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To the attention of the readers who enjoy reading an intelligent main character like Miles will definitely like my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.
—
Los Angeles
Miles handed the flash drive to Michael.
"You got the schematics, nice." The genius plugged the disk into his computer to review the data brought to him but found more than he expected.
Miles pulled out the tablet, showing Vandal's computer's screen. "I got everything, with a real-time connection to the main computer in the lab."
It took them some time, hiding long distance relays across the country to give Michael access to Vandal's lab computer without a delay.
All thanks to the power of the capitalist system.
"This could be easier than anticipated." Michael took the tablet, reviewing the calculations.
"The computer is calculating the quantum entanglement telemetry necessary to create the portal. A tiny error in these calculations would cascade into a failure that would be impossible to notice unless the entire calculation was run from scratch and the two results are compared." Which would be insanely time-consuming, but seeing as this Vandal was an immortal, it wasn't an impossible odd.
All the more for Michael to convince this walking relic that the idea was unfeasible.
The science went over Miles' head. "This error won't cause something like a tear in the reality or any temporal anomalies, right?"
He didn't want to jump out of the pan into the fire.
"That, I'll have to run some simulations to be sure, but it should not be something so catastrophic." Michael's words were as assuring as it got.
"Vandal's timetable has a month remaining before he uses the machine." Vandal was very organized but kept his plans close to his heart.
Getting an idea on when he intended to use the machine was like pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth.
"I'll be finished before that."
"Well, then there is nothing for me to do except trust your intellect, Michael. Let Mary know if you want to speak to me."
—
Metropolis
Beckett Residence
Claire poured everyone a glass of iced tea, and Zalika brought snacks, while Baraka put on a movie and Miles adjusted the sound system.
Raven was just sitting on the couch, waiting.
On the insistence of the siblings, they were having a movie night, and Miles actually found it to be a good opportunity to bond.
The movie was about an alien invasion in the United States, as if it did not happen several months ago. Regardless, they watched the movie through chuckles, comments, and jokes.
The soldiers were getting hammered by alien artillery, with the enemy infantry surrounding their position, and the tension rose.
Human reinforcements arrived just in the nick of time, with A-10 Warthogs scattering the enemy, while the artillery encampments were bombarded with loud, flashy explosions, and Baraka let out a quiet "Yes!", getting absorbed into the movie.
Just as the explosions in the movie were dying down, the wall behind the TV disappeared with a deafening roar that flipped the couches.
Disoriented by the suddenness of the attack, Miles leaped to his feet, searching for the culprit.
Lo and behold, a feminine figure with a golden mask and a headdress.
Morgaine Le Fay herself.
"May I help you, madam?" Miles asked, gesturing for Zalika to leave, but she was frozen in her spot.
The witch, even with her features hidden, was radiating like a blazing sun. "You are responsible for the destruction of the Philosopher's Stone. You may die."
"I think there has been a mistake." He was just stalling for time while Raven and Claire got into position, because if Morgaine came all the way here, there was no fooling her.
Her hands glowed with a sickly green light, and Miles tensed, ready to get out of the way. "I can feel the remnants of the stone on you. Your pitiful attempts to save your life will not work."
The girls were almost at the witch's back, but he didn't know if Morgaine was too furious to notice them or not. "I am not the one who destroyed it, though."
"Enough." The witch shouted, not in the mood to listen, and held out her hands to fire a green beam at Miles.
"NO!" Baraka shouted, jumping in front of Miles, who was about to dive to the side but was sent back as the young man slammed into him while taking the shot.
His back hit the wall, slowing Baraka down, and Miles reeled from the pain of the collision.
Baraka, on the other hand, got up, confused.
Claire and Raven took the opportunity, driving the witch out of the house.
His t-shirt had a hole, and there was soot on his chest, but the young man was unharmed otherwise. Baraka raised his tingling hands, seeing them glow with several alternating iridescent colors.
"What? This is not possible." Morgaine fired her magical beams again, trying to strike down Baraka now that she saw him as the greater threat, but the young man stood his ground, absorbing each magical lance.
"Baraka, take the shots. Raven and Claire, use him as a shield and retaliate." He ordered, taking Zalika away from the battle while activating his communicator to call the League. It did not sit right to put Baraka under risk in this manner, but Morgaine would definitely kill them all.
Rushing at the mage while Morgaine was busy blocking Claire's flames and Raven's magic, Baraka tried to grapple the ancient sorceress to the ground.
Realizing her magic was useless against the mortal man, Morgaine decided to retreat but found it to be a difficult ordeal while the mortal was too close for the witch to expose her back.
Animating several trees and objects inside the house to cover her, Morgaine turned tail to run.
Claire and Raven had to stop attacking Morgaine and defend themselves. The pyrokinetic set the trees on fire, while the half-demon young girl had to tear her favorite couch apart.
Seeing their attacker escape, Baraka ran after her but stopped once the woman took off.
Frustrated, he lashed out with his tingling hands, and all the magic the sorceress had expended was fired back as a chromatic beam. With her back turned to the attackers, Morgaine could not summon a shield in time and went down hard.
Miles had already found his communicator and called for help, but the League was already searching for Morgaine after Nimue requested their help.
"Is she down?" Claire asked while Raven put out the fires.
"Not for long. We are leaving. Take what you can and get in the car." This would be painted as a battle between the League and a villain, with his house ruined due to collateral damage.
Her hands were alive with heat, and Claire looked ready to enact a medieval custom and burn the witch. "Shouldn't we…"
"Are you guys alright?" Superman came down, followed by the rest of the League and the Batplane.
"Just some scrapes. You guys should take her before she wakes while we disappear before anyone sees us." Especially the media or the neighbors when they came out to see what the commotion was about.
John wrapped Morgaine in several feet of thick restraints. "Got it. Meet at the tower for debriefing later."
—
Even this late in the night, getting a new house was a simple matter, and of course, they could not sleep because of one matter.
Zalika was fussing over her brother, checking him over for any injuries, but Baraka was more interested in his newfound metahuman powers.
Understandable.
Finding a doctor at this hour was too much of a hassle since the young man was in good health, and they sat down for a discussion.
"What else do you think I can do?" Baraka squeezed his fists, trying to feel anything, but nothing came to him now.
"I'll take you for a test with a professional in a couple of days. In the meantime, don't do anything." Trying to absorb the wrong kind of energy might put Baraka in the hospital, or worse.
"But…"
Miles raised his hand, stopping Baraka. "I know you are excited to have metahuman powers, but if you unknowingly do something wrong, it might harm you irrevocably. Just be patient, alright?"
"Yeah, okay." He agreed. A couple of days was nothing.
Putting his hand on Baraka's shoulder, Miles smiled. "One last thing, I appreciate what you were willing to do, but always trust that I have a plan, and do not recklessly put your life on the line."
—
The Watchtower
"May I ask what happened?" It was the noon of the next day, and Miles had put his affairs in order before heading to the tower to discuss the events of yesterday.
Jason Blood and John Constantine had accepted the invitation to the station, while Madame Xanadu had chosen to return to her shop, and they were in the room to attend the discussion.
"We almost caught Morgaine in a trap, but she put the Martian in an illusion and realized that the stone was destroyed. In her anger, she broke through our spell and brought the castle down on us." Jason explained.
Miles looked at the sorcerer for a second, then at the Martian.
Wonderful.
"Where is she now?" Unless she had managed to escape again, that is.
Constantine grinned, while his pervasive scent of cheap cigarettes irritated more than one nose. "Safe and secure. She is not going anywhere, ever."
"Whatever precautions you took to imprison her, I suggest you double them at the least." Because if they ever crossed paths again, Miles was going to crucify Morgaine.
There was another loose end before this matter could be put to rest. "Did you also find Mordred?"
"Yes, thankfully he is easier to imprison." Jason had put him in a place far away from Morgaine for security.
Diana, who had not had much time to be informed of the situation, had a question in her mind. "How much trouble could the child be?"
She didn't know much about this Morgaine, other than the myths that her companions did not have the time to explain, but the hatred their guests had for the mother and son made it clear they shared a history.
"Don't let the looks fool you, luv; that bloody brat is centuries old and just as wicked as his mother, though not as strong." John grunted. That was one chapter in his history closed, forever with a bit of luck.
"With her plans, I thought you'd have more interest in this matter." Batman finally spoke, and Miles counted in his head to calm down.
Getting up, he inserted a disk into the computer, opening the relevant files.
"Vandal Savage, I am sure you remember me mentioning him." The man's recently taken photograph had appeared on the screen.
Green Lantern snapped his finger, remembering him as one of the threats to be worried about. "The immortal caveman?"
"Yes. He had many names throughout history, such as Genghis Khan, Vlad III Tepes, Attila the Hun, Edward Teach, a.k.a. Blackbeard, and Jack the Ripper, to name a few." These were the ones he remembered anyway.
Flash whistled. "Damn. We are literally fighting history."
Several more photos appeared, starting with the time machine.
"His latest plan to conquer the world is to travel to Nazi Germany and assume control of the Third Reich with his superior knowledge in science, bringing the world to heel without any superheroes to stop him." He explained Savage's plan, silencing the room.
"Please tell me he is not going to succeed." Superman pleaded.
If Vandal managed to change history, he could not imagine the chaos that would cause.
"I have been occupied, ensuring his machine did not work, and most importantly, convincing him that time travel was not possible. To that end, I infiltrated his lab, and I am in contact with one of the sharpest minds on Earth to sabotage the time machine, discreetly."
"Bloody hell." Constantine cursed. This was arguably worse than Morgaine's plan.
"Let's go and bag this guy." Flash suggested it, but Batman stopped him.
"Good luck convincing a judge to throw Vandal into prison because he was allegedly planning to make a time machine." Batman's reasoning was sound, because there was a fundamental problem with bringing Vandal to the court.
"He is right; we can't give any proof to the government that the machine works." The human and the Thanagarian governments weren't that different in how they operated, and Hawkgirl knew what her people would do with a time machine.
If the US government somehow acquired Vandal's knowledge or any data regarding his machine, it would be disastrous, and having the caveman imprisoned required proof that he could actually succeed in time travel.
Otherwise, his plan to take over the Third Reich was just the plot of a third-rate movie.
"So, unless we intend to imprison Vandal ourselves, foiling his plan while waiting for him to commit a crime that could be sentenced is our best chance." He was going to kill Savage, discretely, and in a way that ensured his immortality could not save him.
"Any way to remove his immortality?" J'onn asked about the matter in Miles' mind, and if it wasn't for the pendant, he would think the Martian had read his thoughts.
"I am trying to procure tissue samples to see if it could be done." Carbonizing every cell in Vandal's body as a start, and if all else failed, perhaps higher powers could be involved.
Or imprison him inside molten nth metal for all of eternity.
The rest of the meeting was about possible ways of countering Vandal's influence across the world and destroying his financial and material resources, which Miles didn't have much on because the mastermind was smart enough to keep it all well hidden.
He was on the trail, though, and Savage wasn't aware of anything yet, giving him a significant advantage.
Miles had another important decision to make regarding Superman and Supergirl's DNA samples in Starlabs. He considered warning them to retrieve those samples and any related data, but the decision had its pros and cons.
If Superman's DNA was gone, there was a chance that Superboy, Connor, would not exist, if he was going to exist at all, just as Galatea would not.
Quite the troublesome decision.
In the end, having Superboy, an asset of the Light, who could exist due to the appearance of this Vandal Savage, freed from his mental commands would be a great blow to those control maniacs, especially to Luthor.
Cadmus would be watched very closely to see how the whole cloning business and any other ethical boundaries they were ignoring.
—
His home was a wreck, meaning he had to leave for the new one, but thankfully there wasn't anything important lost. The artifacts were secure somewhere else, and his Incan Canopa was only scratched.
The cops were told that the destruction was a result of the League trying to apprehend a criminal, and they were all outside during it.
He was going to have the house repaired but would not move back there, as it was on police reports now.
But first, Baraka would need to visit Thomas to get a readout on his powers since he was the closest trustworthy expert.
—
In the next chapter:
"Energy absorption, you say? What kind?" Thomas kept firing questions while checking Baraka's state, though the young man was in perfect health by all signs.
"So far? Only the esoteric kind," Most scientists did not appreciate the term "magic" so easily, seeing it as a form of energy manipulation that could be solved through research, eventually.
Thomas stopped, raising an eyebrow with a dry look, as esoteric energy could refer to a lot of things, and he needed something more certain. "That being?"
"Sorcery of Morgaine Le Fay," If Thomas wanted more than that, he would need to find them alone, because Miles was not bringing Morgaine out of whatever hellhole she was imprisoned in.
"From the legends of King Arthur?"
"Not legends, as you can understand."
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