Son of The Savage (A DC Si)

[Saintbarbido]

Chapter 1: Son of the Savage

More than 10 chapters on Patreon.com/Saintbarbido.

::---------------------------------------------::

This is a COMMISSIONED work.

It will NOT interfere with Spider-Man X release schedule.

::----------------------------::
Chapter 1: Reborn as the Son of a Savage.
-0-
(Angel's P.O.V)
I was born weak.
Of body, of mind.
But never of spirit.
Despite being stuck in a bed with issues ranging from a rare form of bone cancer, diabetes to a speech impediment, I was eager to live.

One might even say I was hungry for life.
But no one else seemed to share the same opinion.

My father was rich and once it became clear that I was always going to be a burden, he had me carted off to an hospice where I lived the remainder of my short and painful existence.
But even then, there were highlights to be found.
For one, with no family or friends to talk to, I fell in love with watching anime, reading manga and basically devouring every bit of Isekai fantasy I came across.

I needed the escape to momentarily forget my agonizing life. And media provided that.

I especially loved anime. One of my favorites being a show called My Hero Academia.

I could relate with most of the characters as they were my age. I especially loved Todoroki. Like me, his father was distant and harsh toward him.

And his quirk ability was something else entirely.
The ability to create and manipulate fire and ice was no joke. And I usually played around with scenarios of what I would do if I had a powerful quirk like that.
If I had any quirk at all...
That said, my health started to decline once I hit my 20s.
By then I had lived in perpetual pain all my life.
And more than once, I had thought of deleting myself. But I stubbornly held on because that's what the characters I idolized would have done.

Plus Ultra and all that shit.
Maybe I thought that at the end of my cruel joke of a life, a reward was waiting for me.

That perhaps my Father would have a change of heart and come see me before I inevitably died.

That didn't happen.
And in a particularly cold winter night, just a few days away from celebrating my 21st birthday, my life ended.

I was alone.
(General P.O.V)
Standing on the balcony of a stately mansion was a tall man.
Vandal Savage.

A legend. A myth.
Shaping humanity for tens of thousands of years like he had, brought about a feeling of obligation.
A responsibility to carry on the will of man into an uncertain future.
And throughout his existence, he had done many great deeds across history. Some were good, most were terrible but nonetheless great things.

But tonight...was special.
Tonight was the night of the Red Moon. And a prophecy that was given to him thousands of years ago was about to be fulfilled.

The birth of his successor.
"Father, I don't mean to intrude but the child has been born."

A white haired brown skinned woman spoke from his back.
Vandal turned around, side burns framing his stony face and eyes that carried unspoken amounts of wisdom falling onto the woman.

"Lead the way."

A deep voice left the Immortal.

Olympia- one of his many daughters- bowed in reverence before turning around and walking back into the huge mansion.

The recent snow scrunched under their feet, until they entered a luxurious and spacious bedroom.

There was a large bed in the middle of the chamber. And on the bed lay a a black haired woman with skin the color if chocolate covered in sweat.

Next to her was a small bundle, sleeping peacefully beside the mother.
And surrounding the bed were 2 nurses and a short man dressed in a green half coat, a white shirt with sleeves folded to the elbows and large rimmed glasses.
Upon noticing Vandal's arrival, the short man perked up.

"Mr. Savage. The delivery was successful. You are now the proud father of a healthy baby boy."

"Thank you Professor Ivo."
Savage nodded at the man.
The short man preened at the praise.
"It was no big deal. The DNA reader has successfully intergrated inyo his body as well."
Ivo said, adjusting his glasses.

"With it, he will be able to efficiently use his regenerative capabilities gained from your meta-gene. That is, if the DNA coding was successful."

In a bid to ensure a worthy heir, Savage had influenced his son's DNA sequence to gain the same ability that made him who he was.

His son like him, would be an immortal. But that was not all.
"What about the gifts from his mother's side?"
The Immortal asked, to which Ivo scratched his chin while frowning at a data pad in his hands.
"The mother's homo magi gene is present in the child but with no way to detect magic- I cannot say for certain if he will ever have her powers over the mystic arts."
Too bad. But not unexpected.
Vandal hummed, stepping closer to the bed.
"I would like to hold my son."
One of the nurses carefully picked up the bundle next to the sleeping woman and handed it to Savage.
Vandal looked down and was met with a powerful and curious gaze.
The child, not even a day old was staring up at him with something akin to intelligence.
It slightly surprised the Immortal, making him blink in thought as he held his own flesh and blood.
Vandal had had many children across the years but none were quite like his youngest one.

From that initial eye contact, it was clear the child was not normal. And not normal was good.

In fact it was very good. It meant potential.
But potential alone was not enough. The boy would need time to grow and learn.
Nothing would be handed to him. Just like nothing was handed to Savage.
"Olympia."
He called and his daughter obediently stepped up.

"Raise him."

He commanded. To which Olympia looked at the mother in question.
"What about his mother?"

Faster than she could see, Savage's sword had left it's sheath and decapitated the head of the woman on the bed.

Blood sprayed out of her exposed neck, dirtying the sheets and painting the wall behind in a gory mess.

"You're It's mother now."
The Immortal said, casually flicking the blood off the blade before sheathing it.
Before their shocked eyes, Savage then proceeded to leave the room.

(Angel's P.O.V)

My second life begun strangely.

For starters, I hadn't expected to live again.

In my past life I was an atheist. I had never really taken to religion as I doubted the existence of God.

I mean if there actually was a God, why would he have allowed me to suffer for 20 years straight?

In any case, whether a God was responsible for me getting reborn or not seemed inconsequential.

The point is I had another chance at life. And this time, I would do my best to live it the way I wanted.

Something that was made both easier and harder on account of my new heritage.

I was the son of one of the most deplorable humans in the world. One of the most intelligent yet primitively brutal humans to ever exist.

I was reborn as the son of Vandal Savage. But to me, he's just dad.

Olympia, my big sister never bothered to hide the identity of my father from me.

Since I could remember, bed time stories were about the exploits of Vandaradg the second, from a mere man in the Bear tribe to Vandal Savage, the shot caller behind the Illuminati, an organization that has existed for thousands of years.

In ancient Egypt, he tangled with Prince Kufu and princess Shayera- two popular heroes known as Hawkman and Hawkwoman.

In 100 bc he was Julius Cesar, building an empire that stretched across Europe and Asia.

In simple terms, my new father was a Great Man.

It was a wonder how in the comics I read he was usually defeated easily. I mean, how do you contend with someone who's been alive since the dawn of civilization?

Olympia never failed to impress on me the expectations on my shoulders as the son of one of the greatest villains in DC.

I was informed that I was being raised and groomed to be his successor.

And to that end, she pushed me to embody all the traits that made Savage who he was.

By 9 months I was already able to stand and walk on my two feet.

By 2 years I had regained enough dexterity that I could write and read. At this time, I poured through middle school material- devouring all the knowledge accessible to me.

By 3, I was well on my way to starting high school grade material. This was also the time Olympia begun to add physical exercises like stretching in my routine.

She also begun to get into more in depth analysis of my father's exploits- specifically talking about the themes of life and death.

And the wherewithal of those in power to dictate both edicts according to their whims.

I was told I was chosen. Just like my father had been.

And in a way it felt true. In my last life, I was nothing special but in this one, I was the son of a Conquerer.

And thus was meant to conquer as well.

And this became apparent once I hit my 4th birthday and awakened my abilities.

In the morning of that day, I woke up to something unexpected,

A blue panel hang before my eyes,

{~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~}

[Name: Angel Savage]

[Metagene: N/A]

[Race: Metahuman/homo magi]

[Ability: Pyrokinesis]

: Cryokinesis]

[Equipment: N/A]

{~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~}

 

[RockLake]

If he has pyroknesis, then please make him perfor Sukuna divine flame arrow.

 

[Stormbringer117]

Why would an Immortal, that can not be killed, need a successor?

I mean, it not like Savage is going to retire?

 

[Saintbarbido]

More than 10 advance chapters on Patreon.com/Saintbarbido.
::-------------------------::

Chapter 2: Olympia.​

(Angel P.O.V)

Soon after realizing I had powers, I knew that I had to train them to the furthest heights they could reach.

They were my ticket to getting noticed by my father. And say what you will, but I wanted to impress the man.

Maybe because even then, Olympia had emphasized to me the benefits of being in the graces of the Immortal.

Riches. Women. A purpose.

Not exactly things to promise a toddler but my new family is cool that way.

Coincidentally, it was everything I had lacked in my past life.

And so every night, right after discovering the Interface, I dedicated a few hours to simply trying to access my abilities.

It took a while.

A month passed before I could even sense the strange energy within me.

But once I did, everything became easier.

The energy itself was segregated into two parts of my body. The right side was hot and the left was ice cold.

It wasn't lost to me how similar my abilities were to Todoroki, one of my favorite characters from my last life. And I wasn't ashamed to plagiarize his move sets.

In fact for all intents and purposes, I was determined to train my duo-ability in the same way he did his.

Few people possessed such fine manipulation over their quirks as he did.

If I could get to the level I could use both abilities at the same time then my combat ability would shoot up.

Maybe that would finally show Father how useful I could be. Maybe then he would come by often.

Okay. Let's do it then. I give myself a deadline of 8 years.

Wait, I'm 3 so that would make me 11. Almost a decade to have mastered both Pyrokinesis and Cryokinesis.

I also need to figure out something about this:

[Metagene: N/A]

and this:

[Race: Metahuman/Homo Magi]

I wasn't human. At least not fully. Maybe a quarter? It was obvious the Meta gene came from Vandal Savage.

That would mean my biological mother was a homo-magi. Meaning she was a magician like Zatara and Zatanna.

Homo-magi came in many magical disciplines. If I remember from my dc material, there were those who could use magic indirectly through artefacts and there were those Homo Magi who could use magic directly.

I don't know about the former, but I could easily categorize the Zatara family as the latter.

So if my metahuman gene was yet to awaken, it would mean that my pyro and cryo abilities were a result of my...homo magi bloodline.

But what kind of magus bloodline gave two differing Elemental magics?

Maybe I was thinking too much into it. I needed to master what I had before thinking about my metagene.

The mystery about my mother's bloodline could wait until I was older.

"...and so, Vandal Savage then known as Madukk-"

Olympia trailed off and a second later, the ruler that was in her hand smacked onto my forehead.

"Ow."

I rubbed the spot while glaring at her.

"What did you do that for?"

"You weren't paying attention."

She chided, her lips set in a thin line. She had taken to wearing glasses- making her seem even sterner than she normally was.

"Should I have you write an essay on Father's 1000 BC exploits?"

"Oh god no."

I immediately shook my head. Even for a uber fanboy like me-the deep strategic philosophy involved in father's machinations in the Assyrian army at that time was too much.

"I'll pay attention sis."

Olympia stared at me for 3 seconds, (I knew she hated being called sis) before she went back to her lecture.

Knowing that aggravating her would only lead to more punishment,I did my best to listen.

At least with a half mind. The other half was still on my powers.

It had been a few weeks since I started sensing them. Now the only thing that remained was to call upon the fire and ice.

And tonight, after everyone in the mansion goes to sleep, I was going to get started on that.

-0-

Dinner was great. Lots of meat and chicken. The good stuff.

-0-

As soon as the door to my bedroom closed, I waited for 20 minutes, before ensuring that Olympia was sound asleep on the chair in the hallway.

She usually waited outside my door for an hour or so, reading some books on father's achievements. I could sort of sense her heat signature through the wall.

That was about the only pseudo-ability I had come up with following the weeks I'd had my abilities.

I started it out by slowly moving around the heat mana from my right lung, to my right hand down my hip to my right lung in a cyclical fashion.

At the same time, the cold mana on the right side of my body adopted an automatic reverse motion to the heat mana. The cold energy going down to my hip, up to my left hand, then to my left lung.

Whenever that happened, both energies would converge in the middle of my chest and clash.

As a result, I would release a breath of both hot and cold steam from my mouth.

It was a zen state of heat and icy where I could sense the surrounding temperatures.

Progress was slow because I couldn't project any of the mana out, only manipulate or rather regulate my own temperature.

But...this morning during my practice, I'd managed to create the barest of flames above my hand.

And on the left side of my body, my fingers were encased in a sheet of ice.

It had felt...powerful!

Incredible even.

The only thing that had broken me out of the trance was the morning maid bringing me my breakfast.

Olympia usually joined me in my quarters with the morning plan, so I couldn't exactly keep on practicing.

My abilities were a secret. I would only reveal them to Father after achieving some control.

But after a long day of needed progress, I was finally FREE.

I couldn't wait a second longer after Olympia slept, leaping out of my sheets and onto the floor of my bedroom.

I quietly sneaked towards the balcony doors and silently turned the handle(I had to jump up a few times due to my height but I

managed it), before neatly closing them behind me.

Good. I was out.

My father's estate was spread out before me. A verdant open field perfect for horse riding, surrounded by plots of fruit gardens and plantains.

A few acres on the outskirts was the beginnings of a rain forest that stretched as far as the eye could see.

The whole property was his. And according to Olympia we were somewhere in South America. Oh did I mention that Father also owns like 90% of all drug operations in the world?

He's top of the distribution chain.

Anyway, out here, I wouldn't be disturbed. Out here, I could manifest the true power of Icyhot.

Just like always, I settled into a lotus position, falling into the opposing cycles of both my abilities.

My chest inflated with heat and ice silmuteneosly. And then deflated with a funnel of steam and mist passing through my lips.

The power...was OVERWHELMING.

(General P.O.V)

-Olympia-

Children were supposed to obey their parents.

That was the lesson her mother taught her.

And when she died...her father reinforced that lesson the only way he knew how. Power.

He showed her the heights of his power. The Glory of Savageness. His immense unmatched wisdom. And above all, his brutality.

And Olympia submitted.

She was not forced.

It was not beaten into her.

She just compared him to every other man in history and found them...lacking.

After all, none of them had done what he had.

She was content being under her father's shadow.

What was the point in denying him?

Sure, Olympia had her own dreams and life she wanted to live but her fate was already laid out for her to walk.

And if that wasn't enough, then she would be satisfied with removing him from his pedestal...by raising his successor.

Yes.

To her, Angel would be Savage's greatest success and failure. He would be her resentment made Power.

Which is why, when flames started leaking through her little brother's room and the temperatures were dramatically raised, her first thought was 'Fire' and the second was 'ANGEL!'

She threw the door open and stifled a yowl, only grunting as the flames leaked out and burned her hands.

Uncaring, she ripped off her burning top, leaving her in only her bra.

And despite being 57 years old, limber muscles filled her form- both an effect of training and other enhancements.

It only took a second for Olympia to gauge and gape at the the situation.

Angel's room was covered in both ice and fire. One side was an inferno that had melted the bed, sheets and drawer into a slag of metal and ash.

The other side was a frozen hellscape with ice crystals that not only covered the ceiling and swallowed the chandelier but had burst through the wall sticking out of the side of the mansion.

And through the now enlarged gouge that was the entry into the balcony, she saw Angel- suspended in mid air, his tiny body shrouded in a swirl of both heat and Ice.

And he was screaming in pain.

Olympia grit her teeth, jumping through the door in a bid to save her brother.

"Ange-"

No sooner had she begun to say, when a startled Angel, in response to the yell looked her away.

Unfortunately the fire he was molding got out of his control and a heat flare passed through her, burning her skin, melting her flesh and leaving a blackened skeleton behind.

The flare up was so sudden that the air warped, heat in invisible waves, destroying the walls of the room.

An icy breeze passed through and the skeleton was frozen stiff, before half of it melted.

 

[Saintbarbido]

Chapter 3: No Power Without Control.​

10 advance chapters on Patreon.com/Saintbarbido.
::-------------------------------------------::

(Angel's P.O.V)

At some point I started laughing.

The feeling of power. Of strength coursing through my body was euphoric.

The only thing I can compare it to is blowing a load. Only it doesn't wane.

Wondering what else I could do, I begun melding into the heat cycle before branching off into the cold cycle.

Internally of course.

On the outside, the flame I held above my right hand flared brighter, when I was focused on the cycle of heat, and dimmer, when I focused on the cycle of cold.

Quirks really were wondrous things. And if my abilities were adopting the same principle then it meant I could grow my fire to be hotter and ice to be colder to a terrifying degree.

It was like exercising a muscle.

And the more I meditated, lost in thought, the deeper I sank into it.

"Ange-"

Only for a loud scream to cut through my focus.

And suddenly the haze cleared and I found myself in the middle of a clash of elements.

Half of my room was burning and the other half was frozen solid.

My initial shock unfortunately cost me more than I would have willingly paid that day.

Olympia. My sister. The closest thing I had to a mother in this world...

I killed her.

My powers did that.

I didn't notice the flames on my right side flare up. Nor did I even perceive the cries of the servants as the fire spread out into the rest of the mansion.

-0-

I sat up with a cry, sweat covering my body.

It took a second to calm down my racing heart. Olympia's terrified eyes flashed across my mind.

Letting out a shaky breath, I focused on something else. Like where I was for instance.

A brief look around the room I was in and I realized I had no idea. This wasn't my bedroom. Or any other room I knew in the mansion.

It was spacious with white walls and all sorts of medical equipment and machinery surrounding me.

I had a few tubes affixed to my wrists and I was dressed in a patient's gown while lying down on the bed.

"You're finally up."

A deep voice reached my ears.

Surprised, I looked to the left and standing before an open window, staring out into the city was...

"Father?"

I spoke, struggling to keep the note of hope in my voice.

"You're here."

He was really here. But...

I looked down, suddenly recalling what had happened.

"I...killed Olympia."

Somehow those words struggled to leave my mouth. I felt a lump in my throat and my eyes were beginning to tear up.

"I killed big sister..."

She had been there for me. Despite being cold and distant, it was obvious she had cared about me.

"She was weak."

Father replied.

It took a second to process his word. And then another second to grow angry at his words, the right side of my body- my arm and shoulder, flaring up with fire and burning the gown.

"The weak die."

He added, no emotion in his voice.

"Olympia was family. But that couldn't exempt her from the shackles of weakness. You killed her..."

He stared at me over his shoulder, face impassive, eyes hard and cold.

"That means you're strong."

It was like a bucket of cold water being poured over my head. The flames died down. He was giving his approval...

Of course.

what else was I expecting from him?

He had lived for thousands of years. The number of people he'd lost. Family. Children. Wives. Friends.

To him Olympia was simply a statistic. A face among many.

'She was inconsequential because she died. Proving her own weakness,' That was the gist of what he was saying.

What a cruel way to look at the world.

"Her funeral is tomorrow. Be ready when I arrive."

Savage said, before quietly leaving the room.

No words of comfort to his son. No reprimand for killing his daughter.

For the first time ever, I actually understood the kind of man my father was.

-0-

The hospital I had been taken to was actually...not a hospital at all. It was a lab in a city that I came to learn was Metropolis.

Yes. That METROPOLIS. I was a bit worried that Superman would come crashing through the ceiling or some other plot device but those worries seemed unfounded.

The lab had tight security and was nestled a few miles away from city proper.

There weren't many people about. Just scientists roaming the hallways and Guards that stood outside of every single door in the Floor I was in.

In other matters, my ability to sense the temperature seemed to have grown a bit stronger. My range had increased from a few meters to a few dozen ones.

The question as to why I even needed medical care in the first place was answered by one of those scientists.

Though wearing a green vest with a red tie, large rimmed glasses, a perpetually prideful smirk and just barely over 5 feet, the old man that introduced himself as Ivo, did not look like the other scientists.

Oh, and he also had a monkey on his shoulder.

"You suffered a few burns to the right side of your body. Nothing too bad. Just some second degree burns."

He explained, looking over my body while frowning.

"And yet without possessing your father's metagene...your body started healing on its own."

Okay. That is surprising. Todoroki's quirk couldn't do that.

"Mmmh. Maybe it's an effect of your mother's side of the family."

Ivo mused while rubbing his chin.

"There's so much we don't know about magic."

The monkey on his shoulder chattered.

"Yes yes number 03."

Ivo nodded at it.

"I should at least get a sample of blood. And hair too."

Oh hell no.

"Oi, old man. Aren't you supposed to ask for consent first?"

I raised my brows at him, trying to inject as much sternness I could and failing miserably.

My voice sounded like a kid's! Scratch that, it was a Kid's.

Fortunately, Ivo didn't find it amusing.

"Oh right, sorry little Savage."

The old man appeased, pulling out a lolipop from somewhere and handing it to me.

Candy.

I hadn't had candy since coming to this world. I know, crazy right?

Well, Olympia had emphasized on a mostly healthy diet and meat. Lots and lots of meat.

Paired up with my own childish propensity for sweet things, and you can guess that I wanted the lolipop.

"Damn you old man."

I cursed him out loud, snatching it off his hands.

Ivo smirked at me from beneath the glasses.

I wasn't worried about the DNA samples he wanted from me. For starters, I was curious about my body as well.

And secondly, the fear of them creating clones of me was non-existent. Even if they succeeded, I was my Father's successor, the clones would one way or the other end up in my hands.

Soon after, the old man left, but not without me reminding him to send me the results of his findings.

Ivo was my only visitor that day. And for the rest of it, I was confined to my room up until Father came back the next day.

-0-

While meditating in a lotus position, I heard a loud VOOOOPPP sound as a vortex of golden color manifested right in the middle of the room.

A fire flickered above my hand. There wasn't much I could do with my child body but I wanted to be prepared incase it was an enemy.

Out of the vortex walked Father, holding a strange box like device in his hands.

"It's time. Follow me."

He ordered, before walking back through the vortex.

-0-

The funeral took place behind the mansion which was still a smoldering wreck.

A few of the servants had unfortunately been caught in the fire when my powers got out of control.

Including Olympia, the total number of casualties was 4.

I'd killed 4 people.

Involuntarily, my hands tightened into fists. Seeing the mansion- the symbol of my failure brought out negative feelings from me.

I'd never killed anyone before.

I felt a hand land on my shoulder. Looking up, I met Father's hard eyes.

"Do not disrespect your sister by crying boy."

I held his gaze for a few seconds before clenching my jaws and turning away.

This was my life now.

And if I was to be Vandal Savage's successor then I had to learn to let go.

"Remember this moment."

Father added quietly.

"This is a lesson your sister had to die to teach. Power without CONTROL is no power. It's a weakness."

He was right. I had to get on top of these abilities to ensure nothing like this ever happened again.

Father surprised me by bending down and grabbing a little of the soil on the ground.

Then he sprinkled it above Olympia's coffin.

"Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. Rest well, daughter of mine."

Then we left.

All throughout the ceremony, there were only two people in attendance.

Him and I.

::--------------------------------::

Time skip coming up.

 

[Saintbarbido]

10 advance chapters on Patreon.com/Saintbarbido.

::-------------------------------------------::

Chapter 4: A Father's Love.​

(Angel's P.O.V)
My life took on a drastic change after Olympia's death.

The mansion was obviously unlivable now. So I was relocated to one of Father's other residences.

This one happened to be in Gotham city. Also on the outskirts and close to a swampy area that was on the mansion's back.

The region stireed a long forgotten memory within me but I couldn't for the life of me remember why.

Why Gotham? Well, when I asked my father that, the only answer I received was,

'Because I said so.'
I don't think he likes me that much.
-0-
We stepped out into a wide dining room. The chamber had the same luxurious decor as my last mansion but smaller.

To meet us as we came through the vortex, was a white haired butler with white gloves and 3 maids standing by his side

They bowed as soon as they saw us.
"Welcome Master."
The butler reverently greeted Savage and I.
"Mordecai. Is his room prepared?"
Savage enquired.
"Yes. Everything is as you desired. The young master shall want for nothing."

The butler stated, staring at me with a welcoming smile.
I couldn't help the snort that escaped me. That was one of the fakest smiles I'd ever seen.
"Good."
Savage nodded.
"Feed and bathe him."
And then without a word to me, he turned around and entered the swirling portal which disappeared an instance later.

I was left staring at his empty position, incensed at the blatant disregard.
My stomach chose that time to rumble, announcing to all my hunger. Now that I think about it, the only thing I had had since yesterday was that candy.
I turned to face the staff. My staff now.
"Well, you heard the man. Feed me."
As if reading my mind, the butler and maids stepped aside to reveal the spread of meals on the dining table behind them.

Good. There's lots of meat.
-0-

(General P.O.V)
Savage sat before an ornate desk. There was a glass of liquor in one hand, while on the other he was holding a sheet of paper.

What was written on it was enough to make him frown.
He blinked, looking up from the documents.
"You're back."
A shadow in the corner of the room flactuated and a pale faced man wearing all black emerged from the depths.

"Yes. I found them."
-0-
A few hours later, after a heavy meal and a dip in the bathtub with one of the maids, (I had never been this close before to a mostly naked woman before. Her boobs were squished against my back. It was...enlightening), I went to sleep almost immediately.
The last two days had been mentally draining and all I wanted to do was forget everything and slip into a coma.

Luckily, that night I had no nightmares.

Unluckily, something else did happen.

While rolling around in my new bed, I never felt my body slip through my own shadow.
I fell through it before slamming onto a cold hard ground.
It took a second to realize what had happened. By which point I was blinking groggily at my surroundings.
The only thing apparent was that it was dark.
Wait. There's something behind me.
My whole body froze as fear begun to course through my system
"Get up boy."

Father's gruff voice reached me, sending shivers across my form due to the hard note in his voice.
Without thinking, I pulled on my pyrokinesis, igniting the right side of my body in flames while jumping to my feet.
The light from the fire lit up the chamber and I finally got a clear picture of where I was.

It was a large warehouse that looked mostly abandoned, save for the crates and a few trucks packed closer to the entrance.
A little moonlight pierced through the rafters on the ceiling and the warehouse itself had a small compartment that looked like an office to our back.
Before me was my father. But the calm, collected and cruel man was nowhere to be seen.

Right now he was shirtless, revealing a torso and midsection covered in scars and in his hands, he was holding onto two sharp looking swords.

Usually he carried a short sword strapped to his hips, so seeing him with two was...strange.
It instantly set me on guard. Especially with the murderous expression on his face.
"You cost me a useful and loyal tool."
He begun, still staring at me as if I was a dead man walking.
"Father I-"
"What your sister lacked in power, she made up for it with wit and resourcefulness."
He cut me off.
"Replacing her won't be easy."
He raised the weapons in his hands...and pointed them my way.

"For that, you'll need to be punished."
I took a fearful step back.

He seemed to grimace at the action.

"Use your abilities boy. Or else you will die."

Saying that, my father sprang forward without a single hesitation.

It was so sudden and fast that I found myself scrambling backwards only for my uncoordinated feet to trip on themselves.

Father was nearly before me, the sharp edge of his swird flashing through the air, headed towards my neck.

And it wasn't like those father-son training sessions where the dad would hold back at the last second.

His eyes said it all. He was really going to kill me.

Fearing for my life, I fell back, releasing a wide unfocused blast of fire to my front.

The flames burned a deep yellow, encompassing my entire view in hot temperatures that would have turned anything to ash.

Holy shit. What if I accidentally killed him?

A laugh found itself bubbling out of me.

Only to freeze as the flames parted, sliced apart by a precise sword strike.

"Not hot enough."

And Father jumped through the gap created, his swords still slashing out towards my neck.

My heart felt like it would jump out of my chest in fright. The blades were inching closer and closer my way.

Terror gripped me and I was frozen. The look in his eyes had forcibly rendered me immobile.

At the last minute, the left side of my body grew cold and with a sudden burst of mist, the air before my body froze, propelling an explosion of ice crystals that rapidly grew to the point of bursting through the roof of the warehouse.

Father for all his astonishing speed couldn't dodge fast enough and his sword and hand was instantly encased in ice.

Krackk!!!

Only for the ice to shatter into shards as he tugged his hand free with a simple grunt.

"Wha-"

The word barely left my mouth when I found my right arm in his grip.

Before the burst of fire that would have turned him into ash exploded out of me, pain instantly became my world as Savage twisted my arm behind me.

And snapped it clean at the elbow.

My small body was not equipped to feel such agonizing sensations. A scream riped forth from my throat, only to be silenced by father's knee digging into my belly.

My knees lost strength as I both vomited, piss and shat myself. Bits of half digested meat fell onto the floor below me.

"Pain is a distraction."

Through the haze of pain, I felt his shadow move closer to me.

"Feel it and move on."

Thwack!

His foot snapped out towards my head. Using every iota of will power I had, I released ice into the surroundings.

Moving the flames through my right side sent waves of torment rocking through my nerve endings. So I only had ice as a means to fight.

"Not strong enough."

He muttered the leg smashing through my shield of ice and landing on my chest.

Breath and blood escaped through my lips, and I was sent ragdolling away, almost bouncing on the floor of the building.

Tears and snort covered my entire face as I looked at my father like the beast he was.

Despite not having a good relationship with my previous one, I knew that this wasn't what I had envisioned. This wasn't...right.

I could die here. I could lose my second chance at making something of myself.

"Get up b-"

Which is why before he could finish his statement, I was already staggering up, cradling my limp right hand in my left.

If he was going to hurt me, then I was going to hurt him back.

More.

(General P.O.V)

Savage stopped.

The boy's eyes had changed. Where before there was pure terror, now there was only anger and a manic resolve.

The Immortal almost smiled in approval. The child was only 3 years old but he was finally showing the grit and tenacity of a Savage.

He did well planning Olympia's death. Her demise had served two purposes.

For starters, he knew she had secretly been scheming to take him out and replace him with Angel once he was old enough.

But it was his decision to make when to stand down. And he had killed some of his children for less.

And secondly, through such an early tragedy in life, Savage had ensured that Angel would become the perfect tool.

A weapon fueled by anger and an inclination to violence. A man that could ignore pain and dish back double what he got.
He had broken the boy but in doing so would build him back up into a worthy Successor.

That was his interpretation of a father's love.

::------------------------------::
Long ass time skip coming up.

 

[Saintbarbido]

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::--------------------------------------::

Chapter 5: Fire and Ice.​

(Unknown Warehouse)

(Angel's ACTUAL P. O. V)

FUCK.
I can't move my body. Everything hurts and I'm lying in a puddle of my own blood and waste.

Father left a while ago.
I know there's someone else in the warehouse with me. I can sense the heat they put out. But the presence is dim.

My hand is broken at the elbow and trying to move it feels wrong.
Breathing sends waves of agony through my ribs and it's a wonder that I haven't lost consciousness. Again.

Through swollen eyes, I can see moonlight streaming through the ceiling above. The light is a balm on my broken body.
That bastard kept beating me up until I passed out. When the pain woke me up, I was alone.
'I underestimated you Father. I underestimated your cruelty.'

But I've always known you were a sadistic bastard. To do this to your son though...
I thought the FALSE front I've always projected would keep me safe from you.

I've had my memories ever since I was a day old and saw him mercilessly cut down my birth mother like an animal.
He thought I didn't know...but I did.
Hence the mask I put on was necessary.
It made me appear to be exactly what he wanted me to be:- A desperate child looking for guidance and approval after having lost the single stabilizing force in his life.

But you made a gross miscalculation Father, I'm not one of your lackeys. Maybe it's an effect of being your son, but I won't let you use me.

And I swear...for the hell you put me through, I'll grow stronger than you, tougher than you, even more cruel than you could ever be...

Just so I can make your death as painful as I can.
(Angel's P.O.V)
I dragged my body up to a single knee, cradling my right hand under my chest.
The entire forearm was encased in Ice at least until the broken bone could heal.
Though I wasn't entirely sure about that.
Previously my burnt skin had regenerated but that could have easily been a feature of my pyrokinesis.
This would need time to investigate.
In the meantime, I couldn't stay here. My vision was starting to swim again.

"I know y-you're there."
I addressed the shadows in the corner, through my swollen and split lips.
My tongue felt heavy and tasted of blood.
"Take me back...to my room."
I barely managed to grunt out.

(2 months later)

Fire and ice. Opposites in almost every way.

The question of what was more powerful was an exercise in futility. Yes, yes, I know Fire can melt ice.

But water can also put out fire to some degree.

In any case, I'm not talking about their traditional forms.

I'm talking about the actual Fire and Ice.
Two superheroines from South America (I think) with the same abilities I did.

The only difference was that Fire was a pyrokinetic. And Ice was a Cryokinetic.

And the two of them were going to be my teachers.
Yay.
Yeah. You heard that right.

Two superheros affiliated with the Justice League were going to be instructing the son of one of the worst villains in DC on how to use his powers.

To give context, this is how our first meeting went,
-0-
The location was the same Warehouse Father had used when he broke my hand a couple months ago.

We hadn't seen each other since then but I later found out from Mordecai the butler, that ownership of the Warehouse was handed over to me.

He said and I quote, 'your father is eager to see your development.'

Fake smile and all.
Despite the seemingly innocent present, I knew what placing the Warehouse under me meant.
It was a reminder.
One that was unneeded as my broken hand, which had only just recently healed up- served as a much better one.

Turns out I only had enhanced healing as a result of my abilities. Which meant that while injuries caused by my powers would heal pretty fast, ( I recovered from second degree burns in a single night) that wasn't the case when I sustained damage from outside influences.

My broken hand took the last two months to heal. On another note, I had also turned 5.

"We can't let him threaten us Fire!"

Said Ice, a white haired beautiful woman who I would classify as being in the prime of her womanhood.(seriously, almost every person I had seen in this world was a solid six and above)

"Its not about threats Ice."
Replied her green haired counterpart.
With a brown latina complexion, provocative green costume, Fire looked like she was ripped straight out of a porno.

Her outfit hugged her crazy curves to the point even a kid like me was left salivating at what lay underneath.

The fact I was a virgin in both lifes didn't help matters.
Fortunately, I had built up a tolerance to beautiful women from the regular baths with my maids.

That said, the situation unfolding before me was...weird to say the least.

"Maybe we should contact the League."
Ice proposed, biting her nails in worry.
"They can help us."

She beseeched her friend.

"What's the worst he can do to us if we refuse?"
I almost interrupted from where I sat cross-legged, hidden by Shade's powers.

Defying Father was a monumentally stupid idea.
Fire beat me to it.

"Think Tora."

She told Ice.
"He kidnapped us from our homes. He knows where we live and our identities. If we go to the League, there's no guarantee Savage won't go after us or our families. Let's just do what he wants. It's only teaching a brat."
Tora or Ice rather, scoffed, crossing her hands over her bountiful chest.
"I don't understand why we're trusting a villain. This is bound to bite us in the ass some day."

The Cryokinetic growled.

That's true Ice. That's oh so very true.

Taking that as a cue to reveal myself, I flared my flames a little, dispelling the darkness and undoing the very basic shadow veil above my body-courtesy of my retainer- Shade.

He was a supervillain that worked for my father but just like the Warehouse, had been placed under my purview for a few months now.

With the veil gone, to Fire and Ice I seemingly appeared before them from the darkness, seated ontop of one of the crates at the back of the building.

Immediately, they were on guard- Ice freezing the floor under her into ice while Fire ignited with green flames.

"Shade, get ready to swallow me into a shadow at the first sign of attack."

I whispered to the teleporter.

"Copy that young Master Savage."

The teleporter responded in his whispery voice.

Outwardly, I adopted a small smirk on my face.

"Please, don't be afraid. My name is Angel Savage. And if I'm correct, I'm your new student."

The two of then stared at me in surprise before sharing a look.

"You're...just a child."

Ice muttered, staring at me up and down.

"Yes, 'HIS' child to be exact."

I clarified with a raise of my eyebrows.

"If that's a deal breaker, I'll warn you right now that I'm your only way to surviving this."

Father would not hesitate to tie up loose ends.

And if he could manage to kill Olympia through me, (I was convinced he had the capability to mess with my mind or control me. And as much as I HATED that, there was nothing I could without more information) he wouldn't balk at doing the same to Fire and Ice.

"This is sick."

Fire spat with a disgusted expression.

"How does he expect us to teach a 3 year old how to fight?"

"5 years old."

I corrected, instantly, igniting the right side of my body, further surprising them both.

Maybe showing them what I could do would speed up the process.

I jumped off the crate, releasing a burst of flames through my sole to slow my descent..

"My father is a man of his word."

I told them, molding the flames to form a compressed ball of fire above my palm that looked like a miniature sun.

It was so hot that it visibly warped the air.

Fire and Ice took a wary step back.

"If he promised to let you go after you've taught me what you can- and as you can see, I am very talented- then he will naturally let you go."

I lied straight to their faces.

He would definitely kill them after they had outlived their usefulness.

"And the sooner we get started, the sooner that will be."

The miniature sun infront of me flared up in a long tongue of yellow-reddish flame before disappearing.

The two of them shared another look, seeming to come to an agreement.

"Is that all you can do?"

Ice tentatively asked. And while out of context it would have be taken as rude, I could tell they were actually curious.

Without a word, I created an ice spike on my left palm.

(5 years later)

(The Watchtower)

"Tora Olafsdotter and Beatriz de Cruz, also known as Fire and Ice, not respectively."

Batman begun.

"They were part of the Justice League outreach program. And have been incredibly useful in helping with League matters."

Above the long table that the League sat around, two inafes were projected, showing Fire and Ice in costume fighting against Killer Croc. Flames and Ice were assaulting the lizard man from opposite sides.

The reel changed, this time displaying the two superheroines standing shoulddd to shoulder with Black Canary and Wonder-Woman.

The next reel showed Fire and the Flash holding hands while eating ice cream in a park.

The Flash turned away with a sad look. Wonder-Woman, sitting next to him patted his hand in comfort.

"5 years ago,"

Batman continued briefing the full room.

"Both of them dissappeared without a trace."

The Dark Knight slid his fingers over the wrist computer on his wrist.

A new image took center stage on the projected display.

There was a sharp intake of breath along with a few curses.

"Yesterday,"

Batman continued without interruption.

"I came across their remains in an abandoned Warehouse. Fire's entire body was frozen to temperatures close to absolute Zero..."

And sure enough, one of the images showed a woman whose body was frozen stiff, eyes wide and face twisted in an expression of surprise.

"And Ice was burned to a crisp."

A hard note entered his voice.

The second image showed a blackened corpse- the flesh roasted above cracked bones.

"Both suffered greatly during their last moments."

Batman explained, eyes narrowed.

"And I have a lead on their killer."

 

[Saintbarbido]

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::-------------------------------------------::

Chapter 6: The Culprit Is...

(Angel's P.O.V)

"Young master, I have a question."

Shade said to me through our link.

I've been expecting this.

"Go on."

I said evenly, still munching on the fried wing. The grease was a treat just as it was addictive. In my last life, I couldn't eat food like this.

"I get why you did what you did. I can't even judge you for it. But why would you go out of your way to get captured?"

There was real confusion in his voice.

I swallow. Well, that's an obvious question.

"Shade, how far would you have to be to escape the full range of my blasts?"

His silence told me that he knows. He has had to, during the five years we've known each other. I wasn't just training with Fire and Ice you know.

Father regularly started sending me on missions when I was 7.

Things like renting me out to the Taliban as reinforcement during skirmishes and raids.

Or to Queen Bee in Bialya. The fights with the Rebels there were both entertaining and doubled as good training for my IcyHot magic.

I haven't mastered the ability to use both abilities at the same time, but I've shortened the time frame to simultaneous activation, by honing my reaction speeds and physique through regular meditation and training.

Training that included enduring extreme heat and cold environments while only activating the opposing element.

Which meant standing inside a Volcano with only Cryokinesis activated.

The ice had periodically turned to steam above my skin, without even covering me- evaporating almost instantly.

And because I had pyrokinesis off, nothing could protect me from the heat, so I had to keep producing more and more ice to cover for what I lost.

The opposite was enduring the cold inside an industrial grade Freezer with low temperatures close to absolute Zero, with only Pyrokinesis active.

I could hit 72 hours at a time inside before I had to come out.

Surprisingly or maybe unsurprisingly, Vandal was very supportive of my training.

I had a large training room with equipments for my every need. Even some that my body wasn't old enough to use.

Apart from Fire and Ice, I also had a smattering of actual badass grade teachers to teach me what I wanted through the years.

But...that's a can of worms for another time.

All in all, this training culminated in me gaining a greater control over my thermoregulation, metabolic rate and blood control and even...healing.

In simpler terms, I could affect the cold and fire mana inside me to regulate my own internal temperatures.

Heat and cold play a significant part in the body. With heat able to increase metabolic rate in the body, meaning I could do things like digest my food as fast as I ate it.(cold mana could be used to 'cool down' my organs before they can 'overheat')

And on the opposite side, Cold mana could be used to decrease metabolic rate and slow down blood flow by shrinking the veins in the body.

How was this helpful with enhanced healing?

Well, in case I lost something like a wrist, I could use ice Mana to stop the blood flow to the severed limb.

Easily freezing it without losing it to necrosis:- only needing a small surgery afterwards to reattach.(this actually happened in a nasty encounter with Killer Croc when I was 6- a part of Fire and Ice's training. Yeah...those two were fucking crazy...)

I was also training on creating more utility focused skills using my Half-Cold Half-Hot bilities.

Todoroki had his moveset. And despite plagiarizing and MASTERING all of them with the exception of FLASH FIRE FIST(And damn, is this fucking skill annoying. You'd think I would have it easy, but it somehow relied on something I was still missing), I wanted to be original.

So I stopped trying to master that specific move and begun focusing on how I could get there.

Control.

Always control.

After I killed Olympia...I knew...my fate and the need to gain control over my powers, myself and my situations coupled with being the son of a Conquerer, would spell doom for the world.

And whether I burned it down or froze it first, it all depended on how far I had to go to get to the top.

I was only lacking one SINGLE thing to get there. One simple simple thing.

After a brief consideration, I decide to answer,

"Because Shade...to be a Villain, you have to learn how a hero thinks."

I told him.

And this would also help my next few plans as well.

-0-

After that Shade said nothing. He didn't need to.

Through the years I had successfully shifted his loyalty from my Father to me.

It was wonders what you could do with money and positive reinforcement. Also...information.

One of my teachers when I was 8 was a hacker on the run who Father had allowed (read:lured) to the mansion.

He stayed (working) on something for my father in the Underground section of the Mansion, and I was able to learn a lot about information gathering and espionage.

Which was how I learned about Shade's personal life. The metahuman was useful. With his shadow travelling, he could take me anywhere I wanted in the world.

And for people like those, you had to know what makes them tick- their motivations, goals, fears and passions had to be something you were aware of.

Not because having a good relationship with a minion was good for your health, (which it was) but to instead to know how to work them.

How to ensure blind loyalty. Something that could not be swayed by money or power.

And Shade's motivations, goals, fears and passion all revolved around one thing.

His daughter.

He knew I would go after little Maria, if he ever betrayed me.

The minutes passed slowly, yet I stayed in position, overlooking my burning Warehouse from the shadows of a stack of containers.

The GPD had closed off the docks and surrounded the perimeter of the Warehouse. Firetrucks had arrived a few minutes ago and were trying to put out the flames.

By now, Batman had most likely found Fire and Ice's body.

And if I was right, he'd be arriving in a few...

"Who are you?"

A gruff voice spoke up from the top of the containers.

A small smile spread across my face before it disappeared. Bingo.

He's here.

A shadow perhaps darker than even Shade could make them, jumped down onto the ground- the fall of more than 20 feet barely a struggle as he landed with the nimbleness of a cat.

Without a word, Shade undid the veil of Shadows surrounding me, before slinking away.

I stepped out into the light, craning my head to look up at the tall figure in black and grey towering over me.

The Dark Knight tilted his head upon my emergence.

"A child?"

He muttered to himself, as if surprised at what I was doing here.

This is it.

I calmed my wildly beating heart, falling back on some of my training to project a confident front.

"Not just any child Batsy."

I begun, a ball of flame appearing above my right hand while a spike of ice grew up from the palm of my hand.

Batman's entire posture stiffened. I couldn't tell it from the whites of the eye holes in his mask, but I got the impression he was narrowing his eyes my way.

"I think you've been looking for me..."

I added, deactivating my abilities before stretching out my hands towards him, showing the wrists to cuff.

"I would like to confess to a double murder."

(General P.O.V)

(The Watchtower)

The tension in the room seemed to grow upon Batman's revelations. He'd just told them who he suspected the killer was.

"You can't be serious Batman."

Black Canary said, shock evident in her voice.

Batman couldn't blame her. Everyone in the meeting Hall was in a similar situation.

"You expect us to believe a 10 year old boy is responsible for Fire and Ice's death?!"

The Flash demanded, slamming his hands on the table.

"How can you be sure it's not a scheme by one of your crazy villains? Maybe Mr.Freeze and Firefly decided to team up..."

Barry ignored Batman's, "it doesn't fit Victor's m.o."

The Flash continued,

"Or maybe the Joker escaped Arkham. Again. And decided messing with you alone wasn't enough, so he went after them."

He looked out into the chamber.

"And by extension us."

'And if indeed the Joker is the one responsible...'

The Flash tightened his hands into fists.

'...maybe prison or an Asylum isn't enough this time...'

"Barry, calm down."

Superman said, sighing as he reverted his sight back to the image projected above the long table.

A black haired, brown skinned boy with a mischievous grin on his face stared back at them.

But his eyes...weren't smiling.

Superman was a good judge of character. It's why he would always try to give someone a chance.

"Where is he right now?"

Superman asked. The sooner they interrogated him, the sooner they would know what was going on.

"He's safe."

Batman answered, with no intention of saying anything else.

The Man of Steel swallowed a sigh. 'Batman wasn't cooperative- how unexpected,' he thought sarcastically.

"It's illegal to detain a minor without a parent or guardian Batman. This issue should be handled by the authorities."

Green Lantern John Stewart spoke up.

He used to be in the army. By association he knew the law pretty well.

"I'll inform you of what I find out. Dismissed."

The Dark Knight said before turning around and leaving for the Boom-Tube, leaving the rest of the League hanging.

Not that he cared all that much. He had a culprit to interrogate.

::-----------------------------------------::

(General P.O.V)

(Rhode Island)

(2100hrs)

Her limber form stretched out across the concrete landscape.

Black fish nets adorned her long toned legs tightly, and her blonde hair, cascading in waves of golden locks, danced in the air as she ran across the rooftops, silent and nimble.

With barely any effort, Black Canary took a leap and cleared the distance from one building to another easily, the civilians going about their normal lives on the ground, failing to take notice of her.

Like that she made it all the way to the harbor, landing on the perimeter of Mount Justice, the League's previous headquarters.

Just as she was ruminating on how she could get in without being found out, her body stiffened before relaxing.

Turning around, Black Canary was met with a smirking Flash, eating a snickers bar.

"He said you would figure out where he's keeping the boy."

Black Canary rolled her eyes.

"Of course I would. And I'm guessing you're security?"

The Flash shrugged.

"More like a scout. One fast guy is better than a squad of highly powerful, highly conspicuous superheroes."

He discarded the wrapper before offering his hand to Canary with a flourish.

"I'm also transportation. So if you don't mind, milady..."

Black Canary shook her head at his antics but placed her palm in his.

The surroundings changed drastically, owing to Barry's super speed. It felt like she blinked and appeared elsewhere.

Canary hid the usual feelings of wariness very well at what would happen in case the Flash went villain. Then again, the Reverse Flash was the answer.

A sadistic, petty, arrogant murderer who wouldn't hesitate to kill you before you even knew he was there.

Luckily, that Psycho seemed to have a hard on for making the Flash suffer, but Barry had time and time again beaten him back. Sometimes alone. Most times with the League's help.

Speedsters were crazy powerful. And dangerous.

For all her martial arts and canary cry, Black Canary knew there would be nothing she could do if one of them committed to taking her down.

Deep in her thoughts, she only noticed offhandedly as Barry knocked on the last door in the hallway they had stopped at.

Then he pushed in and she followed him inside to find Batman, standing before a large one way mirror.

On the other side of the mirror sat a dark haired boy who she admitted looked better in real life than on picture. He would be a looker once he grew up.

"Canary."

Batman nodded.

"You're here. Good."

Before she could respond, a green figure with red eyes emerged from the wall, phasing through.

Martian Manhunter.

"What did you find out?"

The Dark Knight asked of the Martian.

"Not much."

The latter shook his head.

"He has some psychic barriers put in place. Rudimentary, but strong enough that I could only skim through the surface thoughts."

"Is he a telepath like you?"

Canary questioned to which J'onn shook his head.

"You're the most powerful telepath on the planet, J'onn."

The Flash started in an even tone, eyes narrowed at Angel through the mirror.

"Can't you...just, I don't know slip past the barriers?"

Canary noticed the very slight twitch of Batman's hand. Something that she only caught because he allowed it.

Martian Manhunter paused for a bit before replying.

"No. That would be a great breach in privacy. Without consent, I will not subject a child to a mind probe."

The Flash's eyes turned cold as he clenched his jaw.

Black Canary blinked and found him smiling harmlessly like he usually did. For a second, she thought she had imagined it.

Shaking her head, she moved towards the interrogation room.

"Where are you going?"

Only for Batman to stop her before she could twist the handle.

"If mind reading is out of the question, that leaves us with one option. Old school interrogation."

She smiled at him.

"It's why you allowed me to come. Because out of everyone in the League...I'm the most qualified to do this."

(Angel's P.O.V)

"You guys were pretty loud out there."

I said in way of greeting.

The door closed behind a blonde woman with curves for days despite her slender frame, as she walked into the room.

"You could hear us?"

She replied, more of a statement than a question.

"Not exactly."

I only read their body movement through their heat signatures. But if she was waiting on me to expound on my powers, she was solely mistaken.

After confessing my crime to Batman, he had immediately and silently carted me off to here.

He hadn't even bothered to use the batwing- something I had been dying to ride in- he had instead led me to a teleportation hub.

I later came to know it was called a Zeta-tube and was nothing like Shade's own abilities.

But using the Zeta tube, we emerged inside a mountain.

Mount Justice to be exact.

I was aware it was the League's former headquarters before they opted for the Hall of Justice in Washington D.C(the big space station above the planet was meant to be a secret. Too bad I had metaknowledge on my side.)

Black Canary pulled the chair opposite me and sat down, hands interlocked on the table.

We stared at each other for a few seconds without talking.

"You hungry?"

She asked, slightly surprising me at the unexpectedness of it.

I see, so this is why Batman let her interrogate me first. Her background as a psychiatrist no doubt gave her an edge.

I shook my head.

"No. I had some wings on my way here. Though I wouldn't mind a coke."

She looked at the interrogation Mirror meaningfully before turning back to me.

"I'm Dinah."

She introduced herself, giving out her true identity, while stretching out a hand for me to shake.

"Ah, someone who doesn't treat me like a kid. A breath of fresh air."

I shook it, noting her firm grip.

"You can call me Angel."

She let go with a frown on her face.

"Your palm is covered in calluses."

I shrugged.

"Rock climbing in South Africa. It's great for upper body and..."

"Core strength."

She cut in, leaning back in her seat.

The door opened and a can of coke was thrown in that Dinah snatched out of the air, placing it on the table beside her hands, far from me.

I raised a single eyebrow. More psychological tricks.

"Angel, I have a question I need to ask."

Dinah begun in a serious tone of voice, biting her lip,

"Did you kill Fire and Ice?"

I knew this question was coming. Of course the League would want to make sure I was actually guilty before making any decision.

Their inherent goodness, especially her's, fought against the reality of accepting a child could kill.

Naive.

I smirked.

"Yes."

(General P.O.V)

Outside the interrogation room, the mood was quiet and tense.

"Why?"

Out of nowhere, the Flash asked, directing the question Batman's way.

"Why did you really ask me to come?"

He clarified.

"Why not the others? And don't give me that 'patrolling' the area bullshit Batsy. I know you have surveillance cameras around the compound. So why? Why would you want me this close to the one responsible for Beat's death?"

Saying that, he trailed a finger down the mirror separating the two rooms, drawing a line across Angel's reflection's neck.

"You don't need to answer."

The Flash added.

"I know why. It's so that you can keep an eye on me. Because you think I might do something to him..."

The silence was telling.

Fortunately, the interrogation room door opened and Black Canary stepped out, a deeply disturbed expression on her face.

"I think...I think he really did it..."

She stated.

"I knew it."

The Flash muttered under his breath, his tone accusatory.

"And from the way he's acting, he doesn't seem all that remorseful."

Inside the interrogation room, Angel had propped his legs up on the table and was leisurely enjoying his coke.

Canary shook her head.

"He's...a strange child. I still feel as if we're missing something. It can't be this cut and dry."

"Well it is."

The Flash cut in.

"And he's admitted it twice. Batman said he's a metahuman-"

"The results from Star labs came back as inconclusive. He has the metagene but it doesn't seem to be active."

The Dark Knight interrupted.

Barry shook his head

"That's besides the point. Which is, he did it. That's what we know."

"And we also know someone can be mentally controlled. Or coerced. Or threatened. Or misguided."

Batman shot back.

"Whose side are you on Batsy? Huh?"

The Flash growled, stepping up to the Dark Knight.

"In case you forgot, FIRE AND ICE ARE DEAD! THEY'RE GONE. AND THAT BOY INSIDE IS RESPONSIBLE. THE FACTS LINE UP, A CONFESSION WAS MADE, SO. WHAT. IS. YOUR. PROBLEM?!!"

The speedster demanded.

"There is another way."

Black Canary interjected, coming in between the two.

"What other way?!"

The Flash turned his ire towards her.

Canary narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn't Batman who could keep his temper under control.

"Barry, I understand what you're going through but you need to check your attitude. You're not the only one who lost friends."

The Flash was about to respond harshly, but he caught himself at the last minute and looked away, ashamed.

"Sorry. I...I need a breath of fresh air."

Zoom!

And then he was off, leaving the three Leaguers alone in the room.

Black Canary sighed.

"As I was saying, there is another way. I talked to Angel and he's agreed to fully open his mind up to J'onn."

Her eyes glinted with resolve.

"This way we can learn if what he's been claiming is actually true."

::-------------------------------------------::

(Angel's ACTUAL P.O.V)

"Young Master Savage...all the preparations are complete."

Shade whispers to me from the shadow of the chair I am sitting on.

"What about the other thing?"

I ask.

"All 60 petabytes of data in this base has been copied and stored."

This might not be the Watchtower but the database here still holds considerable information.

Useful information that can further my plans. What plans you ask? Well, what does any self respecting Villain want? World domination of course.

Good.

I swing my feet onto the ground, still keeping tabs on the League standing on the outside.

Black Canary must have informed them about my acceptance of a mind read. As a result, I can see them headed to the door of my interrogation room.

Batman places a hand on the door handle and that's when I give Shade the signal.

"Do it."

The word has barely left my lips when a loud explosion goes off on the outside.

(General P.O.V)

Shade liked to think of himself as normal.

Or at least the true result of giving an average man special powers. He wasn't as altruistic as a hero. Nor was he maliciously self serving as a villain.

As long as he was treated well and paid, he wouldn't mind living his life under someone. He wouldn't mind using his abilities for them.

Most people just wanted to feel needed.

And despite his young age, Young master Savage knew how to use him. Through the years, Shade had seen the boy grow in the shadow of his father, from a stubborn brat to a terrifying force of elemental prowess.

He had seen the challenges the Young Master had gone through.

He'd seen him fight creatures like bears and tigers and live when he was only 6 years old.

He had seen him go up against a highly trained squad of mercenaries who were protecting the Young Master's target, and kill 4 of them, before making a deal with the rest.

The mercenaries had wisely brought him the head of his target rather than fight the Ice Devil, as they had started calling him when he froze the entire perimeter. Electing large ice walls to prevent their escape.

But that was not all. Any mission given to him by his father, the Senior Savage, had been easy to accomplish for the Young Master.

He possessed a keen intuition and intelect that had seen him topple a government, prevent an ACTUAL alien invasion and become an honorary prince of Almerac (the queen had recognized his strength and potential, thus betrothing the Young princess to him).

And all that was before he had turned 9!

And if his intelect and mentsk fortitude was something to envy, then his special powers were a different subject all together.

Shade had never seen anyone with such intuitive control over their metahuman abilities.

Half hot and half cold would be the name but the Young master insisted on calling it Icyhot.

He'd seen the Young Master evaporate an entire lake, before freezing the steam into a block of ice that fell onto the dried basin.

He'd seen him freeze an entire Volcano. A feat that had Professor Ivo, one of the Young Master's contacts, whistle in shock.

A volcano could reach over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Taking into account the extreme heat and sheer volume of molten rock involved, it would mean the Young Master was capable of producing millions of kWh or was sustaining a steady production of a billion joules just to cool it.

Through all that, Shade had been by his side.

And through all that, he'd learned, never to take the Young Master lightly.

Anything he touched would turn into gold.

Any plan he made would succeed. And this one would be no different.

-0-

Connecting with every shadow in the premises might have been something impossible for him a few years ago, but call it a hunger for power, but Shade had done his best to push his ability to it's max.

All that so he could be useful to the Young Master.

Mount Justice was a structure filled with hidden rooms, paths and was a blend of technology, modern living spaces and a beach front.

It was perfect for a superhero base and Shade felt all the more regretful that it wouldn't be left standing for long.

His shadow portals worked on the principle of 'if he wanted them to do something' they would.

He could travel through them, allow passages from one place to another depending on his memory or sight.

He could store anything and bring it out later without any time passing in the real world.

Hence, storing a specialized grenade designed to specifically deal with the League was doable.

And then he dropped the grenade in the room with 3 members of the League through a shadow in the room.

The grenade went off in less than 0.02 seconds, releasing a point blank concussive explosion with a specialized magnesium chemical to deal with the Martian Manhunter.

The other two could easily be dealt with by a normal explosion.

To his credit, Batman was fast enough to throw himself on top of Canary just as the explosion went off, displaying crazy reactionary speeds.

-0-

"It burns! It buuurrns!!"

'Someone is screaming...'

Batman noted off handedly as his head buzzed in pain.

His entire body felt raw and hot, there was something lying on him- the table, he realized. And a couple of his ribs felt tender. Most likely cracked.

What happened...

Was it an attack?

It had to be.

And not just any attack either. From the outside, he would have spotted the enemies from a mile away.

Which meant it came from the inside. And the only security risk in the entire Mount Justice was the boy.

Angel, of course.

The screaming had stopped. Now reduced to whimpering from one corner of the destroyed room.

Batman's hand inched towards his wrist computer. The base's alarm system had most definitely sent an S.O.S to other Leaguers but just to be safe...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

A voice spoke, accompanied by a foot that stepped on his wrist, immobilizing his hand.

Looking up, the Dark Knight's eyes were met with the short figure of their suspect.

"After all the trouble I went through trying to block out the signal."

The boy shook his head.

"I can't have you ruining that.m by sending out another."

Then he raised his left leg, the foot covered by ice. The last thing Batman saw before his world was overtaken by darkness, was Angel's cold expression.

The arrogant smirk from before was nowhere to be seen.

(Angel's P.O.V)

Superman was attending a very convenient party hosted by the one and only Lex Luthor in Metropolis.

Zatara was dealing with a scheme involving some kids lost in the woods. He had just found some Wendigo tracks and was following them up with funnily enough, Red Tornado.

Green Arrow or his civilian identity, Oliver Queen was patrolling Star City with his young protege, Speedy.

Aquaman was in Atlantis and to ensure he would be unavailable, someone had leaked out information on the whereabouts of a few notorious pirates.

Hawkman and Hawkwoman had won a surprise getaway trip to Hawaii.

Billy Batson aka Shazam had also won an all expenses paid for family trip to you guessed it, Hawaii. He had taken his Uncle and foster family.

Green Lantern Hal Jordan was off planet.

Green Lantern Stewart on the other hand, was actually patrolling above the base. He was Batman's contigency just in case something went wrong.

But luckily, he was too far away to hear the explosion, as it had been contained in one room.

All the League members were currently occupied.

And I had Shade's shadow portals close to each of them broadcasting a counter signal to disrupt any transmission from Mount Justice.

All except for one.

I looked around, noting the state of the room.

Martian Manhunter was nothing but a quaking form covered in white fire at the corner, Batman was on the ground, using his body to shield Black Canary.

All of them were alive. And for a second, I wanted to rectify that. The Justice League posed the biggest obstacle to world domination.

A spike of ice formed in my hand and I found myself taking a step toward Batman.

It would only take a single slash...and he would be dead.

"Young Master...we have incoming."

Shade whispered from the shadows.

A few seconds ago, the Flash was in the Sahara.

Now he was entering Rhode Island on a direct path towards me.

"Count yourself lucky."

I muttered down at Batman's prone form.

The League still had some uses to me. Even if it was just as a shield against some scary opponents or a tool to be used to further my goals.

And while I knew the villainous thing to do would have been to deal with this problem once and for all, I also realized escalating things by killing them, would have the rest of the League on my ass long before I was strong enough to take them head on.

You didn't survive this world by being an outlier. You had to play the game.

The Flash had just entered Happy Harbor.

Finally.

"Shade, Shadow me."

I gave the order and my lackey was all too quick to follow it. The shadows in the room rose up and consumed me.

I found myself in a world of darkness with swirling vortexes around which represented the various shadows in the room outside the shadow veil.

Now, Shade's powers were strange. He didn't exactly travel through shadows but instead entered a realm of darkness connected to ALL shadows.

In that realm, he could interact with the material world in a very limited scale without physically being there.

But one thing he could do was sense 'space' and after months of training, he could share those senses with me.

Meaning the second the Flash entered the interrogation room, I instantly became aware of it.

And without fail, Shade opened up portals throughout the shadows in the room, and the climax to a plan that had taken almost half a decade to conceive arrived.

I pushed my hand into one of the shadow portals and immediately,

"Flash freeze!"

Unleashed the most powerful ice attack I could into the room. The ice entirely froze everything and everyone, including my target- The Flash.

The Shadow Veil fell off me, returning my physical body into the material world.

Before me, still in a running pose, covered in ice was Barry Allen, self proclaimed the fastest man in the world.

But not for Long.

Thus, the hardest part of my plan to steal the Speed Force, was successful.

::-------------------------------------------::

(General P.O.V)

Barry wasn't an idiot. Well, according to Iris he sometimes could be, but that was mostly due to his bad relationship with keeping time.

But, he was far from an idiot.

He knew something was off with the boy. And it wasn't just because of his confession of killing Fire and Ice.

Him and Fire had briefly dated, before they both realized they were better off as friends. Besides, dating a co-worker would complicate their work relationship.

But that hadn't meant she wasn't important to him.

Which complicated things with his team.

The Flash was a hero. A symbol of morality.

He wasn't supposed to feel such negative feelings for anyone. Especially a 10 year old boy.

But Barry had lost too many precious people to care. His mother, his father...

But even so, when he realized he was being rude and downright antagonistic to Batman and Black Canary, he decided to take a walk or rather a run around the world, to cool off as only he could.

Just as he was crossing the Saharan desert, he heard Batman's distress call through his ear piece and immediately turned back.

In a few breaths he had crossed the ocean into North America, and was blitzing through Rhode Island while headed to Mount Justice.

And only as he entered through the building and into the Interrogation room, did he realize he was justified in his suspicions.

It took only a slow second to gaze around the room and notice the state of it, and his fellow league members lying on the ground- hurt.

The initial shock got him.

Even for the fastest man in the world, that brief moment cost him. And the silent and seamless activation of Shade's shadow portals was too unexpected to dodge.

Still caught in his running pose, the Flash was frozen stiff, and the darkness of passing out due to suffocation promptly claimed him.

When next he opened his eyes, it was in a dark clearing in the forest.

A blood red moon hang from the sky, illuminating the ground in a wash of scarlet colors.

Around him were exactly 13 figures dressed in hoods with a strange inverted Infinity symbol, chanting in what sounded like Latin to him.

He was tied to something that looked like a cross, and the hefty power dampening collar on his neck prevented him from activating his speed.

"What is this?!"

The Flash demanded.

"Who are you people? And why am I hanging from a cross? Even for nutjobs the symbolism is a little TOO ON THE NOSE!!"

His frustration was evident in his words and tone. But that did nothing to stop the chanting.

And Barry was even more horrified when the ground below them in the small clearing, begun to glow with a yellow formation of circles.

He instantly recognized what this was. Magic. Oh hell no.

He redoubled his efforts, trying to loosen one of his hands in a bid to reach for his costume's in built defenses.

Useful, especially in the event of having his powers suppressed.

There was a certain place in his outfit he could press to release a small burst of E.M.P.

Just enough to fry the inner components of the power dampening collars. Then with his powers active again, he could kick everyone's ass and arrest them for turning him into a rendition of Jesus' death.

"I apologize for the rough treatment."

A familiar young voice spoke from the back of the hooded figures.

The chanting came to a sudden stop.

The hooded figures made way for 2 people, both of them fairly young.

The tallest of them was a boy who wore a black suit with coattails, had black hair, red eyes and what Barry could only call as the 'evilist sneer in the world'.

He also had a cat on his shoulder. And lastly, the boy looked roughly 15.

"Ooh look at that Teekl! Angel wasn't lying, he actually caught one!"

The red eyed boy clapped his hands in glee as he watched The squirming Flash.

The cat meowed in what Barry would describe as disinterest.

"I wonder how a Hero looks like on the inside."

The boy on the other hand mused, seemingly even more invested in Barry's health. Or rather it's complete opposite.

"With his flesh stripped and his bowels hanging from-"

Just as Barry's horror was about to reach its peak, a hand landed on the red eyed boy's shoulder, cutting off his words.

"Klarion, I hope you're not planning on turning my prey into your little passion project."

Angel said in an even voice.

Klarion seemed to gulp as the temperatures in the surrounding areas started going haywire.

Barry found himself buffeted by a heat wave one second and a blizzard the next.

"A-ah, that would be going against our agreement."

Klarion stuttered, sheepishly scratching his head while chuckling nervously.

"I always keep my word, right Teekl?"

"Meow!"

The Cat immediately meowed in agreement, even going as far as to nod its head. It was as if the boy called Klarion and his cat were scared of Angel, Barry noted.

"Good."

Angel patted the taller boy before turning his eyes to The Flash.

Barry found those cold dead eyes staring into his own, very different from the mischievous and cheeky stare the boy had when he was in their custody.

Angel nodded, as if he had come to a sort of decision with himself.

"As I was saying, sorry for the rough treatment, Barry."

The Flash was shocked.

"How do you know that name?!"

He hissed through clenched teeth.

Angel just shrugged as he answered.

"We know all your secret identities. Superman is Clark Kent, Batman is Bruce Wayne-"

He stopped, snorting at the aghast expression on the Flash's face.

"I could continue but that would be a waste of time."

Angel took in a deep breath.

"I'm sure you have questions. But I won't indulge you. I know what monologuing does to the best laid plans."

He walked closer, stopping right at the foot of the cross.

"That said, it's only right that you understand what is happening."

A smile that was no less evil than what Klarion could pull off appeared On Angel's boyish face.

"To put it in simple terms, you will die so that I can be reborn into a force of true power. Rejoice Speedster, your worthless life, finally has a purpose to serve."

(Angel's P.O.V)

A bad encounter with Cheetah and Wonder Woman showed me what my biggest weakness was.

It was in Bwunda and the mission this time was strange. Even by Savage's standard.

Apparently an African God called Urzkartaga was causing trouble for some of Father's business in the region.

The Sub-Saharan area had diamond mines that were owned by Father. And as a result of said God rampantly kidnapping girls and women from the surrounding tribes, Father's interests had suffered due to the lack of Manpower.

There was also the threat of the kidnappings catching the attention of the authorities, which would bring to light our dealings in the area.

That was a big no-no, as the diamonds generated billions of dollars each year.

With such a big operation on the line, I was sent in to give a warning to Urzkartaga. Just a warning. Apparently even Gods were beholden to the will of Vandal Savage.

Personally I would have killed Urzkartaga but orders were orders.

Of course a warning from someone like Vandal Savage was something like losing a hand or an eye.

That said, turns out this God was the real thing. He was unlike any other self proclaimed gods who were all bluster and no power.

It was a common theme in the super hero/villain world, after all.

The amount of people who stumbled upon a little bit of power up, either through a homo magi bloodline, alien or magical items, metagene or the other dozen ways you could become powerful in DC, was not a small number.

Too bad most were too weak to be useful, or the power went to their heads and they grew conceited.

The only fate that awaited them was getting busted by the heroes and a one way trip to Belle Reve or getting killed by other villains.

That's besides the point.

Basically, Urzkartaga was not someone whose power had gone to his head and corrupted him.

He was very much a God. Just not a fighting one. Not to say he was weak though. Far from it.

What he had lacked in pure firepower he'd made it up for, by having these man-wolf creatures that attacked anyone that appeared in his territory.

Oh and apparently, he had Cheetah protecting him. She was part of his harem(about the only thing I could agree with the God. He had his priorities straight at least)

Yes, that Cheetah. One of Wonder Woman's most powerful villains.

She had shown me what my biggest weakness was.

I couldn't hit her. She was so fast that even Flash Freeze, the attack I had used to immobilize the fastest Speedster in the planet, had failed.

Fire missed her completely, only burning the trees around us.

Despite having control over Flames and Ice, they might as well have been useless if the attacks were slow enough that someone could dodge.

I only escaped getting torn apart by the feral cat-woman by surrounding the zone closest to me with heat and cold mana, turning the zone into an Elemental storm.

Still, with Shade's help, I did manage to 'procure' a hand from the God, leaving a message that the Immortal was displeased.

Again, Urzkartaga is besides the point.

What isn't, is my need to shore up one of my biggest weaknesses.

Which is why the Flash, the Speedster with the deepest connection with the Speed force was so useful to me.

By using Klarion's Chaos magic and my Atlantean Mages expertise with magic formations, I was planning to steal that conduit for myself.

With the Speed Force on my side, my Pyrokinesis and Cryokinesis would evolve, at least in terms of casting speed.

::-------------------------------------::

(Angel's P.O.V)

"HAAAAAAAAHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

The guttural howls of a man sounded out through the entire forest.

Unfortunately for the owner of the screams, we were 50 miles away from any sort of civilization.

Yet I couldn't blame Barry for screaming his lungs out as I was doing the same thing, only instead of screams of agony, I was laughing my ass off.

"Hahahahahaha! I can feel it! Yes! It's working!!"

The words left my lips in a rush of excitement, caused by the red streams of mystified Speed Force energy being absorbed into me.

Normally, I had better control of myself than this, but I couldn't help it.

The clearing I chose for the process had a leyline node going through it. Which provided immense amounts of natural energy that the Atlantean Mages I had managed to employ through a deal with Orm, the brother to Aquaman, could use to maintain the ritual.

Or rather, hide the effects of so much magic being moved around.

The true use of the node was for Klarion to change the nature of the Flash's Speed Force conduit and attune it to me, a half Homo Magi.

And currently, he was doing exactly that.

The magic formation below pulsed and glowed with natural magic, enveloping the three of us.

The Flash on the cross was on one edge of the formation, Klarion in the center, and I on the other side of the circle, directly opposite the cross.

Around the perimeter were the mages, doing their best to conceal us.

Klarion held his hands above my chest, red arcane energy shrouding him as he guided the Speed Force from the Flash, down the cross, through the Leyline, (giving it a touch of magic) before channeling it into me.

"STOPPP PLEASE!!! STOOOP!!"

Said the man I was stealing powers from.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! MORE! MORE!!"

Unfortunately for Barry, I was too far gone. Too entranced by the feeling of chaotic and sharp magic funneling into my heart through my chest.

"You crazy brat!!"

Klarion joined in on the laughter. Though, his was more strained.

"You're absolutely insane! This much magic should have turned you into a rock! Or made you explode!"

"Meow!"

His Familiar agreed.

But I didn't care.

By now my body had begun to glow scarlet as Barry's screams died down to a groan.

His skin seemed to lose its luster. The streaks of yellow lightning that had surrounded him decreasing in quantity.

Meanwhile my own body was undergoing a massive change.

After years of meditation and control training with the hot and cold mana within me, I had gained great understanding of my body.

As a result, I could feel every iota of natural magic filling my heart.

Initially, I tried to control it as I did the Hot and Cold Mana inside me- by establishing the internal circulation from my lungs down my hips, toes, into my arms before returning to the lungs once more.

However, I found out the Natural Energy seemed to have a mind of its own.

It seeped into my flesh, organs, blood, bones and even my hair and nails. Every single cell, billions of them, were filled with natural magic and something more...

Up till now, all this had been speculation on my part. An idea produced from dozens of memories reading the Flash comic books.

When the sky above us turned ominous with huge nimbus clouds, when a sudden breeze swept through the clearing, when my feet left the ground- levitating up as the natural magic within me intensified, I realized...this was no longer speculation.

I was succeeding.

As if to agree with me, the heavens spit down a super massive yellow lightning streak that struck my body without a single warning.

When I woke up...I could run. Very very very very fast.

(Vandal Savage)

Life and death hold little meaning to someone who has seen instances of both over thousands of years.

My first child was by far the strongest out of all her siblings. Able to call down storms of powerful lightning and move the very earth, her potential was greater than all who came after her.

Except for 2.

Nabu and Angel.

The two sons who were most like their father.

Yet for all his achievements in life and in death, Nabu lacked one single thing that his younger brother had in spades.

Conviction.

The ability to induce strife and conflict within oneself just to achieve a goal.

That was what set Angel apart.

10 years and he was already so impressive. If only the boy wasn't so rash and ready to prove himself.

In 5 more years, he would have been ready. But for now...

A gentle knock sounded out from the door, alerting him. Vandal didn't need to invite the person in. He already knew who it was and had given him permission to disturb him anytime.

True to the sentiment, the door was pushed in as his guest entered.

"Father, I have returned."

Angel said, bowing his head slightly in subservience.

"Read the front page."

Vandal simply stated, not bothering to look at or even acknowledge his son. His sights were set on the view outside of the window he stood before.

There was a brief pause, before he heard the sound of paper ruffling.

"The Flash goes missing."

Angel read the newspaper in his hands before placing it back on top of the table.

"I can explain."

Angel said, then after another short pause, added,

"He's not dead yet."

"10 people."

Vandal merely commented.

"10 people you're not allowed to kill or 'deal with' in the entire planet and you went for one of them. Not only that, you went for the Speedster. Not only that, you...disobeyed me."

There was a slight shuffle of feet on the mat. The boy was nervous. Or rather pretending to be. (Vandal knew better)

"The Flash is the only one who had what I needed."

Angel explained.

"Besides, I have already handled the memory deleting portion by contacting Psimon..."

Angel cut off his statement as he noticed Vandal grow from merely angry to furious.

Vandal didn't know or even care how the boy could read his mood after thousands of years training everything about himself.

But the point was, he didn't care.

The Immortal finally turned around to see his son, so very much like him.

They had the same dark hair, the same black eyes, dusky skin (although Angel's was much darker) and the same strong jawline that was only just showing on the boy.

He also favored a dark grey coat that went down to his knees, tough leather boots and perhaps the strangest thing, a gas mask that hang from his neck.

Vandal knew that the outfit was not just for show.

Within the coat, he could guess were dozens of throwing knives created from Ice (it was part of Angel's training where he tried to maintain the temperature of the ice without it getting melted)

And a few non-ice ones, some tipped with poison. Let it not be said Vandal didn't keep track of his successor's progress.

But a true successor was much more than just fancy powers, gadgets or the stubborness to chase after what they wanted.

They had to be patient.

And where Nabu lacked conviction, Angel lacked patience.

"Psimon is not yours to command boy."

The Immortal stated coldly.

"You have no power over anything. Remember, I am the one that allows you to live. To breathe. Disobey me again and I won't just kill you, I will make it extremely painful."

It didn't go unnoticed to Vandal, the brief burst of hatred in the boy's eyes before it was hidden under a mask of fear.

Father and son stared at each other over the mahogany desk separating them.

Then, Angel dropped his gaze first, fully bowing before Vandal.

"I apologize for the misstep father. The Flash shall be returned to his house with no memory of the encounter."

"Good. See that he is."

Vandal nodded, a bit glad to see that the boy could learn. But that wasn't enough. To discourage him of...unwanted behavior, he would need to be punished.

"If that is all, I shall take my leave."

Angel said, straightening up before turning around and walking towards the door.

"Wait."

The Immortal stopped him.

Angel turned to regard his father questionigly.

"I want to review your progress after so many years of Expert instructors, training and resources funneled into you."

The Immortal stated, relishing the brief look of horror that appeared in the boy's eyes.

'Good. He still remembers the beating I subjected him to five years ago.' Savage thought.

"I expect you in the sparring room within an hour."

The Immortal added.

"Dismissed."

Angel stared at his Father's cold eyes before visibly shuddering in genuine trauma- Vandal noted

"Yes Father."

The boy gave confirmation before leaving the Immortal's office.

Vandal went back to watching the view outside. And the little girl playing with one of the maids on the backyard.

Yes. If Angel failed to live up to his expectations, then finding a worthy replacement was not that hard.

What was hard, was dealing with the fallout from Angel's actions.

The Justice League would not be happy that one of them had been captured, and subjected to experiments in a bid to find out how his powers worked.(Shade had given him the report)

But as always, the Immortal didn't care. In a few years, they would all be dead.

(Angel's P.O.V)

Once I was outside my Father's office, the look of fear fell off, being replaced by one of resolve.

Good, he reacted exactly as I thought he would.

He wants to punish me for going after the Flash after he had warned me to steer clear of the Justice League.

But dear old Dad has no idea, THIS WAS ALL A PART OF MY PLAN! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA.

And during part 2 of our spar, I was finally going to kill the fucking bastard.