Diabolical [DC Comics/Harry Potter SI]

[f0Ri5]

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Like a torch burning in the darkness, the golden, glowing figure of Dr. Fate could be seen, hovering in front of the sealed, hexagonal portal. The entity had drawn and redrawn countless golden runes across its surface, attempting to open the door, but its attempts were all in vain.

'I don't get it. Weren't you the one who sealed this thing? How come you can't reopen it?'

Kent expressed his confusion regarding Nabu's apparent impotence.

'FOOL, DURING THE WAR IN HEAVEN, AN ARMY OF ORDER BESIEGED THE FORTRESS. I COULD NOT HAVE DEFEATED NOR SEALED THE SCHOLAR ALONE.'

Evidently, the entity didn't take too kindly to Kent's backseat magicking.

The man stewed for a few moments before speaking again.

'That… looked like Arthur.'

His tone was somber. Naturally, he was referring to the childlike figure they'd found at the portal's entrance.

'THAT 'CHILD' HAS DECIEVED US BOTH.'

Nabu sounded aggrieved. It didn't take kindly to having the wool pulled over its eyes.

Kent had many doubts, but in his heart, he was holding out hope that this was all a big misunderstanding. During their first meeting, the boy seemed… genuine. He didn't want to believe Arthur was working with those evil cultists.

'But how did he survive and end up down here, and how did he enter into the pyramid? I've never been this confused in my life…'

Kent's mind was reeling. So much had happened since arriving at the estate and, instead of his questions being answered, he only became more confounded as time went on.

'HE MUST HAVE SOME RELATION TO THE FORTRESS.'

Nabu's statement was matter-of-fact. It made sense—if an ageless being like itself was unable to bypass the defenses, then a human child wouldn't be able to either. That could only mean that Arthur had some unusual means.

'Maybe the owner left the key somewhere near the front door?'

Kent made an attempt at humor. He understood what his companion was saying, but didn't want to believe it. Was Arthur really related to Vril Dox?

'What about the cultists? They were able to penetrate the exterior, right?'

The man thought of a possibility. If the bad guys knew how to get in, the kid could've learned it from them. It was an effort on his part to exonerate Arthur, but questions remained. How did he survive, how did he get down here and why was he entering the pyramid?

For a time, there was silence. While Nabu struggled to unseal the portal, both man and spirit were thinking their own thoughts.

Suddenly, there was a noise, shattering the silence. It was something neither expected to hear, given their unusual location—footsteps. Someone had entered the passage behind them, and was now calmly walking in their direction!

Click, clack. Click, clack. Click, clack…

After freezing the scrawled, golden runes with one hand, Doctor Fate whirled around and stared down the hallway of black glass. Abruptly, the entity's eyes lit up like headlights, illuminating the passage in white, resplendent light.

In the distance, a figure was outlined. A dark robe covered both its head and body, making it impossible to determine its identity.

"HALT, INTRUDER!"

Nabu's voice sounded like a thunderclap. If a normal human were subjected to such an intense burst of sound, their eardrums would've ruptured. However, the figure appeared unfazed, but did come to a standstill.

"SPEAK YOUR NAME AND PURPOSE, OR BE SILENT FOREVER!"

Doctor Fate extended a hand outward. The threat implicit in the gesture was clear as day.

There was a moment of tense silence before the hooded individual replied.

"How characteristically unreasonable of you, wraith."

The voice was mature, feminine and charming. The figure, a woman, if her voice was to be an indication, reached for her cowl with slow grace before casually tossing it backwards. A head of curly, black locks was revealed, framing exotic, attractive features.

However, while she was remarkably beautiful, there was something decidedly off about her complexion. Her skin was a pale blue tone, like someone suffering from frostbite, and her lips were darker, the color of blueberries. Her eyes were also extraordinary—black like ink, but with a violet, glowing center.

The Doctor was about to take action, but when they heard the woman's voice, they froze. If it was her, well... her presence was not entirely unexpected.

"SO YOU HAVE COME, WITCH."

The statement was spoken in a manner that wasn't blatantly hostile, but wasn't welcoming either.

It was unknown how, but when the pyramid was unsealed, she must have detected it, or so Nabu thought. It was the only explanation for why she'd shown up so quickly.

The woman smiled, showcasing her perfect teeth.

"It is good and well that I have. You left the perimeter entirely unsecured—I walked in without encountering a shred of resistance."

There was a hint of mocking in her tone.

However, Doctor Fate didn't pay much attention to that.

"I SEE YOU HAVE FOUND A SUITABLE VESSEL. IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE YOU'VE WALKED THE MATERIUM."

The woman ran a finger across her cheek and down her neck. The gesture was rather seductive.

"It has, hasn't it? I've prepared this girl for many years, yet I never anticipated such compatibility between us. Her hateful Olympian body is uniquely capable of serving as a conduit for my power. It's truly ironic…"

She seemed like she wanted to continue, but Nabu wasn't having any of it.

"ENOUGH CHATTER. AS YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED, THE SCHOLAR'S TOMB HAS RESURFACED. WE MUST SEAL IT OR RISK AN INVASION BY THE OTHERKIND."

Eeons ago, when Vril Dox discarded materialism for more mystical pursuits, he'd encountered those of the upside-down. It was unknown what bargain he'd struck with them, but it was clear that some kind of contract was formed. It was mainly because of that reason that he drew the ire of the forces of order.

As for the witch, her grudge with those of the upside-down was almost as old as time itself. She participated in the war in heaven and was instrumental in defeating and sealing The Scholar.

A frown formed between the woman's perfectly-manicured eyebrows.

"I will deplete the fortress' energy while you re-establish the seals."

She got straight to business. Given who she was, it was no surprise that she immediately understood what needed to be done.

Nabu nodded wordlessly. At first, he was planning on entering the pyramid—on his own, he couldn't reseal it even if he wanted to. After the defeat of Vril Dox, it'd taken countless sorcerers to provide the needed support.

He wanted to know what the cultists' purpose was for breaking into it, but things had changed. If it was possible, it was safer to reseal the structure and be done with it.

Needless to say, he cared little for Arthur's fate.

While the two of them were talking, Kent was spectating the exchange, feeling even more confused than before. He'd no clue who this woman was, but from appearances alone, she didn't seem like she was on their side…

'Can we really trust her, Nabu? No matter how you look at it, she doesn't seem the type we should show our back to."

The man was putting up a nonchalant act, but inwardly he was unsettled. He was still in shock regarding the earlier mass-destruction and was only functional because he was doing his best not to think about it. Now, Nabu was consorting with someone who was clearly an evil witch. He felt like cracks were starting to appear in the walls he'd set up around his mind—it was only a matter of time until everything came tumbling down.

'YOUR CONCERN IS NOT UNWARRANTED. SHE MAY BE A WICKED ONE, BUT SHE WILL NOT ACT AGAINST US. NORMALLY, I WOULD NOT ACCEPT THE AID OF ONE SUCH AS HER, BUT CIRCUMSTANCES LEAVE ME WITH NO CHOICE.'

Nabu's tone was placating. Its mind was close to Kent's, so it was able to sense the man's distress. There would be a time for him to unwind, but only after everything was resolved. Right now, neither of them could afford to lose their cool.

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In the depths of the pyramid, inside a strange, floating coffin, Arthur's mind and body was being transformed. He'd been severed from any and all physical sensation. The only awareness he had was of his own consciousness—it was expanding at an inconceivable rate.

It was like the metaphorical ground underneath him had vanished, as well as the ceiling above his head. The walls were gone too—he was inside a void that stretched endlessly in all directions.

However, that was the least of his concerns. Instead, what struck him so profoundly was the feeling of thinning, like he was a solid first turned to liquid, then to gas. The parts that were him were so few and far between that he forgot where he was or what he was doing. More than that, it was the forgetting of who he was that terrified him the most.

A cold, machine-like voice spoke inside his mind. Even though the sound of it was utterly foreign to him, he was able to understand it.

'[Restoring Databanks…]'

Immediately, there was an influx of everything. His stretched-out self was infused a mind-bending quantity of information, like a balloon being filled with air. Knowledge of things he'd never studied, memories he'd never lived and emotions not his own were fused into his mind.

Gradually, he felt himself turning into someone else.

'Stop!'

He didn't want this—it was invasive, disgusting and just plain wrong. His consciousness was being overwritten by that of something inhuman, like… a god. That was the only way to describe it.

There was a sense of indifference, of overlooking everything while holding the cosmos in the palm of his hand. Nothing was beyond his reach—even Heaven was only a thought away. If he wanted to, he could transcend, become truly divine in a way that was far beyond that of the common deity, feeding off the faith of mortals.

There was no ambition, power or greed. There were no desires, only… selflessness. He gained everything at the cost of his own ego. He had died—what remained was only a thing, not a living creature, in any sense of the term.

Yet, he wasn't completely gone. Something was nagging at him.

The him from eons ago, the scholar that'd left behind the trappings of mortality, was incapable of understanding what it was, in a subjective sense. However, the small part that formed the foundation of this new existence… understood.

'It sucks to be God.'

The whole of it could be summed up in that one sentence. To be without limit, to have it all—omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence… it was a state of perfection, but it was also stagnation.

Everything was relative, even perfection. God was infinite, without boundary and formless. To reach that state was to be incomparable to all that existed. Everything became… irrelevant. And so, perfection lost all meaning.

'Turn me back.'

The tiny drop of humanity inside him, insignificant compared to the presence of that alien mind, was nonetheless capable of producing a change.

He experienced a revelation. Like someone blind all their life, he saw the fields of honeysuckle, dyed orange in the rays of the setting sun.

'I don't want to be God, I just want to be human.'

From the depths of their fused souls, a genuine desire surged forth, as if they, he, was a man in the desert, laying his eyes on an oasis. All the riches and power in the world couldn't compare to the value of a single cup of water.

'[Input Accepted. Initiating Safety Protocols...]'

Something must've gotten through to… whatever was responsible for it all, because the voice suddenly spoke again.

[Error! Protocol Halted. Passcode required—]

However, a complication abruptly appeared.

Arthur wasn't worried, because Vril Dox knew the password—he knew the password.

'System, input passcode: B R A I N I A C'

As soon as the statement was delivered, the system answered.

'[Passcode Accepted! Resuming Safety Protocols…]'

For the new, reborn Arthur, everything soon turned black.

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[f0Ri5]

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After an indeterminate time, the outflow of ultraviolet energy, surging into the black coffin, came to a halt. The thrumming vibrations, like the hum of a giant machine, gradually dissipated and soon the room in the center of the pyramid became deathly silent. The atmosphere was tense and oppressive, as if the weight of eons past were about come crashing down.

Suddenly, there was a hissing sound as the coffin lid was unsealed by some invisible mechanism. Then, it started moving. Slowly, it levitated upwards, drifting once more toward the ceiling from where it had come.

The figure inside the coffin was gradually revealed. Much of it was cast in shadow, but some details could be gleaned. It was a male humanoid, with arms, legs, a torso and a head. Its body was bigger than that of a child, but smaller than adult.

At first glance, many oddities could be observed. The figure's skin was glowing-white, like pure moonlight. The energy seemed to be emitting from somewhere inside its body, turning its flesh semi-translucent. Like an x-ray, its insides were made visible.

It didn't seem to have any organs, but there were many dark, net-like structures inside it, as well as a weird-looking skeleton. Also, its body was sectioned by thin, black lines, appearing wherever a joint was present. It gave the figure an appearance like that of a puppet, or a robot.

Abruptly, it started to sway inside the upright coffin before toppling out of it like a drunkard falling out of a window. It plummeted a height of three stories before solidly hitting the ground, producing a dull sound. A human would've been seriously injured or killed by such a fall, but it was unharmed.

Sitting with both knees pressed against the ground, it lifted its hands to its now-revealed face. Its visage was hauntingly beautiful, like it was crafted by a master sculptor, yet there was something uncanny about it that was hard to put into words.

Suddenly something very strange happened—the figure started crying! Clear teardrops, like polished diamonds, started rolling down its perfect cheeks. The sight was both moving and disturbing.

It started running its hands across its face and torso, like it was confirming whether or not all its parts were indeed present. When it finished its evaluation, its expression showed immeasurable relief.

"I have a body again!"

Its voice rang inside the black space like a silver bell, sounding extremely joyful. After realizing that it was alone, it finally stood and looked around. Then, it abruptly started walking in a certain direction with dedication and familiarity.

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In the hexagonal corridor leading to the interior of the pyramid, Doctor Fate and the mysterious witch were floating. Their auras were polar opposites. One was a resplendent gold and a manifestation of order, while the other was violet-black, like drops of ink inside glowing, purple plasma.

Ordinarily, they would never co-operate, but their circumstances weren't ordinary.

"If you have anything to tell me spirit, then speak immediately."

The woman's tone was unhappy and her beautiful features were drawn into a frown. Something was happening inside the tomb, but she didn't know what it was. Nabu had arrived before her, so it likely knew something she didn't.

"SOMEONE HAS ENTERED THE TOMB. THEY MUST BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ANOMOLY."

The doctor's voice rang like a brass cymbal.

They didn't want to provoke the woman, given their precarious situation. The earlier fight had taken its toll. While Nabu's reserves were far from being depleted, Kent's mortal body wasn't able to manifest such power indefinitely. Already, the spirit was starting to feel a dull pain, spreading throughout their shared physique.

The witch's eyebrows shot upwards in anger.

"You didn't think it pertinent to inform me of this?"

She sounded outraged.

However, Doctor Fate wasn't rattled.

"IT MATTERS LITTLE, THE FORTRESS IS NOTHING BUT A RUIN. AFTER IT IS SEALED, WITH THE INTRUDER INSIDE, I WILL TRANSLOCATE IT INTO A SECURE SUBSPACE."

Nabu's solution was simple. Even if Arthur managed to reboot the pyramid, it wouldn't matter. Given the fortress' destitute state, it would be incapable of escaping a pocket dimension.

'…but didn't it get out before?'

It was Kent's voice, speaking inside their shared mind. From his understanding, Nabu was just repeating past mistakes. If someone, or something, managed to steal the tomb before, couldn't they do it again?

'THERE ARE NO ALTERNATIVES, NELSON. WE CANNOT DESTROY THE FORTRESS, ONLY SEAL IT SOMEWHERE INACESSABLE. REDUCED AS IT IS, ITS DETONATION WOULD STILL RESULT IN A SINGULARITY CAPABLE OF TEARING THE FABRIC OF SPACE-TIME.'

The spirit's tone was grave, and there was a helplessness hidden underneath the surface.

After thinking about it for a while, the man decided to remain silent. This was far above his paygrade, so he decided to leave things to the professionals.

In the short time they were having their mental conversation, the witch's expression had sunk further. The tomb wasn't a place anyone could just walk into. The mystical protection, as well as the structure's own defenses, saw to that. If someone did manage to trespass, then their identity was bound to be extraordinary.

"You must immediately tell me…"

She was about to demand more information when there was an unexpected change. The hexagonal portal, which was less than a minute away from being fully secured, suddenly lit up. There was a flash of white light, bright enough to blind any normal viewer. It lasted only a fraction of a second, and when it dissipated, a third figure abruptly appeared.

It was a boy, around thirteen years of age. His appearance was extremely strange, with skin as white as paper and covered in thin, black lines. His whole body was surrounded by a soft glow, but the weird translucency from earlier had disappeared. He had long, curly hair, that shine like white metal. It covered half of his face and fell down to the middle of his chest.

His single, exposed eye was no less exceptional, being without pupil or iris. It was made from a metallic liquid, like quicksilver that was slowly drifting. Patterns formed and dispersed inside it, like rolling waves or roiling clouds.

A shocked silence hung in the air. Neither the ancient spirit nor the witch expected, nor knew how to react to the boy's sudden appearance.

It was the alien youth that spoke first. His voice resounded in the air, like a plucked string, and the sound of it was enough to affect the minds of mortals. However, both Doctor Fate and the witch were immune.

"Is that you, Mr. Nelson?"

His head turned toward the shining figure. A silvery eye stared at them, like it could see through all their secrets.

The question multiplied the shock of both man and spirit by a hundredfold. How could they not know who the boy was?

'Oh my God, is that Arthur? Let me talk to him, Nabu…!'

Kent's tone was urgent. He could detect a building hostility from his companion, but they couldn't afford another fight! Already, his body felt like it was being dissolved from the inside out. Right now, diplomacy was their best option.

There was an intense conflict within the ancient being. It could recognize the presence of its old enemy, dwelling inside the boy, but it was somehow dormant. If Kent was at full strength, it would've taken this opportunity to annihilate the remnant of Vril Dox without qualm.

Eventually, the man felt the spirit withdraw.

'EXERCISE CAUTION, NELSON. THIS IS NO HUMAN CHILD.'

When the voice faded, so too did its manifestation. The glimmering shroud of energy dissipated, revealing Kent's unassuming figure. Surprisingly, his clothes weren't even rustled, despite the intense conflict in which he'd participated. It was a testament to Nabu's godly abilities.

As soon as his leather soles clicked against the black, glassy surface, Kent carefully started making his way over to Arthur, like someone trying to approach a wild animal. A drop of blood slid down his upper lip, which he surreptitiously wiped away. However, he couldn't hide it from the two supernatural presences nearby.

The witch's glowing eyes were drawn into slits, but she made no overt movements, evidently letting things play out.

"Hey, buddy. What the hell happened to you? Are you okay?"

Kent's voice was low and soothing, and he held his hands out to his sides, palms facing upwards. He was doing his best to appear nonthreatening.

'Arthur' unconsciously brought a hand to his head, lightly pressing the tips of his fingers against his temples.

"I'm not really sure…"

His clear, metallic voice wavered a little. While he wasn't entirely telling the truth, he wasn't lying either. He remembered the conflict with the butler, but after being captured, everything became chaotic. There were flashes of light, intense sounds and bursts of enormous heat and force that completely overwhelmed his senses.

Eventually, everything turned black. When he awoke, he found himself inside that queer, familiar space. There was something at the back of his mind, like a dream, but it quickly faded away. Right now, he was so overwhelmed by it all that he didn't know what to say.

When he saw the figure of Doctor Fate, a bunch of puzzle pieces immediately snapped into place, but the realization regarding his tutor's identity only made him more confused. All these years, he'd been living in the DC universe without even knowing it!

He watched Kent Nelson's approach like a zombie. When the man arrived in front of him, he extended his arms, gently taking Arthur by the shoulders.

"There's a lot going on right now, so I need you to trust me. First things first, we need to stuff this pyramid somewhere the sun doesn't shine. Well… somewhere else the sun doesn't shine. After that, we can get out of here and…"

Kent's voice started trailing off toward the end as he thought about having to face the reality of what had happened today. The massive death and destruction caused by the earlier catastrophe chilled him to the bone.

"…well, we'll sort that stuff out later. Right now, I need you to help me with this thing. There's some real bad juju going on inside this pyramid and I feel like you should be able to do something about it. Am I right, Arthur?"

His gaze, staring unblinkingly into Arthur's inhuman eyes, was intense. One really had to commend the man's guts—if anyone else had to look at the boy's alien face, they'd be too scared to move a muscle.

Arthur's expression turned thoughtful. He'd already noticed his strange connection to the structure, although he had no clue how it happened. The only thing he could think of was the tablet, but he would investigate that later.

After a moment of silence, he nodded slowly. He knew Kent was a good guy that wouldn't lie to him. At least, that was the character of his fictional self.

"…what do you want me to do?"

The boy's voice echoed strangely in the wide glass passageway.

Kent quickly communicated with Nabu inside his mind before replying.

"I need you to completely shut this thing down. Once it's switched off, I can…"

While he was in the middle of delivering an explanation, the witch, who'd been standing off to the side, suddenly interjected. Her voice was filled with alarm.

"Something is trying to break into this space!"

She quickly turned around, looking out into the darkness outside the tomb. When she did, the aura around her flared up intensely. Dark, violet plasma arced off her body before striking the obsidian walls, like electricity hitting a faraday cage.

"Hurry up, you fools!"

Her command was like a thunderclap, immediately shaking the man and boy out of their reverie.

Arthur made a move first. Like flipping a switch, he completed the circuit in his mind that connected to the pyramid. In front of his eyes, millions of rows of glowing, green text were written in alien symbols. Just as quickly as they appeared, they vanished, replaced by a single floating sentence.

'[Terminate all processes—Y/N]'

Without dallying, Arthur immediately provided confirmation.

There was a strange sensation, like an omnipresent, grey background noise suddenly disappeared. When the three individuals noticed it, the pyramid had already stopped rotating. That wasn't the worst of it, because whatever anti-gravity technology or thaumaturgy was causing the structure to float also vanished! Inside the hexagonal hallway, they all plummeted into the abyss, accompanying the pyramid.

"Mr. Nelson…?!"

Arthur started panicking. He couldn't fly, or if he could, then he didn't have a clue how to do it!

Kent didn't waste time. Golden energy surged out of his eyes, rapidly burning away the surrounding shadows. With one hand, he grabbed Arthur around his chest before shooting out of the corridor like a firework. With the other, he drew a perfect circle in the air. When it was completed, it massively expanded outwards before flying off towards the pyramid. It enclosed the enormous black diamond perfectly, locking it in like a shackle.

Suddenly, the restored golden symbols, scrawled across the tomb's surface, lit up in gilded splendor. Space seemed to distort as the whole thing started spinning inwards, like some sort of supernatural whirlpool. In a second, it shrunk to the size marble, then to a single mote of glimmering dust. The speck flew into Kent's outstretched hand before he stuffed it into his pocket.

The man looked at Arthur, giving him a wink.

"Get it? It's a literal 'pocket' dimension."

After telling his stupid joke, he didn't wait for a reply. Instead, he glanced in the witch's direction.

"Thank you for you help ma'am. Arthur and I will be going our way, now. You should leave as well, before the bad guys break through."

Kent gave her a heads-up, even though he didn't necessarily trust her. It was the least he could do.

He couldn't afford to hang around for a second longer, given his rapidly-dwindling condition. With a snap of his fingers, both he and Arthur disappeared in a flash of resplendent light.

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[Trixy]

Well... tragic backstory acquired ! Now, since he's a "villain protagonist", let's see how everything goes wrong !

 

[Zizinho21]

Honestly holy fuck, great job writing all of that. Felt it became a bit too quick-paced when the vermin stuff hit, but that's mostly because the system stuff was still confusing me.

 

[WritersCreed]

Well... tragic backstory acquired ! Now, since he's a "villain protagonist", let's see how everything goes wrong !

Click to shrink...

Has the writer confirmed he becomes a villain? I haven't seen anything but could 100% just have missed it.

 

[Trixy]

Has the writer confirmed he becomes a villain? I haven't seen anything but could 100% just have missed it.

Click to shrink...

It's in the tags.

 

[Gesar]

Villain protagonist doesn't actually mean the MC is a villain himself, merely that he is an SI in a villain's body. I'd prefer that personally myself. Really enjoyed these last few chapters, they were fun.