PRESENTS

#7
FEATURING

"Spirits in the Material World" Part 2
by Kell Carpenter
barchettaboy@yahoo.com

JSA Headquarters, New York City:

"…sounds great, Mr. Michaels. I look forward to it." Michael Holt smiled as he hung up the phone.

Alex Montez looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "What's up, Mr. T? Good news or bad news?" The curator of the JSA Museum still had trouble reading Mr. Teriffic's expressions through his t-shaped mask.

"That was someone who knew the original Mr. Teriffic when he was teaching at Gateway University. He's now a professor there, and he wanted to get together with me while he was in town for a conference…" he shook his head and chuckled to himself.

"What's so funny?" Alex asked.

Heading out the door, Mr. Teriffic called back over his shoulder: "That's one thing I didn't expect being in the super hero field…groupies…" He grinned at his joke and left.

Greenwich Village:

Hours after their initial phone conversation, Mr. Teriffic and Sloane Michaels were finishing up their dinner at Wok n Roll, a local Chinese place.

After a sip of the house Chinese tea, Sloane cocked his head sideways and watched Terrific bring a large wad of seafood linguine to his mouth with his chopsticks.

"How do you get used to that?" Sloane asked, eyebrows raised.

Terrific paused in mid-chew, his forehead wrinkling. "Whacha mean?" he muttered through a mouthful of food.

Sloane pointed to his face and said "The mask. How in the world do you get it to open up like that?"

Terrific swallowed and laughed. "It's another of my inventions. I simply made it react to my neural impulses. When I think about taking a bite of food, it moves aside so I can. Just another invention…" He shrugged and stirred his food with the chopsticks.

"You seem to have everything…" Sloane said, his smile fading. "…just like Terry…"

Sensing the other man's change of mood, Terrific looked up, studying Sloane's face. "Everything okay…?"

Sloane waved a hand dismissively in front of his face. "Sorry, I just was thinking about how nice Terry was to me, back when I was in college…"

Terrific nodded. "You two were obviously close. How did you find out about his secret identity?"

Sloane smiled again. "Back then, Terry wasn't too worried about who knew his former 'mystery-man' identity. I was new to college and having some trouble in his class. He offered his help and we hit it off fairly well." Sloane's eyes became veiled as he accessed his memories. "He was in 'semi-retirement' by then. Wasn't too long before he…died…" Sloane bowed his head, hiding his face from Terrific.

"Sounds like his death really made an impression on you."

His face hidden, Sloane smiled unpleasantly. "Oh, yes. Why it was like I was there when he died…"

After dinner, Sloane insisted they have some of Wok n Roll's famous plum juice. "You haven't had the full experience without it. I assure you, you'll never forget Wok n Roll after having the plum juice…" He smiled broadly at Terrific.

"Okay, okay. You've convinced me…!" Terrific returned the smile.

"I'll be right back, then!" Sloane jumped up and headed to the service counter.

He returned a few minutes later with two small porcelain cups and handed one to Terrific.

"Let's drink to Terry's memory, shall we?" Sloane asked, raising his cup.

Terrific returned the salute, then brought the cup towards his mouth. "To Terry..."

They drained their cups and set them on the table. Sloane had a strange smile on his face.

"Wh-why are you sm-smilinnnngg?" Terrific slurred his words as he began to slump forward in his seat.

Sloane grabbed his arm as if to steady him. "Easy, there. Everything okay?" His grin widened.

Terrific sat up immediately. "Everything's spectacular, Sloane! I think we need to be hurrying off, don't we?" His grin was identical to Sloane's.

"Oh yes, indeed! Places to go, people to see…" The pair were laughing maniacally as they disappeared into the Greenwich Village night.

Gotham City:

"…and I swear, I don't know what could have gotten into Joan*…" Jay Garrick sat, dejected in his friend Alan Scott's home.

*Joan Garrick displayed some unusual behavior last issue - Kell

Alan's wife, Molly, put her hand on his arm. "I don't know either, Jay. It's just not like her to cut anyone off, let alone you. She loves you so much…"

Alan, who had been lost in thought, stood up suddenly. "I think you're onto something Jay!"

"What? I didn't say anything…" he looked at Alan, his brow knitted and a confused look on his face.

"Yes, you did; you just didn't realize it. You said 'I don't know what could have gotten into her' just now. In our line of work, something could very well have literally 'gotten into her'…" His face hardened. "…or someONE…"

Jay stood quickly, confusion turning to anger. "You're right, Alan. I was so distraught about Joan's behavior, I couldn't think straight."

"I know. That's why it's important that we work on this together." He looked at Molly. "Are you going to be okay here alone?"

She nodded. "I think so. You do what you have to…"

He took her in his arms and kissed her. Afterward, he held her out at arm's length. "No matter what she says, don't let Joan into the house. Even though she might sound all right, she's probably not. I want you to promise me you'll contact me if she tries to get into the house…"

"I- I promise. Oh Alan, be careful…" She hugged him tightly. "…I just don't think I can face this disease without you…" she said in a small voice.

Jay placed a hand on her shoulder. "He'll come back. I'll make sure of it…"

After a last kiss between Alan and Molly, Jay and Alan were gone in a flash of green light.

Gateway City:

Sloane Michaels and his guest made their way to Gateway University's science lab complex. Sloane greeted people by name, making small talk as he and his companion headed for a particular lab. Nobody looked twice at the handsome black man with the Gateway U identification card hanging around his neck as he accompanied Sloane through the complex.

Stopping at the door, Sloane slid his ID card through the reader's slot and tapped a sequence on the keypad to gain access. He and his companion entered, laughing together at some private joke. Once inside, they headed for a small door at the back of the lab. The door closed behind them and all was once again silent in the labs.

JSA Headquarters, New York:

Jay and Alan arrived at JSA headquarters and headed for the facility's Records Room.

They met Alex Montez on their way. "Hi Jay, Alan. What's the rush?"

"We need to do some research in the villains' database, Alex. Is Michael around?" Alan asked.

"No, he's not been back since yesterday. He was going to meet a friend of Terry Sloane's for dinner over in the Village. Haven't seen him since..." Alex reported.

Jay and Alan looked at each other.

"A friend of Terry's? Who could that be?" Alan asked. "I thought most of Terry's friends would be in our line of work..."

Jay stiffened. "...or somebody we come across in our line of work. We need to hit the records fast. See you-"

To Alan and Alex, it seemed as if Jay had disappeared in the middle of his sentence. They hurried to the Records Room and found Jay seated in front of a computer terminal with his hands flying over the keys.

"Any luck, Jay?" Alan asked.

"I've cross-referenced both 'Mr. Terrifics' with villains and old cases." Jay looked over his shoulder and motioned them over to the terminal.

All three of them looked at the computer screen. Unknown to them, one of Michael Holt's "T-Spheres" silently entered the room and floated above them. It watched as they took in the information on the screen.

Alan's face was drawn and pale. "No..." he whispered.

Alex wore a look of confusion. "I'm not very familiar with this one..."

"You wouldn't be. It happened about twenty years ago, a murder case that involved the Justice League..." Jay's expression hardened. "...and I was involved."

Alex's confusion increased. "Involved? I don't understand..."

Jay turned, his face full of anger. "I was the murder weapon."

He saw movement across the room. Looking up, he saw the T-Sphere floating above them. In an instant, he'd moved across the room, grabbed the orb, and brought it back to the other two men.

Holding it up to his face, he glared at the orb. "I know you're watching, Romaine. It makes sense now..." His face twisted with anger. "You shouldn't have involved Joan, Romaine. You went too far this time."

Across the country, Roger Romaine, also know as Sloane Michaels, looked at a computer monitor at the magnified face of Jay Garrick. He smirked as Jay continued.

"..It was bad enough you used me to kill Terry Sloane, Romaine. But you've gone one step too far by involving my wife." Jay's face grew larger on the screen as he moved the sphere closer to his face. "I'm going to kill you, Romaine. If Joan is alive and well, I promise to make it quick. But if you've harmed her in ANY way, I promise I'll make you suffer and beg me before you die..."

Romaine laughed, and Jay jumped in surprise as his enemy's voice came through the orb in his hand.

"You kill me? Oh, please, Jay; don't kid yourself. I know you'll come after Joan. I was actually counting on it. Good luck..." He pressed a button on the console and the picture went black as the T-Sphere blew up. He pressed another button and another view of the JSA Records Room came into view.

As he has suspected, Jay had survived the explosion of the sphere. "I knew it wouldn't be that easy..." he said as he turned off the remote camera.

He turned from the console, his handsome blond "Sloane Michaels" features blurring and changing into the dark, plain features of Roger Romaine, the Spirit King. "...but they never do give up that easily, do they?"

Looking into a mirror, he examined his features. They were not as handsome as those of "Sloane Michaels", it was true. But his greatest triumph would be obtained while he was wearing the appearance he'd had when he was still human.

"I think we're going to be in for a treat, don't you, Joan...? Michael...?"

There, in the corner of the lab, were two plexiglass containment units. Inside one was Joan Garrick; the other, Michael Holt. They were held in stasis, unable to speak or move.

The Spirit King smirked. "It's just as well. I have a feeling neither of you will appreciate the situation to which you're going to awake..."

His manic laughter rang loud and long in the lab...

NEXT ISSUE:
"Spirits in the Material World" concludes as Jay and Alan bring in back-up in the form of some JSA associates to go after the Spirit King.