Chapter Text
"So... I'm dead, aren't I?"
My voice echoed through the void around me. Or, what passed for my voice, at least - I wasn't really sure if it was making sound, seeing as I apparently didn't have a body anymore. Nope, I was just a disembodied consciousness hanging around in this weird-ass darkness. Y'know, totally normal stuff for a Monday.
I'm not sure exactly how long I'd been floating here. It could have been only a few minutes, or hours, or days, or years. I had no real way to tell time here. Still, this was getting kind of... boring, really. And I've never been a very patient person.
"Look," I 'spoke' out to the blackness surrounding me, "can we just get on with... whatever's supposed to happen now? Hell, I'd settle for knowing what's gonna happen."
That is for you to decide.
If I still had eyes, they'd have bulged out of their sockets at that. I wasn't alone here, there was another voice... And it sounded pissed.
"Oh shit... S-sorry, I didn't mean to a-anger you, O Ominous One," I stammered out. "I just... I got impatient..."
It is fine. Okay, now it just sounded resigned. You were not supposed to die yet. The scales must be balanced.
... Well, I wasn't sure how to respond to that. I 'looked' around, trying to find the source of the voice, but all I saw was nothingness stretching in every direction. "Um, uh... What, exactly, does that mean?" I asked in a small voice, doing my best to not give whatever omnipotent being this was a reason to erase me from existence.
Your life was cut short, by events that should not have occurred.
"You mean... the car accident?"
Yes. Not every accident draws my attention such as this, but here, so much potential was wasted.
"Potential?" If I still had a head, I'd have shaken it. "I'm not really someone who screams potential. Hell, I was kind of a fuckup. So why me?"
Why you, indeed... I do not know. But I can take this potential and give you another chance.
"Another..." No, no way. They weren't serious, were they? They couldn't be. "Do you mean..."
Reincarnation. A sense of approval (what?) seemed to pass through me. A new life, a new world, a new chance to make things right.
This... this was too much. "I..." I 'swallowed'. "I can't. I'm not... not worthy of this. I haven't done anything to earn this, I'm just... I'm just me."
For a moment, all was quiet. Fear began to coil within my soul. How was this, this being going to react? Smite me? Banish me to hell? Or maybe just leave me in this void for the rest of eternity?
Then it spoke again, and this time, the words were soft. Yes, you are just you. For the first time since I arrived in the void, a light began to glow. Softly at first, then brighter and brighter until it became blinding. And that is precisely why you are being given this chance.
I could feel myself falling, slipping away from the presence I hadn't even noticed around me. Confusion and disbelief turned and twisted in me. Why? Why me? Why do I get this chance?
"I don't understand!" I screamed, barely able to hear myself. "What... What do I do now?!"
Before the light finished consuming me, I heard the being's last words, a final response.
That is for you to decide.
Earthland
Year X3??
Atlas Flame alighted upon the cliffside, gazing at the land displayed below him, forests coating the ground and rivers winding down, far from the distant mountains. The cold wind of the winter night did not touch him, the hellfire wreathing his body keeping it at bay. The great wyrm dwarfed any of the local fauna in both size and power. Here, settled on high before the lesser beings, was where a dragon should be, secure in their might and glory.
And yet... Atlas closed his eyes, recalling to events of days just past, yet far, far into the future.
That boy, Natsu. He claimed to be the son of Igneel, King of all Fire Dragons. Atlas could hardly believe that a dragon as proud of him could care for a human so much as to adopt them. At the same time, though, the young Dragon Slayer was simply too earnest, to guileless. Even with only a single battle with him, half of which they had spent on opposing sides, was enough for Atlas to tell that the kid lacked a single dishonest bone in his entire body. And the way Natsu had been so welcoming, referring to him as 'uncle' and trusting him to assist against the mind-bender... They were different in so many ways, yet the human did indeed carry Igneel's spark within him.
Atlas wondered idly how long it would be before the boy was born. At least 400 years, if he recalled correctly - that was how far forward the gate had supposedly brought the seven dragons. 400 years before Natsu and Igneel, before his family...
Family?
A growl rumbled within Atlas Flame's chest as he took to the air once again, powerful wings kicking up wind that would flatten anything smaller than himself. Dragons should not care about silly things like family bonds, and yet here he was, feeling bittersweet nostalgia over evens that he may never see come to pass. He should be better than this!
The wyrm flew for hours, trying and failing to clear his mind of these unfamiliar thoughts. His stamina, while impressive, was not infinite, and eventually he found himself tiring. Atlas straightened his wings and began gliding down, thinking that perhaps the could find a good meal before he retired for a bit...
A thin black trail in the sky caught his attention. Smoke? Now where was that coming from? His exhaustion warred with his curiosity for a few moments before curiosity won out, and Atlas turned to investigate the source.
It only took a few minutes before Atlas stumbled upon it. A human village. He hadn't been aware there was a village here to began with. Not surprising, perhaps, as it was nestled within a hollow at the base of a mountain, an area few would check were they not already aware of it's location. Perhaps that is why they'd survived without attracting the attention of Atlas or another dragon... At least, until now.
He landed in what might have once been a town square and craned his neck, sweeping his burning gaze upon the ruins before him. Most of the buildings had been reduced to little more than ash, with only a few basic frames still somewhat discernible. Embers were visibly glowing from what little wood still existed, and here and there, small fires continued to burn. The village had likely been standing until a few hours ago, Atlas mused. There were large claw marks on the ground, especially around what looked to be groupings of corpses that had been burned beyond recognition, wherever they weren't torn to pieces. A dragon attack, then. Atlas may have had a newfound appreciation of human life, yet he remained realistic - there was nothing more he could do here.
Wait... The dragon paused, wings already half-lifted to take flight. There was a sound, something coming from one of the few buildings still semi-intact. Cautiously, Atlas moved through what had once been streets, arriving at the former home. The roof was half-collapsed, allowing him to poke his head in and take a look inside. Most of the interior was intact, but Atlas could clearly see the two corpses caught underneath the rubble inside.
As well as the wailing baby in the nearby crib.
Shit. What was he supposed to do here? With no one left to care for it, the child would die soon. Yet there were no other human villages anywhere nearby that he could take it to. Should he kill it? Put it out of its misery? No, that just seemed cruel.
Atlas was so preoccupied with his thoughts that it took him a moment to realize that the crying had stopped. Blinking, the dragon turned back towards the crib to see the human hatchling staring silently at him. It - no, humans used colors like the ones on its clothes to identify gender, didn't they? - she had to be less than a year old, but not by much. A shock of red hair decorated the top of her head, and her large blue eyes watched him with innocent curiosity. That look stirred something within Atlas, and he once again recalled the gaze of the young Slayer as he proclaimed them to be family.
Moderating his flames so that they did not burn, the wyrm reached inside the house and gently extended a claw to the child. She gazed upon it for a moment before extending her arms and touching the scaled hide. A smile broke out on her face as she batted at the flames, entertained at the way the parted before her. A giggle bubbled out of mouth as the played with them.
Well, I'm already an uncle, Atlas thought wryly. If that old lizard can raise a child, maybe I can as well.
A blinding beam slicing through the air.
"The Gate, get to the Gate!"
Burning embers wrapping around a jet-black form.
"Little one, wait-!"
A roar as the world became white.
"ATLAS, NO!"
Metropolis
2003
Officer Michelson covered his hand with his mouth, trying to suppress a yawn. He's been up all night patrolling, and had been looking forward to getting some sleep when this call came in. Hopefully, it's be something that they could take care of quickly. He hated hospitals.
"Sir?" a voice, hesitant and uncertain, called his attention, He glanced around and saw a nurse, standing at the lobby's entrance. "Could you came with me? Dr. Anders would like to see you now."
"All right." Michelson stood up quickly, following the nurse as she led him through the hallways. Technically, his partner should be coming with him for this, but Michelson had decided to let the rookie rest in the car for this one. It was his first night shift, after all.
Soon, the pair of them stood before the entrance to one of the rooms. The nurse knocked on the door, and after a moment, it opened to admit them. Michelson entered and got a good look at the doctor who had called him in this early in the morning. Anders was almost a head shorter than the officer, and his dark skin contrasted highly with the officer's pale complexion. Anders nodded once the nurse left, closing the door behind her.
"Thank you for taking the time to come in, officer," Anders began. "This is an... unusual case."
"Unusual?" Michelson echoed. "You mentioned this was a kid. I thought this would have just been a runaway case?"
"Yes, but..." Anders grimaced, turning to the final occupant of the room. A young girl, no older than eight or nine, with a mane of red hair laid on the bed, deeply asleep. "This is.. an unusual case. We found this girl outside just a few hours ago, ragged and injured, screaming for help. We managed to sedate her, but we caught her name before she fell asleep. Ashley."
Michelson sighed. "Okay, but you still haven't explained what's so strange about it."
Anders sighed, reminding the officer an exasperated mother. "What's unusual is, most runaways don't appear at our hospital on fire, yet completely unharmed."
Michelson stiffened, then turned to look at the television. The early news was already playing, showing a picture of the media's latest craze for the past several months: Seven heroes in costume, standing together to fight off alien invaders.The Justice League.
"Oh, hell."