Chapter 30

Kingsport, Massachusetts

The once bustling town had seen better days. Most the industry had closed and the only large employer left was the screen door factory. Fishing was the other main business in town, but even that was slowing down. Life was hard for those that remained. Each year more and more townsfolk were moving away, mostly to the big city. It was a rather bitter joke around those parts that if Kingsport had a motto it would be, 'keep your head down and things could be worse.' The citizens didn't know just how right that motto was.

Standing on the hillside above the town was Nathan Occult. He was barefoot, wearing only black trousers and a long overcoat. The black tar-like substance still oozed from his hands and feet. The rest of him was chalk white which contrasted with his wild head of black hair. With a silent signal, the soldiers began to slither down the hillside towards the town. Their gelatinous bodies secreted a thick bile that caused everything in their wake to whither and die. Nathan raised his hands above his head and began to chant an ancient invocation. Dark clouds gathered over the town. The soldiers were just on the outskirts, when Nathan brought his hands together in a thunderous clap. The very texture of reality seemed to ripple out from him. In the next moment, Kingsport, Massachusetts along with the soldiers and Nathan vanished from this plane of existence.

Fort Worth

Zatanna had been moving through the damage for a couple of hours, helping where she could and looking for any sign of Nathan. Something seemed wrong to her. She had picked up his magical signature almost immediately, but it felt different. At first she thought perhaps it was due to the changes he'd undergone since she'd seen him, but the more she experienced it, the more she realized that wasn't it. It suddenly occurred to her that it felt as if someone else was masking his or her trail with Nathan's signature. That made no sense to her. Why would someone deliberately hide behind a monster's signature? She was just about to call into the Watchtower, when she felt a great shift in the mystical realm. The force of it made her drop to one knee. Something very dark and old had changed reality on a large scale. It flared intensely, but then vanished completely from this reality. A sense of dread filled Zatanna. Something horrible had just happened, but she couldn't pinpoint it. Signaling the tower, she beamed back up to the station to consult with Dr. Fate and the others.

The Watchtower

Clark was sitting with his shirt off on the side of his infirmary bed. He'd just hung up his cell phone after talking to Perry White. He told him he was doing better and should be back in a day or two. Perry asked where he was and Clark had to think fast and told him the Justice League had transported him to a Chicago hospital that was one of the best at trauma wounds. Perry seemed to buy it and told him to get well soon. Clark was still not fully recovered, but he wasn't going to let that be known. Apparently he brought out the mothering instinct in most of the women in the League. If it wasn't Zatanna, then it was Vixen or Shayera, even Dinah managed to make it out of her recovery bed to make sure he was resting and recovering. He appreciated the gestures, but it was starting to get on his nerves a bit. He should have been fully recovered by now, but the magic latent in the blade Nathan had used slowed the process. He could see under the bandages that there was still a nasty bruise and scar. He'd never really had a scar before and found himself a little taken by it. It was sort of like a tattoo, but had more street cred. He remembered when he was in high school wanting a tattoo. He still shuddered a little when he remembered the looks on his folks face when he told them of his idea. The discussion ended rather quickly. The fact that there weren't needles hard enough to penetrate his skin was probably another good argument against it. He was deep in these musings when the door opened and Diana walked in.

"Shouldn't you be in bed, Kal," she said immediately.

"What? Oh, please, not you too, Diana," he replied.

"You're supposed to be resting and recovering," she said firmly.

"I'm fine."

"In bed, Kal." Diana pointed to the bed and gave him a stern look.

"Diana." He returned her stern look with one of his own.

"Kal." She crosses her arms in front of her.

"Diana." He crosses his arms in front of him.

"Kal." Her eyes flashing a warning to him.

"Oh, all right." He finally gave in to the test of wills, grumbling as he got back into bed.

"Happy? You know I only really need the sunlight, Diana. I hate just laying here," he said to her.

"Well, that's too bad," she countered. She walked over and sat down next to him on the bed, checking the bandage.

"Diana, I'm fine, stop that."

"I want to see how it's healing," she replied, and then smacked his hand away. "Move your hand, Kal."

"Kind of bossy, aren't you? You should think about a career as a school vice principal."

"Maybe a teacher, that does sound interesting," she replied absently as she finished checking the bandage.

"Are you happy now," he said, referring to the bandage.

"Yes." She smiled. "You seem to be healing nicely."

"I told you that already."

"Quit complaining, is it so bad taking it easy for a day or two?"

"Frankly, yes, it is," he admitted. "There's really nothing more that can be done for me besides having more people play nurse maid."

She gave him a look in response.

"I don't like doing nothing."

"Most people would welcome being able to lie in bed and relax."

"Would you?"

"No," she admitted. "But then I wasn't stabbed by a magical blade either."

"Can I tell you a secret, Diana," he whispered.

"Of course," she said, leaning closer.

"I've never really been comfortable staying inside for long periods of time," he said. "I guess that's why I always liked the farm so much. I like being outside with lots of room to move about."

"I share your affection of the outdoors," she replied. "I always loved riding horses and being out in nature on Themyscira."

"When I was growing up with my strength developing, being inside just meant endless possibilities for me to break things."

"Well, you'll just have to control yourself, because you're staying put for the time being."

"Great," he said, for which she slapped him on the arm.

"Ow, you're hitting the injured man now, Diana," he asked.

"You said that word again, Kal. I know you only do it to irritate me," Diana replied.

"So I can't say it anymore, is that what you're telling me?"

"Yes."

"Lovely."

"Kal," she said with a warning tone in her voice.

"All right, all right," he said, raising his hands in surrender. "Teasing Amazon is not a good idea, I'll have to remember that."

"See that you do. Now is there anything I can get you?"

"A deck of cards to relieve the boredom," he sarcastically said. "I can't just lay here, Diana. My mind starts to wander and all sorts of strange thoughts come into my head."

"You seemed to be doing that when I arrived," she said to him.

"I guess."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Tattoos of all things." He admitted.

"What? Tattoos? Were you thinking of getting one," she asked. A smile came to her face at the very thought.

"No, but when I was in high school, I thought it would be kind of cool," he replied.

"What were you going to get, the House of El logo on your arm?" She teased.

"Very funny," he replied. "So no teasing the Amazon, but teasing the Kryptonian is okay?'

"Of course." She smiled.

"Lovely."

She gave him another look before continuing. "So what were you thinking of getting back then? Mother?"

"Oh, you're just a riot today," he replied. She giggled at the thought. "How about you, Diana? Have you ever thought about getting one? I'm sure you'd look really hot with a tramp stamp."

"A what?"

Clark suddenly realized he'd said that out loud and quickly stumbled to change the subject.

"How about something um, ah, tribal? That's quite popular. Is there some symbol for the Amazons? Do Amazons even get tattoos?"

"Well, we used to do ceremonial war paint before battle, but I don't think anything permanent."

He pushed ahead, hoping she would forget the tramp stamp comment.

'So no butterflies or stars then?"

"I never really gave it much thought," Diana admitted. "Wouldn't it be out of the ordinary? I've never seen any of the other members with tattoos?"

"I'm betting at least a few do,' he replied. Clark thanked his luck he'd dodged a bullet. "I'll bet John has one. Military guys are big into tattoos. Probably Ollie has three or five. I'm sure the old radical in him rebelled at some point. There's a rule with tattoos, you can't have one or an even number of them. I haven't checked but I would guess at least a couple of the women in the League have tattoos. Vixen and Huntress come to mind for some reason."

"Now that I think about it, I would bet on Big Barda," Diana replied.

"Yeah, she does have an edge to her."

"Or Wally with a lightening bolt or something. The possibilities are too much to imagine," Diana said, and then realized how her mind was wandering. "Kal! Now you have me letting my mind wander to bizarre things!"

"See," he said with a smile. "Sitting around doing nothing can be dangerous."

His mind thought immediately of just how dangerous it would have been if she knew what a tramp stamp was.

"You're still staying in bed, Kal."

"Lovely."

She hit him at this.

"You're really reducing my vocabulary, Diana," he said, rubbing his shoulder.

Dr. Fate's Invisible Tower

Dr. Fate and his wife, Inza, were working on lessening the magic that separated Dr. Richard Occult from Rose Psychic. Here in his invisible tower, he was able to shield them from the full efforts Nathan's magic. Fate was attempting to shift them between several mystical plains, hoping as they moved from one dimension to the next, the magic would weaken enough for him to remove the spell. It was long, arduous work, but he owed it to his two friends to try. Inza buttressed his magic with her own, concentrating on Rose as the stronger of the two. They were finally making progress when they felt the great shift. Both Fate and Inza were shaken by the power behind it and seem to lose focus for a moment. Before they could reestablish their spell, Rose Psychic opened her eyes and screamed. They rushed over to her, but she was already reaching out for Richard Occult. At Fate watched, Rose took Richard's hand, pulling herself painfully towards him. Through gritted teeth, she uttered an incantation and then the two of them began to fuse into one again. The screams were deafening, as the process was torture for her but she didn't relent. Fate and Inza quickly tried to supplement her, adding their strength to her powers. At first it didn't seem the magic separating them would yield, but finally Rose overcame it and the two became one. Fate and Inza stood next to them, waiting to see if the process had been too much for them both. Richard Occult finally opened his eyes and looked around.

"Fate," he managed to say.

"It's good to see you again, Richard," Fate replied with a smile.

"It was Rose," Richard said. "She saved us both, again."

"An extraordinary woman, my friend."

Occult nodded and then gingerly sat up. The toll on both of them was obvious to the eye. Richard looked around him, getting his bearings, before turning back to Fate.

"Nathan?"

"I'm sorry, yes," Fate said, shaking his head. "Unfortunately, his attack on you was only the beginning."

Richard sat listening to all that had transpired since their attack. With each new revelation, his mood turned darker. When Fate finished the litany of attacks Nathan had committed and what his ultimate plan was, Richard stood up on shaky legs.

"My son has to be stopped," he said. His voice was deadly serious.

"Yes, but how,' Fate asked. Richard seemed to thinking about this for several moments. His face turned grim as the choice became clear to him.

"Nathan can't be allowed to continued," Richard said. "I will not allow him to hurt anyone else, not matter what the cost. If he can't be stopped…"

Before Richard could continue, his body began to shift to Rose. As Fate and Inza watched, Rose and Richard Occult shifted back and forth, arguing with each other about his plan for Nathan.

"You," Rose said.

"He must be," Richard said.

"Will," Rose said.

"Stopped, even if," Richard continued, as their body shifted back to him.

"Not," Rose replied, shifting their body back to her.

"It means," said Richard, the shift coming back to him.

"Kill." Rose took control again.

"Ending his life." Richard said, struggling for control.

"My Son!" Rose replied. The two were caught in a desperate struggle for control over their body. In the end a mother's love for her child won out. Rose took complete control over their body. Richard Occult continued to struggle with her for a few moments, but her resolve was too strong. Gasping for air, she finally won their war.

"We must find Nathan," she said finally to Fate. "He must not be allowed to continue, but I will not permit his death."

"I hope it is not too late," Fate said.

"As do I," Rose replied.

Watchtower

Wally was sitting alone in the Sanctuary, his mind still rolling over the meaning of his experience earlier in the day. Suddenly Clark slipped into the room, glancing nervously behind him.

"What are you hiding, Supes," Wally said.

"Um, ah, yes, as a matter of fact I am," Clark replied.

"From what?"

"I needed to get out of the infirmary and this was the only way I could escape."

"What's so horrible that it can frighten Superman," asked Wally.

"Oh, how about half the people on this station treating me like an invalid," Clark offered.

"Yeah, I guess that would suck, depending on who the person was," Wally said.

"So what's up with you? You seem kind of down," Clark asked.

It took a moment, but then Wally gave in and told Clark about everything that had happened to him earlier in the day. Clark could see how much it troubled his friend. The truth was, Clark had many of the same worries about the nature of being a hero. He had no easy answers for Wally, but right now, he knew the most important thing was cheering up his friend.

"So I've been sitting here trying to figure out what to do." Wally finished.

"It's a puzzling question you raise, Wally," Clark admitted. "I wonder if there isn't some way to turn this around."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're famous, a celebrity, like you said, but you're worried that's taking away from the work you do," Clark said. "I guess I'm wondering if there isn't a way a smart guy like you can use that celebrity to his advantage. If you think about it, you're the one that media wants, so doesn't that put you in control?"

"Well, I guess," admitted Wally.

'So if you're in control, that means you get to set the rules." Clark continued. "Instead of letting them use you, you turn it around and use them. The media is spinning the story, but can't you spin it too?"

"I never thought about it that way," Wally replied.

"Come on, Wally, who can spin faster than the Fastest Man Alive?"

"That's me! You're right, Clark! Here I've been worried about them turning me into something I wasn't, when I should have been using the free publicity to highlight the causes and charities I care about!' Wally was getting more and more excited by the idea as the moments passed. "If they want to use the Flash for ratings, well, then they'll have to accept the Flash as a celebrity on my terms!"

"And don't forget the side benefits, Wally," Clark said.

"That's right, chicks dig celebrities!" Wally had a huge smile on his face. "I could be a playboy just like Bruce, except I'd actually enjoy it!'

"Well, if you think that would work, Wally," Clark said.

"Of course it would! Sure some of them would be shallow and only care that I'm a celebrity, but hey, everything has a trade off!"

"Sounds like a plan to me."

"Oh, this is going to be good," Wally said. "I'll be the next Hugh Hefner!"

"That might be taking it a little overboard, Wally." Clark warning, starting to get a little worried about what he might have unleashed.

"Don't be ridiculous, what could go wrong? Too bad you've already got a hot girlfriend in Zatanna, Clark. Can you just imagine the action The Flash and Superman could get? It's breathtaking to consider."

"You know, hooking up with random women wasn't really what I was trying to say," Clark replied. If Wally heard him, he wasn't paying attention, as visions of his possible future ran through his mind.

"Think of it, this could be the best year of my life! Thanks, Big Blue, you really cleared things up for me!"

Before Clark could reply, Wally was already gone from the room.

"That can't end well," Clark thought to himself.

Kingsport, Massachusetts

Where Kingsport had always stood, now there was nothing, just the barren hills and empty valley that led to the shore. Even the roads stopped before they reach it. Dark clouds hung overhead, adding to the grim, foreboding feel of the place. Lightening struck in what used to be the center of town and then the air began to change. At first it was only a whisper, but as the moments passed it grew and grew. Soon the air was filled with the sounds of screams. The very fabric of space began to ripple, as the screams grew louder. At first only a ghostly image of the town began to appear, but it became clearer with each passing second. Nightmarish screams and cries became deafening as the town began to reappear. Nathan was once again on the hilltop looking down at the town. He had transported the town and all it's inhabitants through several grisly macabre realms twisting it out of all known shape. The soldiers had gone about their work with deadly precision. Now the town was back, yet everywhere the telltale signs of the dark havoc he'd unleashed were apparent. The soldiers began to slither back up the hill, their evil work done for today. A cold dead smile came to Nathan's face as he gazed down at the town. Blood was everywhere. The few survivors no longer resembled anything that could be considered human. Their bloodcurdling wails and lamentations filled the air, bringing a cold satisfaction to Nathan's heart. In the next moment he vanished, taking the soldiers with him. In his wake, the unearthly ruin of a small town.

The Watchtower

Wally was sitting with Shayera in the cafeteria telling her all about his new plans. She had a highly skeptical look on her face, but it did nothing to deflate Wally's enthusiasm. Diana walked into the cafeteria and looked around in frustration. She moved over to their table.

"Have either of you seen Kal,' she asked.

"Not recently," Shayera replied.

"Why," Wally said, avoiding the question.

"He's escaped from the infirmary. I turned my back for a minute and he's gone." Diana crossed her arms in frustration.

"Maybe he was just bored and decided to stretch his legs," Wally offered.

"He's injured, he should be in bed," Diana countered.

"He is Superman, Diana, it's not like he's going to disappear," Shayera said.

"Still."

"He's probably just getting some fresh air, Diana," Wally said. "I'm sure being cooped up in sickbay was getting to him."

Diana seemed to consider this for a moment.

"I suppose."

"I wouldn't worry," Shayera said to her. Something else that Kal had said came back to Diana at that moment.

"Wally, can I ask you a question?"

Wally looked up at her nervously.

"I guess," he said tentatively.

"You are up on the current vernacular, aren't you?"

"I suppose, why?"

"What is a tramp stamp," Diana asked. Shayera spit out her coffee at hearing this. Wally shifted nervously in his chair, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

"Is-Is this some-some kind of test, Diana," he nervously asked. Shayera brought her hand up to cover her mouth trying to stifle her laughter.

"No, someone suggested I would look good with one. I just wondered what it was," Diana informed them seriously.

"Someone-Someone said that to you," Shayera managed to say.

"Yes, why? What does it mean, Wally?"

"Isn't there someone else you could ask, Diana? Bruce perhaps?" Wally practically begged.

"He's left for Gotham," she replied. 'Why? What aren't you telling me?"

"Go ahead, Wally, tell her," Shayera said, a huge grin on her face.

"Promise not to get mad at me," Wally asked.

"Very well, yes, I promise," Diana said in frustration.

"Okay, well, um, ah, a tramp stamp is-is a tattoo," Wally said.

"I'm aware of that much, Wally," Diana said with annoyance.

"All right, here goes," Wally said, taking a deep breath. "A tramp stamp is a tattoo located above a woman's ass."

"Strippers commonly have them," Shayera added.

"So it's sort of a compliment if you think about it, Diana," Wally offered. "Strippers are usually really good looking and hot. At least, that's what I hear."

Diana stood there for a moment, not uttering a word. Shayera and Wally looked at her nervously, afraid she was going to explode. He practically flinched when he saw her clench and unclench her fists. The anger was plain on her face, yet she didn't say anything for a moment.

"I see," she finally said, her voice very quiet. "If you'll excuse me, I need to speak with someone right away."

Diana turned and stormed out of the cafeteria.

"Kal!" Her voice could be heard all over the station.

"I guess it's a good thing he's already in the infirmary," Wally offered.

"Yeah, once those big hands of hers gets a hold of him, he's going to need medical attention," Shayera added.

"She would look smoking hot with a tramp stamp though, got to agree with Big Blue on that," Wally offered. Shayera just looked at him in wonder.