Chapter 16

Prepping to go out to New York City and fuck with the sorta Voodoo shit that Papa Midnight can do ain't pretty. Jackie'd hadta really dig into the blood and guts of the Dragon Parts to really get shit going on that count. He'd wound up using a pretty grisly charm of dragonhide inked with mystic ink that'd been brewed up using dragon bile. The process to make it all stank so bad they coulda smelled it all the way on Mount Meru, but in the end, he'd had a charm that should protect him from all kindsa shit having to do with Necromancy and Spiritualism. Of course, he had to wear it over his heart, which meant a medallion. Fortunately, real life ain't one of Steph's tabletop games. You could wear more than one amulet or something at a time. That was good, cause the Greater Talisman of Beasts Jackie'd been wearing was pretty badass already.

Aside from that, Jackie'd whipped up a couple of Archmage-level potions using Alchemy and Dragon Blood that oughtta give him a few neat abilities. For instance, he should be able to speak, understand, read, and write any language now, even dead ones and mystic ones, though the Jury was still out on Alien Ones. Apparently, there ain't been much chance to test that till recently. Aside from that, Jackie'd brewed up a batch of potions that'd help advance the Cultivation of anyone who drank 'em one step regardless of where they were now. He only had five doses in this batch, and three were already spoken for. His Uncle Wen and Grandad would get to Boddhisatva-Level from the potions, and his Uncle Li'd reserved a potion for when he managed to breach the wall into Grandmaster-level, which apparently ain't gonna take more than another month or so.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't work for anyone who'd used a Dragon Pearl, so him and Steph were out. Babs'd pointed out that she could reach Adept just by training normally, and Jackie hadta admit she had a point. Jackie figured he'd call up his cousins to see if they were interested. Minako and Liang ain't too far off from Master-level, so if they could push themselves to that point before the Apokaliptan Invasion, the potions oughtta give them both a boost to Grandmaster-level. That'd give the Yuen Faction on the Cultivation Council three Boddhisatva and three Grandmasters, which would give them enough clout to run roughshod over the damn Sima Clan and their allies.

Problem was, Dragonblood was hard to come by. Sun Wukong, Brother Sandy, and Brother Piggsy could only get away with snatching so much of the stuff out from under Zeus' Nose. He had enough for maybe one more batch of Advancement potions to hand out. The rest of it was earmarked for other shit. He'd already shipped a vial off to his Uncle Lu down in Honolulu to increase his Mystic Powers. His Uncle was a lot more involved on the Magic side than most in the family, after all. That left Jackie with a sorta dilemma. If he only had enough Dragon Blood to hand out one more batch of Five Advancement Potions, did he hand them out to family, or spread that shit around to his allies? His Grandad'd made it clear the choice was Jackie's. Jackie figured he might wanna split the difference on that. He'd send one each to the Higa Clan, Tsagan Tenger Clan, and Abang Family to give to whoever, and keep the last two in the family. That left Jackie with just enough Dragon Blood for his own crafting.

Aside from that, though, Jackie'd been training. He'd sorta skipped the line on the Grandmaster and Boddhisatva-level Techniques of the various styles of Chi-Enhanced Martial Arts his family had access to and his Uncles were making sure he paid for it now. Apparently, while he'd been off on Mount Meru and in Olympus, his Uncles, and Grandad'd been hard at work building something to add to Yuen Manor. An enchanted training room that'd allow months of training to get done in a short amount of time. Time moved weird in the room, thanks to some sorta time dilation enchantment. Effectively, one month in the chamber was one day in the real world. With added potions to speed up the effectiveness of the training, Jackie'd been able to get a year's worth of training done in about four real-world days. His uncles'd trained him into the ground to ensure he knew his shit. All sortsa high-level techniques got pounded into his head, sometimes literally.

The Qirin's Lordly Command was able to force compliance outta folks by commanding them to do a task, the Lion's Celestial Bark was able to utterly fuck the undead or possessed, the Iron Heart Endowment could enhance your physical capabilities by one and a half times what they were forced a brief period, the Striking Naga's Adaption allowed you to breathe, see, and move underwater and resist the pressures of the ocean depths, and on and on. Honestly, Jackie'd been pretty sure he'd be able to handle almost anything that'd be thrown at him now. The shit he'd learned was just that badass. Hell, forget Princess Diana, Jackie was fairly sure he could beat her one-on-one now, especially with the Iron Heart Endowment making him harder, better, faster, and stronger.

Of course, then his Uncle Wen'd shown him how that sorta shit was deceptive if you didn't use it right. You had to time it for three-second bursts, any longer and you'd shred your muscles all to shit. He'd been pushed to use it for longer against his Uncle Wen and he'd fucked himself to the Pit and back doing it. One moment, he'd been charging toward his Uncle, ready to slam a punch into his guard, the next he'd been on the floor, and his everything hurt. His Uncle Wen'd walked right on up to him, made a fucking finger gun, and pantomimed shooting Jackie right in the fucking face.

"Bang, you're dead." Deadpanned his Uncle Wen.

"Gah! What the fuck?" Demanded Jackie.

"You can't use that for more than three seconds at a time. If you do, this shit happens." Huffed his Uncle Li.

"What the fuck do you mean this? Why can't I feel my legs?" Pressed Jackie.

"The pain you're feeling, Grandson, is because, for all our efforts at Cultivation, we are still mostly mortal. Overuse of the Iron Heart Endowment will cause your muscles to begin breaking down. You have shredded your leg muscles pushing it like you had. Fortunately, this is fixable." Intoned Jackie's Grandad.

After feeding him what hadta be a whole damn jar of healing pills, Jackie's Grandad began showing him how to use the Iron Heart Endowment in tactical, three-second, bursts. Apparently, that shit was all about timing and if you ain't got the timing down, you're gonna be fucked more often than not. The trick, apparently, was to only activate it when you needed to, right before contact. It actually reminded Jackie a bit of the Wave Step, since that had a similar sorta timing component to it. Once Jackie'd made that connection, the rest of the training had flown by. Well, maybe not flown, since it'd been subjective months of training, a lotta which involved getting his ass kicked by his Grandad or Uncle Wen, but it still went by easy enough. By the time Jackie's time in the chamber was done, he had about thirty-six hours left before he'd haveta head to New York City to keep up with the time limits that Constantine'd set for him.

He opted to spend it with Steph. She'd been headed outta the house and into the City to meet up with friends of hers for a board game night. That sorta thing ain't really Jackie's scene, but he ain't had a whole lotta time to hang with his Adoptive Sister recently, so he'd put up with a buncha nerd shit for her sake. She seemed excited, at least. Well, Steph always seemed excited, but Jackie could tell when his Adoptive Sister was actually excited instead of just being her normal, excitable, Steph, Self.

"I'm so glad you've decided to hang out with us! I wanted to get your approval on this guy I know and he's supposed to be showing up tonight!" Beamed Steph.

"Wait a sec, slow down, you're saying you plan to introduce me to your boyfriend tonight?" Questioned Jackie.

"He's not my boyfriend. Not yet, anyway. I just want you to meet Sebastian, he's the one who got me into Tabletop Games, well him and Tim Drake." Pointed out Steph.

"Tim Drake? You know he's Robin, right?" Pressed Jackie.

"Umm, yeah. He told me 'cause I can handle myself? Why?" Blinked Steph.

"Just making sure you know what you're getting into, Steph." Shrugged Jackie.

"You're sweet to worry about me, but I can handle hanging out with a Robin." Offered Steph.

"Yeah well, I'm supposed to worry about you. That's what big brothers do, ain't it?" Chuckled Jackie.

They parked Jackie's Classic Camaro in front of what looked like some kinda brownstone in Gotham Heights. The bridge to Bristol Township ain't too far from here, which made Gotham Heights almost crime-free. Enough so that Jackie'd felt comfortable parking his Camaro on the street anyway. As they got outta the car, however, something happened that made Jackie groan. A Giant Beanstalk erupted outta the ground, pulverizing a nearby, bigass, fancy, mansion around a block away from this brownstone, closer to where the Bridge to Bristol Township was. As that happened, the beanstalk sprouted a flower on the top that unfolded into a platform, revealing a green-skinned, red-haired, practically naked, Woman. Poison Ivy, the eco-terrorist. Of course, something just hadta ruin this nice outing with Jackie's sister. His life ain't the sorta life to just let him have a day for himself, apparently.

"Hey! That's the Waite Mansion! The Waites are big into Chemical Manufacturing, I wonder what Ivy's beef with them is?" Queried Steph.

"I think we're gonna find out." Muttered Jackie.

Sure enough, Poison Ivy'd stepped up to the edge of her little flower platform, cleared her throat, and began to speak. Her voice had a sorta husky, purring, quality to it that most guys found sexy. Shame the effect was ruined by the utterly batshit speech that came outta Ivy's mouth. Jackie'd stick his dick in crazy, but only up to a certain level. Plus he was pretty sure Ivy was into chicks instead of dudes anyway. Not that it mattered much since Ivy's speech made it pretty damn clear she ain't interested in talking.

"People of Gotham Heights! Lloyd Waite and his I'll have clearcut a swathe of the Amazon to build a new factory for the production of chemicals, the byproduct of which will kill even more of the rainforest than his bribes paid out to the fools and shortsighted kleptocrats in the Brazilian Government bought him! For his sins against Mother Earth, I sentence him to utter ruin!" Intoned Poison Ivy from her spot on the beanstalk.

"Huh. We sure she's the bad guy here?" Asked Jackie.

No sooner had he said that, however, than a green root from the beanstalk tore up a section of street and hit something vital, causing an explosion that demolished the wall of a nearby house not connected with the damned Waite Family or whatever beef Ivy had with them. Collateral damage definitely meant Ivy was the Bag Guy here, or at least showed she don't give a shit about folks getting caught in the crossfire of her Eco-Crusade. Sighing, Jackie headed around the back of his Camaro and popped the trunk. His armory bag and Black Tiger Gear were back there. He grabbed them and headed into the Brownstone they'd parked in front of, Steph trailing behind him. Inside, a blonde guy that was Steph's age was hunkering down under a table. Meanwhile, the bathroom door opened and out stepped Tim Drake, suddenly Robined-up. He took one look at Jackie and Steph, then cocked an eyebrow at Jackie.

"You carry that in your car?" He questioned.

"Come in handy, ain't it?" Answered Jackie.

"I don't have a costume, but I can help." Insisted Steph.

"Ivy had some superpowered plant monsters the last time we fought her. We'll need the help. Sebastian, do you have anything Steph can use?" Queried Tim.

"Sure. Still can't believe you're Robin, by the way." Blinked the Blonde Guy in Glasses, Sebastian.

Sebastian disappeared into a room before coming back out with a purple mask and goggles made outta some kinda fiberglass or something. Jackie recognized them as Paintball Gear, a niche hobby, but one that was sorta tactical, at least. Jackie preferred drinking and gambling, though. Given his upbringing that ain't much of a surprise. At any rate, the mask and goggles were shoved into Steph's hands by Sebastian. Steph looked at him with a question ready to go, but Sebastian pre-empted her with a shake of his head.

"They were supposed to be a birthday present. I was planning to take you paintballing for it. I know purple's your favorite color." He explained.

"Killer! Thank you!" Grinned Steph.

"Flirt later, deal with Ivy now!" Snapped Tim.

"Right, guess that's my cue to suit up. Gimme a sec." Huffed Jackie, stepping into the bathroom to get his gear on.

Less than two minutes later, Jackie was all geared up and ready to go. He stepped outta the bathroom to see Steph slipping on the paintball mask with Sebastian's help. He wasn't sure about the Guy just yet, but he seemed to be as into Steph as his Adoptive Sister was into him. Maybe that was all you needed to start a relationship, Jackie ain't one to judge, specially not after how he'd fucked up things with him and Babs by going into a spiral. Shaking his head to clear it of those kinda thoughts, Jackie nodded at Tim and Steph, both of them nodded back, and together, the three of them stepped outta Sebastian's Brownstone and out onto the street. The Cops'd shown up while they were suiting up, but the one cruiser that'd shown up already'd been impaled on some kinda giant thorn, with the two officers ducking behind a parked car, taking potshots at a pair of greenish, plant-based, Monstrosities.

"Right, I hate to admit this, but you guys have actual powers. That means I'll need you two to handle Ivy's plants!" Commanded Tim.

"What are you going to do?" Asked Steph.

"Ivy has to have some sort of spawning pod for those monsters nearby. She can't just make them out of thin air. I'll handle that." Responded Tim.

"Right. I'll just try and keep Ivy busy, then. Steph, help the Cops out!" Jackie ordered.

And with that, they split up to handle their respective assignments. Steph blurred into the Wave Step and slammed into one of the Plant Monsters keeping the Cops pinned down. The force of a Master-level Cultivator striking them at Wave-Step Speeds bowled the Monstrosities over. One of them opened a thorn-filled maw and spat some kinda greenish goop at Steph that she dodged easy with the Wave Step. The goop sizzled into a nearby mailbox, melting the steel and dissolving a buncha letters inside. Clearly, these Plant Monsters could spit some sorta acid. It ain't phased Steph, though. She dodged the Acid Spit as the Monsters pushed themselves off the ground, wounds from her bull rush growing over.

"Hey! Mail tampering's a federal crime, you know!" Quipped Steph.

"Kill the girl, my pets!" Snapped Ivy, attention drawn to Steph by her flashy entrance.

"You oughtta be more worried about yourself!" Shouted Jackie.

Ivy turned just in time to take a Chi-Enhanced punch to the face that sent her flying off her damn perch to crash down onto the street below. She landed hard, cracking the concrete, but she was made of a lot sterner stuff than most folks. Jackie pulling his punches hurt, but not enough to keep her down. With a snarl, Ivy raised her arm and the Beanstalk Flower Snapped shut like some kinda fly trap plant, forcing Jackie to use the Resplendent Crane Takes Flight to fly up and outta the Flower's Grasp. A mystic gesture and incantation had Jackie firing a ball of white-hot flame at the Beanstalk Flower using Wuxing Elementalism. The Flower shrieked like some kinda alien being as the Fireball hit it and bathed it in flames, shriveling it up.

"No! My baby! How dare you!" Snarled Ivy.

Suddenly, several more Plant Monsters appeared out of the ground to attack Steph, along with a host of thorny vines and crushing beanstalk, shooting for Jackie up in the air. Jackie'd dodged and weaved through a buncha the lashing vines and striking beanstalks though, firing off Elementalist Spells when he could to cut down on the amount of plant-based Tendrils coming for him. Eventually, an opening presented itself and Jackie shot forward, putting a three-second burst of Iron Heart Endowment into his next punch. He splatted a trio of Plant Monsters that tried to block his attack on the way, literally flying through them. Ivy raised a wall of woven vines at the last second, hoping to block the punch. Jackie's fist plowed through it too, but he was forced to let go of his new technique to avoid tearing his muscles to shit.

That ain't as big a deal as it might've been for some though, as Jackie breathed in, molded his Chi into Fire Chi, and roared out. The Lion's Fiery Roar Technique utterly vaporized the remaining vines of the wall, burning them to a crisp and sending burnt plant matter flying around from the blast. Ivy, meanwhile, was blown back by the sonic part of the attack, landing hard on her back. What she saw when she picked herself up must've scared her some, 'cause she surrendered real quick after that, putting her hands up in the air.

"Shit, ok I give!" She offered, sounding a lot less megalomaniacal.

"You sound different." Pointed out Jackie.

"Sometimes the voices get too much. It's the Green, it's overpowering. Not that you'd care or even know what that is." Admitted Ivy with a scowl.

"Huh. You know, I might be able to help you out there. I know Doctor Fate and if he ain't able to help you out with that, he'll know a guy who can." Frowned Jackie.

"Wait, you're helping me? Why?" Blinked Ivy.

"Because you've got a point about assholes whose businesses ain't sustainable. It's just that you don't seem to give a shit about collateral damage or doing things the right way." Shrugged Jackie.

"Huh. Well, if you can help me get a handle on the Green, I'm willing to try. I still don't get why you're making the effort. Most White Hats wouldn't." Frowned Ivy.

"'Cause someone gave me a similar kinda help once. Consider this me trying to pay it forward." Jackie nodded.

Suddenly, a golden ankh appeared outta thin air, expanding into a portal with a flash. Out floated Doctor Fate, the biggest badass of a Sorcerer currently active and one of the few folks Jackie looked up to in the Hero Community. He floated over to where Jackie and Ivy were standing and inclined his head at Jackie. Jackie nodded back at the Lord of Order, who then turned to look at Ivy.

"Destroy your spawning pods and remaining Plant Golems and come with me. I will introduce you to Alec Holland. He has been the Avatar of the Green for several years now and will have insights to aid you." Intoned Doctor Fate.

Ivy nodded, her eyes glowing green and several noises erupting as if plants were being mulched. A buncha plant fibers and bits of beanstalk fell down onto the street from Ivy's remaining buncha tendrils that'd been trying to grapple Jackie. Shortly after, Steph rocked up, hand on one hip and head cocked to the side. Meanwhile, Tim did the same, running over from the other direction, a single eyebrow cocked in a questioning glare. It ain't exactly the same intensity as the Bat's, though. Jackie figured with a bit to work on it, it might be up there, if not on the same level.

"What gives? I was just starting to really have fun with those things!" Demanded Steph.

"Doctor Fate's taking Ivy to get help. With any luck, next time we see her, she'll be on our side." Answered Jackie.

"And she just mulched her plants like that?" Pressed Tim.

"As a sign of good faith." Concurred Doctor Fate.

"All right. But I'll have to let Batman know." Insisted Tim.

"It's a mystic problem. Explains why the Therapy don't work." Offered Jackie.

"Supposedly, this Alec Holland will help me get a handle on my powers. At this point, I'm ready to try anything." Admitted Ivy.

"How'd you know where we were?" Questioned Steph.

"I keep an eye on your brother. He is more important than he knows." Responded Doctor Fate.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Queried Jackie.

"I cannot say for certain, but my divinations of late have foreseen a clash between you and a blonde in black, Apokaliptan Armor. The outcome of your fight with her could prove decisive." Informed Doctor Fate.

"That's news." Muttered Tim.

"Indeed. Are there any other questions?" Asked Doctor Fate.

A round of head shakes indicated no, and Doctor Fate nodded, turning to Poison Ivy and gesturing her to follow him into the gold, glowing, portal. She did so, and in a flash, they were gone. The rest of the evening was spent on search and rescue, unfortunately, instead of playing board games. By the end of the night, Jackie was driving Steph back to Yuen Manor after four hours of pulling folks outta wrecked buildings and whatnot. Ivy's attack'd been brief, but she'd wrecked up most of a residential block. Before he'd turned in for the night, Jackie gave his blessing for Steph to ask out Sebastian. They were clearly into each other, after all. He did, however, reserve the right to break Sebastian's arms and legs if he hurt Steph. Steph hugged him, told him she'd be fine, then went to bed. Jackie did likewise shortly after.

The next morning, Jackie was off the New York City to tangle with Papa Midnight. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so a bit of a brief interlude chapter before heading to NYC to deal with Papa Midnight. He'll have about a week to deal with the guy before the Full Moon deadline, which shouldn't be too much of an issue now that he has a protection charm vs Spiritualism and Necromancy. At the same time, he's trained in some of the Grandmaster and Boddhisatva techniques the Yuen have access to and spread the wealth around to his family and allies some.

Yes, I'm aware of how much the Iron Heart Endowment and the Yuen Training Chamber resemble watered-down versions of the Kaioken and Hyperbolic Time Chamber. The second was an idea that Steph floated to the family after watching a lawyer-friendly in-universe expy of Dragonball Z that just so happened to be somewhat replicable with magic. The first is something that Grandmasters of Old tried to do by pushing the Basic Chi Enhancement further in an attempt to fight Boddhisatva-Level Cultivators. DBZ doesn't hold the patent on that sort of thing.

Of course, then Ivy interrupted his hangout time with Steph, who it seems has fallen in with Tim Drake and his friend group, similarly to canon, though this time she and Tim aren't romantically linked. As for Ivy, the fact that she is a Conduit of the Green but never got a handle on that fully is the reason why she goes full-on supervillain. Here, there's actually someone in Gotham who can put her in touch with someone who can set her up with Swamp Thing for training. Expect her to turn into a White Hat by the next time she appears.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the arrival in NYC.

Stay tuned. . .