A/N: Hello there and welcome to another chapter of The Chimera! I think you'll enjoy this one because guess what? New Alien Unlock!
And now, onto the reviews!
Death Fury: I posted a list of the Alien's names a few chapters ago. There's only one change since them, but it's a good place to start with regardless.
Red Eyes. B God: Thank you. Little comments like that make my day.
Mount Justice
August 19th, 2010 19:39 EDT
It's just about an hour past sunrise in Happy Harbor, which means it's the perfect time for Connor and Kaldur to fight me two on one. While they may have the advantages of numbers and stamina (A combination of a three hour time difference, 4 hours of sleep and two cups of caffeinated tea really does a number on you like you wouldn't believe), I have the advantage of raw power thanks to-you guessed it-the Omnitrix.
Officiate: Combat Training. 3, 2, 1
On 1, I push the Omnitrix core down and I turn into Solarion just as my opponents charge at me. Immediately catching their punches, I throw a jab at Connor, strong enough to bypass his invulnerability but not enough to break his bones. After that, I use my lungs to simulate the conditions for the Joule-Thomson effect, and with that, I fire a gust of Super-breath to push Kaldur and slam him onto the ground before doing a piledriver to put the hurt on him. A sonic clap to stun Connor and a backhand to knock out Kaldur is all I need to turn the fight to my advantage. Just as I get ready to punch Connor down, he trips me up before throwing me on the floor, winning the match for his team.
"Black Canary taught me that." Connor boasts, smirking at me and holding his hand.
I take his hand and I smirk, glad that he's learning something from basic martial arts with her, even if nothing's really coming out of his arranged additional lessons with Wonder Woman other than strength control.
Kaldur walks up to me and asks "How did you manage to weaponize your breath?"
I rub my hands together. "The Joule-Thomson effect. Fascinating what one can do when they bother to study up on science, isn't it?"
Suddenly, the hatch to Red Tornado's private quarters opens, and Red Tornado flies down before walking away. Wally zooms up to our android supervisor and asks the question that's on all of our minds: "Do you have a mission for us?"
"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility." Red Tornado reprimands us, only to get a stern look from all of us. Frankly, I'm in need of punching some people, preferably criminals, and I'm still off from public patrols thanks to the US Senate turned international hearings regarding CheMystery (though I'm hearing it's wrapping up in a few days in my favor). Beating up corrupt military to successfully clear Captain Atom's name isn't a good way to deal with that impulse.
"Yeah, well, the Batman's with the Robin doing the whole dynamic duo thing in Gotham. But you're headed somewhere, right? Hot date? Or a mission?" Wally nudges Red Tornado.
I speak up. "If you have anything on your mind, just tell us. After all, communication solves all problems. I should know, I'm speaking from experience."
Red Tornado does the keyboard summoning motion and types something, pulling up a photo of a grey haired gentleman in a suit and with a cane. Surrounding the picture is a basic bio, a globe detailing last known locations, and health information.
"This is Kent Nelson, a friend. He is 106 years old." Said photo makes him out to be late 60s at most, which Wally picks up and whispers to Artemis "Guy doesn't look a day over 90."
Red Tornado drops the bombshell. "And he has been missing for 23 days. He was a charter member of the Justice Society, the precursor to your mentors' Justice League." The image shifts to that of Doctor Fate, a figure clad in black and gold with the most distintive feature being his helm.
Kaldur looks up to the photo in awe and recognition. "Of course! Nelson was Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. He was Doctor Fate!" Gods, what about Zatara? Why isn't he Earth's Sorcerer Supreme? No wait, that's Zatanna. Nevermind.
Wally snorts in disbelief. "More like Doctor Fake! Guy knows a little advanced science and Dumbledores it up to scare the bad guys and impress the babes!" I suppress a shudder at the Harry Potter reference. I'm not getting into my opinions on why I disagree with JK Rowling's desire to unnecesscarily retcon everything to seem more inclusive, not to mention… Cursed Child.
Red Tornado concludes his statement. "Kent may simply be on one of his… walkabouts. But he is caretaker to the Helmet of Fate, the source of the Doctor's mystic might and it is unwise to leave such power unguarded." Ah, I think we got that from 'caretaker to the Helmet of Fate'. Thank you, Captain Obvious.
M'gann speaks up. "He's like the great sorcerer priest and priestesses of Mars. I would be honored to help find him." Huh, Mars has magic? That's interesting.
Sensing that Wally's about to do something stupid, I decide to jump right in. "Martian magic, huh? Didn't know you were the superstitious type M'gann."
M'gann beams. "Oh, it's not really superstition. On Mars, we have this god H'rommer, and it's stated that he's the reason why we're cursed to not be able to withstand flames after he saw the destruction our ancestors caused." M'gann turns a bit depressed, as if she's ashamed of what she had to say. "Many of the more fanatical Martians have sacrified themselves in his name to summon his plague, only to fail thanks to the Justice League interfering three years ago."
After hearing the first bit, I swear violently in my head. Did the Guardians probably make a religion to cover up their brainwashing of the Martian species? No, I take it back. They definitely made a religion to cover it up. It sounds a lot like what they would do given the situation. On the other hand, I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
"Wow. I did not know that Martians had death cults." Wally comments, a bit horrified at the prospect. And who wouldn't be?
"We're a lot like humans in many ways. In fact, we share many concepts with you." I note that 'Including discrimination' is not something that M'gann states.
Before we dive deeper into the interesting yet disturbing rabbit hole that is Martian mysticism, Red Tornado holds a very strange looking key, pulling it out from somewhere. "Take this. It is the key to the Tower of Fate."
I grab the key and put it in my pants pocket. "I'll make sure that we won't lose it. Anything else we should note?"
"Just that should you visit the Tower of Fate, make sure to note that it has some esoteric security systems in place." Red Tornado warns, no doubt speaking from either experience or the stories he's heard.
I nod. "Understood." And with that, we all head down to the hangar to enter the Bioship.
After getting into the Bioship, we fly straight to Salem, Massachusetts where I sleep for the entirety of the trip. I remember that the last time I was told to go here before the whole Chimera mess, it was for a conference about the Future of Medicine that I had no qualifications for since I was in high school at the time. I ended up ghosting it without even arriving in the state it was held in. Long story short, money issues and a lack of available parental supervision made it unfeasible.
I get shaken awake by Artemis, who nods to the open door. "So, sleepyhead, care to join us?"
"Of course!" I respond in my hammiest voice possible, much to most of the Team's amusement.
"...Y'know what? I'm not even gonna ask about your references." Artemis shakes her head.
"Good. My references are so odd that the League has taken to using them as a secret code system." I tell Artemis, suppressing a grin on my face.
"Really?" Artemis questions, skeptical.
"No." At this point, I just give in to the growing thought to grin. "That was just to mess with you."
"Son of a-" Artemis swears, only to be interrupted by a yell.
"Enough! Wally, search the area. Zeke, Artemis, quit your bickering."
Kaldur-or is it Aqualad?-orders, to which I respond with a quiet and quick salute. Wally runs off, while I set the Omnitrix to scan for foreign technology signatures. After a few seconds, Wally comes back and I get results from the scan.
"Nothing. This isn't simple camouflage." Wally reports.
"So, what do you think? Adaptive micro-optoelectronics combined with phase shifting?" Artemis questions smug, presumably to see if Wally's going to shoot himself in the foot to impress M'gann.
Before Wally can say anything, I check the results and I get a stream of information. "Yep. According to this, the technology present here is human made, but the specific designs, materials involved and components used indicate that whoever made this must either have some extraterresialbacking behind them or is a time traveller from several centuries in the future." I inform Kaldur before muttering "More than likely, it's both."
"How advanced is this technology if you feel the need to make that statement?" Kaldur asks.
"Lexcorp would require half a dozen centuries at most before they even realize how to make identical replicas if they felt that they didn't need any sort of outside help from time travellers or aliens." I truthfully reply. Afterall, Kadabra's from the relatively far future, so tech like that is insane. And let's not even get into the clusterfuck that is the 853rd Century.
"That raises cause for concerns. Kid Flash, do you think that Abra Kadabra is behind this?" Aqualad- I'm guessing shit has hit the fan now so we're going to call it a mission-asks.
Kid Flash strokes his chin. "I'd say he's involved but not the mastermind. He's not one for plots like this." Given that the most advanced plot I've seen from Kadabra was an overglorified revenge scheme against a recently freed from the Speed Force Wally, he needs somebody to do strategizing.
Artemis turns to me. "Abra Kadabra?" She asks. I'm not surprised, given his relative lack of infamy when compared to the Rouges, Central City's own mafia equivalent.
"A time traveller who went back in time from the 64th century to become a stage magician only to turn to crime because the Flash-the second one-kept upstaging him without intending to." I say in as monotone a voice that I can.
Artemis looks at me like I've grown a second head. "Yeah, that was my reaction too." Not to mention the Justice League's once I inform them of that fact during one of my interview sessions. Apparently, Abra's claims of being a time traveller were debunked due to a lack of proof in this universe.
"Enough. We need to enter the Tower of Fate to make sure the Helmet is secure." And with that, Aqualad holds out the key and walks up to an empty space. All of a sudden, the key enters a keyhole and an old timey tower just appears.
While everybody else just stands there in shock, I just go 'Huh, that's neat.' After all, I've had to reevaluate existence and my position in it. A tower with a vanishing trick is nothing compared to being thrown into an alternate reality with actual superheroes having nothing in your possession besides your pyjamas and one of the most powerful devices in all of reality.
We enter the door, and hear it slam. As the Omnitrix starts glowing pink (Goddamned magic making life difficult, that mode should only happen under direct magical attacks unless there's a magical aura preventing the operation of really complex useful technology), Superboy asks "Uhhh…. Where'd the door go?"
A golden hologram of Kent Nelson appears. "Greetings. You have entered with a key, but the Tower does not recognize you. Please state your purpose and intent." It demands in a booming voice.
Before I can say anything, Kid Flash walks up and begins in a theatrical voice. "We are true believers, here to find Doctor Fate!" God, does Wally have a bit of an ego problem in this universe?
A look of utter contempt appears on the hologram, before it disappears and the floor crumbles, revealing a pit of lava that we all fall into. I glance at the Omnitrix, seeing that it's still pink, before I open my mouth and scream out in rage, swearing out Kid Flash.
Artemis brings up a grappling hook, fires it, and swings in a direction to catch me, Miss Martian flies with Kid Flash, and Superboy flies, grabbing Aqualad and avoidng the lava.
Artemis glares at me. "Why haven't you transformed yet?!"
I look at her calmly, holding back some anger at Kid Flash's idiocy. "The Tower has placed some sort of spell on the Omnitrix. As a result, the Omnitrix is offline until the spell clears."
"Can't you do a manual reset?" She asks, frustrated at the whole situation
I shake my head, remembering Azmuth's crazy ideas for failsafes being often detrimental for the user's continued safety. "Nope. The complete shutdown of the Omnitrix until the magic clears up is a failsafe, ironically enough. Yes, I am aware it's a stupid design flaw, but Azmuth-the creator of the Omnitrix-can be best described as lacking common sense, irritating and semijustifiably narcissistic."
It's at this point Miss Martian yells out. "Having trouble-" Miss Martian nearly loses control for a bit, but catches herself. "-maintaing attitude. I'm so hot!" She says, wiping sweat away.
"You certainly are!" Kid flirtaceously compliments.
"WALLY!" Artemis and I yell, frustrated at his antics.
"Hey! Inches above sizzling death, I'm entitled to SPEAK MY MIND!" Kid Flash yells back. I shake my head. God, can't he drop his flirting tendencies for potential life and death situations?
As Aqualad points out the situation, Miss Martian facepalms. "Hello, Megan! We never answered the question." before moving her free hand to the side of the mouth and yelling "RED TORNADO SENT US to see if Mr. Nelson and the Helmet of Fate were safe!"
The lava pit closes up and we land, with Aqualad touching the platform. "This platform… it should be red hot, but it is cool to the touch."
I sigh. "That's magic for you. Thank whatever random omnipotent being that I ended up with the Omnitrix instead of it. That's cause for concern."
And with that, I hear a beep and "Necrofriggian Sample Unlocked" from the Omnitrix. Looking at it, I see the usual circle with alien faces for form selection, but I see I have a new addition: A mothlike head, representing a Necrofriggian. It has its uses, but I wish I got something more appropriate for combating magic, currently my biggest weakness with mental attacks being the second. "Great, a new alien form. Of course I get a new one now of all times."
Seeing that wondering why I got a new alien three months after the Omnitrix won't get me anywhere, I decide to break up the nearby argument before it's too late, only to fail, hearing "Fine, Fine! I lied about believing in magic, but magic is the real lie! A major load!" come from Kid after Miss Martian questioning him about his beliefs, much to everyone else's frustration.
Aqualad begins one of his 'Shakespearian' monolouges. "Wally, I studied for a year at the Conservatory of Sorcery at Atlantis. The Mystic Arts created the skin icons that power my water bearers."
Kid Flash dismisses it with a condescending "Dude, have you ever heard about bioelectricity? Hey, in primitive cultures, fire was once considered magic too! Today it's all a bunch of tricks!"
"You're pretty close minded for someone who can break the sound barrier in his sneakers!" Artemis points out.
"That's science! I recreated Flash's laboratory experiment and here I am! Everything can be explained by science!" Kid Flash points out.
A smug (well, as smug as a stoic man can be) Aqualad announces. "Let us test that theory." before starting to open a hatch.
"Wait! The backdraft from the lava will roast us alive!" Kid Flash stresses.
The hatch opens, and a flurry of snow falls. Artemis smirks, much to Kid Flash's chargin. "Do you ever get tired of being wrong?"
I turn to the Team. "Alright, let's not waste any more time here. We have to go now if we need to check up on Kent Nelson."
Everybody agrees, and I jump into the hatch. The rest of the Team follows me and we all land on our feet in a winter wonderland after falling from the left.
The hatch glows yellow before closing, much to my annoyance. This would be so much easier if we didn't have to deal with M.C Esher levels of architecture. Why must magical places be so fucky with local spacetime?
Overhearing Artemis asking Kid Flash for an explanation, I sigh. Kid's gonna assume science is at play here, isn't he?
"Ever hear of String Theory? We're in a pocket dimension." Kid Flash smugly rationalizes. I hate it when I'm right. Continuing the neverending torrid love affair between face and palm, I ask in as passive aggressive tone as I could "Then where would the equipment necessary for making the pocket dimension be if it isn't under superheated lava?"
As Kid Flash looks at me for ruining his beliefs that Doctor Fate is the embodiment of Clarke's Third Law, Artemis grabs a collapsible crossbow from her pocket and knocks some arrows into it while I ready the Omnitrix for transformation into Frostmite.
(I have a list of names to replace the default ones given to the forms. Say what you want about Omnitrix wielders, but making original names for our forms, on average, aren't our strong suit. And yes, I'm including myself in the average.)
Miss Martian turns to the left and points. "What's that?" 'That' being Nelson's cane, frozen at the end.
"Oooh, maybe it's Nelson's magic wand." Kid Flash sarcastically points out.
Before anyone else can react, both Artemis and Kid Flash run up and grab the cane. "I got it!" The cane glows gold. "Ugh, I can't let go!" They talk in sync before screaming as the cane flies into the winter sky before suddenly disappearing, taking the speedster and archer from us.
Aqualad, Superboy, Miss Martian and I take a look at each other before Aqualad takes charge. "We must make sure that we find Mr. Nelson and our teammates-our friends- before something horrible befells them."
"'Befell'? Who says befell in this day and age?" I ask the thin air.
"Apparently, Atlanteans." Superboy replies matter of factly.
I stare blankly at Superboy. "...That was a rhetorical question."
Superboy rubs the back of his head. "Oh. Sorry for answering."
"It's okay." I reply. "You just need to know how to socialize a bit more."
"I know. I just wish I met people outside of Superboy, you know?" Something about that resonates inside of me as Superboy frowns.
"Don't worry about the future, worry about the present." I wisely inform Superboy. It's a life lesson I picked up in high school. Which he'll be going to with Miss Martian in a few months.
We walk in silence across the arctic wasteland for a few minutes before Miss Martian speaks up. "I don't understand Wally. It's almost like he needs to believe the impossible can't happen."
Aqualad immediately comes up with a reply. "Wally uses his understanding of science to control what he cannot comprehend. Acknowledging the existence of magic would be to relinquish the last vestige of control."
"Not to mention, Wally is -and will always be- a scientist at heart. He doesn't want to believe magic exists because it goes against everything that he knows about life, the universe and everything." I add in.
Before we discuss the topic further, we see a doorway with stairs on a nearby mountain. Rushing towards it, I ready the Omnitrix just in case something happens. We enter the doorway, and we see a bar full of magic users of all shapes and sizes. I blink, trying to process it.
From the faces I recognize, I see Detective Chimp, Ragman, a hungover and unconscious John Constantine, Nightshade, Witchfire (looking like her Earth-27 self), Jason Blood, Lucifer Morningstar manning the bar, Rose Psychic, Traci 13, June Moore or Enchantress (whoever's in control is something I don't know right now and frankly, I don't care nor do I have the guts to find out) and other, unrecognizable faces from the magical community.
Without a word said, everybody stops what they're doing and turns to us. In unison. I shudder at the unexpected creep factor, and I suspect I'm not the only one of the team to do so from the sounds I hear.
"Hey, who let some new kids in here? They aren't even of age!" A Boston-accented voice -Detective Chimp- calls out.
"Don't know, but they're interrupting my drinking time." A sultry Irish female voice -Witchfire- complains.
"Well, let's see what they want." A british voice -either Lucifer or Jason Blood - replies. Suddenly, a redhead with a white streak in his hair in glasses and a leather jacket, red shirt and jeans comes up. "Hello there, my name is Jason Blood. Before I can help you, may I ask why that fellow-" 'that fellow' being me, I bitterly note "-has such a weak soul? Honestly, it's only good enough for token magic resistance, nothing more, nothing less." Wow, way to insult me to my face even if it's accidential.
I shrug. "I'm from a universe without any sort of magic as far as I can tell. All I can assume is that whatever random omnipotent bastard who took me from my home gave me enough of a soul to resist magic at it's most basic level. Now then, two things: How can we get back to the Tower of Fate since we entered The Oblivion Bar from there and is somebody willing to help us?"
Jason Blood grimaces. "For the first question, you merely turn back the way you came, and you'll end up in whatever room in the Tower of Fate that you'll need to be in. For the second, I'm afraid not. It's not because nobody's willing to help, it's because nobody's able to help. The Tower of Fate is immensely well-guarded against all forced mystic intrustion, which any of us uninvited patrons count as because we aren't invited by Nabu or the current holder of his helm."
I pout a bit, disappointed at how we're not likely to get some good magical backup against the intruders. "Well, that's a shame. Anyways, thanks for your help."
Jason Blood holds his hand out, and I shake it. "It wasn't a problem whatsoever."
We all head back to the door, and we find ourselves in a room full of doors. Aqualad turns to us. "Where do you think we should go?"
"Knowing our luck and the Tower's weird TARDISesque nature, the first door we enter is the one that will take us where we'll need to be." And with that, I walk up to the first door and open it. Ah, life. So predictable and unpredictable simultaneously.
I walk in it, and the ground breaks my fall, I break Aqualad's fall, and Miss Martian and Superboy just levitate, slowly falling before landing.
"Friends of yours?" A voice that literally screams 'cool old guy' asks. I assume given our relative location, that would be the presumed missing, actually kidnapped Kent Nelson. Looking at him, I see that he's exactly as the picture looks: A tall grey haired Caucasian man in one hell of a nice suit with a cane.
Suddenly, a lightning bolt attacks Kent, who's pushed out of the way thanks to Kid Flash and his quick reflexes. "Friends of yours?"
Turning to the direction of the bolts, I see a stereotypical handsome magician (I'm aware that 'stereotypical' and 'handsome' shouldn't belong in the same sentence) who I presume is Abra Kadabra and a kid in an old timey school uniform with a orange cat who I'm pegging as Klarion the Witch Boy (and I'm guessing that he's a] The mastermind behind this plot since there's nobody more… capable that I can see and b] more dangerous than he appears {I read less than a dozen issues with him in it. More specifically, the whole Injustice League Dark bit}).
As the Team dodges lightning bolts, Artemis walks up to Kent Nelson, who rings a clocktower bell that glows before walking into it. Klarion flies to said bell, leaving me, Aqualad, Superboy, Kid Flash and Miss Martian against Abra Kadabra. "Now,-" he says in that pseudo Italian accent of his, you never know with time travellers from centuries in the future "it's showtime!"
With that, he pulls out a deck of cards and Aqualad jumps out of the way only to get cut. I select the Necrofriggian sample seeing there's no better way to blindside my opponent, and I activate the Omnitrix. Wings and antenna grow out of my back in a poncho style, my skin grows blue fur with ice colored patterns, my head becomes more like a moth's, my ten toes turn into two with an extra toe protruding from my ankles, my body becomes more skeletal in figure and my internal organs shift into something capable of inducing phasing and generating ice blasts. Once done, I unfold the wings and antenna before yelling out in that raspy frostbitten voice "Frostmite!"
Superboy tilts his head sideways. "Since when did you get this guy?"
I grumble. I already explained this, but did he not hear me or the Omnitrix? "When Kid Flash fucked up the reason why we came here." I hear an indignant "Hey!" from Kid Flash, which I ignore. "Because of that the Omnitrix stopped working due to the presence of a strong magical field and when said field was gone, the Necrofriggian sample was unlocked. The only complaint I have is that I didn't get Aerotise, which is a much more useful form against magic users like Klarion."
Superboy raises an eyebrow. "Aerotise?"
I focus for a bit, trying to recite information from the wiki that I haven't read in a bit. "Geochelone Aerio. Tortise humanoid with wind manipulation and magic immunity, among other physical abilites and air related add ons." I frown. "Guess we can't have fights be too easy for me."
A fireball comes at me, which I ignore by phasing at a level so cold that the fireball just disappears into thin air. "But on the other hand, the cyrokinesis compounded with intangibilty, spaceworthy flight and physical abilities makes this a fight a breeze."
"I was asking why you had names for forms you don't have yet." Superboy clarifies.
I glance at him. "It's to uphold the sacred tradition of Omnitrix users giving their forms pet names."
"Sacred tradition?" Kid asks. I never did inform the others of the standard Omnitrix user habits, did I? Huh, I should get around to doing that.
"The Prime Ben Tennyson often named his forms and yelled out their names when he transformed into them, dropping the second habit after a few years. A majority of other Omnitrix wielders follow those habits, whether intentionally or not." I state.
Abra Kadabra fires a bunch of killer rabbits at us out of a hat, which I stop by generating an ice dome to contain the rabbits. Firing a few ice beams from my hands, I manage to freeze Abra's wand and the hand holding onto it. Abra looks at the hand before swearing me out. "Curse you, Chimera. Without my wand, you win this fight."
"Really? Thanks!" I smirk as best as a Necrofriggian can (which I can assume is disturbing, given Abra's shudder at the sight) at his blunder. Guess Abra's not risking burning or shattering his hand to break free of the ice.
Flying up to Abra, I use the Necrofriggian's natural sharp claws to scratch Abra's chest before freezing the blood from said scratch marks. Generating some ice via my freezing touch to make a gauntlet for my hand, I punch out Abra as my finishing blow. "Why don't you just cool off for a bit?"
…Did I just say the most basic of ice puns? I'm disgusted with myself. Gods, I need a shower to wash the patheticness of that pun off of me. Flying back to the rest, I start to ask if they need help with the rabbits, only to see the ice dome broken and the transformed rabbits back to normal and unconscious.
"So, how long did it take you to deal with all this?" I gesture to the fight scene.
As always, Kid Flash is first with the sarcasm. "Forever." He mouths off.
"Wow, did you not help Superboy at all?" I ask incredulously.
"I ran around, fighting off the killer rabbits." Kid Flash smirks.
I glare at Kid Flash. "So, nothing." Kid may be one of the best CQC fighters when he uses his powers, but he's shit against opponents with insane brute strength like, say, mutated rabbits conjured up from a time traveller from the 64th century with nanotech implants.
Kid Flash sighs. "Fine. I ran around luring the rabbits while Connor punched them."
I cross my arms, trying to look nonchalant and failing because of a Necrofriggian's continuously apathetic face and grin. "See, was it that hard to admit?"
Kid rubs the back of his neck. "No. I just didn't do so because I felt like messing with you."
I cross my arms. "Alright, just this once, I'll let it slide." I reply, and Kid Flash sighs in relief.
"Ahem." We all turn to see Aqualad. "Shouldn't we help Artemis?"
"Sure." I form another ice gauntlet and I punch the bell with it.
We all walk into the bell and we arrive at the top of the tower seeing nothing but Artemis wearing the Helmet of Fate, nothing of her head being seen besides her ears and hair. A long, golden cape with a high collar attached by two buttons to a blue shirt and gold oval in the center. A golden belt holding up deep blue pants and gold boots is all that is required to finish the ensemble.
Another, more worrying sight is the prone and immobile body of Kent Nelson. Rushing up to him, I detransform before I check for his pulse only to hear no pulse whatsoever. Any sort of good ending for this mission is just gone. The JSA remnants are going to be heartbroken. Is this what it feels like to lose so desperately?
I've dealt with death (the concept, not the Endless) before in my months as the Chimera, yes, but… this just hits differently. Maybe it's the familiarity with the deceased? I feel myself hyperventilating. Forcing myself to calm down, I walk up to Doctor Fate/Nabu and I prepare myself for an answer I've been so desperately seeking. "Oh great Nabu, can I ask for your wisdom?"
Nabu stares at me like a scientist through a microscope, a detached observer playing God for the sake of research. "You may."
Here it is. Moment of truth. It's now or never. I'm gonna find out if I can go home again. I clear my throat. "Is there any way that I could return to my home universe, even if I can only stay for a few minutes?"
Somehow, despite the Helmet just blocking Artemis's face, I feel an immense wave of sadness. Nabu hesistates before speaking. "….You cannot. A combination of there being an infinite number of universes in the Omniverse, a lack of information on your desired universe, the Bleed residue being long since gone, and the dangers of large scale multiversial travel makes it very unsafe for most beings to find your universe and travel to it, regardless of their ability."
And with that, I just… break down. My nose clogs up and I feel tears fall. Months after attempts to get answers from whatever mystics and superscientists I was allowed to find and the one who does so was not only found because of coincidence, he just destroys any sort of hope at reuniting with my family rather bluntly.
I just cry. I couldn't save one person, somebody I never met yet and on top of that, I find out I can't go home again. For a hero who comforts people, I can't even comfort myself in my time of need.
Nabu flies down and takes off his (their?) helmet, revealing Artemis. The Team walks up to me and hugs me, which I gratefully accept after telling Connor to knock it off with the enhanced strength through blood curdling screams of pain.
We all stand there in one big hugfest for a few minutes before we decide to break it up and walk down to the Bioship to head back to the Cave.
On the way down, I see Abra Kadabra looking up. He takes one look at me and asks "Aw, is the big bad Chimera sad? I thought you would be better than that." And. I. Just. Snapped.
I grab his frozen hand and I apply all the pressure I can to it in a fit of grief driven rage. It's not until I hear screams of pain and the sound of broken ice hitting the ground that I realize just what I've done. I destroyed Abra's right hand and wand in a fit of rage by crushing it with my bare hands.
Thinking quickly, I transform into Greenhouse and I use my healing abilities to generate a plant based prosthetic for him. It's crude, but it's a hand, it'll fuse with his existing biology and it's linked up to his nervous system via vines, so it's all he needs. After that, I generate some sleeping gas to prevent him from riling me up even more.
Once I'm done, we all take Abra Kadabra and Kent Nelson's body into the Bioship with me detransforming as I do so, heading to the nearest police station to report his death and the capture of a notorious supervillain.
Eventually, after hearing that Kent's being processed for an autopsy before his funeral (leaving everything he owns that isn't related to his role as Doctor Fate divided equally amongst his fellow JSA compatriots according to an officer who knew him well enough to peg us as heroes), we all walk to the Bioship and fly home in silence.
"Soooo….Zeke, how're you doing?" Wally asks, a bit cautiously.
I turn my neck to Wally so fast, I get a headache from it. "Not only did a person we were charged with finding and protecting was killed without most of us being there, I found out that I can't go home again. How the fuck do you think I feel?!" I snap.
Upon realizing what I just said, I take a few deep breaths before continuing, ignoring the stunned looks from the Team. "Sorry, I'm a bit…. moody right now. Just leave me alone for a bit, 'kay?"
Everybody else just nods in agreement quietly, too concerned for my mental health to say anything.
Once we arrive at the Cave, we're greeted by Red Tornado. "Welcome back. How did your expedition go?"
I just grumble angrily for a bit before I head to my quarters in the cave as soon as possible. It's not much, just a bed and some drawers containing changes of clothes that fit me. Perfect for when I'm too tired emotionally or physically to head back to my actual home.
I lie down on my bed, not even bothering to change. About an hour later, I hear a few knocks on the door. "Come in!" I yell.
Hal, wearing his leather jacket, blue jeans, and a mockup of my Chimera T-shirt comes in. "Hey pal, how are you feeling?"
"Shouldn't you know already?" I ask, knowing the answer is 'yes, but I want to hear it from you' or a variation of it.
Hal shrugs his arms. "Well, I want to hear it from you." Called it. God, why is it so easy to read Hal?
I decide to be honest with him. There's no point hiding stuff from him just because he's in charge of me. "Frustrated. Sad. Resigned. Lost."
"Why do you feel those emotions?" I can see Hal's trying to play therapist. Not a good look for him, but I'm willing to comply with this skit.
I decide to be honest with him, given our bond being like family. "Frustrated because I couldn't save Kent Nelson. Sad because I learned I can't access my home universe, and with it, I can't see my family and friends. Resigned because I accept that being the Chimera is pretty much all I have left, and not a lot of things will change that. Lost because I don't know what to do anymore."
Hal sighs. "I think I know how you're feeling. I felt that way when I couldn't save the planet Xanshi from a planet destroying bomb just because I grew cocky after a string of victories."
"So, how did you deal with it?" I ask.
Hal hesitates for a bit, unsure of what to tell me. "It's difficult to say. I might never atone for the destruction of Xanshi, no matter what anybody says, but I dealt with it by making sure that everything I did as a Green Lantern from that point on was to honor Xanshi and the lives that were lost because of my arrogance."
"...What do you think I should do?" I reluctantly ask.
Hal responds with the best answer. "Personally, I think that you should try to build a new life as Ezekial Arakelian to honor your parents, and not just make it revolve around the Chimera. Get some friends, find that special someone, do the things that you've always dreamed of doing. You've essentially let yourself be consumed by the Chimera that you need to be Ezekial for a bit."
I process this and realize that Hal's right. I've been working on everything Chimera to the point that it's negatively impacting me. "Y'know, you're right. I'm going to take a break from being the Chimera for a week to get my head on straight."
Hal smiles, using his 'This is going to be crazy smile'. "Glad to hear it. Frankly, it's been a long time since you needed a break."
I frown, before facepalming. "I never took a break since I started out as Chimera outside of rest time in my civvie ID."
"Exactly my point." Hal grins. "I made sure to take a break every few months or so."
"I get it, I get it. I've been overworking myself way more than is healthy for someone my age." Which is ironic, since usually I only do enough work, instead of doing way too much work. It's an odd feeling, being told you're a workaholic.
"So, are you going to take a break?" Hal asks, in a tone implying that whatever I say will be ignored and I will take a break, whether or not I want to or not.
I sigh. "I guess I'll take a week's break, Hal."
"Glad to hear it! You're forced to take one when you're, and I'm quoting Black Canary on this, 'going to collapse over your self imposed limits because of severe emotional distress."
"Well, I was getting worked up over the mission's results." I admit.
"I'll say. You literally shattered Abra Kadabra's right hand before replacing it with a prosthetic made from plants." Hal reminds me, somewhat scolding.
"You did just say that I 'collapsed over my self imposed limits because of severe emotional distress'." I replied mockingly.
Hal sighs. "That I did. However, Batman wants to know about the Greenhouse prosthetic."
I respond with the information I got from the Methanosian instincts and the episode Alone Together. "It's permanent. It will take a while to reach that point, though. I'm not sure how long, because I never got accurate time measurements. Probably a few hours, probably a few months."
"Well, can't say Bats is going to be disappointed." Hal slumps. "That's all I wanted to talk to you about." Hal leaves before coming back in. "Well, there's one last thing I should add: Nelson's funeral is in a few days. Care to join us or are you going to be busy with your break?"
"No, I'm going to be attending the funeral. It's the least I can do for Kent." I respond truthfully.
"Alright, I'll see you there." And with that, Hal waves goodbye before walking out.
Salem, Massachusetts
August 21, 2010 15:50 EDT
I take a look around as I wait for the funeral to begin. After looking around in the League Databases, I find out that funerals for the Justice League and Justice Society must have the members attend in costume.
Looking around, I see Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin, Superboy, The Martians, Aquaman and Aqualad, Green Arrow, Artemis, Black Canary, Giovanni Zatara, Wildcat, Green Lantern -Hal- and The Flash Family. I wanted to take Nabu (and Kent) with me, but I was overruled over safety concerns, so I'm recording the speech for both of them.
As it rains heavily, Red Tornado arrives and we all move to the sides to let him through. I hit record on my phone to record the video.
Red Tornado begins the speech. "We are gathered here today to commemorate the memory of Kent Nelson, member of the Justice Society and holder of the Helmet of Fate. He was a man driven by duty, having discovered Nabu and with him, magic, upon an archeology expedition with his father. He worked relentlessly, travelling around the world to stop magical threats.
Upon hearing of World War II, Kent joined the Justice Society to prevent Nazi Germany from gaining ahold of magic. During one mission to prevent this, he met Inza Cramer, who taught him that there was more to life than Doctor Fate.
When he was reminded of this fact, Kent decided to give up the Helmet and continued being Doctor Fate using a half helmet and whatever magical ability he had before retiring twenty five years after his first escapade.
It is the last point that I wish to emphasize. Kent Nelson did not require a magic helmet to be a hero, he only needed the knowledge and willpower to do so. With this knowledge, Kent dedicated his life -gave his life-to safeguard this world from evil.
This is not a goodbye, this is merely a new beginning for one of the world's stalwart defenders. Thank you all for coming."
And with that, everybody just walks away, having said what needed to be said.
Black Canary walks up to me. "So, Ezekiel, how do you feel?" Lovely. An improvtu therapy session at a funeral.
I think about that for a bit. Eventually, I came up with an answer. "Honestly? I feel a lot better about that day. It still hurts, but not as bad as it first did."
She starts off the improvtu therapy session with "Are you still frustrated about your failure and loss that day?"
I try to not let my sadness overtake me. "Not about the loss of Kent Nelson. That, I now realize, was completely unavoidable. I'm still sad about Nabu's revelation though."
"Oh? How does that make you feel?" Black Canary asks.
"How do you think I feel? I feel lost. I'm glad I'm taking a break from being the Chimera, otherwise I would've done something I'd regret. And I'm not talking about crushing Abra's hand, I'm talking about permanently crippling or even killing someone." And so we went on discussing my problems until eventually, we reached the end of the improvtu therapy session about a half hour later.
Once we finish it up, we say our goodbyes and I walk up to the grave of the Nelsons. I sigh. Goddamn it. Why am I talking to the Nelsons' tombstones when I can talk to Kent's soul in the Cave?
I decide to stop my hesistation and just get on with it. "Hello there, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson. It's Ezekial Arakelian, aka The Chimera. Yes, my superhero name officially is 'The Chimera', if only because I thought it sounded cool." I sigh for a bit. "Y'know, I came here to apologize for my inability to help you, Mr. Nelson. I know I couldn't have done anything to help, but I'm apologizing because I didn't try in the first place."
I fiddle my thumbs for a bit before continuing. "Ironically enough, your death, Mr. Nelson, crystallized something that I thought for a while and it was this: get a life. Hilarious, am I right? The sad part is, I was merely existing for the past few months. Practically everything I did was for the sake of being a superhero, and I realized that wasn't healthy. I just wished that my epiphany didn't come at the cost of your life."
I straighten myself before I continue. "So, from now on, I'm going to live. And I'll do so in your memory."
And with that said, I walk away to a new life, a new beginning.