The source of chaos

"Ominous swirling clouds right over the docks, where Sabretooth told us to meet... yeah, this totally isn't a trap," Gwen remarked, eyeing the dark clouds forming at their destination. "I hope whoever Raven's roped into helping us is able to keep us from being torn to shreds..."

"Don't worry," Cassie assured her. "Raven's got this."

"That's a lot of trust to place in the daughter of Trigon..." Laura said, sounding pessimistic.

Cassie dismissed Laura's comment immediately. "Yeah, yeah, we get it, you have trust issues. She's a Titan, Laura. She's had my back -- and my friends' backs -- for years. I trust her more than I trust almost anyone."

"Not saying she's not trustworthy... but if Trigon's involved, your friend might be ****. That's all I'm saying," Laura clarified.

"It doesn't sound like he has anything to do with this," Gwen added. "Either way, it doesn't matter. If Cass trusts Raven, so do I."

Cassie smiled sweetly at her girlfriend. "Thanks, babe. And whoever's involved, I'm sure Raven won't let us down."

When they arrived at the docks, the place was empty. No sign of any metahumans, no signs of battle, nothing.

"OK, so what now?" Selina asked. "I doubt it's a good idea to just walk out into the open..."

"Probably not, but that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Draw Creed out," Laura said, running ahead of the group. "Watch my back, but don't get involved unless I tell you to."

"Laura, wait! You don't know what you're getting into..." Felicia called out, worried.

"Yeah, get back here!" Agreed Selina, also showing serious worry for Laura. "We don't need you getting hurt."

"Kind of you two to worry," Laura tried to reassure the thieves. "But you're not the ones with a healing factor--"

Laura was suddenly tackled by Sabretooth, slamming her into a storage crate.

"Your healin' factor ain't gonna do you any good, brat!" Creed howled, viciously swiping at Laura's neck with his claws. The young heroine barely managed to dodge the attack, and she responded with swipes of her own. She successfully connected with her attacks, but Sabretooth's wounds seemed to heal instantly.

"--Ha! I told ya, my new pal supercharged me. Now I'm gonna tear yer limbs from yer body. But unlike you, I'm gonna take my time..."

Laura continued to dodge Sabretooth's claws for a few more minutes as her teammates looked on. "What the hell is she doing?" Selina asked. "She's gonna get ripped apart..."

"I'm sure she know what she's doing," Gwen answered. "She wouldn't just charge out there without a plan... Oh my god!"

The other four women watched in horror as Creed successfully connected with a swipe of his claws. And another. And another. And it looked like the wounds weren't healing...

"Screw whatever plan she's got! He's gonna kill her!" Felicia screamed, springing into action. Gwen, Cassie & Selina weren't far behind, and they swarmed Sabretooth, attacking from all sides. But anything they threw at him didn't seem to affect him at all, and Creed fought back ferociously, tearing through his opponents with ease. With the others incapacitated, Sabretooth picked up Laura by the wrist, a sadistic grin across his face.

"This'll be fun. I just wish yer daddy was here to watch me slowly gut ya..."

"Ractof gnilaeh reh egrahcrepus!"

"What the hell..."

A shadow snatched Laura, whose wounds closed almost instantaneously, from Sabretooth's grasp, pulling her to safety.

Laura grunted in pain, no longer in a daze as she nodded at Raven and Zatanna. "Ungh... cutting it a little close there, Raven."

"You're welcome," Raven said back. "Now get back out there. Just like we discussed."

"Gladly. I just hope your friend's as powerful as you say she is..." Laura charged at Sabretooth again, leaving the new arrivals to tend to the other women.

"Looks like you got a magical pal too, I see. I bet mine's stronger," Sabretooth hissed as he and Laura tore into one another, seemingly unable to cause any sort of damage to one another. Eventually, though, Sabretooth seemed to gain the advantage, and Laura was back to dodging his ****.

"The spell's weakening," Zatanna said. "I can't keep it up much longer..."

Raven stood there calmly, seemingly unfazed. "Wait for it..."

"Wait for it? What're you up to?" Gwen asked, now back on her feet.

"He's distracted," Cassie noted. "We could hit him now..."

"Wait for it..."

"She can't keep this up... Zatanna looks exhausted..."

"Wait... waaaaaait... aaaand NOW!"

Wanda's hex bolt hit Sabretooth like a freight train, and he howled in pain as all his strength was sapped from his body.

"AAAAARRRRGGGGHH! What the hell's going on?!" he screamed, stumbling back as Laura began her ****.

Raven emerged from the shadows, glaring at Sabretooth, as the Scarlet Witch moved in. "You're not the only one with friends who can use chaos magic, Creed."

Laura slashed violently at Sabretooth, leaving him a bloody mess. When he looked to be incapacitated, Gwen quickly grabbed him and webbed him to the side of a building. "Sorry, Laura. As much of a dick as Sabretooth is, I can't have you killing him."

"No worries... I can get carried away......" Laura grunted, breathing heavily. "I'm glad you stepped in."

"Anytime, Laura. Friends don't let friends violently **** people," Gwen told her. "It's good to see you, Wanda. Thanks for the last-minute save."

"I hope it's worth it... chaos magic comes with a cost," Wanda said, sounding slightly regretful. "But it's good to see you too, Ghost-Spider."

"NOOOOOOOO! No no no no no no no no! You wrecked my hunter! He was so violent... it was so beautiful!" an angry, petulant sounding voice whined loudly.

Zatanna stared up at the source of the angry voice. "Klarion Bleak. Of course a lord of chaos was behind this."

"You again?! How many times do you and your dad have to ruin my fun?!" Klarion whined upon seeing Zatanna.

"I've told you... Dr. Strange isn't my dad. I'm his apprentice, not his daughter."

"Whatever! It doesn't matter. Even if you do ruin my fun today, your world will descend in to total misery when the multiverse spleen is destroyed!"

"Multiverse... spleen?" Gwen & Cassie looked at Klarion, worried by Klarion's ominous words.

*Meow* the cat Klarion was holding mewed.

"You know I meant heart! Heart, spleen... what's the difference?!"

"Uhh... care to introduce us?" Felicia asked.

"That's Klarion Bleak. The witch boy. An immensely powerful chaos magic user. And he loves causing chaos and misery," Zatanna explained.

Selina rolled her eyes. "Sounds like a total sweetheart. So what's with the cat?"

"The cat's a familiar, a tether to this world," Zatanna further explained. "If it's destroyed, Klarion is banished from our universe."

"Uhhh, yeah. Not happening," Selina said, sounding offended. "I don't know if you noticed, but Felicia and I are rather fond of cats. Can't we just give junior here a time out? Maybe not let him have snack time until he's ready to behave?"

"ARGH! Stop making fun of me!" Klarion yelled. "You love cats so much? Here! You can play with mine! Teekl, claw their faces off!"

The cat hopped out of Klarion's arms, transforming into an intimidating, hulking monster.

"Hey! What'd you go and do that for? Your cat was cute!" Felicia yelled at Klarion.

Klarion chuckled. "I think it's cute when he disembowels people."

Felicia cringed. "Ugh. You're a terrible pet owner..."

"Everyone stay on your guard. I sense some serious power in this thing," Wanda cautioned. "I'll try to weaken it, but testing my power against a lord of chaos... this could end very badly..."

"I'll try to provide support," Raven said, looking to help Wanda focus her powers. "The rest of you, try to take that thing out. Zatanna, can you help us?"

Zatanna nodded. "I'll survive. Gicam soahc s'adnaW sucof!"

Gwen, Cassie & Laura charged at the giant cat immediately. Felicia and Selina, on the other hand, were somewhat hesitant.

"Are we really doing this, babe?" Felicia asked. "I'm not exactly fond of the idea of fighting a cat..."

"Neither am I, but that thing looks like it'll tear our friends to pieces." Selina said. "So let's try looking at it differently. That thing's not a cat, it's an abomination. It went from being small and cuddly to a drooling pile of teeth and claws."

"True. Eddie Munster over there took that poor little guy and turned him into... well that. Gah, I just wanna slap him around for that," Felicia agreed, and the duo joined their friends in the fray. They surrounder Teekl and hit him with quick hit and run attacks, distracting the cat from the spellcasters.

Cassie eventually landed a successful hit, taking down the cat's legs while Laura sliced into its torso. It healed quickly, but it was a sign that Wanda was slowing it down. At some point in the fight, everyone was distracted by an explosion rocking a nearby warehouse, and when they looked back, Kraven stood over the dead cat, having snapped its neck during his brief window of distraction.

"NOOOOOOO!" Klarion yelled as he began to fade from the universe. "You've all ruined my fun again! My beautiful chaos! But I'll be back to laugh at you when they destroy the spleeeeeeeeeeen!"

As Klarion faded, so did the dome and the ominous storm, leaving clear skies as the sun rose. The group stood and stared at the hunter, nobody saying a word until Gwen put her fists up, ready for a fight. "Kraven."

"We owe you our gratitude," Kraven said, a smug smile on his face. "You led me and my partner to our quarry. It will make a magnificent trophy."

"Where is your partner, anyway?" Cassie asked.

"I'm here," Cheetah answered as she emerged from her hiding spot. "And I'm ready to collect my prize."