[Emissary] Chapter 11 - Crisis on Two Earths (Patreon)

AN: I have edited the chapter to add a pic of Power Girl flying with her hands behind her back. It's official, canon art btw. And it's gorgeous.

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Chapter 11 - Crisis on Two Earths

[Lost Magic: Arc of Time]

As Harry spoke that incantation, a blue magic circle appeared above his head. The dark sphere encasing him thinned out as more of the power that he had borrowed from Death was sucked into the spell, and the magic circle rapidly expanded, growing to an immense size within seconds.

Seeing as the journalists and the rest of the mass-media crews were over 10 kilometres away from Harry, their cameras couldn’t film him; he was too far away. Nevertheless, the scene they could see with their own eyes was no less fantastic.

People all around the world watched in disbelief how the entire apartment buildings and skyscrapers that had been demolished were miraculously restored, cracked streets were repaired, burned and exploded cars became as good as new, and even the trees, lakes, and vegetation of Central Park were restored to the state they had been before the catastrophe.

It was like a scene out of a movie; it was like watching a video in reverse.

The journalists couldn’t film that, but even the hundreds-metre-wide crater was filled back, and the Empire State Building that had been completely obliterated seemed to reappear out of thin air. The sewage system under the city was also restored alongside the subway and the harbour.

It was as if New York’s time was reversed by two weeks. The people and animals who had lost their lives couldn’t be brought back by the spell, but buildings, cars, streets, and trees—everything else—had been fixed. It was a miracle that no one would ever be able to forget for as long as they lived. It was like the power of a god. (1)

⁂

As the spell came to an end, Harry let out a sigh and flew down, landing on the Empire State Building’s 103rd floor.

He sat on the knee-high rail surrounding the floor, letting his legs dangle outside. The dizzying height and the powerful winds blowing would make most people feel faint in the heart and turn their legs to jelly, but Harry had never had that issue. From a frail age, he had been flying on racing brooms at breakneck speeds. He was in his element standing at such a height in the sky.

Not long after he sat down, the sound of a cape fluttering in the wind was heard, and Power Girl landed next to him.

“You look like you’ve run a marathon,” she said as she sat down and let her legs dangle over the edge, just like him.

“I’ve never cast this particular spell on such a large scale before. It took a lot out of me.”

“So you’ve cast other spells on a similar scale?”

“A few times, yes.”

A momentary silence was instilled.

“What you did today was incredible,” Kara said as she glanced at the magnificent city below.

As Harry only gave a noncommittal hm, she looked at him searchingly.

“You look like you want to ask something. Don’t worry about my feelings getting hurt, shoot," he said, making her laugh. 

“Yes… when you said that chant, someone… something appeared.”

“Did you not leave the area as I have asked?”

“I did, sheesh, don’t get mad now. But you’re underestimating a Kryptonian’s superhearing,” Power Girl said.

“So you admit you’re a Kryptonian when it suits you and deny being one when it doesn’t. How convenient!” he snickered softly.

She scrunched her nose in annoyance, but she couldn’t find anything to retort to that.

“Anyway. Back to what I was saying-”

“Changing the subject, I see. How smooth of you.”

She glared at him for cutting her off.

“Whoa, easy there! Don’t glare too hard at me, or you might fire a hole through my head.”

“Listen to what I have to sayyyy!”

Harry laughed at her whining, but he did raise his hands in surrender.

“Okay, I’m all ears.”

“Finally! As I was saying, I was out of the affected perimeter, but my superhearing caught what you said… I also tried to see with my X-ray, but it couldn’t penetrate the sphere of wraiths that covered you.”

All amusement disappeared from Harry’s face when he heard what she said, and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, her superhearing having caught the sudden rise in his blood pressure.

“You have no idea how close you were to dying,” he said.

“You’re kidding!”

At his dead serious face, she stopped joking too.

“You’re being serious…”

For a moment, they were both silent. But Power Girl couldn’t contain her curiosity for much longer.

“The being that you summoned. Who was it?” she asked.

“You said you heard my chant, didn’t you?”

“...You mean to say that was death? Like, the actual Death, the Grim Reaper?”

“Yes,” Harry replied and turned his face away from her, his eyes glancing at the city spreading below his feet.

Bathed in the red and golden rays coming from the setting sun, “the city that never sleeps” looked eerily beautiful in its deathly silence that evening. There was no sound of cars, no crowds, no birds, no airplanes, and no other living thing except for the two of them. It was like a ghost city.

“Mortals aren’t allowed to see Death until their lives come to an end. Death very rarely makes exceptions,” Harry explained. “That’s also one of the reasons why I can’t allow Martian Manhunter to peek into my mind. Those who see Death before their time will have their souls reaped.”

“Wow... that’s heavy.” She didn’t know what else to say.

“I guess dinner is out of question tonight?” he asked jokingly.

She didn’t comment on the abrupt way he changed the subject. Instead, she flew in front of him to force him to look at her and put her hands on her waist.

“Don’t even try to weasel your way out of this, Mister!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said, smiling.

“How about we head out right now? It looks like we have company.”

Just as she said, dozens of drones could be seen flying through the skies, filming the restored city from above. She could even hear the sound of a few helicopters approaching.

“Do you have a place in mind?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. Let’s head to Metropolis,” she said and flew away.

“I could teleport us there.”

“It’s fine, let’s just fly. It’s not that far away. Race you there, Grandpa?” Power Girl said teasingly.

“Give this old man a break, I’m drained.”

He wasn’t even kidding; despite the fact that he had borrowed Death’s strength, it had still taken a toll on his stamina too. The spell he had cast this time was too large, covering nearly 100 square kilometres.

While Harry was flying at his maximum speed (in his non-wraith form), as if to further make fun of him, Kara started flying with her back, all the while holding her hands clasped behind her head.

Harry may have been old mentally, but his physical body was that of a healthy male in its prime. Kara smirked when she noticed his eyes giving her an appreciative once-over, momentarily pausing on her bare thick thighs and then on her boob window too.

“Hey! My eyes are up here!”

“I was getting there. I always like to save the best for last.”

Power Girl found herself giggling at his witty and flirty retort. She became certain at that moment: they were going to have so much fun tonight!

⁂

One hour into their dinner date, Kara was happy to see that her expectations had not been betrayed.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, just where did you learn all this stuff?” she asked as she watched him order a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to go with the ratatouille they were about to eat.

“I don’t look the part, do I?” Harry said, chuckling softly. “Honestly, growing up, I never cared for such things. Even as an adult, I spent the better part of two decades on the battlefield. But then, I married a French girl. And a few hundred years later, a very sophisticated English woman.”

“Here you are, having dinner with a gorgeous lady like me, yet you’re bringing up your ex-wives.”

“You asked, I answered,” he said easily, never losing his smile.

She rested her chin on her palm and pouted as she looked at him.

“Do you ever get flustered? I sometimes wonder if I’m talking to a robot.”

“Is that why you’re so flirty all the time? Trying to get a reaction out of me?” He laughed. “I’m a few hundred years too old to start blushing like a teenager, don’t you think?”

Their conversation momentarily paused as the waiter came to refill their glasses of wine.

“You said you spent decades on the battlefield. Was it early in your life? Like, was it during the Middle Ages?” she asked once the waiter left. She was filled with curiosity about him.

“Nope. I was born in 1980.”

“Either you’re lying about your birth date or your age because this doesn’t make any sense.”

“I’ve never lied to you, Kara. Not even once,” he said, smiling as he looked her in the eyes.

“Then how do you explain it?”

“It might not be the best place to talk about it. Too many ears around.”

“Cast one of your spells, like you did earlier today.”

“I can’t do that. My magic and electricity don’t mix… …wait, this might work. As drained as I am now, my spells shouldn’t cause an issue now.”

He cast a Muffliato charm on their table. Much to his relief, nothing blew up this time around.

“Did it work?”

“Yes, it did. To answer your question, I’m from a parallel Earth.”

She laughed, finding his words funny.

“I’m being serious.”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me,” she said, still giggling, thinking that his ability to keep a straight face while spouting such bullshit was hilarious.

Harry didn’t insist. Instead, he changed the subject.

“What about you? What made you want to start a company? Why did you get into business?”

She took a sip from her glass of wine and a few bites from her ratatouille before answering:

“Some days, like today, I am as strong, as fast, and as tough as Superman. But other days I can’t even lift a car or fly, and I become vulnerable to bullets. I can’t rely on these powers… …I can’t be a member of the Justice League anymore.”

Despite her words, Kara didn’t seem to be distraught.

“But then I asked myself: Is punching villains the only thing I can do to make the world a better place?”

“Why do you want to make the world a better place? What is your motivation?” Harry asked, genuinely curious. It was rare that he got to have such a deep and serious conversation with Power Girl, who was usually joking and messing around.

“I told you that my memories are a mess, right? I don’t know whether I’m from Krypton, from Atlantis, or from a parallel Earth; you seem to think they are real, but I don’t know what to believe… But there is one thing I know: I am Karen Starr as much as I am Kara Zor-L. Whether I am from Krypton or from Atlantis, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the present. And in the present, I live on Earth, among humans. Earth is my home. I want to protect and take care of my new home.”

“I may not be able to help people as Power Girl, but I can still help make the world a better place as Karren Starr. I’m well-educated in computer science, physics, and chemistry. I can help the Earth with my knowledge too, not just with my brawn. Besides, not all problems can be punched away. Some things require a different approach.”

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It was a warm summer night. Having cleaned himself up, donned a nice suit, and charmed his messy hair into a half-decent hairstyle, Harry looked rather presentable if he were to say so himself. Nevertheless, most of the passers-by barely noticed his presence due to his partner.

Kara Zor-L, or, as she called herself in her civilian identity, Karen Starr, turned everyone’s heads on the street. She was dressed to impress, and, not unlike her hero suit, she had no qualms about showing her skin: her long white halter dress had a generous cleavage and left her back entirely exposed. And that wasn’t all; the slit in her dress revealed a long, smooth, and athletic leg every time she walked, her silvery high heels making her strong calves stand out even more.

Fleur and Bellatrix weren’t lacking in beauty compared to Kara in the least, but Harry had never seen them wear such revealing clothes in public.

Kara was just unapologetically hot, and she never shied away from showing it.

Desiring a more intimate ambience, Kara grabbed Harry’s hand and strayed away from the main boulevard, taking on a secluded alley. She was about to let go of his hand, but Harry squeezed it a bit and held it, making her smile.

“I had a great time today, Harry,” she said, giving him a coy look.

“Pretending to be shy doesn’t suit you,” he said teasingly and laughed, only for his chuckles to turn into a yowl of pain as she suddenly squeezed his fingers in her hand, reminding him of the fact that she was powerful enough to crush steel.

“If I were you, I’d choose my words more carefully.”

“You forget that I’m a wizard and that you’re not immune to magic,” Harry said threateningly and fired a light Stinging Hex to her thigh, making her yelp and almost miss a step.

Faster than Harry could react, Kara grabbed him by the lapels of his suit jacket and sped with him until his back hit the trunk of an oak tree.

“What- mmph!”

She muffled his words as she covered his mouth with hers, pressing her glossy lips against his.

Even with her super strength immobilising him, a simple mental Revulsion Jinx (Relashio) would have been enough to free him from her grasp and throw her away from him.

But Harry didn’t fight against her kiss. Instead, he embraced her to his chest, one of his hands stopping on her exposed, strong back and the other coming to the back of her neck, gently pressing her deeper against him.

‘It’s been so long,’ Harry thought as he closed his eyes and tilted his head, deepening their kiss.

He had not been with anyone else since Bellatrix passed away in his third lifetime. He hadn’t felt the warmth and softness of a woman in a very long time. Ever since he died on Earthland the first time, he had devoted himself with a single-minded determination to getting strong and escaping from Death’s contract as soon as possible.

He had not allowed himself to get close to others and forge bonds with them because he knew he was going to be gone soon. At best, they would die after a few decades, and he would have to bury them again, just like with Fleur and Bella before.

As that thought came to his mind, Harry broke the kiss and gently pushed Kara away.

At first, she thought that he merely stopped in order to catch his breath, so she was genuinely confused when he gently pushed her away.

“I’m sorry, Kara,” he said. “I don’t know what came over me.”

Was it because of his fragile mental state after Death killed him and extended his slave contract? Or was it because he had neglected his needs as a human for love and intimacy for so long? Harry did not know for sure, but he didn’t care about finding an answer either because there was one thing he knew for sure:

‘If I fall in love with someone again, Death will make use of them to lengthen my contract.’

“What do you mean? I’m the one who kissed you, not the other way around,” Kara said, confused by his words.

“You’re a great girl. No, you’re brilliant. But I can’t afford to fall for you… ...or anyone else for that matter.”

Harry was a very self-aware individual. He knew that he was loyal and loving to a fault. If the situation called for it, he was the type of man who would not hesitate to trade his life for the sake of the people he loved, even despite the fact that his contract with Death would lengthen.

He didn’t want to give Death another way to exploit him by creating a situation where he would trade his life for the sake of Kara.

He knew it himself how paranoid his thoughts sounded, but after Death used a freaking meteorite to kill him, he wasn’t putting anything past them.

Power Girl looked lost. She didn’t understand what was going on.

“Was I too forward? We could take it slower if that’s what you want. I just thought we had great chemistry. I can tell…”

She wanted to say that she could feel that he was attracted to her too. They were adults; they liked each other, so there was no need to beat around the bush.

Alas, unexpectedly, before she could finish her words, a blue light engulfed Harry’s body and he was whisked away.

Kara was stupefied as she looked at the spot where her date had been until a second ago.

“Did I just get ditched on our first date?”

Not caring about the luxurious white dress that she was wearing, Power Girl plopped herself down on a patch of grass and rested her back against the trunk of the tree.

It was her first date since she had come to Earth… and it turned out to be a disaster. She didn’t even know what exactly had gone wrong because everything had gone perfectly until then. She was sad and disappointed, but, more than anything, she was confused.

‘He said he used to be married… Is it because he can’t get over his ex-wife? Is he feeling guilty?’ she thought, trying to make sense of the situation. ‘But if that were the case, why would he agree to go on a date with me?’

She rested her head against the tree trunk and blew out a long sigh.

Before she could further wallow in her misery, a meow was heard from the tree branches above her. Looking up with her X-ray vision, she noticed a cat trying to climb down a tree branch but being too afraid to actually go through with it.

“Good grief,” she shook her head in mild amusement and flew up to rescue the dumb little animal.

It was a one-eyed, blonde-furred tabby cat, quite large and old by the looks of it.

“Jesus, you could use a bath,” Kara said when she picked it up and quickly flew with it down due to how bad it smelled.

The cat surely didn’t understand her words because the moment she put it down, it started purring loudly and rubbing itself against her legs.

“Shoo, go away, Stinky,” she said, trying to chase it away.

“Meow!”

As the saying goes, you don’t choose the cat; the cat chooses you. Power Girl sat down on the grass again, and, despite its terrible smell, she let the stinky cat climb on her lap.

“Alone and unwanted… Maybe we’re not that different after all,” Kara muttered as she slowly started stroking the cat’s fur, running her fingers down its back.

⁂

Had Power Girl taken the time to think about the way Harry had disappeared, she would have realised the strangeness of the situation. After all, he had never glowed with a blue light whenever he had teleported in the past. It wasn’t an effect of his Disapparation or Portkey travel.

When the teleportation process ended, Harry found himself inside the Watchtower in front of Batman, who was bleeding and appeared to be gravely injured. Seeing the blood smeared on the beacon that he had given to Superman earlier that day, Harry understood that the Man of Steel must have handed it to Batman and that Batman had summoned him.

Harry didn’t ask Batman what was going on. Clearly, with him that injured and with the monitor room all wrecked, he could tell that there were intruders.

Instead, he instantly cast his Mana Barrier, an invisible protective membrane that stuck to his body like a second skin. Then, he also cast a powerful Shielding Charm around himself and Batman.

And it was just in the nick of time because, in the next moment, his spherical Shielding Charm rippled like the waves of a lake when a fat man slammed his fist into it.

“Don’t hold back for the sake of the equipment. Cast your spells at your full power,” Batman advised him as he tried to stand up from the floor by leaning on the computer’s board.

“What are you doing? Kill him already!” a woman shouted, and a second, bearded man flew at Harry and punched his Shielding Charm with all his might.

The shield cracked like glass under the two men’s assault, and Harry was forced to Disapparate, teleporting himself behind their backs.

‘Petrificus Totalus.’

‘Stupefy.’

He cast the two spells nonverbally, simultaneously, one from the wand in his left hand and the other from his right hand.

Much to Harry’s stupor, however, the spells didn’t have any effect. The fat and white-haired old man turned around faster than one would expect from someone with his body and threw a spinning back fist, smashing into Harry’s face and slamming him violently into the wall.

Despite his grievous injuries, Batman forced himself to throw two exploding batarangs at the two villains.

Despite each explosion being almost as powerful as a hand grenade, the two men were completely unharmed. Their black and yellow costumes were unscathed, too.

Nevertheless, those two seconds that Batman had bought for him were all the time that Harry needed to recollect himself.

Luckily, the Mana Barrier that he had cast on himself saved him from harm; without it, the fat old man’s back fist would have definitely broken his jaw if not outright killed him on the spot.

‘These guys are resistant to magic.’ (2)

It reminded him of the Giants and Half-Giants from his homeworld. The Dragonslayers from his 4th life were similar in that regard too.

Harry didn’t have the leisure to think in peace for long because the woman who seemed to be bossing around the two men, flew at him with her fist cocked back, intent on taking his head off.

She was so fast that she appeared like a blur in his eyes. If not for his reflexes and battle instincts that he had honed over centuries of battles, he wouldn’t have had time to react. Just before Superwoman’s punch could smash his head into a gory paste, Harry’s entire body turned into smoke, taking on the appearance of a wraith and becoming intangible.

In his state of intangibility, Harry flew through her and materialised at her back before casting a nonverbal Portus Charm on her clothing.

The two men could only watch in shock as their mistress vanished in front of their eyes.

With a scream of anger, they flew at Harry like a blur, gnashing their teeth as if they were going to rip him off.

But Harry quickly teleported to the other side of the room and brought the Elder Wand to the side of his waist. Drawing his wand out as if he were unsheathing a sword, Harry shouted as he poured a large part of his (mostly depleted) magic into the spell:

“Dao!”

In the next moment, Batman watched with wide eyes how the two Made Men were slammed brutally into the wall behind them, and a deep, horizontal gash was carved across their chests and arms, making them bleed profusely.

Little did Batman know that if Harry had not been drained from the large-scale spell he had cast earlier that day, his Dao Spell might have sliced the two men’s bodies in half and split open the Watchtower's outer wall too...

Alas, unleashing such a strong spell inside the Watchtower didn’t come without consequences: all the lights in the monitor room were fried, and the supercomputer exploded too.

“Don’t worry about it. Good job taking those guys down. There is one more of them collapsed in the hallway. I took him out with anaesthesic gas but I don’t know for how long he’ll stay unconscious. Can you immobilize him?”

“Okay,” Harry nodded and went into the hallway. He found the black and yellow-clad young man right away, he was sleeping soundly.

Chains thicker than a grown man’s arms were conjured from his wand and coiled around the Made Man’s body like a living snake, tying him up tightly.

“You think you can go after the woman too?” Batman asked, groaning as a pang appeared in his chest when he moved.

“I will. But let me take a look at you first,” Harry said.

“No, I’m fine. I’ll survive. Go after her first.”

Harry just sighed as he kneeled next to him and used his wand to slice open Batman’s combat suit like paper.

“We don’t have time for this. She is-”

“I teleported her into the Sahara Desert. It’s okay to leave her be for two minutes. Now stay still and stop complaining.”

He traced the tip of his Elder Wand over the three long, bleeding gashes on Batman’s side, a wound that the woman must’ve made with her nails. Once the flesh wound closed up, Harry cast a Diagnosis Charm in order to understand the degree of internal damage that he had suffered.

“You have three broken ribs. This might hurt a bit. It will be a short burst of pain,” Harry explained before pressing the tip of his wand on the broken rib and casting the Bone-Mending Charm.

Batman only let out the slightest of grunts as Harry healed his three broken ribs.

“Thanks,” Batman said quietly.

“You’re welcome.”

“Before you go, be careful with that woman. She’s as strong as Wonder Woman but more cruel and vicious. Don’t underestimate her. Don’t hold back, or she’ll kill you,” Batman warned him.

Harry just gave him a two-finger salute before Disapparating.

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AN:

(1) The [Arc of Time] from Fairy Tail is perfectly capable of doing that and even more; those of you who are familiar with Fairy Tail know what I’m talking about. The only difference is the scale on which Harry has done it.

(2) From the animated movie “Crisis on Two Earths”. These are ‘Made Men’. Basically, think of them as lesser copies of Shazam. Shazam is a hero who was gifted with the lightning powers of Zeus, the Courage of Achilles, the Speed of Mercury, the Stamina of Atlas, and the Wisdom of Solomon. He is one of the strongest heroes in DC, often thought to be on par with Superman. As his powers are of a magical nature, he shows a degree of resistance (not immunity) to magic.