Chapter 12: A Warm Welcome
Barda led her charges to the hovering sled on the ledge ahead. The Master's pawns on Earth had a surprising array of informants. There were few living that could send a message undetected from Apokilips, and fewer still that would dare to attempt it. Yet somehow the Light had discovered Desaad was in possession of the Earth boy. Now they were sending agents to collect DNA samples.
Barda had actually grown fond of the hero enduring Desaad's attentions. Her cohort was a monster, taking pleasure from every scream he induced. Once his victims stopped resisting, they tended to disappear altogether. The boy had lasted longer than most. Certainly longer than Barda had expected. Yet he was still living on borrowed time. She respected his spirit despite knowing the futility of his situation. Perhaps that strength could live on in the Light's cloning labs.
The sled's motors whirred in protest as the group stepped onto the vehicle. Barda walked to the forward podium. A few commands on the consol launched the platform into the air and towards their destination. Another of the Master's Furies, Mad Harriet, took up position at Barda's right shoulder. Her mouth was in its usual animalistic scowl. Of all Barda's sisters in arms, she was the most viscous and the most reckless.
Their guests behind them were a different case altogether. In fact, their helmets revealed very little about the men sent by the Light. The older one wore a veil of self-control as his personal armor. Even limited to mere human strength and reflexes, discipline like that could tip the scales against much more powerful opponents. His only obvious weakness seemed to be his field of vision. The gold and black mask only allowed for his left eye.
The younger one wore similar tactical gear, but his helmet was a uniform red. He was clearly a dangerous man, but he still carried the recklessness of youth.
"How far away is the lab?" he demanded.
"We'll get there when we get there," snarled Harriet.
"We should arrive within thirty minutes," supplied Barda. She shot a look of reprimand to her subordinate. There was no need to antagonize the men. The Light was a useful partnership to the Master.
Minutes passed in silence as the group flew towards their destination. The men occupied themselves viewing her home's rusted landscape.
Suddenly, a rumbling wave of sound rolled over the sled. In the distance, Barda spied a cloud of dust and smoke rising into the red sky. After a few keystrokes, Barda pulled up a communications hologram to report the situation.
Deathstroke heard the upheaval. Judging from their guides' reactions, something out of the ordinary was happening nearby. The captain was busy establishing communications while the wild looking one was staring at the dust cloud. Soon an elderly looking woman appeared in hologram at the front of the sled.
"There have been reports of unknown operatives in District 256," began the hologram. "A parademon squadron was sent to investigate, but we lost contact with them."
"Should we return our guests to the palace?" questioned Barda.
"No," replied the hologram after a pause, "our intelligence points to an isolated group."
A smaller blurry hologram appeared on the left. Deathstroke had to suppress a laugh. He recognized several of the figures in the surveillance recordings. Of course they would be here now, he thought.
Slade stole a quick glance at his temporary companion. He was trying to hide it, but he had definitely noticed the people from the hologram. He probably didn't even realize how much he was tensing his muscles. Slade had to stifle a laugh. The kid hadn't learned to hide his emotions, yet. Talia would never have sent him if she knew they were going to make an appearance.
"Finish your task. Then report back for more instructions," directed the hologram.
"Yes, Granny," Barda replied with a salute. Barda flashed a quick nod to Harriet. "Go figure out what's happening," she ordered. "Take the warhounds."
A gleeful smile spread across the Fury's face as she rasped her sharpened gauntlets together. The woman knelt down then leapt off the platform to drop down to the rooftops below.
Dick stumbled forward as the pillar of light around them faded away into nothingness. His stomach caught up with his body a second after. As much as he was used to hurtling through space from zeta platform to zeta platform, the Azarathian portal spell was not a pleasant experience.
The others began to stir around him as Nightwing got his first glimpse of their surroundings. Rust red skies towered over a bleak urban wasteland. The air smelled smoky, and in the distance he could see spouts of bright fire flaring from the ground.
"Where are we?" mumbled Beast Boy.
"Welcome to Apokilips," answered Raven.
A quiet unease fell over Dick. Wally was trapped somewhere in this wasteland. They had to get to him soon.
Their arrival had not gone unnoticed. The locals were beginning to investigate. He could see slight movements obscured behind boarded up windows.
In a flurry of limbs, Raven's body was slammed into the ground. Robin's knee was in her lower back, and his hand held her wrist securely.
"Enough," he barked. "What was that back there? You're not telling us the whole story, and I want answers!"
The shadows beneath Raven began to slowly writhe.
"Dude, what are you doing? Let go of her," pressed Beast Boy. "She's our friend!"
"This is a bad place to be having this discussion," agreed Artemis.
She eyed their surroundings suspiciously while her fingers inched toward her weapons.
"Robin—" said Nightwing.
"No," Robin protested. "We aren't going any farther with someone that we can't trust." He turned his head back to Raven. "You've been keeping secrets from us ever since we got to Azarath, and now we're supposed to just play along when we wind up here? As far away from any allies that we could be? No. No more hiding. Tell us the truth, Raven. All of it."
The shadows beneath Raven's cloak stirred further. Spidery tendrils began to grasp and clench empty air, and Robin tensed ready to leap away at the slightest provocation.
Raven released a long pent up breath. The anger and hurt in her eyes was replaced by a wall of icy sadness.
"You still need me," she snapped, her voice hard and unforgiving.
Raven sank into her shadow and left Robin holding nothing but air. She reemerged kneeling a few feet away.
"None of you can use the mirror to find Kid Flash. Without that, you might as well go home."
"Raven," began Beast Boy.
"I should have known it could never last," she whispered, almost to herself. Then anger and hurt gripped her again. "Do you want to know why Coman called me an abomination?" shouted Raven, completely ignoring him, "It's because I am. I am an abomination. A monster without a cage—"
"We've got company," interrupted Artemis. She readied her crossbow.
A dull roar filled the skies. Within seconds, a group of a dozen figures appeared in the skies above them. Each figure wore a suit of acid green armor reminiscent of a locust and carried a menacing six foot pike.
The leader emitted a loud screech over the roar of the jets keeping them aloft. Within seconds, the soldiers were alighting around them. The heroes moved, standing back to back. Their argument was dropped amidst the presence of a mutual foe. More of the alien soldiers joined in the manic screeching, communicating orders with each other.
"Maneuver Four?" whispered Nightwing.
"Too many of them," answered Tigress. "Maneuver Nine?"
"We need Rocket or at least Kaldur to pull it off," warned Nightwing.
Artemis cut her eyes towards Raven. Taking the hint, Wonder Girl began frantically whispering into the girl's ear.
"Nine it is, then," said Nightwing. He raised his voice to address the soldiers around them. "My Interlac is really awful guys, but I'll give it a shot just for you. Ka rok skahvey tor skahveyt, seh ka plee-ay ree."
The momentary distraction was all they needed to prepare. At once, both Tigress and Robin threw pellets around them. Thick smoke billowed around their foes and blinded them. Nightwing heard more surprised screeching. Half their foes began to rush towards the group while the rest began to return to the air to escape the smokescreen. They were all interrupted by a series of small clinks as half a dozen small discs slid beneath their feet.
In a second, the discs all exploded, releasing a blinding flash of light and enough concussive force to stun the entire Apokiliptan unit.
"Come on," commanded Nightwing, "let's get out of here before they wake up."
Raven quickly dropped the dome of energy protecting the group, and they hurried away.
A/N: Hi everyone, here's the latest chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
Direct Translation:
Ka rok skahvey tor skahveyt, seh ka plee-ay ree.
Your planet smell of stinking, and you surrender seriously.