Chapter 13: The Veil
Oliver had stood up and was absently tapping his report binder with a pen. Zatanna couldn't resist. "Oy! Pay attention, yeh?" She said as she snapped her fingers and a partially filled wastebasket jumped up and smacked Oliver in the backside.
Chloe cracked up, but Clark was all seriousness. His stoic face lost in thought. "I'll wear the helmet." He suddenly volunteered. "No way, Clark!" Chloe snapped. "We know that your alien brain is hardwired differently than ours. What if it damages your mind, or you damage it?"
"We'll have to take that chance." Clark decided. "Oliver, let's call the team together." Oliver hesitated. "Whoa! Hold on there, cowboy! We can't have you with your super powered abilities, going rogue on us." He protested. "We'll have to let somebody with no extraordinary abilities at all wear it. That way if it all goes bad on us, we still have a chance of stopping it."
"Remember how many of us it took to subdue Icicle?" Oliver recalled. "And he was a psychopathic idiot." Zatanna was growing impatient. "Hello! World ending apocalypse coming…are we done debating who gets to play hero?" She asked sarcastically.
"Fine. Next stop, the JLA Brownstone." Clark finally gave in. "Thank you." Zatanna sighed. Just then, the nearest two monitors beeped to life. "Incoming…" Chloe announced. Bart and Dinah had just checked in. "Buenos Dias!" Bart's smiling face appeared on the first view screen. In the background, two tan women in bikinis volleyed a ball across the net.
"Impulse!" Oliver smirked. "Keeping out of trouble?" Bart chuckled. "Absolutely no chance of that, amigo." He playfully boasted. "Check this out!" Bart bared his arm, displaying a gold lightning bolt tattoo. "I'm in Cancun, being rude, screwed, and tattooed."
"Colorful imagery." Chloe remarked as Zatanna grinned. "Is that the big Zee behind you, Watchtower?" Bart pressed his face against the miniature camera lens in the Com link watch Oliver had given everyone on the team. "Hey Impulse, what's going on?" Zatanna snickered. "Not too much, but you can cast a spell on me any day!" Bart flirted.
Dinah chimed in next. "Canary here. Watchtower, we have a problem." She announced seriously. "Why am I not surprised?" Oliver grumbled. "What's the sitch, Canary?" He asked, stepping quickly away from Chloe and Zatanna, to face the monitor alone.
"Something described as a large creature with the head of a snake and the body of a leopard just attacked a village outside of Buenos Aires." Dinah informed them. "No one was killed, but many villagers were injured. It basically scared everyone half to death. Care to shed some light on this critter?" Zatanna whistled. "That sounds like a Questing Beast." She remarked.
"A what?" Dinah scowled. "In Arthurian legend, the Questing Beast is an evil creature matching that description. It's usually brought to life by a powerful sorcerer or sorceress." Zatanna explained as Dinah gawked. "A mythological creature is alive and well in South America?" She sounded skeptical. "It's begun." Zatanna frowned. "The creatures are coming through the Veil."
"The Veil?" Dinah echoed. "Can the creature be killed?" Zatanna shook her head. "No. Only magical weapons or a sorcerer can defeat it. What's more, we mustn't kill it."
Clark's eyes widened. "Mustn't kill it?" He repeated. "No. The Questing Beast must be sent back through the Veil. The human world can't know of it, or any magical creatures." Zatanna replied.
"We're supposed to find this beast and ask it nicely to go home?" Impulse quipped.
"Something like that." Zatanna confirmed. "The Questing Beast has a purpose in the magical realm. Under the right control, it hunts down dark magic and can kill any users. Think of it as a predator versus prey type of thing. The Questing Beast keeps the population of dark magic users down to a balance. That being said, it certainly doesn't belong in this realm."
The next monitor beeped. Chloe quickly snapped it on. "It's AC!" She told everyone. "Aquaman here. Watchtower, I don't know how to explain this, but a fifty foot winged serpent just tore up the area near a breakwater off the coast of Florida. No one was killed, but some people were injured, and sis' it made a mess!" AC explained.
"That's a Quetzalcoatl!" Zatanna contributed. "It was revered as a God by the ancient Toltec of Mexico." AC gawked at her through the monitor. "Is it dangerous?" He wondered aloud. "Not likely." Zatanna continued. "It may be confused, lost from its natural habitat in the magic realm. Where is it now?" AC shrugged. "It ate a speedboat and headed for deeper water."
"Probably got an upset stomach." Chloe joked. "Maybe it went out to deeper water to purge." AC grinned thinly. "Okay, that is not a pretty picture." Chloe said. "We'd better get moving." Clark urged. The next monitor beeped to life. "Now what?" Oliver scowled.
"Gold Wing here." Laura's masked face appeared on the screen. "Don't tell me, let me guess. Bigfoot just stomped his way through a Seven Eleven in Nebraska." Chloe responded cynically. "Not quite, Watchtower, but a twenty foot golden brown creature with the body of a lion, and the head and wings of an eagle just flew over some of the locals' farm fields."
"That would be a Griffin." Zatanna sighed tiredly. "Okay, well, your Griffin just picked up a couple of cattle for lunch." Laura's voice dripped with sarcasm. "It's not my Griffin." Zatanna playfully defended. "Whatever!" Gold Wing frowned. "No one was injured, but a couple of farmers want an explanation. Care to enlighten me?"
"No time, Gold Wing." Chloe said with urgency. "Can you pick up the trail of the Griffin?" Laura nodded. "Yup. I'll just follow the cattle pieces that it didn't like." Gold Wing offered. "Ew!" Zatanna commented. "Gold Wing, do not kill the Griffin. Repeat, do not kill the Griffin." She ordered. "Am I supposed to keep it as a pet?" Laura asked cynically.
"No. Just trust us." Clark put in. "We need to get the Griffin, and the rest of the creatures back to where they belong." Laura stood with her hands on her shapely hips. "Where did they come from anyway, the zoo from hell?" Zatanna smirked. "That's actually pretty close." She commented.
"Everyone keep in contact, and track your creatures." Oliver directed. "Arrow out." The screens went dark, and Clark turned towards Zatanna. "Let's get that Veil closed." He urged. "Yes, after we collect all the creatures, and Clark, there are worse things in the magical realm besides Griffins, Sea Serpents, and Questing Beasts." Zatanna added. "Terrific!" Oliver snarled.
"Great! I'll teleport us all over to the JLA HQ." Zatanna offered, extending her arms. "No! No! Chloe and I will take a car if you don't mind." Oliver hesitated. "I've had enough with magic for today." Chloe was puzzled. "Shouldn't I stay here and monitor the creature chases?"
"Nope, Chlo'." Oliver decided. "We can do it remotely with this." He said, handing her a small credit card sized device. "This is the latest in Queen Industries Tech. Think of it as a Raspberry with a thousand times more power." Chloe's eyes lit up. "Ooh! I love power tech." She took the device from Oliver's hand. "We need to get you out of the office more." He added playfully.
"Suit yourselves." Zatanna said, disappearing in a wisp of greenish blue smoke. Clark hyper sped away, arriving at the JLA Brownstone seconds before Zatanna. Chloe and Oliver hopped into an orange Lotus sports car and zipped down the street.
"Carter?" Clark called as he entered the dimly lit building. The JLA Museum pieces had been restored with care. "Carter?" Zatanna echoed, quickly spying the golden Helmet of Naboo. "What the hell do you want?" Carter's deep, gruff, voice resounded through the museum hallway.
"Sorry to bother you, but we need the Helmet of Naboo." Clark began politely. "Do you, now?" Carter snarled, checking out the leggy Zatanna as he walked over to Clark. "No!" Carter snapped. Clark scowled. Had Carter gone over the edge?
"No? What do you mean, no?" Zatanna hissed. "We need it to close…" Carter growled. "I know why you need it." He cut her off. "Can we please get this straightened out?" Clark pleaded. "First off, who will wear it?" Carter began, as he stalked towards one of the display cases.
"I said that I will." Clark stated boldly. "An alien?" Carter snickered. "You should talk, Carter!" Zatanna snapped. "No. The Helmet of Naboo must be worn by someone with scientific training." Carter insisted. "We're aware of the rule, but this is an exception." Clark said calmly.
"There are no exceptions." Carter bellowed. "Why are you being so obstinate?" Zatanna argued. "I could turn you into a toad, and then where will you be?" Carter chuckled. "Go for it, sweetie!" He had called Zatanna's bluff. "Hello?" Oliver and Chloe had arrived.
"Well if it ain't the Green Pumpkin!" Carter razzed Ollie. "Watchtower! It's good to meet you face to face again." He beckoned Chloe closer to him. Clark and Zatanna were growing frustrated. "Carter, please! This is important!" Clark continued to work on Hawkman.
"How important?" Carter toyed with them. "Hello! End of the world important!" Zatanna yelled. "Is she always this noisy?" Carter asked Chloe, who remained silent. "Carter, be reasonable!" Zatanna lowered her tone. "I could always have Clark pound it out of you, and take the Helmet."
"Ha! He could try!" Carter scoffed. "Space boy doesn't have the stones!" Oliver pointed a finger at Carter. "You want something!" Hawkman laughed gruffly. "Very good, green bean, there may be hope for you yet." He coughed. "What do you want? Money? A new car? A night on the town?" Oliver ticked off some temptations.
"No. None of that." Carter was more serious. "Something more valuable than all of that. Something that you can't possibly understand." Clark was beginning to get his drift. "Chloe! You must wear the Helmet." Carter suddenly instructed. "You alone can push back the invisible curtain of the Veil. There are more than just magical creatures on the other side…"
Carter's hint unnerved Clark. "I'll do it." Chloe stepped forward, within grabbing distance of Carter and the Helmet. "Good! Here!"
Hawkman quickly removed the glass top from the case that held the magical golden helmet. "That's it?" Zatanna asked incredulously.
"You, more than anyone else, know that there is always a price to pay for magic." Carter threatened. "No! I don't like this, Carter!" Clark argued. "Well, what would you like, Boy Scout?" Hawkman challenged. Chloe hesitated before taking the golden helmet. "Do I put it on, now?" Chloe asked nervously, retracting her hands.
"You fear it! That's good!" Carter observed. "No, Chloe, you should limit your exposure to the helmet as much as possible. This is your responsibility alone, can you handle it?" Hawkman asked the required question. "Yes." Chloe said bravely.
Carter handed her the Helmet of Naboo. Chloe gingerly took it, feeling its power start to course through the air around them. A brilliant blue light shone beneath the helmet. "One more thing, Chloe." Carter began. "Only you must say these sacred words to activate the helmet, otherwise it's merely gaudy ornamentation." He instructed.
Hawkman bent down close to Chloe's ear. "Wait a minute!" Carter gestured at Clark. "That goes for you, too, aerial ears." Clark scowled. "What if something, gods forbid, happens to Chloe before she can close the Veil? Shouldn't somebody else know the words?" He argued.
"Well, I guess that you'd better not let anything happen to her, Boy Scout." Hawkman snarled. "That goes for all of you. This must not fail." Carter whispered the phrase to Chloe. The helmet's light brightened considerably. Clark only heard part of the phrase, which meant nothing to him.
"What's that mean?" Chloe asked, repeating the strange words in her mind. "Beats me." Carter admitted. "It must be some ritualistic mumbo jumbo, yet that's exactly the way Kent Nelson said the words." Oliver rolled his eyes. "Are you sure about the pronunciation?"
"Yes, green jeans, I am." Carter smirked. "Now you must take Chloe and the helmet to the deserts outside of Las Vegas, Nevada." Zatanna's eyebrows went up. "Sin City? Why?" She inquired. "Because that's where the Veil can become visible. There also would be very few, if any, witnesses." Carter replied.
Zatanna sighed tiredly. "Come on! We still have to gather the escaped creatures!" She urged. "Thanks, Carter." Clark said without much enthusiasm. "I'm going with." Hawkman decided. "You're going to need all the help you can get to clean up this mess."
"Which reminds me…" Oliver scoffed. "How are we going to get these beasts, especially the fifty foot sea serpent to a desert near Vegas?" Zatanna chuckled. "Simple! We use magic!"
Clark frowned as his cell phone rang. "Lois!" He said to no one in particular. "Ignore her!" Carter instructed. "No! No way! Not this time!" Clark stated boldly. Chloe and Oliver exchanged glances as Zatanna shrugged.