The world was constantly changing and shifting and evolving. As is said, the only thing that is constant is change. Yet, however random this change may be, there must always remain balance. And though the natural state of things always leaned to the side of chaos, there must remain balance. And that was Fate's purpose – to restore order in the face of insurmountable odds.

Klarion's purpose was far simpler. He merely was and he fulfilled it. Chaos.

He grinned maliciously and stroked the orange tabby cat pressed against his side. Personally, he thought of chaos as fun. Order was so predictable, so boring. But he knew that his own ideologies were far beyond human comprehension. They, the small-minded, framed him as 'evil'. His mouth twisted to the side at the suggestion. Was the wind evil? Was the ocean evil?

"Ugh, so narrowminded," Klarion announced his displeasure, his voice saturating the pocket of space he'd carved out for himself. And the worst of the worst were those Justice Leaguers, who thought they had some kind of right to stop the natural order of things. Entropy! It was supposed to be!

Teekl squirmed as Klarion's grip became too tight. Though he loosened his grip, he did not apologise. No, his thoughts were poised on other, more important matters.

For the past few days, he had been plotting against the Justice League. After the stunt where the world was split into two separate realities, an idea had been brewing in the crevices of his mind. The panic and disorder and disharmony caused by such a massive event had been marvellous. Absolutely stupendous! It had been so fun to see the Justice League teetering on the very edges of insanity. And they were all still so deliciously, wibbly-wobbly!

To set them off, all Klarion really needed was a teeny tiny little thing. And sometimes the smaller the stone, the larger the ripple in the end in any case. Oh, and did he have the perfect little stone!

At first, he had wanted that stupid science-spouting speedster to poof! He hated Kid Flash with a thriving passion and granted, the ramifications of his death would cause chaos indeed. But Klarion had decided to go for maximum effect. He didn't just want to bring the League to their knees. Nope! He wanted them to come after him and every villain they suspected with an untameable, unimaginable fury. He wanted the League thirsting for vengeance. And killing Kid Flash might not have quite that effect.

No, humans had this thing about children. Thus, the younger they were, the greater the impact.

Yes, a baby bird was going to unravel the world. Klarion's toes curled in anticipation.

Teekl, sensing the Witch Boy's excitement, meowed her impatience.

"Yes, yes, dear," Klarion immediately placated. "Very soon. I'm just waiting for everyone to get cosy again. The greatest chaos follows times of order, after all." After a pause, he gave a little cackle and twirled around on his left leg to face the glowing sphere suspended in nothingness. With his sight, enhanced by magic, he could see every minute activity happening on Earth right at that moment.

He could watch the ever-glorious Gotham where a dumb Bat tried to maintain some semblance of peace or he could look at Bialya, where the seeds of sown discord bloomed. Tempting… but, no.

Klarion had his gaze firmly trained on a small seaside town called Happy Harbour, where a team of justice babies were oh so carefully tumbling into a trap. After all, the greatest chaos hails from the agents of order and truly, there had never been a greater mortal than the Batman, protector of Gotham. What would he do without his anchor, though? The colourful little Robin held the Batman's strings and if Klarion was to, say, snip-snip, those strings….

"Teekl? I think this is going to be soooo much fun!"

"I'm going to the cave!" Dick announced joyously and rushed past Alfred who was measuring flour from an industrial-sized sack.

Alfred didn't bother to look up from his work, a large array of cups and bowls meticulously arranged before him. "I presume by 'cave' you do not mean the one downstairs, young master Richard?"

"Nah," Dick replied, neck-deep in the fridge. "Alfred, do we have any of yesterday's chicken left?" He pulled his face out of the fridge, a frown plastered across his forehead. Without a pause, he closed the door and moved to the cupboards on the other side of the large island in the middle of the kitchen. "And what about the cookies from the weekend?"

Alfred sighed internally. The speed at which Bruce's young ward lived sometimes astounded him. He couldn't remember a time when he had ever been so rushed to do anything. "I suppose you want to feed that cavernous friend of yours." Alfred sifted the last bit of flour into the mix before moving with stately grace to the large tin resting beside the coffeemaker. "I took the liberty of making sandwiches. You will also find an assortment of sweet things that should keep the young master Wallace satisfied for a few moments."

With a grin that lit up the entire kitchen, Dick bounded over to the older man and held out his arms. The tin of food was enough to feed a small troop of Spartans. Or one speedster and friends. "Thanks, Alfred. You're the best!" He turned around to head to the zeta-beam downstairs but didn't get very far. Alfred's hand rested lightly, yet firmly, on one shoulder.

"Young master Richard… perhaps it would be best to wait until later." The butler didn't have to explain his reasons. The Wayne Manor had been tense enough that he did not have to explain his hesitance.

Dick's stomach twisted with mixed emotions. Frustration was prime among them. Admittedly, the past few months had been increasingly erratic, with dangerous villains becoming more and more commonplace. Dick didn't know when he last had a good night's sleep. Bruce had become even more protective. With the potential mole, the stupid failsafe experiment and then the split worlds incident… he could see why his adoptive father no longer wanted him out of his sight for too long.

Dick gently placed the tin on a nearby counter before turning around to give Alfred a hug. Although he knew hugs made the Englishman somewhat uncomfortable, he also knew that they all needed a bit of reassurance. "Alfred… I know. But it has been two weeks since… that. Everyone's going to be there, and I promise I won't stay long or do anything too adventurous. We're just going to Connor's football practice and straight back."

"If you insist." Alfred knew how considerate and patient Dick had been over the past few weeks, coming home straight after school, not going out or insisting on tagging along on patrols. "Be safe."

"Always!"

Famous last words.

Okay, so I'm trying something new. Please leave some comments or suggestions, or tell me if you're interested. A warning though: contrary to what this chapter suggests, I am a massive Kid Flash fan, so he will certainly be one of the main characters. But of course, the entire team will feature. The old team, not this new disappointment that's currently airing. I nearly cried with this last episode, though. For a wonderful second, I thought Wally was actually back and it felt like the good old days again. On that note, what does everyone think of S3 of YJ?