CH-8

"..."

Around 4 a.m. At the sound of roosters singing. Nate found himself in an unusual situation this morning, before the sun had even risen.

"Sorry for barging in on you like this... I hope he didn't wake you up by staring so hard at you for so long?"

"He's spent most of the night hovering over you in this state. He's been pestering me for several hours to meet you since you flew over the JSA."

Nate was not the person with the most expertise and knowledge when it came to the world of comics. But even he could identify Doctor Fate's helmet…

He hadn't stopped being shocked, almost scared, when he heard a voice speak from the left side of the couch.

There, at a table where Nate took some of his meals, there was an old man. Sitting on one of the chairs. He looked middle-aged actually, but like a guy that seemed very senior and not in good health.

He did not appear weak, but frail. More so on the psychological side of things...

His gaze was heavy, intense. Peculiar and eccentric, with a mix of cleanliness and serenity, but with the nagging sensation of being disoriented. Disorganized. He seemed like a good person with a pure heart, though. 

He was dressed in clothes that looked like they belonged to someone homeless, and his gloves were not properly stitched and felt like they had seen better days.

In many ways, he felt like he had lost a lot of sanity, possibly his professional calling, and to be living a life on the streets.

He resembled, or typified, one of the worst-case scenarios that could befall a conspiracy theorist who had seen too much and lost concern, a sense of urgency for societal necessities.

Nate, on the other hand, did not judge books and people based solely on their covers.

He stared for another second and said,

"And you are?"

When Nate asked, the helmet of fate, which was hovering above and around him, flew towards the person being questioned. Suddenly and quickly.

The man replied,

"My name is Kent Nelson. This excited guy next to me is named Nabu."

Nate nodded and said, 

"My name is Nate. Can I ask why and how you barged into my home?"

Kent said, 

"This guy helped me get in. When I put him on my head, I can do a broad range of unusual things. I don't want to do much of that anymore, however… I was hoping to entrust him to you."

"You don't seem to be precisely ordinary either, and you can even fly, so I had a feeling you two would get along great... Nabu thinks you're worthy of him. More than I have ever been…"

"Whatever the case may be, it is high time for me to retire and enjoy the remaining years of my life. I was counting on you to help me with that."

"What's your opinion?"

His remarkably, unexpectedly casual tone conveyed a lot of tiredness and hope.

"..."

Nate was quiet for a long time.

He was not surprised that Doctor Fate, any, had been able to follow and sneak on him undetected. So he didn't pay a lot of attention to that part.

His focus was elsewhere:

The focus was, this guy, as well as the helmet itself, wanted him to take over as the next doctor fate? Nate had no idea that there was a doctor fate in Smallville until now.

How strong was he?

Like in the comics?

"..."

After some thought, particularly about his Essence and the benefits it provided him, spiritually so especially, Nate decided to take a chance.

He said,

"I wouldn't want to stop a man from sitting back and enjoying his years of prospective retirement, so I will probably consider your offer after some discussion... But I don't exactly live alone, and I would like to discuss this elsewhere if possible... Can we go somewhere else to talk about whatever this is?"

He did not want to pass up the opportunity to grow stronger and have more means of self-defense.

Even if the Doctor Fate in this world was not as powerful as the one in comic books, Nate would not turn down such a chance.

With his Essence's weakness filtering and adaptation capabilities, why would he? 

Nate was kind of like Doomsday, physically and mentally.

The first difference between him and Doomsday was that he did not have to die in order to meet the more stringent requirements for adaptation.

The second difference was that his Essence, unlike Doomsday's body, did not aim to make him directly invincible. Nate diverged, deviated mostly from Doomsday in that he did not adapt to damage. The ability to take damage from punches and kicks, for example, was not a weakness.

Nate only adapted to weaknesses rather than damage. He wasn't as broken as Doomsday.

His Essence perfected his potential and eliminated his weaknesses; it did not transform him into a pseudo-invincible being from the start. It did not increase his power or raw strength.

His Essence did stuff like letting him breathe in places with no air and other such ridiculous things; it didn't make him actually impervious to things like attacks from people and other creatures.

Nate was not some perfect lifeform; he was simply someone with no annoying flaws.

To put it simply, his essence could provide him with useful skills such as the ability to breathe underwater and live in the harshest conditions of space, elude viruses, but it would never directly transform him into an untouchable fighter.

It was not the Essence's goal. Nate had to work hard to gain strength.

However, there were exceptions to the rule. The best example of this would be someone fighting exclusively using sicknesses and viruses. Nate would be completely unstoppable against such people. He would be invincible against those who only resort to things such as mind manipulation as well. It was those types of examples.

For example, if a psychic could only harm him by attempting to use and take over his mind, they would have no chance against him. It wouldn't work. The Essence was invincible against mind swaying and mind studying.

Kent responded to Nate with enthusiasm and elation, 

"Okay, as long as you agree to help me get rid of this good friend of mine permanently, I will agree to any request! And more."

"Should we head out now?"

He appeared relieved. Off of a substantial burden.

He couldn't help but raise up his voice a little after noticing Nate's willingness.

They quickly left the house and headed straight for the closest corn field.

XX

In the middle of a cornfield, with tall stalks of corn. It was still dark outside, and 5 a.m. was still a long way off.

Kent didn't explain much because he was confident that Nate would know everything he needed to know once he put on the helmet. This included an in-depth look at Kent and his level of responsibility to his JSA friends.

He mentioned them briefly: the Justice Society of America.

Apparently, they were also in this world.

They were all aged people, and the majority of them had died or retired permanently. There were only three people left in it, besides Kent himself. The last and third member, who was young, was not considered official yet. She hadn't been fully accepted and spent most of her time with them because of her relationship with her stepfather. She was a protégée of another member close to her stepfather.

She was the same age as Nate and had dropped out of school. Mostly for training.

Nate considered giving Kent a Super Senzu bean as a gift to help him enjoy his retirement more, but he felt it was not necessarily a good idea. Nate didn't want to risk becoming Doctor Fate.

Kent had to be in poor mental and physical health for this successor thing to make sense.

Nate was confident that even Nabu couldn't decipher his secrets, so he wasn't concerned at all. From the way Kent spoke about Nate, it appeared that Nabu was unable to read him.

It was primarily the reason Nate had caught the attention of the helmet after flying over the JSA's headquarters in Metropolis. He had piqued the helmet's interest and curiosity, owing primarily to his unreadable fate and past.

According to Kent's description, it appeared to have happened while Nate was on his way to Tess Mercer's University.

Kent was ready to leave, but not before seeing Nate put on the helmet.

He said, handing the item to Nate's hands, 

"I guess it should be time for you to put it on... This guy is getting anxious."

"I hope you have better luck than me with it. Nabu says you have a strong metabolism and are not from this solar system, so your chances are good. Your career as a hero will most likely be much more enjoyable and more relaxed than mine."

Nate had temporarily deactivated the protection of his secrets. Only about his metabolism and body. As expected, the curious Nabu seized the opportunity to study him.

But he was still hiding the fact that he was from Krypton. So, even if Nabu delved into the structure, the background of his body more, this detail would elude him, despite his immense knowledge.

The name would never come up unless Nate allowed it.

Kent already knew that Nate was not a sorcerer, but he didn't know much else. He wasn't the type to care, even if Nate was an alien.

"Nabu…"

The helmet, which was placed in Nate's hands, spoke with his gaze fixed on him. Kent had explained that Nate would not be able to understand until he put on the helmet at least once.

As Nate was about to put on the helmet, he couldn't help but think, 

'I wonder if I'll be able to see my own fate after I put this thing on. From what I understand, Doctor Fate can see everyone's fate except his own. It should not be different for me. It does not count as a weakness.'

'Plus, as Kent admitted, he couldn't see my fate when I wasn't even trying to hide it... There's a good possibility that no other versions of me exist in the multiverse. I'm a reincarnator, so even without the Essence, any past and future me existing at the same time as me makes little sense. Especially in the world of comics, where time travel is too simple.'

Nate stopped overthinking it and put the helmet on his head.

Hum!

Shimmer!

Twinkle!

The moment he did, his body began to shine, sparkle, as did the glowing golden helmet on his head. Doctor Fate's costume, complete with amulet and cape, was taking shape when something strange occurred. It hadn't happened since Nate had consumed the Essence of the Uncommon.

His Essence was not a system, but it appeared to be responsive. Nate realized right away that this was only supposed to happen on rare occasions. At other times, the adaptation would occur silently.

[It has been discovered that you have put on Doctor Fate's helmet, and the helmet itself is desperate to make you the next successor. Because this is the case, adaptations will be accelerated immediately, taking only a millisecond to complete.]

[The risk to your mental health is quite high, so any psychological flaws associated with the status of Doctor Fate are immediately put to rest.]

[Doctor Fate's powers in this world of Smallville are limited, and since you have become Doctor Fate here, they will remain so. To strengthen them, you will need to put in the effort. You have all of Doctor Fate's skills and powers, but your only nigh-omnipotent, omega-level abilities are those related to precognition, time and space travel, and teleportation.]

[Any other power is severely weakened and only equal to your current strength. You are stronger than the previous host, so your powers are far greater than Doctor Fate's normal state in this world.]

[The enhancements, future strength gain, and progress provided to this version of Doctor Fate will only apply to you, unless you allow it to be different for another wearer. The helmet's full strength, independent of its own base of power, is determined by your willingness to allow it to draw from, tap into on your own strength.]

As the prompts faded and stopped appearing, the process was carried out and wrapped up immediately.

Buzz!

Dazzle!

Whirr!

The helmet suddenly shone brighter, with a powerful and invigorating glow and a strong luster, causing Nate to barely leave the ground and soar, floating above it.

Still far from being enough to stick his head out above the tall corn stalks.

Nate's face turned serious underneath the mask, his eyes widening and gleaming through the visor.

The 14-year-old was only beginning to delve into the universe's impenetrable, thick secrets, including the fate of this world and its history, when he heard a voice. It was Nabu himself.

It said,

"By the Lords of Order… This exhilarating power and immeasurable potential in your body…"

"This is truly extraordinary! Kid, you're even less ordinary than I felt, aren't you? Which galaxy are you from?"

"It is quite bizarre but I still can't read you after you donned me on your face... Perhaps you have the answer to my growing curiosity?"