The following is a fanbased work of fiction. Young Justice is property of DC Comics, Warner Brothers and Greg Weisman – please support the official release.
"You are not authorized to enter the Conduit to the Burn," The Hologram of Kent said matter-of-factly.
"But what if I need to get to The Burn in case of emergency?" Pyro asked without a hint of being perturbed or frustrated.
"If that was necessary, you would not do so through the Conduit," The Hologram replied. "It is not a portal."
The Conduit was just beyond the door. It was labeled by a brass plaque with the name 'Conduit to the Burn' engraved on it. The door itself looked to be made of dark mahogany wood with a shining, golden handle. Continuing down the hall on both sides were other doors similarly marked as 'Conduit to the Clear' and 'Conduit to the Red'.
Pyroclasm didn't respond immediately. "If it's not a portal, then what is it?"
"A conduit draws power from a plane of existence for the purpose of drawing power from that plane for a specific purpose," The Hologram answered. "Turning the floor into lava in the case of tower security is one such use of the Conduit to the Burn."
And Pyro's quest for more power is thwarted yet again, Kid Flash snarked over the telepathic link.
Three doors down, a million more to go, Pyroclasm replied calmly.
"It's a syphon, got it," Pyroclasm nodded. "Disappointing but not entirely unexpected. Of course, since we were put in charge of securing the tower, I suppose we would be authorized, wouldn't we?"
"The tower is open to all guests of Doctor Fate and their pets," The Hologram replied. "You do not need access to each individual room even if you are 'securing' the tower."
Well that's lame, Pyroclasm thought, turning to walk away.
Cheer up, Pyro, Ms. Martian thought back encouragingly. You can still look at the Library. He's got a lot of books here. That's something you'd like, right?
Yeah, looking at pages and pages of mystical tomes would be right up your alley, Kid Flash added quickly. It's probably fascinating!
Well, then I suppose you should get over there, Wally, Artemis replied. After all, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to achieve your dream of being a wizard.
Uh, I wouldn't really say it was a dream of mine, per se, Wally said back nervously. I mean I seriously considered it, but I think I've put that behind me. I still admire the mystic arts, though!
No reason you couldn't do both, Artemis answered in a sing-song voice. Live your life without regrets, Wally! If you don't look at that massive repository of arcane knowledge, you'll never forgive yourself!
She right, Wally, I think you - wait, Pyroclasm spun on his heels. "What did you mean by pets?"
"The tower allows all manner of pets brought by guests," The Hologram replied. "Up to, and including demons from the pits of Hell."
"Under what circumstance would a guest of Doctor Fate have a demon from Hell as a pet?" Pyro asked inexplicably.
"To fight the Forces of The Balance, the Lords of Order and Chaos are forced to work together," The Hologram answered. "The Lords of Chaos are somewhat fond of the practice."
"Fascinating," Pyro said, before shaking his head. "We're getting off track. Did the group bring a pet inside when they came in?"
"Yes, a small house cat came inside the door behind them," The Hologram replied.
"Can you sense the cat now?" Pyro asked, panic starting to seep into his voice.
"No," The Hologram replied. "If the cat is an intruder, the tower cannot expel the cat until it is located."
Oh crap.
What do you mean, 'oh crap'? Kid Flash demanded. Can't you sense its thermal signature?
No! Pyro barked back. I can't! I lost track of it when I was grabbing the Helmet of Fate!
How does grabbing a Helmet cause you to lose track of a house cat? Kid Flash asked incredulously.
Grabbing that thing made all my hairs stand up on end, Pyro replied, taking a deep breath to calm down. It was freaky. Besides, how did you guys let a cat sneak in behind you?
Pyroclasm, Kid Flash, enough, Aqualad said, his weariness at being peacemaker once again becoming apparent. We need to find this cat and quickly.
Uh, why? Kid Flash asked. I mean, I guess it can be super intelligent, but what could a cat -
That cat is probably Klarion's familiar, Pyro replied. Lord of Chaos and Order need a link to the mortal plane to remain here. The Helmet is Doctor Fate's link. The cat is Klarion's. We destroy the cat, we send Klarion back where he came from.
Wait, if the cat is such a problem, then why would he send it into the tower? Kid Flash asked.
For one, it can let Klarion into the tower should he need to come inside, Pyro responded. Second, if it's in here, Doctor Fate can't destroy it from out there. Seeing as how the Helmet is out there with Klarion, the Witch-boy has an unfair advantage. Makes sense?
Got it, Kid Flash thought back. So, the cat acts as an anchor to prevent dimensional pushback – uh…
Yes, that's what I just said, Pyro cut him off abruptly. Glad you were paying attention.
Yeah, I was paying attention, Kid Flash felt somewhat relieved and that leaked into his tone of voice. I'm not an idiot.
Wait, did I just-? Pyro thought to himself before quieting his frustration with himself.
Superboy, can you find the cat? Aqualad asked quickly.
With x-ray vision? Superboy thought back. No. No I can't. Can we hurry this up? This place is giving me a headache.
I can run a circuit in the tower, Kid Flash said. See if I can catch it.
Do it. Pyroclasm and Artemis, meet up on floor three and search that floor plus floors four and five, Aqualad started. Superboy, you and Miss Martian will search floors one and two. I will search floor one and the Hall of Infinite Stairs. Kid Flash, once you have completed your circuit, join me there and we'll go from there.
Understood. I'll open a channel to Red Tornado and let him know, Pyro said, walking forward and taking the turn. "Red Tornado, this is Pyroclasm. Klarion's Familiar has infiltrated the tower and we're setting up a search pattern."
"Understood. I'll ensure Doctor Fate knows and we can focus on denying them access to the tower," Red Tornado responded.
With a pained groan, Abra Kadabra sat up. His vision was bleary and he found a large lump forming on the back of his neck.
He stretched out his hand, searching for his wand with slow moving fingers. "Where is it? Where is it?"
His hand eventually found the smooth, thin black stick that had become his life-blood in the twenty-first century.
Biometrics Matched. Welcome, Citizen Abra, The Wand communicated directly to his ear-drums.
Initiate medical protocols, Abra thought back, thankful once again that his technology could be interfaced with through his thoughts. If he had to use the manual interface that everything else in this time-period so heavily relied on, he was sure to have gone mad.
Please press Wand to the injured extremity.
Abra did so, feeling a pleasing, relaxing feeling coming over his goose-egg as the wand released a stream of medical gel to soothe the irritation and repair the damage. His vision cleared almost immediately.
With that done, Abra stood up and stretched, paying careful attention to the sounds of energy discharges coming from outside. He rushed up to the door and looked outside.
Oh. Oh no, that's not good, Abra thought as he watched Klarion the Witchboy exchange blasts of energy with Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Fate while Red Tornado was running interference, throwing crimson tornados at the Lord of Chaos.
Well, actually that won't do much other than annoy him, Abra thought back, ducking underneath the window when it looked like Red Tornado had glanced in his direction. Unless they do something to his cat, Klarion is here to stay. So on to more pressing matters; how did they find us?
There wasn't a lot of things that could get around sensor jamming technology from the sixty-fourth century. Things like thermal imaging, x-rays, echolocation and others would simply have picked up an empty theatre. A Green Lantern Ring could've done it, but there wasn't a Lantern here. The Flash could do it, simply because he was fast enough to be able to look, provided he had a general idea of where to look. But The Flash wasn't here. His slow, pathetic brat was.
Which meant that the means of detection they used was most likely magical in nature. Abra found both his curiosity roused and his pride wounded. Oh sure, use the one thing I can't. Go ahead and flaunt it! I'll find you and when I do…
He shook his head. Don't get distracted. If I shut down Red Tornado, it should be significantly easier to deal with Doctor Fate himself and with his helmet, we can enter the Tower and all the Arcane Knowledge inside will be mine.
With a wave of his wand and a mental command, he created an optical camouflage field around him and phased through the wall to the theatre, floating over to the park.
The park itself was a mess, engulphed in a massive tornado that randomly threw bits of junk and debris that it had picked up at Klarion, who was caught in the middle, throwing red balls of chaotic energy at Doctor Fate, who was floating high in the sky and bombarding the Lord of Chaos with bright beams of golden lights from summoned ankhs.
"Give it up Nabu!" Klarion shouted over the din, disappearing from one place and appearing on another as a flying mailbox crashed into the spot he was just in. "That host of yours is old and worn out! Won't be long before it breaks!"
That's a good point, Abra thought as a flying park bench flew through his intangible form. Say, I wonder if I might be able to give Klarion the opening he needs to bring down Doctor Fate. Then we take down Tornado and everything works out.
Abra flew in slowly and carefully, occasionally being distracted as things flew through him, watching in morbid fascination as a poor little dog was flung through him at high speed. With the shake of his head, he continued on, floating right behind the golden sorcerer. He raised his wand.
Set electrical discharge level to very high, Abra thought. While keeping it at very low was necessary to keep Nelson alive during the weeks of torture to attempt to get into the Tower, it was not necessary now for obvious reasons.
Warning; Very High Discharge will be lethal, The Wand replied. Continue?
Yes, Abra replied with a nod. Disable phase-shifting, enable climate stabilization for anti-gravity.
With that, Abra was solid and he jammed his wand right in Doctor Fate's back. The Doctor's unified voices cried out in shock and pain.
"Finally!" Klarion shouted at the top of his lungs with sadistic glee, lobbing a large ball of red energy at the Doctor.
Abra quickly got out from behind Doctor Fate as he took the ball right to the chest. The Doctor went down, the glow fading and the tunic and accoutrements being replaced with Kent's business suit. Kent Nelson hit the ground with a thud, making a small crater.
"Yes, yes, YES!" Klarion shouted, trembling fists held up in excitement. "That helmet is mine!"
Now to deal with Tornado, Abra thought as the corpse was suddenly picked up by a gust of wind, right into Tornado's waiting arms.
"No!" Klarion's face immediately went from one of happy excitement to unyielding rage as Red Tornado immediately took the helmet up off of Kent's head. "Stop that!"
Fire stasis webbing at that Android, Abra barked, pointing his wand at Tornado.
A net made of synthesized electrified wire flew down at the robot, who rapidly ascended on a tornado to dodge it. Klarion attempted to make a jagged pentagram on the ground beneath Red Tornado, but the walls couldn't rise fast enough to stop him from flying over it.
Abra fired another net, then another, and was dodged each time with machine-like efficiency. Then Tornado yanked the door to the Tower of Fate open and pulled it shut behind him and just like that, the tower disappeared from view.
Looking squarely at Klarion, Abra slowly flew backwards and away from the Lord of Chaos.
"Abra!" Klarion shouted. "Get over here!"
Uh oh, Abra thought, swallowing a bit of bile that had risen up to his throat and complied.
"I need you to stand right here," Klarion said, pointing to a spot of grass that had been torn up by Red Tornado's power. "And wait for Teekl to open the door for us."
"Your Cat is inside the tower?" Abra asked with a frown.
"Yes," Klarion hissed with a smile that was far too wide and had far to many teeth for any child to have. "Now stand here while I show my appreciate for our dear departed friend over there."
"How did it avoid detection?" Abra asked, scratching his head.
"Magic."
"What-"
"Magic."
"But the Tower is-"
"MAGIC!"
-Several Minutes Earlier-
"So, how did you get into the mystic arts?" Artemis asked, pointing her bow down a row of bookshelves.
"Oh, I've been fascinated with them since forever," Pyroclasm replied, looking down the aisle opposite his partner. "When I was about three years old, I saw a magic show by Zatara and that really cemented magic as something I wanted to get into. Seemed like a relatively easy way to get super powers."
They were in the library, a truly massive room lined with bookshelves that somehow also contained bookshelves. Painted on the ceiling was a golden mural depicting Nabu and the other Lords of Order majestically creating and maintaining the universe.
"So, you just got into it for power," Artemis stated with a raised eyebrow.
"Yup," Pyro replied, stepping forward and looking down an aisle. "Felt like the sane thing to do, what with supervillains causing so much death and despair on a regular basis, I didn't want to be a victim."
"That actually makes a lot sense," Artemis muttered to herself.
"How about you?" Pyro asked, turning to watch her walk past several aisles with her bow down.
"Oh, I'm not magic," Artemis said, waving it off.
"No, but have you thought about getting into it?" Pyroclasm elaborated with a gesture.
"Well, I didn't consider it until I met you," Artemis replied with a shrug.
"If you wanted, I could give you a few pointers," Pyroclasm offered.
"Hm…I guess it could be useful," Artemis said, shrugging. "Just…I don't know, aren't you worried that the thing you glued to your soul is going to start messing with your mind or something?"
Pyroclasm shook his head.
"Why not?" Artemis asked with a frown.
"Because the elemental didn't have a soul," Pyroclasm replied. "It didn't have a mental component either, so it's completely underneath my control. It is me. Why do you ask?"
Artemis didn't answer immediately. "Don't take this the wrong way."
Pyroclasm didn't waited for her to finish, remaining quiet and attentive, hands folded behind his back.
"You just seem like you would do anything for power," Artemis continued with an uncomfortable frown on her face. "The whole gluing stuff to your soul, wanting to inject Kobra Venom, installing cybernetics. It just seems like if something gave you power even if it was insanely risky."
"I suppose I have given that image," Pyroclasm answered. "But my answer to that is that I won't do anything for power."
"You won't," Artemis replied with a raised eyebrow and disbelieving tone.
"Of course not," Pyroclasm replied. "I have rules."
Artemis blinked and tilted her head. "What kind of rules?"
"For starters, I don't do something if there's a non-negligible risk of it harming me in some manner," Pyroclasm began, the pair walking side by side, still checking the book cases of the library. "If there is a risk, I either minimize the risks as much as I can, refine it until the risks are gone, or try something else entirely."
"Minimize them how?" Artemis asked.
"Well, either by making them easily undoable in case of emergency or by figuring out a way around what's causing the risk in the first place," Pyroclasm replied. "Like, take my anti-telepathy chip. The main risk was that my skull would close in on the chip, break it and I'd wind up with mechanical bits in my brain. So, I got around it by suppressing my healing factor during the surgery and placed a few runes on the chip to try to fool my body into thinking that the chip was a part of my body."
"And it obviously worked," Artemis with a thoughtful expression.
"So far, yeah," Pyroclasm replied. "But if the runes get rubbed off in my skull or they weaken or something and my skull starts fusing shut again, then it's just sitting in my skull and I can get it removed fairly quickly."
"Well, that's a relief," Artemis said with a nod. "Any other rules?"
"Don't cause harm to someone else," Pyroclasm answered. "That ones pretty self-explanatory; if I've got a ritual that will give me phenomenal cosmic power but it requires the blood of a dead virgin girl, that ritual is just never being performed. Ever."
Artemis hummed and nodded.
"So, if you're worried that my getting you magical powers will cause you to develop undue personality defects," Pyroclasm started with a shrug. "While I don't blame you because accidents happen, but I also don't think you've got much to worry about."
Artemis tossed the thought around in her head. "Maybe we can talk about it later."
"Fair enough," Pyroclasm nodded. "Shame I don't have more time to peruse the library, I'd love to just sit in here and soak in the arcane knowledge."
"You think Doctor Fate will let you stick around for a few hours after this whole thing with…what's his name, Klarion?" Artemis asked with a frown.
"That's right."
"After this whole thing with Klarion blows over," Artemis suggested.
"I hope so," Pyro said, looking up at the ceiling mural. "By the way, that was good thinking of actually using our voices to keep our conversation private."
"Oh, thank you," Artemis replied with a smile. It's mostly just that I think the telepathy is kind of weird still, but hey, I'll take the compliment – wait…
As Pyroclasm started to crack up in laughter, Artemis face-palmed and groaned in frustration.
"Hey, either way, it works," Pyroclasm replied, the smile carrying on his voice.
"I guess it does," Artemis said, a good-natured smile of her own growing on her face.
What were you guys talking about? Kid Flash asked.
Nothing, Pyro and Artemis replied at the same time.
A static-sound buzzed as the comm units came to life. "Team. Come in, Team."
"This is Aqualad," Aqualad said quickly. "We're listening Tornado."
"Doctor Fate has fallen," Red Tornado replied, his voice still robotic.
"Oh no," Aqualad said with shock.
"That's bad," Pyro added, the only change to his easy tone being a slight edge to his voice.
"I have the Helmet of Fate and am in the Lobby," Red Tornado continued without missing a beat. "Have any of you found Klarion's Familiar?"
"Nope."
"Nuh-uh."
"Negative."
"No cats around."
"Haven't seen anything."
"Is it just me," Artemis began. "Or are a lot of our problems caused by cats? First Cheshire, then this."
"If our next adventure has a mishap caused by a cat, I'll believe you're on to something," Pyroclasm replied. "How'd they take out Doctor Fate?"
"Abra Kadabra used stealth to maneuver behind Doctor Fate and stab him in the back with a high-powered taser," Red Tornado reported. "Klarion was then able to take the final shot."
"Huh. What did he use, Optical Camouflage and Phase Shifting?" Artemis asked with interest.
"Abra Kadabra?" Kid Flash asked. "Absolutely. The Flash proved the guy was a fake and that everything he does is really just technology from the far future. Not at all like that Klarion kid who is clearly a true master of the mystic arts!"
"I wonder how much he understands about the technology he uses," Pyroclasm mused. "Aqualad, I recommend that Red Tornado stay in the Lobby to prevent the cat from letting Klarion inside."
"I agree," Aqualad replied. "Red Tornado? Please remain there. Kid Flash, fetch the helmet."
"You got it," Kid Flash responded, followed by the tell-tale sound of whooshing air that was cut off when Kid Flash turned off his comm unit.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Red Tornado," Ms. Martian said with a frown. "I know you were friends."
"I appreciate the sentiment, Ms. Martian," Red Tornado replied. "But we will have time to mourn after the crises is dealt with."
"Anyone have a plan?" Superboy asked flatly.
"I believe that one of you will need to put on the Helmet of Fate," Red Tornado replied. "We will need the might of the Lord of Order to turn Klarion away."
"Let's have Pyro do it," Kid Flash said. "He's the one that's all magical and stuff."
"There isn't enough money on the planet to get me to put that thing on," Pyroclasm replied flatly.
"Wait, why not?" Ms. Martian asked.
"Because going for a power-up that deliberately cedes control of my body to someone or something else violates one of my rules," Pyroclasm explained, folding his arms defiantly. "Absolutely not. No."
"What's the rule?" Artemis asked with a frown.
"That's the rule," Pyroclasm replied with a point.
"But we need Doctor Fate," Aqualad said quickly.
"Then you put on the Helmet," Pyroclasm replied neutrally. "You're just as magical as me. More so, actually, since you were born with it."
Aqualad took a moment to reply. "A fair point. Kid Flash, bring the Helmet to me, I will do what Pyroclasm will not."
"Thank you," Pyroclasm replied.
"Wait, what's the deal with the helmet?" Kid Flash asked with suspicion. "If it's really dangerous then I don't think anyone should put it on."
"Unless I'm mistaken, the problem is that you can't take the helmet off willingly," Pyroclasm replied. "Your body becomes temporary property of Nabu, the Lord of Order inhabiting the helmet. It's only temporary in that it's his until he deigns to remove the helmet himself."
"Ah, gotcha," Kid Flash replied. "So that's a no on putting on the Helmet."
"We don't have a choice," Aqualad responded grimly. "We need the Doctor to fight Klarion."
"Come on, that's not exactly true," Kid Flash replied. "We just need to find Klarion's cat."
"A task that will be significantly easier with Doctor Fate active," Aqualad explained steely. "This is his Tower and it obeys his commands."
"But the Tower can't expel the cat until it's located," Pyroclasm argued. "Some sort of stealth magic."
"Right, yeah. Stealth magic that it wasn't using until you happened to grab the Helmet of Fate," Kid Flash snarked. "ADHD much? Besides, this helmet isn't really anything special. I'm holding it just fine."
"Well, that and I got really preoccupied with not falling to my death," Pyroclasm responded. "You try keeping track of everything when a sky-scraper length hole opens up beneath your feet."
"Kid Flash," Aqualad barked out, letting his anger out over the comms. "Pyroclasm. After this mission, the two of you will resolve your differences. Until then, you will only speak to each other on mission related terms. This constant back and forth bickering while in the field is unacceptable and I expected better from both of you. Especially you, Wallace."
"I…" Kid Flash started hotly before taking a breath. "Right. Sorry, Aqualad."
"I'll hold my tongue," Pyroclasm replied neutrally. "For now."
"Now, I will put on the helmet and we will find this Cat and permanently end it," Aqualad said and the hum of mystic energy sounded on the comms.
"I have found the cat," Red Tornado said. "It's in the lobby-"
Following was the sound of crashing furniture and the sound a deep growling before the comm cut off.
"We need to get down there now," Artemis barked.
"On it!"
"Finally!" Klarion shouted as the front door to the Tower of Fate was pulled open, revealing Teekl, who had grown to the size of a lion who had pulled the door open with her tail. She was pawing at Red Tornado who was blasting her with cutting, red winds. "Good cat!"
The Witchboy took a step inside. Abra attempted to follow suit when Klarion shoved a piece of paper and red crystal with jagged points into his hands. "Use your wand to draw this around the tower. Then plant that rock into the circle at the top. Don't screw it up."
"Uh…" Abra started. "What'll it do?"
Klarion growled. "It'll neuter the tower's ability to fight me off."
"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" Abra asked.
"Abra, you remember what I said about asking questions?" Klarion growled, his red, beady eyes narrowed up at Abra.
"Right," Abra took off, wand outstretched. Wand, analyze blueprint and replicate it around the tower exactly.
Executing command, The Wand responded. Extend wand and fly around the tower in a five-second orbit.
A bright blue beam streamed from the end of Abra's wand, replicating the jagged, nearly incomprehensible ritual circle, leaving molten, glowing soil and burning grass behind, capping the circle with another circle, one foot in diameter in the top.
Taking the crystal in his hand, he plunged it into the circle and immediately, the park was bathed in red light. Abra levitated up and out of the circle, watching as red lightning bolts raised up from the ground, striking the tower as the walls glowed with golden sigils.
"One day, all this power will be mine," Abra grumbled to himself, taking in the spectacle with wide eyes. "One day soon…"
Author's Notes: For those of you unaware, I have been on break from writing until September 14th, which is why this chapter was so long in coming. I apologize for not letting those of you on FFnet know, I will do better next time.
Teekl was able to hide much in the same way that Klarion was able to hide from Pyroclasm; she channeled her master's power. I figured it was plausible that she could do that given how she was able to grow in size in the actual cartoon.
The answer to Abra's question, and by extension the question of 'why didn't they do this in canon' is that they were going more along the path of infiltration and so didn't want to raise alarms. That, and Klarion, as a Lord of Chaos, came up with this ritual circle a few seconds before presenting it to Abra, and then forgot about it a few seconds after.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter and that it was worth the wait. Let me know what you thought by leaving a comment/review down below.
Shout out goes out too Melden V, Anders Kronquist, Ray Tony Song, makopaulo, Volkogluk, Aaron Bjornson, iolande, Martin Auguado, Julio, Jiopaba, Hackerham, Tim Collins-Squire, Maben00, Devil's Bite, Sultan Saltlick, PostLifeSyndrome and DarthBane. Thank you for your continued support!
Until the next time!
~Fulcon