"...which is why I believe I can take refuge in your past universe. Please, take me with you." Raven finished her re-narration with a bow. She looked pleadingly at me with the hope of acceptance and fear of rejection in her eyes. I couldn't give her a response right away, because she pointed out something that I hadn't considered before.
If there truly were no supernatural or magical phenomena in my past life because there was just no way for those things to exist there, would I even be able to enter the universe? Although I know for a fact that one could exit it since I was now occupying another body in another universe, was it possible to enter it as well?
It probably didn't even matter if we changed our bodies to be 'normal' since who knew where we would show up in the other universe? What if we were stranded in the middle of the empty space? Could we bring spaceships from earth or wouldn't they work either since they function on different physical laws or were too advanced, exceeding the limits of one could achieve with tech?
I hadn't thought about that at all. I was previously just concerned about going back through time and getting data from my entrance into this universe to study and find out how I could reverse it, but thinking about everything afterward hadn't entered my mind yet.
Of course, I knew what I wanted to do on earth, visiting my family and friends, and killing old enemies, but after listening to Raven's speech, there were a lot of things that needed to be considered besides that.
Merely surviving might be a struggle if we don't just randomly die because our bodies weren't supported by the laws of physics. My previously unlikely plan just got even more unlikely. Great. I could only hope that the entrance I came through was leading back to where I had exited my universe.
I looked at Raven, who seemed increasingly more unsure by the way I grimaced. Obviously, it wasn't because of her that my mood was getting worse. Who knew what would have happened if I hadn't considered these things? Maybe we would enter our universe and just die instantly. That would have been a horrible way to go.
"Sure, you can tag along." I said with a nod to reassure her, "But, I know that might seem cruel, I hope you are wrong. Whether a simple spell can fool existence in a world that doesn't support magic, we might not be able to live there if we don't reach earth almost immediately. Spaceships from here might not work there. We can only hope that the entrance stayed at the same place it appeared."
Raven's lips thinned. She obviously knew that it would be a tough road to get where she wanted and it might not come to fruition in the end. She opened her mouth after the look in her eyes seemed to get firmer with determination. I interrupted her before she could say anything, though, "You can knock that idea out of your head. I won't send anyone there if it might mean their death."
She feared she would fulfill her prophecy. Trigon using her to get into this universe and destroy everything. That being the alternative, it was understandable that she would risk it and enter my past universe, regardless.
"But there is something else that I want to ask you before you decide to follow us to another universe." I stood up with a struggle. It had only been a night since I woke up from my short slumber last night, but I was already working hard on accelerating my healing process. It might take a while until I was completely healed up since I was never this badly injured and I could feel that I was only barely hanging on.
Honestly, a healing chamber/pod or whatever these things from Dragon Ball were called would really be helpful. I had already asked Maxima's medical experts if such an idea was feasible, but they denied it quickly.
At least, it wouldn't be too miraculous as I had wanted it to be. A liquid that sped up the general healing abilities of the patients was indeed helpful, but it wouldn't be a lifesaving machine. It would only heal external wounds.
Fatal wounds needed to be treated with individual care, submerging someone in an all-purpose liquid might have some unforeseen consequences and testing it on patients that were fatally injured was just irresponsible. Not to mention that the patient's immune system might not be able to handle the activation of accelerated healing, even if the liquid carried nutrients with it.
Though something that just supported the natural recovery of the patients would work for anything that can be recovered from naturally. Honestly, with the already insane recovery ability of Saiyans, I could probably come back from anything.
I could even further accelerate my healing with my ki if I got a hang on it. Even if they only gave me a liquid that could provide nutrients by absorbing it through the skin while I slept in it, was already good enough. Most people might need medical attention if they wanted to recover from major injuries. Good thing I wasn't most people.
I asked them to make one for me, even though Kara wasn't fond of the idea. I would spend too much time away from the bedroom if that happened, and she was probably right. If I had something like that, who knew when I would exit my training chamber?
She relented when I told her I could accelerate time in my chamber to insane degrees soon, anyway. Besides, having something to heal us was only a good thing.
As long as I could speed up the time in my training chamber up to 4x or even 3x, I would be able to not only train in the chamber but heal up in it too. Afterwards, I could still spend time with Kara and Raven before the day was over. Currently, there was some research being done about long-term consequences of using the time-slowing device, but all things pointed towards that it was harmless up to 10x accelerated time.
I just needed to check in with Dr. Wakati to update the rate of the time-slowing device and with Dr. Theodore Knight to increase the artificial gravity range to the mid-hundreds. He had been working with the gravity department for a few days only, but with our current data and his previous experience, he might update it in the near future.
This was one point on my to-do list as soon as I got back on earth, but before I do, I needed to heal and test out my powers because I could already feel my power rising. I clenched my hand into a fist and felt the destructive force in it.
I hadn't even healed completely yet, but I was already eight times stronger than before. With that kind of strength, a power level of approximately 32 million in my base, as soon as I went Super Saiyan I could clap Darkseids cheeks however I wanted. That wasn't all. I could feel myself getting stronger as I continued to heal up my wounds.
There was a lot of damage inside my body from when I used Ikari and Super Saiyan at the end of the fight, but once I healed up, I reckoned I would be 20 or even 30 times as strong in my base. The difference of 80 to 120 million were worlds apart, especially if I used Super Saiyan on top.
I got off-topic. Pain was truly a great distracter. Raven was still looking at me, waiting for me to finish. "There is another way to rid the problem called Trigon. I could just kill him for you."
My words fell calmly in the silent room. Raven's eyes widened and her mouth opened, uttering the first few words of denial, before she grew silent again. The belief that Trigon was unkillable, a constant, was deeply ingrained in her mind, but even she could see that it might be possible with my strength.
"I have already killed Darkseid, a new god, that had terrorized the known universe for thousands of years. Slain by me. Trigon might be stronger than him, but so am I, and I will continue to get stronger." I didn't even think Trigon was a match against me if I healed up.
With Super Saiyan, I would be in the lower billions. Darkseid was only around 300 million. Trigon might be stronger, but was he 10 times as strong? And this time, I wasn't taking any chances. I wouldn't stunt my growth just to have an interesting fight.
I straightened up, flaring up my ki. "Darkseid was my first victim. Trigon will follow him into hell." I said with determination as my ki calmed down again.
"At least, if that is what you want. You have been on the run for a while now and after meeting me, you had decided that you didn't want to do that anymore. Where is your conviction now? Just because you know see another way to hide did your conviction waver? If you don't think you can beat your father, then believe in my strength. In my ability to kill him if he dares to enter this universe. No, I will hunt him down and crush him like a bug."
Raven was speechless and I could see her thinking about my words, but most importantly, she started to believe in my words, in me. She believed I might vanquish her terrible father.
"Thank you." She whispered almost inaudibly. "You are right. I can't hide and run anymore." She continued, this time more loudly, "The only permanent solution to Trigon is to beat him. To kill him."
I nodded as she found her stance again, to not hide again, but to fight. "There will be a lot of training to do, but I doubt he will be ready for me, for us."
"That's right. We're gonna beat his ass!" Kara said, before dragging us into a group hug. I smiled helplessly but didn't resist. Kara had been awfully touchy since we woke up this morning.
But after remembering that I almost got myself killed, I didn't dare to question her since I hadn't made up yet, so I just let it go and accepted the cuddling. After a moment, Maxima came into the room looking at us with a suspiciously indifferent expression on her face.
"You are awake." She calmly noted as she glanced at the other two girls in the room. "It seems like you will need a bit more time to recover your wounds, but you are fine otherwise, right?" She questioned, after letting her gaze roam my body for a minute.
"Yep." I said popping the p while rotating my shoulder, which let out an equally loud popping sound. "Just one or two weeks' rest should be enough. After that, I should be at my peak again."
"Glad to hear that." She responded with a smile. "Do you want the universe to know that you were the one that killed him? The reputation gained from that can be advantageous, but like all things, it could bring you lots of trouble as well."
I thought about it for a moment. Did Apokolips have any allies that were stronger than him? Did they have allies at all? It could be troublesome if they got revenge by targeting earth and my friends. I doubted they would target me if they knew I was able to kill Darkseid in a one v one match. On the other hand, a lot of forces that might be hostile to earth would get intimidated and I wouldn't have to deal with all these small fries...
"It's probably best to keep quiet about it for now." If they didn't come to earth in the future, wouldn't that mean I had fewer opponents to fight? Even if they were weaker, maybe they had interesting abilities I could learn from.
Maxima accepted that with a nod. "Figured as much. I tried my best to suppress the news among the few scientists and soldiers that had searched through the debris, though I doubted nothing will leak out. This is why I claimed it was another force that destroyed Apokolips before we could launch our counterattack. I planted some evidence as well. Some will be suspicious, but they won't have anything concrete. I also made sure to destroy everything from that planet..."
She went on and explained the situations of Darkseid's former planet, but nothing appeared to have survived my last attack and the explosion of the planet. They found some lucky DNA remains on some half-melted rocks. Most of them were from Parademons and other citizens. They even found some DNA from some new god which reminded me of Kalibak, who I forgot existed. He obviously didn't survive since the entire planet exploded grandly while he was unconscious.
Honestly, I was surprised that something survived my attack at all. That was probably one of the toughest planet out there. Maybe the reason they didn't find any remains from Darkseid was that the side that I had hit the planet with Supernova was utterly destroyed, while the other side had somewhat survived the explosion.
I regarded her for a moment and couldn't help but see how much she had changed since I first met her. From the egocentric tyrant that didn't know about the distress and secret plot among her citizens, to a ruler that could predict the rumors that might be leaked among her people while trying to change the news that would be leaked to foreign forces.
Not to mention the efficiency with which her soldiers and scientist had searched through the remains of Apokolips. I didn't know how much survived the attack, but it certainly wasn't nothing. Not bad.
I gave her a thankful nod before I asked her about the situation with the prisoners I took. Mainly the new gods, Steppenwolf, and the furies. Maxima answered that containing them was easy since they couldn't make any trouble while still asleep. She led us to their individual cells and there they were, lying unconscious on their beds.
With me now present, I could stabilize their conditions to only let them wake up when I desired them to be. There were a lot of studies that I needed to do. I hoped not too many of them would die. Maybe I should have chucked Kalibak or even the other ones, Desaad and Bernadeth, to Almerac and imprisoned them instead of killing them. Nothing I could really do about it now, I guessed.
I put that thought in the back of my mind. Maxima then led us outside to where a vast crowd had gathered. There were soldiers, guards, and normal citizens gathered around. When they saw us come outside, they started cheering for us. Their voices blended together and the sound waves could be felt vibrating through our bodies. It was pretty overwhelming. I had my fair bit of cheers on earth, but they were somewhat jaded already.
These people cheered with such enthusiasm I thought their vocal cords would collapse any moment now. Afterward, some wanted to approach us but were stopped by the guards. Maxima went ahead and gave a little speech. Everyone was silent as she spoke about the last few days of struggle and the aid she got from her friends, us, with which they were able to repel Apokolip's forces. She also told of an unknown ally that destroyed Apokolips.
The crowd was pretty baffled at that news, but that was to be expected since Apokolips was something like a living horror that had been around for ages now. She finished her speech by thanking us and giving us some honor medals. After that was done, we celebrated with some soldiers and guards that helped. At the end of the day, Kara and Raven were exhausted.
I wasn't doing any better either, but I got lots to eat, so it turned out great for me. Maxima apologized after everything was done, but I knew that it had been necessary. It was to get the news out and give their saviors a face while rewarding her people for holding on.
"We don't want to take up any more of your time, Maxima. We will leave things to sort out to you." I said in the middle of the night. After most of the soldiers had already fallen into a drunken coma.
She smiled wryly. "I wouldn't mind spending more time with you, but I indeed have a mountain of paperwork to get back to." I didn't envy her. Being a ruler sounded exhausting, at least if one wanted to be a good one.
With my telekinesis, I gathered the unconscious bodies of the new gods around me before Maxima opened up a portal back to earth.
Before we entered the portal, Maxima called out to us again. "One last thing. Nathan... Kara and Raven." Maxima bowed down deeply with a fist on her chest, their royal expression of gratitude. "Again, Thank You."
I smiled at that. She showed her deepest respect and for a prideful woman like Maxima. It wasn't something that could be easily seen from her, at least that would have been the case in the past. "Of course, Maxima. Take care and visit us when you got time." The others also acknowledged her genuine thanks before we entered the portal back home.
The surrounding space squeezed us gently through the wormhole before spitting us out into my living room again. With a telekinetic flick, I switched on the light in the dark living room. It was night in Portland as well, which was great since I could use an 8-hour nap after that much social interaction. Before that, though, I would need to store these new gods away.
I went downstairs to my training chamber. I had already excavated some space, which I had initially planned for a sleeping area and a giant fridge, so I could spend a lot longer training with my time-slowing device. Now it would have to do as an improvised prison cell. I wasn't sure how I would lock them up, though, probably not at all. Might just leave them unconscious when I didn't need them.
Raven gave me a strange look when she saw me dragging the unconscious women (and Steppenwolf) down into my lair. It was probably because Kara said nothing that she didn't either.
After making sure that no accidents could occur, I closed the training chamber and went upstairs to sleep. By then Raven had already retreated to her room. I cleaned up and joined Kara in bed, who had already fallen asleep, even though she excitedly spoke about the things she would do to me after we get back. Seemed like the fatigue of the last few days wasn't cured by the short sleep we had.
I shortly fell asleep and entered the dream world. After looking around, I found myself in a familiar room and atmosphere. I saw Kara and Raven on the bed. Oh, it's this dream again. Hmm, Raven looked more excited and less hesitant this time around...I really need to blow off some steam with Kara when I am awake. After I made her worry, she deserves to have her back blown out.
...
Raven slowly opened her eyes. Clenching her eyes shut as she tried to get rid of the images in her mind. In the end, she couldn't help but indulge in them for a moment before she stopped herself. The first time she wasn't able to speak or resist, but now she had plenty of opportunities. She had been prepared, but in the end, she had kept quiet. She really had no excuses now.
She propped herself up and sighed. 'I have to change my pants.' She thought but didn't make any moves to do it.
The clean casual clothes were already floating out of her closet and arranged themselves on the bathroom cupboard, so she could change into them after taking a shower. Everything was ready for her to get up and out of the bed, but instead, she used her duvet to cover herself again.
She really didn't want to get up and out of this room. There was no doubt that she would feel awkward again when the three sat together again. She should really stop abusing that backdoor and tell him about it, but... The resulting conversation of how she knew about it would be painful, to say the least.
Did she even have to do it? Even if someone discovered that she had a connection to his dreams, it wasn't like anyone could abuse it beside her, disregarding the fact that not much damage could be done through the dreams, anyway.
She only got access because his mind recognized hers, which was probably why he didn't discover anything weird about Kara, either. The only way for someone to get into his dreams would be to invade it through her connection, but the moment they invaded the dreams, Nathan should recognize the unfamiliar presence and cut off the connection.
There was no problem letting his dreams pull her in....No, she should tell him anyway. This wasn't something that she should keep hidden from Nathan. Just as she was about to get up, someone opened her door.
...
Kara woke up, feeling refreshed after the continuation of her previous dream. She stretched slightly before familiar manly arms hugged her from behind, catching her off-guard. The times when Nathan woke up before or even at the same time as her could be counted on one hand, not that she didn't appreciate it. He was always getting cuddly in the morning.
The warm breath on her nape and his large hands exploring her body, made her feel a certain way. She was about to reciprocate his enthusiasm when she thought about something. The thought came to her out of nowhere and it seemed like her womanly senses were telling her something.
"Sorry, babe. Later, alright? Tonight? Wait, no during lunch... no you are probably training then, right? How about right after...during breakfast?"
He kissed her before he grunted and got up. No answer was bad. It meant that he was changing his mind.
"I will be busy for now. I don't know how long I will take, but let's just say tonight." Fuck, she was right. He probably truly wanted to stay in bed. Maybe she could have made him stay the entire day, and she fucked up, goddamnit. Thinking about how he was injured and probably couldn't train as extensively, it would make sense that he would be more willing to laze around.
She shook her head. What was done was done. Instead of sulking like a horny teenage girl, she got up. "I will probably go out with Raven later."
Nathan yawned with a tone of acknowledgment and went downstairs while Kara went to Raven's room and immediately opened the door to enter. She closed and locked it behind her before turning to the stunned Raven.
"Seems like you had a long sleep in." She smiled before quickly approaching the bed, pushing Raven into the bed as she glared at the magical girl that could use Telepathy.
Raven gulped and her lips thinned before looking to the side guiltily, "Yes. T-there is something I have to say."
Kara regarded her for a moment, and her hunch was quickly proven. "Does he know?"
"...Probably not."
Kara nodded. "Figured as much, otherwise he would probably reprimand you already." She said before looking at the squirming Raven. With a snort, she turned Raven's head towards her. "You don't think this will come out of this unpunished, do you?"
Raven sighed slightly as if she accepted her fate, "I really didn't mean to intrude your dreams, it sort of just happened the first time..."
"...Wait. What?" Kara realized Raven might not be as much at fault as she thought she would be.
...
While the girls went out, I examined Mad Harriet's condition as I tried to warp her mind, her memories to my choosing. Of course, I could have chosen to analyze her god ki first, but then I would have to do that without her cooperation. I couldn't keep them in a coma forever, so I wanted to turn them to my side first before trying to get a feel for god ki.
As for why I had chosen Mad Harriet as my first guinea pig was easily explained. I was going in the order of usefulness so that I would be most experienced when I got to the ones that were most useful. Which was why I started with her.
Out of Steppenwolf and the furies, she was the least useful. As a new god, she had the basic attributes of one, being stronger and more resilient than mortals, but that was just it. She didn't stand out. Not only was she only average in combat compared to her squad, she also wasn't the brightest either.
She had the prefix 'Mad' for a reason, after all, Apokolips called her by this name. Knowing how fucked the planet was, one could imagine what one had to be like to be called mad and be regarded as insane.
That she adored the feeling of torture and pain was probably the tamer things one could attribute to her. The things in her mind clarified that even if she was on my side, she wouldn't be useful as an individual.
Even her team just used her like a starved dog and just let her off the leash to attack their opponents. True, she didn't go completely off rails and fought alone among the group, but more often than not, she would use the opportunity to torture her enemies and inflict as much pain as she could, even if it meant wasting some time. Such an ally would be annoying to handle and changing her personality from the ground up was almost impossible.
With friends like her, I wouldn't need enemies. So I wasn't particularly worried about damaging anything, quite the opposite. It was an excellent opportunity to test some limits.
Of course, during the start of the process, she moaned and mocked me, until now when her utterings turned into screams and pleadings.
After I was done with her, I probably either use Gilotina, the blonde swordswoman, or Stompa, the burly one, next. In a combat situation, Stompa was an important member of the team since she could tank the attacks and keep their enemies occupied, while also using her ability to increase her mass to stamp her feet to send out ground trembles.
Gilotina, on the other hand, had the ability to cut through most things with her bare hands, though she preferred to use swords for the range and to conserve some energy. From Granny's mind, I knew she was in consideration as the field leader in the event of Big Barda's untimely demise. She could make quick decisions and perform under stress.
It was a tough decision. I would have chosen Lashina since she was only mid intellectually and tactically, but as the only one with mid-range combat capabilities and her affinity to not let go of opportunities, she had to stay. Big Barda non-withstanding. Big Barda was the mind of the team and the most skilled out of every one of the furies. Not surprising since she had trained them.
Steppenwolf will be the last to be changed. Not only was he the strongest out of my captured group, but he was also used to working alone. So even if one or two of the furies died, he wouldn't be affected. He also was an experienced hunter who knew how to gather information. He would be useful besides his superior strength.
A few hours later, of literally mind-numbing experiments, I placed her back into the improvised cell at the corner of my training chamber. I thought about training for a few rounds, but all that mind searching and manipulating was exhausting, and I wasn't in the mood to train. Not to mention that I was still heavily injured by human standards.
I was much rather looking forward to getting my belly filled with some delicious food. There were also other things that needed my attention. Some issues that I hadn't tackled yet were still on my plate.
One of them would be the ones that had sent Metallo to my home. I still needed to figure out who it was. Then there were my upgrades for my training chamber. Oh, I needed to find a way to kill Trigon now as well. Hopefully, brute force worked against him, then there wouldn't be much to prepare. I had to discuss this with Raven later.
Then I needed to check in with the Justice League, though perhaps that should probably come first. After all, I had warned them that Apokolips might attack before I had gone to defend Almerac.
Hopefully, nothing happened during my fight against Darkseid and his forces...