July 10th, 2020

By the tenth of July, the world at large had learned of the brief but terrible conflict that had threatened to plunge the world into a global conflict the likes of which hadn't been seen for some seventy-five years. Wielding impossible weaponry, they had inflicted the worst losses NATO had ever experienced since its foundation, including the sinking of NATO Maritime Group 2, the greatest navel disaster Britain has suffered since the second World War.

The official word from NATO - and in the particular President Gloria Vanderhall - was that their combined forces had managed to repel Asad's invasion with heavy losses, with the dictator himself having been killed in an airstrike on the Arab Federation's capital of Baghdad. More shocking are the reports of a nuclear detonation in the deserts of Arabia, the high yield of the bomb resulting in fallout that could potentially endanger all nearby settlements.

Statements from Raymond von Lüneburg - CEO of Lundgrau Intelligence Services - paint an entirely different picture of the conflict, however. He instead credits the defeat of the Arab Federation to a handful of extraordinarily empowered individuals, Lady Arcana, Emerald Knight and Grim among them. Were it not for their intervention, then the Arab Federation would have undoubtedly annexed all of Arabia within a matter of days at most, a mere stepping stone in Basil Al-Asad's quest to place all the Middle East firmly beneath his iron boot.

Regardless of the truth, however, the aftermath of the conflict is clear for all to see.

Without their leader, the Arab Federation has fallen into chaos. While the arrival of NATO's forces in Riyadh has managed to stabilize the Republic of Arabia, the Federation now sits on the precipice of civil war as rogue generals attempt to stake their own claim to power with their loyal forces, and ethnic and tribal tensions reignite without the oppressive fist of Asad to keep them suppressed.

As for the advanced technology wielded by the Federation, there have been numerous eyewitness accounts of none other than Lady Arcana spiriting it away in the aftermath of the conflict in an apparent attempt to deny NATO access to it. President Vanderhall has pointed to this as further evidence that she is no friend of the United States, and that these superpowered beings pose a threat to all of humanity if left unchecked.

July 12th 3:00 PM
Hub City Sewers

Today was the day!

It... had taken a bit to work up his courage, to get the information he needed, but Demon finally had a plan! Ever since he had first seen the news reports on the New York Riots he had been planning, scraping together what information he could through dirty newspapers and the little TV he had taken from the hobo habitat - sorry, man; to be fair he at least protected that hobo when that weird trenchcoat guy was stalking around the sewers once. What was up with him?

That wasn't Demon's business though. He just tried to keep to himself, keep alive. Maybe he could finally stop eating rats and the occasional can of beans he managed to pilfer. It's not like Demon was a thief, but he just... didn't do well with people anymore. But it was time for change! Which is why he was finally, finally, months after he first went down into the sewers, emerging into sunlight.

The heat on his skin was... odd. He had almost forgotten what it felt like. Warm, comforting. Demon brushed off some of the pavement from his shoulders as pulled himself out of the now ruined manhole cover. There was really no other way for him to get out, after all. What he hadn't forgotten however, was the screams.

They started as soon as he emerged, making the large blue man flinch. Instinctively he ducked his head, raising a hand to rub at the side of his face. He knew no scar lingered, his eye was completely intact, but still remembered the pain of the bullet tearing through him. After a moment he glanced around nervously. People were staring, or running, but no one was a danger to him. No guns. No weapons.

"Okay... I just have to get her attention." Raising up to his full height Demon glanced around, feeling a bit awkward. He was never one to really get into trouble - at least not on his own, peer pressure was a bitch. Just his presence inspired fear though, sending people running, but it wasn't enough! So the horned man moved to a nearby car, put his hand underneath it, and carefully pushed it onto its side.

There, that should do it, right? ... Right?

... Oh. There was a baby on board sign in the back.

Demon awkwardly put the car back down, wincing as he noticed the dent now in the window frame. Oops.

He scratched at his head, trying to figure out what to do. He didn't really want to ... you know, hurt anyone, or damage anything. Maybe he could just be threatening and wander around the streets? Yeah, yeah that could work! Demon turned on his heel to start down the street, and promptly headbutted a pole. He grunted, rubbing at his forehead and moving around the dented metal to start down further into the Hub City's slums. Even these people had to report a demon wandering around, right?

---

July 12th 3:21 PM
The Wedge

Karen smiled down at the simple brown basket she had prepared. It was packed with sushi, takoyaki and little wieners cut into octopus-shapes, among other treats from the land of the rising sun. She had been studying hard to learn how to prepare all of Zoey's favorite foods, and now felt confident that she hadn't assembled an altogether terrible picnic basket. Humming lightly to herself, she cheerfully stepped behind the couch as Sam lazed about on it watching television.

"I'm off to see Zoey! I'll be back sometime tonight!" Karen called out to her feline guardian.

Samantha rolled her head to one side, chuckling. "No, I don't think you will be."

"Eh?" Karen tilted her head to the side, only for the cat to jab a paw at the television screen, where a massive...blue...devilmanthing appeared to be fighting with the police. Or being shot at by them, at least.

Listening for a moment to the news report, she pursed her lips.

"This is Sarah Fortune with KBEL News, issuing a warning to all citizens within the Old Town district to remain in their homes. Police are currently engaged with what appears to be a large blue-skinned creature rampaging down 7th street. If you live on 7th Street, please avoid-"

Raising a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, Karen released a long groan of frustration. Why - of all days - did this thing pick today to attack her city? She had been looking forward to this day all week, and now...

"Ugh," Karen stepped back into the kitchen, setting the basket down on the counter. She then turned to point to Sam. "I better not find any of this eaten when I get back!"

Turning to head into her room, she threw open the window and leaped out into the alleyway. She probably skinned her knee as she landed on her ass. "Gekh....oww...that looked way cooler in my mind."

Inhaling sharply as she climbed to her feet, she shouted The Word: "SHAZAM!"

With a flash of light and a crack of thunder in the otherwise clear sky, the alley was empty, for she wasted no time in heading to Old Town.

---

July 12th 3:23 PM
Old Town

The sound of gunshots echoed through the normally quaint - for Hub City - 7th Street, as police fired from behind their cars at the great beast of a creature before them. Several officers were screaming for backup into the receivers within their squad car, requesting the immediate presence of every S.W.A.T. unit in the city.

Demon, for his part, had panicked as soon as he saw the guns. With all the ferocity of a real demon, one conjured from terrible nightmares, he braced himself ... and promptly dived behind a nearby car, huddling underneath the windows. It wasn't the best cover, to be honest. A little yelp even escaped as a bullet grazed one of his shoulders, feeling the heat and a mild sting as the projectile skimmed over his skin - ricocheting off his thick skin and into a nearby building. The giant navy blue man pressed himself down further, feeling the pavement beneath him and pressing into his bare chest.

When Lady Arcana arrived on the scene, she at first didn't see anything but a bunch of cops shooting up a car. It was only when she moved a little closer that she realized what, exactly, they were shooting at: the reported creature!

But his rampage seemed...rather unimpressive to say the least. In fact, he seemed to be cowering from them, rather than attempting to fight back. Why? He looked big and strong enough to pitch that vehicle into the nearest subdivision. And yet...he seemed kind of scared, given his mannerisms.

Touching down on top of the roof of the vehicle he was using for cover, Lady Arcana knelt down to look at him. "Hey, are you alright there big guy?"

The gunfire stopped. Relief flooded the teenage boy, up until he heard a voice. Demon's head jerked up, staring at the one and only, Lady Arcana!

She was a lot shorter than he expected. Maybe he was just too big to be able to tell now.

"H-Hey! You came!" In his eagerness Demon pushed himself up to his knees, the only clothes he was wearing - his grey pants, which were really more like shorts on his new form - even dirtier from his cowering. He grabbed onto the roof of the car as he looked up at her. "I - I need help! You help people, right? So you gotta help me - oh, oh shit, I didn't mean to do that!" Jerking his navy blue hands away from the car Demon cringed, seeing how the metal had bent under his over enthusiastic grip. He looked at his hands with those glowing white eyes before back up at her, almost cringing.

"I'm sorry, I didn't - I'm not trying to hurt anyone I swear." He whimpered, an odd sound with how deep and echoing his voice was.

Reaching a hand up to scratch at her face in surprise at his desperate and relatively soft spoken demeanor, Lady Arcana turned to glance at the cops. They stopped firing on her arrival, probably assuming she was about to lay the smackdown on this guy for them. While she was still a wanted vigilante, the police here tended to be all too willing to let her handle situations that were clearly out of their league.

"Alright," she smiled to the blue-skinned man, "But let's go somewhere less crowded, okay?"

Extending a hand down to him, she waited for him to either accept or throw her into that drug store behind him for being a patsy.

Demon hesitated only a moment, peeking over the car back to the police. Their weapons were still raised, making a chill of cold fear go down his spine. Finally he reached up and took her hand, his large one dwarfing hers. He tried to be gentle, immediately feeling stupid for thinking that - she was Lady Arcana, he was probably fish food to her.

"Alright... Thank you. Thank you, really."

Feeling her hand be practically swallowed by his, she swiftly lifted them both into the air. Once she was high enough, she vanished from the scene with a sonic boom. It was odd, really, having this person who looked like a literal demon from hell ask - or beg, even - for help after being attacked by the police. She'd never encountered any situation quite like it before.

Landing on top of a building in the Old Industrial Sector, she released her hold of the much larger individual.

"Alright, this should do it. Now," she folded her arms, looking a bit more stern. "How about you explain why you were scaring everyone shitless back there?"

"... That was really cool," Demon muttered, staring over his shoulder where they had come from. Hearing the extra firmness to the woman's voice however he quickly looked down, realizing she didn't look all that pleased with him. Nervously he raised a hand, rubbing at the short black hair against his horns.

"Well, uh, this is gonna sound really stupid, but I was desperate y'know? And - and not many ways for me to do this! It's not like I was hurting anyone - I mean, I dented a few things but it was accidental... oh and the manhole cover..." The teenager paused, realizing he was rambling. He cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and tried to start over.

"I was trying to get you to come out, because I'm looking for someone. The guy that's like me - you know, the big tree man? I don't ... I don't know where he is but I gotta find him! And the news reports showed you've been around him - you know where he is, yeah? You gotta! He can help me - because the news reports didn't call him a monster, so he's gotta know what he's doing!"

Lady Arcana frowned for a long moment after hearing the man's explanation, exhaling sharply. She wasn't sure what newscast he was watching, but there were plenty who still called Vine Stalker a monster. Mostly the same people that still called her a menace to society, mind you. "You mean Harris, don't you?

"I don't know his exact location," she confessed, an apologetic expression on her face. "But I have read enough rumors on Metawatch to at least know where he usually hangs out: Hope Springs in West Virginia."

For a moment, Demon's pointed ears drooped down. However as Lady Arcana continued the metahuman quickly brightened, nodding along.

"He's called Harris? ... That's a lot nicer than Demon... okay, I gotta get to West Virginia then! Uh..." He scratched at the rough black stubble on his jaw. "I gotta walk, so... I'll try to keep out of trouble but people are still probably gonna be afraid. So, uh, don't mind any news reports you see of me - I promise to behave!"

Yeah, there was no way she was going to let this walking, eight foot sign of the end times go walking across the country. He would get himself in all kinds of trouble even if he didn't mean to. No, much as it irritated her, she would need to fly him out there. Well, at least it wouldn't take long for her to go from Hub City to Hope Springs.

"No, I'll fly you to Hope Springs," she exhaled. "It won't take long."

Reaching out to offer her hand to him again, she lifted off the ground to hover in front of him.

"...Seriously? Aw, sweet!" Demon eagerly reached out and grabbed onto her hand again. "Th-thanks! I totally owe you one - not that, you know, there's probably much I can offer you unless you need like, acid spit or someone to stand around looking scary. You're kind of scary on your own though..."

A heartbeat passed.

"... I'm gonna be quiet until we get there now."

Lifting off the ground with another word, she briefly glanced about the city in an effort to figure out what direction she was facing at the moment. Once she'd gotten her bearing's straight, she shot up higher into the sky with the big blue pussycat in hand. His personality really didn't much live up to his appearance.

Rocketing towards West Virginia at several times the speed of sound, she had little to say during the trip. He hadn't really introduced himself even though he clearly knew who she was, but that honestly didn't bother her too much. His goal was never really getting to know her, he just needed her to bring him to the person he actually wanted to meet.

She had briefly considered that it might be some sort of trap for Harris, but...from what she'd seen of this guy, he could handle him. Besides, he didn't seem like he had it in him to hurt somebody innocent.

He wouldn't even fight back against the cops, after all.

It didn't take them long to reach West Virginia, not with her speed...but finding Hope Springs took a little longer, due to her unfamiliarity with the area. Still, they did manage to make it there after a few minutes of searching.

"...Alright, this should be it. Man, what a podunk," Arcana noted, landing with him and glancing back at him over her shoulder. "There, he should be around somewhere here, Mr. Blue."

She then considered something, feeling the need to warn the gentle-hearted giant. "Don't damage any trees, alright? It'll really piss him off. Make him go crazy, even."

"... Mr. Blue? Oh! Oh, uh, I'm sorry, Miss Arcana, ma'am. I'm called Demon - that's, you know, not my name. My name's Josh, but everyone calls me Demon." The tall man hunched over a bit to grin down at the small heroine. "Thanks for the warning. And the lift. And not just punching me for scaring everyone. I really appreciate it, I'll make sure not to hurt any trees - that'd be kind of stupid when I want the guy to like me, right? He's sort of like a tree." Scratching at his cheek in thought Demon quickly shook his head.

"But uh, yeah, what I'm getting at is thanks again!"

Lady Arcana chuckled at his awkwardness. It...it kind of reminded her of herself, particularly around Zoey, as embarrassed as she was to admit it. She'd really need to learn how to be less of a dork at some point.

Sitll, at least she was done now and could get the Mcfuck back over to Gotham after swinging by to pick up their lunch. "No problem, Josh. Best of luck finding Harris, I'm sure it won't be too difficult. Not here."

And not looking the way he did, anyhow.

Lifting off the ground, Lady Arcana offered the big blue man named Josh a parting wave, before lancing off through the clouds again.

Meanwhile, down below, Harris sat, entwined in the fibers of the largest tree's interior, his mind connected via root to the Green itself, finally able to communicate with it for an extended period of time, but not a long-long time, just long enough for it to be a human-length conversation between acquaintances.

"When was the last time you gave a thought to the fact that your continued existence is due to the efforts of those humans who do care about you, those animals who your very existence relies upon. The bees, the worms, all of those whose existence you rely upon!"

This conversation had become less than civil.

What do you know of our struggle? Of our torment? Of our anguish!? Those animals, feasting upon our stale like a hound, savaged by beastly vultures! They care not about our existence!

Harris was just about to make his response, when, from the real world, he heard a cracking boom, a "crackoom" as you will. A burst of wind struck his physical form, and Harris' eyes shot open.

"Oh god it's the Rapture," he said, a little bit of an overstatement, but the thought of it being a bomber of some sort, sent to annihilate him, that was too much to bear. Harris freed himself from the tree with a litany of slow cracks, then a massive snap as he broke through the bark and clamored to the ground. "This is a really bad time, US military... god... I don't know, Arcana even? But yeah, not a good time guys!" Harris yelled into the sky as he ran between trees, crunching leaves beneath his feet.

Finally he dove into a ditch and covered his head with his hands, and just to be safe, he constructed a large dome of thick wood around himself to protect from any explosions or whatever. Perhaps he had overreacted, but considering the fear the people had of him, he wouldn't put a bombing campaign beyond the US government. Or maybe it really was the Rapture, but whatever that noise was it wasn't a good noise.

"Stay out of my forest, I just managed to..."

Harris felt the presence of a two footed creature through the grass, almost certainly a human. That was good, that meant no fire raining from the heavens. But now he had a random person there, in his forest, he had a reputation to keep up.

Hoping that his outburst hadn't been heard, Harris sunk into the ground. His voice beginning to echo from the trees and carry on the wind like a soft whistle.

"Who dares enter this forest? Who dares enter the domain of..." Pause for effect... "The Vine Stalker!?"

Hell yeah.

"Uh..." It had been a weird day. Really weird. From awkwardly plodding about Hub City to clamoring through a forest a few states over after being shot at sort of weird. Demon didn't even really make it that far after Miss Lady Arcana dropped him off. At least she was right about where to find the tree man! ... He thinks? Was he just supposed to talk to the trees? He really should've prepared more.

"I'm, that is, I'm called Demon. I'm looking for a Harris, Mr... Stalker...?" He had faced a tree at this, too. Not really knowing what to do he reached out to grasp a branch and awkwardly shake it up and down. Gentle motions, don't hurt it, that's a good Demon.

Harris felt very puzzled by the... man? He wasn't exactly what Harris had expected to see, but he supposed he wasn't one to talk. He said he was called "Demon", Harris had no idea why one would call themselves that but okay, sure, and that he was looking for him.

Well, that cleared things up... barely. Harris still had many questions, including "Why are you shaking a tree-branch?" and "What are you doing here?" and "What is your real name?"

Maybe that last one was a good starting point.

Harris' arm shot from the ground, reaching towards the sun. It grasped the ground and pushed down, pulling the wooden form from within the ground slowly and methodically, picking up and tossing chunks of wood and dirt in a small radius around him. Finally he cleared the land and stood at full height...

And for the first time since his transformation, he met face-to-face with someone taller than him. At least a foot and then some too. Harris found himself slightly intimidated by the blue fellow, and his human half screamed in disgust despite the clear hypocrisy of such a thing.

"Er... Yes, I am Harris Herzog, 'The Vine Stalker', 'Plantfoot', any other names the media has called me," he said, still attempting to maintain a high volume and consistency in his voice. "Demon doesn't sound like a name, if you are to remain here, then I must trust you, trust goes both ways, if you don't trust me enough to give me your name, then I don't trust you enough to stay here." he said firmly, crossing his arms as he did so. He gritted his teeth as he realized he was looking up at the man...woman? Well he had a masculine voice so 'man' worked, who had to be at least eight feet tall.

That was worrisome to say the least.

Demon, for his part, could only stare down at the tree-bug man that had emerged from the very ground. His glowing white eyes wide, those pointed ears raised, and jaw slightly dropped. The media didn't really do 'Harris' justice...

... He was awesome!

Seriously, he was nearly as tall as him! And made of the very earth, which he emerged out of! How cool was that?! Plus he helped people! Oh, but Demon hadn't made a very good impression it seemed... Josh cringed, dropping his head and raising a large hand to rub at the back of his head.

"Er, it's not that I don't trust you! Everyone just... you know, calls me Demon. Ever since I changed." The navy skinned man raised his head, quickly lifting his other hand to wave in the air. "Sorry, sorry! I'm getting ahead of myself. But uh, everyone calls me Demon - I said that already - but my name is Josh. Joshua Christophe. Well, that was my name, I don't know if my parents want me using their last name anymore... oh, and uh, I'm a junior at Hub City high. Was. Haven't really been back there in months. I wouldn't fit in the desk." Demon tried to offer a smile, the effort a little weak and showing the sharp teeth in his mouth - not including the two that were always jutting up from the bottom of his mouth.

Harris had been shocked by the man's size, but when he spoke, Harris found it hard to be intimidated. He had always thought himself to be socially awkward, but this kid was... well, on a level close to, if not greater than, Harris' own social inadequacies.

In more ways than one, he reminded Harris of himself, especially that weak smile, it was like looking through a time machine at his old high-school days, though eight feet tall and with fangs. He did notice that his first appearance managed to bring an astonished pallor to the giant youth's face... or maybe that was just how his face looked, Harris honestly couldn't tell, blue wasn't an easy color to read when you were used to the many shades of brown.

Harris made a conscious effort to push back his shoulders, and clandestinely increased his own height by a few inches, slowly, just to seem maybe a bit more intimidating, he was the protector of this forest, he had to look the part.

Harris' antennae danced on his forehead as Harris gave the blue youth a look over, before flexing his hand and offering his response.

"Joshua Christophe? I like that name, has a nice sound to it," Harris complemented the best he could, placing a hand on his chin whilst he continued planning his response. "Well, Joshua Christophe, let me give you a lesson that I learned from my own transformation,"

Harris wandered to the right slightly, before noticing and sliding back.

"I used to be human like you, but the collective soul of all plants decided that I would make a good avatar or something and well, here I am," Harris shrugged, a soft gesture sneaking through his hardass persona. "It was hard, really hard, I'm still not over what I've lost, but one thing that I do know, is don't give up who you are. You're still Joshua Christophe, don't let the loss of your humanity take away... well, your humanity."

Perhaps that could have been worded better.

"Anyway, you clearly pose no threat, so I'd be willing to speak about any topic you propose, you did come here to ask me something, right?"

"Wow..." The word slipped out unbidden as Demon stared down at Harris, admiration coloring the single syllable. Really, why was he surprised? The Vine Stalker was a hero! Of course he was cool, and calm, and collected! He helped all those people in New York, and he was around when The Wedge started rebuilding - who knows what other deeds he had done in the meantime? He was probably as busy as Lady Arcana!

Yet he was letting Josh ask him whatever he wanted! It was better than he could've asked for! Demon's fingers curled into fists in front of him as he tried not to bounce in place in excitement. Okay, he could do this! Play it cool, play it cool!

"Can you teach me how to be a hero too?!"

... Not cool.

Demon's face dropped realizing what he had just blurted out, and unseen with how his eyes had no pupils his gaze darted from side to side nervously. His bouncing in place stopped, and he nervously rubbed at his bare arm, feeling the thick muscle rippling with every small motion.

"I... I mean uh..." Crap, how was he supposed to recover from that? "You're just... really cool, and you're like - you know, like me! I can help you to make up for it, I even-" Here the great demon fumbled, pulling out a wallet that was falling apart at the seams to look at it.

"... Okay, I only have fifteen dollars and 74 cents - oh, and a coupon for a free burrito, nice! - but I can pay for your help in other ways! Like protecting people! And helping with your avatar stuff! I love plants and stuff! Except mushrooms. I'm allergic to mushrooms." Ugh, he always overshared. He was probably super lame in Harris' eyes. And he couldn't stop talking.

Harris almost felt physically blown backwards by the big blue man's sudden assault of words, he lifted his hands, displaying both palms and turning his chin away as Joshua fumbled and spoke a hundred words a minute. He had asked to be taught to be a "hero". Harris hadn't taught a class in years, and those times he at least had a presentation to help him out, he hadn't a clue how to be a "hero", he hadn't even ever considered himself one.

At least he was spirited, Harris supposed, though perhaps a little overwhelmingly so.

"Uhh... Yeah, no thanks," Harris offered in response to the... burrito coupon. His posture shifted into a knock-kneed slouch as he found himself struggling to think of something to say. He scratched the back of his neck with his forearm claws, stretching his arm as to make such a movement possible. "Er... mushrooms aren't plants... so I really have nothing to say about them."

Why was a factual correction the first thing he thought of to say? He was so stupid, this kid was idolizing him clearly, and Harris couldn't think of anything to do but correct him, this is why he liked trees better than talking to people.

"You want to be a hero?... I just protect this very specific stretch of forest, I wouldn't call myself a hero..."

The Green offered Harris a mental image of New york destroyed by a massive, single tree. Was it a premonition or a compounding of the fact that Harris was no hero? Goddamn trees, never telling him anything that made any sense. Well, he couldn't just let the kid down, looking like he did he probably had no-one else to talk to, perhaps this could be healthy for the both of them

"Okay... well I suppose I could... I dunno," Harris said awkwardly, his slouch growing more pronounced. "...Well, first let's just... hmm... okay."

Harris turned and shoved his hand into a tree, his arm sinking into it like it wasn't there at all. From within he pulled a piece of paper and a pen, which he clicked once. A wooden chair appeared behind both him and Joshua, and Harris sat without even looking back.

"First just tell me about any new abilities you've noticed since transforming, testing them was all I did for the first few... months?" Harris wondered, tapping the pen against his chin.

... Harris had agreed to work with him. Demon couldn't help but brighten, having been close to tears thinking he had messed everything up. But now... it was gonna happen! He had someone to talk to again - and someone as cool as The Vine Stalker! Who was gonna show himself how to do things! Even if they were in this forest.

"Aw, yes!" Josh tried to keep the celebration quiet as he pumped his fist in the air, though admittedly the back of his eyes still stung as he was so happy. Finally seeing that his new mentor was sitting Demon glanced around for a seat, stopping to admire the wooden chair that had appeared. Another plus one to Harris' awesome meter! It even looked like it could handle his weight!

Josh eased down onto the seat, absolutely beaming even as he wiped away the tears that had gathered at the corner of his eyes with a giant forearm. Luckily Harris wasn't really watching him - how lame would that have been?

"Abilities? Uh... I'm real strong. Like, real strong!" Josh flexed his hands, looking down at the navy blue fingers, tipped with the onyx black claws. "And I heal real fast... like when I first transformed my-" He paused here, fingers twitching. Quickly he reached up and rubbed the palm of his hand against his eye, the one that was so damaged. He could feel tears wanting to well up again, and tried so hard to force them down.

"Uhm, I was saying - I was shot. Couldn't see out of this eye for weeks - but it just sort of ... grew back? I think the bullet is still in there too. Oh, and speaking of my eyes, my vision is real good! I actually don't know when night because everything is sort of just like, looking around in daylight. I guess I could look up at the moon but I couldn't see it before. I was living in a sewer."

Harris wrote down Demon's statement that he was "real strong", that made two of them, but then the young man paused, and Harris' eyes darted up, noticing that Joshua seemed rather upset by the recollection of his being shot. Harris looked down at the paper, at his own hands, thinking back to when he had first gone through that, the poor kid was probably going through so much. Harris had always struggled to understand social cues, but he knew that at this point it was probably a good idea to at least address that, help him somehow... Harris didn't know.

Finally looking up from the paper, the pen sank into his hand and disappeared into his arm while Harris looked over the young man's head thoughtfully.

"Are you okay Joshua? Would you rather we talk about something else? I... I don't want to upset you, you're only the first person I've talked to in weeks and..." Harris' chest tightened up. "...I just don't want to upset you like I do to everyone else," Harris said solemnly.

"Huh?" Josh looked up, cringing slightly realizing that he really was showing how weak he was. The other kids at school had made fun of him for being a crybaby all the time, and now Harris thought he had messed up. "N-No! It's not that - you didn't upset me! I mean, you made me super happy! No one would even talk to me for months, and now I'm sitting down and having a real conversation! On a chair that doesn't just break under my weight! Honestly, you're super cool Mr. Stalker." Taking a moment to rub at his eyes once more Josh finally looked down to the floor of the forest, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling.

"It's just... my Dad was the one who shot me. He - he didn't know it was me though! He just got to the house, and I was holding my sister, so he tried to protect her! But... I know they wouldn't really want me to come back anyway. Not looking like this. They'd probably try to have my exorcised or something." Stupid tears. Josh sniffed, and felt one of the tears manage to escape. It sizzled on the ground of the forest floor, making him wince as he remembered Lady Arcana's words.

"Sorry," He offered weakly, and trying to brush passed his moment of vulnerability he pointed down at the mark as he wiped his glowing eyes with his other hand. "Uhm, I didn't mean to - but that's another thing, though! Things like my blood, and my spit, are like... acid-y now."

Harris stood quickly as Joshua began to vent, cry even, it wasn't even something he'd thought about, it was just an instinctual motion. He walked over to Joshua and waved away his concerns over the ground being burned a bit. The Green got a little pissy but this was more important right now.

Harris put a hand on Joshua's shoulder, taking a seat next to him.

"I couldn't imagine going through that, I wouldn't ever want to go through that!... listen Josh, I... really don't know that much about being a hero, but what I do know, is that you're a good person just for wanting to do that... and..." Harris desperately tried to come up with something more to say as his breaths started to quicken slightly himself. "I know what it's like to have no-one left who cares about you... I er, I know what it's like to... to have to repress all of your feelings because there's no-one to listen to you anymore. Josh... I may not be able to teach you much, but I know that you're hurting, and I would give anything to have had someone around for my first few months... so... I suppose I'll be that person for you."

Harris offered a weak smile, barely keeping his composure himself. He snapped off a tree branch which seemed to appear out of nowhere and offered it to the blue guy.

"I don't have any tissues, but these leaves are the really soft kind, I promise."

For a moment Josh could only stare at the offered branch, but finally he reached out with his large hand to take it. The leaves really were soft, and he was quick to wipe his eyes with them, but... He could feel more gathering. This was like, the first time someone was nice to him in months! He had been eating rats, for god's sake! And now this man-bug was comforting him, calling him a good person even when he looked like this, when everyone called him a monster, a Demon.

Josh sniffed again, and finally not able to take it he grabbed onto Harris to hug him, trying to keep his grip from being crushing. He was sort of a wuss for doing it, but he couldn't help himself!

"Th-thanks, Mr. Stalker... I promise I won't let you down. I'll make you proud for believing in me! And, and when people aren't afraid of me anymore, I'll get you a burrito too!"

Harris' arms went in every which way when Josh embraced him, and he found himself not knowing what to do other than lightly pat the big guy on the back. He felt a warmth, something he'd felt before, but stronger, the same feeling he got when he offered help with some minor inconvenience, when he had rescued that child in New York.

Maybe he knew more about being a hero than he thought he did.

"As long as I'm around, I won't stop believing in you, same with anyone, that's just who I am... maybe that's what makes me..."

'A hero' he wanted to say so badly, but he found himself unable to.

"And please, Joshua, call me Harris. We are more than the names that we are given, we're still people... er, well, not really for me but you get my point," Harris said with a shrug. "About that burrito... eh, I mean... not bad persay, but not my favorite, use the money for yourself. Besides, I don't need to eat anyways."

Looks like Joshua was here to stay... he'd have to make room in the tree... or maybe make a hammock or something. Harris wasn't usually hosting guests, hopefully it'd be easier than he thought it was gonna be. Harris sighed softly. What had his life turned into?

12 pm, July 17th
Main Street, Hub City

Wilhelm stood silently at the street corner, watching the cars glide by with arms folded behind his back. He almost wondered why he had come back here, of all the places on Earth, he had chosen Hub City to come back to, he found himself amused by the oddly specific nature of his choice, but he knew why he had come back here.

That unfinished business that had prevented him from remaining in the country of his birth, that one over-riding thing that stopped him from continuing his attempts at restoring the country he loved to prominence. The girl, Hernandez, the one who had stopped him in his tracks at the very edge of victory. For those long months that he had spent healing and waiting, he had done nothing but plan her defeat, plan for what came next when America’s last defender fell before his strength.

Now, he was about to demonstrate how little power she truly had. He wasn't planning on a physical confrontation or a slugfest, he was planning to mentally break her with the fact that she was not and could never be the hero that she thought she was, and break the confidence of all those who thought they were safe simply because they had her to protect them. Only then would he once again take action against America, breaking the world's one superpower over his knee like a pathetic tree branch, and then moving to make a Reich that would truly last a thousand years.

Pulling his long coat off of his shoulders to reveal his new armor, bulkier than the last and crafted by brainwashed engineers from one of the top military technology companies in the world, Wilhelm prepared his psychic abilities and waited for the right moment.

---

12:24 PM
Old Town, The Wedge

Hub City was far from idyllic place to grow up in.

With the highest rate of violent crime - even surpassing Gotham - in the United States, it could in fact safely be said to be one of the worst. The local Mafia couldn’t even establish too great of a foothold over the city, as the innumerable thugs and gangbangers were too chaotic and violent for there to be any large scale criminal organizations. Hell’s Corner was the perfect example of this.

The part she was currently flying over - Old Town - wasn’t too bad, though. It was where she’d ran into “Demon” last week. The minor damage he’d done in his mock rampage had already been repaired, and things seemed to already be back to normal. She’d been keeping an eye out, though, just in case anybody else crawled up from the sewers looking to get her attention. She’d hate to think that anybody else would feel the need to cause a ruckus just to draw her eye to them, after all.

If she wasn’t still considered a wanted vigilante by the authorities, she’d set up a Twitter account or something.

”Pfft,” she shook her head. ”I’m pretty sure it would get blown up with gross questions about my boobs or something.”

Regardless, things had been quiet for the past several days, and she was thankful for that. After that whole thing in the Middle East, she really needed a little time to cool off. Who wouldn’t, if they’d been hit point blank with a nuke?

She had noticed that people down below were starting to occasionally glance up at the sky, as if trying to catch a glimpse of her. It wasn’t like she was being noisy or anything; they didn’t know she was above them. Even when she was just walking around as Karen, she’d catch them doing it...and if one should get lucky and see her, they’d point and the cellphones would come out. She’d seen countless photos of herself flying up on Metawatch by this point.

It was a little embarrassing.

”Welp, nothin’ wrong here I guess,” Lady Arcana muttered, veering to the right. She’d fly over the tracks towards East Haven next and then maybe take a little break, since it seemed like today would be pretty uneventful.

---
12:34 p.m., July 17th
Main Street, Hub City

If Tim had to guess how he was going to be spending the day, stuck in traffic on main street would’ve been the last thing he’d have picked. Sure, it was one of those rare days where both of his parents were off work and so was their driver, so at least he wasn’t stuck there alone with a family employee as usual, but still! He should be out in the world, with friends! Or at least trying to make some friends who weren’t complete jerkwads.

”Can you guys at least tell me where we’re going? It’d give me something to think about other than wishing you’d let me bring my phone and how many people get weird vanity plates on their cars.”

Tim’s mom laughed at his frustrated expression from the passenger side seat.

“Wondering about what we’re doing is the point of a surprise, Tim. We made you leave your phone so you’d pay attention when we get there. It’s one of those things you’re going to want to remember, really keep it in your mind for years, okay? Besides, it won’t kill you to spend some time unplugged with us for a while and appreciate the quality humor of car owners like...actually, the one on the car in front of us is pretty vulgar, but hey that’s real life! Sometimes you get cussed out by a vanity plate!”

Tim wasn’t sure what the problem was with being allowed to share and document his memories like everyone else, but he had to admit part of him was glad to be finally spending some time with his parents. Some days it seemed like he hardly saw them anymore, and he definitely felt like there were days when he didn’t know them very well considering even when they were home they were still working half the time. At least they seemed to be taking it easy right now, even though Tim couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his father drive his own car. He seemed pretty focused on the road but not nervous. Some people could never relax out in Hub City proper, but Tim’s parents had always stressed how important it was to not lock yourself away from the realities of life there or...something like that.

Tim just wished those realities hadn’t stuck him in a boring metal box.

Wilhelm continued watching the cars fly by, waiting for that one vehicle that he needed to get the girl’s attention, it was a rarity to see this type of vehicle more than once a day, so he had to pay attention.

Finally he saw one, a tanker truck, not so much speeding down the road as puttering down it. A single match floated out of Wilhelm’s pocket, allowing him to grab it out of the air. The matchbox followed suit, and he struck the match in one smooth motion before turning his gaze back to the truck. With one blast of telekinetic energy, he toppled the beast, watching it slide across the road, knocking cars aside like they weighed nothing.

Finally the beast of a vehicle settled, crossing the road and preventing any other vehicles from passing. The metal tank on the back had been punctured during the crash, and gasoline leaked down the road, coating it and darkening the aged white asphalt. Dropping the match, Wilhelm’s eyes tracked it as it flew through the air, and came to rest in the center of the gas spill, igniting a small flame that grew larger and larger, leaping through the air as the reactive gasoline exploded to life like a singular, massive star. Wilhelm turned his eyes from the carnage to the sky, waiting for the girl to arrive, his heart beating faster and faster as he thought of how utterly he was about to defeat her.

There were certain things Lady Arcana had learned to recognize by sound alone over these past nine months of heroing. The Intellect of Mnemosyne naturally aided with this, allowing her to recall previous occurrences of it with perfect clarity. In this case, what she heard was an exploding gas tank...maybe a septic tank? No, the flash had clearly been either on Main Street or close to it. Traffic accidents happened fairly often in Hub City, though, and this would be the second time she’d seen tanker truck overturned on the road, with very explosive results.

Wasting no time in surrendering her plans for a nap, she altered her course and with the crack of a sonic boom found herself looking down upon a crowded street imperiled by a raging inferno. Pursing her lips at the sight, her mind quickly went to work on a way to neutralize the fire quickly.

”...Right, the ol’ twistaroo should do.”

There was probably like a spell for water or something, but damned if she knew it. For now, wind would have to suffice. Setting herself down in the middle of the raging, oil-fueled inferno, Lady Arcana began to rotate in place. In nary a second she had accelerated to the point of becoming a blur of white and orchid, her arms pointed to the sky as she worked to draw the oil on the ground and the flames they enabled into her miniature whirlwind. She found that oil fires were most easily dealt with by going after the source, rather than by trying to blow it out, which could potentially spread the disaster.

Lifting into the sky as the oil and flame continued to encircle her, she only stopped when she reached the clouds above, where she quickly ceased her rotation and brought her hands together in a monstrous thunderclap. The force of this simultaneously ignited the oil and scattered it to the winds, the flames dying long before they came anywhere close to the ground.

Descending back down to the street, she quickly began scanning for people potentially trapped in their vehicles due to the wreck and subsequent fire.

The girl hadn’t disappointed, a fact that gave Wilhelm quite a bit of happiness. He floated down towards the crash, watching intently as Arcana glided back down from her admittedly impressive display, seemingly continuing to look for people trapped in their vehicles and the such. Bless her bleeding heart, it would do little to save her when he executed her before millions. He landed not far from her, his front facing her back, far enough that she couldn’t have heard his light landing, but close enough that he could speak to her without yelling too much.

He chuckled uncontrollably as he thought of what he was about to do. He’d show her that she couldn’t save everyone, and that he was the one in control. These people lived and died depending on his say so, and that was not negotiable. He strode towards her, popping his knuckles, wrist, and neck as he did. Fighting got harder and harder with age, but he barely needed to with his powers. Finally coming to a stop not far from her, he turned up his chin.

Upon hearing the sound of laughter, the cracking of bone, Lady Arcana quickly turned to see a figure she was all too familiar with, even without Mnemosyne. That unique, Nazi-flavored armor and helmet marked him as Wilhelm Silber, the “Iron Eagle”. The man who set fire to her home, her very first “superpowered” opponent. Her eyes narrowed and her lips were instantly set into a frown as he approached.

”I knew you’d come,” Wilhelm said with a tilt of his head. ”I’ve seen how you think, I know how to predict you Karen. You remember me, no? I like to think myself memorable.”

Wilhelm’s speech was calm and yet tipped with venomous distaste, he hadn’t been pleased by the defeat he’d suffered earlier, but there was also a hint of joy in his voice as he fantasized about finally toppling the world’s governments and instating the only government that he could recognize. This girl was the last obstacle, and he swore that today she would be toppled.

”You did this, didn’t you?” Lady Arcana muttered, not really needing his confirmation to know the answer.

Wilhelm tittered at this, with a simple read of her mind, he knew that she had realized that he had been behind the crash, so he simply continued without a need to confirm such.

”You should have seen the crash, it was incredible, though I’m sure it wouldn’t have happened had you been there to see it,” he said, his words friendly but his tone reeking of danger.

Tim was lost in the sudden rush of emotions as things exploded into motion in front of him. At first he couldn’t hear anything but screams and the shriek and crack of fire and metal, along with more fear than he’d ever felt in his life. As the tanker truck a ways in front of them flipped and exploded he wasn’t sure who was screaming at first, though he started to realize that one of the voices was definitely his. His own terror swerved abruptly into overawed joy when a miracle kind of just fell from the sky and vacuumed the flames away instead of letting him die the fiery death he expected.

Tim had adored superheroes from afar, as distant ideal, but this was his first time seeing one in person, no more, his first time actually being saved by one. He swore right then that he’d never badmouth Lady Arcana to friends or chatrooms ever again if he lived through this. But the scale of it, stopping a disaster like that in seconds by creating a big tornado, that was awesome! Way better than whatever his parents had planned and- there was Iron Eagle standing there now, saying something. His battle armor looked a lot more impressive than it had in videos on Metawatch, in fact it was hard to believe that a ninety-something old German dude was in there, he was WAY scarier in person.

“Mom, Dad are you seeing this!? Isn’t it crazy?! Tell me one of you is filming this!”

“Keep your head down son!”

”C’mon it’ll be fine! She’s way stronger than Iron Eagle, she’ll save the day no problem! Besides how often do you get to see-”

“I said get down!” One of his parents was reaching back in the car to push him further back in his seat even as he tried to get a better look.

Lady Arcana’s eyes never left Wilhelm for a second. She didn’t know what his purpose was in calling her out here, but it definitely wasn’t anything good. But it was fine. She had already come up with a plan for dealing with him. He probably really wanted to know that plan, too. Probably was trying to pluck it from her mind. Unfortunately, her mind was currently moving at several hundreds, if not thousands of times faster than a normal person’s was capable of.

In fact, the image he was staring out was just that - an image. It had just started to fade when her hand grasped the back of his helmet and forcefully shoved him down onto the pavement below, making sure his eyes were aimed away from her.

After he had escaped from prison, she had read up on him, on what they’d learned about him while he was still confined there. Apparently, his powers were inhibited if he didn’t have a direct line of sight with his target. So just in case he came back here, she came up with that strategy. To move quicker than he could think, and stay out of his sight.

”I’ve been fighting all sorts of creeps these past eight months, bruh,” Lady Arcana muttered, though her voice was still certainly loud enough for him to hear. ”I’m not that girl who barely even knew how to fly anymore.”

Tim watched exhilarated from past his father’s arm as Lady Arcana made some kind of afterimage and pinned Iron Eagle down into the street before anyone could blink. ”See? This is gonna be a piece of cake. Last time Iron Eagle got into a fight with Lady Arcana he pretty much broke his own hands without even scratching her!”

Wilhelm yelled as he was driven into the ground, his hearty scream turning into a muffled growl as his face was driven into the asphalt. Immediately after his head hit the ground, his mental link with Karen dissipated, and a pistol that he was pulling towards himself dropped to the ground. He sighed, unable to move his head, but thankfully his helmet had protected him somewhat, if not for it he doubted he would still be conscious.

”Unexpected…” he muttered, his eyes shifting downwards to the section of the eyehole that was visible to his eye, and with a mental push, he pulled his helmet up, disconnecting the straps with his hand and watching as it shot off. As Karen’s hand was on it, this freed his head, and allowed him to leap away towards the closest car. He caught the pistol and aimed it towards the windshield.

”...But altogether pointless. If I see even a twitch, then I shoot.”

Wilhelm knew that the girl would try something, and he was unlikely to be unable to stop her, but this pause was giving him room to think. She’d gotten much faster, and less likely to play around. This stopped his original plan cold. Oh well, he supposed he would have to improvise. Spotting another car, with a great amount of effort, he lifted them both, and sent them careening towards each-other, aiming to have the cabs of the two vehicles crush each-other, and whatever person sat within.

He was clever, she couldn’t deny this. She hadn’t expected him to unlatch his helmet on her like that, and was so surprised by the maneuver that she ever-so-slightly pulverized it. Oops. Good thing his skull wasn’t still in there. Still, now he was threatening a woman with his pistol and that couldn’t be ignored. Once again accelerating to the point where she left an afterimage in her wake, she physically interposed herself between the vehicle and gun.

Lashing out with her hand, she crushed the barrel until the gun was doubtlessly inoperable. Unfortunately, Wilhelm had also locked his eyes on a pair of cars and sent them hurtling towards one another. Pursing her lips in frustration, her fist lanced out to deliver a hard right hook to the side of his head. The Intellect of Mnemosyne allowed her to recall how much force was required to injure him without killing him, and assuming nothing had changed that should keep him dazed long enough for her to take care of those cars.

She didn’t have much time due to that maneuver, however, and only just managed to sandwich herself in between the two vehicles before they collided, her hands landing flat against the oncoming roofs before quickly digging her nails into the metal. Setting them both down with an audible squeak from their wheels, she swiftly seized the front bumper of one and wrenched it free, the man inside staring at her like a deer caught in oncoming headlights. ”Sorry.”

That last exchange happened too fast for Tim to really follow except that he’d seen Iron Eagle get free, a pistol get raised and fly off and then two cars narrowly avoid being sandwiched in mid-air by some kind of telekinetic trick. Aside from that Tim was distracted by his dad’s arm again, this time trying to work awkwardly at Tim’s seatbelt. “Time to go kiddo, this maniac's aiming to get people killed!”

Tim kept pushing his dad’s hand off and shook his head, his fear more intense now even though he still refused to recognize the real amount of danger they were in. ”No way! I’ve seen how this goes! Once she shows up you’re way safer with her there! If we run we could just get hit by debris or something, but if we stay here she’ll keep us safe!”

Turning back to Wilhelm, who - if she hadn’t downed him with that - was probably shaking off her hit right about now, she hurled the metal bumper at his legs with enough speed to both cap him and hopefully cause him to conk his head on the pavement.

Wilhelm let out a soft “oh” as Karen crushed his gun, and nearly collapsed from the blow, his hands touching the ground as he tried to stop from stumbling into the ground, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up only to spot a car bumper heading towards him. Shooting up his hand, he stopped it mid-air, barely, taking a deep breath.

He tossed the bumper away and looked once again at Karen. That didn’t work, he needed a distraction. Charging at Karen with a roar, he held her in place so that she wouldn’t move, and then fired a spinning elbow at her chin, ending with his back facing her, what looked like a mistake, but was actually a bait, if she grabbed him now, which she was likely to do, he would get his chance to cause some destruction that she would be unable to stop.

Karen remembered this feeling from before. He was using his mental powers to try and hold her in place so he could attack her. Even if she didn’t have her photographic recall, it would be difficult to forget such a weird sensation. She had been unprepared for it back then, but not now. Still, she allowed him to charge in with his spinning elbow...only to jerk her chin down to meet his elbow at the last moment with an audible crack.

By this point some people had decided to get out of their vehicles and flee from the battle taking place on the streets, even as others were too stunned or even captivated to leave their cars. This offered her an opportunity and she quickly drove her palm into his back with enough force to hopefully slam him part-way through the back end of an abandoned Chrysler.

Tim was still fighting off attempts from his parents to pull him from his place in the car, though by now they couldn’t help but pause in fascination at the battle unfolding too. “See? Now she’s winning! We can’t leave now, not when it’s about to end anyways! Let’s just stay and watch it end!”

Wilhelm let out a yell of pain as his lower arm broke against Karen’s jaw, he grabbed onto it in pain as she smashed her hand into his back, sending him flying into the nearest car. He groaned in both pain and frustration. This was going poorly, any longer and he was probably going to pass out.

Wilhelm pulled himself up from the destroyed vehicle and stumbled towards Karen. He coughed and fell to a knee, looking up at Karen. He was furious, nothing had gone to plan, for a second time! He had to have one last chance, somehow, but he doubted it, she was too powerful.

”Damn you, you bitch!” he roared as he pushed himself back to his feet, holding his broken right arm. He stomped towards her, trying to retain his dignity despite knowing that he was probably done here.

Lady Arcana exhaled, but still didn’t want to underestimate him. He was super-duper old, after all. There was no telling what tricks he’d learned in all that time. Rather than standing there facing him, she once again used her speed to move behind him and this time simply clasped her hands over his eyes as if she were playing “guess who” with him. Guess who with an iron grip, mind you.

”Alright, dude...that’s enough. You lost...again, Lady Arcana spoke firmly into his ear, still trying to figure out what she even wanted to say to this guy who - for the second time - attacked her city. ”Though I don’t even know why we were fighting in the first place, or why you keep coming back to Hub City. What do you even want?”

Wilhelm stumbled forwards slightly as Karen grabbed him by the head, sighing as she firmly instructed him that he had lost. She was probably right, there wasn’t very much he could do at this point, though he had one last option, he was a soldier of course, he never went into battle without a full loadout.

”I want to bring back the Reich, fulfil my Fuhrer’s dream, and you are my one obstacle, I came here to defeat you once and for all, without you the world would fall beneath my boot, and the Aryan people would once again be the greatest on the world’s surface.”

As he spoke, he slowly moved his left hand to his belt, grabbing a grenade, and deftly removing the pin with his thumb. As he finished speaking, he smirked slightly, and tossed the grenade forwards.

”Go ahead, stop it,” he smiled, knowing she couldn’t resist saving these inferior peoples. ”Stop it and let me go, you know you have to.”

Tim made a little whoop of joy and punched the air as he saw that Lady Arcana had managed to get behind Iron Eagle and blind him so he couldn’t use his powers. A real superhero had just forced a villain to surrender right in front of him and he’d seen almost the whole thing! Maybe his parents would finally get why he was so into this stuff, and Elliot would totally want to hear about this! This was the greatest day of his life and-

Lady Arcana’s eyes widened when she saw the grenade bounce along the ground and underneath a nearby vehicle...one with another kid inside of it. He looked about her age, and this caused her heart to grow tight. She didn’t want to let go of Wilhelm, that would just prolong this and endanger who-knows-how many other people. But obviously allowing the grenade to detonate was also unacceptable.

”Damn it!” Lady Arcana swore, slamming her forehead into the back of Wilhelm’s skull before releasing the near-centenarian Nazi and dashing after the grenade. It was under the car, did she dive under to get it or lift the car? Lift, right, lift it!

Grasping the edge of the car - the edge nearest to the boy - and hoisting it up, she saw that it was right beneath where his parents were. Crouching to reach for it, she felt for just an instant that she was going to make it.

The blinding flash instantly dispelled that notion, a ball of fire erupting from the small sphere. She hadn’t been able to stop it. He had held the grenade almost until it was ready to explode, and she’d only noticed it as it rolled under the car. Now she was forced to watch in slow motion as the fireball expanded. It was beneath where the kid’s parents were, and they were on opposite sides of the vehicle. The kid himself was in the back seat, but the gas tank was there as well.

She couldn’t lift the car out of the way, not now, not at this speed. It would be ripped apart along with its passengers. For that very reason she couldn’t just pull them all to safety in time. She was out of time, and out of options. No, there was only one choice left.

Reaching out to rip the back door off, the hinges glowed red and became molten with the sheer speed with which they were ripped apart. She then used her thumbnail to slice the seat belt around him before throwing her arms around him. The fire was almost upon them now, and she was terrified to even chance a look at his parents and their condition.

That was when it finally reached the gas tank. That was when the second ball of fire surged forth and sent both her and her fragile passenger tumbling onto the street several meters away. Knocked from her super reflexive state of mind, the car erupted with a violent roar that echoed throughout the street.

”Nn…” She groaned from the shock of being thrown back by the unexpected force of the second explosion, her eyes peeling open to see…

”No…”

He…

The boy…

Parts of him, his face...his body...charred black. Clothing melted into skin…

”No...y-y-you’re not dead,” she whimpered down at him. ”You’re not dead!”

The second time was more akin to a demand, one full of desperation. She hadn’t been able to save his parents, and now she had even failed to save their son. This…this who was no older than herself. She had seen his face earlier, watching her fight in amazement. Why didn’t he run?

Why didn’t he just run?

...Was it because she was there? Was it because he had trusted her to not let anything happen to him? To his parents?

T-that was it, wasn’t it?

He had believed in her and she...she had let him down. Let him die.

Wilhelm once more stumbled to his feet, watching as the explosion rang out, sending the car spinning through the air and dropping out two figures. Karen Hernandez, and a small child. Wilhelm would have almost felt bad if not for the overwhelming glee that he felt at his plan coming together. He slowly limped towards them, barely standing.

”Gorgeous,” he said in a voice hushed by wonder. ”I love the smell of burning flesh mixed with rubber.”

He began putting mental strain into Karen’s mind, screaming nothings inside her head and placing images of her failure over… and over… and over.

”I’d apologize, but that really wasn’t my fault now was it Karen?” he said snidely, aiming to drive her into a fury. The myth of her infallibility had been shattered, and now she was about to beat a poor old man to near-death, he wouldn’t need to raise a finger to beat her.

That voice.

That voice!

”You…” Lady Arcana slowly craned her head towards the man who...who….”Why?”

Laying the boy’s head down gently on the ground, she stood. For a moment everything was silence, a rustle of wind causing her cloak to flutter as she turned to fully face the Nazi. Her eyes were consumed by tears, but there was something else there as well. A fire that could not be extinguished by sorrow.

”WHY?!”

Slamming into the old soldier with a sickening crack, her fists began to rain down upon him indiscriminately. Face, head, torso...none were spared as she waged a desperate war within her mind, a war between reason and rage.

She just had to let go once, and he would be smeared across the pavement. Just once...just once…

At first Wilhelm found himself smiling as Arcana gave into her rage, the results of a plan well executed, and he began to cackle as she asked him why at first.

Then the blow came, far harder than any hit he’d ever taken in his life, the breath flew from his lungs and the pain that came from his chest was overpowering. Then another hit, just as strong as the first, his body screamed in agony as the blows kept coming, blood flew from his mouth as another blow hit true, sending a tooth arcing through the air and lodging a second in his nostril.

He hadn’t thought this through. He wanted her to hurt him, but at this rate she was going to kill him! Wilhelm attempted to link with her mind, but another blow to the head prevented that from happening. Finally in the short time between blows he managed it.

What he saw in her head, it scared him. Pure, white-hot rage, reason buried beneath the red fury that completely consumed her every thought. She was going to kill him, he realized. His plan had gone horribly right, and now he was going to pay for it with his life.

”No-” he gurgled out before another blow slammed into his face, smashing his nose into a smear against his face. His tongue dangled loose in his mouth, a sign that his jaw had been broken, not that that was ever in doubt. ”Please sto-” he pleaded again before yet another blow slammed his head into the pavement below, smearing it with the same blood that covered his face like a macabre piece of modern art. He barely remained conscious, his mind fluttering between consciousness and unconsciousness, and for the first time in his life, he prayed to a god of any kind.

From where he lay on the pavement Tim tried his best to scream in agony as he suddenly regained a horrible excuse for consciousness. He remembered Lady Arcana suddenly right by his window and looking into her eyes, seeing determination and...fear? No that wasn’t right, superheroes weren’t afraid. They were beautiful eyes though. Then there was a sudden burst of fire and sound and just, pain everywhere. But now he wasn’t sure what was worse, the parts of him that hurt more than he’d ever felt or the parts that didn’t feel anything at all. Most of him had both at once going on, and that was weird. There was a smell that made him want to throw up, but nothing happened. He was pretty sure the smell was cooked Tim, and that was almost funny. Cannibals were stupid, he smelled horrible not tasty. He couldn’t really hear much, but he was sure that his screaming was coming out more as a mangled moaning instead. Where were his parents? Couldn’t they hear him? Someone had to hear him, right?

Karen’s vision was practically a field of white at this point. She couldn’t really see anything anymore, all she knew was that if she stopped punching, she would have to confront a reality she desperately wanted to forget. Despite knowing that, however, something was still holding her back. Something in the back of her mind preventing her from really cutting loose like she so very, very much wanted to right now. If only it was gone, it felt like everything would be better. If she just stopped caring, thing everything-

A sound.

A weak, but clearly audible moan emerging from charred throat. Despite its mangled nature, she could tell it belonged to a child.

That child.

“...!” Lady Arcana gasped, her vision clearing as she now stared down at the broken - very likely unconscious - body of Wilhelm. Blood now covered him and the street beneath him...as well as her still clenched fists. It wasn’t the first time there had been blood on her knuckles, but never before had it practically coated them.

It was horrid. Disgusting.

She had nearly killed him. She had already beaten him so badly that he was virtually unrecognizable, and still she wasn’t going to stop until she had heard…

”Y-you...” Lady Arcana turned to stare at the boy, laying there and moaning in what had to be incomprehensible amounts of pain. But if he was moaning… ”You’re alive!

Moving over to his horrifically burned form, she quickly knelt down beside him, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. He wasn’t dead. Not yet...but no, she could tell he didn’t have long. What should she do? What could she do? She had no medical knowledge.

Take him to a hospital?

To Zoey?

Maybe even to Mr. Luneberg?

No, he...his condition was beyond horrible. He wasn’t even recognizable as the same child anymore. She had to stop him from getting any worse, and she had to do it now.

There was only one place she knew of where that was possible.

Reaching down to gently scoop what remained of him up in her arms, she closed her eyes. When she parted them, she was standing within the throne room of the Rock of Eternity. That place where the old Wizard had first given her these powers. That place where he had claimed her worthy to inherit them.

That place where she now stood, feeling anything but that.

Sitting down upon the throne without a moment’s pause, she called out in a frantic voice: “Historama!”

Focusing her thoughts, she desperately, pleadingly asked for a way to keep him from dying. The Historama responded instantly with an image of a chamber with a row of stone mattresses. They didn’t look very comfortable or welcoming at all. More like something you laid a corpse on for study. But she didn’t have time to doubt herself, not right now.

Focusing hard on the image in front of her, while simultaneously thinking of the boy in her arms, she was relieved when she felt his meager weight vanish. One of the “beds” was now occupied, with a faint orange hue surrounding the body.

Focusing again, this time for herself, Lady Arcana now stood before the body of this child whose name she didn’t even know. Feeling her still bloodsoaked fists ball tightly enough to crush coal into diamond, she lowered her head. ”I’m sorry...I...couldn’t save them. I couldn’t save you. I’m...I’m sorry…”

Her shoulders trembled, her knees growing too weak to support her as she fell to the black marble-like surface of the Rock of Eternity. Wrapping her arms around herself, she finally collapsed onto her side as she simply lay there in the gentle hum of the rock, tears pouring freely from her eyes.

---

Lady Arcana had vanished from the scene, along with the body of a child. Paramedics had arrived on scene and - somewhat reluctantly - taken Wilhelm to Westridge General Hospital, where he was placed in the emergency ward, requiring near twenty four hour care and life support to remain stable in his current condition.

Compared to the War Criminal’s first attack on Hub City, the casualties were light...just four deaths. The truck driver of the gas tanker Wilhelm had initially destroyed, a wife and husband, and their young son. The latter’s body had still yet to be recovered, with many speculating on where Lady Arcana had taken him. Many expressed confusion and outrage at her actions, while most were simply thankful that the notorious “Iron Eagle” who had set fire to their city last December had once again been detained.

Lady Arcana herself would not be seen for over a week following this attack.

8:38 AM, July 21st
Waldberg General Hospital, Cancer Ward
Coast City

This was going to be a very special day. A very fun, very awesome day. They were coming to grant his wish. The thing he wanted most. Any minute now they would walk through that door and make his dream come true.

“WHERE ARE THEY?!” He roared, causing his parents to flinch. Their eyes frantically darted to each other, as if expecting the other to have the answer. Stupid.

Finally, his mother stepped forward wringing her hands. “B-Billy, they said they’ll be here by 8:45. T-that’s just seven minutes away.”

“OH BOY I’M SO EXCITED!!” He screamed, throwing a snow globe beside his bed at his mom’s head, which she deftly dodged.

“I...I’m so very happy for you, Billy,” his father paled, offering him a weary smile.

Rocking eagerly in his bed, “Little” Billy Johnson grinned ear-to-ear as his eyes practically bulged from his skull, firmly locked on the door. Seven minutes until his wish was granted. Maybe six now.

He didn’t scream anymore for that duration of time. Instead he remained focused, his eyes practically burning a hole through the door. Wouldn’t that be cool? If he could just burn this entire place down? That would be so fucking funny!

Then the door finally opened and he saw them. Those stupid blue “Make-a-Wish” shirts they all wore! Oh boy!

“Hi, Billy! We’re from the Make-a-Wish Foundation and-”

“I WANT TO BE THE RED RANGER!!!” Billy screamed at the top of his lungs, causing the man leading the trio to flinch slightly.

“Uh...y-yeah, so we’ve heard!” He smiled, gesturing for the woman beside him to step forward. She had a small box in her hand which she sat on Billy’s bed while grinning like an idiot. “And so we talked to Saban and they made this just for you!”

Throwing off the top of the box with such enthusiasm that it smacked the woman in the face, Billy’s eyes lit up in joy. “OH BOY!!”

“Er...we have quite a fun day planned for you,” the man continued, checking on his coworker as she rubbed her nose. “We’re going to go where they’re filming the newest series. You’ll get to see how your favorite show is-”

“I WANT TO FIGHT A MONSTER!!!” Billy roared, already having ripped his hospital gown off and thrown it over his dad’s head. He was now squeezing his way into his new outfit.

Left with a really stupid expression on his face for several moments, the man who was speaking to him used a handkerchief to wipe his brow. “W-well, we might be able to arrange something later if you’re g-”

‘I. WANT. TO. FIGHT. A. MONSTER. NOW!!!” He yelled at twice the volume as before, all of the stupid adults taking a step back. “MOM! WHERE IS MY BAT?!”

His mother practically wilted at this. “B-Billy, I really don’t think you should bring your-”

“NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU THINK YOU DUMB COW!!” Billy seized a bedpan and threw it at her. “BRING ME MY BAT!!”

Today was going to be so special!

---

Coast City Memorial Park, 9:22 AM

“R-right, Billy...we had to buy this monster costume from the store so it might not look as good as your costume, but I hope it-”

“OH BOY!!!” Billy’s eyes lit up in excitement upon seeing the stupid monster before him. It looked so damn fake, it was just like the show! “IT’S MORPHIN’ TIME!!!”

The man in the suit held his hands up as Billy charged at him with his favorite metal baseball bat. “Woah, now Billy, careful you don’t hurt someone wi-OH SWEET JESUS MY QUAD!”

Billy slammed the bat into his outer thigh, a beaming grin adorning his face. When the monster began to fall, he followed it up with a shot to his elbow, but before bringing it right up between his legs. “AHAHAHA!! GO GO POWER RANGERS!!”

“P-please...help...he-AGH!” The monster screamed like a moron as Billy slammed the bat into his shoulder and then across his back.

“BILLY STOP!” The lead Make-A-Wish idiot rushed forward and grabbed ahold of his bat. “You’re hurting him, Billy!”

Billy’s eyes flared behind his Red Ranger helmet at this. Didn’t he know that red was the leader?! Nobody told him what to do!! “YOU’RE RUINING MY WISH!!!”

Forcefully shoving the end of the bat into the stupid Make-A-Wish guy’s mouth, the man reeled back with a yell as he covered his face, something small and white clattering to the ground between his fingers. “GAGH! M-MY CROWN!”

“MY MOUTH IS DRY NOW!” Billy screamed. “I WANT ICE CREAM!!”

---

Baskin Robbins, 9:33

“I WANT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH!” Billy screamed in excitement, the patrons eating in the establishment all staring in confusion and shock. Adults were stupid like that. They even made him take off his helmet.

The man and woman - there were only two now, the monster had to go to the hospital for some stupid reason - glanced to each other and then to the menu. Finally, they warily turned back to him. “Billy...I...I don’t think they have that flavor. B-but look, there’s dozens of other kinds of ice cream!”

“What,” Billy responded in an almost inaudible monotone. “They...THEY DON’T HAVE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH?!”

The man immediately stepped forward, trying to grab Billy. “Now listen here you...you! I’ve about had enough! We came here to make this day special for you, but you keep-ARGH!”

Billy smashed the bat into his knee, before turning it on the ice cream display. “STUPID GROWN UPS NEVER GIVE ME WHAT I WANT!!”

When the glass shattered beneath his bat, several people stood in shock, the people behind the counter shouting at him. How dare they yell at him on this, the day where he was supposed to get his wish? He hated all of their stupid faces.

“That’s enough!” The woman - who hadn’t really said anything the whole time - finally stepped forward, drawing her hand back to slam it across Billy’s face. The audible crack rang out through the Baskin Robbins.

The bat clamored to the ground, Billy raising his hand to cup where she had struck him. “You...hit me…?”

“Yes!” She snapped. “You’ve been...you have to be the single worst brat I have ever had the infinite displeasure of meeting! In all my days working for the Foundation, I’ve never met a more miserable, more insufferable, more psychotic little monster than you! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Billy, the shock having at last worn off, slowly shifted his gaze to meet hers. “I….hate all of you...all of you...YOU STUPID FUCKING GROWN UPS! YOU SHOULD BE THE ONES DYING, NOT ME!!!”

“Why you little-” She started, when once again the sound of breaking glass caused her to flinch. Staring up at the ceiling for some stupid reason, Billy instinctively followed her gaze.

There was...something red glowing up there. Because of that glow and its small size, he couldn’t really make out what it was. For some reason, though...he really liked the look of it. And then it spoke to him.

“William Johnson of Earth, you possess great rage in your heart. You belong to the Red Lantern Corps.”

It spoke in such a robotic way. Robots were cool, so that was cool! “I LOVE RED!!”

As if responding to his enthusiasm, the thing floated down towards him. Billy reached out to grasp it, but instead it slid onto his finger. It was ring, he could tell now. Like on Captain Planet! But...but now he felt -

“BLURGH!” Billy hacked, blood spewing from his mouth as the people inside the Baskin Robbins gasped in horror. His heart hurt...his entire body felt like it was on fire. He’d never felt any sort of pain like this before...but for some reason, he loved it.

His Red Ranger suit was immediately burned away, but beneath it he was wearing a new, even cooler uniform. All throughout his body he could feel the raw power, the raw anger flowing through him. But then, he’d always had that anger, hadn’t he? Now it just...it felt a hundred times more amazing!!

“B-Billy,” the Make-A-Wish guy - having been on the ground clutching his knee - finally spoke up. “W-what’s happening? What is this?”

Slowly lifting into the air as a crimson glow surrounded him, his eyes - now encircled by a red mask - centered on the man. “MY WISH.”

Vomiting up that strange blood for the second time, it engulfed both of the Make-A-Wish workers, their bodies - bones and all! - melting into a smouldering puddle that began eating through the floor. The people inside the building started shrieking in terror as they attempted to run past him. But they weren’t going to escape. None of them would. None of them had listened to him. None of them had given him what he wanted, what he deserved!

Smashing up through the roof of the Baskin Robbins, Billy clenched his ring-bearing fist and thrust it forward at the building. From his ring emerged a crimson beam that pierced the roof...and in an instant the ice cream shop erupted in a ball of fire that engulfed everyone trying to flee from it. Said fire continued to expand into the street and adjacent buildings, and Billy could see it all. See it in slow motion as it burned their flesh, melted their eyes, broke their bodies...it was so fucking cool!!

“OH BOY!!” Billy screamed in delight, flying off to burn more of those stupid adults and their stupid kids...starting with his old school. “GO GO RED LANTERN!!”

9:48 AM, July 21st
Seawatch Elementary
Coast City

A red beam pierced the playground, the beam burrowing deep into the Earth as it streaked across the schoolyard and into the school gym. Flames erupted along the path of his attack, expanding outwards to engulf the whole stupid place in fire.

There weren’t any kids or adults there. He’d forgotten that it was summer, and so school was out. He wanted to watch them all burn…but destroying the stupid building would do for now! He’d just have to find them all later! Or destroy the whole stupid city! That’d show em’.

”HAHAH, STUPID GYM! I ALWAYS HATED P.E.!!!” Billy screamed, turning his eyes to the school proper. Aiming his ring at it next, he watched with a broad grin as it too was reduced to a ball of fire. The fireballs he made were always so huge!! He wasn’t even really trying yet.

He couldn’t help wondering how big of a fireball he could make, if he really put some effort into it? Maybe he could even burn Coast City in one big shot!

”OH BOY, LET’S DO IT!!!”

Ascending sharply into the sky until he could see the city as a whole, Billy’s grin widened so far that it practically hurt. But he didn’t mind pain so much any more. Pain, in fact, just made him angrier…and anger felt good.

Aiming his ring towards the ground, he narrowed his eyes as it began to glow. He was going to wipe it all away in just one shot…

From the distance shot forward a green blur at incredible speeds. The news of something attacking his city and melting people was more than enough of a reason for Preston to suit up and fly head first into danger. Some said it was a smaller figure that was harming people, but Preston didn’t think much of it.

He charged into the scene like a dart, aiming to ram into the red menace with his autoshields. However, with his enhanced abilities, Preston had caught just what this attacker was before he hit him, and shot straight up into the air mere feet from where he was standing. As he slowed himself down, he looked at who was floating around just as he did, his eyes widening as he took in the appearance of the masked attacker, and what emblem he bore on his chest.

It was a child!

Preston was quick to put his ring to work, creating a bubble around the kid. Preston floated closer and closer to him, getting a good look at his similar uniform with a similar emblem. And to make things worse, he had a power ring too!? Preston needed to have a big talk with the Guardians of Oa when he had some time to travel back. Not only to discuss why he seemed to be underperforming, but also why someone looked just like him, but had a completely different power set, one more volatile and dangerous than his own.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Preston didn’t exactly know how to confront this kid. Should he treat him like any other criminal? Preston didn’t know enough to judge. “And how are you able to do all of this?”

Billy’s eyes narrowed when a green glow caught his eye. He was moving fast, but not as fast as him. He looked like he was going to slam into him, but instead he flew up and...and he did something. Put some kind of...green bubble around him. He was a grown up, but his uniform looked kind of like his, just...green. That really pissed him off.

”I ALWAYS HATED THE GREEN RANGER!” Billy screamed, pointing his ring at the man. Once again a red beam emerged, making contact with the shield that surrounded him. Almost immediately it cracked and splintered, before shattering in the face of the attack. ”SEE-YAH!!”

Green ranger? Preston barely had any time to process that outburst before this kid shattered his bubble with a single beam. He was even forced to fly off to the left and around his target just to avoid the beam that was unleashed. He didn’t want to hurt this child, but he was far too much to handle. He needed to pacify him somehow.

Preston had to think. Green Ranger, the kid mentioned. He made some wacky shouting noise as he unleashed the beam. It had been a very, very long time since Preston had to actually think about the power rangers, but he was forced to do whatever he could to keep this situation from getting any worse. “But wasn’t the red one still the leader?” He tried to make conversation with this fuming kid. “A leader has to be calm and focused, don’t you want to be like that?”

He wasn’t very good at this whole talking to kids thing.

He was trying to lecture him, just like the people in that stupid school he’d just burned down. Just like those stupid Make-A-Wish people he’d melted. That was what grown ups always did. Tried to tell him how to do things, how to act, how to think. He hated them all. This one even thought he could tell him how to be Red?

”I’M THE LEADER BECAUSE I SAY SO! BECAUSE I’M SPECIAL!!!” He roared, blood erupting from his throat to splash at the green wannabe who was trying to get in the way of his fun. All they ever wanted to do was keep him from getting what he wanted, the stupid jerks! Why couldn’t they just understand that he was more important than all of their stupid faces?

”I’M GOING TO MELT YOU, JUST LIKE THE MAKE-A-WISH MORONS!!”

Preston’s autoshields were only able to withstand so much of the corrosive blood that this so called leader spat at him. As soon as it melted through, Preston could feel it burning through his suit and into his skin. He yelled in pain, but he withstood it.

He had to be creative, he reminded himself. But there seemed to be no way to calm this kid down. Was the only choice really to beat him up and knock him out cold? Preston refused to accept that as an answer. “I’m agreeing with you!” Preston could barely hide his pain through gritted teeth. “You’re the leader! But people don’t want to follow a leader that kills them!” He sighed, letting out some of that pain in a guttural groan. “And as the green guy in this situation, I’m here to tell you that enough is enough.”

Preston held out his ring in front of him, just like Killowog taught him. With the powers of his ring, he made another barrier around the kid, and another. And more and more until there were ten bubbles shielding the kid from the outside forces, and protecting the world from this violent half-pint. “I’m sorry Kid, I have to take you to the space cops!”

”YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE THERE!!” Billy shouted, enraged that the stupid green man was still floating there, getting in the way of him burning this stupid city. ”IF I’M THE LEADER, THAT MEANS YOU DO WHAT I SAY!!!”

Balling his fists tightly when saw yet more of the stupid green barriers appear around him, Billy released a scream of pure rage. He was so sick of this guy and his dumb, stupid bubbles! He wanted to melt him so badly right now. And what he wanted, he was going to get! He was the Red Lantern now, that meant he could do whatever he wanted...and nobody was going to stop him!

”I’M THE BOSS NOW!” Billy declared. ”THE BOSS OF THIS DUMB CITY, THE BOSS OF THIS DUMB PLANET!!”

Charging forward as fast and hard as his anger would allow him too, Billy slammed into the shields with a force capable of propelling him through interstellar space. While a Green Lantern’s barriers perhaps should have been able to offer him resistance, there was something wrong. The spheres Preston had created were not nearly as durable as they should have been, and they broke on impact with the terrible tyke.

As he smashed through the last of the bubbles, Billy set his eyes on the grown up. Charging right for him, his hands lashed out for his throat. ”I’LL TWIST YOUR HEAD OFF LIKE MECHAGODZILLA!! DUN DUN DUN!”

While humming the mechagodzilla theme, he began to attempt to wrench the Green Lantern’s head off with his small but terribly powerful hands.

Mechagodzilla!? How did this kid even know about the star of the 1974 Kaiju film Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla? Was this kid that bored with things that he stumbled onto his dads collection of old movies and watched them in his spare time? Even Preston had to reach a little to get the reference.

Preston set up another wall between himself and the the boy, but it was reduced to shreds just as soon as it was created. He had no choice other than to reassemble the wall as quick as he could around him, hoping to capture the boy and fling him as far as he could with such a short wind.

Hopefully tossing the Kid away would give Preston a second to think. His constructs were paper thin. He should at the very least be able to hold one adolescent within ten reinforced bubbles! But apparently that wasn’t the case, so he needed to end this as soon as possible, if that was possible.

Billy was briefly entrapped by the wall and flung away before he was able to smash through it. This guy was really making him mad now! Madder than he normally was, even! He had already told him to die more than once, but he was just too stupid to listen! Why did grown ups never listen to him? Didn’t they understand how much easier things would be if they just accepted how special he was?

”NO MORE BUBBLES! NO MORE WALLS! Billy screamed, pointing his ring at him. ”I’LL BUILD A WALL AROUND YOU THIS TIME, AND MAKE YOU PAY!”

Again a red beam emerged from his ring, but instead of it merely being focused red energy as it had up till this point, it took the form a wall almost identical to the green one that had been used to push Billy away. This one looked considerably more sturdy, however, and it was heading straight towards the green man at interstellar speeds.

Preston floated before the shining red wall that separated himself from this red ring user. While Preston was initially confused as to why he had summoned a wall when preston was not the one attacking, all thoughts flew out the window as Preston flew through the air. This kid even had more powerful constructs than he did!

While he soared through the air, Preston had a small conversation with himself regarding if he really was worthy enough to use the ring. Obviously so, but did it make a mistake? He couldn’t even square up against a kid.

The longer he let himself be carried away by the sheer force of the hit, the more he denied those thoughts. He fought space pirates! He took down starships with his ring and his wits! He could certainly use the ring as it should be, but ever since he returned to earth, he began to notice how its power has been decaying on some level. He knew he could deflect laser fire without a second thought when he first started, but something was wrong, and now he could barely handle human made laser weapons!

Preston’s body glew green, his shield recharging after a small breather while flying through the air. At about the same speed he had been moving away from the kid, he began to actually fly and curve around, aiming straight at him, hands stretched forward.. If he couldn’t use his ring to capture the boy, then he’d just have to use his hands!

Preston tried his hardest to grab the kid and hold onto him. He flew up high into the air, as fast as his ring could take him right now, and then some. The sky around them went from a bright blue, to navy, then to black, as Preston carried the kid off into space. If he had a power ring, surely it would protect him in outer space on the way to Oa.

Billy saw the green man approach him again. He was slow, and when he grabbed him Billy could tell he was weak too. Grown ups had always been strong than him. Had always tried to use their size to push him around and make him do what they wanted. But now that didn’t matter. Now he was the strong one!

”YOUR GREEN RING SUCKS!” Billy laughed, grabbing Preston by the throat. The sky had gotten darker. He could see stars now, twinkling above him. Were they in space?

Glancing around him for a moment, Billy was quickly able to locate the moon. It seemed so close right now, like he could just fly right to it! His lips stretched into a broad, positively manic grin as he shot off towards - and near-instantly reached - the moon. ”OH BOY, I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO KILL THE MAN IN THE MOON!!

His eyes darted about as he touched down on the chalk-white rock, having apparently forgotten that he was still holding Preston by the throat with one hand. ”WHERE IS HE? I’M GONNA MELT HIM!!”

As soon as the kid had launched his hand into Preston’s neck, he could feel just how powerless he was to this red menace. Every passing moment reminded Preston more and more about how he no longer had any control over the situation. Maybe he never had any control, and he was always at the mercy of the kid. If Preston’s ring wasn’t nearly completely powerless at this point, only barely keeping him alive in the cold vacuum of space, he would have tried to deny that point. He would have tried to assert himself one more time in an effort to get the kid to stop.

Now they were on the surface of the moon. Preston’s vision blurred, his uniform began to burn away in a green flame. He couldn’t even afford to struggle at this point. The last thing Preston remembered seeing was the furious boy strangling him, and their home planet behind him.

Suddenly, a concussive blast of green energy shot through the vacuum of space towards little Billy, aiming to hit his wrist and make him drop the weaker Green Lantern. A stern-faced, red-skinned figure floated a couple dozen feet off the moons’ surface, crossing his arms over his green and black Lantern suit. “So I hear you’re looking for a fight, little one?” The newcomer asked with a small sneer, glancing at Preston to make sure his autoshield was functioning for now. “How about a fight with a real spaceman?” He finished with a grin before the ring on his left hand flashed a brilliant green and a huge hand materialized in the void between the pair, smacking at little Billy with a good deal more force than Preston’s Ring had been able to manage.

“GAGH!” Billy yelped when something struck him in the wrist, causing him to drop that weak green man who’d interfered with his fun.

Grasping at his stinging hand for a moment, Billy centered his gaze on yet another one of those stupid green men. But this one had red skin, of all things. Was he...an alien? A real, authentic space alien?! His face began to brighten at the idea, his eyes practically trembling within his skull from the manic excitement washing over him.

Then he was struck by a big green hand that came out of nowhere. It hurt. It really, really hurt, and Billy went flying halfway to the Earth before he was able to stop himself, glaring wildly at the stupid alien who had hit him. He was just like that dumb woman in the Baskin Robbins!

“Rage. Hate. Devour.”” The robotic voice of his ring hummed.

”DEVOUR?” Billy blinked, before his lips stretched into the broadest grin yet. ”OH BOY!! HE’S RED, SO MAYBE HE TASTES LIKE CHERRIES!! BLARGHHH!”

Spewing up that corrosive blood that had made quick work of those stupid Make-A-Wish people, Billy instantly closed the hundred-plus thousand miles between them, attempting to tackle the man and melt him. To sink his teeth into whatever was left afterwards. ”RED IS BETTER THAN GREEN!!

Sinestro was momentarily surprised at the speed which the boy closed the distance between them, it seemed as though his ring offered the boy power at a similar level to the Green Rings, though Sinestro had never seen a ring that spewed red light before. He’d need to capture and contain this child, to bring the Ring back to Oa and see what the Guardians knew about it. The sheer power coming from this boy was immense, even if the control aspect was… Lacking. No time to consider that now though, as the boy was on him in a flash, vomiting up a stream of red, blood-like energy that began to corrode Sinestro’s auto-shield. Alarmed, Sinestro clenched his fist and generated an expanding bubble around himself, aiming to push the boy off of him for a moment so he could get some room.

Sinestro backed away and pointed his Ring at the boy, hoping to stall for just a few moments while he thought of a plan. “Devour, eh? No no child, I don’t like the sound of that. Unfortunately however, you appear to have stolen technology developed by the Guardians of Oa and have corrupted it, using its power to injure the Green Lantern in charge of your sector of space. That makes you my problem. Now we can do this the easy way, where you surrender the ring and come with me back to Oa; the Guardians would likely take pity on you. Or we can do it the hard way, and I drag you back by your bald scalp.” He said, allowing an edge of menace to creep into his voice at the end. A mere thought flashed through Sinestro’s mind and a large shield formed in front of him, a barrier that would at least slow the child down for a moment when he inevitably attacked.

Billy grunted in anger and frustration when the shield forcibly pushed him back. Smashing at it with his fists, he screamed at the top of his lungs when it didn’t shatter like the other one’s. Why was this stupid alien so much harder to beat up than the other green man? ”NO FAIR! THE OTHER GREEN ONE WAS WEAK! YOU SHOULD BE WEAK TOO!”

Backing off ever-so-slightly, Billy aimed his ring at the shield the alien had created and began blasting at it with his red beams. They had pierced through multiple shields at once from the other green man, but he found that he had to use several while really trying this time. It was just one stupid shield, it shouldn’t be this hard!!

”NOBODY TELLS ME WHAT TO DO!!” Billy screeched, blood still streaming from his mouth as his rage reached its peak, the dumb alien daring to try and boss him around. Charging full force into his shield this time. He was going to smash this guy’s stupid mustache face in!

Sinestro allowed himself a small smile as he continued to pour his power into the shield. He was right, the power coming from the red ring was immense, but lacked any sort of precision or control. If any other Lantern had shown up, the boy would have broken through their shield quickly, but Sinestro was no normal Lantern. He watched the boy back up and then scream in frustration, hurtling headlong towards his shield, and a wicked idea formed in Sinestro’s mind.

As the boy closed in on the shield… Sinestro dropped it. He then sidestepped out of the way, using his ring to leave a ghostly, but intangible afterimage in his place for the boy to ‘hit’. The plan was thus: Allow the child to streak past and confuse himself, then Sinestro would create a Green Energy lasso to catch his ankle, and whip him around and slam him into the surface of this moon. It was a satisfying plan, assuming it worked.

”WAH?!” Billy gasped in confusion when the shield vanished before he could slam into it, but he was too mad to care about why. Instead, he continued on course towards the dumb alien, wanting to rip his dumb face off with his teeth! Opening his mouth wide as blood poured from it, he bit down on...nothing?

Blinking as he sliced through what had appeared to be the alien, he furiously began to scan the area for wherever he’d gotten to. ”YOU WON’T GET AWAY!! YOU’VE MADE ME MAD!!”

That was when he felt something tug at his ankle, his gaze falling to see a green...rope? Following along its length to see that it ended at the alien’s ring, Billy’s eyes flared. Raising his ring, he prepared to fire, only to be slung downwards into the moon below, the impact causing the surface of the planetoid to splinter and crack for many miles in all direction.

”BLAARGH!” Billy puked up that red energy quite unintentionally this time as he struggled to push himself up. N-NO FAIR!! YOU’RE CHEATING!! I’M SUPPOSED TO WIN!!”

Sinestro slowly floated down to the surface of the planetoid, pointing his ring at the collapsed body of his foe. Green manacles sprang into existence and closed around his wrists and ankles before chaining themselves to the surface of the moon. They might not hold him forever, but they would do for now. “Win?” Sinestro asked coldly, crossing his arms and arching an eyebrow. “You honestly think this is a game, child? You’ve killed people, hurt people, given yourself over to rage. This is no game. It’s pest control.” Sinestro began to circle the boy, keeping a careful eye out for any signs of weakness in his constructs.

“Do you know why I’m here?” Sinestro asked. “The man you were fighting, the Green Lantern of Earth; his Ring sent out a distress call when it encountered yours. I happened to be the closest Lantern nearby. If I wanted to though, I could send out my own call. Every Lantern from here to Oa would converge on this moon within the hour. You want a fight? I can bring you one here. Then you can lose not just to me, but to thousands of my brothers. You couldn’t beat me. Could you beat a literal planet with my powers? Let this be a lesson to you, boy.” Sinestro said, coming back around and staring Billy in the eye. “Do not fuck with the Green Lantern Corps.”

Billy roared, animalistic, inhuman. He tugged furiously at the constructs, though thanks to Sinestro’s attentiveness they did not break. The moon that they had been shackled to, however, wasn’t so resilient, and one of the manacles began to be ripped from the rock. ”I HATE YOU!! YOU’RE JUST ANOTHER STUPID GROWN UP!! I’LL KILL YOU! I’LL EAT YOUR HEART!!!”

His voice had started to become almost electronic in tone, and it was no longer entirely clear whether it was just Billy, or his ring speaking to the man before him. That strange red energy still poured from his mouth, lashing at the alien with renewed vigor even as its host was unable to move for the moment. ”YOU AND YOUR STUPID FRIENDS ARE GONNA DIE!! GO GO RED LANTERN!!! DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO!!!”

As he began singing, the anger and rage grew within him and the moon he was chained to began to give way, even if the green constructs necessarily did not.

Sinestro paused for a moment, taken aback by the… Interesting response from the boy. He turned his attention momentarily to the surface of the moon, realizing it was perhaps not as good an anchoring point as he initially thought. Another flash from his Ring and the chains on the manacles extended, lifting in the air and beginning to wrap themselves around the boy. Tying him to the moon didn’t work, so it would be interesting to see him try to fight against himself to break free.

“I understand now.” Sinestro said, focusing more on the chains and getting them wrapped tightly around the child. “You’re utterly insane. You’re a crazy person. That makes you a danger to yourself and everyone around you. So you no longer get the chance to hurt anyone, even yourself.” He said, tying the rest of the chains together and clenching his fist, tightening the whole knot. “As soon as the other Lantern wakes up, we’re going to Oa.”

Billy continued to scream and struggle, gnash his teeth and spew “blood”. For a period, it seemed as if his efforts just might even overwhelm the supremely constructed chains of Thaal Sinestro, but eventually the boy seemed “calm”, for lack of a better word. When he spoke this time, he - for once - did not shout. Instead his tone was quiet, but carried within it a hatred and venom the Korugarian alien had likely never heard before.

”I’ll remember your stupid face. I’ll kill everyone that has it. Everyone you love. I’ll drink their blood. Eat their flesh. And you’ll watch.”

Thaal Sinestro shook his head, staring coldly at the chained child. “You can try. And then I’ll kill you.” He said with a small smile before taking to the skies again, dragging the child along behind him as he found the still-breathing body of the Green Lantern Preston. ‘Emerald Knight’ he’d called himself. Some of the other Lanterns had taken offense when he forsook the name of the Corps, but the Guardians had allowed it. He was injured, his autoshield flickering, but he was alive. Sinestro began to channel green energy into the other Lantern, healing his wounds and trying to charge his Ring.

Taking a closer look at the Ring on Preston’s hand, the ring of his old friend Abin Sur, Sinestro began to see some… Upsetting markers. The ring was underpowered, and not due to missing its recharging from the power battery. It was damaged. Breaking apart. It simply couldn’t hold enough energy. That was… Upsetting, to say the least.

It took a moment, but with a jolt, Preston coughed and hacked wildly. His whole body bent forwards as he coughed, his body struggling to regain the air that was lost from him. His first thoughts were the kid. From where he was floating, he was nowhere in sight.

As soon as he had enough strength and air in his lungs to look around, he searched the face of the moon for the one who had almost killed him. Preston was honestly surprised that he was still alive. What could have stopp-

Oh.

It was him.

Sinestro was another green lantern from a nearby sector, one of the best. Due to conflicting schedules, Preston had never seen him in person, but word on Oa quickly spread. Apparently Sinestro was friends with the guy who wore Preston’s ring before him. It probably hurt the red alien a bit when word got around that there was a new lantern for earth’s sector.

Being held prisoner was the kid. He didn’t seem to be as volatile as he was before, but Preston could still feel a deadly aura emanating off of him. Something about that boy unsettled him.

“Ah.” Preston groaned, rolling his shoulder. “You must be Sinestro. I’ve heard a lot of great things about you.” Preston had forgotten that he was no longer clothed in his uniform, now only bearing his civilian clothes. He was being protected by the power of his ring, and even a little boost to his ring’s energy could be felt.

His eyes shifted to the child. “He’s got a red ring.” He stated the obvious. “I’ve never seen any rings other than green before. His ring is powerful though, he’s powerful. I couldn’t stop him. You’ve got my thanks.” Preston could only feel humble right now. He had failed in his job as a lantern, another had to step in and save him and his planet, and honestly? Preston felt like he could barely address Sinestro by name because of how revered some of the other Lanterns spoke about him.

Sinestro backed up to give his fellow Lantern some space as he coughed and came back to consciousness, glad that he wouldn’t be dragging two bodies back to Oa. he nodded in greeting to the new Lantern, his expression calm and cool. “Thaal Sinestro, Green Lantern of Sector 1417. I believe you’re Preston Westfield? It’s good to meet you, our sectors are close by and it’s good to… Know the neighbors, as it were.”

Sinestro’s attention shifted back to the business at hand and he turned to glance at the silent form of the child behind him. His expression said it all, a barely contained, simmering rage was building in the child, and Preston was right. He was dangerous. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s never seen a Red Ring before.” Sinestro admitted, thinking on the details he had picked up during the fight. “It appears whatever this ring is, it seems to be based off our own Power Rings, though it clearly taps into something aside from willpower. My best guess is that anger is its power source, though I had no idea anything aside form Will could power a ring… It seems to make him powerful, certainly stronger than an average Green Lantern. However, he lacks control. This is why Will is stronger than rage, we can control ourselves and think clearly in the midst of danger. Of course…” Sinestro said, turning back to Preston. “It also helps when your Ring is actually working. How long has yours been broken?”

Broken? Preston didn’t even know what to say about that. Was it even possible for a power ring to break?

The confusion written on his face should have made it clear that he had no idea what Sinestro was talking about. “That would certainly explain why I can barely handle missile fire now.” He commented offhandedly. If his ring was somehow broken, then it would explain why he was slowly getting worse in fights, and how he needed to exert more of himself to get the same results.

“I never knew it was broken.” He admitted to Sinestro. “I got the ring, went to Oa, trained, and started patrolling. I guess any damage wasn’t apparent when I first arrived, so maybe the guardians didn’t even know.”

Sinestro frowned slightly, worried about the explanation Preston gave. Was it possible the ring had been damaged when whatever happened to Abin Sur had… Well, happened? If so, the Guardians should have picked it up, unless, as Preston said, the damage was so miniscule it passed unnoticed. Still… “There are very few things that can break a Green Lantern Power Ring.” Sinestro explained. “Immense natural forces, extremely powerful enemies, or the Guardians retiring a Ring are the only things I can think of off the top of my head. However, your ring is broken, of that I’m sure. Perhaps it was somehow damaged in the crash, when you found Abin… Regardless, we need to get it fixed. Come with me back to Oa, help me keep an eye on our little prisoner here. We’ll get your Ring taken care of and try to find answers about this Red energy. What do you say?”

Preston didn’t need to be told twice to go back to Oa to help sort all of this out. Talk about his ring, this red ring, and maybe he could learn a little bit more about Abin Sur, the previous owner of Preston’s ring.

He nodded to Sinestro. “The sooner, the better.”

July 28th, 11:48 AM, New York City
Lundgrau Intelligence Services NA HQ

Lady Arcana hadn’t been seen for nearly two weeks at this point, an unusual amount of time for her to be completely off the radar. Karen had seen the reports, still talking about how she had “abducted” little Timothy McClellan after Iron Eagle’s second attack on the city. She...couldn’t really argue with that, she had taken him to the Rock without a word to anyone. It must have seemed crazy to anyone that didn’t know...which was everyone but her and Sam right now.

She hadn’t really talked to anyone else since then. Hadn’t changed back to Lady Arcana. Hadn’t even gone to school until they started calling, at which point her dad made her go. After that point she just drifted from class to class, probably failing her tests. She honestly didn’t remember how she’d done, and her dad didn’t care so long as they didn’t bother him.

But she knew she couldn’t just stay like this forever. She couldn’t hide away from the world, when it needed her the most, as inept as she was at doing her job. So it was now that she found herself in New York, staring at the headquarters of one Raymond von Luneburg...the one man that could perhaps teach her how to never let anything like this happen again.

She hadn’t bothered to ask Samantha, despite her concern. She didn’t have the energy to argue with her about whether or not she was ready to learn it. She wasn’t ready for any of this, but it was happening anyhow.

But how should she approach? Through the top window? No, that’d be rude. She was asking for help, after all.

Instead, she touched down gently in front of the ground floor. People outside the admittedly impressive steel and glass building recoiled in shock at her sudden descent, but she paid them - or their flashing cell phones - no mind. Instead, she simply walked through the front doors and approached the receptionist’s desk.

Regarding the young woman with a somber expression, her words rolled off her tongue in a muted voice. ”Is Mr. Luneburg here? I...really need to see him right now.”

Glancing up from the desk that seemed rife with paperwork and paging systems, the woman took one look at Lady Arcana and nodded slowly. "Ah, one moment." Her thin fingers worked swiftly across the board, punching in a series of numbers even as the headset was adjusted against the side of her face. "Mr. Lüneburg? Your noon appointment is here… I'll let her know." A subtle click sounded from the earpiece and the receptionist looked back up from the desk. "He'll be down in just a moment. Would you like a drink? There's a coffee machine just around the corner. If coffee isn't to your liking then it also dispenses water and hot cocoa."

Lady Arcana gently shook her head in response to this, not feeling like eating or drinking anything. Not that she needed to in this form, but she had still sometimes engaged in it for pleasure when she wasn’t feeling so...well, like this. “No thank you. I’m fine with waiting.”

She had probably already waited too long, in truth, consumed by her own guilt and self-pity.

Just moments after the call to the offices, an elevator chime went off to the side of the lobby and Raymond stepped out amid a small gathering of accountants. Seemed he had previously been in the middle of yet another financial meeting, which explained why he was only too happy to dismiss them and make his way over to the reception desk. "Lady Arcana, good to see you. Wonderful job over in Arabia." A quick glance to the side and he looked over the agenda for the day on the desk.

"Lexa, I'll need you to cancel… All of those. Especially the meeting with General Stewart. Would not do well for him to wander in unannounced. Now, Lady Arcana, if you'll come with me, we can speak privately in my office." He gestured towards the elevators, one of which went directly to the executive floor and was where he was heading at the moment.

Lady Arcana had waited in silence, almost stalk still the whole time. Her eyes were aimed at the pristine marble flooring, whereas before she would’ve likely been glancing all about the no doubt impressive interior. She just didn’t have it in her to be amazed right now.

When Mr. Luneburg called out her name, her head jerked up to meet his gaze. ”Oh, hello Mr. Luneburg. I’m...sorry for not making an appointment or anything.”

She knew that, hide it though she might try, her voice undoubtedly sounded drained right now. Not at all the way she had when they last saw each other in Arabia. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too notable, though, since she wasn’t here for pity. She needed help.

Raymond had of course noticed the shift in character. It was rather hard not to after having spoken with her before and observed her actions up close. Yet from all reports, she had a rather traumatic event in her home city, and it seemed to have left an impression upon her. For that, he allowed a few moments of silence to pass in the elevator as it slowly made its way up to the executive floors. At least, it seemed slower for the tense atmosphere within, when it was actually making fairly quick time due to the magnetic rails that guided it up the building.

"When I was younger, I also wore the lightning bolt on my chest." Finally, he broke the silence, not moving his eyes from the view of the building passing in front of them. "I was perhaps not quite as gifted as I am now, and definitely not as wise, but I had a fire in my heart that would not listen to anyone but those who told me what I wished to hear. It eventually led to me losing the power, but in retrospect it was for the best. The wizard knew who I would become if I stayed my course. In order for me to find my way back to my path, it had to happen."

Raymond turned ever so slightly, a serious look on his face as he looked down at the woman. "Have you lost your way, Lady Arcana? I understand it may seem like it after that last encounter in Hub City, but do you still hold to your principles?"

Lady Arcana had remained silent as they rode the elevator up. It was an impressive sight, she had to admit. She could see the true scope and grandeur out the window as they ascended, something that would’ve probably left her gaping like a moron on any other day. But her somber, half-responsive state was immediately shattered by those words that broke the silence between them.

”...What?” Her head snapped up to the businessman, eyes wide. ”You...you were give these powers by that old Wizard too? B-but..how? When he gave them to me he…”

She trailed off, his final words bringing back the sobriety that had consumed her ever since her last confrontation with Wilhelm. Once again looking away from him, she reached a hand up to rub at her arm. ”I...yes. I still do, even if maybe I can’t live up to them right now.”

She looked back up at him. ”But that’s why I’m here! I...I want to be better. To….to not ever let anyone down the way I did there.”

He had assumed as much, both in the reason for coming to his offices, and that the Wizard had not mentioned her predecessors. Vagueness was the old wizard's speciality it seemed. "The powers I have now have been slowly cultivated over my life, but it was only after I lost the ones given to me by the Wizard that I had need to." Of course, he left quite a bit out in regards to specifics, but those were things that were rather irrelevant to the discussion at hand. She had very nearly beaten the old nazi to death, and regardless of whether or not it was needed, it had gone against her principles to do so, at least what he had thought of them.

"Even though the old Wizard is no longer present to observe and guide, even strip away the powers of the unworthy, that does not mean the consequences are any less. I saw a few of the cellphone videos of your actions, and while you did cross a line that day, it's clear that you still at least know where your path is." The chime of the elevator let them know that it had stopped, the action of the machine smooth to the point where it hadn't even been felt.

He gestured to follow, opening the doors to the main conference room and settling into a chair towards the back. It was here where he had held most of his meetings, and also where he had observed New York City engulfed in flames of its own making.

"You can do away with your glamor, no one other than myself actively frequents this floor unless there are meetings."

Lady Arcana unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself while Mr. Luneburg discussed the consequences of her actions. She knew...knew that she had gone way too far back there. Knew that she had nearly beaten Wilhelm to death in her blind rage. She hadn’t even been thinking at that point, being barely more than a rabid animal. That...that wasn’t who she was. It wasn’t who she wanted to be.

”I don’t want to lose control again,” she answered him, affirming her earlier statement. ”And I don’t want anyone like Timothy to ever have to die because I wasn’t good enough.”

When he noted that she could do away with her “glamor”, she merely cocked her head to the side in confusion.

”...Glamor?”

Right, it was easy to forget that she didn't have nearly as much arcane knowledge as the name implied. He made a gesture about his face as he explained briefly. "The mask, the one which the powers imbue you with." Part of him wondered if she knew any other spells than the one he taught her, but he quickly silenced that small voice in the back of his head. She had come here specifically to speak with him and seek some form of guidance, so it would do to try and find some form of restraint. Taking a moment to gather himself internally, he tried again. "Apologies, with being around another user of the arcane, I often forget that terms have changed and that few have as much experience. The glamor is what the armor of the wizard was once called, though back then it was actual armor and not a mere costume. Well, I use the term quite lightly as it seemed your 'costume' was able to take quite the hit with that nuclear detonation in Arabia."

”O-oh! My transformation,” she finally understood his meaning, glancing down at herself.

Wait. He wanted her to drop it? To turn back into her human form? That would mean revealing her identity to him, though, something she’d kept a secret from everybody besides Clarissa thus far. I mean...she was here asking for his help, of course, but even still…

Then again, she was utterly nobody. That was probably the greatest benefit of her secret identity: that she was so utterly unimpressive as a person that nobody knew her. Even if she showed him her real face, he wouldn’t recognize her.

Besides, she was asking quite a lot of him here. Trust was important. Closing her eyes, she gently nodded. ”...Right. Okay.”

Drawing a breath, she spoke it. The Word. ”SHAZAM!”

As always, and as Mr. Luneburg likely anticipated, a bolt of the living lightning descended from the heavens above to strike her form. What he perhaps didn’t expect, however, was for the person behind the “glamor” to be some brat in discount ben clothing.

Staring up - even more so than before - at the towering man, Karen exhaled. ”Hi...I’m Karen…”

In truth, he was expecting maybe at least someone approaching the same age as her transformation displayed, but he was not entirely surprised. She had acted rather… Was immature really the correct word for it? If not, at least someone who was perhaps not quite an adult.

"Pleased to meet you Karen." He managed not to openly speak his mind this time, though this really did explain so much. "It's important to remember that no one is perfect, and that everyone makes mistakes. When you become Lady Arcana, all those people out there look up to you, and a good number strive to be just like you, but do you stop being who you are now when you say the word? I'm sure you had hopes and dreams that were a fair bit different before taking on the powers of the wizard."

"Here's the question though, and I know that perhaps the situations may be far different, but bear with me. If you as Karen made a mistake in school, assuming you're in public school, and it was a rather dire one, would you be holding it against yourself in the same manner as you are doing now? Should you?"

Karen’s eyes fell to the floor at his question. She probably looked like a pingpong table with how often they darted back and forth. ”I...if it caused somebody to be really hurt, or even to die, then yeah I would. I think anybody normal would feel awful if they let somebody die, right?”

She felt her heart clench at her last words. He wasn’t dead...not completely, right? He was still there, frozen in that horrible state. Right, that was the other reason she came here. She had failed to save two people - his parents - from Wilhelm. But that didn’t mean she had to fail to save their son.

Staring back up at him for what had to be like the fourth time or something, she pursed her lips. ”I...I know I can’t always be perfect. But if I make a mistake, if I mess up...then I want to learn how to fix it. I-I mean, magic can do anything, right?”

An equally good question, and one that he had been working on solving for what felt like his entire life. The arcane called to him, and with it he had spells that could make and unmake entire landscapes if he but had the power available. "It can do many things, and perhaps it very well could do anything." He said, giving the question a moment longer of thought as he began to pace the room. "With it, you could shape the earth and control the elements, or handle the most mundane of tasks."

"That was once a particular issue among some practitioners, in that once they found some degree of mastery they began to use it as a crutch for simple tasks. See, magic is a tool at its most basic. More than that, the arcane is every tool that could be needed." Raymond stepped over to the wall, pressing his palm against the wooden paneling and causing it to recess slightly. A hiss escaped the seams of the panels and they fell back with a gust of cool air tinted with magic. It was a simple space hidden between the wall of this room and the one beside it, yet with the proper application of magic it expanded into a larger area. Anyone who had traveled to the rock would know of such spaces immediately.

It was not the space itself that drew attention, but the large book which sat upon a pedestal in the center. "I have spent so many years collecting arcane knowledge, and even I do not have all the answers. This book contains everything I have learned since the fall of Akkad."

”Wah?!” Karen gasped, taking a step back when the wall collapsed into some sort of...magic dimension? That was all she could think to call it right now. It wasn’t her first time seeing something like that, but it still kind of surprised her when people did it without warning. ”Holy sauceballs, it’s just...there! All the other places like this that I’ve seen make you enter them before really showing you what’s inside.”

At most you’d get a little preview, but there it was...a huge book, larger than any she’d ever seen before. In truth, it didn’t even feel like there was any clear separation between the world she was standing in now, and the one that existed in that space surrounding the book. Maybe cause it was really small? It was pretty interesting, imagining a little micro universe just a dozen square feet across.

”Akkad? That sounds familiar, um…” Karen scratched the side of her head, trying to remember where she’d heard it. If she’d still been transformed, she could’ve recalled it instantly, but alas her own memory was anything but perfect. Wasn’t it related to ancient Egypt or something?

Wait…
”Hold on, isn’t that like a really ancient country or something? How old are you, Mr. Luneburg?” Karen couldn’t help but ask, feeling a bit overwhelmed by that revelation.

Responding to the presence of both mages, the book opened slowly, pages fluttering in a false wind and returning to the last place of reference. Cuneiform scrawled across the weathered parchment, sometimes in ordered blocks and tightly spaced. Elsewhere it looked as if it was scratched in a hurry, lightened strokes showing fast penmanship. Raymond's hand traced a few of the spells therein before nodding slowly. "I learned how to make this space from my short time as Wizard. One of a few things I thought may come in handy at a later time. I'm sure you've already found The Rock to be incredibly useful for when something is far too dangerous to leave in the mortal realm."

As he thought, she didn't have full access to her powers unless transformed, and the eidetic memory didn't transfer over. He bitterly cursed the public education system for not teaching ancient history at earlier grades, but that was a battle that no mortal being could win. "Old enough to have watched this world change from one where magic thrived, all the way to the age of industrialization. Or as some may say, far too long."

”That’s...pretty nuts, man,” Karen replied, staring at the book in awe. She knew magic could do some pretty wild things, but if he was that old...did that mean he had basically found a way to live forever? It had to be pretty amazing to witness all the changes the world had undergone in all that time, and yet...he’d also have experienced the deaths of everyone he had ever loved or cared for. Possibly hundreds of times by now.

She couldn’t imagine having to watch her dad, Clarissa, Zoey or any of the other friends she was starting to make just wither away and die while she remained young forever. But...but that was what was going to happen, wasn’t it? She was going to stay young, while they…

Taking a step forward, Karen reached out and gave Mr. Luneburg a quick and gentle hug. ”It had to be really hard, living so long. I’m sorry…”

Realising she was hugging a stranger again - it was a bad habit of hers, she quickly stepped back and scratched her head. ”Anyway...I guess you’re pretty much the number one magic guy in the world if you’ve been at it all that time, huh?”

For a moment he wasn't quite sure how to react to the hug, though he allowed it as it seemed already the girl's mood had improved significantly from when she walked through the front doors. "Few understand the burdens of immortality." He said at last, waving a hand across the pages of the book and causing them to turn rapidly.

As they fluttered to a stop, the words were no longer symbols on the parchment but instead actual english and dictating simplistic spells. "It has been my life's work to accumulate arcane knowledge, so I suppose that would make you correct in assuming as much. These spells are rather basic, and you should be able to cast them even in this form. Channel as you did before, though try and focus on the instructions of the spells. Also… Don't touch the book. It responds to auras, and will seek to provide what it thinks you desire most."

Staring forward at the book for a moment, Karen could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She hadn’t tried to use magic in her human form. Not since she had first gained her powers, and didn’t even realize how to transform. She still remembered what it felt like to channel, though. It had made a solid enough impression that even her normal memory could recall it pretty clearly.

“R-right. Make a little globe of arcane energy in my palm,” Karen read the description of the spell. That sounded simple enough. Harmless and easy. Pursing her lips tightly together, she curled her fingers around her left wrist and focused on it. Trying to draw the magic from inside her like she had when she was Lady Arcana, she ended up wincing her eyes shut as she struggled.

”Nnngh…!” She continued to fight to draw out some kind of magical power from inside her...but unlike before it just...wasn’t...happening…!

Pssshft!

Her eyes widened, briefly darting behind her. Cheeks growing red, she waved her hand in the air. ”Don’t sniff, please.”

Raymond observed passively, sensing the movement of magical energy in the world-space around them. It became almost immediately clear the problem, producing a quite predicted failure. She was trying to draw on the Rock, and not reaching for the much more available magic that pooled around them just below their feet. That must have been why the channeling didn't go as expected… His thoughts returned to the present along with a disapproving frown. A simple motion of the hand and he cast a spell to clear the world space back to its original state before opening, the book remaining unmoving even as gusts of chilled wind swirled around them.

"Don't think that's the intended result by far, though I think I understand your troubles. Firstly, you're trying to draw directly from the Rock it seems. Obviously, you won't be able to do so unless you wear the glamor, and even then you would just be wielding raw magic. There is an ocean of power beneath our feet, and even as human as you are now, if you reach out with your mind you should be able to sense it there."

Karen stared down at her feet where he gestured, feeling embarrassed that she thought she could wield magic like she could as Lady Arcana. Of course, that made sense. She wasn’t connected to the Rock of Eternity right now, so that wasn’t possible.

”Right, okay. Reach out…” She quietly repeated, closing her eyes. Focusing now instead on feeling the world around her, she initially saw only the blackness of her mind. Then, like a tiny spark, she saw it: a glimmer of light in the abyss. Furrowing her brow, she concentrated on that flicker of hope. Slowly but surely, it began to expand. What was once a spark began to stretch until it became a river, one connecting to other similar estuaries of light.

Her lips parting in amazement at this sight, she couldn’t help but genuinely smile for the first time since that day. ”I can see them!”

"Those are the leylines, what your presence as the Wizard has revitalized." In the world-space around them they flowed differently than just beyond the doorway they entered from, instead of streaming to connect with the ones back on Earth proper, they spiraled off into the abyss. There in the darkness far away was The Rock itself, sitting in the space between dimensions and feeding the magical conduits.

"The arcane flows along those lines very much like streams and rivers, connecting into literal oceans in some rare places, and it is quite appropriate that it does so. On my second point as to why you have difficulty utilizing your magic, both here and as Lady Arcana proper, is that you are trying to seize it and make it do what you want it to do."

He stooped down to the ground, resting on his heels and reaching down with a hand to draw up some raw magic from the leyline. It flowed very much like a liquid, dripping between his fingers and pooling on the floor before seeping back to rejoin the rest. "Magic is a very fluid substance when physical, and it wants to move and fill the voids even as you move it between your fingers. Treat it as you would shaping water. If you just try and force it to your will, then no matter how strong you are, it will run through your fingertips and thwart you at every turn."

"Instead, be careful and gently coax it to what you need. For most spells you don't need grand motions, and especially here you don't need to work with urgency. If it helps, you could even just try asking nicely. Sometimes it actually helps."

Karen only opened her eyes when he began to speak. Surprisingly, the laylines didn’t fade from sight right away, but rather slowly began to dim after her focus was broken. It took only a few moments of focusing again - but without closing her eyes - to regain sight of them, however. It looked...odd, seeing them flowing through the world as they were.

Listening closely to Raymond’s instructions, she once again adopted the posture she had before. Off-hand around dominant wrist, she didn’t strain this time. Rather, she drew in a deep breath before slowly releasing it. ”Right...Mr. Layline, please give me a little bit of power for a ball of arcane energy!”

Focusing on her open palm, albeit not forcefully so, she imagined small streams of arcane energy flowing from the river into the center of her hand. Nothing happened at first, but she didn’t rush it. Like Mr. Luneburg had said, she didn’t need to rush things. Continuing to draw measured breaths, she kept focusing on the image while whispering softly for the layline to give her a little power.

Finally, in incremental strands, the energy began to coalesce into her hand. Swirling until it formed a shimmering orb, Karen’s lips stretched into a bright smile. ”Hey look, I did it-agh!”

The moment she stopped focusing, the ball exploded with an audible pop that left Karen painfully wringing her hand. Frowning slightly, her shoulders slumped. ”Okay, maybe I didn’t.

Once more he observed passively, unmoving as the arcane responded to her request and slowly formed into the spell. Of course it had dissipated, a little violently unfortunately, but at least there was credible progress. Being the Wizard afforded her more innate ability he figured, even if her human form was far from adept at handling magic.

"It doesn't matter quite as much if you fail to cast in the end, as long as you can understand how to properly cast. Even simple spells like these take time to master for the uninitiated. I would try for maybe something less… Volatile though. Perhaps the lamplight spell?" With a simple motion he drew in a wisp of magic from the leyline, spinning it around a finger until it resembled something very much like a ball of cotton candy. Nevermind that it was of a vibrant hue and glowed quite unnaturally.

With a flick of his wrist the puff of spun magic detached from his hand and began floating above the ground, gently bobbing up and down as it lit the area. "One of the most useful utility spells any wizard could know, it takes minimal magic and the spell-failure consequences are harmless. Go ahead."

Karen nodded gently at this, extending a single index finger into the air just like Mr. Luneburg had. Once again focusing on the laylines surrounding her, she made another quiet request for aid before imagining the same effect that her teacher had just displayed. Nothing major, just a little light on the tip of her finger. LIke before it took a few moments to accomplish, but she did eventually summon the wisp of light as he had.

She didn’t feel like she was ready to make it float around, though. It’d almost certainly dissipate if she did so.

”T-there, that’s right, isn’t it?” She stuttered slightly to Mr. Luneburg with only a slight flick of her eyes to him, struggling to maintain her focus on the light. She couldn’t repeat her mistake from before and let her mind wander too much.

"As before, you've got the idea of it down good enough. The lamplight spell is especially good for beginners in that the wording is not picky or exact, and the end result is quite open to interpretation. In magic those kinds of spells are the most ideal for the creative mage, and can be excellent ways to showcase ability." Almost to emphasize his point, he stood and dispelled the previous orb.

Drawing in another strand of magic, this time he counter-spun it with wider movements. It solidified much the same as it did before, but instead of looking very much like a floating cotton ball, this time the puff was like a ball of steel wool. Detaching it, he gave it a gentle spin and another light infusion of magic. Where before the lamplight was stationary to a point, this one began a slow rotation around its caster, lighting up the area.

"With just a little bit more added onto the spell, some slight variations, it has become something unique. You could even change the colors of the light if you wished. Go ahead and make another one, though try something different in casting."

Pursing her lips, Karen allowed her first wisp of light to dissipate. Once again focusing on the laylines at her feet, she gently requested more power from it. It wouldn’t be enough this time to simply create a light. She had to do something unique with it. Probably something different than what Mr. Luneburg had done, not that she felt like she could do that even if she tried.

Ah, there was a thought!

As the arcane energy was drawn from the layline and to the tip of her finger, Karen tilted it downward and began to slowly bob it up and down as if trying to shake a drop of liquid free. After a few moments of this, the wisp of light finally detached from her and hit the ground in a bounce! Like a little rubber ball, it a skipped along the floor until it smacked up against the wall, finally dissipating in a tiny flash.

”Wow, I just...imagined it being like a bouncy ball and… Karen trailed off, her eyes still staring at where it had vanished.

Raymond raised an eyebrow in surprise, not quite expecting that one. "Not bad actually. Instead of letting it float freely, you gave it a little bit of mass and set it free. I knew a man in the Yucatan years ago who used a very similar technique when exploring caves." Drawing in a little bit of the arcane, he copied the motions and produced a small orb of light as Karen did, though it was a bit more focused in intensity.

"It was before things like submersible flares, and so it was quite difficult to explore the deeper parts of the cave systems. Problem with the basic lamplight spell though, is that it is quite obviously lighter than air to a degree and floats. Makes it rather difficult to submerge, and the cave systems of Central America are rather… Moist. He had the idea that if he condensed the strands enough, they would form a solid orb that he could then drop into the caves and light his way."

”Oh,” Karen replied with her mouth slightly agape. ”I was just thinking about bouncy balls.”

Though what he said did sound interesting. Anything she learned as Karen here, she could surely use as Lady Arcana. Use it a lot better, more than likely. She kind of understood why he had her transform back to her human form now. Because she couldn’t “cheat” by just drawing on the Rock of Eternity, she had to learn proper channeling technique.

”Is this how you trained in magic back when you were a kid?” Karen couldn’t help but ask, her mind drifting back to the fact that he was from a time far removed from her own. If she had learned such a thing even a few months prior, she would’ve still been shocked...but after seeing wizards, harpies, Atlanteans, magitech war suits and everything else that had happened to her since that fateful day last November, this stuff was starting to seem par for the course.

"If only." He said with a grim chuckle. It would have been all too easy if he had a guide for his journey, someone to show him the proper ways beyond simply giving him the very basics and setting him loose. Perhaps things would have been very different in such a scenario. "Unfortunately, I was already a man by the time I learned I had the potential. My youth had been spent, and little remained to me with such promises."

Memories came to him of his slow mastery over fire spells in particular, and the rather necessary need to learn restoration magics that swiftly followed. Trial and error was historically one of the best tutors, but not the kindest by a long shot. "I was given the basics and set loose more or less, and as I'm sure you can surmise, it was not an ideal start towards becoming a wizard of any calibre."

Karen’s shoulders sank slightly upon hearing about his rough start. It seemed like he had endured a lot even before he gained immortality. She honestly didn’t understand why the Wizard would have rejected him, though, he seemed like a really cool guy from where she was standing...and he knew a hell of a lot more about magic than she likely ever would.

”So even back then people could go a long time without ever knowing they had magic?” Karen replied, unable to suppress her curiosity about his era now that she was thinking about it. ”I guess I just expected there to be something, y’know? Like Hogwarts, eheh.”

Gods that probably sounded really stupid. She just figured that a magical school was a natural step, but maybe that was just how the modern world had conditioned her to think.

Raymond's hand rested on the book as he drew in a little more from the leylines beneath. Pulling away, the pages seemed to part from the binding, but it was actually copying itself onto new sheets woven from the air around them. "It was actually fairly common for people to go their entire lives without ever knowing they had the gift. What schools did exist back then, they were for the very privileged few, almost always the aristocratic elite or the priesthoods. The common man was thought to be beyond such gifts."

The pages in his hand glowed briefly as they parted from the book, words writing themselves as he watched and ensured the proper spells were written. They were rather simple affairs, easy to cast even when the leylines were shallow. "Here are some more practice and utility spells. They should help get you up to speed on the basics of casting, channeling and even the first portion of auramancy. With some practice a couple times a week, you should be able to achieve decent control over the arcane so that you could afford to cast these as Lady Arcana."

Karen eagerly accepted the pages when he offered them to her, staring down at the magically written words in amazement. Despite everything that had happened to her, it was simply impossible to not be excited at the fact that she was learning real magic at last! And not just as Lady Arcana, but as regular ol’ Karen Hernandez. There was no way she was going to restrict herself to just studying it twice a week though. She’d spend as much time buried in these things as she possibly could, and then come back once she felt that she had gained a solid grasp on them for even more!

”Thank you, Mr. Luneburg!” Karen smiled up at him in genuine gratitude. ”After everything that happened that day, I...this all means so much to me!”

Finally she felt like she was making some progress towards becoming a more competent Wizard! Or at least one that wasn’t a total and complete screw up. She knew Samantha wouldn’t approve, but now that she had the magic in hand, she didn’t need her approval anymore!

"You are quite welcome. Glad to be working with magic more closely again personally, and I've got you to thank for that. If I can be of some assistance ensuring that you come into your powers properly, then perhaps we'll have you as the wizard for some time yet." Regardless of how beneficial it would be to him and his cabal to have the Wizard looking favorably upon him, there was an undeniable satisfaction towards helping start one on their arcane journey. More than that, it was clear that his efforts had a marked effect on her mood, and as a father it was difficult to suppress a smile in response.

"I think for now we can return to the offices, as I think you've got a pretty good grasp on things for today."

August 8th, 10:38 AM
Hub City; The Wedge

”Hnn~!” Karen Hernandez focused on the spark of arcane energy at her fingertip, willing it to orbit her in her mind. Having already drawn sufficient power from the rich laylines of Hub City, all she needed to do now was command this simple spell she had already conjured. With pursed lips, she watched as it began to drift into the air before falling into an only slightly wobbly orbit around her head. Good, now she just needed it to remain as such while she wasn’t so deeply concentrated on it.

The whole point of this spell, after all, was to provide a light source in dark places as you went about your business. If she couldn’t keep it active while doing other things, then it was pretty much useless. She had been practicing for hours each day with this and the various other spells Mr. Luneburg had given her since their meeting eleven days ago. She couldn’t claim to be particularly good with any of them yet, but she was definitely making some progress!

Relaxing slightly, she exhaled. The small orb of light - now looking much more solid than her earliest attempts - continued to circle about her head.

After what happened with Timothy McClellan and his parents, she had resolved to become better. To become more worthy of the power she had been given. Her first step in this had been visiting Lundgrau’s corporate headquarters and learning magic from the one person she felt might be willing to teach her. If she had been a skilled magician, then surely she could’ve saved Tim and his parents that day. While it was too late to change that, she could at least ensure it never happened to anyone else.

And maybe, just maybe find a way to restore him.

The second thing she had done - one of the most difficult things in her entire life - was tell Zoey the truth about her age. That...had certainly been a memorable experience to say the least. It certainly made it a lot easier to drown herself in her magical studies, which was precisely what she had been doing.

Heh, drown...

She had plans today, too. Being the Wizard came with more responsibilities than she just beating up monsters and Nazis, as Samantha had pointed out to her numerous times. She stood at the highest point in the arcane world, and would need to acquaint herself with the other major players within it. Mr. Luneburg was a good start. Now she would contact King Orin of Atlantis.

Crazy, right?! Atlantis was real, and it was ruled by a total hunk. One that she would need to try and avoid making herself look like a moron in front of. She had tried to act mature as Lady Arcana in the past, but it had never been a perfect guise. She needed to do better here. This was diplomacy, after all!

Smiling slightly when she noted that her little spark hadn’t faded yet, Karen consciously commanded it to dissipate as she snatched a small seashell from her bedside drawer. Turning to her window, she stepped up onto the seal and leaped out into the alley. Landing with a roll this time, she quickly ran towards the back before speaking her word.

”SHAZAM!”

Like always, at her command a bolt of lightning descended from the heavens above. Before the smoke could even clear from the area, Lady Arcana had ascended high into the skies above Hub City, flipping open the seashell. It….wasn’t too different from her cellphone, in truth. No, that wasn’t actually true. It was much more sophisticated than her regular one or her burner.

Hitting the only contact listed, the Wizardess waited quietly as it...rang? Patched her through? Whatever it was doing.

---

King Orin sat upon his coral-like throne in the citadel of Poseidonis, going through reports from the surface world. His agents had been gathering anything related to his appearance during the battle he had taken part in, and his advisors had been arguing for near two weeks about what to do next. Hide or go up there, military presence or diplomacy, make demands or come in friendship. Truth be told, Orin barely listened to it anymore. He had already decided what his course of action would be, when he chose to reveal Atlantis. Now it was just a matter of finding the right time…

Orin’s comm shell suddenly began to chirp at him, and he breathed a sigh of relief that he was just going over reports, and not in the midst of a meeting. He pulled the seashell-like device from his belt and opened it, noting that the connection seemed strong and stable, even at these more advanced distances. Good, he’d have to let the researchers know their magic was interfacing well with the technology.

Lady Arcana’s face appeared on the screen, it seemed as though she was flying. Not that Orin could fault her for that, if he could fly he’d be doing it practically all the time. He could swim though, and that was a nice perk. Like flying, but underwater. Anyway. Orin smiled and nodded to the image on the screen. ”Lady Arcana! I had hoped to hear from you soon. What do I owe the pleasure of the call to?”

---

”Ah, hello King Orin!” Lady Arcana responded with a warm smile and a courteous bow, wanting to be respectful in the face of royalty. ”I recall that you mentioned wanting to meet again at some point in the future. I’ve been….well, pretty busy this past month, but I just wanted you to know that I’m available now at your earliest convenience.”

Hah, nice! She sounded just like an adult there. Sophisticated as fuck, bitch!

---

King Orin nodded, recalling some of the reports he had gotten of the… Altercation Lady Arcana had in her city. ”I understand, Lady Arcana. The… Trials of being the Wizard must put a strain on your social life.” He smiled as he tapped the screen to get a location for the call. Somewhere above Hub City, it seemed. ”I had wanted to explain to you Atlantis’s position, as well as our magical properties and our people, as well as… Perhaps ask you advice on some things. Would you care for a personal tour of the city under the sea?”

---

Wow, he was actually offering her a tour of Atlantis? That...sounded pretty freakin’ awesome!

”Erm, of course, King Orin. I would love a tour of your...esteemed city,” she replied, still striving to maintain an air of maturity and grace. Maybe she should just slow her perception so she could think up the best possible lines to really impress this guy? Wait, how did she do that again? It usually just automatically did it when she moved quickly. Shiiiit, there wasn’t really any time to figure it out right now! ”Where should I meet your most uh….aquatic kingliness?”

---

At the initial confirmation of interest, Orin had pulled up a map on the device, unfortunately confirming that the city Arcana defended was in the middle of a landmass. He chuckled to himself as he registered the attempts at decorum from the mage, and shook his head.

”Well unfortunately I cannot send a submarine to your exact location. However, I could send you the location of Posiedonis and you could fly here yourself, or I could send transport to practically anywhere connected to the ocean. It would likely be faster for you to fly here yourself though. I assume you have ways to breath underwater?” Orin asked, thinking of the ocean depths between the surface and the city’s protective dome.

---

”Oh, uh…yes. I do not require breath to air. Err...I....mean…” Lady Arcana shook her head, suppressing a groan of frustration at herself. It seemed the hard she tried, the worse she did.”...I’ll manage, don’t worry. Please send me the location.”

She had only gone beneath the waves a few times since gaining her powers, but she knew her flight worked pretty well there. She couldn’t as fast as she could in the sky, naturally, but she was certainly still faster than any ship or submarine would be.

---

Aquaman stood in the center of the city, staring up at the expansive ocean above. As the comm shell on his belt beeped a proximity alert, he nodded to the workers nearby, who began working the mechanisms to open the access port in the top of the dome. Water cascaded down the sides of the city-encompassing dome, filtering through drainage pipes as it was sent back into the seas. A moment later a purple flash of color signaled Lady Arcana’s arrival, and King Orin stepped forward with a wide smile and open arms as she touched down. He turned and held a hand out, showing off the tall, coral-like structures of the city and its gleaming marble streets. He nodded to his visitor as a small crowd of gathered onlookers cheered.

”Welcome Lady Arcana, the new Wizard, to Posiedonis! The gleaming capital city of Atlantis and the oldest living civilization on earth! Welcome to my home.”

Karen hadn’t been expecting a crowd to be waiting for her. She had honestly thought this would be a fairly low key affair, but apparently their meeting was some kind of really big deal down here. The journey hadn’t taken long, at least, once she’d received the signal. It had definitely been the deepest underwater she’d ever gone, though, and holy sauceballs was this place amazing!

The streets reminded her of the Rock of Eternity in how they shimmered against the light, smooth and without flaw. The buildings - looking weirdly organic in a way - were far different than anything she’d ever seen before. And the people? Well they looked mostly human...but with a hint that something about them was different, kind of like with Orin.

”T-thank you, your Majesty. It’s an honor to be here,” she smiled, offering him the best curtsey she could manage. Everyone seemed to happy that they were meeting that it was impossible for her not to wave to them. ”Your city is really coo-err, beautiful.”

Orin chuckled and bowed his head as he waved slightly to the gathered citizens. ”Don’t mind them, we… Don’t get very many visitors down here as you can imagine, and certainly none as important as yourself.” He turned away from the crowd and instructed the workers to close the port before turning back to Lady Arcana. ”And I agree, the city is very cool.” He said with a knowing wink.

”Though I had little to do with its construction. I’ve mainly been overseeing some rebuilding from the recent attacks and going over what additional projects we could take on now that magic has returned. Atlantis is, after all, a massive hub of laylines and magical energy.” Orin said proudly, bringing up the shell again and activating a projected map of layline hubs intersecting throughout the city and the territory beyond. A map that he himself had laid out as a young prince, in the precious free time away from his responsibilities.

Lady Arcana leaned over slightly to stare at the map, her eyes lighting up in amazement at just how many laylines intersected through this place. In truth, she could feel the magic coursing through the city before she event entered the dome proper. It was second only to the Rock of Eternity itself when it came to the abundance of arcane power she was feeling. ”Wow, you’ve got to have enough power flowing through here to cast nearly any spell!”

She was quite thankful that she had gone to Mr. Luneburg before visiting this place. At least now she could talk magic a little. She knew the basics of channeling, and how magic was formed into spells, so she hopefully wouldn’t come across like a total retard.

”With all these laylines, it’s no wonder you guys know a ton about magic. Even before I became the Wizard, there must’ve been enough magic here to pull off some interesting tricks, she noted. It was really crazy, in truth. On the surface, she’d heard that mages had to really strangle the laylines to get their spells to work prior to her inheriting the Rock, and even then the effects were relatively small.

Orin nodded as he examined the map with Lady Arcana. Though he knew each line and intersection by heart, he still loved to see the interactions. ”These laylines and the incredibly magical energy here are what gave our ancestors an advantage over any other civilization thousands of years ago. Actually, we had our own Wizard once as well, I think he was the just before the last one if our histories are right. Of course, we could also see the waxing and waning of the laylines with the comings and goings of the Wizards as well, and so our ancestors also turned to technology as a backup. That’s really all that saved us after the meteor hit, the dome above us kept the water out without the need of magic, until we could develop spells to help us adapt. And of course, with the dried up laylines until your appointment, we’ve had to rely on technological means to stay safe. Though we have been experimenting some with magitech, though nothing so heinous as we saw in the desert.” Orin said darkly, remembering the devastation of that night.

”Of course, I didn’t invite you here simply to discuss history, there’s a whole city and the reefs beyond to see; everything from the palace to the sanctuary, the seed and animal vaults, and I would like to show you our magical artifacts as well; such as the tridents I carried with me when we first met. Where to first?” Orin asked with a friendly smile, gesturing to the city again.

Lady Arcana looked a little overwhelmed, in truth. He was basically offering to show her an entire city, and all of it sounded really amazing! Still, if there was one thing about her that was true whether it was on the surface or beneath the ocean, it was that she absolutely loved animals! ”I guess the seed and animal vaults!”

---

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some time later, the Atlantean prince concluded their tour in the vaults. The pair had first gone through the seed vaults, a place to store and display rare and exotic undersea plants. The facility also help samples of every plant in the ocean, as well as living specimens of every type of coral as well, just in case some terrible epidemic rendered the seas incapable of supporting that life anymore. There were many incredible specimens in the vault, many of which had likely never been seen by any human outside of Atlantis until now.

Orin then took his guest to the animal vault, an expansive quarantined area of the ocean and city where rare and endangered animal were kept safe. Orin had taken special care with this project, as it seemed more and more these days that species such as the blue whales or bottlenose dolphin were disappearing rapidly. With any luck, Orin’s goal was to preserve a small selection of these majestic sea creatures and hopefully rebuild populations. All too soon though, the tour had ended, and Orin led Lady Arcana back inside the dome

”I appreciate you taking such interest in my domain and our culture, Lady Arcana.” Orin said with a smile. ”It is not often I get to share my work with others. I’m very proud of this city and of my people. However, I think it’s time we got down to business. I am not wholly unaware of the events happening on the surface. I’ve seen reports of what happened in your city. I want to offer my condolences. If there is anything I can do for you, any way I could help, please ask. As King of Atlantis, I want to make sure me and my people can support the Wizard in whatever way you need.”

It had, honestly, been a mindblowing experience. This city was far and away more advanced than anything in her wildest dreams. Magic and technology working in tandem to create a paradise for everyone here. Most notably, she didn’t see one homeless or poor person during their travels through the undersea utopia...it honestly made her just a little bit jealous that she couldn’t have been born in such a wondrous place.

When King Orin began to speak of what had occurred in Hub City, she wasn’t certain as to whether he meant the fire eight months ago or Iron Eagle’s second attack in July. Either way, she couldn’t help but smile when he promised to aid her. She had always heard that royalty was uptight and snobbish, but he actually seemed really humble and kind!

”I really would appreciate that, King Orin,” Lady Arcana replied. ”I honestly wish that things up above were as nice down here. There’s...well, so many problems, you know? People without homes, starvation...all I really know how to do right now is punch bad guys in the face. I’m trying to fix that, but any help would be welcome!”

Orin nodded slowly as he listened to Lady Arcana’s impressions of his city and her vision for the world. He thought for a moment, considering that this may be the time to bring up his own questions as well.

”Lady Arcana, I must say… You may have one of the kindest hearts of anyone I’ve ever met.” He admitted, crossing his arms. ”I want to confide in you though, things down here… Well, they’re not a paradise, I don’t want you to have that impressions. We may not struggle with starvation or homelessness, but there is unrest. Most of my people are not warriors, and cannot fend for themselves out in the sea. Many feel trapped within the city here, even as advanced as it is. You wish to help the world, to make it a better place, and that is what I want for my people as well. I have a question for you of my own, one my advisors have been debating for months. However, I would trust your judgement over any of them.”

“I have been considering Atlantis’s place in the world. We have been hidden for thousands of years, nothing more than a half-remembered myth. For my whole life I have seen my people crammed into this small space, felt the waves of unrest here. I have seen the seas become polluted, witnessed giants pods and school reduced to only a few. I have built the animal vaults with my own hands to combat this, but… Could I do more if I revealed us to the surface? Could I help my people by exposing our existence? Could I help your people? Grow food and set up deep sea farms to produce cheap food? Share technology to improve quality of life? Help to bring about the regrowth of endangered animals, reduce pollution, stop the senseless hunting of whales and sharks? Or would I simply be putting my people in danger?”

“I know the sea, Lady Arcana. I know what I could offer your people. You know the surface. You know the dangers your governments could bring to bear. My question is this: Is it worth the risk? Do I expose my people in an effort to save both of ours? Or is it a fool’s errand?”

Lady Arcana stood silent, desperately trying to hide the fact that he was asking her a lot of really deep and important-sounding questions that she honestly didn’t have a single-effin’-clue how to answer. She was trying so hard to be better at her job, but this had reminded her of how she was still just a stupid kid. Should he share his technology? Should he trust the surface? Sure, feeding everyone sounded like a good idea, but at the same time she really didn’t like the idea of any of the surface government's getting their hands on this kind of technology.

Technology infused with magic!

”I…” Her voice trailed off, searching for the right words. Words that wouldn’t make her sound like the in-over-her-head brat that she was. ”I think maybe people wouldn’t be so scared if you offered them a lot of food? But maybe not technology? B-because a lot of them…most of them aren’t really ran by great people, and might do really bad things with it, you know?”

…That was the best “advice” she could offer him, and it still made her feel like a complete idiot. Damn it, pull it together Karen!.

King Orin fell silent for a moment, contemplating the advice Lady Arcana offered. It was simple enough, of course, and somewhat what he’d expected from her to be honest. But still, he had needed to hear it from her, and now he had options to consider. ”If you believe it would be safe for me to reveal Atlantis to the surface… The rest of the details can be worked out. Sanctions and embargos on technology, keeping anything dangerous of the hands of those who would abuse it; while offering aid and space to grow crops to help feed the starving and poor. And of course, cleaning up the seas and stopping illegal hunting.”

“As for your own problems, I can offer advice, aid in whatever matters you confide with me. Time with our mages, my artifacts, they layline network. You are an honored guest of Atlantis, and are welcome here whenever you please. I would just ask that you give me a call before showing up so I can cancel my meetings.” Orin said with a wry smile.

Lady Arcana’s shoulders relaxed, a gentle sigh escaping her as he accepted her rather simplistic advice. When he began to speak of his plans for interacting with the surface, she simply nodded her head in silence. Good for you, King Orin. He almost certainly knew how to handle this way better than she could ever hope to. At least, not without a few years of study.

And then she perked up slightly at his offer to allow her to study magic here. ”Really?! I-yes! Thank you! That would mean a ton to me if you would! I would never pass up the chance to learn more about magic in an amazing place like this!”

Okay, so this trip turned out to be a really great idea after all! She was glad she went through with it, even if she was a little out of her depth.

Heh.

12:35 PM, October 26th
Hub City, Silver Leaf Academy

“Come on, I know you can do it, Clare!” Karen whispered her encouragement over the cafeteria table.

Squinting in frustration, Clarissa seemed to direct her gaze out the window. “It...isn’t all that clear, but I think the next one’s happening to the North East.”

”North East? Well, that’s something at least! Thanks. I can tell you’re getting better at using your abilities!” Karen complimented her, watching her friend needle the side of her head in pain.

This was very much a good thing, as she needed all the help she could get. Over the past several days, reports had been filling the news sites about an escalating series of attacks on people by what the media has dub “Mudo”, Spanish for mute. They had first appeared in Caracas, Venezuela, but soon began appearing in several other notoriously crime ridden cities throughout North and South America.

This included Hub City, naturally.

Rising from cemeteries without warning, the Mudo - shambling corpses, really - would stagger towards any living creatures before viciously attempting to kill it with tooth and nail...if they even had any left. Worse, it wasn’t just in graveyards. Sometimes the morgues of hospitals would see the recently dead return to the world of the living. Those tended to be far swifter and more dangerous than their decaying counterparts.

She had already been to nearly a dozen graveyards and hospitals around Hub City alone, and it was apparently far worse elsewhere. She needed to start helping out around the world before things escalated out of control.

“At least things haven’t gotten as bad here as in that Venezuelan place,” Clarissa muttered, having returned to flipping through her portfolio after that brief period of exertion on her part. Good luck ever getting her to be a superhero. “I hear they’re practically having a Mudo orgy over there.”

“Caracas,” Karen muttered in irritation. “And you shouldn’t make light of people dying! I’m going out there tonight to make sure - oh fuck, Clare, what are you drawing?! Gross!”

Her friend’s beaming grin thankfully offered some distraction from the horrors coming to life beneath her pen, as Karen released a heavy breath. Sometimes she wondered if it was a good idea asking Zoey to help get Clarissa into the same private school. Unlike Hub City Elementary, Silver Leaf Academy covered grades one through twelve, so they were able to eat lunch together and hang out after school still...for better or worse.

So much had happened in her life in these past few months. After Zoey had found out about her…situation with her father, she had literally kicked in the door as Grim and laid him out. It was something she should’ve done herself the moment she became the Wizard, now that she had enough time away from his abuse to admit it to herself. She knew, though, that she probably never would have. Even now, she still loved her dad...and maybe that meant there was something wrong with her.

Shaking her head, Karen stared out the distant window.

Adjusting to her new life wasn’t going to be easy. Both her and Clarissa were really out of place here. The kids used different slang, they had different standards and expectations...and everyone noticed. She had received more than a few odd looks on her first day here, and nobody would really associate with her. Still, she had yet to be directly bullied. Perhaps because such behavior wasn’t tolerated here. When your parents were dropping tens of thousands of dollars for you to attend somewhere, expulsion was a very effective punishment.

She wanted to tell herself that she got Zoey to allow Clarissa to attend with her purely out of concern and generosity, but part of it was definitely so she wouldn’t have to face this place alone.

Not that being alone was entirely bad…

---

3:34 PM
Ashton Ridge Apartments, Old Town

“Phew,” Karen exhaled, stepping out of the elevator to her penthouse. “Home sweet home.”

Tossing her backpack on the couch, she quickly followed after it by landing on the plush, silken cushions. Kicking her feet up on the equally luxurious...table-like thing in front of her, she laid her head back. The dead were usually only a problem at night, so she had a little bit of time before she had to fly out to Venezuela. This was good, because she really needed to wind down after school. She had always had good grades at Hub City Elementary, but at Silver Leaf she really had to struggle to keep up. It was like they were practically a grade ahead of where they should be.

It was like she was living in an entirely different world at this point. Even though it was the same city, it might as well be a different state. Old Town was completely different than The Wedge, even after she had cleaned it up. The people behaved differently, spoke differently, dressed differently. The only one of those she had managed to emulate thus far was the last.

Closing her eyes for what seemed like only a few seconds, she opened them again to find the clear - if polluted - afternoon sky replaced with the orange hue of the sleepy evening sun. Pushing off the couch, Karen pushed her arms into the air as she stretched the kinks out of her stiff body.

Wandering over to the kitchen counter where a small black remote sat, she took the device in hand and pointed it at a section of the wall. A light hum heralded the parting of the dark marble as a large flat screen slid forward. Flickering to life with reports of escalating violence in the cities afflicted with the Mudo scourge, Karen noted that it was now after six. She’d slept for nearly three hours.

Pouring some fruit juice into a wine glass, she quietly enjoyed the feeling of the cherry-flavored liquid sliding down her parched throat while keeping an eye on the television.

“Casualties in Caracas have now risen to over fifteen thousand injured, and over a thousand confirmed dead,” the news anchor reported, her face remaining affixed with a neutral-sad expression. “Furthermore, there are reports of those recently killed in the attacks rising up to join the ranks of Mudo. The World Health Organization has issued a statement to all affected regions warning them to cremate all corpses - recently dead or otherwise - to prevent the further expansion of the Mudo threat.”

Gulping down the last of the juice in the glass, Karen shook away the last of her grogginess. It was time to go to work.

Sliding open the glass door that lead out onto the balcony overlooking Old Town, she couldn’t help but smile. Transforming was so much easier now. Her penthouse was highest point for miles, and the balcony extended out in such a way that nobody below could see her unless she stood at the very edge. Better yet, the pollution in Hub City offered a wonderfully thick layer of smog that kept satellites from being able to easily spot her, not that they’d know to try...hopefully.

Now she could stop unintentionally antagonizing the local power companies with her “unexplained electrical discharges”. She was getting worried, particularly after they started installing cameras at her usual transformation spots.

Glancing up at the darkening sky, she drew a breath and prepared to speak that word she had grown so accustomed to over the past year.

“SHAZAM!”

---

7:48 PM
Caracas, Venezuela

“Keep the line steady! Don’t let them pass!” One officer screamed from behind a row of riot shields, his fellow policemen doing their best to withstand the flood of the undead crashing down against them.

From her position above, Lady Arcana could see that they were doing their best to contain the horde, but with all the alleyways and access points available to the Mudos, it was simply an impossible task. She could see that the lights in the normally bright city had grown dim in many areas as people fled.

The police were frantically trying to aid in the evacuation even as they - and the national guard - were simultaneously locked in battle with an army of corpses.

Descending in front of the line of riot shields and right onto a pair of Mudos, Lady Arcana glanced over her shoulder at their startled faces. Speaking in Spanish, she immediately attempted to soothe their visible concern. “Don’t worry, I’m here to help!”

Confused murmuring in Spanish filled her ears, but for once she didn’t need the Intellect of Mnemosyne. She was just as fluent in her father’s native tongue as she was in English, after all. The Wedge’s large Latino population had certainly given her plenty of practice.

Feeling several sets of rotting hands grasping and clawing at her as equally decaying teeth gnawed futilely against her unbreakable skin. Stepping forward to carry the group of undead with her, she briefly lifted off the ground to perform a quick aerial spin to throw the lot of them back onto the street.

She...wasn’t really looking forward to this. Being seemingly mindless and rotting corpses, she didn’t have to worry about holding back too much. At the same time, she just knew this was going to be a very bloody mess....

“Here goes nothing,” she muttered, balling her fingers into a fist. Diving down at the Mudo-packed street, drove her knuckles into the jaw of one...and his head went flying clean off. Staring at the headless corpse in horror for a moment, she waited for the spray of blood...but it never came.

Blinking several times, she dared a glance at the neck of the still standing body. It was a dried out and devoid of any kind of liquid.

Of course….these were mostly old corpses! They wouldn’t still have blood pumping through them! Duh, biology 101, Karen! But wait...why wasn’t the body falling? It had staggered back from the impact, but-

“...Oh,” Karen’s eyes grew wide when it reached out for her throat, the other Mudos turning to close in on her. Pursing her lips as several more began trying to gnaw at her, she rammed her fist into the now headless body with enough force to completely shatter it into pieces. “There, that should do it!”

Turning to the countless other Mudos surrounding her, she began to unload body splattering blow after body splattering blow against them all. Without the threat of blood and guts flying everywhere, she no longer felt any degree of hesitation when it came to obliterating these guys. It was...actually kind of fun, in fact!

“Heehee,” Karen giggled, taking the head of one Mudo and hurling it with enough force to blast a hole clean through several closely packed together undead.

But...there was something a bit off here, she was starting to notice. Even when she smashed them into pieces, the individual parts continued to crawl around! In fact, they seemed to be inching their way back to the other severed parts of their respective bodies!

“Wait, then how am I supposed to…” Karen muttered, glancing down at her hands.

Right, magic. Of course.

She still wasn’t particularly good with her spells, even with Raymond’s continued instruction...but she did at least have a basic grasp on channeling! If it was something as simple as blasting some old corpses to smithereens, then she could do it!

Narrowing her eyes, she lifted off the ground and returned to the line of shields. Extending her hands outwards, she began to draw power from the laylines that intersected with Caraco...of which there was a surprisingly high number. It actually reminded her of both Gotham and Hub City in that regard.

Her palms began to glow with the arcane power she gathered, and with a small shout she unleashed a wave of magic in lightning form. Sweeping over the massive crowd of Mudos, their withered forms instantly ignited on contact with the torrent of power washing over the street, before being reduced to a pile of ash.

Lowering her hands slowly, she smirked. “Try and piece yourselves together now.”