Mount Justice

  September 5th, 12:09 EDT

  "Did you really say that to her?" Megan asked, shocked. "Why would you say that to her?"

  I tried my best to keep my composure and continue folding the cookie dough, "I thought having it out in the open would help, Megan. I really did."

  "Well. It didn't," she said, "Obviously."

  I clenched my jaws, "It wasn't obvious to me."

  "And maybe that's a problem," Megan said.

  "Maybe I am the problem."

  "Don't take the easy way out and give up on yourself," she said, "I won't let you. You did something awful to her yesterday, don't forget that."

  Oh my god. "Megan, I… see everything. What's the point of lying or pretending? The truth sets you free. Everything being out in the open makes communication easier. All I did was acknowledge another aspect of the way that I hurt her. I was owning my harm. Isn't that… good?"

  "How different would that appear from rubbing things in?" Megan asked.

  "Well, in that case, I'm defeated. I surrender."

  "No, no, don't surrender. I just told you—"

  "Don't take the easy way out," I said. I stopped folding and turned to her with an incredulous grin, "I don't even want cookies."

  "Then why are you making them?" She asked, "It was your idea."

  "I had a… long morning," I said.

  "Is that why you're not opening yourself up to me?" she asked.

  "And I just wanted to enjoy some quality time with my girlfriend to forget the fact that things suck, I suck, and I broke something I shouldn't break. I'm aware, Megan, that what I did sucked. Okay? I'm aware. I'm aware, and I'm sorry, and I won't do it again," because nobody in this goddamned cave knew how to take a joke, and everyone were just overly sensitive babies that cried at the first sign of distress.

  "What aren't you sharing?" Megan asked me, arms folded.

  "Why do I have to share everything? What if none of it concerned you, Megan?"

  "You concern me," she said.

  I took a deep breath through my nose and sighed. "All I want to do is distract myself and take my time, and you can't even wait until I'm—"

  Megan disappeared. So did the kitchen, and everything in the cave. In an instant, I was surrounded by total blackness. A part of me, not the entire whole at least. Not my body—something subtler, more energetic. My mind? My soul? Why wasn't it inside my body?

  The blackness shattered away to reveal a dark night sky. A Chinese-style sect courtyard. An army of ninjas surrounding me. A chalk pentagram and thousands of lines of illegible glyphs covered the ground. And far ahead of me, seated cross-legged, was him. Ra's Al-Ghul. I recognized him from the comics I had read and the dossiers Batman and Canary had me studying. The leader of the League of Shadows. The Demon's Head.

  Here to strike a blow at me, with a pre-prepared ritual.

  How in the world did you even defend against this?

  In one hand, he had a dagger. In the other, a heart.

  A beating heart. And the way he held it… I could feel his touch. In my own heart. What—?

  The answer became clear in a moment. Klarion's last middle-finger before his banishment.

  Goddammit.

  "Infinity," Ra's grinned, "Welcome to… Infinity Island. No relations. Only an unfortunate coincidence. Or kismet, perhaps?"

  I looked around, scanning my surroundings. Outside the compound was jungle, and then beach, and finally ocean, as far as the eye could see, which was far. But when I looked even further, I finally saw it, the first bit of civilization, perhaps a thousand kilometers away. The people were… black. Africa? No. English signage. The English was either just bad or some kind of dialect.

  In the building behind Ra's hid Constantine, smoking a cigarette. Even behind a wall, he noticed when I spotted him. He gave an apologetic shrug. This was what he meant with betrayal.

  "Alright," I said with a shrug, gathering my cursed energy for—nothing. I had nothing here.

  Shit. Shit, shit! Not again.

  "Don't panic," Ra's chuckled, "It doesn't become you. In any case, I'm not here to hurt you today, provided negotiations do not fall through. This is happening because you underestimated the threat of the League of Shadows. You challenged our pride. This is the natural consequence to that."

  "I'm going to kill you," I growled, "All of you."

  "Feel free to do so," Ra's smiled, "What I have in my hand is a heart. Your heart."

  "I gathered that," I said through gritted teeth.

  "And you're here as an astral projection, summoned to become a target to this ritual. When I stab this heart with this soul-rending dagger," he said, lifting the knife, "You will experience incredible agony that splinters your body, mind, and soul, all at once. It will take you years to recover, and it might even be the cause of your retirement from this life altogether. But of course, things need not get so… gory. You understand. Now, my frustration with you is this invincibility which you so fondly cling to. I want to strip it away. And in return, I will dispose of your heart and free you from this sword of Damocles—or knife as it were."

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "No brainwashing?" I frowned, "Or forced service? One of your agents were convinced that one day, I'd be the League's asset. Is that still not on the table?"

  "Is it?"

  "No," I said, "It isn't. So, you want me to seal my power for you. Just stab me then," I snorted.

  "Here are my terms," Ra's said, "Seal away your arcane abilities—your supernatural abilities, like your invisibility, your teleportation, and your telekinesis, but not your physical gifts, whenever you are in combat against a member of the League of Shadows."

  My eyes widened, and I grinned. "Ah, so that's what you want. Immunity from me." I stared at the knife and the heart, and my now-innate connection to magic allowed me to read the intent and consequence of this ritual with ease. He was telling the unvarnished truth. He really could screw me over for a long time, and I'd have no guarantee of recovery. "Why not just stab me anyway?" I asked. "And then look for me and kill me while I'm weak?"

  "There is no guarantee we would be able to find you or summon you," he said, "Not without something as significant to you as a heart—this one will be spent after this ritual ends, whether or not I go through with stabbing it. And even then, it is easier to bring you to this location than to bring ourselves to yours. At least this way, we can move on to stage two of my plan—killing you while you are vulnerable."

  "Ah, simple. Strip my power against you, then go after me while I have nothing to shield myself from you," I said, "No Infinity. No techniques. Just… bodies." I sighed, "Alright—here are my terms: I won't use cursed energy to fight you or your League. And I won't use it to defend myself against you or your league. I won't use it to imbue my body with additional strength and speed to fight against you or your league. And in return for all of that, you won't curse me with this ritual, you and your people won't go after me or mine outside of costume, and you and your people won't sabotage my secret identity to others if you ever come to learn of it. You want this fight, Ra's, you can have this fight, but we're duking it out in the ring. Not the parking lot. Happy?!"

  Ra's eyes widened and he grinned malevolently, "Are you so confident in your martial prowess, boy? You are speaking to the god of assassins."

  "And you're speaking to a god, period," I laughed, "Let's hurry this up, old man. You brave enough to face me without my magic?"

  "I accept your terms," Ra's grinned. "They might seem generous to you, but they will be your end."

  A chain shot itself out from my chest, towards Ra's, an in turn, a chain shot itself out from his chest, binding me. They were ethereal chains, symbolizing this promise. Soon, they faded.

  I bent over backwards laughing. Sure, I couldn't use Infinity anymore, nor could I use my active application of the Six Eyes, loading it with more cursed energy, or using its Reversal form with positive energy.

  But I never said anything about using my positive energy to recover from wounds. As long as I didn't use my regeneration to fight the League, or use positive energy to strengthen or speed up my body, I had free reign to regenerate from anything. Healing wasn't fighting after all. And I could see in this bond that this loophole was valid. Perhaps because I believed it to be? And in case I ever needed to protect someone from the League, I could just imbue that person with Infinity—the promise I had made was to not defend myself, not others.

  But I had gotten some good gains out of this. Artemis would be assured safety from these assholes while at home. In case Sportsmaster ever broke out, I had just bought Artemis a free restraining order—for as long as Sporty remained a member of the League, of course. In fact, I had bought everyone I worked with an immunity to foul play on the League's side, which definitely had to count for something.

  "That's a load off my shoulders, Ra's," I grinned, "pleasure doing business with you. It really has. I cannot wait for the next time we duke it out." I laughed.

  Aside from my regeneration, Ra's had not given any thought to the simple fact that in hand-to-hand, owing to my cursed eyes and preternatural bodily control, I was still a monster.

  Ra's, for his part, didn't back down, "The pleasure is mine, Infinity. I assure you."

  Then this world turned into blackness as well, and shattered away to reveal the… the ceiling of the medbay. Megan was standing over me, concerned. Red Tornado was on the other side of the bed, as well as Canary and Zatara.

  "Sa-chan!" Megan cried, hugging my form.

  "Give him space, Megan, please," Canary said. Megan didn't obey for a few more seconds before standing up and looking at me, puffy-eyed.

  "How do you feel?"

  I took a moment to take stock of myself.

  "Feel fine," I said, sitting up.

  Now that I was out of sight from the enemy, I allowed myself to feel anger. My breathing started quickening, more and more and more until finally, "GODDAMMIT! GODDAMN HIM, I'LL KILL HIM!" I roared in Japanese.

  I slammed my fist on the hospital bed so hard that it shattered the legs from under. Before I could fall, I floated gently on my feet. Megan tried to approach me, but Infinity was up. I stared at Zatara, who was looking at me in suspicion. I debated on lying to him, but at this point, I couldn't justify withholding this information. At all. "The enemy made use of my heart. The one that Klarion ripped out. Ra's declawed me!"

  "How so?" Zatara asked.

  "We made a deal," I said. "I won't get to use any higher techniques except regeneration against the League of Shadows. They mean to kill me." For… challenging their pride. I chuckled.

  Wow. Me and my big mouth.

  "But," I said, letting go of my anger, "This might be a good thing. Because unlike you, I did end up getting some actionable advice from a magician by the name of John Constantine. Recognize him?" Zatara's eyes widened. "Yeah, he saw me this morning, told me my chaos magic needed rules in order to prevent something terrible from happening. And, I guess, to really bring that point home, he helped Ra's out with the ritual."

  Zatara gritted his teeth, "Nothing good can come from an association with that man, Gojo. Nothing."

  "Not like the guy gave me a choice in the matter, did he?" I rolled my eyes, "Don't worry, I'll rip his arms off the next time I see him. He went too far."

  "Sa-chan," Megan said.

  "I'll glue them back together afterwards. There, all good," I looked around, grasping for something to do. Red Tornado, Black Canary, Megan. None of their ineffectual and stupid pity could help me right now. But Black Canary could. I honed in on her and grinned, "Do you have the afternoon free, Canary? Because I could really use a couple of training sessions. Hell, maybe I should look at picking out a weapon now that I'm reduced to all your levels. Might be fun!"

  Canary frowned at me. I expected her to tell me "you need to talk about these feelings" but thankfully, she had more common sense than that. "I can spare two hours. And we can cycle through a few weapons as well, see what you prefer."

  "Sa-chan," Megan said, "Why don't we… talk first?"

  "No," I said, "I'm not in the mood for talking. Sorry. Canary?"

  Canary turned to Zatara, "Is there anything else you need?"

  "Between the boy's own accounts, Megan's telepathy recounting the events in turn, and my own preliminary investigations, I will say that the boy is out of trouble," he said, "This magic ritual was extraordinary, and required a very expensive investment, not to mention a living heart of the subject it targets. As you can imagine, this cannot be replicated. Certainly not twice. The mystic arts place a heavy emphasis on spontaneity."

  "Fine," Canary nodded. "Batman will come around soon. Until then, Gojo, we can use the Mission Room to train—though the computer is still non-functional. We will have to do this old-school."

  "Fine, bring it," I scoffed.

  000

  Infinity Island

  September 6th, 01:15

  Once the precocious young hero had disappeared, Ra's let his grin fall. He got up from his cross-legged position, letting the heart of Infinity drop on the ground and sheathing his ritual dagger.

  He walked into the building where Constantine was waiting. "What is he hiding?" Ra's asked. Despite being forced to seal his abilities when going up against the League of Shadows, Infinity had still seemed supremely confident. He spoke foreign words to Ra's, of 'cursed energy', and yet Ra's understood almost intuitively what it meant—how vital cursed energy was for the boy's sorcery. Perhaps his astral form had managed to communicate those details telepathically? Still, Ra's was fairly certain that the boy's destructive potential and invincibility had been thoroughly curtailed. Yet, he still remained confident. What was the source of that confidence? What had Ra's missed?

  Constantine shrugged, "How should I know?" he grinned, "I'm just a freelancer working on this ritual—and have become, in effect, a member of your League."

  Ra's couldn't deny a surge of irritation, but he refused to let it affect his composure. "Thus sharing in our immunity against the boy. Clever. And what about commitment? Is that not required?"

  "If he finds out I'm not really a member of the League, then I'll lose the immunity," Constantine grinned, "But for now, what he thinks is also what empowers the magic binding us."

  Ra's had to admit, this sorcerer was a clever one, "Then as long as he believes that a person is a member of my League, that person will not be harmed by his magic. And on the same note, I may attempt to fool him into believing an unrelated member is also someone of the League."

  Constantine shook his head, "Usually, I wouldn't help you out like this, but I do need this ritual to work, if only for a little bit, so I'll give this one to you for free: Don't try it. The boy said it himself—you sealed his cursed energy. A magical resource, clearly, but is that the only thing he has?"

  A sensory ability.

  The pieces were falling into place. Orm's arrest, Lady Shiva's defeat, even after filling the air with smoke. Abra Kadabra's report corroborating the same—Infinity easily piercing through a glamor that should have kept them hidden from anyone, including the mages of the Justice League.

  Ra's cracked a furious grin. Well played, boy.

  "And what comes next?" Ra's asked, "Do you wish to set up a contract, and have a rival in the mystic arts removed from the picture?"

  "Far be it from me to make the lad's life harder than it already is," Constantine said, "You've served your purpose, Demon's Head."

  "As have you," Ra's' eyes narrowed.

  "Just make sure you don't accidentally break the terms of your own agreement—lots of terms were getting thrown around, on both sides. And the boy has one thing you don't," he grinned, "Aptitude. So do be careful."

  "I am not the one in danger," Ra's grinned. He had balanced on a knife's edge for as long as he could remember, and many times, he had fallen on the wrong side of that knife. Infinity was just one more obstacle that Ra's would encounter in his eons of living, and he would be just as forgettable as the last one.

  The tension in the air hung heavy as Constantine tipped an imaginary hat and sauntered off, leaving Ra's alone in the corridor. The Demon's Head allowed his grin to fade once more, his gaze lingering on the chalk-drawn circle visible through the open courtyard doors.

  "Aptitude," he muttered to himself, tasting the word as if it were some rare vintage. His fingers brushed over the hilt of his dagger, still warm from the ritual. "Confidence without power is arrogance. Confidence while disarmed..." His grin returned, sharper now, more deliberate. "That is calculation."

  Ra's turned toward the far end of the courtyard, his footsteps deliberate and unhurried. "Let us see what your calculations amount to, Infinity."