3/5/2022

Gotham City

After several days of training my body and mind while getting some recovery time had me feeling pretty good honestly as I am now dressed in my super suit and am once again standing on the roof of a large building overlooking the city while talking with Nikki and Futaba via blue tooth technology.

"Are you both sure about this?" I asked them a bit unsure on how I should proceed with this mission they have me on since they have apparently found the location of a shrine dedicated to the Outsider. My living heart is beating rapidly in my hand which proved that something was nearby but the location I am looking at is a small area near the docks that has a decent amount of foot traffic but luckily enough it seems that my target is a bit far from the people despite how some people are near the location.

"Yes. I was able to scan the area a bit and I discovered a Shrine to the Outsider, and you should be able to gain a new power from it when you visit it and communicate with the Outsider." Nikki replied as I just took a big breath before I teleported down the building and made my way towards the location near the docks as I had a bit of a hard time avoiding being seen by people who still roam the streets at night before I make my way into what appears to be an abandoned church that was badly damaged and in the center of the building was a shrine made of bone and leather. It feels right somehow even though it shouldn't and sure enough I make my way towards it and when I touch the shrine, I notice four charms and a rune on it, but the most bizarre thing happened when I touched the shrine itself.

[You have found a Shrine to the Outsider. This is the Shrine of the 'Beast' and as such this shrine is used to obtain and upgrade 'Beast' abilities. You can choose one of these core abilities but be warned that this choice can't be changed, and you must follow the evolution of the core skill you have chosen!

1: Animalistic Properties

2: Void Lycanthropy

3: Beast Senses]

"Whoa." I said as the three choices each have a different icon and I looked each skill over carefully before I made my choice based on what I can use most at the moment and what will offer me the best results down the line.

[The core skill 'Void Lycanthropy' has been selected!]

New Power Available!

Void Lycanthropy-Rank 1: You have the old blood surging through your veins and can now assume a bestial form to enhance all of your physical abilities for a modest amount of time as you truly become a legendary werewolf born of the Void.

When that power got accepted, I felt something inside my very soul change. It feels like my insides or moving and shifting around somehow but it wasn't in a harmful way and instead it was weird and confusing.

"So, you've chosen to take the beast blood. A wise choice if not a bit reckless." The Outsider said to me as the world around me changed once again to the Void and I saw him sitting on a large rock in front of me. "The power of the Void will flow through your body as a wild beast and its power will be a force to be reckoned with, but the question is if you can control the new beast within you or not."

"What do you mean?" I asked him with genuine confusion before a realization just struck me.

"Power comes at a cost Andrew. Even the power I gave you will take its toll on you or the ones close to you. The power of the beast can and will tear you apart if you let it. Or it could go for your friends and loved ones." Outsider warned as I remembered one famous plot point of any werewolf creature. When you are a werewolf or something similar you gain a beast inside of your soul that will try to take over. It happens in Skyrim, movies, videogames and so on.

"I won't let the beast win. It's as simple as that." I said as I steadied my breath and relaxed. A strong will can take a person far and as far as I am concerned, I will not let this new power control me.

The Outsider chucked at my words.

"We will see soon enough." Outsider replied before I found myself back in the real world or at least the world I am placed in as I pocket the runes and charm before taking my leave. Now I could have upgraded the werewolf abilities, but I want to control this ability properly before I do anything to make it stronger.

I activated my Bluetooth and contacted Nikki.

"Nikki, I got a new power from the Shrine but to enhance it I will need to visit this Shrine multiple times and based on the state of this building I think it's going to be torn down before I can master this new power. Is there any way we can relocate the Shrine to Star Labs?" I asked her as she was silent for a moment before I made my way back onto the roof of a building via Blink.

"Yeah. That won't be an issue, but it will take some time. The funds for Star Labs are a bit dry but something like this won't cost much. We can start hiring people to move the Shrine tomorrow." Nikki said back as I released a heavy breath that I didn't realize I had been holding in.

"What the hell?" I asked out loud as I saw something going on in the distance and with the zooming in ability of my face mask, I still couldn't make out what was going on, but I did know that it was a Metahuman situation. So, I carefully Blinked across the rooftops while staying low as I stopped at one building roof and was able to see things better now and what I saw had me a bit confused.

I am seeing the Phantom Thieves mid robbery, but it wasn't a bank or anything because the ink on the building proved otherwise as those gang symbols were those of False Face Society which is on the news a lot like other crimes since they are a massive criminal enterprise that is taking Gotham by storm.

Anyway, the Phantom Thieves where…What where their names again?

"Oh, yea its Joker, Panther, Skull, Fox, Queen and Noir. I could have sworn the Phantom Thieves had more members than that." I said to myself as I saw Fox do…Something that created humanoid but clearly fictional creations that went into the nearby building and came back out with boxes and whatnot. The strangest thing was that when the creatures disappeared so did the items they were carrying. Does that mean that Fox has an ability similar to my Pocket ability?

"Are you both seeing this?" I asked via Bluetooth without using names since I don't know what their abilities are since they clearly are different from the games since I don't think Fox could create living paintings in the videogame.

"Yea we've got the feed booted up on one of our computers, but you've got to get out of there. Your goal is to get more power before engaging in combat with other Metahumans." Nikki advised and frankly I had to agree with her but when I stood up and turned around, I was met with a familiar and probably unfriendly site as I am looking at Red Hood but he seems like he is a version of Red Hood from the customizable Injustice 2 version because his helmet is slicker than in the comics and a bit sharper with the eye slits as he is wearing some intense but flexible tactical body armor with a utility belt around his waist with no jacket over his clothes as he also has a large red bat symbol over his chest and most important of all are the terrifying pistols at his waists and strapped to his chest.

"This is weird as fuck. I go out on patrol and hear that the Phantom Thieves are trying to steal shit but here I am walking straight into a new cape on the scene in some space themed suit." Red Hood said with some annoyance in his voice.

"That's a weird way of saying hi." I said back to him because the worst thing I can do is show weakness around Red fucking Hood.

"That's because I ain't some boy scout like Superman or his cousin. Now what's your deal?" Red Hood asked as I carefully thought about my next move before I took the chance and teleported away.

He is a Phantom Thieves problem. Not mine and after teleporting several times I am positive that I lost him, or he simply didn't care enough to follow me but either way I take a lot of short cuts and passageways that only I can take until I make my way back to Star Labs where I brief Nikki and Futaba about everything that has happened.

"Well, we got you a new power, so this mission isn't a failure. Still, I'm curious about this new power of yours." Nikki said as she looked at me as I allowed my face to become visible through the helmet.

"Long story short is that I can now transform into a Void powered werewolf." I told her honestly which greatly shocked her.

"A werewolf? Like in horror movies and stories?" Nikki asked as I nodded my head.

"Yup. I need to find a remote place to practice though since I don't think I will be able to fully control the power when I use it and I don't want to risk hurting either of you." I told them as Futaba sat at a computer and was typing away while Nikki had started looking into some movers to move the shrine to Star Labs.

"That's sweet of you. Now what are you going to do with the charms you gathered?" Nikki asked as I thought about it for a moment.

"I guess getting a new ability wouldn't hurt and I have been various curious about some of these abilities." I told her before I went to work.

You have 4 Charms and 1 Rune!

New Power Available!

Void Sense-Rank 1: You can now sense the power of the Void all around you within a short range and you can now detect a small number of living beings within your range!

Void Sense is now Rank 2!

Void Sense-Rank 2: You can now sense the power of the Void all around you within a modest range and you can now detect a modest number of living beings within your range as well as being able to mildly detect the emotions of those living beings! You can also now detect the amount of Ether energy within your own body!

You have 1 Charm and 1 Rune!

"Upgrading Void Sense cost two charms instead of normal which means that some of these abilities are pretty pricy, but I think it is worth it." I said as I had a small amount of guess work to determine how much energy I could use when teleporting but now I can accurately detect my energy.

Unlike in a game, I don't have a health or mana bar and instead it feels more like I have a battery in my heart or something and I can feel it pumping Ether/Void energy throughout my body just like I can feel my stamina running dry when I exercise for too long.

"What can Void Sense do exactly?" Nikki asked me before I explained what I saw as a description of the skill as I now decided to test things out as I focus and suddenly my sense of smell, sight and hearing have all basically exploded outwards as the world around me turned a stark gray color as I looked at Nikki and Futaba and saw that they are colors of amber but with me being able to sense their emotions I can see different colors in the center of their chests.

Unfortunately, I have no clue about what these emotions are as Nikki's core is a mix of light blue and pink while Futaba has a mix of dark blue and yellow. This feeling is bizarre and almost alien, so I quickly shut down the skill and my senses return to normal.

"That was…Unsettling." I said honestly.

"Can you be a bit more descriptive?" Nikki asked as she had grabbed a notepad and pen.

"It's like having a brand-new sense. Like the rumored sixth sense but more intense. It was like I could feel the weight of the world around me, and I was the only one able to see that the world had put weights on us in the first place and when I looked at you girls it was like I could see through you and into your emotions, but I have no idea what those emotions were." I explained with a heavy sigh since I know that I will have to get used to this power but doing so will take some time.

"So, are you regretting your choice to gain that power?" Nikki asked me as I shook my head.

"No, I'm not. This power is strange, but I need to get over it and use it properly if I want to survive." I told them before Nikki took me to the medical lab where she ran some more tests on me as well as taking another blood sample to analyze before I headed out in my regular clothes.

"I still have one more charm and one more rune, so I think I'll save them for now." I said to myself as I headed back to the Argus center that I now called home.

3/9/2022

Gotham City/Argus Building

"This is very strange." A said as the Titans had gathered in our version of the Danger room and standing in front of the door/exit is Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Jax and the lightning god Raiden who is decked out in his white and bluish robe with a large staff in his hands and his famous rice farming hat on his head and honestly the dude looks like a mixture of kind but intimidating.

"Yeah, just like how strange it is for you to be decked out in a space uniform." Jin said to me with a sly smirk as I rolled my eyes in response.

"Your just jealous." I said back as Raiden stepped up to us.

"You all have been gathered here because you each show potential to become the earths newest protectors and despite how much time we have until the next tournament I am afraid our enemies in Outworld and the Netherrealm haven't stopped trying to take over Earth Realm." Raiden said before Cassie spoke up.

"Yeah. The superheroes of Argus deal with invaders every now and then but recently things have escalated. The attacks are getting more brazen and putting a lot of people in danger." Cassie said back to him and the news reports about monsters attacking all over the globe were troubling to say the least.

"Which is why we should be taking the fight to them." Jacqui said back with some agitation in her voice.

"I agree but the fighters under Dark Kahn's employ aren't fighters to be trifled with and you must be ready when the time comes to fight them." Raiden said to us which made me very confused.

Dark Kahn was the enemy in DC vs MK in what is possibly the weakest game netherrealm studios made. Granted they killed it with the Injustice games for DC, but my point still stands with the fact that Dark Khan is infinitely more dangerous than Shao Kahn and Darkseid by themselves.

"I'm sorry but did you say Dark Kahn?" I asked the lightning god as he looked at me.

"Yes. He is the undisputed ruler of Outworld and a threat to countless realms just as his predecessor Onaga was a threat with his undead legion at his side." Raider said before he looked me over a bit. "Tell me who you are young man." Raider said as I looked at him for a moment.

"My name is Andrew Watson sir." I said politely but I was also a bit unsure about how I should address him, and he seemed to pick up on that.

"Calling me Raiden will do just fine." Raiden said as he gave me a critical eye before he went back to speaking. "Now all of you have yet to truly prove yourselves despite your ability in combat so I will give each of you a chance to prove to me and yourselves that you are ready to defend earthrealm." Raiden said before Sonya stepped up with her arms behind her back.

"All of you are going to take the fight to the Red Dragon who have been helping Outworlders invade all over and more important than that is that your objective is to take down Daegon himself." Sonya said as our eyes collectively widened at that.

"That sounds like an intense first mission." I said honestly.

"You aren't going alone kid. You'll have Argus troops going in with you along with yours truly." Johnny said with a cocky smile on his face.

"More importantly is the fact that Stryker and I are going to be tagging along too." Jax said before Sonya spoke up again.

"This mission is important however you aren't leaving right this second. You have time before the mission day comes and until then you are all going to be using this danger room for your training drills in various combat situations and scenarios." Sonya explained as Raiden turned around towards the door.

"I wish all of you luck. May the gods protect you." Raiden said before he raised his staff and vanished as a bolt of lightning.

"He sure knows how to make an exit." I said with a bit of a forced smile to try and break the tension.

"Johnny you'll take things from here." Sonya said before she and Jax left the danger room in a more normal fashion.

"Alright kiddos. It's time to put you through your paces." Johnny said and soon enough he left and took his place at the danger rooms controls before the world around us changed into a more urban setting compared to last time and sure enough this was a drill to prepare us for the Red Dragon as we mainly had to take out dozens of Red Dragon thugs who had guns and modern weapons as well as throwing stars and katanas and shit.

During the drill Cassie had us assume a 'Diamond' formation with Takeda and myself in the center as Jacqui and Jin took the read with Cassie being in front as we dealt with being outnumbered before Jin broke formation and started doing his own thing and sure enough things slowly fell apart from there.

"Damn it Jin." I cursed as I punched out a thug as Jin had wandered off to 'Track down the leader' as he put it before the rest of us were ready and soon, we ended up running after him and saw him get knocked onto his ass by Daegon himself or at least a simulation of him as he didn't seem to have any weapons meaning that he took out Jin with his bare hands.

"Not so tough now are you." I said back to him as Daegon had his foot on Jin's chest as Cassie and Jacqui opened fire with Cassie's pistols and the gun like gauntlets on Jacqui's forearms as Daegon just ran out of the path of the bullets at very fast speeds.

"This dude can run faster than bullets?" I said as I took out my stun gun hoping I can at least stun him before he suddenly came up to us or more specifically in between Cassie, Jacqui, Takeda and myself as we each tried fighting him, but he countered our blows and knocked each of us back as I felt something strange stir inside of me now. Like something was clawing at my heart after I had gotten hit and I knew what this was after a moment of thought.

"Sorry wolf but you're going to have to try harder than that if you want to get out." I whispered to myself before I got up and teamed up with Takeda as we took the fight to Daegon with our combat skills and thankfully with us actually working together we managed to take him off guard as Takeda kicked out his kneecaps while I hit him with a full powered right hook and the two attacks sent Daegon crashing hard onto the ground as I had to put my stun gun away since I quickly realized it wasn't going to help me.

"You weren't so tough." I said before Daegon quickly humbled me as he swept my legs and sent me down onto the ground as he also used me as a stepping stool to get past Takeda and hit him with a backwards kick that Takeda managed to block but it still had more than enough force to lift him off his feet and send him backwards a bit.

"Fuck off!" I shouted as I got up with a new burst of rage coming out of nowhere as I started rushing him as I tried punching and kicking him as Cassie and Jacqui jumped into the fight as well which made me quickly calm myself a bit since I was dangerously close to attacking them as well from my sheer anger as the clawing at my heart got more intense before Daegon kicked me in the chest and sent me back down after hitting Cassie in the chin with a powerful punch of his own as he also hit Jacqui with a combination of rapid strikes before hitting her head with a high kick which also knocked her down.

"Damn it." I said as I slowly got back up with one hand holding my chest as I felt the Ether in my body surging. It feels like the Ether inside of my body wants me to transform but I can't. My teammates don't know about my new power and I want to keep it that way so I focus as hard as I can and squash that sensation in my chest as I get up and duck under Daegon's kick as he charged at me before he let out a groan of pain and lurched forward as I saw three arrows pierce his back which made him turn to see Jin who was now standing back up as the rest of the team also got back up.

"Box him in. Ace formation." Cassie ordered as Takeda, Jacqui and I rushed Daegon with attacks and thankfully he wasn't doing as good now as we got the advantage and was dealing some damage before he suddenly released a burst of force from his body which sent the three of us flying backwards before I sat up and saw that Cassie and Jin had taken advantage of our three formed attack and put Daegon down with a arrow to his head and a bullet through his heart.

Thankfully that seemed to be the end of the simulation as the room's holographic technology seemed to deactivate allowing us to breath finally as Takeda helped Jacqui up while I just dropped onto my back on the floor while breathing heavily from a mixture of pain, exhaustion and stress from my own body working against me.

"You good champ?" Cassie asked as she offered me a hand which I took as I let her help me up. "You went ballistic in that fight. You pissed about something?"

"Um…No it's just a bit complicated. I'll just need some time to chill out and I'll be good." I told her as we made our way out and received a small scolding from Johnny for our 'performance' which obviously needs a lot of work and soon enough I am walking the grounds of the Argus station in a basic T-shirt and pants and boots to try and clear my head a bit.

"I almost let that beast out due to my anger rising like that. But the beast made my anger rise like that to try and make me lose control. Frankly it's a miracle I held out like I did but in a real battle how am I going to act?" I asked myself with my head lowered as I found myself remembering the Outsider's words and his warning about the beast that I gained.

"I won't give up my body without a fight you bastard." I said to myself as I held a hand to my chest, and I almost expected the clawing sensation to return for a moment, but nothing happened. Not even a tingle.

"Yo Andrew wait up." A familiar voice said as I turned around and saw Cassie walk up to me dressed in a grey half shirt that showed off her toned abbs as she wore a baggy green jacket over the top and sports jean shorts and sneakers on her feet.

"Sup?" I asked her as she looked at me for a moment.

"I'm heading out to get some food and I want you to come with." Cassie said bluntly as I smiled and snickered a bit.

"Really? You might want to be careful Cassie or else people will start saying things about us." I told her as I noticed a few eyes were on us but only for a moment as Cassie smiled back.

"Oh please. You'd be lucky to score a date with me. Besides all I said was I wanted to get some food. You're the one reading into signals that aren't there." Cassie said back as I chuckled.

"Fair and sure I could go for some food right now." I told her before we headed out and soon made our way to a nearby Mexican restaurant and take a table and order some food and drinks as Cassie and I actually talk for a while and frankly Cassie is pretty cool.

"Alright Andrew can I ask you a question?" Cassie asked me as that confused me a bit.

"Sure." I told her back as her eyes narrowed at me.

"What was really up with you in the danger room? You almost attacked us in your blind rage, and you were ice cold before the training started so don't say something like someone pissed you off earlier." Cassie said back to me as that did take me back a bit but somehow, I almost expected it.

"Sorry…My powers were messing with my mind a bit." I told her as she still gave me a serious look.

"What kind of powers do you have anyway? Your body gets stronger way faster than normal and you can teleport out of nowhere." Cassie said to me as she was prodding me for information, and I need to be careful with what I say.

"Well. I made a pact with a God, and he gave me powers but they come with a cost. I'm still managing these abilities of mine but before you say anything I can safely tell you that I didn't sell my soul to the devil or anything like that." I told her as she looked me over for a moment before talking again.

"Making a pact with a God isn't really something you should treat so causally considering some of them have some insane power and shit." Cassie said to me as if to warn me.

"Yeah, well what about you? I saw those glowing kicks of yours in the training room." I said back as she looked back at me as her eyes widened a small bit.

"It's a family thing. Apparently, the Cage bloodline comes from a Mediterranean war cult that bread champions to fight among the god's which made them develop these shadow powers." Cassie said back as hearing that actually sounded pretty cool honestly.

"Well, your power seems impressive to say the least. However, most of that could just be you being badass." I told her honestly which made her blush a bit before she smiled a bit.

"Your damn right I'm badass. Still, it doesn't help when Jin doesn't listen, and our formations fall apart." Cassie said before she took a long sip of her tea.

"Jin's a salty bitch but he at least respects you a little bit. Otherwise, he wouldn't even try to follow your plans so he might just think that he's better off working with his gut instead of normally following your orders." I said back before I dove into my food.

After becoming a werewolf, I noticed that I am roughly eating twice as much food as normal which made Cassie look at me with a bit of concern as she saw the amount of food I was eating.

"It doesn't change the fact that in the real world his actions could get him killed. Also are you sure your, ok? You might explode your stomach if you keep going like that." Cassie said as nodded my head.

"I'm good. My power requires a lot of energy so as a result my food intake has increased dramatically." I told her.

"Oh." Cassie said back as she went at her food and soon enough our nice meal came to a end as we even traded phone numbers after a little bit of light flirting as we made our way back to the Argus station.

N/A POV

The city of Gotham is a wild and dangerous place, but it is also a beautiful and fun place as well. At least that is what the people of Gotham though, but their thoughts didn't matter in the least to the mercenary Deathstroke who is currently standing atop a skyscraper in the center of uptown Gotham.

Deathstroke is outfitted in slick metallic armor that would make several mercenary organizations jealous since his armor could shrug off some intense attacks, but Deathstroke wasn't one for boasting. He was all business which is why he is in Gotham.

"You're here." A person said from behind Deathstroke as he looked over his shoulder and saw his client flying in the air and surrounded by a purple aura of magical energy and dressed in a rather form fitting purple and black leotard and high heels as her hair reached her waist with a long black strip running down the center of her hair.

This woman is known as Sindel and she spent a small fortune to hire Deathstroke for this mission in Gotham city.

"You paid and I showed up. I'll find Daegon and grab the tech he's using for you." Deathstroke said back to her as Sindel had a smug look on her face.

"Good. You'll get the rest of your payment after you deliver what is mine." Sindel said before she flew off in the distance as Deathstroke simply made his way down the skyscraper with the help of his grappling hook as he focused on his job and not on the fact that Sindel was obviously looking down on him from some kind of undeserved high horse she was riding on.

Metahumans, magicians and anyone else with powers will always think they are above others and Deathstroke would enjoy putting Sindel in her place after he finished his job. He is a professional after all and knew how to prioritize things.

END!

A/N: Okay another chapter is done and gone, and things are heating up. What does Deagon have that has Argus and Sindel gunning for him? Well find out next time.

Please fav, follow and review.