170. Hand and Dagger part 7
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
The HIND helicopter's massive machine guns blasted potholes down the street towards Beast Boy and I.
The green elf cried out.
"!!!!!" I yanked him by the arm, spun, and flung him off towards the side of the street.
The Changeling tumbled to an awkward stop besides a line of cowering citizens under an awning. They steadied him while the elf looked at me in concern.
I came at the end of my spin, faced the combat chopper, and raised Myrkblade up vertically with gritting teeth.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!!! The bullets splashed horrendously up the street and exploded on me.
CL-CLANG!!!!
Just deflecting one massive bullet was enough to send me flying back twenty feet, trailing smoke.
WHUMP!!!
I rolled on the rubble-strewn street, wincing.
The air was beating.
The rotating blades of the helicopter barely squeezing between the lateral buildingsides as it thundered towards me down the street.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!
I desperately hopped to my feet and streaked a blurred path northward and away from the homicidal aircraft.
The blades beat the air after me.
The HIND helicopter remained tilted forward.
The machine guns tilted to aim at me.
I held my breath, blurred right, and streaked up a buildingside. I ran vertically.
The guns pivoted.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
Gaping holes in the brick and mortar facings of the buildings exploded into being behind my heels. Windows shattered. Shop fronts crumbled. A few entire establishments crumbled to the ground from the sheer force of the bullets' caliber searing through the steel support beams.
My vertical streaking slowed.
The helicopter came closer.
The blades beat and beat at my heels.
I felt the friction of spinning blades turn the autumn air into hot steam.
I grit my teeth and blurred up the wall.
I lost more momentum. I was about to lose my murking grip to the buildingfaces…
But then my legs sprang off the surfaces with a pulse of smoke.
I flipped sideways over the street, barely over the passing HIND helicopter, and onto the rooftops to the far left.
I knelt on the gravel of the building top.
Panting.
Roaring, the helicopter spun around in a sharp arc and came back at me from the north side.
I shuddered.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!
Holes punched through the rooftops in a steady line, some eating into the top floors beneath.
I spun around and ran.
The helicopter lifted up.
"???" I glanced over my shoulders.
Two hellseeker missiles flared.
I gritted my teeth.
Shit……
I blurred my feet even faster.
I streaked over the buildingtops, hopping across entire avenues and streets.
SHOOOOOOOM!!!!!
SHOOOOOM!!!
Two missiles flew at me.
I held my breath and leapt over a wide alleyway between apartment complexes….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Look!!" Ashley pointed up.
Greg and Lisa glanced towards the sky. They were on the seventh floor in descending down the rusted fire escape.
A shadow figure streaked overhead, as seen through the many layering cross-hatches of metal steps.
And then--
SHOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
Two missiles trailed after his figure.
One skirted over the rooftop.
The other however---
BOOOOOOM!!!!
The hellseeker exploded with a brilliant fireball on the first floor.
Thunder and ash snowed hotly down the alleyway.
The entire fire escape shook from the top down.
Lisa, Greg, and Ashley caught hold of the railings…wincing….shuddering from the vibrations.
CR-CRACK!!! The topmost level of the fire escape steps broke free from the apartment building's brick foundation.
Lisa gasped.
CHTUNK!!! CRKKKK!!!
The fire escape broke loose completely. A bundle of metal steps and railing collapsed downward.
THWACK!!!!
It flattened itself onto the second to the top row of stairs.
CRACK!!!!
That tier broke two.
The two sets of stairs stacked into a clump of twisted iron works and fell straight down through the next step.
CRUNCH!!!!!
And then the next.
RATTLE!!!!
Ashley shrieked in horror and Greg gasped.
Lisa's one eye widened at the pancake effect rumbling down towards them.
Ten stories….nine stories…..
"M-Mommy!!" Ashley helplessly shrieked.
Both kids clung to Lisa.
CR-CRUNCH!!!
Eight stories…
Lisa hugged the two to her sides and crouched instinctively with them, wincing.
SWOOOOSH-CLANK!!!!
"…………..," Lisa blinked. Her eyes remained open. She looked up, panting.
Miraculously…the bundle of twisted steps stopped collapsing and rested against the weight of the metal framework just over their heads.
But not for long…
GROANNNNNNN!!!
Lisa exhaled. "Go…GO!!!!"
The three scrambled down the wobbling fire escape.
They shimmied down the sixth floor…
CRKKKK!!!
The metal harnesses of the stairs pulled and cracked at the brick wall.
The fifth floor….
Dust and metal flakes rained down on their heads through the steps.
The weight of mangled steel above began to bend harder and deeper into the rusted webbing holding the wreckage in place.
The fourth floor….
GROANNNNNN!!!!
CRACK!!! CRACK!!
A few railings snapped free.
Nuts and bolts splattered downward.
Lisa panted.
The kids scrambled and scrambled to descend—
CRUNCH!!!!!
A shockwave flew down the groaning fire escape along the buildingside.
"Aaack!!" Greg cried as he was flung against a railing. He began to dangerously teeter over. "…….!!!!!"
"Nnngh!!!" Lisa jabbed her hand out and grabbed him by the wrist.
GROANNNNN!!!!
The fire escape shook and wobbled precariously.
The metal framework started to grow tight and looked ready to snap like a toothpick any minute.
"We'll….W-We'll never make it!!" Ashley stammered.
Lisa looked around, panting.
She caught sight of an old clothesline of bungee cord hanging between the two sides of the alley.
"Here!!!" Lisa pulled Greg's hands up and forced his fingers to close around the line. "Grab on!! Climb onto the window sill on the other side!!"
"Are you n-nuts?!?!" Greg shrieked.
"I'm making this crap up as I go!!!" Lisa barked. "Now unless you want to become a rusted sandwich….CLIMB!!!!"
He nodded, panting, and inched his way out on the clothesline.
Lisa hoisted Ashley next.
The girl clenched her eyes shut, refused to look down, and started to shimmy her way across the alley.
GROANNN!!!
Lisa nimbly perched on the rusted railing—nearly slipped—but regained her balance in time to leap out and grab onto the cord. Her weight—added to the two Knight children—caused the bungie to bow towards the rock-solid alleyway ground three stories below.
"Oh jeez….Oh jeez….Oh jeez Oh Jeez Oh Jeez Oh Jeez!!!" Greg hissed, his eyes clenched shut.
"Keep moving, Greg!!!" Lisa panted, struggling to remain hanging herself as she inched across the bungee after the two kids. They dangled in the middle of the naked alleyway. "Just a little more and we can enter the building across the way—"
CRACK!!!!!!!
The railings and steps five stories up gave way.
SWOOOOSH—CRACK!!!!
The bundle of mangled metal sailed down through the seventh level.
CRACK!!!!
The sixth.
CRAA-AAACK!!!
The fifth and fourth.
Ashley shrieked.
Lisa tightened her grip on the cord.
"H-Hold on!!!"
SWOOOOOOOOSH-CRUNNNCH!!!
The groaning metal mash sailed dustily down past them.
A wind kicked up from the plummeting body, causing the three to wobble and shake on the cord.
CRAAAAASH!!!!
A tall tower of crunched metal collected nightmarishly on the bottom of the alleyway, still standing like some orcish tower.
Shards and shrapnel of rust flickered outward and upward.
And one sailed through the harness to the clothesline on the side of Lisa's apartment building.
SNAP!!!!!
"AAAAAAAAAIIIEEEE!!!!"
The two children shrieked but clung on for dear life as the cord gave way.
The three swung down a story and a half before slamming into the wall on the other side.
"Oof!!!" Lisa fell from the impact.
She landed in a squat and then collapsed on her butt.
Wincing, she managed to stand up and shout: "Ashley!! Jump!!"
"I…I…."
"I'll catch you!!!" Lisa shouted.
The girl took a deep breath and leapt down from a story and a half up.
Lisa braced herself, teeth gritting.
WH-WHUMP!!!
She caught Ashley.
She panted.
She lowered the girl.
"H-Help me!!" Greg cried, dangling high above.
"You next, Greg!!"
He gave some slack to the clothesline, panted, and leapt down.
Lisa readied herself to catch him….but not necessarily his greater weight.
THWAP!!!
"Ugh!!" Lisa collapsed across the alleyway.
"Ooof!!" Greg landed, sprawled over her.
Both were too busy to notice what Ashley noticed.
"AAAAAAAH!!" the girl shrieked and pointed upwards.
Lisa and Greg glanced up.
GROAAAAAN!!!
The tower of collapsed fire escapes shook, teetered, and began to fall over them.
"Ah Jehosophat….," Lisa grunted.
"Look out!!!" Ashley pounced on the two and hid her shivering head in Lisa's chest.
Greg hugged the other two and screamed.
Lisa struggled to get up and drag them all to safety. She fought and struggled under the panicking children.
SWOOOOOOSH!!!
The tower of twisted metal fell on them.
Lisa could do nothing but wince and expect the worst---
CRAAAAAASH!!!!
"………."
Lisa panted.
Miraculously, the three of them fit in a curved alcove of metal—like a hole—that fit around their sprawled bodies.
The metal groaned for one last time.
The dust settled.
And it was silent, save for the distant splashes of gunfire, explosions, and chopper blades.
Lisa fainted.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"RED!!!!!!"
BL-BLAM!!!
BLAM!!!
Tempest shoved the front line of citizens away behind him and ducked the shotgun blasts.
The three-green eyed gunmen ran across the Network Control chamber and pumped their weapons.
Tempest gritted his teeth and dove at the first of them.
He aimed at the Atlantean in mid-air.
BL-BLAM!!! The shotgun blasted.
Tempest arched over the shot, plowed into the man's body, slammed him into a desk, and vaulted off him.
"R-RED!!!" the other two spun, aimed their shotguns, and--
BLAM!!!
BLAM!!!!!
Tempest rolled behind a desk that absorbed the shot. He dove out and rolled past another blast.
As the two pumped their weapons, the Atlantean braced his nimble legs against a wall and kicked off.
SWOOOSH!!!
He leapt at them like a sailfish.
One ducked.
The other swung the butt of his shotgun.
WHAM!!!
Tempest was knocked back. He rolled backwards and landed with his back against a solid wall in the blood-stained office.
He winced.
A shotgun pumped.
A citizen from the passageway yelled: "M-Mr. Titan!! Look out!!"
Tempest's white on black eyes opened wide. He ducked his head--
BL-BLAM!!!!!
A spray of hot lead slammed into the wall above his dark head.
Tempest panted as all three thugs stomped towards him now.
He glanced to the corner of the room.
His lungs gasped and his gills flared.
A water cooler…..
With a flare of purple eyes, Tempest shot his left arm out and flicked his wrist—
Rattle!!! THWOOOSH!!!
The blue, plastic bottle heavy-full of water soared off the appliance and slammed into the back of one of the men's skulls.
WHAM!!!!!
The other two recoiled and ducked.
Tempest jumped up to his feet, spun, and flicked his wrist again in a jabbing motion.
THWOOOOOOSH!!!!
The dribbling bottle arched around the room, levitated…and shook.
The two men pumped their shotguns and aimed at the Atlantean.
Tempest gritted his teeth and pulled back with his hands…glowing purple.
THWOOOOOOOSH!!!
The bottle soared across the room and slammed its watery weight into the back of both thugs.
Tempest flipped between them, spun acrobatically, and pumped his arm again.
THWOOOSH!!! The bottle soared back like on an invisible yo-yo string and plowed through the two thugs' bodies again.
One fell for the count. The other shrieked and fired blindly
BL-BLAM!!!
Tempest twirled to the side, arched his shoulders, levitated the bottle over, rolled it over his arms like a giant baseball, perched it on his wrist, and shot it forward with a jerk.
THWOOSH!!!
But most of the water had dribbled out, and the effect now was like a wiffle bat slapping the thug coyly in the face.
The green-eyed man grunted and batted the bottle back with the but of his shotgun. THWAP!!!
Tempest parted his arms and stopped the bottle in front of him.
The man popped his shotgun and--
BLAM!!!!!
Tempest gasped and tilted back--
POW!!!!
The bottle exploded from the lead spray. Hot shot, flying water, and shredded plastic flowered above Tempest's chin.
He tilted back, tensed his muscles, and stretched himself back up again—
"REDDDDD!!!" The last gunman tackled him.
WHUMP!!!
"!!!!" Tempest gritted his teeth and wrestled with the man.
The Titan and the Dragonflare spawn fought for control of the weapon.
The cowering citizens and escapees in the passageway trembled, watching anxiously.
Lindsay bit her lip and clenched her fist…mentally rooting Tempest on.
WHAM!!!
The thug pressed Tempest up against a bloody desk. He pressed the weight of their bodies and the shotgun down onto the struggling Atlantean.
Tempest kicked and thrashed back, convulsing with strained muscles all over.
"Nnnghr….RED!!!!" the man's eyes flared a hot green as he sweated and panted over his foe. "REDDDDD!!!"
Tempest glared a demonic purple and hissed through clenched teeth. "I'll give you 'red'….."
THWUMP!!
The Atlantean forced the shotgun up against the man's chin…
He squirmed a free finger up around the trigger—
BLAM!!!!!
The thug's head exploded. Crimson brain matter littered the ceiling and wall.
The citizens gasped.
"Nnngh!!" Tempest shoved the body off him.
THWUMP!!! The thug's corpse littered the floor beside his two unconscious allies.
Tempest spat on it and wiped his brow, panting.
"………"
Lindsay and the others slowly crept out, eyeing the dead body.
"……….," Tempest heaved. He looked at the others. He shuddered: "Sorry…I did…..I d-did what I had to do…."
Antoine nodded shakily. "N-No problem….," he blinked up at the Titan in earnest. "C-Could you do what you have to do a little more??"
"…….," Tempest raised an eyebrow.
"Which one of th-these damned passageways gets us up to the hospital already?!?!" A man in the underground crowd panickedly uttered, staring at the electronic subway grid.
"I-I know!!" a young person pointed. "We should head Northwest!! Follow me!!"
"Nuh uh!!" Tempest marched over. "Follow me!!" He strongly gripped the shoulder of the volunteer and pushed him behind. "You…..point."
The man nodded and stuttered: "Y-Y-Yes sir, M-Mister Titan…"
"……," Tempest glanced aside.
Lindsay was staring at him.
"What??"
"N-Nothing…," she breathed.
He blinked. He marched towards the door and kicked it down. THWUMP!!! "Allright, surface dwellers. Let's move."
Antoine and Jack carried a hobbling Bonnie.
The others followed in single file.
Lindsay took a deep breath and walked loosely behind. Her freckled cheeks were rosy for some reason.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!!
The T-Car swerved around a bend in the ruined streets.
VRMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
As it rocketed down a straightaway, the lone black jeep swerved around the corner as well and chased tightly after the android Titan's Baby. The gunman on the back let loose without remorse:
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!!!
P-P-PING!!!
Bullets splashed around the rear of the vehicle.
"Come on….," Cyborg gritted his teeth while steering hard.
SCREEEEECH-SCREEECH!!!
The T-Car swerved in and around debris.
The jeep followed every move precisely, gaining proximity.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
"Could really use your black magic right now, Rae….," Cyborg muttered.
He steered with one hand and stuck his left out the window as a sonic cannon. Kl-Kl-Klak!!! He aimed straight down at the blurring pavement and fired.
ZAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAP!!!!
Two ridges were made as the asphalt split from his sonic punishment.
The jeep merely swerved around the obstruction.
"Nnnnnngh….," Cyborg unleashed another downward blast.
ZAAAAAAAAAAP!!!
More ridges.
The jeep ramped over it, actually gained more speed, and fired much closer than before:
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
P-P-P-PING!-POP!!!
Cyborg's left rear tire blew out.
"Criminy!! Son of a—" he steered fiercely to maintain steady direction down the road.
ThrumpThrumpThrumpThrumpThrump! The whole left side of the vehicle bounced and lurched.
The T-Car slowed.
The black jeep drew closer.
One gunman reloaded the main weapon while another prepared a handful of grenades.
Cyborg flew his free hand over to a console, popped open a compartment, and pressed a yellow button.
PIFFFT!!!! The left rear tire was ejected entiredly. SWISH-CLANK!!! SCRAAAAAAAAAPE!!!! Sparks flew as the rear of the T-Car ran on the bear metal of the left wheel's rim.
Cyborg flipped a switch. He pressed the yellow button again.
Beep-Beep-Beep-PHWOOMP!! A replacement tire exploded outward around the rim.
The T-Car evened out, regained traction, and steadied itself along the road.
"Boo-ya!!!" Cyborg slammed on the gas.
VRRMMMMMM!!!!
The T-Car rocketed forward.
The jeep—still close—swerved to the right and gave one of the gunmen clearance to toss two grenades. SWOOOSH!! SWOOOSH!!!
"NNNNGH!!" Cyborg swung hard to the left.
SCREEEEEECH!!
The T-Car burned down a branching street past building front in time to skirt past and around the bouncing grenades.
Cl-Clank!!
BOOOOOOM!!!
A fireball rose.
The black jeep swerved, plowed through half of the flames, and soared after the T-Car.
The rear gunman cocked the mounted weapon and fired more volleys: RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
VRMMMMMMM!!!!
Beyond the smoky veil of a burning building, the T-Car and the black jeep rocketed down the street.
But Daniel and the assisting citizen weren't paying attention.
They crept their way from the rooftop of the pawn shop to the two-story complex next door.
The Fillmores' house and shop. And it was burning from the bottom up.
"Any chance they could all have been upstairs when the grenade hit?!?!" the man asked above the ambient noise of a City under fire. "They are your neighbors, after all!!"
"Let's just hope most of them are still alive to share fruitcake packages with…," Daniel panted. He approached the smoke-layered front of the building. He took his bundle of rope and started fastening it tightly to a t.v. antenna. "Here…help me tie this!!"
"S-Sure thing!!"
The two men worked on tying the rope to the antenna with combined years of boy scouting knowledge. Once the cord was bundled tight, Daniel wrapped the end of it a few times around his arm and backed up towards the foggy building front.
"I'm going in!!"
"Don't you mean going down?"
"Are you here to help me or what??"
"My bad."
"I'm gonna need you to help pull me and whoever up….got it??" Daniel pointed.
The man nodded.
Daniel took a deep breath and started to backstep over the edge. "Here's where watching Macguyver comes in handy…."
He pressed his feet into the front of the building.
"Give me some slack!!" Daniel shouted above the crackling blaze beneath him. "Slowly!!"
"I got you!!" the man gradually shimmied the cord down, fastened ultimately to the weight of the t.v. antenna behind him.
"……," Daniel breathed firmly as he kicked his way down foot by foot towards the wide window. "Don't look down, Danny. Don't look down. Don't look down. Don't look down."
A beat.
The man glanced over his shoulder….and looked down.
Hungy blazes billowed out of the bottom floor with tongues of ash leaping up at his rear.
"Damn you, Danny….," the young man hissed. He exhaled shudderingly, and kicked his way down more.
Slack was given.
The rope pulled taut from the antenna.
Daniel reached the windows. He 'stood' on them, gripping tightly to the rope. He coughed from the fumes of smoke rising up against him. He lifted his foot and clapped the shoe into the window pane.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
"Hello?!?!"
Fire rumbled.
Smoke laughed.
Clank! Clank! Clank!!
"H-Hello!!! Mister Fillmore?? Mrs. Fillmore?? Cherish?!?! Beatrice?!?!"
He saw movement from the inside. Foggy. Distorted.
He panted. "Hello?!?! Can you hear me?!?! Open the window!! I've come to get you out of there!!!"
More movement panicked faces.
"The place is burning down!! Hurry!! Open the window!!"
He finally saw a figure through the glass. She yanked and pulled at the window dramatically before performing a 'shrugging' expression.
Daniel blinked, panting.
The window was stuck……
"Okay!! I got this!!" Daniel uttered. "Stand back!!!"
The figures disappeared from clarity.
Daniel tilted his head up. "Yo!! Hang tight to the cord!! I gotta smash the window open!!"
From above: "I…..gotcha……nngh…."
"Okay…here goes….," Daniel clenched his teeth. His legs bent once…twice….then sprung. "!!!!" holding his breath, he 'leapt' off the building side, dangled above the flickering flames, and rammed the soles of his shoes into the window.
CLANK!!!
The glass merely rattled.
Daniel grunted. "Again!!"
The rope pulled taut from above.
Daniel gasped.
He kicked off…harder this time.
The smoke and ash licked up at him.
He drifted out and back…
THWAP!!!!
He struck the glass harder.
They rattled some more…shaking the frame.
"One more time!! For the money!!!"
"Anytime, man!!"
"Nnnnghh!!!" Daniel coiled his legs….and pushed hard.
SWOOOSH!!
He nearly slipped, but regained his swing with a shudder and rammed his legs hard like two battering rams—
SHATTER!!!!
The glass splashed and cascaded outwards.
Daniel spun on the cord once, grunted, and braced himself once again against the buildingside. Panting.
Four bodies drifted towards the window amidst a small cloud of smoke. A middle-aged black woman. Two black girls. And a stranger of Chinese descent…most likely a customer who had fled with the family up to the top floor.
"Mrs. Fillmore!!!" Daniel coughed. "We gotta climb!! This place will burn down any minute!!"
"Thank the Lord somebody came…p-please….take Cherish and little Beatrice first….," the mother shuddered.
Daniel panted, his eyes darted around. "Wh-Where's Charles?"
The two girls shuddered. The customer gazed aside. Mrs. Fillmore's face contorted into a poorly repressed sob.
Daniel bit his lip, cleared his throat, and extended a hand: "By all means….Beatrice?? Hop aboard."
She stared at him pensively. "A-Are you a Titan, Mister?"
"Sure…..," Daniel smiled painfully. "I am….for today. Now take my hand!!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!! CLANK!!!! Beep-Beep-Beeeeeep-BOOOM!!!!
An explosive birdarang caused a buildingface to collapse and block a throng of green-eyed gunmen from rushing upon a sudden throng of fleeing citizens.
CRUMBLE!!!!!
The villains on the other side screamed and scrambled to get through the rubble.
Robin panted, lowering his throwing arm. "That'll hold them off…for now. L-Let's get those people somewhere safe!!"
"Yes…but where??" Raven uttered, holding up Starfire. "We're far away from the Central Bank."
"The Hospital….," Starfire slurred. "Is it nearby??"
"You're doing fine now, Star….," Raven droned. "I treated your shoulder alrea—"
"N-No…for the people!" the alien girl panted.
"Good idea…," Robin nodded. "That hospital has a huge basement level to it. Almost a bunker in its own right."
"Isn't that where they keep the City morgue?" Raven dripped.
"Raven….now's DEFINITELY not the time!!" Robin pointed. He then approached the two dozen panicked citizens and waved his gloved arms. "Everyone!! Follow us!! We're taking you to the hospital!! We'll be safe there!!!"
The people muttered, nodded, and clustered after Robin.
"Now if we can just get through the streets swiftly enough to avoid those creeps with the guns coming back and---," Robin faltered in mid sentence at a loud sensation. A beating sound. "That feeling again…."
Starfire gasped. "It is like…a gigantic Voomblark bird!!"
"You got the gigantic part right," Raven pointed down the street. "Look!!"
Robin's eyemask squinted. "Son of a…."
SWOOOOOOSH!!!
I blurred down the street….then caught sight of the huge throng of innocent pedestrians directly in my path. Not to mention Robin, Starfire, and Raven. I gasped—my black eyes widening—and skidded to a murking stop.
Blades rotating monstrously, the HIND helicopter beated to a hover behind me. As if taking notice of a tastier prey, its nose tilted up and the machine gun cannons began to rotate.
Robin gasped and ran towards the pedestrians. "Everyone!!! Cling to the buildingside!! Now--!!!!"
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
I spun, summoned a huge wave of murk into my upper limbs, and spun Myrkblade like the devil.
SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!!!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!!!!
I held my own against the huge-ass caliber bullets ricocheting off my blade.
CLANG!!! CLANG!!! CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CLANG!!!
But not for long.
WHOOSH!!!
I was blown off my heels and back by about thirty feet, landing painfully.
The bullets streamed past me, dividing the street in two like hot butter to melting asphalt.
Raven literally dropped the Tamaranian girl. "Starfire, you're on your own!!!"
WHUMP!! "Ooof!!" Starfire landed on her butt, winced, and stared wide-eyed at the scene.
Raven flexed her fingers in split-second meditation. "Azarath…Metrion…ZINTHOS!!!"
FLASH!!!!!
A translucent, black wall of energy splashed from sidewalk to sidewalk, blanketing Robin and the people as they skirted to the side and safety.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!
The HIND soared past, along with its heavy machine gun blasts which pelted the black shield all over, causing the telekinetic surface to warble sharply.
Raven winced….looking as if her head was going to explode.
SWOOOOOOOOSH!!!!
The massive helicopter soared down the street and past the shield, but not without dropping a heavy payload directly into the black energy web.
SWIIIISH-KABOOM!!!!
The shield shattered from the flames and concussion.
A pulse warbled into Raven's forehead.
"NNNGhAAAH!!" she collapsed numbly to the sidewalk. Thwump!!
"R-Raven!!!" Starfire gasped, crawling achingly over to her side.
Robin hurried the shrieking pedestrians away from the flames and under the shadowed lip of the buildingside.
"Noir!!" the Boy Wonder panted. "Now where in the Hell did this thing come from???"
I stood up, wincing. Panting.
Mother Russia??
The beating sound lessened and increased as the hulking HIND helicopter spun around and barreled on back through the air. It took aim with its machine guns….towards the opposite side of the street from the pedestrians.
I saw it…I gasped.
Robin did too. "Starfire!!! Move!!! Get yourself and Raven out of there!!!!"
The alien girl looked up. She shrieked.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!
Brick and cement exploded outward from the building face in a straight line towards her and the dark girl.
Raven groaned, near-unconscious.
This time, Starfire hoisted her over her shoulder. She winced…summoned up her reserve Tamaranian strength…and flew down the sidewalk in a green beam. SWOOOOOOSH!!!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
Building faces, storefronts, glass displays, and concrete exploded and puffed out behind the weakly flying alien in a steady string.
CLACK-CLACK-CLACK-CLACK-CLACK!!!
"STAR!!!!!!" Robin shouted.
I gritted my teeth.
The helicopter loomed overhead.
I twirled Myrkblade, pulsed smoke into my limbs, and ran towards the buildingsides on the right.
SWOOOOOOSH!!!
I blurred up the buildingside, coiled my legs, and vaulted.
SWOOOOOSH!!!!
I twirled over and up in the air.
The helicopoter soared beneath me.
I flipped and dove downward, legs first.
The blades beat hotly beneath my heels.
At the last second, I stuck my body straight and teleported---SWOOOSH---through the blades and landed perched on the bottom of the two cockpits.
The pilots inside gasped.
I gritted my teeth, yanked Myrkblade back, and stabbed down point blanc against the glass bubble of the pilot's compartment.
CLANK!!!
Again.
CLANK!!!
Again.
CL-CLANK!!!
Sparks flew.
The machine gun stopped firing.
The HIND pulled up some as I mercilessly stabbed and stabbed.
Starfire pulled herself and Raven around a buildingside, panting.
Robin ran forward and whipped out a grappling hook. "Star!! Raven!! Get them to the hospital!!!"
POW!!! The grappling hook shot up.
Starfire gulped, caught her breath, and shouted: "R-Robin!!!"
C-CLANK!!!
SWOOOOOSH!!!!
Robin caught the helicopter by its undercarriage and his petite body was yanked up, up, and away by the cord.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Lieutenant!!!" Vann walked up as the ambulances roared back towards the hospital. "Look!!!"
The Lieutenant and a few other officers spun around.
Their eyes widened.
A beating noise.
A roaring noise.
A soaring noise.
SWOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!
The HIND helicopter soared overhead.
There was a dark-haired ninja clinging to and stabbing the cockpit domes of the aircraft's front.
A caped crusader was dangling by the helicopter's fuselage.
"Jiminy Cricket….," the Lieutenant uttered with a helpless smile. He and the others turned as the fiendish craft soared beyond the rooftops. "…they're alive."
"The Titans???"
The Lieutenant nodded.
"But for how long??"
"Good point….," the Lieutenant spun and pointed. "Tell the other two companies to escort the ambulance to the Hospital. You and the other boys are coming with me."
"Where are we going, sir?!?!" Abbey cried out.
"To nab us a Bird!!!" the Lieutenant said. "But we gotta make a hunting stop first!!!" He marched across the street.
The other policemen followed.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Nnnngh!!!" Robin struggled to keep his grip as the helicopter sped up to one hundred and sixty miles per hour.
The cord dangled tautly from the bottom hull of the craft.
Robin couldn't seem to retract it enough and get closer to it.
He yanked one hand free, panted as he dangled in the cold air above dozens of blurring buildingtops, and reached into his utility belt for a remote.
His cape blew in the wind and his fingers were numb.
But he managed to get a gloved finger over a single red button on the remote….and click it.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Down besides the wrecked Police Department…..
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
Beast Boy vaulted over a pile of rubble in the form of a green gazelle. He avoided spray after spray of heavy bullets splashing around him.
P-PING!!
PING!! PING!!!
CLANK!!!
"REDDDDD!!!!"
"RED!!!!"
Half a dozen men ran after the green animal. But just as they were about to jump or climb over the rubble in the middle of the street----a light shone out from beneath the dust.
The thugs in workers clothes glanced down, sweating. Grunting in confusion---
SMASH!!!!!!
The R-Cycle sprang out from the exploding rubble. It roared to life by remote and soared down the road.
SCREEEEEEEEEECH!!!!
VRMMMMMMMMM!!!!
A few thugs were plowed aside…knocked unconscious.
The bike screamed northward….following a distant speck of rotary blades in the smoke-trailed, autumn air.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I panted and stabbed.
CL-CLANK!!!
And stabbed.
CL-CLANK!!!
And stabbed.
CRACK!!
The pilot inside the lower cockpit bubble gritted his teeth and fidgeted with controls.
My black eyes narrowed as I rested a moment to glare inside.
I raised an eyebrow.
He doesn't seem to have the Dragonflare touch.
Is he just one of Dagger's----
WHURRRR-CHTING!!!
A machine gun barrel extended from the cockpit and aimed square at my chest.
"!!!!!"
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
I gritted my teeth, pulsed my limbs with murk, and swung up and out of the range of fire of the lower cockpit.
My metal hand gripped desperately to the slippery edge of the top 'bubble' for dear life.
For an updraft had caught my swinging body and was lifting my legs up…up….up towards the bottom edge of the huge, beating blades.
SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISHHHH!!
I gritted my teeth, snarled mutely, and literally 'pulled' myself down so that I lay flat against the top cockpit.
The pilot inside that tilted his head up at me, gasping.
SWOOOOSH-CLANK!!!!
I stabbed Myrkblade down into the glass. Cracking it. Forming spiderwebs.
I concentrated more and more murk. Into my blade, causing the cracks in the pilot's bubble to spread…
The upper pilot signaled towards the lower pilot.
A nod.
A shout.
Both jerked on their controls at once.
FWOOOOOSH!!!!
"!!!!!" I clung onto the 'bubble' for dear life as the helicopter plummeted down towards the urban sprawl.
SWOOOOOOOOSH!!!
We evened out with a jerk against some buildings, nearly tossing my body up into the humongous blades over my waving hair and bandanna.
Poor Robin was yanked up and to the side via his cord.
"Whoah!!!"
He flew towards a passing skyscraper's side to the right.
He moved his legs, 'ran against the glass windows', and kicked off so that he clung and perched to the right wing of the HIND helicopter.
Both Robin and I clung onto the craft as it veered left and right through and around skyscrapers in a desperate attempt to lose us.
I took every chance I could to stab deeper and harder into the shell of the craft.
Robin was in the middle of preparing an explosive disc to shove into the payload of the right wing.
The lower pilot glanced back through his cockpit's peripheral and saw the Boy Wonder. He shouted to the upper pilot.
The upper pilot flipped a switch.
I heard a rushing noise.
"?????" I glanced at Robin.
A hellseeker missile positioned just behind his head started to flare. It was positioned to directly impale his perched figure.
"!!!!!!" I let out a shrill whistle.
Robin couldn't possibly hear me beneath the blades and rushing air.
So I jabbed Myrkblade into the surface of the huge, beating bird, chipped off a shrapnel piece of paneling, and flung it at the Boy Wonder.
WH-WHAP!!!
"Owie!!!"
He looked at me.
I pointed behind him.
He glanced around, saw the missile shaking right in his head, and immediately dropped the disc he was preparing. "JEEZ!!!"
FWOOOOOOM!!!
The missile unloaded.
And then Robin dropped all grip he had on the HIND helicopter….and plummeted. Like a loose feather from the metal beast's wing.
SWOOOOOSH!!!
The missile streaked past my form.
But I looked down past it at the falling Boy Wonder.
Robin!!!
I panted.
SWOOOOOOOSH—The Missile flew straight ahead….and slammed into the upper summit of Kobayashi Tower.
FWOOOOOM!!!!
The huge satellite dish atop the skyscraper flew apart in an instant. Giant, pale shards flew down at us.
The helicopter's blades beat madly as the whole aircraft veered to the side and barely avoided the flaming debris.
SWOOOOOSH!!!!!
I clung hard to the craft, ashes from the crumbling satellite dish dancing across my figure.
CRUNCH!!!!
The debris slammed into the streets below.
I looked down, panting….seeing what became of Robin.
It was a long fall, and he was still plummeting….that is…until a red streak of a motorcycle ramped up over a pile of rubble and saved him.
I smiled insanely from up high.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"OOF!!!" Robin saddled the R-Cycle.
He fell with the vehicle.
He flung his gloved hands down and gripped the steering mechanisms.
SWOOOOSH—The R-Cycle landed on the street.
CL-CLANK!!!
Robin gritted his teeth, caught his balance, and throttled the cycle ahead.
VRMMMMMMMM!!!!!!
He zoomed northward in pursuit of the veering HIND….going deeper and deeper into the slums.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SWOOOOOOSH!!! SW-SW-SWOOOSH!!!
The wind whipped at my hair and body as the helicopter veered left and right some more in an effort to shake me.
I winced. I gave up on the cockpits.
I looked down past my legs.
Beyond my flailing lower limbs was the engine compartment of the helicopter…positioned beneath the giant, rotating blades.
I gripped tightly to Myrkblade.
I clenched my black eyes shut.
I concentrated.
One……
Two……
Three……
CRACK!!! I yanked Myrkblade out of the nose of the helicopter.
SWOOSH!!! My body streaked back in an instant.
I twirled Myrkblade up.
CLANK!!! It caught itself, cutting halfway into the right wing of the chopper.
My whole body strained as I struggled to stay gripped to Myrkblade.
My face showed it.
Nnnnngh!!!!
I panted.
Once I succeeded in aligning myself with the wing of the aircraft, I gripped onto it with my metal left hand.
CLANK!!!
I took a deep breath.
I pulled Myrkblade out.
I spiraled around on my left limb.
I flailed some more.
I balanced myself with murk.
Another deep breath.
And….
SWOOOSH-CRACK!!
I stabbed into the engine compartment.
SWOOSH-CRAACK!!
Again.
SWOOSH-CRAACK!!!
Again.
Sparks flew.
Smoke started billowing out.
The blades puttered once or twice.
The HIND chopper started the lower.
The pilots inside shook and panicked.
I hissed through clenched teeth amidst the strained procedure.
First floor……your asses!!
SWOOOOSH-CRACK!!!!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Robin throttled down through the slums. The bazaars. The ghetto half of the Town.
All in pursuit of the HIND helicopter….which was slowly, slowly lowering towards the streets.
And speaking of the streets…they were empty of panicked citizens.
But not empty of—
"REDDDD!!!"
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
Green eyed gunmen on the rooftops, fire escapes, and balconies came out of the woodwork and launched an intense barrage of heated lead at the Boy Wonder as he streaked on through. They seemed to be much thicker in number here than anywhere else.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
P-PING!!! PING!!!
CL-CLACK!!!
Bullets flashed and bounced off the curves of the R-Cycle.
Robin swerved left and right in such a way as to avoid bodily contact with the projectiles.
He panted: "Of all the friggin' times not to have my helmet…."
He gritted his teeth and swerved right to avoid a throng full of gunmen.
VRMMMMMMM!!!!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!!! P-P-PING!!!
Robin eyed the helicopter with my body attached lowering and lowering. Smoke was billowing out from beneath the blades.
Robin glanced to his right…and saw the elevated train tracks that stretched through the slums running parallel to the lowered trajectory of the helicopter.
Robin looked at the chopper again…then at the train tracks.
"………what the Hell."
VRMMMMMMM!!!
He throttled forward veering around and under the overhang of the L-Tracks. He searched with his eyes…searched…searched….and finally found it.
"Aha!"
A truck. Parked to the left of the tracks. Its bed facing away towards him.
"Nnngh!!" Robin performed a wheelie.
SCREEEEECH!!
He hit the back of the truck.
CL-CLANK!!!
He ramped up…up…up…
VRMMMMMM!!!
And he came down on the L-Train tracks.
CL-CLANK!!! VRMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!
He road bumpily over the tracks and picked speed. He could look directly to his left and spot me and the chopper going neck and neck with him. He reached a hand to the communicating device on his R-Cycle.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SWOOOSH-CRACK!!!
I stabbed.
SWOOOOSH-CRACK!!
I stabbed again…and my butt vibrated.
"?!?!?!?!" I glanced at the communicator on my flailing pant leg….then out to my right.
I saw the Boy Wonder one hundred feet away on the R-Cycle. He signaled with one hand for me to drop.
I panted, nodded, and yanked out Myrkblade—CRACK!!!
SWOOOOSH!! I landed, kicked my feet, and ran the length of a rooftop below the helicopter.
I ran to a stop, panting.
Watching the duel ahead.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
VRMMMMMM!!!!
Robin kept his momentum.
He kept glancing left at the helicopter.
The pilots of the HIND were struggling to recuperate their smoking engine.
Struggling to pull up.
To take the aircraft out of range.
Robin took a deep breath, yanked a free hand into his utility belt, and produced an explosive disc. He tossed it straight out at the helicopter.
SWISSSSSSH-POW!!!!
It exploded off the chopper's hull.
The HIND rocked.
Robin breathed.
He whipped out another disc.
He tossed it hard. "Nnngh!!!"
SWISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH-POW!!!
It ricocheted off the hull and exploded not more than ten meters off the tail rotor.
The pilots inside the cockpits rattled.
Robin pulled out an explosive birdarang this time. He held his breath—
HONK!!! HONK!!!
"……," he glanced forward.
His eyemask widened.
A train car was barreling straight towards him on the L-Track. The front windows shattered as four green-eyed soldiers peered out, screamed, and fired a heavy volley of shotgun blasts.
BL-BLAM!!!
BLAM!!!
BLAM!!!!
Robin yanked left and right on his R-Cycle in desperate dodging.
SCREE-EE-EECH!!!
The train car rocketed towards him.
The HIND started to lift.
"Damn….damn damn damn DAMN!!!" Robin panted. He looked at the explosive birdarang in his wrist…then at the upcoming grill of the train. "Eat this!!!" He tossed it. "Nnngh!!!"
SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!!! CLANK!!! Beep-Beep-Beep-BOOOOOM!!!
The explosive landed twenty meters in front of the train.
The explosion tore at the tracks, forcing the steel girders to arch upwards.
The train car slammed on its breaks, sending sparks flying amidst a loud whining noise in the air.
Robin braced himself on the bike.
The R-Cycle struck the mangled, raised tracks---
TH-THWUMP!!!
He ramped up.
The Train Car screeched below him.
The R-Cycle somersaulted sideways. Its tires scraped across the top of the train before flipping off with the Boy Wonder in tow.
WH-WHUMP!!!!
The R-Cycle crashed and flipped over.
"Oof!!!" Robin tumbled to a stop across the elevated tracks.
The R-Cycle plummeted to the streets below.
And behind him, the train car plummeted suicidally into the demolished tracks. CRASH!!!!!
The R-Cycle exploded.
BOOOM!!!
The train car….exploded.
POW!!!
A fireball to Robin's left.
A fireball to Robin's lower right.
He got up on his knees, wincing.
Then…
A beating sound.
Heated air.
He looked up.
He gasped.
The HIND helicopter had pivoted and was rocketing towards him, purposefully tilted downward, the giant blades carving the air and ready to slide the Boy Wonder to ribbons.