Chapter 21: Denial

Word Count : 7044

When it concerned his team, Krieg had very few positive aspects to say about them. He considered their resolve weak, their cohesion pathetic, their priorities messed up and their intelligence lacking. But there was one thing that Krieg was forced to grudgingly admit that they did possess, and that was skill in combat. It was their only redeeming quality, that and their unbelievable luck which kept them alive no matter their incompetence. And it was this skill that Krieg was thoroughly testing in his spar with Kaldur.

Black Canary preferred to train them in hand-to-hand, but both of them were more comfortable fighting with weapons. And so it was weapons that they were training with today, Kaldur wielding twin water swords and Krieg a kukri and his shock gauntlet. Sadly, these were training weapons, and so were dulled to avoid too fatal damages. It made no sense to Krieg. How the hell could they truly test their skills to their fullest if there was no real risk of death?

Nevertheless, despite these restrictions, Krieg put everything he had in this fight, treating it like it was a real fight to the death. It forced Kaldur to adapt a more serious approach as well in the face of Krieg's ruthless attacks, and the two of them weaved back and forth against each other, trying to land a decisive blow.

Kaldur was using a flashy and elegant sword play, designed to distract the opponent with fancy moves before moving in for the kill. Krieg however was unaffected as he fought in a dirty manner of brawler style, attacking low with brutal swipes against his opponent's legs and crotch. Kaldur was constantly forced to step back to avoid Krieg's low blows, but his swords gave him the longer range and always managed to fend Krieg off. It was rapidly approaching a stalemate as they circled one another, looking for an opening.

And while they were sparring, if such a term could be used for the brutal assault Krieg forced Kaldur to endure, M'gann and Artemis stood on the sidelines and watched the fight, with Conner and Wally standing close by, the latter of the two males munching on… something.

"Kaldur's, ah, nice, don't you think?" Artemis suddenly asked, trying to start some small-talk with the only other female on the team. "Handsome, commanding. You should totally ask him out," though if Artemis was to be honest with herself, this type of topic was never her strongpoint.

"He's like a big brother to me. But you know who would make the cutest couple?" okay, Artemis was seriously not liking where this discussion had suddenly gone towards. "You and Wally," now that sounded simply ludicrous to Artemis as she and M'gann cast a look over at the oblivious speedster, still happily devouring whatever the hell he was eating.

"You're so full of passion and he's so full of… uhm…" M'gann tried to explain her reasoning, only to find herself at a loss of words over Wally's loud hewing.

"It?" Artemis supplemented jokingly, causing the pair to let out a light giggle at Wally's still oblivious expense. Though Artemis did notice that Superboy's lips twitched ever so slightly upwards. Meanwhile, the fight was beginning to draw to a close, as Krieg made a sudden rush at Kaldur like a mad bull, trying to ram his helmeted head into the abhuman's guts. But Aqualad was ready and so easily sidestepped and simply tripped Krieg, causing him to fall flat on his face with the words "Krieg, Fail" appearing above him. Believing the fight to be over, Kaldur lowered his blades, and so was caught unprepared when Krieg kicked back like a mule.

Stumbling back in surprise, Kaldur tried to regain his footing, but Krieg was faster and was back up on his feet and slammed an elbow into Kaldur's guts before finishing off with a knee to the forehead. He went down like a sack of potatoes, with Krieg instantly straddling him and placing his kukri at Kaldur's throat.

"You lose," he spoke tonelessly, sounding like he did not care in the least whether he won or not. Kaldur simply glared accusingly at his team member above him.

"You cheated. I had you on the floor, and so by the rules you had lost the spar," he stated sourly, but Krieg was untroubled.

"Irrelevant. I was still able to continue the fight, and I have brought you to a position where you are unable to do so without losing your life," he retorted. To him, the rules governing these spars were ridiculous, and so he never bothered to follow them. Seeing no other option, Kaldur grudgingly released his hold on his water bearers and surrendered. Krieg found that satisfactory and so stood up and sheathed his blade. He did not bother with offering a helping hand to his team leader. It was at that moment that Red Tornado descended from his, for a lack of a better term, room, and Wally was at his side in a heartbeat.

"Do you have a mission for us?" he asked eagerly, and Krieg felt like shaking his head in exasperation. 'Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility, you idiotic mutant filth,' he thought to himself.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility," Red Tornado answered, unknowingly echoing Krieg's thoughts. But Wally was undeterred.

"Yeah, well, the Batman is with the Robin, doing the dynamic duo thing in Gotham. But you're headed somewhere, right? Hot date, or… a mission?" seeing as Wally lacked any tactical sense when it came to requesting missions, Aqualad stepped forward in his stead.

"If we can be of help," he said, and Krieg instantly hoped that Red Tornado would decline. Working alongside the team was strenuous enough, he did not feel particularly motivated to aid the machine in its ventures. Sadly, he was to be denied as Red Tornado brought up a holographic computer image of an elderly man.

"This is Kent Nelson, a friend. He's 106 years old," the machine explained, and Krieg was barely paying attention to it. Useless information in his opinion.

"And he's been missing for 23 days. Kent was a charter member of the Justice Society, the precursor to your mentors' Justice League," that tidbit of information, alongside a new image of a man wearing a golden helmet with a cape an outfit of bright blue and gold, made Krieg pay far more attention, and he did not like a single bit of it.

"Of course, Nelson was Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. He was Doctor Fate," Kaldur suddenly deduced, and already did Krieg wish more than anything not to get involved. If this Nelson really was in trouble, then they should let him die. It would serve him right for dabbling with powers best left alone.

"Kent may simply be on one of his… walkabouts, but he is caretaker to the Helmet of Fate, the source of the Doctor's mystic might, and it is unwise to leave such power unguarded," Red Tornado continued to explain, and it made Krieg consider other alternatives besides helping Nelson. 'Perhaps it would be better to simply destroy this Helmet, and prevent anyone from ever using its blasphemous power,' he cast a suspicious glare at Kaldur's back as he contemplated his options. 'I wonder if I can destroy it without this abhuman and his band of incompetent failures trying to stop me?'

"He's like the great sorcerer priests and priestess of Mars. I would be honored to help find him," M'gann suddenly spoke up, bringing out a sneer from Krieg. 'Figures that the filthy xeno would be honored by that which disgusts me,' he thought to himself.

"Me too! So honored, I can barely stand it. Magic, rocks," Wally announced enthusiastically, and earned himself a deadpanned look from Krieg. 'I am hardly an expert when it comes to interpreting emotions, but even I can tell that he is about as sincere as an Ork asking for a peace treaty,'

"Take this," Red Tornado resumed as he held up a key for all to see. "It is the key to the Tower of Fate," seemed like there was no backing out of this one. A shame really.

"I need to grab my combat gear. I will meet you in the Hangar," Krieg declared as he hurried out of the training hall, heading towards his private room at the Cave.

"I don't think that will be necessary, we're just going to check if Kent Nelson is alright," Kaldur called after him, but Krieg ignored him. It would be a tranquil day in the Warp the day he went anywhere without his gear.

And this was why he thoroughly hated sorcery. They had arrived at the coordinates provided by Red Tornado, but there was nothing there besides trees and bushes. He could hear how the rest of the team was discussing something, but he did not care at this point. He just wanted this to be done with so he could return to Los Angeles.

"Damn sorceries, always creating more trouble than they are worth," he grumbled to himself as Kaldur suddenly approached with the key in hand.

"You have an idea on how to find our target, sir?" he asked curiously, dearly hoping that so was the case.

"Just one, a test of faith," Kaldur answered before he inserted the key into what looked like thin air. It looked completely ridiculous to Krieg, but it actually worked as a huge tower materialized out of thin air in front of them. 'This just keeps getting better and better,' stepping inside this tower, the team found themselves inside an empty room. And it truly was empty of everything imaginable, as they soon found out.

"Uhm… where did the door go?" Superboy asked as he glanced around. True enough, the door they had come through had vanished altogether. They were stuck inside this room. To make matters worse, what appeared to be a hologram of Kent Nelson appeared in front of them, and he did not look all that pleased.

"Greetings. You've entered with the key, but the Tower does not recognize you. Please state your purpose and intent," the hologram ordered, making Krieg's finger twitch towards the trigger on the shotgun held in his hand. But just as Krieg had begun to believe that their situation could not possibly get any worse, Wally had to go and make it worse.

"We are true believers, here to find Doctor Fate," his overly dramatic announcement was met with a grim smile from the hologram before it vanished. 'Now that cannot be a good sign,' Krieg thought to himself in alarm as he made ready for a fight. It proved to be in vain, as the floor suddenly collapsed beneath them and sent the whole team plummeting towards their deaths. Whilst the team was busy screaming their lungs out, Krieg only had this to utter.

"CURSE YOU WALLY AND YOUR INFERNAL MOUTH! I SWEAR, IF WE MAKE IT OUT OF THIS ALIVE, I AM SEWING THAT ABOMINATION SHUT!" whether anyone actually heard those words was up for debate. And in any case, Krieg himself found other priorities besides screaming threats at teammates as they rapidly approached a pool of lava at the bottom. So he brought out his grapple gun and fired it as high as he could. It saved his life, but it left him dangling next to Artemis who had used a similar tactic.

"Well, this could have gone better," he observed dryly, receiving a huff of annoyance from Artemis as he struggled to hold on to both her grapple line and Kaldur.

"You think?" she asked sarcastically. The three of them were soon joined by Wally and M'gann, who were slowly but surely losing altitude and coming ever closer to their fiery deaths below. Had Krieg been able to express emotions more freely, he would have been giddy at the thought.

"Having trouble… maintaining altitude… so hot," the xeno complained. 'Drop a few extra meters, then tell me it's hot,' Krieg thought darkly.

"You certainly are," Wally suddenly added dreamily.

"Wally!" Artemis shouted in irritation, not that Krieg could really blame her, that infernal mutant was proving to be far more of a nuisance than he was worth.

"Hey, flying above sizzling death, I'm entitled to speak my mind," Wally defended himself.

"My physiology, and M'gann's, are susceptible to extreme heat. We must climb out quickly," Kaldur ordered. 'Don't need to tell me that,' Krieg thought.

"Hello Megan! We never truly answered the question," M'gann suddenly realized. "Red Tornado sent us… to see if Mr. Nelson… and the Helmet… were safe!" that little shout seemed to do the trick, as a stone plate slid out over the pool of lava, allowing the team to safely set their feet on solid ground.

"Once again, I am reminded on why I hate sorcery," Krieg announced darkly as he glared suspiciously at the ground they were standing on, as if he expected it to betray them and dump them back into the lava at any second.

"Don't worry, Megalicious, I got you," Wally's annoying voice reminded Krieg that there was someone present to blame for this debacle. He saw Artemis approaching Wally with murder in her eyes, but Krieg roughly shoved her aside before she could reach her target. He received a surprised and accusing glare from the blonde, but he ignored it as he wordlessly marched up to Wally and punched him straight in the face. He did not even bother to deny it to himself; that one felt immensely satisfying, especially when the mutant feel flat on his backside while clutching his face.

"What was that for?!" he asked in anger as he glared up at the unmoving form of Krieg.

"For nearly killing all of us with your incompetence," Krieg answered monotonously as Wally climbed back up on his feet.

"When did this become my fault?" he asked defensively, causing Artemis to step up and glare at him.

"When you lied to that… whatever it was, and called yourself a true believer," she stated with fury written all over her face. By that point, it devolved into some useless debate on whether magic was real or not. Krieg really saw no point for that discussion. If the mutant was too dense to realize the truth and would rather live in ignorance, then it was not his problem. In any case, Krieg found something far more worthwhile to pay attention to, namely a trapdoor that seemed to lead out.

Problem was, it was in the floor. So according to logic, there would be nothing but lava on the other side. Then again, this Tower seemed almost like it was shaped by the hand of Tzeentch himself, so he guessed that logic did not hold that much of a sway here. Besides, it was not like they had anywhere else to go at this stage. So he approached the trapdoor and carefully ran a hand along its edges. No heat whatsoever. So far, so good.

"… Everything can be explained by science," that proved to be the end of the pointless discussion between the rest of the team, and only now did Krieg speak up again.

"Let the mutant live in his own willful ignorance if he so chooses. Our priority at the moment is getting out of here," he spoke before he grasped the handles on the trapdoor and heaved.

"Wait! The backdraft from the lava will roast us alive!" Wally cried out in alarm once he saw what Krieg intended. But in the end, he was too late, and received a draft of cold winter air mingled with snow when the trapdoor was opened.

"When foul sorcery is involved, science and logic no longer hold sway over our lives," Krieg said before he jumped through. Reluctantly, the others did the same, with Wally being the last. Behind them, the door vanished in a flash of golden light.

"Well?" Artemis suddenly questioned expectantly of Wally, clearly desiring an admission of being wrong from him. He was most adamant on not giving her the satisfaction.

"Ever heard of string theory? We're in a pocket dimension," he retorted. 'Idiots,' Krieg thought to himself. Once again, he found himself asking just what horrible crime he could have possibly committed to warrant such a cruel punishment like serving alongside these imbeciles. But in any case, he swiftly lost interest in their bickering again, being instead more interested in the strange cane floating in the air by its own power. Cautiously, he approached it, hearing Wally making some snide comment about "Nelson's magic wand" behind his back.

"What the hell is a cane doing here?" Krieg asked himself as he grasped it in his hand. But when he attempted to pull the cane closer for inspection, he found that it would not budge so much as an inch. Worse, he could no longer let go of it.

"What the…" he had just enough time to say before he was airborne and vanished in a flash of golden light.

Travel through mystic means was never a pleasant sensation for Krieg. His trip through the Warp had been the most horrid experience in his life, and he prayed day after day that he would never have to experience it again. This sudden teleportation he was just subjected to was by no means an enjoyable experience, but at least it was over before he even knew it, and he was not left as dazed and confused as his Warp trip had.

The first thing he became aware of was his surroundings, and they just served to fortify his belief that Tzeentch himself had a hand in this place's construction. The second thing was a trio of peculiar people standing sideways above him. Yes, sideways above him. This place just had no sense of logic to it.

One of them was an elderly man lying bound on the floor… wall… thing, and Krieg instantly recognized him as Nelson. The second one was a pale young boy dressed almost like an old-school puritan with a cat in his arms and a hairstyle resembling a pair of horns. Kids these days. But it was the third one that struck Krieg as the most bizarre, dressed in a white and transparent set of clothes that seemed to belong in a 19th century museum with a cane and top hat. What truly set him apart from the others was the lack of flesh. Where his head was supposed to be, there was naught but empty air, except a monocle hovering over the area an eye should have been.

This was truly a bizarre place.

Sadly, as he had spotted the trio, so too had they spotted him, with varying reactions. The ghost-like gentleman was impossible to determine what he thought, the puritan kid looked annoyed, and Nelson looked amused and relieved.

"Well, would you look at that," he commented, right before both him and the cane Krieg held began to glow with a golden light. Before anyone knew what was even happening, Nelson was levitating off the ground and blasted past his two captors like a missile. He landed right in front of Krieg and grasped his cane, causing his bindings to dissolve.

"In here!" he urged as an elevator door appeared behind Krieg. He was sorely tempted to decline using such foul means of transportation, but one look at the pair of creatures Nelson had just escaped from made him swallow his pride and enter the elevator.

"No, no, no! I want Fate's helmet! I want it! I want it! I want it! Gentleman Ghost, stop them!" that pale kid screamed with the most whiny tone Krieg had ever heard. 'Brat,' thankfully, any other annoying screams that kid may have uttered were silenced when the elevator doors closed. A calm and quiet melody began playing as the two of them, Krieg and Nelson, stood together in a short and awkward silence.

"I'm Kent Nelson, by the way," Nelson introduced himself at last, breaking the silence to Krieg's irritation.

"Krieg," was all he said in return. The fact that he was standing next to a blasphemous sorcerer was not having positive effects on his psyche.

"Well, Krieg, we're up against an opponent with tremendous mystic power here," Nelson continued, ignorant of the waves of hostility that was rolling out of Krieg.

"Who exactly? The pale one or the transparent one?" he asked. He may not like Nelson in the least, but he needed all the information he could get on his new opponents on this day.

"Well, technically they are both using mystical means, but Gentleman Ghost, that's the transparent one, is just a stubborn ghost who refuses to pass on to the afterlife for some reason. The one I was referring to was Klarion the Witch Boy, the kid with the cat, who's an actual Lord of Chaos, the ultimate enemy of a Lord of Order, like Doctor Fate," now that last bit really caught Krieg's attention.

"Did you say Lord of Chaos?" he questioned with a hint of alarm coloring his words, something Nelson was quick to notice.

"You've heard of them before," he stated, more than a bit surprised. After all, few people outside of the occult business had that much of an insight on matters of sorcery.

"Yes, I have heard of them. I have even fought their depraved servants in the past," Krieg answered coldly, remembering that fateful battle that dumbed him into this world.

"Then you know the dangers that Chaos presents, and why we can't allow Klarion to get what he's after," Nelson warned. And that raised an important question in Krieg's mind.

"What is he after exactly?" he inquired, already suspecting that it could not be good if a vile creature of Chaos was after it.

"The Helmet of Fate, the source of Doctor Fate's power. And if Klarion get his sticky little mits on it, he'll turn the planet into his own personal playground of pandemonium," well, that did not sound pleasant. Then again, it was a Warp spawn they were dealing with.

"Very well, then we need to get rid of this Klarion. What keeps him anchored to the physical world?" Krieg continued to ask as he ejected all bullets in his shotgun. Nelson raised a skeptical eyebrow at his actions but chose not to comment on them.

"Don't know for certain here. Doctor Fate is bound to the helmet and uses a human host, but that's not how Klarion do things," wonderful, so they had no idea how to banish that abominable thing back to the pit that spat it out. But there was still one last question Krieg wanted answered.

"You said that Doctor Fate was a, what was it, a Lord of Order?" he asked skeptically. It sounded preposterous to his ears. Only the Emperor's divine power could stand for true order in the universe, all else were just deceitful imposters seeking to enslave or destroy mankind.

"That's correct. A Lord of Order stands as a counterbalance against a Lord of Chaos, to always fight for order and justice, to protect the world against Chaos and anarchy," there was a definite hint of fierce pride behind Nelson's words. Still, Krieg was not fully convinced. Noble as its cause may be, it reeked too much of foul sorcery for Krieg's taste.

"Then let us test its resolve today," Krieg eventually said as he reloaded his shotgun with red rounds. And right on cue, the elevator reached its destination and its doors opened up. What greeted them was a huge golden bell, its purpose a mystery to Krieg. And once again, with impeccable timing, the rest of his team arrived, tumbling through a doorway that appeared above them and landing in one big pile.

"Friends of yours?" Nelson asked humorously as he glanced at the team. There were a myriad of responses Krieg wanted to utter at that moment, none of which were kind or flattering. Sadly, he was never given a chance to answer before a pair of flaming bullets nearly struck him and Nelson down. Turning to where the shots came from, Krieg found Klarion and Gentleman Ghost facing them, the latter holding a pair of flintlock pistols in his hands. Now normally, flintlock weapons could only carry one bullet, so logic dictated that the ghost was out of ammunition. But then again, this place was hardly the kind that valued logic, and that fact was once again proven right when the infernal ghost opened fire again, his flintlocks spitting out bullet after bullet.

"Quick, we must hurry!" Nelson urged on as he hobbled towards the bell, Krieg reluctantly following. Nelson struck the bell once with his cane, and it began glowing a golden light, only increasing Krieg's misgivings. Nevertheless, when Nelson stepped into the ball and vanished, Krieg followed suit. The pair found themselves standing atop the roof of the Tower, with what Krieg assumed was the Helmet of Fate appearing before them.

"So we have the helmet, now what?" Krieg asked impatiently. All this sorcery was making him extremely uncomfortable. It only worsened when he found Klarion appearing on the roof as well, with red energy crackling from his fingertips. Krieg reacted instantly by tackling Nelson aside, seconds before a bolt of red energy struck where the old man would have otherwise stood.

Battle instincts instantly took over, and all else in the world lost its meaning to Krieg. There was no team, no Nelson, no Justice League, no humanity to save. There was only him, and his enemy. And Krieg was planning on cutting that number in half. The second he hit the ground, Krieg turned it into a roll that brought him into a kneeling position, shotgun at the ready and already aimed at Klarion. With no remorse or even a second thought, he fired, the buckshots slamming into the unprepared and unarmored Klarion and ripping gaping holes in his body.

The creature screamed in pain as foul energy spilled out of his wounds, but he would not fall, no matter how many shots Krieg pumped into him. His seventh and final shot went right through the creature's skull, splattering the stones behind it with what passed as a brain in this abomination. The Warp creature screamed and writhed in agony, yet it refused to leave the mortal world, and Krieg watched with revulsion how its broken and bleeding body was mended by its unholy power. Krieg felt a sneer forming on his lips as the creature literally pulled itself back together.

"Infernal Warp spawn," he spat out in contempt. And as Klarion's body was finally whole again, the creature glared with utter hatred at Krieg.

"You damn skull face, that one hurt!" he screamed like a petulant child before letting lose with a torrent of unholy flames, seeking to burn Krieg into oblivion. Battle instincts honed by years of near constant battle and training saved his life as he dove out of the way, snatching the Helmet of Fate up along the way. Never in a million years would he let a creature of the Warp acquire such a potent weapon. Though as it turned out, Nelson had not been as fortunate as Krieg, and was now ensnared in vile tendrils of red energy emerging from Klarion's fingertips. 'Useless old man,'

"Alright, skull face. Hand over the helmet right now," he ordered with a sneer. Krieg reacted to the order by tightening his hold on the helmet.

"And why should I ever do such a foolish thing," he asked, glaring daggers at Klarion.

"Because if you don't, I'll kill this old geezer right here," the Warp fiend announced with a wicked smile as he tightened his hand into a fist, the tendrils restraining Nelson obeying the command and tightening as well. It brought out a moan of pain from Nelson as his old bones creaked under the pressure. Krieg was unmoved.

"Go ahead, kill him for all I care," he replied nonchalantly, receiving possibly one of the most surprised looks ever. One that unfortunately swiftly turned to skepticism.

"You're bluffing. You're a hero, and your kind always has to save every possible life," he sneered at Krieg. The only response Krieg gave him was by reloading his shotgun. That was an action that Klarion had most certainly not expected.

"You wouldn't dare," he challenged, and Krieg accepted the challenge by ramming the last round in and taking aim at Klarion again. The abomination just laughed at his action.

"It's useless! Even if you're willing to sacrifice the old fart here, you still can't hurt me! I'll just kill the both of you and then take the helmet!" he arrogantly proclaimed as his free hand became encased in foul red energies. It was at that moment that Klarion's cat decided to remind its master of its presence as it let out a mew. Understandably, Krieg had no idea what it said, but apparently Klarion did as he glared at the cat in irritation.

"Look, I've got it all under control here, there's no way a mere mortal can beat me," he boasted. It was then that Krieg was struck by an idea. From what little Nelson knew, it appeared like Klarion was not possessing a human body to remain here, so he must have possessed another mean to stay anchored to a realm that rejected his kind. And maybe that anchor was a whole lot closer than he had first suspected. 'Well, it's not like I have a better idea anyway,' Krieg thought to himself before he adjusted his aim and pulled the trigger.

Occupied by his argument with his cat, Klarion did not react in time, and so was forced to watch helplessly as his cat's front left leg was blown off by Krieg's marksmanship. 'Shame, meant to hit it in the head,' Krieg thought dispassionately as he ejected the spent cartridge. Klarion on the other hand had a much more violent reaction.

"TEEKL!" he cried out in dismay before he rounded on Krieg with eyes literally aflame with burning hatred. "I can't believe you would assault a defenseless pussycat!" at this, Krieg could not help but scoff.

"Curious, a Warp spawn is lecturing me about harming something innocent. Truly, it must be irony at its finest," he remarked coldly as he noted that Klarion's body was beginning to flicker in and out of existence. "And it seemed my hunch was correct. That cat is what allows you to maintain a physical form in this world. And without it, you will be sent back to whatever pit you crawled out of," with that said he aimed at the cat once again. This time however, Klarion was faster as he teleported over to his cat and snatched it up in his arms.

"We're out of here!" he cried out in alarm before a portal opened up and swallowed both him and the cat. That left Krieg the only one still standing. With the threat gone, he hung his shotgun over his shoulder.

"It seems like the enemy has retreated. The Helmet of Fate is safe," he declared as he turned to Nelson. He found a lifeless corpse lying on the floor. Leisurely approaching it, Krieg made a quick check of the body. 'Multiple bones crushed or broken, including spine and neck. Klarion must have unknowingly tightened his hold too much at some point,' he remarked to himself without an ounce of remorse. In his eyes, it was one less sorcerer to pollute this Earth with his tainted presence. And that only left the Helmet itself to be dealt with.

As he lifted it up in plain sight, he contemplated what to do. Years of devotion told him to destroy this heretical tool, to prevent the evils of the world to use it for their twisted schemes. But another part of him was thinking differently, was telling him to preserve it. For as Nelson had assured him, it was a tool to fight the influence of Chaos. Had he still been with the Death Korps, he would have destroyed it without a second thought. But times had changed, and he had unfortunately changed with them.

"You may not be of the Emperor's divine light, but you'll have to do for this backwater Earth," he spoke out loud before he stuffed the helmet inside his backpack. But it was then he was struck with a sudden thought.

"How the hell am I supposed to get down from here?" he asked.

As Krieg had almost expected, Batman was waiting for them when they returned to the Cave. And as usual, he desired a thorough report on their mission. Exchanges of information revealed that Gentleman Ghost had retreated once it became clear that Klarion had been defeated, while a few leaguers were dispatched to retrieve Nelson's body for a proper funeral. As they had all told their parts of the story, Batman had silently listened on without interrupting. It was only with Krieg that he showed skepticism.

"And this is what really happened?" he asked dubiously while narrowing his eyes at Krieg, who for his part restrained from letting out an annoyed sigh.

"Yes, Klarion attacked us with an unknown spell. I was able to evade it, whilst Nelson was too slow and died before I could rescue him. I then deduced Klarion's weakness and exploited it to force the creature to retreat," he repeated tonelessly. Honestly, why was Batman so suspicious of him, and not the others? But thankfully, Batman had no way of proving Krieg a liar, and so dismissed them, after he confiscated the Helmet of Fate. Krieg was unsure whether it was a good thing or not that such a potent weapon was in the hands of the Justice League.

"Hey, Krieg," Superboy suddenly spoke up as the team gathered in the living room for some relaxation, something Krieg was most eager to get away from. "Didn't you make a promise back at the Tower of Fate?" at first, he had no idea what the xeno clone was referring to. But then he finally remembered.

"Oh right, I almost forgot. I will be back in a moment," he announced before rushing out of the living room, to the confusion of most of his teammates.

"Okay, what was that about?" Wally asked in puzzlement. He received a very mischievous grin from Superboy, one that certainly did not make him feel any safer.

"When you screwed things over and nearly killed us all, Krieg swore that if we survived, he would sew your mouth shut," he said in amusement. It brought out a nervous laugh from Wally as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Funny guy. but he must have been joking," he tried to reason. It was at that moment that Krieg returned, a needle in one hand and thread in the other.

"Now hold still, Wally, and this will be over relatively swiftly," he spoke coldly as he began advancing towards the speedster. Said speedster's reaction was by becoming several shades paler, utter a very high-pitched "eep" and then run away like someone had set his ass on fire. Krieg wasted no time in rushing after him, to the mixed amusement of his team.

"Shouldn't… shouldn't we stop him?" M'gann asked in equal amount of worry and confusion. The team just looked at her, then they looked at each other.

"Nah," they all uttered lazily before they took their seats around the television. As they saw it, Wally deserved to sweat a little after the trouble he caused them. Besides, it was not like Krieg would really sew his mouth shut if he caught him, right?

Right?

Annoying Klarion is not a difficult task. Just say you will not allow him to have his fun, and he will be annoyed with you for a short while. To make him angry is not difficult either. All you need to do is stop him from actually doing what he wants. But to make him absolutely livid, to make him hate you, that is very difficult. For a Lord of Chaos, holding grudges against mortals are rarely worth it, for time will often destroy said mortal anyway. But Krieg had done just that now. He had stirred Klarion's rage like never before.

Only Nabu had ever before been able to bring out such fierce hatred out of Klarion, and now a mere mortal had done so. As Klarion's portal deposited him in one of the Light's safe houses, he felt an overwhelming urge to destroy something, to utterly atomize the first thing he caught sight of. But above all, he wished that the first object he saw would be that skull faced boy.

"The next time I see that little shit, I'll burn him from the inside out!" he swore to himself whilst stroking his cat Teekl, whimpering in pain from the wounds sustained. Mocking applauds answered his promise.

"The great Klarion, beaten by a mere mortal. How amusing," a smooth and slithering voice mocked him from the shadows, causing Klarion to ignite sorcerous flames in his free hand.

"Whose there? Show yourself!" he ordered as he glared around the room, which he only now noticed were unnaturally dark.

"As you wish," the mysterious intruder said before he stepped out of the shadows. Klarion found himself facing a giant in red armor, clutching a strange staff with an oh-so familiar symbol at the top.

"You reek of the Warp, and you carry the symbol of the Four," Klarion hissed out as he glared with hatred at the intruder, whose only reaction was to laugh at him.

"I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Azkillon, sorcerer of Chaos and messenger of the Chaos Gods," he introduced himself with an overly dramatic bow. Klarion just sneered at him.

"So you're one of those fanatical slaves those old geezers like to play around with," he taunted. If Azkillon was affected by it, he did not let it show.

"You are hardly one to talk here, child of the Warp, especially after denying my masters such a grand prize as this," he admonished. "And you sure have tried your best. First you tried to steal that Chaos amulet, to prevent anyone else from coming through. When that failed, you sought to claim the Helmet of Fate, to give you the power necessary to keep us out. And yet in the end, it has all failed, and Chaos will bloom across this Earth," his gloating only served to increase Klarion's already great anger towards him.

"Though I must admit that you greatly confuse me. You found a way into this world. You found a way to break the wall between worlds. You could have gained much power by leading an invasion here. But instead of opening the way for glorious Chaos to engulf this world, you closed the way off and kept it to yourself. Why?" the sudden inquiry temporarily threw Klarion for a loop, but he recovered swiftly and gave an appropriate response.

"I may be a daemon of the Warp, just like your stupid masters, but even I have standards. I exist only to spread Chaos for my own amusement, but where would the fun be in spreading Chaos if the whole world is swallowed by Chaos? Where's the fun in terrorizing a world that's been destroyed?" Klarion asked rhetorically. To him, Earth was his playground to amuse himself in. the Ruinous Powers would just simply destroy his playground in their stupid war against reality, and that would be no fun at all.

"I suppose it doesn't matter in the end. I am here now, and I will do what you failed to do. And I'm sure that my masters would be thrilled at meeting you again, after all this time," Azkillon taunted. That proved to be the last straw for Klarion, as he unleashed all his pent up power in a destructive blast straight at Azkillon. The floor melted, what little furniture present incinerated, the walls cracked and a deafening explosion shook the building to its very foundations. Azkillon was completely unharmed. Klarion was absolutely stunned, for a few seconds at least before he realized the truth.

"An illusion," he accused with narrow eyes, bringing out even more mocking laughter from Azkillon.

"Did you really think I would be so foolish as to face a daemon of the Warp openly like this? No, I may carry the favor of the Gods, but I'm not going to put that favor to the test just yet. But do not fear, for we will meet again. And next time, I will bring the full wrath of the Chaos Gods down upon your treacherous head," those were the last words Azkillon uttered before he vanished altogether, leaving Klarion and Teekl alone in the demolished room.

And for the first time since settling in on this Earth, Klarion felt terror. Not at this Azkillon. No, never in a thousand years would a mere puppet like him scare Klarion to such an extent. It was the puppeteers who were pulling the strings that had Klarion terrified, for it was a reason that they were considered Gods in the Warp. And who knew what horrible punishment they would inflict upon him should they capture him. After all, he had betrayed them for his own selfish desires, and the Ruinous Powers never looked faithfully upon anyone who betrayed them.

To finish this chapter off, i have a few announcements to make.

Firstly, i was highly dissapointed in this chapter, only included it because it addressed Klarion's connection to the Warp.

Secondly, I'll be taking a break from fanfiction. for well over year now, I've been trying to write my own book, but I haven't gotten very far as I've devoted most of my energy on writing my fanfics. For this reason, I'm going to focus most of my time and energy on writing my book. This means that all my fanfics will be placed on temporary hiatus for a few months.

I hope you can be patient for about two or three months.