Chapter 58: Broken Bonds

(General P.O.V)

No one moved. Then a loud screech sliced through the air, disorienting Superman who was still out of it. The sound was as a result of the violent winds that had quickly sprang up near Aden's position. Keeping the rest of them back and shrouding him within a pale green ball of wind that concealed what he was Man of Steel frowned.
"Batman. Tell me you have a plan for this."
"Distract him enough that we can take him down. "
The Flash looked at the detective in surprise.
"Are you telling me you don't have a countermeasure for him like you have for practically everyone else? Shocking!"

"Something is happening inside that bubble of air."
Canary commented, prompting Superman to turn on his X-ray vision.
"He's…somehow manipulating the metal to form a suit of armor around his body and a diamond like crystal material overlaid on his arms and legs."
Superman explained.

Batman grunted while using the scanning function of his wrist computer to penetrate through the gyrating wind sphere.
"It's diamond. Maelstrom knows that you're practically invulnerable to everything. So using that information, the solution 'it' has come up with is hitting you harder to find out how far the invulnerability goes. There is also a layer of viscous water in-between the armor and his body. An improvised shock absorber."
Batman deduced.
"In line with your previous deductions about this entity possessing some form of artificial intelligence. Still got your touch Bats."
The Flash praised.

"Let's make sure he doesn't complete what he's doing. Otherwise knocking him out is going to be harder than it needs to be."
At the last drop of his words, The Flash sped off towards Aden and started running in circles on the opposite direction of the rotation of the sphere. The aim was to unravel it enough that he could give the rest of the league an opening to attack.

A whirlwind of his own making sprang up around The Flash, directly below Maelstrom's air sphere. The tornado enlarged and slowed down the rotating mass of air covering Aden's position. The sphere grew clearer as the violent momentum of the air was stolen and bled out by the new tornado created by the speedster.

"It's working."
Canary commented.
The air bubble finally fluctuated and taking advantage of that chance, Wonder Woman's Lasso swiftly snaked out towards Aden. The Avatar spared a glance at the mystical object incoming, headed towards his torso and swiped out his left hand. The Tornado that had been firmly in The Flash's control broke off and congealed into a mass of a greenish wind shield that pushed away the Lasso.

Wonder Woman spinned it around and back in a whip like motion at their opponent again. But it was too late. The Avatar raised another hand and tightened it into a fist. The mass of winds that were now filling the whole cave with a heavy pressure, collapsed onto a much smaller and rounder shape. The size of a marble. The Avatar's fingers closed over the compressed wind ball in his palm. Silence dominated for a single second. The only sound that could be heard was of the Lasso of Truth whistling through the air.

The Flash who had been pushed away after his tornado had been taken over by Aden stared up at him and his fisted hand. Aden was planning something. All that air pressure compressed into such a small size…
"That can't be good."
The speedster muttered to himself.

The earth cratered below Aden and a pillar rose up to block the Lasso. The earthen construct was sliced into two pieces barely offering resistance but that brief respite was more than enough for The Avatar to dodge the Lasso. Pieces of rocks were left on it's wake upon making contact with the wall behind.

Battarangs cut through the air, thrown at the Avatar who glided away from their trajectory. A brief motion from the latter and rock projectiles from the wrecked chamber, shot off to meet them in a clash that ensured the rocks won due to their numerous number. The projectiles pelted Batman's position endlessly. Making the Dark Knight use a zip line to swing away. Superman came in between the rock bullets and Batman's body blocking him from being turned into a sieve.

The Avatar's face twitched and the right hand came up, covered in a blue crystal that extended from the fingers all the way to the elbow. Crystal projectiles shot out of the palm and slammed onto the Man of Steel's chest. Clark's face changed as he felt pinpricks of pain emanating from the places the crystals landed. He started dodging the attacks while his heart grew a tad bit nervous. He studied his palms and saw scratches cut deep into his skin. Blood started welling up.
"We have a problem. It seems like the crystals have a touch of magic energy in them. Which means…"

"They can hurt you."
Batman grunted while picking up a lone crystal shard from the ground and keeping it for analysis.
"Can you get close enough to distract him?"
"On it Batsy."
The Flash replied blitzing off. His feet slapped on to the cold hard floor then up the wall behind The Avatar. The scarlet blur pushed off the wall, aiming himself at Aden whose attention was on Superman, trying to land a crystal attack on the man of steel.

The Flash twisted his body and aligned himself to kick Aden out of the air. The Avatar sensed the impeding attack and pulled back the hand that was shooting crystal shards closer to his body. The other hand had not moved once ever since he'd closed his left palm over the small ball of air. The right hand stretched out and a rumbling sound dominated the room. A huge section of the earthen floor broke out from below him and covered his back as a shield against the Speedster.

The Flash widened his eyes. The boy had a way to detect his surroundings. The Speedster vibrated his molecules and phased through the huge rock only to find himself almost impaled by a huge crystal spike growing out of Aden's back. The Kid knew about his ability and had even planned out countermeasures efficiently!

A huge sonic blast sent pieces of the crystals flying away, saving Barry from getting gutted. But not from being blindsided. A piece of the rock from earlier slammed onto Barry left side. Causing him to fly away with a groan of pain following the crack of the bone on his left arm. Superman flew in close and caught his body before the Scarlet speedster could slam onto the walls of the room. A shield of air appeared on The Avatar's left flank shielding him from Canary's sonic scream. The shield rippled at the continued assault but her attacks couldn't break through.

Wonder Woman jumped in next, pulling her hand back in a fist. Another piece of rock came in between them, hiding Aden from her direct sight. Her sword unsheathed and she sliced the huge boulder into two separate pieces.

Diana's eyes widened when a shockwave exploded out of Aden's mouth similar to Black Canary's powers yet different at the same time. It was less refined, more uncontrolled and sought to destroy rather than Canary's usual attacks which sought to destabilize an opponent, by targeting their auditory system, leaving them unbalanced.

She pulled her hands back and slammed the wrists braces together, sending off her own shockwave attack at the quickly approaching sonic ripples. Time slowed for Barry Allen and Superman. Cracks appeared slowly over the walls of the whole room as Wonder Woman and Aden whole looked frozen in time, clashed in mid air. Their attacks met and the result left The Flash worried about the more squishier League members.
"We need to get out of here or else risk a cave in."
The Flash advised Superman in their fast perception mode. Fortunately, The Man of Steel could react almost as fast as Barry. So understanding him was easy.
"I'll get Batman, you get Canary."
Superman nodded his head and off they were, a blue and red blur raced along with a fully scarlet one.

The citizens of Happy harbor felt a deep rumbling emanate from below them and quickly took cover, thinking it was an earthquake. Some folks noticed Mount Justice which was off in the distance shake and break apart at the foundations. A huge cloud of dust exploded out of the cave as the rocky exterior broke off into pieces that fell into the water.

The Flash coughed slightly while rubbing the dust in his eyes.
"My god. Mount Justice…"
Canary exclaimed.
Even The Flash couldn't believe it. Where the mountain had stood tall in defiance to all, now there was only pieces of rock and wrecked machinery left in place. The Flash swallowed the brief surge of pain. This was their first base. The place where they had created bonds that had seen them through everything.

The Flash looked around and saw Superman and Batman near them, no worse for wear. Batman nodded his head at him. The Dark Knight's way of asking if they were alright. The Flash returned the gesture half-heartedly and turned his attention back to the destroyed base.

"This fight has gone on for too long. I thought J'onn would come back with reinforcements by now."

Flash commented. Finding it weird that Batman hadn't asked for some more League intervention.

"Maelstrom destroyed the Zeta tube controls."

He grunted.

"What? How? When?"

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Everybody turned to stare at the Dark Knight. Batman narrowed his eyes at the dust covered direction of the destroyed base.

"It was done in a way we wouldn't notice. Subtly. During the time he was attacking Superman with the crystal shards, some of his attacks 'accidentally' seemed to land on the Zeta tube system controls. I only noticed it when I asked you to keep him busy."

"Wow."

Everyone started thinking of Maelstrom differently.

"That completely confirms it. Whatever that thing is...it's undeniably intelligent."

The Flash stated.

"We can't hold back anymore."

Superman sighed.

"Now that the fight is not confined to inside the cave, we might be putting civilian lives at risk. We need to take him down. Hard."

Before the rest could reply, Superman held up a hand. Something was coming. A body cut through the dust covered air and slammed onto the ground, digging a groove on the earth to stop before them. Wonder Woman groaned and gingerly stood up.

"His attacks are getting stronger."

She told them seriously.

The dust cloud cleared up suddenly and above the scene of destruction, The Avatar was fully revealed. His form was just as Superman had said, covered with metallic pieces on his torso and lower body. The lower portion of the four limbs was covered by a bluish crystal that glowed in the night sky. He looked down at them and for the first time, smiled creepily. The left hand that had been enclosed all this time opened.

The marble of compressed air appeared but this time it was different. A red flame ring had manifested around the ball along with a ring of water, earth and inside the rotating marble sphere, sparks of electric energy could be seen dancing erratically.

"What is that?"

Wonder Woman asked while tightening her grip on her sword.

"Seems like an amalgamation of all the elements compressed tightly into a very miniature size. An elemental bomb."

Superman informed them grimly, after using his super vision.

"This is what he was planning from the start."

Batman realized.

"If that thing explodes..."

Black Canary started but went silent following what happened next. As if her words were the trigger, The Avatar dropped the rotating ball.

"No. Aden...what have you done?"

Pandemonium followed.

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