18 fell for a few seconds; she had used her ki blade to cut off the fingers that were holding her.
She looked around and saw a place similar to the infinite stairs space inside the Tower of Fate.
This one was filled with moons of different sizes, some as big as a truck, others small like a beach ball and a sun that illuminated the area. Comets were flying around and strange creatures moved around while keeping an eye on her. Some monsters looked like big skeletal fish and others resembled gorillas with multiple arms.
Dr Fate floated down and stood on one of the moons.
"This is a pocket dimensional cage. In here, I can release my might without worrying about the consequences."
Fate
Space itself vibrated while Fate spoke. 18 could feel his power growing each second, she prepared, knowing this battle would be an actual challenge.
No more words were needed; they both knew only one was going to get out alive.
18 flew and noticed her speed had been greatly reduced, a spell she was familiar with, as it was used against her on the tower.
Still, she moved and threw a punch at the sorcerer.
Fate didn't panic, doing a swipe with his hand and putting one of the bigger moons in front of him. 18 shattered the miniature celestial body and kept going, but Fate was already gone.
He was above casting a spell.
Hundreds of shooting stars fell from the sky like rain, coming towards her at high speeds.
Seeing the attack, she knew that with her reduced speed, dodging was unlikely.
18 planted her feet on another of the moons and shoot ki blast like a machine gun to take down as many of the attacks as she could.
Explosions rang all over and still many of the stars managed to reach her.
The blonde extended her hand to absorb the attacks and she felt a little pain.
Inside the attack, there was a small piece of rock, so even when she absorbed the energy, the meteor still hit her with full speed and momentum.
Her hand was bleeding a little. She jumped away and blocked, evaded, and destroyed as many of the projectiles as she could.
Fate, meanwhile, was already casting a new spell with a flourish, dispersing many clones of himself around, and conjuring solid blades to stab the android.
(He obviously planned all this, thinking about my abilities.)
She smiled as she cut off the head of one of the clones, while at the same time dodging projectiles and firing back with her own blast.
Even slowed down, she had the technique and agility to avoid the truly dangerous blows.
With her eyes now closed, she sped up, getting hit over and over despite her best efforts, yet it was worth it when she arrived at her destination.
"Hiding like a coward won't work."
Her fist collided with a seemingly empty section of space and the true body of Dr Fate was sent flying by the force of the punch, crashing into another of the fake moons.
18 follow up with a flying kick that missed as Fate teleported away, the clones surrounded her, summoning metal chains and launching them at her.
She activated her ki shield and repelled the weapons. At the same time, 18 charged an attack, releasing it as soon as her barrier was dispelled.
Fate's eyes went wide and he hastily created several layers of magic protection.
The blast was bigger and more destructive than anything 18 had used before. If she were on Earth, the planet would have been destroyed and even the moon would have been caught in it.
Dr Fate could feel the pocket space struggling to stay stable; he could even see cracks forming around like a glass dome about to fall apart.
He escaped to the edge and quickly tried to repair the damage, but before he could finish, 18 was approaching at high speed.
She threw an energy disk. Fate was going to block it with a magic shield when a chill made him dodge instead.
The already formed magic protection was cut in half and the moon behind him was divided as well.
Under the helmet, cold sweat was running down his forehead.
18 continued by firing an endless barrage of ki blasts and now it was Fate's turn to run around evading.
He flew, hiding behind obstacles and responding with shooting stars. The battlefield was filled with destruction and flashes of light.
The ancient lord of order wasn't wasting time; he cast his next spell and 18 immediately noticed.
As soon as the blast left her hand, it dispersed. It happened a few times and she understood.
(He somehow sealed my ki.)
The power inside her was still infinite, but when it left her body, it vanished.
"Annoying weakling."
She rushed to fight hand to hand and to her further frustration, the magician teleported away every time she got closer.
"Surrender, your chaos will end here, but your life doesn't have to."
"Spare me the speeches."
Again, she flew towards him, her hand extending as if trying to grab him.
He scuffed.
"Pointless."
Until a green light hit him square on the face, a construct of a hand caught him and pulled him towards 18, who greeted him with a roundhouse kick on the abdomen that made him spill his lunch.
She used her hand as a hammer and hit him, sending him crashing down, shattering a moon as he landed.
"As I thought, you tailored that spell to work on my ki."
Her hands glowed and she released a solar laser, the same one King Tuc previously used against her.
Dr Fate got up and jumped out of the way, as the ray incinerated a hole through 3 other moons and left the corner of his cape in ashes.
"Did you think I didn't have other ways to get you?"
He looked up and saw the android, creating a golden chain in one hand and preparing a different kind of green laser.
"I got a few toys since I've arrived here, now get ready, because I'm about to make you remember your place, you second rate party entertainer."
Outside the pocket dimension, the Justice League had finished preparing the Injustice League for transport to Belle Reve.
Zatana marched in front of the heroes.
"Where is my father?"
Superman responded.
"We don't know; he didn't tell us he was going to do that."
"Yeah, right, just as he didn't tell you he was going to use the helmet."
Her eyes glowed with energy.
"You are always ignorant of the things that benefit you. He came here with you, so what you gave him, my dad's seat on your club?"
Robin was going to try to stop her, but Batman signaled him to stay out.
Captain Marvel stepped forward.
"We didn't accept it, he showed up and those guys started causing trouble and we..."
"Save it."
She turned to Batman.
"Where is he?"
Batman thought for a moment.
"There is a place where Dr Fate has the biggest advantage."
The team put it together right away and Kidflash said it out loud.
"The Tower of Fate."
Zatana walked to the bioship.
"Let's go."
The team reluctantly followed, while the League started to do the same.
Watching this on a monitor, Vandal Savage frowned.
The android was proving herself more problematic than expected, acting by herself and screwing up the carefully laid plans of the Light.
Now he was weighing the options he had.
If he wanted, he could delay the heroes to allow the android to escape again, yet it was better to leave her.
This time, he would let her actions have the full consequences, like a disobedient child sometimes needs to feel the burn to learn the pan is hot; he would show her just how difficult life could be without his support.
"You will be taken into the Light, even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming."
The others have no objections and so they agree to let her fend for herself this time.
Klarion laughed loudly and Luthor was smiling smugly as he explained his plan.
As schemes brew against her, 18 was firmly placing her boot on Dr Fate's ass.
She got closer and that was very bad for the sorcerer; he was no novice on hand to hand, centuries of battle leaving him with enough experience to deal with an average fighter with ease.
18, however, was no regular warrior, and she was showing that as she pummeled him with a dozen hits.
He crossed his arms and focused his magic to block as the android delivered punches, kicks, elbows and knees to his body one after the other.
"Cmon didn't you say you were going to stop me?"
Fate released a shockwave that pushed her back and multiple of the creatures floating around jumped at her in an attempt to devour the blonde.
18 fired the solar laser, roasting them all and rushed at the mage again.
Once more a member of the League was dealing with her endless stamina and as with the others, he had to acknowledge how hard it was to keep up.
He summoned hundreds of butterflies and they flew straight at 18.
She ignored them until she touched one and it exploded, causing a chain reaction of bombs that managed to knock her down, giving the doctor the leeway to get some distance.
He cast another spell that created water that then became a whirlpool, focused on the android who stood in place, fighting against the current.
"This is not going to stop me long."
"It will hold you long enough."
With a gesture, Fate brought the lightning, hitting the water with a powerful electric current that paralyzed 18 for a moment.
The sorcerer used another spell and an iron maiden opened behind her, capturing the blonde and closing the door.
The spikes were meant to pierce her, yet 18 kicked the torture device from the inside and it broke like a grenade went off on it.
She walked out bleeding and bruised, although she was very durable; the constant damage was adding up and magic had something that somewhat bypassed her durability.
Fate was pushing his host to the limit; it didn't help that many of his normal arsenal were useless against 18 and her ability to absorb energy and now she was using the powers of others against him, making her unpredictable.
He wanted to go all out, but his vessel would burn away and most likely die if he did so.
As a lord of order, his power was capable of bending reality and destroying planets and more.
If he used it, he would be a god for as long as his human body could hold; that kind of risk was normally unnecessary. He limited himself at all times to get as much as he could from each human he used.
He never planned to forcibly bring out his true magic, afraid of killing Zatara, whom he considered one of his finest vessels.
It had taken a lot of effort and luck to get this perfect candidate, who was already a rare talent and possessed a unique magic, while also being well trained and at the prime of his life as a mage.
To lose such a treasure was a waste.
Still, the more he fought the android, the fewer options he had.
She was relentless and cunning, an expert and her skills grew the more she endured.
"I'm sorry, Zatara, I have no choice."
With a mental command, all the nearby creatures that were left charged at 18.
As she killed them, Fate sat cross-legged and meditated, his body filling with mystical power and the helmet shining with the light of order.
Inside the mental space Zatana was watching, he understood the predicament and spoke to his jailer.
"You don't need to do this, call upon my friends, the League will help you."
"They are untrustworthy."
"You are assuming their trustworthiness is lacking, but working together, we can put a stop to her rampage."
"I don't need them; they'll just get in my way."
Nabu's presence grew and Zatara saw as the lord of order descended into the space.
A man dressed in golden Egyptian clothing, a white beard and long white hair, stepped forward.
He grabbed space itself and outside the helmet, a giant projection of his form was looking down on 18.
"Now, Android, you are witnessing the true power of order."
He raised his hand and multiple moons joined each other, forming a massive and dense celestial object. He proceeded to fill to the brink with magic, and then he choked it at her.
The meteor was faster and stronger than anything 18 had faced before. She used all the energy from the green lantern ring to create a drill like construct.
When both attacks crashed into each other, the already damaged pocket dimension broke apart and revealed the tower of fate, which was trembling and shaking while almost falling apart.
The destruction didn't face Nabu as he pressed the attack, clashing against 18.
They floated, leaving the tower behind and making the sky go dark. Nearby people witnessed the two and panic started to rise.
A gigantic storm suddenly strikes and expands further and further, now visible for miles.
Lightning and wind slammed the bioship, making it crash land. The teens exited and looked at the cataclysmic event happening above.
The meteor was pushing the green drill back and that wasn't good news because under it was Earth and if it hit, humanity would get a bad case of extinction.
Wally couldn't help but ask.
"What is he doing?"
Artemis answered.
"Trying to kill us all."
18 was actually at a disadvantage for the first time in a long time; her construct was getting weaker and more brittle, but she accomplished her objective.
When the drill pierced the meteor enough to create a weak spot, she changed the form into a tube and aimed her hand inside it.
"Hey, idiot, thanks for getting me out of that annoying pocket space."
Her hand glowed with her now unrestricted ki.
"Now eat this."
Once, a warrior used a technique that made her a little nervous; it left her injured and if 17 hadn't pushed her out of the way, she could have died.
She recreated it but never used it; now it was ready to make a debut.
"Special."
She focused her ki on two fingers.
"Beam cannon."
Two beams rotating like a drill moved at high speed towards the meteor; the green tube made sure it hit exactly where she aimed.
The hole caused by her previous struggle was the perfect weak point and it worked as intended; her attack went through and hit Nabu, leaving a hole in his chest and tearing the massive rock into pieces that rained down like a hail of death.
The heroes seem to have moved quickly to stop the debris from reaching the civilians.
Superman flying fast and pulverizing everything with his fist, Green Lantern creating save zones and Flash moving the stragglers inside them.
18, now freed from the restrictions of the pocket space, regained her speed and used it to get behind Dr Fate as she saw him regenerate his wounds.
"Persistent bastard."
She swung full strength and was repelled by a magic barrier.
"I told you that it is useless."
A ray of light hit her on the stomach.
She felt a sharp pain and, looking down, saw a knife stuck in her, but she ignored it and grabbed the barrier with her hands, absorbing the energy and tearing it down.
Nabu was about to teleport when he got caught by a golden chain, one that Zatara once used against 18.
"Got you."
Next, he saw with horror as 18 put her hands on the helmet and started to press it to crush it.
Normally, this wouldn't work as now he was using extremely powerful magic to defend it, knowing it was his only weakness, if only the android wasn't absorbing the energy needed to maintain those protections.
Fissures were showing on it as Fate summoned more daggers that stabbed 18 on the back.
She grimaced but kept going, knowing that this was her best chance to end the fight.
Inside the helmet, Nabu was panicking. He was so sure he was gonna win that he didn't plan for the possibility of getting cornered.
"Dammit."
He was feeling his presence on the material plane vanishing.
Zatara put his hand on his shoulder.
"Let me talk."
18 noticed the magic getting weaker and the helmet getting closer to shattering completely.
"Stop."
"Now you want to beg, too late."
"You don't understand the world needs Dr Fate, his presence keeps the monsters away, if you destroy him..."
"I don't care, you attacked me and now you want me to spare you because of your job, give me a break."
"I am Zatara and I promise we will let you go in peace, so stop because if this continues, we will all suffer, including you."
"First begging and now threats."
18 winded her fist back.
"What a pathetic ending."
Her punch was the finishing blow; the helmet was destroyed as Nabu and Zatara's voices screamed in unison.
18 took a second and looked at the heroes who were coming at her together. Having saved the people, they rushed towards the fight, just to find it over.
Superman floated towards her and spoke dangerously low.
"Let him go."
She smiled, holding Zatara by the neck.
"I'm pretty sure he would splat like a water balloon."
Captain Marvel came flying and was going to attack until he saw 18 put her energy sword next to Zatara's chest, close enough to let her message be clear.
"Go ahead and do what you want to do, I'll kill him and them, the rest of you losers."
The android waited to see if anyone was going to try and when she was sure they wouldn't, she continued.
"Or, we can leave it here for today, I go my own way and you go yours."
Martian Manhunter wasn't convinced.
"We should agree? Why, because of your word?"
"I keep my promises, isn't that right?"
She addressed Batamn and he nodded.
"She will."
With no other choice, the Justice League let her pass and 18 returned Zatara to them.
As she flew away, Zatana reached her father and tried to wake him up. He was breathing, but he didn't regain consciousness.
Green Lantern created a stretcher to transport him.
"Let's take him to the watchtower; the medical center is the best place to find out his condition."
Using a boom tube, they arrived quickly and found out he was in a coma; his vitals were strong, but his brain activity was unusually low.
They regretted leaving 18 slip away again and losing another member; the group was getting weaker and smaller.
They needed new members and soon.
18 was unaware of how much damage she had done to the protectors of this world. She was busy walking on an alley, leaning on a wall while leaving a blood trail behind her.
She was hurt; her body was very resilient, but even she had a limit and now she was close to it.
Getting stabbed and hit repeatedly by magic had done a number on her; if she fought the super idiots in her current condition, victory was not a sure conclusion.
She almost expected Vandal Savage to appear and complain about her stunts.
She was alone and knew help was not on the way; she had only one person she could trust and he was currently not here.
18 had to keep going, her vision blurred as she walked, modified body or not, blood loss was still a bitch.
The blonde tripped on a piece of wood and fell to the ground.
Before fainting, she saw a shadowy figure getting closer.
weeks later, on a special night, a red light appeared over a quiet city. It entered the closest jewelry store and carefully checked all the precious metals on display, picking one and transforming it.
A golem raised as the chaos lord took physical form.
"A world without a lord of order, how fun."
A blonde girl wearing a school uniform, a deep red jacket and a purple skirt with a tie and white socks, she smiled with so much malice that it could give a serial killer goosebumps.
Her red eyes scanned the room, wanting to find a toy and getting disappointed when nobody came to check the noise.
"What great security they have."
She strolled out, triggering the alarm, not that she cared about it.
"Let's start."
A whisper in the dark that was an omen of terror yet to come.
(CHAPTER IMAGE.)