Chapter 11: Sudden Death (Part Two)
"KEPT YOU WAITING, HUH?" Jack bellowed in his amplified voice.
"We can still take him." Cyborg said. "…Right, guys?"
Jack shifted and dropped down on all fours with a ground-shaking thud.
"The energy surrounding him has to be incredibly dense." Robin said. "It has to restrict his movement to some degree, so we should have the advantage in speed."
"'Should have,' yeah, okay." Beast Boy said, snidely. "Where does that leave us?"
Jack suddenly lurched forward, scrambling across the ground like a wild beast towards the Titans.
"Titans, move!" Robin shouted.
Starfire grabbed Raven as the group jumped out of the way to avoid the monstrosity barreling towards them. They split across the street, jumping to neighboring rooftops. Jack grabbed the ground and skidded to a stop.
"Beast Boy, stay with Raven." Robin said.
"But what about-?" Beast Boy started.
"Stay with her. We'll handle Jack."
Robin and Cyborg jumped back to the street while Starfire flew towards Jack. She swerved through the air, pelting him with a barrage of starbolts; Jack ignored the attack and charged towards Robin and Cyborg.
"We don't have the advantage in stopping power, though." Cyborg said.
Robin ran ahead of the group towards Jack. As they neared, Jack halted his charge; Robin reeled back his fist and punched him in the face. The force barely budged Jack.
Robin gritted his teeth as he punched again. Jack shrugged off the blow and took a swipe at Robin. The motion was much slower than any of Jack's previous attacks, and Robin ducked underneath it. He fueled an unrestrained left hook and drove it into the side of Jack's head. Jack ignored the punch and grabbed Robin's left arm tightly. Robin struck at Jack's hand to budge him off, but to no avail. Jack began to crush the metal skeleton around his upper arm.
Starfire dove towards them and struck Jack with all of her strength. The force loosened Jack's hold on Robin and pushed him away. Starfire threw another punch only for Jack to catch her fist. His monstrous hand enveloped hers completely. Starfire struggled to free her hand with no success. Jack seized her by the throat and brought her face close to his.
"ALIEN." He growled at her.
"Get away from her!" Robin shouted as he threw another punch.
Jack raised his other hand and blocked Robin's strike. Robin locked his fingers around Jack's hand to keep a hold on him.
Jack turned his head around to catch Cyborg out of the corner of his eye. Cyborg reeled his fist back and swung, only to be caught by a hand of dark energy, formed straight out of Jack's shoulder.
"No way…" Cyborg groaned as he struggled to free his hand.
Several wisps plumed from Jack's body and formed into arms and hands. With his new limbs, Jack seized hold of the other Titans and tossed them aside.
"We can't even shake him." Cyborg said as they regrouped. "New plan?"
"New plan." Robin said. "Our only hope at succeeding… is if we hit him with the intent to kill him."
"It's not like we're pulling our punches here. We need an actual strategy here… and I think I have one, if you guys can keep him distracted for a few minutes."
Raven stirred in her wake to be met with an intense pain running through her head. She turned to see Beast Boy peering off the edge of the rooftop.
"Beast Boy…" She said, quietly.
"Raven!" He immediately turned around and rushed back to her side. "Are you okay?"
"No." She said, plainly. "What's going on?"
"We've gone from bad to worse."
Raven struggled to stand up, but to no avail. She couldn't summon her strength.
"Easy." Beast Boy urged her. "How do you feel?"
"Like I've been torn in half." She said, rubbing her head.
Jack opened his mouth and inhaled deeply. The purple lines tracing his body surged in a flux of power.
"I've got an idea." Cyborg said. "It's risky, but I don't think we have a lot of options here."
"If that doesn't stop him, then there's nothing we can do to keep him from running you down." Robin said.
"We won't know unless we try it. There's no telling what he'll do if we don't stop him."
"Alright. Star… help me keep Jack occupied. Cyborg, set it up."
"Yes." Starfire said.
"Got it." Cyborg pressed a button on his wrist.
The C-Car's hood opened and connected the circuits to Cyborg's power cell. The Car began to dismantle and reassemble itself to Cyborg's back and shoulders. Two large energy canisters emerged from his back and the Car's battery powered them up.
"Alright, clock's ticking." Cyborg said. "Keep him off me."
"Easier said than done." Beast Boy scoffed. "Come on, you guys, let me help!"
"Stay with Raven." Robin said over the coms. "We need you to keep an eye on her."
Meanwhile…
"Sir." Hoffman said to Yates. "We've received an emergency update from the Teen Titans. The situation over in the projects has escalated too far. They've advised us to stay clear and evacuate the entire South Central district."
"Then don't waste time talking to me." Yates responded. "If they say it's an emergency, then do what they say."
"Yes, Sir."
A Few Minutes of Fighting Later…
"It's ready, bring him in." Cyborg's hands expanded into heavier versions of his sonic cannon and a targeting reticle appeared over his eye.
Robin tossed a cluster of smoke bombs at Jack and Starfire tackled him into the open, towards Cyborg's sights. Starfire quickly flew away from the line of fire.
"Boo-yah." Cyborg exclaimed as he pulled the trigger.
A surge of energy pulsed through his arms as he directed it at Jack. He fired a devastating blast at him; the shockwave so powerful that it broke the ground under its launch site. It travelled through the street, connecting straight with Jack. The wave engulfed Jack in its cone, decimating the buildings and ground around him. As the blast cleared, Jack stood in the mess of destruction. His dark energy coat had dwindled from its nightly black to a dull gray as the armor's thickness dwindled rapidly, as though it were melting off of him.
"Let's have another." Cyborg said.
The wires from his power cell extended towards a nearby street lamp and connected, hard-inputting him into the city's power grid. The lights all over the district went out as Cyborg's batteries amped back up, charging up the cannon.
Dark energy flowed out from Jack's body, attempting to reconnect and strengthen his weakening defense.
"Too slow!" Cyborg exclaimed as he fired another blast.
The wave hit Jack dead-on again, washing over him like the stream from a rocket engine. There wasn't much terrain left to be destroyed, and the blast dispersed quicker than the previous one.
Cyborg groaned as his transformed modifications reverted to their normal state, and the parts from the C-Car fell off his body.
"That's heavy, man." He said.
"So… did we get him?" Beast Boy asked, still watching from his position at the nearby rooftop.
The dust cleared to reveal an almost human Jack, drenched in a thick black liquid. It dripped off with the same viscosity as blood, but it was far too dark to be.
"Woah, man." Cyborg said as he and the other Titans looked on in shock.
Jack stood still for a moment, as though completely immobilized. He then took a staggering step towards Cyborg, who stood some 100 meters away.
"Okay, we didn't get him." Beast Boy said, dejectedly.
Jack took another step, and then another, picking up the pace with each one. The dark energy flourished around him, regenerating the armor destroyed by the sonic blast.
"Not good." Cyborg said as he tried to move, but to no avail. His power cell had been almost completely expended with his last attack.
With his armor replenished, Jack broke into a full sprint, and began to quickly close the gap between them. Robin had regained himself and stood up in time to witness the spectacle, but he knew that he was powerless to stop it.
"Look out!" Robin shouted in vain.
Cyborg reeled back his fist as Jack charged at him. Jack razed Cyborg with an enormous arm of dark energy, which sliced through Cyborg's arm and torso, scattering him into pieces on the ground.
"Cyborg!" Robin and Beast Boy shouted simultaneously.
Jack stepped over Cyborg's parts and charged towards Robin. Beast Boy leapt down from the rooftop, landing in the form of a rhino, and charged towards Jack to intercept him.
"Beast Boy, no!" Robin called after him.
As the two neared each other, Jack reeled back his fist and delivered a shattering blow to Beast Boy's face, stopping him right in place. Beast Boy morphed back to normal form and collapsed onto the ground. Robin pulled himself up and dashed over to them. Jack glanced briefly at Robin before raising his foot and bringing it down onto Beast Boy, nearly smothering him with its massive size alone. Robin reached them and swung both of his fists simultaneously, pushing Jack off of BB. Jack swung at Robin, knocking him straight through a building.
Robin breathed heavily as he picked himself back up. The exoframe's joints were beginning to lock up, which was restricting the movements in his left arm and right leg. Robin hesitantly reached for the frame's two limbs and detached them from the rest of the chassis. The metal arm slid off the frame and hit the ground. Robin groaned as he tried to move his left arm, which was still sore from being broken just a week ago. Even though he was wearing a metal brace around his elbow to keep the bones in place, he couldn't move it without feeling harsh pain.
As Robin tried to step forward, the right leg in the exoframe locked up, almost causing him to trip. He reached down and loosened the bolts keeping the steel plates together. He knew it would leave the plates more likely to fall off, but he couldn't risk losing his mobility in this situation.
Starfire, meanwhile, had recovered and engaged Jack in combat. She flew circles around him, tossing wave after wave of starbolts. Jack shrugged the attacks off and launched a wide arc of dark energy towards her. The blast knocked her out of the sky, and Jack jumped up and grabbed her by the shoulders.. Star groaned and struggled against his grasp.
"YOU DON'T BELONG HERE." Jack bellowed in his typically calm voice. "GO HOME."
"This is my home." Starfire forced her way out of Jack's grip and punched him away.
Jack staggered back and Starfire took to the air, before diving back towards him. She reeled back her fist and swung at Jack. He caught the attack and swung in turn with his free hand. Star blocked the attack with her own free hand; and the two were locked in a grappling hold.
"I will not allow you to treat my friends this way." Starfire said.
"GO BACK TO THE SKY." Jack said. "WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE."
Jack quickly overwhelmed Star and grabbed her by the face. He slammed her into the ground. Star struggled in vain against the beating as Jack drove her into the ground repeatedly. Star's attempts at fending him off became less frantic as the fight drained from her.
"Get off of her!" Robin shouted.
Jack turned his attention to Robin before tossing the unconscious Starfire to the ground. Robin tossed a cluster of freeze grenades. Jack raised his arm up to block them; as they exploded and froze the area surrounding Jack's arm, the dark energy expanded and shattered it.
Robin charged at Jack and delivered a series of punches to his upper body. Jack ignored the attacks and took a heavy right swing at Robin. Robin ducked underneath the swing and struck Jack in the abdomen. Jack grabbed Robin by the neck and tossed him aside.
Robin growled as he jumped back up, punching Jack in the face. He quickly punched him again in the stomach before Jack took a swing at him. Robin raised his arm up and blocked it while simultaneously striking Jack in the face. Jack swung again and Robin dropped backwards to the ground, kicking him in the chest. Jack lost his footing and stumbled back and Robin jumped back up and charged, tackling him to the ground. Robin pressed his knees against Jack's arms to pin him, and began savagely punching him in the face, repeatedly.
Jack swiftly brought his arms out from under Robin and grabbed the sides of his head and began to crush the metal helmet. Robin shouted out in pain as the steel ruptured and jabbed at his skin. He pressed a button on the helmet which promptly disengaged the lock and unfastened it from his face. He promptly pulled off the mask and jumped away from Jack.
Jack unleashed a surge of dark energy which expanded around him like a dome. The blastwave knocked Robin backwards into the wall of a building. Jack charged at Robin, taking a big swing with his right hand. Robin narrowly avoided the strike. Jack reeled his left hand back for another wind-up.
A barrier of dark energy suddenly appeared in front of Robin; Jack's punch shattered it right away and collided with Robin, knocking him back. The barrier severely reduced the force of the blow, which otherwise would have smashed right through Robin's suit.
Robin looked up in a daze to see Raven floating in the air above them.
"DEMON." Jack roared at her.
"Maybe." Raven replied. "But there's only one monster here."
Jack dropped on all fours for anchorage. A black sphere began to form in front of his face, becoming larger as it collected dark energy. It grew massively before rapidly condensing to the size of a baseball. The weight of the sphere broke the ground underneath Jack, sending a large tremor through the street.
Raven was slow to react as the sphere traveled quickly towards her. She caught it in a cocoon of dark energy. The sphere's power quickly shattered it, forcing her to stack barrier upon barrier to contain it. She struggled to focus on maintaining the barriers, as she had not properly recovered from having her power drained earlier. She forced the cocoon high up into the air until she reached her limit and fell to the ground. The barriers shattered and the sphere exploded in a massively expanding orb, far off from the reaches of the Titans. The blast nearly blotted out the skyline from their perspective.
Raven groaned as she sank on her hands and knees to the ground. What little power she had recovered had just about vanished. Jack grabbed Raven by the throat and lifted her up so they were face-to-face; he peered into her eyes, and she in turn gazed into the white abyss of the circles in place of his. Raven closed her eyes and focused her remaining power.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" She shouted.
Raven released an astral projection which traveled straight through Jack, and then promptly fizzled out. Jack grunted and staggered in place before throwing Raven aside; she collided with the wall of a building and passed out once again.
Jack suddenly fell to the ground on his knees. The dark energy covering his body began to dissipate, soon leaving Jack back to his blood-soaked human state. He had to catch himself from collapsing completely.
"Shit…" He murmured.
Robin struggled against the pain and the increasingly heavy suit to stand back up. He tripped and fell back to the ground.
"You don't look so good." Jack called out to him. "Maybe you should take a break."
Robin looked back up at Jack, gritting his teeth. He reached for a nearby pile of debris for leverage and forced himself back up.
"You really want to win this, don't you?" Jack said. "But is it because you want to stop me, or to avenge your friends? …Or is because you just don't want to lose?"
"Shut up." Robin snapped. "You've said too much for your own good."
"Joke's on you… I'm still alive."
Jack slowly stood back up. He was clearly fatigued by the battle as well. The transformation had drained him of most of his stamina, and it would be a while before he regained the ability to effectively wield dark energy again. He glanced over his shoulder at the Wild Hunt, which was still parked at the end of the street behind the bus, and had remained completely untouched by the effects of the battle.
"Fly back to your nest, bird-boy." Jack said as he turned around and began walking towards his car.
"No." Robin growled as he pulled out a trio of Birdarangs and threw them at Jack.
Jack turned around to catch the weapons: one in his chest, one in his right shoulder, and one in his right eye. He grunted and staggered backwards.
"Are you out of your mind?" Jack shouted, melodramatically.
"I'm through playing games." Robin said.
Jack pulled the knives from his body, save for the one in his eye. His wounds began to heal significantly slower than normal.
"This is what I get for taking my time." He said.
"Enough talk." Robin said. "This ends now."
Robin charged at Jack with his right arm raised; Jack put his arms up and caught Robin's strike. He struck the center of Robin's chestplate, knocking him onto his back. Jack stepped over and planted his foot against Robin's neck.
"I may not have the fancy training that you do, but at least I don't need a walking hospital to keep my insides in place." Jack said.
Robin closed his eyes and raised his arms; he pressed a button on his right gauntlet, releasing a burst of bright light. Jack was instantly blinded and in turn stepped away, rubbing frantically at his good eye.
Robin jumped to his feet and seized Jack by the throat.
"This is the end of the line!" Robin said. "Give up, now."
"Is that a line?" Jack asked. "I have one for you, too: drop dead."
Robin pulled Jack into a chokehold and began to throttle him. Jack reached up with his free hand and pulled the Birdarang out of his right eye; he swung the weapon at Robin's face. Robin moved to the side and the blade lodged itself in his bum shoulder. The pain sent a shock through his body that forced him to lose his grip. Jack swiftly ducked out from under Robin and turned around to face him. Jack punched him directly in the face, sending him onto his back.
Robin groaned as he lay on the ground. He reached for the shuriken buried deep in his shoulder. Jack moved up and kicked Robin's hand away. He crouched down so that they were nearly face to face and Robin could see Jack's bleeding right eye socket.
"I wanted you to have that back." Jack said. "You see, I don't really hold grudges. It's too much to worry about."
Jack punched Robin in the face, busting his upper lip open.
"It's a lot of unnecessary anger." Jack continued. "Of course, I'm not averse to getting even."
Jack punched Robin in the nose, and then in the mouth again. Blood began to pool over his face.
"And you know what they say…" Jack reached over and swiftly yanked the shuriken out of Robin's shoulder, causing him to wince in pain. "…An eye for an eye."
Jack grabbed the bottom of Robin's chin to hold him steady. He gripped the shuriken like a knife, and raised it up in the air.
A bolt of green energy connected directly with Jack's hand and vaporized the weapon. Jack turned his head to see Starfire floating some dozen meters away from then, channeling energy into her fists.
"Your girlfriend's here." Jack said. "I'll be right back."
Jack stepped off of Robin and proceeded towards Starfire. She sent a wave of starbolts at Jack, and he ducked to the side to avoid them. Starfire dived towards Jack and tackled him into the ground. Jack reached up and grabbed her by the throat, pushing her away from him. He kicked her off and jumped up to his feet. He grabbed Starfire and wrapped his arm around her throat, pulling her into a stranglehold. Starfire struggled against the bind, trying to free herself. Jack tightened his grip around her neck and punched her in the stomach, exasperating the remainder of her breath. Starfire's resistance dwindled and she faded out of consciousness.
"Now, we're even." Jack released his grip on her neck and threw her face-first into the ground.
Jack caught a punch to the face as he turned around. He staggered backwards as Robin punched him over and over. Robin brought his leg up hard into Jack's torso and followed up with several punches. He beat him relentlessly for almost a half-minute before fatigue finally set in, and he let off.
Jack fell to his knees, chuckling almost silently from the feeling brought on by his broken ribs stabbing into his lungs. He suddenly broke into a coughing fit, and fell flat to the ground. He struggled as he pushed himself back up, his body seized up as he vomited up a torrent of blood. As Robin regained his strength, Jack pushed himself up, still spilling blood from his mouth. He looked up at Robin with a wretched smile, his teeth stained red.
"You look different…" Jack wheezed, unable to breathe properly. "I mean… that look you have… in your eyes. You've got the look… of a man gone mad. You wanted to… kill me… didn't you?"
Robin felt his nerves becoming fired up as he glared at Jack. Jack picked up a discarded piece of glass and plunged it into his chest, draining the oxygen that had been building up; he exhaled sharply and his normal breathing resumed.
"Go ahead." Jack said, more clearly. "You couldn't kill me if you wanted to, no matter how hard you tried."
Robin kicked Jack in the face and snapped him upwards, before grabbing him tightly by the neck.
"If you were going to kill me, why didn't you do it before?" Robin growled at him.
Jack licked the blood off of his teeth and gave a fake smile, his white teeth standing out against the rest of his bloodied and dirt-covered complexion.
"If you're interested in dying…" He said. "There's a folk cure that my family passed down for generations. It's called suicide. Our way is slow and painful—you'll like it."
Robin grabbed Jack by the shoulder and delivered a powerful headbutt to his face, knocking him right out. He dropped him to the ground, and then collapsed, exhausted from the heat of the battle.
Raven recovered her energy and stood up. She immediately rushed over to her fallen friends and set out to healing them. She came to Robin and helped him to stand back up.
"How's Starfire?" He asked.
"She's fine." Raven said. "She heals quickly. But he does, too, apparently." She looked at the unconscious Jack.
Beast Boy and Starfire approached them.
"So… did we get him?" Beast Boy asked.
"We have defeated him, right?" Starfire asked.
"Beast Boy." Robin started. "Bring Cyborg over to the car and help him pull himself together. Raven, contact the police and update them on the situation. Starfire… help me get the rest of this suit off."
End Chapter 11