255. Break the Circle part 15
CRKKK!
CRKK-KKK!
CRKK!
Dagger was a survivor.
Dagger was sweating and bleeding all over.
"Nnnnghh!"
CRKKKKKK!
Dagger was climbing several feet up the glass face of the skyscraper he clung to.
With a series of metal barbs sticking out of his right club…
And titanium hooks jutting out of his boots…
He stuck his 'claws' into the glass and pulled himself slowly upwards.
He would reach up with his right hand.
Hang…
Then prop up one leg….
Hook in.
Then prop up the other leg…..
Hook in.
And resume the ascent with his right hand….
All the while, his left stub dangled….bleeding………
The hand hacked off by Deathstroke….
And as the war waged on beneath him, Dagger climbed.
Up towards a floor where a transparent hallway appeared—skewered by the filtered night's aura of red above and gold below….
Dagger panted…sweated…but otherwise didn't show so much as a grimace beneath the physical exertion of his efforts.
He reached the floor of destination.
He positioned his legs out wide…leaned against the glass face………and daringly unhooked his right wrist from the wall. Scrkkkt! Sweating…pulsing from the pain of his missing limb, he snaked his hand down and reached for a sonic charge. His brow rested flat up against the cold, December glass. Beads of sweat ran off his skin and trailed down the window face.
His eyes were thin…the iciness started to melt…..but nowhere near gone.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
In the Eastern portion of the City…
One out of many wrecked HINDs rested in the center of a street.
Smoking.
Echoing with the bolts and explosions and screams of war in the distance of the City.
A sea of black shrapnel from shattered rotary blades covered the sidewalks and asphalt like obsidian rose petals.
Silence……
Then….
A movement.
A shaking.
A shifting.
A pile of rubble gave way….
And a glinting, titanium body crawled out of it.
Sparking.
Smoking in some places.
But altogether dragging….scraping eastward.
"Nnnngnhskkt….." Metallo electronically crackled. He was then a scuffed, raggedy shell of hardware. One arm was gone and a good portion of his legs had been shredded to scraggly skeletons of jagged metal.
Corbin's white eyes flickered as he dragged himself eastward towards the shipyards with his one arm.
"Bloody….damn….alien….bitch….nnghhh….," he hissed and sparked and jolted amidst his crawl. He tried to get to his knees….but collapsed. Th-Thrump! "Nnngh….snkkt…" He hissed and gasped for breath he didn't need. Teeth clattered metallically. His upper body shook and shot sparks out of the dangling wires where his missing arm used to be attached. "Dagger is going to….snkkt….tear you open…..snkkt….I swear….bloody….stupid….NNNGHh!"
ZZZzzztt!
He shook….shuddered….
And crawled on towards the black waters….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beeeeeeeeeeeeep!
POWWW!
The sonic charge shattered the glass window of the skyscraper.
The red aura of the night sang in through the gap in the building face.
Cold December air settled into the carpeted hallway…
And soon, so did Dagger.
In a climbing slump….
He pulled his bleeding, sweating self onto the floor.
He struggled for a full breath.
He turned over….torn apart….ragged.
Lungs heaving.
Sweat dripping.
He propped himself up against a wall.
Teeth clenched.
His cold face iced over with pain as his sliced limb hung on his left side….
And his right hand reached to a Medical Aid pouch on his belt.
Dagger's thin eyes gazed off through the wall across from him
Twitching ever so slightly from the fingers of mortality that were beginning to scratch at his granite core.
For the first time in ages….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
In the Western District…
North of Calvin's return charge…
An Army Jeep drove speedily down an abandoned road.
It veered around the wreckage of an apache helicopter and zoomed off when no signs of survivors presented themselves.
After a few more minutes of circumnavigating the raging urban battles, the vehicle came to an intersection and stopped abruptly.
Screeech!
The three riding soldiers gazed curiously at the driver.
"Why'd you stop?"
The man was squinting at the set of buildings across the street.
"Phaser Labs…..their lights are on…."
"So?"
"Didn't Smith or the General say that there was suspicious activity at the Labs? Like a possible mole of Dagger's?"
"Our orders are to patrol the edge of the battlefield and report on stragglers from Dagger's invasion."
"I know it's just that….leaving the Labs like that is a little disturbing."
"Do you think something's in there—?" Another soldier began.
The front passenger held his hand up. "It's not our concern. Keep driving." He motioned.
The driver sighed and gripped the wheels tighter. "Roger that…"
"Shhh! Wait!" a soldier in the back held her hand up.
"…………?" the other units glanced around.
Her eyes grew thin. "Something just went under the jeep."
"Huh?"
"Something brown! Did you see it?"
"Brown?"
"Private, what are you--?"
SLLSSSSlLLPPPP! The jeep suddenly lifted up.
"Whoah!"
"Holy Hell!"
SWOOOOSH! The vehicle was tossed to the side of the road.
The four soldiers went sprawling.
A living puddle of quivering brown mud flexed, took shape as a giant, soggy snake, and slithered its way swiftly towards the front doors of Phaser Labs.
"Nnnngh….," two of the soldiers writhed on the ground…wincing.
The other two shot up with AK-47s fully loaded.
"It's Hagan!"
"Hagan! Hagan!"
"Shoot 'em!"
"Aaaaaa-aaaaah!" Rat-a-Tat-Tat-Tat-Tat-Tat!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The bullets splashed into the muddy hide of the swiftly gliding puddle of mud but only managed to splash through to the asphalt and ricochet off.
"He's getting away!"
"No, man! He's going into the Labs!"
"Okay….NOW we go in!" one of the soldiers grunted, getting up.
"Finally!"
"Call HQ. Tell them we've found—"
"LOOK!" another pointed.
SCHLUMP! SCH-SCHLUMP!
SCHLUMPPP!
Slate gray panels slid down and covered the glass doors and windows of the Labs, turning the one-story flat into a fortress.
"It's…..It's sealing itself up…."
"What in the Blue Hell?"
WHURRRRR! Two mounted gun turrets dropped down from the overhang of the external building entrance.
The soldiers started
CHTANG! The turrets locked in place, revolved around, and aimed at the four soldiers from afar.
Wriiiiiiiiii!-ZAP! Z-ZAAAAAP!
"Look out!"
"Get down!"
The soldiers scattered as hot globs of burning laser energy soared out from the building and struck the overturned jeep…exploding it.
BOOOOM!
ZAP!
ZAAAA-AAAAP!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Sllllsllsppbpbpbpp……
"Nnnnngh…..ugghhh….," a face formed out of the brown puddle as it sloshed its way down the slick hallways of Phaser Labs.
The building's foundation shook with the thunder of the laser fire blasting just outside.
A melted and soggy Clayface oozed his way agonizingly down the hall….and cascaded down the steps to the basement laboratory.
Inside the basement, the brown metamorph congealed into a thick, bubbling pool and tried—ever so torturously—to stand up into a humanoid figure.
Gurgling noises and liquid breaths abounded.
Across the laboratory basement full of electrical equipment and computer stations, a flickering hologram appeared. Six inches tall and eerily emotionless. He 'stood' besides a cylindrical chamber containing a cauldron-burning energy core of questionable orange energy.
Zzzzt!
"You aren't in battle, Hagan."
"Nnngh…s-screw the battle, Stone….," Clayface gurgled. He ended up in a towering blob of constantly melting, constantly cascading brown glop. "You taught m-me everything I needed to know a-about the Titans….only that th-they're freakin' gods when you piss them off!"
"You were aware of the danger of Dagger's task for you."
"Like Hell I was…nnnghhh….ugh….," Hagan sloshed his way towards the far side of the laboratory where metal arms hung from the ceiling with robotic needles pointing every which way. "….p-please….nnngh…..g-give me some of the Formula. I need to at least have some damn legs to stand on!"
Stone's holographic head nodded. "You've done well, Hagan. It is not in my place—nor programming—to deny you your powers. But when worse comes to worse……"
"Yeah?" Clayface growled wetly as he sloshed over to a spot beneath the robot arms. "What now?"
The computer A.I.'s 'eyes' narrowed. "You will have to defend me."
"Heh….tit for the everlasting tat…….ugh…..start the damn machine already…"
Stone flicked his wrist.
A series of beeps and blinking lights…
WHURRRR-CHTUNG!
The robot arms positioned themselves around Clayface….
SCHLUPPP!
…dug into his body…
ZZZZZZZTTT!
And sparked.
"YAAAA-AAAA-AAAAAUGH!" the muddy mass of a being took the brunt of the agony as the computer system electrocuted him back into shape.
"………………," Simon Stone watched silent. Emotionless. Ghostly……
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Dagger hissed.
Dagger shuddered.
Dagger struggled with a single, shaking hand to pop the rubber tip off a miniature syringe.
He repositioned the needle and aimed it at the inner elbow of his arm.
He took a deep breath.
Clenched his jaw.
And….
THKKKK!
Stabbed himself with the syringe.
"Nnnngh….," he barely exhaled.
He pumped the numbing serum into his bloodstream.
He took deep….heaving breaths.
His eyes rounded more.
The iciness ran over his face once again….
But as he bled.
And as he pulsed.
The sheen of sweat still remained on his face.
He gulped.
He hissed to the air: "Snkkt….so….S-Slade….you are inevitably becoming more and more powerful….hrggh…." He shuddered. His teeth clenched. "I-I might just have to take the fun away from you……………by taking the Titans……"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"HRESSSSHA!" Killer Croc shrieked and slammed Changeling into a street lamp.
CLAAA-AAAANGG!
"Nnnghh!" the green elf jolted, bruised and bleeding from claw marks and glass cuts.
Killer Croc stomped towards him. He flexed his upper limbs, sneered a hiss, and swung a fist at the emerald animorph's skull.
SWOOOOOSSSSH!
Changeling gripped his teeth and—SMASSSH!—ducked.
Croc's fist dented the street lamp and forced it to bend over.
Changeling spun to the side, slid to the ground, and kicked a foot out that contacted Croc's ankle.
THAP!
"Hressh!" Croc stumbled back.
Changeling pounced at him. "Nnnngh!"
GRIP!
Garfield's eyes bulged as Croc's gnarled fingers closed around his neck.
"Nnnnrgsssh!" Croc spun and tossed Changeling across the sidewalk and into the side of a van.
CLANKK!
Garfield landed upside down against the aluminum body, shuddering.
"Hresssh….heh heh heh….," Croc flexed his blood-stained neck and started marching towards the elf.
FL-FLASSH!
His heels were suddenly encased in a black energy shield.
"Hrggshh?" Killer Croc looked over.
Half-sprawled out on the sidewalk, Raven was weakly stretching her hand out with a glowing wrist. Her eyes flickered gray as she struggled to keep the mutated henchman at bay. "D-Don't….touch….h-him…."
"Raven!" Garfield weakly uprighted himself and panted. "D-Don't use up your energy!"
"Hressha…," Croc grinned mutatedly. He raised his foot. "You should listen to 'em…." SWOOOSH! He slammed his foot down. THWOMPP! A shockwave of sidewalk cracks rivered over and impacted with Raven's body, shoving her into a grunting roll across the sidewalk.
"Raven!" Changeling gasped and made to dive towards her—
WHAM! Croc slammed him back up against the side of the van. The Gothamite freak leaned forward with red-glistening jaws drooling in front of the struggling Changeling's nose.
"Hressssha…..I think just having one ear's gotten your balance all out of whack." His mucousy eyes narrowed. "What ssssay I bite off sssssomething you hardly ever use? Heh heh heh herssssha…."
Changeling frowned at him. He raised a foot, spliced a rooster spur out the rear, and slammed it straight into a side tire of the van.
THUNK!
POP! HISSSSS!
A shocking burst of air flew out against Croc's ankle.
"HRESSH!" he stumbled---
"AAAAAUGH!" Beast Boy slapped Croc's arms up off him and flew an uppercut across the mutant's chin.
THWACCCK!
Killer Croc stumbled backwards.
Changeling dove forward, morphed into a brahma bull, and rammed its horns into Croc's shirtless chest.
THWUMPP!
Croc absorbed the blow and slid back across the sidewalk from Changeling's charge. His heels dug into the ground and sent hot steam and friction-filtered pebbles bouncing hotly around. Croc hissed, gripped the horns of the emerald bull, let out a huge yell, and lifted the hulking Titan up into the air.
THWOOOOSSSH!
The bull's hooves flailed in the air and he snorted loudly.
"HRESSSSSSSH!"
Killer Croc repositioned his body and—with a growl—body slammed Beast Boy mercilessly into the concrete and asphalt.
CRAAAAACKKK!
Changeling shrunk into an elf and shuddered all over.
THWOMP! Croc pressed himself down against the animorph. He sneered, brought a razor sharp hand back, and flung the claws down into Changeling's face.
Changeling swiftly morphed into a ram beneath Croc and blocked the sharp swing with his horns. CL-CLANK! With a braying sound, he morphed into a tiger and slashed and bit up at Croc.
Blood flew as Croc barely dodged the serrated jabs. He hissed—"HRESSH!"—and rolled sideways with the emerald feline in tow. They struggled and fought and grappled for supremacy.
Raven watched with uncertainty from the sidelines. Wincing. Breathing thinly.
Still trying to heal…..
Thwump-Thwump-Thwump-Thwump!
Changeling and Killer Croc rolled to a stop in front of a building front. Killer Croc ended on top. He tried to bite down on Garfield's face.
Beast Boy's entire body morphed into a snake that slithered and twisted and twirled to avoid the nasty bites. He then solidified into a bear—growled—and threw Killer Croc down.
WHUMP!
Croc hissed, the breath leaving him.
Changeling roared and raised a paw full of green bear claws.
"Nghhhrssssh!" Croc lifted his legs and mightily kicked the bear off him.
Changeling spiraled in the air and slammed into the glass front of a store window.
SHATTTERR!
Raven gasped.
Killer Croc stumbled up to his feet, shook his joints loose, and marched towards Changeling. Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
"Nnnngh….," Garfield shook his head in elf form and teetered momentarily---
GRIP! SLAM! Croc's sharp fingers wrapped around the Changeling's throat and slammed him against the door of the establishment.
"Hresssh…you stupid…" SLAM! "….little…." WHAM! "….varmint….." THUD! CRAACK! The last slamming sent Changeling's cranium bursting in through the wooden doorframe of the shop. Changeling twitched while Croc painfully forced his neck and face back at an awkward angle into the shadows.
"Stop it!" Raven hissed….wincing. "Stop hurting him!"
"Or what, Missy?" Croc hissed and smirked over at her. "Dagger will be owning this City soon. And even if he ain't…." Mucous eyes thinned. "Somebody's gonna skin ya punks alive! If not me…then the lovely Parasite himself!"
"…….," Raven panted.
"Heh heh hresssh…..," Croc chuckled. A beat. Suddenly, is eyes bulged. A tearing noise. He jolted back. "AAAAAAAUGH!"
Raven's violet eyes glanced over.
SMASSSSH! Croc dragged Changeling out through the shattered framework of the door. The emerald elf had morphed into….a crocodile. And the reptile's vice-strong jaws were biting over the length of the hand, wrist, and forearm of the mutant Gothemite that was previously choking him. Rivers of deep red lacerations ran through Killer Croc's scales as he tried in painful vain to shake the Titan off.
"AAAAAUGH-HHHRESSSSSH!" Croc let out a blood-curdling cry of pain.
And Changeling hissed….biting on….hanging on….
Dripping red….
Red….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Jericho was panting.
He ran over towards the pile of flaming debris that was once a Daggerite Hummer where I was battling various gun-toting creeps.
He jumped up onto the pile and was swiftly doing his tiny best to rip and peel off burning metal chunks.
Three Wildebeests jumped up alongside him and contributed greatly to the job. Together they unraveled and unpeeled the huge clump of burning detritus…
But it wasn't working fast enough.
And Jericho seemed at a fever pitch. His little green eyes twitched in fear. He bit his lip as the layers and layers of debris turned up nothing….
Nothing…….
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
A hail of bullets splashed against the wall and sidewalk around them.
Jericho and the three Wildebeests glanced over.
Along the perimeter of the battle, a supply truck full of terrorists was zooming down the street. A handful of gunmen out of the dozen Daggerites fired random shots into the fighting, warring Wildebeest crowd.
The bullets struck.
Hot red liquid flew.
Groans and torturous grunts filled the air.
The nearby Wildebeests growled.
Jericho gulped.
He glanced up at the buildingside next to them. He looked at the pile of debris. He shook….quivered………..then made up his mind.
He spun around and hand-signed to a Wildebeest.
As bullets splashed around them, the one bovine warrior lifted Jericho onto his shoulders and hoisted him up mightily to the third story ledge of the building from the debris pile.
Th-Thrump! Jericho grabbed ahold. He scrambled for a firm grip. Teeth gritting…he pulled himself up to his feet and ran a few meters down the building side.
He came to a street corner and perched.
Staring down into the heated street of battle.
The supply truck zoomed up.
VRMMMMMMMM!
Jericho's limbs tensed.
He clenched his jaw….
VRMMMMMMMMMMM!
The truck spun and swerved in a sharp turn off Main Street.
Just below Jericho.
Jericho gritted his teeth. With a breathy exhale, he leapt off the buildingside.
As he plummeted towards the careening truck, he let loose a shrill whistling noise.
Fatefully, one of the men in the supply truck's rear—closest to the driving compartment—glanced up. Two eyes. Blinking….
Jericho fell towards him. And in mid-air, his green saucers strobed.
CONTACT.
FL-FLASSSH!
The one terrorist jolted momentarily…as if struck by something.
He stood numb for a second or two. The wind blowing at his hair.
The supply truck zoomed down a straightaway, and the man was still as a statue.
"More of those god damn cow-things!"
"Shoot their brains out, boys!"
"Heheh……like sniping livestock—"
SWOOOSH! SN-SNATCH! The possessed terrorist swiped an uzzi from one man's holster.
"What the—"
He then whipped out his pistol in another hand.
"Ricardo, what are yo—?"
THWOOSH! The man's arms went out to the side and—
BL-BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Potholes exploded in the shoulders and ribcages of the other truck occupants. SP-SPLORCH!
Red fountains flew.
Men screamed.
Men dropped hard to the truck bed.
The others further away in the vehicular huddle gasped and shouted:
"He's nuts!"
"He's lost it!"
"Ricardo!" one man placed a hand on the terrorist's shoulder. "Stand down no—!"
THWAP! The possessed thug's elbow flew into his face, kicked him back, and split his skull in two with both guns aimed at his forehead. BL-BLAM! RAT-A-TAT-TAT! BLAM!
The bleeding carcass stumbled back and knocked three men—screaming—off the back of the truck, where they would be jumped and thrashed upon by a herd of vengeful Wildebeests.
Three men were left on the truck besides Jericho's. Two in the back, one in the front.
"R-Ricardo…."
SWOOOSH! The man aimed both guns at those in the rear. He pulled the trigger. Click-Click-Click.
"……..," the men in the back flinched.
Then one of them gritted his teeth and pulled out a shotgun.
'Ricardo' dropped his weapons.
The man in the rear pumped his shotgun.
'Ricardo' charged at him. Sprinting at full speed across the short distance…
The man snarled and aimed the barrel of his weapon at Ricardo's chest.
Eyes glaring.
Eyes……
CONTACT.
BL-BLAM!
FLASSSH!
A huge gaping wound exploded in Ricardo's chest. He gasped and slumped into the gunman's arms.
A beat.
The gunman tossed him aside, pumped his shotgun, and aimed into the driving compartment.
BL-BLAM!
SHATTERR!
The window exploded and blood flew from the two driving the truck.
The vehicle veered wildly, tossing the living and dead men in the back apart.
"Jesus! What are you doing, Malcom!"
"Nnngh!" 'Malcom' grunted and smashed the butt of the shotgun into a crook's face. THWACK!
The man flew overboard.
The truck bounced.
The wheels squealed as the truck zoomed towards a buildingside.
"Nrghhhh!" the last terrorist jumped the possessed man.
'Malcom' stood perfectly still.
THWOMP! The man plowed him to the floor. But just as he did so—
FL-FLASSSH!
In a strobe of green, a petite blonde appeared behind the man and vaulted of his back with springing legs.
WH-WHAP!
"Uggh!"
Jericho flipped over the side of the truck, landed in a nimble crouch, and spun around….panting.
SCREEEEE-EEEEECCCH! The truck slammed into a clothing store at the base of a building and throttled into the cavity within.
CRASSSSH!
PHOOOOMBB!
A vomit of flames soared out, roasting the last of the Daggerite terrorists inside.
Jericho shuddered. He hugged himself and shook where he sat.
"……………."
A pair of footsteps.
Jericho gasped. He looked up……and he calmed a little.
"………..," I stared down at him. Gripping Myrkblade. I was bruised in a few places. Scratched in others. My hair was disheveled and splotched with singed shards from having barely survived the collapsing heap of debris. My black arm was scuffed in more places than I dared to count and explain to Batman.
I took a calm breath, knelt down, and placed a hand on Jericho's shoulder. I mouthed: 'Do not cry. It is war.'
And that seemed to silence the mute…..in a wave of serene exhaling….
I stood up. I sheathed Myrkblade—CHIIING!—and hand-signed: 'I need to check on my friends. I saw Raven and Beast Boy earlier.'
Jericho nodded.
I lowered my shades and pointed at my black eyes. 'Hop in.'
And he did.
CONTACT.
FLASH!
I took a deep breath, re-gripped my sword—CHIIIING!---and blurred over the nearest row of buildings back to Main Street….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Heavy caliber machine gun fire from the pursuing HINDs exploded all around the streets and sidewalks blurring behind the six motorcyclists.
Smith and Robin and the five officers burned southward out of the Northern District.
The two helicopters beated the air as they surged after the throttling sextet.
Randomly parked vehicles shattered and exploded from the cascading bulletfire on either side of them. BOOOM! P-POWW!
Asphalt flew up and rained down.
The cold December Rush was gradually being streaked with hot ferocity.
Smith took deep breaths. Throttling forward. Leading the charge.
Robin clung tightly to him from behind. All the while his cape flapped in the wind and the Boy Wonder kept looking back to see what the HINDs were doing.
And his eyemask thinned.
For the HINDs were easily within shooting distance of the two or three officers taking up the rear of the southward motorcycle rush.
But they weren't the ones being shot at….
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
A wave of bullets shattered the asphalt just ahead of the crowd.
Smith grunted. "Nnngh! They're overtaking us!"
"Smith!" Robin shouted. "Veer left!"
"B-But--!"
"Just do it!"
Smith gripped the motorcycle handles tightly and leaned left.
VRMMMMMM!
Robin looked back.
The HINDs also veered.
They fired:
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Bullets splashed all around Smith's and Robin's motorcycle exclusively.
Smith gasped as debris showered them.
Robin's teeth gritted. "It's me they want! They're going after us because I'm on your bike!"
"Or maybe they just really don't like Lieutenants!"
"We need to split up!"
"And you know what? I'm with you…," Smith turned his helmeted head and pointed at the other motorcyclists. He gestured for them to turn right.
They nodded.
"Let's move, men!" Chapman shouted and lead the offshoot.
VRMMMMMMMMMMM!
The five officers went southwesterly.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOSSSH! The two HINDs remained on Smith's and Robin's tale.
"Somebody has a crush on usssssss…."
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
P-P-PING!
Smith growled for good measure as he gunned it, zooming in and around rubble strewn across the streets. Veering around abandoned cars. Skirting sidewalks and roadside vendors.
And everything trailing behind them became subject to the shredding bullets of the HINDs. RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
"There!" Robin pointed at an alleyway.
Smith turned a sharp right and zoomed down it. VRMMMMMMM!
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSH! The two choppers thundered overhead.
The Lieutenant and the Titan Leader sped down the thin, echoing alleyway. Their ears filled with the sound of their engine and the warring ambiance from the Red City beyond.
The Lieutenant ramped over a pile of garbage, barely squeezed past a homeless person's shanty, and zoomed towards a two-story dead end.
"Hoo boy…."
Robin pointed. "No! Look!"
Smith did.
The first metal flight of a fire escape loomed before them.
"Ah jeez…..you sure?"
"Push it!"
"Ah jeez…..here goes…."
VRMMMMMM-MMMMM!
The bike lifted its front tire as Smith throttled towards the fire escape's bottom flight and—
CL-CLANK!
The motorcycle zoomed up the metal steps and—
CLACK!
--smashed through the rusted metal railing on the second story level.
VRMMMMMMMMM!
The bike roared over the dead end and landed on a two-story rooftop.
"Left! Go south! NOW!"
"NNNNGH!" Smith turned hard left before the two could fly off the building top. Their right legs flailed momentarily over the thin-air of the roof's edge…but soon they were angled southward and burning down the gravel-laden stretch of a strip mall's rooftop.
VRMMMMM!
FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSH! The HINDs found them.
"Look out!"
"I see them--!"
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The stream of heated lead splashed into the gravel rooftop on either side of the zooming duo.
T.V. antennae shattered and A/C units exploded from the ballistic punishment.
VRMMMM! Smith vaulted the bike from one building top to another.
VRMMM-MMMM! And another…
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
A wave of bullets soared ahead.
A radio antenna snapped and fell over across the path.
"Low bridge!" Smith shouted.
He and Robin ducked their heads as the metal debris cascaded over and behind them.
THWOOOOOSH-FWOMP!
Robin sat back up, whipped a birdarang out of his belt, and tossed it back at the first of the two HINDs. "Nnnngh!"
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH! The birdarang flew up and clattered inside a barrel of the mounted machine guns just as the first HIND was again firing. CLANK!
POW! The machine gun cannon exploded.
The HIND lurched, veering from side to side and recovering from the blow. It drew back as the other HIND took up the front.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Smith jolted as bullets splashed all around. His eyes were glued to the front of his helmet. "Did you just make 'em mad?"
Robin panted. "If I'm lucky, I complimented their mother's army boots too…"
"Hang on!"
"Crud, that means we're in for some airtime…doesn't it?"
VRMMMMMMM-MMMMM! The bike soared over the edge of the rooftop….flew into an empty street….and landed harshly before tearing down an alleyway.
SC-CREEEEECH!
"Lean forward!"
Robin and Smith did so.
The bike balanced.
It zoomed ahead.
VRMMMMMMMMMM!
FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSSH!
Smith sweated. "We aren't losing them!"
Robin tilted his body forward and gestured with one arm: "Head southwest! Two blocks from here!"
Smith gulped: "But Robin! That leads to the aqueduct!"
"Which should be dry this time of year! Trust me!"
Smith sighed and readied the bike for a sharp turn. "I simultaneously get a headache and a new lease on life whenever I do…."
VRMMMMMMMM!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOOSSH!
With Jericho hidden supernaturally inside of my eyes…
I blurred and dashed over buildings.
Streaked over rooftops.
Cascaded down into streets….
Zoomed through hand-to-hand battles of golems versus Wildebeests….
Ran up walls…
And dashed over more rooftops.
I leapt with huge pulses of black energy…
Soared over the raging scenes…
And plunged myself ever westward.
Panting.
Trailing smoke.
Raven……
Beast Boy………
Ana, please protect them.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"HRESSSHA!" Killer Croc torturously wailed and tried to shake the emerald crocodile's jaws off his arm.
Changeling's reptilian teeth only bit deeper….tearing at the scaly flesh.
Hissing the whole time.
Raven watched nervously.
Breathless and sapped of her strength where she lay on the sidewalk slabs…
"Nnnnghh-HRESSSH!" Killer croc finally rolled over, wrestled with the animorph across the concrete, and pressed himself down from above.
He strained….shook….
Clenched his mucousy eyes shut…
And jabbed his other fist down into the soft reptilian belly of the Beast Boy.
THWOMP!
Again.
THWOMPPP!
Again.
THWOMPPPP!
Finally, the changeling started to choke.
"HRESSHAA!" Killer Croc rolled over and kicked him off.
Changeling flipped and flailed through the air and came down as a velociraptor on a building ledge. Hissing….
Killer Croc stood up….wincing all over.
He grasped his dangling right arm….with strips of shredded skin hanging off gaping wounds.
Bleeding profusely.
The velociraptor let out a bird-like-shriek and pounced at Croc.
Croc's eyes flared a violent green slime. He snarled and shot his one good hand up, uppercutting fiercely the snout of the plunging dinosaur.
THWACCCK!
Changeling stumbled back across the sidewalk to the City Street.
Killer Croc let out a warcry and charged his body meatedly at the green elf.
Changeling stood up on wobbly legs--
WH-WHAM!
Croc's shoulder ran into him.
THWAP!
Followed by a massive knee to the abdomen.
"HRESSH-AA!" And a headbutt to the skull.
WHACK!
"Aaaugh!" Changeling hobbled back, gripping his head just to the side of his missing ear, caked in blood.
Killer Croc gritted his stained teeth…marched a few menacing steps….and brought a left hand down full of sharp fingers into Changeling's bare chest.
SL-SLINK!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAH!.!.!.!.!" Changeling howled. All five of Croc's claws were digging a quarter of an inch each into his sternum.
Raven gasped.
Croc lifted the twitching elf by his stabbing grip.
"Hressssh-heh-heh-heh-heh…….." Croc sneered. He drooled a mixture of saliva and blood as he licked his tongue right in front of the elf's twitching eyes. "Life is short….ain't it? How's about I rip you a pair of angel wings, boy?" SL-SLINK! WHAM! Croc drop-kicked Changeling into a glass storefront.
SHATTTTTERRR!
Changeling fell in a pool of glass shards. Coughing. Spitting up blood.
Raven struggled. She tried reaching a hand out and summoning a black forcefield to teleport Changeling away….
But the wound in her chest throbbed.
And her psychosupernatural system refused to stop repairing her own vital parts.
So that all that came out of her fingertips were tiny black bolts of nothingness.
And she watched in eye-twitching horror as Croc marched over….and started kicking the grounded Changeling senseless.
THWOMP!
WH-WHAM!
WHAP!
THWACK!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOOSSSSSH!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The HINDs bulletfire produced a heated meteor shower of friction in the red, urban air.
Starfire was darting left and right.
Teeth gritting.
Sweating….
Doing her panicked best to shake the murderous helicopter of Dagger's off her tail.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The speedily pursuing aircraft's gunfire swished past the Tamaranian and shattered into buildingsides, glass facings, ledges, rooftops.
Starfired darted around skyscraper corners, her red hair blowing like a crimson fountain.
The helicopter soared around the building edges with gargantuan grace, barely missing the glass windows and steel supports with its huge, beating blade-span.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOOSSSh!
At one point, Starfire took a gamble. She flew straight towards the reflective face of an untouched building. Before she could possibly plummet into the structure, she shot straight up with her chest and chin nearly scraping he surface.
THWOOOOO-OOOOOO-OOOOOSSSSSH!
She soared upwards….scaling past the reach of the HIND.
The pilots jerked at the controls.
The helicopter came to a hovering, air-beating stop and tilted upwards.
Two hellseekers locked into place….and fired.
PFT-PFTOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSH!
Starfire looked down behind her.
She gasped.
The rockets were tracing up the side of the building after her. Their rocket exhaust fogged and melted the joints in the windows.
Starfire grunted and flung two starbolts down. FL-FLASSH!
Five.
FLASH! FLASH-FLASSSSH!
The energy bolts smacked, pelted, and bounced off of the two explosive heads.
"Nrghhhh!" Starfire growled, flew backwards towards the rooftop, and glared down at the two rockets….firing green optic blasts. "Raaaaugh!"
ZAAAA-AAAAA-AAAAAAP!
The hot emerald streams made contact…..and exploded.
BOOOOOMMM!
A plume of fire splashed against the building, shattering glass. The nightmarish wave flickered and traced up after Starfire some….
She let loose an exhale….
FTOOOOOOOOSSSSSSH! One surviving rocket plunged up through the fire cloud and closed in on Starfire.
She gasped—
BOOOOOOMMMM!
The explosion slammed Starfire up against the glass—CRUNNNCCCCH!—and tossed her loosely back down the length of the building from which she ascended.
THWOOOOOO-oooooossssh!
Her eyes were weakly shut.
She let loose a groan…
Batted her optics open…
And tilted her head directly up----down…..earthward.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOOSSSSS!
She plunged directly towards the beating blades of the HIND.
"Aaah!" she gritted her teeth, summoned a burst of alien strength, and soared herself just barely out of reach of the slicing blades.
SL-SL-SL-SLASSSSSH!
"Nnnngh!" she plummeted towards the street…..struggled with her inner fire…..and pulled up at the last second---FWOOOOOOSSSSH!—barely avoiding a scrape with the street's asphalt.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSH! The Helicopter soared after her, firing a volley of micro-missiles.
PH-PH-PH-PH-PHWOOOOOOOOSSSH!
Starfire streaked down the center of the street.
The missiles splashed all around after her heels, smashing into random vehicles and street signs and building fronts.
P-POW! POWWW! P-P-P-POWWWW!
A flame wall shot after Starfire's body.
"Nrghhhhh!" she pulled up into the middle of the air.
The fire billowed amber in a fury to match the red sky as the HIND too throttled over it and fired after Starfire with blazing machine gun cannons.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The bullets ate at Starfire's air-streaking body and smashed rivets of holes into the street.
The alien girl panted, looked ahead, and spotted two vehicles parked on either side of her. She grunted and shot a starbolt simultaneously to her right side…and her left side.
FLASH!
FL-FLASSSH!
The starbolts hit their mark beneath the far side of the aluminum chasses.
Both vehicles shook from the grounded explosion and flipped sideways…each crisscrossing into the path of the HIND throttling after Starfire.
The pilots swiftly fired two missiles.
PFTOOOOOSSSSH!
PFTOOOOSSH!
The hellseekers slammed into the two vehicles in mid-air.
P-POWWW!
CRUNCHHHH-KOW!
The cars exploded.
The HIND burst through the mid-air cloud of fire.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOOOOSSSH!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The bullets streamed past Starfire.
She spun and aimed down past her body with hot starbolts. "Nnnnngh!" FL-FLASSH! "Raaaugh!" FLASSSH!
One of the starbolts merely bounced off the front cockpit bubble. The HIND veered to miss the other and fired straight at the girl's upper body.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Starfire let out a long yell and flung her hands in a flurry at her heels, deflecting maddeningly the steady stream of projectiles. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAUGH!" FLASH-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH!-FLASH!-FLASH!-FLASSSSSH!
The bulletfire suddenly cut off as the HIND launched a missile heatedly at her.
PFTOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSH!
Caught off guard, Starfire gasped and desperately flung her hands forward to clutch the missile.
CL-CLAMP!
"Nnnnngh!"
She struggled, pushing back against the flaring missile. It shoved her heatedly forward…propelling her already insanely-fast flight. She grunted…strained…struggled……..
Then tilted her head back….
And looked forward.
She gasped.
A building front.
SMASSSSSSSH!
Starfire plunged murderously into the side of the skyscraper, smashing through the glass and sailing inside with the missile in tow.
And then….
KA-POWWWWWWW!.!.!.!.!.!.!.! A plume of fire frothed hotly out from the gaping hole. A good section of the building glowed a hot amber fire from the inside out.
The HIND came to a hovering stop….encircling the site….
The graveyard of the Tamaranian flier…
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOOOOSSSSSSH!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
VRMMMMMMM!
Lieutenant Smith and Robin rode the motorcycle southward, veering westward with every opportunity that the alleyways and side streets gave.
The two HINDs raced after them, skirting low over the building tops. Firing endlessly.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
P-P-P-PING!
PING!
One bullet bounced off the chassis of the motorcycle, jolting the two motorists.
"Nnnngh!" Smith grunted, continuing to veer towards the right……down the dilapidated parts of Town. "I'm sorely tempted to skip the Meridian rights with these birds….."
"Just a little further, Lieutenant!"
"Where exactly is this Aqueduct of yours, Robin—YAAAAAH!"
SWOOOOOSSH! The bike plummeted. TH-THWOMPPP! It landed hard in the concrete ravine that was the central aqueduct of the City.
Robin grunted.
Smith shuddered…..blinking under his helmet. "Well then….huzzah."
"Keep it going, Knieval."
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Bullets splashed all around the concrete walls and 'tub' of the long urban canyon.
Smith gritted his teeth and steered left and right, strafing to avoid the pot shots.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSSH! The two helicopters glided over the cement river. Their beating blades shook and warbled off the sloping walls.
Smith throttled forward.
"Watch it!" Robin pointed.
The shell of a burnt out old car loomed in the direct path.
"I see it!"
Smith jerked the bike to the left. VRMMMMM! He skirted past the car, ramped up the side of the aqueduct's left incline, and landed back down. CL-CLANK! With a shower of sparks.
The first of the two HINDs ducked down and flew close to the heels of the cyclists. Its beating blades tilted forward and sliced at their rear.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOOOSSSSH!
Smith's heart was beating hard.
Robin's hair tossed in the wind. His cape dangled back towards the slicing blades.
VRMMMMM!
FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOSSSH!
"They're freakin' insane!" Smiths shouted.
"Exactly what I was hoping for…," Robin grunted.
"Huh?"
"Keep driving!" Robin pivoted around, produced a handful of smoking pellets, and tossed it back at the dipping HIND with a grunt. "Nnnngh! Hold your breath, creeps!"
SWOOOOOSH!
P-POW!
HISSSSSSSSssssssssssssssss!
A consuming fog exploded across the cockpit bubbles of the HIND.
The pilots inside craned their necks to see.
The helicopter started to veer and lift.
Firing blindly.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
But Smith and Robin were nowhere to be seen in the aqueduct.
And when the fog finally lifted…..
The pilots inside the HIND screamed….
A thin, double-barrel tunnel emerged through the clouds….encompassing the aqueduct.
And they flew straight into it.
SMASSSSH!.!.!.!.!.!
KABOOOOOM!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
The other HIND lifted above the sudden fireball and soared over the mushroom cloud of fire. FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSSSH!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
VRMMMMMMM!
Inside the tunnel, Smith and Robin narrowly escaped the fingers of fire surging down the thin space after them.
The flames died out….and only the echoing noise and vibrations of the other HIND filled the lair.
"……..," Robin took a deep breath and turned ahead. "Tunnel. Don't forget to honk, pal…."
"Heheheheh….," Smith managed a chuckle.
"………," Robin smirked.
Smith tilted his head up and slowed the bike some. "Sounds like its brother made it. No doubt it'll be waiting for us on the other side."
"Mmmmhmmm…."
"Any ideas?"
"………………….…………," Robin grinned. He looked over Smith's shoulder. "Tell me, Lieutenant."
"Yes?"
"……do you like your bike?"
"………….," Smith tilted his helmet sideways. "It….d-depends……"
"I have a plan."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
FW-FW-FWOOOOSSSH!
I glided up a buildingside, flipped, and landed in a squat on the rooftop.
I took a deep breath.
Sweating……
FWOOOOSH!
I blurred forward.
Hopping from rooftop to rooftop.
Streaking around a/c units and other structures.
The cold red night loomed overhead.
The hot battling streets rested underneath.
Apaches and HINDs circled.
Wildebeests and golems entangled.
And in the distance, the incessant thunder of Calvin's army advancing.
Shells exploding.
Building faces crumbling.
I came to a swift, skidding stop at the edge of my building.
Panting.
Gazing down….
I saw Killer Croc thrashing at Beast Boy.
Raven lying prostrate on the ground.
The look and the color and the scent of blood….
I bit my lip.
Th-Thwissh!
I twirled Myrkblade and prepared to leap off—
CRKKKKK!
Two golems leapt down from another rooftop and sailed their limbs at me.
TH-THRASSSH!
Nnngh!
I was batted back to the far side of the rooftop.
I panted, gripped Myrkblade, and stared heatedly at them.
CRKKK-KKKK!
CRKKK!
They billowed flame and charged.
"……..," I gazed with forlorn eyes through the advancing pair at the distant, battered figures of my friends.
Damn it all……
I faced the monsters….snarled mutely…and charged waves of murk into my blade.
Hold on tight, Joey.
CRKKKKKKKKKKK!
The two reached me.
I let loose a silent scream and exploded through them with a teleportation of sharp smoke.
Myrkblade hissing through the air.
SLAAAA-AAAAA-AAAAASSSSSH!
And the flames and the rock and the gravel—
PHOOOOOOOMMMMMBBB!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
North…
At the southern mouth of the aqueduct's tunnel…
FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOSSSSH!
The second HIND hovered.
Its rotary blades thrashed through the air.
The pilots inside stood in their seats and looked out through the cockpit bubbles.
Trying to spot the enemy.
While the payload aimed.
And the nose tilted forward.
Waiting…waiting…..
For the heroes to emerge.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSSH!
The red night flickered with amber in the distance.
Giants and golems and terrorists against wildebeests and armies and apaches.
…
Then…from the tunnel below—
P-POW!
A grappling hook launched out.
It flew up….up………..up…..
And connected with the motorized joints of the top rotary blades.
CL-CLANK!
The hook tangled with the spinning joints, and as a result the grappling hook cord was drawn into the helicopter's motor like yarn to a spool.
And it so happened that an engine-rumbling police motorcycle was attached to the other end of the unbreakable cord.
THWOOOOSSSSSH!
The pilots gasped as they saw the bike sail up towards them and spin around and around and around and around….
Drawing nearer and nearer to the center.
The base of the blades.
The HIND reeled.
The pilots inside panicked.
The bike drew in and grinded against the center motor of the blades.
CRNNCHHHHH!
POWWWWW!.!.!.!.!.!.!
The bike exploded…shattering the engine.
The blades separated and flew everywhere…slicing deep grooves into the aqueducts and buildings above the concrete canyon.
SL-SL-SLINNNK!
SLINK!
The blade-less chopper fell madly to the aqueduct tub below.
FWOOOOOSH!
And exploded.
KABOOOOM!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
Ashes settled.
Smoke and flame billowed.
A softer and softer crackling….
…
Robin and Lieutenant Smith walked out of the tunnel.
Smith held his helmet down by his side.
He took a deep breath. "I suppose that answers the age-old debate of what are more dangerous….motorcycles or helicopters….
"It gets the heat off our back, that's what it does," Robin said. He motioned: "Come on….we gotta get moving!" He ran to the side.
Smith smirked, dropped his helmet, and dashed after him: "You never stop for a breath, do you?"
"Would Decker?" Robin glanced back, climbing up the aqueduct.
Smith climbed after him. "Are you kidding? The man smoked too much!"
"Heh heh heh….," Robin reached the top of the aqueduct. He stood alone for a moment.
Gazing southward….
Towards the lengths of the City…
The fires rising.
The madness.
The battle that he didn't know whether or not they were winning.
The Boy Wonder took a heavy breath, and Tim's voice came out:
"Star……where are you…..?"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOSSSSH!
In the central portion of the City, the HIND hovered.
Twirling around the burning skyscraper where the Tamaranian had last existed.
The helicopter's blades reflected off the windows.
Glinting.
Interrupted momentarily by the amber flicker of flame in the distance.
Beating…..Beating…..Beating….
The HIND rotated and prepared to zoom away—
CRASSSSSSH!
An emerald bolt sailed out of the burning building on another lever.
The HIND jolted, made to turn--
Starfire spun around, gasped for air, frowned, and zoomed straight into the front nose of the aircraft.
P-PLANT!
The cockpits gasped.
Starfire clenched the metal body of the chopper and shoved….shoved……shoved forward with all her flying might. "Nnnnn-NNnnnghhH!"
FW-FW-FW-FWOOOO-OOOSSSH! The helicopter's blades beat in a desperate attempt to shove the craft forward against the shoving Tamaranian…to no avail.
The alien girl pushed the helicopter back…back……back towards a skycraper's face.
She suddenly tensed her whole body.
Glowed a hot green.
And screamed: "HAAAAAAAAGHHH!"
SWOOOOOOOOSH!
Starfire rocketed straight forward.
CRUNNNNNCHHHHHH!
Her alien body plowed through the two cockpits—
SCRKKKKKKKKKKT!
--shattered through the length of the HIND's body—
CRAAAAAAKKKK!
--simultaneously shoved the tail of the helicopter into the glass windows of the building, shattering everything—
SNKKKKKKTTTT-TTTT!
--and bore her way through the rear of the crumpled helicopter just as it collapsed several meters into the high stories of the building and burst into flames.
FWOOOOOOOMMMMMBBB!.!.!.!.!.!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
On the other side of the building, Starfire burst through with a splash of glass shards and helicopter flames.
SHATTTTTTERRRRR!
She ended her warcry with a severe grunt and sailed outward like a burning green comet.
Bits and pieces of the building-skewering helicopter junk littered the street far below.
In the meantime, the Tamaranian girl plunged down…down…down….and landed limply on a building top.
Panting for breath.
Her limbs shuddering…..
……
………
And from a high perch above….
Looming over the flames and noise….
He watched with a single, strobing gaze.
"Hckkkkk-snkkkkt-clik-clik-clik-clik-clikkkkttttt………."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"HREESSSSHAAAA!"
TH-THWACCCK!
Changelng curled up in a fetal position.
Coughing.
Sputtering.
"Hresssh…..," Killer Croc marched over him. He gripped the elf by the neck and lifted him up. "You know….you and I have thingssss in common…."
"Nnngh….," Changeling spat and shuddered. His eyes were painfully shut. "I'm s-so sick….of p-people saying that to me…."
"But's true…..," Killer Croc leaned forward….his stained-red teeth gleaming before Beast Boy's wincing face. "…..we're both the legendary losersss of our field. I suppose tonight we've proven the world wrong…….N-No wait….I'm sssssorry…..I….PROVED THEM WRONG! HRESSSSHA!"
He tossed Beast Boy back so that he slammed into the wall of the building fronts.
TH-THWAP!
"Nnnnngh….," Changeling winced all over. Bleeding. Bruised….
Killer Croc was going to advance….but he felt tendrils of black energy snaking towards his legs…trying their feeble best to become sharp 'talons'.
"Hrmmmssh?" He turned and glared. He sneered….crocodile 'grinning'. "Ohhh…how ssssuculent…."
Raven was stretched out on the sidewalk. Again with her hand reaching forward. Again…..trying to restrain Croc with her telekinesis.
Her teeth grit in pain. Her gray-glowing eyes teared….
As he stomped over and stood above her.
"So you're Hagan's job…..how patheticcc…."
SWOOOOSH-GRIP!
Raven choked.
Killer Croc lifted her up by the neck. "Being woodssssheded by some fruittty actor….that hassss got to be embarrassing…..hresssh-heheheheh…."
Raven twitched and squirmed in his grasp. "I….w-was blind……," she murmured.
"Heheh….that you were…..almost….," Croc sneered.
Behind the reptilian mutant, Changeling stirred. He gazed with weak, green eyes at Raven's predicament. He took a breath…clenched his jaw……..And his skin hardened all around, splicing…..
"Hresssha…..," Croc raised two claws and aimed them at Raven's eyes. "……but I can really…..really make sure you go blind….."
Raven winced….biting her lip.
Croc smiled. He shot his two clawed fingers forward—
SLIIIIIINKKKKKKTTTT!
Raven jolted……………...and blinked.
Eyes open……..she looked down.
Killer Croc was gasping for breath. A green rhino's horn was sticking two feet out through his chest from behind. Dripping with blood.
The mutant gazed down.
His jaw gaped open.
"Wha--…Hrmm—Hresshasnkkkt—DAAUGHHHKKTK!"
TH-THWOMP! He dropped Raven.
The dark girl deflated to the floor, shivering.
Croc gripped the horn piercing through his body and tilted his head to the red sky.
Howling.
"HRAAAWWWWLLSHSHHHHH!"
Changeling grunted, grinding his hooves deeper into the concrete.
A beat….
SP-SPLORRRRCHHH!
The rhino drew back, slicing the horn out from Croc's gut.
Blood soared out like a red fountain.
Croc wobbled on his legs, slumping down. mucousy eyes twitched.
He gazed up past Raven. Sharp teeth clenched. Red liquid drooling out through the fangs.
The rhino snorted….backed up….and charged again.
Croc's jaw flew open wide.
He spun and slashed a hand full of claws at the rhino.
SL-SLINKKKK!
The claws sliced against the horn.
The rhino grunted and rolled to the side in elf form, panting.
"Hressh—HRESSSHASKKKKTKTT!" Croc gurgled. Stumbling on his feet. Bleeding. Dying. He looked with anger and disbelief down at the animorph and flailed his meaty arms to give him a death blow with his last breath. "God….D-Damn….VARMINT! Snkkkt-HRSSSH! Sideshow…blllpp…FREAKSHH….DIE…TOGETHERSSSHA!"
Changeling flinched.
Croc charged bloodily towards him. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAA---"
FWOOOOOSH!--THWACCCCCKKKKK!.!.!.!.!
Croc's body stopped….and where his feet were going to be….his head instead fell and rolled to a stop. The jaw still gaping….
Raven and Changeling looked up.
"……………," I stood frozen-still. Myrkblade in my grasp….locked at the end of a diving down-slash. Blood and smoke trailed from the wooden blade for a few seconds of silence.
…….
Sch-Schlumppp! Croc's carcass fell down and collapsed beside his head.
Dead.
I shuddered. Dropping Myrkblade so that it hung by my side. With a long, gentle exhale I gazed at the two Titans.
Changeling shuddered. He gazed at me. And whatever joy or hope he may have had at seeing me again melted away as the Beast Boy leaked through his eyes and he covered his face with a pair of quivering hands.
Raven was gazing at me. Silent. So sad looking….
And guilt-ridden?
At the sound of Changeling's sobs, she looked over….summoned some strength…and slid over till she sat against him. They leaned against each other. Changeling sobbing. Raven silent…calm…….absorbing his shakes and quivers.
There seemed to be a hidden peace about the place. Like the ailing sorceress had absorbed the empathic waves of pain from us. But it was still so bitterly sour. I hadn't even noticed that Jericho had exited my body until a few flashing seconds into it.
I glanced aside.
Jericho stood with his hands cupped together. A sad look on his face.
How many people in this world are empathic, Ana?
CHIIIING!
I sheathed Myrkblade, walked over, knelt…..
And engulfed my two family members in a gentle hug.
Changeling's, Raven's, and my head rested together. The battle raged on in the background. But we…..we had to surrender to death. If but for a second.
For we were somehow together again, and deserved no less.
Little Jericho watched on.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Streets away…
Two giant golems were marching.
Their ten-ton feet smashed craters into the asphalt.
Their swinging limbs burned through rooftops and dug deep ravines through building faces.
Steel and glass and concrete burned….sizzled.
And Wildebeests were running.
Wildebeests were scampering.
Wildebeests were stampeding for their lives.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Two army jeeps swerved madly around a corner.
The soldiers shouted as the driver gunned the vehicle as quickly as he could down a straightaway.
A wildebeest or two also scampered in random directions as a dozen burning golems marched around the corner.
The first of the burning crowd flailed its limbs and tossed burning spray of lava.
The others in line followed suit.
CRKKKKKK!
The flaming debris caught up with the jeeps.
The first one was pelted so that its aluminum body melted. One soldier gripped his burning shoulder and screamed.
The second jeep wasn't so lucky. The burning projectiles popped its tires…..singed its engine….and soared into its fuel tank—
POWWWWW!
The jeep exploded.
The soldiers burst in flame.
The infernal vehicle spun to the side, barrel-rolled, and collapsed hotly into a building front.
The golems marched on….their burning feet stomping over the corpses of dead soldiers.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
In a separate section of Main Street, a thick line of Wildebeests were desperately running away from a giant golem and four hummers full of Dagger's gunmen.
CRKKKKK-KKKKKK!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The machine gun fire sailed hotly into the backs of many a Wildebeest.
They grunted and in pools of boiling blood.
The golem giant marched over the fallen bodies.
The hummers pursued loudly, firing and grounding more and more helpless bovine warriors.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Jeeps swarmed down the central highway of the City.
Army soldiers in it fired desperately at pursuing hummers.
Golems launched themselves from guardrails on the side.
Two jeeps were entangled with golems, which forced them to slam into the sides and collapse in burning demise.
Suddenly, the hummers cut off their pursuit.
The soldiers in the jeeps nervously gazed upwards.
They gasped.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSH!
Four HINDs soared northward.
In perfect coordination, they unlocked their payloads and fired a hellseeker each.
PFTOOOOOOSSSH!
PFTOOOOOOOOOOSSSSH!
PFTOOOOOSSSSH!
PFTOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHH!
A line of fire and obliteration slammed through the highway.
The concrete divided.
A wave of fire and madness ripped up and exploded the jeeps in succession.
Aluminum chassis shattered and soared skyward.
Flailing soldiers' bodies spread in the night…falling to a screaming death off the sides of the highway and towards the city streets gaping below.
FWOOOOOOSSSSSH!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Robin and Smith ran into an open street to the north of the downtown district.
The two came to a stop at the crest of a hill.
They froze.
Panting for breath.
Gazing southward at the mess that was their City.
Lieutenant Smith was anxious to move.
But at the sudden stillness of Robin, he lingered.
He gazed forlornly at the Boy Wonder……..took a deep breath……gulped…..and uttered: "Wh-What do you see, Robin?"
"…………..," the Titan Leader sauntered forward. Gazing at the site.
"……………Robin?"
"Dagger is winning……..," the Boy Wonder breathed.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
P-POW!
POW!
POWW!
The tanks fired shells into the streets of the City.
Bodies of golems and burning giants flew in glowing gold shards.
Sprays of enemies' parts flew through the air.
Standing tall in a jeep meant for sitting…..General Calvin squinted at the red-night-laden battlefield. He held binoculars down in front of him and watched as the incessant tank shelling shattered more and more waves of Dagger's inhuman forces.
But then…
"S-Sir!" a soldier pointed. "Look!"
Calvin raised the goggles to his eyes.
He gazed with magnified vision and saw—fleeing south—thick troops of Wildebeests and battered U.S. jeeps. Even a few apaches were swarming in over the city tops.
"They're retreating, sir!"
Calvin gritted his teeth. He gazed aside a radio man. "Tell them to cease fire!"
"Cease fire! Cease fire! Comply immediately!"
The tanks gradually stopped firing…one by one…
The explosions cleared so that the Wildebeests and army personnel could rush southwestward.
But the hot army of golems and giants were hot on their with jeeps and hummers belonging to Dagger's terrorist invasion…..and a group of air-beating HINDs.
"The inner forces….," a nearby officer murmured. "They must be completely overrun. Dagger's forces are on the rebound!"
"It's because of those damn giants!" another shouted. "Those and the helicopters! We need more support! This will become something on the national scale before you know it!"
"We need some added boost! Something to push us over the edge!"
"If only all the Titans were together!"
Calvin took a deep breath. The cold air kicked gently at his gray wisps of hair from underneath the rim of his helmet. "Boys…..I refuse to believe………that this is the night's end for us……."
And they all gazed at him.
Something frozen between a smile and a sneer…….He pointed. "Look to the East….."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Scrkkkkktt!
A one-armed Metallo dragged himself over rubble-strewn roads at the Shipyards.
He hissed electronically….
Shooting sparks.
His mangled body approached the safe harbor of the City docks.
The shipyards were Dagger's territory. The last of the Army jeeps were being chased away. HINDs regrouped overhead while jeeps full of terrorists zoomed down flanks of burning golems as a new march trudged westward to clean the City of the straggling defense forces. In the distance, hulking…burning giants of gold governed the battlefield….sending the last of Wildebeest warrior clusters fleeing.
"Nnnngh…." Metallo climbed his one hand up a wooden bench besides the waters and slumped halfway up it, chest first.
He twitched and sparked all over.
Metal teeth gritting.
"………………………………….."
Corbin suddenly became aware of a dark, jumpsuited foot standing on the top of the bench's back.
"………………," the skeletal android glanced up. White robot eyes flickering.
"……………..," Tempest glared down at him. Hands on his hips. White on black eyes thin as his onyx, Atlantean locks billowed in the wind. "Trying to de-evolve, Metallo? You're going to need to grow gills first."
"Hrmmmm….well if it isn't guppy-boy…..," Metallo 'smirked'.
Zzzzt! Zzzt! A spark or two shot out of his neck joints as the robot stood up and teetered to a stand-still on his mangled legs. He hissed…
"Did you come here to see this blasted City fall into the Sea?" Metallo uttered. "You would love that….wouldn't you?"
Tempest shrugged against the red night. "Eh…..I've changed my mood."
"Have you now?" Metallo aimed his one hand at Tempest and formed a quivering….barely working laser rifle. CRKK-WHURR-CLANK! Nonetheless dangerous. "Face it, shrimp…..you don't stand a single chance against me…."
"……………..," Tempest smirked. He crossed his arms. "You know what?……..You're absolutely right."
Right then and there, Tempest backflipped.
Th-Thwissh!
And as the Atlantean twirled backwards into the Sea……Superman came soaring landward directly beneath him with both steel-strong fists slamming into Metallo's chest.
WHANGGG!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
"AAAAAAUGH!" Metallo flew back, exploded through two shipping warehouses, and crumpled in a dead heap in the middle of a street beyond.
Superman hovered in the air. His fists clenched. His red cape and greased hair fluttering in the cold breeze. "The war's just started, buckethead…."
Tempest leapt out of the waters and stood besides the Kryptonian. He smoothed his wet hair back and smirked. "Neptune Damn……couldn't have said it better."
Superman gazed over his shoulder. He raised his hand. "All right, League!" He gazed forward….glaring. "Let's go…."
As Superman soared into the heat of the City, streaking figures came burning in a southwesterly direction over the waters and onto the shipyards.
The Flash skimmed over the water in a red streak. Waves splashed up on either side of him as he grinned and leapt onto the Main Land to do battle.
Steel soared via boot rockets, wielding his giant sledgehammer. The red night's aura glinted off his smooth, stone-hard helmet.
Martian Manhunter splashed out of the ocean in the form of a green alien fish….shape-shifted in mid-air….and soared emotionlessly towards the heart of the City in a translucent green glow.
Green Lantern burned hotly over the waters. His injured right arm was stuck firm in a green-colored splint. The ring was fitted around his left handed finger as he prepared a burning force field of emerald to boost his angry charge.
Finally, Wonder Woman soared in. Her black hair waved in the wind and her dangling lasso flailed. Her arms hung down, carrying a glinting titanium body.
Cyborg hung in the warrior princess' grasp. His missing arm and damaged legs had been plated over and replaced with sturdy stretches of Metropolitan steel.
Cyborg grinned a wicked crescent moon and readied his sonic cannon in mid-flight. Cl-Cl-Clakk! "Boo-Ya! The Calvary has arrived!"
SWOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSH!.!.!.!.!.!
Tempest smirked. He turned…gazed westward…and ran in a full sprint, gathering thick globs of seawater along either side of him with a violet pulsing of his eyes.
Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter soared overhead.
The Flash streaked over land and accompanied a raging Superman, who was already plowing through row upon row of golden golems.
And in the meantime…
A crumpled and dazed Metallo lingered in a rubble-strewn street.
"Nnnnngh…mmmf…."
As soon as he tried to stand up….
SWOOOOSSSH!
P-PLANT!
Steel landed above him.
"Hrm?" Corbin glanced up.
GRIP!
Steel held Metallo by the neck with one hand and raised the sledge-hammer in the other. "So, punk….," he smirked. "About that rematch….."
"………eh heh…..," Metallo would have sweatdropped if he had pores. He did gulp though. "Aw bloody Hell."
SLAM!
SL-SLAM!
CRUNNNCHHH!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Starfire sat still on the rooftop.
Panting.
The singed pieces of burning building structures and HIND shrapnel littered around her.
She was still catching her breath around the time a loud beating sound filled the air.
She glanced up.
Squinting.
Shading her eyes….
Three vehicular shadows hovered in the air.
The glare of a searchlight flickered dead.
Three U.S. apaches formed in her vision.
A megaphone sounded out: "Starfire of the Titans! We've found you! Word is out that the Justice League has arrived! We might have these terrorists defeated yet!"
"…………," Starfire smiled with an exhale. She stood up….wobbling momentarily. "G-Glorious….," she murmured in a voice that only she could hear.
"Are you still able to fight?"
She hovered up. "Affirmative." She gestured towards the pilots in the three allied helicopters. "Though superheroes may be present to kick the proverbial donkey of Dagger's forces, they will need a coordinated assistance from all. Let us travail upon a clean sweep of the City!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
She soared upwards and darted between buildingsides. Shouting and gesturing. "Follow me! I shall guide us!"
The pilots squabbled to each other.
The apaches tilted forward and soared after her in perfect coordination.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSH!
FW-FW-FW-FWOOSH!
FW-FW-FW-FWOOSH!
And then….
Silence among the buildingtops.
………
………
………
………
"……………Hckkkk-Clik-Clik-Clik-SNkkkkkktt………."
………
"HCKKK!"
FWOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOSSSSSH!