The beginning of something bigger

Amazingly, once Simon changed his head, that is, actually brought another soul to the forefront, he immediately stopped emitting the energy of the Rot.

The abominable black, thick mana, which in true vision looked like molten tar, was replaced by the familiar gray mana with flecks of red threads of demonic energy. The residual emanations were still present, of course, but without a constant connection to Black, they were no longer enough to sustain the pseudo-life in the bodies of most of the reanimated creatures, so they fell to the ground, like puppets whose strings had been cut. Elite fighters like the Hounds of Rot, whose bodies were originally more robust and biologically sophisticated, were more resilient, but even for them the repeated severing of the connection with their patron had negative effects. Considering that after the death of Arkane only they continued to fight against the army of magical creatures, it is not surprising that in the second run strong monsters could be counted on the fingers of one hand of a drunken milling machine, so they were dealt with quite quickly. But still, the total number of converts was astonishing and was many times more than anyone could have guessed.

Leaving the Tower of Apokolips through the upper platform and assessing Faust's destruction, we could see with our own eyes a six-meter wall of dead, deformed bodies that had earlier rushed to the rescue of the new avatara, and we could also see quite large swarms of spirit-dead mutants on the approaches. And all this time, the magical creatures were quite cheerfully reducing the enemy population, and even imagine what would have happened if all this crowd managed to tear down the central gate and break through. Our squad would have been simply annihilated by a wave of monsters, despite any magical or energetic barriers.

Although, after revealing the true purpose of Arkane, the reason why some of the enemy army did not even think to participate in the battle becomes clear, but hid all over the city, making it look like it could be defeated in a direct confrontation, because even the Blood Wall would not help to survive a full-scale attack of so many opponents, let alone a battle in a clear field. At first I was sure that the reason was the lack of a proper command and the general weakness of most of the Black Spawn, and the strength of the allies, of course, but in fact everything was aimed at making the defenders spend as much of their strength as possible trying to resist, thus supplying the ritual with energy.

As we approached the temporary headquarters, housed in one of the miraculously surviving houses, we joined the rest of the team, including Harley, who were fussing over Cyborg, whose appearance had undergone significant changes since our last meeting. The superhero's height became noticeably smaller due to the fact that the armor had become more compact and was now really a high-tech exoskeleton rather than a part of the body; the metal covering the whole right half of his face and the jaw had almost completely disappeared from his head, although the eye still remained in the form of a stylish red eyepiece, from which several thin silver tracks diverged. The guy could blend in with the crowd if he dressed loosely and wore black glasses.

Victor himself arrived in the company of Superman, but, unlike Superman, he decided to stay outside and help the defenders. But nobody had bothered to educate him about the dangers of close combat, and there was no time for that, because the creatures coming out of every crevice were not conducive to talk: it was up to them to survive. So now the superhero flaunted a laceration on his side, from which the weakened defense could not protect him.

"Mr. J! - The harlequin, beaming with an incredibly satisfied smile, rushed to hug me, sharing stories of how cool it was to genocide numerous mutants.

"Ahem," a restrained cough sounded from the injured man's side.

"That's right! Mr. J, can you help? Cyborg doesn't think these pretty creatures will hurt him," she nodded at the trio of demons standing nearby, their figures almost entirely covered in black monster blood. But Tony stood out in particular, drooling from a ghastly mouth on his belly and staring with delight at the high-tech armor with his one huge eye. If he'd seen it before the redesign, he would have tried to snatch a souvenir.

"Let's see... Damn, this is really bad," I summarized after a quick look around. "There's no fixing this."

Victor clenched his teeth, silently watching me carefully cover the teeth-damaged flesh with a white handkerchief. He didn't have much biological tissue, but instead of a normal defense, he'd opted for a more aesthetically pleasing look, and he was regretting it.

"Are you sure there's nothing you can do?" Simon asked cautiously, feeling guilty about what had happened. "The wound didn't look dangerous."

"Well, I can heal it right now, Suratio," the healing weave flashed over her palm along with the word-activator. "Especially without a stable channel with the Kingdom of Rot, her emanations stopped infecting living beings. But the color will remain black, unfortunately, there is no cure..."

Silence fell on the room. A second, two, and a third, realization flashed in Cyborg's eyes, to the accompaniment of Barry and Hal coughing, trying in vain to hide their laughter.

"I gonna kill you!" the superhero jumped up from the bed and, under Eagle's approving gaze, followed me, clearly intending to do something unnatural. I didn't want to take any chances, so I dashed through the window toward the Blood Wall, leaving the illusion in my place. In any case, the golden barrier was still active, which meant we'd have to tell Dr. Fate everything, and it was easier to do it once, so we could get the big picture.

***Soon as a laughing Joker left the house through the window***

"Listen, is it always this much fun at your place?" Eagle asked Harley, who was standing next to her.

"Yeah," the girl replied cheerfully. "Still not thinking of joining us?"

"So you can give me a physical?" The winged beauty said ironically.

"Well, if you don't want to, then don't. But then I'll be ninety percent sure you're laying eggs."

"Pfft, it hurts to have to," turning away the heroine left the room.

"Wait, wait, wait," Harley quickly caught up with her victim, taking Abby with her. "I was just kidding. If you want to join in, it'll be fun!"

"Doesn't anyone want to ask the leader if we need another League member?" Batman asked, sneaking up silently.

"We're a democracy. Hey, guys, who's in favor of this hottie officially joining our team?"

"I don't mind," Green Lantern glowed green proudly.

"So do I," Barry replied, trailing behind, his gaze slipping to the winged girl's lower nineties, which were beautifully accentuated by the tight-fitting armor.

"There you go. Mr. J is definitely in. Diana could use a strong ally to cross arms with in training. I saw you slaying monsters, and it was awesome! So it's five against three... Although Aquaman would probably be okay with that, too."

"Let's discuss this later," Superman, walking nearby, cast an eloquent glance around at the mountains of bodies lining the plaza in front of the Black Tower in several layers.

***Hours later, the main headquarters of the World Rescue Team***

The retelling of what had happened in Arcane's lair (without mentioning my sudden death and prompt resurrection, of course) made quite an impression on everyone present, but Dr. Fate reacted especially strongly. It was thanks to his predictions that everything was going the way the dark mage wanted it to... Right down to my desire to finally try out the RPG, for I had decorated it for a reason, didn't I?

Actually, instead of rejoicing and sending everyone to a well-deserved rest, or going to deal with the consequences, because the piles of corpses of magical creatures will surely interest the local government and various underground laboratories, Zee's father turned on the paranoia mode and maximally strengthened the barrier, involving Abby as a source and John as an operator, and then suggested Simon to undergo a magical examination. And the guy had been told that without the examination, if he was to leave the dome, he would only leave the dome feet first, as a potentially possessed Arcane spirit. Considering that the only person who could siege the wizard was a battery, and the sphinxes, whose wings were literally fluttering from mana-pumped air blades, entered the room at that moment, and Shepard and Frankie started kneading their fists with heavy sighs, the refusal was not foreseen.

It was clearly going to be a fight, for most superheroes didn't like that attitude. Simon wasn't showing any signs of possession, and my authoritative opinion that the chimera was fine was trusted to a certain extent. Even though someone with a mace and wings and someone in high-tech armor doubted my competence. Even Superman, who had the least contact with the boy, had decided to stand up for him, though who better than a Kryptonian to be wary of magic. Fortunately, Simon decided to be prudent and agreed to the wizard's ultimatum. Naturally, I didn't want to miss the chance and asked to be an assistant, wanting to watch the powerful wizard work from the front row. But all my participation was reduced to the fact that I had to give Farmer's masterpiece a slap on the back to bring the right soul to the forefront.

What's the bottom line? From now on, the Black officially has a new avatar. Slightly aggressive, but at the same time quite loyal to the other Elements. At least, she's not going to destroy other Parliaments and take over the world. The first impression was more influenced by the presence of the antagonist energy nearby, and also by the notorious Will of the last incarnation, which Simon couldn't curb then, because he simply didn't know how to act. And, before judging the undead half-demon, it's worth remembering that Abby has been the Guardian of the Forest for half a century now, but only now she started trying to control her actions during the active use of powers. So, the more Simon gets used to his new powers, the better he'll be able to control himself, and he won't go crazy. Gustav made sure of that by creating an incredibly complex mechanism that kept inactive souls in stasis and unaffected by other people's influence. I suspect that if Black wasn't one of the main Elements, it would hardly be able to attach itself to the chimera at all. The channel would simply collapse when the soul is changed, as it happens during dark rituals.

What he didn't like about the whole situation was Simon's story about the Parliament of Rot, which he had the honor of meeting while he was being touched by a slimy tentacle growing out of the blacksmith's corpse. Unlike the Parliament of Trees, it has no permanent residence on Earth, but lives on one of the energy planes closely connected with the Kingdom of Rot, so the meeting with the past incarnations took place in the mental space, where the chimera was given a new position and urged to create a passage so that the energy could circulate freely again. Everything would be all right, because without Arkane Black should not try to take over the planet, but the past keepers, judging by the description, resemble some terrible chthonic monsters, whose huge deformed bodies are partially hidden in the darkness, and to give such creatures access to the real world is somehow dreadful.

"Crimson has a similar incarnation of the Will, but it is one," Shepard said as the young man finished his story. - I've only seen it once, and I'll tell you, it's hideous. An anthropomorphic skeleton of unbelievable size, with long clawed fingers and bits of red muscle sticking out everywhere.

"Is that why you refused to teach the green boy? - Flash asked, who was getting bored, because without true sight, magical scanning was a dull sight. So dull, in fact, that most of the League left the mosque after fifteen minutes, realizing that the danger was over and that no one was planning to eliminate Simon. Only Barry, Gaius, Bats, and me and Harley remained.

"That was one of the reasons," the satyr stroked his thick beard. - He has great potential, but let him grow up first, and then he can make his own choices. If he does become an avatar, he'll find his own way, and my advice will only get in the way.

Having made sure that in the near future the Earth was not in danger of turning into a scorched wasteland where only magical mutants could live, Dr. Fate released his assistants with a clear conscience, weakened the barrier so that it could be left, and began to restore order in the city, fully exploiting magical creatures. It was necessary to remove the flesh hills and Arcane's artwork so as not to embarrass ordinary people, and secondly, to prevent any clever sorcerers from taking advantage of the battle.

On the way out of the mosque our company unexpectedly ran into Dick and his new green friend, who were jumping up and down, evidently expecting to share some stunning news. All that would have been nothing, but behind them stood the figure of Cyborg, whose armor had once again undergone some changes and now boasted more serious protection. I'm not sure, but at that moment a quiet: "not again...". However, the superhero didn't slow his step and proudly faced the danger.

"Batman, remember you said you'd let me move to Jump City if I got a team? - Richard tried to take a more formal look, but his green friend continued to show excessive enthusiasm.

"I remember something like that..." the man replied evasively, clearly not liking the start of the conversation.

"Beastboy has agreed to join my team. He can transform into various beasts!"

"No," Gloomy Mouse answered a little too sharply, but immediately corrected himself by putting his hand on the young hero's shoulder. - Nightwing, listen to me. You've grown up too fast. Literally. I don't think you're ready to take responsibility for those who put their trust in you. While you're in Gotham, I can watch over you and come to your aid if you're in trouble, but in another city, you're on your own.

"In principle," Cyborg said, drawing attention to himself and earning a suspicious squint from Bats, "I could keep an eye on them. There's a pretty good university in Jump City where I'd like to transfer to continue my studies."

"Why? What was wrong with the last one? - The bat-suited superhero asked perplexed, sensing that the conversation was going nowhere.

"Away from my father, who's trying to control my life," Victor's lips quirked into a sly grin. - Plus, I'll be more comfortable in a new place to regain my social skills, because I've fallen out of life a little since my injury.

"Hrm..." Bruce frowned. The black guy's support was a different story, because he'd been recruited into the Justice League not for racial diversity, but for his extraordinary abilities.

"Really?! You're gonna help us?! We're gonna be like a real superhero team! Woof! - Beastboy turned into a dog and started running around, making Bats' eye twitch a little. - All that was left was to pick some cool name.

"Gigglesquashers? - Harley suggested. - Or Whimsy Wreckers?

"Whimsy Wreckers sounds great and partially reflects the essence of the team, but I would suggest something more pathos: Thunderbirds, Destiny Patrol, Superfriends, Defenders, Young Titans - my options were less offensive and still contained a canonical name.

"That last one sounds good," Nightwing said thoughtfully.

"Not bad? It's perfect for us! I'll go tell Rob," he said, enthusiastic, and then he sprinted toward the dwellings.

"Well, I wish you good luck with this kindergarten, - I sincerely sympathized with Gloomy Mouse, patted him on the shoulder, and then, in the company of beauties, went in the direction of the Batplane. Hopefully, the showdown with the little guy and his new friends would take Gotham's protector long enough for us to steal a transport and go to the sea.