A Kind of Magic (YJ Celestial Grimoire)

by gothicjedi666

Please don't review I'm just putting up a copy of this story for reviewers on QQ

2. Chapter 2

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 7.

Mount Justice. Happy Harbour.

"Team report to the debriefing room for your mission assignment."

I was able to easily hear Batman's monotone voice over the loudspeaker, and when I did I smiled because now it meant the team had a chance to redeem itself for last week's somewhat botched mission.

Not that we could be blamed for all our faults. We should have been trained more before being sent out, and we have chosen a leader, at least that mistake was ours.

My supposed mentor had only sent me more books rather than turning up in person, and if not for the fact that the Grimoire was supplying with me what I needed I might have sought out a new teacher.

Since I was close to the central room, I'd been reading in the living area, I made it there first, but I wasn't left alone with the Dark Knight for very long.

"Whassup Bats!" Kid Flash said happily as he rushed into the main room from the kitchen if the crumbs around his mouth were anything to go by "How's it hanging?".

Batman didn't reply to that and Robin arrived shortly afterwards grinning as if often did. Megan was next, and she walking with Superboy. Kaldur followed along shortly with Power Girl, and I found myself wondering what those two had been getting up to when together, but I focused on what was going on now, as it was none of my concern anyway.

"Mission?" Robin asks curiously

Batman nodded.

"You will be travelling to Gotham as part of an investigation into the shipments of Kobra Venom" the Caped Crusader explained "While you destroyed the factory and prevented Sportsmaster from getting away with a supply of the neo-steroid we still don't know how much Venom has been exported from the island. What we do know is that a large supply was intended for Gotham, either to be sold there or to be stored until being transported elsewhere".

Given what Venom did for Bane, it could be a disaster if the neo-steroid found its way onto the streets. We could end up with entire gangs of crooks going on the rampage. Not that I'd have to deal with that mess. If Batman was going to let anyone help him in his city it wasn't going to be someone he didn't know well.

"You'll be following a tip we received about a meeting between one of the suppliers and a buyer, and to that, you'll need to go to the Iceberg Lounge in Gotham and find out whatever you can" the Caped Crusader was now saying "But given that Robin won't be able to pass for twenty-one he won't be there to guide you and I doubt Kid Flash will get past the bouncers either, at least not without drawing a lot of attention to himself. Which is something we don't want".

Aqualad spoke up.

"I'm not sure I'll be much help either" he said "I don't have a lot of experience with nightclubs. Not those on the surface world".

Neither would Megan, or either of the Wonder Twins as she was from Mars and the clones had next to no social skills.

I wondered what sort of nightclubs they had in Atlantis, but that was something to enquire about at another time.

"Is the Iceberg lounge being run by the Penguin?" I asked, "As is crimelord called Oswald Copplepot".

The Dark Knight nodded.

"And I am right in guessing that only Gotham's elite could gain entry?" was my second question.

Again he just nodded.

"The older members of the team will be provided with ID cards that will pass any inspection," Gotham's Grim Guardian then said to us "That should get most of you through the front door. Assuming you don't spend all night lining up to get in".

My thinking was that bribing the doorman and mixing that in with my ability to Jedi Mind Trick people should get us in. We didn't have time to turn one of us into a celebrity. Sure the green girl could shift into a well-known person, but that would also draw a lot of unwanted attention.

"Gothic, you seem to know about this Iceberg Lounge, do you have a plan for getting us in?" Aqualad asked me.

I gave him a smile.

"My thinking was that we'd have Robin in uniform doing surveillance," I said "He can keep an eye on the place for us and even sneak in if he has to. Flash would be our backup, if something goes wrong he can bring our stuff to us or cause a big distraction".

Batman waited until I finished before interrupting.

"I'll be working down at the docks" he informed us "So I'll need someone to check the offices at the nightclub for any evidence of the Venom entering Gotham, and while I'm sure Kid Flash could get everyone's attention, something more covert might be needed".

Quickly I came up with an idea.

"We could start a bar fight" I suggested "That would get any security they have focused on us while Robin does what he needs to do. He's the best at hacking and the most stealthy so he's the best choice for that job".

Batman might have been pleased by my plan, it was impossible to tell.

"I'll leave the details up to you" he said while heading towards the teleporter "I'll contact you again once I have the IDs, and then we can go over your plan".

Once he was gone I turned to the others.

"Since I'm the only one here who's ever been clubbing I think I should take the lead" I told the team.

I was worried that Aqualad, who was our leader, might not approve of me taking over, but he didn't seem to be the prideful kind.

"This is outside my experience" Kaldur said "I think I'll let you take the lead for this mission".

While I didn't want to be a leader, this was the best course of action so I was pleased.

"Okay to start with we're going to need outfits," I told everyone "Because to get in we'll have to look like we belong. That means looking like we're rich and important enough not to risk offending".

Which might not take much given what I had to work with. Thankfully superheroes are usually attractive and that should make things easier.

Mount Justice. Happy Harbour.

One of my tasks as temporary team leader was to get Kaldur, Megan, Superboy and Power Girl to dress up. Since Robin would be out of sight for this mission he could stay in uniform, as could Kid Flash since he'd only enter the club as backup.

Megan, who could shapeshift, didn't need long to prepare before showing me how stylish she could look. When she re-entered the main room I saw that she wearing a body-tight, deep navy blue dress that cut off at mid-thighs and she had a neckline that showed off enough to ensure that no heterosexual man would be looking at her face for very long.

Next Power Girl walked in, and her dress was similar to Megan's except that it was black and sparkly, and it was more loose around the skirt. Also, she wore high-heeled shoes that made her seem even taller than normal. I admired her, but I didn't let myself stare as the last thing I wanted to develop an attraction for a teammate.

Amusingly the guys took longer to get ready, but not too long thankfully. Kaldur soon walked into the room wearing a smart suit only instead of a shirt he wore a jumper with a turtle neck in order to hide his gills

Last of all Superboy entered and he had gone with the whole James Bond look. He wore a proper tux, and I was pretty sure that Megan found him very pleasing to look at.

"Okay, girls you did great with the dresses" I praised
"Now we just need to add some finishing touches.
Robin if you would do the honours".

The Boy Wonder was not yet the master of disguise his father figure was, but he'd told me he could help us blend in with the fancy people who visited the Iceberg Lounge.

"Dude, how do you know about this chick stuff?" Wally West inquired as the Robin got to work "Are you and Bats secret drag queens? Come on you can tell us".

Despite my best effort I couldn't help picturing the Boy Wonder in a dress.

"I've been trained for everything, and I mean everything" Robin explained as he applied a light shimmer pink lip gloss to Megan's lips, sparkly gold eye shadow, and a small amount of blush to highlight her cheeks "You'd be surprised how handy makeup can be when you need to go undercover even as a man".

While Megan could shapeshift that would only help if she knew the look she wanted to take. Her TV viewing hadn't prepared her for this.

The only experience I had with putting on makeup was during my emo phase. That time of my life was best left repressed.

"Okay Power, you're next" the smaller half of the Dynamic Duo declared.

Once she'd taken a seat in the living area, Robin braided her hair and then put it in a bun using hair pins. He then applied some light red lipstick, blush and even eye shadow. I'd never seen a guy so skilful with a make-up kit. He was an artist.

"Gothic your next" the Boy Wonder then said, "Your hair needs some major taming".

Having a guy brush my hair seemed strange, but I was willing to go along with it for the sake of the mission.

"Fine you can do my hair, but no eyeliner for me," I said, "Unless we're going to a Mosh Pit".

I'd gone through a very wild period while in college, and I'd experimented with many different things, but I drew the line at wearing lipstick or glitter.

"Let's just keep that stuff for the girls," the Boy
Wonder said.

Robin soon began to brush the tangled mop that grew out of my skull.

"Dude, when was the last time you brushed your hair?" he asked.

It wasn't as if I didn't shower.

"Uh" was my answer.

I really didn't know when I'd last brushed or even combed my hair. I washed it all the time, but I left it scruffy since I tended to wear a hood on missions and when I didn't I was rarely outside longer than I needed to be.

"Never mind" Robin said as he applied gel and tamed my hair "There you go. Try not to get it wet".

The girls seemed to think the new style worked for me, that or they simply being nice.

"Kaldur you don't need any styling since your hair is so short" the Boy Wonder was now saying "So Conner sit down it's your turn. You just need a little tidying up".

The science project grunted in response and then walked over to Robin had set up all his stuff.

"You know if you ever stop being Robin, you could be a hair and make-up artist" Megan was now saying "The girls will love you".

The raven-haired boy smirked in response, and I knew why he found that funny. It was because the kind of man who spent time styling women's hair wasn't the kind of guy who was interested in things that women had to offer men.

Mount Justice. Happy Habour.

Once everyone was ready, and Batman had supplied the ID cards, everyone gathered in the central room so I could go over the finer details of our mission.

"First of all do not touch the alcohol, doesn't matter if you are of drinking age or not everyone needs a clear head and you're more likely to detect if someone slipped something into your drink if it's not alcoholic, so try to stick to mineral water or some sort of soft drink," I told the older members of the team.

I doubted that either Megan or Power Girl could be date raped given their biology, but there was no sense in taking any chances. For all I knew Rohypnol was a deadly poison to the Martian race.

"Second if someone offers you drugs try to get information out of them. I doubt anyone will offer you Venom in a nightclub, but if we get offered something it would be good if we could get the names of some dealers" I was now saying "Third you must act as if you are having fun, no brooding or hanging out by yourselves, mingle with people, buy them drinks and listen. Someone in that club might just let something slip".

I gave everyone a moment to digest what I'd just said before moving on.

"Now as for getting into the Iceberg Lounge that should be easy. I spoke with Batman and he's arranged for a limo to pick us up just outside of Gotham. Aqualad, Superboy, Powergirl, Miss Martian, and I will take the limo to the club. The driver will let us out directly in front of the Lounge".

Having too much attention directed at us would be a bad thing, but we did need to look as if we belonged. Hence we'd be playing the role of spoiled rich kids.

"I'll run ahead and give the bouncer a bribe to let us in while the rest of you act as if this is just another night out" I was now saying "Megan and Supes will be a couple as will Kaldur and Power. Act like it and have dinner in the restaurant part of the club before moving to the dance floor. Those of you with superhearing keep those ears peeled".

Corruption was rampant in Gotham so I foresaw no problems in getting into the club with a bribe.

"Wally will stay in the car with our equipment and bring it to us should we need it" I then informed everyone "He'll also come in and cause a massive distraction if needs be. Meanwhile, Robin, who knows Gotham best, will make his own way to the club and ninja his way into the offices".

No doubt he'd done it before.

"Should he need a distraction then I want Kaldur and Superboy to start a fight. Nothing major, don't show your powers just throw a few punches at each other. That should get the attention of security" I said.

Hopefully, the Boy Wonder wouldn't need us to cause a scene, but I was going to assume that things could go horribly wrong.

"If worst comes to worst we we run like hell and head for the nearest teleporter" I then said, "Now any questions?".

Everyone raised their hand and I figured this planning session could take a while.

The Iceberg Lounge. Gotham

While this was a dangerous place it was one of the places that I'd wanted to come and see once I'd gotten my head wrapped around the idea that I was indeed in a DC universe.

You couldn't be a fan of Batman's animated series without knowing about this landmark of Gotham.

"Wait here I'll get us in" I said to the older members of the group as we piled out of the limo "Remember try to act like you belong".

Bribing the bouncer wasn't hard I just greased the palm of the man on the door with money that wasn't even mine and then did the Jedi Mind Trick so that he'd let us in without us having to wait in line.

Once that was done we were let in, and I got a good look at the inside of the Iceberg Lounge, the place was huge and as I'd learned from the information Batman had sent it was divided into two sections.

One was the dining area, which mostly catered to couples judging by the size of the tables and the number of chairs.

"Let's go have dinner" I instructed the others "Once we are done eating head down and start dancing. Try to have fun".

The dance floor was crowded with people, all of whom were young, rich and pretty.

"How are we going to get information" Kaldur asked me just loud enough to be heard.

I looked at him over the rim of my glasses that I'd decided to wear as part of a disguise.

"By mingling" I replied, "We're at a famous club with lots of people. People will talk to us".

Getting a table was easy when you could throw around a lot of cash so we didn't have to wait to be seated.

The Iceberg Lounge. Gotham.

Once we had dined, we'd moved down to a part of the club that was far enough from the dance floor that it was possible to hear people talking.

I'd gone to the bar in the hopes of overhearing something useful, but no one else seemed to be making much effort to talk to people.

"Did you get any information?" Aqualand asked me when I got back from the bar "I haven't so far".

I'd considered hitting on a few girls as they were all spoilt rich girls who went about maxing out Daddy's credit cards, and no doubt they'd talk to me if I flashed enough cash.

"Seriously guys, we can have fun and get the information we need by talking to peoplem" I reminded the group "I mean people aren't just going to come up to you and say 'Hey they keep the drug you're looking for in the back room' we need to put clues together".

"So what did you guys find out?" I asked the Wonder Twins"You must have overheard a lot of people talking on the upper level and you had a much better view of the place than I did".

Before they spoke I knew they hadn't had much luck, it was written all over their faces.

"No one here talked about any Venom shipments" Superboy answered.

"I was also unsuccessful." Megan replied sadly "There's too many people for me to read".

Somehow it had passed me by that the alien shapeshifter could read minds. I was still getting used to having to consider such things.

"Don't worry Megan" I said "It's not a big deal. I think this was more of a test of how we perform undercover than anything else".

Our last mission had gone wrong in the sense that it hadn't remained covert for very long, so I figured Batman wanted to give us another chance to prove that we could do things without drawing lots of attention.

"But what about the Venom?" Aqualad wondered "We can't go back without something".

I didn't think it mattered much.

"If no one knows anything they don't know anything" I said "Don't forget Rob managed to take a look around without getting caught. Maybe he found something".

Aqualad seemed somewhat comforted by that idea.

"Then we should go" he said "There is no point staying here if we can learn nothing".

I was enjoying myself, but he had a point and it was getting late so I followed everyone when they headed for the door.

Mount Justice. Happy Harbour.

"So how was the mission?" Batman asked not long after we had returned "Did you find anything".

Aqualad was now in charge again so he gave the report to the Dark Knight.

"We were unsuccessful" he said "Even Robin found nothing so we believe that the tip was either no good or it was meant to send us on..."

He seemed to struggle to find the right words.

"Wild goose chase" offered Kid Flash.

Batman nodded slightly.

"That sometimes happens" he then said "And it can't be helped. In any case you did well. Everything went as smoothly as expected. We can call this a training exercise and move on".

The Dark Knight then headed for the teleporter.

"I'll be in touch soon" he promised.

Given the late hour going to bed seemed like the best course of action, so everyone said goodnight and then went their separate ways.

I decided to check my book and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I had again earned 300 points. Clearly going out on missions, even ones that didn't end in violence was the way to go.

350cp
+300cp
750cp
Bank or Roll?

I wrote to Roll

-100cp
650cp

Dragon Hide Jacket.

A jacket made of dragon-hide that reflects minor spells.

Anything that gave me more protection out in the field was welcome and it would make a good part of the hero outfit that I wanted to put together. It was even hanging up on the back of my bedroom door, ready for me to try on.

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 8.

Mount Justice. Happy Habour.

"I am so bored I could cry" Kid Flash complained.

We were having what the League called a 'break night' it was one of those nights that the sidekicks and I had off. Which was most nights for those who lived here, but since Robin and Kid Flash had to balance their crime-fighting duties with going to school it was important for them to have time off.

This time they would be spending off with the team as part of our team bonding. Which I took to mean that the real heroes just wanted us out of the way for an evening while they did some important work.

Batman was off on a solo mission, leaving Robin with nothing to do for what had to be the first time in months I guessed. So the Boy Wonder was here.

Red Tornado had approved of the idea of us just having a night to hang out as a team, so we had free reign to do whatever we wanted for the evening, but he'd also warned us that we needed to keep our comms with us in case there was a problem and this also meant that we had to stay somewhere near one of the teleporters.

"Yeah. We should probably go somewhere" I said to the group "If he starts crying it will get all awkward".

Currently, Wally West was slumped in his seat, munching on a bag of potato chips so it seemed unlikely that he would actually get upset. Children rarely do when they can stuff their faces with snacks.

"Somewhere fun" Kid Flash insisted.

The tricky part would be finding something that we'd all agreed was fun. We were a very diverse group of people.

"I guess this is a little dull," M'gann said,

The Zeta Tubes, to give the teleporters their proper name, enabled us to get to any part of the country, and a few foreign countries as well, within a few seconds, so travelling to another place was not a problem.

"What about the Zoo?" Robin suggested.

That would be better than sitting around here not doing anything. Perhaps I should have been training, but we did that a lot. Besides, I needed to go outside and get some fresh air.

"It's eight o'clock" Wally pointed out "Are zoos even open this late".

Plus the whole animals in cages thing wasn't very appealing to me.

"Not in California" Robin shot back.

I'd forgotten to account for the time different time zones. We could go somewhere it was still afternoon or even breakfast time tomorrow depending on how many hours ahead it was in Japan.

"No offence, but I want to watch a bunch of animals lie around doing nothing other than eating food, I'd just watch you boys" Power Girl said "It's less cruel".

I was mildly offended by that but I didn't speak on the matter.

"We could go to a movie, perhaps." Kaldur offered next "So long as everyone can agree on what to see."

I had an idea.

"What about Las Vegas" I suggested "Not to gamble, I hear they have good shows. You know live entertainment for the whole family. And I can pay".

The team regarded my suggestion with mild interest, and soon the group began to debate the pros and cons of going to Las Vegas. However, their mentors might not like it, considering that the city had a reputation for adult activities.

"Why don't we just go to the fair?" Wally then asked.

Everyone looked at him with an expression of mild surprise because this was actually a good idea.

"We have one going in Central City. Rides, food, games, booths" Wally told us "It runs till midnight. Plus we can't get in trouble for it since good old-fashioned family fun".

And there would be plenty of junk food. Kid Flash seemed to eat that a lot.

"That sounds like fun!" M'gann shouted out.

She seemed delighted at the thought of going to her first Earth funfair.

"I guess," Superboy said.

Eventually, we all agreed that going to the fair would probably be the safer choice. The last thing they wanted to do was get Batman angry at us for visiting the city of sin.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" M'gann said excitedly "Let's get going".

I was dressed suitably so all I needed to do was run and grab my wallet as well as my pouch of holding just in case anything went wrong. I wouldn't wear my new dragonhide jacket as that is part of my hero outfit and would be rather noticeable.

"Hold up everyone, I am so not dressed for going out" Power Girl stated.

Hopefully, she'd be as quick changing this time as she had been when we'd gone undercover at the Iceberg Lounge.

Funfair. Central City

Given the time difference between Happy Harbour and Central City, the fair was already in full swing when we arrived, but there was no line to get so quickly we bought our tickets and headed inside.

Once within we saw the vast expanse of booths, games, and rides that stretched out before us like a landscape of fun.

The team quickly split up to go do what they wanted. Robin and Kid Flash, who had changed into their civilian clothing for tonight, wanted to head straight towards the rides.

Meanwhile, M'gann wanted to take Superboy off to see the entertainment. As for Kaldur he just wanted to look around by himself, and so did I. Before we all went off Megan made us promise that we would meet back at the Ferris wheel in an hour.

That way we would still have enough time to go and do something as a group as we could justify going out as long as we did something as a group.

Despite my wish, I did not end up alone. Power Girl, who was currently dressed in casual clothing, jeans, a white top and a red jacket had decided to stick with me.

"Now what do you want to do first?" she asked me
"There's this thing called Cotton Candy I want to try, or we could go on a rickety roller coaster over there, or do you want to prove your masculinity by winning me a big stuffed animal?"

Somehow this had turned into a date. I was unsure how I felt about that. Sure she was hot, but also she was a teammate and capable of snapping me in half should I ever piss her off. Plus she was a matter of months old which still made me feel a bit weird.

"You're the one with cool superpowers" I said "If you want a stuffed toy just go and win one".

Power Girl had already picked up on the woman's kind most deadly weapon, the sorrowful puppy dog eyes. I could not resist that attack.

"They don't give me money" She then said "Well I have an allowance, but I spent all that on clothes and some other stuff that girls need".

Those were things I most likely didn't want to know about as I was already frightened by my knowledge about make-up. I blamed my sisters for that.

"I can at least buy you some cotton candy" I decided.

By mutual agreement, we soon decided to try out some of the different rides and to eat sweet stuff afterwards. Food poisoning wasn't going to be an issue for me but I didn't want to end up vomiting due to dizziness.

I think Power Girl had possibly a tiny bit too much fun ramming me during bumper cars. Although given what she could do to me I was getting off easy when compared to some people.

Quickly even the bumper cars became dull and to be fair when compared to flying around in a spaceship, most things were a little tedious.

Since the rides turned out to be boring for the most part I gave in and headed for the games. On some level I knew winning a girl a cuddly toy was not purely a friend thing, however, I simply wasn't cruel enough to let her leave her first fun fair without an oversized teddy bear.

With that in mind, I took three darts from a game vendor, and while I'd never been very good at sports my hand-eye coordination was one of the things that was improved with the body mod.

I had been rather good at darts even before my training so I was able to pop some brightly coloured balloons on a board.

"I like hanging out with you" Power Girl said before spotting something that caught her eyes "Oh please get me that big bear. The black and white one, he's even cuter than you".

Her saying that caused me to miss the target for a change.

"Yeah, it's fun" was all that I was able to say in reply.

I had very mixed feelings about Power Girl's possible interest in me as it seemed to be coming out of nowhere. Although for all I knew it had been growing for a while and I just hadn't noticed.

For a time I had thought she might have an interest in Kaldur, but that didn't seem to be going anywhere. He wasn't around much outside of missions and training. Which made sense as he had a life under the sea.

As for Power, well she was really hot since she was pretty much Galatea, only with long dark hair, meaning she had really big breasts and a nice bubble butt to go with it.

On the other hand, she was a teammate, and romances in the workplace weren't normally a good idea when your job involved people going into danger.

Then there was the age thing, but it could be argued that if she was mature enough to on perilous missions then by rights she should be treated as an adult in all respects.

Since that was all something I needed to talk about with someone other than Power Girl I chose to ignore the issue and get on with this sort of date I unexpectedly had.

Slowly I blew out a huff of breath and threw the darts, taking out every ballon. It reminded me of my old life when I'd gone off to the pub to play pool and darts. It didn't take me long to get a high enough score.

"Yay, you got me my bear!" she cheered.

"I was just lucky," I told the hybrid.

At least she didn't me carry the massive cuddly toy.

"So wanna deprive some more vendors of their stuffed animals?" my date for the evening asked "I bet my brother won a few for Megan".

If she was trying to appeal to my desire to compete with other males, she wasn't going to get far as I wasn't stupid enough to face a guy who was half Superman in any contest that involved using muscles.

"Oh please," she said while giving the sad eyes again "I don't have anything in my room that's girly. Win stuff for me".

I don't know who she'd learned to use puppy dog eyes from, but I would find out and make that person pay for giving Power Girl such a weapon.

"Fine" I replied "But only because I'm a gentleman at heart and can't say no to a lady".

It took a while and a lighter wallet, but I emerged from the games section of the fun fair victorious. Power Girl ended up with a stuffed dinosaur, to go with her panda bear and for some reason, she decided she wanted a Pikachu despite not knowing what Pokemon were.

"The Tunnel of Love" the woman at my side read out aloud "Gothic what does that mean?".

Since was pretty much new to the world it was possible that she simply didn't know.

"The tunnel is for lovers" I explained "It's a ride for couples. You sit in a boat and make out as I understand it".

Saying that only resulted in more questions.

"Lovers?" she asked sounding confused.

This was not fun to explain, and I was sure she must have heard the term before while watching television even if Cadmus had never intended to use her for seduction missions.

"Lovers are couples who are usually a man and a woman, but not always, who have a romantic involvement with each other" I told her "Like Black Canary and Green Arrow".

Thankfully she grasped that quickly.

"So two people that love each other" she said "This ride is for them".

Hopefully, that was the end of that.

"How do people become lovers?" she then asked.

This was some kind of torture, and it wouldn't surprise me if understood everything and just wanted to make it needlessly uncomfortable. Women seemed to enjoy making men suffer like this.

"It's complicated for me to explain," I said, "because there are many different customs that people follow".

Somehow I knew that wouldn't be the end of it.

"What do your people do?" she then inquired "To become lovers".

At this point, I figured I was walking into a trap so I tried to keep my mouth shut, but Power Girl just stood and waited for an answer.

"Well, it's pretty much the same as here" I told her "If a guy likes a girl, he'll ask her out on a date. Like dinner or a movie, and then if the two people think they are compatible they will keep dating. Over time the relationship will become... intimate. That makes two people lovers".

She had to be doing this on purpose, or someone else on the team had set this up. I suspected Megan had advised Power to seek out a boyfriend so that she could get closer to Superboy with his twin sister hanging around.

"So we can't go on that ride," she said.

Which was something I thanked the gods for. I hardly knew this girl.

"No we're not going to become lovers just to go on a ride" I told Power "That would be wrong".

Hopefully, now we can end this.

"But what if we were?" she then asked, "In theory".

I didn't think that she merely wanted to speculate on the matter.

"Well we're not," I said firmly.

I then started to move away from the romantic ride.

"But I want to be" she said to me "Then we could go on the ride"

I didn't think she understood what that would involve.

"We're not becoming lovers just so you can ride a little boat through a dark tunnel," I told her "We'll find a more fun ride, and then I'll get you something with chocolate".

Now she was upset, and I knew I'd handled this badly. Also, I knew that chocolate would not solve this. Of course, it had never been about the ride, she was naive, not simple.

"You don't know anything about me" she said "You think I'm too stupid to have a boyfriend".

That wasn't the case, and this wasn't the time or place to discuss that as people were listening so I tried to calm things down.

"You're not stupid, just inexperienced" I clarified "You're just as intelligent as the rest of us, and anyone who says differently is the stupid one".

Hopefully, that would soothe her pride.

"But how can I get any experience if I don't date?" she asked me.

She had me there, and now I knew there was only one way to get out of this that wouldn't result in pissing off a woman who could rip me in half.

Given that was months old I wouldn't be too shocked if she had a hissy fit since she hadn't had time to develop her emotional maturity.

"I will take you on one date" I offered "We can go see a movie".

That seemed harmless enough but so did a lot of things. I got the feeling that I'd just gotten myself in trouble or that I'd fallen for a very clever trap. I simply couldn't tell.

"Fine let's go find some chocolate" she decided.

I felt the need to check my book. Which I took out of my pouch of holding.

650cp
+300cp
950cp

I quickly wrote to roll

-300cp
650cp

Spellweaver

This ancient elven-forged blade vibrates slightly to the touch in most people's hands, but it is still in the grip of a mage. Crafted with lost techniques for alloying lyrium and metals, Spellweaver enhances a mage's powers, acting as a focus in the same way as a staff.

A magic sword that will enhance my powers. Now this was something very cool, and I wasn't the only one who thought that when I picked up the sword to inspect it.

"Hey, Mister where did you win that?" a boy asked.

I had no idea how to answer that question so I just pointed in a random direction, put the sword in my pouch of holding and went to find Power Girl.

"So where has this interest in romance suddenly come from?" I asked.

I was a little concerned that she was getting advice only from Megan as while the telepathic alien was a total sweetie, most of what she knew about life on Earth came from old sitcoms as far as I could tell.

"The whole point of my brother and I leaving Cadmus was to go live a life" she reminded me "That means having friends, a job and romance. If I don't try to experience all of those things then I might as well have stayed in the basement".

I found that I couldn't argue with that, and if she just wanted a little romance I might as well provide her with some. It wasn't as if she had a lot of options and it would just be a few dates.

How did I talk myself into these things?

Celestial Grimoire

Part 9

The Daily Planet. Metropolis.

There was little point in living in this amazing dimension if I didn't get out and see some of the sites, and there were many I wished to see, such as the Batcave, the Watchtower, the Fortress of Solitude and the Daily Planet building.

Seeing the Iceberg Lounge had been cool and all, but it didn't compare to this DC landmark as even the casual fan of the DC setting knew of Superman's place of work as it appeared in the movies, live-action series, and cartoons.

In this world, The Daily Planet newspaper was famous by itself, it was read by people far beyond those who lived in within Metropolis, and
yet it wasn't the newspaper itself that interested me. I wanted to see this place in person because it was important to what Superman did.

While in the guise of the mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, the alien superhero known as Kal-El worked here to gather information that he could use when it was time to put on his costume and go out to save the world.

Once upon a time the mere idea of catching a glimpse of Superman even in his civilian identity and all that involved, would have been enough to get me grinning like a loon, and it still makes me smile, but I had grown past the idea that the heroes of this setting were all that mattered.

Sure they were important, they stopped the world from falling completely into chaos and despair, yet that was really all they did. Yes, they helped people, however, the world didn't become a paradise no matter how many heroes popped up. They didn't really improve the world in any meaningful way.

Superman could stop alien invasions and bank robberies, but there was war, famine, disease, corruption and crime. When Superman was willing to change the world he always became the kind of evil he fought against so perhaps it was a good thing that he spent his time chasing colourful bad guys.

It was a shame that Kal-El never seemed to find some sort of middle ground between being the big blue boy scout and a tyrant. Given the choice I'd rather have the Boy Scout, as a tyrant Superman would force me to work for him and I doubted that I'd like the things he would make me do.

"You look like a tourist" a voice commented.

That was because I was a tourist and I certainly did look like any kind of sorcerer what with my plain civilian clothing and the way I kept staring at the landmark.

"Hello, John," I said.

Constantine, my official mentor, had requested that I meet him outside this building around lunchtime and I didn't think it was because he wanted me to try the wares of the local hotdog vendors.

"Follow me," instructed the man who could be described as a working-class warlock, "I have something to show you".

We set off away from the busy streets and into the less crowded parts of the city. We took a course that seemed completely random as far as I could tell.

"Magic is mostly hidden from the world" Constantine was now telling me "It's not exactly a secret that the universe is a big and strange place, things here on Earth can be weird enough just with metahumans and alien lifeforms getting involved, so there are reasons why we tend to keep the existence of magic mostly hidden".

I didn't blame spellcasters for keeping out the public eye, anyone with magical gifts could quickly become the scapegoat for society's problems. Entire political organisations had come to power by finding a group of people to blame for the woes of those they wished to gain support from.

"It helps that most folks just try to get on with their lives as best they can even when you have gods and monsters around" Constantine was now saying "While the Justice League can handle stuff like metahuman criminals and mad scientists, someone has to deal with the supernatural forces that can't just be locked up Arkham or Stryker's Island. That involves a different way of handling matters".

That was supposedly a part of why I was on the sidekick's team. I was meant to deal with supernatural creatures, as well as items, that the team might come across, not that I was qualified for such work. I hoped that Constantine would help me to fulfil my role.

"Sometimes the monsters will act out and we have to deal with it" John said as we walked down an alley "And there will be times you'll need information to do that. So I'm going to show you the Oblivion Bar".

I already knew that The Oblivion Bar was a drinking establishment located in a pocket dimension. It has many portals that allow people to enter and exit that are scattered around the United States, and outside it, that are only visible to those with some connection to magic.

Constantine took me to one of those entrances and told me a little about how to detect them. The experience reminded me a little of how the warlock called Rack in the Buffyverse had a hideout that only people who were connected the the mystical could locate.

I made a mental note that if I ever ended up in that part of the multiverse, which wasn't impossible given the DC multiverse existed and I'd somehow been transported to it, then I would utterly destroy the fiend who turned magic into a drug and then got people hooked on it. Magic should never be used in such a way.

"The portals don't stay put even if they tend to stay in the same city" Constantine let me know "Once you've been in the bar it becomes a lot easier to sense the portals and while there are a few in North America I don't recommend seeking them out. The one in Gotham can turn up in some odd places".

Once we were inside I looked around to see a rather nice bar. It was mostly empty at this time even though it would be nighttime on some parts of this planet.

Constantine explained to me that despite the customers ranging from demons, monsters, magicians, and fairies, the bar is treated as a neutral zone with very little conflict ever taking place as some powerful people are invested in keeping this place neutral.

John went over to the bar and exchanged a crumpled-up bank note for a couple of pints of what turned out to be proper beer. No one asked about my age despite my youthful appearance so either they didn't care or the bartender had some way of knowing that I was older than I looked.

"Lots of mystical types on both sides come here, Tala, Jinx, Gentleman Ghost, Etrigan or Jason Blood depending on how bad things are, and Felix Faust tends to keep his ear to the ground when he isn't the cause of trouble" I was told.

I knew of Tala from the DCAU she was Lex Luthor's lover when he ran the Legion of Doom. I also knew about Jason Blood who was host to the demon Etrigan. I'd never heard of Gentlemen Ghost and Jinx was a Teen Titan enemy as far as I knew.

"Whose Jinx?" I asked.

I assumed that she wasn't a pink-haired teenager in this dimension.

"Jinx is an elemental sorceress from India, she draws power from the Earth itself so she's very dangerous" John told me.

I'd take him on his word and I reminded myself that just because I knew a bit about their counterparts in other versions of this reality that didn't mean I knew much about the versions of them who lived in this dimension.

"The bar can even give you access to other realms" I was informed "But that is something we can discuss when you've advanced further in the mystic arts".

That seemed wise. There was enough to deal with here in this part of the universe.

"So what kind of information do you get from here?" I asked.

Aside from dropping off some books, Constantine hadn't done anything to mentor me over than shelter me and send me off to Mount Justice. I might have been grumpy about this if not for the fact that I knew that more than once the fate of an innocent soul had depended on John's actions.

"Mostly on supernatural goings on" said my teacher "If any demons are wandering about on Earth somehow here might know about it, or if some dark creature is making people disappear then it might have been spotted by someone who popped in for a pint. It's part of lifestyle to do some detective work in places like this, and if you're really desperate for some help there's a club in LA you might need to go to".

It didn't take me long to figure out which club he meant.

"You've met Lucifer?" I questioned.

If he was anything like the show version then as long as I avoided him he wouldn't come after me.

"I've done a few favours for some of the bigger players," John said as if it was no big deal "Even the Endless have certain rules that don't apply to us mere mortals. I advise that you stay away from them and if one of them does ask you for something let me know. I'll handle it".

That was a weight off my mind. If I couldn't manage a hybrid who wanted to date me then I was not ready to deal with beings that the gods themselves feared.

"Another thing places like this are good for is buying magical items and potions," John told me "I've stopped some nasty stuff from getting sold to the wrong sort thanks to my contacts here and in other places like it, and if you have some minor trinkets you want to unload in exchange for cash, then this is the place to come".

Since I'd gotten a few magical items myself I knew how powerful some of them could be. Something that my teacher noted.

"Those rings are new," he commented.

I showed him the grimore as I knew that when a description of an item was added to a section of the book the writing remained for anyone to read, so he could see what I'd been gifted with.

John was also one of the few people who ever seemed to notice the grimore. It seemed to have some way of making people ignore its existence.

"Looks like some useful stuff, and it is all best kept with you," said John "I'll find someone to instruct you in swordsmanship so you don't mishandle that new sword of yours".

Before we talked more about the special items and powers I'd gained the book urged me to flick to the front page.

650cp
+200cp
850cp
Bank or Roll?

I'd never selected the bank option. It only seemed to be useful when you had never little cp, assuming the failed rolls I'd gotten when first using the book were a result of not having enough cp.

For a moment I considered banking as it might lead to a greater prize later on, but the way things were going, I felt that I needed every advantage I could get and I had plenty of points.

I wrote to Roll and waited to see what I would get.

-300cp
550cp

Phoenix

They can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have very powerful healing power, they can sing songs that uplift the spirits, and they make for highly faithful pets.

One of the magical birds appeared in a burst of flame and settled onto the edge of the booth we were sitting in.

"I didn't know your book could give you living creatures," remarked John.

Even for this warlock, a phoenix was a rare sight.

"Neither did I," I said.

While the sudden appearance surprised me I didn't fail to notice that I'd gotten quite a lot of stuff that could have been transported here from the Harry Potter world. It actually made sense if there was something intelligence behind all of this because I'd been the one to set this up I would have picked stuff from the Harry Potter world because I was very familiar with that setting.

For a moment I considered the idea that I might have some influence over what I was being given, but that didn't really make any sense.

Then I worried about what would happen if I was ever given a person but the special book and whatever was behind its power. How would I handle that?

"You have a powerful familiar" John was now saying "It might be best to take him or her back home and let them get settled".

While there was no telepathic communication or anything that direct I did get a sense that this was a male and that I should name him.

"Phosphor," I said, "His name is Phosphor".

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 10.

Mount Justice. Happy Harbour.

"How was the movie?" Megan asked me when I walked into the kitchen of our team's hidden base, "Or should I say, how was the date?".

The green girl was cooking again, and I was pretty sure she was cleaning up after people as well. It made me wonder if she'd learned about life on Earth only via some old sitcom where girls her age all spent lots of time baking cookies, having hunky boyfriends, and being all needlessly enthusiastic about things.

"It went fine," I told her.

Power Girl's desire for a lover seemed to be satisfied by mere dating, for the time being, so far we hadn't gone past holding hands. Which was good for me because I worried about her ignorance about adult relationships, and also about hurting her emotionally.

Mostly that was because she could snap my neck with a flick of her wrists if she got mad enough, and even if she didn't her brother might if I upset her. He got very grumpy about many things.

As for the date itself. We'd gone to see some movie that Power Girl had picked out and it might have been some sort of romantic comedy I wasn't sure because I'd turned my brain off as much as possible because such films could damage the male mind.

"Megan, have you talked to Power about what guys and girls do together?" I asked, "I mean in a romantic sense?".

The green girl didn't seem at all embarrassed by this topic of
conversation.

"Sure I have" she said to me "We talk about stuff like that all the time. She's very interested in boys, music, clothes, and all the other stuff we read about in magazines".

Maybe it would be wise to request from Batman that a member of the League come down here and give everyone a safe sex talk or something. I didn't need that talk, but I would be willing to endure it along with the other members of the team if need be.

Because the last thing we needed was either of the girls getting pregnant, assuming that it could happen given their alien biology and even if couldn't it would be very bad if a couple got together only to break up. It might even fracture the team even one of us couldn't handle the heartbreak.

Magazines and old TV shows are the best sources of information when it comes to romance and sex. It would be better for Megan and Power to talk to a female member of the League about this sort of thing before things between Power Girl and I progressed too far.

"I just need to go make a quick call," I told the alien girl as I left the room.

When I got to the central chamber suddenly a screen with Batman's face on it appeared before my eyes despite there not being a monitor to display it on. This seemed like good timing, however, before I could speak to him about the sex talk he spoke to me.

"Gothic, gather the team" he ordered

That didn't take very long since we had an intercom system and before long Batman was telling us about a battle the Justice League had with an android called Amazo.

"The technology bears some resemblance to work done by Professor Ivo" Batman let us know over the screen.

Apparently, that name meant something even if it didn't mean much to me.

"Ivo? But Ivo's dead," said Aqualad.

I had to find out more.

"Who is this Ivo?" I asked.

My knowledge of DC was far from complete and great memory only helped me remember things if I'd ever learned them. I did recall an Amazo in the DCAU and an Ivo, but I knew that things could be very different in this universe.

"Professor Anthony Ivo is a criminal scientist" answered Batman as a picture of a very unthreatening man was displayed "He is a genius in the field of cybernetics and robotics. His intelligence made him a threat to the Justice League due to the use of robots to carry out his crimes, and he was believed to have been killed during a skirmish with the League".

Given that the heroes didn't kill the villains he must have vanished during a fight. In this universe, it was never wise to assume an enemy was dead unless you saw the body be cremated after running tests and even then it was never certain.

"To make sure this threat is permanently neutralized, we're sending two trucks carrying the android parts to two separate S.T.A.R Labs locations for immediate evaluation and disposal," Batman told us.

Given how corrupt and careless people could be I wouldn't be at all shocked to find out that the parts ended up lost before they were destroyed.

"Every precaution is being taken, we'll have 4 additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo or anyone tries to recover the remains" our sort of boss let us know "You will split into two teams to safeguard the two real trucks. Transport will be provided to you when you arrive".

So an escort mission. I'd played enough video games to know how tedious they were, but Batman was not paying me to sit on my ass.

"Yes! Road trip!" called out Kid Flash.

Not everyone was eager for this mission.

"So now you're having us take out your trash? Is the task too much for the great league?" mocked Superboy.

Something must have happened with the league to make him all butt hurt.

"You had something better to do?" wondered Batman

As Superboy looked away a pad that Aqualad was holding beeped letting us know that we had the information we needed.

"Coordinates received. On our way" he said.

We would grab our stuff and then get moving.

Freeway. Outside Gotham.

At first, it had seemed odd to me that Batman had bikes and clothes suitable for wearing while riding bikes, all ready for us at such short notice, but then I remembered that he was Batman. It wouldn't shock me at all to discover he had an underground warehouse stocked with things the Justice League or my team might someday need.

The motorcycle lessons we'd recently had might seem like oddly good timing given this mission. Only this time I was willing to give Batman the benefit of the doubt and not assume that this was all his way of further testing us.

Most likely he'd realised that there would be times when the bioship wasn't the best mode of transport for us, like when we needed to rapidly get around within the borders of a city and had planned out the lessons while making sure that we had suitable means of transport when they were needed.

Batman had even personalised the bikes for us, showing that perhaps he did see us as more than tools to be used for whatever objectives he needed to be fulfilled. My bike was black with a golden phoenix symbol on it as was the nice jacket I was wearing.

Since I was an immortal spellcaster with a phoenix familiar taking that bird as my symbol made a lot of sense even my cape name didn't have anything to do with phoenixes. At least I knew a powerful fire spell.

Oddly, my having a phoenix as a familiar hadn't caused much of a fuss other than the girls in the group wanting to pet him and Kid Flash insisting that it was just a rare bird rather than a magical creature. I wondered what it would take to make the lad accept that magic was real.

"If dislike is the opposite of like. Does that mean disaster is the opposite of 'aster?" Robin asked.

While he was trying to make small talk with the male half of the Wonder Twins while butchering my native tongue, it was for nought as Superboy did not replay, and I was sure the Boy Wonder was talking to him rather than me as Robin kept turning his head towards the grumpy hybrid.

"See instead of things going wrong they go right" he said.

Superboy stayed quiet causing Robin to sigh, so I decided to indulge him.

"Wouldn't success be the opposite of disaster?" I asked the Boy Wonder "If things go right they are a success".

Robin didn't take long to reply.

"I guess," he said before once again addressing the male half of the Wonder Twins "Clearly you're not feeling the success. What's wrong?"

Superboy kept an eye on the truck, but we did get a sort of answer to the question.

"Black Canary," he muttered "What business does she have teaching combat to a guy with super-strength?"

He was still so very naive, and it didn't help that she kept beating him during our combat training.

"Taking out guys that are stronger than you is sometimes part of the job," the Boy Wonder told his teammate "Canary learned that the hard way. So did I".

With that, Superboy sped away on this bike leaving Robin and me far behind. We three made up one team while Kid Flash, Aqualad, Megan and Power Girl made up the other.

I would have put Wally on our team as he got distracted more easily when there were pretty girls around but I was sure Kaldur had his reasons for dividing us as he did.

So far the water boy had proven to be an acceptable leader for the group so I had no issues with following his orders and I didn't envy his position as the team he had to lead was not the easiest group of people to handle.

All went well on our escort missions, at least until the robot monkeys attacked. It took me a few moments to process the fact that there were robot monkeys and my inability to take them seriously was what led to them knocking me off my bike.

Thankfully I had magically provided toughness and the bike wasn't too badly damaged so I was able to catch up with the team before too long.

Gotham Academy. Gotham.

I made it to the school just in time to see the android that we were supposed to have been guarding somehow get put back together. I saw the android throw Superboy into a trophy case. Before Superboy could even move, the android picked him up and threw him into some nearby lockers, and of course into me.

Again I was grateful for my magical toughness that did far more than give me unbreakable skin as while that would have been handy it wouldn't have protected me against internal injuries or having bones broken.

As I stood up I got to see Superboy stand up and when he saw a picture of Superman in the locker, he punched the locker and went for the android again. I figured that I found the source of the clone's recent bad mood.

"Someone has Daddy issues" I muttered as the Boy Wonder helped me up "And possibly issues with me as well".

Superboy had just ignored my presence despite having impacted me.

"Well, you are dating his sister," Robin said.

Superboy then went flying into the nearest classroom, which turned out to be a science lab, but that only seemed to piss him off even more, and we followed him into the gym where the robot was waiting.

"That all you got?" Supes asked of the robot.

The android's next action was to raise his hand and point its palm at Superboy.

"Access: Captain Atom".

Superboy was then blasted out of the gym.

"I don't suppose you have a Bat thing on your belt that will disable the android," I asked Robin "You know like a Bat EMP?"

The Boy Wonder shook his head.

"All we can do is keep it busy until the rest of the team get here," he said "I've already called the League for backup, but if all decoy trucks were attacked too they might be busy for a while".

I'd worried that he would say that, but it wasn't like we had any choice and since Superboy wasn't giving up he had the android's attention. I had to wait until the hybrid got thrown out of the gym yet again before I could find out if magic could damage this machine.

"Stand back!" I shouted "Fireaga!".

The powerful fireball struck the robot dead centre and the attack created a lot of heat.

"Don't burn down my school!" Robin called out.

Most high school students would be happy at the prospect.

"Amazo was designed to withstand the temperatures generated by Superman's heat vision" said a voice "Your puny fire won't hurt him".

I doubted that electrical attacks would work since the android would have been proofed against that. Otherwise, Captain Marvel could take down the android in one shot, and having lightning bolts come crashing down when we were indoors wasn't a good idea. Perhaps I could freeze the Android?

"Blizzaga!"

The powerful ice magic froze the android in place, but only for a moment, it simply broke free and I looked to see Professor Ivo who was clapping while sitting on the bleachers.

"I don't usually attend these things in person, but this was too good to miss," he said

This was when Superboy returned and faced the android again.

"Access: Superman".

I saw Superboy leap toward the Amazo and the android brutally attacked Superboy in turn, never giving him time to defend himself. Just when he was about to make the final blow, Kid Flash zoomed past and grabbed Superboy at the very last second, before getting them both out of the way.

Robin then threw an exploding Batarang at the android for all the good it did.

"Access: Martian Manhunter".

The batarang flew through empty space or rather it went through the body of the android that was now out of phase.

"Access: Red Tornado".

I moved so as to get closer to Ivo as I figured that if I threatened to remove his head with Spellweaver then he would order the machine would stand down.

"Access: Captain Atom".

Apparently, I hadn't been sneaky enough, the robot had detected me sneaking up on its creator so I ended up having to shield myself against blasts of energy. I was glad that I had my staff to provide me with a source of extra magical power as maintaining a shield was not easy.

When the android stopped firing at me I saw Robin send another Batarang towards Amazo, but the android simply batted it away. Then the somewhat human-shaped robot grabbed Kid Flash as he went in for another attack.

"Access: Superman".

The android started squeezing the life out of Kid Flash, who struggled against the machine, and I was about to blast the machine with a bolt of magic in the hopes it would at least distract the robot when an arrow flew out of nowhere towards the android.

The machine man switched from being Superman to the Martian Manhunter just in time in order to avoid it, which caused him to drop Kid Flash, who quickly got out of the way.

Superboy went for another round with the android who flipped him into the bleachers, and while that was going on Power Girl showed up and attacked from the other direction. It might be possible for the Wonder Twins to take down the machine if they worked together.

"Access: Green Lantern".

Blasts of green-coloured energy struck both of the Wonder Twins taking them out of the fight for a few moments at least.

"Access: Black Canary".

What happened next, really, really hurt, and it took a while for my hearing to return, by the time it did Ivo had ended his evil villain monologue, and his words seemed to have greatly upset one member of our team.

"So everyone keeps saying!" yelled Superboy "It makes me angry!"

He leapt towards the bad guy and smartly Professor Ivo quickly scrambled out of the way.

"You wanna see me channel that anger?!" Superboy screamed.

I feared we lose the building at this rate. Not that this would upset me as all high schools were places of misery that served only to crush the spirits of young adults.

"Great he's gone ballistic!" Kid Flash yelled.

He was in a 'Hulk Smash!' kind of mood.

"Amazo, protect your master" Ivo commanded as he scrambled to get out of Superboy's way "Priority Alpha".

"Access: Captain Atom".

The android tried to blast Superboy before he jumped out of the way, however, it failed and no the tide of the battle had turned in our favour.

"Anyone wanna play 'keep away?'" Robin asked.

He kicked Ivo, a move that sent him tumbling down the bleachers, only he was caught by his winged monkeys. However, he wasn't say for long as Power Girl jumped up and smashed the small robots.

"Me next!" Kid Flash dashed over to the fallen Ivo.

Sadly the android prevented Wally from having a turn.

"Access: Superman".

The android punched the floor and sent most of us flying. As I picked myself up I saw that the robot was re-materializing, after avoiding an attack by Power Gir. Superboy thrust his fist into the android's head. The Amazo began to malfunction and the head exploded.

Kaldur soon turned up with Megan. Since they weren't the kind of people to shirk their duty I assumed that they had been held up by the robot monkeys.

"We need to call in the League for clean up," Robin said.

They could handle the clean up I figured we'd done enough.

"Where's Ivo?" Kid Flash.

He'd somehow managed to get away when the robot broke down. That was annoying.

Mount Justice. Happy Harbour.

"The Amazo android is in pieces again, safely being analyzed in the two separate S.T.A.R labs." Batman explained to the team and the older heroes once we were all back at our base "Ivo escaped, and since he originated the tech, he's arguably more dangerous than the android".

He could only say that as he hadn't gotten nearly blasted by Amazo when it had been mimicking Captain Atom.

"Capturing the Professor will be a League priority," Black Canary said.

Which meant it wasn't ours.

"We understand your mission encountered...other complications" Martian Manhunter then said.

It wasn't as if we could have predicted an attack by robot monkeys.

"Complications come with the job," Batman said to all of us. "Your ability to handle those complications has impressed the League".

I didn't see how I could have impressed anyone. In fact when it came to the fighting I didn't think I was pulling my weight despite my increase in power. I needed more.

"The whole League?" Superboy asked.

Guys with Daddy issues were far less attractive than girls who had daddy issues. Power didn't seem bothered by the lack of attention from her parents.

"Given time, yes," Batman said, knowing exactly who Supes was talking about. "Kryptonians, as you know, have very hard heads".

I snorted but quickly covered it up with a cough when Batman looked at me with his infamous glare.

"Of course, there is no shame in asking the League for help," Batman continued. "That's why the League exists. Because there are some problems even we can't handle on our own".

This was when the Boy Wonder waved an arrow in front of his mentor.

"Look familiar?!" I then heard Robin say "You were following us! Babysitting! You still don't trust us!"

"We didn't have anyone following you" Batman stated.

Green Arrow took the arrow and compared it to his own. Both were obviously different.

"That's not your arrow..." Robin realised "But that means..."

"Speedy!" Kid Flash finished.

I vaguely recalled who that was, the guy who'd had a temper tantrum back at the Hall of Justice. I didn't much care for him.

"He's got our backs," Aqualad said.

Kid Flash grabbed the arrow.

"Souvenir!" he declared.

Since Speedy's arrows were red it couldn't have been him. That was just wishful thinking.

"I'm just tired. Think I'll go lie down. Get an early night".

If anyone looked concerned I didn't see it as I was already heading for bed. I felt the urge to check my book.

550cp
+300cp
850cp

I wrote to Roll.

Roll Failed. Points banked.

850cp

Well wasn't this the perfect end to a long day? All that danger and fighting and this time I got nothing other than points that got banked.

At least I had my familiar who sang a soothing song that made me feel better.

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 11.

The Tower of Fate.

Since John Constantine had brought us directly to this location from Mount Justice via a portal of his own creation I had no idea where in this world I currently was or if I was still in the world.

When it came to the magic used by Doctor Fate it was best not to assume too much. This tower could be hidden by magic or be in a different realm or in a pocket dimension.

Not that the distances involved had stopped Phosphor from following me. I had named the bird after the animal sidekick of Fenyx, a hero from a video game that I had greatly enjoyed, and like Dumbledore's Fawkes my familiar had some ability to teleport that involved a lot of fire.

"Even for me, a phoenix is a rare sight" commented Kent Nelson "I know very little about them".

As did I. There was quite a lot of information about them to be found online, but only as mythical creatures, no one knew what they were like as real creatures.

So it was good that Phosphor took care of himself. I didn't need to do more than provide him with a perch to rest on and some space in my bedroom for when he felt like resting.

"The bird is part of why we are here," said John.

My mentor, who was now starting to act in the role, had brought me here for a few reasons. He wanted me to meet some of the other magic users in this world in case I ever needed to work with them or if I needed help with something mystical.

Then there was the fact that I needed some help learning to control magic outside of what the Celestial Grimoire taught me.

"I'm a little concerned about the source of Gothic's power," John told the older man.

In this universe, Doctor Fate wasn't just what Kent Nelson called himself when he put on his costume and went out to play the role of hero. When someone put on the golden helmet they became possessed by a higher power called Nabu.

Nabu was a Lord of Order, one of the most powerful beings around who could easily defeat a mage of my level, it wouldn't even be a contest.

That was why the Helmet of Fate was kept secure in this tower. Nabu was not someone you wanted to unleash upon the world unless you had to and if you donned the helmet you might never get your life back.

"I was hoping that you would take a look at his magic book," requested John.

Hopefully, this was just an inspection and they weren't going to try to take it from me. Not that this worried me much because if they tried I had a feeling that the book would find its way back to me.

"I've inspected it myself" John was now saying "I didn't find anything suspicious at the time and I'm only worried now because the book has started doing more than handing out a few trinkets".

There was a reason to be concerned as Phosphor was not some magical item or a bit of knowledge about the mystical arts, he might be sapient to some degree and had been created by the book or transported to this world by the book before being bound to me.

Either way that took a lot of power, and it was worrying that the book might be able to bind people to me.

"What exactly does the book do?" Kent asked me.

That was hard to explain.

"I don't know what triggers it, but once in a while I feel compelled to open the book," I told Mr Nelson "When I do it awards me something called cp which acts as points I guess".

"I am invited to either bank, to save the points, or spend them in a roll" I went on to explain "When I roll I am gifted something worth a certain amount of points. I've failed a few rolls and if that happens the cp gets banked. I don't what triggers a fail, I'm guessing that I didn't have enough points".

While Kent Nelson was too old to put the Helmet of Fate back on and survive, he still had some magical power left, and I watched as he made the Celestial Grimoire float before him. He then bathed it in golden energy and that made lines appear. One of which went right into me.

"The book is feeding power into you, Gothic" Nelson let me know "But I don't see any sign of it taking from you. There isn't one source of power either, there are many and they don't seem to lead to anything in this universe".

Nabu's former host ran a hand up and down the golden strings.

"I sense nothing good or bad in this magic," he told us "I can only tell that the power comes from many places".

That made some sense to me.

"The magical items I've gotten come from a few different universes" I explained "Places that are fictional as far as I know".

Nelson tapped his cane on the floor. Since nothing happened I assumed that he was just something he did when in thought.

"If the power for this book came from a single source I might think it was the work of Dream of the Endless" stated Kent "Things from human imagination brought to life. It would be well within his power, but the multiple strings suggest otherwise".

As one of the seven Endless, Dream is one of the most inconceivably powerful beings in the universe as he is both the lord and personification of all dreams. He exerts absolute control over sleep, dreams, nightmares, and even insomnia.

The Endless also has the ability to bring things that are dreamed up, that which comes from the imagination of all people, not just humans, into existence, and he is known to be a master of magic, so the idea of him bringing fictional magical items into existence isn't crazy.

As one of the Endless, he would be able to place a part of his power to create real things from dreams into an object that a human could use. However, humans who use these items often suffer because such power isn't meant for mortals, and if anything I was prospering.

"Why would Lord Morphus do that?" John wondered "He's fine with inspiring people, but he likes to keep his realm separate from ours and he's not one to leave his toys lying around. Not that after the last time".

Nelson spent some more time in thought.

"The Endless have their own reasons for doing things" said the old man "If things were more peaceful I'd suggest we summon Death and ask her".

Death of the Endless is both the lord and personification of all death and life, Death meets with the recently deceased and guides them into their new existence.

Unlike most personifications of death, she also visits people as they are born and she's a hot Goth girl rather than a skeleton with a scythe. I imagine that puts people more at ease when they are at the end of their lives than the bloke in the black robes.

As to why she was so busy, that was because Lucifer had left hell, and souls that should be in hell had managed to get out. Since the world hadn't been overrun by dammed souls and demons, someone must be handling the situation.

"And why would he bring me to this universe?" I wondered as I thought about the possibility that Dream of the Endless was using me for some purpose "If he wanted someone to have this book there are plenty of people in your world who could use it".

The two men didn't have any other theories.

"I don't want to risk drawing attention to your special book by asking around about it too much," said John "And since it's not harming you or anyone else I think all we can do is keep an eye on the situation. Unless we get more information".

Kent seemed to agree with that.

"Until I can see the book in action there's nothing else to learn" he said.

With that, the subject was changed.

"Until then let's discuss your education young sorcerer" Nelson was now saying "I'm told you have an affinity for elemental magic".

Sorcerers were mages who used enchanted artefacts to enhance their abilities and serve as protection from riskier aspects of spell-casting. Channeling magic directly is rather dangerous and it requires more power to get the results you want.

By using magical items I placed less strain on myself when casting spells and my magic became more focused. I could use some magic without my items, but it was just easier and safer to direct my magic with my staff.

"The book has been giving me a lot of artefacts," I said.

As for Elemental magic, as the name suggested it is a form of magic that deals with manipulating the natural elements of earth, wind, fire, and water. The perk called Cosmic Arts boosted all my spellcasting, but it seemed to favour elemental magic most of all.

"First of all, we should see what element you are most attuned with," said Kent Nelson "John if you wouldn't mind".

Constantine did something that involved making strange symbols appear in the air around me.

"Fire, water and air" Kent muttered, "How odd".

John seemed to agree.

"Plenty of mages can call upon one or two of the elements more easily than the others, but water and fire much like air and earth don't mix well together" he explained.

I figured that it had something to do with the spells that the Cosmic Arts had given me. All the Final Fantasy elemental spells work fine together.

"Having a phoenix as a familiar should mean you have some sort of connection to air and fire" Kent was now saying "That should mean both water and earth would be harder for you to channel".

I suspected that this had to do with my magical powers having so many different sources. This was something I shared with Nelson and John.

"The fact that these different kinds of magic can work together is strange" Kent mused "For example, I use Order magic, which doesn't mesh well with dark or chaos magic, but you don't seem to have a problem with mixing types of magic. The book seems to allow it".

Something happened to get my attention. The grimoire wanted my attention.

"The grimoire is active," I informed.

Both of the mages watched as the writing appeared. Before now, people had ignored this happening. Perhaps that was because I'd told them about it.

850cp
+200
1000 limit.

"That's new," I said "I didn't that point had a limit".

"Any insights, old man?" John asked of Kent.

Nelson rubbed his bare chin.

"Assuming that cp stands celestial points then it seems that some higher power or powers are rewarding you for something, but we don't know what since the point seemed to be awarded randomly said Nelson.

It wasn't all arbitrary.

"The points have always been two or three hundred," I said, "But the deducted points seem more random. They might be tied to the value of the object but I don't know who decided on the values so it might be meaningless".

Not knowing was rather frustrating.

"Try a roll" advised John "We might be able to see the value of these gifts if we can compare them to your new pet".

I wrote to Roll.

-200cp
800cp

The Gauldur Amulet

A powerful amulet crafted by Archmage Gauldur and stolen by his three sons, the Gauldur amulet is a useful asset to anyone. It greatly enhances the health, magicka, and stamina of the wearer.

"I've never heard of that one" said Kent as the amulet appeared on the open book" What about you John?"

He shook his head.

"Doesn't ring any bells" he replied "But it reads as if this amulet is merely something that boosts power rather than providing it and it doesn't equal having a phoenix familiar".

I did know the source of the amulet.

"This is from a video game I used to play," I told the two magic users "It just does what the books say it does. It boosts your health, stamina and the amount of magical energy you can call upon. Outside of a video game, I'm guessing that it will make me tougher, allow me to keep active for longer and boost the power of my spells or let me keep casting for longer".

After another examination, the two magicians agreed that the amulet was neither good nor bad and it was returned to me.

"I need to make some discreet inquiries, but I don't want the book mentioned directly by anyone, understand Gothic?" said John.

Since I'd not mentioned it to anyone other than my mentor that wasn't going to be an issue.

"Until I can free up some time, you'll have to do with some books on elemental magic. I'll drop them off later" he promised before he turned to Nelson "Unless you have some free time, Kent?".

As it turned out he did and I was invited back for lessons in the future.

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 12.

Mount Justice. Happy Harbour.

Batman had called us all into the main room of the mountain for another group meeting. The only member of the team who wasn't here soon joined us in the main chamber.

"Recognized Kid Flash, B04".

Wally came out of the zeta-tube, and for some reason, he was carrying what looked like everything we would need for a party in some boxes. Which was strange as we weren't having a party, at least not as far as I knew.

Although perhaps we were I might not have been paying enough attention due to my studies in magic. Mr Nelson couldn't perform much magic as his elderly body couldn't take much strain, but his many years of experience meant that he had a lot to teach me.

Since he knew that he nearing the end of his life and he knew that for certain, I was spending quite a lot of time with the man and much less here in our team's base. As such I might have missed the news that it was someone's birthday.

"The Wall-man is here let's get this party start..." Wally began to say.

He tripped over something I didn't see, and while we all knew what would happen next none of us were able to prevent Kid Flash from humiliating himself in front of our latest member, or if they could have none of them bothered to try.

"Wall-man huh?" the new girl said "What's your power?"

The newbie wore a green costume with knee-high boots, elbow-high gloves, a utility belt, and a mask that covered part of her face. She had something covering her body I just didn't know what to call it, but I did like it as it showed her impressive figure.

Even if I shouldn't as she was clearly too young for me. Then again I had taken Power Girl on dates despite the fact that in terms of age, she was a baby even if she looked and acted like a young adult.

One of these days I should discuss Megan's attraction to Superboy and how she handled the age difference. Given that she was an alien she might be as young as she appeared.

"Who are you?" Kid Flash asked while getting up.

None of us had yet been given a name so we all wanted to hear her answer the question. Given that she was an archer and standing next to Green Arrow it was clear who she was here to replace.

"I'm Artemis," she said "Your new teammate".

Since I didn't know this Artemis I had nothing against her, but I did resent the Justice League adding a new member to the team without even consulting us as it might mean they thought we couldn't handle things.

Also, I found it odd that they would add someone to the roster as it was hard to be a covert team when you had a lot of people in the group.

More so given that this team was only just starting to work together effectively. We were more likely to get in each other's way if another person was added to the group.

Perhaps the plan was to break out our team into two smaller groups when we went on missions. If so then that was up to Kaldur to decide.

"Kid Flash" Wally replied, "Never heard of you".

None of us had which suggested she was new to the superhero gig.

"She's my new protégé" Green Arrow explained.

Suddenly the computer spoke up.

"Recognized, Speedy B09"

Speedy walked into the central chamber and I knew right away that he was on his period again.

"First off," he said, "It's not Speedy anymore. Call me Red Arrow".

Green Arrow then walked forward.

"Roy.. You look..." he tried to say.

He trailed off as Red Arrow got right up in his face.

"The word you're looking for is: replaceable" he supplied "It didn't take you long to pick up a new partner I see".

In my view Speedy looked dreadful, the guy was either on drugs or he'd not slept for a few days. Perhaps both.

"Please, Roy" Green Arrow then said, "Listen to me, Artemis is not your replacement".

Robin spoke next.

"We've always wanted you on the team" the Boy Wonder stated.

I interrupted him before he could speak further.

"Speak for yourself," I said "With this bratty attitude he has no place on any team, never mind one as important as this".

Red Arrow glared at me, but I just stared him down. He didn't intimate me, and he backed down before I had to show him why I didn't fear him.

"I found out where a woman called Dr Serling Roquette was taken after she mysteriously disappeared several weeks ago," Red Arrow told us as he decided to change the subject "She was kidnapped by the League of Shadows".

If he'd been tangling with those assassins it would certainly explain why he looked so worn down.

"Her expertise is Nano-technology, and she was working on something called the 'Fog'; which is a bunch of Nanorobots that can eat through anything, and steal information from any computer" Speedy informed us "With them, the League of Shadows could get information on anything or anyone they want".

I shouldn't have spoken up again, but I did.

"Isn't the League of Shadows normally something Batman deals with?" I wished to know.

Red Arrow snorted before speaking up.

"Yeah like you know anything about the Shadows" he said.

He was wrong about that.

"The League of Shadows is a criminal and terrorist organization led by Ra's al Ghul also known as the Demon's Head" I stated "The group focuses on extortion, manipulation, and power-broking. Oh and Ra's has a daughter called Talia, and she's know to have a thing for...".

Robin, who clearly knew what I'd been about to say, coughed loudly enough that I knew he was signalling for me to shut up. I did as there were certain things that should remain secret even from the team.

"Carry on," I invited Speedy.

Which he did.

"Dr. Serling Roquette is creating a virus to kill the Fog as we speak" Red Arrow then added.

From that point on I knew that our mission would be to keep the doctor alive long enough for her to finish her work.

"And where is she?" Green Arrow asked,

Before long an image of a high school came up on one of the holographic screens.

"She's safe" Red Arrow then said.

His former mentor was not so convinced.

"In a school?" he asked "A place with big windows in almost every room, plenty of entrances, and no real security system".

To be fair any assassin looking for her wouldn't think to look in a school. They'd think the Justice League had her somewhere safer, like here.

"She's safe" the whiny brat stated "I did my job."

Red Arrow then left through the tunnel.

"Recognized, Speedy.."

Red Arrow stopped the computer and spoke up.

"That's Red Arrow," he told the machine "Update your information"

Batman appeared on the screen as soon as Speedy was gone, which led to the conclusion that he'd been listening the entire time.

"I want his access restricted" the Dark Knight ordered "He can come here if one of you brings him, but I don't want..."

He stopped as Wally sped over to him.

"What, why?" Kid Flash protested "Roy's our friend!"

It was Green Arrow who replied.

"He's not a part of this team either," the archer said "or a member of the Justice League, so we can't have him using our equipment".

Wally didn't verbalise his unhappiness, but it was plain to see on his face.

"Like I said" Batman went on to say "I have no problem with him visiting the mountain if one of you bring him there, but I don't want him in the Watchtower or in any secure place where there's a Zeta-beam without supervision".

I understood why. Speedy was not our ally he had his own plans.

"Miss Martian, Artemis, Power Girl and Superboy" the Dark Knight was now saying "I want you four to stay outside to guard the school while Aqualad, Gothic, and Kid Flash guard the Doctor inside the school while she works".

It seemed smarter to move her, but I assumed the Caped Crusader had his reasons.

"Robin will be helping me track the Fog, as we both have experience with the League of Shadows" he then said.

I took out my crystal ball, the one that let me spy on people I was familiar with and I made it show me Speedy as I was suspicious about what he was up to. For some reason, it showed me a guy in some sort of tank who missing an arm.

While the others went to grab their gear or went right to the bioship I spoke to Batman.

"I need to sit out this mission," I said.

Batman didn't betray any surprise he might be feeling.

"Why?" he wished to know.

I had to handle this carefully. For some reason, the item was not showing me the person I expected it to.

"Because I don't think the Speedy who just left here was actually Speedy" I stated.

This time I did notice a reaction. It was only just detectable as Batman was not easily shocked.

"What do you mean?" asked Green Arrow.

He'd been talking to his substitute for Speedy because she was a replacement no matter what he said, and when he heard what I had Green Arrow came right over as Artemis left the main room.

"This crystal ball shows me a person who I am familiar with no matter where they are or how far away," I explained to the older heroes as I held out the magical object that I had gotten some time ago "I just used it to try to find out where Speedy just went but it didn't show me the person who just left the mountain".

Which made no sense because if Red Arrow wasn't Speedy then it shouldn't have shown me anyone at all because I wasn't familiar with the person in the tank.

The only thing that made sense to me was if they were somehow the same person. So much so that interacting with Red Arrow made me familiar with both him and the person I saw in the crystal ball.

"Does Red Arrow have a twin brother?" I asked.

That didn't really make any sense as twins are not copies of each other, even a clone of you wasn't the same person as far as magic was concerned.

The only other explanation I could come up with was that Speedy had somehow been split into two people and they were both Speedy in some sense.

Not impossible with magic. I'd seen it done to Xander
Harris in season five of BTVS and I was sure that there were other ways to split people or make duplicates with magic.

"No, he's only child" said Arrow "Now tell me what is going on".

Batman was much calmer about all of this.

"If you have a lead into why Speedy has been acting so strangely then you should follow it," said the Dark Knight "I'll send Robin to back up the team and request help from the Justice League in tracking the Shadows".

While the League of Shadows was normally something only Batman dealt with I was sure that other heroes had their run-ins with that group.

"You should work with Green Arrow to find out if there is something wrong with Speedy," said Gotham's guardian.

When the screen went off I expected Green Arrow to have a lot of questions. As it turned out he only wanted to know one thing.

"What do you need from me?" he asked.

I had some ideas.

"Maps" I answered "Old paper ones, both of countries and the world, we'll need to narrow down the location of this other Speedy, and I'll need a personal possession of his, the older and more personal the better. Oh, and a few photos, real ones not computer images".

The archer had no problem with this.

"You're going to use magic to find the location of this other Speedy," he said as he made his way over the zeta tube "I've seen this trick before".

Aside from my artifacts and that mind trick, my powers came in three board categories, spell casting, potion making and scrying.

As I had not gotten much experience using the last one, it might be a good idea for me to contact my mentor. If he actually answered the call he'd be a big help with the scrying.

"Meet me back here" I requested "I have the other stuff I need in my room".

Green Arrow went off to grab what I needed and I headed to my room to grab my things. I had my own maps and the crystal I would need.

When I entered my room I found that Phosphor seemed agitated by something as if he knew that something was bothering me and my book wanted my attention.

800cp
+200cp
1000cp
Roll?

Since I couldn't go over a thousand points there was no point in banking and this time the book didn't even offer me the option. I wrote to Roll.

-200cp
800cp

The Horn of Kygor

A magical, gold-banded warhorn which emits a terrifying, deep bass note that causes non-sapient beasts to go into a murderous frenzy. The magic of the horn is such that when sounded the affected beasts gravitate towards your enemies.

Not something I thought would come in handy often and certainly not right now, but it might one day so I hooked the warhorn to my belt as it was much smaller than such a powerful object should be.

Then I started to gather the stuff I would need to find the Speedy I'd seen in my crystal ball.

XXX

The real Horn of Kygor is huge, but the Grimoire scaled it down to the size of a small drinking horn for the MC's convince.