These Black Eyes

by P0ST

The ongoing adventures and experiences of the Teen Titans, as witnessed through the eyes of a silent newcomer.

262. Break the Circle part 22

262. Break the Circle part 22

"NOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!"

Robin screamed.

"HcKKKTT!" Deathstroke twirled to face the Boy Wonder. Shotgun smoking from the barrel. He pumped it, dropping two shells.

They rained down to where Starfire's corpse lay with her skull blotched in ash and smoke….

In a sneer, Robin hopped down towards the rooftop. His bo-staff extended in mid-descent. Snkkkt! "SLADE!.!.!.!.!.!"

Deathstroke reloaded his weapon.

Robin landed in a squat, breathlessly hopped to his feet, and blurred at Deathstroke….staff-spinning.

Deathstroke fired—

BL-BLAM!.!.!

"YAAAAUGH!" Robin screamed, twirled his staff, and somehow deflected the spray of lead shot as he charged into Slade. CL-CLANG!

"SNCKKKT!" Deathstroke raised his shotgun horizontally.

SWOOOOOSH-CLANG!.!.! Robin's staff flew down and splashed sparks against Red Aviary's shotgun.

They struggled and stared each other down. Robin's nose tilted up and breathed in the red vapors pouring out of Deathstroke's mouth.

"Snkktt-Clik-Clik-HCKK! I'm sorry Robin…..was she important to you?"

"Nnnnnnnn—" Robin howled ---nnnnNNNNRAAAAAUGHH!.!.!" He shoved against Slade and started jabbing, slashing, lunging with his bo-staff faster than the average human eye could register.

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISSSH!

Slade deflected the first few lunges with his shotgun. He shot his leg out—THAP!—kicked Robin back, spun, holstered his shotgun and unsheathed his sword bare seconds apart—CHIIIIING-CLANG!

Robin and Deathstroke clashed. Staff against sword. In the center of the 'WAYNE' Enterprises rooftop.

"Nnnngh….Nnn-Nnnnghh!" Robin hissed through clenched teeth as he pressed his weight into Slade.

"Hckkkk-Clik-Clik-Clik-Snkkkt….," Deathstroke leaned forward. Sneering: "You killlled her, Robin…..by nottt being therrrre for her."

Robin's eyes twitched under his mask. His whole face shook and winced as he struggled….

"Snkkkktt…..jusssst as she was never therrrrre for you…..," Red Aviary's red eye narrowed. "……and never will be again."

Robin's face and body froze for the one and a half seconds it took for something to snap inside of him and—

"RAAAAAUGH!" He shot his leg out and slammed it with meteor-weight into Slade's red-smoking kneecap.

CRUNCH!

"HCKKKT!"

"YAAAH!" Robin pivoted and slammed the end of his bo-staff across Deathstroke's cheek.

WHACK!

And the Boy Wonder followed it up with an uppercut with his foot flying up Slade's chin—WHACK!—and a descending, three-hundred-and-sixty degree slam of his staff into Slade's ribcage.

THWACKKKK!

"HCkkkt!" Deathstroke stumbled back.

POW!

A grappling hook fired—

SPLORCCH!

--flew through Deathstroke's chest—

CHTUNK!

--and stuck—anchored—in place at his back.

Slade lurched all over, nearly dropping his sword.

Robin retracted his grappling hook, flew in a jump kick with the cord, and slammed his foot into Deathstroke's skewered, smoking body.

THWWWWPPPPPP!--WHAM!

Red Aviary fell back, tumbled, and rolled to a stop beneath the huge 'N' of the Wayne Building.

"RAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAUGHHH!.!.!.!.!.!" Robin screamed, pulled out two explosive discs in each hand, and flung all four murderously at Deathstroke's body.

SWISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!.!.!.!

The projectiles spun, spiraled and converged along their speedy track straight into Deathstroke just as he was getting up---

POWWWWWWW!.!.!.!.!.!.!

The rooftop shook under a plume of fire and plasma. The huge 'N' wobbled, groaned, and fell over…crushing Slade in the flames.

THWOMMMMPPPP!.!.!

Smoke.

Ash.

Billowing….Billowing….

Robin stood before it.

Panting….panting….

Breathless.

…

Slowly…the hard lines in his face faded.

His frown melted into a gaping gasp of despair.

Cl-Clank!

He dropped his bo-staff…

He brought two shaking….quivering hands up to his head.

He gripped at his hair.

He hunched over.

He clenched his eyes shut under his mask.

He shook.

He shivered.

A choke escaped him.

A hissing breath….

….laced with a thirteen-year old…..four-year old whimper.

The smoke was gray. Like a wintry afternoon swallowing him day in and day out in the dark gray streets of Gotham.

He turned around.

Eyes weak.

Jaw numb.

"……………."

He gazed at what was left of her.

Her angelic body.

Strong and stone-abled.

Now limp as a rag.

Under a halo of gunsmoke….

"N-No………"

Robin hobbled….

Robin limped…..

Robin staggered over to where the ragdoll corpse lay.

The amber skin exposed under shredded garments.

The green blood hardening…hardening…

…..

Robin's lips quivered.

He fell to his knees before her…

Arms outstretched…..limp….

Wanting to embrace…wanting to drop…wanting to fly away and hit the ground at the same time.

"No………St-Starfire………"

Robin sniffed.

His curved eyemask formed ripples as wet tears struggled against the fabric and squeezed out.

He shuffled over….

Hyperventilating.

Choking.

"God, no……I'm so sorry……I'm so sorry……"

He reached a shaking glove to her.

Touched her cold shoulder.

And turned her over.

"I'm sorr—"

……

Robin gasped. His eyemask exploded wide.

Starfire was breathing.

Starfire was wincing…stirring….

Starfire's entire skull was in tact. Her raised eyebrows. Her red fountain of hair. Her soft voice escaping-returning….breathily….

Robin panted. He shivered and gasped: "H-How…….but……?" he gulped. Caught somewhere in between joy and confusion…..

He looked closer. "……"

An absolutely perfect crater of shotgun pellets had formed around Starfire's head. It was like every piece of lead shot decided at the last second to avoid the Tamaranian's skull and skin and instead hit the rooftop all around her skull in perfect avoidance.

"That's….that's impossible….," Robin exhaled. "Th-Th-That….." And then he froze.

For there was a haze of pink light rising from the ashes of the shotgun crater. Pink….bright and pulsing.

Robin blinked.

A bulky shadow suddenly crossed over him.

Robin gasped. He looked up.

"…….!"

Terra had arrived. And standing with her atop the huge clump of Kansas earth was Supergirl, Pulsade…….and Jinx with a frilled hand outstretched…..

……pink…..and pulsing fate-bending hex…..

"Save the applause for later, Mr. Titan cavalier," Jinx smiled. Her eyes a hot fuchsia. "Things just got hotter."

Robin did a double-take. "J-Jinx? Supergirl?" A beat. He squinted his eyemask. "T-Terra?"

The earth maiden bit her lip.

"One thing at a time, Robin," Supergirl stood at the edge of the rock. "Now where is that red-farting piece of shit?"

As if on cue….

"HRAAAUCHKTT!" The collapsed 'N' behind Robin's shoulders exploded and shattered into hundreds of glass and steel shards. Red Aviary stood up, flexing his limbs and pulsing a burning red. "HCKKKKK! Clik-Clik-CLIKKKT!"

Robin spun. He gave Slade a look….one filled with sudden, inescapable horror. He instantly flung his arms around Starfire's limp body and held her with his back facing the burning fiend first—

"Snkkkt!" Deathstroke picked up his smoking red blade, twirled it—THW-THWISSSH!—and charged towards Robin and Starfire….swinging to chop both of their heads off. "Death…..Hckkkkt—YOU SHALL ONLY BE TOGETHERRRR IN DEATH!"

SWOOOOOOSSSSH-WHAM! Supergirl was suddenly slamming her fist into the charging Reaper.

TH-TH-THWUMP! Slade rolled and stumbled back several feet across the rooftop.

Supergirl hovered and shouted: "Get a girlfriend, bozo!"

Th-Thwp! Th-Th-Thwp!

Jinx and Pulsade leapt down from the hovering rock in coordinated grace.

Jinx flipped and cartwheeled.

Pulsade whipped out two uzzis.

Jinx struck a pose with her hands burning hex blades of pink. FL-FLASSH! She Cheshire-Catted: "Stick with me, Leslie. I don't want you dying on me now. It isn't sexy that way."

"Nnnngh….," Pulsade groaned…frowning at the recovering Deathstroke. "Less mush and more murdering…."

"Hckkkt….SNKKT!" Deathstroke stood up…twitching….billowing red. "Ladiessss….this is nottttt your war…."

"Bloody checks and balances, Red Aviary," Pulsade hissed.

Supergirl walked ahead of the throng of three. Frowning. She got into a fighting stance and sneered: "I've got the ugly one." SWOOOOOSSH! She soared at Deathstroke. "RRRRRGHHH!"

Jinx and Pulsade let out cries and went charging after the Girl of Steel.

FL-FLASH! "HAAA!" FLASH!

RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

…

In the meantime, Robin was holding Starfire.

He shivered and shook with each jolt and quake of the battle behind him.

He sniffed….felt the tears running down from his eyemask….and shakingly cradled the unconscious Tamaranian in his arms.

His gloved hands ran through her red locks as he nuzzled his cheek against her forehead……gently breathing. Absorbing….Absorbing….

….Starfire breathed gently.

Unconscious.

Not registering the Boy Wonder.

Or perhaps she was….

…

"………," atop her hovering rock, Terra stared at Robin and Starfire's reunion. The heroes entwined. The warmth….the tears…..the heated silence. "…….." Terra took a sharp, painful breath. She stared at the battle.

Deathstroke twirling and parrying various attacks with his sword……

Supergirl went plunging in, fists first. Jinx leapt and hopped around, flinging hex. Pulsade kept her distance and fired semi-automatic rounds.

"…………..," Terra's vision rested on Deathstroke…….and she shivered.

Bedrock cold.

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

SWOOOSH-SMACK!

Batman landed his flying jump kick into a terrorist's chest.

He jumped atop an abandoned hummer of Dagger's, dropped an exploding batarang in the driver's compartment, and leapt off as—

POWWW!.!.!.!

The vehicle exploded behind him.

The Flash streaked by, gathered the flames and smoke of the vehicle with his momentum, and 'carried' the plasma over to a cluster of terrorist gunmen attempting to fire on a contingent of soldiers flanking a tank.

The tank pivoted and shot its turret at the building front above the obscured crowd of gunmen. BL-BLAM! POWW! The buildingfront collapsed and buried them.

A line of golems marched through the sudden debris and started flinging burning lava pellets at the tanks and thick army.

CRKKKK! CRKKKK-KKK!

One tank melted from the punishment.

Soldiers ran as the golems charged at them.

FLASSSSH!

Green Lantern suddenly streaked over their burning crowns, sweeping his emerald energy and sending the thermal bodies sprawling everywhere.

As Green Lantern flew by, a trio of snipers gathered on a corner rooftop and pointed at him before taking aim with their rifles—

TWNG!

An exploding charge flew up from Green Arrow on a distant street corner.

POWWW!

The rooftop exploded, forcing the men to drop their rifles and fly back from the concussion blast.

They groaned and tried getting up—

TH-THWPPP!

A leather whip snagged around their ankles and—one by one—slammed them into buildingsides.

WHAP!

WHAM!

Catwoman cartwheeled onto the rooftop, kicked the last thug unconscious, purred, stared smilingly out onto the street, and randomly leapt over—

THWOOOSH!

A terrorist jeep sped through a street full of wounded soldiers, taking pot-shots at the Army.

RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

--FW-FWOOSH! Catwoman landed on the hood of the jeep, smirked, and smashed her fist through the windshield with her razor-sharp fingers first.

SHATTTERRR!

The drivers inside shouted and swerved like mad.

Catwoman nimbly leapt off as the jeep twirled, rolled and slammed hard into the leg of a giant golem—exploding.

P-POWWWW!

The giant barely budged from the explosion. It was busy stomping around and attempting to squash an agile Black Canary with its burning limbs.

TH-THWP! THWP! The blonde vixen leapt and hopped from sidewalk to overturned tank to rubble heap. She grunted and dove as the giant golem's foot smashed into the earth where she was previously positioned—

SLAMMM!

CRKKKKK-KKKK!

Black Canary rolled on the ground and came to a sliding stop—crouched besides a burning hummer. She glanced at her side. A loaded terrorist bazooka was lying on the ground.

She looked back at the monster.

CRKKKK!

The five-story behemoth swung its fist down at her.

She jumped to the side—SMASSH!—avoided the blow and stood directly above the bazooka on the ground. She raised her fists and sneered up at the giant as if about to fight….

The huge, burning colossus rumbled and flew its flickering, golden heel down to squash her.

Black Canary swiftly backflipped—

CRUNCH!-POWWW! The leg of the beast exploded upon contact with the bazooka. The explosion flew murderously up into the lower limb of the beast and shattered it from the inside out.

The beast stumbled…flailed…and began to teeter over as Black Canary watched.

SWOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSH! "RAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!" Superman soared at mach five into the belly of the beast, fist flying.

WHAM!

The monster slid back, slammed through two commercial buildings, and collapsed hard on the ground.

Superman flew down, landed in its chest, and started pummeling the monstrosity senseless with fists of burning steel. SLAM! WHAM! WHAM! POW!

Across the street…atop a spared building….

I stood.

Billowing smoke.

Holding Myrkblade, which still flickered and dripped haze from a frenzied charge through the lines of war.

I panted….panted…….and swallowed.

I looked around at me.

The Crunch, surrounding…

The war that we were losing…winning…losing…winning….

This isn't where the real battle is being fought.

I shuddered.

I looked up in the air. Perhaps trying to see Jericho on a wing. Perhaps wanting to wake up.

Perhaps….

Ana……where is he?

Where is Red Aviary?

Can Robin really take him alone?

Or maybe that's not the real issue here………

I took a deep breath.

I turned and gazed northward…

Then shut my black eyes.

I took a deep breath.

Zoned out the chaos and deafening noise of war.

And concentrated….

Concentrated………….

……….

…………

…………….

There, Ana.

The red.

I reopened my black optics.

Slowly.

A cold….knowing breath….

He is being engaged.

"……….."

I took a deep breath….twirled Myrkblade…and blurred smokingly through the war torn streets in a straight line.

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

"HAAA!" FL-FL-FLASSSH! A flurry of hex bolts swarmed into Red Aviary's frame.

Slade twirled, spun his sword, and ended with an uncoiling lunge of his double-edged sword towards Jinx. "HCKKKT!"

The pink-haired sorceress gasped, hand-stood, and leapt out of the way of the slicing blade. SLASSSH!

Sparks flew.

Slade teetered.

Cl-Clik! Pulsade dove sideways, slid across the Wayne Enterprises rooftop, and fired a heavy stream of uzi lead into the cretin's chest. RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

FLASH!Slade morphed in and out of red clouds in the shape of his gnarled body. After a wave of Pulsade's bulletfire ended, he solidified with a hiss—"SNKKKT!"—and flung his sword forward in a menacing slash that divided the streaking projectiles and sent them flying hotly back towards the blonde assassin.

Pulsade gritted her teeth and dove aside, her legs barely rolling out of the way of the hot lead.

Jinx slid back into view, scrunched her body into a crouch, and burst towards Slade with two wrist-blades of hex stabbing. CHIIIIING! "HAAAA!"

Slade blocked horizontally. CL-CLANG! He breathed vapors down into the nimble witch, slammed his knee up into her chest, grabbed her by the shoulder, spun, and flung her across the roof towards her partner. THWOOOOSH!

"AACKIES!" Jinx flailed and slammed into Pulsade. WH-WHUMP! "Ooof!"

"Ugh!"

SWOOOOOSSH! Supergirl soared over the two's ragdoll bodies with a titanium fist sailing into Slade's cowl. "RRRGHH!" WHAM!.!.!

"AUUGHKKT!" Deathstroke soared backwards from the mighty blow and smashed directly into the 'Y' of the 'WAYNE' signs. CRASSSH! The neon fixture crumpled and fell on top of the undead despot. Sparks scattered and shards flew. ZZZT! ZZZ-ZZZT!

…

Atop her rock, Terra winced.

She was overcome with a chilling coldness.

Something frigid and terrifying that laced the sound and sight of Slade in every dimension.

She trembled….keeping her distance.

Staying aloft on the stone.

Not moving an inch…

…

Supergirl hovered in place. Her hair and cape billowing in the chaotic, high winds. She frowned…clenched her fists by her side…and glared her eyes hotly at the site where Slade had collapsed.

Pulsade got up.

Jinx got up.

And Slade….

"HRAAAAUCHKKKTT!" SL-SL-SLASSSH! Red Aviary sliced his way out from the pile of glass and light fixture. He twirled his red-streaking sword and exhaled vapors of murderous red.

Supergirl gritted her teeth. Her constantly glaring eyes burned an amber red.

Pulsade's eyes glowed a bright white heat as she raised her hands and concentrated light particles.

Jinx meditated and coursed pink hex through her wrists.

"NNNSKKKT—DRAAAUCHKKKT!" Deathstroke charged.

"Nnnnngh!" Supergirl hissed and fired her heat ray. ZAAAAAA-AAAAAA-AAAAAP!

Pulsade grunted and let loose two concentrated light beams from her fingers. VRIIIIIIIIIIIII-IIIIIIIIII!

Jinx shouted and threw volley upon volley of hex bolts. "HAAAAAA-HAAAA!" FLASH! FL-FLASSSH! FLASSSH!

Slade's charge was cut short as all three lines of orange, white, and pink converged on him in a huge, strobing flame ball.

FWOOOOOOOMBBB!.!.!

The center of Wayne Corp's rooftop erupted.

VROMMMMMM!.!.!.!.!

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

A pulse of light screamed skyward, highlighting the red in the air.

A beacon formed unnaturally atop the skyscraper…visible all throughout the City and the Battle raging across it.

Those fighting hand-to-hand in the Crunch gasped and even paused to gaze northward…..squinting….

Superman and Green Lantern hovered in place, shading their eyes.

Batman and Catwoman gazed with thin optics under their mask.

Green Arrow and Black Canary gasped, while the Flash stumbled.

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

"I don't get it….," Wonder Woman murmured as she and Steel flew over the waters of the Bay. "Where are the missiles?"

Steel pointed towards the shore behind them with a shout: "Look!"

Wonder Woman spun. Her eyes squinted. "Great Hera…..!"

The summit of Wayne Enterprises was burning. Like some fiery bulb atop a pale lighthouse in a world of endless red.

The breath left the Amazonian and the Metropolitan.

They lingered above the Bay…

….above the concealed hovercraft.

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

"Whoah…..," a thug on the front deck of a missile-bearing hovercraft in the Bay murmured as he gazed-wide eyed-at the burning spectacle beyond.

"Eric! ERIC!"

The thug winced. He glared over his shoulder. "What, Steve?"

"Did you hear what I said? Two of our hovercraft have cut off their signals for some reason! This is serious! So stop staring at the god damn battle for once and mind your post!"

The thug walked back towards the cabin entrance, shrugging: "How in the world could two of our hovercrafts lose contact with us?"

"I think some creeps got 'em!"

"Impossible! Heh….we're too far away from the Crunch for anyone to noti—"

TH-THWPP! A green kangaroo leapt wetly onto the deck and slammed his mammalian legs into the square of the thug's back. WHAM!

"AUGH!" the terrorist fell down the cabin and slammed into his partner inside. "OOF!"

"Augh!"

Changeling morphed into elf form and stepped aside for Tempest to run up to the cabin entrance, summon a blob of water with his purple magic, and fling a huge torrent down into the lower spaces of the hovercraft…drowning the thugs.

"Aaaaaugh!"

"Nnnnngh-blblblblbbb!"

Changeling took a deep breath and ran around to examine the missiles.

Tempest lowered his violet-charged hands and walked after the elf. "You know the drill. I flood. You smash."

"We're not taking out these boats fast enough, dude….," Changeling muttered as he ran a hand across a loaded-and-ready rack of missiles. "There were fourteen or fifteen missiles launched with each wave, right?"

"Right…."

"So there's a bunch more where this thing came from! And any of the rest of them could fire while we're playing hide-and-seek with their amphibious siblings here!"

"They've got to be catching onto us sometime soon as well," Tempest nodded. "Maybe we can somehow distract them from launching future missile waves?"

"Heh….like that's doable," Changeling mumbled and 'sniffed' for the weak spots in the boat.

"………..," Tempest turned. He gazed at the City. At the slowly fading strobe of the bright light atop the distant Wayne Enterprises skyscraper. "…………." He smirked. "Maybe………if we robbed Dagger of a crystal clean night…."

Changeling raised a blood-stained eyebrow. "Huh?"

Tempest turned and pointed: "You think you can handle the next two or three boats on your own?"

"Yeah, man. Why not?"

"Good. I'll be back….," Tempest ran and perched on a cabin railing. He pointed west…northwest. "Titan's Island is over there, right?"

"What's left of it…," Beast Boy muttered. "….now that it's a breeding ground for those rock creeps."

"Exactly what I wanted to know."

Swooosh!

SPLOOOSH!

The Atlantean was gone.

Swimming in a flurry westward.

Chageling took a deep breath, raised his arms, turned them into meaty gorilla fists. "I'd might as well get used to this 'solo' business…."

He slammed his spliced fists into the fragile deck of the ship.

SWOOOOOSH!

CRACK!

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

Back atop Wayne Enterprises…

The light faded.

Supergirl, Jinx, and Pulsade stood around in a crescent.

Facing the ashen center where a virtual hole had been burned. Beneath where the 'Y' of the letters was….

"………………….," they all panted.

Staring.

Squinting.

Unsure……..

….

Atop Terra's levitating rock…

She squinted her blue eyes.

Blowing blonde locks obscured her vision from time to time.

Cold breaths came from her lips

As she panted….panted…panted….

Then…..

Visible vapors.

Red.

Terra gasped, her blue eyes wide.

She turned and saw—

…

--FLASH! Red Aviary materialized with a fizzle of crimson smoke…..

…..right in front of Supergirl.

"HRAAAUCHKKT!" He uppercutted her with a red-smoking blur of his fist.

SMACK!

Supergirl floated backwards…wincing…..surprised—

"SNKKKT-Clik-CLIKKT!" Slade spun and slammed the broad-side of his sword across Kara's upper shoulders.

THWACK!

The Girl of Steel twirled like a baton and went smashing through the structure of a stairwell in the rooftop's far corner.

CRUNCCCCH!

"HAAAA!" Jinx flung a sea of hex at Slade.

Deathstroke crouched and deflected the bolts with his blade soaring upwards. SLASSSSH! CL-CL-CLANG!

The hexes flew back at Jinx.

The sorceress backflipped and nimbly dodged the blows.

BL-BLAM!

Shotgun pellets exploded in the ground besides Slade.

Deathstroke spun his head around….hissing. "SnkkkkKKT!" His one red eye strobed.

Pulsade clenched her teeth, reloaded her shotgun-Ch-CHTUNG!—and fired again.

BLAM!

FWOOOSH!

Deathstroke jumped 'backwards', teleported, and then solidified….

….right behind Pulsade.

CHIIIIING! He raised his blade to cleave her shoulder in twain.

Pulsade spun. Her eyes widened. She jumped back—

SLASSSSSSH!

A red river was cut down her left rib-cage.

"NNNNGH!" the blonde assassin winced in pain and immediately tossed two grenades into Slade's face.

THWOOOSH!

He merely hissed and back-handed the explosives away with a flesh-and-metal hand. CL-CLANK!

The two grenades landed at Jinx's feet.

The sorceress gasped and dove sideways—

POWW!

"Ugh!" the concussion sent her sprawling across the rooftop.

In the meantime, Pulsade was stumbling towards the very edge….

SWOOOOSH! Slade rushed at her, blade swinging.

Pulsade bled, spun to the side, and shot a wrist out with a blinding strobe of light--

FLASSSH!

FWOOOOSH! Deathstroke teleported, wrapped around Pulsade's outstretched hand in smoke form, and solidified with a vaulting kick off her chest.

WH-WHUMP!

"Aaaaugh!" Pulsade plunged like a deadweight off the side of the towering skyscraper.

Jinx looked up in time to see her fall. Her cat-eyes dilated and she screamed with a hand outstretched: "LESLIE!"

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

Pulsade plunged down the buildingside of Wayne Enterprises.

Four floors down, she grunted and produced a curved blade which she stuck sharply into the glass and steel blurring up past her.

SNKKKKTT-SKKKKTTT!

She cut a deep ravine into the glass and metal…

….and slowed her descent to a stand-still.

She hung with a lurch….grunting….panting…

Her legs dangling over sixty stories above the streets of the City.

"Nnnngh….," she gritted her teeth and struggled with her free hand for a grip to climb her way back up.

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

Back on the rooftop…

Slade stood before the ledge. Shaking…exhaling smoke.

He turned around—

"HAAAA!" Jinx flew herself murderously at him.

He twirled his blade high. SLASSSH!

Jinx ducked---

WHAM! Slade's fist flew hard into her gut.

"SNkkkkt!" Jinx hissed…lost her breath, and crumpled to the floor.

Slade twirled his blade and prepared to stab down through the girl's spine.

Crkkkk-kkk! Supergirl pulled herself out of the collapsed stairwell. "Nnnngh…" she rubbed her blonde head. Took one look at the sword-gripping Deathstroke, and frowned. "NnnnnnNNNGH!" she flew at him in a steel-strong tackle.

WHAM!

Deathstroke's stabbing of Jinx was interrupted as he and the Girl of Steel toppled across the rooftop and ended in a slide with the two grappling.

GRIPPP! Supergirl's palms clamped mercilessly over Slade's wrists. CRKKKK!

"NKKKKTT-HCKKKK!" he shook and quivered.

Kara snarled in his face. "You're outmatched, Slade. Don't even think you can scratch me, you over-inflated genocidal creep!"

His red eyes narrowed. "Hckkkkt-clik-clik-clikktt……flesssssh is flesssssh, alien. Nothing more---" And then he leaned forward, flexed his unseen mouth under his cowl, and shrieked a huge exhalation of red vapors into Supergirl's face. "HRECKKKKKKK-KKKKKTTTT!"

Supergirl inhaled the frigid, deadly crimson. Her eyes froze over like glass cataracts. She coughed, sputtered, wheezed…..and stumbled back on her feet. Gripping her throat. Pale—

"HRAAAUKKKT!"

TH-THWISSSSH!

Slade's sword slashed at her, ripped her yellow cape in two, sliced off a few locks of blonde hair, and ended with the sword slamming—with a full fan of red intensity—square into Supergirl's forehead.

SLAAAA-AAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH-CRACCCCKKKK!

A spherical explosion of red mist and vapor echoed from the contact.

Jinx shuddered.

Robin hugged Starfire all the more…shaking.

….

"Kara!" Terra shouted.

Blue eyes wide.

Staring….breathless from above.

"………"

…

The sword didn't slice through the Argosian's skin.

Not even in the least.

But as the sword rested against her friction-hot forehead, the wide-eyed and dazed Supergirl could only shudder as waves of warbling red pulsed coldly through her frame.

Her legs buckled.

Her arms shook.

As with a seizure, she shook….quivered….rolled her blue eyes back….

And began her long collapse into unconsciousness—

--that is, until Deathstroke batted her off the buildingside with a side-swipe of his sword.

SWOOOOOSH!

"HCKKKKKT!"

SLAM!

THWOOOOSH!

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

Hanging on the buildingside….

Pulsade was starting to make some headway.

She grunted and pulled herself up, one shaking hand at a time.

Panting….she gazed up as a shadow crossed her features.

Clinging to the building face, Pulsade froze at the sight of Supergirl.

The sight of Supergirl…plummeting straight towards her….

"Oh…..bloody Hell…."

WHAM!

Both girls ragdolled into each other and fell like platinum comets down the towering building face of Wayne Enterprises.

SWOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOSH!

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

SW-SW-SW-SWOOOOSSSH!

Slade spun his sword to a stop against the rooftop. CHTINK!

"………..snkkkkt-clik-clik-clik-CLIK-HCKKKT!"

Jinx stood up on wobbly feet. Wincing. Straining to hold up a pair of pink-hexing wrists.

"Snkkkkt…….," he turned to face her. "…..snkkt…..bad…..bad…..girrrrrl…..clik-clik-clik-hckkkk….."

Jinx bit her lip. Trembling. Walking backwards from him….

"Snkkkkt….you sssshould have stayeddd put in the Omega Wing….snkkkt….hckkk!—you sssshould have tassssted sweet fire…..like ROBIN—SNKKKT—SHOULD HAVE!"

She managed a frown: "S-Sorry if I've warmed up a little to life since I stopped working for you, Slade!"

…

In the background….

Robin looked up from cradling Starfire.

His back was to the confrontation between Slade and Jinx.

He sniffed….

The tears staining his face dried as his lips and jaw tightened into an incurable frown.

His teeth grit.

He seethed….

He gently put down Starfire…..laid her gently on the rooftop…

His gloved hand lingering on her tresses……

Her injured skin…..

"…….."

He took one breath….two breaths….three….

Then….

"Nnngh!" He ran up, teeth clenched. Stomped across the rooftop. Dragged a hand down. And snatched up his bo-staff. Clank! GRIP!

…

In the meantime, Slade marched towards Jinx, his sword raised.

"You—Hckkk!—will finisssh one lasssst task for me, girrrrl. You will die….," his red eye narrowed with a soul-piercing strobe. "….and there issss….no….'WARMING UP'….from thatttt—snkkkt!"

Jinx shuddered.

Slade lunged forward with his sword—

"YAAAAAUGH!" THWACCCK! Robin plunged into Slade with his bo-staff slamming a crushing force across the Reaper's rib-cage. "RAAAAUGH!" Then—THWACK! – SMACK! – CRACK! – WHAM! – SLAM! – an endless barrage of attacks and side-swipes and jabs and crushing blows all across Deathstroke's frame. "NNNNNGH!" Robin spun, helicopter-twirled his bo-staff across Slade's skull—TH-TH-TH-TH-THWACK!—and ended with a murderous uppercut that sent Deathstroke airborne and tumbling across the length of the rooftop towards the edge. CRACKKK!

Jinx gasped…..watching with wide cat eyes.

"HCKKKKTT!" Slade spat blood and red vapors as he stumbled to his feet—

SWOOOOOSH! Robin was flying at him with a three-hundred-sixty degree spin of his staff crushing its way into Deathstroke's undead neck.

CRKKKKK!

Slade literally spun from the impact and stumbled backwards….blocking and parrying Robin's lightning-fast attacks in futility. CLACK! CL-CLANG! WHANG!

"Nnngh! Raaugh! HiYAAA! Wa-TAAA! RAAAUGH!"

…

Terra was hugging herself.

Watching from on high.

She couldn't stop trembling atop her rock.

She couldn't keep her eyes off Slade…and yet she couldn't keep her lids open.

She shuddered….and with each gasping breath something escaped her.

Like a moan or a shriek.

Partially muted….impossibly hidden….

….the anguished after-edges of a broken young girl lying battered and stained in the corner of Slade's lair…..

….bleeding from within…..

….ripped asunder….

….on fire on the inside…

….red…..red…..red….

Terra bit her lip.

She watched…staring.

And…..with each screaming blow that the Boy Wonder dealt the demon…

The iciness inside of Terra started to crumble away.

Like she was being extracted from the stone all over again.

It made her gasp….

….and it made her shudder and shake.

But in a new way.

A warm way.

It spread into her sapphire eyes and melted into a fine, liquid magma.

Burning gold.

Shimmering….hot….

White.

She gritted her teeth….fumed…..and brought her gloved hands up….

…. sliding the blue goggles firmly over her optics.

With a shine.

Flash!

…

Meanwhile—

"YAAAAUGH!" Robin flew into Slade at the rooftop edge, bo-staff sweeping up.

SWOOOOOOSH-CLANK!

This time, Slade blocked and the two combatants sneered at each other.

Mask to cowl.

"SNKKKKKKT—That'sss right, Robin….," Deathstroke hissed at the Boy Wonder. "SSSShow me the deatttth that pulssses at your fingertipsss. I ssshall enjoy spitting—snkkkt—it BACKKK OUT ATTT YOU!"

Robin snarled and pulled out a birdarang. Chiiing! "Shut up and end, shitbag!" CRUNCH! He stabbed the sharp end of the birdarang directly into the top of Slade's skull.

"HCRKKK-SNKKKTAAAAUHCKT!" Deathstroke stumbled back, flailing. The birdarang was bloodily stuck into his scalp.

Robin barred his teeth like a canine, jumped up, spun, and flung the staff's full length at Deathstroke's form to toss him off the Wayne skyscraper. "YAAAAUGH!"

CLAMP! Deathstroke's metal and flesh grip closed around the end of Robin's staff.

The Boy Wonder gasped.

"HRAAUCHKKKT!" Deathstroke head-butted Robin, effectively slicing a gash into the masked boy's shoulder with the birdarang.

SLIINK!

"Aaaugh!" Robin stumbled back.

"Hckkk…..," Slade effortlessly yanked the leaking birdarang out—Crkk!—tossed it aside….and lunged his head forward. He spat a glob of crimson juice out his cowl slits and into Robin's face. "Spkkkt!"

Sp-Splat! Robin sputtered…stumbling before Slade.

CHIIIIING! Deathstroke raised his red sword in one hand and aimed at Robin's neck. "I hope you made good use of your head, Tim—snkkkkt—It's lease is up."

SLASSSSSSSSSSH!

Robin glanced up….his masked eyes twitching—

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--!"

SWOOOOOOOOOOSSSSH! The hulking clump of Kansas flew like a missile straight into Deathstroke's body.

WHAM!.!.!.!

"OOOF!" Slade shrieked as he and the huge mound of rock soared off the edge of Wayne Enterprises—SMASH!—and sailed towards the lower office building beyond.

Jinx and Robin gasped….watching.

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

Fifteen stories above the streets of the City….

Pulsade hung from a flagpole of the Wayne Enterprises Building via a grappling hook.

She held onto the hook with one hand….

….and held onto Supergirl's unconscious body with the other.

"Nnnnngh…snkkkt….," she struggled and cursed under her breath as she mutteringly held the two aloft---

SWOOOOOOSH!

"……?" Pulsade glanced up.

She looked just in time to see the huge clump of earth several stories above slam Deathstroke into the lofty offices of a building across the way.

SHATTTERRR!.!.!

Glass flew and blanketed the nearby streets.

"Hrmpph….," Pulsade sweatily groaned. "How quaint…."

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

Jinx and Robin found themselves staring at the gaping hole in the office building across the way.

In sequence, they both turned around to see Terra walking across the rooftop…..frowning…..her eyes glowing a hot white-gold. Her hair dancing.

"T-Terra…..," Robin murmured.

The earth maiden ignored him….

Teeth clenched, she summoned fallen…broken-off shards from the huge clump of earth to levitate before her with a flick of her wrist. A 'sidewalk' of stepping stones appeared in mid-air…and the blonde swiftly marched across the levitating rocks like a descending staircase towards the hole across the way.

Where Slade was.

Jinx shuddered. "G-Guess this was inevitable…" She took a deep breath, ran towards the building's edge, and gazed straight down. She gasped. "L-Leslie! Th-Thank Hecate!"

"…….," Robin shuddered. Gulping. He gazed at Terra 'walking' through the air towards the smashed destination. He turned around and gazed at Starfire's unconscious….gently breathing figure. He took a deep breath and looked at the office building again. "………."

In the meantime, Jinx was waving with a Cheshire Cat grin down at her precariously hanging partner. "Hang on, Leslie! I'm coming for y—"

Grip!

Robin's glove encircled her frilled wrist.

The girl looked up. Pink cat eyes blinking. "H-Huh?"

Robin marched with her to the building's edge, whipped out a grappling hook, and muttered: "Come."

"W-Where to---?"

"This ends. Now."

"B-B-B-But what about Kara and Les—"

POW!

Clank!

SWOOOOOSSSH!

"DAAAAAH!" Jinx clung to Robin as he swung the two of them across the way and into the smashed building.

…

And Starfire 'slept' soundly…

Alone….

Quiet and still on the Wayne Enterprises rooftop

Safe…………

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

WHURRRR-SCHLUMP!

Clayface closed the security door to Phaser Labs' basement stairs shut behind him.

He gazed down the dark, metal-lined corridors that were flashing and flickering with strobes of red light.

He took a deep breath….glazed-amber eyes narrow.

He snaked ahead….muddy feet sloshing.

He 'sniffed' the air….tightened his face….and looked….felt…..groped for any sense….any sense of the untimely intruder.

"…………"

Clayface crept around the corner.

The walls and floor shook with the distant thunder of the Crunch at hand.

As the muddy metamorph sloshed down the hallway…..he suddenly paused.

"……….."

And then he grinned.

His amber eyes melted…..and then his crown deflated into wet decay….caving in…….reforming…..reshaping.

Slllbppsllblppp….

Soon he stood in the form of a female scientist. Glasses, white labcoat, blonde hair in a bun—and all.

'She' walked around the corner as casually as possible…

Just then, a shadow turned up….and another figure stumbled towards 'her'.

Clayface—in disguise—ran a few steps forward, panted, and said with a look of estrogenical distress: "Thank goodness someone is here! The system's gone all haywire! Something's wrong with the computer A.I.! As soon as the City fell under attack, Simon Stone's been trying to take over the inner computer core and----" The actor stopped….his female eyes blinking.

Dagger was limping towards him. Clutching his far shoulder. Wincing.

Clayface did a double-take. "Y-You!"

"Nnnng….," Dagger winced. Bleeding. "I couldn't stop the Parasite. We have to double-back and make a new plan for our forces if we want to take the City!"

The 'woman' stumbled back, recoiling in fear. "Y-You're Dagger! I-I…I……………………s-stand back! This facility has dozens of defenses and—!"

Dagger sneered: "Hagan, drop the act!"

The 'woman' shuddered.

Dagger's eyes narrowed. "I need you….and Mr. Stone….to help me re-establish control of the City. Phaser Labs here is the key to that!"

"Uhm……uh….of c-course…b-boss…," the 'woman' nodded…..melted….and expanded into the lumbering giant of mud that was Matt Hagan. "Jeez….what happened to you?"

"It matters little," Dagger droned in his trademark nonchalance. He icily glared at Clayface and marched past him. "I need to see Stone. Together, we can patch through to Fox and try and overload the entire security grid of this metropolitan area. I need something to distract Calvin's forces. There's no time to waste. None whatsoever."

"But….But D-Dagger….," Clayface nervously glanced back down the red-strobing hallway. "There're enemy forces hanging around the entrance! They've broken through the outer perimeter! Stone even thinks his nephew is—"

"---no threat to us as long as I have a base of operations," Dagger muttered. He motioned along and treaded towards the distant…basement laboratory door. "Come on….watch my back. I'll need you if I ever hope to meet Stone again."

"R-Right. Understood…," Clayface took a deep breath---CHIIING!—formed a pair of sharp axes with his hands…and sloshed protectively alongside Dagger.

Dagger held his breath and limped along. Both hands clenched. Both hands…..in tact…….

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

In the office building across from Wayne Enterprises, a pile of crushed…mangled earth lay spread across a sea of cubicles, chairs, desks, and office equipment.

Cold December air rushed in red and billowing through the smashed windows and into the cluttered interior. The wide-branching room was dark….interrupted only every now and then by a decorated pylon or pillar placed in the middle of the aisles to support the upper floors.

Underneath the mangled earth, glass, and steal….a red light glowed.

"Hckkkt….." Red Aviary dug up through the mound. Using his sword, he propped himself up to his feet….where he stood with a vaporous hyperventilation that sent red clouds dancing about the stale air. "SNkkkkt-clik-clik-clik-clikkkt……." He cracked his joints….turned….faced the gaping hole…..

….and narrowed his pulsing eye.

"………….."

He tried taking a step forward—

FWOOOOOSSSH! The mounds of earth lifted up around him. Sixteen clumps of soil suddenly sloshed together in a dark-brown glob that surrounded and swallowed the Reaper.

"SNKKKT—MMMFFFF!"

Deathstroke struggled and flailed and fought with darting limbs from inside the swallowing, coagulating, hardening sphere of earth—

SMASSSSH! "HRAAAAUCKHTT!" he managed to burst the glob apart into scattering bits of soil with an outward pulse of red Destruction. He landed on his feet—P-PLANT!—and aimed his sword ahead at the figure that suddenly appeared in the gaping, glass hole. "Snkkkt-clik-clik-clik….."I

"…………," Terra glared from behind blue goggles. Her gloved fists clenched at her sides. Her silk-gold hair fluttered icily in the wind.

"SNkkkt-clik-clik-clik…..," Slade glared. Pulsing. "Snkkt-well hello, ssssweettthearttt…..snkkkt!—clikkkt—Come to ask for child support?"

"…………."

Deathstroke dragged his blade through the aisle of cubicles. Chiiii-iiii-iiiiing! He marched slowly towards her. Hissing. "SNkkkkt—what is the mattttter, Terra? Why the silenccce? Cannot summon the strength to tauntttt the masssster who once letttt you—HCKKK……JOIN……with him?"

Terra droned: "Actually, I was somewhat hoping you would turn to stone…."

"HCKKKKT---snkkkt…..nottt happeningggg…," he readied his sword and hissed. "Dream on….."

Her eyes glowed gold under their goggles as she sneered: "I can no longer dream because of you." She then threw her arms back, showed her clenched teeth—"Rrrrrrrrrr-RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAH!" and lifted six huge clumps of shattered Kansas earth, only to fling them sharply at Deathstroke's figure.

SWISSSSSSSSH!

Slade hissed, held his sword out, and spun a three-sixty.

SL-SL-SLASSSH!

He shredded all incoming projectiles of rock, twirled his red blade, and flung himself directly towards the earth maiden. "SNKKKKT!"

Terra stepped back, gritted her teeth, and folded her arms---SWOOOOSH-CLUMPP! Hundreds of tiny mounds of soil formed lightning-fast in front of her and hardened into a rock wall.

CL-CLANK! Red Aviary's sword bounced against it, showering sparks.

"RAAAAH!" Terra lunged her gloved hands forward….forming a 'fist' with the same rock and slamming Slade across the cowled cheek.

WHACCCCK!

….and then crunching forth twin tentacles of serrated fury outward from the rock 'fist' towards Slade's lower body.

SL-SLINKKK!

SLIIIINK!

Blood and vaporous red puffs flew.

Slade stumbled back. "Hckkk-clik-clik-snkkkt!"

Terra marched firmly towards him. Fuming. Her hands gracefully deflated to her sides…and only her eyes strobed. As if on cue, a field of random stone-hard pellets floated up and swarmed around her. Terra marched with countless rocks and debris and earthen projectiles circling her petite frame like an electron cloud surrounding a nucleus. She marched….frowned….and spun, spun, spun the rock field without so much as lifting a finger.

Slade regained his footing….snarled with an exhalation of red clouds….and charged straight at her.

Terra 'thought'.

PFTOOOOSSH!

A knife of sharp rock flew out from the 'cloud' and grazed Slade's shoulder.

SLIIINK!

"HCKKK!" he teetered.

Terra's glowing eyes 'twitchd'.

PFTOOOSH! PFT-PFTOOOSH! Two shuriken-shaped clumps of earth shot out and stabbed Slade in the lower legs and calves.

He leaned on his sword for a moment, caught his frozen breath, and smokingly blurred at her.

This time, Terra grounded her legs in the floor and thrust her gloved hands forward. "Rrrrrghh!"

PFTOOOSSSH! PFT-PFTOOOSH! PFTOOOSH!

SW-SW-SW-SWISSSH!

A dozen orbiting debris throttled through the air and began pelting Slade from all sides. Darting, palm-sized comets. Grenade-hot pieces of serrated earth. Shards of Kansas diving, spiraling, spinning, veering, and slashing-biting-smacking-slamming Slade at every angle the thermalkinetic girl could muster.

SW-SWISSSSH!

TH-THWOOOOSH!

FW-FWISSSSH!

SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK!

Slade 'danced' and jolted and spiraled and twirled in the air from the hundreds of pummeling contacts. The walls and roof and floor and furniture of the office complex dented and cracked and burned from the heated dives of the earth-projectiles.

Terra hissed through clenched teeth as she spread her arms and---

THWOOOOOOOOSSSSSH!

All as one….the dozens of earthen debris parted in the air like an expanding supernova.

"RRRRR-RRRRAAAAAAH!" Terra screamed and pulled her clenched gloves in.

THROOOOOOOSSSH! The debris all closed in and crushed Slade from the outside.

CRKKKKKKKKKKK!

His body twisted and warped at a sickening angle under the pressure of the inwardly-slamming rock pieces……and slumped agonizingly to the ground after Terra released the pressure.

"Snkkkt….c-clik-c-clik-c-clikkkkttt….snkkkt…," he wheezed and smoked twitchingly on the floor.

Terra marched towards him, reforming her cloud of orbiting rocks. "You know, Slade….in spite of all the Hell you put me through……I actually should thank you for one thing."

"Snkkkkkt-HCKKKK…..," he shook and struggled to get up.

She flicked a wrist and surrounded his red-pulsing body with a huge 'clam' of crumbling earth.

TWNNNKKKK!

Slade wheezed from within the rocky 'mouth'.

Terra leaned over and stared at him. Frowing. Goggled eyes glinting gold and blue alternately….

"When I find my child…..I'll raise her up….and have at least one single person in this world who could trust me……and love me…," she added in a bitter whisper. "…..because she'll know that I was the one who finally killed you."

Slade looked up…suddenly unhindered.

His single eye strobed a burning RED. "You….will NEVER….FIND….OUR CHILD!" FLAASSSSH! He swung a fountaining blade of red up through the earthen boulders that were 'swallowing' him.

CRAAAAACKKK!

Rock and debris exploded outward.

Terra stumbled back…but she was too busy yelling to strike back: "SHUT UP! How DARE you call it OUR child--!"

SLIIIINK!

Terra's shoulder was sliced along the edges.

"Aaaaah!" she sobbed and hobbled back, clutching her wound and tearing inside her goggles.

WHACK! Deathstroke's foot emerged from the cloud of debris after his sword.

Terra fell back on her rear.

Wincing all over—

"HCKKKK!"

WHUMP!

Deathstroke pressed his weight down on her grounded figure.

Terra gasped.

Eyes wide.

A very familiar and horrifying position….

"HCKKK-Clik-Clik-Clikkkkt…," Deathstroke leaned down and breathed RED into her quivering lips. "SNkkkt….worthlessss children….can neverrrrr be found….snkkkt-clik-clik-clik…." He brought his blade up in two hands to stab down and cleave her skull in two. "HCKKK-Worthlessss Childrrrrren…clik-clikkktt-from WORTHLESSSSNKTT…..UNGRATEFUL….WHORRRES!.!.!"

Terra shook.

FWOOOOSH! The blade sang its way down.

Terra whimpered---

SHATTTTTERRRR! I blurred in through the nearest pane of windows. In a burst of black smoke and dark glass, I streaked across the room and solidified with my boot slamming into Deathstroke's side.

WHAM! He flew off of Terra.

The blonde gasped…hyperventilating.

Deathstroke tumbled across the room.

I snarled, twirled Myrkblade, and smoked after him—FWOOOOOSH!

He rolled agilely up to his knees, hissed and raised his blade just when I struck down at him—CLANGG! CRACCK! WHANG!

I screamed mutely and stabbed down at his chest with all my might.

He rolled to the side, swung up his leg with a wave of red smoke, and slammed Myrkblade out from my grip.

CLAK!

I stood above him….weaponless….teetering.

"HCKKKK!" He jabbed the length of his red-sword at my gut.

I gritted my teeth and—SWOOOSH!—flung my black left hand forward and gripped the serrated length of his sword—RIIIIIIIIP!—till my synthetic fingers slid to a stop around his hilt. Crushing. CRKKKK!

He exhaled red smoke and struggled against me with his sword.

I struggled down against him with my black hand.

Black and red…. reached my right hand out….palmed the ground….sent a carpet of smoke across the rock-strewn debris…found Myrkblade…and bounced it towards me with a black pulse.

FL-FLASSH!

Myrkblade flew into my hand. Snatch!

I twirled it-Th-Thwissh!-and made to stab down into Red Aviary—

"SNKKKT!" He was shooting his leg up while I wasn't looking--

WHAM!

I stumbled across the office space till I stood over Terra again.

"HRAUCHKKT!" Deathstroke stood up, raised his billowing red sword towards the ceiling…..and brought it crashing down into the floor with an explosion of Destruction. "HRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

FWOOOOOO-OOOOOSSSH!

Red-ribboning serration cracked through the floor and shattered its way towards Terra.

The trembling blonde gasped.

I spun, dove through her with a pulse of murk, and shoved her towards the gaping hole in the window—

THWOOOOSH!

--just as Robin and Jinx swung in and nimbly caught her.

Th-Thrump!

"Oof!" Terra winced.

Jinx and Robin set her down to her feet.

I spun and stood besides them…panting.

"SNkkkkt….," Deathstroke stood up. Glaring.

Robin frowned. Terra heaved. Jinx gritted her teeth. And I gripped tightly to Myrkblade….

"Clik-Clik-Clik-Clik…"

A bo-staff swung at ready. Spinning clumps of dirt rose with a gold glow. Pink hex appeared and strobed. Myrkblade danced with smoke.

"Snkkkkt…..," Slade eyed us all. His flickering iris seemed to rest on each and every one of us equally before—TH-TH-TH-THWISSSH! He twirled his big red blade. "Apprenticessssss….," he hissed….THWOOOSH!…swung his sword into a crouching fighting position, and motioned us all on with a single metal-and-flesh hand. "……come."

All in one accord, the four of us children darted forward.

"Nnnnngh!"

"Raaaah!"

"HAAAA!"

"……..!.!.!"

SW-SW-SW-SWISSSH!

THWIIIIIISSSH! THWISSSSH!

FL-FLASSSSH! FLASH!

FW-FW-FWOOOOSH!

Robin ran and flipped over Slade, jabbing and swinging with his staff from above. TH-TH-THWISSH!

Slade rotated his double-edged sword overhead. CL-CL-CLANG!

Terra lunged forward and let three sharp shards of earth fly.

Slade stepped back and jerked his sword down into a horizontal position, shattering all three projectiles. CRKKK!

Jinx cartwheeled in with every arm and ankle slashing a hex blade. CHIIIIING!

Slade twirled his sword as he stepped back. CL-CL-CL-CLANK! He growled—"HCKKK!"—and stabbed forward at the witch.

Robin yanked Jinx and himself away from the blade as I came murking in with heavy sword swipes. FWOOOOSH-SLASSH!THWACK!SWOOOSH!

Deathstroke deflected—CLAAAANG!—and stomped his red-cascading foot down. "HRAAUCKKKT!"

A river of floor-cracking red swam at me.

I dove to the side. SWOOOSH!

And Terra came swinging down, surfing a three-foot wide sphere of Kansas Earth. SWWWWIIISSSSH!

WHAM! Terra's flying 'platform' nailed Slade across the chin.

He flew back and slid on his posterior under an office desk.

TH-THWP! Robin and Jinx flipped into the air and came down with bo-staff and hex bolts ripping down towards Deathstroke.

"RAAAUGH!" THWOOOSH!

"HAAAA!" FL-FL-FLASSH!

"SNKKKT!" Deathstroke pulsed upwards a wave of Destruction.

CRACCK!

The desk exploded in a field of splinters that forced Robin and Jinx flying back across the office space.

FWOOOOOSH! I murked in, dragging my sword on a cutting path towards Slade. CHIIIIII-IIIIING!

Slade jumped to his feet, avoided Myrkblade, spun, grabbed a handful of my long black hair, swung, and flung me hard into Terra as she came soaring back down.

THWOOOOSH-WHAM!

"Aaugh!"

Daah!

The two of us went flying across the room and smashing through two cubicle walls—SL-SLAM!—while Terra's earthen platform flew into Slade's grasp. He grabbed it like a huge, oven-sized football….spun…..and launched it towards Robin and Jinx. "HHCKKKK!"

Jinx stopped running just in time to plant her feet into the carpet and fling twoo bolts of hex out. FL-FLASSSH! The platform exploded barely a foot from her figure…forcing her back with a grunt. "Aaack!"

Thwooosh! Robin vaulted over her collapsing figure, spun, and swung his bo-staff into Slade's face. "YAAAAUGH!"

SM-SMACCKKKK!

Slade stumbled back.

Robin shouted a warcry and charged Slade. Swinging. Slashing. Jabbing. Pummeling. WHACK-CLANG-SMACK-THRASSH!

Slade took the first half-dozen impacts hard, then finally blocked—CLANGG!—with a red blade shooting a Destruction wave at Robin.—FWOOOSH!

The Boy Wonder slid back on two feet…grinding hotly in the carpet.

Slade swung down at him—"HRCHKKKTT!"

FWOOOOSH-CLANG! I dove in and deflected Slade's slash into a water fountain. SPLOSSSH! I snarled and flung my synthetic black elbow into his face—

CRACCKK! He stumbled back.

I jabbed at him. Myrkblade smokingly screaming towards his figure—

FW-FWOOOSH! He teleported in a red puff.

I gasped and stumbled through—

TH-THWUMP! He solidified and kicked me in reverse.

I hobbled towards the window.

He spun to rip my head off—

CLANG! Robin's bo-staff struck Slade's blade from behind.

Red Aviary teetered.

I snarled mutely, spun, and slashed Myrkblade at his skull.

SLASSSH!

Deathstroke ducked, kicked me aside, spun, deflected Robin's attack, entwined his bo-staff with his sword, shoved him aside, twisted around and deflected my next attack, spun and yanked me into a pillar—WHAM!—ran up the pillar, vaulted off in a pulse of red, flipped, landed, crouched, lifted his blade and deflected Robin's menacing jabs—CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!—kicked Robin back with a blurred boot, brought his twitching arm back free of his blade to back hand me as I charged, gripped me by the neck, and flung me straight towards the window as he twirled his blade and parried Robin's furious assault—CLANG!-CLACK!-SMACK!

I twirled towards the window and was yanked aside at the last shattering second by Jinx's pink-pulsing hand.

We both panted and looked over—

Robin jabbed at Slade.

Slade parried.

Slade swung low at Robin.

Robin leapt up, grabbed a blade of a ceiling fan, kicked with his feet off a desk, twirled around, and slammed his bo-staff across Slade's cheek.

WHAM!

Slade stumbled back.

Robin leapt down off the fan with a growl, planted his feet into the seat of an office chair, and rolled—rolled—rolled into Slade across the smooth carpet….all the while spinning his staff like a buzz saw—TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-THWISSSSSSH!

WHAP-WHAP-WHAP-WHAP-WHAP-WHAP! Slade jolted and danced from the rapid impacts.

Robin snarled as his chair stopped rolling. He stood up and brought his staff up to the ceiling to swing down and crush Slade's skull—

SLIIIICE! Deathstroke ripped the chair in half.

Robin slumped forward. "Aaaugh!"

Slade kicked him to the opposite side of the room with his foot. He prepared to skewer the Boy Wonder from afar with his grip on the two-edged sword like a javelin—

CRASSSSSSH! A heavy mound of earth slammed down magically into Slade's body from above.

Jinx and I gasped. We glanced aside.

Terra stood atop a shattered desk, her gloved hands outstretched, her goggled eyes aflame with gold fury. "RAAAAAH!" She jerked her wrists earthward.

SLAMMM! The earth mound pounded levitatingly down into Deathstroke's ragdoll figure.

She flicked her wrists again.

SLAMMMM! "HCkkkk!"

Again…

CRUSSSH! "SNKKTT-TT!"

And again….

THWOMPP! "SNkkkt-clik-clikkkkt…"

Even Robin had to wince.

Deathstroke now stumbled to his knees in a square crater of fractured office floor.

Terra snarled as she curled her fingers…--"You shall not…"--…wrenched her hands apart…--"…torture our lives…"—…split the earth mound in two…--…"…anyMORE!"--…and slammed her knuckles back together. "RAAAAH!"

CRAAAAA-AAAACK! The two earth mound halves slammed into either side of Deathstroke's quivering, red body.

"Woooo-YEAH!" Jinx pumped her arm and cutely cheered. "Momma said knock….you….OUT!"

The other 'apprentices'—Robin and I looked on.

"RAAAAAAH!"

CRUSSSSH!

SHATTTTER!

The two chunks of earth exploded upon coming into slamming contact with Slade's body again.

Rock debris flew everywhere in golden streaks of sizzling Construction.

The thermalkinetic blonde fell to her knees atop the desk. Panting….

Deathstroke lingered on his knees….broken…..battered….

But still hissing red vapors.

"Snkkkkt-Clik-Clik-Clik-Hckkkkt….."

Jinx and I exchanged glances.

She nodded.

I nodded. CHIIIING!

Let's finish this……

"Ghost boy!" Jinx shouted and started running with a pink glow. "Alley oop!"

I held my breath and blurred forward—FWOOOSH!

Jinx streaked left.

I streaked right.

She ran up a desk.

I ran up a pillar.

We both flipped off, criss-crossed in opposite directions, and converged with a combined, airborne slash of Myrkblade and explosion of pink hex.

Fw-FWPP!

FW-FWPPP!

"HAAAAAA!" FL-FLAAASSH!

SLAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSH!

Slade looked up—hissing—only to have—

SMACCCCCK!—a wave of smoke and hex slam into his skull.

"HRAAAAAUCHKKKT!"

He flew back and—

SHATTTTTTERRRR!

--exploded out the pane of dark window glass.

Soaring outward and into oblivion.

Plant! Jinx landed.

Pl-PLANT! I landed.

"…….."

"……"

We both stood up.

Taking deep breaths.

Robin watched. Terra watched. Robin anxious and hyperventilating. Terra exhausted and panting.

I gulped and gazed shakily at the gaping hole in the glass….eating into the cold, red night of December.

…….

Jinx girl-stepped towards it and peered her pink head out.

"Is that it? Is h-he finished?"

A beat……

…..

CLUTCCCH!

A red-smoking hand gripped her throat from beneath the hole on the outside.

"EEEK!" Jinx shrieked.

"HCKKKK!" Slade rose in the hole and flung Jinx out by her neck.

I gasped.

Jean!

SWOOOOOOOOSH!

Jinx sailed outward in a flailing pink form…smashing through the windows of a skyscraper across the way and disappearing inside. Craa-aash!

"Snkkkt….," a grunting Slade attempted climbing back into the office space from outside. "….snkkkt….let'sss see a magical pendanttt save you from thattt, witch—"

SWOOOOOOSH-WHAM!

My body flew like a comet and tackled Red Aviary mercilessly.

"HRAAUCHKT!"

FWOOOOOOOO-OOOOOSH!

The two of us plummeted….plummeted….plummeted towards a skyscraper rooftop across the way. We wrestled and stabbed and struck at each other smokingly in mid-air. Sailing down together……

Robin ran to the hole, gazing out and panting.

Terra hobbled up behind him.

The Boy Wonder spun. He squinted his eyemask and tugged Terra's arm. "Terra! Quick! Fly us out there! After them!"

"……..," she bit her lip. "R-Robin….you…."

"What is it, Terra?"

"………..you trust me?"

"……….," he took the quick, heated moment to place both of his hands on her shoulders and stare her gently in the face. "You and I both know that there is only one enemy here….." He leaned back and took a breath before adding: "There's always been…..only one……"

She stared at him. Jaw tight. Her blue eyes moistened under her goggles….

"Terra…please…..we have to finish this," Robin pointed.

She shook….nodded…and breathily said: "R-Right…."

Her eyes glowed a hot gold. She raised her hands.

A cluster of rocks from across the office floor formed together to make a platform.

Terra jumped into the center and concentrated on the floating stones with her gloved hands. "Hop on."

Robin did….gripping tightly to his bo-staff.

FW-FWOOOOOSH! Together the two Titans soared after the plummeting Deathstroke and I….

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

Inside William B. Fox's hovercraft….

The hacker heir was panting….hyperventilating…sweating…

His hands flurried across the controls and keyboards of the computer array before him as he tried to ascertain the reason for all the random ships' signals disappearing.

"Units Three and Four! Report! Repeat…this is William Fox of Unit Seven! Units Three and Four….stop taking your god-damn Doritos break or whatnot and TALK TO ME!"

The guards who—all that time—had been icily threatening Fox at gunpoint to follow through with Dagger's commands were suddenly shifting nervously…sweating themselves rotten.

"Maybe their communication was cut off…."

"Perhaps Calvin's army has some sort of frequency distabilizer…..thingy…"

"Stop speaking Star-Treknobabble!" Fox hissed. "I'm a nerd and even I say you're lame!"

"Will you just figure this all out before Dagger—"

"I think it's best that Dagger doesn't know…," Fox squeaked. He then gulped….shuddered…and said: "I think we're under attack."

Again, the guards nervously shifted…..

"I'm almost tempted to launch some more damn missiles ahead of time…."

'What good will that do?" a Daggerite thug cackled.

Fox wiped his sweaty brow, leaned back in his computer chair, and hand-signed: "First…..it'll keep Wonder Woman and Steel from finding us and ripping our freakin' hull apart….."

"……….all right….we're listening."

"Second…..it might….might make Dagger have second thoughts about the crazy-ass Lex Luthor ion cannon thing……"

"……….."

"…………"

"………..which means we'll live."

"Ohhhhhh….

"Right….Right….."

A beat.

"………," the guard tapped Fox's shoulder. "Launch the missiles."

Tap-Tap-Tap!

"On it!"

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

North of the line of hovercraft….

In the Bay of the City…reflecting the glittering fire of the Crunch….

A dark blue form skirted through the waves…

….and broke the surface.

SP-SPLOOOSH!

Tempest crested through the water….parting the dark liquid on either side.

His dark eyes opened through a stream of salt water. He skimmed the Bay's surface…heading west-northwest…

Straight towards an island…

Titan's Island.

With a huge gaping hole of burning yellow magma shimmering from within….

And golems—both huge and small—stomping about the rock crags where the leftover shards and smoking pylons of the destroyed Tower rested….

Tempest took a deep breath. Above the spray of water, he opened his dry lungs and said: "Eh….it needed remodeling anyway." He grinned for the Hell of it, raised his hands, and practically ran on the water's surface with magically sprinting feet as he hissed: "Time for a bath….."

His white-on-black eyes morphed into a pulsing, violet aura.

He started gritting his teeth.

His fingers curled in the air.

Strobing purple…..violet….purple…violet…

"Nnnnnnnnnnngggh…….."

The spray of water parting on either side of him lifted up into the air in a huge tail that gathered…gathered….gathered more and more moisture until it morphed into a thick, hovering 'worm' of water skimming the Ocean's surface just above Tempest's head.

"-nnnnnnnnghhh……" Tempest concentrated. Shimmering purple. Calling on the dark touch of Slizzath to push him forward….gathering water in a huge, invisible tub. Dripping. Sloshing. Surging.

The air began to shake with the missile of liquid.

Flakes of frost in the red night drifted like magnetized dust and flew into the streaking Atlantean.

He practically flew towards the boiling volcano of Titans' Island….screaming with the weight and intensity of the huge wave of water he was summoning.

"-nnnnnnNNNNNRAAAAAAAUGHHH!"

SLOSSSSSSSH!

The golems barely had a chance to flee their burning bodies away when----

SLOSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!

The wave of Ocean slammed over them.

Tempest vaulted over on a tentacle of water, flipping….plunging into the other side of the bay.

He came up a few meters off—sputtering—admiring his handiwork.

The oozing water sloshed across the rock crags, slammed past the debris of Tower pieces, and plunged suicidally into the burning 'mouth' of the volcanic pit.

And…..

"Lights out."

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss…………

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

"Ten other units contacted…..missiles at ready……..armed and set for the next volley….," Fox murmured while typing.

One of the anxious guards in his cabin cackled: "Fire them already!"

Fox was just in the middle of the fatal keystroke when he froze…..

…blinking at the computer consoles.

"What's the matter? Why have you stopped?"

"I-I……Th-There's a smoke screen across the Bay!"

"What?"

"I-I can't see the City! There's a wall of mist—a f-fog or some crap blocking the way! It's like God suddenly dropped down with a keg of beer and farted in our faces!"

"Well, s-send the damn missiles on a heat-seeking trajectory or something!"

"Nnngh…," Fox sweated. Trembling. "I c-can't! The steam's hot! It's screwing up all the senses!"

"This is nuts…"

One of the guards rushed over and hammered away at a computer. "Where's that map? Bring up that damn map—"

"H-Hey! Watch it! One wrong keystroke and the ion cannon will fire—"

"Shit, where is the City? I can't see anything—"

"Like I told you---"

"Who could have done that?"

CRACK!

Fox and the two guards gasped….and spun about--

TH-THWUMP! A bruised….cut Daggerite sailor fell down the steps into the inner cabin and ended with a groan. A pair of green, serrated velociraptor feet came to a stop above him and morphed into the limbs of an emerald elf with one ear.

"A T-Titan!" one of the guards murmured.

Changeling frowned. He pointed a reptilian-spliced finger. "You creeps should have stuck to the shallow end!"

"Ah jeez….ah jeez!" Fox murmured and trembled on his feet…..his fingers spread across the computer consoles now behind him. "I-I-I'm too virginal and pure to die!……..Unless you count th-that one trip to Daytona….."

"WASTE 'EM!" a guard shouted, pulling out his pistol.

BANG!

BL-BLAM!

"ACKATRON!" Fox winced and flinched all over.

Changeling dodged the bullets with cheetah speed, morphed into a wolf, dashed forward, and pounced on the two guards in the form of a bear. "RAWWWWR!"

"AAAAA--!"

They flew back and—THWOMP!—slammed into William B. Fox.

"OOF!" the hacker heir stumbled backwards and…..hit a couple of keys on the computer panels.

Cl-Click!

Beeeeeeep-Beep-Beep-Beep!

A window entitled 'Ion Cannon Charging' lit up digitally on the screen.

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

In Metropolis….

In the towering, spacious office of Lexcorp….

The bald businessman himself sat at his luscious, wooden desk….

Bleary-eyed and exhausted…

Swirling a half-empty glass of red liquid.

While listening to the radio reports of the Crunch miles south of Metropolis….

…he brought the glass to his lips and sipped one….last…..time.

When—

Beep!—Beep!—Beep!—Beep!—Beep!

"Hmmm?" he glanced past his upturned nose at the computer console…..froze…bugged his eyes out….and leaned forward, spitting and sputtering the red liquid before gasping for air and rolling his chair like mad towards the computer with a psychotic keystroke. "No you don't, Dagger! No you don't-No you don't-NO YOU DON'T!"

BEEEEP!-'Snkkkt! Luthor, sir! This is Lexcorp Internal Security! Our technicians have just related to us that—'

"The satellite is being hijacked!" Luthor sneered. "I know! It's Dagger and his bum hackers!"

'We have our best men working en masse as we speak to counteract the digital mole!'

"That's not going to be of any use!" Luthor snarled, eyeing the computer screen full of red flashing lights with pulsing arteries in his cornea. "Dagger's men are good. They've installed new firewalls and made the satellite and impregnable fortress of technological supremacy!"

'Sir, we mustn't give up hope—'

"Shut up and listen to me!" Luthor shook his fist in the air. "We need to shoot that thing down!"

'S-Sir…?'

"When's the soonest that a Lex-Shuttle can enter orbit and blast that scrap metal out of the sky?"

'M-Mister Luthor……w-we've never had an impromptu launch of Lexcorp Space Technologies and—'

"WHEN IS THE SOONEST?"

'S-Seventy-Two hours, sir. Tops.'

Luthor slumped back in his seat. Fuming.

His brow furrowed.

His eyes narrowed…cold…….emaciated—but bitter.

"See what my technicians can do….."

'Right away, sir! SNkkkt!'

Luthor gritted his teeth. He stared at the computer screen on his desk.

"Dagger….if you're calling down the thunder now—I swear—after I burn, you're going to burn all the hotter! NGHHH!"

SWOOOSH-SMASSSSH! Luthor slammed his fist down through the computer console, forming a splintery crater in the desk from the magnitude of his fist's blow.

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

In the cold vacuum of space…

Hovering over the black crescent of the night-laden northern hemisphere…

A cylindrical structure with twin solar panel wings orbited silently.

The Lexcorp 'L' glistened in starlight on the hull of the satellite…

As suddenly….

Irreversibly….

It rotated about and pivoted its glowing, circular end towards a tiny spot in the dark City.

Where the continent shimmered a gold and red light….

And the ion cannon began to glow.

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

Atop a lonely rooftop surrounded by the burning Crunch….

Dagger sat.

Dizzily hugging his bloody stub of a left limb to his person.

He swallowed a dry throat and fought his icy best to stay awake.

To stay in command.

To stay….

To stay………

Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep!

Dagger looked wearily down towards the digital display on his one good arm's wristwatch.

The coordinates of the satellite's ion cannon flickered forth to the cadence of the tiny, electric chime.

The despot took a shuddering breath, rolled his eyes back, and summoned the strength to sit up with his back to the rooftop's stairwell.

"…….all right….then………..the crater shall forever bear my name……"