So, I've been looking at how the arc is going to work, and I've decided, this'll be the last chapter of the arc, considering how the last chapter ended it was obviously the climax of the arc. But I've also realized that we're actually nearing the end of the first major arc of the story, only two more arcs left. And man, that's gonna have some repercussions for the future of the story.
But hey, issue 81 of Nightwing? Damn, that's a twist. Interested to see where that goes. If you know, please don't put it in the reviews, let's limit spoilers as much as possible, people. Granted when this comes out it'll be a week since then. Check out readcomiconline by the way, that's how I read comics.
Little note for hopeful writers: Critical Role is great for getting ideas out. At least, for me it is. When listening to that series while I write it helps me churn out ideas, as well as inspires future events in the story. Give it a kick if you're interested in nerdy-ass voice actors playing Dungeons & Dragons!
Now to reply to some reviews!
Jw: Honestly, it's better to not question it, save your brain for more important information. It's comics, anyway, dudes run faster than light and shoot arrows with boxing gloves at the end of them.
Edoabb: It was a clarifying statement, so it was absolutely necessary. And even if you never asked it doesn't mean it shouldn't be there.
The Vitruvian Man Fun Fact 4: Adam Warlock and The High Evolutionary were heavy inspirations for Daichi and the Evolutionary.
Well, that's all from me up here, on with the story!
Personal
I groan as I slowly open my eyes, the thumping in my head slowly comes to a stop.
The Cult of Blood threatened Dr. Ryan Choi. Me, Wonder Girl, Robin, Speedy, Omen, Bumblebee, and Raven went to save him. We then had to fight Deathstroke, Ravager, Cheshire, a freaking pink monster, and White Cell assassins.
Then we lost.
I look around to see I'm in a blank white room, none of the others are here. I try to move, but can't, looking down I see my entire body from the neck down is trapped in some enchanted metal cocoon, and I've got a power dampening collar, so even if I tried, I couldn't get out of here.
I never did understand power dampeners. Yes, they make us equivalent to baseline humans, but how? I could see these things working for Lilith or Wally, but me? I'm naturally stronger, Donna, and Garth are the same, but I don't get why these work on us.
The door opens, and two White Cells march in. They both stop at either side of me, but the door doesn't close. Then, another two White Cells walk in, and with them is Brother Blood, wearing golden greaves and golden gauntlets with shoulder pads that looked like demonic skulls and a helmet with horns and red eyes on the top.
He walks over and stands over me, he then reaches out and pats my head. I wince and try to move my head away, but thanks to my shackles I don't get far.
"What do you want?" I growl. "Where are my friends?"
Brother Blood chuckles. "Your friends are alive, as is the Icon of Pride. We just want her; you and your friends are an added bonus."
I arch a brow at the answer. "You do know that if you keep us for too long, you'll get the Justice League and Society on you, right? Is that really what you want? The full might of two of the greatest superhero teams bearing down on you?"
"No, not now," he agrees. "But in one year's time? No one will be able to stop us, not even you."
One year? What's happening in on yea-
Trigon.
Crap, Rachel turns fifteen in December, and a year later she turns sixteen, and that's when Trigon comes along. We need to get out of here, I need to warn Bruce, and we need to get contingencies started.
I sigh deeply. "So, what's next right now?"
"You need not know," Blood replies. He then turns around and marches out. The four White Cells leave, two stay with him while another two stay at either side of my door. The door across has two more White Cells, and it opens to reveal Robin inside.
The two of us make eye contact before the doors close.
Well, at least I know Robin's nearby. Chances are we're all locked in these rooms, maybe nearby since Robin was across from me. Seven of us means we've got to be in seven rooms.
Okay, I escape, and I'll get Robin out first, I know where he is, and he'd be able to stealthily get the others out while I keep the White Cells occupied. But Rachel's probably somewhere else, she's their target, without her they can't summon Trigon.
"What're ya thinking about?"
I jump a little and immediately regret it as the metal digs into the base of my skull. After a little groan of pain, I look around, but the source of the voice is nowhere to be found.
"What the-? Who said that? Where are you?" I whisper.
"You can't see me right now. I mean, maybe you can? Hey, can evolved humans see in 360 degrees?" The voice, a male, young, asks. "Hey, don't make it too obvious we're talking, there's a camera in the back right corner."
"Right, okay… Who are you?" I whisper.
"Hold up, I've got something for the camera."
My new…friend disappears for a few minutes, and I begin to realize how much I hate not having my powers. I can't smell this person, hear them, couldn't even feel their presence in the room.
I could hear a weird sound from behind me, followed by some clicking and buzzing of electricity. The weird sound then happens again, and I wait in silence.
"All right, the camera's looped, we can talk freely now," the voice says. "Well, not too freely, the guys outside might hear you."
"Great, that's great. But who are you? I can't exactly trust you with the lives of my friends if I don't even know who you are," I reply.
"Right, got ya."
Suddenly I hear buzzing, and out of the corner of my eye I see a fly or something flying away.
The insect lands and I hear that weird, how would I describe it? Sucking sound? Again, then standing in front of me is a very familiar face.
He's a young man, probably Raven's age. He wears black pants with purple knees and a purple belt. His top is mainly black, with a purple chest and two horizontal purple lines on each side. His top also has long sleeves with purple trim that stops mid forearm. But what's most interesting about him is the green skin and shaggy green hair, as well as the golden eyes.
He smirks, and I can see his sharp canines. "Name's Beast Boy, it's an honor to meet you, Apex!"
I blink slowly before smiling. "Nice to meet you too, Beast Boy. Is the rest of the Doom Patrol here?"
His eyes widen a little in surprise. "Whoa, you actually know about us? No one knows about the Doom Patrol."
"I've read your files, you guys have some interesting powers," I reply.
He chuckles a little and scratches his cheek with a sharp nail. "Yeah, we've got some wild powers, especially Jane… Anyway, I was in the area and noticed the fight. It was too late to help, but not late enough to hop on and come with you."
"Good thing you did," I say. "I need you to get a remote control from one of them and free me, once I'm free I can keep them distracted."
Beast Boy nods. "Okay, okay, what next?"
"Free Robin then give him the remote. While I keep them busy, he can free the others and you can find Raven," I tell him. "She's the one they're after, we're just bonuses."
"Okay, I can do that, but one problem: I don't know what she smells like," he points out. "I can't find someone without knowing their scent."
Damn, he's right. I don't have anything of Raven's on me, none of us do. Man, we should all have little cloths of our own and give them to each other, that'd avoid situations like this in the future.
Wait a minute… "Robin can help," I say. "Him and Bumblebee were with her last, but I don't know where she is, but Robin's just across from here. He might still have her scent on him."
Beast Boy doesn't look as convinced. "Maybe. But I bet you could find her, I'm pretty sure your sense of smell is better than mine."
"You might be right," I say. He winces a little. "But this is still your area of expertise. I'll describe her smell to you; would that be enough?"
He thinks it over before nodding. "As long as you're descriptive enough, yes."
I smirk and nod. "Good. Now, go rescue the Teen Titans, Beast Boy."
He smiles and salutes. "I won't let you down, Apex, sir!"
He then shapeshifts and begins his mission.
Beast Boy
Flying out of the room in his fly form, Beast Boy exits the room and perches on the wall next to Apex's room. The door to the room diagonally to the left of it opens, and he could hear a strong, feminine voice from within.
"When I get out of here, I'll shove my sword so deep down your throat it'll come out of your as-" The door closes before Wonder Girl could finish.
'Man, I knew Amazons were intense, but man…' Beast Boy thinks, shivering a little.
He then turns his attention to the room across from him. "Okay, Robin's in there. I just need to get in there, use Cliff's little thingy, and free the Boy Wonder."
The two White Cells in front of Apex's room look at each other. "Did you say something? No did you say something? Stop copying me!" They both say.
The one to the left of Robin's room hushed the two.
Beast Boy silently lets out a breath of relief as he wipes the fake sweat away from his fly brow. He then flies over and lands in front of the door to Robin's cell. He then walks in and flies up towards the camera. From his collar he pulls out a little copper device and places it on the camera.
Once that was done, he flies in front of Robin and transforms into his humanoid form, surprising the Boy Wonder.
"What the-? Who are you?" Robin hisses.
Beast Boy salutes. "The name's Beast Boy, it's an honor to meet you, Robin. I already met with Apex, and he told me what to do."
Robin studies Beast Boy for a few minutes but seeing that he wasn't lying, he nodded. "Great. But what about the camera?"
Beast Boy pulls out a few more of the devices from a pocket. "Already taken care of. I'm supposed to get you and Apex out then give you these so you can free the others while I look for Raven."
Robin nods. "Sound plan, but a little problem, I don't have my utility belt. They somehow bypassed the defenses and got it off of me."
Beast Boy frowns. "Crap. Okay, I'll just free you, but don't move, I'll tell Apex, free the others, then the chaos can start."
Robin arches a brow. "What?"
Instead of answering, Beast Boy just transforms into a velociraptor, surprising Robin, and using his claws he manages to pick the lock of the metal harness, freeing Robin.
The Boy Wonder gets up and rubs his wrist before he carefully reaches out and pats Beast Boy's snout. "Uh…clever boy?"
"Not the first time I heard that, but thanks!" Beast Boy replies. Robin notices that his voice comes from the collar. "All right, wait here, I'll go tell Apex."
Robin nods as Beast Boy shifts into a fly and exits the room. Beast Boy then flies across and watches as Brother Blood exits the fourth room, to the left of Apex's room. Brother Blood looks to the White Cell to his left.
"I've had enough of the Teen Titans, where are the mercenaries?" He asks.
"Currently waiting in one of the lounges. They demand their money," the White Cell replies.
Brother Blood hums. "We make sure the Icon of Pride is not injured, then they will get their money."
The White Cell nods and the three head over towards an elevator and go up.
Beast Boy mentally hums before he returns to Apex's cell and returns to normal. "So, Robin's free, but he doesn't have his utility belt, so he can't free the others. But also, the big boss is going to check on this "Icon of Pride" then pay Deathstroke and those other two."
Apex frowns. "Okay, thanks for telling me. We don't know what'll happen to Raven after Brother Blood goes to her. So, free me and the others, I'll keep the White Cells busy."
Beast Boy nods before he transforms into a velociraptor again and picks the power dampener collar and the metal frame holding Apex.
The Vitruvian Man gets up slowly and rubs his neck before his eyes flash red then orange. He takes a deep breath, and some ice mist comes out of it. He then looks to Beast Boy and nods in thanks.
"Thanks, Beast Boy. You might want to step back," he offers.
Beast Boy nods and does so.
Apex walks over to the left side of the door and his eyes glow blue as his x-ray vision activates, he then turns it off and rears his arm back before punching through the wall, wrapping his arm around the neck of the White Cell across from him.
Alarms quickly blared as the other eleven assassins quickly began to fight back. But they were quickly surprised when a green rhino burst through the other side of the door, knocking four of them away.
"Wonder Girl was in this room!" He shouts.
"Free her! The two of us can handle them!" Apex replies as a sword breaks against his face.
Nodding as a rhino, Beast Boy runs forward and bashes through the door to Wonder Girl's cell. She blinks in surprise at the sudden appearance of a green rhino. Beast Boy notices that she was tied to a metal pole, with her own Lasso keeping her tied.
"I'm not losing my mind. I'm not losing my mind. I'm not losing my mind…" she mutters. Beast Boy then transforms into his velociraptor form. "Oh gods, I knew all those hits to the head would eventually get to me."
"Don't worry, Wonder Girl, I'm here to help!" Beast Boy greets excitedly.
She blinks in response before shaking her head. "Yeah, sure, a green, talking velociraptor shouldn't even be that weird."
"Beast Boy, what's taking so long!?" Apex shouts as he throws a White Cell down the hallway.
Beast Boy hurries over and tries to cut the Lasso but finds that he can't.
"You can't cut it," Wonder Girl tells him.
Beast Boy then transforms back to normal and quickly finds the knot and unties it. Wonder Girl then takes her Lasso and spins it around, she looks to Beast Boy and gives him a nod of thanks before stepping through the hole. She wraps her Lasso around the midsection of an assassin and pulls her towards her. Wonder Girl then kicks the assassin in the back and sends her flying into Apex's fist.
Remembering that Robin's room was next door, Beast Boy becomes a gorilla and punches the wall between the rooms down. Robin looks at Beast Boy in surprise before he quickly runs out and joins the fight.
Turning around and entering the next room, Beast Boy sees Omen, trapped in a chair that was constantly spinning, with a dome helmet of some kind over her head.
Beast Boy looks around and finds some buttons on a console nearby, instead of trying to figure out what to do, he just smashes it. The chair slowly comes to a stop and Omen's helmet opens and drops to the ground in two pieces.
"Oh god…" she groans. "Take my mask off, quick."
Beast Boy hurries over and does so, just in time too, since Omen pukes her guts out. The Changeling cringes as the smell hits his superhuman sense of smell and gently helps her up. "Uh, you okay?"
"I don't know," Omen moans. She then stiffens in surprise and looks up at the green gorilla with the black and purple collar next to her. "What the hell?"
Beast Boy offers a hand. "Hi, Beast Boy, from-"
"The Doom Patrol," Omen finishes as she shakes his hand. "I knew you looked familiar. I guess Apex and Wonder Girl are out there? No one's as destructive as those two when they fight together."
Beast Boy nods. "Robin's with them too. I just need to free Speedy and Bumblebee then we'll be fine."
"Then I'll go help," Omen decides before she flies off to join the fight.
Instead of going through the already made holes, Beast Boy just runs through the door before he busts down another door, this one into Speedy's cell.
The archer was hanging upside down, with his arms tied behind his back and his eyes blindfolded. He looks around thanks to the sound. "Apex? Is that you?" He then pauses and sniffs. "Ugh, no way, you never smell bad. Can't be Wonder Girl either…"
'Hurtful,' Beast Boy thinks with a frown. He then walks over and breaks the metal wires keeping Speedy up, he smirks a little at the grunt of pain from the archer. He then reaches down and gently takes the blindfold off.
Speedy puts his hat back on and was ready to tear into his savior but paused when he saw Beast Boy in front of him. He then scowls. "Could've put me down gently at least," he mutters before exiting the room to help the others.
Beast Boy didn't see why they all needed to be there, once Apex and Wonder Girl were free the White Cells simply stood no chance.
Oh well, nothing says win like overkill.
Entering the last cell Beast Boy finds Bumblebee trapped in a tiny bubble that was tied to a device of some kind. If he were to guess, every time she used her stingers, it'd power whatever it was tied to.
She looks up at the gorilla and arches a brow. "I've seen you before."
"Beast Boy, Doom Patrol," Beast Boy replies before he tears the bubble away from the podium it was on.
Bumblebee then breaks through the bubble and nods before landing on his shoulder. "Right, that's where. Thanks for the save."
Beast Boy nods before shifting back to normal. He then walks over to the hallway and he and Bumblebee look to see White Cells knocked out all over the place, with the Teen Titans standing around Apex as he mentally planned.
Apex looks up at the two and nods before resuming his planning.
While he does that, Robin looks to Beast Boy. "BB, you're on the Doom Patrol, should we expect them here?"
Beast Boy nods and pats his chest. "Our suits have trackers in them, Robotman should be able to track it down."
"Doubt it," Speedy says. "A facility like this means there's a signal jammer somewhere. We can't expect backup until that's down."
"Speedy's right," Apex agrees. "Which is why we need to split up. One group looks for Rachel, another takes care of the signal jammer, and a third keeps the cultists busy."
"Who goes where?" Wonder Girl asks.
"Bumblebee's small and fast, and her powers can make tech go haywire, you've got the jammer," Apex orders.
Bumblebee nods with a serious frown. "You can count on me."
"Omen, Beast Boy, and Robin can look for Raven," Apex continues.
Robin raises his hand. "Problem," he points at his waist. "I've got no utility belt, Speedy doesn't have his bow and arrows, and Wonder Girl doesn't have her sword and shield."
The Darkstar punches her palm. "I don't need them to kick ass."
"True, but Robin and Speedy aren't at one hundred percent without their gear. Okay, you three will look for your stuff, I'll hold the cultists off," Apex says.
Wonder Girl looks at him worriedly. "On your own? While I don't doubt the cultists or the White Cells there's still Deathstroke, Ravager, and that third assassin-"
"Cheshire," Speedy interrupts. "She goes by Cheshire."
"Cheshire. There's that pink thing, and Brother Blood, we don't know what he can do," Wonder Girl says.
"She's right," Omen agrees. "Besides, are your powers even at a hundred percent? Mine aren't."
Apex frowns and clenches his fist. "No, they aren't."
"Then Robin and Speedy can look for their gear while the two of us take on an army. Oh, isn't that romantic?" Wonder Girl swoons humorously.
The elevator dings, and the teenage heroes all face it, ready to fight. Wonder Girl cracks her knuckles, Bumblebee shrinks and her stingers charge, some rocks float by Omen, Apex's fists glow orange, and Beast Boy becomes a lion.
The elevator dings one more time before the doors open, and from it come Deathstroke, Ravager, and Cheshire.
The three step out and stare down the seven teenagers.
Ravager sighs deeply and shakes his head in disappointment. "I knew we should've demanded payment as soon as we got here. Now look, we're stuck fighting these brats again."
"You aren't so scary now that we know how your powers work, Ravager," Robin taunts.
"How do his powers work?" Beast Boy asks.
"Just get two people with wildly different strength levels to fight him, he matches the one who hit him last. So, if the weaker one hit him, the stronger one can knock him out in one hit, especially now that that helmet of his is gone," Apex replies.
Ravager scowls and draws a sword. "I'm gonna enjoy running you through with this."
"Wonder Girl, Robin, Beast Boy, Ravager's yours. Speedy, Omen, Bumblebee, deal with Cheshire. Deathstroke's mine," Apex orders telepathically.
Without waiting, Apex flies over in a black and orange blur and tackles Deathstroke into the elevator shaft before the two of them fly up.
While recovering from the sudden attack, Ravager is slashed in the face by Beast Boy, then tackled through a wall by Wonder Girl and then kicked in the head by Robin. His body was getting used to fighting two people with different strength slowly, but three? Ravager felt his chest heat up and seemingly constrict as blood rushed through his veins.
He was going to make them pay for this.
Or he'd die trying.
Apex
Deathstroke and I fly up a few stories before eventually coming to a stop in what looked like a lobby.
With one arm against his neck, I rear my right fist back and punch him in the helmeted face, sending him flying up to the roof. He bounces off of it and lands on a reception desk, breaking it.
I don't even give him the chance to recover, I immediately fly over and stomp down on his chest. I smirk a little at the sound of him coughing up blood behind his helmet.
I follow up with a kick to his chin that sends him flying halfway through a wall. With a groan, Deathstroke slowly gets up and lifts his helmet, letting me get my first look at his face, and coughs up some blood.
"I was led to believe you heroes weren't supposed to be brutal. Especially if you're tied to Superman," he mutters.
My fist clenches tightly before I shoot forward and go for a punch to his face. One good punch should knock him out.
Instead, Deathstroke pivots, grabs my forearm, and palm strikes my elbow as hard as he can, and suddenly, I feel a spike of pain in my arm before Deathstroke spins me around and throws me into the opposite wall.
Slowly, I get up and look to see my left arm's dislocated at the elbow. That hasn't happened in years. And not from someone as weak as him.
Before I can relocate it, Deathstroke appears in front of me and uppercuts me. He then follows up with more punches to my gut before kicking the heel of his foot into my right ear, causing me to stumble back a few steps.
"Most superhumans are the same, over reliant on their strength, speed, and durability, no skill whatsoever. But you, you're different. You're skilled, you use your abilities to your advantage. I'll enjoy fighting you," Deathstroke comments.
"I'll enjoy beating you," I reply.
Deathstroke just laughs in response.
Flying low, I quickly get in Deathstroke's personal space and try to kick his legs out from under him. He leaps back a few feet, but that was something I expected, so I kick out my other leg, this one coated in energy. An arc of energy flows out, and as soon as Deathstroke lands, it hits his legs, knocking him over.
But he quickly gets up and throws some knives at me. I block them against my right arm, and they just explode. I just use the smoke as cover and slam my left arm into a wall, relocating it.
Deathstroke comes in from the smoke and punches me with a one-two combo before Leonidas kicking me in the abdomen, sending me flying through the wall behind me.
I shake my head and look up to see I'm in a new room, this one looks like some sort of ritual chamber. There was a walkway in between a number of pews, and a smell catches my attention.
I then get up and take a step back, but to my surprise, my foot sinks in a little. Looking behind me I see my foot's in a stream of blood. So, that's what the smell was.
I look over to Deathstroke and nod towards the bloody stream that goes all around the room. "These the people you work with, Slade?"
If he was surprised that I knew his name, he didn't show it. "I only care about the money. Hell, if you want, you could hire me next week and I'd work for you. That is, if you escape."
"Apex?"
Our fight pauses, and the two of us turn around to see that at the head of the room, tied to some device that looks like a star, was Raven, with Brother Blood and his two White Cell guards.
Blood just folds his hands behind his back and looks over the two of us. "Defeat him now, Deathstroke, and you'll have quite the bonus on your hands."
Deathstroke nods before facing me, the two of us return to fighting.
I quickly drop down towards the ground as Deathstroke goes of a punch. While his fist is extended, I just fly up, back first, and knock his arm out of the way. Now that I'm above him, I aim a palm down and fire an explosive ball of energy down at him.
He narrowly dodges, and the ground where he was becomes a crater, rocks and debris flying all over the place. I shoot more orbs of energy, and he dodges more, causing more explosions in the room. Rocks fly, pews are destroyed, and blood splashes out to the ground.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could feel Brother Blood's annoyance grows. Good, this is what I was going for.
While I force Deathstroke onto the defensive, I quickly fire a blast of heat vision towards Raven, forcing Blood and his assassins back. With my beam, I destroy Rachel's collar, and free her from the star.
Raven quickly creates two black hands that push the White Cells and Brother Blood back before she flies over and throws Deathstroke aside before landing behind me. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," I whisper. "Blood say anything to you?"
"A lot of things, yeah," she admits. Now that I think about it, she looks really shaken up. "But now isn't the time."
I nod in agreement before my fists begin to glow orange and black.
The White Cells come at us first, but they didn't last long, my concussive blasts of energy made sure of that. But just as I end my attack, Brother Blood and Deathstroke come charging at us.
I get ready for Deathstroke and Raven gets ready for Brother Blood, but the two quickly change things up and Deathstroke kicks Raven away while Brother Blood slashes at my face, and thanks to his enchanted gauntlet, the claws leave scratches along my cheek. 'Least they aren't bleeding.
Brother Blood then steps on a puddle of blood and kicks in an upward arc. With his kick, the blood rises in a crescent shape and is sent flying towards me. I hold a hand out to block it and feel the blood scrape against my skin like a chainsaw, and while it doesn't cut my skin, it does leave a little sting.
A blood red magic circle then appears in his right hand, and from it a blood red fist shoots out and punches me in the face, sending me flying back. I land in a heap next to Raven, who groans in response as she slowly sits up and rubs her head.
"Switch with me," she mutters.
"Done," I reply.
A black raven shield appears over the two of us, blocking the bullets from Deathstroke and blood spears from Brother Blood. Once the attacks stop, I dash towards Deathstroke and punch the gun away before punching the side of his face with my backfist.
Then, with a roar, I push him back with telekinetic force. He flies through the door and on the other side I could see Ravager and Cheshire, the latter looking very much out of it, getting pushed towards us, with our friends on the offensive.
But from the hallways behind them, more cultists, these ones just normal, come out, forcing Beast Boy and Omen to deal with them, while the others deal with the mercenaries.
Turning around, I see Raven and Brother Blood are pretty even, but honestly, I'd say it's because he's holding back. Raven's only been practicing her magic for months; he's obviously been practicing for decades. That and they want her to summon Trigon, they can't harm her too badly.
I look back and see that Deathstroke's now stuck in the battle royale out there, so I turn around and hit Brother Blood with a flying kick.
He cries out in pain as he's sent flying back before I land next to Raven. "He's holding back against you," I point out telepathically.
"Yeah, I know. We can use that, right?" She asks.
I smirk and coat my fingers in energy claws. "Yeah."
With a roar, Blood charges towards us and goes for a slash. I do the same and our claws clash against each other. His spark and I can see that I've managed to scrape away a few layers. Raven then creates a number of tiny spiders that crawl up and cover half of Blood's body. Instinctively, he scrapes away at them, clawing through his own cloak and armor, leaving some scratches on his skin.
Raven then has the spiders fuse together, trapping half of Blood's body in a black second skin that forces him to a knee.
From the half that isn't covered, he grits his teeth before slamming his uncovered fist into the ground. A magic circle explodes from it, and the blood in the drains along the ground explode up. The blood then quickly comes towards me, and I raise my arms in defense, but it just seeps past my arms and, well… It hurt.
Blood enters my body from my mouth, nose, and ears. I try to stop the streams but since it's liquid, my attacks do nothing. I think Raven calls out for me, but I couldn't hear it due to the blood rushing into my ears.
The pain was unbearable. I've been hurt a countless number of ways during my training, but I've never had blood from who knows where forced into my body. I fall over to my back and spasm as the blood stops entering my body. Oh man, I think I'm crying. With a shaky hand, I reach the wet trails on my cheek and pull my hand back to see blood on my fingers.
What looks like three Raven's appears over me, all looking worriedly down at me. Her mouth opens and she shouts something, probably my name. I don't know, I can't hear anything over the rushing foreign blood in my body.
From the bottom of my vision Brother Blood walks over and grabs Raven by her hood and drags her away. She fights back, but with his superior strength she doesn't do much. But before he could get far, Wonder Girl flies over and slams into him, freeing Raven.
The two (six? Hey, six Wonder Girls. Sweet) appear over me, Wonder Girl holds the side of my face and lifts it before resting my head into her lap.
I open my mouth to reply but cry out in pain as my body feels like it's getting dipped into a sun and I don't have any powers. I spasm even more and lash out as I could feel the outsider blood destroy my organs ever at a fast rate, quickly taxing my healing factor.
I need to get rid of the blood.
I need to get rid of the blood!
I NEED TO GET RID OF THE BLOOD!
My back arches as I let out an extremely loud scream.
Oh, this is something I haven't done in a while.
My physical form slowly fades away, a body of pure energy taking its place. The transformation starts at my feet, and so the pain there goes away, and as I become more of an energy being, the pain everywhere slowly fades. Once I'm entirely made of energy, the pain all goes away, and I slowly get up and look back to see Cheshire going for a sword slash against Robin. I aim my hand at her and fire a powerful blast of energy that sends her flying down the hallway, knocking her out.
Everybody stops and stares at me in awe while I take some deep breaths. I then take a knee and transform back to normal, looking at my hand I see it's extremely pale before I fall over, Wonder Girl quickly catches me.
"Apex? What happened?" She asks in worry.
"Brother Blood put some foreign blood in me, used it to hurt me… I turned into my energy form…and purged it all… My blood too," I pant out. "I won't be able to fight for a while."
I then fall unconscious.
Donna
Daichi's eyes close and he falls asleep, his chest slowly rising and falling as his breathing becomes even.
I've never seen that before.
After his cry of pain, his suit swapped colors, becoming mainly orange, with the orange of his suit switching to black. His skin became orange, while areas like his cheeks and forehead became pitch black.
The energy radiating off of him was palpable.
He then fired off some blasts of energy, which were far stronger than most of the ones we've seen before, and then transformed back to normal, his skin deathly pale.
I gently lower his head before getting up and facing Brother Blood with Raven at my side.
"Is he okay?" Raven asks.
I nod. "He just needs some rest is all. Now c'mon, let's deal with this guy."
Raven nods before the two of us look to see Brother Blood, but it was weird.
Instead of getting ready to fight us, his eyes stay on Apex, wide in awe.
He whispers something below his breath before raising a hand, causing all of the blood in the room to rise up high and create a high-pressure shield. Hell, I bet even I couldn't get through that in one piece.
"Raven, can you get rid of the blood shield?" I ask.
She nods and holds her hands out. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
Two giant black hands appear from her own and pierce through the blood wall, Raven then mimics pushing a door open, and the magic hands do the same, revealing Brother Blood leaving through a secret door in the back wall.
He looks back at us and smirks before pulling a remote out of his pocket. Shit, a bomb!
"Get down!" I shout before flying over to Raven.
The others quickly disengage from the fight and get close to us, letting Raven create a shield just as Blood presses a button. But instead of everything exploding, there's a sound of pain and a gasp of surprise.
Looking over, I see that Ravager's holding his chest in pain while stumbling back to a wall that he then slides down. Deathstroke quickly drops one of his many guns and runs over to Ravager's side, lifting his helmet to show a concerned old man underneath.
"Grant? What is it? What's happening?" Deathstroke asks in a slight panic.
Ravager struggles to reply as blood begins to pour out of his mouth. The cultists all put their weapons away and begin to escape while Raven keeps the shield up.
Beast Boy leans over to me. "Sh-should we do something?"
"Raven, can you help Ravager?" I ask.
"I-I can try," she mutters. Raven then lowers the shield and walks over carefully, me and Robin walk with her. Deathstroke looks to us but doesn't fight back, he instead backs off a little to let Raven do her thing.
Raven's hand glows with a black light as she rests it on Ravager's chest, but after a second, she pulls back and shakes her head. "It's too late."
"N-no. No. You did this. You killed him!" Deathstroke shouts in rage.
I stand in front of Raven, ready to protect her. "No, we didn't. Brother-"
Deathstroke just pushes me aside before carefully lifting Ravager. "I don't care. You'd better get ready, 'cause next time, I'll kill all of you," his eye drifts towards Apex's unconscious form. "Even him."
As Deathstroke walks away, Robin gets a birdarang ready. I just hold an arm out and shake my head. "No."
He frowns in response before sighing and puts the weapon away.
Cheshire groans and rubs her head before slowly getting up. "Where the hell is Apex? I'm gonna kick his a-" She pauses when she notices Ravager's corpse. "Oh… Shit."
Deathstroke just walks by, and Cheshire looks over us. Her eyes seem to stay on Speedy for a moment before she follows after him, leaving us all in silence. Raven slowly sits down and lowers her hood while Beast Boy walks over and sits next to her.
"Was he already dead?" He asks.
Raven nods. "There was nothing inside," she looks down at her hand. "I've never sensed a corpse before… It was weird."
Robin and I share a glance before he walks over and kneels next to her, a hand on her shoulder as he gives her words of encouragement. Omen and Bumblebee investigate the room and the star contraption Raven was obviously tied to. Speedy kneels down to Apex's left and I kneel down across from him.
"What happened? He was all…powerful and now he's not," he whispers.
"I don't know what happened exactly, but he changed for a moment, and now he's like this," I reply. I move some hair out of his face and frown at the blood around his mouth and nose. "Is this blood his…?"
"It isn't," I look behind me to see Raven standing. She then kneels down next to me and puts her hand against his chest, and it glows again. "Blood forced this blood into him, used it to attack from within."
That explains the spasming and the pure pain he was feeling. Gods, that would kill damn near anyone, thank the gods for his healing factor, anyone else would have died. "His energy form purged all of the blood, his own included," I remember him saying something like that.
"We should go," Speedy advises. "I'd pick him up, but…"
I nod with a little smirk before lifting Apex up in my arms. I then turn to Beast Boy. "Hey, Beast Boy, is the Doom Patrol nearby?"
He chuckles nervously and shrugs. "I don't know. I was with Rita back at the university and we saw everything going on, I kinda jumped the gun and hopped onto Apex. We could still be in the area, or we could be in the Middle East for all we know."
"Comms don't work, and the outer walls are lined with psi blockers," Omen says. "But I can still read the minds within—they're all leaving."
Bumblebee arches a brow in confusion. "Why?"
Omen shakes her head. "No idea, they all got some message that's got them excited, all I can sense from their minds right now."
Robin hums. "Well, isn't that curious. Omen, can you break through the complex? Are we underground?"
She closes her eyes to sense the running minds before shaking her head. "Nope. From what I've gathered we're in a complex somewhere in the Caribbean. There's a second floor and a hangar to the east of us."
"To the hangar we go," I say before heading in that direction.
Like Omen said, there were cultists running around towards boats and planes to escape the island. A few tried to attack us, but they were quickly taken down, but most ignore us and run away.
Now we're outside on a nice tropical beach, in the distance were two dead cultists. Obviously Deathstroke and Cheshire killed them and took their boat.
I look over to Robin as he begins to call.
"Uh, hey, Watchtower? Where are we right now?" He asks.
"Robin!? Where the hell have you kids been!? We've been looking everywhere for you!" Black Canary shouts in response.
"Yeah, it's a long story. Can you teleport us back to Titans Tower? Oh, and we've got another guy here, Beast Boy from the Doom Patrol," Robin says. The two give each other a thumbs up as Beast Boy stands next to Raven.
"Of course. All right, I've got you guys, stay close together," Black Canary replies. "Teleporting you to the Tower."
Speedy reaches over and lightly elbows Beast Boy in the side. "You're gonna love this."
"Just don't move too much, that could cause…problems," Bumblebee warns.
As we get teleported away, Beast Boy looks down at his hands in awe as they're torn apart at the molecular level. "Whoa! This is so co-"
Titans Tower
"-ol!" He finishes in the Tower.
He then notices where we are and looks around in awe. He quickly steps off of the teleport pad and investigates the living area of the Tower. Garfield then transforms into a monkey and hops onto the table of the living room.
"I've always wanted to come here! Do you guys live here or what?" He asks.
He bounces around and looks at our rooms, the utensils we have. "Hey, where're the cups?" He asks.
I look to Dinah. "Where are the cups?"
"The new orders should be coming in tomorrow," she answers. She then looks down at Daichi in concern. "Is he okay?"
I look down at him with a small frown. "He'll be fine in a bit. I hope."
"We've never seen Apex like this, take him to the infirmary."
The others jump, and Beast Boy screeches as he jumps high into the air and lands on Batman's shoulders. Bruce slowly looks at the green monkey and carefully lifts him up before putting him down on the table.
"Beast Boy of the Doom Patrol, you're capable of transforming into animals, even extinct ones," Bruce says.
Garfield stares up at Bruce in awe before he transforms back to normal, becoming a kid sat down on the table looking up at Batman in awe. "Y-you're Batman…"
Bruce nods. "Yes."
"A-and you know about me," Garfield whispers in awe.
Bruce nods again. "Yes."
"C-cool…"
"Yes," Bruce says before turning to us. "Take him to the infirmary, we can monitor his situation there, after which you'll head to the mission room for debrief."
I just head over to the infirmary while the others all head over to the mission room, Dinah following. Garfield looks between us confused before heading over with the others, while Bruce and I head towards the infirmary.
The door opens and I head over to one of the cots and gently place Daichi down in it. Bruce and I then get the computers ready as he places a little circular device on his wrist after lifting his left sleeve up.
"Too bad an IV won't work. Then again, I guess he won't need it, huh?" I laugh a little.
"Hm," Bruce hums. He then looks to me and I can see some slight worry with his frown. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Besides, he's got a healing factor that's damn near unrivaled, he'll get up, I know he will," I reply.
Bruce folds his arms and looks down at Daichi. The heartbeat monitor was slow, but steadily speeds up to his normal range. "Come on, let's get this debrief over with."
Bruce exits the infirmary and just before I follow, I cup Daichi's cheek and frown a little before kissing his forehead. "You'd better heal from this, Dai," I mutter before heading over to the mission room.
The others were waiting, and Karen had her cowl off while Lilith's hood was down, and her mask was off. Dick and Roy kept their masks on. Garfield was normal and being held down by a magic hand from Rachel.
Once Bruce enters, the debrief starts.
"We lost contact with you after 10:48 PM at Ivy University. It's been nineteen hours," he begins. "What happened?"
Dick sighs. "We came in while Dr. Choi was fending off some White Cell assassins. Bumblebee, Raven, and I were tasked with defending him, while the others fought Deathstroke, Ravager, Cheshire, and the rest of that pink creature we fought months ago."
"Wait, who's Cheshire?" Dinah asks.
"We're not sure, she was associated with Deathstroke and Ravager, that's all we know," Lilith replies.
"Hm, continue," Bruce hums.
"We were beaten and taken to a facility. When I woke up, I found I was in a room on my own, and so were the others. Apex was across from me. Brother Blood came in and taunted me before leaving, a few minutes later Beast Boy enters and frees me," Dick continues.
"Apex had me free the others while he fought the cultists," Garfield says. "After we were all freed, we made a plan but that got thrown out the windows when the assassins came along."
Dick nods. "Apex dealt with Deathstroke while the rest of us fought the cultists and the two assassins. Cheshire and Ravager were the bigger threats, and we managed to push them back to where Apex and Raven were. That's when things got…interesting."
"How so?" Dinah asks.
Rachel sighs as she takes over. "Blood, as his name suggests, specializes in blood magic, he used some blood and forced it into Apex's body-" Dinah scrunches her nose in disgust. "He used it to hurt Apex from within, so Apex became…I don't know, energy? And got rid of all the foreign blood."
Bruce arches a brow. "He became energy?"
Roy nods. "Should've seen it, he was like some beacon or something, you couldn't focus on anything else even if you tried. His energy powers were extremely strong too, knocked out Cheshire and a few cultists in one hit."
Bruce hums.
"What happened next?" Dinah asks.
"Well, for one, Blood was looking at Apex weirdly, like he was in awe too. He then pulled out a remote of some kind and pressed a button. When he did, Ravager died," Roy continues.
Dinah's eyes widened while Bruce's did the opposite.
"It looked like cardiac arrest," Dick says. "He was clutching at his chest and stumbled over, all the signs. But he coughed up some blood too, so there had to be more to it then a fatal heart attack."
"Maybe it was a side effect of his powers? I mean, the Hive Five were powered up by Blood, wouldn't be out of the question that Ravager was too. Maybe the powers came with a drawback, or Blood had a contingency plan of some kind," Karen theorizes.
"Considering the fact that he pressed a button and Ravager died, well…" Roy trails off.
"Speedy's right. Did you get this remote by any chance?" Bruce asks.
Dick shakes his head. "Blood had a wall protecting him and used the chaos to escape. He's still out there, and we don't know what it is he even wants, or why he wants Rachel so badly."
We all fall silent, and I think of reasons why Blood would want her, her magic being the top theory, but eventually she tells us why.
"It's my Father," Rachel says. When attention turns to her, she sighs. "My Father, Trigon, is some super powerful demon that the Cult of Blood worships. They want to use me to, I don't know, summon him? Act as a vessel? He wasn't specific."
Roy and I share a concerned glance before I focus on Rachel. "You sure he's telling the truth? I mean, he could've been lying."
Rachel shakes her head. "I've always been able to read people pretty easily, I'd know when someone was being truthful or lying, I guess that's because of my empathy abilities. But even with those dampeners I knew Blood was telling the truth. And I mean, come on, we've all seen my magic, me being half demon totally explains that. Explains a lot of things, actually," she whispers that last bit.
"Did he say anything about how your father would be summoned?" Bruce asks. I can tell he's already coming up with plans.
Rachel shrugs. "He just said I'd be a door for Trigon."
Bruce hums before nodding. "Very well," his gaze turns to Garfield. "And how did you get involved?"
Garfield jumps a little before saluting. "Uh, well I was in the area with Elasti-Girl when I heard the fight. By the time I got there it was nearing its end, but I turned into a tick and barely made it by landing on Apex and went with them. The rest is history."
"And the pink creature?" Dinah asks.
My brow furrows as I realize it wasn't anywhere near our fight at the facility. What the hell was that about? We all just shrug.
"Very well. I'll call the Doom Patrol, tell that you're here. Can you tell me where the base is? I can teleport you there," Bruce says.
Garfield nods before turning to us and waves with a smile. "Well, it was fun hanging out with superheroes my age, we should do this again sometime!"
Dick smiles and waves back. "That'd be nice. See you later, Garfield."
Just before he leaves the room, Garfield shoots some finger guns. "Call me Gar. See ya!"
Once the door closes, with Bruce and Dinah following Gar, we all just deflate, Karen and Lilith sit down on the ground and lean on each other.
"Today was not fun," Lilith mutters.
"You said it," Karen agrees. "What'll happen with Deathstroke? Should we all get ready for an attack?"
Dick nods as he takes off his mask. "Yeah, even if we had nothing to do with Ravager's death, he still seemed like he blamed us for it. Or at least for not saving him."
"I-I tried but it was already too late," Rachel whispers.
Roy walks over and puts his cap on her head. "It wasn't your fault, Rae. C'mon, let's all get cleaned up, I'll order some pizza."
"Good, 'cause I'm starving," Lilith says as she and Karen get up and follow after him.
Dick does the same and gives Rachel a thumbs up. I then walk over and stand next to her; I place an arm over her shoulders and give her a reassuring smile. "Roy's right, it wasn't your fault. If anyone's to blame, it's Brother Blood."
Rachel takes off Roy's cap and stares at it before looking up at me. "What'll we do about Trigon? If they get to me, how will we beat an all-powerful demon like him? Blood made him sound unbeatable."
"That's how it always is for worshipers. On Themiscyra we were raised to respect and worship the Greek pantheon, to know that none of them could be defeated, especially Zeus, but let me tell you a little something," I lean in close to whisper. "Everyone can be beaten, you just gotta know how."
There was a little rumbling of thunder in the distance.
I just smirk up at the sky before dragging Rachel along with me. "C'mon, you'll love the pizza we get from a local shop. Doubly so now that Wally isn't here to steal any of your slices."
A little smile plays on Rachel's face before the two of us head out.
I was right though, everyone can be beat, you just gotta know how to beat them.
Daichi's current state proves that point.
Daichi
I groan in pain and run a hand down my face. God, what happened?
Oh, right, all that foreign blood messed up my insides. That was so fun.
I slowly sit up to see that I'm in the infirmary of Titans Tower, and to my left is Bruce, looking over the console next to me.
"Please tell me you aren't thinking about contingencies against me," I rasp.
He just hums and continues to look over the data.
Well, 'least he didn't lie to me.
I throw my legs over the side of the cot and sit down, rubbing my forehead a little before standing up. I stumble a little, but Bruce's hand on my shoulder steadies me. "Thanks."
"Mm," he hums. "Blood told Rachel about her father, Trigon. You know of him?"
I nod. Would explain why she looked shell-shocked back there. "Trigon's a big deal demon—claims to have destroyed thousands of worlds, but of course, Earth is the one he just can't get. It's always like that with conquerors and destroyers—they can get anywhere else, but Earth is too damn hard."
"On a scale of one to ten?" Bruce asks.
"Eight, maybe nine," I quickly answer. "He's one of the biggest magic-related threats. Granted he's usually a Titans problem considering his tie to Rachel."
Bruce folds his arms and stares ahead. "Any contingencies you have planned?"
"A few granted the big one isn't heroic one bit. Chalk that up to my childhood training," I mutter.
"And that is…?" He asks with an arched brow.
I sigh deeply and run a hand through my hair. Can't believe I'm even saying this. "Trigon comes to Earth on Rachel's sixteenth birthday, which is in a little over a year from now. But if Rachel weren't alive…"
"Not happening," he says immediately. "Your other plans?"
"We hard focus the Cult of Blood. Hit them hard anytime they show up, force them onto the backfoot. If they can't set up they can't get to Rachel, we might be able to stop the summoning," I say. "But we don't know how big the cult is, and we don't know where Brother Blood hides."
Bruce nods with a sigh. "I see… I'll hold a meeting with the Justice League, see if Dr. Fate or Zatara can't offer some insight. The others had ordered some pizza, go and get some rest."
"Right, yeah, 'course they did," I head over to the door and as it opens the smell of pizza hits my nose. But just before I go to join them, I look back to Bruce. "Hey, what happened to Deathstroke, Ravager, and Cheshire?"
"Ravager died, and the other two escaped," Bruce tells me. "Go, unwind, none of it was your fault."
I purse my lips and think of some replies, but I just shake my head and go to join the others.
Denver
Slade was standing just outside of his home, the door right in front of him. His eye stayed on the ground as he thought of different ways to tell Adeline that their first son was dead, how to tell Joseph that his older brother was gone. But nothing came to mind.
Slade looks down at his fist, which was previously covered in Grant's blood, and clenches it. That job wasn't worth it. He's now gotten onto the radar of the three big superhero teams, he never got the rest of the payment, and worst of all, his son died.
If he could go back in time and stop himself from taking the job, he would. Hell, he'd give the job to Lawton, even if he'd never hear the end of it.
With a sigh, Slade pulls out his keys and unlocks the door.
The first thing he noticed was the silence.
Joseph might've been asleep, it was a school night after all, but Adeline was always up at this time. Something was odd.
He immediately got in a combat stance as he slowly moved through his home, his eye darting around to look for any signs of intruders. But he found none, and he heard no one else as well. He was alone.
Slade then notices a note on the garage door. Lowering his guard, he walks over and takes the note off to read it. After he was done, he crumpled the paper up and tossed it into the trash.
Cheshire told them.
Adeline was so angry and distraught that she took Joseph and left.
The Teen Titans would pay for this.
They just made it personal.
Oregon
The blood pool bubbled, and the Blood Priests nearby all bow low as Brother Blood emerges from it. The leader of the cult then walks out of the pool and up the steps, and as he does, the blood all quickly dries away, once he was out of it, it was as if he was never covered in blood.
"I see the Icon of Pride is not with you," the head priest, a man wearing a red, black, and white cloak with golden accessories says.
Blood shakes his head. "No, the mercenaries failed. But no matter, we still have another year before the window closes."
The priests looks worried. "But a year could go by incredibly fast. And if the window closes, that is it, no second chances."
Brother Blood looks at the priest, both annoyed and impressed. He was one of the few that spoke his mind against the leader of the cult, Blood appreciated that. "I am well aware," a large smirk then comes over his face. "Besides, I've learned something new. Something…big."
The priest tilts his head in confusion. "What did you learn?"
"Speak to our spy, the Teen Titans had a new ally with a uniform I recognized, tell them they are getting new plans," Blood tells one of the other priests instead of answering.
The priest nods before she scurries away to do so.
"Blood, what was this opportunity?" The head priest pushes.
Brother Blood looks up at the back wall.
On it was an image of Trigon, his left hand was in a fist, the aftermath of a crushed planet in it. The right hand was holding a planet tightly, cracks appearing along it as it was being crushed.
There were seven circles surrounding Trigon, and in each one was an icon. To his left were the Icons of Wrath, Lust, and Envy, while to his right were the Icons of Gluttony, Sloth, and Greed. But above Trigon was the Icon of Pride.
"Apex," Blood finally answers. "Apex was personally marked by Lord Trigon."
Terminator Arc, complete; Doom and Gloom Arc, commence.
A lot happened this chapter—Beast Boy made his debut, Daichi showed off his energy form, Ravager died, the team learned of Trigon, and big ol' demon dad left his mark on Daichi. But when? How? And what's this mark do? You'll get answers to those questions soon. Oh, and Daichi's energy form looks a lot like Wonder Man's ionic form.
I'm so giddy too, since we're nearing the end of the first big part to The Vitruvian Man! Looking at it like I am with Triumphant I'd say we're nearing the end of season one, and this would be a three-season story. Man, arcs and seasons, almost like I'm writing an anime.
So, little note for the future of the series, not that big but something I want to say, now on the story will be written in past tense, so it'll be like "blah, blah, blah," said Daichi, instead of "blah, blah, blah," Daichi says. I just find it easier to write this way since I'm writing some other stories in past tense. Just wanted to tell you know to avoid any potential confusion in the future.
And like I said in the previous chapter, this story will go on a little hiatus. Lately I've been feeling pretty burnt out having to constantly work on multiple stories, so I wanna step back for a bit and regain my energy, thanks for understanding.
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!