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SM/DC Chapter 149 : The Fortress Below
🕑 Added 2025-06-15 22:32:21 +0000 UTCARTHUR BLACKWYND ESTATE -
The quiet rush of displaced air swept through the room as Arthur and Kara materialized back inside the Blackwynd Estate. The ornate lights flickered slightly with their arrival, shadows dancing across the marble floor like living things.
Arthur didn’t hesitate.
The moment his boots touched the ground, he grabbed Kara’s hand firm but not rough and tugged her along. “Come on,” he said, voice brisk with purpose.
Kara, who hadn’t expected the sudden contact, stumbled half a step behind him, her cheeks already turning a faint shade of red. She opened her mouth to say something, maybe tease him, maybe not, but the words caught somewhere between her lips and her heartbeat.
From the side hall, George, Arthur’s ever-loyal but often-ignored attendant, waved. “Welcome ba—”
But Kara didn’t even glance at him, her focus entirely on Arthur’s back, his hand still around hers. George blinked, then gave a small chuckle to himself and kept walking, muttering something about “Dear me.”
Arthur reached the far end of the corridor, where a seemingly ordinary corner met two walls of dark oak paneling. He stopped, glanced once over his shoulder to make sure Kara was still with him, then raised his other hand. The wall shimmered briefly before shifting a ripple of shadow-like magic parting the wooden surface like a curtain.
There stood a man or rather, something like a man. with the precise face of Lex Luthor, but this was a shadow. His eyes glowed, and when he bowed, it was without a word.
The Shadow Lex.
Arthur inclined his head. “Is it ready?”
Shadow Lex gave a silent nod, then turned, pressing his hand against the wall. A panel slid aside with a mechanical hum, revealing an elevator unlike any ordinary lift its interior was matte black metal, laced with glowing circuitry and deep runic lines. Kara raised her brows, intrigued.
“Looks like a villain lair already,” she muttered playfully.
As they stepped in, she glanced downward, her eyes starting to glow faintly. “I can see where it goes.”
Arthur didn’t look at her, he looked at Shadow Lex instead, who stood quietly behind them. “Do something about super vision later,” Arthur said. “Make this place truly hidden. I want it sealed from every spectrum.”
Kara scoffed, the light fading from her eyes. “I wasn’t gonna ruin the surprise. I just like knowing what I’m in for.”
He gave her a sidelong glance. “Excited, are we?”
She didn’t answer. Not verbally. But the faintest grin tugged at the corner of her lips.
The elevator rumbled once and then descended smooth, quiet, and far deeper than she expected. When the doors finally opened, Kara blinked in surprise and stepped out instinctively.
“…Wow.”
They entered a vast underground space that stretched far wider than the estate above. A domed ceiling overhead was embedded with shimmering blue-white panels, simulating stars. The floor was divided into multiple levels: one led toward a massive computer terminal with countless data feeds across maps and energy readings; another led into what looked like a research lab, lined with devices Kara had never seen before some familiar, some not. Mechanical arms hovered silently from the ceiling. There were sealed chambers, containment pods, rows of alloy-lined lockers, and...
“…A freaking arena?” she said, pointing to the far right.
The structure was massive stone and steel reinforced with reinforcement, glowing faintly on its outer pillars. “What even is that?”
Arthur walked a few paces forward, his boots echoing slightly on the polished floor. “A place to test myself, and my soldiers.” he said. “I asked him to make it as strong as possible. Strong enough to withstand even me.”
Kara whistled. “This place is huge. I mean… why go through all this? This is pretty much Bruce’s Batcave but bigger, and I don’t know what to make of it...”
Arthur smirked. “I realized that information is just as important as strength,” he said, turning to face her. “Lex and Owl” he gestured toward Shadow Lex and a quiet, Shadow soldier in the far end of them sitting on a massive computer terminal. “will help me gather that intel. Whether it’s building what I need, or tracking cosmic anomalies, or preparing for multiversal threats… I need more than just my fists.”
Kara looked around slowly, taking it all in the size, the systems, the subtle hum of power. She crossed her arms, impressed. “And you built all this… quietly. Under your house.”
Arthur shrugged. “I didn’t, my shadows did. And I didn’t think anyone would be impressed.”
“Well,” she said, stepping up beside him, brushing her shoulder lightly against his, “I am.”
He gave her a small smile. The kind that lingered just long enough to feel real. “Good.” Then he looked out over the base once more. “Because this is just the beginning.”
Kara took a slow spin, surveying the vast space once more the tech, the terminals, the containment cells, the heavy-duty arena carved into reinforced alloy.
She whistled. “This must’ve cost a fortune.”
Arthur didn’t say a word at first. He just turned his gaze toward her, one brow lifted, arms folding across his chest in that effortlessly smug way of his. The faintest smirk tugged at his mouth.
Kara caught herself and groaned. “Right… stupid question.”
Arthur chuckled. “My family has more than enough resources to provide,” he said with a casual nod. “Old money. Smart investments. A bit of exploitation in the industrial age, probably. I don’t know really, we just have it.”
She raised a brow at that, but he wasn’t finished.
“In fact,” he added, voice light but with that same signature undercurrent of amusement, “after Lex disappeared, my family even made a move to take over LexCorp.”
Kara blinked. “Seriously?”
Arthur tilted his head slightly. “According to my brother, we still hold a few shares here and there. But he ran into a… certain problem.”
She leaned in, curious. “Which is?”
Arthur’s expression flattened slightly, though the smirk didn’t leave entirely. “Wayne.”
Kara couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course.”
“Apparently Bruce had his eyes on LexCorp too,” Arthur continued. “Not for the prestige or the profits but for whatever Lex was working on in secret. You know how he is anything he doesn’t understand or can’t control, he tries to own.”
“Classic Bruce Wayne,” Kara muttered, shaking her head.
“The good news,” Arthur said, gesturing around the base, “is that whatever Lex was working on, I already have it. Shadow Lex here” he nodded toward the silent specter of Luthor watching near the main console “is essentially a living codex of his knowledge. Projects, data, encrypted logs, all of it. Everything he touched, I’ve got.”
Kara stared, impressed despite herself. “Wow. Okay… yeah, that’s...impressive.”
Arthur turned to her, catching her expression. “Girls,” he said, half-laughing, “you’re clearly not interested in any of this, are you?”
Kara’s eyes widened in feigned innocence. “Nope.”
They both broke into laughter, the tension lightening instantly. There was something familiar in the sound playful, genuine. It echoed off the high ceilings.
As the moment settled, Kara’s eyes drifted back to the arena.
“So,” she said, her voice shifting slightly lighter, almost teasing. “Other than me and George… who else knows about this place?”
Arthur turned, walking toward a nearby console, letting his fingers dance across the control panel. “Raven,” he answered. “She’ll be here later. I asked her to lay some wards, make this place magic-deterrent. Keep out the prying eyes, banish magical surveillance, you know basic arcane perimeter work.”
Kara crossed her arms, humming thoughtfully. “So basically… anti-wizard security system? Why not ask John ?”
“More or less, and no I don’t want him here.” he said with a grin.
There was a beat of silence. 'I need to punch something right now' Kara thought to herself.
“You know...suddenly I have an urge to use your arena,” Kara said, her voice airy and laced with a bit of anger. “Can I?”
Arthur turned to look at her, noting the change in her tone. There was that flicker of something in her gaze, a heat just under the surface. He tilted his head.
“Sure,” he said casually. “I was going to test it out anyway, so—”
He didn’t even finish the sentence. With a gust of wind and a blur of blonde and blue, Kara was already at the arena entrance, cape fluttering behind her the heavy doors opened up as soon as it detected her.
Arthur blinked.
‘…Did I say something wrong?’ he thought to himself, raising an eyebrow.
Shadow Lex beside him didn’t reply. Just stood there like an obedient ghost of intellect.
Arthur’s eyes snapped open and then he let out a short breath, glanced once more at the glowing arena, and muttered under his breath
“I think I know what's going on with her...”
