Chapter 36: The Formidable Air Bender part 2

(Aden's P.O.V)

I was the first one across the hole. Midway through the jump, space aligned weirdly and I landed on my feet upright. I moved to the side and watched the others emerge one after the other.

I connected with the air in the space we found ourselves in and tried to get a sense of it. I frowned. Something was actively messing with my ability because… everything overlapped. I could feel exactly 1 centimeter away from me but everything further than that was just a haze of unrecognizable feedback.

"Ok. This I wasn't expecting."
Wally commented.
"You ready to admit that it's magic?"
Artemis asked.
In response Wally crossed his hands on his chest.
"In your dreams. Besides I have a perfect explanation for this."

"Really?"
M'gann perked up.
"Ok this I've got to hear."
I said under my breath.
"Ever heard of string theory? What we're looking at is a stable pocket dimension."
He lectured spreading his hands out.

Huh. Actually that's not too out of left field. But he was still wrong. The whole frozen space was chock full of mystic energy. Maybe it was a pocket dimension but one constructed through magic.
"Guys, leaving aside Wally's insistence that Magic does not exist, we have a mission to carry out so let's move."

We started walking for a few minutes. Despite it being cold enough to freeze the shit out of anyone, none of us was really shivering that much. An effect of the Tower no doubt. Especially after we had told it our true intentions. The hostility from before had changed into something more or less amicable.

The ice below us scrunched under my boots as we kept on walking.
"Hey guys what's that?"
Wally pointed towards a yellow glinting object. My eyes widened. That was Kent's magical cane!
We increased our speed and surrounded the walking stick.
"It's a bit early for a souvenir but don't mind if I do."
Wally said and reached out his hands to grab it.

"Yeah…no."
I controlled the wind to push the Magical Cane above him and made it float towards me.
"Dude what the hell?"
Wally stormed towards me looking annoyed.
"I saw it first!"
I raised my eyebrows at his aggrieved words and almost barked out a laugh.
"Wally your recklessness caused us trouble today. We almost died because of your skepticism towards the mystic arts. For this mission I think you should watch yourself. We can't afford another close shave like before."

My words had the effect I wanted. He stopped and looked guilty.
"Yeah…I guess you're right."
"So what do you guys think this is?"
Connor wondered out loud.
"The magical energy pouring out of this thing…is phenomenal. I believe it is a foci just as the inscriptions on my skin help me to channel magic for my electric blasts and water manipulation."
Kaldur informed us.

"Maybe it belongs to Mr. Nelson? It's a walking stick and not to sound rude but the guy is over 90. It makes a lot of sense."
Artemis added.
"Yeah let's take it with us, when we find him we'll give it back."
"And when we don't, I get to keep it as a souvenir, you know up until he needs it."
Wally suggested which made Artemis punch him on the arm.

I chuckled a bit and allowed the magical cane to fall into my hands. I should not have done that.

Instantly, upon contact with my skin, light started pouring out of me in waves. I felt something latch onto me and floated upwards.
"Aden!"
M'gann's voice cut through the bubble of light as they tried to reach me. With a sudden pop, I disappeared from the frozen space to an area with bright yellow light.

In the middle of the space, a huge face appeared. My face. The eyes were glowing white and my expression was neutral.
"Where the fuck am I?"
The Avatar state opened it's mouth wide and I found myself getting pulled in. I could do nothing as I was sucked into a black hole at the center.

My body landed on a hard floor and I caught myself, quickly looking around with a million questions running around my head. Kent's walking stick was still firmly in my grip as I stared at the new space I'd found myself in. There were criss crossing staircases moving up and down and in every other direction in a confusing maze.

Oh. Now I remember. Wally was also teleported here in canon after he'd grabbed the cane. But because this time I was the one who had come into contact with it, the magical cane had teleported me instead. Which meant, in a few seconds, Klarion and Abracadabra would arrive with a bound up Kent Nelson.

Excitement and a little bit of fear coursed through me. The smart thing to do would be to wait for the others and fight to free Kent as a whole. But…I needed this. I needed to see how far I could be pushed and someone as powerful as Klarion could do that. Plus, I looked at the walking stick in my hand. Kaldur had said this was a magical foci. Like a wand. And I had felt it latch onto the same energy I used for my bending. Maybe I wasn't as outmatched before Klarion as I thought.

I stared at the cane intently. The grooves carved onto it's entirety and the way it seemed to pulse with a tsunami of energy. My awareness dug inside it and I widened my eyes in shock. The core of the cane was humming as it tried to contain the energy waves coming from me and straining.

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I couldn't use the stick that much because in the end something told me it would shatter apart. It was also turning the processed energy and changing it's alignment into Order, the same as the powers the Helmet of Fate gave to Kent Nelson.

The door opened and in walked my opponents. I gulped and firmed my resolve. It's now or never! I didn't waste time and instantly attacked Abracadabra. The blast of wind knocked him out without a chance for retaliation and I took a second to enjoy the shocked looks on Klarion's and Kent's faces.

Then the fight begun. I tapped into the foci and used the processed energy to form constructs that could withstand the Lord of Chaos attacks. Although I was winning the altercation, my body was starting to burn up in pain and that was because I wasn't using my powers the way I was supposed to. I had no training in using a magic foci and I was paying for my brashness.

It got too unbearable, so I let loose most of the processed energy in a wave of order magic and released the cane. Instantly, the magical artifact flew over to hover before Kent Nelson by some unseen force. I nodded at Kent and he left for the helmet, understanding that I could handle or at least occupy Klarion long enough for to make a timely appearance.

Meanwhile my flight threw me towards Klarion with my hand pulled back in a punch. Klarion's face changed into a rictus grin, eyes burning with fury as a red shield appeared between us. I yelled out in exertion while putting my full strength behind the blow as well as the left over energy from my contact with Kent's mystical cane.

Cracks appeared on the shield and with a shattering sound, I broke through and landed the punch on Klarion's face. His body was lifted up and thrown away to smash onto the sides of a staircase. The feeling of glee at landing such a satisfying blow quickly disappeared when his body broke apart into dozens of bats that flew away to coalesce into the Lord of Chaos' emo form on another staircase.

"Damn you! damn you!"
Klarion shouted as he threw his hands forward in a barrage of red chaos energy attacks. I flew away from staircase to staircase trying my best to avoid a direct hit. The attacks sent showers stones and dust flying away to pelt the surroundings. I jumped from a stair case that was blown apart and grabbed hold of the pieces of stones through aerokinesis.

A wave of my hand and they flew forward to collide with Klarion's shield. The projectiles did nothing except for making him even angrier. Normally I would taunt my opponent but I was well aware who I was facing. He swiped his hands through the air and slashes of the same red energy manifested and sped towards me. A slightly glowing yellow tornado appeared infront of the attacks and sucked them in and then threw them to the sides.

They destroyed a few more staircases revealing more of the maze like structure. I idly wondered how this space could fair against a full out serious assault from the Lord of Chaos and shuddered. For all of his faults Klarion had some serious firepower backing him up. I upped my speed and used the brief cover of the tornado to pull in close to him. He might be a powerful caster but the universal rule about casters is that they are relatively weak at close range.

His eyes widened when I suddenly appeared infront of him. A drill slammed onto the shield and broke it again for the second time. I followed it up with an axe kick to Klarion's head, sending him down to faceplant on the floor. His body broke once more into bats but I was ready for that. A whirlwind appeared around me and pulled all the bats back to the middle of the vortex.

I opened my mouth and aimed at the creatures trying to escape.
"Fus Ro Dah!!!"
The air rippled and screeched as it broke apart in a concussive wave of destruction. The whirlwind was instantly destabilized as the sonic attack landed on the bats and destroyed them. The bats screeched and dissolved into an inky and shadowy substance that disappeared. Cracks appeared on the floor below me as I looked on, shocked when the whole platform broke apart into pieces, taking with it the staircase leading down.

That attack had been an uncontrolled blast of sonic power. Something that I had never tried before because of just how dangerous it was to my opponent and also to me. I coughed out and blood appeared on the sleeve of my hoodie. My throat felt raw and in pain.

I flew down towards another stair case and took a slow breath while massaging my throat. 'Ok, I don't know if I'll be able to speak for a mome...' that thought was cut off when everything suddenly got darker. Shadows and an oily substance flowed up the stairs leading to the platform I was standing on and combined into Klarion.

He stared at me coldly. The immature childishness surrounding him from before was now nowhere to be seen.

"That's it! I'm not having fun anymore. Die!"
Klarion waved his hands and chaos energy exploded out of his body in an all encompassing wave. I flew back to avoid most of the quickly approaching spreading of power. The staircases nearest to him were instantly destroyed and the wave quickly reached me.

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