He Didn't Even Get to Play a Round of Uno
Peter and Luthor reappeared in a white frigid place, the cold, unfeeling landscape giving the same energy that Luthor himself did. A weird, giant golden tower stretched into the sky before them, with two weird metal pieces sticking out of the top. Squinting, Peter could see weird containment areas towards the top, where he was willing to bet Raven and the other kidnapped heroes had gone. Luthor stretched out a hand and a portal appeared, which he shoved Peter into. In a blink, Peter was in said containment unit, stumbling into Raven. She immediately pulled him into a hug, sighing before stepping away and giving him a once over. “Good, he didn’t hurt you.”
Peter nodded numbly, mumbling, “I didn’t even get to play a round of Uno.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Peter glanced at everyone else in the cell, taking in the colorful group. Another man in a trenchcoat was there, this one having a face and wearing a tan trenchcoat rather than a blue one. Next to him were two similar looking people, a woman and a man, both with raven black hair and in magician’s outfits. Another man had a golden helmet and an outfit with an ankh symbol on it, while a monstrous looking man was sitting on one of the cots, not facing Peter. A woman in a floor-length red dress was sitting on a cot next to an old, dark-skinned man with a lightning symbol on his chest. In fact, several people in here had similar —no, identical— lightning bolt symbols, all with matching outfits. Peter stared at Raven helplessly. “Who are all these people? And why does this trenchcoat guy have a face but not the other one?”
Trenchcoat snorted. “I guess you met Question, then. The name’s John Constantine, kid. And you’re the one in Gotham with such a strong magical signature.”
Peter nodded. “Yup, that’s me, magical and shit.” Was he in a bit of shock? Probably.
“Everyone, this is Peter. That’s Madame Xanadu, the wizard Shazam and the Marvels, that’s Dr. Fate, that’s Zatanna and Zachary Zatara, and that’s Etrigan. There are more heroes in another cell, I’m sure of it.”
Raven walked Peter to the row of cots and sat down, patting the space next to her, which Peter took.
“This is the most elaborate cage I’ve ever been in,” Peter mumbled. “Luthor told the Cadre it’s a mind-wiping device. Apparently. Which, I don’t know about you, but this seems a bit big for that.”
John nodding, sitting next to Peter. “It’s something else, something much bigger. You can feel the energy radiating off it. Well, maybe not you, but we can.”
Peter chose to ignore that. “And you guys can’t just teleport out?”
Raven’s lip curled in disgust. “Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p.’
“And if little bird can’t get out, there’s no hope for us mere mortals,” John snarked. “The food isn’t half bad though.”
“How did they get you?” Raven asked.
“Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, they were our guys on the inside. This last meeting, they came back with a list of the remaining people to capture for whatever this thing is,” Peter explained, gesturing vaguely at the space around them. “I’m the last one they need, so we lured them to this safe house in Pennsylvania, and we lost. They managed to get to me, and as soon as they did, the fight stopped.”
The face Raven pulled reminded Peter of the one Tim had made when Veronica Vreeland had talked to them at the gala. “You were used as bait?!”
Peter shrugged. “It was the only way we had a chance at capturing Luthor, you know? He was going to track me wherever I went, we might as well use it to our advantage.”
“Is that the justification Batman used?” Raven retorted, hitting the nail on the head.
Peter opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, unable to respond to that. Raven snorted. “That’s what I thought. And you agreed to it, didn’t you?”
“What else was I supposed to do?! I couldn’t go into hiding, they would find me no matter what!”
“Still doesn’t justify using you as bait.”
Peter was pretty tired of this at this point. “I might not have been an adult for that long, but I’m an adult nonetheless! I can make my own decisions.”
Raven sighed. “Fine. I’m still going to give Batman a piece of my mind when we get out of this.”
If we get out of this went unspoken.
“I don’t care why you were on that list, kid, we already know that. What I want to know is why you were last on that list,” John remarked.
Peter bit his lip, thinking. “I don’t think this device is for mind-wiping. It’s way too big for that and at least one of the parts they were stealing from S.T.A.R. Labs was from Dr. Stone’s research, according to Red Robin.”
Raven’s eyes widened. “Dr. Stone, he’s the one I’m thinking of, right?”
John’s eyes flicked between the two. “Care to share with the class?” He gestured to the rest of the heroes, who were listening pretty intently.
“Dr. Stone was Cyborg’s dad,” Peter explained. “He studied cross-dimensional travel. And me…”
“You’re not from this dimension,” Raven finished, exhaling heavily. “Shit.”
Peter swallowed, nodding. “When Lex grabbed me, he said that he just wanted his family back. I don’t know what that means, but it’s got something to do with dimensions, I think.”
“Fucking hell,” John swore. “I think we’re the batteries.”
Peter wasn’t aware Raven could grow paler, but she did, somehow. “It’s going to kill us,” she whispered, horrified.
“It’s been nice knowing you, little demon,” John declared. “You too, shrimp, for all of five minutes.”
Peter snorted. “Thanks, man.”
“No,” Madame Xanadu said, startling the trio. “We will make it out of this alive. You, child, you might be able to reason with him. He will take you to the top of the tower soon, and when he does you will be able to talk with him. Perhaps you will be able to get him out from the influence of Krona.”
Everyone was listening now, their attention fully on the seeress. “Who’s Krona?” Zatanna asked.
“The Guardians of the Universe explained it to us,” Peter answered. “He was one of them before an experiment he conducted basically shattered the universe, creating the multiverse.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Captain Marvel interrupted, “how did you get to speak to the Guardians of the Universe?”
“I mean, they didn’t tell me directly, obviously,” Peter babbled. “They contacted the JL though, and I just heard it down the grapevine.”
Captain Marvel squinted suspiciously. Scowling, Peter sighed. “Look, after the whole incident with Zod, when Aunt Harley and Aunt Pam found out the list, they took it to Batman, who took it to the League, who got in contact with me.”
“That’s convenient.”
“Billy,” Madame Xanadu beseeched, “we can trust him.”
Captain Marvel nodded and sat down heavily, letting out a sigh that sounded so tired. “I’ve just been straight up not having a good time lately.”
Peter nodded sympathetically, before pausing and doing a double-take. Did a grown ass man just say that? “That’s a mood and a half.”
“We are getting off topic,” Zatanna interrupted. “What else can you tell us about Krona?”
Peter sat back down and ran a hand through his hair. “He tried to see the beginning of the universe.”
Several people inhaled sharply and Peter nodded. “Yeah, so as punishment, the Guardians basically destroyed his body and scattered his consciousness into the cosmos. As you do.”
“What does any of this have to do with you?” John reiterated.
Madame Xanadu turned to Peter, staring into his eyes intensely though she was still speaking to John. “Peter is not from these worlds, and he has connected billions of other dimensions by his arrival here. Peter is the bridge, and Lex and Krona intend to cross.”
“What does crossing entail, exactly?” Peter was positive he was not going to like the answer.
“The destruction of your mortal body.”
“No one is getting used as a bridge,” Raven declared, “we will find a way to get you out of here, Peter.”
John snorted. “You would be sensitive about that kinda thing, wouldn’t you, little bird?”
“Yes,” Raven hissed, “yes I am, John.”
“Please don’t fight,” Peter mumbled. “I think it’s nighttime, wherever we are, and I want to get some sleep.”