The universe fell away into a chaos of crunching metal, exploding concrete, and the harsh, primeval scream of unleashed random energy. The warehouse fell not slowly but in an implosion, a frenzied hug of debris and dust that threatened to bury and strangle them all. The implosion force radiated shockwaves outward, the air itself humming with demolition power.
Instinct guided. Aqualad, desperate speed, called forth great globes of pressurized water and surrounded himself and his younger teammates – Wally, Robin, and Conner – in a shield of protecting bubbles from the weight. The water rippled and flexed beneath the great pressure, but held fast, a tenuous bulwark against the weight of tons of dropping rubble.
Zatanna, her voice a steady incantation even amidst the roaring destruction, erected a shimmering magical shield around herself and Michael, a dome of pure arcane energy that deflected the larger chunks of falling structure. The shield groaned under the relentless assault, sparks of magical energy flaring outwards with each impact.
Within their watery spheres, the younger heroes held their breath, the world outside a chaotic blur of grey and twisted metal. Wally, despite the terror gripping him, couldn't resist a morbidly humorous observation. Well," he struggled to say, his words snagged on the water, "guess this is what they call a… crushing defeat." Robin, his expression stern, remained intent on keeping communication open with the others via their comms, his words steady and tactical even in the event of possible entombment. Conner, his muscular physique taut, was ready to unleash his brawn if their underwater prison broke.
Outside, in the relative protection of Zatanna's shield, Michael was bombarded by the sheer raw chaotic power released by the warehouse collapse and Umbra's ultimate, desperate gesture. Air was charged with evil energy, the fabric of reality itself around them distorting and warping. He sensed the residual threads of Klarion's control, compounded by the flood of uncontrolled magic, dark, sinister energy that hung ready to take hold at any point of weakness.
Among the dancing dust and wreckage, Michael saw Umbra. She stood in the ruins of the building, untouched by the descending debris, her figure emitting a blinding, emerald energy. Her eyes were open, not with victory, but with an abysmal lack of anything, as if the naked energy of chaos had at last consumed her, leaving her nothing but a vessel for Klarion's commands.
This is only the start!" her voice cried out amidst the crumbling edifice, warped and magnified by the wild power, sounding less and less like her own voice and more like an evil voice from another plane of existence. "Chaos will prevail! Order shall crumble!
As the primary framework of the warehouse came to rest, crushing them beneath mountains of debris, an unsettling quiet fell, punctuated only by the labored breathing of the pinned heroes and the distant, crackling power from Umbra. The shields held, but the pressure of the wreckage was monumental, the darkness complete.
"Team, report!" Robin's voice came through their comms, tight but unbroken.
We're… whole," Wally panted, the water between them churning with lingering energy. "But… buried alive, too?"
"Water integrity intact," Aqualad attested, his tone steady in the face of danger. "But for how long against this pressure. I am not sure."
"Zatanna?" Robin's tone was anxious.
"Shield intact," Zatanna said, her tone strained with effort. "But the magical feedback. it's strong. Michael?
Michael, his senses still abuzz with the rush of wild energy, concentrated his will, striving to cut through the darkness and magical interference to find Umbra. He could still sense her presence, a focus of wild energy among the calm of the rubble.
"She's still going," Michael relayed, his tone low and grim. "The collapse. it hasn't dissipated her. If anything. it's increased the chaos.
The gravity of their circumstance weighed heavily on them, both literally and metaphorically. They were caught in a trap, confronted by an enemy who had apparently adopted absolute randomness, and the ground itself was treacherous. The initial promise of Young Justice, the possibility of a new generation of heroes, seemed perilously perched on the lip of this underground crypt.
But amidst the blackness and weight, a new component started to emerge, an unpredicted catalyst that resulted from the same chaos which wanted to devour them. Once the unbridled magical power that resulted from the burning of the warehouse had settled, it started to interface with the singular bio-magical matrix which was the foundation of Superboy's existence. The unstable energies, wild and capricious, spoke to the artificial Kryptonian DNA and the Genomorph augmentations that comprised his existence and brought about an unexpected response.
Inside his aquatic domain, Conner sensed a foreign surge of energy running through him, a power unlike anything he had ever known. It wasn't the comforting heat of his solar-powered abilities but something darker, more unstable, reflecting the unstable energy that filled their environment. Shattered pictures flickered across his mind – visions of Cadmus facilities, of distorted genetic codes, of the scientists muttering about what he could do. A raw compulsion, a deeply rooted imperative within himself, started to stir.
His eyes flared open in the darkness, shining with a strange, dim green light that throbbed with the wild energy of their captivity. A growl began in his chest, a sound that did not quite belong to him. The catalyst had been hit, and the unfurling chaos was on the verge of taking a surprise and possibly deadly turn.