Earth 16, Caribbean Sea.
League of Assassins Headquarters ….
From the outside, all that could be seen was a pure white mist surrounding infinity Island.
But deep within, on a certain mountainside, laid the Compound HQ.
The towers were guarded by regular patrol teams, all armed with lethal weapons. Keeping a lookout while the rest of the compound carried on day-to-day activities.
"Ha!" "Ha!" "Ha!"
The cry of soldiers practicing their fighting stances could be heard as each warrior garbed in black exclaimed again and again with each punch they released.
On another side ....
A dark shadow fell from above, crashing to the ground with a loud thud.
"Ugh!" The assassin barely managed to let out a pained groan before falling unconscious.
"This one is slightly better than the others ….". A thick voice uttered as two armored boots appeared a few meters away from the fallen soldier.
".... But just". Slade uttered with a cold snort, his tone carrying a hint of disdain.
It had been a while since he left the League Of Assassins. And although he had kept in touch when executing offers from Ra's Al Ghul over the years, he didn't expect the latter generation of shadows had gone a notch lower in quality since his time.
Or at least he thought so.
It wouldn't make a difference how skilled these soldiers were, as none of them were strong or skilled enough to give him an adequate challenge.
And the older generation with much better abilities certainly wouldn't come to Slade to seek abuse.
Ra's definitely had better places to put his subordinates than to accompany this ticked off mercenary for a few sparring sessions.
As for why he was ticked off ..... The answer was obvious.
It had barely been two to three days since his operation at Strader Pharmaceuticals had gone down in a way he could only use the phrase "horribly wrong" to describe.
Surprising words to use when he successfully retrieved his target with minimal loss or damage.
And now, he was ..... Lying low.
The very thought made his teeth itch with anger.
Lying low? He was clearly hiding.
Waiting for Ra's arrangements to deal with a definite disaster that could very well be the end of them all.
After his discussion with Ra's, he had accepted to temporarily stay at the League of Assassins Headquarters until the old fossil and his group were ready.
Nevertheless, that didn't mean he liked it.
No sir, not one bit.
Slade scanned his gaze around, wanting to find another to continue to be his sparring partner.
But what fell into his only working eye was a training ground full of unmoving assassins.
They weren't dead, thankfully. But a few weeks to a few months in bed for medical treatment and healing time due to injuries ranging from fractures to broken bones were definitely unavoidable.
'Hmph! Pitiful .....'. He thought as his anger subsided.
Dealing with close to two dozen ninjas was enough for a day.
Later, he needed to go find that old man for an update.
Slade wasn't sure he could continue living like this for another week. It was torture.
"So you're the infamous mercenary. The one everyone claims to be the best of the best at what he does".
A small, childish voice fell into his ears, causing Slade's expression to shift slightly with a frown.
Turning his gaze to the side, a figure wearing a what looked to be a modern copy of ancient samurai wear walked out of the shadows.
With short dark hair, green eyes, an expressionless face and cold gloomy aura.....
"... The living legend, Deathstroke The Terminator himself".
He walked calmly with composed steps, stopping only when he was a five meters away.
Slade's expression shifted.
"So you're Talia's little bastard. I wondered how long you were going to watch".
Damien's eyes narrowed to the extreme.
"What did you just say?" His voice was deep and low, and with those glaring eyes, he really looked threatening.
Slade however didn't give a damn.
"Your steps were as silent as these losers. Low presence, not bad for a child".
"The name's Damien". He uttered, his words almost at the point of a growl.
".... Remember it".
"Yeah yeah". Deathstroke uttered dismissively and walked around the young heir.
"Go find someone else to play ball with. I'm in a bad mood". Damien didn't turn around yet. The numerous assassins on the ground before him were a testament to Slade's statement.
But as the born prince of the league of shadows, would he care?
"Mother tells me you're hiding here to avoid someone".
And there it was again. That one word that made his pride ache and his blood boil.
Hiding.
Slade stopped in his tracks, and uttered without turning his back in a tone that was on the verge of clear rage.
"Choose your next words carefully, young brat".
"Oh please…". Damien scoffed indifferently.
"I'm not so young and ignorant that I have nothing better to do than antagonize you. And quite frankly, I don't have any interest in doing so".
Then he turned to see his backside.
"I just want to know one thing". His words were accompanied by a moment of silence.
If Slade turned around, he would see Damien showing an expression of contemplation.
"How strong exactly is this person who makes Grandpa so ..... Worried".
That wasn't what he was going to say. He wanted to use the word fearful, but thankfully, he was capable of controlling his mouth.
If anyone heard that he called the Demon's Head scared, then the consequences would be severe.
Not even his mother and the fact that he was Ra's grandchild would save him from punishment.
If it were someone else, it would lead to immediate execution.
Normally, he shouldn't even think of asking this. But he had seen Ra's expression in the past few days.
His grandpa had lived for hundreds of years, and didn't even fear a being like the famous alien of Metropolis. The one they call Superman.
Yet, he looked more haggard than ever in the timespan of two days.
If this wasn't worried and fearful, he didn't know what was.
Deathstroke paused. Majority of his anger disappearing, like a bucket of cold water was splashed on his head.
"...". Silence reigned for a few seconds. Following which, the mercenary snorted.
"If all goes to shit, then you should be able to see it yourself". He didn't answer directly.
Just left those words and walked away.
Damien didn't call out to stop him, either.
'If all goes to shit, huh?'
He stood there for several seconds in deep thought.
After nearly a minute passed, he raised his head.
The previous contemplation disappeared, returning to indifference.
Just as he was about to walk away, he stopped.
Then, just like Slade did a minute ago, he turned his head to a certain direction and squinted.
"How long are you going to keep watching me".
"..". No one responded at first. Until a small sigh resounded, and a figure also emerged from the darkness.
Damien's serious look eased slightly.
"Mother". He called out.
The woman appearing before him was 5.7, had dark brown hair and clear green eyes, just like her son.
Talia Al Ghul. Beloved daughter of Ra's Al Ghul, the legendary Demon's head. But weirdly enough, not his successor.
On that note, Talia didn't care much. After all, although she believed that women could do just as much as men could, her father's views on the perfect heir was not something she could change.
Not to mention, even her brother, who already looked older than their father wasn't chosen.
It was good enough that her son would inherit what she never could.
"Now now ….". Wearing a black skin-tight combat suit that was zipped slightly above her breasts, Talia remarked.
"What have I told you about asking questions on subjects you shouldn't touch?"
The boy wasn't scared but replied apathetically.
"Don't get caught". Then he turned to where Slade left.
"How long will he be staying here?" He didn't care about Slade. He was just curious.
"….Until your grandfather can find a solution to his problem". The initial silence before the sentence spoke great tones to those who were skilled enough to understand.
Talia and Damien turned their gazes upwards. In the distance, a hundred meters away, The Demon's Head stood on the balcony with sharp eyes and his hands behind his back.
Watching over the training of the hundreds of assassins under his command.
"And if he can't?" Damien turned his gaze away and shot back.
"...". This time, Talia didn't respond for a while.
"... In that case. It's time we take you to see your Father".
The mentioning of this made Damien's eyes narrow. He knew who his dad was.
The Caped Crusader of Gotham city and member of the Justice League.
"Let's just hope it doesn't get that far".
"I'm not running away". Damien uttered while turning to face her completely.
Talia opened her mouth to speak.
She had already talked to Ra's about sending Damien to Batman early. After all, they never knew when Amari would figure out their identities and come to destroy them.
If Damien was still on this island when that happened, it was highly likely he would die.
As a mother, Talia didn't want to witness that happen.
So the best choice would be to hand Damien over to Bruce. That way, he would be under Batman's care and, likewise, under the care of the Justice League.
Honestly, it really wouldn't make that much of a difference.
Nevertheless, as long as Amari didn't go crazy, then he shouldn't hunt down Damien and kill him at all costs. Just like how he didn't go after Ocean Master's brother, Aquaman, and the rest of Atlantis.
This was what Talia hoped.
"It's not your decision to make, Damien...".
"Yes it is". The boy interrupted. "Whoever this guy is, he has to have a weakness. We just find it and face him together when he comes. My honor does not allow me to run away before even seeing the enemy".
Talia frowned even deeper. Resisting the urge to shake her head and sigh, she wanted to speak again in a much stricter tone.
Unfortunately...
'Is that so?.....'. Something happened that made both their expressions changed drastically.
'Funny though.....'. The voice uttered again, directly into everyone's minds. Be it those practicing punching stances or wielding weapons in armed combat, everyone came to a halt as the voice speaking inside their heads began to cause great alarm.
Ra's Al Ghul had his eyes narrow into slots.
'He's ... He's here'. In the headquarters of the League of Assassins, starting from the cook to the cleaners to the assassins to Ra's Al Ghul himself, everyone heard his voice.
'…. I'm already here'.
He answered in response to Damien. But everyone heard it.
Ra's subconsciously took two steps back.
It happened then.
A strong gust of wind suddenly rushed over, enveloping the mountainside base.
Immediately, anything without heavy weight or a direct connection to the ground was lifted off the floor.
Be it weapons, uniforms, racks, carts.....
A streak of wind pressure directly enveloped the entire area.
Talia's long hair flew with the wind as it streaked across hair face, obscuring her vision.
As the name suggests, the headquarters of the League of Assassins, Infinity Island, was an island in the middle of the Caribbean Sea.
While there were no forecasts of a storm, there was a mist partially obscuring the island from the sights of people who weren't on it.
It was different now.
The mist covering had been blown away by the strong gusts of wind sweeping through the island, completely exposing the sights of those inside.
Crack!
The sound was as loud as a thunderclap, drawing everyone's attention to the edge of the cliff where HQ resided on.
Crack!
The cracking sounds continued. Following which, the space swirled, and a substance emerged out of thin air.
That substance quickly condensed and intertwined to form a giant skeleton hand, which extended even more.
The seconds elapsed, large amounts of cosmic energy unfiltered were released and condensed to form a giant, terrifying structure.
And under everyone's terrified eyes, that structure grew taller and taller, surpassing everyone and everything in height and size.
Bang! The feet of the structure touched the bottom of the cliff and stood upright. But even then, everyone's eyes were looking upward.
Bone, flesh, skin.... .... Until the structure gained full form, appearing as a giant demonic titan right before everyone's eyes.
The pressure it released didn't decrease in the slightest despite its complete formation, as the wind pressure generated by the waves of massive energy continued to blow everyone straight in the face.
Many already found it difficult to breathe and were being pushed backwards, despite how much they tried to plant their feet to the ground.
'What ..... What the hell is this?'
The calm, composed Demon's Head at the top of the balcony retreated with shock and horror. His eyes staring at the center of that titan, where a figure he recognized all too well was.
'So ... This is what it means, huh. It all goes to shit'. At the moment, Damien was being held down by his mother to prevent him from being lifted off the ground.
He had seen and heard all sorts of outrageous things. But never before had he seen something like this.
"Hello Ra's". At the center of the cosmic titan (That's what I'm calling the new, modified Susanoo now. Just think of it like the original Titans in Blood of Zeus. If you've watched the series, that is. I'll explain how this came about in a minute), Amari locked onto Ra's Al Ghul, his eyes narrowed to the extreme, emitting bone chilling coldness.
Seeing this and hearing his name being called, The Demon's Head seemed to have returned from his shock. Following which, he turned around and ran with all his strength into the building.
At that moment, the Cosmic Titan suddenly raised its hand high and clenched it into a fist.
'Oh no'. Talia's eyes widened. What was he doing?
Then she pulled Damien and ran with all her strength.
"Run Damien, Run".
The area of this training ground was within the main building, and Talia ran towards it with the strength generated from every fiber of her being.
She didn't know how much power was packed in that punch, but she knew that it would kill them all.
Those in the immediate vicinity would be the first to go.
As for Ra's Al Ghul, he immediately jumped downwards from the edge of the building, landing on his two feet with a roll.
For a normal person, landing room in such a height would destroy the legs. But after many years of death and resurrection in the Lazarus pit, Ra's body had already evolved past a regular human's.
Following which, he made a mad dash towards his destination.
As for where that destination was?
Of course, it was the entrance to the lower chambers that led to the Lazarus pit.
The only place he could go at this moment.
And so, the giant blue fist punched downwards and smashed against the edge of the cliff.
The force generated under that power immediately reacted, destroying half of the cliff area and sending a shockwave that swept away the rest.
The Assassins training in close proximity were immediately turned into blood mist before the uprooted rubble was swept towards them.
Bang!
All buildings within the League of Assassins Headquarters were shattered into debris and swept away in the shockwave.
Cracks emerged in various places across the island.
Inside the Cosmic Titan, Amari watched the aftermath of his actions with cold eyes. Emitting a frightening chill that could freeze with a single thought.
He had never been like this before. Not when facing the Joker, Justice League, Ocean Master or Ares.
The aura around him was incomparably gloomy and chaotic yet so much more powerful than it ever was before.
Seemingly endless energy capable of washing away this universe dozens of times overflowed through his body to the point where it formed an energy barrier around him without his intentional control.
This was why wind pressure was generated earlier despite not doing anything.
At this point, the energy flowing through him was unprecedented.
Why and how? Because he absorbed it all
The energy of the Godsphere, the birthplace of Magic with vast amounts of magical energy, he had absorbed it all.
However, he felt not intoxication to the pleasure of increasing power he had acquired.
All of this was due to what happened with The Devil himself less than twenty minutes ago.
....
Twenty minutes ago.
After the incident at Strader Pharmaceuticals .
....
New Novel
ATLA, A Darker World.
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