Risen
By FlipDarkFuture
Chapter 1: Dropping in
Jump City, California, "Greengate" district, 7:00PM PT (Pacific Time)
It had been there since before the Pizzeria was even built, it was an oddity, a curiosity, a conversation starter for customers while eating their bland and tasteless pizza. It was a phone box, but not the kind seen in Jump city, Gotham or even Metropolis. In fact you'd be hard-pressed to find another just like it on the entire continent. Because it was a blue box, with narrow white windows set into all four sides, and sign on top that said in big bold letters: POLICE BOX. The phone inside had never been dialled or even touched; the door just wouldn't open for anything. Of course that all ended when for the first time in recorded history, its hand set rattled, its frame shook with terrible force, and its interior filled with a blinding white glow, turning the alley into the brightest spot in all the city for a few brief seconds, suddenly the glow stopped, the shaking quelled, and the door swung open, and out stepped a blonde haired girl and a red haired boy. Not something a normal telephone box does.
The girl crossed her arms and scanned the alley, making sure no-one saw what just occurred. The boy stretched out his arms and legs, warming up for their night patrol. The girl checked her various pockets and satchels, making sure her tools and spare ammo were still there. Satisfied, she unclipped a small green disc from her belt and flipped it open, revealing a sophisticated communications suite, and even a tiny mirror.
She held down a small button on the side, and spoke into the small device.
"Artemis to base, beginning nocturnal patrol of Jump City downtown. Copy base?" she released the button, which made a green light wink in response.
The device responded "Patrol logged and dated, try not to kill each other."
Artemis snorted "No promises, Bird-Brain."
She clipped the device back onto her belt. A gust of wind buffeted her as Kid Flash stopped in front of her, she growled "Wally! Why did you do that! You were only a few feet away!"
Kid Flash flashed his annoying smile at her, "anything to annoy you Babe!" he teased.
Artemis's steely gaze responded.
Kid Flash held his hands up, trying to placate her. "Just a joke!".
Her gaze seemed to lose its edge as she crossed arms, then gestured to the alley's street end, "Whatever. Dork's first Wally." she snarked.
Kid Flash just smiled and walked past her, arms folded around his head. A slap sent Wally reeling; he scowled and turned to her, rubbing his head.
Artemis just smirked "You deserved that."
He shrugged "eh, worth it." he then settled into a runner's stance, chest down, back arched, knees flexed, arms ready to start pumping, his right foot started its ascent as time started to slow around him, his vision blurred as his perception of everything changed. He always hated this part; it set his teeth on edge and made his nose really itchy. What was a minute for him was a second for the girl next to him, tapping the ground impatiently with a green boot. She sighed and tapped his left shoulder.
Kid Flash shook his head at a blisteringly fast speed, buffeting her once again. "Yes, Ms Snarker?"
She turned him around to face her, and with a deceptively slow speed, thrust her palm at the lightning symbol on his chest. The blow knocked him back a little, he winced "Again, why do you do this to me?" she didn't respond, instead just pressing a hidden button on her costume as well, a gray wave seemed to envelop the suit, chasing away the green. He looked down as the yellow on his chest was replaced by a dark grey, and his red boots turned a jet black as well. Finally the lens in his goggles changed to a red tint.
His fair cheeks tinged with embarrassment "Heh -uh- forgot about that again didn't I?".
She shook her head sadly, "Just get going, Wally"
With mock severity he raised his right hand in a mock salute "Yes boss-lady, right away."
She went to grab for his throat, but before she could he shifted into a blur and disappeared into the nightime streets. Another gust of wind knocked her to the ground. Dusting herself off she got back up. Not to worry, she would booby trap his room later when they got back.
She turned to the wall next to her and began to walk towards when something suddenly niggled at her mind. She reached for a strange set of three metal bars on her back holster. She brought it around in front of her, holding it as far out as she could she depressed a button on the central bar. The set of bars instantly folded out wards to the sides, making a single long bar, segmented by two little angled joints. A mechanical whir came from them as they worked, bending the two outer segments slightly backwards. On the side of the bars facing her was a long groove that ran up the length, in which nestled a carbon fibre string. A tiny pulley capped each end of the groove, a whir emanated from the central bar as the pulleys began to spin, pulling the carbon fibre string into its position at in-between the far ends of the two outer bars. All of this took only a second to finish. She held in her hands a very advanced green bow. It exuded a powerful aura, and was utilitarian and beautiful at the same time, and it was hers.
Artemis was ready for the hunt.
Jump City downtown district, 8:45PM
Patrolling always poses a unique challenge for those of the Flash's family. They are forced to slow down, to take note of their surroundings. The general environment and people around a speedster can still be seen and acted on during super speed, but the nuances of the environment, the intent of people, super speed can't see that. This is why for patrol Wally must stay at a slow speed.
Wally ran struck a good balance with his speed, he ran at a pace that far outstripped any normal human that could still enable him to keep a carefully watch for activity, even at this admittedly slow speed, athletes were like snails compared to him. He liked this comparison. The air around him seemed to shimmer as he ran, masking him from the vision of others. Anyone who actually paid enough attention to what they could see, would just find a strange moving mass of wavy air. Not the perfect disguise but for him it would do.
He ran past videogame stores, dvd rentals, bookshops and restaurants as he made his patrol, fifteen minutes later when it came to 8:00PM, he finally found some action. Two groups of men and women were in a firefight, one of the groups centered around a cluster of cars from which they took cover, he noticed that they mainly wore black and white themed clothes, even their faces were painted black or white.
He noted that Crims here were just a bit odd.
On the other side of the alley, the second group had dived behind four dumpster's side-by-side, of which the two outer ones were pulled back into a arch shaped barricade. The second groups poked their guns through the gaps between the dumpsters and over the tops of them, laying down a blisteringly fast storm of bullets. They looked even more eccentric then the other group; most of them wore many gold chains and rings, each one looking like they carried an entire jewellery store by themselves. He then noticed that their faces were also covered in gold, but that wasn't paint, they had masks.
He studied the area, he currently stood on the pavement directly in front of the alley's entrance, and the other one lay at the other end, connecting to a warren of other alleys and dives. The building behind the arch barricade had a fire escape built onto it, reaching from the bottom of the wall right to the apartment's roof. In the middle of the alley was a sewer grate, a escape route cut off by the immense hail of gunfire being exchanged over it.
He flexed his arms, limbering up for the brawl he was going to throw himself into.
Happy Harbour, Mount Justice. 9:00PM AST (Atlantic Standard Time)
The myriad caverns and rooms of the bat cave were completely silent, no laughter, no chatter, no noise. No cursing as either Connor or Wally lost again online, no sounds of exertion as a member of the team tested themselves in the gym. Not even the sound of Miss Martian trying her hand at non lethal cooking.
For someone who was used to this kind of environment, Robin didn't exactly love it.
It was bearable enough when with someone on a stakeout, the ones Batman took him on were silent recon missions, scoping out where a Drug-lord had his base, or where a super villain had once again set up shop. But in a place that was usually ringing with noise and movement it was unbearable.
He was pretty sure that everyone was scheduled for team logistician had the same feeling.
The only noise in the command room was a squeak, a lone figure sat in front of an absolutely massive screen filled with maps and radio channels and status reports.
The boy was dressed in a red and black outfit, a red short sleeved shirt, with a black circle with a yellow R emblazoned on the left breast. It was slightly bulkier then an average T-shirt, Kevlar plates and sleeves were weaved into its material, giving him some added protection against firearms, which he faced on a alarmingly daily basis. And a pair of black trousers with red lines going down the outside sides. His feet were encased in light combat boots, for maximum mobility. And his hands in black gloves that covered most of his forearms. A black domino mask covered his eyes. A black cape draped over his shoulders, its inner side a pale yellow in colour.
He slouched in a wheelie chair, his head was tilted lazily to the side, with his right arm acting as a support. He was bored.
He sighed as he skimmed through the various screens mounted on the wall in front of him, using sweeping gestures and precise hand movements to control the haptic interface. Not even the legendary Bat cave had this kind of tech.
The voices of his teammates filtered to his headset.
"...This is Aqualad, pursuing Black Manta in sector 08. Robin, can you get me an updated map of the area? His accomplices have placed static jammers, my map is useless."
Robin perked up and stifled a yawn; his hands manipulated the interface in front of him with an expert skill.
"Roger Aqualad, hang a sec."
He grabbed a light blue file marked S08, and dragged it to a orange receptacle. With a digital beep it disappeared, now being downloaded to Aqualads PDA. The map of Sector 08, Crescent bay, updated to include several previously unseen paths and shortcuts.
Robin patiently waited for his response.
"Thank you Robin, I should be able to apprehend him within the hour."
"Good luck, Kal-dur."
The map of Crescent Bay and Aqualad's channel shrunk to a fraction of their size, and slid into the tabs at the bottom of the screen.
He swiped his finger, enlarging a portrait of Miss Martian and Superboy. A pair of blue dots winked at him, as they settled over Moscow. A line of light blue appeared next to their portraits, opening up into a full bird's eye view of their location. Currently the two dots appeared to be travelling at a fast speed outside the Kremlin's walls, next to the Moskva River. His index finger traced an arc in the air, dragging a slider bar open. He selected an icon of a flaming eye, it pulsed green, and the scene changed into a black and white focus.
The majority of the area was wreathed in black, with heat sources burning a bright white. Two of these sources, one being carried by the other, behind them was a whole mass of rectangular shaped white masses. Vehicles.
He keyed his communicator to M'gann's.
"Miss Martian, everything all right?"
"The Light's here! We're being pursued by Savage, Sportsmaster, and some mercenary called Deadshot!"
Her voice came through low and quiet. "He shot Superboy with something! I think its kryptonite tipped!"
"M'gann, nearest tube is about...four kilometres south-west, get across the river and look for a one floor building with a monkey on top. Its behind it. Good luck."
"O-okay."
The map of Moscow shut off, as did the portraits of M'gann and immediately searched for nearby league members that could assist,He zoomed in on a green dot near St Petersburg where Batman was tracking down the source of a people trafficking ring, last he heard the ringleaders cut their losses and were en route to, wouldn't you guess it, Moscow.
He opened a channel. "Batman? Miss Martian and Superboy have been compromised, can you divert to assist?"
"Yes. Out."
He hated being mission control.
Kid Flash grabbed a dented garbage can, throwing the lid at the rpg wielding thug like a discus. It hit him in the face, cracking the gold mask and sending him flying back into one of his gang. The domino faces saw this and took the advantage, yelling a strange cry as they moved forward, swamping the gold masks. They fired wildly as Kid Flash ran behind them, he slid towards them, foot stuck out as he tripped three of them over. The other five turned around, their mistake punished by a withering volley of bullets from the other gang, they ran back to their cover, cursing as Kid Flash slipped around them towards the other side of the alley. He ran the air into a fury, whipping it into a mini tornado as he smacked the gold gang into submission. They all fell to the ground with a sigh, unconscious. He kept running, dodging the fire that the remaining gang aimed solely at him.
Confined spaces don't work out for speedsters, gotta' finish this.
He kicked off the wall, accelerating into a blur in less then a second as he kept dancing around their barrage. He skidded around the dumpster they used for cover, focusing time to a crawl, he flung the lid open, so that it hung around his shoulder height in front of him. He ran back from it, then forwards, using it as a slide to dropkick the gang with. His foot connected with a savage blow to the first thug in his way, sending him flying into the second thug behind him, repeated again with the third thug. They were immediately knocked out of the fight. His slide continued, catching the chin of the unlucky fourth guy. Giving him a massive red mark on the chin, contrasting nicely with his black and white facepaint.
Sometimes he had to hand it to himself, poetic justice just came to him.
In the space of a minute he hung them all up on the walls, dumping their weapons into a jumble ontop of the dumpster. He heard sirens drawing closer, taking that as his cue to continue his patrol. He turned himself invisible, and ran like the wind into the streets.
The wind whipped at her golden coloured pony tail as she cleared the three meter gap between the top of a absolutely ugly postmodern apartment complex, and a much more contemporary townhouse next to it.
She bent to soften the impact as she reached the townhouse's roof, rolling slightly. She didn't stop, running towards the next gap over, and had already picked out the spot to jump from. She picked up speed as she approached the lip of the building, and leapt forwards over the man made crevice. She didn't even break a sweat as she landed, merely breathing a little harder then usual, that was from the adrenaline though. She stopped for a moment, noticing the viewpoint this building lent itself to. She walked over to a corner of the roof, getting a clear view of most of the central city.
The city sat below, a sea of bright lights and life, while the sky above, was a twinkling and sublime tapestry of stars, lorded over by a graceful full moon. She wasn't transfixed by the view however, as anyone else would have. She's seen it too much, but can still appreciate it.
Views like this always calmed her, filling her with a sense of peace. Not so long ago, she would have gladly spend all of her time up on a roof, quietly watching a view like this. It got her away from everything for a few tranquil minutes. Before the troubles of home and life assaulted her once more.
Her hawk-like gaze was absolute, she scanned the streets below, watching for any out of place movement in the bustle of people and cars. A massive rumble interrupted her. Emanating from behind her, she turned around. Mouth drawn tightly as she watched a blazing, and tiny, spear of light pass overhead. It made landfall six kilometres away, managing to land in the middle of the busiest intersection in the city. She narrowed her gaze, and set off at a run, immediately going through anything that this...thing...could be.
as she sprinted over the rooftops, an alarmed blared. She tapped a few buttons on her wrist computer. A square section of material, a lighter shade of green then the rest, shifted into a picture of Wally. It displayed a heartbeat monitor, and other health related graphs.
The heartbeat monitor showed a abnormally fast heart rate for a person, but she knew that it was normal for the speedster. Then it slowed down, almost coming to a stop.
He was in trouble.
She doubled her efforts, chasing the six kilometre gap down to two before finally stopping for a breather. She was sweating a bit, reminding her to take more endurance classes with Kal'dur when they got back. She kept running, clearing another gap as she got closer and closer to the location of the crashed object.
The next gap stopped her for a moment, she just grumbled and took out her bow. It folded outwards, into a green metal frame, with a light, metal thread bowstring affixed between the two tips of the bow. She drew a arrow with a clawed head from her quiver, nocking it with practised ease. With a soft whish she released it, sending it flying true across the gap. It slammed into the wall, sinking its claws in. The line trailing behind it went taut as Artemis grabbed the other end, tying it to the leg of a water tower nearby.
Using the bow, she hooked it above the line, using it as a handle. She took a flying leap, being dragged towards the other side by the momentum of her jump. She pulled her feet up as she cleared the edge of the building, holding them in front of her to stop herself from banging into the wall.
She unhooked the bow, holding it firmly in her right hand as she ran towards this buildings edge. She looked down, trying to pinpoint a grey and black costumed youth. There! Near the smoking crater was a shimmering patch of air, flickering into a grey unconscious form briefly before dissipating again. He must have been thrown back by the impact. Knocked out by the concussive force. Fire and twisted metal had completely closed off the intersection, leaving a huge line of traffic in each lane. The flames began to spread inwards, getting closer and closer to the unconscious speedster, and the drop-in.
She slid off the edge of the roof, catching the edge with her hands. She looked downwards, taking in all of the available handholds and ledges she could use to get down faster. She lowered herself down, dropping a few metres to grab the rail of a fire escape. She guided herself around to its right side, springing backwards to catch a water pipe that snaked its way up the building's side. It rattled slightly as it held her weight. She relaxed her grip on the pole as she began to slide down it. Thanking her mom for suggesting the gloves for her suit, she was able to make a fast descent, her ponytail being dragged upwards by gravity.
The screams of trapped drivers, and worse, children, reached her as she approached the pavement. She let go of the pipe, dropping the last two metres with a muffled thud. She quickly surveyed the area. To her right was the street's corner, nearest to the intersection; the concrete path was absolutely wrecked, and buried under a group of cars. They were empty, and not a priority. But muffled sobs and cursing were coming from a group of cars to her left, the nearest one was a green sedan, with a howling and crying child banging on the back window. A balding man was slumped in the driver's seat.
She ran for them, coming to the window she motioned for the kid to back away. Not understanding, he continued to bawl and cry.
She shouted at him through the window. "Get back and cover your face!"
The kid miraculously stopped sobbing, now even more afraid of her. He back away quickly, pressing up against the other door. She grabbed a cutter from her belt, cutting a hole in the tempered glass like it were butter. Letting the circular piece fall to the ground she put her arm through the gap, grabbing onto the handle and pushing towards her. The door opened slightly, cursing as the fire was beginning to spread she grabbed a arrow out of her quiver, wedging the arrowhead in the gap she pulled, getting the door partially open. She leant inside, grabbing the bawling child. She quickly ran back to the sidewalk depositing him there as she made her way back to the car.
She stopped in her tracks, as the air was getting warmer and warmer. She gritted her teeth and sprinted towards the car. Luckily the driver's door was unlocked, she cut the man out of the seat, dragging him back to his son. She laid him in the recovery position and bounded away, sweating as the heat was getting to her. She heard sirens in the distance, and saw blue and red lights coming towards her, along with orange ones. Finally.
She found Wally, placing him on her shoulder as she made her way back to the sidewalk. An ambulance stopped nearby, two paramedics jumping out of the back and running over.
"Is that all of them?"
"Yeah, I just need t-"
A massive droning noise drowned her out, as two more objects dropped out of the sky. Instead of causing a major car crash and destroying a intersection, they touched down lightly. Controlled descent. Using the smoke as cover she ran back into the wreck, settling on top of a wrecked ute.
The black shapes were motionless for a second as they looked around. The one on the left was huge. She nocked a arrow, drawing the bowstring back as she settled her aim on where the shape's head should be.
Wind blowing through the intersection cleared some of the smoke away, exposing the two figures. The huge one was encased in black armour, with purple light filling his domed helmet. The figure noticed her, a purple band of light staring straight at her. The second one seemed to acknowledge a unspoken message and drew a thin, black sword, holding it with a firm grip in black gloved hands. The figure launched itself at her, the tails of its long coat flapping behind it as it drove the blade's tip right at Artemis.
She loosed the arrow, only for the figure to bat it aside with the sword. She hit the ground in a roll, popping up with another arrow ready to fly, she got it off just in time, it landed a hit, striking the swordsman in the chest. Didn't seem to do anything as the sword flashed towards her in a side swipe. She countered, using the metal bow to block and trap the weapon. The figure wasn't having any of it, merely pulling the sword away and slicing upwards. She used his chest as a spring point, propelling herself away from the deadly edge. She got another arrow ready, not bothering to aim as she sent it at him.
It landed, the thick cylindrical head splitting apart as it released its payload, detonating and cracking the armor underneath his coat and sending him flying. She could breathe a little easier as he was flung back into the intersection. The figure grabbed three sharp knives, flinging them at her at a blinding speed. She ducked and bended under the first two, but the third sliced her on the shoulder. She hissed, resisting the urge to drop her weapon. She ran forwards, using a car as a step to get higher. The figure bounded towards her, swinging his sword in a vicious two-handed move. She gripped the bow with both hands, using it to deflect the blow. She ducked under him as he landed on the car.
She swung the bow like a bat, aiming to land a blow across his exposed back, he turned, faster then should be possible, elbowing her in the belly. She was knocked off balance, and sent tumbling off the car's roof by a thick black boot. The blow winded her as she fell to the ground, near the broken shell of asphalt that surrounded the object. Her bow spun away, well out of her reach.
She finally got a good look at the swordsman. A cruel face, weathered by the years. His one good eye, the left one, was grey and cold. A brown leather patch was covering his right eye, with the ends of a scar visible above and below it. All sorts of bladed weapons hung off of him, giving the impression that he was most definitely not a very adjusted individual.
He advanced slowly, the black sword pointed towards her. He wore a very serene look on his face.
She dragged herself away from him, trying to get up despite her ribs having none of it. She gasped with pain as she was forced to stop. She felt a hard pressure on her side, and was roughly turned over, now facing the merc.
"What a shame, you were impressive, but not good."
The sword descended towards her, and she closed her eyes, waiting for it to happen.
A robotic voice interrupted the blade's journey. "THREAT: DETECTED. REACTING."
The walls of the crater exploded outwards, as a rocket trail rose upwards. The merc quickly jumped back, and like a meteor a armored figure landed in front of her.
She shielded her eyes from the dust and debris with her arm, getting a few scrapes on it. She looked at the thing in front of her. It had dark blue plating all over it, with cracks going through all of them. Exposed wiring sparked, and a blue gel like substance was leaking from breaches in the arms and legs. The helmet was robust, and looked extremely sturdy, and was designed like a especially heavy bike helmet.
The merc dashed forwards, slicing into it's left arm with his sword. The blade was lodged in, and he let go quickly, only to be kicked in the chest by a heavy boot, and was sent flying into a car. The armor dislodged the weapon easily, and threw it away. It advanced towards him with single minded determination.
A massive shadow descended over Artemis as the massive armored giant beared down on it from behind. He swung a massive fist at it, only for the armor to turn around faster than the eye could follow, and grab his fist in a unbreakable hold.
The brute responded by spinning up a multi barreled weapon on his left arm, aiming it straight at the suit. It's other hand shot out, crunching the multiple barrels into a gnarled heap. The suit lifted the giant like it was nothing, despite him being three times taller and two times higher. The giant screamed as he was flung towards the merc. The smaller man quickly got up, pressing a few buttons on his wrist and holding on to the giant, they disappeared within a field of purple energy, all traces of them gone.
Artemis groaned as she managed to drag herself to her feet, staring into the armor's orange faceplate. It looked impassively at her, before the robotic voice talked again.
"RESERVES LOW, RELEASING OCCUPANT."
The face plate parted, sliding back to reveal the beaten up face of a teenage boy.
He fell forwards, and crumpled onto the ground in front of her.
She didn't need this.