The Incubus Lord
Rating: T
Chapter 1: The House of Mysteries
Author's Note: the Rules of this Fanfiction site are very clear, in not allowing M-rated content. Seeing as I am a new writer on this site, I'd rather like not to lose my account immediately. So I will toe the company line, so to speak. BUT, since this is based on a more M-explicit idea, I will try to post the more – mature – content elsewhere. I do not know when or where yet, but it will be on my to-do list.
Author's Note: I have an idea on where I want to go with this, but it isn't as easy as sitting down and writing the entire story. I will not have a strict publishing schedule, but I will attempt not to let this story die through neglect.
Enjoy reading, if you don't, just leave and please don't come back. I do not mind-control you into reading, so if you don't like my style or content just walk away and allow others – hopefully – to enjoy reading.
I own nothing of this story but the plot: all characters, referenced movies and cartoons are the property of DC Comics and/or their respective other owners and will stay that way.
Please enjoy reading 'The Incubus Lord'!
The end of the established order can appear as many things: an invading army. A natural disaster. Stock-market crash. An epidemic. But they all have one thing in common: they come from an unexpected angle. Sure, in hindsight there are always those who claim they saw the problem coming from a mile away. Heroes like Guy Gardner, or Booster Gold, always tell their colleagues up on the Watchtower how they are never surprised when something goes tits-up. But they are liars, all of them. Not even Mr. Terrific or Batman himself can see every angle. Even they are surprised by some turn of events.
That is not to say the latter two don't see anything coming, or act accordingly. Many tidal waves, stormfronts, and alien invasions have been halted by the quick thinking of smart men and women like them. But therein lies the crux: Heroes don't act, they react. They see a situation, analyse it, then storm in with the perfect solution. Or simply overpower it, like the Man of Steel manages with Brainiac every – single – time.
But sometimes, trouble doesn't send ahead scouts or a warning phone call. Sometimes, trouble strikes like a viper, fast and deadly, and leaves no time for anyone to react, merely to try and weather the storm, or succumb to it. And no matter what you try, no matter how powerful you are, there are situations that are simply too much to bear. Sometimes, the dark is just inevitable.
As the Heroes, and the World, will soon find out.
Inside the House of Mystery, a battle of apocalyptic proportions is taking place. Once again, Good and Evil are clashing with one another, in that eternal battle of order and chaos trying to overcome one another. In this case, quite literally; for one of the combatants is Doctor Fate. The spirit of Nabu, a regal Lord of Order - inhabiting the body of the Magician, Mr. Zatara – is exchanging mystic energy blasts and ethereal constructs with his eternal foe, Klarion the Witch-Boy; a Lord of Chaos with no inhibitions, and plenty of malice. Doctor Fate's Helmet is firmly lodged on his head, not a dent or scratch on the magical anchor / face covering. His blue tunic and trousers, slightly shimmering with the power of the scales sown into the material, nicely sets of his golden accents: a fluttering body-length cape, amulet, gloves and boots. Arcane energy the colour of the sun flies around his gloves, and his eyes are set alight beneath the completely smooth Helmet. Klarion's outfit seems to be shadows in clothes-form: black dress-pants and shoes, with a black jacket over a white button-up. Both the jacket and pants have red accents the colour of blood, or were soaked in blood when being dyed. No one can tell with the psychotic Chaos Lord. A black tie matches the devil-horns hairstyle on top of the angular face. It would be a handsome face, aristocratic almost, if it weren't for the manic snarl and flaming eyes in it.
Whilst those two magical gods are duking it out in the foyer, elsewhere in the House, the sitting room is being upended by the no less impressive battle between Zatanna Zatara, a mnemonic enchantress, and Felix Faust, the alchemist and sorcerer. These two homo magi are sending magical objects and spells back and forth. Daggers, axes and other blades are embedded around the walls, and a section of the floor is doused in Greek Fire. The comfy chairs and couch are upended, and partially transfigured into unbreakable – for now – blockades. Faust has a couple of cuts across his torso and face, but is still holding up an ethereal purple shield against the barrage of icy spikes being summoned by Zatanna. His attire (a dark blue robe with purple accents, comfy boots, and an ancient headdress / helmet on his head with a golden moon on top of a stalk) is ruffled and stained with dirt, almost seeming threadbare. The reason it looks that way is because the 'spirit' of the House of Mysteries, a lovely apparition named Black Orchid, took out the frustrations she had accumulated with her resident on the unfortunate alchemist. It had taken a lot of effort and magic to force her physical manifestation to collapse. His opponent, Zatanna, is dressed in the get-up of a stage performer: stiletto heels (sturdy, they'd have to be in the middle of a fight) compliment the fishnet stockings she wears instead of pants. A black leather skirt sets off a lovely white bodice, just like her bicep-length black gloves. Black hair is flowing freely in the air, as she levitates and floats around the attacks of the alchemist.
In the background, near the bookcases instead of the fireplace where the sorcerer and the enchantress keep hurling spells, and insults, at one another, a third, yet less impressive fight is going on. In fact, it is more like a game of cat and mouse; the Witch-Boy's familiar, Teekl, is currently the size and build of a sabretooth on steroids, with its faded orange fur standing on end from the constantly magically charged air. Teekl is chasing a third Homo Magi, decked out in a trench coat, with his red tie fluttering as he jumps back and fro, trying to evade the twenty tons of massive, angry tiger. John Constantine, the Bane of Hell, ritual master and current resident of the House of Mysteries, is doing his level best to not become a chew toy for the feline predator. His dark blonde hair is in complete disarray, which reflects his panic well: he needs time to use a ritual, which is rather difficult to get during a chase with a cat big enough to view you as a mouse.
The three battles... two battles and an attempt at survival, are pretty evenly matched. None of the combatants can help their allies. In the timeframe of less than ten minutes, a rather pleasant evening for the three Heroes turned into a fight to the death with their mystical foes. Doctor Fate had recently placed a presence ward around the House, to warn him in case of intruders that the House itself, with some help from Constantine, couldn't handle. It seemed to be a good thing, too: less than a week after the ward was placed, Klarion and Faust had joined forces to break into the mystical mansion. Faust required a certain vial, that contained water from the Fountain of Youth, whilst Klarion wanted a mystical Book that would allow him to completely erase any threat with the spell inside it. Both were kept under lock and key in the House, although John Constantine had no idea of the artifacts lying in 'his' house, along with many, many other trinkets and apocalyptic threats.
The Lord of Order had immediately grabbed Zatanna, and teleported them to the House's current location; a bog near Stonehenge, England. There, they were just in time to prevent Klarion and Faust getting the jump on a slightly drunk Constantine, and the battle had steadily taken them inside. Although Black Orchid attempted to aid the Heroes, she only managed to cast a protective screen over the bookcases, some furniture and the fireplace. As soon as Faust saw her avatar, he cast an enchantment with the aid of an amulet filled with Chaos magic, courtesy of Klarion. The enchantment forced the House to destabilize Black Orchid's body and retract its consciousness from the fight.
But back to the best part: John Constantine being chased around by a demonic cat. The ritual master has been contemplating his options for the past few minutes of dodging razor-sharp kitten claws the size of steak knives. And he has finally come up with a plan to distract Teekl. Unfortunately for the World, this is what is meant by trouble not always being predictable. For John has just grabbed something of one of the shelves behind him after being cornered by the striped cat.
Remember how Black Orchid managed to throw up a shield to protect the artefacts and manuscripts, so carefully arranged and protected inside the House of Mysteries? John Constantine never bothered to learn the names and properties of each and every artefact like a responsible wizard, or homeowner. No, John Constantine uses whatever is handy for him in the moment. In need of a bottle opener for a 1.99 beer bottle? He grabs an ancient vampire skull to dislodge the cap, then puts said skull somewhere on a coffee table. If he needs a coat rack, he doesn't need to walk to the closet; John Constantine just hangs his coat on a display of a Unicorn Horn. There's a reason Faust is looking so windswept: after all, Black Orchid has to put A LOT of effort in somewhat cleaning the powerful and mystically charged mansion. And John Constantine constantly makes her job harder, whilst disrespecting centuries-old artefacts and objects with the power to rewrite reality – to a minor extent, but still.
That same John Constantine, who doesn't know anything about any of the stored artefacts in this room, reaches behind him to the nearest shelf and tosses the nearest object he can grab towards Teekl, hoping it is a soul sucking device or an immobilising spell or something else that can be useful. It is, in fact, a soul-capturing artefact. It is perfectly spherical, and appears to be made of onyx or a very black version of diamond. Upon closer inspection, an observer could find that in fact, the orb is made up of minuscule facets, like a diamond; so many that to the untrained eye, the sphere would look perfectly round. The onyx isn't still; reflecting light from so many facets, the interior almost seems alive in a way, the darkness always weaving and whirling through its glassy form. There is but one imperfection on the fist-sized ball: directly in the centre, the black recedes, leaving space for a minuscule light. Some might not call it a light at all, because it appears to be somehow, more, seemingly alive in the same way as the onyx surrounding it. The light folds in onto itself over and over again, it's psychedelic colours never staying still.
John Constantine doesn't have time to observe the orb, or it's centre: its beauty goes unnoticed as he tosses the soul-encapsulating gemstone at the massive tiger stalking towards him with murder in its eyes. Now under normal circumstances, the cat's soul would have been immediately absorbed into the gem, leaving the anchor of the Witch-Boy an empty husk and its master to fade from the Earthly plane of existence, rocketing back towards the other Chaos Lords.
But no-one ever informed Constantine that the gem, fist-sized and black as the Devil's withered heart, was already occupied. And that the prisoner within had been waiting for someone dumb enough to break his cell since their incarceration. No-one informed Constantine that throwing that little onyx ball at a Chaos familiar dead set on feasting on said occultist's flesh would unleash the end of the established order.
You can probably imagine the disaster that follows.
Author's Note: Probably a bit on the nose, but for an introduction I hope this is will do. Now, I have a question: would it be better to have the 'prisoner' be its own entity, or have him possess one of the characters of the DC Universe? Keep in mind this will be a Multi/Harem story, although quite how far that is taken I do not know yet. I've already got several other ideas in DC and other Universes lined up, so maybe I'll limit my ambitions and split up the different ideas I've gotten since starting. Going overboard sometimes makes the idea go stale, so let's try to prevent that.
Author's Note II: I've done another spell-check, and the amount of small mistakes wasn't very impressive. I think I've worked out those by now. I also have the next chapter lined up, shouldn't be very long until I've got it ready for posting! Stay tuned, for it will definitely arrive today!
Hopefully you've enjoyed this first chapter of my story and my profile in general. The next one is in the works, so if you like this story it won't take too long before you've got the next part lined up. See you soon!
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