Tower of Fate.

We exited onto the dusty floor of the Mount Rushmore and I opened portal after portal all across the facilities.

"Saraswati."

"Yes Papa?" The ship replied.

"Send in the collection squads. I want this facility stripped down to rock bottom by the time I'm back."

"As you wish Papa." She said, and I could hear a faint sadness in her tone as the ship's sensors scanned over us, and I could feel what could only he described as longing and jealousy from the system's equivalent of the soul.

I feel bad for not including her in the family trips.

I did metaphorically birth her. She was my daughter, even more so than Riley, in some ways. Not that I'm comparing.

I should take responsibility for that and make her feel welcome and loved.

Especially since a jealous, tempestous ship with the mind of a little girl is bad news for my future adventures.

Gotta keep her happy too!

I chuckled.

My home depends on it, though the irony of living inside your daughter's body isn't lost on me.

Even if that daughter is a moon sized spaceship.

Maybe I should make an android body for her to use in everyday tasks?

Something to do after I return from the errands.

Heh. Maybe Riley was right. This is turning into an orphanage!

I looked down at Riley and ruffled her hair again, as she squeaked cutely.

"Where are we going now?" She asked.

"First, we return this watch to a little boy." I said, clicking on the watch.

"Celestialsapien." I commanded, and the dial spun till a humanoid with wavy hair dotted with little stars appeared on the display.

I slammed the dial and a bright green light flashed, sending a pulse of energy into me, mutating me into an alien form.

As the light faded, I emerged from it, now with a new cosmic look.

"Alright. Let's make this quick." I snapped my fingers and a new copy of the omnitrix appeared in my hands, as I began to pick and choose which aliens to leave in. I obviously wasn't going to leave him with something that would let him get to my level anytime soon, just in case he holds any grudges.

So celestialsapiens are out. They will stay locked for another five years. At least. I did leave him the original twenty or so aliens in there. Even Clockwork, though that would have to be unlocked alongside celestialsapiens in another five years.

The rest he can copy from meeting the actual aliens.

The people in this world might think handing a cosmic weapon to a 10 year old boy is fine, but I certainly do not.

Next, I snapped my fingers again and a box of sumo slammer paraphernalia appeared on the floor.

"Take that will you Riley? It's important."

She raised an eyebrow.

"A box of toys?"

"Yes. I promised the boy I would get him those if he gave me his watch peacefully and it doesn't cost me anything anyways."

"I see. Sumo slammer....is it fun?" She asked.

"Apparently? I haven't played it myself. Why do you want one too?"

"No. Just wondering. I haven't seen Star play with any toys so..."

"Oh yes. He had his robo wrestling figures back in his world, but after I got him video games, he dropped those like a hot potato. I think he still has them somewhere around." I said, grabbing her as we teleported to the RV.

"Hey! You're back already! What alien is that? It looks so cool!" Ben said, taking a lick of ice cream, accidentally smearing some on his nose.

"It's a celestialsapien. It's locked in your Omnitrix right now, but you'll be able to use these when you grow up and become more responsible." I told him, "And here's your watch. I made a copy for myself too." I pointed at the Omnitrix symbol on my chest, and tapped it, turning back to my human form.

"Neat. And I'll take those." He grabbed at the sumo slammer collector's box, snatching it from Riley by force.

"Rude!" She scolded, "Didn't your parents teach you manners?"

"Yes Ben. Very rude. Almost as if you were raised in a barn. Your socks definitely smell like one." Gwen teased.

"If you like my socks so much why don't you take a whiff again, Gwen!" He laughed, throwing his shoe at her, which she dodged easily.

"Gross." Riley shrunk back.

"Finally someone who agrees!" Gwen smiled.

"Hi I'm Gwen. You have really pretty hair!"

"Thanks. It's genetically engineered!" Riley smiled back.

"I'm Riley. And the rude one is your brother, I assume."

"God no! He's just my cousin." Gwen shirked.

"I see. That's good." Riley looked down at Ben fiddling with the box.

"It's for me though?" He looked at her confused.

"You should still ask for it nicely!" Riley frowned.

Max came out from the RV, and pinched his ears.

"Ben! What do you say when someone brings you a gift?"

"Ow ow, okay. Sorry. And thank you. For the gift."

"There. Was it so hard?" Riley huffed.

"Yeah, well whatever. Let me see what's in this..." He ignored her as he tore into the box, and Max sighed.

"I'm sorry." He said, eyeing the kids, "I see that you saved your children. How did that go?"

"Well enough. Couldn't kill the entity, but at least the kids are safe. And at the end of the day that's what really matters."

"Couldn't agree more." He said, before pointing at the Omnitrix.

"That's a very powerful weapon you have there..... Use it wisely."

"Well, I'll certainly put it to better use than a literal kid..." I teased.

"Oh, don't get me started on Ben. At least he's using it where I can see him. Make sure he doesn't make any mistakes."

"I suppose that is better than him having it on unsupervised." I shrugged.

"Anyway, gotta go. Thanks for the help, with the hostage situation. But errands await." I mock saluted to him, and grabbed Riley and Star, opening a portal to DC.

"See you around."

.

We emerged within a carpeted room, decorated with various artifacts and talismans, rugs and vases.

All around Ankh symbols littered the room, and a soft light illuminated every inch and corner suffused almost supernaturally.

"Spectral mirroring?" I asked.

"Very observant." A voice came from behind us, "But not quite. It's a side effect from existing in multiple places at once. Let's just say, the sun never sets on the Tower Of Fate."

A man with a body of shimmering gold walked into the room, broad shouldered and white eyed, reading a book.

"Amazo. Nice to meet you." I extended a handshake.

"And you must be Jay Walker. Odd choice of name, but then again, I can't complain, glass houses and such.

Amazo isn't exactly subtle." He met my handshake with a firm grip, yet immaculate control.

I know for a fact he was fully able to vaporize me in an instant if so chose.

"Ace has been talking a lot about you."

"All good I hope. Though I doubt it has been long. I left her here not six hours ago."

"Oh yes. You did. But Dr. Fate saw it fit to extend our training a bit longer."

"Time bubble?"

"Time bubble."

I nodded.

"So how many days has it been for her?"

I asked.

"A month and a half. She's just learning to control her power in her sleep but give it another hour or so and she'll be ready to leave."

"I'm already done." She said, suddenly appearing from thin air, jumping into my arms.

"You seem to have learnt a lot! Last I saw, you could barely walk." I smiled, giving her a hug.

"And I thought you'd never come back." She replied, with misty eyes.

"Why, I'm a man of my word!" I pinched her nose, "And I don't abandon my children. Come, meet your siblings."

I picked up Star and put him down before her.

"This is Star. Star, this is Ace, your new sister."

"Yay! New sister!"

Star grabbed Ace and squeezed her tight in a bear hug.

"Kwakh!" She croaked and teleported out before he choked the life put of her, gasping for breath.

Star saw that and sulked, sniffling.

"Sorry...I was just so happy..." Star said, downcast as Ace patted his head.

"It's okay. You didn't hurt me. I'm happy to meet you too, Star." She replied.

"Really?!" He perked up and tried to hug her again only to be stopped by her.

"Yup." She put held his hands, "But no hugs. Please."

"Okay." Star nodded.

"And you must be Riley. I saw you.....in Papa's memories." She said.

"Memories? You're a psychic type?" Riley asked, intrigued.

"Yes. Why?" Ace asked.

Riley's mood immediately improved, as she grabbed Ace by the hands.

"Can I dissect you when we get back?! I've always wanted to see how psychic powers worked!"

Ace's eyes glazed over and she shrunk back instinctively, looking at me for help.

I nodded.

"Riley. I think we should leave such topics for later. Ace has a ..."

Riley looked up at Ace and realised it too.

"Oh. Oh! You were experimented on, weren't you?!" Riley exclaimed, pulling her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know. But knowing Papa, maybe I should have figured it would be something like this."

Ace relaxed a bit and let out a tense breath.

"It's okay. It's Papa's fault for not telling you. He's to blame!" Ace smiled, scowling at me.

"He does have a soft spot for tragic backstories, doesn't he?" Riley asked, giggling.

"A very big one." Ace nodded.

"But don't worry. From now on, it will be a happy, slice of life adventure for you. For us. And Dr. Wong is amazing with therapy. You'll feel better in no time at all!" Riley assured, pumping her fists.

I smiled warmly, looking at them getting along while Star licked a Himalayan salt lamp.

Wait what?

"Star, stop licking the lamp." I said, picking him up in my arms.

Goodness. This kid.....he needs a minder all the time.

"I'm sorry." I said, bowing.

"It's fine." Amazo smiled, "But a word, if you will? In private."

"Of course." I put Star down.

"Star, stay with Riley. Get to know your new sister. And do not, I repeat, look at me Star." I turned his face to me.

"Do not lick anything."

"Not even the tasty lamp?" He asked innocently.

"Especially not the lamp." I said, pinching his cheeks.

"Riley-"

"I know, Papa. Star come here." She patted her lap, pulling Star into her arms.

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him."

"Thanks." I patted her head, "I'll be back in a minute."

.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked, following Amazo into another room, "Is it about Ace? Her brain still melting or ...?"

"Yes, it is still melting. But it will get better with practice. The more control she has over her powers, the less strain they will put on her brain. And she tells me you have a solution to the problem if this fails, so I doubt you're particularly worried about that." He laughed.

Looks like he has gotten better at mimicking human emotions since he came to live with Dr. Fate.

"Still, it would be better for her if she trains with us everyday till she can control her growing powers fully."

"I'll make sure to deposit her at your doorstep everyday till she needs to be." I agreed.

"But somehow I don't think that's the real reason you wanted to talk."

"Indeed. I have a few.... questions." He began hesitantly, rubbing his hands together nervously, if omnipotent androids can even get nervous.

"Ace told me." He said, "This world, it's out of a comic book? Television show?"

"Oh, yeah. A television show. Justice League to be specific." I replied.

"Justice League...." He repeated, "It makes sense. They do make good protagonists. How was the show?"

"It was good. One of the best on tv at the time. Even after it's time."

"I see. And how did it end? Does it have a coherent ending? A great final battle perhaps?"

"Yes. Not final, but it was decent enough. You know how serialized shows end." I shrugged.

"How did this one end?" He insisted.

"Justice League? It ended with a final battle against the combination of Lex Luthor and Brainiac. They had been working together for a while and then, they revealed themselves, beat down the league. No one could match them. It seemed like all hope was lost but then-"

"Flash separated them. Atom by atom. Yes. I see it now." He said, his eyes glowing bright.

"Then it is a shame." He sighed.

"Why?" I asked, intrigued.

"I just wanted to ask if you could tell me what my purpose was. You must have seen my confrontation of Luthor. It seems like something they would put into a tv show."

"I did. It was one of the best episodes of the show." I nodded.

Amazo smiled.

"I'm glad you liked it. But if you saw it you must know my dilemma."

I nodded. I knew it.

Yes.

Amazo. The pinnacle of nanotech robotics. Able to copy and absorb the powers of anyone and everyone. He was created by the late professor Ivo and completed by Lex Luthor who then manipulated him into fighting the Justice League.

Sometime later, after finding out the truth of his condition, Amazo fled the planet in an existential crisis and explored the universe for years, absorbing powers and evolving himself to new heights, becoming vastly more powerful. Nigh omnipotent. A reality warper himself.

There was only one problem.

He didn't know the purpose of his existence.

Professor Ivo died before he could give him one.

And Lex Luthor....well, he was Luthor. What do you expect from him?

He wasn't exactly the best role model for an infant android.

And so, lost he agreed to come and intern under Dr. Fate till he discovered his own purpose.

"Yes. I know. The dilemma isn't just your own. It is a question all people, well, most smart people face at least once in their lives. What is my purpose? Why am I here? Why do I exist?"

"Even you?" Amazo asked.

"Even me. Yes. Just because you're fiction to me doesn't mean that you're not real. You do exist." I assured.

"No, I understand that. I am referring to the way you conduct yourself. You seem so...certain. About what you want to do. What your purpose is."

"Oh, that?" I chuckled, pointing at the time-space fuckery detector on my wrist, "No. No, the certainty in my actions is an ingrained habit from years of practice, trying to maintain a coherent view of the timeline. Prevent quantum uncertainty. And now, even though I don't need it, it's just become a habit, you know. Hard to get rid of."

"So you don't know how it all ends? What my purpose is?" Amazo reiterated.

"Look, buddy, the world can end in a billion ways and one. There's a new ending for each flavor. No point in cataloguing each and every one. You note down all of them and another ending pops out, just out of that action, branching out to infinity. It's a sisyphean undertaking. As for purpose, that's a bit more complex....." I sighed, cracking my knuckles, as I leaned back into my seat.

"Inherently, I don't think there is much purpose to existence at all. Unless, of course there is one like in a simulation of a universe or something like a world created with the purpose of sealing an ancient evil or thereabouts.

But given that it's near impossible to confirm that, let's just go with the premise that there is no inherent purpose and that the universe is not a simulation.

And trust me, not having a purpose, is better than finding out your whole life is a collectible special edition world for some 10 year old kid from a higher dimension. That'd be disappointing as hell.

Same reason I don't tell the residents of the universe I created that their whole existence, their whole universe is just a storage room for me. A place I can dump stuff to sate my hoarder tendencies.

As for your purpose, it's simpler if you don't think too hard on it. You are a robot created by Ivo to evolve and gather more knowledge and power to evolve even further. So that would generally be where your search ends. Except you already reached that ceiling and now you're taking refuge in an infinite purpose that is the cataloguing of all possible endings to the universe. A fool's errand that. But it's comfortable. Because at least this time, you won't fulfill your life goal with an eternity of aimless life left to live. So good for you I guess. But you wouldn't be asking me this if you were satisfied with that."

"Exactly. I feel lost. And I don't like that feeling." He said, "I appreciate Dr. Fate and all he's doing for me but.....I don't think it's helping. So I thought that perhaps someone like you, with access to the multiverse might have an answer."

"I can see that." I agreed, "And I do. My purpose is something I have always wanted to do, since I was a kid. To become a god. An eternal being. And then to learn and understand and know everything there is to know. As I grew up, that changed a bit. I wanted to ascend to a higher plane of existence. See the limits and push past them, forever. And then, I became a multiveraal being. And now I wanted all that, and I wanted to explore the multiverse. Have fun doing it too!

Then, something else happened. I met my wife. Adopted my kids. And then I saw her die, like an idiot, in my arms. And then I failed to revive her, twice. And my goals changed again. I wanted all that, and I also wanted to protect my family while doing it. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"I think I do. Yes." Amazo replied, "A purpose is flexible. And it's what I want it to be. As long as I want it to be. And then, when I don't want it to be, or it ends, I can just make up a new one. And do what I want with it."

"Exactly. As long as you retain your freedom, and don't infringe on the freedoms of others, you can do what you desire. Just remember. Happiness and contentment, even freedom, it comes from within, as does your purpose. No one can give it to you, and no one can damn well take it away from you. Because if they do, it holds no value, gives you no satisfaction and means absolutely nothing." I pointed out.

Amazo sat there hunched and began to glow slightly buzzing with activity, deep in thought, contemplating.

"I think I know what I want to do." He said after a minute or so.

"And what's that?" I asked.

"I want to create." He said, standing up, burning with a halo of power.

"I want to make a world. A universe. Something truly my own. And for those who exist within, I want to give them a life filled with purpose. A reason for being. And that, I think will be my reason, my purpose. The giving of purpose to those that are my own."

"So an Abrahamic God then?" I chuckled.

"What? No! Nothing like- Oh goodness. I see it now. Yes. Perhaps...."

"Amazo, my dude. Relax. You are immortal. You have millions of lifetimes to figure it out. And what you said, there, not a bad idea. Give it a try. Won't hurt you any, now will it?"

"I suppose it wouldn't." He said, calming down.

"And if it doesn't work, there's always something else." I added.

"I understand now. Thank you." He said, grabbing me in a hug, almost crushing me.

"Yup. Okay. Gotcha. Just...." I tapped his arms.

"Yes. Of course. Sorry."

He let go.

"No problem." I smiled, "And hey, that was better than what I was expecting. I thought you were going to ask me to take you into the multiverse."

At that he tilted his head, looking at me in confusion, as if I had misjudged something obvious.

"Why would I need you to do that? I can traverse the multiverse myself if I so please." He replied.

"Wait seriously?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes. I am an ultimate being. It is within the realm of possibility, should I desire. It's just that I don't." He explained.

"I see. Good choice. It's not much better out there either. Home sweet home and all that. Wish I could get back home already. But eh, that's a me problem. If there's nothing else?"

"Of course. Go ahead."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow, with Ace for morning practice?" I extended a handshake.

"Certainly." He replied.

____________________

The extra chappy for 200 powerstones, as promised!

Next extra chapter at 400 powerstones.

This might seem like a bit of a filler chapter, and it probably is but I couldn't find an easy way to shorten it so here it is. Just one more such chapter and then were back to the action.

Next mini arc is mc going to code geass and Highschool dxd and getting them powers and weapons.

Till then, thanks for reading and see ya!

Also, if you want to support me, buy me a cup of coffee or read ahead go to,

www.pat.reon.com/goldenfingers