Author: Cyclone
Feedback: Please be gentle.
Distribution: Gimme credit and a link.
Rating: Maybe a little harsh language, certainly some violence, but nothing worse than on BtVS.
Spoilers: Up to Chosen for BtVS and Winner Take All for Teen Titans.
Disclaimer: The characters depicted herein belong to other people. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Summary: The Tournament of Heroes has begun, but trouble brews back home.
Author's Note: Sorry, folks, but I've been planning this for a while now.
Shit, Xander thought. "INCENDERE!"
Der Ubermensch flew through the illusionary flames with impunity.
Xander scrambled for the only spell among the handful he knew that could actually hurt the Kryptonian.
While in Africa, he had found himself bereft of enchanted weaponry on an uncomfortable number of occasions. There was, thankfully, a fairly simple spell he could cast that could briefly give a weapon a magical aura. It did absolutely nothing else. It only providing a magical aura that could pierce some fairly nonspecific immunities.
He had to use a silver weapon for it, though. Anything else produced... unpredictable results.
Right now, he was really hoping silver-plated was good enough.
Xander finished the spell and hurled the throwing blade... then stared as it seemed to melt and elongate into a pencil-thin javelin, piercing Der Ubermensch's shoulder and impaling the Kryptonian.
"Whoa," he stared. "Cool." His gaze flicked around as he waited for the inevitable karmic backlash of having something cool actually happen to help him.
"Banzai!"
Materializing almost out of nowhere, Raptor pounced on Der Ubermensch, fists raining down on him with merciless ferocity, backed my magical strength that bypassed much of the Kryptonian's yellow-sun-powered invulnerability. Der Ubermensch stumbled back under the assault, until -- in a vision reminiscent of fabled Arthur and the sword in the stone -- Raptor pulled the long shard from Der Ubermensch...
...and was sent flying as Der Ubermensch retaliated, punching her into a brick wall.
I'm gonna have to talk to her about when not to go all 'ooh, shiny,' Xander thought darkly. This is getting us nowhere. His thoughts drifted wistfully back to the Tower. He had a full clip of kryptonite bullets there, made from the chunk of kryptonite that powered that Sladebot he'd run into in Smallville.
Suddenly, energy beams rained down on Der Ubermensch. Xander blinked and looked up.
Who is that guy? Steel? No. Booster Gold, maybe? He might be available, but the suit doesn't match...
Something nagged at the back of his mind... something about the battlesuit's purple and green color scheme...
Once the barrage ended, the battlesuited new arrival landed next to him. "That won't put him down for long," came a distorted voice.
Xander nodded, "No shit, Sherlock. I've got something back at the Tower, but..."
The helmeted head nodded, and he turned back to the crater, "I'll keep him busy."
Xander nodded back and did the hardest thing he ever did.
He ran.
Five minutes earlier...
/Nighthawk to all Titans. I could use some air support here. Since I can't fly. At all. Now would be good./
Raven turned. "Xander," she breathed as fear gripped her heart. Gunfire tore her back to the more immediate situation, and she dove into the ground, phasing through the street and catching a breather.
Merging with her soulself, she turned and oriented on where she sensed her... on where she sensed Xander, halfway across the city, and made a beeline for him.
Now...
"Gyah!" Nighthawk jumped when she emerged from the alley's street in front of him. "Don't do that!" he hissed as he paused to catch his breath and looked around worriedly.
"What?" she asked, hurt.
"Hold on," he grabbed her and yanked her into a doorway.
She noted that he was holding her awfully close. She decided she liked it.
Peeking out, he blew out a sigh of relief, "Coast is clear."
"What's going on?" she murmured, leaning into him.
"Evil Superman," he replied bluntly. "Kryptonite bullets. Trunk. My room. Tower."
"Let's go."
"Oh, no..." Xander stared.
An inferno raged in an apartment building, and dozens of voices cried out for help.
"We have to help them," Raven said, floating toward the building.
"No," his face hardened, grabbing her shoulder and stopping her. "You have to get my bullets. I have to help them."
She studied him for a long moment. "It's not your fault," she said softly.
He nodded, "I know."
Sticking out of the inferno, just barely visible, was the tail of the T-Jet.
"But the fact is," he continued, "someone's got to help them, and someone's got to get those bullets... and I can't fly."
Raven flew toward Titans' Tower. It was not a smooth flight; her powers flickered erratically around her. She had left him. She had left all of them behind to fight an army.
That they needed what she was on her way to get didn't make her feel any less guilty, and that guilt was playing havoc with her powers.
Behind her, two planes moved into position.
The pilots smiled as they opened fire.
Raptor was not having a good day. The odd spear that had impaled the bad guy turned out to not be such a good weapon after all. She was getting better results with her bare hands.
Unfortunately, "better" did not mean "good." There was no way she could trade blows with this bruiser and come out on top.
Starfire was doing marginally better, but again, "better" did not mean "good."
The only one who seemed to doing well was the mystery man in the green and purple armor, whose green energy blasts seemed to stun the bad guy, setting him up for either Raptor or Starfire to lay into him. Unfortunately, he'd taken a nasty hit and had had to pull out.
"As the Boss would say," she bit off between gasps, "we need a new plan. 'Cause this one ain't workin'."
"I concur," Starfire replied. "Do you have any suggestions?"
"Um, drop a building on him?"
"Very well. You get him in position, and I will drop the building."
"..." was Raptor's eloquent reply.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Starfire said. "Was that... 'quip-age'?"
"Err, not exactly," Raptor mumbled. "But hey, it's worth a shot." She charged and swung, "Hey, Sergeant Iron Tights! Eat this!"
The haymaker struck the aforementioned "Sergeant Iron Tights" in the jaw, spinning him around and sending him flying into a brick townhouse. Starbolts shot out and shattered key support beams, bringing the entire building down.
Starfire hovered next to Raptor, "Um, I believe he said his name was Der Ubermensch, not Sergeant Iron Tights."
"No no no," Raptor said, "see, that was quip-age."
"Oh, I see." It was obvious she didn't.
That was when the I-beam was thrown at them.
"Aw, hell," Raptor muttered as she dove out of the way.
Suddenly, something arced through the air over them and lodged into Der Ubermensch's shoulder.
"This time, don't pull it out!" came the familiar sound of Nighthawk's snarl.
"Um, oops?" Raptor's face reddened... just as the silver-plated throwing blade exploded, showering her with flecks of molten steel and silver.
"Damn it!"
"You're very persistent, boy," the Kryptonian snarled.
"Why does everyone insist on calling me 'boy'!" Xander snarled right back.
Suddenly, Der Ubermensch was in his face, "Because you are one."
Xander stumbled back and unhooked his cape. Swinging it around and hurling it, he yelled, "Catch!"
The Kryptonian did... and in a flash of heat vision, fried the detonator. "That really wouldn't have worked anyway."
WHAM!
Der Ubermensch crumpled to his knees, mouth open in a silent scream.
Raptor hopped around on one foot while clutching the other and swearing a storm about "nads of steel."
Xander knew it wasn't going to work. But the opportunity was staring him right in the face, and he could not let it pass.
He promptly shoved his derringer in Der Ubermensch's mouth and let loose with both barrels.
"Eat that."
"That was really bad, Boss."
"You're still in trouble, young lady," he glared.
Der Ubermensch continued hacking and coughing.
"Well, how was I supposed to know, huh?"
"Rule Seven, Raptor."
"Oh, come on. How does that...? I mean, that can't possibly..."
"Rule Seven, Raptor," he repeated. "'Contrary to what your instincts might say, weapons are not toys. Especially if they're magical.' KP. Two weeks."
"Boss!"
"Huh?"
WHAM!
"I admire your disciplinary methods, but the battlefield is hardly the place for them, boy."
"Leave him alone!"
Der Ubermensch turned and planted his fist into the charging Tamaranian's face. He looked over at Raptor... and spat twice. Raptor wondered what the hell was going on for half a second before the forty-four slugs slammed into her.
CLANG!
Der Ubermensch turned, and Xander swung his axe again. Der Ubermensch caught the weapon and tore it out of his grip. He backhanded him and stalked toward him, "For all their power, you are more dangerous. Just like the rebel Wayne."
Suddenly, he found himself flying backwards.
"Leave. Him. Alone."
Raven had returned.
Author's Postscript:
And next, the ideals of two worlds collide.