It started off...peaceful.
And maybe that was the first sign.
No one really spoke as the small team, hurriedly moved through the isles of Hub City. At four a.m. it was quiet and nearly barren.
Not many people were around and the few that were, well they paid little attention.
It almost felt more like a peaceful stroll than a mission.
"You couldn't have teleported us any closer See- More", Puppet King whined, thoroughly annoyed with this long journey.
Scratch that, peaceful has left the fucking building. This is more of a torture family road trip.
Minus the car.
Sheepishly, See-more smile, "Sorry Jordan, but I can only teleport to places I've seen in person. And I've only been to the city part of Hub city. At least we're not that far".
"That's Puppet King to you! And what does that far mean? How much longer must I muck about like the commoners?" Puppet King whined.
And there it is, leave it to Jordan to maintain the dramatics.
"It's only been a few minutes Pinocchio, and you're not even walking so do us all a favor and shut the fuck up", Red Hood growled, angrily pointing his pistol toward the wooden teen.
If it bothered Puppet King he didn't show it. He simply rolled his eyes and pouted. His green eyes then widened, spotting a small jogger to the right of them. He smirked and raised a glowing blue hand.
Instantly a sewing pin shot through the air, piercing the man in his heart. Normally this would have killed the man, but the Puppet King was special. His pins were special.
So the man didn't die. Instead, his eyes glazed over, his mind became hazy. His ambitions, his personality, his being all faded away as he jogged over to the four.
At that moment he became a puppet.
"King", Jinx berated, slightly annoyed with the boy. Because fuck, how many civilians was he going to turn.
"Oh come on, the more puppets the merrier. Leaves fewer witnesses and more soldiers. Plus now I can be carried like a true king on a palanquin", Puppet King happily bit back.
Jinx didn't bother asking where he thought he was getting a throne from.
Fifteen minutes later, they were standing near the head of Judge Toler's "grocery store'. The land itself looked more like a national park than a store. It was covered in giant trees, even had a small lake to its left.
The house itself was large, bricks a shiny red hue, security cameras were perched near every corner, and security was even stationed at the gate. It was definitely a place of maximum security.
But Jinx already knew that.
"Alright Kingy, your up", she murmured, from her position in the trees.
Below in the bushes, Puppet King smirked, coating his hand once again in the florescent blue aura.
Instantly eight pins shot through the air, each needle quickly puncturing a security guard.
One of the men groaned holding his neck as if he had just woken up. Another yelled, screaming at the top of his lungs. The others just shifted, eyes closing tight in pain, and then it was silent.
The men, like the jogger and the young mother and every other person to ever be pierced by Jordan's pins, became puppets.
The majority of them idly stood, waiting for instructions like the fucking pawns they were.
"Anytime now Pinocchio" Hood murmured from the tree.
Puppet King scoffed, "Why does it feel like you're ordering me around, zombie peasant".
Red Hood simply growled back, " Why does it feel like you're asking to be burned alive, fucking dummy?".
Why oh fucking why. Why in the hell can't they ignore each other for five seconds.
"Guys, not on the mission. King please", Jinx groaned.
For once the wooden boy didn't argue, instead, he scoffed, rolled his eyes, and glanced over at his puppets.
As he raised a glowing green hand, he couldn't help but mutter, " Get suited up, King. Stop complaining, King. Make the puppets, King".
Still in the tree's, Red Hood glared down at the wooden teen, "Shut the fuck up for once, King."
This of course only prompted Puppet King to rant louder and longer as he motioned his puppets near him.
Finally, at King's command, one of his puppets walked over to the security station and fiddled with the computer a bit. When he was done, he nodded towards the bush, bowed, and then shot himself in his head.
"Was it necessary to kill him Jordan", See-More whined.
Still, in the bushes, Jordan growled, "Puppet King! K-I-N-G. It's not hard to remember! You've known me for almost a month now, come on! And anyways I had to, he was too strong-minded. My pin would've stopped working in two minutes with that mind. We can't afford a witness".
See-more bit his lip, "I know but-
" Not now See-More! " Jinx loudly whispered. She then glared down at the ground, "And you make sure it's less messy next time. Your lucky no one heard that fucking shot! Did he at least clear the cams".
"Yeah yeah, they put the dumb chip in the security server. Your welcome, by the way, witch", Puppet King quipped.
Jinx ignored him, checking her own comm instead, "Giz we all good"?
"One second, and yeah, got complete control of the security system. I turned off mics, and I have the cameras playing yesterday's footage. You're good to go", a static voice bellowed in their ears.
Silently Jinx jumped down from the tree, after her the Red Hood. See- More ever the flashy sheep he is decided to teleport down.
"Alright great, King you stay here. Signal if you hear anything, then leave some puppets and get out".
She didn't even bother looking to see if the wooden boy nodded, before pressing back on the comm. "Twenty minutes, right Giz".
Even though she couldn't see him, Gizmo still nodded. Then with the most bravado, he could muster he bit out, "Reminder idiots, I'm filtering the cams with yesterday's footage so I won't be able to look out for your sorry asses. Try not to screw this up".
Jinx wants to snort. Mutter about how much she knows this, because why else would she tell Puppet King to keep watch.
But she doesn't, because she knows Gizmo. And she knows in his own annoying way what he's really trying to say.
Going in blind is always scary. It's always dangerous, they have to be careful. They must be cautious.
Everything depends on it.
"Gotcha Giz", Jinx murmured before turning back to Hood and See-More.
Even in all black clothing, the differences between the two were very apparent.
They were a walking hazard, the both of them.
Hood clearly is ready to pop a cap in anybody's ass. His anger is as apparent as his frown, and his beloved Robin mask is already narrowed. He probably isn't going to follow instructions ..again.
And See-More, poor See-More is damn near trembling. Hastily looking around his surroundings as if everyone is out to get him. He probably is going to get inside his own head and make a few mistakes.
That should trouble her but it doesn't.
It doesn't because she trusts them. She knows them.
Even though they both annoyed the crap out of her, she picked them for a reason. When it came to covert, no one on the team touches See-More or Hood. They were the best people for this mission.
They were security and a shield in one.
The people you call on when you don't wanna be seen.
They were the only people she'd trust with this mission.
"Alright let's go", she murmured. Not even waiting a second before launching herself towards the opening gate. Immediately Hood and See-More followed. Hood jumping from tree to tree, while See-more simply beamed to the front.
Once the three were officially on the property, Jinx started counting. 20 minutes, that's what Gizmo gave them. It was nearing five, which meant Toler would be up soon.
They had 20 minutes.
It should be simple really, in and out.
Get whatever secret loot Toler had, and bounce before his morning coffee.
At least that was her plan, but once Jinx stepped inside the mansion she realized it probably wasn't going to work that way.
The home was in tatters. Furniture and paintings torn to pieces. Plates broken, littering the floor. All the drawers were open.
In the dining room, closest to the window was the bloody remains of a man in a suit.
Judge Toler
He was ripped to shreds.
"So I guess SME mastermind decided not to wait for the next blackout", See- more mutter next to her.
At that Jinx could only frown.
Because that didn't make sense. They were supposed to wait for the next blackout, she and Gizmo were sure they would. Why the fuck didn't they?
What the fuck is going on?
Inwardly she felt Hood's groan, "We were late,".
"Doubtful, security was still on watch. So whoever came, came recently" Gizmo buzzed from their ears.
Jinx froze, "Or didn't leave".
As if waiting for her whispers, a loud sound perched through the air. A crash of some sort. Jinx sharply turned towards the two teens next to her. Pointing with her index and her left finger, and then her own lips as she motioned to the stairs.
Somebody's here.
CRASH! SKNNT
See-more nearly gasped, placing his hand over his own mouth to silence himself. That second sound, it was loud and piercing. It sounded like two metal swords scraping together.
SKNTT!
Ugh, See-More winced. That definitely is two metal swords scraping together.
He felt his heart drop a little more as Red Hood and Jinx fixed their weapons.
Shit, this was not what he agreed to. His specialty is covert missions, he absolutely hates combat missions. Especially combat missions with people who ripped other people apart. He gulped hard, and steady himself as he glanced back at Toler's mutilated body.
Oh god, he thinks he might be getting sick.
"See-More bring me some bone and muscle samples from Toler. I need to confirm that's him.", Gizmo buzzed.
Instantly See-More sagged. Great! Even though it was really gross, he much rather teleports Gizmo some samples than creep up the stairs to meet Toler's killers.
Red Hood only scoffed, clearly annoyed with See-More and Gizmo. "The munchkin does not need-" he started to argue, only to be harshly elbowed by Jinx.
Fine. Hood nearly grumbled. If they want to enable See-More's bitchiness, who was he to stop it. Not like they needed the Cyclops anyway.
Quietly, as if they had never heard a sound. The pink-haired witch and gun-happy ninja ascended to the top of the stairs.
When they reached the top, they peaked over the hallways, they crouched by each room, and they peered through every door.
The first was a bathroom, a teen girl was gutted in the tub.
The seventh was a walk-in closet, a woman's body was literally stomped into the floor.
The tenth was..the saddest. A kid's bedroom, he had to be about nine.
His remains were..destroyed. Strewn pieces of flesh and blood just about everywhere. His clothes in tatters and his hair muddled with the telltale stain of ripped-out organs. Whoever did this... it's clear they spent the most time on the kid. Beside her, Jinx felt Hood growl.
The last door.
It was plain, white, clean except for the blood dripping from the handle. The sound had to have come from here.
Jinx once again nodded towards Hood, who only shifted his gun in retort before busting through the door.
In the room were two people. Metas, if she had to guess.
One was damn near a giant, with horns, kinda looked like a bull. He had to hunch just to stay in the room. The other had razor-sharp mental claws, a creepy fucking smile, and blue skin.
The blue-skinned one was hunched over a computer desk, a small flash drive wedged between his talons.
He's the first one Hood shot. A direct hit, right in the claw. The bullet tore right through the skin, causing blood to gush out.
The freak didn't even wince, he did however drop the flash drive.
Immediately Jinx went to snatch that up.
As she dove for the flash drive, Hood shot a few more rounds at the two metas.
The pair started fighting, violently. Both gatherings more than the average knick at each other. But Hood seemed to hold his own, Jinx tried to help but the second she did, the giant swung a filing cabinet at her.
Instantly Jinx shot her energy, blowing the cabinet to smithereens before it reached her. She then surged three more pink daggers and quickly tossed them towards the two.
"Dios Mio! This is all your fault Scissor. I told you to hurry up, but you never listen. Estupido ! Can you imagine what He will do, when he finds out you lost it", the giant rumbled.
The blue-clad boy only scoffed, "Shut up Man-Bull. Just kill the bitch and take it back".
"Man-Bull? Scissors? Who the fuck named you rejects" Hood snorted as he fired yet another string of bullets.
Unfortunately, the bullets mainly bounce off the giant, and if that wasn't annoying enough, apparently the fucking mule was a talker.
"Aguas! It's not Man-Bull, it's Senor Toro", the giant complains. He then hurls a fucking desk at the duo.
Yeah, a desk. A metal, large, way too expensive to not be taken seriously, desk. This shit had to weigh at least five tons, and he swung it at them like it was a t-shirt.
Fuck.
Hood at least has the decency to kick the shit away before replying " That doesn't make it better Senor Bullhead. Still a shitty name. Besides doesn't Senor Toro just translate to-
Scissor smirks, slashing a bit at Jinx as he excitedly yells out, "That's exactly what I said"!
"Shut up all of you", the giant roars as he tears a painting off the wall and chucks it at the teens.
It doesn't even look like he was trying to avoid hitting Scissor. Hell, he might have been aiming for him.
"Great idea makes it angrier", Jinx mutters as she barely avoids the painting.
Hood still preoccupied with shooting at Scissor only smirks, "Play to my strengths, ya know".
Rolling her own eyes, Jinx added to the destruction by firing her own surges.
Bullseye. Right in the fucking neck.
She had but a second to relish in the giant's cry before his eyes narrowed and his legs started sprinting.
Fuck, he's definitely going to try to ram her. And even though the dolt kinda resembles a bull, she doubts she'll be able to alle-oop her way out of this.
Shit. She nearly murmured, whistling a bit at Hood as she tossed the flash drive his way.
He glares but nods, caching the flash drive in his fucking teeth as he shoots five more rounds at the razor-sharp teen.
"Jinx, Hood status", Gizmo buzzed in her ear. Right at that moment, she jumped to the left, barely dodging the raging giant.
Hood didn't even bother replying, tearing the comm out of his ear completely before attacking once more.
"Not the fucking time, Giz" Jinx yelled out, this time attempting to dodge both Man-Bull and Hood bullets.
Gizmo of course ignored her, buzzing in her ear despite her protest " Who are you fighting? Are they with the league? And what did you find"?
"Not with the League. Calls himself Toro, his friend called him Man-Bull. Speaks Spanish and English, has fucking horns. Ow, fuck. And since this fucking mansion has ceilings that are about 5 meters tall, I'm gonna guess the giant- shit the fucking bull is 7. Apparently, they're after a little fucking flash drive, why don't fucking know ", Jinx quickly states, arching her back just the slightest as she dodged yet another series of angry swings.
"Flash Drive? What does it look like?" Gizmo asked. The tell-tale clicking of his computer accompanying him.
Jinx huffed, dodging a meaty kick as she whistled back to Hood. He threw the flash drive back at her instantly. "Plain, black casing, weird hourglass symbol on it".
Gizmo stilled, "An hourglass with lines through it?".
Ugh. Fuck. That didn't sound good.
"You know what is," Jinx asked.
Gizmo hummed, typing a bit more before he addressed her again. "The Melvot mission, remember? Warden Xio Shu had one just like it".
Jinx sighed, jumping over two chairs and avoiding a stupid vase. "You made a copy of that right".
'Yeah, but I haven't exactly had time to crack whatever is on it, ' Gizmo replied. He then started buzzing questions through her ear, some of which Jinx tried to answer. But when the Bull sent a quick jab that she's sure broke her ribs, she decided to turn her comm off.
They started fighting again, but nothing too flashy. A few jabs, a couple of explosions, nothing too serious. Partially because she really was trying to make this covert operation stay covert.
Mostly because she still had the flash drive in her hand, and couldn't risk it.
"Doesn't this shithead get tired", she murmured, gathering more energy into her leg as she jumped away from Man-Bull and kicked. The energy hit but didn't really stop the Bull from charging at her. And her mid-range kick left her wide open for a good ram.
Fuck this is going to hurt.
BAM
The beast rammed into the glowing green energy surrounding him. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he continued to ram and ram into the shield.
Jinx exhaled loudly.
Thank fuck for See-more.
She smiled a bit, " Always watching my back".
"Kinda hard not to with my big eye- Uh not that I was looking at your butt or anything. Uh by the way you should give Gizmo a call. He's pretty pissed you all turned off your comms" See-more quipped.
She sighed," Yeah yeah I'm sure he is. But we have bigger problems'' She then turned to look at Hood and Scissor. The last time she had looked the duo was at a stalemate. Apparently, Scissors fucking claws made a pretty good shield and an even better sword.
And apparently, nothing has changed in her few minutes of focusing on the Bull. Quickly she leaped over to Hood, her legs already sparkling with energy as she jumped.
"Looked like you needed some help", she said, smirking a bit as her energy forced the blue teen a few feet away.
Hood didn't reply instead he glanced underneath the teen, grabbed her, and jumped.
Seconds after this Scissors had clawed his way up from the ground.
"The fuck", Jinx muttered slowly. What the hell was he part mole or something.
Hood only smirked at that, "Yeah, he does that. It's hard enough to keep track of when and where he'll come up from, without you helping him move away. Hey instead of distracting me you might wanna focus on Cyclops over there".
Jinx started to tell Hood he shouldn't and couldn't fight everything alone, but curiosity made her look toward See-More.
At first glance, he looked fine. He even offered them a small smile once he caught their eye. Then the bull ramed again, and See-more winced.
The green shield faded a bit, cracks started forming.
Right, best to hurry.
Quickly she runs over to the computer desk the two metas had once been hunched over as she fiddles with her comm.
She didn't even let Gizmo utter a word before she started speaking.
"Kay Giz, I know you're pissed but look we're kinda in a bind. See-More is literally holding a human tank in shield. I'm sure said shield is not gonna last long so hold the lecture. Here's the sitch, they were fiddling through the computer desk. Scissor boy had the flash drive and-".
"Jinx thank god, look you have to get out there now".
"Sorry Giz, I don't think the 7-foot giants gonna let-
"Jinx this is serious! You don't understand- fuck Speedy stop your gonna hurt yourself-!"
Jinx scoffed, "Definitely not rushing cause the fucking Junkie's having a temper tantrum. Look, no way are we getting out of here without taking out the bull. Should've brought fucking Mammoth but we're all good. So priorities, I'm gonna have See-More beam the drive to you while Hoodie and I get the bull to Kingy. King puts a pin in the lugs head and we're all good".
"Jordan's comm is the fucking problem Something's fucking wrong-", Gizmo tried to warn.
He tried but he couldn't. In that second everything went black. The lights cut, cars stopped working, comms were no longer active, the computer shut off.
The second blackout had begun, right before Gizmo could even tell her.
Instantly Hood stopped firing, moving quickly to doge the blue meta instead. He couldn't afford to shoot, not in the dark. Not with his team around.
Jinx stopped as well, flash drive in her hand, she waited, peering at the room for...something, anything. See-More's shield was their only light at the moment and even with the green glow, everything seemed darker.
Corners were black, parts of the room appeared larger than before.
It was too dark, to not be cautious.
And Puppet King did not signal...he should've signaled. He would've. As loud mouth as he is, Jordan would yell at the very first sign of anything askew…..something was wrong.
Jinx paused, still warily watching her surroundings she glanced at the one-eyed boy next to her. "See-more can you see heat signatures outside. Specifically King, "
See-more blinked, focusing his eye on the gate outside in a large squint. And even though she couldn't see it, Jinx looked towards the gate as well. Hoping, praying Puppet King was okay.
Perhaps it was because See-more was tired. Maybe it was because the shield and heat-seeking vision were too much. Or it could've just been her fucking luck.
Whatever it was, was enough.
Instantly the Bull broke out of the shield, quickly running towards See-More as he did. See-more running low on energy and courage tried to beam away. He only meant to move towards the left side of the room, but he was tired and unfocused so he ended up outside instead.
This made the giant hit the wall, hard. When he did, his entire body went through it, creating a hole. One large enough that the once dark room was filtered with moonlight. And suddenly Jinx could see everything.
Moths, disgusting giant dog-sized moths perched everywhere.
They were swarming outside, biting and fluttering against everything. In the center of them, was a Moth like man.
Killer Moth. Just her fucking luck.
He like the fucking mutant freak he is spat from his place in the sky and then waved.
Jinx had but a second to blink before the moths were at her.
She shot her energy wildly, hitting everything as if it were an enemy. She heard Hood do the same. But still, she felt the clawing, she felt the bites.
One of the moths grabbed the flash drive from her hand, ripping it from her fingers as another bit her wrist.
Fuck. Jinx nearly murmured as she lit her entire arm up exploding the moth entirely. She winced, shook the Moth guts off of her, and ran after the flash drive once more.
Taking a page from the Bull, she figured the best way to get the drive was to ram into the moth. So she mustered up her strength and charged through the gaping hole.
She got the drive but hits the ground with a hard thud. And for the second time that day, she is reminded her ribs are fucking broken.
Quickly she glances around for See-More, or King or anybody really. The good news the fucking Bull is dead...or unconscious, she's not too sure. He's not moving at least, so score.
Bad news, See-More is fighting fucking Killer Moth. And See- More sucks at combat so he's really just getting his ass kicked. She tries to help him, but then a strew of moths start chasing her and she bitterly realizes she going to have to fight a fucking army of moths….again.
She jumps and energy kicks a nearby tree down, flattening a few. She's keeping the drive in a tight fist and trying her hardest not to activate her powers in that hand. It's a handicap and gives her a bad blindside.
And unfortunately, Killer Moth notices.
As she is fighting off more than twenty fucking giant moths, Killer Moth gesture more moths to fight See- More.
He then waits until See-More is distracted. He waits until his moths have obstructed both of their views. He waits until he has a clear view of her left side. His own wings fluttering just the softest.
Then he sends a sonar blast her way.
And the shit hits her, spot on.
Fuck!
Her head, fuck her head. She feels like she just got rammed by a tractor. Like she fought Count Vertigo. Like she fell from a building and then some.
Shit, this is not good. She stops for a moment to grab her head, she just needs a moment to recoup. Unfortunately, a moment is all Killer moth needs as well. He smirks before he spats a web of goo on her feet, cementing her to the ground.
He then crows a loud squelching sound, a flurry of twenty-something moths come at his call. He waves and they all start flying toward her.
Damn it! She inwardly growls, trying her hardest to break free. But no matter how much she squirmed she couldn't. She's stuck, she'll need both of her hands to free herself, and the stupid moths are getting closer. With no other choice, she tosses the flash drive.
She tries to toss it near the fire pit to her left. It's far enough from the moths but close enough for her.
It lands in a large garden instead. One with an abundance of wildflowers. Far enough from any moths, but definitely far enough from her as well.
Because of fucking course right.
She groans, whistles to See-More, and motions to the flash drive before flinging her energy once at her legs and once more to the moths. She misses a few, she blames that on her headache.
See-More whistles as well, throwing the flash drive at her before he is once again trampled by moths.
She catches it barely, she blames that on See-More's bad fucking arm.
Ugh, okay, and her fucking head.
"You two were supposed to wait for the blackout, He is displeased", Killer Moth hissed. It was the only warning Jinx got before Man-Bull swung his large fist towards her.
She barely dodges that. And even then her head is still ringing.
"Si, but you know Scissors. Hombre's crazy said he knows Toler would've destroyed it if we wait any longer" Man-Bull groans.
And Jinx groans back because wasn't this fucking giant unconscious or some shit. Not to mention she really doesn't have the fucking strength to fight him and moth man, and all while trying not to blow up this stupid ass flash drive.
Umm. Can we say fuck no.
"Man-Bull. I guess it's my lucky ass day. So what is it, were ya faking sleep or did you really knock yourself out", Jinx sarcastically quipped.
Not her best line, she knows. But it works. Through her short time of fighting with the Bull, she learned the angrier he got the less smart were his moves. She had hoped she could get him angry enough to ram into a few buildings again. Hell, maybe she could get him to ram into Killer Moth.
Thankfully the giant took the bait. He growled, ready his legs, and sprinted towards the pink-clad teen. She of course jumped out of the way and watched as he tumbled into a multitude of moths instead.
She has little time to salute this victory. For one, See-More is still fighting a small battalion of moths. Two, Killer Moth still has about fifty more moths at his disposal. It takes all of her focus just to avoid them.
And of course three, the fucking giant gets up like the fall was nothing. He sends a punch towards her, and as much as she would have liked to avoid it, she doesn't. The punch hits her shoulder, causing her to weaken her hold just the slightest.
Oh and let's not forget her head still fucking hurts. So she doesn't realize she dropped the drive until it's on the floor. Snatching it up quickly, a moth humms almost mockingly as it flies away.
And that? That was enough to fucking piss her off.
Now without her little handicap, Jinx gathers a furious barrel of pink energy. It gnaws at her hands, burning her slightly before it is thrown at the giant.
BAM
Direct fucking hit.
Man-Bull roars, his chest charred fully. His right arm is gone. His face angry, left arm up ready to strike.
Thankfully before that could happen a string of bullets tear into his shoulder.
"About fucking time", Jinx yelled towards Hood as he peered down from the gaping hole.
"Fuck you! The blue meta wouldn't fucking die, it was dark and I was fighting a legion of stupid ass moths and I had to save the good bullets for Manny the raging bullshit here.", Red Hood glared.
"Oh, I'm so happy for you... Now if you could help the fuck- ow the fuck out." Jinx yelled back as she hastily avoided the now one-armed bull and Killer moth.
Hood rolled his eyes but nodded, gracefully jumping down from his perch.
Once he was finally outside he scoffed and threw the claws of the blue boy on the floor. "Killer Moth, been a while. Sorry kinda mutilated your little child killer here. Hey, last I heard you were locked up in Arkham".
"Boy, last I heard you were another one of Joker's victims", Killer Moth bit back.
Hood didn't even wait a millisecond before firing again.
While Red Hood dealt with Killer Moth and Jinx dealt with Man-Bull. See-More trampled after the passed around a flash drive.
As he ran for the drive, See-More noticed three major problems.
The first, his heat-seeking vision is...off. It's hurting his head too much to try it and he can't waste any more energy. Which is scary because they still don't know what happened to Jordan.
Second, these moths, besides being vicious and terrifying, are really fast. He's nearing the gate, and he doesn't like being that far from Hood or Jinx right now.
And the last one, the worst one…. He's not even sure if he can get the flash drive.
He was still pretty weak, teleporting multiple times is not good for his energy load. Not to mention there are still the other thirty-something giant moths he has to fight.
Still, he grits his teeth as he tries to teleport on top of the moth with the drive. It takes a few tries but he does make it, and fortunately for him, the moth does slow down in its flight. Eventually, he manages to hit the moth hard enough to send the both of them tumbling down.
Just as the moth is about to crash into the floor, See- More beams himself away. The moth, now a squished goo of grossness and the flash drive wedged in the middle.
See-More grins, proud of himself for a second as he fishes the flash drive out of the moth's guts. He holds it carefully, pushed it in his pocket, and finally puts it out of sight. He doesn't even get a full take to celebrate himself before a giant moth breezed by his shoulder.
He freezes, his eye widens for a second.
He gulps a bit harder as the wayward moth flutters in front of him. It, surprisingly, ignores See-More choosing instead to munch on the tree next to him. It's not alone, this particular tree is housing about ten giant moths. Each vigorously biting a piece of bark, the tree is worn down. Almost as if they had been at it for a while.
And that's when See-More really looks at the area.
The front gate was destroyed, moths were chewing on the bars leaving strings of slime. The trees seemed lifeless, holes filtered through them like swiss cheese. Puppet Kings minions were dead, their bodies just the bloody carcasses for the moths to feed on.
It was times like this he wished his vision wasn't that good.
He gulps a bit harder as he looks at the moths once more. Puppet King didn't signal….he didn't want to think about what that meant.
"Jordan", He calls out, half expecting the boy to correct him like always. "Jordan," he saids again, this time louder.
As he walks he keeps repeating the boy's name, louder and more frantic.
At this point, his nerves have gotten the best of him. The moths for the most part are leaving him alone. But that just makes it all the more scarier, why aren't they bothering him. Why just watch him?
And then he saw it.
Jordan.
See-more had seen the Puppet King injured. He had seen Puppet King's legs been cut off, he had seen Puppet King's face crack. He had seen Puppet King broken.
But never like this.
Puppet King.
The wooden boy with the biggest ego See-More had ever seen. The one who always played pranks on him with Icicle Jr. The one who loved to be dotted on but hated to be pitied. The one who had a real fear of rollercoasters and a fake fear of girls. The same boy would rant and rave about minions when he really just wanted friends.
Puppet King, Jordan Weir was destroyed.
Wood limbs splintered and trampled down to sawdust. Tiny scraps of his clothing and hair were still be feasted on by the moths. But what truly disturbed See-More was his eyes. Jordan's eyes, his little glass eyes which never really held any emotion.
They looked so scared, so wide and glossy. Like he had died crying.
Instantly See-More's spirit crumbled, his face fell. He couldn't believe this. His eye stings for a bit, but this time he doesn't think it's the eyebeam.
"Jordan", He sadly calls out, wishing now more than anything for a correction. "Jordan please," he saids again.
But the wooden boy doesn't respond. His mouth, at least what was left of it, didn't move. He had never looked so still, so quiet, so lifeless.
See-more couldn't stop his tears if he tried.
Ya see, See-more wasn't like most villains. He never wanted to be a villain. He really didn't have a choice, but that's a topic for another time.
The point is he never really felt like he could relate to his team in that sense. Sure they're all teenagers and he loves them like family, but...when it came down to it. When it comes down to killing somebody..he just couldn't. And when it came down to seeing dead bodies, he can't act like it doesn't affect him. Especially when they're his friends. He can't shut off that part of his humanity.
Which is why Jordan's death hit him so hard.
And why he didn't see what would happen next.
BANG!
A bullet hit his calf, blood gushed out of him hurriedly. In his haste, he tried to teleport away, but the blood fuddled with his mind, and his energy was weak. He only ended up two feet away from Jordan's eyes.
BANG!
Another bullet hit his left torso.
His eye waters, he has to get out of here. He tries to picture the front yard with Jinx and Hood. He tries to see it, but when he beamed, he's still at the gate. Barely a foot away from the entrance.
BANG!
This one hit his hip. It was painful enough to make him scream. Painfully enough to make him stagger.
He grits his teeth, tries to beam again, but the bullet gets to him first.
BANG!
Right knee, clean through.
See-More stops, his legs give out and he's trying not to scream as they hit the ground. He's breathing hard and heavy, his vision is blackening and he can hear the moths swarming around like vultures. He puts up a shield, groaning as the bullets and the moths hit it.
He can feel it cracking just as clear as he can feel his legs bleeding. After a few more rounds of bullets, a grenade is tossed to his shield. It hits the green energy with a hard thud, and See-More tries not to notice the crack that forms after it.
When it explodes, he's not even surprised his shield shattered.
Out of the shadows, a man steps into the light. He is dressed in black and copper. Equipped with a heavy strap of guns, swords, and knives.
He is a known killer. A known assassin, a member of the League of Villains.
Deathstroke.