July 6th 2016 Munich, Germany, 10:00 A.M EDT

It didn't take us long to find our way. Well, longer than I'd have liked because the streets in the older parts of Munich had no discernable layout or pattern, and we ended up walking in literal circles at one point. Finally though, we ended up standing in a shady area near a nice park, and across the street I could see…

"What the fuck is THAT doing here?" I asked Kara, staring in confusion at the fairly large castle with fucking SWASTIKA banners hanging from it. Look, I'd worked with some truly evil people. Monsters, serial killers, literal dark sorcerers. My mom was a genocidal former dictator and I'd plowed her like a high quality plot of land. But everyone had lines, and even as a sociopath I'd never have worked with nazis.

My dad hadn't either as far as I knew. Like any red blooded americans, we fucking hated nazis. They were a true unifying force, because everyone who wasn't a nazi hated nazis, bad guys and good guys alike.

So seeing a fucking nazi fortress in the middle of downtown Munich, even slightly out of the way as we were was…weird.

"What is it?" Kara asked, casting her eyes around. I grimaced, realizing what was happening, and I grabbed her arm, focusing on my karmic vision and the thread connecting us, tugging it just enough so she could see. "Oh!" She said, appalled. "Even I know what that is, aren't they all supposed to be dead? How can that be here? Do you think anyone knows?"

I shook my head. "Nope, or it would be on fire. Very few people hate nazis as much as Germans. Germany got seriously fucked after world war two, and they still teach courses on fascism to drill into every German kid's head how fucking shitty the nazis really were. If they knew this was here it would have been blown up by now."

"So you think it's old?" She asked me, eyes narrowed with unhappiness. "Do you think your bad guy is in there?"

I shook my head. "I suspect not. She predates that symbol by a few tens of millennia. But I can't be sure. We should break in and take a look." I paused. "Wait, you're not going to bitch about breaking and entering are you?"

"No." She said wryly. "Breaking into nazi fortresses gets a pass."

Grinning, I reached into my pouch and withdrew a scale, already carved. I wound a quick spell through it with threads, mine and hers both, and tossed it behind a tree. With that done, we were all but invisible. We strolled up to the fortress, not bothering to be stealthy, and as we came close to the walls I called Kara to a stop.

Glancing up, I did what I should have done when we first got here and appraised the damned castle.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Castle Wolfenstein- B ranked fortress. A last redoubt for the third reich, the castle was built on a confluence of leylines that reinforce the structure and hide it from prying eyes. Said to contain a buried superweapon the nazis were trying to unearth, it has recently been rediscovered by Baron Bedlam, who seeks to find and use the weapon to overthrow europe.]

"Huh." I said in surprise. "That's…interesting."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Like, good interesting, or bad interesting?" She asked, casting a suspicious glance up at the castle.

"I'm curious." I asked dryly. "What possible version of 'good interesting' could you have come up with to explain a secret nazi fortress in the middle of munich? Because I feel like any interesting in this context is bad by definition."

She blushed a bit, looking away. "I don't know." She grumbled. "It's not like I'm from this planet."

"This is some kind magical stronghold made in secret before the war ended to hold some kind of superweapon." I said gesturing to the walls. "Being on a leyline confluence means the walls are empowered to hell and back, and I'm worried punching through might set off the wards. I'd be fine because they're lower level than you, but that magical Achilles heel is a big problem."

I probably could have just left it, but even I had standards. Plus Kara would probably get all whiny if we bailed, and I wanted to beat some nazis to death.

"Can you get us inside?" She asked quietly. "If there's a weapon in there I don't want anyone who would leave THOSE up to get it."

I nodded. "Yeah I've got some ideas. But it's going to take me a while. I'll have to rework the wards to make an opening, and they're actively connected to giant fucking leylines, which means I'm basically playing with live power cables with no gloves on."

Mom's lessons would help, but in reality, my magic was kind of made for this. Karmic threads were easily visible and workable, and they were a stable way of viewing magic. They also weren't the way most people wove it. They were more parallel to most magic systems than part of them, which was why I'd needed to go to another dimension to get tutoring.

Leading Kara along, was walked around the perimeter of the castle, having to climb some cliffs to get up to it as we stuck to the base and circled. I studied the foundation, the walls, the cliffside, and every other visible aspect of the place.

Weaves upon weaves upon weaves. It was a complicated mess of magic and karma so dense I almost couldn't decipher it. Only my new skills and my divinity made it possible. The place was SOAKED with bad karma, and I was able to slowly syphon it off, allowing the magic from the leylines to refill the stone as I did.

It took me ages, but finally I had a section desaturated enough to actually SEE it, and once I did I was able to start untangling. Once I was in there, I started slowly winding and tying off certain strands, making a hole in the defenses.

I had to be VERY careful handling the threads, and I only managed by coating my hands in karmic energy, and as I worked, I considered my options.

This place was powerful, a B rank building was stronger than Shadowcrest, hell the Hall of Nevers wasn't even B rank. That level of structure being essentially dropped on top of something meant it was probably even stronger, which meant it could hurt me. A rank superweapons sounded bad, and letting nazis have them sounded worse.

I kind of wanted to just blow the whole fortress down, but the power required would most likely wipe out part of Munich and then I'd have the League on my ass. Which would not only cause a fight I would have trouble winning, but also fuck up my home dynamic because of how many of my girls were League adjacent.

Which meant I needed to do this subtle. I had to enter and find out what the weapon was and take it. If it was A rank that would mean another billion points, bringing me closer to S rank and my ultimate goals, which was a win win for me. Plus I had Kara helping, which meant any physical problem would be a snap.

I finally finished my weaving, having opened a roughly human sized hole in the defenses, and I put together a quick earth magic spell and pulled the stone out of the wall, leaving an archway directly into what looked like the ground floor of the castle.

"After you." I said humbly to Kara as I gestured her in with a flourish.

She snickered. "You just want to stare at my ass as I walk by." I didn't argue, just winked, and she rolled her eyes, swaying her hips a bit as she entered. I did look at her ass, obviously. Once we were in, I had to shut my karmic eye. The inside of this place was stained black with so much bad karma I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

"Be careful." I said as I looked around with normal eyes. "This is a bad place to be. We need to figure out what's here before they notice us."

Luckily my perception filter spell was working, and the few patrols we ran into didn't even notice us. We stuck to the walls, trying to find our way along the corridors and hitting a few dead ends before we came to a door that was barred shut.
Breaking the lock, we slipped inside, only find ourselves on a catwalk looking out over a truly massive open chamber. People crawled all over the place, working at large machines and running in and out of a small camp. The floor in the center had been busted up, and was in the process of being dug out.

Dozens of men were digging, passing huge tubs of dirt up out of the hole after shovelers filled them, only to dump them right next to the opening into a truly massive dirt pile.

Putting my finger to my lips, I crouched down with Kara, both of us trying to focus on hearing what the men were saying. I focused hard on the tent, figuring the boss would be down there, and sure enough I heard a pair of men talking.

"-isn't the problem Herr DeLamb." Said a heavily accented voice. "We grow closer every day, and you know as well as I that the party will not stand for a Markovian claiming primacy. We need to make preparations for when the artifact is uncovered so you might protect yourself from betrayal."

A cold voice laughed. "It's Bedlam. Baron Bedlam. And the party can do as it wishes. The artifact is at my fingertips, and I WILL be there when it is unearthed. Once I've got it in my possession, not even that fool, Krieger, will be able to wrest it from my grasp. I appreciate your concern Hans, but I am well aware of what I risk."

I raised an eyebrow at Kara, who shrugged. Which was fair, she wasn't from this planet, how the hell would she know what was going on.

Slowly moving closer, I gestured for her to follow, when there was a loud rumble and a plume of dust exploded out of the hole. The front of the tent was jerked aside and a man in ridiculous red and gold clothes came barreling out with a tall severe looking soldier following him. He hit the edge of the pit at a sprint, and as he fell, the dirt rose up to catch him.

"Out of the way fools!" He bellowed ecstatically, flicking his hands and sending all the doggers flying on beds of shifting dirt. He arrived at a square hole in the ground, and I tried to make out literally anything inside, but without my karmic vision I couldn't.

Kara stirred. "Do you think we should-" Before she could finish talking he jumped into the hole, vanishing from sight. I cursed. What were the chances of that timing. Did they find it already? He had earth powers, maybe he'd known it was coming when he started the conversation.

I stepped over the catwalk, dropping about a hundred feet and landing effortlessly, Kara floating down behind me as I bolted for the hole.

My speed was impressive enough to reach it in a flash. I considered jumping in, but I decided it was better to gather intel than go in blind. I grabbed Hans, lifting him into the air effortlessly, shaking him a bit. "Hey, you. That red asshole that just jumped in there, who is he and what's down there?"

I was cut off by a mad cackle as the top layer of the hole was blown clean off, revealing a large marble mausoleum. There was a hatch on the top that was open, and from out of the dark, the same man from earlier climbed. "At LAST!" He crowed. "At last I have the power I deserve!" In his hand was a long staff with a blade on the end, and I appraised it immediately with a sinking feeling.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Spear of Destiny- A rank divine spear. A lever that can move the world, the spear of unending victory.]

Well…shit.

July 6th 2016 Castle Wolfenstein, Munich, Germany, 10:00 A.M EDT

I threw a fireball. I didn't know how much good it would do, but it couldn't hurt. A black flaming orb (I'd imbued it with plenty of negative karma) sailed toward the bastard, and he smirked, lashing out with his spear and severing the attack in two, dispersing it harmlessly into the air around him. His eyes glowed golden as they fixed on me.

"Well, well, well." He said in lightly accented english. "It appears we have intruders. How…unexpected. I-" He was cut off as a blast of angry red light emerged from above and sent him smashing into the top of the uncovered crypt, demolishing the stone it was made of.

I turned to see Kara floating above and behind me, eyes still blazing from using her heat vision. "Hardcore." I said admiringly. "I didn't think you Superpeople did sucker punches."

She shrugged. "He's a nazi." Which was fair. I turned to start toward the crypt, planning to kill him and take the spear. Sadly, there was a grating and he emerged unharmed for the stone. I grimaced. Spear of unending victory. Gods damn it.

"You…you animals!" He snarled. "You would strike the owner of the Spear of Destiny? Would strike the wielder of a holy relic?"

I snickered. "The religion card? Dude, I'm pretty sure I've broken all ten of the commandments and I commit at least one of the seven deadly sins every day." I paused. "Wait…no, I've never borne false witness against a neighbor. Still, nine out of ten is solid."

Kara nodded. "And I'm descended from an alien sun god, so that pretty much puts me on the naughty list right there."

"Well, lets be honest." I said with a grin. "A LOT of the things we did last night would have gotten you in trouble anyway. Plus I'm married, and even if she doesn't care I think that still counts. I'd say we're both going to hell, but I've already been and I think I technically own part of it now."

The red haired asshole sputtered, and I took the time to finally appraise him, just to see what we were dealing with.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Baron Bedlam- A rank empowered supervillain. Frederick DeLamb, also known as Baron Bedlam. A minor Markovian noble and nazi collaborator who staged a coup in the 80s but failed. After undergoing a mysterious experimental process, he received powers of geokinesis, gravity control, density control, and pyrokinesis, though due to his lack of Markovian royal blood these faded to almost nothing until he was empowered by the Spear of Destiny.]

I whistled. Damn, that spear had some kick. This guy had been such a joke he failed to conquer a no name backwater like Markovia from the inside. Turning him into an A-rank threat was a nasty trick.

"Don't let him stab you." I told Kara bluntly. "That spear is magical as fuck, and it'll punch right through you."

I wondered if my karmic consumption had anything to do with us ending up here. Finding an A rank spear in the possession of literal nazis while I had a kryptonian with me was more luck than even I was used to. It was possible the excess karma I consumed was being cleansed by my dark karmic attacks and making me luckier. That was pretty neat.

Since Kara was vulnerable, I shifted into my hundred foot dragon form and blasted Bedlam with a burst of draconic karma breath to draw attention. He just sneered, swiping his spear through my breath grandiosely…and then going flying into a wall when he only manage to blunt the initial impact.

I just snickered. "I'm and A ranker AND a god myself dipshit. Just because you banished a half assed fireball doesn't mean you spear is some sort of unstoppable force." I blurred forward, spinning midair and lashing out with my tail to swat him as he floated off the wall. I roared in pain as my tail hit and he drove the spear through my scales, but it didn't get too deep.

Feeling some sort of attempted surge of divine power, I flooded the wound with bad karma, and the two conflicting energies boiled off, burning my injury like I'd poured rubbing alcohol on a big dirty slice.

While he was distracted by my pain, Kara appeared behind him, and I grinned as I saw her hammer a punch into his kidney. She was probably going to follow up, but almost on contact a surge of gravity smashed the area around him, taking her down into the dirt. Luckily his abilities weren't magic, and she bounced right back up from whatever psychic gravity bullshit he'd pulled.

The other nazis were running and screaming, some having died in the exchange as my breath caved in part of the cavern and his gravity crushed some. I resumed human form, focusing on some of the stuff my mom had taught me.

Spell forms, including some that she'd seeded throughout the other world. More specifically, I was focusing on something extremely nasty that the enchanted forest had learned to fear. Curses.

Unlike the hacks over there, my curses didn't need a sacrifice or to be kindled by the death of my very soul. They just needed bad karma, and I had plenty. Planting my feet I INHALED, siphoning the horror and death of more than a half century or residence by the most twisted, ruthless, subhuman garbage that humanity had to offer.
Experiments, torture, some things that could probably be considered a bit of both, awful things had been done in this place, and it had seeped so deeply into the bedrock that anyone but me would have been unable to even begin to cleanse it. I took it all, ate it up and shoved every ounce of pain, resentment, and torment into the form of the nastiest curse I could make. Then I hurled it right in Bedlams fucking face.

Opening my mouth, I erupted with the nastiest burst of negative karma I could and breathed it right through the spell form, supercharging the curse and focusing it into a blast that smashed into Bedlam, sending him spinning backwards in the air, screaming.

It wouldn't do shit to the spear. That was a weapon that was pretty much equal to me, if not slightly stronger. What it WOULD do was flood his body with negative karma and dark magic. His little pinprick into my tail had shown me the spear's energy and my dark magic didn't play nice, and he was stuffed to the gills with it.

He righted himself from the attack, eyes blazing, and turned to rush at me, but stopped midair. His face went white, choking and doubling over in the air. "What is this?" He demanded. "What have you done?"

My flesh was durable. Draconic bodies were famously tough, and even I'd had trouble containing that mix of energy. Bedlam might be technically A rank because of the spear, but he was A rank like Kara was A rank. All focused in one spot. He was pure offense, and the spear couldn't protect him from the spear itself.

The rampaging energies of the curse and the spear went to war inside his body, ripping through him wherever they went, and he dropped to the ground, screaming. He twitched and jerked as his skin started to crack open, purple and gold light strobing through the fissures as his body became a battleground for sacred and profane.

It was curious. I wondered where exactly the spell form for that curse came from, because while bad karma was bad, this seemed…unholy. Not exactly demonic, more like a perversion of light magic. It didn't really matter, it had done the job. I walked over to the twitching man and kicked the spear out of his hand as I resumed my normal shape.

As he lost his grip, the purple overpowered the gold and he screamed, body consumed in darklight before vanishing in a puff of purple smoke that billowed outward, flooding the entirety of the castle.

Kara floated over, intrigued. "Wow…that was." She trailed off. "What was that? Exactly?"

"Curse." I said matter of factly. "My mom taught it to me. I don't know who the fuck designed it, but it's a nasty bit of magic. She didn't mention where she got it, but its done some terrible shit."

She stared at the spot he'd been in. "Is he going to come back?"

"Probably not." I said with a shrug. "Last time that curse got cast, it was over an entire kingdom, and the universe had to manufacture a hero to counter it." I gestured around us. "The rest of the ones that didn't die went with him, though it wasn't as dramatic. Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch."

The idea that somewhere out there, a garrison of actual nazis were stuck in some kind of curse like Storybrooke, suffering for eternity and most likely never to escape, made me smile. Leaning down, I grabbed the spear, lifting it carefully, expecting to be attacked or damaged.

To my surprise, it didn't try to empower me or smite me. I just sat there, harmless. I felt my points tick up to seven billion, and I grinned as I stuffed it in my pouch. It might come in handy later. I looked around with a sigh. "Well, this was a giant ass waste of time. I was supposed to be finding Kyra Arg's base."

Kara smiled at me brightly. "I think we helped lots of people by getting rid of these guys. That's never a waste. Where are we off to next?"

"Svalbard is the next spot to check." I said with a sigh. "But I should probably bring you back to the Hall. The girls will want to meet the new baby mama and probably yell at me. Also I'd love to introduce you to my daughter. She's adorable."

I expected some reaction to that, but apparently Krypton was pretty permissive. She just smiled and shrugged, and I laughed as I led us outside.

When we reached the exit, I grimaced at the castle. "Shit." I said with a sigh. "I sucked all the magic out of the walls faster than they could refill with that curse. No more cloaking. The place will fill with magic, but without the enchantments on the stone it won't do anything."

Kara shrugged. "I can call it in to the League. They'll make sure no one does anything bad with the magic."

That annoyed me. I wanted to keep the damned castle, but I didn't have time to sit around and claim it, so I'd just have to let the goody goody's do their thing. This was going to be noisy and there was no way Arg wouldn't hear about it soon. If I didn't find her lair she'd either move or prepare, and either one would be a bad thing.

Kara called in the castle, telling them that the nazis 'Ran away after a big fight with Baron Bedlam' who had killed all the ones who died, and then we left. As we flew away, I smirked at her. "You didn't mention the curse."

"You didn't kill anyone." She said smugly. "That's what the League is all about. Finding alternate means of punishment. Your curse seems like the perfect compromise for people like that."

I laughed, spinning in the air as I flew toward Brightedge. "I knew I liked you." I said happily.

Kara just giggled, and then words were lost as I picked up speed, breaking the sound barrier at an altitude high enough not to cause problems. This hadn't really been productive, but it had been kind of fun, and I needed that sometimes. Vacation was over now though, after I introduced Kara to the others I was back on the trail of Kyra Arg. Only three more A rankers until I could enact my plan.

July 7th 2016 Hall of Nevers, Brightedge, 10:00 A.M EDT

When Kara and I got to the house, we were nearly bowled over by a panicked Barbie as she tried to get past. It seemed to take her a minute to recognize us, and she ignored her friend completely as she whirled on my in a panic. "Nicky!" She yelped. "You're here, thank the gods. Get inside!"

She turned and bolted back into the house, and I raised an eyebrow at Kara before turning to follow her in. I was on guard as I entered, freaking out slightly, until Raven appeared beside me. She gave me a small smile. "Don't panic." She said soothingly. "Everything is fine. Dinah's water just broke."

My eyes went wide. "Wait…fucking WHAT? It's only be seven months, that's way too early!"

She put her hands on my shoulders, forcing me to stop and turning me to look at her. "She's FINE. Ingrid had to go through some medical training to work at Arkham, and she's with her upstairs. She says the baby is doing fine, if somewhat further along than expected. We think the supersoldier serum you took back before she got pregnant might have amped up the baby's growth."

Her calm certainty helped me find my center, and I nodded, closing my eyes. "Alright. That's fine. I'm fine. How about Whisper, is she in labor too?"

"No." She said calmly, starting us toward the stairs. "Whisper has a ways to go. She was already part feathered serpent by the time the baby started to develop, so we think that might've stabilized things. We can have her looked over once Dinah delivers the baby."

I bolted upstairs at that, following the sound of screaming into Dinah's bedroom, where she was lying on her bed waiting. When I entered, her eyes snapped to mine, and I winced at the wild rage on her face. "YOU!" She screamed as she grabbed a vase from the bedside table and hurled it at me. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Her face was soaked with sweat, hair matted to her face, and her cheeks were so red I could have used them as paint swatches for a french whorehouse. I stepped out of the way of the vase, letting it shatter on the floor, and walked through the glass. "Hey Di, how you doing?"

She grabbed me when I got close enough and hissed in my face. "How am I DOING? I'm pushing a fully grown baby out of my body two months early, and I can't take any painkillers because we don't know how the enhanced physiology will react to the drugs. That's how I'm DOING Nicholas!" She screamed, before her head jerked forward and clamped down on the meat of my shoulder, digging in as she used me to bite down on.

I grunted in milk discomfort, but didn't say anything. Her teeth weren't even breaking my skin, so I couldn't bitch too much. I patted the back of her head. "It's ok." I said softly. "Just ride it out. It'll be over soon."

Amy came running in, looking frantic. "I boiled water!" She announced loudly, holding up a pot of steaming liquid.

"Why?" I asked her in confusion. She looked like she was about to hyperventilate.

She froze. "I don't know." She finally said in confusion. "I read a bunch of books on babies and it says someone is supposed to boil water!" She held it out toward us. "Maybe she should like…inhale it?"

I held my hand up, waving it away. "Nope. No boiling water for the crazed pregnant woman. She's trying to cannibalize me right now, and if you give her that she WILL throw it in my face." Which while not fatal or overly damaging would HURT like a bitch.

She jerked free of my shoulder. "YOU BET YOUR ASS I WILL!" She howled. "I'll kill you for this you fucking bastard! How can you do this to me?"

Wincing, I pulled her against me, and was horrified to see her start crying. It made sense, this was probably super overwhelming. "How long has she been in labor?" I asked, looking around. To my surprise, Cora was here, and she stepped forward to wipe Dinah's forehead.

"Two hours." Said the former queen of hearts. "My labor took ten to twelve, but your little one seems to be moving things along a bit faster." She turned to Amy. "Breathe, dear. Take these rags, soak them in the water and wring them out, then let them cool until they're only warm."

My wife nodded and grabbed the stack of rags, racing over to a table. I smiled at her. "Thanks for that. She's…she missed Sindella's birth, plus she grew up so quickly. This is the first BABY in the family, and she's excited. I really appreciate you playing birth coach here. It's easy to forget you have two daughters."

She chuckled at that. "Having only met one of them, that's easy for you to say. But it's fine. I'm happy to help. We kicked most of the girls out. The younger ones were less than helpful, and most of the others are watching them. Ingrid went to call a friend about some of the changes to the baby.

My eyes shot open wide. "Kara!" I shouted down to the kryptonian. "Get up here!" There was a blur of blue and red and suddenly the tiny blonde was standing in front of me. I gestured to Dinah. "Use your X-ray vision. Check on the baby!" I turned to Cora. "Go get Ingrid, she'll have a better idea what we're looking at."

Fumbling in my pouch I pulled out a pad and pen, passing it to Kara. "Can you sketch?"
She nodded. "Easily. My brain can capture an image perfectly and translate it into art. You want me to sketch the baby?" When I nodded, she pulled the cap off the pen with her teeth and turned to look at Dinah as Cora bolted from the room.

Her hand blurred, not so fast as to set the paper on fire but about as quick as a laser printer. She sketched it in lines, top to bottom skipping the blank spots. Within a minute or so she was done, and while there was a little smoke coming off the page, there was a distinct image. I tore the thing out of the pad and passed to Ingrid, who came sprinting into the room.

"What is-" She blinked. "Ultrasound? Or close enough, good call." She studied the image. "Alright, this is good." She sighed, slumping into a chair by the bed. "The baby is perfectly formed, no obstructions, no chords around the neck or orientation issues. He's just grown a bit faster than expected."

I froze, staring at her as I processed that. "Did…did you just say he?" I asked cautiously. I hadn't know what the sex of the baby would be. I'd even tried appraisal, but I just ended up getting information on a pregnant Dinah.

She smiled softly. "A beautiful baby boy. Can't get an exact weight from a baby that hasn't been born yet, but I'd guess from the screaming over ten pounds."

To my shock, Dinah didn't start cursing me when she said that. I turned and saw her staring at Ingrid with the same starstruck expression I probably had. "We're having a boy?" She said quietly. "I'm going to have a son?"

Ingrid stood and walked over, handing her the sketch. Dinah smiled at it wetly. "That's just…so disgusting." She said with a sniff. "It's really just incredibly gross."

"That's true." I said solemnly. "But also kind of awesome. There's like a full person in there." I froze. "Speaking of full people, where is Sindella? And Zee? I figure some magic might not hurt in this scenario."

Ingrid grimaced. "Zatanna is keeping Sindella busy. We weren't sure everything was alright and didn't want to scare her."

"Good call." I said with a sigh. "But now that we know things are ok, should we call Zee? Drugs might impact the baby weird but I bet she has a painkiller spell or something." I could probably manage one if I got lucky, but probability and luck weren't things I wanted to expose my baby too.

She nodded, and I called out for Zee, tugging on our connection. There was a flash as she teleported in, Sindella on her hip. My daughter hopped down and sprinted over. "Papa!" She squealed. "Auntie Dinah is giving me a little brother right?"

I chuckled at that. "Yeah, that's about the size of it." I turned to Ingrid. "What did you friend say by the way?"

She shrugged. "Mostly gave me a list of things to check to make sure the baby was ok, I checked, he is." She frowned, turning to Sindella. "How did you know the baby was going to be a boy?"

My daughter just shrugged. "I just do. Can't you tell?" She shook her head with a giggle. "Everyone else is so weird. They ask about so many dumb things."

I snickered, holding up my hand for a high five. "It's ok pumpkin, not everyone can be as smart or awesome as us. Auntie Ingrid has boring mortal senses. What else can you tell us about the baby?"

"His name is Max." She said cheerfully. "Just like grandpa. He can do snake stuff."

I hummed in interest. "Kind of wish I could name at least one of my kids, but that's probably what I would have picked anyway. And snake stuff huh?" The Blood of Apophis had been powerful and dangerous stuff for its level. It would make sense for some elements of it to end up in my son's DNA. It wasn't DRAGON power, but it was still pretty cool.

"Will you idiots stop TALKING and HELP me!" Screeched Dinah. I jumped, turning to look at Zee. She was already casting, not bothering to hold up a finger to stall me, just trusting I wouldn't interrupt her.

When the spell broke I saw it wash over Dinah, who slumped back in relief, panting. "Oh good God that's pleasant." She huffed. "I felt like an alien xenomorph was eating its way out of me." She grimaced as she said that, patting her stomach. "Sorry bud, mommy doesn't mean it. I promise I'll love you more than anything in the world once you're out of me."

"Am I still a son of a bitch?" I asked with a smirk. Then I paused."Wait…actually I can't really argue that."

She chuckled softly. "You have your bad points. I was just so pissed off about the pain. I needed someone to blame. Also my teeth are feeling loose after trying to bite into your shoulder. What are you made of?"

Sindella giggled. "Silly Auntie Dinah. You're not supposed to bite people. Unless you're Auntie Lilith, and then only if you ask first."

I glared around the room. "Alright, which of you left my daughter alone with the Queen of the Vampires? Like I get that we're a pretty morally neutral family, but there is such a thing as common sense, people. Where is Lilith anyway?"

"Same place as Jenny, Jade, Sindara, Strega, Ruby, Ariel, and the rest of the reasonably powerful members of your harem." Said Zee absently. "Off doing their jobs."

She didn't say more, and didn't need to. We were all pretty distracted anyway, because Ingrid perked up. "Looks like fast is the order of the day." She said brightly. "It's time for him to come out. Push Dinah." Judging by the strain on her face she did as she was told. The next part seemed to take simultaneously an hour and two minutes, but it eventually ended.

Finally she finished the delivery, and Ingrid carefully lifted the baby, cleaning him off and cutting his umbilical chord. She smacked him on the ass and he screamed, which was reasonably, I'd be pissed too, and then once it was done, she turned and passed Dinah our son.

I smiled as I watched her hold our baby, the first baby that I'd really gotten to see delivered. I leaned down and offered my finger, and to my shock his hand snapped out and grabbed mine tightly. I grinned down at him wolfishly. "Looks like he's strong, just like his old man. Welcome to the world, Maxwell Alexander Lord the second."

July 7th 2016 Hall of Nevers, Brightedge, 11:00 A.M EDT

The baby was, obviously, co-opted by my girls immediately. As soon as Dinah let him go, the rest of the girls snatched him up, passing him delicately but constantly like they were handing off a glass football. I got my turn with him, in between Amy and Barbie, but then he was swept away to be doted on, and I just chuckled and let him go.

Seeing him was…intense. I had Sindella, and it was already a big deal in my life, but she'd come out as a five year old. All of that territorial protective instinct dragons had for their young was tempered by her age and power.

Max was…well Max wasn't either of those things. He was powerful in his own way, granted, I'd seen his eyes flicker to red slit pupils a few times as he blinked and scanned the room, and my appraisal showed him as E rank, which was pretty damned impressive for a baby. But he WAS a baby, and it was my job to take care of him.

Him and his mother. I looked at Dinah cautiously. Dinah was, without question. The weakest of my girls. She'd been pregnant since before I was able to upgrade her much, and was pretty much my last vanilla human except Jade.

Seeing her like this drove that home too. She was pale and shaky and her breath was heavy. She looked like she'd been hit by a bus. Despite that though, she had the biggest smile on her face and her eyes never wavered from our boy. The pride and joy in her expression blew me away, and I couldn't think of anyone I'd want more as a mother for my firstborn son.

"So." I said dumbly. "How are you feeling?" I wasn't great at sympathy, but I also wasn't an idiot. She'd just forced a human being out of herself, she obviously had a hard time with it and Ingrid said asking people about their pain can give you a chance to empathize with it. Apparently 'wow, that sucks' was not sufficient, and she insisted I use any opportunities I had to work on it.

Smiling at me, she raised an eyebrow. "Wow, I must really look awful. But you don't have to try to be nice, Nicky. It's creepy. Like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs."

I barked out a laugh. "Oh good. It felt weird to me too. But it wasn't all an act. I actually want to make sure you're good. You seemed pissed there for a minute."

"Soul destroying agony will do that." She snickered. "But I'm fine. If it's not just to be nice what was the other reason you asked though?" She said, narrowing her eyes. Dinah had been getting better at reading me ever since she met the real me, and it was impressive to see how sharp those instincts had gotten.

Reaching into my pouch, I drew out a small radiant ball of shimmering light. "Well, I got you something." I held out the B ranked divine spark. "This is the divine spark of Cliodhna, goddess of love and beauty, and Queen of the Banesidhe. It's B rank, which means you'd land halfway in between H and B. But I have a resonant sound crystal here I can use to kick you up a few ranks, combined with the spark it should get you to C rank."

That was pretty much the absolute most I could do without spending points. Normally D was the highest I could freehand, but the spark was attracted to Dinah. It resonated with the love she had for our son and her Canary Cry, and it was subtly shifting itself to try to match her.

She blinked at me, and for a second I was worried she might say no, but she finally smirked. "You're worried." She said bluntly.

I didn't want to admit that. It seemed imprudent, but she had just given birth to my kid, so I suppose a little 'vulnerability' as Ingrid called it, was warranted. "Yeah." I said eventually. "Yeah I'm worried. Things are going to get dicey soon. I have plans and they're not going to be gentle on the world. I can't say more, but I want you strong enough to protect our kid and yourself."

She smiled adoringly at me. "I love you too Nicky." She said, straining to lean forward and peck my cheek. "If you think I need it and that it'll help Max, then go ahead." She turned to look at Amy, who was cooing at the baby. "Hey Ames, can you take Maxie into the other room for a minute?"

Barbie smirked. "Really Dinah? It's been like ten minutes since you had a kid. You ready to go already?"

"Not even as a joke." Said Dinah flatly. "I feel like I tried to emergency brake a train at top speed with my pelvis.I get that you're teasing me, but the idea of having sex is pretty much literally sickening to me right now."

The redhead held up her hands in surrender. "Like you said, just joking. We can go introduce Maxie to all his aunts and uncles. I think his grandpa is even here."

Kara stiffened, gently floating up and gliding behind Amy, which made me smile. My dad would never do anything to my kid, but it was sweet she felt strongly enough to go to those lengths to protect him.

Amy noticed the movement and narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. I shrugged and mimed a round stomach and she glared before finally rolling her eyes and pasting a big smile on her face. Amy could get jealous, but she knew Kara was an important asset. Every A ranker was a strategic boon to us.

After they left, I turned to find Dinah giving me a reproachful look. "Her too? You don't think you have enough kids?"

"Dragons like to have a lot of progeny." I defended myself loftily. Which was true. I was a dragon, and I liked that. I didn't know any other dragons, so that meant that one hundred percent of the dragons I was aware of had a breeding fetish.

She snorted. "Sure." She drawled. "Let's go with that. So you're going to turn me into some kind of god banshee?"

"I mean…kind of?" I said with a laugh. "I'm going to use the resonant crystal to establish a foundation, and I have a bit of rose quartz I can throw in to symbolize love. The spark seems to like you, and while I can't make you a straight up goddess, I can make you a demigodess at C rank."

She shrugged. "I don't know what any of that means Nicky. None of this magic stuff is my thing. I trust you. Just make me what you want most."

I smiled at her warmly. "You're already what I want most. Why do you think I stole you away from that green hatted fuck. I'm not going to change you, just make you more of what you already are. I can improve on perfection, but only a little."

"And here I thought you fell head over heels for my, how did you put it last time we had sex?" She winked at me. "My 'big fat milfy tits'?"

I decided to try to lighten the mood a bit, and I smiled, putting my hand on hers. "I think I'm way more amazed by your big fat milfy heart." I made sure to keep a straight face when I said it, and that was hard even with perfect muscle control.

She threw back her head and started cackling. It took a full minute for her to stop, and by the time she did she was red faced and gasping. "Oh God." She wheezed. "Thanks, I needed that. If I didn't know you were an expert at telling women what they wanted to hear I might believe you didn't say that on purpose."

I shrugged. "I have a gift for levity. Only my massive and unequaled humility can compare."

"I hope you'll show this goofy side of you to our son." She said, smile fading but not vanishing. "I don't want him growing up the way you did. If he decides to be a criminal…well, that'll be up to him, but I want him to grow up with a loving caring family. And maybe a moral compass."

I waggled my hand. "The loving family is a given, but I can't make any promises about morality. I'm going to teach my kid not to be stupid. My dad did it for me and look how I turned out."

"Nicky." She said kindly. "I love you. More than I ever thought possible. We've been through so much together, and you always stayed by my side. Believe me when I say I'll try to put this as delicately as possible. But you did NOT turn out well. Sociopath or not you have the morals of a scavenging sewer rat."
"Well damn." I said with a laugh. "I hope you don't ever decide to put it harshly. We can go by committee on some stuff. There are enough heroes around here to balance my 'sewer rat crazy'. But now isn't the time to get into it. Are you ready for the change?"

It was funny. I hadn't been bullshitting her. I could change Dinah when I ranked her up. It wouldn't even need to be big, just highlight the romantic part of that love divinity to bind her a bit more closely to me. But I had no real desire to do it. I'd just make her what I'd said, more of what she was. Even if it meant my son might be a bit more of a goody goody than expected. Not that I wouldn't try to secretly teach him some life skills. I was in love, not a moron.

She let out a short laugh before nodding. "Alright then stud. Lay it on me. Turn me into a demigodess."

Cracking my neck, I closed my eyes. Behind my lids I opened my karmic eye, allowing the threads to shine through them as I took a deep breath, burying myself in my own silence. I counted the beats of my heart. One. Two. Before the third my hands shot out, and depending on everything I knew about magic, I began to weave.

The three items I was using came up as if I was juggling, my hands shifting to catch and release as I tied their threads into hers.

I knew how to merge things, I'd never freehanded a person before, but it wasn't any different than a powerful item. Karma didn't work that way. It took me five minutes, ignoring the shift of energy as Dinah began to glow and then slowly change as the power from the crystals melded in.

As I went, I wove in threads from the spark, seeing where it called out for her. This was different than most of my system upgrades. I was weaving all three items in at the same time. All as one homogeneous process, in a way I couldn't have before my training. This was good, it was what I needed to learn, and I let my power guide me as I completed tying the last string.

Rather than turn into a cloud of light, the spark simply sunk into Dinah, merging with her body like a stone dropping into a lake. Ripples spread over her body, and I could literally see the changes taking place.

The glow did flare up after that, and when it dimmed down, Dinah was grinning at me, beautiful blue eyes shining, skin healthy and flawless, golden hair rolling over her shoulders. "Ok." She said in a voice like a choir of angels. "I admit it. This feels pretty fucking cool." And it was my turn to burst out laughing. Mission accomplished.

July 7th 2016 Hall of Nevers, Brightedge, 12:00 P.M EDT

Dinah stood slowly after her change, her body shifting with a sinous grace it hadn't been capable of a few minutes ago. Love goddess spawn or not, Dinah was also a child of the Queen of the Banesidhe now. Banesidhe (or Banshees as they were more commonly known in modern times) were predators with a keen sense of when something would die.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Dinah Lance- C ranked demigodess of Cliodhna. Formerly a seasoned heroine by the name of Black Canary, Dinah gave up her pursuit of justice to start a family with her lover Nicholas Lord. Now a daughter of Cliodhna, her natural sonic gifts have been amplified, as has her natural seductiveness.]

"Oh God this is nice." Dinah moaned, running her fingers over her skin. "I feel so much. I can touch the air. Like almost grab hold of it if I wanted. I'm rethinking that no sex thing." At my intrigued look she giggled. "Not right now. We need to go check on the baby. Be good and maybe we can have some fun later."

She turned and headed out of the room, and I got a look at the increasingly plump ripeness of her ass. We weren't talking Whisper levels of size or anything, but her cheeks had a bit more lify and perk.

We ended up in the living room, where everyone in the house had gathered to dote on baby Max. Amy wasn't letting him out of her grasp, but everyone was huddled around her cooing at him. At the moment, Waylon was smiling down at the little guy, poking at him with an oversized finger.

Max tracked the digit with his eyes, following the motion, and then, without warning, his little head snapped forward, fangs descending from his gums as he snapped at Waylon.

Obviously my B rank bodyguard didn't let the kid bite him, those baby fangs would have snapped like twigs, Blood of Apophis or not. Max thought the game was lots of fun, giggling and clapping his hands.

I blinked. "That…didn't seem natural." I said quietly to Dinah. "Like…babies can't even hold their heads up after birth, much less strike like a fucking cobra."

She shrugged. "Maybe it was the Blood of Apophis. What even is that anyway?"

"I have no clue." I admitted. "When I first learned to merge stuff, I got my hands on some cobra venom. That enhancement serum. I merged it and created a new serum without all the downsides, and part of the changes it made was the Blood of Apophis. I moved on from that state towards being a dragon before I could really explore what it did."

There had been hints that it gave me a deeper connection to some ancient power, but I hadn't ever bothered to look into what. Thinking about it I wondered exactly how I'd missed the implication. Blood of Apophis could be interpreted literally, as in the blood in my veins. But I could also be interpreted figuratively as in bloodline, and in that case my child inheriting the power made perfect sense.

"Well." Said my father's dry voice. "That was dramatic." I turned to see him stepping from behind Cassie to approach. "I hope you don't mine if I keep my distance. My grandson seems to be teething a bit early."

Snickering, I walked over to take him from Amy. She pouted at me as I held out my hands. "But it's a BABY."

"It is." I chuckled, taking hold of my son. "And we'll have another of our own soon enough. Though I can't really tell how far along you are…" I trailed off, looking her up and down. Appraisal showed she was still pregnant, but I couldn't see a bump or anything.

She giggled. "I'm showing in my dragon form. We're not sure why but I'm gaining all my weight there." She winked, pushing up her tits. "Well, almost all my weight."

Chuckling, I held Max up to look at him. "Hey kid." I said, smiling down at him. "You must think you're a little badass trying to take a bite out of your uncle Waylon huh? I've got teach you how to pick your battles, but trying to bite a god your first day on earth is a pretty good story."

He giggled, waving his tiny hands at me. I turned to my dad. "Sorry for the delay, but I'd like to formally introduce you to your grandson. Maxwell Lord the Second. As well as his older sister." I turned to where Sindella was sitting with Zee. "Sindella Lord. She's actually only a few days older than max, she just grew up fast."

Zee let her go, and she skipped over to us happily. "Hi grandpa!" She chirped happily. "Are you strong like papa?"

My dad's wily grin was infectious, and I found myself amused as he responded. "No, but I'm much smarter." He winked at her. "I taught your papa everything he knows, and I can teach you a few things too."

"I'm sorry." I said with a snicker. "I must have hallucinated having to literally descend into hell to get you out of captivity. Because surely a brilliant genius such as yourself figure out how to get out yourself."

He clicked his tongue, giving Sindella a commiserating look. "See what I have to deal with. Keeping score with his own family. For shame." I rolled my eyes, carrying Max over to the couch. Just to make sure he was ok I did another appraisal.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Maxwell Lord the Second- E rank serpent scion. Born with the Blood of Apophis running through his veins and constant exposure to a variety of powerful energies in the womb, Max inherited his father's gifts at the time of conception as well as a variety of unknown powers that will grow as he does.]

I whistled internally. That reminded me of Sindella. Not nearly as powerful, but the vibe of 'this kid will keep growing' was there.

Dinah sat down next to me, smiling down at our boy softly. "Look at those eyes." She said with a smile. When he wasn't shifting them to red they were a bright sapphire blue. "Just like his daddy. Gonna be a real heartbreaker when you grow up aren't you bud? Don't worry, we won't let you end up like daddy. Your mommy and all your aunties will teach you good habits."

"I'm literally sitting right next to you." I said in exasperation. "I am HOLDING the baby to which you are currently speaking."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Exactly how many women are you sleeping with right now?"

"Just you and Barbie and Zee and Amy…and Cassie. Jenny, Sindara, Donna, Cherry, Kara." I trailed off. "And a few others less regularly, but that's not important. You can't slut shame me while we're holding our son. I'm just making our family bigger."

Rolling her eyes, she just snorted. "Uh-huh. You're a saint. So, what have you and Zatanna been getting upto. We had that meeting you weren't at the other day, and you seem to be keeping things vague." She sounded casual, but I could tell from her eyes she was worried. Which was valid since my last plan involved running off to another dimension to plow my evil mom.

"Nothing." I said firmly. "And don't tell me what was said in that meeting." I cut her off. "I can't be involved in whats happening, which means I can't tell you about WHY I can't be involved, because it would mean I was getting involved. Talk to Zee if you need answers."

"That…" She said slowly. "Is honest enough for me. I trust you Nicky, despite the occasional act of dumbassery you take care of us. Just promise me that this mysterious master plan of yours isn't going to put our boy in danger." Her eyes were locked on mine as she asked, being as direct as possible to let me know she was serious.

I put a hand on her shoulder. "Nothing is going to hurt our family. That's why I'm doing all this."

I'd gone over and over my options in my head, over and over the ways this could go wrong. This whole thing was coming to a head. The Specter, Kyra Arg, there were multiple potential S rankers out there. I'd dropped into the race in the final five, and I needed to sprint my ass off to pass the others.

The worst part was that becoming S rank would fuck me almost as much as failing. I had a plan to deal with it, and I'd already started working on the details, but I couldn't even dwell on it mentally, lest I fuck up and tip off Crassus or Ophidian.

But I wasn't lying either. I absolutely wouldn't let this bullshit spill over and hurt my girls or either of my kids. No dragon worth his salt lets anyone put hands on his horde, and I sure as shit wouldn't be the exception. I passed the baby to Dinah, leaning down to kiss her forehead. Max cooed, grabbing at his mommy's hair and yanking, much to her amusement.

"Kara." I said loudly. She was there within a blink. "Dinah and the baby, Sindella and Zee. You're on guard duty." I looked around the room. "Raven, you too, and Waylon. I have to go out, and I'm worried that something might happen."

I knew that wasn't rational. This wasn't a special day or anything, and it wasn't important to anyone but me for the simple reason that I'd picked it. But it felt like going to Svalbard without leaving behind protection would be stupid. This was the place. I could feel it. I was going to find Kyra Arg, and finally deal with her meddling.

The infinite woman had been responsible for so much of my suffering, and I owed her blood. Today I'd collect, with interest.

Several of my girls wanted to come along, but I dismissed that idea. Zee was the only A ranker I had on hand and I wasn't taking her away from Sindella and Max. They'd need her protection s much as Kara's given the uselessness of kryptonians against magic.

I said my goodbyes, and turned to leave, but Barbie caught up with me on the way out. "You're going to do something stupid." She said bluntly. "I recognize that expression."

"I'd assume so." I snickered. "Probably shows up in the mirror all the time. But no, I'm not going to do anything stupid. I've made extensive preparations for this. My instincts are screaming at me to get moving, that I don't have time to waste. Given what I am, I'm pretty connected to things like intuition and fate."

She sighed. "Yeah, I know. You know what you're doing. I just wish I could come with you."

"Big bad bat god or not, this isn't in your weight class." I chuckled. "Sindella needs Zee, and Kara's magic weakness is a liability. Any of the rest of you would be fucked trying to fight a peak A ranker. I'd be so distracted trying to keep you alive I'd be leaving myself wide open."

She glared at me. "Asshole. You could have sugar coated that for me."

"I DID sugar coat it for you." I laughed. "I didn't use the word incompetence even once. Regardless, this is how it needs to go down."

Leaning forward, she kissed me softly, then wrapped her arms around me. I smiled, almost feeling like I had all those months ago when I'd met her at that drugstore. Simpler times, but I wouldn't trade everything I had for all the gold in the world. Well…I mean I'd probably take the gold AND the women. A lot of gold sounded nice.

Letting her go, I headed for the door, chuckling at my own greed. It was my defining characteristic after all, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Much like everything else, victory would be MINE. I was going home from this game with all the prizes.

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