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  • Destiny

    Chapter 1
    Lauren York had taken a deep breath, inhaling the Parisian air, the second she had stepped off the airplane. The excitement was overpowering. She couldn’t believe that she had finally reached the city of lights. The city that she had always known would be her destiny. She had practically been in trance, ever since she had been accepted into the Sorbonne University. Lauren had to restrain herself to go to the apartment, that her parents had arranged for her, rather than instantly hit the streets and overdose on all the beauty and culture of this great city.
    When she had finally gotten settled in – wanting to finally experience Paris, the whole thing had felt like an eternity – she was finally able to visit all the places that she had only before visited in her dreams. The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the magnificence of the Paris Opera. She had loved visiting Les Deux Magots. Enjoyed sitting at the former meeting place of artists and writers like Picasso and James Joyce. But then came the day that she decided to visit Notre-Dame de Paris. Lauren York had always known that her destiny lied in Paris. She just couldn’t have imagined what that destiny would be.
    As Lauren walked through the Cathedral, she cut her hand. A minor accident. She had accidently made contact with a sharp piece of metal on a candleholder. Minor cut, just a little bit of blood. She took a napkin out of her purse, to stop the bleeding. She looked around, hoping to find a nun who perhaps could give her a band aid. She didn’t even notice three drops of her blood falling to the floor. On top of a tomb. A symbol began to light up on the tomb, that’s when Lauren noticed it. Two wavy lines, each with a circle.
    Lauren couldn’t explain it, but she felt drawn to it. She had to touch it. When she did, she became enveloped in a bright light. The symbol on the tomb manifested itself on her lower back. Lauren York’s destiny had always been in Paris. For she was the granddaughter of Ella Potter, a descendent of Countess Margaret Isobel Thoreaux.
    Last edited by jon-el87; 03-31-2019, 04:55 AM.

  • #2
    Chapter 2
    Clark was at a temple in China, standing in the hallway. He turned around and was blasted by purple energy, sending him flying down the hall and to the ground. He got back up and saw Isobel Thoreaux standing there, mocking him. She raised her left hand and attempted to blast him again, but he managed to duck it and rushed up to her at super speed, grabbing her. The red robe she was wearing was suddenly empty. She was gone.
    “Come.” Clark heard Dr. Fate’s voice saying. He woke up. It had all been a dream, he was back home in his Metropolis apartment. Only he feared that it wasn’t a mere dream. He looked over at Lois but decided to let her sleep. No point in bothering her, if it had only been a dream. He got up and put on pants and a gray sweatshirt, before rushing at super speed to the JSA brownstone.
    He got up to the display case, containing Dr. Fate’s helmet. A light was emerging from it, the eyes shined red. He took it out and held the helmet in his hands, unsure about what to do next. Once more, he heard Dr. Fate’s voice saying “Come”. He looked around, the room was empty. Then he looked back at the helmet and took it up to his head. It opened and encased his head in it.
    Suddenly, Clark was on the driveway of the Kent Farm. He could smell freshly baked cinnamon buns from the kitchen. He rushed in through the kitchen door, but the house was empty. Clark heard something coming from the barn. Someone was chopping wood.
    “Dad?” Clark asked and ran out to the barn. He attempted to super speed but couldn’t. He had to run at the speed of a normal human. Convinced that Jonathan Kent was in there, running there at normal speed felt like forever. He got in and saw a man wielding an ax, chopping wood, standing with his back to Clark. Despite that, Clark could tell that it wasn’t Jonathan. He approached the man and put his hand on the man’s shoulder. The man put down the ax and turned around.
    “Kent Nelson?” Clark shockingly proclaimed.
    “Hello, Clark. I’ve been expecting you.” Nelson replied.
    “Why?”
    “An old enemy of yours have returned.” Nelson pointed behind Clark, who turned around and once more saw Isobel Thoreaux, before she vanished into thin air, a second later.
    “Isobel… where did she go?”
    “She wasn’t really here, Clark. Blood was spilled on her tomb and she’s once more a danger to everyone.”
    Clark paused for a second, before asking: “Lana?”
    “Lana Lang isn’t her host this time. A girl named Lauren York, a third cousin or something. What’s important is that they both hail from the same bloodline.”
    “Isobel Thoreaux.”
    “Yes. She needs to be stopped, but you won’t be able to do it yourself. You need help.”
    “You?”
    “No, Clark,” Nelson smiled, “My time as Dr. Fate has long since passed. You need to find my successor.”
    “Can’t I just use the helmet?”
    “That’s not your destiny. It’s someone else’s. Granted, a destiny that was interrupted, but the Lords of Order have set it back on track.”
    “Where can I find… your successor?”
    “Metropolis General Hospital. Look for Strauss.” Nelson pushed at Clark’s chest. Clark could feel himself pulled back, without control, as Nelson and the barn vanished in a bright light. Next thing he knew, he was back at the JSA brownstone, lying on the floor, the helmet next to him.

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    • #3
      Chapter 3
      Strauss. Kent Nelson hadn’t given Clark much to work with. He had taken the helmet home with him, placed it in a backpack, before heading to the hospital. It was jampacked. Anyone could be Strauss. A doctor, nurse, patient, janitor. He thought about breaking into the file room, but those things were probably all digital now. He needed a password. Eventually, he found one employee, who was logging onto the computer. Using his x-ray vision, he could see the password a nurse was typing in.
      Clark looked around, until he found an empty office and snuck in, locking the door behind him, getting behind the computer at the desk and logged in. Searching for someone named Strauss, he got one result: Erica Strauss, aged 16. Only problem was, she was listed as deceased. She was down in the morgue now. Teenage girl, orphan. Had arrived nine months pregnant the day before and died during delivery. If she was the one that Nelson had sent him to find, it was too late.
      He sat back in the chair. Probably the only person who could help him and she was dead. But, if she was already dead, why had Nelson sent him here to find her? He was here to find Strauss and Clark had found her at the morgue. There was no Strauss on the staff. No other patients, apart from Erica’s newborn baby – who hadn’t even a name yet.
      “Wait a minute…” Clark told himself. Surely, it couldn’t have been the baby, that Nelson had talked about. She was a newborn. Couldn’t walk or talk, hadn’t developed any motor skills. How could she be the one? Clark took up the backpack and took out the helmet, looking at it.
      After a few minutes, he could hear one single word coming from it: “Yes”.

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      • #4
        Chapter 4
        “You did what?!” Lois screamed, as Clark put down a newborn baby girl on a blanket in their living room. The TV was on in the background.
        “I had no other choice.” Clark replied.
        “So, you just kidnapped a baby from a maternity ward?”
        “I’m not proud of it.”
        “And what will happen, when they notice that the baby’s missing?”
        “Her mother’s dead. Father unknown. I had Tess hack into the system. As far as anyone is concerned, the baby has been handed over to child services.”
        “Sometimes I feel like, we’re breaking more laws, than the actual bad guys.” Lois said despairingly. “But, how is a newborn baby supposed to help you against Isobel Thoreaux?”
        “No idea.”
        “Please tell me, you’ve at least brought some diapers for her.”
        “Haven’t had time for that.”
        “Maybe you should run to the store and…” The conversation was interrupted by breaking news on the television. A news report had just come in from Paris. A story of a crazy woman, with metahuman abilities, taking hostages at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Clark looked at the baby and then Lois.
        “Just go.” Lois said, before Clark changed into his suit and flew away at super speed, leaving Lois behind with the baby.
        “How could a baby help against Isobel Thoreaux?” Lois asked. “Clark said that Nelson said something about someone’s destiny having been interrupted and set back on track.” Lois went into the kitchen and fetched a glass of water, before returning to the living room. She looked at the helmet on the living room table, then she looked at the baby on the blanket.
        Surely Nelson and the Lords of Order wasn’t meaning. Lois picked up the helmet and looked at the baby for a minute, before placing the helmet on her. It looked enormous on the tiny baby. The baby became enveloped in bright light. Lois was pushed back, landing on the couch. When she looked up, there was suddenly a grown woman, wearing Dr. Fate’s suit, standing before her. The woman briefly looked at Lois, before teleporting away.

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        • #5
          Chapter 5
          The man had decided to make a run for it. He hadn’t made it far, before Isobel Thoreaux blasted him with energy from her hands and sent him over the edge of the Eiffel Tower. Just as he was about the hit the ground, a red-blue blur, moving at tremendous speed grabbed him. Superman put the man down on the ground, which was swarming of police officers and first responders, before flying up to the top of the tower. At super speed, he managed to grab the other five hostages, getting them to safety, before Isobel had a chance to react.
          Then he grabbed Isobel, but she repelled him with an energy blast, sending him flying halfway over Paris. This wasn’t going to be easy. He flew back. She attempted to blast him again, but Superman managed to duck the beam. He was worried about physically fighting Isobel, potentially harming her host, an innocent victim.
          “So, you’re Superman?” Isobel said, accessing Lauren’s memories. “You look familiar.”
          “We’ve met.” Superman replied.
          “Can’t have been important.” Isobel attempted to blast him again but missed and damaged the wall behind Superman. Suddenly, a bright light appeared between them, as the new Dr. Fate emerged on the scene. Dr. Fate blasted Isobel with energy from her left hand, sending her flying into the wall.
          “Wait, you might hurt the host!” Superman screamed. Dr. Fate stopped. Isobel got back up and teleported away, before either Superman or Dr. Fate had a chance to react.
          “Where did she go?” Superman asked.
          “She’s gone, but Nabu tells me that we’ll be able to track her.” Dr. Fate said and turned to Superman. When she saw his face, she took a step back. “It can’t be.” She said.
          “Can’t be what?”
          “Nothing.” Dr. Fate grabbed Superman’s shoulder and teleported them both back to his and Lois’ apartment in Metropolis. As she appeared, Lois embraced him, before realizing that there was a total stranger in the room.
          “Um, Superman…” Lois said, “Nice to see you.”
          “I know he’s Clark Kent.” Said Dr. Fate and sat down on the couch, looking at them.
          “Lois,” Superman looked around, “Where’s the baby?”
          “She’s there.” Lois pointed to Dr. Fate.
          “Well, it’s one of those days.” Superman remarked and changed into Clark Kent. “So, miss Strauss…”
          “Who…?” Dr. Fate asked confused.
          “You.”
          “Oh.”
          “Kent Nelson said that your destiny had been interrupted and put back on track. What did he mean by that?” Lois asked as she and Clark had a seat on two chairs.
          “I’ve lived before…”
          “Reincarnation.” Clark remarked.
          “Yes, I was murdered. Because of my destiny, the Lords of Order arranged for me to be reincarnated.”
          “So, who did you use to be?” Lois asked. Dr. Fate briefly turned to Clark, before looking at Lois and getting up from the couch.
          “It’s not important.” Dr. Fate remarked.
          “Why did you recognize me?” Clark asked. Dr. Fate hesitated, then she reached for her helmet, removing it. The suit vanished in a bright light.
          “Um, Lois…”
          “Clothes, got it.” Lois dove into the nearest closet and pulled out a dress, which she threw to Dr. Fate. Dr. Fate put the helmet down and got into the dress, keeping her face hidden behind her long blond hair. When she was dressed, she finally turned around. Lois and Clark both got a shock, when they saw her face.
          “Alicia?” Clark proclaimed.
          “Hi, Clark.” Alicia Baker replied, not sure what else to say and sat back down on the couch.
          “Well, this is awkward.” Lois said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. Alicia didn’t reply, she just got up, grabbed the helmet and went towards the door.
          “Alicia, wait…” Clark said and embraced her, bursting into tears. “I’m sorry.”
          “It’s okay, Clark, it was a long time ago.” Alicia said, leaving Clark’s arms.
          “Eight years.” Lois said. “So, you’re the new Dr. Fate. No offense, but I wasn’t expecting it.”
          “Neither was I. One minute Tim Westcott drugged me, next I found myself in the middle of a desert, confronted by the Lords of Order. Ever since, they’ve been preparing me for this. It may have been eight years for you. For me it was a lot longer.”
          “So, is this a perfect replica of your old body?” Lois asked.
          “Only in appearance. The helmet was able to manipulate my body’s physical development.”
          “What about other things?”
          “I can’t teleport by myself anymore. This body isn’t meteor infected. It’s also free of my histrionic personality disorder, if that’s what you’re asking. And don’t worry, I got over Clark Kent a very long time ago.”
          “Um, good…”
          “We should really be out looking for Isobel.” Clark interrupted.
          “Agreed.” Alicia placed the helmet back on her head.

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          • #6
            Chapter 6
            Isobel had sought refuge in Lauren York’s apartment. Just long enough to catch her breath, then she teleported to the roof of the Paris Opera. That was a mistake. When she teleported, Dr. Fate was able to track her. Within a minute, Dr. Fate teleported herself and Superman to the roof of the Paris Opera. Isobel saw them and blasted them with energy from her hands, but both targets managed to duck the beams.
            “You keep her busy,” Said Dr. Fate, “I’ll get her out of that body.” Superman took to the sky, flying around Isobel at high speed, while she was trying to blast him with energy and missed. Dr. Fate was nervous. All her training with the Lords of Order would be for nothing, if she screwed this up. With Isobel distracted, Dr. Fate rushed in and placed her hand on Isobel’s lower back. She uttered a spell and blasted the tattoo with energy, it vanished. A ghostly figure emerged from the body of Lauren York, who fell over unconscious. Superman caught her, as the ghost of Isobel Thoreaux looked upon the three of them.
            “Um, Alicia…” Superman said, as the ghost charged at them. In the last moment, Dr. Fate raised her hand and blasted the ghost with energy, it vanished.
            “Sorry, about that.” Said Dr. Fate. “Had to make sure, that Isobel would be gone for good this time.” Dr. Fate next teleported them and Lauren York back to Lauren’s apartment, where they left her on the bed of her studio apartment.
            “She won’t remember anything.” Superman said, “But, everyone else.”
            “Only the hostages at the Eiffel Tower saw her face. After you saved them, I took the liberty of erasing what the woman’s face looked like, from their memories. She’ll be fine. But we still have to take care of something.” Dr. Fate teleported herself and Superman to the Notre-Dame de Paris, right over the tomb of Isobel Thoreaux.
            “What are we doing here?” Superman asked.
            “Just to make sure, that this never happens a third time.” Dr. Fate blasted the tomb with energy from her hands. The Kryptonian symbol on the tomb began to light up, then it faded, and the symbol was gone. “There’s bound to be other descendants of the Countess, who might decide to visit this place.”
            “So, what are you going to do now?”
            “Salem. I’m going there. Hopefully, I’ll be able to improve my skills.”
            “Are you gonna be Alicia Baker again?”
            “No, she’s dead. You called me Strauss. Guess that’s a good a name as any.”
            “You’re still gonna need a first name.”
            “How about ‘Linda’?”
            “Alicia’s middle name?”
            “Yes.” Dr. Fate teleported away by herself, while Superman was left in the Cathedral, before heading off and flying back to Metropolis.
            The End.

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            • #7
              Creator Credits
              Alicia Baker first appeared in the Smallville TV series episode “Obsession” and was created by Holly Harold.
              Isobel Thoreaux first appeared in the Smallville TV series episode “Spell” and was created by Steven S. DeKnight.
              Kent Nelson first appeared in More Fun Comics #55 and was created by Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman.
              Linda Strauss first appeared in Doctor Fate #55 and was created by J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen.
              Lois Lane first appeared in Action Comics #1 and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
              Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
              Lauren York is my own original creation.
              Trivia
              Inspiration for this story came from a KsiteTV thread, which asked how the show could bring Alicia Baker back to life. I gave it some thought and concluded that there were plenty of ways for that: technology, magic, reincarnation, alternate universe double. However, it was clear that there needed to be a reason for why Alicia is brought back to life. So, I drew some inspiration from Hector Hall (the son of Hawkman) and had Alicia be destined to be reincarnated as the next Dr. Fate.

              I considered making Dr. Chaos – an obscure DC character – the villain of the story. But, decided to go with Isobel Thoreaux, as she was an established character. Though, that was a bit of a mistake as her motivation was all about the stones (there is no reason for why she’d take those hostages). Leaving the story with an antagonist with no cause. She’s a plot device to create a situation, that would allow for the return of Alicia.

              The name Erica Strauss is a reference to Eric Strauss. A guy who merged with Linda Strauss (his stepmother) to become the second Dr. Fate.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by jon-el87
                I considered making Dr. Chaos – an obscure DC character – the villain of the story. But, decided to go with Isobel Thoreaux, as she was an established character. Though, that was a bit of a mistake as her motivation was all about the stones (there is no reason for why she’d take those hostages). Leaving the story with an antagonist with no cause. She’s a plot device to create a situation, that would allow for the return of Alicia.
                In retrospect, I shouldn't have included a villain of the week. What I should've done is focusing on Alicia's internal state. How does she feel about being reincarnated, nearly a decade after her death? Have her seek out her parents (assuming they're still even alive), with them reacting to suddenly being confronted with this young woman, who looks like their daughter and claims to be her reincarnated. How do they take it? Do they accept the reincarnated Alicia or reject her? I could've had Dr. Chaos, as part of an epilogue. Where Burt Belker (the man who becomes possessed by Dr. Chaos) uncovers a blue helmet, identical to Dr. Fate's, at an archeological dig somewhere. Teasing an impending threat, that Alicia (now Dr. Fate) will soon have to fight.

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