Author's Notes
To jovanchin2013, you're welcome for the reminder about the Sword of the Hallows and the information on Lady Vic. Regarding her character, in the second and third acts of Betrayed, Cast Off, Angry, Raven was leaning on the side of neutral anti-heroine (unable to decide on which side she belongs on) before completing her evolution into heroine at the end of the story.
Okay, we have now reached the final chapter of The Dark Army. Once this is done, I will resume work on Second Chance (vote on its poll - the more people that vote, the better) and Collapse from Misunderstandings.
Now, let's finish the story.
Raven, Jinx, Ravager, and Hustler quickly moved throughout the Aposkrit Applied Sciences building, rushing to locate Vandal Savage and Kyd Wykkyd, who were in the process of acquiring the super-serum from Ravager's blood. If Savage were to gain his hands on it, anarchy would prevail on Earth thanks to an enormous force of mentally-unstable, near-unstoppable soldiers.
That was something the Titans were not in the mood of occurring. Hustler breached doors with his Mossberg 590 shotgun, fully intent on locating the inner sanctum where Savage and Wykkyd were.
As they passed through each door, they encountered more and more guards from the People's Redemption Army. The guards were quickly handled by Ravager and her dual katanas, but every guard they encountered slowed them down even more as Savage came closer to acquiring the super-serum that turned Ravager and Hustler's father Slade into the fairly-twisted mind that died at Raven's rather reluctant hand.
Meanwhile, down in the inner sanctum, Savage's scientists were working on isolating the super-serum from Ravager's blood.
Savage asked, "Do you have it yet?"
One of the scientists replied, "We're working on the final blood filtration. We should have the original serum shortly."
Kyd Wykkyd noted, "I do suggest that you move quickly. The Titans are here. Only a few minutes before they breach the lab. How the hell did they even find us?"
Savage growled, "Lilith Clay. They got her and she must have had a vision that led them here. Get ready with the Sword of the Hallows, Lucien. Raven will be here shortly. You cannot afford to fail, we both know that they will take you if you fail. Based on the volume of your so-called crimes, I'd say they put you up for the death penalty."
Wykkyd commented, "I regret nothing, sir. Everything you told me to do was something that I wanted to do. They will not take me alive, I will make sure of that."
"I know you will, Lucien. You were my protege, my best soldier. Loyal, unflinching, cold. Everything a good soldier needs to be. Are you ready for a war?"
"Every day, sir."
With that, Wykkyd walked over to a nearby table and picked up the Sword of the Hallows, throwing a few practice swings before holding it with both hands at the side of his head, ready to swing at Raven when she comes in.
Savage's scientists soon isolated Ravager's A-negative blood from the super-serum inside of her blood. After some distilling, the brown liquid sat in a flask next to the scientists.
Savage grabbed the flask and looked inside at the super-serum. He noted, "This is our ultimate weapon. Our path to world redemption starts now."
One of the scientists urged, "Um, sir...we need that to identify the chemical make. It is nearly useless if we cannot replicate it. The amount in the flask is good enough for only one man."
Savage returned the flask before adding, "Carry on, and hurry up. We don't have a lot of time before the Titans get here, and we need to know how to make that serum. We need to use this serum if we are to have a victory and end the Titans once and for all."
"Got it, sir."
The Titans were getting closer to the inner sanctum, but their time was ticking away. Savage now had the super-serum and it was only a matter of time before he knew how to replicate it, so he would be able to administer this enhancement to all of his PRA soldiers. The Titans did not want this to happen but Savage was remarkably persistent in trying to ensure he slows down the Titans enough. There were teleportation wards throughout that kept Raven from just bursting into the sanctum and beating up Savage and his men, so this was going to take a while.
The Titans were now just one floor away from reaching the inner sanctum, nearing the laboratory where Savage's scientists were about to identify the contents of the super-serum that had been injected into Slade forty years earlier and now ran through Ravager's bloodstream.
Before they could reach the staircase, they were ambushed by Gorilla Grodd, one of the two remaining members of Tartarus (the other being Cheshire, who was yet to be seen). Grodd launched a psychic attack that blasted away Jinx.
Raven called out, "Jinx, handle Grodd! Ravager, Hustler, and I will continue towards Savage and Wykkyd."
Jinx nodded at Raven's orders. Jinx fired off a couple of hexes that proceeded to mildly distract (and irritate) the oversized gorilla, but were unable to do a whole lot of damage.
Grodd roared as he charged right at Jinx. The other three Titans proceeded to continue down towards the laboratory, getting closer to Savage and Wykkyd.
Raven, Hustler, and Ravager rounded a corner, passing through the staircase as they approached the security door that locked them out of the laboratory. Hustler noted, "The door is armored but it's not indestructible. A good explosive should force it open."
Raven ordered, "Then blow the door."
Hustler went up to the door, grabbing a molding clay C4 explosive from the X-vest and began placing it on the door a bit above the handle. This molding clay explosive enabled Hustler to shape the explosive so he would be able to concentrate the blast and place it where it would not ordinarily be placed.
While he placed the explosive, Cheshire began to come up from behind the three, ready to pounce on Hustler, in order to prevent the Titans from breaching the laboratory.
She made her move, lunging towards Hustler, but before she could get close enough to impact, Ravager threw a knife at Cheshire, hitting her in the shoulder.
Cheshire stumbled about in pain from the wound. Cheshire soon grabbed the knife from her shoulder and threw it away, getting ready for sustained combat with Ravager. Ravager declared, "I'll handle her. You two get Savage."
Raven said, "Alright. Hustler, you ready to blow it?"
Hustler soon finished shaping the explosive he was about to detonate. He ran back towards Raven and pulled out a detonator for the C4. Hustler pressed the trigger and instantly the door opened from the force of the impact. The two of them soon ran into the laboratory as Ravager began a blade fight with Cheshire.
As Raven and Hustler rushed into the laboratory, they saw that Savage had already extracted the super-serum from Ravager's blood and was now in the process of analyzing what it was.
Raven ordered, "Destroy the computers, Hustler."
Hustler replied, "With pleasure."
With that, Hustler pulled out his two SIG-Sauer P250 handguns and began to shoot up the equipment analyzing the super-serum. Sparks flew as bullets impacted the glass monitors and silicon computer chips. Many scientists, upon noticing the two Titans, raised their arms in surrender, as if to avoid being killed or badly beaten.
However, Kyd Wykkyd pulled out a Para-Ordnance LDA and proceeded to shoot the surrendering scientists in the chest. About fourteen gunshots were fired by Wykkyd and fourteen scientists soon lay on the ground, either dead or dying, blood pouring from their bodies.
Hustler fired his handguns at Kyd Wykkyd until he ran out of ammunition, forcing Wykkyd behind cover as he was not wearing a bulletproof vest. Wykkyd could not return fire as his gun was out of ammunition, and he did not have an extra magazine for the pistol.
Wykkyd discarded the LDA as Hustler placed the P250 handguns back in their holsters. Savage came out and said, "Well done, Raven. You reached the inner sanctum. You found where the world will begin its irreversible change."
Raven shouted out, "You don't know what you're getting into, Savage."
Savage replied, "Oh, I think I do. I have the super-serum and I intend to use it. You thought you destroyed all the data on this serum, but they've been feeding the data to a back-up server far away from here. I will give it to every one of my soldiers and they shall conquer the globe."
Raven snarled, "If they don't go crazy insane first."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"One of the side-effects of the super-serum is mental insanity. Did you ever care to look into the case of the longest-surviving soldier injected with the super-serum?"
"Deathstroke, what about him?"
"His sanity went out the window after he was injected with the serum. He later came here and became the criminal mastermind Slade. You really think that your soldiers will remain loyal to you once the super-serum enters their bloodstream?"
"Do you really think that I'd believe your bullshit?"
Hustler added, "It's true."
Savage asked, "Then what about your sister? The serum already runs in her blood. Is she not a crazy risk as well?"
Raven replied, "Ravager's already crazy. She just managed to live through it and push her instability away where it couldn't affect her."
Hustler commented, "That's true."
Savage grabbed the needle with the super-serum and proceeded to inject the entirety of the needle into Kyd Wykkyd. Wykkyd fell onto the floor, dealing with the intense grasp of being injected with the super-serum, which flowed into his bloodstream, making him stronger.
When Kyd Wykkyd got up, he aimed the Sword of the Hallows at Raven, preparing to thrust at her. Savage noted, "Lucien, you know what to do. Guards, finish off her friend. Ta, ta, Titans."
Raven said, "Hustler, take them down no matter what it takes."
Hustler replied, "Gotcha."
With that, Vandal Savage left the laboratory, unable to get a teleportation out as Wykkyd was now busy engaging Raven whilst the teleporter in his base was now shut down.
Raven used her powers to quickly grab the two wodaos that Wykkyd had already set down in favor of the Sword of the Hallows - a weapon Raven had already faced before two and a half years earlier in Bucharest - it had almost been her end but Raven had successfully grabbed it and used it against its wielder to devestating effect.
Raven was engaged in a sword fight with Kyd Wykkyd, blocking Wykkyd's blows as she swung her own that quickly forced him on the defensive. The sword, while powerful, was bulky, making it slower than the wodaos Raven was using. Raven used this to her advantage and left a number of slashes across Wykkyd's arms.
However, the super-serum was already in effect and his arms quickly healed, as if nothing had struck. This was a difficult fight Raven was going to have against her near-equal at this moment in time.
Meanwhile, PRA guards quickly rushed on Hustler, all trying to kill him. He pulled out the G36C and proceeded to mow them down - they would be able to claim self-defense in this case, especially since there were a lot of guards.
Hustler, upon running out of ammunition for the G36C, switched to the Mossberg 590, shooting several guards with buckshot that was relatively effective, but he only had so many shells, which quickly depleted.
Ravager was in an intense swordfight with Cheshire as the latter was trying to slash her claws into the former. Ravager's katanas gave her some distance against Cheshire, but she was relentless in her attacks that managed to close the distance between the two.
It was a stalemate match but neither side would give up - it was a fight that could last for all of time...if Cheshire did not succumb to her previous wound beforehand.
In the fight between Jinx and Gorilla Grodd, the pinkette bad luck charm was having a very difficult time against the super-smart gorilla as she was quickly forced on the defensive, trying to avoid his debilitating mental blasts.
Jinx fired off her hexes at Grodd, but they ultimately proved useless against his giant physique and she was soon met with a blast that sent her spiraling into a nearby wall.
Heavily winded, Jinx nonetheless got back up, trying to figure out how to defeat Grodd before he killed her.
Raven was swinging the wodao swords against Kyd Wykkyd in an attempt to take him down before he killed her. The slashes inflicted upon him were damaging, but were quickly healed, unable to do anything to slow down Wykkyd as he thrusted his sword at her.
Raven ducked and impaled one of her swords in Wykkyd's abdomen, backing away in hopes that her attack succeeded. Wykkyd was stunned and was slowed down as his body healed up the damage. Raven swooped in and managed to disarm Wykkyd of his sword.
However, Wykkyd delivered a side kick that sent Raven backwards, enabling him to regain his sword before running off. Raven followed in pursuit, hoping to catch him before he got away...again.
More guards came their way towards Hustler, who was emptying his P250 handguns into them, taking several out before his last magazines in the gun went dry. Dropping the P250 handguns onto the ground, Hustler threw a flashbang, distracting the guards long enough so he could move away, now equipped with the Mk 1 Mod 0 sniper rifle.
Hustler opened fire with the sniper rifle, downing twelve guards before he ran out of ammunition. All Hustler had left were his hand grenades and various other X-vest goodies.
Cheshire was slowing down because of her bleeding arm, removing her ability to fight, but her will remained as she went after Ravager, who blocked her attacks which gradually became lazier as Jade became weaker.
Cheshire, now almost completely drained, stumbled about, soon clunking up against a wall. She fell down onto her knees as Ravager approached her.
Ravager noted, "This is our last fight."
Cheshire ripped off her mask, revealing her true identity as Jade Nguyen - heavy pink-brown skin with sapphire eyes and long black hair. Jade spoke, "It is, and you are the better."
Jade then turned her claws on herself, drilling them into her chest. She pulled them out a moment later, revealing several sharp pointed holes in her chest before collapsing onto the ground, dead.
Ravager commented, "Oh, Jade. You took the easy way out. I never actually thought you would, even after all of this. You truly were never joking about this back at the HIVE. Goodbye."
With that, Ravager ran into the inner sanctum to help out Hustler, who was running low on equipment.
Jinx was continuing to struggle against Gorilla Grodd, her power and physique no match for Grodd, who continued to pound her, making it almost impossible for her to win.
Jinx decided to try something and fired her hexes at the ceiling, causing some heavy tiles to fall onto Grodd, who was too busy heading towards Jinx to notice it, and too unconcerned about the damage.
Grodd fell back a little, a bit dazed from the heavy impact. Jinx used this opportunity to fire more hexes at the ceiling, impacting Grodd with even more heavy tiles. When he tried to block the tiles from hitting him, Jinx instead fired her hexes at the walls, which scratched up his arms before knocking them onto the ground.
Gorilla Grodd tried to get up but Jinx simply ran up to him and kicked him in the throat, causing him a lot of pain before punching him in the neck with a hex-charged fist, knocking him out for the time being.
With Grodd down for the count, Jinx went to help Raven in her fight against Kyd Wykkyd.
Speaking of the half-demon, Raven continued her pursuit against the teleporting metahuman, attempting to take him down before he got away (and before he killed her with the Sword of the Hallows).
Raven swung her wodaos at Wykkyd, but he ducked from the blows as he sent his own towards Raven, which she avoided. Jinx soon joined Raven, trying to figure out what to do. Jinx asked, "What's going on boss?"
Raven replied, "Wykkyd's trying to take me down. He's got the Sword of the Hallows and the super-serum in his blood. He is proving to be incredibly difficult."
"How do we stop him?"
"I need to get the Sword of the Hallows and use it against him. Worked with Brother Blood."
"On it."
With that, Jinx began throwing hexes at Kyd Wykkyd, which began to unbalance him and he soon found himself unable to keep a steady footing because of the hexes disrupting the floor.
Wykkyd made a daring move, jumping over Raven before lunging the sword right at Jinx, trying to kill her. Raven, however, produced a shield of white energy that blocked the sword's impact and bounced Wykkyd onto the ground.
Jinx picked up the Sword of the Hallows and began to swing it at Wykkyd, who tried to run but was ultimately blocked by the wodaos wielded by Raven.
Jinx then proceeded to slice off Wykkyd's left arm. As he screamed, she said, "That was for See-More."
She sliced off his right arm as she added, "This was for Billy."
As she sliced off his left leg, she cried, "This is for Mammoth."
As Jinx cut Wykkyd's right leg from his body, she said, "And that was for Gizmo."
Jinx soon plunged the Sword into Wykkyd's heart, saying, "This is for Lilith."
With that final stab, Wykkyd faded away, disintegrating into ashes as his soul was forced into hell for the hundreds of murders committed by him.
Raven said, "It is done. How do you feel Jinx", that last part being a bit melancholic.
Jinx responded, "I guess I know how Ravager feels when she has to kill somebody. It's like something just breaks her. And the same thing happened to me."
Raven added, "Ravager knows what the afterlife is like, and she knows what sending a man to his death is like just as well. When she came back, her desire to kill vanished. Hustler isn't that much different. Come on, let's get Savage."
With that, Raven flew off with Jinx as they tried to locate Vandal Savage before he fled, going underground again and likely never to be seen again.
Ravager soon came into the fray of Hustler versus the guards and proceeded to cut into them, removing their weapons and knocking them down to the ground, unconscious.
Ravager jumped up towards Hustler, asking "What's going on?"
Hustler said, "Out of ammo, just got a few explosives left. Sure could use some help right about now."
With that, Ravager grabbed two remote detpacks from the X-vest and proceeded to throw them onto the walls near the guards. Ravager cried out, "Blow it."
Hustler grabbed the detonator and pushed it, which proceeded to blast away the remaining guards, slamming them either into a wall or another guard. Regardless, they were all down for the fight.
Hustler commented, "Thanks for the help, Rose."
Ravager added, "Let's get Savage."
Savage soon arrived outside of Aposkrit Applied Sciences, having called in a helicopter to extract him. Vandal Savage was hoping that the Titans wouldn't catch him and he would be able to move and try to restart the PRA movement somewhere else. Now that the Titans knew what it was, no longer was the movement completely underground. The element of surprise was gone and many members across the globe were already starting to quit.
A small helicopter soon arrived on the nearby lawn and Savage ran towards it, intending to get inside and away before the Titans could catch him.
Just before he could reach the chopper, a pink hex flew through the air and hit the rotor, causing it to spiral out of control. Savage ducked onto the ground to avoid a narrow decapitation as the helicopter crashed into Aposkrit, exploding in a burst of fire.
Jinx commented, "Ah, automated helicopters. They go down much easier than regular choppers, and runs the risk of fewer deaths."
Savage attempted to run away from Jinx but was soon finding himself crushed in a white glowing fist, now staring into Raven's eyes. Raven said, "Vandal Savage, you have been around for far too long. You murdered Julius Caesar, you betrayed Jesus Christ, you slaughtered people all across the globe, you ordered hundreds of deaths."
Savage mocked, "So, what are you going to do? Kill me? Please. I can't be killed. If I could be killed, I would have died eleven thousand years ago."
Raven commented, "You're much too dangerous to be allowed to live but you are simply too resilient to die. That's why I have the perfect solution for you."
Raven's eyes glowed red as she chanted, "Gates of Hell, arise and drag Savage down for eternity."
Raven's white fist let go of Savage as a burning red one took its place. Savage screeched, "No, what are you doing?"
Raven answered, "Taking you to a prison that you will never escape from. Enjoy the comforts of Infernal Prison for the rest of eternity."
Savage yelled out in vain, "No!" as he was dragged beneath the ground, never to be seen again.
Ravager and Hustler soon came out. Ravager asked, "Is it over?"
Raven replied, "It is. Savage will never exist on the Earth again."
Hustler asked, "Then why not just slice his head off."
Raven noted, "Savage has something that just makes him almost impossible to kill. Lilith warned me if Savage remained in this dimension, he would return and cast his vengeance. This solution works for everybody, well except for Savage."
A few hours later, local Jump City cops had rounded up all of the guards and Gorilla Grodd from Aposkrit Applied Sciences and took Siren and Lady Vic from the underground base. Red Panzer was brought from Titans Tower over to prison.
Raven contacted the Justice League regarding Savage's fate. The unanimous consensus was that while it was a bit too violent, it was the only solution that would work for the immortal.
Ravager managed to hack into the satellites that held the back-up data for the PRA and retrieved the identities of the other top members - all of whom were arrested by Titans across the globe.
Trials were quickly convened for Stanley Ryan, Winston Sinclair, and Patrick Youngblood. Ryan was sentenced to fifteen years for falsifying permits and conspiracy against the government. Youngblood received sixty-five years in prison for the bank robbery earlier in his career, several homicides, impersonating important figures, and conspiracy. Sinclair's punishment was fifty-five years in prison for Angela Light's murder, reduced from life for his cooperation - the Titans (and Lilith) were sure that Sinclair and Youngblood would not survive their sentences.
Each of the caught PRA head members was sentenced to twenty-five years to life, pending on good behavior in prison. Lesser members that remained with the cause were sentenced to community service for ten years.
Gorilla Grodd was encaged inside of a container that blocked his powers and his physical size, which he could not escape. Red Panzer got forty years for voluntary manslaughter, attempted murder, and breaking and entering. Lady Vic received life for her multiple murders across the globe. Siren got four years in prison plus nine years of community service for her role in Tartarus (her voluntary surrender reduced her sentence).
Seeing as both of Lilith Clay's adoptive parents were deceased, the Titans received custody over her, per the suggestion of Lilith's father Loren Jupiter. Lilith would continue to go to school while living inside Titans Tower and training in the precognition that manifested in her visions. She was sworn to secrecy to preserve the identities of the other Titans, a promise she kept.
Now that everything regarding the PRA was finished and the case was closed, Raven sat on the rooftop on Titans Tower, thinking about everything that has happened.
Raven was soon greeted by the presence of Rose. Rose asked, "What are you doing out here, Raven?"
Raven responded, "Just thinking about what's happened. Have you heard about Gizmo's status?"
"He's stable now after falling into a coma from the blood loss. He should awaken in a few days, but the damage to his body is irreparable. Cyborg's working on building a new leg for Karen after she lost her's to Wykkyd."
"That's good to know. At least Gizmo and Karen will live for longer than they could have."
"What do you mean, Raven? There's something else, isn't there?"
"When I spoke with Ra's al Ghul in India, he said that on my next birthday, I'll physically stop aging. While my age will continue to rise, physically my body will never change. I could be like this for all eternity as I am now becoming part of both this world and the Infernal Provinces."
"Bit of a downer, knowing you're going to live forever."
"What do you mean by that, Rose?"
"You already knew that my father aged slower than others because of the super-serum. Now, I physically age much slower than most people. I'll reach my peak at age thirty, thanks to the super-serum in my blood. Assuming that I don't get offed in the field, I may never die. I'll outlive Grant and Joey and Kole. I already watched as Jade committed suicide in front of me. She had nobody else, nobody to live for. I hope that never becomes the case, what happened to her and what happened to my dad."
"Seeing all of history but not being able to have someone by your side."
"I hope that if we are the last two to remain, that you will stay by my side no matter what. That we will continue on when everybody else is gone. We're each going to need somebody."
Raven thought about that for a moment before answering, "Okay."
With that, Raven and Rose walked back into the Tower, assuaging Raven's fears for the future to come once she becomes truly immortal, temporarily at least.
That marks the end of The Dark Army. To all readers, Merry Christmas and a Happy 2014!
