171. Hand and Dagger part 8
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!!!!
The blades of the HIND helicopter danced against the rigid surface of the L-Train tracks, grazing them and causing sparks to fly.
In the cutting path, Robin backed up till he was on the edge.
He teetered helplessly.
The blades tore upon him.
He winced--
SWOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!
I blurred over the rails in a smoke-trailing arc, plowed into Robin, and shoved the both of us off the edge of the L-Train tracks and onto the solid sidewalk of the streets below.
Somewhat jolted, Robin gasped for breath.
I shook him and pointed down a nearby alleyway.
The HIND helicopter—bloodless—roared on overhead and gained altitude as the engine puttered back to life.
Robin gulped and nodded. "No use standing still."
I nodded with a weak smile.
Sorry about your bike……
Nothing was said, so of course the two of us were sprinting down the impoverished street without a moment to lose.
"At least we bought time for Starfire and Raven to get those people to the hospital safely…," Robin said. "Let's hurry back to the Downtown in time to help them in case the damn chopper goes on a second attack!!!"
I nodded.
And then…
Screams.
Shouts.
Gunshots.
We both skidded to a stop and glanced to our left.
Panting.
"Unless of course….," Robin gulped. "We run into another holocaust along the way…."
I shuddered.
"C-Come on!!!" he tugged at my sleeve.
I twirled Myrkblade and blurred after him towards a large apartment complex.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Is this the place, sir??" Johnson breathlessly stammered.
The Lieutenant marched up to a shopfront. A huge gun store. "Yup. Last stop before we go hunting."
"Is someone inside?"
"I dunno…but we're about to find out."
The Lieutenant drifted forward, reaching his hand towards the door--
"Skriii??" a green spider monkey lowered down by its tail.
"!!!!!" the Lieutenant jumped back.
His two flanking officers instinctively raised pistols and shotguns.
"Eeep!!" the monkey blinked. It snaked down, morphed into an elf boy, and shrugged: "Yo!! It's me!! Good guy freak. Remember?? Good guy freak!!"
The Lieutenant exhaled: "You should know better than to sneak up on us at a time like this."
"I should know what there is to be known to begin with!!" the changeling panted. "The City's being torn to shreds, I've lost my teammates, and what's worse—there's some bigass helicopter diving about overhead and making life hell for my hairdo!!"
"That's what we're here for….," the Lieutenant gestured towards the gun shop.
"………," Beast Boy turned and gazed at the building. "You don't say…."
"Mind if you step back?? We've got to make a business deal—"
The Lieutenant tried to pull open the door.
But it was locked.
"…………"
The other officers shifted nervously.
The Lieutenant bit his lip. "Okay….well…I admit. That was rather desperate."
"………," Beast Boy stared at the storefront. A beat. "……..," he smiled at the officers and pushed them aside with an enlarged forearm of green fur. "I'll show you 'desperation'….."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
CRASH!!!!
The fist of a huge, emerald gorilla punched the store's doors in.
The Lieutenant and his men walked briskly in.
A stirring sound over the counter.
They swiftly raised their pistols.
A middle-aged, balding man stood up behind the counter, arms raised. "D-Don't hurt me…whoever you are!!" he murmured, standing in the middle of a plethora of guns. "I'm unarmed!!"
"……….," the Lieutenant looked at the racks and racks and displays and displays of guns around the man. "…….." He looked back at the shopkeeper himself. "Y-Yeah…….ahem….s-sorry about the intrusion…a-and the door. I promise…we'll pay for it all in time. But you see, s-sir….we've got an emergency."
The man gulped. "H-How can I help??
A green elf watched curiously from the corner of the store.
The Lieutenant stepped forward: "We need to borrow all the assault rifles you've got…"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Everyone….this way!!" Raven exclaimed loudly with a wave of her arm.
She stood at the corner of Main Street and Seventy-Second. Just a few blocks away was the hospital….the goal of the journey. Over two dozen citizens crept hurriedly around the bend and followed Raven's directions, surging forward in single file towards the building in question. A barricade of bullet-riddled ambulances and police squad cars could be seen.
Starfire floated protectively at the rear of the group. Her shoulder was still bandaged and—yes—still throbbing. But her strength was also slowly regaining. She floated higher and higher, and she even had a few starbolts available to dish out on attacking insurgents.
"I hope Noir and Robin are safe….," Starfire wrung her hands.
"Not to mention Beast Boy and Tempest," Raven droned. A beat. "….and Cyborg."
Starfire gulped. "He has been most busily employed in losing enemies with that T-Car of his, has he not?"
"Go figure…," Raven floated along the ranks of shuffling citizens. "…in a perilous time such as this, the last thing he is to part from is his 'baby'."
Starfire gazed at her from the other side of the procession. "Are you not concerned in the least for our friends, Raven? You sound so…so…."
"Numb?" Raven remarked.
"I was venturing to say 'apathetic'."
"Heh….," Raven dryly uttered. "…this is not easy to deal with, Starfire. Make no mistake."
"I am sorry, Raven."
"And don't say you're sorry. Just keep your eyes pealed for--"
Raven suddenly froze.
Nervous, the crowd of people also jerked to a stop as soon as the dark girl Titan did.
Starfire floated still, gesturing: "Raven?? Why have you halted us? We are but a short distance away from our ultimate destination----" She suddenly gasped, amber hands clasped over her lips.
There were two dots of red light dancing across Raven's head of hair.
"R-Raven….do not attempt moving!!" Starfire hissed.
"I know, Star….," Raven whispered. Her fists clenched. Her eyes started to glow a dim…then bright gray. "Now……rush the people behind the semi truck to our right."
"R-Raven???"
"NOW!!!!!" Raven shouted and pulsed a dark energy.
The people gasped.
THIFFT!!!
TH-THIFFT!!!
Streaming bullets sailed down from high above. The sniper rounds slammed into Raven's skull….only to explode upon contact with a black shield of energy emanating from her cranium in reverse.
FLASH!!!!!
"Nnnngh!!!" Raven's entire body shook as she concentrated the black shield out and over her figure.
"Hurry yourselves!!!" Starfire exclaimed, hurriedly ushering the panicked people out of the road and behind a long, abandoned semi truck. "Go for cover!!"
The people shrieked and muttered in fright as they rushed on crouched feet.
THIFFT!!!
THIFFT!!!
THIFT!!
More bullets streamed down.
Raven let out a literal scream and extended her personal shield of energy out over the shoulders of the people, protecting a lucky half of them from bullet strikes.
FL-FLASH!!
FLASH!!!
Starfire escorted the people undamaged to the far side of the semi truck.
Raven however…
"Nnngh…," strained for the second time that day, the dark girl slumped to her knees.
Red dots shined across her blue cloak and body.
Starfire gasped. "R-Raven!!!" She flew out in an instant. SWOOOOOSH!!!!
THIFFT!!
A sniper bullet flew down.
On the asphalt, a collapsed Raven spontaneously jerked her upper limbs apart.
PING!!
A bullet ripped a hole in her cloak and bounced off the road where it struck under her arm pit.
She panted, violet eyes wide.
SWIIIISH!!! Starfire streaked over, grabbed her shoulders, and dragged her friend swiftly to safety while sniper rounds exploded in a hauntingly quiet manner around them.
THIFFT!! THIFT!!!
P-PING!!!!
A few sparks and bits of asphalt flew, but Starfire safely hoisted Raven to safety. The two girls pressed themselves up against the side of the semi truck, wheezing…..panting….
"Well….," Raven swallowed. "….looks like you're doing LOTS better…."
"You must not put yourself in so much needless danger, friend!!" Starfire exclaimed. "I do not want to lose you on a day such as this!!"
"Let me be the judge of what is or what is not needless danger…," Raven droned. She glanced around the edge of the semi truck. "…besides….just because Cyborg isn't here doesn't give you the license to nag."
"How are we to direct the people to the hospital now??" Starfire uttered as sniper bullets fired tauntingly around the scant gaps between the semi truck's structure. "They are on considerably high ground and I do not believe I have gained all of my talents of flight b-back!!"
"It's okay, Star…," Raven looked around the most readily available range of view. "I'll think of something."
"Would your shield be efficient enough to protect us and the citizens en route to the hospital?"
"The shield is always efficient…," Raven said. "It's my mind that isn't."
Starfire blinked. "H-Huh??"
THIFFT!!
P-PING!!!
The girls and citizens jolted.
"The distance is too far for me to cover with a shield to protect so many of us over so long a distance…," Raven droned. "The only way to get ahead is to put the snipers behind."
"How are we to accomplish that?"
"………," Raven blinked. "By drawing them out…." And she shuffled towards the edge of the semi-truck.
Starfire gasped. "Raven!! What are you—"
"Keep an eye out…," Raven said. She stood out in the open of the sniper's obvious view to the rear of the truck and floated cross-legged in mid-air. She assumed a levitating lotus position, posed her fingers, and meditated. "When I tell you to look….I want you to spot with those emerald eyes of yours where the bullets are coming from and zap them with your starbolts. Do you understand?"
"I….I-I think so…," Starfire all but bit her lips.
"Trust me….," Raven said with her eyes clenched shut. "I know perfectly what I'm doi—"
THIFFT!!!
A bullet streamed down from above.
Raven's forehead tensed.
FLASH!!!
A tiny black shield exploded over her skull and deflected the sniper bullet at the right place and right time within centimeters of accuracy.
Starfire's jaw dropped.
Raven cleared her throat, took a deep breath, and said: "—doing…."
She meditated on her powers. She extended her telepathy. Invisible energy talons rotated and orbited around her as a spatial sense swam through the air and screamed into her brain at the earliest note of a flying bullet or a shifting enemy gunman.
"Azarath….Metrion…Zinthos………..Azarath….Metrion…Zinthos…"
Starfire bit her lip, sweating. She scanned the horizons far above Raven's form. The rooftops. The possible avenues of sniper perches. There were far too many to safely estimate before—
THIIIFTT!!
Raven concentrated and--
FLASH!!!
--produced a shield to deflect the bullet.
There was an obsidian splash of black energy arching out, like black fingers groping for the vapor trail of the long-distance bullet. But the splash didn't go far.
And Raven's forehead tensed in frustration at that.
"Raven, what are you attempting to—"
"Shhhh…..," Raven hissed. She took a deep breath and kept floating…chanting. "Azarath….Metrion….Zinthos………..Azarath Metrion Zinthos……."
Silence.
Antsy citizens shook behind the semi truck.
Starfire blinked.
Raven floated. Her lips parted. A gentle breath came through.
THIFFT!!!
Raven produced a shield to the right side of her forehead--
FLASH!!!!
The bullet shattered against the shield.
Raven concentrated.
The black energy splashed out, found the trail of the bullet in the air, 'filled' it, and shot upwards in a black string for over two hundred feet till it found a rooftop…..and a dark shadow.
"There, Starfire!!!" Raven hissed. "The gunman's exposed! Hit him!!"
"Nnnghh!!" Starfire clenched her teeth and let loose a long-ranged starbolt. FLAAA-AAAA-AAAASH!!!
THWAP!!!!
The man in the distance shouted and flew back a dozen feet from the impact of the starbolt. His sniper rifle melted.
"Now get down!" Raven barked.
"!!!" Starfire planted herself to the sidewalk—
THIFFFT!!! CL-CLANG!! A sniper bullet struck the truck above Starfire.
THIFFFT!!!! Another bullet flew suddenly at Raven.
Raven tensed.
FLASH!!!!
The bullet shattered in a black splash over Raven's chest.
Raven concentrated.
Tendrils of black energy surged along the path of the bullet over to a lofty balcony two blocks down.
"Th-There!!!"
"RAAAUGH!!!" Starfire fired two starbolts from the ground. FL-FLASH!!!!
The two bolts of energy flew across the street, exploded against the balcony, and sent the gunman falling. His body slammed against a flagpole, toppled in mid-air, and landed hard on a balcony below. He wasn't about to pick up a gun again.
Raven took a deep breath.
"We did it!" Starfire beamed. "Glorious---!!"
"Stay down, Starfire."
"B-But…."
"There weren't two gunmen…," Raven uttered. "There're three….."
"………….," Starfire lay silent. Gulping.
"Azarath….Metrion….Zinthos………Azarath….Metrion….Zinthos………….Azarath….Metrion…Zinthos……………"
"…………"
"Azarath….Mertion……Zinthos……….Azarath….Metrion…..Zinthos……"
"………….."
THIFFT!!!!
Raven gasped and—FLASH!!!! Shot a shield down to her pelvis.
CRACK!!! The bullet exploded. It had sailed in on an almost perfectly horizontal angle.
Street level.
SWOOOSH!!! The black energy streaked out along the trail of the bullet and splashed against behind a newspaper stand three blocks down.
"Th-There….Starfire…."
Starfire sat up. She gasped.
The gunman was running away from the hiding spot.
The Tamaranian concentrated. Her eyes glowed a hot emerald.
The gunman ran past a truck.
"Nnnnghhh!!!" Starfire clenched her teeth. Two beams of green shot from her eyes. ZAAAAAA-AAAAAAA-AAAAAAP!!!!!
The beams streaked over asphalt, past rubble, and slammed into the fuel tank of the truck hundreds of feet away.
BOOOOM!!!
The man's body flew from the blast, flailed in the air, and landed hard on a pile of rubble. Unconscious.
"Hmmm…..," Raven blinked. "…climactic." THWUMP!!! She collapsed to the floor.
"Raven!!" Starfire rushed over to her side. "Have you been shot?"
"Only with exhaustion…," Raven tiredly curved her lips ever so slightly. "Ugh….that took a lot out of me, Starfire."
"Can we now safely go to the hospital?"
"I'd say yes….but….it's your turn to carry me now…"
"Hehehehe….more than glad to take my turn," Starfire smiled and hoisted Raven up. She shuffled around the semi-truck with the dark girl in tow. "Let us hurry!! The hospital is our destination and the gunmen have been cleared…for now."
The people muttered and anxiously headed off towards the distant building under the two girls' guidance.
Starfire floated herself and Raven alongside them. "We must certainly set out into the City again once these people are safely within the hospital. There are many villains yet to tame."
"Or just obliterate….," Raven droned.
Starfire gasped. "But surely…we must not!! Do you not see? They are citizens under control of Dagger's Dragonflare!! Robin's assessment was most harrowing in underlining that!!"
"Citizens or not….," Raven winced. "…they are hurting other citizens as we speak. We are dealing with two evils and two goods here, and soon the Titans as a whole will have to make a decision."
"………..," Starfire bit her lip.
"Wait for Robin's word…," Raven prophesied. "The extremes have not yet been reached. Wait for his word…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"L-Lisa??"
"Where are we going??"
Lisa held the hands of Ashley and Greg. She led them hurriedly through the rubble-strewn streets of the City as sounds of warfare loomed in the distance. "Somewhere big where a bunch of other people are most likely to be safe."
"What kind of place would that be?"
Lisa shrugged, panting in mid-run. "I dunno. A stadium? The Police Department? A hospital? Right now, I'm betting on the Police Department."
"I hope you're right…."
"You won't leave us, w-will you, Lisa?"
The dark-haired teen smiled. "I promise. I won't…."
Suddenly, Ashley gasped. "L-Look!!"
"!!!!" Lisa forced Greg and Ashley to duck behind a heap of rubble in the middle of the street.
"Wh-What is it??" Greg whispered.
Ashley trembled. "I-I saw something. Like a really huge bomb!!"
"Bomb??"
"J-Just over the mound!! I'm not making it up!!"
"……….," Lisa held a finger over her lips. She slowly, quietly…crept over the mound of rubble.
Greg and Ashley quietly crept behind her.
Lisa crept and crept…and peaked over the top hill of rubble.
Her one eye widened.
There were at least a dozen shady men gathered in the space of open street behind the rubble. Their eyes weren't the flaring green, but instead a sane breadbox of colors as they walked around and shouted commands to each other…..gradually tweaking and preparing for launch what looked like a huge tomahawk missile. It rested on a metal contraption that was slowly lifting itself so that the missile aimed towards the sky at a forty-five degree angle. A bundle of wires ran from the launcher to a computer console that a hacker of sorts was swiftly typing at and shouting maintenance orders to others.
"What….the H-Hell……??" Lisa murmured.
"S-See??" Ashley whispered. "I wasn't lying!!"
"Wh-What are they doing??" Greg trembled.
Lisa gulped. "It's definitely not an after-church bake sale, I'll tell you that much."
The children shook in fear.
Lisa looked back at them. She blinked. A beat. "We've got to tell someone about this."
"But wh-who??"
"……..," Lisa grabbed their hands. "The first ones we run into." She grabbed their hands and slid down the rubble. "Come on!!!"
They ran down the street. A shadow crossed their figures, followed by a loud beating sound.
The HIND roared above and past them.
SWOOOOOOOSH!!!!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"There!! Do you hear it?!?!" Beast Boy pointed as he ran over the rooftops of southern downtown in various animal forms. "It's coming!! From the Northeast!!!"
"Not so fast!! Just tell us where it is!!" the Lieutenant shouted.
"I'm finding you guys the best spot to fire from!!"
"Well, alright then….," the Lieutenant panted. He whistled and motioned behind him.
Eleven other officers ran from buildingtop to buildingtop behind him. Every single one of them—the Lieutenant included—was armed with assault rifles. Machine guns. Uzzis. AK-47s. Two even carried a high caliber anti-aircraft mounted gun.
"Th-There!!!" Beast Boy pointed from where he stood still atop a flat square of rooftop. His green finger highlighted a growing, black speck in the distance….growing larger.
"Okay men!! This is it!!!" the Lieutenant cocked his rifle. "Take positions!!"
Cl-Click!
Cl-Click!
Click!!
The two men in the rear planted the mount and the huge machine gun down onto it and both crouched down behind it. One pivoted the gun to face the distant speck. The other fed the machine gun ribbons of ammo from two crates.
Everyone else stood or knelt with their plethora of machine guns at ready.
Beast Boy took a deep breath and watched from the sidelines.
The HIND grew less and less distant.
The Lieutenant squinted behind his AK-47. "……….wait for it."
The men breathed hard.
Gritting their teeth.
Aiming.
Aiming.
The air began to beat.
The HIND came closer.
"………..wait for it."
The air shook.
The black speck was no longer a speck, but a forward-tilted metal bird with blades shredding the currents above it as it roared around in an arc that took it towards the…..hospital.
The Lieutenant took a breath: "FIRE!!!!"
"Fire!!!"
"Let 'er have it!!"
BLAM!!!
BL-BLAM!!!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!!
BL-BL-BL-BLAM!!!!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
A dozen hot streaks of bulletfire stormed out thickly towards the hulking craft.
The helicopter seemed to jolt at the sight of it and lurched left.
The cops and their assault weapons shifted to meet it.
The two men swung the mounted gun over and fired like mad, shell casings exploding all around them.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
The bullets struck the broadside of the craft as it swung around. A hundred dints were formed instantly. Sparks flew as the bullets bounced off and shoved the aircraft back, almost rotating it against its obstinate rotary blades' force. But the bullets still didn't break through the surface no matter the punishment. The helicopter bravely flew against the flow of weapons and soared overhead.
SWOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!
Beast Boy ducked.
"The payload!!!! The payload!!!!" the Lieutenant shouted above the noise as the helicopter swarmed over their shoulders. "Aim for the payload!!!!"
The officers spun around and fired directly up and outward at the close belly of the bird.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
BL-BLAM!!!
B-B-BANG!!!
The bullets fell short as the helicopter soared out of range…..but then turned around.
Beast Boy blinked.
The cops lowered their weapons, their lips parting somewhat.
The HIND was swinging around—metal blades glinting as they spun—and angled itself perfectly with the cops. It tilted its nose down. It accelerated.
And its machine gun cannons began to rotate.
The Lieutenant gulped, but shouted: "FIRE!!!"
"Aaaaah!!!"
BLAM!!! BLAM!!!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!!
BL-BL-BLAM!!!!
The air beat.
The air heated up.
The HIND flew against the bulletfire, the blades deflecting a good swarm of the shots.
And…
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!!!
The street literally split in two from the tormenting bulletfire as it swarmed down the intersection, exploded two abandoned cars in a row, and surged like meteors into the buildings the cops were one.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!!!
CRUNCH!!!
CRKKKK!!!
SPLASH!!!
"Back!! Back!!" the Lieutenant shouted above the noise.
The cops split left and right.
The two besides the mounted gun practically dove---
CRUNCHHHH!!!!
The rooftop divided. Gravel and concrete flew. Steel girders were exposed like bone.
The cops gasped and panted….until they realized they could hear their gasps and pants.
The incoming HIND's machine gun fire had stopped. And in its place--
SWISSSSSSSH!!!!
SWOOOOOOOSH!!!
Two hellseeker missiles soared out from the wings and plummeted directly towards the rooftops the cops were on. One after another.
"Sweet Mary…"
"RUN!!!"
The officers practically dropped their guns and made a run for it.
But the first missile closed in on them—
"RAAAAAAUGH!!!" A green T-Rex stomped across the buildingtops, spun, and miraculously batted the missile away with its huge dinosaur tale. WHAP!!!!
The Lieutenant watched, gasping.
The missile spun, spiraled, and landed through an abandoned commercial bus in the street.
BOOOM!!!
The T-Rex tilted its head up towards the incoming HIND. It roared as if hungry for the metal bird.
The cops watched helplessly. Their heads tilted at the sound of the second incoming missile.
The T-Rex turned its head aside.
SWOOOOOSH!!!
The hellseeker plummeted towards the dinosaur's feet.
Beast Boy snapped his jaws forward.
CLAMP!!!!
He bit onto the side of the hellseeker.
He spun his body.
Growled.
And opened his jaws just in time to toss the drool-drenched missile back at the chopper.
The HIND swerved right.
The hellseeker hit it at an awkward angle.
CL-CLANK!!!
The chopper jolted.
The missile twirled off to the side—BOOOOM!!!—and exploded in mid-air.
The cops winced and covered themselves from the close ashes.
SWOOOOOOOSH!!!
The HIND roared overhead once again.
The T-Rex snarled, charged, leapt off the building, morphed into a snake in mid-air, coiled around the right wing of the helicopter, morphed then into a huge gorilla, and started punching, biting, clawing at the metal structure of the aircraft.
WHAM!!
THWAP!!!
CRKKK!!!
The Lieutenant and the others stood up, watching as the HIND—lurching downward from the gorilla's weight—sputtered and hovered off towards the west side of the City.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"GRRRAAAUGH!!" the gorilla slammed with its fists, its feet, and even head-butted the side of the HIND. It tore off a panel or two and tried smashing its fingers into the hollow cavity of the chopper.
The craft veered left and right, trying to shake the changeling.
The gorilla clung on hard and started grabbing cannons, payloads, and other destructive weaponry.
CRUNCH!! CRKKKK!!!
As the chopper flew over the abandoned park of the City, the gorilla grunted and dropped the discarded bombs over the trees and grassy hills and fountains.
BAM!!!!
POW!!!!
BOOM!!!
BLAM!!!
The gorilla was about to reach and yank off the machine guns of the craft…when the chopper dipped low over the trees lining the park.
TH-TH-TH-THWISH!!!!
The gorilla grunted and shook all over as treetop after treetop slammed into his body. Soon he had no choice but to--
"GRRGHHH!!!"
The gorilla fell, snapping off a missile.
CRKKK!!!
FWOOOSH!!!
THWUMP!!!
The changeling landed on the forest floor.
It stood up, roared, beat its chest, and tossed the missile at the escaping chopper.
THWIIIIIISH!!!
The HIND veered left to avoid the explosive.
The missile flew past it and slammed into a park obelisk.
BOOOOM!!!
White concrete shattered everywhere across the enflamed environment.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!" the changeling morphed down into a green elf that frustratingly pulled at his hair and yelled at the gradually climbing helicopter. "AAAAUGH!!! Why won't you just DIE?!?!?!?!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Daniel shimmied down the front of the building once more.
Cherish and Beatrice Fillmore stood safely on the burning structure's rooftop. The man from the pawn shop and the Chinese woman from the Fillmores' second story were both working together to steady the bound rope as Daniel used it to go back down to the window and attempt his last rescue.
The fire on the first floor had increased, naturally. The smoke was positively blinding. Not to mention paralyzing.
Daniel coughed, his eyes watering. Still, he paced himself down to the window and extended a hand to the last person inside.
Mrs. Fillmore.
"Okay….time to go!!!" he shouted. "Grab my hand!!!"
"I'm….I-I'm too heavy!!" the woman shouted. "It won't be like my children or—"
"A little weight never b-bothered me….," Daniel managed to smirk amidst the noise and smoke. "That's why when Renee said she was ready for a child, I didn't hesitate!!"
"………..," Mrs. Fillmore blinked.
Daniel stretched his hand further. "Are you coming or what?!?!"
She shuddered. She started to climb out the window. "If it means living t-to see your wife's reaction when I tell her she said that….sure!!"
"Sounds like a real party…," Daniel took her hand, steadied himself, pivoted around, and offered her his back. "Climb on!!!"
"I-I'll try…"
"Don't try it. Do it!!!"
Mrs. Fillmore awkwardly wrapped her limbs around his back. The two swung out over the smoke.
The rope lurched.
Daniel wheezed. "J-Jesus!!"
Mrs. Fillmore winced. "T-Told you."
"Never you mind," Daniel wheezed and tilted his head up. "Help us back up!!!"
The rope slowly started to tug upwards.
Daniel strained. He positioned his shoes flat against the wall of the burning building. He slowly…slowly inched them up towards the edge of the building.
Cherish and Beatrice hopped on the rooftop, peering down.
"Come on, Mommy!!!"
"You've almost made it!!"
"Come on!!"
"Hurry!!"
Daniel wheezed and strained. He muttered through clenched teeth: "They aren't making it any easier…ya know…."
"Yeah….," Mrs. Fillmore smiled. "I'm so proud of them."
Daniel panted.
The ledge was within arm's reach.
His feet inched upwards.
"Almost….Th-There….."
Suddenly, the man above the roof gasped from out of view.
The Chinese woman shrieked in a different tongue.
Daniel blinked.
And…
SWOOOOOOOOSH!!!
A dented, recovering HIND zoomed overhead and horrendously close to the rooftops.
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!!!!
The tail rotor skimmed the rooftop, dug up gravel, and--
SNAP!!!
--broke the cord anchoring Daniel and Mrs. Fillmore.
The children shrieked.
Daniel gasped.
The two fell--
SWOOOOSH—CLAMP!!!!
Daniel's left hand gripped the window sill.
"AAAAAH!!!" Mrs. Fillmore fell free—
GRIP!!!
Daniel's right hand reached down and grabbed the woman's arm.
She dangled, gasping. Her feet were suspended just above the billowing smoke and leaping ashes of fire.
Daniel strained, his entire body one giant muscle pulling tight to keep himself and the mother above the hell.
The helicopter zoomed off into the distance.
The man and the woman peered over with the children.
"Are you all right?!?!"
"Nnnnnghhh!!!" Daniel strained. "What…does….it….look like?!?!"
"Mommy!!!"
"No, Mommy! Don't fall!! DON'T FALL!!!"
"ONE OF YOU!!!" Daniel shouted up. "GET SOME MORE SLACK TO THE ROPE AND TOSS IT DOWN HERE, DAMMIT!!!"
The two adults nodded and rushed out of view atop the roof.
"Nnnnghhhh….," Daniel strained, trying to pull himself up on the window sill more. Failing. Panting.
"J-Just let go, son…."
The man gasped. He looked down.
Mrs. Fillmore's face was solemn. Wet. She shook it. "Just let go….no need for two more lives being lost today."
He panted. His muscles practically ripping.
"Mommmmmy!!!"
"Hang on!! P-Please!! Hang on!!!"
Daniel clenched his teeth.
The smoke and the heat and the noise.
Mrs. Fillmore started to slip.
His limbs shook.
"No….."
Mrs. Fillmore gasped.
He snarled. He reopened his eyes. "What kind of f-father….would I be???"
"………."
His whole body cringed.
"God dammit….," he convulsed. "Mrs. Fillmore….your children will not become…f-friggin' orphans!! RrrrrrRRRGHHHAAAAAH!!!"
His joints snapped. His muscles ripped. He raised his arm for all it was worth and pulled Mrs. Fullmore up till her wrist was in line with the window sill.
"GRAB ON!!!!"
She jerked and clutched to the window sill.
Daniel exhaled and dangled loosely by one hand. He took a breath…then pulled himself up painfully to the windowsill. He stood inside the second story window and reached his good arm down for her.
She took his grip in hers.
He raised her to the windowsill till they stood safely inside.
Smoke billowed.
A new slack of rope dangled down.
"T-There you go!! The last length we can give you!!!" shouted the man from above.
"Now….," Daniel panted, clutching his one aching shoulder. He stared at Mrs. Fillmore. "We do this again….and we do it successfully……"
Mrs. Fillmore shook. She looked at his limp arm. She looked at him again.
"Yes sir……"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Robin and I ran to the side of an apartment complex in the Northeast slums.
We pressed ourselves simultaneously against the shadowed walls.
We inched forward.
We peered around the corner.
My jaw dropped.
Robin gasped.
At least three hundred helpless citizens were being rounded up in the center of the courtyard between six-story apartment complexes.
They were surrounded by green-eyed gunmen.
But they weren't firing upon the helpless population.
Not yet.
In some sort of hypnotized precision, the gunmen shouted and forced the people into a dense, round circle amidst the playgrounds.
Impoverished masses shook and clung to each other.
Then gunmen on the sides…
Gunmen on the roofs…
Gunmen on the balconies…
They all aimed at once.
A three-hundred-and-sixty-degree firing range.
"An execution….," Robin murmured. "A mass genocide. If this isn't a sign of Dagger's work, I don't know what is…."
I shuddered.
He looked at me.
I looked at him.
He brandished a fan of birdarangs and discs in two hands.
CHIIIIIING!!!
I brandished Myrkblade. I smiled.
He nodded.
We all peered out.
Three……
Two……
One.
"YAAAAAAAAH!!!" Robin shouted at the top of his lungs.
The people looked over.
So did the gunmen, faltering.
Robin dove out into the courtyard, flipped, and unleashed discs and birdarangs everywhere in his descent.
SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!
THWIIIIIIISH!!!
SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!!
Six gunmen lost their guns in perfect, textbook fashion.
CLANK!!! CLANG!!! WHACK!!!
SWOOOOOOSH!!! Snarling, I blurred out at them and struck them each hard with the blunt side of Myrkblade. THWACK!!! WHAM!!! SLAP!!! I ping-ponged between the different thugs and gunmen, knocking them all down in a ring of precision surrounding the people.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!
Guns fired from above. Bullets pelted the ground all around Robin.
The Boy Wonder dove forward, spun to his feet, whipped out an explosive birdarang, and launched it up at a balcony full of gunmen.
SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH-BOOM!!!
The gunmen shrieked and were blown back into the apartment complex that they bordered.
"REDDDD!!!!"
A line of gunmen marched out of a dark alleyway and aimed guns at the shrieking circle of citizens in the courtyard.
SWOOOOOSH!!! I blurred around them in a curve, raised Myrkblade up, and lopped off the barrels of their guns in precision.
SL-SL-SL-SL-SL-SLICE!!!
The gunmen faltered back, gasping.
"Nnngh!!" Robin tossed a freezing disc at them.
SWOOOOOSH-FLASH!!!!
Their bodies were frozen in a mountain of ice.
Gunmen lining the rooftops cocked their machine guns and fired down.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
The people flew to the ground, wincing.
I blurred repeatedly in front of the line of innocent civilians, twirling Myrkblade at the bullets.
CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CLANG!!!
I deflected the bullets back up towards them.
The gunmen flinched and ducked.
Robin fired a grappling hook, lifted himself to a balcony across the way, and tossed three explosive grenades at the feet of the gunmen.
POW!!! P-POW!!
Amidst splinters of rooftop tile, the gunmen fell back and landed unconscious.
I resumed blurring across the courtyard, orbiting the innocent people, and thwacking thugs and fiends unconscious.
Robin leapt and jumped from balcony to balcony, karate chopping and kicking thugs to submission.
We were taking out an entire army.
And it was wearing on us.
Because no matter how many we beat up or try to smack unconscious, more would pour out of the woodwork and all try one thing--
To hurt the innocent lives gathered beneath us.
There was no time to usher them to safety. With just two Titans there, there'd be nobody to fight off the Dragonflared creeps if Robin and I poured our energy into relocating the people.
We couldn't call for backup, for the same reason we couldn't waste time trying to move the innocents away.
We could only fight…fight….fight….and even that was difficult as best.
It was heroes versus murderers. Robin and I were merely trying to maim them….while they were trying to slaughter the people.
The Boy Wonder and I gradually lost our breath. Wherever Robin swung, he'd find himself having to swing to an entirely different spot next to stop more thugs. Wherever I blurred, it was a good one hundred and eighty degree turn to pounce upon the next target of necessity.
At some point, I was busy tackling a dozen thugs—striking them down with Myrkblade and lightning fast moves.
And Robin…
He was on another balcony, looking for the next spot to swing to over the shivering masses of helpless people.
And then…a glinting effect in the Sun.
Robin looked up.
A single thug stood atop the rooftop of an apartment building across the way. And he had in his grip a grenade launcher. And he was aiming directly at the thick crowd of people.
Robin gasped. He felt inside his utility belt. He was completely out of explosive birdarants or discs. He only had the regular kind. So…with a snarl…he resorted to whipping out a birdarang and tossed it at the criminal. "Nnngh!!!"
SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!!!!
The birdarang swirled above the populace.
They glanced up, panting.
I looked up too.
The gunman saw the projectile and readied himself.
SW-SW-SWISH-CLANK!!!
The birdarang flew off of the broadside of the heavy grenade launcher.
The man hardly budged.
"REDDDDD!!!!!!"
"Dammit!!" Robin hissed.
The man re-aimed the grenade launcher.
Robin panted. He looked down at me. "N-Noir!!!"
I was entangled with four thugs who just wouldn't drop their weapons. SLASH!!! CL-CLANK!!! SMACK!!!
Robin sweated. He looked back up.
The man pivoted his grenade launcher and aimed it at the thickest of the crowd.
The people screamed.
Robin whipped out another birdarang, teeth gritting.
The man pulled at the trigger.
Robin's eyemask thinned.
His lips held firm.
Something inside of him seem to melt away and--
FWOOSH!!! He nimbly tossed the birdarang.
TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-THWISH!!!!!
The sharp projectile spiraled upwards, turned invisible in the sunlight, and then boomeranged upward.
THUNK!!!!
A resounding gasp shuddered through the crowd.
Time slowed down as I looked up from my battle with four gunmen.
Robin remained frozen still, his arm still arched forward from the throw.
The man with the grenade launcher hadn't fired….because there was a birdarang stuck in his throat with the blade first. The green faded from his eyes. Blood trailed down his neck and…
A gurgle.
THWUMP!!!!
He fell back dead.
I exhaled.
Robin's body slowly melted into a tall position. He looked down at me, fists clenched.
I look back at him.
Something connected.
He nodded.
I nodded.
He whipped out a fan of birdarangs and his staff. Snkkkkt!!!
I twirled Myrkblade so that the sharp part faced out first.
CHIIIIING!!
I took a deep breath.
And so the day has come……
Time resumed.
SLAAAAAAAAASH!!! SL-SL-SL-SLINK!!!!!
I spun a fan of death in the center of the four gunmen.
Their forearms were sliced off instantly.
They screamed and fell to the ground in their own blood, quivering.
I held my breath and blurred to the next row of gunmen as they aimed at the crowd.
SWOOOOOSH!!! I pounced, slashing Myrkblade down.
THWACK!!!
I ripped the hand off of one.
I landed.
I swung Myrkblade up.
THWISSSH!!!
I ripped the throat out of another.
Both men fell.
I charged on.
Robin grunted and tossed three birdarangs at men atop the roofts.
TH-TH-THUNK!!! The projectiles sliced into their chests. They fell down, twitching.
Robin fired a grappling hook, kicked his way up onto the rooftop, flipped onto it, and started mercilessly beating his way through thug after thug with his staff. Breaking bone. Snapping vertebrae. Crushing ankles and kicking one or two green-eyed crooks off the rooftop and to a deadly fall.
He panted and shouted into his communicator while running to the next cluster of gunmen: "Titans!! This is Robin!! Lethal force!! Lethal force!!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Starfire and Raven were leading two dozen people into the waiting arms of police men and paramedics through the hospital doors.
At the sound of the Titan Leader's voice, they stood numb.
As if they knew this moment would come.
"I give you permission to take all lethal force necessary in taking down these insurgents!!"
Starfire bit her lip.
Raven took a deep breath.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Beast Boy was running through the park towards the sounds of gunshots.
At the sound of Robin's voice, he slowed somewhat.
"I repeat!! Take as much lethal force as necessary to save the citizens!! There's no going back at this point in the day!!"
Beast Boy shuddered. He swallowed a lump down his throat, morphed into a tiger, and charged through the last line of trees to a street thundering with fleeing citizens and bulletfire.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"The highest priority is innocent citizens' lives!! Do you hear me? Highest priority!! Robin out!!!"
"Yeah….," Cyborg grunted. "Way ahead of you man…NNGH!!"
He swerved hard at the wheel.
SCREEEEEEEECH!!!!
The T-Car barreled around a corner as it was followed by—not one, but seven black jeeps with gunmen nestled in the backs.
VRMMMMMM!!!
VRMMMMMMMM!!!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!
Bullets ricocheted madly off the back of the T-Car as it veered left and right. It skirted around rubble, beneath burning buildings, and even slammed through a barricade or two of screaming thugs as it tore down the road with the seven pursuers behind it.
"This City better sure as Hell be thankful I took the rat patrol off its back!!!" Cyborg spat. He slammed his fist over a black button on the console. Beep! Beep! Beep! "You hear that you punks!!! Robin says your asses are mine!!! HA!!!"
The T-Car released a glob of black oil from hoses in its rear fender. A slick stain formed across the asphalt.
The first five jeeps expertly swerved around it.
But the six barreled right over the ooze and lost traction. Its tires screamed as the driver tried in vain to regain control of the vehicle. The jeep spun around, slammed into another, and both went tumbling straight into a gas station.
BOOM!!!!
A huge fireball erupted, roasting the green-eyed bodies inside and creating a crimson plume of flame for all to see above the skyline.
PHOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"RAAAAUGH!!!" Robin sailed down with his staff and slammed it through the shoulder of a gunman.
THWACK!!!!
The man's bones cracked apart and he slumped to the floor.
Two gunmen screamed ("REDDDD!!!!") and fired at the Boy Wonder.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!
Robin leapt, hopped, side-jumped, and twirled over the shots. He landed his feet on the shoulders of one thug, vaulted off, flipped in mid-air, and tossed two birdarangs while upside down.
THUNK!!!
TH-THUNK!!!!
The projectiles ripped into the two men's necks. They collapsed instantly.
Robin landed, twirled his staff, and ran and jumped his way along the perimeter of apartment rooftops towards the next group of thugs.
I blurred up the buildings opposite of him and worked around the rooftops the same way. I slashed arms off, jabbed Myrkblade through chests, and skewered legs of every creep I could come across.
Robin and I worked a circle of death towards each other around the courtyard of people. Him clockwise, and me counterclockwise.
When we could, we tried only to knock the occasional thug and gunman unconscious.
But the faster we wasted them, the faster they tried to shoot the people down below.
And soon it became nothing of a gore fest to win the upper hand.
SLIIINK!!! SLASH!!!! THWACK!!!
I dove through flesh and bone with Myrkblade.
Two men with uzzis screamed at me. "REDDDDD!!!!"
I showed my teeth. Something danced across my black eyes. Cold and ivory. Then all was black as I spiraled at them, teleported through the gunfire—RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!—and swung my blade.
SLASH!!!!
I sliced the arm off of the first thug.
He screamed and fell helplessly to the rooftop.
I let him live and blurred towards the second.
He aimed at my forehead.
BLAM!!
I ducked. I twirled around him.
He spun at me. "REDDDD!!!"
I screamed mutely back at him.
I swung Myrkblade high.
THWACK!!!!
His head rolled off.
"Noir!!!!" Robin shouted.
I spun around.
He had entangled himself with about twenty, overwhelming thugs atop a gray, flat rooftop. "Meet at a head!!!"
I nodded.
I blurred towards him.
SWOOOOOSH!!!
Robin twirled his staff, deflected a couple of bullets, and dove into a man, plowing him into another.
A pair of gunmen aimed shotguns at the Boy Wonder's back.
I leapt down behind them, snarled, and jabbed Myrkblade forward.
SLINKKKK!!!
I skewered one thug's body, lifted him up like the head of a mallet, and slammed him into the body of the other.
WHAM!!!!
I pulled Myrkblade out and both thugs went tumbling to their death off the roof's edge.
"RAAAUGH!!" Robin slammed his staff hard against another thug's skull, shattering his brain stem. He twirled his staff, spun, and uppercutted another gunman before he had a chance to shoot. His body went flying off the other side of the roof.
I sliced open the ribs of another man and kicked him down before twirling Myrkblade and ripping off the arm of another aiming his gun down at the citizens.
Robin twirled his staff and slammed the man in the chest, knocking his screaming lungs out.
THWUMP!!!
I twirled.
Robin twirled.
CHIIIING!!!
THWIIIISH!!!
We both freezed.
Panting.
My blade's tip was at his neck.
The end of his staff was at my skull.
We blinked at each other.
We looked around.
Everyone was defeated.
The people below started to sob and mutter in momentary ecstasy.
Robin panted. He lowered his weapon.
I breathed deeply. I lowered mine.
"G-Good work….N-Noir….," he shuddered.
I nodded.
If you say so……
He looked at my blade. Blood dripped off it. He looked at me. "Not your first time, huh?"
I took a deep breath. I shook my head.
He nodded. "Neither is it mine."
And I understood.
"Come on….we got to get these people to safety….," Robin gestured.
I nodded.
We both turned and ran towards the top stairwell door on the corner of the roof.
"I can't think of any place on this side of Town really safe except for one of the warehouses in the industrial district," Robin said while sprinting behind me. "But if I'm not mistaken…that's where all the Dragonflare was most likely released when—"
Suddenly the door to the stairwell flew open.
THWOOSH!!
I glanced inside the darkness.
A glint of silver knives.
My black eyes flew wide.
I jolted--
SLIINK!!!
SLINK!!!
SLIIINK!!!
I was cut across the shoulder, the cheek, and the lower thigh.
I gasped in pain and shuddered three times.
SWOOOSH!!! A leg swung out from the stairwell.
WHAM!!!!
My body ragdolled over the edge of the rooftop, slammed against an apartment balcony, twirled, and collapsed hard into a dumpster several stories below. WHAM!!!!!
Robin gasped. "Noir!!!!" He turned and looked at the stairwell.
Dagger marched out.
Deadpan.
Face as emotionless as stone.
Shuddering, Robin stepped back.
And there Dagger stood, his face an immaculate perfection against the backdrop of an urban wilderness set ablaze in three dozen different spots. It was like a scene out of some terrible apocalypse behind his head. Smoke rising. A HIND helicopter circling. And gunshots and explosions ringing through the once calm, autumn air.
He stared at Robin without blinking. He glared straight into the Boy Wonder's soul.
The Titan leader clenched his fists.
Dagger droned: "I'm sorry. Did I break your City?"
"………," Robin snarled. "Nnnnghhhhh—" He twirled his staff, held it high, and charged the despot. "—RRAAAAAAUGH!!!"
Dagger effortlessly twirled two daggers in his hands and coiled back.
Robin charged. He swung his staff down.
Dagger leapt forward and spun with both blades twirling.
CLANG!!!!
Metal and metal and metal met with a shower of sparks.