Doctor Fate
Children of Fate
by Libbylawrence
Chapter 1
In his life as a doctor, Kent Nelson had witnessed many medical miracles. As an archaeologist, he had uncovered astonishing secrets. As Dr. Fate, the very secrets of the cosmos had been opened up to him.
Yet, as a man, he still believed the most wonderful sight in the world was his sleeping wife Inza. He gazed down on her with love and awe that she was truly his partner in life. She had the same reddish gold hair of her early youth, when she had been a Columbia University student and he had been a young man.
She stirred and tossed back the heavy covers and both received a shock that made Kent question just how immune to shock he truly had become: Inza was lovely — and very pregnant!
“Kent! What in the world is this? I’m… pregnant! Six months pregnant by a glance! Enormous as a house! And last night I was a size four!” she shrieked.
Kent touched her and said, “Inza! I can vouch for your diagnosis. You must be at least six or seven months along in pregnancy and last night you were not! This is magic of a kind I can only properly investigate as Dr. Fate!”
She stood up in a teddy and slippers as her husband quickly donned the gleaming golden without her. She had dozens or hundreds of thoughts about what could be behind her condition! In Fate’s world she had seen talking birds, demons, and returns from wonderful realms of the mind. Yet, now as she touched her large and transformed body she was torn between terror and hope that perhaps she was going to be a mother after so many long years alone with Kent in the doorless Tower of Fate.
Kent Nelson now became Dr. Fate without merging with her in her delicate condition; he gestured and his glowing amulet bathed the beauty in golden light. “Osiris, tell me what this omen means! Speak of Inza’s altered state!” He listened as if to an unheard voice and then seconds passed in agony of suspense for Inza.
“Tell me! What is it? What is it?” she begged.
He removed the helmet with one swift gesture and took her in his arms. The all too human face of Kent Nelson smiled at her. “You’re pregnant with triplets! The same magic that Nabu used to keep me vital and alive for twenty years locked in a tomb is working within you! Remember, I once sent my very magic into you during a fight with Wotan. Now, in some way, perhaps due to Odin’s boon, you are carrying rapidly maturing lives within that beautiful body of yours!”
They embraced, and Inza smiled tearfully.
Inza had never been able to live a normal life, since so much of her time had been spent alone in the mystical Tower outside Salem. She had also had to share her husband’s very body with the other dimensional being known as Nabu up until a few months ago, and Nabu had been a very demanding master who did not share very willingly or well!
The method by which Nabu, the Lord of Order dominated Kent Nelson was through the gleaming golden helmet which once carried Nabu’s essence, and which enabled Kent to assume the role of Dr. Fate. Once Kent would put on the helmet, his facial features were concealed as was his very humanity often enough. The slow erosion of Kent Nelson and the gradually emerging of Nabu as master had begun to work a painful blow to their relationship decades before.
Kent had finally surrendered the helmet completely and replaced it with an ordinary half-helmet that showed his mouth and emotions like a smile or frown and allowed the human to be Fate, and not Fate controlling the man. Kent had changed immediately after refusing to wear the original helm. He had discovered a new occupation in medicine. Most adults selected a career after years of study or teen years of thought and trial. Kent had never went through any kind of teenaged years. True, that term teen-ager had not existed when Kent was a twelve year old boy in 1920, but the idea remained valid.
Kent had been thrust by Nabu’s magic into the role of mystical defender of all that was holy and good. The magical Nabu had been awakened from a sleep by Kent and his archeologist dad Sven in the East in 1920, and the result had been death for Sven and forced vocation for Kent. True, Kent had been a true hero and champion as Dr. Fate; however, he had only been free to exercise his own preferences after he discarded the helmet. It had actually been lost in a battle. From then on he was less powerful, but he also spent more time as Kent to Inza’s delight. He used his magic to gain mastery of medical skills, and in the span of months he rose to full doctor. Inza had been thrilled and so proud. Yet, even this vocation only held his interest for a few decades. He was drawn back into the archaeological efforts he had witnessed as a child alongside his father Sven. He had never fully reconciled what his career of choice truly was.
Yet, now Nabu was gone, having passed on to the realm of the unliving, and Kent and Inza together wore the mantle of Fate, one being merged from the union of the two, as it had always been intended from the beginning. And Inza felt new hope for their future. He could be a father and they could experience new life together like other young couples. Fate’s magic had kept them as young as they had been back in 1940, so this was not a problem. Yet, three babies! Their births would be soon, for in the hours that passed Inza grew, and indeed that night Kent Nelson delivered three healthy babies. Two boys and a girl. He had never done a better night’s work, and yet as he would see he also had never made a greater error.
Inza had also recovered with a rapidity born of magic. She held them and said, “We should name the girl Celeste after your mother, the first boy should be Sven, and the final boy Henry after my dad.”
Kent had grinned. “I’d like to use Alan as a middle name for Henry. Perhaps, we could name our daughter Isis!”
Inza said, “You better be joking about that last name!”
They hugged and all was blissful in the Tower of Fate.
Chapter 2
The next morning brought a horror to Inza’s face. “Kent! Kent! They are growing! Already they look to be two years old! Don’t let the magic of Fate rob us of the natural development of the babies! I thought you assumed it was only my pregnancy that was unnaturally rapid?”
Kent gasped and rolled out of bed. “I shall save them! Don’t worry! As Doctor Fate I can make things right! I know I can!” He donned the helmet and focused his magic on the three cooing children. Inza held her breath.
As the magical glow hit the infants, a shocking blast of power shook Fate to his knees. The helmet rolled off his head and he lay still and bleeding.
Inza ran over to him and screamed as two of the three infants transformed into young men!
The first young man, Sven, stood tall and handsome, but his features were cruel and his skin tone had altered to a sickly hue of green. He spoke in a refined manner that Inza recalled all too well.
“It worked! I live and my father’s power runs through me!” he exulted.
“Wotan?!!” screamed Inza.
“Aye, woman!” cackled a voice that seemed to come from behind the green youth. “He is my sire, as you were the vessel through which he gave me form. Recall that just as Fate sent his power through you in a long ago duel, so did he draw Wotan’s evil might into his own body that self same eve!”
Next to him stood Henry, yet his features were regal and cold as well. His skin was normal, and his features were like those of a man Inza had seen in some old photo from the JSA’s files.
“Your sire served me well too. I owe him much for allowing me to also gain new life so soon after my demise at the hands of the Halls! Anton Hastor will pay his debt I assure you, my sibling via magic!” he said.
Wotan himself appeared ghost-like. “My heir and my ally!” he spoke to the green-hued young man the Nelsons had named Sven. “Come forth this night. We have devilry to create and worlds to conquer! I name thee Woden — and I bid you come forth now! Fair Inza, you and I share much as of this night, and I thank you for giving so freely of yourself! I spare your mate this night only in payment for services rendered unknowingly!”
As they vanished, Inza held the baby girl who had been somehow spared from their dark magic by Fate’s spell. Kent stirred and she wept over his stunned body in sorrow and abject horror.
It would not have taken the champion of Order long to spring into action after the evil of Wotan had been revealed to him by Inza; however, for once the needs of Kent and Inza Nelson came first. Kent comforted Inza and as they merged once more into the being known as Doctor Fate, he/she secured the Tower itself from future invasion, and also focused their considerable powers upon the stability of the sleeping Celeste.
“It would not do for mine heir to suffer or fall into the carefully laid traps of Wotan!” declared Dr. Fate as he gazed down on the blonde toddler.
The part of Fate that was Inza said inwardly, “What about the boys?”
Kent replied to her, “We shall see about them, my wife.”
Fate turned to look once more at their golden haired daughter and then stepped directly through the walls. The Ring of Fate little serves to track the artful Wotan as it would common felons of old. Yet, by his vert craft, evil Wotan may reveal himself and his torturous purposes anon! thought Dr. Fate.
***
In the manor of Carter and Shiera Hall, the couple lounged in happy domestic languor. Shiera wore a short black teddy and cuddled close to the brawny Carter as he read a dusty book.
“You know, some men would pay attention to their gorgeous wives rather than devour a Mesopotamian history book,” pouted Shiera as she propped herself up on one elbow.
“Hmmmm! Yes, your hair looks divine,” muttered Carter.
She frowned until she saw a sly grin play across his handsome face.
Their romantic interlude was fresh and playful and vital after decades or even eons of being lovers. This romance was one forged in eternity and they never really forgot that fact. As they kissed, the couple suddenly shuddered as one.
“Carter! Did you feel that? It was like dying… again!” she whispered.
Carter gazed intently into space. “He’s back! Hath-Set lives again!”
Shiera said, “How can we tell? He came back before without us realizing it. What makes this time so vivid?”
She swung her bare legs down and slipped off the teddy as she reached for a costume.
Carter had already donned a hawk helmet. “He’s back as himself this time. Don’t know how he did it, but he is closer to his old evil than the last time.”
They donned the ornate costumes that reflected the lives they had lost eons ago at Hath-Set’s hands.
They became Hawkman and Hawkgirl!
***
The merged being called Dr. Fate gestured down at the enchanted Crystal of Nabu that rested upon the table in the Tower of Fate. Hawkman and Hawkgirl sat in front of the magical device.
“If I didn’t know you two weren’t voyeuristic, I’d resent that crystal ball’s being able to show that scene from our bedroom!” snapped Shiera!
Dr. Fate spoke in that cold tone that was neither Inza’s nor Kent’s, “More disturbing than your loss of privacy is the way Wotan’s craft knows no bounds! He used the magicks within us to sire his heir, and this heir is doubly a threat, since our own power is co-mingled within him. If you had not come to us first to inquire about Hastor, we would have gone to your home to seek your help.”
“So little Celeste is safe?” asked Hawkgirl.
“Yes. She is our heir!” declared Dr. Fate. “And the very harpies of old shall never tear her from us!”
“Can you help us find Hastor? We have the old crystal dagger that started it all when Jim Rock sent it to me from one of his digs,” said Hawkman.
Dr. Fate nodded and the dagger floated between the “couples”.
“I see an eye of fire in the sky!” announced Dr. Fate.
“No doubt it is his old Eye of Ra!” said Hawkman.
“Perhaps… perhaps not,” said Dr. Fate.
If the merged being called Dr. Fate could be said to still possess Inza’s feminine intuition, then he shuddered at the sound of his friend’s old mentor James Rock.
“My friend, the dagger speaks of the Eye and the Eye suggested Rock to you. Rock in turn recalls a terrible past adventure to me and I feel it has a connection to this new peril,” said Dr. Fate.
“Do you recall the events of the year of the comet, 1948? You were present, though I was retired to the medical life,” said Dr. Fate.
“You speak of the case in which Blue Lama and the Gentleman Ghost among others tried to gain total power from a ceremony involving the rubies of life and a passing comet. How could that be tied to Rock?” asked Hawkman.
“Though they failed in their goal, they did unleash great mystical forces which, in that short span of time, compelled poor Jim Rock Jr. toward his tragic fate!” announced Dr. Fate.
Chapter 3
“In 1948, that mystical comet attracted a lot of attention, though most folks just thought of it as an ordinary comet. James Rock’s son, Jim Junior, became fascinated with that comet’s odd path and decided that some old hieroglyphs showed its first passage. He tracked down all the data he could on the comet and that 1948 passage inspired him to new heights of research,” said Hawkman.
“A comet could well be a fiery eye in the sky!” said Shiera.
“Bless your imagination! That fits too!” said Hawkman.
“In any event, from 1948 to 1960 Jim Rock pursued his research and finally unearthed the tomb that lay at the tip of the comet’s brightest point of passage,” continued Dr. Fate.
“And you had begun your own dabbling in archaeology about that time. Rex’s company even financed some of your digs,” said Hawkman.
“In truth I was driven someway to find what poor mad Rock discovered before me. He found the resting place of an earthbound Lord of Chaos!” said Fate.
“It was this dire event that drove me to reclaim my old helm,” he said bitterly.
“I thought so! But, hey, didn’t you wear it during the Stalker case of 1945?” asked Shiera.
“No. ‘Twas merely one wrought by the magic of Sargon and the Spectre that allowed me to mimic much of the old power while in proximity to Spectre. After that case it was no more and as you know I never reclaimed the true one until the events of 1960 of which I speak,” said Fate.
“For that matter, none of us really saw the Spectre again after that case for years!” mused Hawkman.
“Fate, pardon my rudeness, but aren’t you worried about the safety of your boys?” asked Shiera.
“Shiera!” groaned Carter.
“In truth, we feel the pain of a mother and a father doubled within our single being, but we also know as if foretold of old that Celeste is to be the heir of Fate, and that leaves us somewhat fatalistic about the boys. They were not truly ours as much as merely artifices wrought from magic stolen from our very bodies,” said Fate.
“That part of me that was Inza felt concern when Kent took up his late father’s career and left medicine for a while. She feared that it would lead him deeper into the arcane mysteries of the ancient past… and she was right!” said Fate.
“I knew about poor Jim Rock Junior, since we waged that war together and I comforted his father afterward; however, I never realized his discovery of the tomb was connected to that comet from twelve years before,” mused Hawkman.
“Look once again upon the scene of that fatal day in 1960, when much was altered forever. See what the crystal reveals and perhaps by reliving the past we may be better able to preserve our present against Wotan’s dark purposes,” said Fate.
Shiera gazed into the crystal and resisted an urge to use the reflective surface as a mirror for her lipstick. She watched a man who resembled gentle old James Rock, Carter’s mentor, except in that a frantic desperation filled his eyes.
Poor Jim looked like his dad. I never saw that, but then I only met him after he became… that monster! she thought.
They saw Jim Rock’s glee as his workers unearthed the tomb that lay at the apex of the comet’s path. “He found much of what you did in 1920, when you were a boy of twelve and your dad Sven led you to Nabu’s chamber,” said Hawkman.
Dr. Fate nodded. “He opened a tomb that held not a benign Lord of Order but an evil Lord of Chaos who possessed him more completely than ever Nabu claimed my earthly form.”
They saw Jim lift down a shroud which defied logic by remaining pristine though buried for eons. He wrapped in over his shoulders and screamed, then searched eagerly for something else.
He found a mask and pressed it to his face. From that moment on Jim Rock Jr. was gone.
“I am Malignon!” he said in an inhuman tone.
“Malignon, Lord of Pain. That was how he styled himself as he laid waste to countless dimensions in order to gratify his perverse desires,” said Dr. Fate. “The moment Jim donned the black mask, I felt it. I, Kent, turned to Inza as she had feared I would someday, and said, ‘I must reclaim the helmet. The true Dr. Fate is needed once more. If you love me, then allow me to do what the world requires!’
“That which was Inza wept, pleaded, and begged on her knees for me not to venture back into Fate’s world. I only understand her pain now that she is part of me. I broke her heart, but the safety of the world entire make it necessary,” said Fate.
“I did offer you all a woman’s love could grant, but you refused to stay. I now sense that that cost you much sorrow and regret, too. Before I only felt you placed your own needs above my feelings,” said that which was Inza within the merged being.
“So, you knew you needed a way to reclaim the helm. How exactly did you do it? It was lost with old Kulak back in 1943,” asked Hawkman.
“That is a tale frought with peril, and I’ll reveal it fully now,” said Dr. Fate.
Chapter 4
Fate continued his tale: “I retained the amulet of Nabu and the ring of Fate, which together shared a link to the long missing helm. I could have retrieved the helm before had I felt it necessary, but the need to be Kent Nelson and not a pawn of Fate drove me to let the helm remain lost in limbo for decades. When foul Kulak was lost he fell through an infinity of realities, some of which were chronal in nature. Thus, he fell through time as well as through space in no pattern I could discern alone. Yet, the amulet allowed me to step within its infinite bounds and walk a path directly to Nabu’s helmet.”
“Wait! I see what you did on the crystal, but what of Kulak? He no longer wore the helmet?” asked Shiera.
“No. He had divested himself of it and had been lost in the multitudinous paths of reality for all time, or so I hoped. In truth, having achieved his purpose, Nabu willed the helm away from mad Kulak’s person. Yet I still had to find the empty helmet, and by walking the way between worlds within Nabu’s amulet, I could do so easily,” said Dr. Fate.
“The temptation was great not to leave that world, for it called to me and all within me that responded so long before to Nabu’s ordered call. I saw worlds within worlds where Inza alone was Fate, where Fate was Nabu himself and other mad realms where entirely new personas governed Fate. But I resisted with a purpose newly honed by the danger facing the earth and the love I had for Inza and she for me.
“I erred though, for I proudly claimed the helm, little realizing that it was a trap! Kulak had been rejected by the helm, yet he was stirred by my entry to the limbo. Thus, when my hand touched the helm, an alarm echoed through the netherverse and he sought to use it to track his way back to our world! I only escaped his foul power by replication of myself and frantic haste.”
Hawkman frowned. “It figures that three-eyed creep would be alert to anyone’s entrance into his prison!”
Dr. Fate said, “If he had freed himself from that endless loop through limbo then I surely would have fallen to his power, for all my energies were needed to combat Malignon the Lord of Pain, whose very form radiated the evil magicks of Chaos!”
“I suppose I entered the story then, when jealous Jim Rock Jr. sought to use his new power to exact venegeance upon his father’s favored pupil!” said Hawkman.
“Indeed! Whilst I reclaimed the helm and lost myself as the part of me that is Inza called it, Malignon rose from that tomb and ventured forth on a bloody path with Carter Hall as the destination!” said Dr. Fate.
The scene in the crystal switched to show Hawkman’s memories of that day in 1960, when Malignon came to Hall Manor seeking a bloody revenge for slights he imagined his father had given him in favor of Carter Hall. Carter had been checking his maps for a proposed trip east while Shiera had been reading a romance novel on the sofa. Andy Williams played gently on their record player. All seemed peaceful, then Malignon burned his way through the walls and walked purposefully down the elegant hallways until he sensed his victim within the lush, book-lined study.
“Carter Hall! You have robbed me of a father’s love, and in one act of honor to this human host I wear, I shall rend your bones asunder!” said the monster called Malignon.
Hawkman, watching this image from 1960 play out in Fate’s orb, said, “I had no clue that thing was Jim Rock Junior at that moment. His mask was just a human face with an expression of agony etched or burnt into the fabric. He wore no helmet like yours, just that black mask with an expression out of a nightmare. His shroud wrapped up and over his head and reflected the light with some type of ebony sheen. He spoke in the same kind of emotionless tone that y — er, that Spectre uses.”
Shiera shuddered. “I recall this moment all too well!”
She saw herself back in 1960 being lifted into the air by her long hair from one gesture by Malignon. “I’ll rid us of the distracting sow and pleasure myself with her entrails anon!” he said.
Shiera had been slammed brutally into the wall and left for dead. “He broke my leg and several ribs with that one move!” she said, shaking her head.
Carter Hall had jumped over his oak desk to reach a mace hanging from the wall. “You leave her alone, you monster!” he shouted as he charged the man once known as Jim Rock Jr.
“I, monster? By your feeble human judgement of morality perhaps I earn that term, but I see myself as one of the higher life forms, and your ilk are but fodder for my amusement!” said Malignon.
The mace shattered into pieces against Malignon’s face and he did not betray any pain. Rather, a look of gentle amusement played across his red eyes. “Come, you can do better than this, man of many lives! Perhaps if I sport with the woman again!” he said.
Carter had been furious and frustrated by his lack of success with the creature. He tried a new tactic. “Who are you?” he asked.
“I am Malignon, Lord of Pain. This realm is my toy and my brethren in Chaos laugh at your wounds!” he said as he slapped Carter Hall into the desk.
“Imprison!” he said, and the wood molded itself around the angry hero.
“I’ll leave you here, for new amusements beckon to me. I must duel with the soldier of Order and he is coming from afar! I sense his sudden return to this realm! Let it suffice to you to know that this hatred is the fire that consumes Jim Rock Jr. — son of your esteemed mentor,” he said.
Carter watched him fly off and sighed in relief. He could still force himself free in time with the leverage of the remains of the mace. He also heard Shiera groan, and gave a quick thanks that she still lived.
“I knew he meant Dr. Fate when he said Order, and I gained new hope, since I figured with Kent by my side I could yet defeat the monster and restore Jim,” explained Hawkman.
In 1960, Dr. Fate had regained his helmet and wore it once more. He boldly flew toward his Salem Tower to fight Malignon, and if the man within the gleaming helmet had any doubts, he did not show them in any manner.
Before he reached the Tower, some of his allies found themselves dealing with the consquences of the newly awakened Chaos lord.
***
“Great Scott! The subways are being taken over by massive rats!” mused Superman in Metropolis as he flew out of the Daily Star building at super speed.
The giant rats were an afterthought of Malignon’s entry into our world. He did not even directly create them. His very corrupt form merely brought them into being with no intended purpose.
Superman knew they were magical and thus even he could be harmed by them. He kept his distance then and merely flew around them at top speed until a huge whirlwind was formed and swept them skyward and in his wake up and into airless space!
They were magical constructs, not altered rats, so I feel no qualms about destroying them like this! he mused as he returned to earth.
***
In Gotham City, Batman wished he could find more help in stopping the plague of insects that swarmed over his city.
Robin the former Boy Wonder and the pretty Bat-Girl, niece of Batwoman, aided the Caped Crusader as he instructed them in how to subdue the swarm with a spray he had whipped up in his cave lab.
“The cold slows them down enough that we can rid the streets of them before they do too much damage, although at the rate they are multiplying we won’t be doing anything else for hours!” Batman said.
Bat-Girl gazed at Robin longingly and put on a brave face.
***
In Star City, Green Arrow II and Speedy II fired bolts of knock out gas into the madmen that rampaged through the city at random.
“Gosh, GA! These folks were as normal as us seconds ago. I even know Larry Bly over there from the college. What came over them?” asked Rob Harper.
His mentor nodded. “Some magic or worse. We can subdue them and we better hope someone else steps up to get to the heart of the problem like some of the seldom seen JSAers!”
***
Dr. Fate flew downward in 1960′s Salem, where he faced Malignon for the first time. The servant of Order faced the servant of Chaos and each studied the other silently.
To divest him of the raiment should be enough! mused Dr. Fate as he spoke. “Pawn of Chaos, you trod dangerously close to the domain of Fate! Many an unwelcome intruder had learned to rue such rashness!”
Malignon’s black mask of pain betrayed no emotion, but he smiled behind that awful visage. “Truly? You mistake me for one of your mortal foils who cower at the mere image of one who never was a child! See, I may prate your favored lines with as much ease as you do, parrot of Order!” He gestured, and the shiny ebony shroud parted to reveal a swarm of locust that blackened the sky.
Dr. Fate muttered an incantation: “Let the light of Ra melt these swarming mites back into the nothingness that gave birth to them!”
As the swarm parted at the blinding light blast, Malignon closed in on his foe. “I expected your paltry Egyptian wards, and I bring forth one of mine own devising!”
The touch of Malignon sent Fate into a sickening spasm until he suddenly gripped the black hand and twisted back.
“You wage war upon a hardy foe, a valiant warrior who yields to no one, even one born of the pain and hatred your masters routinely spew forth!” he said, and wrenched the arm backward with relentless force.
Malignon said, “Careful, mage, or you’ll feel my disease!” The plague-like touch of Malignon began to work its spell upon Fate’s gloves, and they melted into vile sores which he burned clean in haste! Malignon struck him suddenly with a simple right hook and choked him desperately.
“Look upon the folly your actions have brought down upon you!” declared Dr. Fate as his amulet opened to blaze forth a white light of truth and self-realization.
Malignon screamed and wrapped his own shroud over Fate’s head. “See what rots within your own mortal host and your own selfish, jealous being, Nabu!”
They both fell, and neither moved as Hawkman swooped down with James Rock in his arms. “James, your son is in that black shroud. As you can see, he reacts as if he was someone else entirely. But I hoped a father’s love could reach the man within!” he said.
James nodded. “I can only pray you are correct. I owe the boy much in the way of reparation for past slights and neglect.”
Hawkman knew the life of an archaeologist was one of travel and study, and hoped he would never neglect his own children; he and Inza hoped to have one in two or three years.
He dropped down over the fallen Dr. Fate. “Doc! Can you hear me?” he cried.
James Rock bent over Malignon. “Jimmy, it’s father! Take off that mask, son!”
Black flames gutted the ground between the fallen men as Malignon rose again.
Within seconds, Dr. Fate had risen as well. He gripped Hawkman’s hand as he lifted his friend to his feet. “My thanks! With an ally of your caliber, I anticipate only triumph!” vowed Dr. Fate.
James Rock gazed in horror at his son. “Don’t you know me, boy? It’s your father!” he urged.
Malignon said, “I recognize you as a source for much pain within this frail host, and while I thrive on such milk, he does not. Thus, I end his suffering with your final breath!”
He waved and tendrils of razor sharpness formed to ensnare James Rock.
Hawkman launched himself forward. He fired crossbow bolts into the shadowy form and said, “Leave him alone, you soulless fiend!”
Malignon released his father and said, “You! I welcome a chance to end our duel now. I hate you as much as I do the child of Order!”
Hawkman slammed aside the tendrils as they snaked toward his fleet form. “You can’t hurt me if you can’t catch me! You’re second rate, Jimbo! You never could measure up to me!” He thought that he could taunt the human within the Chaos demon and thus outwit both. He was right!
Malignon screamed in anger and said, “I shall bring the joy of pain to your very soul! You, who robbed me of a father’s love! He always lavished praise on the great Carter Hall, but never on his own flesh!” He blazed forth in black fire even as Hawkman crashed directly into him with a flying tackle.
As they fell, Dr. Fate spoke, “I implore you, Nabu, to lift the veil from off young Rock’s eyes and let him see his father’s heart clearly!”
James Rock jumped up and saw Hawkman and Malignon vanish in fire. He shoved through the smoke to rush to his son. “Son! Oh, Jim, what have you done?” he pleaded as he cradled the illuminated form of his child.
Fate’s magic blazed into the man, and he saw his father’s love was still strongest for himself as the man rushed to his aide and not Carter Hall’s.
He gasped as his father clutched his blackened hand. “I’m so sorry! Consumed by jealousy. Forgive me!” begged Jim Rock Jr. until even Fate’s power blinked away and he sank beneath the pressure of the spell of self-realization.
Malignon spoke again in command of Jim Rock. He shoved the older man aside and watched Hawkman grit his teeth to rise anew. “I am myself once more! Human love has no hold pon me!’ he roared. He prepared to blaze forth upon Professor Rock even as Hawkman defiantly thurst himself between them.
Then as Dr. Fate staggered forward, weary from the effort of trying vainly to separate host from Chaos lord, Jim spoke: “Dad! I can only save you all… make up for this… by taking away his host!” He plunged a fallen cross bow bolt into his heart and died.
The mask and shroud fell away and the madness left his eyes.
“Noooo!” screamed the now helpless spirit within the raiment of Malignon.
“Only the host could end his own life, and thus removed Malignon from this plane!” mused Fate sadly.
Hawkman held James Rock’s arm and said, “He gave his life for you. He died a hero.”
Thus ended the story of Malignon and the day Kent Nelson reclaimed his helm.
Chapter 5
Today, Dr. Fate (a merged Kent and Inza) looked down on the images in the crystal and said, “Without this helm I could never have parted Malignon from young Jim long enough for the man to remove Malignon’s only host by ending his life.”
Hawkman and Hawkgirl watched sadly. “I recall it all. Poor Jim Sr. never really got over it, though he lost himself in his work.”
Hawkgirl said, “So the case of Malignon was started by the comets that doomed Jim, and the comets showed up as the Eye of Ra that we saw in the crystal when we searched for Wotan, Woden, and Hastor! What does that mean?”
Dr. Fate spoke, “I fear we know the answer, for I sense mystical distrubances across our world and on the moon! The locales are those that house the scattered rubies that old foes tried to use to capture the comet’s power so long ago!”
“They must hope to do so themselves, yet I would have believed old Hastor and Wotan too to both already be immortal! Each in his own way,” said Hawkman.
“I sense more lies behind this. What we have seen tells but the surface of the peril we face! Assemble our allies!” ordered Fate.
***
Fred and Osoro rushed to Worla’s home in the heart of New Feithera. They were a loving couple with a rare bond that kept them together in a society in which nearly all others viewed their inter-species relationship as being odd and inappropriate.
“Fred, this man is all too powerful! He threatens our hidden home with impunity!” she said.
Fred nodded. “We need Norda’s team or better still, the Hawkman! He obviously could stop him better than us! Dozens of the Feitherans have been murdered by his terrible devices!”
Blue fire blazed through the streets as they ran, darting to safety as electrical death rained down from above!
Worla ushered them inside. The old bird man was worried with good reason. “I have bought our lives with the ruby! He demanded it on threat of destroying everyone here! I could do no less and be true to my flock brethren!” he said.
The smirking Anton Hastor lounged in the room. “True! My avian friend speaks with accuracy. In the event that he had failed to turn over this ruby… and other wonders of Feitheran science to me, I would have used my dynamo to fry every bird here. I harbor a hatred for all who resemble old Horus, and you, my quaint feathered foes fit that description. Now, as for Hawkman, I have plans for him that involve your community indirectly, since I plan to use this ruby to achieve something long in the planning.”
Fred stepped forward and reeled to the floor in vertigo.
“Ah, yes! Globlass! One has to love the modifications I made to it. It now serves as my personal protective field. One wrong step and vertigo takes you down for good!” he laughed.
The Feitherans comforted Fred as Hastor walked over to the ape who stood at his service. “Give this to your master, Wotan, and tell him that Anton Hastor just paid his debt,” he smiled.
The ape grunted and vanished in smoke and brimstone.
***
Power Girl smiled as she grunted beneath a massive device that looked like a giant child’s tinker toy set. She shoved against heavy rollers and said, “See? I actually have to work out to keep this figure. You are not the only one with a home gym, though mine is free from those little bat stickers Bruce slapped on everything he owned.”
Red Robin watched in admiration as Kara strutted her stuff with Superman’s Kryptonian gym set in his hidden mountain Fortress.
“You know, this really brings back memories. When I was a kid, Bruce and I spent a lot of time here with Clark. His Fortress almost has as many cool toys as the Batcave,” he said with a grin.
Kara toweled off and said, “Almost? Nothing ever tops anything Bat-related to you does it? I don’t blame you. Bruce Wayne was a remarkable man.”
Dick held her close and said, “He was. So is your cousin for that matter. Clark was always there for me after Bruce died. Funny, though, this is the first time I’ve been back here to his Fortress since long before Bruce died.”
Kara sat on his lap and said, “As often as we hang around your place, it’s nice for this woman to get to play hostess for a change. You know, this really was my home for a long time. When I first landed here, Clark considered bringing me up at the apartment he shared with Lois as their ‘Cousin Karen’ or something, but I had lived a life via the symbioship’s fake virtual world and did not want to be anyone’s ‘kid relation’ after holding a job as an adult in that artifical world of dreams. So he set me up with a wing of my own here in the Fortress. See for yourself.” She led him over to a private area that was new to him.
“He did great work! I see he carved out half the mountain to make this place for you! What, no wet nylons hanging off an anti-gravity bar?” he teased.
She shoved him and said, “Very funny. I suppose you expected to find pink pillows and a canopy bed like that of the Earth One Supergirl’s old home?”
Dick shook his head. “No! Nothing so girly for the Woman of Steel! Although I do see a stuffed animal! Is this a Kryptonian beast?”
She snatched it away and said, “Yes! OK, so I have a soft side too. Make a federal case out of it!”
He drew her close, they kissed, and then green light bathed the room. “G.L.! Your romantic timing is lousy for a guy with newborn triplets!” she snapped.
Wotan appeared and said, “I am not G.L., and it is not my romantic timing that is in question, eh?”
Power Girl slammed into the green faced wizard and gasped as she cradled Red Robin’s stunned form in her arms.
“Misdirection, Miss!” sneered Wotan. He held a red gem in his hand. “Be sure to give my undying hatred to your cousin, won’t you? So sorry to drop by and run, but I’m expecting a guest to this dimension, and you know how it is when company’s coming! So much to do!”
His laughter echoed as Power Girl caressed the fallen Red Robin. “That rat! He used an illusion to make me think he was where you were standing! I could have killed you!” she wept.
Red Robin wiped away her tears and slowly stood up.
“Easy, Kara! I’m sore, but living! Now we’d better find out what he took from Clark!”
***
Princess Diana of Paradise Island and Georgetown was finally showing her pregnancy. She had conceded to the change by wearing a thigh split skirt in place of her normal shorts, and now slipped on flat, laced sandals in place of her heeled boots.
Mala, her blonde best friend from youth, sat nearby there on Sanctuary Isle. “You truly do have that glow! May Hera bless your child!”
Diana knew Mala had spent plenty of time with the children raised on Transformation Island’s neighboring Sanctuary Isle, in between her duties as mistress of the prison reform program. Male and female war refugees and prisoner’s kids like Gerta Von Gunther had been brought there for decades to the joy of the childless Amazons, and Mala loved children. Diana had named her own daughter Hippolyta Mala Trevor after the demure blonde.
“I thank you! Needless to say Steve and I pray for a healthy child, although I am intrigued by the Oracle’s that claim we shall give birth to a son!” she replied.
“A young Perseus!” smiled Mala.
“Well, perhaps a Steve Jr.,” replied Diana with a hug.
They turned as a hairy brute landed on the isle.
“Aphrodite’s Girdle! What is that beast?” cried Mala.
“I fear it is a magical monster from how easily and intelligently it reacts to us. Stand behind me!” said Diana.
The ape grinned and charged Wonder Woman, who stood firm for seconds and then spun to send the monster hurling into the waters.
Mala’s scream brought Diana about face to see the blonde being carried off by three such monsterous apes. One lay bloody from Mala’s own defense.
Wonder Woman leapt across the sky to drop down in front of them. She hurled her tiara and watched it slice one Ape’s thick paw.
He dropped Mala, who rolled to trip a second ape. Diana kicked the third three swift times and it dropped. The third was smashed to earth by Lyta, Diana’s pregnant daughter.
“Mother! What are these creatures? They appeared from thin air and robbed the treasure house of a red gem!” she said, panting for air.
Diana frowned. “The rubies of life! That means these apes are indeed as magical as I feared. They vanish into smoke, having done their job of keeping me busy! I must call the JSA!”
Chapter 6
The merged being called Dr. Fate addressed the gathered JSA. Many members were not present due to various conflicts. He saw the Hawks, Green Lantern, the Flash, Huntress, Power Girl, Superman, Red Robin, and Sandman.
“What happened to the Princess Diana?” he asked.
“She gave her report on the apes and the missing ruby, then rushed to Doc Mid-Nite’s side when she heard about Amanda. She and Doc are close, and she had an idea about the poor little girl. Rex is with him, too,” said Sandman.
“I’m worried that Johnny’s in trouble. No one’s heard from him since he left on his honeymoon. Doc came back from his a while ago and they shared a wedding. Maybe when things settle down I should go look for him,” said Superman.
“Starman? What of him?” asked Dr. Fate.
“Who knows? He and Spectre have been absent from regular cases a lot lately,” said Red Robin.
“Al’s takin’ care of some personal business too,” said Wildcat.
“The situation is grave, indeed!” said Green Lantern. “I just returned from the moon, and the ruby I placed there in 1948 is gone too. I assume Wotan and the rest want to copy that ceremony we stopped back in 1948 when Shade and Blue Lama pulled their stunt with a fake Sargon!” he said.
Power Girl slammed her fist into her other hand. “I’m more than a little sick of this idle chatter. Let’s do something! All this power and all you do is gab like old ladies at a sewing circle.”
Red Robin looked at her, as did Huntress.
“Easy, Kara, it was my home of sorts as well as yours that was violated. We’ll get him,” said Superman.
“When? When he shows up to collect his SSI check?” she muttered.
Shiera frowned as she smoothed down her auburn curls. “The fact that Hastor is back worries me more than the rubies or Wotan and his new heir. Hastor… killed me once! I can’t forget that awful face and laugh of his!”
Carter held her close and said, “The news we just picked up on that scanner shows just what he’s been up to. A new Eye of Ra is overhead! In fact, it is closing in on us fast!” shouted the Winged Wonder.
They rushed to the roof to see a huge red eye overhead. It blazed with a magical red glow and gazed balefully down like a vengeful child looking down on his toys!
“Great Guns! That thing looks like a job for Superman!” cried the Man of Steel seconds after Kara flew upward at top speed.
Dr. Fate hesitated as the strange glow registered on his/her mystic senses. “By Osiris! They fuel the Eye with the stolen rubies of life!” intoned the mystic.
Hawkman and Hawkgirl flew rapidly after the Kryptonians. “That looks different from the last Eye of Ra in some way, but we know Hastor used the last one and this is like the vision we saw in Fate’s crystal that all tied back to the rubies, the comet and Malignon!” said Carter as he gripped his mace tighter.
The Eye blazed fire that sent Power Girl crashing directly into Superman as he met her falling form. “Kara, honey, are you hurt?” he asked as he carried her stunned form to the roof.
“Just my pride! That thing is pure magic!” she said ruefully.
“Of course it is! It is powered by the rubies from ’48!” said Flash as he shoved passersby to safety from the blazing Eye above.
The Huntress, Red Robin and the Sandman followed her example and kept the crowds back, including Andrew Vinson.
“Get back, pal! That Eye is not the CBS one and your get worse than bad ratings if you get within its range!” said Red Robin.
“Power Girl! It’s Andrew! What’s going on?” cried the bearded man as Red Robin frowned in irritation.
Green Lantern conferred with Dr. Fate.
The Hawks never reached the Eye, for they vanished in a red nimbus of light that colored their bodies like a lurid X-ray!
“Great Scott! What did that thing do to them?” asked Sandman.
“It must have teleported them within or away from here. Hastor hates them more than all of us!”
said Superman.
Dr. Fate and Green Lantern used their magicks to shepherd the others back to the roof at once.
“We must replan our attack! We face a peril worse than any before in recent memory!” said Dr. Fate.
“Why, you licked that bloodshot Eye of Ra’s before, didn’t ya?” said Wildcat.
“We erred due to Hastor’s involvement before. That red eye above us… so full of magic power and hatred… is not the Eye of Ra. It is someone else associated with those gemstones from old: We see before us the third eye of mad Kulak himself as he enters our realm!” cried Dr. Fate!
The baleful red eye altered slowly as a giant blue hued man shimmered into the air from some other realm. He became human sized and stood with Wotan and the grinning heir — Woden!
“I have returned and I shall make this world a charnel house!” he vowed.
Dr. Fate turned to his allies. “Kulak also had a tie to the rubies via the Ring of Life he once stole from the Spectre. He retained a link to it. They used them to bring him here — free at last from his heedless journey through worlds! Now I fear their plan for Kulak loves naught more than death itself!”
Green Lantern replied, “That grinning jackal is your son?”
Dr. Fate spoke in Inza’s tones. “I gave birth to one girl and they used their old magical link to us to gain entry and new forms for this life! I cannot consider him my child… and yet I feel a woman’s yearning for her firstborn!”
Woden laughed. “That was the idea! I am a child of united Order and Chaos magic, and thus I use both!”
Wotan, Kulak and Woden began to join hands to work some arcane spell. As they chanted, a humanoid form took shape! No regular features remained in place as the being shifted genders, ages, and races at blinding speed.
“Great Scott! I saw Joannie in that thing!” gasped Flash.
Superman frowned, “You know, I thought I saw Perry White, a former Daily Star reporter!”
Power Girl shuddered. “I saw… mother!”
“It is all and more, for it embodies the life force or will to live of all on earth… co-mingled through dark Kulak’s spell with those who have departed from eons ago!” muttered Dr. Fate in what appeared to be rare shock!
“How can it be? You mean they have embodied or personified all earthly life and have linked it to those long dead? For what purpose?” gasped Red Robin.
“I fear that shall become too clear!” said Dr. Fate.
“They plan to destroy it and in one stroke rid Earth of all life while filling Kulak’s unliving legions with innumerable pawns at his command!” he continued.
“Not if the JSA has anything to say about it!” vowed the Flash determinedly.
Chapter 7
Meanwhile, Hawkman and Hawkgirl found themselves in New Feithera facing the smirking Hastor once again!
“I brought you here for our final duel! One last gallant effort on your part and one last deadly victory for me! When we finish here, one of us shall be dead… only, thanks to my allies, this death will be a lasting one with no possible reincarnation for the loser!” he said.
Carter Hall produced the crystalline knife that had started it all so long ago.
“I wager your dark master Set would love a world of lifeless beings… that is your general idea, is it not?” he said.
“True! I only posed as an Anubis priest while the shadows grew, as did my power until your cursed rebellion so long ago!” he said. He placed his own hand on the hilt, and though they stood immobile, their astral forms waged war silently above as they had in the past.
Shiera started to will herself into the fray when Worla waved her over. “What is it? Hawkman needs me!” she cried.
The wise old bird-man said, “Nevertheless, heed me, pretty nestling, and you shall find victory!”
Carter struggled with Hastor as their astral forms locked hands and wrestled with desperation etched upon the ghostly visages.
“This time I win!” sneered Hastor.
“I will always find a way to beat you! It is our destiny!” said Hawkman.
Shiera and Worla whispered and she took a palm sized device. She pressed a button and a glowing field materialized around Hastor’s body.
“It’s the globlass field you boasted of to Worla earlier! He says it won’t drop even for your own command, now that you’ve left your body! If you fail to return to it soon, you’ll dissipate!” she smiled.
Hastor gasped and saw his situation worsen as Hawkman’s brawny might and indomitable spirit made manifest in the astral form ensured his victory! Hastor pleaded, “Release the field! I’ll be trapped as a ghost forever between the realms if you do not yield!”
Hawkman remained firm and watched the evil priest shatter into misty vapor with a faint scream. “The duel was your choice, and your protective field stolen from Worla’s people spelled your own doom,” he said grimly as Shiera embraced him.
“And you and Worla won it for me! You deserve full membership, not reserve status in the JSA! That has been long overdue!” he said.
Shiera smiled and agreed silently.
***
As Wotan, Woden, and Kulak assailed the humanoid figure with dark magicks, the JSA raced to attack the malevolent trio. They met with strong opposition until Dr. Fate took a drastic step unheard of during his time as Nabu’s minion!
He removed the helmet and separated into Kent and Inza! Then he donned it again to become Fate solely as Kent. He could still do this if needed, but now it felt oddly incomplete! He did not care for the sensation at all!
Inza stepped forward and said, “Woden, you are my son in a manner of speaking, and if the lawful magic within you means anything, you’ll stop this mad act!”
Woden frowned. “The law within me is merely there to serve my sire. I cannot feel anything else for you but contempt!”
Wotan said, “Well said! Slay the wench!”
Woden stepped forward as Inza placed her arms around his neck. “I won’t believe any child that came even partly from the love and Kent and I share could harm me!” she said firmly.
Kent (as Dr. Fate) saw the same spirit and fire within her that had first mesmerized him long ago. He felt little risk, since he and she had formed this plan while merged as one.
Woden hesitated and Dr. Fate struck! Blazing energy flamed into the young man as Inza and Kent merged anew… nearly atop the heir!
“As you are a conduit to law and our power for Wotan, so may you serve as a conduit to his own foul wizardry for us!” vowed Dr. Fate.
The mystical ankh glowed over the trio and slowly irradiated the humanoid, who embodied all life force!
Green Lantern took his cue and led Superman and Power Girl forward in an assault on Wotan and Kulak. A green fire blazed across the three-eyed wizard and he flinched as the magical light blinded him while failing to burn him!
The two Kryptonians slammed into Wotan with all their might and his concentration failed as he shielded his body.
“What’s wrong, you diabolical Kermit? Can’t you take a physical attack?” sneered Power Girl.
Superman slugged the wizard even as he was shoved back by a magical shield.
“I shall never place myself in danger from your brutal tactics! I shall merely summon aid from Kulak’s newly opened realm to the dead! Come forth Malignon!” said Wotan.
Woden shuddered as he found himself trapped in a weird union with those who comprised Fate. He was still linked to Wotan and Kulak, but now found them growing dimmer as Fate’s power grew brighter!
“Is this what you wanted?” asked Inza as she received her own answer.
“Yes! We now flood Kulak’s realm with life energy through the humanoid embodiment of all life. Kulak hoped to slay all by this creation and now we use it against him, thanks to the bond you forged with Woden during his birth!”
Kulak shuddered and vanished from sight as his precious realm of the unliving was suddenly filled with living energy via the will of Fate and the humanoid gateway! Rather than lose all he had, the wizard plunged back to his own realm and shut off the link to the fading humanoid!
Wotan watched in dismay as not Malignon but a healed and youthful Jim Rock Jr. emerged through the pale humanoid gateway!
“This stripling wears not the raiment of Chaos and is of no use to me!” he cursed and then screamed as he was sucked within the opening to Kulak’s realm!
Dr. Fate said, “Do we risk this link for a higher purpose while it lasts? Do we bring back Batman, Mr. Terrific, and Crimson Avenger and all our fallen allies?”
The Flash said, “Could you really do that? Give Terry a second chance?”
Wildcat said desperately, “Do it! Do it and let the consequences fall where they may!”
The Huntress and Red Robin exchanged glances. “A chance to bring back Batman! Can it be?” asked Red Robin. The Huntress held him as she prayed silently.
Then the doorway closed with a soft hiss, and Dr. Fate fell to his knees.
“It is too late! All could be save was Jim Rock! I consider that a just return for my failures to do more in 1960!” he said.
The others regretted the loss of their old friends, and Fate considered letting this memory fade from the minds of all for their own peace of mind. Still, this was more the way of Nabu than of the Nelsons, so they let all feel what emotions came to them and made them human.
“What of Woden?” asked Green Lantern.
Dr. Fate spoke softly. “He vanished. I know not where to or under what conditions. He may be with the living or dead, but I hope he is at peace.”
Hawkman and Hawkgirl arrived at that instant.
“Hastor is in a coma at New Feithera! Worla beat him by devising a counter weapon for the one Hastor forced him to surrender. It proved his undoing. There can be no reincarnation while his body remains in a coma!” he said.
Conclusion
Back at JSA Headquarters they took stock of the case.
“So the very link to the Ring of Life that allowed Kulak to tap into the rubies and come here also let you flood the realm of death with living energy of your own?” asked Red Robin.
“Indeed, young Robin! That proved our victory card and even freed Jim Rock Jr.,” said Fate.
“His second chance is rightly deserved. He says he recalls nothing after stabbing himself back in 1960,” said Hawkgirl.
“So, is baby Celeste OK?” said the Flash.
“Yes! She is and Alan has agreed to be her godfather!” announced Dr. Fate.
“Wow! Pregnancy and birth all in a few days! That’s some metabolism you got there!” smiled Power Girl.
“Fellow members, I ask we formally make Shiera a member in full… not just a reservist or sub, but a true full time member at last! She has earned it, not just in this case but in dozens over the years!” said Hawkman.
They voted unanimously, and Shiera smiled happily.
“Thanks all! Don’t ask me to be your secretary, either! I’m a bad speller!” she joked.
“Plus, this ex-debutante doesn’t want to break a nail!” joked the Flash as she shot him a mock look of anger.
“So what happened to the rubies?” asked Kara.
Red Robin said, “Nothing. They were found back at the fight scene and Fate says they are drained empty of all magical power.”
“Thank goodness! Those stones caused us trouble from the very day we first saw them!” mused Green Lantern.
***
In a realm of Limbo a young man sat alone. He was Woden, and he felt very alone indeed.
Rejected by Chaos and by Order, where does that leave me? A warrior without a cause… must surely live an empty life, he thought. Where did that leave him?
