The Man:
"Test number 44," I start, pushing the record button. "I failed again. I tried using another binding agent, trying to combine the orichalcum with the smallpox virus, but as 43 previous tests have shown, the orichalcum destroyed the virus entirely."
I stop talking for a moment to look at the giant screen in front of me. On the screen, tiny amounts of orichalcum are attacking the smallpox virus. The binding agent I used does nothing. It doesn't bind the orichalcum to the virus. It doesn't slow it down or even accelerate it. The agent literally does nothing.
"Something about this is off. As I said before, David Kane is a genius engineer. He built his Black Manta suit. He built his submarine. He builds machines, but he cannot engineer a virus like this. Again, something about this is off. For starters, where would David Kane have gotten his hands on orichalcum? The smallpox virus I can understand. There are still samples inside P4 labs and bioweapon plants. Who knows how many times I've broken into those places and stolen a few samples. Well, actually, I would know."
"Really?"
I stop recording and turn to Deadman. Leaning against the wall with crossed arms, Deadman is playing catch with the gemstone in his hand.
"Yes," I answer. "How else would I have a sample to study?"
I point at the screen again.
"By the way, stop playing with that. That gemstone I gave you took me a while to make. Don't be reckless with it."
Deadman throws the gemstone into the air one final time before catching it. About to put it on, I stop him.
"Don't," I say, shooting out my hand.
Deadman freezes and looks at me.
"Do not solidify," I slowly say. "If you solidify now, the orichalcum will affect you. Stay a ghost for now."
Deadman looks at me and nods.
"Staying a ghost will protect me?" Deadman asks.
"Yes," I answer, "In a sense."
"In a sense?" Deadman looks at me, then at the orichalcum, and then back at me.
"The orichalcum is a magical mineral," I go on. "Magic, in simple terms, is pure energy. When you wear the gemstone, the energy solidifies, giving you a physical body. Without it, you're essentially just pure spiritual energy running around. The energy from the orichalcum will mess with your spiritual energy and...and..."
As I go on, I realize something, and the lightbulb goes on above my head.
"Energy," I repeat. "It's energy. That's it! It's energy!"
I slap myself on the forehead.
"It is energy. Energy!"
Deadman looks at me. Despite his domino mask, I can still see him blinking a few times.
"Uhh, what?"
"The smallpox virus is scientific, but the orichalcum is magic. That's why my pass 44 tests have all failed. I was looking at this strictly from a scientific point of view when I needed to be looking at it from both a scientific and magical point of view. Alchemy. Yes. Alchemy!"
I put down the recorder and leave the lab. I return a few minutes later with a crate full of glass bottles, each one holding a different alchemy ingredient. Grabbing one empty glass bottle, I drop a small bit of orichalcum into it. I then grab another bottle, filled with a black powder. Pouring a little of the black powder onto the orichalcum, a reaction begins instantly.
"What is that?" Deadman asks.
"Batwing dust," I answer.
"Batwing dust? Like dust from bats?"
"Yes."
I watch as the dust reacts with the orichalcum, turning into a smoking, bubbling ooze that spreads throughout the whole bottom of the glass. Still watching, I see the smoke intensify and hear a loud sizzling sound. A few more seconds later, the sharp sound of glass cracking echoes in the lab. Before the bottom of the glass bottle can break, I turn and throw it into the nearby sink. The bottle shatters before it hits the sink. The bubbling ooze falls into the sink. Thick black smoke rises from the sink and into the air, but I turn on the ventilation. The fans inhale all the smoke, taking it and guiding it into an airtight barrel.
"Okay," Deadman says. "That's still bad."
"No," I correct, "It's different. Before, every time I introduced a new agent to the orichalcum, the orichalcum would destroy it without hesitation. This time, it reacted with the batwing dust. It didn't destroy it, but transformed it."
I walk back over to the crate and grab other ingredients.
"Hummingbird saliva. Monarch butterfly wings. Lilypad petals."
As I go through my supply of alchemy ingredients, the lightbulb over my head goes off again. Clenching my fists, I hear the sound of glass breaking again.
"Hey, hey, hey," Deadman says, clapping his hands to grab my attention. Shaking my head, I look down and see the two bottles I was holding. They had cracks running up and down them.
"It was Spectre," I say. "Spectre was the one who gave David Kane the orichalcum."
"Spectre? Are you sure? How can you be sure it was one?"
"I can't be sure, but by process of elimination, it has to be him. Spectre is a magical being himself with near-infinite power. It's possible he somehow learned of the orichalcum. Maybe through lost Atlantis records or simply by detecting its dark magic. He retrieved it and used his power to combine it with the smallpox virus. The question is why he gave it to David Kane."
My mind begins racing with the last few events and everything I know about the three.
"Spectre tried to kill me. Gentleman Ghost fought you. David Kane tried to kill Oliver Queen to get the orichalcum. Spectre tried to kill me because I...murdered Phantom Stranger."
Stopping for a moment, I shake and clear my head before going on.
"He wants vengeance for his friend. David Kane wants to kill Aquaman and destroy Atlantis. If Spectre offered David Kane the smallpox virus infused with orichalcum, it makes sense why David Kane would accept it, but it doesn't explain why Spectre would give it to David Kane in the first place. Then there's Gentleman Ghost. How does he fit into all of this? Based on what I know about Jim Craddock, he wouldn't be working with someone unless that someone has something Jim wants. What could Spectre have that Jim would want?"
As more and more pieces gather in my mind and begin to form a puzzle, the Junker sub shakes violently. A few of the glass bottles I have sitting on the table fall over, but I quickly catch them and place them standing back up.
"What was that?" Deadman asks, looking around.
"No clue," I answer. Walking over to a cabinet, I reach in and pull out a radio. Pushing the power button, I listen to music while I test various ingredients, seeing how they react to orichalcum.
"You're not going to check that out?"
"I'm sure the others have it handled."
Supergirl:
"Ahhh," I scream as green flames hit me.
"Where is he?" A pale man in a green hood and cape asks, unleashing a second wave of flames.