3.
Jump City
October 04
06:42 UTC
Slushing his way through calf high sewer water, Robin had finally arrived at the underground entrance to the safe house he was ordered to report back to. His leg was aching but tolerable enough to not warrant any downtime to heal, mostly thanks to the pain pills he dry swallowed that took care of most of the throbbing pain he felt and the numbing agent in the gel he applied earlier. Looking around, the injured Boy Wonder used a black light to expose a hidden panel in the wall. Sliding it to the side, he exposed a pin pad and entered the five digit code followed by a retina scan to enter the safe house from the sewer.
Recognized, Robin, B, 20.
With the computer announcing his arrival, Robin waited for a disguised passage door to open, allowing him entry. Still using his staff to aid in walking, he boarded the waiting elevator behind the door and rode it to the floor above. In less than a minute, the door slid open with the safe house main floor holding what was left of those who had stood against Trigon.
"Tim!" Looking relieved, Nightwing stood from where he sat and approached the third Robin. "Glad you made it."
"You too." Robin replied as he looked at who was present. "Is this all?"
Breathing out a sigh, Nightwing nodded. "Yeah. We're seriously outnumbered and outgunned here."
Occupying a table with a map of the city covering it, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Supergirl were busy planning their next move. Sitting before the large computer screen in the corner of the loft-sized room, Starfire was watching street camera footage of the people converging behind Trigon as he entered the harbor and stepped foot on the island Titan Tower was on. Coming out of the weapons vault, the youngest Robin entered the room armed to the teeth with utility belts strapped across his chest along with the new Batgirl who was looking over a gas gun.
"Any injured?" Tim asked as he collapsed his weapon.
"They don't take prisoners." Motioning him to follow, Nightwing lead the way to the computer screen Starfire occupied. "When we first arrived, we were surprised to see those we thought dead fighting for the cult."
"Same here. I saw Eddie and couldn't believe he was alive."
"Any word of your team?"
"No. Last I saw of them, they were scattering to fight the other cult members. Haven't seen any of them since. I really don't think they were ready with how they were trained. For all we know, they retreated somewhere when we got in deep. Then there's Raven being the daughter of that thing."
"Star, do you mind?" As the Tameran Princess moved out of the way, Nightwing swiftly moved his fingers over the keyboard and called up footage from traffic cameras from earlier. "I think you need to give them more credit than you have. We're talking two different generations of teams. When the original black ops was formed, we didn't get along. I was used to working with Batman, Wally was used to fighting alongside the Flash, and Kaldur had is own style with how Aquaman trained him. We had a crash course in teamwork from day one despite being friends. The newer ones have their way of doing things that works for them. Just a shame we lost them all."
"Guess I'm not ready to be a team leader." Standing beside the computer, Robin holstered his collapsed staff.
"No, you're ready. It's just you need to loosen up and remember what everyone brings to the table."
Pressing play, Nightwing had the recorded footage play with various teams engaged with the enemy and how they were losing them quickly. "They did something to them, mind control maybe. We saw Brother Blood stab Cass. Her skin turned white and her eyes began to glow a bright red. We can stop them, but it's hard knowing they're our friends. It's the Watchtower incident all over again."
"Yeah. I remember the story."
"But here's the kicker." Typing in more commands, Nightwing had footage of Blue Beetle, Green Lantern Kyle, and Cyborg come up. "Watch when Cyborg goes off screen and it's just Blue and Scarecrow."
Studying the footage carefully, Robin saw Scarecrow attack Kyle and Blue Beetle before a blur went past the bottom corner of the screen. Backing up, the armored Beetle got a shot off on the supernatural criminal. Once the light from the pulse cannon faded, the once straw covered man, fell to his knees as a human.
"How?"
"Beetle found a way to break whatever hold Trigon had over Crane. Unfortunately," footage of the moment Blue Beetle was stabbed was shown and how he and Cyborg attacked Kyle, "Blood had gotten Cy and stabbed Blue, forcing them to fight for Trigon. Best guess, whatever magic they used on them can be broken with science, energy countering energy, you know."
"Mental block?"
"Maybe. Without more information, we-"
Recognized, zero nine, Hawkman. Ten, Hawkwoman. Zero three, Wonder Woman.
"The Hawks, Wonder Woman." Looking up at the entrance to the first floor of the building, Black Canary saw the three make their way down to the basement where the rest were holding out.
"We need medical," Wonder Woman announced as Hawkman carried in his unconscious wife.
"What happened to her?" Green Arrow asked as he and Black Canary cleared off the table where they were looking over the map of Jump City at.
"I had no choice. I had to render her unconscious for her own good." Laying her down, Hawkman squeezed her hand as Supergirl brought a medkit over to them. "She turned against me after fighting Brother Blood. I thought her to be injured during the battle, but she lost all coloring in her skin."
"Like the others." Taking a scanner from the computer terminal, Nightwing looked over the sleeping woman as Black Canary tended to any wounds she may have. "She's okay. No signs of brain damage from a retinal scan. Whatever they did to turn her, we can't pick up on it."
"She has no injuries," Black Canary said.
"And her internals are just fine." Canceling out her x-ray vision, Supergirl tilted her head upwards. "Someone's here."
Recognized, zero one, Superman.
Entering the basement, the Man of Steel cast his gaze over the small group. Letting out a sigh, he shook his head and was about to say something when a bright light broke out on the middle of the room.
Shielding their eyes, everyone in the basement turned their heads away from the center of the room when something landed with a thud on the wooden floor. One by one, they were struck with shock at the sight of an injured Doctor Fate lying on the ground, fighting to breathe and an arm looking injured from the way it was bent.
"Fate!" Flying to the injured Leaguer, Superman knelt down by his side with Nightwing and Wonder Woman doing the same.
"Fate, Giovanni," Wonder Woman said as she tried to help him turn over to breathe better. "What happened? How are you injured."
"Need, need time to, to heal the body," Doctor Fate tiredly told her. "Trigon's mystical abilities, injured Giovanni's body. I managed to save him and need time to heal what was damaged."
"If he can beat Fate, Nightwing whispered.
"How can we stand up to that?" Starfire added.
Jump City Streets
October 04
07:02 UTC
"This is insane, man."
"Oh shut up."
"Will you both shut up? We need to be quiet."
"What are you talking about? You're the loudest of us all."
"And you're the dumbest."
"..."
"Seriously, all of you need to keep quiet. I didn't bring you all together just so you can give our position away. Now stay here and let me see if it's safe to move again."
Emerging from the cover of darkness, Kid Flash donned his goggles and scanned the area. Readouts scrolling down the side of his lens showed he was around several blocks from the safe house. Thermals picked up on various heat signatures throughout the city from the possessed people occupying the streets. None moved as they simply stood there as if waiting for something to happen.
Heading back to the small group he was with, Kid Flash gathered them around himself. "We have about six blocks to go, but we have to stay in the shadows. Can't risk what happened last time."
"You mean when dummy here-"
"..."
"It was a mistake. How was I supposed to know they would attack us?"
"The ash white skin and glowing eyes could be an indicator they aren't on our side."
"Not to mention they were standing like those q-tip hat guys in England. Never trust q-tip heads."
"Like I said, one mistake, one mistake."
"Yeah, but we all paid for it."
"Oh just shut up."
"No, you shut up."
"You."
"You."
"..."
Pinching is nose, Kid Flash shook his head and exhaled. "And I thought I was hard to get along with," he mumbled.
Titan Tower
October 04
07:03 UTC
Sitting atop the destroyed building made to house the new Titan team, the creature known as Trigon rested as if sitting in a recliner. Clawed hands draped over the sides of the upper floors forming the top of the 'T' shape. His hoofed feet were indented in the hard ground from his massive weight as the red harbor water splashed upon the rocks before him. His gaze swept over the city as it succumbed to his will bit by bit due to the expanding dome merging his dimension with the present one.
He could feel where every one of his followers, forced or otherwise, were and what they were doing. He could feel where those still standing against him were located at. They would be dealt with in due time, no matter if they regained Doctor Fate or not. This world would be his, it's people would be his slaves, it's heroes would bow before him and bring those against him to their knees, else be destroyed, then destroy them simply because he could.
Massive amounts of mystical energy had him drained, although he was still capable of battling and beating this dominion's supreme sorcerer. Still, there was someone out there who managed to get under the dome just before it was finished forming, but they were of no concern. No matter what anyone attempted to do, they would fail as those who stood against Trigon faced their doom with no hope of fleeing from his will and their inevitable demise.
Jump City Safe House
October 04
07:17 UTC
"Here is what we know so far," Superman said as he finished tacking a map of the city to the wall beside the computer. "The Cult of Blood has succeeded in bringing forth their demon god, Trigon into our world. They have turned those we thought dead into their pawns to fight against us and were capable of doing the same to others, with that, we have lost nearly all of the black ops team, some members of the League, and the Titans are MIA. No one can get in or out of the dome Trigon formed over the city, and from what I saw before I came here, it's expanding. Supergirl, any word from Oracle?"
"No," the blonde Kryptonian answered. "Communications from the outside are cut off. We only have short range radios in here for the time being."
"Have you discovered where the citizens were heading to?" Wonder Woman asked Nightwing.
"Traffic cameras have them converging around the harbor." Zooming in on the massive group of people, Nightwing showed what they were up to on the computer screen. "They just...kneel. No one's moving. And I haven't seen any sign of Batman or the others. They're out there though."
"What about Crane?" Green Arrow asked.
"He's with the crowd. They repossessed him or something but haven't turned him back into his scarecrow form."
"Maybe they think they don't need him anymore," Supergirl commented.
"Why replace an underling when you have the main reason for your objective in front of you? His role's over. They have no need for a lackey now their main goal has been reached," the younger Robin mentioned sarcastically.
"Regardless, we need a plan as to how to fight that thing," Black Canary told the group. How do you fight something capable of defeating Doctor Fate?"
No one had the answer for that as they took glances at one another. Dakseid was hard enough to defeat, but this being was much more than he was. No one had an idea as to how they could fight back, not with an entire city working for the enemy, too few allies, and a being referred to as a god.
The computer than announced someone arriving.