Indeed. Kid Flash is gonna annoy Ashley with his skepticism at her Hellfire Dragon Slayer Magic, thinking she is a dragon-themed metahuman from his perspective.
Aye and his canon meeting with Kent Nelson was a life changing experience. Since this never happened in this story as Ashley bonded with Kent Nelson, Kid Flash will have to go another route of Character Development of eventually letting go of his bias towards magic.
Like I said she needs therapy but that likely won't stop Ash from NOT going to it even if said therapist is Black Canary. its not like FT has therapists and even if they do she was raised by a DRAGON, then she grew up on the streets and clearly developed a distrust of authority/people in power. The only way I can see her getting that mental help is the good old Fairy Tail method of fighting someone trying to help you until you acknowledge the problem.
True, Wonder Woman can help Ashley when it comes to being a Warrior Therapist and can take the blows from the latter's Hellfire Dragon Slayer Magic. She might have experience handling super-powered teenage girls at Themiscyra.
Or even Captain Atom since he can absorb her flames (and take some for analysis of it being hotter than normal flames) and take whatever she throws at him.
Or even Captain Atom since he can absorb her flames (and take some for analysis of it being hotter than normal flames) and take whatever she throws at him.
Indeed. Kid Flash is gonna annoy Ashley with his skepticism at her Hellfire Dragon Slayer Magic, thinking she is a dragon-themed metahuman from his perspective.
Aye and his canon meeting with Kent Nelson was a life changing experience. Since this never happened in this story as Ashley bonded with Kent Nelson, Kid Flash will have to go another route of Character Development of eventually letting go of his bias towards magic.
True, Wonder Woman can help Ashley when it comes to being a Warrior Therapist and can take the blows from the latter's Hellfire Dragon Slayer Magic. She might have experience handling super-powered teenage girls at Themiscyra.
Or even Captain Atom since he can absorb her flames (and take some for analysis of it being hotter than normal flames) and take whatever she throws at him.
Oh yeah, Etrigan - the Demon who makes rhymes in his sentences and his powers of hell fire would be quite a snack for Ashely to eat and be empowered by it.
The dynamic between a Camelot knight who has an equivalent of Mirajane's Take Over power except that the Demon is in charge and a Dragon Slayer raised by a flaming skeletal Dragon would be fun to see.
His hands moved automatically, pressing into the chest of Kent Nelson over and over, practiced motions he had taken the time to learn shortly after becoming Kid Flash, for those moments where he, or even his uncle, just weren't fast enough. He counted beneath his breath as he did so, the numbers intermingling with mutters of "come on" as he worked.
He was the only one doing so, and on some level, he knew exactly why. But he had to try.
The golden dome around them flickered as crimson flame and bolts of lighting struck it. It was holding for now, but judging from the way Mr. Nelson's cane was slowly burning up from where it was floating a short distance away, it wouldn't stay up for much longer. Many of his teammates had taken defensive positions as he worked. Kaldur had his waterbearers out, the liquid blades firm in his grasp. Artemis was leveling her crossbow out at the two supervillains, ready to fire the moment the bubble came down. M'gann and Superboy were hovering on the edges of the dome, literally in the former's case, her hands wringing uncertainly as she glanced between Wally and the Witch Boy kid, the latter cracking his knuckles and looking ready to leap out and punch someone the moment he could.
And as for Mr. Nelson's companion…
Ash, as she had introduced herself, hadn't moved since Mr. Nelson had… She was still cradling his head in her lap, her own bowed and hidden beneath the mane of messy scarlet hair. A few tears had fallen, landed on Mr. Nelson's face, but she had gone unnervingly still after several seconds. What she was thinking now, Wally had only the faintest idea.
Eventually, though, even he had to stop. He had maybe hoped that there would have been something he could still do, but… not anymore. Mr. Nelson was beyond any of their help now, and the sharp pain of their failure had to be suppressed now, if they had any hope of taking down the fakers… or maybe just the faker, singular. Wally wasn't sure anymore.
"I! WANT! THAT! HELMET!" Klarion screeched between his volleys. "And I want it NOW!"
"Patience," Abra said, wincing as his words pulled at the burns around his mouth. Relatively minor ones, yeah, but they probably still didn't feel great. "Kent Nelson's last defense won't hold out long, and then all we have to do is get through these… sidekicks."
Kaldur flinched at his statement, but Wally could hardly pay attention to anything Abra had to say. His gaze was instead drawn to the Helmet Klarion wanted so badly. Hadn't Mr. Nelson said something about Fate "putting him on" before? Was the Helmet programmed to bioscript anyone who wore it, then? Or..?
A movement drew his attention back to Ash. She had laid Mr. Nelson's head down on the floor, a gentle movement, like she was afraid to break him, before standing up. Her face was still hidden from him, but she moved with purpose, striding past him, past Kaldur, right up to the wall of the dome.
"Oh?" Klarion's mood flipped, his scowl replaced with a smarmy smirk as he looked at her. "Is Little Miss Ashley upset that I broke Kent Nelson? If you're feeling left out…" Something glowed in a circle around his feet, and that red fire of his changed, shaping into two giant, clawed hands that floated above him. "I can always break the rest of you too~."
Ash didn't even slow down. As soon as she reached the edge of the dome, her hands lashed out, flames coating her fingers as they dug into the golden light. Wally wasn't alone in watching in dumbstruck confusion – the rest of his team, Abra, and even Klarion himself seemed taken back when she tore open a hole in the edge of the dome, stepping out in the span of the second it remained open before it closed back up behind her.
"What the… how did you do that?" Klarion's mood had done another 180, his face dropped back into a snarl. The claws raced out, scything down to where Ash was standing. Wally shouted as he stepped forward, even as he realized that as long as he was in the bubble, he couldn't do anything to help her.
"No."
The whisper had barely registered to his ears before Ash exploded, flames billowing out of her like a firebomb. Both M'gann and Kaldur cried and fell back a bit, instinctively, but the heat of the flames didn't penetrate the shield of energy around them. The two villains were not so lucky. Abra shouted and fell back, and Klarion screeched as his claws were caught in the fire. Somehow, impossibly, the crimson energy burned, the claws consumed into nothingness.
"You killed him."
The voice came from the center of the flames, barely visible as a black silhouette. The fire roiled and churned about her, and slowly, Wally swore he saw a shape taking form around her. Fire clawed and dug into the stone beneath her. A tongue of flame lashed back before coiling around the shield like a tail. Two gouts spewed out on either side, before mantling, batlike, around the girl. And before her, the fire rose, teeth and jaw snapping, glaring at the suddenly very nervous Klarion.
"Now?" Ash, the girl, the dragon snarled out, hate coloring her voice black as her head snapped up. Wally didn't need to see her face – Abra's reaction in particular spoke volumes, the blood utterly drained from his face. "Now, I. Break. You."
With those words, the girl launched forward, the fire losing its form and cohesion as she rocketed towards Klarion. The Witch Boy shrieked in anger, and bloody lightning collided with searing fire, ripping the space between the two of them apart.
Wally stumbled back, stunned at the display of power. How… Where had that even come from? He had seen the flames Ash had summoned before, yeah, but he hadn't known she was capable of this level of pyrokinesis!
… But she had still been held prisoner by Klarion. She and Kent both. And while Wally may have only known her for about fifteen minutes, he could already tell she wasn't the type to go down without a fight. If Klarion had overpowered her before…
His eyes drifted back to the Helmet. "A test of faith," Wally murmured, Mr. Nelson's words ringing in his ears as he grabbed the golden helm.
* * * * *
Kaldur stumbled as the shield around his Team disappeared, the golden light drawing up into a ball above them before crashing back down into a pillar of light that burned into the shield Klarion the Witch Boy formed at the last moment. It cost him, however, and the sorcerer was forced to jump back and away from a furious swipe from the girl, Ash, her flames burning the very air where he had once stood.
"Fear Not. Fate has intervened!"
Kaldur wasn't the only one to turn at the odd, stereo voice echoing out from behind him, Even Ash turned, her eyes visible as little more than burning blue embers through the flame still shrouding her form.
It was Wally, but also, it was more. The Helmet of Fate now rested upon his head, a gold cape draped over a blue-suited body. He rose in the air, under nothing but his own willpower, Order energy forming into an ankh behind him as he looked at each of the Team in turn, until his gaze came to rest on Kaldur.
"I will assist the Dragon Mage in handling the Witch Boy," Doctor Fate intoned, "if you will focus on the Charlatan."
Kaldur hesitated before nodding. "Very well."
Doctor Fate nodded in turn before turning towards the resuming fight between the two other mages. Kaldur took one last moment to study the fight himself – his own sensitivity to magic had never been very great, not when compared to Tula's or Garth's, but even he could feel the sheer mystic energies radiating off the three mages – before "speaking" into the psychic link M'gann had set up what already seemed like a lifetime ago.
<M'gann, do you have all of us linked up?>
<Ah,> M'gann started, drawing a horrified gaze away from the flames spewing every direction at the other end of the roof. Kaldur could sympathize – while both of their physiologies made them rather intolerant of the heat, Martians were much worse off than Atlanteans in that regard. <Y-yeah, mostly, but I can't seem to reach Wally under that Helmet.>
<It is probably because of the power of Doctor Fate. We will leave him be for now.> And with that, Kaldur rushed forward, swiping a waterbearer at Abra Kadabra, who had been watching the three mages with a glint of envy in his eye. He managed to come to his senses in time to dodge the attack, only for a blunt crossbow bolt to smack him in his temple, sending him stumbling back right into Superboy's tackle.
The fight was on.
* * * * *
Nabu had gotten rusty.
Sitting abandoned on the Tower of Fate for 65 years was not exactly conducive towards the purpose of practicing his magic, it would seem. It certainly didn't help matters that while the West Boy had spirit, his actual capacity for magic was rather low. Not nonexistent, very few people had zero talent for the Art, and as such Nabu could still channel his power with this current host, but it certainly was not an ideal situation.
At least the boy was not actively fighting his control. There had been a few times, especially towards the end of Kent's term as his host, where the two of them had not seen eye to eye, and trying to fight both his host and the enemy before him only made things more difficult.
Kent's spirit was helping in that regard. The man had used his dying moments to project his soul into the Helmet, likely a means to ensure the next host had a smooth transition into the role of Doctor Fate, if Nabu had to guess. The two of them had not spoken to each other on friendly terms last they met, but Nabu still had respect for the human wizard, and his loss would be a great blow to his remaining allies and friends once they learned of it.
It was Nabu's job to ensure that his sacrifice was not in vain.
"Ugh, I can't believe you're still trying to be the hero, Nabu!" Klarion snarled, one hand slamming firebolt after firebolt into Nabu's Ankh-shield while the other controlled a claw trying to pin the young Dragon Mage down, even as she danced around it and attempted to run closer to the Witch Boy. "Don't you know Order went out of style in the twentieth century?"
"This battle is pointless," Nabu said, ignoring the jab. "You sought to gain the Helmet for it could gain a host, but you are too late."
"SHUT IT, you old fart!" Klarion brought his hands together, evoking pillars of brick and stone that came together to smash him between. Nabu simply conjured a new shield, blocking the attack.
"HELLFLAME DRAGON'S SMITE!"
Klarion paid for his forgetfulness – without a spell to keep the Dragon Mage occupied, she pounced on him, her fist impacting the center of the immortal child's face. The practical explosion of flame from the spell sent him flying, and gave Nabu the opening to fire off a spell of his own, another pillar of light that pierced Klarion directly, his body dissolving into ash with a scream, however temporary it may be.
Still, the moment's reprieve gave Nabu a chance to study the Dragon Mage as she panted, her head on a swivel, clearly expecting the boy to pop back up. Smart of her.
The presence of Kent Nelson's soul within his helmet gave Nabu access to some of his memories, and as such, Nabu could glean a little from his former host's experiences with the one he called Ash. She was rather vulgar and crude, and her Art had no subtlety to it, but Kent seemed to believe she was a good person at heart, and Nabu was inclined to trust his judgment on the matter.
Still, for a human to be able to use Draconic Magic… The Dragons were an old race, practically extinct in the modern age, but Nabu still remembered a time when they had walked the Earth. Their magic was a primal one, and it had infused their very bodies and souls with tremendous power. Many attempts had been made in the past for mortals to harness that power for themselves, but as far as Nabu had remembered, all had failed. Human bodies were simply not capable of withstanding the enormous strain such power would place upon them.
And yet, this Ash didn't seem to have much difficulty at all. More than that, her magic, her Hellflame, seemed uniquely suited to her body, from the way she was able to use it to burn away Klarion's magic without injury or sickness to herself. Perhaps in time, she could even mimic the effects of true hellfire, and burn away the very soul of whatever she came up against. But she lacked the discipline for that now – her magic may be powerful, but it was unfocused, wild. Chaotic.
The girl started, then threw out a gout of flame at something below him. Nabu turned and flew back and down, just avoiding a burst of lightning from the Witch Boy, even as the sorcerer threw up a shield to block the flames. Klarion hissed, and summoned crimson flame, shaping it into a demonic maw that rushed at him. Nabu dodged the first, and summoned an ankh to block the second.
A third nearly got him in the back, but the Dragon Mage was there, the flames splashing harmlessly over her. More than that, she bit down at the flames, and they were drawn into her, straight down her throat. A… novel method of absorbing magic, for sure, but an effective one.
Nabu returned the favor, summoning a disc of golden light that rushed towards Klarion. He formed his magic into small points of crimson light behind him, before shooting them out of the disc, shattering it before it reached him, but Ash had used the opportunity to follow, putting herself close enough to charge the sorcerer the moment the disc broke.
"HELLFLAME DRAGON'S GORING CROWN!"
"Gkh!" Klarion all but folded in half around the flaming head burning in his gut, before a pulse of his magic sent the girl sprawling back from him. "Stop ganging up on me, you cheaters! Bullies! Killjoys!"
"No." Nabu shot another blast at Klarion, but the boy simply dissolved into shadows before it could impact him. Above them, a stormcloud was forming, and the Lord of Order flew over to where Ash was still getting to her feet just in time to form a dome around them before lightning rained down from the sky, impacting into multi-colored hues on the surface of the shield.
Klarion reformed a distance away from them, smirking. "Even two on one, you can't really handle me with that pathetic host body, can you, Nabu?" he teased. "And that little friend of yours is already weak after we took care of her for a week. I'll bet neither of you has much fight left in you."
Unfortunately, he had a point. Ash was breathing heavily, her flames already flickering even with the power boost she'd just received. And his own host's arms were beginning to waver from the effort of holding the shield in place.
Mrreow.
"Hey, I'll taunt them all I want, you stupid cat!"
Nabu's eyes narrowed. The orange feline… he hadn't noticed that before.
"His familiar…" Ash snarled out, staring at the cat herself.
"Ah. I see." With a flex of will, Nabu broke the shield himself, the pulse of magic erupting around the two of them and dissipating the clouds above as he stepped forward. "It is difficult for a Lord of Order or Chaos to maintain a presence on the physical realm."
Klarion's face distorted, his true form peeking through the human facade for a moment as he began shooting off wild blasts of Chaos magic. The two of them dodged, Nabu flying high while Ash went low.
"I am bound to the Helmet, and require a human host," Nabu continued, weaving between the blasts. He shot off another blast or Order, and Klarion summoned a shield of stone to block it. "But that is not your way."
Ash dodged around the shield of stone, ignoring Klarion entirely in favor of a new target. A flaming foot lashed out, and the feline was sent flying, fur singed as it rolled across the roof.
"TEEKL!" Klarion howled, his form beginning to flicker in and out of existence.
"The Dragon Mage is right. That creature is your familiar, and without it, you have no anchor in this reality." Nabu unleashed one final blast at his enemy with those words.
"Grr, you… Geezer!" Klarion fell back, a portal appearing behind him and allowing the beam to miss him as he fell in. He reappeared before Teelk, scooping the familiar up before Ash could attack it again. "Fine, keep that stupid bucket! We're out of here!" And with that, the Witch Boy once more dissolved into tendrils and shadow and vanished.
"NO!" Ash stomped the ground, clearly ready to chase the shadows, but Nabu flew up and grabbed her before she could.
"Leave him. There will be another day to deal justice to the Witch Boy." The girl rounded on him with a snarl, but Nabu stayed firm in his grip and gaze. After a moment, she sighed and nodded, and Nabu turned his attention to the other fight on the rooftop.
It was going well. Clearly, Abra Kadabra's previous injury, even if it was to a non-vital area, had slowed him down, and the young heroes had managed to surround him and wrest his wand away. Still, he may have more tricks up those sleeves, so Nabu sent out a pulse of magic to remove those sleeves. And the rest of his outer garments to boot. The distraction resulting from it was more than enough for the Superboy to land one final blow on the Charlatan and end the fight for good.
Then, he found himself wrenched around and brought face-to-face with Ash. "Okay, show's over," she hissed at him. "Now let him go."
Nabu narrowed his eyes. "The Earth needs Doctor Fate. I will not release this body–"
"Bullshit!" Ash's eyes, her pupils having narrowed into slits like a cat – or perhaps a dragon – burned with a renewed fire. "We both know Kid Flash has less magic in him than I have in my goddamn pinky, so it's not like you can even use him anyways!"
"Be that as it may," Nabu said, trying not to pay attention to the boy's soul within him yelling basically the same thing, "Klarion's action here show that I can no longer sit idly by, gathering dust, while the forces of Chaos seek to send the world into Ruin."
Ash snarled, but she was not the one to speak up next. "Then let her find you a new host," Kent Nelson's spirit said from within his body, and Nabu turned his attention inward to listen. "Her, and this boy, can seek you a host that will put you to better use, while I remain here to keep you company."
Nabu was almost as surprised as the boy at the offer. He knew Kent's wife had meant much to him, so much that it had been what ultimately drove Kent to abandon the mantle of Doctor Fate. For him to make such an offer now, with their spirits so close to reunion…
"Very well." Nabu turned his gaze back outward, idly noting that the other young heroes had gathered around by now as well. "I will let the boy go, if you swear to seek out a new host for me, much as he has," he told Ash.
The girl growled. "And let you hijack another-!"
"No. The Helmet must be put on by a willing host – it cannot be forced on anyone." Nabu glared at the Dragon Mage. "I have no quarrel with you, young Ash. But even you cannot deny that the world needs the guiding hand of Fate."
For a moment, Nabu honestly thought she might refuse on principle. Thankful she seemed to think better of it, going by the way her face fell as she sighed. "... Fine. But if it ever looks like you're not letting your new host out because of Fate or whatever junk you spout, I will hunt you down and break that rusty-ass helmet of yours clean in half!" She punctuated this by finally letting Nabu go and slamming her fist into her hand, even as she began to waver – the last week had taken its toll on her, and after the amount of energy she'd expended in the fight, Nabu knew she was moments away from passing out.
"You are welcome to try," Nabu warned her, then he reached up and grasped the Helmet. The last two things he experienced with his current host were the final words Kent Nelson shared with Wally West within him, a final parting gift of advice, and the sight of Ash's knees buckling as her adrenaline finally faded, and Nabu departed the world as she fell.
Longest chapter I've written for this fic so far. Feels a little weird.
I decided to do this chapter as an interlude for two reasons: First, because most of Ash's internal dialogue for this chapter would basically be "I'LL FUCKING WILL YOU" and I didn't really know how to spice it up more, and second, to give an outsider's look on how Ash's magic appears when she's raging. I always found it cool how Fairy Tail usually had Natsu's magic take on a draconic form when he was angry, and I wanted to do something similar for Ash, but I doubt she'd notice it herself.
I hadn't actually intended to write so much from Nabu's PoV specifically, but hopefully it works.
Also, yeah, no Dragon Force this chapter. A lot of people were hoping for it, but alas, it's way too early in the story for my tastes. It makes much more sense thematically to save it for later, for a more auspicious moment.
And yeah, we haven't seen the last of Klarion either.
...you know I never really though about how Kaldur is the only OG team member who has Magic training.
He's the only one who can FEEL what's going on.
Juat imagine the Sun appearing right in front of you while your team member sticks his head into the planets core, both to fight a supernova that wants to kill them all.... and nobody else knows what the fuck is happening.
Having a willing mage put on the helmet might not be as hard as you think. Atlantis has a tonne of mages in the mage college that would`t mind doing a tour of duty as host. Especially, if they also have student debt in atlantis. Just negotiate a term limit, and responsibilities to find and vet a new host.
Ash, as she had introduced herself, hadn't moved since Mr. Nelson had… She was still cradling his head in her lap, her own bowed and hidden beneath the mane of messy scarlet hair. A few tears had fallen, landed on Mr. Nelson's face, but she had gone unnervingly still after several seconds. What she was thinking now, Wally had only the faintest idea.
Eventually, though, even he had to stop. He had maybe hoped that there would have been something he could still do, but… not anymore. Mr. Nelson was beyond any of their help now, and the sharp pain of their failure had to be suppressed now, if they had any hope of taking down the fakers… or maybe just the faker, singular. Wally wasn't sure anymore.
"Oh?" Klarion's mood flipped, his scowl replaced with a smarmy smirk as he looked at her. "Is Little Miss Ashley upset that I broke Kent Nelson? If you're feeling left out…" Something glowed in a circle around his feet, and that red fire of his changed, shaping into two giant, clawed hands that floated above him. "I can always break the rest of you too~."
Ash didn't even slow down. As soon as she reached the edge of the dome, her hands lashed out, flames coating her fingers as they dug into the golden light. Wally wasn't alone in watching in dumbstruck confusion – the rest of his team, Abra, and even Klarion himself seemed taken back when she tore open a hole in the edge of the dome, stepping out in the span of the second it remained open before it closed back up behind her.
The whisper had barely registered to his ears before Ash exploded, flames billowing out of her like a firebomb. Both M'gann and Kaldur cried and fell back a bit, instinctively, but the heat of the flames didn't penetrate the shield of energy around them. The two villains were not so lucky. Abra shouted and fell back, and Klarion screeched as his claws were caught in the fire. Somehow, impossibly, the crimson energy burned, the claws consumed into nothingness.
"Now?" Ash, the girl, the dragon snarled out, hate coloring her voice black as her head snapped up. Wally didn't need to see her face – Abra's reaction in particular spoke volumes, the blood utterly drained from his face. "Now, I. Break. You."
Wally stumbled back, stunned at the display of power. How… Where had that even come from? He had seen the flames Ash had summoned before, yeah, but he hadn't known she was capable of this level of pyrokinesis!
Doctor Fate nodded in turn before turning towards the resuming fight between the two other mages. Kaldur took one last moment to study the fight himself – his own sensitivity to magic had never been very great, not when compared to Tula's or Garth's, but even he could feel the sheer mystic energies radiating off the three mages – before "speaking" into the psychic link M'gann had set up what already seemed like a lifetime ago.
Kaldur may not be the best at sensing energy but there is a baby dragon, a Order Lord and Chaos Lord throwing around mojo this is likely the most energy he's ever felt.
Kent's spirit was helping in that regard. The man had used his dying moments to project his soul into the Helmet, likely a means to ensure the next host had a smooth transition into the role of Doctor Fate, if Nabu had to guess. The two of them had not spoken to each other on friendly terms last they met, but Nabu still had respect for the human wizard, and his loss would be a great blow to his remaining allies and friends once they learned of it.
It was Nabu's job to ensure that his sacrifice was not in vain.
Kent and Nabu may have had their differences but there was a mutual respect there. And Nabu is not so heartless as to let a heroic sacrifice go to waste.
Still, the moment's reprieve gave Nabu a chance to study the Dragon Mage as she panted, her head on a swivel, clearly expecting the boy to pop back up. Smart of her.
The presence of Kent Nelson's soul within his helmet gave Nabu access to some of his memories, and as such, Nabu could glean a little from his former host's experiences with the one he called Ash. She was rather vulgar and crude, and her Art had no subtlety to it, but Kent seemed to believe she was a good person at heart, and Nabu was inclined to trust his judgment on the matter.
Still, for a human to be able to use Draconic Magic… The Dragons were an old race, practically extinct in the modern age, but Nabu still remembered a time when they had walked the Earth. Their magic was a primal one, and it had infused their very bodies and souls with tremendous power. Many attempts had been made in the past for mortals to harness that power for themselves, but as far as Nabu had remembered, all had failed. Human bodies were simply not capable of withstanding the enormous strain such power would place upon them.
And yet, this Ash didn't seem to have much difficulty at all. More than that, her magic, her Hellflame, seemed uniquely suited to her body, from the way she was able to use it to burn away Klarion's magic without injury or sickness to herself. Perhaps in time, she could even mimic the effects of true hellfire, and burn away the very soul of whatever she came up against. But she lacked the discipline for that now – her magic may be powerful, but it was unfocused, wild. Chaotic.
Okay so Nabu is inclined to think that Ash is both a smart and good person, he's impressed by her magic but aware that she's very much in her infancy as a mage. Ash being able to burn souls is a good goal to have. He also didn't seem to pick up on the slowly turning into an actual dragon bit.
A third nearly got him in the back, but the Dragon Mage was there, the flames splashing harmlessly over her. More than that, she bit down and the flames, and they were drawn into her, straight down her throat. A… novel method of absorbing magic, for sure, but an effective one.
Ash snarled, but she was not the one to speak up next. "Then let her find you a new host," Kent Nelson's spirit said from within his body, and Nabu turned his attention inward to listen. "Her, and this boy, can seek you a host that will put you to better use, while I remain here to keep you company."
Nabu was almost as surprised as the boy at the offer. He knew Kent's wife had meant much to him, so much that it had been what ultimately drove Kent to abandon the mantle of Doctor Fate. For him to make such an offer now, with their spirits so close to reunion…
"No. The Helmet must be put on by a willing host – it cannot be forced on anyone." Nabu glared at the Dragon Mage. "I have no quarrel with you, young Ash. But even you cannot deny that the world needs the guiding hand of Fate."
I love this chapter. Makes me remember how Dragon Slayers gain power based on their emotions and its almost always a staggering factor.
Either way, knowing that Nabu can communicate with people this way, I hope he's willing to be put on with multiple hosts so he would be willing to work out a schedule or something. Same for the hosts Nabu is asking for.
...you know I never really though about how Kaldur is the only OG team member who has Magic training.
He's the only one who can FEEL what's going on.
Juat imagine the Sun appearing right in front of you while your team member sticks his head into the planets core, both to fight a supernova that wants to kill them all.... and nobody else knows what the fuck is happening.
The great thing about Fire Magic in Fairy Tail, it gets stronger with emotions, its how Natsu's power ups when facing the Arc villain is always done in hand with a friendship speech. Natsu is hyping himself up or getting hyped up. Also damn this chapter was good, got to see Ash kick butt and get some awesome outside views of her from people who understand to some degree what she is.
Atlantis is a great place to figure out a time share of sorts for the helmet: with Atlantean mages to get some experience by "shadowing" a Lord of Order and Nabu getting to be around mages actually willing to listen to him and provide people he can talk magic with
The Flames of Emotions is more of Natsu's thing actually as he learned it from Igneel. But since Igneel and Atlas Flames were friends and would have known each other's similar abilities of fire, Atlas Flame would teach the Flames of Emotions to Ashley as well.
The angrier and more passionate you get, the stronger and more powerful you would become.
If I had a nickel for every time I'd woken up in an unfamiliar location after passing out following an intense battle… I'd have two nickels, but the fact I'd have gotten them both within the past month was concerning.
At least it wasn't a fucking hospital this time. I got that they were important and all, but no amount of sterilization was enough to cover up the miasma of human death and suffering that lingered around them, at least not to my senses.
No, this time, when I woke up, it was to see a ceiling of rock above me. I stared at it for a moment, waiting for my brain to start working properly, but the rock stubbornly refused to change into something more sensical. After a few minutes of glaring at it, I sat up to take a proper look at my surroundings.
It certainly looked like some kind of medical lab, from my own limited experience with that sort of thing. Lots of fancy, expensive-looking machines whose purpose I could only guess at, and a few beds for patients, one of which I was currently sitting on. I wasn't hooked up to anything, at least – pulling out my IV had not been pleasant after the whole Amazo fiasco – and I was still dressed in the clothes I'd been wearing for my entire captivity, rather than any sort of hospital gown.
Oh, and past all the machines and shit, I could see rock walls on every side. It looked like I was in some kind of cave, if I had to guess. It was… nostalgic, in a way, but I wasn't sure who the hell thought it was a good idea to build a fancy doctor's office in a cave.
A sound drew my attention behind me, and I saw someone walking up to me from an opening across the cavern from my current bed. A red android, solidly built, wearing a blue high-collared cape, a yellow logo on his chest forming a "T" in the negative space. I recognized him fairly quickly – he'd been one of the heroes helping with Amazo, after all.
"Ah, I see you are awake," Red Tornado said, his monotone voice flanging oddly. He walked over to stand next to my bed, looking me over. I think. Hard to tell with the way he didn't really have any sort of facial expressions. He carried a metallic scent, not one quite like any I'd smelled before. "Are you feeling well?"
"Uh…" I blinked and looked down at myself, holding up one of my arms and flexing it around experimentally. "I… think so? I, uh… where am I?"
"At one of the Justice League's bases. The Team brought you back here after you passed out following the battle with Klarion the Witch Boy and Abra Kadabra," he explained.
"Oh yeah…" I'd nearly forgotten in the confusion of waking up in a strange place, but now, everything that had happened at the Tower of Fate was coming back to me. Klarion running away like a little bitch, the promise I'd made to Fate, and Kent…
Kent…
I shuddered, wrapping my arms around myself. I… I'd made a promise to Kent, but in the end… I hadn't been able to keep it. I'd failed him. And now, he was… Gone. Dead. And I couldn't do anything more to help.
"... I… I need to go," I said, sliding off the bed onto my feet. I wobbled a little, but the dizzy spell passed by after just a moment. "I can't… I've been gone too long, I…"
"Ashley." Red Tornado turned to watch me as I started walking. He would know my name, I guess, after what he'd seen me do, helped me do. "You have recently been through an ordeal. You need rest."
"I can't," I hissed at him. I couldn't think about Kent now, but… "The others, the ones Klarion attacked to get to me. I've been gone too long. I need to find them, I can't just–"
"The 'others' you mentioned are all right, Ashley."
I stopped in my tracks, then turned over to look at the android. His expressionless face studied mine. "Captain Atom saw the flare you sent up that night," he said, "assuming that was yours. You are the only pyrokinetic we know of from the area." He walked over to me, and with a somewhat awkward air, placed a hand on my shoulder. "We could tell they had been attacked, and we now know it was Klarion's work. But we were able to extract them all, and they are currently recovering under the watch of League associates."
… Kent… had been right, then? I could feel my legs wavering, but I didn't dare look away from Red Tornado, who met my gaze evenly.
"I am sure a League member would be happy to show you to them, once you have rested and recovered yourself. But you may be assured that they are safe."
And with his words, a weight I'd not even noticed was lifted from my shoulders. I sagged, sinking out from his grasp and to the ground. "They're safe…" I breathed out, barely believing the words myself. "Good, that's… good…"
Red Tornado said something else, but it was coming from a distance, I couldn't make it out. Or maybe it was just my heartbeat, pounding in my ears and drowning all else out. My breath was coming fast and shallow. Something was prickling at the corners of my eyes.
Cold metal on my shoulder once more brought my gaze back to reality, and I looked up through blurry eyes to see Red Tornado. And despite his artificial nature, when I looked into his eyes, I could see the compassion in them. Muted, perhaps, by what I would later guess to be a lack of real experience around people, but present nonetheless.
I choked out a sob, unable to stop it. The full weight of everything that had happened finally crashed over me. And there, with none but the android for company, I finally allowed myself to break.
* * * * *
Several hours later, I was standing in another room in the base, a blanket Red Tornado had gotten from… somewhere wrapped around my body. I hadn't had anything to change into, so I was still wearing the same clothes, but the blanket had a freshly-cleaned scent that, coupled with its weight, helped give me a sense of grounding. Reminded me of where I was.
I'd fallen back asleep after my little episode, though not for very long, and when I woke back up, Red Tornado had brought a bit of food for me. We'd talked for… quite a while, really. I'd learned a decent amount of what was going through the minds of the League in regards to me, the thoughts that I'd wanted to avoid before, but it… wasn't as bad as I'd been worried.
I'd also learned the date. August 20th. The day before, the 19th, had been the night of the confrontation at the Tower of Fate. I'd been taken early on the 10th, a little after midnight. Klarion and Abra had me for nine days, and Kent for even longer.
I'd eventually asked Tornado a specific question, and he'd lead me out of the lab and through a near-labyrinth of tunnels to the room I was currently standing in. He'd remained outside after I asked for some space – he was probably fine with it since there was only one entrance. I wasn't about to try and slip past him anyways.
The room was mostly empty, all told. The main draw was a set of shelves built into one wall, with a smattering of objects resting on them. A robotic eye, an arrow, a cat-like mask, but I only had eyes for one particular object. The same one I'd asked Tornado about earlier.
A familiar golden helmet. Even with no one wearing it, I swore I could feel its gaze piercing right through me.
Doctor Fate… Nabu… He had not been what I expected. When I'd asked Kent about him, the impression I'd gotten had twisted my stomach. The way he spoke of just… losing control like that, unable to fight him… It had freaked me out. But while the Nabu I'd met had been like that… I didn't really get the sense that he was any happier with the arrangement himself. And in the end, I guess I had sworn a promise to him as well. Even if it had been one I had zero ideas for how to follow through on.
"What am I gonna do..?" I muttered to the Helmet.
… There was a noise outside the room. Was Red Tornado talking to someone? I looked up from the Helmet just in time to see a familiar ginger walk in, chewing on some kind of candy bar. He stopped short when he saw me, swallowing the food in his mouth. "Oh, hey Ash. Didn't realize you were still here."
"Hey, Kid Flash," I said, nodding at him.
Kid Flash's eyes glanced over to the shelves, then back at me. "Found the souvenir room, huh?"
"Is that what this place is?" I shrugged. "I wanted to see the Helmet, and Red Tornado led me here. I guess it explains the rest of this stuff."
"Yep!" He walked over to my side, looking over his collection with a smile. "You know, things to remember our missi– Oh, uh, I mean–"
"Your team's missions." I smirked at the surprised look on his face. "Red Tornado told me, but I'd kind of guessed from the way you all were acting at the Tower. You know Kent and I were there when you guys got there? Abra was hiding us with his micro-opto-whatchamacallits."
"Huh. Kind of surprised he told you about it." Kid Flash scratched the back of his head. "I thought we were supposed to be, ya know, covert."
I sighed, looking away from him, back at the Helmet. "... Red Tornado told me," I said slowly, "that the League was considering offering me a position on the Team. That they'd been considering it since I helped them take down that Amazo robot."
"... Wait, what?" Ooh, I didn't know people's jaws actually dropped like that in real life. Thought it was just an expression. "Wait, Ash… like Ashley? You were the pyrokinetic Amazo copied?"
"Uh, yeah?" I looked back at him, my eyebrow quirked. "Did Flash tell you about it or something?"
"Nnnooottt exactly… the Team was supposed to watch over its parts when they went to STAR Labs, but Ivo stole them back and tried to put it back together. We had to take it down again, but it was all glitchy and slow, so I guess it was more messed up than Ivo thought. We ended up bringing him in too."
I snorted, turning back. "Good. Hope you kicked him in the ribs. He deserves it."
Kid Flash studied me, and a few seconds passed in silence. "So… Are you gonna join the Team, then?" he eventually asked.
"... I don't know," I admitted. My shoulders hunched, and I drew the blanket closer around myself. "I'm homeless, you know that? But I'd found a few good people, people who had it rough like I did, and we ended up making a little community for ourselves. I used my magic to help keep them safe… right up until Klarion came for me. He… hurt them. The League got to them before it got too bad, and Tornado says someone can take me to see them tomorrow, after…" I stopped, then forced myself to keep going. "After Kent's funeral. And I just… I'm supposed to keep them safe, you know? But I don't know how I can do that anymore, if people are gonna go through them to get to me."
I looked back at Kid Flash, who was studying me with a carefully neutral expression. "Sorry," I muttered. "Didn't mean to dump that all on you, it's just… a lot to think about. And that's without even considering what I promised him." I punctuated that sentence by jerking my head at the Helmet.
"... If it helps," Kid Flash said, glancing at the Helmet himself, "you're not the only one that made that promise. I told Fate I'd try and help find him a new host too. And I don't really know anything about what makes a good host for a magic Order spirit, but at least you aren't alone on that front."
I blinked. "You sound… a lot less skeptical about magic than you did at the Tower."
"Yeah, well…" He smiled a little and looked at the Helmet again. "Sometimes seeing is believing. And sometimes, letting yourself be possessed by a millennia-old sorcerer is believing." His smile dropped, and he shot me a pleading look. "Just don't tell Artemis if you do join up. She'd never let me live it down."
"Your secret is safe with me," I said with a roll of my eyes.
Kid Flash sighed in relief, then stepped over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. A small part of me noted with amusement that the superhero had to reach up a bit to do it. "And hey, whether or not you do join the Team… I'd be down to work with you again, Ashley."
"Thanks, Kid Flash."
"Eh, you can call me Wally out of costume," he admitted with a sheepish grin.
I chucked. "And you can still call me Ash. It's what my friends call me."
So as you can probably guess, Ash is... not really in a great headspace at the moment, but now, her ordeal if finally over, and she can begin to recover.
Next chapter will be another interlude, once more from the perspective of the League, as they try and figure out exactly how they'll proceed with her.
I mean, I get why she might think it's dangerous to have her around, I just hope she doesn't ditch them entirely. Hang out with them on weekends or something, at least. Given that they've been important to her for that long, it doesn't seem healthy to just cut them out so abruptly.
If I had a nickel for every time I'd woken up in an unfamiliar location after passing out following an intense battle… I'd have two nickels, but the fact I'd have gotten them both within the past month was concerning.
I choked out a sob, unable to stop it. The full weight of everything that had happened finally crashed over me. And there, with none but the android for company, I finally allowed myself to break.
Doctor Fate… Nabu… He had not been what I expected. When I'd asked Kent about him, the impression I'd gotten had twisted my stomach. The way he spoke of just… losing control like that, unable to fight him… It had freaked me out. But while the Nabu I'd met had been like that… I didn't really get the sense that he was any happier with the arrangement himself. And in the end, I guess I had sworn a promise to him as well. Even if it had been one I had zero ideas for how to follow through on.
"... I don't know," I admitted. My shoulders hunched, and I drew the blanket closer around myself. "I'm homeless, you know that? But I'd found a few good people, people who had it rough like I did, and we ended up making a little community for ourselves. I used my magic to help keep them safe… right up until Klarion came for me. He… hurt them. The League got to them before it got too bad, and Tornado says someone can take me to see them tomorrow, after…" I stopped, then forced myself to keep going. "After Kent's funeral. And I just… I'm supposed to keep them safe, you know? But I don't know how I can do that anymore, if people are gonna go through them to get to me."
"Yeah, well…" He smiled a little and looked at the Helmet again. "Sometimes seeing is believing. And sometimes, letting yourself be possessed by a millennia-old sorcerer is believing." His smile dropped, and he shot me a pleading look. "Just don't tell Artemis if you do join up. She'd never let me live it down."
