Chapter Seven: Earthquake
Wonder Woman arrived on the scene alongside Flash and Cyborg. Cyborg quickly teleported back to the Watchtower to team up with Batman. The whole city was shaking. This was not normal, she hadn't felt rage this strong since she fought gods. Pompeii was the only earthquake similar to this. Denmark is being devastated, she thought. The houses were crumbling around them, it seemed too strong for any nation. But since when do earthquakes happen here?
The team went to their targets: the civilians. No word was exchanged, they all knew what to do. It was simple, yet frightening. Wonder Woman always felt this to be the most frightening of ordeals. There is no enemy, no mystery, just civilians dying. A long time ago she'd found it fascinating how fragile human life was, how swift. It made it precious. Important. She flew to a nearby house, there were people there huddled under a table. Above them the ceiling looked like it was about to fall, and so it did. But not before she got there. She grabbed the great mass of stones and flung it aside. Then removed the table and saw the family of two patents and two children, they looked up at her in wonder, in awe. There she was: the American hero that they never saw apart from on television. She stretched out her hand: "alt er godt, jeg er her til at hjælpe," said Wonder Woman, there was hardly a language she didn't know.
She pulled them out of the house and placed them in a safe place: there was a park in the middle of the city, it was removed from all of the buildings, it would be a perfect place to put them. She took them all, not leaving one person behind. The Flash had already cleared a few blocks. She sometimes forgot how quick he was, how quickly he took care of the civilians.
"There are too many, the evacuation alarms didn't go off in time," said Wonder Woman.
"Hal," said Flash, "we could use some help."
"Coming now," and in the space of thirty seconds he was there, already supporting a building so that the people could leave.
The Flash was starting on another neighbourhood. But the task was beginning to overpower these heroes.
"Two parks are already full of civilians, there are simply too many people. We need back up, now," said Wonder Woman. She refused to have the ego of men; when help was needed, it was needed. There was no shame in that.
"Help," said an unfamiliar voice on the comms, "is here."
And onto the scene came the young ones.
Superboy. Red Robin. Wonder girl. Beast Boy. Raven. Kid Flash. The young ones. In a way they were a security net: should the League fail they would step into their shoes. The only way out of the League was probably death. But for Wonder Woman this was not an outlook of a temperament of defeatism, but a challenge to defy it every time. A warrior knows that she may die, but she does not have to make it a certainty. That's why a warrior trains. In a way, she didn't want them around, it could be dangerous, but at the same time she needed their help, and they could use the experience.
Red Robin coordinated the searches and rescues, as well as the parks, he had Superboy tear a few buildings down. It was amazing how much like Clark he was, and how different at the same time. They both had that bravado and strength. As Superman, Superboy would do fine. But truly, there was no one else quite like Clark.
The citizens were evacuated after an hour. Red Robin was truly Bruce's equal in mind. Bruce knew very well how to pick them.
The team worked efficiently and quickly. Wonder Woman couldn't help but admire their capabilities. The earthquake raged on and on, and it started to pick up strength and magnitude.
"What's going on here? This is beyond anything I've ever heard of!" Called GL, he wasn't panicking, but he was bewildered. They all were. Slowly cracks started to form in the pavement. Buildings came crashing down all around them. They were safe, but not for long.
Superboy flew out onto the pavement in the heart of all the destruction.
"What are you doing, kid?" yelled Green Lantern. GL wasn't too familiar with the Teen Titans, but he ought to have been.
"I think he's going to try and control the tectonic plates underneath us," said Red Robin.
"He can do that?" asked Wonder Girl.
"He never tried before," was Robin's reply.
"Lantern, Beast Boy, Raven, we need to keep Superboy safe. He's going to need all the help we can give him, let's move!" cried Wonder Woman and they all charged to where Superboy was crouched, hands to the ground, red energy surrounding him and flowing into the ground. His limit until now had been the amount of will he had, but that had never been challenged as it was challenged now. This was beyond anything anyone had ever tried, so far as they knew.
"I can feel the plates!" called Superboy, "they're struggling against me, this isn't right! It's like they have a will of their own, something is moving them!"
Or someone, thought Wonder Woman. She knew of gods that could do this, but none would have any interest in doing so.
The science didn't add up, this shouldn't be happening, thought Flash. He sped with Kid Flash to make sure that the citizens were where they should be and also to make sure that they didn't miss anyone. Kid Flash was from the distant future, and though he denied it, the Flash kept thinking they were somehow related. While Flash had the desire to train him, none of these youngsters were sidekicks. Only Red Robin was trained by Batman and worked with him. The rest came of their own volition. Part of Barry's instinct was that they were too young to do this, it was reckless and dangerous. But what put him above them? If he had received his powers when they had, he would have done the same as they did. They had to fight their own battles, he just hoped that the Justice League would be able to help when necessary. That also made him wonder about the middle group of heroes, those that in age could be League members, some of whom had been Titans at some stage, but did their own thing. There were so many heroes now, so many good people, fighting so many more bad people.
"I found the source!" came Superboy's voice over the communications.
"Great! What is it?" asked the Flash, he was almost itching to go find something to do.
"I'm not sure if it's a strange device or a person, but he's somewhere past the island, I think he's in the waters between here and the next island!"
"You sure?" asked Red Robin, always looking for concrete facts.
"I can't find a specific point, there may be multiple ones. RRRAAGHHHH!"
"What happened?" asked Wonder Girl, flying down to be beside Superboy. He was seeping red energy and he looked almost crazy with his eyes flaming into light red and pushing down on the ground.
"I found them! Where's Raven? She can see where they are exactly."
"I hate when I have to delve into your mind, Connor, it is always turbulent," said Raven, her voice was like honeyed steel. Chilling to the core. It is probably safe to say that while every one of the Teen Titans trusted her, they never quite got used to that voice.
"I have the locations," and she flew away, the others quickly followed.
"The earthquake is decreasing in magnit-" started Red Robin, only to be cut off by the cry of pain and anger of Superboy. It is probable that the entire city heard the young hero's cry as he managed to take control of the great tectonic plates. He slowly eased them to where they should be, trying to be as gentle as he could. A mis-step, and an earthquake would be just the beginning.
Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, Raven, Beast Boy, and Flash alongside Kid Flash went to the locations that Raven shared with them telepathically. Wonder Woman and Raven found one location. Beast Boy and Wonder Girl another and the Flashes found the last.
"Too slow old man, couldn't even beat me!" called Kid Flash, as they reached the site.
"Last time we ran like this, you ended up nearly floating out to orbit," replied the Flash.
"Whatever, old man."
"What is this thing?" asked Beast Boy.
"It's a very advanced machine," was Wonder Girl's reply.
"Flash, take your machine to the Watchtower, the rest of you: destroy these things and let's get back to helping these civilians," commanded Wonder Woman. Whenever she talks, she's always was so confident, so sure of herself, thought Wonder Girl, I hope someday I will be able to fill those shoes.
The machine looked like a large black box that was on an island, the island was barely large enough for a person to stand on, and was not there according to the maps. The machine, Flash theorised, was placed at the bottom of the sea and it sucked up land and thus made space for plates to break and then, when the machine sent its tremors, created an earthquake. Once the machines had been destroyed, the earth was sucked down, luckily not so fast that the Flashes couldn't start running in order not to fall into water. Superboy sucked back the land mass into place and sealed it. Just like it was, he thought, and fainted. This was the greatest feat he has ever attempted. Red Robin was there to make sure he was alright; he's alive, just exhausted.
"Pick up on the way!" called Beast Boy as Raven used her telekinesis and grabbed both Superboy and Red Robin. The Titans left for their own headquarters, while Wonder Woman and Green Lantern tended to the city, helping anyone they could. The Danish army was now able to start establishing first aid tents and it seemed like everything was going to be handled by these authorities.
"This was planned," said Wonder Woman, "this was an actual strike against a nation."
"Who would do this though? And who could build such technology?" asked Green Lantern. And then got the answer. He halted mid-flight, a scowl written across his face. He knew who it was, it was as they'd suspected: it was not over.
"Scan the device when we get to the Watchtower," said Wonder Woman, "Barry is there waiting for us. Make sure it is truly them."
"Didn't think of doing anything else," said Green Lantern and sped past her.
Men, thought Diana, they are so quick to anger sometimes, especially when there is a fight about to commence. If they were able to be more patient, they would be better in the fight.
She flew behind Green Lantern to the Watchtower.