"I'm no meta, alien, or paranormal, so don't paint me across the back wall. Other than that, don't damage the hat, and, uh...try your best."
'Awww, dammit...'
Until very, very recently, Duncan had spent most of his adult life avoiding these kinds of situations; specifically, ones where he might accidentally pop another human-being open like a goddamned grapefruit. So, if Chester's words were meant to put him at ease, then... well... they fell rather short in that regard.
Almost as quickly as the Rookie fell back into his stance, he fell out of it again, eyes closing and hands dropping as he gave a weary sigh; There were some other things he'd have to go over, too.
"Alright, well look... I'm not just strong, I'm also pretty... resilient so you might not want to..." He began to explain, moments before his eyes opened again to catch the sight of Whiplash's fist colliding with his face with a loud impact that echoed for just a bit too long throughout the whole room "...Do that."
There was a brief moment of frozen silence between the two; with Duncan just staring unbelievingly at the fleshy appendage pressed against his forehead, and then finally back to the man it belonged to as he asked perhaps the most important question of the minute-
"Uhh... you alright there, Tex?"
"JESUS H CHRIST SON OF MOTHER MARY Y'ALL GOT A HEAD LIKE A BULL'S ASS IN HEAT."
Chester whipped his hand back, clutching his fingers. There had been a nasty crack. He was sure that at least two fingers were broken, and Chester hastily tore a strip from his sleeve to bind the already-red digits together tightly - it would do until he could splint it later in the evening. Duncan watched him carefully and Chester watched him back, eyeballing the Rookie.
"That counts as one to me, right? He asked, looking to Wildcat, who watched the pair silently from the sidelines. Chester felt those eyes on his back again. "I mean, I landed a hit. Y'all never sparred before, Rookie?"
"It would seem, physical force is not the answer, Whiplash." Wildcat interjected. "And that's not how you make a fist." He added, walking towards the pair as he took a hold of Chester's injured hand. Without a word, he flatened out the fingers before the room suddenly echoed with a slight 'POP' as Wildcat reinserted a dislocated finger.
"Get a splint on that now, no point in letting it set incorrectly." He ordered, turning to the Rookie to speak only to be interupted by a blinding flash of golden light. In the middle of the room, a man clad in a blue cape and gold helmet fell to his knees as he reached a hand out. While the figure might be a mystery to the newer members of the League,Wildcat was more than familiar with the man who had recruited him to the Justice Society so many years ago.
"Friend of yours...?" The Rookie began to inquire somewhat incredulously, but Ted was hardly listening.
"Fate!" Wildcat yelled as he ran forward to support the man.
"Wait, Fate? that's Doctor Fate?"
"Recruits, go! Gather the League, Doctor Fate does not appear without reason."
"Oh, right, uhh... sure." Duncan quickly responded, abruptly snapping out of his confusion about just how quickly the whole situation had turned on it's head, before turning on his heel and kicking off from the ground with enough force to leave small cracks in the floor as he closed the gap between the center of the huge training room and the door in one leap, slapping the big red button on the comms console beside it as he landed gently as he could and waiting for it to chirp three times to confirm that he had the entirity of the tower's PA system on the line before he began to talk "Hey guys? Not to abuse the 'Broadcast All' button, but... Doctor Fuckin' Fate just showed up in the training room, and he looks pretty beat up. You might wanna get down here."
"Theodore." Doctor Fate said, his voice strained. "Something terrible is coming."
"Save your strength Nelson," Ted ordered. "You'll need to tell the League." Guiding the man to his feet, Fate reached towards his helmet, struggling to remove it.
"Theodore, help me remove this helmet." The voice of Nabu requested as Nelson reached towards the golden headpiece. Nodding, Ted put his hands on either side of the helmet as he pulled the helmet off. Beneath was the face of a man, over half a century younger than he should have been.
"Nelson, you're..."
"Now is not the time, Theodore." Kent answered dismissively as members of the League began to file into the room.
"Doctor Fate." The steely voice of the Dark Knight broke the silence as Superman and Green Lantern joined him. Behind the League's founders were the sophomores, Amazing Man, Fire, Ice, Amubsh Bug and Vibe. Lastly came the new recruits, the returned Rookie, and Whiplash among numerous others.
"Dark Knight of Gotham." Nelson called stumbling forward. "Metropolis' Man of Tomorrow and you, the Emerald Warrior." He continued, steadying himself on Wildcat's shoulder. "Something terrible has happened. an abnormality has appeared in the time stream." Stumbling, Kent fell foward as Wildcat tried to catch him. "Extant is coming."
Suddenly, Kent's chest tightened and he stumbled backwards coughing. The coughing fit continued as he flayed about wildy, tripping foward as a sneeze erupted from the man's lungs. Mist sprayed from Fate's nostrils before it struck the Lizard, Rookie, Captain Marvel and Polarity Man. The snot sticking to their skin before suddenly disappearing as it seeped through their pores.
A voice could be heard as Rose Wilson spoke the words on everyone's mind.
"Well, that was fuckin' disgusting."
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