| Metropolis - October 3
"Thanks," Joseph said to the cab driver as he pulled a suitcase from the trunk and shut it. He had just left his hotel and arrived at his new townhouse in the Metropolis suburbs.
His life really was a story of rags to riches. The old apartment in Gotham he'd lived in his whole life would always have a place in his heart, but it was time to move up.
He'd bought the townhouse for $420,000 — something unthinkable just a year ago. Now, though, he was overflowing with cash.
The inside was already furnished, so unpacking didn't take long. He didn't own much before — just clothes, shoes, and a few cheap electronic devices. But Nova and his nanites had replaced all that. Most of what he'd brought now were his mother's old belongings, which he carefully stored in the attic.
Then there were three more conspicuous items:
an Nth metal band containing Chaos magic,
an Nth metal band containing Order magic,
and an Nth metal gun that once held Wotan's lightning magic until he'd used it to access the Speed Force. Now it held the lingering remnants of Grail's Omega Beams he'd absorbed.
Joseph's metahuman ability allowed him to absorb and control energy, converting it into Nova Force. That extended to magic as well — but unlike other forms of energy, his body couldn't convert magic to Nova Force. He could absorb it, but not manipulate it. It just stayed stored within him, unusable.
Kent had warned that this accumulation could lead to corruption. But with his body now laced with Nth metal, Joseph had found a solution: using the anti-magical metal to extract the magic from his body. That process produced the three items now resting in his suitcase.
He didn't have much use for them anymore, so he planned to keep them as souvenirs — along with the space rocks he'd collected from Mercury and Venus — on a display shelf.
Picking up one of the bands and the gun, he tucked them inside his bedroom closet. Maybe he should build a proper base soon. Wouldn't want some random intruder getting their hands on these.
After all, he was Lex Luthor's heir — and his father had made plenty of enemies. It wasn't for nothing that Lex had always walked around with Mercy and a security team.
His aunt Lena had tried convincing him to do the same, but he'd brushed it off, saying he'd recruit someone himself. Still… maybe it was time. He needed someone trustworthy — and recognizable enough to keep most threats at bay.
From reading Batman's Batcomputer files, he already had someone in mind for the job.
For now, he set up security cameras all around the house.
As Joseph picked up the last Nth metal band, a surge of Chaos magic flooded through his body.
**
Klarion had succeeded.
A living being had touched the object sealing him, pulling him from the dark realm back into the material world.
Possession wasn't typically viable — mortal shells couldn't withstand the full force of a Lord of Chaos or Order and would quickly unravel. That was why he used familiars as anchors, while Nabu used a helmet of special metal to possess hosts.
What was it called again? ninth metal? No… Nth metal. Well he would still call it ninth metal. Malapropisms were his shtick.
The anti-magical metal slowed host deterioration.
The two methods had their ups and downs. Using a familiar meant you vanished if the familiar died but were otherwise immortal. Using Nth metal, as the Lords of Order did with Nabu, meant you could never be cast from the mortal plane — but you still needed living hosts, and your influence ended if the helmet was removed.
Strangely enough, Klarion realized his new host's body was full of the stuff. Ninth metal literally flowed through his veins.
It was the same material that had been containing his essence. No wonder the transition had been seamless — Klarion had simply moved from a smaller piece of nineth metal to a much larger one.
How the mortal had managed to store Chaos magic in anti-magical metal was baffling. The Lords of Order had needed a mass sacrifice of Order magic just to bind Nabu's essence to his helmet, yet this mortal had done it alone. Even more shocking, the nineth metal in his body acted as a perfect conductor for Chaos energy.
This meant Klarion's new vessel wouldn't deteriorate for centuries.
He glanced around — a house. Nice enough. Walking into the bathroom, he looked into the mirror.
Handsome. Incredibly strong. He'd have preferred a younger body, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
The black shirt and sweatpants weren't his style, but the fact they were made of Nth metal earned some points. Still, he'd make adjustments. Channeling Chaos magic through the clothes, he transformed them into his signature formal black suit. Then, with a smirk, he reshaped the host's curly hair into devilish horns.
Perfect.
Now to find Savage. They'd been allies for millennia — and he needed to warn him. Child hadn't arrived on the mortal plane yet which gave them time to prepare.
Technically, it was against the rules for more than one Lord of Order or Chaos to manifest on a planet simultaneously. It restricted his ability to draw external Chaos magic, limiting him to what was innate. Who made those ridiculous rules? He couldn't even remember. They'd been around since his birth — sixteen billion years ago, shortly after the creation of the universe.
Still, that problem could be solved if he eliminated Child's familiar and banished her before announcing his presence. Once the Lords of Chaos saw the destruction he would unleash with this new body, they'd welcome him back with open arms.
Klarion conjured a red portal, ripping through space. It would lead him directly to Savage's location — Savage was in possession of a talisman Klarion had crafted that hid him from magical detection and acted as a beacon.
But just as his foot stepped through the portal, he froze.
Something was wrong.
Shouldn't the host's voice be screaming in his head? Begging for freedom? Normally, possession came with wails of despair or so he'd heard. But here — only silence.
Then, a voice echoed inside his mind.
"I think we've been caught. But we already got what we needed. Eject him into the Dream State."
//Understood, sir.//
Instantly, Klarion felt his control vanish. His spirit was ripped from the body and hurled into another realm.
When he regained awareness, he found himself in the form he preferred — a lanky young boy — floating motionless in outer space. A foreign planet and unfamiliar sun loomed nearby.
Before him stood two beings: one, a shifting humanoid form made of dark voxels — Nova — and the other, the host body he'd failed to claim. The first had a vast psychic presence; the second's was less in quantity but dense.
The sensation reminded Klarion of centuries past — when, as Genghis Khan, Savage's army had faced Darkseid's forces. He'd fled the moment he sensed that same crushing presence then.
Though he was Chaos personified and couldn't truly die, Klarion had always believed Darkseid could annihilate even him. That same primal fear crept back now.
But how?
"You're probably wondering how," the boy said. "Simple. I'm not the only one in my body. My AI can take full control whenever I allow it — and it has the psychic energy of hundreds backing it."
Klarion's eyes widened. "You can read my mind?" No psychic had ever done so without going crazy.
The boy smirked. "No, but it's hard not to guess what an idiot like you is thinking. Even if that hadn't been enough to overpower a so-called 'Lord of Chaos,' I could've just had my AI pilot my body mechanically with nanites and drop me in front of the Tower of Fate for Kent to handle you. Luckily, you turned out weaker than expected."
Klarion blinked, utterly confused. "You—what? But why? How?"
The boy folded his arms. "I'm connected to the Speed Force. That gave me plenty of time to decide what to do once you revealed yourself. I let you possess me so you'd lead me to Vandal Savage — who's managed to stay off my radar even with my AI searching through all the CCTVs in the world and using mirror tech to peer through reflective surfaces. So… thanks for the housewarming gift, dumbass."