Tales of the Titans: Crucible, Chapter 21: Battle

Kitten's old house: All was in readiness. The Kindred had built the "can opener," and it was charging even now. Raven was going over the plans with the rest. "Okay, everyone. As Robin would say, this is to be a surgical strike. In and out." It had already been determined that not all of them were going, it being tactically unwise to commit all one's forces to the initial assault. Some of them might be needed for backup, or reinforcements. Or rescue. Take nothing for granted. "Alpha? The scrambler is ready?"

"It is. You have but to place it within reasonable proximity of his machinery, and that machinery will cease to function. That does not preclude the possibility of additional machinery beyond the immediate area, of course. That may or may not be affected, depending upon conditions in that pocket dimension and whatever shielding Lucifer may have.

"The siphon is also fully activated." He held up a small cylindrically instrument. "Place this within proximity to his data storage facilities, and it will automatically connect with and download any and all files. And automatically relay that data into secure storage."

"Good." Omega, Athena, Haywire, and Devil Cat had insisted on being the initial assault team, with Beast Boy and Blackfire kept in reserve. Angelique, Ghost, and the Kindred would remain at this end, to monitor the gate machinery and make sure it continued to function as it should. Angelique had wanted to accompany Kitten's team, having come to regard Killer Moth almost as an uncle—not to mention the father of her best friend and adopted big sister. But Omega had explained it to her that this was an even more vital part of the whole operation. Cyborg had to stay behind, at least for now, due to the possibility of the Kindred's devices interrupting his own circuitry. Terra was also selected to remain on standby, since the general consensus was that it was highly probable her powers wouldn't work "over there." But if necessary, she could be called upon to bring large masses of rock, dust, and debris through the gate; a kind of chaff to interfere with and block off any pursuit. Raven hoped it wouldn't be necessary, but that wasn't the way to bet.

She really wished she could've persuaded Kitten to remain behind, too, but Kitten wouldn't hear of it. And, thought Raven with a sigh, she really couldn't blame her.

How would she feel if someone killed her mother, Arella? Raven was honest enough with herself to admit she might not be taking it as well as Kitten appeared to be. Omega had concurred with Kitten, though it was clear he was concerned for her safety.

But I cannot imagine anyone having a better bodyguard, thought Raven with a slight smile.

Plans were gone over, every detail nailed down flat, every conceivable contingency accounted for. Now it was just a matter of powering up the 'can opener.'

Off to one side, Kitten had her arms around Omega's neck. "And," she was saying, so low the others couldn't hear her, "once we've gotten back, it's you and me. Right? I'll have to teach you what 'victory sex' is really all about."

"If it's better than regular sex, I'm all for it." He kissed her.

She pulled up to his ear, no small feat considering their differences in height. Spoke so softly that even she could barely hear herself. "Say. Whaddaya say we invite Athena to that party?"

He pulled back, surprise and shock registering on his face. "Kitten!"

"Hey, it was a joke, okay? I just love seeing you all embarrassed like this; your whole head turns silver. But for now just shut up and kiss me. We'd best be going."

….

In the pocket universe ruled by Lucifer: He sat at his desk, scanning over some reports. It was indeed a shame that he'd had to kill Dr. Van Cleer; in spite of his abject failure as a supervillain, the man had possessed an impressive intellect. If only he'd used it properly…

And now, of course, the Titans were massing for an attack, just as he'd anticipated. He'd see to it they acquired the data they sought—plus a little something extra. There was another threat he hadn't told Killer Moth about, one that, frankly, he didn't really like to think about himself. But a true scientist, and any strategist worthy of the name, must take into consideration scenarios that do not necessarily lend themselves to one's peace of mind. That was simply the art of preparation. It was fools—and others who dabbled in self-deception—who failed to take into their calculations unsettling facts, who failed to make allowances for them. And who often paid the price.

….

Deep within the vast cybernetic structure that was Lucifer's home base, a gate opened. Omega and Athena emerged, already powered up, alert for any sign of defensive/offensive mechanisms. Haywire and Devil Cat followed. "Haywire? What can you sense?"

"Lotta current goin' through here; can't sense any thoughts. Orders?"

"Find the biggest concentration of electrical activity. Then point."

…..

Another universe: the planet was doomed, and the people knew it.

There were riots in the streets of the larger cities, but in the smaller ones, many of them seemed to take the matter in stride, although not happily. Many places of religious gatherings saw unusual attendance this day; those who attended were more silent than usual. Often, before, such meeting places had served as social centers, where friends met friends, chatting about crops, or politics, or the weather, or pretty much anything and everything. But today silence reigned, as the people sat in the rows of benches and prayed. Many prayed for themselves. Many more prayed for their families, their loved ones, the ones now lost behind the Red Veil.

Their space agency had spotted the Veil almost as soon as it had appeared, coming from the northern quadrant. At first, speculation had been mild; some new galactic phenomena of some sort. Maybe an expanding dust cloud from some cataclysm far off in space, just now reaching them. But that wouldn't account for their inability to see through the Veil, to see any of the stars they knew should be visible beyond it.

So they had sent probes, of course. It was scientifically interesting; what could the composition of the cloud be? But the probes had dropped out of contact as soon as they crossed the border between the Veil and everything else….

A crewed ship was sent, it being common knowledge that intelligent beings were of course far more adaptable than unfeeling machinery. No doubt but that the crew of the ship would be able to determine at least something of what the Veil actually was, and report back. And the crew had been briefed on the possibility that conditions beyond the Veil might prove lethal. They had accepted that, and were nonetheless excited at the chance to see the anomaly, up close. Privately, they acknowledged, to each other, that, over and obove the fear they felt, there was a pervading sense of wonder, a feeling of being on the very leading edge of the frontier of knowledge. They had looked forward to the trip, to the discovery of something new.

There had been no contact with them since they crossed the boundary separating the Veil from the rest of the universe.

Another ship had been readied, this one an armed destroyer. It, too, ceased communication once it entered the Veil. Message after message had been beamed into the heart of the phenomena, but there had been no reply.

Now the Veil was approaching their planet. No one knew what lay on the other side. Would they all die? Would they all be transformed, and, if so, into what? The psychologists could come up with no reason why the crews of the vanished ships should not have made some report.

Soundlessly, painlessly, the Veil enveloped the planet….

….

Something exploded nearby, causing Hank to dodge, and Athena move to shield him from the blast, even as he leveled his weapon—a variation of the Hunter weaponized cutting beam—to cover her. "This way!" Omega charged down the tunnel they'd blasted, into the heart of Lucifer's complex. According to Hank's senses, it shouldn't be too much farther….he glanced behind him.

Wait. Where was Kitten? "Athena! Signal for reinforcements, and see to the delivery of our packages! Then back out of here—I'm going after Kitten!" Upon Athena's signal, Blackfire and Cyborg vaulted through the gate, adding their own firepower to the others…

Omega doubled back on the trail of destruction they blasted. She had to be somewhere close by; he knew she didn't have the capability to carve her own blast tunnels, the way he, Athena, and Haywire were doing. So she had to be somewhere, somewhere fairly close by, with a passage that led to it….

Elsewhere in the complex: a figure sat at his desk, reviewing the reports on his projects, and, not incidentally, watching the progress of the Titans as they made their way through his stronghold. He noticed they'd brought in reinforcements; good, good; just as anticipated. Standard battle tactics, of which he was sure both Osirans were perfectly aware. But where was-* "Dr. Herbert Quincy DeVille, I presume?" said a calm voice from the doorway.

He turned and rose. "The one and the same, Ms. Van Cleer. I congratulate you on finding me so swiftly, considering how much of my fortress there is to search through."

"Wasn't that hard," said Kitten, moving into the light. "I figured you'd be in the most heavily shielded area, or one of them, at least. This one was closest."

"And here you are. My, my. Look at you." DeVille ran his gaze up and down her. "Yes, yes. A spectacular success, if I do say so myself. But I have to wonder: to what do I owe the honor of this visit? Why did you seek me out, alone? Why not bring your friends as well?"

Devil Cat looked at him levelly, her expression impossible to read. "What's between us is personal. You killed my father, you cold-blooded son of a bitch."

"True, true, I did. But really, Devil Cat, would you really have had it any other way?"

She was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Consider. Really, all that your father—your biological father—had to look forward to was a slow decline as the years caught up with him. I followed his publications, what few of them ever actually got published." Shrug. "In all fairness, you have to admit it's difficult to fault people for finding articles on how to mutate a moth's genetic structure a trifle…boring.

"Ultimately, he would have ended his days in some retirement home for obsolete supervillians—if they'd have even let him in the door. He would have become a burden on you, maybe even an embarrassment. This way, he got to exit on a positive note, knowing you to be in good hands with the Titans, and, yes, particularly with your Osiran lover. This way, you get to remember him as going down in the line of duty, a casualty of war, a victim of a mad scientist….and not as the pathetic overprotective loser he was."

Kitten's face took on a surprised look. "I…I honestly hadn't thought of it that way. Much as I hate to admit it, you're right." She sighed, looking down at the ground. "Maybe…maybe this was for the best, overall."

"I understand your feelings. I'm not without them, myself. But I do hope that, in time, you'll come to see the logic behind his death, and to accept me as your true father, in a sense of the word.

"I don't expect it to happen overnight. But one reason I chose you for the initial transformation process was your psychological resilience, your ability to face harsh realities unflinching, and to adapt to those realities. And one of those harsh realities is: the Osirans are anything but dead. You, along with your allies, both human, enhanced human, and Osiran, will have to deal with a world full of beings genetically programmed to conquer the entire universe. And remember: they succeeded in doing so in their universe of origin. You'll have to make a difference in order to keep them from doing so here. That is, unless the thought of living under Osiran domination appeals to you, and I don't think it does."

He extended a hand towards her. "I can help you do that. My complex here is beyond the reach of Osiran senses, and most of their sensors. And I've no more desire for aliens to conquer Earth than you do." He shrugged, and allowed himself a small smile. "To be totally honest, I'd rather do that myself. At the very least, I know what it's like to be human, rather than an uncaring alien overlord. Remember what just one of them did to your friend, Athena. Multiply that by millions. You might find yourself as one of those victims. That would certainly displease me, nearly as much as it would you.

"So to you, and through you, to others, I extend the offer of cooperation. You may not be in agreement with some of my methods, but I can assure you I have only mankind's best interests at heart.

"And you, daughter of my mind, if not of my flesh, could aid me—could aid us all—in being the saviors of the human race, perhaps even of your whole universe.

"Does this sound agreeable to you? Or would you rather see your world overrun by beings like Omega, but completely subservient to the will of alien masters?

"So which option sounds best to you?"

Kitten thought, and thought hard. She trusted Omega, and she trusted Athena, but from what they had told her about what the Empire of Osira had become….she couldn't wish that on the world. No.

And the Osirans had the advantage of having hundreds of thousands of Earthly years—maybe more—in terms of advancement, both technological and biological. And they had the experience. She didn't doubt but that, if they still lived, sooner or later, Earth would get their attention.

But did she believe him?

Yes, she decided, she did. Omega and Athena had survived, as had the Kindred, the warriors from one of the pods, and even a stray Lord. So, yeah, the probability of more of them surviving increased dramatically. They—and humanity—would need all the help they could get, just to tread water against a force like that.

She sighed. Some things…hurt, just to think about. "Alright. I admit it. If it's true that these Osirans are on their way, yeah, we're gonna need everything we can rake and scrape together.

"And, yeah," and here she looked down at herself, "I gotta admit, even though I hate what you did to me, I can't deny that you improved upon what I was. Still feel like a freak, though."

"But," he said, "If everyone's like you, you won't be a freak anymore, now would you?"

"That's…true." Here she looked up, sharply. "But no way can I sanction you killing half the human race. There's gotta be a better way."

"Perhaps there is." He came around from behind his desk. "If I can run certain tests on you, comparing the results with my own, and determine just who has the proper genetic structure, perhaps the death toll could, at least, be minimized. I'd go along with that, for your sake.

"So. Does this mean we'll be working together."

She turned a scorching look at him. "You still killed my dad. I hope you don't think I'm just gonna forget that."

"No, I don't. But I really did have your best interests at heart. As well as my own. Your father was on the verge of discovering an antidote for the retrovirus. Had it gone into mass production, as it almost certainly would have, the two in combination would have decimated the entire planet. Not just a case of, as you said, half the human race. More like ninety-nine point nine nine nine. The few survivors wouldn't have even made the expanding sphere of the new Osiran Empire so much as burp."

"Well….alright, then. I guess you have that information on the Osirans, and what they're up to?"

"But certainly. I made certain that your friends were able to access that information with their interface device.

"So…are we then partners? Partners in the Earth's salvation?"

"I," her face twisted. What she was about to say hurt and hurt a lot but…"I guess so. Uhm. Shake on it?" She extended for her hand.

He approached warily, but took her hand readily enough. "Shake on it, daughter."

Again Kitten sighed. This next part would be even more against her nature, but she had to do it. She reached her other arm around him, and drew him into a hug.

Surprised, he reciprocated. "My, my. To what do I owe the honor?"

Still in his embrace, she shrugged again. "May as well deal with reality. My father's dead, and no amount grief or hating you is gonna bring him back. I may as well get started in my dealing with it now. And you're right about another thing: in a real sense, you are my father. I guess I need to start dealing with that, too."

He was about to tell her how pleased he was that she'd come around so quickly, and that he'd made her all the more proud of her, when he felt the sharp stick of a knife penetrating the back of his neck. He had time to feel an intense agony…and then collapsed on the floor. None of his limbs moved. He could barely move his head.

Kitten knelt down in front of him. "In case your curious, or haven't figured it out by now, I just severed your spinal chord. You're paralyzed.

"Now, I know what you're thinking. 'Stupid girl, I have the same healing factor as you. I'll regenerate, heal, the nerves regrowing around the blade, which I'll then simply pull out. And, in the meantime, I'll be thinking just exactly what I'll do to you once I do heal. But no matter what, my immune system will heal me.' Right? Am I close?

"Well, let me introduce you to some little friends of mine." She held up a canister of clear fluit with a syringe in one end. A wickedly sharp syringe. "This canister contains some nanobot probes, courtesy of a former associate of mine." Now she smiled a smile that would have made a saber-toothed tiger uneasy. "And guess what they fuck with."

A few minutes later, in another part of the complex, Kitten found what she was looking for: behind Plexiglas windows were the fluids containing hordes of mosquito larvae, ready for gestation. Right across from it was the warm storage area that held the retrovirus. All his eggs in one basket, she thought. Well, good. Her years of experience with her father and his fascination with insects had finally paid off. Thinking of him, her breath hitched , even as, reaching into her backpack, she drew forth a mini-nuke, armed and primed it…she didn't think she'd be able to get away in time, but she couldn't bring herself to care, so long as she was able to take down the bastard that killed her dad…

Omega appeared at the doorway. "Kitten," he began, severely. "I think we need to have a serious discussion."

She felt numb. It didn't even register with her how he'd found her so quickly. "No, 'Mega, jus' go on. I'll stay here and make sure the bomb goes off. And, and…." And here again she choked, "Never mind. Just go. Forget about me."

"Okay, I see how this is going." And he picked her up bodily, and carried her to the extraction point.

She fought, pounding her fists against his back, already knowing it would do no good. Invulnerable, remember? "Put me down!"

"Yes. That'll happen. Once we're safe."

Our universe: Omega, with Devil Cat clasped tightly to him, was the last to emerge from the gate. "Alright," said Raven, "clog and shut it!" And even as Terra sent a solid stream of loose dirt and gravel into the gate, Delta passed a hand over the control that reversed the 'can opener' effect, closing that gate, and sealing off the pocket universe, leaving it to drift apart in hypertime. {{Orb? Can you confirm that pocket dimension is no longer attached to this one?}}

{{Yes, Raven. Even as we speak, it is drifting farther away. The likelihood of anyone reconnecting it to this one is….extremely small.}}

Kitten whapped Omega on the shoulder. "Should'a left me. Why'd you come back for me, anyway? Whaddayou see in me?"

He held her head in his hand, there with the others looking on. Gazed deep into her eyes, which were red and puffy from crying. "Oh, I don't know. My other half, maybe? And don't you even try to tell me otherwise." He paused, a wicked gleam in his eye. "Besides. I had to return something to you."

Sniff. "What?"

"This." And he produced the small minitransponder/tracker she'd clipped onto his collar moments before their invasion of Lucifer's stronghold.

Her eyes widened. "How did you-*"

He kissed her. "You think you're so sneaky. But what you said—just before we went into battle—was totally out of character for you. So I knew there had to be some reason you'd want me…distracted."

Athena looked puzzled. "What did she say?" she asked.

"Something about ice cream."

Raven stepped forward. "Alright. Report, people. Did we accomplish our goals? Athena? Did we acquire the data we sought?"

"Affirmative. Alpha and I will have to go over it, but we were able to download a huge amount of data from Lucifer's computers. Whether or not it's the right data, of course, we don't know yet.

"Raven," spoke up Omega, still holding Kitten, "Will you please excuse us? Kitten and I have some things to discuss. Alone. If you don't mind." Or even if you do.

And there was another reason for his request. He'd spied a wrapped form over by the wall. A very still wrapped form.

"Oh, of course. People, we'll examine the data, and reconvene at Slade's old lair—let's start calling that our 'backup' or 'stealth' HQ. Alright, everybody, get freshened up and we'll meet back there at ten hundred hours. Everybody okay with that? Any objections? No? Very well, then. I'll see you all then."

To be continued…