Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. This is the sequel to Stone Prison so I would suggest reading that first before reading this. Enjoy.
AN: Sorry, for the long wait, but computer problems, school, and work interfered. I hope no one will hold that against me.
Stone Outlaws
By Demonabyss
Chapter 4: Allies
Where did that blasted cat go? Damn it, what is she up to this time? If it were not for her, I wouldn't be in this mess. Snap out of it Riochi, you have bigger problems right now. I'll deal with that impulsive feline later, right now I have to track down that rock creature and the metal creature; they have the jewel. How could I have let those damn humans get the drop on me? How could I let them take the jewel? Huh? Yeah, yeah Dhylec I know you're bored, just be patient. First, we'll deal with the metal and rock creatures then we'll pay back that feline asshole that got us into this mess. What? You object as well Tenseiga. You object too Cypher? Look, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, we have some tracking to do.
(Normal POV)
Through the vast cold wilderness of Alaska, Terra and Ria made their way back to Ruby Alaska where they could regroup. However, as they ran they heard a massive explosion back where they came from. Both turned to see a massive cloud of smoke and fire, erupt from where they had been only minutes before. 'Self-destruction: a typical secret organization move, a good one, but typical,' Terra thought as she watched the smoke rise into the sky. It was then she finally noticed something, vibrations, through the earth around them. They were muted in a sense due to all the snow on the ground, absorbing some of them but they were still detectable to her. There were two sets of vibrations, both heading towards her and Ria. One was an animal at least Terra thought so while the other was humanoid. She could tell the difference as one was moving on four feet while the other was on two. Both seemed to be coming from the same direction as the compound they had just come from. Ria noticed Terra's tenseness and morphed her arms into blades once more. In no time at all, the creature that Terra had sensed on four legs came into the clearing they were standing in.
It was a large cat like creature, bigger then a tiger but with similar markings. It was white and had black tiger like marks, but instead of them being just lines they were arranged more like intricate patterns similar to a Celtic design. It was about four and a half feet tall and nearly seven feet long from nose to end, not counting the long semi-fluffy tail that swayed behind it. It seemed to be made of pure muscle as it cautiously circled the two. There was a dead silence that was broken only by the sound of a cold winter wind. However, that was quickly changed as the second figure came into the clearing, the one on two legs.
It turned out to be the male experiment that had been next to the female one. It was dressed in a guard's uniform, most likely "borrowed", and was decked out in seven weird looking swords. There were three on the left side of his hips; two looking like samurai swords with the third being more of a broadsword, and four on his back, one looking like a much larger broadsword, what looked like a pirate sword in the shape of a shark, a long thin sword with an L-shaped tong-like handle, and finally a large black colored sword with a round hook like end that also looked like it had teeth and eyes on it. The guy had piercing blue eyes, long ice white hair, and dog-ears on the top of his head.
The cat like creature turned and snarled at him and interestingly he snarled back at it, showing his canine fangs. He then turned to look at Terra and Ria, who were staring at him in suspicion and were in defensive stances. "Take it easy, I'm not here to fight you," he said calmly though he could feel Dhylec and Tokijin disagree with him. He then glanced at the cat like creature. "Neither is she, at least I think she isn't," he commented glancing at the feline who just growled lowly at him.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Terra asked calmly, not relaxing her stance at all. Before he could answer, Ria spoke in a metallic computerized voice, not betraying any emotion, if she had any, or what personality she was sporting at the moment.
"Human, meta-human, alien feline, and unknown DNA detected," she stated referring to the newcomers. Terra narrowed her eyes, if she were to guess, she'd say that the cat creature was the female she saw earlier, a shape shifter, not good.
"Listen, it was because of you two that we're free and quite frankly, we need your help," the swordsman stated calmly.
Terra narrowed her eyes at them while trying to assess if they were a threat or not. Scratch that, they were definitely a threat, the question was if she could trust them or not. She was picking up something weird from those swords of his, ALL seven of them. The area around each of them seemed to have different effect on the earth around them. The swordsman seemed to notice her gaze and could tell she knew those weren't ordinary swords, especially that large black sword with the hook at the end. Terra could almost swear it was looking at her. The elemental looked between the swordsman and the animal, trying to decide what to do. They needed to leave and soon since, she was sure that the explosion caught someone's attention, most likely the local authorities. Best choice, run now and deal with it all later, like usual. "All right, both of you will come with us since we don't have time to argue. However, should I find even the smallest lie from either of you I will nail your butts to the wall understand?" Terra threatened. 'I just know sooner of later I'm going to regret this,' she thought ruefully with Orbis Terrarum snickering in the background of her mind. The swordsman and the animal both nodded and all four of them departed, Terra riding on a rock low to the ground with Ria next to her, the swordsman running and keeping pace with them, and the animal running as well. The elemental had a feeling her life just got a whole lot weirder.
Far away in space in the Watchtower, the Waller was meeting with the senior members of the Justice League and surprisingly the Teen Titans as well. They were all sitting at a large circular table with Waller standing up next to a display screen. Flash was the first to speak. "Okay, so what experiment to fight us have you screwed up this time?" he said cheekily. Beast Boy just chuckled while Batman, Lantern, and Waller all glared at Flash, but he was used to it by now.
"Why did you call us here?" Robin asked suddenly. "Isn't this sort of thing handled by the Justice League?" the teen leader asked curiously.
Waller sighed. She really didn't want to do this, again, but she had no choice but to ask the Justice League and the Titans for help. "Under normal circumstances yes, however, there is a new factor which you have the most expertise on," the older woman explained. She then brought up a blueprint of what appeared to be a very advanced android. "This is experiment XP09256. We created it using a fusion of experimental nanotech, salvaged alien technology, and advanced biotechnology. It was an attempt to create another bioroid similar to Brainiac. However, before we could install its primary programming, it was stolen by mercenaries. We were able to intercept a transmission pointing to Lex Luther as the one who paid them," the government woman explained.
They all stared at her in shocked silence before Lantern spoke up. "You mean to tell us that you made your own Brainiac and now Luther has it? You've screwed up big time before but this takes the cake," he said sourly.
"Where is the android now?" Batman asked sensibly though he silently agreed with John.
"We don't know; all we do know is that Luther doesn't have it. This is also the reason why we called the Titans here," she explained as she brought up a slide of a destroyed convoy. "Three days after the theft, we tracked the experiment to this convoy only to find someone had gotten to it before us. A week later, one of our primary labs in Alaska was attacked. This is the footage we were able to salvage from the lab."
The footage showed two figures running just outside the compound. Both looked to be teenaged girls dressed in simple black commando attire. However, what happened next shocked the Justice League and the Titans. The smaller of the two girls had her arms become metal swords and started methodically slashing everything that got within range. The second girl's eyes started to glow a familiar gold color, as did her hands. All at once, a wave of spikes erupted from the ground, taking out several tanks in its path. Next, that same girl formed what looked like a rock tornado around her arm and then swung it. As she did, the tornado lengthened and widened, taking out a battalion of troops and incidentally the camera filming the scene. Everyone stared speechless at the screen that was now turned off. Beast Boy was the first to speak. "Terra? What, why, when, how?" he stammered unable to comprehend what he had just seen.
Waller nodded solemnly. "It seems Terra was the one who had intercepted the convoy. Why she did or how she even knew about it we don't know. We do know that she and XP02956 have stolen a good amount of data from that lab, including the experiment's original intended programming. We don't know what she wants with the experiment or what she plans to do with it," the woman explained.
"If she plans to do anything," Raven said calmly. Everyone looked at her confused. "We've all dealt with Terra before and we all know that what we see and what is really going on are two very different things when dealing with her."
"But why would she go to all the trouble of stealing the experiment and getting the data about it if she wasn't going to use it for something?" Hawkgirl asked logically. Raven just shrugged silently.
"Look, she was last seen in Alaska. We can focus a search there and try to get her before she leaves," Superman said simply.
"Don't bother," J'onn interrupted. "We've been through this sort of thing with her before. If she knows she was detected in Alaska, we'd have better chances of finding her in Hawaii for all we know."
"He's right," Robin added, "Terra is a master of misdirection and deception, we all know this after the last time we all chased her around the country. Is there anyway to track the experiment?"
Waller shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Luther's men disabled all the tracking safeguards we put on it in order to steal it. Coupled with the fact that it can shape shift to look like anyone and can mimic anyone's personality exactly, it can blend in anywhere."
"Well that's just great. If we can't track them or find them then what are we supposed to do?" Flash asked. They all looked at each other, unsure of what to do. The silence was deafening as various thoughts ran through their minds.
"The only thing we can do is be prepared. Terra is not someone to be underestimated," Diana, AKA Wonder Woman, said bitterly as she remembered the time that blonde teenager had outmaneuvered both her and Hawkgirl. The result had left the Thanagarian at the girl's mercy, using Wonder Woman's own lasso no less! She had been lucky that the girl didn't have any real grudge against the League, because the Amazon was sure that if had had a grudge, Shayera would be dead right now. Diana regretted putting her teammate in that kind of danger. She would never underestimate Terra again.
They all agreed and dispersed. Raven had kept silent after her initial comment, not mentioning the fact that she had known Terra was free, or at least suspected it, or the fact that Terra still hadn't come to claim her half of the deal they had made prior to the whole Trigon incident. 'This is the Terra manhunt all over again,' she thought sourly. This time though, the rules were different.
Raven was still worried as she was the only one who truly knew who and what Terra was. Attacking and forcing Terra to use her powers may cause the mental decay Raven feared. A brilliantly insane and powerful earth elemental was the last thing anyone needed. She had been researching a way to change Terra back into a human, but Terra was a highly unique case and even worse was the fact that there was so little information on elementals other then how they acted and how to kill them. Already Terra was exhibiting characteristics common of earth elementals. Instead of acting, she tended to react. Most of the incidents, the upheavals, the dodging detection, even the deal she made with demoness before Trigon had all been in response to someone or something threatening her in some way. True her responses were calculated and generally lethal, but they were still counterattacks.
According to research, earth elementals of the past tended to be easy going, peaceful, and usually placid, rarely outright attacking something unless it bothered them first. However, when they did attack it was far worse then fire, water, or air elementals. Fire would only burn as much as possible and then leave, water would try to flood everything, and air would cause a massive storm. All of these were short and extreme and could be recovered from in time. Earth however was different. It would tear up the land, turning it into a barren wasteland, making the area completely uninhabitable and making it impossible to people to recover from it. It also didn't help that earth was the most difficult to destroy. Fire could be extinguished, water evaporated, air contained and dispersed, but if you break earth all you've done is broken it into smaller parts, not destroyed it. Raven just knew something extreme was going to come from all of this and it filled her with a sense of dread she had not known since Trigon's defeat a few months ago.
What will the Justice League, the Titans, and CADMUS do once they find Terra?
What do the strange swordsman and the cat creature want with Terra and Ria?
Will Terra lose her mind?