Chapter 17: Schooled

Word Count : 8354

Gatherings at the Cave were a regular occurrence for the team by now. And with it, came often some manner of pastime to pass the time with. Today it was a game of holographic hockey. And as it turned out, Kid Flash proved to be the undisputed master of this game. His speed made it impossible for his opponent to get a single goal, something he was all too happy about rubbing in their faces.

"Sorry, Kaldur, you just can't beat the master," he cockily proclaimed while eating a banana. Aqualad for his part chose not to comment, lest he inflate the speedster's ego even further. However, they all lost their interest in the game when they heard the computer announce a name they had not heard in days.

"Recognized. Krieg, B04," a flash of light heralded their missing team member's entrance, and they were all eager to see him again. Ever since the events concerning Adrian and the illusion, they had not heard anything from their friend. It had made them worry a great deal.

"Krieg! Nice to see you again, man! We were beginning to worry that…" the rest of Kid Flash sentence vanished from his mind once he got a good look at Krieg. His uniform had definitively undergone some changes. He was still clad in his traditional grey greatcoat, but the gasmask now had the same white skull motif as the Grenadiers painted on it. The tube was also removed, as the rebreather system and air filtration had been incorporated into the mask itself.

A black Kevlar vest adorned his upper body, with the two-headed Imperial Aquila emblazoned on the chest in blood red color. A wrist mounted gun was strapped to his left arm while his right arm wore a metal contraption from wrist to elbow and a metal gauntlet covered his right hand. Steel tipped boots adorned his feet and metal plates covered his shoulders and knees. A small backpack was strapped to his back, from which his Benelli M3 hung. And in his belt, four knives were sheathed at the front, and a kukri at the back.

"What?" he asked when the team just stood and stared at him. Robin was the first to shake himself out of his stupor.

"Nothing, just surprised at you new costume, that's all," he admitted, casting a highly dubious look at the multitude of knives. He was never all that fond of killing tools. Krieg just shrugged his shoulders uncaringly.

"In any case, it's good to see you again. We were worried about you when you never called us back," Aqualad said with a friendly smile. Krieg felt like making a snide comment, but he held it in this time.

"My apologies. I simply required some time alone to sort out some personal matters," he stated monotonously, receiving an understanding nod from Aqualad.

"Recognized. Superboy, B05," and with that computerized announcement, the sixth and final member of the team walked in. Or rather stomped in.

"Hi, Superboy. How was Metropolis?" Miss Martian asked kindly. As if he had not even heard her or even noticed their presence, Superboy stalked past them with bitterness etched into his facial expression. A short moment of awkward silence followed as they watched his rapidly departing back. It ended when someone loudly cleared her throat.

"Ready for training, everyone?" the unmistakable voice of Black Canary asked. Turning to where the voice came from, the team found the aforementioned woman walking towards them with the Martian Manhunter next to her. Bile rose to Krieg's throat at the sight of the green xeno. By the Emperor, how he wished he could drive a knife into his skull. He had still not forgiven the Martian for his psychic invasion.

"Black Canary! Uncle J'onn!" Miss Martian burst out happily as she ran over to hug her xeno relative, who returned the gesture with a kind smile.

"M'gann, I was… in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd see how you were adjusting," he revealed as they broke physical contact and merely stood in front of one another. Casting a quick glance at the clone, Krieg found that he was watching the interaction between the two xenos with something akin to envy. Then again, emotions were never Krieg's forte, so he could have been wrong on the matter.

"A few bumps, but I'm learning," Miss Martian answered.

"That's all I can ask," Martian Manhunter said kindly. 'Oh, for the love of the Emperor, just get it over with!' Krieg thought to himself in disgust. Footsteps leaving the room notified Krieg that the clone had had enough as well. As it was, he did not get far.

"Stick around, class is in session," Black Canary announced before she took center stage. Beneath her, the floor lit up. While he would never admit it out loud, Krieg was a bit excited about this training. Mutant or not, Black Canary was one of the greatest martial artists on Earth, and a decent enough teacher.

"I consider it an honor to be your teacher. I'll throw a lot at you, everything I've learned from my own mentors," she began explaining while taking off her jacket, wincing in pain when she unveiled her bandaged left arm. "And my own bruises," she added while rubbing her wound.

"What happened" Miss Martian asked in concern.

"The job," Black Canary answered before throwing her jacket aside. "Now, combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never reacting. I'll need a sparring partner," at her request, Krieg was about to volunteer. He needed an exercise anyway, even though it would likely end with his defeat.

"Right here, yeah!" sadly, Kid Flash proved faster in volunteering, cockily walking into the ring while finishing off his banana. "After this," he began while throwing the banana peel into a nearby bin. "I'll show you my moves,"

No verbal answer came from Black Canary, but Krieg knew without a doubt that her smile meant pain for Kid Flash. She always did something nasty whenever she smirked like that. Black Canary struck first with a fist that was blocked before she swept him off his feet. Unbelievable. In less than two seconds, Kid Flash had been brought down on his back, with the words "Kid Flash. Status: failed" appearing next to him on the floor. 'Pathetic,' Krieg thought to himself in disgust.

"Ow, hurts so good," Kid Flash moaned from the floor. How could an imbecile like him possibly be able to fight crime?

"Good block, but did anyone see what he did wrong?" Black Canary asked as she helped the speedster back up on his feet. Not about to pass up a chance to embarrass his friend, Robin spoke up.

"Oh, oh! He hit on teacher and got served!" he said teasingly with a grin on his face.

"Dude!" Kid Flash complained, absolutely mortified. Ignoring the teens' antics, Black Canary explained.

"He allowed me to dictate the terms of…"

"Oh please," Superboy rudely interrupted her lecture. "With my powers, the battle's always on my terms. I'm a living weapon, and this is a waste of my time," he boldly announced. Black Canary's reaction? A taunting smirk.

"Prove it," she challenged. At those two words, Krieg instantly perked up. 'By the Emperor, that idiotic clone has no idea what he's in store for,' he thought to himself. They may be on the same team, but nothing felt more satisfying than seeing those xenos bet beaten around. Superboy foolishly accepted the challenge and walked into the ring, Kid Flash wisely backed off at that point. At first, all they did was size each other up, then they both assumed a fighting stance.

Superboy struck first with a blow aimed at her head. Black Canary easily caught it and threw Superboy right over her shoulder and made him land painfully on his back. 'Wow, that was even faster than Kid Flash,' Krieg thought dryly. To add insult to injury, Robin let out a mocking cackle, receiving an elbow in the side from Aqualad. All it did was make Robin try to muffle his laughter with his hands. Humiliated, Superboy got back on his feet, fury overriding all other brain processes.

"You're angry, good, but don't react. Channel that anger into…" Black Canary's helpful advice was thoroughly ignored by the raging clone who charged at her like an out of control bull. This time, Black Canary leaped right over him and swept him off his feet. In a scene very similar to Kid Flash's, Superboy ended up on his back. It brought out even more laughter from Robin, and winces from his three friends. Krieg's only visible reaction was by slowly shaking his head in exasperation. 'And here I thought that they could not possibly become any more incompetent than they already were. Why do they constantly have to prove me wrong?'

"That's it! I'm done!" Superboy snarled out in anger, refusing Black Canary's helping hand and got back up on his own. A restraining hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Training is mandatory," Black Canary informed him. Her words had no effect and he simply shrugged off her hand and walked away.

"Typical of useless idiots," but those words made him halt and turn towards the one who spoke. Krieg.

"What did you just say?" he demanded furiously. Krieg met his glare with a look of indifference behind his mask.

"You exhibit typical reactions of a useless idiot. You believe that just because you have power, you are invincible and can never be defeated. Yet when the opposite is proven true, you throw a temper tantrum like a spoiled little brat instead of learning from your failures," he stated with his arms folded over his chest. As it turned out, Superboy had no tolerance for either insults or lectures as his hands tightened into fists and a near animalistic growl came out of his throat.

"You think you could do better?" he questioned furiously, his anger having no effect on Krieg.

"I do not think, I know," he answered flatly. That brought Black Canary into the argument.

"You think you can beat me?" she asked far too innocently.

"Defeat you? No. Hold out longer than the clone? Yes," Krieg answered. No further words were spoken, but Black Canary made the universal sign of "bring it on". Krieg was all too happy to oblige as he grabbed his shotgun from his back and removed his wrist gun from his arm.

"Hold these for me," he said while thrusting both weapons into the surprised arms of Kid Flash. Striding into the ring himself, he and Black Canary faced off against each other. Assuming a boxing stance, Krieg made the first move. He attacked with a high blow that was dodged before striking with a knee. She blocked it before coming up with an uppercut that forced Krieg back.

Pressing the attack, Black Canary struck with a flurry of blows. Krieg deflected most, but some landed on his torso. The Kevlar however protected him, and so he struck back with a flying kick. It proved too strong for her to block, and so struck her hard and knocked her back. Krieg attacked again with an uppercut blow, but she sidestepped it before swinging her leg straight into his guts like a sledgehammer.

Even with protection, it hurt like hell, but Krieg had endured worse. He attacked with his elbow, driving it like a sword at Black Canary. As expected, she sidestepped, and almost walked straight into his other fist. She narrowly evaded it, and was forced back as Krieg attacked again and again with a barrage of boxing strikes.

However, Black Canary turned the tide when she grabbed his next punch, pulled the arm out of the way and dealt a fist blow to the side of his throat. Momentarily stunned, Krieg almost ended up on the floor when she came at him with a spinning kick. It knocked him back, and his side hurt like hell from the blow, but he regained his balance and remained standing. And he was swiftly on the move again, not about to let Black Canary get the upper hand.

She blocked his first blow before leaping right over his shoulder, where she nearly got knocked to the floor when Krieg spun around with a kick that slammed into her side. Biting back the pain, she ducked low and slammed a fist straight into the side of his knee. It forced him down on one knee and Black Canary struck him with a knee to the face.

It left him disoriented, but not out of it just yet. He caught a second blow aimed at his head and pushed her back, giving himself enough room to get back up again. Not even giving himself enough time to think it through, he charged straight at Black Canary and rammed head-first into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. With a wrestling grip around her midriff, he lifted her up into the air and threw her over his shoulder.

But in a surprising move of balance and flexibility, she managed to land on her hands and spun her legs like a propeller, scoring a blow on Krieg that nearly unbalanced him. Flipping back to her feet, she struck mercilessly. Krieg tried to strike her, but she glided right under his fist and slammed her own fist into his side. Then she was behind him again and made a sweeping kick with her legs. Krieg managed to jump over it, but when he landed again he found her waiting.

Having crouched low in preparation, her whole body came up under his guard like a piston, driving all her strength behind her two fists. They rammed straight into the underside of his jaw and sent him up in the air before gravity dragged him back down again. With a loud thud, Krieg's back slammed into the floor, the words "Krieg. Status: failed" appearing next to him like a badge of defeat.

Too sore and tired to get back up directly, Krieg remained where he was and taking the chance to gather his strength again. Black Canary meanwhile leaned on her own knees as she took a few calming breaths. Feeling rejuvenated enough, she walked over and offered a helping hand to Krieg. Hesitant at first, he eventually accepted it and was hoisted back up on his feet.

"Good spar. You've definitively improved since last time," Black Canary complimented with a smile.

"I take every chance I can to train," Krieg commented tonelessly while rotating a stiff shoulder. And while they conversed with one another, the rest of the team watched on with slack jawed expressions. Both Kid Flash and Superboy lasted less than five seconds, yet Krieg managed to hold out for more than two minutes. But while most members of the team were impressed and even awed at his level of skill, Superboy only felt incomprehension.

It made no sense to him. He was Superboy, a clone of Superman himself, the most powerful man on Earth. But despite this, he still got his ass handed to him by someone supposedly less powerful. Granted, she had her Canary Cry, but she never once used it against him. And yet she still beat him. And to add further insult to injury, someone with absolutely no powers whatsoever managed to do better than him. It was inconceivable to his eyes, but the proof was right there in front of him.

With the spar done, Krieg went and retrieved his weapons from Kid Flash. However, they were all caught off guard when a blaring alarm went off, seconds before a holographic image appeared. On it was none other than Batman.

"Batman to the Cave. Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying, then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents. Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous as our foe gained more and more powers with each new combatant," he reported. That sounded like real trouble to Krieg. The Justice League was bad enough as it was, now there was someone out there who possessed all of their abilities? Dear Emperor.

"Whoa, one guy with the powers of the entire League," Kid Flash spoke in terrified awe.

"In the end, it took eight Leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android," Batman added, further increasing Krieg's worries. An android? Great. That meant that it had a puppet master who pulled the strings.

"An android? Who made it, T.O. Morrow?" Robin asked.

"Good guess, Robin. But Red Tornado doesn't think so," Batman answered.

"The technology bears the signature of… Professor Ivo," Martian Manhunter revealed gravelly.

"Ivo? But Ivo's dead," Aqualad pointed out.

"So we all thought, or hoped," Black Canary stated. Krieg for his part was left in the dark. He had absolutely no idea who either of these men, Morrow and Ivo, were, or what level of threat they could be.

"To make certain this threat is permanently neutralized, we're sending two trucks carrying the android's parts to two separate S.T.A.R. Labs facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation. Every precaution has been taken. We'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo, or anyone, tries to recover the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks," so simply guard the parts until they were safely locked away for study. Sounded pretty straightforward and easy to accomplish.

"Yes! Road trip!" Kid Flash exclaimed enthusiastically, clearly eager for this mission.

"So now we take out your trash?" Superboy questioned bitterly, clearly not eager for this mission.

"You had something better to do?" Batman retorted, shutting the clone up. However, all attention fell on Krieg when a beeping noise came from his belt.

"Excuse me," he said apologetically, or at least as close to apologetic as he could get, before he brought out a small device the shape and size of an IPhone. Another high tech addition to his arsenal, as it worked as a portable computer.

"Something wrong?" Aqualad asked as Krieg read through the info appearing on screen.

"It concerns the Chinese Triad operating in Los Angeles," he stated, never taking his eyes off the screen. "I have been struggling to shut them down since I was first put in charge of Los Angeles. But so far, they have proven to be quite slippery. Though it seems they have finally slipped up, as I have been able to intercept a message between the higher ups and an unknown partner where they plan a meeting today," here, he paused and looked straight at Aqualad. "This is the first solid Intel I have had on them for months, and it could very well be my only chance to strike a crippling blow to their organization,"

He did not say it out loud, but he was sure Aqualad would get the message. He was asking for permission to complete this on his own while the team safeguarded the android's parts. Indecision marred Aqualad's features, as he struggled to decide what was best; have all six members guarding the parts, or let one split off to hopefully put a stop to a powerful crime organization.

"Batman?" he asked uncertainly, since it was he who brought this mission to the team in the first place.

"It's your team, Aqualad. Make your call," he simply said. He was quick to make a decision after that.

"Alright, go and deal with this, then regroup with us once you're done," he ordered. Krieg snapped off a quick salute before hurrying over to the zeta tubes.

Absentmindedly, Krieg wondered what it was about warehouses that made them so popular among criminals when conducting business. But then again, what did he know? He was hardly a criminal. But in any case, these guys had obviously not learned from the folly of their competition. Most of the guards were stationed at ground level, hardly anyone watched the rooftops.

With the amount of training he had undergone to increase his stealth capabilities, it was child's play to get inside undetected. Now here he was, crouched atop a support beam up at the roof and looking down upon the criminals like a vigilant eagle waiting to swoop in on its prey. So far, only the Triad members were present, seven of them stood out in the open. There was no trace of their mystery partner. But it sounded like he was fast approaching, as the sounds of cars reached his ears. Minutes later, and the doors were opened, allowing six people entrance.

Four of those were of the standard issue guards that wealthy people employed; men dressed in black with sunglasses and armed with submachine guns. The fifth was a lightly brown haired woman, dressed like the usual office secretaries Krieg had seen in nearly every office building. However, it was the sixth one who caught his attention. Wearing a black office suit, this bald man had an aura of power an authority around him. Krieg was not fooled by his charming smile for even a second, this man was dangerous.

"Mr. Luthor, glad you could join us today," the Triad representative spoke politely, finally placing a name on their mystery partner. And Krieg knew all too well about this player. The Justice League could never shut up about this man.

"Mr. Chen, a pleasure to meet you," Luthor answered with that charming smile of his still in place. From what Krieg could see, Chen was not fooled by that smile any more than he was. Nor did he appear to be all that pleased by Luthor's presence.

"Let's cut to the chase here. You've been ruining our business lately," Chen announced. All Luthor did was smile even more.

"I'm sorry, my friend, by I have no idea what you're talking about here. After all, we've been business partners for years," he answered while holding his hands in a placating gesture. As Krieg saw it, he was either telling the truth or was the greatest liar in existence. Possibly a bit of both. Regardless of which answer was correct, it only enraged Chen.

"Don't lie to me here! Coastal guards and law enforcements have been coming down on us harder than ever before!" Chen roared in anger, yet Luthor was unmoved, still smiling that charming smile of his. If nothing else, he deserved credit to remain so relaxed in the face of open hostility.

"I still fail to see how this could be my fault, Chen. After all, I'm merely a businessman, how could I have anything to do with your sudden misfortune?" Luthor inquired politely.

"They have displayed an unnatural ability hit us at just the right time with just enough strength. I'd say that they can either see the future, or someone is leaking them Intel," he stated. He did not throw the accusation out for all to hear, but they all knew he was accusing Luthor of feeding the law enforcements Intel on the Triad.

"That is bad news. I would suggest you check your organization for any leaks it might have. Traitor in your own midst can be such a hassle to deal with," Luthor lamented. But apparently, Chen had grown tired of this little game of words, and drew a gun from his belt.

"Oh, I've already found my leak right here. And now it's time to plug it," he stated with fire burning in his eyes. Luthor's guards instantly had their guns raised, but each of them took a bullet to the head from hidden snipers and fell to the ground dead, leaving only Luthor and his assistant standing. Neither so much as flinched as the sight of their dead guards.

"Is this violence truly necessary?" Luthor asked in exasperation, for the first time since the discussion started no longer smiling. But even then did he remain calm and in control, even though he was outmanned and outgunned. Krieg would have to give him some grudging respect on that part.

"Oh, I think it is really necessary here, you backstabbing bastard," Chen snarled out as one of his men stepped forward with an RPG and aimed it at Luthor, who for his part merely raised an eyebrow at that.

"Aren't you going a little overkill here?" he asked curiously, receiving a bloodthirsty grin from Chen.

"Nah, I think this is an appropriate measure for someone like you," he answered. But while they kept droning on, Krieg made his move. He silently crept around on the support beams, locating each hidden sniper within the warehouse. Then he neutralized each of them with a tranquil dart from his wrist gun, all so silently that the talking men below him never noticed the commotion.

"Any last words, Mr. Luthor?" Chen asked. The addressed man never even had time to answer before Krieg struck. He jumped down and landed right in front of Chen. Grabbing hold of the hand holding the gun, he twisted it aside and drove a knee into his groin before knocking him out with an elbow to the forehead. Krieg threw Chen's unconscious body into the RPG wielding one, sending both bodies tumbling to the ground while the RPG accidentally went off, the missile flying straight into the roof.

The remaining five managed to shake themselves out of their stupor and drew their weapons. The first one had just begun drawing his gun when Krieg slammed it back into its holster and swept him off his feet, to finish him off with an axe kick to the stomach. The second came at him with a knife, but Krieg merely grabbed his arm as he attacked and twisted it until it broke. He silenced the man's screams of agony by ramming his head straight into his armored knee.

A third one had got out his Uzi and sprayed Krieg with bullets. He dived out of the way, his Kevlar absorbing six bullet, before returning fire with his wrist gun. Three tranquil darts to the throat and he was out of it. Two more came at him with their own guns, but Krieg threw a smoke grenade at them before they could fire.

Blinded by the smoke, they were caught completely off guard when Krieg appeared in front of them and wrenched the guns out of their hands. He knocked one of them out with a spinning kick before breaking the nose of the other with a fist. When he stumbled back in pain, Krieg moved in and mercilessly beat him until he toppled over.

Wild machine gun fire alerted Krieg that the one with the RPG had gotten back up and switched weapons. He drew one of his knives and dived out of the smoke. Only taking a second to aim, he threw his knife straight at his target and buried it in his shoulder. He subsequently dropped his weapon, screaming in pain while clutching his bleeding shoulder. Before he could recover, Krieg leaped at him and struck him with a dropkick to the head, slamming said head straight into the floor.

"Die, you bastard!" that hateful scream came from the one he kicked in the stomach, having recovered and was attacking with a knife. A bored sigh came out of Krieg as he sidestepped the attack and grabbed the man's face with his gauntleted hand, then he activated his inbuilt electric discharge and shocked the man into unconsciousness with high voltages of electricity. once the screaming and the trashing around ended, he dropped the smoking body to the floor.

With the last threat neutralized, Krieg turned his attention to Luthor. And as it turned out, that RPG round had done more damage than he first realized. The parts of the roof it had destroyed had rained down on Luthor's position. Rushing over to offer assistance, Krieg found Luthor in the midst of getting back up again, coughing from the dust.

"Are you unharmed, Mr. Luthor?" he inquired, receiving a nod of the billionaire's head before he looked around in confusion.

"Where's Mercy?" he asked. A pained groan was the answer he received. Both men went to where it came from, and found Mercy lying on the floor, her right arm completely crushed underneath a support beam. Krieg was instantly at her side, inspecting what little he could see. What he saw was not good.

"The rubble is far too heavy for me to lift it, and your entire arm is destroyed beyond saving anyway. If you are to get any medical assistance fast enough, it will have to be removed," he announced. She looked worried at his announcement, but an encouraging look from Luthor had her silently nod her head in consent. Kneeling next to her, he used a knife to cut off a piece of his greatcoat and wrapped it tightly together before placing it in her mouth. He also brought forth his backpack, and retrieved some bandages.

"Mr. Luthor, if you could hold her down," he instructed as he drew his kukri. Luthor silently obliged and kneeled on the other side of Mercy, using his full weight to keep her down. With everything ready, Krieg went to work. The Kukri was not the ideal cutting tool, being more designed for hacking and slashing, but he made due. As expected, Mercy screamed and trashed like a madwoman the whole way, but was thankfully held down by Luthor. He met a really tough obstacle when trying to get through her bones, but eventually succeeded. Finally, her arm came off, and Krieg instantly threw the kukri aside in favor of bandages.

"Help me put pressure on it," he instructed Luthor, who once again silently complied. At last, they finished wrapping the wound up tightly. By that point, Mercy was barely conscious from the pain and blood loss she had endured.

"You should get her some proper medical treatment before that wound gets infected," Krieg said before he packed his things, dried off his blade and stood up, intent on retrieving Chen.

"Wait," Luthor spoke up, stopping Krieg before he had even taken a step. "Who are you? I don't remember having seen you around before," Krieg could have easily ignored his request, but he figured there was no harm in letting him know.

"Krieg, Justice League associate," he answered monotonously. Luthor raised a surprised eyebrow at him.

"Justice League associate, you say? You certainly have more… straightforward ways than the usual heroes I've met," he commented while casting a glance at the broken and bleeding men. Krieg just shrugged his shoulders.

"I may cooperate with them, it does not mean I share their weak resolve," he answered.

"All the same, I must admit I'm surprised that you aided me in the first place," Luthor admitted.

"Why? Because the Justice League has you on their watchlist and many heroes dislike you?" Krieg asked, receiving a shrug from Luthor. "Tell me, was that man right in accusing you of sabotaging his business?" the question seemed to throw Luthor for a loop, but he nevertheless answered.

"Yes. I have been conducting business with him for quite some time. But recently, he's grown too powerful and out of control, so I felt it was best to cripple him while I still could," he revealed.

"Bold of you to admit having worked with criminals in front of a vigilante," Krieg observed with his arms folded over his chest. A light chuckle came out of Luthor upon hearing his words.

"Young man, if you really planned to have me arrested, you would have done so already," he pointed out. Krieg had nothing to say that could prove otherwise.

"True enough," he admitted. "But in any case, I can assure that I hold no ill feelings towards you, Luthor. On the contrary, I believe you are a necessity on this Earth," now Luthor did not even bother to hide his surprise. Never had a supposed hero said that about him.

"As humanity stands right now, we are weak and divided with no true power or leadership holding us together. We lack the means to defend ourselves, and must rely on the likes of the Justice League for protection. In this world, people like you are needed. People with power and influence that transcends petty borders and squabbling governments," Krieg elaborated. At the end of his explanation, Luthor could not contain his smile. As he saw it, Krieg must have been the only hero in existence who thought like that.

"Glad to see that someone at least appreciates the work I'm doing. The world could definitively use more heroes like you," he praised. Of course, such things were wasted on Krieg.

"I am no hero," he responded as he walked passed Luthor, heading towards the still unconscious Chen. "I am merely a soldier doing my sworn duty,"

"And what duty would that be?" Luthor inquired curiously as Krieg threw Chen over his shoulder.

"To protect humanity against any and all threats that may oppose it, no matter the cost," he answered before trudging away, intent of dragging every last shred of Intel out of Chen, leaving Luthor and Mercy behind. Even long after he was gone, Luthor could not stop smiling in amusement.

"It was interesting meeting you, Krieg. I do hope our paths cross again in the future," he spoke out loud.

Getting the information he desired had proved to be far easier than Krieg could have ever imagined. The man had been squealing like a pig after only two minutes of interrogation. Dropping him off at a police station, Krieg had then contacted the team in order to get updates on their current mission. None of it was any good. Not only had they lost the cargo, but Superboy had taken off on his own. 'Infernal clone. Knew he could not be trusted,'

And so here he was, standing just outside Gotham Academy where the sounds of fighting could be heard inside. Grabbing his shotgun, he made sure it was loaded with blue rounds before he moved in closer. But as he drew nearer, he noticed something out of place, namely a pile of scrapped machines at the base of a tree. And said tree had an occupant in her branches.

"Freeze!" Krieg shouted as a warning while aiming his shotgun at the individual. It was too dark to make out any defining features, so he was clueless regarding the identity of this one. He had no way of knowing whether it was friend or foe, which was the only reason he had not pulled the trigger. The shadowy figure however chose to make himself an enemy in his eyes when instead of complying, he leaped out of the tree and ran for it.

Without a second's hesitation, he opened fire. The first three shots missed entirely, and he was tempted to pursue this unknown fighter. But he had to prioritize here, as his team still needed assistance. So with a last disgruntled look over his shoulder he hurried towards the school again. A grapple line brought him up to the windows, one of which he silently opened and slipped inside.

Inside, he found a gym in shambles. Robin, Kid Flash and Superboy were locked in a fierce struggle with the reassembled android, and losing badly. But there was also someone else present. A short middle-aged man wearing quite a peculiar set of clothing. And he was surrounded by what looked like robotic monkeys with rockets on their backs. 'Just when I think that this Earth could not get any weirder, shit like this happens,' Krieg thought to himself.

Deciding that throwing himself into battle with the power copying android would be counterproductive, he chose to target its puppet master. At least he hoped the little man was the one controlling the android, otherwise this would get pretty awkward. Sneaking up behind him, he acted fast and placed an electric shot into each machine monkey before they could react, short-circuiting them and leaving their master undefended.

Said man only had time to let out a startled yelp before Krieg grabbed the front of his shirt and slammed his face into the bench he was sitting on. Ivo let out a pained groan, which quickly turned to another yelp when Krieg pressed the barrel of his wrist gun against his head.

"Tell me how to shut down the android," he coldly ordered the panicking man sweating beneath him.

"You don't scare me!" he proclaimed with false bravado. Krieg said nothing, he merely removed the gun from the man's head. Before he could even let out a sigh of relief, Krieg had grabbed both his hands and placed them together on the bench before one of his hands grabbed his mouth while the other drew a knife and drove it through both hands, pinning them to the bench. Ivo's frantic screams of pain were thankfully muffled by the hand over his mouth.

"If you do not give me a satisfactory answer when I remove my hand, I will do far worse than that," he told him. All poor Ivo could do was fearfully nod his head, prompting Krieg to remove his hand.

"There's no real way to shut it down, but it's voice-controlled. And it's programmed to do everything I tell it to," he explained, too scared by this daemon straight out of hell to tell a lie. Krieg drew another knife and held it threateningly in front of Ivo's right eye.

"Then tell it to stand down, or will cut your eyes out," he ordered. Ivo considered disobeying for a second, but wisely decided against it, too afraid of what this monster would do to him should he refuse.

"Amazo! Stand down, priority alpha!" he shouted as loudly as he could. Like a trained dog, the android came to a stop and refused to move a single inch anywhere.

"Thank you, your cooperation is most appreciated," Krieg said before he knocked the professor unconscious. Rejoining his team, he found them staring uncertainly at the android.

"I suggest we dismantle it again," Krieg offered to them.

"Is that really necessary? He doesn't seem to be going anywhere in a hurry," Kid Flash pointed out.

"Don't take any chances," Aqualad ordered as he and Miss Martian came rushing in. The Martian was instantly heading for Superboy once she saw him.

"Superboy, are you alright?" she asked worriedly, receiving a small smile from the clone.

"I'm fine. Feeling the aster," he commented humorously.

"Where's Ivo?" Aqualad suddenly inquired, worried that the man may have slipped away in the commotion.

"He is over there," Krieg announced while jerking his thumb over his shoulder. When Aqualad saw the unconscious Ivo with a knife going through both his hands, he turned an accusing and quite angry glare at Krieg. He did not even have to ask whose work it had been.

"Was that really necessary?" he demanded angrily. He truly valued Krieg as a friend and teammate, even though he could be quite distant most of the time. But his continual disregard for his victims' health was something he was rapidly growing tired of.

"Yes," Krieg merely answered without an ounce of regret. In his opinion, the scum deserved everything he got and much more. Knowing a losing battle when he saw one, Aqualad let it slide this time, but he still had something to say.

"You and I need to have a serious discussion regarding these overly brutal methods of yours," he announced. Krieg just shrugged his shoulders uncaringly. He got the same talk from Black Canary over and over anyway.

"In any case, I should also inform you that there was someone else here, but he fled before I could identify him," Krieg reported. Hearing this, Aqualad looked thoughtful, and more than a bit worried. that was when Robin stepped forward with an irritated scowl on his face.

"Oh, I think I know who it was," he announced bitterly, but chose not to comment any further.

"The Amazo android is in pieces again, safely being analyzed at the two separate S.T.A.R. Labs, and Ivo is in police custody," Aqualad reported to the gathering of League embers at the Cave, with the team standing with him.

"But we understand your mission encountered other… complications," Martian Manhunter pointed out sternly. It prompted the whole team to send accusing looks at Superboy, who chose to look away.

"Complications come with the job. Your ability to handle them has impressed the League," Batman announced, both voice and facial expression remaining completely neutral even as he apparently praised their efforts.

"The whole League?" Superboy asked, with just a twinge of hopefulness seeping into his voice.

"Given time, yes. Kryptonians, as you know, have very hard heads," Batman answered. It brought a small smile to Superboy, and a raised eyebrow from Krieg. 'Was Batman attempting to tell a joke there?' he asked himself in confusion. The true depths of human interaction still eluded him.

"Of course, there's no shame in asking for help, that's why the League exist. Because there are some problems even we can't handle individually," Batman continued, right before Robin spoke up.

"Please, if we needed help we'd never get the chance to ask," he stated bitterly before he brought out a green arrow. "Look familiar? You were following us! Babysitting, you still don't trust us!" the accusation made no sense to Krieg. If that shadowy figure he had seen was a League member, why had he run?

"We didn't follow you," Batman said as Green Arrow grabbed the arrow and brought out one of his own. Holding them next to one another confirmed Krieg's suspicion.

"And that's not your arrow," Robin announced awkwardly. "But that means…"

"Speedy!" Kid Flash deduced enthusiastically.

"He has our backs," Aqualad added with conviction. Krieg felt like groaning out loud. 'Great. And here I hoped I would never have to see that idiot ever again,' he thought in dismay.

"Souvenir!" Kid Flash declared as he raced forward and grabbed the arrow. But while the team was distracted, Krieg noted that Batman and Green Arrow shared a dubious look between each other. It made him wonder if it really had been Speedy after all. In any case, it seemed like the debriefing was over, so Krieg planned to return to Los Angeles and see if he could get in some late night patrolling. But as he passed Kid Flash, he was presented with an odd gift.

"Hey, Krieg, want some?" he asked as he held out a bag of M&M's. Krieg, having never before encountered this strange thing tentatively grabbed the bag and looked it over dubiously.

"What is this?" he asked as he read the text on the back of it.

"That's candy," Kid Flash said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Candy?" Krieg asked in confusion, still having no idea what he was supposed to do with this. Kid Flash was now looking at him like he had grown a second head.

"Seriously? You have no idea what candy is? You have never even eaten it?" he asked incredulously, obviously having a hard time believing it.

"No," Krieg answered. Kid Flash now gaped like a fish at his lack of knowledge. To him, the thought of anyone growing up without the sweet nectar that was candy was too horrible to imagine.

"What type of childhood did you have without candy? Wait, don't answer, don't want to know," he hastily added at the end.

"What am I supposed to do with these?" Krieg finally asked.

"You're supposed to eat them," Kid Flash explained, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Krieg had never eaten candy before.

"Eat them?" Krieg repeated skeptically. "I read about their ingredients on the back. They appear to not contain any proteins or healthy nutrition," at his words, Kid Flash felt like tearing his hair out in frustration.

"They're not supposed to! You eat them because they taste good, not because they're healthy," he tried to explain. It made no sense to Krieg.

"Why?" he asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"That's it, I'm giving up!" Kid Flash announced as he threw up his hands in the air and walked away, leaving Krieg standing alone with a bag of M&M's in his hands. Carefully inspecting it, he eventually opened it and picked up one of the small pieces of candy. Looking it over with the same care as when inspecting ammunition, Krieg idly wondered what sort of purpose these "candies" were supposed to serve if they lacked nutrition.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he removed his gasmask and ate the piece he held. Slowly chewing and then swallowing it, Krieg' facial expression remained set in stone. Eventually, he began walking towards the zeta tubes, his hand going back into the bag for one more. When he ate that one, he took another, and then another, and then another. When he finally arrived back at Los Angeles, his deviated his course and set out to find the nearest store, determined to find more of these so called "M&M's".

Deep beneath the earth, in ancient catacombs, a dark ritual was taking place. Over twenty men wearing crimson robes and black masks stood in a circle, chanting in a strange and foul language. Standing atop a podium, the imposing form of Kobra held silent vigilance over the ritual to make sure nothing went wrong. Kneeling next to him was a bound young girl, her terrified eyes darting between the bloodied knife clutched in Kobra's hand and the dead bodies lying at his feet, their slit throats spilling blood across the podium.

Kobra, for his part, paid his soon to be next victim no heed, his attention was on the circle of men below him. Or rather, on the symbol drawn on the floor at the center of this circle; the eight-pointed star of Chaos. He could feel it, the powers of the Warp. It grew stronger with each sacrifice done here, with each word chanted. This one ritual alone would not be enough to shatter the boundaries between this realm, and the realm of the Gods. But it would be enough to bring one individual from the other side over.

At last, the chanting began growing louder as multicolored energies swirled through the air, weaving in and out of each other like a macabre dance. Red lighting began to strike out from the star, and Kobra knew it was time. With a few words spoken in the blasphemous tongue of the Warp, he slit the poor girl's throat just as the chanting reached its crescendo. But the cultists' shouts of triumphs quickly turned to screams of pain, as the foul energies of the Warp slammed into them with unrelenting force, ripping their souls right out of their still screaming bodies and dragging them into the pits of the Immaterium as further offerings.

A rift opened up from thin air, like a jagged wound ripped up in the very fabric of reality, and more of its foul energy oozed out like sickly blood. But it was the man, who stepped out of this rift, that had Kobra's full attention. Even as the rift that brought him here closed behind him, Kobra sill did not tear his eyes away from the man, or rather the Astartes.

He was clad in an ancient dark red power armor, his left pauldron bearing the symbol of the Word Bearer traitor Legion. White robes hung over his armor, along with many scrolls and parchments. A black staff was clutched in his hand, with glowing runes adorning it from top to bottom, the color of said light ever changing. The eight-pointed star adorned the top of the staff, with a serpent's eye placed at its center. It may have been his imagination, but Kobra could have sworn that the eye followed him no matter which way its master turned it.

Most striking however, was the helmet. The faceplate was shaped like the leering face of a malevolent daemon. Two curved swords grew out of the helmet like horns, holding aloft between them the symbol of Tzeentch. And from within that helmet, two purple glowing eyes stared out, ever watching, ever scheming. Kobra was swift to kneel in front of this powerful servant of Chaos.

"My Lord," he greeted, head lowered in submission. With steps taken far too lightly for an Astartes, the Chaos Sorcerer approached the kneeling Kobra, until he was standing right in front of him.

"Rise, my servant," he purred with a smooth and silky voice. Kobra instantly obeyed.

"I assume you have established a cult on this backwater Earth," the Sorcerer commented, receiving a nod from Kobra. "Excellent, then we already have a steady supply of sacrifices should the need arise. Now, how many pawns do we have at our disposal at the moment?"

"Two hundred, my Lord, with more joining every day," Kobra answered dutifully.

"Good, very good. But lowly cultists will not be enough for what must be done in order to prepare this world for my master's arrival. There is much work that needs to be done, and so little time to do it," the Chaos Marine announced, as he began walking away, with Kobra falling in line like a loyal dog.

"Master, may I inquire as to your name?" he suddenly asked, flinching a bit when his master came to a stop and turned to face him. Had he angered him in some way? Was it too daring of him? Such thoughts and so many more went through his head as he feared the wrath of this being before him. Then, the Sorcerer let out a light laughter.

"My name is Azkillon, Chaos Sorcerer of the Word Bearers and servant of Tzeentch," he revealed before he began walking again, Kobra hurrying to catch up with him.