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#3
MAY 11 |
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Mere moments ago it had been a bustling hallway thriving with youth and vitality as young teens made their way between classeooms without the care of what was happening outside. However, within seconds of the destruction of the Spectre by the Demon Mother Lilith even Dakota High School West, more that fifteen miles away from the epicenter, was covered in the blast’s destructive shockwave. The student and teachers were not obliterated as a result, but rather poisoned through their souls as they collapsed simultaneously, vomiting and going blind within the blink of an eye. Everyone lost the memories of their families even as they lost the ability to taste.
Vince Kennedy stood in the hallway amidst his fallen students unaffected by what had occurred. Thoughts rose from his mind hectically as he struggled to see what was happening through the haze of the equation that dominated his consciousness. The pariah that he had witnessed had dissolved into the chaos, but Vince knew that the man was important. As a result Vince concluded that he himself was also important.
As the high school students died around him he saw their essences fade, each with its own sequence of emotions that added up to the sum of their souls. Their immortal cores were nothing but sequences of feelings that only Vince could see. He concentrated on them and felt that he could affect them, changing what he perceived as hate into something more resembling fear. As he did so, the answers to the equations that he saw in his head were modified. With but a stray thought he changed the makeup of a departing soul.
He quickly became overwhelmed with joy as he shifted parts of one essence into other parts, mixing and matching components of his peers’ souls, corrupting them as they departed their bodies. It was easy for him to do and it was fun.
“How are you still alive?” a girl’s voice said from behind him. He was shocked back into reality as his perception of the equations snapped away from his mind. He turned to see a girl of his age that appeared to be made of semi-solid smoke. She wore a brown billowing cloak that dissipated into the air around her. She was not a normal girl, obviously.
“Something’s happened to me,” Vince replied, not shocked by her appearance or the reality of the deaths around him. “I can see them leaving.”
“You’re changing them,” she said as she instinctually felt that the souls she was compelled to gateway to the next realm were no longer the same as she had felt. “You can’t do that!"
“You’re the Secret,” Vince said, knowing inexplicable information. As he looked at her, he saw the same essences and equations coming from her. His eyes glazed as he discovered that he could manipulate living essence as well as that of the dead. “You've come to take them away to a better place.”
“That’s right,” Secret responded, nervous at the boy’s information. “A place better than here, where they won’t be changed by a boy like you. Where the Demon Mother can’t hurt them.”
“Lilith?” Vince asked, knowing the answer to his own question. It seemed that he knew the answers to any question if he thought about it.
“If you know of her then you must know that you aren’t safe here,” Secret said.
“I know you plan to take them to a better place,” Vince replied. “Take me with you.”
“I can’t do that,” she said without regret. She felt the boy gave off an ominous vibe, a feeling within her that she could not describe but was leery of nonetheless. She was about to turn away from the boy in order to get to work leading the dead to their afterlives when the two were interrupted by a new arrival.
“I’d listen to him if I were you, Secret,” Black Alice said as she appeared out of nowhere. She wore a frilled black skirt and a cut-up black tank top. Her black garments and hair offset her pale complexion, a stereotypical goth kid.
“Please,” Vince pleaded as he began to struggle with this perception. “The equation is in my head. I need it out. I don’t like it.”
Black Alice smiled as she put her hand on his shoulder. “This guy’s got the Anti-Life Equation in his brain, Secret,” she declared. “You know who that leads to, don’t you?”
Secret scowled at the thought. “Darkseid.”
“Correct the first time,” Black Alice grinned. “I guess that makes him your responsibility.”
Secret thought for a moment, unsure of a proper course of action. “Give me five minutes to send these kids to where they’re supposed to be,” she said finally. “Then we can sort out all of this.”
“Alright,” Black Alice cheered sarcastically. “Road trip to Apokolips! Yay!”
Vince Kennedy was silent as he watched the Anti-Life Equation within his mind tell him the fates of Secret and Black Alice and was compelled to silence. The day was already terrible enough; no one else needed any more bad news.
The stones underfoot would have left Superman to believe that they were indoors, but he had been walking for hours and miles. His ability to fly had been stolen from him just as rest of his abilities, stranding him within this endless room. Icon, the only other occupant, was barely able to stand, leaning his weight onto Superman as the two searched for escape.
Endless shadow and an utterly silent atmosphere led them nowhere. They walked for what seemed to be days before the black around them took on a shade of green. Superman was always on edge around the color green, the color of Kryptonite, and his paranoia was amplified there in that place. He was powerless already; Kryptonite would surely kill him easily.
“I see green,” Icon whispered, knowing that he needed to keep his voice low for fear of something adding to his injuries. The nature of the place reduced these two men into shells of themselves, fearing what was around the next nonexistent corner, fearing what was in the dark ahead of them.
Superman led Icon toward the epicenter of the green, a small dot in the distance radiating a malignant glow. As he approached, he deduced that it was not the potentially lethal Kryptonite but rather an energy signature that he was recognized. The green energy of the Spectre awaited them ahead.
Superman usually disliked dealing with the Spectre in any form, but to know that a force of God was present gave him a sense of hope, an emotion that was being squelched by this otherworldly place. Making as much haste as he could with the stricken Icon in tow, he hurried to the source of the green. After hours of shuffling and stumbling, he did not like what he found.
“Greetings, lover,” Lilith moaned, glowing green with the stolen remnants of what was left of the Spectre. “I assume that you know why you both have been brought here.”
Superman’s wrath pulsed quickly into his heart as he felt what should have been his heat vision fizzle out as it rose through his veins. He dropped Icon as he stood in disbelief.
“Welcome to my spawning realm, Kal-El,” Lilith smiled as she stood inches away from Superman’s face. She licked his lips with her black tongue and hummed in delight. “Forgive me if it hurts. I only want what is best for our babies.”
She took Superman by the elbows and effortlessly twisted them from their tendons. Two simultaneously snaps signified the breaking of bone. As Superman screamed in agony, Lilith brought her foot down into Superman’s shin, snapping the tibia, rupturing the calf with the jagged bone.
“A bit of encouragement to ensure that you remain docile,” she stated as Superman lost consciousness. “Now, let us make a new army.”
What happened next is best not described.
All was right in the world of Dr. Benjamin Stoner. For years, he had lived as an underling to the oppression of something he did not understand...but now he understood. As Dr. Fate, he could understand anything.
The only thing that eluded his seeming omniscience was the idea that the Dr. Fates before him had not used the powers invested in the garments and baubles for concepts beyond selflessness and goodness. These were the ornaments of Fate, the Amulet of Anubis, and the Helm of Nabu. He could do anything with them.
He had, moments ago, singlehandedly defeated the Justice League of America, easily and adeptly. The JLA had even had an Angel of the Presence in attendance but that made no difference. Now all he had to do was wait for the Demon Mother and her throngs of children to decimate the world and Dr. Fate would be left to pick the bones. He would save what he wanted and leave the rest to die, as they would surely do the same to him.
He had chosen to rest in a realm of his own creation, a mad concept of his diseased mind. A round structure with numerous corners, an empty room severely disorganized. He watched himself in the numerous mirrors that he had created, taking in his striking self. Maybe he had hated Dr. Fate so much for so long because he was jealous of the doctor’s clothing. None of that really mattered any more, the old Stoner was gone and there was no room for him anymore.
His new home has no doors or windows; no point of entry, so it was much to his surprise and immediate dissatisfaction that he had an unexpected visitor.
He had hoped to remain hidden until the entire affair had resolved, but Lilith had other plans. Normal people would be afraid of Lilith but Stoner was overconfident, thinking himself above reproach. He would very soon discover how wrong he was.
“You hide from what you helped begin, Benjamin,” Lilith breathed, her voice too alluring for Stoner’s comfort. “I sense your intentions and I will not allow it.”
Stoner was silent, quickly letting his temper run through his veins. The combination of his confidence, mental instability and privacy came together and boiled into a fury.
“Leave my home!” he demanded. “This is my home and you can’t enter it!”
Lilith laughed. “I can do anything, Benjamin. Your magicks and sciences mean nothing to me. Your fundamental grasp on reality is unfamiliar to my ancient ways. I will ignore them.”
“You won’t!” Stoner yelled as he burst with yellow energy, charging his body and golden armaments with mystical energies. He blasted Lilith with a barrage of ankh shaped projectiles, piercing her body in multiple places. She stood unharmed but her smile turned to a frown as a result.
“Do not make me regret your participation,” Lilith scolded him.
Stoner glowed with radiant magic as he contemplated further action. It was now clear to him that he had overstepped his limitations. He was at her mercy. Knowing that he was not stupid, as he might have recently forgotten, he dissipated his collected magic and tried to calm himself.
“Very good,” Lilith said, still frowning as she dipped her hands up to the elbow into an invisible pocket of space. She pulled out a white haired, naked man, tearing him from nothing as if the task were as easy as breathing. She tossed the man to the ground.
“Here is a present from your loving Demon Mother,” she said as the man plopped to the ground limply. “Do not say I have not given you anything.”
Stoner remained silent, not wishing to push his luck. Lilith continued. "You will rendezvous with a man on Apokolips,” she ordered. “You will then know what to do.”
“Of course, Demon Mother,” Stoner said, accepting his fate.
“Most excellent,” she smiled, and the transition of her facial expressions was startling. Were she not the original source of all evil, Dr. Stoner would not mind showing her a thing or two. As he reflected upon her attractiveness she left through a door of her own imagination.
Stoner kneeled next to the fallen man and recognized him with instantaneous horror and anger. “Hector Hall?” he asked in disbelief
But Hector was in no condition to respond. Attached to the man’s chest with a rusted nail was a small note. Precariously, Stoner read it. It was written in a language Stoner could not read but he understood it nevertheless.
“10,000 times the harm comes to whatsoever harms the father of the Dream,” the note read. Dr. Stoner did not need the powers of Dr. Fate to know what that meant.
Lilith was in four places at once. Not being bound by the rationalities of established nature, she could do such things. As she stood amongst the dissolved remains of what was once Paris Island, she could not help but know that she was accomplishing more than she could dream, if dreams were something that had existed in her time. She reduced her size back to what passes for normal human and strolled slowly through the devastation. Where there were once buildings there was now ash. Where there were people, innocent souls, now there was nothing.
As part of her intimidated Dr. Fate, another was crippling Superman. While she drank up the powers of the Spectre, she was elsewhere plucking a long lost soul from the ethereal mists as payment to the one who facilitated her return.
Manitou Raven, the three thousand year of Inde, had orchestrated everything with the help of DeSaad of Apokolips. Even as Raven had been imprisoned within the Helm of Nabu he had plotted and planned for the day when he would be free and would use that freedom to bring the Demon Mother back into the world.
Now that she was back he intended to collect his payment. He approached the Demon Mother as a Master would approach a slave, as a human would approach a cow. He had no reason to fear her; he had brought her back and made all of this possible.
“Mother Lilith,” he announced his presence, DeSaad at his side rubbing his sweaty hands together. “You are such a beautiful being. It fills me with pride to see what you have accomplished in such a short amount of time.”
Lilith scoffed. “Spare me your platitudes, old man. You will receive that which you seek. I am a woman of my word.”
“Thank you, Demon Mother,” Manitou Raven bowed with gratitude, barely able to contain his excitement. He had waited three thousand years, each precious second longer than the one before it.
Lilith avoided eye contact with Manitou Raven, disgusted with everything about him. She hated his disregard for everything but himself, his weakness because of the loss of his woman so many centuries ago. She stood silently, facing away from the Inde and DeSaad, waiting for something.
“His payment, my dear,” DeSaad hissed, as smarmy as always. “I know that you are a busy, Demon Mother, so it would serve us all if Manitou Raven receive what he has been promised.”
“It is not for your words to say what I do, ugly thing,” Lilith glowered as she turned, holding the hand of Manito Raven’s wife. She had appeared from nothing, as if she had been there the entire time. No one saw her appear or remember her not being present.
Dawn stared blankly into Manitou Raven’s aged eyes, failing to recognize them. Through her own eyes, Raven knew that there was nothing beyond them. Lilith had given him an empty shell.
“You are a treacherous, terrible mother!” he spat as he shook Dawn by the shoulders.
Dawn gave no response as Lilith smiled. "I have given you your wife,” she said. “You are free to go.”
She turned away to leave, or perhaps continue to admire what she had done to Paris Island. Manitou Raven raised his medicine staff in anger, casting a spell to use against the horrible woman. She stopped patiently as the Inde froze, struggling to continue his actions.
“You are exhibiting poor behavior,” she warned. “That is no way to treat someone such as I. For this, I will see you suffer.”
Manitou Raven wept, frozen with his staff held overhead. He knew he was going to die, so soon after gaining his freedom. It had never dawned upon him that Lilith would be so treacherous, although he should have. It seemed one of Lilith’s innate capabilities generated underestimation. No one realized their follies in dealing with her until it was too late. All the while, DeSaad grinned, slobbering a bit as he grew excited at the developments.
Raven tried to clench his eyes closed, the better to not witness his own demise, but Lilith’s strength of mind kept them pried open. He grunted as Lilith did not approach him for the kill but rather touched his wife Dawn and instantly reduced her to ash. She kicked the pile of ash with a smile, covering Manitou Raven in the remains of his long lost love. It got in his eyes and stung him into blindness; he inhaled it involuntarily and blackened his lungs.
DeSaad burst into a cackling fit, overjoyed with the sight. If there were doubts pertaining to his evil disposition, the doubts were gone. Lilith peered at him quizzically then joined him in his laughter. After several minutes, DeSaad reached into his dirtied cloak and retrieved the rectangular device called the Mother Box. He continued to laugh as he handed it to Lilith.
“You’ll enjoy this,” he said, his face streaked with tears of joy. “This will take you to a real world to destroy, far better than this pitiable mud ball.”
Lilith pretended to be unsure about the offering although she knew exactly what the Mother Box was...DeSaad had played directly into her desires. She took the Box and activated a Boom Tube, feigning surprise as she did so. DeSaad was on the verge of wetting himself in anticipation as Lilith entered the Tube and made her way to New Genesis. Darkseid will surely be pleased with DeSaad after this, he thought.
Frigid winds bit into Hal Jordan’s flesh, penetrating even the heavy leather flight jacket he wore. Aquaman was waiting for him, wearing the orange scaled shirt and golden belt that had been his trademark. Oliver Queen was wearing the hooded guise of the Green Arrow with a quiver of trick arrows slung across his back. Barry Allen was dressed as the Flash. All of them were dead but none of them had ever seemed better.
“We’re forming a regular Justice League of the Dead here,” Ollie Queen joked as Hal was still in the process of getting his bearings straight. “You know if there’re any plans for a Superman or a Wonder Woman visit?”
Hal Jordan was not in the mood for joking. “It wouldn’t surprise me,” he replied. “There are bad things happening. We need to get back.”
“Back to life?” Barry asked. “Just like that? I know you’ve been the Spectre for a while but it’s not that easy, old buddy.”
“It’s Lilith,” Hal explained. “The woman God created before Eve. She was exiled from the Garden of Eden…”
Aquaman interrupted, sparing the superfluous exposition. “We’re aware of it, Hal,” he spoke. Hal had just then realized that Aquaman had both of his hands, whole and attached. “We’re all aware of it here.”
Aquaman motioned behind them to show Hal the sprawling City of Limbo, an endless trash heap that expanded into infinity, lit by the red skies of the in-between.
“That’s why they’ve all come together with us,” Aquaman continued as Hal was greeted by an assemblage of individuals he had never seen. Their leader, a puny man of poor posture, shuffled to them. He wore a ridiculous jester’s cap and a matching set of spandex trunks. He adjusted his glasses as he addressed Hal and the others.
“I’m Merryman,” he said in a sniveling nasal voice. “Welcome to Limbo.”
“Limbo?” Hal asked in disbelief. He was certain he would be destined for something much worse.
“It gets stranger,” Aquaman added as Merryman introduced them to their army.
“This is the Army of the Yet To Be,” he said with an abundance of pride. “Jason Rusch, Lorena Marquez, Owen Mercer, Tanga, Anna Fortune, Terra, the Red Hood and St. Walker.”
Hal was impressed for some reason, feeling that these new people, these denizens of non-existence, were supposed to be something more. Feeling this in his innermost thoughts, he knew that Aquaman, Barry and Ollie felt the same way. He knew that, with this group, he would get where he needed to be. He would help defeat Lilith from the other side.
“What do you need me to do?” Hal asked, eager to help.
“It’s funny you should ask, Mr. Jordan,” Merryman joked without smiling. “Tomorrow we attack the gates of Hell.”
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To Be Continued...
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