NOVEL WEB Chapter 10: Father, I Have Returned.
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(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.