Here we go with chapter 4. Please read and review, and, as before, I don't own, you know.

Klarion and Greta: On the Darkside: Chapter 4: Harpoon

"Any idea who this is?" Greta asked Batgirl.

"None. And no ID. He was probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"So." Klarion leaned over the body. "It's safe to assume that whoever killed this man also took Jason Blood?"

"They set up a booby trap with his corpse. Oh, sorry, Secret," Batgirl apologized.

"It's alright, ma'am. I, I've had to harden myself to some uncomfortable truths lately," said Secret. She looked grim. "I imagine this isn't the worst we'll encounter."

"Well, I can't endanger you two. I'll have to alert the authorities. Even though," she said, as Klarion began to speak, "it may do no good. I know, and I believe you, Klarion, but this isn't the sort of thing one just leaves lying around."

Klarion looked at the body. "Steph—I mean, Batgirl. I take it you would like to know who killed this man?"

"Well, yeah. And that's the thing. I have to do a full forensic sweep, and I need to get busy before the police arrive and contaminate the crime scene."

"Batgirl—Stephanie, you do realize our biggest clue is right in front of us, don't you?"

"What, the body? Yes. That's what I meant. Even well-meaning, sometimes the police can overlook or smudge evidence…"

"But you have access to one resource that even the police, with their best computers, cannot equal."

Batgirl raised an eyebrow at him. "You, you mean? Your magic can help with this?"

"Have you ever heard of necromancy?"

…..

"Well," Jason Blood sighed, "at least you're honest about it. That's positively refreshing."

The Thanagarian smiled grimly. "I see no reason to dissemble. And such intrigue always struck me as cowardly anyway. True warriors should fight. One stands, one falls. It's simply natural order. Anything else is needless complication."

"Yet I live, albeit in chains. So I gather from that you've a use for me. Or perhaps I should say, for him."

"Indeed. Your demonic other half." The Thanagarian sat down on a low stool and looked at him, and for a moment, it was as if they were just two men, who'd perhaps met on the street, simply speaking to one another. "I….have occasionally wondered….how you manage it. How you contain it. On my planet, we know something of demons. I cannot imagine being bound to one, soul-to-soul, as you have been, for, I understand, centuries. It makes me wish….we were not enemies."

Jason Blood shrugged. The thought of death didn't bother him as much as it once had. "There is a saying: 'You get used to it.' Actually, you don't. So, frankly, the concept of dying doesn't unduly trouble me. But I have to admit to some curiosity regarding why you need him."

The Thanagarian hesitated. Then, "You may as well know. You have been researching, in your own way, into the properties of nth metal?"

"Yes."

"You probably hoped you'd find some way of negating the magic that binds you to your demon."

"Yes, that much is true." Blood saw no reason to conceal that obvious truth.

"Nth metal has the property of negating magic, true. But…it does so by tapping into another source of energy, which I suppose you could call antimagic, or antiforce. Understand, these are the terms as best as I can translate them for you."

"I understand. Please continue." Jason was genuinely fascinated.

"By tapping into this antimagic, nth metal has the potential to become the most dangerous substance in the universe. Or at least, the most dangerous substance any of us are likely to encounter, if the Fates are kind."

Jason Blood raised an eyebrow. "Even worse than, say, antimatter?"

"Much worse. Your world, your science, doesn't really comprehend what you call magic or its place in the grand scheme. You see, magic is a fundamental force, something that binds all reality together."

"Like the Force, in Star Wars?"

The Thanagarian shook his head. "I'm unfamiliar with that concept. But think of it this way: magic is a positive, energetic influence throughout the cosmos. The energy of life."

"Okay…"

"Nth metal has the capability, under some circumstances fortunately far too strenuous to duplicate often, of becoming something…..else. Something….horrible."

"How horrible?"

"Necronium."

….

To be continued…