Chapter 9.

By Carycomic

GEMWORLD (PHANTOM STRANGER'S POINT OF VIEW)

In some respects, he looked as I had seen him numerous times before. Chalk-white complexion; black hair with horn-like tufts sticking up to the left and right of his forehead; and his feline familiar Teekle cradled in his left arm. Instead of wearing his usual black-and-white attire, however, he now wore an orange version of a 16-century witch hunter's outfit. With a golden capital "a" emblazoned within a circle on the front of his shirt!

"So! You are the author of all the misery currently engulfing the Earth?"

Klarion grinned: "Not entirely. You might say it was inadvertently co-authored by a female djinn called Rouge. When she banished Teekle and I from a parallel Earth. . .into the Phantom Zone!* There we were, shrunken and encased within a magically reinforced crystal sphere, the only two solid inhabitants in that extra-dimensional realm. Drifting along for what felt like ages. Then, it happened."

"We crossed paths with two of the resident phantoms. Neither of whom were Kryptonian exiles! The one calling himself Dr. Chaos immediately sensed my inherent magical power (and vice-versa). Yet, no sooner had we finished telepathically exchanging sob stories, than we were violently torn apart by some kind of cosmic disturbance! The likes of which I had never seen before. I have no idea what happened to Dr. Chaos and his mate. All I know for certain is that Teekle and I were once again upon Earth. Although, not the one we originated from, of course."

"A fact that became obvious all too swiftly when we confronted our- -understandably astounded- -counterparts at Shadowcrest Manor. Just moments before we banished _them_ to the Phantom Zone. . .in the exact same crystal sphere we had so recently escaped!"

I stood there, clenching my white-gloved hands, and glowering at him, in helpless anger.

"What of the chaos you've been fomenting through Zatanna and the Bat-genie? Was this Green Lama telling the truth? Did you honestly do it all merely to attract the attention of this Sorceress of Zoom?"

Klarion had the never to actually shrug!

"It is imperative that I form an alliance of convenience with her. For even with Teekle's help, I've been unable to determine the exact whereabouts of the parallel Earth we came from! So, I must seek additional magic power, from someone else, before I can return whence I came to avenge myself on Rouge. Of course, having told you all this, I can't allow to you leave Gemworld with that knowledge."

Now, it was my turn to grin.

"Do you think you and Teekle have enough magic power to prevent my leaving?"

He shrugged again: "Perhaps not. But, Kwsp does!"

Instantly, I turned toward the spring-fed pool that the Green Lama had been scrying within. But, an instant too late as it turns out. For, at that moment, a large water spout suddenly emerged. . .and then bent down to engulf me within its swirling waters. All before dragging me into the pool!

The second we were below its surface, I felt that hydrokinetic imp increase the molecular density of his hands around my throat. Trying to force the air out of my lungs so that I would simultaneously draw in water and, thereby, drown myself. Yet, just as I was on the verge of succumbing, the subterranean darkness surrounding us suddenly lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree!

RUINS OF MOONSTONE CASTLE,

TYROLEAN REGION, AUSTRIA

(JANUARY 13, 1947)

They stood on the shore of the alpine lake and looked upon the waterspout spinning before them.

"Satisfied, Princess Ahku?" asked the cape-and-cowled figure with vampiric fangs.

"You've only read half of the spell, Count Berlin," replied the Asian beauty before him: "It is called 'Invocatio Vivorum Turpis Turbo' for a reason."

"I can aid you there, Your Highness," replied Baron Hydro of the Aqueos Sect: "Allow me to introduce Kung of the Thousand Claws."

The renegade Atlantean pointed to the young Japanese-American who had just emerged from the lake, alongside him, before continuing.

"As Kibei defector Thomas Morita, he was trained by ninja of the Go Kamisori Gama; ghouled by Assamites of the Black Hand; and taught therianthropic wizardry by a Tremere antitribu of House Bjornaer. Add to that the diablerized memories of a Mariner Gangrel? And you have someone more than capable of undergoing transformation. . .into a living sharknado."

"Then, by all means," smiled the rabid anti-Communist: "Let us conclude the ritual."

All this I witnessed, from a nearby thicket, in understandable confusion. So, naturally, I was not on hand, at the Tower of Fate near Salem, Massachusetts, to watch Wonder Woman's invisible robot plane suddenly fly straight up into a wormhole shaped like a six-pointed star in red, white, and blue! A wormhole she subsequently exited. . .into a giant baseball catcher's mitt.

One plainly marked "Property of Ivytown University Athletic Dept."

"Nice try, people," grinned Zatanna the Magician: "You came close! But, no cigar."

tbc

GLOSSARY

". . .from a parallel Earth into the Phantom Zone!" (see "With Friends Like These, Who Needs Anime?").

Princess Ahku: a Yellow Peril villainess who was basically the MLJ version of Fah Lo Suee (the daughter of Fu Manchu).

Count Berlin: a Nazi super-villain, from MLJ, whom DC basically revamped (no pun intended) into one of the Undead.

Baron Hydro: basically, a Moonstone Books pastiche of Marvel's Krang and U-man.

KIbei: Japanese term for Nisei who were educated in Japan during the Depression. But, who returned to the United States, just before the outbreak of WWII. Only a relatively small minority served in the Imperial Japanese Army during the war. And that was primarily as the result of still going to school in Japan at the time of the war's outbreak!