Chapter 11- For the Future
The wind rushed through Starfire's hair as she climbed into the sky. The Tamaranean's eyes were fixed on the steadily-growing speck that was Immortus's missile with absolute concentration, but she still took time to register the sensations of flight- the wind, the vanishing ground, and above all the sensation of flying free under her own power, unbound by gravity or any other restraint. It was for this that her people spoke of 'the unbridled joy of flight'.
Raven kept pace with her friend, the sorceress's eyes glowing as she gathered her magic to bring it to bear on the missile. Even though Starfire had once controlled Raven's powers herself for a brief time, she couldn't truly understand the kind of focus and willpower the other girl had to bring to bear to use the magic on this scale- it was simply too different from the way the Tamaranean mind worked. Her people were warriors, creatures of emotion. But still, having used Raven's dark magic Starfire could admire what it took for her friend to function at all.
"Starfire," Raven called, "I'm not sure how much good I'll be up here. That missile isn't magical, but it's giving off some kind of energy that's interfering with my magic- it's all I can do stay in the air."
"Do not worry," Starfire replied, her eyes burning green as she called on her own powers. "I think I can take it." Tamaranean powers were based on emotion- for what Starfire was planning to do, she needed anger, and lots of it. Fortunately, due to the circumstances anger was not a difficult state of mind to achieve. General Immortus had tricked them and arranged for them to be falsely imprisoned. Now he threatened countless innocent lives. Taking away his toy was the least Starfire could do to repay him for that.
As the missile came into close view, Starfire held out her hands and released the energy that had been building up in her body. Two huge starbolts burst from her open palms and shot towards the missile, each of them powerful enough to reduce it to scrap. They struck- and were dissipated in a cloud of green light and electrical sparks. Starfire gritted her teeth in frustration and hurtled forward, catching one of the missile's fins. Before she could drag it off course, though, the sparks came again. They coursed down the missile's casing and into Starfire's body in excruciatingly painful waves. The Tamaranean held on as long as she could, then slipped away, defeated.
With a disgusted start, Starfire shook herself. She couldn't give up so easily- Robin wouldn't, and he was depending on her. Robin went up against things more powerful than he was, and he won- because he had a plan. Starfire needed a plan too.
After a moment of thought, she decided she had one. "Raven!" Starfire called down. "I need your magic!"
"I told you already, I don't think my magic can hurt it!"
Starfire smiled. "You do not need to hurt it." Quickly, she explained what she had in mind. Raven nodded, looking impressed.
"I think it might work," she said. "Are you sure you're up to it?"
"No," Starfire said, flying back towards the missile, "but I will do it anyway!"
Closing in on the metal cylinder, Starfire seized its sides with all her strength. Electricity coursed through her body once again, but the Tamaranean held on, slowly forcing the missile off-course. It wouldn't go wild very far- but it didn't need to.
Raven was floating in midair in the path of the missile's new direction, legs crossed and eyes closed. The sorceress breathed slowly in and out, and then her eyes opened, now glowing a brilliant white.
Darkness swirled in the air in front of her, becoming a hole in the fabric of space and time large enough for the missile to pass through. Starfire let go and tumbled through the sky, her body sparking with continued shocks, but her part was done. The missile fell into Raven's portal and vanished, transported to some far-distant place. The threat was averted.
Starfire fell towards the earth, unable to muster the strength necessary to halt her descent. Her eyes closed, and for a moment she saw Robin's face in her mind, and she smiled at him to tell him she had done her best. Then, suddenly, her fall stopped. Starfire opened her eyes to see Raven hovering in front of her, projecting a magical field to keep her in the air.
"Did we succeed?" Starfire asked softly.
"Yes," Raven said with a rare half-smile. "We did."
#############
Cyborg found himself standing face to face with what would have been a little kid's dream come true- a giant robot and a Tyrannosaurus were about to launch into a winner-take-all deathmatch. Even in his late teens, he had to admit it was pretty cool- or rather would be cool, if it weren't for the fact that as the only normal sized person in the vicinity, he was now in serious danger of being stepped on, trampled, and otherwise smashed.
And then there was the fact that, though he wouldn't admit it to anybody but himself, he was worried about Beast Boy. The shapeshifter was a good fighter, and despite appearances could be quite clever in a pinch. But this combat machine Immortus's man was using was an unknown factor. Who knew what the thing could do?
Beast Boy roared as he smashed the battlesuit against the wall again and again. Cyborg switched his sonic cannon on and aimed for the thing's cockpit, hoping to take out the pilot, but it was no use. He couldn't fire without hitting BB.
Finally the green dinosaur pulled back, leaving the battlesuit stuck in a depression in the wall. Cyborg smiled and aimed his sonic cannon, then let off a powerful blast. It struck the suit in the chest- and bounced harmlessly away, deflected by some sort of force field.
"Did you think you could take me down so easily?" the pilot's voice thundered. "I made certain my technicians included defenses against your pathetic attacks." The suit lurched to its feet, and Cyborg groaned as he saw that it was completely undamaged.
The suit lowered its arm cannon and began to fire massive bursts of energy. Beast Boy tried to dodge, but his T. rex form was unwieldy and he took a direct hit. The giant dinosaur vanished and the green shapeshifter flopped to the ground by Cyborg's side, looking distinctly burnt.
"Someone get me the number of that battlesuit," he groaned absently.
"Think, Cy," Cyborg muttered to himself. "Come on- you're a genius engineer with a computer stuck in your head- it shouldn't be that hard to figure out how to take this thing down!" The best way to take something like this down would be through the legs, he knew- the whole 'giant armored man' look was intimidating, but notoriously top heavy. The trick was getting through that forcefield to disable the legs in the first place.
"Now then," Cyborg muttered, "force emitters can't protect themselves directly. I need to find the emitter, and take it down." He reached down and grabbed Beast Boy by the shoulder.
"Yo BB," he said, "No sleeping on the job. There's something I need you to do for me."
Before he could continue, the whirring sound of a giant motor filled Cyborg's ears. Looking up, he saw the battlesuit towering over him, so close he could make out the smirk on the pilot's face. The beam cannon was leveled right at them.
"I give you the chance to surrender again, Titans," the pilot said. "I so hate having to kill helpless kids."
"Take out the force-field generator- it's probably on his back," Cyborg said. "I'll keep him busy. Now go!" Beast Boy slipped into some form that was too small and fast for Cyborg to follow, and the suit's pilot paused for just a moment in confusion. That was all the time Cyborg needed to reactivate his own cannon and let loose blast after blast.
The sonic waves reflected off the force field, but the pilot was looking nervous- either the blasts could get through after a while, or he wasn't as cocky about the suit's abilities as he seemed. Either way, he brought his own cannon to the ready and fired a beam of energy that tore through the floor like tissue, but which Cyborg was fast enough to dodge. "Yeah, that's right," he said with a smile. "Come and get me, you big scrap heap."
Suddenly the suit stumbled- owing in large part to the giant gorilla that had just materialized on its back. Beast Boy gave a mighty roar and tore into the generator's housing- the force field sputtered and died. The suit twisted and thrashed, trying to get Beast Boy off, but the shapeshifter was hanging on for dear life and could not be easily dislodged.
Cyborg had his opportunity. He fired the sonic cannon strategically, aiming for the suit's knees. One after the other they blew off, and the whole assemblage stumbled, losing balance- and then collapsing in a heap.
Cyborg switched his cannon back into an arm and rubbed his hands together. The suit's pilot attempted to bring his own weapon to bear again, but the Titan simply rolled his eyes and stepped on the beam weapon with all his strength. It collapsed into twisted, useless mess.
"Boo-yah."
#############
"I am impressed, Robin," General Immoruts rasped. "There are few warriors who could have fought their way through my defenses the way you did."
"I really appreciate it," Robin, dripping sarcasm. "You stole a weapon of mass destruction, framed my team for the crime, and now you're using the weapon to try for world domination. That's more than enough reason for me to want to take you down."
Immortus held his sword before him and studied the blade carefully. "I accept your challenge, Robin. It will be a shame to see you die, but sacrifices must be made to ensure the future. Tell me, boy- do you know the blade?"
Robin drew a pair of his birdarangs and snapped them together, forming a single sword. "Yeah," he said. "The guy who trained me always says its best to be prepared for anything."
"A smart man," Immortus said. "This will make it easier- I am a warrior, not a murderer. I cannot bear to kill a defenseless man."
"It must be so hard for you."
Immortus gave a rasp of laughter. "Your spirit is impressive- it will be a pity to break it."
Robin was confident- Immortus had millennia of experience as a general, but that required a very different skill set from a front-line warrior, and his ancient body had every appearance of frailty. It was therefore to his great surprise that he found himself facing an opponent more dangerous than any he had faced since his last encounter with Slade.
Immortus drove at Robin in a rush, his strength and speed astounding from a man of his age and apparent weakness. The Titan leader barely managed to parry in time, and when he attempted to dodge around the Forever Soldier's defenses the old man's blade was there. Every move that Robin made was countered with astonishing speed, and the young warrior was slowly driven back.
Unnoticed by either combatant, Red X slipped over to the computer terminal and began to type.
"Surrender, Robin," Immortus said. "You cannot win. You are skilled, but I have faced a thousand so good, and they are all dead now."
"Really? Have you seen this before?" Robin leapt into the air flat-footed and somersaulted over the old general's head, landing behind him. He brought his blade up to strike the old man's head with the flat- hopefully knocking him out- but Immortus was too fast. He spun and managed to block Robin's sword inches from his face. He heaved with inhuman strength, and Robin was thrown back.
"Why do you fight me?' the old man asked.
"Because you're a monster," Robin said. "When I was just a kid, I saw my parents killed in front of me. Same thing happened to the man who trained me. He said 'never again', and I'm following in his footsteps. If I let you carry out you're plan, it'll be world war. Millions will die. I can't let that happen, and my team and I will fight to the last breath to keep it from happening." He drove at Immortus with renewed fury, actually forcing the old man back a few steps.
"You are a fool," Immortus snarled. "What are lives to me? I was born before the pyramids, you little upstart. Human lifetimes are nothing more than a heartbeat to me. Why should I care about such trivial matters, when I have the power to shape the world? War is the forge in which humanity was made- it is in my eternal war that it will be perfected. It does not matter how many thousands of lives it takes to make it a reality!"
Robin smiled tightly. "Sounds like I know something about being a leader that you don't, old man- a good general loves his men."
Immortus snarled in inarticulate rage and stuck back at Robin with such force as the Titan wouldn't have believed possible. Robin was forced back towards one of the room's windows. He raised his sword in a final defense, but Immortus struck it so hard that the blade shattered. Then the Forever Soldier seized Robin in one hand by the collar of his cape and slammed him against the window. The glass shattered outward and Robin fell back, catching the windowsill just in time to save himself. He hung there, dangling pathetically, with Immortus standing over him.
"Where are your brave taunts now, boy?" the general asked, his voice now carefully controlled- almost pleasant. His earlier rage had been an act, Robin realized, to make his opponent think he was no longer in full control of his faculties. "You are beaten. Admit it, and I will end it quickly. Refuse, and the rocks below will be your healers."
"I never give up," Robin gasped. "Not here, not now, and not for you."
"You impertinent wretch!" Immortus snarled, and he raised his sword to strike at Robin's hands. Suddenly, from over by the computer, Red X cried out.
"General, the missile with Chang's weapon!" he said. "It's gone!"
"What?" Immortus spun towards the screen. "Impossible," he whispered.
"Lieutenant General Smithson's down too," X said, bringing up a presumably live image of Cyborg crushing the giant battlesuit's beam cannon.
"This is ridiculous. What else could go wrong?" the Forever Soldier demanded of no one in particular.
"This," X said, and inserted a small, red chip into the computer terminal. The screen began to flash wildly, and the whole system was emitting sparks. "Consider this my resignation, you old buzzard."
Immortus raised his sword. "Traitor!" he hissed. "You could have ruled by my side, but now you will face the fate of all mortal flesh!"
"Not today," Red X said, and hurled one of his throwing X's and the old man at point blank range. It lodged in his chest above his heart and stuck there, looking rather ridiculous. Immortus looked down at it and sighed.
"This body has endured millennia," he said. "Do you really think that weapon is enough to shut it down?"
"Yeah," X said, "but just in case it didn't…" he pressed a key on one of his gloves.
Robin pulled himself back up over the ledge just in time to see X push the trigger, and he found himself seemingly caught in time- he knew what was going to happen, but found himself powerless to stop it.
The device that Red X had used against the General was intended to destroy advanced security systems, such as the ones used by both Titans' Tower and Slade's various lairs. It electrified the target with a current so powerful it would fry the computer circuitry used to control such systems. Robin had never intended to use in on a human victim. Red X apparently had no such qualms.
The device activated and sent waves of electrical agony through Immortus's system. The old man screamed in terrible pain- Robin didn't think he would ever forget the sound of it, or the look of agonized horror in his bulging eyes. Finally, however, the current died- and when it did the Forever Soldier slumped to the ground, lifeless and smoldering.
"No human system could live through a current like that," X said almost sadly. "Not even his."
Robin whirled on X, fury in his eyes. "I thought you didn't do assassinations," he snarled.
"Come on, Robin," the thief replied, "grow up. He was a monster, and he would have destroyed everything either of us cared about if someone hadn't stopped him. This was the easiest way. In my line or work, we don't have time for your Sunday-school, Boy Scout morals, hero. Al that matters is getting the job done."
"He was a monster," Robin said, staring down at the pitiful body, "but he said it himself- he was alive before the pyramids. There was so much memory locked away in that mind, so much experience. Killing him was like destroying some ancient monument."
"Cry me a river."
A shadow fell over Robin and he saw Red X kneeling over the dead General, prying the sword from his hands. "What are you doing?" he asked sharply.
X shrugged. "Got a guy back in the States who'll pay a lot for this. An old friend- of us both, by the way. Anyway, I've got to be going." The thief rested the sword over one shoulder and strolled casually towards the broken window.
"Stop right there," Robin said. "You're coming with us."
"Why?" X said. "The government got the old man's broadcast and they'll be here soon- they'll see all this mess and know you were telling the truth. You don't need me to clear your name."
"That's not what this is about," Robin said, stepping forward. "This is about justice."
"Justice?" X asked. "Without you, Robin, I'd be just another street punk. If I'm a criminal, you're one too- because you made me."
Robin lunged forward, but X simply stepped off the windowsill and vanished. Robin looked over the edge and saw nothing- apparently the thief had activated his cloaker, and probably his anti-grav tech as well. Red X was a survivor, and suicide wouldn't be like him at all.
X's voice rang through the air, confirming it. "Next time, kid," it said, and faded away, leaving Robin alone in General Immortus's sanctum with the body of a man who'd been old when humanity was young.
