[Emissary] Chapter 25 - Return (I) (Patreon)

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Chapter 25 - Return

For the first time since the Watchtower became the headquarters of the Justice League, the spacious Monitor Room appeared to have shrunk in size due to how crowded it was with people. 

There were over 30 individuals, all of them wearing unique, colourful, and eye-catching outfits. Driven by a sense of duty and justice, they were people who put their lives on the line and sacrificed their time and money for the sake of fighting crime and protecting the innocent. Given that most of them possessed superhuman powers, they were known to the general population as superheroes. 

“I’ve heard rumours about Superman having a second cousin, but it’s the first time I get to see you face-to-face!” a very tall and athletic girl with bright green eyes and long red hair said in excitement. “Would you like to be my friend?”

“Oh... sure!” Supergirl said, momentarily overwhelmed by her energetic and bubbly greeting. “I’m Supergirl, but you can call me Kara.”

The taller girl shook her hand and smiled happily as she introduced herself:

“I don’t know if you’ve heard of me, but I’m Koriand’r. My friends call me Starfire. I’m happy to become your friend!”

“It would be strange not to have heard of you; you’re the leader of the Teen Titans. Superman told me you’ve been doing a great job keeping Jump City safe.”

“Superman said that?” a green-skinned boy piped in, eyes wide in surprise. “Hear that, Nightwing? The big guy himself said we’ve been doing a good job!” 

“Not now, Gar,” Nightwing said gloomily. 

“Sheesh, dude, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?” a red-haired girl wearing a black and grey bat-themed mask and suit said. 

Nightwing let out a drawn-out sigh. “Have some common sense and take a look around. This isn’t the time to be socialising and having fun.”

At his words, the rest of his teammates glanced around and noticed quite a few people glaring at them. It wasn’t only the adults but even some of the heroes that appeared to be of their age were giving them dirty looks. 

“Hey, do you know who that is?? Or why is she glaring at me like that?” Supergirl asked Starfire in a quiet voice, tilting her head in the direction of a blonde girl who was wearing a blue suit with stars on it and carrying a golden sceptre in her hand. 

“I don’t know. Cyborg, do you know her?” Starfire asked her friend. 

“According to my database, she is known as Stargirl. She made her debut as a hero together with that man wearing a robotic suit about half a year ago. There isn’t any particularly notable information about them.”

At that moment, the automatic doors of the Monitor Room slid open, and Hal Jordan stepped inside together with a man dressed all in green and carrying a bow strapped to his back. 

Following them, other heroes such as a black man wearing full-body steel armour and a large hammer (Steel), a young and attractive blonde woman wearing fishnets, a black leotard, and a blue jacket (Black Canary), and so on, arrived. 

Soon, there were nearly 50 heroes in the Monitor Room, all standing spread out in a fan-shape around the main platform where the supercomputer was located. 

At last, Superman flew on that platform in the middle of everyone and spoke:

“Welcome to the Watchtower. You may be wondering why I have asked so many of you to come here. After all, it’s unprecedented because many of you aren’t from the United States or at least Europe. South America, India, Australia, Africa, and East Asia—heroes from all over the world. I have gathered you here for one reason: to invite you to join the Justice League. Not a Justice League of America or a Justice League of Europe. Just one organisation to protect and oversee the entire planet.”

Murmurs broke among the heroes at his words. 

“What prompted this change? I cannot imagine that the United Nations would take well to the Justice League becoming so powerful,” Impala, a hero from South Africa, suddenly asked in a loud voice to make himself heard over the murmurs of the other people. 

Superman pressed a button on a remote control, and the pictures of two men appeared on the large screen of the supercomputer behind him. 

“Four days ago, the Justice League of America and the Justice League of Europe suffered a series of assassination attempts… and Captain Atom and Rocket Red lost their lives. Animal Man and Hawkgirl are still in critical condition in the hospital. I, too, was only seconds away from dying with a kryptonite bullet less than one inch away from my heart. These attacks were all orchestrated by an organisation named Cadmus, a top-secret branch of the CIA.”

Gasps were heard all over the room, especially from the American heroes. 

“Are you saying that the government was behind these attacks?!” Green Arrow said in disbelief. “What proof do you have?”

“Other than the fact that General Eiling and Amanda Waller, two of the most important members of Cadmus, had the president of the United States on speed dial? Ask Green Lantern. He was captured and taken to their secret facility with the purpose of torturing out the secret of his powers from him,” Superman replied. 

“That says nothing. It could very well be a rogue operation. These are some severe accusations that you are making, Superman,” Green Arrow said bluntly, not intimidated by the fact that he was one of the handful of people with no superpower in the entire Watchtower. 

“Unfortunately, we have no proof,” Hal Jordan flew on the platform next to Superman and spoke. “Furthermore, all the members of Cadmus coincidentally,” he made quotation marks in the air with his fingers, “lost their lives right after Project Cadmus’ failure to annihilate us. Now, I’m not naive enough to believe that they just happened to die, but it was definitely not a member of the Justice League who did it. My guess is that someone was very thorough in cleaning up their tracks and making sure that there was no connection to be found between Cadmus and the government.”

“We’re treading some murky waters here. I don’t like this,” Question, a faceless man wearing a trenchcoat and a fedora said and Huntress, the scantly clad woman next to him, nodded in agreement. 

“This sounds like a conspiracy theory,” Stargirl said, crossing her arms to her chest. 

Taking note of the growing discontent among the crowd of heroes in the room, Superman stepped forth and spoke again:

“We have no proof that the government was behind the attacks. We cannot prove that Project Cadmus acted under the orders of the CIA or those of the President either. However, we do know one thing: Rocket Red was assassinated with a high-tech electromagnetic weapon in Russia, aiming directly at his weakness. As for Captain Atom, according to the information found by the Green Lantern after they recovered the remains of his suit, he was fired at with missiles, which cracked his suit and destabilised the radiation contained within, causing him to explode.”

“We have no proof that it was the government. Maybe it was Lex Luthor. Maybe it was someone like Vandal Savage. Maybe it was the League of Shadows. Or maybe it was some other billionaire with a grudge and the means to organise such an operation. Whoever it was does not matter now. What matters is that more than ever, we have to unite.”

“We can’t keep on working solo in our cities while the criminals are organising themselves and ganging up on us. We have to form a united front and protect each other's backs. This way, not only would we get to live and fight crime another day, but we would also be more efficient and successful in maintaining the peace.”

“We won’t ask for an answer on the spot. And we’re not forcing anyone to join. It is entirely up to you. We will give you three days to think about it.”


⁂


While Superman and the Justice League were having a meeting with dozens of superheroes from all over the world, Harry Potter, Power Girl, and their new daughter, Astrid, were flying above the Mediterranean Sea, heading towards Paradise Island. 

Or, more accurately, only Harry and Astrid were flying because Power Girl had another one of those episodes where she couldn’t use her powers. 

“Mamma, why can you not fly like I do?” Astrid asked as she made all sorts of acrobatics in the air, showing off her skill. 

The little girl had gained consciousness not even a week ago, but she was adapting to her Kryptonian powers a lot faster than Power Girl had expected. Now, she could already fly and even do tricks like barrel rolls and cartwheels in the air without losing her balance.

“Mamma is sick today,” Power Girl answered. 

“But you don’t look sick to me,” Astrid said, looking searchingly at Power Girl’s face. 

“It’s a sickness of the mind,” Harry explained. 

“That makes it sound like I’m mentally ill or something,” Kara scrunched her nose in displeasure. 

Seeing how Harry was flying with Power Girl on his back, giving her a piggyback carry, Astrid revealed a wistful look on her face. 

“Papa, can you carry me on your back too?” Astrid asked hopefully. 

“No can do. Your mom is heavy enough as it- youch!” he yelped when Kara suddenly grabbed his ears and twisted them. 

“How dare you say I am fat?! You thug! No tact and no manners!” Kara said offended. 

“Ow, ow, I never said you were fat! All I said was that you’re heavy!”

When she saw him doubling down on his words, Kara sunk her teeth into the nape of his neck, making him cry out. 

Astrid started giggling at their antics. 

“You tell him, Astrid, am I fat?”

“No, you are beautiful,” she said. 

“See? Astrid agrees with me.”

“Of course, the girls always stick together,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re a Kryptonian. Denser bones and denser muscles translate into you being as heavy as a boar.”

“A b-boar?!” Kara cried out in outrage. “I’ve never been more insulted in my entire life!”

“Mommy isn’t heavy!” Astrid said, and, in order to prove that she was telling the truth, she suddenly flew behind Harry and snatched Power Girl off his back, holding her from her armpits. 

Kara let out a cry, startled and more than a bit afraid at the fact that she was in Astrid’s hands now. 

“See? She’s not heavy! I can even carry her with one hand. Look-”

But Harry quickly turned around and took Kara back into his arms before an accident could happen. 

“Astrid! That was dangerous!” Power Girl shouted, her heart beating as if to jump out of her chest. 

“But I was careful. I wouldn’t let anything ever happen to you!” Astrid said sincerely.

“Even so, accidents could still happen. It’s not safe to suddenly yank me off like that! Especially since you’re so young and I’m so heavy!”

“Don’t worry, I am very strong!” the little girl said and flexed her skinny arm, showing off her muscles. 

Harry and Kara didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her behaviour. 

“So it’s not that Mamma is too heavy… maybe Daddy is too weak?” Astrid said mischievously. 

Harry gasped dramatically and put a hand on his chest. 

“Et tu, Brute?”

“What does it mean?” 

When Harry and Kara began laughing without answering her, she started pulling on their arms impatiently. 

“Come ooon, tell meee, I’m curious!”

“It’s an expression that doesn’t make sense unless you learn the history behind it. It will take a long time to explain,” Harry said. “And we don’t have time now; look, we’ve arrived.”

True to his words, an archipelago of islands appeared on the horizon. 

“Don’t fret too much. You’ll get sick of studying soon. After all, sooner or later, you’ll start going to school. And you’re going to learn what that expression means and many other interesting things.”

Astrid’s eyes widened in surprise. 

“School? Am I really going to go to school with other children my age?!”

“Maybe~” Kara said in a teasing tone. “That will depend on how obedient you are in the coming days.”

She let out a whooping sound of excitement. 

“I’m going to give my best! I’m going to be super obedient!”

Soon, they landed on the sandy shore of Themyscira’s main island. The hot and humid weather, the blue sky, the crystal-clear seawater, the lush forest, and the magnificent temples and white buildings shining in the distance on the Acropolis of the island created a picturesque image.

Seeing three women—a blonde, a redhead, and a black-haired one—stepping out of the forest, Astrid instinctively hid behind Harry’s back, peeking shyly at the newcomers from behind his legs. 

All three women were tall and athletic, and they were wearing comfortable and stylish-looking togas. They all had long and well-cared-for hair. 

“Greetings. I am Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons.”

“Greetings, your Majesty,” Harry said, offering her a short bow. “My name is Harry Potter, and this is Kara Zor-L. As for the little one, she is our daughter, Astrid. Thank you for agreeing to meet with us.”

At his words, the Amazons all looked at the little girl who was peeking at them shyly from behind Harry’s legs.

Whereas Wonder Woman had been to the Man’s World before and had seen many children, her mother, Hippolyta, and her Amazon sister, Artemis, had not seen any children in hundreds of years or more. The two women stared at Astrid in wonder, almost unable to take their eyes off her for a few moments. 

Tearing her eyes away from the little girl, Hippolyta said:

“Diana has informed me of your circumstances. Truthfully, to say that it’s uncommon for men to set foot on Themyscira would be a gross understatement. However, ever since my daughter went to the Man’s World we have become more… aware of the fact that there are good people among men too. The Justice League would be a good example of that… with that being said, please understand that I can still not allow you to enter our city. However, your daughter and Power Girl are more than welcome to do so.”

Harry showed a difficult expression on his face. 

“This could be a problem… Astrid doesn’t want to leave my side.”

As on cue, the little girl hid herself completely behind his legs.

The tall and muscular red-haired Amazon suddenly walked to Harry's side and crouched on the sand in front of the little girl. Unexpectedly, the toughest and meanest looking of the bunch appeared to have the biggest soft spot for the little girl. 

“My name is Artemis. What’s your name, young warrior?”

The girl mumbled an unintelligible answer, and her face flushed a bright red from the unexpected attention she was receiving from the Amazon. 

“Come on, don’t be a scaredy cat. Say hello to the nice lady,” Harry told her encouragingly, grinning all the while at how cute she was. 

Taking pity on Astrid, Kara came to her and, putting her hands on her shoulders, she knelt on the sand in front of her and turned her so that they were face to face. 

“Astrid, remember the promise you made just before we arrived here?”

“...Yes.”

“What did you promise?”

“...That I will do my best,” Astrid mumbled. 

Kara cupped her small face in her hands and caressed her cheeks gently. 

“That’s right. Before you can go to school, you first have to do your best here. Your powers are amazing, but they can also be dangerous for most people. That’s why you need to learn how to control your strength so that you don’t hurt someone by accident.”

“I know...But I don’t want to be alone.”

“You won’t be alone. I will stay here with you.”

“You will??” Astrid suddenly perked up. “But what will happen to your work?”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head. I took three days off from work so I could stay and watch over you. We’re going to train together!”

“Together? You’ll stay with me all the time?”

“Of course! And when we’re finished with the training, we’ll go see Daddy every day in the evening. How does that sound?”

Astrid nodded energetically. 

“Well then, how about you introduce yourself properly to Artemis?”

The little girl walked close to Artemis and said:

“Hello, my name is Astrid. Nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Artemis said, taking her little hand in a strong handshake. “Impressive handshake. You’re going to make a fine Amazon, I’m sure of it.”

Once they were done greeting each other, the Amazons led their guests to a straw parasol that they had set up beforehand to protect themselves from the sun. There was also a table, a few chairs, and cold, fresh water. 

“Where will you live while you’re searching for the medicinal plants that you need?” Wonder Woman asked curiously. 

“I brought a tent with me.”

“Are you going to be alright living in a tent?” 

“Hm, it’s better if I showed you instead.”

He took out his wand and flicked it at Power Girl’s backpack. A packed-up tent came out of it and unfurled itself before also setting itself up on the beach. 

Diana and Artemis looked at him unsure of how to react. The tent was so small that it looked like a child’s toy tent. 

“Go on, just take a peek inside,” Kara said, feeling giddy at the anticipation of seeing their reaction. 

She was not disappointed. Artemis and Diana both exclaimed in wonder when they looked inside the small tent. A space-extension charm had made it possible for an entire apartment to fit inside. 

Hippolyta’s eyes widened too when she saw Diana, Artemis, Astrid, and Kara entering the tent one after another. It was physically impossible to fit all four of them inside that tent. Unable to hold in her curiosity, she walked to the tent to take a look inside too. 


⁂


While the girls were exploring the tent’s interior, Hippolyta came back out to Harry. 

“I wish to talk to you. Could you make it so that our conversation stays private?”

“Sure.” 

Once he cast a Silencing Charm around them, Hippolyta asked in a serious voice:

“Who are you, exactly?”

Harry took a seat on a chair and leaned against the backrest. 

“Is that why you allowed me to set foot on the island? To interrogate me?”

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. 

“I wouldn’t dare,” Hippolyta spoke in a tone that was neither servile nor demanding. 

In the eyes of an ordinary person, she would appear no different than usual, but Harry could tell that she was tense. Being a master of the mind arts meant being skilled at not only magically reading’ one’s mind but also being capable of reading and interpreting one’s facial expressions and mannerisms. 

“On the day you restored New York City, despite being thousands of kilometres away, I sensed your magic… That was not the power of a human. It was more like that power of-”

“I’m not a god, your Majesty,” Harry said lightly. “If I were a god, I could just miraculously heal my arm without having to travel here and spend who knows how many days or weeks searching for magical plants to brew a potion.”

“Yet you are not a human either. The Gods… they gave me an Oracle.”

Harry hummed in thought for a moment. 

“The Olympian gods? What did they say?”

“They spoke of the one who walks with Death at his side. They spoke of destiny and-”

“Ah, that’s enough please,” Harry stopped her before she could finish when he heard the word destiny. “I don’t need to hear yet another prophecy.”

It was rather rude to interrupt a queen mid-speech, but Hippolyta didn’t put on any airs. 

“If you’re worried about your daughter, don’t be,” Harry told her directly. “Diana has been nothing but helpful to me ever since we met. Even when Superman asked me to leave the Justice League, she defended me. She is a good friend, I would never hurt her.”

Once he said those words, it was visible how Hippolyta’s expression changed; it was as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders. 

“Do I have your word?”

“You have my word,” Harry said, and Hippolyta revealed a look of surprise when she sensed a spell weaving between the two of them. 

With her most pressing worry taken care of, the Queen of the Amazons directed the conversation to more pleasant subjects. 

A few minutes later, the girls came out of the tent, and Harry cancelled that Silencing Charm that he had previously cast around them. 

Knowing that she was going to be away from her ‘father’ for quite some time from then on, Astrid flew straight to Harry when she came out of the tent and sat down in his lap. It was as if she was trying to get her fill of his presence for when they would be apart.

“Harry, how about you take Astrid with you and go for a swim?” Kara suggested. 

Astrid looked at Kara, then at Harry, and then at Wonder Woman. She may have been very young, but she was far more perceptive than Kara was giving her credit for. 

“Swimming! Swimming! Come, papa, let’s go!” she grabbed Harry by the hand and pulled him. 

Harry chuckled as the little Kryptonian girl dragged him after her, her strength leaving him no chance to refuse. 

Astrid let out a squeal of surprise as Harry suddenly brought her to his chest and flew together with her before plunging head-first into the seawater. 

“Papa!” she yelled. “Ah! I’ll get you back for this!!”

Fortunately, Harry had cast a Bubble-Head Charm on her right before they hit the water, so there was no danger of drowning for her. 

“Heh, really?” Harry smirked, and Astrid’s eyes became as wide as saucers when she saw Harry transfiguring his feet to look like those of a duck. “Catch me if you can!” 

“Using magic is not fair!” she yelled after him when she saw him casting a spell that propelled him away at a great speed. 

While Harry and Astrid started playing an impromptu game of tag underwater, the atmosphere was far more sombre and serious on the beach as Power Girl started recounting to Wonder Woman the events that had transpired during her absence from the Justice League. 

Hearing that Captain Atom and Rocket Red died and that the rest just narrowly avoided the same fate shocked her. She could no longer stay still. Not even an hour after Harry and Power Girl’s arrival in Themyscira, Diana changed into her Wonder Woman outfit, strapped the Lasso of Truth to her waist, put on her golden tiara and kindly asked Harry to give her a Portkey that would teleport her to the Watchtower. 


⁂


Back in the United States, although four days had already passed since Cadmus tried to annihilate the Justice League, the construction crew that had been hired to clean out the debris from the demolished parts of the facility and fix up the damage was not even close to finishing their work. 

Emissary’s battle with the Doomsday bio weapon had caused too much destruction. Truth be told, the damage was so extensive that if it were not for the fact that the CIA wanted to salvage the remains of the research and the results of the experiments done by Cadmus, they would not have bothered with trying to fix up the facility. 

This particular construction crew was made up of special individuals who worked directly for the CIA, so its members were no strangers to cleaning up the mess left by the secret services’ shady operations, but even then, they had never seen such atrocities before. 

They didn’t find only the corpses of deformed animals created as a result of splicing, but undeniable proof of human experiments too. Grotesque humanoid monsters, chimaeras, people with animal limbs… and even the remains of children. 

“Boss, we finally found it. Over,” one of the crew’s team leaders spoke into his radio device.

He was talking about a huge humanoid monster with grey skin covered in bone spikes and chips like armour. It was none other than Cadmus’ Doomsday weapon, the creature that they had engineered for the sake of killing the Justice League. Unfortunately for Cadmus, the creature met its demise before it even had the chance to face the Justice League. 

“What’s the status? Over.”

“No vital signs detected, but, other than two charred holes in its forehead, the body appears to be in perfect condition. There are no other injuries. Over.”

"Hm, it's a shame that it’s dead. Well, load it and bring it up. The higher-ups will decide what to do with it. Over and out.”

“Understood. Over and out.”

However, just as the team leader terminated his conversation, the fingers on Doomsday’s right hand twitched. The rest of the crew didn’t notice it, but the team leader did. 

“Everyone! Get away from the monster ASAP! Team 2, bring the electric nets! Team 6, ready your tranq rifles!”

Like a well-oiled machine, it took less than half a minute for the members of Team 2 to get their electric nets and throw them on top of the monster. 

A powerful electric current zapped the creature so badly that its entire body shook and convulsed uncontrollably. Team 6 readied their tranquillizing rifles and got into position too. 

“Fire!” the team leader ordered, and over a dozen kryptonite-tipped darts sank into Doomsday’s skin, flooding his system with the sedative drugs. 

Alas, their efforts amounted to nothing. The previously dead creature rolled around and sat up on its hands and knees. Then, it stood up to its feet. 

A savage roar shook the ruined facility, petrifying the construction crew from shock and terror.    

Doomsday was alive once more.