210. Metropolitan part 5
THWOOOOSH—THWAP!
I landed hard against the laboratory wall.
My side of the room jolted from the smoking impact.
I slumped down to my knees, wincing in pain.
"YAAAUGH!" Metallo—the former John Corbin—charged me. SWOOOSH! His titanium fist flew.
I took a breath and rolled to the side.
SMASH!
A crater was formed in the sword by the homicidal android.
I rolled up to a kneeling position and unsheathed Myrkblade. CHIIIIING!
Metallo pivoted his head to the side. The flesh half of his face amused. The metal half frozen in a skull-smile. My smoking sword reflected off his cold, bright eye. A whurring noise. His voice slithered across the room with a metallic ring:
"Aww…and how it gradually comes together…"
I stood up on my knees, breathing heavily. Pointing Myrkblade towards him.
"The sword. The black eyes. The scars on the post-adolescent skin…," he murmured as he slowly stood up like some metal automaton. "When I lost my Kryptonite core, I dropped a pretty handful of colorful memories. Memories that most defnitely fester in the gaping abyss left in Intergang's dying place. I have been bounced around all over the place, squirrel-boy. Luthor. Intergang. Solo. I was even offered a part with the Injustice League. Heheheheh….what a trivial establishment. And here I am back in Luthor's cold, ruthless lap. But I'm not angry. Not anymore. I no longer need to feed off Kryptonite's pathetic energy to make myself strong. Luthor is on his knees before me now. He needs me to keep Triangular alive. And in the meantime, he's given me license to pummel those half-faded visions of youthful miscreants responsible for my last and final, amnesiac defeat. Supergirl. The Teen Titans."
His human eye narrowed as he pointed at me.
"You….Noir…."
I frowned, breathing heavily.
Everyone's gotta have angst these days……
"He was like…a poor, lost child…"
I glanced aside.
Dr. Helga Jace leaned against laboratory equipment, her arms folded across her hideously youthful chest. "When S.T.A.R. Labs coughed him up in pieces, I felt for him like a mother would feel to an abandoned orphan. I put him together, replaced the ghetto trash excuse for 'technology' that Intergang's thugs had stuffed him with, and improved him ultimately with the wondrous cylinder that the heinous criminal incorporation was holding back. Ohhhh…how can I help it? I am such a sympathetic sap for the lost and depraved prodigies of this world."
She cooed….dripped into a flippant laugh….and thinned her eyes at me with a lick of her lips and a final breath:
"And a firm, benevolent admirer…."
I frowned under my shades.
Benevolent my a……
SWOOOSH!
WHAM!
Metallo's kick caught me off guard.
I flew up in the air, backflipped nimbly, and landed with my feet planting against the metal wall of the laboratory. I reached a metal hand up and grabbed a coil of wires connected to a ceiling unit full of electric tools.
Metallo ran towards me, raising a fist to uppercut me off my perch.
I took a breath, covered Myrkblade in smoke, and severed the wires I was tethered to. SNAP! ZZZZZT! I swung on the wires and shot my legs out, contacting Metallo's chest.
WHUMP!
He staggered back a step or two.
I stuck Myrkblade in under his armpit, swung myself around, and wrapped the length of the bundle of wires around his torso just in time for the electric juice to catch up.
ZZZZZZTTTTTT!
"Nnnnnnnghhh!" Metallo convulsed and fell to his knees, smoking from various metal joints.
Swoosh-Plant!
I landed in a crouch behind him.
Dr. Jace was clapping. Smiling.
"Quite excellent," she smirked. "You still put agility to good use." She folded her arms from the sidelines again and smirked. "You know, the Experiment increased your speed by about one hundred and twenty percent…."
"………," I stared at her. Blinking.
"RAAAUGH!" Metallo suddenly lurched up to his feet, grabbed the very wires shocking him, and pulled. CRKKKKK! He yanked the ceiling unit of tools down via the wires, swung on the cords, and flung the huge shrapnel slingshot at me.
I meditated in a split second, reverse cartwheeled, and backflipped high just as the wreckage went hurtling under me.
CRASH! It plowed its way into a wall of computer consoles in the back of the laboratory.
I landed in a backwards slide.
"RGHHHHH!" Metallo charged at me, fist flying.
I gritted my teeth in mid-slide and twirled Myrkblade up.
SWOOOSH! He punched.
CLANG! I blocked.
TH-THWISH! He brought a knee up.
I held Myrkblade in two hands like a staff and shoved his appendage down. THWOMP!
He spun and brought an elbow to my face.
I took a breath and—FWOOOSH!—teleported my face in and out of smoke form, expertly missing the brunt of his impact.
He stumbled, not expecting to hit pure air.
I shouted mutely and stabbed Myrkblade into his chest cavity….
….only to find he no longer had a chest cavity.
CLANK!
He froze.
I blinked, leaning against Myrkblade against his chest.
N-No more Kryptonite?
GRIP!
His hand was around my scarred throat.
I panted and wheezed for breath.
He lifted me up, sneered, and hissed: "Bottom's up."
THWOOOSH!
He dramatically lifted me up to the ceiling and shouted as he flung me hard to the floor.
CRACK!
Fractures formed in the laboratory linoleum.
I gasped, my lungs empty of all air. My legs twitched and jerked above me, aimed towards the ceiling.
Metallo let go, leaned back, raised a titanium foot, and brought it down towards my center with a growl.
SWOOOSH!
I rolled to the side with a jerk…
CRACK!
The concussion of the heavy slam tossed me across the room like a rolling ragdoll to where I slumped up hard to the support legs of a metal gurney.
I winced, coughed, and sputtered on the floor.
"You know….we tried to make you super-human….," Jace pleasantly narrated as she sauntered over towards me. She half knelt, her face a tempting distance from my convulsing metal fist. She smiled at my weak frame and smiled: "And some ways, we did make you super. But half-super just doesn't cut it. Not in this City."
I frowned at her, still trying to catch my breath.
She chuckled femininely to herself and stood back up: "Resume playtime, my children."
And as she stood up straight, the sight of Metallo plummeting towards me in a flying kick encompassed all I could see.
"YAAAAAAAAAUGH!"
I winced and encased myself in murk at the last second.
FLASH!
Metallo struck dead center.
CRASSSSSH!
The two of us went crashing through the floor of the laboratory and collapsing into an office room of the story below inside the skyscraper. A desk was smashed to splinters. Working citizens jumped up from their chairs and filing cabinets. They shouted and cried in horror before running away from the landing warriors.
"RGHH!" Metallo lifted me up from the collapsed crater of the office desk and raised his other fist. He smiled half metal and skin. "Kansas…..," he hissed.
I tiredly gazed down at him from the choking grip. "Yes…..I believe it was Kansas…," he murmured. A laugh. "Hehehehehehahahaha!"
SWOOOOSH-WHAM!
He punched me in the face.
I winced and convulsed.
"How could I ever…"
THWOOOSH-THWAP!
"….have been clobbered…."
SWOOOOOSH-THUD!
"….by an anorexic little punk like you…."
THWIIIIIISH-SMACK!
"……in Kansas?"
FWOOOOOOSH-CLUTCH!
I caught his last punch with a titanium fist.
I looked at him. Frowning. My nose bleeding and my shades cracked on the side.
Maybe a house fell on you.
FLASH!
I bolted into smoke form, teleported my wrap-around way down his metal limbs, and materialized in a sword swinging crouch on the office floor behind his rear.
I see France……
THWOOOOSH-THACK!
I swung Myrkblade up behind the evil android's legs, pulsed murk into my limbs, and hoisted him over my shoulders as if with a huge lever. I jumped in a murk-quick flash, spun, and slammed a flying foot into his midair ribcage at the end of my toss.
CLANK!
"OOF!" Metallo's body went flying through into a cubicle, smashing through a sparkling computer station and a wooden desk. CRASH! "Rrrgh…," he groaned and tried to get up…
FWOOOOOOOOOSH! I blurred towards him, Myrkblade swinging like a buzz-saw.
CLACK! CLANG! SMACK! THWACK! THWUD! WHAM!
I repeatedly delt murking blow after murking blow, shoving Metallo's jolting body through wall after wall of cubicles.
CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!
I finally slammed him through one last cubicle wall and shoved him mercilessly against a string of filing cabinets.
CRUNCH!
Papers and files and folders littered his metal body.
I stood on two firm legs, screamed mutely, and swung Myrkblade down the center of his forehead.
SWOOOOOSH-CLACK!
Sparks flew and Myrkblade stopped dead against his forehead, not even leaving a mark.
I winced all over from the jolting vibration.
"……," Metallo's frown turned into a subtle smirk as he reached a metal hand up and gripped the length of my blade. "Sorry, chap. I'm only 'half-and-half' on the outside." THWOOOSH! He shoved up on Myrkblade.
I was jolted into the air of the office building.
Metallo grunted, aimed his wrists at me, and produced two surprise laser blasters. Cl-Chtunk! Cl-Chtunk!
Z-ZAP!
POW!
I was deflected across the office space and into a water cooler. CRACK! I tumbled to the floor as the heavy water spilled to the ground and burst in a blue splash.
"……..," I stirred, holding onto Myrkblade with a trembling arm. My body smoked from Balance and the laser blast combined.
Dr. Helga Jace stared down from the hole in the ceiling, her arms folded. "John, be a good boy and teach Noir the fine lesson of being naughty." She smiled. "Sitting in the corner of death for eternity sounds like ample lesson-learning."
"My dear woman…," Metallo stood up and flexed his metal joints. "You're even more nuts than I am!"
She merely smirked.
I stood up on wobbly knees.
"Hey, squirrel!"
I looked up, wincing.
Metallo was suddenly holding an entire office desk over his head. "Luthor wants you dead. I so happen to want you deader. So let's give that catching arm of yours a try! NNNGH!"
THWOOOSH!
He tossed the huge, hulking desk at me like a missile.
I gasped and raised Myrkblade up over my head.
The desk reached me….
I snarled and swung Myrkblade down with a serrated wave of smoke.
CRA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-ACK! I sliced the accelerated furniture piece into halves on either side of me. CL-CLUNK! CLUNK!
Once the splinters parted, I saw Metallo sailing at me with the assistance of ankle rockets.
"Hahahaha! Strike TWO!"
PFTOOOOOO!
THWUMP!
He shoved into me, rocketing.
The two of us soared across the wrecked office space.
Dr. Jace's head turned as she watched from above.
THWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! Metallo shoved us through a pair of double doors….
T-T-T-T-T-T-
CRASH!
…and into the thin hallway beyond.
Workers gasped and ran every which way from us.
THWUMP! Metallo shoved me against a wall. He snickered, raised a fist, and sailed it at my skull.
I jerked my head to the side at the last second.
CRUNCH!
Metallo's fist formed a hole in the wall.
I kicked both feet out at him.
THWAP!
His body stumbled back but jolted from his fist anchored inside the cracked wall.
I twirled to the side, swung Myrkblade up, and slammed it into his inner elbow.
CL-CLANK! CRK! His stuck fist flew out of the wall and comically into his own chin. THWAP!
"OOF!" the android stumbled back and clutched his face. "God damn googly moogly!"
Nnnngh!
I flew into him with an elbow.
THUD!
He stumbled down the hall towards an open window shining in bright sunlight.
I swung Myrkblade up, uppercutting the android across the chin.
CLANK!
He twirled.
I stepped forward with a downward swing across his back.
SMACK!
He teetered.
I jabbed Myrkblade into his side, flexed my muscles, and kicked my foot along the length of the sword and into his metal ribcage.
THWAP!
Metallo fell on his back and slid a few feet across the linoleum.
I ran, jumped, pounced, and came down at him with a visciously stabbing sword. SWIIIISH!
He clapped his hands together over my blade just inches before it sliced its way into his metal throat. THWAP!
I struggled and strained to jerk Myrkblade free. I was straddling his grounded, metal figure.
"Heheheheh….this is rather forward of you, isn't it boy?"
I blinked.
Cl-Clak! His ankle rockets protruded outward again and aimed beyond his heels.
"Let's get some good 'ol sunshine, shall we?"
PFTOOOOOOOOO!
Together we slid from the propulsion across the long hallway floor and straight towards the window.
I fought and fought to pull Myrkblade out from his grasp, but he hung on.
I soon faced the window and winced.
"Bad day to forget a parasol! Ha ha ha ha ha ha…"
T-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SHATTTTTER!
Metallo and I soared out the side window of the Lexcorp HQ skyscraper and plummeted from over twenty feet above the gaping Metropolis below.
Our bodies twirled and twirled in mid-air.
Four stories down, we drifted and collapsed hard across a curved black rooftop—thankfully with Metallo landing first like a bad coin.
CL-CLANK!
I jerked off of him with Myrkblade and rolled till I tumbled into an antenna. Clang!
I winced.
"Nnnngh!" He jumped up. He flexed his muscles towards the bright blue sky. "Mmmmm….smell that cool, fresh air!" He swiveled his head Linda Blair style and smirked at me. "It could use a touch of copper! HA!" He then proceeded to bear razor sharp robot fingers and slice down at my neck. CHIII-IIIING!
I raised Myrkblade at the last second—CLANG!—blocked, and jumped up onto my feet a good space away.
Metallo growled and leapt at me across the rooftop. "RAAAAUGH!"
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Schwissh!
Dr. Helga Jace walked out onto an open balcony on the side of the Lexcorp building.
"Helga! Is Project Enkidu II in effect?"
Jace leaned against the balcony and spoke back to the intercom blaring out from the hallway behind her.
"The boys took a tumble inside the lab and the office below. Your typical sort of male roughhousing…." She smirked. "Emphasis on the rough."
"Blast it! Not in my building!"
"Don't fret, Mr. Luthor….," the Swedish born vixen purred. "My children have taken the fight to the streets."
"Is Corbin doing us the favor he said he would?"
"Be patient, Luthor. Be patient….," she smiled and ran a hand through her wind-whipped hair of red. "I told Corbin he could have his way with the boy a little bit before he pulls through for the plan." A beat. She added: "And ruins the boy's life…."
T-T-T-T-T-T-
SWOOOOSH! SMASH!
Chunks of rooftop flew from Metallo's fist.
I jumped, flipped and landed behind him.
His torso spun freakishly with a massive punch towards my frame.
FWOOOSH!
I backflipped.
I landed meditatively with one foot atop the antenna. I balanced my powers, turned my lower body weightless, and pivoted my upper body to jab—CLANK!—stab—THWAP!—and slash—CLANG!—at Metallo's skull.
He jolted from the impacts, shook, growled, and swung a foot into the antenna.
I leapt up at the last second.
CRACK!
The antenna shattered in fragments.
I flipped over Corbin….
CLUTCH!
A metal hand gripped my flying ankle.
"……!"
He smirked. "Hehehehe…HA!" THWOOOSH-WHAM!
He swung he hard into the ground.
I winced.
GRIP!
He encircled my neck with his metal fingers and leered down at me…..squeeeeeeeezing…….
"Coming to Metropolis was a mistake, boy," he whispered. "Luthor's too powerful to let you live. Dr. Jace is too smart to let you breathe. And I'm too pissed to let you go fast and painless…."
His metal hand constricted hard around my scarred throat.
I stirred and convulsed, my whole body wracked in pain and suffocation from the base of my spine downward.
He leaned his half-faces down to my nose and hissed: "I don't know how, Noir. But you were once the end of me. Or at least you almost were. And once Triangular has had its little fun with the stone-bitch's golden blood…..I just might see to the Titans' death myself…."
My black eyes narrowed.
'Stone-bitch?'
"…….."
I frowned, my blood boiling.
I going to rip you a new disk drive for Terra, crapface.
THWUD!
I slammed two murking knees into his chest.
He staggered back, loosening his grip on me.
I screamed mutely and teleported into an explosive, flying uppercut into his torso.
THWACK!
Myrkblade flew across his face, tearing loose a shred of fake lip-skin.
He fell and tumbled hard across the rooftop, leaning precariously over a fifteen foot drop below.
I landed and stood up with renewed fury. The chill in my arm was gone. Every frozen shake and shiver of my body from the close encounter with Red Aviary in the deadholls of Lexcorp had gone.
Metallo struggled up to his feet.
I sneered at him, panting.
I did not come this far……
Burrowed my way into Lexcorp's hive……
And experienced a brushed with Death itself……
Just to be schooled by the god-freakin' TIN MAN!
FWOOOOSH! CHIIIIII-IIIIING!
I soared at him, Myrkblade dragging from a two-handed grip with sparks flying.
Metallo looked up. His robot eye flickered.
Aaaaaaaaaaugh!
I swung Myrkblade up into his face.
CLANG!
His skull spun three comical times.
I blurred into him.
THUD!
We both sailed as one off the edge of the rooftop and plummeted…plummeted…plummeted…
Towards the broad windows of an MCA Records building below.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Inside a plush office lined with framed, golden records…
A well-suited businessman slid a sheet of paper and a pen across a burgundy desktop. "Well, Mr. Johnson……just sign this contract and your career begins!"
Across the table, a young cowboy leaned forward in the chair and reached for the pen: "Well, I reckon we have a deal—..."
CRASH!
Metallo and I sailed through the windows and smashed through the desk.
The men fell back, crying in surprise.
My assailant and I tumbled before he tossed me off with a titanium kick towards the far walls. "Nnngh!"
THWOOSH!
I flew against the side of the room rear-first. THWAP! I fell down along with a row of framed records jolted off the wall. Th-Thud!
Metallo growled and jumped to his feet.
I stood up.
He charged across the office.
I looked to my side. I shot a metal out. CRASH! I shattered the glass of a frame, grabbed a golden record, covered it in murk, and flung it at his rushing figure.
THWIIIISH!
CLANK! He jolted as the recorded embedded itself into his chest.
CRASH! I shattered free another record and flung it with a mute snarl. THWIIISH!
CLAMP! He caught it between his teeth. A smirk. He yanked the records out of his mouth and chest and crushed them in either hand. CR-CRK!
I frowned and held Myrkblade up
THWOOOSH!
He charged.
I winced…
CL-CLANK! THUD!
He shoved me…
T-T-T-T-T-T-
SMASH!
….through the office wall.
Down a twelfth-story hallway of the MCA Records company.
And…
T-T-T-T-T-T-
CRASH!
Through a ladies' restroom where frightened occupants shrieked and hid desperately in their stalls.
And…
T-T-T-T-T-T-
CRACK!
Into another hallway and—with a struggle of murking and titanium limbs….
T-T-T-T-T-T-
SHATTER!
Out a window so that we plummeted into the air of Metropolis towards a raised highway full of speeding, two lane traffic.
THWOOOOSH-TWHAP! I landed in a slide of murk.
CRUNCH! Metallo landed in a fresh crater of asphalt.
A semi-truck and two taxi cabs screeched to a crunching stop behind him, clogging traffic heading west.
"……," he slowly, menacingly stood his metal self up. Facing me. Smiling.
I stood, panting, sweating. Gripping Myrkblade hard and facing back at him.
So much for a covert romp through Metropolis.
My black eyes darted up through my shades momemtarily. Scanning the bright blue heavens of the cold November air.
Diana? Tempest? J'onn?
"Nnngh!" Metallo grabbed a piece of guardrail, ripped it out from the side of the raised highway, and held it over his half metal skull like a bigass club as he paced towards me.
I gulped.
Mommy?
"It's a high fly skull to left field….," Metallo smirked. Then snarled with a charge. "Nothing but daylight! YAAAARGH!"
SWOOOOSH!
I vaulted up.
CRUNCH! The guardrail club slammed into the asphalt.
I backflipped and landed in a sideways perch on the driver's side of a sports car in the Eastbound traffic. The driver gasped and swerved left and right. I let the momentum of the vehicle carry me towards Metallo, upon which I held Myrkblade out to the left and clipped him in the side.
CL-CLANK!
He spun from the impact.
I jumped off the car, vaulted off the stalled semi-truck trailer, flipped, sailed down at Metallo, and slammed his skull down with Myrkblade.
CLANG!
He stumbled back. He re-gripped his 'club', snarled, and swung the ghetto bludgeon at me.
THWOOOSH!
I jumped back, dodging.
He snarled and swung at me again.
SWOOOSH!
I ducked.
SCRAAAPE! The club dragged on the ground, sparked, and lifted up as Metallo swung his body three hundred sixty degrees and launched the guardrail chunk at me completely.
TH-TH-TH-THWISH!
I teleported through the projectile.
The driver of the semi truck engine shouted and leapt out just as the club sailed in through the glass and shattered its way into the cab. CRUNNNCH!
I solidified with a panting breath.
SWOOOOSH-SMACK! Metallo charged a well-timed fist full of titanium into my chest.
I slid back—THWAP!—hit the side of a speeding, eastbound van—and bounced awkwardly back towards him.
WHUMP! His fist flew into my gut.
I wheezed, coughing. Wheezing.
He smirked and flung me dead into the path of moving traffic.
TH-TH-TH-THWUMP!
I tumbled to a stop before a tow-truck.
The driver slammed on his brakes.
SCREEEEEEEECH!
Eastbound traffic finally grinded to a halt with ten cars in a row slamming into each others bumpers, bumpers, bumpers.
CRUNCH! CRACK! CRKKK!
The tow truck lurched…lurched…and lurched towards me.
I wearily raised my head….and sweatdropped at the sight of the smoking vehicle's front end barely stopping an inch before my nose.
That was close.
THWUMP!
Metallo's palm at the back of my hairy head slammed my cheek up against the truck's grill.
WHANG!
I winced.
His fingers closed around my skull and slowly began to constrict….and crush it….
"You shouldn't play in the street, squirrel….," he knelt by the front left tire and sneered at me. "Got robot insurance, creep?"
I gritted my teeth, struggle, and stabbed Myrkblade hard into the front tire.
POW!
The air blast topped Metallo over. "Dammit!" THUD!
I breathed easier with his grip off my head. I jumped to my feet, ran up the front grill of the truck, flipped, and came down on Metallo's chest with a heavy stab of Myrkblade.
He snarled, gripped my my blade, and held the tip of the smoking serrration away at a breath's length. His robot eye flickered and his ankle-rockets flared.
I whimpered mutely.
Not again……
"Want a ticket to ride? Hold onto your organs, blood-for-brains!"
PFTOOOOOO!
We rocketed east on the highway, twirling and spiraling over, around, and between both stalled and moving cars. Exited motorists gasped and jumped or leapt out of the way as our rocketing flight thundered down the raised street. The power of Metallo's thrust forced windshields to crack and windows to shatter as we blurred, burned, and accelerated between rows of swerving cars.
FWOOOOOOOSH!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Inside a black four-door car travelling west on the highway.
A Tori Amos CD was playing.
The windows were down and the cold November air was blowing in.
"Can I switch it to the radio?"
"Huh?"
"I said, can I switch it to the radio?"
"What for, Don?"
"I wanted to check on the weather forecast."
"Fore-what?"
PFTOOOOOOOOO-SHOOOOOOOM!
"What in the—...?"
"Look out!" she pointed.
He jerked hard at the wheels as a half-man-half-robot and a swordsman flew directly overhead.
SCREEEEEECH!
The windows shattered.
They covered their faces protectively.
"Dag nabbit!" she shrieked.
SCREEEEECH-CLANK!
The car spun to a stop against the guardrail.
"……"
"……"
A beat.
POW!
The engine smoked…..
"……okay," she blinked.
"Good thing we took your brother's car for this trip..."
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Heheheh…ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
PFTOOOOOOOOOM!
I tangled messily with Metallo's rocketing body. We both turned over so that I was facing the blurring asphalt of the highway beneath us.
I gritted my teeth and stabbed Myrkblade smokingly down into the concrete.
SCCCCCCCCRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPEEEE!
Sparks.
Pebbles.
Debris.
After a good fifteen seconds of dragging the billowing blade, my sword stuck hard enough into the highway to anchor me.
YANK!
"YAAAH!" Metallo cried as we jolted forward—back against his thrust—and down with him slamming hard into the highway asphalt.
CRASH!
I jerked free of him.
His ankle rockets went haywire, pushing him scrapingly against the asphalt and through two pickup trucks.
CLANK! CLUNK! Both vehicles skidded to their sides, the drivers inside bouncing around in their seats.
I winced.
Traffic screeched to a halt around us.
I stumbled up to my smoking feet, panting. Eyeing the vehicles and motorists around me.
This isn't good.
Too many people.
Too much risk.
"HEY! NOIR!"
I looked up.
Metallo stood, lifting a freaking Volkswagen Beetle over his head. The driver inside shrieked and jumped out at the last second.
He faced me, smirking. "This Bug's for you."
"…..," I frowned back.
"Nnnngh!" he flung the car at me.
THWOOOOOSH!
I twirled Myrkblade, held my breath, and blurred towards the hurled vehicle.
FWOOOOSH!
I teleported, murked through the vehicle, and exploded out the engine compartment with a snarling swing of Myrkblade into Metallo.
SWIIIISH-CLANG!
He jolted back from the impact, gripped my body as I flew into him, and teetered us over the concrete barrier guarding the edge of the raised highway.
THWAP!
He pressed me down, forcing my torso over….over…over the edge.
I struggled and sweated.
I turned my head and looked over my shoulder at the hundred foot-plus drop.
"Ready to go for a tumble? I bet you're not a flying squirrel! Hahahaha!"
I frowned up at him.
I planted my feet nimbly between his ankles.
He blinked. "Huh?"
I sneered.
You wanna fall?
THWOOOSH!
I vaulted us both over the edge of the highway so that we plummeted towards the yawning City Streets of Metropolis below.
"What are you..," he gasped in the cold, rushing air.
I concentrated, teleported into smoke form, and enveloped his body in blackness. I pulsed murk towards the sky and throttled his hulking metal form down, down, down towards the center of the earth like a bullet at four times the force of gravity.
Then let's fall, you god damn rust bucket!
"YAAAAAAAAA…."
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Below the highways….
At a busy intersection sidewalk….
Two girls….
"Uhmmm," one wrestled with a road map. Her eyes squinting. "I think we're on the corner of eighty-ninth and Walgreens…." A beat. She blinked. "Ugh. This is stupid." She looked over at the other girl. "I can't make heads or tails out of this map, Stephanie! Help me, will ya?"
"Mimi, does this look like Chicago to you?"
SWOOOOOOOOOOSH-THUD!
A black smoking missile from above.
"Ackies!"
"Shit!"
The girls and a throng of frightened citizens were jolted and forced running from a huge, murking crater.
Two vans were knocked over and a parking meter shattered, littering the next block and a half with coins.
CRASSSSSH!
In the center of ground zero, a curled robot twitched and groaned.
FWOOOSH!
I solidified on the crumbling sidewalk above the crater, standing with Myrkblade in my grip. The wind blew at my hair and bandanna as dust from the blast zone rose and fell.
"…………..," my black eyes narrowed on the android.
His human eye was closed.
A beat.
A finger tapped my shoulder.
"….?" I turned and looked over my shoulder.
Standing out from a crowd of shocked onlookers, a red headed teen with a jacket and a flash camera. A Daily Planet insignia was on his collar. "Noir? Noir of the Teen Titans?"
"……….," I warily nodded.
He gave a thumb's up and smiled a freckled grin. "You kick ass, man!"
"……..," I smirked and gave a metal thumb's up.
Ch-Chtunk! Chtunk!
I gasped. I looked down into the crater.
Panels in Metallo's titanium shoulders had opened up, revealing an armament of tiny missiles.
"Press conference is over, smokey!"
FOOOOOOOOM!
The missiles flew at the edge of the crater.
I gasped. I glanced at the crowd of Metropolitans. I jerked back to the missiles and swung Myrkblade up.
THWOOOOSH—CL-CLANK!
I deflected the missiles into the air.
They exploded high overhead with a descending cloud of flame and smoke.
POW!
Everyone flinched, myself included.
PFTOOOOOOOM!
Metallo flew out of the crater and clotheslined me, sending the two of us flying skyward and towards the buildings across the way.
The crowd gasped and turned to watch, shuddering.
The redheaded guy aimed his camera and took a snapshot.
Flash!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
SWOOOOOOSH!
Metallo shoved me through the air once more.
"Getting a rush to the head yet? HA! Must be annoying……having to deal with capillaries."
I twirled Myrkblade out.
Wow, you're lame AND a loser.
THWACK!
I stabbed Myrkblade into his back.
"Nnngh!" he tilted our trajectory.
I twirled Myrkblade again…and stabbed.
THUD!
Winning combination.
We spiraled up, down, and collapsed onto something.
CL-CLANK!
THUD!
Something silver.
Something fast.
Something….moving.
"…..," my black eyes reopened from a wince and found us collapsed atop a speeding monorail heading east through the heart of Metropolis.
"Nnngh!" Metallo was already jumping up to his feet.
I twirled up into a stance.
He rushed at me atop the speeding in-transit train cars.
I braced myself with Myrkblade held out straight.
THWAP!
His fist sailed at me.
I absorbed it smokingly into my blade and slid towards the front of the train.
Metallo braced himself and readied another volley of mini-missiles. Ch-Chtunk!
"Smile for the napalm, handsome!"
"…..," I glanced left.
Rows of lamposts blurred past me alongside the monorail track.
I twirled Myrkblade and swung a blast of smoke energy leftward.
SL-SL-SLINK!
Three lampposts severed, their top halves tumbling towards Metallo.
CLANK! The first one struck.
"Nnnngh!" His missiles shot off-course (PHOOOOOOSH!) and expoded into a warehouse wall. KAPOW!
The other two lammpost halves slammed into his metal body, shattering into streaming shrapnel.
"Ooof! Nnngh!"
I ran, jumped, and used the momentum of wind above the speeding monorail train to slam my kicking feet into his frame.
WHAM!
And it happened to be right as the train was speeding around a curve.
THWOOOOSH!
We both plummeted towards the east shipyards of Metropolis.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
On a dock stretching into the Bay waters, a tall young man with dark spiked hair knelt besides his moored yacht and diving equipment.
As he was tightening the ropes tying the vessel to the platform, his cell phone rang.
He swung it open and up to his ear.
"Ben here."
A pause.
He smirked: "Heheheh….well, it depends. What are you wearing?"
SWOOOOSH-CRUNCH! Metallo and I landed on the dock behind.
The wood split, launching the flailing citizen into the cabin of his yacht.
"Crapness!" THUD!
I perched atop Metallo, pummeling him with my titanium fist.
WHAM! THWAP! SMACK!
He snarled and kicked me off him with his legs.
I flew back, twirled, and landed in a slide across the wood panels.
He jumped up. Snarling. Flexing his metal arms.
I twirled Myrkblade. Th-Th-Thwish! I frowned at him.
Ch-Chtunk! He popped open two wrist laser blasts and raced at me. "Nnnnghhh!"
Stomp!-Stomp!-Stomp!-Stomp!
"….!" I blurred towards him.
THWOOOOSH!
Our metal and smoking bodies ran down the length of the wooden dock, met in the center, and collided with a swing of Myrkblade and a blast of point-blanc lasers.
KABOOOOOM!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
On the Eastward highway full of halted, smoking cars…
Motorists walked over to the edge and faced the shipyards.
An explosion of smoke, fire, and flinging wooden splinters fountained up from the Bayside.
Fwooooosh!
They muttered and gasped with wide eyes.
"Whoah…."
"Would you look at that!"
"Is Superman fighting another baddie?"
"Nuh uh! Didn't you see? It's the Titan! The smoking one!"
"Oh my god…they're killing each other!"
The smoke, fire, and splinters started to settle and fall in the distance…
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Clank!
Clatter!
Clang!
The debris littered the docks, yachts….and waters.
Sploosh!
Splish!
Gush!
A beat.
……..
"Yaaaaaaa!"
Metallo's flailing, metal body fell from a mysterious, great height and plunged deep into the waters like a six-ton brick.
SPLOOOOSH!
Another beat.
……
Fwoooosh!
I drifted down on a cushion of murk and settled meditatively atop the water's surface.
I stood on two smoking feet.
Balanced atop the waves.
Panting….Panting….Panting….
"….."
I stared down into the dark, splinter-littered water.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Across the Bay….
Bibbo hobbled out of the cabin of his rusted, clunker-of-a-fishing boat.
"Nnnngh….," he yawned his fat jaw wide and rubbed his head. Wincing. "Mmmmf….afternoon already?"
The obese sailor glanced across the Bay.
"……"
He blinked.
A swordsman was standing on the water Jesus-style in the center of a demolished, wooden dock.
A beat.
"Yeah…that's it…," Bibbo muttered. "I'm laying off the bottle this week."
And he hobbled back into his cabin.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"……"
I stared down into the water more.
Nothing but black waves.
"……"
I sighed.
So I guess huge-ass metal golems can't swim.
Chiiiiing!
I sheathed Myrkblade.
I hope you rust to death, you pathetic refrigerator-humper.
I proceeded to walk murkingly on the water land-ward…..
SPLOOOSH!
A metal hand reached up, grabbed my ankle, and yanked down.
I gasped for breath—
Shit!
SPLASSSSH!
T-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I was dragged under water. A dark body glinted in a shimmering, stray ray of light. His titanium wrist rose and bubbled towards me. I was hit in the chest. I gasped in pain, only for air to rush into my mouth. Seawater. I gagged and convulsed. Another fist. I pulsed all over in pain. I struggled. I fought. I wriggled like a fish. An electronic snarl. Metallo's howling half-skull face drifted momentarily into view. A head-butt. I lurched back in the water. The aquatic world twirled. I shook and quivered at the end of my breath. The smoke began to fade. A harsh grip of metal fingers around my leg. Spinning. One-eighty. Three-sixty. Seven-twenty. Ten-eighty. Metallo spun, spun, spun, and spun me before letting me go like a flesh catapult.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
SPLOOOSH!
I sailed up out of the water.
I dripped and blurred towards a warehouse on the dry shipyards.
I concentrated at the last second and cocooned my body in murk
CLANG!
I slammed into the warehouse wall. No limbs broke thanks to my shielding, but it sure-as-Hell hurt.
And then I sure-as-Hell fell down to the concrete floor.
THWUMP!
I coughed, sputtered, and winced. My black hair a wet dampness. I clutched my ribs….groaning mentally in pain.
Ohhhhhh……snap.
'Jordan? Jordan, is that you?'
I sputtered again.
My black eyes blinked weakly under cracked shades as I gazed Bay-ward.
No Metallo. Not yet.
J-J'onn?
'Jordan, you are no longer inside Lexcorp HQ……'
I coughed. Teeth gritting.
Yeah……no Yogi-Bear-flaming shit……
Sploosh!
Metallo's half-metal skull appeared.
Then his shoulders.
Then his tattered torso.
Dripping.
Grinning.
He marched like a full-sized toy soldier out of the Bay waters and stepped menacingly towards me.
'What is the problem, Jordan? Are you being attacked?'
I winced and struggled to get up and reach Myrkblade's hilt.
M-Metallo.
Shipyard.
I need help.
'Metallo? The android agent of Intergang's?'
I snarled, body pressed back to the warehouse wall as Metallo marched closer.
No, Pauly Shore's gay lover. Who do you think? Now be a good martian and send some bitch-slapping green tentacles or something!
'Be patient, Jordan. We are providing assistance.'
"You're all wet, squirrel," Metallo winked his human eye. "May the universe smile on your carcass. This will be fine vengeance….even if the depths of my mind fail to summon the succinct reverie in your demise."
Chiii-iiii-iiing….
I pulled out Myrkblade, panting.
Depths of your mind……
That's a paradox if I ever heard one……
SWOOOOSH!
He rushed at me with a heavy fist.
I exhaled….
Too weak to do anything.
To live….
"RRRRGHHH!" He snarled and—…
CLUTCH!
An iron strong, armbanded wrist gripped his fist.
Metallo lurched.
He tilted his head aside.
"Awww….bloody hell."
I looked over.
"……," Wonder Woman frowned. "Hands off….the kid." SWOOOSH-WHAM!
She sailed her knuckles into his titanium chest.
SCRRRRRAAAAAPE! Metallo slid back across the concrete of the shipyard, his metal feet spitting sparks.
The Amazon let out a warrior cry and flew straight at the android, hands flying. WHAM! WHANG! SMACK! P-POW!
Metallo jolted, stumbled, shook, and bent over from the constant assault.
Wonder Woman didn't relent. She pummeled him harder and harder. Snarling and shouting with every heated blow.
THWACK! CLANG! SM-SMACK!
"………," I watched. Blinking.
Dear Diana……
God……if only I was a little older……
Perhaps……
SPLOOSH!
I looked weakly to the side.
Tempest leapt out of the Bay water, landed, and ran towards me. He placed a hand on my shoulder and squinted his dark eyes at me. "You okay, man?"
I wheezed and shakily nodded.
"I guess Luthor had a rook up his sleeve," he simpered. He gazed over—as I did—at the Wonder Womany assault. "Triangular will do anything to keep you from discovering what you want from this Town, huh?"
I bit my lip.
Actually……
I discovered quite a lot……
SWOOOSH-POW!
Wonder Woman's fist slammed heavily into Metallo's chest one last time, tossing the half-robot to the floor in front of a fork-lift.
CRACK!
Metallo collapsed in a miniature crater.
Wonder Woman swiftly then proceeded to whip out her lasso, twirl it, and loop it around the android's right ankle.
Th-Th-Thwip!
Snpp!
Metallo looked at his foot wearily, then gazed up the lasso's length towards the Amazon.
"Oh please, darling, must you?"
"YAAAAUGH!" Diana yanked up on the cord.
THWOOOSH!
Metallo was tossed skyward.
Wonder Woman shouted and jerked down on the cord.
SWOOOSH!—CRACK! Metallo slammed into the concrete like the heavy end of a mace.
"RRRRRGHHH!"
SWOOOOSH—CRACK! And into a warehouse wall.
"RAAAUGH!"
SWOOOOOSH-SLAM!
And into a lammpost.
CRK! The light peeled off and fell—BONK!—atop Metallo's metal head.
"Augh! Zeus almighty!"
Wonder Woman sneered down at him. "Don't patronize me…."
Metallo weakly smiled. "All right then, Wonder-Wench. But it's only fair to break it to you…." And he produced his dual wrist-lasers…that protruded twice as far as ever I seen them do. "I've gotten a Hell of a lot more bark than my bite these days."
Wrrrrr-POWWWWWWWW!
Two bright streams of yellow energy converged on Wonder Woman….burning her.
"YAAAAAAAA-AAAAA-AAAAAAAAARGH!" The Amazon twitched and convulsed.
Tempest and I gasped. Dark eyes, both….
Metallo smirked.
The lasso heated up and uncurled from his ankle.
He roasted…roasted…and roasted Wonder Woman.
And finally…..he cut off the laser stream.
Wonder Woman fell to her knees, smoking all over. Her body panting and her eyes shut in weakness and pain. Her outfit was tattered and singed, and though there wasn't a mark on her goddess-like skin, it was obvious the superheroine was greatly….greatly….tortured.
Metallo stood up and marched over towards her. "I'm not just a two-bit tin man anymore. I'm not working for Dagger. I'm merely doing him a favor. His petty Triangular alliance will survive superheroic scrutiny…and in return…." He smirked and tapped the metal part of his skull. "…I get a fine and dandy technical enhancement. Courtesy of the late Jacob Anderson and a strikingly young-looking redhead. The world's a goofy place." He gripped Wonder Woman's forehead with metal hands and blew a kiss. "But it could do with one less village idiot." And he stepped back, snarled, and uppercutted the dazed Amazon's chin with his foot.
THWACK!
"Ugh!" Wonder Woman fell hard to the shipyard floor with a groan.
I was too weak and battered to do anything.
Tempest….
"Dammit!" He gasped and ran over.
I helplessly stretched a hand towards him.
N-No!
Wait!
In the meantime, Metallo leered over Wonder Woman. He raised a foot to crush her prone head.
"As much as this is going to mess up my 'shoe'…," he smirked and brought his foot down
THWOOOSH-THWACK!
Tempest's flying kick slapped him across the 'flesh' cheek.
"Ooof!" Metallo stumbled back.
Tempest stood before him, fists raised. "That's as far as you go, you oversized dildo!"
"Gee….I'm complimented," Metallo smirked. "And who might you be? Will Wheaton after a sex change?"
The Atlantean frowned and pointed an angry finger: "Go back to the scrapyard where you belong."
"HA!" Metallo waved a jolly hand. "I know you! You're Aqualad! Aquaman's little choir boy!"
Garth sneered: "His name is King Orin…."
"Ohhhh, I bet that's what you call him….heheh…hahahaha!" Metallo all but doubled over. "What do you know! Aqualad! I've read up on you in the Titans archives! Shirley-Temple-Hell! They should have just called you Guppy-Boy! I swear! Don't you know, lad, that you've got the lamest, most useless, insufficient powers in all of the known—"
SPLOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!
A sudden, hot torrent of water soared into Metallo's torso.
He coughed, sputtered, and flailed his arms.
Tempest surged towards him with a pulse of purple energy. His fingers slammed into Metallo's gaping mouth and shot telekinetic sprays of water down his throat, flooding his inner circuitry.
SPLOOOOOOOSH! SPLIIISH!
ZZZZTTT-ZZZZTTT-ZZTTT! Metallo sparked all over, his torso smoking.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGHHHH!"
The robot smoked, groaned and fell down. CLANG!
Tempest stood in a bubbling puddle. His eyes strobing a dark purple as he frowned, fists clenched.
"'Glub Glub'," he droned.
"Nnnnngh….," Metallo groaned. Sparking. His metal and flesh lips curved. "G-G-Good show, handsome…." He stretched a laser wrist out. "But I've got the perfect hook and line for you."
ZAAAAP!
Tempest gasped and dove to the side.
Metallo re-aimed from the ground, trailing Tempest.
Z-ZZAAAP! ZAP!
Tempest flipped, dove, and jumped out of the way of the blasts.
At the last second, Metallo aimed up……at a sign of a warehouse door hanging heavily over the Atlantean's dark head.
ZZAAAP!
SNAP!
The sign fell free.
I limped forward, gasping.
Look out!
TH-THUD!
The sign collapsed hard onto Tempest's back. CRKKK! It shattered into splinters.
"Nnngh!" Tempest stumbled, his back hunched over.
Metallo jumped up, shook the drops off him, sparked a few final times, and stomped over with a two-armed swing into Tempest's ribcage.
THWOOOOSH-WHAP!
Tempest stumbled and landed coldly at my feet. Groaning unconscious.
I panted.
Crud……CRUD!
STOMP!
I looked up.
Metallo smirked. He stomped towards me.
"Enough toying around, ninja-freak. Don't you see? Resisting Triangular is hopeless. The bloody Parasite that we all fear and dread is what gives us strength. Surely you felt his burning-cold breath. Why can't you sit down and sniff the fumes of our organization's burning vigor as well?"
I took a deep breath, concentrated the last shred of strength I had left, and swung Myrkblade towards Metallo's skull.
SWOOOOOSH-CLUTCH!
Metallo gripped the edge of my sword.
He smirked.
"Sit down……like the good doctor said, you've been a naughty little chap."
And he lifted his leg, flexed his metal muscles, and….
THAP!
….—kicked me hard in the chest.
I flew back.
SMASH!
I sailed through the door of the warehouse. I landed in a sea of splinters. Shadowed by the dark interior of the building.
I ached all over.
I had no energy left.
Like my comrades, I was on the verge of agonized collapse and unconsciousness.
I looked up weakly as Metallo stood overhead. His hands on his hips.
He smirked and said: "Embrace the end of your career, Noir. Everything has worked out just as I hoped. Just as Luthor, Dagger, and the Gothamites planned. Indeed, you came to Metropolis. And from here on out….you go no further. At least…not the Noir everyone thinks they know."
A distant, beating sound in the air.
He smirked and gazed up towards the sunny sky. "Jolly good. News helicopters." He winked at me. "I want everyone….everyone to see this……" That said, he popped open a panel in his wrist and tapped a button.
I thinned my eyes at a pulse of light that showered over his figure.
Zzzzt!
ZZZZT!
FLASH!
A blink.
I gasped.
There I stood.
'Me'.
Or at least….
A holographic 'me' that encompassed the body and frame of Metallo.
The perfectly shaded, camouflage-clad, scarred swordsman smirked at me and 'spoke' in Metallo's voice: "I want everyone to see 'me'. He he he he he….heh heh heh heh…."
My jaw dropped.
No……
He turned around just as a green streak and two red streaks rushed towards the scene.
"Here they come now!"
I flinched and struggled to get up.
Failing.
Please……
No……
"Hehehehe….'Titan! Go!'," and Metallo 'cloaked' in a holographic curtain of 'smoke'.
I panted.
Sweating.
Please……Ana……
N-No……
ZH-ZH-ZH-ZH-ZHIP!
The Flash blurred up to the scene, skidding to a stop and gasping at Wonder Woman's unconscious body.
"Whoah! Holy smokes! Diana!" the red-suited hero rushed over to the Amazon's body and felt her vital signs. "Hang in there! Wally's here!"
I gasped.
I tried exhaling.
'Speaking.'
Nothing came out.
I…
I was mute….
Mute and hidden in the shadows where I couldn't move from.
FLASH!
Green Lantern lowered in an emerald strobe of flight.
"God almighty….," he exhaled. He stepped onto the hard shipyard ground and stood over Wonder Woman and the Flash. "What heaven's name happened here?"
"I dunno!" the Flash desperately uttered. "I just rushed here and saw Wonder Woman lying unconscious and…" The speedster looked over. "Whoah! Another!" He blurred over—ZH-ZH-ZHIP!—to the Atlantean's body. "He looks pretty beat up!"
"Tempest?" Green Lantern made a face. "What is Tempest doing here in Metropolis?"
FWOOOSH! Finally, the Man of Steel himself flew down and floated above the scene with a red furl of his cape. "Who did this?"
"You're asking the wrong Flash!"
"It had to have been someone tough to have taken down both Princess Diana and Aquaman's protégé," Green Lantern knelt by Wonder Woman, feeling her forehead. "Quick, Superman. I think we should take them to S.T.A.R. Labs. Hamilton may not like us, but at least there's still an ounce of him that's human…"
FLASH!
'Noir' appeared in a strobe of smoke behind Green Lantern.
I screamed mentally…
'Noir' smiled, grabbed Green Lantern's shoulders, and flung him with Metallo's strength towards the Atlantean's body.
FWOOOOSH!
Kneeling by Tempest, the Flash looked up. He gasped. "G.L.!"
WHAM!
The green hero slammed into the red.
Superman's eyes widened.
'Noir' wasted no time. He blurred over with holographic smoke replacing the flare of ankle rockets. He skidded to a stop in front of Flash and slammed his foot up the man's weak chin.
THWACK!
"Nnnngh!" the speedster fell down hard.
Green Lantern sat up, snarled, and raised his ring-hand: "You! What are you…?"
GRIP! 'Noir's' supposed 'titanium' left wrist gripped over Green Lantern's ring fingers and constricted…
Crkkkkkk!
"Aaaaaugh!" the green guardian flailed as his finger bones were crushed.
'Noir' smiled and flung Green Lantern by his injured arm into a warehouse wall.
THUD!
I shivered all over.
"NOIR!" Superman shouted. He floated overhead. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but it ends now!"
The Man of Steel's eyes flickered red as two heat beams shot out of his eyes.
Metallo flickered his holographic field, making him invisible. The same effect of 'Noir teleporting'.
I shuddered as I saw a shadow of the masquerading android perch on a warehouse wall, 'vault off', and grab ahold of Superman in mid-air.
CLAMP!
The two wrestled in mid-air.
Superman gritted his teeth and clutched 'Noir's' throat. "Nnnngh! S-Since when w-were you this p-powerful?"
The fake swordsman smiled straight in Superman's face and 'mutely' mouthed: 'Since I decided to kill you.'
I was breathless.
WHAM!
Metallo headbutted Superman in 'Noir' mode.
"AUGH!" Superman fell down from the blow and splashed into the Bay.
'Noir' landed, looked in the shadows towards me, and winked.
"……"
Metallo then grunted, leapt high into the sky with fake trailing 'smoke', and dove after Superman to continue the horrendous act.
SPLOOOOSH!
And that is where and when I fell unconscious...