Marco woke up to his alarm blaring at six in the morning, and the first thing he noticed was the notification floating at the edge of his vision.
[Infinite Vitality:
Your control over your body's vital energy has reached the level of Minor Proficiency.]
[Progress Missions:
Deep Breathing: 0/2000
Requirement: Undistracted focus / Calm and centered]
[Complete all missions to increase skill level. With each breath, you can feel the flow of energy through your body. Your physical constitution has been improved to a small degree. Your immunity to illness has been slightly increased. And your recovery from injuries has been enhanced to some extent. As long as you keep breathing, you'll live to see old age]
Oh, I leveled up.
He blinked at it, then dismissed it with a thought. He sat up, took a deep breath, and tried to feel whatever the notification was talking about. There was a faint awareness of his own body, like he could sense his heartbeat, circulation, and the oxygen moving through his blood. Not anything supernatural or mystical, just a heightened awareness of his own biology.
"Huh," he muttered. "Guess all that meditation bullshit does something."
He rolled out of bed feeling better than he had in weeks. He did his usual morning routine and noticed he could push himself a little harder than usual. Nothing dramatic, but he could feel the difference. His muscles responded better.
---
The East End precinct was already buzzing when Marco walked in at seven-thirty.
"Captain!"
Anna bounced across the bullpen and threw her arms around him in a hug that lifted him slightly off the ground. The woman was deceptively strong.
"Easy, Anna. I've only got one spine."
"You were gone forever!" She released him. "Did you bring back any souvenirs? Maybe some of those tacky flamingo magnets?"
"Florida mainly produces sunburned tourists and terrible decisions. Neither travels well." Marco patted her shoulder and headed toward his office.
She followed him, along with Darnell, who'd appeared from somewhere with a cup of coffee. Both of them immediately started rifling through Marco's desk drawers.
"I heard you cracked a case the second you got back," Anna said, pulling out a bag of pretzels from the bottom drawer.
"Yeah, it was..." Marco dropped into his chair and noticed two keys sitting on his desk. "Hey, are these what I think they are?"
"Yep! Single dorm keys came in yesterday." Darnell tossed him a candy bar he'd found somewhere. "Top floor, about twenty square meters. Not much, but it's free and you don't have to commute."
Marco picked up the keys.
"This might be the best thing that's happened to me all year."
Anna laughed. "So what's the plan for today?"
Marco pocketed the keys and stood up. "You're on patrol coordination. Make sure the veterans don't slack off just because we got new equipment. They'll get lazy if we let them."
"Got it."
"And you..." Marco pointed at Darnell. "You're coming with me. We need to pick up our houseguest from the hospital and get her settled in custody. Come on, let's move."
---
Gotham General Hospital looked the same as every other time Marco had been there. They flashed their badges at security and headed straight for the special observation ward where Raven was being kept under watch.
The attending physician met them outside the room. She was a middle-aged woman with tired eyes.
"Officer Vitale," she said, checking her clipboard. "I was hoping you'd come by today."
"How's the patient?"
"That's the thing." The doctor flipped through the medical file, frowning. "From every physiological indicator we can measure, she is extremely healthy. Her vital signs are stable to an almost unnatural degree. Her blood pressure is perfect, and her heart rate is steady. There are no internal or external injuries, and no signs of trauma, despite what she went through."
"But?" Marco could hear the unspoken concern in her voice.
"But her brainwave patterns are unusual. Not pathological, exactly. More like she's in a constant state of deep meditation or extreme focus. Even when she was unconscious, her brain activity showed the same pattern." The doctor shook her head. "I've never seen anything like it. Honestly, there's no medical reason for her to remain hospitalized. Whatever she is, she's not sick."
"Alright. We'll take her off your hands."
"Good luck," the doctor said, and there was something in her tone that suggested she meant it.
Marco and Darnell opened the door to Raven's room. The girl was awake, sitting up in bed wearing a hospital gown, staring out the window at Gotham's skyline. When she heard them enter, she turned her head slowly.
"How are you feeling?" Marco pulled a chair over and sat down.
"This world is still noisy." Her gaze swept past him, seeming to look through the walls. "So much pain. So much anger. It's... difficult to filter out."
Darnell said, "The doctor says you're cleared for discharge. But it's not safe here. The people who tried to grab you before might come back. We're moving you to our precinct. It's more secure."
"Safe." Raven's mouth twitched. "You don't understand what safety means. And you don't understand what my father is capable of."
She looked at Marco directly, and there was pity in her expression.
"You blocked some inferior demons. You survived one unstable dimensional breach. And you think you understand what's coming? Trigon's power doesn't just destroy the body. It corrupts the soul and twists everything you are until nothing remains except suffering and rage."
Before Marco could respond, she raised her right hand. Her fingers extended toward his chest, as though she were reaching for something only she could see.
Darnell's hand went to his holster instinctively, but he froze. Something in the air had changed. The temperature dropped, and the lights flickered.
Raven's fingertip stopped just short of touching the badge on his chest. Then something hit Marco.
For a split second, he saw flashes of images that were not his memories. Souls screamed in an ocean of red fire. A massive figure, wreathed in shadow and flame, laughed as worlds burned. The sound of that laughter filled his skull and vibrated through his bones.
It was the most terrifying thing he'd ever experienced.
And then it was gone.
The visions stopped, and the fear vanished. It was like someone had changed the channel on a TV.
Herco blinked.
"Huh. That was weird."
Raven stared at him. Her expression didn't change, but something shifted in her eyes. She flicked her fingers, and a shadow shaped like a bird of prey burst from her body and slammed into Marco's forehead.
It felt like a gentle breeze. Marco tilted his head, waiting for something else to happen, but nothing did.
They stared at each other for a long moment.
"Although I don't know why, you are immune to Trigon's soul magic."
She waved her hand and a black cloak materialized around her shoulders from nowhere, wrapping her in darkness. "We should go."
Marco and Darnell exchanged glances.
"Go?" Darnell said. "We were going to take you anyway, but... that was fast. You're just okay with this now?"
"The corrosive magic I cast on you was completely nullified the moment it entered your body." Raven's voice was flat. "I don't understand how. And I don't understand why."
She stood up from the bed and started floating toward the door.
Darnell was confused. "What exactly was she just talking about? I feel like I didn't even understand the words."
"How much do you think I understood?" Marco replied, wearing much the same expression. "But right now the most important thing is stopping her from floating out!"
The two of them lunged forward and grabbed the girl, one on each side.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
Darnell pulled her back down. "I know you can do magic and that's great, really impressive, but you can't just fly out of here. Your legs are supposed to be... OW!"
A small flame burst from Raven's sleeve, targeting their fingers. They yelped and let go, shaking their hands.
"Immune to soul magic," Raven said calmly, examining Marco. "But physical magic still works... How exactly did you develop this resistance?"
"No idea." Marco moved to the window and checked outside. No one seemed to have noticed the commotion. He looked at his finger, where a large blister was already forming. "And don't do that again. It's not fun."
"Oh." Raven reached out and took Marco's hand before he could pull away. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos."
White light flowed over his skin. The burn vanished, the blister smoothing out until there was no trace of injury.
"Azarath's magic works as well." She studied his hand thoughtfully. "But if you can resist my father's influence, then maybe there's another possibility."
Darnell stared at her, then at Marco. "Wait. Are you saying Marco can fight your demon dad?"
Raven laughed. "That's delusional. Trigon has conquered entire dimensions. He's destroyed civilizations that had existed for millions of years. You couldn't even scratch him."
She looked at Marco, and for the first time, there was something other than despair in her eyes. "But if he can't corrupt you the way he corrupts everyone else... Then tactics that were impossible before become possible."
"Like what?" Marco asked.
"I don't know yet. I need to understand the limits of your immunity." She pulled her hood up over her head, hiding her face in shadow. "And you need to understand what Trigon is."
"So what are you suggesting?"
"I need you to protect me. My existence draws Trigon's attention. His followers will keep coming. They'll try to use me as a conduit to summon his true form into this dimension. But if we work together..."
She looked up at him.
"Maybe we have a chance."
Marco took a deep breath. He looked at Darnell, who shrugged helplessly, clearly out of his depth. Then he looked back at Raven.
"Alright. We'll work together. But first..." He opened the door. "We walk out of this hospital like normal people. We get to the precinct, get you settled in, and then we start figuring this out. Deal?"
Raven nodded slowly. "Deal."
"Good. And while we're walking, you can start explaining what else your father usually sends after you. Demons, cultists, what?"
"You'll see soon enough." Raven stepped past him into the hallway. "Let's just hope your immunity covers everything you're going to need it to."