263. Break the Circle part 23
HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSssssssssssssssssssssssssssss……..!
A burning mist from Titan's Island wafted through the City.
The clouds spread northward, through the war-torn mess…
Spreading into the Crunch…..
Drifting between the huge burning golems and booming tanks….
Obscuring the bulletfire….the grenades….the RPGs…..
Calvin's and Dagger's men found themselves shooting and hurling lead at each other from behind masks of haze and white madness. Voices and gunshots echoed loudly against the moisture hanging in the air. Sweaty bodies grew wetter with a salt-water sheen that dripped off their gun barrels and slicked down their brows. Nervous breaths…hyperventilations….quivering nerves as the triggers pulled and the forces drew in, drew back, held position, charged, fell…..
Superman gritted his teeth and used three forms of X-Ray vision to navigate his way through the mess.
Green Lantern covered himself with a green force field and pierced through the street-level crowds.
Green Arrow lit flares while Black Canary and Catwoman stood back to back….fists and whip raised for any sign of advancing enemies.
The Flash spun tornadic circles to clear the air as a line of golems marched blindly forward into the aim of tank turrets that fired and decimated the monsters to ashes.
Batman switched to an infrared vision planted inside his mask's slits and observed the battle from a high perch. His jaw clenched as he saw the line breaking and the forces of Dagger regrouping in the center. Two burning pulses—giant golems—flailed and picked up huge chunks of buildingsides to use as hurling weapons. Batman took a deep breath and swung into action.
All the while, General Calvin watched from the front line of the Army's assault. He stared—squintingly into the fog—maintaining a strong stance in his jeep. The hard lines in his old brow turned all the harder as he breathed in the mist and exhaled hotly….
The mist that took on a reddish hue in the freezing, December holocaut….
"This night might claim us all…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Somewhere along the northern edge of the Crunch….
Supergirl dangled…
Upside down….
Her red cape swinging….
Her blonde hair forever 'falling' in the drifting…shifting mist from the Bay.
"…………….."
"Supergirl?"
"……………."
"…….Supergirrrrrrl….."
"……………."
The dangling blonde suddenly shook from above.
"Hey! Wake up, you grotty tyke!"
"Nnnngh….," Kara's blue eyes fluttered open. "….wh-wha--?"
She gazed directly up (down) and saw the concrete of the streets directly three stories above (below).
"Huh?"
Suddenly, the hand holding her by the ankle let go—
"Waaaaah!" Thwoooo-oooooosh! WHAM! Supergirl fell three stories and landed hard in the middle of the street. A crater formed and dust flew in the unearthly, salt-water mist. "Ughhhhh….."
Kara sat up…rubbing her head….wilted inside the crater.
"What Kela's name--?"
Thwisssssssh-P-PLANT!
Pulsade flew down and landed on top of Supergirl….her feet slamming down into the Girl of Steel's shoulders.
"DAAH!" TH-THWOMP! Supergirl was pressed down hard into the crater.
Th-Thwpp! Pulsade vaulted off Supergirl's shoulders, flipped, and landed in an agile squat on a sidewalk across the way. "Ugh….whew. Now wasn't that smashing?"
"NNNGH!" Supergirl shot up and darted over with her fist grabbing Pulsade by the collar of her jumpsuit. GRIP! "You stupid limey bitch! What in the heck was that for!"
"Bite your own tongue, lass," Pulsade frowned and shoved Supergirl's arm off of her. "I saved your life, you know!"
"……," Supergirl blinked. She looked up at the visible lengths of Wayne Enterprises stretching up towards the misty red sky…..then frowned back at Pulsade. "Lemme get this straight……you saved me from a sixty-foot drop—which I would have survived anyway—just so that I could suffer a three story drop…..and just so you could land down on me?"
"My grappling cords only brought me as far down as the fourth floor!" Pulsade brandished an automatic shotgun and started loading it with multiple shells. "You were dozing off like a god-forsaken sloth! Forgive me if I had to come up with alternative ways of…saving my own pathetic arse! Besides, do you know how hard it was trying to carry the two of us down? I used up all of my grappling cords!"
"You could have just asked me and I would have flown us both to safety the soonest I woke up!"
"Pfft….not bloody likely. Besides, after the pretty number Red Aviary did to your head, I'm fairly surprised you woke up at all!"
Supergirl had a horrified look on her face "You mean you would have dropped me….and jumped down on my corpse?"
"The plan never quite evolved in that direction, now did it? Unless we're both dead right now as we speak, in such case I need to subscribe myself to a new religion…."
"Nnnngh…," Supergirl rubbed her forehead and gazed around the misty streets. "I don't think there's a Nirvana in store for 'lesbian yoga'."
"Actually, I'm atheist."
"Does Jinx know that?"
"Jean? Pfft…she pretty much hammered in the faith."
"……………………………why the Hell am I having this conversation with you?"
"Beyond me, love."
Supergirl gazed all around. "And while we're at it, where the Hell did all this fog come from?"
"Red Aviary's side effects?" Pulsade stepped ahead and nonchalantly waved a brightly glowing hand through the red-colored mist. "You must admit…it looks like his calling card."
Supergirl sniffed. "Smells like the ocean. I think something happened in the Bay."
"Probably one of those golden monsters of Terra's essences going for a skinny-dip."
"No….not big enough to cause this much—" Supergirl froze. She spun. Lips pursed. Head tilted. "The battle……there's a…….new turn coming…."
"Huh?" Pulsade shot a beacon of light southward and craned her neck. After a few blinking seconds, she made a face. "All I can hear is the same old racket."
"That's because you don't have super-hearing."
"So? What about it?"
"The Justice League's in trouble…..they might need our help…."
"Bullocks!" Pulsade frowned. "What about Terra and Red Aviary?" A pause. A blink. She gazed around. "What about Jean--?"
GRIP!
Supergirl held the blonde assassin's wrist. "For all we know…," she smirked. "…they probably went into the thick of battle."
"Hey….watch the hand contact. It sends the wrong messages---DAAAAH!"
SWOOOOOOSH!
Supergirl tugged Pulsade—flailing—along with her as she bulleted southward. "Hang on! We're going to find out what's going on here!"
"I h-have a bad feeling about this….."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Atop Wayne Enterprises.
Far above the red-colored fog…..
Starfire lay….
Silent.
Alone.
Limp…bruised….beaten….
She softly stirred and moaned in unconsciousness….
But couldn't bring herself to wake up…
As the City burned and rumbled in the thunderous mist below….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Back at the Mist-laden Crunch….
Wonder Woman and Steel flew in from the Bay to observe the madness of the water's mist blowing into the City. After several minutes of attempting to spot a visual order amidst the chaos, the two warriors exchanged glances and further exchanged shrugs.
Steel twirled his sledgehammer and prepared to dive down—
"Wait!" Wonder Woman said, holding an arm out to keep him back.
Steel stared curiously through his mask.
Wonder Woman's gaze narrowed.
Ahead of them—along the top crests of the fog—the smoke began to part.
A loud beating filled the air.
Followed by….
….a HIND.
Piercing the smoke and haze.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOSSSH!
Steel made to toss his sledgehammer mercilessly into the metal frame of the bird…but still, the Amazonian held him back.
She squinted harder….focusing on the pilots of the craft.
The man in the top bubble was unconscious….perhaps dead….
The second was waving emphatically….and then holding up a hand. A hand with a finger extended.
'J.'
Princess Diana's lips pursed. The wind from the helicopter blew at her black fountain of hair as the mist parted and--
The two of them gasped.
…
From the ground, Green Arrow and Black Canary and Catwoman looked up.
The Flash came to a blurring red-orange stop besides a freezing Batman.
Superman and Green Lantern also had to pause in the middle of rushing one of the golems to stare at the descending helicopter.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOSSSH!
The Crunch had come to a virtual standstill…..to the point that General Calvin himself was more-than-perturbed.
The commanding officer jumped up, stood on the front end of his jeep, and shook his fist to the air. "What in the Hell is going on here—?.!"
"Sir! Look!"
Calvin made a face, squinting at the HIND.
The helicopter pivoted, swam through the claustrophobic air around haze-hidden buildings, and beated its way towards the cluster of Dagger's forces.
…
Terrorists in lines of hummers and thick crowds of golden golems prepared for a second assault.
At the sound of the beating rotary blades, both human and freak alike had to look up.
Confused….
Perplexed….
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOSSSH!
Jericho's hijacked aircraft broke through the column of fog and hovered loudly over the center of defense….Dagger's last stand.
The men in the jeeps and hummers shouted.
Gunners at the mounted weapons pivoted and aimed at the aircraft.
The giant golems rumbled—CRKKK-KKKK!—and raised the huge chunks of building faces up with burning limbs to toss at the hapless HIND.
But suddenly, the one pilot inside the aircraft picked up speed….and tossed his hand over in a commanding finger-point.
The ground began to rumble.
The mist began to part.
And out of the fog….they stampeded.
Over two hundred strong.
The Wildebeests…..regrouped….reenergized……………..rebounding….
……and charging the Central cluster of Daggerite defense as fast as their meaty limbs could carry them.
Silver-crowned comets soaring out from the cold-gray mist.
RUMMMMMMMBBBLEEE!
"NNNNNNnnnghhh!"
"NNNNNGH!"
The men on the hummers gasped and barely pulled the triggers when—
"NNNNGHH!" STOMP-STOMP-STOMP-CRUNNCHH! The line of Wildebeests slammed atop their vehicles and started thrashing their limbs, knocking bodies asunder and smashing gaping holes in metal and weaponry.
The golems ran full-fledged into the wall of bovine warriors, only to be smashed and shattered apart by the impregnable charge.
The second charge of the Wildebeests ate and ate into the heart of Dagger's final forces, ripping the line asunder, tearing at the feet of the golem giants.
And the HIND hovered—ever present—above the mess.
…
Flash was the first to cheer. Followed by an enthusiastic Green Arrow and Black Canary.
Catwoman smirked for a moment. Batman said nothing.
Green Lantern and Superman exchanged glances before smiling nervously and blurring into the fray as fast as their powers could carry them.
General Calvin's men cheered a heavy throng of shouts and whoops.
The General himself slumped back into his jeep with a sigh……...a smiling sigh.
He straightened his helmet, glared knowingly at his subordinates, and pointed the line forward.
Tanks rolled ahead. Jeeps throttled back to life. The soldiers and vehicles and forces of the Army surged ahead in one gallant accord.
…
From above, Steel let out a victorious laugh.
Wonder Woman smiled.
Steel gestured towards Superman and Green Lantern.
He soared down to help them.
Wonder Woman took a deep breath, flexed her limbs, and prepared to fly down when—
'Diana……'
The Amazonian flinched in the air.
Her eyes blinked.
"J'onn?"
A green pulse to her right….
Wonder Woman looked over.
Martian Manhunter appeared in a swirl of emerald light on a building front across the way.
"This battle is not yet won," the alien deadpanned. "I'm afraid there is a very grave situation."
Wonder Woman looked at him in concern. "What is it? What's the development?"
Martian Manhunter droned: "It may help you and the rest of the League to know that Lex Luthor's satellite ion cannon has been hacked into by Dagger, and now the weapon is charged to fire into the heart of this City. In a matter of minutes, everything around us will be utterly decimated."
The Amazonian gasped. "N-No….This is impossible! We…..….I-I must tell Superman—"
Before she could fly away--
"Diana…."
She froze and looked at him. "What, J'onn?"
As straight as ever. "That is not the 'grave situation'."
Her eyes narrowed. "Then what is?"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SWOOOOOOSH-WHUMP!
Red Aviary and I slammed into the building rooftop with Slade landing first.
I winced, gritted my teeth, and let loose a mute scream as I stabbed Myrkblade towards his crackling chest--
"HCKKKKK-CLIKK!" He grabbed the sharp curve of my blade, let his sliced skin stop the descent of the cutting blade, and shoved against me with a leaking splash of red vapor. "SNKKKTTT!"
The edges of my eyes flickered white. I cursed mentally in queer pain and fell back to a roll.
A mist from the foggy Bay started to rise around us as Deathstroke jumped to his feet, twirled his red blade, and twirled to stab down at me—
TH-TH-TH-THWISSSH-STAB!.!.!
I grunted and rolled to the side as a river of gravel was ripped where my legs were.
I jumped to my feet, spun Myrkblade, and held it up horizontally just in time to—CLANG!.!.!
Sparks splashed between his sword and mind.
"HCKKKK-CKKKKKTT!" Deathstroke leaned into me, hissing red vapors. "I'm—snkkkkt—DONE with usingggg you, Black Eyesssss…..I was done—HCKKK—a long time ago……" TH-THWUMP! His knee flew up into my abdomen.
I lurched to the side.
He twirled his blade—TH-THWISSSH!—and SLASSSHed it up towards my center.
I teleported, smoked through his blade, mixed with the red vapors, and surged inside and outside of him with a solidified kicking of my legs against his back—THWOMP!
"Snkkkt!" he stumbled forward a few steps and spun around.
But I…
Th-Thwump! I slumped to my knees. Hissing for breath. Having 'teleported through' Slade robbed me of a good level of strength and…..liveliness. The black smoke surging in and out of me flickered as traces of red ate at my insides. I winced…panted….and shivered. Traces of white danced along the edges of my obsidian optics. I was weak and powerless by the time Red Aviary loomed above me with his soared held high.
"SNkkkkt—death is catchingggg up to you, Noirrr……..lookssss like you'll BURN-HCKKKkkkt—beforrrre meeeeee…."
I winced.
THWOOOOOSSSH! His blade came down---CRACKKK! And stopped when a rocky pebble flew into his hilt and deflected the killing blow.
"HCKKKK!" He spun, his one red eye glaring over the edge of the rooftop.
SWOOOOOOSSSSH! A school of pebbles flew through the fog….and soon Terra and Robin emerged from beyond the mist on a huge platform of stone hurtling through the center of the debris. Terra frowned at Slade as Robin dove off the plummeting rock with an accelerated flying kick aimed at Deathstroke's face.
"HI-YAAAAAA!"
SM-SMACCCK!
Deathstroke stumbled back, bracing himself with the red sword against the rooftop.
Robin landed, slid across the gravel, swung his leg out, kicked the blade out from under Deathstroke, grabbed Red Aviary by the ribs as he fell, twirled, and agilely flung the Reaper with a scream towards a t.v. antennae across the fog . "RAAAAUGH!"
SWOOOSH!—CLANNNG! Deathstroke shook and struggled and twitched….stuck in the sharp metal branches of the antenna. "HCKKKK-KKKKT!"
Terra flew in on her rock. She gritted her teeth and angled the edge of her flying platform like a huge blade and surfed it straight at the stuck Deathstroke's center.
SWISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!
"HRAAACHKKKT!" Deathstroke flexed his arms, snapped a sea of metal antennae arms free, and raised his sword in a cutting line straight at Terra's incoming form. CHIIIIING!
Terra gasped and dove off at the last second—
CRAAAA-AAAACK! Her rock platform was severed in two upon golden contact. Under a rain of pebbles and spikes, Deathstroke broke free of the antennae, twirled his sword, and swung its bladed end towards Terra's skull.
The goggled blonde gasped, squatted low, and covered her head.
SLASSSSH! The red blade fell--
"YAAAAUGH!" Robin dove in and planted himself between Slade and Terra with his bo-staff raised.
CL-CLANKKKK!
The two combatants struggled against each other. Flesh and metal and meaty muscles knotted and quivering.
Finally, Robin shouted, shoved against Deathstroke, and advanced towards him with twirling, jabbing, swishing attacks of his staff.
SL-SL-SL-SL-SLASSSH!
Deathstroke side-stepped, ducked, and leapt every blow. With his back heels to the rooftop, he hissed and jabbed forward at Robin. SLASSSH!
Robin lunged backwards in a limbo stretch as the blade sang barely over his nose and eyemask.
Beyond the falling Boy Wonder, Terra came charging. Teeth gritting, she leapt up—shouted—formed a glowing orb of collected rock debris underneath her right foot in mid-air and thusly swung her left boot around to slam Deathstroke across the cheek—WHAMMM!
Deathstroke tumbled and ragdolled across the edge of the building top.
Terra landed…crouched—took a breath—and ran forward with her hands raised and meditating on a golden stream.
Deathstroke vaulted up to his feet—TH-TH-THWISSH!—and twirled his blade.
"RAAAAAH!" Terra's eyes shimmered gold under her goggles as she charged the man through the mist.
"HCKKKK!" His blade swam through the mist, parting the water molecules into clouded globules in the air—
FLAASSSH! Terra's hands slammed together….palm to palm.
On command, the white gravel layering the rooftop flew up from the tarred surface and swarmed around Deathstroke.
CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CLANGG! The downswing of Red Aviary's sword was slowed to a dead-stop as the Reaper's body was encased in a hard sphere of coagulated rock.
"Nnnh-RAAUCHKTT!" he shouted and flexed from within.
Terra slid to a stop, her feet grinding into the tar. Her entire upper body shook as she crushed her fingers together and—in turn—crushed Slade deeper and deeper within the pulsing core of tiny white rocks.
Fountains of red mist and Destruction spurted out from dozens of cracked spots in the clumping sphere. Like a huge, poisoned egg….the impromptu 'coffin' of Slade warped and morphed and flexed and poked outward from the inside.
"I…..I-I can't…..hold it….t-too….much longer….!" Terra hissed.
Robin limped to her side, frowning. "You don't have to…" CHIIING! He pulled out an explosive birdarang, gritted his teeth, and flung the projectile sharply into the thick of the quivering white mass.
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH---
Terra thinned her eyes.
---SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-CHUNKKK!
…..beep-beep-beep—
I looked up from where I weakly kneeled just in time to see-
POWWWW!.!.!.!.!
The center of the rock sphere exploded blazingly from within….but the gravel didn't shoot out everywhere like one might expect. It held the explosion inward…convulsing……flexing……but not giving way.
I panted and looked towards Terra….
She was wincing all over. Her eyes a blazing white-hot gold. Her teeth gnashing and sparking from ivory gap to ivory bit with sparks of hot gold.
Robin stood behind her and strongly gripped her shoulders…..breathily coaching her on. Shouting at her ear level: "Hold it together! Hold it! Let him burn!"
FWOMMMMMMBBBB! The white rock sphere heated to a bright amber-red. Tongues of flame spurted out continuously all around as the rupturing ball of plasma quivered and bubbled from within.
"Nnnnngh…..It's….t-too much!" Terra panted.
"You've got it! Just hold it!" Robin shouted.
I gulped.
A chill ran through me.
I eyed the white mist surrounding.
How it turned redder and redder.
But not from the flaming sphere……
My lips parted.
Ana……
The fog……the smoke……
It
is speaking to me……
I followed the shifting trails with attentive black eyes.
Glancing at the red streams.
The cold drift and drops….
It's telling me where Red Aviary is……
And right now he's right at--
I bolted up to my feet with a mute shout….blurred across the roof…and dove my body with arms outstretched like a flying crucifix….
…..straight into Robin and Terra from behind.
CHIIIIING! Red Aviary solidified right behind them in a puff of burning red…..straight out of the midst. "HCKKKK!
SLASSSSH!
Nnnngh! My body plowed Robin and Terra to the ground.
"Aaah!"
"Daaugh!"
SWOOOOOSSSSH! Red Aviary's red blade swam through the air where the Titans' heads were.
"Mmmmf!" Terra was the first to hit the black rooftop, and her eyes lost the gold fire upon slamming contact—
POWWWWWW!.!.!.!.!.!.! As a result, the unchecked sphere of burning gravel exploded in a huge wave of air concussion and fire.
FWOOOOOOOMMMB!
Our bodies tumbled in three opposite directions.
"HCKKKKK!" Deathstroke absorbed the hot waves and teleported redly into the mist….disappearing.
FWOOOOOOOSSSSSH!
The flames billowed over us like a pillar of fire.
Blinding.
Obscuring….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
On the first floor to Phaser Labs….
Clayface soggily marched towards the security shield that blocked off the cellar stairs from the rest of the building.
He came to a stop.
He glanced over his muddy shoulder. "…………."
Dagger panted….panted…..clutching his side. Wincing. "Well…..? What are you waiting for?"
"Just making sure we're not being followed…."
"It's me, Hagan. People don't 'follow' me and live. Now open the damn doors so I can talk with Stone immediately. This is all beyond urgent."
"Right……..," Clayface uttered with a nod. He morphed his hand, shrunk it down to the size of a person's wrist, and nimbly danced his digits across a few important keys of a digital door pad before hitting the action button and—
WHURRRRR-SCLUMP!
--opening the gray shield slab. The computer console beeped at him, and emergency lights along the reflective walls that flickered closest to the cellar room came to a cool and serene stop.
Beeep!
SCHLACK! The frame locked in place, yawning the door open.
Dagger took a deep—exhausted breath and motioned the mound of living/walking clay downward towards the cellar of destination.
"You're one with the 'earth', Clayface. Do proceed."
"………………y-yeah….," Clayface uttered. Glazed amber eyes thin as he regarded Dagger and passed down the stairs. He entered the scientifically charged domain with a stance of blasé ignorance. Not even looking behind him.
"………….," Dagger quietly stepped in after the metamorph.
The despot's cadence suddenly stopped limping.
His right hand clenched into a tight fist.
And out from nowhere, a metallic ringing coarsely filtered through the air—Cl-Cl-Clak-Clakka!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
In Fox's hovercraft….
Swooosh!
Smack!
Wh-Whack!
Pow!
Fox nervously inched away from the computer array where all of his precious hacking utensils lie neglected under a string of identical, glowing schematics. He bit his lip, flattened his dark body against the wall, and oozed upwards towards the top of the stairs as he eyed—
Smack!
Thwack!
Wham!
Pow!
Whap!
"Grrfff!" Changeling's shadow—pasted against the wall—splashed violently against the shuddering images of the two guards' flailing bodies. The dark outlines of claws, tentacles, and antlers splattered across the kaleidoscopically chaotic signs of strife about the room. Fox was just about to reach the edge of madness and gladly run straight through it to reach the ship's surface when---
SWOOOOOSH-SNAGG!
"DAAAH!" Fox wailed as a green octopus limb wrapped about his ankle.
YANK!
The hacker heir panted for breath as Changeling lifted him back over to the computer, dropped him—"OOF!—and forced an interrogation over the groaning, unconscious bodies of the thugs while the half-eared elf shoved Fox fiercely against the computer consoles.
THWOMP!
"What……is this?" Changeling hissed.
Fox simpered…..stammered—"A not-so-sexy-new twist on the Rodney case if I ever saw one—"
"Grfff………No……," Changeling's eyes narrowed, pivoted Fox forcibly around, and pointed a sharp finger towards the multiple computer monitors…..
…..all of which were displaying the same image; the wire-frame layout of a twirling satellite pivoting to aim its ion cannon earthward.
"THAT!"
"Oh….that…..," Fox chuckled nervously, sweated, gulped, and squinted his eyes as if perplexed by the occurrences on the digital screens. "Egads, I've never seen that before! Jenna Jameson must be turning into a geek, these days—"
SNKKKKTT! A throng of bear claws spliced into existence just alongside Fox's face.
He gasped…..eyes wide….
Changeling was glaring at him. Serious. Unwavering…
"This isn't….a joke…..," the half-elf hissed. "Tell me what we're dealing with."
"Would you kinda sorta re-think drowning my ship and everyone on it if I do tell you something?"
"Learn a new trick or you'll be singing the same old tune under water."
"OKAY! Okay….sheesh….it's…..uhm…..well, ya know….," Fox shrugged and chuckled. "A-An Ion Cannon."
Changeling's green eyes bulged. "What?"
"It's kinda sorta aimed at the heart of our City and set to blow. That sort of stuff—"
"WHAT?.!.?.!"
"Look…w-would it help you to believe me th-that it wasn't m-m-my idea?" Fox murmured, bulbs of sweat forming….
TH-THWUMP!
"Ooof!" Fox fell achingly to the floor.
Changeling stood in the center of the shaken cabin, his eyes wide. He stared into space after having dropped Fox from a spliced-strong grip. Now once again a shrunken elf of defensless proportions, the emerald beast boy murmured to himself: "Dagger….h-he must be losing the battle. But he refuses to lose the City….even after all he's destroyed and those whom he's killed off………after all the way's he's been using Terra…………..all just to win nothing. Our everything…..his nothing…..swallowed by fire."
"Uhm….v-very poetic, kid. Say….would you mind possibly turning into a big green bat and flying me to some prison—oh, I dunno—two states away from here?"
"NNNNNGHHHH!" Changeling kicked a hole in a metal cabinet lining the claustrophobic room. CLANK!
Fox gasped, shielding himself from ash and shattered shards…..
The green elf twitched and hissed with a wave of animalistic fury. He heaved loudly in the center of the cabin and growled: "Had enough carnage for one evening, Dagger? After Terra….this City…..I have no doubt in my mind. You're frickin' worse than Slade, dude…."
"That makes the two of us," Fox simpered.
Thwoosh! Changeling's head positively spun to glare at Fox.
The heir jolted and jumped back—
FWOOOOSH! Beast Boy flew down….a leathery elbow first. WHUMP! He pressed Fox mercilessly against the wall of the cabin with his forearm to the rich boy's throat.
"Snnnkkt…..hsssss!" William B. Fox hissed, kicked, and struggled to convey anything.
A seething Beast Boy released pressure some and growled with his green head 'motioning' towards the computer consoles. "How….do I stop it?"
"Th-There's n-n-no stopping—snkkkt—it, man!"
"Lies!"
"Honest! I'm b-being honest!" Fox hissed. He glanced over Changeling's shoulder in time to spot one of the two grounded thugs stirring to life on the cabin floor….glaring upwards at Changeling. Fox continued unhindered: "That's Lex Luthor's satellite. I basically had to rape the digital bulwarks of the hardware's electronic infrastructure to make it so much as pivot while orbiting the earth. Now every hacker in Luthor's arsenal world-wide is reversing the work that I—by myself—prepared. The firewalls that Luthor's people have inevitably made by now are virtually impenetrable. So…..the ion cannon is set to fire. That's inevitable and unchangeable. What's most important is how exactly the satellite is angled to demonstrate its intergalactic Russian roulette!"
Changeling gripped the man tighter by his collar. "Where is the satellite aiming? WHERE?"
The one thug behind Beast Boy stood up, brought both hands together, and crept menacingly to slam the metamorph's skull in from behind….
Fox struggled at the last breath of his personal stamina. His eyes grew thick and started to roll back as he half-slumped out of Changeling's grip and wheezed: "M-Man…..aren't you gonna be stoked wh-when you find out……Asking that question is absolutely p-p-pointless….."
Fox drew limp.
Changeling was already making a face. "H-Huh?"
WH-WHAPPP!
The thug slammed Beast Boy's skull from behind.
"Aaaaugh!" Changeling stumbled across the cabin, dropped a wheezing Fox, and slammed hard into the array of computer monitors and equipment.
CR-CRKKKK!
The one thug whipped out a knife—CHIIING!—and ran across the cabin at the half-collapsed elf. "Nnnnngh!"
Changeling snapped out of it…glancing up. Wide-eyed—
"NGAAAAH!" the thug dove with the dagger.
THWOOOOSH!
Changeling grunted, morphed into a flamingo, and twisted his green-feathered neck and body about across the computer array just in time to avoid—
CL-CLANK! The dagger showered against the equipment with a splash of sparks.
The flamingo squawked, snaked its green beak around, and bit deeply into the wrist of the blade-wielding thug.
"Aaaaaugh!" the guard shouted.
Fox stirred on the floor….gaining oxygen, breath, and hideous consciousness. "Nnnngh….aw shit, Momma, I'm still alive….."
"AAAAUCKKKT!" the thug kicked the green bird.
The flamingo toppled onto the floor.
The thug snarled and raised his foot to kick down through the soft body.
Changeling morphed into a sea turtle and absorbed the boot with his shell. CL-CLANK! He then morphed into a reverse donkey and slammed his hooves into the man's chest. WH-WHAM!
THWOOOOSH! The man sailed across the cabin and—WHAP!—slammed into a closet. CRACK! The closet shattered and a mountain of oceanic boat tools fell out….
…..among which was a flare gun….which the stumbling guard immediately glanced at.
The green donkey brayed….saw the flare gun…and suddenly went wide—eyed.
The thug gasped. Panicking, he dove, rolled across the ground, and reached for the flare gun.
Changeling galloped across the cabin, leapt as a kangaroo, and morphed in mid-descent as an emerald orangutan.
The thug loaded the flare gun, snapped it into place, spun, and aimed point-blanc at the falling primate.
Fox gasped loudly.
THWOMP!
The green monkey grappled and wrestled and fought with meaty, long
arms to dominate the crook.
All the while, the thug struggled for dominance of the flare gun….his finger coiling around the trigger.
"You stupid, idiot buzzkill!" Fox shrieked like a girl. "Put that gun down! You're gonna…..you're gonna….."
TH-TH-TH-TH-THWOMP! Changeling and the flare-toting crook rolled across the length of the cabin.
Fox pulled at his own ears and shrieked with his eyes clenched shut: "Is everyone around me born a frickin' moron? This boat's a powder keg with the missiles and crap! If you fire that flare gun, we'll all---
"Nnnnngh!" the thug wrestled head-to-head with the green monkey…who morphed back into an elf with eyes flickering to those of a panther as he slowly summoned the strength to morph into a particularly heavy creature next…..
"…….aw screw it," Fox grunted and ran in a blur out the cabin….up the stairs…
Into the red night.
And….
"HAAAAUGH---!"
The man's finger finally squeezed around the trigger.
CLICK!
PFFTOOOOOOOO-OOOOOSSSH!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
North of the line of hovercraft…
Tempest skirted back over the waters from the Titans' Island he had just flooded.
Panting….soaring purplish over the sheets of Ocean waves….he approached the fogged array of Dagger's ships.
A smile plastically splotched across his Atlantean features.
"Sorry I was so busy, Beast Bro. But the night could have used a seventy percent chance of fog. Heh heh heh---"
POWWWW!.!.!.!.!.!
The ship Changeling was on exploded in a fierce fireball.
Tempest barely had time to gasp when—
SPLOOOOOOOSSSSH! A resulting wave from the explosion soared into him and plowed him back mercilessly into the waters.
He plunged….twirled….sank…. back up…..and once again broke the surface.
Though the Atlantean didn't need to, he gasped a breath full of dry air. He gazed through draping locks of smooth, black hair at the flaming speck on the waters that was once the conspicuous hovercraft of Dagger's chief hacker.
And something in Tempest's white-on-black eyes twitched. "Ah jeez, Poseidon…..not him………"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Meanwhile, on the lone rooftop where the mist still lingered.
"Nnnngh……," Robin stumbled to his feet.
Alone.
He looked up.
Forehead a sheen of sweat.
Eyemask wide.
He couldn't see anyone….
"Noir!"
He called out.
"Terra!"
Silence…
Settling flames.
He stood up, twirled his bo-staff into a high position, and marched cautiously through the thick fog…
"Noir! Terra! Where are you guys? Answer me!"
….
….
….
"………," Terra lay limply on the edge of the rooftop.
She stirred.
Moaned….
Sat up…wincing….
Her blonde hair dancing in the cold mist and wind.
She panted….panted….panted….
Coughed.
Sputtered.
Lowered her goggles with shaking hands and rubbed a teary eye or two.
"R-Robin…?" She coughed. "J-Jordan…..?"
Silence….
"………K-Kara?" she murmured.
A beat.
She glanced up.
Panting.
It was quiet….
Too quiet………
"………………."
Suddenly, her blonde hair kicked wildly.
She gasped.
Her sapphire eyes darted across the obscured urbanscape.
A snake of red hue was billowing its way through the white mist and surging at her.
"Naaaugh!" she shrieked and somersaulted backwards—
"HRAAAAAUCKKKKT!" SL-SLASSSSSH! CHIIIIIINGG!
Deathstroke solidified, ripping the rooftop and air apart where Terra was.
She rolled backwards, leapt up to her feet, and stumbled in reverse.
"SNKKKKK-KKKKT!" Red Aviary soared directly at her, red blade raised.
Terra bit her lip, dashed her arms down to her side, summoned thick layers of gravel, levitated them up and over her hands to surround her palms like thick gloves and—
SLASSSSSSSSH! The sword came down.
Terra hissed and slapped both of her gravel-encrusted hands together over the edge of the blade as it was an inch and a half away from her brow.
CL-CLANKKKK!
The charging Reaper pushed murderously into her.
SLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE!
Terra's feet grinded into the tar of the rooftop as Deathstroke shoved her towards the building's edge.
She gasped and glanced over her shoulder to see the gaping alleyway yawning below and behind her.
"SNKKKKTT!" SLIII-IIICE! Slade pulled his blade back, coiled his body, and sprang at her with a fiery lunge.
"RAAAAA-AAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAH!" Terra screamed at the top of her lungs and flung her hands forward, directing every single ounce and pellet of white gravel up from the rooftop and throttling them straight towards Deathstroke and his sword.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWIIIIIISSSSH!
The steady stream of horizontally screaming rocks poured into Red Aviary, pushing him back, slapping—batting—pummeling—rattling his burning-red figure.
"SNKKKKT-Clik-Clik-Clik-CLIKKKTT!" He hissed and surged…surged…….surged through the ever-intense stream of projectiles, slicing his relentless way towards her in a puff of burning red.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWISSSH!
SL-SL-SL-SL-SL-SLASSSSH!
"RAAAAAA-AAAAAA-AAAAAH!" Terra sweated and strained and screamed and shook her outstretched hands under a golden, flickering glow.
Until finally…..the streams of gravel rocks ended.
Terra panted….deflating…falling to her feet.
"HCKKKKKTT!" Slade swung his sword heavily down through the last of Terra's desperate onslaught. SLASSSSH!
A burst of red flew into Terra.
Stealing her breath away.
Her blue eyes convulsed wide.
Moist….twitching.
And he rushed towards her, twisted his upper body, and held the two-edged sword to cleave her head in two—
And that's when Robin dove in from the mist—
"YAAAAAAAH!"
TH-THWUMP! The Boy Wonder straddled Slade's neck and skull from behind. Riding Red Aviary 'piggy-back', Robin nimbly 'held' his bo-staff with his ankles…entwining the metal rod with Slade's elbows to keep him from swinging the sword down. Simultaneously, Robin snarled through clenched teeth, whipped out a sparkling taser, and shoved it thickly into the remaining meat of Deathstroke's neck.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTT!-POW!-P-P-POW!-POWWW!
"HRAAA-AAAAAAA-AAAAAAAUCHKKKKTT!" Deathstroke convulsed and shook and danced underneath the straddling Robin's body. Red Aviary's inner corpse of a figure shimmered hot, flesh-searing blue as his raggedy organs popped and hissed and deflated under the rippling heat of electrocution.
P-P-P-POP! P-POW! POW! ZZZZZZZTTT!
All the while, Robin mercilessly stabbed and dug the taser deeper….bravely riding the twitching, burning body of Slade. "Nnnn-Nnnnghhh!"
Terra watched from below….panting….breathless….
"HCKKKKKTT-SNKKKKKRAAAAAAUCHKKKKTT!" Deathstroke twitched, flung his arms up, twisted his body down, and shot his electrocuted torso back up—FWOOOOOSSSH—effectively tossing Robin and the taser off of him.
"Aaaugh!" Robin dropped his bo-staff and fell to the tar rooftop. TH-THWOMP!
A jolting…sparkling Red Aviary twisted about, hissed, and loomed above Robin.
Clank! Robin's bo-staff struck the rooftop….bounced up…..
"TRRRRRY HARDERRRRR, TIM!" Deathstroke jabbed at Robin.
….and the bo-staff fell into my grasp.
I slid in—crossed Myrkblade and the bo-staff—and contacted them both in an 'X' shape with Deathstroke's sword above Robin.
CLANGGG!
Deathstroke jolted.
I hissed at him….black eyes trailing smoke—
THWOMPP!
I shoved him off.
"Snkkkt-Clik-Clik-Clikkkt!" Slade stumbled back.
TH-TH-THWISSH! I twirled Myrkblade in my right hand and Robin's bo-staff in my left. I dragged steam and mist from the air, converted them into serrated smoke, and pumped them into both weapons in my grasp. FWOOSH! FW-FWOOSH! I stood with both smoking bludgeons and glared at Red Aviary.
Head for the hills, asshole.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSSSSH!
With both weapons smokingly charged, I twirled, spun, spiraled, and whirled at him with the dual wielded staff and sword jabbing, slashing, lunging at random split-second spots of Red Aviary's weakness.
He hissed and stumbled back, desperately twirling his sword to block my relentless jabs and offense.
CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CLANGGG!
Robin and Terra watched…the Boy Wonder rushing over to help the blonde earth maiden up to her feet.
SL-SL-SL-SL-SLASSSH!
I snarled and slashedjabbedswipedslashedjabbedswipedslasshedjabbedswiped!.!.!.!.!.!.!
"HRAAAAUCHKTT!" a fed-up Slade backflipped from my maddening, serrated spin…landed in a slide, and slashed a wave of red Destruction at me with a heavy downswing of his blade.
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSH!
I teleported to the side and blurred at him.
He swung again—
FWOOOOOOOSH!
I cartwheeled to the opposite side—teleported in mid jump—and solidified with a running charge with both weapons swinging screamily towards his cowled skull.
SWOOOOOOSH---
He raised his sword to block.
CLANGGGGG! Robin's bo-staff and Myrkblade smokingly collided on either side of his blade.
I leaned forward and hissed at him. Shades vomiting out smoke.
He hissed back—"HRCCKKKTT!"—his one eye pulsing red.
LUNNNGE! He jabbed low at me.
I grinded both weapons down his blade in an 'X'—CHIIIIIINGG!—and forced Slade in a crouching position in front of me.
He started to summon a wave of red—
WHAM!
--until I headbutted him.
"HRAAAUCHKTT!" he stumbled back.
I twirled the two weapons and blurred---
SLASSSSH! His blade was suddenly swinging down again.
I morphed into smoke form and surged up through the falling blade—
CLANKKKK! The red sword stuck into the rooftop tar.
P-PLANT! I landed with smoking weightlessness halfway up Slade's angled, anchored sword. I took a 'step' forward and jabbed both Myrkblade and the bo-staff downward.
SWOOOOOOSH—CLAMP!
Both weapons criss-crossed just beneath Deathstroke's vaporous chin and pinned him in place.
"SNKKKKT!" he struggled and shook to both yank his sword out and pull his cranium free of my weapons--
I balanced one smoking foot on the sword and raised my other boot to—WHAP! WHAP!—bitch slap Slade's stuck face twice and—(Aaaaaaaugh!)—backflip with a mute snarl.
WH-WHACCCKKKKK! Bicycle-kicking up off the blade, I uppercutted Slade's chin fiercely.
"SNKKKKTT!" he hobbled back…bleeding….sword in shaking grasp.
TH-TH-THWOOOSH! I flipped in the air….came down….landed—PLANT!—and teleported ten feet forward through Slade—FWOOOOOSH!-WHACKKKK!--…solidifying on the other side in a crouching lunge with Myrkblade and the bostaff outstretched to either side of me…..frozen…. "………."
The result: Slade flailed weightlessly upwards in the air fifteen feet above my smoke-trailing pose…..
….and that's exactly what Terra flung her golden-charged mass of fresh gravel at.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
SW-SW-SW-SW-SWOOOOOOOOSSSSSH!
The flaming rocks soared upwards and pelted, pelted, pelted Slade's flailing body.
WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WHAAAAAP!
"SNKKKK-RAAAUCHKTT!"
I looked up, panting.
Slade twirled through the mist, plummeted over the side, and landed with one gnarled hand barely grasping the rooftop ledge and holding him from falling to the bloody streets below. CL-CLAMPP!
I gritted my teeth.
DIE!.!.!.!
SWOOOOOSH!
I blurred towards him, both weapons raised again—
FWOOOOSH! He flipped his body up, twirled upside down, and came back onto the rooftop with a red-streaking foot surging destruction clouds of red straight at me.
FLASSSSH!
Aaaugh!
I fell back in a splash of smoke.
FWOMP! I landed hard on my back. Legs flailing upwards as I slid backwards…
"HCKKKK!" Slade twirled his sword and came down at me.
Upside down, my shaded eyes spotted Robin charging towards me, whistling.
Thwoosh! I tossed him his bo-staff.
SNATCH! The Boy Wonder leapt, caught it in mid-air, flipped over my body, and sailed down with his rod slapping Deathstroke's blade aside. "YAAAAH!" CL-CLANK!
"HRAAAUCHKTT!" Deathstroke jolted and raised his elbow.
WHAP! Robin was uppercutted.
Deathstroke jabbed at his torso.
Robin deflected with a snarl. CLANK!
I grunted mutely and kicked my leg up into Deathstroke's inner thigh. WHAP!
Red Aviary hobbled to the side as Robin leapt at him, bo-staff slashing. SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISSSH!
Deathstroke stepped backwards across the rooftop, twirling his sword. CLANK!-CLANK!-CLANK!-CLANK!
I teleported to my feet on the other side of Deathstroke and stabbed at his shoulders. SLASSH!
He brought his two-edged blade back in reverse, blocked me—CLANG!—and shot his leg in reverse.
WHAP! I stumbled…knees first.
"HCKKK!" Deathstroke stepped aside and deflected Robin's next jab towards the rooftop.
CL-CLANK! Robin lunged awkwardly, his rod striking tar.
WHAM! Deathstroke kicked the Boy Wonder.
I vaulted over the Titan Leader's back, spun, and slashed Myrkblade across Deathstroke's face—SLASSSH!
Deathstroke ducked—Myrkblade ripping his cowl's tails in half—SL-SLINK!
He kicked out at me with a red burst. THWAP!
I countered with a black back-hand to his chest. WHUMP!
He absorbed the blow, wrapped his metal-and-flesh arm about mine, and spun me towards the rooftop edge—FWOOOSH!—before twirling about yet again to raise his blade and block Robin's fierce bo-staff swings.
CLANG! WHANG! SMACK! WHACK!
"YAAAAAAA-AAAAAUGH!" Robin howled animalistically and jabbed, twirled, swiped, slashed his metal weapon at every square inch of Deathstroke's defense.
Slade walked backwards, parrying every attack, kicking Robin back, raising his sword to strike—
THW-THW-THW-THW-THWOOOOOSSSH! An airborne 'snake-trail' of gravel flew and pelted against Deathstroke's skull from Terra in the distance.
"AUUCHKTT!" the Reaper winced and shook his skull.
Terra frowned, flickered her eyes gold, and stretched her fists out in time to swing the snake-trail of burning gravel back.
Deathstroke twirled his sword, smashed the gravel into a sea of pellets, and splashed them into Robin—making him stumble back.
"Ughhh!" the Boy Wonder grunted.
Deathstroke turned to face Terra from afar, his limbs pulsing a teleporting red—
SWOOOOOSH-WHAM! I blurred into him from behind, elbow first.
"SNKKKKT!" Deathstroke slid across the rooftop.
I twirled Myrkblade.
Robin steadied himself, bo-staff outstretched.
FWOOOOOOSH! We both charged him…sneering.
Deathstroke readied himself with sword held high. Parrying. Blocking. Countering.
From afar, Terra summoned a second snake-trail of gravel and flung both streams from opposite angles into Red Aviary's body.
TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-THWOOOOSH!
Deathstroke hissed, fought, and struggled in the middle. Deflecting Robin's bo-staff, then countering my moves, then dodging Terra's swipes then striking back at Robin's rod, then shielding against my murk, then absorbing the blows from the gravel, then slashing hard at Robin, then kicking and tripping me, then shattering the gravel apart, then blocking both Robin and I at once, then tilting his head back……summoning a red pulse throughout his body….and exploding a wave of smoke out from the center of the rooftop.
"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUCHKKKKKKTTT!"
FLAAAAA-AAAAA-AAAAAAASSSSH!
The cylindrical splash of red Destruction cascaded outward, sent cracks flying through the rooftop, turned the misty air into a virtual plasma, and shimmered hotly towards the circle of us.
FWOOOO-OOOOOOOO-OOOOOSSSH!
My black eyes flickered in surprised.
Terra gasped.
Robin panted—and shouted: "EVERYONE! LOOKOUT--!"
SPLASSSH!
I was knocked to my back.
Robin was thrown to the side.
And Terra---FWOOOSH!---"AAAAHH!"—was tossed over the side of the rooftop.
I convulsed and shouted mutely.
"TERRA!" Robin bellowed. He gritted his teeth, scrambled on all fours, and lunged his body towards the rooftop.
"HCKKKKT!" Deathstroke twirled his sword and charged after him.
I was in his path.
I panted, gritted my teeth, and shot a blurring foot out—
WH-WHUMP! I tripped Deathstroke to the rooftop.
"SNKKKT!"
Aaaah! I dove and tackled him.
THW-THWUMP!
He jabbed his sword point-blanc at me.
I barely blocked with my sword and black hand.
Red vapors breathing against murking eyes….we rolled and wrestled and tumbled and entangled across the rooftop while—
THWOOSH-WHUMP! Robin landed half-suspended over the rooftop ledge of the building top. He aimed a grappling hook already pulled from his utility belt and shot—almost blindly—down at the first sight of the plummeting blonde figure in the foggy air—
POWWW! THWISSSSSSSSSH-THWPPP! The cord wrapped around the falling Terra's ankle.
She gasped and jolted to a stop…dangling….staring wide-eyed up at Robin.
The Boy Wonder winced….struggling….sweating to hold the petite blonde in place as he too lingered over the precarious building ledge.
"R-Robin!" Terra shouted through the fog and noise of me and Slade wrestling above. "Do what it takes to stop Slade!"
"J-Just hang on, Terra!"
"ROBIN!" she hissed. Eyes on the verge of both glaring and tearing. "It's either him….or me….and neither matter!"
"Terra--!"
"Only m-my child does!"
"TERRA!" Robin bellowed. "God dammit…we're NOT your ENEMIES!"
Terra panted…panted…panted….
Robin gripped the cord with both hands and started hoisting her up….slowly. "Nnnnngh…..now….hang on…..be a Titan for god's sake!"
Terra bit her lip….she angled her body and attempted to reach up and grab the cord around her ankle—
"HRAAAAUCHKKKTTT!" at precisely that moment, Deathstroke kicked me off of him on the rooftop, jumped to his feet, and slashed a wave of murderous red destruction at Robin with his blade. SLASSSSSSH!
The rooftop divided in a fierce crack….screamed towards Robin's feet…and exploded at the ledge.
POWWW!
"Aaaugh!" Robin jolted….losing grip of the grappling cord.
"AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.h.h.h..h..h..h…h…h…h……………!" Terra fell like a dead weight into the mist.
Robin stretched his gloved hand out and screamed: "TERRA!"
Lying—crumpled—on the rooftop…I twitched, sat up, and gasped….
Jaw dropping…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SW-SW-SW-SW-SWOOOOOOSSSSSHHH!
Streaking past the windows and steel frameworks….Terra fell.
She twirled 'round and 'round….
Stretching her hands out and feeling for any rocks or pieces of earth or anything else she could summon thermalkinetically…..
But coming up short.
She panted….gasped….and twirled so that she faced the plummeting earth face-first.
Eyes tearing.
Teeth clenched.
Th-THWOOOSH! Her trademark goggles slid off her face and flew off into misty obscurity….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Robin panted….standing up…..turning around….
Glaring at Slade.
Deathstroke was charging at him….blade swinging. TH-TH-TH-THWISSH! "Butttterfingerssss, Robinnnnskkt!"
"AAAAAAH!" Robin screamed and flew his fist up. WHACKKK!
Slade was uppercutted fiercely before his blade could lop off any of Robin's limbs.
The Boy Wonder snarled, re-gripped his bo-staff charged, and rammed Slade in the chest like a human missile.
WH-WHUMP!
Slade twirled and tumbled across the rooftop towards the opposite edge.
At that time, I shuddered….grunted mutely…and propelled myself up with a murk-laden vault! FWUMP!
Deathstroke stood dizzily at the Eastern edge of the roof.
Robin charged.
I charged.
Robin screamed and jumped.
I gritted my teeth and flew.
The Boy Wonder and I formed flying jump-kicks in dual precision and slammed both of our lunging heels into Red Aviary's chest.
WHAMMMMMM!.!.!.!
"HRAAAAUCHKTT!" The two of us plunged Deathstroke off the building ledge, across the street, down towards a pair of skyscrapers joined by a walkway bridge thirty-stories up, and crashing through a glass sunroof into a top-story art museum with Red Aviary absorbing the splash of shards.
FWOOOOOOSH!
CRASSSSSSSSSSSSS-SSSSSSSSH!.!.!.!.!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Across the rooftop we were previously on….
Jinx stood up before the gaping window through which she had crashed through from Slade's tossing.
"Nnnngh….," she cutely moaned and rubbed a frilled hand over her forehead.
She shook her pink crown, gazed thinly out the window….
…..and saw Terra falling.
She gasped. "TERRA!"
The cat-eyed sorceress gritted her Cheshire teeth, bolted out the gash in the window, and dove straight out with a pulsing leap of hex.
FLASSSSH!
"Nnnnnngh--!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOSH!
A dizzied, flailing Terra plummeted….plummeted….plummeted towards the concrete world below.
And just as her vision started to fail her blue eyes—
FWOOOOOOSH!
Jinx's fate-bending body fell and glided into hers. A petite pair of arms hooked around Terra's waist.
"Ugh!"
Terra gasped. She looked aside. "J-Jinx?"
"Hang on, girl! I got you!" Jinx's eyes pulsed a hot pink as she shot her wrist directly into the glass facing with a hex blade summoned. FLASH!
SNKKKKKK-KKKKKKKKTTT-KKKKKKTTTTT-TTTT!
A showering fountain of glass shards flew up above them as Jinx's energy dagger ate, ate, ate into the blurring surface and slowed the two falling maiden's descent to a slower….less chaotic plummet.
And still, Terra couldn't help but gasp and stared wide-eyed at the hard earth rushing up at them….
SNKKKKKKKK-SNKKKKKKKK-KKKKKTTTT!
"Mmmmmmmnnnnghhh!" Jinx strained, flexed her snaking ankles down and around Terra, and produced—FL-FLASSH!—a hex blade on either foot that ate mercilessly into the blurring glass as well and further slowed their descent.
SNKKKKKKKTTT!
Thirty miles per hour….
Twenty five miles per hour….
SNKKKKK-KKKKKKTTT!
Fifteen miles per hour.
Ten…..
"Th-This is going to be rough!" Jinx insisted. "HAAAA!" she let go of the building, dissolved her hex blades, kicked off, and fired a huge pulse of pink straight down at the earth. "HAAAA-AAAA!"
Terra gasped.
The earth fountained beneath them, formed a cushioning crater.
And---
FWOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSH!
The two landed in a dust-shimmering sigh.
The City Square shook and wobbled around them.
A shivering breath.
Quivering limbs…
Jinx's pink-glowing body pulsed…..pulsed…..and fell dead-and-dark.
FLASH!
The pink sorceress stumbled to her knees.
Terra slumped verily against her.
And—as if gravity caught up—the unearth slabs of shattered concrete fell down from their heated spray of hex-and-thermalkinetic contact.
FW-FW-FW-FWUMMMPPP!
The Second and Third Apprentice were thusly buried…..
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
BL-BLAM!
POW!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The Crunch…..
Calvin's forces were launching tank shells and sprays of hot lead into the golden crowd of burning golems.
The assault forced them back…shattered their edges….and disoriented their flanks.
And then—the fiery assault cut off.
And with the fall of the volley, the wave of Wildebeests poured in with coordinated precision. They stomped their snorting, grunting way into the thick of the burning gold bodies and rammed with silver-crested horns, swinging meat-thick fists, and slamming hooves.
CRKKKK!
WHACCCK!
WHAMMM!
Golems tackled and wrestled with the Wildebeests, holding a few of them off…
…but not for long.
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOSSSH!
Jericho's possessed soldier flew his HIND down the line of battle, firing pot shots into the crowd along with an accompanying squadron of high-flying apaches.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Potholes exploded and opened in burning chains down the bodies of the golems.
As if on cue, Steel….Green Arrow…and the Flash zoomed in. Blurring. Firing arrows. Slamming the sledgehammer….
The golden golems were buying it….one by one.
Wildebeest chants and victory grunts filled the air.
FLAAAASH! Green Lantern flew over the messy scene, sweeping up flanks of the enemy with a strong 'talon' of shimmering green….preserving the line of offense as they stampeded into the inner crowd of nefarious beings under the long-ranged support of Calvin's infantry and artillery.
Over in an intersection where a giant golem flailed and fought to stomp the defenders to oblivion, an especially thick crowd of Wildebeests herded into the center of the street with a line of tanks rumbling up behind them. A few hummers full of Daggerites sped away as the Wildebeests surrounded the thick, burning legs of the golden giant.
CRKKKKK-KKKKKK!
At the base of the giant's feet, Catwoman vaulted between various Wildebeests and taunted the huge, burning infernal with the slash of her whip.
The golem merely billowed flames from its joints and moved its legs over the puny defenders.
SWOOOOSH!
Catwoman and the nearest Wildebeests rolled aside—
STOMPPPP!
Craters formed in the earth.
Catwoman and the Wildebeests taunted…..taunted…..taunted….
STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!
The golem menacingly narrowed its efforts on Selina Kyle's group of pesky defenders….
….ignorant of two darting forms on a rooftop ledge behind its burning neck.
Batman and Black Canary touched down.
They ran to the edge of the rooftop.
Batman produced his grappling hook, aimed, and shot—POWWW!
SWOOO-OOOOOOSH-CLANKKKK!
The hook dug fiercely into the back of the five story monster's 'crown'.
Batman pulled back with all his might. "Nnnngh!"
Black Canary took two armfuls of the taut rope and pulled as well….
TWNNNG!
The yanking 'string' forced the huge monster to lurch where it stood….now teetering.
CRKKKKKK!
That momentary pause was the cue for half a dozen meaty-muscled Wildebeests to leap down from a high building ledge above, plummet into the burning crown of the monster, and use their combined weight to slam the creep to the concrete earth.
"Nrrrrrrgggghhhh!"
THWOMPPPP!
Black Canary and Batman stumbled back on their ledge….panting….
The Wildebeests and Catwoman circled the grounded giant….
Three Army tanks drove up to a stop….pivoting their turrets.
In a red-orange streak, the Flash soared by and shouted a warning.
Catwoman and the Wildebeests scattered.
And just when they did, the three tanks fired at once into the vulnerable burning hide of the monster.
BL-BLAM!
BLAM!
BLAM!
POWWWWWWW!.!.!.!.!
The golem giant shattered in a raining spray of gold debris.
The surrounding Wildebeests scaled overturned cars, hummers, rubbish piles, and waved their arms in leaping victory roars….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Pulsade couldn't help but groan as she felt herself being tugged into the bovine noise of the Crunch.
"Something tells me I'm going to be turning vegetarian really soon…."
"Cool it. These Wildebeests seem to be smoothing out the battle for the Titans and the League," Supergirl said…touching the two of them down before marching into Main Street. "Which is the least one can say about us…."
"I don't know where that little blonde bugger got the idea of using his minotaur friends in assaulting the forces of Armagedd---
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOSSSH! A certain HIND flew over, beating the air.
Pulsade sneered and waved a shotgun towards the sky. "YEAH! I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU!"
Supergirl suppressed a smirk. "I thought you and that wyrd kid that haunted Noir were buddy-buddy or something."
"I preferred him when he wasn't saddling a heifer. Besides, he pretty much elected himself out of the Counter-Red-Aviary team the moment he hopped into Noir's peepers in Las Vegas and 'rode' the bloke all the way here."
"Heh….I guess not all things are etched in stone, huh?"
"Hardly, Super-posh."
"And just who is the ultimate bad guy here? Dagger? Or Slade?" Supergirl panted, glancing around at the burning…crumbled Cityscape.
"I think this night will speak for itself," Pulsade murmured.
Supergirl paused to turn back and glare at the blonde assassin. "Right now, I think it's the guy trying to kill the most people."
"No, love. It's not the number of people being killed….but who."
"…….," Supergirl took a breath and uttered in a sad tone. "I prefer nobody being killed if I can handle it…."
"Not even Dagger or Slade?"
"……….I didn't say I wasn't a h-hypocrite," the Argosian made a face.
Pulsade examined her shotgun. "Right……feh….smart-arse yank…."
Supergirl crouched into a coiled position around a street corner. "Hold that thought…."
Pulsade glanced up. "Huh?"
THWOOOOOOSSSSH!
Pulsade flinched all over as Supergirl soared off….
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
….and burned her way straight into the fray.
"Nnnnnnghh!" Starfire flew her fist into the first ring of Wildebeest-entangled golems she could touch.
WHAMMM!
Golden, burning innards flew.
"Rrrraaaugh!"
CRUSSSH!
An opposite upper-arm hook shattered even more of the golden creeps.
The City streets burned with flying sprays of yellow-and-gold fire.
Supergirl punched her way through to the center, forming a weakness in the Daggerite ranks north of the Crunch.
The noise of the charging Wildebeests and brawling Justice League members increased in her ears.
The blonde Argosian panted, flexed her superpowered muscles, and soared straight through the crowd in a scream.
"YAAAA-AAAAAAAAAHHH!"
CRKKKKK-CRKKKKK-CRKKKKK!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
From across the Crunch….
In Main Street….
Superman finished a sweep of a sidewalk with his heat rays.
Terrorists with rocket launchers ran and ducked for cover.
Superman was about to fly after them across the heated sprawl…when he heard Supergirl's screaming charge.
He looked to his left….panting….
….and saw a straight column of golems being tossed wildly upwards into the air.
From the onslaught of the Girl of Steel.
He sweated and murmured: "K-Kara?"
A beat.
He made to fly over there when—
FW-FWOOOSSH!
Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter touched down right in front of him.
"Kal-El…," J'onn droned. "We must speak…."
"Not now!" Superman brushed him aside. "I think I just saw K—"
"Superman, we've got more problems," Wonder Woman interrupted.
Superman squinted his eyes at her. "What kind of problems?"
"The heavens aren't on our side."
"…………what?"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Atop his skyscraper…
Surrounded by fire left by exploded missiles….
Dagger leaned bloodily against a wall.
The white-bright vial was stuck in his pocket…syringe and all.
He propped a knee up and balanced a tiny computer data pad….
His one good hand danced across the thin-line buttons on the pad.
And in sweaty…..near-faint concentration…
….he aimed the crosshairs of the ion cannon far above…