Issue # 8

"Of Things Both Ghostly and Substantial"
Written by Barry Reese

What Has Come Before: The Hawkman of Earth-One found himself united with his DCL Universe counterpart against the terrible Hawkgod. During this confrontation, the two heroes were altered forever -- the Katar Hol of Earth-DCL was freed of the Avatar Curse and has since gone on to found an Earth-based group of Wingmen. The Katar Hol of Earth-One, however, has been tainted by the experience. Now possessing real feathered wings which retract and grow outwards from his back at a moment's thought, the Prime Hawkman has come to realize that there have been more, less obvious, changes, as well. In addition, Katar and his beloved Shayera are going to become parents, after years of believing that they would never have children.

Earth-One, Star City

Green Arrow's hometown was in flames.

Chemo, a creature born of toxic waste and chemical nightmares, strode through downtown, spewing death and destruction from all sides. For Katar Hol, it was only the latest in a series of horrifying events, events which had begun with the battle against the Hawkgod. He flew lower, circling Chemo. Batman and the new Flash, Wally West, were busy moving civilians to safety while the JLA's big funs -- Superman, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern -- fought Chemo itself.

I'm glad Shay's not here, he mused. Hawkwoman, Zatanna, Green Arrow and several other members of the League were off battling Gorilla Grodd in Africa. I'm not sure what sort of long-term effects there might be from exposure to these chemicals in the air and I don't want the baby being affected by it. Hawkman slammed his mace into the side of Chemo's head as the giant passed, but the creature barely noticed the blow.

John Stewart, who had proven his value as a Green Lantern during the recent Crisis, flew closer to Hawkman. "Listen, Batman's come up with a plan -- Wally's going to grab hold of Chemo's leg and provide enough of a vibratory effect that the thing's shell will burst. Then I'm going to scoop up the waste into a big vat and Superman's going to fly it into deep space. Maybe by dumping it into a sun somewhere, we can get rid of this guy for good."

Katar nodded, sensing that the Green Lantern was keeping a bit of distance between them. All of the Leaguers', young and old, had noted the changes in the Thanagarian -- the feathered wings, the bird-like eyes, the darkened personality. He frightened them now. "It sounds like a workable idea. What do you need me to do?"

"Supes wants you to lure Chemo towards the Water's Edge district -- it's less populated and most of the surrounding area is scheduled for demolition anyway as part of the city's revitalization project. If something does go wrong, that's the place to do it."

Hawkman grunted his agreement, flexing his shoulder muscles. His natural wings began to flap quickly, speeding him towards Chemo. The sensation of actually flying as birds do was beginning to grow addictive to Katar. It felt so natural.

The Thanagarian zipped in front of Chemo, hovering directly in his path. He reached down to his belt, retrieved several shuriken, and tossed them point-blank into the monster's face. The throwing stars embedded themselves between Chemo's eyes, but the villain continued to walk forward. Its mouth pursed as a stream of corrosive chemicals spewed forth. Hawkman dodged them easily, flying towards the East.

Chemo, dutifully seeking to destroy its newest attack, followed suit. It altered its path and began to move towards Water's Edge. Hawkman picked up speed, using his telescopic vision to note that the Flash was in position up ahead. Wally had served as Kid Flash for years, but Katar had his doubts about the young man's abilities to fill the shoes of Barry Allen. So many good heroes lost in that damned Crisis... Wonder Woman, Supergirl, the Flash, Dove, Kole. So many.

Hawkman heard another whoosh from behind him and barely evaded another chemical attack. He took a brief moment to survey the damage all around him -- it looked like a war zone here. In that moment, anger filled Katar Hol's heart. How could anyone or anything seek to take advantage of the post-Crisis confusion to sow this kind of terror? And this would not be the end of it... Luthor and Brainiac were busy rebuilding the Secret Society, Despero had recently undergone a tremendous power upgrade and there would be others, as well. All of them ready to kill innocent people to satisfy their own desires.

This was the world Katar Hol and Shayera Thal were about to bring a child into?

Hawkman whirled about, ignoring the startled looks on his teammates' faces. They were poised in place, ready to fulfill their parts of the plan. But here was Hawkman, flying towards Chemo, rather then luring him into position. "By the Seven Hells, monster, I've had enough," he whispered.

The Thanagarian hefted his mace and slammed it down on top of one of the embedded stars. He repeated this again and again, his powerful muscles straining with every blow. Chemo reached for him, eager to squeeze the life from this annoying enemy, but the Thanagarian manuevered past his every attempt. Hawkman raised the mace one final time, a battle cry coming up from the depths of his spirit. In that moment, he remembered his contact with the Hawkgod, remembered the power, remembered the infusion of memories and all that it had meant. Then, centering his blow once more on the shuriken which was now surrounded by a thin spider-web of cracks, he brought his mace with all his alien-born strength.

A small cracking sound preceded the sudden rush of cracks throughout Chemo's forehead. Seconds later, the monster's chemical lifeblood began to gush forth. Hawkman barely had time to fly back, avoiding the sudden surge of liquid death. The streets below, however, would not be so lucky. No! What have I done, he thought.

In that instant, however, a large green bucket, several stories high, appeared beneath the crumbling form of Chemo. John Stewart flew forth as his power ring creation caught the fluids before they hit the earth. He was flanked by a very concerned Superman.

The Man of Steel reached out and touched his old friend on the shoulder. "Katar? What happened just now? Where did you get that burst of strength... and ferocity?"

Katar Hol pulled his mask away, revealing the deep scar that covered the bridge of his nose and the inhuman eyes, both gifts of the Hawkgod. "I... don't know. I just felt... lost, for a second."

"I understand you've gone through some changes, my friend, but you nearly caused a major disaster. I was hoping to avoid shattering Chemo in such a highly populated area."

Hawkman nodded. "I know and I apologize. Consider me on reserve status until I can work things out." Without waiting for Superman's response, Hawkman flew higher, leaving behind his teammates in the JLA. His mind was troubled... What had happened back there? He hadn't lost control of his temper like that since he'd believed he'd lost Shayera*. Only this time it was different... I felt like it wasn't even me for a second back there.

(*Back in Hawkman (1986) # 17)

"Not feeling quite like yourself, old chap?"

Katar froze in mid-air, turning to face someone who had been both friend and foe in recent years. Looking as dapper as a headless apparition can appear, the Gentleman Ghost stood before him. The Ghost, once known as Gentleman Jim Craddock, was a bonafide supernatural being -- a realization that Katar had only come to terms with recently. "Craddock? What are you doing here? I thought you'd moved on to your just reward, whatever that may be*."

(*Again, in Hawkman # 17)

The Gentleman Ghost reached up to adjust the monocle which floated before his non-existent right eye. "No rest for the weary, I'm afraid. As to the hows and whys of my sudden reappearance, let us just say that I'm paying a social call on an old acquaintance."

"I don't have time for this," Hawkman murmured. He turned to leave, but found the Ghost once more in front of him. "Now what?"

"I wish your beautiful companion was going with us, I admit. Having a woman in the midst makes for a more pleasant excursion, I've always found."

Hawkman gripped his mace tighter. "What are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere with you, not today. Trust me, Jim... I've been going through some changes lately and I'm not happy about it. Don't get in my way. Please."

"Hmm. You have changed. You've become grim and gritty, I'm afraid. That's a disease that affects many heroes on other worlds. But you don't have to worry about feeling a need for shoulder pads and guns later on, old chap -- because I'm here to rescue you from yourself."

Hawkman bit off an angry retort. Craddock had helped him before, taking him through the spirit world in order to appease the guilt Hawkman had felt over the murder of several Thanagarians. "You can help cleanse my spirit? Get rid of the anger I've been feeling?"

"Definitely, my boy. Do we have a deal?" The Ghost extended a gloved hand.

With only a slight hesitation, Katar reached and took the thief's hand. "Don't let me down, Craddock."

As soon as their hands touched, the two men disappeared from mortal sight.

The Astral Plane

Hawkman felt his stomach drop as he gazed about at his new surroundings. He was standing (floating? it was hard to tell) in a field of mist. The Gentleman Ghost was at his side, his top hat pushed jauntily to one side. For as far as Katar's eyes could see, there was nothing, save for the endless mist which snaked about his legs and arms. "Where are we?"

"It's called the Fog Corridor. A dreadful place, really. Drafty and not much for appearances." The Ghost began to walk through the Corridor, not bothering to look where he was going. It was obvious that Jim Craddock had been here before, many times.

"I hope this isn't some wild goose chase, Craddock. I really want to trust you on this one."

"I know you do, my boy. You've the topic of a lot of discussion here, lately. You and your uninvited passenger...."

Katar stopped in his tracks. "You mean the Hawkgod? But I'd assumed that there wasn't much of him in me. Nothing more than a sliver."

"True enough," replied Craddock. "But you've got to understand something. That other universe you were in, it was in another hypertimeline. It's hard enough to go from one earth to another within the same hypertimeline, but to travel from one to the other? That opens up a rather large can o' worms."

"Hypertime. That other Katar told me a little bit about it. How is it different from the vibrational barriers between Earths-One and Two?"

"Well now, I'm no expert." Jim drew himself to his full height, relishing the opportunity to play headmaster. "But the way I understand it, each Hypertimeline is capable of holding entire multiverses within itself. There could be a Hypertimeline where the Crisis ended differently, maybe merging all the Earths into one. Or one where Earth-Two survived, but Earth-One didn't. The possiblities are endless. All the multiverses, all the brief branches within the main timeline, are housed into Hypertimelines. Now, what's happened here is that you've brought back a little guest with you -- only a portion of the Hawkgod's full forrm, to be fair, but a significant thing regardless."

"This is why I've felt this... darkening... inside me?"

"Could be. I suspect that may be something beyond the help of those who are here, though. Their main concern is that if and when that little beastie inside you gets out, its energies will be so foreign to the defenders of this reality that no one here will be able to stop it."

"I stopped it, with the help of the other Katar."

"True enough. But you never know what might go wrong. That's why you're here."

Hawkman, who had resumed walking alongside the Gentleman Ghost, suddenly saw a building up ahead. It was a small structure, looking like something out of the middle ages. Craddock never slowed as he approached the door. He passed through like a wraith, while Katar reached forward carefully to make sure that the wall was indeed solid. Noting that it was, he opened the door manually and stepped inside. Though he had long since stopped thinking of Craddock as an enemy, he still felt somewhat nervous taking the first step.

Within, he found himself in an old-fashioned tavern of sorts, complete with a burning fireplace towards the rear of the room. A leopard-skin rug covered the floor just in front of the roaring fire and five individuals sat in various places around the room. The interior was shrouded in darkness and shadow, but Katar felt an immediate sense of recognition upon seeing most of them.

"I can't believe it. We all thought that moving between the universes was impossible now -- but here you all are!"

Indeed, the men and women in the world were each from a separate world -- one each from the worlds which had stood against the Anti-Monitor in the final battle: The Spectre, from Earth-Two; the aged wizard Shazam, from Earth-S; Uncle Sam, from Earth-X; the beautiful and mysterious Nightshade from Earth-Four; and the ever-present Gentleman Ghost from Earth-One.

Uncle Sam came forward and shook Katar's hand, a concerned expression on his face. "Tarnation, son, you don't look so good!"

"Sam... How did all of you get here? We've been trying for months to reach Earth-Two and the others."

"I can answer that, Thanagarian." The Spectre's cold voice sent a chill down Nightshade's back. The darkness-wielding heroine noticably shivered, making Katar smile for a moment. It had taken him some time to get used to the Spectre, too. "The barriers between worlds are for our own protection... but it is possible to pass through to a neutral realm, such as this. Here in the Astral Planes, all are welcome."

Hawkman felt rather dubious about the 'for our own protection' thing, but he decided not to press the Spectre on the issue. "The Ghost thinks that all of you can help me. How?"

"It sounds pretty strange, Hawk, but you're going to have to trust us." Nightshade came forward, her hands smoothing down her dark-colored skirt. "The Spectre was the first of us to notice the danger you were posing. It's not even something that most mystics would pick up, unless they were tapped right into the Presence the way the Spectre is."

Katar let out a sigh. He was a man of science and rationality, but in recent years he'd been forced to go into the afterlife, accept Craddock as a ghost, battle a Hawkgod and now... Now, he was about to place his fate in the hands of virtual strangers. "Whatever it takes... I can't let what happened earlier today come about again. Especially not with a child on the way."

"Good. Then I reckon we can get started." Uncle Sam pushed his shirt-sleeves up a bit and glanced at the Spectre. "Let's make sure we don't many any mistakes, ya hear? I'm not sure this business is something I'm totally comfortable with, no how."

"Agreed." The Spectre raised one hand, his eyes twinkling with power unimaginable. "Each of us shall take a portion of the Hawkgod spirit back into our own realm. This shall subdivide its power to such a degree that it will never be able to reassemble itself. The threat to our multiverse shall pass."

Katar smiled somewhat. "I have the feeling this won't go quite as smoothly as you're letting on. Is there a catch to all this?"

The aged wizard Shazam started. He glared at the Gentleman Ghost. "You didn't tell him, did you?"

The smile that had been on Katar's lips faded quickly. "Tell me what?"

The Gentleman Ghost sighed with a melancholy air and removed his hat. "I wanted to avoid any unpleasantness, I'm afraid. My dear boy... in order for this to work... in order for this multiverse to live in peace... then the portion of the Hawkgod that's wedged into your soul must be removed. And that means that you're going to die." The Ghost spread his hands in a gesture of understanding. "But Old Jim is here, waiting and willing to teach you the finer parts of dying."

TO BE CONTINUED

In Legend of the Hawkman # 9: Katar Hol must make the ultimate decision, while a surprising twist spells an uncertain fate for Hawkwoman! Our stay on Earth-One continues with part two of "Of Things Both Ghostly and Substantial."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

I promised us some return trips to Earth-One, didn't I? This two-parter will resolve some of the dangling threads from our opening storyline and will alter the status quo of the Earth-One Hawks for some time to come. I also wanted to bring back Gentleman Jim Craddock, who is a favorite of mine and many others.

Hope you're enjoying things,

Barry Reese