Part 8: The Catalyst

1.

Logan Animal Sanctuary, Quarc

December 24, 09:37 UTC

Too warm. That's what it felt like to two of the three team members who landed in the wide open land of a great animal sanctuary. Herds of wilder beasts ran freely among the rocky soil, grazing every so often as birds took flight from finger-like trees. Dust blew over the dry earth with mini cyclones appearing every now and then as a long mountain range seemed to stand guard over the and some miles away. An old house stood in the middle of the protected land with a barn, only a few years old, standing nearby, which housed medical equipment for any animal emergency as well as a few human ones. Where once those were the only two structures, surrounded by barbwire fencing on all sides, several new buildings now stood, each for a different purpose.

Between the barn and house stood a single story storage unit designed for housing vehicles to traverse the area. Four wheelers, tractors, dirt bikes, pickup trucks, dune buggies, and multi terrain vehicles waited for use at any given moment. What looked like a general store between the entrance to the property and the house was actually an information center for any vacationers visiting the area with a large sign reading 'Marie Logan Memorial Animal Sanctuary' above it and a large bronze plaque detailing how the land came to be as well as tell about the life of its former owner. Truly, the place never looked better; a fact Garfield noticed every year he returned for a Christmas visit.

Keeping a low profile, Garfield, M'gann, and Conner landed the bioship several miles from the sanctuary, as the locals really didn't need to know about their interstellar mode of transportation or what they did for a living. As such, they brought along a truck of their own, one of the many Bruce Wayne supplied should the young shape shifter want to visit his former home. He was also responsible for a great deal of financial support to get the memorial going.

It was less than a ten minute drive for the three to reach the sanctuary entrance gate. Normally, the barrier separating the rest of Quarc and the protected area would be open to the public, but since it was nearing Christmas, the area was locked down with only minimal staff working the land. Entrance was of no concern as Garfield was given the code to open the large iron gate. A two to three minute drive later, and they reached the house the fourteen year old once resided in.

"Do you want to stop here?" M'gann, now in her Megan appearance asked Garfield who looked out the window as Conner slowed the truck to a crawl in front of the house.

"No, I just want to see mom right now, if you don't mind." Donning his charm necklace, the usual green skinned teen boy now passed for any other person he would come across. "I really want to get her these flowers as soon as possible."

"We don't mind, Gar. Whatever you want to do is fine by us."

Looking out the passenger window, Garfield swept his gaze over the endless land until a tall, thickly foliated tree came into view. The group could see a headstone as they came closer, marking the grave of Marie Logan with a rock bench situated near the marker. Pulling to a stop several yards from Marie's resting place, the group of three exited the vehicle. Garfield got out first, holding a bundle of flowers in is hands with Megan right behind him as Conner came around from the other side.

"Um, guys? Can I have a few minutes alone first?" Garfield asked as he stopped a few feet from the grave.

"Of course," Megan told him with a smile. "We'll be over here by the truck."

As Garfield made his way to where his mother rested, Conner took the time to check his phone for any messages. Aside from a text from Marvin being excited about Wendy spending Christmas with him, there really wasn't anything else.

"Conner," Megan said as she leaned against the truck beside him. "Thank you for coming. It really means a lot to him."

"You know I do it every year. Still don't understand why he talks to a grave. From what I've learned, she's not really there."

"Just depends on what you believe I guess. I've heard every one of our friends tell me something different with two possible outcomes, life after death or none at all. Personally, I prefer the former over the latter, and it actually makes you feel good thinking about living after dying."

"Like Secret, or whatever that girl's name was Artemis and Zatanna ran into?"

"Exactly."

Crossing his arms, Conner continued to stare at the young boy who positioned his handful of flowers in front of his mother's headstone. He was now sitting on the nearby bench, talking as if she were there in front of him. "Did they do that on Mars?"

"All the time. Next time we go, I'll show you if you want. We have a temple built for the sole purpose of remembering the departed."

"Like the memorial forest in Watchtower?"

"Close to it. Only we have statues of leaders and small shrines for family members inside."

"Sounds nice." Looking down, Conner shuffled his feet as he changed his stance and hung his thumbs in his jean pockets. "Listen, uh, the Kents invited Clark and I over for a Christmas Eve…thing in Smallville again this year. Would you and Gar like to come along?"

Looking up at him and locking eyes, Megan couldn't hold back a smile. "Sounds like fun. We'll definitely be there. What time is it?"

"It starts at seven so we could leave the Watchtower around six thirty and meet Clark at the farm with ma and pa. Just a heads up, it's country dress, so…"

"Dress like Urban Cowboy and not Daisy Duke?"

"Yeah." A memory flashed in Conner's mind at the time he and his Martian counterpart watched The Dukes of Hazard, resulting in M'gann adopting a pair of Daisy Dukes for a summer and him wanting to jump his bike using a trailer as a ramp. Both Batman and Martian Manhunter put a stop to that.

As they watched Garfield continue his conversation, Megan moved closer to Conner until their hands brushed each other. He looked down at her from the corner of his eye as a small grin spread across his lips. When he felt her reach for his hand, he pulled it away and draped his arm across her shoulders, bringing her in close as she rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist.

Back over with Garfield, the young teen was still talking to his mother, not missing anything that had happened since his last visit.

"…So I think I'm really getting better at being a hero. Sis let me sneak up on the Reach EFD to plant the egg on it to shut it down. Conner's been training me harder than the other recruits, not because he's mean or anything, but I think it's because he really wants me to be the best. Plus…I've finally got a bicep."

Pulling his sleeve up, the human looking Garfield flexed his arm as much as he could. "Yep, I'm ripped."

"Tell her about the girl yet?" Coming up behind the youth, M'gann, walking hand in hand with Conner, couldn't resist asking. "Did you tell her about how my little blood brother had his first crush?"

Garfield's face instantly turned red as he froze at the words. Slowly turning around, he saw M'gann with a smile and Conner with a raised eyebrow and sly grin. "Um, I was just about to get to that."

"You mention about how you've been reading up on Edger Allen Poe's The Raven?" Conner asked. "Or turning into one in the forest room?"

"You saw that?!" Garfield yelled as he stood.

"So did Wolf and Sphere."

"Um, that, that was a training thing. I was just practicing my morphs in my free time."

"As a raven every time?"

"Um…"

"It's okay, Gar," M'gann told him. "It just means you're growing up. And soon you'll be hanging around girls more, thinking about them all the time, going out on dates, and one day you'll get ma-"

"I'm done, time to go, lots of stuff to do. The world won't save itself, you know." Moving along, the shape shifter left the gravesite and quickly headed back to the truck.

"You were right," Conner told M'gann quietly. "Trolling him for trolling us was fun."

"Told you." Looking down at the grave, M'gann took a step forward. "He's doing great, Marie. You would be proud. Miss you."

With a squeeze to her boyfriend's hand, M'gann turned to follow her blood brother back to the truck. As for Conner, he stared at the headstone for a moment before looking back at the Martian girl and teenage boy then looked back at the marker. "You really would be proud of them both."

He then turned and joined the others.

The Tower of Fate

December 24, 011:01 UTC

Inside a pitch black room, Zatanna and Doctor Fate sat facing each other with several lit candles around them. Both beings hovered as they meditated with their lose clothing and hair gently flowing around them. There was no way to tell how deep or tall the walls were, no way of telling where the floor ended and the walls began. Along with the surrounding dark was also silence. Not a sound could be head, not even their breathing as they meditated for what seemed like days at a time.

It was times like this when Zatanna would catch a glimpse of the man under the mystical helmet, her father, and would try to make contact with him. Despite her best efforts, Fate would always intervene and separate the father and daughter even more so. She never stopped trying; however, Doctor Fate did not expect her to.

For the greater part of the morning, the two had been attempting to reach the young girl Garfield had met a few months ago. They focused on the description the green teen gave them as well as the mental images M'gann was able to give them from what she saw. Admittingly, it would be much easier to find the girl known as Raven if they had some way of identifying the type of energy she used or knew where she headed off to. All they knew was they had to find her due to a cyborg being on the hunt for her.

"You're stalling," Doctor Fate said. He still had his eyes closed as he focused his powers on the task at hand.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zatanna replied.

"You know perfectly well what I am referring to. Your father wishes for you to cease attempting to free him. It is a deal he made with me and must see it through to the end."

"You don't actually expect me to believe that, do you? I highly doubt a loving father would want to never have contact with his daughter like you would have me believe."

"This conversation's over, and so is this attempt in finding the girl." Putting his legs down from their folded position, Doctor Fate had the room fade away to reveal they were on a single square podium with MC Escherish stair cases surrounding them.

"Please," Zatanna said as she too unfolded her legs and followed after the sorcerer. "I beg of you, let me see my father. You don't have to let him have full control. Let me have a few moments with him. I have gone six years without seeing his face, hearing his voice. All I ask is for five minutes. Please."

"Five minutes could be the deciding factor of the world," Doctor Fate's voice boomed at her. "In the span of five minutes, the world's order could shift. In five minutes, chaos could attempt to tear order down. That is a risk I will not take."

Turning away from the female magician, Doctor Fate stomped off to his private meditation chamber.

Before the Lord of Order could vanish behind closed doors, Zatanna waved her hand, creating a portal back to the real world. "Imagine the chaos one's life could be without the guidance of their father." She then stepped through the doorway, leaving Fate behind.

A moment after the doorway shut, a voice echoed through Doctor Fate's head. "She is right, my friend."

"Zatara, Fate does not need your interference."

"I'm not interfering, only commenting. I have not spoken to my daughter in years, since that night I put the helmet on."

"I stand by my decision."

"And she stands by herself. There is so much more I could teach her, so much more she could and should learn not just from me, but from us both. Her mind has yet to be filled and her powers are capable of becoming stronger."

Standing before a small table in the middle of his private chambers, Doctor Fate thought over what Zatara had said. When he was bonded to Zatanna, he could sense the girl could become extremely powerful. She was like a vessel for mystical energy, capable of surpassing her father if guided properly.

"I do not ask for our agreement to be broken, all I ask is for a few moments with my daughter. Please."

Looking down at the table, Doctor Fate eyed one of the few possessions Zatara had chosen to keep in the Tower of Fate. It was a photograph of the father and daughter from the last birthday he was able to celebrate with her.