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18/11/2010 - Thursday
Billy Batson felt especially worn down as he stepped out of the Zeta Terminal in Mount Justice.
Physically, he was fine. There hadn't been any fights, any schemes or plots or plans. The villains were lying low and he was grateful for that. Far more than any of those no-good, dirty, rotten do-badders would ever really appreciate.
There wasn't anyone in the command center, which wasn't much of a surprise. Everyone in the League was busy dealing with the United Nations except for the Green Lanterns.
Those guys were busy getting something ready on the Watchtower. Apparently they had someone important visiting soon and they needed to get everything all spic and span before they showed up.
Captain Marvel had been called in at first, too, to answer questions for the United Nations but his, uh... simple personality didn't seem to, uh, didn't seem to impress too many people.
Billy spoke his mind and he had to focus on what lay in front of him. The projected expenses and costs weren't where his skills flourished and throwing pages and pages of numbers at him, numbers that didn't directly relate to the number of people that were just -gone- didn't help.
So a bunch of billionaires weren't making back their investment on oil in Bialya, why was Captain Marvel supposed to care? People were -dead-!
The whole mess left Billy mentally exhausted.
"-this boss opens up one of two different paths, each one hiding a secret," Alchemist's voice said as Billy made his way to the common area. Walking in, Billy saw Garfield sitting on the floor in front of the big screen television with a controller in his hands, connected by a wire to a gray and purple box. His mother was sitting on one end of the couch while Cheetah was curled up on the other end. Alchemist was sitting on the edge of his seat, a chair that was close to Garfield. "But which way it opens is based on how you beat it."
On the screen, Garfield looked to be controlling a man in a blue outfit that was shooting lemons out of the end of his arm at a giant pumpkin. Sometimes the pumpkin would grow rockets and try to ram into Garfield's character and other times it would open up, revealing another, different-colored pumpkin inside-
Which would split open again, revealing another, even smaller pumpkin! That would shoot lemons back at the blue and cyan character.
Captain Marvel... had no idea what he was looking at.
Or why Garfield had a few sheets of paper with weird number grids sitting on the ground next to him.
"Alchemist?" Captain Marvel called, drawing several sets of eyes away from the screen as one of the pumpkin's lemons hit the blue man and made him explode into orbs of light. "There is something I need to discuss with you, if you're free."
"Yeah, I should be." Alchemist got up and turned to face Captain Marvel as Garfield mumbled something angrily. His character appeared in what looked like a graveyard, beaming down in a ray of blue light on the screen.
Stepping around the couch and its occupants, Alchemist joined Captain Marvel in the almost-industrial kitchen that was kept on-base. The two of them walked near the back, out of easy ear-shot of Barbara Minerva and Marie Logan as things on-screen were blown up by Garfield's character.
That... actually looked kind of fun.
"What's on your mind, Cap?" Alchemist asked as he turned around and leaned against a counter on the far wall.
"I've been talking with my... contact," Billy said in a whisper as he imitated Alchemist's laid-back posture. "And he's found a way to break the... connection that you and Wonder Woman have been worried about."
"Well, that's good." Alchemist's hands gripped the counter he was leaning against and his fingers tapped the enamel in tune with the music coming from the other room. "What's the catch, though?"
"The catch?" Billy sighed, deflating at the curious look Alchemist sent him. "It... it's an old spell. From a really long time ago. It was used on a group of people that worshiped this old god named 'Fenrir', some kind of wolf god?"
"A bit more than just some kind of Wolf God," Alchemist began to explain with a shake of his head. "Fenrir was one of the children of the god of lies and trickery. His appetite was without limit, allowing him to devour not just things, but concepts and ideas. Among his titles was the Beast of Slaughter, prophesied to slay Odin One-Eye."
"...Okay. Wow. Kind of a lot in there," Billy mumbled. His knowledge on the creature had just been that Fenrir was a god and a wolf. He hadn't had a chance to look up any prophecies about the beast, not yet. "He used to have a bunch of people who worshiped him and they could turn into these really powerful wolf-men. So someone in the far past came up with a spell that would change their shapeshifting and lock it to something that Fenrir didn't control. Like... the moon."
"...And that's how at least a few werewolves came into existence. Great," Alchemist said before slowly exhaling. "And here I thought they were sourced from leftover nephilim from the flood... You want to use it on Cheetah?"
"I thought it would be an option," Billy admitted with a fragile smile.
"That's good work. Good initiative," Alchemist praised, giving Captain Marvel a small smile. "I'd be worried about its god retaliating, though. Fenrir is bound but that one, well, it's not."
"...Not to mention we'd have to find something to tie the spell to," Billy continued, sheepishly admitting to even more limitations with the spellwork that Shazam had dug up. "Or the fact that it'd be contagious."
"So it's not perfect," Alchemist said as he leaned forward, his eyes shifting away from Billy as Garfield started fighting some kind of winged vampire in his game. "It's still an option and it's one more than we had before."
Billy nodded, a wide smile on his face.
It wasn't perfect. Honestly, it might be worse in some ways than the spirit possessing Barbara Minerva. But it would still offer the woman a measure of freedom that she didn't currently possess.
And... it felt good to have his efforts recognized. There were several members of the League that would look at everything wrong with the ritual and immediately dismiss it, absolutely sure that there had to be a better option that hadn't been found yet.
And there might be. Billy couldn't deny that. But Billy also knew that it was better to have a few less-great options on hand in case 'perfect' didn't work out.
"If we can get Wonder Woman free, we should discuss it with her," Alchemist said as he pulled out his phone and began to tap out a text. "See if she's had a chance to find anything."
Billy nodded, glad to see that Alchemist was willing to make it into a group discussion.
He liked the woman. She knew his secret and hadn't... exposed him. Even when she could have done so at any time since they'd come back from helping out Zagreus.
But there was still something imposing and forceful about her and it made the boy nervous when he was afraid he might be stepping on her toes.
Having Alchemist involved in that conversation, it would help.
Well, Billy silently amended as he considered how easily Alchemist could rile Diana up.
It -might- help.
-----
Elsewhere, another Alchemist lounged rather comfortably within a yet-to-be-filled tower on Infinity Island.
The dragon had a notepad placed in front of him as he lay before one of the windows carved into the adamantine walls. His gauntlets were rather busy with one holding his notes in place as the other held a pencil and was scribbling on the papers.
A lot was going on. A lot had changed.
And keeping track of everything was becoming increasingly difficult. Much like a juggler trying to keep track of which ball in the air was actually a live grenade.
Alchemist wished that metaphor was more farcical than it actually was.
Down below, in the tropical forests of the island, Yuffie was rather happily leading Ash and Cinder on a chase. Yuffie was very successfully keeping the pair of pooches from catching her through her much better ability to ascend into the trees compared to the dogs.
"Krr..." Reis snored, lying squarely on Alchemist's back, right in between his wings. The little mist dragon, about the size of a medium dog, actually rather enjoyed finding her way to higher levels of elevation. Not unlike a cat.
Alchemist genuinely enjoyed her presence, odd though her chosen seat may have been. She was pleasantly cool compared to the humid, tropical atmosphere.
A few days prior, during his little stowaway trip with Talia Al-Ghul, Alchemist had the misfortune to discover something he'd have rather avoided.
~~ Quest Updated! ~~
~~ Fin-al Reich! ~~
~~ A secret alliance between Vampires with the League of Assassins? It's more likely than you might think! You've discovered the connection between Ra's Al-Ghul and the experiments conducted during World War 2 in connection to immortality but where does it all lead?
Keep finding clues and tracking down secrets to find out! ~~
When Talia had started to tell Ra's her concerns about her sister revealing the Al-Ghul family secrets, Ra's had instead pointed out that Batman was already tracking down one of the many dead, or rather, undead connections.
Hans Brunner had apparently been a childe of Count Berlin and the man had been stationed at, of course, Ravensbreuk. Ra's had been familiar with the vampire, using him as a means of acquiring goods and services from the black market in northern Europe and to help position his own agents for their grisly work.
Alchemist hadn't needed the quest update, which he shouldn't have been getting in the first place considering he'd rejected the quest, to put together the clues. The concentration camp had been used to experiment on longevity and vitality, with vampire officers being the now-known result of at least some of the experiments.
Nyssa Al-Ghul's torture as well as the murder of her husband and children being another one.
Tapping his pencil against the page, Alchemist sniffed quietly in irritation. Nyssa would eventually go on to parrot her father's ideology, despite her once-vehement proclamations decrying the man.
Whereas Ra's was, at least, coming up on the limit of how many times a Lazarus Pit could be used by the same person within a short time frame. Given another twenty-five, thirty years and he'd be completely tapped out.
Then he'd download his mind into Talia and use her to try and honeytrap an old Bruce Wayne so he could bodyjack the aging billionaire instead.
Ra's needed to go. Preferably for good. The question was 'What could Alchemist do that would actually stick' considering Ra's had come back from being cremated and his ashes strewn into space.
He was also one of the few people that Alchemist could likely kill without the Justice League throwing a fit. Ra's died all the time, after all. What was one more?
Exhaling slowly, the floating gauntlet holding the pencil dropped down on top of the notebook and Alchemist lowered his head down to his claws.
He didn't enjoy premeditating murder. However, once the PG-13 veneer came off? The villains, at least the ones that actually worried him, were murderous monsters and playing the bigger person genuinely did come with a body count. Sometimes civilians, sometimes loved ones, sometimes more.
So much more.
"...You okay?" a voice asked from near the entrance to the top floor. Sitting up carefully so as to avoid jostling Reis, Alchemist saw Jinx approaching him.
"Thinking," Alchemist grunted out, his voice more guttural and harsh than he'd intended. With a twist of thought, the mage cast Ghost Sound and something a good deal closer to how he sounded as a human filled the air. "Got a lot on my mind. Some villains, some heroes and some oddities in the system. Still haven't heard back from Terra on the last one. How about you?"
"Bored," Jinx admitted as she sidled up next to Alchemist while Kary followed along behind the Havoc Dragon. "Details?"
"I forgot the former owner of this island had contacts with Nazis that might still be around," Alchemist began as Kary leaned against his opposite side, trailing a hand along his wing joint. "Captain Marvel just came around the mountain with a potential alternative to fighting a plant god, provided we don't mind the risk of were-cheetahs. Finally, I've been messing around with some of the new perks that Terra implemented and I've been able to purchase some that I know I shouldn't have qualified for. Others, though, are properly working in that I can't get them."
Intensify Spell was at the top of the list but Alchemist had also purchased the first levels of Automatic Quicken, Automatic Still and Automatic Silence. All of which were supposed to be reliant on Metamagic skills that he hadn't learned before purchasing them and having the knowledge rather painfully downloaded past his brain.
"Perhaps there is something else involved that may be 'qualifying' you for the perks, love?" Kary offered, her own system window open before her. "I'm looking at them and there is no option for me to select them."
"Which is weird," Jinx offered as she flopped against Alchemist's side. "'Cuz I can."
Alchemist nodded softly in thought as he considered what the two had told him.
What did he and Jinx have in common that Kary didn't have? He doubted it was some vague, general mastery of magic as Kary was reasonably proficient, even if she preferred a smaller list of spells.
Scratching the underside of his muzzle, Alchemist decided to worry about it later. If he was lucky, Terra would send him a message soon about his bug reports.
If he wasn't lucky, there would be room for experimentation.
"Save it for before you go to bed," Alchemist advised as his gauntlets picked up his notebook and began to flip back through the pages. Opening up to one in particular, it listed a series of observations the wizard had made a few days prior. "If the new perk forces some knowledge into you, it does so painfully. Each one has left me with a splitting migraine."
Something which magic could only do so much for. The Gamer system interfaced directly with the soul and, at least as far as Alchemist could tell, the perks were being injected directly into it.
"...I noticed something else, recently," Alchemist began as he gently plucked his notes out of his gauntlet's metal fingers with two claws. "But I don't know if it's because of the level of power we're operating at or the magatama that's been fused into me."
He didn't think it was the symbiote within him, not really. The creature had lain dormant since it had expended the magic Alchemist had carefully nurtured to feed it with. Still, just the act of fusing with it had left Alchemist with a host of distinct, physical changes.
"What else bothers you, love?" Kary asked as she stepped around Alchemist's long limbs to look at his notes.
"I've noticed that certain spells are stronger than normal," Alchemist said as he handed the notebook over to his lover. "I ran through most of what I know and it seems as though Blizzard, Freeze, the Dark series, Holy and Drain Touch are all a little more impactful than before."
Ice, Dark, Radiant Energy and Negative Energy spells. The full gamut of elements that Void Dragons could be attuned to.
"Well, that's a good thing, isn't it?" Kary asked as she leafed through the book filled with his cramped handwriting.
"It's not bad," Alchemist hedged as he saw Kary reach the plans he'd made to pick up the Undead Mastery Perk, which would allow him to control ten times his level in undead abominations. "I'm just starting to notice a theme that I don't like."
He didn't have any serious intentions on going through with those plans. Not really...
But if he needed a show of force? That would be a lot less risky than, say, trying to summon Meteor. Or calling Eden.
"Is it the edgelord theme?" Jinx asked while Kary brought a hand up to hide her giggling at his expense.
"...Yes," Alchemist agreed, just a hint of shame in his voice. "Yes, it is."
-----
Bruce was exhausted.
The United Nations inquiries were accomplishing a very expensive amount of nothing while wasting basically everyone's time. Some members were demanding answers, others wanted plans of action and still more were arguing over the oil fields that were now technically unclaimed.
Technically.
The people living on that land, their opinions had not been requested and did not seem to matter.
Bruce, Batman felt helpless just listening to supposedly intelligent, powerful individuals arguing over things that just seemed so... pointless.
Leaning back in his chair in the watchtower, Batman pushed his cowl up and above his eyes so he could rub at his forehead. Two hours of sleep. That was all he needed anymore, thanks to the ring sitting innocuously on his right index finger.
Two hours of sleep and he hadn't been able to get that in literal days.
Between being Batman for the Justice League and being Bruce Wayne for Gotham-
Gotham.
Reaching for his coffee, Bruce hammered down the cold, bitter brew and slammed the empty mug back down.
Gotham was its own kettle of fish.
Alchemist had healed a little under three-hundred people. At five-hundred dollars each, that totaled up to one-hundred and fifty-thousand dollars. Honestly not very much for him.
But the people of Gotham had started to ask why some out-of-towner had charged Bruce Wayne so much money, just to go and throw it right back into the charities he was supposed to be taking care of. People were asking how bad things were if some formerly-homeless man would give up so much money.
As though Bruce didn't personally contribute ten times that amount to both the Martha Wayne and Thomas Wayne foundations. And it didn't touch on the various charity galas and balls he hosted specifically for the sake of providing funding!
He appreciated the gesture. He really did. But it hadn't been necessary in the slightest.
And then there was the Dent problem. Harvey Dent, who wasn't Two-Face any longer. Who had surrendered himself willingly into police custody.
The number of strings Bruce had to pull to have him sent to Hartford with a SWAT escort had been immense but Batman did not, absolutely did not, want him returning to Arkham. Not until well after Bruce had a chance to get a handful of arcane experts to look at the damned asylum.
He might trust Alchemist but he was going to verify every word and warning the man gave him.
"Have you gotten any sleep these last few days?" Superman asked as he entered the darkened monitor room.
With eloquence unmatched, Batman grunted neutrally.
"You know we need you at your best," Superman advised, offering the Dark Knight a bit of advice that he'd handed out in the past.
Batman didn't respond verbally. Instead he pointed to one of the numerous monitors he was watching.
"What is- is this the exterior of Mount Justice?" Superman asked as he leaned over Batman's shoulder to look at the feed.
On it was a stream that showed Alchemist just out front of the mountain, in the cracked, 'abandoned' parking lot. The man had a large planter, a bag of soil, a bucket of some kind of muck and a large, brown seed.
"Gardening?" Clark asked as the wizard began to fill the pot. "I'd heard about some kind of fight between you, Aquaman and the apprentices. Didn't that damage some of his, ah, 'ingredients'?"
"Reagents," Batman corrected as the wizard put down a layer of some dark brown-
"Huh. Horse manure," Superman interjected, interrupting the irritable knight's thoughts. "Didn't he have some kind of magic for that?"
"He does," Batman affirmed. "He taught the spell to some of the apprentices. The time they used it matched up with an alert I received from Arkham about Poison Ivy having some kind of episode."
And, Batman didn't tell the Man of Steel, Poison Ivy had a similar but far more violent episode roughly a week ago. The woman had snapped awake from a dead sleep, her head turned south-west. Directly towards Alchemist's hideaway in the Appalachian Mountain Range.
Whatever Alchemist had been experimenting with, it had also awoken something in the Louisiana Bayou. What it was, specifically, Batman did not know. The reports he'd read spoke of some kind of walking mass of vines that disappeared into the swamp like some kind of cryptid.
"Probably something crazy and magical," Clark continued, filling the silence. "Maybe he got his hands on some unicorn dung or something?"
That... was possible, wasn't it?
Bruce was having a hard time remembering the specifics but he knew Diana had put something like that into her most recent, handwritten report.
The man reached up to rub at his eyes, trying to dispel the fog that crept over his vision.
"What's that he's planting?" Clark asked, leaning further over Bruce's shoulder. "It doesn't look like any kind of seed I'm familiar with."
"Medicinal herbs," Batman explained as he opened a window on another monitor and typed in a search query. It quickly came up with a potted plant covered in small, white flowers.
One of the numerous ones Alchemist had the apprentices practice the plant growth spell with.
"I'm not sure that's legal in Rhode Island..." Clark mused, rubbing his chin. The man sent Batman a sheepish grin as he likely felt the glare sent his way. "Sorry, sorry. Just trying to lighten the... huh."
On-screen, Alchemist had just finished planting the seed.
There hadn't been any warning, no gestures or mumbled words before a woody sprout shot up and out of the pot.
Followed by several more such sprouts.
Then the pot leaned forward and stood up on those sprouts.
"Well," Clark mumbled as Alchemist tried to talk to the potted plant. "...Huh."
The potted plant that, instead of answering as more stems rocketed out of it and began to grow leafs in a vaguely humanoid shape, kicked the wizard instead.
Batman grabbed his coffee mug as Alchemist hopped after the potted plant, obviously shouting and cursing at it while he held his kicked shin.
"Do, uh..." Clark stared helplessly as Alchemist chased the forming plant-person in a circle. "Do you think he needs help?"
"Superman?" Batman asked as he stood up, his mug held in a death grip. "I think I need more coffee before I even begin to try and deal with that."
"...Yeah," Clark mumbled as the wizard began to chase the wild plant in earnest, jets of white-hot fire shooting out of both hands. "Yeah. I think you're right. Coffee sounds really good right about now."
Of course it sounded good.
It was Batman's idea.
