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—
Manhattan
Downtown Area
Greenwich Village
"My companion and I need protection against telepathy and all other kinds of mind reading." Miles would have loved to stay and chat with the sorceress, but he was, as always, strapped for time.
Nimue played with the tarot cards in her hands, her eyes glued on Miles. "That can be arranged." She was one of the oldest sorcerers in the world, and while creating defenses against telepathy was not a commission she had received before, it was simple for Madame Xanadu to do. "Though, I have a question first."
"No questions, two briefcases." Miles put the briefcases on her desk, opening them to reveal the money inside, "and you threw in that Incan Conopa. I am a sucker for effigies like that." He nodded at the small figure placed on the shelf behind Nimue.
Miles had gathered quite a decent collection in his travels, but it was all gone now, and this was a stellar opportunity to start again.
She took the small Conopa, putting it on the table. "The effigy is charmed to bring prosperity." Nimue explained. It was a small token she had picked up in her travels as a nomad, though it was not something she was attached to.
"Three cases, then." He upped the offer.
Nimue considered the proposal. She knew a guest would arrive; her tarot cards had said that much, but the man sitting before her was not included, and it was rare for her cards to fail. She was curious, but it was also rare for a customer like this.
She finally acquiesced. "Very well. Come back in a week, and I'll have two amulets ready for you." It would be wonderful if the man became a regular customer. She handed over the effigy, since it was a mere curiosity she had picked up, and put it in a box and handed it over.
"Splendid. We'll be back in a week."
—
"So who exactly is that woman?" Claire asked after they got in the car. Miles had not told her anything about Madame Xanadu beforehand, and he wondered what brought him to this little shop.
Miles started the ignition and drove. "She is King Arthur Pendragon's half-sister and was a pupil of Merlin himself."
Claire blinked, recognizing the names as part of a legend, not actual history. "Those people are real?" Then again, there were aliens and Amazonians who worshipped the Greek gods on this world; perhaps the existence of King Arthur wasn't that shocking.
Miles nodded, stopping at the red lights on the way to the hotel. "Very much so. Nimue is old and one of the strongest sorcerers alive." There were others, but none worked with money, except maybe Constantine.
"Damn. How did you even learn about her?" Someone that old must have been excellent at hiding her tracks.
"She left her marks on history; it was just a matter of putting the clues together." That was another excuse, of course. He had no doubt Nimue could be traced, but it wouldn't be easy.
They drove in silence for a while before Claire had another question. "I have a question about this no-killing rule of yours. How long do you think it could last?"
"If I go and kill Joker right now, Batman would not stop until he finds the one responsible for it. If a gangster or a small-time criminal in some random place dies, neither he nor anyone else will think it more than just another homicide."
It was a complex affair, the Justice League's no-kill rule. Their reasoning for it was to not take justice into their own hands, but it was just an excuse created by the comic book writers. If the villains died, they would have to create new ones, which would be unprofitable.
"So, it's just the big names we can't kill." It's not that she wanted to go out of her way to kill people; just the thought of someone more dangerous than Black Mask coming after Miles was bothering her.
"Yes, although leaving a trail of bodies in our wake is not a good strategy either. Law enforcement is bound to see a pattern, and a criminal that leaves patterns isn't a very good one." Patterns meant someone could easily be traced and caught.
"You are the boss. I was just curious."
—
There wasn't much to do for a week while waiting for Madame Xanadu to finish her amulets, except make connections and bug some government offices.
The day before they would return to receive the amulets, Shayera called Miles. "We need to talk. General Talak is here; send me your location and we'll meet you there."
Moving to a remote location where her shuttle wouldn't be seen, Miles and Claire waited for the general to come down on his ship, which didn't take long, though he wasn't alone.
Hro Talak was following another Thanagarian, most likely a superior who walked with an air of entitlement few could match. "So you are the human Hro told me about. The one responsible for the defeat of the Gordonians." The alien measured Miles before clicking his tongue. "You don't look like much."
Miles smirked. "Appearances can be deceiving, you, though, are exactly as you appear."
The Thanagarian was confused at the remark, crossing his arms. "What does that mean?"
"I'll leave that to you to figure out." He turned to Hro Talak, who was watching the exchange with annoyance. "Now, General, I wasn't aware we were having a guest."
"This is Councillor Uru Zedak; he is here concerning the deal we made."
"Yes, General Talak seems to have reached an agreement with you, yet Thanagar's laws prohibit us from giving advanced technology to other races."
Miles turned to General Talak. "I do remember you being authorized to grant my part of the deal, General."
Hro nodded in agreement. "I am; I just did not expect the Council to have such a strong negative reaction to it." And in truth, he thought the Council would agree to the deal regardless of the law since defeating the Gordonians was worth anything in his opinion.
"I wonder why. Gordonians are defeated due to my interference, and Thanagar is saved from an imminent defeat. Yet they are unwilling to honor our agreement." They were being unreasonable, and Miles had no patience for it.
Uru Zedak did not appear to care. "The law is the law."
Miles got on the Thanagarian's face, looking straight into his eyes, making the winged alien unnerved. "Make an exception for me, Councillor." He insisted, but Uru stood his ground, barely.
"If we make an exception for you, it will set a precedent." Councillor weakly excused himself, and Miles could smell fear.
Miles took a step back, his eyes still on the Thanagarian politician. "Councillor Uru, I defeated the mortal enemy of Thanagar with some forged evidence that took ten minutes to prepare. What do you think I'll do to you if I don't get what was promised to me?" His words were met with shocked silence from the Thanagarians, and Claire realized things could quickly devolve into a fight.
"Is that a threat?" Uru Zedak watched warily.
Miles smirked, enjoying scaring the Thanagarian. "No, it is a warning. There are worse entities in the galaxy than Larfleeze, and if you renege on our agreement, I'll rain hell on Thanagar."
"Worse than Larfleeze?" General Talak had watched as the Orange Lantern tore apart the defensive line the Gordonians had. The line Thanagar could not hope to pierce through even with all their might brought to bear on it.
He did not show any mercy and, after the defensive line had collapsed, proceeded to burn the planet, one city at a time.
It was terrifyingly beautiful and so satisfying to watch.
"There is something Darkseid has been searching for a long time, something that will give him complete control over all life. Just the rumors that it might be on Thanagar would be enough for him to burn your homeworld to ashes and enslave whoever remains." The Anti-Life equation was most likely beyond the Source Wall since he was in the Justice League Animated universe, but there were discrepancies, so he couldn't be entirely sure.
Not that Darkseid would care, since even the mere mention of the Anti-Life Equation would send the Dark God of Apokolips on a warpath.
And he was bluffing, because not only did he not have any way of reaching Darkseid, but he also wouldn't do it in the first place for any reason.
Councillor Uru reconsidered his earlier statement at the mention of Darkseid. "General, see to it that the deal is carried out as you agreed to it."
"Not so fast." Miles stopped the Councillor from leaving.
He would not let him get off so easily.
"What?" Uru asked, puzzled as to what the human wanted now.
"You just tried to make a fool out of me, Councillor. I want you to make amends." Miles implored. He would not let anyone take advantage of him, much less walk away scot-free after attempting to.
"What else do you want?" The technological assistance that was part of the deal would be invaluable to a planet grappling with environmental issues and poverty, and Uru Zedak didn't know what else the human could want.
"An Nth metal sword as compensation." Gravity negation, healing acceleration, increasing the strength, and protecting the user from extreme temperatures. Nth metal had all those properties, along with many unknown ones, and now that Uru Zedak gave him the opportunity, Miles would definitely take a weapon made of it.
Uru Zedak visibly recoiled. "That's too much!" Nth metal was only known to exist in Thanagar, and giving it to an outsider was not something done lightly, if ever.
"Enough for you to risk a war with Apokolips over it?"
Uru Zedak was conflicted, his face contorted as he considered what to do before nodding, knowing that the threat of Darkseid was not something they could handle, and by General Talak's accounts, the human was dangerous enough to carry out his promise.
The Councillor nodded and went back into the ship.
Hro was glaring at him now. "I like the way you dealt with him, but I don't appreciate you threatening Thanagar at all." The Thanagarian General was naturally displeased at his warning, though Miles didn't give a damn.
"And I don't appreciate someone trying to make a fool out of me. Now that the Councillor knows better than to step on my toe, I am sure our interactions moving forward will be much smoother."
If not, it would be at Thanagar's expense.
—
The next day, after sending the Thanagarian Councillor packing, Miles and Claire visited Madame Xanadu to pick up the amulets.
They were two golden chains with a Celtic shield knot hanging at the end. "As agreed, two amulets to protect you from telepathy." She held out the cushion, and Miles picked the amulets, handing one over to Claire.
He put the amulet on, hiding it beneath his white shirt to keep it concealed. "Pleasure doing business with you, Madame Xanadu."
She escorted them to the door. "Be sure to come back if you need anything else."
"I'll be sure to." It would be inevitable for him to need assistance of an arcane nature, and Madame Xanadu was one of, if not the best, choices he had.
—
"So, what do you think?" Nimue called out, waiting for her companion to come out.
"Etrigan didn't like him at all." Jason Blood's smooth voice responded as he stepped out of the back room.
She had called him to get a second opinion on Miles Beckett, as none of her means of investigating the man had yielded tangible results. "I don't know what else to tell you, Nimue. He is a human, but other than Etrigan not liking him, there isn't much I sensed. Want me to look into him?" He offered, but Nimue shook her head.
"I only wanted to get your opinion since you were close, though Etrigan's dislike of him does confirm something is weird with that man. Thank you nonetheless." The man did not mean any harm, and she could always try other means.
Miles Beckett was becoming increasingly intriguing with each passing moment.