Chapter 38: The Mission Ends

(General P.O.V)

"Guys look!"
Artemis pointed towards a glowing door that was just a few hundred meters away from them. The team had been searching for Aden after his sudden disappearance but no matter how much they looked, no tracks could be found. After 10 minutes of this, Kaldur had instructed them to get moving so as to find a way out of the frozen wasteland.

Kid Flash blitzed fast across the ice and snow, then up the stairs and plunged in without so much as a warning to the rest. Completely forgetting he was under instruction to stand back due to his previous mishap.
"Wally!"
Kaldur shouted a little too late.
"Why am I not surprised. Let's catch up before the idiot gets himself killed."
Artemis told the others and they sped up the stairs.

The first thing that Artemis saw was Wally's back. Kid was standing on a platform while looking around in surprise. A second later, Artemis understood why.
"What the hell happened here?"
The platform they were standing on was barely holding on. Everywhere she looked was a dust filled environment with broken and smashed staircases.

There was a massive crater on the wall to their right and a hole in the middle space of the tower with destroyed stairs at the edges. Luckily they were near the wall otherwise they would have died as soon as they walked through, falling from such a high distance.

"What in God's name happened here?"
Connor's voice brought Artemis' attention to the others who had arrived. The door behind them flashed and disappeared into the wall. Suddenly the platform they were all standing on became crowded and started creaking dangerously.

"Guys… something tells me we don't want to be here in the next couple of seconds or else we'll end up as pancakes."
Wally said referencing to the platform that was swaying under them.
"Look! We can make it there."
M'gann said, pointing towards the other end of the room.

"Wait…is that… something's coming!"
Connor shouted at them and they quickly raised their guard.
"Oh stand down it's…"
"Aden?"
Artemis asked out loud. Right at that minute, the platform under them gave way and Wally let out an unflattering scream as they fell only for the wind to gently hold all the non-flying members of the team aloft.

"Huh…I had something stuck in my throat."
Wally lamely stated at Artemis' stare.
"That's a load of bullshit and you know it."
Artemis quipped with an upturn of her lips.
"Does Robin know Wally screams like a girl?"
Aden asked when he was close enough, making the others laugh.
"Dude don't you dare!"

While they all laughed Connor narrowed his eyes at Aden's direction. A scent of rotten blood clung to his body and the hood was tattered in some places. Connor looked into Aden's eyes and saw none of the humor he tried to project. Something was... different about him. Aden saw his look and they stared at each other for a while. As if the displaced teen was challenging Connor to call him out infront of everybody and look like a fool for making a big issue out of nothing. Connor looked away. This wasn't the time or place.

"Aden, it is good to see you're alright. Could you take to us to a more stable ground?"

Kaldur spoke up, reminding the teen team that they still weren't out of danger.

"Cool. I know just the place."

The draft carrying them picked up and they cut through the air towards the direction Aden had just come from.

"Hey you alright?"

M'gann asked Connor.

"You're acting a bit...off."

Connor debated telling her of his observations but then decided not to. Although they had gotten closer in the course of his time with the team, Connor didn't trust her enough with something that might have been just baseless suspicions.

Connor nodded his head at her and decided to cut off his train of thought and focus on where they were going.

"Holy shit. Is that Abracadabra? Dude you captured Abracadabra all by yourself? Even Flash has problems with him from time to time!"

Wally couldn't believe it. Infact all of them couldn't believe it because it was like Wally said, Abracadabra was not a 2 bit supervillain. He was one of the more competent villains in The Flash's rogue gallery.

Connor's eyes snapped to Aden again in question. The clone knew that Aden was probably the third strongest member of the team. Behind M'gann and himself of course but...he too would have had trouble fighting Abracadabra due to the mobility issue that plagued Connor. Superboy was the heavy hitter of the team but what most of the others had him beat at was agility. He wouldn't have evaded Abracadabra's attacks as easily as the others. So based on the fact that Aden had managed to beat him all by himself...he would have evaluate his closest friend.

Aden threw them an easy smile.

"I caught him off guard. In a straight fight, it wouldn't have been as easy taking him down."

'But not hard.' Connor thought.

"What happened here Aden? This was a simple search mission but from the way things are...it looks anything but."

Kaldur questioned.

Aden sighed heavily.

"A lord of..."

"Chaos had intruded."

A new, older voice stated.

Before their eyes, a superhero dressed in a black and yellow costume flew out of a yellow glowing Ankh in the air. Everyone instantly went on guard. Connor placed himself before M'gann to shield her slightly. An action that wasn't missed by her and despite the situation, she blushed a little.

"Calm down everybody. He's not an enemy. This is Dr. Fate."

"So Kent is alive?"

Artemis questioned lowering her bow slightly.

"That's what I was trying to tell you. The old man is alright. A bit banged up but he'll live."

"Indeed. Kent Nelson is alive and well. He appreciates the concern."

Saying that Dr. Fate swept his hands out at the wrecked sections of the room and a bright yellow light washed through the surroundings. Everyone shut their eyes and when they opened them, it was like time had reversed. The staircases were whole again and all the craters on the wall were fixed.

"Ok thats cool."

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Wally admitted in fascination.

"Does that mean you believe in magic now?"

Against her better judgement, Artemis asked. Wally surprised them however when he didn't outright refuse.

"You know...with everything that has happened. I'm, let's say 0.0006% there."

Kaldur went forward and patted his shoulder while smiling.

"It's a start."

"Thank you again for your assistance children. Send my regards to Tornado."

Saying that, Dr. Fate spread out his hands and a magic circle appeared on the ground before them. With a flash, Connor and the others disappeared. Connor opened his eyes and found himself right where the Tower of Fate had revealed itself. However now there was nothing but an empty space.

He looked at the others and frowned. Abracadabra was lying on the ground still passed out, having been teleported with the team as well, but they were missing one person.

"Guys, where's Aden?"

M'gann wondered.

(Aden's P.O.V)

The Lord of Order and I stared off for a few seconds. I had noticed that although the magic circle had spread out evenly to account for all of us, the space under me was left blank. Nabu most likely wanted to talk to me.

"The Tower registers that Klarion disappeared after facing defeat. I believe that was your doing?"

Standing close to the guy showed me just how outmatched I was.

Dr. Fate was brimming with energy despite the prodigious control he had under his belt. My body seemed to have adapted to sensing out energy and he was almost blinding to my magic sense. I shut off that ability and decided to stay cautious. Beating Klarion had been due to the unique advantage I had had over him at that moment. But now...at my current level of power? I stood no chance against Fate.

"Yes. I used Kent's mystical cane as a foci to shift the energy that powers my abilities into Order magical energy. After a brief scuffle, Klarion decided to leave, citing that he had wasted too much time and that you were probably on your way." I looked down while shaking.

"That's...that's probably the only reason I'm even still alive sir. He seemed...scared of you."

Dr. Fate stared at me for a few seconds while I tried my best to project the image of a teen who had been way in over his head but had luckily come out relatively unharmed.

"I see. What's your name?"

I looked up a bit surprised.

"Aden Strong sir."

Fate hummed and flew down towards me.

"You possess exceptional talent for the mystic arts. Tell me, Aden Strong, do you want to learn magic?"

Ok. Now I was actually shocked. And I didn't try to hide it.

"Not to sound rude but why me? Despite my talent...I don't think it's that easy for you to offer just anyone something like this."

Fate went silent while staring off into space. I cocked my head to the side. He must be talking to Kent. I took that moment to think about the offer. Learning magic would be ideal and welcome. Who doesn't want to diversify their skill set? Can you imagine getting an avatar who could teleport? Or who could amplify the strength of the elements? Or combine magic with the elements to take down opponents like Superman who were practically invulnerable to everything else apart from a few exceptions, magic being one?

That said, I didn't want to stretch myself out too thin and something else told me that there was more to Fate's offer than met the eye.

"I sense...light in you. Your whole being is attuned with Order energy and that would make you a powerful practitioner of that branch of mystics."

Fate's voice pulled me from my thoughts. I took a second to register his words before I finally understood what he was aiming at.

That conniving piece of scrap metal! My face did not reveal the unflattering thoughts I had about the Lord Of Order. He was trying to secure a future host in me! Kent was obviously too old and was simply waiting to pass on and reconcile with his wife in the afterlife and Nabu knew that. So once he saw I could channel Order magic so easily, he thought he could trick me into learning from him and then later pitching the whole for the greater good speech and convince me to wear the Helmet.

Fuck him. Seriously, whoever thinks that Lords Of Order are good is dead wrong.

My face showed indecision. As if I wanted to take him up on his offer but wasn't sure. Denying him outright would probably make him react badly. I knew my own worth you see. Finally I sighed. Well let's try and keep up the act.

"I'm sorry but I can't. I haven't mastered my current abilities. Adding more to the roster would be irresponsible and make me less effective. Maybe after I've mastered what I currently have, I will consider your offer."

I bowed for added measure.

Fate stared at me for a few seconds and said nothing. He waved his hand and my body tensed, ready to fight. The magic circle from before flashed under me and when I opened my eyes, I found myself near the others who were standing on the Bio-ship. The Tower of Fate was nowhere to be found. With that, the mission was complete.

"Hey guys. What do you say we get out of here?"

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