Sorry for the long update, I forgot that I even wrote this hahaha
For Future references
- Gwen uses a captured Sapphire Ruby from the Star Sapphire Corps to augment her magic, explaining the pink hue and constructs of her powers
- Kevin works as an alien tech smuggler, still has the same powers, he is Ben's best friend
Salem
March 21, 21:00
It was a cold, wet, damp night at the park, there was no one at the vicinity due to the heavy rain, the weather report indicated a storm will be passing by, with this, the citizen didn't bother to travel in fear of crossroad accidents involving the rain, two lone strangers were the only beings present at the moment, both observing from afar an empty and uninteresting plot of land
Gwen is currently wearing a jacket to prevent herself from being soaked by the rain, the jacket in her opinion was both stylish and practical, to finish off her rain attire, an umbrella was also present with her holding it to dear life as to prevent in from either breaking from the weather, turning it inside-out or being dragged away by the heavy wind. Ben was in his Animagus uniform, he made quick checks to see if his glamour spell is still in effect, although the Lord of Order can see through even the most wiliest illusions, Ben's glamour spell only affects his hood, in the eyes of another, they will see nothing but a vast, empty, infinite black void when staring back at his face, this was all an extra measures in case Doctor Fate happens to be inside, and he wouldn't want to get caught and be identified now would he?
Even Ben wasn't sure if the glamour works on Doctor Fate, but then again, a hood can still hide a vast majority of his face, at least there's that, if all things goes hell, Gwen was here for a quick escape, with her intimate knowledge of the arcane arts, she has more in-depth access to exotic spells compared to Ben, Ben on the other hand has a more practical arsenal on his hands, an 'instant effect' kind of spell set allows him to fight battles that involves direct, offensive contact
"I can't believe you drag me into this" said Gwen in a deadpan tone
"Have I ever mentioned that you're my favorite cousin?" said Ben cheekily
"This is a horrible idea, why can't we reschedule this a few months from now, when we have… oh I don't know, a real plan!?" said a frantic Gwen
"Because you said that Fate is busy right now on his investigation, by the way, who or… what is he looking to exactly?" asked Ben
"John Constantine" answered Gwen
"That pedestrian magician?" described Ben
"He's a demon hunter Ben" rebuked Gwen
"Oh, so why would Fate look for him? Asked Ben
"I don't really know, the League doesn't really understand mystic affairs, to them, the topic is very vague and confusing" said Gwen
"Which makes them horrible spies" said Ben
"Ok, back to the topic, what are we going to do? Go gun blazing inside?" said a nervous Gwen
"This is a stealth mission, which means, not getting ourselves caught, did you take the things we need?" asked Ben
"Right here" said Gwen, handing Ben a golden, elegant key
"I've studied the Tower of Fate's layout, components, defenses, and structure, in front of us is the gate way inside the interior" said Gwen
"I don't see anything" said Ben while squinting his eyes at the direction
"Here, use this" Gwen handed Ben a monocle, Ben then peek through the monocle and aimed it at the empty land
"Wow! Is that the Tower Fate? It's… not what I really expected" said Ben, disappointed of the entire structure; he expected something more grand and spectacular
"Yeah I know, it's not really all that appealing for a home for the Lord of Order itself, but, hey, it's what the inside that counts" said Gwen
"Anyways, where did you get this artifact? Don't tell me that I'm starting to rub into you?" said Ben teasingly
"I got it from E-bay" answered Gwen quickly
"Wh-What? Really?" said Ben in disbelief
"Yup, the monocle was created by her royal Majesty's alchemist; Nicholas Flamel, a gift from the French as an act of good will, it was said to reveal things not seen by the mortal eye" said Gwen
"Wow, where did you learned that?" ask Ben in amazement
"It was at the description of the item" said Gwen in a bored tone
After their short talks, the two moved closer to the Tower of Fate, the tower itself wasn't the most attractive or the most glamourous, but it hid many secrets of the universe, a fact Ben has said to himself to prevent him from forgetting that this was no ordinary tower
The two were now standing at one of the tower's walls, the cousins look at one another, determination, excitement, and wonder where at their eyes, with a deep inhale and a simple nod from Gwen, Ben inserted the key to the non-existent hole of the tower, the key slid though with no effort, it is as if inserting the key in midair, not a moment too soon, a door materializes in front of them, it too was ordinary just like the tower, as the door materializes, so too did the tower itself, Ben grabbed the handle and opened the door, from outside, the two saw an elegant and large living room comprised of a large fireplace, a beautiful carpet, and two large stairways at each side that links to two other halls
The two entered the room, as soon as they entered, the door loudly closes back, shocking the two, with the door closed, it wasn't very long until it disappeared, leaving nothing but a plain brick grey wall, having no other routes but onward, they decided to pick a staircase, but before they could mumble a single tone, an apparition appeared before them, the 'hologram' was none other than Kent Nelson, former host of Doctor Fate and the second mystic hero to ever join the Justice League, he was among one of the most prestigious, respected, and famous mystic in the magical community, and probably the most debated character within the magical community due to his dual allegiance
As with all mystics, a sense of community brews within the magical society, to humans, magicians and mages were two interchangeable names, this was not the fact, although the two are Homo Magis', each side has their own unique spell craft, magicians were the earliest group to rise to power within the material plane, they discovered their inherent abilities to influence the world back in ancient times were mana is abundant in Earth, thus created ways to channel such amazing gifts, the solution they brought up was the use of language to focus their mental strength in order to use magic, therefore, came the concept of 'the Mind's Eye', the language itself was useless for it was the fortitude of their words that grants them morale in the belief that they can make things happen, it wasn't until then that rituals were invented as a means of aid to minimize lengthy and mouthful spells, these were normally used for spells requiring two or more practitioner to cast a single or multiple powerful and mighty spell, some rituals involves pain, pleasure, anger, and other emotions as these factors would affect the mental stability of a magician, due to the nature of their magic which is very vague, general, and stretches from all corners of practices, these magic users became a jack of all trades, and a master of none
Mages on the other hand see magic as a scientific pursuit instead of a spiritual one, having witness some horrendous and despicable rituals in the early times of magic, they eventually went on to self-exile, not wanting to be involved to such horrid and inhumane practices, but they cannot deny their gifts, with a lust for power and knowledge, these magic users band together to re-invent new ways of spell craft, thus, creating a system called 'True Knowledge', unlike magicians who needs to utter words for casting spells, mages uses tangible objects as a way to channel their magic, so long as they themselves have learned and used the spell, they can invoke it without any consciousness, for them, it was like throwing different rocks from an already prepared satchel, it was all a mere selection, indeed, this was more practical than verbal spells with their only fear is being disarmed, with this, the mages entered a golden age of magic, invention of new spells were bountiful, and unlike magicians who would take years to develop new spells, the mages can develop them within months, but progress came with a cost, now, there were just too many spells, too many branches, and too many art styles to learn from, the mage's system of 'True Knowledge' was never intended to be used in such a way, the system was spread too thinly, mages learning different types of spells became incompetent to other areas, a mage that uses water spells will have a difficulty using other spell craft with the same ease, with a seemingly unsolvable problem, a solution came to mind, they have to abandon adaptability and trade it with efficiency , true, they will be powerful in one area of magic, but will be inefficient to other areas, with no other choice, mages were forced to specialize, these magic users became a jack of none, but a master of one
Before the apparition of Kent Nelson spoke his normal and gentle greetings to his visitors, he paused and squinted his eyes at the two; his eyes were filled with suspicion and held caution, several seconds passed, the observing aged man still held the face of stoicism and absolute focus, until, his eyes grew large and alert as if a sudden realization came to his mind
"Intruder!" yelled the apparition, he raised his cane upwards in an attempt to tap the ground as to spring up the many traps of the tower, but before the cane ever made contact with the floor, Gwen invoked a single word incantation
"etapissid!" yelled Gwen, the apparition's eyes went wide with surprise, slowly, his body faded into the air, a look of shock in his face, a reality came to mind that the apparition has failed to protect the tower
"That… was a close one, nice job Gwen" said Ben while whipping off the cold sweat from his forehead, it would be unfortunate (and embarrassing) to be discovered this early
"That was just the first security system of the tower, the rest are hidden between the walls in the hall, miscellaneous objects, and rooms, oh, and I have to warn you, be careful of which room you open, some lead to other portals, others, well, I don't know, but I'm sure it's bad" said Gwen
"Come on, we have to find the archive, I'm pretty sure the thing we want is in there" said Ben while gesturing Gwen to follow him, he made several hand gestures at the fire place, not a moment too soon, the fire died and out came a hidden doorway
"Wait, that basically means you're not even sure where it is!" said a frantic Gwen
"Oh come on, have I ever got lost when trying to find artifacts? I'm a pro at this!" replied Ben, with that, the two entered the secret hallway
The hall itself was dark and held the impression of being infinite, but the two were used to such optical illusions, they walked in silence for a full minute, at last, they saw light at the end of the hall, the two continued their casual walk until they entered a large room filled with books
The room was grand and decorated with a Victorian aesthetic theme; colorful books were placed in tall and large shelves which covered the walls at every side, the room itself was at least 6 stories high, the halls were made of shelves that either leads to somewhere or nowhere, it was basically a maze
"So, where do we go from here?" asked Gwen
"We'll split up, it covers more ground and a lot faster, whoever gets out of the library maze will go directly to Fate's archive and contact the other" replied Ben
"I don't like this place, it has this dangerous feel into it, but I guess we don't have much of a choice if we want to get out of here fast" said Gwen
"So I guess we'll see each other at the other side" said Ben, with that, they parted ways, each taking a hall opposite to the other
Ben explored the maze while walking at a casual pace, as if walking at a park, turning each corner with genuine interest, it wasn't like the Tower of Fate was a tourist destination, the only few who get full authorization to access the tower besides Doctor Fate was Zatanna, and Ben hardly knows her, only by name was he familiar to her, to the untrained eye, the maze may seem like it was repeating itself over and over again, but not to Ben, he may not see a pattern unlike Gwen, but he does have a good feel of the surrounding
Minutes have passed, the scenery still the same as it is, only with different books displayed at the walls, by then, the surrounding atmosphere seem to have change, as if danger was approaching, It was as if the maze have been awoke, a spontaneous disembodied sentience seem to lurk within the walls, or perhaps the walls themselves were somewhat alive, it was a sudden awakening, Ben was now on full alert, his casual walking now turned to a battle stance, his staff held tightly in both hands, eyes focused, mind wracking with different scenarios, he may not know what it is to come, but he was ready
Walking slowly, he felt movement at the very top most bookshelf wall, he paused for a minute, making sure not to break eye contact with it while taking glances at his blind spots to prevent himself from being ambushed, seconds passed and there were no movements, seeing this, Ben moved along, but did not break his guard as it would be foolish to do so while inside a dangerous place he knows little about
Just then, a book fell from the top shelf, just right in front of him, he readied his staff for combat, he scanned the surrounding, finding any glimpse of life or movement, but he did not see and sense any
"This is weird, a book won't just hurl itself to the ground" said Ben to nobody but himself
"Of course… we are in the Tower of Fate, so that kinda make sense" said Ben as realization (and embarrassment) hit him, he forgot the he was in the Tower of Fate and that some items are imbued with magical properties, thus, explaining why some objects are autonomous, of course, it didn't explain why the book fell for no apparent reason
Ben continued to give the fallen book undivided attention, staring at it with vigor and curiosity, as seconds passed by, Ben gave it second thoughts to either continue on with his mission or observe it for a few more seconds, just as he decided to avert his eyes away from the object, the book slightly twitched, Ben was quick to see this motion, as he landed his eyes on the same object, the book violently shook, it stirred, flipped, and occasionally jumps
Ben took a few paces backwards as the book violently vibrates, just then, the book opened, pages rapidly flipping as if a disembodied force is trying to locate a specific page, it landed on a page with an illustration, Ben's eyes quickly went wide, the page showed a picture of several imps
Ben backed a few meter away to prepare himself on the upcoming onslaught, the book shook and glowed, dark smoke came out from the page, the smoke scattered in the hall, on cue, the smoke formed the shape of small humanoid beings, Ben couldn't count them all as the event happened too fast, the smoke slowly dissipated, and in its place were imps, they were blue in color instead of the common red, a sign that these imps were more intelligent and dangerous, all of them stand at the height of 4 ft. tall and features an athletic physique, 4 glowing demonic red eyes accentuate their face's features instead of the normal 2, a single spiked thin tail that is far longer than their body, mostly used as a whip or as a means of strangulation, a pair of wings spawns at their back, clearly made for speed, and twin 6 inches black horns, most of them were naked with their fore skinned covered manhood exposed, a tool that would make any man envious, it dangles between their legs which would be vulnerable to the elements or to combat, an obvious weakness, the rest wore loincloths, all of them are unarmed except for their claws
Without a second to waste, they all charged at Ben, Ben quickly analyzed the scenario, his path was block by the imps, he was outnumbered, running away would be redundant as the imps were fast, the book will replace any killed imps, his only option was to incapacitate the imps as to prevent their numbers from growing due to the book, a single blast would just be dodged, a single blast will encourage them to spread out, the imps spreading out means that he has to divide his attention, the imps spreading out will be more coordinated, Ben needs a more area covering attack to negate such tactic, with a simple hand gesture, Ben produced electricity in his left hand and electrocuted the imps, all of them were stricken by the blast, some were stunned, with another hand gesture, he sent another electrical attack at the imps, ensuring that the voltage is low enough to disable, the imps yelled out of pain, even with their speed, they were no match to Ben, they all quickly fell in battle
Not wanting the imps to wake up anytime soon, Ben quickly fled the area, he was now levitating as to increase his speed, Ben now knew that the library maze was full of traps and surprised
"I need to get out of here now" said Ben
Just then, an earthquake occurred, Ben stopped midflight as books fell from both corners which made Ben cover his head with his arms, the earthquake soon stopped and left a pile of books around Ben, Ben let out a cold sweat, fully knowing what's about to happen next, like before, the books violently shook and glowed, Ben went on full spread across the books, he didn't even have to look from behind that the various creatures are now fully corporeal and are now relentlessly pursuing Ben, Ben took several seeds from his pouch and threw it at the creature pursuing him, the seeds hit several creatures, a split second later, the path was now blocked by a thick overgrowth, Ben knew that this won't stop them for long, Ben looked over to where the exit might be
Luckily for him, he sensed one, he looked over his shoulder and saw a book that is strangely more 'normal' than the rest, he knew that the book was a portal that leads to the exit, just as he was about to get the book, a Manticore tackled him to the ground, Ben was launched several meters away, his staff was thrown off, Ben was now disarmed and pinned down by the Manticore, the Manticore tried to bite Ben's neck for a quick kill, but before it even had the chance, Ben electrocuted it with his bare hands, the Manticore roared in pain and was forced to back away from Ben, the Manticore quickly shook off the sensation of electrocution, clearly resistant to it
Ben stood up and went to a battle stance, the Manticore charged at Ben, just as it was about to hit Ben, Ben barrel rolled out of the way, instead of the Manticore hitting Ben, it hit nothing, Ben quickly scrambled to retrieve his staff, but the Manticore was fast, it flew right above Ben and landed between him and his staff, Ben was now getting worried, the overgrowth makeshift wall won't hold for much longer evidence to some of the creature's claws appearing from the other side, the Manticore roared and charged at Ben with pure fury, Ben quickly drew a metallic silver disk from his satchel and threw it at the Manticore, as the disk was still in midair, a green goo followed its trajectory path from Ben's magic satchel, as if in slow-mo, the beast charged straight ahead at the incoming disk with the green goo just behind it, as planned, the green goo bounded the beast, immobilizing it, Ben breath a deep sigh and calmly walked towards his staff
With his staff retrieved, all he has to do now was to open the magic book, Ben searched for the specific page the portal might be, after a few seconds, he found it, the page shows an illustration on what happens to be a magic circle, he let it the book go, as it was about to fall to the ground, it levitated, it then flew a meter away from Ben, glowing brightly, it was then engulf in a spiraling golden flame, Ben looked one last time at his handiwork and proceeded to enter the portal, leaving the creatures behind
Ben was then transported to an infinite staircase, to someone's perspective, the staircase defies all logic, some twists, others go upside-down, right-side up, the area doesn't seem to follow the law of gravity, but Ben found his way easily, going 'upstairs', Ben soon found himself in a vast hall, it has an elegant gothic theme with plenty of decorative knight's armor lining the walls
"Let me guess, if I walk down this hall, those suit of armors will come alive and attack me?" said Ben in a bored tone
Ben casually walked in the hall, as predicted, the suit of armor animated and charged towards Ben, drawing their weapons high, they circled around Ben, with a smirk that says confidence, Ben readied his staff, silently enchanting it to be more resistant to impact and to deal more severe blows than an what an ordinary staff would
Without warning, the armored knights attacked all at once, Ben being experienced at both blades work, spell craft, and martial arts, the armored knights were at a horrible disadvantage, all of them swung their swords, maces and halberds at Ben, none landed a hit, they were all dodged and parried, Ben calmly swung his staff with a mighty force, breaking several weapons and armor while casually dodging incoming attacks and countering it with his own attack, Ben was fast even by Batman's standard, his quick reaction and analytical skill allowed him to calculate the most appropriate attacks that wouldn't severe his combo
The fight took no longer than a full minute, this is either a testament of Ben's skill or the mediocre performance of the constructs, Ben surveyed his surrounding, broken wood litters the floor, dent metals lies on the ground, everything was a mess, Ben looked around one last time before moving on
All the halls seems to be littered with traps, from paintings coming to life then escaping their designated portrait up to potted plants mutating into a sentient overgrowth that would attack what's near, with all this ruckus, Ben wondered if Doctor Fate would have been in the tower by now
"Gee, I've been pretty noisy today" said Ben while surveying the hall
"This is weird, Doctor Fate and the Tower are pretty much connected, if something's out of place, he'd know by now, so did he notice me or is he pretending not to?" said Ben, he was now doubting his tactic, he knew from the very beginning that stealth was never the option, the Tower knows all too well what lies within, heck, not even Klarion, the Lord of Chaos could hide himself from the Tower
After several minutes of thinking, he found himself on the end of the hallway, it was a dead end, or, what seems like it
'Look for the meaning within the hidden meaning', this thought sprang up, a memo he learned from his grandmother
With a deep inhale and full concentration, he placed both his palms on the wall, closing his eyes, he searched for signs, after a minute, he found it, it was mana, the mana had a command to deceive, with this, Ben knew that the wall isn't exactly a wall
'laever' said Ben while facing the wall
A double door slowly materialized in front of him, it was a made of oak and dark brown in color
With a deep inhale, Ben pushed open the door, there was no telling what lies beyond, it may be another dead end, a portal, traps, or mythical creatures, the plans Ben got from Gwen was millennia old, nobody really knows the interior of the Tower, it was ever shifting, but thanks to Gwen's ability of dowsing, she was able to peek inside the Tower while in astral form, although she didn't get a lot of information regarding the location of the artifact room, she was still able to pin down the most 'weirdest' source of arcane energy within the tower
"I hope Gwen is right about this" said Ben, with that he entered the door, entering a door felt like falling in a skyscraper, no matter, Ben was used to this, a lot of magical doors usually have this trait, this was no different
After the sensation of being dropped, Ben's field of vision finally cleared to make sense of anything
"W-What!? This is isn't –"said Ben confusingly
Ben was shocked as to see that he wasn't transported to a room, he frantically searched his surrounding, he was atop of the tower, evidence that there were no walls nor ceiling in display and how the cold rainy wind blew towards him, he was technically outside the Tower
"H-How could this happen? I followed the –"before Ben could finish his sentence, a golden ankh appeared in front of him
Ben went wide eyed upon seeing this, fully knowing who would appear, Ben readied his staff and went on a defensive stance, of course he was conflicted between fight or flight, Ben has been exquisite when it comes to combat while escapes were Gwen's specialty, of course, Gwen hasn't shown up, either her hands were tied or she too got lost, although the later would be silly, all in all, Gwen wasn't here at the moment, forcing Ben to face Doctor Fate alone
"You are not welcome here thief" said Doctor Fate in his usual echoing monotone.
"Whatever you say, I'm just your average tourist who happens to get lost, and a word of advice, you really need aisle signs here" said Ben comically
Doctor Fate merely levitated, not moving nor replying a single word, merely observing the young Magus, sensing that Ben can no longer get any words out from Doctor Fate, Ben reiterated with another banter
"Anyways, if you could point me to the direction where you keep your most valuable artifacts that would be great" said Ben
"Surely you jest" replied Doctor Fate, now squinting at Ben
"I'm shock! What kind of a hero doesn't help a lost tourist?" said Ben while exaggeratingly acting as if he was emotionally hurt
"Any who, I really need to get going, my mom is making fried chicken" said Ben who was now walking away from their stand off
Just then, a golden blast was about to hit Ben, seeing the attack, Ben conjured a force field made of mana to shield himself, the blast made contact with Ben's shield, when it hit, he staggered, cracks were present on the shield, a display of how terrifyingly powerful Doctor Fate is
Ben really need to escape, he wasn't sure if he can even beat Doctor Fate in a mystic duel, he quickly scanned his surroundings, no door, no stairs, no nothing, just a vast space of the outside, with his current skill, he wasn't sure too about escaping Doctor Fate when the other who could just track him if he successfully do escape, which is particularly a slim chance
'Where's Gwen when you need her?' thought Ben
"You have been registered as a thief in the League's list of criminals, with your powers alone, you are dangerous, I cannot let you escape" said Doctor Fate, levitating slowly towards Ben
"I guess flight isn't an option" said Ben, with no other choice, he raised his staff, preparing for the worst
With a single wave of a hand, Doctor Fate conjured golden shackles that are meant for capture, with a fling of a hand, the chains charged at Ben like how an aggressive snake would, Ben quickly soared up to the air as to gain a field of vision advantage and to have distance between him and the chains, but the chains were fast, it now repositioned its trajectory upwards, following Ben, Ben was surprised at this, but it was too late, the chains bounded onto Ben's body, entangling him, but that's not all, the chain were surprisingly very heavy which forced Ben to fall towards the ground
Before crashing to the ground, Ben became intangible, escaping the grasp of the shackles, now freed, he countered with a powerful stream of electricity target at Doctor Fate, Doctor Fate raised both his hands towards the attack as if he was 'catching' the electricity, when the electricity made contact with Doctor Fates hands, he made a gesture and redirected the attack towards Ben, this time, the power was multiplied
Seeing the power of the attack, conjuring a shield or dodging was no longer the option, the former would only break due to the sheer magnitude of the attack, the latter would still directly hit him due to the speed of the attack greater than Ben's own speed, with no time to waste, he transfigured his entire body into something akin to that of a diamond, Ben did his best to absorb the attack, the electricity then converted into spectrum energy, with both of his arms raised, he redirected the converted attack to Doctor Fate again
The attack was now incoming towards Doctor Fate, with both his hands glowing, he conjured an ankh in front of him, successfully dissipating the spectrum attack, Doctor Fate then made another ankh, this time, larger, this ankh summoned a number of gargoyles heading straight for Ben, by increasing the power of Ben's neuroshock, he was able to damage stones, Ben focused on his attack, making him stationary, this time, instead of a stream of green laser hitting the gargoyles one by one, his attacks now form what seems to be a ricochet, the laser now follows the gargoyles, more often, hitting multiple targets at the same time
With Ben distracted, Doctor Fate morphed the ankh gateway which summons gargoyles, transforming it into a golden phoenix, seeing the mystical bird, Ben conjured a blizzard around himself, thanks to the cold weather and the rain, freezing will be easy, the gargoyles have been immobilized due to their joint being frozen thanks to the rain water turning into ice, but the phoenix is still moving, focusing his ice powers to the phoenix, Ben tried vehemently to extinguish its flames, seeing as his attack isn't doing anything, Ben threw a disk towards the phoenix, with it comes a green goo, Ben hoped that this would extinguish it, but alas, the phoenix prove to be more resilient, the disk was destroyed and the goo boiled then evaporated, Ben needs a wall, dodging it would mean that it would just follow him, with no more options left, a series of arcane symbols was magically drawn onto the ground by Ben, with a giant cloud of sparkling silver dust, Ben summoned his familiar… Humungousaur
"What are we up against kid?" said Humungousaur
"Heads up!" warned Ben to Humungousaur, with only a second to spare, Humungousaur caught the phoenix, holding it back
"Hot! Hot!" yelled Humungousaur
"Sorry" said Ben guiltily
But the duo heard something, a high pitch sound that sounded more of a kettle heating up and releasing the excess air inside, the sound seem to be coming from the phoenix, the sound grew louder and louder, just then, Humungousaur's eyes went wide
"Kid get down!" yelled Humungousaur to Ben
"Wha-" was the only thing Ben manage to say after being thrown away by Humungousaur's tail
After tossing Ben away, the phoenix exploded in a fiery frenzy, Ben awoke, still disoriented from the high-pitched sound and the brightness from the explosion, Ben surveyed the battlefield, the explosion left the area ablaze, small chunks of live fire were scattered, embers littered everywhere and black chocking smoke shrouded the area, Ben wondered to look for Humungousaur, several seconds later, he found him, lying down, injured, mildly burnt, but still breathing, seeing this, Ben quickly run to Humungousaur
"Hehehe, been a while since I got this messed up" said Humungousaur, smiling, Ben only looked at him with guilt and pity
"Really sorry about this kid, I lost, I doubt I have the strength to get up" said Humungousaur in a depressing tone while wearing a smile, Humungousaur closed his eyes, and with that, he vanished, preferably returning to where he came from, leaving with him a puff of silver dust
Ben looked at Doctor Fate, still idly levitating while surveying the area, with a swift hand gesture, Doctor Fate made a strong gust, dissipating the smoke which once covered the area, the only thing left was Ben wearing a fearsome glare fueled by fury
"That does it Fate! You want a fight!? I'll give you a fight!" shouted Ben from the thick smoke, Doctor Fate gazed his head on the location of the sound, still not seeing Ben due to the cover of the smoke, but he knows he is there, somewhere
From the smoke comes forth a raging fire burst that came from the center which is then followed by a powerful explosion, the intense flames rapidly spread in every direction, Doctor Fate quickly erected an ankh to be used as a shield, although it absorb the damage, the recoil hurled Doctor Fate several meters in the air
From the smoke and fire arises a large being, Doctor Fate was shock, wondering what it could be, he readied his stance, it wasn't until the being's head fully reach atop the smoke, Doctor Fate was surprised, at his very eyes is a legendary mythical beast, the symbol of power; A Dragon
It is clad with dark green scales while having a light green skin under hind, with emerald slit intelligent eyes, it stands up to 3 stories high and possess two large powerful wings on its back while having muscular arms and legs, truly the beast is intimidating
Doctor Fate was now beginning to worry, not only will he have to fight a beast with a strong resistance to magic, but to also fight the young magus with outstanding skills in sorcery, Fate wondered how the young magus was able to make a pact with such a mighty beast, knowing that dragons were proud races that doesn't bow to anyone, anything closest to 'befriending' a dragon is to make a pact
"Now witness true sorcery!" said the dragon with a booming voice
Doctor Fate went wide eye, the magus didn't summon a dragon, he is the dragon, with an outstanding skill to transmute one's body to a beast take sophisticated and complex magical algorithms while possessing intimate knowledge with anatomy, Fate came to the conclusion why this young magi was promoted to magus, reasoning with Ben may still be Fate's option, but this particular magus's temper is now that of a dragon, meaning, it won't listen until Fate is dealt with, coming to a logical conclusion, Fate decided to fake his defeat in order to reason with the young magus, after all, he is the Lord of Order, and what good is order without reason?
By a wave of both his arms, Fate proceeded to subdue the dragon, summoning an ankh below the dragon, the ankh's gravity field was greater than any area on Earth, Fate hopes that this would bind or slow the young magus, but Ben merely looked at Doctor Fate, not feeling any effects of the spell
"My turn" said a smirking draconic Ben
Ben opened his jaw wide and a powerful burst of fire came forth, Fate has found the opportunity to fake his defeat, he summoned his strongest shield to absorb the blast as knowing that mystics should be advise to dodge a dragon's flame attack rather than defend, a bit of knowledge that even most magus did not know, with the attack incoming, Fate hold his stance for the impending attack
The blast hit Fate straight on, hurling Fate towards the ground, leaving behind a crater, Ben watched the whole scenario played, with Doctor Fate on the ground, Ben calculated his next attack and waiter… and waited… and waited, Ben was bewildered, could he have defeated Fate?
Ben flew towards Doctor Fate to prove his theory, he sees Fate unmoving, perhaps unconscious, Fate was lying in a vulnerable supine position, something seasoned heroes wouldn't do in risk of exposing weak spots or a second wave of attack
Ben has then came to the idea that he has one, not wanting to injure… or murder Fate, he transformed back to his human form, his draconic body was rapidly engulf in flames and out came Ben's human form,
Ben observed Doctor Fate
"Yup, he's unconscious alright, maybe I over did it" said Ben, still observing Fate from atop the crater
Just then, Ben had a crazy idea, is it possible to retake the Helmet of Fate? Wondering on that thought while looking at Fate, he's mind and body was tempted to do just that, sliding downwards on the crater, Ben slowly walk towards Fate, if he is successful at taking the Helmet of Fate, it would be the biggest heist not only in the magical community, but in the world
Now beside Doctor Fate, Ben was now contemplating if he should do it, of course, he knew that he's not strong enough to take the helmet, albeit without removing his head from his body, but for Ben, there was nothing wrong with experimenting, he slowly reach his hands to the helmet
Ben's fingers are centimeters away from the helmet, closing his eyes for any magical defense residue that would surely hurt, he nervously reached for the helmet
Suddenly, a firm hand grabbed his hand, Ben yelped out of surprise to see Fate now fully standing, towering him in an intimidating stature, Ben raised his staff to conjure flames but he was disarmed by the golden shackles binding both his arms, forcing him to drop his staff, the move took no more than two seconds, now unarmed, tired, and vulnerable, Ben readied himself of what Fate may do to him
With a golden flash coming from Doctor Fate's eyes, Ben closed his eyes from the blinding light, upon opening them, he see that he was no longer in the crater and the battle field was once again of that from before, he also observed that he was no longer shackled, but his staff was nowhere to be seen
"Okay, what gives?" said Ben, crossing his arms
"You show great potential, and you have a pure hear" said Doctor Fate
"That's one way of rubbing it off to someone you just beat" said Ben, now feeling a bit awkward
"I have need of you" said Doctor Fate, now sounding very serious
"Okay… and what is that?" said Ben, still confused and awkward of their talk
"Be my eyes and ears" said Fate
"So… you want me to spy to others or you're literally going to turn me into your eyes and ears?" asked Ben, hoping Fate doesn't say the later
"The former" said Fate, Ben let out a sigh of relief
"But you do know that I don't work for free right?" asked Ben
"In exchange for your services, I am granting you the opportunity to study within the Tower and use whatever materials you deem necessary for your pursuit" offered Fate
"So you're saying I could take all your cool stuff!?" expressed Ben excitedly
"Borrow" stated Fate
"But what about the League?" asked a worried Ben
"I believe that you can compensate" said Fate platonically
"What!? So you're saying I'm on my own!?" shouted Ben, Doctor Fate merely nod as an answer
"The League must never find out that I am associated with you in anyway, this mission I am giving you is not approved by the League" said Fate
"So why are you asking my help if it's out of League protocol?" asked Ben
"Because I sense a great evil is upon us, although I am not sure of what kind of evil that would be" said Fate
"So basically, you're not sure?" asked Ben, Fate did not reply
"Okay, I'll take that as a yes, so about that job…" said Ben
"So you accept?" asked Doctor Fate
"It does sound interesting, hmmm, sure, why not? But it does make me a high profile target in the League's radar" said Ben
"Excellent, here, take this" Fate handed Ben a golden medallion with an ankh emblem, Ben understood that this relic is how they will communicate, free from wiretapping, electronic jamming or hacking
"Cool" said Ben receiving the medallion and inspecting it, it looks more like a large golden piece of jewelry, it looks bland but for Ben it doesn't matter, now he has a greater calling than petty thievery, a wave of motivation and determination coursed through his body
Just then, a pink orb flew towards Fate, seeing the impending attack, Fate raised his one arm and blocked the attack, the attack was weak, intentionally used as a psychological warfare for targets to dodge the attack to give distance to the attacker, not only that, but the projectile was made of raw mana
"Ben!" shouted Gwen, she quickly ran over to his cousin's side, her hands glowing with pink transparent spherical mana orbs
"Oh good, you're here, me and Doctor Fate here has just come to an agreement" said Ben while gesturing to Doctor Fate
"So what's the catch?" asked Gwen to Ben
"We help him on his dirty work and he gives us all the cool stuff in the Tower" said an excited Ben
"Burrow" said Doctor Fate
"So… no more fighting?" asked Gwen, her fighting stance getting more relax
"Yup" said Ben, with that, she dropped her stance
"So how does this work?" asked Gwen
"Your cousin will explain, for now, I must take my leave" said Doctor Fate, with one arm raise to the air, a blinding light was produced, the cousins have no choice but to shut their eyes out of reflex, when they opened them, they were back at the park, still raining heavily
"Well that was rude, so what now?" asked Gwen
As soon as Gwen asked, the medallion glowed, seeing this, Ben let out a grin
"It's hero time!"
Yup, this has got to be the most anti-climatic chapter I ever wrote
I need your help, what hero name should Ben use as an alias when he's out in missions and he needs to introduce himself?
Next: Ben confronts the League of Assassin