Seated in his office located in a mansion situated in the richer part of Metropolis, a tall well-built man sat with a frown as he stared at the six screens in front of him, each showing his fellow leaders of the Light.
"One boy. One simple young boy barely an adult and he's outmaneuvered the best manipulators that this planet had to offer. Why is that?"
"Lord Savage, perhaps we should not be underestimating this young boy."
"You can say that, Luthor, when you stop underestimating him. Time and time again, I have asked of you all to get rid of him and time and time again, you have failed to fulfill this one simple order."
"And yet, despite our apparent failure, your mansion still stands, your war is still ongoing and the League are still scrambling around in the dark like the ignorant fools they are. The boy may be a problem, yes, but he is not the problem."
"He has been the sole reason for the disruption and failure of every plan we've tried to achieve. Forgive me, but if he's not the problem, then who is?", A figure dressed in a purple suit of armour with a cape asked with a scoff in response to Lex's statement, his face covered in a helmet with two round opaque red lenses and leaving only his mouth visible.
"Perhaps, dear Ocean Master, the problem is that we treated him like a tool instead of a player."
"There are no players in this game, Queen Bee. Only pawns who have not realized that they are on the board," A tall daunting man with green eyes and black hair with gray streaks spoke up softly, to which the slender, dark-skinned woman gave an amused smile.
"And yet, this pawn burns with power we did not anticipate, Ra's al Ghul. He was our failsafe, a controlled variable, but instead, we've allowed him to think and choose as he please," Vandal Savage interrupted and the master of the League of Shadows nodded before Luthor spoke up.
"He does not choose. He disobeys. I designed him to be the pinnacle of physical capabilities, but…he's becoming something else entirely. He's become more than he should."
"You were the one who insisted we give him autonomy, were you not Lex?", Queen Bee asked and Luthor had a cold look in his eyes before he answered.
"I gave him an identity. It is simply unfortunate that autonomy is a side-effect."
"Enough of your petty excuses," Savage growled, everyone going silent as the man's fury was barely restrained even as he glared.
"I did not bring this council together to bicker like children. We have survived the political fallout that came with having you all as the leaders, but I am not going to let my life's work be undone by a group of idiotic fools that think themselves superior to a boy when they've been proven the opposite time and time again."
"Then, let us fix the issue. It is a shame, but Project Krypton is a threat to your plans so remove him from the equation."
"And start a war with the League and the United Nations by extension?", Ra's al Ghul asked with a raised eyebrow, to which Lexu straightened in his chair as a robotic voice finally spoke up, the source of it being a disembodied brain in a mechanical dome attached to a robotic body.
"Ra's al Ghul speaks the truth. The boy may be young, but he is beloved by the League, by the people and by that strange telepathic mage that appeared at our base in Bialya. To strike against him in open confrontation is to risk uniting our enemies, both old and new, under his banner."
"Speaking of said girl, Klarion, do you know who she is?", Queen Bee asked, the Lord of Chaos staring forward with a frown before he answered.
"Yeah, and I don't like it. The bastard had a daughter and he didn't tell me, his best friend?"
"Are we to assume that she's the child of a Lord of Chaos?"
"Hahahahaha! Oh, if that guy heard you say that, you'd be pulled into Hell and reborn as a flea on a demon's ass!", Klarion's words made Savage frown, wondering just what of entity the girl's father was for the Lord of Chaos to react like this.
'Could she be…? No, he would have told me and we have that agreement in place so it can't be him.'
"Regardless of who her parent is, will we have to worry about him?"
"Oh, don't worry. Old Tri's not going to worry about you unless he wants to and even then, he'd just erase the planet and be done with it," Klarion spoke with a wave of his hand, to which Savage nodde before turning to look at each face on the monitor.
"Then, we move forward with the plan. We do not try and influence him. No, we show him the world as it is. We let his ideals turn into weapons against him and we give them reason to doubt each other. The girl has developed a slight interest in the boy if my spies are to be believed as did the martian girl so make sure they start looking at each other with doubt."
"Whisper in his ear and let him question her. That will give her reasons to hide her past and give him reasons to think she is," Lex added with a smirk, Savage nodding as he stood up.
"Yes. Let their attraction to each other rot from the inside and plant seeds of fear in their minds," The man murmured, turning around and looking out the window with a smirk.
"Let the boy save the world. We will make sure he loses everything else."
"As you wish," the leaders spoke in unison before their monitors turned off, Savage's monitors and equipment immediately crumbling before he looked to the side.
"I assume you know what to do next, yes?", he asked, staring at the final monitor that showed only a pair of glowing red eyes.
"My master has sent me to aid you and that is what I'll do. After all, he is anticipating your final battle and longs for it with every passing day."
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Straining myself as I flew out of the sea, I grunted as the chains snapped tight, immediately slowing down while taking my time to pull out the ten wrecked airplanes that I kept in tact with my TTK.
"Over here, Paragon!", The harbour master shouted and I nodded as I floated over to the port, slowly dropping each plane one by one and letting the rescue team get to work.
"You got any more?!"
"Nah, those were the last!"
"Okay, then! I'm off to the buildings!", I shouted, the group waving with cheers as I turned and made my way over to one of the many destroyed sectors of Metropolis City.
It's been a full month since my abrupt reveal of my origins and so far, the world has been nothing but quiet. After that, both the Justice League and I have been busy with repairing the world one day at a time.
There was no time to breathe, to rest or to eat, not when entire countries were still busy tallying up their dead.
I don't know the specific number itself, but considering how Batman felt a lot angrier and pissed-off than normal, I'd say we're well in the millions by now.
Flying over what used to be the west side industrial district, it was now just a burned crater of warped steel and ash caused by hundreds of car crashes and a few airplanes falling down onto the city.
Cleanup crews had only just begun with clearing out the wrecks, but I could still hear them. They were screaming, whimpering, shouting out for anyone to come help.
And that's what I plan to do."
"Paragon, this is Martian Manhunter. We have an SOS coming from the Western Sector. Collapsed parking structure with survivors possibly inside."
"Got it, MM. On my way."
"Please, stop shortening my name to MM," I heard him sigh, chuckling as I turned and dove down to where said structure is.
It did not take me long before I spotted the cleanup crew manager, the middle-age man with dark grey hair smiling as I landed beside him and nodded in greeting.
"Thanks for coming. We got an SOS signal about three hours ago. The people under it have about six hours of oxygen, but the rubble is too delicate."
"That's why I'm here. Also, there's about…twenty-eight of them down there. All in different positions."
"Start from the top and work your way down. We don't want to start at the bottom and destabilize any support that may be keeping them alive."
"Got it," I nodded, floating up to the top of the structure before placing a hand against the first wall. With ease, my TTK spread around the first three people huddled together, slowly floating up so as to not disturb anything else before I placed them on the ground.
Carefully pushing away any bit of rubble while making sure the structure stayed in tact, I smiled as a brown-haired woman stared at me with wide eyes, clutching her son to her while another woman looked overjoyed to see me.
"Don't worry, ma'am. I've got you."
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"I'm done," I groaned as I laid face-first on the meeting table, Flash chuckling as he patted my back while placing a cup of coffee in front of me.
"There."
"I don't think coffee's enough."
"It's the equivalent of twenty energy drinks and fifty hamburgers, a little concoction made by Batman over there."
"…Can I have fifty more?", I asked with a hopeful look over to the man in the bat costume, grumbling when he just looked at me before continuing with his work.
"Don't feel bad. He's a bit of a greedy guy," Flash spoke as he sat down beside me, the rest of the Justice League sitting down as well as I took a sip from my coffee when Batman began the meeting.
"We have gotten a confirmation of the number of casualties that we've found in the past month."
"How many?", My voice slipped out before I realized, feeling my heart sink as he didn't answer immediately and just looked at the datapad in his hand.
"Twenty-four million, seven-hundred and thirty-two thousand confirmed."
"…Shit," Green Arrow murmured, Wonder Woman closing her eyes with a sigh as I saw Superman's shoulders tense.
"And the unconfirmed?", Martian Manhunter asked, to which Batman pressed on his datapad and showed off the world map with red and yellow everywhere.
"Estimates place the final count well past thirty million once we finish excavating the remains in densely populated cities and such let alone the third-world countries. The injured are already past two billion or so and only continue to climb," I didn't even realize that I'd crushed the coffee mug in my hand until Hal's ring glowed, catching the liquid and the shards before disposing of them in the trash.
"Ah, sorry," I apologized, wiping my hand clean as the man smiled and nodded.
"The public is calling it the Silent Hour. One hour, one spell and the world went sideways," Wonder Woman murmured, a frown on my face as Green Arrow sighed.
"No one old enough to fly a plane, steer a ship, operate a nuclear reactor or protect a child. At the same time, tens of thousands of adults falling from the skies, sinking into the ocean and rolling across the ground at high speeds, causing severe injuries in all cases."
"And it happened on our watch. Man, did we get played bad, huh?" Hal muttered with a frown, the League nodding in unison before I looked to Aquaman as he spoke up.
"And it would have been longer had it not been for Captain Marvel and Paragon here."
"Is that your way of saying sorry for wanting me out of the League?"
"No, while I still do not want you in the League, I can say that I was wrong in not acknowledging that you were crucial in the mission to restore the world. For that, I apologize."
"Hey, I'll take it," Captain Marvel spoke with a grin, making me smirk as he held up a hand only for Batman to just look at it.
"Speaking of Paragon, your Tactile Telekinesis have been crucial in helping us save survivors under tons of debris. However, you have also been overworking yourself."
"Not really. I can still do a lot more."
"When was the last time you slept, kid?", Hawkman asked with a frown and I hummed before shrugging.
"Eighty-two hours ago, I think."
"Nope, you're gong on a break," Flash spoke with a shake of his head and I frowned at that.
"I can still help."
"Yes, but while you're physically still capable of doing so, the mental strain of being awake that long is going to get to you no matter if your body can keep going through the rays of the sun or not."
"That and you're still a university student, aren't you? Go and have a good time," Aquaman spoke with a smile and I raised an eyebrow.
"Kind of hard being able to do that when I'm not wearing a mask to hide my face."
"Oh, right. Here, a pair of Kryptonian hypno-glasses," Superman spoke with a smile as he tossed the glasses to me and I caught them before putting the glasses on.
"Huh, not bad. Wait, since when am I a university student?"
"Since I placed both you and Raven in the same class. Now, go."
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"…You look very different," Raven spoke with a raised eyebrow as she opened her door, a smile on my face as I had on my new Kryptonian glasses along with a Metropolis University hoodie, jeans and a slight slouch in my shoulders.
"That's the point. Apparently, people ignore you if you look like you could run from a chihuahua and avoid eye contact."
"You look like a guy who hasn't slept in a week," She clarified, looking me up and down with an unimpressed look as I made a so-so gesture.
"That is also somewhat accurate. Can I come in?"
"It's 'may' and I know you won't listen to a no so just get it before rumours start spreading," She said as she stepped aside, a smile on my face as I walked into the small apartment. Unsurprisingly, there were dark blinds to block out most of the light while it was also a bit minimalistic.
One couch with books stacked neatly on a shelf in one corner, a tea pot with a still steaming cup of tea on the coffee table and the scent of lavender in the air.
"So, why are you here and why didn't you go bother someone else?"
"I was told to take a break, League's orders."
"They ordered you to rest?"
"Yup, Flash said I'd snap mentally if I didn't sleep and I think Hawkwoman threatened to knock me out with her mace-hammer thing if I refused."
"I'll admit, I wish I could see what happened when you could have said no," Raven murmured as she sat down on the couch with her legs crossed, sitting down beside her with a groan as I stared at the ceiling.
"So, you're in my class?"
"Technically, you're in my class considering that I'm not sure you know what class it is and I've never actually attended until Batman promised to take a look at Sphere."
"You know that he's studying that thing intensively before he even lets you know that it's fixed, right?"
"Oh, definitely, but he'll find that she has a few surprises for such cases. Now, why are you really here?"
"Boredom, to be honest. I don't really know much of the university so I just ran around for a bit, got bored of that and decided to come bother you."
"How did you get my address?"
"Listened for your heartbeat? You have a unique rhythm."
"…You hear how creepy that is, right?"
"I do. Just don't care. Alien, remember?"
"Half-alien, half human, remember?", She corrected with a slight smirk and I chuckled before shrugging.
"The alien part is more than the human part now so I'd always use the former than the latter."
"Of course. Do you even know what class we're doing?"
"…Uh…"
"Double Majors in Psychology and Anthropology with minors in Philosophy and Creative Writing."
"…Huh, that sounds…fun? Honestly, not as much as I was suspecting."
"Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take six majors and six minors so I chose just the four of them."
"You're a lover of books, huh?", I spoke with a smirk, snickering when she rolled her eyes with a scoff.
"There is no problem with loving books. They don't like to you, don't change overnight and unlike people, they don't expect anything in return for understanding them."
"…Fair point. I think I'm going to like your books more than half the League right now."
"A dangerous option, but not an unpopular one," She said as she sipped her tea, raising an eyebrow when a black-and-white aura appeared around the pot and the extra cup.
"Thank you. So, you top of the class, then?"
"I do not compete with others, just with the version of myself that thinks she's not good enough."
"Raven Roth believes that she's not good enough? Oh, the end of times are upon us."
"What have I told you of using my full name?"
"Your full 'fake' name," I corrected, smiling as she rolled her eyes while finishing off her tea.
"Anyway, wanna go hang out in the university mall?"
"No, the people there are loud and annoying."
"Really? They were very quiet when I was there."
"That's because they were analysing you. Once you go back, you're either going to get swarmed by girls that want your number or guys that want to push you around."
"You speaking from experience there?"
"Yes," She answered bluntly before blinking as I stood up and waved for her to follow.
"Come on~ You've probably been in here for the past few days."
"No."
"Please~? If you come with and you don't like it, I promise I won't bother you for the next month."
"…Promise?", She asked with an eager look and I rolled my eyes before nodding.
"Yeah, I promise."
"Then, let's go."
A/N: And we end it here~! More slice-of-life but next chapter is going to be a wild one.
Also, head is now fully experiencing a headache so I'm done. I'm posting this and the chapters to the sites before tapping out for the day.
P.S. I know the number's a bit big for the casualties, but I had to add in some elements of fantasy to help.
Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…
Ba-Bye~!