(I am back after a 2-month hiatus of not writing. I got sent to the hospital and then I got a serious case of uninspiration, but I should be back more often.)
When the group finally reached Barry's house, they did so in relative silence. No one really wanted to talk at first, but when Barry opened the door and Iris went to meet him, she did not expect to see 2 Leaguers enter along with Balerion, Polaris, and Hound.
Iris looked at Barry, waiting for him to explain.
"We needed a more private place to talk without interruption. My house just made the most sense."
Iris glanced over at Wonder Woman, Shazam, and Victor, who was towering, armored, and brooding like a more terrifying Batman. Just like their last interview, but she didn't fear him at all.
"It's fine with me. I will get some coffee on the stove."
As she walked to the kitchen, Victor snapped his clawed gauntlets, and the living room magically expanded, and from the shadows emerged a dark constructed throne of darkness, which he sat on. He reached behind him he grabbed his sword still in its sheath, before glancing at Diana.
"It is custom to place our weapons on the table like in the olden days, yes?"
Diana reached down and unhooked her sword and placed it on the table along with her shield.
"I respect that, Knight."
Once she did it first, he set his greatsword onto the table, and he leaned back. Yami, large and armored, rests against his leg while Lorna steps in right behind him at his side. Diana, Bily, and Barry all sit as well, and for a few moments, no one says a word.
It is not until Viktor speaks and as usual his hound-shaped helmet distorts his words to near growls, yet still understandable.
"I will start our parlay tonight. Miss Iris, the wife of Barry here, has had two interviews with me before, as I wanted to not be just the unknown terror of Central City. My methods are grim, but I am no less a force against crime than any Leaguer."
As he takes the floor, Iris walks in with a tray and sets down the coffee on the table next to the swords of Diana and Balerion.
"Coffee?"
Billy takes a steaming cup and takes a sip before he frowns.
'Why does anyone drink this?'
Viktor waves his hand, and one of the cups levitates toward him. He brings it up to his helmet and, in some way, starts to drink it. Diana takes her cup as well, and she starts the talk after him.
"That is why we are here, Balerion. I appreciate that you agreed to this meeting in your own way. This isn't an interrogation, but we owe the people transparency, and the League wants to have a more detailed talk with you in person than just what was said over an interview.
Viktor sets down his cup of coffee, half empty, and he nods.
"Understable. The Interviews I gave Miss West were not just to get my intention to hopefully become a League member, but it was also to get my words out to the public, who no doubt either fear me or deeply appreciate what I do.
As you may have noted, the crime rate in Central City is almost non-existent as it has Flash by day and me by Night. If there are any reservations about how far I go, I must bring up the fact that you yourself have killed in battle, and Batman is no less brutal in how he deals with crime in Gotham."
Diana nods.
"Perfectly reasonable, but me being here does not have to do with your method of dealing with crime or the fact that no one knows who you are. You're not the first to remain anonymous or independent. It's your clear magical expertise as you just showed now. Your magic doesn't follow any model we've encountered. Fate, Zatanna, even Raven couldn't place it."
When Viktor heard that, he smirked, but because of his helm, no one saw it.
"I wouldn't expect them to. What I know is not learned from a book or anyone. I created my magics myself."
Billy perks up as, while his powers may be magic-based, he likes hearing about them.
"Wait, so… the shadows, the disappearing act, and the constructs, all that was just something you made up?"
Viktor nodded.
"That is exactly right?"
He then points at Yami, who is like a small black bear in size.
"And the armor doggo?"
Viktot glances at Yami, and he pats his armored head a few times.
"My familiar Hound. Don't ask where I got him, he is one of a kind."
Barry nods.
"That is actually what many wonder about. Hound, a dog and yet not a dog. Are you sure you can't give us a clue?"
Viktor shakes his head slowly, and Barry sighs.
"Understood."
Diana then brought up the incident they had just seen him stop.
"So, Cold and Heatwave, total shoulder dislocations, clean, no permanent damage. The 50 gunman, though, were tied up with their own firearms. That was your associate, right?"
He raises one clawed finger.
"Correction, Polaris is my apprentice, not my associate. My dear, do you have any words you have to add?"
Lorna shakes her head.
"I got nothing, Master. They planned to take hostages to deal with you, so they got choked out by their own guns. Seemed fair to me."
Viktor then turned back to the 3 League members.
"There you have it. Now, do we have anything else to go over today?"
Diana nods.
"One more subject, really, it is the detail of your identity. In the event you do join the League, are you going to reveal who you are?"
Viktor ponders on it
"That is subject to change and at first I will remain anonymous, but in do time I am sure I can be convinced to reveal myself. However, this is only if I am given League status, and you give me a reason to trust you fully. I will consider it, but until then, no."
Shazam felt that was fine.
"That's fair. I mean, Batman still hasn't told me his real name."
Barry glanced at Billy with a funny look.
"Yes, he has. You just weren't paying attention.
Billy thinks back to it and thanks to the wisdom of Solomon, he remembers, and he nods a few times.
"Ah, right."
While Billy was remembering this, Diana reached for her sword and shield as they got the most important parts of the meeting, and everything didn't have to be agreed on day one.
"I don't think we'll solve this all tonight. But this is a step. I'll deliver my report personally. For what it's worth, I believe you mean what you say."
Viktor nods.
"That is because I do. Now, can you inform Bruce for me that I am not entering Gotham just yet, as I said I would? He could use the help, and I would not go because of him; it is for the citizens ' being."
Barry wonders about it.
"Are you sure you should have us deliver that message? His vote matters."
Viktor shrugs.
"If the Bat doesn't like it, it's just because he met his mirror. Until then, let's see how the vote goes."
---
Meanwhile, back at the Watch Tower, Zatana and Doctor Fate are in the process of analysing Barry's enchanted suit. In the Watchtower, they are in a secure magical laboratory with anti-interference wards. Barry's suit is floating in midair, suspended by golden magical tethers. Doctor Fate stands unmoving, arms crossed.
Zatanna slowly circles the suit, gloves glowing. She is frowning as she can't make out the rune structure at all.
"The runes are shifting like they're programmed not to allow copying."
Doctor Fate agrees with her.
"They are. It is not sentient, but reactive instead. This enchantment framework is new to me. I've never seen anything quite like it."
Zatana agrees with that.
"Neither have I. The core structure doesn't match Atlantean glyphwork, Egyptian sigils, or even Homo Magi weaves."
"It masks itself. Even from my Sight. As if the one who made them made them to be seen, but never read."
Zatana mutters to herself as she sees a runic structure that keeps rewriting itself at all times. When Viktor enchanted the suit, he made it for this reason so no mage could reverse engineer his DxD rune craft.
Zatana notes something.
"There's a language here, a proper system of enchanting, but it's like trying to read through a waterfall. Constant motion. Balerion didn't just cast magic. He authored and made it his own."
Fate agrees with her.
"And it works. Heat dispersal. Friction nullification. Repair matrix. A few anti-scrying enchantments and mental shielding. It's subtle, but it's there. It's refined, integrated, and functional creative."
Zatana asks him a question.
"So there is no danger to Barry, is there, Doctor?"
Fate glances at the suit, then at Zatana.
"None in the enchanting work at the minimum. The runes are not cursed, sentient, or malicious, so there is zero threat to Barry's life. They do as Balerion said they would."
Zatana glances back at the suit with squinted eyes.
"Then this Balerion would make an interesting member for the magical side of the League."
Fate fully agrees with her.
"Not many have the gift. He has my vote just based on his enchanting."
Zatana decides that if it comes to it, she will vote yes as well.
---
Now, back at Barry's house, the meeting is in its final stages. Diana stands first, already armed with Balerion, also getting his sword back from the table. She turns to him and says something to end things on a good note.
"You've given us plenty to consider. Thank you for the candor. We'll give you our answer soon."
Viktor rises from his throne, and he disperses it into shadows once again.
"I'll wait."
As he stands, the shadows around him deepen, not ominously, but as if the shadows respond to his mere presence. He extends a clawed, armored hand toward Lorna without looking.
"My dear."
She steps forward, places her hand in his, and their armor flares briefly with overlapping shadows.
Yami stands too, and Viktor's shadow expands with them, wrapping around them as if liquid. The shadows spiral outward like ink in water, liquid darkness into which they sink rapidly into the ground.
When they are gone, the shadow spins before his final words emerge.
"When you're ready, call. I'll come from the dark."
Barry glances at where the shadows moved, and he still does not get it.
"That makes no sense. Shadows aren't supposed to be fluid. How do you enter into your own shadow?"
Billy is already grinning as he sees that.
"Okay, that was cool. 10 outta 10."
Diana, on the other hand, takes note of the clear use of shadow manipulation and doesn't speak, but is clearly thinking about it. Barry on the other hand is currently poking the floor where Viktor, Lorna and Yami sunk into with his foot.
"Nope. Still just floor. Not a puddle. I hate magic."
Diana shakes her head.
"Then it's a good thing he wants to be on our side."
---
Back at Viktor's house, when they return to the large fancy living room, he hums as his armor slinks off him in that unique feature of his Twilight-style gear into his shadow, leaving him unarmored.
Lorna does something similar with her magnetism as he sits down in his favorite chair. Lorna walks toward him as she sees him in deep thought.
"Did things go well?"
He nods.
"I believe they did, Lorna. Our identities are still secret, but we showed we are open to cooperation. We should be getting a response in just a few days or less."
He glanced over at Lorna, who was clearly in deep thought at actually meeting 3 League members.
"You know, I think I am super lucky you broke into my house."
He smiles and he waves his hand, and he telekinetically pulls her onto his lap.
"On that we can agree. You're too pretty to be a broke girl, you know."
She crosses her arms under her chest and smiles.
"I am glad you think so, Master."
She said that last part with that big, smug energy he came to expect from her.
Guardenia the Seraph in Incinerate Anthem made herself known to them above them with a smug look on her face.
"So the girl who cried and ran when she saw Viktor is now proud. I wish I had pictures of your snot and tear-covered face for the picture book."
Lorna waved her hand off at the Angel.
"Go away already."
Viktor shook his head, and Yami rolled his eyes.
'Now this is the life. Who cares about my old life, this life is a million times better anyway.'
He would die on that hill, but he had no intention of dying. Why else did he become a Nephalem Werewolf after all? He did wonder when he would be forced to use it.
'Oh well, the day will come. Now, relaxation.'