260. Break the Circle part 20
PFTOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH—KABLAAAM!
P-POW!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
CRKKKKKKKKK-KKKKK!
SL-SLAM!
CRNNNNCHHHH!
BL-BLAM!
POWWW!
The gaping downtown streets had turned into a three front melee of exploding shells….
Machine gun bullets tracing…
Jeeps speeding.
Jeeps firing.
Jeeps exploding.
Shells of Hummers.
Bodies of terrorists.
Bleeding soldiers.
And the golems…the golems…the golems…
That marched and burned on through them.
The tanks of Calvin's army that pivoted their turrets and fired burning shells into the golden army of fire…..
The remaining giants that stomped through the ranks and smashed tanks and jeeps into flaming stains……
Green Lantern and his sweeping force field of terrorist-smashing green, pulsing from his left hand…..
Superman spinning and forming tornadic air currents to redirect the bullets and RPGs of Daggers troupes back into the rocky hides of towering giants…..
The concussion blasts.
The flaming craters.
The rows of windows in skyscrapers shattering and littering the strewn asphalt below.
Bullets and bodies and behemoths falling.
Robin swung through it all, barely twirling by flying tank shells and charging golems…and his cape whipping once or twice as a bullet streamed past it.
And I landed in a cushion of murk and blurred after him…running the length of the explosive line of Calvin's eastern force.
Bodies fell to the right of me.
Golems exploded to the left.
Screams and rising smoke.
The smell of burnt rust…burnt powder…burnt flesh.
The red sky above…ever-yawning.
The noise deafened us. And in a way….it filled our heads with a second blood that echoed through our vessels and inflated us with some unspoken chemical known only to the primordial dimension of man that foams up in the mouths of shellshocked soldiers.
A long time ago I stopped believing in Hell beyond death…..
Funny, Ana, in a morbid way……that it takes Dagger of all people to give me a grim reminder of what made me stop believing……and start seeing
BL-BLAM!
POWWWW!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Robin finally touched down from his grappling cord, and I soon found out why.
A group of unprotected U.S. soldiers were huddling around the burnt-out shell of an Abrams tank and were taking shelter from heavy-calibre fire of a terrorist hummer across the way and a rushing crowd of burning golems along the flank.
"NYAAAAAAUGH!" Robin ran straight towards the mounted gunfire of the Hummer.
One of the gunmen pointed.
The other aimed the mounted rifle at the Boy Wonder.
Robin snarled, whipped out two birdarangs, and flung them mercilessly up through the war-torn air at the terrorists.
SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISSSH!
One birdarang ended in a thug's throat. SPLORCH!
The other sailed sharply into the barrel of the mounted gun just as the man fired—
POWW!
The rifle shattered, splattering the screaming terrorist with shrapnel.
The men in the Hummer's front seat fought desperately to drive away.
I ran at them, snarled, summoned murk through my upper body, and dove blindingly forward into the windshield.
SHATTTTERRR!
I blurred smokingly through the vehicle with a swing of serrated Myrkblade.
SL-SLASSSSH!
The driver and passenger were instantly decapitated.
SMASSSSSSSSSH! I teleported hotly through the vehicle and—CRACK! Materialized outside the rear.
Robin ran by, tossing an explosive disc beneath the vehicle.
He and I both darted straight forward.
BOOOOM!
The explosion enflamed the Hummer and ate hotly into its fuel tank—
POWWWW!
The shell of the terrorist vehicle lifted up, twirled with a splash of ashes, and fell down right on top of another jeep full of terrorists…screaming and diving in futility. "AAAAAA---" CRUNNNCHHH!
As the urban Armageddon burned and mushroomed behind us, we ran straight into a line of eight-foot tall golems.
CRKKKKK-KKKK! They stomped towards us, upper arms flailing with tongues of flame.
Robin pulled out a fan of explosive discs and tossed them at the creatures with a grunt. "Nnnngh!"
THWISSSSSSSSSH! The discs sunk into three of the monsters in the center of the crowd.
I reached my hand out.
Robin grabbed it.
I hissed mutely, turned into the form of steam, and propelled the two of us in a blur of smoke straight into the golden phalanx.
KABOOOOOM!
The three discs exploded, shattering a dozen golems from the center outward at once.
I solidified Robin and I with a towering leap upwards from the focal point of the explosion.
He flipped and I glided till we both landed—perching on the sixth story balcony of an office building above the flames.
We both spun and faced the fiery streets of battle.
Outside the flaming ring of the dying golems, ten terrorists with assault rifles ran up, shouted, and aimed up at us from below.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!
I stood in front of Robin and twirled Myrkblade in a maddening blur of black. TH-TH-TH-THWISH!
CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!
The bullets splashed sparks and flew off every which way.
Robin prepared two weighted bolos. He spun them over his head, grunted, and flung them forward.
I jerked out of the way just in time.
SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISSSSH!
The two coils of cords sailed down.
Two thugs had their legs suddenly bound beneath them.
TH-THWPPP!
THWPP!
"Nnngh!"
"Augh!"
Both terrorists fell.
One of them hit the asphalt hard, and his fingers absent-mindedly closed around the trigger of his gun.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
SP-SPLORCH!
Two other thugs were grounded—howling—when the bullets ripped through their thighs.
Robin was about to prepare another bunch of projectiles when I gripped his shoulder and held him back, flat against the balcony wall.
"Wh-What is it?" He panted.
Whurrrr-BL-BLAM!
POWWWW! An Army tank shell exploded in the center of the street, dismembering and roasting the bodies of the criminals.
Robin and I flinched as the stifling concussion wave hit us.
FWOOOOSSSH!
CRKKKKK!
A huge crack swam up the building's face and settled beneath us.
The balconies started to crumble…
"Move! MOVE!" Robin shouted.
He jumped onto another balcony.
I held my silent breath and hopped after him.
CRASSSH! The balcony we were on plummeted…
…and soon the other ledges started to crack and crumble.
CRASSH! CRKKK! THWOOOSH-SLAM!
Robin and I leap-frogged from one ledge to another…escaping our very own perch as the whole building front began its inevitable collapse from the fire and shelling.
The thunder of warfare echoed in our ears as we reached the end of the building.
A tattered banner stretched between our building and one across the street—over the bodies of golems rushing a squad of U.S. army jeeps…firing madly at the beasts. RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!
"Noir! Go time!" Robin held the cords of the banner taut for me.
I nodded, blurred over, and swung Myrkblade twice.
SLASH! SLASSSH!
SN-SNAP!
The banner gave way on our side.
He grabbed onto a corner.
I grabbed onto a corner.
"Nnngh!"
THWOOOOSH! We dove off our crumbling ledge and swung via the banner over the exploding, bullet-strewn street. CRKKKKKKKK! The building we were perched on crumbled behind us.
"Brace yourself!" Robin grunted as we soared towards a first-story shopping front.
I gritted my teeth.
SWOOSH!
SWOOOOOSH-CRAACK! Our bodies stuck the glass windows of the shop, forming spiderwebbing fractures. The two of us jolted, bounced off, and rolled achingly across the sidewalk concrete.
Robin tumbled to a stop--
STOMP! A golem's foot slammed burningly down inches ahead of where Robin's head would have been.
"Yaah!" Robin gasped and jumped up to his feet.
CRKKKKKK! The monster flung its arm down at the Boy Wonder.
Robin was barely on balance. He winced—
THWOOOSH! SLIIICE! I teleported over, severing the golem's limb in two.
CRKKKKKKK-KKKK! The beast angrily rumbled and kicked me hard in the side.
SL-SLAM!
I flew off and slammed against the building front.
"RAAAUGH!" Robin twirled his bo-staff, charged the beast, and swung like a madman. THWACK! WHANG! SMACK! P-POW!
The golem jolted and stumbled backwards.
"HAAAAA!" Robin leapt up, bounced off the side of a lamppost, twirled, and sent a crushing blow into the crown of the beast…splitting it in two.
CRAAAAK!
The Boy Wonder stood….gripping his staff. Panting.
I stood up….wincing.
GRIPPP!
I gasped, for two meaty arms of a rock monster encircled me coldly from behind.
Robin spun. He gasped: "Noir!"
I fought and struggled in the stony grasp.
I gasped…for the arms were starting to heat up.
In a matter of seconds, I was about to become the recipient of a flesh-roasting bear hug.
I clenched my teeth and stared upwards.
Now, Joey!
Get……out……of
me……NOW!
But before he could possibly comply—
TWNNNG!
THWISSSSSSSH-POWWW!
The
golem exploded from behind me.
Its meaty arms let go, and I stumbled forward…breathless.
Robin ran to my side, bracing me. He looked in time to see a second arrow sail through the air and slice through the golem's upper shoulder.
POWWW!
Then two female figures streaked in.
"Raaawr!" one anchored the beast in place with a lassoing whip. THWPP!
Another flew with a pulverizing kick. "YAAAAAAUGH!"
SMASSSSH!
The golem shattered into a hundred pieces and littered the sidewalk.
Black Canary stood up besides Catwoman, brushing herself off.
And then Green Arrow leapt down from a building ledge.
Robin murmured above the rumbling noise all around us. The shells and the gunfire and the stomping…. "Green Arrow? Is that you?"
"If my eyes deceive me, then so can yours deceive you, kid!"
Black Canary walked forward. "So he didn't die! Enjoy the rest of your puberty, shortstuff!" She winked.
Ugh……
I ran a black hand over my face and shades.
"………," Robin gazed at her for half a second before turning to Green Arrow. "I suggest we stay together. It's positively murder out here."
"I suggest we head for the hills and regroup!" Green Arrow exclaimed above the noise. "This may be all right for the military with their tanks or Superman with his brawn….but the likes of us are dead out here!"
"I'm not about to just abandon my City when they need us!" Robin exclaimed.
"Uhhhhm…..," Catwoman uttered…gathering our attention. "Don't look now, cats and kittens…" She smirked and pointed up at a line of rooftops above the blazing battle. "But somebody's on the prowl."
We all glanced up in one accord.
A string of nearly-concealed terrorists were running in a fixed line across the rooftops. Guns in hand. Sniper rifles….
"Well, isn't that cute?" Green Arrow chirped.
"Everyone!" Robin pointed upwards with a growl. "Go up there and take them out! Or else they'll make mince meat out of our soldiers!" P-POW! Clank! "Follow me!" SWOOOSH!
I didn't hesitate one second. I blurred up the buildingside after him, Myrkblade dragging.
Black Canary flailed her arms: "Does he expect us to follow him around? He's just a kid!"
"Baby….," Green Arrow produced an arrow with a cord attached to the end. "In this Town, the kids know best." TWNGG! The arrow stuck to a balcony. The blonde archer swiftly climbed up.
Black Canary folded her arms and fumed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Catwoman walked up to the wall and extended sharp points out of the digits of her feline gloves. "Hmmmm….," she winked back at the blonde in fishnets. "Why don't you come up and find out…..'baby'."
And Selina Kyle scurried up.
Black Canary gritted her teeth. "I….am going to skin her…." And she climbed up Green Arrow's cord after the group.
P-POW!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!
CRKKKK!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!
KABOOM!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
PHOOOOOOOSSSSSH!
Batman's batwing vibrated….rattling violently against the rocket just above his cracked cockpit window.
"Nnnnngh!" he struggled, gripping ice-cold to the controls.
'Warning. Warning. Warning. Hull integrity in high risk of—'
THWACK! Batman slammed his fist into the computer dashboard.
He then reached a hand over and attempted igniting the vertical thrust again.
Click-Clik-Clik!
PHSSSSSH! PH-PHSSSSSH!
The blue jets beneath the Batwing puffed and hissed.
Batman fumbled with both the steering handles and the thrusts.
He looked—sweating—ahead through the cockpit window.
The Northern Half of the City loomed in the distance.
Beyond it…..countryside.
The northern mountain slopes.
Void of all people….
"Time to take out the trash…."
He slammed his fist into the thrust controls.
PHSSSS-SSSSSH!
The Batwing lifted.
Batman jolted back on the controls.
The nose rose.
The rocket of Dagger's was pushed in a steeper ascent above the plane.
The rocket bolted skyward…and suddenly caught—snagged—in something.
The top fins of the Batwing.
"Augh!" Batman shook as the rocket tugged and rattled….its metal wing stuck in the fins of the Gothamite aircraft.
Batman hissed through clenched teeth and struggled….struggled…..struggled to shake the missile loose.
Cabin temperature began to rise.
Steam hissed red and threatening through the cracks formed between the metal structure of the Batwing and the cockpit window itself.
'Beeep! Warning! Structural disintegration at eighty percent likelihood.'
"The end to a perfect evening," Batman hissed.
'Beep! Beep! Beep!'
PHOOOOOSSSSH!
The Batwing—now a virtual, giant missile—soared over the rooftops below.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Look out!"
"Costume freaks!"
"Behind us!"
The gunmen and snipers running across the rooftops spun and faced us.
The Daggerites gasped, shouted, aimed, and—RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
PFFIFFT!
PFFFIFT!
B-BANG! BANG!
Against the silhouette of the burning Crunch, the five of us charged.
Robin and Green Arrow swung in.
Black Canary and Catwoman cartwheeled and flipped.
I blurred straight down the center.
Discs and arrows flew.
Nimble legs kicked.
And Myrkblade slashed and sang.
THWOOOOSH!
TH-THWISSSSSH!
SLASSSSH!
A spray of bullets parted ways from a smoking dive as the bodies of the femmes slammed the front row of gunmen down and opened the rest of the line vulnerable for the men's projectiles.
CL-CL-CLACK!
Snipers and gunmen dropped their weapons….gripping their wrists in surprise and pain.
FW-FWOOOOOOOOOOSH! I sped through them, Myrkblade held aside.
TH-TH-THWUMP! I tripped three men at once.
Black Canary flipped high—WHUMP!—landed with her nimble feet in the center of a man's chest and vaulted off to—TH-TH-THWACK!—helicopter kick three more thugs and—"RAAAUGH!--WHAM!—uppercut a fourth.
The uppercutted man's body flew high.
TH-THWP! SNGG! Catwoman's whip spun tightly around his forearm. The vixen spun, twirled his body about, and tossed him—flailing—into a thick crowd of gunmen who fell off the buildingside in one yelping scream. "AAAAaaaaaaaugh!"
The last twelve thugs gasped and leapt onto the rooftop of a building across an expanse.
Robin and Green Arrow ran after them while Catwoman and Black Canary stayed behind to beat-in the recovering thugs stumbling up to their feet with weapons. THWPP! WHAM! SM-SMACK!
I took a deep breath and blurred to the edge of the rooftop to dive down and join my fellow vigilantes when—
PFTOOOOOOOSSSH!
"……?" I glanced to my left. I gasped—black eyes wide—and ducked just in time to avoid an RPG flying dangerously close to my cranium.
THWOOOOOO-OOOOOOSSSH!
The bazooka exploded in a buildingfront a block away. POWWW!
I stood up, panting. Glaring up and across the battle-torn street.
Past a rising, warbling haze of golden golem heat and tank shell explosions…….and as far up as I could tilt my head, four terrorists perched atop a thirty-story building. They were swiftly reloading their bazooka.
"Noir!" Robin shouted from the building down along the rooftop line as he and Green Arrow played catch up with the retreating dozen. "Take them out!"
I looked all around.
The building across the street was well over an one hundred foot jump.
Uh……
Yeah……
STOMP!
ST-STOMPP!
My feet wobbled.
I gasped, teetered, and looked up.
CRKKKK-KKKKK!
A giant golem was stomping after two retreating Abrams tanks that fired tank shells into its burning chest.
BLAM!
BL-BLAM!
The giant absorbed the blows, stomped through remains of crumpled hummers and jeeps and Wildebeest bodies….and flexed its limbs with a froth of fire.
…..And it was standing within arm's reach of me alongside the roof's ledge.
I took a deep breath.
Right.
FWOOOOOSH!
I blurred straight towards the edge.
Feet murking black.
I leapt with a mute cry.
I flew…airborne………………
P-Plant!
I landed my streaking feat on the burning creature's shoulder.
I stabbed Myrkblade ahead of me, meditated, and parted the flames billowing out from the rock creature's body beneath me as I ran…blurred….zoomed up the forearm, over the shoulder, around the neck, against the head, slid down the opposite shoulder, and dove straight towards the buildingside across from my original position.
CRKKKKKK-KKKKK! The giant I 'ran across' didn't like it what bit. It turned, flailed both its upper arms, and smashed them into the building after me.
CRASSSSSH!
I managed to cling to the buildingside in both speed and murking defiance as I blurred straight up the vertical stretch of glass and steel to the distant, thirty-story rooftop above. The warbling debris 'holes' of splashing glass shattered up towards my heels…but soon, the giant golem's lunge was worth nothing.
And even sooner, Superman soared shoulder-first into the giant golem's frame. "NNNGH!"
SLAMMMM!
The Man of Steel plowed the huge rock monster down to the burning streets of the Crunch.
In the meantime, I ran up the last lengths of the building climb.
When I reached the top I realized that the men had collapsed all as one from the vibrations of the giant golem's merciless strike.
Just what I need.
I smiled a little as I flashed up the buidingside, twirled, and came down with a murderous downswipe of Myrkblade that sent fountains of smoke slamming the thick clusters of crooks aside.
Yaaaaugh!
FL-FLASSSSSH!
They gasped, dropped their bazookas, and tumbled every which way.
I landed in a crouch, took a deep breath, twirled Myrkblade, and dashed straight towards them just as they stood up.
FW-FWOOOOOSSH!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Meanwhile…
Over the Bay….
"Nnnnnng-RAAAH!" Starfire engaged the second wave of City-bound missiles. FL-FL-FLASSH! FLAASSH!
CL-CL-CLANGG! The starbolts bounced off the metal hulls of the streaming projectiles.
Starfire soared in closer…zooming head-on towards the centermost missile in sight.
Her hair whipped in the wind and her eyes teared from the cold December red as she summoned fire into her optics and—
ZAAAAA-AAAAA-AAAAAP!
The laser sliced the missile into two twirling halves.
"Nnngh!" Starfire reached the line of missiles. She shot her hands out, grabbed a slice of rockets in each, and twirled toss them at either side of her.
TH-THWISSSH!
THWOOOSH!
Half a rocket flew at a missile on her right….and half a rocket flew at a missile on her left.
Both targets exploded brilliantly. P-POWWWW!
With three missiles down, Starfire soared and went after the right flank.
Flinging starbolts at the projectiles zooming Northward just beyond her.
"Haaugh!" FLASH! "Rghhh!" FL-FLASH! "RAAAUGH!" FLASSSSH!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
On the other side of the Bay, near the Suspension Bridge, Wonder Woman and Steel were double teaming the left flank of the second wave of missiles.
Steel battered one rocket after another with his sledge hammer. WHANG! CL-CLANG! THWACK!
He soared through an explosion or two while Wonder Woman flew up to a missile and punched a huge dent in it.
"NNnngh!"
CRACK!
The missile started to plummet.
GRIP!
Instead, Wonder Woman caught it. She whipped out her lasso. She tied it around the rocket…..then began twirling the missile around her mid-flight like a spinning acrobat.
Thwoosh-Thwoosh-Thwoosh!-Thwoosh!-THWOOSH!-THWOOSH!-THWOOSH!THWOOSH!THWOOSH!
Wonder Woman sweated.
Wonder Woman strained.
Wonder Woman grunted….
"Steel! Heads up!"
"Let it fly!" Steel decelerated, leaving the four remaining rockets of the left flank in view.
"NYAAUGH!" Wonder Woman jerked the rocket loose from her lasso and flung it northwesterly.
It twirled, flew through one missile—CRACK!—bounced off a second—CL-CLANK!—shoved against a third—CLANGG!—and slammed both of them into the fourth.
And all of them exploded in an airborne fire worm. PHOOOOM!
Steel shielded himself from the explosions.
Wonder Woman slowed to a levitation.
Panting…she turned and gazed forlornly.
Eastward.
Towards Starfire's distant and lonely endeavors.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
PHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSH!
'Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep!'
Batman's gloves flurried across the console of his cockpit.
He flipped on autopilot at an awkward angle.
Aiming the Batwing at the mountainside he had spotted earlier…..then tilting the Batwing up….more towards the sky.
He took a deep breath….
And reached a gloved hand towards the eject bar.
"……………………"
With another hand, he depleted the thrust by fifty percent and then…..
Ejected.
CL-CLUNK!
POWWW! The cockpit window shot off….and immediately impacted the rocket stuck to the top of the Batwing.
SHATTTTTTTER!
Glass splashed everywhere.
Batman winced and---
PFTOOOOSSSH! Launched himself out of the Batwing—through the glass spray—and emerged outside still in his pilot's chair.
The Batwing's decelerated thrust, combined with the force and loss of weight with ejection—AND the still powerful flare of the rocket stuck to its fins—forced the aircraft to perform an awkward array of backflips as it twirled in an upwards arc, shot over the rooftops, and zoomed towards the mountainside beyond.
Batman descended in his chair. He gritted his teeth and pulled another cord…and a parachute shot out from behind the seat. PHWOOMP!
Batman drifted down gently….but not gently enough. The flying glass and debris cut at the parachute, causing a lot of air to drift through. Batman's descent was a spiraling, chaotic one.
Almost as chaotic as the flipping, flipping, flipping Batwing that soared off beyond City limits and plummeted explosively into the mountainside beyond.
KA-POWWWWW!.!.!.!
In the meantime, Batman fell towards the Crunch.
The spiraling sounds of tank shells and stomping golems and machine guns echoed into his masked ears.
He gritted his teeth….focused….and once he was a reasonable height above the building tops—
Th-THWP!
He snapped the belt free from his chair and leapt off.
THWOOOOSH!
Batman dove…his black cape billowing in the air.
He impacted a rooftop….rolled…and stood up straight with the distant explosion of the Batwing silhouetting his dark figure.
BOOOOOOM!.!.!
And Batman's lips pursed as soon as he stood.
Robin was there…standing right in front of him. Just nearby, Green Arrow, Black Canary and Catwoman were beating the crap out of thugs carrying shotguns and uzis.
The Dark Knight and his former sidekick stared at each other.
"……………"
"……………"
Robin gestured: "Seriously….must you always wreck the Batwing?"
Batman frowned.
He pointed. Robin pointed.
A joint growl: "Behind you!"
SHIING! A batarang.
CHIING! A birdarang.
Each hero dodged to the right and tossed their projectile over the other's left shoulder just in time to smack a separate thug upside the skull with their spinning weapons.
CL-CLACK!
"UGH!"
Batman and Robin then spun, dodged bullet fire from a nearby rooftop, then jumped and glided over to take over the Daggerites with assault rifles.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The two Gotham heroes dove into the villains. Punching. Kicking. Backhanding. Jumping and plowing over with a mid-air fist or foot.
THWACK! SOK! POW!
In the middle of their frenzied fight---the battles of the Crunch booming hotly in the background---Batman droned to Robin.
"You should have asked before taking the Batmobile."
SMACK! WHAM!
Robin replied: "You wouldn't have let me take it anyway. You were moping over Barbara instead of taking action!"
THWACK! BOP!
"What is the action you're taking, Robin? You're as much in danger as anyone else here in this City…."
CRACK! WHOP!
"Not true, Batman. Slade is here. I have to confront him. He's already nearly taken the lives of two more of my teammates. I can't allow him to go any further. Especially as he's now exploiting Dagger's invasion….which I am HERE TO DEFEND! RAUGH!"
BIFF! SL-SLAM!
"I can understand the need to defend your City. But you could have been a little less reckless about it."
P-POW! WHAM!
"For crying out loud, Batman….I'm SORRY about the BATMOBILE!" Th-THWACK! "At least I got it back in one piece! Unlike how you constantly make love to your Batwings."
CRUNCH!
"…….the fins were broken off, Robin."
SM-SMACK!
"Okay, that was Cyborg's doing….not mine!"
TWHACK! THUNK!
"Whatever. Stick by me, Robin." RAT-A-TAT-TAT! Thwoosh-WHUMP! ("Augh!") "Superman and Green Lantern need all the heat off their shoulders as possible. But at this rate—with Wonder Woman and Steel distracted—I can't say the battle looks promising."
CR-CRACK! CLANG!
"If we can just take care of this perimeter, we should buy Calvin's army more time. In the meantime, Beast Boy and Tempest are taking care of the missile launch sites. Everything should be good as long as we---Holy…."
"I got him."
SWOOSH-WHAM!
"Thanks."
"Keep going."
"I need to make sure—above all—that the rest of my team is okay. Slade is watching. Dagger may rip the City apart, but Red Aviary will tear each of us asunder."
TH-THWACK! SOK!
"Which is why I came here, Robin."
WHAM!
"…………."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SWOOOOOOOSH!
Superman soared straight down the war torn Main Street.
Tanks fired volleys from behind him.
The machine gun spray of Calvin's jeeps flew low over the asphalt.
Superman soared past the hot streaming bullets and mid-air tank shells that whistled in his ears and plunged his body murderously hard into the rock-chest of a giant golem.
"YaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAUGHHH!"
SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSH—CRNCHHHHH!
The giant quivered and jolted.
CRKKKK-KKKKK!
…
POWWW!.!.!.!.!.!
Superman burst on the other side.
He panted…levitated…and spun around.
SWOOOSH!
SW-SW-SWOOOSH!
The machine gun bullets and tank shells caught up…
All of them sailed into the gaping, burning hole that Superman had made.
CRACCCCK!
The giant rumbled….fell apart….and slumped mightily to the street below in a descending rain of fire.
Superman took a breath.
But before he could swivel around in mid-air….
PFTOOOOOOOSSSH! An RPG from two terrorists on a sidewalk flew up and exploded in his face.
POWW!
"Aaaaugh!" Superman fell back hard and formed a crater in the center of the street.
POW!
The Man of Steel momentarily stirred….groaning.
The world turned into an echoing drone all around him.
Bullets streaking by.
Tank shells exploding.
The cries of soldiers and Daggerites filling the air.
The splash of concrete…..mortar….
Blood…..
Superman's eyes opened.
And for a moment he gazed up…
…and saw nothing but red.
The cold night…looming.
Something sickly….and hidden…
Malevolent beyond anything Dagger had thrown at them…..
Superman's teeth gritted. He jolted and shot up to his feet.
The drone of the world once again shattered back into the deafening thunder of war and chaos.
CRKKKKKK!
CRKKKK!
A ring of golems marched and closed in around the recovering Kryptonian.
"Raaaugh!" CRAACK! Superman punched through two at a time. "Nnngh!" He flung his leg out and slammed one golem into another. CRKK! He grabbed a handful chunk of burning rock, spun, and flung it at the feet of the two terrorists reloading their bazooka. P-POW! The men were thrown back and slammed into the nearest buildingside.
CRKKKKKKKKKKKKK!
Superman spun to look…panting…
A solid wave of gold golems were stampeding towards him. Limbs flailing.
Superman gritted his teeth, flexed his muscles, and crouched…..ready to leap crushingly towards the solid wave—
FLASSSSH!
A green field separated him from his foe.
"H-Huh?" he stood up straight, blinking.
"I know you're Superman and all…..," Fwoosh! Green Lantern hovered down by his side….extending the force field with his left hand. "But you can't take on just anything! I don't care what the comics or newspapers say!"
"John…..this is insane…," Superman breathlessly spoke. "We can only do so much against this much force without special help."
"Exactly what I friggin' said!" Green Lantern frowned. "But does anybody listen to me? Noooo….gotta go after some damn missiles!"
"I think we need to suggest to General Calvin that he retreat. I doubt our allies in the air are enough to take on the missiles by themselves either. If it weren't for all of these rock creatures, I'd be over the Bay in a blink….helping to eliminate those bogeys!"
Green Lantern warily eyed the thrashing golems on the other side of his force field. "Yeah, I hear ya. But these things aren't going to give Calvin's forces a rest. And it's not like we can just….I dunno…..wish them all to disappear!"
"So….what are our options?"
"………," Green Lantern sighed. "What else?"
He and Superman looked at each other.
"……."
"……."
The two Leaguers faced the golems.
"Let's go…."
"Right beside you."
FLASH!
The green force field vanished.
CRKKKKKK! The wave of golden monsters stampeded towards them.
"NNnngh!"
"Raaaugh!"
Green Lantern and Superman soared into the thick crowd in the center of the street.
POWWWWW!.!.!.!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
BL-BLAM!
POWWW!
A solid line of tanks fired into the feet of an incoming giant and the golems charging on either side of its ankles.
BL-BLAM!
POWWW!
BLAM!
POWWWWW!
The giant marched, unhindered.
The golems shattered and exploded…but more and more rose to replace them.
They stomped speedily towards the line of Army vehicles.
An array of mounted assault rifles were set up. Calvin's men took aim and—
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
General Calvin stood directly behind the line of artillery and ballistics.
He clenched his teeth and squinted his eyes at the fiery mayhem. Soldiers around him flinched at the noise and chaos, but he stood resolutely still.
A radioman ran towards him. "Sir, General, Sir! The Eastern Front reports a forced retreat of two blocks! Dagger's forces are advancing steadily towards them!"
"At the same time that this is happening to us…..," Calvin murmured….gazing in thin-eyed disbelief at the incoming wave of rocky freaks. "….it's all because of these infernal monsters…"
"Sir! A second wave of missiles is heading for this location! Steel and Wonder Woman have eliminated half of them to the west. But the results of the east flank is still inconclusive."
"We stay. We fight."
"…..Sir?"
General Calvin finally turned his head to frown at the radioman. "Report my commandment to the forces, soldier!"
"Sir! Yes, sir!"
The man rushed over to a jeep, squawking over the noise into his mic.
Calvin once again gazed at the incoming wave of monstrosities. He exhaled….
"Just keep us safe from the birds a little bit longer….."
And he slowly….gazed up towards the red sky.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"NnnnnnnnNNNNGH-AAAUGH!" Starfire flew hotly, tensed her shoulder muscles, and rammed herself against a rocket.
CL-CLANK!
The one missile spiraled and spun its way into the Bay Waters below.
SP-SPLOOOOSH!
POWWWWW!
Starfire burst through a spray of water and soared towards three remaining projectiles.
The northern shore of the City became once again visible.
The waters billowed and waved beneath….becoming a speedy blur.
Starfire had very little time left….and this was only the second wave.
She gritted her teeth and burned towards one of the last three.
She reached a hand out…braved the heat of the rocket's flare….and wrapped her pink-sleeved wrist around the tail fins of the missile.
CLAMP!
She winced and fought against the fiery exhaust as she 'pulled' herself forward by her rip and wrenched her second hand deep into the metal exoskeleton.
CRKKKKKKK!
"Nnnnnngh!"
Her eyes flickered a hot green.
She sneered
She pulled hard on the tail fin and pulled hard on the exoskeleton—
SLIIIIIIIIIIICE!
She ripped the missile in half, down the middle.
The detonator and explosive charge sparked and short circuited into deadness before falling down and splashing in the Bay waters below.
Starfire boosted herself forward and plunged after the last two rockets.
SWOOOOOOOOSH!
Charging starbolts….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Sitting at his computer station inside an undisclosed hovercraft cabin…
William B. Fox monitored the progress of the launched missiles.
The flickering red dots on the map of the City's Bay fizzled and blotted out one-by-one.
"Hmmmm….like hotcakes…," Fox murmured.
His eyes narrowed as he spotted a green dot pulsing on the computer screen next to the last two missiles.
"Hmmm….," he smiled. "Delay the next volley…."
He blurred his hands over the keyboard…typed….and brought up a fresh list of commands.
"Things are about to heat up."
Click.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
As Starfire reached the missiles….something happened.
WHURRR-CLUCTHNG!
The fins of the two last projectiles extended twice their length…becoming long, curved 'wings'.
"H-Huh?"
Whurrrr-PHOOOOOOOM!
The flares of the rockets practically exploded with thrust.
PFTOOOOOOOOSSSH!
Starfire was actually blown back by the acceleration.
"Aaaah!" she gasped and twirled in the air before uprighting herself and staring—with wide green eyes—as the projectiles plummeted towards the City twice as fast…covering water and approaching ground.
PHOOOOOOOSSSH!
A gasp.
A gasp that turned into a growl.
A growl that turned into a Tamaranian warcry as Starfire's eyes shimmered a hot emerald and—
SWIIIIIIISSSH!
She bolted after the zooming two.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
FWOOOOSH!
Th-Th-THWISSH!
SLASSSSH!
Myrkblade swam through two assault rifle barrels, severing in half the weapons of a pair of thugs.
The men gasped and moved to slam the butt of their guns at me.
I teleported through and beneath them…solidified on the other side…and backhanded both with a black, synthetic wrist.
SL-SLAM!
SLAP!
Both men fell hard to the rooftop floor.
BL-BLAM! BANG!
From behind me, pistol fire ripped through the air towards the back of my skull.
I shot my head to the side.
The bullets zoomed by, upsetting a strand or two of black hair.
I glanced through the peripheral of my black shades.
Two terrorists with handguns stood on a higher rooftop behind me, firing.
BL-BLAM!
BLAM!
I twirled Myrkblade in reverse behind my back.
CL-CLANG!
I deflected both bullets back at the men.
CLACK! One's gun was smacked out of his grasp. "Augh!"
I spun around….blurred…jumped over a raging street of golems-versus-tanks…and landed with a downswing of Myrkblade.
SLIIIINK!
Blood splashed from one man's arm.
"Aaaugh!" he clutched his shoulder and stumbled.
I twirled and kicked him in the side….slamming him into his criminal buddy.
WH-WHAP!
The thugs collapsed on the ground.
Cl-Clak!
Clik!
Clak!
I looked up.
A dozen men faced me with uzzis, shotguns, and pistols. The terrorists aimed at me all in one accord across the rooftop.
I took a deep breath.
I crouched low….vaporing smoke…
Gripping myrkblade…………..
FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOSH! A red-orange streak throttled through the thick crowd, knocking the men off their feet.
Whap!
Thwap!
"Augh!"
I blinked.
The Flash zoomed to a stop beside me. "Jeez! Taking in all those goons at once! Are you nuts?" He gestured wildly with his arms.
"……………."
Then he smiled. "Cool. My kind of wyrdo." He spun and blurred into the rooftop thugs. FW-FW-FWOOOSH! WHAM! SM-SMACK! WHUMP!
"Ooof!"
"Augh!"
I smirked somewhat and blurred alongside him.
Myrkblade swinging.
TH-TH-THWISSH!
Sl-Slash!
Sliiink!
Thwack!
I grazed the shoulders of two thugs and kicked another into a radio antenna. Clang!
I leapt a swing of a man's sniper rifle butt, flipped in the air, stabbed in reverse, stuck Myrkblade in between the man's shoulder and outfit, and flung him over me like a lever into a gliding punch of the Flash.
WH-WHAP!
The speedster zoomed on to pummel and trip more thugs while I twirled and stabbed my way through an A/C unit, causing the metal box to explode and collapse a terrorist hiding on the other side.
WH-WHUMP! "Ugh!"
PFTOOOOOOOSSH! An RPG flew past me.
I jolted to a stop. I glanced to my right.
A terrorist stood on the rooftop's ledge. In desperation, he furiously reloaded his bazooka.
Flash zoomed by me and plowed through two more thugs. In the meantime, I ducked down to one knee, grabbed Myrkblade's opposite ends in a flesh and black hand, and flicked it towards the bazooka thug like a rubber band.
THWIP!
Myrkblade flew and slammed into the thug's chest.
He fell off the buildingside, bazooka and all. "Aaaaugh!"
Myrkblade bounced off, twirled in the air, and sailed down towards me.
I jumped up, reached a hand out, and grabbed the weapon's hilt just in time to twirl and swing around in a spin that slammed the length of Myrkblade upside the skull of a terrorist aiming a shotgun at my back.
SMACK!
"Ughhh!" he fell down hard.
Two more thugs' bodies flew coldly across the rooftop floor from the Flash's streaking punishment. Th-Thwump!
And that's when I realized—breathless and sweating—that the rooftop had been cleared.
"Heeeeeey….," Flash held two thumbs' up and smiled. "We're not so bad together, are we? We can take on anything! Spiffy speedsters! YEAH!"
"………" I smiled.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOSH!
Both of us raised an eyebrow each.
We both turned around….
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOSH!
A HIND helicopter rose up from the burning streets below. With rotary blades beating and payload whirring….the huge aircraft loomed just above us. Its machine gun cannons zeroed in on us.
Whirrrrrr!
"………….," my black eyes twitched.
Flash gulped. "Yeah…..let's both…uhm….RUN."
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The rooftop and random exposed bodies exploded in a straight line towards us.
P-P-P-P-P-P-PING!
Flash turned and blurred.
I twirled about and joined him.
FWOOOOSH!
FWOOOOSH!
The red speedster zoomed over the rooftop, darting around A/C units and antennae.
I blurred after him…panting….feeling the heat of the helicopter and its streaking bullets right behind me.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOSH!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
We both reached a rooftop.
We held our breaths and leapt.
FWOOOOSH!
FWOOSH!
The Flash and I soared over a six-lane street full of exploding tanks, fleeing soldiers, and advancing golems.
…….
TH-THAP!
We landed on the other side.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOSSH! The HIND beated after us.
We blurred.
A red streak.
A black streak.
We darted in and around metal structures atop the roof as the HIND started launching hellseekers and mini rockets at us.
PFTOOOOOOOSSSSH!
PHOOOOOSSSH!
PFTOOOOOOOOSSSH!
Flash grunted and leapt aside in mid-blur as I criss-crossed him on smoking feet.
We performed dual serpentine sprints to avoid the heated projectiles exploding between and behind us.
POW!
P-POW!
KABOOOM!
PHOOOM!
The HIND ducked low, pierced the cloud of debris and flame, and fired its machine guns again.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The Flash and I zoomed, slid beneath a billboard, and leapt across a war-torn street to yet another rooftop beyond.
FWOOSH!
FWOOOOSH!
POWWW!.!.!.!.!
The HIND exploded the billboard directly behind us. It soared through the flaming splinters, its rotary blades slicing and dicing debris as its cannon twirled and flared.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOSSSH!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Pl-Plant!
The Flash and I landed on the buildingtop and zoomed.
"Whoah!" Flash's eyes widened.
An rooftop greenhouse blocked our path. Glass structure from ledge to ledge.
"We gotta find another—"
FWOOOOSH! I streaked past him.
He flashed. "….or not."
SHATTTERR! I slammed through a pane of glass, twirling Myrkblade.
CRKKKK! Flash zoomed behind me.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Streaking high-caliber bullets from the helicopter smashed and shattered down through the glass towards us.
The Flash and I ran down aisles of potted plants and flowers and hanging weed….all of which exploded and splashed in sprays of soil from the bullets on either side of us.
SP-SPLOTCH!
P-P-P-P-PING!
TH-TH-THUNK!
The Flash panted and flinched as glass showered down and littered his body in shards.
I gritted my teeth and encased my body in murk as we approached the far wall of glass.
SHATTTTTTERRR!
We both burst out of the green house….and found ourselves falling through thin-air.
"Daaaah!" Flash shrieked, arms flailing.
I held my breath, billowed murk, and soared down towards the nearest buildingtop I could see below us.
THWOOOOOOSH!
TH-THAP!
I landed hard, but the murk managed to cushion my descent some.
"Aaaaaaaaah—OOF!" The Flash fell and gripped onto a buildingside with his stretching hand at the last second. He panted and struggled to pull himself up.
I gave him a hand, wincing….
PFTOOOOOOOSSSH!
We both glanced back.
"What in the—"
BOOOOM!
A missile exploded directly beneath us.
"Yaaaaaugh!"
The Flash and I flailed through the air from the concussion and landed painfully across the rooftop.
Wham!
WH-WHAM!
I winced….struggled up to my feet.
I looked over and gasped.
Flash was draped over an a/c unit. Groaning. Out for the count.
I ran halfway towards him….but slowly stopped as if molasses was oozing over my feet.
For….
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSSSH!
The HIND hovered menacingly alongside the shatter, smoking rooftop.
In slow motion, I watched its rotary blades beat the air before me.
Its payload readied a new pair of rockets.
The pilots inside the cockpit bubbles rushed their hands over the control and targeted us.
"…………," my eyes twitched as I directly faced the fateful helicopter.
I felt a sudden…overwhelming sensation of dizziness.
I shook my head….glanced aside….and suddenly realized that Jericho was standing right beside me.
In the flesh.
Joey?
The little blonde was staring straight at the helicopter.
Fists clenched.
Green eyes thin.
And……
He ran.
I gasped.
Joey!
Jericho charged the HIND dead-on. His feet were drowned out by the slicing thunder in the air. He huffed…puffed….streaked towards the rooftop's ledge……and jumped clean off.
I screamed mutely and stretched a hand out towards the impossibly far-away boy.
He flew through the air in his massive leap.
Teeth clenched.
Eyes narrow….searching….
As his body….
As his body sailed towards the slicing rotary blades of the massive HIND.
FWOOSH!-FWOOSH!-FWOOSH!-FWOOSH!-FWOOSH!-FWOOSH!
My jaw dropped.
My heart skipped a beat.
The pilots inside the cockpit bubbles stared….stared….
Jericho's eyes pulsed.
And just as he flew into the shredding blades—
FLASSSH!
He disappeared.
"……………………….," I stirred where I stood.
The HIND hovered there—seemingly numb—for a good few seconds.
Then….
The pilot in the lower cockpit bubble suddenly flung his hands to an offset array of controls.
ZZZZZTT!
Sparks flew blue and bright in the top cockpit bubble.
The second pilot inside shook and screamed….and slumped silent.
"……….?" I craned my neck. I stepped curiously….numbly towards the thunderous aircraft.
I lowered my shades and gazed with naked black eyes towards the HIND. The noise and chaos of war echoed behind me.
The HIND uprighted itself. The payload retracted. Inside the front cockpit bubble, the pilot's hands went to work on the controls. He then gazed out at me.
I gazed back at him.
…………
His gloved hand lifted and performed a symbol that even I could see through the tint of the cockpit bubble.
'J'.
I smiled…..I smiled wide.
The pilot waved, signaled again, and pulled at the controls.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOSSSH!
The HIND took off, twirled about, and zoomed off towards the distance with 'Jericho' inside.
And I stared at it…..breathless.
Gazing……
And as soon as the HIND hovered off behind a stretch of buildings to the North, Jericho was gone.
I took a deep breath.
Frozen still….for a reason I didn't quite know.
I took a breath, twirled around, and helped support the Flash who was groaningly getting back onto his feet.
"Mrmmm….nngh…d-did we defeat the hordes of Satan y-yet?"
I smirked somewhat. While letting the speedster lean on me, I fingered my communicator and sent a morse code message to…..
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
….Cyborg.
VRMMMMMM!
"I'm getting a message!" Cyborg said as his red eye lit up. He took his right hand off the jeep's wheel and held out the liquid crystal console in his titanium forearm for the passenger-seat soldier to read. "Quick! Tell me what does it say!"
She squinted and read the digitized translation of the morse code text. "It's saying that……that a 'Jericho' is inside one of Dagger's helicopters north of the Crunch…."
"What in blazes does that mean?" Lieutenant Smith raised an eyebrow.
Cyborg smiled and drove again with two hands on the wheel. "It means that we've got one more set of helping hands in the air. Can somebody patch that message through to Calvin or something? No need for the good guys to shoot down the wrong bird."
"On it!" the soldier operated her communicator.
Smith leaned forward. "I'm surprised there has been little resistance in this part of Town! I guess Dagger really DID lose his forces to the relocation at the Crunch!"
Cyborg squinted. He slowed the jeep some. "Hold that thought, Smith. I think we just found the War again."
The combat vehicle and its halo of motorcyclists zeroed in on an intersection where a group of soldiers huddled behind an overturned jeep…sheltering themselves from flashes and bolts of energy…
All sailing forth from the gun turrets lining the shielded entrance of Phaser Labs.
ZAAAP!
FL-FLASH!
ZAP!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Over the edge of the Bay….
PHOOOOOOOOOSSSSSH!
The twin missiles soared towards the buildings lining the Northern Shore.
Starfire zoomed faster and faster after them.
Straining.
She launched starbolts a few last, meager times at the accelerated rockets.
FL-FLASH!
FLASH!
They bounced off the serrated wings.
The rockets soared on, unhindered.
Starfire gritted her teeth and pushed….pushed….pushed herself forward through the beating air.
Her body flickered and glowed a trailing green….like an emerald fire in and of itself.
She stretched a hand out…reaching….grabbing for the rearmost of the two rockets.
PHOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSH!
She growled….grunted….strained….
Her hands inched closer…..embracing the metal beyond the flame.
Her brow sweat….then flattened into a sheen from the rushing cold air.
The world was a blur.
The waves below a distant roar.
The buildings up ahead….deafening…..deafening….
"Nnnnnnnnghhh-YaaaaAAUGH!"
Starfire's legs seemed to burst aflame as she thrust forward and—
CLAMP!
Her hand grabbed around the metal body of the rear rocket.
She gasped and swung her lower legs down, up and around.
CL-CLUTCH!
She hugged the rocket….panting….
A breath.
…..
"NYAAAAAUGH!" she vaulted off the rear rocket, used its acceleration to shoot her body forward, and launched herself at the frontmost rocket.
CL-CLUTCH!
She grabbed onto it…hanging from her forearms with her lower body dangling and flailing wildly.
She gritted her teeth, tossed her whipping flame of hair, and glared at the second rocket behind her. Her Tamaranian eyes narrowed…flickered….and—
FLAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAASSSSH!
Two optic beams ate thickly into the metal body of the projectile.
BOOOOOM!.!.!.!
"Nnngh!" she jolted from the concussion for but a moment.
Then…panting….firing up more green energy…..
She twirled her body up and around the rocket….
And practically rode it as she gripped its wings and lifted….lifted….lifted with all her might.
"Nnnnnnnnghhhh!.!.!.!.!"
She pulled the accelerated path of the rocket upwards so that it lifted slowly…..agonizingly above the level of the building rooftops across the way.
PHOOOOOOOSSSH!
She soared madly into the air….zooming over the gray and gold madness of the City.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
TWNGG!
TW-TWNGG!
Green Arrow launched a trio of air-splitting projectiles at terrorists lining the rooftop's edge.
CL-CL-CLACK! Guns were smacked out of their grasp.
"HAAUGH!" Black Canary dove in, kicked one thug off the building's edge ("Aaaugh!") and slammed her feet into the other two…pummeling them.
Catwoman flipped and cartwheeled towards a thick group of gunmen, twirled with her whip spinning and lashing about, and slammed skulls into each other while tripping the legs out beneath crooks on the side.
THWP!-THWPP!-THWPP!-WHAP!
Batman and Robin leapt and jump-kicked a pair of thugs besides a stairwell in perfect precision.
Th-THWACK!
Batman charged into a pair of thugs with assault rifles, rammed his shoulder into them, and spun with a high-flying kick across two crowns at once. TH-THWACCK!
Robin twirled his bo-staff, slammed it into the gut of a terrorist or two, and crushed the foot of a creep trying to stab him from behind with a knife. CRACK!
Bodies hit the floor of the roof…groaning in pain.
Batman and Robin stood back to back….panting….
TH-THWP! Pl-Plant!
They both looked over.
I landed in a settling vapor of murk. The Flash leaning on my shoulder.
I nodded at the two, panting, and helped Flash over to an A/C unit to rest up against.
"Good job, Noir…..," Robin said. He panted and raised and eyebrow above his eyemask. "….er….whatever it is you've been doing, I'm sure it's been kick ass. So 'good job'."
I smirked.
Robin spun. "Are we done here? I think that's the last of them!"
Batman gazed at the rooftops beyond, where Green Arrow and Black Canary were diving down upon a remaining group of grenadiers. Catwoman soon joined them.
"The rooftops may be cleared. Now would be a good time to go down and personally give Calvin's forces some cover."
"They're on the retreat!" Robin pointed. "I've been minding the battle in the streets out of the corners of my eyes. Calvin's men are heading back West and East! Superman and Green Lantern can't handle the crunch on their own!"
"We can only do so much, Robin…," Batman growled. "Stop thinking we can be more than human…"
Robin frowned, his fists clenched. "I am NOT thinking that! Why don't you get your head out of the damn cave for once?"
Phooooooooom!
The three of us froze.
I craned my neck….ear pricked at the sound of a distant rushing sound.
"What in the--?" Robin began.
He turned around.
He gazed up--
PHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSH!.!.!.!
In a green streak…..
Starfire and the rocket soared directly overhead.
And Robin's mouth exploded in a huge gasp. He ran towards the edge of the rooftop….gazing north as the Tamaranian rocketed by.
"STARFIRE!.!.!.!"
I panted.
"St-Starfire!" Robin waved an arm and stood up on the ledge. "Hold on! I'm here! I'm going to—"
Before the Boy Wonder could reach inside his utility belt for a grappling hook…he was tugged back by his cape.
He glanced back and shouted at Batman: "What are you DOING?"
Batman glared. "She's on her own! You can't help her, Robin!"
"Nnnngh!" Robin batted Batman's glove off his cape. "You don't understand! I need to help Starfire! I…I need to SEE STARFIRE!"
"No, Tim!" Batman shouted. "Keep your mind focused! She's dealing with a highly explosive rocket! Something that only she and her alien strength can handle!"
"But—"
"Your job is right here, Robin!" the Dark Night bellowed. "We have to assist Calvin's army and Superman! If so much as one of us leaves, the Crunch is lost! Dagger's armies will take over!"
Robin hissed: "They can burn this City to ashes for all I frickin' care! This is Starfire we're talking about!"
"You need to get your priorities straight!" Batman growled. "Leaving right now will accomplish nothing! Starfire can handle herself! For now, stick with me and then we'll—"
WHAM! My black fist flew across Batman's face.
"OOF!" the Dark Knight fell down to the rooftop. Cold.
Robin gasped.
He looked up at me. Eyemask wide.
I was panting. I gulped, looked at him, and pointed with Myrkblade in the direction Starfire flew.
'GO!'
Robin nodded. "Th-Thanks…." He turned around, dove off the buildingside, and fired a grappling hook in mid-descent.
POW! Clank!
THWOOOOSH!
I took a deep breath.
I glanced down.
"Nnnngh…." Batman was stirring. Getting up on his feet.
I simpered and cascaded a wave of smoke down my body.
Cloaking.
"Mrmmmmf….." Batman stood up. His eyeslits narrowed. He gazed around the rooftop.
But I was 'gone'.
"…………….."
A stirring.
Batman jerked to look.
The Flash was on his feet…gripping his side. He limped towards Batman….stared…..and shrugged.
"Don't look at me. I wasn't the one who smacked you good," he smirked.
"Nnngh…," Batman ran a gloved hand over his cowl.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Robin swung.
Robin soared.
At the end of his cord-length plummet, he yanked hard, retracted the grappling hook, flipped in the air, and landed in a nimble squat.
Pl-Plant!
He took a deep breath.
He got up and ran straight down the side streets.
Leading north…
He panted as he ran.
The cold of the red night drew upon him.
His black hair waved sweatily as a sheen formed over his brow.
An all-encompassing chill that stole the fire from him.
And replaced it with panic….flight….panic…..flight….
The Boy Wonder sprinted his way northward.
And his masked eyes gazed constantly upwards.
Following a distant green streak….growing more distant.
His lips pursed and his mouth fell agape with each heaving breath….
As he pressed on.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
PHOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSH!
Starfire struggled…struggled…struggled with the missile.
Her whole face tensed as she pulled up….up…..up on the flaming projectile she was riding.
Her eyes were clenched shut.
Her teeth gritting to the breaking point.
Her amber alien fingers clung wrenchingly to the metal wings of the craft.
She hissed….grunted….strained….
PH-PHOOOOO-OOOOOSSSSH!
The rocket slowly raised….
The rooftops blurring by underneath her mid-air struggle drew closer and closer.
Currents of air kicked up at her hair with each large structure she soared over.
She took a deep breath, summoned a fiery jolt of energy into her hands….and melted the wings she was gripping onto.
FLASSSSH!
The missile wobbled and veered side-to-side.
Starfire shifted back on the rocket and placed her weight to the rear.
She pulled back even harder, attempting to use her meager weight to tear the nose of the rocket upwards.
It worked…..slowly…..
With the rocket's ascent inching skywards.
"NNnnnghhh…..NN-Nnnnghhh!" Starfire grunted.
Her green eyes teared as she squinted and looked straight ahead.
She and the missile were heading straight towards a single site.
The Wayne Enterprises Building.
The huge five-letter electric sign shimmered straight in front of her.
Piercing the night.
Cold…….
Frigidly cold….for some reason.
At the moment, Starfire focused solely on tearing the missile off course.
She pulled….pulled….pulled back at the craft.
Starting to bend the metal.
Starting to twist the thing in two…
SCRKKKKTT!
PHOOOO-OOOOOSSH!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
ZAP!
Z-Z-ZAP!
The soldiers flinched behind the overturned jeep.
Cyborg drove his convoy's vehicle speedily around the intersection—SCREEEECH!—and brought it around a building corner across the way from Phaser Labs.
Smith's men speedily parked their motorcycles out of the range of the turret guns as bolts of energy flew at their general locations from the shielded labs.
Z-ZAP!
ZAP!
Z-Z-ZAP!
Cyborg jumped out of his jeep and landed on his titanium feet.
He took a breath.
"………"
He pointed out towards the intersection.
"Let's go!"
The soldier, Smith, and five police officers carried pistols and shotguns as they ran after Cyborg and ducked behind the collapsed jeep where the half-wounded soldiers huddled.
"What happened here?" Lieutenant Smith asked.
While tending to another soldier's wounded shoulder, an artillerywoman said: "We were on patrol when Phaser Labs suddenly bolted up and started firing those energy pulses at us! It's like the thing's geared for a thermonuclear war or something!"
Cyborg leaned forward. Frowning. "There was a report of some shape-shifting mud thing being here. Is that true?"
The soldier stammered: "I….I-I…"
"Is it?"
"Cyborg….please….," Smith tried to calm him.
Cyborg fumed.
The soldier gestured: "Some godawful blob of mud threw our jeep off its wheels as soon as we stopped by here! We would have gone after the thing—but that's when the shields went up and the gun turrets came out. We don't have enough firepower to take those defenses out!"
"And as a matter of fact…," officer Chapman spoke while gazing at Phaser Labs from behind the jeep. "Neither do we….."
Cyborg took a deep, heavy breath. "This isn't just some sideshow trick of Dagger's that we're dealing with….," he pointed. "This is Phaser Labs. And that means…..this all comes down to me….and my uncle."
"Cyborg, we don't know that for sure…," Smith said hoarsely. "It could be that Dagger had Matt Hagan somehow reprogram the defenses on his own. Don't rule out all hope for your Uncle."
"Oh….there's still some hope left…." CL-CLAK! Clakka-CLAK! Cyborg stood up, his right hand a sonic cannon. He snarled: "There's hope that I can still kick that lousy digital ass of his!"
"Cyborg--!"
"Y'all stay back!" and Cyborg ran out from around the jeep. "Let's see whose tech is still top-notch, old man!"
ZAP!
Z-ZAP!
ZAP!
The turrets at the front of Phaser Labs converged energy beams on the stampeding android.
Cyborg merely snarled, bitch-slapped the energy blasts away with his metal fist, and ran straight for the steel-plated doors. "RAAAAAAUGH!"
Smith, his officers, and the soldiers watched forlornly from behind the overturned jeep.
Stomp!Stomp!Stomp!Stomp!
Cyborg approached the door.
The turrets turned and glowed hotly to fire an explosive charge at him.
Cyborg gritted his teeth, pivoted, and aimed at the turret on his left.
ZAAAAP!
POW!
It exploded brilliantly.
Cyborg aimed right at another.
ZAAAAAAAAAAP!
POWWW!
Cyborg was showered with ashes and puffs of flame as he approached the steel plates, shouted at the top of his lungs, and flung his solid fists into it.
"AAAAUGH!"
WHANG!
Again.
"YAAAAUGH!"
CL-CLANG!
Again.
"RAAUGH!"
CL-CLANG!
Dents formed in the thick steel from the merciless Titan's cybernetic pummeling.
Suddenly….there was a flurry of sparks.
Cyborg panted as he realized electricity was being coursed through the metal slabs.
And—
ZZZZzztt-Zzzzt-ZZZZTTT!
"AAAA-AAAAA-AAAAAAAAAUGH!" he shook all over, screamed in electrocuted agony…..and tightened his twitching muscles. "Nnnngh……RGGGH!" He raised a fist, absorbed the waves of blue bolts, and tightened his knuckles. "Gotta g-give me more than that to 'spank' me, old MAN! HAAAAUGH!"
SWOOOOOSH-SLAM!
CRACCCCKKKKKK!
The metal shield shattered completely.
"Raaaugh!" SMASSH! CRASSH! Cyborg punched his way in through the shattered field of shrapnel. He stomped in through the glass, shrugged his arms, and upsetted the rest of the metal slabs off their foundation. "AAAAAUGH!" CRKKKK-CLANGGG!
The entrance was now a crumpled, smoking pile of twisted and mangled metal.
Cyborg….panted…..panted…panted….fumed…..and marched inside with a sonic cannon reforming.
Cl-Clak! CLAK!
"Candygram, bitch…..," he hissed.
And he went in…alone.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
In the basement of Phaser Labs….
The walls and floor shook.
Clayface gasped. Fully back to his cohesive strength, he marched out from the hanging robot arms and gazed 'skyward' as his yellow-rimmed mouth crustily uttered: "What the Hell is that?"
Simon Stone was 'looking' at a computer console and an array of security camera screens. "Hmmmmmmmmm………"
Clayface looked over. He clenched huge brown fists. "'Hmmmmm' what? Do we have intruders or what?"
"Just one intruder, Mr. Hagan," Simon Stone turned and glanced over. "My nephew……"
Clayface gasped….stumbling back. "Cy-Cyborg…."
"You seem panicky, Hagan. May I ask why?"
"Uhm…..maybe because it's CYBORG? It so happens I've worked for a full month on the girlfriend to the most pissed-off robot in the world now."
"I wouldn't be too incredibly concerned if I were you," Stone said. He gestured a holographic hand. Flickering. "You are more than a match for his combined, technological fervor. I simply suggest that you use the right amount of finesse in taking him down."
"Right…..," Clayface nodded with a heavy breath. He started sloshing his way towards the stairs that led up to the first floor. "If I've been the rust-bucket for the last five weeks….I should know how to take him out. Thanks for the pep talk, Stone. Good to have you on my side."
"…………," Stone looked over unemotionally at Hagan. "Of course you know I am rooting for my nephew."
Clayface froze at that. He glanced down at the hologram. Amber-glazed eyes thin and suspicious.
Stone gestured: "I would greatly desire him to destroy you and terminate me in the process. But—alas—that is not in line with my programming, is it?"
"………………y-yeah….."
"Do your best for Dagger, Hagan. I shall seal off the entrance to the basement labs if you can eliminate him upstairs. Use your access codes to enter this room and recharge your metamorphing abilities if need be."
"The only reason I'll be coming back, you stupid construct, will be if I have your nephew's head to put on a platter."
"……………"
WHURRRR-SCHLUMP!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
In the cabin of William B. Fox's hovercraft….
The rich young heir tapped away at his keyboard.
Eyeing the various screens that displayed the horrendous battle at hand in digital simplicity.
On his monitor for displaying the missile launches, only one red dot remained.
And it was soaring towards the Wayne Enterprises building.
"Hrmmm….a gift for Dad," Fox mused.
His brown eyes floated over towards another monitor.
A list of schematics displayed the operational ion cannon's target and trajectory and charge.
Right at the center of the City.
Fox took a deep…shuddering breath.
"Onward with the distractions…."
He prepared a keystroke to launch the third wave of missiles at the City and its enflamed heroes.
As he did so, he gazed at the communicator lying cold and quiet on his desktop.
He bit his lip.
"Please be dead…..please b-be dead already….."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
On another hovercraft to the southeast of the Bay….
A group of Daggerite terrorists marched about the on-deck instrument panels for the rocket launchers.
One looked at a blinking light on the console and said: "We're getting another command! The third volley is away!"
"Jeez….are they sure? None of these are making their target—"
"I don't think we're supposed to ask questions, pal. Let's just do what the bosses tell us."
"Right-o. Missiles loaded and ready—"
SPLOOOOSH!
A wave of water cascaded over the deck and knocked both men away from the consoles.
"Aaaaugh!"
Th-THWUMP!
They fell and rolled roughly across the deck along with the sudden wall of salt water.
Wincing…
"Nnngh!"
"The Hell?"
"Where'd that squall come from?"
"Not a squall……"
The two henchmen stood up—panting at the sound of the mysterious voice. They whipped out their pistols and looked all about.
"A tempest!"
They spun and aimed their guns to the stern.
Tempest stood….perched on the railing of the hovercraft's edge. He smirked and waved a hand. "Hello, dry bags. Nice skiff you have here…….well, not really."
"Damn…."
"One of the Titans!"
"You've chosen the wrong boat to jump, kid!" one grunted as both of the men trained their pistols on him.
He leaned his head to the side and gestured: "I'm from Atlantis, by the way. Do you know what we'd call a couple of chumps like you back home where I used to swim?"
"………"
"………..?"
Tempest winked a dark eye. "The bottom of the food chain…."
SPLOOSH! SWOOOOOOSH! A green killer whale leapt mightily out of the water, morphed into a T-Rex in mid-air, and soared down at the two puny Daggerites.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWRRR!"
"Aaaaaaaah!"
"Aaaaa-aaaaaugh!"
CRUSSSSH!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
At the Crunch…
Superman and Green Lantern smashed through golems and large giants stomping through Downtown.
Batman and Catwoman descended to the streets—one building at a time—smashing thugs' and snipers' faces in.
Black Canary and Green Arrow ran down a sidewalk…skewering and pummeling gunmen and Daggerites in Hummers.
The Flash dashed in and around golems, disorienting them for Calvin's slowly receding tanks to blast away while making a distance between the military front and the never-ending waves of rock monsters.
I was gliding down various buildingsides and launching myself at mounted gunmen in hummers, slicing their weapons apart and murkingly knocking them to the ground.
Somewhere high and above, Steel and Wonder Woman were soaring back over the Bay to stop any further waves of missiles.
And the streets ran red.
And the sky was red.
And the pulsing arteries in our eyes pulsed red.
Except in mine.
I twitched in the middle of dodging bullets and gasped.
For something in the corner of my optics pulsed a burning-bright white.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
At the Bayside Plaza…
Jeeps were rushing wounded back from the Crunch.
The MASH was swinging in full gear, tending to the injured.
Nurses rushing around.
Moaning….sobbing….howling voices lingering sickly between the tanks.
Physicians struggling to form a triage.
The night of red hanging coldly all over….
In the tent where they were treating Raven….
A close ring of military doctors worked together. Patiently. Delicately.
"She's pulling through….she should be just fine…."
"I swear….it's as if her body's helping us treat her. I've never seen anything like it."
"Well, it's a good thing. If it weren't for her healing, I'm afraid her injuries would be beyond us."
"Let's finish the job."
"I'm right with you……"
Raven's face rested still….silent….
Under a mask.
Her eyes gently shut.
…..
And then a gray light flickered eerily beneath the soft lids…..
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Hckkkk-clik-clik-clik-snkkkkt……..Snkkt….snkkt-clik-clik-HCKKK!"
The air streams with red.
Crimson currents vaporously drift around the summit of the Wayne Enterprises building.
The red clouds descend and splash off the incoming comet of the girl and her runaway rocket.
It pulses around her.
Eating
into her amber skin and screaming out the far corners.
Billowing like a flag…a cape.
Engulfing.
Swallowing.
"Hckk-Clikkkkktt….clik-clik-clik-snkkkt……."
She soars towards the building.
Pulling back desperately at the missile.
With the last of her strength.
Growling……
"Nnnnnngh—"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"—NNNGHHH!"
Starfire growled.
Howled.
Screamed—
"YAAAAAAAAAH!"
CRACCK!
A chunk of the missile's metal exoskeleton flew off.
The alien girl yanked back, flipped off the craft, and kicked-it up with a mighty Tamaranian foot into the air.
CLANK!
SWISSSSSH-THWISH!THWISH!THWISH!THWISH!
The rocket twirled high up….up….up….
A spark.
A twirling.
A puff of smoke—
BOOOOOOOM!.!.!.!.!.!
The back end of the missile exploded.
Starfire let out a cry and plummeted towards the Wayne Enterprises Skyscraper below…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The spiraling, battered missile arced over the City.
It spun westward.
Over the parcs.
Over the suburbs.
Past the University….
And finally plummeted….
Smoking…..
Ash-sparking….
Towards the east shore of the river that swam into the Bay….
…..and the cemetery that stood coldly on the elevated banks of the water.
SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISSSSH!
The missile spiraled down, shorted out, and plowed straight through a tall granite statue.
The monument to 'Robin'.
P-PLOWWW
KABOOOM!.!.!.!.!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Starfire fell hard on the rooftop of the Wayne Skyscraper.
THWUMP!
She rolled under a shower of ashes and bumped into the huge 'W'. Thrump! "Nnnngh……" She lied there….panting…..panting….
Shuddering…..
Alone.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Robin ran.
Panting.
Through the streets of the City.
The rubble.
The ashes.
The bodies….
'……I love you, Robin.'
His cape billowed.
His limbs strained.
He panted….panted….panted….
'I love you so……'
His masked eyes gazed upwards.
Eyeing the skyscrapers.
Searching….
Searching……..
'And there is nothing in this world…no power so great in the cosmos…'
Searching………..
Hyperventilating……..
Freezing……
'…..no distance too huge in the universe…'
He ran past an intersection.
Lungs heaving.
He gulped and murmured in mid-spring.
'……that could ever keep me from loving you and adoring you.'
"Starfire…….."
He looked straight up.
The red sky.
Dominating.
"Starfire…wh-where are you?"
Alone in the tortured City.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Hckkkkk-Clik-Clik-Clik-Clik……"
Just below.
At the base of the huge 'W'.
She lies on the ground.
Tired.
Breathless.
Struggling
to get up.
Ashes litter around her.
A halo of crimson.
Her body pulses red.
Throbbing.
Enflamed.
"Hckkkk-Snkkkkt….clik-clik-SNKKKT!"
"Ugh…mmmf……X'Hal……"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Starfire sat up.
Rubbing her head.
"X'Hal……"
She glanced out.
Green eyes thin.
The Crunch shimmered a bright gold in the distance.
The Bay beyond glittered with red.
The queerest haunt of color this peculiar planet had ever shown her……
And it made her shudder to the bone.
"Friends…..I-I fear for you…."
She swallowed.
Limbs shaking, she stood up.
She walked a few steps to the rooftop's ledge….
But she stopped.
For she was taken back by the vapors and mist coming out her own lips.
Cold.
Red.
"…………"
"Hckkk…..clik-clik-snkkkt……"
Her green eyes twitched.
"Huh?"
And Starfire turned around.
And Starfire looked up.
And his one eye pulsed a stinging RED down at her.
Starfire gasped: "Slade--?.!."
CHIIIIING!
FWOOOOOOSSSSH!
Red Aviary blurred down at her.
Sword flying—
SLASSSSSH!
A solid tear formed in Starfire's pink shirt. The sword cut a thin green line over the top of her breasts.
"AAAAAAAA-AAAH!" Starfire shrieked and hugged herself in pain.
TH-THWOOSH!
PL-PLANT! Deathstroke landed behind her. "Hckkkk-SNKKKT!" He twirled his blade and slammed the flat metal of it against the back of her skull.
WHACCK!
"Nnnngh!" Starfire flew down and plowed face-first with her head against the grating rooftop.
THW-THW-THW-THWISSSH! Deathstroke spun his blade.
Starfire rolled over, face up. Bleeding green over her chest.
She gasped.
"Snkkkt….sssscream, girrrrl……," Slade shook and hissed. Red vapors poured out of his cowl's mouth slits. "Scccream into the colddd nightt—snkkkt! HAAAAUCHKKKT!"
And he brought his blade singing down at her center.
Starfire flinched, hands shooting up in burning bolts of green—
CHIIIIIIIII-IIIIIIIIING!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Robin gasped.
He nearly collapsed…leaning against a lamppost in some abandoned street in the City.
He panted….panted…
A hand over his petite chest.
He looked up….
Lips quivering.
Eyemask thin.
"…………."
'I love you so……'
One limp.
Two.
He was running into the red again….