Grail was put on the hunt for Desaad. Much to her enjoyment. It provided her a good distraction for what was wrong with her. Max kept the team on their way. Arriving at the city of Shamballah. A few tremors caused a few to stumble.
A stampede of creatures that looked like raptors ran to the side of them. The survey team taking as many pictures as possible but not moving to close.
"Well, they look absolutely savage." A scientist stated.
"Yup, not bad for descendants of Atlanteans," Max said as he walked. A few of the locals cleared the way looking a the team of foreigners. Few ripping their swords and spears just in case. "Keep up, if you wander off you deserve to die and be in slavery."
The Shamballans attitude did not help with the growing Rage he felt. His senses picking up several distortions in the place as someone or something was breaking in and out of the Dimension at will.
"Are you they are descended from Atlanteans?" Jennifer ask as she made sure to keep pace. The place was a marvel but the fact she was getting close to her father was a to much to bear. "The technology they used is so primitive."
"Due to use of magic and they are war with one another. Considering all the dinosaurs around, I guess you can say they never had time to pursue math and its greater advancements." Max felt a few people following behind them at the rear. "Come!"
*Snap!* With a twitch of the finger, mechanical animals moved out of his coat. Transforming into large war hounds. A mixture of science and sorcery.
He spoke to those that followed.
"I will kill you and drag your corpse through the street if you bother us." The fluent speech made the people take a step back. The science time was at a loss not understanding at all. "But these on to help you start understanding."
A communication bracelet was given to them as he could not afford to have them struggling with what was said. The survey team were more enthused to start talking with the locals but were reminded by the war hounds that was a know go.
"Let's hope your old man is not playing around." Max stated. By the looks of a few soldiers and a redhead leading them, their presence was well known. "Well ready to meet your stepmother?"
Jennifer didn't have the chance to ask as Tara Morgan, a redhead with long hair stepped forward started talking. Her presence was powerful and caused a few of the survey team to flinch.
"I am Queen Tara of Shamballah, who or you foreigners?" Morgan asked but a bit of demand was in her tone. A few more soldiers flanked both sides in the market. 'That technology looks interesting. And so many of them know how to use it.'
Looking at the survey team decked out in radio, GPS trackers, portable seismographs, and wrist-mounted laptops, they did look pretty advanced. Well compared to those here.
"Go ahead, you don't want me talking to the cheating woman." Max's eye burned as he received unwanted information on the Queen and Shamballah as a whole. Both she and Travis were really quite the pair. 'Grail.. have you found that mongrel yet?'
As Jennifer spoke with the queen and her entourage, Max was focusing on Grail and her activity. She had gotten very far away from them. His spiritual energy flared up as he followed her intently.
Grail made good time as she drew closer to the sound of marching troops she thought.
"I have not found him yet. But I have found something interesting." Grail said into her mic lowly. She could feel Max around her it caused rush of adrenaline to travel through her body. The number of dinosaurs she killed while hunting her prey barely enough to quench her thirst. "Someone called Warlord is getting ready to lead a group of soldiers and cavalry to attack a stronghold."
Grail approach from the back relishing the chance for a proper fight. Her description of what was going on caused the hairs on the back of Max's neck to rise.
The Warlord was Travis Morgan. He basically wore a loincloth a war helmet, some wristbands with jewels on them and carried a firearm. An rapier in his hand as the charge was about to commence.
"Use your spiritual sense to make sure that is not the prey we are looking for." Grail did as Max said and she was able to see a much weaker man cloaked under some time of disguise. "If it is kill without mercy!"
"Well.. sounds fun!" Grail shot forward attacking the "Warlord" immediately. The impact sending the warriors and farmers with him away in a scatter. "Hi, I am Grail here to kill you!" Her maniac glee sent a shiver down Desaads spine.
Max felt a shake and pull himself back to the current situation.
"Watcher.. are you listening?"
"No, I didn't here a single word. I was busy instructing Grail on an imposter of the Warlord." Max turned to the woman who look to have cried a little. "What's with the waterworks?"
"I was able to convince her about who I am and my father." Jennifer rubbed the tears away. "My father left on an adventure recently but should return soon."
"That is great, unfortunately, we need to speed this up." Max felt several tremors in the ground down below. By the looks of it, so did the survey team. "I have a really bad feeling about those tremors."
"That one was a 3.0." A survey member stated. He continued to check his seismograph not thinking this was a good idea to stay any longer either. "From those sensors placed last night, I picked up at least a climb of 1.0 every 5 hours."
"That.. what in the world is happening here?" Max did not like the sound of that more than what he felt. "Yup, we are leaving."
"Wait, I still haven't met my father yet." Jennifer got in front of him. "Maybe it is a natural occurrence here that does not cause trouble?"
"The tremors are recent." Queen Tara stated. "Just started yesterday evening." She was bewildered by the mask Max had that kept changing facial expressions. "What are you?"
"A man that is not going to risk the life of several people for a girl with daddy problems and abandonment issues." Max tried to contact the outside not getting anything again. He was starting to become more irritable. "Ok... any new structures created recently?"
"Structures, none here." Queen Tara stated. Her soldiers mumbling behind her not knowing Max heard every bit of it. "The kingdom of Thera has changed recently. Our neighbors have never been to helpful in matters and might be behind this."
"To lie at such a time.. how pathetic." Max masked turned to that of anger. The guards advised her to say this to get the "masked wizard" to go and bother them while they find out more information from Jennifer. "You neighbor's ruler Deimos was killed by your husband the Warlord already several times."
"How do you know this!?" Queen Tara took a step back in surprise. "What kind of sorcery did you use!?"
Max ignored her as he turned to the others. Another tremor going through the place as a stronger tremor went through the place. According to the seismograph, it was a 3.2 but ahead of time by a lot.
"Get on the war hounds you are all leaving this place!" Max ordered. They followed his words to the letter. Jennifer not moving at all. "Listen, odds are, your pops is somewhere far away. We found the plane and you know he is here that should be good enough."
"But i haven't seen him!"
"Right... hmm." Max delivered a blow to her neck and threw her on a war hound like a sack of potatoes. "Really don't have time for stupidity. Good luck with the tremors but we are out of here. If the Warlord lives, tell him his daughter came and left. Provided you all leave through the earthquake."
"Wait!" Tara grabbed his coat as the war hounds took off with the entire survey team. Moving at speeds the soldiers couldn't hope to keep up with. "What is so dangerous about these tremors?"
"They are tied into this little pocket Dimension collapsing. I suggest you use whatever means you need to get out of here." Max felt something was happening that demanded his attention really badly. Trying to pinpoint it down was the worse thing however. "Let go of my coat lady."
"I am the Queen of Shamballah I must protect its people!" Queen Tara shouted. As powerful spiritual energy of Virtue erupted from her. Clearing the rage from Max's mind. "I implore you to help us!"
"Right... here take this follow the blinking light as fast as you can to its location." He handed over a GPS tracker to the queen and two more to the individual guards. "You find my people there to help you out. I suggest you hurry. No time to collect valuables and all that."
The moment she let go, Max was gone. Teleporting to the disturbance as his senses locked down on the disturbance.
.
The Disturbance-
.
In the area was a large army. They were not humans like he hoped but several Perademons. The burly henchman of Darkseid with several augmentations that gave nightmares to normal children. A large drill-like structure rose in the air then slammed down into an opening.
In less than a few seconds, several tremors passed through the area. Much stronger than before. The drill came out a few minutes later with the tip completely eroded away. And several cracks along with it.
'Well, at least they can't do this continuously.' The moment Max said that a boom tube open up. The dimensional rings were a lot bigger than normal and looked gold instead of white, Several Perademons came out with replacement parts. 'And this is why the Pocket Dimension is breaking apart.'
"Max!" A shout came from behind him. Supringsly enough it was Grail with the head of Desaad. She tossed it at his feet then lit it up with her eyes firing out with raw power. The grin on her face was made more sinister by her licking her lips. "We need to have a talk!"
The ray of light was not that of the red lantern power but that of the Omega Effect. To be precise, the power of Omega Beams that she inherited from her father, Darkseid. The contract inside her was still fighting against the power but with Grail not resisting it was a bit of a problem.
"This is not the time." Max said with a snarl. He rolled his neck knowing to try to pull away from the feeling coming up his spine. His cultivation going out of control with the strain to the Pocket Dimension causing a problem to Earth. "I am ordering you stand down, now Grail!"
"Ooh baby, I love it when your forceful!" Grail shivered as her eyes rolled over. Her clothes burning away as she wore a full red lantern uniform. However, the symbol of the Omega Effect appeared on the uniform. "If you want to stop what's going on there, you are going to have to get through me!"
She gestured to the Perademons and the drill in the distance. Their was a problem with Grail's statement. Max was losing just as much control with the Earth in danger from this little stunt.
"Your funeral!" Max raged as he let loose the Aspect of Wrath. His clothes burning away leaving him in a Red Lantern suit. A green and black symbol on his back. The full power of Sin coming out suppressing that of Virtue. "Try not to break before I have my fun!"
As the two Demideities clashed, the terrain was the first to get torn apart. The Perademons and the drill getting caught in the resulting explosions of power.
The Shamballans listen well enough and head to the GPS coordinates like they were told. With a few riders going out to tell the neighboring cities to flee as well.
Off in the distance, a portal opened up as three people fell out.
The man known as Warlord, Travis Morgan. A Russian woman by the name of Mariah Romanova, And the woman who turned into a cat, Shakira that Grail saw previously.