( MADELAINE PRINCE )

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*"𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐁𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆." the computerized voice says as kaldur and superboy slowly work their way from the opposite sides of the circle towards each other. "3." the two begin to circle each other. "2." they're now maintaining about ten feet of distance from each other. "1."

artemis, madelaine and m'gann watch on. "kaldur's uh, nice, don't you think?" artemis asks, glancing at m'gann and madelaine to ensure that they're the only ones listening before she continues. " handsome. commanding. one of you should totally ask him out."

"he's like a big brother to me." m'gann denies light-heartedly.

"he is handsome i'll admit, but not my type" madelaine shrugs as she momentarily glances behind her to see something, it being an instinct to the girl.

 "but you know who would make the cutest couple? madelaine and wally." m'gann teases, looking over her shoulder at the ginger currently noisily enjoying his burrito. "you're so full of passion and he's so full of-uh-of..."

"it." artemis finishes with conviction, though their combined laughing afterward proves that she is mocking him.

"he's such a nerd" artemis says to the girl which they nod their heads to before madelaine adds her own input "a cute nerd" not noticing the looks the two girls gave her.

red tornado drops out of a hole in the ceiling. gaining everyone's attention. as superboy helps kaldur to his feet.

"do you have a mission for us?" wally asks, speeding in front of red tornado.

"mission assignments are the batman's responsibility." tornado responds.

"yeah. well, the batman is with the robin, doing the dynamic duo thing in gotham," wally responds, tauntingly emulation tornado's speech pattern. "but you're heading somewhere, right?" at this point all of the team members were slowly moving in. "hot date or a-a missión."

"If we can be of help..." kaldur speaks up, counteracting wally's general rudeness with very polite and formal speech.

tornado looks the team over for a moment. then he turns and calls up the holoscreen. "this is kent nelson, a friend. he is 106 years old."

"guy doesn't look a day over ninety." wally comments in artemis' direction. madelaine steps up on his left, immediately drawing the ginger's attention away from the archer and towards the gorgeous girl.

"and he has been missing for twenty-three days." tornado continues, either not hearing wally or ignoring him. "kent was a charter member of the justice society," the image on the holoscreen changes to cover kent's face with a golden helmet and his clothes turn royal blue with a gold belt, breastplate, gauntlets, boots and cape the precursor to your mentor's justice league." with that kent's picture became doctor fate.

"oh my gods!." madelaine exclaims in realisation , sounding annoyed with herself. "he was earth's sorcerer supreme. we was doctor fate!" the girl was sure she was probably fan girling right now but couldn't stop herself.

"pfft." wally snorted. "more like doctor fake, guy knows a little advanced science and dumbledore's it up to scare the bad guys and impress the babes." he whispers to artemis as he stares at madelaine.

tornado turns to the Team again. "kent may just be on one of his... walkabouts, but he is caretaker to the helmet of fate." tornado continues,  "the source of the doctor's mystic might, and it unwise to leave such power unguarded."

"he's literally the great sorcerer-priests and priestesses of mars, we can't not help guys" madelaine begs as she turns to her team hoping they'd say yes. she guessed m'gann would considering it involved her religion and sister planet.

"i'd be honoured" m'gann agrees walking to join wally's side.

wally's hand shoots up instantly. "im in." everyone turns in, surprised. "so honoured, I can barely stand it." wally continues, suddenly sounding sheepish as he realizes all attention was focused on him. behind him, artemis glares. "magic rocks." throwing in a rock and roll hand gesture. the blonde rolls her eyes and she crosses her arms.

"take this, it is the key to the tower of fate." tornado says, offering up an old brass key. aqualad takes it from his waiting hand.

"what are the chances we both so admire the mystic arts?" wally questions madelaine making the girl raise an eyebrow at him.

"i know you too well, flattery doesn't work on me" she whispers well pushing the boys shoulder away from hers and walking off.

———

the bioship is fully camouflaged as it makes its descent. on the right side of the road is an open field, but on the left, there is an old theatre that looks shutdown, and a red brick building that with its lights on seemingly has people inside.

"nothing's there." superboy finishes.

"take us down." aqualad commands. outside the bioship is a mangey orange cat with deep red markings around its body. though its face has similar black marking and red eyes that seem to observe the hidden bioship before it hops off the box it was on and trot inside the theatre.

wally skids to a stop in the middle of the field they parked the bioship next to. "nothing." he says, looking to artemis. "this isn't simple camouflage."

the whole team looks to the ginger speedster, but artemis is smug when she responds. "what do you think, adaptive micro-opto-electronics combined phase shifting?"

"absolutely..." wally starts, but as m'gann appears in his line of sight the slight smile drops from his face. "not. clearly mystic powers are at work here." though the way he looks at m'gann is too obvious to be missed as well as his reason for changing his answer. the way his voice nearly cracks doesn't help his case.

madelaine only stared at the ginger and rolled her eyes finding it stupid how bad he was trying to impress m'gann, it was obvious the girl likes superboy so why did he keep trying. she believed he should just set his sights on someone else.

artemis glares, while superboy and aqualad look sceptical.

crickets chirp as the team stares at the open field.

kaldur looks to the key in his hand. "a test of faith." he repeats, looking to the handle on the key where it says 'insert'. He walks between artemis and superboy. "stand behind me." he commands. stepping up so he is more than three steps ahead of the closest team member. raising the key, it disappears and sounds as though it clicks into a lock. turning his hand the tumblers thud to the unlocked position. as this happens a massive stone tower comes into sight.

much to artemis' and wally's surprise. though superboy, madelaine and m'gann seem rather calm about it.

"i knew it" madelaine whispers to herself well smiling up at the large tower.

kaldur keeps a hand on the key, pushing the ornate wooden door inwards. the team following him in without a command. the door slams shut, but the key remains in the door.

"uh, where'd the door go?" superboy asks, confused and the entire team looks around the blank four walls. until a gold-tinted projection of kent nelson appears.

"greetings." the projection of kent's magic power begin to speak. "you have entered with a key, but the tower does not recognize you. state your purpose and intent."

wally looks back at m'gann and momentarily madelaine before smiling. "we are true believers, here to find doctor fate." he said with an overdramatic smile.

kent looks at him sadly, then fades from view. wally's face falls until he hears the sound of the floor creaking loudly. looking down just in time to see the whole segment give out from underneath the team. dropping all six of them towards the magma at the bottom.

superboy is falling the fastest but changes his course to get to one of the walls, while madelaine grabs wally bringing the two of them closer as well. m'gann gains some altitude well holding herself above the lava.  artemis pulls out a small crossbow, turning on her back to shoot higher into the rock, then swing to grab kaldur as both of them plant their feet solidly on the wall.

superboy claws at the rock. his grip slowing him down, but not stopping him even as he digs the balls of his feet into the rock. finally, he slows, but not before his feet and ankles fall into the lava. he screams in pain but pulls his unharmed feet out of the lava. "those were my favourite boots," he said annoyed, breathing heavily. "this kent better be worth it."

"i'll buy you new ones" madelaine tells the boy as she pulls wally closer to her so the girl and lean her head on the boys shoulder, the heat hitting her all at once.

———

madelaine can feel her and wally slowly beginning to slip, slowing and speeding up as madelaine's power wanes and waxes. "just a tad but of trouble... maintaining altitude over here..." she wipes sweat from her brow. "gods, im hot"

"yes you are." wally says without even thinking and looking at the girl.

"wally !" artemis both gasps at and reprimands him.

"hey, inches above sizzling death, i'm entitled to speak my mind!" the ginger snaps back.

kaldur also wipes the sweat off his brow. "mine and madelaines physiology and m'gann's are susceptible to heat, we must climb out quickly."

"hello, m'gann ." m'gann said through gasps. "we never... truly answered the question." she turned her head slightly. "red tornado... sent us... to see if... mr. nelson and the helmet... were safe."

a panel slides shut underneath superboy's feet, calmly he steps on the panel. madelaine drops wally letting him land on his butt, well she floats down to land beside him with m'gann. artemis and kaldur belay down to the panel.

"this platform." kaldur realizes, touching it with both his hands. "it should be red hot, but it cool to the touch."

"don't worry megalicious, i gotcha." wally says, helping the green girl to her feet next to madelaine.

"oh my god!" madelaine yells out at the same time artemis blows a gasket. "enough!" the blonde shoves wally into the wall. "your little "impress m'gann at all cost" game nearly got us all barbecued."

wally glared at the blonde before him. "when did this become my fault?"

"when you lied to that whatever-it-was and called yourself a true believer." artemis snaps, superboy and m'gann looking to the redhead from behind her.

once again all the attention in the room was on wally.

"wally?" m'gann questions, stunned. "you don't believe?"

wally glares at artemis before speaking out in exacerbation. "fine. fine! i lied about believing in magic! but magic's the real lie, it's all a major load!"

"wally, my grandmother's the goddess of witch craft! what do you mean?!" madelaine nearly all but shouts as she storms up to wally and takes her place beside artemis, the girls finger jabbing the boy in the chest.

"wally, I studied for a year at the conservatory of sorcery in atlantis." kaldur prompts his hand still on the floor. "the mystic mages created the skin icons that power my water-bearers."

"dude, you ever hear of bioelectricity? and you, you're a god it's different!" he exclaims, seeming annoyed, but not demeaning. then he opens his mouth again, this time set on being sarcastic. "hey, in primitive cultures, fire was once considered magic too. today, it's all a bunch of tricks."

"you're really closed minded for a kid who can break the sound barrier in his sneakers." madelaine told him as she glared down at his feet.

"that's science." wally speaks simply. "i recreated the flash's experiment, and here I am!" he says with a sarcastic hand gesture of grandeur. "everything can be explained by science."

kaldur smirks. "let us test that theory." then grabs an unseen handle.

"i hate science" madelaine says to herself as she turns to kaldur now being besides the ginger, wally sending her an offended look which she ignored.

"stop! wait, the back draft from the lava will roast us alive!" wally protests, but kaldur opens it anyway.

the door opens, however, with a snow flurry. accompanied by gusting winds and an expansive tundra-space beyond.

"it's snow!" m'gann cried cheerfully.

artemis looks up at wally's angry face with a smirk. "do you ever get tired of being wrong?" his frown deepens.

the team jumps through, but what was originally a downward jump spun so the gateway was now floating in mid air from their point of view. until it disappears in a golden flash. wally turns away from where he was watching it, to find the whole team looking at him.

"now?" madelaine asks, a confident look on her face.

"ever hear of string theory?" he questions sarcastically. "we're in a pocket dimension."

"ugh." madelaine growls angered by wally's absolute lack of faith in magic.

she'd grown up around magic, her grandmother was the goddess of magic and her mother the goddess of potions. magic was all she's truly believed in her whole life, it was her solution to everything and the only thing she'd ever be able to run to.

"what's that?" m'gann questions. the girl looking at is kent nelson's cane floating above the snow.

"ooo, maybe it's kent's magic wand." wally says sarcastically. speeding over so he grabs it at the same time madelaine goes to grab it.

"i got it." they synchronize. then it begins to glow gold. "what?" they both question in shock. "i can't let go!" before being pulled upwards by the cane and disappearing in a flash of gold.

the four remaining exchange a worried look.

———

on a nearby platform to where some teenage boy is watching kadabra torture kent, madelaine and wally come into existence. neither of them let go of the cane as they move from lying on their sides to kneeling on one knee. kent sees them instantly.

once wally looking in the right direction he recognizes Kadabra. "abra Kadabra." he growls.

kent relaxes and gains a slight smile. "well, would you look at that."

the cane glows in madelaine and wally's grip, in response, kent's whole body glows the same gold. kadabra and the teen barely glance at the teen-heroes as kent begins to float and fly past them. grabbing the cane with both hands immediately lets madelaine and wally let go it as Kent's bonds come undone.

"in here." kent says, standing up and using his cane to create an elevator in the wall. all three rush in.

"no! no! no!" the teen working with kadabra shouts angrily. "i want that helmet!" he raises his hands, red magic gathering as the door to the elevator begins to shut. "i want it! i want it! i want it!" the red lightning only hitting after the doors are fully shut.

elevator music plays in the background as the number shown increases. both teens look to nelson,  madelaine jumping in her shoes to say something

"i'm kent nelson. by the way." kent finally speaks up.

"no duh." wally mumbles only for madelaine to stomp on his foot. "ow!" he hisses in pain.

"i'm madelaine." she tells him. "fussy pants over here, is wally."

kent smiles. "boyfriend? partner? teammate?" the man asks as he glances between the sulking boy and the grinning girl.

madelaine pulls a face before going to speak up but an optimistic wally speaks at the same time "no!" "absolutely!"

"we'll speak about this later" the ginger says slapping a hand over the ravenette's mouth, the girl glaring at him.

kent just chuckles at the two "well, madelaine, we're up against an opponent that with tremendous mystic power."

"abra kadabra?" wally questions rhetorically then scoffs with an eye roll. "flash proved that he uses futuristic technology to simulate magic." he says directly at kent. "guy's all show and no biz."

"right you are." kent agrees.

much to madelaine's shock, wally smiles proudly, looking at her shocked expression with a little too much pride. "he is?" she asks, stunned.

"abra is a charlatan." kent admits. "but klarion, the witch boy, kid with the cat, he's an actual lord of chaos, the ultimate enemy of a lord of order like doctor fate."

the girls face drops at the mans words, nothing about that sounding fun.

"right ." wally drawls. "you're a lord of order." though he sounds hesitant and confused.

"oh, no. not me." kent says with a smile. "i'm just an old coot fate used to put on. until my wife inza convinced me there was more to life." he opens his watch and looks down at her picture. "ah, she was a real pistol, that inza." 

madelaine glances over his shoulder to see a smiling woman and a younger man who looked much like kent " she was beautiful" 

"she was indeed" kent says before snapping it shut and getting back on track. "anywho, klarion's after the helmet. if he gets his sticky little mitts on it, he'll turn the planet into his own personal playground of pandemonium."

the elevator dings, and the doors open. the three walk out, seeing a giant golden tower-bell hanging on the platform before them. following kent, madelaine and wally ascend the stairs.

behind them, on the ceiling, a door opens, superboy and kaldur falling to the floor hard enough to hurt, while m'gann levitates downward with artemis in her arms.

madelaine runs to the martian and the blonde with a relieved look, kent turns to wally. "friends of yours?"

electricity zaps in the background. a blue bolt just missing the two of them. on a perpendicular platform are klarion and kadabra.

"friends of yours?!" wally asks back with equally as much sarcasm as kent, before grabbing him and getting him out of the way of kadabra's next shot. madelaine, artemis , kaldur, superboy, and m'gann are all forced to dodge it as well.

kent and wally crouch near the bell, until kent stands, raising his cane, and hitting the bell.

as the bell tolls, it gains both klarion and kadabra's attention. keeping teekl the cat in his arms klarion takes off into the air, as kent and wally walk into the bell. klarion following them in without any hesitation.

"wally!" madelaine yells out in worry as she watches the ginger disappear before feeling herself being tackled by superboy, the clone boys arms wrapping round the smaller girl.

"wally, we're in trouble." m'gann's voice cuts through to the boy telepathically

within the tower, kaldur and superboy are trapped in electrical cages. while miss martian and madelaine keep one hand out each to deflect shots telekinetically, and artemis shoots at kadabra. "tell kent we need doctor fate." she continues.

wally watches from m'gann's perspective as madelaine's then artemis' shots are deflected by kadabra and they too is trapped in an electrical cage. unable to do anything as one heads right for m'gann.

———

the jolt snaps the connection between wally and m'gann. bringing his mind back to the rooftop with a gasp.

gritting his teeth klarion pauses, then forms a magic circle around his feet. gathering power between his hands until they expand to create two red hands that instantly shoot out and manage to get a grip on the shield surrounding the helmet, wally , and kent.

the claws sinking in as kent's cane begins to burn. when the cane runs out, the shield will break.

the claws screech against the shield, ignoring it wally looks down at kent. "a test of faith." he agrees.

standing he takes the helmet in his hands. though, klarion grabs his attention before he can put it on. "hey, dumb kid. you put that on, you may never get it off!" he warns as he rips the shield apart.

wally raises the helmet, as klarion gathers more magic, shooting it at wally. however, he puts the helmet on before it can hit him. though the magic does absorb him.

wally blinks as he's suddenly assaulted with a total lack of anything resembling where he just was. "ok. ok. no problem." wally mumbles to himself, despite the echo that just said that. "i'm not here. i'm just delusional."

"still don't believe?" kent's voice asks with a chuckle. "seriously, kid, how'd you get so bull headed in 15 short years."

wally turns to the source, shocked to see kent standing before him. "but- but- you're- you're-"

"yep," kent knows what he's trying to say. "but don't feel bad. soon as this little brouhaha is over, my spirit will ascend, and I'll be reunited with my beloved inza."

"o-oh. ok." wally stutters out. "wait, but does that mean that I'm-!"

kent sighs good-naturedly, cutting him off. "you're alive," kent places a hand on wally's shoulder, but seeing him flinch away he removes it. "but your soul no longer controls your body. see, we're inside the helmet. you put it on, and my soul got sucked in, probably because I spent so many years serving its master."

"master?" wally questions, confused.

"nabu, the real doctor fate, one of them lord of order I told you about." kent explains, placing his hand on wally's shoulder again. "he's the guy controlling your body now." kent pats his shoulder lightly "wanna watch?" as he removes his hand and gestures into the black.

———

inside the tower, all the other members of the team are crying out in pain from kadabra's cages. as he raises his wand once more, fate's symbol shows up behind him as he is stripped to his underwear and of his wand. "wha?" he questions, gasping as superboy stands up. "shows over." the kryptonian snarls, punching abra kadabra in the face. knocking him down and out.

"yes! that's how we kick it on the earthly plane!" wally cheers, still within the helmet. then glances at kent. "uhh, it-it's over, right? why isn't nabu taking off the helmet?"

"because the earth needs doctor fate." nabu speaks up, an image of the helmet appearing behind wally and kent . "i will not release this body."

"he can't do that!" wally objects. then looks to kent. "can he do that?"

"can, but shouldn't." kent says angrily. "this is not the right candidate. the kid's soul belongs to the world of science, not sorcery."

"true." nabu agrees, but his tone is dark. "but I do not appreciate being permanently hidden away, useless, and isolated for decades at a time." no one can say anything. "chaos must not be allowed to reign." he snaps.

"that won't happen again, the boy'll take the helmet and make sure you're put to good use." kent speaks for wally.

"yeah. i swear." wally agrees, smiling brightly at the thought that he'd be able to go home with his friends.

"and in the meantime, i'll stick around, keep you company." kent says, a touch of sadness in his voice.

wally turns to kent instantly, horrified. "wait. what happened to you ascending? seeing inza?" his voice saddening as he asks each question.

"so you believe now, eh?" kent taunts. "don't sweat it, kid. i'll spend a few millennia here, then see Inza." he flips open his watch to look down at her picture once more. his own voice going said. "that's the great thing about eternity. it's eternal."

"you have your own inza to find anyway" kent says as he patted wally on the shoulder the ginger boy smiling sadly.

"the bargain is acceptable." nabu says darkly.

"some free advice before you go. find your little spitfire," kent begins to fade away. "the one who won't let you get away with nothin', for example, that-" and is cut off before he can hear the end of it. as the helmet finally comes off.

looking around wally finds himself still on the roof, walking over to Kent he sets the helmet down and places the watch back in his hand. closing his fingers around it. then looking down at the man he couldn't save. 

———

wally walks up to a shelf, where all his souvenirs are proudly displayed. setting the helmet beside cheshire's mask. wally stands proudly before it.

footsteps could be heard behind the boy before he felt himself being engulfed in a hug, smaller hands lacing themselves on his stomach "never do that again" a voice sighed.

wally would notice that voice with his eyes closed, the ginger boy smiling to himself before feeling madelaine let go and then feeling a pain in his arm "you nearly died!" she exclaimed. wally now spinning to face her.

"ow! babe" he said to himself as he rolled his sleeve up to look at his arm, madelaine just smiling sadly at the boy  "you never told me what happened when you put the helmet on" she reminded him.

wally's face falls, looking downright bored and uncaring. "energy from the thing rewrote my brain's beta waves . i was bio-scripted into becoming doctor fate for a few minutes." he shrugs. "no big."

"you still think there's no such thing as magic?" madelaine asks, offended "why you keeping the helmet then?" she counters

wally looks to it, then to her, giving a smile. "souvenir."

"you're such a nerd!" she jokes before rolling her eyes and making her way out of his room.

"find your own little spitfire, one who won't let you get away with nothin'." kent's voice echoes inside wally's head. the redhead frowns at the words, but as he sees m'gann walk by he smiles widely.

"hello, megan. guess who bought us two tickets to a magic show." he says following her down the hall.