Chapter 34: The Harsh Light of Day
"In order to obtain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd."
Miguel de Unamuno
Normally created when a star burns out and collapses into its own being, the Lord of the Night had tapped the deepest powers of his dark godhood to manifest a black hole on Earth, one that appeared a hundred feet below the surface of the planet, in the wastes of the Sahara Desert.
It was but the size of an atom, and it existed only for a tenth of a second, but this tiny piece of matter possessed the gravity of a red giant, a star 10x the size of our sun, supercondensed into an area the size of an area 1000x smaller then a pin.
By conventional physics, this should have been utterly impossible. Black holes created by collapsing red giants should have been the size of the Earth itself. Mini black holes have been proven to exist, but they would have been created by something containing the mass equivalent of the Earth, not a red giant. The idea of a black hole being so powerful and yet so small would have any scientist laughing their heads off.
But yet, this black hole, called not into existence by a collapsing star but by the whim of an evil god, did somehow exist. Its creation defied all the laws of physics. But physics were fully in control for the very brief time it existed.
The intense gravity lashed out, as vicious as all the gods and devils in all creation myths ever recorded combined, so intense it tore the sand and everything else surrounding it for miles and miles into its component atoms. At the same time it emitted beams of radiation, heat, and X-Rays many times greater then our star could pump out, and our sun was 93 million miles away, while this black hole was right on the Earth.
Tidal waves were called into existence immediately by the super-intense gravity, swamping major costal cities. Or at least that would have been the case had the other heroes of Earth not been on alert, waiting for the battle in the Sahara to settle itself before they went in.
Never had so much destruction been visited by so small an object. But the heroes of earth responded admirably, bringing all their powers, skills, and bravery to bear as they saved countless lives.
But as the black hole came and went in a time even shorter then an eye blink, the lives that mattered the most seemed to have truly, utterly ceased to exist.
They had defied the night.
And the night had destroyed them.
The light faded, here and there in an instant, but the power summoned was obvious.
Where the Lord had placed the hole, a crater now stood: two miles deep and nearly fifteen miles across. And on and on for nearly 100 square miles were fields of glass, all life destroyed, all rock disintegrated, and all sand fused into a brilliant span of dirty crystal that reflected the stars. It was beautiful, and the quiet was total.
The Lord lowered himself into the crater. Success. Though it had gone badly. The black hole had nearly destroyed HIM as well. But its job had been accomplished: those who had opposed him were gone. All that was left was the endless field of glass that was now in the middle of the Sahara desert.
The Lord landed, and slumped over, breathing deeply. It had taken far more exertion then he had expected to defeat those blasted kids. He had underestimated them, but he wouldn't do the same with the rest of the Earth's guardians. They would all fall. For he was one with the night, and it granted him power beyond all others.
And the Earth and the future were…
And then something moved at his feet. The Lord arched an eyebrow.
Then his eyes went as wide as they could, as for the first time, perhaps ever, he gazed in complete and utter shock at what he was seeing.
It was a mirror. A floating mirror. That would have been odd enough, but the fact that there was a mirror right where the black hole had existed when everything for dozens of miles around had been blasted and cooked to nothingness was absolutely, utterly stupefying.
The Lord stared at the mirror, unable to believe it, as it floated away. And then it glowed. The Lord, his eyes having been hurt by the intense luminescence of the black hole, covered them against this new light.
He thought he had been shocked before, but when he lowered his hand, the Lord found he could become even more so. His jaw dropped. His eyes almost bugged out of his head. And he was, despite all his power, completely and utterly at a loss.
For there stood Young Justice. All of them. Still banged up from the intense war they had raged with him, but there nonetheless. Impulse had even gotten back up, having managed to recover from his shock at last.
And at the front was Raven, holding her mirror.
"No….no…" The Lord whispered. "It's…impossible…you can't have…there's no way…"
"Much like you breaking every law of physics by making a black hole?" Raven said. "Silly Lord. He thinks he knows everything, and yet he knows nothing in the end. He thinks the laws of physics govern all of reality. Silly boy."
"How did you…?"
"Escape? You gave me the idea yourself. Or actually, Savior here did when he yelled that you were out of your mind. I knew we could never escape from your attack via normal means…but strange means just happened to be within our power. Or perhaps more accurately, my power. You see, with this, we can go into my mind. It was simple to warp back to what you left of our building and mentally pull it from the wreckage. My mind is more then just a brain, you see. It is, by the nature of my birthright, a separate dimension as well. A dimension your power couldn't touch. And you were so busy looking at your attack you didn't even notice us escaping into it."
"BUT HOW IN THE HELL DID THE MIRROR SURVIVE!!??!? IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN BLASTED INTO NOTHING, LEAVING YOU TRAPPED! HOW THE HELL DOES IT STILL EXIST?!??!?!" The Lord screamed.
"Because you didn't hit it the right way."
The Lord gaped, dumbfounded.
"Like I said, you seem to think the laws of physics are absolute. Fool. You used dark magic to grant you your power. Part of that darkness stems from my father. You should have known that physics are not all there is in this reality, and you should have known that the attack you were using…there was no magic in it. Summoning a black hole may break most of the laws of physics, but the laws of physics are still where it is conceived. And for all the damage those laws, and their reactions, can do…they can't harm this mirror. This mirror isn't physical. It's magic itself. Spells woven by my grandmother and my home into solid form. A form that can't be affected by gravity or radiation. Hence, it remained untouched. And so did we. For all your effort, you failed. And THAT, my dear Lord, is the truth."
The Lord still couldn't believe it. On most levels it made absolutely no sense. But on a certain level, it did.
The animal level. The primitive, superstitious sense that assigned gods to everything when they couldn't be explained. Things that should have been properly explained when mankind's cerebral cortex finally evolved enough to study it properly…
Except there were times when animal instinct, animal superstition, was correct. And sometimes the way things seemed to be just didn't apply.
Like a magic mirror that could not be harmed by a black hole. Part of humans would defy that as impossibility…and the other part might just confess it made a queer sense to them.
Perhaps mankind was not so special because they could be above animals. Perhaps they were sometimes special because despite that ability, they were STILL animals.
"TITANS, GO!" Robin yelled.
"JUSTICE, CHARGE!" Superboy echoed.
Explosions and the sounds of blows filled the crater, and then the Lord flew out. But the teenage superheroes were on his tail, and a Starbolt blew him back into the ground, glass shattering as he landed and bounced along it. Impulse ran in, hit the Lord roughly 12639 times, and then ran back as all the Titans attacked him, the assault throwing him across the landscape again. He was met by Young Justice on the other end, who blasted him with fists, weapons, projectiles, and even a kitchen sink that came out of an arrow. Ok, I made that last one up.
The Lord fell, not rising, as the Teen Titans and Young Justice gathered around him. From him, laughter bubbled.
"Ok, he's totally cracked now." Beast Boy said.
"No. Like I said before Titans…" the Lord said as he got up. "Humans are VERY bad at remembering the past. And one of you should have remembered something. You, Savior."
Everyone looked at Savior, who looked confused.
"The same mistake you made with the blood, children! That is, always, ALWAYS, have a plan for everything. Including…" the Lord yelled, as he stood up, power blazing on his hands "ONE FINAL TRUMP CARD SHOULD THE IMPOSSIBLE HAPPEN!"
And the Lord thrust his hands up, and suddenly a black ball of power formed above his head, a ball the size of a building.
"ANNIHILATION MAELSTROM!"
And blasts of power began spraying from the ball. And not even the speedster Impulse was fast enough to get away.
Explosions consumed the Titans, Justice, and everything for several miles around the Lord and his foes, and then the ball flew down and one final explosion shook the Sahara again, pluming black smoke and glass shards high into the air. The boom was so loud some people heard it around the world.
Then there was quiet.
The Lord strode out of the smoke. He sighed, and reformed his broken crown. Perhaps this was not humanity's final night after all. He was severely drained, and he needed to go and draw more power from the darkness. That and plan for the battles to come. But the future was still…
Robin walked out of the dust.
The Lord stopped dead.
Well, walking may have been generous. Robin more accurately staggered out of the dust. His outfit was ripped to shreds, his mask gone. His right arm hung limp at his side, and he dragged his left leg as he walked.
But. He. Was. Still. There.
And as the dust cleared, and the Lord looked around in shock, he saw that that miracle was not a miracle but just one example being repeated all around him. True, some of the teenagers were down and not getting up, but the Lord could sense their vital signs. Weak, but still there. Alive.
And some were still on their feet. Despite all their hideous wounds, they were still coming.
But, as the Lord's shock faded, it was a futile knee-jerk effort. Even as he thought that, Wonder Girl, her top completely gone but her mind not even thinking of modesty, fell on her face. Cyborg had tried to get up and literally fallen apart. It looked like Beast Boy had suffered a deep abdominal wound. Even Superboy was down, and he didn't look like he was getting up.
Raven, staggering, not much left of her cloak but tatters, was still coming though. And her damn lover. And it looked like Arrowette was looking for her bow, which actually lay smashed to splinters several feet away from her.
"So…you want to keep fighting still?" The Lord said, addressing the question to Robin. Robin, the mask taking away from his ability to glare, tried anyway…and then a look of total helplessness came over him.
"No…"
And then Robin fell to his knees.
"We can't. You're too strong. We surrender."
"No…" Raven said, and then to her great shock Savior fell to his knees as well.
"Yes. We're done. Spare us. We will serve you gratefully if you do."
"Noel…you don't mean…" Raven said. Savior glanced to his side. Most of his hair had been burned away.
"You can't surrender to him. That will be going against all that…I love in you."
"Well then…I guess our relationship is over Raven."
Raven's eyes went wide, and then filled with tears.
"But…why…"
"Because I want to live. That damn animalistic desire to survive."
"You should listen to him." The Lord said. "Rejecting you to live. How VERY human."
Raven blinked, tears running down her cheeks.
"But pointless."
Robin, his eyes until then on the ground, looked up.
"But…"
"You opposed me Titans. You AND your friends. You stood in the way of the future. Those who do so…they always wind up crushed by history. And so must you. You opposed me. So you must die. Whether you want to serve me or not…"
Robin blinked.
"Then…before I die…may I have a last request? Only an animal would kill immediately."
The Lord thought it over.
"Very well. Go ahead."
"All I want to say…is that you are still in error. You cannot save humanity. You are dooming it."
"But getting rid of all the bad things? By bringing this planet to paradise?"
"Yes. If…when you do that…you won't be doing that to humanity. Because humanity won't exist."
The Lord cocked his head.
"We humans…we are not meant to be perfect. We are all given incredible potential, but very few of us are meant to tap it as well as you desire us too. We are meant to be flawed, and for many terrible things to happen due to those flaws. That is who we are. It's who will we always be. The day the human race stops doing that…is the day there is no more human race. And that does not mean we will destroy each other. It just means we will no longer…be what we are. You cannot save humanity, Lord. Humanity, inevitably, is doomed to death or ascension. And when it happens…we will be gone. You cannot give humans paradise. We are not meant to have it. And that, Lord, is the truth that I think you will ultimately have to swallow."
"Oh really?" the Lord said, as dark power glowed on his hand. "Well, thank you for those last words Robin. When my utopia is complete, I will mount them on a plaque to show my world how foolish the old one was."
The Lord raised his hand, pointing his finger at Robin. "And how it was doomed. Much…like…you…"
The Lord's voice trailed off as he looked down, and Raven was suddenly aware of a light sizzling noise.
It was a beam of light, focused on the Lord's hand. And it was acting like a mild acid. More confused then hurt, the Lord stared at it.
"No Lord, I think much like the rest of your beliefs, you have it all wrong." Robin said.
By now, most of the heroes had managed to get up, as Robin got off his knees and looked past the Lord. The Lord turned, and even as he saw what Robin saw, he heard Robin behind him.
"It was in my head ever since I noticed how Starfire's bolts seemed to really bother you, but I didn't realize exactly why until recently. The spell you performed to unite with the night…you said it was so old that needed pieces of it no longer existed. So you sought to replace those parts with pieces from us. And you did, and the ritual was a success. But…I don't think it was a complete success."
And on the horizon, the sun began to rise, the bright light reflecting off the miles of glass the Titans and Justice were standing on.
"I think the spell was flawed due to the replacement. And I finally figured out the flaw. You united with darkness…and hence did you gain darkness' weakness."
The beams intensified as they washed fully over the Lord, and he suddenly groaned and looked at his hands. They were smoking. So was his whole body. He turned and looked at Robin, who grinned viciously.
"So be it, Lord of the Night. Time for YOU to learn a harsh, needed truth. And that is, the shadows, the black, the darkness, no matter how deep, no matter how powerful…they all are destroyed by the harsh light of day."
And the Lord knew he was right, as he looked around at all the superheroes, as he looked down at himself, as the sun rose fully, focused by all the glass and striking him with an intensity he could never muster, as beams of black light began to pour from within him, his eyes swung over to Savior, as the white-haired teenager got to his feet, looking at the Lord.
"Consider this a message from a world that does not want you or need you, a future that is ours to decide, and from every child standing here whom you disrespected, injured, and underestimated. YOU LOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!"
And as the power poured from within him, as the sun shone its light down and slowly burned him away, the Lord threw back his head and laughed, a loud mad laugh of a broken mind and a soul that knows it has been vanquished. And as the Titans gathered around Robin, The Lord turned, even as he broke apart, and raised his hand in a semi-salute.
And then he exploded into a thousand strands of shadow, shadow that wafted apart and vanished.
Nightfall.
"There…how do you feel Beast Boy?" Raven said as she completed her healing.
"Much better. Thanks Rae! But how are YOU feeling? You had to do a lot of work here." Beast Boy said, rubbing his healed stomach.
"I'll live." Raven said, as she looked around at the gathered teens. "We all will. Thanks to all your help. We saved the day."
"And we at last have a new team to aid us in our missions!" Starfire said happily. Superboy sweatdropped.
"Look guys, I know I was considering putting my own group together, but if this is the crap you deal with I am beginning to have second thoughts."
"Fine then. We'll take all the credit." Robin said, smirking.
"I hereby announce the official formation of Young Justice!" Superboy yelled. Then he laughed and he and Robin shook hands.
"Don't be a stranger."
"Same with you."
And then the rest of them were gone, either flying or carried off by Impulse in the blink of an eye.
"You know, this is becoming real tiresome." Cyborg said where he was tied on Robin's back, his legs destroyed.
"Oh my friends, it was long and hard and very painful, but we have done a great thing here! We, with our teamwork and refusal to give up, vanquished a villain of great power and evil! Joy! We won!" Starfire said, as the Titans joined their hands and Raven teleported them away.
And reappeared in the midst of Jump City. Specifically, on top of one of the higher buildings.
And they finally saw the burning ruins of what had been their town, huge swaths of destruction carved by the Lord, and even in the distance, they could see their island, still smoking, their home totally destroyed.
"Yeah. We won." Robin said grimly. "Hooray."
It finally ended roughly twelve hours later.
Having dealt with the planetary effects of the black hole, other superheroes quickly arrived at Jump City. After dealing the Lord all by themselves, the older heroes were all too happy (and on one level, shamed they couldn't before) to help the Titans try and help their city. And there was a lot to do, as massive groups of metahumans and lots of emergency government troops sent by President Luther did their best in rescue efforts, looting, and cleaning up. But despite all the good they did, the body count kept climbing. Robin stopped keeping track when it hit 50,000. He didn't want to know any more.
It wasn't until then that the Titans finally got a moment to themselves, and all their faces were as grim as Robin's. They had seen too much horror in the past day. If any of them had any innocence left by now, it was long dead.
"Guys, I wanted to speak to you because I think we should disband."
"What?"
"What?"
"What?"
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
"This isn't right. We're teenagers…we may have special powers or abilities greater then mortal men…but we shouldn't have to deal with this. The terrible side of humanity. The one that drove the Lord to do this. We shouldn't…"
"No Robin. You have it all wrong." Starfire said. Robin glanced over to his girlfriend, his love. Her eyes were wise. No longer innocent. It saddened him all the more.
"Now, more then ever, we have to stay. We have to keep the Teen Titans alive. Not just to repair our city. But because we are needed. We are not part of any disease. Rather, we can help curb and cure the disease out there, the disease that the Lord was so sick with. If society doesn't have us, the ones who fight for it, no matter how flawed and bad it may be…then we may as well give it over to the Lords of the world."
"If anyone says "With great power comes great responsibility", I'm gonna smack them." Beast Boy said.
"Starfire is right." Raven said. "I remember something the Lord said in our first meeting…he said society had to be purged…or it would keep making people like him. And while this life…it brings pain, and misery, and torment…I can't imagine a life without that. But I can imagine a life if we don't make a stand. And quite frankly, I don't want it."
"Same here." Savior said.
"I ain't quitting." Beast Boy said.
"Hello no, I won't go." Cyborg said.
"I will stay with this team until the bitter end." Starfire said.
Robin cocked an eyebrow, and then he actually allowed himself a smile.
"Yeah. I was wrong. I forgot. After all this shit…we're still the good guys."
"And damn are we GOOD!" Cyborg said.
Raven had wandered off to the edge of the building. As the Titans allowed themselves some laughter and happiness, Savior joined her.
"I'm sorry about that little display with the Lord. I KNEW Robin wouldn't give up, so when he did I suspected he had a plan. So I played along. And he did. He kept the Lord occupied for the last few minutes before the sun rose. What I said to you was bullshit."
"No…it was true."
Noel's eyes widened, as Raven turned to look at him.
"Part of it was. You desire to survive is deeper then your love on some level. But I don't care. I love you Noel. I love you even if you are flawed, and even if you do bad and stupid and vicious and cruel things. In the end you're just human. What we need to do is go on and overcome our flaws…go on despite our flaws. Robin said in best. We aren't meant to live in paradise."
Raven slipped into Noel's arms.
"But maybe…we can just touch it."
Their lips met.
Starfire glanced over, and then she pointed before she started jumping up and down, clapping her hands. Robin smirked.
"Why should HE get all the fun?" Robin muttered, and then grabbed Starfire and kissed her as well.
"Well, about bloody time." Cyborg said.
"Wait wait wait a minute, I'm confused. Noel and Raven…like each other?" Beast Boy said.
"Dude, haven't you been paying attention the past several months?"
"Well, uh…aw man!" Beast Boy said, sulking. He had kind of liked Raven too, and Noel had managed to succeed. It stuck in his craw.
Well, that was life. Into all sunshine a little rain must fall.
"Don't worry man, you still got me." Cyborg said, putting his hand around Beast Boy's shoulder.
"Dude, you're not gay, are you?"
"Despite what many many fanfic authors write, no."
"Ah good! Buddy!" Beast Boy said, putting his arm around Cyborg's shoulders.
"Yep, till the end. Even though you stink and can't see the marvelousness of meat."
"Hey, let's see if you still like meat after I take a chomp out of you!"
CLANK!
"OW!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Ha ha, you bit a metal part!"
And despite all the chaos in the background, Noel and Raven only knew each other.
To Be Concluded