Bab 236: Fishy Situation #236
"Interesting..." I couldn't help but mutter as I held the slave collar in my hand, snapped in my half after I removed it from the last captive. It was actively trying to drain my energy, but it couldn't handle it and started cracking.
I just shrugged as I chucked it into my inventory and tended to the captives, rejuvenating their bodies with pure energy, which improved their conditions and made them look alive again.
Though they remained unconscious, it was better that way since I didn't want to deal with a bunch of panicking civilians. The dark-skinned kid, on the other hand, seemed composed and calm enough, so I should be able to get some information out of him.
I slowly approached him and put a hand on his shoulder, channeling enough energy into his body to snap him back into consciousness. He immediately opened his eyes and seemed to panic as electric arcs danced around his body before zapping me.
"That's a strange way of saying thank you, don't you think?" I said as I stepped back from the kid to give him space, casually dusting the slight smoke on my clothes.
"What can I say, dude? I kinda identify with Pikachu," The kid replied, to which I chuckled, not finding his reference strange or surprising. I discovered that media from my past life existed in this world, and Pokemon was only one of them, but that's neither here nor there.
"If you're well enough to tell jokes, then you're well enough to explain what's happening here," I said, nodding my head at the kid. "Who are you and these people? How did you end up here?" I added, pausing to give him time to reply.
"The name's Virgil Hawkins..." The kid, Virgil, replied, and it only took me a second to identify him after associating his appearance, powers, name, and the manner he spoke.
He was Static, a hero from the Dakutaverse originally, who later moved to the mainstream universe and joined the Teen Titans alongside Icon and other heroes and villains.
"Not to brag, but I'm with the Teen Titans. I go by Static," He continued lowering his tone and speaking in a hush, cautious tone as he noticed Poison Ivy's presence.
"I don't know these people, but I have a pretty good idea of how they got here," He continued, clearing his throat after a second's pause as he studied my expression, searching for signs of surprise, which he did not find.
"They ended up here like me. Some dudes calling themselves the Wildbeast Society kidnapped us from Earth..." Virgil explained and paused, seemingly unsure of his words now as he spoke them out loud.
"They brought us to a place called Azarath, a wasteland dimension. I heard one of them saying they brought us there for some dead spirits to possess our bodies," He continued, shivering in fright at the prospect of being possessed.
"There were other people there too. Mostly meta-humans like me. But then those hot chicks and hunks with wings and horns showed up and brought us here," He concluded, taking a deep breath after rapidly speaking out his last two sentences.
I didn't reply and merely lowered my head, trying to recall such a scenario and failing. 'Damn it... I really should have read more comics before I died..." I bitterly mused, but I didn't get to overthink it as Virgil interrupted my chain of thought.
"You're name is Grayson, right? I recognized you from the news," He said, causing me to raise my head and look at him. "You're a hero. Moreover, you're really powerful," He added, his tone growing hopeful, much to my chagrin.
"Can you help? Those bastards got a lot of people there. A good portion of them are Teen Titans, too," He concluded, giving me a pleading look, to which I could only sigh.
"I can't. I've got my own problems to deal with here..." I said, shaking my head, to which Virgil's expression instantly turned distraught. "We can send you back to Earth, but that's all we can do right now," I continued, shrugging my shoulders as I got up.
"You should contact the Justice League. They would organize a rescue operation to save everyone else," I concluded as I turned towards Nightshade, intent on asking her to send everyone back.
However, Virgil quickly interrupted me before I could speak. "But we don't know how to get back there," He added, his expression growing even more pleading.
"But there's a portal to that place inside a temple in that spooky forest outside town," Virgil continued, his tone urgent. "We have to save them before it's too late," He concluded.
"As I've said, we got our own problem here. We're on a rescue mission," I replied, trailing off at the end of my sentence. "I'll tell you what, stick around helps here, and I'll go with you to get your friends," I said after a brief pause.
Ultimately, I was already in some whack-ass dimension, trying to pick a fight with a cosmic demon. Traveling to another dimension and fighting meta-human trafficking organizations or something along those lines wasn't nearly as crazy as what I was doing.
It's about time I stopped being a selfish asshole. After all, I was powerful enough to act selflessly and help others without endangering my life or compromising my plans.
In any case, Virgil paused at my words, hesitating as he seemed to think about it. "Fine. You got yourself a deal," He said after a few seconds as he extended his hand toward me, asking for a handshake.
"Good," I said as I shook his head. "Can you send these people back to earth?" I asked as I let go of Virgil's hand and turned to Nightshade, to which she nodded.
"Send them to Metropolis if you can," I added as I retrieved a paper from my inventory and wrote a message before tying it to one of the captives' wrists and stepping back.
"In case we can't make it there in time. I wrote what happened to these people," I added, and everyone was smart enough to understand my meaning, so I didn't need to elaborate.
'Hopefully, someone from The Justice League would get the message and look into the situation...' I mused as I watched Nightshade open a portal back to Earth before chucking the captives into it.
"Looks like we're going to have to speed things up," I said, scratching my head as I sighed. "I got a plan to lure out the Incubus, but you might not like it..." I added, turning to Nightshade as she closed the portal.
...
"So you want to use a magical nuke to get the Incubu's attention and lure him out...?" Nightshade asked, her expression incredulous after listening to my plan.
"He must value this dimension one way or the other. He wouldn't have bothered taking over it otherwise," I replied, nodding at the heroine. "He wouldn't linger here for so many years either," I added, shrugging my shoulders.
In truth, I had another plan in mind. But I could smell something fishy about the entire situation. My paranoia was slowly rising as I considered everything we had encountered or hadn't, prompting me to suggest more extreme measures.
Nightshade said that she would always find the Incubus waiting for her whenever she came to the Land of Nightshades, and it wasn't hard to believe her since there was a horde of monsters waiting for us at the portal's exit.
However, not only did we not find the Incubus, but he seemed to be hiding from us for whatever reason, as even his subordinate demons didn't know his whereabouts.
As a high-ranking demon, the Incubus likely had an equally high opinion of himself and had no reason to hide from the heroine unless he was plotting something.
But why the fuck did he need to plot against Nightshade, considering he'd sent the heroine back to Earth with her tail between her legs on multiple occasions? I had no idea, and it bugged me to no end now that I've thought about it.
"And if he doesn't show up? What do we do?" Nightshade asked, frowning as she gave me a confused look. "Can you even defuse this magical nuke of yours?" She asked.
"I can put it back into my dimensional storage and defuse it," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "If it doesn't work, then we get out of here and come back another time with a plan to lure the Incubus out," I calmly concluded, to which Nightshade's expression instantly sank.
"What do you mean come back another time?! My brother has been trapped in his own body for years, you heartless asshole!" Nightshade bellowed, instantly losing her temper as she glared at me.
"We can't wait anymore! We have to free him now!" She asked as she stomped her way toward me, reaching for the collar of my shirt.
...
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