Post by Doctor Fate on Feb 2, 2012 19:44:50 GMT -8
At first, there was nothing but a nearly blinding light surrounding him, and it took a while for him to get his bearings. After a couple of moments of squinting and blinking, though, his surroundings became clearer by the second. What were, at first, blurry silhouettes eventually took the form of people he knew very well. Eventually, he could make out the forms of buildings...but were they buildings, or the ruins of buildings? They looked both familiar and yet, unfamiliar at the same time... Something was wrong, and though his vision cleared more and more with each passing second, his confusion grew even faster.
His heart began to race, as he moved toward the figure closest to him, only to stop himself short, as he realized that his feet weren't touching the ground, but he was still moving.
"Am I flying?," he thought to himself. He could scarcely argue with the evidence before him. He began to think that he was merely dreaming... that is, until the smell of decay and ruin assaulted his senses. As his vision became clearer, he recognized what had, at one time, been thought of as the last bastion of hope and freedom to the free world... So distinctive was the crown of this monument to human freedom that he could feel his hope for mankind being rekindled... until he saw the torch.
It was lying prone in the dirt nearby, flames and sparks jumping off of it as if it were a mere piece of kindling, not part of a symbol of freedom, and yes... LIBERTY, that it once was.
He didn't have a chance to ponder what brought this proud monument to this undignified end, for something else caught his attention. The figures he had tried to approach were slowly, one by one, collapsing as if they had lost all will to keep living. He cried out to them as they fell, his heart sinking further into despair with each fallen friend and colleague.
His horror grew as his friends disintegrated into ash as they came into contact with the ground, leaving naught but their colorful clothing behind in their wake.
Unable to sustain the power of flight that he had been awestruck with wonder at before, he fell to his knees, landing not far from the "remains" of one of his closest friends. All that remained of his friend was his red tunic, emblazoned with a yellow lightning bolt, his blue running pants, his red shoes with yellow wings protruding from them on the sides, and finally, his silver helmet, with wings jutting out from the left and right side.
Had he the mindset for it, he probably would have mused on the irony that the "Fastest Man Alive" had indeed become the "Fastest Man DEAD", since his body disappeared faster than that of his compatriots, but such was not the case.
Instead, all he could think about was the fact that his friend was dead, and he couldn't even call forth the memory of his friend's name.
As he frantically tried to summon the memory, in the distance, all the light seemed to fade away, slowly at first, but at an alarmingly fast rate with each passing second. The light which had at first blinded him was now leaving him, and the oppressive darkness which took its place was in NO way comforting. His fear grew exponentially with the growing darkness, and as the last of the light died, and the last tear crossed his cheek, a word finally came across his lips... a name he hadn't any reason to say for years........
"JAAAYYYYY!!!!"
He woke up with a start, unaccustomed to any nightmares, besides his recurring one about the death of his father at the hands of Nabu the Wise. It used to rattle him to the core of his being, especially when one considers that Nabu took the life of his father so that he would have no obstacles to his goal of taking on the then young Kent Nelson as his acolyte and pupil. He used to hate Nabu very much, but that hatred died a quick and relatively painless death when he saw Nabu's true form: that of a Lord of Order, one of many who served the Multiverse as an agent of balance against the forces of Chaos.
Seeing Nabu in his true form was a sobering experience for Kent Nelson, as a Lord of Order only took human form as a matter of necessity when it came to dealing with mortals such as Kent Nelson, and were perfectly comfortable staying in their non-corporeal forms otherwise. It didn't take long for Nabu, considered to be the wisest of the Lords of Order (at least, according to Nabu), to convince the now adult Kent Nelson (his aging having been advanced to adulthood to make him a more adept student) of the merits of taking him on as a student/acolyte. Nabu needed a human agent to take on the forces of Chaos on earth, and his mystic senses told him Kent, even at such a young age, was the perfect candidate. Of course, Kent later found out that it wasn't, strictly speaking, the WHOLE truth, but at that time, Kent needed very little prodding to take on this monumental task. All Nabu had to tell him was that he'd be ensuring the safety and prosperity of all mortals under his care, and the hero-worshipping boy that was still inside Kent LEAPT at the chance.
In that instant, Doctor Fate was born.
As he woke up from his nightmare, however, many years later, Kent found little solace in remembering who he was, and where he had come from. All he found upon waking was a mystery.... one that shook him to his core... one that he would have to solve before his vision saw the blinding light of day. He knew just where to start, but as he reached for the Orb of Nabu, the source of all of his mystic visions of the future while in the guise of Doctor Fate, his confusion only grew.
In the place where once sat the Orb of Nabu was now a curious article.. a silver helmet with wings jutting out from the left and right sides...
Kent took a deep breath and resigned himself to the idea that no matter what happened next, one thing was certain:
FATE would have to intervene.
His heart began to race, as he moved toward the figure closest to him, only to stop himself short, as he realized that his feet weren't touching the ground, but he was still moving.
"Am I flying?," he thought to himself. He could scarcely argue with the evidence before him. He began to think that he was merely dreaming... that is, until the smell of decay and ruin assaulted his senses. As his vision became clearer, he recognized what had, at one time, been thought of as the last bastion of hope and freedom to the free world... So distinctive was the crown of this monument to human freedom that he could feel his hope for mankind being rekindled... until he saw the torch.
It was lying prone in the dirt nearby, flames and sparks jumping off of it as if it were a mere piece of kindling, not part of a symbol of freedom, and yes... LIBERTY, that it once was.
He didn't have a chance to ponder what brought this proud monument to this undignified end, for something else caught his attention. The figures he had tried to approach were slowly, one by one, collapsing as if they had lost all will to keep living. He cried out to them as they fell, his heart sinking further into despair with each fallen friend and colleague.
His horror grew as his friends disintegrated into ash as they came into contact with the ground, leaving naught but their colorful clothing behind in their wake.
Unable to sustain the power of flight that he had been awestruck with wonder at before, he fell to his knees, landing not far from the "remains" of one of his closest friends. All that remained of his friend was his red tunic, emblazoned with a yellow lightning bolt, his blue running pants, his red shoes with yellow wings protruding from them on the sides, and finally, his silver helmet, with wings jutting out from the left and right side.
Had he the mindset for it, he probably would have mused on the irony that the "Fastest Man Alive" had indeed become the "Fastest Man DEAD", since his body disappeared faster than that of his compatriots, but such was not the case.
Instead, all he could think about was the fact that his friend was dead, and he couldn't even call forth the memory of his friend's name.
As he frantically tried to summon the memory, in the distance, all the light seemed to fade away, slowly at first, but at an alarmingly fast rate with each passing second. The light which had at first blinded him was now leaving him, and the oppressive darkness which took its place was in NO way comforting. His fear grew exponentially with the growing darkness, and as the last of the light died, and the last tear crossed his cheek, a word finally came across his lips... a name he hadn't any reason to say for years........
"JAAAYYYYY!!!!"
He woke up with a start, unaccustomed to any nightmares, besides his recurring one about the death of his father at the hands of Nabu the Wise. It used to rattle him to the core of his being, especially when one considers that Nabu took the life of his father so that he would have no obstacles to his goal of taking on the then young Kent Nelson as his acolyte and pupil. He used to hate Nabu very much, but that hatred died a quick and relatively painless death when he saw Nabu's true form: that of a Lord of Order, one of many who served the Multiverse as an agent of balance against the forces of Chaos.
Seeing Nabu in his true form was a sobering experience for Kent Nelson, as a Lord of Order only took human form as a matter of necessity when it came to dealing with mortals such as Kent Nelson, and were perfectly comfortable staying in their non-corporeal forms otherwise. It didn't take long for Nabu, considered to be the wisest of the Lords of Order (at least, according to Nabu), to convince the now adult Kent Nelson (his aging having been advanced to adulthood to make him a more adept student) of the merits of taking him on as a student/acolyte. Nabu needed a human agent to take on the forces of Chaos on earth, and his mystic senses told him Kent, even at such a young age, was the perfect candidate. Of course, Kent later found out that it wasn't, strictly speaking, the WHOLE truth, but at that time, Kent needed very little prodding to take on this monumental task. All Nabu had to tell him was that he'd be ensuring the safety and prosperity of all mortals under his care, and the hero-worshipping boy that was still inside Kent LEAPT at the chance.
In that instant, Doctor Fate was born.
As he woke up from his nightmare, however, many years later, Kent found little solace in remembering who he was, and where he had come from. All he found upon waking was a mystery.... one that shook him to his core... one that he would have to solve before his vision saw the blinding light of day. He knew just where to start, but as he reached for the Orb of Nabu, the source of all of his mystic visions of the future while in the guise of Doctor Fate, his confusion only grew.
In the place where once sat the Orb of Nabu was now a curious article.. a silver helmet with wings jutting out from the left and right sides...
Kent took a deep breath and resigned himself to the idea that no matter what happened next, one thing was certain:
FATE would have to intervene.