Chapter 73: Crescendo

Stuck in the throes of battle, there were barely any shouts of alarm from the people of New York when a line of Dominators was suddenly knocked down with a supercharged kick from a red blur. The Flash's recognizable form stood, blurred at the edges, until he zipped around all the invaders of the city, tagging them with the discs that would, hopefully, be their planet's salvation.

Alas, New York was one of the most populated cities in the world, and thus a comparatively-sized invasion force had been sent to conquer it. The Flash was barely halfway done before he had to go for a resupply, picking up some rations at the nearby station to keep up his energy. Dropping down into one of the now abandoned subway stations, he zipped inside, jumping over the turnstiles and speeding up the stairs. He looked across the platform before spotting the correct trash bin, lifting it up to reveal a hidden hatch. He twisted it open, then picked up the large bag of disks and calorie bars within.

He quickly ripped off the wrapper of one of the bars and crammed it into his mouth, chewing and swallowing faster than was strictly safe. Already, he could feel the calories metabolizing in his body, that hidden pit of hunger being satisfied. The Flash finished the bar post-haste, and was quick to open another one and bit into it with a gusto.

Still need to work on the taste, he thought as he swallowed once more. Then, he picked up the bag of disks and poured its contents into the large backpack attached to his suit, and bolted.

Screams in Russian were heard as a stray beam from a nearby building broke off and started rolling towards the mass of people on the street. Both humans and Dominators alike scrambled to get out of the way — but before it could crash into the group, a blue blur appeared, lifting the beam away. The silhouette of the Maid of Might shadowed over Moscow, before she shoved the mass of wood, plaster, and concrete through one of the nearby ships, causing it to explode in a most spectacular manner. A ragged cheer went out, the sight invigorating the Russians to fight harder.

Supergirl watched the fruits of her labor for a short moment, before diving down to the streets at supersonic speed, tagging Dominators left and right while at the same time trying to limit the collateral damage. Once she was sure all the invaders were tagged, she flew away onto the next city, knowing that time was of the essence.

Amanda sat within the safety of her underground bunker in Central City, watching the chaos of the world above as she directed several of her agents around the globe. Remote, hidden cameras that had been installed at her instruction kept an eye on the action, though due to the increasing damage, she had the agents with her switching the feeds constantly.

One feed showed China White shouting out orders to nearby soldiers, ducking and rolling as she shot away at their alien enemies from a safe distance. In another, Deadshot had a specially-designed rifle shooting down Dominators as well, hiding himself in a cleverly obscured nest in one of the medium-sized buildings in LA.

Grimly satisfied at what she was seeing, she switched the screens again to a color-coded map, watching as sections of the world began to stabilize. The color red, indicating a dense population of Dominators, was a startlingly common color.

The Director of A.R.G.U.S. took a deep breath, and clutched the arms of her chair.

"Okay, we need to be as stealthy as possible," Astra whispered to Firestorm as they exited their cloaked ship. Suddenly, they felt the ship move, stumbling at the unexpected turbulence.

"What was that?" Firestorm grunted as he grabbed at a nearby wall, steadying himself.

"Bad news," his companion replied, "they're starting their descent towards the atmosphere. That can only mean they're about to drop the bomb soon."

Firestorm clenched his fist. "Then we can't afford to be stealthy anymore — we're gonna have to be quick."

Astra smirked at him, then punched a nearby wall, denting it. She punched it again and again, and once she was satisfied that the metal had been weakened enough, she tore it apart, opening a hole for them. On the other side were Dominators that heard the commotion, but before they could fire, they were flash-fried by twin blasts of searing hot flames.

Firing bursts of fire behind him, Firestorm flew through the hole, following Astra as she punched and kicked her way through the swarming Dominators. Idly throwing his own attacks on the way, he scanned the halls, looking.

Any ideas, professor?

Mmm…the bottom levels, perhaps? If they intend to drop the bomb instead of launching it, they would have to have it on the lowest level of vessel for logistic's sake.

Ronnie shrugged mentally. Works for me. Out loud, he shouted, "Hey! Astra!"

Astra turned away from a group of Dominators she had just frozen to look at him.

"Bottom level."

The former general blinked before her face lit up in realization. Wasting not another moment, she punched the iced-up floor, watching it crumble. Grabbing Firestorm, she flew up and then down to generate some velocity as she punched through subsequent floors with impunity.

Firestorm did not enjoy this. At all.

"WHY!" He screamed in despair.

"Because you're too slow, that's why!" Astra shouted back.

Finally, after punching away floor after floor, a gleam of silver caught their eyes. They landed back on their feet as they stared at a humongous silver orb that was sitting on top of the gateway to the world below.

"What the hell…?" Firestorm breathed out, stunned.

Astra crossed her arms. "I'm not a scientist, but the size isn't a good thing, right?"

"Barry and J'onn said that if the Dominators projected this bomb, it would be able to kill millions. I didn't really believe them until now."

Perturbed, Astra looked up, and saw the Dominators in the higher floors fleeing. "We need to hurry. Do you think you can transmute this bomb?"

Firestorm paused, then nodded. "I can, but I'm going to need time and concentration." He flew above the bomb and landed gently on it, placing his now bare hands on the shining surface.

Only to cling onto the sphere for dear life as the ship shook unexpectedly. He yelped as he felt the floor open beneath him and he fell down into the blue sky above.

"Firestorm!" Astra yelled in alarm, then dove after him and the bomb at a breakneck pace. The shaking — it must have been a warp! They must've decided to move up the time table of the bombing after they realized we were on board!

In the shock of his unexpected fall, Firestorm had been forced to let go of the bomb briefly. However, he quickly reoriented himself and chased after it, desperately using his fire powers. He spotted a flash of black from the periphery of his eye and saw Astra manage to get under the bomb and try to slow its descent. However, whatever that bomb was made of was exceptionally dense, because the gravitational pull on it was too strong. Astra could barely slow it down, only enough to give Firestorm time to land on it and restart the transmutation. Already she could see the shaking of her arms as she tried to push back against the bomb.

Knowing that their time frame had been cut exponentially, he concentrated on the molecules within, willing them to shift as fast as possible.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…" he chanted under his breath.

Amanda grimaced as one of her air cams spotted Firestorm and Astra's current predicament. At this rate, Central City and all its surroundings would be a crater.

"Patch me into Supergirl and Flash's comms now!" She barked at a nearby tech.

Then, with great urgency, she grabbed a nearby bottle of wine and took a deep swig, grateful for the sudden buzz of alcohol.

It's times like these when I really hate this job.

Another short chapter, but now we're reaching the climax. In hindsight I should've merged this chapter and the last one together, but it was planned separately so I went with it that way.