18 moved first, being much faster; she flew at the young heroes, ready to attack, when she felt gravity fighting against her.
"I told you the tower doesn't like intruders."
While she was struggling, Klarion created a red energy claw and used it to attack.
Aqualad created a water hand and interrupted the attack.
Abra Kadabra raised his wand to attack him, but Artemis hit him with an arrow that discharged a sonic wave on his face. Robin ran and hit him with his baton, making him drop his wand.
The experience against 18 taught the group not to be overconfident and not to let their guards down, so they reacted a lot faster and better than ever before.
Superboy took advantage of the moment to get close to the fake magician and knocked him out with a punch.
Then the entire space started to shake as 18 was fighting against the tower.
Kent could feel the power of the android and it was massive, it felt endless and whitout dr fate active, the defenses weren't enough to completely stop her.
"If the tower keeps holding her like this, it will collapse."
Kid Flash then got an idea.
"Kent, can you slow her down?"
Klarion was shooting magic blasts everywhere, trying to hit the team.
Aqualad was barely holding him, with the help of Megan, who used her powers to move objects and create cover.
18 felt the gravity normalize and rushed towards Kent Nelson to stop him from using the tower against them.
It was at that moment that she felt something was wrong; she wasn't moving fast enough and her movement was sluggish.
Klarion, meanwhile, was throwing attacks like a maniac when he spotted Kid Flash, the speedster make a mocking gesture at him.
The lord of chaos changed targets and aimed at him instead.
Magic flames in the form of a bat rushed at him as Klarion shot more magic blast trying to slow him down.
"Die, die, die."
Now free from the onslaught, Aqualad used his water to block the fire and Artemis fired an arrow at 18 to distract her.
Just as the android was about to catch Kent, she saw Kid flash pass next to her. The next instant, pain flared on her back.
"Upps"
Klarion's voice came from behind. She turned and stared at the smiling chaos lord.
He shrugged and kept shooting.
Miss Martian floated Superboy and he rushed towards Klarion. The witch boy easily dodged and was about to laugh when a ki blast hit him in the face.
His entire face disappeared and regenerated, with murderous eyes that were locked on 18.
She smiled at him and said.
"Ups"
That was it, this time they both had enough of the other, so they forgot about the mission and the deals and went at it.
18 free from the slowing spell moved and blinked next to Klarion. He reacted by creating a red shield and summoning serpents.
The shield shattered by the force of a single kick, he went flying and the serpents attacked while Klarion prepared the next spell.
18 used her own force field to repel and kill the serpents and follow Klarion with the intention of tearing him apart.
Klarion responded by shooting a magic blast, which she promptly absorbed and shot back at him.
"Cheater."
He teleported just in time to avoid the attack, then he felt his body fold as he was punched on the stomach.
The team saw the fight happening and were relieved that these two were distracted by each other; if they had cooperated, it would have been game over.
The entire tower was trembling as the fight continued.
Kent used the chance to open another door and they all stepped inside it.
Suddenly, they were out on the roof of the tower, where the helmet of Nabu was floating in place.
"We only delay them. If we want to force them out of the tower, we need Doctor Fate."
Kent was reluctant to wear the helmet again, but knew they were out of options.
An explosion came from below and Klarion flew out of the floor, landing hard next to them.
He got up, dusting himself and noticed the helmet.
Then 18 came flying, ready to kill, but stopped when Klarion pointed at the helmet.
"We found it, let's just get it."
She saw how eager he suddenly became to get it now that it was in his reach, but still she thought about it and sat down on a piece of debris.
"You get it if you care so much."
"What?"
"You heard me, let's see if you are not totally useless."
Thinking about it, why did she care if they succeeded or not? She gained nothing either way and helping this idiot was the worst, so she decided to just watch him struggle, as it was more entertaining, yeah it would be embarising if they came back empthy handed, still that was on the opinions of some weaklys, at some point she started to care and only now, she remembered it didnt actually matter what they think of her.
Klarion, seeing her mocking smile, wanted to continue trying to kill her, yet the helmet was so close that he decided to focus on it.
"Whatever, I never needed you anyway, you have been nothing but a pain in my ass since we came here."
Kent already had the helmet in his hands and he didn't have any more time to hesitate.
When Klarion launched his next attack, Aqualad tried to block it, but the water got pushed away.
Superboy got in the way, holding long enough for Kent to put the helmet on and the transformation was completed, as Dr. Fate appeared.
"Klarion, you have failed. The helmet has a host; now is the time to throw you out of this place."
Klarion was throwing magic attacks and cursing at Nabu, while 18 was watching the cat enter the rooftop. She didn't care about animals, but this one was strange; she could feel the same kind of energy in him as the one she felt in Klarion.
Dr. Fate created a strange symbol that projected a light so strong that Klarion's entire body disintegrated. As he was not a physical being, he just reappeared a few steps away.
The fight looked even, but Klarion was slowly getting the upper hand.
"Give it up, Nabu, that body already has one foot on the grave; it's not going to hold on for long."
With those words, he cast a massive lightning bolt from the sky and dr fate blocked it with a shield.
The cat walked a few steps away from Klarion and he looked at it, annoyed.
"I know already, would you let me handle this?"
Nabu noticed the same as 18, the difference was that he knew what it meant.
The shield shattered and golden flames clashed with the lightning.
"I use a human body as an anchor to this world, but I know that's not your style."
He shot another attack, this time he didn't aim at the witch boy, no, his target was the cat and the attack hit, sending the cat rolling.
Klarion's body flickered in and out of existence as he threw a tantrum.
"I can't believe you would attack an innocent pussycat."
"You and I both know that there is no cat, without your familiar, you cannot stay on this plane of existence."
Dr fate used another attack as the sky changed into stars that rained on the area, leaving no way to hide for the cat.
Klarion quickly teleported and picked up the animal.
"We are out of here."
With one last glare, he vanished into red smoke.
Then dr fate turned his attention to the woman who was casually sitting under the protection of a force field that protected her from the attack.
"You are not welcome here, as well Lazuli of the Red Ribbon army."
18, who so far had been amused by the spectacle, was caught off guard by the words.
"You, how do you know that name?"
"The mystical paths connect all worlds and in this place, the connection is stronger than any other. I have heard the voices of your victims and the works of your creators."
She stood up and then she looked away.
"Don't call me that; we abandoned those names long before we became androids; the ones who use them are better forgotten."
"As you wish, but you are not welcome here; your very presence exudes chaos. My duty demands that I must stop you."
"If you thought you could win, you would have attacked by now. That idiot was right, the old man doesn't have long to live and you can't fight me for long before he dies."
The team was nervously watching the exchange; if Dr. Fate couldn't stop her, they would be in trouble.
That was until Artemis talked using the psychic link.
("Guys, I just sent a message. Dr. Fate made it possible.)
Now they just needed to buy some time.
18 noticed the teens looking at each other and was confused by their expressions; she was sure they were planning something.
"Well, I'll be going now. It was fun, but I'm tired of this place."
"What makes you think you can just go?"
She raised her hand and a ki energy ball formed on it. Nabu could feel the intensity of the power; if she unleashed the attack, it could destroy the entire tower. In his current state, he would be unable to stop it, so with no other options available, he allows her to go.
18 started to fly away, when she suddenly stopped and turned towards Wally.
He flinched as he thought she would attack him, but instead she spoke to him.
"If you are going to flirt, be honest. It is embarrassing seeing you fumble like a clown. Changing your opinion depending on who you are talking to is disgusting."
She fixed her hair.
"pathetic meatbag."
With that, she flew away, leaving the teens confused, especially Wally, who felt depressed at being roasted out of nowhere.
While that was happening, Klarion was smashing furniture around with the fury of a spoiled toddler who was told no for the first time in his life.
"That killjoy, that... that... AAHHHHH."
He threw a glass at the wall that exploded on impact, leaving a hole in it, looking around there were a lot of these holes all over the room and even outside of it, so much so that it was a wonder how it was still standing.
Ra's Al Ghoul was watching while drinking a cup of tea, doing so slowly as it was the last one he served himself, before Klarion grabbed his entire tea set and smashed it against the floor.
"This was an unexpected setback; still, it was insignificant in the grand scheme of our plans."
"Are you kidding? I was supposed to have free rein in the mystical world, now that lord of order will start getting in the way of my fun."
"That is why you joined us; we will find ways to keep Nabu looking elsewhere."
"It was your fault that I failed this time; if you hadn't saddled me with that useless machine, I would have taken the helmet with no problem."
"You said it didn't matter; nobody forced you to take her."
Ra's basically provoked him into accepting, no, that Klarion would ever admit it, his pride would be wounded if he ever said out loud that others manipulated him, he was the mastermind and he played humans like toys, so he changed the subject.
"That Abra Kadabra guy was useless as well, next time I'm going alone; I don't need burdens dragging me down."
"You were the burden, idiot."
The very recognizable voice of 18 came from behind him. He turned violently and was ready to continue where they left off, then he paused as he saw his cat grabbed by the neck by the android.
"I wonder if his neck will snap the same way as a regular cat."
If looks could kill and Klarion's sometimes did, 18 would have been turned to ashes that same instant. The only reason he didn't try was the fact that she was fast enough to kill the cat before any of his attacks could reach her.
"Let him go."
"Why?"
She squeezed the neck a little, making the animal grunt and gag.
Klarion felt his body flicker between the physical and the immaterial as 18 smiled and spoke.
"Maybe I keep this with me, just to remind you of your place."
"You... you... how dare..."
Ra's, seeing where this was going, decided to intervene.
"The cat and Klarion are bound to each other; if you keep it, he will come along with it."
That made her frown and she let go of the cat as if it were made of excrement.
The small animal ran and jumped into Klarion's arms. He was staring daggers at her, but instead of attacking or saying anything, he raspberry ar her and disappeared.
Klarion didn't like risk and fighting 18 when she knew his weakness was dangerous, so he chose to escape.
"I apologize, Abra Kadabra was meant to keep him under control, it seems things got out of hand anyway."
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Save it, I'm not an idiot, you knew from the beginning that weakling had no chance to stop us, so you wanted us to fight and you wanted Klarion to fail in getting the helmet."
Ra's didn't deny it; he drank a bit more of his tea and responded.
"Klarion having free rein on the mystical world would be too much, it is better if he keeps needing our help, he is chaos, a necessary force for evolution, still we prefer controlled chaos over blind destruction."
"Makes you wonder what your plan for me was."
"I could ask the same about your plans for us."
"I don't know what you mean."
"Klarion escaped this room with an alive cat, because you let him."
She smiled and turned to leave.
Minutes later, Ra's opened a secret door and walked in front of a single screen.
Vandal Savage was the only one on the call.
"How did it go?"
"We got plenty of information."
Ra's uploaded the data and Vandal checked it with interest.
"So she is vulnerable to magic; at least magic is more effective than technological weaponry."
"She also has her own agenda, based on the information about her previous Dimension, we assumed she was a reckless destroyer, yet she is showing more cunning than expected."
"Her making her own plans is not something rare, the light may have unity of purpose, but each member is also looking out for him or herself, they also understand the others want to keep the balance."
The members of the Light cooperated against the heroes but each have their ow agenda and they knew that all the others wanted to stand above the rest, that applies to Klarion as well, he may act like a child but he is no fool, he knew the others didn't actually wanted him to get the helmet, but he planned to get it anyways, using the information network and agents of the Light to get the information.
Still, they didn't directly get in each other's way; it was more of a we will help you half-assedly that we outright stop you.
If the Light wanted Klarion to get the helmet for sure, they would have sent soldiers in great numbers or more special agents instead of only sending Abra Kadabra. If they wanted to sabotage him completely, they would have given him false information about Kent Nelson, preventing him from ever getting close.
Instead, they gave him just enough information and support to be helpful but kept the chance of failure high.
Now, 18 was entering this game of shadows and back stabbings and she loved it. It was entertaining enough that she wasn't destroying cities as she did in her world, outsmarting these guys while at the same time working together to beat the heroes was thrilling and fun.
Vandal was thinking about his next moves and Ra's was doing the same. By the time they hung up and went their separate ways, they were clear on one thing.
18 was changing how the game was played and they needed to adapt to survive what was coming.
(chapter image.)