NOVEL NEXT The Next Threats
(General P.O.V)
"The mystical opposition we can expect is…light. That is however, dependent on him not interfering. But our Lord has ensured that that will not to be a problem. That leaves us with few that can stand against our might. Chief of whom being The Lord's of Order and Chaos. Fortunately, they have been embroiled in a struggle. A fight that has been going on for eons, with no clear winner. Balance has been and will be their main contention. Which finally leaves only the Earth's mystical practitioners to come for us. Jason Blood being the most likely among them. Fortunately, our new base is far from their reach. By the time they marshall up a force to stop the plan, it will be too late."
A whisper rang out across the castle. A blonde girl with blue eyes nodded, dressed in a red dress and a blue cloak above it, she was hauntingly beautiful. That beauty was ruined by the cold look in her eyes. Her face was impassive and blank, showing no emotion. Just like 'he' expected her to be. A heartless bitch.
She had been trained since young to never question him. Her adopted father. He had 'saved' her after all. So she gave him the gratitude and reverence he wanted and he had taught her everything he knew of the Arcane. Thinking he had her manipulated. Both had a goal. She sought the freedom of someone dear to her and he…he just wanted power. Too much power.
And now after 10 long years, Alyssa was finally close. However the task she needed to carry out left her confused. She wondered…what was the point of turning the earth or now, the Solar System into a realm of cold and ice? What was the end game here? Truly? There had to be an angle right!! Maybe she couldn't see it but one thing she knew was that, her Adopted Father was cunning. You had to be if you aimed to steal the realm and power of a hell lord. He thought she had no idea on his true motives but his intentions were clear to her. The main magic spell component was to supplant the rule of Belial and install a new Hell Lord in his place. That new Hell lord would be Aleister. That's all she knew. But really…none of that mattered as long as she saved John. John, who had sacrificed himself and taken her place…John who had been suffering for a decade in hell.
Alyssa continued on her way, taking the stairs into the unrestricted portion of the castle. Her Mage Tower. She pushed the door open with a burst of telekinesis. Using a chain ending with an inverted cross to channel her magic. There…the entrance portal to their new base of operations was located. As was the painting, showing the bald head of one Aleister Crowley. Occultist, magician and Alyssa's master/adopted Father. The painting grew animated, a slow smile spreading across it's face as he stared at the young girl.
"Providence smiles upon those unafraid to seek power, those unafraid to shatter the status quo, my daughter. And of those, You, Alyssa Constantine are worthy of all that and much more. Match forward and claim what is rightfully yours, in service of our Lord Belial and I, your father. Remember what you stand to gain. Power to never be weak again."
The Whisper concluded. The girl who couldn't have been more than 18 years gave a curt nod.
"As you command Father." He was wrong, she wasn't doing this for Power. She was doing this to save someone. He thought of that as a mere side goal. Having fed him that notion through the years so that when the time came, Aleister would not think to use John as her weak point. She clenched her hands. 'For you, Johnny. I will save you.'
She touched a locket hanging off her neck and her eyes gained a determined light. She wouldn't keep this farce up for long. As soon as Belial honored his promise and released her brother…Alyssa was calling down hell fire on this accursed Castle and Aleister Crowley himself.
(Elsewhere)
Luthor applied pressure and smashed the glass in his hands. Broken shards of glass fell to the floor and Luthor held out his arm to the side. Like a ghost, Mercy Graves, his personal assistant and bodyguard appeared with a towel and a clean bandage. Looking closely at Luthor's palm, one could see it was bleeding. They were both still at the Cadmus facility, having just ran tests on the Phantom Zone projector they'd gotten from Metron.
Besides them there were two more individuals in the lab. One, like a silent watchman, ever cautious and observant, was Terror. He made sure to use the link he had with the Elemental Dimension to create a log with information that he deemed important for Aden. Unfortunately, the Phantom Zone Projector did not fall in that category. The next person in the room with them was the head scientist of this particular branch of Cadmus. The same one tasked with monitoring the progress of Terror and project Match. Though the latter, project Match had been scratched off the books, valuable info taken and everything else dumped. There in lied the Problem.
"What is the next step, sir?"
The scientist asked, adjusting the frame of his glasses while staring questioningly at Luthor.
"I should have known this would happen. The character profile on Metron was accurate but what it failed to mention was just how... cunning and self serving he could be. Who knew he would place a genetic lock on the Phantom Zone Projector so that only a Kryptonian could use it? As it stands, we do not have a Kryptonian on hand after Terror destroyed Match. The D.N.A samples we had, have all been used for project Godblood and our only chance of doing this anonymously, is 2000 fucking feet deep in the ocean." Lex took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.
He adjusted his tie and exhaled, calming his nerves as his brilliant mind worked overtime to come up with a solution. A smile lit up his face.
"There is, one more Kryptonian running around unchecked however."
The scientist widened his eyes.
"You mean... Superman?!"
He asked, nervousness dripping from his tone.
"But..but sir what about the Justice League. They will hit us back with their full power should we go after big blue. I thought we decided to lay low until project Rebirth commenced?"
Lex shook his head, getting another glass and pouring a drink in it.
"Who said anything about us going after him. If what I'm thinking of works, we not only get Czarnian D.N.A for study and project Godblood but we also get Superman. All the while keeping our hands clean. Well, relatively anyway. I reckon things will get bloody before they settle down...Lobo is not known for subtlety after all."
He chuckled.
"Metron thought he was fucking us over. Fucking me over, but I bet he didn't see this coming."
(Elsewhere) (edge of the sector)
"Ambassador, I am getting strange energy readings from the dwarf planet on the outskirts of the target Star System."
A Reach assistant, informed the Ambassador who immediately pulled up the data on the huge screen.
"Seems like theta class energy signatures. Otherwise commonly known as..."
The scientist standing next to the Ambassador started.
"Magic."
The Ambassador concluded.
"This Star System keeps on getting more and more interesting. Have there been signs of intelligent or any life really on this planet?"
His question was directed towards Scientist who shook her head, parsing through all the information their discreet probes had acquired of each of the planets in the Solar System.
"None."
"Send me down there with a few soldiers and I will come back with answers."
The Scarab, enforcer in this mission requested of the Ambassador only to get denied.
"That will not be needed. We will maintain our position. Observing only. We need to know more before going in. These...aliens are not like the rest. They're different and I will not take unnecessary risks and jump in before we are prepared."
"As you command."
"Fine."
The Scientist and The Scarab both answered, respectively.
(Elsewhere) Las Vegas.
"The tides are changing. Faster than expected. Faster than you anticipated, ain't that right Maze..."
A gorgeous woman with an hourglass figure told the Lilim perched on the window frame. Behind the black clad sexy demoness, the Las Vegas night life was in full swing.
Maze didn't answer for a few seconds. She felt conflicted. Out of everyone, her sister had taken after their mother the most. She was ambitious, conniving, deadly and oh so very sensuous. She played with men, seduced them, sucked them for all they were worth and then left them out to dry. She enjoyed their pain, being a classic sadist. All things Maze enjoyed. They would have gotten along if she wasnt such a grade A bitch. But blood is blood and like her or not, Calliope was her sister. She also hesitated to send Aden after her. Who knew what would happen to the boy after being exposed to a lust Demon. Then again Aden was willful to a degree she wondered how he still hadn't received a green Lantern ring. He could probably handle Calliope's seduction...Right?
"Get out while you still can...sister. If you die...it's over. Lucifer is not around to allow passage to hell for your true form. You lot fucking conspired to get rid of him."
Maze said her piece.
Calliope turned to reply but was met with nothing. Maze had disappeared.
(Aden's P.O.V)
'Is it just me or did the world get a little bit darker?' I wondered shivering in... uneasiness. It felt like things were about to go very wrong in the coming weeks leading to my birthday. Just per the course for me really. The only thing I had control over was my own actions. And I elected to keep on getting stronger.
Which is why I was going to use my training points to purchase my first sparring partner. I had thought of it hard and long. My initial choices were Iroh, Zuko, Azula and Sozin. All of them more than Firebending masters in their own right. But...I had dragons in my dimension. The original Firebenders. So most on that roster were straight up useless. I was definitely sparring with Iroh. He might be a copy but if I wanted to be better at Firebending, there was literally nobody else I needed to get me there.
But...I now had access to Lightning. And it was better in every way when compared to traditional flames. Again, having Iroh, a grandmaster Firebender who had mastered Lightning bending would be priceless but...what if I went in a different direction? During Korra's time, Lightning bending was more practiced. It wasn't that common by any means but it was definitely spread out to the masses. And given human ingenuity, The bending had no doubt been added upon and made more...efficient. so what if I bought Mako instead of Azula or Zuko like I'd been thinking?