The Death Knell

While Deathstroke went to negotiate terms with Chef Fan, Brainiac 21 secretly expanded the mind control team.

Earth 0, underground of the Hall of Justice in Washington DC, headquarters of the Justice League Dark.

Amidst the sound of the underground river flowing forming a waterfall, the dragon skeleton suspended in mid-air by N metal steel cables shines in the dim light, and the luminous bugs are bound in the glass tubes, providing this place full of mystery. illumination.

"Ahem, sound check, sound check, this is Dr. Kirk Langstrom's experimental record."

The man-bat in a white coat was walking back and forth in the leisure area under the dragon's skeleton, carrying some books and equipment, looking a little busy.

While he was busy with what he was doing, he spoke into the tape recorder hanging around his neck.

As a biologist, he also worked part-time as a forensic scientist, so keeping experimental records is a very important habit.

In the last battle against the Upside Down, he lost his mind again, which forced him to practice magic later in an attempt to find a better way to control his animal nature.

The Man-Bat serum turned him into a monster, but he wanted to be human more.

He himself didn't do much wrong, but his biggest fault was the spread of the serum.

He used to live in Gotham, and his transformation into a man-bat only caused a little trouble for Batman. They didn't care much about it and accepted him into the Zhenglian.

But the serum he created caused serious damage to Gotham. Because the raw materials are cheap and easy to configure, it can be mass-produced in the sewers. It is widely circulated on the black market and is even called fear venom and laughing gas. Three specialties of Gotham.

There once was a madman who injected thousands of people with human-bat serum. Those violent man-bats demolished a large area of ​​the city and killed thousands of people. The Bat Family worked all night to complete it, and it took dozens of years to rebuild the city. One hundred million U.S. dollars.

Although the serum formula was stolen and copied, it was not Kirk's original intention. He originally just wanted to cure his genetic disease, but his creation has caused such great damage, and he cannot escape the blame.

So now he works for the Dark Zhenglian, most of the time with the mentality of atonement.

"The last research report was confiscated by Zatanna. Diana believed that my research on the Upside Down Man touched the realm of madness. The indescribable power twisted my mind to the point of collapse. They confiscated my typewriter and put it away. I locked myself in the headquarters.”

Man-Bat pushed a small flatbed cart, which was piled with candles of various colors. He moved towards the table while talking with some effort, and the bio-light made his brown fur appear in detail.

"But a qualified scientist is always prepared, and the recording is pretty good. Well, let's get started. These days, I have been studying those black magic books, especially the one marked 'Hell' Books on the shelf.”

As he spoke, he placed a large clay pot with a little figure painted on it on the coffee table in the leisure area. At the same time, he used chalk mixed with human oil to draw an inverted pentagram around it, and then began to select candles to arrange the magic circle.

"I don't know if I'm complaining to them or if this behavior will make them think I'm completely crazy, but the situation is getting worse."

The tape recorder was running alone, and the old-fashioned tape recorded every word of the man-bat. In the dim light and shadow, the squeaking sound was like something scratching the wall with its nails.

"The Year of the Villain has truly arrived, and the number of dead is increasing every day. Even with the help of the Justice League, mankind's pace of destroying itself has not stopped. Circe has risen, and the witchcraft monster has pushed my worries to the edge. It takes a darker and chaotic direction, and the power of the Upside Down is equally dark. I don’t know which one is more reliable.”

"Perhaps it would be wise to bring things back to order, certainly not as a Lord of Order on behalf of Naboo, but I need a Doctor Fate to guide me."

"The current eighth-generation Doctor of Fate, Khalid Kent Nassour, is an Egyptian-American. He was sealed by the seventh-generation Doctor of Fate, Kent V. Nelson, using the soul-forging technique. In the vase, Diana claimed that Naboo had full control of Kent, and Deathstroke had to kill him. The pot had been broken once before, and I thought Khalid was dead, but luckily it reorganized itself from the gravel state, The humanoid pattern has also been restored, ahem, that’s a bit off topic.”

"Anyway, I have been trying to rescue Khalid. Maybe he can provide some advice on fighting Naboo and Circe. This may be something I can do for everyone, just like logistics."

"I have tried reverse magic, tried power words and prophecies, but they have no effect, so this time I am going to use a fallen spell from the seventh heaven to try. The cost may be high, but there is no need to worry before casting the spell. People know.”

"Now that I have set up the magic circle, everything is ready. The 64th experiment begins."

He took a deep breath, jumped up on the table, and lit all the candles. A smell of burnt protein filled the air. The cores of these candles were made of the hair of the dead soaked in toad oil, a standard black magic prop.

Not only that, he also found a lot of black magic equipment from the warehouse of Dark Zhenglian, such as a necklace made of baby skulls, a crown made of blind man's tears and dead bird feathers, a severed withered human hand, filled with activated Flame crystal ball and more.

He equipped himself with all these things. Thanks to the deep foundation of Dark Zhenglian, he was immediately armed to the teeth.

"The first step in practicing magic seems to be to be aware of the existence of magic and to understand how to use consciousness to create reality. Magic perception is a very subjective course without any objective reference, and it relies heavily on personal qualities called understanding and talent. , everyone has a different understanding of magic, and there is no standard answer for the Upside Down."

"I have only mastered magic for a short time, and my strength is not enough to support me in completing the experiments involving souls today. But thankfully, I have discovered a certain resonance between some special magic props, and I can amplify my strength through this energy fluctuation. , maybe I can pass the hard threshold. I took thirteen pieces of equipment from the warehouse and have registered them. Even though the records are recorded, no one else will see them unless I die."

The man-bat held the crystal ball and placed it in a reasonable position like other props. He scratched his head and picked up the small tape recorder hanging on his chest.

"Every magic can be roughly divided into two parts, internal and external. The external is the path, which provides the channel and direction for energy flow. It is very simple as long as you do enough research. It is mainly spells or runes, or both. , like mathematical formulas, these can be recited and memorized.”

"But the inside is the core. How to use wishes to mobilize external energy to rewrite the reality around you... Even with magic items, this is the hardest part. I wish I was in Gotham a few years ago I went to a meditation class that my wife suggested, which might help me focus.”

"Okay, this is a matter of the mind. I'm much calmer. Let's get started now."

The man-bat cut his palm to bleed himself and watched the red liquid flow into the magic circle on the table. As the spell was chanted, the magic circle gradually glowed.

The clay pot also began to glow, and the golden light representing order lit up and began to compete with the gray-white light in the magic circle.

As the magic props were activated, the entire hall began to shake slightly, and the man-bat's mouth had lost control. The spell controlled him and he quickly completed his chant.

Even if he wants to stop, he can no longer do it. High-level power is not something that mortals can control at will.

Accompanied by a crisp sound, the vase, which emitted strong light like a light bulb, began to crack. The cracks became larger and larger, and at the same time, the vase itself began to deform and squirm like a living creature.

A painful human face appeared on the vase, as if it were holding a stocking on its face, trying to break free with a ferocious expression.

There was a lot of internal bleeding in Man-Bat's body, but being a monster sometimes has its benefits. His self-healing ability is comparable to that of a first-line superhero.

So even though the cost of casting the spell caused him to bleed continuously from his orifices and become incontinent, he still stood there motionless and finished reciting all the spells.

The vase exploded like a balloon.

A black figure was suddenly sprayed out, knocking the human bat to the ground. The surrounding environment seemed to have been bombed by missiles, and a lot of furniture and various props were damaged.

But it doesn't matter, that's what the experiment is, and Batman will be reimbursed in the end.

The man who emerged from the jar was very young, about eighteen or nineteen years old. His brown skin and slightly curly hair made him look like he was born in the Middle East.

He sat on the floor. Although his whole body ached, he ignored it and still groped his whole body excitedly: "Oh my god, Man-Bat, you succeeded! Even when I still had the Naboo helmet, this magic It’s also quite difficult.”

The man-bat climbed up slowly, smiled and stretched out a hand to pull up Khalid: "I think that is because you sometimes ignore how much IQ it takes for a person to turn himself into a big bat."

"Haha, thank you." Khalid stood up holding its hand, and suddenly looked down because of the smooth touch: "What's on your hands and body?"

The man-bat smiled indifferently, fully reflecting the knowledge of a top biologist: "It's just my fresh bat guano..."