(General P.O.V)

How long had it been? How long since she…since she lost her chance to escape. Her chance to finally give in to the deep feelings of resentment that had built up for her sister. A sister who couldn't see past her hate. A sister who had betrayed her so many times before in the past. A sister she still cared about even after all the anguish and pain she had caused her.

A trail of liquid fell down her cheeks. She had no idea if it was tears or sweat from the heat. The psions had decided to double their cruelty as punishment. She could feel her cells straining to accommodate the bombardment of energy. Her screams of pain had died long ago, all that was left was a deep and unyielding endurance, horned from her time with the Warlords of Ookara. She had used those practices to attain a state of non-presence. A state where your body felt but your mind stayed unperturbed.

Still, the strain her body was under went past the meta-physical. She knew she couldn't handle it for much longer. Her last chance to escape had gone but she was not dispirited. She was Koriandr after all, crown princess of Tamaran.

(On earth)

"Things have taken a drastic turn in DC. Despite the variant efforts put up by Batman, the huge vine monster seems to have sustained no damage. The police have cleared the scene here at Downtown and seem to be coordinating with the Secret Service given to the close proximity with the White House.

The reporter's face looked worried as he spoke into the camera. Behind him, one could spot a huge green plant, throwing around cars and smashing buildings. Batman swerved in at times and threw battarangs setting off a chain of explosions that destroyed the vines only for them to re-grow again.

The camera panned out to show the news anchor who had a finger on his ear piece, listening intently to something.

"We have our correspondents from all over the country reporting in. If has been confirmed that the same incident unfolding in Washington DC is happening in a lot of popular cities."

The screen behind him went from a single feed showing Washington DC to a grid showing multiple frames of other cities across the nation.

"Wonder Woman is at Gotham city, we can only assume its due to Batman being occupied with the vine monstrosity terrorizing the Capital. The Flash is handling the one in Central City, with strangely enough, help from one of his rogue gallery, Captain Cold. Captain Atom is helping out in New York with…oh my God. Is that Wildcat? That's Wildcat!" The New York video expanded to show the feed of a well built figure dressed in a grey sweater, brown slacks and a mask with a cat theme, helping people stuck in cars and under rubble escape the scene.

The news anchor had his mouth open.

"I can't believe it…he must be pushing 80 yet…" He shook his head and cleared his throat to get rid of the distracting thoughts.

"Las Vegas has help from Zatara who was fortunately, around doing a show. Icon and Rocket, two independent heroes from Dakota city are fighting the one in their local home with some success. It seems that once the damage piles on too much…the vine releases a cloud of green gas. Luckily, Rocket has sealed the gas in one of her shields."

The Anchor went on to list a few more cities where the League had mobilized along with a few more independent heroes to stop the vines from their destruction.

However, through all that, everyone wondered the same thing…where was Superman?

(Aden's P.O.V)

"You still haven't told me what she stole."

I asked the demonologist as we stopped infront of the crypt. Jason Blood grunted absentmindedly as he stepped inside the stone structure and walked to the end, where he started inscribing a triangle with 3 circles on the furthermost wall with a yellow chalk. I narrowed my eyes as latent energy started brimming from around our surroundings.

Jason cursed out as the circle flashed with orange fire before dying out.

"The wards damaged the connecting waypoints. We are stuck here."

He told me before punching the wall with his fist and cracking it. I smiled.

"Well...not really." At my urging a boom tube appeared before us. Blood looked on at the portal then at me, as if he was seeing me for the first time.

"This can take us anywhere in the world I've been. So where do you want to go?"

He sighed.

"At this point, there's only one place we can get help from. And coincidentally, it is where you you came from. A portal to New Orleans, if you will..."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Aden. Aden Strong."

I answered, even though I had already introduced myself like three times as we left the ruins of his mansion for the crypt.

"Right. Right. Sorry, my mind is not what it used to be. He has been getting out of hand. Bucking under my control..."

Blood trailed off, looking unfocused.

"Are you alright?"

I asked him, concerned about his mental health. I would hate to bring a fire spitting rhyme demon back to New Orleans, although I was confident I could stop him before he fucked everything up, Etrigan was seriously strong. That wasn't a fight I wanted to have in the middle of a crowded place like New Orleans. He shook his head, closed his eyes and nodded with a wince. The haunted look on his face changed as his expression turned blank.

"Yes. I am fine. We should get going."

He told me while moving towards the portal.

"Nope." The Boom Tube disappeared. "Not until you answer some of my questions first."

I told him while crossing my hands. Anger marred his features.

"Open. The. PORTAL!!"

He shouted, his voice taking on a growl at the end. My back stiffened as I narrowed my eyes.

"Even if you attack and defeat me... you're still going to be stuck here in the middle of Fucksvile or whatever. How are you going to get to Madame Xanadu's without my help? Just swallow your pride and answer only two questions and we're good."

We entered a staring contest but unlike the Devil where I had had to look away in fear of getting blasted apart for the nerve, I stared down Blood until he closed his eyes and took a few calming breaths.

"Alright. Alright..." When he opened his eyes, the anger had been replaced by frustration. "What do you want to know?"

He questioned in a clipped tone.

"First of all, what did that crazy angel chick steal and what do you think are her intentions?"

"Allyssa stole a mystical object called, a Star Compass." I listened intently, wracking my brains over whether I'd heard something like that from Canon but came to the conclusion that I hadn't. "An artifact capable of leading you to hidden ruins or places with a high concentration of natural magic."

"Oh like Atlantis or Salem?"

I pitched in. The demonologist nodded.

"Precisely. It is my belief that she is going to use it to locate the Fountain of Imperium, a well of magical power not native to the planet that casts a mystical net over the world to hide us from most extraterrestrial scrying. The net has been crucial in keeping away the common alien practitioners of magic. If it does go down, we might see magical activity increase exponentially as magi from across the universe try to tap in to the earth's relatively young leylines for their own ends."

Magical Aliens. Wow. Only DC can have such crazy fuckery.

"Ok, second question." I held up the MDP. "If I help you stop her, will you help me with this?"

(General P.O.V)

The vines dug into the building, breaking through the window and encroaching the room as a mass of tendrils, taking over. The building was only the third this happened to. The only upside to the situation being that it had been cleared already. Batman was getting frustrated at the lack of progress. His holographic wrist computer had already scanned the plant. The center portion of the vine peeking from the ground was it's vulnerable spot but if he destroyed it, then a dose of fear toxin would be released. Something that while he could overcome due to sheer will power, he wasn't immune to. Not completely.

He would have to come up with a new strategy. He couldn't really synthesize an antidote on the spot but The Flash had picked up the chemicals needed and hopefully, with the man's Super-Speed, they could neutralize the toxin before any real damage could be sustained to the surroundings. That also meant he had to stall the vine's progress, unaided. He narrowed his eyes, meaning Clark was facing whatever he was facing alone.

It wasn't hard to put two and two together. Clark mentioning Luthor, right before the coordinated attacks by the vines had happened, Metropolis being exempt from what was happening in other cities. That was despite the attacks being aimed for the cities where League members and other well known independent heroes come from. Then there was the fact that the vines seemed to be a product of magic as well as science. An abomination created by using Ivy's plant as the base, Magic for regeneration whenever the vines were damaged and Fear Toxin as a countermeasure. It was clear that Luthor and by extension The Light, sought to keep the other heroes occupied. Too bad the junior team was currently suspended. Robin and the others would be coming back tomorrow after their weekend training with Richard Dragon.

Batman lost his focus for a split second due to his worry over Superman and that split second was enough for him to get slammed backwards by the towering plant's multiple tentacles. He hit the ground and grunted, rolling away from another vine's attack. He threw noxious pellets that exploded and the vines shrivelled in place. Batman flipped backwards, dodging the spikes of hardened vines that shot off the ground in his former position. He jumped from a car and used his grapple gun to swing away.

A scream followed by barking rang out through the surroundings and Batman looked to it's source only to clench his jaw. A minivan with a family, two adults, one kid and a dog was held up in the air by vines. Batman instantly swung towards that direction to save them but he was too late. The scream was cut off as the mass of vines constricted the minivan and squeezed. Bruce's heart skipped a beat as his mind buzzed.

"No!"

Batman shouted, evading a vine, his hand reaching out to the vehicle...only for a towering screen of flames to block out his view. The vine let out a screech of pain, disorienting Batman and making him land on the roof of a building in a roll.

The Dark Knight stood up with a groan and surveyed the scene. Heat waves blasted his face as the temperature picked up, hot enough to have him sweating in seconds. A tornado of fire blocked the vine's main body, burning off the numerous vines while the bud remained in the middle of the tornado. The eye of the storm.

"I hope you don't mind, I thought it prudent to intervene."

A voice said from below him. Standing infront of the tornado of fire was Iroh in a martial arts stance.

The old man looked at Batman as he swung down, a slight smile on Iroh's face,

"The family is okay."