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It Was Unintentional So It's Okay I
🕑 Added 2022-06-18 13:38:21 +0000 UTC.................
Chapter 119: It Was Unintentional So It's Okay I
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Ian lost track of time. He wanted to spend only as much time as needed to completely heal, but while studying his evolution, he forgot if time was even a thing.
Most of his days were spent thinking and nothing but that. The Rose of Speed was rarely inactive as his mind worked at a rate incomprehensible to most beings, trying to find answers.
Even he had never spent so much time just thinking, and it made him realize something. He had changed a lot.
He reminisced the days of his adventures, the times he sought to see how he wouldn't die. He loved to see different deadly situations and see how his power would react, just to cause a disturbance in his numb self.
No more. Ian felt such a need no more. He still feels like seeking fun, like enjoying his life and living it to its fullest, but he was more okay with his numb emotions.
His desires were starting to change because what he seeks now most is answers. He just wants to know what he is, or where did his powers come from, and that desire is only becoming stronger by the day.
So it wasn't strange for him to use his new powers, namely Rose of speed to think of all possibilities only to end up with a few million possibilities, and he believes there to be more.
It was not enough, he needed more, and he'll get more. Only, when he finally regained his composure and got out of the zone, he found out that a month has passed, "Oops."
Now one might wonder how he'd go back to Earth from hell. Well, it was actually quite simple. Ian instantly teleported into his dimension, then to earth...?
His rings are all mediums to the black rose dimension, and at the moment, he has three on his person. He has two as earrings and one on his finger, the one he used against Etrigan.
The other two rings were both on earth but very far away from each other. One was in the underground level of his mansion in Gotham, and the other was at the temple of Bastet, the place that brought him here.
Back then, when Ian noticed the strangeness of the situation, he discreetly hid the ring somewhere around the temple, basically teleporting it from his finger to the exact spot he just appeared in.
All he had to do was to send out his Death force through the specific ring, and here he is, eyeing Xanadu who was standing not far away.
"On a scale of one to ten, how bad is it?" This was Ian's first question the moment he appeared.
"You took too long, but it's actually not that bad, I'd say about a five." Xanadu could finally let out a sigh of relief, carefully observing him with doubts clear in her eyes.
"Oh? That's it? Well, I guess I trained the team right." Xanadu could swear she was a speck of disappointment in his eyes as he spoke, making her wonder whether he wanted it to be worse or better.
"Not really. It was chaos. They're just a bunch of monsters so they survived through it... Well, most of them at least."
Ian raised his brow at that, "You just said it's five, so I assume no one died... What happened?"
"Aghh, you're really odd," Xanadu remarked, still not used to his carefree nature, hell, death coming out of his mouth doesn't sound like it matters, "Harley, she was caught and sent to Arkham Asylum."
Ian was even more confused, "So what's the problem? The roses should've told them to let her go, and she will magically escape."
"Well, apparently. The plans have changed as she was no longer sent to the mental hospital but somewhere else. According to your people's investigation, it appears she was forced to join a task force of sorts."
"Hmm, very interesting. Well, I am back and I will take care of everything. I have to wonder though, How did you find me? Precognition?" Ian asked with curiosity.
Madame Xanadu shook her head, "No, as I stated before, I can not see anything about you, but I can see how this place will change.
It took me about a week, but I was able to detect a spot around the temple where the stand will have a specific change similar to that of footprints."
She let out an amused smile looking at his surprise, "Indeed, I've just appeared knowing you or someone else will step on that exact spot at this exact moment, so while I can not see your future, I can see your effect on the world and deduce things based on that."
"But it should only be useful if you possess a significant amount of information, and a bit of luck because who would expect I would appear here? But it's the only lead you have, so you followed it."
Xanadu rolled his eyes at his nitpicking before finally voicing her doubts, "You seem different... What happened."
Aside from his trimmed hair and his eyes which have gained a white hue of sorts on top of their brown color, nothing else was changed, but Xanadu trusted her instinct, there is definitely something more to it.
"Nothing much. I was basically a guest of honor in hell, so it all went well." Ian shrugged, finally paying attention to the main reason he teleported here.
"Lady Bastet, if your actions back then were pure, just wanting to keep Selina alive, then I'm thankful. Unfortunately, I'm poor because the inhabitants of hell were quite stingy.
If however, your intentions were impure, then I'll know in the future, and I'll easily find you, as easy as the snap of a finger. Things will be worse if I found out you helped in the trap."
Ian said nothing more as he turned around, going through the portal just created by Xanadu, "Don't forget about our deal."
"I won't. For now, just tell me all the details."
To say Ian was surprised at her recounting would be an understatement because things that happened far surpassed his expectations.
Perhaps Gotham has been peaceful for far too long because chaos has sought to embrace it yet again.
Nearly at the same time Ian vanished, the league of shadows attacked the city, specifically the Wayne corporation building.
Not just that, while that was happening, some of the strongest of the shadows secretly invaded Ian's mansion. Their goal was without doubt the underground part, almost as if they know what lies in there.
However, what they weren't prepared for was that they couldn't get in, even with explosives.
Perhaps they were misinformed about Ian, or they overestimated him as much as they could, but it was still not enough because the entire underground floor was protected with numerous magic barriers and wards.
They didn't escape unscathed though as they found themselves faced with a few monsters and an army.
The Roses had a plan just in case something similar happened, so the appearance of the monsters was expected, a diamond man, Barney.
A dragon flying above the mansion Mike whose powers were further enhanced by Ian in his last return, allowing the man to completely transform into a dragon. lastly a ball of hair, Ralf.
There were further supported by an army of masked individuals who were actually the same person, Multiplex.
And there was more, so what was meant by they weren't able to leave unscathed, it means only two of them survived at the cost of dozens.
The league of shadows was exterminated a week later in mysterious circumstances. It was simply a massacre, and only a few know who did it, namely Layla and Ian's team because they were partially responsible.
The other person that helped immensely was none other than Deathstroke as he turned on the league without any hesitation. Whatever Ian whispered to him back then worked.
Insanity was the definition of what happened after the special Rose unit's return because the fall of the league of shadows was just the start.
Next came their search for a passage to hell which led them to the battle that sealed Harley's fate... Their battle against the Justice League.
Ian looked recounted the information to himself time and time again, feeling confused as he asked himself, "Why the overreaction?"
"Because you're their obsession, and their love, distorted love I assume." The one to speak wasn't Xanadu but Zatanna because they appeared not in Gotham but in New York.
"Selina did very well, though," Ian murmured, ignoring her, "Ivy on the other hand... Predictable. Harley however I didn't expect to act so crazy... Well, I kinda did. This is a bit amusing, don't you think?"
"No, I don't, not at all in fact. Like, look at you, did you have a vacation in hell, leaving the Chaos in here behind you?"
Zatanna was having none of it, in fact, she looked extremely annoyed, "Do you know that the crazy clown of yours tried to kill me when I refused to take them to hell? To take them to their death?? Aghh, ok, I've seen what I wanted, so just go and fix things please."
"Huh?" Xanadu on the side, eyed Zatanna strangely because as far as she remembers, she told her to bring him here for something urgent, yet now she's sending him away after taking a glance at him, 'Could it be...'
