Chương 52: Justinian's Schemes.
Once Justinian got off his knees he didn't miss a single second to return to his usual height of 14 feet. After knowing Justinian for quite a few years Diana had come to realize one thing about him. He absolutely disliked being small.
It was cute in a way that he found normal-sized, small.
"You really don't like being regular-sized."
He nodded with a small raising at the edge of his lip.
"There is no hiding it, I despise it. After living most of my 10,000-year life as a Custodes, being anything less than this feels wrong. Diana, I find our time together pleasant, but I know how your sisters feel about me, and for your sake I will leave.
Should I return to Mars to wait for your next communication, or do we simply teleport to Titan Tower? This may sound conceited, but I rather Trigon not destroy my things. Of course, I mean Terra and the Galaxy."
Diana thought about it as either way, Justinian wanted to meet Raven. For the sake of the future, she might as hurry things along. Plus, she had gotten used to his rather to-the-point nature.
"Let us not delay, just let me get dressed. I rather not go in a swimsuit."
She walked away to get her clothes to get properly dressed. In the meantime, he turned to his Honor Guard who were currently in a tight formation so he let them relax with a motion of his hand.
They walked over to him waiting for Diana to get properly dressed. Once they were gathered around him, they began to talk in secret. Helbrecht in particular had a question so he asked.
'Lord, I wanted to ask you something that has been on my mind.'
'Speak your mind.'
'What other plan do you have for this girl, the Raven girl?'
Justinian slightly smiled as his Honor Guard knew him the best.
'The blood of the powerful holds many powers, weaponizing Trigon's bloodline against him will amuse me. I also seek to stud how strong she can get. Consider it an experiment at the grand stage.'
Perturabo the master of Technology had a request. One piece of technology interested him.
'While we deal with this child, I am more interested in that Jaime brat. His Scarab armor is fascinating and through reverse engineering, we should be able to enhance our armor more than it already us.'
Lauralina though was thinking of Justinian's favorite experiment. Cloning and genetic engineering and now she was thinking of the Teen Titans.
'While we are there, we can collect the DNA of the Tamaranian, Superman's kid, and that shape-shifting child. We can make our Clone Armies even stronger.'
Justinian and his Honor Guard always had a second, third, and fourth scheme. It didn't take long for Diana to return now wearing her Super Hero outfit. She walked toward Justinian while placing her Lasso on her waist.
"I am ready to go."
Justinian nodded as he wanted to get back to managing his forces. He secretly extended his senses throughout the Segmentum and he could see his Legions taking Star Systems after Star Systems.
Some peacefully, others through near annihilation of civilizations. Genetic samples were taken for replacement cloning. He focused back on Diana as at the moment they had not faced true resistance.
"Let's go then."
He waved his hand and teleported them all to the island of Titan Tower in Jump City on the West Coast. He, his Honor Guard, and Diana appeared outside of the Tower as it would be for the best to not paralyze the children with fear directly.
At least, not yet so he glanced at Diana who would be going inside. He rather remains outside where he didn't have to shrink again.
"I will gather the team, though, I am not sure if Tigruel will want to see you guys."
This was where the trick lay, Tigruel the son of Sigismund had 'escaped' to Earth to get away from his Father. He had run to the Justice League, spinning a tale of brutal training and extreme experimentation from his Father, Justinian's Champion.
He even showed his memories to J'onn J'onzz to show the extreme training he was subjected to which was close to torture, the genetic engineering to be better, and the magical enhancements. Even trained in resisting mental torture by the best Psychics which caused the League to take him in.
Of course, Tigruel was fine with all this, he simply had his memories altered by Justinian by his own will. That memory remained in his subconscious which he could call back to and ground himself. That was how he was trusted to enter the Teen Titans as a young powerful individual in need.
When in reality, he was a loyalist and sought to bring honor to his Father, The Emperor, and The Imperium. Sigismund turned to Justinian with his face hidden by his dark helmet.
'How long do you think it will take them to realize Tigruel is a spy?'
'As long as we don't let it slip. He is good at his job, my Champion.'
Sigismund beamed with pride at those words.
'He makes me and his Mother proud. I am honored by your words.'
Justinian patted his shoulder.
'He makes me proud as well.'
They didn't have to wait longer as the Teen Titans began to emerge from the Tower with Wonder Woman. Cyborg also was with them looking unaged as most of his body was cybernetic and had been altered by his transformation.
Justinian glanced around at the teenagers of the Teen Titans, those who had beaten Trigon at least in a few iterations. Tim Drake as Robin, Garfield Logan The Beast Boy, Crush, the daughter of Lobo, Star Fire a Tamaranian, Bart Allen also known as Impulse, Jon Kent son of Superman, Jaime the Blue Beetle, Raven daughter of Trigon and Tigruel son of Sigismund a Burning Martian Kryptonian hybrid.
When all 9 young members of the team emerged with Diana and Cyborg they instantly got alarmed. Bart looked at Justinian with a particular look in his eye because he was from an alternative future. He had come to stop that future and instead had entered this unique timeline where Justinian had been dropped off.
He had no idea who Justinian was, but he had done his research. Impulse was from the year 2056 and Justinian wasn't even from this millenium or reality. However, his spun tale of being from the 42nd millennium made it appear that he was from the far distant future.
At least that was what he thought, the truth was very different. Every member of the team had a different reaction with Tigruel instantly stepping back and starting his act. Only it wasn't an act as most of his mind did get modified to fear Justinian, Sigismund, and The Imperium.
"F-f-f-father."
Diana walked toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him. Through J'onn's analysis, they 'knew' he deeply feared his Father in particular. In his altered memories, since he was a few months old he was subjected to extensive magical, genetic, and harsh training to be stronger.
He was a gentle soul who sought peace, but in The Imperium of Mars, peace and weakness were weeded out. As such, he 'fled' to Earth in the hope of finding aid in the League.
Walking out from the 50 Burning Martians, Sigismund walked forward. He reached up and removed his dark enchanted helmet. When his face was exposed he had a cold disappointed look on his face as he looked at his son.
"So this is what you have done after defecting? Playing dress up with a bunch of kids. You were never strong enough, never good enough. Your Mother wasted her womb on you, you failure."
Tigruel began to shake in place with almost genuine sadness. Deep down the kid knew these emotions were fake. They just felt so real and if not for his training he would believe them truly.
"Father, I-"
Sigismund shook his head as he turned around to join the ranks again.
"You are no son of mine, you are just a disappointment. Consider yourself disowned and I relinquish any ties to you."
Suddenly, Crush and Star Fire got between Tigruel and Sigismund. The ash-skinned girl with short hair seemed particularly angry.
"Shut it you oversized tin can. We all know what you did to him, so don't act like you know what is good. He is a great hero, and far better than anything that could come from your Empire."
Star Fire glanced over at Justinian The God Emperor of The Imperium. Everything Tigruel had gone through, all the training, the genetic engineering, the magical and psychic enhancements were done in service of him.
Sigismund loyalty exceeded his love for his family and he had to make his son better. She couldn't understand it, and wouldn't try either.
"Justinian Arcadius Valoris Valdor, a grand name for a despot. I know your kind well. Children should be raised with love, and care, not subjected to harsh training. He never had a childhood and it was all in your name. What do you say, God Emperor?"
Justinian glanced at the boy who was acting as the eyes and ears of the Titans. His cold dark helmet hid what he was thinking or feeling.
"He wasn't strong enough so he fled. He brings dishonor to his Father, My Champion and friend. I had high expectations of you, boy. You were to join your Father's side as part of my Honor Guard, but you couldn't even get past the training. It is sad.
But enough about you, one defector among the untold billions of my Empire isn't even a loss. No, I came here to speak to you, Raven."
She froze in place when she heard him say her name.
"Me? What could you want with me?"
Justinian removed his helmet and looked at her.
"Yes, I have some business with you. All because of what you are. Half Demon and that is never a good thing. Especially when your Father is Trigon which is why I am here."
Tim after being quiet spoke up.
"Yes, why are you here? What do you plan to do about her? Kill her, recruit her, or turn her to your side."
Justinian explained it as a mere human child wasn't even worth his attention.
"I will say it clearly as I don't want any misunderstandings. I know what you are and the danger you pose to reality itself. Your Father is dangerous and you are the key for him to enter this reality.
I rather that not happen, so I am here to prevent it. Rachel, I am here to prevent him from taking over your body and causing ruin to this reality. Not out of the goodness of my heart, but pure logic.
I can't rule my Empire if there is nothing to rule. You always have the risk to be taken over by your Father's influence and I know a thing or two about dealing with Demonic beings. You can stay here, and I can slowly mentor you to resist his influence as my apprentice in magic."
As he said that, through his reality-warping powers, he began to secretly gather samples of those that mattered. Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, Crush, and John. Even a mere drop of blood was enough for his cloning experiments.
When he got his samples he put his attention on Raven. She glanced at Diana who was the one who knew Justinian the best. Diana did try to be neutral as she was biased.
"Rachel, you already talked to Zatana and she has been your biggest help in this, but Justinian can help you deal with your issues. I am biased as I trust him, but you all don't. What matters is, he speaks the truth. The choice is all yours to make though."
Raven walked forward a bit to get a better look at Justinian. When she glanced at his eyes, she began to feel her own Demonic body scream in panic. He was the best Anti-Demon weapon around, especially that gigantic spear.
The many runes on the gold and purple spear made her eyes hurt to look at them, the large black and crimson gauntlet on his left hand felt ominous. The glow of power in his eyes, but something was unnerving her.
"I can't feel your emotions, none of you."
There was a reason for that and a good one.
"You must understand that for an empath like you, experiencing even a shred of the emotions and thoughts I feel would drive you mad. We can't have that happening especially with your particular circumstances."
He tossed his spear toward Sanguinia who caught it in her hand. He stepped forward before stopping a respectful distance from the kids, but he did have a way to work this out.
"Unless you want to risk it? I can show you a small portion of my surface-level thoughts."
Diana glanced at Justinian who looked back at her. He knew what he was doing so he kneeled.
"If you want, try it. I promise to not make you insane."
Rachel gulped, but she wanted to know. She walked forward until she was mere steps away from him. She floated up, but she avoided looking into his eyes.
"Are you sure about this?"
He nodded.
"The question should be, are you? There is no danger to me, to you, plenty."
"I am."
He actually found that worthy of respect.
"Good, consider me impressed with your courage. Maybe it will save you."
She reached out with both hands and held his temples. The issue with reading Justinian's memories is that he wasn't just one person. He was five, seven counting Ddraig and Albion. He had the lives of Marcus the Human, Justinian, Arcadius, Trajaan Valoris, and Constantine Valdor four Adeptus Custodes.
Seven lives of memories so when he allowed her to gaze at his surface-level thoughts, it could be bad. As such, when she finally felt the true intentions of his goal to train her to be strong enough to destroy her Father she also saw glimpses of memories.
Very few since these were the ones he let slip. She looked from the eyes of a man, sitting on a throne with a vast army in front of him. Countless battles across the stars against many alien foes, cultists, and flashes of battle in the Webway.
All those memories fell apart as he showed her one last one. One of his biggest memories he got from Constantine Valdor. It was Valdor, but also Justinian who contained his memories in a crib with towering Golden Man, looking down at 'her'.
Justinian liked this memory, it was when The Emperor found and took Valdor, one of his lives. Just seeing this memory caused her to cut the link as she gasped with her head acheing.
Just a memory of The Emperor Of Mankind had been enough to snap her out of things.
"You saw him, didn't you? The Emperor. My creator, my Father."
While she was reeling from the sheer power of that being, Justinian stood up.
"It is not every day that someone sees one of my earliest memories. Consider me impressed with your power in the mind arts. So, will you learn from me?"
Rachel looked up at Justinian who was now towering over her.
"I will."
"Good. There is no need to call me Master, simply Sir or Mentor is enough. Your first lesson will come later. For now, remember this, if you feel your Father is to take over, picture The Emperor. You are the first being in this time to see him in his full splendor after all."
With that said, Justinian turned to Diana.
"It was good to see you, Diana. Until we meet again which should be soon."
With that, Justinian waved his hand and dragged his spear back into his hand. He then teleported away with his Honor Guard vanishing as if he wasn't there. However, he didn't leave without anything as his collected samples were going to create powerful armies for the future.
He always benefited from his actions after all, in one way or another.
(P-atreon.com/A_Real_Werewolf234)
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