DC: The Enchanter Chapter 78

Chapter 78: Cleaning Up

"Did you already know how this would play out?" 


He wasn't wrong.


"People blinded by revenge always ignore the dangers in front of them, often forgetting that they might fail."


When he heard my words, he looked at me. "You won against Joker, you were consumed by your anger and your feeling of vengeance. So, how can you say it without experiencing loss?"


The sight of the people, whether rich or poor, superpowered or not, coming together and cleaning up the mess left behind was quite calming.


Zatanna didn't use her magic to instantly fix the damages; after all, it was much more minor compared to the previous one.


And well, neither did I. After all, if I fixed everything on my own… how would I have seen the people coming together irrespective of their differences and working together to form a stable and warm society, much different from the corrupt ones.


"If I were to go against someone like you or Fate, would I have won?"


He smiled at my question, aware of what I meant.


"You would have died."


And truly, I would have.


"I got lucky," I chuckled. "Joker was psychotic and smart, but he was countered by my powers and a few other things that I possessed."


Especially my knowledge about him.


"But if I went against someone like Fate with that blind rage, I would not be in front of you today." I sighed, fully aware of how powerful Dr. Fate was.


"I am learning to control these emotions," I watched the grandson of Hiroshi-sensei carrying a broken chair. "That's why I did not blindly fight Arrow. And as you saw, if you are not blinded by anger, you can see the bigger picture."


"Which you did," he stood behind me, watching the scene as well. "You saw beyond just Arrow and were able to target the entirety of the Justice League."


"But my words might backfire in some ways."


He raised an eyebrow. "How?"


"While I did target the League, my words can also be used against every hero or even every superpowered being. So, I might have caused a series of troubles for every superpowered being."


This made him laugh. "I never cared about the authorities, and as for others, one day or the other, this situation would have arisen. So, it is up to them as to how well prepared they are."


"I guess."


The two of us stood still, enjoying the fresh air of Serenora.


Serenora is magical, albeit thanks to Zatanna's magic and my enchantment, but this place always has clean and sweet air despite the chaos it is in.


And this makes me believe that I should simply relax here from time to time, to calm my mind and my body.


"This place is, in a way, a monarchy," Constantine suddenly spoke. "It does not have a mayor or anything, but it still functions better than any other district."


"I believe that a place runs better if it is being looked over by one honest person with absolute power and authority... rather than a bunch of people coming together and looking after a place."


"The more the members, the more the chances of corruption," he smiled. "But what if that single ruler is corrupt?"


"That is why I specified 'honest' specifically."


This made him laugh. "You are not so humble, are you? Calling yourself honest."


This made me smile as well. "I was not referring to myself, but if I came to your mind, then, well, I will take it as a compliment."


"Anything but humble," he laughed.


And, well… being humble doesn't really get you anywhere in this world.


"How is the girl?"


"The one that was recording?" He asked, making me nod. "Well, she is fine."


"She is not normal, is she?"


He shook his head. "Considering how well-guarded she was and how the kidnappers prioritized her over the other kids, she is most likely rich, influential, or a meta."


"I will have to talk to her," I said, trying to think who those kidnappers were trying to sell those girls to.


Sadly, they all died before I could interrogate.


"What about now?"


I looked at him. "A battle does not end with the death of the enemy; it ends after dealing with the consequences that follow."


"And in this case, which is?"


I gave him a big smile. "Politics."


…

…


"And you are telling me this now!"


Lex Luthor roared, scaring all the men present within the room—except one.


A man who was just as furious as him.


"If you got the intel about the kidnapping, why did you not inform us!" The one to shout this time around was Penguin, the kingpin of Gotham.


"W-We did not expect it to turn into such a big deal s—"


"They were planning to do the transaction in 'Serenora,' the very place owned by Jasper Hughes, and you thought it would not turn into a big issue?!"


All the men looked down, aware of the grave mistake they had just made.


"How do you expect to fix this mess?" Penguin howled, "Because of you idiots, our relationship with Hughes is stained!"


There was nothing those men could do. And thus, they stared at the floor, with the hope of not getting fired or punished.


"Penguin." Lex looked at the fat man, "There is something that we can do."


The confused Penguin looked at Luthor, curious, "Which is?"


Luthor smiled as he showed his ringing phone to the Gotham villain, "Him."


The name on the screen made even Penguin smile, as it was none other than the mayor of Gotham.


"Aubrey James."


…

…


While Gotham and Metropolis had events of their own to handle, something very sinister was nesting in the new heroless Star City.


"Ay, Fred, look at that!" One kid from the city shouted to his friend, pointing at something crawling in an alleyway.


The 'thing' moved toward a dustbin, seemingly trying to hide.


"Where do you think you are going, dude?" He whispered, following behind the figure. "Come here, Fred!"


They were the local bullies of the place, tormenting people, animals, and even birds.


Looking at the quick figure, the bully believed it to be their new target – a helpless cat.


He walked toward the bin, trying to find it.


"Come here, you little—"


He tried to grab the figure, but to his horror, it was not a cat, not even an animal.


"Ah—"


But even before he could scream, the figure that he was trying to grab jumped at him – at his face, covering it and preventing him from screaming.


The boy couldn't scream, couldn't breathe – all he could do was stumble around, finally drawing the attention of his friend.


"What the heck are you doing, Josh!"


His friend yelled from behind, witnessing the antics of his friend.


Unknown to him, his friend was in for a lot of horrors.


As the thing that jumped and clung to his face was something very ugly, very nasty.


A starfish-like creature that burrowed itself inside the boy, immediately repairing the damaged skin of the face in the process.


And by the time Fred reached behind Josh, the creature had already entered the boy's body, leaving no trace of its action.


"You alright, man?"


And surprisingly, the boy replied.


"Yeah! What can even be wrong with me?"


But there was something wrong.


Something really, really wrong.


After all, he was now a host to Starro.


A host to one of the Starro.