One more episode left. Like last time, I'll have a poll with a choice between what storyline you want next. It may take time, but I'll see what I can do. Although it won't be another episodic season, but a regular chapter story that fits in.
5.
Jump City
October 06
09:57 UTC
Closing in on the current position of the Titan team, Red Robin landed and had his cape resume its more solid form. The image before his eyes pin pointed the group to be some ten feet from his position with a depth of fifteen feet, leaving only one place to search for them. Behind him a possessed civilian steadily walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder to turn him around. With lightning fast moves, Red Robin gripped onto his wrist, spun him around, and flipped him over to slap a set of plastic zip cuffs on his hands and feet.
With the immediate threat over, Red Robin turned his attention back to the Titans and spotted a nearby sewer entrance. Using his bo staff, he pried the heavy cover off and pushed it to the side, tossed a glow stick light into the tunnel and dropped down with the nightvision mode of his mask activating. His enhanced sight was aided by the small light with the HUD display indicating where the missing team was.
"Beast Boy?" Red Robin called out. "Lantern! I know you're down here."
Silence filled the tunnel as Red Robin waited for an answer. "Look, we need to regroup at the harbor. I need you five to come with me now."
Still no answer, but thy were there, evident from the slight movement of the bio-chip signatures.
"Hey, this isn't a game. This isn't some time to joke around. Come out here or I'm coming in there."
Again, no answer came.
"Fine, have it your way. You can count Batman will hear about thi-"
Advancing into the dark tunnel, Red Robin came to a stop once he rounded the corner. Gathered on the side of where the storm water would run were the biochips supposed to be sewn into the Titan's uniforms. Thinking they came to a stop once he spoke to them, he now knew they had given him the slip. As if that was not enough, they had also left a parting gift for him.
Hitting the side wall, Red Robin looked around to find three separate tunnels they could have traveled down. There was no way he could tell which direction they had gone as, most likely, they had flown out of there. Sighing, he turned and saw what they had left him.
"Why draw a lollipop on the wal- oh, I'm a sucker." Looking down the tunnels, Red Robin glared. "I am not a sucker!"
(-)
Over the Harbor, Blue Beetle and Cyborg were steadily pushing Hawk and Dove back. Both teens were inexperienced with fighting against powered individuals. The fact they were not dead was a welcome surprise to Dove who tried her best to avoid the razor sharp blade of the armored Beetle. Pulling her arm out of the way, the white clad young woman back handed her pursuer in the face but regretted doing so as it left her open to a counter attack.
Getting the wind knocked out of her, Dove went flying backwards from being hit with a staple. The wide projectile hit her torso hard enough to make her gasp for as much oxygen as she could gather with Blue Beetle not letting up on his attack. His possessed mind registered only one order, serve Trigon.
Shrugging off a hit to the jaw, Hawk ignored the sting as he went after Cyborg. The two traded blows, metal denting, flesh bruising, neither backed off until the mechanical man fired his sonic cannon point blank and forced the teen into the water.
Looking for the disappeared young man, Cyborg switched his optics to detect heat but could not find him under the churning liquid. Switching his attention, he looked over to where Blue Beetle and Dove were fighting. The young woman surprised the armored teen with a fancy maneuver to fly under and behind him before slamming her fists onto his shoulders. Taking aim, Cyborg targeted the white clad girl and charged his cannon up to full power. She would never see the shot coming as she was preoccupied in taking her opponent down.
With his robotic eye shimmering, Cyborg tracked Dove's movements and calculated where she would most likely fly to next when a white light bust up from the water and blasted the man-machine up further into the air.
Erupting from the harbor, Hawk made a bee line for the tumbling Cyborg and delivered a shot to his gut. Metal strained from the force of the hit before the teen gripped onto the metal ankles and wrist of Cyborg and spun him around. Letting go, Hawk saw the mindless metal man soar towards Blue Beetle and barely miss striking him but separated him from Dove.
Joining his sister, Hawk flew up beside her as Cyborg and Blue Beetle regrouped. Each began to fire at the teens who dodged every burst heading their way. That is until Cyborg released a set of drones similar to the ones he used on Raven and Beast Boy long ago.
Circling the two, the pair of controlled machines fired a cable with one snagging Dove's foot. Reeling her in, the circular device circled around her, tying her up more and more with each pass. She could not do anything against it, not even her light beam was able to strike it as it was too fast. Within seconds, the machine finished binding her, forcing her to drop out of the sky and into the water.
Hawk was at his limit. With the small machine tracking his every move and Cyborg taking shots at him, he had to stay alert for both when Blue Beetle landed on his back with both feet colliding between the flyer's shoulder blades. The hit was enough for him and Cyborg to gang up on Hawk and blast him with their cannons at the same time.
With the final non-possessed hero falling to the water, Cyborg and Blue Beetle looked onto the island where Trigon sat. The demon god stared at them for a moment before turning his head and closing his eyes again. The two had received their orders with Cyborg flying back to the mainland and Blue Beetle gathering the fallen teens.
(-)
Stomping the ground hard, Wonder Woman managed to trip up a deal of incoming civilians before flying up the center with her arms out in a hook-like position. She effectively speared seven of them before landing again. None gave her a chance to rest as they continued coming after her when she was picked up from behind and slammed on the ground.
Landing before her, a worse for wear Silver Banshee breathed heavily as she fought to remain on her feet with an arm on her ribs. Those around her waited for her orders while Wonder Woman rose to her feet.
"Amazon," Silver Banshee hissed, "y, yield now. Or the people ye fight to protect will die."
Grabbing her lasso, Wonder Woman was ready to snare Banshee when the woman's eyes flashed red. Instantly, one of the possessed people fell to their knees. Their face turned red from not breathing as if they were being choked.
"What did you do to him?" Wonder Woman asked.
"The same thing I'll do to them all as well as ye friends."
Hitting the ground, a just arrived Cyborg landed on his upper back from flying in with his face beginning to turn in color.
"Stop!"
"Put ye rope away, Amazon."
Hesitating, Wonder Woman loosened her grip on her lasso and worked out how fast she could possibly drag Silver Banshee to her and knock her out when the loud stomping of feet was heard behind her. Glancing back, Wonder Woman saw the possessed Riddler leading hundreds of possessed Jump City citizens and came to a stop at the edge of the buildings.
"I know what ye are thinking. Ye thinks ye can put me down fast enough to save them. But if I go, they all die."
One by one, the people surrounding them began to fall. Each one ceased to breathe with Silver Banshee laughing joyously.
"Wonder Woman!" Coming in from overhead, Superman joined the Amazon princess.
"Stand down, Superman," Wonder Woman told him. "She's got us."
"Exactly." Shifting slightly, Silver Banshee inhaled sharply from the pain she was in. "Tell ye comrades to stand down least the ones they protect kill themselves due to ye actions."
Joining the two, Nightwing and the rest saw the stand off happening and were told to stand down.
"Jericho," Nightwing whispered. "Any chance you can turn these people back to normal before she does something."
Looking the large group over, the blonde teen boy shook his head with an apologetic look. He had already turned the other League and black op team members back to normal with Stargirl and Kid Flash looking after them.
"Just do what you can quietly. We need to buy the others-"
"And if ye think ye can save them all, it be wise to think again. Lord Trigon knows what ye intend to do. Lord Trigon knows everything abut yeselves and within a day, ye world will be his with the rest of ye realm soon after. And if ye thinks ye little group of children will be of any help, Lord Trigon already has ye precious mortals looking for them."
"Children?" Black Canary asked. "What children?"
"The ones the red bird was looking for. He may have not located them, but they will be found soon enough. No one goes to the island unless his lordship permits it. So stand down, or see them all die. Slowly."
"We can take her," Robin whispered.
"Shut it," Nightwing told him.
No one moved as Silver Banshee had everyone at a crucial crossroad.
(-)
Exiting the sewers, Arrowette ran to the edge of a wide open storm drain located above a gathering of large boulders under the Jump City Bridge. Terra was right behind her, eyes adjusting to the bright light of the red sky after being in near darkness this entire time.
"Can he see us?" Tera asked as her archer friend looked the island over with her binoculars.
"I don't think so," Arrowette told her. "He has his back turned to us. I can see the small cove to the right of the tower. It looks clear."
"He won't see us until we make ourselves known," Raven told them as she and Lantern exited next. "As long as we stay out of his direct sight, he will not know we are here."
"Anyone have any idea as to what we're gonna do?" Lantern asked. "If the League hasn't taken him down by now, how are we going to do it?"
"Raven can," Beast Boy told him. "We just have to make sure she gets the chance to."
"And how're we gonna to do that?" Terra asked.
"We know the island. He's on our turf, our home. We have the advantage."
"Not to rain on your parade, pal," Lantern said, "but given his size and what he can do, the ball's in his court, not ours."
"Then we just have to play it smart," Raven told him.
"Be the roadrunner, not the coyote," Terra commented.
"Actually, yes. That works."
"So, plan?" Arrowette asked.
"We don't know what he has on the island," Beast Boy told her. "Best bet would be to sneak in though the cove."
"Split into two teams," Raven said.
"Distract him with one," Lantern commented.
"Draw out his hand," Arrowette mentioned.
"And kick his butt so hard, the next demon god won't ever think about taking us on," Terra finished.
"Lantern, you take Arrowete and Terra to provide the distraction for me and Raven to get into position. We'll take the hidden rock entrance up through the tower and get to the roof to avoid being seen if he gets up."
Turning to Raven, Beast Boy saw she had a nervous look about her. "Ready for this?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," she glumly told him.
"Just remember what he did to your home," Lantern told her.
"And your mom," Terra added.
Nodding, Raven breathed in deeply and let out a long breath with her eyes closed. She opened herself and could feel the emotions from the others. Fear, nervousness, anger, sadness, determination, comfort in each other, all were flowing from them in multiple rivers with something stronger than fondness coming from Garfield. She had felt it before when Conner and M'gann were around each other and their son, and smiled inwardly. She had not ever felt that directed at her before and found it strange yet welcomed.
Opening her eyes, the Gothic teen girl stared at the island and the being daring to call himself her father. Her eyes shimmered red for a moment as she gained a determined look on her face.
"Remember, we're Titans," Beast Boy told them. "They were stronger than the gods and we have to live up to the name. We go in alive, we come out alive, no exceptions."
The four listening to him were ready to move out and fight what was the biggest fight they had ever been in. Joining hands, they found strength in each other and as one, they shouted-
"TITANS TOGETHER!"