Alright, last chap for the episode. And as a preview of what's next...Batclan action.
5.
Titans Tower
August 08
03:42 UTC
Narrowly getting out of the computer room, Garfield managed to get the door shut just as Wolf reached the entrance. His open jaws slammed against the metal sliding door, leaving him to do nothing more than growl from the other side.
Catching his breath, Garfield leaned against the wall next to where he came from and held his side. The canine member of the team managed to slice him just below the ribcage with his claws, causing the Titan to morph into an anaconda to wrap him up. He was down just long enough for the green shifter to escape.
Grunting, Garfield searched the dark hallway with snake-like eyes. He had lost his light in the room dealing with Wolf and was now having to rely more on is animal abilities. Freezing, he zeroed in on what was left of Raven's fight. Rubble from the ceiling lay on the floor where she was with water from the sprinkler system flowing from the pipes overhead. There was no sign of her anywhere but by the looks of things, he could guess she was captured like the others.
Leaning his head against the wall, he let out a huff as he slowed his breathing down. He then tapped the back of his skull against the wall a few times, tightening his eyes and gritting his teeth. He had failed is friends. He was made to be the leader at the end, but he still managed to lose them one by one. Failure was something he did not want to feel. Disappointment in losing his teammates and friends was something he hope would never happen. This hurt more than if he failed in himself. Now he knew what Kaldur and Nightwing told him about when they explained some of the hard choices and consequences he would have to face should he be a leader of a squad or team.
As Garfield continued to go over the events leading up to this point in his head, he failed to notice something moving in the shadows to his right. Something was creeping up to him slow enough as to not alert him. Letting out a grunt, he got to a kneeling position and tried to get up when a hand clamped down on his shoulder, making him jump and gasp. The sudden movement and scare made his injury hurt slightly more like lightning shooting through his side.
"Shh, it's me." Settling him down, Raven took a seat next to her startled teammate. "What happened to you?"
"Wolf got a lucky hit. It's not bad." Looking back at the debris on the floor, he turned back to look her over. "What happened out here?"
"M'gann was waiting for me then Conner ambushed me. I tried to get out of the tower using the shadows but the outside must the lit up too bright. I can't get out."
"Any idea where they went to?"
"I blasted Conner back to the pervious floor. You were right. He can't handle magic too good. I went easy on him but he was still stunned."
"And sis?"
"She phased through the floor. I think she's treating this like a hunt." Looking his side over, Raven nudged him slightly. "Can you move?"
"Yeah. I just need to rest a bit."
"I can heal you if you want."
"Thanks, but it's not that bad."
Nodding, Raven sat beside her teammate to settle her nerves. No sooner had they both relaxed when Conner came crashing through through the top floor and charged them both, cutting the the stairs. Moving at the last minute, the two narrowly avoided his fists as they came crashing down where they were, leaving holes in the floor.
"Go up!" Morphing into a sparrow, Garfield flew through the hole from earlier with Raven close behind. As soon as they were on the next floor, he morphed back and ran along side her to the stairwell.
"Why up?" Raven asked.
"Because Sphere's still downstairs. We can't get trapped by the three of them."
"Then where do we go?"
"Um, I...I don't know. I-"
"The only place we haven't tried is the hanger. You think we can get the doors open?"
"Maybe. I can't because it needs power. Even as an electric eel, I won't be able to generate what it needs. But if you use your magic."
"Just be ready to go when I get it open, Gar."
Reaching the stairs, they both flew as fast as they could to the top floor. Upon nearing the section of the tower with the private sleeping rooms, the stairs and rails began to bend towards them. They were attacked on all sides by the metal as M'gann and Conner flew up after them. Using her own powers, Raven had the metal they passed attack the two who dodged, in M'gann's case, or smashed right through them, in Conner's case. With no time to stop, Garfield took point and morphed into a rino once they reached the hager floor where he rammed through the door before shifting back into a hawk while Raven brought up a barrier of metal and her black power to block the way after them.
Shooting down the hallway to the hanger entrance, the two were taken by surprise as Sphere came from the other side of the tower and unleashed a volley of her bolts at them. Morphing just in time, Garfield slid under the shots she took as Raven created a shield for her protection, dropping her barricade at the same moment. With the firepower focussed on his partner, the green teen leapt into the air as an antelope then crashed down on the sentient machine as a hippo. Raven then finished the attack by ripping the twin cannons off the machine as well as her wheels before they both heard the sound of Conner tearing through the barricade.
"SHOOT!" Garfield yelled as the two leaders came flying right at them.
Getting in front of him, Raven Crossed her arms and powered up her next spell. "Azerath Metrion Zenthos!"
A large black beam of energy shot from her hands as she uncrossed them, striking the one she knew was the most dangerous, M'gann. The Martian was hit head on with barely any time to create a defense and fell hard to the ground. Stopping beside her, Conner slid to his knees and gently picked her up to check on her. He then faced the two teens and let out a low, dangerous growl.
"Oh crap," Garfield muttered.
Setting his wife down, Conner slammed both his hands into the ground, burying his fingers in the floor and used his TTK to shake the entire top floor of the tower. The metal blocking the windows groaned from the strain with the walls buckling around them. It was as if an earthquake had decided to develop with him as its epicenter.
"Hanger, now!" Raven yelled as she and Garfield ran to get out of the hall and vanished into the hanger just as the floor caved in.
With both teens inside the hanger doors, Raven used her powers to shut the large metal slabs to buy them as much time as she could while Garfield hurried to the bioship. Thankfully, it was sleeping and did not look to pose a threat, as one more of their own hunting them was not needed or wanted.
"Up there." Pointing at the large track high above him, Garfield showed where Raven should direct her powers to slide the docking doors open. "There's also a lock to keep them closed further dow-"
A loud slam from the other side of the entrance rocked the metal doors leading to the hallway. Knowing it was Conner literally bringing the doors down, the two set about trying to get out. Morphing into a gorilla, Garfield braced against the entrance to add his strength and weight to counter what Conner was doing on the other side. As he bought them a few more seconds, Raven floated into the air and surrounded the locking mechanism with her black energy, breaking it then set about opening the docking doors.
While Raven went about creating a way for her and Garfield to get out, the green gorilla was losing ground in holding the doors shut. He could now see Conner's face peeking from the separation of the two massive metal slabs and growled at the Kryptonian. He was no match for how strong his brother-in-law was who was obviously toying with him on having the door difficult to open. With sweat dripping from the green beast's face, it was only a matter of time when Conner forced the doors the rest of the way open, delivering a kick to the ape's belly for good measure.
"Gar, now!" With the docking doors open just enough for them to get out, Raven shot into the air as moonlight cascaded in to the massive room.
Narrowly missing grabbing the gorillafied Garfield, Conner saw the young team member fly into the air as a hawk when he saw Raven near the overhead exit. With one strong leap, he passed the green bird and flew at the girl with both hands outstretched. In a hard collision, he took her down and landed on his feet, scaring Garfield who looked down at him as Raven limply slumped in his arms. The last he saw was her being unceremoniously dumped on the floor with Conner staring up at him as he flew out of the hanger.
Flying high into the sky with the moon overhead, Garfield flapped his wings faster, hoping to reach the mainland without Conner chasing after him when he was forced to stop. Among the stars and large moon before him, a near invisible shape came into view as M'gann dropped er camouflage mode and extended a hand. There was nothing he could do as his blood sister's eyes glowed a bright green and the words, 'Wake up' filled his head as he felt himself falling.
Titans Tower
August 08
04:02 UTC
Sitting up with a gasp, Garfield found himself staring across the medial bay with a waking Cissie sitting on the bed a few feet away. Barbara was tending to her while Atom made sure he was not going to fall off or was in need of further help. Looking around the white room, he saw Terra leaning back on her inclined bed with an ice pack across her brow. Her face was fading in redness as Zatanna brought her a cup of water. Watching the league magician, he saw her head over to Raven who was having a small light shone in her eyes by Artemis with Wally and John Stewart checking on Kyle.
"Garfield?" Atom asked with a hand on his back. "Garfield." He then snapped his fingers in front of his face twice to get his attention.
Shaking his head, the green teen rubbed his eyes to make them focus better.
"Gar?" Coming up beside him, M'gann sat on the single bed and hugged him. "How are you feeling?"
"Wha, what happened?" he asked as he scooted away from her. "Why did you attack me?"
"It wasn't me, Gar," she pleaded. "Something happened to you and the others that-"
"It was Scarecrow's Fear Toxin." Wheeling herself towards Garfield, Barbara began to give him a look over by placing a stethoscope on his chest. "You and the others were exposed to his fear toxin during your fight with him."
"His vitals are returning to normal," Atom told her.
"Thanks." Setting her instrument in her lap, she let Atom look into his eyes with a pen light to make sure he did not have any potential head trauma.
"Do you have any idea as to how this happened?" M'gann asked.
"Some." Stepping forward, Batman, with Conner beside him, brought up his holo-screen. "Preliminary tests show a trace amount of fear Toxin from Scarecrow left in your systems and is being flushed out at this time after inoculating you."
"But how did we get gassed?" Kyle asked, "I got rid of it all when he exploded."
"According to my tests, you were all exposed with a dusting of the toxin. Your uniforms still have trace amounts on them and are being sterilized at this time."
"So Scarecrow has fear dust now?" M'gann asked.
"So it seems. Normally, Crane would use a gas or liquid delivery system for his toxin. From what I found, your team was dusted during their fight with him."
"But it didn't effect me. I gave Gar a hug before bed then I held Carter and was sleeping with Conner. None of us experienced anything."
"It was the sweat," Barbara told her. "Each was dusted in the Fear Toxin, which was then absorbed through their pours when they perspired. It was coursing in their blood stream and was triggered once they entered a deep sleep cycle."
"Each then experienced their fears as a nightmare," Batman explained. "Terra's claustrophobic, most likely from her time as a captive by the Cult of Blood. Kyle had no power and therefore no protection. Cissie was similar as she was unable to fight back no matter what she did and Raven was being pursued by an unstoppable threat. When you two came to check on them, they perceived it as being attacked, hence why they envisioned fighting back. They fought in their minds while physically going through the motions, which is why they acted as if they had weapons when they did not in a type of sleep walking state. Even the usage of M'gann's telepathy was not enough without hurting them, leaving them to think you were attacking them until they were inoculated."
"What about you, Garfield?" Atom asked.
Looking at the group for a moment, Garfield put his head down and hugged his knees to his body. "I don't want to be the leader."
"One thing still concerns me though," Barbara said. "They did not have individual dreams, but had a collective one. With what the cult did to him, do you think Scarecrow's able to control the fears of those he affects in their sleep?"
Looking at the still shaken teens, the veterans came to the same conclusion that Scarecrow was indeed that powerful now. There was no other explanation as to why they would all have the same dream.
Leaning closer to the Dark Knight, Conner quietly spoke to him. "That failsafe mission you wanted us to run with them? They just did it."