Magical Chaos!: Crossing Over-6 by Lynceus Our heroines converge on The Sphinx's Lair Hotel and Casino, intent on saving the people of Las Vegas! But the true enemy isn't what any of them expected...

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Stefani

It had turned out to be a very long afternoon, as the other girls and I had done our best to locate the source of the madness that had gripped the city. I'd been briefly introduced to Johanna Constantine, and Alena's sister Alison, a really cute girl a year or two older than Illyana.

Although neither one of them really acted like kids, and I got the impression they were older than they appeared. I could relate to that.

Alena was in pretty bad shape due to her period; was I going to suffer like that? God, I hope not! Illyana immediately deferred to Ms. Constantine, who I gathered was a much more experienced magician. I hoped I'd get a chance to talk to them more later; apparently Tristan had gained increased magical powers as a result of becoming my priestess. Which implied that I was somehow magical myself!

But there wasn't much time for that now. Apparently Alena's powers were magic-based, so Johanna hatched a plan to use her, along with Illyana and myself (since we could all fly) to try and triangulate the source of the 'chaos magic', whatever that was.

I noticed that Illyana's sister, Hunter, kept giving me odd looks. At the mall, I'd thought she'd called me Sakkara. Had she known my predecessor? Hunter looked like a normal teenager, but then again, so did a lot of metahumans, apparently.

It figured that I'd be the one stuck looking like a devil-girl.

It was starting to get dark by the time we reached one of the newer hotel/casinos on the Strip; The Sphinx's Lair. It had an Egyptian theme, not unlike the Luxor, although I liked this one better; the Sphinx out in front was, from the waist up, at least, a very pretty (and topless!) young woman!

We weren't going to enter right away, since Jade was en route, but then people started rushing out the front doors, screaming! A tall man, dressed like a security guard ran out as well, and then he suddenly screamed in pain. As I went to him, he started to grow in size, his clothes ripping away!

Before my eyes, his form started to become that of a giant young woman, even as his body below the waist became covered in tawny fur. He..or she..hissed at me as I got close, and I stopped short, even as she completed her metamorphosis.

Great wings sprouted from her back, and, with the sound of cracking bones, her lower body became that of a four-legged beast...a lioness. Before my very eyes, the hapless security guard had become a lovely young Sphinx that greatly resmembled the one perched out in front of the casino!

And she was pretty big, let me tell you! "Holy shit...hey, are you ok?"

She said something in a language I didn't understand, and pounced forward, so fast I couldn't do anything to avoid her attack. Luckily, I wasn't alone; a green wall of light appeared between us, but it was flickering dangerously; the pain Alena was in made it hard for her to concentrate on her powers.

Still, that was more than enough time for me to take to the air. Sphinx-Girl had wings, but she seemed content to stay on the ground, which suited me just fine!

Illyana created a great gust of wind that checked Sphinxette's forward movement, and I threw a ball of flame at the beast-woman's rear flank. Which she didn't seem to care for one bit!

None of us were really brick material, however. I'd seen for myself that Hunter was really damned strong, but I had no reason to believe she was invincible. I expected Constantine to start chucking spells, but instead, the tall woman pulled out a gun and started shooting!

For all our efforts, we only seemed to annoy the Sphinx, and the instant Alena's force field wavered, she ran right for Illyana!

"Oh no you don't!" I dived in the way, and hurled a ball of flame at Sphinxette; to my horror, however, she batted it away with one hand, and I got smacked by her front paw. The claws ripped right through my clothing and savagely cut into my skin.

It hurt really bad, and the force of the blow sent me flying back; I couldn't even slow my momentum!

But then, someone caught me in their arms, and I heard a familiar voice. "I've got you, baby."

I managed to turn and look at my savior. "...'Lyssa?! But...how?"

She kissed me. "I"ll explain later. How badly are you hurt?" I realized she wasn't standing on the ground, but rather floating several feet in the air. She descended to the ground, examining my wounds.

Already my body was healing. "I think I'll be alright, but my outfit is trashed." I held up the ring Jade had given me, which surrounded me with green light, as I clothed myself. I decided to copy the black Victorian dress Tristan had given me. It may seem like a strange choice, but it's the closest thing to a costume I have!

Oddly, even when I was done, the green light only seemed to get brighter...what the?

A great green (and feminine) hand appeared, and slapped the Sphinx, who was left reeling by the blow. "Take that, you mythical bitch!"

I grinned. Jade was here!

She hadn't come alone, either, a tiny blonde girl thrust her hands forward, and a parked car went hurtling at the Sphinx! I was seriously impressed.

"Night Girl, now!" The blonde called out, and I saw another new face; a raven-haired girl, who charged the Sphinx and, leaping into the air, delivered a nasty flying kick to the beast-woman's torso!

I winced in sympathy. That looked like it had hurt!

To my surprise, Alyssa moved forward as well; she actually glided a few inches off the ground, and really darned fast, too. Hunter seemed to have the same idea, and soon, all three girls were wrestling the Sphinx to the ground.

"I call upon the Winds of Watoomb to bind my foe!" Illyana created 'chains' of rippling air to bind the Sphinx, and then Jade finished the job with a cage of green light.

"That'll hold her for now, let's get inside!"

We all made our way into the casino.

Klariann

When Jackie and I entered the hotel, I was immediately confronted with several greedy wishes. Soon, everyone was winning big, and the slot machines were all paying out; it was a casino owner's nightmare! I giggled, thinking of all the money my Father was going to lose. And he only had himself to blame.

"That's what you get for not loving me, Father." I felt stinging tears form. I tried to blink them away, but it hurt so much! Why didn't he care about me? What had I done wrong?

I clenched my fist. It didn't matter anymore. I didn't need him. I had someone who loved me. I looked to Jackie, expecting a smile. Instead, she was frowning a little.

"Jackie? What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "I...I don't know. This just doesn't seem right."

"My Master says if I do what he wants, he'll make me his Queen. I'm hoping he'll be my new Daddy. Then we'll be happy, together."

But first, I was going to bring Father's world crashing down. I moved forward, and I felt my powers growing. No longer did someone have to make a wish; I could 'hear' their thoughts, their secret desires. With a smile, I began granting those desires.

You'd think that people would be happy to have their wildest dreams come true. But I was growing used to the screams. People began to flee the casino, and ordinarily, a small person like myself would be trampled by the crowd.

Instead, flashes of wild magic struck anyone who got too close, which evoked even more screams of horror.

I smiled, but deep down, a part of me was sad. Was this all my powers were good for?

A security guard ran into me, knocking me down. "Ow!" That had hurt! He didn't look so good himself, however, as his bones began to make cracking sounds, and his flesh began to warp. He ran past me, alien thoughts overtaking his mind.

My new power tried to read his heart, but he was no longer thinking in English, but instead in a language that hadn't been spoken in centuries.

Jackie crouched down, picking up the guard's fallen gun. Even though she was smaller now, she was just as strong as she had been as Jack, so she lifted the gun with ease.

"Time to finish this." I walked towards the elevator that would take us to the top floor...and my Father.

"Where are you going? The Sorceress is here!"

I turned, feeling her even as I heard the Master's voice. A group of girls entered the casino, united by a single purpose. They were here for me! And among them was a girl younger than myself, wearing a gold medallion on a chain.

We made eye contact, and her eyes widened. "It's her! She's the one causing this!" She pointed at me.

A girl with reddish skin, wearing black dress, came flying at me. I wasn't afraid, my powers would protect me. But to my surprise, Jackie jumped in front of me, and opened fire. "Don't you touch her!"

The bullets pierced the girl's flesh, but she didn't seem fazed; she punched Jackie, who fell back, the gun spinning away.

"Jackie!" I gasped. "You...you hurt her!" I felt anger rising inside of me. Jackie was the only person who loved me...and now...

Hunter

I heard Illyana gasp the minute she saw the blonde girl. I didn't have her magical perception, but I knew that was no ordinary child.

"It's her, she's the one causing this!" Illy pointed at the girl. Before I could move, Stefani, the girl who claimed to be Sakkara's chosen successor, flew forward to grab the kid.

Only to have her companion, a pretty teen, step in her path and open fire. Stefani was hurt, but with a snarl of rage, she punched the gunslinger, who flew backwards, landing on the floor. My blood ran cold; up until this point, Stefani had seemed nothing like Sakkara.

But that anger...it was unmistakable.

The blonde girl began to shake, and her eyes began to glow with harsh red light. "I'll kill you all! Sword of Chaos!" She made a slashing motion with her hand, and I pushed Illyana back, even as a blade of ruby light cut into my back.

"Hunter!"

"...I'll be ok...just nicked me."

The attack had been so sudden, and savage, that the others hadn't quite gotten out of the way. Thankfully, being composed of pure Chaos-aligned energy, the blade didn't cut anyone badly, but it didn't really need to. I felt feverish as the magic tried to warp my body, turning it against me.

"...you hurt my friends. All these people. It stops now." I turned my head, hearing Alena's voice. Emerald flames were rising off of her body.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about being hurt! Nobody cares about me! Nobody loves me! Only Jackie, and you hurt her! I wish you were all dead!" The girl held out her hand, and tiny knives of ruby light darted forward, intent on slashing us all to ribbons!

Alena flew in the path of the lancing energies, which pierced her flesh. She didn't scream. She didn't even whimper, her body shielding us from the attack. She wasn't glowing green anymore; instead, she was surrounded by an aura of indigo light. "...stop this...you don't have to..."

And then Alena fell.

For a heartbeat, no one moved, and then I heard Jade's voice. "Attack!"

Everyone rushed forward, but before anyone could harm the girl, wild magic burst out of her body in all directions.

I managed to sit up, and to my horror, I saw that everyone had been turned to stone.

"No...NO!"

I thought it was my voice, but then I realized it wasn't; it was Illyana's. "Take my strength, sister. Let's end this."

She took my hand and squeezed it tightly. We were both afraid of joining; what if we couldn't come back afterwards? But too many people had been hurt. We had no choice.

The Eye of Agamotto opened, and there was a great light...

The Sorceress

I was born again. It felt wonderful to be alive, to exist! I can't begin to explain it, the sensation of being, when moments before, you were nothing. My two halves were afraid of me; why couldn't they see the truth? That we were one, and I was their true self?

But I knew why. And I understood. They had lost so much of their own lives; in a way, they had barely lived at all! It seemed so unfair. For me to have a chance at life, they had to forfeit theirs.

The Chaos-Witch seemed uncertain now that I had revealed myself. She was just a child; truly a child. An innocent, her mind warped and twisted.

"Child, you know not who you serve. Stop this battle now, and I can free you."

So much pain in her young heart. It blinded her. "No! I'll kill you and be happy!"

Even as my heart ached for her, I knew I could not falter. She attacked me with her Sword of Chaos, but I called forth the Shield of Law. The irresistible force met the immovable object, and their energies were cancelled out.

My allies were restored to flesh, but they were still wounded and dazed. Only Jade was able to rise to her knees; the sheer will of the Green Lantern was staggering.

The Witch-Girl fell to her hands and knees. She glared up at me, pure hatred in her eyes. "That won't stop me!" She slowly stood. "You have no idea who you're up against! I'm Klariann! Bum, bum, bum...The Witch-Girl!"

She struck a defiant pose, grinning at me.

Not good. The chaos she'd caused in the city had increased her power to near-Godlike levels! And, for whatever reason, the Lords of Order were unable to respond. But I'm the Sorceress Supreme, after all. I knew I couldn't attack her directly; those wild magic bursts weren't random, but a powerful defensive maneuver.

There was more than one way to skin a familiar, however. "Gaol!" The air surrounding Klariann transformed into a solid; a crystal that was practically indestructible. That should keep her out of trouble!

"My God! Clara! Let her go!"

I blinked, and looked past the girl. A man in his late 30's was aiming a rather impressive-looking rifle at me. "She's hurting people, I have to stop her!"

"She's just a child! Let her go or I'll kill you!"

A green light shot out and crumpled the rifle like it was a cheap toy. "I'm sorry, Mr. Black. But your daughter isn't herself." Jade stood slowly. Daughter? Oh hell.

"Damn you! Let my little girl go!"

Just then, I heard deep laughter. Things had just gone from bad to worse.

"You think you can stand against my Klariann? Kill them all, my servant!"

My gaol spell was shattered like so much cheap glass, and Klariann was free. She blasted Jade with a bolt of chaos energy. I started chanting another spell, but...oh no. My time was up!

I felt myself being ripped apart...I....no...

Johanna

Some people might call me a coward. Me? I prefer to think of myself as a survivor. I'd held back up until this point, trying to figure out an angle. The frontal assault had gone about as well as I'd expected.

I figured that once pressed, Klariann's master would make his/her/it's presence known. And I'd been right. Too bad it turned out to be Mordru! The old bastard had his claws sunk deep into the girl's soul; magic wasn't going to free her. Not my magic, anyways.

I watched as the girl's father walked up to her. "Clara, what's going on?"

She hissed at him. "You! Stay away! I hate you!"

The man stiffened. You could have slapped him and it would have had about the same effect. "...Clara...I'm so sorry..."

"Shut up! Shut up! You don't care about me! You never cared! You didn't care about Mommy or me! You treat me like I'm nothing but a nuisance! You don't love me! You won't even let me call you Daddy!"

Good, her attention was on her Da. I got Illy and Hunter out of harm's way. If they got killed, Mikhail would rip my soul apart. And then he'd get serious about torturing me!

I heard a faint moan. "...alena..."

Every instinct I had was telling me to get the girls the hell out of Dodge. But I recognized that voice. It was Alison.

I tried to tell myself I didn't care. That anyone who liked me was damned anyways. But I couldn't do it. I'm no hero. Anyone who knows me would laugh if you suggested that I was anything other than a self-serving bastard.

But, as usual, my damn heart is my undoing. I cared about the girl. A lot more than I should. So I turned back, and lit a cigarette. It's a simple action, but it never fails to get people's attention. As Freddy Mercury would say, it's a kind of magic.

Klariann looks to me. "Stay out of this."

"Who, me? Heck, if you wanna kill your Da, be my guest. He sounds like a bastard anyways. Let me guess; your Mum died, and he took you in. Forced you to live in a palace. Gave you everything, put you in a good school. And you're pissed about it."

She glared at me. "Go to hell!"

I laughed at her. "Been there. Lucifer kicked me out; said I was a bad influence."

She was so angry she couldn't even attack me, she just shook her little fist. "He didn't give me everything! He didn't give me what I wanted!"

"What? Love? Stupid girl, love's a lie. Nobody loves anyone, if someone says they love you, they just want to use you and stab you in the back."

"You're wrong! Jackie loves me!"

"What, the girl laying there, probably dead? If she loves you, she's an idiot, you don't care about her. Hell, you don't care about anyone but yourself!"

"Don't talk about my daughter like that!" The man looked pissed. Fuck me, but he did care! I knew how to win now. I also knew that, after this, no one here would be able to stand the sight of me. Ah well.

"Why not? She's right, you don't love her. Wouldn't even let her call you Daddy. Have you ever even hugged her?"

"I..." Yep, that took the wind out of his sails.

"Enough! I tire of this. Kill the Sorceress!" It must be killing Mordru that he can't come here and do it himself.

"Shut up! I'll kill her when I want to, you can't tell me what to do!" Klariann surprised me; apparently she was made of stubborn stuff.

"Arrogant whelp! I gave you power, and you defy me? So be it!" Red lightning arced from above and struck the girl's father, who screamed in pain.

"No...Daddy!" She ran to him.

"Clara...so...sorry...love...you..." His eyes closed.

"Daddy!" God. Hearing her cry out like that. Even I felt bad for the kid. She looked upwards. "I hate you! I hate you! I'll never do what you want! Never!"

I knew what Mordru's answer would be, and I already had my counterspell ready. The red lightning came down, and I grounded it. "I call upon the Four Winds, to scatter your power to the Pillars of the Earth!"

"Constantine." A pair of great, red-glowing eyes appeared, glaring down at me. "You will pay dearly for this."

"This is for Daddy!" Klariann surprised me again. "Sword of Chaos!" She attacked the manifestation with her full power. Unfortunately, it was pretty futile.

"Pathetic. You invoke my own power to attack me?" Mordru laughed.

"Yeah, that's like asking him nicely to help you kill him, git."

Another arc of red lightning lashed out at the girl. Aw fuck, my counterspell wouldn't...

One of the heroes, a really petite blonde, barely bigger than a kid herself, rose shakily into the air. The bolt of energy simply arced off of her, and struck back at it's source.

"Magic or not, it looks like electricity, it acts like electricity, I can stop it. I can stop you!"

I heard Mordru scream in pain. "Who dares assault Mordru, the Lord of Chaos?"

"I'm Cosmic Girl! Remember that name!"

I figured he'd blast her apart for that bit of bravado, but instead...I actually heard the old wizard gasp. And just like that, his presence was gone.

"Well...that was unexpected."

Mordru

I stared at the crystal before me, now dark, the connection closed. Cosmic Girl? Cosmic Girl? Long ago, I had sought immortality. Before I was ever Lord of Chaos, I consulted an Oracle, to learn how I could achieve my goal.

The Oracle told me what I needed to know, and I stabbed her in the heart, so that no one else could ever learn the secret. But with her dying breath, she told me this.

"You will live for a long time, Mordru. And you will come into the fullness of your power long after the death of Christ; 30 centuries after he was nailed to the tree! But then you will be struck low, by the one who bears the power of κόσμος, the antithesis of your khaos."

For years, I'd attempted to learn more. Finally, a divination showed me the face of my enemy. A dark-haired young man wearing strange garb. And he would be known as Cosmic Boy.

But now, I had been vexed by a Cosmic Girl, a thousand years too soon! What could it mean? Was she a champion of Order? Until I knew for certain, I dared not strike again.

I had failed, but in that failure, I had grasped at a glimmer of success. I had learned, and next time, I would be prepared.

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Next: Aftermath.