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, really bad 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.
Stone Outlaws
By Demonabyss
Chapter 11: Alliance
Terra? What's she doing here? Scratch that, who are those guys with her? What's going on? Man this is way too freaky. First the Brotherhood of Evil tries to take us all out. I get thrown into a trench with Kole and Gnarrk while the others get picked off. Then as soon as we get home with weird robots attack, nearly kicking ours and the League's butts. Then Terra and her crew show up and help drive them away. Man this is just too weird.
Robin looks like he's ready to blow and Batman doesn't look much better. Raven looks tense and she never looks tense! We've lost Beast Boy again. I really wish he would just get over her all ready. Starfire is confused and everyone else looks ready for round two. Dude, one wrong move by anyone and this'll get real ugly real fast.
"Whazzup?" Thwap.
Ok, wasn't expecting that. Apparently I'm not the only one confused here. Just what are we getting into this time?
(Normal POV)
The tension in the air was shattered like a bowling ball to a pane of glass. The unexpected, almost comical, action caused many there to blink at the sight. Just who were these guys and what was their connection to these weird robots? They were broken out of their stupor as the one in black and gold, Terra, began giving orders. "Not now XP. Start hacking any remaining Hutzil and see what you can gather. Ravage, Furor, scout the harbor, I don't want any of those damn things getting away. Blood Rose, you and Ronin check around for Jedah. If that bastard is around you two have the best chance of finding him. I need to have a word with our …friends." The other five nodded. The wolf and the heavily armed female went separate ways, heading to different ends of the harbor. The bat winged female nodded and took off in the direction of the ocean and into the black clouds. The swordsman summoned the large black sword to his side. It floated about a foot above the ground as he stepped on it. He then took off into the air, riding the blade like a surf board. He headed towards the city, again heading upwards to the overcast clouds. The female in black and silver knelt next to one of the larger remaining pieces of the robots. She held out her hand and it immediately changed into a silver liquid and flowed onto the still operating remains. In no time it was covered in silver with strands extending and flowing into her arm. A moment later small pulses of light started racing up the tendrils into her arm. She stood motionless as she hacked the Hutzil remains.
Terra stood in front of the Justice League and the Teen Titans. "Long time no see," she said simply. 'Might as well get this over with,' she thought darkly to herself.
"Terra. What are you doing here?" Batman asked calmly. Though the dark knight was as calm as ever on the outside, inside his mind was going a mile a minute. What was Terra doing here? What was her connection to these strange robots? Who were those meta-humans in the matching armor and what was their connection to Terra? What were these things and why were they here. The caped crusader wanted answers and he was going to get them.
The blonde just shrugged casually, unafraid of the far larger fighting force in front of her. "I would normally ask you the same, but I already know why you're here. I must say it took you long enough," she said smugly. Batman's eyes narrowed at her.
"So you did lead us here. Why?" he asked calmly though he was ready for anything she might pull as everyone else was. The fact that Terra was acting so casually in the middle of a battlefield was making them all nervous.
The blonde sighed, suddenly feeling more tired then she should be. She never liked asking for help from anyone. Sure she took it if someone offered, sometimes, but that didn't mean she liked asking for it. More times then she could remember on the road, when she asked for help she was either turned away or it was turned against her. Slade was a good example of the latter and the League was a good example of the former when she asked for help against Trigon. "I need your help," she said quietly. Everyone looked stunned at this. She spoke quietly though everyone heard her as clear as crystal. "Long story short; there's a demon named Jedah who's collecting souls in order to revive a Trigon sized entity named Pyron. If he does, then this world and all others will be annihilated so he can "unite all souls" to himself. The robots you just fought are called the Hutzil and they're his soldiers sent to collect the souls as you've seen. He has an army of them and possibly one the size of King Kong. As powerful as me and my team are, we can't fight an army on our own." She paused to let what she said sink in both the League and the Titans. "I asked for your help once before and you turned me down and we barely avoided Armageddon by the skin of our teeth. I'm asking you again to save this world and many others from total destruction."
Everyone looked at each other, silent conversations flying free between their eyes as they gauged the geomancer and her words. The first to come forward was Raven. The two stared at each other, unable to see the other's face but knowing with certainty the look they each held. She spoke quietly so that only she and Terra heard. "I'll help, besides you still need to collect on your half of the deal remember?" the demoness said with small grin which she was sure the elemental returned despite the helmet.
"Thank you," the elemental said quietly. She turned to the remaining Titans and the Justice League. "Well, what do you choose?" she demanded as she everyone stood tense.
Robin then stepped forward. "What's our next move?" he said in a calm business like tone. He didn't like working with Terra, mostly because he was never sure what she was up to. With Slade he at least had an idea of the man was after or at least could figure it out. Terra on the other hand was far more unpredictable and he was still sore about the fact that she had eluded him so many times with him never knowing. The other Titans nodded and followed their leader, unsure but trusting his judgment.
Terra then looked at Batman and the Justice League. "Well?" she said simply. The last time she relied on the League's help, they had failed to deliver, leaving her and the Titans in the clutch. If she were to make a reasonable battle plan, then she needed to know whether or not she could rely on them for sure this time. 'Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice … and I will kick your sorry can,' she thought to herself with dry amusement.
"I'll talk with the other senior members and see what they think," he said in a calm voice.
Terra's eyes narrowed under her helmet. 'The old play for time bit. Fine, that's how you want to play that way, so can I,' she thought darkly before answering. "You do that, Bats. Just remember the last time you idiots refused to help me it nearly cost us this whole damn dimension. If you're going to make a decision, be quick about it this time," the elemental said coldly before turning around and walking away. The Titans followed her, not wanting to get on her bad side. Things were going to be much more complicated from here on out.
The dark winged figure known as Jedah frowned. Though the Hutzil were collecting the necessary souls, it was going much too slow. 'Integrating human souls is taking too long. I need the souls of those hybrid darkstalkers.' It seems his prey had found allies in this realm, powerful ones at that. They had decimated the Hutzil squad and were now more than likely entrenching themselves in the city, preparing for his attack. 'Well I wouldn't be a gentleman if I were to … disappoint.' He turned to a Hutzil robot that was standing guard. "Hutzil, mobilize ALL units, I want those souls retrieved immediately," He ordered the machine.
The robot's eyes glow a crimson light as it seemed to awaken. "Command acknowledged and accepted. All units shall be mobilized within 12 hours," it responded emotionlessly. Jedah smiled, showing his fangs as he imagined the rebirth of the burning lord. Behind him, thousands of machines were awakening along with one massive robot, all gearing up for battle.
All the Titans and the Outlaws stood in the main meeting room as Terra explained exactly what this was all about. The Titans were uneasy around Terra's team but tolerated them nonetheless. Ronin was keeping a watchful eye on everyone while conspicuously sharpening one of his swords. Kali and Ravage were next to each other, Ravage trying to keep the trigger happy cat calm and not lose her temper due to some of the Titans staring at her. XP was at one of the computers, doing what was anyone's guess. Blood Rose however was getting uncomfortably close to some of the Titans while emitting a very pleasant purr. Terra could almost swear she heard Shiva lick her lips a few times while eyeing Starfire. The elemental shook her head, not wanting to think where that was going. Once she was done she brought up a screen showing the overview of the city and the surrounding areas. "That's the whole situation. More then likely, when Jedah attacks he will come from the southwest to try and sandwich in as many people as possible and cut off their escape. Our objective is to destroy Jedah by any means necessary," Terra explained to the large group.
"Destroy? What do you mean by destroy?" Beast Boy said nervously, echoing the sentiments of many of the Titans there. Smashing robots was one thing, killing another creature, even a demon, was not something any of them were used to.
Terra scowled under her helmet. The last thing they needed was for someone to wimp out at the last minute considering everything at stake here. "Destroy, take out, eliminate, murder, eradicate, wipe out, exterminate; terminate with extreme prejudice, kill; take your pick. We let this guy live and not only will we lose our chance of reviving the people who's souls he's collected, but we give him the chance to do it again. Even if we were to capture him what would we do with him? Send him to Arkham? He'd break out easily. Give him to the government? That's just asking for trouble. The League? Please, those idiots can barely keep human criminals in line, let alone a demon. He is just gonna keep stealing souls until this Pyron guy is revived and all our asses are deep fried."
Blood Rose nodded. "Terra is correct. Demons like Jedah do not give up once their minds are made up. Now that he knows we're here, he will not give us much time to entrench ourselves. He will most likely attack with his entire force of Hutzil which number in the thousands," she said darkly causing some of the Titans to shudder.
Robin scowled. "If that's the case then we should start preparing immediately. Starfire, call the mayor and begin the evacuation of the city. We need to get as many people out of here as possible before Jedah attacks. Cyborg, call the League and inform them of what's going on. See if you can get any reinforcements from them. Terra, do you have any more weapons we can use, like your guns or something?" he asked the elemental. After the whole Trigon incident, Robin was not taking any chances this time.
Terra looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "I can supply you with all the weapons I can spare, but I expect them back when this is all done. Speaking of which, where are my guns?" Terra asked curiously. Furor perked up at the word "guns" and was listening intently. The elemental saw the alien's look despite the helmet. "No you can't have them fur ball, you have too many as it is," the Outlaw leader said firmly. The cat just grumbled something about stupid blondes as she left to gather the necessary firearms.
"Your weapons are in your room. We could not repair them so we put them along with your remaining possessions," Starfire explained. Terra nodded and started down the hall to reclaim her weapons.
'This is going to be hell,' the elemental thought to her self as the various heroes scattered down the hall to help evacuate the city before the impending invasion. 'The army we can deal with but how do we fight a massive sized robot?' she thought, momentarily forgetting who was listening in.
'There is a way little earth walker,' Orbis Terrarum said quietly, as if she didn't want to say anything. Terra was surprised and a little concerned. Orbis had never spoken in a tone of voice so … reluctantly before. Terra waited for the spirit to continue, sensing this wasn't easy for her. 'Do you still have that pink gemstone from the lab?' Terra gave the mental image of a nod. 'That gemstone is known as the Sacred Shikon Jewel. It is an ancient and powerful gem that Riochi originally owned, hence why it was at the lab being studied. He hasn't said anything about it for fear of its power being misused. Long ago, this gem was sought out for its power. A single shard can raise the dead even if they've been dead for decades. Most wanted it because of its ability to magnify and enhance power of any type. With it, you can take control of the colossus again,' the spirit explained solemnly.
'And you waited until now to mention this because?' Terra wearily asked.
Orbis sighed before continuing. 'The Jewel is filled with conflicting forces, specifically the good aligned energy from a powerful priestess and the evil aligned energy of ancient demons. The energy alignment is constantly teetering between the two and is never truly in balance. Many have become consumed and tainted by dark power due to the use of just a shard of this Jewel. I fear for what the whole thing would do to a person like you who is not evil but entirely good either,' the spirit explain worriedly.
'Well that's just flipping peachy,' Terra responded sarcastically. On one hand she would be able to face the huge Hutzil, but on the other she would more than likely be consumed by darkness and driven to madness. If there was anything she hated, it was the damned if you do, damned if you don't situations. She entered her old room and found her guns in dire need of repair. Of course, considering they had been blown away by demon fire the last time she saw them, they were in pretty good condition. 'Just great. There's a demon with a robot army on the move, the League is in a debate about whether or not to help this time, we're outnumbered and out gunned, we have civilians to worry about, I may have to be consumed by darkness to give us a chance against the biggest of the robots, and to top it all off my guns are a wreck. Could this day get any worse?' she asked no one in particular as she set her weapons down on the bench and retrieved a wrench to begin fixing them.
There was a knock at the door just as she was about to start. Terra looked up to see XP coming in. "Uh, chief, there's some weird guy who wants to talk to you," the bioandroid said nervously as she fiddled with her fingers.
'I just had to jinx it didn't I?' Terra thought dryly for a moment before speaking. "Well who is it, we don't have any time to waste here," she said annoyed. The black armored machine stepped aside to reveal a young man with short light brown hair and very familiar blue eyes. Despite not seeing him for years, Terra would know him anywhere. The whole building shook with a small tremor the moment she saw him. Her eyes flashed bright gold which were plainly see despite her helmet as she absently crushed the metal wrench in her fist like a twig. In a cold voice that would haunt XP for some time, Terra spoke just one word. "You."
The young man chuckled nervously. "Heh, hello sister."
How will Terra react to her brother?
Will the Titans be able to stand up to the Hutzil?
Will the Justice League join in this time?
Will Terra use the Jewel? Will she be consumed by madness.?
What will happen to Jump City and it's people?
WHEN will hell break loose?
AN: Sorry this took so long but I do have college and work to worry about and all things considered, those come first. I also had slight writer's block. I apologize and hope no one will hold that against me.
