In Zatanna's humble opinion, it seemed this area where New Tamaran was situated was too much of a hot area.
Now, by hot she didn't mean it had a high temperature, though that was certainly the case seeing as the island itself had been terraformed to Tamaranean specifications. What she meant by hot was that it had a lot of attention as of late. First, the battle with the World Engine, then the failed retrieval mission for Despero, and now the Second Kalanorian Invasion. It was a veritable Bermuda Triangle for alien activity.
After there had been a white streak through the sky, spaceships had begun raining down on the area. Many crashed into the ocean, but others had managed to land—either safely or in spectacular fashion. Of the ones that were relatively in one piece, Kalanorians had streamed out.
It was those aliens that the Teen Titans had smothered. Once it was clear New Tamaran wasn't a focus for attack, Zatanna had transported herself to the West Coast and found the teenage heroes handling things.
So she "supervised," allowing the younglings to handle things. Oh, she snapped her fingers here and there and turned many plasma rifles into water guns or something equally harmless as long as you weren't hit in the eyes. Work smarter, not harder, was her mantra.
With things beginning to calm down, it was natural for more spaceships to arrive. Thankfully, the magician was able to recognize the Tamaranean designs, so she wasn't up in arms the moment she saw them. Heh, not only was she an expert on magic, but now alien technology. If there was ever a mismatched pair of knowledge contained in one person.
The Tamaranean, Starfire, had taken to the air and began leading the ships to the coast. Seeing as she was the only adult around, Zatanna had gone to join them, arriving even as the Tamaranean ships were landing.
As one lowered a ramp, she quickly discovered she wasn't the only adult there. "Can anybody hear me on this damn thing?!" a familiar male voice raged. Much to Zatanna's surprise, Green Arrow came barging down the ramp, a hand clamped onto his ear, most likely the one where his comm link was. "Green Arrow to all freaking points!"
Zatanna blinked her eyes. Alright, what was going on here? Hearing the archer guy shouting made her realize she wasn't hearing anything in her own ear. Maybe her comm link was down? Though the way Green Arrow was going on, it seemed like a lot of them were.
"Hey!" she shouted, waving a hand over her head. This immediately got Green Arrow's attention. "You—"
"Are you hearing me? At all?" Green Arrow demanded, marching right towards her. Sand was kicking up with each step he took. Behind him, Black Canary came out, the blonde hurrying after him.
Alright, something was up and Zatanna was not liking it. These two were seasoned heroes and they wouldn't be so rushed if everything was alright. "I think my comm is down," she answered. "What's going on?"
Green Arrow just answered her with a storm of curses, though she had the feeling none of them were aimed at her. Thankfully, Canary had caught up with him, and in fact stepped passed him so she could speak to the magician. "Batman," was all she said, or at least that was all that could be heard.
Goddamn it, Bruce. Of course he had to be involved. First, he somehow managed to stay hidden from her scrying—though she was certain that was Dr. Fate's doing considering her last attempt had ended with him telling her to stop contacting them—and now he was the source of some unknown bad news. Of course, she should have expected he was involved. "What did he do this time?" she demanded.
"Did what any selfless jerk would do and gassed us," Black Canary told her. "Then had our new Tamaranean pals board us in their ship and take us here."
Oh, he was still doing that. And naturally he did it for a reason, say, to remove someone out of harm's way that would jeopardize his own life. It was the Great Gotham Fire all over again.
Now Zatanna's stomach was dropping for another reason.
"Why did he gas you?" she pressed, taking a step to the blonde woman. "What selfless act is he doing now?"
"I'll tell you what he's up to!" Green Arrow shouted, though that was clearly uncalled for. In fact, he was so loud, he was drawing the attention of the Titan kids. "He's piloting the Watchtower so he can crash it into that science project the Thangarians built!"
Oh…it was so much worse than she could have possibly imagined. "Why?!" she screamed incredulously. "Why is he doing that?! Doesn't that thing have a…I don't know, a freaking autopilot for that sort of thing?!"
"That's part of the problem," Canary replied, her tone the most calm of the three adults. The children had gathered closed by, many of them with wide eyes. "The autopilot function was damaged, or so Batman said."
And so he decided to be the sacrificial lamb to the slaughter. Like hell she was going to let him do that—again! Spinning around, Zatanna looked right up to the sky and spoke, "Tropelet em ot Ecurb!"
The expected cloud of smoke never happened.
Hell, the beach she was standing on was still firmly in her sights instead of being replaced with some space station.
"Tropelet em ot Rewothctaw!" she tried again.
And again, nothing.
Alright, this was getting absurd.
"Umm, Zee?" Black Canary spoke up. "I know that's how you do your spells, but…you're still here."
"I can see that!" Zatanna snapped back. "I should be on that stupid space station right now, but for some reason—"
"Your magic isn't working," the weird, cloak-wearing girl from the Titans interjected in a deadpanned tone.
The magician stared at the girl—though she had a hard time ignoring the dark juju she was sensing. One problem at time, girl. "Yeah, that sums it up. But this hasn't happened since I was in training."
Raven's eyes glazed over for a moment, then sharpened. "There's someone else afoot."
As if summoned by this words, a small light suddenly blinked into existence right in the middle of their gathered group. It was just a speck, but it slowly grew larger until it was the size of a baseball. The orb of light floated there for a moment, casting a light blue glow before a familiar symbol formed within it.
"You will not interfere," the ringing tone of Dr. Fate announced.
"Not this guy again," the green kid whined.
"What's going on, Fate?" Zatanna demanded, taking a couple steps to the orb, the ankh within it becoming more visible. "Why am I not doing a simple teleportation spell?"
"What Batman is doing is necessary and I cannot allow you to stop him," Dr. Fate answered. "Thus I have rendered your collective magicks inert."
Zatanna's eyes widened. Immediately, she tried to summon her magic, but found it would not respond to her call. No, no, no! she internally screamed. Directly across from her, she could see a startled look on Raven's face as well.
That crazy son of a bitch had done it. He had sealed away their magic. Just how freaking powerful was this guy?!
"I can sense your frustration, but if we are to succeed, Batman must see his actions to the end," Fate said.
"So we just stand here and let Batman die?!" she roared. "No, I won't let him! Not again!"
"You have no choice, just as he does not. If his fate is to die, then it shall come to pass. Something has caused a significant shift and it must be redressed. If it is allowed to continue, it will be the doom of all."
There was something larger at play, but for the life of her, Zatanna couldn't figure it out. All her brain could focus on was that Bruce was going to die. He was going to die and she was helpless to stop it. Even with all the power she had amast, how far she had come, she was still the girl sidelined in the Batcave while Bruce went to face an inferno.
"I know this will not comfort you, but I am sorry—truly," Fate said then, and just as sudden as it appeared, the orb of light faded away, dimming the area around them.
A silence had fallen over them. With every second that ticked by, Zatanna felt her strength leaving her, her arms dangling at her sides. Green Arrow was as still as a statue, though his hands were clenched into fists, the leather of his gloves crinkling. As for the Titan kids, they ranged from incredulous, to mournful, to stunned silence.
So it was left to Black Canary to say what they all needed to hear. "Fuck Fate."
This drew all of their attention to her. "We're not going to just stand here and let one of our own go out in a blaze of glory," she proclaimed. "We're going to do everything we can to save him, whether he wants us to or not." Canary then looked right at Cyborg. "Cyborg, connect to every damn frequency you can. Announce to the entire damn world if you have to."
"On it!" the teen replied. "What do you want me to say?"
Green Arrow moved towards him. "You give me a mike and I'll do all of the talking. Just tell me when you're ready."
Seeing all of this made Zatanna feel a little better. It wasn't much, but it was all they could do, especially with Dr. Fate interfering. If he managed to render Cyborg's tech useless, then they were truly screwed. Looking away, the dark-haired woman found herself looking up into the sky. Her eyes stared at the inky backdrop, one that was marred by a red streak heading west.
A tremor rocked the Monitor Room. An alert appeared on the main screen, warning that the Watchtower was out of orbit.
It was clear the satellite had begun scraping across the atmosphere.
Batman gripped the steering wheel tighter, feeling vibrations running up his arms. He just held firm on the wheel, not allowing it to jerk wildly. According to the monitor, the Watchtower was still within the parameters necessary for re-entry.
"Computer: detect energy source in Gobi Desert," Batman ordered. In one corner of the screen, a small window appeared, showing a digital map of the specified desert. Unfortunately, the same power signature was still present, indicating the forcefield was still up.
This was beginning to get tight.
Another warning appeared, opening a new window in another corner of the monitor. In this window, a reading for an abnormal temperature was reported, one that continued to rise. It was going to continue this report until the Watchtower was through the atmosphere, but it was necessary to know. There was a certain reading, if reached, that would cause the Watchtower to begin self-destructing. That had to be avoided at all cost.
The tremors began to worsen and Batman returned his attention to the task at hand.
It had been quite some time since Diana had last seen Flash.
Upon hearing Shayera's announcement of the true nature of the Defense Shield Generator, Flash had taken off for China. Diana had only spent a few moments looking to Superman before taking off after him, the Man of Steel right behind her.
She was fast in her own right, graced with the blessing of Hermes. Superman was said to have been faster than a speeding bullet. Somehow, they were left in Flash's wake, somewhere out over the Pacific. While she had been quite comfortable in admitting that Flash was faster than her, she was starting to get an inkling that no one really knew just how fast the Scarlet Speedster really was.
They were approaching the coastline of China when their comm links crackled to life. "All points, this is Green Arrow!" the Emerald Archer shouted into their ears. Diana winced from the sudden shout and feedback. Superman nearly squeezed his eyes shut from what he clearly heard.
"One of our own is currently piloting the Watchtower to the fake Defense Shield Generator." What?! Diana came to a stop in midair, a look of disbelief on her face. She couldn't help but look to the sky, trying to find where the Watchtower was. It was hard to tell in the morning light, though thankfully there was no cloud cover.
"If anyone can, you need to get to the Watchtower and put a stop to it. Batman's life counts on it."
If there was anything else said, the Amazon didn't hear it. Neither did Superman as the two's eyes met with each other.
What was going on here? Why was Bruce trying to drop the Watchtower on the Thanagarian generator? Surely the two would destroy each other upon impact…which must have been the point. He was trying to destroy the generator and had come up with this insane plan.
"The autopilot," Superman said softly. "It…it was damaged when we fought J'onn. We never had a chance to fix it."
The Kryptonian had clearly been on another part of the problem: namely why Bruce would personally pilot the space station. If there was autopilot, he could set it up to do all the work, but without it, it could veer off course. On top of that, only a few people knew about the satellite's flight capabilities.
Bruce was one of those people.
This was a suicide mission.
"We can't let him die," Diana said.
"No, we can't," Superman agreed.
Not another word was said. Their course changed, the two Leaguers taking off for the atmosphere.
Kragger was proving to be quite the escape artist.
The Thanagarian was taking every turn he could, getting them lost in the maze that was the Thanagarian command ship. John had lost all sense of direction. Even worse, Shayera was hot on the man's heels.
All it took was an ambush with a patrol of Thanagarians and he had effectively lost them.
That didn't mean John was giving up. He continued forward, searching for signs of fighting. If there was one thing he could count on, it was Shayera making a mess out of anything she came across. She was pretty destructive that way. It was something John was counting on to find her.
Cautiously moving down a hallway, John found a number of open doorways randomly placed throughout the corridor. Recalling his marine training, he made certain to check his corners as he passed by each doorway. He wasn't with a gun, but his ring was a much better weapon. Whenever he reached a doorway, he would edge his way to the corner, then dart out, leading with his ring hand. Once he determined there was no danger, he would continue on.
John was slowly coming to the conclusion he was nowhere near where Shayera was. He didn't hear any sounds of fighting, nor her familiar war cry. There was a silence in the air that was unnerving. Reaching yet another doorway, he positioned himself next to it, his ring hand up, his other hand grasping his wrist.
Spinning into the doorway, he took aim with his ring as he checked the room out and found this one was different from the previous ones. For one, there were a number of computer terminals that lined the walls. At the center of the room was this heavenly glow, one that flowed over a stand with a rather large button at its center.
And standing next to this button was Hro Talak, commander of the Thanagarian Legion.
"Welcome," Talak called out, standing at attention, an Nth metal axe in his hand. "I believe you're looking for this."
At this, he raised his unarmed hand up and gestured to the button. Warily, John entered the room, one step at a time. "And why would I be looking for this?" he questioned.
"This button will deactivate the shield protecting the Black Hole Generator," the towering Thanagarian told him. "In order for you and your forces to destroy it, you need the shield down."
"And you're telling me this why?""
"I am merely explaining your position—and mine. It is my duty to ensure the generator is activated, so I must ensure the shield remains on. This makes it your duty to get past me."
That succinctly described the situation between them. "I'm guessing it wouldn't help to ask you to stand aside."
"I'm afraid not."
"Then don't take this personally."
John immediately fired a blast from his ring, to which Talak merely raised his axe up and used it to strike the beam, swatting it away. He didn't look the least bit concerned by the attack. "No, this I will not take personally," the Thanagarian said. "But I do have personal strife with you—you, the man that defiled my promised one."
Kragger's words came back to John and he couldn't help but grimace. Great, this guy knew, and the Lantern couldn't help but feel like a heel. He was clearly in the wrong here. "I didn't know she was a kept woman," was all he was able to say.
"Assuming you did know, would that have stopped you?" Talak pressed.
"I'd like to think so. You of all people know just what kind of woman Shayera is."
A small smile appeared on the winged man's face. "Yes, I do." The smile immediately twisted into a snarl. "And that only infuriates me more. You took something that was not yours."
Okay, that last part was uncalled for, not to mention entirely incorrect. Shayera Hol didn't belong to anyone and she would sooner clobber anyone for suggesting as much. "Anything I 'took' was freely offered," he shot back.
Talak bared his teeth, looking like a beast. "Then I will freely take back my honor!"
His winged spread out wide, reaching a rather impressive wingspan. He then hurled himself towards John, his axe drawn to one side, ready to be used.
Immediately, the Lantern began firing beam after beam, trying to shoot the Thanagarian commander down, only to watch as Talak defected each one, swinging his axe back and forth. This wasn't getting him anywhere.
His green aura flared around his body, and then John shot up into the air, Talak angling himself upwards after him. Holding his ring hand above his head, he then created a large sledgehammer construct, one he swung downward towards his approaching foe.
Nimbly, Talak darted out of the way of the construct, dodging it with ease. Holding his axe out, he dragged the blade of the Nth metal weapon up the length of the construct, sparks erupting where the two touched.
And then he was upon the Lantern. Though he swung his axe upward, it wasn't the blade that struck John as it was the man's knuckles, Talak punching him with his weapon-wielding hand. John took the uppercut on his chin, his head snapping back as spit flew out of his mouth.
Talak was suddenly above him, his arms spread out at shoulder height, his legs coiled up with his knees practically at his chest. He then kicked both of his feet down, the bottom of his boots striking John's face, and sent him careening to the floor below. His sledgehammer construct was gone, leaving him to hit the ground hard.
Through the air, Talak came flying in, his Nth metal axe held over his head, both hands on the hilt. Letting out a roar, he swung it down.
In an instant, a dome formed around John, his last-ditch shield construct that he could think of in that moment. The axe struck the shield, the blade actually piercing through it, but not going much further than that. Grunting, Talak pulled his axe back before swinging it back down, striking the same point and making a larger hole in the shield.
John grunted from the force he felt from the blow. Talak was clearly not holding back, not that he could blame him. He wasn't so much a soldier following his duty as he was a man disgraced by his partner's infidelity and wanted to hurt the other man involved.
If this were any other situation, John would have let the guy pummel him; however, there was a hell of a lot more at stake than wounded pride. So as Talak pulled his axe back, he went into action. A large hand emerged out of his breaking shield, immediately forming a fist that rammed right into Talak's body. The man was sent flying upwards into the air, carried by the fist construct.
Rolling off of his back, John immediately was back on his feet, legs coiled beneath him as he crouched low, his shield construct vanishing. He then sprung off of the floor, launching himself after Talak.
By then, the fist construct faded away and Talak was regaining himself in the air. Seeing the Green Lantern charging towards him, he immediately began rushing towards him. As the two closed in on each other, John held both of his hands towards his right hip, forming his own axe construct.
At the last moment, the two swung their weapons, each blade clashing against each other. John felt himself straining as he willed his axe to maintain its form. It wasn't easy against Talak as he poured his own strength towards him.
"You wish to challenge me axe-to-axe?" the Thanagarian commander said. "I warn you, my skill is greater than yours." Electricity began to spark and dance around the Nth metal weapon.
"We'll see," John grunted before he pushed off of Talak. Both men drew their axes back before swinging again, their clash ringing out throughout the room.
When would this asshole stop running?!
Down corridors, around corners, and through rooms, Kragger fled, Shayera hot on his heels. This had gotten old a long time ago, but there wasn't much more she could do. She tried to pull every trick she knew to close the gap and had made minimal progress.
Either Kragger was a bigger coward than she had given him credit for, or he was deliberately heading somewhere that gave him an advantage. Considering the fight he had given her before John's arrival, it must have been the latter. He had been a lot tougher than she originally gave him credit for.
Seeing the lieutenant make another turn, Shayera flew as fast as she could, making a sharp turn.
Her eyes widened at the side of the axe blade swinging right for her face. Immediately, she stopped, ducking down as much as she could. The axe barely passed over her head, striking the corner next to her and cutting right into it. As she began to raise up, Kragger was swinging his free hand, slamming a fist into her face. The force of his blow sent her flying backwards, her back ramming into the wall shortly after.
Before she knew it, Kragger was right in front of her, both of his hands latching onto her throat, squeezing hard. Shayera gagged as she instinctively grabbed onto his wrists, trying to stop him.
"Where is your Earthling now?" Kragger taunted her as he strangled her. "It seems you've lost him; how unfortunate for you."
Shayera's eyes squeezed shut for a moment, but when she opened them, she glanced down the hallway they had come, finding a distinct absence of green. It only occurred to her then that perhaps Kragger hadn't been trying to lose her so much as John. John had proven in a matter of moments he was a force to be reckoned with. Between her and him, they would have pulverized the Thanagarian lieutenant.
Goddamn it.
However, she wasn't going to let this prick be the end of her. Letting go of his wrists, she moved her arms up to his elbows. Grabbing as tightly as she could, she then pulled as hard as she could. Kragger's elbows gave, incidentally drawing him closer.
Shayera's legs went into action them. She planted one foot on the thigh of one of Kragger's legs, giving her leverage to push upwards. She bent her other leg at the knee and jerked it upwards, ramming it beneath Kragger's chin. His head snapped back upon contact, his grip on her throat weakening.
Quickly, the redhead yanked harder on his arms, successfully removing his hands from her person. She then shot her hands out to grab onto either side of Kragger's head and pulled him back, slamming his face into her knee. The man cried out as she threw his head away from her, Kragger stumbling back a couple steps. There was a noticeable crookedness to his nose, along with a flood of blood washing down over his mouth, indicating she had successfully broken it.
Kragger came to a stop where his axe hung in the wall. Raising up one hand, the jackass tried to wipe away the blood over his mouth, only succeeding in smearing it across his chin and cheeks. "You're going to pay for that," he growled.
Ignoring the discomfort in her throat, Shayera shot back, "Sorry, left my purse at home. Mind covering the bill this time?"
Reaching out to the axe, Kragger grabbed the handle and wrenched the weapon out of the wall. In response, the redhead held her mace in front of her, keeping it low. This guy had proven he could fight, so she couldn't take him lightly, not like she had at the beginning of their fight. Her eyes looked him over, trying to spot a weak point and not finding much to work with. Faintly, she wondered who trained this guy.
However, she found herself looking to his belt. Much like hers, there were a few gadgets—for lack of a better word. One of them intrigued her.
Unfortunately, she didn't have much time after that as Kragger launched towards her. Crossing his axe across his body, he then swung a reverse side slash with it, causing Shayera to jerk her mace up and block it. Back and forth, he swung his axe, each strike she blocked with her mace, taking a step to one side and then backpedaling. She didn't want to get pinned against a wall with this guy trying to chop her down.
However, it wasn't in her nature to stay on the defensive. After yet another swing that she blocked, Shayera spun to one side, dropping low. As she turned to face Kragger, she swung her mace in an arc, one that ended with the head of her weapon slamming into the side of his knee.
Kragger cried out as his knee buckled. Drawing the mace back, she swung it in an upward, diagonal motion, knocking her opponent upside his head. As Kragger jerked away from her, Shayera then sprung off the floor, darting past him, and putting a little distance between them. She only spun around to face him again when she felt she had gone far enough.
By then, Kragger was standing back up, though there was a noticeable limp in his leg. Holding his axe across his body again, he then swung it downward diagonally, the complete opposite of Shayera.
Unlike her though, he was several feet away and he used that motion to throw his axe towards her. The Nth metal weapon spun top over bottom as it closed in on her.
She had two choices here: one, she could block the axe, or, two, dodge it. She opted for the latter as she sidestepped out of the whirling axe's path, not bothering to watch it fly somewhere behind her. She did hear it hit a wall, so there was that.
Kragger had taken a couple limping steps towards her, but stopped when he noticed her dodge. Clearly he had expected her to block the weapon. "How unexpected of you," he remarked.
"And how expected of you," she countered.
"Is that right?" Kragger reached a hand to his belt. "Then perhaps I can surprise you with…with…"
A frown appeared on his face as his eyes dropped down to where his hand was patting his belt. A smirk appeared on Shayera's face as she held up a small grenade. "Looking for this?" she called out.
Kragger's eyes darted back up to her. "When—?"
"Did I snatch it? Just now when I passed by you. You don't see many discharge grenades these days." She made a show of gazing at it. "They have a tendency to go off on the wrong people."
That was the result of poor manufacturing. Though effective when used correctly, there were a number of cases where the grenade would blow up on the user—military command was still trying to work the bugs out of it with little success to show for it. It was a big reason why most soldiers didn't bother using them, preferring to test their luck with hand-to-hand combat. It was better to die fighting than to equipment malfunction. That Kragger had one meant he was certain he had an operable one; that he was planning on using it indicated he was becoming desperate.
"I would like that back," he demanded then, holding a hand out towards her.
"What kind of idiot do you think I am?" Shayera questioned. "I have a bonafide weapon that can end you—and you want me to give it back. How dumb do you think that sounds?"
All Kragger did was glare at her in turn.
Her smirk widened before she lowered the grenade before tossing it underhanded, sending it flying to the jackass. Kragger caught it with one hand, a surprised look on his face. "I'm curious to see how this is going to go down," she said. "Let's roll the dice."
"Foolish woman," Kragger sneered as he drew the grenade back. His thumb rested on top of the egg-shaped device. "You never should—"
The moment his thumb pressed down on the button, electricity erupted all over his body. Kragger went stiff as his eyes bulged out of their sockets, his teeth clenched tightly. This was what Shayera meant about the discharge grenade going off on the user. The grenade unleashed an electrical discharge that could shock even the thickest skinned Gordanian, which was their original purpose. All of that voltage was now going right into Kragger.
The reason for the malfunction was a design flaw in the pin. It was such a simple matter too. If the pin apparatus was turned just a centimeter off center, it removed the timing mechanism that allowed the user to activate and then throw the weapon. Shayera knew this because she had been on the team to investigate the matter. All she had to do was make a twist with the metal ring that made up the top of the grenade and presto, a manufactured malfunction.
Too bad Kragger didn't know about that—the idiot.
Eventually, the electrical shock ended, smoke wafting off of Kragger's body as he gave off the smell of cooked chicken. His jaw went slack, allowing his mouth to hang open right before he dropped to the floor. Staring at him coolly, Shayera faintly considered making certain the man wouldn't be an issue anymore, but there really wasn't any time for that. She had other places to be.
To Guest: Thanks! Hopefully this chapter answered as to why Bruce didn't call out for assistance. Doesn't help there's someone else magically intervening.