CHAPTER 122
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[David Lance POV]
Seeing as nothing was happening, at least nothing that required my attention, I decided to visit my sister to spend some time with her. It had been too long since I had seen her properly. Too long since I had talked to her.
"David!" Dinah greeted me as soon as I stepped into the manor. "I was about to make a trip to the base, give you a scolding for not calling your poor, old sister. How have you been?"
~I've been good. You know, work and stuff,~ I lied with a smile.
"Yeah, I know how that is," Dinah replied sympathetically.
~Where's Oliver?~ I asked.
"Working. Something about a shareholders meeting," Dinah replied before gesturing for me to follow her to the living room, where we took a seat opposite each other.
"Remember I told you before that I can see behind your lies? Well, let me ask you this question again. How have you been, really?" Dinah asked, giving me a look.
I hesitated for a moment, not sure how to answer that question without destroying my plans with Batman. ~Dinah, I'm fine. Stressed? Sure, but nothing too big, I promise you.~
Dinah sighed, shaking her head. "I don't believe you, but I'll let it go for now."
~Trust me to deal with this,~ I replied, placing my hand on hers.
"I do, I always do," Dinah said with a smile before her expression turned serious. "But please, don't ever forget that if you ever need to talk about anything, don't hesitate to come to me, all right? I'm always here for you, no matter what."
I nodded in response. ~So, any plans for today?~
"Besides spending time with my adorable little brother?" Dinah asked, a playful smile appearing on her face.
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her. ~Yeah, besides that, dork.~
"Nothing besides that," Dinah replied, grinning from ear to ear. "So, what do you want to do? I'm all ears."
~I don't know,~ I replied with a shrug. ~What do you want to do?~
"Hmm," Dinah said, tapping her chin in thought. "We could go bowling."
Bowling? Hmmm, not a bad idea; I haven't done that in a while. ~Count me in.~
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After bowling, eating an unholy amount of hotdogs, and watching an old movie at a trailer park, I decided to stay a bit longer in order to help my sister with her patrol of the city. Thankfully, there weren't any criminals on the run, or that required our attention, which allowed us to talk during the patrol without a care.
Eventually, the patrol came to an end, and it was time for me to go back to the base, so with a hug, I said my goodbyes, promising to visit her more.
As I neared the zeta tube to get back to the base, I noticed the sun had long since set, casting an eerie glow over the city. Smiling, I continued walking until I saw the space in front of me warped and moved.
Taking a step back, I felt my entire body tense, as in a burst of red, a figure emerged. Klarion.
"I told you we would continue our talk," Klarion said, a sick, demented smile on his face.
I took another step back, my hand reaching for the SOS beacon signal on my utility belt.
"Don't be a party pooper. This party is only for the three of us," Klarion said, waving his hand dismissively as a wave of red crashed into me, breaking upon contact. "Huh, magical warding? Interesting, but not enough to stop me. All that pesky mark will do is make this trip more painful for you."
I took another step back as Klarion stepped closer, a ball of red energy forming in his hand.
I frowned, hurling a few explosive knives at him. I had already called the team and anyone else, and now all I had to do was buy some time.
Klarion chuckled as the knives detonated harmlessly around him, the red energy in his hand growing larger until his familiar meowed at him. "What?... I... right, right, perspective, I knew that... YES, I DID, NO, I DID NOT FORGET! He knows I didn't forget, right Bolty?"
Taking his debate with the cat, I darted toward the opposite direction of him at full speed, knowing that a fight with him would only be a waste of time, as I had no way of dealing with him, not on my own.
Klarion chuckled once again, snapping his fingers as a small red energy sphere appeared in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. "Oh no, you don't; we're not done here yet." The sphere disappeared as quickly as it came, and I was sent flying into a nearby alleyway, where I hit a wall hard.
Without wasting time, I pushed myself up, noticing Klarion slowly walking toward me with an amused look on his face. "Now, ready to receive some perspective?"
I glared at him, my mind racing for a way to get out of this. I had to buy some time for the others to arrive, but how?
"It was a retroviral question," Klarion cackled with glee as a red portal appeared in front of him. However, before he could continue, his familiar meowed at him. "Rhetorical, he knows I meant rhetorical!"
I took the opportunity to hurl a few knives at the familiar, only for Klarion to vanish in a puff of red fire, leaving the red portal in place as he reappeared behind me.
"Enjoy the trip," Klarion said with a grin close to my ear as he pushed me into the portal with a snap of his fingers, creating a small, red-looking explosion that pushed me straight to the portal, his demented laughter echoing around me as I felt myself entering the portal. "See you later, Bolty."
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For what it felt like hours, I plummeted through the darkness that had been waiting for me behind the portal, feeling weightless, until suddenly, I collided against something with great force. The impact was so forceful that the breath was knocked out of me.
For a moment, I lay there in shock, gasping for air, trying to process what had happened as the darkness started to dissipate. Taking a deep breath, I got to my feet and looked around, realizing that I appeared to be in some kind of forest. There was no sign of civilization anywhere. No roads, no buildings, no people. Just trees as far as the eye could see.
Just where had Klarion sent me?
Finding myself alone, I tried to call Raven with my belt, but for some reason, it wasn't working, it was almost as if I was calling a number that didn't exist. Frowning, I then tried to call out for help using my second communicator, but like before, there was no response.
It was as if I had been cut off from the rest of the world.
With no way to ask for help, I started to walk in what I hoped was the right direction, hoping to find a town, or something in order to contact the team.
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[Rachel Roth - Raven POV]
I had been meditating when I sensed it. A sudden change in the arcane energy around me. It was like the air had turned to ice, or as if the world had turned upside down. One moment I was surrounded by the familiar hum of magic, and the next, I felt something shatter, something disconnect.
The Mark of Asteria.
"David," I muttered.
I knew, with a sinking feeling in my gut, that something was very wrong. Something had happened to David. Without wasting time, I tried to reach out to him with my mind, with my magic, but there was nothing. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.
I summoned my communicator, finding an SOS message from him. However, the message appeared delayed, by unnatural means. Technomancy?
Klarion.
The name crossed my mind like a curse.
"Kent, he will know what to do," I muttered, before teleporting to the tower of fate to meet with him. He would help me.