88 The Mastermind Part 1

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(General P.O.V)

"Wait…"

Aqualad was a little too late and before any of them could say anything, Aden blasted off. Two twin flames pushing him to the mouth of the cave at high speed. 

"Neptune's beard!"

Aqualad cursed, something he never did. Superboy and Kid Flash shared a look but wisely kept silent. For all of 2 seconds before Kid Flash reminded them of the zombies coming at them.

"So…any exorcists around? Either that or someone get us Rick Grimes."

The Speedster said. Aqualad sucked in a deep breath and refocused on the mission. They would deal with Aden later. First, they had lives to save. He reached out into their shared telepathic link.

"Miss Martian, I need you to land the Bio ship. We need to evacuate these people. You can then use the directions they give you to find a safe place for them. Meanwhile, Kid Flash, Superboy and I will take down as many of these creatures as we can. Lastly Robin, your job is to…"

"Go after Aden and the big scary Cat that would not look out of place in a Narnia setting, observe while hidden and if possible take them both down, effectively rendering the rest of the Zombies useless as they seem to be controlled by the aforementioned Narnia big Scary Cat?"

Boy Wonder said all of that in one breath. Good thing, telepathic communication was much more flexible.

Aqualad sighed.

"I was thinking…observe and provide tactical support to Aden where you can. We might not like it but working together is the smart move." Superboy narrowed his eyes from his levitating position.

"For now."

He added quietly. Only audible to himself.

"We will try to finish up quickly and come to your aid. The objective is to not allow any of these creatures to breach the edge of the jungle. Less chance of us missing one."

Aqualad finished relaying his orders.

"Not a problem fearless leader, since they seem to be pretty focused on us."

Kid Flash stated while lowering the goggles strapped to his forehead to cover his eyes. A click on the side of the optic device, switched it to night vision.

"I'll give them something to focus on alright! Arrg!"

Superboy shouted in anger and shot at an elephant that was stomping it's way towards them. Aqualad looked on in suspicion.

"Yeah Aqualad…I wanted to ask," Kid Flash called out to him in an unusually serious tone.  "Since when can Superboy fly?"

Aqualad shook his head. 

"He has not exhibited these… abilities before. Perhaps they finally kicked in. He's a Kryptonian after all. They get more powerful the longer they are exposed to the sun."

He responded, his water bearers coming out of their holsters behind his back. A pair of Hyenas were rushing towards him.

"Perhaps…or maybe…more secrets."

Kid Flash responded grimly and sped off. 

( General P.O.V) (Elsewhere)

"It's starting."

Lucifer said in childish excitement. Maze spared him a look and rolled her eyes.

"This is either going to turn out really well or really bad for Aden. My bet is on the latter. I don't think he's ready."

She complained. 

"Oh come on now, love. Have some faith in the boy."

"I do have faith. But going up against a Lord Of Hell is no joke. You should have sent me to deal with him instead."

She responded.

"And where would the fun in that be? This way we get to see an evolution. The beauty of humanity Mazekeen, lies in that stupid spark of courage that spurs their actions."

He told her with an upturn of the corner of his lips. 

The Lilim shook her head.

"That's not outstanding or unique at all. Most aliens have that as well. Humanity is simply favored more by 'him'."

She disagreed. 

Lucifer nodded, seeing her point but also slightly disappointed that she was entirely missing the bigger picture.

"Maze dear, I have always taught you to see past the obvious. Ask yourself, why 'he' favors them. When you have the answer, you'll understand how it's possible for individuals like John Constantine to exist."

Lucifer admonished her.

"Fuck that asshole."

Maze stated upon hearing Constantine's name.

The devil chuckled at the hatred she possessed for Hell's vacuum cleaner.

"He's in another universe entirely Maze. I see your dislike for him is still at an all time high."

He commented. In response the beautiful demoness, simply poured herself a drink and downed it.

"Well, he's the reason I'm glad humans are not immortal or possess long life spans. I have a grudge with that bastard."

She went silent before placing down the glass in her hand on the table.

"Wait." Maze addressed Lucifer, as realization dawned on her face. 

"That's why you're doing this. Why you want the boy to get involved in the supernatural. This world lacks the experts. Well, apart from The Lord of Order and the Stage magician, Zatara but he is not a true demonologist or a hunter. In a way you're shaping him up to take on that role." She paused in surprise and confusion. For the first time in a while, Maze couldn't get a read on what Lucifer was planning. The proud smile on his face told her that he was happy she'd finally connected the dots, but if anything, Maze felt even more lost.

One question remained.

"Let's cut the crap. Why? It's not like you to be so interested in one human. You said you wanted to take a vacation but everything you've done so far has been contrary to that."

She didn't flinch from his gaze. 

Lucifer hummed and ran a finger along the length of the mouth of the glass he was holding.

"That spark...I want to see it again. That which I desired but was denied. I want to see it bloom to it's full potential. I asked you a question earlier. Why 'he' favors them." 

He looked at Maze seriously.

You'll have your answer soon, love. This will be a true test of mettle for Aden. We will see his real self in the adversity that follows. Especially considering the fact that he won't be able to rely on his other half."

Lucifer said while grinning sinisterly. 

Maze narrowed her eyes.

"What did you do?"

She asked him. The devil simply shrugged with an innocent look on his face.

"Me? I have no hand in that, Love." The innocent look was replaced with a manic smile that stretched out on his handsome face. It wasn't a lie, but more like withholding information.

"The only thing I can say is…strap in, this is going to be one heck of a ride."

The clip displaying what was happening on the battlefield, showed the Teen Team fighting to take down the Zombies...then the feed changed to show a man, dressed in an adventurer's attire, walk up towards the village guarding a hub of the green. A shield of vines and green energy appeared between them. With a swipe of his hand, the vines were destroyed by blackened flames.

(Aden's P.O.V)

I shot off straight towards the mouth of the cave, heedless of the creatures on the sides of my self made cavern. The rocks were cooling down more and more, leaving behind blackened soil. I spared a look at the Zombies and ignored them. Those were canon fodder that Aqualad and the rest could handle. I was going after the final boss. Within seconds, I arrived at the entrance and spread out my air sense. It wouldn't do to be ambushed by a 5 ton lion because I was too careless. 

I twirled the daggers in my hands and lit them up. Flames appeared along the edges of both weapons, lighting up my surroundings. I didn't need the light to see because my vision was strong enough, so this was more to draw out the huge creature. I would sense it before it could attack and then retaliate when Mnemoth least expected it.

My feet crunched on bones, like dried twigs. My nose scrunched up in disgust at the rotten stench present in the cave. It was to the point where I started cursing my enhanced sense of smell. There was nothing I could do other than quickly killing Mnemoth and leaving this place. 

I walked in while taking great measures to read anything registering in my senses. 20 meters in, I felt a movement come from my back. A miniature figure that shot a zip line to the ceiling of the cave and stuck to the sides of the walls. Robin. Typical. A few more seconds of carefully traversing the smelly and dark cave, I started hearing the drip of water. Looking at the walls of the cave, I could tell they were also starting to get slightly wet. 

The tunnel then enlarged the deeper I walked in until, I finally found myself staring at an open space inside the cave structure, the size of a soccer stadium. In the far back was an underground  river, the water looked murky and disgusting even from the huge distance away. And lastly laying down on the barren and rocky ground was my target. The Final Boss himself. 

The big cat looked at home. It lazily observed me. A menacing look on it's face. A mark showing a pentagram was branded into it's forehead, sharp claws gleamed from its paws and a low growl informed me of what it thought of me. An annoying pest. Let's change that shall we. I jumped off the cave opening and landed before Mnemoth. The instance I did, an overbearing might shook my bones and I took a knee from the aura it was exuding.

The Lion rose up and started walking towards me. It's steps were heavy and frightening. I struggled to move, aware of the death sentence walking towards me. Each second was agonizing. I looked up at it with a scared look on my face and the glee in its own eyes was magnified. It loved this. This feeling of domination and oppression.

Drool escaped it's mouth and the smell of sulphur made me feel as if I was going to pass out. A meter away from the huge behemoth, I felt the whistling sound of birdarangs and watched as the Lion jumped back in a swift move despite it's huge size. The birdarangs it had dodged dug themselves on the floor of the cave and exploded, showering me with pieces of stones that bounced off my air shield. 

I sighed and got up without a problem, shrugging off the intimidating aura of the Lion with ease. I looked over my shoulder in anger.

"Why did you interfere Robin?"

Boy Wonder landed behind me and looked smug.

"I think you meant thanks."

I chuckled without humor.

"Thanks? Thanks for what? For ruining my plan?  I was pretending to be weak so that I wouldn't have to waste anymore time dispatching this thing. I have a feeling that someone else is behind this whole scheme but now because of you, I'll have to fight the damn Lion, giving the Mastermind more time to do carry out what's he's planning."

Robin gave me an impassive look. A stubborn glare worthy of his mentor. Deep in his eyes however, I could tell he was embarrassed. A loud roar brought my attention back to my opponent.

I sighed, brandishing my flaming weapons.

"Ok now that the easy way is out, let's do this the fun way."

I smiled a bloodthirsty smirk.