just a man. No aura of power or divinity, just an old man in a dirty blue sweater. Another man picked up the action next to him, stepping from the shadows, then a woman, and the little girl who was with her. All over the surrounding area hidden and scared Gothamites came out of that dark, applauding us for saving them, cheering and clapping and screaming in defiant joy at their survival.
I just kind of stood there, frozen in confusion. I hadn't expected...that. I'd done this for my family, to keep them safe, not for all these people. But they'd seen me fighting for them and they appreciated it. I couldn't lie, it felt good. I wasn't a superhero and had no real desire to become one, but I was and always would be a son of Gotham, and knowing my city appreciated me like that was kind of indescribable. I couldn't think of anything to say so I just stood there and smiled.
My girls came up behind me, each sliding themselves under an arm so they could help me stand without it being obvious and we all stood there just taking it in. As I let the sound wash over me I reflected on the fact that here in the rubble, listening to the cheers of Gotham, this city felt like home again for the first time since we returned from New Genesis, and it felt good.
April 22nd 2016 Gotham City 11:00 PM EDT
The wind down of the fight for Gotham was surprisingly orderly. I guess having the demonic footsoldiers of the evil gods who tried to kill you floating in the sky kind of evokes a sense of caution. People were pretty happy not to be dead, and I got lots of hugs and thank yous, but everyone kind of tried to keep a low profile when heading out.
The others had finished their fights and the New Gods were being restrained by the Atom, who had some kind of sciency handcuffs that stopped them from trying to face murder everyone within reach. Nightwang had ended up handling Savage with some help and they were restraining him with the same cuffs, holding him for transport to the oubliette.
My friends had come back over to check in, though Madame X and Blood left a bit after the battle to check on their
places. Nightshade came to say goodbye along with the other members of the Shadowpact before heading to the Oblivion Bar, and dad had some organizing to do, since several Gotham residents had decided to join up during the siege and were staying on in the family. Apparently Grandpa had been around here somewhere too, though he'd shown up later than expected and already left by the time I heard, which was a shame.
At the moment it was just me and the girls, along with Jim, Artemis, Wally, Reggie, and Bette. We were all sitting on a rooftop, keeping an eye on the Parademons in case they decided to attack again despite Virmans orders. It was looking like a no go though. "So, did the League hassle any of you about the whole god killing thing? I saw a couple of them croak, though honestly thinking about it I don't even know if it counts, it's not like these are their real bodies anyway. They'll all be back eventually."
Jim shrugged. "I got a bit of flack from the heroes when I tore mine in half. Bastard just would not stay down. I pointed out that same thing however, and they grudgingly moved on. I believe the others who ended their opponent were Blood and Adam, and the two of them are a bit outside of the current weight class of the people the League has on earth. I'm surprised that they didn't lay into you for releasing Adam."
I snickered at that. "Nightwang tried to bitch at me about that. I pointed out it wasn't my job to make sure Black Adam wasn't a supervillain. He countered with the fact that I was supposed to be keeping him in prison, and then shut up when I pointed out that technically the capture and detainment of all the villains was extraordinary rendition." The boy blunder had tracked me down after the battle to lecture me about Adam, though shockingly didn't mention anything else.
Which was ok of him I guess, but I still wasn't taking his shit. "Apparently he didn't consider that he was party to the whole thing and technically a kidnapper since at least some of them had no active warrant and I was the one keeping them locked up. A UN charter can give you lots of powers, but the power to let a teenager lock someone up in his basement isn't one of them. No matter how powerful the teenager or how secure the basement. Since he still needs me to imprison Savage after they caught him, he kind of had to take the L."
Zee rolled her eyes. "As cute as your whole frenemies bromance is, I still think the fact that all this started because he had a crush on me five years ago is a little absurd. Like are either of you really that petty? I can't imagine he's the first guy to think I was pretty in front of you, and you can actively see people's emotions. Why did you decide to start this weird rivalry with him specifically?" Despite her words I could tell she kind of liked how stubborn I was being about the whole thing, even if she did also think it was dumb.
Showing she had absolutely zero understanding of men. I just shook my head. "First off, Nightwang and I do NOT have a bromance. Frenemy or otherwise. He's a terminal asshat who occasionally goes into remission for brief periods. Secondly, his crush on you was just the tinder. Some people just rub you the wrong way, and he's always been one of those for me. I don't know, I just don't like his smug face." Even as Dick I hadn't been that big a fan, but something about putting on that mask made him way too big headed. It irked me.
Morana shook her head. "Cassie says he's a really good leader. I think you should give him another chance. Maybe you two could be friends. He seems like less of a judgemental prick than some of the other Leaguers." I stared at her flatly for a minute or so before she put her hands up in surrender. "Or not. Jeeze. No need to be snappish. I was only suggesting you should try making more friends. They're pretty great." Her face was almost glowing as she talked about her only friend, who had from what I'd been told after the battle, actually helped out in her fight, though I don't think it was needed.
I couldn't bring myself to berate my daughter for being excited about having a friend. She and Cassie had talked on the phone and even spent time together a few times and Rana was ecstatic about it. I knew that having people outside the family in her social circle helped her feel more real given the confusing feelings she inherited from all of us about people related to her. Cassie was a friend that was just hers, and that made her special. I also thought it was adorable that after knowing having one friend she was acting like the expert on the subject, though I wouldn't ever say so.
Speaking of best friends, I turned to look at mine. "So. I heard you actually helped out a bit with finishing Bloods opponent. Long rang support for the ground bound demon. What was that like? Fighting against another divine being?" I was curious about how Artemis's divinity had responded to engaging one of the New Gods. Her bloodline was still pretty incomplete, but shedding the blood of another divine being, even if Etrigan had finished the fight, had probably effected things.
She frowned a bit. "Weird, actually. I didn't get stronger as I hurt him or anything, at least not exactly. But my lightning seemed to kind of eat away at him, and when I got it back it felt...like more than it was. Not like, a large amount. But it was there." She shrugged before falling back to lay on the roof from where she was sitting next to Wally, staring up at the sky. "So...it's over. The invasion, the fighting, it's all done. So we're really...retired. I admit, as much as I was kind of looking forward to it I don't know how to feel."
I got her point. While we had given up thieving and essentially gone straight because of the whole statute of limitations thing, it hadn't really FELT like that. We'd been out in the world fighting and training and doing our own thing. Now...it was over. We weren't going to be thieves, we definitely weren't going to be heroes. We were just going to be...done. Normal people I guessed? There didn't feel like there was really room in the world for the people we were. I guessed we would just need to find our places going forward.
Not that I was done training. I had my power to learn to use, and once I completed that I had to take care of Apokalips. I'd promised Dreamer, plus I was planning to kill Darkseid now just out of principle. Dude was a major asshole. Plus even if he wasn't around now the fact that we would be fighting him in the future made me pretty certain we'd be running into him again, so learning to undo his bullshit was still important. Which led me to the last thing. "Speaking of, I kind of have a confession. I captured one of the New Gods. I'm planning to try to undo Darkseids brainwashing."
Dreamer looked at me sadly. "That isn't a shock really. We felt your disgust and horror during the battle. Whatever you saw must have been awful. Learning to repair the damage that HE causes is absolutely a worthy goal, and you'd have our support even if it wasn't. We're here for you. Would you like my help on this? Mentalism is something of a specialty of mine as you know. It's what makes me such a good therapist, as you all like to point out." She raised and eyebrow in amusement, and I smiled and reached out to take her hand.
I wouldn't turn down the help, but it did worry me a bit. "That sounds nice. We can try to help her together. But we need to be careful and go slow. My abilities are somewhat out of context, which should help, but I don't want you to be damaged or infected by his influence. He seems like the kind of being who could really fuck someone up even when he wasn't actually present. We work on her together only ok?" She gave a serious nod, and I smiled, leaning down for a kiss from my goddess.
Zee snuggled up to my other side, leaning across my chest so she was in contact with both of us. "Well, you have your project for the near future. I'm planning to try to reverse engineer and then upgrade the island defenses. I know you could just pay for more powerful ones, but those points could be invested elsewhere. Besides, I think learning to ward better could be a valuable and important skill." I saw a flash of pain through her aura, recognizable as the ache she felt when she thought of her dad, and put an arm over her shoulder.
I kissed the top of her head softly. I considered bringing it up, but there wasn't a fast solve for the problem so I figured deflecting might help her more for now. I looked to Artemis. "So, what are you two going to do? Just go back to living with your mom and Wally's parents? Because I feel like after being on our own all this time moving back in with the family might be a bit stifling. Like I love my mom but I need my own space, it's why I've been living on the island. You're welcome to join us."
Artemis shook her head. "That's a nice offer, but aside from my mom getting boned there on the regular and your girls being louder than a storm siren, we kind of want to do our own thing. Legally Wally and I are both like twenty, so we're going to get a place. Nothing crazy just an apartment for the two of us. Maybe get a dog. Just...spend time together. I have a nice little chunk of cash from our old life that has five years of interest, so that's nice. Not that we're leaving Gotham. You aren't getting rid of me that easily."
I smiled at Artemis. My best friend. My sister. The person who had been with me since day one. I couldn't imagine life without her. "I'm still so rich its sickening, so if you need extra cash just tell me. I literally don't think I could spend all my money if I wanted to. Even burning money hand over fist I still have like nine point five billion plus in the bank." She actually visibly flinched at the amount and I chuckled a bit as I climbed to my feet. "Anyway, I think things are pretty much settled here. Lets head home."
I pulled the girls to their feet, and with a flex of will opened a shadow portal for us back to the island. Moving or not everyone could crash at our place tonight given all the damage around town. We stepped through to find Paula waiting with Claire. She'd come back after the battle to check on Reggie's mom and let her know we were ok. Seeing Jim happily greeted by his two ladies made me smile. My teacher deserved to be happy. Hell, we all did. And I was going to give it my best shot.
June 1st 2016 Gotham City 5:00 PM EDT
It was my birthday. Again. Honestly given how much had happened since my sixteenth I felt like it really HAD been five years since my last one. Still, I was officially seventeen, and my mom was going all out on the festivities. Non stop cooking, which she'd roped Drea and Zee into helping with (in shifts so they each got to spend time with me on my big day) not to mention a cake from Kirbys just like last year, albeit a MUCH bigger one she'd had to custom order because there were way more people coming to this shindig than the last one.
Everyone I knew had shown up. Jim was here with Claire and Paula. Reggie came with Bette. Artemis brought Wally, Jade, and Lian because the little girl and Hana were fast friends, though Roy hadn't come because it wasn't really his scene. Morana brought Cassie along and shockingly Gilotina had agreed to come. Drea and I had managed to get her well enough to be allowed out of her cell, provided Morana was with her at all times, and the two of them had actually kind of hit it off.
Hana was running around happily with Lian while mom cooked and Gojo was on the couch, watching his daughter like a hawk in case she tripped or something. He was such a helicopter parent. I was currently sitting at the top of the steps looking down on the whole place happily. I'd left Zee downstairs talking to Madame Xanadu, who had come with Blood (the two of them may or may not have been dating, though they refused to confirm or deny it) and with Drea in the kitchen helping mom I was taking a minute to just...savor things.
After the battle for Gotham things had calmed down immensely. Since we had nothing pressing to deal with I'd been saving up my points in case of a rainy day. The rainy day never actually came, so I'd decided to splurge and bought myself a birthday present in the form of a really kickass car. Despite what SOME people (Reggie was just jealous) said about a car being a stupid purchase, my new car, a long sleek black sedan called the Regalia, could transform itself into an off road vehicle, as well as fucking FLY.
I didn't need a car for that, but I was turning seventeen damn it, I wanted my own car. Plus it had some weird magical fusion engine that meant I never had to buy gas and I could lend to the girls when they wanted to take trips. Still, I wasn't a moron, I made sure to keep a hundred thousand points in reserve. With ten thousand a day plus the occasional (read semi regular) tantric ritual my income was more than enough to support a medium sized purchase and still save up some point in case I needed them.
I was jarred out of my reverie though, by a loud thump and I turned to see Artemis plop down next to me. "Happy brithday nerd." She feigned surprise as I turned to raise an eyebrow at her. "Oh no, did I interrupt you staring dramatically off into the middle distance? I could come back later if you have some more brooding to do, or is this one the self congratulatory revels you do behind everyones back while thinking about how awesome you are? I know they can go either way."
I flipped her off. "First off. I wasn't staring into the middle distance, I was watching the party. Secondly I AM awesome, I don't even need to think about it, and thirdly thank you, I'm glad you could make it. I took precautions and got an extra large cake this time because last year some blonde vacuum cleaner gobbled up like a quarter of mine." I gave her a saccharine smile and she pasted an offended look across her face.
I could see her lips quirking slightly so I knew she wasn't genuinely upset, but she put on a good show. "Ok, YOU were the one who cut me that piece, how the hell are you going to fat shame me for eating a piece of cake you sliced your own damn self? Also fuck you buddy, I am beauty and grace incarnate, there isn't an ounce of fat on me, you can just ask my boyfriend."
I just shook my head sadly. "I was poor in material wealth, not in manners. I cut you an extra large piece as a gesture of good will, but it was clearly excessive. Anyone with a polite bone in their body would have tried to turn it down, or at least saved some for Paula. You just devoured that thing like a black hole swallowing space junk. As for your so called beauty and grace." I held up a hand and waggled it back and forth. "You're ok, my girlfriends are both way better looking. But you're right. I was just kidding. There's not an ounce of fat on you. Anywhere. Guess Wally likes them bony."
She hurled herself at me, playfully swatting at my head and shoulders as I covered them with my arms, cackling in glee as she failed to land any hits that I could actually feel. Eventually she stopped and collapsed into laughter too before pulling me into a side hug. "Glad to see you aren't getting all broody after all. It's a happy day. You need to make sure to appreciate the good in life. I see your blonde project is coming along. She looks easily eighty percent less murdery than the last time I saw her."
While she wasn't joining Morana in playing with the kids, instead sitting on the couch with Cassie, Gilotina's aura was infinitely less battered than last time. I'd been prying out those damn thorns with Drea and it was only last week we'd gotten her stable enough to be around people. Of course she was strapped with more wards and bindings than a mummy, we wouldn't have let her come along and be near the kids if she hadn't agreed to that. Even with Morana here that was too big a risk. Still, she was sitting casually and looked..well not happy, Gilotina had serious resting bitch face, but blase at least.
I had to smile a bit at how far she'd come though. "Yeah, Tina is a good girl. Kind of an edgy pain in my ass, but she's sweet deep down. Rana adores her, and they spar constantly. She and Cassie get along pretty well too. The three of them are basically inseparable these days." I cut my eyes to the side, narrowing them at her. "Speaking of never being seen apart, how is living with Wally? I still think moving in together after dating for like six months was nuts." She raised an eyebrow and I paused. "My situation with Zee doesn't count. There were extenuating circumstances."
She rolled her eyes. "Ok MOM. No, wait, my mother is LESS nosy about my love life. I can't believe I caught you trying to sneak into the apartment with a shovel the first day we moved in." I couldn't believe that either. I was a master thief damn it. "But to answer your question its been good. Really good. We're open about how we're feeling, and if one of us is in need of some alone time we go stay with our parents or tell the other one and they sleep on the couch. That's only happened once or twice, which I count as a win."
She gave a soft smile, and I couldn't help but return it when I saw how happy she looked. Her voice was fond as she continued. "I feel...good. I spent so long trapped under my parents roof. I mean I love my mom, but I felt...stuck. Now I have my own place, a boyfriend who loves, space when I need it, and a family I can always count on." I saw her eyes sparkle with moisture, but she turned her head before any tears fell. "I just...I can't believe how much has changed in the last year. You finding me on that rooftop was one of the best things that ever happened to me."
I returned her side hug, pulling her against me. "Right back at you. I think I wouldn't have survived my first month with powers if I didn't have you to keep my head on straight. Like you said, you're family." I held her close for a second or two then cleared my throat and pushed her playfully away. "Ok this is getting much too touchy feely for my tastes. How about we head downstairs and get some grub. Looks like mom is about finished cooking, and I'm starving." I gestured down to my vitality rich form. "I need plenty of calories to keep up this masterpiece."
In response to that she pushed me over the side of the steps. I let her, but I also just floated there on the other side before sticking out my tongue and flying for the kitchen top speed. Artemis squawked in indignation and bolted after me. When I touched down Hana was squealing for a ride in the air and Gojo and mom were both glaring at me venomously. I winced, since I realized I'd never flown in front of my sister, and then tried to help as mom told her she wasn't allowed and the two of them dealt with the resulting tantrum. Hana was usually pretty even tempered, but when she got pissed she went BIG.
We started dinner early to calm her down, so even though everything wasn't ready we all sat down and started eating, which soothed the savage toddler. Once we all got started on the food everyone relaxed into the party mood again. The food was fantastic. Drea had been coming over for lessons with mom, and the two of them had whipped up a hell of a feast with Zee helping...mostly in morale support capacity because my sorceress could NOT cook. I'd literally seen her burn water.
After dinner was cake, and we all enjoyed the black forest sheet cake that my mom had commissioned from Kirbys because their cakes are fucking delicious. I'd eaten food cooked by actual gods and that was still my favorite baked good of all time. Everyone enjoyed it, even Gilotina, and we all sat and laughed and talked and I was just...at peace. This was what I'd been fighting for when I fought Kalibak. These people, this dinner, this cake (albeit to a lesser and not really conscious degree, but seriously that cake tho). This was what it felt like to finally be in a good place in life.
Which of course was when a surge of red black flame erupted on the table in front of me, consuming a plate that thankfully had been cleared of delicious cake and leaving in its place a single blood red envelope smelling faintly of brimstone. My name was written across the envelops in looping black script, and I felt a sinking sensation in my stomach as I gingerly picked it up, tore it open, and slid out a folded up piece of parchment. I scanned over it for a minute before looking up at everyone in the room.
They were all staring at me in shock, and I couldn't blame them. This had hit me out of left field too. I cleared my throat, my voice hoarse with emotion. "It's...it's from Kit. She says she's in trouble. Says she needs my help." Everyone stared at me, a few of them looking disturbed by the news, including Zee, Reggie, and Artemis, all of whom had been with me when Kit had been part of our dungeon exploring crew. "So. Who wants to go on a trip to the UK? Apparently I have some business in London. Side note, anyone know how the hell to find some place called 'The Nightside'?"
The new arc BEGINS! Most of you guessed or read in the comments where it would be taking place. In case anyone isn't aware of The Nightside the place comes from a series by Simon R. Green. Unlike the Tin Man arc I won't be sticking to canon here, I'll be doing my own plotline using the Nightside as a setting, and mixing in plenty of DC characters, some familiar and some not. It's going to be a huge thing and I'm super excited about it. I'm trying to keep the descriptions consistent and friendly for new readers though so if you haven't read them you won't get lost. Anyway pat-reonhas the advance chapters at that site/malcolmtent , hope you enjoy.