Chapter 54: Denial ii

SALEM August 19 20:22 EDT

"So, Wally," said Artemis with a smirk as they boarded the Bioship, "When did you first discover your honest affinity for sorcery?"

Wally glanced at M'gann and grinned. "Well, uh, I don't like to brag, but before I became Kid Flash, I seriously considered becoming a wizard myself."

Artemis looked at Lunaris, who just shook his head and thought, 'I don't need my powers to realize he'll definitely do something to—how should I put this—ah yes, fuck up the mission.' He then closed his eyes, tuning out the team.

"We've reached Red Tornado's coordinates," said M'gann as they flew over Salem, "But…" her eyes scanned the windshield.

"There's nothing here," finished Superboy as they landed in the town green.

"Miss M, take us down," Kaldur said, wanting a closer look.

As the ship landed, an orange and black striped cat with unusual red eyes ran into a rundown theater and jumped into Klarion the Witch Boy's lap. On stage, Abracadabra kept zapping Kent Nelson. The cat kept meowing at him, but he ignored it until the cat jumped out of his hands and hissed at him, making him exclaim, "Ohhhhhh."

Back with the team, as the ship landed and they all came out, Lunaris floated out of the Bio-Ship. He thought, 'Hmm, that's odd. I haven't gone into Sage Mode and the energy I feel here is a thousand times more than that of the Cave.'

Wally ran a quick few laps around the field. "Nothing," he said as he skidded to a halt, "This isn't simple camouflage."

"So what?" asked Artemis, her hands on her hips, "Adaptive, micro-optal electronics combined with phase shifting?"

"Absolutely," he nodded, then saw M'gann and gulped, "Not! Clearly mystic powers are at work here!"

Artemis rolled her eyes and narrowed them at Wally. His changing tune just to impress M'gann, or have something in common with her, was starting to grate on her nerves.

Lunaris bent down and touched the ground while muttering, "Byakugan." The activation of his doujutsu alerted the team and shocked Artemis, seeing veins popping around his eyes.

"What the hell?" Artemis exclaimed.

"That's his power," Aqualad explained.

Lunaris looked down, seeing the massive amounts of energy streaming all around Salem into a general direction. Aqualad asked what he saw, and Lunaris replied, "Laylines of a sort, and it's all leading to…" He then turned back, seeing where all the magical energies connected. He saw something blurry and tall, almost like a castle. He thought, 'That should be the tower,' while deactivating his Byakugan. He then pointed and said, "There."

Wally scoffed, "Well, there's absolutely nothing there, Lunaris. Thank you."

In a dark corner behind the team, Klarion with his cat looked at Abracadabra, who held a bound Kent, and asked, "Hey Cadabra, aren't you using adaptive, micro-optal electronics combined with phase shifting?"

Abracadabra looked away and said, "Yes!"

"A test of faith..." Kaldur murmured as he stared at the inscription of 'insert' on the side of the key. "Stand behind me." The Atlantean walked in front of his teammates and used the key as one normally would, though against an unseen door. Just as he turned it clockwise, a tall stone tower came into view, as though unveiled, leaving the entire team awe-struck for a few moments before entering the Tower of Fate.

Lunaris smiled and thought, 'Hoo, so the key acts as a seal release for the tower.' He looked up at the tower and squinted, thinking, 'There's a huge amount of energy at the top.'

As the team prepared to enter the tower, Toneri paused and looked behind him, sensing the opposite of the huge energy he saw at the top of the tower. 'Irregular and chaotic,' he thought, narrowing his eyes. He decided not to act immediately, choosing to see what would happen instead. 'I know you're there, filth,' he thought, ignoring the chaotic energy.

Klarion noticed Toneri looking in his direction. "So he's the foreigner god and the one who took my Typhan from me. Ohhhh, I am going to skin that twat and suck all his energy out of his soul," he muttered, his voice filled with malice.

His cat meowed, causing Klarion to calm down. "And what is he doing with the kiddies' Justice League, huh? Oh well, move Nelson. I have a score to settle," he said, his eyes fixed on Toneri with a sinister glint.

Once they were inside, the door closed behind them and disappeared altogether.

"Uhhh," Superboy began, "where did the door go?"

Miss Martian glanced around, concern evident on her face. "Hey, guys, where's Lunaris?" She noticed he was gone.

Wally rolled his eyes. "Of course he disappears again. He always does that."

Before anyone could reply, a holographic image of Kent Nelson appeared in front of them.

"Greetings," it said. "You have entered with a key, but the Tower does not recognize you. Please state your purpose and intent."

Wally, eager to impress Megan, stepped forward. "We are true believers here to find Doctor Fate," he declared.

The image looked at him before disappearing. In the next instant, the floor underneath them vanished, and they all fell towards a pool of lava below.

As they began to fall, Miss Martian grabbed Wally and floated, using her telekinesis to steady herself. Artemis shot a grappling arrow and swung to catch hold of Aqualad. Superboy dug his fingers into the wall to slow himself down, but he continued to slide until his feet dipped into the lava. He screamed in frustration as his boots burned.

"Those were my favorite boots!" Superboy exclaimed, his voice filled with frustration. "This Kent Nelson better be worth it."

With Toneri

In another section of the tower, Toneri found himself faced with a multitude of stairs leading in all directions, with no clear path. He looked around, confusion etched on his face. 'How'd I get here? Where's the team?' he thought, trying to make sense of how he ended up in this place. As he tried sensing his team, his senses became jumbled, prompting him to activate his Byakugan.

He looked down and saw only stairs. He looked up and saw the same. 'Genjutsu? No, this is very real, and Genjutsu cannot affect me. So what is this?' As he was about to float away, a hologram of Kent Nelson appeared in front of him.

"Intruder, who are you, and what do you want with the tower?" the hologram demanded.

Toneri floated closer, his white kimono fluttering around him as he reached the hologram. "Red Tornado sent me and my team to inquire about Kent Nelson," Toneri said.

The hologram's expression changed slightly. "Tornado sent you?" Toneri nodded. "Where is my team? Why did you separate me from them?" he asked.

The hologram replied, "The tower detected the presence of a foreign entity with an immense amount of power and isolated you here in the Room of Infinite Stairs."

'Infinite stairs?' Toneri thought, puzzled.

The hologram suddenly grinned. "What's wrong? Don't have faith in your own team?"

"I do," Toneri replied, "It's just one in particular I am concerned about."

"Ah yes, the one with the loudmouth," the hologram said with a frown. "He lied, so I dropped them into a pool of lava."

Toneri gave him a blank stare, prompting the hologram to say, "You don't look surprised or angry."

"I am not too surprised. They will make it out alive eventually," Toneri said calmly.

The hologram chuckled. "Well then, follow me."

Outside the Tower

Kent Nelson was placed in front of the tower by Abracadabra, who then summoned a golden ankh that glowed brilliantly before it moved inside. Kent tried to warn, "The tower doesn't take kindly to trespassers," but Abracadabra silenced him with a magical collar. They entered a room resembling a living room, where a holographic image of Kent Nelson appeared.

"How unusual of you to bring in visitors, especially one with such potent mystical powers," the hologram remarked, eyeing Kent's captors. Under his breath, he muttered, "First, it's a foreign entity that feels like a god, and now this?"

The real Kent, struggling to speak despite the collar, managed to say, "My friends are here to help me."

The holographic image looked doubtful but then disappeared, causing the wall behind it to shift and move away like a puzzle.

Back with the Team

M'gann started floating down, sweating heavily. "Having trouble... maintaining altitude. I'm so hot."

Wally smirked. "You so are." Artemis rolled her eyes at him.

"Wally!"

"Hey, inches above death. I'm entitled to speak my mind!" Wally retorted.

"M'gann and I can't handle extreme heat. We need to get out of here quickly," Kaldur explained, wiping his brow.

"Hello, Megan!" M'gann exclaimed, slapping her forehead. "We never truly answered the question." She looked up and shouted, "Red Tornado sent us to see if Mr. Nelson and the helmet are OK!"

Suddenly, the floor beneath them closed over the lava, and they all landed safely. "This floor should be scorching hot, but it's cool to the touch," Kaldur observed.

Wally wrapped an arm around M'gann. "Don't worry, Megelicious, I'll-"

Artemis pushed Wally away. "Enough! Your little 'impress M'gann at all costs' almost got us killed!"

"What did I do?" Wally asked, confused.

"You lied to that hologram when you said you were a 'true believer,'" Artemis snapped.

M'gann looked at Wally, hurt. "Wally, you don't believe?"

Wally sighed, looking around. "Fine, fine! I don't believe, alright? But magic is the real lie, a major load!"

"Wally, I trained for a year in Atlantis sorcery. They created the skin icons that power my water," Aqualad said.

"Dude, ever hear of 'bio-electricity'? Hey, in primitive cultures, fire was considered magic," Wally replied.

Artemis snorted. "You're close-minded for someone who can break the sound barrier in his sneakers."

"That's science. I recreated Flash's experiment, and boom, here I am! Everything can be explained by science," Wally retorted.

Aqualad saw a latch on the door and reached for it. "Let's test that theory." He picked it up, causing Wally to shout, "Wait! The backdraft-!"

He stopped as wind and snow poured out. "It's snow," M'gann said, touching it.

"Tired of being wrong?" Artemis smirked at Wally.

They jumped down and saw a snowy mountain. Wally looked back as the door disappeared. "Well...?"

"String theory. We're in a pocket dimension," Artemis said.

M'gann spoke up. "Guys."

They turned around and saw a cane floating up.

"What is it?" Artemis asked, reaching for it, as did Wally.

"I can't let go!/I can't let go!" they both yelled as they were lifted into the air and disappeared.

As they walked, M'gann looked at Kaldur. "I don't get Wally. It's like he needs to believe magic isn't real."

Kaldur sighed. "He uses his knowledge of science to control what he can't comprehend. Acknowledging the existence of magic would mean relinquishing that control."

They looked up the mountain and saw an open door.