Chapter Eleven: "Ebony Name Thy Name is Enoby."

Harry stumbled out of bed, and looked a bit ragged.

"Anything yet, Gideon?" Harry asked.

"Nothing so far," Gideon said. "Although it's obvious to anyone that something is off with you. Especially after you went to bed last night without engaging in any intercourse."

Harry thought not being up for any fun last night was the biggest proof last night that something was off. Although, he thought it would work itself out last night.

Harry entered the next room, to come acrosst he Legends, along with Mia and Nyssa.

"What's up?" Harry asked.

"We found a piece of the Loom," Nyssa said. "Well, Nyssa did."

"Happy to be of help," Nyssa said.

"And with these stealth suits Ray whipped up, we should be able to get in and out in no time," Ava said.

"Not bad," Harry said.

"Well, I'm just happy to do my part," Ray said.

"Yeah, and I keep thinking that it's a real shame we don't have a toy deal," Nate said. "Because, the potential for variants is high."

"Do you think we can be the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?" Ray asked.

"Oh, maybe, but that show had a lot of problems when you consider show accuracy versus toyline accuracy," Behrad jumped in.

"I know, tell me about it," Nate said. "Like Napoleon Bonafrog for instance, toy looked nothing like the show. Not to mention only two of the Punk Frogs even got toys to begin with."

"And then there were all of the toys that never even got into the show," Ray said. '"I always thought Monty Moose had potential, if he was giving half of the chance."

"Right, right, we're getting off of the subject," Sara said. "Although, April and that jumpsuit was certainly an eye-opener for me. But never mind…we've got to focus on the Loom. Harry, you should sit this one out, until Gideon's done doing the scan."

"Fair enough, I think you got it," Harry said.

"Ava and Gary will be here, standing by in case we need any help," Sara said.

"We got the mission under control," Ray said. "New suits should get us in, get us out, no muss, no fuss."

"Hopefully no puss either," Nate said.

"Ugh, that can get quite messy," Ray said.

"I'll sit this one too, bros," Behrad said. "One hundred and sixty-eight hours of Mr. Parker, and well, the only way to enjoy that show is having a little bit of something. Although, I think Mr. Parker was drinking a bit towards the end."

"Hey, you'd do that much children's programming, you'd drink as well," Sara said.

The rest of the team went off with Ava, Gary and Behrad sticking behind. Although, Zari popped in.

"So, I understand you're still not feeling well after your battle with Herpes."

That statement caused Gary to almost choke on his chocolate bar.

"I'm not giving you the Hiemlich maneuver again," Ava said."And it's Herpo….Herpo the Foul."

"Phrashing, Zari," Behrad said.

"Oh, well, whatever," Zari said. "Anyway, try this Smoothie. It always perks me up when I'm feeling down, and it's all natural."

"Is it herbal?" Behrad asked.

"At this point, I'll try anything," Harry said before taking a drink. "Not too bad. We'll see if it helps."

"Give it time to work its magic, let the vibe just flow," Behrad said.

"Sorry, my vibes are a bit backed up right now," Harry said. "So, they're off. Hope they don't need my help because I'm not feeling it today."

"Yeah, I know," Ava said. "I really hope Gideon can get to the bottom of this."

"All we have to do is wait for the rest of the group to get back," Harry said.

"How long do you think that's going to take?" Zari asked.

"Well, we could play a board game to pass the time," Gary said.

"As long as it's not some cursed board game you found in Constantine's attic," Ava said.

"No, it's one of the greatest bonding experiences we'll ever have."

Gary pulled out the game in question.

"Monopoly!"

"Ah, yes, the game that the Weasley twins got banned from Gryffindor tower," Harry said. "Sally-Anne Perks was never seen again."

"Wait she was killed over Monopoly?" Ava asked.

"No the entire experience was so traumatizing for her, she left," Harry said.

"So, this is the game that teaches the dangers of unchecked capitalization?" Behrad asked.

"I thought that taught with the merger of Disney and Google in 2033," Zari remarked lightly.

Harry shuddered and not because he was getting the chills.

"So, are we going to play?" Gary asked.

"Not sure if it's a good idea," Ava said.

Gary gave her the puppy dog eyes.

"Well, it could be a good bonding experience and a way to pass the time until everyone gets back," Harry said. "If you're all down."

"Fine, why not," Ava said.

"It could be fun," Zari said.

"Sure, why not?"

Mick stumbled out of the room.

"We're playing Monopoly, you want to join us?" Ava asked her.

"That game's too violent," Mick said curtly "I'm going to visit my kid."

"Oh, that's good," Harry said. "Tell her, Mr. Hunter said hi."

Mick just shook his head and left.

"Oh, I'm sure it won't be as bad as everyone says," Ava said.

"Come on, it will be fun!" Gary said.

Ava groaned. She mortgaged pretty much everything she had. Behrad was not doing much better, and Gary was just hanging on, with a monopoly to his name. Harry was ahead by quite a bit, with the railroads, the utilities, and a couple of monopolies to his name. Zari was in the lead.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into that deal," Behrad said.

"Hey, don't be jealous that I'm an amazing businesswoman," Zari said.

"OOOH!" Gary squealed.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"I won second prize in the beauty contest," Gary said.

"Congratulations," Ava said. "And you just landed on Boardwalk."

"RIP," Zari said. "That's going to shut you down, Gary."

"And that's me, out," Ava said.

"Hang on, I can bail you out," Harry said. "Don't want Zari getting that one."

"Oh, this is much too realistic," Ava said.

"What, Harry bailing you out?" Gary asked.

"YES!"

"Gone on Baltic avenue," Harry said to Behrad. "That one hurts."

"And to think, Zari traded those to Harry for Park Place," Behrad said. "Hey, Z, help a bro out."

"Sorry, but I've got to think for the future," Zari said. "And Harry's going to get that property card which will end him, totally. And besides, the last time I lent you money, you never paid me back."

"I was ten and this is a game, not real life," Behrad said.

The game went on, which was basically Harry against Zari, with Ava slowly crawling along. Well, at least until Zari hit the dreaded property tax card. Twice.

"Damn it!" Zari yelled. "I can't believe I hit that damn thing twice."

"That seems like a bit of karma heading your way for not helping your favorite baby bro out of the hole," Behrad said.

"Well, that's it for me," Ava said getting knocked out by one of Harry's railroads. "Dead for me."

"Good one, Gary," Zari said. "Trading the railroads to Harry was a sound investment."

"Hey, it was…."

"You're a terrible businessman, Gary," Zari said.

"It's just a game…."

"And now the Railroad Dragon Baron is going to wipe me out," Zari said. "My carefully crafted empire."

An argument started, about whose fault it was that Harry was winning.

"I have the best properties, a foolproof strategy to win, and Harry's winning off of Railroads, Utilities, and the Browns!" Zari yelled. "THE BROWNS!"

"Zari…"

"THE BROWNS!" Zari yelled. "And how did you keep missing my…you hit Free Parking!"

"Relax, Z, just a game," Harry said. "Luck of the dice."

"More like charming of the dice."

"Excuse me, but Mr. Potter didn't charm the dice," Gideon said. "Oh good, Captain Lance is back with the Loom piece and just in time."

Sara returned along with the remaining Legends, along with Mia and Nyssa, who were in good spirits until they heard shouting and argument.

"Okay, what's going on?" Sara asked.

"They're playing Monopoly," Gideon chimed in.

"Ah, fiddlesticks," Ray murmured.

"There's a good reason why Dad banned that game from the Lance household," Sara said. "Laurel and I almost killed each other over house hoarding."

"It's perfectly within the rules of the game," Mia said.

"Yeah, it's perfectly acceptable to buy the browns for the purposes of preventing anyone else from satcking houses," Sara said.

"I don't know, it's kind of a cheap move," Nate said.

"Agreed," Ray said.

"Don't get me started!"

Sara whistled and everyone stopped.

"Hey, Sara," Harry said. "So, did you get it?"

"We have the first piece of the loom," Charlie said.

"Good, because I've just bankrupted Zari!"

Zari just grumbled.

"Okay, no one end up going the way of Sally-Ann Perks or anything," Sara said. "It's just a game."

The mission went off without a hitch. Harry just hummed thoughtfully.

"Really, no problems?" Harry asked.

"I know, it's new for us too," Nate said.

"I'm shocked," Sara said. "But Nyssa devised the plan and made it work."

"She's entirely too qualified for this team," Nate joked.

"Well, we can also thank Mr. Palmer and his stealth suits," Nyssa said.

"Aw, shucks, happy to help," Ray said.

"One piece, as promised," Charlie said.

"Good, we can deal with your sisters and Astra once we've completed the set," Harry said.

"Yeah, good plan. Really good plan."

A small pop echoed through the Waverider.

"But, while you were out looming, you may have attracted the attention of something quite insidious."

The one and only Mister Mxyzptlk appeared. Sara nearly jumped with a start.

"Gideon, entact anti 5 dimensional being protocols."

"At once, Captain Lance."

A solid cage surrounded Mxy and he was unable to port out.

"Right, forgot you guys put those in, after Murphy had his fun with you," Mxy said. "Murph sends his regards by the way."

"Murphy?" Zari asked.

"Well, Murphy's law is not a superstition," Behrad said. "He's a real fifth dimensional entity who can cause ironic misfortunes to befall humans."

"Namely those who say nothing can go wrong," Gary said. "Turns out that Murphy causes many things to go wrong."

"What are you doing here, Mxy?" Harry asked.

"Hey, I came in peace," Mxy said. "And I brought donuts…the good kind."

The cage is lowered, and Mxy passed them out.

"Hard pass," Zari said. "Chalked full of gluten and empty calories."

"Yeah, we can't be any more different," OG-Zari dryly said to Harry.

"So, what are you doing here?" John asked.

"There's an insidious force that escaped her imprisonment," Mxy said. "And guess what, for once it's not your fault. Crazy, I know."

"Oh ,and I suppose you are the model of good decisions, you fifth-dimensional w…."

"Okay, okay, both of you knock it off," Sara said. "What's this entity?"

"Captain Lance, there's been an urgent shift in the time stream."

"What now?" Sara asked.

"The Harry Potter books no longer exist," Gideon said.

"That's bad, right?" Nate asked.

"I have mixed feelings on this, given what the franchise became," Harry said. "On the one hand, these books inspired people to dgreat things. On the other hand, too many headaches. It took a more hands off role and let's face it, when the author got big, she started to take more and more creative liberties with my entire life story."

"Such as?" Zari asked.

"Do you really think I would have named a child of mine after Snape?" Harry asked.

"Oooh, point well taken," Zari said while wincing. "Albus Severus Potter…."

"That name sounds like a villain origin story waiting to happen," Behrad said while nodding sagely. "And the less we talk about Rowling's social media, the better."

Harry literally was not going anywhere near that minefield.

"No, just…no," Harry said. "But, anyway, I left the books in the hands of the squib writing it. Regretted it later. And the last two books."

"And the Play?" Gary asked.

"There was no play," Harry said curtly.

"But what about the C…."

Ava stamped on Gary's foot to try and cause him to scream in agony.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Ava asked.

"There was no play," Gary said in monotone.

"Well, there's no play, no books, no movies, no video games, no Harry Potter, well I mean, you still lived, but you're not around as a cultural icon," Mxy said. "And no fan fiction of any sort."

"So, silver lining to that cloud," Harry said.

"Well, mixed feelings about fandom aside, it appears our squib scribe had a different muse," Mxy said. "A young girl named Tara. But that's just the form she takes. She has many forms. Many names. And I think you know it well."

"Yes," Harry said. "Ebony,a sadistic chaos lord from the fifth dimension."

"Like the main character in that one fan fiction of yours that's infamous?" Nate asked.

"Yes, exactly," Harry said. "You banished her."

"Well, she's back and more obnoxious than ever," Mxy said. "She managed to find a way to enter the time stream and inspire Joanne before you inspired her. And thus Ebony Meyer Swann was born."

"Oh dear god," Zari murmured.

"Where's Mick to kill it with fire?" Nate asked.

"Exactly," Mxy said. "Not even the cruelest dictators in the world would dare use those books to torture their dissidents. They were that bad."

"What the hell did you assholes do now?"

Mick appeared at the door and grumbled his way in.

"Lita's turned into some kind of emo-goth vampire wannabe, and she looks like something that Hot Topic puked up," Mick said. "I hate those teenage vampire novels. Nothing but trash. Who thought it was a bright idea to have a vampire sparkle? They're supposed to burn in the sunlight. Makes no sense!"

"Well, trash that's replaced me," Harry said. "And it's become popular. Extremely popular. So popular, that as much as I hate the later projects my name has been attached to, it burns my soul."

"So, are you sure you're up for it?" Sara asked. "After what Herpo did to you."

"Herpes or not, he might be the only one who can stop Ebony," Mxy said.

"Herpo," Harry corrected him.

"I'm not sure why everyone keeps getting that wrong," Ava said.

"I have to be ready," Harry said. "And I'm going to have to catch a train. I should have noticed Ebony slipping into my dimension."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up," Charlie said. "We had other things to deal with."

"My fight with Herpo and Voldemort must have weakened the dimensional barriers and allowed Ebony to slip through," Harry said.

"Hey, I'll be happy to lend a hand," Mxy said.

"Right, but no funny business," Sara said.

"Pinky swear?" Mxy asked. "Hey, I can't be playing games. That woman will throw the third dimension, the fifth dimension, and world's beyond just for kicks. Her power will be immense. We have to stop her."

Harry heads off, with Mxy, Charlie, Nyssa, Mia, John, and Sara following him.

On a train, a young aspiring author named Joanne had been writing on various pieces of paper.

"Come on, Jo, just think," she murmured. "You just need one good idea to really make yourself."

Suddenly, a creepy looking teenager, wearing a black tank top, a leather skirt, black fishnets, and thigh high boots, with skin as pale as can be, and dark ebony black hair, hence her name, appeared.

"Vampires are fascinating," she said. "But, misunderstood. You should write a story about a vampire protagonist."

Joanne looked at her.

"I'm not sure…."

"Trust me," she said. "It will be fine."

"Just who are you?'

The mysterious gothic girl opened her mouth, but then sensed something.

"Oh, dear. Those meddling Legends are interfering. And the imp. And I'll grind them into dust. Those disgusting preps and posers will not interfere with my plans."

The stealth suits were disrupted. John moved in and created a binding spell to try and trap Ebony before she attacked. Only to disappear in a puff of smoke.

John reappeared, turned into a rabbit.

"Oh bloody hell, not again," John grumbled.

Mia shot an arrow at the chaos lord who deflected it. Nyssa sent a dagger and Ebony blocked it.

"Despicable preps!" Ebony yelled. "Meet your…."

Sara kicked her right in the face. Ebony blocked Sara's arm and twisted her around.

"Fangs for your neck," Ebony said.

Harry appeared behind Ebony and knocked her away from Sara. Mxy rubbed his fingers together and gave Harry a jumpstart. For a brief second, Harry contained her in an energy field, until Ebony blasted him back.

"She's too strong," Harry yelled.

"Well, we need to figure out another way to contain her," Mxy yelled.

"Don't worry, I'm not done yet," Harry said.

Harry picked up one of Mia's arrow and supercharged it. He almost stabbed it into Ebony's neck but she flashed into dust and appeared behind Harry.

"I'm going to replace you!" she yelled in a sing-song voice. "Now it's time to die you stupid prep!"

Before Ebony can say anything else, Sara caught her with the sword of Genghis Kong and chopped her head off. Harry transported her body off.

"Timing is a bit off," Sara said. "But, good."

"Yeah but we're…"

Ebony's head grew spider legs and she rose up, spitting mad.

"Oi, someone change me back," John said

Mxy snapped his fingers and John turned into a man. A disheveled one, but a man himself.

"A pity, you make such a cute bunny," Mxy said.

"Oh, and you make a better paper clip! You going to ask someone if they want to write a letter?"

Ebony manifested a brand new body.

"There won't be any Harry Potter for anyone to enjoy anymore when I rip your pretty little preppy head off."

Harry sends a flaming dagger at Ebony who dodged it.

"You keep using that word," Harry said. "I don't think it means, what you think it means."

Ebony turned in to a demonic spider monster and rushed with fangs bared at Joanne. Harry grabbed Joanne and teleported her out of the way.

Mxy, Constantine, and Charlie all surrounded the spider to try and keep her from attacking anyone else the train.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the real Harry Potter in my entire life."

Harry chuckled. Joanne's eyes widened in surprise.

"I've never seen anything like Ebony in my life."

"She's a being of pure chaos," Harry said coolly. "She thrives on attention. And she wants to use you to get unprecedented attention."

"I don't know why she thinks I'm someone who can get her what she wants," Joanne said. "I'm a nobody. I'm just struggling to pay my rent and find that one right book idea. Although she almost had been convinced when I was…when she was in there. She's very convincing."

"That's her power," Harry remarked. "Look, I'm going in there, I'm going to help my friends."

"How are you going to defeat her?"

Harry just responded with a smile and started to chuckle.

"Off hand, she can't take any more hits to the ego. Sara, a normal human, but extraordinary, managed to get a good hit on her."

"If we get out of this, I'll write your story," Joanne said. "Anything you want. Any way you want…..if you really want me to."

Harry just looked on for a second. Despite fame getting the better of this woman in the future, she was still a young, aspiring writer with stars in her eyes right now.

"We'll see. Stay safe. I'll be right back."

John, Sara, Mia, Nyssa, and Mxy had all been trapped inside of an energy bubble.

"So, this is part of our plan right, getting captured?" John asked.

"Well, could be worse," Mia said. "Charlie ended up getting knocked off of the train."

The energy bubble cracked around them.

"Couldn't you just poof us out?" Sara asked Mxy.

"Sorry, this bubble is blocking my magic," Mxy said. "I'd get out of here if I could, I'm getting a neck cramp."

"I'll reduce you all to splinters."

A loud whistle filled the train.

"Hey, Mary Sue."

Ebony's eyes glowed red.

"My name, is Ebony! I will crush you you filthy little….ARGH!"

A supercharged cart flew and smacked Ebony in the ribs. This minor distraction allowed the bubble to crack and Mxy to break them all free.

"That's more like it," Mxy said. "Okay, let's try that again."

Suddenly, Mxy aimed a full stream blast at Ebony. Ebony broke away from the blast and teleported away before she return with Joanne.

"One more step, and it will be all over! For millions of children everywhere! Without Harry Potter, there will be no hope. And I will be all powerful!"

Joanne stabbed Ebony in the arm and then shifted to reveal Charlie.

"Yeah, for all powerful, you just fell for the oldest trick in the book," Charlie said.

"NOW!"

Mxy, Harry, and John all teamed up and this time Ebony was trapped. She screamed in agony, with her body getting sucked back into oblvion.

"NO! I WON'T GO BACK!"

Ebony burst into flames, when she had been sucked away.

"She never did like flames," Harry remarked dryly.

Harry took a step forward and collapsed, and breathed heavily. Mia and Sara helped him up.

"I'm fine, just give me a moment," Harry said.

"You're not fine," Sara said.

Harry just shrugged it off. He did use a lot of magic to help banish a chaos lord back to where she came from.

"Thank you."

Joanne graciously looked at Harry.

"I'll keep my promise."

'Yes."

Harry took out the memory flasher and erased Joanne's mind of the events of today, not wanting one bit of the Chaos Lord's influence to linger. Then Harry slipped off into the train, turning invisible. He passed his past self who arrived on the train to encounter Joanne for the first time and get the ball rolling on that entire book series.

For better or for worse, Harry supposed. For better or for worse. He let out a very prominent groan when walking down the train.

"Ebony's back in her cage," Mxy said "Lots to do. Good luck in your looming."

"See you around."

Mxy nodded and closed his eyes.

"Kltpzyxm!'

With that, he disappeared to the fifth dimension with a pop.

Harry reflected back today. Everything was good. Harry Potter was what it was, warts and all. Mick was happy his daughter was back to normal. Well not an emo-goth vampire wannabe anyway.

To be honest, with all of the good news, Harry was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"I've finished my diagnostic. And it's not encouraging."

And there it was, Gideon's voice cut into the room. Harry broke out into a heaving sigh when she began to speak.

"Lay it on me, please," Harry suggested for her.

"The venom which Herpo's snake used is amplifying the potency of the Basilisk venom previously in your veins. It is also reducing the potency of the Phoenix tears that Fawkes left behind. This is causing you to utilize a higher than average level of magic. And it will cause further issues as it progresses. And given that this snake was personally bred by Herpo the Foul, there's no antidote."

Harry just let out a heaving, frustrated sigh.

"How much time?"

"Twenty-one days," Gideon said. "You have twenty-one days to figure out a way to counteract the venom. Or it will be the end. And it won't be a pleasant way to die either. Your magic will essentially tear you apart from the inside as you expire. It's a really ghastly way to die. I'm sorry."

Harry eyeballed the one piece of the Loom they acquired and looked thoughtfully.

Desperate times. Desperate times.

To Be Continued.