Somehow I don't think Sazed would let Klarion get in there, and since Sazed can do things on a global scale by himself on a whim, and Klarion requires help and prep time to perform similar feats, I rather doubt Klarion could actually do anything more meaningful than metaphorically banging on the doors of Renka's afterlife.
Somehow I don't think Sazed would let Klarion get in there, and since Sazed can do things on a global scale by himself on a whim, and Klarion requires help and prep time to perform similar feats, I rather doubt Klarion could actually do anything more meaningful than metaphorically banging on the doors of Renka's afterlife.
Yeah, Klarion is strong, but he would be massivly out of depth compared with Harmony, for those without cosmere background, Harmony has the power of two equally poweful beings, the power of one was enough to casually alter a planets orbit and entire ecosystem...
This is off topic, but could someone with more DC knowledge clue me in? I was looking back at the Chilling Interrogations chapters when Renka and Robin go to Germany. While there, they meet Jakita Wagner and ask her about Snow. I've read (and very much enjoyed) the Planetary graphic novels, but I was under the impression that they existed in an entirely different continuity from the rest of the DC heroes. Was i wrong about that? Is this an Earth-16 thing? Or is this a case of author prerogative to pull in characters who might not be present in YJ canon?
Oblo has already addressed the issue, but I wanted to chime in.
Just because two properties don't normally share a universe doesn't mean that there is no universe in which they do.
Milestone and DC didn't originally share a universe, but here in YJ Static Shock, Icon, and Rocket are all here.
Likewise there's a comic in which Wetworks are an underwater exploration team that shares a universe with Superman, a Wildcats comic in which the Flash keeps popping by at superspeed, and a comic in which Gen-13 and Teen Titans were both active in the 60s.
Heck there's a comic being published now in which the Scooby Gang wanders around interacting with Hanna-Barbera characters and DC characters.
DC published a Planetary/JLA comic in which they shared a world, but it was pretty different for both of them. Planetary were tyrannical conspiracy ala the Four, and the JLA were the plucky rebellion.
Fate is fighting very cleverly here, somthing that doesn't really come up in his traditional overwhelming beam or war style, and somthing I see everyone else noting as well.
I liked how you're having Renka actually apply some tactics to the fight, as well as her own experience in creatively using her powers. That being said, I am surprised that a being as old and experienced as Fate wouldn't know such basic tricks like minimizing his profile to waste less energy when shielding himself.
I'm also looking forward to how you're going to resolve Renka's spending all her life energy. As this is only the first season, she can't die yet.
Also please no killing Renka later, DC is supposed to be the happy ending comic universe.
I suspect that Fate's view on defeating powerful enemies is less, come up with a clever way to make the most of the power you have, and more, come up with a clever way to prepare and have much more power than the other guy available.
It also explains his jump in power to deal with the warworld, he had an extended period to build up more power offscreen. he could store energy, precast spells, draw on pacts, setup ritual components to trigger on command etc.
From the lightning in the sky As it pass'd me flying by— From the thunder, and the storm—
* November 5 [FATE]
Klarion screamed a word that echoed like a stab wound in everyone's ears, save for FATE {That Which Should Be}. A set of sigils in the flared up like burning magnesium, brighter than the desert sun. Reality rippled, and for a moment the forms of the four adult sorcerers were visible.
The split snapped back into place again, shattering several of the ankhs as they were caught across the divide, and FATE staggered.
Every cartoon creature in range attacked at once, as their master recognized FATE was helpless under the backlash.
The Team, not so much.
Kid Flash ran around and around and around in a blur, carving in his tracks a bigger circle edged by his after-wind, cutting off half of the things' approach.
Artemis's arrows shattered apart all of the ones inside his circle, while Miss Martian took time from her task to hurl a few excess boulders from her load at the ones outside the circle, shattering them as well.
As they reformed, FATE spent a moment to send telepathic thanks to them, then refocused upon the battle.
We are now half-again past the halfway point of what will be lethal, Nabu informed Renka. I apologize, I have been hasty with our force.
I have also been known to overpower things; I do not blame you, Renka replied. If we have enough for our plan to succeed-
And then some, I believe, Nabu assured her, the two's emotions reunited in sickened disdain of their enemy.
FATE straightened, standing upright again. The human form of the Witch Boy {Wicked} was blurred and broken in places, leaking out untamed clouds of sludge-red energy, while small crackles of crimson charge flickered across his skin.
Several patched of the circle were a burnt out, dull black, and much of the rest flickered unreliably.
Breaths caught, both launched a probing blast of power, exploding in the middle.
"Your host is bleeding, Nabu," the Witch Boy observed, eyes wild. "I've killed a few of your hosts before; seeing you kill one is gnu."
FATE {That Which Should Be} shifted, made aware of the copper tang that was coughed up earlier, blood now dripping down Renka's chin.
[I've almost got them all in position,] Miss Martian announced.
[I as well,] confirmed Aqualad. [Under a minute more.]
"You will not live long enough to see that, or to see anything ever again, Witch Boy {Wicked}," FATE threatened. Another blast.
[Good, cause I kinda need some backup,] Superboy complained, struggling to keep off Teekl, as the familiar bore him to the ground.
[Kid Flash, enough,] FATE ordered. [See to Superboy.] The whirlwind gone, Artemis obligingly shot Teekl in the eye. A blur of yellow and red, Kid Flash swooped into the opening and spirited Superboy away, then Artemis, getting them out of the range FATE telepathically specified only moments before.
The two Elemental Lords entered a momentary duel of tentacles and tendrils, lashing out artfully.
"Tch. Well, here's something you never you never thought you'd see," Klarion commented, ceding the small duel and losing another patch of the circle's sigils under FATE's attack as he used the time to cast at the surviving elementals.
Every one of the chaos cartoon constructs self-immolated in a burst of furious spouts and spasms of sparks that swept the field. Caught off-guard at the lack of resistance, FATE could not rally quite fast enough to disrupt the flows of chaos force as they rearranged: some reinvigorated Teekl enough to throw off Superboy and carve red lines across his chest; some Klarion inhaled, stitching his shape together and giving him energy to spend on another spell; the majority of them hung in the air, creating something new.
The world flickered again under the force of FATE's unexpectedly successful assault, the other four sorcerers becoming momentarily apparent. Klarion used that opportunity, when the boundaries were off-balance and abnormal, to cast a summoning spell.
FATE froze.
"Aren't they nice?" Klarion crooned, casting a control spell over the nearest bright blue behemoth.
The flicker of Klarion's fingers wormed it out to extend through the other dozen koloss in view, and when he clenched his now-reconstituted fist, they threw back their heads and howled, painted symbols throbbing on their skin.
"No," FATE whispered, as behind the Helmet, both halves were-
"I made them myself," the Witch Boy bragged. "Took me a while, but I got it figured out." Violence broke out as the bunch began attacking the Team, but only one hurled itself through the air at FATE.
"No."
An ankh ten feet tall popped into existence as shield, and the airborne koloss popped like a soap bubble, blown apart in a shower of gore. There was a hitch in the fighting, as even Klarion had to blink at that – FATE cast abjurations over the Team, with telepathic instruction as well.
Kid Flash and Aqualad nodded at the info, Zatanna relayed the need for a moment more to compose, and Artemis re-positioned as her cover.
"Wow, I wish you'd be fun more often!" Klarion crowed. "But don't you care about who that used to be? Her name was Linda, you know? Blonde, two daughters according to the photo in her wallet… or maybe Linda was one I impaled, and Asher was the one I kept?" He scratched his head.
"Mreeeeow!" Teekl chided at the absent-mindedness.
"This changes nothing now, Witch Boy," FATE commented softly. "I cannot kill you more dead than I had already decided. And FATE cannot save all, not on this day, or ever. Not while FATE is reliant on the fickle fortune of mortal generosity," the Lord of Order finished bitterly.
"Wow, see, you're already getting it! Welcome to the club," Klarion invited cheerfully, as another koloss attacked and was avoided.
"I have a card of my own to play, Witch Boy," FATE intoned ominously, flying higher, out of the creatures' jumping range.
"Ah Nabu, always the Joker," Klarion reminisced smugly, flashing the appropriate playing card's image with a conjured, echoing cackle.
"Order often has the last laugh, indeed," FATE agreed, forming another small ankh. "There were intentions to save this card for extinguishing your subordinates' ilk, but it seems FATE must form other plans."
"Has anyone ever told you about that habit of talking in the third person? It's really not healthy," his enemy simpered.
"No, but FATE has noticed you have had a habit of playing with fire, Witch Boy {Wicked}. It is the will of FATE to see you burn. Three physics facts, as a fun science lesson: one, it is easy enough to find ambient moisture on an ocean-locked island."
A flick of the wrist shot the ankh up into the air, and Klarion's eyes followed it up, until he squinted at the sky. Around them, the Team battled the enhanced koloss, and they were not losing, but they gradually gave ground under FATE's instruction, herding the blue behemoths about.
"Two: widespread forest fires generate strong atmospheric updrafts and instability, especially when aided intentionally by mystic arts."
Kid Flash burst into motion, re-treading the steps of his existing circle in the ground, cutting off visibility of the surrounding area with his own after-image and keeping all the koloss inside the circle. Aqualad disengaged and jumped over his friend, staggering as he landed on the leg Teekl's teeth had torn up, but soldiering on to his appointed position in the field.
Miss Martian swapped with Superboy, trying to keep Teekl busy. He handled the koloss; every time he tried to hit one a pattern tattooed on their brilliant blue skin flared; Zatanna had already identified these as wards against physical force.
He could still lift, throw, and herd them at least, so he did so; the Hemalurgic constructs weren't nearly strong enough to hurt him.
"Bew kcits eht owt. Bew kcits eht owt. Bew kcits eht owt." Zatanna quickly cast, gluing the blue figures together with sticky, conjured strands, starting them fighting with one another as they tried to pull apart. Artemis somersaulted into the fray, slipping between the ham-fisted figures. She stuck arrows into the loose folds of skin, planted foam and shock charges under blue feet, knocked some over, then vaulted off of bodies to escape the critical range.
The blonde had been saving her shock charges; especially after relaying the unfortunate information that Teekl was immune to fire and electricity – they were Klarion's preferred elements of offense, she'd observe – which was an important-if-annoying to discover early on, as the fight would otherwise have been very different. She finished her mental count, escaped back to be by Zatanna, and set off the self-destructive riot.
"Three," FATE continued, knowing that Klarion was too obsessed to tear his eyes away from FATE's overt drama. "The combination of updrafts, moisture, and instability are perfect conditions for a cumulonimbus, even without a Lord of Order aiding its formation."
Kid Flash sped out of his circle to whisk away Artemis, then Zatanna, then Superboy, getting them out of the affected range.
Klarion's eyes widened as lightning surged and crackled in the sky, gathering up above. He spat a sibilant sound, raising his shield.
FATE didn't even try it; the Witch Boy {Wicked} had chosen to defend the wrong target.
It lasted only an instant, but the air screamed as searing cold light flashed down from heaven to earth, reducing all that was mortal to its inevitable end as dust. The force was more than a thunderclap, more than a thousand flashbangs, and this hammered into the scoured ground itself.
Stillness billowed out after, spreading as quickly as it was done, and there was a moment of shocked silence.
FATE {That Which Shall Be} waited for a clearer view, casting quick cantrips to help the Team recover.
The billowing plume of smike shifted.
"You broke!" Tremendous chaos magic claws burst through rising smoke, aimed at the immobile FATE. "My Toys!"
"Easily," FATE dismissed, shooting two ankhs at the shallower 'arm joints' of magic, which cut off his control of the 'hands.'
"Big meanie big meanie bully!" Klarion howled, stomping his foot impotently and doing his best to summon more power.
Beneath the Helmet, FATE smiled. Strands of gold slid through the air, forming a wire-frame of Order into which smoke flowed.
Klarion's focused flickered, as the Witch Boy {Wicked} thought he recognized the sign.
"Four Elements Implosion Seal," FATE announced calmly, confirming the impossible guess.
"What are you, crazy?" Klarion burst out, flabber-gasted. "That version's gotta be the most rigid, stoopid, inefficient-," FATE still smiled, Klarion could feel it. As he felt the magic begin to take effect, the Witch Boy {Wicked} snapped his head around in gaping amazement.
FATE stood at the Northeast, holding the sigil for [vapor] suspended in the air.
In the Northwest, seemingly stray, misfired bolts and ankhs had earlier carved out the sigil for [liquid] in the ground. Aqualad knelt there, having not only filled the ditch with water, but further formed a second, upright version in three dimensions out of frozen ice.
In the Southeast, not only had another not-misdirected ankh actually carved the [firmament] rune into a boulder, but Miss Martian had arranged it into a pile with other boulders, held in place with her telekinesis to form a standing cairn of the [firmament] rune's form again.
Finally, Zatanna knelt in the Southwest, at the base of a tree whose foliage was aflame, ignited earlier by Klarion's own corrosive chaos magic. That some supposedly stray spell of Fate's had seared the [combustion] rune into the trunk was only another insult on injury.
"Wolg, gnir, dna llif htiw a diulf enihs," she cast, dipping her hands into-
"You piece of park," the Witch Boy {Wicked} whispered.
The ditch carved out before by Kid Flash's feet formed a circle that passed through the four positions, centered around where Klarion stood. At Zatanna's words, liquid light flowed into it, perfectly connecting the four positions. Wordlessly, Aqualad's eel tattoos lit up as he channeled electricity into the light.
Ba-bump.
Both of them knelt at their opposing positions, hands extended into the ethereal glow. At the other two positions, FATE stood ankle-deep with both feet on the ground while holding the 'air' sign, and Miss Martian floated inches above as she maintained 'earth,' touching liquid light only with the tips of her toes.
Ba-bump.
Ba-bump.
Under Klarion's own feet, the corresponding sigil for [ether] pulsed. He had included it in his own, original circle as a part of the spell work, and with his magic also incorporated through air and flame, its power now twisted away from his will to serve a new purpose.
Sluggishly, in that instant of time between times, black mist slowly coalesced about Klarion's ankles.
Ba-bump.
"No!" he yelped as it grew thicker. "No, no, no, no!" Sparks of sorcery were sucked out of him by the pitch strands; Klarion tried to run, struggling as the wisps of energy thickened into sticky, spike-tipped tentacles that sought to drag him into the empty abyss.
"I won't! I won't let you, I won't let you, I won't let you!" he shrieked, and he staggered, and he sacrificed most of his left side to tear his way free, wounds of magic streaming behind him as he fled out, his shape & form billowing like solid, scarlet-tinged shade to barely burst past the circle's bounds.
"No," he gasped in triumph, too exhausted to scream, summoning Teekl to ignore the clone and come to me as the tearing suction suddenly ceased.
Klarion spun around to sneer, as he expected the spell to have ensnared FATE in his stead, only to see the Lord of Order swoop triumphantly in.
The Witch Boy suffered a horrible moment of realization at that sight, in the seconds he had to think before Artemis shot out his remaining right eye, and Kid Flash's fist arrived to discorporate the rest him: he had escaped outside the bounds of the circle.
FATE dropped down in the center of the circle, knelt, and focused, reality wavering as a left hand was inexplicably older than its arm. It reached through the divide in the world to grasp the 'older' half of the Ambre Jeune Perdu, matching the younger half held in the right.
"Now: make the two become one and whole," FATE commanded. With lurch– [Flat to the ground, now.] –like the dropping of a heavy blanket onto a body, one world slotted back into another, the proper placement rippling out around the globe. Four adult sorcerers reappeared.
"No," snarled one of them, or maybe more than one – it was immaterial who or why.
"Mrrreeeeeeoooowwww," Teekl howled, taking the opportunity as every member of the Team dropped down on their stomach to shake itself off and summon more power for its master. Klarion's outline began to re-emerge as his subordinates prepared spells quickly.
FATE wasted no further time, but sprang upright, thrusting the Ambre Jeune Perdu into the air in a single move to cast a spell.
I just noticed that Klarion has never called Nabu FATE and also never used his title {That Which Should Be}, as opposed to FATE who always calls him Witch Boy {Wicked}. Is that significant somehow, or just a personal quirk?
I just noticed that Klarion has never called Nabu FATE and also never used his title {That Which Should Be}, as opposed to FATE who always calls him Witch Boy {Wicked}. Is that significant somehow, or just a personal quirk?
This was the best moment. You set it up perfectly, introducing entium over the past few episodes, but i never considered its application with atium. Then this happens and I immediately think "YAY Renka!" This was a fistpump moment where you nailed the surprising-yet-inevitable balance.
At first I wasn't too concerned about the koloss because I thought Klarion was just imitating their appearance, but he quickly proved me wrong:
"I made them myself," the Witch Boy bragged. "Took me a while, but I got it figured out."
[...]
"But don't you care about who that used to be? Her name was Linda, you know? Blonde, two daughters according to the photo in her wallet… or maybe Linda was one I impaled, and Asher was the one I kept?"
Yep, he knows hemalurgy. This is NOT GOOD! I am suddenly glad that Queen Mera has the knowledge to understand and combat whatever is about to be unleashed on Earth-16.
And Fate's response is great:
I also liked the way the koloss were warded against physical damage, which dramatically changes how you have to fight a brute-class monster. This part confused me a little, though:
Why the control spell? They are already susceptible to direct control due to their spikes. Is this just to prevent Nabu or Miss Martian from trying to wrest that control for themselves? We didn't see much of the fight, but I didn't get the impression that the koloss were engaging very intelligently, suggesting that Klarion wasn't monitoring them closely regardless of how the control was enacted. Then again, I'm used to them weilding enormous swords, and the lack of edged weapons makes them markedly less dangerous to the team.
And that's a great koloss pic, but I wanted to share some others for readers who aren't familiar with the cosmere. Here's one to grab attention, with some more inside the spoiler box so they don't take up too much space.
This first one is by thompsonbros.
I just noticed that Klarion has never called Nabu FATE and also never used his title {That Which Should Be}, as opposed to FATE who always calls him Witch Boy {Wicked}. Is that significant somehow, or just a personal quirk?
I believe that the bracketed words are not actually said. Those indicate the communication of metaphysical meaning when Fate speaks. We saw the same thing with SHAZAM when Fate said it, and once when Billy said it. I'm pretty sure they have only appeared during Renka or Fate PoVs, making me think that others don't really notice the extra weight to the words.
As for the other, Klarion seems to be all about the taunts, so "Fatty Fatey" etc. fit his quirky style. But he does use the name Nabu matter-of-factly several times in this fight. I'm not sure if he is intentionally avoiding saying Fate, at least for any reason beyond annoyance.
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue) Of a demon in my view. Alone by Edgar Allen Poe
* November 5
Light.
A pillar of blinding light connected earth and sky, swallowing the sorcerers' offensive spells and striking back; the shockwave of impact rolled out, carefully directed by FATE, kept a foot above the ground, but striking with potent force any thing raised above that height.
It threw back every enemy still standing, and with a single sweeping blast the entire forest for three acres around was flattened.
No one spoke as FATE staggered slightly in the aftermath, examining the altered landscape, taking care not to drop the jewel.
"Now," the reverberating voice of the Lord of Order rasped, pocketing the Ambre Jeune Perdu, "we will finish this."
Use a spell to search, Renka suggested as FATE examined the landscape for signs of the familiar. Slowly, everyone began to tentatively raise his/her heads. The Team did so with significantly less struggle than the injured villains, having been warned to drop down.
We are very near the limit of what your spirit will tolerate, Nabu warned in reply. Do not doubt that any more than another dozen spells must be lethal. It is best to search by mundane means and save the sorcery for exterminating it.
We have telepathy and teammates, Renka observed. Ask what Superboy can hear.
The question was as quickly answered as asked: crimson chaos magic exploded from a pile of trees as both sides reassembled.
"MeaNLing, sTuPid, usEleSs, Die!" Klarion snarled in horrible fury, no longer looking more than remotely human. Half his face and torso were torn away, replaced by bleeding clouds of chaos force, and his legs were only the flat silhouettes of what they should have been.
Finish him, now, Renka advised as she felt Nabu attempt to stifle her surge toward overwhelming force. Area-of-effect.
Almost, but we are only almost at the end, Nabu answered, and transmitted through their bond the images of Klarion's past escapes and last-ditch efforts he wished to avoid.
FATE prepared more spells, and Klarion lashed out with several 'arms,' hands and claws flying at FATE, at the Team, and one off to a side.
FATE {That Which Should Be} conjured ankhs as shields, canceling out against the claws as the Team re-scrambled into evasive action, Aqualad snapping off orders. The sorcerers began to call up power of their own, and a pile of trunks stirred as Teekl re-emerged.
The last arm – the one Klarion had aimed elsewhere – pivoted, bent, and drove its claws into Wizard's chest. Everyone twitched at that turn; even FATE had not expected the Witch Boy {Wicked} to so callously kill one capable subordinate in front of the others.
The dark purple 'arm' flexed, and threw Wizard's dead body at the Team, the claws keeping their grip on the inside so that the momentum tore the corpse away from its charcoal-briquette of a heart.
FATE felt the twisting flow of power, but was not able to counter it, due to the potency of the Witch Boy's sacrifice.
As it tumbled in mid-air, a barbed, preying mantis-like leg punched its way out through the ribs, quickly followed by a gangly carapace and body over fifteen feet tall in full. The insectoid demon turned to orient on Miss Martian - she staggered back, suffering recoil from some telepathic attack.
Tentacles squirmed as a second demon tore free from the corpse, lunging at Aqualad and Artemis, and the third began to form through.
FATE flew forward with grim resolve, sending a brief shower of bolts to keep the enemies from trying anything else clever.
The Team – FATE's friends and honored comrades in arms – all stood strong in the face of foes literally dragged up from the foulest depths of Hell. To the last, they were observably willing to fight the worst of what Evil had on offer, and do their best to overcome.
FATE knew it could not be enough.
They all were exhausted, and the Witch Boy {Wicked} had fueled this summoning with lifeblood, expending only a fraction of his own power in exchange for a stream of enemies powerful enough to threaten FATE on their own.
Such creatures would be easy enough to deal were FATE {That Which Should Be} fresh, but the limit of lethal bodily damage was very near.
On top of that were stacked the Witch Boy {Wicked}, the three surviving servitors, and the precious lives of respected friends.
Impossible.
Yet even so, the other immediate options were also unacceptable:
To flee with the Team would leave the forces of chaos free to act again without fear of reprisal.
To ignore the demons would see the Team dead, simply because they did not yet have to tools needed to overcome such enemies.
To ignore the sorcerers would leave FATE open to further attack, or leave them free to flee.
To attempt an assault reliant on overwhelming mystic force would bring death before any of the problems had been solved.
And so, lacking good options, and unable to turn away from the inspiring sight of selflessness on display, FATE {That Which Should Be} chose another path.
Just as Chaos was kindred to Damnation, the forces of Order were also not without allies.
The rules were strict, and breaking them would invite reprisal, but in these situations FATE considered such to be an acceptable price, rather than a shameful punishment.
Thus, as two abominations bore down on the Team and a third squirmed its way free of the desecrated corpse, FATE hung in the air and conjured a single, glowing ankh above FATE's opened left hand.
The roiling wrongness that remained of Klarion's current form surged forward, eagerly anticipating its enemy's blood.
FATE's eyes closed.
In an act that was forbidden, and yet not utterly forbidden, FATE reached inside, through the core at the center of Order, and then sideways with a certain twist.
Heralded by the thunder of silver trumpets, stark white light lanced out across the field as the ankh momentarily morphed into a silver-tinged, shining white crucifix, spearing through the impurities of the world with its brilliance.
The insectoid demon was half-boiled before it dove under the cover of the uprooted trees and bushes. Lacking such a retreat, the tentacular demon withered immediately into ash, and the emerging horror was immediately returned to its home inferno. Klarion's conjured form took the blast full in the face, its front part cleanly carved away as the rest blistered, broiled, and burned beneath the purifying assault.
The three surviving casters staggered, giving shouts of agony as they wiped at their streaming eyes. Teekl was far enough away to be almost unaffected, but it was left bleeding at the eyes and ears as patches of the familiar's fur caught fire.
The light cut out, and FATE {That Which Should Be} was left struggling to stand. Rather than inflict damage on Renka's host body, it was Nabu who suffered the more serious harm as consequence. FATE was left mentally flailing as the two minds struggled to recompose their control.
FATE's mortal flesh was whole – almost more so than at the start of the engagement, even – but the light of the Silver City disapproved strenuously of its use by others, and the spiritual toll it inflicted was undeniable.
Most tellingly, the mortal body's left arm now hung limp uselessly, with FATE's golden raiment stripped bare off of the skin. Rings and bracelets glinted as Renka's left fingers twitched, but it moved no more than that.
Threat gone, the insectoid demon re-emerged, and skittered towards a dazed Superboy, seeking blood. Having been tapping often in the fight, and reaching what had to be the end, Renka tapped the last stores in her zinc-mind to form and finalize a plan. Nabu approved, and FATE broadcast instructions across the telepathic link. Aqualad agreed, Zatanna volunteered, and everyone who was able began to move.
Kid Flash rushed to Superboy and carried him behind a school bus-sized boulder on its side, uprooted by the earlier shockwave.
"Gub mraws," Zatanna cast at the sorcerers as she circled around, intending to locate Teekl. Miss Martian lacked the stamina to lift anything large, after the battle, but her telekinesis scooped up loose soil by the bucket and sprayed it at Wotan, Felix Faust, and Thorn. Between the solid spraying dirt and the illusory cloud of buzzing bugs, those three were in no fit state to cast anything coherent.
Aqualad tackled Felix Faust and bore the ancient alchemist to the ground, intending to take out the most physically vulnerable of the three. He struck with his fist several times, simple and brutal, before the Team's leader applied a chokehold on his stunned opponent.
Clicking with chirps of appetite, the insectoid demon circled around the large stone to find Kid Flash waiting impatiently, his foot tapping anxiously.
"Finally!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up in exasperation at the six-second wait as the insectoid bared three maws full of jagged fangs. "Oh, right, gotta run, sorry!" He grabbed Superboy, who had almost stopped seeing stars, and dashed away.
Superboy was deposited right beside FATE before Kid Flash charged at Blackbriar Thorn. He was a hair too late to stop the evil druid from animating a vine to swat Aqualad away, but his fist made sure Thorn was in no state to attempt a follow-up.
Walking calmly over to where the sorcerers stood, FATE idly flicked one hand at the boulder, three inch-long ankhs forming.
At this latest stage, it was important to conserve energy, and so FATE only cast three cantrips: beginner spells FATE {That Which Should Be} taught to able apprentices within the first year or two of their studies. But the three cantrips were cast with a Lord of Order's skill, and that was enough.
The first one took effect as a simple manipulation and redirection of gravity, rendering an object weightless by tying the attractive forces to another target for a short time. The insectoid demon sunk three inches into the soil, pinned under its own increased weight.
The second spell was one of telekinesis, lifting the now-weightless boulder up and slightly over.
The third spell was used to enchant a mundane weapon with enough power to injure the ethereal – its longer lasting forms were irreplaceable tools for even expert sorcerers, as they would often lead less learned warriors in their fights against Chaos.
After the span of a heartbeat, the first cantrip ended, and twenty tons of ethereal-infused stone fell down upon the demon with a crash.
It died.
Across the battlefield, Zatanna yelped, and Teekl yowled as Miss Martian's telepathy yanked away its prey, only to duck as Superboy swung a tree trunk.
FATE appeared to pay this no mind.
"Witch Boy!" {Wicked} The voice of FATE echoed loudly under the empty sky. "I know you are here."
There was a shift, and Klarion reappeared from out of the shadows, grinning smugly. His human guise had been mostly restored, but his outline blurred unnaturally, and shifting, sparking, smoking cracks were visible across the surface of his suit and twisted skin.
"Whaddya want?" he asked petulantly, fingers twitching with an impulse split toward fight and flight.
"We appear to be as Gilgamesh and Enkidu," FATE {That Which Should Be} answered. "I propose we end this as they did not. Now."
A rumble vibrated through Klarion's throat. Both had been embroiled in the events around Uruk, and neither had walked away unharmed. It was a provocative challenge. Klarion's eyes flickered to behind FATE, where Teekl chased the teens that escaped just by inches.
He was ready to intervene if FATE aimed at his familiar again, but the Lord of Order appeared to pay it no mind.
"Yer nearly dead. Ya think you've got what it takes to go three rounds with me?" the Witch Boy (Wicked} challenged playfully.
"I only need one," was the reply. FATE took another step forward, and an ankh formed by FATE's extended right arm. Though it was invisible to human eyes, Klarion saw the changing shimmer around FATE and stared. "Another three spells may kill me, it is true… but repurposing an extant work is far easier, Witch Boy." {Wicked}
Power hummed as FATE {That Which Should Be}reached out to the ankh with one functioning arm. The right hand of FATE fit inside the loop of the ankh as though gripping an invisible handle.
The Lord of Chaos was still stunned that FATE had rerouted many of his most passive spells, like flight, and so stood upon the base earth before him.
"Sapience is a Life that seeks Order." It was a chant similar to one Klarion had heard long ago: a funerary credo used by another Lord of Order.
The Witch Boy {Wicked} began to laugh, because if Nabu was so far gone as to be using that, and ignoring the way those meddling kids kept only avoiding Teekl by inches, then he knew the Lord of Order was so far gone that this would be the end of it.
"Well, well, well," Klarion chuckled, the Witch Boy's mood finally taking a turn up. Crimson lightning crackled as he got ready.
"Duty is a Soul that seeks Order," FATE continued. Wielding the ankh like a blade, the Lord of Order stepped into the best fencer's stance FATE (That Which Should Be} could manage, given that Renka's left arm still hung limp and useless.
"Time to fry," Klarion murmured with child-like glee, drawing back his hands as he prepared to throw a final casting.
Around them everyone was engaged in fighting; struggling for superiority; fleeing for a purpose.
Kid Flash ducked away and disengaged as Superboy threw his tree trunk at Wotan, getting ready to run. Miss Martian flew higher, out of easy range, but kept her eyes open in case of the unexpectedly.
Aqualad channeled raw electricity into the tree trunk, gouging out chunks in a shower of sparks, stealing the three sorcerers' attention before they could capitalize on their other enemies' withdrawal.
Zatanna zigged and zagged as Teekl tore through an illusory doppelganger, until her feet betrayed her and she stumbled smoothly to the ground.
"Order-," FATE intoned, and Klarion's fingers squeezed, intensifying the spell as imagined ripping the Helmet off her dead head.
"Tropelet paws!" Zatanna shouted as Teekl pounced.
"Eh?" Klarion blinked as his prey was whisked away, replaced by Miss Baby Magic. Kid Flash caught Zee in the next second, swept her away before Klarion could reorient, and by then it was a moment too late.
"-is That Which Should Be," FATE finished, as the familiar bore down. Internally, Renka surged to action, her 'useless' left arm snapping up in a knife hand aimed at Teekl's open mouth, stabbing rigid fingers up past the elbow into its throat. Four tons of feline spasmed as it slammed into the Lord of Order, the cat in too much pain to properly kill, and FATE's sword split the damn familiar's skull.
"No," Klarion whispered when he felt the connection sever. "No, no, no no No!" His form wavered, and one hand flew to his jacket even as he felt his essence draining away.
"It is over," FATE said, standing up again as Teekl's swollen corpse dissolved into smoke, and the last ankh flickered out.
"Your face is over!" Klarion screamed, pulling out a thin book bound in what FATE recognized was human skin. As his last act, the Witch Boy raked four fingers across the surface like claws, tearing it apart in an evil blaze of flame.
Then he was gone from Earth, and the ashes drifted down; the curse still took effect, echoing in Renka's ears. Tearing, screaming, twisting, dividing-
She neither spasmed nor spoke. The golden robes of FATE simply dissolved, and Renka silently toppled over to strike the ground.
A jolting impact, the force jarred the Helmet off her head, and it rolled away to show blood streaming from her nose, her ears, and her sightless, empty eyes.
""Ferris!"" everyone yelled.
Kid Flash was the first to arrive at her side, dropping Zatanna and freeing his hands to check frantically for his friend's pulse.
The others started over: Artemis sprinted at top speed, and Miss Martian shot through the air as Superboy crouched to take a single bound.
Wotan blasted Miss Martian out of the sky.
With an oath, Aqualad spun to strike back with whips as Superboy ran to catch her.
Invoking words of ancient horror, Blackbriar Thorn called up power. Felix Faust stuck out his arm as he incanted, and Artemis threw her knife through the palm of his hand. He cut off with a cry, but the druid's work was more quickly done.
Wood creaked all around them as dead trees slowly came to life.
I doubt that'd happen. Fate has a lot of respect for Renka, and knows she's doing her best to find him someone to bear the mantle. Beyond that, he specifically mentioned not wanting to pull someone from their family and responsibilities, and his semi-frequent talks are also likely helpful for keeping him from being that desperate.
I was half expecting Fate to summon angels until I remembered that they don't really do that in DC. Still, I'm loving the mystical aspects here; I wonder how that planned journey into the Dreaming with the Sandman and Wonder Woman will go now that Renka is... indisposed. That's in December right?
Also, I'm sure there's irony in the fact that random people can use the powers of Hell willy nilly while a literal Lord of Order is forced to pay a fairly steep toll for just using the light of Heaven to destroy demons, as in, Heaven's sworn enemies. You'd think it would be the other way around, or at least the Silver City would be happy to smite some hellspawn.
So, I suppose this leaves us wondering whether Ferris will stay dead. She's not going to go out of her way to try to survive this, but her friends might be unwilling to accept her death, and the potential is there for her to linger as a cognitive shadow, both to try teaching any clones or offspring Fate distributing her genetic material might lead to, and to help hunt down any surviving Hemalurgic knowledge.
I was half expecting Fate to summon angels until I remembered that they don't really do that in DC. Still, I'm loving the mystical aspects here; I wonder how that planned journey into the Dreaming with the Sandman and Wonder Woman will go now that Renka is... indisposed. That's in December right?
Also, I'm sure there's irony in the fact that random people can use the powers of Hell willy nilly while a literal Lord of Order is forced to pay a fairly steep toll for just using the light of Heaven to destroy demons, as in, Heaven's sworn enemies. You'd think it would be the other way around, or at least the Silver City would be happy to smite some hellspawn.
Its always been like that in almost any media you could possibly consume always easy to get some of the dark powers but when ever you need the help of the light its always extremely difficult and harder to get than darkness. It would make sense for them both to come easily in equal amounts but whenever its brought up its usually shown haven either doesn't care or is run by assholes.
I doubt that'd happen. Fate has a lot of respect for Renka, and knows she's doing her best to find him someone to bear the mantle. Beyond that, he specifically mentioned not wanting to pull someone from their family and responsibilities, and his semi-frequent talks are also likely helpful for keeping him from being that desperate.
