82. Kara's Visitor part 8
The next morning….
Raven sat in a lotus position atop a bail of hay besides a stretch of farmland fence. Her eyes were closed. Her fair blue hair drifting gently in a sway of wind or two. She had been meditating since sunrise.
Slowly, a redheaded alien sauntered up innocently behind her. Starfire's hands were behind her back.
"Raven…I do apologize for intruding…," she said. "But Robin desires for the seven of us to gather inside the wooden animal hut."
"The barn?" the dark girl asked without looking.
Starfire nodded. "Now that the five pieces of Kryptonite have been gathered, Cyborg has run a brand new analysis and he thinks he knows where Metallo's cache of the material is."
"Sounds excellent…," Raven droned with her eyes closed. "If you all would grant me just ten more minutes. I am almost complete with my meditation…"
Starfire leaned her head to the side. "You seem considerably less tense than yesterday afternoon, Raven. Has meditation assisted sufficiently in silencing your troubles?"
"Not 'silencing', Star. 'Rationalizing' is more like it," Raven spoke from atop the hay. "It is high time I put my silly suspicions to the side. I feel that—ever since we joined Supergirl—I have been letting my emotions get out of control. It is not a wise thing to let them go unchecked. I am overdue in my meditation. So if you would be so kind as to grant me the ten more minutes that I have requested…then I should be a much more pleasant teammate to deal with come the time I join you in the barn."
"Understood," Starfire nodded. "I shall inform the others that you will be joining us shortly."
"Thank you, Starfire," Raven nodded.
The alien girl turned around, smiled and walked off. "I am most elated!" she spoke to no one in general as she went along. "Everyone seems to be in such good spirits! Especially Kara and Noir. They have been quite cheerful ever since Cyborg saw them walking back to the farm from the open fields last night hand in hand!"
Raven's blue eyes snapped open.
POW!!!!!!!!
An explosion of black energy occurred in the background and two cows on the other side of the fence tipped over with blood-curdling 'moos'.
"EEK!" Starfire jumped and looked at Raven, panting.
The meditating sorceress sweatdropped. "M-Make that twenty more m-minutes….," she uttered with her trembling back to Starfire.
The Tamaranian gulped. "V-Very well." She scampered back to the barn.
It took a good ninety seconds of struggling for Raven to get her eyes serenely closed again.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"There!" Cyborg pointed at a 3-D hologram of Smallville. Specifically he singled out a flashing green dot in the northwest quadrant of the schematic. "There was a really big cluster of kryptonite emissions in that specific spot about an hour and a half ago. If the computer analysis assisted by the stuff we found is correct."
"Metallo's train?" Beast Boy remarked.
"Not possible," Robin shook his head. "The one car with the huge load of Kryptonite is sealed off in lead. It's gotta be something else that we were detecting."
"I'm guessing Metallo had found another clump of Kryptonite somewhere…and was in the process of stuffing them into Intergang's train car."
"Which means….," Robin's voice lingered.
"They could be somewhere on the railroad track northwest of here still!"
I scratched my chin and looked over at Supergirl. We were all in uniform. Her included.
"Do you think it's too risky to try and get a jump on them?" the Girl of Steel remarked.
"With Metallo, anything's risky," Robin said.
Beast Boy rubbed a still-aching head. "Tell me about it, dude…"
"But it's worth a shot…at least to scope him out," Robin said.
Raven stepped into the barn and drew her robe over her head. "How do we even know they haven't moved far away from that piece of railroad tracks?"
"Hey Raven," Supergirl waved.
The sorceress didn't respond. She continued speaking to Cyborg and Robin: "They could be anywhere at this point."
"If we are to search for them," Cyborg said, "…just a simple sweep of the railroad tracks will do. We can decide what to do from there. Especially if we actually do find them."
"In other words…," Raven droned, "…it's a perfect shot in a dark."
"A positive shot in the dark, regardless," Robin said.
"…..," Raven was silent.
Supergirl smiled at me.
I smiled back.
Beast Boy cleared his throat. "So….are we gonna go or not?"
"Caution would be advisable," Starfire said. "We have not forgotten about the bomb contained within Metallo's pectorals, have we?"
"Right…this should be an act of stealth," Robin said. He looked my way. "We may be needing a great deal of your assistance, Noir."
I gave a pleasant thumb's up.
"We shouldn't put him in unnecessary danger," Raven remarked, gathering everyone's attention. "I think we should seek out other Kryptonite locations and gather enough material to put the pressure on Metallo in this 'mining' race. After all, that was the original plan."
"I hate to say it, Rae…," Cyborg gestured at the T-Car's computer. "But as big a sample of Kryptonite that we got from yesterday—total—I still can't zero in on those residual signatures. All I picked up was where Metallo and his crew could be. To hunt down anything else would be a wild goose chase, whereas Metallo and Intergang seem to know exactly where to go. God knows what there source is. It's mind-boggling."
"And storming the train head-on is seriously going to help out anymore??" Raven remarked.
"Come on, girl!" Supergirl smiled with her hands to her hips. "Sometimes a little risk is necessary! You want to make progress like the rest of us, don't you?? Well…hehehe…sometimes ya gotta push it to the metal!"
Raven frowned. "I am not so inclined to aggressive, costly tactics." She looked over at Robin. "And usually…neither is any other member of the Titans."
Robin took a deep breath.
Supergirl blinked, her smile fading.
Starfire bit her lip. "Friends…," she remarked. "There will be no progress made if we are at least not in agreement. Should we approach Intergang's train for the Kryptonite or should we not?"
"We shouldn't," Raven folded her arms. "It is bold, reckless, and foolish. A tactic most unfitting of a Titan…but indicative of a more amateur superhero." She glared at Supergirl.
Supergirl glared back.
I sweatdropped.
"Raven, we will be together…all of us," Starfire said. "Are we not all properly equipped as a team for any emergency situation?"
"I, for one, think so," Robin stepped forward. He looked at the dark girl in particular as he spoke: "We're going to the train. It's the only alternative available to us now."
Raven gasped: "But—"
"Do you have any better ideas, Raven?"
Silence.
Cyborg looked at everyone…then at Raven.
The dark girl frowned. "If you are willing to take responsibility for the consequences, then proceed with your command, Robin."
The Boy Wonder nodded. "I always take responsibility. You should know that, Raven."
The girl folded her arms and glared at the ground of the barn.
"Wellllllll," Beast Boy simpered and motioned towards the open barn doors. "What say we….ya know….stop thinking and just start moving?"
"Agreed," Starfire smiled.
"All aboard," Cyborg hopped into the T-Car. Beast Boy and Robin joined him. The android Titan started the engine and proceeded to back the vehicle out of the wooden structure. "We better make haste. Enough time has passed since the time the computer took its reading."
Starfire nodded and floated after the boys. I followed on foot.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Sheesh…," Beast Boy shivered as the blue and white convertible silently coasted out onto the grass of the farmland and past the Kents' house. "I swear….sometimes Raven gives me the willies."
"It happens," Cyborg shrugged from the driver's seat. "She's right in a lot of ways, though. This is gonna be a somewhat risky endeavor. She doesn't need to be so cold about delivering that message of warning, though."
"We all have our ways of conveying stuff," Robin shrugged from the passenger seat. "Let's not hold it against Raven."
"Dude! Who says we were?"
I walked alongside the car and slowly stepped into the rear passenger's seat. As Starfire flew over me and we all prepared to leave, I became aware of John and Martha Kent standing on the patio and observing us.
"Gonna go out and kick some more butt?" John smiled.
Cyborg nodded. "Yup! And hopefully bring back more rewards of the chase too!"
Martha chuckled pleasantly. "You kids be careful! You may be heroes, but you're young yet!"
"It's enough we have to look after one super teen!" John gestured with a smirk. "Much less seven of them!"
Starfire giggled in mid air. "You are such a happy couple, Mr. and Mrs. Kent. It is always a pleasure conversing with you!"
"Same back at ya, Missy!"
I took a deep breath and stared at the Kents through my shades. Again, I was feeling an eeriness about this whole situation. We were on a hunt to find the very stuff that make 'Kara Kent' faint…and yet John and Martha seemed so calm about it. Giddy and pleasant even. Like a slice of a classic t.v. sitcom.
Some things were simply unbelievably good…
That is to say, 'some people'.
I turned around and realized that we were missing two people.
Two girls.
I glanced back at the barn and felt a lump in my throat.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Supergirl paused in mid-flight at the door. She twirled about—her blonde hair cascading—and looked at Raven. "What're you standing around for?! Aren't you coming?"
Raven took a fuming breath. Her arms were folded. Her blue eyes were gazing intently into the ground. She was fighting….fighting….
"Okay! I give up!" Supergirl frowned and landed on her feet. She padded over towards Raven. "What is your deal?! You obviously don't like me! Might as well come out with it!"
Raven glared up at her. "I want you to tell me and the rest of the Titans what you are hiding."
Supergirl recoiled. "Huh?!?!" Her sapphire eyes blinked. "I'm not hiding anything!! Why're you so suspicious of me?!"
"I can sense things most heroines can't," Raven said firmly. "Ask any one who's worked with me. I pick up on empathically on feelings. I can detect dishonesty."
"And just what am I being dishonest about?!" Supergirl spat.
"I can't say. Only you can."
"Ohhhhhh ho ho ho!! That's rich! You're accusing me just for the sake of accusing me. Can't you be more creative than that?"
"End the ploy!" Raven stepped forward and pointed a finger into Supergirl's sternum, making the heroine jump. "There's more at hand here than Intergang and Metallo! And you know it!"
"If there was, I would have told you and the Titans by now," Supergirl narrowed her blue eyes. "Not all of us are ambiguous in the way we talk about stuff."
"I'm trying to get right to the point," Raven fumed. "You're the one being evasive."
"Oh really?!" Supergirl waved her arms out the barn door. "Let's take this outside! In front of the other Titans! Let them all hear your accusations, Raven! See if they agree with you!"
"……," the sorceress was silent.
Supergirl smirked bitterly. "Ah….there's the rub. You're more than willing to defame me here. Alone. In the shadows. But you're not brave enough to risk looking mean and bitchy in front of the other Titans. Is that part of your whole 'no feely' meditation habit? Maybe we should get to know each other a bit more Raven so that you can explain these high and mighty things to me!"
"They trust you too much…," Raven shook her head. "They wouldn't believe me. Besides…why dash their feelings into the ground—"
"That's not what you care about!" Supergirl pointed. She grinned mischievously. "Or maybe it's not exactly all of them that you're worried about making me look bad in front of!"
Raven gave the Girl of Steel a sideways glance of suspicion. "What are you getting at…..?"
"It's Jordan, isn't it?"
"….."
"Hey! I'm not blind!" Supergirl placed her hands on her hips and smirked. "I see it! Surely the other Titans see it too! You think of him as more than 'a friend'….don't you?"
"……."
"Don't you???"
"If the Titans aren't 'blind', then surely they would have seen something that you couldn't have," Raven spat. "Something which you couldn't have seen because you don't know me. You've not been around me long enough to understand it. I can't afford deep feelings for anyone. Not even Jordan. If I was to be open with emotions…I could open a door. A very treacherous door through which a dark entity closely linked to my powers could come through."
"But admit it!" Supergirl jabbed her finger into Raven's chest this time. "If you could open your emotions to any of the Titans…you'd choose Jordan first. Wouldn't you??"
Raven bit her lip.
"And it just makes you so sick and angry…," Supergirl winked. "To see how much he and I get along…"
Raven's fists clenched. But regardless, she stuck true to her words: "That doesn't matter. It's not the issue here."
"Prove it!"
Raven continued: "The issue here is that you're hiding something! And even now, as we speak, you're changing the subject by bringing Noir into this!"
"Don't explode this into something it really isn't! Be honest and primitive, girl! You're jealous—"
"I don't care if you and Noir are close!" Raven exclaimed. Her voice echoed in the barn.
Supergirl swallowed nervously.
Raven's eyes narrowed. "And if you must know….I….I-I am happy."
Supergirl raised an eyebrow.
"But….," Raven took a deep, painful sigh, "I-I do care for Noir. But only as a friend. And as a friend, I do not want to see him hurt. As much as I don't want to see any of the Titans hurt. And quite frankly—Supergirl—no matter how much you try and change the subject, you're hiding something. And I'm not going to stand by idly and see someone deceive one of my friends to the point he suffers in the end. The Titans have suffered enough lies and betrayal. I have no tolerance left. And I frankly don't give a damn if you're the legendary Supergirl. I care about my teammates too much to ignore this any longer. Now out with it. The truth and nothing but the truth—"
"Something tells me you know enough truth as it is…," Supergirl practically hissed.
Raven gritted her teeth. "I want to know more."
Supergirl glared at Raven.
Raven glared at Supergirl.
A rush of wind blew in through the opening in the barn and slightly disturbed their otherwise granite poses.
Tense silence lingered between the two…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The T-Car rested by the exit gates of the farm and the whole group of us was prepared to go.
Starfire hovered over us. She looked around anxiously.
"What's taking them so long?" Cyborg remarked.
"Are they still in the barn?" Beast Boy scratched his head.
I turned around again. I blinked under my shades. I watched a figure float over.
"Is everything allright?" Starfire asked Supergirl.
The Girl of Steel flew over and sighed depressingly. "Sort of…."
"Where's Raven?" Robin asked.
Supergirl shrugged. "She says she's not coming."
"Say what??" Cyborg remarked.
"Something about 'foolish tactics' and all that jazz," Supergirl gestured.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Figures….spoil sport…," Beast Boy muttered.
"It's not like Raven to not join us in a mission," Robin remarked, looking sick. He tilted his head up towards Supergirl. "You sure she really meant it?"
"Hey…," Supergirl chuckled helplessly. "I'm not about to cross that lady! Man…she can be downright scary sometimes! Heheheh!"
"This is most distressing," Starfire looked sad and wrung her hands. "Allow me to go back to the barn and speak with her—"
"I wouldn't advise it," Supergirl held a hand up. "She's not in a good mood."
"Lemme guess….," Beast Boy rubbed his chin and smirked. "A little bit of femininity and a touch of the canine?"
"Well hinted," Supergirl winked.
"Man…and what timing too," Cyborg muttered.
I looked back at the barn. I was about to get out and have a talk with the dark girl---
"Let's get a move on…," Robin grumbled. "If Raven refuses to help us out, there's nothing we can do to dissuade her. I've worked with her longer than any of you. Believe me…let's let her just have her way."
"Agreed," Starfire gulped.
"Agreed indeed," Supergirl nodded.
"At least she can guard home base," Cyborg shrugged and shifted into gear. "Ya know…watch over the green stuff."
"Whatever," Robin moaned.
The T-Car cruised along.
"We shall follow closely!" Starfire said from above the road.
"Yup!" Supergirl smiled. She waved at me and blew a kiss. "Cya at the ranch, Jordan!"
I blinked as she flew away.
Beast Boy was looking suavely at me. "Soooooo…..looks like a certain pair of unwitting heroes are getting to know each other better."
But I wasn't paying him any attention. My black eyes were locked on the barn of the farmland that was becoming more and more distant from the rear of the T-Car.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
It was mid afternoon when we reached the Titans. Faint storm clouds lingered in the lower horizon, transforming the air into something hazy with a ghostly presence of faint green. It made me feel twice as sick as I already was.
The T-Car was hidden behind a cluster of trees and hedges in the middle of the Plains. The Titans and I were gathered in a low ditch. We pressed our bodies down into the earth and peered through high grass at a stretch of railroad tracks in the distance. The beat-up train car was there in plain sight. The wrought-iron engine rested still. Silent. The lead-encased car which undoubtedly had Kryptonite was attached to the back of it. Engineers, gunmen, and other Intergang members loitered around the still vehicle on the rails—more or less guarding the site. There was something in their gait that suggested something akin to laziness….lethargy. A total disregard of any danger afoot or aflight.
I took a deep breath, scanning the distant scene with my black, shaded eyes. I glanced at the other Titans. Cyborg, Robin, and Beast Boy were pressed down into the earth on my left. They seemed anxious and impatient. To my right was Supergirl. The wind kicked at her blonde locks and intermittently blocked distant eyes. She was thinking about something distracted. Perhaps distraught.
Starfire was off doing reconnaissance. It was three and a half hours since we left the Kents'. The moment to strike was at hand…if indeed we were going to 'strike'. We just wanted to make sure a certain metal man of mayhem was not nearby.
"What do you suppose Raven's doing right now?" Beast Boy muttered, boredly picking petals off of a wildflower. "Probably sewing stockings….only to throw them in a fireplace."
"Shhhh!" Cyborg hissed. "Not now, man."
"How long has Star been at it?" Robin asked.
"Nearly thirteen minutes now," Cyborg replied.
"Man….I hope she's not going too low."
Cyborg smirked. "If we'd seen her, then we'd have something to worry about."
Robin glanced up at the green sky. "I don't like the look of those clouds she's having to fly through…"
"Dude…she's okay. If she can fling fiery green pieces of crap around she can handle a little lightning!" Beast Boy whispered.
Robin sighed and folded his arms. "I just want to get this over with…"
"Same here, dawg," Cyborg nodded. "You're not alone."
"…..," my gaze lingered on them. I turned and looked at Supergirl.
She sighed…gazing depressingly at the scene far off.
I blinked. I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
She gasped, tense. She looked at me.
I smiled.
She tried smiling back…but it came out with half the energy she initially intended. She then sagged into another sigh and looked down into the grass barely brushing her immaculate face.
I leaned my head to the side.
"Sorry if I'm not so energetic today, Jordan….," she said. "Got a lot on my mind, I guess."
I nodded slowly.
A beat.
She looked at me. "D-Do you trust me, Jordan?"
I raised my eyebrows.
"A-As a friend? As a teammate?" she asked.
I smiled and nodded assuredly.
She swallowed and bit her lip. "As even more?"
"……," I stared at her. I patted her shoulder. I smiled and nodded again.
Supergirl lowered her eyes and sighed. A beat. "Wh-When Starfire comes back….and i-if she gives us a green light….Robin's gonna send you t-to check on the train in stealth mode, isn't he?"
Slowly, I nodded. Most likely, the Boy Wonder was going to…
"Do me favor then, please Jordan?" she opened her eyes. They seemed somewhat moist. "K-Keep safe? Please? No matter how dangerous it may be with Intergang and all…..will you keep safe for me?"
I looked at her sapphire eyes intently. Curious as to the sudden intensity of her concern. I nodded, deadpan. For the first time in a while…I felt concerned for my well-being in the sense that my safety would assure the security of another person.
How good it felt to be self-conscious for once….
It was ironically around that time that Starfire drifted back in.
"Star! You're back!" Robin remarked hoarsely.
Starfire took a deep breath. "I do apologize for the length of time employed in my task. It was most difficult to keep an eye on situation at hand while navigating my way through an increasing thundercloud."
"We're just glad you're back safe," Robin breathed. A beat. He cleared his throat. "R-Report!"
"There are at least ten members of Intergang present," she said. "Two I recognize from our first collective battle with them at the railroad station. The others fit the description of Cyborg from the bridge over August River."
"Then that confirms it," Cyborg said. "Intergang got recruits since our first battle with them. Metallo's getting as much support as possible on this mission."
"Serious crap, dude…," Beast Boy nodded.
"Any idea why they're all just sitting around doing nothing?" Supergirl asked.
Starfire shook her head. "I have no explanation available for that. I was able to get a proper view of the train and those outside of it…but I cannot account for their dialogue. Thus, I cannot understand their motives."
"It's okay, Star," Robin smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You did good. We got a good count of the exterior of the scene thanks to you."
"I accomplished what I could…"
"Any sign of metal head?" Cyborg asked.
Starfire shook her head. "Metallo could not be seen. It does not mean he isn't inside the train car with the Kryptonite."
"And it wouldn't do any good to ask me to have a look," Supergirl added shyly. "X-Ray vision isn't good on lead, remember?"
"Right," Robin nodded. "But we need to get closer."
Everyone looked at me.
I took a deep breath and nodded.
"We're counting on you, Noir," Robin said. "Keep in contact with me through morse code, okay?"
I raised a metallic thumb's up.
"And stay out of sight, whatever you do. Take as much time as you need to get a good look around and report back to us on the fly."
"Dude….should he actually go inside the train?"
"We'll deal with that when the time comes," Robin said. He looked back at me again. "You ready?"
I nodded. I unsheathed Myrkblade and started summoning murk to cloak my figure.
As I stood up, I felt a hand on my hip. I looked down.
Supergirl looked up at me. "……."
I looked down at her. "……"
She smiled.
I smiled. I lifted my shades long enough to expose a black eye and wink it.
And then I disappeared.
Invisible, I stepped across the landscape. I went slowly, so as to not part the tall grass and form a visible trail. But the wind was growing stronger and stronger anyways, and there was not much contrast between me and the breeze-blown field. A cold downdraft came in from the bottoms of the thunderclouds. My invisible black strands of hair danced around my neck. I almost got the chills. I clenched my metal knuckles and proceeded slowly. The train coming closer and closer to sight. The tracks almost within reach. The faces of the Intergang members becoming discernible. The fleshly fingers of my right hand clutched tighter to Myrkblade. I took cloaked step after cloaked step and soon I was at the gravel lining the railroad tracks…
The thugs were restless. They were also silent. For a good three minutes, I waited silently between three or four gunmen…waiting for someone to say something. I've never been a henchman myself, so I know very little about villainous conversations during offtime. I didn't even know if they existed.
In the case of that group, nothing existed at all. They were hauntingly mute. Standing around with their guns only as if waiting for some cataclysmic boom from the sky. Be it lightning and thunder or a Titan ambush.
They were most likely about to get a little bit of both.
I clicked the fingers of my metal left hand quietly. I signaled Robin a morse code of my anticlimactic findings. There was no response. For there to have been a response, that meant a sound would have to emanate on my side of the conversation. And with so many listening thugs within arm's length of my stealth, that was not a wise thing.
I paced slowly—cloaked—around the entire train. I got a good luck at each thug, and I clicked their descriptions to Robin. Including what they were armed with. Who seemed paired with whom. What task or purpose in the guarding formation they seemed to be assuming. Once or twice in my stealthy circumnavigation of the engine and the lead car, I glanced invisibly over towards the spare patch of grass and trees where I knew my partners and the T-Car were located. I thought of the worry on Supergirl's face. The moistness of her blue eyes. And the color blue painted Raven's face before my black eyes. I shook their images off and continued relentlessly with my task at hand. I couldn't afford to be distracted there and then…
As I rounded the train once more, the rear of the lead car came into focus. And as was the permanent result of Metallo's doing in our first fight at the roundhouse, the back of the car was wide open and doorless. If I was so inclined, I could have a look directly into the interior of the car and its contents.
I carefully paced myself up and onto the actual tracks themselves. I made sure to step directly on the trails and the wooden crossbeams, not disturbing the gravel with my cloaked boots.
I stood at the edge of the train car's opening. I leaned forward on my toes. I tried glancing in. But I couldn't see a thing. I bit my invisible lip. I glanced back out at the field where I knew the Titans were. I saw the guards and their silent backs to me.
I exhaled long and slow. I had gone that far…..
I clicked a morse code to Robin.
I was going in.
With a cushion of leaping murk, I pounced forward and crouched super-silent on the edge of the car's rear opening. I bit my lip, sighed, and stood up.
There was no one else inside.
I crept forward. The cabinets and seats and wall paneling of the car were also made of lead. Dull light bulbs painted an amber path ahead of me. I was creeping invisibly towards the far end…where a huge lead locker stretched from floor to ceiling ahead of me. When I reached it, I noticed a simple lock on the handle. I fingered it gently.
I took a deep breath.
I looked over my shoulder at the train car's opening.
There was no one there.
I turned forward again.
I relaxed my limbs.
The curtain of cloaking murk fell down.
I revitalized myself and refocused my energies. I held a hand over the lock…then murked it into smoke form. The black mist carefully slid into the locking mechanism and fluctuated just right. I popped the locker open and swung the doors apart.
A bright green glow flashed across my shades.
My lips parted.
There were fifteen individual pieces of Kryptonite. Large pieces. Each of considerably large size. The smallest being equal to a golf ball. The largest…a football. They were set neatly on five different shelves of immaculate, gray lead. Metallo was a very neat man…
I took a deep breath and counted my options at hand--
"Snkkkkt!! Noir!! This is Robin!!"
I gasped. I palmed a hand over the speaker of the communicator on my belt. Gritting my teeth nervously, I glanced back at the mouth of the train car through which the guards had to have heard that.
Why had Robin spoken through my communicator?! He was giving me awa--
"Grab the Kryptonite and run back to home base!!" his nervous voice exclaimed suddenly. I became aware of the sounds of a scuffle through his end of the communication. "Don't ask! Just do it!!"
The signal cut off into static.
I heard the startled voices of guards outside of the car. A few cusses and—heads were rushing past the opening and in the direction of the field. At first, I thought they were made aware of me and were rushing in to confront the intruder. But instead….
A chill ran down my spine. Regardless, I looked around. I flung open cabinet drawers. I came across a large canvass bag in one with a tie of synthetic rope. I yanked it out, opened it wide, and started madly scooping the glowing chunks of rock into it. When all fifteen were cluttered inside, I took a deep breath, pulled the rope taunt, and sealed the bag in my grasp. I slung it over my shoulder and bounded numbly outside of the train car.
PLOP!!!
My feet landed, spreading gravel around.
A gunman nearby spun around and gasped. "Y-Y-Y-You!"
WHAM!!!!
I kicked him in the face and he fell down hard.
Panting, I looked off through my shades at the Plains. My heart froze.
A white van had come up the rear of the Titans. A dozen more gunmen than seen before were suddenly dashing about the scenery with laser guns blazing. And leading their assault was a charging hulk of metal and guile. Metallo. I saw Starfire's purple and green streak of a body dodging laser blasts in mid air and flinging starbolts of desperation everywhere. Birdarangs flew amidst the fray as Robin dove through a throng of thugs here and there, joined by Cyborg and his laser rifle. A green tiger was challenging Metallo outright. Supergirl….was nowhere to be seen.
It was so much chaos…and the gunmen from the train were all running as one group towards the fray to joined the bad guys' side. The sky rumbled above, adding to the ominous peril.
I wasn't sure this was a battle my teammates could win…
I all but dropped the bag of Kryptonite, unsheathed Myrkblade, and prepared to blur over and join the combat when--
"Snkkkt!!! Noir!!" Robin's voice crackled as if he knew what I was doing from well over a hundred feet away. "Go back to home base! Leave this to us!!"
I panted. Sweating. Fearful….
"We can handle this!! Let me see that smoking body of yours blurring over the horizon! Get out of here---SNKKKTT!!! AUGH!!!"
I saw the distant speck of a caped hero engaging Metallo's glinting gray body. Fists were exchanged. Cyborg joined in. Then a convergence of laser blasts and Starfire darting in and out and….the rest became an indiscernible mess.
I gulped. I trembled fearfully. Somehow I summoned the strength to pick the satchel back up, hoist it over my shoulder…and run blurredly towards the southeast.
Towards the Kents'.
I thought about them the entire way.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
When I arrived back at 'base', it was dark. I couldn't tell if it was because of the setting Sun or thunderclouds. One thing was for certain, the sky was a rumbling thing of potential fury.
The first thing I did was dart into the barn. I had long planned to hide the green bane of Superman, find Raven, and organize an impromptu mission of reconnaissance and rescue. We'd use her communicator as a homing device to zero in on the other Titans if need be.
Whether they truly be in distress or not…
But when I rushed into the barn…I was alone.
I panted and looked all around the wooden interior of hay and sawdust. Nothing. No one. Not even as lighting flashed and illuminated the interior did I catch sight of the infamous dark girl.
I swallowed a lump in my throat.
Where could she be??
I rushed over towards the corner, unearthed the hay, and dropped the satchel down besides the other bag full of Kryptonite.
I covered the corner thoroughly and checked the inside of the barn once more. I even ran outside into the growingly cold wind of the incoming storm and rushed around the lengths of the wooden structure.
Still no Raven.
I bit my lip.
I looked towards the Kents' house.
A metaphoric lightbulb went off in my heart. I sprinted breathlessly towards the patio steps while lightning flickered across the ceiling of Kansas. I stumbled inside. The place was dimly lit. Sweating, I looked around. I headed for the kitchen. The Kents were always in the kitchen. When I passed through the final doorway, I was greeted to blinding light. I squinted through my shades and blinked at what I saw.
John and Martha were sitting down to tea and a newspaper. Like they always had. As pleasant as ever. They both looked up at me and smiled in one accord.
"Why…look who's here!" John grinned.
"You look parched, Mr. Noir," Martha beamed. "Would you like some milk?"
I panted. I raised an eyebrow. I swallowed and shook my head.
"Why in such a hurry?"
"You look beat!"
I waved for them to be silent. I gestured a 'gemstone' on my forehead.
"Huh? Who?"
"Oh you mean that girl with the robe. The grim one."
"Isn't she with you?"
I emphatically shook my head. I gestured around the house.
"Well, she certainly isn't here! Is she, Martha?"
"I should say not, John! Where could she be?"
I took a shuddering breath. I bit my lip. I brought my right hand to the metal disc of my left prosthetic. I applied pressure to a few hidden, key sensors and adjusted the morse code device to zero in on Raven's frequency. I proceeded to send her an urgent message…hoping she might respond.
John and Martha leaned their heads to the side.
"Is something the matter, Mr. Noir?" Marta remarked.
"You seem distressed."
I ignored them. I clicked forth a morse code.
John slowly stood up. Lightning lit the window behind his broad shoulders as he slowly drifted over. "What……a-are you doing?"
Without looking, I raised a finger to silence him while I clicked away---
SWOOOSH-GRIP!
I gasped and winced in pain.
John Kent was grabbing the spot on my left arm where the flesh met the metal. His fingers were like a rusted vice. He smiled as he applied more and more unnatural pressure.
"That…is not necessary, Mr. Noir."
"You need not worry so much, Mr. Noir," Martha said from the table.
I looked breathlessly between the both of them. I tried yanking my hand out from the foster parent's grasp. His grip only became tighter…and more painful. I wheezed.
"Now what did we just tell you?" he smiled.
I gritted my teeth and shoved at his shoulders with my right hand.
"He's fighting you, John," Martha smirked.
John shook his head and raised a fist. "I'm sorry about this, Mr. Noir."
WHAP!!! He brought an old, frail set of knuckles into my chest. And in spite of the seemingly weak nature of his thrust…….I was pushed dramatically backwards across the space of the kitchen.
SMASH!!!!!
I literally sailed through the wall amidst a shower of debris, flew across the living room, and landed hard with my back smacking the mantle to the fireplace. The breath left me as I fell to my knees amidst spilled paintings of the Kents and their adopted 'offspring'.
Lightning flashed across the interior from the windows.
I gasped for breath on all fours and looked up.
John walked through the fresh hole from the well-lit kitchen. Shards and pieces of debris crinkled under his steps.
"Now how can you be a polite guest when you keep acting so rude?"
I stumbled to my feet. My black eyes twitched as I watched the man walk forward.
"Perhaps we should show him the door, John?" Martha spoke from the kitchen. Lightning flashed again, and I saw the glint of something cold and lifeless in the teeth of John's plastic smile.
"You're too ignorant, Mr. Noir," he said, unblinking. "Please don't make us resort to this."
I took a deep breath. I slowly snaked a hand back to the hilt of Myrkblade on my back.
He saw it.
"Now that's not niiiiice."
SWOOOOSH!!
He charged forward.
I rolled out of the way.
SMASH!!!
His fist smashed a chunk out of the brick fireplace.
I stopped on my knees, gritted my teeth, and unsheathed Myrkblade.
CHIIIING!!!
The man spun around, grinned, and swung his fist down at me.
I flinched and defensively jabbed my blade outward.
SLIIIICE!!!
TH-THUMP!!!
The cold impact of John's right hand against the carpet alit my ears.
I gasped and looked at it. My black eyes widened.
The fingers were still twitching. The wrist jolted. Wires were coming out of it. Sparking. Leaking a sort of….plasma.
I looked up in a mixture of horror and curiosity.
John stood, lurching lifelessly back and forth. His right stub of an arm twitched. Lightning strobed in from the Kansas chaos and illuminated a series of wires and leaking froth from his serrated limb. His neck jerked back and forth unnaturally. Like a gray jumping bean.
I stood up.
I leaned my head to the side.
A beat.
SLASSSSSH!!!! I swung Myrkblade up.
CLANK!!!!
John Kent's head flew off. Exposing more wires. Sparks flew. Plasma leaked. Slowly, the torso leaned back and the whole body collapsed to the floor. Twitching. Shooting out sparkles of white and yellow.
My mouth hung open.
"Come now, John…," Martha giggled in the hole leading to the kitchen. "Your newspaper won't read itself, you know!"
I slowly spun around.
A beat.
I charged murk into my sword, held it over my head like a javelin, and flung it at the woman.
SWOOOOOOOSH-CHUNK!!!
It embedded through her bosom, tossed her across the kitchen, and pinned her to the sink. She sparked and twitched.
I flicked my right wrist and pulsed the charged murk in my sword by remote.
FLASH!!!!!
Martha Kent's torso exploded…revealing a vast network of wires, plasma conduits, and all sorts of leaking technology.
I slowly stumbled through the hole and back into the kitchen. Lightning strobed in through the window as I eyed the awkward monstrosity. The technology was bizarre. Mysterious. Inhuman.
Out of this world….
SLIIINK!!
I pulled Myrkblade out and 'Martha Kent' slumped to the ground.
I blinked, my mouth still agape.
What the friggin' Hell???
"Ma! Pa!!" A hauntingly familiar voice resounded through the house, then the bounding feet of a teenage girl in a caped tank top and tube skirt. Supergirl ran into the room, panting. "Quickly! Have you seen—" She froze. She blinked at the sight.
I slowly turned to look at her, my jaw dropped. I looked at the robotic remains of her 'foster parents' and back at her again. I gestured emphatically. Confusedly…
Supergirl kept staring…blinking. I was shocked by her overwhelming sense of curiosity and her relatively lacking sense of horror.
"Oh…….," she muttered. A beat. "How………wh-wh-what happened here?!"
I started hand-signing like mad. Panicked. Horrified. Confused. Utterly and totally numbed with the aftertaste of my concern for the missing Raven and the uncertain fate of the Titans.
The Titans!!
I rushed over and stood directly in front of Supergirl, panting and gesturing like mad.
"I….I-I barely made it," she bit her lip. Looking flushed. "I-I don't know what happened to the Titans. Robin….h-he…he told me to fly after you and m-make sure you got the Kryptonite back safely! I suppose he chose for me to do it cuz I could fly and be fast about it! St-Starfire was supposed to come along too….b-but I haven't seen her! I'm scared, Jordan…"
I nodded and mouthed something akin to 'DUH!!'. That made the two of us.
She brushed me aside suddenly and stumbled over towards the shattered 'Martha'. "What the Hell happened here?!"
I made the biggest 'shrug' of my life. I was hoping she could tell me….
"They….th-this…..what's going on here?!" she suddenly stammered as if the shock was finally setting in. Ironic how it happened when her back was to me. "I…..I…." She spun around. Her face was flushed still…. "Wh-Where they could they be?!"
I tilted my head to the side.
"Ma and Pa, silly!! Obviously these were total fakes!!"
I scratched my head. I walked over, knelt down, and leaned over the shattered remains of Martha.
A beat.
My black eyes narrowed. I lifted my shades momentarily.
Kara watched me.
I eyed a dim, glowing light in the base of what was once 'Martha's' neck.
SWOOOOSH-CHUNK!!
Supergirl jumped as I suddenly stabbed Myrkblade into the chest. I gritted my teeth and parted the circuitry and plasma conduits aside. I dug the dim, glowing object out with the tip of my wooden sword. Soon, I had a spherical device with dangling tendrils of metal in my grasp. It flickered a deep, blue light.
My black eyes narrowed.
"The heck is that thing?!" was all Supergirl could say.
But I noticed something. With each move of my hand, the object glowed brighter. No….with each move of my hand in one particular direction, the device glowed. Each move to the left. I swung my hand across the left side of the room. The sphere glowed a bright blue…then turned dim again. I paused. I moved it back. Again, the sphere went from dim to bright to dim again. I stopped, pivoted it back, and focused on positioning the device to where it went bright. I paused at the right spot. I looked up.
I was being pointed out the door…
"Jordan…," Supergirl swallowed and uttered. "We gotta regroup with Raven. We gotta somehow track down the Titans. But what it amounts to is this…we gotta move. Let's just leave the Kryptonite here and take off in search for Raven, okay? She must be off sulking somewhere. But she can't have gotten far. Jordan?? Jordan????"
I wasn't listening to her.
Slowly, I stood up.
I pointed the sphere out in front of me.
I followed per its glowing. It was reading a signal. And the source of that signal…I was being led to. I slowly drifted out of the kitchen, through a screen door, and out onto the patio.
Supergirl trailed nervously behind me, protesting: "L-Let's be serious for once, Jordan! Just listen to me! We can't hang around here staring at little brass balls! The Titans could be in danger!! Doesn't that concern you in the least??"
Lightning flickered across my steps. I focused on the ground in front of me with firm black eyes. The barn was coming up. Was it taking me to the Kryptonite?
"Jordan?? Jordan, please listen to me!! I-I'm concerned about y-your friends! Don't you understand?"
No…it was leading me to the side of the barn. Not inside. Not to the Kryptonite. I walked around the right edge of the wooden structure. The sphere practically burned with a blue fire. I raised an eyebrow.
"Jordan….please….this is going nowhere…"
Nowhere turned out to be a set of metal doors across the ground on the side of the barn. I paused in front of them and looked down. The sphere was pulsing bright blue.
I turned and glanced at Supergirl.
She gulped. "Tornado shelter. C-Can we go now?"
I looked back at the doors. Indeed, it was a tornado shelter. But beneath a barn???
I knelt down and curved my fingers around the handles to the doors. It wouldn't budge. I pulled harder, wheezing and gritting my teeth.
"Jordan….p-please—" Supergirl reached her hand to my shoulder.
CLANG!!!!
I opened the doors with a jerk and fell back on my butt.
I panted.
Lightning flashed.
I squinted my black eyes confusedly through my shades.
Inside the inclined passageway of the tornado shelter—barely a yard down—was another set of doors. Metal doors. Like silver pylons sandwiched together. No handles or anything. As unearthly as the innards of the robotic Kents.
I blinked.
I looked up at Supergirl.
She was speechless, her mouth agape.
I looked back down. Wind kicked at my black strands of hair as I unsheathed Myrkblade and jabbed it in between the joint lines of the two doors. I strained, my metal and flesh arms wobbling.
Supergirl stepped back.
I pulsed murk through the length of my weapon and pried it in--
CLANK!!!
The doors snapped open. There was a dim white light pouring out from inside. I panted. Utterly confused. I looked at Supergirl.
"Wha-…..What….?!" was all she uttered. Apparently as confounded as I was.
I held Myrkblade out at caution as I slowly proceeded down the steps and into a metallic environment… Supergirl pensively followed…leaving the growing thunderstorm behind.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I walked slowly. Cautiously. The metal of the floor was smooth and immaculate. The same with the walls and ceiling. There were no perceivable joints where the sides met with the top and bottom of the interior. Everything was curved and seamless. Eerily alien….
Supergirl practically hugged me from behind, she walked so close. Lingering. She was far more nervous and shy than I had ever seen her. And I wondered where and how she lost her trademark edge…
But my eyes were focused on the corridor ahead of me. Soon it yawned into a large chamber. A metal chamber full of descending wires and plasma conduits and electrical sparks of some unfathomable power. I narrowed my eyes and looked to the side. And what I saw made me gasp. And Supergirl too…howbeit more dramatically.
There were crevices in the metal walls. And inside three of them were a trio of familiar bodies. They were unconscious, half standing and half 'lying' on the inclined wall of the respective crevice. The first two were occupied by a very real looking Martha and John Kent. The third housed a limp Raven. All three prisoners were blocked from the rest of the chamber by pink, fluctuating force fields of unknown caliber.
My lips parted.
"This is all wrong…..," Supergirl muttered behind me.
I only half heard her. I was about to rush towards Raven's side…but then I heard voices.
I looked over at the end of the chamber. There was a huge screen splashed with the flickering image of the map of Smallville. Points were lit up all across it. But the hugest cluster of lights was singled out at the exact center of the map. The Kents' farm. Before the screen was a huge metal chair with a dozen or so wires hooking into it from the ceiling and nearby wall. There must have been someone or something inside the chair…but I could not figure out who.
Standing next to the chair and staring with his back to me at the screen was none other than a half-flesh and half metal fiend of familiarity….
"Tell me…how much of the stuff will Intergang actually retain once this whole hunt is over with?" Metallo spoke to someone.
"I assure you that it will be tenfold the amount which you have wasted in unsuccessful endeavors of the past," voiced someone from behind the back of the chair. "Though I doubt that Kal-El will remain a legitimate threat to you. The impending destruction that my warp will wreak across the geographical structure of this continent will be far too much for even his Kryptonian strength or psyche to handle. There is a wound deep enough that even Kal-El would not recover from. Do you understand what I am coming from?"
"My good man," Metallo looked aside and I could see his grinning, skeletal lips. "There's no way on Earth I could begin to understand where you're coming from. And quite frankly I don't give a bloody damn where you're going. As long as Intergang and I get some of the good stuff, we'll be happy to finish off this…how should I put it….'partnership'. Quite frankly, I've fought Blueboy enough to know that he's a psychological ice prince of his own making. As much of a tearful scene it'll be once his so-called Mommy and Daddy are gone from the face of this planet, he'll still be ready for a fighting match. I need to make sure I have the proverbial broom to sweep up whatever torture soul is left of him. This planet is going to be pure chaos—what with you leaving a bigass gaping hole in it and such mush. And you won't be around to worry about soulless thugs like us trying to make heads or tails out of the eventual dystopia."
"Chaos is more at hand than you estimate, Mr. Corbin. Though you succeeded in capturing the majority of the Titans, there is still one leftover to correspond with."
"Lemme guess….," Metallo grinned and looked my way.
My heart skipped.
"The ghost in the attic," Metallo leaned his head to the side and winked. His hands were to his hips as he smirked at me. "Gotta admit one thing, kid. You were a hell of a lot funner to beat up than the rest of your lot!"
I gritted my teeth and held Myrkblade out.
"Deal with him…," the voice behind the chair rang out. "I do not want my sensitive equipment damaged in the least."
Metallo smiled and looked over my shoulder. "I do believe this is where you come in, milady!"
I blinked.
SMACK!!!!
A pair of steel-strong fists struck me hard across the back of my head. Blood jumped down my body and left my brain blank. I slumped down hard to the ground. My shades fell off and I saw amidst a fading light of blindness one….two….three shadowed figures looming over me.
The most petite of the figures shuddered and uttered forth in Supergirl's undeniable voice: "I-I'm sorry, Jordan…."
And I was out like a light.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Pink.
Flickering light.
My naked black eyes slitted open.
I winced. My teeth gritting.
I slowly tilted my head up and peered out from the crevice I was stuck in.
I felt drugged. Weak. Like I could barely move.
Across the way in the metal chamber, I saw everyone. Cyborg. Robin. Beast Boy. Raven. The Kents.
All locked up in their own prison chambers.
I tried to move…but only became dizzier.
I slowly became aware of figures before me in the blinding light. Facing each other. I could discern Supergirl and Metallo. But the third figure was still fuzzy. Mysterious.
"You promised you wouldn't hurt them…" Supergirl's voice. "How come I see bruises on some of the Titans?"
"My darling…" Metallo's voice. "My men and I did the best we could…considering. They put up quite a big fight. Freakin' rebel rousers, I swear. And besides…it was you hitting your precious Noir over the back of the head."
"I was merely knocking him out in the least violent way possible. He doesn't need to be beat up, ya know."
"Sorry if I don't share the same sentiment…"
Supergirl looked over at the third figure. "Okay….so I got the Kryptonite."
"A job which I believe I was appointed to…," Metallo folded his arms and frowned at the third figure. "Since when was she given the job of rounding up the rocks?"
"Admittedly, though, Kara Inze did manage to shorten the time in half, even if she did have to fight you and your Intergang in order to accomplish such for me…," the third figure said. His voice was an emotionless one. Calm. Cold.
"Look…I only did it cuz I know this bozo here would have robbed some for himself," Supergirl grunted. "And the less you got of the Kryptonite, the longer you'd be holding Ma and Pa hostage and possibly hurting them. I couldn't allow that. So I made the job easier. I got the stupid rocks…and I kept the Titans from getting in the way. Just….please….d-don't hurt any of them…"
"Where is the Kryptonite now, Kara?"
"Up in the barn," she pointed, then hugged herself with a sigh. "Jordan p-put them all away shortly before I returned from the ambush."
The third figure faced Metallo. "Retrieve them hastily for me."
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Metallo shuffled off. As he wandered by, he took a faraway glance at me through the force field and smirked. "Well…looks like someone's coming to…."
And he was gone.
Supergirl looked in my direction. She immediately winced, bit her lip, and looked away painfully…
"According to the readings of his vital signs, it would seem that the one called 'Noir' is truly awakening. Perhaps you did not strike a heavy enough blow to the posterior of his cranium, Kara…"
"Don't rub it in…," she muttered. She refused to look at me.
The third figure walked into the center of my focus. He was a statue of a person. His arms hung lifeless at his side. As he came to a stop, I noticed cords and cables flowing down from the ceiling and into his back…following him.
"Noir, you are the most mysterious of the Titans, according to my limited studies. Seeing that the unraveling of your knowledge will be the most difficult of the tasks at hand, I shall proceed to tap into your neurological reserves first. This is too great of an opportunity for me to not acknowledge. With six superheroes present, I can only benefit by absorbing as much information from you as possible before my inevitable warp away from this destitute planetoid. Whatever I may acquire could likewise serve as digital payment to Intergang for their services rendered. After all, more than just Metallo have employed themselves in assisting my operation here at Kal-El's former foster home. It will be a most efficient procedure, indeed."
"P-Please…," Supergirl shuddered, her voice choking. "Just leave him alone….enough's happened to him…"
I squinted my black eyes.
The figure slowly came into focus amidst the blinding whiteness. I saw two eyes of lifeless ivory under a triforce of interconnected, immaculate circles on an almost cylindrical crown of metal.
My lips parted.
"And with your extraordinary eyes, you are yet surprised at my identity. I almost expected greater intuition from an experienced vigilante such as yourself," the alien android uttered. "Certainly, you are not at a loss any longer to know, Noir. My title is Braniac. I am Kara's visitor."