Hello again, everyone! I'm back! I am SuperHeroTimeFan, everyone, and I am once again returning from the dead with another new chapter of the best story I have ever written yet, Path of the Padawan! It's amazing how I was able to get this far! All of the support you guys and girls have given me really gave me inspiration to write more into this exciting and awesome story! So, I would like to thank The Christian Jedi, Logan GC, JacklyinKarst, YellowFlash67, Scourge from BloodClan, Flaming Dragon, Robin Rani, Falcongal, Swimmer555, All4TheSnow, JediSpiritMonk, Princess9903, Hylianodst, Jenn, Ahsokanerd, Crashingthroughthesnow, chalent4eva, witchsoul531, Useless Whispers, Crystal-Rose-Lover, Ahsokalo, the weapons expert KrautYank, Ocnarf, and all of the Guests for helping me to get this far and backing me up. Without you, I don't know what I could have ever done. Thank you all so much! Now, since there are no questions to be answered as of the moment, I'll just move onto my new chapter! I hope you all enjoy it, because it was The Christian Jedi who helped me out with this idea! Please be sure to review and rate on this new chapter, and as always, please enjoy!
Chapter 29: Children of Eminence
Bialya April 25th 1952 hours UTC
It had been over a week since everything had happened. Sure, Striker and Xever might have been punished already, but it was now bad enough that Sylas's enthraller, Syrena, was now in League custody. The head of the ORDER was not happy as he started to walk into the main briefing room, where everyone was waiting for him. Someday, the ORDER will rule supreme! Sylas thought to himself as all of his generals and Terror Titans took notice of his arrival and immediately bowed down before him.
Sylas looked down to his ORDER operatives and the Terror Titans and scoffed. "You are all a disgrace to the ORDER's cause!" Sylas scolded everyone. Barriss gulped as she looked up to her leader nervously. "With all due respect, Sylas, the Team has been getting in our way, and without Syrena to control the three Leaguers we have now, Batman, Superman and Green Arrow are all free of control." The Mirialan Ex-Jedi reasoned. Sylas looked down to her and started to scowl. "You are correct, Black Widow, but the ORDER needs successes more than they already have failures." He spat back. Black Widow sighed as she lowered her head back to the ground.
The head of the ORDER then looked to the rest of the figures in the room and sighed. "I need a team who can perform better than any other of my generals and soldiers." He stated to the entire faculty. At that moment, Kadaj stepped up with his brothers, Ankh and Loz and smirked. "As the Remnants of the Sephirot, I, Kadaj, and my brothers, will be able to ensure the ORDER its victory, my master!" Kadaj yelled out. Sylas smirked and nodded to the silver-haired teen and smiled with appreciation. "I expect results from you, Kadaj." Sylas stated. "The Light must pay for double-crossing us. I have reports that they are currently in Norway. Intercept them and kill them at all costs." Sylas added on. Kadaj nodded and signaled for his two brothers to follow him to their ship, now on their way to their ship.
Mount Justice April 26th 1258 hours ETC
The Team all waited in the Kitchen patiently as they waited for the League to report on what they had discovered from their prisoner, Alakshmi Mira. Even though some mysterious and ominous mercenary had helped in her capture, everyone was still weary of the operative and her powers. Nonetheless, Ahsoka couldn't stop thinking. Who was that man with the claws and the armor? She asked herself over and over again in her head. Everyone else was still focused on the fact that Syrena was to be interrogated, and since she had powers that were still unknown to the world, it was mandatory that the League interrogate her for some answers.
M'gann looked over to her best friend and sighed. "Ahsoka, I don't want you to feel more stressed then you already are." The Martian stated through a Psychic Link. Ahsoka sighed and looked back. "I know, M'gann, but with everything happening right now, not to mention the sudden appearance of Novastar and Saga, I'm not so sure anymore." The Togrutan replied back. Megan just sighed again as Batman entered the room frustratingly, getting all of the Team to straighten up their postures and prepared for what the Dark Knight had to say.
Batman looked to the Team and sighed as he shook his head in angst and exasperation. "No matter what kind of technique we try against Syrena, she refuses to speak." He reported to the Team. The Team looked down in frustration as Ahsoka stepped up soon after. "Do you have any kind if DNA match on the man who indirectly helped us capture her?" the Togrutan Ex-Jedi asked. Batman shook his head no and sighed. "Whoever that man was is not in any of our League records or any record of Earth." The Dark Knight stated. Ahsoka looked down and sighed, but Serra soon stepped up and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure we'll find out about that mysterious attacker soon." She reassured her friend. Ahsoka looked up and smiled at the human Jedi with a smile on her face.
Just then, Ahsoka gasped in realization. "What is it?" M'gann asked. Ahsoka looked up and then grinned. "I can't believe I never thought of it before!" Ahsoka exclaimed. M'gann just raised an eyebrow and spread her arms out. "What is it?!" she asked once again, this time in frustration and confusion. Ahsoka gasped and looked back to her Martian friend. "I'm so, so sorry, M'gann, but I came up with a way to get Syrena to talk!" she exclaimed. M'gann gasped and smiled as Serra and Lux walked up to her. "What do you have in mind?" Lux asked. Ahsoka sighed and looked to Serra. "Do you remember when I told you about when Cad Bane was interrogated by Master Skywalker, Windu and Kenobi?" Ahsoka asked. Serra gasped at that moment and shook her head no. "Ahsoka, you know that a combined Jedi Mind Trick is too risky!" she reprimanded, but Ahsoka shook her head back in disagreement. "I know that, but what other choice do we have?" the Togrutan questioned.
Batman listened in closer as Serra let out a sigh. "Two Jedi aren't enough to perform such a task." Serra then reminded. Ahsoka sighed in defeat, knowing that her plan wouldn't work after all. At that moment, Zatanna and M'gann stepped up and placed their arms on Ahsoka's shoulder. "We can try to help as much as we can." The mage stated. M'gann nodded to Ahsoka, who sent her a smile back. The four girls then walked over to Batman and looked him in the eyes. "Let us up into the Watchtower. There, we can interrogate Syrena and find out her true intentions and powers." Ahsoka explained. Batman thought about it for a while, just standing there until he looked to the four females and sighed. "Very well, come with me." He ordered. The girls smiled as Batman led them all through the Zeta Tubes to the Watchtower.
Watchtower 1313 hours
Wonder Woman and Hawkwoman both stood in Syrena's cell, pestering the ORDER soldier with questions. Alakshmi was not pleased with her current situation at the moment. At the moment she arrived at the Watchtower, the Persian woman was placed in midair and was being held by two cables on the walls. Her arms were also bound, as well as her legs, so she couldn't move. She also had a cable tied around her waist, connecting to the wall behind the ORDER operative. It was very simple to her that she was restrained from moving. At some point, I'll get out of her and kill you both! She yelled out loud in her mental psyche. She wasn't paying attention to any of the questions being asked to her until Hawkwoman had slammed her mace against the wall next to her, gaining her attention at last.
The Thanagarian looked to Syrena venomously as she panted with vexation. "We know that the ORDER is up to something, and that you already have the Chinese Triads on your side." Shayera spat. Syrena looked to her and smirked as Shayera started to growl in frustration. "Tell us where your base is!" she demanded. Alakshmi looked her in the eyes and grinned once again. "It's beyond your reach." She spat back. Diana stepped up and politely made a motion for Hawkwoman to step out of the way. "It will only be a matter of time before the League discovers where the ORDER is hiding. Make it easy on yourself." The Amazonian Warrior stated. Alakshmi rolled her eyes and looked to the two. "What are you going to do, ladies, torture me?" she quipped. Hawkwoman growled and placed her mace up to the ORDER operative's neck. "Maybe your fear of Sylas is lesser than your fear of us!" she angrily quipped. Syrena scoffed and closed her eyes. "This conversation is over." She stated. Diana then looked to Shayera with a look of disapproval, causing her to raise an eyebrow.
Shrugging it off, the two walked out of the interrogation room and into the open, where Batman had brought Ahsoka, Serra, M'gann and Zatanna with him. Wonder Woman looked from the Togrutan to the other three heroines before looking back to Bruce. "What's going on here?" she asked. Ahsoka stepped up and looked to the Amazon Warrior with a look of reassurance. "We know a way to get Syrena to talk." She stated. As Diana smiled, Serra pulled her aside and started to whisper. "You know as well as I do that a Jedi Mind Trick such as this can have the potential to destroy a psyche!" she reprimanded. Ahsoka grinned and patted Serra on the shoulder. "We need to do whatever it takes to get Alakshmi to talk, Serra." The Togrutan replied back. M'gann sighed and looked to the rest of the girls. "What do we need to do?" she asked. Ahsoka looked to her and sighed. "In order to pull this all off, we need to combine out powers into one, strong mental attack." She explained. Zatanna and M'gann both nodded. "Let's do this." The mage quipped.
Alakshmi looked around her cell and scoffed. When the League finds out my reason for being arrested so easily, it will already be too late. She thought to herself. At that moment, the door opened up, revealing Ahsoka, Zatanna, Serra and M'gann coming into the room with Batman following. The ORDER operative scoffed at this sight and started to look each member of the four girls down. "I wasn't told that this was now a daycare center." She quipped. Ahsoka ignored her insults and looked to the other four girls, nodding and signaling them for what to do. She then extended her hand towards Alakshmi with her eyes closed and sighed.
"You will tell us your secrets." She commanded. Alakshmi scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Jedi Mind Tricks don't work on me." She spat. The four continued to ignore Syrena's insults and closed their eyes as well, with Serra being the next to extend her hand. "You will tell us your secrets." She repeated, speaking in sync with Ahsoka's voice. Syrena smirked once again and looked to the girls. "You're wasting your time." She quipped. Zatanna then extended her hand and sighed before she spoke the same command. "You will tell us your secrets." She cast, in sync with the two voices as well. Alakshmi scoffed and nudged her finger, trying to make some sort of gesture. "Forget it." She teasingly spat. M'gann then extended her hand to Syrena while placing a hand to her forehead at the same time. "You will tell us your secrets." She uttered, now all in sync.
Syrena scoffed, but then panted as her head started to sweat. "I won't!" she yelled. Ahsoka and the rest of the girls continued to perform their chant as they started to push harder. "You will tell us your secrets." They chanted, even louder this time. Syrena started to pant as she tried to turn away from them, but the chant didn't stop. Ahsoka and her friends extended their hands again and all said at once, "And you will tell us, NOW!" they all yelled. Syrena started to hyperventilate as her head started to shake. "I-I will t-tell you…" she started out, but shook her head in disagreement, trying to get the trance out of her. "No! Get out of my head!" she yelled. The Dark Knight's eyes started to narrow at each girl as they pushed on with their psychic attack. Syrena struggled and moaned with the Mind Trick, but it wouldn't go away. She felt like her brain would explode as she shook her head repeatedly, craning it up multiple times, moaning even louder with every push of the Jedi Mind Trick. After a while had passed, Ahsoka signaled her friends to stop the attack, placing their arms down, causing Alakshmi to lower her head, panting with exhaustion.
Ahsoka looked to her friends and nodded. She then looked back to Syrena with a dangerous glare. "I think we should try… again!" she threateningly yelled. Syrena looked up and began to pant while shaking her head no. "I'll tell you, just stop!" she yelled. M'gann, Zatanna, and Serra all looked to Ahsoka and smiled, but sweated with exasperation at the same time. "So tell us what your secrets are!" Zatanna spat. Syrena continued to pant before looking to the Team. "I'm a relative to Queen Bee, so I have powers similar to hers, only mine works on the minds of females and not males! Please don't do that again!" she quickly said. Batman looked to the girls soon after and nodded in approval. "Now that we have a grip on Syrena's powers, it would seem best to alert every female member of the League and the Team not to approach Syrena. Good job." He stated. The girls all smiled to one another before walking off.
As the four left, Syrena looked to Batman and nodded. "Thank you for not blowing my cover here, Bruce." She quipped, her eyes glowing. Batman turned around and nodded. "ORDER will soon get what they need, and I am forever at your control, my mistress." He stated in a monotonous voice. Alakshmi smirked and nodded. "Let's see to it that it stays that way, shall we?" she asked. Batman nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Syrena to smirk and chuckle sinisterly.
Back at Mount Justice, Batman gathered the Team together for a new assignment. "The Light is currently operating somewhere in Norway. I want you all to check it out for any suspicious activity and stop them." He ordered. Aqualad looked to the Team and nodded before turning back to Batman, nodding to him as well. "If the ORDER appears, then we'll be sure to take them down as well, no matter the cost." The Atlantean stated. Batman nodded at this and started to make his way to the Zeta Tube. "I'll be up in the Watchtower with the rest of the League, interrogating Syrena through any means necessary." He stated. He then looked to the Team and nodded. "Good luck." He concluded before walking off. With that, the Team started to get to their ships to get to Norway.
Norway 1528 hours CET
The Team's ships landed in a Norwegian airport as gunfire started to go off. Aqualad looked to the Team and nodded. "Stealth Mode." He ordered. The Team nodded and pressed the Stealth Tech features on their suits, turning invisible while the rest of the Team started to leap through the walls and trees. Soon, they were off to find the Light.
Artemis poked around a corner and started to aim her crossbows at whoever could be a threat. As she was looking around, she suddenly saw a bullet head her way. She gasped and ducked to the ground, avoiding the shell and looking back to the Team. "I think that they can see us!" she exclaimed. The Team all gasped as they came around the corner.
At that moment, the Team gasped. It wasn't the Light who was firing, but it was the ORDER themselves! Sportsmaster and Ojo started to run with Shadow Assassins shooting back, but they kept falling down and running away. Saw widened his eyes and shook his head with disbelief. "It can't be this easy!" the Onderonian soldier exclaimed. The rest of the Tea nodded as Serra pointed to a cloud of smoke. "Wait, what's that?" she asked. Kid Flash started to use his goggles to get a visual, and gasped soon after. "It's those three brothers we saw on the ORDER's public announcement." He stated. Ahsoka gasped and motioned for the Team to step out as they watched three figures emerge.
Kadaj, Ankh and Loz stepped out of the smoke, looking to the Team with grins on their faces. Ahsoka glared Kadaj down and craned her neck. "Who are you? What do you want?" she questioned. Kadaj smirked and looked her down as well. "We are the remnants of the Sephirot, here to amend what has been done to the ORDER by the likes of you!" he yelled. Ahsoka growled and unsheathed her lightsaber hilts. The rest of the Team soon followed as the two other brothers of Kadaj smirked and unsheathed their own weapons. Loz took out a spiked gauntlet, all made of metal, while Ankh pulled out a gun with a blade on the top. Soon after, Kadaj unsheathed his double-edged katana, his Souba, out from his scabbard on his back and placed it into a reverse Shien stance in his left hand, similar to Ahsoka's. Aqualad looked to the Team and nodded. "Attack." He commanded.
At that moment, both sides started to attack each other. Ahsoka ran up to Kadaj and then clashed with his Souba, planting her blade against his. "I was told that you were stronger than this." Kadaj teased. Ahsoka growled and pushed him away, looking to Artemis and Saw in a gunfight with Ankh. Before Ankh could get the chance to fire back at the two, Serra, Kaldur and Robin clashed with him. Fortunately, the blade on his gun was enough to block their attacks and send them back. With that being done, he looked to his snipers and shot a bullet at them, sending the three across the area and into a stone wall.
Loz was engaged in combat against Superboy, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Zatanna, Rocket and Rebel. He kept pushing away the teens as if they were ragdolls, until Lux clashed with him blade to gauntlet. Loz grunted and managed to push the Senator away. Lux took out one of his pistols and prepared to shoot, but Loz Force-Sped up to him and used his Shadow Hound gauntlet to send an electrical punch, sending him into the Boy of Steel.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka continued to clash with Kadaj. "You're a feisty one, aren't you?" Ahsoka asked snippily. Kadaj smirked as he and Ahsoka started to circle each other. "You have no idea, Jedi!" he spat. Ahsoka chuckled and then prepared to charge at Kadaj, but the soldier just jumped into the air and started to twirl. The Togrutan looked up and gasped as Kadaj began to spin down to the ground blade first. Ahsoka tried to run away, but Kadaj was able to hit her just in time, causing her to fall to the ground with all the other members of the Team. She panted as she looked up to the three brothers. "Time to finish them off, my brothers." Kadaj sadistically ordered. Ahsoka growled at this as the three brothers' hands started to glow with blue energy.
Just then, before they could finish off the Team, a voice came into their comlinks. Aqualad and Robin both looked up in confusion as Connor started to hear what was going on through his superhearing. "Do NOT finish off the Team, not yet!" Sylas's voice came through. Loz and Ankh growled as they kicked the sand. "We have them at our mercy, Sylas." Kadaj reasoned, but Sylas only growled. "Keep them alive! That's an order!" he reprimanded. The three brothers growled and nodded. "Yes, Sylas." They all said.
While the brothers weren't looking, a cold breeze started to blow through the area, getting the Team's attention. Kadaj, Ankh and Loz soon turned around and started to look at what was going on in confusion, as the Team was doing so as well. Soon, the Team was already gone and there was no trace left of them! Kadaj growled and looked to his two brothers. "Find them!" he ordered. Ankh nodded as he cocked his gunblade while Loz prepared his Shadow Hound gauntlet. Kadaj sighed infuriatingly as he took out his Souba and started to look for the Team. "You can't hide from us forever!" he yelled out angrily, slashing into the air.
Meanwhile, in a cave nearby, the Team was starting to recover. They were still unconscious, but a young girl was attending to their wounds. Ahsoka woke up first and looked to the girl curiously. She looked down to Ahsoka and smiled. "Don't worry; you'll be alright." She said. Ahsoka smiled and looked to the rest of the Team as they started to awaken as well. Kaldur looked around before looking to the girl treating them to their wounds. She wore a blue and white winter jacket, as well as aqua jeans and white boots. She also had white hair, but like China White, she was still in her youth. "Who are you?" Zatanna asked weakly, looking to the girl. She looked to the Team and smiled. "I am Tora Olafsditter, one of the surviving Norseman from the ORDER massacre." She said. Jaybo smiled to Tora and nodded. "Thank you, Tora." He stated. Tora smiled and nodded back. She then looked to the Team and sent them warm smiles. "I was able to treat you to your wounds, so you should be able to stand now." She said. Aqualad started to feel his body before getting up, as the rest of the Team soon followed after him.
Ahsoka smiled as she helped Lux up to his feet, as Saw helped up Serra. "What's the ORDER doing here, Tora?" the Togrutan asked. Tora sighed and sat down. "Please, call me Ice." She stated. Ice then sighed again and looked around. "The ORDER came here yesterday to recruit new members for their organization." She stated. The rest of the Team started to listen in closer as Tora let out a breath of cold air. "When the Norsemen refused to join the ORDER, three men, Kadaj, Ankh and Loz, came and killed us all. My parents helped me to escape after enhancing me with mystical powers, so now I live here." Tora added on. Robin sighed and kicked a rock. "It seems that the ORDER will do anything to ruin everyone's lives." He stated. Tora looked up and nodded. "Kadaj and his brothers are madmen. It would take a miracle to take them down." She remarked.
Just then, Ahsoka gasped in realization. "They're beasts, but they're not off of their leashes." She quipped. Robin looked to her and smiled. "That's right! Sylas immediately ordered them not to kill us, and they hesitated before obeying." The Boy Wonder remarked. Artemis chuckled as she placed her hands on both of their shoulders. "So, what's the plan to take down Huey, Dewey and Louis?" the archer quipped snippily. Ahsoka looked up and smirked. "We take them to their limit." She remarked. Ice looked to the Team and nodded. "I'll help in any way I can." She stated. Aqualad nodded as they started to formulate their plan.
Kadaj and his brothers continued to look for the Team as the hours started to pass. "They have to be around here somewhere!" Ankh yelled, shooting some bushes. Loz looked back and snarled. "When we find them, they're toast!" he remarked.
At that moment, Ahsoka and Serra walked up in front of the three brothers. "Are you looking for us?" the Togrutan Ex-Jedi quipped. Kadaj smirked and unsheathed his Souba once again. "I'll enjoy skewering you alive." He quipped. The two smirked and soon made their way to the right, causing the three to chase after them. Zatanna then appeared and stood on top of a warehouse on the path nearby. "Looks like these beasts need to learn to be caged." She quipped. Kadaj looked to Ankh and nodded, as the brother started to chase after the magician. Zatanna laughed as she ran in one direction with the rest of the Remnants following the Jedi. "They can't live forever!" Loz yelled, seeing Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin, Superboy, Jaybo, Rebel and Artemis up ahead.
Soon, M'gann appeared with Rocket and Saw. "Don't take it so hard; you never stood a chance against us." Saw teased. Loz chased after the three as Kadaj continued to chase after the Jedi. Soon, he came into a large open area, with Ahsoka and Serra standing in the middle. "Well, you caught us." Serra admitted. Kadaj laughed and started to scratch his Souba on the ground, letting some sparks fly. At that moment, the rest of the Team appeared next to the Jedi, smirking at the brothers. "It won't get any easier than this, boys!" Raquel teasingly yelled. Loz growled at this and charged straight at them, using his Shadow Hound gauntlet to strike at them.
Just then, the Team shattered! Kadaj and Ankh gasped as they looked around. Wally's voice soon came out with chuckling in his voice. "Sorry, we moved too quickly." He quipped. Loz ran towards the speedster and the Team and slashed them, but surprisingly, they vanished and shattered as well! Kadaj then saw the Team at another corner of the area and slashed at them, but the same thing happened again. Soon, the area filled with the Team's laughs, confusing the brothers as they slashed through every illusion. After a while, the three began to tire out. "Where are you?!" Ankh demanded. Kadaj panted and slashed his Souba at a rock nearby. "Come out and face us, cowards!" he demanded.
At that moment, Ice appeared in the sky with the rest of the Team. Ahsoka smirked as she looked down to them. "It looks like Ice was able to fool you with the old smoke and mirrors trick." She quipped. Kadaj and his brothers looked up and growled as the Team smirked at them. "Now, it's time for some payback!" Tora yelled out. With that, she and Ahsoka both charged down at them, with blades in their hands. Kadaj gasped and attempted to get out of the way, but Ahsoka and Tora's twin attack caused a repulse of energy to hit the ground, spreading far enough to hit the three brothers and knock them into the trees.
Kadaj soon got up and panted as the Team leapt off of the places they were at. Soon, the three were surrounded by the Team. Ahsoka cocked her arm-mounted crossbow and then aimed it at Kadaj's head. "Surrender." She ordered. Kadaj smirked and looked to Ahsoka. "There will be another day." He uttered. The Team all stood ready to take on the Remnants again, but Loz threw down a smoke bomb, engulfing the area with smoke. As the Team coughed and cleared away the smoke, they saw that the Remnants had disappeared into thin air. Ahsoka smiled and looked to the Team. "We've sent them running." She exclaimed. The Team all smiled as Tora patted the Togrutan on the shoulder. "Thank you." She stated. Ahsoka smiled and threw a friendly fist at the Norseman, but she caught the fist in her palm and smiled back. "One of these days, I'm just going to have to join you." She stated. The rest of the Team laughed as they parted ways and made way to their ships. It had been a long day.
Bialya 2321 hours UTC
Kadaj and his brothers kneeled before Sylas after they had returned from Norway. "We have failed, master." Kadaj confessed. Sylas sighed as he looked down to them. "Kadaj, there will be another day for you." He stated. The three panted and sighed at that minute, but Xion appeared from the shadows and looked them down. "My daughter needs some experience from professional generals, but obviously, she needs someone with better luck on the field." Sylas spat. Xion nodded to the generals, who got up and walked away.
As soon as they left, Xion looked to her father with confusion. "What will the good be that Syrena is being held captive by the Justice League?" she asked. Sylas looked to his only daughter and smirked. "As a Trojan Horse, Alakshmi will be able to get the male members of the Justice League, and with luck, true justice will be in our hands." He stated. Xion then laughed at this and walked with her father to where the other generals were waiting for them.
At the same time, in the Watchtower, Alakshmi smirked at her success. As I said before, Jedi Mind Tricks don't work on me. She thought to herself as Hawkman and Plasticman entered the room for her interrogation. A while later, they walked out with blank looks on their faces, causing Syrena to smirk. Nothing can stop me. She thought to herself again as she had now laid her trap.
Author's Note: I hope that everyone liked this new chapter. I worked very hard on it, so I hope that this compensates for the wait after such a long time. I would like to thank The Christian Jedi for helping me out here. Without him, I wouldn't have gotten this far or have been able to write up this chapter. I'll try to have a new one out by later this week. Please be sure to review, rate, and if you can, Private Message me, for I am always keen to hear from you guys! For now, this is SuperHeroTimeFan signing off. Have a great summer break, everyone!