Chapter 26: The Slow Descent

Word Count : 12347

The freedom of speech was a bit of a double-edged sword in many cases. On one hand, it was a privilege, a way for every man and woman to freely and openly express their varying beliefs and ideologies. It allowed for people with great idea to express them without fear of persecution. But on the other hand, it was also a tool for radicals and haters to spread their words of aggression and intolerance, a means for them to be heard without anyone being able to stop them.

"This is G. Gordon Godfrey, reporting live from Washington DC, for a funding raised by the Justice League to help the poor and the homeless. Hah, more like another one of the League's attempts to make us spend our hard-earned money to clean up their messes. Honestly, if they can afford that fancy HQ of their, then surely they could afford this as well," depending on who you asked, Godfrey could belong to either of these two groups.

"Oh, I know what you're thinking right now, 'old G. Gordon doesn't care about all the people who have lost their homes, why do I even listen to him?'. But don't you see, most of these homeless are that way because of the League. Laying waste to entire neighborhoods in their endless battles, only to send the villains in jail for a few months before they do the whole thing all over again," the fact that he was standing in a cheering and happy crowd did not stop Godfrey from absolutely shredding the League in front of the camera man.

"How long are we going to stand for this exactly? How long are we going to let the Justice League keep running the show like they are the police when they are not actually doing a police's work?" even as the announcement that the funding was about to begin could be heard in the background, Godfrey lost none of his steam as he just kept on talking.

"Some might say that I'm ruining the mood here, but I say that I'm-" and that was when the obligatory criminal attack that occurred whenever a large sum of money was involved began. Explosions that tore doors off their hinges heralded the arrival of multiple armed gunmen, who began firing wildly at anyone who even looked funny at them, killing multiple guards and innocents. Pandemonium ensued as terrified civilians tried to flee the slaughter like a stampeding herd.

"Come on, move it! This is a golden opportunity," but Godfrey was not part of that herd, as he pushed and shoved to get closer to the action, his camera man reluctantly following him along.

"Do you see, folks? This is what happens every freaking time the League sticks their noses into something!" and yet even now, with hundreds of people fleeing past him in terror and almost knocking him over, Godfrey still had the time and energy to trash talk the Justice League. One had to admire his commitment on that front. Energy blasts suddenly began to fly all over the place, and a very banshee-like scream nearly deafened multiple bystanders. The Justice League had just engaged the attackers.

"You're falling behind, hurry it up!" Godfrey shouted to his camera man as he fearlessly pushed on through the much thinner crowd. Though it seemed like he may have pushed a bit too far, as he suddenly found himself face-to-face with multiple armed hostiles, and none of them looked friendly in the least.

"Hey, ain't that G. Gordon Godfrey?" one of them asked curiously while pointing his gun at Godfrey.

"You know what, I think it is," another commented. Godfrey meanwhile was beginning to wonder if maybe discretion was the better part of valor after all as he was trying to find a way out.

"No matter, just shoot him," those plans were promptly shattered as five guns were pointed at him.

"Do we really have to? I kinda like his show," one of the gunmen complained.

"Just shut it and pull the trigger," the apparent leader ordered irritably, right before he took a rubber bullet to the face, sending him to the ground unconscious with a shattered nose. The next instant, Krieg was in their midst, and the pain started for them.

"You getting this?" Godfrey asked urgently, eyes never leaving the fight. This was golden footage for him. Krieg meanwhile was either unaware or uncaring of the fact that he had an audience as he drove a knee up between the legs of one enemy before an elbow left him knocked out on the floor. Another tried to shoot him at point-bank range, but Krieg was faster as he dodged underneath his gun. Ramming the barrel of his own shotgun into the gunman's stomach, his return shot most definitively did not miss.

Yet another tried attacking from behind, thinking a knife would do the trick. Krieg proved him wrong as he spun around, grabbed the offending appendage, broke it at the elbow and slammed the hand still clutching the knife into the attacker's own shoulder. A swift kick to the stomach knocked the screaming thug back and allowed Krieg to draw his kukri. Charging straight at the remaining enemies, he took a few bullets to his chest, barely flinching as the Kevlar absorbed the bullets.

He ducked under a gun swung like a bat to drive his kukri straight through a knee, coming back up with an uppercut to the knee's owner before delivering a roundhouse kick to the one to the left to him and driving his elbow into the one to the right. A fourth enemy drew a gun to shoot him, he took a kick to the knee that shattered it and a blow to the shoulder that dislocated it. His head was then used as a weapon as it was slammed into the fifth thug, knocking them both out.

With a momentarily lull in fighting, Krieg was able to retrieve his kukri, and then he had two enemies attacking at the same time. He used his kukri to parry a knife thrust from the first one while grabbing the second one with his electric glove and cranking up the voltages. Poor guy ended up screaming like a little girl as he received an Einstein-like hairstyle, and then he fell over once Krieg let him go.

With his comrade neutralized, the second attacker began backing off uncertainly. Krieg though was not about to let him get away as he surged forward, driving his kukri into his shoulder before grabbing his head and head-butting him one, two, three times. Once Krieg's grip vanished, he crumbled to the ground like a boneless fish, but he was still conscious. An error that Krieg fully intended to fix as he placed a boot to his throat. Eyes wide with fright, the thug began squirming in desperation as his precious oxygen stopped flowing to his lungs. He feebly clawed at the boot pressing down on his throat, but Krieg did not relent.

"Degenerate filth," he muttered to himself in disgust as he finally lifted his boot, only to position it right above the thug's head. However, before he could deal the final knock-out blow, a slender but firm hand grabbed his shoulder, dragging him back and away from his victim. Surprised at first, Krieg spun around with the intent of beating his surprise attacker. But he stopped himself when he saw who his attacker was.

"Enough, Krieg. You've already won, there's no more need to beat him up," Black Canary admonished him with a disapproving frown on her face. Though his face remained as stoic as ever, inwardly he could not help but groan in exasperation. 'By the Emperor, not this again,'

"We are dealing with armed hostiles who have already killed multiple innocent in the crossfire. Showing leniency towards them like this would be a sign of weakness for us, a sign that we dare not deal with them the way we need to," Krieg tried to defend himself. Of course, he should have known it would be pointless.

"We've been over this a hundred times already, we do not kill our enemies. We can't call ourselves heroes if we became the same murdering scum we are fighting against," Black Canary countered, hands on her hips as she leveled a glare at Krieg. 'When will he learn? When will he realize that killing is not the way to do things?' she asked herself in worry. She cared for him, she really did, but he was stubbornly refusing to see reason in this matter, no matter how often they talked about it.

"I'm sure that will work as a nice consolation for the dozens of families who will be burying their loved ones during the coming weeks," Krieg retorted. 'Of all the social skills in existence, why did he have to learn sarcasm?' Black Canary asked herself in annoyance.

"Killing them won't undo what they've done, nor will it make things better," she tried to explain. She might as well have been talking with a wall.

"Putting an end to a threat will always make it better," Krieg stated.

"No, it won't, it will only leave room for someone worse to take its place," she could instantly see that Krieg had every intention to continue arguing, so she cut him off. "I know you don't like it this way, but the Justice League won't budge on this matter. The way we do things might not be perfect, but it is the best way," with that said, Black Canary walked away, probably intending to organize something with the rest of the League. She left a highly disgruntled Krieg in her wake, who glared at her retreating form while tightening his fists.

"And who gave the Justice League the right to decide what's best for us?" he asked out loud, even though Black Canary was well out of hearing range. But there was someone else who had heard him, who had in fact heard the entire argument between the two of them and even caught it on camera.

"Well, would you look at that," Godfrey commented as Krieg also walked away. "Seems like there's at least one hero out there with some common sense,"

Damage control was always the hardest part of the job. Having to clean away the dead, watching their lifeless eyes gazing at nothing, silently asking why none could save them. It was the hardest for heroes such as Captain Atom, who possessed power beyond what any normal human could wield, and yet were still unable to prevent further death and suffering. It was thus with a heavy heart that the Captain walked through the rubble, watching as the dead and dying were carried away, watching as those still living grieved the loss of their loved ones.

"Countless dead, and about half of the attackers arrested. Another victory for the side of good, eh?" what made it worse was the infernal voice was back. Even worse, he could not even counter it, because the voice was right.

"All these deaths, and there's nothing we can do about it," Captain Atom spoke quietly to himself in regret. For years had he faithfully served with the Justice League, fighting for a cause he believed with all his heart was the right one. Now, as he watched a father trying to comfort his five year old daughter as the mother's corpse lied just behind him, the Captain was not so sure anymore.

"You know, it's interesting how the Justice League claims to protect the world, yet this still happens under their watch. Shouldn't you have learnt by now?" the voice inquired curiously. Captain Atom dearly wished to defend the League, but whatever argument he came up with felt so hollow as he walked among the dead. But it was as he kept walking aimlessly that a commotion caught his attention.

Two policemen were struggling to hold back a woman who kept lunging at a handcuffed terrorist, hatred burning in her eyes like an out of control inferno as she screamed and raged. And that must have been quite a strong woman, as the policemen barely managed to hold her back. Acting quickly, Captain Atom strode up to them and with but one hand on her shoulder managed to hold the woman back.

"That's enough, let the police do their job," he tried to order, but the woman just became even more infuriated.

"Let me go! Let me go! I'll kill him, I'll kill that bastard with my bare hands!" she screamed in anger, tears freely flowing down her cheeks.

"There no need for that. He's been caught, and he will face justice for what he's done," Captain Atom explained sternly. Alas, the woman would not listen to him.

"I don't care! He killed my husband, he killed my sweet little daughter! She was only six years old!" she screamed in anguish. At those words, Captain Atom lost some of his sternness, his face softening in sympathy.

"I'm sorry for you loss, but you can't just kill him. Let the law handle this," he spoke soothingly, only causing the woman to laugh bitterly at him.

"The law? What will the law do? I'm the one who's lost it all, it should be me that makes him face justice!" she told him.

"I know how you're feeling, but this is not the right way," Captain Atom attempted to reason. To no avail.

"What would you know about how I feel? You're not even human!" she snapped at him. It stunned him into silence, and allowed the woman to wrench her arm free and run away from him. He barely noticed. Whether she knew it or not, that last remark had struck far too close to comfort. "You're not human," that was something that haunted him for years every time he looked in a mirror. He could still remember the days following the incident, how he came so close to plunging into despair.

The Justice League had managed to drive his fears and uncertainties away, had given him a sense of belonging and camaraderie. But that one comment from the woman was enough to drag those fears and uncertainties back to the surface. 'Don't listen to those words. You're still human. If not in body then at least in mind,' he tried quoting the words spoken by his comrades in years long since passed.

"But how do you know that? How can you be sure that you're still human? You're physical body is long since gone, and all you have are the memories and feelings from when you were human," the insidious voice spoke yet again, driving further doubts into his mind like burning knives.

"Shut up!" Captain Atom snarled in rage, but the damage was done. Now he could not stop asking himself whether it was true or not, even as he tried telling himself that it was not true.

"Uhm, sir?" a policeman standing close to him asked fearfully, discreetly trying to move away from him. It was only then that Captain Atom realized he had snapped at the voice out loud for everyone to hear. He quickly schooled his features and tried to bury his thoughts, with limited success.

"Just get these criminals locked away," he instructed before flying away. The cops just shrugged their shoulders and set about doing as instructed. Within minutes they had all of them loaded up in police vans for transports. It was as one of the cops began closing the doors that one of the criminals suddenly made direct eye contact before pointedly looking down at his own wrist. Following the criminal's eye movement, the cop found that he had drawn back his sleeve to expose an eight-pointed star tattooed on his wrist. The cop said nothing, instead he drew back his own sleeve to expose a similar tattoo before quickly covering it up again and closing the doors.

"Recognized, Captain Atom, 12," sometimes, he could not help but wonder who the hell came up with that whole "announce who's getting teleported" thing. It certainly grew annoying after hearing it for quite a few years.

"Hey, captain, good to see you again!" a jovial voice called out, right before its owner walked up to him.

"Green Arrow, good to see that you're still in one piece. All these shifts and emergencies make it hard to keep in touch with everyone," Captain Atom greeted with a small smile.

"All too true. Sometimes I'm not even sure if I know the exact number of members we actually have," what started out as a cheerful tone then turned more somber. "I heard what happened down in Washington. Sounds like it was quite the mess," Captain Atom could only nod his head in acknowledgement.

"You have no idea," he answered as the gruesome images resurfaced in his mind. And with them, came the doubts.

"Any idea who those guys were and what their goal was?" Green Arrow asked, completely oblivious to what was going through Captain Atom's mind at that point.

"No, not yet," was all he said on the matter. And he never even asked himself what the point had been, he was too busy trying to push away his darker thoughts. 'Why must they always crop up when I least want them?' he could not help but ask himself.

"Well, I'm sure that we'll get to them eventually," Green Arrow spoke up again, trying to bring some cheerfulness back. It had limited success. "Anyway, I guess I'll see you around. I'm gonna go and see if there's something edible in the mess hall," but just as the archer was about to walk away, a thought struck Captain Atom. He knew it was stupid, but he just could not stop himself.

"Mind if I join you?" he blurted out, earning himself a surprised look from Green Arrow.

"You want to come along?" he asked in confusion. "I thought you couldn't really eat because of your… well…" he did not say it out loud, probably in a vain attempt at appearing polite, but the way he kept glancing at the silver suit, that served as both skin and containment unit for what his body has been reduced to, gave his thoughts away. He really should have expected such an answer. As a matter of fact, he had expected it. He would have actually been surprised if Green Arrow had agreed without comment. So why did it still hurt so much?

"Never mind, it was a stupid idea anyway," he said dismissively as he walked away, never even giving Green Arrow a chance to answer. Really, Green Arrow's reaction should not have affected him so deeply. After all, why would he not be confused? Captain Atom requires no form of substance anymore, what with being nothing more than pure radioactive power with a human conscience.

"Always looking to you when there's an enemy to beat, but acting confused when you want to join them like a normal human," the silky voice whispered sinisterly in his mind, burrowing its way into the deepest and darkest parts of the Captain's mind and latching on like a parasite. He did not answer to the accusation, mostly because he could not without the retort feeling like a weak lie.

"It's nothing wrong, nothing at all. It should not affect me. I'm still a member of the Justice League, and they're my comrades," he mumbled to himself, trying to convince himself more of that fact than the voice. It was not as effective as he had hoped.

This was hell. There was no doubt about it, this was the cruelest depth of hell that mere mortals could be condemned to. In this infernal hellhole, there also existed a never-ending torture of the kind that would make the likes of Joker and Victor Zsasz pale in terror. The hellhole? Juvenile detention center. The torture? Psychiatric treatment.

"Good morning, Mia. You feeling calm enough to resume where we left off yesterday?" the ever kind and polite tormentor asked the teenage blonde seated in an armchair opposite her. Said blonde's only response was by glaring at the middle aged woman with pure murder burning in her eyes while giving her handcuffs a few violent tugs, an action that had the four guards present tensing in anticipation. This all combined to make the psychiatrist remove her glasses to tiredly rub her eyes.

"Your temper and aggression won't make it better, dear. This would all be much easier for yourself if you cooperated," she pointed out to the blonde. Still no response beyond glaring. Honestly, Mia had no idea why they were even bothering with this bullshit. Really, it should have been obvious by now that putting her through this was a bad idea. Handcuffing her to the armchair became mandatory after she nearly strangled her first psychiatrist, and guards were then added after she somehow broke loose and added her second psychiatrist to the hospital. Those guards were then upgraded with Tasers, pepper spray and batons after her third outburst.

"I know this must be hard for you, but I'm trying to help you get through it, if you'd only let me," Mia was barely listening to the woman, her thoughts were on far greater matters. Namely, what landed her in this place, which were named Green Arrow and Artemis.

"Now, is there something special you would want to talk about?" every time she thought of those two, an uncontrollable rage would spring to life in her broken soul. Betrayed by the one man she looked up to, and then replaced by that little bitch. It still hurt her deeply whenever she thought about it.

"No? well then, I suppose I should get the ball rolling then," but that pain she felt at his betrayal only served to fuel her hatred, only served to goad her ever growing bloodlust to even greater heights.

"Did you ever know your parents?" a twitch was the only sign that Mia heard the question, but she still refused to say anything as her mind sank ever deeper into rage. She had been told time and again to resist her rage, but she no longer saw a point in it. Rage was good for her now, rage was what kept her stable. If it was not for rage, she would have broken down weeping a long time like a weakling.

"You see, I think your idolization of Green Arrow stems from the lack of a parental figure in your life, and so you latched onto the first one to show you genuine kindness," but Mia would not be weak, she would never be weak. Love had never helped her, kindness had never helped her, compassion had never helped her, nothing had ever helped her. Nothing but rage, which had made her strong enough to endure it all.

"And when he apparently rejected you, it must have felt like being rejected by your own parent," and she would only get stronger thanks to it. She needed nothing else in her life now, she learned that the hard way. Rage would drive her onward, it would be her strength for when she got out of this place.

"But you should really try to understand it from his point of view here, one where a stranger stalked him wherever he went and tried to grab his attention," understand? Ha! As if she would ever do that. No, there would be no understanding between them, there never could be now. There could only be rage, rage and blood.

"Sometimes, seeking to imitate someone you admire can actually be more damaging than admirable," for Mia would not stop until her bloodlust was sated. Her rage demanded that blood be shed for the strength it gave, rage needed her to kill and maim. And above all, her rage demanded vengeance.

"Admittedly, Green Arrow acted wrong when he kept rejecting you without giving you something else to strive for, but you yourself pushed it too far with your actions," she wanted vengeance, she needed vengeance. It was the only way to make the still lingering pain in her heart to go away. Green Arrow needed to pay, Artemis needed to pay. They both needed to pay for what they did to her, for locking her up in this hellhole. No, no they did not need to pay. They needed to DIE!

They needed to suffer a most agonizing death, they needed to be broken, they needed to beg for mercy, they needed to experience pain like never before. Yes, that must happen, Mia understood it now. Blood must be shed, skulls must be claimed, lives must be ended. It must be done, and Mia would see to it. Her rage would give her the strength to do it, it would sweep them all away like a tidal wave. Oh yes, she could see it before her already. They would scream, they would beg, and they would die.

"I think that, for you to be able to move forward with your life, you need to forgive him," that finally managed to provoke a reaction from Mia, as she suddenly lunged forward like a predator trying to pounce on a prey. The handcuffs stopped her from getting too close, but she still pulled and screamed like a caged animal, maniacal eyes locked onto the now terrified psychiatrist.

"I'LL NEVER FORGIVE HIM! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE HIM FOR WHAT HE DID! I HATE HIM, I HATE HIM MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS WORLD, AND I'LL MAKE HIM PAY! I'LL BREAK OUT OF HERE, I'LL FIND HIM, AND I'LL KILL HIM! MY HATRED CAN'T END WITH FORGIVNESS! NOT AFTER EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED! IT MUST END IN BLOOD!" she screamed like a complete lunatic, forcing the guards to rush in to secure her before she harmed herself or anyone else.

After multiple electric shocks and injections, they finally brought her back under control. Seeing as the psychiatrist was too shocked to say anything, the guards took it upon themselves to escort her out of the room and towards the mess hall, it was time for lunch anyway. During the way, Mia put up no form of resistance, the sedatives clouding her mind too much for that. But despite looking like she would keel over any second, and despite having four guards surrounding her, everyone shied away from her the second she stepped into the mess hall.

Somewhere in the drugged mind, she could sense the fearful glances thrown her way, could almost hear the terrified whispers, and it made her smile drunkenly. These pathetic fools had thought her to be easy meat when she first came here, thought they could push her around for their amusement. A bloody brawl that sent seven of them to the hospital in critical condition taught them otherwise. Even now, she could still remember the satisfaction of feeling bones breaking, of seeing blood flow freely across the floor. It never failed to cheer her up.

"Here ya go," one of the guards say as he gently sat her down at an empty table before another guard came over with a plate of food for her. Mia was still too dazed to do much else but stare stupidly at the food laid out for her. The guards did not seem overly concerned as they backed away to give her some time alone. They did not need to worry about keeping others away, none was foolish enough to approach her. Mia meanwhile spent about fifteen minutes just sitting there like a braindead moron before the drugs finally began to abate, at which point she slowly and sluggishly began to enjoy her meal.

Though it was up for debate whether the grey substance could even be called food in the first place. Sure as hell did not taste like it anyway. Oh well, it was edible, and Mia doubted this place would get any better cuisine than this. Just chew and swallow if you wanted to keep your strength up. And she intended to keep her strength, she would need it for when she broke out.

As her mind slowly began to clear up, her hatred resurfaced like a shark hungry for blood. A scowl that had almost been her default features for the better part of a week twisted her face as she glared at anything and everything. She hated this place, she hated everything about it. She wanted to burn it down, to kill everyone in it, to tear it all to pieces. Alas, she was too weak at the moment to do such a thing. Weak. The very word made her want to tear someone apart. She hated feeling weak, she hated being weak.

It was because she had been weak that she became a prostitute, it was because she had been weak that Green Arrow had to save her, and it was because she had been weak that they managed to lock her up her. Never again would she be weak, never again would anyone hurt her.

"Enjoying your meal?" someone suddenly asked cheerfully, right before said cheerful person plunked down in the seat opposite her. Mia felt more than saw all guards tensing in alarm, but unable to act unless something happened. Well, Mia was sure they would have reason to move any second now as she glared hatefully at the arrogant boy grinning smugly at her.

"If you don't walk away this very instant, I'll rip that smug smile off your face and break your neck," she hissed furiously. She was angry, and when she was angry she tried to kill someone. Yet the smug boy did not seem to take the oh so subtle hint and stayed put.

"My, my, aren't we grumpy today? Have you tried yoga? I've heard it helps to calm down," the boy answered as he leaned back in his seat. That did it in Mia's opinion, he was dying now. With that thought firmly lodged in her mind, she grabbed her cutlery and rose from her seat with murder in her eyes. Those cutlery may have been plastic, but she was sure she could make it work somehow.

"Now, now, there's no need for violence here, especially with all the guards around," the boy pointed out, making Mia aware of the multitude of guards converging on their table like moths to a flame. "So why don't you sit down and listen to me? I've got something very important to tell you after all,"

She still glared murderously at him, and wished more than anything to reach out and rip his throat wide open with her own teeth. But she knew a lost cause when she saw one, so she reluctantly sat back down. All across the mess hall, a collective sigh of relief rang out as everyone went back to wat they were doing. Mia cared not for any of that, her attention was solely fixated on the boy in front of her, still leaning back in his seat with that smug look on his face.

"Who are you? What do you want?" she snarled out at him, for it was only now she realized that she did not recognize him. Was he a new inmate here? If so, why the hell would he approach her of all people?

"Who I am doesn't matter, we won't see each other ever again after this anyway. What I want is to give you a message," he spoke confidently before leaning forward to lower his voice. "Someone of great power and wisdom has heard about you. He wishes to meet with you, face to face, to talk about something of great importance," sounded interesting, in a way. However…

"Why should I care about what this mystery man wants?" Mia asked dismissively. That caused the boy to lose his smug and arrogant look, to be replaced by a much more serious and affronted one.

"You should not speak of my lord in such a way. He's a great man, one that has helped me and many others find our way in life," he spoke reverently.

"Yeah, yeah, he sounds like a swell guy, but what could he offer that would benefit me?" Mia questioned dubiously. After all, she needed no one. She relied on none but herself. She needed only her rage, nothing else.

"You'd be surprised. Before he found me, I was naught but a street urchin, living off the garbage of society. But he saved me, he lifted me up from the filth and gave me a purpose in life that I could have never dreamt of. For my services, for my sacrifice, he has promised me a place in a paradise beyond my wildest imaginations," the boy explained. Mia almost felt disgusted by him. 'Oh great, a fanatic,' she thought to herself.

"Even if I wanted to meet this master of yours, I'm still locked up in here. Not like I can just stroll out of here for a chat with a complete stranger," Mia countered. That caused the boy to give her a knowing smile, one she did not like in the least.

"That will be no trouble. Just accept the offer to meet him, and we'll give you a chance to get out of here," he answered, receiving a dubious look from Mia.

"A chance?" she repeated with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, a chance. We'll give you the opportunity to escape, but it's up to you alone to actually get out of here," he elaborated. Some might think that was a bit cruel, to not actually help someone escape when they wanted to meet that someone, but Mia was okay with it. She wanted no help anyway, she could do it alone.

"Alright, I'm in," she said without hesitation. She did not care that much about meeting this mystery man, but she wanted out, and she would take any chance she could. The boy suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Excellent! Now you just sit tight while I take care of the rest," the spoke enthusiastically as he shook her hand. Mia, being too startled by the move, did nothing to stop him. Then, once he let go of her, he rose up from his seat.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mia. May the gods look favorably upon you as they are about to do to me," he said as a parting goodbye before turning around. He stopped himself though before he had even taken a single step and gave one last piece of advice to the still confused Mia. "Oh, and you might want to take cover,"

With that said, he confidently strode away, leaving a thoroughly befuddled Mia behind at the table. Nevertheless, she took his words to heart and crouched down on the floor, still able to watch the boy but ready to dive under the table should the need arise. The boy had meanwhile walked straight into the middle of the mess hall, where he loudly whistled.

"May I have your attention, please?" he calls out, gaining the attention of everyone present. Some of the guards even rested their hands on whatever weapon they were allowed to carry, in case trouble was afoot.

"You have all been blessed by a great opportunity, to serve a higher purpose than what you're doing now! Rejoice, for today you all join the true gods of this world!" the second he had said those words, he tore his shirt open, displaying the vest of explosives he wore underneath, right before he held a trigger aloft with a truly maniacal look in his eyes.

"FOR CHAOS!" he cried out before pressing the button.

Monitor duty could be a real pain sometimes. Just sitting around and waiting for some criminal to try their luck, it was universally accepted as one of the worse shifts to be handed. This was especially true for Captain Atom right now.

"You're not human, you're not human, you're not human, you're not human, you're not human, you're not human, you're not human," it kept repeating over and over in his mind, no matter how hard he tried to forget. It was not true, it could not be true, he was still human. He still thought like a human, felt like a human and acted like a human. But even then, it felt hollow. For others still had a sense of touch, others could enjoy food, others could experience the sensations of being alive.

Could Captain Atom do the same? No, he was no different than a machine in that regard, requiring neither sleep nor substance to keep going. Once again, that stab of jealousy that he thought he had gotten rid of years ago returned. He longed for that which he had been deprived of so long ago. He knew it was pointless to desire it, since he would never have it again.

"What makes you so sure of that?" that insidious voice asked of him, and he tried to best to ignore it, to not get a flame of hope going. He could not afford it at this point. He was a member of the Justice League, a proud defender of the weak and the innocent. He would not stray from his path, he could not stray.

"We shall see about that," the voice spoke again, though this time the Captain did not hear it. The captain meanwhile was begging for something, anything, to happen. He needed something to distract himself with, something that could help him drive away these damnable thoughts that poisoned his mind.

"Since when does the truth become poison?"

"Shut up," he whispered harshly as he tried blocking it all out. He got a nasty headache for his troubles that almost made his vision blur. 'What is wrong with me? Why can't I focus?' he asked himself as he rubbed his forehead, an action he could not even feel. That was when the alarm went off, and Captain Atom's attention was instantly switched to the monitors before him. The information that popped up did not inspire positive feelings.

"Oh no," he whispered with wide eyes, right before he was wildly at work checking who was available on board. Most leaguers were away on other business, but he thankfully found that two was still on hand.

"Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, meet me at the zeta tubes now! It's an emergency!" he urgently called before he flew off himself towards the zeta tubes. He arrived first, followed swiftly by the other two.

"What's going on?" Green Arrow asked worriedly, making Captain Atom grimace slightly. He knew that what he had to say would not please the billionaire archer in the least.

"There's been multiple suicide bombings in Star City, most of which has been centered on prisons and hospitals. Multiple convicts are on the loose and there's panic on the streets," he informed the duo. Wonder Woman definitively looked troubled, but she put her Amazonian training to good use by mastering her unease and remaining calm. Green Arrow on the other hand turned white as a sheet, with fear shining brightly in his eyes. Not fear for himself, but fear for the innocent of his beloved city.

"Then what are we waiting for?!" he cried out in a panic before rushing past the Captain, desperate to save his city. The Captain and Wonder Woman just shared one look between them before they too went in.

That had most certainly not been part of Mia's expectations, a suicide bombing in the middle of the mess hall. 'Who the hell would be that crazy?' was all she could ask as she slowly pushed the wide assortment of rubble off her dirty and battered form.

"Next time, wait until I've left the damn room," she hisses in anger at the crater that used to be her mysterious compatriot. Nevertheless, sitting around here and complaining to dead people would do her no good, so she hoisted herself back up despite the pain she was in. biting back a groan that threatened to break out, she surveyed her surroundings for a way out, and what she saw brought a smile to her lips.

There were bodies everywhere, torn to bloody shreds with blood and entrails smeared across the floor and walls. Many were dead, but some were still alive, moaning and wailing in pain from where they either laid pinned beneath rubble or in such a horrible condition that moving was all but impossible for them. It all made Mia's own blood sing with joy. The deaths, the carnage, the destruction, it was perfect to her. It was something she had dreamt of seeing for so long.

But this was not the time to admire all these deaths, she reminded herself. She still needed to escape. So with that thought in mind, she made a hasty retreat towards the nearest exit. Every step of the way hurt for her sore body, but she ignored the pain and pushed onward. She had endued far worse after all. Luckily for her, the whole place seemed to be in a state of anarchy. Apparently that nutcase back at the mess hall had not been alone. But that just made it all the easier to slip through the corridors unnoticed.

The whole way, she dreamt of what she would do once she finally got out. She imagined the destruction she would bring, of the suffering she would inflict. Oh yes, there would be much suffering, especially for that teenaged bimbo. She would suffer the worst of them all, for no other reason than that she had become that which Mia once dreamt of being herself. Artemis would die, and she would die by Mia's hands.

Yet there was still a part of her that stood against all of this, one tiny fraction of the compassion she used to possess that fought against the madness that dominated her. Even now, she could remember her old dreams, her old ambitions of being a hero. Barely a few weeks ago, it had been her goal to become a respected hero of Star City, to protect the innocent against what she herself had been forced to endure as a child. And now she was willing to go against it all, to spit on the very ideals she had aspired to uphold.

Mia fully understood that her actions would forever damn her, that she would become that which she once hated so fiercely. She knew this with absolute certainty, and yet she did not care anymore. For in the end, her hatred for Green Arrow and all he stood for was far stronger than any old dreams of heroics. And she was just about to be presented with an opportunity to prove how far she had fallen into insanity. For when she was about to walk past an office on her way to freedom, she happened to glance at the name stamped on the door. She instantly recognized it as her psychiatrist's name.

Driven by indignant anger over the session they had this very morning, Mia furiously kicked down the door and strode in. it looked empty at first glance, but Mia somehow knew better. Like a feline predator stalking its prey, Mia moved slowly through the room, her eyes searching every nook and cranny.

"I can smell your fear, weakling," she growled out as she stood next the psychiatrist's desk, right before she reached under it and dragged the screaming woman out in the open. With a sneer on her lips, she threw the pathetic bag of meat in her hands to the floor, at which point she desperately tried to crawl towards the door.

"Oh no you don't," Mia announced as she swiftly closed the distance between them, grabbing one of her arms and viciously pulling it out of its socket. As the psychiatrist screamed in agony, Mia repeated the process on her other arm. All the psychiatrist could do now was lie where she was and bawl her eyes out from the pain she was in. It disgusted Mia.

"I still remember those damn sessions we've had, and let's just say that they make me a teeny, tiny, little angry," she began, each word uttered with so much anger behind them that it was a miracle that they did not devolve into simple growling. "So I can't really let you walk away without sating my anger," that sentence was punctuated by a kick that flipped the woman onto her back, right before Mia's foot came to rest painfully on her chest.

"So the question here is; what should I do to you?" that question was less aimed at the worm beneath her and more at herself as she pondered what to do. At that moment, it was as if her rage was given a consciousness of its own, as it offered an idea that was too good for Mia's twisted and demented mind to say no to. The psychiatrist meanwhile figured that something truly bad was about to happen when she saw a cruel smile slowly spread itself across Mia's face.

"Please, do try to stay conscious through the next few minutes. I really want to hear you scream," she said before she reached down with her hands. From that point on, there was naught but screaming to be heard from within the office.

This was truly a mess. A burning building with people of all ages fleeing in panic. Guards and inmates alike struggled together to escape a rapidly collapsing building, neither one caring that much about the other's stature. Captain Atom supposed that he should be thankful that this was only a Juvenile Detention Center. God knows the sheer level of destruction that would have been wrought if those youngsters had been hardened adult criminals or worse. that was Wonder Woman's task as she had headed to the actual prison. But this was not the time to be contemplating such things, this was a time of action.

"What's the situation?" he immediately asked once he was close enough to someone who looked like he held some manner of authority here.

"A suicide bomber blew himself up in the mess hall, nearly bringing a third of the place down. But the crazy bastard must have brought along friends, 'cause someone started starting fires all over the place," the former overseer of the institution explained as he glared at what used to be his job.

"You managed to catch the culprits?"

"No, bastards either slipped away in the chaos or burned themselves up while they torched the place. Judging by the nutcase from the mess hall, I suspect the latter,"

"Everyone evacuated?"

"Hell if I know. There's still a few hundred guards and inmates unaccounted for, but I ain't got the faintest clue whether they're dead or alive. Though there's still people stumbling out of the wreckage once in a while, so I guess that counts for something,"

"Then I'm going in there," that marked the end of their short discussion as the Captain strode towards the burning building. Neither smoke nor fire slowed him down as he entered what was rapidly becoming a ruin. The inside looked like a warzone to him. He should know, he had seen it firsthand. Smoke was rapidly filling the place up and many walls and roofs had collapsed in. unconcerned with those things, he pressed on to find if anyone was still alive in here. It did not look promising.

He found bodies randomly scattered here and there across the building. Some were crushed by rubble, their blood and entrails forcibly pushed out of their bodies to decorate the floor. Others had no visible wounds on their body and just lied out in the open, choked to death by the black smoke rapidly filling up the corridors. And then there were the handful who were nothing but charred pieces of meat, victims of the fire consuming this place.

"Dammit, what was the point of all this needless killing?" he asked himself in disgust as he beheld the various dead people, some of them too young to even be legally allowed to drink.

"Why are we like this?" someone suddenly asked from behind, causing Captain Atom to spin around in shock, but there was no one there. He frantically looked where that voice had come from, but found nothing.

"Must be hearing things," he muttered to himself as he resumed walking again.

"Why did we have to die?" yet another voice asked of him, freezing the Captain up right at the spot.

"Who's there?" he shouted out suspiciously as he glared at every nook and cranny that could hide someone. And yet still he saw no one. For all intents and purposes, he was alone in the smoke-filled corridor.

"Why did you let us die?" but those voices constantly proved him wrong. And the things they were saying, it unnerved him.

"What do you mean? You can't be dead if you're talking to me," Captain Atom tried to reason with them, until something grabbed his leg in a vice-like grip. Looking down in alarm, Captain Atom would have pissed in his pants at that moment if he had still been physically able to. For latched onto his leg was the upperbody of a security guards, the trail of blood and entrails showing where he had crawled from a pile of rubble.

"Why couldn't you save us?" the corpse asked of him, dead and unseeing eyes somehow managing to glare accusingly up at him. Deeply disturbed by this, Captain Atom kicked the body away, but it would not give up as it just came crawling after him again.

"What the hell are you?" Captain Atom asked in fear as he backed away, radioactive energy building up in his hands for a fight. He would not deny it, what he saw scared him.

"Why must we suffer like this?" suddenly, something leaped onto his back and tried to drag him down. Startled, the Captain unleashed a blast of energy that knocked the attacker back. But when he spun around to confront his attacker, he let out a short shout of fright as dozens of corpses came at him, all glaring accusingly at him as if their deaths were is fault.

"Why couldn't you stop those that did this?" they came at him from all sides now, shambling forward by the dozens with arms stretched out towards the Captain, who backed away with terror in his eyes.

"I didn't know that this would happen! I can't stop something I don't know about!" he desperately shouted at the approaching mob of undead, but they did not listen and just kept on advancing.

"Why must we suffer like this?" they were almost upon him now, and the Captain was growing desperate.

"I can't stop all the suffering in the world, no one can! I've done all that I could!" but no matter how hard he reasoned, they would not stop coming.

"Why did we have to die, and not you?" they reached out for him, grabbed each and every part of him they could get their cold hands on, slowly dragging him down.

"Stay back!" he shouted in terror as he began wildly blasting them with his energy. Each blast pushed them back and ripped chunks of flesh from their bodies. Unconcerned, they just stood back up and came at him again.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" the captain muttered to himself as he kept firing at them, terror gripping his heart with each step these creatures took towards him. 'Why am I like this? Why am I so afraid of them?' he asked himself as he kept blasting the undead back. 'I've faced horrors worse than the dead, I've seen enough terrors to last me a lifetime. So why, why am I suddenly so terrified of them?' he had no answer to that question, and it only made his fear grow stronger.

"Why do we suffer, and not you?" no matter how hard he blasted them, they just kept coming, an aura of fear and terror hanging over them like a malevolent spirit.

"I said get back, you monsters!" Captain Atom screamed in terror as he drove a fist straight through the body of the closest undead guard. Except it suddenly no longer was a guard he had his arm going through, but a US air force pilot. Had he still possessed a heart, Captain Atom's would have most certainly skipped a few beats then.

"Steve?" he whispered in terrified confusion. This was impossible, he had seen this man's helicopter get shot down in Iraq. No survivors.

"Why did you live, while we died?" the body of his long dead friend asked him. Captain Atom was too shell-shocked by what he was seeing to answer. And that paid him dearly as someone else grabbed his free arm. When he turned to shake the attacker off, he ended up staring into the face of another US soldier, one he had watched bleed out in a field hospital.

"Why did you just stand by and watch us die?" he asked, blood pouring out of his mouth and multiple gun wounds in his stomach.

"No! You can't be real! You died! I saw you die!" Captain Atom screamed in denial as he trashed in their grip, just as another ghost from his past grabbed him, and another, and another. No longer was he surrounded by the inmates and guards, now they all wore the faces of men and women that had died in the line of service.

"Why aren't you with us?" they all asked of him as they piled atop one another, drowning him in their numbers. All the while, Captain Atom fought back like a cornered animal.

"Stop it! None of you are real!" he screamed at them as he tried to convince himself of that fact as well. 'This can't be real, this can't be real, this can't be real,' was repeated in his mind over and over like a mantra.

"You all died years ago! You can't be here! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!" that order was followed by Captain Atom falling on his back as he found that he was suddenly alone. Bewilderment was written all over his face as frantic eyes looked this way and that, trying to find the fiends that had attacked him. No sign of them. One minute, they had all been swarming over him. The next, they were gone in the time it took to blink.

"What was that?" he asked himself, completely at a loss of what just happened to him. He cautiously stood back up again, eyes still peeled for danger. But he found nothing, so he began moving onward down the corridor again. He stopped when he came across a half open door. There was still some light on inside, somehow, so he peeked inside. What he saw horrified and disgusted him in equal measure.

Lying on the floor was a middle-aged woman, a psychiatrist by the looks of things, and most certainly dead, with her face was frozen in terrified agony. The cause of her death was painfully obvious, as her chest had been forcibly ripped open, and her lungs had been dragged out and placed on her shoulders like cruel parodies of wings. Captain Atom could only imagine the pain she must have been in, for he could see that she had still been alive when this was done to her.

"Who could have done such a thing?" he asked in disgust as he kneeled next to the body, looking her over for possible clues. 'Where the hell's Batman when you need his genius brain?' he asked himself in annoyance. Detective work was never his strong suite. But he found far more pressing concerns to worry about when the woman's hand suddenly shot up and grabbed his throat. Eyes wide with alarm, Captain Atom tried to back away, but the other arm came up and held him tight.

Once again, that irrational fear came crashing down on his mind, paralyzing him where he stood. All he could do was stare in horror as the woman's eyes focused on him, turning into twin pools of utter darkness. 'No! This isn't real! Snap out of it, dammit, you know it's not real!' he desperately told him, fought with every ounce of his strength to break loose and fight back. But his body still refused to obey his command and remained where it was.

"Why aren't you dead?" she asked of him, right before her mouth was opened impossibly wide. Captain Atom ended up staring down what could only be described as an eternal abyss of madness and despair. Then, she lunged for him, intent on swallowing him whole. Still not being able to move, and still in the terrible grip of absolute fear, Captain Atom did the only thing he could do.

He screamed.

"Never thought I'd hear a grown man scream that loudly," Azkillon commented nonchalantly from where he was standing just a stone throw away from the institution.

"Do you think I overdid it perhaps?" the still malnourished form of John Dee asked as he wrapped his cloak and hood around himself tighter. Still had not recovered his full strength yet, so he was uncomfortable with being out in the open like this.

"Nonsense! I'd almost say you went a little too softly on him. After all, we want him truly broken in mind for what's to come," Azkillon answered jovially, eyes never leaving the crumbling building before him, not even to spare a single glance at the multitude of cops and firemen that were rushing back and forth just meters away from them. They were no threat to them, especially with Azkillon manipulating their minds to make them ignorant of the duo's presence.

"But in any case, we've done enough to Mr. Adam today," Azkillon finally announced, drawing a relieved look from his compatriot.

"Then we are to return home now, master?" he asked hopefully, eager to return to his meditation, to further sharpen his control over these incredible powers bestowed upon him.

"In due time. But first, we have one last business to attend to before we depart," Azkillon explained before he laid a hand on his servant's shoulder. In a quick flash of purple light, they were gone, reappearing on a hill just bordering on the city limits. While Azkillon appeared perfectly calm and collected, John looked more confused at his master's choice of location as he looked this way and that, expecting something to pop up at any moment. He dearly wanted to ask what was going on, but figured that it might be safer not to pester his master with endless questions, so he held his tongue.

"Ah, and here she comes," Azkillon suddenly announced, just as John heard a rustle in the nearby bushes. Moments later, and a blonde teenager stumbled out of them and came to a sudden stop before the duo. Clearly she had not expected anyone to be here. But John took notice of two crucial things about this girl. One, she was drenched in blood, and none of it looked like it belonged to her. Two, her eyes were aflame with maniacal hatred and insanity. No doubt about it, this girl was dangerous.

"Who the hell are you?" she growled out in hostility as she crouched into a fighting stance. John was instantly on high alert as he made ready to blast the girl with the most terrible nightmares he could conjure. As if sensing what he was doing, which he most definitively did, Azkillon held a hand out to stop him, his attention never straying from the hostile girl before them.

"There's no need for violence here, child, I have not come here to fight you," he assured her, but she did not relax in the slightest and just kept glaring at him.

"That doesn't answer my question," she pointed out impatiently, drawing out a light chuckle from Azkillon.

"Quite right, I did not. My name is Azkillon, and I believe you met one of my servants back at the Juvenile Detention Center," he answered. While the girl still looked suspicious, John could see a flicker of recognition in her murderous eyes.

"You're the master of that fanatical suicide bomber," she deduced.

"Correct," Azkillon confirmed. John then found the girl's eyes moving to him instead.

"And who are you supposed to be? Gollum 2.0?" she asked of him. He suppressed his flare of annoyance at the comparison and gave a courteous bow. The master obviously had use of her, so it was best not to get on his bad side by antagonizing a possible recruit.

"You may call me Doctor Destiny," he answered. She just scoffed at what she considered a ridiculous name and turned her attention back to Azkillon.

"Your little errand boy said you wanted to meet me, and I'm here now. So wat do you want from me? But I warn you, if I don't like what you have to say, I'll tear your spine out," she threatened, clearly not intimidated in the least by a giant man dressed in armor that put tanks to shame. John felt indignant anger at her proclamation. 'How dare she, an insignificant mortal, threaten the prophet of the true gods?' he thought in fury. But to his surprise, Azkillon just laughed at her words, like it had been an inside joke between them.

"Of that I have no doubt, dear child. Now, the reason I wanted to meet you was to discuss your future, a future that can very well include Green Arrow and Artemis lying dead and broken at your feet," he enticed her, and John could see that she was definitively intrigued.

"I'm listening,"

This had truly been a chaotic day, to say the least. Still, thanks to Wonder Woman's help, Green Arrow had finally restored order in the city. But that still left the Juvenile Detention Center, where Captain Atom was supposed to be. But there had been no word from him for over an hour now, and they were getting worried. Which was why he and Wonder Woman were now standing outside the building, which was barely standing anymore.

"About time you showed up, figured this was better up your alley," a police officer stated as he came to stand next to the two heroes.

"What's wrong? And where's Captain Atom?" Green Arrow asked in concern.

"Beats me. The last three or so people who crawled out of this mess had all been driven insane, kept babbling about fires and dead people. We've also tried to contact Captain Atom, but we ain't heard so much as a peep from him since he walked inside," he explained gravelly. This naturally worried both Green Arrow and Wonder Woman greatly. What happened in there?

"Stay out here, we'll investigate," Green Arrow decided before striding inside, Wonder Woman quickly following him.

"Be my guest," the police officer said, something that was barely heard by the heroic duo as they entered the building. That it was even standing at this point was a miracle in itself, as they found when they walked deeper. They came across the occasional corpse, but pushed on. They could worry about the dead later, the living were more important at this hour. But each time they saw a dead body, Green Arrow could not stop his thoughts from straying to Mia, who was supposed to be incarcerated here.

What had happened to her? Had she gotten out? Was she dead? Did she escape in the chaos? Dozens of thoughts like these raced through his mind, only making his concern grow ever stronger. But he reluctantly pushed it aside and focused on the now. His friend needed him, he could focus on Mia once they had determined if Captain Atom was safe.

"Captain? Are you there? Can you hear me?" he called out as they walked deeper into the building. No answer came. They kept calling out to him, but they never received an answer. But in the end, they did not need to.

"Over here!" Wonder Woman called as she had entered a separate rom. When Green Arrow entered as well, he found Wonder Woman standing behind Captain Atom, who had his back to the both of them.

"Oh thank God you're okay. We were actually getting worried that something had happened to you," Green Arrow said, relief in his voice. But the Captain said nothing, did not even turn to face them, which made them worried again.

"Captain?" he called out worriedly, trying to get his attention. That was when they heard something, a sound coming out of the Captain. It was low and a bit high pitched, but they could still identify it. But that only made them even more confused, for the Captain was laughing. Green Arrow could not explain why, but he found that the laughter sounded wrong somehow. Words alone could not express it, but it just sounded so… wrong to him.

"Captain Atom?" Wonder Woman ventured uncertainly as she laid a hand on his shoulder. That seemed to snap him out of whatever strange trance he had been in, as he stopped his creepy laugh and spun around to face them.

"What?" he asked, as if he only now realized they were there, clouded and haunted eyes looking at them.

"Are you alright?" Green Arrow found himself asking. At first, his question was met with silence, until Captain Atom shook his head as if he was trying to fully wake himself up again.

"Yes. Yes, everything's fine. Everything's just fine," he answered as he walked past his two comrades, never even giving them a second glance. Said comrades shared a concerned look between them before they reluctantly followed. There was still work to be done.

Meetings between members of the Light were usually conducted to discuss matters within the organization itself, and were usually called together by the likes of Vandal or Luthor. Today, the matter discussed was not about the Light itself, and was called by the one person none of the others had expected.

"Well, Klarion? I assume you have a reason for calling us together," Vandal Savage, the only one physically present beyond the Witch Boy, commented as the other members watched on from their screens.

"You've all heard about the number of bombings carried out across the world?" Klarion asked instead of answering.

"Of course, it's been on the news for hours now. What does it have to do with anything?" Queen Bee asked impatiently, having little interest in conversing with the Lord of Chaos. From her position in her master's arms, Teekl hissed in agitation at the insolent woman, but a few strokes along its back from Klarion calmed the feline down.

"Because I know who's behind them, and they're a big threat to us all," Klarion revealed, none of his smugness present in his tone, something that concerned those that knew him for a while. If Klarion was not amused, and no angry, then something must be really bad.

"Who then?" Savage inquired, already making plans to deal with what seemed to be a new obstacle in his path.

"The forces of Chaos," and that announcement brought his entire mind to a grinding halt.

"What nonsense are you speaking of? You're the Lord of Chaos, are you then telling us that you're behind these attacks?" Ocean Master asked with that superior tone of his, making Klarion sneer at him for his ignorance.

"Are you really so stupid that you think that I was the only being of Chaos? I'm but one of many millions, and few of those would actually obey me," Klarion revealed to the assembled leaders.

"If more beings like you have always existed, then why have they waited so long to come here, and what do they want?" Savage asked with narrowed eyes. He truly hated it when unforeseen variables messed up his plans like this.

"Because up until now, I've been able to hide this dimension from them. Thankfully, they've also been busy with one of their stupid wars in another dimension, and haven't bothered looking anywhere else. But somehow, the managed to sniff this place out, and wants in on the fun as well. As to what they want? Burn, pillage, enslave, convert, corrupt, destroy, turn the whole planet into a burning hellhole, the usual stuff," his explanation, delivered with such a nonchalant tone, had the entirety of the Light falling silent in contemplation. It was clear to them, these so called "Forces of Chaos" were a severe threat to them all, and needed to be dealt with swiftly.

"If that is the case, then we must prepare. Klarion, I need you to share all your knowledge of this enemy to every member here. And we'll need to mobilize our forces sooner than anticipated. They want a war on Earth, and we shall oblige. For in the end, no darkness can stand against the Light," and with that impromptu speech, the meeting was adjourned and all screens faded to black while Klarion teleported away. But Savage still had one last matter to deal with.

"How long do you plan to hide?" he asked out loud. A few moments of silence followed, and then a young woman stepped out of the shadows. A brown-haired youth with a mask over the lower parts of her face, she glared at the imposing form of Vandal Savage with cold eyes.

"As long as it takes, father," she spat out, hands on her hips in a challenging pose.

"Scandal, how many times must I tell you this? You are not part of the Light, its affairs thus does not concern you," he explained to her in exasperation. This was something they had argued over ever since he formed the Light.

"Then what's my purpose here? You won't let me join the inner circles, and you refuse to let me go out on missions. What's the point of keeping me cooped up in here?" she asked in annoyance. Vandal said nothing, but Scandal had seen the truth in his eyes.

"You just want an heir, do you? I'm just a way to carry on the family name," she accused furiously, eyes aflame with indignant anger. Vandal said nothing to defend himself as he just glared at his daughter.

"That is quite enough of you, now return to your room and we'll talk about this at a later date," he ordered, but Scandal was unmoved.

"And when's that? When I'm already married off? When you've already manipulated everything so I can't say no?" she demanded of him. She could clearly see now that Vandal was quickly losing his grip on his temper, but she cared not at this point.

"Do you wish to have an armed escort to take you to your room like a child? If so, please keep provoking me," he threatened her. The two of them kept up their silent stare down, but Scandal eventually relented as she stormed out of the room, leaving Vandal alone.

"So much to do, so little time to do it in," he commented to himself as he took a seat behind his desk. This new player did pose a problem for some of his short term plans, but they were fools if they thought that they could defeat the Light.

"You made a great error, you revealed yourself too soon. Now we'll just squash you like the bugs you are," he spoke arrogantly, confident that he had the upper hand in the coming fight. He had built the Light to be the catalyst of great change for the human race, and no group of fanatical Chaos worshippers would ever stop him.

Meanwhile, Scandal had returned to her room, slamming the door closed and locking it. Only then did she drop her angry look for one of smug satisfaction. Making sure that she was alone and none could eavesdrop on her, Scandal took a knife and cut the palm of her hand, hardly even flinching from the feeling. As the blood freely flowed out, she used it to draw a symbol on the floor; the Eight-Pointed Star of Chaos. Chanting in a foul language that hurt the ears of unbeliever, she caused multi-colored smoke to rise out of the symbol, taking the rough shape of a humanoid being.

"Well?" the being inquired, drawing out a proud smile from Scandal.

"The plan worked perfectly, Anarky. The Light believes that they have uncovered our organization in its infancy and is moving to crush it. They also remain completely blind to the fact that we've already infiltrated its ranks," she revealed, causing the ghostly form of Anarky to laugh in joy.

"Thus making it all the easier to find and identify all of their assets and agents," he said with deep satisfaction. Honestly, the Light was so easy to fool that it was hardly even a challenge here.

"Just to give them something to pat their shoulders about, we'll leave a small cult in the open for them to crush. And I take it that recruitment has been going well on your end?" that last inquiry had Scandal's eyes twinkling with joy.

"Of course. My father's most loyal servants still refuse to abandon him, but more than half of his army of thugs have pledged their allegiance to me. We just need the signal, and the Light is finished,"

"Excellent. I have also received words from our brethren within Bialya and the League of Shadows, our influence continues to grow thee as well. Soon, very soon, our masters will be ready to strike, and then there will be no one who can stand in our way. This entire world will hen burn,"

"For the glory of Chaos," Scandal spoke.

"For the glory of Chaos," Anarky intoned.