JLA Watchtower (Archive)

... and in a heartbeat, everything transforms. A dungeon beneath Fawcett City, a rift between the Green and The Mortal World -- both have led to an Obsidian Canyon, where below mystic heroes and their allies, having triumphed over the villains who've thrown in with Wotan, now face an army of demons surrounding them on all sides. Above them, rifts between worlds appear, dragging the deadly combat between Fate and Wotan into the fray, The Phantom Strange and Tefe Holland on their heels...

And from all directions now, a rage that can consume worlds swirls, howling through the inferno of mystic energy that swirls in all directions.

The Spectre is here, its ungrounded wrath all focused in one direction: John Constantine.

And so the battle begins in earnest ...

It's a packed night, probably because the band is jumping. Tala, Queen of Evil, counts the money in her head every time a drunk wizard or demon buys another round.

She's been good to to her deal with Fate -- Faust and his company aren't welcome anymore, and he stays out of her hair. Worked out rather well.

But the sad truth is, she misses ...

There's a distortion in the center of the bar. Someone's opened a portal. But that shouldn't be ...

Tannarak barrels through, obviously thrown, landing in the center of the floor.

"Tannarak!" screams Tala, running to her long lost lover. He's near-comatose, beaten to a pulp. Tala looks up to see a green man with a goatee and a cape, brandishing a magic sword that she recognizes at once.

"Well," says Wotan, as the music stops and all eyes turn toward him. "Tala. Lovely to make your acquaintance. I've brought you a gift."

He nods to the beaten energy vampire.

"Demons and villains. I come baring glad tidings. The Ninth Age of Magic is coming to an end ..."

The villains and demons listen with great, great interest ...

"But what shape will the tenth age take? Will we be scurrying from the light like cockroaches?"

There's murmurs all around ...

"No," he says simply. "Because we will shape the tenth age. Some will join us. Others will stand in our way ..."

A demon seems bored already, and throws a bottle at Wotan. Shining Knight's sword slices outward, shattering the glass and scattering the shards sagely away from the wizard.

"Those that stand in our way," he says, stepping toward the now cowering demon. "Will be dealt with."

The sword slashes the demons face.

"I am your new lord now, your new master."

Assent is mumbled throughout the room. Tala says nothing.

"And we will begin," continues Wotan, "With the one whose mystic presence lies at the center of this age, one hated by all in this room."

Energy crackles from Wotan's hand, and an image of Dr. Fate forms.

The grumbling grows more affirmative. Tala smiles thinly. Soon, the demons are hollering.

"Good," says Wotan. "We have much to do."