The other Business is Cognito Inc. owned by the mysterious universe-level super-genius - Dr. Genus. Cognito Inc. is involved in literally every legal business in the world and with unlimited resources they dominate. Other companies can either be friendly allies/rivals or they can be gone.
"What are those dummies, Rick?"
Weird Science Rick has set up a bunch of dummies for Lex weapons to target. These dummies look completely human dressed in clothing and various forms of protective gear. Some are dressed in police body armor, some are dressed in military uniforms complete with ceramic plate-filled body armor, and some are even dressed in non-functional copies of power armor designs.
On the far right are dummies dressed in Cognito Inc C3 Armor.
"Test Bodies – Artificial bodies based on generic human data. They are cloned tissue woven around an artificial bone skeleton and Type O negative artificial blood."
"Your using clones for target practice?" asks one general.
"Don't worry they're not alive in any sense. Heartbeat and pulse are done by pacemaker-like devices. All the cells lack nuclei and the clone cells have only lasted this long because a bio-preservative. The bodies don't even have the Human Microbiome, as their bodies were completely sterile until we removed them from packaging."
"Why use these bioroids?" asks Lex.
"You'll never get more accurate results short of killing real people."
"Thank you for your consideration."
The weapon of the day is the LX-60 Laser Exterminator. A sleek black gun with retractable rifle stock and scope for precision targeting. It's remarkably light for a directed particle beam weapon and the power packs can be inserted like rifle magazines. A generic soldier picks up the weapon, powers it up and turns off the safety, and then takes aim.
The particle beams burn through dummies with ease, no matter the modern armor. Each hit produces a limited amount of blood and smoke due to the heat of the beam, but the "life readings" flatlining is celebrated by the military personnel.
"The particle beam itself is invisible only showing up in the ultraviolet and infrared, but the laser is added for targeting. It can be turned off for more discrete missions. The rifle uses standard Type-L39 power cells and can fire up to 60 burst shots or 180 second (about 3 minutes) continuous beam." says Lex, "As you can see, standard armor is useless against it."
"Cognito doesn't do standard." says 'Rick', "Let's try your guns against C3 Armor."
Cognito Combat Coverings. Black full bodysuit with black synthetic muscle and white armor plates including white helmet.
The LexCorp Agent opens fire with the Exterminator and much to everyone's mild surprise the beams are stopped and dispersed by energy fields.
"Variable diffusion field disperses lasers, plasma, and other directed-energy attacks. For solid projectile weapons, phase shift armor uses electrical energy to negate physical damage. Even if the suit runs out of power, the nano-synthetics are tough, insulate the wearer and can block 50 cal." says Weird Science Rick, "Features include encrypted satellite communicators, hydrophobic and dirt resistance, biomed gel injectors in case of injury, and optical camouflage."
Rick clicks a button, and the C3 Armors shifts through the military camouflage patterns of the 20th and 21st centuries. The final pattern is near invisible as its active camouflage.
"Patterns don't cost energy to maintain, just set and go. Active camouflage requires more energy depending on how fast you are moving and environmental hazards like deep water and precipitation. "
There is clapping for both companies.
Luthor turns as he sees a light close to his face and sees a small portal floating near him. He then hears a gunshot. The military and government people are alarmed.
"Calm down people. The sniper has already been taken care of." says Weird Science Rick, as he opens a portal to reveal a sniper on a distant building dressed in camouflage clothing and an impressive sniper rifle. He's struggling because there is a gunshot wound in his lower spine. "My portal redirected the bullet back to its sender."
"Who is this man?" says Lex, knowing that Rick would know.
"A mercenary hired by the Rhelasian Extremist group Red Moon, protesting the new negotiations done by Luthor. At least that is the cover story. He was actually hired by Nine Dragons Corporation's CEO Eddie Li because Cognito and LexCorp have been buying many Hong-Kong businesses."
Suddenly, there is a huge electrical flash next to him and a loud scream of pain. A smoking charred corpse dressed in damaged thermo-optic camouflage drops to the ground dead.
"That would be the other mercenary sent to assassinate me. He knew about my forcefields, so he had camouflage, an X-Ionized Blade, and a short-range field disruptor. He didn't expect subcutaneous armor and a trans-phasic shock field." He then turns to Luthor, "Hey Luthor. He spent fifty grand more on my Assassin."
Luthor has an annoyed look on his face.
*DOOM*
Ra's al Ghul's meeting chambers
League of Shadows Base, India
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
3POV
"Explain." says Ra's, feeling an approaching headache. The man Infront of him looks nervous and is carrying a Cognito brand computer tablet.
"We have some problems with the Slade Wilson clones. The clone of Slade we had working on that project in South America was killed by another clone. We believe that clone was working for an American group, while posing as one that works for the Cognito and was responsible for the death of the one in Peru. We do not believe he was the one that infiltrated the Mexican base, as that was determined to a Cognito agent who disguised himself as the Slade Wilson clone that acted as commander for that base."
Using clones can be so confusing and it makes security a nightmare.
"Any other news?"
"Ravager - The original Slade Wilson's daughter Rose by Lillian Worth – has joined forces with another clone of her father to hunt down a clone that tried to kill the original."
"I need a vacation." says the ancient assassin leader. Maybe he should visit his grandson.
*DOOM*
Hidden Base
[Classified]
Sunday, October 11, 2015
3POV
There is a loud bang and Vandal Savage's body collapses. He has just used a revolver to shoot himself in the head and make a bloodstain on the wall. One of his daughters is watching, looking annoyed. After a minute Vandal wakes up with his injuries healed.
"Seriously?"
"I have built up a resistance to headache medication after many centuries of dealing with Klarion."
*DOOM*
[Cadmus Base - Omega]
[Location Hidden]
Monday, October 12, 2015
3POV
In depths of a Cadmus Facility nicknamed "Cadmus End", there is a new genius geneticist. His formulas for mutagens and viruses have taken Cadmus' metahuman research and development in a new direction. He has taken past projects and developed them with otherworldly ideas. This man has risen the Cadmus ranks and is now the new L-6 of the Light.
He currently stands in front of dozens of egg-shaped chambers filled with synthetic embryonic fluid. Inside each pod, in the fetal position, are large humanoids with clawed digitigrade feet, long tails, and large wings. Two of the chambers beeps, then drain of fluid and open.
One resembles a large very muscular human-like gargoyle with red eyes, ash gray skin, and long black hair. He has strong facial features with a thick jaw, strong brow ridges, and small horns. The other resembles an Amazonian female Gargoyle with purple eyes, pale platinum gray skin, and long white hair. She is very beautiful with long horns curving back.
What separates them from other Gargoyles is their wings are leathery and ribbed, not like those of a bat, but those of a dragon. Their skin also has patterns of hard scales protecting their bodies like organic scale-mail. The only softness being the smoother, softer scales their fronts. They also have white bone spikes extending from their elbows, knees, knuckles, and shoulders.
"Beautiful. That Immortal Monster's blood has so many possibilities" says the red-eyed scientist, "Biblical names would be appropriate. Since you are the first of your kind, I name you Adam and Lilith."
"Who...?"
"I am your creator. Your father and master." The mad scientist says with grandiose, "My name is Dr. Anton Sevarius."
Rorschach's Inkwell
[Hidden Location]
Monday, October 12, 2015
9:30
1POV
I walk through another of Rorschach's portals to see the man himself working hard on his latest invention. The item in question resembles a small black/purple box with a button. It doesn't look impressive, but it must be dangerous if Rorschach has sealed it in a bubble of multi-layered forcefields and only working through manipulator arms. Fields that isolate the device from the effects of matter, energy, time, space, mind, and spirit. Even my [Soul Manipulation] ability which can sense flows of spiritual energy sees the impenetrable bubble as a black void.
"Hey. Spaceman. How are things going with Daniya?" asks the Rick-level mad scientist, not looking up from his holographic console.
"She is adapting. She misses her original parents, but Raven is there for her, and the other girls are spoiling her." I say, thinking about my new daughter, the other universe daughter of Danny Phantom and Raven. I never thought I would be in a parenting position and I'm still a little scared. The others are there to help, but making sure she is safe and happy is more difficult than fighting Cthulhu!
"She will be fine" says Rorschach, stilling not looking up from his holo-computer, "She is in better mental health than over ninety percent of the Cadmus Upsilon patients."
"That's not saying much, but thanks." I reply, "So what crazy, insanely dangerous inventions are you working on this time,"
"An Annihilargh."
The Annihilargenesistoriathimiorgost, or simply the "Annihilargh" was an extremely powerful and dangerous device used by the Contumelia. The Contumelia is a race of higher dimension (fourth) beings that can't be perceived by lower dimension beings, so appear as familiar beings. In the case Ben Tennyson, he saw them as Mr. Smoothy mascots.
Or at least he did in the original version. Courtesy of Cognito Cable, he now sees his Uncle Max; the way it should've been.
Anyway, when the Annihilargh is activated, upon detonation, it will either create or destroy an entire universe; if the Annihilargh is activated in a timeless place where no universe exists yet, then it will create an entirely new universe, but if there is already a universe there, then the Annihilargh will instead wipe all of that universe out.
"How and why?"
"How was very difficult. I started researching Absolute Destruction a while back. Do you remember when you used Hakkai to erase Dragon King from existence? You have perfect memory, so the question is rhetorical." says Rorschach, "Using the gauntlet was actually reckless of me, but we were facing a Dark God and my research was limited at the time. My research has advanced so that I can now focus on a single point of Absolute Destruction. It's still not something I would use in our universe, but if another Cosmic Horror shows up, you won't need to go Questing."
"So, the Annihilargh?"
An Image appears on a screen. Its video of a large number of asteroid-like rocks suspended in a void of blue and purple.
"The Phantom Zone."
The Phantom Zone is a strange interdimensional realm outside the normal space/time continuum. It's a timeless dimension, a vast expansion of near nothingness. It is a barren and insubstantial null area absent of any physical material, more in common with the astral plane of thought and spirit, than the material plane. In the canon universe, it's also the permeable membrane between the light side of the DC Multiverse and the Dark Multiverse
The Phantom Zone was used as a prison by the Kryptonians, who utilized Phantom Zone Projectors to send people to and release them from the Zone. Prior to Krypton's destruction, General Dru-Zod of the House of Zod plotted a coup, which he justified as a means of saving their world. Thanks to Jor-El and Zor-El, he and his followers were imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. Those Kryptonians have been trapped in the Phantom Zone since the destruction of Krypton.
"In the original Young Justice timeline, they would remain in the Phantom Zone until the thirty-first century when they would be released and allowed to colonize a planet orbiting a red sun – Daxam. Dru-Zod would not be content, believing the yellow sun fueled powers were their right. The Daxamites would move to a planet orbiting a yellow sun, then begin their conquest of the galaxy. A conquest only stopped by the Legion of Superheroes; a group founded by the twenty-first century hero Superboy."
Most problems in Season Four were due to the actions of Lor-Zod – Dru-Zod's son born after his release and not imprisoned due to his age. Rorschach has planted devices trans-temporally to prevent time travel, but a small army of Kryptonian criminals is still a problem, especially if it's General Zod!
"I considered sending you in to slaughter them, but the Phantom Zone is an immaterial realm of existence. While you wouldn't have any problem with the Zone Sickness, it's hard to think people out of existence." explains Rorschach, "Now with our sector separated from the main multiverse, I'm willing to sacrifice the Zone to complete the Barrier. The only problem was making a timer work in a timeless place"
A portal opens and the box drops into it surrounded by a force field bubble. The portal closes in a fraction of a second.
"Ursa is pregnant with Lor-Zod. She was pregnant when she was placed in the Zone and wouldn't give birth until she left the zone in the thirty-first. Pregnant for a thousand years." says Rorschach, sounding grim, "I thought about extracting Ursa or embryonic Lord-Zod, but the Phantom Zone is too unstable."
"Rorschach, you're confessing to a monster. I have literally killed billions and don't feel any guilt. I would slaughter entire worlds to protect my home and family"
"Which is why I'm telling you, instead of Kara."
*DOOM*
General Zod's Camp
Phantom Zone
[Doomsday]
3POV
General Dru-Zod can sense something changing in the Zone. He watches as a tendrils of purple-white energy arc across the vast void of blue and purple. He watches as the asteroids disintegrate into nothing and Devourers crumble to non-existence, as a black void grows from a single point. The effect is moving at super-liminal speeds, so it shouldn't be perceivable, but physics don't work normally in the Zone.
Dru-Zod's followers Ursa-Zod, Faora Hu-Ul, Jax-Ur, Kru-El, Non, Vor-Kil, and the others gather around General Zod.
"What is happening?" asks Kru-El – a brilliant cousin of Jor-El and Zor-El who was exiled for making dangerous weapons.
"The End." says Dru-Zod with a sense of finality, as he turns tom his wife. They hold each other as the End approaches. It's very similar to how his rival Jor-El and his mate Lara met their end on Krypton. As the darkness hits them, they are annihilated from existence – physically, mentally, spiritually, temporally, and conceptually erased.
The effect travelling faster than light, bypassing space and time, soon consumes the entire Zone. The Phantom Zone is consumed by absolute darkness, then there is light. A blinding explosion of red-light light, followed by a rainbow of colors as something new replaces the Zone.
*DOOM*
Rorschach's Inkwell
[Hidden Location]
Monday, October 12, 2015
Same Time
1POV
Rorschach and I watch as holographic model of the multiverse changes.
In the palm of Rorschach's hand is a small cluster of worlds cut off from the omniverse, no longer subject to the retcons and crisis events of the main multiverse. Instead, they float in the infinite red of the Bleed. A cluster of selected universes including Earth-DR resembling the zygote of a reproducing animal.
We watch as a single point glows red, indicating the destruction of the Phantom Zone of Earth-DR and then we watch the cluster change. It multiplies and changes into a double helix of worlds, sheathed in white and gray. Fifty-two Universes and many timelines arranged to resemble a strain of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the new Central Finite Curve.
"The DR-52 Multiverse."
*DOOM*
October 12, 2015 – Rorschach managed the impossible again. He destroyed the Phantom Zone and created a new DR-52 multiverse. We are now fully isolated from the changes to the other DC multiverses – so we no longer must fear Crisis Events retconning us. I am curious what the DR-52 worlds will be like.
October 13. 2015 - Cassandra "Cassie" Sandsmark "officially" becomes Wonder Girl and joins the Team. She is the demigod daughter of Helena Sandsmark and the Zeus - God of the sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, and justice, King of the Greek Gods.
I asked Wonder Woman and she says Zeus' wife Hera has gotten less vengeful on Zeus' children, so Cassie won't end up like Herakles. From what I understand, Hera – goddess of marriage – was forced to marry Zeus, then he cheated on her, and because she is bound by divine law, she can't take her frustrations out on her husband. When the Greek Pantheon was strong in the world, her own authority over marriage drove her crazy with her husband's offences. With the rise of other religions and the weakening of the Greek Gods, Hera has become more "Chill." Oddly enough, Zeus has also chilled out some and the number of modern Demigods is tiny compared to centuries past.
October 14, 2015 – News – The Protection of Super Powered Beings (PSPB) is a fairly new organization that strives to protect the human rights of all Super Powered Being no matter the origin of their supernatural abilities. They work especially close with human rights and humanitarian organizations to make sure young SPBs (such as metahuman children) don't become weapons. Cognito Inc donated a few million to the non-profit organization and I donated a million through them.
October 15, 2015 – I got a call from John Constantine. That can't be good.
*DOOM*
House of Mystery
Interdimensional Space
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Time Relative
1POV
"Welcome to the House of Mystery"
"Glad to be here, Constantine."
The infamous occultist John Constantine left a message at Cognito Inc that he was looking for me. While scrying and magical sensing methods fail to work on me due to my complete immunity to magic, my wives Raven and Jade have become extremely powerful and well-known figures in the magical communities. If Constantine wants to talk to me, something Bad must be going down.
"So, what's the problem, John?"
"Over the last few years, my job has gotten easier and more difficult at the same time." says John pouring himself a glass of an alcoholic beverage. I can't see the label, but it's a gold-brown amber color. "The number of visitors from Hell has been decreasing for four years and many summoning contracts have gone cold. I have a bloody wall of books for summoning demons and damned souls from the pit and they are about as useful as used toilet paper."
"I can see why that would be both bad and good. At least if you can't summon anything, nobody else can."
"With my bloody luck, I thought it was the calm before the storm. When it first started, I figured a war broke out in Hell after you and your girl killed Asmodeus and the demons were simply gathering forces to fight over territories. "Explains Constantine as he drinks, "Then I noticed the black magic, the stuff that draws magic directly from demons instead of summoning them was also fading. This meant the demons themselves were dying. Even Phenex who had bloody resurrection is gone."
"The armies of hell being dead would make most people happy, but...?"
"But I'm more worried about what killed them." says Constantine, "I was finally able to find a sealed demon on the magical black market. I made a contract with it, I would release it, banish it to hell, and then summon it back to the mortal plane in return for what information he could gather from hell."
"I can assume you were going to 'betray' him and either seal or send him back to hell when you were finished."
"Bloody right, but I didn't get a chance." says Constantine, pouring a second glass "I had things set up so I could see and hear what the bugger could see and hear. When he entered hell, neither one of us could believe what we saw. Different parts of Hell look different depending on the ruler and the souls that inhabit it, but now everything was covered in nightmarish black trees."
"Trees. Trees that look like they are made of metal and pulsate like flesh?"
"You know of them?"
"Qlipthoth - the Tree of Death. I derive part of my power from them."
"Those death trees now cover the majority of hell. The demon explored for hours and all he could see was the canopy of those trees. Then he was killed by a black monster." says Constantine, "A very familiar looking monster."
Constantine waves his hand and conjures the image of the demon's killer, and I can only stare.
A towering, muscular humanoid standing two-and-a-half meters (8'2) stands on the battlefield as it's victor. The massive menacing being has skin the black color of volcanic rock covered in glowing golden veins and a mane of metallic golden hair resembling sharp wire. Its glowing gold eyes stare down at the countless dead with dark joy. All the souls in possession of the deceased demons flow to their new master. He looks like me with different coloration, like a palette swap from a fighting game.
"Before the demon was killed, he gave it a message to me through it." says Constantine, "Ash Grey, continue to dominate the mortal world for Obsidian Black rules Hell."
"Shit."
"So, who is he?"
"While Raven and me were in Hell, seven brother demons came after us for the bounty. One of the brothers had an enchanted axe that succeeded in slicing off my arm. I became immune to its magic, and we killed the demons, but I lost my severed arm in the lava flows. I think Obsidian Black grew from my severed arm."
"Hell was destroyed by something that was cut off you." says Constantine, "You are seriously broken."
"I did notice something."
"What?"
I transform into my full eight-foot-two form, which is almost a mirror of Obsidian Black.
"When I was first 'born' I was around seven-foot. After my time in Hell, I was Seven-foot-Seven. Recently, I grew again to eight-foot-two." I say looking into my counterpart's eyes, "We are still connected. "
"Bloody Hell."
*DOOM*
A little later
"Hey, Ash. Do you think you could help me with something before you leave?"
"What is it, John?"
Constantine chants something in distorted Latin. It sounds like "Venite ante me!" or "Come before me!". As he does two huge glowing gold magical circles appear above his raised palms. The two circles slowly turn in opposite directions and as John moves his arms, the two now horizonal circles fuse and turn red. As he pulls his arms hide, the red circle separates into two red circles with a large metal chest between them. The metal chest appears to be made of a silvery alloy with numerous holy symbols and incantations against evil. They may be written in Ancient Latin, a dead form of Chinese, and Enochian – the language of angels – but thanks to upgraded [Omnilingualism], I can read anything as well as speak it.
Constantine then cuts his finger and runs it across a groove on the chest. He then says the lyrics to a very dirty English Punk song in Enochian. Very dirty lyrics that would get you killed if you said them in Church. I'm guessing it's an unreleased song from Mucous Membrane - an English punk rock band that featured John Constantine, going by the stage name "Johnny Con-Job," as its lead singer. Constantine could have been the next Gordon Sumner, but he accidentally summoned a demon that took the soul of little girl Astra Logue (a young girl he was trying to save). As a result, the band broke up and Constantine spent years in a psychiatric hospital.
As Constantine opens the locks and the chest opens, a voice is heard. It comes from the endless darkness inside the small box.
"What do you want, Constantine?"
"Vault Keeper. I want you to pull out everything."
"Password?"
What Constantine says shocks even me.
"Correct."
From inside the silver chest come six more chests, most of them larger than the silver chest.
"It's bigger on the inside." I comment reminded of both Harry Potter and Doctor Who.
"Doctor Who fan?" asks Constantine as glowing chains appear on the new chests connected to the silver box before breaking into fading magical particles
"Yes!"
"Good man" says Constantine as he closes the silver chest, which drops back into a magical circle and vanishes.
"So, you heard about my ability to dispose of magical items?"
"There is a lot of buzz in the magical communities. There were demons complaining that certain curse items had been destroyed at Fate's Tower after existing for centuries. There was also a cult that despaired that their master's destined returned was scrapped. They all decided to drink the Bad Kool-Aid. Finally, there was the Atlantis incident with Abyssal Dark."
"So, let's get started."
*DOOM*
John Constantine stares at the empty chests that once contained the most dangerous magical items he has ever encountered. Tomes of Eldritch Lore, Infernal Contracts, various items containing sinister demons and dark souls of ancient sorcerers, parts of demons that would turn Constantine's hair white, and objects that drive people mad with their mere presence. There were even copies of the Necronomicon, Book of Eibon, Pnakotic Manuscripts, Darkhold, and Book of Thoth.
"I can't believe it! You ate them all!"
"I told you I consumed magical items. Urp!"
"Saying that you consume magic items is a little different then, actually watching you pop them in your mouth and annihilating them. "
"So, what was the last one I ate? It was the grossest one."
"I don't actually know. Anyone that read that read from the book, even the title became corrupted. It was in possession of a hedonistic sex and murder cult run by a bunch of corrupt millionaires."
"I knew it reminded me of Gotham."
*DOOM*
Blue Rose Church
Los Angeles, California
Thursday, October 15, 2015
18:19 (sunset)
1POV
Blue roses are often used to symbolize mystery or attaining the impossible. They can't exist in nature due to genetics but can be created using science and hard work. The founder of the Blue Rose Church also believed that humanity could achieve anything because God put the potential in them. He looked to the world of metahumans and merely saw it as humanity awakening their potential. His positive message and charisma would have made him a great leader who would have helped humanity. That is why the forces of Hell wanted him gone.
Blue Rose Church's founder was murdered by his own second-in-command who had been seduced by a demoness. A demoness who brought out the worst parts of him and the Blue Rose followers. Eventually the cult turned violent, and the police responded. A violent shootout left over two hundred dead, their souls becoming consumable currency in Hell.
Now, a demon stumbles into the church. It was once a very impressive demon with horns, bat wings, and the lower body of a snake ending in a blade-like tail. Now, its body is barely more than a burnt skeleton with charred bones for wings and damaged tail. Most of its skin is gone to reveal the burnt muscle underneath and there is barely a glow in his eyes.
"Nergal" says a female voice in the shadows.
"Daughter."
The Anunnaki were gods worshipped by the people of ancient Mesopotamia. They are the children of the sky-God Anu, and include Ishtar, Tiamat and Tammuz. Nergal was once a God of Ancient Babylon, a God of war, disease and death. After their age ended, Nergal refused to fade from the world and became a demon of hell so he could continue to feed on war, disease, and death.
Nergal has a very long history with John Constantine. When John was a child, he disguised himself as another child and gave the boy his first cigarette. He congratulated himself on beginning John's corruption only to realize John pocked the entire pack of cigarettes. He was the demon John summoned during the New Castle incident - the one that took Astra's soul to hell as payment. When Cult and a faction of Heaven attempted to create a new messiah. Nergal infected Constantine so he could make the vessel for the birth (his ex-girlfriend) impure.
The last major conflict between them was in Los Angeles, when Nergal took the soul of the daughter of his best friend Chris Chandler hostage. John was forced to sacrifice his friendship and a father's love to save the girl using the Camdever Curse. Nergal was burnt alive from the inside, but ancient demons are hard to permanently kill.
"Why are you here? I thought you would be recovering in Hell."
"The last of the Hell lords has fallen to the Black Beast. Hell is now his Forest and the power that once fueled us demons now only serves to make the trees grow. None of the Seventy-Two will ever rise again. I wonder if Morningstar foresaw this disaster and that was one of the reasons, he abandoned it for Earth."
"So why did you come here, father. Did you foolishly believe I would help you?"
"Did you foolish believe I would not have a plan, Rosacarnis?" he yells back before chanting in Ancient Babylonian. Rosacarnis attempts to attack him with a fire blast, but a wave of mystic power resembling blue flames explodes from him and washes over her. She cries out in unimaginable agony as her magic, her demonic energy, her very quintessence is ripped from her body. Blue ethereal energy flows from her into Nergal, causing her to wither, while he regenerates. Rosacarnis' emaciated husk of a body bursts in flames and is ash before it hits the ground. Nergal flexes his now strong and powerful body.
"Thank you, daughter. That was the best gift you have ever given me."
"You're a real piece of work, Nergal."
Nergal turns to see Constantine and me standing in the shadows. He didn't detect John before now because of an impressive invisibility spell and Nergal's extensive injuries. Nergal didn't detect me due to my [Supernatural Stealth] skill.
"John Constantine. Why am I not surprised?" says Nergal, then looks at me, "Who's your new friend?"
"My name is Ash." I reply. A feel a spell trying to affect me, emphasize on Try.
"Didn't John tell you what happened to all his friends? How his best friend lost everything important to him?"
"And how you ended up unappetizing barbeque."
Nergal springs towards me with supernatural speed with a punch that can shatter reinforced concrete, let alone a human skull. I caught his fist with ease, much to his shock.
"You were a god in ancient Babylon, right?"
"Yes."
I then proceed to smash him into the ground, I then grab his tail and whip him into the ground repeatedly, creating progressively deeper craters. I finally and casually smashed him one last time. I heard bones breaking as a did my impression of a green goliath.
"Puny God."
I then point at Nergal's chest, activate my [Soul Manipulation], and mentally pull. I rip out all the souls stored inside the demon. He apparently learned nothing from being burned from inside out by Camdever Curse. You think he would have gotten a "wallet" like the demons in hell I encountered over four years ago. Once drained of souls, Nergal is shaking with exhaustion.
"Who are you? You are not Holland, as that overgrown weed wouldn't help Constantine unless he was tricked. You don't look like those caped fools."
"I told you – I'm Ash. Ash Grey – The Doomsday" I say, and I can feel his "name magic" fail against me, "You have already met my arm."
I transform into my full eight-foot-two form and Nergal pales at the sight of me. He leaps back and begins a spell, his clawed hands surrounded by red symbols. A fiery portal opening behind Nergal.
Suddenly, golden chains wrap around Nergal's wrists and pull him into the air. Another chain erupts from the ground to bind his tail. The golden chains have a faint glow and must possess holy energy as Nergal's flesh burns at the touch of the golden metal links. The red glow of his spell fades and the escape portal violently closes.
Nergal watches as the John Constantine standing next to Ash fades away revealing he was just an illusion. The real Constantine appears closer to the altar with his hand on a golden magical seal. The cocky British bastard is even smoking a cigarette.
"Constantine!"
"Didn't want you to leave so soon you slippery bastard. This place was filled with hopes and dreams until your daughter ruined this place, so now those hopes and dreams are going to make sure you never get a chance to harm."
I can read any language due to my skill; this includes the magical runes on Constantine's seal. While the golden chains look like Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm Endiku from the Fate series, it's literally composed of Hopes & Dreams. I can hear the Undertalesoundtrack playing in my head.
Constantine begins to chant in Latin, the words of Exorcism. Nergal cries out in pain as the smoking where the golden chains touch him becomes stronger. Gold-white flames spread from the contact with the chains and Nergal begins to burn. Darkness pours out of Nergal and is destroyed by the light. When the flames stop, Nergal looks worse than when he stole the energy of his daughter.
"Do you mind if I deliver the final blow, John?"
"Feel free"
I form a needle-like bone spike and stab Nergal in chest, injecting the [Ultimate Acidic Poison]. Nergal's widen, then he begins to scream in pain. This scream is so loud the remaining windows of the abandoned church violently shatter. Constantine and me watch as pure blackness spreads from the wound and John can actually see what it's doing on a metaphysical level. It's an unstoppable acidic poison capable of dissolving anything. Neither Poison Immunity, Acid Immunity, Divinity or Immortality will not protect against it. Nergal is not just being physically broken down, the poison is breaking him down - mentally, spiritually, magically, and conceptually. All that is Nergal is being destroyed. As a supernatural creature, he doesn't stop screaming as his lung dissolve, but he does when his head does.
"Bloody Hell. Warn a man." says Constantine, holding his eyes which are crying blood. I make the Ultimate Poison vanish, so it doesn't go through the planet's crust and poison Gaea.
Constantine is then shocked when I stab him with a different needle. He's about to panic, when a wave of euphoria and vitality hits. "What the Hell is that!?"
"Due to a blessing for Serket, I can reverse my super venom into super medicine. Since I can make the Absolute Poisons, this means I can also make Panacea."
"Warn me next time." says the British Occultist, as he coughs and then inhales "I haven't breathed like this in years."
"You know, you could've gone to Cognito for a little touch-up."
"And go near the scariest fuckin' cape this side of the Atlantic? I think not."
*DOOM*
Friday, October 16, 2015 – Yesterday, I ate Constantine's Collection – a collection of cursed objects somehow worse than Doctor Fate's collection. I fulfilled my role as the "ultimate garbage disposal". I was worried I would be burping hellfire for a week, but thankfully shooting off an Abyss Roar drained the gas tank.
It also killed a pocket dimension according to Doctor Fate. Thankfully, the dimension was a prison and only filled with demonic imps.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015 – Daniya is a fan of Halloween, but we (Raven and me) have already decided she would go as her halfa hero form. Ever since the Halloween Event, those that continue to dress up have decided to only go as "What You Want to Be". Some schools have even banned superhero costumes fearing a rise in metahumans, but there are already enough new metahumans that META Academies are popping up.
Thursday, October 22, 2015 – Daniel "Danny" Fenton, Samantha "Sam" Manson, and Daniella "Dani" Fenton. Danny and Dani are also known as Danny Phantom and Dani Phantom, with Sam now using the hero's name Ghost-Vine. They finally got a chance to meet Daniya Fenton-Grey. She calls herself Grey Phantom, after my surname and the Adam West - Grey Ghost series she likes to watch. It was adorable, heart-warming, and awkward at the same time. It was probably weirdest for Sam; she was meeting the daughter of her boyfriend's analogue and another woman from another universe.
Rorschach also chose that moment to send a message. Danny and Sam were now legally married. I said, "About time", while Dani laughed at her genetic/ectoplasm donor. The couple turned interesting shades of red while Daniya watched cutely.
Monday, October 26, 2015 – There was an assassination attempt of Lex Luthor and his family. According to what Superboy told me, Luthor supplied weaponry to rebels in a small South American country, who eventually took out the dictator leadership with the help of secret American allies. The dictator's son, leading the terrorists, wanted revenge on American for interring with their nation. He was stopped by the Young Justice team, who have become far more public.
October 27. 2015 – The Inklings got a new member, and I learned one of my wives is Badass even without her incalculable magic.
*DOOM*
The Heart of the Demon
Taklamakan Desert, Xinjiang, China
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
23:45
3POV
In folk etymology, Taklamakan is said to mean "Place of No Return", more commonly interpreted as "once you get in, you'll never get out" or similar. It is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Pamir Mountains to the west, the Tian Shan range to the north, and the Gobi Desert to the east.
In the depths of Taklamakan, there is a secret place only accessible to those possessing magic. The Heart of the Demon is a mystical training ground where humans are said to discard their humanity to become demons. A legendary training ground for assassins and masters of murderous martial arts. For centuries, only the most dedicated and skilled members of the League of Shadows have entered its unholy halls with the permission of the Demon's Head – Ra's al Ghul.
Now, for the first time in centuries, there are intruders. Two people, not even members of the League of Shadows, let alone given permission, have breached the mystical barriers for unknown reasons.
One of the intruders is a man of average height dressed in black with a long black trench coat and gloves. The only unique feature is a featureless black metal mask with the yin-yang symbol on his face. His movements are supernatural, moving with a grace and precision that seems inhuman to watchers.
The other intruder is a woman with a lean athletic build. She is dressed in black like a fantasy kunoichi with gloves on her hands and a mask hiding her face. The mask is made of white bone with blood red markings, shaped like multi-eyed raven.
When they first appeared, a group of warriors gathered to attack them, but neither intruder showed the slightest amount of fear. The male simply nodded to the female, like a master silently commanding his student. The female then became a blur of action, delivering crippling blows to her enemies, while avoiding their own strikes and weapons.
Some of the assassins and dark martial artists attempted to attack the man, only for their attacks to miss by the distance of a hair's width. Even the one mercenary that pulls out his gun and opens fire fails to hit his target. The idiot does manage to hit several of his comrades, but the mysterious master heals them with a wave of his hand.
The female warrior's speed and agility is far beyond the limits of normal students and approaching the level of legendary masters. She dodges attacks with ease and delivers brutal blows that leave her opponents broken on the ground.
They go deeper and deeper into the Heart of the Demon. Each new level is filled with new dangers and new opponents.
Assassins possessing immense strength and those possessing great speed.
Assassins skilled in ancient weapons and assassins skilled in modern weapons.
Assassins that can manipulate the natural elements and Assassins with dark otherworldly powers.
All are defeated by the female warrior, while the masked man is an untouchable as a ghost.
The last opponent is special. She is Sandra Wu-San, better known as Lady Shiva. She is the sensei of the League of Shadows and the enforcer for the Light. Having dedicated her life to the study of combat, she is a human weapon living for the thrill of a good fight. A woman willing to sacrifice anything to achieve a warrior's perfection.
"I will admit I'm impressed by your martial prowess. You defeated the elite and reached the deeper layer faster than even I did. If you had joined the League the Shadows, I'm positive you would be my equal in authority. Unfortunately, you have broken into this place and killed..."
"Incorrect." says the masked man, his voice distorted and unrecognizable.
"What?"
"No one has died. To transverse the Demon's Heart and kill none is the Quest."
"Killed none?" says Sandra, finding it difficult to suppress her surprise. She braved the Demon's Heart when she was twenty-one (she is currently thirty-four) and she was completely soaked in blood by the time she reached the last level. This girl managed to get to the last level without a single kill!
The masked woman walks forward and gestures at Lady Shiva. Lady Shiva takes a stance, while the masked man moves back to witness the fight. There is a pause, then the two begin their fight.
Shiva is one of the deadliest martial artists in the world. Her lethal style of combat has allowed her to easily subdue Batman himself. She knows many forms of martial arts including Leopard Style Kung Fu, Dragon Style Kung Fu, Judo, Capoeira, Kokusho, Savate, Karate, and Stick Fighting. Her most deadly fighting style is Dim Mak: An ancient form of martial arts where you strike vital points of the opponent's body causing paralysis, intense and prolonged pain or death.
The masked woman also uses a combination of Chinese martial arts, but it's mixed with far greater training and experience. This is not a normal fighting style as only someone who has surpassed mortal age, like an immortal, could reach this level of mastery. Lady Shiva also notices her opponent is deceiving her – as the pain she inflicts is fake.
Lady Shiva draws her sword, but the blade is stopped and broken by a single movement. She does manage to stab the masked woman, but the woman ignores the wound and deliver a brutal blow. The cracking of bone is audible to everyone, and her eyes widen in pain. The masked woman then takes advantage of Shiva's pain and delivers a combination of brutal blows. The masked woman doesn't go for killing blows, but she does go from crippling, painful blows.
Lady Shiva stares at the masked woman as her body shakes. Part of her is excited, the woman who lived for martial arts before she joined the League of Shadows. Part of her is angry, she is losing to an unknown warrior after all her sacrifices. Part of her is scared, she is about to lose and the times she lost were the worst times of her life. She pushes away the anger and fear, emptying her heart of emotion. She moves forward and delivers the Dim Mak without thought, delivering a series of blow that would kill a mortal man or woman in less than a heartbeat.
Instead, it's Lady Shiva that hits the ground, her heart stopped by the masked woman's own blows. Lady Shiva's world fades to darkness, but a burst of pain returns her to the world of the living. The masked woman has hit a counterpoint and restarted her heart. She is too weak to move, but she can speak.
"Why? Why didn't you kill me?"
"Today, you do not lose your life. Instead, you are losing something just as important." says the masked man, "Children should have a chance to grow up loved and not be tools for the ambitions of their parents. You may be a great teacher, but you are not a good mother."
"Cassandra"
The daughter of David Cain and Sandra Wu-San, Cassandra Wu-San (Cain) was conceived and trained from birth with the intention of creating the perfect bodyguard for Ra's al Ghul and Ra's future heir – Damien Wayne. In 2003, Sandra gave birth to Cassandra. A member of the League of Shadows, Shiva raised her daughter to be the ultimate assassin. She didn't teach her to read and had her vocal cords severed, so that her only language would be body language—the language of death. The training was brutal enough to leave the young girl covered in scars.
Lady Shiva desperately tries to grab the masked man's ankle only for her fingers to pass through him.
"He should have already taken her to be with the other girls." says the masked woman, her voice sound familiar to Sandra's ears. The woman waves her hand around creating a magical mist. Slowly ethereal white flames appear in the mist, the souls of the deceased. Slowly, those souls form spirit bodies. They are all assassin, warriors and martial artists, both male and female. Some of them look recently dead, only killed within the last few decades, while others look like they could be from over half a millennium ago. They all bow before the masked woman.
"These are souls of dead collected in the Heart of the Demon. Their spiritual energies containing their vitality, their memories, and their skills flow through this place. That is the secret of the Demon's Heart, when you become close to death, you become a vessel for the power. The strong feeding on the weak."
"Who are you?"
The masked woman pulls off her bone mask, holding it tightly in her hand. Sandra is shocked that she can't see the woman's face, only a mass of darkness with two glowing red eyes. As the woman crushes her mask, it dissolves into darkness that swirls around the kunoichi. The dark illusions dissolve revealing the true form of the masked kunoichi – Demon Queen Jade.
"Why?" asks Sandra, struggling as the adrenaline fades and the pain increases.
Demon Queen Jade just smiles cruelly, then says one word.
"RISE."
*DOOM*
A different part of the base.
A few minutes ago.
3POV
Cassandra Cain sits cross-legged on the floor. She knew from a young age what her purpose was. She was raised to become the ultimate assassin by her parents to serve the family of Ra's al Ghul. The young child has experienced a lot of pain due to the desires of her parents, which has left her body covered in scars from the training. She was never even taught normal language, instead she was taught solely to read body language. Even her voice was surgically removed so she could never use words. As she meditates, she can still feel doubt in her heart. She saw people die and it horrific to her, to see a person's language filled with pain and fear, then go completely silent. Her mother said she would understand death better in time, that they would ease her into it by having her kill only criminals at first. Part of Cassandra doesn't want to end anyone's life.
Suddenly, a glowing portal opens in front of her. This is not like the Boom Tubes used by the Light, but a softer monochromatic portal. She watches as a man in a trench coat enters her room. He's wearing a strange mask of pure white and pure black, never mixing, in consistent symmetrical patterns. She can tell this is due to heat and pressure of the face beneath. She can also tell he has no hostile intent and only wants to help her.
The most-terrifying man in the world, Rorschach, takes a knee before her, arms spread wide. His guard is completely down, something anyone else in the League of Shadows would be chomping at the bit to take advantage of, but for Cassandra, she can only stare wide-eyed at the message being conveyed to her.
I am here.
Wide eyes filling with tears, the next moment she runs into his arms, wrapping her own around him and burying her face into his chest, the man holding her like a loving parent, stroking her hair, letting his actions do the talking.
Minutes later, they leave through the portal for home.
*DOOM*
Saturday, October 31, 2015 – Halloween – Daniya enjoyed a costume party with her friends. Her friends being a strange mix of Inklings, League kids, and Cognito employee kids. We maxed out the magical and non-magical protections to make sure the kids would have a safe Halloween. Daniya still managed to summon a Ghost Knight, but thankfully he wasn't a problem for our group. Jade taught Daniya how to bind the Knight as Daniya's protector. Jade could have taken the knight, or I could have ripped the knight into ethereal fragments, but we thought the kid should have a bodyguard.
Sunday, November 1-3, 2015 – The League magicians figured out why the Ghost Knight showed up. A bunch of occultists were upset that their infernal contracts were failing, so they attempted a major summoning ritual. Instead of getting any of the strongest demons (because my counterpart killed them all), they summoned thirteen "strongest" ghosts of hell. We spent Three Days cleaning up that mess.
*DOOM*
Ace Chemical Processing Plant
Gotham City, NJ, USA
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
18:50 (sunset)
3POV
Ace Chemical Processing Plant has a very infamous history.
In 2000, a twenty-two-year-old no-name comedian reached the lowest point in his life. He was robbing the chemical plant dressed as Red Hood. The Red Hoods were patsy identity used by organized criminals, someone to take all the blame if they got caught by the police. Instead of encountering the police, they encountered a young vigilante – The Batman. During the conflict, the Red Hood fell into a vat of green chemicals that bleached his skin and drove his unstable mind into insanity. This was the origin of the infamous murderous Clown Prince of Crime - Joker.
On October 6, 2010, Ace Chemical, birthplace of the Joker also became the deathplace of the Joker. The now world feared Rorschach made his debut by broadcasting the brutal execution of the Joker. He had Gotham's most infamous criminal in an electric chair and fried the clown. After the clown began to burn, he was dumped into corrosive chemicals and dissolves like so much garbage.
Ace Chemical Processing Plant was eventually bought by Cognito Inc, who shut the place down. Cognito Facilities can produce chemicals cleanly and with absolute safety. Workers' Rights and OSHA loves Cognito Inc, unlike other Gotham businesses. There have been places to demolish Ace Chemicals, but Gotham Bureaucracy has slowed things down.
Tonight, a group of men have gathered in the abandoned factory.
"Why this place?" says a young man.
"Most of the warehouses are now owned and monitored by Cognito. People stay away from this place because they consider it cursed." says the leader.
Most of the group are people who hate Gotham – the city of crime. By the 1930s, crime and corruption had reached a significant height in Gotham, which became immortally characterized as a dark foreboding metropolis. Other than street crime caused by rising unemployment and insufficient police funding, organized crime carved up the city into territories. Then came the age of capes and suddenly the city was flooded by mentally ill savants.
Rorschach and Cognito's appearance changed things. Crime Lords, some whose families had been in power for half a century, were brutally killed off. Batman's rogues were captured and neutralized – reduced to normal people with no memories of their pass crimes and inability to regain their lost skills. The once infamous Arkham Asylum (The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane) - a revolving door for Gotham's criminally insane – is now a decaying ruin after having its corruption exposed and its patients "healed".
Batman, whose hiding in the shadows, knows who each of these men are.
One was the brother of a man who died of Jonathan Crane's fear toxin. One was the older brother of a girl who was unfortunate enough to become Jarvis Tetch's brainwashed "Alice" and was left damaged. One lost his parents when they were involved in a traffic accident involving Wayton Jones. All these men are relatives of victims.
The Leader of the group has the most losses in his life. His parents were killed in front of him as a child by members of a crime family. He came a police officer to fight crime only for his crooked partner to betray him. Finally, his own wife and daughter were killed during a turf war between two rival super criminals.
"Then Rorschach and Cognito came to the city. We didn't know it was them back then, but the people of Gotham suspected it was them. The crime lords that the law couldn't touch died, killed like insects. The Bat's Rogues were reduced to ordinary men and women, stripped of everything. They did what the Bat could not do. Today, we say goodbye to the nightmares."
The Leader pulls out a small metal sphere and clicks a button. Batman is worried that it's a bomb and goes to save the men. Instead of an explosion, the sphere lets out a shockwave of energy. Batman quickly realizes it's an anti-metal weapon as the chemical vats, tubes and piping of the factory dissolve into liquid. Even the large machines collapse and dissolve. The chemicals, plastics, oil, and glass have already been removed from the factory. As the effect ends, physics returns to the mixing liquid alloy, which becomes piles of mixed metal powder.
The Leader and his group look at Batman, while protecting themselves with plastic-carbon umbrellas.
"Batman. Why are you here?"
"More importantly, why are you people here?" asks Batman.
"We are part of a Gotham survivors' group. Since Cognito finally got permission to destroy this place, the Doc felt it would be good symbology."
Batman must resist the urge to slap himself.
*DOOM*
June LI's Market
Chinatown, Gotham City, NJ.
Same Time
1POV
I look around the antique store catering to the Asian community. In my hand is a little gold charm made by Raven and Jade. It looks like a 20-sided Dice – icosahedron – dangling from a golden keychain. The 20-sided polyhedron itself is black with gold symbols on its faces. I feel the tug and follow it to a small box containing gold/jade earrings. I activate my Gamer Analyse.
[Lover's Music Earring] - A set of magical earrings dating back to the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD). Other than preserving charms and being invisible to thieves, these earrings record all music and beautiful nature sounds heard by the wearer. The wearer possessing magic can play any of these records. [Gotham Relic - 13/15 Found]
This is another of Rorschach's Random Quests. Sometimes I wonder why I do them, but the girls say I should do more than spend my days around the Bunker.
Suddenly, I heard a commotion. Thanks to Jade and my own omni-lingualism I understand what they are saying in Chinese.
"Why are you here, David!?" says the pretty young Chinese woman at the desk.
"You betrayed me, June! When I came to you for help, you turned me into the cops!" says a dirty-looking Chinese man with greased black hair and a leather jacket.
"You're the idiot that robbed a liquor store. I wasn't about to risk losing grandmother's store because of my loser ex-boyfriend."
"I'll show you a loser!" he yells back, only for June to pull out a handgun.
"Gotham self-defense. Lord Batman may not like firearms, but I sure do."
"You are such a fangirl."
"Shut up!"
I see David pull an injector out of his pocket. I run over to stop him, but it's too late as he injects himself with a drug. My fears are confirmed as he grows to the point where his jacket and shirt tear apart. A grotesquely muscular body with hardened skin cracked in placed to show exposed muscle tissue – Kobra Venom. This being the non-permanent street variant that popped up recently, not the quality shit that Brain uses in his experiments.
June fires a shot, but the bullets fail to pierce the hardened flesh.
"You can't hurt me, but I can hurt you." says David as he reaches for her.
I grab David's wrist, stopping his movements cold. David despite his new size and power can't move his wrist in the slightest.
"Who the hell are you?"
"I'm a monster that is far stronger than you." I say as I crush his wrist. I can feel the enlarged bones break and the hard skin crack like rock under my hand. David falls to his knees crying in pain. "Do you surrender David, or do I show you want a member of the Cognito – SPB Division can do?"
"Why are you here?" asks David, trying to hold back the pain.
"I'm buying earrings for my wife."
David punched me, but only succeeded in cracking the skin on his fist. My retaliation of face slaps threatens to shatter his skull. I add a few more slaps and only stop when blood starts to fly. I might be enjoying this fool's pain, but I doubt the lady will enjoy cleaning up the blood stains.
Finally, David surrenders and is taken away by the police.
One good thing came from that annoyance. I got a discount on the earrings.
*DOOM*
Wednesday, November 4, 2015 – Got a Quest from Rorschach's Gamer. I had to find 15 magical relics in Gotham City. Thankfully, Jade and Raven made a charm to help me, so it didn't take me long to find them. I was surprised to learn that finding those 15 little items somehow prevented the death of 15 million people. Butterfly wings, I guess.
Friday, November 6, 2015 – Priss and Max got a Quest in New Orleans. They were only told to go to the town and they ended up rescuing a newbie superhero who got in over his head. When they got back from saving the idiot, they were soaked to the bone with the remains of their costumes barely covering anything. After some warm baths, they needed me to make them "feel better".
Saturday, November 7, 2015 – Starfire and Blackfire got a Quest in Northern Canada. They had to rescue a group of Inuit metahumans who were being hunted by deranged hunter. The children possessed the ability to turn into artic animals who were on a spiritual journey. The hunter was a religious nutcase who believed all metahumans were the work of demons and his liberal use of illegal drugs pushed him way over the edge.
Sunday, November 8, 2015 – I got sent on a Quest to New Mexico. My mission was to capture a woman named Tiffany Adams who escaped from a government lab. I was quick to note it said "capture", not "rescue". It turns out that Tiffany was actually a shape-shifting gynoid created by the Greys and left behind after a crash in the late 1940s. The bot had been discovered and used for sexual recreation by a newbie soldier, who eventually used him to escape. She was planning on enslaving humanity and selling them to her grey-skinned masters. The gynoid turned out to be insane, because the warranty was for seven years, not close to seventy. She was destroyed when she tried to seduce me and instead of giving her the D, I gave her a flame breathe to the face.
Thursday, November 12, 2015 – The Gamer gave Quest involving a Big Belly Burger in Los Altos. It's trolling again, isn't it?
*DOOM*
Big Belly Burger
Los Altos, CA
Thursday, November 12, 2015
12:35
3POV
Los Altos—which means "The Heights" in Spanish—is on the Western border of Silicon Valley, located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Largely a city full of commuters, Los Altos is home to just over 30,500 people, of which 84.2% of the adults have at least a bachelor's degree—making it the fourth most educated city in the United States. It's also considered to be the second wealthiest city in America after Southlake, TX.
Mark W. Green had ambitions when he was younger, dreaming of leading a multibillion dollar companies like Queen, Wayne, and Luthor. Those dreams died when his businesses failed and the best, that Mark could do was run a Big Belly Burger franchise - a chain of restaurants owned by the conglomerate, LexCorp. Even then he's competing with the O'Shaughnessy next door.
Both fast food businesses have taken a hit after Cognito released the Food Printers. Why buy unhealthy burgers from a franchise filled with annoying people and greasy employees? Especially, when you can print off a burger with all the texture and taste, and less than a tenth of the fat, sugar, and cholesterol.
"Get to the point!" says Demon Queen Jade and Demon Princess Raven, both in their civilian forms. They are currently holding MW Green in the air using sharp shadow tendrils.
"I added an illegal addictive to the sauce! It was supposed to attract more customers, but it made people more mentally susceptible. When I realized it, I came up with a plan. I would pose as a loser super villain to take the blame and then run off with money I get from the patrons." babbles the man dressed in black with red boots and gloves. He used to have pressurized tanks of condiments rigged to spraypainted deluxe super-soaker.
"Condiment King. You called yourself Condiment King. You named yourself after one of the most useless villains in the history of modern villainy." says Jade Chan.
Raven is currently removing the mixture of mayonnaise, tomato ketchup, mustard, and hot sauce from their hair and clothing. This spell is powerful enough to cleanse the hundreds of bound mind-controlled patrons and the actual restaurant surfaces of the same. Even a half-eaten burger on someone's wrapper disintegrates completely and vanishes.
The original Condiment King - Mitchell Mayo, also known under the alias Buddy Standler, is a joke villain that was taken down by Robin and Batgirl back in 2013. The only danger he ever posed was his condiment guns could cause anaphylactic shock under circumstances, but his ludicrous nature prevented the justice department taking him seriously. He eventually died of a food allergy.
"I thought about calling myself Burger King, but the last time a villain named themselves after a fast-food mascot – RBI had their legs broke!"
Suddenly, they both get messages on their Party Gamer system.
"Rorschach is doing the official wedding ceremonies?"
"Do you think Ash would ever go through the whole ceremony?"
"I doubt it. He told me the one time he wore a tuxedo was his high-school Grad. His parents had to pay him to go to it with his cousin. He hates formal clothing to the point it's one of the reasons he doesn't attend weddings or funerals."
"He didn't even attend his grandfather's funeral?"
"Ladies" says Condiment King II, crying miserably, "I don't mean to interrupt, but could you please call the police. Being held like this really hurts!"
They glare at him in annoyance.
"There... There are also people that have to be treated for the additive?"
Only then do Raven and Jade pull out their Cognito smartphones.
*DOOM*
Chapters Store
70 Kenmount Road, St. John's
Newfoundland, Canada
Monday, November 23, 2015
10:55
1POV
Chapters Inc. is a Canadian big box bookstore banner owned by Indigo Books and Music. Walking into this place fills me with nostalgia. This place was my paradise every time I came to St. Johns for my medical checkup. Due to surgery, I had to come to the capital every few months to be treated by a specialist. Buying books, mainly manga and graphic novels was my pleasure.
I'm currently sitting at a table in the coffee shop with Blackfire. Due to a glamour, she looks like a normal human woman, as much as I look like a normal human male. It doesn't stop people from staring as she's still a six-foot-two goddess and I'm a seven-foot bodybuilder even in human form.
"I've never seen you with that smile." says Blackfire
"I have so many good memories of this place. I remember going to this place's counterpart over and over again. The smell of fresh books and the people drinking coffee. I remember looking at the titles in the manga section and gathering books in the plastic bins. I only had a limited amount of time before my mom returned."
"Your mom?"
"Remember, I didn't know how to drive and she took me everywhere. It was a long trip from our town and she didn't like driving in the worst of Newfoundland's weather or at night."
"So where was your town?"
"It doesn't exist in this world. There is a different town in the same bay with its massive forest of birch and evergreens, and view of the ocean, but it's not the same. My house is not there and looks like it never was."
"What was your house like?"
"It was small and barely had any room. It used to be next to my grandfather's store, but after he retired the place was torn down. Their used to be another place nearby with a steep hill, I road down it when I was child and ended up with a scar on my face. We had giant trees that I loved and thorny flowers that I hated. When I looked out the window, I could see the bay. "I say remembering the house I grew up in, "We were so close to the water and forest, we saw a lot of animals. Squirrels, blue jays, gray jays, and robins. Seagulls, bald eagles, ducks, and geese. Otters and Porpoises. When I did beach combing, I always found crabs and jellyfish in the summer"
Suddenly, the sky darkens and it begins to heavy rain.
"Newfoundland weather has always been crap, but I never saw the sky change that fast before." I comment, "Do you think it's a Rainmaker?"
Rainmaker is another word for a weather manipulator. Earth-DR has several metahumans that have the ability to manipulate the weather not including X-Men's Ororo Munroe/Storm, Sarah Rainmaker of Gen 13, and my magical wives when they get angry enough. Weather Wizard used to be able to control the weather, but he was neutralized and last I heard is trying to be a good father.
The storm gets worse with strong wind and lightning begins to flash.
"We better get this under control before we have another Hurrican Igor."
Hurricane Igor was the most destructive tropical cyclone on record to strike the Canadian island of Newfoundland. It was one of the worst experiences as I spent weeks without electricity due to the storm damage. The light and power guys had to rebuild the infrastructure so it wouldn't happen again.
After putting our purchase in our Party Gamer Inventory, it's easy enough to find the cause of the storm. Below the center of storm is a young Chinese boy walking down the road, in the rain and wind, slowly crying.
I activate my Analyse and wince at the result.
Chén Mùchén is a young survivor from China. He lost everything – his parents, his siblings, his neighbors, and his friends – to the Dragons. Even his favorite heroes were killed by those dragons and he was only saved because of Cognito Inc. He was sent to live with his father's cousin who lived in Canada. He tried to have a new start with the other refugee families, but when his powers violently awoke, he was rejected by his caretaker. It's been several days as he became more miserable, the worst the bursts of weather manipulation became.
As he approaches, I do something I don't normally do. I grab and hug Mùchén. The young man struggles for a second, then breakdowns crying on my chest (he can't reach my shoulder). The storm fades away and the sunlight returns. I'm sure Cognito Inc will be able to help this man.
I notice Blackfire smiling at me, and I try not to blush. I don't want to ruin my rep as a monster.
*DOOM*
Central R&D Tower
Capital City, Reach world
Reach Home System, Sector 2
[Doomsday]
Earth Time - December 1, 2015
3POV
The Reach are an extraterrestrial race of conquerors, traveling the universe and conquering planets. Eventually, their conquest brought them into a protracted conflict with the Oans and their Green Lantern Corps over forty millennia years ago. The war ended in a draw and a peace treaty was signed by both sides in which each recognized the other's territory and the Reach agreed to conquer no additional worlds. The only worlds that did not possess that they could go to, were worlds they were invited to.
However, the Reach bypass this accord by resorting to deniable methods of conquest, by which the Reach created a series of biological weapons called Scarabs, which would be deployed to planets and using the data received to take them over. Four thousand years ago, the blue scarab Khaji Da was sent to Earth by the Reach in order to take a host and act as an advanced scout, assisting in the Reach's eventual conquest of the world. He was cleansed by magic ritual and eventually became the symbol of Blue Beetle hero legacy.
"So, this is how it all ends. I never thought we would be crushed like insects." says the Ambassador.
The ambassador is a humanoid male adult alien with green skin. The sclera of his eyes is yellow, while his irises are a darker yellow, closer to orange. His frame overall is tall, thin but muscular. He's currently dressed in casual clothing as he looks up at the world's destroyer.
The destroyer is a massive ship, more advanced than anything the Reach possesses, shaped like a humanoid skull. A massive metal skull with a menacing look, three glowing lights arranged in a triangle, and a mass of metallic tentacles extending the bottom. The eyes of the skull face glow blue white before particle beams streak towards the planet.
As the beam hits the planet, a wave of energy washes over everything. Matter is converted into energy, every man, woman, and major structure are reduced to data which is absorbed by the ship. What Brainiac considers important resources are taken, while the rest is left to collapse into the planet's mantle. Even those stations hidden in pocket dimensions are also destroyed.
This is the beginning of the end for the once great Empire. With the destruction of their home world, the second oldest species in the universe have begun their decline. The colony worlds will soon fight over the rulership of the Empire, which will further weaken the Reach Empire and allow rebellion and infiltration by foreign powers.
*DOOM*
"Hannu of Ovacron Six, Green Lantern of Sector 0002"
Hannu, the white-eyed ten foot tall grey-skinned humanoid awakens to find himself on a medical bed. At first the seven hundred twenty-pound extraterrestrial fighter is worried, then he notices his Green Lantern Ring is resting on a table next to him. He turns his head to see his benefactor, a humanoid male hidden in the shadows.
"Who are you?"
"A friend. I rescued you from the Reach labs. They implanted you with a mind control parasite designed to fool even the Power Ring. You would have been enslaved to the Reach and over time infected other members of the Green Lantern Corp, until they were ready to strike." says the man in the shadows, "Don't worry, I removed the parasite and repaired any damage."
"I have to warn them!"
"No hurry. Brainiac just destroyed the Reach World, so the Reach forces are in disarray. I suspect the Empire will fracture into Civil War. Only the fleet sent to Earth of Sector 2814 have any real organization left."
"2814? Hal Jordan's world. The one that keeps on spitting out lanterns?"
"The Reach believe they have made it to Earth, pass the Cognito defenses. They believe they were invited by hidden organization - The Light. They believe they can obtain metahumans and exploit Earth like other worlds. They believe a lot of things that are not true."
"Who are you?"
"Your savior and their executioner," the hidden figure said stepping out of the shadows, revealing symmetrically shifting black patterns on a white facemask.
*DOOM*
Rorschach's Inkwell
[Location Classified]
December 1, 2015
Base Clock:
3POV
19:01
"In the original timeline, this was the day the Collector of Worlds arrived on this planet. He would have sent probes to capture Metropolis to preserve it and the heroes would have met Kylstar– a crystal extraterrestrial seeking human weapons to overthrow his people's enslavers." says Rorschach, "The Collector of World was consumed by his counterpart Brainiac and Klystar is avoiding Earth for various reasons. One of them being the galaxy-feared crystal-eating monster Ashen Grey. "
Jim Hammond sits across from Rorschach. He's a pyrokinetic android created by Rorschach and based on the original Human Torch from the Marvel Universe. He was assigned to protect the Martian Space Bridge, but that was not the only reason he was sent to Mars.
"The item."
Hammond hands over a black case to Rorschach, who opens it to reveal a metal insect held in clear polymer. It looks like a large sacred scarab expect it has large mandibles and six thick legs. It's also composed of bright green metal.
In the canon Young Justice timeline, during an archeological dig on Mars, B'arzz O'oomm would have found the Reach's Green Beetle, becoming a Scarab warrior. Which would have also turned him into the puppet of the Reach who would help restore their control over Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes). B'arzz would have remained enslaved until June 14, 2016, when a magical ritual would free both him and Reyes. He wouldn't have kept the powers for long as on June 20, as the Reach warrior Black Beetle destroyed the Green Scarab.
"The Reach were the second race to appear in the universe after the Maltusians, the ones known as the Oans or Guardians to the Green Lanterns. While the Maltusians developed immortality and learned to harness the energy of emotion spectrum, those evolved insects developed Bleed energy technology and cybernetics. The Reach were one of the first expansionist empires that the so-called-Guardians fought against, even before the Manhunters and Green Lantern corps." says Rorschach explains things to Hammond, "Now Brainiac has the Reach Scarabs and he's so predictable."
"Is that all, Sir?"
"You're also invited to my Formal Wedding."