"Those who crave power the most are already slaves to it."
---
The storm came at dawn.
Not from the sky, but from within the Tower.
The Gathering Shadows
Nightwing woke to alarms blaring across the hallways.
Red lights flared, klaxons howled and the security grid flickered as if something inside the system itself was resisting.
"Status!" He barked, sliding across the console.
"Multiple breaches!" Blue Beetle answered, his armor flickering erratically. "It's like the whole network's being hacked through every feed!"
Raven's eyes glowed faint violet. "This isn't only tech… it's ritual. Someone's using blood magic as code."
Starfire hovered beside her, eyes wide. "Then who...?"
The floor trembled.
From beneath them, symbols flared. Circles of red light and black smoke forming the mark of Brother Blood.
The Cult Strikes
Hooded figures rose from the darkness, weapons forged from corrupted metal, chanting in low, rhythmic tones.
They moved in perfect unison—devotees of something vast and terrible.
Nightwing shouted, "Titans! Defensive formation!"
Damian's blades flashed. "Finally."
But before anyone could strike, the air itself stilled.
Thump.
What followed was a soundless silence, deep and resonant.
Thump.
King walked through the smoke, eyes calm. His voice, when he spoke, rolled like tectonic plates shifting.
"You trespass in a place where innocence still breathes," He said. "You have chosen poorly."
Thump.
The cult froze. Not only from fear but awe as well.
And from behind them, a voice echoed through every speaker, every mind.
Smooth. Charismatic. Hungry.
"Ah… the Immovable Man himself. The one they call King."
Brother Blood's holographic form shimmered above the Tower, crimson and regal. His eyes gleamed with fanatic desire.
"Do you know what you are, my unbreakable one? You are worship made flesh. The perfect vessel. The world kneels before chaos and fear—yet you stand. I must have that strength."
King looked up, utterly calm. "You cannot covet the mountain and not expect the avalanche."
Tara's Guilt
While the Titans fought off the cultists, Tara stood frozen at the stairwell, her communicator buzzing, Slade's voice pressing through the static.
"Now, Tara. Drop the barrier field. Let Blood's forces in. It's time."
Her hands shook. The keypad blinked in her trembling fingers.
Then King's voice cut through the chaos below. He wasn't shouting, wasn't fighting yet. Just speaking.
"Fear binds you," He said to no one and everyone at once. "Lies chain you. But only truth can set you free."
Her breathing hitched.
She looked at the keypad again… and smashed it with her own power, sealing the barrier tighter.
"Not this time." She whispered.
The Clash
Blood's voice snarled. "Ungrateful child!"
The cult surged forward. Dozens of them, eyes glowing red, enhanced by his ritual.
Raven extended her power, shadows swirling around her arms. "They're channeling something big! He's using them as conduits!"
"Then we cut the cord." Nightwing growled.
King stepped forward, his aura rippling outward. The ground under his feet cracked in a spiderweb pattern, the entire tower settling around him.
"Stay behind me."
King punched the air and everything on the path of the fist disintegrated.
Not burned. Not blasted. Simply undone, like paper touched by fire.
King moved faster than sight, each strike a blur of light and density, each impact a thunderclap.
When he struck the ground, shockwaves split the floor, sending enemies flying like dry leaves.
Blue Beetle stared, awestruck. "That's not possible—nothing moves that fast without tearing space-time!"
"Tell that to him." Raven said softly, as King blurred past again, the air itself bowing under the pressure of his movement.
Within seconds, the cult's front lines were gone.
Blood's Manifestation
Brother Blood's hologram dissolved and the real figure emerged from a rift of dark crimson energy above the chamber.
He wore a crown of bone and gold, his veins pulsing with stolen metahuman power.
"You cannot destroy what was born from worship." Blood sneered. "You stand as a god in a world of clay. Join me and we shall build an empire that bends reality itself!"
King looked up. "You mistake endurance for divinity."
Brother Blood's hands extended, runes blazing, energy crackling. "Then endure this!"
Crimson lightning crashed down.
The Tower shook violently. Metal melted. Glass shattered.
And when the light faded. King stood untouched.
Smoke curled off his shoulders, his clothes unburned. His eyes, bright and unmoving, pierced through the fog.
"You seek to control the infinite." King said, walking toward him. "But I am not infinite. I am the end of movement. The truth that cannot be broken. I am the indomitable will of mankind made manifest."
He waved a hand.
Brother Blood's magic shattered mid-incantation, runes scattering like dust in the wind. His body trembled as if the universe itself rejected his command.
"How?" Blood gasped.
"Still."
King's fist met his chest and the ritual circle imploded.
Brother Blood screamed as his power backfired, his form consumed by his own ambition, dispersing into mist and molten light.
The Tower went silent.
Aftermath
Smoke curled upward through the broken ceiling. The Titans stood amidst the ruin, breathing hard.
Beast Boy's voice broke the silence first. "So uh… do we clap or…?"
Starfire smiled faintly. "Perhaps later."
Tara stood trembling. King turned to her, his gaze calm.
"You chose truth." He said quietly.
She wiped her eyes. "I almost didn't."
"Almost never decides the ending." He replied. "But choice does."
Raven stepped beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're one of us, Tara."
Nightwing nodded. "Welcome home."
King looked out over the bay.
In the distance, dawn finally broke—warm light spilling across the tower.
He closed his eyes briefly. "Let the sun rise again," He murmured, "and remind the world that even the earth can forgive itself."
Read 28 chapters ahead on P.A.T.R.E.O.N
patreon.com/Danzoslayer517
New tier available. For 14 dollars you get access to all my stories in Patreon.