Okay, guys, one more episode left after this. Like the last, and because I'm such a dork, there will be a soundtrack. I'll be trying to get it out as fast as I can, but with Halloween next month, I may have longer work hours. Rest assured, I already have it planned with the actual typing being all that remains. And to all the new readers, followers, and such, thanks for your time and I hope this lives up to a replacement fourth season for you and everyone reading this. Also, Happy Football Day as the regular season is officially underway! GO COWBOYS!
jwill - Ra's is a manipulator. He can make others feel as if they're in control when he's pulling strings from behind the curtain the entire time. Essentually, he would be in on makig deals that would benefit him should they work while also stacking the deck against his foes to weaken them or see them slip and expose them in a negative light.
Guest - Wee baby Carter is well taken care of at the Kent Farm with Wolf, Ma, and Pa looking after him. Wally and fam are in Palo Alto with their daughter as they're semi-retired.
17. Divide
1.
Jump City
October 06
09:07 UTC
Stepping foot back in the city they had grown to accept as their own, the five teens making up the first squad of Titans were in shock at what they saw. All around them, buildings were burning, damaged, or had been completely leveled with a large, wide path of destruction leading out of the city. Cars and trucks in the damaged valley between buildings were crushed flat into the street with, comically, the street light still switching between red and green.
"What happened here?" Lantern asked.
"I told you," Arrowette said, "end of the world. And I still don't feel fine."
"Guys, heads up." Responding to Terra's words, and gesture, the five quickly ran for cover inside a nearby bank lobby.
With its glass doors shattered, the group had no problem getting in and quickly hid behind the wall for the loan department with the overturned furniture providing additional cover. Peeking out in the form of a mouse, Beast Boy saw a group of possessed civilians walk past the damaged building. After the last of them vanished from view, he skittered back to the others, who were ready for a fight with how they were positioned.
"Think they saw us?" Arrowette whispered with her bow drawn back and an arrow at the ready.
"Don't think so," Beast Boy told her. "Come on. Just don't get in the street yet."
Moving from their cover, the five carefully made their way to the front doors once it was all clear. There seemed to not be anyone else outside, but that did not mean they were not being watched.
"Plan?" Terra asked.
"Over there." Pointing straight ahead, Raven had the others look upon the island where her father was. "That's the plan."
"We get over there and take him down," Lantern said.
"How exactly?" Terra asked. "In case no one noticed, he's freaking taller than a building. He's using ours as a blasted chair."
"His Chakra," Raven told them. "He has a Chakra on his forehead. It's hidden most of the time, but if I can get it open, I'll be able to send him back to his own realm."
"What about the others? The ones he turned or killed?" Beast Boy asked.
"I, I don't know. I don't know if I can get them back or where to begin. They're only possessed, so, maybe."
Turning to look at her friends and teammates, the cloak wearing girl donned her hood. "Remember, Trigon may not be able to tell where we're at, but he can see us if we make ourselves known, same goes for his minions. We need to stay out of sight until ready to fight."
"We can use the bridge," Lantern suggested. "It's behind him, so we can move below it then I take us underwater and we go up the back of the island."
"I like that idea," Beast Boy told him. "But we still have to go through a city of possessed people to get there."
"Can't have it be to easy for us, right?" Terra asked.
"We'll backtrack a block to stay out of sight from Trigon and take a rounded route to the bridge since the sewer's caved in from the looks of it. Once we get to the water, we'll submarine our way to the island. Kick him off our home base."
Agreeing to Beast Boy's plan, the others nodded then moved out, squat running to stay low and out of sight as Arrowette donned her head covering. Around them, hundreds of possessed individuals patrolled the streets, making for one long day of using stealth tactics.
(-)
In another part of the city, Beta team had mostly escaped to relative safety. They still needed to cause a distraction to have Trigon focus on them, but there was the case of an army of possessed people to contend with.
Finding themselves separated from the others, Nightwing, Jericho, and Kid Flash sprinted down an alleyway a block from the hidden safe house. Behind them, dozens of Jump City's citizens gave chase, forcing the group to put even more distance between them and the others.
As Jericho and Kid Flash continued running to the other side of the buildings they were between, Nightwing grabbed a smoke pellet, turned, and threw it at the incoming crowd. The resulting explosion created a large cloud of teargas to fill the ten foot wide space between buildings. It may as well have been a harmless mist as it had no effect on those chasing the black and blue hero.
"What stops these people?" Turning back around, Nightwing fled the scene and turned left where the buildings ended.
(-)
"Oh geez!" Stopping in her tracks, Stargirl was forced to backtrack as a large group of citizens blocked her way. Behind her, the back ops member known as Static landed with strands of electricity slowing his decent.
"Um, St, Static? Right? Static?"
Without a word, the electric infused teen powered up his hands and fired an entanglement of white electricity at the blue-clad girl. Acting fast, Stargirl spun her staff up in front of her and not only blocked the attack, but absorbed the energy into her weapon. She only had enough time to protect herself when three of the civilians grabbed her from behind, forcing her back before she could fly to safety.
"Ugh, come on! First time as a hero and I get taken out by civvies?!" Breaking her left arm free, Stargirl slammed her staff onto the ground and sent out a shockwave around her, sending up dirt and loose gravel.
Flying backwards, the civilians crashed into one another and struggled to get back up as an electrical current flowed over them. Static on the other hand shrugged the attack off, as it was essentially using his own powers against him. He then quickly formed an electrical disk to take him airborne and charged after Stargirl who had spotted Black Canary and sought to regroup as she was trained for by Kid Flash.
(-)
Putting a stop to a Canary Cry, Black Canary created a path for her to sprint down with the possessed citizens out of her way. Clearing half a block, the blonde heroine was violently picked up and thrown through a window of a toy store. Plastic castles, princess dolls, knight figurines, and dragon models provided a hard cushion for her fall as others scattered from the impact of the woman's body.
Skidding to a stop on the black and white tiled floor, Black Canary hit the base of one of many toy shelves with stuffed superhero dolls falling on top of her. Among them were a stuffed bear dressed like her with its little leather jacket zipped up halfway.
"Pfft, cute," she said before throwing it to the side with a roll of her eyes.
"Round two, Deary!" Landing on the window display, Silver Banshee crushed one of the dolls under her foot and inhaled as deep as she could.
Scrambling to her feet, Black Canary ran for cover as the skull faced villainess unleashed her sonic scream. Shelves, toys, cardboard standees, and pieces of tile flew about with the overhead light shattering in a rainstorm of glass. Diving forward, the jacket wearing League member crashed through the door to a restroom in the back of the store, rolling to the side as the scream ripped it off its mounts.
"Don't, don't hurt me!" A teenage girl said as she backed up into her stall more. "Please!"
"I'm not going to hurt you," Black Canary told her. "Just stay out of the way."
Looking to the side of the girl, the heroine got to he knees with an idea in mind. "And hand me that."
(-)
Outside in the streets, Stargirl was closing in on Black Canary when she saw Silver Banshee pick her up and throw her into a building. Before she had time to speed up, she was taken down by a blast from Static and crashed onto the top of a car.
"Ugh, I was hoping to go easy on you since you're going against your will, but if I have to get rough," standing after rolling off the car, Stargirl spun her staff behind her and brought it to a defensive position with its sharpened tip pointing at her attacker, "then I'll get rough."
Shooting forward, Static flew at Stargirl with his fists lit up with his electrical powers. Bolts of electric tendrils flowed behind him as he called out, "Hail Trigon", before he and the staff wielder collided.
Inside the toy store, Silver Banshee stomped through the destroyed stock and shelves and closed in on the restroom where she could hear the whimpers of a woman as she cried.
"Another lamb for the slaughter." Flexing her fingers, the follower of Trigon was ready to dig them into the first one she came across. "Come on out. I'll make sure ye next scream will be ye last."
Swaying her hips to and fro, Silver Banshee spotted the darkened form of someone within the rest room in the mirror above the sink. With a dark grin, she bent down slightly and stealthily made her way to the side, inhaled and sought to destroy the wall where she believed the couched form was when she was taken by surprise and hit hard in the mouth.
Succeeding in shutting the woman up for a moment, Black Canary landed a spinning back kick, followed by a right cross, knocking the plunger she used off Silver Banshee's face. Not stopping there, the heroine ran forward and hit a flying knee to her jaw, gripped onto her foe's arm, spun around, and pinned her to the floor after knocking her off balance. Still in control, Black Canary locked in a reverse guillotine choke hold and kept it tight until Silver Banshee passed out from lack of oxygen.
"Do me a favor," the blonde said as she roughly dropped her passed out opponent to the ground, "pop a mint."
Standing, Black Canary made her way back to the door of the restroom and checked on the young woman inside. "Hey, you alright in there?"
Looking up from her stall, the woman nodded while still crying and pressed against the wall.
"What's your name, sweetie?"
"M, Mary. McGinnis."
"Mary," Black Canary soothingly said, "move to an office and lock the door. Don't come out until it's safe. And keep quiet."
"W, wait," Mary said as she wiped her face clean. "My husband, Warren, he's still out there in our apartment. We, we just got married."
"I'm sure he's fine. I'll keep an eye out for anyone named Warren looking for you. But you need to hide for the time being. Lock yourself in your boss' office and,"
"I don't work here. I was just trying to get to my job at the hospital."
Nodding, Black Canary stepped to the side and motioned for Mary to come out of her hiding place. "Then just stay hidden. We'll take care of this. It's what we do."
Leaving the terrified woman to find the office to hide, Black Canary exited through the store's busted window and was witness to the battle above her between Stargirl and Static. She had to admit, the young blonde was doing great in holding her own against the more experienced black ops member.
Above the streets, Stargirl was forced onto the defensive. Dozens of electric bolts flew past her or were absorbed into her staff as she flew around in an effort to out maneuver the possessed hero.
"One, two, three. One, two, four. One, five, six."
Counting the attacks Static used, she remembered what Kid Flash had taught them about some of his teammates having attack patterns. Static was one of them and rarely deviated while in flight. She was looking for the one number she memorized, the one opening she she would be able to counter and end the fight.
"One, five, seven. One, two, eight, RRAGH!"
Spinning to the side, Stargirl arced around a sphere of electrical energy and fired a beam from her staff. Missing her intended target, she did manage to strike Static on the shoulder and knock him into a nearby building.
"Really wish I had time to put my earbuds on."
Charging up for another shot, Stargirl was just about to fire when Black Canary let loose a Canary Cry, forcing the black ops member into a tumble and setting him up for Stargirl to land a hard hit to his head. The white skinned, black teen landed on a pile of trash, cushioning his fall and lay unconscious as his hat landed on his chest.
"Thanks for the assist." Landing, Stargirl ran up to Black Canary with a smile. "Holy jeez, I'm actually teaming with the Black Canary!"
Turning at the sound of an incoming crowd, the League member and star themed teen saw a large group of citizens coming their way with the possessed Riddler leading the pack.
"Appreciate the sentiment, but fangirl later. We have to find the others." Unleashing another Canary Cry, Black Canary cleared a path when she was picked up by Stargirl.
"Power of flight, remember?"
Shooting down the street, Stargirl carried Black Canary by the hand as the two searched for Nightwing and the others.