AN: Hi all here is the next chapter of Limitless. I received a few friendly requests asking me to update it so I decided to put in a few hours to get it all finished off and published. Hope you all enjoy the chapter, the support has been great so far.
Would love it if you left a comment or a review. If you have any questions then feel free to PM me.
Disclaimer: I do not own DC or Harry Potter, as much as I would like to.
( - )
(Last Time)
But as they got out of the car, Starfire and Raven following Harry as he strolled up to the building, they saw that view of the building in front of them changed, the bordered up windows and graffiti fading away to reveal a small, very old looking, ramshackled building. One which was wedged between two much taller buildings more modern looking buildings.
Glancing over at his companions as he approached the building, Harry noted that they two both seemed to see the building from what it really was. Not just some abandoned old building but an old fashioned tavern, one which was still in use as the glow of lantern light could be seen coming from behind the thick glass windows. Seeing this Harry noted that the protections around the building, the ones that were meant to keep out muggles obviously didn't work on Raven who was magical nor on Starfire who was an alien. The fact muggle repelling wards didn't work on aliens was certainly interesting and something Harry would have to look into at a later date.
Walking towards the building Harry turned around an amused look on his face as he saw that both Raven and Starfire were looking up at the sign above the door.
"The Lusty Leprechaun?" Raven said in bemusement as she looked over at Harry.
Harry merely shrugged in response, a look of amusement on his face as he saw Starfire's cheeks darken. "I promise you it's not some magical whorehouse."
Raven cocked an eyebrow at that. "Knowing you I am not sure whether to believe you or not?"
"Ouch, that's cold." Harry replied good-naturedly before he opened the door and strode in.
( - )
Chapter 4
( - )
(In the Lusty Leprechaun)
"So Tony, do you have what I am looking for?" Harry asked as he looked over at the large beefy man opposite him. The man in question being an Irish Wizard, one with a dubious reputation who had operated an illegal smuggling business out of the Lusty Leprechaun for going on thirty years now. The other wizard had thick bear like arms, a large stomach that spilled out over his belted trousers, with a slightly too tight button up shirt over the top that allowed a sliver of his belly to be seen poking out below the hem. As well as that, Tony had a shaven head, piercing blue eyes and a stubbly grey beard.
Despite the man's positively thuggish looks however, he actually had quite a friendly and open attitude. Not batting an eye when he first saw Harry and co enter his pub. Despite one of the attractive girls accompanying Harry having entirely green eyes, orange skin and waist length red hair, whilst the other girl had grey skin, violet eyes and purple hair. Neither of the girl's possible creature heritage, nor the fact that their striking appearance would put a Veela to shame caused him to bat and eye as he instead treated them as any other customer.
After all Tony didn't have a problem dealing with half breeds and creatures, as long as they had a bit of coin he didn't care.
That being said a slightly greedy gleam had appeared in his eyes when Harry had order three drinks at the bar, flashing a lot of gold as he did so. With that gleam becoming more prominent when Harry had inferred he was looking to find a person who traded in 'questionable goods'. Which after a brief conversation where each of them made sure the other wasn't an undercover auror, they sat down to do business.
"Aye, I've got what you're after. A Goblin forged ward breaker, made of Goblin forged steel and enchanted by a Goblin Runemaster, guaranteed!" Tony replied a large smile spreading across his face as he looked over at the slight, dark haired teen opposite him. His gaze flickering from the teen's intense green eyes to the attractive girls on either side of him, with the grey skinned one meeting his gaze a bored look on her face, whilst the orange skinned one didn't appear to notice as she was instead looking around his establishment in wonder. A soft smile playing around her face as she looked at the few other people in the pub, including a few dodgy, yet eccentric looking wizards and witches and even a couple of hags.
Harry nodded as he heard that, a very faint smile playing around his mouth as he evaluated the man in front of him. He didn't doubt that what the man was offering was the real thing, after all the Wizarding community was small and tightly knit, one didn't get far in this kind of business if it became known that they were selling false or faulty goods. Especially because criminal magicals and creatures of the occult often had a nasty streak and would take offence to perceived slights very easily. Meaning that if someone like Tony did try to cheat one of them, he wouldn't have lived this long.
Harry knew that he himself could be a bit prickly at times, though he liked to blame that on the fact he currently thought of himself as a creature of the occult, after all he was a former wizard who had been mutated by Kryptonite, a magical Metahuman, a unique singularity. Neither a human nor wizard either, but instead something more.
"Somethin' like that though it's pretty damn rare, so I hope you know it'll cost you." Tony continued his smile growing as he met Harry's gaze, the greedy glint in his eyes becoming more prominent at the thought of the amount of money he'd be able to make from this deal.
"Magical or muggle?" Harry asked coolly, his gaze calm and tranquil as he looked at the affable, yet greedy wizard in front of him. His right hand idly resting on his internally expanded satchel, his left hand absentmindedly drumming on the table in front of him.
Tony paused as he heard that, a contemplative look on his face, as he thought over what he would find more useful. "Let's say muggle money, dollars if you have it, sterling if necessary."
Harry cocked an eyebrow at that, curious about his choice but not oppose to it. After all most of his money was in muggle currency at the moment. He did of course have gold, jewels and enchanted coins of course, but his supply of those were a lot sparser as muggles were easier to steal from and con then magicals. "How much are we talking here?"
"For a rare item like this? Well it won't be cheap, I mean you know what the Goblins or MACUSA would do to me if they heard I was trading a Goblin forged artefact, one which has been registered as a 'Class A Dark Artefact' by the ICW too?" Tony continued, thumbing at his nose as he began to wax lyrical about the risks of this trade, and the potential backlash he might face if caught.
It was of course all exaggerated horseshit, Tony had no doubt paid off the corrupt America Magical Law Enforcement and would face no more than a slap on the wrist at most if he was caught by wizards. Though if he was caught by Goblins that would be a different matter, though even that would be questionable considering the truces that had been drawn up centuries past with them. No this was all just a tactic for Tony to wheedle as much money out of Harry as he could.
"A price Tony." Harry replied bluntly, his fingers drumming on the table top in front of him, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the sparsely populated pub, just in case something with the deal went south and he needed to act, or rather react with a massive overkill response.
"Three million dollars." Tony responded just as abruptly, his smile tightening slightly as he met Harry gaze, becoming almost shark like as he saw he now had the attention of the teen's two attractive companions.
"One million." Harry said calmly as he met Tony's shark like smile with a stoic look of his own.
"What is this? Daylight robbery?!" Tony shot back an affronted look on his face. "Two point eight million."
"One point five million."
"Two point seven"
"One point six."
"Two point five."
"One point eight."
"Two point two."
"Two million, here and now, final offer." Harry finished his hand slapping on the table to emphasis his point.
Tony paused as he heard that, his eyes narrowing as he thought to himself of the pros and cons of accepting the price. After all he would be shifting some dodgy merchandise and making a tidy profit on it, however there was a chance he could offload this item for a lot more. Though holding onto it could be potentially risky especially as he didn't know how this teen might react to being told no. "Ok two million."
Harry nodded as he heard that, opening the flap of his satchel as he did so. With that done he began to telekinetically extra wads of cash, each of one which had a strip of paper binding it, with '100,000 dollars' stamped on it.
Widening his eyes slightly as he saw this, Tony proceeded to just sit back and watch as Harry lay twenty of these bricks of cash in front of him, creating a small mound of cash in front of the bemused Irishman.
"Two million dollars in cash, now where is my ward breaker?" Harry said as he looked over the mound of money at Tony.
Narrowing his eyes Tony pulled out his wand, gaining the interest of the purple haired girl as he did so. Sending Harry a suspicious look Tony then proceeded to cast a few spells on the cash, checking for its authenticity. After all wizards had been known to try and transfigure muggle money before. More often than not these imitation were very easily spotted by banks as forgeries, but could easily catch a common lay person out.
Sheathing his wand, his curiousity assuaged, Tony took the money, storing it within the expanded pockets of his worn coat. With that done he then went into his pockets again, only this time he pulled out a metal spike with a large round gemstone on the top. "You know for an Englishman you're not bad."
"And for a Paddy you're decent enough." Harry replied as he reached out and took it, looking closely at the item in his hand as he did so. Noticing on close inspection that there were a number of runic patterns that were running up and down the item, all of which were dull and inactive at the moment. Narrowing his eyes as he saw this, Harry then looked up at Tony, "I take it when I try and use this, that it will work?"
"You have the Tony guarantee." Tony grinned back, a confident expression on his face.
"Good, because if it doesn't then I will find you, and then I will turn you inside out." Harry replied back just as cheerily, the macabre content of his statement not being reflect in his chipper attitude.
Tony shifted uncomfortably as he heard that, but otherwise didn't look too worried. "Like I said friend, the Tony guarantee."
Slipping the item in his satchel Harry gave Tony a nod, "Good, now that's over I'm curious. Do you have any news from over the pond?"
"What from 'Old Blighty'? Well I've heard quite a few things, though that depends on your interests? Is it muggle gossip or magical that you're after?" Tony replied back easily as he relaxed back in his chair after shifting all of the moment on the table into one of his expanded pockets, any former tension disappearing now that their shady transaction was dealt with.
"Magical." Harry replied back, glancing sideways at Raven as he did so.
"Well there is the Quidditch World Cup of course. Ireland versus Bulgaria, though of course you know which side I'll be supporting!" Tony replied a grin on his face. "Other than that not much. There was a bit of a to-do with some Rat Animagus called Pettigrew escaping from Azkaban a year or so ago, though no one has seen hide nor hair of him since. The old Black Family have also apparently recently engaged their eldest daughter to the Potter Heir, binding the two not only politically but by blood. Of course that is Old World politics, not something that should both us common folk."
Harry nodded as he heard that, feeling absolutely nothing at the reference to his family. After all he had never known them and so had no interest or animosity towards them, to him they meant nothing. "The elder Potter son?"
"Aye that confused me too, apparently the previous eldest Potter child has now been declared legally dead by the Wizengamot. Not sure what happened to the lad but apparently there was an incident in his Uncle and Aunt's house and he went missing, from what I heard it was accidental magic or something, after which nothing was heard from him again. Was a really embarrassing scandal for the Potter family of course, 'especially since the Uncle and Aunt were muggles, but didn't stop them from trying to find him and contesting the decision to declare him dead." Tony replied back his grin growing as he shared all of the tightly kept secrets of the Wizarding nobility, delighting as much as the next person dragging out the skeletons in the closets of the Wizarding elite. "Other than that there was a bit of trouble at Hogwarts, but old Dumbledore hushed that all up pretty sharpish, especially with the Tri-Wizard tournament about to take place at Hogwart's, old Dumbles wouldn't want anythin' get in the way of that."
Nodding at that Harry found himself a little curious about the tournament, after all he had never heard of it before. Not that he had any real inclination of going to Hogwarts as a student, especially since he wasn't able to use magic, still it might be interesting to watch a few events if he found the time. "Anything else?"
Tony paused here, before he nodded. "Aye, apparently there has been a bit of a resurgence in the old Dark Faction, you know the old followers of You Know Who, and those who still follow the ways of Grindleward. Yeah, apparently a new group is beginning to emerge, one which is involved in some way with…" Here Tony looked around, his voice quieting down as he leaned forwards. "Demons."
"Demons…" Harry repeated quietly his attention shifting to Raven as he heard a sharp intake of breath from her, before going back looking back to Tony. Very curious now as to what was happening, as he himself knew next to nothing about Demons, only that if you see one, you should run the other way pretty sharpish.
Tony nodded at that. "Yeah, I mean I thought when old You Know Who was killed off that things would calm down a little. Apparently not though, apparently his old followers are gaining in strength and have allied with… well I take it your familiar with some of the stranger aspects of the muggle world."
"Metahumans, or supervillains and superheroes as some of them like to call themselves?" Harry asked curiously. "I though the wizarding world was trying to maintain its secrecy, and you know, avoid shit like that."
Tony nodded as he heard that. "As a rule the different Magical governments are, but you know there are always a few rogues. Especially when it comes too stuck up Purebloods and some of the more… entrepreneurial wizard and witches out there…"
Harry shrugged at that, not really that bothered about people breaking the Statute of Secrecy, after all he did so on a nearly daily basis. "It's about time there was a shake up in the magical world, things have been stagnant for decades."
"It's true enough." Tony replied back with a shrug.
"I take it you don't have any names on just which Metahumans the Purebloods are getting mixed up with." Harry enquired curiously, thinking about the datapad he stole from Batman as he did so, and all of the information that device held on the different heroes and villains.
"No, it's all pretty hush hush. But if you ask me, I would think it was one of the ones who use magic, I mean you know what Purebloods are like right?" Tony responded as he pushed himself to his feet, once again looking around the sparsely populated pub, focusing in on a new customer that had just wandered in. A wizened old hag by the looks of it.
"Yeah, I've heard some things." Harry replied as he too pushed himself to his feet, both Raven and Starfire mirroring his actions. Even as the Tamaranean Princess continued to gaze around the old fashion looking pub curiously, the girl in question currently staring rather rudely at the hideous looking hag that had just walked in.
Tony grinned as he heard that. ""Right, well anyway I got things to do, so unless there is anything else you want?"
Harry paused as he heard that before raising his hand, getting Tony's attention. "Yeah I have something else actually. I recently acquired a lot of data from that 'Batman' guy in Gotham. This data being on multiple heroes, villains and artefacts, including personal data, such as identities, locations, strength, weaknesses… families…"
That got Tony's attention as he twisted around and looked at Harry, that greedy glint once again appearing in his eye. "And you want to sell this do you?"
"I want you to make it known that I have this information, and that for the right price I would be willing to sell parts of it." Harry replied a smirk on his own face as he saw the greed in Tony's eyes. After all Harry wasn't going to sell it all, not as one big bundle at least. But he might be tempted to sell bits and pieces. Plus he also had another reason for making this known.
"I'll pass that information on. There will likely be a lot of interest in what you've got your hands on." Tony replied, ignoring the hag as he focused in on Harry. "An awful lot of interest from both villains, heroes and criminals alike."
"That's what I'm counting on." Harry replied back as he turned around and made to leave, Raven following along behind him, of course only after she had grabbed the arms of the curious Starfire and dragged her along too.
( - )
(A few minutes later)
"So I have to say I'm surprised Raven, you were strangely quiet in there?" Harry spoke up as he drove his car back through the streets of Salem. "I never took you for a socially awkward person…"
Raven gave Harry a dry look at that, not rising to the bait as she instead frowned slightly, before looking back at Harry.
"That wizard wasn't what I was expecting." Raven finally replied as she looked over at Harry.
"What did you expect some wise old man with a long waist length beard and a pointy hat? Not all wizards look like Gandelf, Raven, I hope you know that." Harry said a slight grin on his face. "Don't get me wrong though, a lot of them still wander around in robes, and some of them do have pointy hats, but that is mostly the Purebloods."
"Purebloods?" Starfire suddenly spoke up, surprising the other two as she leaned forward and looked between the two of them. "Is that some kind of title or class?"
Glancing at Starfire, Raven nodded her head before looking to Harry. "Yeah, I was curious about that too, does the 'Wizarding World' operate some kind of caste system or something?"
Harry paused as he heard that, taking his eyes off the road and looking over at his two companions. "Yes, of sorts. I wouldn't say there is an official caste system. But I would say that there is a certain hierarchy as well as rampant nepotism, where the older and richer Wizarding families are on top whilst the younger poorer families are on the bottom. There is also a lot of prejudice over blood, or at least there used to be, nowadays it is seen as… inappropriate to talk about a Wizard or Witches blood status."
"Blood?" Raven questioned, intrigued now at this whole new world she was hearing about. One that was very different form the small, isolated society she had originally grown up in.
"Yes, if a magical can prove that three or four generations of their family tree were all Wizards and Witches then they would be seen as Purebloods. If a person had no known magical blood in their family tree then they would be known as a Mudblood, often these are people who had the wizarding genes in them, which were activated through some unknown stimuli. Many Purebloods look down on Mudbloods and think of them as usurpers and impure, which is all a load of nonsense really as they all are part of the same species." Harry continued, choosing his words carefully as he drew on what he knew about the Wizarding World to explain some of the deep-seated bigotry and intolerance to the other two. "Then finally there are the Half-bloods, they have either muggle or Mudblood ancestry as well as Pureblood and Half-blood. They are seen as the norm nowadays as with a society as small as ours many families branch out and look for new blood, you know to avoid the whole inbreeding."
Raven wrinkled her nose slightly at the thought of inbred wizards.
Starfire however didn't bat an eyelash as she instead gave Harry a curious look. "And what are you Harry?"
"Half-blood, my mother's a Mudblood and father's a Pureblood." Harry shrugged. "Not that it really matters."
"From what you mentioned before, I am guessing that there has been a lot of violence over a person's blood status?" Raven asked as she thought back on what she had heard about.
"Ermm yeah, there was a 'Dark Lord' a while back who wanted use blood supremacy as a way to garner support so he could purge his enemies from Magical Britain and take over the country for himself. Actually there has been quite a few Dark Lords over the years who have done similar things." Harry continued before he saw the dry look on Raven's face and laughed. "Sorry, what I mean to say is although magicals might be able to use magic and have their own society they are just as ignorant, stupid, greedy and violent as humanity. Just like how humans constantly fight and kill each other over religion and other such things, so do magicals fight and kill each other over blood status, heritage and… well you get the picture?"
Raven let out a sigh at that, a little bit disappointed with what she had learned. When she had heard from Harry about the Magical World she thought it could be some kind of utopia, only for it to turn out that the Magical World was as corrupt and fucked up as the mundane world.
"Yeah the place isn't perfect, but it's not all bad. There is some pretty cool things to see, magic is after all a wonderful thing." Harry spoke up, a slight frown on his face as he saw the flash of disappointment on Raven's face, a part of him wanting to cheer the girl up.
Raven nodded as she heard that knowing full well about both the wonder of magic and the dangers, as she herself was a skilled wielder of magic. Pausing for a second as she looked back over at Harry, Raven noticed the frown on his face. "Do you miss it?"
"Miss what?" Harry asked back curiously, his head tilted to one side.
"Miss being able to use magic?" Raven asked, her dark eyes locked on Harry as she saw him tense up slightly. A part of her wondering whether she had pushed her 'new friend', too far with the invasiveness of her question.
"Well… I guess it's hard to miss something you've never really used. I mean, when I first came into contact with Kryptonite as a kid, I didn't even know I was a Wizard, I'd never used magic before I lost my ability to fully wield it. Still though I like my psychokinetic abilities, I really do and I wouldn't trade them, not even for my original abilities." Harry replied his tone low and slow as he honestly tried to convey his thoughts on the matter. Finding himself comfortable in the presence of the two girls as he opened up, even if it was only a little bit.
"What if you were able to use magic again and keep your other abilities?" Koriand'r suddenly asked a slight smile on her face as she saw the sudden gleam that appeared in Harry's emerald eyes at that question.
"Oh, well I'd have no problem with that, no problem at all." Harry said a grin on his face as he turned back to the road and continued to drive back to the location of the Tower of Fate.
( - )
(At the Tower of Fate)
A few minutes later found Harry and his companions once again standing opposite the hidden location of the Tower of Fate, the car parked to one side of the road as the three of them seemingly stood in front of an empty field just like they had before their trip into Salem. Only this time they were more prepared, with Harry holding the ward breaker, the Goblin forged device he had just bought in his right hand. His emerald gaze fixed on the empty field in front of him.
Standing next to him Raven glanced down at the device in Harry's hands before looking back at the hidden Tower of Fate, her magical senses stretched as she gently explored the powerful wards surrounding the building. Her touches feather light as she realised how complex and strong they were, far more so than anything else she had ever encountered. Which is why she was so dubious that the innocuous device in Harry's hands could break them. "Are you sure that little trinket will work?"
"It should do, as long as it is the real deal. I mean don't get me wrong Goblins might be nasty little blighters and their ability to cast magic is woeful at best. But their craftsmanship and skills at enchantment, curse breaking and warding, well you'll struggle to find anyone better. If I'm honest Goblins are probably some of the greatest enchanters in the world." Harry replied objectively, after all he was not exactly fond of the greedy, long finger creatures himself, but even so he could appreciate their skill. There was a reason after all that there had never been a truly decisive victory in any of the many wars the Wizards and Goblins had fought.
"These wards are very powerful though." Raven said uncertainly as she looked over at Harry, not sure whether the former Wizard understood just how powerful the protections around the Tower was.
"Well I guess we'll just have to see just how they will hold up against a Goblin ward Breaker, one specifically devised to break the strongest of Wizarding wards during times of war." Harry replied, trusting in Raven's senses, yet also trusting in Goblin craftsmanship as he took a step forward and slammed the spiked device into the empty space in front of him.
Almost instantly he could tell something was happening as the runic script on the device lit up with an intense blue glow, at the exact same time as the wards became visible to the naked eye, with a large golden dome covered in intricate runic script and arcane symbol appearing in front of Harry. The dome stretching to encompass what must be the whole of Tower of Fate.
Ignoring this for now Harry concentrated as he felt the device heat up in his hands, pulling on the mutated magic based power that flowed through him as it did so. The gem at the end device beginning to glow now as it began to absorb the magic that powered the wards.
Looking up Harry watched as large cracks began to form in the dome of energy as the device disrupted the magic fueling the wards, causing them to begin to unravel, before without a sound or any further theatrics the dome burst. A wall of air exploding outwards and ruffling Harry, Starfire and Raven's clothing and hair as the wards collapsed leaving the building now visible and unprotected.
The tower being revealed to be a monolithic beast of a building, made of large stone blocks and in the shape that one would expect from a tower connected to a medieval castle, with crenellations running along the top of the tower and no visible windows or openings at all, save for a set of heavy, wooden double doors.
Smirking as he saw this Harry looked over at Raven, only to find the other girl's violet eyes were not gazing at the tower but instead were looking at Harry's hands. Or more precisely at the smoking Ward Breaker he was currently holding. A look of faint surprise and slight concern visible on her face.
Looking down at it, Harry to was somewhat taken aback as he saw the runic script had now stopped glowing, though there was smoke still coming off the now very warm metal. But that wasn't what had grabbed his attention though, no that was the gemstone that was set on the end of the device, which even now was glowing with trapped energy, magic that it had absorbed when it destabilised and broke down the wards. Looking at it Harry likened it to a swirling maelstrom of magic, one that looked like it was even now fighting to break free. "Well this looks… stable…"
Raven gave Harry a bland look at that.
Shrugging Harry stuffed his hand into the pocket of his coat and pulled out an empty moleskin pouch, one that like his satchel had been expanded inside, even if it hadn't' been to the same extent. The item in question being more a novelty item he had picked up the last time he was in Diagon Alley, with the pouch only allowing the wearer to open it, an interesting trinket that could be used to safely store things. "I think I'll this in here for now."
With that said Harry stuck the device in the pouch, the mouth of the pouch expanding more than was naturally possible as it swallowed the still smoking device before closing.
Nodding his head and stick the pouch back in his pocket, Harry then took a step forward and began to make his way to the now revealed Tower of Fate. Following behind him Raven raised her hands, drawing on her magic as she prepared for anything, after all Doctor Fate the powerful mage who lived here was all but unknown to her with Batman's data being vague at best in regards to the mysterious hero, however judging from the strength of the Tower's protections he was going to be a formidable opponent.
Following behind them was Starfire, who like Raven prepared herself for a fight. Her hands becoming covered in green energy even as her eyes began to glow. The Warrior Princess just as prepared as her gloomy companion for whatever might be within the Tower, in fact Kori was quite excited. With her race being a warrior based one the orange skinned girl was always up for a good tussle.
In contrast to the other two Harry was a lot more casual as he strode up to the tower, his hands in the pocket of his coat. Humming a little tune to himself as he mentally lashed out with his telekinetic powers, his eyes taking on a faint glow as he blew the doors to the Tower open revealing an empty stone chamber within. One which all three entered without hesitation, ignoring how the stone floor below broke apart revealing a lake of lava beneath as all three of them instead took to the air using their respective powers. Harry lashing out once more with a lance of telekinetic energy that sheared through the roof as the three of them ascended, blasting aside anything that got in his way.
"There's someone on the top floor. He feels… magical but not overly so." Raven said to Harry as they continued to ascend, tearing through the now defenseless tower as they headed for the top. The girl occasionally using her magic to assist Harry in paving the way upwards, slightly confused as she sensed a number of powerful magical objects in the tower, but no one who matched the power of Doctor Fate, the one who must had created the wards that had once protected this tower.
"That must be Kent Nelson, the current wielder of the Helmet of Fate. No doubt the old man is going for the Helmet so he can fight us off!" Harry replied as he increased his pace, his body now glowing green as he started sending multiple lances of telekinetic energy upwards.
Flying alongside him Starfire also increased her pace, her long red hair flowing behind her as she began throwing out bolts of energy, assisting Harry as they closed in on the top floor and the slowly moving Kent Nelson.
( - )
(With Kent Nelson)
Further up the tower Kent Nelson, an old man in his eighties, with wispy grey hair and pale and heavily winkled skin tried to quickly make his way to the plinth upon which an elegant golden helmet with a sharpened fin on top and two eyeholes was resting.
Kent let out a groan as he tried to hurry, his cane shaking in his hand as he felt the intruders closing in on him.
The attack had taken him completely by surprise. He had been napping at the time when he had first felt the defenses go down, or to be more precise shatter, with the backlash from that having almost given him a heart attack. Both because of the backlash from the broken wards but also the shock that something could shatter them like that. He knew that there were devices out there that could accomplish this feat, but for them to work one would have to know where the Tower of Fate was. After all the tower's secrecy had always been one of its greatest defenses.
Not that any of that mattered to Kent at the moment. No, all that mattered was that he get to the Helmet of Fate. After which he could don the magical artefact and gain the strength he would need to crush the intruders. As he hurried forwards a part of him knew that this would likely be the last time he would be able to do this, as the strain of using the Helmet of Fate might be too much for his old body.
Still he wouldn't let that both him. No, all that mattered was getting to the Helmet and seeing off these intruders, after which he could put the protections back up and then begin making plans for his demise, after allot he Tower could not be left undefended.
It wasn't how he had been hoping to spend the day, but still.
With that in mind the old man continued forward, ignoring the pain in his knees and hips as he rushed for the Helmet and his one chance to stop these interlopers in their tracks. Before he could get within ten metres of the Helmet however, the floor at his feet exploded outwards. The force of the explosion hurling Kent off his feet and into a nearby wall, several of his ribs breaking from the impact, his brittle ones breaking from the impact with the hard stone wall.
Pushing away his pain for now, Kent shakily raised his hand, the words of a spell on his lips as he saw three figures flying up out of the hole in the floor. His eyes narrowing as he began to draw on his own reserves of magic, small though they were when compared to the might of Doctor Fate, hoping to catch the three unawares and hopefully finish them off.
Unfortunately though he would never have the chance, because as he raised his hands and made to send an attack at one of the intruders, a dark haired teen with piercing green eyes, he found himself incapacitated. As with a flick of his hand the green eyed teen used some kind of power to shatter Kent's hands. The bones of his fingers twisting and splintering, his wrists becoming mangled ruins. At the same time as this was happening Kent found himself encompassed by some kind of invisible force, unable to move a muscle as he just stared on in shock as the three intruders descended to the ground.
The first of them being the green eyed teen, who upon landing on the ground ignored Kent in favour of approaching the Helmet of Fate. The other two however, one a very tall and admittedly beautiful orange skinned woman with waist length red hair looked at him for a moment, a curious expression on her face as she tilted her head to the side. The other though, was a grey skinned girl with purple hair who was looking down at him strangely, with this girl possessing a significant amount of magic within her.
Seeing all this Kent tried to struggle, tried to warn the dark haired teen not to touch the helmet. But to no avail though as the telekinetic force holding him was too strong.
( - )
(With Harry, Koriand'r and Raven)
"Don't you think that was a bit over the top?" Raven spoke up as she looked down at the wounded old man. Not sure how she should really feel over this. After all the man was very old and looked so vulnerable as he lay broken against the wall of the tower, however she also knew that before Harry had reacted that this same man had been preparing to blow Harry's head off with magic.
Glancing back Harry looked from Raven to the wide eyed Kent Nelson. "I claim self-defense."
"Ermm I think he is trying to say something." Kori suddenly said as she leant over the old man curiously. The Tamaranean prodding the man with one of her fingers as she noticed that he seemingly couldn't move, the mage no doubt being bound by Harry's telekinesis.
"Yeah probably to throw another attack at us." Harry replied cynically as he turned away from the incapacitated old man and instead walked over to the plinth the Helmet of Fate was resting on. His eyes gleaming in the gloomy chamber as he came within arm's reach of it. A slight sigh leaving his mouth as he reached out and picked it up, a look of fascination on his face as he felt the warmth of the metal in his hands, and heard a faint whispering echoing around his head. One which he was easily able to ignore, his will power and mental fortitude being the main reason his telekinetic power was so deadly and versatile.
"No I think he is trying to say something, a warning maybe." Raven commented as she looked at the old man's frantic eyes, which by now were completely fixed on Harry. An impressive feat considering Starfire was still poking at him curiously, the green eyed alien having bent over slightly to do so, likely revealing more of her cleavage to the man that was strictly appropriate as she did so.
"Fine, let's hear what he has to say." Harry replied dully as he clicked the fingers on his freehand, releasing his telekinetic grip enough to let the old man speak. Causing Starfire to back away as the man began to move.
"Don't put on the helmet!" Kent Nelson immediately shouted at Harry. "You don't know what you're dealing with!"
"Don't I? Well let's see this is the Helmet of Fate, an ancient, and extremely powerful magical object. Which if old Batsy's information was right was created millennia by the Lord of Order, Nabu along with a couple of other funky items that are probably also in this tower." Harry replied as he glanced over at Kent, a bored expression on his face.
"If you know that then you must know what will happen if you put the Helmet on!" Kent shouted, his tone turning pleading.
"What the 'spirit' of Nabu that is bound to the helmet will try to possess me and use my body as a vessel to become the new 'Doctor Fate'?" Harry questioned, his tone turning amused as he ignored the looks of shock both Raven and Kori threw his way at that statement, after all when explaining his plot he might not have shared that little tidbit with his companions. "Somehow I think I can deal with some old spirit."
"You have no idea do you? Your arrogance must know no limits if you think you can handle the power and responsibility that Helmet contains." Kent said the look of shock on his face turning to distain as he looked at the other man, sensing that the man seemed to possess powerful magic, although that magic that was so tainted that it took Kent a while to work out it was in fact magic. Focusing on him Kent could tell the man's power was not tainted by demons but by something else, something unfamiliar.
"I prefer to think of it as confidence." Harry replied before without another word he put on the Helmet.
Almost instantly his entire body was covered in a pillar of golden magic, one that blasted the other three people in the room backwards. With Raven and Kori both using their ability to fly to stabilize themselves in midair. Kent Nelson however was not as lucky as he was one again slammed backwards against the wall.
Not that the old man seemed to care as he instead looked over at where Harry was previously stood. His eyes fixed on the pillar of swirling golden magic that had over taken the area. "You fool… you're lost now, no one can overcome the power of Nabu."
"Harry!" Kori shouted after hearing Kent's muttered words, flying forwards as she did so as she tried to get to Harry, only to be blasted backwards by the pillar of magic.
"Starfire, there is nothing we can do. We'll just have to wait, and hope that that nut job had a plan when he put that Helmet on." Raven said her voice soft as she gripped the taller alien princess's shoulder, her eyes fixed intensely on the pillar of magic that had overwhelmed Harry.
Soon enough the two of them got their answer as without any indication the pillar of magic just ceased to be. The room going entirely quiet as the figure of Harry was revealed for all to see.
"Impossible…" Kent Nelson muttered as he stared at the sight in front of him. Shocked that what he was looking at was not Doctor Fate reborn as he had suspected. But instead the teen was still standing where he previously had, only now he was wearing the Helmet of Fate, the eyes of which, instead of glowing like molten gold of Doctor Fate as Kent had thought they would, they instead were glowing, poisonous green colour.
"Well, I have to say this feels pretty damn awesome!" Harry said, his voice coming out deeper and more powerful than usual as he flexed his hands, before raising them up to his head and feeling around at the Helmet he was now wearing.
Raising his hand in front of him, Harry then drew on the immense arcane knowledge the Helmet held within it, as well as the potent power that was now his to command. Almost instantly his hand became enshrouded in orb of flickering green fire. Raising his other hand Harry then summoned and orb of crackling lighting in that one, the lightning crackling as it ran up and down his arm.
"Oh yeah, this is definitely going to be fun!" Harry commented as he looked around the broken up room, exulting in the power and control he now had.
"Harry? Is that still you?" Raven asked as both she and Starfire descended to the ground, her gaze fixed cautiously on the Helmet clad figure of Harry. Her entire body tingling as she felt the waves of immense magic power rolling off Harry's form.
Turning to look at that two, Harry nodded his head. "Yeah, Nabu's spirit tried to possess my body when I put on the Helmet. But he failed."
"How?" Kent Nelson muttered weakly, ignoring his numerous broken bones and pulverized organs, caused by from crashing into the wall and as well as his maimed hands. His attention instead fixed entirely on Harry, a look of shock on his face. "How could you possibly fight off Nabu? One of the Lords of Order?"
Dispersing the elemental magic in his hands, Harry reached up and pulled the golden helmet off of his head. The power emanating from him disappearing as the glowing eyes holes ones again became empty. The Helmet sliding off Harry's head easily, revealing his messy black hair, crooked smirk and twinkling emerald eyes beneath.
Holding the helmet in his left hand, Harry raised his right and once again tried to summon some fire, only to be disappointed as nothing happened, the ability to cast magic seemingly being tied to the Helmet of Fate. "Well that's disappointing."
"Harry!" Starfire shouted as she bounded over to Harry and threw her arms around him, enveloping him in a tight hug. The taller girl mashing the shorter Harry's head into her large bust as she gleefully hugged him. The girl being overcome with joy that her Harry, was still her Harry and not this Doctor Fate guy.
"Yep, it's me." Harry gasped as he put one hand around Starfire, exulting in her intoxicating scent and the tingle he felt as she held him so close.
"Harry." Raven said, her tone a bit sharper than usual as she got both Harry and Kori's attention.
Shifting his head so he could look at her, Harry grinned as he cocked an eyebrow at Raven. "What's up? Do you want to join in? You know make this twosome into a threesome?"
"No," Raven replied dryly, ignoring the slight grin Kori sent her way at Harry's words. "What I want to know is how you weren't possessed?"
Harry shrugged at that. "Well Nabu was just a spirit, without a body he was very limited in how he could interact with the world. Meaning that when I put on the Helmet he attempted to overwhelm me with a powerful mental attack."
Raven nodded at that.
"Well as you might have guessed, my abilities are Psychokinetic and magical in nature, meaning that when Nabu attempted to attack me I just attacked back. Overwhelming him and… well destroying his spirit." Harry continued with a shrug. "I mean don't get me wrong if Nabu had been able to possess a body and bring his full powers to bear then I likely would have been crushed. Fortunately though he wasn't, and he happened to face off against me, whose whole powers are based around my mental fortitude and will."
Raven paused as she heard this, before giving Harry a dull look. "You got lucky."
Harry smirked in response. "I made an educated guess about what a spirits capabilities were and acted accordingly."
"Of course you did…" Raven replied, rolling her eyes as she did so, even as Kori let out a slight laugh.
"Ok, so what do we do now?" Raven asked as she looked around the dilapidated room, before looking back at Harry, only to roll her eyes as she saw that he had once again put on the Helmet of Fate, this time without any theatrics, and was instead playing with magic. The teen in question currently dazzling Starfire by playing around with the magic the helmet enabled him to use, manipulating the elements as he tried to do some kind of juggling trick, much to Koriand'r's amusement.
Looking away from that Raven instead walked over to the now silent Kent Nelson. Her expression emotionless as she bent down next to him only to see that his eyes were glazed. The old man having passed away not long ago, no doubt because of both his age and the injuries he received. Reaching out Raven gently closed the man's eyes, doing what she thought was the proper thing to do. "Rest in peace old one."
( - )
AN: So what did you all think, was it worth the wait? I have to say I quite enjoyed writing this chapter, as I always like the byplay between Harry, Raven and Starfire as all three of them are so different and yet in some ways so similar.
This chapter held some important bits in it going forward, including to a few references to what has been happening in the wizarding world along with some hints for the future. Suffice to say Harry will not be becoming a student at Hogwarts. I already have my story Carpe Diem where I have done that, so I want to go down a different path with this story. Which is part of what makes writing so interesting. As for this story things will predominantly be taking place in the DC world, with tv series like Young Justice, Justice League and Teen Titans inspiring so of it. I was tempted for the films, but have to say apart from Wonder Woman they had been a letdown so I think I will stick with other forms of media for my influences and source material. Still the HP verse won't be forgotten and things will happen.
Other than that I hope you all enjoyed reading and leave a comment or review telling me what you think.
In terms of other updates I am currently working on three stories, with those being; Road to Hell, Dead Man Walking and God of Fairies.
Thanks for reading.
Seagate.