CHAPTER 8: THE SHADOW OF SAVAGE AND A GLIMMER OF HOPE
The Waverider, though a marvel of temporal engineering, had slowly transformed into a floating war room, a desperate, caffeine-fueled laboratory. After their humbling defeat in the Himalayas, the mood on board was less "dysfunctional time-traveling circus" and more "a very stressed-out, highly intelligent study group cramming for the end of the world." Professor Stein and Ray Palmer were practically welded to their consoles in the lab, surrounded by ancient texts, glowing diagrams, and the faint smell of burnt coffee. Their mission: decipher the Orb of Necrosis and find a counter to Vandal Savage's newfound magical prowess.
Adam, surprisingly, had found himself drawn into their research. He still occasionally tried to lighten the mood with a poorly timed pun or a bizarre pop-culture reference, but the edge of his usual flippancy was gone, replaced by a focused intensity that surprised even him. The lingering pain from Savage's magical blast, though fading, was a constant, unwelcome reminder that his unkillable status wasn't quite as absolute as he'd thought. It had made him realize that while he could survive almost anything, his friends couldn't. And that fear, the fear of losing his new, chaotic family, was a far more potent motivator than any individual injury.
He sat with Ray in the lab, poring over a holographic projection of an ancient Egyptian carving. "So, you're saying this glyph here, it represents 'death'?" Adam asked, pointing. "And this one, the squiggly line, is 'regeneration'? So, Savage basically infused himself with the ancient Egyptian equivalent of a cheat code for immortality and resurrection?"
Ray, rubbing his tired eyes, nodded. "Essentially. The Orb of Necrosis appears to be a conduit for what the ancients called 'Osiris's Breath,' a primordial magic tied to the cycle of life and death. Savage's ritual seems to have allowed him to absorb its essence directly."
"Right. So, he's basically a walking, talking, super-evil necromancer," Adam mused. "Great. I hate necromancers. Always so dramatic with the skulls and the dark robes. Can't they just, like, have a hobby? Knitting, maybe? Chess club?"
Stein, overhearing, sighed. "Mr. Stiels, your humor is as inappropriate as it is unhelpful."
"Hey, Professor," Adam shot back, "if I don't try to make light of the situation, I'm going to scream. And then we'll all be deaf, which won't help us stop the unkillable necromancer from taking over the world. See? It's tactical humor."
Despite his jokes, Adam was serious. He was also subtly trying to guide their research. He knew, from his hazy memories of the show, that Savage's origin was tied to ancient Egypt, and a meteor. He also remembered that the meteor had given powers to not just Savage, but also Kendra and Carter. There had to be a common thread, a vulnerability.
"What about the source of his power?" Adam suggested, tapping the holographic carving. "This 'Osiris's Breath,' where does it come from? Does it have a weakness? Like, if you link it to its origin point, maybe you can disrupt it?" He was fishing, trying to bring up the meteor without directly mentioning it and causing a temporal paradox.
Ray's eyes lit up. "That's a fascinating line of inquiry! The texts do mention a 'celestial fire' that imbued the breath with its power, centuries before the Orb was crafted. They refer to it as the 'Tears of Amun-Ra'."
"Tears of Amun-Ra, huh?" Adam muttered, a spark of recognition. 'Meteor. They mean the meteor. This is it. This is the opening. Now to push it without being too obvious.'
He walked over to a stack of untouched books, picking one up with an ancient, leather-bound cover. "You know, sometimes the most important details are in the footnotes. Or the really old, dusty books no one ever bothers to read. What about a 'celestial fire' that wasn't… just fire? Something more… cosmic?" He focused his telekinesis, subtly causing a different, even older-looking tome to fall from a higher shelf. "Oops. Clumsy me. See, Professor? Even gravity wants us to explore alternative theories."
Stein, annoyed but curious, picked up the fallen book. Its pages were brittle, filled with even older hieroglyphs. As he flipped through it, his eyes widened. "Good heavens! This describes not a celestial fire, but a 'fallen star'! A meteor, Mr. Palmer! It speaks of three individuals struck by its power in ancient Egypt, granting them immortality and a connection to this 'Osiris's Breath'!"
Ray gasped. "A meteor! That changes everything! If Savage's power is derived from a specific cosmic event, then there must be a way to manipulate that connection!"
Adam exchanged a triumphant look with the invisible cosmic entity he imagined was watching. 'Nailed it. Subtle as a brick to the face, but effective. Now they have the lead. The scientific minds can figure out the how. I just pointed them to the what.'
While the scientists buzzed with renewed energy, Adam took the opportunity to try and refine his telekinesis. He went to the deserted cargo bay, a vast, open space perfect for practice. He started small, levitating tools, then stacking them. He then moved onto heavier objects, pushing them across the floor, lifting them slightly. It was still exhausting, but the control was improving dramatically. He could feel the connection, a faint mental tether to the objects, allowing him to push, pull, or even rotate them with greater precision.
He tried a new exercise: sensing the subtle energies of the ship itself. He closed his eyes, focusing, trying to feel the hum of the engines, the flow of power through the conduits. It was challenging, but he felt a faint resonance, like a distant echo. If he could sense magical energy like this, perhaps he wouldn't be so vulnerable next time.
Snart, ever the phantom, appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame, watching Adam's telekinetic workout with his usual unreadable expression. "Still playing with your toys, Anomaly?"
Adam lowered a floating wrench, a bead of sweat tracing a path down his temple. "Just trying to get a handle on this. Apparently, my powers aren't just for making Mick crave milk. Who knew?"
"Useful," Snart conceded. "But reckless. You dive in headfirst. That'll get you killed."
"Already did that," Adam said with a shrug. "Didn't stick. Thanks to my handy-dandy regeneration. Though, if I'm being honest, getting hit by magic kind of felt like dying again. Not a fan."
Snart's eyes narrowed slightly. "Magic. The Captain's right. You're a liability against that."
"Yeah, I know," Adam admitted, dropping his usual bravado. "It sucked. Felt like getting hit by a spiritual wrecking ball. But hey, I'm working on it. Maybe if I can figure out how to, you know, telekinetically deflect magical energy? Or make Savage want to tap-dance instead of cast death spells."
Snart almost smiled. "Tap-dancing. I'd pay to see that." He paused, then pushed off the doorframe. "You're different from the others, Stiels. You don't play by the rules. I respect that. Just don't let it get us all killed. Or, worse, stuck in a time period without decent liquor."
"Deal," Adam said, a genuine smile forming. He liked Snart. The guy was a criminal, but he had a code, and a surprisingly dry wit. A worthy rival in the sarcasm department.
Meanwhile, Jax found Adam later that evening, looking for a break from Stein's intense scientific lectures. He slumped onto a couch beside Adam in the common room.
"Man, Professor Stein is really in his element," Jax sighed, running a hand through his hair. "All this ancient magic and cosmic energy stuff. My head's spinning."
"Tell me about it," Adam commiserated. "I'm just trying to figure out which god is which without accidentally pledging my eternal soul to the wrong one. You know, standard nerd problems."
Jax chuckled. "You actually enjoy this stuff, don't you? All the history and the sci-fi."
"Yeah, well, it beats my old life," Adam confessed, his voice softer. "Boring job, existential dread, the occasional car trying to turn me into abstract pavement art. This? This is insane. But it's my insane. And I'm with you guys. Which, honestly, makes it a lot less terrifying." He looked at Jax, a genuine warmth in his eyes. "You and Stein, the Firestorm thing. It's awesome. You guys are the heart of the team, keeping each other grounded."
Jax smiled, a genuine, easy smile. "Yeah, he drives me nuts sometimes, but… he's family. Just like everyone else. Even Mick."
"Especially Mick," Adam agreed with a grin. "The grouchy uncle we all secretly adore. Now, about that game of D&D I was telling you about..."
The sense of a common purpose began to solidify on the Waverider. The defeat in the Himalayas had shaken them, but it had also forged a new kind of resolve. They were no longer just a collection of individuals brought together by Rip's desperate plea; they were a unit, a family, bound by shared trauma and a common enemy.
Days blurred into weeks as they continued their research, jumping through minor historical periods to gather more intelligence on Savage, avoiding direct confrontation. They pieced together Savage's long, bloody history, confirming the meteor origin of his powers and its connection to his immortality, and more importantly, the specific ritual that would activate or deactivate his connection to it. They realized that Savage drew his power from this link to the celestial fire, which could be temporarily severed or disrupted through specific means tied to its original manifestation point.
The scientific analysis of the Orb of Necrosis, combined with their historical deep dive, finally yielded a breakthrough. Stein and Ray discovered that the Orb wasn't just a conduit; it was a temporal amplifier, capable of channeling the "celestial fire" power. More crucially, they found ancient texts describing a counter-ritual, a way to disrupt Savage's connection to his power source, specifically linked to an ancient temple in Egypt.
"The texts describe a specific alignment," Stein explained, projecting a complex celestial map. "A celestial event that mirrors the original meteor strike, occurring only once every few centuries. If we can perform a specific counter-ritual at the heart of the original impact site, during this celestial alignment, we could sever Savage's connection to the 'Osiris's Breath' for a critical period, rendering him vulnerable."
Rip's weary face finally showed a glimmer of genuine hope. "A window. A chance to finally stop him."
Adam felt a surge of exhilaration. This was it. The endgame. His knowledge of the future, combined with the team's relentless research, had given them a shot. This wasn't just about surviving anymore. This was about winning.
'Alright, Savage. You want to play god? Fine. But even gods can be unseated. Especially when they're up against a group of time-traveling misfits, a grumpy arsonist, a walking spreadsheet, and a guy who can't stop making bad jokes. And me. Your friendly neighborhood Anomaly. Time to show you what happens when you mess with my new family.'
He looked at Sara, who was watching the holographic map with a fierce determination. Their shared moment of vulnerability after the defeat had forged something new between them, a quiet understanding that bypassed words. The banter was still there, but beneath it lay a nascent, unspoken connection. This fight, he realized, was not just for the timeline. It was for them. For the chance at a future, whatever chaotic, time-traveling form it might take.