4.
Jump City
October 06
09:41 UTC
Sailing over the city streets, Red Robin searched everywhere he could for the Titan group. The covering he wore over his head did more than protect his eyes during flight, it was also a tracker keyed with the biochips of the black ops, League and Titan team members. A blue skeletal grid-like pattern covered the city around him with white triangles marking the members of the Justice League, red triangles marking the black op team members, and yellow triangles marking the Titans.
Banking to the right, the airborne Robin shot through a narrow alleyway, looking like a large red and black bird with its shadow skimming along the asphalt over fifty feet below. The possessed wondering the street for any free willed people paid the shadow no mind, not that they could do anything from so far away.
A light 'BING' sounded as the map before his eyes displayed the location of the Titan team. They were still a ways off and drawing closer to the bridge crossing behind the island. The mug shots of the teens were then displayed on the side of his blue hued image with their vitals showing. All were strong and he hoped they were still on the unpossessed side of the tracks.
Pointing his arms forward, Red Robin flew faster, the antigravity magnetics in his suit and wings kept him airborne as he shot toward the bio-signatures of the Titans.
(-)
"Can I please hit him?"
Dashing from spot to spot, Supergirl avoided Batman's attacks as she retrained herself from doing what she wished she could, knock his cowl clean off his head. Since her first encounter with The Dark Knight, she really had not seen eye to eye with him. Maybe it was due to him always being suspicious of everyone around him, maybe it was the lack of emotions on his part, or it could be how he just did not seem to have a heart for anything other than seeking to take everyone he came across down. At the end of the day, she will work with him, but she would not like him.
"No," Superman told her. "We can't injure our fri-"
"Don't you say it, Clark. Don't you say the 'F' word!"
"Partner then." Grabbing hold of Guy's baseball bat construct, Superman turned it on the Lantern and saw it vanish before it came in contact with the green armored man. "Just be glad they're not fighting at full ability."
"So what? We just keep them busy?"
"Distraction, Kara. We need to buy Alpha team time to do what they need to.
Shaking her head, Supergirl gave a quiet growl. "First time ear-boy hits me, I'll bury him."
"Heard that!"
"Don't care!"
(-)
"Over here."
Heeding Back Canary's orders, Stargirl landed in the center of a near deserted street. Both blondes saw a total of five of the possessed civilians making their way toward them and knew they would not be a problem to deal with when they heard Nightwing's voice coming from an alley nearby.
"BC, SG!"
"Oh, there's cutie again," Stargirl commented.
Rolling her eyes, Black Canary back handed a civilian who drew close as she and Stargirl met the three other team members. "Nightwing, how is it?"
"Thick with the mindless drones. But have we got someone to show you." Turning back, Nightwing motioned for Jericho to join him. "Jericho. He can turn them back."
"Turn who back?"
"Everyone."
Another of the possessed civilians came close to Stargirl. She sidestepped him then proceeded to aim her staff at him to deliver a blast when Jericho got between her and the young man.
"Hey," Stargirl said. "Clear my line of fire!"
Having his eyes change, Jericho disappeared into the individual's eyes. A second later, the man turned and went to fight one of the other possessed people.
"What was that?" Black Canary and Stargirl asked at the same time when they saw the form of Jericho shoot out from the man's eyes and enter another's.
"He de-possesses them," Kid Flash told the women. "Crash, right?"
Finishing up with the final civilian, Jericho leapt out of her eyes and landed beside Stargirl. He flashed them a shy smile and tapped the sides of his legs nervously.
"You can stand by me," Stargirl told him. "You're my new best friend."
Her words caused Jericho to blush.
"We need to find the others," Black Canary told them as she stared at the blonde teen male. She never expected to see anything like what Jericho could do. "We can get the others back."
"I'm picking up little Rob and Batgirl a few blocks away and Superman with Supergirl twice that distance the other direction," Nightwing told them. "We can-"
"On it." Shooting away at top speed, Kid Flash picked a direction and was gone less than a second later. Another second passed when he came back. "Um, where are they now?"
"We'll go after the closest," Black Canary told him.
"Right. We'll go after BG and Little R," Nightwing told him. "You check on the supers and get back to us."
Grabbing the yellow speedster, Nightwing brought him close. "And use your holo-computer to get the location."
"Right, duh. Gotta run." Again, Kid Flash was gone with a trail of dust behind him as the only clue he was there.
(-)
Up on the roof where Robin and Batgirl fought, dozens of possessed civilians lay tied up at their feet. The use of plastic cuffs and cables form their Bat and Bird-A-Rangs kept them from getting up to rejoin the fight with Vibe and a recently freed Guardian being avoided to deal with last.
Leaping to an adjacent building, one that was clear of downed civilians, Batgirl and Robin waited for their adversaries to join them. Brandishing a pair of tonfas, Batgirl paced slowly one direction while Robin paced the opposite way with a bo staff resting on his shoulder. Both young heroes kept their eyes on Guardian as he landed hard on the same building rooftop they were on with Vibe crouching down after landing from a flip.
"Any one specific?" Robin asked as he crossed in front of Batgirl.
Pointing one of her tonfas at Vibe, Batgirl twirled it then stuck a fight ready pose.
"Fine." Spinning his staff around his neck and readying himself as well, Robin waited for Guardian to make the first move.
With their glowing red eyes fixated on the two, Guardian and Vibe charged forward. Attacking first, since he was a range fighter, Vibe sent out a shockwave to separate the two assassin trained vigilantes. His attack was avoided as the two caped youths leapt to the side quite easily.
Going over the side of the building, Batgirl fired her grapple gun and swung back up to rejoin the others. Landing behind Vibe, she went for a jumping reverse roundhouse kick to the head. She missed as the possessed Hispanic teen ducked and sent a shockwave through the air, catching her before she could land.
Being pushed while in the air, Batgirl twisted her body around, resembling a contortionist. Landing on the tips of her weapons, she flipped away to land on her feet with her cape flowing in the wind. Back on the ground, the new female bat narrowly avoided another shockwave aimed for her head and took a chance as she back stepped the attack and threw one of her tonfas at Vibe.
With a crunch, the tip of the metal weapon shattered the turned hero's sunglasses, leaving a mark on his forehead between his eyes. Flinching sightly, he again launched another shockwave but Batgirl was no longer standing before him. She was not standing at all.
Looking up, Vibe caught sight of an incoming boot aimed right for his face. There was no doubt the teen boy saw stars once the hit was delivered and he fell hard to the ground. Acting fast, Batgirl pulled a round electronic device from her belt and stuck it to his head just under his ear.
A few yards away, Robin was dodging every thrown punch Guardian sent his way with none connecting. Unlike Batgirl though, his opponent would not go down from being hit as his heavy armor protected him. Even the steel in the youth's boots failed to leave a dent, and targeting his limbs was of no use as his updated armor was just thick enough to protect him but thin enough to not hider his movement. It was like a motorcycle fighting a tank between the two.
Sliding between the large man's legs, Robin delivered a hard hit to the back of his knees. It did no good as Guardian grabbed his weapon and stopped the youngest Boy Wonder from reusing it against him. But instead of trying to yank it free, Robin twisted the end he held and had it separate from the rest and flipped away, twirling it as he triggered the electrical switch on with a blue spark coming to life at the end.
Not waiting for Guardian to attack first, Robin quickly advanced and used the armored black op member's thigh to gain altitude and dug the electrical half of his bo staff into the lightest part of the larger man's armor. As the small ward of Batman continued to step up on the possessed black ops member, he puled a Bird-A-Rang from the back of his belt and performed a handstand on Guardian's head. Dropping down behind him, Robin slapped his opponent's armored back to attach the projectile and landed in a roll out while covering himself with his cape and hood.
Before Guardian could react, the device on his back gave off a few quick beeps before detonating and blasting him forward where he smashed against the building's ledge. Not injured, in no small part to his armor, he stood and locked eyes with the young Robin when he grew stiff and fell over. Standing behind him, Batgirl stared down at his motionless body and the small device she planted behind his ear as Robin gathered the first piece of his staff and connected it to the second.
"Those sonic disrupters are useful," Robin said as he stood over Guardian then looked at Batgirl signaling him a message. "What? No, that was not too rough."
Batgirl signed some more.
"If his armor didn't hold, he would have still been safe. No, I believe this is not an issue to be taken up with father. And this one would have been dealt with faster if you would not have taken it easy on him."
Looking down at the paralyzed Vibe, Robin kicked his arm. "Nice job smashing his face by the way."
Seeing Batgirl sign something else, Robin sighed. "Fine. If Red Robin asks, they tripped."
(-)
Arriving where Superman and Supergirl were, Kid Flash witnessed the fall of Green Lantern Guy Gardner. The emerald protector of Earth, one of four, had been a bother to take down with the distance he kept, but it was not any trouble for Superman. As for Batman...
"Um, anyone know what happened to Bats up there?" Kid Flash asked.
Looking up, Kid Flash saw Batman swinging upside down from a lamppost bound with his own grapple line. His mask was missing one of the pointed ear pieces and his cape was wrapped around his body with his arms separated from getting to his belt.
"He managed to hit Kara with a Bat-A-Rang." Superman answered. "Just barely."
Disconnecting the Dark Knight, Supergirl floated to the street. "Not sorry in the least."
"Any word from the others?"
"They're meeting back where little Robin and Batgirl are, but no word from the other squad," Kid Flash told him. "We need to rendezvous on their position."
"Lead the way. We'll be right behind you."
(-)
Over the harbor, Blue Beetle engaged Dove with his scythes. The two fought for aerial dominance as they dodged each other's attacks. Abandoning her white poncho-like covering, the white and blue clad teen girl blinded the armored teen then delivered a front kick to his upper thigh. The hit was enough to knock him slightly off balance for Dove to land a double axe handle smash to the back of his head.
Putting distance between them, Dove charged her hands up and fired another blast at Blue Beetle. At the last moment, the blue and black hero fired his sonic cannon, blocking the blast from the girl and holding the shot back. Slowly, Dove lost ground as the possessed teen increased the energy output and began to use his other hand.
Grunting, Dove saw the force of the canon draw closer and attempted to increase what she was putting out. It was no use as she could feel herself growing tired and running out of the energy she had harnessed. She had to do something but was in no position to do anything. If she moved, she was vulnerable. If she stayed, she would be shot down over time.
"Dove, move!"
Looking above Blue Beetle, Dove saw her brother diving trough the air and tackled her mindless foe out of the sky. The two came close to hitting the water but swooped upwards just in time. Shots were exchanged with Hawk getting the short end of the stick when he was hit high into the air where his sister caught him once he began to fall.
"Where's Wonder Woman?" Dove asked.
"Buying us time holding off the possessed...people things. She told me he's not fighting like he usually does."
"Any ideas?"
Shifting his left hand into his staple gun, and his right into a serrated sword, Blue Beetle charged forward. Hawk and Dove quickly separated to flank him, not noticing Cyborg was coming up behind them.