Stirring the H.I.V.E. Nest

Their charge slammed into the defense that was these peculiarly dressed men and these defenses crumbled. Allowing Bunker to shield them with those purple bricks of his, any and all gunfire had to get through the surprisingly solid barrier to get to them. None got through.

Then the wall of bricks hit whoever was unlucky to still be in the way.

Thanks to the long corridors, there weren't many ways to get out of the way. There would be long stretches between doors and intersecting hallways, which meant a lot of people were not only getting hit by Bunker's defense, but slammed into their comrades right behind them. There was space under the wall so that those who fell to the floor weren't trampled, and that left them to the mercy of the Titans right behind the wall.

Anyone who was groaning was finished off quickly, always nonlethally, and then left to litter the hallway behind them. It was a very simple maneuver they were doing, it was working, and it was letting them go deeper into this horrifically decorated base.

Red Robin felt himself on guard, waiting for things to go south. On everyone's heads was a thin band identical to the one Terra wore. Wonder Girl's was hidden under the helm that now covered her head. Terra was literally a blind test to all this, and without knowing if a psychic had tried to seize control of her mind, this was at best a feel good solution.

There was one issue, though, with Beast Boy, because while the shapeshifter could become any animal he wanted at any size, the band itself didn't shrink or grow. He would be limited to forms that could keep the band on until they could take out every person here who might be psychic. If only they had Raven…

The masked teen was conserving energy, knowing that when the fighting really got serious, he was going to need every ounce of it. This was borrowed time they were working with, and they weren't going to have the upper hand for long.

Sure enough, up ahead, a female in a dark-colored leotard and mask appeared. She took a stance, waited, then intercepted Bunker's wall. To the Hispanic male's surprise, his forward momentum came to a halt with his own face nearly slamming into his own bricks. The rest of the team skidded to a stop so they didn't meet Bunker's fate.

Purple though they were, the bricks were transparent enough to see the grinning look of triumph on the masked female's face. How much strength was she using that she could stop Bunker cold? Not that he knew all of Bunker's capabilities, but the same could be said about her.

Floating higher, Starfire said, "I shall deal with this one. You need to find another path."

"We can't separate here!" he called to her.

"She will not allow us to pass nor will she allow us to leave. She must be dealt with here," the Tamaranean argued.

Above them, not that any noticed, a distortion formed in midair. From it, a reptilian-esque body fell from it, practically silent in its descent. Having taken the form of a cheetah, the headband more like a collar if you counted the top of the skull and under the jaw as one, feline hearing picked up the rushing of air around the large falling body—at least that was what Beast Boy claimed later—and the big, green cat reflexively acted.

Bodily shoving Terra and Kid Flash away then reversing to knock himself and Wonder Girl forward, the shapeshifter had barely managed to create enough space for the large mutant to land on. Red Robin found his eyes widening at the sight, then flickering upwards to the portal. Now when had that gotten there?

There was no time for any answers. More bodies began to slip out of it, raining down on their heads.

In no time at all, their group was scattered as the fighting began in earnest.


The second it had begun raining bad guys, it was all hell let loose. He knew Red wanted to stick together, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. There was the guy with the eye and the sight puns, a girl with angel wings, a hobo in a trenchcoat and covered in spiders, and some guy with a hexagon-shaped shield were just to name a few of those come from above.

Cyborg tried to go on the offensive, but more and more came down, many he didn't recognize and each one was using different powers. Damn, they had a lot more metahumans here than they had anticipated. Energy beams were starting to be fired, electricity was flaring, and other kinds of lightshows and sparklers were making it hard to see even with his robot eye.

A quick retreat was needed both for distance and to get some room to maneuver. Running into him was none other than Red himself who seemed to have the same idea.

"Well this is going well!" Cyborg shouted as he transfigured his right arm into cannon mode and fired off an O-shaped sound wave. Good look with avoiding that—oh, some of them were flying over it. Terrific.

"Your left!" Red called out, the only response that the team leader gave him.

Since he trusted the guy so much, Cyborg darted to his left and down a hallway that wasn't brimming with anybody yet, pretty much clear for now. That was going to be changing when—and there was the pursuit.

Those throwing mini-boomerangs that Red loved to throw—because he was not going to call them birdarangs—sliced through the air around him. The metahumans who were flying at them made their adjustments to escape the projectiles' trajectories, but none of them expected any of them to explode. There were cries of surprise, quite a few losing altitude, and coming close enough into arm reach for Cyborg.

He did what he did best and laid out some pain. Reconfiguring his arm into default mode because he wanted a second fist to use, he charged into them, knocking them into any available surface that was down, left, and right. A titanium fist cracked one in the side of their head and sent them spinning away. A kick backwards pinned another into a wall while his other hand swapped down and grabbed the ankle of a flier that had ended up on the floor.

Now that flier had a new job as a club, and as a club the flier smashed into one of their buddies. Releasing the ankle while going back into cannon mode, those two were effectively taken out of the fight with a sonic blast.

Hah, how was that for some teamwork?

From around the corner more of them came, and at the front was that guy with the shield. Oh hey, he had data on this guy! From the Highland Mall ambush. Wonder Girl handled him. Just more confirmation how linked everything had been.

"You think you can run?!" the shield guy bellowed. Impressive lungs on that one. "You can't escape, cowards! Face the wrath of H.I.V.E.!"

And here he came leading his own charge with a small army of metahumans back him. They were all so young looking, like they were teens themselves. Oh yeah, something definitely stank here.

"Boost!" Red yelled from behind him, and without looking, Cyborg stretched one of his arms behind himself. He detected an increase of weight on his hand, which prompted him to add a little oomph to Red's leap over the cybernetic teen. That leap carried the caped wonder not just over him, but over shield guy who was craning his neck back to watch and stupidly not bringing up his shield.

Down went Red to land on shield guy's shoulders, booted feet touching down on the charging loudmouth. From his hands, Red Robin threw out a couple of projectiles, ones that spat out electrical charges which helped to disorient everyone following after shield guy. Impressively, Red continued into a flip and as he began to disappear behind shield guy, the masked teen lashed out with both of his legs into shield guy's back.

Forward came shield guy, and Cyborg stopped him with a swift punch to the face. Ooh, a few teeth went flying there!

Up went his arm cannon, but he did not fire. Red was in his sight, and friendly fire was not on his list of things to do. Another transfiguration and instead of sound blasts, it was just energy and he was making sure to go over Red's head here.

Someone slipped around his beam, jumping from wall to wall like some backasswards frog, and got around Red. Whoever this guy was, they were heading right for Cyborg who found himself holding back on using his cannon. He stood there, waiting, watching, and when this frog wannabe went in for the attack, he let what was an impressive looking kick strike him on the chest. A titanium hand latched onto the ankle, and the arm it was attached to swung to the left and slammed this poser into the wall.

Letting go, the metahuman crumpled to the floor. Obviously had overestimated himself. Returning his attention to the fighting in front of him, he marched his way forward and began to dish out some pain. A few punches and blocks later and he was back to back with Red, taking on all comers.

An elbow went into a face, a block flowed into a grab, an attacker became a club to bat away another attacker, and from there he paid more attention to just moving, fighting, and guarding. It was hard to tell who was throwing what and where, but thankfully titanium could take a lot. If anything, he served more as a shield for Red so that nothing snuck up from behind.

More than once did he detect something hit him in the back, but there was a distinct difference in the force. All it took was one look over his shoulder to see Red literally hitting someone's head into his back and dropping thereafter to figure out what was going on. Okay man, he'd overlook that for now. Tough times and all.

When things weren't letting up, Red threw down a pellet that unleashed a smokescreen and taking the lead, the team leader made a dash further down the hallway. Cyborg took off after him, figuring that this was just their next move.

Another look behind him, and he could see their opposition emerging from the smoke, not letting it deter them.

Okay get some distance, regroup, and counterattack, that seemed like the strategy here. Up ahead, Red took a sharp right, so he followed suit. More yellow, black floor—and was it him, or was there a design inlaid in the floor? Almost looked like a stylized H, one he might have seen recently…

There was no warning when the pink, crackling bolts swept all about the hallway, around the two of them, which brought the two retreating Titans to a halt. Cyborg know that energy, its signature and everything.

Behind them, the ceiling and walls collapsed in on themselves, blocking the way. It also meant that none of their pursuers would be getting through…though they all seemed to be metahumans at this point. Was there one that could move through walls? Who knew?

But right now, a more familiar threat was making its move. There were two of them appearing from thin air, though more specifically a cape. From within the cape of the Batman wannabe, there emerged Jinx.

Placing a hand on a cocked hip, the pink, horned haired girl gazed at them appraisingly. Cyborg had his guard up, wondering what she was up to. Yeah, they had an easy, or easier time, fighting them at the mall and all, but that didn't mean they could truly predict what she was going to do. Whatever her funky juju did, it could make things a lot harder than they wanted them to be.

"You boys look lost," Jinx remarked.

Hissing quietly, "What do we do?" Cyborg hoped Red had heard him.

"We may not have a choice." And he heard him. "We can't let someone like Jinx have our backs. We gotta take her down quick."

Yeah, he was thinking the same thing.

"Oh, I know that look. Let me save you the trouble," Jinx continued. "In a few minutes, these halls are going to be swarming. You might be able to buy yourselves some time with running, but they're going to catch up with you anyway. One way, or another, you're going to have to fight until you're overwhelmed and killed."

Tell him something he didn't know.

Nodding her head up, "The camera up there isn't working straight. A bit of bad luck. You could use that for yourselves and maybe hole up somewhere, somewhere the brass doesn't want you to be."

Where was she going with this?

"You want to help us?" Red demanded, which got some surprise from Cyborg though he wasn't about to show it now. "Why? You've done nothing but try and kill us. Why change now?"

"Enemy of my enemy is my friend, and these guys have more than outlived their usefulness. So, you scratch my back, I scratch yours. I'll get you positioned to where you can do the most damage, you look the other way when I make a run for it," Jinx proposed.

He shared a look with Red, and he knew he was feeling the same thing as his shorter friend. "Do we look like idiots to you?"

"You just busted into a hornet's nest filled to the brim with people more than capable of doing very, very horrible things to you. You already look like idiots," Jinx retorted. "Better make your decision quick. Time is not on your side."

Cyborg didn't like this. He really didn't. For all he knew, this was a trap. Same thing went for Red. Already, the situation had gone topsy turvy and they really needed to turn things around. Especially if they wanted to get out of this alive.

Was there really any other choice?


With the influx of new combatants, the team's formation had been broken up. Starfire was not surprised in the slightest; even the best prepared tactics fell apart once the initial confrontation with the enemy occurred. It was normal and natural.

Victory was awarded to those who could adapt and go on the offensive. Those who remained on the defensive trapped themselves and would through attrition know only defeat.

Bunker's wall was gone, their new ally needing to direct his attention to their new adversaries. There was nothing that served as an obstacle between herself and Pantha. The Tamaranean held a preference to rematch with Ravager, their earlier conflicts still recent in her mind, but the obsession Pantha expressed towards her meant only she would satisfy this mask-wearing human's bloodlust.

Starfire had engaged in fights with two opponents simultaneously and it was an experience she did not need to repeat. Engaging with Pantha would have to be her choice here.

Pantha lunged at her, an arm pulled back and beginning to lash out. Starfire simply turned her body but to her curiosity, it did not appear that this attack was intended for her. There were no adjustments to the human female's trajectory or stance, and the Tamaranean watched as the attack move past her and struck one of Pantha's allies instead, a new individual whom the Tamaranean did not recognize but was surprised on how physically close this human was.

Back went this new foe, disappearing into the growing throng of enemies, and now Pantha had placed herself between them and the Tamaranean.

"No one will interfere," Pantha explained, slowly turning back to face the alien exile. "I am the only one who will defeat you. I will make sure of that."

Ah. Protecting her from Pantha's allies for the sake of the desired close quarter battle. Pantha's attention would be divided, perhaps enough to bring about a swift end to their conflict.

Starfire nodded her understanding. "Then we shall settle this here."

The answering smile was the agreement given, and that was followed with the first attack of many. Pantha leapt at her, a tackle no doubt. Starfire moved back, continuing to hover in the air. This would force all attacks to come from one direction: below. Hands clad in fingerless gloves missed, gravity maintaining its grasp on Pantha and bringing her down to the floor.

As soon as booted feet touched down, Pantha leapt again. This time the leap was angled to the wall which the masked female ricocheted off of. Starfire parried the grapple, catching and throwing Pantha past her. Pantha was quick to spin her body and repeat the ricochet maneuver on the opposite wall, returning to the Tamaranean swiftly.

Opposing hands clasped against one another, and then a pair of powerful legs wrapped around Starfire's waist. Pantha pulled back, Starife's view of the world flipped, and then her back slammed into the wall that her foe had only just recently rebounded from.

To her shame, a cry escaped her throat. One after the other, the backs of her hands collided with the wall, pinned briefly until Pantha exerted her enhanced strength and pulled both of them away from the vertical surface. There was another flip and then Starfire found her abused back landing against the floor.

The physical abuse needed to end. There was a portion of her that held some respect for Pantha as a warrior, but this situation was different from the previous one. This time, Pantha was an obstacle between herself and rescuing Raven. Holding back was not an option.

Green light began to pour through interlinked fingers, the Tamareanean summoning her life energy into her palms. Pantha was quick to release the hands, and so only the gloves she wore possessed any singing. Those powerful hands moved to grasp the Tamaranean's wrists and bring them together. Not wanting to inflict a possible wound on herself, Starfire allowed her life energy to dissipate.

She rolled her lower arms, fighting against Pantha's thumbs and quickly breaking her opponent's grip. Her orange hands snaked around muscular arms and grasped onto the upper portion of the strong limbs. Starfire pulled down while she threw her head forward, headbutting and then shoving Pantha off of her.

Pantha did not go far, her legs still wrapped around Starfire's torso. The Tamaranean attempted to break the leg lock, bringing her hands down to try and slip them between her body and the powerful legs. Pantha recovered faster than she intended, and she soon had to bring her hands up, catching the masked female by the shoulders to stop a return headbutt.

Not wanting to remain on the defensive, Starfire rolled them over so that now Pantha was against the floor. Pantha pushed her arms against the floor and propelled the two of them up, Starfire regaining her physical footing. Strong hands grasped the Tamaranean's shoulders, pressure abruptly increased against her waist, and a gasp slipped out from orange lips.

"You are exerting pressure on my internal organs," Starfire grunted.

Pantha only grinned, though one of her hands released its hold, and an arm flung back with an elbow striking another approaching foe. The arm reversed, a fist lashed forward, but Starfire caught it with her own hand, gripping it tightly.

She spun them around, slamming Pantha into a wall, pulled away, another spin, and then another slam into the opposite wall. Pantha's lock on her waist did not falter.

Craning her head back, her eyes observed the distortion in the air from which more enemies continued to emerge from. Her feet levitated off the floor, and then she was propelling the two of them up and into the distortion. Perhaps on the other side there would be a means to change her fortunes.


Beast Boy recognized this guy. Same ass from the mall that made him look bad. What time was it? Time for a rematch and redeem himself if only in his own head.

Except there were a bunch of assholes getting in the way! He went avian, but had to go bigger than he wanted because he didn't want that headband thingy to fall off. Suppose to protect against mind control or something and it would do no good if it fell off. Even for a large bird of prey, he was practically weaning it around his neck.

Below, purple bricks and a fast Kid Flash were making headway against the crowd. He could see Red and Cyborg leading some away, Wonder Girl and Terra doing much the same. Starfire was duking it out already, so that left him with…

It must have been getting real crowded because the one man he so wanted to fight against, if only to repair a bruised ego, had climbed up on the yellow walls and was sticking to it like the lizard he looked like. The guy needed to hold himself up there which meant he was vulnerable.

Peregrine falcon was out because of the headband, but maybe the mass of a bald eagle would make up for it. He gave out an eagle's cry, and like a symbol of freedom he set himself on a collision course with—

—a tail that whipped out and put an end to mission accomplished. The shapeshifted eagle spun about through the air and had to regain his bearings. Oh, oh, you did not do that to a bald eagle! This was America!

Flying higher because this hallway had a very high ceiling, bald eagle shifted into panther, and man was that headband really tight on his head now. It was restricting him from using his jaw like some kind of muzzle. But he was committed, and down he went, angled for that monster of a…well, didn't know exactly what he was, but still!

The guy knew he was coming down, looked up at him and everything. Beast Boy was quick to dig his forepaws into thick shoulders and get his hindlegs positioned against lizard man, but a large hand complete with opposable thumb caught his head and prevented the use of any kind of teeth.

"Can you do anything different?" What was up with that British accent? Why did this guy have one to begin with? It just didn't fit!

Just like this stupid headband! He couldn't shift into something bigger unless he wanted to break the damn thing! He had to think smarter here! Smart! What could he change into that wouldn't break the band and leave him open for mind control? Doing a medium-sized big cat wasn't working so…so…oh. Oh, that might work.

His body changed, always quickly, so there was no need to really feel the shifting of bones or anything else, whether he was gaining body parts or losing them. In this case, he lost his arms and legs, but got something that could at least wear the headband like a collar and was very, very flexible.

There was an effort to keep some size, but not too much, since he was going all anaconda here. Lizard man was trying to keep out of the thick of the fighting below, didn't take him to be the type to care about his manicure if those long claws were something to go by, which just let the green shapeshifter wrap and coil around to his heart's content.

Letting a naturally forked tongue flicker out of his mouth. "How's that?"

Lizard man grunted. "Me and my big mouth."

The serpentine body constricted, and got some more grunts out. He allowed the arms to continue what they were doing, keeping lizard man here hanging on the wall and all, but some coiled body would make it difficult if the guy tried anything.

"Doesn't look good for you. Tell you what, you say uncle and we'll call it a day. You can lay down with all the unconscious bodies down there and pretend like you got the thrashing of your life, and I get the bragging rights. You stay out of the way and everybody goes home happy," Beast Boy offered. While he was sure he could keep this up all day, there were other things he needed to do, like help kick more bad guy asses. Couldn't do that if he was keeping the lizard man here occupied, so this would be a win-win, right? Lizard guy didn't want to be all wrapped up either unless he was into that kind of thing.

"Would if I could, but I don't have that option," lizard guy grunted.

What? "Oh come on! It's more than fair!"

"And you don't know this place." Ominous words that were quickly followed by lizard man yanking his clawed fingers out of the wall.

They fell and Beast Boy was the one who took the brunt of the landing, lizard guy using him as a cushion. The coils of his body loosened, and his bad guy took the chance to try and slip out. Hissing, the shapeshifter reared his head up and attempted to pin this mofo again, but for his effort, he got a meaty fist to his anaconda face.

Oh! It felt like his snout was caving in! How much strength did this asshole have? A second punch did more to discombobulate anything that somebody could call thinking, and then a third and fourth hit had him nearly falling back, his body already shifting.

Stars were filling his vision, and he shook his head to try and not see stars right now. He hadn't quite finished shifting, so something was missing as he became his handsome human self once more.

He pressed a hand to his aching head, and through a cracked open eye, he could see the headband he had been wearing rolling in between a couple of unconscious…bodies…oh shit! His fingers quickly felt his forehead, and any daze he might have been caught in vanished as he quickly became alert and practically dived after the headband.

Psychics, there were psychics here! They had to be reading his mind by now! Scrambling, he snatched up the headband and quickly jammed it over his head. Whew, safe.

"What's the deal with that?" British…oh, right, lizard asshole. "It looks important."

Glaring at the big, ugly asshole, Beast Boy retorted, "What's it to you?"

Almost too casually, "If I broke it, what would happen?"

Well that would just…it would…oh. Oh, okay. Now that, he could not tell.

"It barely fits on you," lizard guy continued. "You like becoming animals. I bet that there are some too big that you can't use them or you lose that band. Too small, it goes running off. You picked one helluva time to wear it."

He knew! He knew too well! It was so stupid!

"'Course, you got one animal who that fits perfectly," lizard guy pointed out. "Human's an animal, right?"

"I can't do that!" Beast Boy exclaimed, standing up to his full height which was still shorter than this prick and that was making him mad. "I'm Beast Boy! Fighting as animals is my thing!"

"Then you'll lose," lizard man replied. "I gotta do what I gotta do. That means beating the crap out of you. It's not personal."

The shapeshifter was tensing up. This was not a good situation. He needed to be any animal he wanted if he wanted to stand a chance here. Red had explained the situation before coming in, that if he didn't have the headband on, he could be mind controlled like Terra had been and used against his friends.

It was so stupid! But he still needed to fight.

From behind lizard man, Starfire was flying up in the air, whoever she was fighting was holding on tight to the Tamaranean. The two of them were heading upwards and into this portal—and when had that gotten there! Well, the two of them were going into it, and now Beast Boy had a sinking feeling because he had no idea what was on the other side of it and if Starfire was going to be okay.

He might not have full access to every animal on the planet, but he knew he couldn't let Starfire separate from them and fight all by herself wherever that portal went to. Green eyes returned to lizard guy, and he knew he would have to ditch if only to make sure Starfire didn't find herself alone.

"Well this is personal to me. You have a friend of mine, and I'm not about to let you do it to a second one." He jumped into the air using his human legs, and he flapped with eagle wings while the headband settled around his neck once more. Up and over lizard man he went, streaking for the portal.


This had become a mess real quickly.

Not wanting to get caught in the middle of everything, Wonder Girl had latched onto Terra and dragged the other girl with her to better position themselves for the upcoming onslaught. It seemed it had not occurred to any of them that this place would have a small army of superpowered people along with your standard, gun toting guards.

They had taken out like what, fifteen of them at least? Those were the ones they had encountered before, and since more and more had been thrown at them, it stood to reason that there were many more in reserves. Nothing for it then other than to use brute force to try and salvage this.

But wait, from behind there were more gun toting guards! All slim and sleek at the bottom, but bulky and thick on the top; somebody needed an army of designers to correct just about everything here.

"Keep moving!" the armored blonde yelled to Terra. "Let's try to lure them away!"

Terra nodded in agreement, and so the pair took on the guards with metahumans nipping at their heels. Busting through the reinforcements was easy, and then running had become the plan. This led them deeper and deeper into this place, and at some point, Terra literally brought up a wall of earth behind them to block some of the firepower their superpowered pursuers were sending their way.

After that, just a maze of hallways colored with garish yellow in hexagonal patterns. The two blonde Titans continued their running, especially after they had put some distance between Terra's barricade and heard a loud breaking noise. Probably someone with superstrength.

"Where are we going?" Terra panted out as they took a random turn.

"No idea, but hopefully somewhere they will miss," Wonder Girl answered.

Making another random turn, the pair skidded to a sudden halt. The armor-wearing Titan was tense both with surprise and with anger. Standing further down this hallway was a sight for aggravated eyes.

"Ravager," she hissed.

Yes, it was that killer, the one that had been a pain in their sides in recent days if you didn't count the road trip through half the country. The asshole in silver, black, and red stood there waiting for them, and she didn't need to be close to know he was smirking that stupid smirk of his.

"Must be my lucky day," the killer called out. "I was hoping for a rematch with you."

"You sure?" Wonder Girl snarled back. "I was kicking your ass last time. Maybe you want to try something easier? There might be a girl scout troop in the next town over."

"I'm better," Ravager declared. "You're not going to get lucky a second time." He raised a hand up from where it had been planted on his hip and gestured. "I got a space just for us. Open with plenty of space. We can have a real fight there, unless you're too scared to face me."

He was baiting her. He was baiting her and she knew it. He was just so smug and arrogant and not in the annoying way that was Red in their early days. Ravager really was one of those guys who thought he was God's gift to the world by just existing.

Distantly she could hear what sounded like explosions and other forms of violence. Making a decision needed to be now unless they wanted to be caught up in all that.

"Lead the way, asshole."

He did, and to make a long, windy journey through this place short, Ravager brought them to a large room. This is where things looked really different; outside it was all metal, yellows and blacks, but in here, someone had taken the liberty to make it anything but smooth. There was pavement, actual grass that looked well-trimmed, terrain that alternated between flat and hilly, small structures of concrete to mimic buildings, smalls ones but buildings nonetheless, and overheard the lighting was bright, as if trying to be like the sun in intensity.

Almost distantly, there were metal walls, these gray instead of yellow, but lined against them was every weapon imaginable. The swords caught the eye first, followed by guns of every shape and size, staffs of different makes, metal objects of East Asian make that had to be some kind of throwing projectile, and the list goes on. Everything described was just from a quick once look over.

"This is where I trained," Ravager announced, taking a stance on a wide area that was painted in numerous lines. One such line was a circle, perhaps its purpose was to serve as an impromptu arena. "I practiced here to get the skills I needed to go along with my new power. Here I trained to kill you. I think it's a great place to actually do it."

Trying to go on a field trip through your origins? No thanks, she was not having her mom sign that waiver. Glancing to Terra, more specifically Terra's wrist where her lasso still looped, Wonder Girl contemplated what she knew was about to happen and considered as many options as she could.

Reaching to where the rest of her lasso was attached to her armor, she gripped the magical rope and with barely a thought and a tug, the loop around Terra's wrist fell off. That headband she was wearing was now the only thing she could trust to prevent a two-on-one fight against herself. Not that she had much faith in the headband in the first place, but she was not going to hold back against Ravager. Not today and that meant having all of her abilities at her disposal.

"So, you just gonna yap my ear off, or are we doing this?" Wonder Girl challenged as she took on an offensive stance. This was one Starfire had drilled into her during all of their physical education and it was one she could quickly switch into defense if needed.

A sword sliced through the air as it was pulled out of its scabbard. "It's already done," Ravager quipped. "Your corpse just hasn't caught up. Don't worry, I'll help."

Armored feet crunched into pavement, and then Wonder Girl went on the offensive herself, practically gliding over the ground as she charged at the arrogant killer. That smirk on his face got bigger and bigger with each foot closer she drew to him, and while his body language was still relaxed, it gave away the plan he had to strike at the last second possible.

She played along until that last second when the sword swung with dizzying speed only to be stopped short as its blade jarred into her golden gauntlet. Thanks to all the fighting earlier, much of her body was still covered so that meant less places for him to cut at. However, the speed in which he moved was faster than at the construction site. It was closer to that protest earlier that day. He hadn't been bluffing when he had said he was better.

On the defense she went, blocking every single strike that came at her with her gauntlets. Do this to minimize the amount of energy you used; that was another lesson from Starfire. Don't stay defensive forever, you have to try and reverse it if you wanted to end a fight quickly.

Her chance came when Ravager switched from a slash to a thrust. Wonder Girl slipped to her right while tossing her lasso. The sword stabbed through the loop in the magical rope, continuing until the hand and lower arm began to pass through. As if knowing what she wanted, the loop closed and gripped Ravager's arm.

Gripping the magical rope, she yanked on it and pulled Ravager off balance. With her other hand balled into a fist, she lunged into the asshole and punched him in the stomach, getting a loud exhale of air over her shoulder.

Ravager didn't stay stunned, bringing a leg and knee between them and kicking her away. Her rope ensured she didn't go too far and she practically yo-yoed her way back, this time decking him in the face. However, Ravager rolled with it, spinning his body and swinging a leg out and landed against her side. Her feet dug into pavement, her grip on her rope tightened, and she kept from going too far due to that.

Flicking his wrist, Ravager tossed his sword from one hand to the other and since it was not as restricted as the one her rope was wrapped around, he had more movement to his next swing. Wonder Girl brought up an arm in time and blocked, then had to hunker down as blows from the weapon came one after the other. The blade did not cut through her armor, but the force behind each hit was making its way through.

Suddenly, Ravager broke off his attack and nearly bent himself backwards. A large rock whistled by her head and continued flying through the space Ravager's head once occupied. Seizing the chance that she realized Terra had just given her, Wonder Girl slammed a palm down on Ravager's chest and rammed his back into the pavement.

Two legs wrapped around her neck, a pair of ankles interlocking with one another, and then she was pulled over and down, going face first into the ground. Ravager rolled onto her, avoiding a pillar of rock that tore upwards where he had been lying, one of his feet kicking off of it to help propel the rest of his body upwards until he was standing once more.

Her arm jerked upward, she was pulled up, and now her lasso was being used against her as Ravager spun her, getting her own rope wrapped around her neck. It got in between where her helm ended and the armor protecting her throat happened to be; she hadn't even known that gap was there.

Uncomfortably, her magical rope pressed against her throat and a choked gasp escaped her. Damn it, she had just given away that he had stumbled onto the upper hand here.

"That's a nice noise you're making," the prick taunted. "Let's see if I can't get you to make more."


Immortus has long prepared for an attack on this base. It did not matter how impregnable your fortress was, a true general entertained the idea that the defenses could be breached. What would be the protocols to address such a scenario?

Isolate the invaded areas and flood that location with as many troops as possible, overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers, and make sure the only option of retreat was the way the enemy had entered.

This last point was contentious right now; based on initial reports, the breach had occurred in the lower levels and not at any of the entrances. Those lower levels were not ideal for quarantine. He had not anticipated this particular scenario, but that did not mean he had not activated the protocols to address it.

Regular troops and metahuman forces were descending on the breach. Due to some of the abilities of the metahumans, there were more options to enter that area. For example, the metahuman codenamed Herald could transport as many of their forces as needed to the affected area. Herald had standing orders to do so.

While his forces were busy engaging the enemy, the general was issuing orders to the various units patrolling the outside area to return to base immediately. This would take some time, time that he would use to arm himself for battle and obtain more accurate intelligence on the situation. One of his orders was to demand Psimon's immediate presence.

"I hope you know that my time could be better spent confronting the fools who thought to come here," the taller man commented as he weaved through the chaotic goings of the troops to arrive at Immortus' side.

"I have no time for your lip," Immortus snapped. "I need you to identify how many intruders we are dealing with and their most current locations." He secured the last strap to the scabbard that housed his saber. He would be entering battle in full regalia.

"Is that all?" the psychic drawled. "Very well, if it is for your peace of mind."

Psimon placed a finger on his temple and became blissfully silent, his thin face wrinkling in concentration. Immortus checked his sidearm, making sure that it was fully loaded and a round of ammunition was in the chamber. He holstered it then reached for a hat. Peak in design, and blue to match the color scheme of his uniform, he placed the accessory over his bald head and adjusted the visor.

Light glinted off numerous medals he wore, and patches sown into the sleeves declared his rank to the world. Polished shoes did not scruff the floor. Gloves of a thin material encased aged hands and swept against the uniform, wiping away any lint that may be there. He was a general, and he would look the part.

Immortus was running out of chores to do to occupy his time. Psimon had yet to report in, and his patience was being tested by this. Eventually, he barked out, "Well?"

To his aggravation, there was no immediate response. Why was this taking so long? Did this imbecile not realize that they were in the middle of a battle? Every second counted!

When Psimon did speak, it was to mutter, "This doesn't make sense."

Immortus narrowed his eyes. "What doesn't make sense? Speak plainly."

As if realizing he was not alone, Psimon's eyes refocused on the here and now and sought out the general's attention. "I can't find them."

"What?" he demanded. What did this man mean, can't find them?

"We know they're here. Our own surveillance equipment can attest to it," Psimon explained. "I can sense the minds of our own, metahuman and normal. I can see their thoughts, see the enemy through their eyes, but for whatever reason, I cannot find a single foreign mind. I have seen the Titan's thoughts before, during the last confrontation we had with them. I was able to render one of their own near comatose. But now? Nothing. Their minds, I can't find them."

He listened, weighed every word carefully, then truly considered the significance. Based on his own knowledge, unless one took certain, specific precautions, then to be safe from the probing of telepathy was a pipe dream. The Queen herself was able to feel the minds of everyone here and know their thoughts. There was no way to protect them! Not unless you had the means and know how to!

But this could not be dismissed. Somehow, somehow, their opponents had developed the means to protect themselves and prevent even one as powerful as Psimon from even being able to exactly locate them. These children were more dangerous than he had anticipated.

Perhaps they were a challenge worthy of H.I.V.E.

"Find them and keep them pinned down," Immortus issued his order. "I don't care what you have to do to achieve it. I will continue to marshal our forces and lead the reinforcements. Now is not the time to hold back. Kill them all as soon as you are able to."

Doing his best not to express vulnerability, Psimon gave a small smirk. "As you command, General. I will issue the orders."

Dismissing the metahuman, Immortus returned to his duties. Their ambitions could not end here. Not now. Not to a group of children. This world needed H.I.V.E. to guide it to a glorious future.

This was not where it would burn.