Natalie was naturally stunned, then later offended, that I had no interest in her services.
"I never said I wasn't interested," I said. "I just don't want to pay for it." Her face tightened with fury. "What I will pay for is an introduction to somebody who can get me what I need. Your standard rate, of course."
Natalie's expression shifted from anger to contemplation as she folded her arms. "Just a name and phone number?"
"And a guarantee that you're not setting me up to get robbed or worse, because they will die, and I will come after you," I said calmly, looking into her eyes.
Natalie must've believed me because her heart thundered like a jackrabbit.
"Just who the fuck are you?" she demanded.
"I told you already, David Collins. So, do we have a deal or not?"
She gave me the contact, and I paid two thousand. I tipped her five hundred extra for the scare, and she—surprisingly—hadn't screwed me over.
A cab took me far from the metropolitan area to a quiet apartment building. On the third floor, I stopped in front of a dank studio apartment and was buzzed in after looking into the camera. A phone was waiting for me inside, placed on a stool, under an overhead light.
A high, scratchy voice came through. "Natalie said I should be expecting some James Bond type. You some kind of terrorist? Government spy?"
I couldn't tell if the speaker was a man or a woman.
"I'm flattered. Nothing that fancy. Just some guy who spent too much time abroad and wants to reintegrate into civilized society. You know I can pay."
"That's not the issue."
"Then, I promise I'm not a maniac," I offered, "not that it should matter, considering the business you're in."
"You'd think it wouldn't," the voice replied, "but we only help people we can trust. Can't afford loose ends or feds. So, we need you to do—"
"I'm going to stop you right there," I said, my voice harder than intended. "I'm nobody's bitch. Either take my money and send my ID, or send me on my merry way."
The person on the other end sputtered. "And you won't go after Natalie?"
"I've got better things to do."
A few seconds of hemming and hawing followed before I heard a loud sigh. She gave me a second address, and I was off.
Batman's POV
The coordinates Julius gave us led to a blackened crater soaked with so much energy that the scanner Zatara and I cobbled together gave up with a loud digital whine.
The energy expended here exceeded the maximum threshold it had been designed to detect, and we'd calibrated it using readings from Rhelasia.
It must've been some fight—one that Julius walked away from.
Flash whistled. "It's like what I'd expect after one of Superman or Wonder Woman's tussles with their archenemy."
"She was thorough," I remarked. She must've expended a great deal of energy, perhaps more than she'd used in Rhelasia, to reduce everything to ash.
"Luthor is going to get away with this, isn't he?" Flash asked.
"It's likely," I admitted, "but we have a sorcerer to interrogate, so the jury is not out yet."
Flash smirked. He'd caught one after all—a South Asian boy named Taylor with a sorcery he called Sky Manipulation. It had taken Zatara and Flash to take the boy down. By Julius's energy measurement system, the kid must've been a Second-grade sorcerer, yet he didn't strike me as vitally important.
He probably couldn't tell us anything more than we already knew. Then again, assumptions are the death of investigations.
"It can't hurt to do a lap around the local town and the forest. Julius might've dropped something, or a Luthor lackey might still be roaming around."
"Will get right on it," Flash nodded. "At least we know he got out."
"Artemis and the kids will be thrilled," I said in a neutral voice.
"You don't sound too excited," Flash noted, raising a brow. I didn't comment, focusing instead on the dirt beneath our feet. Flash took off.
Although the lab was gone, it wasn't hard to imagine what had happened here.
They must've transferred Julius to run a more extensive battery of tests on his body or prep it for some kind of procedure. Shelim's lieutenant had made it clear that they were interested in harvesting the potential of his body and brain.
Julius likely broke out after his body and technique reached a critical threshold following months of torture and training. He must've snapped, killing dozens of sorcerers and human guards during his frenzied escape.
No part of me harbored hope that he could've spared some of them—not after the murder of his family, not after the isolation. That kind of time away could warp even experienced soldiers, and Julius was just a kid.
An absurdly powerful and increasingly murderous kid—one I couldn't afford to go easy on. Not again.
He needed help, the type a mental institution and a team of specialized counselors could provide. I had no illusions that he'd agree to come in willingly. I needed to start building more effective countermeasures and upgrade my existing ones.
He would fight when it came down to it.
Artisan's POV
"Please, Doctor, let us help you," Dr. Ronald pleaded, but Priya scowled, sending him flying with a lazy swat that bowled him into a second doctor. They'd clustered around her in our Berlin base as soon as George teleported her and Gina in.
They looked worse for wear. Gina had already bounced back, while Priya? Well, she was struggling, and I was curious.
"You wouldn't even know where to begin!" Priya yelled through her partially transformed face. It came out sharp and guttural—like some wilder beast crossed with an alien abomination. "I will fix this myself!"
The damage clearly hadn't been to her soul; it was something more superficial, yet it had caused seemingly irreversible consequences. Her body was slowly rejecting the upgraded Block Buster Serum she'd created and injected without telling me. I suppose it was her own attempt at reclaiming some modicum of control.
As amusing as it would be to leave her as she was, I couldn't afford it. It would hurt morale further, and that mattered, even if they were all forced to follow me.
My sorcerers completed their missions and won impossible fights when they were motivated. They landed Black Flashes, reached new heights in technique manipulation, and even materialized their domains.
They needed to be at their best if we were to survive the fights to come—because the alternative… the alternative was death, by my hand or Julius's.
I shut down the surveillance program I'd been using to watch the infirmary and stood, adjusting my clothes. I was still in my socialite disguise from earlier in the day. I stepped onto my balcony, overlooking the new compound. They were leaner now.
I counted fewer bodies shuffling through the various sections of the warehouse.
Shifty eyes and quiet whispers. The air was thick with tension.
I clapped my hands together, drawing their attention, and straightened.
"Congratulations, Sorcerers. You've encountered your first setback after nearly a decade unopposed," I said, scanning their expressions. Some were surprised, a few astonished, and some were downright angry.
"We knew this was coming. We planned for it, even. And though we lost a battle, we're closer than ever to winning the war. The swap with the president's daughter and the secret service agents was a success. We now have willing acolytes in the highest office of power, and with a touch of espionage, we can acquire the rest. Our brothers and sisters did not perish in vain. Our day of Salvation is at hand!"
George raised a fist, and Gina joined him. The rest followed suit like lemmings. Then the cheering came.
"They may have slowed us down, but we will rebuild. I have already found ten new brothers and sisters to replace those we lost. Three of them show potential to be Special Grade," I announced. "And with everything I've learned from dissecting and studying the founder's son, they will awaken their techniques in weeks instead of months."
They cheered again, their screams bouncing off the walls and smothering most of their doubts.
"Nothing will stand in our way. Not the Justice League, and certainly not the bastard son of the man who should have led this revolution," I continued, lifting my hand. "I will break him for what he's done—drag him here, take apart his body and mind piece by piece, and study every secret he thinks he owns. And with what I take from him, I will grant you all a second technique and the meta-abilities that will put you on par with the heroes this world worships like gods."
Someone started to chant my name, and others joined in.
"If humanity is to survive, we have to evolve, or die like the Neanderthals. Our planet will be stolen by maniacal and soft-hearted men and women, alien warlords and parasites desperate for new hosts. Remember, when you're out there, you're not just fighting for the people in this room—you're fighting for equality, for the future of humanity, for progress. For Evolution."
The applause was thunderous, their devotion absolute. Well, almost. Gina harbored doubts. She always had, but her recent experience must've shaken her more than she was ready to admit or understand.
And why wouldn't it?
She helped unleash a monster of our own making, hellbent on revenge and the destruction of our mission. They made him out to be stronger than any Special Grade I had on staff individually—bone manipulation, increased physicality, some type of nerve-based attack, and a Technique Reversal.
Julius was finally showing progress.
Perhaps a proper fight would be enough to coax out his full potential, but that had to wait until after I took care of my Justice League problem.
I'd been delicate for the Light. They had grand plans for the Justice League and were working on some convoluted plan to brainwash them all and make them reviled throughout the galaxy. Endlessly complicated, if you asked me, but that was the kind of game Savage liked to play.
With a bit of time, I bet I could get Lex to accelerate the timeline for our little side-project. Canary, Batman, Robin, and Green Arrow were a good enough place to start.
As for Zatara and his daughter and protégé, I would have to take a more direct hand. I planned on tripling our security to make sure a breach like what happened in Ukraine never repeated itself, but as long as the Magician was in play, there were no certainties.
And I didn't like loose ends.
I tucked my hands behind my back. It would be gratifying to have a good old magical duel with someone competent at their craft. I wondered how long he would last.
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