24

The punches came in at a steady rhythm, pushing me back towards the edge of the sparring ring. For once I couldn't simply weather the blows, seeing as how they were coming from a half-Kryptonian, so I had to focus on dodging and parrying instead. I swatted the next two punches to the side before he came in with a much heavier strike. This time I stepped in and grabbed his shoulder, using him as a lever as I flipped into the air landed on the other side of him. He turned quickly but I was already putting some distance between us. Normally I would have gone for the grapple, but considering I was limiting myself to a strictly human form, I did not want to try that with a stronger opponent.

While the majority of my training was focused on shapeshifting and using that to its full extent, I had not completely abandoned human form martial arts. If nothing else, practicing helped me keep in mind how human opponents would move when fighting them. So, when I happened to be walking by the sparring ring and Superboy asked for a few rounds, I decided to keep my human form. Of course, considering that Superboy had been putting in far more hours with Black Canary than I had been, and he was legitimately stronger than me, it meant that I was not having an easy time of it.

But that didn't mean I couldn't mix things up a bit. A punch came in straight and I swatted it to the side, a last moment flick of my wrist imparting enough force to twist his body awkwardly to the side. As he tried to regain his balance I stepped in and grabbed his exposed side with my other hand before simply twisting my arm. While I was staying human in terms of form and mechanical motion, my internals were such that I could generate a massive amount of torque from small movements. Superboy flipped in the air before tumbling to the ground, but he wasted no time in getting to his feet and coming at me again. For this fight we had removed knockdown as a win condition, as was the usual when I was involved. It may have had something to do with the last time I had spared with Black Canary…

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"…I don't think you are abiding by the spirit of the rules here." Black Canary said as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Hey, you're the one who said that we fight until one of us is knocked on our ass." I said, the source of my voice not visible as I had turned into a literal giant ball of spikes. "After all, how can you knock me on my ass WHEN I DON"T HAVE AN ASS?! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

I then started rolling after her and chased her around the ring for five minutes until she gave up.

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Setting Superboy off balance wasn't my only goal though, not exactly. By using these moves I wanted to get Superboy thinking about super strength and leverage, and just how little a person like him actually needed to move to exert force. I wanted him to try to emulate me. Now, I was doing things with my internals that let me cheat, but I didn't think he knew that. And if he tried to do it anyway… well, providing impossible leverage was one of the main features of telekinesis after all.

This time when he came at me he kept a much lower stance, feinting a punch to my head before kicking my knee. As I feel to the ground I tried sweeping out with my leg, but he jumped over the strike. I continued my rotation into a sort of improvised break dancer move, getting up onto my hands as I rotated.

Unfortunately, while my improved sense of balance and strength made the motions technically easy, I had never actually trained in how to make the moves reasonable in combat. Superboy reached out and grabbed my extended leg, spinning me in a circle before hurling me clear out of the ring. I tumbled along the ground for a second before I came to a stop on my back, and the hologram buzzed red with my defeat. Superboy stood over me and dusted off his hands. "Black Canary taught me that one."

I frowned as took his hand and got to my feet. "She taught you how to defend against Capoeira fighters?"

"No, but she did teach me how to counter people with unnecessarily flashes moves." He said with a smirk.

I grumbled at that, disappointed that I had gotten knocked out so early in the round. Especially by my own failure rather than Superboy trying something new. I'll have to be more careful next time, I thought. "Yeah, well, I had to handicap myself somehow." I said as I patted him on the shoulder. "Didn't want to embarrass you with all the girls watching." I pointed off to the side of the ring where Kori, M'gann and Artemis were watching from. Kori was leaning against M'gann and smiled when I looked over at her, and M'gann was blushing lightly.

For her part, Artemis was grinning as she looked Superboy and I up and down. "There is nothing about this scene I don't love."

The attention may have had something to do with how Superboy was topless. And how I was at my most human form, 'wearing' nothing but some shapeshifted spandex-like shorts (after all of my effort to make artificial skin, shapeshifting spandex-like membranes was easy).

It felt a little odd for a girl to look at me like that (and not just because she was sixteen). Before my transformation I considered myself to be reasonably well looking, but I was never the type to turn heads. I wondered when I started to garner that sort of female attention.

Perhaps when you started spending hours crafting a human form that was your idealized paragon of masculinity? A thought came from the back of my mind.

Oh, right. That.

"Why you gotta make things weird, Artemis?" I said as I walked over to them. "I mean, it's like you're implying that a pair of half-naked friendly men wrestling around is something more than just wholesome fun."

She smirked as she cocked her hip out to the side. "You said it, not me. Besides, I think we all saw what was going on between you two in that ring."

I was about to respond, but Kori interjected. "Yes, they were forging even deeper bonds of comradery and friendship. Men back on Tamaran used wresting to improve relations to this effect. Though they often don't bother with clothes at all."

Artemis was silent for a long moment before she muttered "Damn, I really need to visit some time…"

"Can we please stop talking about naked dudes?" I looked to the side to see Wally and Kaldur standing nearby, the former seemingly put off from eating the rest of his burrito. "No one wants to hear about that."

I arched an eyebrow. "You're looking at one right now."

"What? No I'm-" His eyes widened as realized what I meant as looked away from me. "Damnit, now I can't unsee it!"

Artemis chuckled before she looked back at me. "Always kinda wondered about that… M'gann's got her bio-clothes, but this is all you, isn't it?"

I shrugged. "Clothes are just kind of impractical for me. If I had shapeshifting clothes I didn't have to worry about accidently eating I'd wear them."

"Me too. It's hard enough finding gear that both fits right and doesn't chaff from long use." She looked at Kori. "Hat's off to whoever makes your bra, by the way."

"I do not wear a bra."

Artemis looked at her incredulously before her gaze wandered down to the Tamaranian's rather ample chest. After a moment she looked away with a scowl and folded her arms. "Oh that is just bullshit!"

Our attention was then brought upward as the large circular aperture in the ceiling opened up, and Red Tornado came drifting down on a tiny whirlwind, his arms folded across his chest. As far as I knew he was purely mechanically, but when he started reminding me of a Djinn it always caused me to wonder. As he landed he started to walk away without a word, but Wally zipped up to him before he could leave. "Yo, you got a mission for us?"

The android's answer was rather predicable by this point. "Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility."

"Yeah, well 'the Batman's' with 'the Robin' doing the dynamic duo thing in Gotham. But you're going somewhere, right? Hot date? Or a mish-shon?"

Koriand'r gave the boy a look. "If you are so eager for an assignment, I am sure that we can find something worthy of our time and effort on our own."

I cupped my chin in thought. The idea that the team would start picking our own missions at some point had occurred to me, but I hadn't considered doing it so soon. That said, the Mountain's main computer did have access to enough information and current event data to make that possible if we wanted. Either Robin or myself would have to set up the right algorithms and alerts to pick out objectives that the team would be interested in to then bring to the team. Given that this was my fulltime job, it would probably be me, though it would be wise to insure that someone else could do it too.

"Wait." My attention was brought back to Red Tornado as he held up a hand. He looked at us for a moment longer before he turned and waved his hand, holograms popping up in response. "This is Kent Nelson, a friend." He said, and the image of an elderly man with a cane and a plain brown suit appeared. "He is 106 years old. And he has been missing for twenty three days. Kent was a charter member of the Justice Society, the precursor to the Justice League."

As he said this, the image of Nelson shifted and a uniform covered his body. It was blue and gold, and in addition to the flowing cape, he now wore a distinctive gold helm. It wasn't hard for me to remember just who Nelson was.

Kaldur recognized him as well. "Of course, Nelson Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. He was Doctor Fate!"

Wait, they have Sorcerer Supremes here? I thought in confusion. I thought that was a Marvel thing…

Next to me, I heard Wally scoff as he leaned in and whispered to Artemis. "More like Doctor Fake. Guy knows a little advanced science and 'Dumbledore's' it up to scare the bad guys and to impress the babes."

I frowned as I looked towards him. "The man fought beside Diana in World War Two, I'm pretty sure he's the real deal."

Red Tornado apparently heard my comment as he then said "That is true. Shortly after the formation of the Society, they had joined the war to create the All Star Squadron, as they determined the Axis powers to be detrimental to civilization." The picture changed, and an old image appeared of the Squadron. Featured front and center was Diana shaking hands with a woman with long hair in a domino mask, with Doctor Fate standing behind them. Around her were a few heroes I recognized as well. It was hard to mistake Jay Garrick and his winged hat for anyone else, and Alan Scott's ring was clearly visible on his finger. There were a few more I didn't know though, and I resolved to study them later.

Turning back to us, Red Tornado continued. "Kent may simply be on one of his… walkabouts. But he is caretaker to the Helmet of Fate, the source of the Doctor's mystic might, and it is unwise to leave such power unguarded."

M'gann perked up. "He's like the great sorcerer-priests and priestesses of Mars. I would be honored to lend my assistance."

Wally started to say something, but I beat him to it. "There are Martian sorcerers?"

"Hm? Oh yes! Red Martians are capable of channeling magic. They act as our beacons and guides to the Higher Plane, bridging the gap between the physical and immaterial."

"Interesting…" I said. It occurred to me that I didn't actually know that much about Martian culture and society. I had been taken a little off guard when I had arrived here to learn that the Martian civilization was actually still very much alive, but there wasn't a lot of information about them on the League's database (I did get a few early pictures of J'onn in his Martian form though. God damn is he intense looking). It occurred to me that I probably could have asked M'gann at some point, but to be honest I occasionally forgot she isn't human. Not sure if that says more about me or her. "Only Red Martians though?"

She shifted. "Yes. Only they have the lineage needed to properly channel arcane energy."

I gave a small hum at that before I said "Well, I'd love to hear more about it. I'm curious how Martian magic differs from human systems."

While most of my studies up to that point had been focused on technological areas, I had taken a look at what information I could get on the subject of magic. Which was unfortunately not much. My main sources of information were still the League database and the internet, and magic practitioners had not really gotten around to digitizing their work yet. Fortunately, Kaldur had been very helpful in giving me a very broad overview of what he had learned in the Conservatory of Sorcery.

Fun fact, it turned out that standard Atlantian magic use was actually a very advanced and refined form of geomancy. The ocean floor was littered with mana pockets and leylines to be tapped, and the various Atlantian city states had constructed facilities to extract and refine the energy. The tattoos that every fledgling sorcerer gets (which were not as solid as they looked and were actually very dense arcane circuitry) double as both a control mechanism and an antenna, receiving energy from these stations. I had asked Kaldur if there was a maximum range to this, but he didn't know.

"Jacob," My attention turned to Kori, whose brow was slightly furrowed. "I have been hearing certain terms used since I have arrived to this planet, but I am still not sure exactly what they refer to. Considering what I have been just told, I think I need clarification before we procced."

"What is it?"

"What do humans mean when they use the term 'magic'? Is it a certain kind of meta-human trait, or something else?"

I arched an eyebrow as I tried to remember if Tararanians as a culture had ever had any exposure to magic, but I came up with nothing. Aliens and magic in the DC universe was kind of weird, in that usually they either explicitly rejected it or embraced it. Middle of the road was not really talked about (or at least I didn't remember it). I guessed from her question that Tamaran wasn't really magically active.

Before I could figure out how to respond though, Kaldur spoke up. "I have studied magic and it nature, and it is what fuels my powers. Magic is the manipulation of arcane energy to alter the world and manifest effects, which can be nearly anything you can imagine."

Kori frowned a little more. "So… it is a metahuman power which can manipulate this 'arcane energy'?"

"Ah, not exactly. There are many regular humans and non-humans that can use magic as well. While certain magic abilities can be inborn, it can also be learned as well. In that case, consciousness and willpower are key factors in its use."

"So… it is a form of psychic powers then?"

"Not… exactly. It, uh…"

Kaldur hesitated, and I raised my hand. "I think I know how to explain this." I said, and everyone looked at me. "In this context, magic is the manifestation of forces which are based in the metaphysical rather than physical. Metahuman abilities are all based in physical phenomena, chemistry, biology, physics… like technology. Psychic powers I am less clear on, but I believe they are at least partially based in physics as well. Magic on the other hand stems from concepts, ideals, imagination. It can be used to make physical effects like moving water or creating lightning" I gestured at Kaldur, "But it ultimately stems from very non-physical things. Things most heavily tied to magic are things like gods, elementals, spirits-"

She perked up at that "Oh, you mean like Spiritcraft!"

I blinked. What? "Uh, maybe?"

"What is Spiritcraft?" M'gann asked, her curiosity piqued.

"It is how Tamaranians of old communed and drew power from our world. At least, that is what the myths say." She said as she turned to the Martian. "To be honest, the Age of Spirits was so long ago that no one knows if our legends of the time are fact or fiction. Some historians feel that the accurate history of our world only goes back to the beginning of the Age of X'Hal."

"X'Hal?"

Kori brightened. "She is the goddess of my people, a beacon of love and life in the universe. We have records of when and how she came to Tamaran and blessed it with her presence."

I remembered next to nothing about X'hal other than that she wasn't quite as benevolent as Kori was making her out to be, but I was already on shaky ground when it came to my meta-knowledge, so I didn't worry about it. "So, the Age of Spirits…"

She looked at me. "Myths say that in the old days of Tamaran, the world was full of spirts of nature. Spirits of the jungles, the rivers, the mountains, ranging from small enough to hide in a puddle to large enough to move islands. Tamaranian shamans, and to extant normal people, could bond with these spirits and gain great powers. In exchange spirit gained some of our vitality and energy, thus experiencing life as we did. Together those bound would become something greater than the sum of their parts."

"Huh…" I said. "I'd have to check again, but that does sound similar to some human traditions."

"That is certainly interesting, but to be honest I do not think I would be able to truly appreciate it." Kori said. "Like I have said, Spriticraft is purely in the realm of myth for my people, and only certain sects and scholars fully remember the old ways. Remembering a set of rites and rituals that speak to spirits that do not listen is not a terribly useful skill."

"What do you mean 'do not listen'?" M'gann asked.

Kori hesitated for a moment before she continued. "While the details are not clear, scholars agree that there was a great war in our early history. During the periods which our sun becomes hyper-active, on average only one or two Tamaranians will ascend to become Radiant Ones. But once long ago… there were five."

My eyebrows rose as I said "I take it they did not play nice."

She shook her head. "When there are multiple Roshak'ar, it is not uncommon for them to come into conflict, and this was no exception. Each one vied for dominance, and the devastation wrought by their conflict was massive. According to the legends, this was made worse by their use of spirits. Spirits are attracted to those whose soul shines brightest, and whose soul shines brighter than a Radiant One's? They could bind themselves to more powerful spirits and in greater numbers, and the tales of their use in battle are awe inspiring."

She made a gesture. "When the War of Five reached its end, the spirits of Tamaran, horrified and disgusted at the destruction they caused, turned away from mortals and decided to leave them to their own fate. The old ways have been useless since, for they fall on deaf ears." She shrugged. "At least, that is how the story goes. I supposed if it is true, I would take solace in the fact that despite our misdeeds X'hal still found it in her heart to love us as she does."

I hummed as I thought about this. I suppose I need to get used to learning bits of lore that were absent from the comics. I was silent for a moment longer before I said "Interesting. In any case, yes, Spiritcraft is likely a form of magic."

Kori nodded. "Thank you for the clarification. I am sure that it is more obvious to those of you that live here, but there are so many… unique abilities and powers on this planet, it is difficult to keep them straight. I suppose it is natural that Earth science would be reflective of such 'arcane' phenomena."

"Science isn't magic!"

We all turned back to look at Wally, who was frowning at the lot of us. "Science has rules and actually makes sense! Magic is a bunch of superstitions and mysteries that have never been proven true!"

M'gann put on a mildly hurt look. "You... don't believe in magic, Wally?"

The boy gave a start as he realized he might have lost a few points with the girl. "Uh, I mean, how can science compare to the amazing mysteries of the mystic arts?"

My mouth twisted. "Wally, 30 seconds ago you thought that Dr. Fate was faking it A la the Wizard of Oz."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Alright, Fine. I don't believe in magic!"

"…You're serious?" I asked the superhero incredulously.

"Of course I am! What about you?!" He said as he pointed a finger at me. "You've been studying science non-stop since you got here! How can you believe in magic?"

"Well, for starters…" I pointed at Kaldur. "We have a magic user on our team. And for another thing, I've been on patrol with a woman who was sculpted out of clay 85 years ago and comes from an island of immortal warrior women. And thirdly, the League has operating procedures when dealing with magic phenomenon. So, yeah… pretty sure magic is real."

Wally waved his hand dismissively. "That- those are just weird, not magical! The League has contingences for every possible situation, including impossible ones, Amazons are likely just a type of Metahuman who got poetic when describing where Wonder Woman came from, and Kaldur just uses bio-electricity!"

I gave him a flat look. "Wow… you really don't think that highly of Kaldur, do you?"

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"

"For one thing, I've done physical scans on Kaldur's body, and he doesn't have any biological mechanism to generate electricity. And for another thing, do you honestly think a civilization that has existed for thousands of years is so dumb as to not know the difference between bio-electricity and magic? They practically mathematized the field for god's sake!"

I planted my hands on my hips. "So, what I'm asking is do you think Kaldur is lying or an idiot?"

Wally went red and stuttered as he responded. "I- but that- that's not what I meant! I just meant that everything can be explained by science!"

I tilted my head. "Of course it can. But why does that mean magic isn't real?"

He gapped at me for a few seconds before he yelled in frustration and walked away. It was a moment before Kaldur spoke. "Jacob, you did not need to be so harsh. If Wally has never had any exposure to magic, it is understandable that he would be skeptical of it. I am not offended by his belief."

I shifted a little. "Sorry, but that was still a dumb thing for him to say."

Red Tornado tilted his head. "I suppose he will be receiving firsthand experience shortly." A compartment opened on his side and he pulled out an ornate golden key. "This is the key to the Tower of Fate. Go there and inquire the whereabouts of Kent Nelson, and insure the Helmet's safety. We shall see if Kid Flash's disbelief persists after that."

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We got underway shortly after that, heading for Salem, Massachusetts (I guess doctor Fate was a traditionalist). On the way there, I got to have M'gann give me an overview of Martian magic use. As the name 'sorcerer-priest' implied, magic was mostly used within the context of their religion. They did not have a god or worship a higher power exactly, but rather practiced a form of ancestor worship. According to her, when Martians die their spirits 'become as one in the Dreaming'. Sorcerer-priests could connect to this Will of Mars, and through it draw power from the realm of dreams. Thus their magic revolved around thoughts, perceptions, and bridging the gap between the real and unreal.

I wonder if Morpheus hangs out on Mars often?

It was night by the time we found ourselves in Salem, and Moya dropped us off in an alleyway near the address. When we got there though…

"I see nothing." Kori said as she glanced around the small park. I say park, but really it was just a square empty lot with some grass. "Perhaps it is hidden from normal sight?"

I shook my head. "If so, I'm not seeing anything either. Red Tornado did say that it was in the middle of the lot, right?" Because it would be really embarrassing if it turned out that 'Tower of Fate' was just a title and Kent Nelson actually lived in that really tall book store on the other side of the street.

"He did. Spread out and see if you can find any entrance or sign of what we are to do."

As the lot of us moved about, I felt some mild concern that we were drawing attention to ourselves. Yes, the team was still in their civies as this wasn't an official mission as such, but at least three of us were a rather unusual color. The town was dark and quiet though, and as far as I could tell there was no one else around.

After a few minutes, Wally finished another circuit of the lot and zipped back to the main group. "I've gone up and down this place like 5 times, there's nothing here."

"So, what do you think-" Artemis started to say with a smirk, but Kaldur stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head as she turned to look at him. She frowned, but simply looked away and said nothing else.

Satisfied, Kaldur pulled out the key that Red Tornado had given him. "Perhaps we are making this more complicated than it needs to be…"

He then walked forward a few paces with his arm extended, and sure enough part of the key in his hand disappeared into thin air. He gave it a twist, and rippling outward from the point of contact the veil disappeared. In a matter of seconds there was a massive stone tower looming in the center of the park, at least a hundred feet tall and topped with parapets and banners. The structure was square and looked to be from the middle ages.

We all stared up at it in wonder for a few moments before I said "So… does this happen every time Kent Nelson walks in the door? Can everyone around here see this thing? Are they just used to a giant tower popping in and out of existence?"

I heard Wally snort and mutter "Probably just phasing tech combined with a variable range cloaking field…" The double doors in front of us swung open, revealing an old fashioned but well-furnished foyer. Kaldur took a hesitant step in, and the rest of the team followed.

I walked in behind them, but I stopped on the threshold. I stared after them for a moment as they walked into the Tower before I frowned and spread my arms. "Guys," I said, drawing their attention to me. I reached over and pulled the key out of the door. "Come on people, don't just leave the key in the lock." I said as I closed the door behind me. "Who knows who would just wander in."