I've finally finished this update, sorry for the ridiculous wait. It's been a struggle balancing school and life in general while trying to keep up on five ongoing fanfics, but I will absolutely try to get the next update up sooner.
To make up for the long wait, this chapter is pretty lengthy and covers a lot of ground. There are some minor inconsistencies from previous chapters due to some slight changes I've decided to make to the story, but its nothing too serious; I doubt most of you will even notice.
So without further ado, please read and review ;)
Chapter Twenty: Monsters
"What the hell just happened?" Ethan gaped, staring at the smoldering hole that the transformed Fate had just left in the wall.
"PMS?" Jesse suggested. Immediately, Quinton and Ethan glared at the redhead.
"Jesse," Quinton sighed, "Fate just turned into a seven foot monster and blasted a hole in the wall. What exactly do you think PMS does to a girl?"
"I don't know, I'm not a freakin' doctor!" Jesse threw his arms up in the air. "The point is, my girlfriend just turned into an effing monster!"
"Girlfriend? I thought she dumped you already?" Ethan frowned.
"You are so missing the point dude!"
"Actually, this makes perfect sense." Quinton said in a pondering tone of voice.
"Q, I know that between the two of us, you're the smart one, and I am willing to accept that. But tell me, how on God's green earth did what just happened make any sort of sense at all?"
"Her father was Jason Blood. Considering his body was inhabited by the demon Etrigan, I suppose it's possible that some of that demonic gene was passed on to Fate as well."
"Are you telling me that she's half demon?"
"If my hypothesis proves to be accurate, than she's actually one-third demon. But yes."
"That explains the weird tattoos, and why it seems like she doesn't gets any sleep some nights." Jesse began to put the pieces together in his head. "This is even worse than PMS! You can't fix demonism by having sex underwater!"
"Oh Jesse," Quinton groaned, "I really need to draw you a diagram or something."
"A diagram of what?" Jesse frowned, obviously confused.
"Guys!" Ethan barked. "We really need to concentrate on the problem at hand here. I say we wake up Tommy and-"
"No!" Jesse interrupted. "Tommy cannot know about this."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because then he'll be all, 'I told you not to trust Fate, she's got secrets and she could be dangerous and blah-blah-blah I'm an angst-filled dick'."
"I really doubt those are the words he would use." Q objected. "It would be more like, 'We should have seen this coming. I better blame it all on myself even though I had nothing to do with it, because I'm dark and broody but have a soft side that I think only Allie is aware of, which is why I push away her attempts at affection because I'm terrified of my own insecurities being fully understood, and-;"
"Q! We get the point!" Ethan barked. "Fine, we won't tell Tommy. What do you suggest we do then?"
"Ok, we're going to wake up the girls, and get them to cover for us with Tommy and Troy. And in the meantime, we'll track Fate down." Jesse reasoned.
"But what happens when we find her?" Quinton asked.
"Yeah, do we like, kill her or something?" Ethan shrugged.
"No! I'll do that heart-warming touchy thing where I'm all like, 'Fate, I know you're still in there somewhere! Please listen to me!' And then she'll fight the transformation and we'll have a passionate kiss, and everybody lives happily ever after."
"What if that doesn't work?"
"Well then we're all screwed." Jesse shrugged.
"Sounds like a solid plan to me." Ethan nodded sarcastically.
"Honestly, since Jesse came up with, I'm just surprised it doesn't involve him getting laid."
"Oh, that part comes later on." Jesse assured them. "After the big happy ending, I get my happy ending."
"Well, let's get moving then. She couldn't have gotten far." Quinton reasoned.
"Holy crap, you guys are seriously going with my plan?" Jesse smiled.
"Why not? It's not like the situation can get much crazier." Ethan shrugged.
"You have a very limited imagination." Jesse smiled. "Let's do this!"
Allie and Flo's Room – Two Minutes Later
Quinton and Jesse crept around to the window of Allie and Flo's room. "Well? Go wake them up." Q pressured.
"Why me?"
"It's your plan."
"What if they're naked or something?"
"Jesse, would you honestly be bothered by that?"
"Good point."
"Anyway, it wouldn't hurt you, since you obviously have little understanding of female anatomy."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jesse glared. "I'm pretty sure that the stars don't have genders, Quinton!"
"That's astronomy, not anatomy you dumbass."
"Then what's anatomy?"
"Just never mind and go wake them up please."
"Ok, thank you." Jesse turned and began to vibrate rapidly, phasing his molecules through the wall and into the dark bedroom. He crept over to one of the sleeping figures that he saw, unable to tell which girl it was. I could totally get to second base right now. He thought eagerly, but then quickly counteracted with, Stay focused Jesse! If your plan works, you can score a home run with Fate later.
"Hey, wake up?" He whispered hoarsely, shaking the sleeping girl. No response. He raised his voice. "Yo, wake up please."
Suddenly, a crushing blow made contact with Jesse's crotch, and he stumbled back into the wall with a loud thud, suppressing screams of pain. Those screams were released when a foot made contact with his face, dropping him to the floor. A light flicked on, burning his eyes. "What the hell are you- Jesse?" Allie looked down at the redhead with a surprised look on her face, still in her fighting stance.
"What's going on?" Flo asked sleepily, sitting up in her bed.
"Jesse apparently decided to become a bed intruder." Allie crossed her arms. "What exactly are you doing?"
"I thought Ethan was giving it to Fate, but then Fate turned into a monster and I got really scared and peed a little, and then she blew a hole in the wall and jumped off somewhere and she's part demon and I don't understand female astrology." Jesse rattled off in a pain-filled daze.
"Um… what?" Allie gave the speedster a confused smile.
"Fate has apparently been hiding a demonic form from us; one with potentially malicious tendencies. She escaped somewhere, and now we want to try and find her." Quinton explained calmly as he entered the room.
"I'm still not really following this."
"Look, Fate's a monster, alright? And I need to find her before she does any monstery-stuff, but Tommy can't find out because he's Tommy and he'll react like Tommy. So while we're out looking for her, we need you and Flo to cover for us and make sure he and Troy don't know what's really going on." Jesse breathed. "Get it now?"
"I think so, unfortunately." Allie sighed.
"You want us to cover from you with Tommy and Troy?" Flo frowned. "That might be kind of hard. Troy's a human lie detector, and Tommy is the son of the world's greatest detective."
"Please, I need you guys to do this for me." Jesse begged.
"I never said I wouldn't do it." Flo smiled. "I love a challenge."
"I'm in." Allie grinned. "Just don't take too long, kay' speedy?"
"Thank you so much." Jesse told them with powerful sincerity, and then ran back to Quinton.
"Can we go now?" Ethan grumbled. "The sun's going to be up soon."
"Sounds good to me." Jesse nodded. "Let's get moving!"
"Which way do we go?" Q questioned.
Silence.
"I… have no idea."
"Seriously? You put together this plan and you never thought where we would actually look?" Quinton sighed.
"You know, for a guy who calls himself The Answer, you sure ask a lot of questions!"
"Alright, I've got this handled." Ethan said with only slight confidence.
"How?" Q questioned.
"Well, ok… magic is basically just another form of energy, right?"
"In theory, yes."
"I can see the electromagnetic spectrum, so if Fate's leaving behind a trail of energy… I should be able to track her down."
"Well hurry up and do it then!" Jesse fumed.
"Alright, alright, hold on." Ethan's eyes lit up with a bright blue glow, and after looking around a moment, he flashed a smile. "I think I've got her. But its faint… she's moving fast. I'll be she's cleared several miles already."
"We'll never catch her on foot then."
"I can." Jesse piped up.
"And you really want to face her alone?"
"No… but what choice do we have?"
"Maybe I can help." A fourth voice penetrated the air behind the group, startling all of them. They turned to see Sky, walking toward them sleepily.
"You?" Ethan frowned.
"Yeah, why not? I'm almost as fast as Jesse, and I could probably hold my own against her if I have to. Jesse and I can catch up to her now and keep her in one area until you guys catch up; then we can all deal with it together."
"But you can't see her trail of magic like I can." Ethan protested.
"No, but I do have super hearing and I can see heat signatures. If I combine all that, I'll probably be able to pinpoint a relative location."
"I suppose it's the best idea we've got." Q nodded. "You two keep Fate from getting any further, and Ethan and I will catch up as soon as we can."
"Well then what are waiting for? Let's do this!" Jesse shouted.
"Race you there?" Sky grinned.
"You know it blondie."
And in a blur, the two were gone, with Ethan and Quinton taking off behind them.
Unknown Location – Same Time
Gorilla Grodd paced back and forth about the hidden lair. His defeat at the hands of the children still would not cease to humiliate him. Finally, after what seemed like hours, a boom tube thundered open before him, and out stepped Grayven, son of Darkseid.
"What took you so long?" Grodd barked.
"It takes a while to sneak off an Apokoliptian ship." Grayven said evenly. "Obviously, my father cannot be allowed to know about our connection."
"Speaking of your father, I heard rumors of him showing up here on Earth. What's that all about?"
"Ah, yes. Apparently he came to battle the children who have proven so bothersome."
"They must be dead then?"
"Surprisingly, no. Due to some interference from Connor Queen with a Radion bullet, my father was forced into a retreat."
"Queen? How did he get his hands on Radion?"
"That's what we aren't sure of. We also don't know how he escaped from The Hole. It's currently under investigation by Kalibak and his crew."
"Interesting." Grodd muttered. "So what have you come here to tell me?"
"That its time to put our plans in action. The beast has returned."
Wooded Trail – Same Time
Troy Prince walked briskly through the woods, his head down, and his mind wandering. He liked to take walks; it helped to clear his mind. And that was especially helpful when he didn't want to think about the things that happened to be on his mind.
He heard a faint rustling of leaves behind him, and for a moment glanced back, but chose to ignore and kept going, keeping his senses alert. He heard more rustling, and held his breath.
Troy waited for the right moment, and then spun around with lightning speed, grabbing his stalker by the throat. He pressed the assailant against a tree and shouted, "Who are you?" But as soon as he laid eyes on the stalker's face, he immediately loosed his grip and backed away. "Flo?"
Flo fell to the ground, coughing and massaging her neck. "Geez Troy! That was a bit uncalled for don't you think?"
"Sorry. I'm kind of on edge right now."
"I can tell, Mr. Kung-Fu Death Grip." Flo got to her feet slowly, and brushed some of her silvery hair away from her face.
"What were you following me for?"
"I just wanted to see what you were up to." She shrugged, "I don't really know you all that well."
"That could be because your mouth is always too full of Quinton's tongue to talk to me." Troy smiled.
"Yeah…" Flo blushed a little. "So what are you doing out here by yourself?"
"Just thinking about some stuff." Troy shrugged.
"Well thank you for being so descriptive about it."
"It's nothing all that important." He laughed a little, then paused and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Did you hear that?"
"What?"
"Something just moved about forty feet to the left of us. Too big to be a rabbit, too discrete to be a deer. Someone's spying on us."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive." Troy nodded. "Talk about something innocuous."
"I don't know what that means." She admitted sheepishly.
"Just be casual. Don't alert them that we know they're watching us; just keep your senses sharp and wait for the right moment."
"Ok." Flo raised her voice again, "So those tacos were pretty good earlier."
"Yeah, best I've ever had."
"Well you know, I am an amazing cook."
Flo could hear it now; rustling in the leaves, slowly growing closer. Once they were almost within attack range Troy said, "Now."
Immediately, the two lunged in the direction of the rustling and made contact with two very small figures. Troy knocked them down with ease, and Flo created a water sword which she pointed at them.
"Ouch!" A young boy whined.
"Holy crap, she's got a sword!" A second chimed in.
"What the hell…?" Troy muttered. The clouds parted and some moonlight shined in, revealing the children to be Kio and Prome, the two kids that had awakened along with Sky.
"What are they doing here?" Flo gasped.
"Not a clue." Troy eyed them carefully. "How did you kids get here?"
"We followed you guys from Corey's place." The red haired boy, Prome, said.
"Yeah, we liked you way better than Corey and his friends." Kio, the blue haired boy, added.
"Great." Troy rolled his eyes. "Alright Flo, lets get these kids back to the tower and hope to God they aren't being followed."
"Followed?" Prome raised an eyebrow.
"Do you even realize we're wanted fugitives, kid? Do you know how much attention you could attract if you aren't careful?"
"We're sorry." Kio dropped his gaze.
"Troy, lighten a little." Flo whispered.
"Huh…" He sighed. "Alright, follow me. I'll take you guys to the tower, and we can all decide what to do with you as a group."
Old Birds of Prey Tower
Tommy leaned back on the bed, which hadn't been used in nearly two decades. Troy was out taking his nightly walk, and Tommy had just finished a much needed shower. It was funny how after not showering for almost three months, being clean felt alien to him. Not a bad feeling by any means, just an unusual one.
There was a soft knock on the door, penetrating Tommy's thoughts and jolting him back to reality with a surprised jerk. Hesitantly, he walked over the door and pulled it open. He was surprised to see Allie on the other side, wearing nothing but an oversize T-shirt and what looked like boxer shorts. Her golden blond hair was a mess; completely unkempt and falling over her shoulders in a mass of tangles. There was a bruise on her chin left over from the fight with Darkseid, and her emerald green eyes were weary. And all Tommy could think was, Beautiful.
He noticed the slight look of surprise on her face, and realized that still hadn't put his shirt back on. "Oh, uh… hi." He said uncomfortably.
"Hey." She offered her famous smile. "Sorry if I look as terrible as I think I do. I really had to get out of those old clothes, and this was all I could find."
"It's all right." Tommy pursed his lips, wondering if he should tell just how 'all right' it really was. He decided against it. "So what's going on?"
"I was just lonely." She lied. "Plus, it feels like I never get to talk to you anymore." That part was true.
"Well, come on in I guess." Tommy stepped out of the way so she could enter the room, and closed the door softly behind her.
"Where's Troy?"
"Taking a walk. He likes to take walks and give himself time to think."
"As opposed to your method of brooding?" She smiled.
"Yeah, I guess so." He managed a small laugh, which wasn't something he did very often. But when Allie was talking, it was hard not to smile. That was the weird thing about her; her mood was contagious. It had always been that way. No matter how bad things were, Allie had a way of people happy just by being there.
Allie sat down on the foot of Tommy's bed. And while doing so, she snuck a quick look at his abs; she'd almost forgotten how ripped Tommy was, after spending hours on end every day in the training rooms back at the cave. He wasn't Lou Ferrigno buff, but he had an impressive build.
"Why's the floor wet?" She asked, hoping to distract herself with a less thought-provoking topic.
"I just got out of the shower. There aren't any towels in this place that haven't been chewed up by rats, so I had to air dry."
"Your shower works?"
"Yeah."
"Lucky! The one in my room is all rusted out and won't turn on."
"You could use this one, I guess." Tommy shrugged.
"Just a minute…" Allie stood up and reached into the bag she had brought. "There's another reason I came here."
"What's that?"
"Well… we kind of missed Christmas… and we always celebrated in the cave, even though we didn't really have any decoration or anything. And I don't really see any reason to break tradition, so I got you something…"
"A present?" Tommy paused. "Allie, remember when you gave me a birthday present not too long ago? And it wound up with me being stupid and leaving the cave on a stolen motorcycle… and then when I came back I accidentally led Deathstroke right to us, and that kind of started all of our problems?"
"Well, this gift isn't as elaborate, I promise." She smiled. "I really don't think you can cause much trouble with this."
Allie pulled an object out of the bag slowly. It didn't take long for Tommy to figure out what it was. A notebook. A thick, three-subject spiral notebook with a black cover. Written on the cover in elegant handwriting were the words, Tommy's Journal.
"A journal…?" Tommy took it in his hands.
"Yeah. I know you lost your video diary while we were fighting Darkseid, and I know how much you love to record your thoughts and stuff, so I went looking and found that at Corey's base. I wanted to give it to you sooner, but there was some stuff written in it already so I go through and erase everything, and-"
"It's perfect. Thank you."
There was a long pause between the two of them, before Tommy started laughing. "What is it?" Allie asked.
"I just feel like a complete jackass now. I totally forgot about Christmas."
"It's ok."
"No, hold on…" Tommy reached into his pocket. "It's pretty beaten up, but here." He pulled out a small photograph, preserved in a protective plastic sleeve.
Allie recognized the photo immediately. It was taken a few years ago, while they still lived in the cave. Sort of a family picture. In the middle there was Tommy, looking grumpy as usual, with his arms folded across his chest and a scowl on his face. To the left was Quinton, with his orange shades covering his eyes, and lips pursed into a bored little line. On the right was Allie, smiling as usual, giving Tommy a playful shove as the photo was taken. And behind the three of them, there was Dinah, looking young and happy.
"Oh my God… Tommy, you kept this?" Allie asked in disbelief.
"I've always liked it." He admitted with a faint grin. "And I know you don't have any pictures of your mom, so I thought you might like to have it."
"Tommy, thank you so much."
They stared at each other a moment and Allie couldn't stop her mind from wandering back to that brief kiss they'd shared back when they were twelve. And coincidentally, Tommy's mind was on the same thing.
Their moment together was interrupted when the door swung open, and Troy stepped inside. He paused awkwardly when he saw Tommy shirtless and Allie blushing like he'd never seen. "Um… did I interrupt something?"
"Not at all." Tommy muttered, turning to face his brother. "Back so soon?"
"My walk got cut short. Flo and I found these." Troy ushered Kio and Prome into the room.
"How did they get here?" Tommy asked in confusion.
"Apparently they followed us from Corey's." Troy folded his arms. "I figured I better bring them here before they get killed by some patrolling Parademons or something."
"Where are they supposed to sleep? All the rooms are already filled."
"I don't know, maybe we can find some old newspaper or something?" Troy suggested.
"Newspaper? Really?" Allie frowned.
"You guys are terrible with kids." Flo shook her head.
"Are you guy's hungry?" Allie asked the children.
"Yeah." The two boys said in unison.
"Allie, I don't think we should feed them." Tommy interrupted.
"Why not?"
"Well, they woke up in a Cadmus testing lab… we aren't even sure if they're human."
"So what? They aren't gremlins Tommy! I don't think it's going to hurt anything if we give them some food."
"Alright, have it your way." Tommy backed off.
"If they're from Cadmus, maybe Quinton can find some information on them." Troy suggested.
"Good idea." Tommy nodded. "I'll go wake him up and-"
"No!" Flo and Allie interjected in unison.
"Why not…?"
"Well…" Flo paused. "Wouldn't it be better if at least half of us got a good nights sleep? You know, in case we're attacked or something?"
"I suppose it can wait until morning." Troy agreed.
"Ok, let's go to the pantry." Tommy looked to Allie with a raised eyebrow, "What do kids eat?"
"You're kidding me right?"
"You know what? Allie and I can deal with Prome and Kio. You two just… do something else." Flo suggested. "Come on guys, let's go get something to eat." She gestured to the children, and they happily followed Allie and Flo out.
"Good save." Allie whispered once the door was shut behind them.
"Yeah, I just hope Q and the others get back before morning."
Mountain Trail – Same Time
Quinton and Ethan hiked quickly toward Fate's location, hoping to meet up with Sky and Jesse. "This is ridiculous! We're never going to get there on foot." Ethan grumbled. "Why on Earth did we think was a good idea again?"
"Well, Einstein once said; 'Only two things are limitless, the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe.' I think we may have just proved him right."
"Is there anything you don't know about Q?"
"Theoretically there has to be, considering knowledge has a limitless number of factors and variables. But in my experience, no. I haven't encountered anything of the sort."
"Ok then."
"So what's your deal?"
"My deal…?"
"You got hit by one of Darkseid's Omega Beams, and yet you seem completely fine. Superman could barely survive those blasts, I strongly doubt you got that lucky. What exactly happened?"
"You want to know the truth?" Ethan paused.
"Truth would be preferable, yes."
"I think I absorbed it."
Quinton stopped in his tracks. "You absorbed the Omega Beams?"
"Yeah."
"I thought you could only absorb electricity?"
"So did I, but when they hit me I just… took it all in. And before I blacked out, I felt… different."
"Different how?"
"Powerful. Invincible, even. I felt like I could have taken him on right then an there, no problem."
"But then you blacked out?"
"Exactly."
"So what exactly do you think happened that allowed you to absorb the Omega Beams?"
"I don't know." Ethan shook his head. "But there's something else… I haven't had to eat since then."
"Ethan, that was three days ago."
"I know. I haven't even gotten hungry. And the doctor at Corey's place said he couldn't hear my heart beating. Its like my body is dead, but I'm still going. I can't explain it any better than that. I'm not sure how, but the beams changed me."
"Ethan, you should have told me sooner. I need to look into this, there could be serious repercussions. Darkseid is the only being in recorded history whose body has been able to contain the Omega Energy, everyone who has tried has been incinerated. If you actually did absorb it, there could be serious consequences."
"I didn't want anybody to know about it, ok? There are already enough trust issues among the team. Tommy knows about it, and now you know about it. That's how I want it to stay for a while, ok?"
"Ethan, this could be dangerous information."
"Which is why, until we know more about what happened to me, I want it kept on a need-to-know basis. Alright?"
"Last time I made a promise like that, it was to Alex, that I wouldn't tell anyone who his father was. That obviously didn't turn out well."
"Quinton, please. Just for a while, don't tell anybody."
"Ok, I won't." Q sighed, "But at the slightest inclination of trouble, I'm telling everyone."
"Fair enough."
Suddenly, a bright set of lights appeared off in the distance, along with the rumbling of motors, fast approaching.
"Get down!" Q whispered as he and Ethan both dove into the bushes. They watched quietly as a patrol of Apokoliptian Hunter Drones passed by on the ridge below them, riding on what looked like demonic motorcycles.
"A patrol team." Ethan whispered.
"Looking for us, no doubt." Q nodded.
"Well they're heading the opposite way of the tower, so that's good."
"Definitely." Q counted four drones. "Want to take their rides?"
"Seriously?"
"Hey, it's faster than walking."
"Alright, let's do this."
On the count of three, Ethan and Quinton leapt down from the ridge they were on kicked out one drone each, smashing the heads off of their steely shoulders. Immediately, the remaining drones veered around and readied their cannons. They fired, and Ethan stepped quickly in front, allowing his body to absorb the blasts! "Thanks for the juice, lunkheads!" Ethan fired a powerful shot back and blasted a hole in one of the drones.
The final drone prepared to launch a flare to signal backup, but before it could, Quinton leapt forward with a water-blade generated from his gauntlet, and sliced it in half. "Too easy." Q readjusted his orange sun glasses, and kicked away the scrap left by the destroyed drone.
Ethan and Q then mounted the less damaged of the Apokoliptian motorcycles, and prepared to take off. But as Quinton scanned the dash trying to decipher the control scheme, he realized something unsettling. There was a target pinpointed on the GPS… and it was very close to where Ethan estimated they would find Fate.
"Ethan… I don't think these drones were searching for us." Q said.
"What do you mean?"
"They already had a target pre-programmed. They were going after Fate."
Outskirts of the Mountain Range – Twenty Minutes Later
"You sure this where the heat trail leads to?" Jesse asked.
"It stops here." Sky said with certainty in his tone.
"Well, I don't see Fate anywhere. And I'm pretty sure her beast-mode would be hard to miss."
"Dude, the trail stops here. I don't know where she might have gone."
"That's what I get for relying on a Kryptonian I guess."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You guys think you're capable of anything, don't you? But then the moment push comes to shove, you can't even find the freaky demon-monster chick!"
"Get bent West."
"Whoa, Blondie grew some balls."
"Can you please not make fun of my hair, Strawberry Shortcake?"
"I've got to admit, that was pretty clever for some dumb blond."
"At least I have a soul ginger boy!"
"At least I have a brain, you glorified sunflower."
"Sunflower?"
"Yeah, you know, because you absorb sunlight and you're head is yellow?"
"You're really working against your own argument about the whole 'having a brain' thing, you know that Jesse?"
"Shut up!"
"Ooh, clever."
Jesse opened his mouth to make a comeback, and a monstrous roar erupted into the air. Sky looked at the speedster with wide eyes. "Dude, how did you do that?"
"That wasn't me stupid!" Jesse shouted, turning toward the tree line just in time to see a gigantic, yellow skinned monster with horns and fangs leap toward him. "Shit!" Jesse dodged at super speed, "Guess I owe you an apology Blondie."
"That's Fate?" Sky asked in awe.
"Yeah."
"Wow Jesse, you really know how to pick em'."
"She doesn't normally look like that, ok?"
The monster spat a large fireball at them, and the two barely managed to avoid it. It prepared to launch a second fireball, when Sky stepped forward. "I've got this!" And as the flame erupted, Sky unleashed a torrent of super-breath.
And when they made contact, the fire tripled in size, exploding toward Jesse and Sky like a bomb! "Oxygen expands flame you moron!" Jesse screamed, sprinting away from the torrent of fire.
"Well I'm sorry! They don't teach a science class at The Hole!"
Through the fire, the monster leapt forward and grabbed Jesse, its purple eyes gazing upon him with a daunting glare. In a voice that sounded like two people were speaking, it said, "Stupid child, you're strength proves mild. You dare to fight me, and soon dead you'll be!"
"Sorry Dr. Seuss," Jesse choked, "But I've got a different idea." He vibrated his molecules straight through the monster's hand, causing it to scream in pain as he escaped its clutches, just before Sky leapt in and drove his fist into its face.
Sky proceeded to pummel the monster mercilessly, but its strength rivaled his own and he was soon overpowered. The monster punched Sky into the ground and blasted him with hellfire. Screams erupted from the young Kryptonian, and Jesse zoomed in to pull him away from the flame.
Sky had severe burns on his chest and arms. He uttered in a shaky voice, "That really, really hurt."
"Yeah, that tends to happen when you're set on fire!"
"It shouldn't happen to me though, I'm invulnerable…"
"Oh yeah, I probably should have warned you ahead of time that Kryptonians are like, really weak against magic."
"Yeah, that would have been good to know."
Suddenly, as the beast prepared for another blast, the roar of engines pierced the air and suddenly, two large motorcycle-like vehicles rammed into it! And riding them were Ethan and Quinton.
Ethan gave the monster no time to recover, blasting it with a wave of electricity, but there seemed to be little effect. It smacked Ethan away and then attacked Quinton, smashing his water-shield with its left hand and flinging him several feet with its right.
"This thing is really freakin' tough." Jesse muttered.
"Jesse, silver!" Quinton shouted, dodging frantically around fireballs.
"What?"
"Etrigan was weak against silver! It's likely that Fate's demonic form inherited the weakness!"
"Silver…" Jesse evaded fireballs at high speed, the monster was firing them rapidly now, laughing maniacally as the forest burned down around them. "My locket is made of silver!" He quickly pulled his locket from underneath his shirt, the one he carried his family photo in… from before his family's death.
"Good luck getting close to it!" Sky shouted.
"Run around her at super speed."
"What?" Sky shouted. "What is that supposed to accomplish?"
"Just do it! I'll take care of the rest!"
"Whatever you say." Sky shrugged, and took off as fast as he could run. He began to circle around the demon at speeds far greater than that of sound. The demon attempted to strike him, but couldn't land a hit on his circular blur of a body.
And then something miraculous happened; the fire it was generating began to dissipate! The flame grew smaller and smaller, until eventually it was nonexistent.
"A vortex to suck away all the oxygen, therefore extinguishing the creature's fire… Jesse, that was brilliant!" Quinton shouted.
"Just because I don't like to play the smart guy doesn't mean I don't know how." Jesse smiled, then took off in a run. His super-fast eyes were able to keep up with Sky's movements, and Jesse jumped up at just the right time to bounce off of Sky's shoulders and fly high above the beast.
He clenched his locket in his fists, closes his eyes and said, "This is for you… Jessica." Then he plunged the locket forth and jammed it into the back of the monster's neck! The area began to smolder, and the monster shrieked in pain, thrashing around wildly. Jesse grabbed on tightly, and held the locket pressed against its skin, all the while praying that it would only harm the demon and not Fate.
The monster's yellow skin began to crack, and Sky stopped running, striking the creature with a powerful blow to the jaw that knocked it out. And after it was incapacitated, the creature slowly began to transform back into the unconscious form of Fate. Her clothes were ripped to shreds from the transformation, so Jesse quickly wrapped her up in his jacket.
He felt for a pulse, but found nothing. "Damn it…" Jesse grumbled, holding back the threat of tears. "Come on Fate, wake up. Please… wake up."
"Jesse…" Quinton put his hands on his friend's shoulder.
At that moment, the thunderous roar burst into the air, and a Boom Tube opened up a few feet away. From it stepped two large figures… Grayven and Gorilla Grodd.
"Oh crap…" Quinton stuttered.
"Who are they?" Sky asked.
"Bad news." Ethan gritted his teeth.
"Well, well, well. Isn't this a pleasant surprise." Grayven laughed, "You did all the hard work for us!"
"What do you want?" Jesse stood up, holding Fate in his arms.
"We want the beast." Grodd answered demandingly.
"Fate?" Jesse looked down.
"Unfortunately, the girl is part of the package." Grayven stepped forward. "I suggest you hand her over politely, and maybe then we'll decide to kill you quickly."
"Not a chance ugly!" Sky shouted, leaping toward Grayven.
"Sky, wait!" Q screamed, but it was too late. Grayven withdrew a piece of kryptonite and rammed it forward, jamming the radioactive rock deep into Sky's flesh!
Sky let out a scream of agony as the radiation immediately began to kill him, and Grayven simply flung the young Kryptonian onto the ground.
"Son of a bitch!" Ethan screamed, and prepared to attack, but Grodd blasted the hero with a poison dart that dropped him instantly.
"In case you couldn't tell, we came prepared." The ape smiled.
"Q, get her to safety." Jesse handed Fate carefully over to Quinton, and then erupted into a burst of speed like never before.
"Inertia!" Grayven shouted as the young speedster approached, and suddenly a yellow-orange blur collided with Jesse and struck him painfully in the stomach, putting the speedster on his knees. Jesse looked up to see Inertia, an evil clone of Bart Allen, standing above him with a wicked grin.
"Disappointing." Inertia seethed, kicking Jesse in the face. "I was hoping you'd put up more of a fight."
Quinton tried to run, but in a blur Inertia struck Q down and grabbed the unconscious body of Fate by the hair. He dragged her carelessly across the dirt, and brought her to Grayven.
"You've done well, Inertia." Grayven smiled, slinging Fate over his shoulder. The three villains then disappeared through the Boom Tube.
"Not gonna' happen!" Jesse screamed.
"Jesse, wait!" Quinton shouted, but it was no use.
Jesse raced forward, and entered the Boom Tube just as it closed, leaving Quinton alone. Sky was on the ground with a chunk of kryptonite lodged in his chest, and Ethan was out cold under the influence of a neurotoxin. Quinton looked into the rising suns, his hands shaking, and uttered the words, "Oh crap."