Ataraxia Praeteritum, Perdidit Futurum

Chapter 14: Escalation

Nightwing and I walked through the metal labyrinth of the underground base. The lights flickered on and off as if the power source was constantly in flux.

Nightwing was on point while I was constantly checking our rear. As we continued on we eventually stumbled upon a set of double doors with a small terminal on the side.

Nightwing pulled out a cable from his wrist and inserted it into the machine. A holographic terminal appeared above his wrist and he began to type furiously into it.

I scanned the hallway behind us for any threats before looking over his shoulder.

"Any luck?" I whispered.

He scowled after a few more inputs and finally shut down his hacking device.

"No, we're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way."

Pulling what looked like a spray gun from his utility belt he proceeded to coat the lining of the door in a black gel. Pulling out a small box with a button on top he looked at me.

I nodded and transformed into a rhino, looking away he pressed down on the detonator.

The explosion sent the door flying into the room and I used it as a shield to block any return fire I might take.

However, after a few moments, I heard a shout from Nightwing and stopped. Transforming back into a human the door proceeded to fall with a deafening crash onto the metal floor.

Looking back, I didn't examine the room at all, I looked for Nightwing, who was just frozen there staring at something behind me.

"Nightwing what…" I said as I turned around. The sight that greeted me was nothing short of terrifying.

Wally West, better known as Kid Flash was running on a giant circular treadmill. At the bottom, there was a screen that had a clock which was frozen at 4:37.

"KF!" Nightwing shouted, seemingly released from his trance. Wally looked down to us, his face was pale, and a few gray hairs were seen on his head. Even his cheeks seemed to be sunken.

"Guys! You made it, I knew you'd find me, now get me off this thing!" he shouted. I looked back to Nightwing who was walking towards the screen.

"What is this?" He asked. I wanted to shout that it was pretty obvious what it was, but I kept my mouth shut knowing it would do no good.

"That clock is how long till the bomb goes off if I stop running." Wally croaked, he must have been parched, his throat sounded raw.

"Bomb! Did they say what kind?" Nightwing asked. KF shook his head, while Nightwing pulled out some tools and began taking apart some panels.

It took a few minutes and in that time I looked around the room, a few supply crates littered the far corners, but other than that it was barren.

"Holy Shit!"

I turned into a tiger instantly, but when all it was Nightwing staring at a component I couldn't see, I reverted.

"What is it?" I enquired, looking over his shoulder I could see what it was. A long fat cylinder with a nuclear symbol on it.

"This is a B53, this was the highest yield nuke America ever fielded, 9 megatons, we're in some deep shit," Nightwing whispered. If Wally heard he might panic, after all, we weren't exactly in a lightly populated area.

"Can you disarm it?" I asked, that was the real question, one Dick never got to answer as something came crashing through the ceiling.

Both of us turned to face the threat, but as the humanoid stood up we reconsidered our chances.

Soon another landed then another. Shortly we were surrounded by over ten different towing figures.

"Beast Boy, do you think you could give us a teleport?" Robin gritted his teeth. I frowned

"You know I'm not good at those," I said as I put up a shield to deflect incoming energy beams.

"Do it! Wally, we will come back for you, I promise!" Dick shouted.

Wall looked down and gave us a face that Dick never forgot, it was one of someone who had hope ripped from their grasp. Someone who had come so close, but lost it all.

We teleported away, and within a day Dick had everything he needed to disarm the bomb, but it was too little too late.

When the news got to us both of us were in shock. This had happened on our watch, this was our responsibility, but Central City was gone and it was on our heads.

Sometimes I would hear yelling from where I slept in Wayne Manor, I knew it was Dick, it's seemed as if even the nightmare that was our life followed us to our dreams.

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I shot up in bed, sweat dripping down my face, another nightmare. Throwing the sheets off I went into the bathroom to splash water on my face.

Was I doomed to see my old life every night? Why couldn't I just let it go, it didn't exist anymore, I was going to prevent it from happening again.

But you let it happen the first time.

Suddenly I was torn from my thoughts when loud banging on my door reverberated through my room.

"Grass Stain get your butt up if you want to miss breakfast that's on you."

Getting dressed I made my way through the halls and to the common room The odor of meats was collecting just outside.

Cyborg as always had a run at getting me to eat meat. Today it was sausage and eggs, no matter how much I wanted to, I forced myself to eat the unappetizing food.

Taking a bite of the cold cereal I wondered just how I survived back then. This stuff tasted like cardboard.

Everyone was now gathered in the common room.

Robin and Cyborg were having a friendly debate

Starfire and Raven talked, but it was mainly Starfire was talking.

And Terra seemed to just be taking it all in.

I sat there quietly. Today was the day that Cyborg was supposed to go undercover. It had only been a week since our meeting and Terra's true introduction into the team.

Raven was still fuming.

I had not been forced to clean dishes as Starfire had previously suggested. After a quick talk with Robin as to why, that wasn't a sufficient punishment Instead was going to have to train an extra few hours with Robin.

My punishment with Robin was about to begin tomorrow, he let me slide for a week, but I knew he would whoop my ass into shape by the time we were done. That had been set to 3 weeks.

"Alright guys, it's time."

Jolted from my thoughts I saw everyone gathered around Cyborg who was preparing to use holo-rings to disguise himself as Stone. I used to tease him about that, how his villain name was actually his last name, but that was a long time ago.

I got up and walked over to the group.

"Cy, don't do anything funny over there, or I will personally…" I was quickly cut off by a crushing hug.

"Grass Stain, shut up."

After a few more goodbyes he was gone. Robin went off to brood somewhere probably and the girls, mainly Star and Terra, went out to shop. Raven refused to go while Terra was there, but Starfire mentioned something about a bookstore so Raven decided it would be worth her time.

I, on the other hand, was currently in her room pilfering a few books. I felt the slightest contraction of skin on my body as it tried to conserve heat. Raven's room was always slightly chilly, I couldn't understand why, even….

I flipped over a book and it shook me from my thoughts. The white leather, the swirls on the edges.

Malchior.

I could keep him from ever escaping the book, and possibly learning a thing or two from him. Wiping it I dusted off a fair amount of assimilated particles on it. And walked back out of the room.

Putting down the book for later I began to gather up all the things I would need for my plan today.

A part of me felt slightly guilty when I took something from my teammates, but it was swiftly crushed from the thoughts of what would happen if I didn't.

I wanted more than anything to have stood up this morning and tell them everything, but what good would that do? I would either be passed off as a joke or perhaps labeled as insane.

I reminded myself that this was the only way as I entered my own room.

Pushing everything aside I created a wide enough area to make a perfect circle. The powders I had purchased were just enough to complete it but the smell would linger for days.

As I pushed the desired object into the center I sat down at the edge. Taking off my ring I set in front of me and picked up one of the many books accumulating around my room.

Turning to the desired page I began to read aloud the foreign text on the page.

The effects were immediate the ring in front of me began to glow, while the object in the middle of the ring began to slowly levitate.

As I completed the text I looked up and smirked, this was going to be good.

It's here, don't worry, another flashback for you guys trying to piece together the past.

SHOUTOUTS!

The Dimensional Reader

AND

Azarath Cat

You guys are great…. and my only feedback. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate it.

I know this chapter was a little short, I'm trying to keep them above 2k in future chapters. I also have to get this off my chest I…. disliked the third season to put it lightly. It had some gems but the overarching story was weak, so yea Brother Blood is gonna wreck shit. Or at least I hope, that depends.

Anyways, until next time.