Chapter 77: Spat Of Gods, and Shopping for Villains.
(This chapter has a big chunk of filler, to get me in the groove again, but the second part is a prelude to the next chapter and plot progression.)
Maulketh took a deep breath as the entire curse over Gotham spanned centuries of exposure to Dr. Gotham's cursed Aura and Barbatos' hold over anything Batman-related. But to him, those were just fuel for his growth. Trihexa watched this all as she saw the entire curse of the city enter his lungs.
Once that useful tonic entered his lungs, his two Dragon Hearts which produced endless Mana infused with his Divinity began to produce even more. His Concept instantly became a ravenous shark as it used this energy to the fullest.
The most important thing was that his soul became even stronger as it needed to be protected. This then caused his body which was his strongest trait to become even stronger. He felt each of his cells which were infused with a mixture of radiation from the sun and most important his own Divine Energy mutate again.
The change was subtle this time, but his Concept used most of the curses to protect him from curses. So unless he pissed off beings he should not, he could not be cursed. He exhaled and reached down to scratch Grimnar's center chin causing the dod to close his eyes.
He then turned to look at Trihexa.
"I am done. I will need to stop by the Batcave for a minute. I have to drop something off. I am going to be busy for the foreseeable future."
Trihexa had only the tiniest grasp on his concept as it only truly was his and his alone. Her Concept of Destruction and Darkness. Her Concept was not exactly compatible with his own, so she could not exactly do the same things he could.
When she drank his blood after he acquired Kryptonian genes, while he got the whole thing and better, she only got a small part of it. While they were equal when they came to this world, he had begun to take steps past her.
She could not allow him to become stronger than her without trying to surpass him. But to not have to fight a war with him someday she had a way to avoid that.
"I have a proposition for you. Something bigger than our simple alliance contract. Something to benefit both of us."
He instantly was curious.
"What would that be?"
She stood to her full height and walked toward him. She was only a head shorter than him which made her an extremely tall woman. She was 6'10, while he was 7'2. Both of them were giants compared to most people, but here they did not look too different in height.
"Become my Mate, my Partner, and my Soul Mate."
Maulketh, as a Dragon God knew that Dragons would never suggest this unless the Dragon in question was as stronger as them. Power was all that mattered to Dragons, especially to Dragon Gods for many reasons.
Each Dragon God was made up of a Concept, which could have more traits depending on the dragon. Originally, there were only three Dragon Gods, Ophis of Infinity, Great Red of Dreams, and Trihexa of Destruction and Darkness. None of them had ever taken a mate, mated, or even thought of it.
Great Red was uninterested in such a thing despite being the progenitor of Red Dragons. Ophis being the Infinite was uninterested in Great Red as they were siblings in a sense and total opposites.
As for Trihexa, the instant she came to be, God sealed her away before she truly did anything. Then Shiva broke her seal and then she was attacked by a Demigod Dragon the instant she was free.
At first, she was enraged that such a weakling had dared attack her in her weakened state when her mind was cloudy and repressed. But she was proven wrong when this Demigod Dragon was on the cusp of ascending into a Dragon God.
As the fight progressed Maulketh inched closer to that legendary status while Trihexa's mind actually began to clear. Her power returned in the full swim, but just when she returned to her prime, Maulketh the Dragon in question had ascended by using her as energy for his own evolution.
While her strength increased as she battled him, Maulketh's Concept was an adaptive one that took the duel concepts of Supremacy and Domination to the extreme to form his Tyranny.
If that fight had not stopped, Maulketh in time would have in time outpaced Trihexa and fully consumed her. That was why she believed he had more than proven himself. This had never happened before, but Maulketh and Trihexa knew what this meant.
It was essentially a bond greater than marriage, they would effectively have a firm soul connection to each other. They had nothing to lose, but Maulketh reached around and placed a hand on his back.
Even now the giant Infinity sign that Ophis gave him still hummed with his Divine Energy and her Infinity. It was a mark of their promise as he would defeat her to have the right to have her as his mate.
Taking Trihexa could be a risk as she might try to kill off his other Dragon mates. He could not allow that risk. Grimnar sensed his thoughts which caused the three-headed dog to get warry.
"Question, would I be able to add another Dragon God as a Soul Mate? What about regular females."
Trihexa squinted her eyes not happy to hear his question, but she answered it.
"I don't see why not you couldn't do it. You would be connected to me and you to her so in a way we all would be. But what makes you think I would allow this? You have not defeated me so I have not submitted to you yet."
Her sunglasses were destroyed as her Divine Domain erupted from her body. But the same happened to Maulketh as his own pushed back against hers. They both glared into each other's eyes, but the entire world instantly felt the pressure of the two Dragon Gods clashing.
Grimnar bared his teeth and growled, but he did not unleash his domain. His master did not need his help, but he made his presence known despite that to show he would side with his master.
"Because I Maulketh. I do as I want when I want, and how I want. No one will tell me otherwise. Not even you Trihexa."
She began to growl as her black dress turned into black scale-like armor. Dark destructive shadows radiated from her as she was serious about this. As she was not dominated just yet. She wanted to be an equal mate, not a submissive partner, so she expected loyalty from her mate.
Just as he thought she would have tried to get rid of his other mates which he would never allow. He was Tyrrany Incarnate, and he would not compromise. He returned her growl as his scales covered his body like armor.
An overwhelming heat began to radiate from his body which carried his traits. The clouds rumbled while the very magma in the earth sought to rise up. Tremors began to rock the world as they had a clash of Domains just as the Justice League feared they would.
Intruding in their spat could result in worse damage, but if they did nothing the world could be damaged irreversibly. As such they sent two people who they thought could help remedy the situation.
Wonder Woman, and Black Canary for different reasons. Wonder Woman was a demigod and better suited to dealing with prideful gods, and Black Canary for a grounded approach. Dr. Fate cast several protective charms on both just to protect them from the dangerous effects of their clashing domains.
From the Watch Tower, they were boomed down to the rooftop of the building causing both Maulketh and Trihexa to momentarily pause their clash. When both Wonder Woman and Black Canary appeared on the rooftop instantly Diana spoke up.
"Please cease your clash, if you keep going this world will be damaged. If that happens, there will be consequences for both of you not from the Justice League, but the powers hidden on Earth and space."
Trihexa and Maulketh relaxed for a moment, but they still did look pleased. Dinah as a trained psychologist tried to bring this to a more logical conversation.
"It is not our place to ask, but what caused this argument."
They thought it was a territorial spat as Diana knew Dragons were prone to do with each other. But when Trihexa answered they were hit for a loop.
"He expects me to share him with other females."
They instantly were frozen, but Maulketh answered back.
"I never even agreed to allow you in my harem. But they came before you and you have not proven yourself."
Instantly Trihexa was pissed again.
"I am a Dragon God, I deserve my pride to be respected."
"You yourself lack any respect for my own pride. My harem is not going to be harmed, either you agree to that simple thing or we just stay as we are."
Dinah decided to not judge Maulketh as he was a Dragon and a God so they had different cultures. But Diana did not think so. She thought the idea of a harem was morally wrong. She felt it disrespected the women in it to not have a loyal lover.
But before she could say a thing Dinah elbowed her in the ribs. She did not feel pain, but it was enough to get her attention. Dinah cleared her voice as she spoke.
"Question, are harems common for Dragons?"
Maulketh nodded.
"For Dragon Males yes. It is more common in Red Dragons which I am one."
Trihexa nodded.
"He is correct in that, but I am not just some regular Dragon, I am a Dragon God."
Dinah sat down on a side of the Skyscraper as they stopped clashing. Grimnar sat down and seemed more relaxed. As for Diana, she looked at him because he was literally Cerberus, then she remembered the mark of Spara on Maulketh.
Something she thought was a good idea to ask about once Dinah finished.
"So, do female Dragons take harems?"
Trihexa and Maulketh recoiled in disgust.
"HEAVENS NO!"
Maulketh shook his head.
"NEVER!"
Dinah reached into her coat and pulled out a note card and wrote it down.
"I see. So, male Dragons take harems for themselves, but female Dragons do not. So why is that? If you would inform me."
Trihexa explained.
"It's simple. We Female Dragons only accept a mate who defeats us in battle. For Male Dragons take harems of non-dragon females for different reasons for each one as a hoard type drive. It's different per Dragon as some truly love their harems, while others see them as just toys to hoard."
She knew this as she had a divine understanding of Dragon tradition as all dragons did. Dinah wrote this down again and turned to Maulketh.
"So, which are you?"
Maulketh gladly explained.
"Well, you see I am weird among my kind. My harem is very small compared to the Nobles of the world I am from and especially to my kin."
Dinah was curious about what he considered small.
"How many? Their names? Anything you mind saying?"
He could speak of his harem for days, but he only said their first names.
"Their names are Runeas, Rias, Calypso, Ingvild, Valina, Tiamat, Astrid, Celestine, and Akeno."
Dinah did not ask as he did not want to say more, but she had some things to say.
"Nine? Is that small?"
He nodded.
"One of my fathers-in-law has a harem of 200 maids."
That instantly made Dinah really think he has a small harem.
"Why do you keep your harem small?"
Maulketh smiled as he answered.
"Simple. I am a Dragon, the ultimate partner for any female. If I take any willy-nilly, I am not special. That also means my harem, which is part of my hoard is not full of treasure, but stones. I only take in those who I believe have the potential to stand at my side for the rest of my eternal life. It would be disastrous if they died of old age so none of my harems is human so they all have a common norm of harems.
And to me, each one is not just a harem member, they are my treasured family."
That explained it and his explanation was quite cute in a way Dinah thought.
"I understand now. How often do Dragons mate with other Dragons?"
Maulketh answered.
"Rarely for most as fights between Dragons are very rarely uneven. Only the strongest of male dragons have the right to mate with females they defeat as the females only take a single mate. I myself have three dragons by the way in my harem. And I was also being courted by a Dragon God before Trihexa here."
Diana disliked the idea of a harem, but in a way, it was sweeter than what her own father did by cheating on his wife Hera. Meanwhile, Maulketh's harem was family and not toys he collected. And he was a Dragon so it was within his very race to do so.
Dinah finished her gathered information.
"I have a general idea of the situation at hand. Lady Trihexa, Lord Maulketh did not defeat you in your battle correct?"
She nodded.
"Correct."
"Lord Maulketh, what was it she offered?"
"To be my Soul Mate."
Dinah wrote this down and put down her notepad.
"Simply put, this is a break in Dragon tradition it seems. In your culture, you must defeat her to gain her mating rights, but this is a breach in that culture so she is not complying with male dragon culture, right?"
Maulketh nodded.
"Yes."
Dinah sighed.
"The solution is simple, fight it out till one of you wins. Not on Earth, please. I rather live."
Maulketh looked at Trihexa with squinted eyes. She did the same, but what he said surprised all of them.
"Maybe later. Oh and to answer your question, Diana, my reality has its own versions of your gods. My best friend is an Ares, but I guess the greater Omniverse can do anything. He gave me his blessing."
With that said he and Grimnar walked away teleported away in a blinding flash of divine flames. When they were gone, Trihexa instantly began to shake as she had been rejected.
But instead of having an outburst as they thought she laughed.
"Maulketh Imperator Tempus, you have to be my mate. I must defeat him."
They could only fight once they both broke their pact so this was all just a starring content. She walked off on her own and just as Maulketh had done, she teleported in a dark cloak of shadows.
When they were both gone, Diana sat down next to Dinah.
"So? What did you get out of that?"
"Dragons are prideful in everything they do. Maulketh is not a heartless monster, Trihexa is an extremely proud Dragoness. But I think Maulketh is far more prideful than her. Dragon males and females operate very differently.
I have counseled a lot of people over the years, but never dragons. It is eye-opening kinda. Ollie will want to hear about this?"
As for Diana, she thought about her own gods, Zeus, and Hera, and their messed up marriage. In a way, Maulketh was a better man than her own father ever would be.
"I have more questions than ever. I might sit down and have a talk with him one on one soon. It might clear my head."
With that said, they were beamed back up to the Watcher Tower to explain. But Dinah decided to keep some stuff private, like Maulketh's harem and things related to it. As a form of respect.
---
Maulketh actually appeared in the Batcave where Bruce was actually taking many deep breaths. The pressure of their clash was horrible for regular humans, but it was not the first time or last time it would happen.
But Bruce with his newfound magic, was actually more resistant if barely. When he saw Grimnar and Maulketh he sighed.
"What did you do?"
Maulketh waved his hand.
"None of your business. Now the way I came here, I have finished cleaning Gotham of its curse mostly. The main source is gone and the aura is also dealt with, but the issue is the god that has hold over Gotham is not going to be happy so watch yourself.
To complete my end of the bargain of our pact, I have come to leave this."
Maulketh snapped his fingers and a large amount of his divine energy and mana gathered to form a big black and red wolf. It was the size of a car and built strong. Maulketh placed a hand on the wolf's head and placed a few rules on this wolf.
Once he was done the wolf shook itself off and spoke.
"Greetings Bruce Wayne of humanity. I am Typhon. For the next 5 months, I will be in charge of teaching you and your children as was agreed my Lord Maulketh. I will also act as a guard for the property and sparring partner."
Maulketh smirked when he saw Batman sigh.
"Thank me later."
With that done, Maulketh teleported to his grocery store. Belle Reve, Metahuman Prison full of unique metahumans he could use for his growing army of dragons. When he and Grimnar appeared in Louisiana.
A mile away from the prison in question. Unlike Arkham which only housed mentally ill villains according to Batman, Belle Reve was a true prison. Dangerous supervillains, many with powers were contained here.
All were useful for Maulketh's purposes and this time he had no need to pick, he would take them all including the prison.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone