The lightning flashed through the air for a moment longer before fading, leaving the shop in a heavy silence that felt even tighter than before.
John's chest rose once, slow and controlled. The anger didn't fully leave his eyes. He stared at her like he was deciding whether to throw her out or listen.
"What do you want from me?" he asked in a cold tone.
Rachel didn't flinch. If anything, she looked more focused. It was like his reaction had confirmed something for her. She took another step forward, stopping short of the counter. Her hands rested loosely at her sides.
"My name is Rachel Roth," she said quietly. "A group of powerful metahumans is hunting me. They want to use me to bring something evil into this world."
John didn't interrupt. His gaze stayed locked on her.
"They think I'm the key to freeing a demon," she continued. Her voice dropped slightly. The weight of it was settling in. "Not just any demon. Something powerful enough to destroy Earth if it gets through. They're getting closer."
John exhaled quietly. His hand brushed over the counter. He looked away for a second. He was thinking it through. 'Fucking hell! Trigon! Why the hell do I have to deal with that freak of nature that's near impossible to kill?'
"I need your help," Rachel added.
John sighed softly, feeling some tension lift from his shoulders, though it didn't go away completely. He looked back at her.
"I can stop the cultists," he said plainly. "That part isn't a problem."
Rachel's expression shifted slightly, a flicker of relief starting to form, but it didn't last long.
"But even at my best," John continued, "I won't be able to defeat your father. That's the main problem."
Rachel's eyes narrowed. Confusion cut through her composure for the first time. "How do you know it's my father?" she asked.
John didn't answer right away. He just watched her for a second. He was measuring what to say and what to leave unsaid. "It doesn't matter how I know," he said at last. His tone was firm enough to shut that question down. "What matters is I know what he is and I know what happens if he gets here."
Rachel held his gaze. She was searching for something in his face. He gave her nothing. She tried to use her empathy again, but this time, it didn't work.
"I can't defeat him," John added, more quietly now, not as a weakness, but as a fact he had already accepted. "Even if all the heroes come together, it'd still be impossible to defeat him."
The words hung there for a second. Then he shifted slightly. His eyes sharpened a bit.
"But you can," he said.
Rachel frowned slightly, confused. She opened her mouth to ask a question, but no words came out.
Then something changed in the air.
John noticed it first.
A sudden burst of heat and energy shot through the air so fast that most people wouldn't even notice it.
He turned quickly toward the street.
"Stay here," he told Rachel, and before she could react, he was gone.
Rachel didn't have a chance to respond.
The door slammed open from the force of it as he shot out of the shop, boots scraping hard against the pavement as he landed in a low crouch just outside. His hand snapped upward in the same motion.
A massive fireball came screaming down from above.
John caught it.
The impact cracked the ground beneath his feet, heat rolling outward in a violent wave that pushed against the walls of the shop. For a split second, the fireball fought him, roaring and unstable, trying to collapse inward and explode on contact.
His eyes flared.
"Oh no, you don't," he muttered under his breath.
He twisted his arm and forced the entire mass upward.
The fireball shot back into the sky like a comet, tearing through the air before detonating high above Dakota City. The explosion lit the night in a brief, violent bloom of orange and gold, the shockwave rolling outward harmlessly across the skyline.
Silence followed.
John straightened slowly, eyes already locked forward.
A few feet away, in the street, stood a girl. She had dark skin and pink hair that were glowing with an orange hue. Her green eyes looked unnatural.
John exhaled once.
'Yep. That's Starfire from the Titan TV series,' he thought, already putting the pieces together.
He took a step forward, voice calm but edged with irritation. "Why would you attack someone else without a warning?" His gaze didn't leave her. "I don't remember stepping on your feet. So, you insane or something?"
The air around her shifted.
It wasn't dramatic at first. Just a slight distortion, like the space itself was reacting to her presence. Then her feet lifted off the ground, hovering a few inches up as the glow around her intensified.
"I am Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran," she said, her voice steady but carrying a strange weight, as if every word mattered more than it should.
John didn't interrupt. He just watched.
She floated a little higher, her eyes still locked on him. "I was sent here to eliminate an entity known as 'the Raven.'" Her tone didn't waver. "Her existence threatens my homeworld. If she lives, the inter-dimensional demon Trigon will arrive. His coming will not only destroy this planet, but mine as well."
John's expression didn't change, though his eyes sharpened slightly.
Koriand'r continued, the glow around her flaring just a bit stronger. "Rachel Roth is the key to his arrival. Removing her prevents that future. That is my mission."
A faint breeze moved through the street, carrying the last traces of heat away.
Her gaze flicked briefly toward the shop behind him, then back to John. "The attack was a warning," she added. "You are probably the strongest hero of this planet. But even you can't stop him." Her voice lowered slightly, more direct now. "Stay out of my way, and I will save both your world and mine."
John stood silently for a second.
Then he let out a quiet breath, almost like he was tired of hearing the same kind of problem in different forms.
"Yeah," he said, rolling his shoulders once. "That's not happening."
His eyes lifted to meet hers again, calm but unyielding.
"Because I know a way to kill that freak of nature permanently. So, calm down and let's talk like civilized people."
Koriand'r didn't lower her guard.
The light around her hands grew stronger, and flames wrapped tightly around her fists as she looked at him, showing that she had already made her choice.
"There is no way to kill evil incarnate," she said, her voice firm now, leaving no room for debate. "Trigon is not something that can be destroyed. He is a constant. A multiversal force."
Her fingers curled slowly into fists, energy gathering faster, brighter.
"The only way to stop him," she continued, lifting slightly higher into the air, "is to ensure he never breaks out of his prison."
Her eyes flicked toward the shop again for a fraction of a second.
"Which means removing the key."
The fire around her surged.
"Move."
John didn't sigh this time.
'GODSPEED!'
The space between them suddenly vanished. One moment, he stood a few feet away. The next moment, he was behind her. Her eyes widened slightly, but it was too late to react or turn away. He reached out and grabbed a handful of her glowing pink hair with a firm grip.
Then he drove her straight down.
Concrete shattered under the impact.
The sound cracked through the street as her body slammed hard into the ground, the force spiderwebbing fractures outward from where she hit. The glow around her flickered violently, the energy breaking for just a second from the shock.
John turned her around and grabbed her throat before pulling her up in the air. His divine lightning snapped around her body in the form of golden chains, preventing her from moving. She tried to break free, but even her super strength was useless against the power of the gods.
"I'm gonna let you down and remove the restraints," he said, tightening his grip just enough to make the point clear. "And you're gonna calm down, and then we'll talk. If you try to harm Rachel or attack anyone without my permission, I'll kill you." He pulled her closer and looked into her eyes. "Are we clear?"
Koriand'r gritted her teeth as she had to give in to John. She couldn't even put up a fight against him, and the right thing to do in this situation was to talk rather than die.
"Yes," She said as she stopped resisting.
John let her down on the ground and removed the restraints. "See, was that too hard?" He said before talking out his wand. He flicked it. Multiple bolts of red magic shot out from his wand, fixing the damaged areas.
By the time the cops arrived, everything was over. They looked at John once as he waved at them with a smile. Then, the cops nodded before driving away without a word. Soon, Harley and Maureen flew down.
"Ah! C'mon. Is the firework over?" Harley said as she looked around and noticed the two new girls inside the shop. "Woooo! New girls? This place is like a chick magnet..." She whispered the last part.
==[Massive spoilers> Read at your own risk][1]
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[13 advance chs] + [Early access to Reborn as Lucifer> 10 chs]
[1] Ch: 98 [Lucifer Morningstar... Like the Devil?] Ch: 99 [Lucifer Morningstar] Ch: 100 [I'm a Devil of my word] Ch: 101 [Presence's game] Ch: 102 [Welcome to Hell]> [Vol-2 End]