3
Look and See
Kaldur looked at the image, his disbelief masked by an expressionless countenance. He did recognize nonetheless, that something like this was bound to happen. The Ocean Master was bound to return. He didn't die all those years before. Yet, there was a chance that this image was not that of the aquatic villain. Atlantean youths were just as playful as those found on the surface; the video was grainy and not at all the best. An old marine biologist had captured the image somewhere off the coast of the Dominican Republic, using a camera sold during the nineteen nineties – state of the art back then, not so now. Any teenager could dress up and pass off as Ocean Master. A few had tried to pass off as Black Manta. Kaldur had not liked that.
But then, there was the blade of that spear, which momentarily came into view. It was on fire, blazing whilst surrounded by water, its flame never dying. Despite the video's poor quality, it was clear that the blade was magic.
If this man was Ocean Master, then what was that spear that blazed under water? The depths of the ocean kept many secrets, even from those who could withstand its pressure.
The Atlantean was stopping the tape and then rewinding it, and then playing several times to the point of exhaustion. The door that led into the Monitor Womb opened. Blue Beetle and Beast Boy entered. The green changeling had taken on the form of a gorilla and he was helping the Beetle carry a bundle wrapped in a green cloth through the module. It was obvious that they were heading towards the laboratory.
Aqualad looked at the two.
"What is that?" the young Atlantean asked.
"A robot" Beast Boy said "It fell on a trolley in San Francisco, out of nowhere. Dr. Palmer asked us to get it for him"
"I was not told of this" Kaldur said
"Maybe you were too occupied with Atlantean business" Blue Beetle remarked.
Kaldur gave him a stern look.
"I should have been told"
Beast Boy and Blue Beetle looked at each other.
"Sorry" Blue Beetle meekly said.
"I'm going with you. This may be of some importance" Kaldur said.
"Probably isn't. Dr. Palmer just asked us to bring it to him, not to tell everyone" Beast Boy said without thought.
The look Kaldur gave the boy was enough to shut him up.
The three walked out the Monitor Womb and through a corridor until they arrived at Ray Palmer's laboratory. The molecular physicist was sitting at a monitor, wearing a white lab coat over his usual superhero attire. His mask was off and his hair was disheveled.
The ever beautiful Zatanna was sitting on bench on the opposite side of the laboratory. Her arms were crossed, and she seemed to be bored (though most had to admit that she made boredom look good). As soon as Kaldur and the others walked in, she waved a hand.
"Hi guys" she said.
Doctor Palmer seemed focused on whatever it was that was on the monitor. He didn't notice Zatanna's greeting. Not even the entrance of three young superheroes (one of which was wearing an alien suit and another in the shape of a gorilla) would tear him away from the screen. Blue Beetle looked at Kaldur, who gestured for him to put the robot on the table on the center of the lab.
The noise thus produced got the scientist's attention. He turned away from the screen and once he saw the robot on the table, his eyes widened.
"Is that a robot?" the Atom asked.
"It is" Kaldur replied gravely "May I know why you did not tell me about this? Did you tell anyone else in the League?"
Palmer's face went red.
"Oh yeah. I was about to, but I guess I got a bit too carried away with these readings. I'm sorry Kaldur, I meant no disrespect"
"I know Dr. Palmer, but you do know that you must inform the members of the League when tasking other members, even those of the junior team, with such assignments"
"He told me"
Kaldur looked at Zatanna.
The magician looked a bit uneasy. She gave Kaldur an uneasy smile.
"I thought you had been informed"
"I was not." Kaldur replied looking at the Atom.
The magician walked towards the robot on the table. To her, it was an odd sight; a robot wrapped in what looked like a green tunic, with the tattered remains of a dark green cloak and hood.
"Gruesome" she observed.
"Kind of looks like death, you know" Blue Beetle said. The others just looked at him. He added "You know, with the metal mask looking like a skull's face and if you imagined the hood as being black, it kind of looks like death"
Blue Beetle then smiled wanly.
"I think I see what you're saying" Zatanna said "This guy does look like death"
"That may have been the intent. The image of the grim reaper would be intimidating to look upon" Kaldur added.
"But why is he dressed in green?" Beast Boy asked.
"Why is a robot dressed at all?" Dr. Palmer said.
"I think I may have answered that question moments ago" Kaldur said "However, I have my own questions, and I would like to see them answered. Why is this robot of your interest and why did you call Zatanna? This does not fall under her expertise."
The Atom turned the screen he had been looking at so that it was facing Kaldur and the others.
"It began about two days ago, but it was only detected by the monitors here at the Watchtower. An energy field of unknown nature appeared above Earth's atmosphere. It then dipped down, and back up again, diving and soaring, and began orbiting the Earth erratically. Its movements were unpredictable. It emitted a lot of energy, certain levels of gamma radiation – none too excessive – and from what I can tell, it had a limited capacity to distort the pathway of light, which meant that it was distorting gravity itself, to an imperceptible level. Occasionally, it would be recorded ejecting matter from its center. It did so three times onto the Earth's surface, the rest of the material being shot out into space. The first was over the skies of Bialya, the second was over San Francisco, and the third and last was over Gotham"
Ray Palmer got up from his seat and he leaned over the robot's battered form. He looked at it from head to toe.
"In all honesty, I didn't expect you guys to find a robot. I was expecting a rock" he looked at Blue Beetle "Are you sure this is what I we're looking for, and that some robot wasn't thrown from a plane?"
"It has the energetic signature you showed me. And it fell from the sky. I think this is what you're after" the azure hero said.
"It's more than I expected" Ray Palmer said. He looked at Kaldur "I guess I was so excited that I asked the closest people nearby – Beetle and Beast Boy here, to get the object while I studied the data. I'm sorry Kaldur, if I let you out of the loop."
"No need to apologize. I understand"
"I wonder if Batman will bring something like this" Atom said, almost absent-mindedly, turning back to the robot.
"Batman knows?" Kaldur asked, with a hint of shock.
"I had to tell him. It was in Gotham"
Zatanna frowned as he said "I don't think Batman has the time to collect fallen spacemen. He's still dealing with the fallout of the Joker's latest assault on the city. Robin has two broken legs that won't heal for a while, even with my help, members of Joker's Thug Squad are still loose, and he still has to deal with a slew of juvenile vigilantes who are putting themselves and others at risk"
In response to the stares, Zatanna added:
"Nightwing told me"
"I wonder what the Bat said about your request" Blue Beetle said.
"I said I would look into it" answered a dark voice from behind.
Everyone turned towards the entrance. Batman stood there, looking at everyone carefully. Even friends had to be carefully accessed. He walked in, as he usually did. Blue Beetle and Beast Boy had to move out of the way as the dark knight examined the robot.
"It's suffered a lot of violence" he said, looking under the rags and poking about with his left hand, while his right remained beneath his cape.
"That's to be expected Batman. It fell from the Stratosphere" Ray Palmer said.
"The fall did some damage, but not all of it" Batman pulled a piece of the tunic away, revealing a dent with a vague shape of a fist in it.
"That could be a rock" Blue Beetle said.
"Perhaps" the dark knight responded "It would be a good idea to collect all elemental samples from this body, and determine which is from San Francisco, and which is of unknown origin" Batman bent his head over one of the dents. With his left hand, he took out a pair of tweezers and he removed something from the dent. He looked at it very closely. It was a red thread.
"What is it?" Aqualad asked
"Something familiar" Batman answered as he placed it within a pouch in his utility belt.
As Batman continued examining the robot, Kaldur looked over at Zatanna.
"I would still like to know why Zatanna is here" the Atlantean said.
"I told Dr. Palmer to call her" Batman replied, looking at the robot's arm "many bizarre occurrences have a magical source to them. Perhaps Zatanna could shed some light into that, rule out some hypotheses if not anything else."
"I get it" Zatanna said. She made her way towards the robot (at Dr. Palmer's expense) and she placed her hand over it. She concentrated, closed her eyes, and then felt it. She opened her eyes again.
"What is it?" Beast Boy asked eagerly. He was now back to human form. No longer did he walk around looking like a monkey as he had the year before.
"There is some magic, but it's very faint. I think it's a duplication spell, although one I'm not familiar with."
"What do you mean?" Kaldur asked.
"Considering what I'm getting from this robot, it may actually be a magically made duplicate of an original. Perhaps one of the objects shot out into space, or one that fell into Bialya." Zatanna looked at Batman "Or one that fell into Gotham"
"No robot fell into Gotham" Batman said.
"Are you sure?" Atom asked
"I'm certain"
"My magic training has fallen behind. How strong is the duplication spell?" Kaldur asked.
"This is a real, material object that can only be destroyed through normal physical force. It will not fade away" Zatanna said.
"But you said the magic was faint" Ray Palmer chimed in.
"Yes it is faint, and I can't figure it out. But I can say that the energy field was not a magical phenomenon"
"Given the information we have, the most likely explanation for Dr. Palmer's energy field is that it was a portal, perhaps opening up on another point of this Earth, or perhaps to an alien world" Batman said.
Blue Beetle and Beast Boy looked at the robot.
"Wow. Another invasion" the younger boy said.
"Do not joke about this. The last invasion was bad enough" Kaldur said to Beast Boy.
"It may not be another alien invasion" Batman said, looking further into the robot "this robot seems to be a product of Earth technology. The metal alloy however, is something I've never seen before"
"I'll run some tests" Dr. Palmer said.
"Inform me once the tests are done" Batman said, stepping away from the robot "This may be nothing, or it may be something that will cause us further grief. There is however, something that might be a bigger problem. Dr. Palmer I need you to run a scan on Wayne Tower – the old one. See if there are any suspicious energy signatures anywhere near it." he turned to Zatanna "I would like to have a word with you, alone"
Batman stepped away from the table.
Zatanna waved at her colleagues, and she followed the dark knight.
"You will have to call Red Tornado Dr. Palmer. He might know more about this robot's A.I." Kaldur said as Zatanna left the room.
A sheepish expression took over the Atom's face.
"I already called him" he said.
"I should have guessed" Kaldur replied.
Zatanna found herself in the infirmary, with Batman. The dark knight slowly extended his right arm. He winced as he moved it upwards, away from his ribs. Slowly, he pulled off his right glove.
The wrist was swollen and dark red.
"My scaphoid and lunate bones may be fractured" the dark knight said.
"How did this happen?" Zatanna asked in shock, even though she wasn't in a position to be surprised.
"I got into an altercation several hours ago. I was brash, and I was stupid." Batman said.
It was clear that Batman was angrier at himself than he was at whoever had left his wrist like that.
"Who did this to you?"
"A kid I underestimated. He was similar to Black Spider in appearance, but superior in every other way."
"Really? I didn't know that Black Spider had relatives" Zatanna grabbed Batman's hand and said "Laeh namtab"
"They might not be related. I thought that he was using Black Spider's suit the same way other kids use Venom, or Kobra-Venom, or that new drug. I was wrong. I managed to get some hair samples from the kid's arm. I may be able to determine who he is, or what he is."
Quickly, Batman's wrist regained its normal color. He turned his wrist and flexed his fingers. The dark knight put his glove back on.
"Thank you" he said.
Zatanna looked at him in silence.
"How is Tim?" she asked.
"He's fine. Alfred's making sure he doesn't over exercise. And Cassie's always with him."
"I wish I could have been more help" she said sullenly.
"You did all you could. We're all thankful." Batman said.
Zatanna shook her head. The memory of Robin's broken body was dreadful. She had managed to heal most of him, but not all. Tim still had to use crutches. She wondered what impact this had on Batman, who had lost a sidekick, a surrogate son, before.
"And what about you?" Zatanna asked as she looked up. But by then, Batman was gone.
Billy really wished he could fly right now. Unfortunately, the presence of superheroes was frowned upon within Bialya; especially when the superhero was a member of the Justice League. A grievous international incident could break out, possibly leading to war.
So Billy had to take the bus to the small town of Dzuba. It was an unpleasant experience. The old Hollywood stereotypes of third world country buses that always rocked about and were always crowded seemed to be true.
At least Billy didn't get any chickens riding with him. He did have a goat sit next to him at one point though.
He couldn't get off of the bus sooner enough. As soon as those doors were open (and they opened with a horrible creaking noise), he didn't have to say any magic word to fly out. He took a deep breath. There was an odd chill in the air.
Looking around, Billy could see that despite being a small town, it was relatively prosperous, undoubtedly due to its proximity to Bialya's capital Al-Qawiya. There were cyber cafés (which Billy was thankful for, since it meant he could upload his reports), clean regular cafés, and plenty of stores that would have looked well within the finer streets of Paris. There was also a lot of security. Teams of two soldiers were a short distance from each other, watching everyone.
Billy was beginning to wonder if coming here alone was a mistake. Although, at a young age, he had a career, and was fully emancipated, he would certainly draw the soldiers' attention. At least, that would happen in America.
It seemed that Billy was lucky. Childhood was very short in Bialya. He spied a boy and a girl, both no older than twelve, offering their services to passing tourists from the Arab world. The young internet journalist didn't hide his sad smile.
This wasn't something that Captain Marvel could easily solve.
He looked into the first cyber-café. It was surprisingly full. Apparently, the people of Bialya liked the internet. Of course, given Bialya's political nature, they were probably studying the more prurient rules of the World Wide Web.
Billy had to enter the other cyber-café which was nearly full as well. The young teen was lucky, as there was one seat left, on a table next to the only other westerner within the building. Billy approached.
The westerner was handsome, with well groomed brown hair and had the air of a man from Eastern Europe. He looked like a movie star, a hero of action movies taking place in such countries as the one he was in now, the one that always got the girls.
He was dressed as one might expect – in a khaki shirt with his sleeves rolled up, and dark green pants. Billy noticed a few red drops on the bottoms of his pants. This was a red flag, but since it could mean anything, Billy ignored it. He did notice that the man was looking into scientific papers unlike everyone else who was researching into matters not so noble. He was presently reading a paper by Dr. Martin Stein.
Billy quietly sat in his seat. He logged on and was startled when he saw the lovely face of Beautia Sivana. His face went red. It was just an advertisement for diet candy. Billy took a deep breath and closed that window. He could worry about Beautia later.
He took out his recorder and downloaded the information, hoping it would reach Sterling Morris. The recorder, it turned out, was a true mess, not doing what it was supposed to do with regards to its internet connection, forcing Billy into using this computer. At least it was a good recorder. Once it was all done, Billy unplugged the machine and got up, ready to pay whatever absurd amount of money the man behind the counter would ask.
As he was pushing the chair back under the table, his phone began to shake. He took out the mobile from his pocket and opened it.
"Kid, are you there?" said the now irritating voice of Green Arrow. Billy really hated it when the emerald archer called him kid.
"I read you loud and clear Pops" Billy responded, hoping that using the word pops would have the same effect as kid.
It didn't seem to work.
"Are you still in Bialya?"
"Yes I am. Tomorrow, with luck, I'll be in Qurac." Billy responded peevishly.
"Alright, then we're in business" the archer said, not noting Billy's tone "Listen kid, according to the Atom, there was this wormhole or something that was spitting things out. Three of these things landed on Earth. One of them was a robot and it fell in San Francisco. Something else fell deep within Bialya's desert. We don't know what fell in there, but if it's a weapon of mass destruction, we don't want it in Queen Bee's hands. You're going to have to check it out kid."
Billy looked around. He had to choose his words carefully. His phone (as were the phones of every member within the League) was installed with a special chip made by Wayne Enterprises that cloaked conversations. A Leaguer could discuss battle strategies and anyone overhearing it would get a trade in cake recipes. Of course, this only worked for electronic eavesdropping. Words spoken out loud could still be heard, and remembered.
"Well, that's quite a quest you got for me unless that toy robot of the grim reaper you want just walks right by me, making my life easier. Once I've done my job over here, I'll check out the shops, but it might take some time."
"Do what you can kid" and then Green Arrow hung up.
Billy frowned. The only way he could find this object would be as Captain Marvel, in a country hostile to the League, governed by a known supervillain. He would have to do things discreetly.
He pocketed the phone and he walked up to the counter. He managed to subdue a growl coming out from deep within him when he saw the amount of money being charged. Quickly, he paid and smiled at the father and son behind the counter.
As he was about to leave, the other westerner walked right by him. The elder Bialyan behind the counter immediately jumped out and got in the man's way.
"You did not pay!" he said.
The strange westerner was quick. He grabbed the Bialyan's wrist, and twisted his arm behind his back; a move Billy had seen plenty of times. However, the strange westerner went one step further; he quickly tugged and pulled, destroying the Bialyan's shoulder.
The Bialyan let out a tremendous shriek and was quickly thrown to the ground as if he were trash.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Billy growled.
"Protecting myself from thieves. A lesson you should learn" the man said.
This enraged Billy and he was about to charge the strange man, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned to see another Bialyan staring at him. It was the son.
"You have to get out of here" he said, much to Billy's surprise "The police will be here soon. They will not care which foreigner they arrest. Now go!"
Billy was shocked. He looked at the stranger, who was turning his back and disappearing into the street. The young Bialyan went to his father. Billy remembered what Batman had told him: do not transform in Bialya unless you really have to.
Billy grunted, and left as quickly and discreetly as he could. Security forces passed by him soon enough, and huddled next to the entrance of the cyber-café.
Sometimes, heeding Batman's advice made him sick
Billy found himself sitting on a bench near a fountain that was itself next to one of Bialya's rare cedar forests, away from the confusion. He looked at his watch, trying hard not to think about what had just happened. In anywhere else, he would have turned into Captain Marvel and solved that sort of problem easily. The jerk would have a brand new shiner to present to his friends in jail, and the owner of the cyber-café would have had his money. And of course, he wouldn't charge astronomically.
But this was Bialya. They should have made a movie about this place, and not Chinatown.
Maybe he should say it, and tear this country apart. A lot of good would be done. But a lot of evil would have resulted from it.
"Mr. Batson?" said a small mousy voice, thankfully tearing Billy's mind away from unwanted dilemmas. Billy looked up and saw a dumpy woman in her late thirties cautiously approach him.
"Dr. Rostam?" Billy asked
The woman nodded as she approached very slowly. She stopped several feet away from Billy.
"Please, sit down" Billy said, pointing at a spot next to his at the bench. The woman looked around like a frightened doe before she quickly sat down.
"I would like to say that it is an honor to speak to you Mr. Batson, and I'm sorry if I'm bothering you in any way. I admire your work and I would not want to be a nag. I am not a horrible fangirl in search of attention. I asked you to come here because of something very serious. It was so hard to get you here without being discovered. We are all being watched. Especially scientists like myself. We are all working on horrors. But you have a powerful friend. You can tell him, and save the world and save Bialya, too."
The woman seemed unhinged, but Billy believed her. She was clearly shaken, and it wasn't because she was star struck (not that Billy thought that she would; his internet fame was meager when compared to the fame of true celebrities). She was a credited scientist with a verified PhD; Billy had made sure to check. And it did make some sense for her to call him in case she possessed sensitive information. He was only a minor celebrity, who wouldn't attract too much attention on Bialya's radar.
"Just calm down and tell me what you feel you have to say. I promise that no one will know that you spoke to me."
The poor woman looked around again. Her fear was palpable.
"I am a Bialyan, a true Bialyan, and if Black Adam himself and the hordes of Khandaq were to come here to kill us all, I would sacrifice my life to stop him. But Queen Bee, she is evil. She is so evil and I never saw it until now."
She came closer to Billy.
"I am meta. I have been so since I was born. I dream and what I see in my dreams comes true. I saw myself as a scientist when I was a girl, wearing a white lab coat instead of a black robe, and I knew what I would be, no matter the pain. Sometimes I dream a lot, other times I do not. I have been dreaming a lot now. They are not good dreams Mr. Batson. I dream of red skies and the Earth opening up in fiery sores. I see a monster of a man, gray skinned and wearing dark blue standing above all as a god, leading an army of demons, crushing wet red skulls and holding sway over men, women and children with dead eyes and no souls. I see his servants and the bright doors they come through, and I saw the shadow of death above all."
She coughed. Billy searched his pockets for something, but the woman grabbed his hand and held it.
"I was new to the project. I was told that it had been going on for seven or eight years. They opened the portal and I saw it. My dreams are coming true and the world will burn. The demons will eat our brains and steal our wills and then death shall come. I…"
And then the woman stopped. Billy looked at her carefully. Her eyeballs were rolling upwards and spit began to fall out of her mouth. She then began to whine. And then, the whine turned into a horrid wail. Her entire body shook before she collapsed.
Billy grabbed her and looked in horror. He didn't know what to do. The only solution he could see was to say the word and rush her to a hospital. He had no choice.
"Hello Mr. Batson. I'm quite the fan of your newscasts." said a voice not far away. Billy turned; it was Psimon and there were several Bialyan soldiers with him.
"What did you do?" Billy asked angrily.
"I shattered her mind, her poor, poor mind. Dr. Rostam won't be speaking to anyone else, ever. Neither will you, I'm afraid to say."
Psimon focused his mind on Billy's. Sweat began to fall from the part of his forehead that wasn't transparent.
"You're harder than I thought" Psimon said "I'll need more time with you. Soldiers, grab him!"
A soldier reached out and grabbed Billy by the arm, forcing him to let go of Dr. Rostam, who fell down to the ground. Billy was angered by this. He kicked the soldier in the groin. As that soldier bent down in pain, another tried to grab Billy. The young journalist punched him in the face, knocking him down and with much surprise to the soldier's peers, apparently knocking him out.
The remaining soldiers weren't taking any chances. They raised their AK-47s and aimed. By the time they had pulled their triggers, Billy Batson had run for cover amidst the cedars. The bullets ripped across the air and hit the trees, but none hit Billy.
If there was any time he needed the big red cheese, it was now.
Billy was about to open his mouth, when the shooting stopped. He heard Psimon protest something.
"What are you doing here? We're fine without you" he heard Psimon say. But whatever thing the telepath was speaking to was having none of it.
"YOU ARE BENEATH ME WORM. NOW STAND BACK IF YOU WISH TO LIVE" this was a dark inhuman voice that spoke.
Billy peeked through the trees, and he saw what looked like a large muscular man dressed in alien armor with the feet of a goat, dark wings on his back, and a goat's skull for his head. He held in his hand a golden scythe.
Billy wondered if this was the monster man Dr. Rostam was talking about. However, this creature was not gray or blue. It was still monstrous. He might need to say the word.
"YOU CANNOT RUN FROM ME BOY; YOU CANNOT HIDE, FOR I AM DEATH!"
Well, that clinched it – he really needed to say it.
The creature calling himself death raised his scythe and he swung it. As the trees toppled before its might, Billy Batson spoke:
"SHAZAM!"
The mystical lightning bolt came down with a crash; a red blur shot upwards and Captain Marvel forced Death to gaze into his fist. The horrid beast was hurled across the air, and crashed into a nearby mountain. It was quickly back on to its feet, on a ledge, and saw Captain Marvel flying above. The Earth's Mightiest Mortal smiled at the creature without any fear, like a man who had faced worse.
"I'm Captain Marvel. Nice to meet you."
Death hurled his scythe at Captain Marvel and then he spread out his wings and soared towards him.
Captain Marvel barely evaded the scythe, but the demonic being managed to ram him, jabbing his solar plexus with his skull like head as his horns and muscled arms went about his torso in a deadly embrace. This winded the big red cheese but it did not cripple him. Captain Marvel, the champion of thunder, curled both of his mighty hands into mighty fists; he raised them and then brought them down with a mighty crash upon Death's back. The lethal demon let go of his grip such was the might of Marvel's assault, his arms fell down to his side; even his wings faltered.
Death tried to recover his wind, but Captain Marvel didn't give him the time to do that, kicking him with enough strength to reduce entire buildings into dust. Before Death could go flying away, the big red cheese caught him by his ankle, and he threw him at his scythe, as it returned to its dark master. It hit Death on the head with an audible clang. The two went into opposite directions; Death's arms and legs flailed about as he tried to recover.
"Holy moley!" Captain Marvel said with a smile on his face, following up that statement with a hearty guffaw. He sped through the air and caught the demon by one of his horns; he then looked him in the face.
"I hope you're not too sore with me for laughing in your face, but that was just too funny" the big red cheese said.
"I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS AFFRONT" Death said, as he tried to flap his wings and fly away from Captain Marvel's grip.
"Talk to me later" Captain Marvel said, and he threw Death far, far away, into the wastes of the desert rocks. Once that was done with, Captain Marvel turned his attention back to Psimon and his cronies.
They were still there where Marvel had left them, surrounding Dr. Rostam who was on the ground, unconscious. Using the speed of Mercury, Captain Marvel flew right at them, tossing the Bialyan soldiers aside. He gave Psimon a good slap in the face that sent the telepath flying over the fountain. He gently picked Dr. Rostam up, and he ascended towards the sky. He circled the city once in an effort to spot the strange westerner that had caused the uproar in the cyber-café, but Captain Marvel didn't see him. He flew away before Bialya's forces converged upon him.
As he flew away into Qurac's boundaries, holding Dr. Rostam in his arms, he made a quick examination of her state. Her face was expressionless, her eyes motionless. It was bad. He hoped that M'gann or J'onn could help the poor woman. She didn't deserve this.
He looked into the desert. Whatever it was that had fallen within the shifting sands would have to wait. It would be hard for Captain Marvel to return, especially now, without causing further damage. The League would have to figure something else out.
With quite a lot of relief, Zatanna opened the door to her home, switched on the lights, and entered. It had been quite a day. First there was that examination of the strange robot, and then the healing of Batman at the Watchtower, and then there was the performance in Vegas.
To put it in simple terms, Zatanna was bushed.
She closed the door behind her; tossed her shoes away with two graceful kicks from her legs and she dived into her sofa. She sat down languidly, and she picked up a stack of cards from the nearby coffee table. She began to entertain herself with simple tricks of sleight of hand. It was a nice way to relax the mind; it was also, simultaneously, a way to exercise the mind. She preferred performing these card tricks over soap operas.
The phone began to ring. Zatanna set down the cards and sat up. She reached out and touched a button.
The television turned on, and on it was Dick Grayson's face.
"Hey Dick!" she said with a smile (and a hint of a chortle).
Dick responded in kind.
"Hi Zee, I'm not bothering am I?"
"You? Never! What's up?"
"You're kind of like a master magician, right?" he said with a hint of a smirk.
"I don't know; aren't you kind of like an acrobat?" she said, spiking him back in earnest "anyway, what mystical matter do you want answered?"
Her former boyfriend took a deep breath before asking.
"Do you know any demonic being called Dormammu?"
Zatanna raised an eyebrow. Some time passed as Dick waited for an answer.
"I've never heard that name before" she said.
"So it's made up"
Zatanna shifted in her seat.
"I wouldn't say that. The word you just said had a dark cadence and a mystic harmonics to it. Some words, and names - not all mind you - have mystic power to them. For example, the name Shazam, it changes Billy into the Earth's Mightiest Mortal no matter what he is thinking of and even if he doesn't want to change because of the intrinsic power of the word. I can feel the power in the sounds of Dormammu, the word. This demon, if Dormammu is a demon, might exist, but just not in this reality."
Dick grimaced and said "That makes things as easy as eating boiled slugs"
"What?"
Dick began waving his hand around. However Zatanna gave him a look that he was helpless to resist.
"You know about Bette, right?"
"The tennis player? Or is she the snob?"
"She's someone I know" Dick said "Anyway, a few weeks ago, she found out about my secret identity."
"How did this happen?" Zatanna asked, in disbelief; Dick should have told her about this.
"It was an accident. An accident that had much to do with the new Blockbuster, Roland Desmond, Mark Desmond's brother" Dick said
For a moment, Zatanna was speechless.
"You mean, that time when you came to me asking me to heal your broken arm?"
"She found out just before that"
"Incredible" she said, annoyed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know how to break it to you. I haven't even told Batman"
Zatanna's eyes widened.
"You better tell him. Keeping things like that from him won't end well for you Dick"
"I know. Anyway, continuing where I left off, the fact that Bette knows who I am has complicated my relationship with her, which was already complicated. Anyway, she moved back to Gotham from Bludhaven, shortly after I did and before the whole business with the Joker. She saw me as Nightwing and followed me. Apparently, she got into trouble and was rescued by this guy called Spider-Man, who's been making an impact in Gotham for the past two days. Taking her description into account, this guy seems to resemble Black Spider, which is a bit fishy."
Zatanna looked at Dick with an unusually dumb expression on her face.
"Zee, is there something wrong?"
Zatanna blinked "No, absolutely not. Keep on" if Dick was going to keep secrets from her, than she would keep secrets from good old Dick.
"Anyway, the next day – and by that time I was staying at her place…"
Zatanna quickly cut him off.
"You're staying with her?" she said with a raised eyebrow and wicked smile.
"It's a temporary arrangement until I get my things in order. Anyway, continuing what I was saying before – and I'm hoping that I won't be interrupted until I'm finished – this spider guy calls her."
"The next morning"
"Yes" he said with a smidgen of irritation, much to Zatanna's disguised delight "he calls her and tells her that there's this kid called Peter Parker who needs her help, as in, he needs her as someone who he can register as a person of interest so that he can work in a Big Belly Burger. Of course, Bette insisted that the kid not work for Big Belly Burger, and had me take her there to pick him up."
Zatanna suddenly began to wave her arm in the air.
"What?" Dick asked
"How did this Spider-Man get Bette's number?"
"She gave him her card"
Both of Zatanna's eyebrows were raised.
"That makes sense" she said.
"As I was saying, this Peter Parker needs her help, so Bette, being Bette, decides that she has to, in a matter of speaking, adopt him"
"Isn't she too young for that? How old is this kid?"
"The kid is either fifteen or sixteen, and please don't ask me more questions about Bette's brain. She has her own way of doing things. Right now she's dancing the Macarena with the kid in the living room and he seems to be in agony. Anyway, concerning this kid; the spiel he gave me did not add up, nothing he said about his past, really added up. The story he gave me was that Dormammu was after him and that this Spider-Man helped him out, because he owed his uncle something; what he owed Peter could not tell me. I managed to grill some names out of him – he told me that he went to Midtown high school, also known as Public School 108 in New York and I managed to get an address out of him. I checked and there was nothing there. And now you tell me that this Dormammu isn't real; he does use the name a lot though. This morning he said that he had seen Dormammu standing on the old Wayne Tower in a dream, and that I should warn all superheroes" Dick shrugged.
"And what's his connection to this Spider guy?" Zatanna asked.
"In all honesty, I think they're one and the same. I don't have solid evidence to back it up, but what I've got points me to that conclusion. Anyway, I managed to get some of his hair from his comb. I'm going to send it to Batman and have it examined. At least, I can find out who he is, or what he is. Peter Parker isn't a bad guy, at least he doesn't seem to be one, but he's fishy. I feel whelmed."
Zatanna looked at Dick in silence.
"I think you should talk to Batman about this. Trust me. You really have to talk to Batman. Now. Immediately. Do you understand?"
"Yeah" Dick said with an intimidated expression on his face.
"Good, now have a good night with Peter and Bette, and let me rest. I've had a long day"
Zatanna hung up and continued her tricks of sleight of hand.