The Protagonist System

264 Kamar Taj Reborn Conclusion

A helmless Doctor Fate was inordinately happy that her students were so eager to please that they worked constantly to perfect the spells and exercises she had assigned them. Their minds were shockingly open to her methods and absorbed her teachings like they needed them as a part of themselves.

Before she realized it, the two weeks she had been allotted to teach them had passed and she didn't want it to end. When she expressed her opinion and complained to Clark about it, he laughed.

“It's not funny that you're cutting me off from my students!” Doctor Fate exclaimed passionately.

Clark waved to her students and they all cheered. “What do you say? Should we remind her?”

“YES!” They all yelled.

“Remind me of what?” Doctor Fate asked, clearly frustrated.

“I asked you to teach them the basics of your spell casting fighting style for the last two weeks.” Clark said.

“Yes, I know that.” Doctor Fate responded and crossed her arms. “What about it?”

“You do remember the purpose we agreed they would have, don't you? That they would become your acolytes?” Clark asked her.

“Yes.” Doctor Fate said and glared at him. “And?”

The younger demons laughed and started chanting about teaching her instead and their mothers hissed at them to show the proper respect.

“An acolyte's magical education only ends when their teacher deems them worthy to become a full sorcerer or sorceress.” Clark said, his voice full of finality.

Doctor Fate lost the glare and caught her breath when she realized what he meant. She blinked her eyes several times and looked from his face to the desks where her students were clapping and saying she finally got it.

“They'll be based here, now that they're fully grown, since there's lots of room. You can call upon them at any time for both lessons and to help you fight the forces trying to breach the dimensional barriers of this realm.” Clark told her. “You can even tether your tower here to the arena if you want.”

Doctor Fate couldn't stop her face from showing how happy she was.

“Have you made one of the Sling Rings yet?” Clark asked.

Doctor Fate nodded and took it out of her pocket. “I'll need a few more days to enchant another one and I should have the rest made by...”

Clark took it from her hand and made it glow, then 50 of them appeared in a pile at his feet.

“Of course you can do that.” Doctor Fate said with a sigh.

“It's a permanent copy ability I've only used occasionally.” Clark said and waved a hand to make most of them float towards each of the demons and to their mothers. “All you need to do now is teach them how to use them and they can go anywhere you need them to.”

Doctor Fate nodded. “All right, one more lesson...” She stopped talking and gasped as she felt a piercing magic breach the dimensional ward she had placed to protect Earth.

Clark placed a hand on her shoulder and his fingertip touched her bare neck. They both found the spot and it was a large swirling red portal over a tropical island in the Pacific. A little looking around with Clark's clairvoyance power let them see an ancient temple and the recent sacrifices made to open the portal.

“Acolytes!” Doctor Fate shouted and every demon stood up straight, even the mothers. “We have a breach and an army of demonic monsters to fight!”

They all cheered and rushed over to her. She formed her helm and her costume glittered with gold and magic. All of them put a hand on everyone around them and Harshan blushed as she placed a hand on Clark's chest.

“You will fight the masses while Clark and I work to close the portal.” Doctor Fate ordered and all of them saluted with their sling rings over their hearts. “Atlas, step us there.”

Clark changed into his hero persona and Harshan bit her lip, because she knew he could change into what she desired most. He smiled warmly at her and they were suddenly on a blisteringly hot tropical beach and surrounded by enemies.

“SLAUGHER THEM!” Dimetara ordered and dove into the mass of twisted creatures. Her large gargoyle-like claws easily ripped the arms off of a twisted version of her brethren and she laughed. All of the other demons yelled and dove as well, their own claws and spells smashing into the demonic creatures.

Atlas and Doctor Fate stood there and stared as their 46 demon acolytes literally tore apart the front line of the demons flowing out of the massive portal.

“Maybe we don't have to work too hard to close it quickly.” Atlas suggested, since their surprisingly effective fighting force was having a very easy time dealing with the enemy army.

“I've never had to casually close a hostile portal before.” Doctor Fate admitted. “I'm always in such a rush...”

“We will prevail!” Polundara shouted and hopped up into the air, her pterodactyl-like wings giving her height, then she glowed brightly and dive-bombed into the center of the demon creatures and exploded. Blood and gore flew out in a circle, destroying dozens of creatures, and the glow faded to show an unharmed Polundara laughing as she held the head of a massive giant.

“I wanna try that, too!” Harshan shouted and leapt, transformed into her gargoyle-like form, and glowed twice as brightly.

“Fire in the hole!” Dimetara warned and the smarter enemies hunkered down. It didn't help as Harshan slammed into them anyway.

*BOOOOOM! *

“Hahahaha! That was so much fun!” Harshan said and hefted up two heads of dog-like demon creatures.

It didn't take long before all the demons were taking turns doing cannonballs into the demonic army and decimating them by the hundreds.

Atlas and Doctor Fate exchanged looks, shrugged, and slowly walked up the beach holding hands. They were in no hurry to end the ritual that held the portal open and let the newly minted acolytes enjoy themselves.

*

“I'm telling you Reed, this is kinda fishy.” Ben Grimm said as he hefted a large crate from the back of the delivery truck onto the forklift. Having a huge paved road next to the doors to the lab was a huge convenience that both he and Reed appreciated.

Reed smiled at his friend. “Are you saying that because Clark won't install a landing strip above ground for the private plane or because he won't let you fly it without getting your official license first?”

Ben grumbled something Reed couldn't hear before Ben climbed into the forklift and drove it over to where Reed pointed inside the lab.

Reed kept smiling as he looked at the manifest of lab equipment for what he needed next. He had been more than surprised when he had been given full authority to buy whatever he wanted, even if it was just components, to assemble the tools and machinery he needed for the lab he was assigned.

The best part? Reed could research whatever he wanted and he didn't have to produce pre-chosen things for Atlas Incorporated. He also had a 75% share in any patents he produced, so the more he came up with, the more he would benefit, without having to worry about anything like filing paperwork or permits for things that the bureaucrats wouldn't understand anyway.

“He hired Vic too, you know.” Ben said when he drove back over to grab the next cart off of the delivery truck.

“I know.” Reed said and pointed to a different crate.

“That's just asking for trouble.” Ben complained and hopped out, slid the crate Reed wanted to the end of the truck's bed, and lifted it down to place on the forklift.

Reed shook his head at him. “You're kind of missing the point of the forklift, Ben.”

Ben shrugged. “It keeps me in shape and I can balance it better if I use my hands.”

Reed nodded and pointed where it had to go.

“What do you think is in the locked lab?” Ben asked when he drove back.

“It's none of our business.” Reed said and tapped the smaller crate with microchips inside. “The NDAs specifically state to stay in our assigned areas and common areas. We can only go other places when invited by the people working there.”

Ben huffed and put the crate onto his shoulder. “I doubt Vic's going to invite us over for tea.”

Reed let out a little chuckle. “He's been surprisingly amiable since he arrived here a few days ago.”

“Uh huh.” Ben said and walked over to one of the many work tables and placed the small crate down. “He's just looking for a way to stab you in the back after you showed him up at the science conference.”

Reed stopped looking at the shipping numbers and gave his friend a look. “After thinking about it, I have to admit that I was wrong to debate him openly like that.”

“He was asking for it.” Ben said and walked back over to him. “You should have let me punch him.”

Reed shook his head. “That was what he expected and he was prepared for it.”

“He was?” Ben asked, surprised.

“Dean Smithers was standing behind the stage curtain.” Reed told him.

Ben looked embarrassed and ducked his head. “I swear his daughter said she wasn't dating anyone.”

Reed patted his shoulder. “It's all right, Ben. You're not responsible for how people react to things you have no control over.”

“Are you sure it's not my fault the quarterback had a glass jaw and dropped like a rock?” Ben asked.

“No, just like it wasn't your fault that he called her a slut for lowering her standards to have fun with you.” Reed said.

Ben sat down on the truck's bed as Reed started poking into the many crates for what else he wanted. “He's lucky I stopped at one punch after saying that about Alicia.”

“So was the rest of the football team.” Reed said and opened a crate.

“They did win their game right after that, didn't they?” Ben asked and didn't wait for him to answer. “Do you think she'd answer if I called her?”

“I don't know.” Reed said and pulled out a weird device and handed it to Ben. “She seemed embarrassed when you dropped him so easily and he didn't put up any kind of fight.”

Ben chuckled. “When you say it like that, it sounds like she was trying to make the jerk jealous on purpose.”

Reed gave him a pointed look and didn't say anything.

“Well, damn.” Ben said, dejectedly. “I thought she talked to me because she liked my accent.”

“I'm sure she did.” Reed said and closed the crate and opened another one. “That doesn't mean she couldn't use you as an example of how easily someone could take her away from him.”

Ben laughed, since the irony wasn't lost on him. Reed was just as clueless about a certain blonde woman that had tried to get his attention a few times, and he had completely missed it. It was a pity she had given up on him and moved on. On the positive side, it wasn't Victor.

Reed took out a handful of materials that looked expensive and Ben tried to not wince as Reed banged them against the crate's lid. He missed Reed dropping one and he winced at how bent it was when he picked it up.

“It's all right, Ben. They're just testing materials.” Reed reassured him and happily carried the things into the lab.

Ben followed him and was starting to think their new boss was just as crazy as Reed was.

*

“That is an interesting specimen.” Victor Von Doom said as he hacked into the cameras of the locked lab and saw the clearly futuristic spaceship mounted on a pedestal. “I wondered why my detection devices were finding weird fluctuations to the Earth's background radiation nearby.”

“It only took you three days to break the rules?” A female voice asked from behind him.

Victor would forever deny that he jumped and almost dropped his display device. He turned around and opened his mouth to order whomever it was to be quiet, only to freeze when he saw Susan Storm giving him a look that he recognized as one his mother gave him when he was caught dabbling with forbidden magics.

“There are no clauses about looking into other spaces, only entering without permission.” Victor said to defend himself.

“The basic espionage clause.” Sue responded.

“That only applies if I intended to sell the information to someone outside the company or use it to harm the company or another employee in any way.” Victor said, almost smugly.

Sue opened her mouth to speak, stopped, and hit a button on her tablet. The sounds of battle came from the small speakers and she sighed. “I'm sorry to bother you, sir.”

A chuckle came from the tablet and he sounds died down. “It's no problem, Sue. I gave you a direct line to me for a reason.” He said and Sue held in her blush at being trusted so much.

“The sounds...” Susan started to say.

“That's just the company's security teams having some fun.” Clark said. “I'm not busy, so what can I help you with?”

“Victor decided to hack into the cameras in your personal lab.” Sue informed him.

“Did he argue that the clauses don't cover scientific curiosity?” Clark asked instead of asking about the breach of security.

“He said only entering without permission is covered and he's not performing espionage.” Sue responded.

“That's close enough.” Clark said. “Go ahead and give him package 6a.”

“Are you sure?” Sue asked.

“It's one of the reasons I recruited him.” Clark told her. “It should keep him busy for at least a day as he works through it. Once he does, and gives you the answer, give him the blue envelope.”

“What if he doesn't figure it out?” Sue asked and ignored Victor's huff.

“Do you think he won't?” Clark asked.

Sue gave Victor a pointed look and then huffed herself. “No, you're right. He should.”

Victor felt a little better about her character after hearing that.

“Then enjoy holding it over his head for the next 24 hours.” Clark said with a chuckle. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.” Sue said and hit the button to end the call. “Follow me.”

Victor disconnected his device and followed her to her office. It was a nice mix of opulent and utilitarian that gave both a comfortable feel and that important business was performed there.

Sue went behind the large desk and opened the top drawer on the side, counted the large manila envelopes standing on their ends, and pulled one out. A large '6-A' was on the front of it and she handed it over to him.

“Please wait until you are back in your own lab to open that.” Sue said with a stern look.

Victor chose to not argue and nodded, tucked the puffy envelope under his arm, and left her office. He walked at a normal pace back to his assigned space, ignored the brainless oaf when he tried to shout at him in the hallway, and entered his own lab. He went to his expensive oak desk and sat behind it, set the envelope onto his desk blotter, and stared at the large '6-A' on it.

After a few moments of contemplation about what it could be, Victor opened it and reached in, grabbed whatever it was, and slid it out. He was surprised when it was a scientific formula he had never seen before on a piece of paper and a mostly-completed ritual circle carved onto a steel plate. He turned the paper over and read the instructions.

“Solve for X in the equation and complete the ward scheme. Both are clues to the other if solved correctly. CNC machining and laser etching are acceptable to complete the plate.” Victor read aloud and frowned, because he was sure it seemed too simple for someone like him to solve. There had to be a trick to it.

Victor glanced around and was sure there were no cameras, since it was pat of his contract, and he cast a detection spell. Something glowed on the paper on the other side, where the equation was, and he flipped the paper over. He cast a revealing spell and sucked in a sharp breath.

Only someone that knows both magic and science can solve both. Good luck, Victor. This is the first step to getting your mother back.

Victor felt anger fill him for a moment, then it fled when he realized his boss knew a lot more about him than he thought he did. The cameras in the forbidden lab was a test... and he passed. Now he needed to pass another.

As he worked, Victor wondered what the other envelopes were for and for who.