April 14th 2016 Brightedge City, Hall of Nevers, 9:00 AM EDT

The next morning was actually pretty pleasant. I woke up, went down to get something to eat, and sat at the table alone to have a bowl of cereal (Booberry, because Cherry thought it was hilarious to buy ghost themed cereal for me to remember her by). I gave a sigh of contentment as I shoveled in the food. Eating a nice bowl of cereal and chilling at my giant ass dining room table alone was pretty relaxing.

One huge downside to the not having any humanity is that introspection and alone time have far less value. Just sitting and taking stock of things isn't stimulating when you feel no real satisfaction from accomplishments aside from a momentary bit of amusement. One of the things Ingrid had stressed in our session was that to be a functional person, regardless of morality, being able to sit with yourself and contemplate your direction in life was key.

I still felt pain about my dad, but there were other things I felt too. I was pretty satisfied with the way I'd been handling things in my life. Talking to Ingrid, working with Raven, making things right with my girls, I kind of regretted not being there for the whole Trevor thing, but Cherry had filled me in on the whole thing in detail, and I was really proud of how creative she'd been when she tortured that guy to death.

There was a thump across the table as someone thumped down a bowl of Frankenberry, and I looked the rest of the way up to see my redhead smiling at me. "Penny for your thoughts?" Her smile was tentative, and I was pretty sure she was worried about my heart to heart with some of the other girls and not her.

I smiled back. "Sorry, this is a high income household, my thoughts sell for a minimum of a hundred dollars a pop." I winked at her. "My girls have expensive tastes, and I need to keep them living in the standard to which they've become accustomed."

She winced a bit at the mention of money, and I frowned at her, raising an eyebrow. "I...needed to talk to you about that." She said quietly. "Or rather. Someone else did. We got a call on the house line from an attorney. He says he's representing your father's estate, and he's inviting you to a reading of Max's will at one of his old estates. He didn't say which one."

"He didn't need to." I said grimly. "It's Rosewood. My grandmother's old place. The old man kept it around for family functions, and this would definitely qualify. What did he say about the reading? When is it happening? Are there any others coming?"

Knowing the old man he wouldn't miss a chance to suck a bunch of people into his bullshit. I doubted he was going to make this easy on anyone, and knowing how performative he could be there would probably be not just allies but enemies there. Still...I felt compelled to go. He'd been the closest human version of what I was before the seal broke, but he HADN'T been that. Not completely. I'd seen it in his eyes when he died. He was...not happy, but serene. Like he was leaving it to me.

That wasn't something the past me could have understood from that look, which made me wonder how much else about my dad I'd missed growing up thinking how I did. Would seeing him through the eyes of the others that would be there make a difference? Would it help me learn more about who he was? Maybe not, but it was something worth doing.

"It's tomorrow." She said quietly. "A private ceremony at the property. They said they would send directions later today, though I'm not sure why on earth they would do it so last minute."

I was. He'd have arranged it that way. Inviting enemies would make them interested enough to attend to see what they might get from the will or just to be sure he was dead, but the more time he gave them to adjust to the idea the more likely some of them would back out. He always did like to keep people off balance.

"Will you go with me? You and Amy?" I'd have liked to take Dinah, but I refused to put her in the middle of one of the old man's bullshit plans when she was pregnant and human. My redhead and my wife were the best choices for companions, bringing too many would be a sign of weakness, whereas a woman on each arm would just be seen as arm candy or showing off.

Barbie looked at me with a...weird expression. Somewhere between adoration and pity I think, though I wasn't incredibly well versed in either. I was still decent at reading people, but trying to contextualize their emotions through my own instead of just use them as strike points to manipulate made interacting about a million times more complicated. "Oh, Nicky. Of course I will. I'd be happy to come with you to bury your dad."

I thought it was sweet how innocent she was to think that Lord funeral wasn't going to be a fucking mess. I didn't mention it though, she'd just assume I was paranoid, and Barbie was always ready for anything anyway.

Despite everything, I was curious what the old man would leave me. I'd have expected him to sell everything off and just dump the money in my account. He hadn't known about the system and he wasn't normally sentimental. Grandma's house was probably the only real attachment he had to his childhood. She'd inherited it when Grandpa died and had raised dad there all alone aside from servants.

Grandma had been...kind of a frigid bitch. Grandpa dying broke her from what dad said, but he still cared about her. Said she made him who he was, and he'd passed those lessons on to me. The same lessons that told me that we would be walking into something crazy.

"What about attendees? Did they mention who would be there?" It seemed unlikely, but the only other person I could ask was Sasha, and I somehow doubted she was going to let on any information my dad had wanted kept secret. His attack dog was loyal to him, not to the family.

She shook her head. "No. But I did a little asking around. It's not just going to be supervillains or criminals. Carol Ferris, Alan Scott, and the former Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, will all be there. probably more people from the criminal side of things but my connections there aren't enough to confirm anything in such a short time."

That was fine, I'd see who was there when I arrived. I was a literal fucking dragon, I wasn't scared of a few mob bosses. "Alright. So what did the lawyer tell you about the actual ceremony? Are they handling the arrangements personally?" I had no clue who my dad's lawyer was, but they must have been a damn competent attorney to arrange something like this on such short notice.

"The lawyer's name is Katherine Spencer. She said she represented your dad for a few years before he died. The ceremony is going to be an overnight affair. People will arrive over the course of the day, at nightfall there will be a reading of the will, and then people will retire to their rooms and the burial will take place the next morning."

I nodded. "Probably in the rose garden. Grandma loved those damn roses almost as much as she loved dad. The rose maze on the grounds contains over ten thousand varietals. If he's being buried there he'll be doing it in the clearing at the center of that maze."

The reading of the will was interesting. I had a feeling that it wouldn't be a quiet affair, giving everyone their bequeathals in front of each other was classic dad, stirring shit up to see who would make a move. There was zero chance that the items and exact order of the will wasn't perfectly calculated to be the most irritating and offensive setup possible, and to turn everyone against each other. I was kind of looking forward to it.

Call me sentimental, but getting to see the old man make the puppets dance from beyond the grave sounded like the perfect way to honor him, and I couldn't wait to watch him twist their brains into knots without them even knowing it was happening.

Barbie seemed thrilled by my interest in going, and in taking her, and she was happily chowing down on her bowl of cereal now as she filled me in on any details she'd been able to uncover through conversation and investigation. Barbie was a true blue genius at this stuff, and analyzing even a ten minute conversation had enabled her to dog up quite a few implications and unspoken bits of information, which she was happy to share.

It was nice, really. Seeing how happy she was getting. I knew why too. Barbie was completely and utterly head over heels in love with me. Playing with girls was fun for her, but she was pretty much obsessed with me specifically as I'd already confirmed. Seeing me able to care meant I was able to care for her, maybe even eventually love her back, and she was over the moon about it.

I wasn't sure what love would be like, or if I'd ever love anyone, though it seemed likely now, but I knew it felt good to see her so excited and hopeful. I hadn't realized how...broken down she was with our old arrangement. She took it because it was all she could get and she loved me, but seeing her now was like night and day. This was the kind of energy I'd seen from her when she was doing or about to do her cape work, and knowing she was like that over me was pretty intoxicating.

She saw me staring and stopped eating and talking. "What?" She said in puzzlement. "Something on my face?"

Grinning at her I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, you spilled gorgeous all over it." I ran my eyes over her. "You're beautiful, you know that?"

Barbie preened. "I...I mean, yeah, but not from you. I don't know if you've ever said something like that to me. Your usual terms of appreciation are along the lines of calling me sexy or telling me I'm a hot little bitch during sex."

I grinned wider. "Oh you ARE a hot little bitch during sex, and most of the rest of the time too. But you're also a beautiful girl with a brilliant mind. I'm glad you're mine."

Her cheeks heated up, her face flushing so obviously you could have used her to taunt bulls. "What brought that on? Not going soft on me are you?" She sounded...hopeful, rather than teasing or worried, but sadly I couldn't let her believe that even if she wanted to.

"No." I said gently. "But you mean more to me than you did before. Having no gag reflexes and letting me fuck you in the ass aren't the only reasons you matter to me now." I paused. "Though I'm very fond of both of those qualities so don't go changing them. I'm still the same old vicious bastard, I'm just a vicious bastard who can't stop smiling at how much you care about me."

She shrugged. "Nicky. We've been over this. There are a few lines I won't cross, but for the most part you mean more to me than staying on the up and up. Be as vicious as you want, unless you become a complete monster I could never stop caring. The thought that you might care back someday is...it means more to me than I can possibly say."

I nodded. "Sounds good. Good talk by the way, it's nice to know where we all stand on things." I paused to mull it over. "Huh, that was a bit heavy though wasn't it. Let's do something a bit more relaxed. Finish up your cereal and get under the table. Talking about how beautiful you are got me all turned on. Put that pretty mouth to work for daddy." She squealed in delight and slurped down the milk before diving under the table cloth. As I leaned back to let her start I smiled. It was nice to know I made her happy, and that she definitely still lacked a gag reflex.

April 15th 2016 New Jersey, Rosewood, 9:00 AM EDT

The whole rest of the day was just relaxing, trying to work on my meditation exercises, sparring with Waylon and Sally (read, kicking their asses), and by the time the next morning rolled around and it was time for Amy, Barbie, and I to go, I was feeling much more relaxed.

Well...mostly. "It's straight already." I groaned in annoyance as my wife unknotted and reknotted my tie for the fifteenth time. I looked at Barbie. "Can you tell her that it's straight? Because I agreed to let her pick my clothes for this because I thought it would calm her down, and it doesn't seem to be working." We were most of the way to Rosewood in a limo I'd slapped together and was having Waylon drive. Sadly despite not having arrived yet, my wife was acting like we were already there.

I'd had a lot of experiences with Amy. The adorable sex kitten, the romantic star struck princess, the manipulative politician, but the version of my wife I hadn't seen was this one. She was nervous as hell. I wasn't even sure WHY. We were going to a funeral, it wasn't like she was meeting my parents. I didn't HAVE parents anymore.

Truth be told I think my resistance was helping her calm down more than actually going through the motions with this, and I was hamming it up a little to help, but I was still genuinely perplexed about why she was taking this so seriously.

Reaching out to catch her hands, Barbie pulled her away from me. "I hate to agree with him on this." I mouthed 'what the fuck' at my redhead, which she ignored, and continued. "But it looks fine. You're looking for reasons to find problems here Amy. Can you tell us why exactly you're so...worried."

My wife's amethyst eyes watered as she stared up at us miserably. "It's just...this is the my first time out here as his wife. I've been trying my best to be supportive at home. Helping manage his women, accomplishing tasks, but this...this is my debut as Amaya Lord." She stared at me beseechingly. "I just don't want to make this worse for you. But I don't know what my role is in this case. Your feelings about all this are so confusing, what do you need me to do to make this work?"

I just stared at her. "THAT'S what has you so flustered?" I reached out and pulled her against me. "One of the best things about having my humanity is being able to really appreciate how godsdamned adorable you are sometimes. Listen. I may care about some people now, but I don't care about MOST people much at all. I give zero fucks what these assholes think. Spear them all with constructs and hang garlands on the bodies if you want, I don't give a shit."

Barbie cleared her throat. "For the record I very much give a shit if you start impaling important people and decorating their corpses. Please don't do that."

"Ok fine." I said, rolling my eyes. "Do whatever you want EXCEPT for that. My point is, if anyone who meets you doesn't think I'm a lucky son of a bitch for marrying such a hot piece of ass or get blown away by your refined manners and brilliant mind, they can kiss every inch of my hundred foot scaly ass. As cheesy as that shit sounds, be yourself. Anyone who doesn't like it can eat a bag of dicks."

Amy stared up at me adoringly. "Oh Nicky, you always know what to say." She yanked me down by the tie she'd just finished fixing (which actually needed fixing now) and kissed me soundly. I wasn't sure how telling her everyone else could eat a dick was romantic, but if it worked for her I wasn't going to complain.

Barbie cleared her throat, and when Amy pulled back she rolled her eyes and fished out a wet nap to wipe our faces, which were now smeared with a shit load of lipstick. "Anyway, if you two are finished, we're here." She point out the window of the limo at the sprawling estate. Reaching up to fix my tie for real this time, she turned to both of us. "Are you ready?" She looked at me sympathetically. "I know you said you don't care but this will be your dad's funeral."

"Which has no bearing on whether he stays dead or not." I was personally thinking not, but I hadn't brought up my promise to Sally to bring back her kids. I'd been considering how to do it and any proper resurrection method would most likely be A or even S rank. Considering the pool used for Lilith had operated mostly on her own power, resurrecting mundane people would be HARDER, not easier.

"You with us Nick?" Barbie asked in concern. She knew me well enough to tell when my brain wandered off into the dark woods.

I shook my head a bit to clear it. "Sorry. I'm fine. Just thinking. Anyway yeah, I'm ready. Like I said to Amy. I don't care about any of these people. I'm here because..." Honestly I couldn't put that into words. Because he wanted me here? Because it would probably end up being fun? Both? Neither? "I'm here." I said with finality. "So let's get our asses inside."

Amy nodded climbing over me to get out and then taking up position next to the limo offering me an arm. "Alright. Then let's go inside and take a look around. I want to see your ancestral home so badly. Do you think your grandmother had pictures of you as a baby?"

I shrugged. "Probably somewhere. I'm told I was cute. You can let me know what you think if you find any."

She pouted at me. "You're supposed to be embarrassed at your wife seeing your baby pictures." I rolled my eyes, still unsure how much of her information on couples she got from bad romance novels and, based on that scenario, possibly anime.

Barbie climbed out and stood at my other side, and I took both their arms. We followed the path up the winding driveway, gravel crunching as we walked through the open gates with their black metal roses, through the sprawling lawn, with the flower maze off in the distance, and past the fountain in front of the house, before arriving at the door of the mansion. Amy reached up and rapped on the wood with the rose shaped knocker, and the door opened to reveal a tall, pale man with dark hair that was graying at the temples.

His eyes locked on me, and he smiled wanly. "As I live and breathe. For a moment I thought Master Maxwell had returned to us anew. You're his spitting image Master Nicholas." His voice was crisp and british, and I remembered it even years later.

"Good to see you Hobbes." I said with a nod. Hobbes had been my grandmother's butler, and loyal as a hound. My grandfather, Albert Lord, had done some favor for Hobbes when he was young, and the butler had dedicated himself to my family after. He'd helped raise my old man, being the only ally he had in the big house sometimes. "We were told there's a funeral. I take it you arranged things?"

He nodded. "Of course. Master Maxwell did so love those roses as a child. Back when Miss Maxine and he would take walks in the maze. Before we lost Master Albert." His voice was sad, and it wasn't hard to figure out why. I was a born bastard, but my dad hadn't been. My grandmother had been a softer person once too. But losing my grandfather had made her hard, and she passed that onto her son. Seeing that happen was probably pretty shitty for someone who cared about all of them.

Stepping back, he gestured us in, and introduced my girls. "Well, if it helps, these are my companions. Barbara Gordon and Amaya Lord." I felt Amy stiffen at that proclamation, and Hobbes' eyes widened in shock. It was understandable that he would be surprised. I'd never been the romantic type.

To be fair, my original agreement to marry Amy was more because I gave no fucks at all about the concept of marriage and I was literally only agreeing to sign a meaningless piece of paper. But now...well, I wasn't head over heels in love with her or any dumb shit like that, but I liked having her around. I didn't regret my marriage, which was better than most people did.

Hobbes bowed low to Amy. "I am...so very pleased to hear that. Welcome to the family, Miss Amaya. It is good to know Master Nicholas won't be alone." He glanced at Barbie a bit unsurely, and I had to choke back a smirk because old men like Hobbes weren't really equipped for a man bringing his wife and side piece to a funeral together, which was pretty funny. Eventually he offered a hand. "And you as well Miss Barbara. It means more than I can say to know Master Nicholas has friends such as yourself."

That got a wide smile from Barbie. "You know." She said with amusement. "You remind me quite a bit of an old friend. Though admittedly you're much younger."

"I assure you." Said Hobbes placidly. "I look GOOD for my age. In any case, you're not the first to arrive." He paused. "There is another early arrival. A woman named Emma Deropalis. She's Master Maxwell's daughter." He stared at me heavily. "You have a sister."

"Huh." I said with interest. "Neat." They all just stared at me, completely shocked at the lack of fucks I gave for finding out about a random sibling my dad had hidden from me.

Then Barbie just burst out laughing. "I have no idea why I expected some dramatic reaction to that. Do you even care at all?" I just shrugged and she rolled her eyes. "Fine. Well I'm sure it'll be nice to meet her." She turned to Hobbes. "Is she around by any chance? It might be nice to say hello."

"I...I suppose she is." He said hesitantly. "But you should know. Miss Emma didn't have the closest relationship with Master Maxwell, but she seems to have become very attached to him in the short time since she was able to track him down. She's...quiet upset by this entire ordeal. She may be slightly...volatile."

I shrugged. Crazy women with daddy issues weren't exactly new territory for me. Worst case I could just turn that daddy fixation into a brother fixation with a bit of effort. I was going to have to deal with her later anyway, might as well have some fun with it, assuming she was hot.

Hobbes sighed and led us into another room, where a girl a bit older than me with short pink hair mostly hidden under a beanie was standing looking at a picture of my dad with tears streaking her heavily made up face as she pet a small gray rabbit. I used appraisal without thinking about it.

Appraisal function activated. Treasure Detected. Emma Deropalis- F ranked metahuman. A powerful psychic, Emma was raised by her mother, told her father died of cancer. When her abilities manifested at a young age Emma began to lose her sense of reality and was admitted to a psych ward, where her treatments were heavily modified by her father Maxwell to groom her into a weapon for his son. Due to the unfinished nature of her conditioning her imprinting was mostly on her father alone, she distrusts and is wary of her brother, though deep down she wants to get to know him.

Wow. Dad was training me a pet psychic. And she was his own daughter. That was kind of badass. Speaking of ass, Emma had a nice peachy yoga ass too. Not as hefty as some of my girls, but she had some junk in her trunk for sure. I paused. Huh, was that a normal person thought to have about a long lost sister? Oh well, who gave a fuck, it's not like I wouldn't throw her a bone if the chance came up.

Until then, I had so programming to try to activate. I stepped up and offered her a smile. "Excuse me. Are you Emma? I'm your brother, Nick." She turned to me, wariness in her still watering eyes, and internally I clicked my tongue. Poor thing. Dad left her all mixed up. It was ok though, her little brother would make sure she was part of the family. By the time I was done you wouldn't find closer siblings anywhere.

April 15th 2016 New Jersey, Rosewood, 6:00 PM EDT

Emma didn't actually talk much. She stood next to me uncomfortably but my statement had just garnered me a nod of acceptance and then near suffocating silence. That was fine. I wasn't really that interested in a heart to heart either. I glanced down at her ass again, admiring the view, but that seemed like it might cause problems if she noticed too early so I stopped and just glanced up at the portrait.

After getting nowhere for a while I gave her a nod and we went to go find out room. I was a bit sleepy and I decided to take a nap before the whole reading of the will thing. I didn't want to play welcome wagon, which I would absolutely get sucked into doing if I was out and about as people arrived.

Barbie and Amy were already up, my redhead doing my wife's hair in front of the mirror as the blonde chattered away happily. I sat up with a smirk. "Well, you two are in a pretty good mood for funeral guests."

Barbie flinched a bit, but Amy just shrugged. "Death is common in Gemworld. Our funeral customs are less morose. I won't be chipper in public, since I know it would reflect badly on you, but I can't say I'm not excited about being Amaya Lord in proper society for the first time." Her smile wilted. "Oh. Am I being insensitive? If this is bothering you I can tone it down."

I just chuckled, waving her off. "You're fine, Ames. If I want you to be sensitive I'll spank that cute little ass until you can't sit down. I'm not exactly happy about dad being gone, but this feels...like I'm participating in a game he set up. Like I'm part of a masterpiece. It doesn't feel like a funeral. Hell it almost feels like he's right here with me, making irritating overly critical comments about how I'm doing."

Amy gave me a bright smile, then yelped as Barbie flicked the base of her skull. "Stop moving around so much damn it." Grumped my redhead. "I'm trying to do your hair and you're making it damn near impossible." She looked over at me. "And you, go get dressed. We have dinner in about a half hour, and then the reading of the will after that. Everyone should be here by now."

I rolled my eyes, slipping out of bed and padding naked across the room, enjoying the sight of the two of them watching me in the mirror. Now wasn't the time though, so after a quick shower I slipped a suit on from my bags and was ready to go within about fifteen minutes.

Barbie was glaring at me. "Men are the worst." She sneered. "I've been working on her hair for almost an hour. You just stumbled out of bed and through some water spray and now you look like a fucking movie star."

"I'm a dragon." I said imperiously. "I always look better than mere mortal men." I raked my eyes over them. "You two look pretty sexy though too." Amy was wearing a purple velvet dress that matched her eyes and Barbie had on a black knee length off the shoulder thing that made her look fantastic.

That got a blush from my redhead and a pleased smile from my wife as I held out both arms. "Now her hair looks done to me, so what say we head down early and mingle before dinner time."

Ignoring Barbie's grunt of annoyance at the interruption, Amy shot to her feet and dashed over to take my arm, and I couldn't help but notice the small smile on Barbie's face as she did the same.

Heading downstairs, we headed for the dining room, since most of the guests would probably be seating themselves early and it would give me a chance to see exactly who was around for this, aside from the few people Barbie had mentioned. A large crowd was gathered at the table, and I recognized some of them, though some I didn't. I exchanged a nod with Siegfried, and a glare with Sasha, as well as offering a smile to Emma before appraising everyone around the table.

First I did the two old men. Respectively Ted Kord and Alan Scott. Kord was almost a boilerplate human. He'd apparently had his genetics tuned up quite a bit while connected to a Reach device, according to his appraisal, but it had moved on since then, so he was back to a normal person, albeit one who was at basically peak human efficiency for someone his age (in his seventies, though he looked about fifty) and was a brilliant inventor. He was H-rank, which was decent for a person with no actual powers.

Alan Scott, who had showed up with a green sex bomb in a slinky dress with tits that were the color of watermelons, like the rest of her, though not quite the size. Despite that, she was still pretty busty, and she radiated a type of energy I hadn't sensed before, and was extremely interested in. A quick appraisal told me more about her.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Jennifer-Lynn Hayden- D rank Metahuman. Daughter of Alan Scott, the first green lantern of earth, and the supervillainess Thorn, Jenny, who calls herself Jade in costume, inherited her powers from her father due to his exposure to the Starheart, a mystical magical energy source. They resemble the powers of a green lantern, but no ring or battery is required.]

That was damn interesting, and made appraising Scott, who was her old man, a necessity as well.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Alan Scott- C ranked Metahuman. Formerly the Green Lantern of sector 2814, Alan lost his ring in battle. As a replacement, he picked up the Starheart, a repository of ancient magic, and was altered by his close proximity to is, giving him the ability to manipulate a green flame of the Starheart, as well as reduced aging. He is currently under a glamour.]

I could have guessed the latter given the whole lack of aging thing, but still knowing there was a C ranker here was pretty jarring. I appraised a few others. Including Carol Ferris, who was a busty (what was it about heroics and villainy that bumped up the cup size?) sensual woman with thick black hair and pouty pink lips that made me think of getting my dick sucked. The lust made more sense when my appraisal revealed she was some kind of love lantern, and an E ranker in her own right.

There were others there. Killer Frost, who was D ranked with ice powers. Etta Candy, who was a normal human. A guy named David Reid, who went by Magog and was apparently empowered by some kind of ancient god to D rank. All of these power players and more than a few human criminals and businessmen that I didn't know or care about, up to and including Morgan Edge, who I hadn't seen in ages.

When we took our seats at the opposite end of the table from Emma (we each got an end seat) Hobbes officially decided to start the meal, and stood up to clink his knife on the champagne glass. "Ladies and gentlemen." He said solemnly. "We are here tonight at the bequest of Master Maxwell. Some of you were friends of his. Some enemies. But all were people that he respected, in one way or another."

I heard a snort from Killer Frost, but everyone ignored it. I didn't give enough of a fuck to start anything with her either. Pretending she hadn't spoken, Hobbes continued. "Tonight we will be enjoying a well cooked prime rib, Master Maxwell's favorite dish, before we retire to the drawing room for brandy and the reading of the will. Each of you have been left something specific to your situation and relationship to Master Maxwell, with the exception of a few guests." He nodded to Jennifer and to Barbie. Surprisingly he didn't acknowledge Amy, implying she'd actually gotten something to, which was a surprise.

He made a few comments about dad, some idealized bullshit that no one was petty enough to argue despite every one of us knowing it wasn't true. Then he called for the servants and they carted out a big ass prime rib that they proceeded to carve at the table. I got a big ass slice and some garlic mashed potatoes, as well as some black cherry soda that Hobbes stocked in the kitchen, because I was feeling nostalgic.

The brandy was a surprise given my dad's lack of interest in alcohol, but it wasn't like he was here to drink it, and despite not indulging he'd had a pretty sizable collection of bottles as a commodity. I took a sip, enjoying the drink, and then the food, then I glanced across the table at the busty green skinned girl. "Excuse me." I said, pretending not to know who she was. "You look familiar, have we met before?"

I could tell she was annoyed at the comment, but since she was at a wake basically she decided to be polite and offered me a smile. "Probably not, but I do some modeling. You might have seen some of my ads." She glanced down at her emerald cleavage. "I'm not exactly easy to miss."

Nodding and putting on an embarrassed smile, I said sheepishly. "Ah, sorry about that. I'm sort of out of it. Dad's death was...not expected. I'm sorry to bother you." I put a bit of self deprecation in my tone as I looked down in what she would almost have to assume was shame. Honestly, in some ways understanding emotions made manipulating women even easier.

Sure enough, I could almost hear her wince as she scrambled to fix things. "Oh god, I'm so sorry. I didn't even realize." She leaned over, giving me a nice view that I had to actively work not to enjoy, and offering her hand. "Jenny Hayden.

My old man and your dad were...competitors, a few times. I never met Maxwell, but I heard he was a dangerous a competent guy." She paused. "Damn, that's kind of an awful thing to say as a tribute to someone's dead father isn't it?"

I smiled up at her a bit guiltily. "It's fine. I know he wasn't perfect. But I loved him anyway. He might have been a prick to most other people but...he was my dad, you know?"

As expected, the daughter of a supervillainess got my drift, her smile turning warmer and less formal. "I do. I get that more than you might know." She jumped when Scott cleared his throat. "Oh. Sorry." Her cheeks flushed darker green. "This is my dad, Alan Scott. He was the one with the invite."

Scott nodded. "You must be Nicholas. Max and I were never friends, but he did mention you once or twice when we met off the battlefield. He was proud of you, you know? Even when you decided not to follow in his footsteps. Being a lazy hedonist might not be the most honorable lifestyle, but he always respected your choice to say no to him and go your own way."

I blinked. I hadn't thought they were that close. I knew the lines of ally and enemy could blur, but that was more knowledge of my life than my dad would normally have allowed anyone he considered a threat. It told me Scott could be predicted enough to be considered a trusted foe at least. It also...felt nice to hear.

Jenny looked surprised, but Scott quelled her next comment with a look. "Anyway. I doubt we'll have much time for dinner. Might as well get through the meal. We can talk more at the reading, when we have a nice glass of brandy and some time to digest." And with that, he went back to his food. Weirdly, I had no desire to argue, the food was good, I had things to think about, and a dinner show of fat green jugs stuffed into a dress, jiggling while Jenny sawed at her prime rib, was hardly the worst entertainment. This night was turning out more interesting than expected already.

April 15th 2016 New Jersey, Rosewood, 7:00 PM EDT

Once dinner was over, Hobbes escorted us into the drawing room, passing out crystal goblets of amber liquid, letting us all sit down in the various chairs that had been brought in to surround the table of items. I took mine and sat down, Barbie and Amy on either side, and Jenny just two seats away. "Welcome, dear friends." Said Hobbes emotionally. "To the reading of Master Maxwell's will. I do hope you enjoy your brandy. The bottle was an 1865 Manoir de Beraut Comte de Goyan Armagnac that Master Maxwell prepared for just such an occasion."

I took a deep sniff of the brandy, smelling a strong influx of sweetness and the tang of alcohol. But despite my excellent senses as a dragon, I didn't know shit about brandy other than that I liked the taste. Everyone sipped their drinks, and I took a long, slow pull of mine, enjoying the sweetness and the bite of the brandy. Hobbes nodded approvingly at how much people seemed to enjoy the drink.

"Now." Said the butler. "As you all know, Master Maxwell possessed a great deal of wealth. Most of it was sold off for liquid assets to be divided amongst his children, but some select few items deemed important or dangerous, or some assets he wished to pass on to certain parties for whom he had great respect or affection, were listed in his will. He left video readings for some of you, and some were just listed among asset distribution. We'll read those off at the end."

Turning, he gestured several servants in, pushing a large cart with a television on it. When it made it to the center of the room he sent them away, and then pressed a button on the TV. There was a click as the footage started, showing my dad, in all his judgemental glory, behind his desk, staring out at all of us with those piercing brown eyes.

"Well." He drawled in annoyance. "I suppose if you're watching this, I'm dead. I imagine some of you are celebrating, and some are mourning. I suppose I deserve both of those reactions. You're here for a reason, each one of you. Some because I respected you, some because I liked you, some because you performed oral sex on me to get me to agree to subsidize your company and I thought it would be funny to announce that to everyone present." He smiled coldly. "Don't be too upset Carol, if it helps you can always take comfort in knowing your mouth is good for something."

I heard a shattering sound, and looked over to see the seductive looking Carol Ferris holding a broken glass, glaring at the TV like she wanted to bring my old man back from the dead and kill him again. It was hard to contain my snickers at his joke. My dad was always one to prioritize. He was always business first, but he had a hell of a memory. If he thought you'd screwed him over he'd hold onto that for ages, and then when business was over it was time for the personal. His reaction to me knocking up Dinah illustrated that perfectly. I wondered what Carol had done to annoy him.

After waiting for her tantrum (guess he knew her pretty well) he continued. "To Carol Ferris I leave ten million dollars, the exact amount of the start up loan you...earned, from me. As well as all my shares in Ferris Aircrafts, valued at five million." His grin became predatory. "If you're ever planning to expand, feel free to try to leverage that relationship, I only hope my son is a tougher negotiator than I was. Hopefully he gets you in a more advantageous position."

I doubted that would be happening, since Carol turned to glare at me after he said it, like it was my fault or something. I noted that dad was being...candid. He tended to be diplomatic until he could afford not to be. I supposed after his death there was no reason to play politics.

"Now that the pink whore has been paid up, we can move onto those of you who I actually gave a damn about. First up would be my children. Emma." He sighed. "I sometimes had doubts about not being in your life. I made sure to have you raised as I saw fit, but part of my wondered if keeping you at a distance would be to your benefit. When you came looking for me anyway, I can admit to being...glad. Take care of your little brother, Emma. He's going to need you."

I felt my heart lurch as his eyes scanned the room, seemingly looking for me, before settling on...exactly where I was sitting. Wily old bastard must have had the chairs set up in a way he knew would push me to pick one option. "Nicholas." He paused, looking almost sad. "I was always proud of you. I know some people don't think I can feel pride in others, and before you I might have agreed. But the fact remains that I consider you one of my greatest accomplishments."

My eyes were locked on his as he spoke, and I felt...something. Something raw and ugly and painful, as he continued. "I recorded this message fairly close to the end, I believe. Close enough that you'd already married, at any rate. I admit that was a relief. In some ways, I consider you my superior, as odd as that may be to hear, but in others, you were lacking. Sentiment is a weakness, yes, but emotion is necessary to have drive. I hope that your wife can bring that out in you. Because despite not being as aimless as you were when you were younger, you could be so much more. Could do so much more."

He shook his head, as if to clear it, a habit I'd picked up from him as a kid. "To the two of you I leave the majority of my fortune. Four billion dollars, after the selloffs, split between the two of you. Because when it comes down to it, money is freedom, and with this, I'll know that you both have the options that you need to pursue your own goals. Take care of each other. My mother was a hard woman, but she taught me the value of the Lord blood. You two are the only ones left who carry it."

Emma was crying, but my reaction was...the opposite. I felt empty. Hollow. Worse than I ever had before my humanity, because back then, I didn't know what I was missing. The hole inside me right now HURT. Like someone had torn out a piece of me. I started to doubt the reason for this little get together. I'd assumed it was a plan to make the world tremble one last time, but it seemed like he might actually have wanted to say goodbye. I wasn't sure I was ready to hear it.

His eyes turned away from me, not focusing on anything but just staring off into the distance past the chairs. "Ted Kord. You irritating old bastard. You never got over me turning you down for your own start up loan. I guess Carol was the better negotiator between you two. But the things you accomplished were...admirable. I leave you my shares in STAR Labs. Because I think you'll do something amusing with them."

Kord looked torn between amusement and annoyance, and Carol Ferris was squeezing her bloody fist in a way that almost definitely hurt like a bitch because of the broken glass that was probably still in her perfectly manicured hand. "Sasha." My dad's video self continued. "I won't do you the horrible disservice of asking you to work for my son. I'm well aware of your mutual distaste. I leave you the villa in Santorini, because I know it was your favorite, even if you pretended not to care."

My dad's old bodyguard smiled slightly, an expression far too soft for her hard face. I wondered where she'd been when he was taken, but I knew if she could have stopped it she would. She was nothing if not loyal. The tape went on, and several people were left shares, or small items, or personal mementos. Some people were humiliated, though the one guy stupid enough to try to smash the TV was subdued by the servants nearly instantly.

Siegfried was left a magic sword, of course, and a few other checkmate agents I didn't know got odds and ends, but finally we came to the final bequeathal. The old man scanned the room, unable to see anything in a recording, but just...seeming to take things in one last time.

"Alan Scott." He said heavily. "I never liked you much. You were a pretentious and arrogant old man far past his prime. Your refusal to age and die was nothing short of infuriating, and your attitude made me want to kill you more than once. But we fought both side by side, and across from each other more times than I can count. Which is why I leave you the last of my possessions, as perhaps the only man who might be able to safeguard it."

At his words, Hobbes yanked a cloth off the top of the last item on the table, revealing...a big ass fucking diamond. Like, huge. Pitch black and faceted, the stone was the size of a fucking human head, and sitting in a warped golden cradle that looked as if it had naturally formed rather than been made.

To my shock, Amy's hand shot out and clamped down on mine, squeezing WAY too hard as the blood drained from her face. "The Heart of Darkness." Said my father's grim voice. "I don't much fancy the thought of it loose in the world with my kids, so I leave it to you Alan. Because you might be unpleasant, but you're a fearless stubborn bastard, and if anyone in the world can keep it safe it'll be you. Maybe you can even wield it where I failed."

Amy shot to her feet. "No!" Everyone turned to look at her. "You can't! No one can be allowed to use that. It's evil. Destroy it, or throw it into the sun, or something! Just don't take it up. Please." Her eyes were wild and fearful, and I decided to finally appraise the damn stone, just so I could stop being so confused.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure Detected. Heart of Darkness- A rank gemstone. Chaos unending. Power unrestrained. Root of evil.]

I felt the blood drain from my face. I wasn't sure why my old man would do this. Why present this thing in front of all these people. Why put a target on this item when he was so sure that it would be a threat. Then I heard his voice continue speaking, adding one last bit of information.

"Oh." He said casually. "And Hobbes, since you undoubtedly watched this first, make sure to cut the video off in the lull before that last one. Invite Alan back to the study or something." My eyes widened in alarm as I realized that this whole last bit had been completely ad libbed. Which meant the mess that was about to happen wasn't my dad's plan, it was Hobbes'.

I spun to find the triumphantly grinning butler holding the Heart of Darkness, lifted from its cradle as dark energy began to twine around his hand. He winked at me, and then shoved the whole stone through his chest and into his heart. He gave a primal scream and his skin started pale. Amy began screaming too, though in terror more than anything else.

Hobbes looked up at us, eyes blazing with a deep purple light, and grinned, his mouth full of too sharp teeth. "Now. As I mentioned earlier. Tomorrow will be a funeral. So please, enjoy your final night on this earth, as much as you can. I promise I'll lay you all to rest in style." In a flash of purple light, he vanished, and a massive wall of power that I could feel in my bones slammed down over the outside of the manor, sealing us all inside. Goddamn it. Never trust a butler.

April 15th 2016 New Jersey, Rosewood, 8:00 PM EDT

"The butler did it." Barbie groaned. "Because of course he did. Nicky, I don't suppose you have any more tricks like that candle up your sleeve. Not that I'm excited about possibly ending up in alternate dimension for several months. Again." I was amused to note that my redhead, who usually deferred to me and Amy, had switched to crime fighter mode and taken charge of the situation.

I shook my head. "Nope. Nothing like that. I could probably throw something together, but given the level of power in the rock I'm betting it would need to be stronger than I can currently manage." I grimaced at my own ineptitude. "I also didn't get a chance to check out Hobbes before he vanished, so I have no clue how strong he actually is. Sadly, that fucking rock was way too powerful for me to get a decent idea of what it did beyond 'EVIL'." I turned to Amy, who was staring at the spor Hobbes had vanished from in pale faced terror. "Luckily, it seems like we have an expert on hand. Ames, what was that?"

She stared in horror at the empty space on the floor, and I had to snap my fingers in her face to get her attention. "What?" She said shakily. She seemed like she might be in shock or something. "Oh. The stone. It...it was the Heart of Darkness." That last part she whispered like some kind of dark curse.

Barbie put a hand on her shoulder. "Yes, sweetie. We know. But we need to know what that means."

"It means we're in deep shit." Came a gruff voice from behind us. Alan Scott, his daughter in tow, was standing next to us. When Hobbes had vanished, everyone had scattered away from where he'd been, most of us into groups. Alan and Jenny had retreated about ten feet from us, but they were right up in our faces now.

That got a nod from my redhead. "I got that much." She stuck out a hand. "Barbara Gordon. My dad has mentioned you a time or two. I know you met the few times you were in Gotham. He has nothing but good things to say about you." I imagined the same was true of Batman, but mentioning him here would be a mistake.

Scott smiled wryly. "Little Jimmy Gordon's girl, all grown up and knocking boots with Max Lord's son. This world of ours can be so absurd at times." At her surprise he rolled his eyes. "Please, he brings you along with his wife and you're as clingy as you've been? No chance you two aren't shacking up. Not that it stopped him from eyeing up my daughter."

Jenny shrieked. "Daddy!" In a mortified voice, and Scott just rolled his eyes.

"You're a grown ass woman Jennifer." He said in annoyance. "If you wanted to give the boy a show it's not my business, but don't treat me like a senile old man. No one leans forward that much unless they're doing it on purpose." Her cheeks flushed a darker green. "Anyway, like I said, the Heart of Darkness is a big problem. The damn thing was mine on Apokalips before recorded history. Jumped around plenty, but eventually became the vessel for a really nasty demon."

"No." Said Amy. "It didn't." We all looked at her quizically. "There is no demon in that stone. There's something worse." Her voice was shaky, the most afraid I'd ever heard it, and her eyes never left the spot where Hobbes had been.

Scott looked unimpressed. "Care to elaborate, young lady? Sounds like you know the most about what's going on. We fought Eclipso a time or ten, but we never learned much about his origin. The stone's origin, sure, but Eclipso himself has always been a mystery. Demon was just our best guess, and a title he claimed more than once."

She chuckled nervously. "I suppose he would. It's...an old story. Amethyst family legend. My mother told it to me when I was chosen to inherit the crown. Along with a few other cautionary tales. A story about a being, a King ranked noble from centuries, even millennia ago."

Barbie grabbed her hand, and I helped them pull up a chair so Amy could sit. My wife looked shaken as fuck, and considering she could fight me before I ranked up, that wasn't comforting. Once she was seated, she let out a shaky breath, and began to tell her story.

"A long time ago, back when Gemworld was more than what it is now, a child was born. His mother was from the royal house of Diamond, and his father was the Lord of house Onyx. Both of them were terrifying warriors, powers in their houses, and their baby wasn't much different."

Her eyes lost focus, seeming to be drifting into the past. "The baby's name was Kaala, and he was a powerful warrior. From childhood, his abilities were obvious, having inherited magic from both parents, and being capable of wielding it proficiently even as a child. Kaala was clever, and brave, and focused, and his parents adored him, hailing him as the link that would unite their houses, something that had never been done in the history of Gemworld."

She swallowed hard, pausing to look around, eyes finally moving, but not stopping on any one thing, like she expected something to jump out at her. When she was done making sure she was safe, she pushed on. "But Kaala wasn't the messiah they thought he was. He was strong, and smart. and fearless, but he was also...wrong. He adored causing pain, suffering made him gleeful, and it was eventually discovered that he had a taste for blood even outside the battlefield."

"Around this time." She continued woodenly. "A murderer was stalking the capital of House Onyx. Kaala was a prince, a savior, and no one suspected him. Not until it was too late. You see, the merging of his bloodlines had produced a new power. A new connection. A Black Diamond bloodline. Kaala had discovered a stone when he was young, a black diamond, and realized that by using it to harvest the magic of others of either bloodline, he could make himself stronger."

Freezing, she took a ragged breath, terrified to continue, but forced herself to go on. "By the time the realized what he was, he was too strong. His parents confronted them, and he murdered them both, harvesting their power and adding it to his stockpile. He became a monster. The strongest noble anyone had ever heard of in Gemworld."

A rank, I was pretty sure, based on the stone. probably high A rank at that. "What happened next?" Pressed Jenny. She flushed. "I mean, it sounds like he didn't take over the world or whatever, since the story needed to be passed down. How did you all beat him?"

"My ancestor." Said my wife, a small hint of pride in her voice. "Queen Chandra of Amethyst. She pulled him through a portal, she was hoping to sever his connection to some of his power by removing him from his family's ancestral lands. There were spells to enhance the power of whichever bloodline laid on the territories. To get him through the portal, she used a forbidden blood ritual to burn her life force so she could bind him to the stone for eternity. She dragged the Heart through the portal...and neither were ever seen again."

"Except they were." Said Scott. "I have a decent guess where that portal went too. Considering the reason we assumed Eclipso was a demon was that we identified that the Heart of Darkness spent several centuries in Hell. We assumed it landed there directly from Apokalips, but it seems like that wasn't the case. The Black Room had it for a while, but A.R.G.U.S is functionally incapable of not fucking up anything they touch, so they lost it."

Which left us...where. I had to assume that Hobbes was still in command of the body, otherwise he'd fucking murder us all and leave instead of deciding to play some kind of ridiculous game with us. Which implied that Eclipso, or Kaala, or whatever, wasn't running things. If the usual rules applied that would make Hobbes C rank, maybe B rank at the high end. Which was...not great, but not insurmountable assuming there was some way to beat Eclipso.

It sounded like Scott had managed a few times, and if he could do it I was pretty sure I could do it. "So." I said cautiously. "Since you said you've beaten Eclipso before, can you tell me how? Also why is he working with Hobbes at all? Because he doesn't sound like a team player."

"Corruption." Said Scott in disgust. "Eclipso prefers to set a foundation in his meat suits. He cajoles them, tempts them, and then spends the time they use up reveling in his power to put down roots. By the time they realize they're being possessed it's already too late. As for stopping him...depends. We need light magic, or at least light energy, and we need to apply it a certain way. I wish Sylvester Pemberton had been invited to this mess. Though I guess even if he was the butler would have taken him off the list. Stupid to bring the cosmic rod here."

Maybe it would have been, but there were other sources of light magic. Like me. I was a Dragon of the Primordial Spark. Powerful light magic and energy was my entire wheelhouse. Life, healing, energy, destruction. My powers were an evolution of my original bloodline, but better. "I can figure something out. There are lots of hidden things in this house. But I need to know what I have to do."

I didn't mention my powers or the system, I didn't trust Scott even if his daughters jiggly green jugs were basically hypnosis machines. He scowled, then looked around. "Not here. We need to find somewhere private, then I can ward the room to prevent eavesdropping." I nodded, and he turned and strode toward the door.

Looking at Jenny I saw her looking surprisingly calm. I raised an eyebrow and she grinned at me. "What? You were expecting the poor helpless model to be afraid? Hate to break it to you big man, but I'm more than just a pillowy ass and a flawless walk. I've been in situations like this before." She winked at me. "Stick with me handsome, and I'll make sure you get through this safe."

I grinned at her and gestured to the door. "Well then go ahead." At her confused look I just winked. "I need to make sure you aren't just bragging. Gotta check those references. Move that pillowy ass." Having the flirting to focus on helped a bit, kept me centered, and Jenny clearly didn't mind, though she did look at my girls to see if they objected. Barbie was biting her lip waiting for that model strut, and Amy was too shaken to really give a shit, so the green girl shrugged and turned to strut off after her dad.

Watching her go for a minute, I turned and put a hand on Amy's shoulder, shaking her out of her fugue. "Hey." I said to my wife. "You ok? You know I won't let him hurt you right?" I grinned at her rakishly. "No one messes with my stuff. I'm a jealous dragon, and I guard my treasures fiercely."

She swallowed hard, but tried to give me a smile. "Of course. I trust you Nicky. I believe this will all be ok." She smirked at me devilishly. "After all, you've never had sex with a green supermodel before. No way you'd let us die before you have the chance to try out that 'pillowy ass'." I snorted and rolled my eyes but turned my gaze back to that flexing green booty. Ok, I had to admit. That did add motivation.

As usual pat-reon has the advance chapters at that site /malcolmtent hope everyone enjoys.