Chapter 17: Earth, Sin, and Fire

"Primus in orbe deos fecit timor."
("It was fear that first made gods in the world.")

-Statius, Thebias, III

Evil comes in many forms.

We have spoken of them, so far, but the ones we have mentioned have always been the small ones, the petty ones, the ones that may ruin lives but are little in the grand scheme of things…they are many in number but minute in importance.

But there are those…that are refined.

There are those…that are truly exceptional.

There are those…whose darkness is so entangled with light that one cannot be sure what one is looking at. And in a way…this can be worse. The truly greatest evils can hide behind a smile…or a cause…and their evil can be concealed, distorted, made so vague you are no longer sure what you are looking at.

And these evils…they can meet others…less developed one…and allow them to begin their final metamorphosis…

She walked from the strip club, the building crashing and burning behind her. All traces of victimhood and weakness are gone from her pose and her expression. Her face is a mask of rage, barely sated by the carnage she had wrought. She wore an outfit that looked quite a bit like a one-piece bathing suit, red as blood, and exposing more skin then she would like, but she must wear it: she is still learning her power and while she has learned she is immune to being burned from her own flames she is not immune to their heat, and after sweating nearly to death in a few other outfits Sizzle, very grudgingly, had resorted to wearing this jumpsuit. Besides her hated outfit (hated even IF she could melt the eyes of any male who dared looked), she was clad in red boots, and her long hair was tied up behind her in a high ponytail. Her frail body now ripples with muscles, the result of an obsessed mind refusing to show weakness in any way whatsoever, and she walks with an angry purpose.

She has destroyed another pinnacle of the sins of men, their flesh display, their stirring of their sick hormones in preparation for whatever woman they planned to violate next. The men expected a hot show: she gave them one. And for letting themselves be debased like that, Sizzle took care of the women as well. She wanted to save her own kind, but in her opinion, once you fell that far, you were beyond hope.

For Sizzle, a lot of things made you beyond hope.

The sound of sirens was increasing: cars were turning around the corner. But by now, Sizzle had gotten used to this. And she knew exactly where the gas tank is.

The police cars exploded, flipping up and over onto the street, their heat and shrapnel causing other cars to erupt as well. Feeling only the slightest twinge of satisfaction, Sizzle crossed over to the building across from the destroyed strip club and went into an alleyway, finding a garbage can. She hopped on the lid, showing perfect balance, and then with a glance toward the can it exploded, throwing the lid up, Sizzle riding on top of it. The force was enough to raise her up past the roof, where she hopped off and continued to leave. She had no real destination in mind: she just wandered until she found men and then she killed them.

And she was about to meet another, much sooner then she thought.

"Nice work."

Sizzle whirled to the voice, her eyes falling on the figure sitting near the edge of the roof, his form in the shadows, but Sizzle could make out that he was large, with long hair…and a long set of metal claws on his arm, which he tapped lightly against the side of his leg.

"Takes a special someone to just strike down ones foes in such a way." The Lord of the Night said.

Not all insanity is evil, but all evil is insane.

But the sicknesses that lurk in the coralline whorls of the human are legion.

Some manifest in a simple, overwhelming desire to destroy.

And others are more…ambitious…zealous…and so horrible most evils pale in comparison…

Especially those who are never quite aware of what they are seeing…

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Why introduce myself? I am a man. You hate men. Surely you will immediately try to kill me." The Lord replied.

Sizzle didn't let the Lord say anything else: she was already blasting fire…at where the Lord had been. The flame blew a hole in the edge of the roof…but the Lord was already thirty feet away.

"As I said. Considering what we can do together, its kind of a shame that all you can think of is my destruction. But then again, I'm sure you have your reasons." The Lord said.

Sizzle's eyes blazed, as she snapped out her hand.

And suddenly found an arm encircling her throat, the claws pointed at her carotid artery, and she gasped as she realized the Lord, before she could even process it, had gotten around and behind her. Now he was holding her, albeit strangely lightly: true, he had blades to her throat, but the rest of his body was away from her, not touching her.

"So I must do this." The Lord said. "And before you just light me on fire with your touch or thoughts, I should inform you I am wearing ten pounds of explosive and several hundred balls bearings under this outfit. Any kind of heat will detonate it, and while the flames may not hurt you, the force wave and ball bearings WILL slice you to bits. And believe me, even if you get away from me, you won't get far away enough so that the explosion won't kill you: either I'll be too close or you won't see me at all, and I know you need line of sight to ignite something." The Lord said.

Sizzle was shocked, and though she tried to hide it, her body momentarily went into an utter panic at the thought of her past and how she had been treated, a helpless toy to be used and discarded, the panic bringing out her rage, a rage she almost used to strike out despite the fact it may lead to her death…

"But I would rather neither of us die." The Lord said, and released Sizzle. She whirled around, her eyes both confused and furious.

"I just wish to talk." The Lord said. "Hear me out, and if you don't like what you're hearing, I'll leave, and you'll never see me again. But I think that despite my sex, you'll be interested."

"I doubt you fucks have ANYTHING that could interest me." Sizzle replied, as she ignited fire on her hands. Despite his seeming peaceful poise, Sizzle didn't trust anyone, least of all a man who got the drop on her and knew her well enough to protect himself from her fire.

"How about the freedom to keep doing this?"

"What? What the hell are you talking about? I don't need ANYONE'S help to keep doing this, much less yours!"

"Perhaps…but Sizzle, so far you have only encountered normal people, regular males. But your attacks and killings, as justified as they might be, are starting to attract attention. If you keep doing this, you WILL attract the interest of one if not several metahumans, and when you do you're in trouble. The so-called superheroes may seem like foolish, blind children in stupid costumes, but they can be annoying persistent and surprisingly skilled. I speak from personal experience." The Lord said. "And before you say you'll fry them, maybe. But if you do THAT, you'll just attract MORE. The bastards look out for their own: you kill one or two and next thing you know the Justice League is knocking on your door. And I doubt, no matter how angry you are Sizzle, that you can beat Superman."

Sizzle's eyes blazed at the suggestion she couldn't beat any man, even though she knew in her heart the Lord was right.

"So what's your point?"

"I propose a partnership."

"With you? Fuck you." Sizzle said, raising her flaming hands again. "I don't need any man for protection."

"I don't want to protect you. I want your help. And if you agree, the reward will be worth it."

"What could you possibly offer?"

"How about the power to make any attention by superheroes a moot point?"

"Yeah right. You think I was born yesterday? Those plans never work."

"Yes, because the ones who put them into play…they are always impatient. They underestimate the ones standing in their way. But what I have planned…it won't work that way. There will be no grand displays or written letters to challenge others to figure it out. No, what I have planned, no one will realize until it is too late. And by then, it really WILL be too late."

"I doubt it." Sizzle replied, as fire re-awoke on her hands. "Fuck off."

"I see. Pity." The Lord said. "You would have made a worthy partner. I'll be sad when you finally get taken down. Whoever does it will probably humiliate you to 'repay' you for your 'crimes'. Such is the way in this world, trying to protect the rubbish, rubbish you and I equally see. Really, it's a shame." The Lord said.

"Please. Like you see anything like me."

"I know that mankind is worthless. Your actions certainly show that."

That got Sizzle's attention.

"But you're a man."

"Please. This is a shell, something I have yet to discard. I wear it extremely grudgingly. But this so called human race…the whole species is worthless, filled with wastrels and deviants. And mankind is at the top of that list, with their own perversions and oppressions and destructions…and sadly, their better weapons. Better weapons then you Sizzle. That's why I offered this: you and I see the same way, and you deserve what we could bring together. But if you insist…well, we all choose our own path. But yours WILL dead-end eventually." The Lord said.

Several forms of anger passed over Sizzle's face, as she wrestled with the Lord's words, and worse…the terrible ring of truth to them. A truth even she realized. For all her power…there were many who had more. MEN.

"…You have thirty seconds." Sizzle said.

What the Lord said in those thirty seconds, as he began to explain his plan, wasn't enough to make Sizzle side with him…but it was enough for her to give him another thirty seconds. And after that…

"You really think I'm stupid?" Sizzle suddenly said. "I see what you'll do. You'll drag me along and then when my back is turned you'll try and take me out, and keep all the power for yourself."

"That might be the case…but the truth is Sizzle, I need four to do the ritual. And once I do it, I cannot alter or lessen where the power goes. Four are needed, four will be blessed. And then the world is ours. Hell, you can keep this world: I may very well leave to make my own. But neither of us can accomplish this alone Sizzle. I need your help. If you will accept my humble request, you and I…"

"What about the two others?"

"That would be the ones standing on either side of you."

"Hu-UHHHHH!" Sizzle yelped as she realized that indeed, there were two people on either side of her. On her left was a spindly pale man, black hair covering his eyes, his arms crossed in front of him via the wrists at his waist. The other was a short black haired female whose eyes were covered in a black bandage. Both wore combat suits similar to the one the Lord was wearing, albeit with several superficial differences.

"May I point out both of THEM are wearing explosives as well." The Lord said, stopping Sizzle before she instinctively flash-fried either. "These are Murdercrow and Shadowmaster, the other two. Together, we will rule the world. If you're willing to work beside a man. But as far as I am concerned Sizzle, I am a man in birth only."

Sizzle looked cross anyway, but she appeared to be thinking it over.

"What if I say no now?"

"Then we leave and sigh at the fact that we have to go hunting for a replacement."

"Where's that book you said the spell was in?"

"Nearby. I can have Shadowmaster fetch it for you."

Sizzle was silent. For a little while anyway.

"Let's get one thing straight." Sizzle said. "I don't trust ANY of you fucks. You even show the SLIGHTEST hint of anything I don't like, I'll roast every single one of you. Especially YOU, 'Lord'. And believe me, I will be watching VERY closely." Sizzle said.

"I assumed nothing less. So, is that an agreement?"

Sizzle just glared.

"I'll take what I can get. Welcome to Genocide Sizzle. You have made a wise choice."

"Oh how cute we have a name. Stupid fucking men and their titles." Sizzle growled. "Where's that book? I want to see it! Now!"

"Yes, of course. Shadowmaster…" The Lord said.

And hence did Sizzle join Genocide, but not under any friendly terms. Indeed, she had her own scheme: she'd figure out a way to claim power for herself, or at least kill the Lord the instant he showed the flaw of his species. His words didn't matter to her: he was a man. They would always fail.

Except the Lord didn't.

In the several months Genocide prepared for the spell, The Lord never slipped up once, never gave Sizzle the excuse she craved. That, and the fact that she served with three people who seemed to be like her, if they didn't outright appreciate her…

Humans, no matter how badly they have been hurt, are pack animals. On some level, we all crave companionship. And eventually, even Sizzle softened, just a bit, her mad rage towards males fading back into her psyche, as she worked with the Lord and Shadowmaster, even occasionally calling the Lord 'Boss', albeit with so much sarcasm that if it could be made physical it would serve as fair shielding against radiation. But she still waited for the time where the Lord would slip up, where she would claim what she wanted.

Poor Sizzle. She thought she was so clever.

Never knowing the Lord could read minds and had told Sizzle exactly what she wanted to hear. Never knowing that his ultimate scheme required three pawns, and while Sizzle was the hardest to mislead, it was not impossible.

It was for that reason that the Lord, after memorizing the document that carried the spell, destroyed it and then painstakingly recreated it with several alterations that showed the so-called sharing. A sharing that was never in the original spell: the spell granted power only to one. But Sizzle didn't have enough worldliness to tell a real ancient book from a very carefully recreated forgery…

It was for that reason that the Lord had watched Sizzle for a long time, studying her, practicing the exact precise things to say.

It was for that reason that the Lord never betrayed a thing. Sizzle, during the entire time, though she had the wool pulled over everyone's eyes, but in reality, the wool was over hers.

For in the end, she was still a small evil.

While the Lord…was something else entirely.

Evil comes in many forms.

Some are worse then others.

And some need that exposure to fully develop…


What happened to the Lord, some know, some don't. But he is not important.

In the end, Sizzle, now Flammadea, has found the godhood the Lord promised her, and she glories in it, as fire rains down on Amity Park and she fills the air with her laughter.

Several fireballs ripped through and crashed at the base of a twelve story building, and the structure buckled and tipped over onto the street, crashing down in an immense din and a huge cloud of dust.

A cloud of dust that a shadow portal opened into, and out stumbled/flew the Teen Titans, as Raven closed up the portal and glanced worriedly to the sky.

"Shit." Savior said, mirroring his girlfriend's glance. "Ok, maybe I'm just grasping for straws, but does it seem to be coming down with considerably less force then before?"

"No, I think you're right." Cyborg said, looking as a pop-up monitor on his arm. "When Sizzle, Flammadea, or whatever she wants to be called now started this, it was coming down at an utter downpour. But after about thirty seconds, the rain started to slack off. It's still coming down at a fair clip though…but at least we have SOME breathing room."

"Probably because Flammadea wants to do more then just blow us up with a deluge of indirect missiles." Raven said forbiddingly. "I never should have left that artifact on the table."

"Hindsight bias my dear, best not to dwell on it." Savior said.

"Titttttttttaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnsssssssssssss…" Came a singsong voice. "You were so eager a minute ago! Don't tell me you've already decided to take your balls and go home?"

The Titans jerked up at the voice, Flammadea's voice, as it drifted over the ground to them. Savior did a 360 observation, and then another, just to be sure.

"She's not right on us, but she's close. Probably sweeping the area for us, but I doubt that will last…" Savior began, and then a ball of fire came roaring down from the sky: the Titans dove out of the way to avoid it, Savior rolling back up immediately.

"Ok. Cyborg, I want you to scan that cloud, see if it's getting bigger! If it is, eventually it will engulf the hospital…and…" Savior said, trailing off as he seemed to realize something. Whatever it was though, he swallowed it and turned back to the group. "Raven, go to the hospital, cast every guard spell and protection against flame spell you have on the place! And let the staff know what's going on: the last thing we need is a panic. Starfire, you're with me. We tackle Flammadea and try to distract her until Raven and Cyborg have completed their tasks. Understood?"

"You want to tackle Flammadea ALONE?" Cyborg said incredulously.

"No, but I have to. If I don't come back, you're in charge Victor." Savior said, as he pulled out his ice guns. "Titans, Go!"

Raven disappeared into a shadow portal, and Starfire grabbed Savior and pulled him over the fallen building, while a few more monitors and keyboards extracted from Cyborg's arm as he began running tests. Starfire flew until they spotted Flammadea, who was at the moment facing away from them. Savior did a hand signal, and Starfire dropped Savior, pulled the freeze rifle off her back, dodged away and around a few falling fireballs, and then, without making a sound, fired a full power freeze blast at Flammadea.

The blast hit her…and stopped. No ice formed at all: it was like the beam was being absorbed right into the flame goddess' body. Starfire gasped, but she didn't let up on the trigger. Down on the ground, Savior cursed, and looked at his guns as he pondered turning the power on them past the safety range. The downside of doing that was if the guns overloaded…they could explode and freeze him into a permanent statue. On the other hand…

Flammadea looked up, as if just noticing she was being attacked, and then she turned around. She looked amused.

Starfire's eyes narrowed, and she switched modes on her weapon. Powerful blasts of cold force slammed repeatedly into Flammadea.

She barely seemed to notice.

"Shittttttt!" Savior cursed under his breath. He wasn't sure whether to attack or order Starfire off; both choices would expose his position. He gave himself two seconds to decide, and then came to the conclusion that he would help Starfire by attacking.

Too late, as Flammadea was suddenly no longer across from Starfire, she was right in front of her. Starfire gasped.

"Your namesake needs more accuracy." Flammadea said.

Starfire was a Tamaranian, a species developed and trained to war, and she was the princess of that species, possessing exceptional gifts and abilities. Despite her slight frame, she could take blows that would shatter stone and dent metal, and not flinch.

Which pretty much showed how much power Flammadea was packing when she uppercutted Starfire and utterly floored her. Starfire was thrown backwards, her head and heels switching positions…and then Flammadea slammed her palm and simultaneously blasted an intense wave of fire into Starfire's back. The blow sounded like a thundercrack, and sent Starfire screaming across the burning cityscape and off into the horizon.

"Déjà vu." Flammadea commented.

Feeling terribly guilty at his slowness, Savior tried to take his anger out on Flammadea, as he fired his twin ice beams.

They hit her, but much like Starfire's guns, they had no apparent effect. Except to get Flammadea's attention, as she turned around.

"Well well. The pig returns." Flammadea said, and suddenly disappeared into a swirling ring of fire, vanishing.

And reappearing in front of Savior, as he recoiled from the sudden intense heat. Flammadea had also adjusted her size: she was about the same size she had been before her powerup. She smiled at Savior.

Savior aimed his ice guns.

Flammadea waved her hand, and twin wires of flame fired out from her palm and struck Savior's hands, burning them and making him lose the grip on his guns at the same time. He yelled as the weapons were tossed aside.

"Hello little man." Flammadea said.

Savior never saw her move: he just felt the impact on his face and then he was falling down. He hit the ground hard, and winced as he gripped his face, which was not just burned, but sporting a freshly broken nose.

"Now we're even." Flammadea said.

Savior kipped up to his feet, wrapped his arms and fists in the Shimmer, and charged. Flammadea smirked.

Savior's first punch with his right hand hit where Flammadea's head had just been: it was now to the left of his fist, still wearing that smirk. Savior punched with his left fist: Flammadea's face was now a foot backwards from where it had been. Savior spun and backhanded: Flammadea's face vanished into wisps of fire that Savior punched through, and then they reformed into her face. Savior kept spinning: Flammadea flowed down to avoid his roundhouse and flowed back to avoid the follow up spinning kick. Savior finished his twirling and charged again, firing off punch after punch. Flammadea dodged every one of them, either by speed or by distorting her body away from the blow.

The following sentence showed one thing: Savior never lacked courage. However, he usually lacked stupidity as well…this didn't appear to be one of those times.

"Great. You're a queen among all beings, and yet you STILL retreat before a man!" Savior said, as he punched again.

Flammadea didn't move this time: long tendrils of fire, flowing almost like curtains (or like the cape of an aforementioned Image superhero) flowed out from her back and grabbed Savior by his (fortunately, somewhat) Shimmer-encased arms.

"No. I just wanted to see if you could amuse me." Flammadea said. "Bored now."

More tendrils shot off, grabbed Savior by his legs, and lifted him off the ground…for about a second: Flammadea rudely reintroduced Savior to it by flipping him over her and slamming him with the earth. The shock drove the air out of him, so he couldn't scream, and he had plenty to scream about as Flammadea lifted him up and then swung him out, smashing his body through the burning framework of a nearby building. As the building began to collapse from the impact, stones and wood collapsing into a new intense blaze, Flammadea pulled Savior back.

"Let's see if you roast up like a marshmallow!" She said delightedly, and then rammed Savior back into the burning conflagration of the building she had just reduced to rubble via his body, shoving him into the flame and holding him there. This time, a long scream came from the fire. Sizzle smiled contently.


Raven was on the roof of Amity Park General, the main hospital, and currently the only one open due to some reason. And also the only apparent place in Amity Park where people still were. The building was crammed to bursting due to Sizzle/Flammadea's earlier attack, and Raven had had a somewhat easier time convincing the heads of the place not to panic and try and abandon everyone then she had expected: moving all the sick, injured, bedridden, and other cases, not to mention the surgeries and people on life support, would probably be harder then staying put and hoping some strange girl was telling the truth when she said she could protect the building from a possibly approaching rain of fire. The fact that she had appeared out of thin air and disappeared as such probably helped as well.

Raven was only telling half the truth. Yes, she could probably cast spells that would guard the building…if she had a few hours to meditate and prepare. The amount of time she had now was measured in minutes, most likely: even IF the rain wasn't expanding, who knows what Flammadea might do with a carelessly tossed fireball.

She could still do it though…but to do it so quickly, she would have to pay a high price.

On the other hand, the lives of hundreds of truly helpless innocents were in her hands.

The choice was simple.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos…" Raven chanted, floating in mid air, her legs crossed, as she reached deep down within her, to her very core, her very SOUL…and while the exact thing she did could not really be described, the closest one could come to a description was that she snipped a small part of her soul off and used it as a sacrifice to get around all the necessary preparations she would normally have to do.

"ZINTHOS! GURLARYU TREBNOIL FROUKHL GURADIS MOTEOLOP!" Raven chanted, as power flowed from within her and down into the building. Perhaps Melchior had tricked her, but before he had she had learned a great deal from him, and more then that, she had been given the desire to seek out more knowledge and spell-casting expertise, and while she was far from Fate or Blood, she was still a force to be reckoned with, as she continued to chant and power continued to flow down into the building.

It took about forty seconds to do, and when it was done Raven collapsed onto the roof, breathing heavily. She had most likely taken ten years off her life with that incantation. Not that THAT really mattered: her half demon blood would most likely ensure she lived several centuries…unless something cut the cord prematurely.

Indeed, sometimes she wondered if that might be better: her difference in aging most likely meant she would see Noel grow old and die…and she wasn't sure if she could…

Her previous concentration had blocked it, and hence Noel's pain suddenly slammed into Raven like a mach truck. She gasped, and then, despite the ache in her body, she pulled herself up and shot back towards the battle. She might not know how she could handle watching Noel grow old, but as long as she was alive, she'd do everything to make sure he DID grow old.


And Savior had plenty of the same desire.

Innumerable Shimmer strands suddenly ripped through the fiery wreckage, lancing at Flammadea: Flammadea floated back to avoid them. The strands were followed by a storm of thrown debris: Flammadea's form contorted around all the tossed rubble, even though her fire tendrils vanished in the process.

His clothes scorched black and burned skin poking through ragged holes in them, Savior flew from the rubble, his Shimmer seizing up the burned metal framework of what had once been a car, and as Flammadea reformed, he swung it up and brought it down on her.

The scorched chassis disintegrated upon touching Flammadea's body: the whole car vanishing as Savior slammed it down. He might as well have tried to attack her with a pane of sugar glass.

"Hmmmmmm…" Flammadea said, as she looked at a shocked Savior, lifting her hand and making vague motions with her fingers, a motion that some people might make when they are trying to decide between multiple options.

Then, with a brief wrist twirl, Flammadea gestured at him.

An explosion blasted right next to Savior, blowing him to the side with a yell…and suddenly ANOTHER explosion erupted beneath him, while he was still in mid-flight, blowing him up. Savior's world whirled, and before the white haired Titan could even begin to recover another blast erupted in mid air and smacked Savior back towards the ground at an angle…right into another explosion before he hit said ground, throwing him back up…and into another explosion.

Flammadea waved her hands back and forth, lazily, as she bounced Savior from blast to blast, smirking as he did his best impression of a pinball. Up and down and back and forth she threw him…until her final blast blew him upward…and right into one of the balls of flame that was coming down from the clouds. That explosion blew him straight down towards the street, where he impacted with a mighty crash.

"Awwwwwwwwww. Tilt." Flammadea said, and floated towards the small crater Savior was lying in.

As the Shimmer propelled him up, as he did a flip and landed on the street before Flammadea. She stopped, arching an eyebrow.

"You call that a beating?" He snarled.

And then he fell flat on his face.

Flammadea resumed her smirking, as one of her tendrils emerged, grabbing Savior by the back of his jacket and lifting him up, the material hissing and beginning to melt under the intense blaze, as she pulled Savior up before her.

"You know, the reason you got the drop of me before was because I thought the Lord had lobotomized you. But of course, he did a subpar job." Flammadea said, as she raised her right hand. The limb morphed into a cruel looking tool, a torture device from the imps of hell. "I won't."

A slight rumble sounded behind Flammadea. She blinked, and then turned her head.

As Raven slammed the five square feet of concrete she had yanked out of the broken streets of Amity Park right down on top of the flame deity. The tendril holding Savior vanished, and Raven caught the teen as he started to fall, carrying him away as the chunk of stone began to shake.

"You know, this role reversal happens more often then in most couples." Raven said as she flew up past the building rooftops.

"Yes, and I'm enlightened enough to know I have more threat to my masculinity from her then you." Savior mumbled through bloody lips.

The rock shattered as Flammadea erupted from beneath it.

"Must fly faster." Savior said dryly.

And then a sudden loud beeping came to the attention of the couple. They knew what it was: their communicators. And they both knew what the beeping signified.

"Strike that. Teleport." Savior replied.

Screaming, Flammadea lanced at the two.

They vanished in dark power.

And then a large round metal orb, about the size of a basketball, was flying through the air. Flammadea only got the chance to take a brief look at it.

And then it exploded.

What came forth was not heat or force, but light. Much like the DD's Flammadea had used when she commandeered the Fenton-copter…except about ten times more potent. Any human seeing that light from a distance of five miles would have gone blind: fortunately, no human saw it. Except Flammadea, as the world began filled with nothing but utter, complete white, her scream echoing out across the sky.

Several blocks away, behind another fallen building, a four story one this time, Cyborg removed the special dark glass he had used to cover his eyes, and brought his hand away from Starfire's face, as she blinked.

"I'm still seeing spots." She commented, having recovered from Flammadea's blow/immolation and been returning to assist Savior when Cyborg had called her down. A shadow portal opened up, disgorging Raven and Savior, who thanks to Raven's healing abilities had recovered his senses.

"Nice move Vic. Think it will work?" Savior commented.

"Despite all her power, Sizzle or Flammadea or whatever apparently hasn't learned any alternate methods of seeing, so her eyes are like human eyes. For now. You can bet she's going to recover from that, and when she does…"

Loud explosions began sounding off in the distance, as still blind Flammadea vented her wrath and tried to luck out and find a target at the same time. For now, Savior ignored her, as he checked to see if the sky was about to hit them with a flaming missile. He saw none, so he spoke.

"Well?" He asked. He didn't need to elaborate.

"Hospital's secure. Hopefully." Raven said.

"Wish I had good news too, but I don't." Cyborg said, as his arm flipped open and a holographic map of Amity Park appeared, showing the city and the fire cloud. "You were right Noel. It IS spreading. From my readings, it's expanding by a radius of about one mile every minute."

All the color drained from Savior's face.

"Oh shit." He said.

"Yeah, I know." Cyborg said, as a T sign appeared on the map, and then the map expanded outward until an H sign appeared to show the distance between the two. "The hospital's about 14 miles away from this area, so that means we have 14…"

"It's not the hospital." Savior said, as he reached into a pocket, pulled out his communicator, opened it, and did a quick series of button presses: a line of light shot into Cyborg's arm as Savior hooked up to the map.

"It's not?" Raven asked.

"The hospital's important, but…damn." Savior said. "I don have time to be coy guys, so I'll just say it. I've contacted J'onn up on the Watchtower. You know that big ass nuclear/plasma/cold fusion/something or other gun they have on board the satellite? I told him to set it up to fire. The target is Amity Park." Savior said.

From the shocked looks on their faces, Savior could tell they didn't like the revelation.

"WHAT? NOEL, ARE YOU CRAZY? HOW COULD YOU?" Cyborg yelled.

"What good would that do? Every problem cannot be solved by a huge gun Noel!" Starfire protested.

"You're wrong. The gun may be nuclear, but it can be altered enough to not give off any heat. Just force. It was my final failsafe: if everything else failed, J'onn was going to fire it right on top of Flammadea. My theory was it would be like how they use explosives to put out oil fires, using a destructive force to stop a greater destructive force. The gun packs so much ommpphhh that I think even Flammadea will be blown out like a match…problem is, if he fires it, the blast will destroy Amity Park, and everyone in it. Including the hospital. And us."

The Titans stared…and then a blast of fire came roaring down. But it wasn't Flammadea: it was a fireball from the sky, and the Titans scattered out of the way. Even before the fireball had finished exploding Savior had rolled back up again and resumed talking. He was good at not missing a beat like that

"I know you're thinking that this is insane, but unfortunately, it's not!" Savior said, as he pressed a few buttons on his communicator and the map began to expand outward again, as the females regrouped and looked at the moving topography. "Because with this expanding firecloud, we have a new problem: THIS!" Savior yelled, as the map stopped expanding: it had gone out of Amity Park and a few miles into a mountain range that was outside the city. A new symbol appeared in the mountain hologram.

A biohazard sign.

"I found this when I was checking to see if there was anything in Amity Park that would be really bad to blow up. As it turns out, there's nothing IN Amity Park, but outside the city limits, in the nearby Topaz range…there's a nuclear power plant!" Savior yelled. "It provides power to several cities on the other side of the range! Now…what do you think a rain of fireballs will do to such a establishment?"

The shocked looks were back.

"Meltdown." Cyborg said, as his guts suddenly seized with horror, finally realizing why Savior was calling this step into play.

"Right. Our own little Chernobyl, right in the middle of America! Even IF other people stop Flammadea, the explosion and fallout will kill tens, maybe hundreds of thousands, not to mention leaving a big ass chunk of land in the USA's heartland that no one can step foot onto for the next several eons!" Savior growled. "So guys, I'm afraid this is it. The plant is 32 miles from this point. Which means in about 31 and a half minutes, this fire cloud will reach it! And while we were talking, I sent the signal. J'onn is locked onto our communicators now, with a thirty minute time limit! And before you protest, he can't lock onto Flammadea, I already asked him to try with Sizzle, and he couldn't do that. He has to use us! We're the only way of accurately tracking the shot, and we're the only ones preventing its use! We have thirty minutes to beat her! If we don't, or if she kills us…J'onn fires!"

Silence.

For a bit.

"What do you want to do?" Starfire said in a solemn tone.

"As much as I hate to say it, we don't really have time for schemes or elaborate setups. Our only hope is the Oxygen Destroyer: we do anything and everything to get Flammadea near it, and then we turn it on and hope for the best. And that has to be done in the next…29 minutes and 47 seconds!" Savior yelled.

A few mechanical noises suddenly came from Cyborg, and the Titans started a bit…and then he reached behind him and pulled out a boxlike metal device about the size of a large suitcase from a compartment that had opened on his back. It didn't look like much, but when it opened up…it looked a lot more impressive. Not that you could really look at it: you'd be too busy trying to keep air in your lungs.

"Here's the Oxygen Destroyer. It's charged and ready: all I have to do is press the button." Cyborg said.

"Raven, you take it. Keep it shielded." Savior said. "The rest of you…well…"

And then Savior thrust out his hand.

"Seems oddly appropriate." He commented.

The Titans didn't reply: they just looked at the hand for a few seconds and then placed their hands on it as well.

The Titans shared a look.

And then they broke apart, turning towards the wrecked building they had been hiding behind, leaping and flying over it…

And finding Flammadea floating there waiting for them.

"Well well, the rats finally leave their holes." Flammadea said. Her voice had an odd tone: it was angry, but not an angry the Titans had heard before. All her previous rages had been of the mad foaming at the mouth and the icy-cool (even if she wasn't) totally squash the annoying bugs variety. This was different. She sounded…cross.

"All that twaddle about fighting me, and then you shine a flashlight in my face and scurry off for a chat." Flammadea said. Savior's heart plunged into his stomach: she'd overheard them. She knew their plan. They were all dead…

"What were you chatting about anyway?" Flammadea asked. Savior wasn't sure if he managed to successfully hide his relief and not tip his hand to Flammadea and make her realize they had been talking about something that could affect her, but Flammadea didn't seem to notice. "Well, what does it matter? Not only can you not beat me, you don't seem to want to even put forth the effort. Fine. You aren't worthy to fight me." Flammadea said, as she raised her hands. "But I have something just your speed!"

And four balls of fire flew from her hands. The Titans began to recoil…and stopped when the balls did as well, floating in front of Flammadea.

Then they began to expand.

And morph…

And take on attributes that the Titans found VERY familiar.

"Oh dear." Savior said, as the fireballs finished their transformation.

Much like before, in the fight between Savior and a Sizzle possessed Starfire, Flammadea had formed creatures of flame. But this time, they weren't generic humanoids.

This time, they were exact flame duplicates of the Titans.

"Play nicely!" Flammadea said, and flew up into the sky, laughing. Savior's head jerked to follow her.

"No! She can't, don't…!" Savior babbled.

And then the flame clones were swooping down, and the Titans scattered as the fiery creatures went after them, intent on their destruction.

"Ah dammit fuck! Damnit to hell!" Savior cursed, at the moment more angry that Flammadea had flown out of reach then worried that a fire clone of him was swooping down, swinging its arms back. His priorities were quickly rearranged when Fire-Savior lashed his arms out and burning lines of flame, a picture perfect Shimmer copy, lashed at him. Savior did a backflip that he turned into a Shimmer assisted handspring as the fire lines sliced down where he had been and cleaved through the stone wreckage of the building with a powerful hissing noise. Savior did a few more backflips and looked around, trying to find Raven, and noting that his other teammates were being attacked by their respective fire clones…including Raven, who was flying up the side of a building, chased by her fiery duplicate. He thought she saw him, and he made a frantic gesture that he hoped she interpreted as "Get the Oxygen Destroyer to cover", and then twin lines of fiery power, their ends sharpened to a deadly point (overkill, anyone?) were lancing at him, and Savior was forced to dodge aside, the points taking off a bit of his slowly disintegrating jacket, and then showing insane speed they stopped their stab and lashed to the side at him. Savior ducked, almost too late, as the fire Shimmers sheared off a few spiky hair tips. The scent of his own burning follicles finally re-awoke the battle instincts within Savior, and he rolled to the side and fired out HIS Shimmer, three lines combining into a whirling fan…a fan that was intercepted by more fiery lines. Savior's eyes widened: the flame clone of him, lacking any kind of face at all, did not betray anything in return.

Only the slight vibrating at the ground allowed Savior to guess the coming counter and leap out of the way as blazing tendrils stabbed out of the ground where he had been, the white teen barely escaping being shis-ke-bobed…and then being rudely reminded that the Shimmer was still tangled up in his clone's fiery copy as Fire-Savior swung him around and slammed him into another building.

A fire claw ripped out a chunk of roof where Raven had just been, as she flew back, holding the Oxygen Destroyer via a dark energy sphere, and wondering what to do about this fire clone that was mercilessly pursuing her, not giving her a chance to breathe, let alone put down the sole way of defeating Flammadea (who was up in the sky still, watching, amused). Fire-Raven, possessing only a shadowy blankness beyond her beaked hood, thrust out a hand, and several stabbing fire spears lanced at Raven. Raven flew above them, and with a chant of her trademark spell, she pulled debris from the roof and hurled it at her fiery clone.

The debris just went through the copy's body.

Raven said a word Savior would be shocked that Raven knew, let alone used, and banked to a hard right…and found another flaming claw ripping at her. It got some of her cloak, as Raven did an insane backwards loop and plunge down, heading down into a narrow alleyway. Spying a garbage dumpster, she took what life gave her and swung the Oxygen Destroyer into it, whispering a spell as she let go of the device. The dark power didn't fade as the machine went into the dumpster: instead it spread and covered the construct, giving the metal trash receptacle some protection…and also giving Raven a feeling like someone had reached into her chest and squeezed her heart, life doing its best impression of the villain from Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. She'd been pushing herself too hard today, and she was starting to burn out.

And then fiery balls of stone, thrown by a mimicked power and alight by a cruel mistress' gift, were flying down at Raven, and she flew out of the alleyway, barely dodging the onslaught, as Fire-Raven flew down from the roof, red flame power clawing and ripping at the goth sorceress.

Starfire had immediately taken to the air, but her fire doppelganger proved to be as fast as her, shadowing her almost perfectly as it fired flaming versions of her Starbolts, the red projectiles slamming into buildings, streets, and cars, and generating explosions all along the way. Starfire wasn't panicking yet though: Flammadea may have copied her but even she couldn't perfectly duplicate Koriand'r, warrior princess of Tamaran (even IF she had possessed her, but Raven's blanking spell had gotten rid of those memories, though Starfire now wished Raven had increased the chronological length of the spell and made her forget what she absorbed from Maddie Fenton as well, it might have been a factor in this battle, MAYBE!): one of the first things Tamarans learned how to do was fly and Starfire prided herself on being VERY, VERY good at it.

And she proved it, as she executed insane move after insane move as her clone chased her, barraging her with Firebolts, but she hit nothing but Amity Park (and oh man, was this battle starting to put a dent in the beleaguered city. Well, at least there was no one in it)…until Starfire managed to fake her out, as she did a sudden stop and reverse, the fire replica shooting past her, as Starfire thrust out her hands and let loose with a barrage of Starbolts. Her attack flew true, slamming into the flame facsimile, exploding…and then vanishing as the flame duplicate reappeared, having absorbed the heat, and as a voice in the back of Starfire's head chimed in, reminding her that Sizzle had been able to do that, so as Flammadea she could surely imbue her creations with that ability, the fire clone formed a gigantic blast above its head and letting loose. Starfire dodged out of the way, just in time, and as the huge blast flew on and struck the upper floors of a building, blowing them to oblivion, the alien turned and walked/flew right into a pistoning punch that sent her plummeting down into the streets with a powerful crash, shards of concrete flying up from her impact. She gasped, and then her wits were recollected as she tried to remember what had happened to her ice cannon. She'd had it when she was flying back from Flammadea's original blow, then Cyborg had waved her down to the street to protect her from his light bomb, and she'd put it down, and then…she'd left it there, forgotten due to Noel's sudden imposing of a time limit on this whole mess. Well, her Starbolts weren't working, maybe the ice cannon would.

Assuming she made it back to it, as a rain of Firebolts came down on Starfire, and she yelped and took off down the street, her clone following her, continuing the attack. And with its blasts and the fact that the clouds were still disgorging its own fiery missiles that kept coming down in their midst when the Titans least expected it, Starfire wasn't having the most fun time. But her eyes were alight with a steely determination: she did not consider she might NOT make it back to the gun. Such thinking was not Tamaranian.

The gun's builder, Cyborg, probably could have used some Tamaranian optimism, considering that he was in a pretty bad way. Well, so were all the Titans, but Cyborg had one main problem over them: his big bulky battle body (alliteration is fun!) prevented him from making quick escapes.

And in this current situation, that would have been a boon, as he swung his huge fist at Fire-Cyborg…and the metal limb went right through the flame duplicate's body.

The same could not be said in reverse, as Fire-Cyborg cocked back his arm and slammed it into Cyborg's metal chest. Cyborg's whole form rattled, and his heat meters briefly spiked up into the red before going back down. Cyborg wasn't following their lead though, as he pulled himself back from the fire clone and lashed out with a backhand.

That proved to be as effective as the first blow, as in, it failed to have any effect whatsoever.

And Fire-Cyborg's second blow proved to be even MORE effective then his first blow, as it thrust up a leg, far quicker then Cyborg could have managed to (fire doesn't have weight, after all) and rammed it into Cyborg's gut. Cyborg flew back and crashed into the base of another building, rubble crumbling around him. Growling, Cyborg lifted his right arm and let loose with his super sonic cannon. The blast went right through Fire-Cyborg's chest, as Fire-Cyborg mimicked the move and fired off an intense blast of concentrated fire. Cyborg converted his other arm into a shield and blocked it, and winced/groaned as the street began to actually melt beneath him, his heat meters creeping up again. Well, hitting it didn't seem to be working, maybe his ice cannon would actually work…

And then Fire-Cyborg was charging Cyborg like a bull, his massive body, gaining and losing density as needed, ramming into Cyborg and sending them both crashing through the building as it collapsed around them.

They exploded out onto another street, their gigantic racket briefly catching the attention of Savior, before he leapt to the side to avoid another lancing Fire-Shimmer line. Savior countered with a myriad of stabbing Shimmer lines of his own, but his clone proved to be just as adept as dodging via his talent as Noel was himself, as it danced away from all the attacks, seized two nearby cars, and hurled them at Savior. Savior smacked one aside and sliced the other one in half via the Shimmer…and then burning lines lanced across his chest, blistering new wounds on Savior's poor flesh, even as it threw him backwards.

Starfire flew up, holding her ice cannon: she had succeeded in reaching it. Though it was proving to be a hollow victory: Fire-Starfire kept dodging her shots and returning fire with her own, and encumbered by the large gun, Starfire couldn't move as effectively as her clone. And it cost her, as she tried to dodge and protect her weapon at the same time and took a blast on the shoulder, sending her crashing down onto a roof. On another roof, Raven finished chanting an ice spell and sent a wave of terribly cold wind at Fire-Raven…only to have the duplicate curl up into flame and seemingly disappear. Raven goggled at the apparent copying of her teleporting ability, and then realized it wasn't an exact copy, but a reasonable facsimile, and that saved her as she whirled and flew away as Fire-Raven, having turned her body into a rapidly moving stream of flame that had zoomed along the ground and formed behind Raven, reappeared and lashed out with grasping claws of fire, barely missing the sorceress. Raven threw more debris at the clone, but it failed to work, again, and Raven was once again forced to retreat.

Cyborg didn't have that luxury, due to the aforementioned large body, and he really hated that fact as Fire-Cyborg pummeled him with flame bullets fired from an exact copy of Cyborg's gatling guns. When Flammadea made a clone, she really went all the way, and Cyborg really hated THAT too.

A brief glance upward let him see Starfire and her duplicate back in the air and continuing their battle, and then Fire-Cyborg was charging at Cyborg again, swinging a flaming fist. This time, Cyborg managed to get away, as he ignited his rockets and boosted over the charging behemoth…and then screamed as Fire-Cyborg turned and shot fiery copies of missiles at him, blowing him out of the sky. He crashed to the ground, face first, and groaned as he started to get him.

He heard a loud smack, and then Savior tumbled over to his front, coming to a stop face up on his back.

"So, how's it going?" Savior asked, as if the Titans were having a picnic instead of fighting for their lives against their evil flame twins.

"Badly."

"Horrendously." Savior replied, as he got up, somehow (Cyborg was constantly amazed at the beatings Noel could take. He knew part of it was Noel forming last instant Shimmer shields on the parts of his body that were about to strike or crash into something, but those only saved him from becoming a broken mess and didn't really help with the pain. But when it came to doing what he thought was right, Noel could muster a demonic willpower that rivaled Slade's at times. When it worked for the Titans, it made Cyborg proud to have him as an ally and a friend. When it worked AGAINST the Titans…well, those are other tales…). Savior snorted as he looked at his approaching clone, and then glanced back over his shoulder at Cyborg…and spied Cyborg's own clone approaching.

A gleam came into his eye.

"You know Vic, we're doing pretty bad in this little dance…" Savior said, as he turned back to face his personal attacker…

And then he whirled, Shimmer strands springing out and grabbing Cyborg's shoulder.

"So why don't we SWITCH PARTNERS!" Savior yelled, as he yanked/hurled himself over Cyborg and directly at Fire-Cyborg, tucking into a ball that was instantly sheathed over by the Shimmer, a ball that flew right into Fire-Cyborg's chest, the flame consuming Savior, as Fire-Cyborg kept coming…and then stopped as Shimmer lines sprang out from every part of him, his body instantly becoming a sea urchin…as Savior grabbed the ground for leverage and then turned his body into a whirling dervish, right within Fire-Cyborg, and before the large clone knew it his body had been torn apart and scattered, his form ripped into a thousand wisps of flame that flickered out of existence as Savior fell to the ground.

Cyborg watched this, and then a big grin split his face as he turned, his left arm opening up as he began to charge his ice cannon. Fire-Savior seemed to possess enough cognitive function to understand what was going on, as the walking flame doppelganger broke into a sprint towards Cyborg, as he aimed…

And then suddenly turned and swung upward, as Starfire flew overhead, her fire copy in literal hot pursuit.

"PSYCHE!"

The ice cannon fired, a wide range and immensely powerful beam. Fire-Starfire never saw what hit her, as the enormous blast of icy energy swept over her body and snuffed out the flame instantly, even as ice formed so quickly it left behind a statue of the clone in mid-air. A statue that swiftly fell to the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces.

Starfire was too stunned by this sudden turn to do much…but Raven certainly wasn't. She hadn't overheard the plan, but she had seen Savior do his sudden reverse move, and she wasn't the only one who could act fast, as she suddenly swooped away from her fire replica and swung down to where Fire-Savior was still charging, about to attack Cyborg…at least until the ground, covered in dark power, buckled under him like a wave, the street being rippled like someone waving a towel out to place it on the ground, throwing the flame duplicate back down the street…and then Fire-Raven was on Raven, lashing out with a claw…a claw Starfire froze with a blast from her ice cannon, turning the limb and part of Fire-Raven's body to crystal, a crystal that Starfire used as she swooped down and rammed into the frozen part of Fire-Raven, knocking her back over the roof and to another street, Starfire pursuing, and Raven nodded to herself and disappeared into her black energy.

She reappeared before the arising Fire-Savior, and despite any type of a face whatsoever, Raven could still tell it was perturbed. A perturbation it seemed quite willing to relieve on her hide, as it thrust out its arms, fire Shimmers flowing out and forming into a score of terrible weapons, cruel tools, things that could do unthinkable things to a human body.

The clone cocked his head, as if asking Raven what she thought about what it was going to do to her.

"It's not the size asshole, it's how you use it." Raven replied.

And she looked at the fire hydrant near Fire-Savior, and with a quick mental command a surge of black power ripped it open and sprayed out a powerful stream of water, water that was expanded into a smothering sheet by more dark energy, water that reared up and poofed Fire-Savior right back into the oblivion he had come from.

"Too bad you couldn't learn that from the original." Raven finished, and then leaned over, panting. She was really feeling tired…she could use a nice long nap…though preferably one she could wake up from…

Starfire leapt down to the street, doing a whirling flip before she landed on her feet, her gun at the ready, but she had briefly lost sight of her new opponent…and that was all Fire-Raven needed, as it appeared behind Starfire and lashed out. Starfire sensed it enough to turn, but not enough to avoid her gun being knocked from her hands again. Starfire went with the blow, flying backwards to avoid three more fiery claws ripping from the ground at her, as her mind raced. Her Starbolts were useless, her gun was gone, what did she have…

Well, until she found something, she'd improvise. A large chunk of broken concrete and rock was near her, the ejecta of one of the many explosions: Starfire picked it up and hurled it at Fire-Raven.

Fire-Raven caught the bolder with a flaming claw and crushed it, effortlessly, the hard stone becoming black ash within two seconds, but in those two seconds Starfire had retreated back some more, and was now picking up a small car, a car she also threw. Fire-Raven caught that and crushed it as well, the exploding gas tank briefly bathing her in flames that she walked through…just in time for Starfire to throw a newspaper box at her. It met the same fate.

But Starfire was like a broken record, seemingly stuck on her one-note strategy, as she flew back, ripped a parking meter from the ground, and hurled it at Fire-Raven like a spear. Catch, crush, goodbye. It didn't slow Starfire down one iota, as she hurled off another car, a mailbox, a motorcycle, a trash can, another trash can, a door she'd ripped from a storefront, random desk furniture that was lying in the street due to it being blown out of the upper stories of an attacked office building, a manhole cover, and yes, even a kitchen sink. All of them were caught and crushed by Fire-Raven, who was clearly getting more and more irritated…

So it didn't look when the latest object was thrown at it: it just caught it and started crushing it…

And then, looking at the bright red cylindrical object, even as it caved in under her power, she realized what she was squashing.

A fire extinguisher.

The white carbon dioxide gas sprayed out in a thick cloud, enveloping Fire-Raven and completely canceling out all the oxygen that fed her body, the form crumpling and vanishing as quickly as the cloud of white mist.

Starfire smirked.

"LOLLYPOP." She said.

Brief pause.

And then a cough, and Starfire turned to see Savior nearby, Raven and Cyborg with him. They'd finally caught up to her.

"SUCKER, Star." Savior said. "It's SUCKER."

"…Oh." Starfire said, and then she blushed, just a tad. A blush that quickly exchanged a letter as it became a flush, a flush of rage as Starfire remembered their original target.

"All right Flammadea, we beat your pathetic toys, now why don't…" Starfire said, as she looked up…

And found Flammadea gone.

And from the sudden rush of great heat behind Starfire, she didn't need to wonder long where she had vanished, as her eyes widened as she turned, expecting a sneak attack.

None came. Flammadea just floated there, back in her 'normal' size again, her arms crossed and her face merry. Whether her newly found power finally helped squash her misery, or maybe her acting was just that proficient, Flammadea certainly seemed content.

"I believe you were going to ask me to come down and fight?" She asked.

Silence.

With a scream, Starfire flew at her, pistoning out her fist.

Flammadea snapped her head to the side, Starfire flying past her like a rocket.

Raven was next, as she flew up and swooped down, lancing a (dark power protected) kick at Flammadea. Flammadea ducked/dodged, as Raven missed her as well.

Shimmer lines flew at her, dozens of them, slashing, stabbing, poking, and twirling at Savior made his assault. Flammadea dodged away from all of them, and then did a full leg split as Savior wound up and lanced at her with a final blow, a Shimmer blade the size of the average telephone pole slashing over Flammadea's head, missing as Savior flew over her body. Flammadea hopped back up…

And Cyborg was there, rearing up one huge arm and bringing it down with all his might. His blow would have smashed a tank.

Flammadea caught it with one arm.

"Farewell." She said.

And she twisted and punched her other fist into Cyborg's left arm, ripping the appendage from his socket like Cyborg's special high-grade titanium frame was a cheap bootleg toy.

Cyborg didn't scream. It wasn't because he didn't feel the amputation: the computer feedback of the damage was pretty damn close to human pain: he was just so shocked at the suddenness of it all.

Which let Flammadea leapt up and spin, slamming her foot into Cyborg's chest and sending him flying like he was made of paper. He tumbled and crashed across the street, smashing giant potholes and sending cars and burning frames of cars flying into buildings or being crushed underfoot, or rather underbody.

Flammadea landed from her leap, looked at the arm she had removed from her foe, and then tossed it aside.

And then a giant axe of white energy came crashing down on her.

Flammadea's body exploded into fire and flowed away as the axe cleaved a seven-foot gash in the concrete, and even as she was reforming Savior was doing the same to his talent, turning it into a gigantic sword and thrusting it forward at Flammadea. She leapt lazily to avoid it, doing a slow backflip and landing, holding out her hand. Savior frantically called back the energy and reformed it into a shield as several fireballs flew from Flammadea's hand, smashing against the shield and driving Savior to his knees. Growling, he dispelled the shield and glared at Flammadea.

And then Starfire shot past him like a bullet, the alien zapping past her leader, on a collision course with Flammadea, her fist back and ready to slam into Flammadea's form.

Flammadea beat her to the punch, literally, as she zipped forward and slammed out her own fist, going so fast Starfire never saw her coming. The blow smashed the alien backwards at even higher speed. She flew back past Savior, whose head jerked to follow her as she flew down the length of the very long street and crashed into the building at the end of it. Savior jerked his head back to face Flammadea, who had not moved from where she had punched Starfire.

Starfire didn't mirror the inertia, as a rumble came from the distance street as she exploded from the building she had been smashed into, zapping down the street again, flying past Savior again, her face a mask of rage, and zooming it to strike Flammadea again.

Flammadea just continued to look amused, as tendrils of flame emerged from her back and formed crude cannon shapes that blasted white streams of heat. The beams struck the street, vaporizing the stone, but it didn't slow Starfire down in the least as she dodged around them, closing in, and striking out her fist…

Flammadea vaporized into a fiery cloud, and Starfire's arm plunged into it. She screamed in utter agony, a sound that struck Savior to his core as he remembered what he had done to the alien, and the reason that it was so chilling: it was very difficult to make a Tamaranian scream like that. They were very tough: to have one wail like an infant…

Really wasn't all that surprising in this case, as Flammadea reformed, just under the still floating Starfire, and kicked upward into her gut, sending her flying up, crashing through the roof of another building at an angle and disappearing into the distance. Flammadea reverted to a vertical stance…and found Savior charging at her, Shimmer lines lashing and whipping in front of him. She smirked with one corner of her mouth, and raised an arm to counter whatever he had planned.

She hadn't though all his possible plans through though, as Savior continued his charge, thrust up his arms…and slammed them down as the Shimmer propelled him off the ground and into the air. Flammadea looked up at this…as Shimmer strands brought Savior's ice guns (retrieved while Raven and Starfire had taken care of the final two fire clones) to his hands, and also revealed Starfire's ice cannon, which he had been hiding behind him when he had been running, as well. Savior triggered all three at maximum power, the three beams combining and sending a blast of cold power down that would have stopped a volcanic eruption. The entire street and the buildings began to ice up, and Savior poured on the cold power, not relenting in the slightest.

But while the blasts may have stopped a volcano…perhaps that was a normal volcano. And when it came to comparing her to volcanoes, Flammadea was Krakatoa, a juggernaut of fiery power, as she erupted from the ice beams, flying up and next to Savior before he realized what was going on. Flammadea waved at him, and several tendrils of fire from her back and her 'dress' shot out and grabbed him, burning at his outfit as Flammadea spun around a few times, causing Savior to lose his guns again as he screamed and yelled, and then flew down towards the street. The road, already weakened by the destruction, caved in easily as Flammadea drove Savior into the sewers. Flying back up a bit, she called up a small fireball.

"Wonder how well ventilated the sewers are." She commented, and sent the fireball down into the hole she had made.

The answer was, not very.

An explosion blasted upward from the road, as the methane within the sewer, the gaseous product of waste, which was also very flammable, ignited and detonated. Flammadea had apparently picked a great spot where the methane was highly concentrated, as the whole street erupted in an explosion, and then collapsed in on itself, the rumbling like an earthquake, even as manhole covers blew off their tunnels and drains belched fire for streets around. Content, Flammadea flew off. Even if that white haired fool had somehow survived that, she doubted he had anything left that could pose as a threat to her. She set herself down on another street, it being merely battered by her falling fireballs and strewn with flaming wreckage.

And also containing several missiles, missiles that flew at Flammadea from the end of the street. They exploded and assaulted her body with piercing ultrasonic waves…waves that no longer had any effect on her. She turned towards their source and waved a finger in a chastising way at Cyborg, and then headed for him.

Cyborg hadn't expected the missiles to work: he just wanted Flammadea's attention. He may have lost an arm (and it may have been the arm containing his ice cannon, damn it to hell) but he hasn't lost the will to fight, as his shoulders and chest opened up and several new cannons began firing, all concussion style weapons, the blasts generating no heat. Their barrage would have easily caved in the thick stone walls of Fort Knox: Flammadea didn't even seem to notice them as she flew forward. But Cyborg was certainly sure she'd notice this, as he continued his ineffective barrage, all the while diverting power to his super sonic cannon. Cyborg didn't want J'onn to be using the Watchtower weapon, but he understood why Savior thought it would work, and he was SURE that if he really pushed himself his cannon could generate the impact needed…

Flammadea was on him, laughing and firing fireballs, from her hands and more of her flame tendrils. Cyborg's meters starting rising again, spiking and staying in the red, and his computer began to tell him that he was starting to overheat, but Cyborg ignored it, he had to let Flammadea get close, close…close…

"I wonder if I can get a decent oven out of your remains!" Flammadea laughed, as she drew in within feet of Cyborg.

And his cannon finally hit maximum power.

"HOW ABOUT A STEREO!" Cyborg bellowed, as he thrust the arm out. Flammadea arched an eyebrow.

The wide-spread beam completely enveloped the fiery divinity, the blast of power shaking Amity Park for several blocks around. Anything caught by the blast was either tossed aside like a toy or torn apart into scrap, as cars and other street fixtures were shattered and thrown by the blast. The shot struck the building at the end of the street and completely smashed it to smithereens, the impact having enough force to smash through that building and rip apart the one behind it, and enough left over to smash into the building across the street from the second one and make it wobble and then come crashing down as well.

Cyborg lowered his cannon, panting and coughing on the dust sweeping over everything.

"So tell me…"

Cyborg's veins froze, as Flammadea was revealed, not harmed in the slightest, her flaming hair flowing around her as she cocked her head and regarded Cyborg.

"Was that your best shot?"

Cyborg didn't reply, as he stared in utter horror at Flammadea.

And then, with a bellow, he brought his arm back and swiped it at Flammadea. The flame goddess easily dodged it, as well as Cyborg's thrusting side-kick.

Starfire watched from the roof perch she had landed on, her heart swelling with the desire to go down and help her comrade…but her slight movement reminded her of why she had yet to act on that desire, as a bolt of terrible pain shot through her being. She moaned and again looked at her right arm, horrifically burned, her orange skin hanging off in parts, two of her fingers nearly fused together. Starfire had been hurt before, but her innate toughness and power made it far harder for her to be burned then a human…but Flammadea had succeeded, rendering her arm useless. But she had to help…

"Kory…"

Starfire looked up, away from Cyborg as he spun in a spinning roundhouse blow with his remaining arm, Flammadea dodging again, as Raven floated down. She landed, a bit unsteady…an unsteadiness that faded when she got an up close look at Starfire's arm. "Oh god."

"It's ok…just a flesh wound." Starfire said, smiling through her pain.

"Right, and a hole through the head is a good thing." Raven replied. She was tired, more tired then she wanted to admit. Too much spell casting with too little preparation time. Her fire charms, her block-repossession spell, blocking the Sumerian ritual, protecting the hospital, not to mention only several hours rest from the previous Sizzle/Flammadea fight and the fact that she had to do the healing…it was adding up to be too much, which is why she hadn't returned until now: after her missed kick, she'd tried to teleport for another blow and nearly found herself passing out. She'd retreated and tried to catch her breath, and then attempted another comeback. But even flying was becoming hard for her now. She was certainly in no shape to fight: the little strength she had would be useless against the power Flammadea had now, the power she continued to use to dart around Cyborg, toying with him.

But what she had left…it was enough for something else, as she reached out, (very) lightly touched Starfire's burned arm, and concentrated. She snarled/screamed through her teeth as she took Starfire's pain, all the nerves in her arm igniting, even as the wounds of Starfire's closed up and vanished. The agony drove her to her knees, and Starfire quickly followed to check on her.

"Raven!"

"Kory…listen…" Raven whispered. "I have a spell for you. I think it's the only way we can annoy Flammadea enough to get her…but…you have to understand…"

"Raven, you're exhausted…"

"That doesn't MATTER!" Raven snapped. "I refuse to let that tormented soul share her venom with the world! She has to be stopped! Even if…there are consequences…" Raven said, coughing. Consequences, always consequences. Most of them severe. Raven sometimes wondered if the reason she had survived this long was if someone up above liked or hated her.

"Starfire…I'm going to cast a special ice spell on you. Normally…it would be a kind of death spell…I'd breathe cold into you and freeze your body into a statue…but…with a few altered words…I won't kill your body with ice, I'll imbue it with ice." Raven said. "But Starfire…even with the modifications…the spell will only work…for you…if you stay close to Flammadea! It will protect you from her heat…mostly…because if you don't stay close…it will freeze you from within…killing you…"

Starfire just stared, her eyes wide and solemn…and then she nodded.

"How long will it last?" She asked.

"A few…maybe five minutes." Raven said. "After that…"

"I understand! Do it! Before she grows bored with Victor!" Starfire said. Raven nodded, and then began chanting under her breath.

It took a lot to wind Cyborg: his mechanical body hooked up to his still remaining organs allowed him certain liberties that humans didn't have when it came to physical exertion. But that was when he was normal, not encased in this extra mass of robotics he had brought hoping it could make a difference. But he'd made his bed and he had no choice but to lie in it, even as he punched and kicked and even tried to shoulder-ram Flammadea a few times. Flammadea dodged them anyway, and Cyborg knew she was just amusing herself before she went in for the kill.

Her look certainly showed that, as she flipped away from another stomping kick and stopped, in front of Cyborg, even as Cyborg reared up and swung out his arm one last time…

Flammadea didn't move this time.

Cyborg's arm went right through her, her image distorting and then clearing like someone whose reflection was in a puddle dropped a pebble on it. Cyborg nearly fell on his face from the momentum, even as he processed what he had just seen…and grew even more horrified.

No wonder he hadn't been able to hit Flammadea, even with his sonic cannon blast. She was immaterial, a literal ghost. Which made sense: if his fire clone was intangible, why wouldn't its master be? I mean…how did you punch fire anyway?

He'd been worthless the whole time: his whole strategy had been like trying to put out a campfire by poking it. You needed something much bigger then a finger to put out a campfire…like a large rock. But in this case, their 'large rock', wouldn't just (in theory) put out the fire, it'd put THEM and this entire town 'out' as well.

And it was his refusal to let that happen, no matter what, that drew Cyborg to draw back his arm and lash out at Flammadea again, even if he couldn't hit her, because he would not give up the fight…!

Flammadea caught his arm again.

"Enough. This grows tiresome." Flammadea said, and crushed/melted the end of his arm like it was a plastic bag. Cyborg screamed, and then Flammadea was right up against him, pressing her hand against his chest.

"Say hi to Robert Patrick's most famous role." Flammadea said, and lashed out, pouring heat into Cyborg, and he screamed again, as his heat meters went shooting into the horizon and then completely overloaded, as his entire body began to glow dully…

Cyborg's scream reached Starfire's eyes, and her eyes widened.

"Raven…!" She said frantically. Raven did not cease her chanting to reply: Starfire had thought as much. Cyborg screamed again, and Starfire had to resist everything she had within her to just turn and fly to his aid right away.

A third scream…and a terrible stench. Starfire threw away any resistance she had and stood up.

And then Raven grabbed her wrist.

"Volmoutous IEBODIOUS!" She finished, as she yanked Starfire back down to face her, and (glad the reporters had left the town in fear), grabbed Starfire by the sides of her head, and brought her forward as she pressed her lips against the female alien's.

Yes, she was VERY glad no one would be taking a picture of this, but as she had mentioned, she was originally a death spell, and it was delivered this way, as Raven exhaled another terrible cold out of her and into Starfire. She'd wished she'd had time to explain that part…but she hadn't. For her part, Starfire was just shocked, first by the faux kiss and then by the chill that immediately began seeping through her. Raven held the 'kiss' for another several seconds before she pulled away, gasping out one last trail of icy air before she collapsed.

"Go! Before it starts to harm you!" Raven gasped. Starfire didn't need to be told twice: the chill was already starting to cramp her muscles, freeze her heart (though oddly the freezing felt like acid reflux, or as it was ironically known, heartburn), and chill her skin in a way she had never known (she could fly comfortably in hard vacuum, forgive her for never really knowing the sensation). Starfire flew up and off, as Raven lay on the roof.

Cyborg's body was beginning to lose cohesion, his limbs starting to sag, the metal protective shield around his head starting to collapse in towards Cyborg, as he screamed, his computers going nuts and starting to shut down, even as the heat began to penetrate to his actual body and…

Starfire swooped down, as she slashed out her fist and an icy aura extended out around it, striking Flammadea and sending her flying off into the distance. The heat in Cyborg suddenly vanished, and he gasped as his metallic body rapidly cooled off without the outside source to heat it up.

"Victor…?" Starfire asked.

"GO!" He ordered, and Starfire complied, flying after Flammadea. Being in close to her HAD eased the immense discomfort within her: she'd go after the psychotic fire spirit for that reason alone.

But nothing could ease Cyborg's immense discomfort. He had been saved from being melted, but now he had a new problem: Flammadea had completely destroyed all the joints within his battle body, the mechanisms melted and then fused together. He was a statue, completely stuck.

Starfire made up for his lack of motion though, as she flew like a bullet towards the recovering Flammadea, who shook her head, surprised, and then watched as Starfire approached.

"Well, that was a surprise." She said.

Starfire lanced in with a punch: Flammadea dodged to the side, and found herself going straight into an outward punch with Starfire's other arm, the cold aura driving into her body like Danny's fist had gone through her flesh shield when she had been in Sam. The memory of that re-awoke her anger, and she lashed out with a kick, knocking Starfire downward. Starfire flew down a few feet, then spun around and flew back up, punching again. Flammadea, irritated, dodged away and around Starfire and then flew up into the sky, spinning around as her palm glowed and she fired off a white fireball. The blast flew at Starfire…and like Danny, she smashed it aside, the ball flying off and blowing a hole in a nearby street as the alien flew up after Flammadea.

Raven saw some of this, via telepathy, but she wasn't gladdened: the spell wouldn't last long. They had to get the Oxygen Destroyer, and only she knew where it was. She attempted to locate the others, but all she found was Cyborg. Savior was either unconscious or worse. Raven didn't dwell on that: if they didn't move they'd ALL be 'or worse.'

"Guys!" She 'thought'. "I left the Oxygen Destroyer in a dumpster in an alleyway right at the corner of John and Thomas! It's about three blocks from where I am! GET IT! QUICKLY! NOW! NOW!"

Cyborg heard the voice ringing in his head, and he listened. His body may have been a melted, useless wreck…but Cyborg ALWAYS planned ahead. And while nearly all his computers were fried and offline, there was enough circuitry left intact to execute this last desperation move. Though he'd hated it at the time, he was glad Flammadea had heated him from the outside going in instead of the opposite ala a microwave, because that might have resulted in the premature detonation of these.

As several small canisters of liquid nitrogen blew, sealed within his arms, legs and chest. The canisters had been very small, but there was enough to instantly start freezing his body, and since the metal was still hot from Flammadea…

"NOW WE'RE GETTING BACK TO BASICS!" Cyborg yelled as he unattached his arms and legs from their constraints and thrust them out, the metallic exoskeleton shattering as he fell to the ground, back to his normal cyborg form. "Guess I took after Mr. Patrick's role after all."

And then a fireball came soaring down from the sky, Flammadea's rain of fire reminding Cyborg of its continuance, as he yelped and dove out of the way, rolling up to his feet as the area he had been standing on smoldered. He was glad he'd gotten out of his bigger robot combat suit: if he'd still been stuck in it that fireball would have come down right on top of him and that would have been unpleasant to say the least…

"VICTOR! GO!" Raven ordered, and Cyborg complied, running off as he called up a map of Amity Park.


Flammadea's arm extended outward as she attacked, lashing out the elongated limb like a whip, but Starfire dodged around it and rammed both her fists into Flammadea's gut. Growling, Flammadea flipped over Starfire's back and spun, slamming a foot into her spine and sending the alien spinning through the air. As Starfire recovered and turned, Flammadea thrust out her arm and the fireballs currently coming down from her fire cloud stopped their descent and turned, called by their mistress to do something more then fall on a random street or building. The fireballs, several dozen in all, assaulted Starfire, as she vanished into an explosive cloud. Flammadea laughed…a laugh that was swiftly cut off as Starfire flew from the cloud, scorched but only slightly due to the spell, and rammed into Flammadea, carrying her down into another Amity Park street. The explosive landing sent nearby cars flying and overturning, as Starfire flew/flipped out and waited.

A fireball flew at her from the dust over the crater: Starfire dodged away and then spun under a extending lance of flame as she zipped in and kicked Flammadea in the gut…and then was grabbed by one of Flammadea's flame tendrils. Growling louder, Flammadea slammed Starfire into the ground and then threw her into one of the nearby buildings, a convenience store. A fireball swiftly followed her, an explosion blasting out from within the structure…and then Starfire crashed out through the roof and then zapped down in a tight zig-zag, slamming her foot into Flammadea's upward-turning face and driving her deeper into the crater.


Cyborg wasn't the fastest Titan (hence why he liked to build vehicles, they got him around), but this was made even worse by the amount of debris on the road and the still falling fireballs. He had noticed that the fireballs seemed to be more about impact then heat: whenever one struck the actual fire fizzled out almost immediately, and hence the fireballs tended to punch holes in things more then ignite them (though if enough hit, fire certainly sprang up, but it explained why the fires were so far in isolated pockets and not everywhere). But Cyborg wasn't letting that get him down, not with the situation at hand. He'd checked his clock: they had twenty-four minutes left. That might have seemed like a lot of time…but then again…

Cyborg found Thomas Street and headed down it. He'd taken four steps when a fireball shrieked overhead and slammed into a battered building in front of him. The structure, fires burning on several floors, finally gave way and started to collapse.

Right in front of Cyborg, as he realized that if this building collapsed in front of him, he'd have to either go around it, over it without his jets, or try and punch through it with his weapons. None of which appealed to him because they cost him time, and time was one thing he didn't have.

So he did the crazy thing, and broke into a sprint towards the falling building, trying to beat the fall and make it past.

Unfortunately, there was no one around to yell "Run Victor, RUN!"

"ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Cyborg screamed as he sprinted into the path of the falling building. "Hey wait a second, I just remembered! I can use my rocket skates!" Cyborg said, and sent an activation signal.

GEAR NOT DETECTED.

"What? What happened to my rocket skates?" Cyborg yelled.

And then he remembered.

(Flashback…)

"Victor, why on earth do you have rocket skates?" Savior asked from where he was sitting in the Titans' training room.

"They can help me get places!" Cyborg replied.

Savior didn't look impressed.

"Uh, really fast?" Cyborg added.

"Maybe…but can they also propel you out of control, leave you with utterly no ability to turn, and most likely smash your heavy, metal body into things that wouldn't do well to have heavy, metal bodies smashed into them, like, say, people?" Savior said, in a calm, reasonable tone. There was no mocking in his voice at all: Noel was just making a suggestion based on his observation. He was good at doing that without offending people, as Cyborg stopped and thought, holding his chin as he did so.

"You really think they'd be more detrimental then helpful?"

"Well Vic, I'm not the cyborg, so I'll just point out they never worked for Wile. E Coyote." Savior said.

"You're right. Guess I'll scrap them."

(end flashback)

"CURSE YOU AND YOUR COMMON SENSE NOEL!" Cyborg bellowed, as the building came down on him. The street exploded in a cloud of dust.

Silence.

And then Cyborg ran through the cloud, coughing. He'd made it, barely.

"Uh…mental note…next time Savior makes a suggestion…don't listen…" Cyborg gasped, more out of relief then exhaustion, as he continued his running. "Ok…it was at Thomas and what…Thomas…and John!" Cyborg said, as he glanced at the road sigh he was running past and saw that it read John. He stopped. "Ok, he said it was in an…alleyway…"

Cyborg trailed off as he saw what lay at one of the corners of John and Thomas: another toppled building, smoking wreckage that occasionally yielded a lick of fire. It had, like many of its brother buildings, collapsed, taking its neighbor down with it.

His stomach suddenly feeling sick, Cyborg stared at the building and then started looking around. That was just one corner. There were three other, unmarred ones. One out of four odds…those weren't bad…

Except Cyborg found no alleyways 'right at' the corner of John and Thomas. And Raven had very acute powers of observation, having honed them so she'd always know where she could grab something to throw. Two of the corners had buildings pressed right up against each other, no alleyways, and the third had an alleyway that was too far away…and which had no dumpster.

Stunned, Cyborg walked back to the fallen building, staring at it. They were screwed. The alleyway in which the dumpster had resided was no more, obliterated by two falling buildings. The Oxygen Destroyer, even IF it had somehow escaped being broken, was buried under tons of rubble. There was no way Cyborg could dig all the way through it. Their last hope to defeat Flammadea was…

A hand came down on Cyborg's shoulder.

Cyborg couldn't help it: he yelped in surprise and whirled around.

"What was that about my common sense?" Savior asked. He was an utter wreck, and barely looked like he could stand up…but he had a Shimmer strand holding the Oxygen Destroyer. Cyborg looked at it in relief.

"Raven can be quite a nag at times." Savior commented, perhaps in regards to why Cyborg had no clue he was going to get help. "Of course, we still have the problem of how we're going to get close to Flammadea."

"I have an idea." Cyborg replied.


And Flammadea had no idea why Starfire hadn't been reduced to blackened bones: everything the alien girl didn't dodge, she seemed to shrug off. What the hell had happened?

Well, Flammadea figured she'd solve it eventually. And when she did, she'd roast the alien on a spit, literally. She wondered if she still could still eat…

Starfire was lancing at her with a kick: Flammadea began dodging…and then Starfire suddenly swooped up, doing a quick checkerboard motion over Flammadea, and before Flammadea realized it she was behind her. She turned into the aforementioned kick, sending her flying. Her growling having graduated to snarling, Flammadea flipped over herself and lanced back at Starfire, as she shot out twin blasts of flame. Starfire whirled away from them and tried to get around Flammadea's guard again…and found herself flying into more flame tendrils. Once again, Flammadea hurled Starfire away, this time into the upper floors of an office building. As glass rained down, Flammadea flew up, charging a big blast of flame.

Something flew out at her. Flammadea, reacting on instinct, fired at it.

And blew the fire extinguisher into nothing, as the noxious carbon dioxide cloud plumed out and enveloped her. And while it didn't prove as effective as it had on her fire creations, it was still highly unpleasant to Flammadea, as she gagged and retched…which gave Starfire the time to fly out and slam another punch into her face. Flammadea flew back, skidded along the roof of one building, and then zipped across the street and crashed into another, taller building on the other side.

"Unfortunately for you, it is LIGHTNING that never…strikes twice…" Starfire trailed off from her quip as she suddenly became aware of a certain pain. She looked at her knuckles, the ones on the hand she had used to deliver the punch, and found them reddened. Burned. And come to think of it, her body wasn't feeling so bad away from Flammadea like before…

The spell was wearing off, Starfire realized with a jolt. True, she'd known that was coming, but it was somehow more shocking to see outright evidence of it. She had to use whatever time she had left, and try and do something!

Flammadea exploded out from the building, finding Starfire on a collision course with her. Instead of dodging, she scattered her body, reforming several feet distant. Starfire quickly turned and came after her again, lashing out with a spinning roundhouse that caught Flammadea in the side. Flammadea yelled, but she countered with a punch to Starfire's face that sent the alien girl flying back. She stopped, her face furious, and her fists at the ready…and with a slight red mark on her cheek. Flammadea arched an eyebrow at this, even as Starfire first looked confused at the flame deity's expression and then, as she brought her hand to her face, alarmed at the fact that Flammadea had figured it out.

"Well well, running out of steam?" Flammadea asked.

"You WISH!" Starfire yelled, and charged. Flammadea dodged away from her punches and ducked under her kick, flying down towards the street. Starfire growled and followed, slashing down with another high angled kick, but Flammadea effortlessly flitted away, and all Starfire did was shatter more concrete.

"Come back and fight, you coward!" Starfire yelled.

"No, I think I'd rather just drift around until you feel more like yourself." Flammadea replied.

"You, you…" Starfire said, and then as she blanked on English curse words, she launched into a torrent of profanity in her native tongue. Her words, if properly translated, would have embarrassed a sailor…but Flammadea had no idea what she was saying, so she just floated there, looking amused again.

"Look miss, I don't speak Alienese or whatever you're saying, so stop it. For all I know, you're yelling your mother's favorite cookie recipe at me." Flammadea said.

"I agree. Actions speak louder anyway!" Starfire said, and lifted her fist as she charged forward.

And stopped suddenly as she felt a great pressure within her chest, and before she knew what was happening she suddenly exhaled, violently, a cousin to a burp, as misty air flew from her lungs and evaporated.

Starfire, for a moment, was frozen, which was ironic considering the thing that had happened and the shock that had enveloped her had been the final gasp of the ice spell Raven had cast on her. She was back to her normal self. And hence, quite vulnerable.

And Flammadea knew it too, as she grinned.

"Do you taste like chicken?" She asked.

Starfire flew up and backwards at an angle, at high speed, retreating until she could think of a new plan, but Flammadea wasn't going to give her the time, as she flew up after Starfire…

And then a lashing white whip caught her on the back of her head. She heard the snap more then noticed the blow, and she stopped, turning around. She snorted slightly: it was that damn Savior again.

"Well well, not even the shit wants you." Flammadea commented.

"I'm sure you'd be experienced in that matter." Savior replied. Flammadea frowned, even as Savior jerked his head to the side, loudly cracking his neck, and then resumed his look at Flammadea.

"You know Sizzle, Flammadea, Barbeque, Matchstick, Fernus, whatever the hell you call yourself, I think you've had enough time, and supplies, to, how shall we say, air your grievances…" Savior said.

Flammadea would have blown him up with a look right then and there: she was sick of his speeches…and then it happened.

A squawk sounded behind her, and she turned her heat at the sound…and found Starfire being pulled away by a cord. Quite against her will: her expression clearly showed she had no idea what was going on, a feeling that transferred to Flammadea for a second…

And that second was all Savior needed, as he brought the Oxygen Destroyer from where the Shimmer was hiding it behind his back, not even looking at it as the boxlike device opened up, extending out protrusions and gear that Savior couldn't recognize, as it nearly tripled in size, as Savior drew it back. This had been Cyborg's plan: a double distraction. First Savior slapped Flammadea, then Cyborg grabbed Starfire without telling her he was going to do it. Flammadea might be able to recover from one distraction, but two swift ones had to utterly confuse anyone for a second or two, which was all the time Savior needed to throw the device out, even as it finished arming, and Flammadea looked back at the noise, first at Savior, and then at the device.

"SO YOUR SERVICE HAS BEEN CUT OFF!" Savior yelled, and then inhaled as deeply as he could and turned, leaping away.

And then it started, as Cyborg, having wound Starfire in fully from the building he was standing on, the alien having quit resisting when she saw who it was, and even as he put an oxygen mask over her face he pressed the button in the palm of his hand.

There was a slight whirring, and then it happened immediately, full force: there was no buildup or chance to react, as the Amity Park street suddenly began acting like it was a plane at 30,000 in which a window had shattered, as all the air suddenly began being sucked into the Oxygen Destroyer. What exactly it did with the air to 'destroy' it, or how it kept from being clogged with debris like newspapers and other garbage, Savior didn't know (he'd asked Cyborg, but the explanation had left his head whirling forty seconds in), but he knew that whatever it was, it made the stuff cease to exist.

And you needed oxygen to burn.

And the suction was extremely potent, as Savior looked back from where he was on the street to see if it was working, and his heart leapt as he saw Flammadea's body being pulled down towards it, thought it was clear she was fighting it with all her might, but that didn't seem to be enough as her new form was slowly being yanked down towards the Oxygen Destroyer, the tail of her dress already being drawn in. His heart leapt…and the air within his lungs suddenly started getting sucked out through his nostrils. His eyes widened in shock, and then Shimmer nose plugs formed to cut off the siphoning. It really was powerful suction!

So powerful Savior realized he was starting to be pulled towards it. Apparently he hadn't gotten enough distance in his leap, as he turned around and tried to fight his way away from the suction. He could faintly, very faintly, make out the fact that Flammadea was screaming: the suctioning air was causing some kind of sound distortion, which made sense as air carried sound waves. And there was the fact that he couldn't hold his breath forever, as he continued his struggle.

But it was like walking against a hurricane: the pull was just so strong. Savior felt his feet slipping out from beneath him, and fired off Shimmer lines to anchor himself in the ground. He continued to pull…and then the weakened ground, battered by Flammadea's fire rain and the fire goddess herself, broke from under the Shimmer's grip, and he found himself airborne, out of control. He did not scream: that would make him lose the rapidly depleting store of air he had in his lungs, but his heart did leap with fear, as he tumbled through the air…

And into a mass of floating dark energy, which vanished almost instantly.

The portal reopened near Cyborg and Starfire, as Raven and Savior emerged. The four were now far away enough from the suction that breathing was possible: it was just very difficult. Savior let out his air in a gasp, and found trying to draw a new breath in was like the difference between picking up an apple and picking up a fifty pound weight with one arm, the apple being the usual breathing that people do and the fifty pound weight being what it was like now. Cyborg noticed this, and took the oxygen mask off a now recovered Starfire and gave to Savior. He, however, passed it to Raven, who looked like she needed it more. She took it gratefully, breathing in deeply several times, and then handed it to Savior.

"You ok?" Savior thought. With the Oxygen Destroyer stealing the air needed to breath, much less talk, he figured Raven would be keeping her mind open telepathically.

"I'll live." Raven replied with her mind, as she looked at Flammadea. She was still fighting like mad, but she was losing: her actual body had been drawn down to the Oxygen Destroyer and now her legs were being sucked into it. She kept screaming, but no noise reached the Titans, and every fire attack she attempted was torn away and sucked down before she could manifest enough strength to destroy the Oxygen Destroyer. Nor could she do one of her "look, boom" tricks it seemed: that require concentration and this situation didn't seem to be optimum for it. It made Savior glad, as he handed the mask back to Starfire.

"I brought these." Raven said, as she laid Savior's ice guns, Starfire's ice cannon, and Cyborg's severed arm down next to the Titans. "Just in case. Cyborg, I assume your arm has a separate power source so it can be used despite being severed from your larger body?"

"Good to know you were paying attention all those times we were fiddling with my baby and I started babbling about mechanics." Cyborg said.

"Do we need them? Is this not over?" Starfire thought: when Raven was close to the Titans, she could do a telepathic link that connected them all. It was handy when they needed to discuss a plan they didn't want anyone overhearing (so why didn't they do it earlier? Hey, they're human. They're not omniscient), or when one was in a situation that didn't allow talking.

"I think so." Cyborg said, as he checked the monitor on his arm. The Oxygen Destroyer was heating up, but Flammadea was already halfway into it. It should hold out long enough for the fiery ghost to be ripped apart into her component atoms and scattered to oblivion.

"I've heard that before." Raven said/thought.

"Don't jinx it." Savior replied, as Flammadea was drawn down to her chest. Her arms flailed like a drowning victim (which in a way she was, as people drowned because they had no air) and her face was a mask of utter horror. Savior couldn't muster any sympathy for her though. She'd chosen her path.

"Indeed, do not turn us into Jinx. As much as that may delight Cyborg." Starfire said.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Cyborg shot back.

"Oh don't…" Raven began…and then she saw it. "What the?"

Flammadea's head was the last thing remaining, being drawn into the Oxygen Destroyer…and then, suddenly, a hundred feet overhead, a new fire erupted, a small cloud of flame, so small it was barely noticeable. But Raven saw it.

"Huh? What Raven?" Savior said, not taking his eyes away from Flammadea's head as it finally vanished. "Ah, sweet victory…"

"GUYS!" Raven's voice thundered in their heads, making them all jump. "LOOK UP!"

"What? Look up at…" Cyborg said, as he saw the cloud. "What's that?"

"It appears to be being sucked into the Oxygen Destroyer." Starfire said. Indeed, the small flame cloud wasn't demonstrating a 20th of the resistance Flammadea had, as it was quickly drawn down to the Oxygen Destroyer.

"Oh no…please be wrong…" Raven said.

The flame disappeared into the machine…but half a second before it vanished completely, a new flame bloomed into existence above the machine, a new flame that immediately began to be sucked in.

"What the hell?" Savior said, finally noticing. "What the heck are those? Drawn gas pockets?"

"Oh no…" Raven said. "It's her."

"What?" Savior said, as everyone looked at Raven. "Her? Flammadea? But she was…"

"Sucked into the Oxygen Destroyer. Or rather, her fire was. But before she went…Flammadea apparently lit another fire in the distance…and I think she transferred her sentience to it."

"WHAT?" Went all the Titans.

"How is that possible?" Starfire said.

"Hey, she's the lord and master of the inferno. When it comes to fire…can there be anything she can't do? Especially with the energy of hundreds of thousands of women united with her?" Raven said. "She's escaping the Oxygen Destroyer by making a new body and then hopping to it before her old one is destroyed! She's warping away every time she's about to be totally consumed by it!"

"Damn it! I hate loopholes!" Savior cursed. "Cyborg, turn the power up higher!"

"It's at its maximum! It can't go higher!" Cyborg yelled, even though he was fiddling with his arm as if hoping it would offer him a chance to defy his just expressed irrevocability.

"Well, maybe we need not worry! Maybe it will keep sucking Flammadea up until she runs out of the power to do these checkerboard warps or whatever she is doing…" Starfire said. By now the "checkerboard warps" were becoming faster and faster: a new flame cloud appeared, and would disappear within a second or two as a new one bloomed.

"No!" Cyborg replied. "The Oxygen Destroyer is a prototype! Sucking up Flammadea would have damaged it, but not enough to keep it from working! But all her extra fire clouds…the machine's overloading! It can't take this much longer!"

"SHIT!" Savior yelled. His eyes darted down to the retrieved ice guns. "Shoot the cloud! Maybe she's weak enough that turning the fire cloud to ice will snuff her out!" Savior ordered, as he retrieved his ice guns and tossed Starfire her ice cannon via the Shimmer. Raven stood there, wondering if she could cast any more ice spells (she might be able to muster a few more), and then Cyborg leaned down, picked up his removed arm, and reached into the guts of it, pressing a few buttons. The outside and other parts fell away, revealing the ice cannon within (it looked like a larger version of Starfire's), one with a clear trigger. He tossed it to Raven, who caught it with her power, as Cyborg went back to looking at his arm readings, sweat running down his black skin.

The latest cloud appeared.

"Fire!" Savior ordered, and all three Titans did (though Raven missed completely as she had no idea what she was doing). But even the more competent (in gunplay anyway) Titans missed: the firecloud was sucked down too fast and the beams missed it completely, as the Oxygen Destroyer sucked it up.

"Levels hitting critical!" Cyborg yelled.

"Gee, no pressure." Savior growled, and as the second fire cloud appeared he fired again, trying to lead his shot. But Savior had only basic training with guns: he couldn't hit a moving target at several hundred yards, without any kind of scope on top of that. But he tried, as did the others…and failed again. The cloud was sucked up as a new one appeared. Cyborg was reduced to making wordless noises of worry.

The Titans fired again…and missed.

"It's gonna blow! If you miss this, you won't get another shot at it!"

The three shooters looked at each other…and then they nodded and aimed their guns.

The fire cloud appeared.

"On second thought, maybe Terra and her ten million hours on the Time Crisis games would have been helpful." Savior lamented, and the Titans fired.

The ice beams shot out, streaked towards their target…and missed.

The fire cloud began to be drawn into the Oxygen Destroyer.

And then the machine exploded, having taken in far too much heat, fragmenting apart into a thousand useless bits. The boom, after the time of utter silence due to the distorted atmosphere, rang in the Titans' ears, as they all lowered their guns, their arms heavy with failure.

Silence.

And then Savior saw it: the fire cloud was beginning to expand outward, reform itself. Flammadea was rising from the ashes.

The Titans looked at each other, not needing words to say what was their situation now: hopeless. The Oxygen Destroyer had failed. Without it, the Titans had no way of stopping Flammadea. All they could do…was hold her…distract her…annoy her…until J'onn fired the cannon and blew Amity Park off the map. And them with it.

And even then…

Cyborg suddenly reached out, slid a panel aside on his elbow, and tapped a button. A section of his chest opened and a small rectangular slab appeared. Savior knew what it was: the equivalent of Cyborg's black box, his recording of what had happened and his last will and testament. And much like a black box, it was immensely tough. Tough enough to survive an explosion of the magnitude the cannon would make.

He tossed it on the roof.

To Savior, what hurt the most, even as Raven drew up to his side and he put his arm around her, holding her as tight as he could, was Starfire's face. On the surface, there was nothing but determination…but under it was great sorrow. Not at her apparent fate, but at the fact it would occur without Robin, her love, by her side. Tamaranians were immensely emotional and loyal creatures, and to die like that, having never gotten a chance to say goodbye…it had to feel like her heart was being ripped out. But she weathered it, because she had to. That was the kind of being Koriand'r of Tamaran was.

Savior wasn't a religious man, but if there were a heaven, he'd gladly go to hell, or spend a million years in purgatory, if Starfire got in immediately. In a way, this was all his fault. He'd made the wrong decisions, tried to treat the situation like a gameboard instead of a battlefield, and in the end, this is what he had condemned his team to.

The fact that they now all looked to him anyway…

Savior's password to the Titans' security was from Tennyson's poem The Charge Of The Light Brigade, an actual historical incident that occurred in 1854, during the Russian/British Crimean War. An overzealous captain apparently misinterpreted his orders on purpose, and ordered the British Light Brigade, a mere 607 horsemen armed only with swords, to attack a superior Russian force made up of six divisions of cavalry, six battalions of infantry, and 30 cannon. The Light Brigade did so without hesitation, and stood against everything that was thrown at them, closing ranks where the cannon blasted them from 1200 yards and their comrades fell wounded or dead around them, reaching the artillery and hacking down the gunners, charging through a column of Russian infantry and scattering them, and then despite being attacked by Russian guns mounted on hills and Russian lancers from their flank, they pressed on, furiously cutting their way through the enemy forces. They might even have succeeded, had the Russians not grown desperate and began firing grapeshot and canisters into the melee, slaughtering their own men to get at the cavalry.

Of the 607 members who made the charge, only 198 made it back to their own lines. Their gallantry was later immortalized in the poem…a gallantry that only occurred because they bravely followed an arrogant captain's orders.

Noel could certainly see the parallels, as Raven handed Cyborg back his arm cannon, and chanted a few words to call freezing winds on her hands, as the three looked at him, their leader, a leader who had led them to this…and yet they still looked to him…

Into the jaws of death…

Into the mouth of Hell…

Rode the Teen Titans…

"Gentlemen, and ladies…" Savior said, as he raised one of his guns before him in a salute. "It has been an honor."

And the Titans broke and headed for Flammadea.


Flammadea was in pain, and she hated the fact. What the Titans had theorized was true: she had escaped by constantly igniting fires in the distance (while doing something like making an object explode took concentration, it did not take any from her to light a fire, any fire) and transferring her mind to them. But the process had been terrible, not to mention the sensation of being pulled into the Oxygen Destroyer: it was a human being pulled through a wood chipper. Now she laid on the ground, gathering herself, regaining her strength, her rage momentarily forgotten in her exhaustion.

Until the beam of intense cold came streaking down from above.

It struck her, actually freezing her over for a bit before her fire flared and turned the ice into vapor within a second, and she was just beginning to stand up when two more beams, twins side by side, came from another angle on the ground, increasing the chill on her. A scream of frustration and anger tore from her throat, as she tried to fend off the ice beams and regain her power at the same time.

Starfire landed from her airborne shot, holding the cannon steady, even as Cyborg finally landed from Raven carrying him and fired off his own arm/ice cannon. Raven flew over so the Titans formed a rough diamond around Flammadea, and with one final chant she sent her own blast of immense cold out at Flammadea. She couldn't do this for long, and it hurt her: without her, the other three would be forced to keep Flammadea occupied for the more then twenty minutes remaining before the Watchtower fired. But maybe, just maybe, with Flammadea weakened and all of them firing their guns at maximum power, they could keep her here, in an ever-growing glacier, until the shot came…

Flammadea's scream of fury came from the icy mass that kept forming and disappearing around her, leaving mostly a pillar of steam from which blue and red energies flashed. Savior held his guns, not faltering despite the fact that at this level of chill the guns could give out any moment, but Victor Fries and Leonard Snart knew cold, he was certain they had safeguards…he hoped…but whatever happened, they had to hold Flammadea, they had to stop her, they were the only ones left…

The Titans stood their ground, pouring on the power.

And Flammadea, barraged by chill, held helpless within the ice's grip, experienced a flashback of being held down before…and what had been done to her…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A gigantic explosion exploded upward from around Flammadea, the blast blowing apart the buildings all around her. The entire world seemed to shake, as a mushroom cloud of fire and smoke and dust plumed high up into the air, as the boom echoed through the air and then was replaced by the sound of falling debris.

For the people who watched in the hospital, as they looked in utter horror at the aftermath of the blast, they couldn't help but wonder if a war had been declared on them.

And in a way, it had.

After all, war is hell.


And…several blocks away…something stirred.

Savior's eyes fluttered open. For a moment, he wondered if he was alive. Then the pain told him that yes, he was alive, but maybe he shouldn't be. Savior blinked, finding his eyes strangely sticky, as he tried to collect his thoughts. Darkness swirled in on him, but he managed to chase it away.

Savior then, despite his agony, managed to roll over onto his stomach, and saw, with a numb horror, the devastation Flammadea had wrought. He'd been wrong, again. He thought she'd been weak enough, worn out enough, to keep imprisoned…all wrong. Nothing could imprison Flammadea. No willpower, no desire, no zealous entreaty could contain her. She'd defied death itself to vent her endless anger. And before it, even he was a gnat.

A tough gnat, he mused. The only reason he could fathom that he was still alive, minus the flame charm (which lay shattered beneath him, but he didn't notice that), was the fact that Flammadea had directed the explosion out from her body rather then from up under the ground. Outward, Savior had been more shoved backwards then ignited: if she'd blasted it from right underneath him he would have been incinerated. So…instead…he lay here, a broken ruin.

The darkness swirled in again…

And he fought it back. He didn't know if the darkness was unconsciousness or the reaper come to claim him (and if it was the latter he was going to give it a peace of his mind regarding Flammadea…and the Lord…and hell, he might as well toss in Slade), but before he did…he had to do something.

Where were his allies? Did they survive? He could see the possibility. Cyborg and Starfire were extremely tough, and Raven…she was tough too. But even if he was the worst…they were done. They'd thrown everything and the kitchen sink at Flammadea, and she'd shrugged it all off.

But…he could still…do one last thing…

Now, J'onn was tracking Flammadea by the Titan communicators, and he had orders to fire if all four of the blips went off, which most likely meant all the Titans were dead. But if at least one of them survived, if at least one of their signals remained…J'onn wouldn't fire. And if Flammadea decided she'd just leave the Titans to be claimed by the elements and flew off to find a new town to wreck, the blast would just destroy the city and not Flammadea herself.

So, as Savior clawed for his pants pocket, he needed to send a general emergency signal, and hope, just hope, that someone picked it up, someone who could get here in time, someone, anyone, who could stop Flammadea, keep her in place for the shot…

Savior pulled the communicator from his pocket, slowly bringing it to his face…

And found nothing but a shattered ruin. His communicator was totaled.

"……………………..Oh." He said weakly.

And then the darkness came again. This time, he could not fight it off.


As the smoke cleared from around her, and bits and pieces of wreckage fell to the ground, Flammadea blinked and looked around her. A massive crater was now in the middle of Amity Park, nothing but ruins around it. Had she killed the Titans? Maybe: she'd been more concerned with getting free and venting her rage then killing them. But even if they had somehow survived, she doubted they'd be back. They had nothing left.

"…Come on. Was that it?" She asked the air, and though she had no bones, she cracked her neck anyway, back and forth, and then levitated up, heading over to the crater edge and setting herself down. She turned to look at her work, and found it gladdened her heart, or at least blunted her pain for a bit.

Could there have been any other result? No. The Titans were nothing. No man was, or any woman under their sway. She was invincible. She was a god. She was beyond any man's willpower or desire, or any kind, forever. She would scour the planet of the male sex and no one would be able…to…stop…

She felt the presence. For a moment she wondered if one of the Titans still had enough in them to stand…and then she realized it…

She blinked.

And then she turned.

Daniel Fenton stood there, in the street before her.

She blinked again.

He just held her gaze.

Flammadea opened her mouth…and then closed it. Strangely, her anger at the fact that the boy had escaped his destined and deserved death AGAIN did not re-ignite her anger. She was mostly just shocked and surprised.

"Why…" She said. "Why…can't I KILL YOU?"

"Perhaps that's a question best not answered, Sizzle." Danny replied.

"Flammadea." She corrected, raising a hand. "Well, well. Are you sure that as well as being a Halfa, you aren't the reincarnation of Houdini? Wait wait, don't explain. Let me guess…" Flammadea said, as she waved her hand in a circle at the wrist, in the way people who are conjecturing sometimes do. "You saw my blast coming, and despite being human you somehow grabbed your lady friend and went intangible. You then phased through the ground to avoid my blast, but it got you turned around, especially considering you were used to doing that in your ghost form, and you didn't want to risk turning back because you would most likely kill yourself and your TUW WUV…" Flammadea said, the two words suddenly filled with her usual fiery venom. "And you wandered around underground until you finally found a way out, and then you had to get little miss Goth to safety, and of course you somehow do all this without getting smashed or crushed or blown up or cremated in the collateral damage of this fight, and now that I FINALLY think I've won here you are, ready to spoil my victory again by YOUR GODDAMN FUCKING IMMORTALITY!" Flammadea screamed.

"I never wanted this. I still don't." Danny replied.

"That's life kid. It takes what you don't want and crams it down your throat until you choke on it." Flammadea said. "And it's doing it to me again. I tried to burn you, you would not die. I tried to melt you, you would not die. I tried to seal you in glass, you would not die. I tried to blow you into little bits, you would not die. I tried to push you off a building, you would not die. I tried to drag you down via a machine, you would not die. I even broke all your bones and spilled your blood, and then roasted you from within with my divine fire, and YET YOU WOULD NOT DIE!" Flammadea shrieked. "It has become very apparent that the only way I will know for sure that you are dead is to rip your heart from your chest and eat it. And then, only then, when your life's blood is sizzling off my hands and your accused sack of unrelenting beating tissue is being ground between my teeth, YOU WILL FINALLY BE DEAD!"

"I won't die." Danny said. "Not by you. I refuse to be killed by you."

"Oh, how amusing. You think YOU HAVE A CHOICE!" Flammadea roared, as searing fire whipped up around her, buffering Danny with intense heat. He didn't blink, and that just enraged her further.

"I suppose you want to make your last stand. That's what you so called heroes do, isn't it?" Flammadea said. "Well Danny, look at your peers. Look where it got them. And I assure you their fate is nothing compared to what I will do to you."

"You've said this before." Danny replied. "Get a new rap Flammadea. That one's so third rate comic villain."

Flammadea gritted her teeth, as her fire sprang higher and fiercer around her.

"You've done a lot of bad things." Danny said. "And it's time for it to end."

And then power began swirling around Danny as well, but not the usual circles. No, this was a new kind of transformation, as white and green power streamed off him and sparkled away from his body, as his shredded clothes slowly transformed into his black and white costume, his hair going the perfect white of snow, his eyes the green of emeralds.

"And it is going to end FLAMMDEA!" Danny Phantom roared. "IF I DO ONE THING, IT WILL BE THAT!"

"The only end here is yours boy!" Flammadea roared back. "YOU CHALLENGE MY DIVINITY? THEN LET THE EARTH QUAKE AND THE HEAVENS TREMBLE!"

And Flammadea launched herself at Danny.

Who flew off the ground at her as well, the two pistoning their fists out.

And they collided, in a massive and powerful luminance of green and crimson light.


And far far away, up in the cold dead darkness of space, encased within a cold metal structure, a pair of red pupil-less eyes looked in cold worry at a monitor, one that would normally show what an extremely powerful satellite camera would show of the section of Earth it was zoomed in on, if it was not blocked by thick masses of ugly black clouds, clouds not of this world. On these clouds rested three T's, imposed in various places, the forth having vanished, though J'onn does not know if it means the communicator is gone or the owner is dead. He cannot worry about that. He knows these children, his ilk, and he knows they know the possible consequences of their choices.

What troubles him are the consequences that he will be forced to face, if the cloud does not disappear. If it does not…

"22 minutes remaining…" The computer informed him. He wished he could turn it off, but he cannot. Not if he wants to stay this course…this terrible course…

He does not want to think of it, what he will have to do, even if it is for the greater good.

But as he watches the only other window open on the computer screen besides the one showing the picture of the satellite looking down on the clouds, he cannot help but think of it, as the timer to the point of no return slowly ticks down.

If it hit 0…he would rage against it, loathe that it came to that, and that he could do nothing.

But if it hit zero, J'onn J'ozz, the Martian Manhunter, would not hesitate to fire the Watchtower satellite and destroy Amity Park. And everyone and anyone who might be in it.

"21 minutes remaining…"