PRESENTS

#8
FEATURING

"Spirits in the Material World: Part 3"
by Kell Carpenter
barchettaboy@yahoo.com

Roger Romaine leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head. Now that his enemies knew his true identity, he was able to take a few moments to reflect on his return to glory…

He had returned to the earthly plane from a prison plane of eternal red mists. It had taken years -nearly twenty- to accomplish this feat, but he had made it. While the time he had spent imprisoned had been maddening, it had not been without merits. He had learned in that time to manipulate his spirit, the ethereal stuff that is housed within the temporal bodies of humans. He had left his body behind all those years ago, before his imprisonment*, but it had taken all that time to fully gain some form of mastery over his own spirit.

*As revealed in Spectre #54 - Kell

He smiled. He had been fearful when he was sent to his prison; the prospect of eternity in Hell is, after all, a rather fearful sentence. However, he learned that Hell is run rather inefficiently. The sheer number of the damned make strict oversight of individual torment difficult to achieve.

After an initial -and rather horrific- punishment, he had been able to exist with little or no interference. After all, how much could his specific jailer, his MASTER, punish him? He, too, had failed in their plot…and hadn't most of Romaine's evil been done at the direction of his master? Hell was a place of punishment, a prison, yes. But the prison was run by the inmates…

His smile widened into an insane leer. Yes, he had to admit to himself: Hell was a price worth paying to exact his revenge on Jay Garrick and the memory of Terry Sloane…

JSA Headquarters,
New York City:

Jay and Alan had been in contact with several members of the hero community. They had just taken a few minutes to head to Gotham City to check in on Alan's wife Molly, and were returning to JSA headquarters to meet with their contacts.

"Ready to go after this guy, Jay?" Alan asked.

Jay nodded, a grim look on his face. "I'm ready to end this..once and for all…"

Before Alan could respond, Jay opened the door to the JSA's conference room. A group of people were gathered around a large meeting table.

Alex Montez came over to the two heroes. "Flash, Sentinel, they're all here. They all agreed to come and help out…" He pointed at the gathered heroes.

"Good, let's get started…"

Seated around the table were Power Girl, Dr. Fate, Zatanna, the Martian Manhunter, Hourman, and the Spectre. The group stopped chatting amongst themselves when Alan and Jay approached the table. They were some of the most powerful among the hero community, and they all were ready to hear about the situation.

Jay and Alan caught the others up to speed on the current situation, and then began giving them -the ones who needed it, anyway- the full story on the Spirit King and his previous involvements with the JSA and JLA.

Dr. Fate spoke after the briefing. "I have full access to the earlier Fate's involvement in the Spirit King case. Before, he was strongly allied and supported by Shaitan; this time he's apparently alone. Why call in the heavy artillery?"

The Spectre's bowed head raised and looked at Fate. "Don't be fooled by Romaine's lack of infernal support in this situation. Anyone who can escape imprisonment in Hell is a formidable foe. Look more closely at your predecessor's memories of the encounter; Romaine was powerful enough without Shaitan's direct involvement to possess Kent Nelson while wearing the mantle of Fate." The Spectre's eyes glowed a malevolent red. "Any being who can accomplish such a feat without direct aid is formidable indeed…"

Power Girl nodded. "I was there when we went after Romaine before. He can take any of us over whenever he wants. This won't be as easy as you're thinking…"

Alan held up his hand to silence the others. "That's why we're here now. Before we headed off to Fate's tower in Salem without any sort of plan. This time we know exactly what we're doing and we won't be caught unaware. That's why we've asked Zatanna and J'onn in on this; we're going to make sure we've taken any necessary precautions to prevent Romaine from easily gaining access to any of us…"

"That's right, we-" Jay was interrupted by the sudden opening of the door and a shout from the hall.

"Hey! You can't just go in there! Who do you-" Alex Montez shouted.

He was right behind a man who appeared to be in his late thirties or early forties. He wore a black suit and sunglasses, and his hair was dark red with a single streak of white running back from his forehead. He stopped next to Alan and Jay and looked over the assembled heroes. After a moment, he took off his glasses.

"Well, this might work. I hope you've taken all the necessary precautions, because Romaine won't go quietly…"

Alex grabbed his arm to escort him out of the room. "Sorry about this, folks, I don't know how he got in here…"

The newcomer whirled around to face Alex. His eyes were blazing and his countenance frightening. "Do not touch me again, Alex Montez. There are serious consequences for harming me…"

Alex released him at once, his face white. "Wha-what ARE you, man?"

The man smiled a particularly unpleasant smile. "I'm insurance…from a friend…"

He reached into his jacket and produced a card, which he handed to Jay. The card was blank, except for the words HE'S IN and a bat symbol.

Jay pushed his helmet back on his head and looked at Alan, who had been reading over his shoulder. Alan shrugged and Jay nodded. Jay extended a hand to the newcomer.

"Well, if HE says so, who am I to argue? Welcome to our little excursion team, Mr…?"

"…Blood. Jason Blood…" the man answered, accepting Jay's hand. "I believe I will be of invaluable assistance to your little 'excursion' as you put it."

"Right." Jay said. "If you'll join the others at the table, we'll finish going over our plan…" He gestured toward the table.

Blood sat between Dr. Fate and the Spectre. Both gave him a cold glare before looking back at Jay as he began going over the plan.

Gateway University:

Two young women made their way across campus toward the science complex. They were both very attractive, and caught the attention of several male students as they walked. They were in deep conversation, talking almost non-stop and occasionally laughing at some shared joke.

The blonde (the taller of the two) held the door for the brunette as they entered the building that contained the maze of science laboratories. After entering, they split up, each going in a different direction.

The blonde spoke into her wrist and a dark-haired man appeared out of thin air at her side. He nodded at her then rose into the air, floating through the ceiling as if he were a phantom.

As soon as he had disappeared, another man -a redhead- appeared beside her as well. He tipped a quick salute to her and sunk into the floor, disappearing from view.

The two men reappeared moments later, the brunette and an older man with graying temples now with them. The man with the graying temples nodded and made a quick hand signal. The red-haired man then waved one of his hands in an odd gesture.

Suddenly, a brightly glowing mystical symbol appeared in the air. It grew larger, until four men stepped out of it into the hallway: an older blond, a younger brunette, a man with dark red-and-white streaked hair, and a young man with white hair and beard. After the white-haired young man stepped through, the symbol disappeared.

The brunette woman, the white-haired young man, the redheaded man and the man with the odd red-and-white hair stepped together and formed a small circle. They began to murmur, words that few would -or could- understand upon hearing.

Suddenly a large, golden glowing bubble grew from the center of their circle. It quickly enlarged and engulfed not only those gathered in the hallway, but the entire science lab complex. As soon as it had encompassed the structure, it disappeared from sight.

Stepping apart from the group, the white-haired man nodded and waved his hand in the air. Immediately, brightly-colored costumes appeared on all the members of the group except for the man with red-and-white streaked hair.

He shook his head. "You folks really don't understand the concept of 'blending in' do you?"

The Spectre threw him a cold glare. "Jason Blood, be glad you have been allowed to join in this venture. Do not try my patience…"

"Before this breaks down into name-calling, let's do what we came to do. Is everyone okay with that?" Jay Garrick asked.

They all agreed and made their way to a specific suite of labs. They gathered around the door and prepared for what came next.

After a nod from Jay, Dr. Fate waved his hands. A set of matching ankhs grew from his hands and spread over the door until it was glowing golden. He turned to the Martian Manhunter and nodded. "It appears to be safe, J'onn. You may go ahead."

The Manhunter nodded and stepped through the door. In a moment, the door opened from the inside. "Everything seems to be in order. I didn't have any trouble…"

The group entered, and began to look around.

"How did Romaine get access to such a large lab? He's been gone for what, twenty years?" Zatanna asked.

Alan nodded. "It's been about that long. I imagine he's either taken over a professor in this department or used some other form of trickery to gain access to Gateway's facilities."

They spread out across the room, as they had planned. On the far side of the room was a door to a smaller room. Its door had a small window, and Power Girl looked inside.

"Jay, I think you want to come take a look at this…" She called over her shoulder.

The group joined Jay at the door. Looking inside, Jay saw Joan and Michael Holt in plexiglas tubes. They both appeared to be unconscious.

"JOAN!" Jay shouted, automatically reaching for the knob.

"Jay, NO!" Alan cried as Jay opened the door.

Gateway University's science complex disappeared in a violent and blinding explosion.

Salem, Massachusetts:

The wind blew cold around the desolate stone tower. It was a peculiarity, existing outside the town of Salem for an untold amount of time. Unlike other outlying structures, it remained unmolested and intact; the tests of Salem's youth had not extended to this particular edifice.

Perhaps this was because there were no doors or windows built into the tower. It was a simple tall stone block, standing silently in the countryside outside Salem. It had seen several tenants in its time, although they had all shared the title of Dr. Fate.

The man inside now was not a bearer of the mantle of Fate. He was Roger Romaine, a.k.a. Sloane Michaels, a.k.a. the Spirit King. He laughed as he watched the destruction of the lab containing Jay and his friends. The Orb of Nabu had been resistant to him, but his time in Hell had taught him some valuable lessons regarding objects of power; he had eventually gained the use of the Orb.

Nearby, Joan Garrick and Michael Holt were struggling against their bonds. Joan's cries and sobs were loud enough to come through the gag over her mouth.

"Yes, yes, I know. You poor dear, forced to watch your husband blown to bits…" He laughed cruelly.

He turned from the Orb and stepped over toward his two captives. "If I know your late husband's crowd -and I think I do- then I'm sure we'll have some visitors soon, Joan." He smiled again, a mocking, cruel smile. "Oh, you'll be reunited with Jay soon enough, don't worry. I'll see to that personally…" He laughed again and turned his attention to Mr. Terrific.

"Ah, yes - Mr. Holt. I'm afraid that by taking on the mantle of 'Mr. Terrific' you've doomed yourself. If only you'd picked something different, I'd have probably left you alone. Alas, I feel that I must uphold tradition and kill you with my own hands…or reasonable facsimiles thereof…" He held up his hands and waggled his eyebrows, then began laughing again.

He was still laughing when he was hit from behind. The blow was hard enough to send him flying across the room into the far wall. He came to rest in a heap, lying on his head. As he attempted to re-orient himself, he saw a group of brightly costumed people who appeared to be standing on the ceiling.

"What? How can this be…?" He asked as he righted himself. Standing before him was the group of heroes he had just killed a few moments ago.

Dr. Fate stepped forward. "Surely you noticed me placing a spell over the facility, Romaine. Did you really think we'd go after you without expecting a trap?" Fate's voice echoed hollowly from inside his helmet.

Sliding slowly to his feet, Romaine saw Jay untying Joan and Terrific. "Well, now that you're here, I suppose you'll 'take me in' or some such…" He grinned unpleasantly.

Suddenly, he was jerked off his feet and pummeled against the stone wall repeatedly. The attack stopped and he saw the blurred image of Jay Garrick in front of him.

"Ah, yes! You DID say you were going to kill me, didn't you Jay?" He grinned again, and then his body went limp in Jay's grasp. Spinning around, Jay looked to his comrades. They all appeared to be normal, not possessed by the Spirit King.

Almost as if he had read Jay's mind, Fate shook his head. "No, Jay, I also protected us against possession. I took the Spectre's warning to heart and planned ahead…"

"Jay, turn around slowly…" Michael Holt's voice came from across the room.

Looking toward the sound of his voice, the assembled heroes saw Joan Garrick holding a large golden dagger to Mr. Terrific's throat.

"Oh, Jay. Did you really think it would be so easy to get rid of me? I've been planning this for the last twenty years, and I intend to have revenge on you…one way or the other…" Joan's arm moved, beginning the motion that would slit Michael Holt's throat.

Time slowed. Jay was in motion, the seconds moving like hours as he appeared to vanish before the eyes of everyone present. He saw the dagger moving as if it was a movie advancing, one frame at a time. Even as he cleared the distance between eyeblinks, he knew that he was too late. Michael Holt would die, and it was his fault. He had been too slow…

Reaching them, Jay grabbed the dagger from Joan's hand, throwing it across the room. He took her in one arm and cradled Mr. Terrific's body in the other.

"Somebody help him! It may not be too late…!" Jay shouted.

The limp body in his arms suddenly moved, turning to face him. "It is indeed not too late, Jay…" Jay watched in shock as the wound on Michael Holt's throat closed.

"What? How…?" Jay was stunned.

"I took advantage of your distraction and switched places with Mr. Terrific. I'm grateful for your concern and efforts, but as you can see they were not really necessary…" Michael Holt had changed in front of Jay's eyes. Standing in his place was J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter.

Jay exhaled, relief flooding through him. He took Joan in both hands, holding her close to him. "Now all we have to do is get that rat Romaine out of Joan…"

Joan's eyes fluttered, then she sagged into Jay's arms. "Wh-what's going on, Jay…?" He eyed her cautiously, wondering if this was an act by Romaine.

"It's really her, Jay." Zatanna came over. "I sent Romaine back to his 'body' over there." She jerked a thumb toward the other side of the room, where Romaine was struggling to remove himself from Power Girl's grip.

"…and I have extended my spell to both Michael and Joan. Romaine is unable to possess any of us in this tower now." Dr. Fate put a hand on Jay's shoulder.

"Thanks Hector, Zatanna. You too, J'onn." He looked into Joan's eyes. "Are you all right? Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head. "J-just a little shaken, that's all…"

Jay nodded. He kissed her, pressing her closely to him. After their embrace broke, he turned to Mr. Terrific. "Michael, would you mind escorting Joan out of here? I have some unpleasant business to finish with Romaine…" He strode across the room, ready to kill his enemy. As he raised his arm, Alan stepped in front of him.

"No, Jay. I won't let you." He folded his arms across his chest. "I won't let him win."

Jay shook his head. "I have to Alan. WE have to. Once we leave this tower, Romaine will be able to take possession of anyone not covered by Fate's spell. I refuse to allow him to go free…" He moved toward Romaine again.

As Alan was about to protest again, someone grabbed Jay's arm. Turning, he saw it was Jason Blood. "What-?"

"Jay, let me take care of this. This is actually why I came along on this endeavor…" Blood looked into Jay's eyes. Jay saw red fire in Blood's.

"O-okay…" He stepped aside, as did Alan.

Romaine laughed. "Oh, yes! By all means, send some pathetic mortal fool to do your dirty work, Jay." He grinned. "I'll be free in minutes…"

Jason Blood stepped in front of Romaine. "Oh, I don't think so, Mr. Romaine. You see, there are…beings…who are very angry that you managed to escape. They asked me to ensure your safe return…"

Romaine's smile wavered. "What are you talking about? What 'beings' sent you here?" He began to look nervous.

Blood smiled now. "Ah, not feeling so invincible now, are you? Give it a minute and you'd be wetting yourself…if you still could, that is…" He turned to the others in the group. "You may not want to watch this. It could be…unsettling…"

"Wh-what are you doing? I demand-" Romaine stopped in mid-sentence as Jason Blood began to chant:

"Change, change, the form of man! Free the prince forever damned!
Release the might from fleshy mire! Boil the blood in heart of fire!
Gone, gone, the form of man! Arise the Demon --- Etrigan!"

As he spoke, a horrible -and apparently painful- transformation took place. Jason Blood's features began to bubble and melt. His flesh turned from pink to a sickly yellow, and his body became hunched and grotesque. A terrible smell accompanied Blood's new form, a smell that brought horrible thoughts to all who smelled it.

Standing before Romaine and the assembled heroes was Etrigan the demon. He spoke to Power Girl first.

"Most delectable mortal, I thee now thank
For holding fast vile Roger Romaine.
Release him now with no further pull or yank
For now Etrigan's duty is plain."

"Did you say 'delectable mortal'? Eeeew!" Power Girl's lip curled in disgust. "He's all yours short, smelly and ugly…" She threw Romaine at Etrigan.

"Ahhh! Your touch- it burns!!" Romaine cried, writhing in Etrigan's grasp.

Etrigan smiled, showing sharp, yellowed fangs.

"Thou art correct, Roger Romaine,
My touch does burn and cause thee to yell.
As squirming and writhing in fits of pain,
Etrigan doth prepare to carry thee to Hell."

Romaine stopped squirming. "No. No, I'll not go back! You can't…!"

Etrigan laughed horribly, causing all in the room to shudder.

"When years before thou didst bargain,
Didst thou not consider the price, fool man?
In uttering hellish jargon,
Thou didst become the toy of Lord Shaitan!"

At the invocation of the name, the Spectre started toward Etrigan. "Foolish demon! You'll call him here-"

The floor split open with a horrible wrenching noise and what looked like the pit of Hell itself yawned below. A voice boomed through the tower:

"STAY THY HAND, O SPECTRE! SHAITAN HATH NO QUARREL WITH THEE. HE COMES ONLY TO RETRIEVE A SOUL THAT SLIPPED FROM HIS GRASP…"

The giant red, clawed hand reached from the abyss toward Romaine, who was held by Etrigan at arm's length.

"NO! No, Master Shaitan! I-I was only trying to-" Romaine's plea was cut short as the hand of Shaitan grasped him tightly.

"THOU SHALT SUFFER GREATLY FOR THIS, ROGER ROMAINE. SHAITAN IS AN UNFORGIVING LORD AND MASTER…"

Romaine looked to the assembled heroes. "Please! Jay! Help me! You can't let him-" The giant hand of Shaitan squeezed tighter, cutting off Romaine's plea.

The hand retreated into the hellish aperture. Romaine's cries and sobs echoed out to the assemblage as he was carried further and further down into the abyss.

Etrigan crossed the room and stood at the edge of the hole.

"Fair lords and ladies of might,
For thy deeds of help and aid,
In making the wrongs of Hell right
Consider thanks from Etrigan paid."

With that, he bowed low and leapt down into the hellish maw. The floor groaned and rippled, the tear sealing itself as they watched. Within moments, there was no evidence the hole had ever existed.

The assembled heroes looked uneasily around the tower, murmuring to each other about what had just happened.

They stayed there for a little while longer, discussing the night's events. Eventually, they began to say their goodbyes and head for their respective homes.

Alan grabbed Jay and Joan. "Say, why don't you both come with me? I'm sure Molly's beside herself with worry over Joan. Come on, we'll grab some dinner too. What do you say?"

"Sounds like a plan to me…" Jay said with a weary smile.

Gotham City:

After filling Molly in on the events of the night, she went with Alan, Jay, and Joan for a late dinner. Over coffee later, Jay asked Joan how Romaine had taken possession of her.

"It all seems like it happened years ago…" Joan said. "You were off in Las Vegas with Alan and the girls fighting Clariss*. I was in the kitchen making some cookies, and there was a knock on the door. It was our neighbor, Barry -you know, the strange one with the long hair- and he said he had an urgent message for you. I let him in, and he closed the door, and it was really Romaine, and-and…" She covered her hands with her face. "Oh, I'm such an old fool…"

*That would be issue #5 - Timeline Trackin' Kell

Jay put his arm around her. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Joan. If it hadn't been for Hector's spell, that could've been any of us." He touched her chin and pulled her face around to his. "It WAS me, in fact, twenty years ago. He could've done much worse, both to you and through you." He smiled lovingly at her. "I'm just glad you're all right now…" He kissed her tenderly.

"Amen to that, Jay. Amen to that…" Alan said as he held Molly tightly.

Jay looked at his watch. "Say, it's getting late. Time for these old fogies to head home to Keystone…"

Joan ran her fingers through Jay's hair. "Or a hotel. Whichever's quicker…" She smiled mischievously at Jay.

Jay raised his eyebrows. "You're on, Mrs. Garrick…" He looked at Alan and Molly. "I'll get the check on the way out, folks. Hope your night's as good as ours will be…" He tipped his hand in a salute and then Jay and Joan were gone.

END

Fast Talk:

Well, here we are, the end of the "Spirits in the Material World" storyline. I dreamed up the bare bones of this story about 2 years ago, and it's now seen the light of day. Thanks for running along with me as I chronicled the Flash's adventures. He'll be back again somewhere down the road, don't worry. I'm just taking a little detour, that's all...

So where do we go from here?

From here, we leave Jay and all his supporting cast behind for a change of scenery and story. Our EiC has graciously given me the okay to present a storyline using Vigilante. No, not the one from the Seven Soldiers of Victory, but Adrian Chase. Maybe. (Insert evil grin here)

Next issue, however, we'll take a jaunt into the wayback machine and have a visit from another (apparently) dead character: Manhunter.

See you then...

Kell