160. Whispers part 3
Robin pulled up on the R-Cycle and slowed to a stop.
The center of the highway was taped off and surrounded by random investigators.
Normal traffic was being redirected to two lanes on the extreme opposite side of the freeway.
Robin cut his engine, removed his helmet and took a moment or two to stare.
"……"
Troopers stood on the side median next to the taped-off site. The men gathered in small circles, talking over recent findings. Others leaned tiredly against squad cars. The initial investigations had been long-performed and the bodies removed long ago in advance. At that point, it seemed as if everyone gathered around and waited for time to go in reverse and reveal the nature of the catastrophe.
Instead, the Boy Wonder had arrived.
Robin stepped off his bike and rested his helmet on the front seat.
A pause.
He looked over at Starfire.
The girl was frozen in a nervous, speed-induced flinch.
Robin smiled somewhat and tapped her shoulder lightly.
"Eep!" She blinked. Blushed. Stood up. "We have arrived…"
"Yes, Star, we have….," Robin nodded. "Now let's get to work."
He walked towards the site and was stopped by a pair of dark eyes.
"……," Tempest smiled. He waved. "I beat ya here."
"Garth! Glorious! You have been most expedient!" Starfire cooed.
Robin blinked under his mask. "Uhm….you better watch how fast you swim through those river streams. You wouldn't want to get the bends."
"Quite impossible, Robin," Tempest smiled and lifted a finger. "The level of oxygen in the plasma of Atlantean blood is on a completely different and well-adapted ratio compared to—"
"Yeah, uh huh…," Robin marched past him and approached the state troopers. "We're the Teen Titans," he called out. "Decker sent us to have a look at the site and remove some of the sixes from the sevens. This is it right here, correct?"
"Y-Yes, Robin…," an officer nodded and walked over towards the taped area. He pointed to the charred remains of two squad cars and wreckage around a station wagon. There were also chalk marks for the three perishing state troopers. "According to testimony, the suspects paused suddenly in their vehicle over there. Our boys performed a textbook operation to get them out of the car and face down. That's when a third figure attacked the front of the standoff. Two officers lost their right hands. Then the three in the middle of the blockade were shot dead. Finally, there was an explosion caused in the middle two squad cars. Our boys retreated back while we called in an armored truck with a marksman. Soon after that, the suspects took off."
Robin pointed: "Can we get closer?"
"By all means," the trooper gestured.
Robin bent the tape and stepped beneath.
Tempest stepped over.
Starfire floated and the officer followed last.
Robin strolled over towards the charred remains of the squad cars. He stood above them, farms folded. A beat. He knelt down and examined the ashes with his eyemask thinned. He gazed at the blackened aluminum.
Starfire held her hands together. "This surely was a horrific scene…."
The officer said nothing.
Tempest merely scratched his head.
Robin dug his fingers into a pile of ash and rubbed the gloved material together. He exhaled…then spoke: "I'm not seeing any visual signs of explosive chargers. Unless further testing proves otherwise, I don't think this was a bombing. Although…." He gazed at the heart of the charred chasis. "The explosion was most likely internal."
A beat.
Robin stood up and looked at the officer. "Was anyone's weapon missing after the event?"
"Yes. A pistol, in fact."
Robin nodded. "Killer Moth's company must have gotten ahold of it. I suspect a bullet-inflicted charge. Perhaps a shot to the fuel tank."
Tempest raised an eyebrow.
Robin turned and walked along the site. "Which means the suspect had to have been firing from a safe distance." The Boy Wonder moved a few paces till he stood next to one in-tact squad car. "How many squad cars were originally here?"
"Two. They belonged to the casualties who lost their hands."
"So the suspect attacked them up close…stole a pistol…and most likely…," he turned and pointed towards the blackened asphalt, "…fired from here to cause the squad car explosion." A beat. "The deceased officers….did they drive those squad cars?"
"The ones that blew up?"
"Yeah."
"Yes, that they did."
"By that time…everyone from the front of the barricade to the middle was either dead, injured, or running back that ways," Robin pointed away from the station wagon. "And with the flames and wreckage from the exploding squad cars, that would have provided a good enough wall of distraction for the suspects to get away. And in this case, the still-whole squad car here was stolen. The station wagon was ditched." Robin walked over to the vehicle in question. "Anything valuable found in it? Did you search?"
"We didn't find any special evidence, contraband, or weapons in it. We're thinking it was a stolen vehicle. There's a report of a missing station wagon at a car park just outside your City."
"What date?"
"October 24."
"Right after the prison blast and escape," Robin scratched his chin. He wandered around the vehicle. A beat. He knelt down and looked under it. He motioned for the officer.
The man stepped over.
Robin pointed under the vehicle: "I see the front half of a motorcycle under this thing."
"Yes, we saw that two. A dirt bike, we think. Half of it is shredded completely across the asphalt. We think the station wagon rolled over it."
"I'm seeing the pieces here," Tempest pointed at a line of scattered scrap. "It's….like….a streak of junk."
"Would it not be detrimental for a vehicle of this size to skirt over a moped?" Starfire blinked.
Robin stood up and gazed at the hood. "But it didn't drive over the bike…."
The officer blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Not at first, at least," Robin said. He gazed at the trooper. "I'm guessing you guys have no clue where the bike came from?"
"We didn't see it, no. The station wagon just stopped so suddenly…."
"Well….the bike fell," Robin said.
"Across the road?"
"From the sky," Robin pointed at the massive dent on the station wagon's hood. "A rather great height."
"But….But….," the officer blinked. "How could that possibly happen?!"
Robin turned and gazed up.
Starfire and Tempest looked as well.
Forested mountain ridges rested on either side of the highway. They seemed impossibly out of reach.
Robin pointed northward: "That's where the bike came."
The officer scratched his head. "How….D-Do you know that?"
"With an adult riding, the gravity would have shifted heavily to the rider's body on the vehicle. But seeing that the rider may very well have lived through the fall, I'm assuming the next opportune part of the bike struck the station wagon's hood first. The front tire. And from the impression of the dent…the front tire had to have been coming first from that direction…," Robin pointed. "Tell me, sir….is there anything important up there? A biking trail, perhaps?"
"No, Robin………….well…."
Tempest blinked.
Robin folded his arms. "Well what?"
The officer scratched his head. "There is…..nearly a mile away in the mountains….a private ranch in the thick forest owned by some rich entrepreneur."
"Do we know?"
"James Garet. He's known well in these parts."
"Well…then I guess it wouldn't be too hard for us to get to know him too…," Robin strolled forward casually….towards the mountainsaide.
Tempest and Starfire looked at each other.
The officer cleared his throat. "B-But….Mr. Titan….even if someone did plummet from Garet's property…how could he possibly have survived the motorcycle crash??"
Robin paused. With a ruffle of his cape he glanced back and said: "The last person we'd want to have survived…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Here at Wayne Enterprises, we believe that science's ultimate purpose is to benefit mankind. For that reason, there has been no contribution to military technology in nearly twenty-five years. Unlike Lexcorp or Powers Inc., Wayne Enterprises seeks to supplement new contributions in the medical industry and ecologically friendly fuel resources. And on top of that is our award winning program for home building and neighborhood funding throughout Gotham City and expanding abroad such as in this region of the country. On this tour, I would like to show you the local departments we have working around the clock to make this world a better place one person at a time. If you would follow me, please…"
The female tour guide smiled pleasantly—her teeth and name badge glistening in the fluorescent light of the hallway. She turned around and with a ruffle of her short business skirt she strolled down the hallway. Middle-aged and old folks alike in a small drove muttered curiously and followed her down the hallway on a guided tour. To the rear was a short estrogen-bearing thing in a ridiculously feminine, yellow dress with a scarf draped over short blonde hair. She had on gargantuan, brown sunglasses through which she glanced quietly—anxiously—behind and to the sides of her as she took up the rear of the monotonous procession.
As she strolled along, she reached a hand into a pink purse and fingered the button to a transceiver that nobody could see….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The sun was starting its autumnal descent, and outside the air was crisp and clean and cool. An orange sky silhouetted the tall and gothic Wayne Enterprises building. A block or two away, a smaller but no-less majestic skyscraper of silvery granite stretched towards the sky. A wing-fluttering Killer Moth crawled up the wall through use of his razor-sharp gloves. A device on his belt blinked with a red light. He paused in his ascent, reached a single hand down, and tapped a signal into the transceiver. He then reached into a pouch and produced three tiny sacks of silk. He stuck them to the nearest window frame of the building's nineteenth story. He then proceeded to climb and attach more tiny cocoons to the building's surface.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Across the street from the rear of the Wayne Enterprises skyscraper, there was a bus stop. A man in a brown trenchcoat sat on a simple wooden bench, his hands in his pockets. The setting sun glistened off his pale, bald head. He sat mutely, glaring at a loading dock at the back of the building. There was a ramp with a descending doorframe for a truck to reverse into.
"…………..," the figure was silent.
A device in his trenchcoat's front pocket beeped.
He reached a left hand out, tapped it, and put it back in his lower pocket.
"………….."
An elderly black woman strolled over with a walker. Her wrinkly face smiled. "Hello, son."
"…….."
"You are heading uptown too, huh?"
"…….."
"My lord…it's a busy, busy Town."
"…….."
She slowly sat down on the bench beside him and waited for the bus.
"Lovely weather we're having. You look cold, though. Is that coat of yours heavy at all?"
"………."
"You're the quiet type. I see that. I've learned that the quiet ones are always the gifted ones."
"…….."
She fumbled through her purse and pulled out a packet of Tic Tacs with a shaking, elderly hand. "Mmmmmhmmm….I sure do love Autumn." She swallowed down two bits and offered some to the man. "Would you like some sweets?"
"………"
"They're gooooooood. Hehehehehe."
"……….," he started to cringe.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Here we have the Foreign Relations department. This City is our chief base for international relations with nations representing Europe, the Balkans, and Northern Africa. Oftentimes, Mr. Wayne himself comes here to conduct business negotiations with actual delegates from Spain and France. Such a meeting isn't happening today, of course. Otherwise this tour would have to have been postponed."
An old woman's hand raised.
"Yes, you have a question??"
She pointed across the lobby at a desk behind black-tinted glass. "What's that there window for?"
"Oh, that's the building's department of security. We have well-trained officers patrolling this building at all time. They check on surveillance and authorization codes there."
The girl in yellow blinked through brown shades. She fingered the transceiver in her purse again, gazing out a first floor window through the corner of her eye.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Killer Moth was in the middle of fixing what looked like a miniature speaker or megaphone to the wall besides the last batch of tiny cocoons stuck to the building's surface.
The device on his belt blinked.
He smiled under his mask.
He glanced down.
A delivery truck was slowly puttering its way towards the Wayne Enterprises building. The vehicle turned in towards the loading area to the rear of the structure. It was directly across from a simple bus stop….
Killer Moth took a deep breath and pressed a sharp, red button on his transceiver.
He then swiftly scaled the surface of the building and took a perching position atop an outcropping of granite design.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The transceiver in the trenchcoat pocket of the quiet bench-sitter vibrated.
"……….," the balding, pale fellow took a deep breath.
"……….," the elderly black woman sitting beside him smiled at the bus stop. Silent. Staring forward.
A mustached young man wandered over to the bench. "Hey there. Route 186?"
Silence.
"……….," the black woman smiled.
"………..," the bald man in the trenchcoat watched an incoming truck.
The truck came to a stop, reversed with a beeping noise, and backed up the ramp to the rear of the building. The huge doors to the Wayne Enterprises loading area raised and revealed a spacious garage darkly-lit inside. Two workers and a security guard gestured towards the vehicle backing up, guiding it.
"H-Hello??" the mustached citizen blinked.
The bald man stood up and silently marched towards the loading area.
"……..," the black woman smiled.
"Sheesh…rude…," the young fellow sat down next to the woman. He looked at her. "Say, ma'am…aren't you cold?"
"………"
"Ma'am?"
"………"
He gently shook her shoulder. "Are feeling okay?"
"……," the black woman smiled. Her head turned…and rolled into the man's lap.
"!!!!!!" the man jumped up, his entire pants wet with red blood. "Holy shit!!!"
The head smiled its way down the sidewalk and into a gutter.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Clink!
Clink!!
"Ahem…."
The tour guide came to a stop. She turned and smiled pleasantly. "Hmmmm?"
A beat.
The tour guide's eyes bulged.
The girl in yellow had just pulled two grenades out of her pink purse. With gritting teeth, she cackled: "Listen up or blow up!!"
She spun with a growl, her scarf falling from her blonde head.
Thwiiiiish!
Thwiiiiish!!!
The two grenades landed in a set of cubicles.
The workers screamed, ran, and dove out just in the nick of time--
BOOOOM!!!!
The tour guide shrieked, spun around, and ran into a wall. THONK!!!
Everyone else in the room ducked and covered their heads as debris and flaming bits flew every which way.
Kitten grinned. She glanced over at the security post.
Two bumbling security guards ran out—nearly bumping into each other. They fumbled for their holstered pistols.
"Nnngh!!" Kitten tossed her purse aside and with extreme gusto reached her hands underneath her poofy yellow skirt. Somewhere from beneath a forest of ridiculous petticoats she emerged with an AK-47 in her grip.
Ch-Chtunk!
The guards froze, two wet spots forming on key places of their bodies.
Kitten gritted her teeth, knelt, and—
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!!
Huge pockets exploded in the carpet in dangerous halos around the guards' feet. Cubicles behind them exploded from lead pressure. Glass and light bulbs shattered from overhead.
The two men twitched and dropped their weapons convulsingly.
DING!
An elevator opened behind Kitten.
She spun and looked over her poofy shoulder, hyperventilating.
Three more guards dashed out of the elevator with pistols raised.
BLAM!!
BL-BLAM!!
BLAM!!!
Kitten jumped backwards out of the fire, vaulted over a desk chair, planted her feet against a cubicle wall, and shoved off with her legs. She flew forward in the air, flipping with a billowing skirt, and landed in a roll.
All the time firing--
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!!!
The guards desperately threw themselves to the floor as bullets exploded all around them.
Kitten stood up and let out a war cry as she literally spun around three hundred sixty degrees and fired the AK-47 everywhere conceivable.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
Walls turned into swiss cheese.
Cubicles crumbled.
Computer monitors collapsed.
Glass windows shattered.
A pigeon or two outside exploded.
And when all was said and done, steam rose from a billion different spots in the room…accompanied with the rusted stench of burning lead.
Kitten panted…panted….panted….panted…
A beat.
Ch-Chtunk!
She cocked her machine gun and aimed at the centermost guard of the elevator bunch.
"Now…..," she grinned evilly with bulbous eyes of madness. "I have a few things that I WANT!!!!"
The guards trembled. "What…Wh-What is it?!?!"
Kitten's eyes thinned.
A tiny microphone in her ear spoke to her in Killer Moth's voice.
"That's it, Kitten……"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The villain stood perched on the building ledge, speaking into his transceiver.
"Keep everyone distracted. EVERYONE!! The guards. The citizens. The police department. The fire department. The whole City is at your mercy! Just keep them---"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"---distracted until our friend grabs the good stuff!!"
Kitten nodded with clenched teeth. "Oh yeah…..heheheheheheh….this is LOADS of fun!"
"Just be sure you get those security protocols overridden—"
"I'm already ON IT, DADDY!!"
The centermost guard made a wyrd face.
Kitten sweatdropped. "Ahem."
Ch-Chtunk!
She aimed the barrel of the machine gun at his forehead. "Are you a daddy!?!"
"N-N-No, ma'am…."
"Well you WON'T EVER BE IF YOU DON'T DO WHAT I SAY!!"
"What do you want?!?!"
"Security! Station! Over there! Shut down!"
"……"
BLAM!!
Ping!
"NOW!!!!!!!!!!"
The guard trembled and rushed past cowering bodies towards the dark-windowed station.
Kitten smiled, reached into her purse with a free hand, and stuck a lollipop proudly into her mouth.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Viper marched—smiling—in his trenchcoat.
He ascended the ramp alongside the truck just as the driver got out.
"Uhm….," the driver blinked curiously at Viper.
Viper reached a flesh hand out and shoved him off the ramp.
"Wh-Whoa!!" THWUMP!!!
Inside the garage, the two Wayne Enterprises workers looked up along with the security guard.
"Hey…"
"Sir!" a worker pointed. "This is off limits! You can't come here—"
THWOOSH!! Viper whipped out his metal right hand, equipped with a pistol and silencer which he aimed and—
Thift!!!
The worker's pointing finger quivered. He stumbled back, a bullet through his eye.
The other worker gasped and dove to the right—
Thifft! Thifft! Thifft!!
His diving body received three slugs in the ribs. He lay on the ground, bleeding, silent.
The guard backed up against an elevator door with a security number pad.
Viper aimed at him--
Cl-Click!! The guard was quick to the draw with his pistol. "That's far as you go, ass!! Back off!!"
Viper smiled.
BANG!!! The guard filed.
In a blink, Viper tossed the gun to his left hand. He raised the back of his metal wrist up. PING!!! He deflected the bullet.
The guard's eyes widened.
Viper aimed with his left arm.
Thifft! Thifft!!
Both bullets found their way to key places between the guard's legs.
"!!!!!" he fell back against the wall and slumped down. "AAAAAAAAAUGH!!! JESUS!!!"
Viper walked calmly over to the elevator door.
"AA-AAAAGH!!!" The man convulsed in pain. His mouth howled open wide--
Plant!!
Viper shoved the barrel of the gun's silencer into the man's mouth.
The assassin looked over at the numpad and entered all zeroes…as facilitated by Kitten. Beep!
When he looked back, the guard's brains were splashed against the wall.
Viper pocketed the wet gun and kicked the man's corpse down to the floor. Thwump!!
Ding!!
The elevator doors opened.
Viper strolled in, whistling a tune, and pressed the button for the basement levels of the Wayne Enterprises facility.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Riiiing! Riiiing! Riiing!
The Lieutenant looked up from his desk. He got up, walked halfway across the bustling police department office, and picked up the phone.
"Yeah, hello?"
A beat.
His eyes widened.
"Right on it!!"
He slammed the receiver down. He ran into a familiar office and ducked his panting face in.
"Commissioner??"
Decker looked up halfway through a sip of coffee.
"Wayne Enterprises," the Lieutenant spat. "Ten minutes ago. Gunshots on the first floor. Hostages."
"!!!!" Decker shot up. "Shit!!"
The coffee spilled—steaming—on his legs.
SSSssss!!!
Decker shook. "Double shit!!!"
The Lieutenant cringed.
Decker gritted his teeth and pointed: "Well don't just stand there, triple shit!!"
"Y-Yes, sir!!" the officer rushed out.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Beep!-Beep!-Beep!-Beep!-Beep!
Cyborg and Raven froze in the middle of their research. They both glanced at each other.
The alarms in the Tower continued to sound off. A red light blinked from the ceiling.
Beep!-Beep!-Beep!-Beep!-Beep!
Cyborg swiveled over and tapped a single button on the computer console.
A map with a blinking red light appeared before them with 'Priority Alpha'.
Raven's eyes widened. "A hostage situation…"
"And a shootout," Cyborg stood up. "At the Wayne Enterprises building."
A beat.
Cyborg popped open the communicator in his left, titanium wrist. "When in Damn Rome…"
-Blip-
"Titans!! Trouble!!!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Mmmmm….," Beast Boy finished stacking a tall sandwich of tofu delights. He greedily held up the skyscraper of fake meat by the bread and prepared to bite into it—"
Beeeep!!-Snkkkt…"Titans!! Trouble!!!"
Beast Boy frowned and spoke into an intercom in the kitchen unit's wall. "Dude!! I'm about to go all Bacchus on processed tofu now!! Can't it wait?"
"We've got a hostage situation in the Wayne Enterprises building! Shots fired!!"
"Whoah!!" Beast Boy dropped the sandwich in a single gasp and ran towards the Main Room's windows. "Un-dude that!! I'll be there pretty darn quack!!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
CHIIING!!!
I twirled Mrykblade and took a meditative pose.
Sweating.
Practicing in the Titan's gym.
Th-Th-Thwish!!!
I ended Myrkblade's swing in an awkwardly graceful pose, struggling to maintain my weight on one foot.
Slowly breathing.
"……."
Beeeep—Snkkkkt—"Titans! Trouble!!"
My black eyes bulged.
THWOMP!!
I fell on my butt on the gym floor.
I winced before hopping up to my feet and blurring out into the hallway.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Give me the phone…give me the frickin' phone!!" Decker growled as he snapped a cell phone from the squad car driver's hand as he jumped into the passenger seat. "Now drive!!"
"Yes, sir!!" the man flipped on the siren and slammed on the gas. The squad car flew out of the garage of the police department, followed by four other vehicles and a S.W.A.T. van in the rear.
Decker dialed a number, grumbling. "As if I didn't have enough crap to be…..crapped on with. Carn sarn it….what's the number to that security post agai—ah yes. There."
He held the phone up to his ear.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The guard finished keystroking on the security hub's computer. He leaned back with shaking hands. "There, Miss…," he swallowed. "That's all I can do from this post."
"Very very good," Kitten smiled. Her eyelashes fluttered. WHAP!!! She kicked the man in the side.
THWUMP!!! He landed on the floor next to the cowering citizens. "Ooof!!"
Kitten marched out, standing undaintily with legs spread beneath her yellow dress and the smoking AK-47 raised to the ceiling.
BLAM!!! BL-BLAM!! BLAM!!!
Bits of fiberglass settled to the floor.
Citizens shrieked and continued to cover their heads.
"Now….," Kitten slurred. With one hand, she yanked the lollipop out of her mouth. She twirled it while resting the machine gun against her hip. "I hope you losers enjoy this little tea party!! Cuz if the City doesn't give me what I want, then I might just have to settle for your livers! And I sure do hate livers full of lead!!"
Riiing!! Riiing!!
"Whoop! Who, pray tell, could that be?" Kitten's eyes fluttered again. She stabbed the lollipop into the corner of her mouth, marched over to the security post, and picked the phone up. "Moshi Moshi."
"This is Commissioner Decker of the City Police Department—"
"PONY!!!!!" Kitten shrieked.
"………………uhm……"
"I WANT A PONY, DAMMIT!!!!!!" Kitten waved the gun around.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"……..," Decker's eyes thinned as his driver sped the squad car along. He stared suspiciously at the cell phone. He cleared his throat and calmly exhaled: "This is Commissioner Decker. And I am ready to negotiate your dema—"
"DID YOU HEAR ME THE FIRST TIME, YA OLD FART?!?!"
An artery throbbed in the man's forehead. "…I would first like to know how many hostages you have in that department of the skyscraper with you—"
"WAIT!!! A PS2!!! I ALSO WANT A PS2!!!"
Decker snarled. Then: "Allright, you little shitstain!! I'm not—"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Kitten giggled madly.
"—playing any games anymore!! Now whoever you are, you can either end up in some psychotic blaze of glory or become the fodder for my S.W.A.T. Team boys!! Now since the mayor is a wuss who doesn't like me resorting to either/or fallacies when negotiating, I'm gonna give your ass a chance to land in prison if you give up without hurting anyone further!! You got that, pipsqueak?!?!"
"I got it, but I don't think you got it."
"Now what the Hell does that mean?!?"
"You heard me, IDIOT!!!" Kitten squealed. The hostages sweatdropped as she shouted into the phone. "I WANT A PONY AND A PS2!!! Not necessarily in that order."
"Are you freakin' serious?!?!"
"Hmmmm," Kitten's eyes cutely trailed the ceiling. "Not entirely. A pony doesn't accept a PS2. No matter if you use an RF adapter or not."
"Listen. You're the gun toter. If anyone knows that lives are at stake, it's you. We representatives of the City kinda sorta value those lives!! Can we talk seriously about your demands or do you truly want to exchange flesh and blood for a petite equine and some gaming machine?"
"It's called a console, you DUMBUTT!!! A PC IS A MACHINE!! I want to play 'Mary-Kate and Ashley: License to Drive', not 'SimCity 4'!!!"
BANG!!
Ping!!
"Ooops!" Kitten simpered and re-positioned the smoking AK-47. "M-My bad."
"Look……"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Decker lowered his head and rubbed his temples tiredly as the squad car sped through intersections.
"…….I'll see what I can do to……….supply you with what you're asking for. As long as you promise not to hurt any innocent lives in reciprocation. After all, you seem hell bent on something relatively affordable. I wouldn't be alarmed unless you desired something that would threaten the security of this City—"
"Oh yeah!! One more thing!!" the voice on the phone squawked. "I want to talk to the provisional government of Ukraine!!"
"…….," Decker blinked, his fingers stopped stroking his temples. "……….excuse me?"
"I don't like the way things are going in Ukraine! I want to talk to their interim president!!"
Decker frowned. "Now just a damned minute—"
"YOU HEARD ME!!! GIVE ME UKRAINE OR I START SHOOTING THE FIRST PREGNANT MEN AND WOMEN I FIND!! Er……or JUST THE PREGNANT WOMEN!! Y-YEAH!!"
"Let's talk this over a little bit mo—"
"Ciao!!"
-click-
"Oh go to Hell," Decker threw the cell phone to the floor between his feet and practically ripped the police radio off the dashboard: "I need tear gas, shotguns, and a packet of Marlboro! NOW!!"
"Yes, sir!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Kitten yanked the phone off of the wall. CR-RACK!! She tossed it to the floor.
A beat.
She looked at the hostages on the floor.
A few of them glanced at her, wide eyed. Panting.
A large woman shook in the corner.
Ch-Chtunk!!
Kitten pointed the AK-47 at her. "You pregnant?"
The woman slowly shook her head. Wide-eyed.
"I see. Just fat, then?"
The woman nodded. "As a cow."
"Kay. You're good," and Kitten patrolled the cubicles, twirling the lollipop in her mouth.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"………..," Killer Moth perched atop the building's edge.
A beat.
He grasped his left glove, slid it up some, and revealed an everyday watch.
"Hmmm….," he stared at the time.
A beat.
He turned and gazed down Main Street. "Right about now….."
Sure enough, a line of five screaming squad cars and a S.W.A.T. van sped towards the building site far below.
Killer Moth chuckled low under his breath.
"He was right. Heheheheh. Such luscious pray…."
Killer Moth stood up straight. He spread his arms out. He shook his back. THWUMP!! His moth 'wings' spread. They stretched wide and rigid. Killer Moth flexed his gloves, took a deep breath, and leapt off the building.
THWOOOOOOSH!!!!!
His still wings caught the currents of the air in descent, and he glided effortlessly down over Main Street. He drifted directly over the squad cars and the van. As he did so, he reached hands into his belt's pockets and pulled out tiny silken cocoons. He tossed them in flurries down onto the vehicles as he glided over them.
The cocoons settled down softly onto the unsuspecting cars.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Commissioner?? This is the Titans!! Please come in!!"
The Commissioner picked up the radio transceiver. "Good to hear from you, Cyprus."
"Cyborg!!!"
"Where the Hell's Robin?"
"He's on an investigative trip to the Metropolitan Highway along with Starfire and Tempest. He's conducting that search for you, remember?"
The Commissioner blinked. "Oh right. Damn."
"I'm currently acting leader of the Titans. I just want to let you know that we're on our way to the Wayne Enterprises building!!"
"Good to hear," Decker nodded. He made a face. "Although…are you all enough for the job?"
"There are four of us on the job, sir. Raven, Noir, Beast Boy, and myself."
"Oh right. The sorceress, the smoking guy, and that robot dude."
"………Actually, sir……that's me—"
"Well get your pimply butts over here, got it?!?!" Decker grumbled. "As expediently as we've been gathering our forces, we may just get the drop on this gun-toting creep--"
Three cocoons landed on the windshield with slimy trails. Immediately they started convulsing and writhing about.
The driver made a face.
Decker's eyes narrowed. His lips lingered as he leaned forward and stared at the invasionary objects on the other side of the glass.
"The Hell are those things?"
"I d-don't know, sir…," the driver murmured.
With tiny shrieking sounds, the cocoons hatched. Larvas exploded out of them, shook their razor-sharp mandibles, and bit into the glass.
Chunk! Chunk! Ch-Chunk!!
The windshield cracked, spider-webbed out, and hissed as green acid oozed out of the mandibles and leaked caustically into the driving compartment.
SSSSSSSSSSssssssss!!!!
"AAAAAH!!" the driver twitched. He yanked at the wheel. The squad car veered left and right.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!!
"AAAAAUGH!!!"
"Commissioner??? What's going on??"
"We've got worms!!!!" Decker shouted into the radio as he and the driver were jolted around.
"We'll be there right away—"
"Screw that, dammit!!!" Decker whipped out his pistol and aimed at the glass. "DIE!!!!"
BLAM!!!
Ping!! Ping!!! Ping!! The bullet bounced around the compartment.
"Whoah!!" the driver ducked his head.
"Shit!!!"
The car swung madly into a swirl.
SCREEEEEEEEEECH!!!!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The front squad car spun three times and slammed into a fire hydrant. Water spewed high up along the rows of building stories on either side.
The four squad cars and van behind the Commissioner's ride either slammed into each other in confusion or spun around as the same larvae attacked the vehicles from all sides. The police caravan was sufficiently halted.
CL-CLAMP!!!
Killer Moth ended his glide by perching buglike on a buildingside three stories up. He turned his masked head, glared down at the pileup, and chuckled.
"Perfect. Absolutely perfect. What a genius." He then turned his head and glared down another street.
The distant image of the T-Car zoomed into view. It was flanked by a black streak blurring across buildingsides and a green pterodactyl.
"Now for the fun part….," Killer Moth scurried up the buildingside.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Well….," Raven droned as Cyborg shut the T-Car's communicator off. "That sounded interesting."
"There's something nuts about all this," Cyborg gritted his teeth as he burned rubber. "Nobody just simply takes hostages in this City. There's gotta be something extra to it. Some sort of catch."
The android gazed out the right side of the vehicle, past Raven.
I blurred alongside him. I looked in. My black shades glinting. I saluted with my metal hand.
Cyborg nodded. He looked out the left window.
The green pterodactyl flew parallel to the vehicle, shrieking.
Cyborg gripped the wheels tighter and looked ahead. "Okay…we're going in."
"What do you suppose it is?" Raven asked.
"Huh?"
She gestured. "The catch?"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"…….," Viper slowly peeled the trenchcoat off his body while riding the elevator down.
Beneath it was his sheathed broadsword and a string of grenades, explosives, and silenced pistols hugging his torso.
Viper continued whistling nonchalantly as he bundled the trenchcoat in his muscular arms and eyed the floor numbers lighting up sequentially downward into the third tier basement level.
CHIIIIIING!!!!
He whipped his broadsword out and straightened his joints as the elevator reached its destination.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
In a basement hallway made of metal.
A security guard stood silently outside the elevator doors. He held a taser rifle in his grasp. A helmet with a black visor rested on his head.
"……….."
Ding!!
The elevator doors to his side opened.
"????" he turned and looked inside. "Huh?"
WHUMP!!!
A trenchcoat was thrown over his upper body, draping over him.
"Mmmmmmfffff!!!" he struggled madly to get out from under it.
FWOOOOSH-SLASSSH!!!
Viper dove out into the hallway, broadsword first.
SLIIIIINK!!!
The trenchcoat-covered form was chopped in half. The two parts fell, shrouded by brown leather. Blood oozed out in puddles underneath each.
Viper made sure not to step in the red rivers. He held his blade up at ready as he crept forward through the hallway.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SCREEEEEECH!!!!
The T-Car skidded to a stop.
Beast Boy and I spilled into the courtyard in front of the Wayne Enterprises skyscraper.
Cyborg peeled out of the T-Car.
Raven floated out beside him. She glanced around. A blink. She looked at the rest of us. "We're the first ones here!!"
I nodded. Gripping Myrkblade, I looked up at the height of the building.
Cyborg gestured: "Noir!! Beast Boy!!! Pour inside!! Raven?? How about you and I enter from a little higher above? Let's say…third floor?"
Raven nodded. "Consider it higher…," her eyes glowed a bright gray. She gestured her hands. A black disc appeared beneath her and Cyborg.
Beast Boy rubbed his head. "I suppose with Cyborg leading and Raven in the party….there's a limit to the command 'split up'."
I shrugged.
"Let's go, dude…," Beast Boy leapt into a tiger and sprinted on all fours towards the front entrance.
I ran alongside him.
"Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos…," Raven chanted. Lifting herself and Cyborg high above us.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Okay!! Everyone move! Move!!"
Kitten grunted and waved her AK-47. She forced the huge line of hostages to march through the hallway and into the spacious atrium of the bottom floor. The people nervously shifted their feet and shuffled down to the center of the mosaic-splashed floor of the room. Sunlight wafted in orange and lazy through the spatious, two-hundred-and seventy degree panorama of ten-foot tall windows. A huge set of elevator doors encased in black, gothic marble stood behind a reception desk on the solid side of the place.
"I said move!! Must I spray it too?!?! Come on!!!" Ch-Chtunk!! She gritted her teeth and shook the gun.
Someone gasped at sight of something out the window.
Kitten gazed out. A blue-eyed blink. "Titans, ho!"
A green tiger and a dark swordsman approached the glass doorways from across the courtyard.
Kitten raised her transceiver to her bratty face: "Come ON, DADDY!! Do your stuff for the love of Vishnu!!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Wooosh!!
Cl-Clamp!!!
Killer Moth landed on a ledge of a building across the courtyard. He saw the four Titans approaching both the front entrance and the third story windows of the Wayne Enterprises skyscraper.
He grumbled into a communicator: "I'm on it, Kitten. Daddy's got everything taken care of. Just keep totin' that gun of yours. Over and out."
He lowered the device, reached into a suit pocket, and produced a sling. He stuffed a bunch of mysterious pollen into the pouch of the weapon and spun it over his head.
"Be bloody, bold, and resolute. But most of all…be sticky!!" He launched the globs of pollen across the space of air between buildings.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"How's this?" Raven asked as they reached a level of windows.
"Perfect…," Cyborg adjusted his sonic cannon with one hand and then aimed point blanc at the glass. "Now…with just the right sonic vibration I can make an entrance within a short period of—"
THWIIIIIISH!!!
Cyborg blinked. He glanced at Raven. "Are you whistling?"
"…..," she stared. She droned: "I don't whistle."
THWAP!!!!
TH-THWAP!!!
Two globs of pollen struck them and—on heavy contact—splashed into huge webs of stickiness.
SPLORCH!!!!
"Ugh!!!" Raven cried and lost her concentration as she was bound by a sticky yellow fluid.
"WAAAAAIE!!!" Cyborg shouted as the two plummeted three stories.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
WHAM!!!
WHAP!!!!
The Titans fell down onto the courtyard hard and groaned.
"!!!!" I skidded to a stop and looked over at them.
"Rrrgh??" the green tiger beside me blinked.
THWAP!!! SPLORCH!!!
Beast Boy fell over in a yellow web of stickiness.
I gasped.
I felt split-air rustling in the back of my ears.
I spun and summoned a pulse of murk--
THWAP!!! SP-SPLORCH!!!
Augh!!!
I fell back, covered from head to two in sticky, bioorganic ooze. I couldn't budge. Myrkblade was stuck to my palm and my legs tangled in thick strands. I struggled and strained—teeth gritting—on the concrete floor.
"I hate…..," an elfin Beast Boy grumbled a few feet away from me. "I hate….I hate…I HATE THE SUPER LOOGEY!!"
"What the Hell is this?!?!" Cyborg's voice uttered from a distance.
"Look…," Raven said.
My black eyes twitched under my shades, refocused, and saw more globs of pollen rolling down at us from….across the street??
"!!!" With a breath I exploded smoke energy through my lower body and forced my body into a sideways roll, avoiding the next handful of pollen shots. My three teammates weren't so lucky. Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven were totally encased in yellow slime.
"Mmmmff!!"
"Mmmmffffff!!!"
I struggled to gain firm control of Myrkblade and possibly slice my way out of my restraints.
From across the courtyard.
"Mmmff…..mmmf…..ZINTHOS!!!" FLASH!!! Yellow globs flew everywhere in a fountain as Raven snapped herself free in an explosion of black energy. She floated up, gasping for breath. She looked around, and first went towards Cyborg with serrated talons of black energy over her shoulders to free him. "Hold still. I'll free you—"
WOOOOSH!!! Killer Moth glided in out of nowhere and rammed into her body.
WHAM!!!
"Nnngh!!" she flew into the building side, staggering.
"Rrrghh!!" Killer Moth pounced, grabbed her, and backhanded her across the face.
WHAP!!!
Raven spiraled to the ground, groaning.
ZAAAAAAP!!!! A blue stream of sonic energy shot out across the courtyard, shattering concrete. Cyborg stood up—seeping with yellow—and glared with clenched teeth. "Rghhh….NOBODY hits her around!!" Kl-Kl-Kl-Klak!!! He aimed a fully charged sonic cannon at the creep. "Eat blue shit, you blue shit eater!!"
ZAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!!
A blue bolt exploded into the concrete where Killer Moth was.
The suited villain was leaping over the blast. He forward flipped, glided down with help of his wings, and landed right alongside Cyborg.
The android Titan gasped.
Killer Moth smiled under his mask. SLAP!!! "Put 'er there, pal…," his gloves slapped over the barrel of Cyborg's sonic cannon. When the gloves retracted, a group of ten or more squirming larva were left behind. They crawled into the inner networks of Cyborg's titanium limbs and started eating everything inside.
"Nnnngh…augh….dkkk…..ack!!" Cyborg twitched as his cannon arm started shorting out, twitching, and shooting sparks. "Bugs! Bugs! I've got bugs!!"
Killer Moth chuckled.
I struggled to get loose. I grunted and strained in sticky futility.
Beast Boy was still a cocoon mummy.
Raven was silent.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Hehehehehehehe!!!" Kitten nearly doubled over, giggling. She and all of the hostages had a front-row seat of the Titans' dismay through the front windows of the atrium. "Hehehehehehehehehehe!!!"
One hostage sweated. He turned and saw a possible avenue of escape into a janitor's closet. He slowly began to creep over towards it--
Ch-Chtunk!!!
"Hey!! You!!!" Kitten aimed the AK-47.
He flinched still.
"You wanna be pregnant?"
"Uh….n-no, ma'am."
"Sit the fluff down!!!"
He did so.
"Harumph…," Kitten pouted. "Hope baldy's getting the job done."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Ding!
Scwisssh!!
The laboratory door opened.
An aging scientist looked up from a metal desk. "Hello, can I help you—"
SLASSSSH!!!! SKKKTTT.
His skull split in two.
THWAP!!!
Viper kicked the bloody corpse down and marched into the room, sheathing his broardsword.
Two scientists across the metal-laced room gasped. One screamed.
Viper whipped out a pistol with a silencer. He spun it in his left hand.
The two scientists gasped again. The other one screamed again.
Viper marched in, all the while taking aim and--
Thifft! Thifft!! Th-Thifft!!!
He shot the first two dead. One slug in the heart and another in the skull each.
The last scientist scrambled backwards—shuddering—towards a wall of metal cabinets.
Viper smiled. He aimed, squinting.
Thifft!! He shot the man's left arm. Thifft!! He shot the man's right arm. Thifft!! His left foot. Thifft! Right foot.
"AAAAAUGH!!" the scientist slid down to his butt, helplessly bleeding on every limb.
Viper stepped up. He aimed towards the man's skull.
The man bled and panted bled and panted bled and planted.
Viper pulled the trigger.
The scientist's eyes clenched shut.
-click-
"…………," the man's eyes popped open.
Viper blinked. He looked at the gun. The clip was empty. He sighed and pulled out a load of bullets.
"…………," the bleeding man stared, trembling.
Viper fumbled…fumbled….reloaded…
"………….."
Viper snapped the clip in…………...and turned around.
The man's lips parted.
Viper still held his gun in one hand. He ignored the bleeding scientist as he physically perused each metal cabinet until he came to one that was locked shut with electrical mechanics. He pulled at it. It wouldn't budge. He placed the silenced pistol on a nearby, blood-stained table.
"…………," the bleeding man stared.
CHIIIING!!! Viper whipped out his sword. He stuck it into the groove of the metal drawer. SNKKTTT!!! He pushed, pried, yanked—CRAAACK!! He snapped the cabinet open. Black devices spilled out from an interior tray. Isomeric translators. Viper whipped out a canvass bag and started scooping bunches of isomeric translators and dumping them into the bag. Thwooosh!! Thwooosh!!
The bleeding man stared, panting, his bleeding limbs throbbing.
Once Viper scooped up all that he could, he slung the bag over his shoulder along with his broadsword. He slammed the cabinet closed with his foot.
He marched over to the table. He grabbed the pistol.
The scientist's heart jumped.
"……."
Viper spun his back to the man. He marched back to the elevator.
The scientist felt his own pulse.
Viper stepped into the elevator completely. He pressed the button. The doors closed.
Schwisssh!!
The scientist let loose a huge sigh of relief: "Whew….."
At the last moment before the doors shut, Viper stuck the gun out and fired once.
Thifft!!
The scientist went cross-eyed for a moment and then saw nothing as his body slid over to its side. A bullet in the forehead.
Ding!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Back on Main Street, a thoroughly bruised and disheveled Decker limped from the crash site along with a handful of equally beat policemen and SWAT Team members.
A fresh set of squad cars drove up and came to a rumbling stop. A window rolled down: "Commissioner, are we going to the skyscraper or what?!?!"
"…..," the Commissioner gazed back at the wormed-wreckage, then glared at the driver. "Get your worthless ass to Wayne Enterprises now, before I send it to Satan's school of prostate exams!!"
The driver gulped and cackled into his radio: "Get a move on!! Reinforcements!! Reinforcements!!"
VRRRRRMMMMMM!!!!
The squad cars rolled on towards the site.
Decker looked over at another officer. "……….," he groaned. "Got a light?"
"Uh….n-no, sir."
"Let's do the next best thing. Let's hitchhike…," Decker ran up alongside a moving SWAT van and grabbed ahold of the bar at the rear, hanging on as the vehicle zoomed down Main Street. An officer or two joined him, pistols ready.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"UGH!!!" Cyborg stumbled around the courtyard, waving his worm-infected, sparkling arm. "Get 'em off!! Get 'em off!! Get 'em off!!!" He sweatdropped immensely and grabbed his arm desperately with his other hand.
The squirming little invaders jumped onto his other wrist.
His human eye bugged.
"DAAAAAH!!! Not that one too!! JEEZ!! GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF!!!!"
He stumbled past me, all the while I struggled to get loose of my sticky bonds. I finally meditated, smoke dancing out under my shades. I held my breath and---
SWOOOOSH!!!
--teleported clean to the side. I rammed my head into a trash can in the process of materializing.
WHANG!!!
"!!!!" I clutched my aching head.
Dammit!!
Teeth gritting, I jumped to my dizzy feet, stumbled over to Beast Boy, and began ripping him free of the web with Myrkblade. In the meantime, I looked over towards Killer Moth…panting.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Killer Moth glanced away from us at the sound of incoming cars and sirens.
He spotted the incoming parade of squad cars. The second wave of police enforcement.
And he chuckled.
"All into the web….," he whipped out a microphone and spoke into it. "My children. My children. Listen to the voice of your creator…"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
On the building wall a few blocks away from the Wayne Enterprises skyscraper, the cocoons Killer Moth had planted on the granite surface rested where they were left by the supervillain.
The madman's voice in question emanated from the tiny megaphone there and filtered out into the air. Vibrating the cocoons.
"My children. Obey my voice. My command. Hatch. Hatch and attack the infidels. Now! NOW!!"
The cocoons twitched. The cocoons squirmed. At a metaphysical, insectoid shapes grew and grew and grew inside of them and burst out with mandibles writhing and screeching sloppily:
"SKRIIIII!!!!!"
"SRKIIIIIII!!!!"
"SRKIIIII-IIIIII!!!"
Nubile wings batted once…twice….and fluttered strongly.
Four dozen moth mutants emerged from their pupae state in a blink of an eye and swarm ravenously downwards towards the courtyard.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Heh heh heh!!!" Killer Moth maddeningly chirped above the increasing volume of sirens approaching the courtyard. He raised his arms and hollered: "Feast, my children!! Feast!! This City's day of reckoning will come yet!!! Hah Hah Hah Hah!!!!"
SWOOOOOOSH!!!!!!
SLASH!!!!
I blurred at him with Myrkblade swinging.
THWACK!!!!
I struck him hard across the helmet.
"OOF!!!" he flew to the side.
Snarling, I charged and slashed again.
WHAM!!!!
He doubled over in pain.
I twirled Myrkblade, held it back, and jabbed directly into his skull--
CL-CLAMP!!!
His sharp-edged gloves gripped the length of my sword, holding the serrated tip just an inch away from his the bulbous eyes of his mask.
I gritted my teeth and struggled with him, trying to push the sword further.
"Not this time, Titan….," Killer Moth hissed at me, getting the upper hand through muscular girth alone. "Raise your black eyes to the sky."
"……..," I frowned at him.
I frowned at him until I heard a haunting, buzzing sound.
Blinking, I turned my head slightly and gazed above the forming line of police cars around the courtyard.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SCREEECH!!!
SCREEEEEEEECH!!!
SCREECH!!
Squad car after squad car after squad car after SWAT van rushed to a stop in a solid barricade, bordering the courtyard.
Well over fifty police officers jumped out of their vehicles and aimed guns over the aluminum bodies of the cars.
Decker jumped off the van and ran towards the front line alongside two other officers and a handful of SWAT Team members. He cocked his gun and aimed directly at Killer Moth from across the concrete lake.
"Okay, snot-for-brains!! It's your time to answer the call of lead!! But I'm daring you once and for all to be a brave little maggot and put down your dukes and we can all walk away from this peacefully---"
A buzzing sound emanated from the air above them.
The cops started looking at each other. They shifted uncomfortably and gazed upwards with a gasp.
Decker blinked. "H-Huh??" He glanced up and behind him. He groaned. "Ah sweet Jehosophat…."
SWOOOOOOSH!!!
"SKRIIII-IIII-III!!!"
"SKRIII!!!"
The cops cried out, ducked, and fired randomly into the sky as handfuls of moth monsters started swooping down on them with gaping jaws and serrated pinchers.
B-BANG!!!
BLAM!!! BLAM!!!
BLAM!!!
The force was completely overwhelmed and in disarray.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I stared at the horrific site, unbelieving.
I stared for one second too long.
THWAP!!!!
Killer Moth leaned forward and headbutted me.
I exhaled and fell back.
Killer Moth prepared to pounce on me--
FLASH!!!!
A black talon encased his figure.
"Nnngh!!" he struggled in the grasp.
Raven floated over with hands raised…her eyes glowing demonically. She snarled: "Let's find out how juicy you are on the inside…."
Killer Moth wheezed: "Not today…," he tilted his head up. "Children!! Attack!!!"
Responding to the perfect inflections of his voice, half of the mutants assaulting the officers swarmed over and converged on Raven and myself.
"Ughh!!!" Raven was jolted back by a head-ramming moth. She dropped Killer Moth.
The villain touched down and ran at her.
Raven gritted her teeth and summoned hand-shields just in time to block the villain's massive punches.
I was about to run to her aid when Cyborg stumbled into view and finally resorted to flicking his shoulders and 'shooting' both of his arms off. POW!!! POW!!!
The sparking limbs landed in the center of the courtyard, twitching.
"Dammit!! Aw shucks….," an armless Cyborg bit his lip. He looked at me for a moment. "Uhm….say Noir. Could I borrow a hand for just a moment?"
"……," I gazed down at my left prosthetic. A beat. I looked up at him, making a face.
You've got to be kidding.
"Just to help Raven!!" he motioned with his left shoulder piece. "I'll give it back, I promise!!"
How about I settle for giving you a finge--?
THWAP!!!!
AUGH!!!
I gasped as two moths tackled me to a ground. They gripped my torso with sharp legs and tried biting onto my neck. I rammed one's thorax with the hilt of Myrkblade. WHAP!!! I struggled—teeth gritting—with the other.
SKRIII!!!! SKRIII!!!
The two prepared to bite into my skull.
"RRRRRAUGH!!!" Cyborg rushed up and kicked one of them off me.
WHAM!!!!
"At least my legs still work!!!"
I snarled and tossed the other one to the ground.
It writhed and shook on the concrete.
I jumped up.
It flew up at me.
I twirled Myrkblade and slashed the big bug into juicy bits.
SPLORCH!!!
Giant moths circled us.
Cyborg ran arm-less towards Raven and head-butted Killer Moth. The three engaged in an awkward, tripartisan battle with many of the villain's moths diving in to make matters worse.
I looked over to check on Beast Boy.
"Ugh….," the elf got up and shook his dizzy, cocoon-induced head of weariness. "Dude….who dropped us in on the flying monkeys scene of Oz?"
Two ravenous moths flew at his back.
SKRIIII-IIII-IIII!!!
SWOOOOSH!!!
I blurred at him.
"ACKIES!!" he ducked his green head in time for Myrkblade to slash over him.
SPLORCH!!!
I splattered the two moths to bits.
"Phweeee…thanks dude. Now I got my spark back!!!" he cheered.
Whatever.
The changeling rushed off in the form of a velociraptor and started snapping moth necks from the swarm with his teeth.
I turned to face Raven and Cyborg's situation--
WHAM!!!!
Three moths slammed into my back at once.
I found my body flying helplessly into the glass entrance of the skyscraper's atrium.
"!!!!!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SHATTER!!!!
My body ragdolled through the collapsing glass sheet and tumbled amidst rows of kneeling, gasping hostages.
"Whoah!! Keep the battle outside, handsome!!!" Kitten shouted.
I jumped up to my feet, shook the shards off me, and held up Myrkblade. A beat. "……," I turned till I was actually facing Kitten. I raised Myrkblade again.
"Hey!! I know you!! Westhaven you!!!" the blonde pointed.
I blinked.
She aimed her AK-47 at me. Ch-Chtunk!
I blinked twice.
"Let's see if HIGH CALIBRE BULLETS REMEMBER YOU TOO, CREEP!!!!"
Mahatma…tap-dancing…Ghandi……
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
Hostages gasped and pressed themselves hard against the shard-littered floor as bullets streamed all around me.
I danced to the side, I danced to the other side, I backflipped, I blurred, I dashed forward along the perimeter of the atrium.
All the while, bullets ricocheted sparkingly off the floor and windows around me, causing shards and debris to fly every which way.
"YAAAAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!"
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
I gritted my teeth and ran along the marble wall of the atrium's rear with blurring feet.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK….CLICK!!!
Kitten's eyes bulged blue and surprised. She stupidly looked down the barrel of her machine gun and pulled the trigger some more. CLICK-CLICK-CLICK. She pouted. "Awww….schizo…"
I skidded to a stop with my back to the elevator doors, panting.
She shook the AK-47 some more before grunting and tossing it to the floor. "Never live in a Barbie world with friggin' G.I. Joe toys!!" She reached into her pink purse and whipped out a pair of explosive shurikens, grinning. "Ninja Turtles on the other hand…"
I exhaled and raised Myrkblade--
Ding!
The elevator doors behind me opened.
Schwissh!
I spun around.
My black eyes widened.
His bulbous eyes narrowed.
Pale skin.
Bald head.
A canvass satchel over his shoulder.
Viper glared down at me.
I stared up at him through my shades.
"……"
"……."
There was the briefest of silent epiphanies between us and--
SWOOOOSH!!! I swung Myrkblade up at the assassin's skull.
Viper gritted his teeth and raised his right arm.
CLANK!!!!
Wooden Myrkblade slammed into his metal wrist with a shower of sparks.
I blinked.
CHIIIIIIING!!!!
He yanked out Myrkblade and swung down at me.
I jerked my left arm out.
CLANK!!!!!
Metal blade against metal knuckles.
A beat.
His eyes fell on my sword on his metal hand…then on his blade on my metal hand. "……" He smiled at me.
My lips parted.
SWOOOOSH-WHAM!!!
He karate kicked me hard in the chest.
I winced and slid back six feet on the smooth lobby floor.
Viper line-danced out of the elevator, grinning wryly. He dropped the canvass bag. He kicked it with his foot.
It slid over to the wide-eyed Kitten's feet. She slowly picked it up.
Viper slid his body into a half crouch. Chiiiiiiiiiiing. He held his broadsword threateningly huge over his shoulder.
I frowned. TH-TH-TH-THWISH!!! I twirled Myrkblade into position.
Alright, bastard.
Let's do this.
He steadied himself into a sword-slinging pose.
I coiled into an attack position.
We faced off across from each other in the lobby.
Black eyes.
Bulbous eyes.
Dark shades.
A glistening grin.
Half a heartbeat.
And….
I summoned a pulse of murk into my legs---
SWOOOOSH-WHAM!!! Killer Moth dove in out of nowhere and rammed me hard in the side.
"!!!!!!" I flew over to the lobby's desk and collapsed over it with a—THUD!!!!
Viper jerked to a standing position, his jaw dropped.
Killer Moth heaved. He pointed: "No time!! You got the goods!! Let's get out of here!!!"
Viper frowned. His fingers tightened around his sword's hilt. And shook and seemed ready to slash the fiend's head off--
"You heard Daddy!!!" Kitten cackled and was already marching past the hostages and towards the courtyard where the Titans were busily engaged with the moths. "Let's get back home in time for Joan of Arcadia!!!"
"…….," Viper snarled….but relented. He bowed dramatically with a chivalrous grin.
Killer Moth eyed him suspiciously, but shrugged it off. "Hurry!! Make like the wind!!" He ran out the skyscraper.
Viper glanced at my collapsed form, chuckled breathily, and walked off through the smashed windowfronts with his sword dancing lengthily over his shoulder.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"RAAWWR!!!" A green panther slashed claws through two moths and landed in the middle of the courtyard. Its cat ears pricked to the sound of footsteps behind. The green changeling turned around--
WHAM!!! Viper kicked the emerald cat straight in the jaw.
"Uggh….," a green elf tumbled into a huge, potted plant and slumped down to the concrete.
Viper flexed his neck and gazed over at Killer Moth. He nodded.
Killer Moth nodded back. "Time to go, Kitten!!"
"Woo hoo!! Let's blow this Popsicle stand…..with explosions!!"
Killer Moth grumbled and reached into his belt's pockets for a particular pollen extract…
From the distance—where police, moths, and bulletfire converged—Decker gasped and shouted: "You losers!! They're getting away!! Stop them!!!"
Raven and Cyborg were twenty swarming bugs away.
Beast Boy was dazed.
I was somewhere else trying to get my head unstuck from the framework of a desk chair.
"HA!!!" Killer Moth flung the pollen straight down onto the courtyard's concrete.
POOOF!!!!!
A huge cloud of yellow dust rose into the air and spread over the region like fast-moving ash and mist. It soon became impossible to see, even in the light of the setting sun. The moths started flying away to rejoin their master elsewhere, while cops and Titans alike stumbled blindly and coughed from inhalation of the pollen.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Decker collapsed against a squad car, rolled, and fell sprawled out on the concrete beside the vehicle. He coughed. He wheezed. He tried sitting up, tears in his eyes from the ash and mist. He gritted his teeth and tried to stared red-eyed through the mess.
A gray boot landed in front of him.
Decker looked up.
A pale face.
Bulbous eyes.
A grin.
CHIIIIIIIING!!!!
Decker's jaw dropped. His chin kissed the pointed edge of a broadsword.
"………..," Viper held the sharp weapon to the Commissioner's throat.
Silence…….
"…………."
CHIIING!!! Viper pulled the blade back. He walked off into the mist, joining two other slowly escaping bodies.
Decker wheezed. He gulped and felt his in-tact throat. Panting…..
His eyes quivered.
"He……He……"
His eyes narrowed.
A exhale.
"He….isn't….th-the same murderer who killed Carson and Georgeton…."
A beat.
"What the Hell is he doing?!?!?!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The pollen-ash started to dissipate.
Beast Boy groaned and stumbled up to his feet.
Raven beat her sternum, leaning over and coughing…coughing…coughing…
Cyborg walked up behind her. "I'd pat your back and make it all better if I had any arms….."
"You're….not….helping….," she wheezed.
"Uhhh……so….um…..," Beast Boy sweatdropped as he studied the dead bugs, the shattered glass, and bloodstains from where Viper's broasword dragged. "…..do we get an 'A' for effort at least?"
"………..," Cyborg and Raven glared at Beast Boy. "…….you're not helping etiher," Raven droned.
Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah…I noticed…."
At around that time, I limped out through the smashed front of the building, clutching my shoulder and wincing. A few hostages walked dazedly after me, murmuring. I gazed helplessly at the other Titans. "………."
Cyborg took a deep breath. "This is bad." He turned and gazed at the distant line of squad cars in disarray. "Very…very bad."
Raven nodded. "I know."
"What do we tell Robin??"
"………."
"We had bugs," Beast Boy said.
I kicked his shin as I walked up.
"OW!!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Policemen were still coughing and wheezing from the ash as the first of half a dozen ambulances pulled up to the chaotic scene. There were radios squabbling and voices shouting every which way and everywhere. Bodies rushed back and forth. A few collapsed persons littered the sidewalk.
Decker walked through it all. Dazed. Murmuring. "What the Hell….is th-that creep doing??"
A beat.
He came to a stop and wiped his brow. He sighed. "Dammit…."
Then there was a whinnying sound from behind. And—"Commissioner Decker, sir??"
"…..," Decker spun. He raised an eyebrow.
The Lieutenant stood at the corner of an abandoned intersection sprinkled with bug parts. He held the reins to a neighing, white pony in one hand and had a packaged PS2 system under his other arm. He looked at the splattered courtyard with a dropping jaw. "I-Is it too late?? Are the demands of the gunwoman still in effect?"
The pony whinnied again.
"…………….," Decker frowned. He pointed: "You. Your ass. With me. Back to the Station."
"S-Sir??"
"The damn gloves are off…," Decker stomped across Town. The Lieutenant and the pony trotted after him. "I'm going back."
"Back where, sir?"
"To the roots of all this shit!! I've HAD IT!!!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"James Garet….I'm afraid…..is dead….," spoke a graying man with a thinly-stretched face. Two burly men with coated muscles and dark shades flanked the elder's sides. "You cannot find anything more on him here, Titans. Please…honor his memory by leaving his old home in peace."
Robin, Tempest, and Starfire had found Garet's ranch. They had found the dirt bike paths leading up and down the mountain. They had found the forested trails and the roads all leading up to a huge mansion surrounded by rich, luscious fountains of frothing water. They found the door, they found the doorbell, and upon further inspection they found an uncooperative simpleton of old age inside who was now facing them with folded hands, a calm demeanor, and a cold voice of refusal:
"I'll tell you one more time. Honor his death…and leave."
Tempest and Starfire twitched uncomfortably.
But Robin firmly spoke: "Honoring James Garet's death is one thing. Honoring the deaths of many is another."
"I'm afraid I don't get what you mean, Mr. Titan."
"I have a feeling Garet was paid a fatal visit last night by a suspect of ours," Robin spoke. "A suspect of ours who may very well be in relationship with a group of thieves who have caused the deaths of dozens of cops and innocent people. Now—for the sake of perfect clarity and the safety of multiple lives—I suggest you work with us here. We just want to ask a few questions."
"If you may not take offense…," the elder frowned. "Costumed teenagers—especially those with superpowers—are never EVER satisfied with simply 'asking question'."
"………," the Titans stared.
The elder stepped back into the front room of the mansion. "Turn around…and leave. Or I shall call the police myself."
The two henchmen walked forward, glared in unison, and grabbed a half of the double doors each.
Creaaaaaaaaak-SLAM!!!
The door was closed in the Titans faces.
Starfire sweatdropped. "Eh heh heh heh heh…."
Tempest scratched his neck and looked at Robin. "Isn't this one of those moments when you surface people make a statement about the fecal matter of male cows?"
Robin spun around. "It's of little consequence. I know he's hiding something. It doesn't take a detective to see through that creep. He's as transparent as a paper bag after a dive into potato juice."
"That's a bit of a stretch there, Robin."
"Whatever…," Robin marched forward and glared at the luxurious front lawn of the establishment. "We're going to interrogate them in the end. They just may not know it yet."
"But Robin…," Starfire shrugged. "Have they not already shown us their vehement refusal?"
"And like good teenagers, it's due time we show them our vehement apathy," Robin said.
"Oooh…," Tempest folded his arms and smirked. "I like the sound of that."
"I knew you would…," Robin gestured towards the myriad of huge fountains. "Tempest….care to do the honors."
The Tempest looked at the rushing torrents of water. He smiled.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The elder and the two henchman walked slowly away from the door.
"Contact my partners…," the elder muttered to the guardians. "I didn't expect the heat on us this quickly. We have to take action."
"Should we patch a call through to Luthor, sir?"
"No…leave that creep out of this—"
A rumbling noise.
All three stopped in their tracks.
More rumbling.
The elder looked at his subordinates questionably.
"What….is that?"
"Sounds….S-Sounds like a flood, sir!!"
A beat.
The elder gasped and spun towards the entranceway--
SMASH!!!
The doors exploded.
SPLOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!
Water rapids surged in and slammed down the atrium of the place, smashing over mahogany tables and shattering Chinese vases. The water leapt and laughed and splashed menacingly into the bodies of the two recoiling thugs and the gasping elder.
SPLOOOOOOO-OOOOOOSH!!!!
The three men slid to a stop in a fresh pond of interior water.
The goons groaned, unconscious.
The elder struggled to his knees. He looked up, wincing.
Tempest walked in with a hand outstretched. His eyes flared a bright purple as he smirked and said: "Your lawn sprung a leak."
"Rotten…little….brats….," the old man wheezed. "You can't do this!!"
Starfire floated forward, frowning. "I believe we have just accomplished the opposite of your declaration!"
The goons found strength, sat up, and pulled out their pistols--
FLASH!!! FLASH!!
Two hot starbolts melted and forced the weapons out of their gasps.
Robin marched passed the Atlantean and the Tamaranian. Frowning, he gripped the man by the collar of his soaked shirt and hoisted him up.
"Nnngh!!" the elder gasped.
Robin's eyemask narrowed. "Who…was….here?"
The man winced. "V-Viper…."
"Why?!?! What did he want with Garet?!?!"
The man hissed. "Death…."
Tempest raised an eyebrow. "Death??"
"Death…," the elder nodded. "Death and only Death….."