(Aden's P.O.V)

I could feel every single action my body made, yet…I had no control of it. My face stretched out into a wide, arrogant and sinister smirk. The grim looks on their faces reflected my turbulent emotions. A foreboding feeling gripped me. The left palm I had tightened into a fist opened and from within, a swirling mass of elemental chaos appeared. Held together solely by my will. Horror bloomed inside me. No…no don't drop it here…even the town won't be spared!!!

I instantly realized my biggest blunder so far. Using my negative emotions as the trigger for The Avatar State. It now saw them as more than opponents or obstacles to overcome if I was to gain freedom. They were now enemies. And to the entity, the action to take against an enemy was to eliminate them, no matter the cost or to deter them from ever taking another harmful action towards me.

This was more than just escaping. It was now about proving a point.

The elemental bomb dropped from my palm. The control held true until it was near the ground at which point, the iron clad will holding it together unravelled…and the whole thing exploded. A massive shockwave rippled out, taking apart the wrecked debris of the destroyed base into tiny pieces that pelted the area. Superman and Wonder Woman stood infront of Batman and the others while The Flash ran off to save any civilians near the blast zone.

The water was pushed away from the epicenter, turning into a wave that grew larger and larger the further it went. Following the Shockwave, a chaotic elemental energy wave burned, froze, shredded and crashed at everything near, leaving behind a huge crater on the ground and bearing down on the Leaguers, manifesting as a blooming dome of white energy.

(General P.O.V)

Superman's hand, placed infront of his face started burning, he winced in pain realizing that the energy wave that was growing larger by the minute had the same touch of magic as Maelstrom's attack from before. He had to do something before it was too late. Flying was out of the question because of how close the attack was and the town behind them.

He took in a deep breath and released it in a huge blast of chilling wind. Steam rose up from the contact of his ice breath and the energy wave. His body started getting pushed back, the feet digging grooves in the air as his attack did little to stop the incoming attack.

His heart started pumping erratically. The palpitations as a result of his worry and fear. Worry that due to their leniency and holding back, the people they were trying to protect would die. But Superman would never back down. No matter what it cost him, he held on… roaring as his eyes lit up and heat beams, chock full of his body's processed solar energy activated. The heat vision slammed onto the energy wave and fed to it. Having the opposite effect of Superman's intentions.

Before it could swallow them whole, emerald green light covered the whole thing. Halting it's progress. Back up had arrived. Hal Jordan and John Stewart flew down with their rings stretched out towards the elemental wave of energy. A dome like green construct was covering the whole thing. Behind them was a construct attached to Stewart's back, a platform carrying the non flying members of the League.

Canary blinked in surprise while massaging her eyes. The screaming wind had died down as the thing Aden had dropped on them was dealt with by the others. She saw Captain Atom fly down towards the construct and following coordination with the Lanterns, the upper portion of the green shield opened up. He directed the energy upwards in a white glowing pillar that illuminated the night sky like the sun. It was… beautiful and terrifying.

To think that Aden could be capable of something like that. She wasn't doubting his power. Not even in the slightest. What Canary found hard to believe were his actions. It wasn't like him. No matter hard he'd been pushed - Canary looked behind them at the Happy Harbor community. The fire brigade and authorities had already arrived, forming a perimeter around the whole scene - Aden would never endanger innocent lives.

The whole thing could be explained away by the fact that The Avatar State was a primal will of brashness that activated with the sole purpose of fighting those battles Aden himself couldn't. Yet…no matter how much logic prevailed, Black Canary felt like something else was missing from the whole picture. She looked at The Dark Knight beside her and narrowed her eyes. If there was anyone who had the answers she was looking for…it was none other than Batman.

"I searched the whole place… Maelstrom is gone."

The Flash stopped before them. Batman grunted and turned on his wrist computer, narrowing his eyes at the projected data.

"The trackers I put on him have been disabled. We've lost him."

He rose up and started walking away towards the cordon being set up around the perimeter of the whole compound.

Canary stared at his back and felt…felt as if Batman wasn't trying too hard. Usually he'd be going crazy and bonkers at the fact that a 17 year old with the power to rival almost half the Justice League was out there in the world, unsupervised and volatile. Canary was right. Something was definitely off.

"Dinah, are you alright?"

Green Arrow asked, stepping off the green construct platform. He came up to her and lightly touched her shoulder in concern. She must have looked as bad as she felt, if Ollie was so worried.

"Yes, I'm fine Ollie. Just had a long night."

She answered, smiling slightly and leaning her body against his. To smell his scent was exactly what Dinah needed to make her forget about their massive blunder. Call it what you want but the reality was that they were to blame. Pushing Aden out off the team was not a wise decision. What frustrated her was how nobody else saw that. She spared a glance at Batman who was now talking to Manhunter in a low volume. Dinah frowned. No, not everyone. Batman knew something. He was smart enough to have foreseen all the possible outcomes. And whatever plan he had… Manhunter was privy too as well. Just on the principle that Batman would find it a chore to hide the information from the mind reader.

The Martian returned her stare and nodded at her. Canary simply looked away.

The Robin Hood themed hero studied at their surroundings and chuckled without humor, unaware of his lover's conflicting emotions.

"Yeah believe me, we all saw it."

He replied, referring to the massive upsurge of energy that had dwindled into sparks of falling embers that made the whole sky look…

"Its beautiful."

Green Arrow said softly while hugging her body close to him.

"Yeah it is."

Black Canary found herself answering.

Batman came back and called the rest of the League present to gather before him.

"As of right now… Maelstrom is a priority one target, just next to finding Red Tornado's whereabouts. We will coordinate with League associates and try to pinpoint his location. I don't need to tell you just how dangerous he is. Not just because of his incredible powers but because of his potential. He's a resourceful and gifted strategist."

"I can't believe…Mount Justice got destroyed."

Hal said in a heavy tone. A brief silence dominated among the gathered members. The base had meant a lot to them in the past and now…all that was left behind was an open space which the water flowed in and occupied. The beach now ended in a cliff that was overlooking the crater caused by Maelstrom's attack.

Superman stepped forward and cleared his throat. Canary noted how the palm of his hands was slightly burned and the scratches on his costume. It wasn't common to see the Man Of Steel pushed to such a disarrayed state. Canary understood however, that if there was someone who had had it worse in that fight apart from her…it was Superman. Superman was the beacon of truth, hope and justice. All that translated to a nice guy who didn't want to hurt anyone. Least of all a kid.

He ran a hand through his face and sighed.

"I'll be frank. We fucked up."

Everyone did a collective intake of breath. Clark had cussed.

"Holy…cow. Is this the end of civilization as we know it?!"

The Flash asked.

Superman continued without caring for their surprise.

"We could have handled the Maelstrom situation differently. Voting him out of the team would not have led to this. Him attacking his teammates…

"Ex teammates."

Green Arrow interrupted. He hadn't hidden how much he disliked Maelstrom. Dinah pulled back from him and looked at him in disbelief.

"Are you serious right now?"

Ollie stared at her stubbornly.

"It's the truth Dinah. Look around, this is the work of a crim…"

"Misguided teenager."

John Stewart interjected while crossing his hands.

"The league is as much to blame for this as he is. And if I remember correctly, you were the most vocal about suspending him. Had we not listened to you, maybe none of this would have happened."

"Or it would have, a different day or a different scenario. A day when we didn't have our guard up. A scenario where the League's fast response would have been slow. Let us not be quick to cast blame on each other. What is done is done. We should now focus on ways we can deal with the situation."

Wonder Woman said her piece.

"Diana is right. Maelstrom is the League's responsibility now. Whatever actions he takes will be as a result of our failures. Let us learn from this." The Man of Steel implored. "Let us show the world that we are still a symbol of trust and dependability for everyone, despite the circumstances. We stand together in our successes and in our failures."

Black Canary internalized the words and made a promise to herself.

'Never again. I will not let this happen ever again.'

(Aden's P.O.V)

I stood before him. It was like looking at a mirror. A mirror with cracks yet the cracks that did not detract from the image reflected. I could see the same curve to my jaw. A small scar on the corner of my eye from an injury during a bike accident when I was little.

It was me. In all ways possible. It was me, despite the glowing white eyes. Yet…it didn't feel like me. At all. The actions the entity had done. The measures it had taken and the boundaries it had not only pushed but blasted through made me feel horrified that I was looking at myself.

"What are you?"

I softly asked the Avatar State.