"Great thinking, Sobek!" Osiris praised his friend. "The powers Adam gave me must allow us access."
The crocodile eyed the murky staircase with obvious trepidation. "It's dark down there."
"I can see torches on the wall ahead," Osiris said. "Come on!"
Overcoming his fear, Sobek followed Osiris down the long staircase until they reached the bottom of the steps. Blazing torches, mounted in sconces along the tunnel ahead, lighted the way before them. Shadows danced upon the rough-hewn stone walls. Their footsteps echoed loudly as they neared the end of the tunnel. Hideous stone demons squatted along the wall to their left, their leering faces illuminated by the braziers burning at their feet. Osiris recognized the Seven Deadly Sins from his sister's description.
"Hello?" he called out. "Captain Marvel?"
He entered a vast cavernous chamber, where he found Earth's Mightiest Mortal seated upon ci bulky granite throne. To his surprise, and discomfort, Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. stood alongside the throne. He hadn't expected to find them here too.
"The wisdom of Solomon told me that you would seek me out eventually," Captain Marvel said solemnly. "We've been waiting for you."
Captain Marvel Jr. stared at him anxiously. "Where have you been, Osiris? The TV news shows ... they show you flying right through a super-villain." He shook his head in disbelief. "I told the Titans it was staged. That it couldn't have been you."
Osiris stepped forward, prepared to take the heat like a man. "It was me, Freddy," he confessed. It broke his heart to disappoint Captain Marvel Jr. like this, especially after his former teammate had vouched for him to the Titans. "I did not mean to hurt anyone like that, but... they were about to kill Isis."
That didn't seem to matter to Captain Marvel Jr. "The Department of MetaHuman Affairs is investigating the Teen Titans for ties to terrorism because of you," he said angrily. Osiris wondered if Freddy blamed himself for trusting Osiris too quickly.
"The Suicide Squad provoked the Black Marvels to sway public opinion, and you know it," Mary Marvel pointed out, coming to the newcomer's defense. "Osiris isn't to blame for all of this, Freddy."
"No one forced him to kill anyone," Captain Marvel Jr. insisted.
Sobek tugged on Osiris' shoulder, obviously anxious to leave. He looked nervously at the petrified Sins. "I don't like it h-here."
"This is my only hope," Osiris reminded the timid crocodile. The Marvel Family, he recalled, were empowered by a different pantheon of gods than those who had imbued Black Adam with their divine attributes. Maybe Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, and the others could lift the curse that had infected all of Kahndaq?
Captain Marvel rose from the throne. "I allowed you entry into the Rock because the Sins didn't want me to," he explained. "They know you have a good soul, despite what you've done."
"It's his powers," Osiris tried to make them understand. "It is Black Adam's powers that are doing this to me and Kahndaq." He lowered his head in shame. "Ever since I... murdered that man, our entire nation has suffered. The graveyards are overflowing."
Captain Marvel contemplated the heartsick youth. He appeared uncertain what Osiris wanted from him. "What can I do?"
"The powers you share have made you a family. Mine has only poisoned ours." Osiris held out his hands in supplication. "I beg you to rid me of this curse. Take away my powers."
"Your powers were a gift," a deep voice rebuked him from behind. Osiris spun around to see Black Adam and Isis come striding into the throne room. Adam's face and voice were stern. "They were not a curse!"
"Black Adam!" Sobek exclaimed. "Isis!"
Osiris felt caught in the act. "How did you know—?"
"You left the cavern open behind you," Isis explained. She looked more worried than angry to find him here. She gave the Marvel Family an apologetic look, as though embarrassed at barging in like this.
Black Adam laid a heavy hand upon Osiris' shoulder. "Come back to the palace," he said firmly. "This is a matter for our family, not theirs." His tone was severe. "Why would you come here when our country is in desperate need of your strength?"
"Kahndaq is suffering because of you" Osiris blurted, pulling away from Adam's grasp. "I am suffering because of you!"
Without thinking, he slammed his fist into Black Adam's chin. Sparks flew as the blow sent Adam flying into the stone wall above the Seven Sins. Shattered chunks of rock and calcite rained down on the demons' heads. Wrath smiled broadly. ■
"Osiris!" Isis was shocked by her brother's behavior. "Stop this!"
"Can't you see it, sister?" he pleaded. "His dark powers may have made me walk again, but at the price of my very soul." Isis was clearly blinded by her love for her husband. "They have corrupted me and all of Kahndaq. In time, they may even corrupt you!"
Black Adam rose up from where he had fallen, behind the row of granite Sins. His dark eyes smoldering with anger, he started to shove Pride and Wrath out of his way. "Move aside, Sins." Centuries-old stone ground ominously.
"Keep your temper in check, Adam," Captain Marvel admonished him. He and Mary Marvel flew over the Sins and grabbed onto Black Adam from behind. "The Rock of Eternity is my home now, and T'm not going to let you crack it apart. Or carelessly free the Seven Deadly Sins of Man." They struggled to restrain Adam. "You fight us and I'll banish you to the Rock of Finality." .
Mary Marvel raised an eyebrow. "The Rock of Finality? What's that, Billy?"
Osiris had never heard the term before either.
"I'll show you when you're older," Captain Marvel promised. Now was apparently not the time to explore the subject further.
While his family wrestled with Black Adam, Captain Marvel Jr. took it upon himself to restrain Osiris as well. He twisted the other teen's arms behind his back, but that did little to quell the anguish surging inside Osiris. "You did this to me, Adam!" he accused his infamous brother-in-law. "You infected me with your power and anger!"
"Calm down, Osiris," Captain Marvel Jr. ordered. It was hard to believe that they had fought together as allies only two months ago. Everything had gone wrong since then!
"You don't understand," Osiris sobbed. "I am cursed." He fought to break free from Freddy's hold. "Let me go." His expression darkened in frustration, so that he looked more like Black Adam than ever. Isis came running up behind him. "Let. Me. Go!"
He savagely threw his elbow back, hoping to connect with Captain Marvel, but the blow collided with his sister's face instead. She was hurled backward, almost striking Sobek as well. The sound of her hitting the hard stone floor echoed across the throne room.
A hush fell over the torch-lit chamber. Concerned for his wife, Black Adam stopped grappling with Captain Marvel and Mary. "Isis!"
Osiris froze, struck with horror at what he had just done. Again! he realized. Despair washed over him. I lost control again!
"Adrianna?"
To his relief, Isis got up off the floor. But his heart sank at the sight of the blood streaming from her torn lip. How hard did I hit her?
"You're ... bleeding," he moaned. "I made you bleed." Sensing that the violence was over for the time being, Captain Marvel Jr. cautiously let go of Osiris, who barely noticed. His sister was all that concerned him now. "Are you all right?"
Isis wiped the blood from her chin. "No," she said sadly. Her gaze took in the whole sorry scene. "Thousands are dying by starvation and disease within Kahndaq. Every time I try and grow crops within our borders, they dry up and die." She shook her head in dismay. "When our people need us most, we're fighting."
She walked over to her brother. "These powers, Osiris, have enabled us to do things that have made so many others safe and happy. They are not a curse. Something that brings my brother back to me when I believed he was lost forever could never be a curse." She looked deeply into his eyes, without any trace of anger. "Something has invaded Kahndaq. Something unseen and evil. Help Black Adam and me find it. Help us stop it." Her brown eyes brimmed with tears. "Don't turn your back
on your family."
Osiris did not know how to respond. His throat tightened, but the words would not come. I never meant to make you cry, he thought as he accepted his sister's loving embrace. I don't want to disappoint you now.
Leaving the Sins and the Marvels behind, Black Adam flew over the heads of the statues to join Isis and Osiris in the center of the throne room. Sobek looked on anxiously, wringing his scaly hands.
"I know it is hard to accept what happened," Adam said gently. His voice softened as he tried to get through to Osiris. "It is hard to live with what you have done. But you have more than taken responsibility for it." He spoke as one who knew much of life ... and death. "And it was you and your sister who showed me how to do that. You urged me to reveal my humanity to the world ... and make myself a better man. Now we are asking you to do the same, my brother."
Osiris could tell that Adam's words were sincere. No matter what tainted power might flow through his veins, the older man truly regarded him as a brother.
If only that was enough...!
"I'll try," he said.
Isis smiled and wiped away her tears. Encouraged by her response, Sobek crept forward to reunite with his adopted family. "I could really go for some hummus and lamb right now."
"Oh, Sobek!" Isis laughed out loud.
Black Adam nodded approvingly. "Let us return to our home." He turned to leave the cavern.
"Wait," Captain Marvel said. "The situation in Kahndaq sounds pretty serious. Perhaps my family and I can help?"
Black Adam shook his head. "Thank you, Billy, but no." Pride loomed behind him. "Kahndaq is our responsibility. We can tend to our homeland on our own ... now that we are a family once more."
They departed the Rock of Eternity.
The next day, Sobek found Osiris standing forlornly atop the palace. The toxic rain had stopped falling, only to be supplanted by a blistering drought and heat wave. The sun blazed fiercely in the sky above Osiris. The air rippled above the streets and rooftops of the suffering city. Tormented by guilt, the youth stood on the brink of a high terrace, as though on the verge of throwing himself over the edge. Not that such a leap could truly hurt me, he thought bitterly. With my powers, 1 can only hurt others.
"What are you doing up here?" the crocodile asked. "I th-thought you were meeting Black Adam and Isis." He observed Osiris uneasily. "Your sister was going to try to dispel the heat again...."
Osiris looked out over the horizon. "I'm not going. I'm leaving Kahndaq."
"W-w-what?" Sobek scratched his head in confusion. "But what about what you said? At the Rock of Eternity?"
"I said what they wanted to hear," Osiris admitted. "That's all. Adam may be able to live with what he did, but I can't." The awful sound of his elbow slamming into his sister's face played over and over in his memory. He saw again the blood dripping from her injured lip. "As long as I have these cursed powers, I need to be far away from anyone else."
"B-but that's it, Osiris!" He sounded desperate to change his friend's mind, to keep Osiris from leaving. "You can rid yourself of your powers. Just speak Black Adam's name and free yourself of the curse."
Osiris hesitated. Could it truly be as simple as that? Once I change back, I could vow never to say the magic ivords again. I could stay Amon forever.
"But then ..." Sobek winced at the full implications of what he had just suggested. He placed his claw over his snout, perhaps wishing he had kept his jaws shut. "Oh, Osiris, you will not be able to walk...."
Osiris glanced down at his legs. Although they were strong and sturdy now, he still remembered the pain he had felt when Intergang's beast-men had crushed his bones to powder in that hellish temple beneath Bialya. He recalled how weak and crippled he had felt, only ten weeks ago, when he had briefly shed his powers before a gaping crowd in Metropolis. Did he really want to stay that way for the rest of his life?
"Of course, Sobek! That must be my penance." It all made sense now. This was the only way to make things right again. "Maybe then Kahndaq will be free from death and disease and hunger!"
The loyal crocodile did not try to dissuade him, now that his mind was made up. "S-say it, my friend."
"Step back," Osiris warned. Moving away from the ledge, he strode to the center of the terrace and looked up at the sky. He took a deep breath and braced himself for what was to come. Despite his newfound conviction that this was his only hope, he trembled at the enormity of the sacrifice he was about to make. But there was no turning back, not if he truly wanted to atone for his crimes.
"Black Adam!"
A mystic thunderbolt struck the youth, momentarily hiding him within its blinding glare. But then the brightness faded, and Amon Tomaz collapsed onto the rooftop. A simple cotton robe had replaced Osiris' heroic uniform. Twisted limbs sprawled limply across the ceramic shingles. Amon felt a dull ache coming from his mangled legs, but he didn't care. He smiled through the pain, free at last of the unnatural abilities that had made his life a misery.
"The gods," he murmured. "Adam's vengeful gods... they're gone. I don't hear their voices anymore." For the first time in months, he felt like himself again. He gazed up at the nearby crocodile. "You were right, Sobek! Perhaps my life will return to normal now. Maybe I will be happy again, and all of Kahndaq will be as well."
He reached out to his friend, figuring that Sobek would lift him up from the soggy rooftop and help him inside, but instead the crocodile just stared at him with a strangely inscrutable expression. For the first time, he felt uncomfortable in the creature's presence. "Sobek?"
. Without warning, the reptile lunged forward and sank his teeth into Amon's throat. Blood sprayed across Sobek's snout as his jaws clamped down on the crippled boy's neck. No longer invulnerable, Amon's flesh was tom apart easily by the crocodile's jagged teeth.
He's killing me! Osiris realized in shock. He didn't understand, but he knew that his only hope was to regain his powers right away. "Bla-Black ..."
Sobek didn't give Amon a chance to complete the invocation. His powerful jaws bit down hard, crushing his victim's larynx. Yellow eyes glinted with cold reptilian glee as he released his grip on Amon's throat. Licking his chops, he gazed down at the helpless boy. Amon gasped for breath. Blood gushed from his wounded throat.
"I'm not so hungry anymore," the crocodile said.
WEEK 44
SHIRUTA
The heat wave continued, despite Isis' strenuous efforts to cool the land. She and Black Adam hovered in the air high above their palace. He clenched his fists in frustration; his strength was useless against the torrid temperature.
"I keep trying to summon rain," she lamented, "but the clouds dissipate almost as soon as they form." A drawn face testified to her fatigue. Perspiration glistened upon her bare arms and legs. "Something has been affecting my powers for weeks now."
Adam nodded grimly. "Something has been affecting all of Kahndaq."
"Thousands are dying of thirst, hunger, and disease. Violent riots erupt in the streets." Her weary eyes beseeched him. "You have refused to ask the outside world for help, but we have no choice. We must do something."
He was forced to agree. Although it galled his soul that he could not protect Kahndaq on his own, he could no longer deny that their own powers were insufficient. "Let us return to the Rock of Eternity," he declared. Perhaps Captain Marvel and his family could succeed where he had failed. For the sake of my people, I will even appeal to the Justice League if I must.
He wondered crossly what had become of Osiris. He had expected the boy to join them, but apparently Osiris was still brooding over his imagined "curse." Adam thought it unwise to let the boy wallow in his guilt this way, but Isis had urged him to be patient with her brother, and he had deferred to her judgment in this matter. Besides, it was doubtful that Osiris' presence would have made any difference today. The malign forces besieging Kahndaq were greater than any single youth could overcome.
But from whence did this evil truly spring?
&nbs
p; Abruptly, a mystical thunderbolt exploded up from the rooftop of the palace, jolting Black Adam to his marrow. He froze in midair, transfixed by the surging electricity.
"Adam!"
Isis swooped to his side, but he was not in need of rescue. Instead he felt a rush of power course through his veins and sinews. Magical energy crackled around his levitating form. Lightning arced between his gleaming metal wristbands. Sparks flashed along the thunderbolt emblem on his chest. His eyes burned with eldritch fire. • .
"Adam?" Isis eyed him with concern. "Are you—?"
"I feel... stronger," he informed her. He flexed his muscles experimentally. At first, the sudden influx of power puzzled him. Then the truth hit home like a second bolt from the blue. Apprehension showed upon his brooding features. "They have returned to me."
Isis had not yet made the connection. "What have?"
"The powers of Osiris," he said somberly. The golden glow faded from his eyes as he grasped the full implications of what had just transpired. The wisdom of Zehuti warned him to take care. He cast a worried gaze at his wife. "Something is wrong."
Isis gasped out loud. From the sudden look of fear upon her face, he realized that she too understood that this ominous event boded ill for her brother. "Amon!"
The thunderbolt had come from the roof of the palace below them. He and Isis dived from the cloudless sky down to the source of the magical blast: a level terrace surrounded by four domed towers. A quick glance confirmed their worst fears. A sob tore itself from Isis' throat as they spied the mutilated body of Amon Tomaz lying upon the bloody shingles. The corpse's shattered limbs, and shredded garments, made it clear that Amon had been in mortal form when he died. Bite marks suggested that some carnivorous beast had been feeding on the youth for hours before he finally expired. His mouth was frozen in a silent scream. Adam saw to his disgust that the boy's tongue was missing. There was no way he could have summoned his powers to save himself. By the gods, Black Adam vowed, someone will pay for this atrocity.
Isis dropped to her knees beside her brother's body. "No!" Tear-filled eyes looked up at Adam. "Please, do something!"