257. Break the Circle part 17

"Nnnngh!" Superman's fist flew through four entire golems and sent their golden parts scattering across storefronts.

SMASSSH!

The Man of Steel hovered up above a fresh batch of rock monsters and suddenly jerked. He tilted his ear…then his whole head northward. A pair of Kryptonian eyes squinted at the distant mushroom cloud of an exploding stone giant.

FL-FLASSSH! POW! Green Lantern twirled over to Superman's hovering side, smashing golems apart with a wave of his ring hand. He panted…sweated…and uttered aside to Superman without looking. "Is there another party we're not apart of?"

"I don't know….," Superman murmured. "Although Titan's Tower is destroyed, there's no reason to assume all the Titans besides Cyborg and Tempest are dead."

"Otherwise, Slade would be having his way by now?"

"I'm a bit more concerned about Dagger at the moment."

"You and me, Blueboy. Let's finish sweeping Main Street."

"Right behind you!"

FWOOOSH!

"Heh…if you say so."

FW-FWOOOOSH!

Superman and Green Lantern streaked down the center of the City.

Golems battling Wildebeests and terrorist jeeps loomed ahead.

Superman's eyes glowed.

Green Lantern's ring strobed.

They soared over the heads of the battle, taking pot-shots with Kryptonian eye beams and emerald sniping.

FLASH! FL-FLASSSH!

ZAP! Z-Z-ZAP!

Golems exploded.

Rock monsters flew apart.

And with the freakish army dwindling, the Wildebeests overpowered their foe and began pummeling the leftover ranks to bits and pieces. The bovine warriors waved their upper limbs and grunted and growled in victorious passion.

FWOOOOOOOOOSSSSH!

The two League members took a sharp right and a sharp left….splitting up and taking on a monster each in the heart of downtown.

In mid-flight, Green Lantern palmed his hand over his head and spoke into a communicator: "Diana! How's your half of the City holding up?"

"Snkkkt! Hard to say. If you want a rough estimate of the number of abomination I've smashed, you can just as well drag out a notepad."

"Cute…," Green Lantern frowned. "But not very specific."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Wonder Woman glided through a street in the Eastern District.

"J'onn and the Titans Cyborg and Tempest are securing the midway point for Calvin's forces as we do battle! 'Bayside Plaza'—I think they called it—should be secure sooner than naught."

"Any sign of the other five Titans? Bruce said that Robin is indeed—"

"--Alive, I know," Wonder Woman smiled. "But now's not the time for celebration….."

"Are you in need of assistance, Wonder Woman?"

"Nah….the usual…," the Princess' fiery glare returned. "I've got my hands tied…."

TH-THWPPPP!

Wonder Woman's lasso flew down, snatched a golem's leg out from underneath as the Princess flew by, and hoisted the flailing beast up in a golden blur.

"Nnnnnnnnghhhhh….!" Wonder Woman growled, ducked low, swept over a thick crowd of golems, and dragged the helpless rock-creature at the end of her lasso straight through the soup of evil. SCRKKKKKK-CRKKKKKKK-CRKKKKKKK!

Golems were knocked side to side in a parting wave down the street.

Rocky bodies smashed into building fronts…

Lampposts….

And shopfronts.

All shattering…..crumbling….

CRKKKKKK!

Wonder Woman flew up, dragged what was left of the battered golem with her, and then proceeded to spin around and sling the creature off into the distant crown of a giant that Superman was battling several blocks away.

"YAAAAUGH!"

SWISSSSSSSSSSSH-SLAM!

Superman paused in battling the creature to give Wonder Woman a long distance thumb's up.

She smiled and saluted.

A beat.

She gazed further eastward.

Her eyes caught a bright blue streak of energy surging along the northern shore of the Bay…

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

ZAAAA-AAAAAAP!

Cyborg fired his sonic cannon up at snipers lining the rooftop ledges of the Bayside Plaza.

Terrorists flew back and landed hard against the buildingtop.

Cyborg then ran halfway into the plaza, skidded to a stop, and loaded both arms into sonic cannons just in time to meet a charge of a dozen golems.

ZAAAAAAAAP!

ZAAA-AAAAAAAP!

"RAAAAAAAAAAUGH!" Cyborg howled, pushing the golden monsters back.

They stumbled backwards and scrunched in a thick cluster in the center of the plaza before the theatre and restaurants….

ZAAAAAAAP!

"Nnnngh!" Cyborg sweated as the last of his energy charge vibrated out of his canons and plummeted into the struggling line of monstrosities. He turned and shouted desperately over his titanium shoulder. "N-Now would be a good time, Flipper!"

"Comin' right up, you impatient clunker!"

"NNNNNGHH-Nnnnghhh!" Cyborg all but collapsed on his knees.

The sonic blasts started to fade.

The golems strengthened and prepared to march on the hapless android—

SPLOOOOOSSSH! Tempest ran over…visibly straining. His eyes down to his torso down to his legs strobed a hot violet as he positioned himself—struggling—on the southern edge of the plaza with an obscenely large blob of seawater suspended telekinetically over his head. Wielding five tons of water, he howled at the top of his dry Atlantean lungs and tossed the liquid mess at the thick group of golems. "YAAAAAUGH!"

CRKKKKKKK!

SPLASSSSSH!.!.!.!.!.!

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSssssssss…………

A burst of steam billowed hotly from the center of the courtyard in blinding white.

Tempest's dark eyes went thin. He slumped to his knees and panted as the hot mist sailed boilingly towards him—

SWOOOSH! Cyborg stomped by, snatched Tempest up protectively in a hooking arm of metal, and tore off with him.

"Nnnnngh….," Tempest muttered.

"Congrats, dawg….," Cyborg winked and smirked. "You really let one for the team."

"Oh, go to Hades."

"Hah hah HAH!"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

On the rooftops of Bayside Plaza, the snipers put on masks and glared through the white mist.

Their laser targetings pierced through the thick grayness.

They found the fleeting bodies of Cyborg and Tempest.

"Targets found…," they breathed into their mask. "Taking them out, Dagger—"

FL-FLASH! A block of mist suddenly shaped into two glazed eyes and a green frame.

One of the snipers gasped.

GRIP! Martian Manhunter grabbed the man's rifle by the barrel and shoved into his chest.

WHUMP!

The sniper bent over, wheezing—

WHAM! J'onn's fist flew across his chin.

The two remaining snipers gasped and fired at the alien League member.

PFFIFT!

PFFIFFT!

Martian Manhunter stood still.

The bullets streamed through his green haze of a body.

The snipers did a double take….and then were slammed into each other as Catwoman dove down from nowhere and lashed body into body with her whip.

WHPP! WH-WHPPP!

The snipers fell down, groaning.

Catwoman stood up with a hand on her hip. "Hrmmmmm…..," she smiled at her handiwork.

"Selina Kyle….," Martian Manhunter droned through the mist. "I was not aware Batman had chosen you to assist in the takeover of Bayside Plaza."

She shrugged. "Hey, I enlisted myself, hunk." A beat. She hid a giggle. "Well….aren't you the most handsome thing since sliced bread?"

"…………………………………"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSH!

The Flash ran red-orange streaks around a line of Dagger's men, slapping guns and grenades out of their grasps.

"Whoops!" He smirked. He blurred. He slapped. "Whoops!" "Whoops!" "Whoops!"

He ended at a burly thug whom he jump-kicked, rapidly punched, and flew—growling—into a cluster of ragdoll terrorist bodies. TH-THRUMPPP!

"Nnnngh….," the thugs groaned in a heap on the ground.

"Heh….," the Flash stood in the middle of Main Street with his hands on his hips. "That ought to prove how useless your parents' honeymoon must have been…."

He was suddenly blind to a hiding gunman sneaking out from around a corner and aiming a pistol square at the back of his masked head—

TWNNNG!

THWISSSSSSSSH!

CLACK!

The pistol was knocked out of the gunman's grasp. "Aaaugh!"

Flash gasped. He spun around.

A capped figure in green and black leapt down from a building ledge and slapped a large cedar bow across the gun-less thug's scalp.

WH-WHAM!

Flash did a double-take. "Green Arrow?"

The masked vigilante stood up straight, the wind blowing coldly at his short blonde hair and beard. "You're as sharp as you are ignorant, Flash."

Flash made a face. "What in the Uncle Sam Hell are you doing here in Titan-City-Gone-To-Shitville?"

"Hey…hero's business is my business," Green Arrow pointed. He nonchalantly pulled a green arrow out of his quiver, twirled it, and fired past Flash's neck. TWNNG! THWISSSSSH!

Flash turned to watch.

The arrow sailed through the air, popped a 'boxing glove' open in place of the arrowhead, and slammed into two gunmen in a line…slamming them up against an overturned jeep. CLANGGG!

"Plus….I've watched over this City before," Green Arrow added with a shrug. "I sorta owe it to the people, you get me?"

"No….," Flash frowned and folded his arms. "I don't think I do."

"Well…if it's of any consolation," Green Arrow 'saluted' the sky as he said: "I no longer hunt outside of packs."

"Huh?"

"What I mean is…birds of a feather flock together," the emerald archer winked under his eyemask.

TH-THWPP! Black Canary leapt down out of nowhere. She grinned and dove towards the Flash. "HAAAA!"

"DAAAA-AAAAH!" Flash shrieked and cowered like a little school girl.

THWOOOOOSSSSH! The voluptuous vixen plunged over the Flash, cartwheeled, and slammed two of her legs into the waiting chests of recovering thugs. She then proceeded to leap back up, twirl about, and slam her limbs with near-perfect athleticism into the various thugs and cretins scampering around her. "Raaaugh!" "Haaaah!" "Nnnngh!" Thwap! Wham! Whack!

Flash stood up straight….relaxing…

Green Arrow pulled out two spare arrows and gestured at the vixen with his bow. "Believe me. I asked her stay at home. A pretty face like hers shouldn't have to be smashed in by some ugly-ass rock monster…..but there's no talking the firestarter out of anything. I swear…."

Flash gave him a look. "'Stay at home'?"

"Damn it, G.A.! Get over here!"

"Yeah yeah…," Green Arrow shook his head with a sigh and rushed over towards her. He smirked one last time at Flash. "Impossible to keep up with her. Sorry she scared you with her entrance and all."

"Oh….um…..no problem," Flash simpered. "I think I need a new uniform…………….in a good way."

"Are you boys done squabbling? There's terrorist ass to kick over here!"

"Yes, Dina—"

"For the LAST TIME! RRRGHHHAAAH!" TH-THWACK! "Call me Black Canary in the field!" TH-THRUMP!

"Sorry, honey." TWNGG!

"Don't call me that either!" SM-SMACK!

"My bad. Watch your six, 'bee vomit'."

"Grrrr….impossible, I swear—oh wait….terrorist." WH-WHUMP!

"Uhm….I-I think I'm gonna….," Flash pointed eastward and simpered, "….—go fight on that side of the City. Eh heh heh heh…..Thanks…..C-Cya…." FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOSSSH!

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

VRMMMMMM!

A wave of Daggerite hummers fled northward, away from the Western District and the—

POW!

P-POW!

POW!

--line of tanks in General Calvin's arsenal.

The shells fired towards the streets just outside the City, driving terrorists deeper into the nestling spots of the Downtown region….where things were turbulent enough as they could have been with Superman and Green Lantern dishing out the punishment to giant golems and HINDs alike.

The general smiled.

He rested his binoculars at his side and sighed. "Dagger wanted a crunch time. And something tells me that that's just what he's now getting."

"Sir! Reports are in! Our second deployment of marines are landing on the northern shore of the Bay. Bayside Plaza is being reclaimed."

"My case in point," Calvin adjusted his uniform. "Effective immediately…set up a base of operations there. Supplies. Reconnaissance relay. Mobile hospital. I don't want the line to falter back any further to the Atlantic."

"Right away, sir!"

The soldier rushed off….another radio man walked up.

"Sir….," he uttered with a more somber face than the messengers previous. "We just got reports that Phaser Labs has been taken by the enemy."

Calvin's eyes widened. "What? Phaser Labs? Taken? But that's at least two miles west of our front!"

"A recon squad was attacked by the automated defense mechanisms of the laboratory building, but not until after—reportedly—a mud colored changeling overturned their jeep and rushed in through the doors."

"A mud colored what?"

"A changeling, sir…."

Calvin's lips pursed. "You sure it wasn't green, soldier?"

"It's not Beast Boy, General, sir. "According to the Justice League, Cyborg states that Clayface is out and about in this City. Working for Slade along with Killer Croc and Metallo."

Another soldier uttered: "He won't last very long the way we're pushing forward!"

"Inside Phaser Labs, he will….," Calvin grunted. He frowned and stared off through the red night. "That place has the defense of an out-of-this world fortress. Not to mention the potential explosive power of……" His voice lingered.

The nearby soldiers fidgeted…

Calvin turned and uttered strongly to the messenger: "Get word out to the Justice League about this! Our tanks might not do much good….and right now, I want to forego the option of nuking the damn place off the center of the Earth! We actually still need many of the things inside Phaser's bowels!"

"Sir! Yes, Sir!"

"Even though all I want right now….," Calvin hissed and glared towards the City. "…..is to wipe out every remaining stain of Dagger out of this metropolis once and for all."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Okay! Let's get this place up and running!"

"Move it, men! Move! Move! Move!"

"Set up a perimeter! On the double!"

Like clockwork, agile soldiers darted about the Bayside Plaza and started setting up throngs of equipment and computer stations.

In the distant south….besides the boardwalk….landing barges rushed ashore all along the Bayside beach. Troop carriers, tanks, and jeeps carrying refreshed members of Calvin's army rushed over sand, asphalt, and pavement to set up a swift….eye-blazing camp. Tents went up. Artillery was placed strategically. And various units reassembled en masse in a solid line facing west and about to surge into the streets where the Justice League wreaked havoc. The final advance…..

In the meantime, a steaming-hot Cyborg limped over to a computer station where two personnel swiftly rushed over with wires and hooked the device into his arm…allowing him to recharge.

Tempest slumped down on a charred bench besides the station, taking a deep breath. "Poseidon Almighty…..how did so many of those dang burning monster creeps get let loose in the City?"

"Dagger extracted well over one hundred thousand of those golden vials from Terra, man…," Cyborg looked over while recharging. "I'm surprised we're not seeing more of those things. But I'm guessing that those giants count for something…"

Tempest merely sat where he was. Nodding….dizzy……breathless….

"…………..," Cyborg raised a human eyebrow. "You need to jump into a fountain or something, man?"

"Nah, I'm fine….," the Atlantean waved his hand, gulped, and said: "I'm just wondering….did they make it?"

"The Titans? Flipper, I'm freakin' concerned too, ya know."

"I'm thinking about the guys you were with earlier," Tempest gestured. "Ahem….THE guys. Robin. Noir. That asian punk. This little blonde urchin I keep hearing about…."

"Considering that the City is….oh….," Cyborg glanced. "……..only about fifty percent on fire…..I'd say they were here."

Tempest winced. "Yeah….well………..I suppose there's always Metropolis if this place goes to kelp."

Cyborg frowned. "Yo! Don't you even say that!"

"Have you ever slept in Wonder Woman's bathtub?"

"Hell no, dawg!"

"Egads…..it's like slumbering on Olympus…."

"And what about that Lindsey gal?"

"What about her? I'd buy her the apartment next to the Princess' and serenade her to sleep to Greek lutes and Athenian incense!"

"And where would you live?"

"……………..I'll get a job and pay to have the bathtub sectioned off."

"Ugh….," Cyborg ran a hand over his face and moaned. "Leave the daydreaming till after this war, man…."

Tempest looked with thin dark eyes at the glowing nightmare beyond the fastly-growing camp. "You think I'm in the mood to wake up to this yet? Sheesh….I haven't stopped seeing Lindsay's face when I close my eyes since swimming in with the League."

"Yeah, I understand, Flipper…."

A beat.

Tempest leaned his head to the side. "I think……she will be glad."

"Hmmm? Who?"

"Raven."

"…………."

Tempest cleared his throat. "Seriously. Your doppelganger was a real asshole."

"…………"

Tempest smiled. "W-With the real you back…it'll be like her being reborn or something."

Cyborg frowned at him. "That supposed to make me feel good…..man?"

"………," Tempest bit his lip.

Cyborg exhaled hoarsely and rubbed a hand over the human part of his head.

A pair of footsteps.

They both looked up.

Martian Manhunter stood before them. "The war is advancing with our fronts gaining the advantage. Regardless, we are all divided now in disarray."

"Yeah….you think, Marvin?"

"I am departing to perform an empathic scan of the City….," J'onn said. In a green flash, he shrunk down into the ground and disappeared. "I shall return with a thorough report, barring any extreme circumstances…."

"Heh….define 'extreme'," Cyborg said.

But J'onn was gone.

"…………," Tempest gazed down at the concrete. After a pause, he looked at Cyborg. "You suppose they have any seawater on Mars?"

"Don't count on it, Flipper."

"Prince Garth. Mr. Stone."

Both Titans jumped from the 'sound' of the Martian's mental voice.

"While I am gone, please do keep an eye on the feline impersonator."

"Feline whatsit?" Tempest made a face.

But Cyborg was already gazing at her across the City Plaza. "You've gotta be frickin' kidding me….," he murmured.

Tempest looked over.

Catwoman squatted before a smashed jewelry store display along the inner rim of the Bayside Plaza. She fingered a stud of diamonds in her gloved cat-fingers and purred. "Oooooh…..well helllllllo there…."

"HEY!"

Catwoman gasped, flinched, and dropped the stud. She looked over….

Cyborg planted his hands on his hips and frowned from where he was wired in. "Just what in the Hell are YOU doing here, Miss Kyle?"

"Don't blow a circuit, Astro Boy…," Catwoman stood up, adjusting her whip. "I'm only window shopping. And it's 'Ms.' Kyle, thank you very much. Aren't you supposed to be a post-90s rust bucket?"

Tempest smirked. "Heh heh heh." He winked at Cyborg. "I'm utterly confused and feel disgusted……..but I like her already."

"Grrrr!" Cyborg jerked at the end of his wires like a bulldog, making the technicians gasp, jump, and tend to the recharging unit. "If I wasn't gettin' all juiced up to kick butt…….I'd kick your butt till you leaked juice!"

"Oh please—"

"Oh please nothing, lady! A lot of people are dying today! And I will NOT let you loot this virtual graveyard we call home!"

"……………," Catwoman's smile left. Her eyes softened and she tossed a concealed bunch of studs behind her shoulder. "Very well. You made a good point." But then she walked over, smiled wryly, and toyed her fingers under Cyborg's chin. "But if Batman's not gonna repay me for doing a whole bunch of good deeds here tonight….someone else will."

Cyborg frowned. "You're just one second away from becoming skinned, lady."

"Heheh….cute. Let's see…..how many Robbie the Robot cliché jokes can I think up in rebuttal?"

"Knock it off, all of you."

The Two Titans and the Gothamite gazed over.

Steel walked up, carrying a crumpled Metallo frame over his shoulder. He gripped his sledgehammer in the other hand and gestured with it. "We're gonna need all the help we can get. Forked tongue or not. As long as whoever or whatever kicks the proverbial butt of Dagger."

"And Red Aviary," Tempest lifted a finger….smirking.

"Yeah…whatever, White Fish."

"Jeebus Almighty….," Cyborg uttered. "Irons, how did you ever finally whallop that big-mouthed tin can?"

TH-THWUMP! "Ohhh….," Steel dusted off one of his titanium gloves "I'm guessing I was only doing a cleanup job, to be honest. I'm not the real hero today….after all."

"You're not?" Tempest asked.

"Nope……," Steel smiled…stepped aside…and pointed with his sledge hammer. "These are……"

And that's when we walked up.

Jericho leading the crowd.

Then Changeling….haggard and still blood-stained from his left head down to his shirtless chest.

And Raven….draped against the elf in nothing but a tattered leotard…the wound in her chest closing and smooth…but still dark and questionable.

And I, supporting Raven's other shoulder. Sweating all over. My black shades sheen with the moisture of the red night.

Tempest's jaw dropped….

We Titans froze.

Jericho blinked. He smiled at sight of Cyborg, blinked at the sight of Tempest, and cringed at that of Catwoman.

Changeling—in the meantime—leaned forward. His dark green eyes narrowing. "Cy-Cy?"

And Cyborg said: "R-Raven!" He gasped and drifted forward a step or two.

ZZZT! ZZZZZzzztt! The electrical station he was wired to short-circuited with dramatic sparks. POW! The technicians jumped back, gasping.

Raven's eyes—which had been closed this whole time—finally reopened. Thin…..violet orbs. Trained on Cyborg in a dreamlike state. Dazed….uncertain…

It summoned silence between us.

While Tempest's dropped jaw morphed into a grin. He glanced at everyone…seemingly amused, as if taking a third person seat to this Titan reunion.

Jericho blinked curiously….innocently at us all. As if expecting an explosive interchange to happen. Or something freakishly wonderful but indefinable.

Instead…Changeling broke the silence: "The real Cyborg?"

"YES, Beast Boy!" Cyborg hissed…suppressing a smile. He was trying to gaze at Raven…

"Changeling."

"Huh?"

"Changeling."

Tempest leaned forward. "Say what?"

The elf groaned.

I smirked.

And Cyborg was still gasping: "Oh my god….Beast Boy, what happened to you—RAVEN! What happened to you?"

Before any of us could explain…

A voice from above throated:

"They survived."

We all gazed up.

Changeling and Raven sharply gasped.

Jericho and I smirked.

Cyborg was silent….but Tempest had to exhale: "Zeus Damn….."

"……….," Robin stood above us on the rooftops of the Bayside Plaza. His cape fluttered yellow in the wind…as did his hair dance a black liveliness.

Alive.

Lieutenant Smith stood alongside him. Both he and the Boy Wonder seemed out of breath….worn out.

But Robin was not at a loss to utter: "And if I survived…..and if you survived…." He dropped down. Thwoooosh! Pl-Plant! "…..then that's a pattern. A circle. And someone here in this City is trying to break it."

"………………," the Titans all gazed at him.

Robin's eyemask narrowed. "It is high time we break a different circle before he gets a chance to."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Dagger hobbled over and leaned weakly against the stairwell compartment atop the skyscraper.

He panted….panted….

Eyes thin.

The wakefulness was leaving his body, although his iciness refused to melt.

The blood wouldn't stop flowing.

He gulped.

He fingered with his one hand a pouch along his vest pockets.

With twitching eyes, he gazed up-close at a golden syringe. A peculiar….white light shimmered inside.

"………….."

"Snkkkt! Yo! Dagger! This is Fox! Damn, man! I told you that going balls-out into this City with Slade poking his crimson head around was a bad idea! Robin, the Army, the Justice League……they all followed the kinks in Triangular's armor that Deathstroke made! I can provide you a transport to get you out of there, man, but this battle is lost! I'm not as stupid as the rest of your sexless thugs……I'll dive into the Bay by myself if I have to and swim away from this Hellhole! Now are you gonna do the smart thing and join me?"

"…………"

"Dagger?"

"………….."

"Dagger, you still alive, man? Please say 'no'. Oh please…."

"I'm here, F-Fox…."

"NnnghhSKKT---ahem…rhmmmrm………Y-You A-OKAY, boss?"

"……….Luthor has b-betrayed us….Fox….," Dagger said.

"Yeah. No shit. That guy's simply crazy to bite the snake tail back! Don't you think?"

"Silence yourself….but for a moment."

"………………"

Dagger twirled the golden glass syringe in his hand like it was a knife. He gazed off into the red night as the last of his own natural blood coursed through his vessels. "It's time that you…..paid Luthor's satellite one of your visits, Fox."

"……………freakin' EXCUSE ME?………S-Sir?"

Dagger took a harsh inhale.

"If this City cannot be mine in victory…..," his cold eyes narrowed further "Then it will be mine in ashes……with the dead bodies of both Slade and the Titans as my new monuments."

"B-But Dagger……that's crazy-psycho! The b-b-blast wave of that ion cannon! It would wipe out not only the City……but the Bay and the surrounding Mountains and this whole god-damn valley along with it!"

"I know."

"And even if you survived, you'd have Luthor's wrath to deal with afterwards! He'd hunt Triangular down to the ends of the earth and expose it to the Army, the U.N., The Justice League!"

"We're already exposed to the world, Fox. That was part of the plan."

"…………"

"Fox, you will program the satellite to fire. Or I will have one of my soldiers shoot you in the back of the head and hack your computer station in your place."

"…………Snkkkt-I'm on it."

"……….," Dagger slumped down….laying the communicator aside. He took a shuddering breath and nearly dropped the syringe from his fingers as well. "…..dissolve the Smoke…..shatter the Mirrors…."

And for a considerable period of time….the despot was mute.