Chapter 132 - After The Fire
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ARTHUR BLACKWYND'S ESTATE — GOTHAM
Just past midnight. Quiet. Clean. Cold wind rustling the dark trees outside.
A soft flash of light illuminated the grand marble foyer of Arthur's estate. The teleportation magic unraveled like silk, setting Arthur and Raven gently onto the polished floor.
Arthur imdiately staggered forward, knees nearly buckling. Raven caught him, her arm wrapping tightly around his waist. His body was heavy, not just with exhaustion, his mana was dried. The toll of holding back a god and bleeding beside a devil.
He groaned, chuckling as Raven helped him stand. "I think I left my spine in tropolis."
Raven didn't laugh. She just kept holding him, quiet and steady.
From the grand hallway beyond, brisk footsteps echoed. A tall man in an immaculately tailored black suit approached with a speed and concern unbecoming of his usual decorum. Silver hair slicked neatly back, gloves pristine despite the hour.
"Master Arthur!" George called, his voice rich with refinent yet it laced with unmistakable alarm. "By the stars, what happened to you?"
Arthur smiled, barely. "Trigon happened. No big deal."
George arrived and, with surprising gentleness, took Arthur from Raven's side. His grip was firm but practiced. He'd done this before.
"I shall escort you to your chambers," he said calmly, though his sharp gaze flicked over Arthur's condition. "Shall I prepare sothing for you? You look absolutely terrible, sir."
Arthur let out a raspy laugh. "Thanks for the comnt, George. Nothing boosts morale like hearing how awful you look."
George, unfazed, kept walking. "I rely worry about the blood that is clearly visible on your... person. You literally have a hole in your body sir.. And you appear as though you've fought a small war and judging by your current state, lost it."
Arthur winced with a grin. "That's harsh. But no, I didn't lose." then he glanced at Raven and said "We didn't lose."
Then George slowed, eyes narrowing curiously as he studied Arthur's face in the low light.
"What is it now?" Arthur muttered.
"...Your eyes," George said, his voice dropping. "Forgive , but I swear I just saw them shift... violet, was it? Only briefly."
Arthur let out a tired sigh. "It's nothing. Just... Help
to bed. I'll heal on my own. I'm out of magic, you see." He laughed again, this ti more hollow. "Running on fus and sheer will."
As they began ascending the stairs, Raven remained standing where they'd first arrived, alone in the silent foyer. Her hood was down now. Her hair draped ssily. The white robe was still faintly aglow, strange on soone who carried so much darkness within.
George paused halfway up the stairs, turning back.
"And you, Miss Raven," he asked courteously. "Might I fetch sothing for you as well? Tea? Warm towels?"
Raven blinked as if woken from a distant thought. She looked up, startled by the offer, and said awkwardly, "No, I... I'll be leaving shortly."
Arthur, halfway up the staircase and slouched against George's shoulder, twisted just enough to call back over the banister.
"You won't be leaving anywhere right now."
His voice was firm and gentle, but definitive.
He grunted and added, "Stay here. George is dull company, and it gets boring fast."
George's eyebrow twitched, but he didn't dignify the comnt with more than a dry chuckle.
Raven stared up at Arthur. Sothing unspoken flickered in her violet eyes uncertainty, maybe even a touch of warmth.
"...Alright," she said, softly.
She took a step toward the stairs.
George glanced at her, then back to Arthur, and smirked faintly. "Shall I prepare the guest room, sir?"
Arthur groaned. "Just get
to mine first before I collapse on the staircase."
"As you wish, Master Arthur," George said with prim dignity.
****
TROPLOIS -
The sky was no longer crimson. The fire had faded. The storm clouds broke apart into dying wisps, retreating with the night. But the scars remained.
So buildings reduced to rubble. Streets cracked wide open. Burned cars. The faint sll of sulfur still lingered in the air. It looked like the aftermath of a war between gods and that wasn't far from the truth.
A glowing boom tube flared open atop the scorched ruins of a Plaza. Out stepped the Titans.
Robin landed first, crouched, his cape catching the wind. Behind him ca Cyborg, his sensors already scanning the area. Starfire hovered just above the ground, her eyes darting between fractured buildings and the lingering magic that shimred faintly in the air.
"I'm not getting anything hostile on the grid," Cyborg said, eyes flashing. "No Trigon. No demonic signatures. It's like the entire hell-rift just... vanished."
Starfire floated down beside him, her expression conflicted. "Then we are too late..."
Robin's voice was sharper. "No... we're right on ti. The only difference is, soone else finished the job for us. And that soone is Arthur.."
They turned at the sound of soft footsteps on broken marble.
John Constantine stood among the wreckage, lighting a cigarette with the embers of a fallen lamp post. His coat was burnt at the edges. A red cut ran across his brow. Beside him, Zatanna leaned quietly against a cracked column, arms crossed.
Robin stepped forward. "Constantine," he said curtly. "Where are Raven and Arthur? What happened here?"
John took a long drag, exhaled smoke into the scorched wind. "It's over," he said flatly. "You lot don't have to worry about them anymore."
Robin narrowed his eyes, looking around. "So Trigon is no longer a threat?"
John smirked, bitterly. "Well, Raven's seal is stronger... for now." He flicked ash toward the charred pavent. "At least until she decides to release him again for so unknown bloody reason."
Zatanna's head turned sharply. "John..."
He raised a hand. "Don't start. I know why she had to do it. Doesn't an I have to like it."
Robin's voice hardened. "You are saying she did it for the fun of it."
John didn't look at him. He stared out at the crater where Trigon had once stood, smoke curling off his shoulders. "No, but I wouldn't sell the world for a few people."
Zatanna raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't?"
John paused. His jaw twitched. "...I didn't an it that way. Bloody hell." He ran a hand through his hair and turned away. "You know what I ant."
Cyborg stepped in, breaking the tension. "All's well for now then. I just reestablished contact with the Watchtower. Martian Manhunter's confird it everyone who was still up there is bruised, but alive. Superman really ssed them up,... they're recovering. The ones that were possessed are also recovering in the tower."
Robin's gaze scanned the scene again. "And the civilians here ?"
Cyborg nodded. "There aren't any known casualties, but there will be.., Arthur did a fine job then. Compared to previous fights that Superman had here, this level of destruction isn't half bad."
Starfire's glow dimd softly. "I wonder what Batman will say once he regains consciousness..."
Robin smirked faintly. "That'll be... interesting."
John scoffed, already turning to leave. "Don't count
in when he does. And don't call
again either." He jabbed a finger toward Robin. "I'm on vacation for the next decade. This was a total ss. And for the last bloody ti I'm a freelancer. Batman keeps forgetting that."
Zatanna chuckled, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "Where are you even going, John?"
"Sowhere with rum and no demons for the ti being," he muttered, flicking the cigarette away. "And where people don't summon their fathers from hell."
Robin folded his arms. "Well, thanks for the help."
John shook his head, walking off toward a distant alley glowing faintly with teleportation magic.
****
Amidst the chaos in the city, late night. talk had begun to spread.
In hushed voices.
In hurried whispers.
In stunned disbelief.
"I SAW HIM"
"I saw him, I swear to God," said one man to a police officer, his face sared with soot and blood. "He punched that thing. That demon-thing in the sky. Punched it so hard it flew across the skyline."
The officer blinked. "You an Superman?"
The man hesitated. "I...I thought so. But... no. No, it wasn't him. Too much... dark smoke thing. Not our usual red and blue hero. Violet. And the thing he was surrounded by these flying monsters. Like demons. But they were fighting for him."
"That wasn't Superman," a woman said firmly to a Channel reporter, brushing rubble from her jacket. "I've seen Superman. This guy didn't seem like him. He had this shadow-like creatures that were alive."
Her daughter clung to her sleeve, nodding. "One of them saved ," she whispered.
"You're saying they saved you?" the reporter asked.
The girl nodded slowly. "He pointed at
and one of them ca out. Tall. Glowing eyes. It pulled
out of the building before it fell."
In a café with cracked windows and overturned tables, a group of college students sat watching the newsfeed replay aerial drone footage of the city. The images were distorted fragnts of smoke, lightning.
"I'm telling you," said one student, scrolling through a grainy video on her phone, "this wasn't just a villain-of-the-week thing. This was so end-of-the-world, Book-of-Revelation stuff, Two demons fighting."
"Yeah..." another muttered.
"And no one knows who that guy was?"
"They're already calling him The Black King online. the internet's going crazy."
"that's a stupid na."
"He looked evil," a man said near a destroyed monunt, holding a bandage to his arm. "But he was fighting for us. You saw how that demon scread when he stabbed it. Superman wouldn't kill, but I think... I think he might be on the justice league's side.."
His friend shook his head. "I don't know, man. Whatever he was, whatever they were... that didn't look like justice league business.."
/-
If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support
than check out my patreon at
"/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want
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