Post by C_Miller on Jul 1, 2012 21:01:27 GMT -5
Ultimate Justice Society of America #10
Simple Twist of Fate Pt. 2
Chateau Cairo. Cairo, Egypt.
Jack Knight woke up lightly as the sun pierced through the curtains that led to his balcony and danced across his face. With a yawn and a stretch, he kicked the sheets off of him and got out of bed. Stealing a quick glance over to the next bed that belonged to his bunkmate, Jennifer Hayden, he saw that it was empty. “Curious… she never struck me as an early riser.” He said to himself.
“I’m just full of surprises, aren’t I?” he heard call from the balcony. With a slight nod and a smile, he walked out onto the private balcony and saw Jen lounging on in a deck chair reading a book and sipping on coffee from a ceramic cup with the hotel’s logo engraved into it. She was wearing black-framed Ray Ban Wayfarers and only black-framed Ray Ban Wayfarers.
Jack chuckled. “You sure are…”
Jen looked down at her naked body and shrugged. “Sorry. I don’t even notice sometimes… the powers kind of make it a force of habit. Let me go put something on…”
Playfully, he put up his hands in front of him in protest. “Please don’t on my account. Plus, you need to refuel as much as you can. Even if Doctor Fate is underselling and this thing is only half as powerful as he says, we’re it for a hell of a fight.”
“Come on, Jacky Boy, you just want to play peeping tom while pretending its all about business.” She said with a sly smile that sent Jack crazy. Even though it was originally completely power related at first, he couldn’t help but think about her suggestively now. “Just kidding.”
Jack yawned and immediately Jade formed a construct that manifested as a giant hand that brought the coffee pot the small wire mesh table on the balcony and poured Jack a cup of his own. “Thanks…”
“No problem.”
“So, has anyone tried to check in yet?”
Jen nodded. “Yeah… Delilah and Charles said they were going to try and find a nice place to have some place to get some breakfast. As a side note, I’d say you should make some kind of plan for inter-team relationships. If I know anything about anything, then those two are going to be fucking like rabbits in a few weeks or so…. Where was I… oh yeah. Courtney and Johnny went to the pool with she who shall not be named. Rick I think tried to find a bar that was open at nine in the morning.”
Jack nodded, taking all of her information in. “I was more concerned with Sand and Doctor Fate. Any word?”
Jade turned away and let out a solemn sigh. “Unfortunately no. But it’s still relatively early… right?”
Jack got out of the chair he was in and walked to the edge of the balcony, taking a sip of his coffee. “Jen, can you tell me why I am completely and 100% terrified about what’s to come and I don’t have a single Earthly idea as to what it is? Hell, I don’t even know who this Doctor Fate guy is, yet I’m about to follow him with all of my friends and a teenage boy into the mouth of Hell. What does that say about me?”
Gracefully, Jade got out of her lounge chair and came up behind Jack to wrap one arm around his waist. “Jack, I’m literally made of sunshine and even I can feel the darkness creeping in and taking over.”
Jack let out a long sigh. “You know, this whole consoling me thing would work out a lot better if you weren’t completely nude.”
With a smile, she playfully swatted him. “Jerk.”
Suddenly, the saw a small tornado made entirely out of sand fly towards them and an expedited rate. When it reached their balcony, it morphed into a deformed cloud with Sanderson Hawkins’ face in the center. “Sandy?” Jade asked with an alarmed sense of curiosity.
“They’ve got us… Doctor Fate… and I…” The voice was clearly Sand’s but it sounded distant and garbled, but they could still understand each word he said. “Valley of the Kings… with an army… come quick…”
The sandstorm dissipated and the pair turned to each other nodding as they ran off in separate ways to assemble the Justice Society of America.
Nearly 20 minutes later, the entire team was piled into Starman and Jade’s room in costume, except for Johnny Thunder who was wearing a black Beatles T-Shirt over his red swim trunks and Courtney Whitmore who wore a purple tube cover up dress that matched her bikini. “Okay team, 20 minutes ago, we just heard from Sand and Doctor Fate. Unfortunately they’re in trouble.”
“Are they okay?” Phantom Lady asked with child-like concern.
Jack nodded. “As far as we know, yes. But, we don’t know anything more than that. Sand mentioned something about an army, but he wasn’t more specific than that.”
Hourman cracked his knuckles. “Well, what are we waiting for?”
The entire team made similar readied remarks and Jack silenced them with a wave of the hand. “This will be a first for us. Every time we’ve gone into a fight, it’s been one that’s a sure thing. With this, I can’t guarantee that we’re all coming back.”
Hourman shook his head, taking it all in. “So… when do we go?”
“I can’t force you to come with me.” Starman lamented.
Hourman rolled his eyes. “Jack, do we have to knock you out or are you going to take us?”
The whole team nodded in agreement and Jack was forced to resign. The entire team filed out to get ready to make the journey to the Valley of the Kings, but Jack touched Courtney on the shoulder to pull her aside. “Court, I’d like nothing more than to keep you hear in the hotel…”
Courtney smiled. “But?”
“If we’re all going, I want you to come with us. I trust I can keep you safe better when you’re near me than if you’re back here.” Starman told her earnestly.
“You make it sound like it’s a punishment.”
Starman’s eyes grew stern. “Courtney, this isn’t an adventure. You will stay behind and stay out of sight. Promise me that. Under no circumstances will you try to help.”
Courtney looked down at the floor. “I… I promise…”
Jack smiled at her and kissed her on her forehead. “Good, now get dressed. We leave in ten.”
***
The Valley of the Kings. Theban Necropolis. Near Luxor, Egypt.
Starman and Jade flew above the sand dunes while Phantom Lady, Courtney Whitmore, and Johnny Thunder rode camels with Hourman, Flash, and Doctor Mid-Nite guiding them through desert towards the place that Sand had led them. They made their way at an enhanced speed thanks to Jessica extending the Speed Force over them and though they couldn’t achieve a fraction of what she could, it cut down on precious hours.
As the team got closer to the tomb that held their friends, they began to hear an aggressive congested cacophony of voices rumbling in the night. The sound was a disordered mess that could only be described as the undying moan of the damned and once they got over the rise of another dune, they saw it was exactly that.
“I’ve never had the pleasure of dealing with zombies before…” Hourman declared as he cracked his knuckles, his neck and his back before popping one of his father’s Miraclo pills into his mouth. “This could be fun.”
Starman landed onto the desert ground and placed his staff between Hourman and the hoard. “Hold it, Hourman… Mid-Nite?”
Doctor Mid-Nite pressed a button on the side of his goggles to increase the heat detection of his sight and telescoped in on that site. “Affirmative, Starman. They’re blending right in with the heat of the sand. No difference… as such I cannot classify them as alive at this distance.”
As he stifled a small smile, he turned to his team with a nod. “Okay. Jade… light ‘em up.”
“With pleasure.” The green woman smiled widely at him as she created the construct of a large bird adorned in flame around herself and shot up into the sky towards the hoard of zombies. Once she reached them, she swooped down into their ranks, taking a large strip out in the center.
Starman turned to the rest of them. “Mid-Nite, Hourman, Flash… I’m going to need you to assist Jade in taking out the army. Go now.” They nodded and Flash extended the Speed Force around them, allowing the trio to take off and join Jade in the fight. “Okay, Court, John. I want you to say here out of the way. John, we may need you later and I want you safe for that. Court… don’t.”
Courtney just nodded affirmatively as she knew that this wasn’t the time or the place to get into an argument with her half-brother. Instead, she pulled Jack into a tight hug and planted a friendly kiss on the cheek. “You got it, Jack.”
“What about me?” Phantom Lady asked sheepishly, trying to be courteous of the brother-sister moment that was occurring in front of her.
Starman let go of his sister and focused his attention to the last member of the Justice Society of America. “I want you to stick with me. If Fate’s Helm is as important as Sand implied, we need to get it back. You’re our best bet to get by him.”
Phantom Lady nodded reluctantly as Starman scooped her up and flew towards the tomb, leaving Courtney and Johnny to stand by and watch. As they flew over the group, they saw that their teammates were performing well and as a unit. Even Jade and Flash seemed to be working well together.
“Jess! Up here!” Jade called as she flew above the army.
Flash swiftly nodded as she grabbed a zombie and began to rapidly spin with her hold out from her body like a propeller, with little care as to what other creatures it hit. After a few seconds, she let it go and the centripetal force of the body caused the zombie to fly up in a vortex towards her airborne teammate. When the zombie lifted close to her, she formed a giant baseball bat out of green light and swung it at the creature, knocking it further than they eye could see.
“Fucking awesome, Jess!” Hourman grimaced as he punched a hole right through the chest of one, making an aggressive hit with the one behind it. He pulled his hand out just in time to backhand another one that took out three more as it flew backwards.
Doctor Mid-Nite, as the only unpowered member was having significantly less luck with the mummies. As Flash looked over, she saw the blind doctor struggling with a group of five or six. Hurriedly, she bolted over to him and took out four of them while performed a shoddy vivisection on them with a razor sharp scalpel. “Thanks, Flash. They don’t seem to have a sense of sight, my blackout bombs aren’t working against them.”
“Make way to safety, Doctor.” Flash told him as she pointed towards the teenagers upon the sand dune.
Doctor Mid-Nite shook his head. “I’m not leaving this fight, you need me.”
“Charles, I’m no good at this leading thing, but I won’t have you die on my watch.”
Before Jess could finish, she watched one of Jade’s constructs turn into a massive scalpel and landed right between the two of them. Mid-Nite graciously took it and skewered two of the zombies together. “Thanks, Jade!” Doctor Mid-Nite called up from the ground.
Starman laughed as he watched the scene unfold. He was slightly worried that Jade would over extend herself with constructs, but he was confident that she was able to take care of herself. He looked back at Phantom Lady who was sitting behind him on the staff, holding on for dear life. “Dee, turn invisible now!”
She nodded and began to fade away to the point where he could only feel her arms around him and her body buried into his back. Once she was completely gone, he took a nosedive into the entrance of the tomb. When they arrived, he pulled the Cosmic Staff forward and her a slight thud and a grunt that followed. He winced, realizing it was Phantom Lady. “Sorry.”
Tapping the staff on the stone floor of the crypt, the tip lit up, illuminating the walls and corridors of the complex. Jack strode over to the walls that were lined with hieroglyphics of Gods and events that had taken place in Egyptian history. “I’ll be damned… what I wouldn’t give to put up some of this in my shop…”
“I’m no history person, but it is interesting…” Phantom Lady whispered. “Can’t you take some of it? I mean we are about to save the world.”
Jack chuckled. “I’m no grave robber… regardless of what my brother says. But here it is certainly tempting,” he said has he picked up a small pot that was in their path and examined it.
Phantom Lady smiled at Jack’s kid-in-a-candy-store demeanor, even though he couldn’t see her. “What’s that?”
With much grace, he tossed the artifact in the direction of the voice and chuckled as he saw it stop in mid-air, indicating that she had caught it. “That my dear is a canopic jar… and noting the Qebehsenuef head, it probably contains someone’s intestines…”
Immediately after he finished speaking, she let out a shriek and tossed it into the air. Jack was too far away to catch it, so he aimed his staff towards it and allowed it to float it safely to the ground. Once he saw that it was safe, he laughed at Phantom Lady’s reaction, which garnered a light swat. “That wasn’t funny! Don’t do that again!”
Starman just shook his head and continued to laugh as he staggered down the corridor into the heart of darkness. Even he was beginning to notice the light atop his Cosmic Staff was shadowed obscurity. The path winded for what seemed like hours, even though Jack knew that they had only been walking for a short time.
Just as the two heroes took a turn around a corner, light began to flood the room. They found themselves in the King’s Chamber with a tall bearded man sitting at a throne in the center of the room with Sand and Doctor Fate shackled off on either side. Sand was conscious and struggling, but Doctor Fate wasn’t moving at all and Starman couldn’t tell if he was breathing.
“Welcome, Jonathan Kennedy Knight and Delilah Emily Tyler. I’ve been waiting for you,” The man at the head of the room sneered as he spoke to them. His voice was booming and had a distinct gravitas to it that Jack had never heard before.
Starman looked back at where he assumed Phantom Lady would be, making sure that her powers were still working. “Dee… he can see you.”
The man laughed heartedly at Jack’s concern. “Let’s all show ourselves… it’s only fair.” He snapped his fingers and the shroud of invisibility came off Delilah, leaving her completely visible. “I am Mordru the Merciless, Lord of Chaos. The universe as you insects recognize it is governed by a balance between order and chaos. Once I place The Helm of Fate atop my head, Nabu will be defeated and the balance will be lost… now you get to watch the end of history!”
Mordru laughed as he lifted The Helm off the ground and held it high out in front of him, preparing to lower it onto his head. Starman watched as Sand froze and he too felt a fear run down his spine.
“Yeah… that doesn’t really work for me.” Starman quipped as he lifted his Cosmic Staff, pointing it at the helmet and opening fire. Just as the blast collided with the golden helmet, it fell from Mordru’s grasp and crashed hard into the ground, lodging it into the stone floor below.
Starman felt Phantom Lady ***brush*** past his arm as she rushed towards the raised platform that the throne rested on. She performed a quick handspring into a round off and landed right in front of Mordru, but before she could reach for The Helm, she became frozen with fear.
Mordru scoffed at her with a toothy smile. “How quaint.”
He lifted his arm up with his hand out stretched and waved his fingers towards him. Immediately after a brick from the corner of the room shot toward them and collided with Phantom Lady’s head knocking her out cold. Jack glanced over to his fallen teammate and winced as he saw blood spilling out from her head and staining the floor.
Looking up at Jack, he snapped his fingers again and the Cosmic Staff disappeared from Jack’s hand and into Mordru’s grasp. Mordru looked down at his new prize and clenched his fist, snapping the rod in half as if it were a toothpick. “Now, my friend, why don’t we make this a little bit more interesting…”
Mordru snapped his fingers again and the entirety of the Justice Society of America, including Courtney and Johnny appeared in the hall along with Jack. “Now, you will all watch and afterwards… you will die.”
Jade surveyed the room and saw Doctor Fate and Sand shackled to the throne. Swallowing her pride, she laid her hand on Flash shoulder and leaned in close, positioning her mouth next to her ear. “Jess, get Sand.”
The Flash felt a warm object appear in her hand, which she could only assume was a construct from Jade. Looking down, she saw that it was an undefined key made out of green flame. With a smile, she took off towards the platform where Sand was lying as fast as she could muster. Placing the key in the lock, she was amazed when it fitted to the lock. Once, he was undone, she grabbed him and raced back to where the rest of the team was standing almost before anyone noticed she was gone in the first place.
“Sand, now!” Starman bellowed.
Sand nodded and reached his arm out towards the spot where Mordru was standing, causing the ground to shake violently. Just as the floor began to collapse, creating a large sinkhole in the tomb, The Flash raced towards the platform once more, this time scooping up Phantom Lady, before she was claimed by the Egyptian landscape.
“Let me see her!” Doctor Mid-Nite shouted, which Flash quickly obliged. Setting her down on the hard rock ground, he examined her carefully without leaving a single part of her body unchecked. He noted her broken nose and fresh forming bruises on her arms from when she landed on the brick floor and chest as well as the large gash from the brick on the back of her head. “I need to get her back to the infirmary in Opal City or else she’s not going to make it.”
Phantom Lady’s cousin Hourman knelt down and brushed the hair out of her face before he leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Jack, let’s get out of here.”
Starman moved is sight from his fallen teammate to the platform where Mordru stood, however he was pleased to see that he seemed to have fallen into the giant cenote. “Okay, let’s grab Doctor Fate and get out of here.”
“Can’t let you do that, Starman!” Mordru shouted as he shot back up out of the hole to a piece of the rock that was left unturned.
Starman turned back to his team. “Jade… I need you to take Courtney, John, Charles and Delilah back to the jet and get them home. Sand, Rick, Jess and I will try to hold him off and revive Doctor Fate.”
Jade looked back at her leader with sad eyes. “Jack… I can’t leave you… you need a powerhouse.”
“So do they. Jess can get Phantom Lady out, but she needs Doctor Mid-Nite and I will not have Courtney here. You’re the only one who can do that.” Starman explained his reasoning to her.
She gave him a reluctant nod, but just as she made her way to the door, the ceiling collapsed in front of them sealing the exit. The enter Justice Society examined the room’s entrances and exits to find another way out, but they were distracted by the sound of a woman’s bloodcurdling scream.
“Why don’t we make things a little more interesting?” Mordru spoke, leading the Justice Society to turn around and make a collective gasp. In his grasp, he had Courtney Whitmore by the neck. “You can end this and she goes free.”
“Jack…” Courtney croaked as she let a tear role down her cheek
Starman reached for the Cosmic Staff that wasn’t there and then gritted his teeth at the Dark Lord, Mordru. “Dammit, Mordru. I will kill you.”
The walls in the tomb were rattled by an incredible laugh from the Dark Lord floating in the center of the room. “No. I don’t think you will, Starman.” He snapped is fingers and the army of Zombies appeared in attack position. “I hope you can handle the Hoard of Osiris again.”
With that last statement, the hoard engaged the team, fighting their way through them. “Jade, Flash… make me a path!”
Flash ran up the gut, tearing them apart as she went through them as Jade cleaned up the rest, creating a path for Jack to run through. Jack gave a quick look back to his team and saw Sand prepping his gas guns and Hourman popping another Miraclo pill. Knowing that his team was ready to back him up, he charged forward, using his fists rather than the Cosmic Staff.
With a cackle, Mordru shook Courtney around like a rag doll, magically keeping her spine in place, or one sudden movement would have easily snapped it. “What should we do to occupy ourselves poppet?”
“Let me go…” she sobbed.
Mordru showed her his hideously decayed teeth. “No… I don’t think I can do that, love. You’re much to valuable to me…”
Suddenly there was large crash that resonated throughout the crypt that was followed by a bright violet light that blinded all of the people in it, including Mordru. The violet light traveled toward Mordru and Courtney, finally making contact with the young girl and causing her to fly backwards, out of Mordru’s grip.
“NO! COME BACK!” He motioned towards her, hoping to pull her back, but she didn’t come. He kept motioning harder and harder, until he finally decided to storm over to her location and grab her again himself, but the violet light held him back.
<Courtney Whitmore of Earth, you have the capacity for great love in your heart.>
The light moved downward, towards Courtney’s hand and once it reached her, it encapsulated her completely. With the violet aura still around her, she stood up slowly and showed that her white tank top and short khaki shorts were gone and replaced by a revealing alien looking costume. And on her finger was a ring that appeared to be the source of the light.
“For hearts long lost and full of fright, For those alone in blackest night, Accept our ring and join our fight, Love conquers all-- with violet light!” She chanted, though it almost sounded like her voice was replaced.
Mordru however was unmoved. The second she finished the oath, he charged at her only to be pushed back by a violet construct in the shape of a hand that slapped in clear through the back wall.
With that, the light died down and Courtney collapsed onto the floor of the tomb. Starman quickly raced towards her and scooped her up into his arms with Johnny in a close chase. “Courtney, are you okay?”
“Jack? What just happened?” She asked with terror in her voice.
Starman looked down at her trying to develop an answer, but he was lost for one. He looked up at Jade, due to the similarities in their powers, but all she could do was shake her head. Jack looked down at her to try and comfort her, but before he could a large noise sounded through the chamber.
The entire Justice Society looked up and saw Mordru standing near the hole in the wall that Courtney knocked him out of. He was holding The Helm of Fate above his head and was in the process of lowering it onto his head. “A lantern… Things just got a lot more interesting.”
With that he placed The Helm on his head, causing the room to violently shake.
To Be Continued!
Simple Twist of Fate Pt. 2
Chateau Cairo. Cairo, Egypt.
Jack Knight woke up lightly as the sun pierced through the curtains that led to his balcony and danced across his face. With a yawn and a stretch, he kicked the sheets off of him and got out of bed. Stealing a quick glance over to the next bed that belonged to his bunkmate, Jennifer Hayden, he saw that it was empty. “Curious… she never struck me as an early riser.” He said to himself.
“I’m just full of surprises, aren’t I?” he heard call from the balcony. With a slight nod and a smile, he walked out onto the private balcony and saw Jen lounging on in a deck chair reading a book and sipping on coffee from a ceramic cup with the hotel’s logo engraved into it. She was wearing black-framed Ray Ban Wayfarers and only black-framed Ray Ban Wayfarers.
Jack chuckled. “You sure are…”
Jen looked down at her naked body and shrugged. “Sorry. I don’t even notice sometimes… the powers kind of make it a force of habit. Let me go put something on…”
Playfully, he put up his hands in front of him in protest. “Please don’t on my account. Plus, you need to refuel as much as you can. Even if Doctor Fate is underselling and this thing is only half as powerful as he says, we’re it for a hell of a fight.”
“Come on, Jacky Boy, you just want to play peeping tom while pretending its all about business.” She said with a sly smile that sent Jack crazy. Even though it was originally completely power related at first, he couldn’t help but think about her suggestively now. “Just kidding.”
Jack yawned and immediately Jade formed a construct that manifested as a giant hand that brought the coffee pot the small wire mesh table on the balcony and poured Jack a cup of his own. “Thanks…”
“No problem.”
“So, has anyone tried to check in yet?”
Jen nodded. “Yeah… Delilah and Charles said they were going to try and find a nice place to have some place to get some breakfast. As a side note, I’d say you should make some kind of plan for inter-team relationships. If I know anything about anything, then those two are going to be fucking like rabbits in a few weeks or so…. Where was I… oh yeah. Courtney and Johnny went to the pool with she who shall not be named. Rick I think tried to find a bar that was open at nine in the morning.”
Jack nodded, taking all of her information in. “I was more concerned with Sand and Doctor Fate. Any word?”
Jade turned away and let out a solemn sigh. “Unfortunately no. But it’s still relatively early… right?”
Jack got out of the chair he was in and walked to the edge of the balcony, taking a sip of his coffee. “Jen, can you tell me why I am completely and 100% terrified about what’s to come and I don’t have a single Earthly idea as to what it is? Hell, I don’t even know who this Doctor Fate guy is, yet I’m about to follow him with all of my friends and a teenage boy into the mouth of Hell. What does that say about me?”
Gracefully, Jade got out of her lounge chair and came up behind Jack to wrap one arm around his waist. “Jack, I’m literally made of sunshine and even I can feel the darkness creeping in and taking over.”
Jack let out a long sigh. “You know, this whole consoling me thing would work out a lot better if you weren’t completely nude.”
With a smile, she playfully swatted him. “Jerk.”
Suddenly, the saw a small tornado made entirely out of sand fly towards them and an expedited rate. When it reached their balcony, it morphed into a deformed cloud with Sanderson Hawkins’ face in the center. “Sandy?” Jade asked with an alarmed sense of curiosity.
“They’ve got us… Doctor Fate… and I…” The voice was clearly Sand’s but it sounded distant and garbled, but they could still understand each word he said. “Valley of the Kings… with an army… come quick…”
The sandstorm dissipated and the pair turned to each other nodding as they ran off in separate ways to assemble the Justice Society of America.
Nearly 20 minutes later, the entire team was piled into Starman and Jade’s room in costume, except for Johnny Thunder who was wearing a black Beatles T-Shirt over his red swim trunks and Courtney Whitmore who wore a purple tube cover up dress that matched her bikini. “Okay team, 20 minutes ago, we just heard from Sand and Doctor Fate. Unfortunately they’re in trouble.”
“Are they okay?” Phantom Lady asked with child-like concern.
Jack nodded. “As far as we know, yes. But, we don’t know anything more than that. Sand mentioned something about an army, but he wasn’t more specific than that.”
Hourman cracked his knuckles. “Well, what are we waiting for?”
The entire team made similar readied remarks and Jack silenced them with a wave of the hand. “This will be a first for us. Every time we’ve gone into a fight, it’s been one that’s a sure thing. With this, I can’t guarantee that we’re all coming back.”
Hourman shook his head, taking it all in. “So… when do we go?”
“I can’t force you to come with me.” Starman lamented.
Hourman rolled his eyes. “Jack, do we have to knock you out or are you going to take us?”
The whole team nodded in agreement and Jack was forced to resign. The entire team filed out to get ready to make the journey to the Valley of the Kings, but Jack touched Courtney on the shoulder to pull her aside. “Court, I’d like nothing more than to keep you hear in the hotel…”
Courtney smiled. “But?”
“If we’re all going, I want you to come with us. I trust I can keep you safe better when you’re near me than if you’re back here.” Starman told her earnestly.
“You make it sound like it’s a punishment.”
Starman’s eyes grew stern. “Courtney, this isn’t an adventure. You will stay behind and stay out of sight. Promise me that. Under no circumstances will you try to help.”
Courtney looked down at the floor. “I… I promise…”
Jack smiled at her and kissed her on her forehead. “Good, now get dressed. We leave in ten.”
***
The Valley of the Kings. Theban Necropolis. Near Luxor, Egypt.
Starman and Jade flew above the sand dunes while Phantom Lady, Courtney Whitmore, and Johnny Thunder rode camels with Hourman, Flash, and Doctor Mid-Nite guiding them through desert towards the place that Sand had led them. They made their way at an enhanced speed thanks to Jessica extending the Speed Force over them and though they couldn’t achieve a fraction of what she could, it cut down on precious hours.
As the team got closer to the tomb that held their friends, they began to hear an aggressive congested cacophony of voices rumbling in the night. The sound was a disordered mess that could only be described as the undying moan of the damned and once they got over the rise of another dune, they saw it was exactly that.
“I’ve never had the pleasure of dealing with zombies before…” Hourman declared as he cracked his knuckles, his neck and his back before popping one of his father’s Miraclo pills into his mouth. “This could be fun.”
Starman landed onto the desert ground and placed his staff between Hourman and the hoard. “Hold it, Hourman… Mid-Nite?”
Doctor Mid-Nite pressed a button on the side of his goggles to increase the heat detection of his sight and telescoped in on that site. “Affirmative, Starman. They’re blending right in with the heat of the sand. No difference… as such I cannot classify them as alive at this distance.”
As he stifled a small smile, he turned to his team with a nod. “Okay. Jade… light ‘em up.”
“With pleasure.” The green woman smiled widely at him as she created the construct of a large bird adorned in flame around herself and shot up into the sky towards the hoard of zombies. Once she reached them, she swooped down into their ranks, taking a large strip out in the center.
Starman turned to the rest of them. “Mid-Nite, Hourman, Flash… I’m going to need you to assist Jade in taking out the army. Go now.” They nodded and Flash extended the Speed Force around them, allowing the trio to take off and join Jade in the fight. “Okay, Court, John. I want you to say here out of the way. John, we may need you later and I want you safe for that. Court… don’t.”
Courtney just nodded affirmatively as she knew that this wasn’t the time or the place to get into an argument with her half-brother. Instead, she pulled Jack into a tight hug and planted a friendly kiss on the cheek. “You got it, Jack.”
“What about me?” Phantom Lady asked sheepishly, trying to be courteous of the brother-sister moment that was occurring in front of her.
Starman let go of his sister and focused his attention to the last member of the Justice Society of America. “I want you to stick with me. If Fate’s Helm is as important as Sand implied, we need to get it back. You’re our best bet to get by him.”
Phantom Lady nodded reluctantly as Starman scooped her up and flew towards the tomb, leaving Courtney and Johnny to stand by and watch. As they flew over the group, they saw that their teammates were performing well and as a unit. Even Jade and Flash seemed to be working well together.
“Jess! Up here!” Jade called as she flew above the army.
Flash swiftly nodded as she grabbed a zombie and began to rapidly spin with her hold out from her body like a propeller, with little care as to what other creatures it hit. After a few seconds, she let it go and the centripetal force of the body caused the zombie to fly up in a vortex towards her airborne teammate. When the zombie lifted close to her, she formed a giant baseball bat out of green light and swung it at the creature, knocking it further than they eye could see.
“Fucking awesome, Jess!” Hourman grimaced as he punched a hole right through the chest of one, making an aggressive hit with the one behind it. He pulled his hand out just in time to backhand another one that took out three more as it flew backwards.
Doctor Mid-Nite, as the only unpowered member was having significantly less luck with the mummies. As Flash looked over, she saw the blind doctor struggling with a group of five or six. Hurriedly, she bolted over to him and took out four of them while performed a shoddy vivisection on them with a razor sharp scalpel. “Thanks, Flash. They don’t seem to have a sense of sight, my blackout bombs aren’t working against them.”
“Make way to safety, Doctor.” Flash told him as she pointed towards the teenagers upon the sand dune.
Doctor Mid-Nite shook his head. “I’m not leaving this fight, you need me.”
“Charles, I’m no good at this leading thing, but I won’t have you die on my watch.”
Before Jess could finish, she watched one of Jade’s constructs turn into a massive scalpel and landed right between the two of them. Mid-Nite graciously took it and skewered two of the zombies together. “Thanks, Jade!” Doctor Mid-Nite called up from the ground.
Starman laughed as he watched the scene unfold. He was slightly worried that Jade would over extend herself with constructs, but he was confident that she was able to take care of herself. He looked back at Phantom Lady who was sitting behind him on the staff, holding on for dear life. “Dee, turn invisible now!”
She nodded and began to fade away to the point where he could only feel her arms around him and her body buried into his back. Once she was completely gone, he took a nosedive into the entrance of the tomb. When they arrived, he pulled the Cosmic Staff forward and her a slight thud and a grunt that followed. He winced, realizing it was Phantom Lady. “Sorry.”
Tapping the staff on the stone floor of the crypt, the tip lit up, illuminating the walls and corridors of the complex. Jack strode over to the walls that were lined with hieroglyphics of Gods and events that had taken place in Egyptian history. “I’ll be damned… what I wouldn’t give to put up some of this in my shop…”
“I’m no history person, but it is interesting…” Phantom Lady whispered. “Can’t you take some of it? I mean we are about to save the world.”
Jack chuckled. “I’m no grave robber… regardless of what my brother says. But here it is certainly tempting,” he said has he picked up a small pot that was in their path and examined it.
Phantom Lady smiled at Jack’s kid-in-a-candy-store demeanor, even though he couldn’t see her. “What’s that?”
With much grace, he tossed the artifact in the direction of the voice and chuckled as he saw it stop in mid-air, indicating that she had caught it. “That my dear is a canopic jar… and noting the Qebehsenuef head, it probably contains someone’s intestines…”
Immediately after he finished speaking, she let out a shriek and tossed it into the air. Jack was too far away to catch it, so he aimed his staff towards it and allowed it to float it safely to the ground. Once he saw that it was safe, he laughed at Phantom Lady’s reaction, which garnered a light swat. “That wasn’t funny! Don’t do that again!”
Starman just shook his head and continued to laugh as he staggered down the corridor into the heart of darkness. Even he was beginning to notice the light atop his Cosmic Staff was shadowed obscurity. The path winded for what seemed like hours, even though Jack knew that they had only been walking for a short time.
Just as the two heroes took a turn around a corner, light began to flood the room. They found themselves in the King’s Chamber with a tall bearded man sitting at a throne in the center of the room with Sand and Doctor Fate shackled off on either side. Sand was conscious and struggling, but Doctor Fate wasn’t moving at all and Starman couldn’t tell if he was breathing.
“Welcome, Jonathan Kennedy Knight and Delilah Emily Tyler. I’ve been waiting for you,” The man at the head of the room sneered as he spoke to them. His voice was booming and had a distinct gravitas to it that Jack had never heard before.
Starman looked back at where he assumed Phantom Lady would be, making sure that her powers were still working. “Dee… he can see you.”
The man laughed heartedly at Jack’s concern. “Let’s all show ourselves… it’s only fair.” He snapped his fingers and the shroud of invisibility came off Delilah, leaving her completely visible. “I am Mordru the Merciless, Lord of Chaos. The universe as you insects recognize it is governed by a balance between order and chaos. Once I place The Helm of Fate atop my head, Nabu will be defeated and the balance will be lost… now you get to watch the end of history!”
Mordru laughed as he lifted The Helm off the ground and held it high out in front of him, preparing to lower it onto his head. Starman watched as Sand froze and he too felt a fear run down his spine.
“Yeah… that doesn’t really work for me.” Starman quipped as he lifted his Cosmic Staff, pointing it at the helmet and opening fire. Just as the blast collided with the golden helmet, it fell from Mordru’s grasp and crashed hard into the ground, lodging it into the stone floor below.
Starman felt Phantom Lady ***brush*** past his arm as she rushed towards the raised platform that the throne rested on. She performed a quick handspring into a round off and landed right in front of Mordru, but before she could reach for The Helm, she became frozen with fear.
Mordru scoffed at her with a toothy smile. “How quaint.”
He lifted his arm up with his hand out stretched and waved his fingers towards him. Immediately after a brick from the corner of the room shot toward them and collided with Phantom Lady’s head knocking her out cold. Jack glanced over to his fallen teammate and winced as he saw blood spilling out from her head and staining the floor.
Looking up at Jack, he snapped his fingers again and the Cosmic Staff disappeared from Jack’s hand and into Mordru’s grasp. Mordru looked down at his new prize and clenched his fist, snapping the rod in half as if it were a toothpick. “Now, my friend, why don’t we make this a little bit more interesting…”
Mordru snapped his fingers again and the entirety of the Justice Society of America, including Courtney and Johnny appeared in the hall along with Jack. “Now, you will all watch and afterwards… you will die.”
Jade surveyed the room and saw Doctor Fate and Sand shackled to the throne. Swallowing her pride, she laid her hand on Flash shoulder and leaned in close, positioning her mouth next to her ear. “Jess, get Sand.”
The Flash felt a warm object appear in her hand, which she could only assume was a construct from Jade. Looking down, she saw that it was an undefined key made out of green flame. With a smile, she took off towards the platform where Sand was lying as fast as she could muster. Placing the key in the lock, she was amazed when it fitted to the lock. Once, he was undone, she grabbed him and raced back to where the rest of the team was standing almost before anyone noticed she was gone in the first place.
“Sand, now!” Starman bellowed.
Sand nodded and reached his arm out towards the spot where Mordru was standing, causing the ground to shake violently. Just as the floor began to collapse, creating a large sinkhole in the tomb, The Flash raced towards the platform once more, this time scooping up Phantom Lady, before she was claimed by the Egyptian landscape.
“Let me see her!” Doctor Mid-Nite shouted, which Flash quickly obliged. Setting her down on the hard rock ground, he examined her carefully without leaving a single part of her body unchecked. He noted her broken nose and fresh forming bruises on her arms from when she landed on the brick floor and chest as well as the large gash from the brick on the back of her head. “I need to get her back to the infirmary in Opal City or else she’s not going to make it.”
Phantom Lady’s cousin Hourman knelt down and brushed the hair out of her face before he leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Jack, let’s get out of here.”
Starman moved is sight from his fallen teammate to the platform where Mordru stood, however he was pleased to see that he seemed to have fallen into the giant cenote. “Okay, let’s grab Doctor Fate and get out of here.”
“Can’t let you do that, Starman!” Mordru shouted as he shot back up out of the hole to a piece of the rock that was left unturned.
Starman turned back to his team. “Jade… I need you to take Courtney, John, Charles and Delilah back to the jet and get them home. Sand, Rick, Jess and I will try to hold him off and revive Doctor Fate.”
Jade looked back at her leader with sad eyes. “Jack… I can’t leave you… you need a powerhouse.”
“So do they. Jess can get Phantom Lady out, but she needs Doctor Mid-Nite and I will not have Courtney here. You’re the only one who can do that.” Starman explained his reasoning to her.
She gave him a reluctant nod, but just as she made her way to the door, the ceiling collapsed in front of them sealing the exit. The enter Justice Society examined the room’s entrances and exits to find another way out, but they were distracted by the sound of a woman’s bloodcurdling scream.
“Why don’t we make things a little more interesting?” Mordru spoke, leading the Justice Society to turn around and make a collective gasp. In his grasp, he had Courtney Whitmore by the neck. “You can end this and she goes free.”
“Jack…” Courtney croaked as she let a tear role down her cheek
Starman reached for the Cosmic Staff that wasn’t there and then gritted his teeth at the Dark Lord, Mordru. “Dammit, Mordru. I will kill you.”
The walls in the tomb were rattled by an incredible laugh from the Dark Lord floating in the center of the room. “No. I don’t think you will, Starman.” He snapped is fingers and the army of Zombies appeared in attack position. “I hope you can handle the Hoard of Osiris again.”
With that last statement, the hoard engaged the team, fighting their way through them. “Jade, Flash… make me a path!”
Flash ran up the gut, tearing them apart as she went through them as Jade cleaned up the rest, creating a path for Jack to run through. Jack gave a quick look back to his team and saw Sand prepping his gas guns and Hourman popping another Miraclo pill. Knowing that his team was ready to back him up, he charged forward, using his fists rather than the Cosmic Staff.
With a cackle, Mordru shook Courtney around like a rag doll, magically keeping her spine in place, or one sudden movement would have easily snapped it. “What should we do to occupy ourselves poppet?”
“Let me go…” she sobbed.
Mordru showed her his hideously decayed teeth. “No… I don’t think I can do that, love. You’re much to valuable to me…”
Suddenly there was large crash that resonated throughout the crypt that was followed by a bright violet light that blinded all of the people in it, including Mordru. The violet light traveled toward Mordru and Courtney, finally making contact with the young girl and causing her to fly backwards, out of Mordru’s grip.
“NO! COME BACK!” He motioned towards her, hoping to pull her back, but she didn’t come. He kept motioning harder and harder, until he finally decided to storm over to her location and grab her again himself, but the violet light held him back.
<Courtney Whitmore of Earth, you have the capacity for great love in your heart.>
The light moved downward, towards Courtney’s hand and once it reached her, it encapsulated her completely. With the violet aura still around her, she stood up slowly and showed that her white tank top and short khaki shorts were gone and replaced by a revealing alien looking costume. And on her finger was a ring that appeared to be the source of the light.
“For hearts long lost and full of fright, For those alone in blackest night, Accept our ring and join our fight, Love conquers all-- with violet light!” She chanted, though it almost sounded like her voice was replaced.
Mordru however was unmoved. The second she finished the oath, he charged at her only to be pushed back by a violet construct in the shape of a hand that slapped in clear through the back wall.
With that, the light died down and Courtney collapsed onto the floor of the tomb. Starman quickly raced towards her and scooped her up into his arms with Johnny in a close chase. “Courtney, are you okay?”
“Jack? What just happened?” She asked with terror in her voice.
Starman looked down at her trying to develop an answer, but he was lost for one. He looked up at Jade, due to the similarities in their powers, but all she could do was shake her head. Jack looked down at her to try and comfort her, but before he could a large noise sounded through the chamber.
The entire Justice Society looked up and saw Mordru standing near the hole in the wall that Courtney knocked him out of. He was holding The Helm of Fate above his head and was in the process of lowering it onto his head. “A lantern… Things just got a lot more interesting.”
With that he placed The Helm on his head, causing the room to violently shake.
To Be Continued!
