Down to Business

I slowly awoke from my long sleep. Blinking my eyes I looked up into a stone ceiling. One definitely not made of crystal of the Fortress of Solitude. It seems my trails had just started. Slowly I listened for anything. I only heard a grandfather clock as it ticked away time.

Sitting up I looked around myself. I saw a multitude of old unique artifacts sitting around the bed. An ankh hung on the wall telling me all I needed to know. Dr. Fate likely the most knowledgeable magician in the universe with ages of magical knowledge and training. The trouble with him is the fact that Nabu is a up tight Lord of Order who escaped his death to keep fighting the Lords of Chaos by binding himself to the golden helmet.

Through this helmet he would control a magician allowing him to fight again. Truth be told I saw him as an obnoxious self-important twat. If he really wanted to fight back against chaos he could have come up with endless ways of fighting back. He could have built up a powerful force similar to the Lantern Corps. If he did the universe would have been better protected. He could have created a universe spanning spell circle protecting from outside forces. Creating libraries for the mages of the universe. He could have created a magical institution. Hell he could have combined with Solomon Grundy giving his soul peace while controlling his body as Solomon was powered by magic, curse magic was still magic.

Instead he secluded himself and only appeared when evil magics appeared or one of the Lords of Chaos appear. That only changed when the JLA appeared. When Kent Nelson appeared and participated in protecting the people with his magical ability. But Nabu is an old crotchety curmudgeon who doesn't like to work with others unless necessary. Plus his line for achieving justice, is far further than most, causing friction with many of the Justice League.

For the most part he kept to himself instead of coming up with contingencies against magic for the League to make future encounters with magic easier to deal with. To say I was less than enthused about him was putting it mildly. So I needed to play this very carefully if I did then the future would be much easier for everyone. If not I would aggravate one of the most tenacious heroes of this age. Thankfully I had talked this out with Valkyry extensively while in my forced coma. We had a plan and it could change Nabu for the better if it worked out.

To aid in this ruse I began to shiver my body and form up into a ball. Now I just needed to wait and react like a scared child. Something that would force Kent Nelson to take off the helmet and interact with a scared child.

It only took about five minutes before a door appeared in one of the walls of the room. I looked over and focused on my fear letting it fill my body and mind. From the outside my eyes showed fear and confusion. This would make or break the future, I could not fail here.

The door opened and Dr. Fate walked in. He made his way over to me. He reached the edge of the bed, where I reacted by scooting away from him to the furthest I could reach on the bed. Fate stood there for a few moments before he reached up and pulled off the helmet.

There was a flash of golden light as the man under the helmet appeared. He was an older gentleman who had a stopwatch in a vest with dress pants and dress shoes. He was well dressed and was very fit for an old man. Likely this was due to Nabu's magic power.

The man smiled at me as he sat on the edge of the bed. He spoke slowly and softly to my scared self. "Hey there little man. No need to feel scared. I'm a friend. I'm not here to hurt you." He was spinning his hands as he looked at me. As he did I sensed something touch my mind. It seemed he was using magic to calm me down and interpret his intentions plus a third spell that was infusing knowledge for a high school level education.

It seemed the aged magician had created a spell to infuse a high school level education and the current cultural and societal norms. Hmm this could be very useful in the future!

Anyway my Ki kept me from being mentally controlled but it also surrounded the magic ready to smash it to pieces should it change its intention.

I allowed my expression and body to relax ever so slightly as I slowly inched closer to him. I acted curious as I reached out and touched him all over, as a baby would. I began playing with his chain and watch. He looked at me with warmth and also self hatred as he got me accustomed to his presence. He kept speaking to me as you would a baby or small child.

I looked at his stopwatch and inadvertently touched the opening button. I saw the picture of his wife sitting in the cover just like in Young Justice. He gently but firmly pulled it out of my hands as I got a look. I got out of the bed and walked over to the other artifacts in the room.

He followed behind as he kept casting his magic. Ever so slowly he spoke in a more advanced way until he believed I could understand him.

"I need you to help me out buddy. A lot of people are in danger. Your other form could help a lot of people. Can you do that?" Kent asked as he got closer.

I felt I knew where he was going to go with this so I pointed at the helmet behind him. He looked over and saw the helmet on the bed. An endless number of emotions passed over his face. But he ended up smiling as he walked over, picking up the helmet and walking over holding out the helmet to me. "This is the helmet of Fate. It is what gives me the ability to fight villains. It has also been what has kept me alive for so long." He looked down as he thought over the past.

He was also listening to the voice of Nabu from within the helmet.

Nodding his head Kent handed me the helmet.

I smiled as I held the helmet and ran my hands over it. As I did I felt hieroglyphs, sigils and other languages covering the helmet written so small to appear shiny from a distance. Valkyry was quickly assimilating the languages to form a clear single language. I looked for anything else that may be important. I slowly turned the helmet over and looked inside. I reached a hand in and found an ever so slight engraving. Slowly I traced the pattern allowing Valkyry time to assimilate it and mock up the pattern.

If I was right then this was the magic circle is holding Nabu inside the helmet.

Kent was speaking to me as I examined the helmet. "The helmet has knowledge from ages past. It is also a source of power that the Lords of Chaos greatly covet. Therefore I cannot allow it to fall into their hands. For this reason I need your help. But first why don't you try it on?"

As he finished speaking I brought my face closer to the inside like I was look inside for anything. I then put on the helmet of Fate. In an instant I found myself in a dark endless plane. The only light was from on high, shining down upon the helmet that floated in front of and above me.

I looked around for anyone else I sent out a pulse of ki. I found no remnants or ghosts within hearing distance. Speaking to Valkyry telepathically I heard the words I was hoping for. I slowly turned back to the helmet and stared hard at it in confusion before I smiled. I walked forward to grab the helmet once again.

Nabu floated out of my reach. I began chasing after him with increasing speed. Shortly I was racing after Nabu faster than Olympic runners.

"Higher than normal human strength, speed and reactions. Animal instinct. High IQ to adapt to movement patterns." Nabu spoke to himself as I continued to chase him in ever increasing complex patterns.

"Now for the durability test." Nabu said as a giant ankh appeared above me even as I moved. The ankh seemed to increase the pressure around me. It reminded me about some of the heavy gravity worlds I had visited in my previous life. Now I felt like the pressure was tiring me out but also energizing me in a weird way. My ki cycled faster.

I realized this was why they trained in heavy gravity. Ki cycled faster when put under pressure.

I stood up from my crouch and flexed my hands, shook out my legs while looking around at the Ankh. I turned towards the floating helmet and raced after him my smile still on my face.

"Durability seems to be of an enhanced human." Nabu noted as he kept just out of my reach. I increased the speed of my chase by using a bit of ki within my body.

"Energy seems to be of a higher order. Not Godwave energy but a close connection to it. Hmmm." Nabu said as he continued putting on the pressure.

I kept increasing the ki i was using to keep up with the pressure and the speed Nabu was racing about. I eventually figured it was about time to wrap this up. I used the ki cloak to surround my body. A second later I was in front of the helmet. Grabbing the helmet before it could float away again.

I landed on the insubstantial ground and held out the helmet. I smiled wider before Valkyry began to work.

From my back my ki shaped itself into the form of Valkyry in all her Valkyrie, goddess of the battlefield, glory. A wing shaped helmet covering long flowing brunette hair tied braid. She was covered in plate mail with runic markings covering every inch. A sword and shield strapped to her back. She reached out her hands for the Helmet of Fate.

"I knew there was something wrong with you, you abomination. You utilize Quantum Field energy. " Nabu said as he tried escaping my grasp. Ankhs started appearing around me as I held on to the shaking helmet.

Valkyry spoke as she touched the helmet. "Not quite. It is the fifth, hidden energy, that resulted from the Godwave. Ki."

"There is no such energy!" Nabu yelled as he tried to escape.

"What would you know? You are made up of one of these energies. So you are blinded from the hidden energy." Valkyry said as she began to interact with Nabu directly.

I watched on from my position holding tight to the wildly shaking helmet. Even as the helmet began to heat up I held on. Sizzling sounds came from my hands as Nabu tried to get me to release him. I did not allow myself to release my grip on the helmet even as my skin sloughed off.

If Valkyry did not succeed here then I would have enmity with the Lord of Order on Earth.

That would be a pain in the ass.

"Get away from me witch!" Nabu screamed as Valkyry entered the secret mind space of the Lord of Order within the helmet.

"I am a Valkyrie, not a witch. You should know this Nabu." Valkyry said to Nabu. "Your high and mighty schtick has caused more pain and suffering than some chaotic entities. Your choice to stay in the living world as a warrior is commendable but also short sighted. After so many eons you have not made the world safer as you should have. You have seen fit to wait leisurely until each new event drags you out of your little hovel letting the magical world fester and breed evil sorcerers and mages. It is my purpose here today to right those wrongs and prepare you for the future of this world and the outer cosmos."

Valkyry shone with silver light as she transformed into her original code which slowly flowed forward to integrate into Nabu's mind.

"No! I will not allow this!" Nabu screamed as he created opposing codelines in the form of ancient languages to combat Valkyry.

Valkyry smirked as she used the left over energy from their sponsor. This energy was godly energy which overruled Nabu's Lord of Order energy. "I'm backed by someone higher up the ladder than you." Valkyry said in a sing song voice.

Nabu felt energy from his original creation. The likes of which he could not avoid or prevent. "Why?"

"Danger on the horizon. The likes of which even the Lords of Order will have trouble dealing with. My sponsor, actually my two sponsors, need us to fight the enemies coming to this Universe. So I was given some leeway to manipulate the order of things to allow the universe to survive." Valkyry explained as she continued to push her code through Nabu's soul.

"Who?" Nabu asked.

Slowly but surely Trigon appeared in all his red skinned, four eye glory. He was followed by the gods who were likely to turn on Earth for their own means. Plus Darkseid who had already tried to take over Earth once before long ago. She also put up a hologram of the other enemies Nabu was likely to face in the future. "Trigon. The old gods of Earth. Darkseid. The Dark Verses. And any outside force." Valkyry said as she pushed all of the Flood's information to Nabu.

Nabu was left shocked and horrified at the threat the Flood posed to the galaxy and the Universe if allowed to spread.

"Now don't go all scorched earth. This world has powers, magic and highly advance technology that was not available in my previous universe, they will be great assets in the eventual war." Valkyry said as she also gave a quick explanation about Broly. "He was brought here to fight the Flood and to aid in this universes survival. This is the reason the League left the planet to fight a smaller force of Flood that came through."

"Now I will need you to help me out with a few things in the future. And if you follow my plans I am giving to you, you will be able to hold off the forces of Chaos and keep this world from collapsing." Valkyry said as she looked right into the eye sockets of the real Nabu. "Now 'are you game' as they say?"

I felt the shift in Nabu's emotions as the ankhs surrounding me flickered from shock and no slight amount of fear. Valkyry must be explaining the Flood to Nabu. No one who had ever connected to Nabu's mind scape had ever took control like I had with Valkyry's help. I could only do this due to my endless training in my own mind scape to a small degree, but it was mainly Valkyry protecting and supporting my mind against Nabu. Even if I had trained all my life, lived a life of combat and spent two years strengthening my mind I was in no way ready to face off against a multi billion year old powerhouse like Nabu alone.

At least not yet.

The heat of the helmet began to cool ever so slowly. I looked down to my fur covered arms and sides. My hands began to heal at a visible rate. I was glad I had succeeded in my take over of the Oozaru form. Just in time too. The added healing effect of my transformation was doing dividends to my current situation. After a few months of constant fighting with it I was able to finally defeat it which allowed me to control my form at will.

Valkyry had access to the whole world with my ki pulses. Due to this she was able to correlate data to find answers that I would miss. So I got a lot more fore warning than I originally believed I would. Enough time for me to beat my Oozaru.

My anger was now a lot more volatile than it was before but compared to my past life's wrath, this anger was simple just much more primal. But my training allows me to control it easily. I still had to work on the training with the moon though.

Valkyry stopped glowing and separated to stand behind me. Nabu's helmet stopped glowing as I released the helmet.

"Fine. It seems you have the better of me. But answer something first. What are you? And what is he? He isn't exactly human from what I can tell." Nabu asked.

"I am a mental focused construct given power and form by a god. My form is based off of yours so I am essentially your sister!" Valkyry said with a wide smile as she looked at Nabu she put her hands on my shoulders. "He is an amalgamation of different genes from powerful, unknowing donors. But what I like to call him is a Saiyan." Valkyry said as she ran a hand through my spiked hair. I stood looking at Nabu giving him a wide carefree smile.

"You mean..." Nabu said.

"Yes. But let's keep that between us. He and I don't have the exact same build as those you are imagining but we do have more abilities. It was the only way to allow him the ability to fight on par with the enemies of this universe." Valkyry said.

"You and he were the power I felt over a month ago..." Nabu said as he stared at me.

"Yep. It is likely you felt his 'birth' and his ki system being formed." Valkyry said as I walked forward to stand between them looking back and forth between the two.

"Ki? What is it?" Nabu said as he seemed to delve into his past memories. He came back to himself and spoke up, "And why are you so sure I will go along with this?"

"We will get to that later on. You don't want the world to fall to chaos. You know from what I shared with you that you will be in a much better situation if we work together from here on." Valkyry said as I stared at the floating helm. "Plus before you could do anything to threaten him I would shut you down. I still have a strong hold on your soul."

"I see." Nabu said with not a little bit of anger. "It seems 'you have me over a barrel' as they say." Nabu went silent for a few moments before he spoke up once again. "It seems I have to welcome you to Earth...sister."

Valkyry smiled as she nodded. "Why thank you Nabu. And I do indeed. I want to work with you Nabu, not against you. Once you see the plans begin their work you will understand and I'm sure you will agree I am sure. Now what do we do to prepare for the fight? Give me a sit rep." She paused be fore she looked at Nabu, "And let's keep this between me and you. Kent will find all this out later." Valkyry said as we waited for Nabu to explain the plans for the fight with the villains.

Kent Nelson had been having a very bad month. Since he had seen Inza he had been in constant battle with one evil magician after another. Nabu had been constantly working to mitigate the drain on his vitality but there is only so much he could do. Kent's magical ability was at its prime but he was still an old man so too much strenuous activity was still dangerous to him even with the Fate mantle protecting him.

Now he was in such a quandary that he felt immense self loathing. After being cornered by Klarion they had learned of the other magicians who had come to work with him on a world spanning ritual. It was going to be the apocalypse if they didn't stop them. But after listing off every tool they had and who they could count on, they came up short to stop the ritual.

Not with the other supervillains protecting the magicians across the globe.

Only information from an informant about a beast who had fought on par with the currently missing big hitters of the Justice League seemed capable of giving them the edge they needed to stop this atrocity from happening. But Kent's mind recoiled when he had followed the energy signature to Superman's domicile where only a child had been found.

After exhaustive tests through magical means Kent and Nabu had come to the conclusion that this boy was the beast in the information. This led to the two fighting constantly in the last hour. They had fought right up to the point Kent had walked up to the bed the child was shivering in.

"At least allow me to give him some comfort. It is the least he deserves." Kent said exhaustedly inside his mind to Nabu.

"Fine but once you have, put me back on so we can prepare for the attack on the magicians. If we are late we will lose everything." Nabu said with seriousness. Kent could only nod even as he felt a part of his soul shrivel up. He knew he was doing evil by putting this child in danger but they had no choice. "Forget my last statement. Let me connect with him. I want to check something."

Kent clenched his fist, he didn't disagree. But when he heard Nabu wanted the child to put on the helmet he asked, "Why? What do you want to check?" Something was afoot but at the same time it could be just what it seemed.

"You know the power from a month ago? I think this child is the focus. If his transformation is anything to go by then he could be a celestial given human form. Or a powerful demon. It depends on what I can learn of his power, I want to check to make sure." Nabu said as he they both looked at the child.

A demon could be worse than the ritual being done depending on the type of demon. Demons are pure destruction given form. If this child was one then he could be worse than a Lord of Chaos. But Kent wouldn't feel bad at all about using the demon to stop Klarion before sending it back to hell.

Alternatively if the child was a celestial given physical form in the shape of a human then Kent would worry about their objectives. Kent would also worry for the soul of the child who housed the celestial as they are dangers of kept for too long. Similar to how tobacco causes cancer, the power of a celestial will cause similar problems to souls depending if there is a buffer in place. That is one of the reasons why Nabu used the helmet.

For now Kent would keep his thoughts positive. "So you think you can deal with whatever is happening? Keep the child safe in either case?"

"Do you not know who I am?" Fate said with a snort.

Slowly Kent released his clenched fist. A few seconds later he was his normal calm collected self. Taking off the helmet Kent looked at the child and spoke to him. As he did he put together the spells he needed. He continued to speak even as the child began to move about the room looking at all the artifacts.

Kent used the spells he had created when he was aiding supernatural and magical beings to integrate into 21st century human society. These spells had focused located in the library in a small corner that held the latest high school level education materials. Each were magically scanned and organized to be the most efficient and factually correct high school level education. Along with current history and culture. Using these spells Kent pushed 12 years of education into a person brain in a very short amount of time. Constantine had suggested monetizing the spells at one point.

Kent shook his head trying to forget about that drunk. Eventually Kent was getting to the point he was going to ask for the child's aid when the child pointed at Fate's helmet.

Kent felt everything freeze. This was a turning point. In Kent's life, Nabu's and the child's. All the emotions he kept bottled up swept across his face as he thought about the level he had stooped to stop the end of the world. Was he any better than them?

Yes he was, because he was doing this to save the world. Sometimes you had to make choices that would stain your soul to save the world. That was the price of magic. Kent only hoped it wouldn't stain his soul so much he wouldn't be able to see Inza again.

But to keep the stain light Kent would protect this child from everything he could and save him even if it was the last thing he did.

Kent handed the helmet to the child. After the boy looked at in wonder he slipped it on quickly. Far more quickly than Kent could react to. "He's a quick little bugger." He started to believe Nabu that something was not right. No normal human can act that fast.

Kent watched as the boy now clad in Fate's clothing stood there conversing with Nabu inside the helmet. Kent watched as the helmet lit up brightly. Kent looked in in confusion and worry.

Stepping forward he reached for the Helmet. As he got close Kent felt a wall between him and the helmet. After so long connected to the helmet Kent had gained some ability to hear Nabu outside of the helmet through telepathy, now he was not exactly cut off but his connection was muffled and Kent was beginning to worry that Nabu had finally bit off more than he could chew. It seemed Nabu was being suppressed at the moment because otherwise Kent could hear him clear across the world if Nabu wished.

Kent looked at the child as he did he noticed a bright green light shining in his eyes. It was not an eldritch glow but a powerful life-force similar to Swamp-Thing and Poison Ivy he had heard of from a colleague. This child was not so simple.

Seeing the helmet heat up Kent immediately began to chant to stabilize the heat keeping it from burning the child's head. As he watched Kent saw a silver light just as bright as Nabu's golden shine on the helmet. Kent kept chanting sending out cooling waves of energy to keep the helmet from burning or melting the child's head.

Kent then froze as he saw a silver light flash. Very quickly the golden light was overcome by a complex array of sigils and what Kent could only vaguely recognize as computer code. After a second of hesitance the golden light was subsumed by the silver light. There was an increased glow from the helmet before it abruptly disappeared leaving the helmet in its normal golden luster.

Kent stopped chanting and backed away gathering magical energy into his hands preparing for any situation. A moment later the helmet of fate floated off the child's head before shooting onto Kent's head.

Kent after decades of battle kept his cool as he spoke to Nabu within the mind scape, "What happened?"

"I met my...sister. She has attached to this child. She is here to aid us in our battles against chaos. Before you ask the child is far more sturdy than a normal human or a homo magi so he will be able to handle the strain of her soul without a container. We can speak to the Justice League members when they come back." Nabu said. Standing up Fate motioned with his hand for the child to follow.

"What was the light?" Kent asked.

"It was my sister giving me some of her knowledge and plans for the future. She has had a lot of time to plan out what would make this world safer in many ways. She also plans to forge a powerful force to fight against the dangers of the outer cosmos that are coming. All we need to know at this moment is that she will protect the child from any kind of threat should she need to. But it seems she has a mean streak. So don't be surprised when things go a little different than we expect or want." Nabu said as he explained. He created a hole in the wall in the form of an ankh before he walked through followed by the child.

"That is very vague and doesn't give me much assurance. What of the child?" Kent asked.

"He is a weapon created by your government to counteract the Justice League. A force grown experiment that was created about a month and a half ago." Nabu said. He had made his way into the library of the Tower of Fate. He turned around and headed over to the tall standing mirror. "His name is Broly."

"Broly. He was the energy surge we felt then? Wait he is only a month and a half old?!" Kent asked stupefied. "Why does he look like an eight year old?"

"Yes. He also fought the Justice League shortly after he was released from his test tube. He has grown a lot since then as the energy settled." Nabu said as he held out his hand to activate the mirror. After finishing he turned and did a few pulling motions with his hands for specific artifacts. As the artifacts appeared Nabu made them disappear into the golden ankh storage.

"Shit." Kent stayed silent for a few minutes digesting the information. "So the child is not in danger? How protective of the child is your sister?"

"Like I said she will protect the child from any real threat. She will keep him from death but no less than that everything else will be on Broly. But from what I realized after testing him he will be safe from many mundane forms of danger. Otherwise she wants the child to experience the world, essentially trial by fire." Nabu said.

"I see. There is nothing we can do to protect the child?" Kent asked.

"No. Not if you don't want an angry celestial on your tail." Nabu said tiredly.

"Oh." Kent said as Nabu answered the question that had plagued his mind. This Lady of Order or celestial was stronger than Nabu. Kent shivered involuntarily as he thought of a being stronger than Nabu. "I see. Now what are we doing?"

"We are following my sister's plan." Nabu said morosely as he entered the rippling mirror followed by the child. The two appeared at the designated location he was to meet the Justice League to break this ritual.

"Ok. What is the plan?" Kent asked.

"You are not going to like this." Nabu sighed thinking of all the constant nagging he was going to receive from Kent for months, not to mention how pissed Kent was going to be the whole time.

Nabu was not wrong after he explained the plan Kent was livid.

Nabu just hoped Valkyry's plans were worth all the trouble that was going to happen in between. Nabu did not like to think the kind of trouble he was going to be in when the big hitters from the Justice League returned.

That was going to be...painful.

But if that was the price of keeping Order then Nabu would do it gladly. He just hoped Valkyry knew what she was doing.