Jump City Cantata
A Teen Titans FanFiction by Jacob McDonald
Opening notes: Took a bit longer than the last one, and it's a thousand or so words shorter too. Hmmm. Well, I did write another story in there too, so that could explain it. Check out Falling Up when you're done with this one.
I have some stats here for those of you who care. Jump City Cantata is 98,870 words long. Single spaced, at 12 point Times New Roman font, that's 196 pages. Ten chapters strong now, and looking at one more to finish the story, and an epilog after that, it'll easily top 250 pages. It's a freakin' book, man. On top of that, there's still one or two more stories to finish the series after this one is done. Damn.
Bonus Question Winner: Kokuryu! A big round of applause for the winner please! Give me a shout over the e-mail Kokuryu, and we can work out the details of your prize! Drumroll please... a cameo apperence! Woo! Just what you've always wanted, I know. :)
Chapter 10: Judgment Day
Robin looked over the blue prints for the abandon factory one last time. His eyes darted about, memorizing electrical conduits, sewer connections, layout of walls, and structural support beams. Knowing every detail about the place one was about to attack never hurt anything.
A short ways away, Starfire was strapping an aiming device to her head. It held a single eye piece that would allow her to see in the dark, and to pin-point targets more readily. Accuracy and swiftness would be vital to Robin's plan, and in order to achieve both, she would need the extra help.
"I still do not feel comfortable taking Timothy along with us." she spoke into the silence of the Batcave.
"Noted." Robin replied in a tense voice.
"Do you not value my opinion on this matter at all?" she asked in an angry tone as she flew over and landed next to him. Reaching out, she turned his chin so that he was looking at her and not a computer screen, "Are you listening to me, Richard?"
His shoulders sagged and he took a step closer to her. Resting his head on her shoulder, he sighed out a ragged breath and hugged her, "I'm questioning my own judgment every second Kori, but he was willing. Eager even. I think he can do it."
"Then I will trust you." she pulled away from him, "I must leave now, and get into position. I will see you when you arrive with Timothy."
"Yeah. Radio me if anything weird goes down."
"Of course. See you soon."
"Bye." Robin waved to her as she flew to the exit down through the tunnel the Batmobile used.
Sighing once more, Robin started to walk to the motor pool to retrieve the bike when a foot step sounded behind him. He paused and turned his head to the side, not really looking over his shoulder, but not really ignoring the presence of his mentor.
"Did you need something, Bruce?"
"Just to say good luck." the deep, resonating tone of Batman carried to his ears from the shadows of the cave.
"You always taught me that luck had nothing to do with our mission."
"And I'm glad you remember that. I don't hate you Dick."
"I know, Bruce." Robin started forward again, "I know."
"Be careful out there, Robin. I'll be about if you need any help."
"I'll..." Robin cut off his angry retort. So many things about tonight's mission could go wrong, and all not only he himself, but Starfire and Tim could end up dead as well. There was no reason to leave things like they were between Bruce and himself, "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Bruce."
There was no response, but Robin knew that Batman had nodded. He continued on his way to the motor pool, feeling a little bit better about the mission.
"Um, Victor?" Cyborg looked up from where he was repairing Red-X's suit in his room and listened through his door to his pink haired team mate's voice, "Hey, you in there, Cy?"
"The door's open, Jen." he called.
The door slid open and she stepped in cautiously. She still wore her uniform, the Titan 'T' standing out in the half light of his room against her right thigh like a beacon.
"Hey."
"What's up?" he asked as he went back to work.
"I, uh... talked to BB earlier... and he told me about your conversation."
"Yeah, I figured."
"Look, Vic, I know you don't like me that much, but I really-"
"Whoa, hold on." Cyborg stepped around his work table and walked over to her. Kneeling down in front of her so they were closer to eye level, he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, "I never said I didn't like you. Hell, I think you're a riot to be around. I just said I don't know if we can fully trust you not to... fall back."
"Oh." Jinx looked away, "I talked to Gizmo for a while. He's... giving up hope of ever getting out of that place."
"Is it hard to see your friends locked up like that?"
She threw him an angry look, "Of course it is! Matt's a decent person inside, but he's always been so small that he thinks he has to act big to make up for it. He has some serious issues to work out." she shook her head, "We all do."
"You hate the prospect of taking a life, don't you?" Cyborg asked as he stood up.
Jinx shuddered, "The first time I ever saw it... when Mammoth crushed a guard's head between his hands..." tears started dripping down her face, "He laughed Victor! He laughed and I... I ran away. Giz wouldn't leave me alone about it for a week, and Mammoth called me a weak little girl for months afterwards... but I was so scared."
"Of what?" Cy took a step back and looked down at the crying girl before him, not quite sure what to do.
"Of becoming like that. Of getting to the point where I would laugh when I killed someone. Where it wouldn't seem so... inhuman." she wrapped her arms around herself and turned away from him, "You wouldn't understand... you've never been there."
"I... guess I'll just have to trust you on that one then." Cyborg stepped forward, "Look, Jinx... I don't have a choice here. I'm going to go out there and fight no matter what Speedy or Raven say, but if it will help the team, then I'll trust you. I'll trust you to watch my back, just like I'll trust you to watch my friend's backs."
Jinx whirled back around and threw her arms around his neck. He was stunned for a second, then hugged her back, "It's okay, Jen... I'm just saying that-"
"Shut up." she ordered, "I just want you to know how much it means to me to be trusted." stepping back, she leaned up and kissed his cheek.
The doors opened and Sarah stepped into the room, toting a gym bag. She stood there for a moment, staring at Jinx and Cyborg.
Jinx, her lips still pressed to Cy's cheek, and Cyborg, still bent down to receive the kiss, stared back.
Sarah cracked up then, and the tension broke. "Oh... man... I come back here expecting to have to beat some sense into Cy for not trusting you, and now I have to beat the crap out of you for putting the moves on my man while I'm gone!" laughing even harder, the blond walked over and hugged Jinx, who had by then pulled her lips away from Cyborg.
Jinx hugged her back and smiled weakly, "It wasn't really-"
"Oh I know. Go make out with your own boyfriend though, I need to make mine all hot and sweaty."
"Oh, God." Jinx backed out of the room, "You two just have some fun then, and omph!" she was almost knocked down as Speedy pelted past her on his way to Raven's room.
Raven came running up behind him a second later and steadied Jinx, "Titans, trouble." she said.
"What kind of trouble?" Cyborg asked as he walked back to his work bench.
"Slade trouble. Armies of the dead trouble." Raven looked grim, "Assemble down in the rec-room in five. Cy, you're fighting with us."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." he walked over to a wall panel in his room as Jinx dashed off to find Beast Boy and spoke into a speaker there, "Red-X! Mr. Red-X! Please report to Cyborg's room, your suit is completed."
"This is it." Raven paced back and forth in front of her assembled team, "This is the battle I've feared from the beginning of this whole thing."
"How bad is it, Rae? Be up front with us." Jinx looked grim, "I know a little, but you look pretty freaked out."
"The zombies created by the spell from the Libris Mortis are called the Cursed Dead. They aren't your classic movie fare zombies... they're fast, agile, strong, and they crave human flesh." she stopped and stared at them from the depths of her hood in a spooky manner, "They will try everything they can to kill and eat you."
"Glad I'm only half human." Cyborg said with a grin.
"This isn't a joking matter, Cy." Raven lifted off the ground and started floating back and forth in front of them.
"Dude, Rae... are you nervous?" Beast Boy arched an eyebrow.
"Yes." Raven landed and looked at them again, "Look, team. These things are going to look like normal people, move like normal people, and sound like normal people when you hit them. But they're not. They're dead, and the only way to stop one of the Cursed Dead is to..." she trailed off and looked away.
"Is to what, Rae?" Speedy stepped forward and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Is to rip them apart." Raven replied grimly, "You have to make them loose as much blood as possible, all at once. Otherwise, they just keep coming."
"Christ..." Sarah covered her mouth, "How... how will you be able to do that?"
"Speedy," Raven turned to her boyfriend, "Explosives. Aim for critical spots. I can get you a melee weapon as well. Beast Boy-"
"Gar." he corrected.
Raven sighed, "I'm stressed and I'm not going to remember, so just for today, you're Beast Boy again, okay?"
"Fine." Beast Boy looked huffy.
"You have it pretty easy." Raven continued, "Whatever form you take, make sure you can dismember someone with it."
"Right." he swallowed hard and nodded.
"Cyborg..." Raven knew it would be hardest for him, "Rip them apart."
"With my hands?"
"Or your sonic cannon, if you can set it high enough to disrupt human flesh."
"I don't know if I can-"
"Then get over it." Raven cut him off. She turned to Jinx, "Forget everything I told you about not hitting to kill. I'll get you a weapon as well, but don't be afraid to use your powers to help you crush any of these monsters you can."
"Right." Jinx nodded as well.
"What about you?" Cyborg asked, "Are you up for this?"
"I can tear them apart with my powers." Raven looked away, "I've already proven that."
"But can you do it?" Cy stepped forward and turned her to face him.
She looked up into his human eye with dead, cold ones, "Yes." she replied. It was cold, dark, and deadly behind her violet eyes, and Cyborg took an involuntary step back.
"Speedy, Jinx, with me. Beast Boy, check the City Status to find the worst areas and see if you can track down Slade. Cyborg," Raven turned from where she had been walking across the room, "Go down to the evidence lock up and get Sarah a weapon. If they get to the Tower and past the security system, I want her prepared."
"What about me?" Red-X asked as he stepped into the room, once again in his suit.
"I think of you as an independent contractor in this situation." Raven smiled at him, "Take out zombies, don't steal anything along the way, and try to stay alive."
"Got it." he nodded and walked over to where Beast Boy was checking the computers.
As Raven, Speedy and Jinx left the room, Cyborg took a nervous looking Sarah by the hand and led her to the stairs that went down to the basement, "Come on, Baby."
Robin only had to wait for two minutes before Tim snuck down the fire escape and on to the back of the bike.
"Let's go." the younger teen said as he stuffed a helmet on his head and gripped Robin about the waist.
"You're sure you still want to do this?" the Boy Wonder asked as he rolled silently out of the ally next to Tim's building and down the street. Once he was far enough away from the area, he opened up the throttle and took off at a higher speed.
"Yeah. I thought about it... and I'd like to accept your offer... if tonight goes well."
"It will." Robin replied, "And I'll be happy to-" a beeping cut him off. He frowned and looked down at the control panel of the bike. Hitting a button, he saw Raven's face pop up, "What is it, Rae?"
"Slade did it. Jump City is under attack by armies of the dead."
"Can you stop it?"
"It'll be bloody... but we'll stop it."
"I'm counting on you, Raven. I'll finish up here in a few hours, then I'll hop a ride in the Batjet to get home and help. Hold down the fort until Star and I get there."
"We'll do our best." Raven nodded and signed off.
"Armies of the dead?" Tim asked.
"Oh, yeah." Robin grinned as he took a hard right, "You get all sorts in this business... psychotic clowns, cold blooded assassins, armies of the dead..."
"Is it too late to re-think that offer of yours?"
Robin laughed, "Yes."
"Pick one." Raven said as she opened a standing cabinet on the far side of her room, across from her book shelf.
Jinx and Speedy gaped at the collection of weapons. After a moment of hesitation, Jinx went right for the katana, and Speedy lifted out a wicked looking battle axe.
"Why do you have all of these?" Speedy asked as he grabbed for a belt loop to strap to his uniform.
"I collect actual artifacts. None of these have enchantments, but they all have history." Raven pointed to Jinx as she was strapping the sword across her back, "That katana was used in the Meiji revolution by an official samurai of the Shogunate." pointing back over at Speedy, she motioned at the axe, "That axe was used by the Viking warrior Marvlen Redbeard on twenty separate raids, over twelve years, on the Saxons of early Britain."
"Wow." Jinx drew the sword and looked at it, "So it's seen blood before."
"Yes." Raven pulled out a matched set of Spanish daggers and strapped them to her waist, to be drawn from the back, behind her cloak, "Let's go."
Sarah looked on as her boyfriend searched through the tall shelves of the evidence lock up, "Cy... you don't really think-"
"I don't know." Cyborg shook his head as he pulled down several crates from the shelves in the basement of the Tower, "But Raven is right; I'd rather have you prepared than not."
"But... what can I do to defend the Tow... oh." she looked scared as he pulled a beam rifle out of one of the boxes.
"We got this off of Dr. Light once. It can cut through solid steel in a matter of seconds, so it should be able to carve up zombies pretty well. The Tower's power grid should be able to keep it running for a good long time, and it's got it's own internal power that'll last you about five minutes-"
"Cy, I don't think I can-"
"Shut UP Sarah!" Cy looked up at her, and she saw that he was just as frightened as she was, "You think I WANT to give this thing to you?" he sighed and his shoulders slumped, "It's a 'just in case thing,' Babe. The Tower's defensive systems should be able to keep them out, or blow them apart if they get in, but you should still know how to use this, and how long you'll be able to use it before you have to use knives and conventional small arms fire." he reached into another crate and pulled out a rather large looking hand gun, "Robin hates that we have to keep these around, but it's for evidence."
"Cy, I don't know how to fire a gun."
"Point it, and pull the trigger. This one has a bit of kick to it, but it's easy to re-load. I'll show you how to use all of this stuff when we get you set up. The most defensible point in the Tower is the medical level. I'll put you right in the lab so you'll have some room to move around."
"I can't believe we've come to this." she shook her head and hugged him.
"I'm just happy you're here and not out there in your apartment."
"There are other people out there that need your help, Cy." Sarah stepped back, wiped the tears from her eyes, and stood up straight, "Let's get me set up so you can go do your job."
"God bless you for being so strong..." Cy picked up the crates, "Let's go."
Starfire looked through the range enhancing night vision scope attached to the eye piece she wore, searching for signs of movement at the arranged spot. When she saw it, her heart started to pound in her chest.
From her vantage on top of the water tower next to the Joker's hide out, she could see Robin and Tim pull up to the abandoned factory across the street. They wasted no time in hiding the bike and getting Tim ready.
Robin supplied him with ratty looking clothes and scuffed up shoes. Tim then did his best impression of what a slight limp would look like. He needed to look weak, but sneaky, in order to make his break in worth the Joker's time to 'play' with him.
As she watched, Robin turned and looked right at her. Bringing his hand up to his ear where she knew he had a hands free communicator, he spoke, and she heard him through her own earpiece, "You ready, Star?"
"Yes, Robin."
"Jump City is being attacked by Slade and a bunch of zombies, Star. The Titans are handling it, but I'd like to get this done quickly and head over there as soon as we can."
Star blinked, "Zombies?"
"Not important right now. Let's just do this fast and clean."
"Very well. Let us kick the ass."
"Just like we planed it then." Robin said with a chuckle, "Tim goes in and draws the Joker out. When I burst on the scene, Tim, you run like hell. If anyone follows you, you have the tangler grenades, caltrops, and smoke bombs. Hopefully all of the thugs will be right there, and I wont have a problem taking them out, but any stragglers are your job Star. Take anyone converging on me out before they get there. Then and only then are you to come help me." he sounded stern, "Any questions?"
"When do I call the cops in?" Tim asked as he adjusted his hiding pouches for his non-lethal weapons.
"As soon as you get to a safe point." Robin replied, "If we're set, then let's do this."
Jinx walked into the kitchen to find Speedy digging through the refrigerator. As he stepped back with leftovers from the night before and started tossing them on a plate to be reheated, she arched an eyebrow.
"Hungry?"
"Nervous." he smiled weakly as he set the timer on the microwave, "I eat when I'm nervous."
"Why so freaked out?"
"I've never had to... aim to kill before."
"I hear that. I mean, at least I have the proper training to kill someone, so I guess I'm one up on you."
"I don't mean it like that." he shook his head, "I could put a normal arrow in someone's throat any day of the week. I have pretty good aim after all." he shrugged, "It's what I do. I've just never... really thought about doing it." he shuddered, "Now I'm going to have to go out there and literally blow people apart."
"Or chop them up." Jinx fingered the hilt of her katana, "I don't know if I'm up for this. I've never wanted to kill anyone, even if I know how. I don't know... how I'll handle all the blood."
"We'll do it because we have to." Speedy nodded as the timer went off on the microwave, "You want any ham?" he asked as he removed the plate.
"Hell yes." Jinx pulled out a fork and they sat down together at the table.
"Hey." Raven poked Beast Boy in the shoulder, "How's it going?"
"Not bad." Beast Boy pointed to a monitor, "Slade isn't hiding, and he's not moving. We can't wait any longer though. The first casualty reports are coming in now, and we're looking at a few hundred people. Rae, this is getting out of control."
"We're going to make a line drive for Slade." Raven replied, reaching over his shoulder and tapping a few keys on the keyboard. A new screen came up with a map of the city, "This way." she traced a path with her finger, showing him the path through the streets she wanted to take.
"We'll be encountering heavy resistance in a few places along that rout." Beast Boy hit a few more keys and an overlay of zombie activity popped up, "See here? They're congregating for something."
"Cy and Speedy can watch our backs when we get past that mess then. The rest of us will be able to get to Slade."
"You really think we can do this?"
"We don't have a choice." Raven shook her head, "We can't wait for Robin, and the JLA wont be able to respond for another half hour. People are dying out there, and we have to stop it."
Beast Boy looked down at her hand, still hovering near the keyboard, and saw that it was shaking. He reached out and grabbed it, "You're scared."
"Yes." Raven swallowed hard, "Another new emotion I could really do without."
"You've always had fear before, Rae." he swiveled his chair around so that he was facing her, "You've just always repressed it."
"I can do it again..." she closed her eyes, "I just need to concentrate harder."
"Hey..." he grabbed her about the waist and pulled her down to sit in his lap. She did so gladly and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Don't worry so much, Rae. We'll win this battle."
"I hope you're right. I just... have a bad feeling about it." she slid off of his lap and to the ground, "Now hold still."
"Wha-" he jerked a little as she touched his chest and healed the remaining wounds there. She sucked her breath in through her teeth as she did so, squinting her eyes at the pain it caused her. "Shit! Raven!" Beast Boy reached out and caught her as she started to fall over, "Don't do that all at once!"
"I had to... have you..." she breathed a bit deeper, calming herself, "...in fighting form."
"Well thanks, but are you going to be okay?"
"It'll pass in a minute." she stood up on shaky legs, "Let's get ready."
"Who am I taking with me?"
"Jinx. Cyborg will take his car, Speedy will take Robin's bike, I'll fly, and I'm pretty sure Red-X already took off."
"Okay. See you on the roof then?"
"Three minutes." Raven nodded and walked away to find Jinx.
Beast Boy watched her go, noting how her ass even looked good through her white cloak. He suddenly felt like Speedy was one lucky son of a bitch.
"There you go." Cyborg set the last safety on the beam rifle to stand-by, and turned to his girlfriend. They were in the medical lab, next to the infirmary. It was the most spacious room on the medical level, three-quarters of the way up the tower. Only two doors went in, and both were in easy firing range of the rifle from where he'd set it up on a swivel mount.
Sarah pointed her hand gun at the floor and pushed the safety down, clicking the slide back into place. She swallowed hard, and placed the gun on the table next to her, behind the beam rifle. Several more clips of bullets sat on that table, as well as a large combat knife.
"I feel like Rambo." she said with a weak voice as she looked back at her boyfriend.
"One more thing." Cyborg handed her a T-Comp, "If the security system is breached, you call me." she started to protest and he held up a hand, "The team will be able to handle the situation if I have to come back here. One of us needs to make sure the Tower isn't compromised. It's too well defended for us to take it back if Slade gets his hands on it."
"So I'm only the guardian of the Tower so far as to hold down the fort until you get back."
"Exactly. You're a non-combatant Sarah. You shouldn't have to fight."
She took a step forward and hugged him about the waist, "You be careful out there, Hunny."
"I'll be back later tonight. We'll have a lot of clean up after this one."
"I know. I'll make you guys a nice dinner again."
"We'll look forward to it."
She stepped back and pushed him towards the door, "Go on now. No goodbyes. We'll see each other later after all."
"Yeah. Good luck, even though I hope you don't need it."
"You too, even though I know you will."
They kissed once more, then Cyborg left. Sarah went back to her position behind the rifle and sat down in the chair she had placed there. Sighing, she pulled out a romance novel and settled down for a long wait.
Tim moved quickly and quietly up to the fence that surrounded the compound the Joker had set up shop in. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and looked around. No guards near by.
Climbing over the fence, he dropped to the ground and stood up. Time to start with the act. Knowing he had to get caught, but not before he was deep inside, he was careful not to let his supposed limp be too loud. With the surveillance he had done earlier that day, he knew the patrol patterns of all the guards, so getting close wouldn't be a problem.
Moving quickly again, this time with a fake limp, he made it to the side of the building with no resistance. A stack of crates there sat outside of a window, almost ten feet off the ground. Climbing the stack, he peered inside the window.
It was dark inside the factory, no lights or candles, and nothing that looked like control light LED's from machinery or computers. What was the Joker up to?
Checking his watch, he saw that it was about time. He went back to trying to look in the window just as he heard the crunch of gravel. This stack of crates was right along the patrol path of one of the guards, and his placement had been perfect for getting caught.
Right on cue, he heard a gruff voice shouting at him, "Hey! Kid!" he turned to see a thug wearing a dark over coat pointing a gun at him, "Get down here!"
"Y-yes sir!" he sounded as frightened as he could, which wasn't hard, because he was suddenly scared shitless. Facing a real gun, in a real situation, he suddenly felt very exposed and unprepared.
Telling himself over and over in his mind that Robin wouldn't let anything happen to him, he climbed down the stack of crates, favoring his right leg. When he reached the ground, the gunman stepped forward and jerked his chin away from the factory. Tim moved several more feet away.
"What were ya doin' up there?" the thug asked.
"I was just lookin', honest mister!" he shook his head, "I saw all you guys over here with the hardware and thought I'd take me a look. Ya' know, see what was goin' on."
"This aint no place for a kid, punk. Get lost." he waved his gun towards the fence, and Tim started moving that way.
"Okay, but I don't know if the Joker would like that I know where he is..." he shrugged.
"Stop." the thug switched off the safety of his SMG, "How'd you know we're workin' for the Joker?"
"I seen him up inside."
"You just stay right where you are then." the Thug pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it, "Hey, uh, Mister Jay? We got a problem over here on the west side of the building."
There was a brief pause and then a happy sounding voice replied, "What kind of problem?"
"Some kid says he saw you inside. He's threatening to tell the cops."
"Oh! Visitors? I'll be right out!"
Tim fought not to smile. Robin's plan was going perfectly.
Jinx gripped Beast Boy's pterodactyl form around the neck tightly, and surveyed the carnage from above as they flew over the city. People were being eaten below them, by what looked like other people. It was truly horrifying.
"Go down, Gar. We have to stop those things!" she squeezed him and he seemed to nod. Raven, flying nearby, looked over at them.
"We go in fast and hard. Cy and Speedy are right behind us, so be prepared to jump out of the way when they come through. I don't imagine Cyborg is going to slow down much for zombies."
"Whatever, let's just go!" Jinx pushed on Beast Boy's neck and he folded his wings in, going into a dive. She braced to jump off of him, and did so at the last minute. Her foot slammed into a zombie that was bent over, ripping the throat out of a victim with it's teeth. It fell back over, but recovered quickly. The monster crouched a short distance from her, and growled loudly. Jinx's eyes widened when she saw that the zombie was a young man, not more than twenty. He wore blood stained jeans, a green long sleeved t-shirt, and his face was covered with blood from where he had been gnawing on the woman she had kicked him off of. With a shout of anger, it lunged at her.
She kicked it back again, and drew her sword.
Beast Boy had changed into a raptor as soon as he was near the ground, and was currently dodging the swipes of two of the dead people. With a quick slash of his claws, the first blood of the battle was drawn, and the guts of a zombie spilled to the ground.
He froze and changed back into himself, shock evident on his face. He staggered back from the gruesome sight as the woman he had just disemboweled looked up at him with a face full of pain and torment, then slumped to the ground. The second Cursed Dead he'd been fighting lunged at him and tried to bite his neck.
Raven swooped down with a scream and buried one of her daggers to the hilt in the top of it's head, with a twist and a yank, she ripped it out of the back of the zombie's skull, splattering brains and blood all over her white uniform. Glaring at Beast Boy, she shouted, "No more hesitation. Kill them, Beast Boy." and whirled around to slash the throat out of another one that was coming up behind her.
Jinx caught all of this out of the corner of her eye as she watched the zombie she was fighting recover from her last kick. As it stood up again and whirled back to face her, she brought the katana down in a powerful chop, slicing to almost the middle of the zombie's chest, from it's shoulder. Yanking her sword back, she watched as the blood spilled and the Cursed Dead died.
Turning to her left, she faced three more of them. Lifting her sword into a battle stance, she screamed and charged.
At first it was hard to make out exactly what the figure walking towards him was wearing, but when the person got closer he could see that it was a purple pin stripe suit with long coat tails. The Joker's white face grinned at him, green hair blowing slightly in the breeze.
Tim had never had a clown stare at him like he was a piece of meat before, and he didn't like having that feeling now.
"So!" the Joker said as he stepped up to Tim and inspected him, "What brings you to my neck of the woods... erm... I didn't catch your name..."
"T... Tommy." Tim caught himself in time, and managed to make it sound like a convincing stutter.
"Well, Tommy, what is it that I can help you with? Want to join up with the gang? Want to hang around with your Uncle Joker? Want to get shot in the foot a few times?" Joker pulled out a revolver and aimed it at Tim's foot, "Hmm?"
"Uh..." Robin hadn't covered this part of the plan. What was he supposed to talk to the Joker about? "I, uh... just wanted to see what was goin' on over here... honest Mister Jay-"
"Call me Uncle Joker."
"Honest Uncle Joker!" Tim fought down his fear and thought fast, "I guess... maybe I could join up with the gang... I'm pretty quiet when I wanna' be and I'm real sneaky like..."
"Yes..." the Joker rubbed his chin, "Yes, I think we could use you!" he snapped his fingers, "I have this nasty bit of scrap caught in the grinder inside and I just bet you'd be able to crawl in there and get it out for me!"
"Um..."
"Of course you'd be ripped into little Tommy chunks a second later, but you are good at fitting into tight spaces, so you might get out alive," Tim and the guard glanced at each other, confused by the Joker's on going monolog, "Then if you get out of that, there's always that light bulb I need changed way up over the vat of lye... or the tooth my pet crocodile needs pulled..."
"Uh, Mister Jay? We don't have no croc." the guard pointed out.
The Joker turned around and shot him in the face.
"Oops!" he turned back to Tim, who was staring at the guard in horror as the man fell over. Reaching up, Tim wiped the blood from the side of his face where it had splattered on him, and looked back over at the Joker.
"Sorry about that!" the Joker looked mildly flustered, "The trigger must have slipped or something."
"Yeah." Tim swallowed hard and nodded.
"Oh well! I need that cleaned up... better call the rest of the boys over." pulling a walkie talkie out of his coat, the Joker spoke into it, "All right boys! Mark couldn't cut it, and had to be fired. Everyone over here to clean it up!"
Tim fought back a smile, which wasn't hard considering he'd just seen a man get his face blown off. The plan was back on track, even if it hadn't gone quite as he had planned.
Beast Boy hurled another zombie into a wall with all the strength he could muster as a gorilla, and made sure that this one splattered properly. The last one hadn't, and he'd been forced to crush it's skull by hand.
Finding that he was alone for a moment, be morphed back into himself and looked around, taking in the carnage.
Raven was using her powers to hurl zombies away from her, and any that got to close found out how sharp that dagger of hers really was. Her white uniform was splattered with so much blood that it was practically red now, and her hood had fallen off long ago, exposing her hair to the gore as well. It was matted down on one side where he knew she had been in a headlock and had jabbed her dagger into the zombie's back.
Jinx was a whirled mass of sword and pink energy. Zombies would slip in the puddles of blood surrounding her as they charged in, and she would cut them to ribbons moments later. Her face was streaked with blood, and she had a feral look in her eyes as she beheaded another assailant.
Shaking his head, Beast Boy spoke aloud, "They have it so easy." and spit a mouthful of blood as he did. When you had to become a lion and maul your opponents, you tended to get the stuff in your mouth. For a vegetarian like Beast Boy, it made him want to puke.
As another three zombies broke away form the horde walking down the street and started towards him he morphed into a stegosaurus and prepared to smack them into next Tuesday with his tail spikes. As he hauled back his tail however, the T-Car came out of no where and plowed into the three that were advancing on him.
Morphing back into himself once more, he pumped a fist in the air, "Alright, Cy! About time you guys!"
Speedy came hurling onto the scene moments later as Robin's R-Cycle flew over head. He fired seven shots off before he hit the ground, all of them blowing arms and heads off of zombies, giving Jinx and Raven a chance to regroup with Beast Boy.
"We need to get to Slade." Raven said as she jogged up, "We've wasted too much time trying to kill all of these."
"Well, now that Cy is here, he can just drive through them and we can go along in his wake." Beast Boy grinned over at Jinx, "You know how to ride a horse bare back?"
"I'm not sure that's going to work." Jinx pointed over to where the T-Car was at a stand-still. Cyborg was being pulled out of the door, which had been removed. The tires were torn to shreds by even more zombies, and the ones that had him were starting to claw at the flesh half of his face.
"Get these things off of me!" he screamed at them as he pointed his sonic cannon over his shoulder and blasted the one clawing at him away.
Speedy suddenly jumped on top of the T-Car, hurling his helmet at one of the zombies and smashing it off of Cyborg. Pulling an arrow, he buried it in the last one's chest, stunning it and giving Cy enough time to punch it away from himself before it exploded.
"Damn." Cy said as he blasted with his sonic cannon again, keeping more of the Cursed Dead away. He and Speedy regrouped with the rest of the Titans.
"Now what?" Speedy asked as he fired another arrow at the advancing horde.
Jinx and Raven both hurled waves of energy, the black one pushing the army of the dead back, and the pink one bringing half a building down in front of them, blocking them off from any danger for the moment.
"We have to get to Slade." Raven repeated, "Cy, Speedy, you're our point men for now. We have to go straight through them."
"Why don't those of us that can't fly try to hold them off down here?" Cyborg suggested, "You and Beast Boy can make it to Slade no problem."
"No." Raven shook her head, "There are people between here and there that need saving. We have to save them."
Cyborg nodded, "Alright then. Speedy, looks like you and I are going to have to clear the way."
"Bring it on." Speedy looked pale, but determined.
"Titans," Raven looked around at her blood splattered team, her voice deadly calm, "Go."
"Man," one gunman said to his patrol partner as they walked towards the factory they were using as a hideout, "This guys is a loon. Sometimes I miss working for Two-Face."
"Yeah, no kidding." the other guard shrugged, "At least when I was working for Black Mask I got to wear that nifty tribal African mask."
They both chuckled as they walked, until the former Black Masker was plowed off his feet by a green blur. As the other gunman turned to see what was attacking them, he felt strong arms wrap around his throat, putting him in a sleeper hold.
He struggled and tried to elbow whoever was holding him, but it seemed like whoever it was didn't even have their feet on the ground. After a minute, his brain lost too much oxygen and he passed out.
Starfire lowered him to the ground, then quickly set about using several zip ties to bind the men. Dragging them over behind a stack of crates, she stood and turned to go find more.
And almost ran right into Robin.
"Oh!" she stumbled back and he grinned at her as her hand flew up to her chest, "Do not startle me like that Richard!"
"Sorry." he took a step forward and grabbed hold of her arms, "Come here." he said in a strong voice and pulled her to him, kissing her. She giggled into his mouth as he turned her and pinned her against the crates, one hand running up her side and across her breast, and the other creeping up under her skirt.
She held him to her, her own hands gripping at his butt and his hair, crushing his mouth to hers. After several moments, he pulled away from her, breathing heavily.
"What was that all about?" she asked as he stepped away.
"Because I wanted to get one more good one in before we do this." he looked away and pulled out a grappler, "Just in case."
"Do not talk like that Robin." she stepped up to him and hugged him briefly, "We will finish this and go home, where we will then finish what we started just a moment ago."
He grinned and lifted his arm, "Alright, Kori. Get in position."
"Right." and she let him go as he fired off his grappler and swung up into the night.
Speedy fired arrow after arrow into the zombie's that were attacking Jinx as she swung her sword around in deadly swipes. He could see that the constant battling was taking it's toll on her, and she was starting to slow down.
"Raven!" he shouted, "We're not getting anywhere and we're getting tiered! We need to regroup and rest!"
"Not yet!" she shouted back as she held a wall of force in front of her, barely holding back at least twenty zombies, "The building up ahead has it's doors barred! There are living people in there, and they need this street cleared so they can get out!"
Beast Boy charged past on the other side of her wall, his bull horns skewering several zombies. As he became a Tyrannosaur, he turned back around and chomped up a mouthful of them. Shaking his head around to make sure that his teeth ripped them up well enough, he then spit them back out and went for more.
"Hey!" Raven turned her head to look over at Cyborg, who was throwing punches left and right in a steady rythem, slugging zombies out of his way, "Little help here guys?" he had been seperated from them by several yards, and the Cursed Dead had quickly taken advantage of a lone person to attack.
"Damnit." Raven lowered her shield, hoping Beast Boy could hold off that portion of the horde and spun around, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she called as she reached out with her powers and picked up a bus, using it like a club to clear the zombies away that were seperating her from Cyborg.
As she hurled the bus over his head and into another group of them, he blinked, "Thanks." he said as he started forward. When the bus hit the ground behind him, it exploded.
Turning to look at the rising fireball, Cy shouted out in alarm as a smaller zombie jumped up and tried to bite his face. Swatting it back, he paused as he heard mettle clanging against mettle.
"No..." he breathed as the child zombie stood up and turned back to him with a growl, "No... Marvin..."
The child before him wore a blue baseball uniform, and was flexing a prosthetic hand. The jersey read 'Team Cyborg' across the front.
"Well!" the Joker stretched as his guards started to come together, "Tommy, what do you think we should do with poor Mark here?" he motioned to the body of the guard he had just killed, "How do you get rid of a body?"
"Um..." Tim thought about all of the gangster movies he'd ever seen, and of any thing he'd ever read in the papers that might help him here, "We should dump him in the river? Or maybe use that grinder you were talking about?"
The Joker looked over at him with a smile and stared for a moment. Tim fidgeted.
"You think you should be in charge here, is that it?" the Joker just kept staring and smiling, "You think you should be calling the shots?" he pointed his gun at Tim's head, "Like maybe... this shot?"
Tim had time to reflect on how truly insane the Joker was as he watched the madman's finger tighten on the trigger. He knew his life was over, and thoughts just kept flying through his head. He'd never be a Titan. He'd never see his dad again. He'd never make love to a girl, or have a family, or get a good job, or-"
"I don't think there needs to be any more shots called tonight, Joker." Robin's voice grew louder as he descended from above, "By you or anyone else but me!"
Landing in front of Tim, Robin drew his cape up and whirled it around, catching the bullet as it was fired from the gun and taking away it's momentum as it got caught in the polymerized titanium weave.
"Go!" he shouted over his shoulder at Tim, even as he kicked out and the Joker's gun went flying. The ten guards who had congregated were stunned for a moment by the Boy Wonder's sudden appearance, giving Tim all the time he needed to duck under their arms and sprint away into the night.
"Don't shoot!" the Joker said as the gunman started to raise their weapons, "You'll hit me you idiots! Grab him and kill him!"
Robin grinned as they threw down their guns and advanced on him.
When Starfire heard Robin shouting up ahead, she gave up all pretence of stealth and flew forward at an alarming rate. She caught up to the two guards she'd been stalking and slammed her fist into the back of one of their heads, then snap kicked the other one in the face as he turned around to face her. Both went down, unconscious before they hit the ground.
Blasting forward again, she started hurling Starbolts with great persition thanks to the aiming device Robin had supplied her with. Her low powered blasts were enough to knock out a normal human, but not strong enough to do any lasting damage. She took out six more men who were charging at the massive melee where she knew Robin was fighting.
As she reached the group, she paused and watched with pride as Robin single handedly took on all ten thugs. Throwing a punch at the Joker's face, Robin kicked out and sent one of the thugs reeling. As the Joker ducked, Robin's fist slammed into the guard that was behind him. It had been timed perfectly, Robin knowing just when the Joker would duck, and exactly where all of his opponets were. He was truly a wonder.
Shaking her head, she flew in and grabbed one of the thugs, hurling him back into the stack of crates Tim had been climbing on, smashing them into splinters. Robin kicked a man who was about to punch her. She slugged another who was about to jump on him.
It took them all of ten more seconds to render the rest of the guards unconscious, and turn to face the Joker, who was holding his hands up over his face in a defensive manner. Peeking through his fingers, he grinned and laughed at them, "Good show there! Who's your girlfriend Robin?"
"The girl who will be kicking your ass!" Starfire said as she hauled back a starbolt and let it fly. The Joker ducked it and took off around the corner of the building, laughing like a madman.
"Star, call the police in and start taking out the rest of the guards." Robin took off at a sprint, calling back over his shoulder, "I'll deal with the Joker!"
She frowned, not happy with his orders, but nodded anyway. She understood that it was personal for him, and if he wanted to take the Joker down himself, she would let him.
Hoping her boyfriend would be alright, Star flew up into the night sky, pulling out her T-Comp. She sent a message to 911 dispatch and started scanning the ground with her night vision lense, looking for any guards that might still be around and for any sign of Tim.
Tim hid behind a derelect looking forklift, watching as a group of three guards walked past, guns at the ready. He listened to what they were saying.
"We have the perimiter secured?"
"Yeah, Roger just called in and said we're good. If the cops show up, we have a fall back point picked out and everything."
"As long as no one gets in or out, that's all I care about. I'm gonna' kill that kid that was with the Boy Blunder and his stupid bitch girlfriend."
"How da'ya know the kid was working with the Junior Bat?"
"Saw him tell the kid to run."
"Well, I guess that's somethin..."
As their voices faded, Tim evaluated his options. He had a few weapons, and he knew the basic layout of the factory yard. The guards would kill him if he tried to get out, but they could also kill him if he stayed in.
On the other hand, Starfire was still around somewhere, and if he could find her, he'd be safer. Taking one last glance around to be sure he was safe, Tim took off again, this time heading back towards the factory.
"Come on, Melvin!" Cyborg begged, "You can't be totally gone! You can't be dead!"
He held the boy up by both of his wrists, one in each of his own hands. The child zombie kicked at him and growled and spit, looking more like an animal than the spunky left handed hitter Cy knew.
Raven looked over at him from where she was stabbing a zombie in the neck repeatedly, and saw that he was being surrounded again. As he continued to try and reach Melvin, move zombies started to claw at his body armor, trying to get to his human organs underneath.
"Cyborg!" she yelled at him, dropping the zombie she had just killed and flying over to him, "Cy, he's dead!"
"No!" Cyborg shook his head, tears running down from his human eye, "He can't be dead! He's just a kid!"
"He's got shrapnal buried in his back, Cy! He's gone!" Raven slashed the throat out of one of the Cursed Dead ripping into her friend, and used her powers to hurl another one away.
"I know this kid, Rae... I can't... he isn't..."
"Victor." Raven said as she pulled the last zombie away and left one of her daggers in it's chest, "He's gone. Right now, his unlife is a constant craving for blood and flesh that can never be sated. They're called the Cursed Dead for a reason, Cy." she surrounded them in a shield of darkness, keeping the other zombies at bay, "End it for him, Cy. End his suffering."
Cyborg closed his eye and sobbed. He hesitated for only a moment longer before he looked up with a scream of agony and pulled.
Melvin was ripped into two halves, his blood splattering down on the street like rain.
Raven stepped forward to where Cyborg was staring down at the remains of one of his baseball players, and put and hand on his arm, "You did the right thing, Cy. They can't be brought back."
"I know." he said, jerking his arm out of her grasp, "Let's just finish this. Let's get to Slade."
"Yeah." Raven nodded, and lowered the shield, "Let's go."
"Star..." Tim mumbled as he peeked around an oil drum, "Where are you when I need you?"
"Who's Star?" a gruff voice asked, and he felt a gun barrel being pressed into the back of his head.
"Um... the glowing green girl." Tim stood up slowly, the gun still pressed to his skull, "You want me to call her down here so you can burn her?"
"Don't play dumb with me, kid. I know you're on their side."
"Well..." Tim spun around, knocking the gun aside, "Yeah, I am!" he shouted as he hurled a small smoke bomb into the man's chest, blowing them apart and filling the area with a heavy white cloud.
"Hey!" the thug shouted, "I can't see a thing!"
Tim dropped down to the ground as the smoke started to rise, and looked around. It was clear as day under the cloud, and he saw the man's feet. Lashing out his foot, he kicked the thug's knees, knocking him to the ground.
"Umph!" the man grunted as he landed, and Tim jumped forward immediately, slamming and elbow across his opponents face. Crawling back, he saw that he'd knocked the man out.
"Cool." he said as he grinned. Crawling away some more, he saw the wall of the factory, and a drainage pipe from the roof that was running down the side. If he could climb it, he'd be safe on the roof, and have a better chance of hooking up with Starfire.
Crawling over, he started to climb.
"That was no fun at all." Speedy said as the regrouped Titans dashed down the street, "What's our kill count up to now?"
"Fifty seven." Cyborg reported.
"Eighty four." Beast Boy said, spitting some more blood as he did, "Yuck."
"I can confirm seventy on the nose," Jinx said, "but there could be more that I dropped a building on or something."
"I've got eighty six." Raven reported in a monotone.
"And I've put down forty three." Speedy did some quick math in his head, "That's 340 confirmed then. Beast Boy, what was the casualty report you pulled up?"
"Estimated two hundred fifty." he replied in a grim tone.
"Christ. The more they kill, the more Slade can raise." Jinx shook her head, "Half the city could be dead by now."
"Let's not worry about it," Raven huffed as they jogged, and finally took flight to keep up, "If we can get to Slade, I can use the Arcana and the book to cast a counter spell that will un-animate them. We just need..." they rounded the corner as she was talking and all stopped in their tracks, "just need to... to..." her eyes widened in horror, "Oh, God." she breathed.
Spread out before them, a sea of the undead milled about in the city square. The large screen that over looked the square displayed a news studio, where zombies were tearing apart the dead news casters.
"Sweet Jesus." Speedy said, "How many are there?"
A black form dropped down next to them and they all jumped back ready to kill it.
Red-X stared back at them and shook his head, "Bit jumpy?" he asked. His suit was splattered with blood, and his mask was smeared with it. It looked like he'd wiped it from his eyes at one point.
"You have any intelligence for us?" Speedy asked.
"The optic scanner Robin built into this mask counted at least a thousand of them. There's more that were past it's range though, so I'm sure of an exact number." he shook his head, and sighed, "It doesn't look good."
"We have to get past this point to get to Slade." Raven pointed up the street several blocks where they could barely make out a figure standing on top of a building, "How do we do it?"
"We make a path." Beast Boy said as he became a Triceratops.
"Agreed." Red-X nodded, we can keep them at bay long enough to get through. When we get closer, those of you that can fly are going to have to try and get Slade down here so we can deal with him together."
"Let's do it." Raven said and turned to the horde, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she screamed, hurling black energies forward, slicing a swath of zombies cleanly in half.
The Titans charge in with a single battle cry.
Ten minutes later, Raven was reconsidering the value of the plan.
Surrounded by zombies on all sides, she stood back to back with Speedy, a dagger in each hand while he tried to keep the Cursed Dead at bay with his arrows.
"I'm running out of arrows!" Speedy said, a note of panic edging into his voice.
"They you'll have to fall back to the axe I gave you, wont you?" Raven replied as she slashed at a zombie that managed to get in close, spilling it's blood on the ground at her feet, splattering her legs with it.
"Guess so." Speedy fired his last arrow, and dropped his bow. Pulling out the axe, they started circling, "You think we can do this?"
"No." Raven laughed.
"Yeah. Hey..."
"What?"
"I love you."
Raven turned around quickly and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was brief, but sincere, "I love you too." she said.
"Not the time, guys." they looked over in time to see Red-X slash his way through the ring that surrounded them with his wrist spikes and shake his head, "I know she's a great kisser Jason, but come on."
"Shut it, Brian." Speedy grinned as he let go of Raven and whirled around, taking the head off of an advancing zombie. Raven blushed and slashed at another of the walking dead as it got too close to her.
"I'll never hear the end of this from the two of you will I?"
"Probobly not." Red-X litterally took apart another zombie, "I'll be making fun of you about the roof top sex thing for the rest of your life."
"God, I do it once, with you, and you wont leave me alone about it!"
"It would help if there was a single person in the tower you hadn't made out with or had sex with." Speedy put in as he swung his axe again.
Raven fumed as she used her powers to blast back a few more zombies, "I've never done a thing with Cyborg or Starfire."
"Does that mean you've had sex with Beast Boy and Jinx?" Red-X asked, chucking a zombie back into the horde, knocking down several more and momentarily halting their advance. When no response came from the psion, he turned with a slash at the nearest zombie and looked at her, "You've had sex with Jinx and Beast Boy?" he asked with a fair amount of shock in his voice.
"At the same time actually." Speedy replied in a happy voice as he split a zombie's skull open.
"And here I thought we were special." Red-X slapped away a zombie that was trying to get to Raven from her back and nudged her, "What'd you do with Robin?"
"Kissed him." she mumbled as she used her powers to rip the street up in front of her, blasting the broken rock like bullets through the nearby zombies.
"Damn. No Starfire action though? That'd be hot."
"I'm going to kill both of you when I get done with these zombies." Raven replied in a conversational manner.
Red-X and Speedy just laughed and kept on fighting.
Beast Boy morphed back from his tyrannosaur form and looked around, wiping more blood from his face. He'd gone further than he had wanted to, but it looked like Jinx had stayed with him. She was slashing at the few zombies that remained anywhere near him. He'd been plowing though them with a fair amount of zeal.
Looking the other way, he saw that there were very few zombies left between him and the building Slade was on top of. Narrowing his eyes, he turned into a pterodactyl and prepared to take flight.
"Not without me, you don't." Jinx said as she jumped on his back, "Let's go, Gar." she patted his head and he took off.
Silently, he thanked whatever God or God's that could be listening that she was with him. He knew he couldn't take Slade alone, or even get him off the building alone. With Jinx, they at least stood a chance.
Flying up higher, he set his will and determination. They would not fail Jump City now.
Sarah was just getting to the good part of her novel when the alarm went off. Looking up at the computer display nearby, she searched for the entry point.
"The garage." she whispered. The zombies had come up the tunnel that ran under the bay and on to the main land and had gotten into the Tower through the garage.
Putting her book aside, she checked the beam rifle's power supply and nodded. The dead guys had six levels of the Tower's defense system to make it through before they got to her, and if they did, she'd be ready to-
The lights suddenly went off. Emergency lighting flickered on a moment later, and the computer in front of her flashed a warning.
SECURITY SYSTEM RUNNING AT MINIMAL LEVELS! EVACUATION RECOMMENDED!
Sarah swallowed hard. Evacuation would send her right out into the heart of zombie territory. Staying meant she would have to fight them here. Without the Tower's power grid though, the beam rifle was useless.
She turned to the table behind her, and picked up the combat knife. Strapping it to her leg, she made sure it was within easy reach. Next, she picked up a belt with several pouches and put the clips for her gun in them. Slinging it around her shoulders like a bandolier, she hefted her gun.
Swallowing once more, she moved towards the door of the medical lab.
Cy's heart would have stopped momentarily if it hadn't been mechanical.
The alarm on his arm was blaring, and suddenly, the zombie he was fighting didn't seem all that important. He punched it's head off.
Then the alarm shut off. Looking down at it, he saw that the Tower's main power grid had been shut off.
"Oh no..." he turned and blasted a swath through the zombie army with his sonic cannon, "Raven!" he shouted, "I have to get back to the Tower!"
"No way!" she screamed back as he saw a dome of black energy hurl zombies in every direction, "It's suicide to try and fight back through all of this!"
"I have to! Sarah's there, and the power's been cut! The security system wont keep them at bay for very long!"
"She's a tough girl! She'll be fine!" Raven tried to get to Cyborg's side, but the zombies wouldn't let her past.
"I'm going, Rae." Cyborg called back, "I'm sorry."
"Cyborg!" she screamed, "Cy!"
Pain exploded though her body as a zombie bit down into her shoulder.
Screaming, she put a dagger though it's head and lashed about herself with tendrils of black energy that diced the surrounding zombies into hunks of meat. Speedy and Red-X were nowhere to be seen. Beast Boy and Jinx were God knows where. Cyborg had just left to go back to the Tower and save Sarah.
As her own blood joined that which was already staining her uniform, she breathed heavily. Looking around in the moment of peace, she saw that Jump City was burning. Buildings were on fire, zombies were roaming the streets, people were being ripped apart, and the Titans were falling apart.
"Why is this happening!" she screamed and held her head in her hands. Anger grew inside of her and she fought it, "No... not now... stay... in... your... cage..."
Looking back up, Raven slashed the throat out of the zombie that had walked up to her while she was trying to keep the Seed under control. Panting for breath, she growled out, "Why is everything falling apart?"
Starfire swooped down and lifted a thug off his feet. He shouted out in alarm as she spun around and hurled him bodily into an old storage bin. Flying over to his unmoving form, she bound him and stepped away, dusting off her hands.
There was a thump behind her, and she turned to see a man's stomach. Looking up, she saw as chest, then a neck, and then a head.
A head that was almost four feet above hers.
"My!" she smiled up at the giant metehuman sweetly, "You're mother must be proud of the way you've grown!"
A gunman stepped up behind the metehuman, "Bout time you showed up, Bruiser. Teach this little girl not to mess with the Joker!"
"Pretty girl make good plaything." Bruiser said as he licked his lips.
"Yeah, good idea. Don't break her too much, and we might be able to have a little fun with her later!"
"Stop talking about me as if I am not here!" Star shouted as she punched Bruiser in the chest, sending him flying back several feet. The thug behind him lunged out of the way as the metehuman hit the ground.
Star nodded once and started forward to bind the giant, "He was not so tough..." she said to the gunman.
Then Bruiser sat up.
"Oh." Star blinked, "Oh no."
Bruiser's fist slammed into her head, blasting her twenty yards to her right. She hit the ground with a grunt and rolled up to her feet quickly. Taking up a fighting stance, she scowled at the metehuman, "I fear I am going to have to be a bit rougher on you than normal. I apologize for any broken bones in advance."
The Joker pelted into the old warehouse section of the factory, laughing his head off as he went. Crates and boxes were stacked every where in no particular order, giving the large space a cramped feel. Old papers covered the ground, and a few small animals ran for cover as Robin came dashing in behind the clown.
He stopped short when he saw that the Joker was simply standing in the middle of the warehouse, smiling at him.
"Now this wouldn't be about Batgirl would it?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.
"That's exactly what this is about!" Robin took a step forward, scowling, "I'm taking you down, Joker!"
"Oh no... you and Batgirl used to be an item, right? Bringing your new girlfriend to help avenge your old one... that's pretty bold, Robin!"
"Shut up." Robin ordered, advancing further, "Starfire and Batgirl are friends, that's why she's here."
"You know, I always liked Batgirl better than Batman..." the Joker strolled over to a box and ripped a board off of it, "She fills out the costume better if you know what I mean." he inspected the nail in the end of his board, making sure it was rusty enough, "How is she anyway?"
"Dead." he said with a quiet voice. It was true, after all. Batgirl was dead, even if Babs wasn't.
"Oh, that's too bad. I guess we're going to fight now, and you'll arrest me?"
"No..." Robin smiled his own insane smile, "I'm going to make you wishthat I had."
Closing Notes: Woo! What the hell can happen that I haven't already thrown at them? Wait... that's right, I'm evil. I'll think of something, I'm sure. :)
Reviewer responses!
Brogramn - The Cyborg moment of doubting Jinx was a little off... I just didn't know where else to put it. I'd wanted it in for some time, but just couldn't find a good time to do it. Hope their heart to heart at the begining of this chapter cleared that one up a little.
Stolen Valkyrie - You seem to be picking out all the things I know I do wrong. I've never been able to break my awkward sentance problom, or my spelling errors, since I know I just spelled problom wrong. Again, my diolog has always been my strong point, as I've been told since I started writng years ago. As always though, you're review was great, and you make me feel like a better writer every time you type one up. Thanks for everything, and as we come to the end of this ride, I hope it's living up to your expectations.
losernerd - Who said the Titans are going to get out of this one? Who says they have to have a happy ending? I still have two more stories in this series to do that:)
StarryRavenFire - Hope you have more time to review this one. :) The zombie scenes are suposed to remind you of Resident Evil. Of every zombie game and movie ever made actually. My zombies move more quickly than most, but that's just another freaky aspect of them. Were you scared at all? I was writing it, but then, I can see exactly what I have going on in the story in my head. I tried to convay it, but I'm not sure if it happened.
Firpi - In the comics, I think Starfire was the bustiest DCUer ever. I mean, damn. I'm thinking about modifying her outfit later in this story to match her comic outfit. Hope you liked the storm after the calm! It's going to get really bad from here!
Heaven's Angel - Glad to hear from you again! The story rocked, and you were the first one to catch the hidden meaning in bonus question #2! Great job:)
nihil - You... you don't like Dick? COME ON! Okay, so he can be kind of a cockyass every now and then, but dude... it's Dick! Oh well. Can't please everyone.
seattleitegirl - There was a little bit of romance inthis chappy, but way more of the LIVING DEAD! Hope the zombies didn't creep you out too much, and yes, I do know where I'm going with Tim. He's been in the plan from the very begining of Sonata. :)
Kokuryu - The bonus question winner! Yay! You NAILED the first one, and the second one, even though it'd been answered correctly before you, you handled expertly as well.Way to go! Mail me and we'll figure out your cameo. :)
Sympathique - Zombies rule. Yeah. Once again, a reviewer who read BOTH stories right in a row? Damn. I'mipressed. Have been since people starteddoing it back in chapter six of this story. Getting through all nine though? That's got to be a LONG read. :) Hope to hear from you again!
ChaosChampion - I think I have the link thing sorted out now. My LJ canbe accessed through the homepage link inmy profile. I always thought Mikron sounded... stupid. I named Gizmo Matt in this story because I wanted him to be easier to relate to, sothe reader wouldfeel more sorryfor him. He might pop up again later, but I don'tthink so. As for what comes next... just read the chapter 11 preview below!
robinstar -Cliff hangers are my specialty. You should know that by now! You've been with me sinceSonata! Anyway,Speedy and Raven will get theirs later. Keep reading, and I hope to hear from you again!
Arezal - The little bits of comedy I throw in are oftenhailed as thebest parts of my stories. I'm glad I keep you laughing, and hopeto hear from you again soon!
Thanks guys, your reviews keep me going! For those of you who haven't read my other stuff beyond the Music of Jump City, please do! I'd like to hear your oppinons on some of my other styles!
Next Chapter: Terror is unleashed on Jump City as the Cursed Dead multiply in numbers, Raven goes berserk, and Jinx and BeastBoy confront Slade in the final showdown. Robin fights the Joker, Starfire fights Bruiser,Speedy and Red-X fight for their lives, Sarah fights for her sanity, and Cyborg fights for Sarah.
When it's over, and the dust settles, the Titans find themselves short a member.Words are spoken, feelings are hurt, love is lost, and the Tower falls silent.
Next time: The End of Everything