April 11th 2016 Brightedge City, Old Wayne Mining Headquarters, 7:00 PM EDT

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. My brain was on fire and there was a weird tightness in my chest and stomach that I'd never experienced before. "What did she just do?" I muttered to myself. "What just happened?" I wasn't sure why I was asking that. I knew the answer, but my brain just wouldn't...click. It would form the response, and then I'd think about what just happened and it would glitch back to that same question.

My reflection snarled in annoyance, clapping his hands in front of my face. "Nick!" He barked. "Stay with me. You need to calm down. You're spiraling and it's causing me to fracture. If I break you're going to lose your last shred of fae blood and your emotions are going to come back. If you think this is bad you haven't seen anything, so you need to CALM DOWN."

I focused on my other self, eyebrows furrowing. "What? You never told me that." I wasn't sure how to take that information honestly. It might have effected my decision to make him a body, or it might not have. On the one hand I didn't particularly want or need normal human emotions, but on the other hand I also didn't want to be dependent on some piece of broken soul to function.

All of that was irrelevant though, because that meant he'd been hiding something from me, which meant he could be hiding OTHER things from me. He saw my face and scowled. "Ok, yes. I probably should have mentioned that, but you know very well you wouldn't have if you were in my place. Right now it doesn't matter though. You haven't prepared at all for this, you don't want your first real human emotion to be a wave of unfathomable grief. You can still avoid this, just clear your mind and I can help you reinforce the seal."

But he'd aroused my suspicions, and once that happened I started to go back over some of the other things that had happened. "You knew this might happen." I said tentatively, feeling something out. "You're been pushing me to distance myself from the girls since day one. You were worried I'd get too attached and one of them would die and then THIS would happen."

The other me groaned in frustration. "Yes, that's true. Now can we please focus on fixing this. You won't be able to handle what's coming. Not to mention the aftermath. Do you really want to turn into one of those bleeding heart do-gooders? You're going to end up just as stupid as the rest of them. You don't want human emotions, we can figure out a way to prevent them from coming back when you rank up next time, but that'll have to wait."

"Bullshit." I snapped. "Morality is a learned behavior. Even if I get my emotions back I won't change. I might feel different about some things, but I won't turn into fucking superman. There are plenty of assholes who do terrible things among normal humans." I narrowed my eyes at him. "You know that though. Because I know that. You're trying to manipulate me. I know what that looks like, I do it all the time."

With that new puzzle piece, I started mapping out information in my head. How the reflection had been pushing to isolate me from everyone. How it had been so casual about waiting to be released. How it had demonstrated and was currently demonstrating abilities it had never admitted to having before. How it had waited for me to make contact when it had almost definitely shown it could do that itself.

One by one, things clicked into place. Looking at it from the outside in, I could see how much of the reflection's word I'd taken for granted because it looked like me. Because I thought the only person I could trust was myself. It had baited me. Guided me. It was baiting and guiding me right now. This entire conversation stank of altruism, and I was never altruistic unless there was something in it for me.

Sure it would be destroyed if the seal broke, but it wasn't agitated or angry. If it had been me I would have been scared shitless and putting pressure on the person who could save me. But the reflection was being patient, was being nice, was being helpful. These were things I NEVER did without an ulterior motive. So either the reflection had some bigger game going on, a goal in mind even more important to it than its own survival or...or it wasn't me at all.

"Who are you?" I asked coldly. This thing lived in my head for my whole life. It had time to study me, to see how I ticked, and it had known the one person I'd listen to most easily would be myself. I'd been played like a fucking fiddle and I wanted to know by who.

It froze, staring at me for a second. I saw it consider trying to play it off, trying to pretend I was crazy. But it knew as well as I did that I wouldn't ever trust it even a little bit again. It closed its eyes and sighed. "Shit. What gave me away?"

I sneered, the pain in my head receding as I focused more on this than on the slow degradation of the last seal keeping out my humanity. One thing at a time. "This." I said, gesturing around. "Showing up to help makes sense, since your ass is on the line, but you're worried, not scared. You're being too helpful. I'd be freaking out in your shoes, but you're just trying to be of use."

It clicked its tongue. "You know." I said with an inscrutable expression. "You really are a lot smarter than you look. Like, as my first real bit of honesty to you, I'll admit it. I'm impressed. Seeing you bumble around thinking you were clever and letting your dick decide what you did with your life was almost painful, but you DO have the odd moment of accidental competence. "

As it spoke, the reflection started to change. It began to shrink, figure rounding, skin paling to chalk white and hair growing out and shifting to a flaming red. "I guess you get that from me." Said the being that I was almost certain was my mother.

"Fuck." I said succinctly. "You wanted me to make you a new body. So you could escape." I paused, thinking things through even more. "None of this was an accident. Not one bit. You specifically tracked dad down because you wanted to give birth to a child with the Greed System. You knew it would cannibalize my fae heritage and arranged for that last little piece of you to stick around, waiting."

She grinned widely, baring incredibly sharp pearly white teeth. "Oh well done." She said, clapping slowly. "Yes, I had all this planned." She grimaced. "Well, most of it. I assume that meddling bitch Lilith got wind of things somehow and decided to stick her nose in my business. I never liked her much, always so snobby, not that her husband or that dumb little slut he left her for were much better."

That was it. The reason for all this. The reason Mary killed my dad in front of me instead of negotiating. The reason she waited for us to arrive, the reason she escaped and left behind all those books. It was this. To fragment the last piece of my mother and make sure she couldn't come back. Everything we knew about Lilith coming back we learned from Mary, from that prophecy. Not that she wasn't here or anything, my appraisal confirmed that, but her resurrection had never been the main goal.

My mother nodded sympathetically. "Yeah. They fucked you good. So are you really going to let them win? Going to give them what they want? Work with me to mitigate the damage. We can patch up the fragment and seal your emotions back up and you can go back to being your old horny oblivious self."

She was right, of course. If I broke the seal I'd have to live with what happened here. I'd have to get used to so many new things about myself. I wouldn't become some namby pamby superhero or anything, but it would be complicated and painful...and it would be my choice.

My face must have hardened because my mother narrowed her eyes at me. "Now Nicky. I know you're upset with me, and I understand, but don't cut your nose off to spite your face here. You don't want your humanity. Especially not this early. Be a good boy and help mommy patch up the seal."

"Fuck you." I said bluntly. Her eyes flashed with anger, but I kept going. "I'm not an ambitious person really, or at least I wasn't, I don't have any strong principles because why would I need them. But dad taught me one thing above every other lesson. We're Lords, and Lords are in charge. We do what's best for us and we don't take shit from anyone."

"Listen you little shit." Snarled the fragment of my mother. "You aren't the only contingency plan I have in place. I WILL get out, and if you aren't part of the solution, that makes you a problem for me. You don't want to see what I do to my problems."

I just snorted at her. "Bitch please. You already tipped your hand. I was disposable from day one. Otherwise you would have mentioned me getting my humanity back once I made you a body." I could still feel phantom echoes of that tearing pain in my chest, that knot in my stomach. But I could feel more too. I could feel my humanity, my true nature...and it was an ASSHOLE.

Fuck this bitch. Fuck her plans. Fuck her grand design. She'd screwed with my life, with my dads life, and she hadn't cared what happened to us. My dad was dead, and she hadn't even flinched. She didn't care that he'd been murdered just to fuck with her, because why would she. I wouldn't have either. But I fucking did now.

"I've seen a lot of shit about feelings in my life." I said slowly as I stared her down. "And people talk a lot of shit about the power of friendship. Which is fucking stupid. But I have to admit that right now, I can understand why they say humanity is a strength. Because I've never been more motivated than at this exact second. But it isn't friendship or love that's motivating me. It's fucking SPITE."

The cracks on her began to grow as I fed more into that vortex of building resentment. "You see mom. You have to CARE about things to really hate them. To really fucking despise something it has to matter to you. And trust me, I care a whole shit load right now. It hurts, and it sucks, but that's fine. Because fuck you, you stupid fairy cunt. I don't care if Mary gets her way, I'll kill that bitch in a minute, but for now, get the fuck out of my head."

The reflection screamed as I drowned myself in fucking pure hate and the cracks widened, shattering both the reflection itself and the weird time stop state I was in. I was returned to normal time just in time to watch my dads body vanish into the pool, which began to pulse with energy. Huh, guess the resurrection thing wasn't bullshit. But that was fine. I was glad Lilith was going to show up. I really wanted to fucking kill someone right now, and I didn't think Mary was going to be enough. I reached into my pouch as the energy filled the room. If I was going to kill this bitch I needed more power, and with the ten million points from the suit of sorrows I had enough. Time for another upgrade.

April 11th 2016 Brightedge City, Sunken Cathedral, 8:00 PM EDT

I'd spent a while considering how to do this next rank up. Given how hard it had been to gather ten million points both times I'd done it, I knew it would be my last for a while. A hundred million points was going to be a nearly impossible task in the short term. I had unlimited options to continue growing as a dragonkin, upgrading my bloodline more and growing my potential.

I did none of those things. True, they would be useful long term, but if I got aced by some suckhead bimbo before I got a chance to actually MAKE it to the long term I'd be pretty screwed, not to mention my girls would be fucked, which suddenly kind of...worried me? I wasn't sure what that emotion was. I had a bunch of them now, and they seemed messy and awful. Mixing together into a slurry of suck that made me kind of regret telling mom's ghost to fuck off, but what can you do.

Luckily I spent quite a while learning to suppress my draconic instincts in Gemworld, and human emotions were a lot like that, but weaker and in larger numbers. Shoving them down for now to be dealt with later, I focused on my current issues. I needed a comprehensive upgrade, and while I had materials for that, a bloodline boost wouldn't cut it. It was time to go full dragon.

I slipped out my bottle of brandy (it had been running low anyway) and then the emerald stake I'd used on Mary, which was still covered in her blood. According appraisal, that shit had been partially absorbed, bringing the stake itself up to E-rank from the F-rank it had become after being infused with my power. Then I merged the two E-rank materials together, paying a million points to create a D-ranked material and then continuing the merge without even looking at what I got, merging it with myself.

Now, I knew that might not be the perfect plan, but I could control the basic idea of what my stuff became, and since I'd focused on the dragon boosting life aspect of the brandy and the Primal Force and vampire killing aspects of the Stave as they merged into me, I knew what I was getting basically, and I NEEDED to rank up before Lilith rose. Even weakened I doubted she would be much weaker than Mary.

I felt myself dissolve just like always, becoming energy, and I exhaled in relief because I knew nothing could stop it now, as the energy from the fused bottle and stave joined mine, I felt myself elevate yet again, but this was so much more than the last few times. This time I'd pushed my state of being completely past humanity, ascended to become a full dragon. Not just that, the energy, life, light, vitality, and destruction aspects of my various upgrades came together, in a new way, transcending their former heights to achieve something cohesive and solid.

As I reformed, I glanced down to take in my new body. I wasn't a person anymore, not even a hybrid. I COULD be, the ability to devolve through the stages of my life was part of my dominion, but my true form was so much more. A massive emerald dragon with golden patterns weaving across my hubcap sized scales. I barely fit in this fucking cathedral, but a bit of effort shifted my size to something more manageable as I glared down at a shocked and horrified Mary and the seething pool that would soon spit out Lilith.

I felt invincible. Unstoppable. The tide of power and violence and exultation at least blunted the grief and negative emotions I didn't know how to deal with, I was a dragon now, and while I was adjusting to this new form and state of being I would be spared the horror of my humanity, though I knew it would come for me eventually, despite my current state. I'd put every ounce of my intent into being stronger, and being incredibly suited to killing vampires. I didn't spare any of my possible upgrade for emotion control, as useful as it might have been.

My draconic gaze skimmed over the cathedral until I found something reflective, a silver basin off to one side. I took in my gorgeous gold horns shot through with emerald veins for a second before finally choosing to appraise myself.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Nicholas Lord- C rank Dragon of the Primordial Spark. All power wells up from the origin, all force, all life, all creation originates at the singular point. A light so bright it burns away all obstacles, a fury so hot it turns even flame to ash.]

Well, apparently I'd gotten to my 'cryptic bullshit for an appraisal' era. I'd been expecting it for a while. Still, it told me plenty. This was good. Granted I was a juvenile dragon, I could feel that. My maximum size was about a hundred feet not counting horns and wings, and dragons never stopped growing. I had a few growth phases to get through before I reached the peak of my powers, but this was a qualitative shift in my abilities.

I'd expected upgrading to a dragon to just be a simple jump from dragonkin to full dragon, but the interaction between the brandy, my own power, and Mary's blood had boosted me even higher in C-rank than I had expected. Even as a juvenile I was probably at about the absolute peak of what C-rank could offer, which was a far bigger range than D-rank as per usual.

Mary was staring up at me like she'd just seen the monster from IT hiding in her toilet bowl, and I gave her a huge draconic grin before inhaling and breathing out at her. A TORRENT of...I wouldn't call it fire, or lightning, or even light. Some kind of shining force from the beginning of time I guess, billowed forth and smashed into her. I'd expected to need a few attacks, but the scream as she was turned into a soot shadow on the wall lasted barely an instant.

Sadly, her death did nothing to stop the rioting energy generated by my dad's sacrifice. I appraised the pool again, and confirmed that yes, Lilith was awakening. I considered blasting the water, but something told me that the stuff was pretty antithetical to my breath in a lot of ways, being a perversion of life and a substance of darkness and water. I wasn't completely sure what mixing the two would do, but there was a solid chance it would be pretty explosive.

So I had to wait apparently. But I didn't have to risk my girls. I wasn't sure what the fuck I felt about them, but they were mine, and I didn't let my stuff get broken, even before I could actually give a shit about it. I snorted and spoke for the first time since assuming this form. "Go." My voice was...crazy. Like a thousand echoes boosted by superbass. I'd need to tone that shit down in the future. "I'm fine, but all of you need to go."

I wasn't fine, but I WAS so power drunk right now that I could fake it, which was close enough. The girls clearly knew that at the very least this wasn't a fight they could interfere in, and also if a dragon tells you to get the fuck out you should probably listen.

They all turned to leave, mostly after shouting at me to be safe, and I turned my gaze to the roiling pool where my dad's body had vanished. I doubted there was anything left, I wasn't sure how to feel about that. He'd been kind of a dick, but I loved him I think, even when I hadn't thought I could even do that. He'd raised me and taught me everything I knew. In a lot of ways he'd been my hero, though not by any definition of that word that the League would have accepted, and I smirked at the thought of his own reaction to that statement.

The energy in the pool pulsed and grew. Each surge caused waves and snapping peaks, but somehow, instead of getting bigger, they got smaller. Not that the power was decreasing, each wave tore the air faster and with more force, just closer to the surface until finally, the pool smoothed out into a sheet like glass, vibrating with so much energy it seemed like it was about to explode.

A single ripple formed in the center, like a pebble had been dropped into it, and a form began to emerge from the pool. First there was the top of a skull, with flowing black hair growing from it, then a pale, smooth forehead, then a pair of eyes with irises so black they looked like they could swallow an exploding star, and a patrician nose, and a mouth with pitch black lips peeled back over delicate fangs in a grin as she rose.

Her body was pretty nuts, but I was a bit too conflicted and distracted to care or enjoy it much, even if my preferences forced me to note that she was built like the goddess of all porn stars. Her form was covered in a weird black...shawl, dress, thing? Like a loincloth that split at her belly to trail up and barely cover her tits before closing around her neck behind the large ass golden necklaces stacked like five high around her throat.

She looked at me with interest. "Well." She said mildly. "I hadn't expected something like you here. That is...much more progress than I expected Tsaritsa's spawn to make by this point. Mary was a capable servant, and you demolished her without much effort. I'm afraid I wouldn't be quite so easy a fight." I was sure she was right, but just to be positive I checked.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Lilith- B ranked Primal Vampire Queen. Wife of Cain, chosen of the devil, second among the blood born. Weakened. You should still probably run.]

Ah, shit. The system didn't really add advice like that unless I was in a really bad position. Still, I could work with this."You're weakened, and I'm fairly suited to disposing of creatures such as yourself." I was. I'd basically fucking BUILT this particular form for it, hence the use of the stake with the vampire blood. The Primordial Spark wasn't just an upgrade to my Primal Force, it was geared towards the eradication of darkness. Vampires were pretty notably weak to that kind of shit.

She shrugged. "Maybe. Hence why I haven't swallowed you whole." She glanced up. "I'd also prefer not to have a city dropped on my head, and I assume you would rather avoid DROPPING said city." She spread her arms. "Which begs the question, what are you going to do?"

That...was a good question. I wanted to kill her, munch her down like a fucking snack and char her fucking remains with my cool new breath weapon. She was right. I might not have given a shit about the damage before, but my girls were still nearby, and if we were as strong as I was expecting they could easily die in the battle.

It was hard to balance my new emotions, which had begun to burn through even my haze of draconic power. I hated her. Not as much as I'd hated my mom, or as much as I hated Mary for killing my dad. But Lilith was a giant bitch and responsible for most of the bad in my life.

That said, I was still ME. I refused to become some namby pamby do-gooder swearing vengeance for my dead father and on a quest for justice. Fuck that shit. I was pissed, but the actual killer was dead, and I wasn't going to get dragged into a suboptimal situation and die along with all my women for symbolism. That was stupid hero shit.

So I decided on a compromise. I shrunk down to my human form, going from the size of a bus to a normal person too fast for anyone to see, and I nodded. "Fine. I'm leaving." She smirked. "BUT." I said with a snarl, feeling my eyes shift. "I want you gone. Out of my city. Find somewhere else to kill thousands or build a vampire harem or whatever the hell you're planning."

She narrowed her eyes at me, cocking her head. "I wasn't expecting that." Her smirk became a wide smile, flashing far too much fang. "Fine. I'll give you one year. Then I'll come back and we can have this conversation again. Maybe if you're a little stronger it won't go my way." She winked at me. "I'll be interested to see what uses you put me to. I hear you're a naughty boy."

The shadows in the rooms lengthened, then retreated and she was just...gone. Huh, well that had been anticlimactic. I shook slightly as the adrenaline started to wear off. This little confrontation had caused more problems than it had solved. It had been stupid and impulsive, and I suspect my seal had started cracking before I made the decision to even come down here. I sighed. It was fine. I had a plan to handle both my new emotions and shoring up my defenses with a strong new team member. It was time to finally track down Raven. I'd cleanse her and get her help. I just hoped her empathy could help me suppress this bullshit grief. If not it was going to be a problem.

April 12th 2016 Brightedge City, Hall of Nevers, 10:00 AM EDT

I was sad. Which made me fucking furious. My dad had been killed. Admittedly, when this happened to most people they got all weepy and morose, but I wasn't most people. I wasn't supposed to feel...upset. I snarled, smashing my fist into the wall of the room with a snarl and then grimacing at the hole it left.

"Now." Said the gentle voice of Ingrid Karlsson from where she sat calmly in a chair on the other side of the library. "Do you feel like that was productive?"

I whirled on her angrily, eyes flashing draconic gold and green, and bared my teeth at the little blonde. Give her credit, she didn't even flinch, just gave me a sad smile that was even MORE annoyingly effective on me since getting my emotions back. "No." I gritted out tightly. "I don't. I don't think ANY of this shit is productive. Which is why I want you to make it STOP."

I hadn't been able to track down Raven right away. I sent Cherry out to look into her whereabouts but in the meantime I was unstable and aggressive, and Dinah had the WONDERFUL idea for me to talk to Ingrid, who was technically still living at the house, though she spent most of her time at Arkham since the merge.

Ingrid shook her head sadly. "That isn't how feelings work Nicholas. You can't just turn them off. I realize this must be frustrating for you, but there's nothing I can do about that. You're the only person who can help you, I'm just here to show you how."

Glaring at her, I slumped into a nearby chair. "I'm not going to 'own my trauma' and start crying like a little bitch because my daddy died. That's not who I am. It's not who I WANT to be for sure. I don't even know what I'm doing here."

Her smile became warmer. "Yes you do. You're here because Dinah is worried. Because seeing her upset for you makes you unhappy." It my narrowed eyes she chuckled. "That isn't an accusation Nicholas. It's just the truth. Are you going to let your emotions control you to such an extent that you lie to yourself and refuse to face reality?"

That...brought me up short. That was a good question. She clearly knew me at least a little bit from talking to all the girls, because that was insightful as hell. It would be the height of weakness to lie to myself like that. I might be a bleeding heart little bitch like everyone else now, but I wouldn't be a self-deceiving bleeding heart bitch. My dad had emotions, and he was every bit the ruthless bastard I had been. Being able to feel didn't mean I needed to let it own me.

"Fine." I said shortly. "Dinah is the reason I'm here. Happy? Aside from being premium pussy she's...kind of important to me. Plus she's carrying my kid." I buried my head in my hands and snarled in frustration. "And FUCK why does that scare me shitless now. I have kids coming. TWO kids. Dinah is going to be a great mom, but Whisper is a bottom heavy psychopath. What the fuck was I even thinking?"

But that didn't feel right either. Whisper might be a crazy whore, but she was MY crazy whore. She was dedicated to me utterly, and I felt like kind of a dick for even saying that about her. I expected Ingrid to get offended or upset, but she just gave me that same encouraging smile. "Maybe you weren't. Having regrets is natural. You're young. Being worried about children makes sense. Is Whisper the one you're most worried about?"

I sighed. "Maybe? Maybe not. She worships me. Literally. I know I can trust her to do her best with the kids, and Dinah has been taking a firm hand in getting her stable, which is good because I certainly can't fucking do it." I raised an eyebrow at her. "You seem much less judgemental than I was expecting."

Ingrid giggled. "Nicholas. I've heard a great many things about you living here. I'm well aware of the more...excessive aspects of your personality. You're a lustful young man, and manipulative, and somewhat controlling. But you also CARE. In your own way you always cared about the people in your life. This is just more of the same. You need to stop thinking of yourself as a different person."

"Bullshit." I snapped. "I did NOT care. They were holes for me to use. They were MY holes, but they were holes. Now they're...fuck if I know. I didn't fucking sign up for this. Except I did. But not THIS me? Not that I even have time to think about what they're going to think about this shit when I'm trying not to blow up on everyone. I just hope that Raven slut can put my fucking head right."

That got the first negative reaction from Ingrid, causing her to slightly frown. "If any of that was true, you wouldn't have done so much for Waylon. The amount of usefulness you get from him is not commensurate to the effort you put into making him stronger, not to mention that Sally belongs to you technically speaking. If she was just a hole for you to use you'd have used her, regardless of your subordinate's feelings. And I can't advise allowing someone to suppress your feelings like that. It won't fix anything."

"It'll fix ME." I snapped. "Or at least put me back to how I was long enough for me to upgrade myself again and make it permanent."

"Ah." She said mildly. "So cowardice then. I hadn't taken you for the type."

My eyes flared and my teeth gritted, claws digging into the chair I was sitting in. "You better watch that pretty fuckin' mouth of yours doc." I would have ignored that before. Cowardice wasn't some kind of mortal insult. It just meant being cautious. But the idea that doing this might make me less of a man. That I was hiding from my problems, fucking BOTHERED me.

"Should I?" Asked the blonde in mild curiosity. "Why? Are you going to attack me? I doubt you'd assault me sexually, even when you didn't have emotions that seems to have been a line for you. I suppose you could always hit me a few times to show me my place. I doubt I could stop you."

That brought me up short. I didn't want to do that. Not only because her bullshit god aura made it functionally impossible, but because that was another way I would be giving up control of myself. Fuck this was hard. I took a long, deep breath. "You're kind of nuts yourself, aren't you doc? No wonder everyone at Arkham responds so well to you."

She just shrugged. "If hurting me would make you feel better I would understand. I obviously would prefer you not do so, but my purpose here is to help you."

I...didn't even know how to fucking respond to that. That was insane. Like clinically fucking unstable. Who was willing to let someone beat them up just to work off stress? Was she fucking crazy? "And what if I decided I wanted to work off my tension in another way?" I said cuttingly. "You gonna bend over for me Ingrid?"

It was childish. I was lashing out. It wasn't a legitimate attempt at seduction. I'd never made a pass that shoddy at a woman in my life. Ingrid smiled calmly. "No, Nicholas. I have no desire to have sex with you at the moment. I wouldn't stop you from using me in that way if you really wanted to, but I wouldn't participate. Are you planning to have intercourse with me during this session?"

The way she said that made me feel a little queasy. Like she was a sex doll asking if it was getting used. Which was...a weird sensation. I don't think even with my emotions off I'd have accepted that offer. It was too close to rape, and I was too prideful for that even when the idea of it didn't make my stomach turn. But it just drove home how fucking unnatural her thought processes were.

"That isn't healthy you know." I had to at least point out the irony. "Like, I get your whole thing is being a saint, but that level of willingness to incur harm to help your patients is its own kind of mental illness."

She nodded thoughtfully. "I think you might be right. But I don't mind. I care about everyone I work with. I want them to feel safe with me. Even if they need to hurt me to get that feeling I can take that, as long as they can get what they need. I want to help people."

I was literally repulsed by the mindset. "That's...that's disgusting to me. It's so alien I can't even process it. You're like my polar opposite. How do you even stand that? Caring about EVERYONE. I can't even stand caring about a few people."

"I don't think that's true." Said Ingrid. "I think you like caring about them. I think you like them caring about you. I think that part of the reason you agreed to this is because the fact that Dinah and Amaya and Barbara are worried about you makes you feel loved. You might not think of it that way, but that's why you were so accommodating."

I sneered at her. "You know, you were a lot less irritating when I was planning to seduce and breed you." I paused. "Not that I guess that has changed too much. Does that put you off? Knowing that I'm planning to eventually convince you to fuck me?"

Ingrid shook her head. "Not especially. I don't find you unattractive, I just find the idea of taking advantage of someone who is grieving distasteful. I wouldn't be opposed to being part of your relationship web after you've made progress with your therapy."

The surprise was enough to jar free an actual laugh, the first I'd made in a day or two. "I'm sorry, did you just offer me your pussy as an incentive to improve my mental health?"

Her smile was a little mischievous. "I didn't. But if you choose to interpret my comment that way I'm not opposed to that deal. You realize though that allowing Raven to remove your emotions would make you ineligible for such an accomplishment."

I scoffed in amazement. "You know. You're not even remotely the person I thought you would be. You're almost as fucked up as I am." I exhaled. "Fuck it. I'm going to be doing this for my girls anyway, because they would be worried sick if I didn't might as well get a prize at the end. I hope you're not expecting roses and candle light for our first time. I'm not really one for that kind of sex."

Ingrid snorted. "I'm not deaf, and you only added soundproofing to your room recently. I assure you, I'm well aware of your carnal proclivities. Regardless, the point is moot if you don't make any actual progress, and trust me, I'll be able to tell if you're lying."

That didn't surprise me. Ingrid was more perceptive than I gave her credit for. Given her unique position among the girls and her listening skills, I had no doubt she knew more than a few things about me no one else did. As amusing as the little distraction was though, she was right, it was time to get back to actually talking. This had been...mildly helpful so far. I wasn't against keeping it going. "So." I said wryly as I leaned back in my chair. "I suppose you'll want me to talk about my mother now?" I had a feeling this little session would be lasting a while.

April 13th 2016 Brightedge City, Hall of Nevers, 11:00 AM EDT

Dinah was waiting for me after I came out. Despite not showing much this early on, she was very obviously pregnant. Her normally flat stomach making it all the more obvious she was carrying my baby. Amy was with her, and when I stepped into the hallway she hurled herself into my arms, squeezing me tightly.

I felt...I wasn't sure. I didn't hate it. I couldn't have been less in the mood to have sex, but having her holding me like that was kind of nice. Still, I wasn't about to become a simpering man bitch because I had a bad day, so I patted her back for a second and then pried her off me.

"How did it go?" Asked the mother of my child softly. Her eyes were glittering with pity, and where I would have immediately seen weakness before, now I just felt...annoyed. I didn't need her pity, but I knew that she couldn't help it so I just ignored the discomfort.

I started down the hallway, the two of them falling in step. "I'm fine." I said tightly. "Just leave it alone. I'm talking to Ingrid like you asked, leave the private shit private." My tone was harsher than I wanted, which pissed me off. I was better at managing people than this damn it.

She didn't get mad, just made a noise of agreement. Amy laid her head on my shoulder. "Hey, do you want to have a threesome with us?" She said sympathetically. "I know that sex always makes you feel better."

Holding back a snort, I felt my face involuntarily twitch into a partial smile. A shot of warmth went through my stomach as I looked down at my often naive wife. "No, Ames. I appreciate the offer, and I plan to demolish that cute little ass of yours at the first opportunity, but I'm not really in the mood right now."

She nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I get that." She planted a kiss on my cheek. "I'm sorry about your dad Nicky. I didn't know him, but he raised you so he must have been amazing."

I...had no response to that. She smiled softly and turned, heading off into the castle. Dinah clicked her tongue. "Man, she is WAY too good for you."

Snorting, I raised an eyebrow at her. "Pot and kettle." She smiled at me. I felt the need to clear something up though. "I'm not planning to apologize for anything Dinah. Just so you know."

She looked at me levelly. "Really? Meeting me, seducing me, getting me pregnant, breaking up my relationship? When you couldn't feel bad it made no sense to be angry about it, but now that you have your humanity...you really aren't even going to pretend to be sorry?"

I barked out a laugh. "See, I figured this would happen. I'm not magically a good person now. Hell, in a lot of ways I'm a worse one. I'm angrier, more possessive, probably meaner." I reached out and grabbed her, pulling her against me, grabbing a handful of her fat ass as I did, looking her in the eye from inches away. "You're mine. Every inch of you. Fuck Oliver Queen. Fuck the Justice League. I took you and you belong to me. Do I need to apologize for that?"

Her blank expression twisted into a small smile. "No. And I didn't expect you to. I just wanted to remind you who you are. Brooding isn't your style. I don't like seeing the father of my baby so sullen. Besides, seeing you act like a depressed teen makes me feel like a cradle robber."

I let go of her ass, giving her a quick pop on the cheek. "Here's to you Mrs. Robinson." I also leaned down for a quick kiss. "Thanks. I needed that." I turned and started walking, letting her fall into step next to me. "To be fair, you could have tried the threesome route like Amy did. That almost worked."

She rolled her eyes. "Please. I know my man. I'm a trained psychologist Nicholas. Do you really think that after months of therapy and going over how we got together I don't see what you did in retrospect? I understand you better than you think. Just because the princess is a little sweetie with a fucked up mind doesn't mean she's the one who understands you best. I'm the one who has what you need."

I smirked at her. "I'm sure. Probably comes with the mommy milkers."

"You fishing for some lactation play?" She said, her tone dripping with sincerity. "Because I'm just about there. And we did talk about how you needed a mother figure."

Rolling my eyes, I smiled. "I'm not the type. You want me to call you mommy you better earn it. Until then you can just make Whisper give it up while you're strapping her. Or maybe get it from Barbie. She seems like the type to have some mommy issues. Gods know she has daddy issues."

"No shit." She said with a snort. "You don't need a degree to diagnose that. She fills her need for male reassurance and support with you, which, admittedly was self destructive and ridiculous up to this point, not that I suppose I'm in a position to comment. Her promiscuity among other women shows a deep seated need for feminine affection and positive female reinforcement."

I grimaced. "Gross. Stop talking like a therapist. I had to put up with that shit enough while talking to Ingrid. But hey, if you think Barbie could use some female attention why don't you sit on her face sometime?"

"Because 'fuck them until they have a breakthrough' isn't an ACTUAL therapy technique, despite how it might seem like one to you." She said with a huff. "Granted, my pregnancy would lend me some legitimacy in her eyes for helping get past her current issues, but becoming just one of the parade of women she's fucked wouldn't help her at all. I don't think she would be open to a platonic approach though. We were never that close and there was some tension between us at first."

I smirked a bit at that. "What?" She asked exasperatedly. "Why the smarmy grin?"

"Oh nothing." I said with a snicker. "It's just that I always knew you were kind of the mom of the group, but now that I can actually put that in context it's kind of cute."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "You realize that I figured out a long time ago that you don't actually have mother issues?"

"Oh I definitely didn't." I agreed. "That was something I told you so you could rationalize bouncing on my dick despite me being a teenager. I might NOW unfortunately, but I wasn't calling you cute in a fetish bait way." I paused, trying to put the idea into words when I'd never really needed to express a sentiment like this before. "It's...kind of sweet. That you care about all of them."

Her smile was soft. "Careful Nicky. People are going to think you're going soft. Though I suspect this new side of you is the only reason you'll have a shot with Ingrid. She seems like the 'I can change him' type. I doubt she would have agreed to be involved with you before, and I know the only reason you'd keep a pretty girl around was the intention to eventually have sex with her."

"You realize that implies I'm planning to deflower and mind break the two cute little teens living here?" I said in amusement. "Because I'm definitely still doing that, even if I might try being a bit nicer to Leslie. Besides, that's a pot kettle situation if I've ever heard one. You're telling me you weren't planning to try to change me before this happened?"

Dinah caught my hand, pulling me to a stop and turning me to face her, putting her hands on my cheeks as she stared into my eyes fiercely. "No." She said sharply. "Do I know that you seduced and impregnated me because you wanted to knock up a MILF? Yes. But you also stayed by my side when all the others left. Even with no emotions you cared enough in your own way not to abandon me or the baby."

I pulled her forward into a hard kiss. "I told you. You're MINE. I don't give a fuck what the League thinks of you."

Resting her forehead against mine, she smiled. "I know. And that's why I stayed. It's why I'm raising our baby with you, and its why if you ask I'll bend that little blue slut over and spread her fat little ass cheeks for you myself. Because you're MINE too. I accept you for who you are, because I know you'll take care of me and our baby. And if this new you is the kind of person who can love us too?" She kissed me this time, even harder. "There's nothing I wouldn't do for you."

Weirdly, that fucking scared me. The intensity in her eyes, the fire in her voice. Normally I'd have just been turned on, but I felt uncomfortable and claustrophobic in her arms for a second. I also felt touched, and decided to force the other stuff down. I didn't want to push Dinah away. I was far from ready to say I loved somebody, even if I might be capable of it now. But I sure as fuck possessed this hot little bitch.

She must have seen the discomfort because she let me go with a laugh, patting my cheek. "My poor sweet Nicky. No one is asking you to become a real boy overnight. Don't think about it too much. Just do whatever makes you comfortable. Pound us all into a gibbering mess when the mood strikes you and crush your enemies. Expand your power base. Do what makes you happy. As much as it feels like it nothing has changed."

Which was a solid point. I felt differently about shit, but nothing was ACTUALLY different. I debated having her suck my dick to take my mind off things, but like I'd told Amy, I wasn't in the mood. I nodded. "Alright. That's fine. Let's get moving on our next step then. With the vampires gone our major threat in the city is the damn Fear Host. I can't have him running around being a nuisance, so I need to track him down."

She nodded, her face smoothing out. "Right. Whoever they are they're a danger. So we need to figure out where they are. I was thinking over that. I think we should try to get you undercover in the Court of Owls under your civilian identity. The Fear Host almost definitely has some connection to them since they were at the meeting. Not just upstairs but with access to restricted areas."

I shot her a surprised look and she rolled her eyes. "I realize you don't have a great opinion of superheroes, but I was a member of the League for years. I DID have a skillset other than bouncing tits and a glass shattering scream. Barbara is far from the only competent member of your little harem."

Holding up both hands, I said defensively. "Whoa. Don't shoot. I never meant to imply otherwise. It's just a good idea. I must be off my game not to have considered it. I'll make Silver help out getting me in. I appreciate the help." I held out an elbow to her. "Now. If we're finished with boring feelings bullshit I thought we could go cuddle my dog for a while. Ingrid informs me that will be life affirming."

We headed off down the hallway to find Magnus. I really had to upgrade the pup now, but I was down to only 4.25 million points. If i was going to ever get to B rank I would need to put in some serious work. The Court would be a perfect opportunity to make some points. I'd strip the whole place for parts and enjoy every second of it. My anger was already starting to dim at least a bit. One thing at a time I supposed.

April 13th 2016 Brightedge City, Solomon Shipping Company, 12:00 PM EDT

Given everything that happened, my only real lead for the Fear Host was the Court of Owls. Luckily, I still had my in there, since the mask protected me from being connected to Mammon. The only person who knew who I was there was Silver, and she was under orders she couldn't break not to leak it.

Speaking of Silver, she was in a weird position for me right now. Like, looking back, I didn't feel bad about taking and fucking her, though I did feel SLIGHTLY bad about blackmailing her into blowing me when we were younger. What I DID feel was kind of pissed off that those old fuckers thought so little of her. The situation she found herself in sucked, and I was angry at them for mistreating her, which was kind of a weird thing to feel.

Luckily, full bodily control MEANS full bodily control, and I was able to suppress any outward sign of my new annoyance. When I arrived, I found Silver alone in the warehouse. She'd had the Talons all wait outside, and when she saw me she looked...conflicted. She bowed her head. "My lord. I heard about your father. I'm sorry to hear of his passing. He was an impressive man."

I laughed grimly. "He was. And worthy of respect, though he certainly has his flaws. I'm sick of hearing condolences though, so we should move on. Tell me about the movements inside the Court for the past few days. What have the been doing? How have the reacted to recent events."

Just because I hadn't contacted her to put her on a trail didn't mean Silver wasn't useful where she was. If the Court was so intertwined with this cult, or intertwined at all, then there was no way they wouldn't have reacted during the aftermath. At the very least they must be scrambling to get the Order under control, since they had been ignoring them, probably on the assumption I'd be dead.

Silver nodded, as if she'd been expecting this, which was fair because it was the obvious request. She was in that same skimpy silver floor length dress, and I found myself extremely distracted by all the bare flesh, but I forced myself to ignore it. "Well first thing, the Order of the Van Helsings hasn't been found. We didn't even get close. People were out shaking branches and kicking trunks but nothing came of it, which in my experience doesn't happen."

Which meant they'd been stalling me like expected. Assholes. Not a shock given the theorized links between the Court and the cultists. Sure, I'd found almost no actual proof of that except some old entries in some random tomes at Zee's place, but it made too much sense with their behavior. Also, I was a Lord, not a cop, so fuck proof. I'd just kill all these motherfuckers and then it wouldn't matter.

Silver continued filling me in on inconsequential bits of information, and as she did, I stared at her. She really was gorgeous. Fat creamy tits, thick, smooth thighs, legs for days. And that ass...

I heard a slight gasp and looked down to realize I'd slid my hand up Silver's dress and started palming said ass. I grimaced. I'd been so lost in my own bullshit I hadn't even noticed I was doing that. I mean, it was good to see my sex drive was still as high as ever despite the 'feelings'. I considered what I'd come here for and how long we had. "Suck my dick." I told Silver pensively.

She nodded, sliding to her knees to fish my cock out. She swallowed me whole without a second prompting, and I groaned as I stroked her hair. As I did, I felt a strange emotion well up in me. Pride. I wasn't suddenly mystically sappily in love with her or some shit, but seeing this gorgeous silver haired girl slurping my dick made me feel like a fucking badass. I mean, I always felt like a badass when I got laid, but this was so much more.

I felt some pride in her too. Silver was a sexy bitch, and she was mine. Sure, I'd always been excited to have my girls and show them off, but I'd never felt like I was...better, for having been able to get them. Silver hummed happily as she slurped, and I kept petting her hair, enjoying the heat and wetness as she slobbered my knob like a pro. Apparently having human emotions makes blowjobs better, not worse, which was neat.

She went to town on my for about fifteen minutes before my balls tightened and she swallowed my cum down like a fucking latte. Then she pulled back, tucked my dick away, and zipped up my pants. She gave me a cheeky smile as she fixed her pink shiny lip gloss. "See, now don't you feel better?"

I snorted at that and helped her up. "I forgot how fantastic you are at that. You suck dick like a champion." I winked at her. "Should have kept you around when we were fourteen."

That got a laugh. "I don't think that good have gone well for either of us. Also, it probably helps that your dick was the first one I ever sucked. I developed a lot of my preferences blowing you." She grimaced. "It actually makes me cringe thinking of how many cocky assholes I dated after that. You kind of stuck in my head."

I shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry." She whirled to look at me, her face incredulous at the comment. "I recently had a bit of an...epiphany. I feel a little bad about that whole thing. Not enough that I feel like I owe you, but I think in the same situation I wouldn't do it again." At her arched eyebrow I grinned at her. "Oh, I'd have absolutely fucked your face. I'd have just taken the long was around and talked my way into your pants through charm."

She rolled her eyes at the comment, but I didn't much care. I brushed past my little confession. "Anyway. We need a way into the Court. So do you have some sort of event or something I can use as an in? " Technically speaking I'd be going in as Nick, but even though they didn't know I was Mammon they had to know that I was the one with Greed System if they'd targeted my dad.

However, that was a benefit rather than a hindrance. I had access to information they didn't. One, I knew I was Mammon, and therefor a giant ass dragon now. Two, I knew they were in bed with the vampires or at least connected to them, so they would be aware of my dad dying and assume I was vulnerable.

Given the involvement of the Fear Host and the fact that the vampires had targeted my mothers plan which involved it, they MIGHT know about the system, but even if they did they couldn't know specifics because of the mask, so even if they decided to try and spring a trap I'd be fine.

Silver looked pensive for a minute. "Maybe? Roger Black throws a pretty huge party once a month. It's coming up. Nothing huge or politically significant, but Roger's parties are usually popular, mostly because of all the pretty young things he invites who are always completely poleaxed by all the wealth and power on display. Since there's always so many girls willing to give it up for a nice dinner with a sugar daddy, most of the powerful members attend."

I grinned at her. "Well, that sounds tailor made for me. Though I think I'll bring a date. I already have quite a bit on my plate with the girls I have around now." Plus if that house wasn't lined with hidden cameras set up to record wealthy businessman pounding underage girls for leverage I'd eat my hat. If I wore a hat, which I didn't because hats were fucking stupid.

It was easy to see her surprise when I said that, but it was fine. She wasn't wrong to be shocked, the old me didn't care too much about the ever expanding list of potential weaknesses. I had a few girls I'd already mentally locked in, and one or two that I would be an idiot to pass up, but I wouldn't be snagging every random girl with a fat ass who walked by anymore. I was having enough trouble dealing with sorting out how much I gave a shit about the ones I had.

"You're bringing me?" She sounded unsure, like she couldn't see the upside there. Bringing her had no real benefit that she could see.

Which was fair of course, because the main benefit was showing my support for her by showing up at her side. I would ALSO be showing those fuck sticks that she was mine and to keep their fucking eyes off her. Without my apathy to temper it, I found my draconic greed was even more extreme than it had been before.

She opened her mouth to respond but I held up a hand. She quieted, and I focused on my senses. It took me a second to confirm something and then I spread my wings and blurred straight up, grabbing hold of a Talon that had been looming in the rafters. I grabbed the large man in an a tight grip and yanked him into open air, cutting my lift by putting away my wings and dropping us both down into the cement of the warehouse floor.

There was a loud crash as slammed him into the ground hard enough to leave a crater, than stood up to drag him upright. "Well look at this." I said conversationally. "A Talon. I could have sworn you told them all to wait outside. Seems odd this one wouldn't listen to his boss."

The massive man in the bronze armor, the top of his head covered in black leather, grinned at me widely, despite his teeth being stained with blood. "Nick Lord. I suppose you've been keeping a few things quiet from us, what a shame. I was sent to follow the bitch, and good thing I was. Now why don't you let me go instead of making this worse for yourself. There are quite a few Talons in town. It would be a shame if one of those girls you were talking about were to have an accident."

I raised an eyebrow at him in complete stupefaction as I appraised him. Felix Harmon- F rank talon. "Ok. Ignoring that up until recently that threat would have held no weight at all, making it at this moment is an even stupider decision. You're completely at my mercy. If I kill you here no one would ever be the wiser."

He snorted. "Kill me? Boy, I'm a TALON. We can't be killed. Go ahead and break my limbs, shove me in a box and sink me in the ocean. The Court has ways of recovering assets. If you make me disappear they'll just dig me up, and they'll find out all your dirty little secrets. I was listening for a quite a while. For shame St. Cloud, you disclosed so many trade secrets, I doubt they would be willing to let it go." His grin widened. "Hey, maybe they'll make YOU a Talon. That pussy must be good, I bet I could have some real fun if those big fat tits of yours were invulnerable. I-"

I flexed my power and a WAVE of bright shining force erupted from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. I held him, listening to him scream as he died, and the process went on for a few minutes. When I was done I dropped the charred and no longer regenerating remains on the floor dispassionately. Huh, first murder as a functional human being. Less dramatic than expected. Guess that wasn't something that bothered me. Good to know.

OK this chapter is something that I've been building to for a long time. Little breadcrumbs and important bits of info leading up to a big change. I've been feeling for a while that Nick had reached the limits of his growth as the person he was. Being a pure sociopath was becoming a limitation to him, and I wanted room to take him in new directions. I would like to clarify that Nick is NOT going to become a hero. He is not a good guy. He grew up completely void of any morals or any sort of concept of right or wrong.

He CAN feel emotions now, but that is going to bring its own challenges and will make him worse in some ways, and I can't wait to explore that. So no one needs to worry that Nick is going to lose that devil may care attitude you guys know and love. I'm doing my best to let him grow INTO who he is rather than out of it. The sole difference is going to be the changes in his relationships with the girls. As usual pat-reon has the advance chapters at that site /malcolmtent. I hope everyone enjoyed this one and is excited for what's to come, because I'm having a blast writing it.