I expected nothing to come out of it. Wonder Woman was someone I trusted to keep her word, and since I'd thrown around both Batman and Superman, I figured most superheroes would have healthy respect of my wishes for isolation.
Why was I still that naive? I glared at my phone as it blared out the Justice League's intro theme, disturbing a perfectly good book.
"Oh, thank God!" were the first words to come out of my phone when I picked it up. And it was not an adult voice. At all.
"… Robin?"
"You're the first adult we've managed to reach tonight," he said, sounding both relieved and stressed out of his mind. "I know you already refused to get involved in superheroics, the number is only for world ending emergencies and even then, but we're trying not to freak out here!"
"Sheesh. Okay. I'm not gonna hang up, Robin. Deep breaths."
Boyish screams cut in the transmission, followed by the sort of rough shuffling that indicated a speaker's mic hitting clothes and flesh.
"Robin?"
A few shaky inhales answered me, then words that sounded vaguely middle-eastern. "Okay. Yeah. Sorry, someone couldn't wait two minutes before being held." – a toddler's voice, definitely – "This is huge, M-Man. It's not even just the states. We have reports from all around the world. This is the kind of magic beyond most spellcasters on records. It would take a team of ancient warlocks each more powerful than Zatara. There's no adult left in the entire world!"
Oh. Damn. The split world episode.
I had completely forgotten about that. The fridge horror alone made it horrible to watch. Billions of kids left to their own devices, all transportation – planes, they were stuck in metal boxes about to fall, and there was nothing they could do – crashing at the same time, all doctors disappearing, all rescue operations, all parents giving their babies a bath.
It was happening. Right around me. It was happening.
"Okay, let me just check something," I said, rolling to my feet and getting out of my front door. The hallway was deserted. The faint grizzling noise of the neon lights rang over my head.
I climbed up the staircase and whisked myself up to the northern wing. There, the white '32' sign stared back from the top of the black door.
"Call me back," I told Robin. "Five minutes."
No super needed to know that Sanctuary was inhabited by more than just me. The light of my cellphone dimmed, and I shoved it into my pocket before knocking. Footsteps barreled towards the door almost instantly. The door was pulled wide open to show my tiny, fiery copper-skinned mother-figure.
"Maria, I heard. Have you felt the disturbance too?"
Her dark red lips twisted in a tired smirk. "I was about to go ask you. But let's just say that my phone has not stopped ringing from my extended family's calls. And I've been relaying lots of messages."
Huh. Well, that would be the kind of disaster that would make someone try and reconnect, at least.
"Alvaro's… is Alvaro here?"
"See for yourself."
She extended her arm towards the inside of her living room, where the boy sat, playing with a green toy T-Rex. Or, was playing, until he heard my conversation with his mother. His face lit up like a firework, and he jumped straight to his feet. I only had a second to brace myself before he collided with my stomach (made squishier than usual for maximum child catching, of course).
"Jesús! Mama and the TV said all the children were gone, and the Internet says it's all the adults, but I knew you couldn't be gone!"
"Glad you're okay too, squirt."
Maria's warm brown eyes looked me over.
Quietly. "It's because of you, isn't it?"
"Probably." I scratched the back of my head. "I've long made my domain immune to external influences. This is one of them."
"I wasn't scared!" Alvaro loudly, and proudly, declared.
"I'm glad. Not much point in being here otherwise, huh? Thing is…" I swallowed the nausea as Maria's gaze filled with worry. "I have to leave for a little while. Maybe a couple of hours, a day at most."
"Let me help!" Alf said, his hand turning into a blue paw.
The glare Maria sent his way was only surpassed by the blistering one that nailed me a second later.
"No way in Hell," I breathed out as fast as possible. "This is the Big League and I don't even know if I can deal with it on my own. You're not getting within a mile of that. In fact…"
Wind whipped from nothing, and lines of light cut through empty air. They whisked around symbols in a language that didn't exist and gradually drew the outline of an ancient arch.
"Please, hide in Fantasia until it's over. I don't know if Sanctuary can maintain its wards against that sort of spell when I'm not around. But in that dimension, it should be fine. Go to the Clock Palace. They told me there are chambers where you can see the flow of time itself. The elves and the gnomes built it to understand the difference in time flow between our worlds. Everyone there will welcome you. Protect you as well. And if things go really wrong, go to the White Mountains. See Primerion."
Alvaro harrumphed, but it did not hid the sliver of excitement he got at the idea of seeing his nephew again. He'd have grown. Though, I had no idea if he had taken to Belespheria. Hopefully. Else I would have to get to creating new dragons if I wanted Fantasia to have more than two.
Maria placed a hand on Alf's head and gently herded him towards the arch.
"Sorry. Looks like we need to have another… vacation… " I whispered.
"I'm not going to ask," she said. "I've been relaying messages between my brother and my nieces all morning. This is madness. It's near impossible to wrap my head around. But you're here. It's never as scary when I can look at your face, Corazòn. But… Please be quick." Her hand shot forward to stroke my cheek. Like she was memorizing it, just in case. "I know there's nothing to be scared of."
There's nothing to be scared of. I can block this. Klarion's probably not a challenge. Probably.
With a solemn nod and a tight hug between us three, I walked away from their doorway and leaned against a window. Its screen turned a blaring white, registering a call.
"Robin?"
"M-Man?"
The weight of a backpack materialized on my shoulders. "I can confirm that my power negates the split entirely. The rest is hazy. There's just one tiny little detail that will require some brainstorming though."
"Like what?"
Like the afterimages and magical lightning blurring at the edge of my range.
***
I leaned over the windowsill, staring at the road leading to Sanctuary. The League number inches away from my hand as I counted the seconds and tried not to imagine what was happening outside. I… I ought to have remembered sooner, right? That was the real issue. The TV show had been pretty far back in my mind, the plot threads vague. I could have tried to refresh my memory, maybe get myself some Young Justice dvds. Though… Constantine? No way in hell that guy flew by the censors of a kid's show.
I had no excuse. Besides the same excuse I'd always given.
I don't want to.
With a sigh, I pulled away from the window and started pacing the room. What was the point of some self-pity now? Made my bed, lie in it. Unless I wanted to find out if I could time-travel. Risk fucking up the timeline and – why not? – cause some sort of alternate reality where fleets of Kryptonians ships invaded the Earth to replace their destroyed planet. Surely there was a comic about that somewhere.
Besides, I thought, glancing at the clock on the wall, even if I tried, it probably wouldn't work. If I rewind time on the island to unmake the spell, then obviously, I had directly affected the entire planet. And…
It had never been more clear what was my range limit. My limits, however… The spell obviously hadn't affected my domain. Was I stronger than a Lord of Chaos? Or was that just a fluke because his power was channeled into a worldwide spell? If I faced him, would I win?
The League's theme song blared to life.
"Deus Ex speaking," I replied.
"It's Kid Flash. I'm right outside your place, and yeah, I can see what you meant." Something like crackling rang on the line. Okay, sounded pretty ominous. "Could tell where you lived from pretty far away. It looked a little like a miniature storm. Hasn't struck anyone yet, so we might be okay on that side. Hm, the other problem is, there's a kid with me. He was waiting outside the bubble."
I frowned. Billy? "Yeah, okay, think you can put him on the phone for a minute."
"Jesus?" asked a little boy's voice which was increasingly familiar. Screaming around the game room every day since Alf got back to school.
I bit down on a groan and silently promised myself I'd prank Alvaro when he got back. "Junior, don't listen to a thing Alf tells you. He's just being a brat. I'm not really Jesus."
"Well, Dad says you could be, but you're too humble to ever admit it." I sighed, which prompted the boy to follow up with a nervous: "Dad also says that if anything ever happens to him, I should run get you. But when I got here, I saw the big bubble around your house and I didn't want to touch it."
I had to give Charles that. It sounded pretty much like the best bet for a Junior if something went wrong. Running to get your very powerful friend certainly could get someone out of a jam.
"Okay, Junior, I'll find a way to fix things. You're going to see your dad soon."
The communicator changed hands again.
"Kid Flash? Try to put a single finger through the bubble. Right now, I think my domain is resistant to the magic at work here, but I don't know what happens if I move over someone that's already affected. So, one finger, just the tip, obviously." I heard him frown. Yeah, his silence was that telling. "Your least favorite one?"
"Dude! Are you serious?"
"Yes. I need to know if I'm at risk of bissecting people if I move through the country. Now, I know this is cold and pretty fucking messed up, but you're a hero. If anything goes wrong, I will give you ten wishes once this is over. And one wish anyway if things go well. Win-win for you."
Protection, quick restoration, openness to different planes of Earth.
Wally's voice grew considerably sharper. "Okay. I'll blame you if I end up with less than ten fingers. I love my pinky finger, okay?"
I was a terrible person, but I did snort. "Not enough not to risk it, apparently."
His noise of indignation was entirely fair. I deserved that. Still, I braced myself for the possible screams. That one, I'd hear it in my nightmares, probably right next to an image of a teenager in a suit holding a bloody hand. Instant healing, please, please, please, just don't be a giant problem.
I heard wooshing air over the line. Then a little nervous laugh and fumbling (trembling) hands messing with the communicator.
"My fingers are okay, no thanks to you!" he growled, "but also, there's a guy on a kite aiming straight for your window."
My stomach sank as a priceless painted window depicting the rise of the Gnomian Republic exploded into tiny, worthless shards.
"WISHMAKER!" bellowed yet one more familiar voice. "SOMETHING HORRIBLE JUST HAPPENED!"
"Bring Junior inside, Kid Flash. I'll ask the gargoyles to look after him for the time being. And if you have experience calming hysterical parents, please, help me."
"… You're on your own, dude."
Great.
***
One overprotective dad and yet another gate to a pocket dimension later, we were ready. Sort of. There might have been one issue left standing.
Wally hopped on his feet, stretching his arms. Once he felt sufficiently warmed up, he showed me his back and crouched. "Okay, so get on my back, I'll carry you to Mount Justice so we can fix this mess."
I mean, we could take the jet, but if you're sure… No, really, the actual issue pinched at a few nerves in the back of my mind. For example, I knew Wally was doomed, five years from now.
"What's your top speed again?"
The scowl on his face told me more than his actual answer. "Speed of sound. Roughly."
"That is damn fast if you ask me."
But it will still kill you, because your family will be faster.
He turned to glare at me, the bitterness unmistakable. "My uncle's multiple times faster than me. It's not even funny. And yeah, I get it. It would have been far better for you to get the Flash to carry you, but I'm all you got right now."
Consider that half-remembered clue spot on. He might well retire because of issues with his lacking superpowers. "Well," I started, gently, "I could increase your speed, if that's what would make you happy."
Wally sprung upright. His whole body twitched violently, shock opening his eyes wide. A thousand questions flitted before them. "Wait, what? I, you could- I mean, you'd do that?"
"Yeah, sure. I don't see a reason why not." Despite my shrug, I could feel my heartbeat accelerate. His nervous scrutiny reached for my weaker side. "Setting aside the issue of us getting to Mont Justice as quickly as possible, you already have superpowers. You've proven you'd use them responsibly, so I don't really have to worry about creating supervillains here."
His eyes glazed over. Without conscious thought, his gaze went to the ground. Fists clenched uselessly to his side.
"Hey. Wally." I placed my hands on his shoulders. "No pressure, okay? I was just offering. You don't have to take my offer. Not even today if you don't want to. It's on the table."
He pinned me with a pained, self-loathing glare. "Do it."
I snapped my fingers.
"… Is that it?" he asked. "I don't feel any-" he wiggled his fingers about, only to create a gust of wind that crashed into a nearby tree. "Holy cow! You weren't kidding!"
His lips curved upward. He brought his hands before his face, sending the tiniest impulses through them, and even with my own enhanced perception, I only caught the afterimage. His smile of awe turned into a grin. With an exaggerated windup, he bolted toward the end of the road. Of course, I only had to blink, and Wally was back in front of me, hands on his hips, preening as the air he moved threatened to lift me off my feet.
"THIS IS SO AWESOME!"
Chuckling, I turned him around and got onto his back. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Now get running, we have a major crisis to solve, Kid."
"Oh," he said, his enthusiasm dimming. "Yeah, of course. Here, let me help you up." He helped secure my grip. "Are you sure this is fine? You have enhanced durability, right?"
"You could drop a nuke on top of me and I wouldn't feel it."
He snorted. "Yeah, like most people."
"Oh, just go, Speedy Gonzales."
Thankfully, he stopped being a teenager for a full second, and started running. It left my stomach easily a kilometer behind me, as everything blurred into a mess of darkened colors. Streetlights ahead more closely resembled a lone path of light, ours sides just two long, perpetual line of green above head level. Whoever had thought that traveling at super speed could make for some pleasant sight had clearly never traveled at super speed.
Even the sudden honking was less jarring than Wally's epic swerve into the cornfields. At least, I wasn't the one getting hundreds of stalks to the face. Granted, that happened in a second or so, as we were back on solid ground right afterward, though on the gravel next to the road itself.
"I have no idea how I avoided that car. Where did it even come from? I actually saw it materialize out of nowhere."
"The speed package included improved reflexes. Same with metabolism, control, thoughts. It'd be pretty bad if I just got you to slam into every other surface. As for the car… probably another dimension."
"Right. We'll arrive at Mount Justice in a few minutes at most," Wally announced, redressing himself after a slip. "Just need a little time to try and adjust."
I blinked away from the blurring landscape. This was going to give me a headache. Instead, I warped my phone back in my hands and opened up my custom divine-crafted app. Instantly, a bunch of windows popped up. Joy.
'Please, God, Allah, Zeus, Buddha, Deus Ex, ANYONE, give me my daughter back! #ChildlessApocalypse'
Yep, figures.
Temporary account.
'I'm sorry, @LisaGreenwood. I know the culprits. I'll try to fix it. - Deus Ex #ChildlessApocalypse'
A jolt nearly sent my phone flying in the distance. Wally had had to swerve brutally to avoid another car appearing at a crossroad.
"Do you have to be typing over my shoulder while I carry you?"
"Yes. I've been getting mentioned a lot. Someone's just started a chain of hysterical comments saying I've triggered the rapture and it is time for sinners to burn."
Wally held his tongue for a few seconds. "… Oh." Then, a few moments later, at a turn through the fields, "It's… it's nothing to do with gods, right? There's a way to explain what's going on, right?"
I looked up from my screen, and his tight-lipped, tense expression struck me. Shit. He's sixteen, more or less. Sixteen, and it looks like the world got dumped on his shoulder for a global crisis. Everything's going to shit and he's gotta fix it.
"Yeah. But the answer is magic."
"I hate magic," he mumbled, but it lacked bite. More of a resigned, pained admission than anything.
"You'll learn to tolerate it some day. Just don't revert to something stupid, like a flat-earther."
"Huh?"
"You are blessed if you've never heard of that."
He might have asked and endangered his sanity, but instead, he brought everything to a halt so sudden my phone flew out of my hands and exploded against the rocky sides of a mountain.
His cringe dug his shoulders in my armpits.
"… Oops?"
"I'll fix it later," I said as I got back to my feet.
Hisses filled the air as the ground in front of us gave out and fell inward, revealing one entrance to the secret hideout.
The whole team had gathered to wait for us in the hangar.
In some obscure corner of my mind, I had perhaps hoped that my introduction would be more glorious than just me wearing jeans and a hoodie. Sure, sure, what did it matter what they thought of me? I was pretty untouchable. Possibly. Verdict was still out on a handful of things.
Wally had none of my hang ups about seeing a bunch of tiny superheroes and zipped to the tiniest of them all. "Seriously, Rob. You will not believe what this guy did."
Robin tentatively grinned back to his best friend, but I would guess his eyes under the mask were pretty suspicious. "Made you popular with girls?"
"Oh, haha, hilarious, Rob," Wally grunted.
"Oh, I'm not that powerful," I added. It had been too tempting to pass up.
"Dude! I thought we had bonded!"
Kaldur raised a hand to pacify him and looked at me with clear eyes. "Regardless, thank you, Deus Ex, for accepting to get involve. We feel this is somewhat beyond the usual disasters."
"Understatement," Artemis added, to which Zatanna and Megan nodded.
"Yeah, sure," Conner cut in, "But what was that whole storm bubble that washed over the cave?"
"My fault. I'll go and guess that my own domain being unaffected means that it temporarily merges both planes of existence together, but the effect vanishes once I leave the area."
Kaldur's eyes narrowed, as did Robin's. "Both planes?"
I blushed. "Oh, right. Sorry. This was done by Klarion and a bunch of dark wizards. They've split Earth into two separate dimensions. One for adults, one for children. I… I honestly forgot this was a thing. Every other plot, in comparison, is really more of a wet petard."
Some of them frowned slightly at their previous struggles indirectly being minimized, but they obviously agreed on the principle. "Well," Kaldur added with some effort to keep calm, "if you have any other information to give us regarding this crisis, we would be grateful for the help."
I racked my brain for something. "It's on some island on the eastern coast of the US, I think."
Zatanna pursed her lips. "Guess this means we really need me to try the locator spell after all."
Her friends were quick to reassure her, particularly Robin, "Hey, I'm sure you'll be able to pull it off. I have faith in you."
I hid a smile. That was quite touching to be honest. A bit cute, what's with his obvious puppy love crush. Wally, however, shot me a curious look, as if calculating if he ought to ask me for the favor. I was honestly thinking about it, but Zatanna didn't really need the help. She had managed, as far as I recalled. It wasn't exactly the same.
"Let us reconvene to the debriefing room to cast the locator spell," Kaldur asked.
The Team obediently turned and walked or floated away. I made to follow, until I caught a glimpse of golden metal in the bag at Zatanna's feet.
I frowned, trying to recall the exact events of this episode. "You're contemplating summoning Doctor Fate?"
They stopped.
A glance of unease was exchanged between Wally and Kaldur. Something deeper as well, fearful.
"We were." Kaldur nodded. "Until we had confirmation of your presence. With you at our side, things feel less dire. Though, the knowledge of Klarion's involvement, as well as so many powerful sorcerers…"
Zatanna's fingers clenched around the helmet. She quickly put on a smile after that, but not quickly enough. "Let's just call it insurance, in case we need a more experienced magician."
Robin placed a hand on her shoulder. "It won't come to that, I promise."
They smiled at one another. Tenderly. Sweet, sweet camaraderie in the place of mortal dangers. Ah, teenagers. Very dramatic.
"Or you could ask me."
Seriously, did no one debrief them on me at all? I'd at least expect Robin to figure it out.
Instead of relief, horrified confusion washed over their faces. "You can't!" Kid Flash shouted. "Nabu's not gonna let you go."
"We have no idea how well your powers would interact either," Kaldur added calmly, but the thin sheen of sweat on his temple spoke otherwise. "It might turn our greatest advantage into a dangerous failure."
I was torn between annoyance and fondness. "Right. Thank you for your concerns, but I just meant this."
Zatanna and Robin jumped, startled to discover a life-like mannequin suddenly in front of them. "How did he- that wasn't even magic, I, what?"
"Alright, kids," – they predictably bristled at being called 'kids' – "I will only tell you this once. I can do anything. I can make anything happen. So long as I want to affect something within a hundred meters of me."
"Why a hundred meters?"
"It's my range. Otherwise, I can go nuts. It's basically limited omnipotence."
"Oooh, oxymoron!" Robin cackled, which only doubled when Wally swatted at him.
"We should not waste time," Kaldur cut in.
"Fair enough," I said. "Let's cut to the chase."
Without a word, I warped the helmet into my waiting hands, ignoring their startled expressions. Then, without any form of ceremony, I shoved the damned thing on top of the mannequin.
Golden light flooded the hangar, so fast I felt a slight burn in my eyes before they adjusted. The color ought to be warm, so close to the golden glow of a summer day over a sunflower field. But it was a cold, sterile light. Within, a cloaked figure emerged. "FATE WILL PREVAIL," it shouted, and I did not miss the moment's fear on Kid Flash's face.
Golden boots touched the ground, and the cape swooshed dramatically. The golden helmet turned sideways, taking in its surroundings, before stopping on me.
"'sup, Nabu?" I asked, my smile not quite real. "How's the bod feeling?"
"It is…" Blank eyes looked down at flexing fingers, then up. "Adequate. I can call forth the power of mystic arts with ease. Better than with most hosts, in fact. But I do not sense the presence of a soul or any spirit within that would link my presence to the material plane. How is this…?"
"Good." I leaned in so close my nose practically touched the helmet. Our gaze met, and the tension in the air spiked. "Does that mean you will stop trying to enslave the people that ask for your help? Because if you're still on about that shit, we're going to have a problem."
He glided back one step.
"I will not require a vessel as long as this one performs its primary function," replied the doctor evenly. Cautious. "There will not be a problem like you fear."
Okay, so the immunity to Klarion's spell helped, but this was another argument in favor of me playing in a higher weight class than the Lords of Chaos and Order. At least in my domain. Good to know. Very good to know. I could stop sweating now.
The teenagers, on the other hand, started to. Foremost Wally, but Zatanna and Kaldur looked pretty freaked out too.
Tension shifted, however, when the sole of running shoes hit the ramp to the cave's entrance. As one, the Team turned around to face this new threat: a ten year old in a red hoodie.
"Hey Captain Marvel!" I called out, drowning the questions.
One pregnant silence served right up.
Billy blinked, eyes shifting a bit. "How'd you know that? Wait, who are you?"
"Limited omnipotence and Deus Ex," I deadpanned, and this time, Robin did not cackle.
"Anyone else starting to freak a bit?" Kid Flash asked, glancing at his teammates. All of whom were averting their eyes and trying not to blush. "No? Just me?"
"Definitely just you!" Artemis snapped, whacking his shoulder.
Oh, yeah, definitely just Wally, and not, say, Zatanna who's gone pale or Megan who is staring at me like she wants to pick at my brain but is too scared to ask.
"Huh." Billy scratched his cheek. "Well, I was all psyched to get you guys to believe me with my uncanny knowledge of superheroes, but I guess this is easier. I wanted to tell you I figured it out. It's not that all the adults disappeared, it's that the world was split in two! All the adults in one, all the kids in the other!"
"Stole your thunder again," I said, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly, "sorry, Captain."
The boy pouted and pulled both his arms behind his neck. "Okay. What else did you do?"
"I didn't meet with Batman and Zatara?" I smirked.
Billy scrunched up his nose, but he responded to my smirk. There was something in his eyes, like a 'well-played'.
"ZATANNA!"
"Dad!"
Well. At some point soon, people will decide to coordinate instead of getting here one after the other.
Shadows seemed to move until a black-clad hero stopped in front of me. "Deus Ex."
Mention of my name got Zatara to look up from his daughter's hug. "Is this the rogue sorcerer you've mentioned, Batman?"
"Maybe?" I shrugged. It hadn't really felt like what I thought magic ought to. No rituals, no special conditions or mentality. Just, willing stuff, and it happening with no energy spent from me. "You should know Constantine is of the opinion that I'm more likely to be some sort of newborn or amnesiac god. Of course, he thinks I'm evil for putting him in a tutu, so make of that what you will."
Batman remained as still as a statue. About as impressed as one too. Zatara, on the other hand, hid a chuckle with a cough. "Ah, of course. I suppose it is understandable. Constantine is… an acquired taste."
My mind did not go in the gutter. Nope. Why would I wonder what Constantine tas-?
… Shit. Warmth was gathering on my face, and all eyes were already on me!
Distraction, go!
"Question: do we know which earth will crash on top of the other?" But as soon as the question had left my tongue, I felt my breath hitch. Oh boy…
"Elaborate," Batman growled.
"The two earths are out of synch. Cars that have crashed in one version might still be on the road in the other. A kid in the street might suddenly get hit by a car reappearing. Hell, adults that were cooking have left their ovens unattended for hours now. So, my question is more… are we going to warp people back into burning buildings and crashing planes?"
Kaldur frowned, troubled. "We have been putting out fires and many other man-made disasters all night."
"I saw someone turn eighteen tonight." Captain Marvel raised his hands, his expression troubled. "She was piloting a plane. When I used my powers to transition into the adult world, she was falling to her death."
And that scenario could not have been unique. Perhaps not entirely common. But with billions of humans and non-humans on Earth, it had to have been repeated multiple times. And not every one would have been lucky enough to be next to a superhero at the time.
How many deaths will this spell cause?
I shoved the memory of Charles' tear stricken face away. There would be thousands of them, perhaps even millions.
"The handiwork of Chaos," Fate sneered, "you should have found me this vessel a long time ago. This is the result of Chaos Unbound."
Wally flinched. Kaldur paled. Both looked like they were going to be sick. That… that kind of death toll should not be put at teenagers' feet.
Perhaps at mine, though. "Oh," I heard myself say, "so you would have been able to permanently restrain Klarion?"
Fate's helmet snapped toward me. His eyes narrowed. "You've divined our course of action."
"No. I could have, but I didn't. However, if I may put in my two cents. The reason no one wants to find you a host is because they're heroes. All of them." Tension spiked once more. "No one is really eager to find someone to sacrifice to your helmet."
"Kent put me on a shelf for decades. He left me to wait and witness this world's decay."
"And the first kid that came along almost lost his body to you! You threatened to never release him despite him being a poor host!"
"He swore! Both of them did!"
"Promises made under duress are not binding, you asshole!" I raised my hand, ready to strike, or, or, I didn't know, something to make that jackass get it! "You can't put a gun to someone's head then complain when they don't happily cooperate afterward."
"ENOUGH!" Batman pushed us apart. "THIS IS NO TIME FOR ARGUING! WASTED TIME ONLY ADDS UP TO THE CASUALTIES!"
Trembling, I lowered my fist, glaring still. Under the thrumming of angers though, nausea crawled at my throat. Kids by the thousands were screaming for their guardians, crying, alone and lost. So many teenagers had to step up. To take responsibility even though they had nothing to do with this. What did they care that I was getting pissy about that asshole?
"Okay. You're right. But I think we have to consider my question. Is it possible to choose? And, alright, if we can, which one is the least damaging? Or do we need to prepare for a worst case scenario?"
"Can't you find out the answer yourself?" Robin was the first to ask. "You said you were almost omnipotent, didn't you? So, what's preventing you from just knowing, or making something that knows?"
The thought of Constantine's smug face brought a slight unease. "I'm not entirely certain I won't influence the answer. My powers are not entirely straightforward. Creating moral beings is limited by my own set of morals, for example. I don't know if I won't simply receive the thing I want to hear anyway."
Zatara and Fate exchanged words under their breath, and while the Lord of Order gave little indication of the content, Zatara frowned thoughtfully.
"Hey!" Kid Flash snapped his fingers. "When we moved Deus around, cars that were crashed reappeared intact on the road."
"So, the adults' reality is the likely plane to press down on the other."
"It would make sense, sorta," Artemis agreed. "Deus is an adult himself. So, maybe, the plane he'd been in is the one by default?"
"We should prepare for the worst case scenario, regardless," Batman insisted, to no one's shock. "This must be the work of a collection of dark sorcerers."
"I can think of a few that would commit this sort of atrocity," Zatara added.
The Team turned to me. "I can't remember their names. Wotan, Klarion and three others. Anyway, more importantly…" I took a deep breath. "Nabu. Speak truthfully."
Doctor Fate's body jolted. "On what topic?" he replied, eyes narrowing.
"Can you conceive a way to defeat me in a one-on-one battle?"
Golden magic seemed to radiate from under his gloves. His voice was even more flat than usual. "Not from within your dimension. You are supreme inside your domain."
Choice of word noted here. Judging by a few of the faces around, I had not been the only one. As for the rest, well, they could pick their jaws off the floor later.
"Is there any way you could think of that could lead to my defeat at Klarion's hands?"
"None, beyond a 'moral' defeat. The Lord of Chaos, lacking any advanced warning, would not have prepared well-enough to pose a threat. Even then…"
Silence hung for a few heartbeat, while I did my best not to smile or give any other indication of relief. As Charles Brown would put it, HELL YEAH! Top of the foodchain, baby!
"Well," Wally spoke up, turning most heads in his direction, "sounds like we have a ready-made plan for this? We have both Doctor Fate and this guy no villain heard about."
I let my head hang. "I fucking wish, Wally. My life would have been so much more peaceful."
That got a couple more tilted head. Leave it to superheroes not to understand the desire for peace and quiet. At least, Batman got what I meant. He quickly took control of the situation after that, and assigned the team. I was, of course, to be right smack in the middle of things.
"Can we trust you in the field?"
"Trust, Bats, is largely your own problem. I'm here because this has to be stopped as quickly as possible. If nothing else, trust that."
***
"Everyone still clear?"
Robin fiddled with his equipment and lifted his head. "Huh, just to be sure, why is the Flash carrying Deus Ex if he can make himself fast?"
I answered that one. "Experience. I've never really bothered with super speed before, so I figured it'd be much smarter to let my first time with it happen outside of a vital mission where a mistake can cause enormous amounts of casualties."
"Noted," Kid said. Seriously for once. He had had that look in his eyes the entire time. I'd caught him sneaking a glance at Nabu no less than six times so far.
"Alright," Miss Martian announced telepathically, "we are exactly one mile away from the Major Working. They might have noticed Deus' domain, but they're not moving. Strike team, as soon as you're ready, blitz them to put an end to this. Doctor Fate will lead the second team to flank them and prevent any surprise shenanigans."
Flash bounced a few times on his feet (eerily like his nephew) and then, moving at speeds far beyond even his sidekick, pulled me up for a piggyback ride.
He shot Wally, Dick and Conner a confident smile. "Ready?"
Speed link. Enhanced senses, durability, combat skills, evasion.
One moment we were waiting, the next we were at the crossroad itself, before what looked like a satanic ritual, except, you know, a working one.
Four figures appeared, bathed in eerie light, but confused by their planar displacement. The fifth however let out a scream and pulled out torrents of energy from his bare hands.
Invincibility! Just in case. Invincibility. Invincibility. Invincibility.
Red lightning bounced off the teens and struck down a handful of trees on the side of the path. Flash managed to avoid it entirely.
Okay. So, Nabu wasn't lying. Even a Lord of Chaos can't go against my power. This is going to be a hell lot more trivial than I had feared.
"Get me to the circle, Flash!" I shouted over the wind. "Don't worry about the spells!"
Some shadowed figure emerged from behind one of the sorcerers, ready to pummel Superboy. And that was my cue to jump and roll to my feet.
Null Dark Magic.
The barrier winced, screeched out a sound akin to crackling glass. Within, sickly black energy fizzled out and popped like firecrackers. Confetti included. All their power, and boy, shoving them off their mighty high horse felt… good. Really good.
They had it coming.
I could cut loose on them.
"What is going on?!" one of the paler bastards asked, a split second before he fell on his ass.
That window alone gave Superboy an opportunity to punch his lights out. The sorcerer's body flew out of the glowing circle and crashed into a tree. "One down, three more squishy wizards to go!"
"That's my supey!" Kid Flash whooped, then blurred forward. To others, it must have looked like a flash of colors zipping straight at another sorcerer. Doubly so when his uncle joined in on the fun. "I taught him everything he knows about quipping!"
Robin cackled from the treetops. "Everything about what not to do, you mean?"
The remaining two wizards whirled around in panic, uselessly, not seeing me pose to snap my fingers.
But they certainly realized it when their bodies betrayed them. When they found themselves sitting on their hands, mouths shut by power beyond theirs. The only one left was-
"You… YOU!" The witch-boy's face had twisted, sharpened in demonic traits, blood red pearls for eyes that bespoke a nameless fury. "What is one of your kind doing here?! Cheaters!"
My heartbeat suddenly went into a frenzy. He… he knew what I was? Shit. What did I say? This might be my only chance to figure out what in the hell had happened to me!
Play it cool. Play it cool, I repeated mentally, faking a grin. "Well, Klarion, you banged up my neighborhood, so I figured I'd tell you to knock it off, brat."
A corner of his mouth twisted dangerously. "You're not even a century old, and you're calling me a brat?"
"Age doesn't make you mature, moron."
Time stop.
The cacophonous noise of the battlefield disappeared instantly. The eerie nature of still combattants suspended in mid-air ought to have freaked me. Over our head, Megan's bioship had just started a dive, Zatara and Martian Manhunter flying next to it. Our entire team, charging toward the last of the threats.
But on the ground, the yellow-orange glimmer had not faded. The gem remained solidly planted in the middle of the magic circle. Still in focus. Perhaps, still perpetuating the curse.
Spellbreaker!
The gem shattered.
And that was it.
Nothing really seemed to change, besides slightly less storm on my horizon. I… I had expected more. Some groundbreaking feeling, an upturn of the sky and the sea, millions of hearts echoing their relief. Something.
"You know," said a whiny voice that gave me a heart attack, "I worked really hard to bring back my old pals for this shindig. Do you have any idea how frustrating you are?"
I whirled around and saw Klarion, slowly stretching as if to get back some blood pumping in his stiff limbs. "H-how are you-?"
"I can exist outside of time, idiot!" With a sinister cackle, Klarion threw off a fireball the size of a truck towards the frozen Martian Manhunter.
Magic Bounce! I mentally shouted. To my great relief, the spell did bounce off without singing the alien, but how had he even cast anything in the first pla- I said 'dark magic'. Should have gone for 'enemy magic'.
And go.
Fate's ankh of light stomped the cat familiar into the ground. But the Lord of Chaos did not even bother turning to react. His eyes had shrunken into hollow red holes. Blazing rubies trailed right on me.
"Urgh!" Klarion sneered, stomping his feet. "This isn't fair! I never get to have fun and the one chance I'm given, someone like you has to go and spoil it!"
Fun. FUN?!
"Powerlessness."
The four dark wizards cried out in outrage and fear as their remaining grasp on the mystic arts slipped right through their fingers. Their eyes darted to me, wide with panic, and I only had to remember the children for the heat of rage to start pumping through my veins. Fun. Ha! They… They had had their FUN, and so I would have mine.
"Loss of knowledge! Greater despair! Horrid dread! Karmic pain!"
Howls of agony erupted from the writhing men. The heroes stopped right in their tracks. They stared. So did I. I took in the details. The spasming muscles in their limbs. The twitching pupils. The tears cascading on their cheeks. The begging that started.
Sweat rolled off Klarion's face, his expression tight and controlled, and burning with hatred. "I'll remember that one."
"I'll carve it into what passes off as your soul."
"Oh, I don't have one of those. Guess that means we're done."
Klarion's fingernails dug into Teekl's neck.
Blood sprayed straight on my face. I tasted copper. Blood, blood went splattering everywhere. Oozing, spilling through the wound and into the earth. He… he just killed his cat. What the hell?
"He's escaping! Deus!" Robin's hand pulled on my shoulder, and I blinked back the shock to realize they were waiting for me.
Shit. I threw my hand forward, closing my fingers to snatch Klarion's fading image. His transparent silhouette burst into red and orange light, snarling like crackling flames. Roaring at my face as it was pulled toward my hand, every bit of it until there was nothing where the Lord of Chaos had been.
Kid Flash hopped to me. "Did you get him?"
I stared at the swirling, screeching mass of chaos sticking to my hand. It felt… hollow. "Sort of? That's a fragment of his ego. His avatar or whatever else he's using to act on the physical planes of existence. Not quite the real deal, but close enough."
Sighing, I clenched my fist. The red and orange converged on my skin, washing out from my fingers and coalescing into my palm. There, solid weight suddenly pressed back against my grip.
Fate landed right in front of me. "I shall dispose of this, Deus Ex," he declared with his echo-y voice.
Sure. I handed it over. Maybe the guy wouldn't screw up. Great. Right after I'd ragged him on about that. Maybe the world had needed the Lord of Order on their side. Not the disgusting act he would have done to get here, but… his presence itself? Useful.
The amber gem vanished in a flash of golden light. Fate took off.
"Fuck," I moaned. "That was our best bet at surprising Klarion, and I screwed up big times."
"Well, I don't know about anyone else," Megan started, helping her uncle stand, "but I'm pretty grateful Deus was around."
"Are you kidding?" Robin gave me a baffled look. "You basically carried the whole mission on your back!"
I bit down the 'yeah, but I'm also a borderline deity?' on the tip of my tongue. Probably wouldn't go over very well. "Still. I made us miss our opportunity."
"On the one hand, yeah, kinda," Wally said, with his usual tact. There was a sly grin on his face though. "On the other, that jackass couldn't do a thing against you! You didn't even have to try to sent him down on his knees, dude. You have no idea how long I wanted to see that."
"Aaaand, a bunch of dark wizards that would each give my father a hard time are all bound and somehow weakened," Zatanna added, shivering. Her eyes flickered to Doctor Fate's disappearing form in the sky. Then back to me, and the unease was greater than before.
"Oh yeah, do you need help restraining them or something? I could just make them fall into a temporary coma or whatever. Something with nightmares."
A pinched look flickered on Flash's face. "Yeah, coma. Just make them stop screaming, please."
Fingersnap.
Blessed silence.
Red blurred all over the clearing. In the time it took to blink, Flash had reappeared right next to me, with four unconscious bastards tied up behind him. "Alright. Superboy, Kid, Artemis, we're going to carry those to the ship. Zatara, you and your daughter should come too, just to make sure none of them pull any tricks. Miss Martian? Help your uncle. I think he got close to some fire spell."
The high of victory finally started to fade for them. Following Flash's lead, they started to trickled out of the clearing, Robin and Batman only staying a moment longer for pictures of the broken circle.
"Deus Ex."
Blinking, I turned to see Batman lingering in the clearing. He stood stiffly, his mouth thin, neither a scowl or even a grimace. Just on the verge of displeasure, but never dipping down into it.
"Thank you for your assistance today." I raised an eyebrow, waiting for the other shoe. "You had made your decision in regards to heroics unambiguous, but I am glad you could provide our younger partners with assistance when we couldn't."
"Well, you know, even I think I'd be irredeemable if I let that one happen without giving a hand." The question that had been on my mind all day surged. "What's the death toll so far?"
"Immeasurable."
"When will the numbers be known?"
"It could be weeks from now. The rescue workers will be swamped down with calls everywhere tonight. Some remote areas will not offer information. Some government might hide it as well. This is the biggest man-made disaster in history."
There will be broken families everywhere. "… Tell me, okay? When you know. Tell me."
A stiff nod. A moment's silence when the cold air of the night swished through the treetops.
"There is one more thing," he spoke slightly more quietly, angled his body to block Robin from view. That alone gave me a good idea of what was going on. "You talked to Robin."
The other eyebrow went up. "Obviously. He is the one that called me. Why?"
"What I want to know is for his sake." The shadows of his cape melded with those of the dark forest. Without realizing, I swallowed. "Did you offer him the same wish?"
Shame pooled through my stomach, an acid taste in the back of my mouth. "No." My gaze went to the ground. I felt as small as a mouse. "And I'll say it again. I'm sorry I ever forced you to relive that. I'm not… I'm usually better than that."
"It wasn't the first time I dealt with that," he said in lieu of an explanation. "But I don't want Robin to. I would like nothing more than him never having to face that sort of conflict."
"I don't think I would offer. Comparatively to last time? I feel better and worse." I laughed. A silly little laugh. Very convincing. "Better 'cause I'm not running myself ragged anymore. I've learned to relax again. Worse because something like this just happened and I feel like I should have prevented it entirely. It's… Yeah, I don't know how much I should involve myself anymore."
"It is not my place." Batman's voice echoed after he had left. "But you should talk to Superman."Last edited: May 9, 2019652