"The Secret Origin of Doctor Fate" excerpted from the diary of Inza Nelson.
Issue opens with a red-headed Inza Nelson writing into her diary at a desk, pondering whether anyone in the world of men would trade their existence for a chance at greatness like her husband did and whether that trade would be brave or foolish.
She is waiting for her husband, Kent Nelson, to return home from another battle for Order, while hinting that Kent doesn't understand Order because only Fate understands that concept and when in the helmet, Kent and Fate seem to be two different personas.
Inza flashes back to the beginning, when Kent was 12 years old and exploring with his archaeologist father, Sven Nelson. Specifically while exploring the ruins of Sumeria Kent stumbled on the tomb of Nabu, a powerful mage. Opening the tomb dispersed a gas used to keep Nabu asleep; the gas was poisonous to Sven, killing him in seconds. Awakened from suspended animation by Kent's intrusion, Nabu attempted to make amends by stripping the grief from Kent's mind, replacing it with the knowledge of magic.
Inza says that, since that day, Kent has been more than a man--someone seemingly without a normal man's "cares, weakness and aging." She breaks into tears, pleading for a human man to grow old with.
More flashbacks of Nabu training Kent until finally giving him one final command--to turn his power on Nabu himself. Doing so tears apart the human form of Nabu to reveal the core energy ("...to look upon a god"). That energy claimed to be an exiled Lord of Order who had assumed the guise of a human to better work with mankind. Nabu is part of a constant battle between Order and Chaos in the multiverse. Nabu, in his human form, had battled through five millennia (three of which were mostly constant fighting) and his wounds were still unhealed. He needed a new host--Kent Nelson.
Thanks to Nabu's magic, Kent had aged years in a short period of time and was now a young man. Using symbols from Kent's own mind, Nabu formed a golden helm and medallion which when donned would join Kent the man with Nabu the Lord of Order to become Doctor Fate.
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