In Darkness Dwell
The life and dark times of Gothena, a villain in the DC Universe
Chapter 9: The best laid plans
She put the book down. It was a lot to absorb for such a short book. She made a decision to take Lex's advice. This book might seem silly but he respected it so she should trust him. The first chapter was all about planning. That should be easy enough. She only had to come up with a plan to defeat someone who was better than her at magic. She didn't know where he was or when he would come at her. She didn't know how many if any allies he would bring, not that he needed them. She sat down and stared at the wall.
Pinky walked out from the kitchen and sat down. "Mistress is unhappy?" She sighed. "Yes Pinky, I'm unhappy. I'm being forced to fight someone I can't beat." Pinky cocked her head. "Mistress is alpha. Alpha is supreme." Gothena laughed. Pinky was amusing at times. Her mind was in pieces. Animal instincts had melded with a partial set of memories and while she was strong, as strong as many other exobyte powered people, her mind was broken. She looked at everything with the attitude of a dog in a pack and considered Gothena her pack alpha.
Gothena looked at her. "And what happens when an alpha is no longer an alpha?" Pinky simply said "then alpha no longer leads. New alpha take pack." Gothena sunk into her chain. "Yep, that sounds right. New alpha kill old alpha." Pinky cocked her head again. "Why new alpha kill? Old alpha still in pack, still hunt. Old alpha follow but not lead but not die. Old alpha is beta. Mistress is alpha and Pinky is beta. Does Mistress want Pinky to be alpha?" Gothena laughed. "No Pinky. Thank you though. As always your perspective is unique and enlightening."
She was naive. Pinky didn't understand things. Gothena hated herself for what she did to her. In her arrogance and ignorance, she tried to manipulate forces beyond her control and nearly died in the process. She also tore what spirit was left of a dear friend from it's resting place, shattered it and forced it into an abomination. She could never fix that. There was nothing left of her friend besides what was in Pinky. Most of her original self was destroyed. She was one of many mistakes made in a long list of mistakes.
"You fool. Do you know how valuable exobytes are? You stole from me. You destroyed one of the most precious materials there is." Circe was trying her best to stay as calm as possible. Her daughter was a fool. She knew she was impulsive and arrogant but this was a new level of stupidity. Not only did she waste an exobyte but she nearly killed herself in the process. Soul magic. She was far too inexperienced to use such power. She was torn between being relieved her daughter survived and enraged her pupil went behind her back.
Still, it was an interesting experiment and had she been stronger, it might have worked. It was something to ponder. Could she use this to make a new breed of beastiamorph? Something to consider later after much research and study. The point at hand was Gothena's insolence. "Tell me, you ungrateful little wannabe. Why did you feel the need to lie to me, steal from me and betray my trust like this?" Gothena, still in pain from her wounds from the botched magic, had to force out the words. "Because I wanted to impress you and show you what I've learned. I just wanted you to be proud of me."
Circe found herself with a lump in her throat. She chocked it back and helped Gothena to her feet. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up and go over your experiment. There might yet be something we can salvage out of this. You have to be more careful. You have limits. Those limits lessen with time but you have to stay within them or you're going to get yourself killed."
Chapter 1 was planning so she started there. She was making a list of her assets. Pinky was there for her without question. She wasn't the most powerful but she could heal and was still superhuman by any definition of the word. There was Zatanna's programming. It should be a nice wild card. She was on her own otherwise. This was not looking good. She would have to face him at some point. She knew a lot of other arcane secrets she learned from Circe and others and some techno trinkets she picked up along the way but they were all situationally useful at best.
She analyzed her situation and tried to follow Lex's book. Once she had went through and compared her current situation to the Art prescribed in the text, she prepared herself mentally. She was tired of being afraid. She was tired of looking over her shoulder. If he was going to kill her then he was going to kill her. She was nearly broken once before in a former life and it was not going to happen again. The comm connection to the Hall lit up with the current list of wants/needs of the various movers and shakers in the Society. She went down the list, found something that met her talents and walked out the door.
She hadn't been to Chinatown in several weeks because it was known to be the main base of the JL Dark in Metropolis and chose it for this specific purpose. There was MPD activity around the drop point of one of the Society's best fences. He handled the acquisition of goods for most of the north half of Chinatown and losing him would hurt cash flow. The MPD didn't usually bother with petty crimes. They must be bored or someone missed a payoff. It was time she went back to work.
She untied Dr. Psycho and helped him up. "Lex isn't happy with what happened here good Dr." said the much taller woman. "Well Lex should learn to secure his facilities better. The holes in his security allowed her in not my actions" he said looking towards Supergirl. "That's for you and Lex to discuss, I'm just here to clean up your mess" she told him.
As she was leaving, she saw a medical case on the shelf behind him. "Universal Suppressant" was on the label. She picked it up and he grabbed for it but had no where near the reach to grab it out of her hands. She stood eye to eye with Amazons and he could barely see over a table. "So good Dr. What is exactly is a universal suppressant?" "I can't tell you that. That's on a need to know basis and you don't need to know." She tossed it to him. "Okay, have it your way. Me and the alien will be on our way."
She picked up Supergirl and started to walk out. "Wait. You have to leave her. I need her...for my research." Gothena kept walking. "Sorry, orders." "Whose orders?" he said. "That's a need to know basis and you don't need to know" she said back to him and still walking away. "Fine. I'll tell you but you have to leave her" he said, his voice frantic.
Gothena smiled at the desperate little man. His perversions were well known and made him very easy to manipulate. "Okay, you have a deal" she said and walked back dropping Supergirl on the ground with a thud. He was almost salivating. "It's a super power suppressor. It bonds to certain receptors in the brain and nullifies all non-autonomic function. The heart will still work for example but the subject won't even be able to blink."
Gothena was intrigued. "What about powers that aren't physical? Magic for example." Dr. Psycho continued, trying to rush through the discussion. "It can't suppress magic directly and we haven't been able to fully test it on arcane powers but initial tests are promising. In addition to the physical suppressant, there is another ingredient that makes it hard to focus, clouds judgement, basically it prevents any action that would require any level of concentration." Gothena smiled. "Do you have more?" "Of course" he replied. "That cabinet contains a number of cases.
Now could you please leave. I have...uh...work to do" he said staring at the still knocked out Kryptonian. "Of course doc, thank you for your time." Gothena walked over to the cabinet. Dr. Psycho was so transfixed on Kara he didn't even notice her take the cases from the cabinet. As she left, she thought about what he was going to do to the sleeping woman. As much as she hated Supergirl, Dr. Psycho had failed Lex and must not be rewarded. As she walked out, she took the Kryptonite that was weakening Kara and left. She laughed thinking about that little freak's reaction when Kara wakes up in a few seconds after she left with the Kryptonite.
It was a short flight across Metropolis. She landed, still invisible, on a building in the area. She sat down, got comfortable and waited. Sure enough, a few hours later, a patrol car pulled up. Two uniforms and two Science Police got out. Why are they involved in accosting a fence? Better be careful with this one, STAR Labs kept upgrading their weapons to the point some were actually a threat. The fence was in his usually spot outside a loading dock. They approached him and started talking.
She walked up, still invisible and attacked. The regular cops went down like nothing, grabbing at their heads from the waking nightmares they no doubt were being wracked with. She smiled and looked at the 8s. They dropped back into defensive postures and drew weapons. Her shield went up. She giggled and said "Normally I'm open to two on one but I don't have time right now boys."
They opened fire. She took a couple of shots after they burned through her shield and it hurt but wasn't severe. She dispatched them pretty easily and was about to have some fun with them but stopped. No, she needed to learn the restraint Circe and Lex kept pushing on her. Torturing or murdering these cops did nothing to progress her agenda or help the mission and would only escalate their hunt for her.
She left them unconscious on the ground and went to the fence. She heard one of them moving and turned in time for him to hit a button on a wrist panel. A mechanic voice said "Scanning identity files for match." She laughed. "Make sure you get my good side" and posed like one of the women on a 50s pin up poster then waved and blew a kiss. The machine spoke up again. "Subject identified. Gothena. Do not approach. Wait for backup." She laughed. "Bit late there machine." She grabbed the fence, tapped a button on her comm and they teleported out.
A couple of minutes later, backup arrived. The place was swarming with Science Police. "Captain, it's confirmed. The attacker was Gothena." The woman looked concerned. "Damn. She's been quiet for a few weeks. I was hoping she would stay quiet. I don't like her." The subordinate stood at attention. "What are your orders?" The chief answered "Let the locals handle it. This is not a super powered operation and Gothena is being handled by the Sentinels. Our work is done." As the chief walked away she took out her phone. "Hi Zatanna, thanks for taking my call. You asked me to let you know if Gothena popped up on the radar." She looked at the 4 cops being carried out on stretchers. "She popped up."
Circe held her hand out and energy flowed from it into a number of people in cages. They started writhing in agony. Their skin changed, they grew fur, got larger and transformed into her trademark beastiamorphs. "Now you try it. Don't get overzealous. Just try one at first. Reach into their minds and feel their nature. Find their inner beast and force it to the surface. Channel the energy the way I showed you to force the physical change to match the change in their mind."
Gothena did as the powerful witch ordered. She reach out, pushing deep into her victim's mind. She was prepared, at least somewhat for the experience. She was used to breaking minds just not like this. She let her thoughts soar through the foreign environment passing through aspects of personality, sectors of intellect and deeper, darker parts. Then she found their base nature and latched onto it and forced it to the surface and quickly retreated.
The woman screamed and dropped to her knees. Gothena continued to channel energy, morphing the person's body. The woman writhed in agony and kept screaming. Her screams started changing. Her body started changing. When the spell finished. the woman slammed against the cage, now more animal than human. Circe smiled. This was very fast progression but why should she expect anything less? This was blood of her blood and it should be no surprise her own daughter could use magic this well.
"That was horrible" she said. "You left your own mind and body too undefended. You must be able to do this without sacrificing your own consciencenous into your victim. When you learn to do it right, you can do this to multiple people at once and never give up awareness of self. Do it again." They kept at it for hours until Gothena was literally too exhausted to continue. Circe relented on pushing the student. "You did well for your first time trying this. Get some rest and we'll start again tomorrow." Circe watched her walk away and felt a sense of pride.
Zatanna and John were watching a video screen. Zatanna started talking. "Well, I guess the vacation is over. Time to get back to work." He looked at her. "Vacation? Have you ever crossed into a pocket dimension to stop a demon horde from entering this realm? I would hardly call that a vacation. It did have nice scenery. Too bad I forgot my camera." Zatanna continued. "She has kept a low profile while you were gone. It's odd timing she shows up again the day you get back in town." John smirked at her. "It's hardly surprising. All the forces in the universe have conspired to make sure I never take a holiday."
They continued to watch the video. Zatanna continued. "This was taken outside a warehouse in Chinatown. The police determined it was a front for buying and selling of stolen goods. The money trail stops cold at a number of false fronts, likely Society ran or at least one of it's people. It has all the marks of their work. The fact that Gothena was sent to personally extract the man running it further evidences that."
"Stolen goods isn't normally something the Sentinels or Science Police would handle. How did they even get involved here?" John asked. "After you left on urgent matters, we were afraid Gothena might attack so we asked the Science Police to have some of their people do ride alongs with the regular police just in case. We didn't want to take any chances with civilians being caught in the cross fire." John just sat and watched the video feed from the warehouse on loop, rewinding the part where she posed a few times. "She knew we would see this and that we're coming for her. She's not waiting anymore. It's time."
"Summoning portals are very dangerous magic" Circe told her. "This is something you want to be extremely careful with. Summoning a couple of lesser demons is one thing but there are things on the other side you don't want be able to control. It is absolutely essential you don't mess up the spell or you could be in trouble. Most of the demons you summon will be minions of Trigon to some degree but once summoned, the magic will allow you to control them."
"Lets begin with the simplest of summons, an imp. They're annoying little creatures but you have to start small. Now, channel the energies as I taught you and make sure to keep the binding magic in tack during the spell." Circe stood back and Gothena started to focus. A number of magic runes sprang up, almost like they were being drawn on air and then coalesced into a single circle several feet in diameter. A small creature came through and the portal snapped shut behind it. "I live to serve master. What is master's command?"
"Very good" Circe said. "Now banish it and summon another. Do this until you are comfortable with the basic concepts summoning then we can move on to bigger things and even using the portals for travel." Gothena was pleased with herself. Circe was a good teacher. She was strict and her methods could be harsh but Gothena learned fast and her power grew daily.
She was at the Hall for the first time in a couple of weeks. It was a vast place and had amazing views. She spent a couple of hours just wandering around and thinking. She might never see this place again and wanted to take in its grandeur. She teleported back to Metropolis and spent some time flying around the city before returning home. She looked out from the deck at Metropolis at night. It was the best view in city after Lex's office. If she made it through this, she decided to ask Lex if she could stay here permanently.
She sat in one of the deck chairs watching the sky. She was typing on a tablet, composing a letter to Lex and Circe in the event she didn't survive this and set it to autosend in three days. She was going hunting tomorrow. Things had changed again and in light of recent events, she had to bring this to closure and do it sooner rather than later. She went inside and poured herself a drink. She looked at the glass a while then poured it out, got a bottle of water and went back outside. Best to keep a clear head in light of recent events.
As she walked out the door, something hit her hard in the face and knocked her off her feet. She was dazed from the impact. She saw John standing over here. "You know love, sometimes a concealment spell and a 2x4 can be very effective." She groaned through the pain of yet another broken nose and looked up at John. "The last time we met, when I said I wanted you to pound me with your big wood this is not what I had in mind."
"Aren't you a cheeky tart" he said as he smacked her again with the board. He swung again but she blocked it and managed to get back on her feet. This wasn't what she had in mind. She needed a change of venue. She hit him a mind attack designed to invoke fear in him. She knew it wouldn't do much but only needed a second. As he shook his head to clear it, he saw her jump over the rail. She looked up and waved at him as she fell. He jumped after her but he didn't know the city and she managed to lose him in the skyscrapers of Metropolis." He could use spells to fly but didn't have the natural ability she did so she lost him rather quickly.
As she flew, she felt something drip and realized her nose was bleeding. She didn't notice it through the Adrenalin but as that wore off she noticed he broke her nose. Why was it always her nose or her ribs? And why did he come at her in such a heavy handed way? He's a master wizard and he hit her with a stick? What was his game? That made no sense for a caster of his skill. She needed some time to think and headed towards a safe house after taking extra care to make sure she wasn't followed.
Circe called on her. She required her champion to take care of a problem. Another exobyte fueled person was actively attacking Circe's operations in Chinatown, probably under the direction of Wonder Woman. Finally, a real test of her abilities. She was tired of handling light work and running errands. Now it was time for a real fight.
This person was another magic user like herself but her powers derived from the earth not from her mind. That would be interesting. She'd seen powers like that in action and they could be impressive but then, so could she. She smiled to herself. She had been waiting for an opportunity to test herself.
Her chance finally came. She received a text that the person was seen outside of one of Circe's buildings in Chinatown. She arrived and found the guards outside it missing and the door broken down. She cautiously proceeded inside. She knew the building and it had winding hallways connecting to the rooms making a lot of easy ambush points. She passed a number of beastiamorphs defeated by this intruder. That explains the lack of guards.
She finally found the intruder in one of the loading docks on the back side of the building. The person turned around and saw her. They stared at each other a moment. The exo was female but instead of skin, she was covered with a rocky material. Her eyes and hair were the color of lava. Gothena spoke first. "You really need a good moisturizer." The lady looked at her. "You're one to talk about appearances. What are you supposed to be, Emo Barbie?"
Gothena drew her scimitars and started circling. The other exo spun her staff and held fast. They came together in a shower of sparks as blades hit staff. The fight was a long one. The two ladies were evenly matched. The earth exo held her own, hurting Gothena quite a bit but in the end, Gothena, bleeding in several places finally managed to overcome her opponent though it was far from an easy win. She limped over to the defeated foe, laying on the ground before her.
She was about to kill her when she remembered Circe's lesson about not always killing. This was a young hero who would only get stronger but was obviously sent here by someone else and that someone else was likely Wonder Woman. She decided not to kill her. She looked down at to the vanquished opponent and said "Get out and tell Wonder Woman that Circe's operations are off limits. If I see you or any of her people near one of our operations again, I will not hesitate to kill you." The beaten woman fled through a damaged wall and was gone.
Circe, watching it all through a remote feed, smiled. She might learn after all but it was going to be a long painful lesson for her. She picked up a phone and made a call. "She passed. When that earth exo gets back we can eliminate her. Her usefulness is done and best not to have any loose ends." Lex's voice could be heard on the other end. "Good. I was beginning to believe our experiment was doomed to failure."
It was time to finish this. She went to Chinatown and found a small corner bodega. She walked inside, demanded all the money and then hit the cashier knocking him cold and leaving a single long stem rose on the counter. She smiled and blew a kiss at the camera. She waited around outside until the cops arrived, then knocked them all unconscious and left.
She repeated this about a dozen more times in various little stores then went to a final location. She summoned a number of bestiamorphs and demons and had them hide. She wasn't a natural summoner and it would be too slow to do in combat. She had them hide then prepared a number of arcane traps around the area. She turned invisible and waited. He would get her message and come. This was her chosen battleground and he would be here it was only a matter of when and she was pretty sure it wouldn't be long.
John and Zatanna were sitting in front of a series of consoles. On the one in the center was Maggie Sawyer and she looked upset. "Eleven. That's how many places she's hit today. You said you had this and we let you take over on her. Instead, we now have a crime spree going on." Zatanna replied "Maggie this makes no sense. She's wealthy. Why would she commit petty crimes. There is something else going on here. John, what do you think?" He was looking at another screen and stopped. "About what? Sorry, I wasn't listening to you two bicker."
Zatanna scowled at him. "Gothena. What else? She's going on a rampage through Chinatown." Maggie interjected. "She's on a joyride. I don't know why and frankly I don't care why. She is at the root of the problems in Chinatown right now and it needs stopped now or I'm sending in the SCU in full force." John looked at the two women. "I know where she's at and I'm going to meet her." Maggie looked skeptical. "And how exactly do you know?" He looked smug. "Using good old fashioned detective work, something your SCU apparently isn't very good at. Look at the points on a map then fill in some curves instead of straight lines. It's a big heart and only the bottom point is missing. That's where she is and she's waiting for me."