42. Silence is Crimson part 4 Final
Inside the Seventh Story of the City's Police Department, the late crew was busy hustling and bustling away in the smoke-filled offices. A lazy electric fan or two hummed amidst the slow moving haze over the wooden office equipment and furniture. Save for the random shuffling of paper or spontaneous cough, the office was dismally quiet.
Somber.
Commissioner Decker slumped back in his chair inside his open office. He rubbed his temples and looked exhaustedly at the collection of newspaper clippings, photographic evidences, and written testimonies concerning the murder scenes.
He sighed.
It would have helped if he knew the first place to go with this case.
He closed his heavy eyelids.
It would have helped if he wasn't an insomniac.
Decker groaned, stood up, and shuffled out of his room. He drifted through the second-hand smoke of the office and towards the distant corner where a water cooler rested.
"Fun case, eh Decker?" a worker said from his desk.
"Positively jocular….," Decker moaned. "Do I pay you overtime to run your mouth off?"
"If you did, I wouldn't be running it, sir."
"God help you, Bernard," Decker reached the cooler and fumbled for a paper cup. "If there was a position in this department for civil cynicism, I'd recommend you for it."
"In another universe, perhaps."
A woman rushed up to Decker with a bunch of papers, "Commissioner, you're still here?"
"I'm always here, Susan," he grabbed a paper cup.
"Could you just sign this quickly, please?"
He took the notebook from her. "What is it?"
"Letter of condolences to the families of the—"
"Murdered. Got ya," he signed his name at the bottom. "I'd give my life's fortune one of these days to see who actually writes these things."
"Me too, sir."
The commissioner said nothing. He finished his name and Susan was quickly on her way.
"Aaaaah," he tiredly hummed at the water cooler. "Finally, an evening alone."
He held his cup under the faucet and lifted the plastic handle.
The clear water tank bubbled as the drink poured out.
The paper cup turned cool against his fingers.
When he was done, he lifted it to his lips and sank a pleasant tongue full.
He exhaled and looked at the tank.
The corner was dimly lit by a single, amber light a few feet away in the ceiling. As a result, Decker's face and the office behind him was reflected against the curved surface of the water tank in a crimson hue. Decker noticed the blinds of an open window behind him shaking, parting, snapping back, and shaking to a stop.
He blinked.
He spun around.
Decker stared down an aisle between desks where a few workers were drowsily working on reports.
Nothing was amiss.
Decker squinted. His fingers pressed into the soft body of the cup of water.
Slowly, the haze of cigarette smoke started to clear from the window. As if a tiny draft of wind had flown in.
"This…..," Decker barely whispered, "…..isn't right."
Sparks.
His eyes widened.
For a split second, a column of shadow and sparks stood far away in front of him.
Then…
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
In a straight line towards Decker, the right hands of three random workers severed in the air. Blood flew amidst cries and curses of pain. Not a moment after, a column of sparks flew straight towards the commissioner's figure.
The paper cup fell to the floor. Water spilled.
Decker's left hand flew to his right wrist and he spun his body out of the way.
WOOOOOSH!!!
A cold rush of air kissed him from the face down to the elbow as a momentarily visible broadsword barely missed his right limb.
A split second later, Decker's dodging wrist went to his holster. He spun out a pistol, aimed at the water cooler, and shot.
BLAM!!!!!!
People screamed.
There was an invisible gasp of pain..
The water cooler danced and drained as a hole formed in the water tank. Decker could see the bullet resting to a stop inside the tank. It was trailing fresh blood in the water.
WHUMP!!
An invisible, bleeding elbow shoved him hard in the side.
He fell back, landed in an office chair, and was sent sliding across the office and toppling over a wooden desk upon impact.
A rush of air and feet thundered across the smoky interior.
Decker got up from behind the desk, eyed his gun alone on the floor, and reached for it. CRACK!!!
The weapon split in half from an invisible blade. There was a rush of cold air again.
Decker grit his teeth and ducked.
A section of cubicle was chopped off.
He fell to the ground.
The chair behind him was hacked to pieces.
He rolled under the desk and sheltered himself as the furniture was hacked to bits all around him.
Then…
"It's him! The assassin!"
"He's invisible!!"
"Take him out!!"
BLAM!!! BLAM!! BLAM!!!!
There was series of gunfire from police officers…shortly followed by the clanking sound of a broadsword deflecting the bullets.
CLANG! PING!! CLANK!!!
"Look out!"
"Duck!"
"Jeez!"
Decker took a risk and swept his leg out.
He made contact with an invisible ankle.
A body was sent falling—sparking—to the tile floor below.
Decker rolled out, dashed up to his feet, and ran to the nearest weapon he could find.
A coat rack.
He lifted the wooden object up, gritted his teeth, and swung it down at the last place the figure was seen.
SLAM!!!
Nothing but tile.
"What??" Decker gasped.
He was kicked in the rear by something.
He hit the side of a cubicle. He spun around with the coat rack at full swing.
An end of it was effortlessly lopped off by the sparking figure.
BLAM!! Another officer fired. BLAM!! BLAM!!
Decker momentarily saw a huge shadow in front of him duck, look at the officer, and disappear.
"Drake!!" Decker shot. He lifted the coat rack over his head like a javelin. "Get down!! Nggh!!" He threw the wooden object for all it was worth.
The police officer's eyes widened. SMACK!! Decker's projectile hit him and sent him sailing to the tile just before a section of cubicle was sliced to bits behind him.
Decker motioned to another officer, who tossed him a gun. The Commissioner quickly cocked it, aimed, and fired.
BLAM!!!
His other men joined him.
BLAM!! BLAM!! BLAM!!
A broadsword flashed into existence, spinning and deflecting the bullets.
Decker and his men were forced to duck as the bullets flew every which way. Some landed in the ceiling. Others plugged into furniture. Others ricocheted off the ground next to three office workers who cringed and screamed at the loss of their hands.
"Hold your fire!!" Decker shouted. "Everyone out!! Now!!"
The killer wasn't about to allow that. He flickered into reality for a moment, just long enough for everyone to see him raise his weapon and come charging straight at the group.
The Commissioner's heart fell. His eyes froze.
Then…
SMASH!!!!
Robin flew in through a window by grappling hook, stretched his feet out, and slammed directly into the side of the invisible assassin.
WHAM!!
The invisible body landed, streaked through the blood of the dismembered, and slid to a red-trailed stop on the other side of the office where a cubicle fell over his shadowed body.
Robin stood up, shook off the shards of glass, and got into a fighting pose. "Speedy! Now!!"
An arrow flew in from the smashed window where the archer then perched.
TWIFFFT!!
The gray projectile sang through the air, exploded into a flying net, and wrapped around the invisible figure at the other end. The assassin struggled in the coils, gasping and grunting.
Officers let out a sigh of relief. Some workers ran over to the injured while Decker approached Robin and Speedy.
"How did you know he'd be—"
"Here?" Robin finished. "We've been doing our homework."
"Glad you have."
Speedy marched over to the writhing figure, drew another bow, and aimed it at the man's shadowed forehead. "Feel like smiling now, punk?"
"No!" Robin cried out. "That's not the way to deal with him. Put your weapon down."
Speedy did so, frowning. "A waste of arrows not to kill him," he muttered.
Robin looked up at Decker. "Your people are wounded…and vulnerable. I suggest you get out of here, now."
"Excuse me," Decker said firmly. "This is my police department. We're locking that guy up now and for good."
"It isn't all over this easy….," Robin whispered. "Trust me….please…get out of here…"
Speedy turned around. "Robin?! What's taking them so long??"
Behind the archer's back, the netted figure flashed his broadsword. He snapped free of the restraints and stood up, flickering, with the weapon raised high.
A woman cried out: "Above you!!"
Speedy turned around. His eyemask widened.
The blade came down.
CLANK!!!
It deflected against something.
"!!!!" the figure twitched.
SWISH-SWOOSH-SMACK!!
I materialized in a puff of smoke energy as I brought my sword down from blocking and slammed its broad side against his ribs.
He was sent flying back into a wall. His whole body flickered, and his gloves shorted out. The bruised and battered maniac appeared before us—in his tall, black-clad glory. He rubbed his ribs, glared at me, and came charging with a silent scream.
Speedy stepped back and fired arrow after arrow.
The villain deflected each in his charge.
When he got to me, I deftly pivoted to the side, knocked his sword downward, and put him in the awkward position to be struck in the side.
Robin provided in that department.
SMACK!!
He flew in with a jump kick.
The assassin went reeling.
I shot out smoke and teleported directly behind him. I raised Myrkblade for a crucial blow.
He swiftly blocked in reversed and spun a three-sixty with his sword out.
I jumped back in time to avoid being cut in half.
Speedy launched two more arrows.
They veered a heart-shaped path around Robin and converged on the assassin's figure.
CLASH!!!!
The man leapt, grabbed the blade of a ceiling fan, and spun out of danger.
Robin was ready for him.
"HYAA!!" he swung a punch.
The assassin ducked, stepped back, and swung his blade.
Robin side-stepped, dove back in, and kicked high into the villain's chest.
WHUMP!!
He flew back into a window.
Speedy launched a flaming arrow.
FWOOOMP!!!
It landed with a fireball at the villain's feet.
But the assassin managed to jump through the blinds, grab ahold of the frame, swing around, and smash back inside through the adjacent window with his feet. No sooner had he landed, he streaked a path towards the archer—glass shards tumbling.
Speedy couldn't load another arrow fast enough.
The villain's sword came down.
I slid in, teeth gritting, and blocked.
CLASH!!
I pushed him back and let out a long, silent scream as I performed a flurry of ballistic Myrkblade stabs at all corners of his figure. He deflected and sidestepped as much as he could, gradually moving our battle across the length of the police department office and towards a set of desks with computer stations. Officers watched—wide eyed—with their pistols at ready. Decker clenched his fists and sweat.
I swung high at the villain's head.
He swung his blade up—perpendicular to the earth—and twisted his grasp, spinning me to the side.
He struck at my vulnerable right.
I shot out murk and teleported to the other side of the man just in time to avoid his swipe. I jumped back, leaned forward, and stabbed straight at his thighs.
He spun out of the way and brought his sword up just in time to meet with my dive.
We pressed our weight together. Blade ground against blade. Our faces nearly touched. My dark shades to his pale sockets. My long black hair to his thick, bald head. I gritted my teeth. He smirked.
"Yo!" Speedy's voice called out.
I glanced aside.
He aimed an arrow. "Head's up!"
PTWIFFT!!
I smirked. I slid my arms across the broad edges of our blades and gripped hard to the assassin's hands. I leaned back with all my torso, trapping him in the path of the upcoming projectile. He struggled and strained to get loose. Then he held his breath, leaned his own body back, ran his feet up my legs, and kicked off with such force that I had no choice but to fall back.
CLANG!!!
The assassin flipped backwards off me in time to avoid the arrow's impact.
I stumbled back. "!!!!" I looked down and realized I was holding both of our swords.
SWISH-SMACK!!!!
A sudden jump kick caught me off guard across the cheek. The impact was so strong, I literally spun twice before collapsing against a desk behind me.
"Noir!!" Robin cried out. He growled and ran straight at the assassin.
The villain rolled out of the way, grabbed his blade, and knelt beside me. He reached into a pocket of sorts and picked up a huge, silver tablet.
I blinked weakly at him through my shades.
He smirked, winked, and then tossed the object hard to the ground.
SMASH!!!
"Tear gas!!"
"No way. More powerful! It's spreading fast!"
"Get out of here!!"
The assassin's figure ran in my partners' direction, sparking into invisibility. The sudden, intensely white fog parted with his figure. The last thing I heard was the painful grunt of Speedy's voice before the fog reached my black eyes. I coughed, spit, vomited, and hacked my way into a curtain of blackness.
And flirted with death.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I let out a cry and jabbed forward with my rod.
She blocked with a grunt, spun, and swept down at my legs with her staff.
I easily side-stepped, paced myself, and dove in for a second attack.
She sent me back with a huge uppercut.
I jumped backwards, bent into a pose on my legs, and prepared to spring into a counterattack.
But she knew I was inviting her to come in.
"Not all of us are as impatient as you, Jordan," she smiled.
I smirked.
For a moment there, we stood still in the field. Being beaten by the wind. Her blue eyes. My brown eyes. Short blonde hair and short black hair. Waving like the grass. Sighing like the setting sun.
"Master tells us all the time…" I spoke, "…we'll meet combatants in the future who'll waste no second to attack and kill us. We must be prepared!"
"Do you really want to kill me?" she playfully pouted.
"Don't tempt me."
"Hey!" she cackled. "That was mean! GrrrrrrDIE!"
She charged me.
"Don't make yourself vulnerable—" my eyes widened. "Hey! Wait!"
She dropped the rod entirely, ran up, and pounced me.
"Oof!!" I dropped my staff.
She giggled madly as she wrestled me into the deep earth.
I couldn't help it. I chuckled and fought back.
After a few seconds, I managed to get her off me.
She rolled off, sighed, and just laid their smiling with her eyes facing the growingly gray sky.
So did I.
Perfect silence……
"……"
"……"
"Jordan?"
"Yes?"
She looked over at me through the blades of grass. "If we do……ya know……fight evil people in the future……we'll protect each other. R-Right?"
I smiled over at her. At her sapphire eyes and angelic expression. Angelic hair. Angelic soul.
"As long as we're together—no matter what—I'll feel safe."
She smiled, blushed, and closed her eyes as the warm fuzzies took over. "Me too……"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Noir…..Noir…….Noir, wake up."
My black eyes opened. I winced. The shades were gone. The world was blinding. My whole body ached, but mostly in my face where I remember vaguely being kicked.
The police department.
I braved my eyes open. Shadows stabbed into them for a solid three seconds until I had acquired enough important data and I snapped my eyelids shut for good.
I winced.
I was slumped against the wall within the interior of some sort of factory or processing planet.
I wasn't alone.
The bodies of at least a dozen other people were there as well.
Robin and Speedy were next to me.
There was also Decker.
The other faces, I couldn't recognize.
But I remembered seeing at least one bloody stub of an arm. They must have been taken from the police department.
The tear gas.
Had we been captured?
Damn……
"Are you hurt bad?"
In response to Robin's inquiry, I stirred my body. I realized my arms were behind me. I was chained to a metal pipe or bulkhead of some sort behind me.
"Think you can teleport?"
I exhaled.
"Well, if you can, hold it," Robin whispered. "Remember the plan."
The plan??
I blinked.
The world flashed bright white.
I remembered. The plan!
"Shhh! He's coming back!"
Who? Oh wait……lemme guess…
CLANK!!
The landing of a pair of heavy feet was the first thing to announce the presence of our enemy. He had made a sound. He wasn't suspecting a thing, then….
I squinted my eyes open to bravely make out the situation that was transpiring before me. Thankfully, the plant or factory wasn't terribly bright, so I could see at least a little bit.
And what I saw was the figure in black sparking back into the visual spectrum. He adjusted his gloves, cracked his neck, and walked over to a pile of objects. Probably equipment.
Was this place his base of operations?
"We're waking up, you know….," Robin said aloud.
I was still.
The villain said nothing. He hunched over the pile of things and continued rummaging through for something.
The Boy Wonder persisted, "It begs the question how you got so many of us here in one piece…"
The figure ignored him.
"Then again, there're many things that beg the question. Like, where you think you're going with so many murders on your head?"
Silence.
Rummaging.
Robin's face frowned, "Is it vengeance, Vincent?"
The figure paused. His white, bulbous face looked over in Robin's direction.
Robin stared. "Vincent the Third, to be exact. Disappeared son of Vincent the Second of India. I suppose bad blood runs in the family."
The figure let out a silent chuckle, and then sneered. He stood up straight with a cord in his hand, attached to a black square-shaped object. He attached the wire to some hidden spot in the metal ring within his neck. He then adjusted something on the square, and the translucent slates within the neckring suddenly lit up.
The villain's eyes lowered. He took a deep breath. When his eyes reopened, he seemed tranquil. Focused. His neckpiece flashed red as an electronic voice emanated out from the square object.
"Vincent is dead, Titan. Viper stands before you now."
Robin's head cocked to the side.
I gasped. My eyes would have widened if I didn't know it would hurt.
"So that's what that thing in your neck is for….," Robin spoke. "An artificial voice box."
"Much more advanced than that…," the self-proclaimed Viper uttered synthetically. His lips didn't move an inch. He merely stared at Robin and his neckring flashed red as he 'spoke' and the black object produced the voice. "It feeds off electrical signals sent to the vocal cords and approximates the sound desired to come through the paralyzed voice box. It's like having a computerized translator standing right beside me."
"You're only friend, I bet," Robin spat.
"So bitter…so resentful….," 'Viper' smiled as the object spoke. "Do not be so quick to forget that I am no different than you. My whole life functions by a one-track-mind. An obsession that serves as my transient meaning of existence. It is a drive no less fervent than your own…"
"Exactly what are you getting at?" Robin growled. "Don't pull this cliché 'we're one of the same' villainous crap. You forget, I've fought Slade before. I've heard enough of it."
"And that's what deludes you…," Viper walked off and unsheathed his sword. He proceeded to polish it casually while 'talking'. "A blind disregard for those who are homicidally inclined. Shedding blood is all but a natural part of humanity. From our teeth down to our toenails and back up to our brains…we were built for destruction and nothing else. To cause death is to fine one's purpose in meeting death. Only self-proclaimed 'heroes' such as yourselves are the 'cliche' ones, Robin." He turned around and looked over his half-metal neck. "Never willing to expand your perception. Always repressing that which can make you whole and true to your own, pumping arteries."
"You're no sample of human evolution," Robin frowned. "You're just a vengeful maniac who cowardly prays on people in the dark. Your crook of a father died on you. Well tough crap. It was bad karma. Everyone who knew him knew he only bought it for himself in the end."
CHIIIING!!!!
The blade was suddenly resting half an inch from Robin's adam's apple.
"You will NOT SPEAK OF MY FATHER THAT WAY!!" the device crackled as Viper angrily shook. He lowered the sword and stepped up close to Robin, glaring. "My father—all his life—did what he could to protect his family. He loved his own blood first, and put the world second." Viper paced over towards a metal railing and leaned on it. "When I was just a little boy…I was playing out in the gardens when I came upon a frightened snake. It was the most rare and venomous of the kind found in that region of India. A deadly Viper that could paralyze a man with half a drop of its venom. The servants of the household saw how close I was to the creature and ran over to separate us. But it was too late. I had been bitten. My life had been eclipsed by two blood-letting fangs." Viper turned around and 'spoke' with squinted eyes. "My father and mother were home. At first sight of my peril, they immediately provided me with medical attention. My life was saved from ages of being bed-ridden. But parts of my body succumbed to the venom. The first of which were my vocal cords."
"Are you supposed to have my pity now?" Robin glared.
"Robin…….do you want a story or not?" Viper smirked. "You caped atrocities do seem to live for this thing."
Viper paced and continued speaking.
In the meantime, I heard the groggy awakenings of Speedy, Decker, and the other police workers.
"My father loved me deeply…," Viper said. "He couldn't live in a world where he was unable to speak to his very own son. So he invested all of his funds…all of his efforts…all of his strength into the construction of my very own 'voice'." He pointed the neckring. "Cutting technology you won't find anywhere—I assure you. Not even STAR Labs. Though not without its primitive trademarks…" He fingered the cord and black square hanging off him. "I planned on living a happy and normal life, Titan. I truly did. My father and I would have lived out our years together, along with my mother. Our love would have persisted beyond the boundaries of Death's most sinister venoms."
"But fate caught up with you," Robin smirked.
"Ughhh…," Speedy shook out of it. "What a rush---Whoah! Check that shit out!" He stared wide-eyemasked at the talking Viper.
"Bloody lovely…," Decker mumbled.
"My family was torn asunder, Robin," Viper leaned towards the Boy Wonder. "A bloodlusting government abducted him into a circle of desolation. Imagine…a man of his stature and greatness being reduced to ashes against the side of some god-forsaken mountain…"
"The plane crash was an accident," Robin spoke. "Besides, he was to be tried for international crimes. Your 'old man' was meeting his retribution."
"Retribution??" Viper glared. "Retribution?!?! What is retribution that takes your father and reduces him to glowing embers in a spontaneous heartbeat?! What is retribution when your mother boards a flight to identify what's left of the charred body—but instead is passed off to criminal underlings of the government who beat her, rape her, and slit her throat all within an agonizing span of five days?"
Robin bit his lip.
Speedy looked at the others in captive.
"Did not find that information, did you, detective?" Viper's electronic voice almost had a shudder to it.
"Your mother—if indeed she suffered that fate—did not deserve such," Robin said. "But neither did the murdered committee in Pakistan or the innocent people of this City!!"
"Heh heh heh heh…," the speaker dripped. "You child of such weak sight….," Viper sneered. "In due time, you will discover that everything comes full circle. That everything is inherently a factor in everything else. And the only thing keeping a butterfly on one side of the world from affecting a newborn infant on the other side is twelve thousand miles full of ignorant, cowardly people too afraid to change the environment around them as divinely appropriate."
"Listen, you yahoo!" Decker spat, "Butterflies, infants, and dead mothers aside….you're a murderer. You are evil. And you will pay."
"Do not assume that you are in a place to bargain, infidel," Viper pointed with his broadsword. "You slimy excuse of a human being! I despise the very juice that giggles lazily through your meaty strings. I spit and stomp upon every inch of ground you tread and every gram of goodness you steal from the righteous in this world in the false cause of 'justice'; an illusion you fabricated in the sheer strength of your sniveling numbers to preserve hollow concepts of 'order' and 'prosperity'. Prosperity is not the sanctioned execution of souls for the greater good of arrogant populations. Prosperity is found in the obedience to one's self and the respect of family, something I've seen torn asunder by pompous, gun-toting bureaucrats such as yourself!"
"Somebody's got issues…," Speedy mused.
Robin cleared his throat.
Viper glared, stomped towards Speedy, and threateningly leaned over: "You…..it is you most of all I despise. I knew from the very beginning that I started my life's journey—throughout all the years of training, of learning the dark arts, of mastering the sword. I knew that somday….someday…I would hack my way through all the police officers, all the judges, all the constables, and come finally to you. The vigilante. The masked marauder. The murderer under a shroud. All along, it's been my obsession clashing heads with yours, and I won."
"Don't speak so soon," Speedy sneered.
"The deaths of your parents motivated you to commit slayings throughout Eastern Pakistan…," Robin said, "….and what brought you over here…"
"Another death in the family…," Viper's eyes were cast down.
Robin glared. "Anderson. Your mother's brother."
Decker looked surprised.
I stared—squinting—at Viper.
"There is nothing worse than a recurring nightmare…," Viper shook his head as the speaker went on. "My anguish can not end. The lasting legacy of my family can not be spared. Your kind is determined to destroy, shred apart, and abolish every strand of my sacredness that you can find." He leaned towards Robin. "I planned on killing you all quickly at first. But I think that is too little of a payment. I came all the way overseas…I wielded my sword…I sweated bullets…to reach this moment. No…..no, Robin. Your death will be a slow one."
He spun and faced everyone.
"All of your deaths will be slow. I'll peel the skin from your bodies and feed it to the meaty leftovers of your mouth and force you to swallow it alive. And then when it's all over. When you've shed the last drop of blood. When your screaming vocal cords have shook and vibrated for the last time. When your brain resonates no more thought than pain itself….I will seek out every single member of your bastard families and do the very same thing to each and every one of them too…"
Some peopled muttered.
Others sobbed.
"Even someone like you can't be that evil," Decker glared. "No single man can be that thirsty for carnage."
"Man? Man???" Viper smiled. His eyes lowered. "Ha ha ha ha ha! I am no man, Commissioner. Not anymore. Like I said before, Vincent is dead. Viper remains. Viper…the product of his own misfortune. Silenced by the venom of a snake and fueled with the vindication for his family. Viper is the wind itself, the subtle twist and shift of the raised hairs on your necks. Viper has worked for many might years and many mighty months to become that which he was born for—an agent of death and judgment through the only vessel built to balance mankind's futile perception of peace and the ever waking reality of nonexistence."
SWOOSH-SWOOSH-SWOOSH-CHING!!
Viper spun his blade around and sheathed it in a pose.
He glanced up.
He said: "Viper is the eternal wielder of the cold blade of silence."
Robin breathed. "Funny…I always thought 'Silence was Golden'."
Viper stood up straight. "That is where you're wrong, Titan. Silence is crimson."
"You can't possibly work alone," Speedy said. "Those gloves. They aren't yours."
"You got some help in your little 'judgment romp'," Robin added. "From someone named Dagger, no doubt."
I nodded.
Decker listened, curiously.
Viper flicked his wrists and sparks danced down his limbs. "Merely returning that which belongs to my family. Dagger is a thief. The only thing keeping me from ripping his overstated head off is that he perfects the human race almost as much as I do."
"Fancy that," Speedy grunted.
"You know Dagger," Robin glared. "You know where he's keeping Anderson's arsenal??"
I looked at Viper.
He took the bait. "What use is it to you, Robin? I assure you, the Jermaine Hangars are far, far away from the River Styx. The same can be said for your whole, bloody City. And it will become much, much more bloodier following your deaths."
Robin smiled—as I expected him to. "Thanks for the chat, Viper. That's exactly what we needed to hear." He tilted his head up from his restraints. "Raven! Now!!"
A field of black energy circled Viper's body.
"What?!?!" he struggled.
WOOOOSH!!!
He was slammed up against a metal bulkhead besides the railing and knocked loose of his breath.
A body of sparks levitated over us, quickly materializing into a visible Raven. She floated with her eyes glowing and sparking, inviso-gloves over her wrists. She scowled down at the assassin as she shouted: "You can all come out now!!"
In perfect choreography, a dozen ropes lowered and SWAT Team members slid down from the ceiling with guns armed. At the same time, at least four full squads of police officers ran out from crevices and hallways in the outer ring of the factory's interior. They aimed pistols and shotguns—cocking—towards Viper's restrained figure. A green panther landed on their flank and materialized into a smirking elf.
"Surprise….," Beast Boy mused.
Viper grit his teeth.
"Beast Boy…radio the rest of the police force," Robin smiled. "Tell them to search the abandoned Jermaine Airport in the North of the City."
"Already on it," the elf winked.
"Woo!" Speedy smirked. "I'd say this was well worth the hangover!"
Decker smirked over at Robin. "Titan…does this mean you went over my head?"
Robin winked through his eyemask. "You can yell at me over it later."
"I think I'll pass………..this time."
Viper didn't stop glaring.
"I hope I was punctual enough…," Raven said while holding the villain at bay.
I smirked.
"You can maybe….ya know….free us now," Speedy simpered.
"Fine…," the dark girl flicked a free wrist.
One by one, the bonds holding me, Robin, Speedy, Decker, and the dozen other hostages snapped free. We stumbled to our feet while a few police officers scampered over and assisted the most injured of the lot. The rest of the force kept their pistols and shotguns aimed at Viper.
Robin rubbed his wrists through his gloves. "I don't know what's worse…sitting through his annoying speech or my hands feeling like they're empty of all blood!"
"Try worrying over your stupid necks and keeping a safe distance to boot!" Beast Boy walked up. "Brought a few things for ya."
He tossed Robin his utility belt and Speedy his bow and quiver. He then tossed me Myrkblade and a pair of shades.
I gladly donned the glasses on and put my weapon back in its sheathe.
Robin and Speedy marched up to the restrained villain.
"It's over, Viper," Robin said. "You're to be tried for the murders of over a dozen innocent people. You can't win anymore."
Viper's frown slowly morphed into a startling grin. "No…," his neckring flashed red. "…but I can still escape."
Robin's eyebrow lifted.
Viper closed his eyes, concentrated, and the speaker uttered: "Optics Ultimatacon!"
With the magic words said, there was a whirring sound. Then a series of sparks danced out from his neckring, down the black wire, and into the black square. The very same object he used to communicate started to glow and vibrate.
Everyone's eyes widened.
But Viper's eyes were closed.
Maybe it's because we were both mutes. Or maybe it was because we were both swordsmen. Whatever the case, I suddenly connected with the villain, gasped, and clenched my eyes shut too.
Just in time….
FLASH!!!!!!!!!
A blinding strobe of light emanated out into the interior.
Everyone groaned and covered their eyes.
Raven included.
As a result, a resounding THUMP! announced Viper's feet making contact again with the floor. I gasped and opened my eyes under my shades just in time to see Viper picking up his sword, dashing over the railing, and sparking back into invisibility.
There was a flurry of gunshots.
BAM!! BANG!! BLAM!! POW!!! BANG!!
It was no use. Nobody's bullets were making contact.
Viper needed a pursuer who was faster than bullets.
"Noir!!!" Robin shouted, clutching his eyemask and pointing blindly. "Get him!!"
I nodded.
I ran on pained legs, blurred my feet into a fury, and teleported in the direction of the fleeing Viper.
"So….close…..," Raven muttered, a hand over her face..
"We're already halfway victorious…," Robin finally blinked and regained his eyesight. "But this thing still needs to be finished. Speedy! Come with me!"
"Didn't even need to ask!"
They both swung and hopped after me, leaving the rest of the disoriented lot behind.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I blurred to a stop in a corridor and panted.
I looked around.
Amidst a series of jutting pipes and huge metal tanks and mechanical instruments, I spotted three paths converging and leading in every which direction.
I glanced left. I glanced right. I glanced forward.
I took a deep breath, raised my hands in an 'x' across my face, summoned forth murk energy, and shot my arms towards the ground. Smoke swam down my legs, shot forth along the ground, and swam in each of the three directions. I held my breath as I stretched my senses lightning-quick along the fresh carpets of dark energy. I sought disturbances, impressions, fresh craters.
I found a pair of hurried feet. Heavy and thick. To the right.
I opened my eyes, inhaled, and blurred down that passageway in pursuit of my invisible foe.
My inhuman speed was bound to catch me up with him.
In mid-sprint, I stretched a hand out and bent my fingers. I produced an orb of murk that shot out and splashed down on the floor ahead of me.
I again sensed the target's footsteps….and they were two feet in front of me.
SMACK!!!
I gasped and Viper's sparking body exhaled as I collided into his rear. We were sent sprawling out the end of the hallway, tumbling out across the metal floor, and sliding up against a railing over a huge dip in the processing plant's structure.
A split second later, we both jumped up.
I could only sense him because of my spatial sense. Otherwise, he was completely invisible.
I whipped out Myrkblade.
The kiss of metal against air announced the unsheathing of his broadsword.
I got into a pose.
I sense him ready himself.
I had been waiting a long time for this…
WOOSH!!
Air screamed as someone rushed forward. I don't quite remember who--
CLANG!!!
My murk-covered, wooden sword clashed with his metal scimitar.
I slid my blade down the length of his, pivoted, and swung a leg out towards where I sensed his lower body.
WHUMP!!!
I sent him teetering over back towards the hallway.
I stepped back and slashed down to catch his backside.
He blocked in reverse. A sparking in the air, and he spun at me with two swings of the blade.
He was moving too fast for me to sense where his weapon was. So I ducked for good measure and held Myrkblade over my cranium.
CL-CLANK!!
I deflected both spin-attacks of his weapon.
I slid along the ground, beneath a pair of twitching legs, and jumped up with a reverse jab of my blade.
SLINK!! Warm liquid spewed.
There was a painful shuffling of feet, and soon a rough elbow slammed into my back.
I collapsed forward and impacted hard with the railing, knocking the air out of my lungs.
Another shuffling.
I sensed him spinning to face me.
Sparks and--
He charged.
I tossed Myrkblade straight up.
I gripped the railing.
I flipped my body straight up into a vertical position.
SWOOOSH-CLANK!!
His blade swung down and struck the metal floor where my body was.
I stood on my hands on the railing.
Myrkblade fell.
I inhaled, vaulted up off the railing, flipped, grabbed Myrkblade in mid air, and landed in a graceful perch on the railing. I slashed downwards with my sword.
CLANK!!
An invisible arm parried.
I slashed again.
CONG!!
He knocked me off balance and then dove forward at full force.
WHUMP!!!
Together, we were sent spiraling over the edge of the railing and deep towards the industrial abyss below.
I swiftly spun out of his falling descent, gripped hard to Myrkblade, and—teeth gritting—dug my blade deep into the wall of metal blurring past me.
SCRKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!
My gradual laceration of the wall slowed my descent.
Viper's body sailed past me—beyond my ability to sense him. There was a resounding impact sound, complete with an awkward SPLASH!!
I prepared for anything. By the time I descended towards the noise, I yanked the blade out and came soaring down.
SPLASH!!!
My feet landed on the ground about two feet deep into a layer of water.
"!!!!"
I lifted the shades off my eyes and got a visual bearing.
I was in a metal, man-made canal of sorts that ran through the center of the processing plant. Perhaps a dried up desalination center. I looked straight up. There was a good forty feet stretching above. It was relatively dark in that spot. Almost pitch black. But it didn't help to realize that he was invisible and I was not.
A series of splashes to my right announced an invisible, charging figure. A silver sword sparked into existence and sailed down at my right shoulder.
I spun out of the slice at the last second, took a panicked breath, and dashed towards the nearest wall.
Only one way to play this game…
I splashed out of the water, ran up the wall, backflipped off, smoked away into invisibility in mid-air, and landed on blurred feet on a patch of water. I managed to perch myself weightlessly on the water's surface—sword raised—in a cloaked state.
I breathed slowly, evenly, in and out the nostrils. Every meditative facet of my being was focused on absolute stillness. Silence. Peace.
I held Myrkblade horizontally by the hilt and rested my fingers on the broadside of the wood.
Smoke danced momentarily out from under my shades—but it was not a smoke that someone could see. I was using the blackness to my advantage. Not even a nocturnal animal could spot my shadow. And my blurred feet resting atop the water kept me from revealing my location.
And, in such a state, I waited. I waited for the deadly Avatar of Silence himself to give away his position.
I tested his mettle.
Slowly.
Straining.
A minute passed and I hadn't moved.
Years of practicing the balance of awkward positions for long periods of time more than prepared me for this situation.
He was in my domain now……
I kept my breaths steady. I so very much wanted to practice my spatial sense and see where he was around me. But to do so would most likely sacrifice the balance of my other powers honed in on that constant perch.
So I remained still…..still………….still……
Silence.
………………..
"………………"
……………….
"…………….."
………………
………………
………………
……………a ripple.
My brow furrowed.
A ripple………then tiny waves of water lapping up against my blurred boots.
I tense my body.
Ripples coming from the right.
I let out a silent cry, flipped sideways to the right, and slashed down hard.
SWOOOSH!!!
SLIINK!
Warm liquid flew.
My opponent's voice gasped.
A rush of cold air.
I dodged his sword.
I stabbed at him again. CLANK!!!
Deafening contact.
Hot breaths.
Swinging and swinging.
Mighty limbs.
I ducked and leapt backwards out of his fury.
SPLASH!!
I landed deep into the water.
I shot murk out through the liquid and found where the nearest wall was.
I held my breath as I sensed him charging through the waves and bringing his sword down.
I teleported myself through the underwater trails of smoke, up the wall, materialized, and bounced off it.
I flipped in my descent.
Blurred my feet. Landed in a squatting pose.
And concentrated.
Meditating….meditating….meditating…. Still.
Silent.
Standing on the waters. Silent…………
"…………."
…………..
…………..
…………..
………….
I gritted my teeth. Sweat ran down.
Three minutes passed.
………….
………….
………….
………….
My fingers re-gripped Myrkblade.
I waited.
I breathed steadily.
Five minutes.
Silence……
…………
…………
…………
…………
…………shuffle.
I sprang a spin immediately towards it.
SPLASSSSSSH!!!
SWOOOSH-CLANG!!!
My Myrkblade immediately made contact with his sword.
Damn!!
After blocking, Viper lifted his leg and kicked me hard in the chest.
I fell back and went splashing through the canal like a skipping stone across a black lake.
I flipped over, turned into smoke form, and teleported backwards a dozen feet into a ready posture with my sword.
My trailing murk sensed Viper charging at me with heavy feet.
Sparking limbs cut through water like a diamond to glass.
His sword was raised high—soon disappearing out of existence. Splash Splash Splash Splash Splash……
I gripped hard to Myrkblade, took a deep breath, and summoned a huge warbling aura of Destruction through it.
Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash!
Smoke danced out under my shades. I ground my teeth. Myrkblade became an obsidian blade.
SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!
He was on me. Sword swinging.
I let out a silent scream and flung all of my power at him at once with a forward slash of Myrkblade. SWOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!!!!
The waters in the canal parted like the Red Sea. A stream of shadowed Destruction cut back in the opposite direction. Viper's invisible body was sent tumbling through the liquid as the whole abyss shook and warbled with the unleashing of my pent up murk.
There was a metallic groan from above.
I looked up. I gasped.
A shattered catwalk came crashing down.
I backflipped out of the way.
SPLASH!!!!
CRACK!!!
The canal shattered. Cracks flew up the walls. Water started draining.
Amidst the confusion, I extended a hand and shot smoke over the rubbled ground like a sheet. Feeling for the enemy.
No luck.
I lifted the shades from over my eyes.
I saw a sparking figure climbing up the far side of the canal and making it back to the main level of the plot. Crud………
I immediately turned and ran up the metal wall to my side on murked feet.
I rounded up on the surface and looked immediately in the direction of Viper.
But he was gone.
Vanished in thin air.
Crud!!!
I spun around, panting.
He could be anywhere.
I spun around again.
Any place!
I was so overwhelmed with my loss, I neglected to go into a cloaked mode to escape Viper's sight.
I was foolish.
Vulnerable. Vulnerable……
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
In Viper's invisible world, the villain vaulted up onto a higher platform of the plant. He caught his breath—wincing from a deep wound in his back from the dark Titan swordsman. He limped forward through a dark hallway and found himself overlooking another huge chamber. It too was shrouded in darkness.
Viper snaked along by the railing of a catwalk over the black chamber. His sparking limbs functioned in perfect order so as to equalize all pressure in movement and make the least amount of sound of contact of body-to-metal as possible. Years of constant exercise and practice had honed his talents down to an expert mastery of silence. It was his own saving card. His one salvation.
And yet….Viper had a weakness….
clink clink……
Viper froze.
clink clink……
The villain looked over the side of the catwalk's railing.
Deep down in the corridor, dozens of feet below, a lone figure stood by a wall. A tall figure with a bandanna. A sword by his side. Slowly, the silhouette clanked his weapon against the metal floor. Testing the foundation. Sending smoke power—most likely—through its structure to find Viper's position.
But the villain was far above the shrouded Titan's range of spatial sense. And he knew this. And he smirked.
clink clink…
Viper slowly, silently unsheathed his broadsword. He gripped the railing of the catwalk silently.
clink clink…
Viper climbed over the railing. One snaking leg after another. Invisible. A spark or two, but nothing more.
He leaned his body over once….twice…three times…and then flew down.
Forty feet he fell and---
No sound. He brought his entire body down in a graceful crouch as soon as his feet strongly met the metal floor. With precise meditation, not even a slight shuffling was made. Viper was silence itself. Death itself. And Death was presently walking towards the tall shadow a few feet off.
clink clink…
Viper's feet moved swiftly. One in front of the other. Like a macabre ballet. He grinned.
The shadow seemed closer.
clink clink clink……
Viper proceeded to spin his sword vertically from side to side. Only when he was close enough to make a kill did it finally kiss the air enough to produce soundwaves.
swoosh…..swoosh……swoosh….swoosh….swoosh swoosh swoosh Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH--
…he knelt, flexed his arms, and struck sideways….
CLANK!!!!
Viper's broadsword came to a dead stop.
His invisible eyes blinked.
The tall shadow wasn't a Titan. It was a pipe. The bandanna was a utility belt fastened at the top. The sword was a bow resting against the structure.
A grappling hook attached to a birdarang was resting in front of a hole in the vertical pipe that constantly blew out cool air, forcing the metal weapon to lift off and fall back via cord into the cylindrical structure in a rhythmic fashion.
clink……clink……clink………
"……..," Viper slowly stood up.
He gulped.
There was a padding of boots.
He spun around.
Robin's fist flew straight into his face.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SMACK!!!!
Viper's body materialized as he flew backwards in slow motion from the Boy Wonder's impact.
Robin jumped up, cape billowing, spun around, growled, and struck the broad side of his leg straight into Viper's side.
WHAM!!!!
Time resumed. Viper smashed straight into the pipe so hard, he bent it thirty degrees from the ceiling.
Robin wasn't finished. He landed from his kick and immediately jumped up with a bird-kick upside the sparking villain's chin.
CRACK!!!
Blood flew as Viper's nose shattered. He somersaulted backwards from the impact, sparked back into invisibility, but trailed blood as he slid across the metal floor and towards a lonely window that shone in the dim, morning light.
Speedy jumped down behind Robin. He hoisted up his bow and tossed Robin his utility Belt.
Robin reattached it and immediately whipped out a hand ful of razor-sharp discs. "Hide and seek, asshole."
Speedy drew a heat-seeking arrow. "You're it."
PTWIFTT!!!!
Viper jumped up. His startled, bleeding face could be seen for a split second before he turned invisible and made a sparking run for it.
SWOOOOOOOOSH!!
The arrow curved in mid air and followed the invisible target. It wound all the way around the dark corridor, weaving in and around pipes, zooming over desalination equipment. Metal carts and abandoned toolboxes fell over a few feet before the zooming projectile—hinting of the invisible Viper's panicked escape from the heat seeker. At one point, the arrow streaked up the wall, looped off, zipped around the catwalk, and then straight down at a spray of dust on the ground way below. A sparking figure flickered momentarily—running towards Robin and Speedy—and the arrow flitted in pursuit.
Robin took a breath and flung three discs straight at the space in front of the arrow.
SW-SW-SWOOOSH!!
SLIINK!!
A spray of blood.
A gasp.
Dust flew off the ground.
The arrow followed, zooming down—but grinding futilely into the metal.
"Damn it!" Speedy cursed and readied an ice arrow.
A sparking figure—sliding past them—jumped up and rammed straight into Speedy.
"OOF!!" the archer stumbled aside and awkwardly let loose his arrow into mid air.
The sparking figure tried to escape.
Robin thought fast. He whipped out a grappling hook and shot at the streaking ice arrow aimed at the ceiling.
POW!!
CLUNK!!
The hook managed to catch the broadside of Speedy's ice arrow.
Robin pulled back at the grappler with all his weight.
He successfully swung the arrow around like a slingshot and towards the villain's location.
The Boy Wonder let go just in time for the cord to wrap around an invisible body. The arrow spun around a column of air until there was no slack to the cord left.
TKKKKK!!!!! The ice arrow flashed and a Viper-shaped column of frost appeared just a few feet away.
Robin ran and performed a flying kick straight at it. "Rrrrrrraaaugh!!!!"
SMASH!!!!!
Sharp shards of ice flew every which way.
Viper's materialized body sailed back, slammed into the ground, and slid a melted trail towards the dim window.
Robin landed, squatted, and jumped up to charge the villain. Viper got up, picked up a sharp chunk of ice, and launched it straight at Robin's throat.
The Boy Wonder gasped.
SWOOOOOSH-CHING!!!!
I flew in, slicing the shard safely in half with Myrkblade. No sooner had I landed, I let out a silent scream and blurred towards Viper with my Myrkblade held high.
He stood as I charged him.
Thump Thump Thump THUMP THUMP—CLANG!!!
Our swords clashed.
He smirked and disappeared.
AAAAARGH!!!
I spun with my sword like a mad man. Smoke and murk burned in the air.
Cold air sang against my ears as his invisible figure madly swung his silver broadsword in a similar fashion.
Rushing air. Near misses. Two blind swordsment in a flurry of fury.
Between every dodge there was a clash of blades. Between every clash there was a gasp for air. Between each gasp was a heart beat and a rush of G-Force as one of us jumped or one of us blurred or one of us teleported or one of us materialized briefly before spinning to strike another blow.
And then—as I was starting to sweat my face off--
WHUMP!!!
He kicked me hard in the side.
I fell back, half flipped, and landed painfully—awkwardly—on my back square between my shoulders. My feet stood up towards the ceiling.
I sensed Viper raising his blade.
Soon I would have no more legs………
PTWIFFFT!!
Speedy's arrow flew in and struck an invisible shoulder.
"!!!!"
Viper stumbled.
Just what I needed.
I flexed every muscle in my body. I squinted my black eyes shut.
My body blurred and I rotated, spun, and slashed outward with Myrkblade while vaulting up to my feet.
SWOOOOOOOOSH-SWOOSH-THWACK!!!!!
There was a loud hissing sound…the sound of someone with paralyzed vocal cords doing his damn best to scream.
Once on my feet, my eyes followed two things as they flew up in the air and landed across the floor with a splatter of crimson.
Viper's sword….and his severed right hand…
The fleshy stub bled from under the thick glove still clutching to the hilt of the broadsword.
All three of us looked aside as a sparking figure materialized for good. Viper clutched his bleeding dismemberment and leaned back against the window. He hissed through pained teeth and glared at us with bulbous eyes of anger and shock.
"We see you, Viper…," Robin pointed. "Give up. Now."
Speedy walked forward, aiming an arrow. "You don't have many limbs left. For your sake, I suggest you not argue…"
I spun Myrkblade into a pose.
….and smirked.
Viper glared.
We all squared off against him.
And then….he smirked.
Ignoring the leaking reality of his bloody stub, he stood up straight, bowed, and then jumped backwards. As time slowed down, he flipped and smashed through the tall, dimly lit window. But before exiting, he held his left hand up and tossed a black, spinning object at us.
The three of us parted ways.
The object flew across the corridor and embedded itself into the wall.
Beeping.
"What is that?!" Speedy asked.
Robin ran up to it. He examined it up close, and then his eyemask widened dramatically. "It's a carbonite bomb! And it's set to blow!!"
"What?!?!" Speedy gasped and holstered his bow back beside his quiver. "That'll take out this whole structure alone! We won't stand a chance!"
"Maybe not…..maybe so….," Robin grunted. He spun and called out to me: "Noir! We've got to head back to the others!"
I was perched at the shattered window. Looking down. Wind kicked at my long hair as I spied a long stretch of river adjacent to the building.
No sign of Viper.
"Noir!!"
I sighed, sheathed Myrkblade, and gestured emphatically to Robin before running after the two.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Everyone! Everyone!" Robin ran back into the room where Raven, Beast Boy, and the law enforcers were. "We have an emergency."
"Where's Viper?" Raven asked.
"We won't have to worry about him," Robin said.
Speedy rushed up. "There's a carbonite bomb set to detonate any second!"
Everyone gasped.
"No way….," Beast Boy exclaimed.
"We could never get out of the blast fast enough…," Decker mumbled.
"He could," Speedy pointed at me. "But that doesn't leave the rest of us in good shape."
"What'll we do?!?!" Beast Boy exclaimed.
Raven's eyes narrowed. "Robin…tell everyone to huddle together as close as they can."
"What good will that do?!"
Raven looked at him. "I think I can be of use here."
"But you can't hold off an exploding building!!" Beast Boy exclaimed.
"What makes you say that?"
"You've never done it before!!"
"Still doesn't mean a thing," said Raven simply. "I've been meditating hard. I'm prepared. We haven't got any time to argue."
"At least….at least……we need something to amplify your powers!" Robin said.
"And fast!" Beast Boy said, panicky.
I held up my blade.
"No…," Raven shook her head. "I don't see how we can combine our powers, Noir."
"If only Starfire was here….," Robin mumbled.
"Fire!" Speedy jumped. He pulled out an red arrow. "If I let loose an explosive arrow head, could you somehow manipulate it as some sort of counter-effect of the inevitable blast wave??"
Raven nodded. "I can try."
"Try?!?!" Beast Boy gulped.
"Sounds like she knows what she's doing….," Commissioner Decker said.
Robin smiled.
"Then it is settled…," Raven said.
"Everyone! Get close together!! Here!! Now!!"
SWAT Team members, police officers, hostages, and heroes alike all gathered around the dark girl.
She flexed her arms underneath her blue robe and took deep breaths. "Must…..concentrate…..must….concentrate…."
I placed a hand on her shoulder.
"…..???" she looked up at me form under her hood.
I took off my shades and looked deep into her eyes. Despite the blinding pain it caused me, I bore my black eyes firmly into her soul and raised Myrkblade up a few inches from the center of my face. As if to meditate.
Raven nodded. "Thanks, Noir. I will center myself." A pause. "We……will center ourselves."
I nodded slowly. Firmly.
She lowered her eyes. She took one last, huge breath.
"Now, Speedy…"
"Head's up!" the archer spun the red arrow. Drew it. Aimed directly up….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The carbonite detonator rested in the wall.
It beeped once. Twice.
A last time. And…..
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
BOOOOOOM!!!!
The entire building shook.
Random people cried out in fear.
Speedy grit his teeth and let loose on the arrow.
PTWIFFFT!!!
It soared straight up in the air.
The place heated up.
Things started to crumble.
The arrow fell back down.
In the distance, a wall of flame erupted and flew towards us.
The arrow reached the tops of our heads.
"Azarath…Metrion…ZINTHOS!!!"
Raven shot her arms up.
A shield of obsidian formed a dome over our heads.
Speedy's arrow erupted in flames against it.
FWOOOOM!!!
Raven's glowing eyes narrowed.
Her fingers curled.
The dome warped upwards, swallowed the firewall, and stretched back down protectively over us—twice as reinforced.
And that's when the wall of destruction hit.
SWOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!
Fire and debris and metal shards and all sorts of rubble bounce off the black shield. Everyone flinched. Everyone ducked and covered themselves.
Everyone except for Raven and I.
I meditated along with her to give her strength.
She grit her teeth and her arms shook.
"It's….too……..m-much….."
I stared firmly at her. My black eyes smoked. I ran a pair of fingers down the dull side of my wooden Myrkblade.
Raven watched with twitching eyes of bright gray.
"Must……stay…..f-focused….."
I slowly nodded and kept her eyesight.
She kept staring at me. Straining.
"You can do it, Raven!!" Beast Boy shouted.
"Hang in there!" Robin added.
"We're not going to make it!!" Decker shouted.
"Don't….s-say…..that!" Raven grunted. The skin on her temples pulled tight. "Only….makes….it….worse!"
SWOOOOOOSH!!!!
A cyclone of fire danced over us. The black shield warbled. The air's temperature rose by ten degrees.
"Rrrrrrrrrrghhhhh!!!!!" Raven's eyes clenched shut. Her wrists started to twitch. The black dome began caving in.
People gasped.
I swiftly reached in and grabbed her hands.
Raven gasped.
I clenched my eyes shut.
Smoke traveled up my arms, surrounded her wrists, and steadied her ams.
She exhaled.
Her fingers steadied themselves.
Thanks to our combined meditation, the dome regained its shape.
A few more seconds passed, and the rubble and fire cleared away.
The dim morning sky stretched over us.
All the officers cheered.
"Raven…."
She gritted her teeth. "Raven!!" Robin emphasized.
Her eyes popped open. Back to normal. She panted.
"You can stop now…."
She relaxed her hands in my grip.
The dome disappeared.
Everything cooled down.
Her eyelids closed. She sighed and fell forward.
I gently steadied her. Speedy came by and helped me hold Raven up by her shoulders.
"Nnnnghh…," Raven shook her head and managed to open her eyes weakly. "Suddenly….a frozen Slurpee doesn't seem so bad anymoe…."
Beast Boy giggled.
I smiled and put my shades back on.
"Let's hear it for Raven!!" Speedy cheered.
People clapped and whistled.
Robin folded his arms and sighed forth a smile.
Decker wiped his brow and looked out at the wasted landscape. "Looks like we'll be going home after all…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Meanwhile….
Across Town….
In an abandoned field in the north, the Jermaine Airport resided. Long forgotten. Scrapped as a holding site for retired airplanes and utility vehicles.
A lone pickup truck drove up a dirt road to one of the two, dusty hangars.
The vehicle came to a stop and three shady characters walked out.
"You heard what happened to Williams?" one asked.
"Yeah. Same thing that happened to Schauer, right?"
"Nah. Schauer is a sob story all on his own. Williams was executed per Dagger's request. That we know for sure."
"What for?"
"'Incompetence' or some shit."
"Guess we'd better be watchful," said one as they unlocked a personnel door from the outside. "Or else the boss will have our necks too."
"Heheh…"
They walked into the hangar.
Suddenly, a blinding searchlight shone down on them from a catwalk.
Out from crates of secret weapons and storage, a throng of armed police officers shouted: "FREEZE!" and held the group at gunpoint. "You're under arrest!"
The three hesitantly raised their hands over their heads…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"You mean…..it's over?!" Cyborg exclaimed as his medical bed was pivoted up and he easily stepped out, flexing his titanium muscles. "The rest of the arsenal has been found?!"
"Simple as that!" Robin smiled. "Almost too simple, come to think of it."
"Tell me about it," Raven mumbled.
Cyborg walked over to the center of the laboratory. "Well, all right! So Viper had the missing link! It was worthwhile to work on both searches simultaneously all along!"
"Don't you love it when things start working together?" Speedy smirked with his arms crossed. "The city's safe from Viper, your power's back, and your big hunt for weapons seems just about over."
"All that's left is Starfire," Beast Boy motioned.
Robin looked over at the sleeping Tamaranian. "Yeah…..about her, I—"
"Got a message while you were all gone kicking Viper's butt," Cyborg smiled.
Robin did a double-take. "You did?"
"Sub-space signal," Cyborg smirked. "A doctor named Morgan'm. He's visiting straight from Tamaran to revive Starfire from her hormonal unconsciousness thingy. He should be here as earliest as tomorrow afternoon in his galactic transport."
"YES!!" Robin cheered.
We all jumped away from him, startled.
"Er….I mean….," he cleared his throat. "Yes…that's good news. Good news indeed."
"Heheh….," Beast Boy sweatdropped.
"Things aren't exactly over, of course," Raven spoke. She gestured over towards a table that held an assortment of various weapon prototypes and devices. "We have many things to analyze here. Many of which might unlock more of this 'Dagger' mystery."
"And perhaps explain if Slade's had his hand in a thing or two," Robin said.
I nodded.
"And lookee here!" Cyborg picked up a black square attached to a cord. "Is this what I think it is?"
"A speech…um….inducer thingy," Beast Boy scratched his neck. "We found a couple of those at ground zero, still in tact."
"I always thought these things were an urban myth!" Cyborg beamed. He smiled at me. "You could make some use out of the same thing Viper used, Noir! Think about it!" He set it back down onto the table before us. "With a few implants and experimentation, you could be made to talk just like he could! And—"
SWOOOOSH-SMASH!!!!
Everyone gasped and jumped back. Even Raven.
I took a deep breath and sheathed Myrkblade after having sliced the device in half. I stood, panting, and staring firmly at the group of fellow Titans. Solemnly, I swiveled around and headed out the door on heavy feet.
Slowly, everyone looked to the floor in silence.
Eventually, it was Beast Boy who said: "There's……th-there's gonna be a memorial….for the victims, r-right?"
"Yeah….," Robin nodded. "Soon……….soon……."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
A jagged knife spun in Dagger's hand, reflecting the amber dance of light in a nearby fireplace. He sat at the desk in his office, his free finger on an intercom machine.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, sir, but it's gone. I-It's all gone…"
"Every piece of weaponry was found by the police?" Dagger spoke calmly.
"Y-Yes, sir. We're so sorry, sir. We were overwhelmed! Even if we had some warning, we couldn't provide enough guards to fight back that sort of—"
"Understood, O'Reilly," Dagger said. "Report to me tomorrow morning and we'll start going back to normal business."
"But sir!! Anderson's arsenal! It's completely gone! Aren't you the least bit—"
"Over and out."
Dagger flipped the intercom off.
He leaned back in his big chair, flipping the knife around.
Silence.
His sleepy eyes glanced up.
"You……."
"Need help, Viper?"
A black figure hobbled into the crimson light of the fire. He hugged a bandaged limb to himself.
"You……owe….me…"
"Nobody owes you but yourself, fool," Dagger spoke firmly without a change in his expression. He swiveled to face the assassin. "It was your obsessive initiative to travel clear across the world and take on the Titans. You loss for your stupidity. Now it has cost you."
"And cost you too….."
"Hardly," Dagger said.
"But did I not just hear your servant speak of the discovered arsenal—"
"All part of the plan."
"Plan??"
"Nothing for you to concern yourself with." Dagger suddenly pulled out a drawer to his desk and reached in side. "Here." He tossed a robotic, right hand down onto the floor in front of Viper. "Take it. Stone's craft. Lord knows, you'll need it."
Viper looked down at the hand, then slowly glared up at Dagger.
"You knew……."
"Naturally I did."
"No….you knew before hand….," Viper's voice electronically hissed. He clenched his lasting fist. "Somehow you did. Who're you working with?!"
"That'll be all, Viper," Dagger looked away and waved him off. "Leave before the smell of blood disgusts me and I get really annoyed."
"How's this for annoyance?!?!" Viper reached with his left hand into the fireplace, grabbed a hard metal poker, and swung it hard down at Dagger's skull. "RAAAAUGH!!!"
Dagger raised a thin wrist up…..and blocked the poker effortlessly. CLANG!!!! Viper stumbled back, gasping electronically. "What?! How could you—"
Dagger spun out of his chair in an instant and kicked Viper in the chest.
The tiny impact somehow sent the assassin flying across the room and slamming into a suit of oriental armor in the corner.
He groaned and squinted painfully up as Dagger walked over and leered over the man.
"How can you do that? It's inhuman!"
"Trade secret…," Dagger grunted. "It's not your concern who I am working with as of late, you sad excuse for an orphan. But do know that whoever it is, I've been granted with a special gift for understanding…..fate…"
Viper blinked. "The Experiment……..I thought it was all made up."
"It is very real, Viper," Dagger glared. "So real, it will end your miserable existence if you don't so much as leave my office with your new hand now."
Viper glared. He stood up, limped over to the hand, and picked it up. Not once did he stop giving Dagger eye contact.
"Mark my words. As long as there is silence in this naked world, you'll have a reason to fear my return."
Dagger didn't even blink. "You'll have to explain to me someday exactly what 'fear' is."
Viper didn't reply. He grabbed his things and leapt out the window.
Dagger paced over to his desk, returned the poker in the fireplace, and sat down.
He leaned his chin on his fingers for a split second.
He pressed a button on the furniture.
A panel in the wooden desktop opened up and a monitor appeared.
Slade's face flickered into view.
"How proceeds it, Dagger?"
Dagger spun the blade between his fingers and leaned back in his chair.
"You were right again, Slade."
"Of course I was right…"
"The Titans fought Viper. Viper spoke his bloated head off. The police discovered the last of the weapon arsenal."
"Everything is falling into place."
"The Titans survived though…."
"As I intended," Slade's image leaned forward. "I want them all alive for when the time comes. Only with everything working like clockwork will the Experiment triumph."
"And the Balance of Morals?"
"Textbook terminology merely, Dagger," Slade gestured. "Your man Schauer served his purpose so long as he was melodramatic. Just know that once the Titans are in my hands, you won't have to worry about them anymore."
"And the City will be mine for three quarters of the share," Dagger replied.
"You can have the entire City for all I care."
"Really now…"
"Don't think you haven't a reason to covet me in the future, Dagger," Slade said. "I intend to achieve something greater than anything I've ever fought for before. The Titans will rush into this reality in perfect victory. And in perfect victory, they will equally know perfect defeat. The relativity of 'success' will flip over on their very noses. It will be a very remarkable thing to see indeed. I almost wish you would be there."
"You have enough company as it stands," Dagger stated. "Tell me…how is she faring?"
"She does not expect a thing," Slade spoke. "I owe you for that. Lord knows the last time I tried to use a 'she'……"
"I have faith in your charisma, Slade," Dagger stuck the knife into the desk. THUMP! He folded his hands. "Surely not your history."
"Surely not…"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I stood in the Main Room.
I stared out at the rising sun through my shades.
I sighed.
A sound came from the computer.
"?????"
I turned.
I walked towards a console, sat down, and moved the mouse.
The screen saver died, and there was a new e-mail.
I opened the mailbox, and there was a single message:
Dear Noir,
Nice job. All of you.
Sincerely,
-The Messenger.
P.S.: Can I come to one of your pool parties some day?
For the first time in days, I felt like laughing out loud.
I sighed, leaned back in the chair, and managed a smile.