254. Break the Circle part 14
Dagger was falling.
His bloody stub of a left wrist was trailing globs of blood through the air as he plummeted off of Kobayashi Tower.
His entire left limb was a useless, flapping organism.
But that didn't phase the half-butchered despot one bit.
He coolly held his breath…
In mid-plunge, he twirled about, reached a right hand to his vest, and pulled a thick cord.
PFTTTT! PFTT-FTTTT!
Tiny 'jets' extended outward from the straps in his armored vest and flared.
Acting as little hover thrusts, the jets slowed his plummeting descent by about half of its velocity.
It was just slow enough for him to glide himself forward….drift away from the blurring building face of Kobayashi Tower…and sail towards the office building on the opposite side of the street violently sailing up at him.
As Dagger reached the blurring building face, he grunted and reached his right arm out. A strap of his long glove clicked and shot out rows of sharp metal 'teeth' that glinted in the red aura of the night and sliced into the glass facings and steel supports of the buildingfront.
SLNKKKKK-KKKKKKT-KKKKTTTTT!
Dagger's teeth gritted. He weathered the pain of his lost limb and the jolting sensation of his death-defying save.
The glove's teeth ate and ate and ate into the glass.
Causing sparks and sharp shards to fly.
Dagger hissed for breath as his violent fall turned into a sluggish slide.
He grinded to a jolting stop at the bottom of a twenty-story tall slice-streak in the office building's 'chest'. There were barely nine stories left hanging beneath him before his body could splatter into the battle-raging streets below.
Sweating with pain and strain….the maimed Dagger looked straight up.
And for a spare moment…confusion splashed across his tortured face.
For he saw the red, blurring streak of Deathstroke shoot eastward across the building tops beyond Kobayashi Tower.
And Dagger could not help but murmur: "But….Robin is in the Northern District……."
T-T-T-T-T-T-
THWOOOSH! Far below, I blurred with Jericho in tow.
I tossed him into the surprised arms of a Wildbeest. The horned fellow caught the boy awkwardly. Jericho looked at me with confused, twitching eyes.
SWOOOOOOOOSH! I blurred straight up the back leg of the huge golem. Up the posterior. Along the spine. And rounded up onto the shoulder.
CRKKKKK! The beast rumbled and throbbed with a burning flame.
I perched on its shoulder. With a deep breath, I twirled Myrkblade and prepared to stab down….
Okay.
Let's see how quickly I can do that lovely 'red burst' trick again---
WHAMM! The huge golem bitch-slapped me off its shoulder.
I flew through the air, flailing.
Crud!
I slammed into the radio antenna of a nearby building top and collapsed to the rooftop.
THWOMP!
I winced, teeth gritting.
CRKKKK! The creature marched onward.
In the distance, I could have sworn I saw the Hospital.
The same City Hospital as that which the Titans had barely saved a month ago from one of Dagger's menacing missiles.
There may or may not be any people in that.
I saw the unhindered path of the creature.
I tightened my grip of Myrkblade and mutely snarled.
I don't see myself giving a damn any time soon……
THWOOOOOOSSSH! I blurred along the buildingsides.
I swiftly sailed past the marching behemoth.
I ran over the distant heads of the Wildebeests surging, beating, slamming their limbs against all sorts of nasty golems and terrorist weaponry.
A pair of helicopters flew overhead. Good….bad…..I couldn't tell.
I came to a stop approximately four blocks ahead of the huge golem…..
For I had seen something.
To my right.
Tall.
Rusted.
Dripping with moisture.
A water tower……
I took a deep breath of the red December air.
I turned and looked at the incoming beast.
"…….."
I ran towards the edge of the buildingside.
I gazed directly down.
At least a dozen Wildebeests were hoisting up huge chunks of loose sidewalk paneling. They growled, grunted, and flung the heavy projectiles across the street and into the protective armor of an overturned hummer where a handful of Dagger's men huddled behind, taking cover with their weapons drawn.
I whistled shrilly.
Six Wildebeests looked up.
Panting, I desperately motioned up towards the ceiling. I pointed firmly up at the water tower—whether or not they could see it—and urged for them to rise up and join me.
They did so after a moment of grunting deliberation. They flung the last of their impromptu, concrete projectiles and ran towards the buildingside while three companions blitzed the overturned hummer with horns slamming. CRNNCHH!
The six creatures stabbed their fingers into the buildingside and shatteringly climbed their way up the wall towards where I stood.
I stepped back, glancing southward in apprehension at the distant….advancing giant.
STOMP!ST-STOMPP!
The six Wildebeests leapt up and landed on the rooftop. They glared at me….then past me.
They saw the water tower before I even had to point towards it.
I blurred over and stood before the western edge of the rusted bucket. I gestured at the supports and then pointed at the approaching monster.
The Wildebeests examined the situation. They nodded their hairy snouts. They rushed towards the water tower.
In the meantime, I readied Myrkblade—Chiiiing!—and started slashing, hacking, and stabbing at the metal supports on the building edge's side.
CRKK!
SLNKKT!
THWKKKT!
The six Wildebeests gathered on the opposite end of the water tower. They pushed and shoved against it….grunting with their effort.
"Nnnnng-nnnnghhh!"
CrkkkkCcccrkkkk! The old water tower shook, wobbled, and groaned.
I kept stabbing and slicing with smoke-laden swipes at the support beams.
SLASH!
THRASSSSH!
The tower groaned some more.
One Wildebeest let go of his grip, climbed up the east side of the Tower, and stood on top. He bounced and angled his body so that his weight help tilt the rusted bucket over.
Crrrrrkkkkkk-CrkkkkKKKK!
The tower finally started to break and teeter sloshingly over towards the edge on the left.
In the meantime…..
CRKKKKKKKKKK!
ST-STOMP!STOMP!
The six-story golem loomed just beyond the edge in the street's space before us….
The water tower fell over.
I blurred up the inclined slope, perched alongside the other Wildebeest, and slashed a slit into the rusted top part of the tower with Myrkblade just at it collapsed.
THWAAAAANG!
And…..
SPLOOOOO-OOOOOSSSSSSH!
Brown, muddy water exploded coldly over the edge of the rooftop and sailed off the building and doused the huge burning golem harshly from 'head' to 'toe'. The water boiled on contact, and the flailing creature reeled and rumbled agonizingly in place as a huge explosion of steam burst skyward.
SSSSSSSSSSsssssssssssssssssss!
The Central District of the City was blanketed with sudden, scalding fog.
The monster shook and quivered all over as its upper body lost the fire. Molten rock was replaced with hard, grating concrete and the behemoth slowed to a stand-still.
The Wildebeests on the rooftop stood up and walked over….
Gazing.
"………."
FWOOOOOOOSSSSSSH!
They flinched as I blurred past them in a smoking streak.
I zoomed towards the building's edge. Teeth gritting.
I leapt madly outward with Myrkblade stabbing straight forward.
Aaaaaaaah!
I landed in a dry cavity formed in the extinguished core of the creature's torso and teleported inside.
FWOOOOOSH!
I disappeared.
A beat.
……
POWWWW!
The upper half of the monster exploded as I solidified with an upswing of Myrkblade carrying me up and outward. In slow motion, I twirled skywards with Myrkblade outstretched….slicing the air.
Fw-Fw-Fw-FWOOOSH!
The rocks and pebbles flew up alongside me, fell, spread outward, and heatedly puffed and billowed tiny patches of steam as time resumed and—
THWOOOOSH! I descended like a lead weight down to the City.
At the last second, I spread my arms and closed my ankles together.
FWOOOSH! I summoned a curtain of murk to expand beneath me. I slowly lowered on the obsidian cloud…….and landed gently. Clutching Myrkblade. Exhaling…..calming down.
"………."
GROAAAAANNNN! The lower half of the giant fell down….and exploded against the concrete just half a meter from crushing my back from behind.
SLAMMMMM!
"……..," I glared directly ahead.
At the Hospital that was still in one piece.
I took a deep breath and twirled Myrkblade to my side. TH-THWISSSH!
Ah………good.
Now I'm awake.
The Wildebeests cheered. Those on the rooftop besides the dripping, overturned water tower waved their hands and reared their horned crowns.
Those in the streets strengthened their resolve and sent the residual terrorists fleeing in vehicles with guns blazing.
A crowd of bovine fury surged past me, pushing the charge further.
I took a deep breath.
I glanced aside.
Jericho straddled the back of one of the Wildebeests as he surged past me. He smirked and gave me a thumb's up.
"………"
And I smiled.
As long as that little shrimp stays alive……there's something to hope for tonight.
I took a breath and blurred forward…keeping my proximity to Jericho's side of the charge in check. Not losing him or myself as we further engaged the enemy.
Jeez, Ana……
Just where the Hell is the Messenger anyway?
T-T-T-T-T-T-
VRMMMMMMM!
The six police officers and Robin burned rubber northward, following the L-Train Track.
Sure enough, a beast was lumbering ahead….smashing all sorts of small buildings in its path. Doing so in such a lethargic, meaningless pace that it was almost comical. The thick of Calvin's resistance was behind the motorcyclists and to the South. The Northeast sector was still Dagger country. And as the six cops and the Boy Wonder throttled past the streets and avenues of the slums, many a contingent of terrorist gunmen let loose lead volleys in vain to puncture the speedsters' tires.
"What's exactly your plan?"
"The plan is coming right up!" Robin shouted into the 'ear' of Smith's helmet. He pointed up at the L-Train tracks. "See there?"
Smith and two other driving officers craned their necks.
An abandoned train car rested still right above them. Empty of all passengers. Aimed northward.
"Right where it's supposed to be!" one officer exclaimed. He glanced over through his helmet. "What's ticking in that Titan head of yours?"
"The trick—gentlemen—is to let my body do the talking!" Robin stood up and 'surfed' on the back of Smith's bike. "Excuse me…I must take flight!"
"Lovely….."
VRMMMMMM!
Robin whipped out a grappling hook and aimed up. "Smith! Distract the giant! Bring it to the L-Track four hundred meters ahead!"
"I'll do!"
"Robin, what are you--?"
POW!
"I'll be just a second!" Robin shouted as he fired the grappling hook and—
CLANK!
THWOOOOSH! He yanked and flew off on the cord, swinging upward.
"Nnnnrgh….," one officer uttered while speeding. "What makes me think that the boy was born to die….only to be reborn….just to die again?"
"Shut up and be optimistic, Vann," Smith throttled his bike forward. "Now….let's go engage the burning behemoth of death." VRMMMMMM!
"Uhhh…yeah…."
The other five cyclists burned after the accelerating leader.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
SWOOOSH! Robin swung up and around and landed nimbly on the back of the abandoned train car.
He took a deep breath and kicked his way in through the rear window.
SMASSH!
He retracted his grappling hook back into his launcher and snaked into the compartment of the vehicle.
He ran down to the front piloting chamber.
He punched his way in.
Shatter!
He leapt in.
He gripped the levers tightly.
He turned knobs.
He brought the car to life.
He then hotwired the craft and pushed a few levels forward.
Zzzzt-ZZTT!
Sparks flew between the wheels and the metal rails.
The lights inside the car flickered.
More sparks…..
And….
ZZZT!
The car started to lurch forward.
Faster….faster……….faster……
Chugging.
Chugging….
Robin gritted his teeth, gripped tightly another set of levers, and slowly pushed them forward.
And the car rocked and rattled as it gained speed and throttled towards the north edge of the City….
T-T-T-T-T-T-
VRMMMMM!
Smith and his men zoomed around smashed building ashes.
They ramped almost with one accord over a mound of debris and landed swiftly on the asphalt, once again throttling northward.
When they reached the burning legs of the creature—
STOMP!STOMPPP!
--Smith circled his fingers, gestured, and pointed his men forward.
They split up, shot ahead, and burned throttling circles around the ankles of the huge creature in opposite, clockwise / counterclockwise formations.
The creature rumbled, spewed ashes, and 'looked' down at them.
All six police officers spun circles around the beast. Burning rubble and kicking up smoke.
CRKKKK-KKKKK! The beast raised its foot and attempted to stomp the police officers to gravel.
As soon as the beast 'struck back', Smith ordered his men away with a jabbing finger southward.
STOMPPPPPP!
VRMMMMMMMMMM!
Smith led his company of six the opposite way from which they came.
CRKKK!
The monster tore around, flexed its burning limbs, and swiftly charged after them.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Meanwhile….in the Southern End of the City….
The green stallion that was Changeling swiftly charged his way ashore from the land ridge and into the thick of the City.
The Bayside Plaza loomed on the right.
The rising fires of golden brilliance on the left……
The horse snorted and sped…sped….sped onward.
Raven limply rode the back of the green beast of burden.
Her thin, violet eyes weakly trailed the gravel and asphalt that blurred beneath the flurrying hooves.
Lips quivering, the dark girl gazed up.
A red sky.
Helicopters.
Dark bodies circling….circling….
Her head was stabbed with the sensation of a wrought iron cage….buried in chains.
FL-FLASSH!
Raven's eyes strobed a hot gray.
She hissed, clenched her eyes shut, and hugged the bounding back of the stallion beneath her.
And she shuddered.
With moist eyes, she deliriously murmured: "C-Cyborg……..Cyborg….pl-please….."
"………," the rushing equine's gray eyes narrowed. An exhale escaped his nostrils as he burst forward in swifter speed and soared up the remainder of the city streets.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
…..and then the green beast came to a solid stop.
The snout of the changeling gaped open as its gray eyes widened.
A stretch of Main Street criss-crossed with various avenues ahead of the horse's path.
And everywhere….
Golems were stomping across the sidewalks and streets.
Wildebeests were pouncing on them, snorting.
Burning rock met silver-plated horns.
And Dagger's men sped by on jeeps, firing machine guns.
As straggling groups of U.S. soldiers sped by in opposite directions, tossing grenades.
And rubble and burning ash filled the streets as helicopters zoomed low overhead and fired at each other.
The street flashed and flickered with the impacts and explosions of the war.
"………," the animorph was frozen in place. Helplessly confused….
"Nnngh….Cyborg…..," Raven gasped. She was wincing. Sweat ran down her brow and dampened the mane of the green stallion she straddled. With pants and wincing breaths, she drifted…drifted….drifted into oblivion.
The emerald horse's muscles tensed.
CRKKKKK-KKKKK!
With a gasp and a snort, the horse glanced backwards.
RUMMMMMMBLLLLEEE! An entire building shook and collapsed hotly behind the two Titans as a five-story golem burned and marched its way through.
STOMP! STOMPPPP!
The horse grunted and charged forward.
Raven held on for dear life.
The giant incidentally marched and smashed buildings straight after the hooves of the galloping changeling. Beast Boy swerved left and right around wrestling pairs of Wildebeests and golems. The coupled combatants found themselves screaming as the monster's burning ankles slammed into them and knocked their bodies through parked vehicles and building fronts. SMASSSH! CRKKKK! Changeling galloped….galloped. He hopped a burning jeep with two flinching terrorists inside. The men tried aiming their uzzis at the rear of the green Titan when a trio of Wildebeests suddenly pounced on them and started beating their skulls in. Then everyone of the combatants collapsed and fell to the ground from the proximity of the giant's stomping feet. CRUNNNCH! Sidewalk and asphalt cracked. Fire hydrants exploded and shot sprays of water up alongside the galloping Titan. Manhole covers popped and flew loudly into the air. Two jeeps swerved, drove alongside the speeding horse, fell back, and fell victim to collapsing debris from a building that the lunging limbs of the giant's reach smashed and dropped onto the streets below. THUDDD! Two apaches soared loudly overhead, their rotary blades beating loudly at the air. They let loose missiles into the thighs of the monster that merely bounced off and flailed into the buildingsides. POWWW! KRA-KOW! The falling, burning building surfaces slumped down and collapsed over Beast Boy. The horse snorted and slid in an asphalt-kicking 'lunge' that forced him and Raven squeezing under a low-bridge of collapsing steel and motar, speeding on forward. CRUSSSSH! The hyperventilating animorph leapt over an overturned hummer, dashed around a trio of wildebeests stampeding into a wall of golems, and finally rounded an intersection's corner and rushed out of Main Street right before the marching, relentless giant could possibly crush the two Titans with its burning feet. STOMP!ST-STOMPPP!
The horse sped down an alleyway….
Galloped speedily down a thin corridor of bricks and mortar…..
Approached a metal fence on the other side…..
And leapt mightily over it…..just as the rushing sound of a missile heatedly echoed into the thin stretch of space.
Raven road the leaping steed. Her blue hair rose and fell and her eyes opened for a brief enough moment to gasp—
PFTOOOOOOOOSSSSH!
A missile exploded in the street directly in front of where they landed.
Changeling swiftly spun his equine body, galloped at an awkward angle to outrun the fire cloud…spun about….and sped the two of them further northward along a road adjacent to Main Street. And there was a contingent of jeeps on one side of the street….and a throng of Dagger's vehicles on the other side of the street. The two jeeps ran parallel to each other and shot lead volleys across the way in bloody chaos. Gunmen shouted and fired and fired and fired. RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT! And all the while, a HIND dipped low through the street and tailed the mobile battle, taking pot shots at the U.S. Army. PFTOOOOSSH! PFTOOOSH! Missiles flew and exploded into the buildingsides above the U.S. caravan. SHATTTTERRR! Glass and mortar fell down. Changeling leapt his hooves over the gunshots and bolted under the falling debris as it engulfed a helpless jeep full of screaming passengers. The U.S. convoy split up. The Daggerite vehicles veered over to gun the men down when suddenly a company of twelve to fifteen Wildebeests leapt down from the rooftops on the other side and literally smashed their weight through the hulking vehicles of the enemy. Bodies went flying as tires popped and aluminum chassis shattered. The Daggerite terrorists fought tooth and nail and gun rifle butt with the Wildebeests, only to find themselves slapped, crushed, and skewered by silver horns. The Wildebeests prepared to finish the last of the terrorists off when another missile flew from the trailing HIND….aimed at them his time. PFTOOOOOOSSSSH! The vehicles full of bovine warriors and terrorists exploded. A few Wildebeests made it out safely, charging away. The others….snorted and bellowed as they burned alive from the fur down…
FWOOOSH!
The green stallion dove down another alleyway, skirted around a courtyard full of collapsed ashes and building shards, and ran down an open stretch of road under the red sky.
The equine tilted his head up….
A HIND flew through the burning sky. A figure streaking an emerald trail of light soared straight after it.
The eyes of the horse widened.
"Nnnngh…," Raven murmured. Wincing. She hunched over and practically dug her face into the main of the wildly galloping steed. "C-Cyborg….," she hissed. Her glowing gray eyes clenched tightly shut. Silver tears squeezed out. The dark girl shook all over. "I-I'm so sorry….s-so sorry…….C-Cyborg….the…..th-the team……"
"………"
Changeling galloped faster.
He soared down the open stretch of road. He blurred past parked cars and craters of comet-impacts. The central highway of the City loomed ahead. Changeling galloped past the former site of Phaser Labs and under the highway overpass. Just as he passed under, a missile flew into the overpass and exploded in bright flames. KA-POWWWWW! Raven jolted. The horse snorted and moved faster. A wall of burning debris fell at its tail in a cascade. Another missile flew as a HIND responsible for the projectiles lowered and sped low after the throttling changeling. PFTOOOOOOSSSSSSH! The missile ate at the hooves of the Titan metamorph. Changeling grunted and hopped up the engine of a semi truck and leapt up onto the trailer. Beast Boy galloped the length of the steel trailer's body and jumped off. BOOOOM! The missile flew into the engine and exploded like a fireworm throughout the length of the trailer. Changeling rushed down the street, leaving the flames billowing behind. FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOSSSH! The HIND roared at the rear of the horse. It fired its spinning missile cannon. RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT! The heavy caliber slammed into the concrete and asphalt all around the horse's blurring legs. Potholes exploded and shattered spray hotly into the Changeling's snout. P-POW! PING! He merely snorted and jerked left into a thin alleyway.
FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSH! The HIND pivoted and rocketed just above the thin corridor.
The horse galloped down the claustrophobic space.
Panting for breath.
Changeling looked forward towards the space exiting out into the open street.
But just as he got there—
PFTOOOOOOSSSSSSH-POWWW!
A missile landed and exploded the exit in hot oblivion.
The green horse skidded to a stop. Raven flailed. The snout opened and a gasping voice came out…
PHWOOOOOMMMBB!
A wall of fire from the missile ate its way down the alleyway and cascaded meltingly over the two Titans' bodies.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
FWOOOMMBB!
Above, the HIND lingered in the air.
The alleyway became an infernal sandwich.
Fire splashed up and vomited out of the edges of the walls.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOSSSH!
The helicopter lingered for a moment over the urban volcano.
Then…..
As if the pilots were satisfied, they rotated the aircraft around and rocketed northwards towards the thicker battles of the City.
FWOOOOOOSSSSH!
Silence.
Flickering flames.
Ashes….
…
…
Movement.
A green bulk climbed its way out of the burning alleyway.
A huge, emerald gorilla jumped up onto the rooftop.
Changeling had Raven's limp body hooked within a thick, primate forearm.
Beast Boy protectively held the ailing sorceress. With a clenched, gorilla jaw he glared northward along the City where the battle raged in the streets and air.
"………."
He waited for the fumes to die down before propping Raven up—straddling his shoulders—and proceeded to leap and jump from building to building in gorilla mode.
Heading northward….
T-T-T-T-T-T-
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSSSH!
In another part of the City, a HIND was desperately doing its best to avoid the heated pursuit of Starfire.
The alien girl sped and veered left and right, holding tight to the tail of the last of her three aerial targets.
She snarled and flung starbolts every opportunity she could at the flying behemoth.
FL-FLASH!
FLASH!
FLASH!
The HIND whipped left and right, narrowly streaking its way between building faces and literally scouring the urban 'canyons' of the City.
Its beating rotary blades glinted reflections off of the glass windows on either side.
Its engines echoed against the structures and sent flags and banners and debris flying from the rush of its blades and speeding body.
"Nnnnngh!" Starfire flew closer and closer to its rear, firing more energy streams. FL-FLASH! FLASH!
The starbolts barely missed the veering aircraft and shattered into building fronts. Glass and steel frameworks flew loosely into the air.
The HIND dipped down low, barely beatings its way over the heads of battling wildebeests and burning golems. A few random shots from U.S. jeeps' mounted guns bounced off its blades and ricocheted back towards Starfire.
The girl gasped, spiraled, avoided the random shrapnel, and twirled back upright to bolt after the HIND.
FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOSSH! The fiendish aircraft suddenly lifted up towards the rooftops of the City.
Starfire arced up to sharply chase the lifting craft.
The HIND skirted over the building tops and suddenly fired a pair of missiles into the sky.
PFTOOOOOOOSSSSSH!
The hellseekers soared up at a forty-five degree angle. Suddenly—however—their thrusts died. The two missiles flailed in the air, settled, fell back, twirled and twirled, and re-initiated their flares just as they were facing Starfire.
PFTOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOSSSSH!
Starfire gasped.
Her green eyes reflected the incoming noses of the two explosives.
She gritted her teeth, crossed her arms, strobed a hot green all over, and uncrossed her wrists just in time to fling a slicing flurry of starbolts. "RAAAUGH!" FLAAAA-AAAAAAASSSSH!
The missiles exploded and vomited a wall of flame at the Tamaranian girl.
"Nnnngh!" she flinched as she punched through the flames. Her body hurtled out the other side, trailing ashes. Bewildered, she plummeted and slammed into a rooftop….skipping across the gravel surface like a stone.
She grinded a stop….bruised and with her hair slightly smoking. She pushed herself up to a sitting position, teeth gritting. She looked up with weak eyes over the nearest rooftop ledge.
The HIND was swiftly ducking down low and hiding itself amidst the tall skyscrapers and thickness of the urban maze of the City.
Starfire took a deep breath, summoned righteous fury, and soared hotly after the hiding HIND with wrists glowing a hot green.
FWOOOOOOOSSSH!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
VRMMMMMMMM!
In the Northern district….Smith and his five fellow officers streaked southward along the L-Track.
STOMP!STOMP!ST-STOMPP!
The giant golem roared after them, its feet smashing through abandoned buildings and junk lots.
The six bikes swerved and came down a stretch of bazaars and sidewalk shops.
The concrete cracked and melted as the golem's feet hurtled after their tires.
STOMPPP!
The motorcyclist in the rear glanced back, panting.
He looked forward and shouted through his helmet: "We can't outrun this creep forever, Lieutenant!"
"And we're not going to, Abbey," Smith said. He shot a pointing hand up and to the right. "That's where Robin wanted us to go! Follow me!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Go go go! MOVE!"
STOMP!
Burning gravel and asphalt fountained over them.
Smith strongly gripped his handles and swerved westward.
The five tire-screeching cops zoomed after him.
The intersection behind them shattered with flame.
The giant turned and stomped westward after them.
VRMMMMMMMMMM!
The six cops zoomed towards the L-Track overpass.
Smith panted.
He turned and looked over his shoulder.
STOMP!STOMPPP! The burning golem was about to squash them……scorch them….
Smith faced forward again and gunned it. "Nnnnnngh!" VRMMMMMMM!
The other five motorists throttled alongside them.
Just as the monster was catching up….
FWOOOOOSSSSSH!
They soared maddeningly under the overhang of the L-Track.
SMASSSSSSH! The giant stomped into the L-Track, smashing railing and concrete and steel apart as it attempted to walk through the overpass.
SCREEEECH! The six motorcyclists swerved to a stop. Panting…breathless…….they watched the entangled golem try to smash its way onto the otherside of the bridge.
The giant flailed its burning limbs and spewed ash and lava as it attempted to inch its hulking way through.
Then…..
SCKKKKKKTTTTT! The grating sound of metal wheels slicing over metal rails.
The golem turned its 'crown' and gazed southward.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Nnnngh!" Robin pushed and pushed and pushed on the acceleration lever of the train car with all his strength.
CRACCCK!
The lever snapped entirely.
The whole train car shook and wobbled as it reached an unfathomable speed that nearly flew it off the railings.
In short, the subway car was zooming murderously towards the hulking form of the giant golem stuck with the tracks aiming into its burning chest.
SKKKKKKTTT!
"Let's see if you've got a ticket to ride, hot stuff!"
Robin kicked a glass window open with his boot.
SHATTERR!
With a grunt, he dove nimbly out of the hurtling vehicle.
Fwoooosh!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
SNKKKKKTTTT!
The car zoomed north along the tracks.
CRKKKKKK-RKKKKK! The giant flailed its limbs and wrenched and struggled to get free of the trapping L-Track. CRKKKKK!
The car hurtled into its chest and exploded the giant in a fountain of ash and burning shards.
POWWWWWWWW!.!.!.!.!.!
The northern sky lit up gold against the red.
The L-Tracks crumbled both ways for a good fifty meters.
Two burning legs were all that was left of the standing giant. The glowing gold faded….and as the ashes settled, the legs fell over and formed a crater in the ground beneath the crumbled, burning train car parts. FWOMPP!
The cops cheered.
Pumping their arms in the air.
Watching the delightful oblivion from their motorcycles.
But Smith was silent.
He lifted the visor to his helmet.
With eyes thin, he gazed along the lengths of the L-Track.
"…………."
He suddenly brightened.
He kicked the bike into gear. Vrmmmmm!
The other cops looked on.
Smith drove towards a southern portion of the L-Track that was still standing.
He parked beneath and looked straight up at Robin…hanging from a single, split metal railing.
"Need a hand?"
"…….," the Boy Wonder sweatdropped. "I'm…..um……conserving my grappling hooks."
Smith smirked. "Right."
"………….."
"Well, do you need a hand or no—"
"YES!"
"Heheh….," Smith rode to a stop beneath Robin.
The Boy Wonder took a breath….let go of the railing…and fell from the underbelly of the L-Track. Fw-FWPP! He flipped and landed, saddling the back of Smith's bike.
"Good job, Robin," Smith said.
"Love you too."
"Heheh….that should clear up a bit of the pressure from the north end."
"Should." Robin emphasized. "This battle's far from over."
"At least it's a battle," Smith said. His jaw tightened. "And not a massacre."Robin's eyemask narrowed. "The Army and the Wildebeests might be able to create a stalemate against Slade. But with the Titans scattered, we're still losing an edge."
"Did you have something in mind for that 'edge'?" Smith asked.
"………..," the Boy Wonder took a deep breath. "You know…." He gazed Southward. "I just might…."
VRMMMMMM!
VRMMM!
The other five cops drove up.
"Sir…."
"We have trouble."
"What?" "What?" A beat. Smith and the Boy Wonder glanced at each other.
"Look!" Chapman pointed.
Smith and Robin gazed northward. "Mrmmm…."
Two HINDs were busily beating their way towards their location.
"Looks like we attracted some attention."
"Good. As long as it's us and not the other boys on the ground."
"Sir, what'll we do?"
"……..," Smith took a deep breath. "Let's see if we can outrun the air."
VRMMMMMMM!
"Let's move!"
"Follow me!"
The group of six throttled southwards towards through the slums.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSSH!
FW-FW-FWOOSSH!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Grfff!" a hulking, green gorilla leapt clear over a building and landed in a street beyond.
CRKKK!
The ground shook and shattered beneath him.
Sidewalk slabs unearthed.
Changeling merely grunted, readjusted his grip of Raven, and stampeded across the street.
He dashed between battling masses of Wildebeests and golems.
He jumped over an overturned jeep or two.
He found his way towards an apartment building and started climbing up it.
In a nearby alleyway…
Shadowed from the heat and thickness of battle…
A tall, muscular figure stood.
A pair of mucousy eyes caught sight of the changeling's swift flight.
"……….."
The body spun. The cold red night glinted off scaly skin as the stranger ran out towards a sidewalk and dove down through a hole formed by a golem in the side of the street.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
SLASSSSH!
CRKKKKK!
In the thick of the Main Street Wildebeest charge, I dove forward with Myrkblade slashing through the burning torso of one of the many monsters.
Two Wildebeests flanking me ran forward and punched craters in the crowns of a pair of looming rock creeps. CRK! CRAK!
I leapt over the line of Wildebeests, vaulted off the burning back of one golem, and came down in a thick cluster of golden fiends. I landed on the asphalt in a squat, ducked low, and spun around with a pulse of murk…severing half a dozen legs with Myrkblade's serrated spin.
SL-SL-SL-SL-SLASSSSH!
The golems fell to the ground, twitching and billowing hot yellow flame.
"Nrgggh!" four Wildebeests—one of whom Jericho was straddling—rushed in and stomped the writhing golems into hot gravel. CRKKKK! CRKKK! CRUNCH!
I rolled to the side, hopped up, and limped sideways onto the edge of a courtyard.
Panting.
I gulped and glanced at my comrades pushing the advance.
I shuddered and looked left.
My black-eyed vision swam down a series of alleyways and side streets. I saw dozens of roads paralleling Main Street where identical battles between Wildebeests, golems, and speeding jeeps went on and on and on and on….
But halfway down the length of madness….I saw something that made me gasp.
A green gorilla.
Leaping from one building top to another.
And carrying a limp, wounded girl in blue.
Beast Boy!
R-Raven!
Breathless, I stumbled numbly towards the nearest alleyway---
PFTOOOOOOOSSSSSH!
KABOOOOM!
The building side exploded in flames directly into me.
I grunted, crossed my flesh and black arms, and rode the wave of concussion so that it tossed me like a ragdoll out into the street.
FW-FWOMP!
I was showered with burning ash and debris.
Half of the Wildebeest army spun, grunting, and looked.
Jericho's green eyes widened as he gasped…
A Hummer of Dagger's was parked at an intersection ahead. The men in the back were reloading a bazooka as one of the terrorists fired the large mounted machine gun.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
P-P-P-PING!
A stream of heated bulletfire shattered down the street and exploded wetly into the front row of Wildebeests.
They screamed and grunted loudly as sprays of red splashed among them.
A dozen bovine warriors fell wetly to the floor as the others dove out of the way.
Jericho gripped tightly to the crown of the buddy he was saddling. Fragments and lead shards flew hotly over his blonde head.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Bullets splashed around me.
I stirred…slowly got up….and glared at the hummer.
I hissed through clenched teeth and a bleeding lip….
Meanwhile, the men in the Hummer loaded another bazooka. The mounted gunman paused his machine gun punishment as the two men raised the RPGs and prepared to launch—
FWOOOOSH!
Somehow I was already there. I materialized with Myrkblade on the upswing.
CLANK! The bazooka went flying red-skyward. Fwp-Fwp-Fwp!
The men in the back of the hummer gasped and aimed their pistols at me.
I snarled mutely and shattered the pistols apart with a singing Myrkblade.
SL-SL-SLASSSH!
The men grunted and clutched their scarred wrists from the hot pistol pieces.
The one gunman pivoted the mounted machine gun towards me like a swinging bludgeon.
I leapt up, flipped, and landed weightlessly on the barrel of the gun with a fountain of murk.
The gunman stepped back, pulled out a grenade, and screamed at me.
His scream ended as soon as his head went flying.
THWACCCK! Myrkblade swished wetly at the end of its decapitating swing.
Fwp-Fwp-Fwp! The bazooka twirled in the air and came down…
The other two men pounced at me.
I twirled Myrkblade and stabbed at them—
CLANK!
The bazooka landed awkwardly on the side of the Hummer.
And fired…
BOOOOOOOM!
The hulking vehicle exploded in a wave of fire beneath me.
Wildebeests and golems fell to the ground from the concussion wave soaring outward from the exploding Hummer.
Jericho was among the collapsing crowd. His little self rolled across the charred asphalt. He looked up…gasping wide. His green eyes reflecting the fireball of…
Me.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
FWOOSH!
The green gorilla landed from a nearby building top.
He marched halfway out into the street.
Gray eyes rounding as he gazed out…..scanning….
A breath.
Changeling morphed down into elf form, holding Raven up by the shoulder.
The shirtless animorph caught her breath and shook Raven. "Rae….Rae! Look!" He pointed.
"Nnnngh…," she weakly opened her eyes. Lips pursed as she gazed out west…northwest…
A line of green colored jeeps and Abrams tanks were advancing eastward.
General Calvin's troops were on the rebound.
Suppression fire from the jeeps held the burning golems at bay.
And shells fired from the tanks, impacting the streets and sending golden bodies scattering.
POW!
P-POW!
"This is it….the good guys….," Changeling panted….sweating all over. He smiled and gazed at Raven. "We'll have you patched up sooner than you think."
"………."
Changeling blinked. "R-Raven?"
The girl's gray eyes were fluctuating….rounding…
In fear.
Her lips quivered. "G-Garfield…."
"……?"
Raven gulped: "It's another trap…."
"H-Huh?"
CL-CLANGGGG! A manhole few feet away shot straight up from the street suddenly.
Raven flinched.
Changeling craned his neck and looked over---
FWOOOOSSSSH! A scaly body leapt up from the sewers through the hole and sailed into Garfield, gnarled feet first—
"HRESSSH!"
WHAM!
A breathless Changeling flew and slammed against a lamppost. CL-CLANG! "Augh!"
Raven gasped and deflated to the sidewalk, quivering.
P-PLANT!
Killer Croc landed from his leaping lunge. He drooled from his sharp, mutated jaws. He cracked his neck….and flexed his upper limbs. "Hello kidssss…."
"Nnnngh…," Changeling struggled to stand up. He winced from his bruises. "K-Kil….Killer Croc?"
"H-He's working for Dagger!" Raven hissed. "He's on their side! Just like Clayface and the others! I-I can feel it—"
"Hressssh!" Croc sneered and spun around. "Shut the blazes up, ya creepy broad!"
Swoooosh! He slammed his foot into her gut. WHAM!
Raven hunched over, coughing. Sputtering blood.
"RAVEN!" Changeling shouted. His teeth gritted as his upper body spliced hard into dinosaur skin. "NNGHHHH!" He charged Killer Croc.
Croc merely spun and uppercutted the creature.
WHAM!
The elf shrunk and fell back….gasping for air and spitting blood from his jaw.
"Your evening jog is over, chumps…," Croc rotated his neck…cracking joints. "Hressssha…..thought I might bite yer other ear off before the sun rises, punk."
"Nnngh…," Changeling winced. "You picked a really bad day, Croc—"
"Really? The 'day that you die'? Seems as good a time as any to me…HRSSSH!" he marched forward and fiercely struck his elbow across the elf's face.
WHAM!
"Aaaugh!" Beast Boy fell back.
Raven shuddered.
Croc loomed over the green Titan. He gritted his sharp teeth, hissed, and flexed to pounce—
"NRGHHH!" SWOOOSH! A random Wildebeest dove over and gripped Killer Croc from behind. THWUMP!
"HRESSSHAAA!" Croc struggled and struggled.
The Wildebeest grappled him prepared to slam a wrist into the back of the scaly henchfreak's neck.
Croc swiftly snarled and swung his hard skull back into the snout of the bovine warrior.
THWUNK!
Blood and teeth fragments flew from the Wildebeest's face.
"Nrggh-ghhh!" the fighter stumbled back.
"HRESSH!" Killer Croc spun, leapt, grabbed onto the Wildebeest's torso, and bit onto his crown with razor sharp teeth. SLIIINK!
The Wildebeest let out a muffled…gurgling scream.
With meaty hands, Croc grabbed the beast's right horn. With one twist of his wrists, he snapped the silver-cased horn clean off. SNAP! Grunting, he twirled the severed horn around, held it like a battering ram, and shoved the spike of it back into the Wildebeest…skewering deep into the brute's cut.
SNKKKKKKKKKKKKTT!
The Wildebeest shuddered, drooled blood, and stumbled forward.
"HRAAASHAAA!" Killer Croc howled before opening his mutated jaws wide and clamping them firmly over the face of the Wildebeest. CNnnNnkkKKktcssshhhrpppp! Tendon by tendon…skin flake by muscle seam….Croc bit the front of the beast's snout off and kicked him to the ground.
What was left of the skewered beast's face gurgled and spat globs of crimson saliva.
Croc swallowed the flesh strips in his throat.
Changeling looked in horror.
"……..," Croc slowly turned his head over. Wide-mucous-eyed. Blood drooling down from his jaws. He let out a hiss and launched himself at the Titan. FWOOOSH!
Changeling gasped and flinched at the last second in a vain attempt to shield himself….
"Nrggh!" Croc shoved a meaty hand into Changeling's face and slammed his head back through the glass window of a building front. THUD! SHATTTTERRR!
On the sidewalk, the sprawled Raven shouted hoarsely: "Garfield!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
On another side of Town…
Starfire floated down the center of a ring of buildings.
She hovered twenty stories above an empty gray courtyard where a statue rested.
"……..," the alien girl spun slowly around. Green eyes covered the urban landscape.
With the exception of the madness rumbling beyond…
It was deathly silent in that 'chamber'.
"………….."
The girl shuddered.
She parted a bang of red locks out from her bruised forehead and twirled….twirled…twirled….
Looking….
FWOOOOOOOSSSSSH! The HIND suddenly appeared, zooming down from above a building's rooftop above.
Starfire looked up the length of the skyscraper and gasped.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSSH! The Hind dove down at her, rotary blades beating. It launched a mad spray of high caliber lead. RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The burning bullets streams soared straight at Starfire's body as she flinched and summoned a field of hot green energy….
FLASSSSH!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Hckkkk-Clik-Clik-Cliktt……snkkkt……"
From a skyscraper's rooftop.
He watched.
Red eye strobing.
The red metal of his two-edged sword reflecting the huge helicopter and its charge on the alien.
But he stared at her.
Purposefully.
Waiting….
Preying………..
"Hckkk-Clik-Clik-Snkkkkkkt……"