And the second to last chapter is here!

Thanks to this break I'm pretty sure the future arcs will come along sooner, but remember, life could just kick me in the teeth and change all those plans. See, the entire arc's already been written by the time this chapter goes up, so chances are I'm already writing the next arc by this point. If not that, then I'm writing one of my other stories.

Speaking of, if you haven't already, go check out Triumphant! It's a Ben 10/JLU crossover fanfic with an OC Omnitrix wielder. I think it's safe to say it's my most popular story, so why not check it out? It won't hurt.

Well, that's all from me up here, on with the story!

Bloodletting

I feel giddy as I tap the center of the A (which is really an upside-down V) on my chest. After contact, the orange parts of my suit—the knuckles, elbows, the A, the sides, and the soles of my boots—become a dark gray whereas the navy blue stays the same.

I look over to see most of the others doing the same, Bumblebee, Robin, and Zatanna being the only ones that don't.

Wonder Girl's pants become black as the top half of her armor becomes gray, the stars on her pants becoming gray and the stars on her top becoming black. She notices me looking and does a quick spin before winking at me. I smile and give her a thumbs up. I can't wait until she comes back to these colors as Troia.

Aqualad—who's suit is exactly the same color wise as Wonder Girl's—has the same result, bottom half becomes black while top half becomes gray.

For Omen, the red of her suit becomes the dark gray color.

Like Wonder Girl and Aqualad, Kid Flash's suit becomes black and gray. But his boots and gloves match as well. So, his previously yellow boots become gray and his previously red gloves become black. His lightning bolt become black as well.

The light red parts of Speedy's armor becomes black, while the darker red becomes gray. He also chooses to leave his hat behind, since it isn't connected to the stealth tech.

The darker purple of Starfire's suit becomes black while the light purple becomes gray. Her silver bracers and necklace become charcoal gray as her green gems mute in color.

Zatanna mutters a spell, her white, strapless shirt becomes gray and her navy-blue blazer becomes black.

Thanks to her powers, Bumblebee doesn't have to worry about stealth tech, she's too small for anyone to notice the yellow torso of her suit.

Robin, well, I don't need to get started on his skill with stealth.

I land the Javelin a few hundred feet away from the small private academy the Hive Five are using as cover.

"Ooh, look at them, being good little students," Kid Flash jokes. "Wonder what their classes are like."

"Hostage situations 101 with Mr. Joker?" Zatanna adds with a snicker.

"DIY nukes with Major Force as the teacher?" Bumblebee adds as she lands on my shoulder.

"Dictatorship 2010! Black Adam is your professor!" Kid Flash says. The three of them break out in laughter as the others chuckle.

I shake my head with a smile before looking ahead, using my x-ray vision on the school. "All right, people, let's get serious."

"Sir, yes sir!" Kid Flash salutes. He then stands next to me and lowers his goggles, looking through the x-ray spectrum as well. "Nothing. You?"

"Looks like a normal school to me. They even have "students" sleeping in their dorms," I look in another one and regret it, I feel my face heat up in embarrassment. "Well, almost all of them."

"What'd you see?" Wonder Girl asks.

"Nothing!" I said that too fast, didn't I?

I notice her smirk, but before she can push, Robin steps forward. Thank you, little acrobat boy. "Well, they're here for sure. I got the blueprints to the building," a hologram pops up, we all lean in to get a better look. "They've got a high-speed elevator. Why have that for a three-floor building?"

"Want me to run in and cause a distraction?" Kid Flash says, ready to shoot forward at a moment's notice.

I shake my head. "No, we need to do this as quietly as possible. All those people in the school are most likely on their side. We don't want to deal with that many enemies."

"Apex is right," Robin agrees. "We'd be better off going as quiet as possible."

Kid Flash nods and gets out of his runner's position. "Got it. What now?"

Robin looks through the holograms. "Well, we can't exactly destroy the camera's, they'd know immediately," he turns to us with a smirk. "Buuut, the jet they used had some of their codes in it, codes I can use to loop the cameras, cover our entrance."

"And their other defenses?" Omen asks.

"Those can be circumnavigated, you guys just gotta follow my lead so we don't trip them on accident," Robin replies.

"Then the elevator's no problem?" Speedy asks as he rotates an arm and cracks his neck.

Robin smirks. "Nope, no problem," he looks at me. "Well second-in-command, it's your turn to say it."

I smirk and get ready to fly forward, the others do as well, Zatanna creates a platform for Robin and Speedy.

"All right, we all know the mission, we all know who our dance partners are, and we all know what could happen if things go wrong. Titans Together!"

The ten of us wait as the elevator doors ping. Aqualad and Wonder Girl slowly let the two guards down before dragging them into a nearby broom closet and hiding them in there. Once the doors open it reveals itself to be a rather massive elevator, more than capable of holding all of us, so, we enter.

Robin inputs a code, and the panel drops, revealing more buttons, he looks at the holographic screen before pressing B16, which happens to be in the middle. "It's where the Hive Five are sleeping. According to the data, at least," he telepathically explains.

"I wanna punch Mammoth in the mouth," Kid Flash thinks excitedly. We all look at him. "What? I know you guys wanna. Hell, maybe Daichi would wanna do it more considering the hit he got in on Donna."

"He's not wrong," I reply with a shrug.

Wonder Girl smiles and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Thanks, but if anyone's gonna do it, it's me."

"Hey, remember the plan? Apex is dealing with Mammoth. Sorry," Robin replies, though it's obvious he isn't sorry.

Wonder Girl pouts. "Still think it's unfair."

The elevator doors open. We all become serious as Zatanna whispers an invisibility spell that lets us get out of the elevator.

Once outside, we see two members to the Cult of Blood. They wear black robes with golden greaves, a red sash across their waist, the top half has a red line going through the center, the shoulders are red, and they have on golden gloves that end in claws. Over their faces they have golden masks that covers everything above their bottom lip. The masks are demonic and there are horns sticking out of the top.

We all avoid them as they look at each other, then inside the elevator. "The hell was that?" The one on the left asks.

"No idea," his partner replies.

They shrug and get back in position on either side of the elevator. The first guy then looks at his partner. "So? Batman vs Superman?"

"Batman. Easy."

We leave them behind before we can hear the rest of their conversation. I notice Robin looking at me with a smirk as we carefully walk through the hall. "Hear that, Apex? Batman. Easy," he taunts.

I roll my eyes with a smirk. "If they were on equal footing, sure. But most of the time, Superman takes it."

"Boys," Wonder Girl interrupts. "As Apex would say "get serious"," she then smirks. "Besides, Wonder Woman would win."

Robin and I go to reply, but before we can the door in front of us opens, out of it walks Billy Numerous, wearing shorts and a tank top as he yawns and scratches his left armpit.

We all blink and watch as he walks away before I nod to Aqualad and Kid Flash. The two nod in response and break off from the group, once out of range, they become visible again, but they quickly hide in the shadows of the dark hallway as they follow the cloning villain. They enter another room.

Okay, let's go.

I take lead again, the others follow.

"Just saying, my Dad's a lot stronger than most people think," Zatanna thinks. "He'd be pretty hard to beat."

"Yeah, unless he gets a sore throat," Bumblebee retorts.

Robin mentally chuckles. "Got 'em."

"Manhunter could so kick ass," Omen smugly states.

"He actually could, a lot of people underestimate him," Robin agrees. "Hey, this is my stop. Apex, you're in charge."

"Got it, boss," I reply as Robin breaks away, he becomes a blur that flies through the underground base.

We walk past two massive doors, I listen carefully, and on the other side I hear cackling. I raise a fist to get the others to stop before facing the door and using my x-ray vision. Well, there's our next target.

"Omen, Bumblebee, Gizmo's in here. Be careful," I tell them.

She nods. "Take over the telepathic link," I do so. "Well, see you guys in a bit," she and Bumblebee sneak in through the door, Gizmo's absorbed in his work, he doesn't even notice the door open.

"Three more to go," Wonder Girl thinks as she puts a hand on my shoulder.

The entire floor shakes. The rest of us share concerned glances, but looking at the Cult of Blood members, they don't seem to be concerned, so that helps. Another boom happens, shaking the floor again. The five of us quickly run to the source, the ground becoming less stable the closer we get, so Zatanna creates a platform for Speedy as the rest of us fly to the source.

We float outside two even larger doors, though they look like they're one poke away from falling down either way. I use my x-ray vision to look inside and nearly choke in surprise.

"What? What is it?" Starfire questions.

"Mammoth kind of became a Super Mammoth," I answer.

"What do you mean?" Starfire asks again.

"You'll see," I turn to her and Speedy. "Shimmer's in here too."

They nod, Starfire readies her star bolts and Speedy nocks an arrow.

"Good luck, you three," Wonder Girl says before kissing me on the cheek and flying down with Zatanna.

The invisibility drops, two of the cultists notice us, but Starfire and I knock them out with energy blasts to their chests. "Okay," I say aloud. "Three…two…one!"

I punch the doors inward. They fly towards the siblings, but just as it reaches them, they become steam, blinding us momentarily. I quickly swap to infrared vision and find Shimmer running to the back of the room, Mammoth runs to Speedy, intent on tackling him.

I fly in, one leg out, and kick Mammoth in the side of his head, sending him flying into a wall. I land on the ground and hiss in pain as my entire shin throbs in pain. I quickly look up at Speedy and Starfire. "Shimmer's heading through a back door! Get her!"

Speedy presses a button on his glove, the whites of his mask become red and he gets a bead on Shimmer just as she leaves the room. "Come on, Star!" The two then run and follow after Shimmer.

My leg heals up, but just as I get up a metal panel slams into me, sandwiching me between it and the wall behind me. I quickly shoot a burst of energy out, sending the panel back out, but two giant dents appear in it, slowing the panel down. It's then torn in half, Mammoth rears back and tosses one at me like a frisbee. Not taking the chance, I fly up as the panel cuts into the wall behind me. Man, that probably, might've, and could've cut me in half. I don't like being in half, it isn't fun.

The other one comes at me vertically, I vibrate, which has it phase through me. I then become solid and hit Mammoth with a powerful blast of my heat vision, I then quickly stop and fly down fists out, slamming them into the evolved metahuman's chest, the impact craters the ground beneath him.

Mammoth's now gargantuan hand wraps around my entire upper body, he squeezes my ribs as he slowly gets up, once on his feet, he slams his head into mine, causing pain to explode behind my eyes and blinding all my senses momentarily. Once everything comes back, I feel Mammoth lift me up before he slams me down to the ground. I cough up blood as I feel the ground crater beneath me. He then repeats one more time, I feel some of my ribs break this time.

How strong is he? Hell, who gave him this power boost?

Mammoth lifts me up and roars in my face, spittle hitting me. I groan as his intensely bad breath hits my superhuman smell. I grit my teeth before throwing my arms outwards, releasing myself from his grasp.

I then fly up and kick him in the jaw, sending him flying up and he hits the roof. Before he hits the ground, I hit him with a blast of ice breath, freezing him in a small glacier.

I land slowly and keep my eye on him as the bones in my upper body slowly mend back together.

Okay, so he's suddenly exponentially stronger and more durable, but what gave him the boost? Think, think… That's it! In the Teen Titans cartoon, The Hive Five were under the employ of Brother Blood! So he had to have done something to them! Power boosts, I'd say, but how'd he do it? Oh, crap, the others. They need to-

The glacier explodes, ice chunks flying everywhere.

Mammoth lands on the ground, breathing heavily as he slowly gets up, glaring at me the entire time. He then slowly gets into a runner's position; one leg drags back a few times before he raises an arm up in a defensive position.

I take a deep breath as my final rib fixes itself; I then mimic his movements. The two of us are silent as we glare at each other, then, after a silent countdown, we shoot forward.

I fly under his first attack, I then push his other fist away, knocking him off balance. As he stumbles, I hit him with a punch to the neck, which has him choke and grasp at it. I then drop down and kick him in the abdomen, but he recovers quickly and grabs my leg, squeezing it and nearly breaking the bone. Mammoth then jumps high in the air, his arm holding my leg up, as he falls, he swings his arm downwards, slamming me into the ground and parting the floor beneath me. The damage streaks along the ground and goes up the wall, causing a screen to fall down, sparks explode as it hits the ground.

Mammoth raises his fists, ready to slam them into me. I open my mouth and roar, an explosive blast of energy shoots out of my mouth and slams into Mammoth, the explosion sends him flying off of me. Mammoth then lands on the floor but quickly gets up, his body smoking from the attack.

I growl and clench my fists, energy building off of them. Okay, holding back a little less now.

I punch the ground, a wave of energy travels forward and quickly moves towards Mammoth, but he avoids it quickly, which would normally surprise me, but considering what I've seen in the sixteen years of my second life, nothing really surprises me anymore.

I fly towards Mammoth, an energy coated fist reared back. Mammoth gets ready and rears a fist back as well. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the door open, but just as it does I throw an uppercut, Mammoth punches downwards, our fists scrape across each other and our arms drag along each other, the connection creates an explosion that sends the cultists flying back and absolutely destroys the room.

The ground breaks beneath us, revealing the floor beneath us. I look down to see a massive pool of what looks suspiciously like blood below us, at one end of the room is a black and gold altar. The hell is this?

As we fall, Mammoth grabs me by the head and punches my body with his other fist, leading to pain blossoming out from every hit. I manage to get my arms out and slap both sides of his elbow, freeing my arm and momentarily disabling his arm, while he's stunned, I punch his face with an energy coated punch, the explosion sends him flying down fast. Mammoth slams into the ground, a massive pool of the red liquid shoots up and drenches me.

Yeah, it's blood all right. Don't wanna know how they got this much.

I fly down with my legs out, attempting to stomp Mammoth, instead, he grabs my leg, and swings me over, drowning me in the blood pool, thankfully I don't need to breath, doesn't make this any better though.

I explode with a burst of concussive energy, sending Mammoth and the blood flying back. Mammoth slams into the altar from the sound of it. I then get out of the blood and shake my head, getting the blood out of my hair. Maybe I should cut it, long hair can be a pain to deal with sometimes.

Nah, I like my hair long.

I narrowly avoid a massive, golden spear thrown by Mammoth. I look over to see him getting ready to throw another one. I stand still and glare at him, I then vibrate, the second spear phases through me, before it gets far I grab it. Mammoth roars before leaping towards me, I reach back and swing the spear like a baseball bat, sending him flying through the wall to my left.

I fly through the hole, but then Mammoth punches my face, which sends me flying into the ceiling, he then grabs me by my abdomen and throws me to the ground, and the metal floor ripples, knocking over many of the cultists in the area.

Mammoth then drops, attempting to stomp on me, instead I use my telekinesis, I then slowly get up and swing him around, and I slam into the floor multiple times before creating a sledgehammer out of my energy and hitting Mammoth in the side of the face.

The hit sends him flying down the hallway, the panels on the walls ripping off as he flies by.

My communicator activates. "Hey, this is Robin. I just wanna say: it's pretty hard hacking their tech when I gotta fight back cultists and deal with a magnitude twenty earthquake! What the hell's going on!?"

"Sorry, that's me," I apologize as I hear Mammoth run towards me. I get the sledgehammer ready again. "Mammoth got a power boost. He's a lot stronger and tougher than when you guys fought him."

The sound of combat and echoes of laughter comes over the call. "Yeah!" Kid Flash shouts. "This Billy Numerous guy just used Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu! He could only make three last time!"

"The same can be said for Gizmo," Omen says. "He doesn't even use his gauntlet to control his tech anymore. I think he's a technopath. It's possible they've all gotten increases to their powers."

I swing the hammer, hitting Mammoth's face and causing some of his hardened hide to break off. As Mammoth flies into another room I pick up the piece of his hide. This could be a souvenir; I'll give it to Kid.

Actually, that'd be a weird souvenir. I toss is behind me.

"I think you're right, Omen. Zee, watch out!" Wonder Girl shouts. She's silent for a moment before continuing. "Jinx's spells are far more powerful than last time."

"Robin, find out what you can about their power boost. I gotta go, Mammoth really doesn't know how to stay down," I deactivate my communicator just as Mammoth's massive fist punches through the wall and hits me, sending me through the wall behind me and into a hangar.

I fly through a jet, causing it to explode, which in turn knocks over two other jets. This is getting out of hand. I growl before getting out of the wreckage, I telekinetically push away the cultists, knocking them all out as Mammoth jumps down into the hangar.

He roars, and the cavern shakes in response.

I sigh before getting in my combat stance.

"This is gonna take a while."

Speedy and Starfire

The two run through the door, Speedy sees Shimmer run down the first left. "Come on!" He shouts before following after her, Starfire flies next to him. Speedy grunts in annoyance as the ground shakes below him, causing him to stumble and nearly fall over. "Dammit," Starfire swoops in and lifts hum under his armpits. "Thanks, Star."

"Of course, my friend," she responds with a nod. "Now, let us capture our prey."

"Yeah, let's do that," Speedy nods.

The two quickly catch up with Shimmer as she attempts to go through another set of doors. Starfire swings Speedy back before throwing him forward, the archer then kicks Shimmer with both legs into the room, revealing itself to be a science lab.

"Oh, seriously?" Speedy asks incredulously.

"Seriously," Shimmer responds. She slams her hand into the ground, turning it into air, which has Speedy fall through the sudden space below him.

When he's halfway through the floor, she attempts to turn it into stone, hoping to cut him in half, instead, Starfire flies in and takes him away just as the floor becomes solid again.

Speedy rolls to a knee and shoots a boxing glove arrow. It manages to get Shimmer across the face, which has her spin in place and grunt in pain as her jaw explodes in pain. Starfire then flies in and kicks Shimmer across the face, sending her flying across the room.

Shimmer slowly gets up and grabs a beaker, an unknown, blue fluid in it. She smirks before tossing it at Starfire, the liquid transforms into acid midair. The Tamaranean Princess quickly dodges, but the acid manages to get the bottom of her boot, burning away the heel of her boot.

"Those were my favorite boots!" Starfire cries out as she flies.

Shimmer then slams her hand into the ground, transforming it into ice. Speedy leaps on a table and shoots an arrow, the head splits to reveal it as a bola arrow. It wraps around Shimmer's body and traps her. But not for long. Using her enhanced powers, she turns the rope into water, freeing herself easily.

Starfire swoops in and kicks Shimmer in the face with the now uncovered sole of her foot, sending the enhanced metahuman flying back into the wall behind her. The same wall quickly becomes a noxious fume that cause Starfire great discomfort and forces Speedy to quickly put on his rebreather.

The fume creates a smoke screen that blinds the two, but Speedy's mask quickly switches to infrared, letting him see the multitude of Cult of Blood members moving in on their position. He quickly shoots a flashbang arrow between them and Starfire comes back to the room, where the fumes are weaker due to the room's safety systems kicking in.

"You okay?" He asks Starfire.

She coughs and rubs the tears out of her eyes before nodding. "Yes. But I will be better once Shimmer is defeated."

Speedy nods before noticing a backdoor. "Come on, we can escape through here."

A cultist manages to peek over the table the two are using as cover and nearly stabs Speedy in the shoulder, Starfire notices and grabs the man by the wrist, and then throws him into a cabinet of chemicals, spilling them all over the place.

Speedy and Starfire then duck and run through the door, avoiding throwing knives. Just as Speedy closes the door, a knife stabs through it, nearly getting him in the face.

"There she is!" Starfire shouts, she then hurries after Shimmer, Speedy runs after her.

"Yeah, stealth kind of went to shit," Speedy says into the communicator as he jumps over a cultist and kicks her in the face.

"Apex kinda made sure of that," Kid Flash snarks. "Isn't that right, Apex?"

The Vitruvian Man doesn't answer, which greatly worries Wonder Girl.

"Daichi?" She asks.

"Busy!" Is all he says, followed closely by a massive shaking of the entire building, something that nearly knocks Speedy over, but any cultists in the area are knocked down, Shimmer as well, giving the two ample chance to catch up with her.

"Robin, how's the data gathering?" Speedy asks as he, Starfire, and Shimmer arrive in an empty, massive room.

"I've got a lot of crazy psychos to deal with! Call back in a bit!" The Boy Wonder replies.

Starfire barely avoids spikes of metal thrown at her by Shimmer, she then lands in front of Shimmer and gets in a boxing stance, finding that now's as good a time as any to test Wildcat's training. And to give Speedy the perfect chance to take Shimmer down.

Starfire goes for a right hook that Shimmer barely dodges, the Tamaranean Princess pushes the attack and slams a fist into Shimmer's gut, while her enemy's down, Starfire grabs the sides of Shimmer's head and headbutts her, sending Shimmer stumbling back.

Shimmer shakes her head before growling and slamming her foot down, turning the ground below her into ice. She then leans forward and pushes Starfire back, and thanks to her missing heel, Starfire stumbles back and falls down flat as she slides away.

Speedy nocks a fire arrow and shoots it at the ground, which quickly melts the ice and surrounds Shimmer in a ring of fire, trapping her. Speedy then nocks an electric arrow and shoots it at the puddle of water, electrocuting Shimmer, but the enhanced meta quickly jumps out of the puddle and through the flames, getting out of danger.

Shimmer cries out in pain as she hurriedly shifts her burning sleeves into water, dousing the flames and soothing her burns. But this relief doesn't last long. Starfire hits the ground next to her by lobbing a star bomb at her feet, the explosion sends Shimmer back. While on the ground, the Australian meta shifts the floor beneath her into air, letting her fall down to the next floor.

"You guys really aren't the best at catching me, are you?" She taunts as she falls.

Speedy and Starfire groan in annoyance as they look over the hole to see Shimmer running away, though there is a noticeable limp from her right leg.

"She's a slippery as a dune rat in the Cragtus Desert," Starfire mutters angrily.

"I guess they're slippery," Speedy replies with a sigh as he jumps down the hole, landing on a mattress Shimmer created to catch her fall.

"Very," Starfire answers as she floats down next to him. "We need to hit her with a pincer maneuver, stop her chances of escape."

Speedy nods. "Agreed. I'll be on her tail; think you can find a way around?"

Starfire tilts her head in confusion. "She has a tail? I did not know. Where does she hide it?"

"No, not like literally, it's a figure of speech," Speedy sighs. "Come on! We're wasting time!"

Starfire nods before flying the opposite direction, having noticed that the area they are in is circular.

Speedy takes a deep breath before following after Shimmer. He knocks out some cultists in his way before catching up to Shimmer. He shoots an arrow through the shin of her uninjured leg, and she cries out in pain and stumble to the ground as Starfire appears from the other side, star bolts ready.

Speedy smirks as he gets a net arrow ready. "Well, looks like we've caught you."

Shimmer growls at him as she drags herself to the nearby door. "I wouldn't be too sure of that, boy," the doors then open, letting three heavily armed cultists come running out, a fourth drags Shimmer into the room.

"Oh for-!" Speedy dodges a swipe from a sword and fires the net arrow, though it's cut by the cultist going after him, the other two see Starfire as the bigger threat due to her powers.

Starfire manages to catch one of the swords, the blade leaves a cut, some blood drips from it. She then pulls the cultist in and headbutts him, after which she falls down low to avoid a horizontal swipe from the other cultist and spins around, tripping them both. She then flips over and stomps on both of their chests, the one hit by her soleless shoe takes less damage, but their armor helps them by taking the brunt of the attack.

As she fights the two, Speedy is locked in a battle with his cultist, using his bow as a staff to block the sword strikes. 'I should make the edges of my bow sharp,' Speedy thinks while the two are locked in a clash, trying to push the other back.

Speedy then ducks down, suddenly breaking out of the clash and sending his opponent stumbling forward. He then tackles the cultist and slams him into a wall, while his opponent is dazed, Speedy punches him across the face twice, but quickly comes to regret it due to the helmet.

But this doesn't deter him, Speedy instead continues the onslaught, his vision slowly becoming red as he doesn't see the cultist, instead, he begins to see-

"Roy!"

A hand quickly stops him from throwing another punch. Speedy looks back to see Starfire's concerned gaze on him. "Roy, he is defeated, there is no need for you to continue."

He looks behind her to see the other two knocked out, one indented in the wall and the other laying on the ground, smoke coming from his body. Speedy then looks back at his enemy, the golden mask dented, blood also seeps from the holes for the nostrils and from the bottom of the mask.

Speedy takes a deep breath before shakily getting up, ignoring Starfire, and avoiding any chance of looking at the cultist. "Come on," he says blankly as he heads towards the door Shimmer is currently behind.

Starfire puts a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look at her. "Was that about Daichi?"

Speedy's eyes widen momentarily before he glares and forces Starfire's hand off his shoulder. "Let's go, the longer we wait, the more chance Shimmer has to recover."

Starfire looks at him in worry before sighing and nodding. "Just aim your rage at them. I will make sure you do not go too far."

Speedy stays silent as he stands in front of the door and mentally counts to three. At three, he kicks the door down and rolls in, ready to shoot an arrow when he stares wide-eyed in shock.

The remaining cultist is dead on the floor, their armor gone as Shimmer now wears their armor, but the gold is now silver, and the red is now black, though she forgoes the mask. In one hand she holds the same blade they once held, in her other is a glass blade, and neither of the teenage heroes want to test it.

Shimmer smirks as she brings the two blades together, having them travel down each other, creating some sparks from the union that bounce to the ground. "So, wanna try catching me now?"

Speedy sighs. "I hate today."

Aqualad and Kid Flash

The two hop from shadow to shadow as they trail Billy Numerous, who seems to be completely oblivious to the two heroes hunting him down. Any Cult of Blood members in their way are silently taken out by Aqualad and Kid Flash.

Kid Flash stands next to Aqualad as the two watch him go into a bathroom. They look in confusion before sharing a glance. "Why not use the one in his room?" Kid Flash whispers.

Aqualad shrugs before smirking. "No clue," his eyes glow blue. "But I've got one hell of an idea."

Aqualad does some movements with his hand before the light fades away. It takes a moment, but shortly after, a loud burst of water is heard, Billy shouts out in surprise. "AW HELL NO!" Things are silent for a moment before another burst of water sounds out. "GAWDDAMIT!"

Aqualad chuckles, and Kid Flash turns to look at him. "What'd you do?"

"I flooded the toilet and had the sink explode," he points at the floor below the door. "Look."

Kid Flash looks to see the water pooling in the hallway. He chuckles silently as the two fist bump.

Billy stumbles out of the bathroom, now angered as he stumbles though the water, the back of his pants drenched, as well as his entire front.

Billy growls and heads over to his room, walking by two of the cultists on his way. Aqualad has the water attack the two before he and Kid Flash follow. They arrive at his door, they nod at each other and Kid Flash sticks his foot into the door just before it closes, the sudden presence forces the door to open.

Kid Flash and Aqualad get ready to fight, but their eyes widen in surprise once they see the inside of the room.

They don't find one Billy or even four Billys, instead they see multiple. Some are playing video games, others are working out, a few are playing Uno, and one is forced out of the bathroom, barely having time to put on his pants as the Billy they followed enters the bathroom to change.

The Billys all stop and stare at the intruders, the two heroes stare back wide-eyed. Kid Flash slowly takes his foot out of the doorway, letting the door close. The two then share a quick glance before looking back at the door.

"Shit," they both whisper.

The door quickly opens, and an army of Billys comes piling out of the door, all falling atop each other as they get closer to the two.

Aqualad quickly gathers the water from the nearby bathroom and a small flood comes down the hallway, sending many of the Billys down the hallway. The water knocks over the cultists as well.

"We should run!" The Atlantean suggests.

"That's my specialty!" The speedster replies.

The two run down the hallway, Kid Flash nearly slips a few times due to the water. "Gah, I need to add traction for water to these boots," he groans as he jumps over a Billy.

"You didn't before?" Aqualad asks as he kicks a recovering Billy in the face, knocking him out.

"These things were made to deal with uneven terrain, Keystone and Central City never had this much water on the ground at one time," Kid Flash replies. "This right!"

The two turn the corner and enter a gym, various workout equipment all over the place. Aqualad quickly notices how large the room is, which can help both of them, but it can also help Billy.

"Well, this helps us," Kid Flash mutters. "But it helps him, too."

"Indeed it does, partnah!"

The two turn around to see ten Billys waiting in the doorway, all smirking as they slowly move in to surround the two in a half-circle. "All this space? Perfect for testin' out mah improved powers, don't ya think?"

Aqualad raises his fists and Kid Flash gets in a runner's position. "Perfect for us, too," Aqualad replies.

To prove his point, the water cooler in the corner of the room acts up, followed closely by a burst of water that knocks one clone off his feet. His head hits the edge of one of the treadmills, the clone then glows red and the light flies into the Billy in the center.

Kid Flash and Aqualad quickly share a glance, the two smirk. Now they have a target.

The main Billy points at the two with a glare. "BILLY BATTLE!"

Kid Flash quickly deadpans as the Billys swarm them. "Seriously? "Billy Battle"?" He dodges a punch from a clone and hits it with a barrage of punches. "That is so ass."

"Less insulting more fighting!" Aqualad shouts as he headbutts a clone and smashes the heads of two together. Aqualad weaves through another punch and uppercuts his attacker, knocking the clone out in one strike. His enemy becomes red light again and flies to the original Billy.

Kid Flash nods as his face becomes serious. He then runs through the clones, the original being his target, but the original creates a multitude of new clones, quickly pushing Aqualad and Kid Flash back, which also lets the original Billy hide again.

Aqualad growls as many Billys tackle him and keep him pinned down. A few kick and punch him as he's prone, the hits actually sting a little, but they mostly annoy him.

"Come on, boys! We gon' have ourselves seafood tonight!" A clone shouts.

"I'm. Not. FISH!" Aqualad shouts as he sends them all flying back with a concussive spell, that manages to knock many of them out, many lights of red streak over to a Billy running at Aqualad, a barbell in his hands ready to slam into the Atlantean's head.

Billy manages to hit Aqualad in the head, the hit causes his ear to ring loudly as a stinging sensation overcomes the side of his head. Two Billys then tackle him over a treadmill, and a third turns it on to its max setting.

Aqualad shouts as he's launched across the room.

Kid Flash barely avoids his teammate as a punching bag is swung into him, knocking him off balance. The Fastest Kid Alive quickly recovers and kicks away one clone and elbows another in the throat.

"At least he doesn't have his suit this time!" Kid Flash shouts as he punches another in the gut, but then one of them grabs him by the waist and leans back, getting the speedster with a suplex.

While they're both down, the Billy elbows Kid Flash in the face, dazing the speedster, he then gets up and begins to choke Kid Flash.

The speedster grabs Billy's wrists and tries to take his hands off his neck as two more clones kick him in the sides, making it harder for him to escape Billy's grasp.

The edges of Kid's vision becomes black as the air slowly leaves his lungs, he looks over to see Aqualad busy with his own small platoon of clones. Kid Flash tries punching the Billy choking him in the face but is to weak to do even that. So, he tries to do something he's never done before.

He tries to phase.

Kid Flash slowly closes his eyes and slows down his breathing as he focuses entirely on himself, Billy's hands, and the kicks from his clones seem to fade away. Kid Flash then slowly thinks of the lessons told to him by Jay, Barry, and Daichi about phasing.

"Phasing can be scary," Uncle Barry had admitted during their first practice session. "Your molecules separate slightly, putting you in a space between solid and gas that isn't liquid. Doing this allows for you to pass through objects," to prove his point, Uncle Barry's hand phased through the thin sheet of metal in his other hand.

"But what if you stop?" A younger Wally had asked. "I mean, no two solid objects can be in the same space."

Uncle Barry nods as he takes his hand out of the metal. "It will hurt. A lot," he puts his hands on Wally's shoulders, looking his nephew in the eyes. "But you can't be scared, Wally. If you want to phase, you have to learn to let go. Let go just enough that you're in two states, but not so much that you disappear. Do you understand?"

Wally nods. "Y-yeah."

Uncle Barry smiles before putting the metal in between them. "Good. Then let's test it out."

'Let go, Wally,' he feels his body become light, the ground seems to be a part of him, and yet, it doesn't. 'But remember what keeps you here. What keeps you tethered,' memories of time spent with Dick, Garth, Roy, Donna, Lilith, Kory, Daichi, Karen, and Zatanna comes to mind. Jay and Joan. Uncle Barry, Aunt Iris, Dawn and Henry. Mom and Dad.

"OW! GODDAMN!" He hears.

Kid Flash opens his eyes to see himself halfway through the floor, he looks down to see Apex flying down the hallway, followed closely by a massive blur. He looks back up to see the Billy who was choking him out lean back holding his hands tightly, glaring at the speedster.

Kid Flash smirks as he stands back up. "So, that's what phasing's like. Awesome."

"That's it! Ah've had it up to here with both of yous!" The original Billy shouts, halting all combat.

Kid Flash and Aqualad look around to see only a few Billy's left, all of them slowly returning to the original, who happens to be glaring at them. As he glares, the two hear their communicators activate just after a massive shaking occurs, Robin complains about the current environment he's working in.

Apex quickly replies, mentioning Mammoth's power-up.

The Billys then do the signature Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu hand sign, and the two are temporarily blinded as the room is flooded in red light. Their vision clears, and they find themselves surrounded by multiple Billys.

Yeah!" Kid Flash shouts. "This Billy Numerous guy just used Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu! He could only make three last time!"

The others reply their findings as the Billys all begin to charge the two.

Aqualad quickly creates a bubble shield that holds the small army of one back.

"How long can you hold this?" Kid Flash asks as a Billy slams into the shield with some dumbbells.

"Not sure," Aqualad admits. "He's got some low-level superhuman strength. Normally he wouldn't be able to break the shield, but with how many clones he has now…"

"Right," Kid Flash sighs. "This is gonna be a bitch to deal with."

Suddenly everything begins to shake, and violently at that. Aqualad and Kid Flash barely manage to keep their balance as the Billys are all knocked onto their asses. The shaking then stops, but then an extremely loud sound quickly approaches them. The two look to see the wall to their right tear apart, but that's not the worst of it.

The ground breaks open.

The bubble-shield doesn't have a bottom, so Aqualad and Kid Flash fall with all the Billys to the next floor. The air is filled with screams as all the young men scream as they fall from one floor to the next. After a few seconds in the air, they all hit the ground.

Billy and his clones are all knocked out, the red lights moving to the original signify that. Aqualad groans in pain as he slowly gets up. Thanks to his cowl, Kid Flash is only nearly knocked out instead of knocked unconscious, but he quickly recovers and slowly sits up, rubbing the back of his head as he groans in pain.

"Mom always said falling from high heights was bad for my health," Kid Flash says as he gets up with Aqualad's help. "Now I understand."

"You understand nothing, boy."

The two turn around to see Brother Blood glaring down at them from the top of a staircase, four heavily armed, special cultist guards flanking him, wearing white and red armor with gold accents.

Blood looks at Billy with undisguised disgust. "Hm, even with my gift, he lost to an Atlantean and a speedster. Pathetic."

Aqualad and Kid Flash slowly get into fighting stances. "Who the hell are you?" The former demands.

Brother Blood tilts his head as he studies Aqualad, he then slowly smirks. "I am Brother Blood. These are my White Cells, they will kill you," Brother Blood turns around and heads walks through the door, but halfway through he turns his head. "Don't damage their bodies too much, I wish to study them, especially the speedster."

Once the door closes, the White Cells rush the two teenage heroes.

Kid Flash sighs as he brings his fists up. "This is gonna be a long night."

Wonder Girl and Zatanna

"You think Daichi's okay?" Wonder Girl asks worried.

Zatanna looks at her with an arched brow. "Seriously? Is Daichi okay? We are talking about the same guy who bench pressed the Javelin with all of us in it with his left hand, right? The same guy who can bounce back from basically anything, Daichi?"

Wonder Girl nods. "Yeah, the same Daichi who spent fifteen years in space, where the threats there are different from the ones here. The same Daichi who fought mostly controlled battles. Here, controlled battles are rare, and Mammoth definitely isn't in the mood for one."

Zatanna looks at her in understanding as she puts a hand on the Amazon Princess' shoulder. "You're worried for your boyfriend, I get it. But WG, Apex can handle himself, trust me. Trust him."

Wonder Girl still doesn't seem convinced, the massive shaking doesn't help. Zatanna puts a hand on her shoulder, cutting off the Amazon from any more worried concerns. "Let's take out Jinx. Then we can help Apex, all right?"

Wonder Girl nods with a thankful smile. "All right."

The spell is suddenly dispersed, making the two visible in the middle of the hallway.

They look around quickly and turn around to see Jinx standing behind them, her eyes and her tattoos glowing pink as a magic circle floats in front of her right hand. "And what makes you so sure you can beat me?"

"W-what the hell? How'd you do that?" Zatanna demands. "You were nowhere near this powerful yesterday!"

Jinx shrugs. "I got a little…upgrade," as she says this the two heroes notice a tint of red quickly flash in her eyes.

Zatanna's eyes widen in surprise. "Oh hell. She's magically enhanced. Crap, the others are too, probably, we should warn-"

Jinx fires a bolt of mystic energy at Zatanna, Wonder Girl stands in between it and her friend and crosses her arms together, her bracelets deflect the bolt back at Jinx, narrowly avoiding its caster.

Wonder Girl glares at Jinx as she ignores the shaking. "Even more reason to take her down fast."

Wonder Girl then flies forward and attempts to punch Jinx, but a hastily made shield manages to block her, through spider web-like cracks quickly spread among the magic construct. Wonder Girl then pushes the attack and kicks the shield, but Jinx manages a spell that hits Wonder Girl back with equal force, making the Darkstar feel as though she were kicked by herself.

Zatanna barely manages to duck from her flying friend's form before having to roll out of the way from a crow created by Jinx. "Okay, let's see how your loan handles the real deal. Redrum fo sworc!"

A massive number of crows erupt from a magic circle in front of Zatanna's hands, all flying beak-first to Jinx's shield.

As expected, many are pushed back, but that's all according to Zatanna's plan. A small amount of the crows use their brethren as cover as they flank the other side of Jinx's shield, attacking her from behind. Jinx shouts in pain as she's pecked by multiple birds, and due to the loss of concentration, the shield breaks, letting the others attack.

Wonder Girl flies back and rubs her stomach painfully. "Gods, I kick hard. What's up with the birds?"

"Oh, just my way of showing I'm more powerful," Zatanna smugly answers.

A pink light builds in the center of the birds, catching their attention. It slowly becomes more intense, and a high-pitched whining noise is all they hear. Their eyes widen as Zatanna quickly puts up a shield, and shortly after, the light explodes, destroying many of the birds and sending the heroines skidding back.

"Wanna say that again?" Jinx growls as she wipes blood off of her cheek.

Zatanna blinks in surprise before smirking. "I'm more powerful."

"Uh, Zatanna?" Wonder Girl whispers. "What're you doing?"

"If she's angry, she can't focus, if she can't focus, she can't cast spells as effectively," Zatanna whispers back. "Mage Fighting 101."

"Ah," Wonder Girl nods.

Jinx growls as she grits her teeth and clenches her fists at her sides. "I'll show you powerful!"

A large bolt of energy flies from her hands, impacting Zatanna's shield and shattering it immediately, sending the two flying back, thankfully, Zatanna and Wonder Girl manage to recover midair to barley avoid two arcing waves of energy flying at them.

Wonder Girl manages to block small arrows of magic before flying in close, but then Jinx's hand glows pink just before a pipe suddenly bursts from the wall next to Wonder Girl and spews water into her face, surprising her greatly and causing her to choke on water. As she sputters, Jinx hits her with a blast of concussive force, sending the Amazonian Princess skidding back against the wall.

"Erif!" Zatanna shouts. A massive gout of flames shoots at Jinx, but then a draft comes in from out of nowhere and pushes the flames back to Zatanna. The young magician yelps as she jumps back, she notices some strands of her hair are burnt.

From the flames comes a constructed fist that punches into Zatanna and sends her skidding back on the ground. Zatanna slowly gets up with Wonder Girl's help and coughs up some blood as she rubs her chest. "That hurt. That hurt a lot."

"Oh, it'll hurt more, weakling. Trust me," Jinx threatens as water pipes break through the walls and snake around her like living tendrils.

"Yeah, you said she'd be easier to fight when angry. Looking like the complete opposite right now," Wonder Girl comments as she slowly brings her hands up in defense. "Damn, the hallways aren't big enough for my sword and shield."

"Well, not all magicians, mages, warlocks, and assorted magic users work the same," Zatanna replies as she creates some magic short swords. "Time to see if your lessons really settled in, yeah?"

The water pipes come flying in at the two.

Wonder Girl moves her head to the side to avoid one and manages to catch another in her hand, she then squeezes tightly, which has the water build up in the pipe. She then tears the pipe in half and throws it into another, pinning it to the wall. Wonder Girl then barely avoids another pipe as it strikes the ground she was just standing on, she then kicks it up towards the ceiling, raining some dust down.

As she fights, Zatanna has a harder time avoiding the pipes against her, so she creates little shields that protect her when a pipe attempts a strike, focusing entirely on the offense. But with each hit, her defenses slowly wane.

While a pipe recoils from hitting a shield, Zatanna manages to stab through it, she then jerks her arm, hitting an incoming tendril with it, knocking both off balance, though the water does manage to drench her clothes, she's just glad her makeup doesn't run as well.

Zatanna swipes at a pipe that goes for her, but while her arm is outstretched it wraps around it and squeezes tightly, the magic short sword in that hand fades away due to the pain. She cries out in pain as the grip tightens. Just as she feels like her arm is going to break, Wonder Girl flies in and tears the pipe in two, freeing Zatanna's arm.

"Thanks," the magician nods as she rubs her forearm.

"No problem," Wonder Girl replies as her she shakes the water out of her hair, her ponytail comes undone. "We need to take her out fast, reinforcements are coming, and they aren't friendly."

The three hear footsteps running to them, all armored, Jinx smirks as the pipes slowly come back up and circle around her. "Outnumbered and outgunned. Not the best day for you guys, is it?"

"I think I know a place to take us," Zatanna whispers. "Ecalpemos teiuq."

The two are teleported away just as the cultists arrive on their location. Wonder Girl looks around to find them in an empty library, the lights currently off. She takes a breath and crouches down as Zatanna falls over to a knee.

"You okay?" Wonder Girl asks in concern.

"Yeah, just," Zatanna grimaces as she mutters a healing spell. "She's a lot stronger than expected. Stronger than me."

Wonder Girl notices the pain behind Zatanna's eyes, she nods in understanding and puts a hand on her shoulder, giving her a comforting smile. "I get it, it's not fun fighting someone magnitudes stronger than you, I mean, I fight Ares every now and again, and at his full power he'd probably toss me aside. But think about it like this: you beat her, you prove strength isn't everything. Besides, you've got me with you, she doesn't."

Zatanna smiles and quickly hugs Wonder Girl in thanks. "You're right, Don. And hey, I've got more skill, I noticed that when she casted her spells. A sudden power boost without any training is dangerous for a mage," her eyes widen in surprise. "Wait, we can use that against her!"

"How so?" Wonder Girl asks.

"One of the first things were taught is to control how much mana we put in spells. Put in too much, and you tire yourself out, off to dreamland like that," Zatanna snaps her fingers in emphasis.

"And because she's suddenly stronger, she doesn't know how much mana to put into her spells," Wonder Girl nods as she catches on.

"Exactamundo," Zatanna shoots some finger guns. The doors to the library open. "Hide!"

The two quickly dart behind some giant bookcases as Jinx and some cultists enter the library, one of them turns on the lights. Jinx looks around with a critical eye. "They're in here. Find them."

Wonder Girl, currently on top of a bookcase, notices a cultist look at her from the corner of his eye in disdain before shaking his head and following her order. 'Looks like someone doesn't have the love of their troops. We can use this.'

Wonder Girl looks over to see Zatanna standing over an adjacent bookcase, the two come to the same conclusion: Jinx is power, no real skill outside of her specialty, and she doesn't have a good relationship with the cultists.

Zatanna looks down to see two cultists in front of Wonder Girl's bookcase. She looks over at the Amazonian Princess and points at them, getting a nod in response. Wonder Girl flips off the bookcase, which also manages to knock it over and pin the two down.

Jinx and the cultists quickly run to the location, but Wonder Girl already managed to fly away to another corner of the library, out of sight.

Jinx growls and looks around. "What are you idiots doing? FIND THEM!"

"Quiet in the library!" Wonder Girl says as she flies through the enemies in a gray and black blur, knocking three out before flying away back to cover.

Jinx growls and walks through the library, hunting for Wonder Girl, but as she walks, she goes past the bookcase Zatanna is above, triggering the trap. The bookcase falls over and pins down Jinx and knocks out the remaining cultist.

With them down, Zatanna and Wonder Girl fly down and stand in front of Jinx, the latter has her blade and shield out, finding the library big enough for her to use her gear. "More space, more chance to show your power, yeah?"

Jinx's hands glow as they slam into the ground, sending the bookcase flying and many books flying towards them. Zatanna hides behind Wonder Girl as the Amazonian Princess puts up her shield, blocking many of the books. Once the barrage stops, she and Zatanna fly in opposite directions as Jinx fires a bolt of lightning at their previous position.

"Daer, xniJ!" Zatanna chants.

Multiple books rise from around the library and all fly towards Jinx's face, open on random pages. A few manage to hit her in the face, breaking her concentration and making her more and more angry.

Jinx shouts in rage as a thesaurus slams into her face, breaking her nose. "ENOUGH!" A small ball of energy just in front of her chest quickly grows outwards and explodes, sending many of the books back, a few manage to hit Zatanna just before she manages to hide behind a table.

"Come on, Jinx! Don't you read your spell books?" Zatanna taunts as she rolls out of the way of a magic axe. "If you did, your spells would be a lot more effective!"

"Shut up!" Jinx shouts. "I don't need any training! All of this power? I was born with it!"

"You sure about that?" Wonder Girl shouts as she flies over feet out, ready to kick Jinx.

Jinx manages to use her specialty magic. A cultist wakes up and raises his head as he rubs it, but at that moment, he gets in Wonder Girl's path, which then leads to the Amazonian Princess kicking him instead, which knocks her off balance.

"Oh crap!" She shouts as Jinx creates a magic fist that punches her into the wall behind her, cracks running up to the ceiling. Wonder Girl slowly brings herself out of the wall, rubbing her head and shaking the dust out of her hair. "Okay, let's try again," Jinx's powers cause a piece of the ceiling to fall down on her head. "Dammit!"

"Tnaig sredips!" Zatanna shouts.

The books all fly in the air and shift as they all fuse together, becoming five giant spiders made out of science, history, non-fiction, and fiction books. The book-spiders then jump at Jinx, who hastily puts up a shield and protects herself.

While she deals with the spiders, Zatanna quickly runs over to check on Wonder Girl, who is slowly getting out of the wall. "You okay?"

Wonder Girl slowly gets up. "That magic fist had a lot of strength behind it. Felt like getting punched by my sister, won't lie."

"Laeh," Zatanna whispers. "Which is a good thing. Making a fist strong enough to hurt an Amazon takes power. She just has to keep on doing it."

"As much as I love testing myself, I'd rather not get punched like that again. I hope you can understa- MOVE!" Wonder Girl pushes Zatanna aside as she rolls the opposite direction, another magic fist slamming through the wall.

Jinx breathes heavily as she slowly rises up to the air, magic arcing off of her hands and eyes. Though Zatanna and Wonder Girl notice something, her magic blinks in and out, Jinx also breathes heavily as she tries to stay in the air. The two share a quick glance and nod.

Just as Jinx fires bolts of lightning at them, Wonder Girl throws her shield to the wall to their left, while it ricochets, she raises her bracelets, sending the lightning arcing away and causing it to hit many of the books and tables around them.

Zatanna stands behind Wonder Girl as she prepares a powerful spell that will transform the bookcases into golem-like creatures to help them battle. Eventually, Wonder Girl's shield manages to hit Jinx in the back of the head, sending her falling down to the ground as she cries out in pain.

"Koob smelog," the bookcases shift, becoming giant gorilla-like forms, for joints, what books are uninjured move into place. One of the book golems raises its fist before slamming it down, Jinx manages to raise a shield just before the hit connects. Her shield then shoots a blast of energy outward, destroying the golem's arm.

Another one then moves in, but before it can, the entire room shakes violently, knocking everyone off their feet. Wonder Girl quickly gets up and helps Zatanna up as they look around confused, wondering where the source of that was, it was rather close…

The shaking then continues, forcing Wonder Girl, Zatanna, and Jinx to take flight to avoid falling over. "The hell is that?" Jinx demands.

Wonder Girl and Zatanna share a quick glance. "You thinking what I'm thinking, WG?" Zatanna asks.

Wonder Girl nods. "Yeah, I'm thinking that too."

"Whatever," Jinx shakes her head as she prepares to shoot fire at them.

Just as she goes for this, the wall next to Wonder Girl bursts open, a massive green-brown blur flies through and slams into Jinx's bubble shield, sending the two flying through many walls behind them.

Wonder Girl and Zatanna look at the hole Mammoth flew through just as a leg, clad in a familiar black and gray suit steps through. Another leg follows through, and then the team's second-in-command, Apex, walks through the hole. Wonder Girl was going to go hug him tightly, but then she quickly realizes his current situation.

He's currently breathing heavily as he clutches at his side, his broken ribs slowly mending themselves back together, he has blood running down the right side of his face and his left arm is currently bent at an awkward angle, but not for long, the limb quickly puts itself back into place.

"Just stay down, man, I really don't wanna do more than I have to," he whispers.

"You're okay!" Wonder Girl shouts as she flies over and hugs him tightly.

"Ribs! RIBS!"

"Sorry!"

Zatanna walks over and lightly punches his uninjured side. "Want me to heal you?"

Apex shakes his head as he takes some deep breaths, once that's done, he stands tall and hugs Wonder Girl back tightly. "Healing factor just kicked in. Thanks though," he then looks around and his eyes widen in surprise at the state of the library. "What happened here?"

"Magic battle," Wonder Girl answers. She then looks through the hole Apex walked through; her eyes also widen in surprise. "What happened out there?"

He sheepishly rubs the back of his head. "Mammoth," he then glares at the wall opposite them as he slowly gets out of the hug. "Speaking of."

Wonder Girl and Zatanna nod as they get ready to fight as well. Zatanna's hands have magic circles over them as Wonder Girl gets her sword and shield ready.

Mammoth and Jinx burst through the opposite wall, which lets Wonder Girl and Zatanna get their first look at Mammoth's new form. "Holy shit," they both whisper.

"Yeah, it's impressive," Apex agrees, he then palms his fist. "But it won't let him win."

Jinx prepares a spell as Mammoth drags a foot behind him, ready to charge the heroes.

"No, no it won't," Zatanna agrees.

The fight then continues.

Okay, I think that's as good a place as any to stop.

Next chapter will open with Omen and Bumblebee, followed by Robin, we'll then hit the end of the fight, and get closure to the Daichi-Roy situation and a relatively big change that's been hinted at throughout the arc.

Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you next time you beautiful people!