(Aden's P.O.V)

"Cape killer?"

I wondered out loud.

Zatanna looked at her dad then me, as if contemplating something, then she ran out of the library and came back with a laptop. She hit play on a clip posted online and instantly, I became annoyed. Seems like dear old Lex had chosen to die faster. To be completely honest, this was more of an inconvenience than a hindrance. Cape Killer huh? Funny title. Still, I was bound to go public sooner or later. This just hastened some of my plans.

"Cool, they got a nice pic of me. Though, I'm stumped where they got it from."

Zatara closed the laptop and turned to his daughter.

"Do not trust everything you see Zatanna. Now, I believe introductions are in order. Aden, this is my daughter Zatanna and Zatanna I would like you to meet Aden."

"Hi."

I waved at her lazily. Zatanna eyed me with no less suspicion than when I came in but at least she had the decency to keep it polite.

"Hello." But then...she ruined it.

"I don't trust you."

She added.

"Zatanna Zatara!"

Her dad admonished her.

I didn't bother to hide the laugh that bubbled out of me.

"Then you're smart. I wouldn't trust me either."

Zatara sighed, shaking his head.

"Could you please excuse us for a second Aden? I need to have a few words with my daughter."

I shrugged.

"It's cool. In fact, I was thinking about stepping out for a minute, there are a few things I need to take care of before we can begin."

Zatara nodded.

"I don't see a problem with that. I'll be done with the array in a half hour or so."

"Dad what..."

Zatanna's words were cut off when a Boom Tube appeared on my side without warning. The young girl's eyes were wide as saucers as she looked on, intrigued. Without another word, I jumped in through the portal.

The first thing I noticed was that Hakai and Breeze were playing in one of the pools located near the middle of sanctuary and that Saisei was strangely enough at the Sconiad tower, just sleeping. Iroh on the other hand was meditating in one of the mountains in the air dimension. I had decided to give him full access to both realms, barring a few private places. I would have enough time to see the spirits later, so I chose to have a conversation with my master first.

My body disappeared and I found myself surrounded by clouds from every direction. I gently flew down towards a particularly tall peak and touched down behind the old master.

"So, you're back."

Iroh said as a way of greeting. I walked forward and sat next to him, legs dangling off the edge of the peak.

"I always forget how beautiful this place is. I've always had a love for high lands."

I told him, breathing in the fresh and cold air of the air dimension. My spirit felt at ease. And there was truly no better place to meditate other than here.

"Mmmh." Iroh hummed. "Is something troubling you?"

He questioned making me stare at him weirdly.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

His voice was laced with confusion. At that I laughed.

"No master. I'm just a little surprised. You're not normally that direct. I always have to navigate a jungle of cryptic statements, hanging metaphors and deep crevices of wisdom to get at the meaning."

The old man looked at me from the corner of his eyes.

"Well, I have to conserve the image of a wise and knowledgeable teacher don't I?"

His words made me snort.

"Personally I think you just like to torture me for the fun of it."

"Oh and also that."

He added cheekily before a serious expression appeared on his face.

"Well?"

He looked at me expectantly.

"I have to save a friend of mine from hell." I judged his reaction and found no change in his expression, so I continued. "And this time...I am so out of depth it's not funny. I honestly have no idea if I can do this, Master Iroh. I am confident in my abilities. I have grown stronger and my skills more refined yet..."

"Doubt remains, as does fear."

He finished for me.

I took a deep breath and nodded, admitting to him what I was afraid to admit to anyone else. Even myself.

"Yes... I'm afraid. And to make matters worse, I refused help from someone who offered it with no real reason behind it."

Iroh blinked his eyes.

"Why?"

My fingers tightened into fists as I mulled over the question. Why did I actually turn down Zatara? Could it be because of sentiment as I told him? At first glance, my suggestion for him to stay back seemed reasonable but I wasn't sure that was just it.

"I guess...I just got so used to fighting all my battles alone that the offer for help felt...foreign and uncomfortable."

Saying that, I realized just how true it actually was.

I felt a gentle hand land comfortingly on my shoulder.

"No Avatar has ever had it easy. Their presence is followed closely by calamity and danger, interchangeably at times but they always face some form of obstacle that they overcome."

I held his gaze as he continued.

"Doubt and fear have a place inside us just as confidence and bravery do. You cannot have one without the other. Do not be afraid to feel. Every emotion, has a major role to play in unearthing your potential, my young student." After giving that solemn advice he smiled. "If an Avatar has it easy...they would not be the figureheads of order and balance. Chaos will forever buckle against your control."

"Well, that wasn't ominous at all. I was expecting you to end it on a high note. A word of encouragement so strong, my powers will be stoked by my steely resolve and determination" I commented dryly.

Iroh laughed in good nature.

"I am surprised as you are. I must be getting rusty."

We spent a few more minutes talking before I decided it was time to go. There was something I wanted to ask him but I figured it could wait for when I got back. Not if but when.

I stood up to leave, only for Iroh to stop me by clearing his throat.

"Aden, I might be gone for a short while when you come back."

I stopped in place, my heart sinking.

"Gone? Gone where?"

I carefully asked, dreading his answer.

"There is something that needs my attention. Something that cannot wait." He must have sensed my disappointment because he laughed.

"I will be back. I have still not seen everything I can of this world. I would be remiss as a knowledge seeker to abandon that endeavor."

I gave no outward reaction except for a smile but inwardly I was happy. Iroh had quickly become a figure of importance to me. He was someone I could confide in whenever I felt overwhelmed. And the things he was teaching me about spirit attunement as well as the various pointers about bending was not something I could do without. I wasn't ready to lose any of that.

"See you when I see you then, Master."

I threw over my shoulder.

"Oh and Aden, Take care of yourself."

Iroh's voice travelled to my ears just before I teleported out.

The first one to notice me was Breeze. Which made sense because she was basically connected to all air. A light breeze ruffled throw me and I instantly noticed that I only had on a thin jacket offered by Madame Xanadu and nothing else beneath it. Fate had destroyed my trench coat and upper half of my costume during our fight. Maybe I should clean up before going to hell?...nah, I've kept Blood waiting long enough. I took a few minutes to interact with my spirits, with Hakai complaining about the fact that Saisei spent all his time napping these days.

I assured her I'd check up on him and left the two girls alone to continue playing. Touching down near the tower, I could see the gentle movement of Saisei's torso as he slept. The incident where he called me dad was still fresh in my mind. I honestly didn't know what to feel about it. I was only 17 for chrissake. 18 in a few days but still. Whatever come may, I knew the important thing was that I wasn't going to let anything happen to my spirits.

I gently ran my palm over his scales, simultaneously using the action to see if there was anything wrong with him. My eyes widened after using spirit attunement. Saisei seemed to have formed a spirit link with Match, who was inside the stabilization pod.

"Tower, display current progress of Match's d.n.a stabilization procedure."

I quickly gave the order.

(Primary Directive at 62%)

The answer appeared before me. Holy...shit. the Progress had jumped by more than 20%. Seems like the raw data gained from scanning Superman's physiology helped immensely. I evaluated a few of my future plans. It seems like our weird little family was about to get another member.

I wiped the slight steam that had gathered on the glass making up the front of the pod and my belief grew stronger. Match had seemingly...de-aged. before he'd looked like Connor, at most 18 years old. Now, he was a little over 15. There wasn't a lot of time and I still had one final thing to do before leaving to Zatara's, so I simply rubbed Saisei's snout with a proud smile and disappeared into a portal.

I stepped out into my room at the Lux. Looking at the time at the corner of my eyes, only 3 hours had gone by since receiving the mission. It had probably been more for the league while being stuck in the Tower of Fate. This also brought up another interesting question. What should I do with the Tower? I mean as the current wielder of the Helmet of Fate, I was the sole owner now. Meh... I'll figure that out later. I still hadn't decided whether I was going to hand over the helmet or not. Right now I was leaning on not. The League needed to show me I could trust them instead of the other way around.

I still ended up taking a shower and cleaning up. Then I dressed up in my back up costume courtesy of Batman's over preparedness. While the costume was size and shape adjusting, I could feel it was only a matter of time before it started getting tight abd obstructing. I had not only gotten taller but also bigger. My dad was a huge dude so know I had the genes for it but this felt... strange. As if my body was speeding up to compensate for something. Mmmh...I need a costume change anyway. Once I get back, I will commission the Sconiad tower to produce a much more durable costume than I currently had using materials from the realm.

10 minutes later, I was off to the last spot I needed to go, the church. I didn't forget to pick up some sweet sweet donuts for the priest in charge of the parish. That old man and I had become amiable friends. It was good to see he didn't treat me any different despite the fact that my mug was plastered all over the news. In fact, he had a few words of encouragement before he excused himself to go absolutely break the commandment of thou shalt not kill. From the way he was eyeing those donuts...they were done for.

Left alone in the church, I closed my eyes and spread out my senses. A second later,I felt him. I opened my eyes and came face to face with the Hornblower, the Archangel Gabriel, provider of the blueprint to create reality. People usually forget how powerful Gabriel is when matched up against his two elder brothers but something told me that this angel was no less dangerous than either Luci or Michael. It was in the way he carried himself. I had seen the same body confidence and control in only Batman and Black Canary. Gabriel was a martial bad ass.

This time he was not dressed in the combat armor he had on the first time we had met. Instead he had on, white robes. His body hovered a few inches off the ground and a certain light was exuded from his presence. An aura of great presence. I called upon my inner flame and run it through my body to get rid of the awe of the Light. I had touched upon this energy before so it was easy not to get lost in its splendor.

"Gabriel."

I nodded in greeting. The Hornblower studied me curiously before responding.

"What are you?"

His first question threw me out of loop though.

"Last we saw each other...you were burning with the power of an elite being and now...you feel human."

He explained himself making me laugh.

"Yeah tell me about it. That form isn't something I can access whenever I want. It's... unreliable."

His feet touched down.

"I do not understand. How can it be unreliable when it allowed you to stand up to heaven's greatest. Surely you jest, human."

He responded.

"It's Aden. And trust me, if I had complete control over that state...I wouldn't have come here." I read his expression.

"And based on the fact that you came to see me, I can guess that you understand what I've come to ask."

Gabriel looked at me for a few seconds before nodding.

"You have come to ask for the authority of heaven. A way for you to have a solid backer and valid enough reason to ask for the courtesy of a guest, as an emissary of one Kingdom to another. You seek to make use of the old powers and ancient laws to have an audience with the monarch of the Infernal realms, Samael."

"Precisely. Otherwise there is nothing stopping any demon from attacking me the second I step out there."

Gabriel laughed at my words. A surprisingly gentle laugh. The look in his eyes changed.

"I am impressed...Aden. Few would think that far."

I shrugged.

"Well, it's my life on the line so..."

We entered a brief moment of silence, before Gabriel gave his answer. After that the angel's presence disappeared off into heaven and I left the church after procuring some holy water and stashing it in my hammer space.

The next portal had me standing out of Zatara's mansion, due to the wards around his home not letting me in. I walked up to the front door and knocked on it gently. It opened to reveal Zatanna. She ran her eyes over me and smiled.

"You clean up nice."

I walked in without waiting for an invitation.

"Thanks, where is your dad?"

The door closed behind us and she led me to the basement.

"Follow me."

We took the stairs down before approaching a metal door at the bottom. Opening it, an outpour of magical power hit my senses like a freight train. Whoa. How come I didn't sense it before? Zatanna giggled from where she stood.

"The basement is covered by mystical energy concealing wards."

"Interesting."

I commented, walking in.

"You know...I can show you some magic if you show me how your portals work. A sort of trade off, what do you say?"

She asked me, a little hopefully.

"I say...ask your father first."

The young girl bristled a little as I left her in the doorway to focus on the only other person in the room. Red candles were arranged around a massive and complicated array drawn on the ground. The pendant Zatara had used to locate Blood was on one point of the magic circle. It had changed color from red to blue, containing Blood's familiar energy signature. The man was standing on the outside of the magic circle, yellow light pouring off his walking cane and into the magic array.

"Oh Aden, you're here. Let us begin."