HEY GUYS! Back again for another chapter of Legends Are Made. I'm gonna keep it short up here to let you jump in. Head on down to the bottom for the full Author's note.
NEW ORLEANS - THE FRENCH QUARTER
APRIL 26th 2008 (4:45 AM) CST
Constantine's POV:
The wind had picked up something fierce in the area, and it was buffeting his trench coat as his feet slammed against the uneven pavement.
The smells seemed to pick up in intensity due to them being wafted about as they were.
Alcohol, Food, Incense, smoke from different cigars or cigarettes (or even weed), and even piss and or vomit considering where they were.
The two biggest smells that stood out against the moist pre-dawn air however were wet dog, and blood.
John's heart pounded in his chest behind his $200 white silk shirt as the steady rainfall pelted him across the face, his red tie swinging from side to side as he ran down his mark through the back alleyways of the French Quarter.
John had been mostly keeping himself on the far west coast, slipping between San Francisco and Las Vegas every now and again using the House of Mystery. John had found himself with a much higher increase in the typical Supernatural traffic that visited those areas lately, and it had lead him on quite the list of misadventures.
John had brought himself here to the French Quarter because one said misadventure had gotten him a tip from a local "Hedge Mage" that a class Three artifact had turned up in this area on display.
Magical artifacts in general were abundant across the globe, some of them having existed since time immemorial. Most wouldn't know what to look for, and you could be holding one of the said artifacts and not know it…let alone be able to use it. As time had passed on as it was won't to do, many of the existing Homo Magi in an earlier age of the world had come together and established "The Fraternity".
The Fraternity had one single job, to control the outpouring of all of the mystical artifacts around the world. After a few separate tragedies and enough time had passed The Fraternity had made up their Magical Artifact Scaling System, or M.A.S.S for short.
The classes for said artifacts ranged from 1 through 5 with one being the weakest though still potentially deadly, while a Class five artifact could be considered something of cataclysmic power.
The kind of power that would bring Armageddon to the Earth… if said power fell into the wrong hands. The Spear of Destiny being a perfect example.
Many would expect beings like Dr. Fate to take up the responsibility of claiming and safeguarding these kinds of artifacts. While the bearer of the helm and title did just that as the Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, The Fraternity had also taken up said mantle so as to prevent any atrocities that the bearer of Fate may have missed.
But unfortunately, The Fraternity had fallen into disuse many ages ago after being singled out with over three quarters of the existing members of that time being slain by Klarion the Witch boy. Unfortunately, Dr. Fate had also been missing for many years as well; and those two absences had left a vacuum for many powerful artifacts to roam the globe unchecked.
The population of Homo Magi that walked the earth had never been very large, in fact running it by the numbers would show that Homo Magi barely made up 10% of the world's human population.
But the fact remained... that even the weakest of Homo Magi when supplied with a Class 3 magical item, could be disastrously dangerous.
The tip John had received had not necessarily frightened him, (as he had been through and dealt with far worse things before) but nevertheless had stirred him into action.
Somehow, someway the Amulet of Allani had turned up in the United States. Not only had said artifact arrived but it had somehow made its way to this very city, and that had not gone unnoticed.
Throughout the many existing pantheon's, belief had given power to the so called 'gods' of each system.
John had met all kinds of beings in his work, and he found the majority of them to be exactly alike. They all came off as power hungry nutter's, that took great delight in making others suffer so that they could have what they wanted.
Allani or Allatu was known to be Hurrian in origin but was also recognized in Mesopotamia and was regarded as a goddess of Death, bearing in mind that she lived in a palace called "The Dark Earth, or Land of the Dead".
John knew that with her Amulet not only could individual souls be pulled back from the land of the hereafter, but among other things the Amulet could raise hordes of Zombies from the same land of where its creator resided.
'This is an absolute load of Bollocks.' John thought as he continued to run hard after the woman who had procured said Amulet.
John had made it into the French Quarter with his apprentice, and they had arrived with little trouble.
That alone was what should have tipped John off that this was going to be an absolute shit storm, as things hardly ever went that smooth for him.
He had come across the whereabouts of the Amulet and was going to take possession of it quietly, or at least that was what he'd hoped to do.
He had wound up having to pay a very steep price to operate in the city, and on top of the price itself he'd wound up having to pay it to an old flame…not something he had enjoyed having to do.
'But better the devil you know right?' John thought morbidly to himself as he kept up his pace.
But unfortunately upon finding said Amulet John had also found the small coven of Witches that had taken ownership of said Amulet.
And said coven just so happened to have a small band of Werewolves enthralled at their beck and call.
A fight had immediately broken out and John along with his apprentice Eva, had been forced to face down and kill not only four members of the small coven but half a dozen Werewolves as well.
Which had led to where John was now, chasing down an injured Werewolf which seemed to be ensnared by the last existing coven members spell.
Loyalty spells weren't difficult to cast even for the weakest of Homo Magi, though the fact that the woman seemed to have enthralled the entire pack of wolves on her own showed that she had at least a halfway decent measure of magical power. It had become clear halfway through the battle that she was the one to ensnare the wolves, bearing in mind that if it was any of the other witches that had enthralled the pack they would have been free upon the controlling Witch's demise.
So either this last Witch actually had some considerable power, or another magical artifact was at work.
'Either way this whole thing is getting out of hand.' John thought as he continued in his chase.
John vaulted over a knocked over trash bin, and did his best to keep pace with the large frame of the Werewolf as it turned a quick corner while carrying the last remaining Witch.
John ignited a Fireball into his right hand and had planned to toss it at the Lycan's back, but as he turned the corner he got the wind knocked out of him as the second he came round the corner the Lycan was then barreling him to the ground the fireball going out as he and the beast toppled to the gray pavement.
John was thankful for some of the minor rituals he'd done to enhance his own speed and strength, because at the moment it was taking all he had to now hold the Werewolf's jaws back from biting his face clean off. None of the effects would last long but it was always good to have as a boost, especially when dealing with foes of a more physical nature.
John was 6'0 tall, and on a good day he weighed about 160 pounds.
But right now even with the minor alteration he'd done to give himself the strength of two men his size, he was having trouble holding back the 7'0 beast that had to weigh somewhere over 400 pounds that was now pinning him to the ground with both of its wickedly clawed hands.
'Bloody Hell Eva…anytime now!' John though as he had his left hand holding the Lycan's snout, while his right was pushing against the monstrosities lower jaw trying to simultaneously close and push the Werewolves mouth away from him as it growled its displeasure at him.
The Wolf's breath was absolutely foul, and John could feel saliva gathering around the cuff of the right arm of his shirt and coat as it started to flood underneath to his sleeves the longer he held on.
Not to mention the drool that was leaking onto his face.
The Wolf's eyes were a bright golden amber color, and even though it was the form of the beast that was over top of him trying to munch on his head he could clearly read the muted human emotion behind it's eyes. Any other time John would say that the Lycan was completely lucid, but the glowing green veins around its eyes were a dead giveaway.
The poor thing while possibly evil in its own right, wasn't operating under its own faculties.
Too bad that either way its maw was inching closer, and John was running out of strength to battle with the beasts maw.
"ANYTIME NOW EVA!" John shouted as he felt his arms starting to shake from the sheer effort he was having to put out.
BANG... BANG…BANG
The shots echoed down the alleyway like a thunderclap going off, and just as the last finished going off John had the misfortune to again watch the light leave another's eyes…not to mention see and feel the Lycan's blood flow from the deep crevice that now existed in the left side of its skull.
The weight of the wolf toppled down over him, covering him in the massive dark grey furred body of his enemy.
But fortunately the weight didn't remain overly oppressive for long.
The Lycan's death was already brining about the change, reverting it back into the obviously now female body that was laying on top of him. John took three massive breaths after the full weight of the Lycan subsided, before taking the now dead human woman by the arms and rolling her off of him without looking in her direction.
'I'm sorry.' John thought morosely.
John sat up and wiped the gathered drops of rain, slobber, and specks of blood from his face. The rain would obviously gather again as it had yet to stop falling, but for a brief second his face was completely clear again.
Swiveling his head to the right back down the alleyway to where he'd just come from he spotted Eva walking up to him.
Eva Kramer stood at 5'5 weighing barely over 110 pounds soaking wet. Her long black hair swooping to dangle to the right side of her head, the left side being shaved down to minor stubble. Eva had two ring piercings in her right eyebrow, while her left only bore one. Her silver jewelry bringing a stark difference in comparison to her dark brows which were set above equally dark lustrous lashes, all of which sat above a pair of startlingly icy blue eyes.
John could see Eva's delicate features shift the closer she got to him, her nose slightly scrunching at the smell of the wet Werewolf. Nevertheless…her bright pink glossy lips managed to turn upwards on the left in their usual smirk as she looked down at her mentor.
Her dark brown leather jacket clad shoulders shaking in mirth as she let out a few short chuckles taking in John's own weathered and worn appearance. She was wearing her traditional dark green long sleeve shirt under her jacket, with a dark pair of jeans on, along with her customary black mamba skin belt with the pouches that could be seen connected to it, her feet clad in a dark green pair of Converse sneakers.
Eva's left hand fiddled with her black onyx pentagram medallion as she looked down on John, her eyes thawing ever so slightly before lighting up with a small touch of mirth.
The one part of the girl's entire ensemble that truly stood out in the scarce light of the alleyway lighting though, was the large golden Holy Shotgun she had hefted over her right shoulder that she had affectionately dubbed 'The Adjudicator'.
The 23-inch-long golden spin barrel fed revolver-shotgun hybrid was a statement to any and all who got the chance to lay eyes upon it and live. The round magazine held twelve golden cased bullets, each one being a full inch in width while being two and a half inches long. It also had a nasty little under barrel that was filled with literal Dragon's breath, which Eva typically used for when they were clearing out large groups of enemies. The top edge arms that formed the literal cross of the gun had also been retrofitted with silver spikes embedded at the ends, ones that were concealed but could be deployed for close combat if needed.
Another nasty surprise being that if needed, a hidden mechanism could deploy said spikes in an extra offensive measure. Eva had come up with said extra on her own after having been put into a close combat situation where a Wendigo had tried to disarm her.
Said Wendigo experienced both extra actions of said weapon, and that of course had led to said Wendigo's demise. After all, Sanctified silver was a typical death sentence for most unholy creatures.
'A spike to the skull is a bad day for just about anyone.' John thought briefly with a sardonic twitch of the lips.
John pulled himself from his own considerations as he remembered that the chase wasn't yet over, and quickly brought the alley he had been knocked out of back to the forefront of his focus.
John looked up with just enough time to see the woman he'd been chasing with one hand stretched high into the air, a shining golden coin in her hand.
"HECATE! Goddess of Magic I call to you! Take me from my fallen foes to the resting place of my beloved!" The woman screeched out a manic gleam in her light green eyes, her soaked blonde almost silver hair sticking to the sides of her face.
Eva attempted to bring the Adjudicator to bear while John ignited another fireball spell into his hand, but their query was enveloped in a bright miasma of swirling light and smoke before she faded from where she'd been standing just a moment prior.
"Well...shite."
John could only nod and sigh his own agreement with his apprentice's remark as he flicked his hand extinguishing his newest attack, before he gingerly got to his feet. He turned around and moved his hands in a minor tut pattern chanting lowly under his breath.
After a moment a soft flaming yellow circle with a shining gold pentagram emerged in front of his hands, which then turned to be aligned with the floor before it expanded to allow both Eva and himself space to stand on it.
John nodded lightly in the direction of the pentagram to Eva before stepping up onto the circle.
As the pentagram began to rise and took the two of them off the ground Eva chanced a glance back down to the ground.
"Oi haud on a sec, Old man. What about the Lycan body? Is your Ex nae gonna have a fit if we just leave it lyin' there like that?" Eva asked as she gestured with her left hand back to the ground and the female Lycan's cooling corpse.
John sprouted a small smirk at the old man comment as he gave Eva a side eye look.
"Don't you worry about that luv…I Know Rebekah Mikaelson. She won't even bat an eye at all that mess. If anything we just probably bought ourselves some serious brownie points… ya know considering we just cleaned up that little army that was starting to build itself up within her own back yard. If a coven of That size could enslave themselves a group of Lycans… given enough time they could have wound up posing a serious problem. Even for someone like Rebekah." John said as he made another series of small tut formations with his hands.
The pentagram slowly raised them up high above the buildings on the block, into the more open skyline over the French Quarter before coming to an abrupt stop giving them a nice glimpse of the slowly breaking day.
After stopping, the air in front of the duo visibly rippled and then within a moment the image of a large three story Victorian house emerged.
Eva who had had a rather bland look on her face after voicing her concerns, now had a smirk on her face as she pulled a silver flask from her hip pouch to take a swig.
"Be it ever so humble…" Eva said as she took a drag from her flask before offering it to John.
John's face had lost any real trace of humor as he glanced from the flask itself to Eva's face.
It took a few seconds but she finally caught on to the look, and simply raised an eyebrow at him over the minor look of reproach.
"What? With all we deal with you know I'm not quitin no matter how much you try and tell me to! And to have you of all people tellin Me to quit?! Pffft. Now ain't that the pot callin the kettle black Mr. Marlboro Man?" Eva asked as she pulled the flask back and took another pull from it.
John held his side eye contact with her until all he could do was let out a small sigh and then reach his hand out towards Eva before making a gim'me motion.
She looked at his reaching hand dubiously for a few moments but then acquiesced and handed him the flask, though for a moment kept her fingers attached to it and held his gaze.
After Eva finally let go of the death grip she had on it John put the flask to his lips, and then took a nice long swig of the flask savoring the smokey flavor of the single malt that passed his lips.
"There's no place like home." John said as he smirked a bit while he handed the flask back to Eva as he started up the steps into the house's main foyer.
After passing the threshold and hearing the door close behind him John took off his trench coat and started to the right to walk down the hall, to hopefully find a room so that he could take a shower and summon some new clothes.
He stopped and looked over his shoulder at a call from Eva.
"So, what're we gonna do now John?"
John turned halfway around so that he could give Eva his full attention, and after stroking his five o'clock shadow for a moment he answered.
"Well I plan to get cleaned up and kip up for a bit. I suggest you do the same, because when I'm rested I'm gonna call in a favor with an old friend; and then were gonna find ourselves that bitch of a Witch." John said with a half-smile as he turned to continue walking down the hallway.
John missed the little victory fist pump that Eva did as he walked away, but he could sense that she was in a great mood. It had been a while since they had had a straightforward situation like the one they currently found themselves running down.
Though John didn't have the heart to tell the girl that he had a bad feeling, the kind that he could only ever remember feeling before he wound up dealing with something that was well and truly annoying.
'Why do I get the feeling that I'm gonna wind up in the biggest pile of shite there is over a stupid necklace?'
GOTHAM CITY – GRANT'S GYM
APRIL 26th 2008 (1630/4:30 PM) EST
Jack's POV:
The sound of Helena's fists crashing into the hand pads was prevalent, the echo of the strikes reverberating off of the concrete walls of the basement area as the two friends danced around each other while doing this particular drill.
Jack had gotten far more comfortable with Helena over the past three weeks, their teamwork having reached a decent enough level that over the past three nights Jack had actually had Helena physically on the ground with him where they had taken down a whole swath of perps.
They had been running countless drills together in what spare time that Jack could make during Tuesday's and Thursday's, and that had led to them being able to pull off a couple of combinations the first night that Helena had truly been in the field with him.
Jack caught himself drifting into the memory of last night, as Helena and him had used his shield as a springboard giving Helena the chance to pull off a beautiful split kick that had laid out two gangsters simultaneously.
'That was definitely a fun move. Cap and Widow would have been proud.' Jack thought as he ran the scenario through his head.
Right now the two of them were simply going through basic fighting drills, doing their best to hone their individual reflex's.
Jack was taking it as another chance to further push not only himself but Helena, as he had amped himself up to his newest output and it was really testing both of them.
Jack hadn't slowed down in his progression with pushing his body, not with the weight lifting, or in his use of 'One for All'. Just two days ago Jack had finally taken himself up to what he felt was around 25 to 30% of his full power.
Jack had gotten very excited as it now seemed like he could use 15% with impunity, without any types of drawbacks effecting him and it was a definite cause for celebration.
Reaching the new output had definitely psyched him up, and he was now experimenting with how long he could hold it and actually perform before causing himself any serious injury. He hadn't tried going for longer than upwards of two minutes at a time yet, but those two minute intervals were really amazing.
Amazing but also difficult, and just a little bit concerning.
Jack could already tell that he was making excellent progress with the overall power of the quirk, but it left him constantly having to check himself and refine his technique. Every increase in his speed and strength left him small periods of having to fine tune his control and awareness though thankfully 'Danger Sense' helped out a great deal with the adaptation period making it almost impossible for Helena or even Ted to land a decisive hit on Jack.
The first time he tested using what he felt was his full 25% power he had been hitting a brand new weighted punching bag that Ted had installed in the basement area; and he'd wound up punching it so hard that he'd snapped the chain and sent the bag fifteen feet across the room to lay in a torn heap.
The following test Jack performed had been on a mounted and padded conditioning board for his hands and elbows.
He wound up not only breaking the board into bits but also caused a pretty serious indentation into the solid concrete wall. Said wall being six feet thick, and meeting up into the laid brickwork wall behind that containing the large sewer pipes of the city. To Jack's and even Ted's mounted surprise Jack had gotten halfway through the wall and the hole was big enough that either one of them could squeeze through it, though for Ted's much bigger frame it would be with some difficulty.
'Can't go around punching normal perps that hard in the face since their heads will just turn into red mist.' Jack thought to himself as he blocked a double jab combo from Helena.
Helena continued to lay into the pads with abandon, doing her best to remain precise but all the while still giving maximum power to her strikes. Jack was happy to allow her the moment to dictate the flow of the practice, as it allowed him to focus his thoughts not only on his overall power increase but his two newest additions as well.
A few nights after the confrontation with Roughcut, and Jack wound up getting to meet Daigoro Banjo and his successor a man named En.
The meeting had been brief and again very one sided.
Jack could see that some more of his legs were beginning to coalesce into the dreamscape of 'One for All', but so far in comparison to the previous holders he was still basically a shade.
Both En and Daigoro had expressed their interest in Jack's approach to heroing, and sited that thus far they were quite proud of him. Both of the previous users had approached him, and both went on to let him know that he would be able to utilize their individual quirks Blackwhip and Smokescreen respectively from now on.
En was very bland in his tone when speaking to Jack and while not hostile, seemed very pensive at the end as he revealed to Jack that he would be able to utilize Smokescreen. The majority of the man's face had been hidden by the high collar of his top, making it hard for Jack to get an actual read on his features.
Daigoro was far more expressive, and Jack found his seemingly boisterous attitude refreshing as so far out of all the previous holders he was the most approachable in his demeanor. He did have a serious moment when explaining to Jack that Blackwhip thrived on emotion, siting that if Jack was not in control of them that his emotions could wreak havoc on his use of Blackwhip.
Anger apparently made Blackwhip quite powerful and was a driving force for the quirk, but also made it rather difficult to control.
This meeting, much like the last had been short but again gave Jack a new tool to utilize in his battle against the criminals of Gotham.
Jack since had been spending an hour each night in the basement before going to sleep to meditate and practice utilizing each quirk.
His first time using Smokescreen had left Ted stuck between exasperation, and raucous laughter.
Jack had wound up lighting off smokescreen right in the basement where him and Helena were now, only there hadn't been a full-blown ventilation system installed at that point and time.
Needless to say after finally venting the place out, Ted had said he'd get a ventilation system installed. The large standing fans they had were good for keeping you cool while in the basement if you were working out, but did nothing for cycling air out of the confined space.
'Which that whole mess unfortunately took about an hour.'
Jack felt he was making decent headway with the extra quirks, and as he hadn't seen Izuku gain them in the My Hero show he didn't have any kind of template to work with like he did before. Meaning that any and all progress he made would be his own.
'Gives me the chance to make up some stuff for myself.'
One thing that Jack had settled back upon though was keeping the extra quirks as quiet as possible.
He hadn't disclosed Blackwhip to Ted, as he had only shown him Smokescreen. Jack had decided outright that he wouldn't be telling Helena about either of the extra quirks right now. He would only disclose them to her if absolutely necessary, the necessary coming into play being that he was forced to use either of the quirks publicly. Jack found himself holding onto what he knew was the naïve hope that he wouldn't have to use either of them in public until he had mastered them, and all of 'One for All's' output.
'Meta knowledge is really paying dividends here at the very least.' Jack thought as he considered where he was with 'One for All's' output, and the fact that thanks to said knowledge he hadn't had to drastically injure himself.
Jack was pulled from his reverie as Helena attempted to throw a high kick to his left temple, and instead of blocking Jack shifted into another gear and using his heightened state slipped under her leg and swept her other foot out from under her dropping her to the mat in a heap.
Helena hit the deck with a minor grunt accompanying the loud thud she made, and then after a quick breath kipped up off the ground.
Jack didn't expect her to close the distance a look of frustration on her face.
"What the hell?! I thought you said you weren't gonna use Danger Sense?!" Helena shouted as she jabbed a finger into Jacks left pec.
Jack simply pinned Helena with his gaze, and after a few moments of silence on his part Helena actually lost some of the fire from her eyes as her expression became as close to sheepish as he could ever remember it being.
"One. I never said I wasn't gonna use 'Danger Sense' in this spar. Two. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You Really need to learn to control your temper. Three. You're the one who said you wanted me to go full throttle when we spar, and in case it's escaped your notice me going full throttle is using every tool I have at my disposal. That includes 'Danger Sense'. Maybe next time we should put all of our gear on instead of workout clothes and see how you do?" Jack said blandly as he kept his focus on Helena, his question causing her to look away from him quickly.
The spars had been good for the both of them, and Jack was happy to do it. It had given him a chance to test some of the tactics and battle strategies he'd put together for himself, as well as enhancing his own awareness over all of his changes because of his quirks power. Helena benefited as well, though after the third spar where they had used all of their individual gear she had demanded they swap to just wearing workout gear; siting that the tools were crutches and that she wanted to perfect her basic hand to hand as much as possible.
It seemed Helena would find something to complain about no matter what the conditions were though, and it was causing Jack's temper to fray even though it was slow going.
Jack found himself constantly having to take a breath and remind himself that he needed to remain patient with his partner. Helena could be an overly proud individual, and while the opinion was most definitely earned as she was in fact quite skilled, she was having a hard time accepting that she had erred in her judgement.
She wanted to push herself and she would definitely be at peak human level in absolutely no time, and if Jack was being honest she was probably not that far off the mark already for someone of their age group.
But Helena refused to believe that she couldn't take Jack in a physical contest. She knew he was strong, stronger than anyone she'd ever met. But she would consistently get upset if she lost a contest against him, and Jack's only guess to the cause was one thing.
'Mandragora.' Jack thought as he put his right hand on Helena's left shoulder, in an attempt to convey a bit of comfort to her over her obvious frustration.
Every article Jack had read about the gangster had insisted that he was in fact a 'Meta', and by all rights from what he remembered of him from any media reference the man was not only ridiculously strong but also ridiculously durable.
Jack remembered that the man had actually withstood the canary cry from Black Canary in the JLU T.V. show, and it had taken a pile a solid metal beams falling on him to put him out of commission.
Jack could understand Helena's frustration, knowing that she hoped to be able to give Mandragora some of the physical punishment he was sure the gangster had delivered upon her family.
Jack was pulled out of his thoughts as Helena shrugged his hand off her shoulder before she turned and walked over to one of the metal tables which had her gym bag on it.
Helena placed her hands on the table and bent over the table, forcing Jack to stare at her back.
After a few short moments Helena took a deep breath and tuned around after opening her bag and pulling out her towel.
She was in the midst of wiping her face as she turned to face him but Jack knew that she was playing it off.
'Yeah hit the nail on the head. She doesn't want me to know that she's this upset.' Jack thought, as even with the eight feet or so between them he knew that she was covering up the built up tears of frustration.
Jack's heart went out to her, it really did. He couldn't imagine how frustrated she must be, knowing that the man that killed her family was not only out walking free; but that if she was to meet him head on that her chances of success in a pure physical contest were still relatively low if she stuck to the avenue that he'd left open for her.
He wished he could say he felt bad about the fact that he'd taken the lethal option from her, but he honestly didn't feel bad about that part. It would only lead to her winding up in jail, or worse on the opposite end of the same agenda.
Jack was pulled from his reverie when Helena spoke, false cheer and forced bravado in her tone.
"Well, overall not a bad session. You made a good point. I'll try and keep my temper in check. Can't go out into the field with you if I'm all over the place emotionally. Don't take this as me giving up though! I'll have you on the flat of your back yet." Helena said as she thrusted her right hand out at him at the end, pointing right at him.
Jack stifled a chuckle, doing his best not to snort out a full laugh at Helena's declaration.
Jack went to ask her if she wanted to take a break or go for another round, but was cut off when Helena spoke up again.
"I gotta head out. I told a couple of the girls from the group home that I'd go with them to the mall today. Gonna grab a bite with them and try the whole…social interaction thing. You want to come with? I could use a lifeline that doesn't wanna sit and drone about shopping, and fashion, and...boys the whole time." Helena said as she cocked her right hip out a bit, looking at Jack sideways as she turned hallway back to the table to grab a drink from her water bottle.
Jack shook his head a bit as he walked towards the table and grabbed his own water bottle, taking a light swig before he answered.
"Sorry Hel's bells, I'll have to take a rain check. Wesley sent my new gloves and they got here yesterday. I'm gonna work with them for a little bit and then probably head out on patrol." Jack said walking toward the far back wall where his actual work tables were along with his full hero suit.
He heard Helena mutter a "sure thing" before she told him she'd catch him later, before she departed the basement training area.
Jack spent the next half an hour going over the specs of his new gloves, marveling but having a hard time understanding just how Wes had gotten the springs in the gloves to compress enough so that they would be able to recreate Izuku's ability to shoot air bullets.
'Wes really is an absolute genius.' Jack thought as he had finished going over the gloves blueprints.
Jack took a moment and changed into his full uniform and then proceeded to run drills, getting used to moving and firing the air bullets at a standing training dummy on the left side of the basement.
Jack was in the middle of actually throwing his second volley of air bullets getting his fingers used to the resistance that the gloves put out, when he heard a couple of pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs.
Jack immediately stopped and turned to face the entrance, and was surprised to see Doctor Occult along with who he knew to be John Constantine and a young girl he had no recollection of.
'Jesus Doc a little warning would have been nice. What if I hadn't been in uniform?' Jack thought as he observed his guests.
The three of them stopped about three feet from Jack, before Doctor Occult stepped forward putting out his right hand for a shake.
"All Might. My apologies. I would have called ahead but unfortunately we've found ourselves in a bit of a time sensitive situation I'm afraid." Occult said as Jack clasped his hand for a shake applying just a smidge more pressure than he normally would, clearly showing his displeasure at being slightly outed.
The greeting was received in the spirit in which it was given, as while holding Jack's now slightly glowing eyes with his own Occult mouthed another apology though this one was obviously silent.
Jack held the eye contact for a moment longer and then after releasing his grip he did the same with his eye contact, now switching to glancing at his two new visitors.
After taking in both of their appearances Jack turned his full gaze back to Occult to get the ball rolling.
"Not that it's not always good to see you Doc, but since you brought the guests uninvited would you like to do the introductions?" Jack said.
Occult smiled minutely and turned sideways lifting his right arm, which he used to gesture towards his compatriots.
"This is John Constantine, and his apprentice Eva Kramer." Occult said with a slightly exaggerated manner.
Jack turned back fully towards the newcomers and offered his greeting after giving Occult a slightly bemused look.
"Well it's nice to meet you both. I've heard of you Mr. Constantine, though I have to be honest I wasn't aware you had an apprentice." Jack said as he glanced a little closer at Eva, trying to understand what it was about her that was familiar.
He had the tickling sensation at the back of his brain that he knew of her, though he couldn't for the life of him place where.
He was pulled from his musing by John and Eva both taking two steps forward as John followed Occults example, putting his right hand forward for a shake.
"So…You're All Might. I've seen ya on the tube. Gotta say I thought you'd be…well... bigger. Don't get me wrong you're not small by any stretch of the imagination, but I was picturing…" John said as he clasped hands with Jack.
"We were expectin' you tae look more like Superman, is what the Bodach there's tryin to say. Ye look more like some Yankee military propaganda poster boy." Eva said as she gave Jack a glance that made him feel as if she had judged him already and found him wanting.
John glanced at Eva sideways with a slightly reproaching look on his face, though Jack could clearly see the slight upturn on the side of his mouth. Clearly Constantine was use to Eva's behavior, and while he may think it wasn't fully appropriate he clearly wasn't about to reprimand her.
Jack found the whole thing kinda funny considering John wasn't that old, and yet he let this girl call him old man. Jack had gotten into the habit of calling Ted that every once in a while, but at least Jack knew for a fact that Ted was old. Ted's looks really didn't give credence to the fact of his age at all, as Ted's looks could honestly be contrived as a result of genetics not age if one didn't know who he was beforehand.
Jack turned sideways so that he could have all three of his uninvited guests in his line of sight, and then decided to just cut right to the heart of the matter.
"Well Doc you said that the situation is time sensitive, so why don't you brief me on the situation." Jack said
Doc was cut off from speaking by an inelegant snort that led into minor snickering from Eva.
"Bloody Hell this guy's uptight! Where the helld'ya find em Occult? An Army surplus store?!" Eva said as her face lit up with mirth while she brought her flask up to take a sip.
Constantine cut across Eva trying to get her to focus while Doc brought Jack up to speed on what happened. After the lengthy explanation of what John and Eva had dealt with, he put out his hands to gesture at Jack.
"And that is why we are here All Might. I hope you don't mind but this is me calling in the favor I said you'd owe me." Occult said as he spoke directly to Jack.
Jack blinked once.
Then twice.
"Wow. Not gonna lie I thought you were joking when you said that Doc."
A moment passed and Occults face took on a look of consternation, before it settled back into grim seriousness.
"No All Might I was being quite serious. I'm always happy to lend a hand, but I did in fact give up quite a few of my Golden Drachma to aid you." Occult said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Jack quickly put up both hands in a sign of acquiescence, having no problem with aiding Occult even if there hadn't already been a pre-existing debt.
"It's not a big deal Doc. We'll get this sorted. The big question being though is do you have any idea where this lady is right now?" Jack asked as his gaze slipped between the three Homo Magi.
Occult looked ready to respond but was cut off as the sound of Ted's heavy footsteps drew everyone's attention back to the stairs.
"Kid! You gotta come…what the hell?! Rich? What the hell are you doing here?!...Never mind! The scanners going nuts! Two different shoot outs, and another Bank robbery back at Gotham National!" Ted said as he pointed up the stairwell.
Jack's visage immediately shifted into a sterner gear and he turned to fully face Occult.
"You picked a hell of a day to show up Doc. Looks like the gang war might just be setting off."
Jack was kept from going any further by Constantine.
"That's why we're here! The woman who has the Amulet of Allani wants to raise here dead lover from the grave. He's Anthony Falcone."
Jack was still having trouble wrapping his head around the fact that this much supernatural crap was going on, but the name drop of one of the biggest crime family's in Gotham wiped away the disbelief and filled him with a sense of foreboding.
'The fact that I'm now getting pulled into it and it involves one of the major crime families of this city can only make things worse.' Jack thought morosely.
"I think your gonna have to take it from the top Constantine."
GOTHAM CITY—GOTHAM WATER AND POWER
APRIL 26th 2008 (1645/4:45PM) EST
Anthony 'Tony' Falcone's POV:
Tony Falcone had had an interesting life.
It all came flashing back to him as he gasped and woke up, jerking to a sitting position from his prone one on the hard concrete ground he found himself on.
Looking at his almost chalk white/grey hand is what had triggered all of it.
'This ain't My hand!'
Tony had lived a relatively privileged life.
Tony's grandfather Carmine Falcone had solidified a criminal empire that few could ever hope to usurp. He had made it so that their family went from bottom of the barrel, to hob knobbing with the upper echelon's of high society.
Tony's family had always had the best of everything since he could remember ranging from cars, to houses, and even to women.
Tony could remember his father and grandfather both from the time he been a child, telling him to understand that family came first and that it was a man's job to be strong for his family. That one day a major piece of the family business was to be his, and that he'd have to face the same sharks the rest of them dealt with.
He had been indoctrinated to understand that the strong took from the weak and that it was the way of the world. Carmine Falcone was the undisputed crime 'King' of Gotham, and he had shown Tony that there wasn't a single soul in 'their' city that didn't know it.
By the year 1999, Tony had been 22 years old and he felt like he was well on his way to being the big shot his family had always told him he'd grow up to be.
He'd been pulled into the family business at 18, and he had helped make the family's more legit operations stay exactly that.
Tony had done well throughout his schooling career all through Gotham Academy, and had wound up graduating early from the Yale School of Management.
He had brought new techniques back from school that had helped him carve out a name for himself in his family's shipping business.
At time's his almost seeming unwillingness to 'get his hands dirty', had put a definite strain on his relationship with his father.
Tony had taken on many of the features of his father reaching a height of 6'0, with his tanned olive skin, his dark eyes, and slicked back full head of hair. The only keen differences separating Tony's facial features from his father's being that his jaw was slightly rounder than his father's, along with the birth marks he had along his jawline which were reminiscent of his mother Tasha's.
Three years into his running of the shipping business and things had turned slightly sour, as the Batman had made Gotham his home and was seemingly fixated on ending Tony's family's business.
Not only did the Falcone family have to deal with the Batman, but Roman Sionis (or Black Mask as he had started to go by) had started to attempt a hostile takeover of his family's empire.
And it was that last fact that partially contributed to where Tony now found himself, staring at the overly large oddly colored hands he was staring at.
Black Mask had put a hit out on Tony…and it had succeeded.
A lilting laugh grabbed Tony's attention and it was followed by a slight gasp.
Tony turned his gaze feeling the mass of his now much larger body acquiesce to allow him to turn his gaze to his left to look at where the sound had come from.
Tony found his eyes landing on his cousin Vitti, who looked much similar to himself minus the fact that the man looked completely bald and had a severely crooked nose.
Standing next to him was Sara Bailey, his former paramour.
Upon taking her in Tony realized how he'd been brought back.
Sara looked much like she had when Tony had met her, though obviously time had matured her features. Her long blonde/almost silver hair hung past her shoulders in a light curtain, her green eyes sparkling with unshed tears.
Her face had slight worry lines, but they didn't detract from the overall beauty that Tony had been captivated by. Sara stood at 5'9 without the two inch black high heels she was wearing, and her slight yet elegant frame walked toward him with purpose.
She was dressed as he was most accustomed too, wearing her black short mesh sleeved frill top with matching medium length skirt. Her lips were adorned with a striking covering of wine red lipstick, causing her lips to stand out when set in contrast against her very light complexion and her bright green eyes.
As she passed between a set of lit black candles to stand in front of his sitting form, Tony was forced to pay closer attention to his surroundings.
The warehouse itself was rather dirty and barren, minor light passing through the skyline windows on the ceiling.
Random stone pillars were set about, reaching up towards and connecting to the ceiling.
Turning his eyes around himself Tony realized he was sitting inside of a drawn circle in the center of a Unicursal Hexagram (Six pointed star) with a lit black candle at the end of each point connected to the circle.
Tony was pulled from his observations as he felt soft hands touch his face and turn his gaze back towards Sara.
"Welcome back baby." She said with her light and airy voice as she placed a chaste kiss upon his forehead, drawing his attention back to the state of his body.
Tony knew that he was Large, overly so when in comparison to how he knew his natural body had been.
He felt the flashes of memory start to assault his mind, slightly stronger each time it came upon him.
The car wreck.
Being dragged from the flaming car.
Each of the six bullets as they tore into his body, the last going clean through his skull as it ended his life.
Sara's voice.
The promises of revenge, of renewed life.
For a time, all he'd felt was emptiness. It had become odd to him, reflecting upon a life that he knew was over and yet still having his consciousness.
But now…he was back.
"It worked." Tony said with hauntingly deeper voice that sounded almost animalistic to his own ears.
Sara was a Witch.
He had met her when had been in college, as her family owned a small medicinal shop right in town nearby to the college.
He could look back on his time with her with light fondness, remembering her talk about magic and all the fanciful things it could do; though he had never taken any of it seriously.
Until her voice had come to him in the darkness.
The hate stirred in his gut.
He was gonna make Roman Sionis pay for his transgressions.
'Roman's gonna regret the day he'd ever even thought to cross the Falcone crime family.' Tony thought as he stood up, taking measure of how his now much larger body moved.
Tony had always been relatively tall, but now he had to be over 6'5 with a much heavier frame, and the thought of all of it pleased him. He locked gazes with Sara and did his best to put on one of his old charming smiles.
"You kept your promise doll face. Thank you." Tony said as he adjusted his arms, trying to understand why his clothes felt so shoddy.
He was cut off from any other considerations by Sara's voice.
"I'm sorry I didn't bring any spare clothes for you to change into baby. But that's why I grabbed your cousin Vitti. We can take you shopping somewhere private and get you a new wardrobe." Sara said as she placed both her arms on Tony's left arm as it hung slightly outstretched away from his body.
Tony's cousin had yet to speak and when Tony looked up and locked gazes with him he saw Vitti flinch back heavily.
'He's…he's afraid of me. That or he's disgusted.'
"Vitti you good over there Cuz?" Tony asked, the timber of his own voice reverberating hollowly in his large chest.
His cousin immediately looked back to him though at a fairly slow rate, and it seemed to cause him a great deal of discomfort to try and hold Tony's gaze.
"All Good Tony! Just glad you're back! Things haven't been the same without ya ya know?." Vitti said, his voice rasping slightly at the end the false excitement falling flat.
Tony held his gaze on his cousin a moment longer before turning back to Sara, noticing the gleaming green gemstone necklace that sat encased in what looked like a golden roach or beetle.
Tony carefully slid his overly large right hand underneath the pendant, allowing the back of his hand to rest against Sara's slightly exposed cleavage.
"So this is what brought me back?" Tony asked
Sara's smile was beaming as she responded.
"I promised you I'd bring you back. It took longer than I wanted but I finally found it! This amulet will let us gather up a horde of followers out of the people that used to work for your family. We'll take it all back baby! We're gonna make sure Sionis pays for what he took from us. I've got a few other things, and my journal. It's gonna make this sooo easy you'll see!" Sara said her tone projecting manic confidence.
He could see that Sara was working herself up to continue, but that was where Tony decided that it was time to take charge.
"Thanks doll face, for everything."
Tony yanked hard and the gold chain snapped taking the amulet from Sara's neck, his left hand coming up in a flash engulfing her slight neck in its locking grasp.
Tony could see the feelings spring to the surface of Sara's eyes.
Fear, worry, denial.
'Time to rid her of all that.'
Sara's hands were slamming against his wrist, her slight legs kicking against his frame. Tony could feel the sensation's, but it was barely registering to him almost like her strikes were just a buffeting wind against him.
"I really am sorry doll. But if I'm gonna take over as the King of my family's empire I need a Queen by my side…not a pawn." Tony said as he watched Sara's face start to change color from the lack of oxygen, the tears streaming down her face from a mix of not only the situation but her emotions.
Sara's hands clawed at his over sized hand, and her eyes sought his again desperately.
"I...I...Lo...Love u...wh...why?" she asked as she continued to pry at his hand.
"I know you do doll. But it's not enough. Never was."
Sara stopped clawing against him with her hands and made a few quick patterns, but she was cut off from going any further because Tony knew what she was gonna try and do. He'd seen her weave basic spells before and while not all that powerful she probably had something that would help her break out of his grasp.
'Can't have that.'
The snap of her neck was loud, and it echoed throughout the empty warehouse for just a moment before that sound was followed up by the thud of her body hitting the pavement.
Tony looked down at her for a moment and waited for something…anything to tell him that what he'd done was wrong. But the feeling never came.
'Good. If I can do that, then everything that comes next will be a piece of cake.'
Tony whipped his sight up to his cousin, and Vitti recoiled a step as if he'd been struck.
Tony took purposeful strides forward and reached down to pick up Sara's discarded bag. He started forward again and got barely a step passed his cousin before he started speaking.
"Call every wise guy, triggerman, and two-bit gangster you know Vitti. I'm calling a family meeting. We're goin to war." Tony said as his large steps echoed outward.
Tony heard his cousin's mumbled "Sure thing Tony.", but then stopped as he felt a mild tickling sensation at the back of his skull.
Tony whipped back and faced his cousin as he hurried to catch up to him, stopping Vitti in his tracks abruptly.
"What did you say?" Tony asked looking down at Vitti.
For the first time since his return his cousin's face didn't hold any overt fear, or disgust, or any of whatever emotion he'd been displaying before.
Now Vitti's face only held obvious confusion.
"I said sure thing Tony. Whadya think I said?"
Tony held his cousins gaze for only a moment longer before he shook his head and then turned to continue walking forward out of the warehouse.
'Coulda sworn I heard you say "Born on a Monday." Whatever the hell that means.'
AND FIN. Well? I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. The gang was is about to kick off in earnest, and in a couple ways already has. Things are gonna ramp up and I've been kinda struggling with exactly How to tell the story so that's one of the main reasons it's been so long since I've updated and I apologize for that. A little note in case it's a question that is popping up in your heads. Eva is an OC and she has an accent, so that's why the speech is a little janky. My good friend Darth Sauron on the Discord I'm on helped develop Eva as a character and is actually a massive help for me as he is my main sounding board. I can't tell you how grateful I am to him for his help. The word Bodach translates to around 'Old Man' and gives Eva some variation in her speech which i personally love. All that about my Bruv being said I am beyond grateful to all of you as well who have faved, followed, and reviewed the story so far. Please pass on the story as a recommendation, and don't forget to leave a review if you have questions, or you just wanna share an opinion or thought. I you have a question please specifically let me know that you'd like me to get back to you. My career has me relatively busy, and I don't wanna leave anyone thinking that I haven't noticed. If I have at any point all I can do is again offer my apologies. I hope everyone has been staying safe, happy, and healthy! Take care ya'll, and I'll see you at the next one!