Chapter 5: Still More Fighting
The technique of dimensional travel had always been a tricky business. After all, if something is so difficult to initiate, there is probably a good reason for it.
And even if it happens, nothing is certain. Time and space cease to exist in their classical meanings. Just because you all left at roughly the same time does not mean you will all arrive at the same time. Or in one place.
The exact science would blow most people's mind…
And there is already too much confusion in the world, and one can barely help it already…
So let us get to something that lacked any kind of confusion, and where neither side was going to be asking the other for help, as another aspect of he battle between the Titans and HIVE continued…
"GRUHHHHHHHH!" Mammoth roared as he swung one of his ham hock sized fists. He and Scalpel had fought around the corner from the bank and down the street, forcing some police to get out of the way as the twin warriors crashed through their cars and used them as weapons before returning to their fists.
Mammoth's fist thudded into an interlocked block from Scalpel's arms, who immediately yanked them apart to shove Mammoth away and counterattacked, his claws ripping a slight wound in Mammoth's side (Mammoth had mild invulnerability, but not enough to protect from all wounds), before he turned the strike into a cartwheel away from Mammoth.
Who reached out and grabbed the cape attached to the back of the suit, stopping Scalpel in mid move.
"Hah! Now I gotcha…!"
The cape's buckles snapped off at the shoulders, as Scalpel twisted an arm up and flung the cape into Mammoth's face. Mammoth yelled as his vision was completely obscured for a few seconds before he finally got a grip on the cape and threw it away…
Only to find his vision filling again, this time with another car. It slammed into him, knocking him to the ground with a wounded bellow.
Scalpel chuckled to himself…and then his eye spied something. What did you know, his glaive was several feet away. He'd had no idea where it had gone when he'd originally lost it, but it had come back to him.
Mammoth roared in rage and threw the car off him and into the air like it weighed half a pound instead of half a ton. The flying automobile vanished over the edge of a building as Mammoth, actually showing some grace, managed to flip to his feet…
As Scalpel hooked his foot under his glaive and tossed it up into his arms. Mammoth arced an eyebrow as Scalpel did a few spins and then spun the glaive under his elbow, as he gestured with his free hand for Mammoth to bring it.
Mammoth brought it, charging forward with another roar.
If Savior had the breath to spare, he probably would have been roaring himself due to the utter strain he was under as TT's vault hand continued to press down on him. He'd yelled for help, but with the noise of Terra's bank bracing no one had heard him, and all the dust she was making ensured that neither Beast Boy or Terra could see him. Gauntlet was out of action for the moment, and Cyborg and Scalpel were nowhere to be seen.
Sweat ran into his eyes, stinging them, even as Juryrig laughed lightly from wherever he was.
"Well Savior, your reputation precedes you, but even the best make mistakes. But for your effort, I'll make sure you get a big hand." The black teen said, and then refocused his concentration for the final push.
Never realizing that Savior was doing the exact same thing.
And then luck favored Savior, as a car came crashing down on the ground near Juryrig. Though it missed him completely, it startled him, and Savior felt the pressure lessen, just a bit…
And he acted.
"Hey asshole." Savior said. In the way the insulted do, Juryrig couldn't help but look at the speaker.
"It's not the size that matters…" Savior growled, as several Shimmer strands erupted from his chest and swiftly merged together, sprouting razor sharp blades that pressed up against the huge thick metal circle. "IT'S HOW YOU USE IT!"
And Savior turned his 'buzzsaw' on, and a horrific shriek filled the air as the Shimmer construct began to cut through the vault door. Juryrig recoiled at the horrific noise, a factor Savior had gambled on as it lessened the weight on him, even as the Shimmer construct continued to saw through the door. Terra and Beast also recoiled from the terrible sound, and despite his distance Scalpel's large ears also detected it and he winced.
Savior was ironically the only one who DIDN'T hear the noise thanks to Shimmer earplugs, but he was getting a far worse experience. His talent was powerful, and had been known to shatter stone and cut and pierce through metal, but that stone tended to be only a few feet thick, and the metal much thinner, usually only an inch or three. Cutting through nearly a foot and a half of reinforced titanium was a whole different monster, and the result was a feedback that slammed into his body like a combination offensive line of a football team and a giant bucket of acid, his nervous system screaming from the strain, sparks burning his face, but despite the horrible experience he did not yield, because he was a Titan and he had a duty and he WOULD NOT YIELD…
The door snapped in half.
And the second gamble Savior had played panned out: Savior had figured that to so effectively control his creations Juryrig had to be connected to them in SOME way, and while Savior's previous attacks on TT hadn't seemed to bother him much, those had been the equivalent of scraping him. Sawing the vault door in half was more akin to driving a nail into his palm, as the black teen recoiled with a yell…
And Savior put his final move into play, as he redirected the strands he had been using to keep the vault door hand from crushing him and sent them surging out and into the TT golem, wrapping around what they could…and then Savior yanked his arms apart and pulled the golem apart as well. The feedback of this was three times as bad as what Savior had done with the vault door, as Juryrig recoiled with a scream and then collapsed on his back as his creation fell to pieces around Savior.
Savior collapsed on his own back, breathing heavily, as a trickle of blood came from his noise. That had not been fun.
"Whoo hoo! All right Savior!" Beast Boy said from where he had witnessed the last few seconds of this conflict (dust did clear, after all)…and then something occurred to him: where was Cyborg? He could see Terra and Savior, and he could hear Scalpel's yells, and he had watched Gauntlet get buried under rubble (and if you ask why he wasn't going to go help him, it was because once Gauntlet had been buried and Beast Boy had attempted to dig him out only to get inadvertently punched in the face when Gauntlet had attempted to free himself, so he wasn't exactly keen to try and help again), but where was Cyborg, his best friend? He should have at least been able to HEAR him; his sonic cannon made a very distinct sound.
Worry creased Beast Boy's brow. Something seemed off to him about this absence somehow. And Beast Boy didn't like to worry.
"You ok Terra?" Beast Boy asked.
"Yeah! Just about done!" Terra said from her perch where she had been manipulating stone to brace the badly damaged bank.
"Ok! I'm going to go find Cy!"
"All right!" Terra replied.
"Savior! I'm going to go get Cyborg!" Beast Boy yelled as he ran down the steps and turned into a cheetah, running past the car where Platinum Blonde was STILL stuck, reaching the end of the street before he became a bloodhound and sniffed the air, and then became a cheetah again to run down another street.
Never realizing that Savior hadn't yet removed his Shimmer earplugs and hadn't heard a word he had said.
Terra gestured as she finished the last of her makeshift repairs and then 'wipe-clapped' her hands in the way some people do to express satisfaction…and then she spied a small figure off in the distance. She might have been blonde, but she wasn't stupid: she had a feeling she knew who that was. Having learned that letting the past rule you brought nothing, Terra hopped off the rock and ran towards the figure, which had disappeared into the vault and was now dragging out one of the discarded money bags.
"Hey!" Terra yelled, and took some satisfaction at the way Floral jumped.
And then Terra regretted not just attacking, as Floral whirled and thrust out her hand, and vines snaked out of the ground and flew at Terra, who swore and ripped part of the floor out to protect her, only to find the vines coiling around her barrier and heading for her as she dove away.
Mammoth's fists, laced together in a hammer shape, slammed down on the street where Scalpel had been half a second ago, as the alien leapt away and did a few more fancy glaive spins. Mammoth roared and charged, swinging out his fist in a giant haymaker, which Scalpel ducked under, rolled away from, and sprang up as he did more Blacktrinian tricks.
"COWARD!" Mammoth roared. "STAND AND FIGHT!"
"Heh. If you only knew." Scalpel said to himself, for in fact the reason he was running away and showing off was because he was trying to wait for a moment where he could use his glaive to disable Mammoth without killing or maiming him: Blacktrinian combat techniques were hardly built with mercy in mind…
"Cowardly FREAK!" Mammoth bellowed as he charged in again. "STAND STILL AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!"
Scalpel's eyes narrowed. He was good-natured by default but even he didn't like his courage being insulted…
"As you wish." Scalpel said, and cocked back his glaive arm…
And hurled the glaive into the air with a light underhand swing. Mammoth, like most muscle, tended to be ready to react to one kind of move, and when that move didn't come, they had a nasty habit of freezing up for a second, as Mammoth looked up to follow the glaive…
As Scalpel dashed two steps forward and swung his foot up right between Mammoth's legs as hard as he could.
"OYYYYYAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Mammoth screamed: apparently the legend of a voice getting higher from a testicular shot had some basis in fact.
"Now that's pure human." Scalpel said, as he opened his right palm, his glaive falling into it even as he grabbed his hat with his left hand and in turn tossed it into the air…
And then planted the glaive and did a pole vault swing, slamming his foot across Mammoth's face and sending him flying across the street and crashing through the front of another store. Scalpel landed, plucked his falling hat from the air, spun it back onto his heat, and gave a toothy grin.
Which was oddly similar to Savior's grimace as he tried to get up, one knee on the ground as he took deep breaths. That buzzsaw had taken a lot out of him…
And then, in a sudden quick gesture, Juryrig flipped up to his feet in a no handed kip up, doing a few hop steps at the end that was either showing off or stabilizing balance.
"Heh. So you weren't quite as helpless as you looked. Looks like I made a mistake too." Juryrig said. "But if you think that ripping apart my creation was enough to take ME down as well, you are sadly mistaken."
Savior fired off a halfhearted Shimmer lance, but his exhaustion made it easy to dodge as Juryrig took several leaping steps back.
"Oh yeah. I can rebuild him. I have the power! Or…the technology…or something!" Juryrig said, and raised his arms. Savior furiously tried to sort his body back out before Juryrig reformed his monster…
And it was clear that wasn't going to happen, as the wreckage rose up from the street and began reforming, far quicker then the first time (which Savior attributed to Juryrig having measured his competency and deciding he better not dilly-dally this time, damn, he DID have a brain on him), new wreckage from how the battle had proceeded being drawn to join it…
And it was clear the shape was different. Savior had managed to break the pillar in half with his previous attack, and it wasn't forming an arm this time, no, it appeared to be forming…
Horns.
The wrecked car that Mammoth had startled Juryrig with flew past him and slammed down on the street before Savior, joining another generic wrecked car as pieces of stone, metal, and a few street usuals like mail and newspaper boxes flew in to form legs. The sawn in half vault door was lifted up and placed under the pillar horns, forming a mouth, even as a pair of broken streetlights formed new eyes and more junk and ruins assembled behind the creation to complete a body and another pair of legs.
Within five seconds it was complete, a larger quadruped golem that looked a lot like a cross between a dog and a bull.
Savior, still recovering, finally regained his feet and began backing up. This was too much. He needed help, as he pulled his communicator out of his jacket.
"Savior to Titans! Assistance required! Now! Immediately!" Savior said.
"Ahhhhhh…" Juryrig said, as he walked from between the front "legs" of the construct. "I think I'll call this one…Titanic Tommy…The TERMINATOR."
"Aid is required! This is an order! NOW!" Savior yelled, as Juryrig pointed. "Shit!"
Savior tried to put the communicator away and jump back at the same time: this time his multitask attempt failed and the communicator slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground, where it was immediately smashed into spare parts by one of the car-paws of the newly re-christened Titanic Tommy The Terminator (T4). Savior cursed again as he leapt away from a way too fast swinging paw blow which shattered several windows on the second floor of a building. Where were his allies?
Well, Gauntlet was still stuck under some rubble. And if he'd been conscious he would have taken the time to point out how this proved he wasn't a Gary Stu. Or maybe complaining how long the crossover was taking to set up like everyone else: PATIENCE PEOPLE! Rome wasn't built in a day!
Anyway, Gauntlet was under rubble.
And Beast Boy, currently sniffing around as a pig a street away, had lost his communicator during the Floral fight.
And Terra's fight with Floral was making too much racket for her to hear anything.
Scalpel heard the message, but as he picked up his communicator to respond Mammoth exploded out of the dusty ruin Scalpel had kicked him into, and Scalpel couldn't switch from answering to a defensive stance in time (Mammoth's anger had apparently boosted his speed) as Mammoth charged into him and slammed his left fist directly into Scalpel's chest, sending him flying down the street. Mammoth let out a satisfied snorting laugh and followed.
And Cyborg…well he wasn't exactly in the best state to hear or answer messages.
"Help me!" The teen machine pleaded, looking up at Jinx. Part of him kept telling him that this was stupid: she was a HIVE member, a few confused feelings didn't mean a thing, he was throwing away his pride. Another part of him was retorting that they had no options. And a third part was saying that she WOULD help, it knew it…
Though Jinx clearly didn't.
"…What?" Jinx finally said, though whether this meant she wanted specifics or had no idea what was going on was unsure. Cyborg went with the former.
"In…my neck! Emergency…reboot switch!" Cyborg managed to grunt out. This was an extreme risk: the reboot switch was only known to his allies because it worked both ways: flipping it off and then back on allowed Cyborg's systems to restart, which was usually more then enough to get around and then fix errors. The downside was if Jinx just flipped it once and left it there, Cyborg would just shut down and that would be it. She could take him apart or leave him or use him as a giant ventriloquist's dummy, he wouldn't be able to do a thing.
A small part of Cyborg's brain chimed in with an irony: the last time the reboot switch had been used had been by Savior to rescue Cyborg from the clutches of the ASP, the white supremist organization that had murdered his last girlfriend. And here he was asking Jinx to do the same, Jinx…who had stirred feelings in him he had once thought died forever with Latrisha…
"Please…" Cyborg said, even as his systems informed him he was on the verge of a complete meltdown. "Please…Llarenes…"
Jinx gasped. He knew her name…but of course he did, it was on her criminal records…but…
"Llarenes…"
And from one crisis to another.
"Why can't you leave us alone!" Floral yelled, as she fired more vines at Terra, who managed to entangle them in some dirt long enough to get away, panting. She was tiring out and not doing one iota of damage to Floral, but she wasn't going to let the plant girl get away with the money. But she couldn't think of anything else to do, because Floral's plant attacks kept her from concentrating…
Wait…
If SHE needed concentration to use effective moves, who says Floral didn't as well?
The difference was, Terra's powers gave her an opening she could exploit far more easily. Floral's plants might have easily been defeating her rocks and dirt…
And they were erupting beneath her. Terra gasped, and then went with the move as she yanked the loosened rock out from under her, the vines still coiling around it and keeping her from flying away, but she didn't want to fly, she just wanted to jump, as she held out a hand.
A pebble flew into it.
And then Terra channeled the spirit of David as she rolled the pebble to her thumb and flicked it out, using her power to put more impact behind it and make it fly true…
It slammed into Floral's forehead.
"OWWWWWWWWWW!" Floral whined, recoiling back and holding her forehead.
The plants all turned to attend to Floral, and even that appeared to be a stretch, as they seemed limper now, less alive. Terra landed and grinned.
"What's wrong? Remembering that while your plants can rip through the earth, your skull isn't quite so effective at it?" Terra taunted.
"You…you mean…ie!" Floral sputtered, as she tried to regain her focus and teach Terra a lesson.
Except Terra was running at her, and her long legs allowed her to make up the distance fast, and with her headache Floral knew she couldn't effectively command her plants to attack her, as she screamed and ran away, but her short statue didn't make that very effective as Terra continued to chase after her.
"I've been trained in hand to hand! Have you?" Terra yelled after her.
"AHHHHHHH LEAVE ME ALONE!" Floral yelled. And while part of Terra liked this, another part made her realize that she'd accomplished her goal: she'd kept Floral away from the vault. She gestured behind her and yanked up a large chunk of stone that rammed itself into the opening to keep anyone else from getting inside, and then continued her chase of Floral out of the bank and down a nearby street.
A few moments later, Gizmo stumbled out of a dusty part of the ruined bank (problem with enclosed fights with geokinetics: they made a lot of dust). The midget mechanical genius coughed while cursing in his usual way, his eyes watering as he looked around for friends or foes. He found none, so he headed for the vault…only to find a giant bolder jammed in the door. Cursing that he hadn't brought more heavy ordnance equipment, Gizmo ejected the broken flight section of his backpack and slammed in another one, activating a jetpack as he flew out of the bank, hoping to be able to grab one of his stronger comrades to get the bank open before the Titans regrouped.
Gauntlet remained stuck under rubble, having banged his head and knocked himself silly. Fortunately for him, his gauntlet energy stayed activated even if he wasn't, having formed a bubble over the host to prevent him from being crushed. Until he woke up or ran out of air, whatever came first. Remember, not a Gary Stu.
The street was quiet for a bit.
And then, FINALLY, Platinum Blonde was able to get the proper leverage needed to rip herself free from the car.
"Porcs!" She cursed as she got out, angry at how she had been stuck for so long, at the fact no one had helped her, and embarrassed at how her dress was torn (she wasn't indecent, but one wrong blow from the wrong angle and…). "Batards foutus! Je casserai vos visages en…"
The motion caught her eye, and she followed it…as the figure leapt down from the nearby roof in front of her. A figure clad in a black outfit with a long flowing cape…and a cowl.
Shaped like a bat's head.
Her immediate reaction was absolute, knee-jerk panic. It was him. The Bat. The legendary protector of Gotham, a man whose reality might actually surpass the myths told about him. A human man who had brought GODS to their knees, or at least given them pause. She was dead. She was screwed. She was…
Confused.
Something was wrong about Batman.
For one thing, he was a lot shorter then she thought he would be.
The second, the cowl on his chest was a yellow outline of a bat rather then a black symbol, and his mouth was sewn up, exposing no skin at all.
And third…he had a lot of curves. Way too many curves. Curves men didn't have, unless something was REALLY wrong with them.
Her panic faded as she realized it wasn't Batman at all. It was a girl in a Batsuit, though how old she was was something Platinum Blonde couldn't tell. On the heels of the panic came arrogance. Batman was something to be feared, but some random girl in a suit similar to his? She would pound her into the ground so hard they'd need a Bat-Spatula to peel her off it.
"Oh ho ho ho ho!" Platinum Blonde said, her laugh coming off as a cross between a stereotypical French laugh and a more 'American laugh'. "What have we here? Is the suit being hired out now?"
The girl in the batsuit just cocked her head a bit.
"I thank you." Platinum Blonde said. "I needed something to destroy. You'll do. HAHHHHHH!" Platinum Blonde yelled as she ran forward and swung out her fist.
The girl dodged, as Platinum Blonde's fist slammed into the car that had held her for so long and sent it flying into the side of the building, even as she fired off more fists at the girl. The girl effortlessly dodged, her moments so fluid it was almost like a dance, but Platinum Blonde wasn't concerned. All she had to do was land one punch.
And as the girl dodged another and finally attacked, a sweeping kick that glanced off Platinum's Blonde thigh and was barely felt, the metal girl grew even more cocky: unless the girl had a Bat-Rail Cannon tucked in her (admittedly large) belt, she wouldn't be able to even bother her, as she swung out another punch and the girl ducked her head away.
A movement mirrored by Savior as he leapt backwards down a nearby street, desperately trying to dodge the charging T4 as he stampeded after him, stomping with its car paws or biting at him with the vault mouth. Juryrig rode on the back, holding onto something as he comfortably and seemingly effortless chased Savior down to grind under his heels.
Savior leapt away and found the mouth coming for him: he almost yelped before Shimmer strands shot from his feet and yanked him back to the ground as the mouth's angled attack caused it to tear into the side of another building…
As its paw swung out and caught Savior as he landed. Savior flew across the entire street and slammed into the brick façade of another building, the wall caving in slightly and leaving him stuck at the impact point as he shook his head and tried to recover.
"HELP! I REQUEST HELP!" Savior yelled.
Scalpel heard the yell, but he currently had his own problems, as a surge of pain and a sudden wetness in his chest caused him to groan, a groan that turned into a cough. Mammoth had opened up an old wound that never ever seemed to heal fully because Nigel never took the necessary time for it TO heal, and it was bleeding again, a wound Mammoth could exploit, as Scalpel tried to shove himself up and get back in the game as Mammoth approached him, chuckling. Coughing again, blood leaking from his mouth, Nigel started crawling away, trying to lull Mammoth in so he could be ready to counter his attack.
"Aw, what's wrong? Running away?" Mammoth said, as he cracked his knuckles. "That's right! Run away! Run back to that fat sow of yours!"
Scalpel stopped dead.
"You know when I'm done with you I think I'll broil her up for hambur…!" Mammoth said as he swung his fist out.
Scalpel caught the hand and stopped the blow dead, his black eyes blazing.
"TYCHOLOR!" Scalpel snarled in his native alien language, which translated to something like "Cheap son of a penny whore!"
Mammoth didn't have time to worry about the insult though, as Scalpel swung him overhead like he weighed nothing and slammed Mammoth into the ground…and then lifted him back up and slammed him onto the ground again on the other side, Mammoth bellowing and trying to break free, until Scalpel lifted him up and slammed him on the other side of the ground again, the third one knocking the fight out of Mammoth, which didn't stop Scalpel in the least as he lifted and slammed Mammoth against the ground a forth time and then one more time with interest, sending a giant spray of stone chunks into the air.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh…" Mammoth groaned, his eyes in swirl shapes.
Scalpel let go of his arm.
And grabbed his foot.
"WhaAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Mammoth screamed as Scalpel began spinning, using Mammoth's body as a hammer thrower might in the Olympics. "WAHHHHH-WAHHHHH-WAHHHHH-WAHHHHHH-WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Mammoth screamed as Scalpel spun him around repeatedly and then let him go as Mammoth went flying off into the air and off into the distance. He landed with a dull crash.
"SOCOTORLA HKLOTBA GHYN WETBHOUAD KLOTT!" Scalpel snarled after Mammoth. You could harm him, you could insult him, you could beat him stupid, but NO ONE insulted Sophie. She'd endured enough from life: anything else anyone wanted to lay on her shoulders would answer to him. And I'd translate what he said, except I think Fanfiction Dot Net would probably need a brand new rating for it.
His rage faded quickly, as Nigel shook his head and recovered his senses. Savior. He needed help. Scalpel snatched up the glaive and ran off.
And that help was becoming even more urgent, as Savior slumped in his stuck crater and tried to recover some strength, even as Juryrig smiled down the street and put his hands together like he was lining up for a picture.
The pillar horns on T4's head shifted so they pointed forward.
"Toro!" Juryrig said, as he leapt off the back of the construct, and T4 charged.
Savior's eyes widened as the creature made a mad dash down the road towards him.
"OH SHIT!"
The creature's head plowed into Savior's form and then into the building, the whole structure coming down around the creature's 'ears'.
And in the vein of running, Floral and Terra were still doing it.
"Come on!" Terra said after Floral. "One of us has to tire eventually! I bet it won't be…"
And Terra relearned one of the hard lessons of battles: sometimes one should shut up.
As a root sprouted from the concrete and tripped her, and Terra's momentum carried her off the ground and then back into it, face first. If she hadn't subconsciously used her power to make the rock secede somewhat from her impact point, chances were she would have gotten up looking considerably less prettier then she was. Despite that fact, it still hurt.
Fortunately for Terra, Floral had lost her taste for fighting. She wanted out. And as she turned to make sure Terra was down, the ground rumbled and split under her, roots materialized around her feet.
Terra shook her head as she tried to get the three Floral's in her vision to come back together, only to find them all disappearing. Her vision cleared, and Terra got up to find that Floral was gone, only a hole left where she had been.
Panicking that she would be caught off guard, Terra grabbed up a rock perch and flew up into the air, expecting every foot of ascension for a vine to reach up and grab her. Strangely, none came, and Terra soon found herself floating a hundred feet above the ground, looking warily down upon it. As before, no attack came. Floral had apparently retreated. Terra looked down for a few more seconds and then shrugged. She'd file this one under 'no-contest': she might have her arrogant moments but she knew…
Micro missiles exploded around her, and she yelped and tried to fly away as the heat seared her and tiny bits of shrapnel pelted her form.
"You like that, you snot-eating door blocker?" Gizmo laughed. "Well you're REALLY gonna…"
Terra whirled as she pointed, and her rock perch broke down the middle, twin lines appearing between her feet as she ripped the middle section of stone out from underneath her and sent it shooting out, her feet balancing on the two remaining portions as the middle part slammed into Gizmo's chest.
"CRUUDDDDDDDDD!" He yelled as he was carried away. Terra used a more classic insult as she flipped Gizmo the bird and then brought her perch together again and flew off to find someone she could help.
Perhaps someone like the new girl, who continued to 'spar' with Platinum Blonde in front of the bank, or perhaps 'dance' with her was more accurate. While Platinum Blonde had STILL not landed a blow, she sensed she was getting close, and every punch or kick the girl had thrown had either glanced off or barely been felt. Platinum Blonde wondered if this girl even belonged to the so-called "Bat Family" of Gotham: maybe she was a newcomer who thought she could get a better name for herself if she aped a more famous vigilante.
"You gonna dodge forever?" Platinum Blonde laughed. "If that is the kind of game you play, alors je heureusement…" She said as she threw another punch.
The girl moved so fast this time, Platinum Blonde barely caught the first movement, as the girl stepped around the blow as Platinum Blonde lunged forward…
And she never saw the follow up, as the girl's hand snapped up and to Platinum Blonde's neck, instantly locating a specific nerve spot and pinching down on it.
Platinum Blonde went down without a sound, collapsing at the girl's feet, out like a light before she even realized she had been touched.
The girl lowered her hand, flexing her fingers. She'd still had to squeeze pretty hard, but it had worked.
Platinum Blonde could have never grasped the strategy, the incredible detail of observation the girl had put the metal girl through for the several seconds the Frenchwoman had stood there yakking at her before she had attacked, never realizing the so called failed and ineffective blows had in reality been careful testing of Platinum Blonde's metal form, to see if such an attack like the one that had felled her would be effective, and then, once it had been determined that the metal lacked the necessary amount of rigidity required to completely render the attack useless, she had struck immediately. The results spoke for themselves.
It was true she wasn't Batman.
Her name was Cassandra Cain. She was Batgirl.
And she was the greatest martial artist on the face of the planet.
She turned and left without a word, leaving her fallen foe behind.
Beast Boy wondered if Cyborg had fallen.
His scent trails kept petering out, and Beast Boy, being the type to obsess on his worries, had had half a dozen false starts as he chased down every trace of the scent he could find instead of testing if it got stronger. It had taken a bit to get his head straight, but now he finally had a trail…leading right to a warehouse. A warehouse he realized was lined up exactly with the bank: Beast Boy kicked himself for not considering this. Well, chances were Cyborg was in that warehouse.
The door was locked. It was also designed to resist humans, not gorillas, as Beast Boy broke it down with two quick blows.
"Cyborg?" Beast Boy said as he walked in. "Cyborg?"
Beast Boy became a dog to take another quick whiff. Yes, he was close. Beast Boy turned human again.
"Cyborg…" He said as he walked alongside some boxes…
As Juryrig walked through the wreckage of the building that he had sent T4 through, scanning the ruins. Finding nothing, he walked out the other side near the rear left foot of his creation, which turned around to look at him. No sign of Savior there either.
"Well, I suppose that will do." Juryrig said, as he gestured: the head lowered and he stepped on. "Come, let's…"
Shimmer lines exploded from the 'back' of his creation, and Juryrig recoiled as Savior ripped his way from within the construct. While Juryrig apparently could control his creations from a distance, it apparently robbed him of the ability to feel everything that had happened to them, and Savior had tunneled in through the underside and waited…
Savior lunged for Juryrig…
Who fell onto the back of his creation as its body parted beneath him, and Savior snarled as Juryrig sank into the debris and vanished. A second later, T4 bucked violently, throwing Savior into the air as Juryrig popped out of the back of the 'dog'. The downside of distance talents: up close his control was absolute.
"Very nice…" Juryrig said, as Savior fell…
And then flipped as a giant Shimmer blade formed between his hands, a blade Savior drove straight through the head of T4. It couldn't scream, but Juryrig grunted as the feedback shot through his own head, even as more Shimmer lines shot out, grabbing the horns and other places on the head, as Savior ran and leapt to the side, 'reeling' out the Shimmer lines coming from his hands even as another one shot from his shoulder and anchored him to the ground, and then, like he had in the simulator, Savior used the ground-locked Shimmer strand to yank him towards the ground even as he pulled on the hand tendrils with all his might, slamming T4's head into the side of a building and a sidewalk beneath the building, releasing the strands and jumping back before he collapsed to his knees, exhausted.
The debris creature stirred for a minute, and then its head rose up, broken portions quickly shored up by the very wreckage Savior had created by slamming its head into the building.
"Very fancy." Juryrig said as he walked up to the top of the head. "But what could you have been trying to accomplish?"
He'd been trying to smash the head hard enough so that the feedback would knock Juryrig out, but clearly it hadn't worked. Savior felt exhaustion flow through him like a wave. He was overmatched this time, perhaps a tactical retreat would be wise…
"This has been fun Savior." Juryrig said. "But time waits for no man."
The T4 creature lunged forward, far quicker then Savior had expected. He tried to get away…
The head scooped down and the bottom 'jaw' of the vault mouth rammed into Savior's ankles, pitching him forward. His flip caused him to land painfully on the bottom of the 'mouth' as he rapidly tried to get up and out…
The jaw closed.
Savior brought his hands up even as Shimmer lines sprang from his arms, legs, and shoulders to try and stop the attempted crush. Once again, the vault stopped…but this time there were TWO sides of pressure, not just one. The strain immediately drove Savior to his knees, sweat pouring down his face as he tried to stave off the attack.
"Hmmmm." Juryrig said as he was suddenly standing in front of Savior, on some kind of debris tendril he had apparently added to his creation. "I heard you appreciate irony Savior. Here's one for you then. You, and by that I mean your team, have crushed the Troika. You crushed the Five. You even crushed the HIVE itself, repeatedly. But we're back, and I am afraid that this time, your burden is going to be the crushing one." Juryrig said, as he lifted a hand and rounded the fingers like he was holding an invisible ball. The fingers curled slightly, and the pressure increased even more.
Savior felt his shoulders starting to strain at their joints.
"Unless of course, you wish to surrender." Juryrig said. "But then again, I've read how proud you are Savior. But you know that pride goeth before a fall. In this case, the falling of jaws. Of doom. Heh." Juryrig said, stringing together several mini-puns. "Well?"
Considering that Savior seemed to be devoting the bulk of his Shimmer ability to staving away death, the fact that he could spare a few strands to form the very rude words he used in response was impressive. Juryrig's eyes narrowed.
"So be it then. I'm no killer, but I have nothing against putting you in a full body cast." Juryrig said, and brought his hands up for his final focus…
As Beast Boy walked around the boxes and found Jinx crouched over Cyborg.
"HEY! YOU!" Beast Boy yelled, and Jinx's head snapped up in alarm.
Beast Boy ran and turned into a wolf in mid-leap, and Jinx shrieked a bit and jumped backwards, doing a back handspring away from Beast Boy's snapping jaws.
"Get away from him!" Beast Boy growled as he turned human and stepped over the body of Cyborg, ready to assume an offensive or defensive form depending on what was needed. "What did you do to him! You bitch!"
"I…"
"Ugh…" Cyborg said, as he blinked his organic eye, the dark parts of his body lighting up with blue power again as he came back online. What was going…?
"Cyborg? You ok?" Came a voice Cyborg had not expected to hear, and his eyes fully snapped open. Oh no…
"It's ok Cy! I stopped her!" Beast Boy said, as Cyborg sat up in alarm. Stopped? What? What happened?
And he twisted his head and saw her, standing a dozen feet away, looking confused and hurt.
Aw no. Beast Boy had tracked him down and thought Jinx had been attacking him. When she had really been saving him, and quite possibly his whole life. And just when…
When what?
"…I see." Jinx said. "Well, I know when I'm beaten. Next time Titans." Jinx said, and leapt up as she fired twin hex bolts into the ceiling. The structure promptly broke, and both Cyborg and Beast Boy had to leap out of the way of the falling wreckage. By the time Cyborg had recovered from that, Jinx was gone.
"Dude! That was close! What happened?" Beast Boy said, as he turned back to human from the lion form he had been ready to use if battle had recommenced.
"I…accident…" Cyborg said, looking at where Jinx had been.
"Accident?" Beast Boy said, confused. "So what? You turned off briefly?"
"Maybe…turned on…to something…" Cyborg said.
"Dude, what? Did your speech protocols get corrupted?" Beast Boy said.
Cyborg didn't answer.
"HELLLLLLLO! Earth to Cyborg! Danger, danger, HIVE still causing trouble!" Beast Boy yelled, snapping his fingers in front of Cyborg's face.
That snapped Cyborg out of it, no pun intended.
"Right. Come on!" Cyborg said, as he turned and ran for the door.
He'd work out these problems later, there were other problems that demanded a solution.
"Man." Juryrig said. "I'm no math expert, but I've got to be putting at least several tons of pressure on you and you're still resisting it. That's either one strong talent, or you've developed it really well."
Savior didn't reply. All he knew was pain.
"Hmmmm. Kinda funny." Juryrig said. "I thought I'd do fairly well, but this? The man who helped beat the Lord of the Night, Whim, the Sorceress, and god knows how many other villains? The man whose hand slew Trigon the Terrible? Either you've been slowing down Savior, or your rep is far greater then your…"
A blast of sonic power slammed into Juryrig's back, nearly knocking him off his perch with a scream.
Savior felt the pressure go from murderous to merely terrible.
"It's not HIS rep you should be worried about." Cyborg said.
"It's ours." Beast Boy replied.
"Because the team's not called Savior and Co…" Terra added.
"But the Titans." Scalpel said.
And Gauntlet would have made a smart aleck comment here if he still weren't stuck under the rubble.
"GO!" Cyborg ordered, and the team surged forward.
Juryrig leapt from his perch onto his creation and ran to the back to get out of the line of fire.
So the Titans used T4 as a target instead. Cyborg charged up and fired another powerful blast of his sonic cannon into the creature's chest, and then Terra slammed a large rock into the back of the creature. The feedback slammed into Juryrig and he recoiled, and the pressure on Savior lightened once more…just as Beast Boy rammed his elephant head and Scalpel delivered a powerful leaping thrust kick to the underside of the monster.
Juryrig nearly fell off.
The jaws loosened to barely any pressure.
And Savior's eyes snapped open as he opened up a line to his deepest reserves.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
And Savior stood up and shoved out, breaking the jaws right off the body as dozens and dozens of Shimmer lines sprang from his back, piercing through every part of T4 and then pulled it apart, yanking the dog golem into a thousand pieces and hurling a screaming Juryrig off his back and across and down to the street behind the destroyed creation.
As it collapsed into ruins once more, Savior fell to the street, landed, and flipped over to the side of Cyborg, and as if it was a cue all the Titans seemingly struck a pose as a giant flaming T appeared behind them.
Then Savior collapsed.
"Ack! Savior!" Cyborg said, as the T fizzled out, shrank, and disappeared. Scalpel darted over to Savior's side.
"Noel? Are you ok?" Terra asked, leaning down.
Savior's hand snapped up, grabbed Terra's shirt, and pulled her down to look him in the eye.
"DON'T USE REAL NAMES IN THE FIELD." Savior snarled, and then let Terra go.
"I'm no doctor, but I say he has an extreme case of crankiness." Beast Boy said.
"Remark about my crankiness later! I'm just tired! Hive still there! Arrest them! Etc etc!" Savior said, as he tried to get up.
"Ugghhhhh…" Juryrig said as he got up to one knee. He didn't feel much better then Savior. "Damn. I was told not to underestimate them and I did it anyway, damn it."
"Don't beat yourself up too much, those fraggin' Titans are always pulling last second turnarounds out of their asses." Gizmo said as he floated down next to Juryrig.
"You ok?"
"I'm out of weapon packs! That cruddin' blonde slammed me into a building and I lost them all! Why don't you remake the snot monster and tear the Titans a new one?"
"Let's see how much fight you have left in you after you've had the rough experience of having your body torn apart, TWICE." Juryrig grunted. "I'm just about at the end of my rope: I probably couldn't form anything larger then a suitcase."
"Well I'm open to suggestions." Jinx said as she suddenly appeared from a nearby alleyway, startling the two HIVE members. "Considering the Titans are getting up and looking ready to finish this."
"Snot! Where the crud…" Gizmo said, and then the ground rumbled beneath him. He turned, suddenly feeling a bit better as some backup had arrived…
And then suddenly feeling a lot worse as Floral emerged from the ground with an unconscious Mammoth and Platinum Blonde carefully held in vines.
"Guys! Our tankers are down! What do we do?" Floral asked, her eyes wild with fright.
"Yep, definitely getting up to finish this." Jinx commented as Savior had regained his feet and the Titans headed for the HIVE.
"Aw man! We can't go! We didn't get a single Washington!" Gizmo cursed.
"Hmmmm, jail, getting cursed out by Blood, jail, getting cursed out by Blood…I'll take Blood. At least with him you know they'll be no anal violation." Juryrig commented.
"As much as I hate to admit it you have a cruddin' point." Gizmo said, as he produced two small orbs from his pocket. "You ready Jules?"
"They're in the right place." Juryrig said, as the Titans, now running at the HIVE, were racing over what was left of his fallen creation. And while he lacked the strength to reanimate it, he could still use it for one last trick.
"Ninja vanish!" Gizmo said, and threw the orbs.
Cyborg raised his arm to blast them.
Juryrig thrust out an arm.
And all the wreckage that had composed T4 suddenly exploded, not in terms of an incendiary style but rather every single non-metallic item suddenly bursting into dust, dust which immediately covered the Titans, and then Gizmo's bombs flew in and exploded, releasing a special chemical that immediately turned the dust into a thick, noxious fog that reduced vision to roughly one inch. The Titans immediately began choking on the concoction, a state that lasted long enough for the HIVE members to run up and touch Floral's plant structure.
By the time Cyborg armed up a fan and blew the foul miasma away, the HIVE were long gone. Examination just revealed a hole in the ground where Floral had emerged: Floral herself and co had vanished.
"Well, that was…" Terra began to comment, before Savior reared back with a "SON OF A BITCH!" and punched a nearby lamppost.
"Guys! What on earth was that?" Savior half yelled at the Titans, who blinked.
"Uh…could we be a little more specific…?" Beast Boy asked.
"What in the hell were you doing? Really? I mean….UHHHHHH!" Savior said, throwing up his arms. His brain piped up, reminding him to stay calm, not to drill sergeant his teammates, he was just the co-leader…but still, he was irritated.
"Ok guys, I will fully admit to possible hindsight bias here…" Savior said as he placed his thumb on his cheek and his fingers on his forehead, like he had a headache.
"Possible?" Terra asked.
"Oh none of that!" Savior said. "Cyborg, you are co leader, so I will ask, where were you when I requested aid?"
"Hey, we did save your butt N-Savior." Beast Boy said.
"And I'm grateful. However, I really must feel the need to point out that said butt saving came a fraction of a second away FROM MY CERTAIN DOOM!"
"Isn't that how it's SUPPOSED to be?" Scalpel asked.
"NO! YES!….ARGH! For me, preferably no!" Savior said. "Cyborg?"
"He was fighting with Jinx, he had an accident, I saved him. Really." Beast Boy said.
"Uh, yeah. That's what happened." Cyborg said, not wanting to admit the truth. "I was shut down."
"Ah, so you might not have heard me. Ok. Good job saving him BB, but really, I must point out you ran out and left the rest of your teammates in the lurch to do so!"
"What? No way! I yelled what I was doing! At you! Terra heard me! I bet she saw me too!" Beast Boy said, pointing to Terra, who nodded rapidly.
"You yelled at me. Did you see me give you a sign that I approved of this choice? Or did you just assume that a lack of a sign in a negative way was approval enough and take off?" Savior asked.
"Uh…well…um…"
"Ugh. Beast Boy. We're a team. We can't go running off in separate directions. Divide and conquer is what leads to most of the defeats of teams. And speaking of defeat, Terra, really, what were you doing with that Floral girl?"
"Um, fighting her?"
"Exactly! Fighting someone with a power that your power CLEARLY had difficulty against! You should have switched off, if not immediately, then when I ordered you to! You shouldn't have tried to fight her again! What, did you think she'd have magically gotten weaker?"
"Ummmm…" Terra said.
"Never mind. And Scalpel, you're one of the most dependable people I know. Was your communicator broken?"
"Hey, how come he gets the soft questions?" Beast Boy asked.
"Because Scalpel's clearly proven he'll crawl over broken glass to help us. Since he didn't show up, I…"
"Mammoth insulted Sophie." Scalpel said quietly, as he looked down at his claws, his two primary fingers clicking together in the way some people move their hands when they feel embarrassed in retrospect. "I had to take the time to show him the error of his ways."
Silence.
"Ok…" Savior said. "I understand the need, but Scalpel…it's the time issue that is the irritant. Considering certain things…did you have to take quite so long to show him said error?"
"How about you ask me the next time someone calls Raven a slut or a whore or a s…" Scalpel said, as he folded his arms and looked cross. As mentioned, when it came to Sophie, he didn't budge.
"Ok ok ok! Still…really." Savior said. And then he finally noticed it.
"Oh great, where's Gauntlet? If he's not still buried he better get here, because if he's hiding to avoid a tongue lashing…"
"And I'm so glad you're safe too." Came Gauntlet's voice from behind the group. They turned.
Gauntlet was there…slung over the shoulder of Batgirl, who was helping him a bit with his walking.
"Never mind me. Getting buried under a few tons of rubble is relaxing. Really, look at my skin." Gauntlet indicated.
"Hey dude, the last time I tried to dig you out you punched me in the face!" Beast Boy complained.
"What?" Terra yelled. "You actually punched Gar? In the face?"
"Actually I think it was more in the chest and lower torso…" Cyborg said, and then Cyborg and Beast Boy began to talk over each other as they each tried to convince everyone their version was the accurate one before Savior told them to knock it off.
"You punched him in the face?" Terra said afterward, prompting a glare from Savior as he walked around the group, his face softening as he realized who was with Gauntlet.
"Ahhhhh, Cassandra." Savior said as he approached the dark-clad teenage girl, making a few of the Titans do a double take at the calm kindness in his voice. "Oracle said you might be coming here, but I didn't expect it would be so soon."
"Good day Savior." Batgirl said quietly.
"Hey wait a minute! What about "don't use real names in the field" for HER?" Terra complained. Savior looked wryly at the blonde.
"Her father is one of the world's greatest assassins. I'd like to see them TRY to seek revenge through him." Savior said. "In any case, welcome back to Jump City Batgirl. You can stop supporting Gauntlet now, he's nearly impossible to hurt with such pedestrian things as rubble and he most likely is just leaning on you because he's so starved for female contact."
"Hey!" Gauntlet yelled. Despite her face being completely covered in a mask, Batgirl did managed to convey an expression of mild confusion with an undertone of alarm, as she slipped her shoulder out from under Gauntlet's arm, revealing that he could indeed stand on his own.
"Savior!" He grouched.
"Are you complaining because I insulted your supposed class or because I foiled your little scheme?" Savior asked. Gauntlet didn't answer, as he headed over to the other Titans.
"So Batgirl, why are you here?" Cyborg asked.
"I was on a mission of Oracle's, it ended sooner then expected, and my partner's boyfriend showed up and I figure I was a…what is that expression…about wheels…"
"Third wheel." Savior said.
"Third wheel. So I decided that since Jump City was nearby I would drop by for a little bit. By the way, I arrived during the battle: I disabled the metal girl before I aided Gauntlet in his escape."
"You did? Well thank you. Well, besides that, I guess I'll do introductions. You know Cyborg and Beast Boy…"
"Aren't you hot in that?" Beast Boy asked, indicating Batgirl's full body outfit, as it was midday in Florida.
"Self cooling." Batgirl replied.
"Man you Bat guys get ALL the cool toys." Beast Boy said. "Why can't I get a personal air conditioned suit?"
"Because it would shred the second you transformed into a larger form. It's also why you can't wear body armor. Much to my annoyance." Savior said.
"Hey, what IS that suit made of Gar?" Terra asked.
"Unstable molecules?" Gauntlet suggested.
Savior slapped him on the back of the head.
"Ow!"
"Quiet, we don't need to get sued Mr. Wrong Universe." Savior said. "Anyway, this is Terra, the guy you carried is Gauntlet, and over here is Scalpel. Titans, this is Cassandra Cain, Batgirl."
There was a brief exchange of helloes.
"Ok, now that that is settled, you came at a somewhat awkward time Batgirl. Now Gauntlet, about your…" Savior said as he began to bring up Gauntlet's part in the battle…and realized he didn't have much of a base for once. "Come to think of it, you didn't really do anything wrong."
Gauntlet stared.
"You mean you're NOT blaming me for something?"
"Well maybe you could have been a little more careful but this is about…" Savior said, and then found Gauntlet poking him with his yellow energy power. "Ha ha. Quit it."
"Really, they must have swapped him for this clone at speeds the Flash would be impressed by."
"QUIT IT!"
"Hey wait, why does Gauntlet get an out? He shouldn't have been knocked out by rubble!" Beast Boy complained again
"Yeah, his head should be too thick." Terra joked. Gauntlet pretended to be deeply upset.
"Oh Terra! I trained you, taught you everyone I knew, took you on cool adventures, and you start to act like Savior? ET TU, BRUTE?" Gauntlet said. "Someone catch me." He added, and fell backwards dramatically…and landed on the pavement with a thud. "That was a really lousy catch."
"You see what I have to put up with here?" Savior said to Batgirl as an aside.
"Young Justice was similarly…chaotic. It's why I left." Batgirl said. "Your city is also a nice place to visit, but I do not think I want to live here."
"So you'd rather live in a gloomy dark city filled with psychopaths? Girlfriend, your priorities are seriously messed up." Terra commented.
"Ok ok…still a problem to be dealt with. But before I go on…"
"You're still not blaming me for anything?" Gauntlet asked.
"ARGH! Fine! Gauntlet, you had a roof fall on you! Don't do it again! There! Happy?"
"Well no but all IS right in the universe…"
"Actually no, it isn't. The issue here is that when I needed aid, none was forthcoming, and outside factors aside, that troubles me. So, I think a step is necessary. First, is anyone injured?"
"My old chest wound was opened again, but it's already clotted." Scalpel muttered. "My examinations of everyone else have revealed pretty much just bumps and bruises."
"Good. Because I feel we need to get back to our roots as a team…"
Everyone groaned.
"Hey, at least wait until I say what I'm going to say!"
"Cyborg you're co-leader. Veto him or something." Beast Boy said.
"I'll hear him out first."
More groans.
"Thank you Cyborg. Anyway, in regards to this, I have decided we will be doing mild training drills tomorrow…"
Louder groans.
"Veto, veto." Beast Boy chanted.
"MILD training drills!" Savior stated. "We need to refresh our teamwork, just a bit!"
"'Into what danger would you lead me, Cassius, that you would have me seek for myself, for that which is not in me?'" Gauntlet quoted.
Everyone stared.
"What the hell?" Beast Boy finally said.
"Shakespeare. The original meaning was Cassius was flattering Brutus in his play Julius Caesar, and Brutus was having none of it. In this case, I mean 'Why are you making me work harder to unleash potential I may not have'? And considering Savior's acting like sole leader, the first line made sense."
"You have anything to say Cyborg?" Savior asked.
"I'll defer for now Savior." Cyborg replied. More groans and a few cries of "Mutiny, mutiny."
"Look Gauntlet, everyone, this isn't about unleashing potential. This is about refreshing our skills so the next time we have an incident like this it won't end with ALL THE BAD GUYS GETTING AWAY." Savior said.
"Et TU, hardass?" Gauntlet replied.
"You'll survive a brief run and a few training drills. It'll be beneficial."
"To us or your continued need for a rep as a hardass?" Gauntlet replied.
"'But let not therefore my good friends be grieved-Among which Cassius, be you one, Nor construe any further my neglect, than that poor Brutus, with himself at war, forgets the shows of love to other men.'" Savior fired off. "You're talking to the original quoter here Rob."
"So what, you're pissed because Raven's away?"
Savior's palm slapped into his face as he realized that his quote could indeed be interpreted that way.
"If you were one of my good friends, MAYBE!" Savior snapped. "Ok, in any case, mild drills tomorrow, Cyborg, do you veto?"
"….Actually, it might be a good idea." Cyborg said, though he seemed distracted, and Savior wondered while the other Titans booed if Savior could have asked Cyborg for his power cell and Cyborg would have agreed to hand it over. His brow narrowed a bit: he really had to get to the bottom of this. Cyborg was the co-leader because Savior fully admitted he tended to make a lousy single leader.
"Ok, Cyborg agrees, it's settled, complain all you want…" Savior said, and that set off a storm of complaints, coming mostly from Gauntlet, Terra, and Beast Boy.
"Is it always like this for you?" Batgirl asked.
"Far more then I would like." Savior replied, and then his ears pricked as sirens started. "Ok, police are here, let's go tell them why we did all this property damage for nothing and then we can go home."
"Er, can you do the talking for that Savior?" Terra asked.
"Oh, now you WANT me to talk…" Savior said.
"Good you agree! Race you all home guys!" Gauntlet said, and fired off a Gauntlet line that he swung off on, quickly followed by Beast Boy and Terra. Within seconds all three were gone.
"Ackh. Ingrates." Savior muttered in his best Groundskeeper Willie. "Well Batgirl, do you wish to accompany them or…"
"I will stay with you for now. I do not believe their…habits would intermesh well with mine, especially alone." Batgirl said.
"Probably a good idea. Cyborg?"
"I'm with you too."
"Ok then. Let's try and only give the police enough so that the inevitable leaks to the press will just let them trash us for two or so pages rather then five or six."
"Trash? The papers insult you? Considering things would be far worse if you did nothing?" Batgirl said.
"I'll say it again. Ackh. Ingrates."
"Amen to that." Cyborg muttered, as if he hadn't heard the comment at all.
"Man…stupid alien. It's not my fault he's such a freak only some fat cow will screw him." Mammoth complained.
"Oui. I do not know what that Batgirl did, but whatever it was she cheated. Chienne." Platinum Blonde spat, and for the twelfth time took out a hand mirror to examine herself.
"You look fine! Stupid…" Gizmo muttered the last word.
"What did you say?"
"Enough guys. Let's not fight amongst ourselves. EVERY so-called villain team loses because they fight amongst themselves. Let's try and be the exception, ok?" Juryrig said. He noticed Floral was nervously stroking her upper arms. "You ok Rose?"
"Julian…we failed our first mission. What if Danielle's angry?" Floral said worridly.
"Relax Rose. I doubt Scorcher will be angry at you. You did everything you could. Blood on the other hand…I doubt he'll be so reasonable." Juryrig said.
"He'll hit the ceiling is what he'll do." Jinx said from her position of leaning against a tree.
"Well maybe for you. Where were you Llarenes?" Mammoth asked.
"Yeah. You disappeared. Qu'est vers le haut avec celui?" Platinum Blonde said.
"ENGLISH, Antoinette."
"What's up with that?"
"Unlike you and Baran here…" Jinx said, indicating Mammoth. "I don't shrug off going through brick walls very well. So forgive me if I wasn't up and rarin' to help out. Plus I had that metal Titan to deal with. I almost had him, but then his green friend showed up and I had to retreat." Jinx said. She though it was a pretty good lie.
"Stop yakkin' snotmunchers, our ride is here." Gimzo said. From the sky in the forest outside Jump City where Floral had brought them where they had called for extraction came a shape that would have sent UFO freaks screaming for their computers. Except this was no saucer but a floating platform, about twenty or so feet in diameter, done in the classic HIVE honeycomb style and powered by an arrangement of jets underneath. It was a simple enough device to send out and pick up people to take back to the HIVE's new base, though it wasn't much fun on the last leg of the journey. But that was the price of failure, Jinx supposed.
"Shall we get our stories straight?" Juryrig asked.
"Won't matter. Blood's incorrigible. I just hope he'll be busy when we arrive so we won't be summoned immediately. I want to check on my sister." Mammoth said. Juryrig sighed.
"Baran, I know you're protective of Selinda, and she is new, but she's also a metahuman herself. Chances are if you keep coddling her…" Juryrig trailed off as he suddenly found his head between Mammoth's very large thumb and forefinger. "Then again, you are her brother. You probably know best."
"Baran, stop threatening to squish Julian's head. For all we know he could be our boss soon, you want to be on his bad side?" Jinx said, as the platform lowered down to the ground.
"Our boss? Ha! That'll be the day!" Gizmo said.
"Probably a soon to come day." Platinum Blonde said.
"Hey! Shaddup ya bimbo!"
"Miniature asexuee Idiot-parlante!"
"Stop it! Both of you!" Juryrig ordered. He was good at it too: Gizmo and Platinum Blonde stopped arguing and sulked away.
"See what I mean?" Jinx said to Mammoth, who nodded with a low grunt.
Juryrig walked over and pressed several buttons to program the platform to take them back to the HIVE base. He frowned at something.
"Mikron, come here."
"Oh wait, has the great lead graduate forget how to press the pretty buttons?" Gizmo mocked as he floated over on his jetpack.
"Our weight's reading wrong."
"What, we can't take off?"
"No. But I've seen our combined weights on this thing before and this is a few hundred pounds over it."
"So?"
"Where did it come from?" Juryrig asked. Gizmo's eyes narrowed.
"Oh for snot's sake. Look around Julian! Do you see anyone except us?"
"This is hardly the most secure structure."
"It's hardly one that presents a lot of concealment options either! Let's see, you can hide…pretty much behind Mammoth! Is anyone behind you Baran?"
"…No." Mammoth said, as he did look behind him.
"Oh wait, maybe someone's hanging on the side! Would everyone look on the sides?" Gizmo said. There was indeed no one hanging onto the side. "So what now Mr. New Graduate Leader?"
"Maybe they're invisible."
"Are you speaking crud?"
"Why don't you flip on your special goggles and see for certain Mikron?"
"GIMZO! Don't call me that. Lousy pitsniffing barfeater…" Gizmo said as he snapped the goggles on and hit some buttons on his chest. "Now in infra red! No snots but the ones I know! What the heck, motion detectors! Holy moly, Antoinette's bouncy chest is going to overload my systems!"
"Morceau repugnant de merde de chevre…!"
"Antoinette, MIKRON, KNOCK IT OFF." Juryrig snapped.
"Fine! No other snotsniffers detected! Let's take off!" Gizmo said, and turned and hit the button to fully ignite the rockets. The platform began rising into the sky.
"There is one more place." Juryrig said. Gizmo looked at the black teen to see if he was serious.
"Really Julian, this time I mean it: DON'T BE SUCH A SNOT! Do you honestly think someone is hanging under our rocket IN THE FIRE?"
"You've seen some pretty strange things Gizmo. Not to mention, you are our only flier." Juryrig said. Gizmo stared, and then with a few more curses he flew off the platform and examined the underside for several seconds before he flew back up.
"No one is there!"
"You're certain?"
Gizmo smacked his head.
"Look GENIUS, and believe me I know whether that label applies or not because I am one, if there is someone on our ship, it is someone with the power to stick to solid objects, easily endure thousands of degrees of heat, and TURN INVISIBLE! Now what kind of a snoteating GOD could have ALL those powers?"
"…Yeah, I guess you're right. Must have been a glitch."
"Right on, smart guy!" Gizmo said as he set himself back down on the platform. "Now let's just go home! I've had enough bullplop for one day!"
And so the platform flew back to the HIVE base.
The people on never knowing the truth of a certain phrase.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there aren't really people after you.
As the Jackal smirked to himself.
"What kind, indeed."
To be continued.