Overthrow
The first group of soldiers plus Psimon were moved to a side, restrained with everything that could be used to keep them out of the way. Psimon got a nice little sedative added to him to make sure he stayed out of the way. It was the only sedative Red Robin carried so this better be worth it.
"There's going to be more coming," the teen vigilante stated more than asked.
"You bet. Once they figure out your robot friend is getting into the mainframe, they'll be diverting everything here to stop you," Bumblebee confirmed.
They had to buy time. He had Cyborg close those double doors, then he found out where some of the wiring was and tore them out. It would only buy some time.
While they waited, Red Robin threw out, "Find anything yet? Whatever they're doing here? Any connections to Ravager and El Chilar?"
Cyborg gave a grunt. "There's so much here man. I'm getting everything. There's so much more…hold on a second."
So he was going to be busy. Red Robin took this chance to do some inventory and grimaced. Already he was starting to run comfortably low on gadgets. A handful of birdarangs that really needed to be used sparingly. A big problem with the explosive and electrical ones were that once used, you couldn't use them again. The explosive ones were obvious, the electrical ones had enough charge for a single hit, then there were just basic birdarangs. He still picked those up where he was able to find them, because a no charged birdarang was better than none.
He had a grapple hook, in case the cape was damaged or failed. Smoke pellets and some fireworks. Not real fireworks but the kind that were small and could crackle away for a nice distraction. Then—
"Bingo. Got those bitches," Cyborg crowed. "They're still working on their big, master plan," the cybernetic teen continued. "They're building some big signal emitter. They're going for quite a range. The one here can cover half the western United States. And they're building more than one, and going to set them up all over the place."
Glancing to Bumblebee, Red Robin asked, "You know anything about this?"
The dark-skinned girl gave a shake of her head. "Like they let the help know what's going on. They give us speeches of how exceptional everyone here is. We're the smartest, the strongest, yada, yada, yada. The Earth is doomed so we need to save it. Now go kill some teenagers we're secretly afraid of. That's what they tell us."
Information diet that only the higher ups know or understand what the big plan was? Somebody didn't trust those who were smarter and stronger than the rest. Who'd've thought?
To Cyborg, "What kind of signal are they trying to emit, and why over the whole world?"
"You know it's crazy. The kind of signal they want, it doesn't have any effect on humans," Cyborg answered.
This got not only a frown from him, but from Bumblebee as well. "So what the hell did they want us to steal? What is it, a giant communication system that does…whatever?"
Cyborg was silent for a moment, then he was frowning. "It does affect something." The frown turned into a grimace. "Bees."
Bumblebee blinked. "Bees? Why the hell bees?"
"Beats the hell out of me," Cyborg exclaimed. "They're basing their signal off the one that Abejas guy was working on. Remember? It affects bees, like it…hold on…" Another moment of agonizing silence. "This really doesn't make sense. Found a file that explains part of this. This is mind control for bees!"
"That's so stupid!" Bumblebee shouted, slamming a clenched fist onto a nearby terminal and showed how strong she was when the computer crumpled under her might. "Why the hell control the bee population?"
Red Robin was thinking this through. Why control bees? What did they do? Make honey for one. Was this a gambit to control the honey industry? It didn't make too much sense. What else did bees do? Well, pollinate plants, and they did so all over the world. Any plant, every plant. Flowers. Crops. They pollinated every…thing…
It was a thought, but he had to run through it. "Is there anything about agriculture?" he asked.
A few seconds later, Cyborg was able to click the pieces of the puzzle together. "They're talking about getting bees to stop pollinating crops." Now his teammate was sounding grim.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Bumblebee interjected.
"Agriculture is successful because bees pollinate the crops. Otherwise we wouldn't have the yields we do have. You can use as many fertilizers as you want, but the vegetable we eat? The fruit? At their core, they're all seeds. The outside is to entice animals to spread them around so new plants can grow. To make these seeds, they have to be pollinated first. Sure, you might get something, but it won't be much."
"They're talking about manufacturing a worldwide famine to cull off the human population. Whosever left gets to serve them," Cyborg summed up.
Looking to Bumblebee, "The Earth is doomed, so we're going to speed it up and be its saviors. They're not the strongest or smartest. They just think they are. It'll take some years, but it'll happen. I wouldn't be surprised if they were already stocking up to keep themselves fed. The rest of the world will try to stave it off, might succeed for a bit, but it would be so simple for everyone to declare war on each other just to try and feed themselves. This plan of theirs is just getting started, so they still have time to get themselves ready for the long haul."
Cyborg gave a chuckle. "Good thing we're here to make sure it doesn't happen." His good humor left when the titanium teen muttered, "Now what the hell did they do with Raven?"
That was still one mystery left unsolved and their primary reason for being here. Undoing all of their work for a future global catastrophe was a nice bonus and a big middle finger to them. They wanted to play around, well guess what, you found out how fucked you are.
Maybe it was a bad time to have that thought. In retrospect, he would kick himself for it. No sooner had it occurred that the sabotaged doors broke open with explosive force. A very noticeable plume of flame bellowed from the open with smoke pouring out of it. But wait, it got better as more of those bee-themed soldiers emerged from the smoke, some already firing.
Red Robin was at least quick enough to activate the electric current in his cape and shield himself with it, bullets bouncing off the hardened surface. He had to protect himself right now, but he trusted that Cyborg and Bumblebee would be able to keep themselves safe. The former's body consisted of a substance hard enough to withstand gunshots provided he kept his more exposed, softer areas covered. The latter, he believed, could shrink or something to that effect, making it hard for any bullet to hit its mark.
The gunfire came to a stop, then slowly he peeked over his cape, needing to know what to expect. The guns were still aimed in his direction and there seemed to be quite a crowd of the soldiers spilling into the room, taking up more space than Psimon's unit had.
Standing at the forefront was a man in military regalia, and old ones by the looks of it. Seriously dated, and that description could also describe the man wearing the uniform. Even from where he crouched, Red Robin could make out the signs of extreme old age, yet the living fossil was still walking though he had yet to talk.
In an imperious voice, the uniformed man declared, "You are the Teen Titans. How you entered this sanctum, I do not know. I will find out. That you made it this far is an embarrassment and one I mean to correct."
"You're in charge?" the masked teen called out, keeping crouched to the floor. He needed to keep himself as small a target as possible. That would allow his cape to shield him and make it harder to hit.
"That information is of no relevance to you," the old man replied. "How long you live, that is what you should be more concerned about."
So, the old man was not in the mood for banter. Hopefully he wasn't too trigger happy because he needed time to figure out what to do. If Cyborg was still going through the mainframe and downloading as many files as he could, he'd have to stop to address this.
A voice whispered next to his ear, "That's the general. Calls himself Immortus. He acts like he's in charge, but he's more the second-in-command. He'll have you mowed down the first chance he gets."
Red Robin glanced to his left and barely made out Bumblebee's small form. "Any tips on how to turn the tables on him?"
"No idea, but he likes to talk a lot." He didn't need to see it to know Bumblebee was shrugging her shoulders.
Alright, so how to do that? Well…okay, he had a thought,
"You want us dead. It's because of that signal emitter you're building, right?" he yelled out. "You think we're a threat to you? You messed up, buddy. Had you kept quiet, we would have never known you existed and you could pull off your global catastrophe without anyone finding out."
A few seconds ticked by before he heard Immortus utter, "I will need to know how you found out about that. However, if you are arrogant enough to believe that you pose a threat to H.I.V.E., you are gravely mistaken."
"Then if we're not a threat, why come after us?" Red Robin demanded. That answer was definitely one he wanted to know if this turned ugly.
"Because you interfered in our affairs one too many times, and retribution was needed. You were never a threat. An obstacle, perhaps, but never a true threat." Immortus sounded like he was commenting about the weather there. The teen vigilante had to call bullshit there. All those assassination attempts with Ravager begged to differ.
However, it turned out he didn't need to stall longer. From the same door that Bumblebee had led them through, the calvary had arrived in the form of Kid Flash and Bunker running through, the latter spinning around and filling the doorway with a wall of his psionic bricks.
"There. That should hold them," Bunker said right before turning around and seeing all the armed soldiers. "You have got to be kidding me."
Kid Flash had taken stock of the situation and was at Red Robin's side in an instant. "Red, you're still alive! So what's the scoop? Got to take on these bad guys?"
Okay, now they had reinforcements. Bunker with the potential his powers provided and Kid Flash's proven superspeed should be more than enough to handle Immortus and his goons.
Yet, the universe wanted to provide more, and that was through the huge monitor that took up the whole wall on the side of the room directly behind the teen vigilante. Debris broke through it, bolts of electricity and sparks flared out, and green light detonated everything within as Starfire flew in, coming to a stop in midair while holding a human-looking Beast Boy who was holding his headband onto his head.
"My friends! I am most joyous to see you healthy and unharmed!" the Tamaranean greeted before noticing the rest of the room. "I see I may have spoken too soon. Are we to face these foes as well?"
"Red, we really need to do something about these stupid things!" the shapeshifter called down, slapping a hand on his headband. "It's really cramping my style!"
"Do you children not respect the importance of this facility?!" Immortus barked, directing all attention towards himself. "This is valuable technology and an important setup! Your destruction has set us back months!"
The gathered Titans shared a look between one another before Beast Boy ventured, "We're sorry?"
"Not yet you aren't," the old man growled.
"I don't think we will be," Kid Flash pipped up. "It's the six of us against you and your Functionary wannabe band of…okay, I don't know where I was going with that, but you have no idea what kind of kickass we're about to let loose on you!"
It would have been a great retort to launch an attack, except that the giving universe decided that what could be given could also be taken away.
From Starfire's self-made entrance, a rush of bodies, all in various costumes of differing colors, headed by a mask-wearing woman who looked like a luchador, changed in and cut off that potential escape route. Bunker seemed to have dropped his concentration at the wrong moment because his blockage of purple-colored bricks was this blown apart along with a good chunk of the wall where more metahumans began to flood in.
They were effectively surrounded now.
"The circumstances are different now," Immortus remarked. "You mentioned that you were about to let loose 'kickass' upon me. Perhaps you wish to amend your claim?"
This was great. This was really great. It took all of Red Robin's will not to press his hand against his face. Now how were they going to get out of this one? Surrounded by both soldiers with guns and metahumans with powers; what could they do except be massacred? Even with Bumblebee's assistance, this didn't look good and if she was smart and hadn't been found out, she'd join with them.
Live to fight another day, one the Titans might not see.
Standing up, Red Robin decided that if this was to be the last stand, he wouldn't be hiding behind his cape or anyone else's. He'd face it head on, thinking an apology to his parents who might never find out what had happened.
"Alight. You got us. A little overkill, but you got us," he stated.
"Red!" Kid Flash protested.
"You're fast, but I don't think you're fast enough to deal with all this firepower," he told the speedster. "Some of them, maybe, but not all. We're screwed."
"A crude, but fine acknowledgement of your situation," Immortus praised.
"I don't think we've ever been so screwed before," Red Robin continued, glancing at his teammates, then to the soldiers, and then to the growing number of metahumans.
The soldiers were stiff, professional. A single order would have them firing away and their body language gave that away. The metahumans, well, they were more of a mix. Some looked eager, others…couldn't really read them. Some looked like they were sucking on lemons, some looked like they were hanging back but their arms were at their sides, noticeably not ready to unleash some punishment.
Hadn't Bumblebee mentioned earlier that some of them didn't want to be here? They had no choice?
Running with that, "You got it all. Loyal men. A small army of superpowered kids. I can figure out where you'd recruit the men, but where did these kids come from? Did you give them a choice to join your little army? Somehow, I doubt that."
"Not all troops need to be compliant, just able to serve," Immortus said.
Glancing back over at the metahumans and really noticing how young some of them looked… "They're tough. Very powerful. If you don't need their compliance, how do you keep them from overthrowing you? I doubt you give them a choice."
Something about obedience…chips. Yeah, Bumblebee had mentioned that before. Force compliance on someone in a way they couldn't fight back.
"You're stalling. You have nothing more to defend yourself. All you do is delay the inevitable," the old man said.
While he spoke, Red Robin hissed out of the side of his mouth, "Tell Cyborg to bring up that obedience program." He didn't risk saying more, and the lack of a following question hopefully meant that a certain bee girl had figured out what he was trying to imply.
Overhead, Starfire picked up the argument, "Is this why they seek out violence? To bring a meaning to their lives that you deny them?" the Tamaranean all but demanded. Beast Boy began to squirm in her arms at her tone probably because of how tightly she was holding the shapeshifter. "The only meaning they can give themselves is to find a challenge that will allow them to feel alive? What you speak of, is this not slavery?"
Immortus sneered at Starfire, an unforgivable sin at the best of times. "What would an alien like you understand of our ambitions? Of our goals. Whatever it takes to achieve them, it matters not the how as long as the means are justified by the ends. Our ends."
"And that makes you no different from the Gordanian slavers of the Citadel." Now if that wasn't the worst condemnation to come from the Tamaranean, though those not in the know had a moment of confusion there. "My sister, who nearly destroyed you through her efforts to terraform this planet, she was motivated by a love for her people despite the hardships they gave to her. Misguided as she was, she sought to save them, even when she herself was the cause of their misery. I do not believe you have the same motives other than your own greed."
"Your kind would kill humanity while we would save it," Immortus retorted. "We are different, though our methods would create a new golden age for this planet. Who are you to judge us?"
"I certainly can!" Cyborg butted in. "You might be willing to starve the planet, but what happens when you can't feed yourselves? Who are you going to throw out to the wolves first? Probably all these kids since they need a lot of food to keep themselves going. No discipline, or your twisted version of it, I bet. You don't look like the type of guy who can take it when it gets tough."
"You know nothing, aberration—"
"What, your seventeenth century military doctrine ain't working for you anymore?" Cyborg interrupted. "Can't get all these kids to work for you because they want to? Maybe that explains all the chips you surgically put in their heads. You can't keep up with the times anymore, can you old man?"
Red Robin noticed a big number of the metahumans froze up at that statement.
"Well, if you think you're in charge, I gotta break your bubble," the cybernetic teen continued, talking over Immortus. "I found your little program, you know, the one that keeps you connected to all those chips? Well guess what? I just turned it off. You can't shock them like dogs anymore."
Immortus was glaring at Cyborg, definitely more pissed at being disrespected. Had the Titan's words not reached the old man? Well, maybe the masked teen needed to fan the flames some more.
"I'd believe him. If Cyborg says it's off, then it's off," he called out, his voice colored with a casual tone. "But you know, there's only one way to prove it," he continued. "You got to use them, Immortus. Activate those shocks. If we're wrong, you might have a whole army of metahumans on their knees, but if we're right, then you might find yourself not in control any longer."
"And you think I won't?" Immortus challenged, raising a barely there eyebrow.
Red Robin smiled serenely. "I think you're too much of a chicken shit to try."
"Snap!" Beast Boy breathed out.
The self-styled general glowered at the leader of the Teen Titans. Then, he reached into a pocket and pulled out what looked like a fob. It looked no different than what a car dealership handed out, and a thumb was up against a button.
"You underestimate H.I.V.E., boy," the old man sneered. "If you think we weren't able to discipline on an individual basis, you're sadly mistaken."
Did he press the button? Did he do it in front of all these metahumans? It was hard to tell, but it was even harder when no one fell to their knees or even looked like they were in serious pain.
The frown, that was what gave the game away. Immortus's little eyes had fallen to the fob he held and the way his hand jerked implied that he was using some force on his button pressing.
Others were noticing, and more importantly they were the metahumans themselves. Some had raised a hand to the backs of their heads. Others had flinched but were relaxing slowly, looking to one another in confusion.
"You know, if you want to ditch, I wouldn't blame you," Red Robin called out to them, ignoring the glare Immortus was sending to him now. "You've been here too long. Had to listen to that old fart for who knows how long. But you know, I wouldn't blame you for wanting some payback either. If you're in the mood."
It was as if his words put a charge in the air. Looks were being traded between the gathered metahumans, countless nonverbal messages passed between them. There were some that were determined, though determined for what was questionable. Those were in a noticeable minority. Others were uncertain, but that uncertainty was quickly being drained away as defiance and eagerness began to take hold.
The soldiers, garbed in their upper body armor, seemed to pick up on this and began to glance at one another anxiously. Surely…surely these kids weren't going to turn on them, right?
"That is enough!" Immortus barked. "Insubordination will not be tolerated! I order you to kill those intruders immediately! Do you hear me?!" When his command wasn't answered promptly, the general unsheathed his saber in a fluid motion that was surprising from a man his age. Stabbing the saber in the direction of the Titans, he ordered, "Kill them! Kill them now!"
Some of the metahumans jumped at the chance, but other than preparing to unleash who knows what kind of havoc, they paused when they noticed no one else moving. The majority were looking at Immortus, bodies tensing as if also getting ready to attack.
Their aim did not seem to be where Immortus wanted it.
"Blow it out your arse!" A British accent, and one that came from a monstrous metahuman that resembled a lizard.
"You tell them, Ridge!" That was Bumblebee doing the cheering there, and she even expanded herself to her default size to do it. "Come on everybody! You want to take that windbag's crap a second longer? This is our chance! Let's show that has been where he can shove that bullshit of his!"
"You make powerful enemies, girl," the old man growled. Then glancing to his men, "What are you waiting for? Kill them all if you have to! Those intruders, these Titans die today!"
A fist smacked against a palm, and a thick, Hispanic accent refuted, "No. I will not get the fight I crave against an equal. You command me no more. I will have my fight, but only after I ensure you will not take it from me."
"I like your spirit, and I'm okay with it so long as you direct it as General Never Was," Bumblebee praised. "Now, who wants to get a piece of him? Anyone?"
Next to Red Robin, Kid Flash leaned close to him and whispered, "I think they might be on our side."
"Enemy of my enemy," Red Robin agreed. This had dragged on far enough and if there were enough of these metahumans on their side, well, there was only one real way to find out.
With a commanding tone, he yelled out for all to hear, "Let's finish this! Go!"
For several moments, it was nothing but chaos. There had been a second where Red Robin had felt that he had overstepped, maybe assumed that he had a small army about to back him up.
And then the bodies raced past him, furious teenagers who happened to have powers of all sorts and shapes launched themselves into battle, running over and through terminals to crash into Immortus and his forces. There were some metahumans that took Immortus' side, but they were quickly overwhelmed. Gunshots fired out, soon drowned out by the roars of fury and rage of the adolescent assault.
Red Robin kept himself in fray, hoping to mitigate some of the damage this was going to cause. Cyborg did need to remain connected to the mainframe, but being able to check in on him was not going to be easy right now.
And then slipping through the throngs of violence was the old general himself, Immortus. The old man locked onto him, and with a stride his aged body belied, he headed right for the masked teen.
With the electric current running through his cape, Red Robin chose his weapon: his cape. It was his first choice against the gleaming saber that Immortus wielded and soon the two of them were engaged.
He blocked with his cape as the saber slashed and stabbed at him, and while the bladework appeared impressive, the force behind the strikes weren't as hard as he expected them to be. The teen vigilante backed through the fighting, bringing his left arm then right arm up, blocking and blocking as he waited for an opening.
Immortus wasn't as chatty as he was earlier; fighting had him quiet and focused. But the masked teen had been through one too many of Starfire's physical education classes to be intimidated.
The man might be dressed in uniformed military, may know his way with a weapon, but none of that could prevent age from stealing away strength and vigor. As Immortus tried to bring his saber down on his head, Red Robin crossed his hardened cape in front of him, and once he felt the strike against his shield, he threw his arms out and allowed the thin, yet sharp edges of the cape to slice through the sword.
Pieces of metal scattered and Immortus held the remnants of his blade, his expression incredulous. The masked teen didn't hold back as he lashed out a kick that struck the general in his chest. With age robbing him of more than strength and vigor, Immortus felt onto his back, his falling body just missing an energy projectile, one fired off by one of the metahumans.
Holding onto the handle of his broken saber, Immortus stabbed the flat end of it into the floor and pulled himself up, glaring at the teen vigilante with unadulterated hatred. Red Robin narrowed his eyes, more than ready to take the man out of this fight. He had a lot of questions that he wanted answers to, and this has been general would answer them.
Except, two of his men slipped in and grabbed the general by his arms. Quickly, they dragged Immortus into the thick of the fighting, and Red Robin found his eyes widening both at the audacity and in disbelief. His face hardened, and then he ran after them, determined not to let the old man get away.
It was hectic, chaotic, and more than once did the teen vigilante have to shield himself. Each time he caught sight of Immortus, it would last only for a few seconds, encouraging him to press forward.
Eventually, he found himself nearly falling out through a doorway and into the hallway on the other side of it. Looking first to his left, then to his right, he found Immortus on his feet further down and just vanishing around a corner, one of his soldiers keeping him propped up.
Turning fully to his right, he took off after them, running as fast as he could. Skidding on his feet, he made the turn and continued with the chase, Immortus dead ahead now but still so far away. This would repeat several times, the teen vigilante trying to catch up, taking every turn and always finding himself barely making progress. These people knew their way around while he didn't, so heading them off was not an option. He had to keep following, catch up, and stop this escape.
And then he found himself at a three-way intersection and he lost sight of them. First he looked to the right, finding only an empty hallway that direction. Desperately, he looked to the left and found two familiar individuals slowly making their way in his direction.
Quickly, Red Robin took the left turn, running to the armored form of Wonder Girl and the thin yet powerful Terra. "Wonder Girl! Terra!" he called out. "Did you see anyone come this way? Well?!"
As he drew closer, he slowed to a stop, taking in the details that weren't initially apartment. Under one arm was the golden helm that, while not always present, would appear over Wonder Girl's head was held under an arm which left matted blonde hair dangling about her head. Her eyes were lowered, slightly red and swollen, something that would normally happen if someone had…oh.
He looked to Terra, noticed her slumped posture, but at least she was able to make eye contact. She seemed lost, but had none of the swollenness that Wonder Girl did. "Red Robin?" she asked. "Wh…where is…?"
"Still fighting," he answered, turning back to Wonder Girl. "What—"
Interrupting him, Wonder Girl blurted out, "Ravager's dead."
It took a moment—a long and unnecessary moment—to process that. Ravager was…dead? But…what? How? When? He hadn't seen the murderous man since arriving here, but they had been split up, so the odds were favorable that someone would run into him. But dead? What could have happened for that to happen?
When he hadn't said anything, Wonder Girl blurted out the rest. "I don't know what happened! We were fighting! He was annoying! An asshole and— …and. And then he just…he keeled over all of a sudden and he was having a heart attack! We…I…I tried but I don't…it was a heart attack and I couldn't…"
Never before had he seen her like this. She was losing control and not in a violent way either. Wonder Girl—Cassie was falling apart, and it looked like a breakdown was imminent.
He did the only thing he could think of, and that was to reach out and embrace the struggling blonde, taking some care to avoid the spikes growing out of the armor. Cassie did not resist, nearly falling against him. It took some effort to remain upright, but he did it while holding her, providing what comfort he could give. Maybe this wasn't the place for it, but the time would need to be made.
They weren't out of the woods yet.
"He's going to come after me, isn't he?" He nearly missed those words which showed just how soft the normally brash blonde was. He waited for her to continue, "He won't believe that I had nothing to do with it."
It took another moment, again one that was too long, yet who was he? What person, no, what male would Wonder Girl be scared of coming after here? Yes, scared, because there was resignation in her tone. There weren't many…but there was one.
"He can't blame you for a heart attack," he told her. "And we haven't done enough with first aid. You did what you could. You didn't just leave him there, you tried to help, right?" Cassie's head shifted up and down, a nod. "Then he can't hold that against you. If he does, then I'll be right there beside you. You won't be alone."
It was pretty words, but when he took the time to think about it, would it be so simple to stand against Batman of all people?
A memory popped up in his head, words said what felt like a long time ago, but in reality only a few days ago. "Raven mentioned there was something in him. Something tainted. There may be more to this we know, but we can find out those answers. Right now, we still have a bad guy to catch and I'm going to need your help. Can you pull it together long enough for one last fight?"
Cassie didn't say anything, not at first. If anything, she leaned more into him. Then, with a sniffle, she pulled back, a hand rubbing at her eyes and clearing away something that will not be named. Then she looked back at him and gave a nod. "One more fight."
Nodding, Red Robin looked to Terra and asked his earlier question once more. "Did you see anyone come this way?"
Terra shook her head. "No, no one."
Looking over his shoulder at the way he had come, he knew where to go looking next.
It was quiet in the facility that had once been Ravager's training ground. The lifeless body laid where it had been left behind, the two girls who had tried to keep it alive long gone. Behind the lens of the mask that body still wore, lifeless eyes peered upward, unseeing and unmoving.
The chest did not move. No limb twitched. Only the remnants of foam which may have seeped to the ground, but only after trailing away from the open orifice that was the body's mouth. There was nothing to push out any more, no muscle spasms or rebellious organs to help with emptying the substance.
Silence reigned, unbroken. Because of its artificial nature, there was no wildlife to chirp or scurry about. No wind moved the air unless one counted the vents that allowed artificial regulation of the room's temperature. No voice spoke or broke the grip of the quiet.
At least, not until the crunch of grass did. A foot clad in a thick boot stepped forward without care but fully cautious at the same time. Each step was sure, confident, and carried the newcomer closer and closer to the corpse.
The footsteps stopped inches away, a shadow falling over Ravager's body. Seconds ticked by where nothing happen, and then knees bent and a gloved hand reached out to the mask. Initially, it slid against the check, pushing away some of the foam, and then the hand cupped the side of the ex-assassin's face.
In a swift and simple move, the hand pulled off the mask and exposed the youthful face beneath it, brown hair shellacked, and dead eyes sunken with bags under them. There wasn't an intake of breath, like this had been a surprise. There was nothing to indicate anything really.
A pair of powerful arms then lifted the upper portion of the body and brought it into a strong torso that was clad in a black material that covered a light armor which could allow flexible and nimble movement when needed. Cradling the body, the newcomer lowered a masked head, blocking the left side from casual observation while exposing a solid black on the right side.
There was no change in breathing. No tremor in the shoulders. Nothing which could hint at any distress, giving away just how much in control this person was.
But there was grief. There was mourning. Regret. Underneath it all, rage began to burn.
Those who had set it a light would suffer from it soon enough.
Cyborg didn't really know what he should have expected. When the small army of what turned out to be superpowered teenagers turned on their former masters and anyone that sided with them, of course it was going to be quick. That much firepower? Sheesh, overkill might be a better word for it.
Yeah, there had been resistance, and while that resistance had put up a good fight, it wasn't enough. You had a lot of injured soldiers and metahumans, and right now bringing some order to the carnage was the first on a list of many, many things that needed to be done. Getting these wronged teens, who at their hearts were just that, hormone-driven kids who were drafted into something that they had no desire to join in the first place.
Every passing second told him that this was going to be a bigger mess to clean up, and the scope of how big it was became greater and greater with every passing second. They were going to have to bring in the big wigs from the League to handle this, no question. At least before that, he could make things easier to digest.
The big master plan had been going on for a long time, had multiple phases to it, but based on everything, it was still in its earliest stages. They had contracted a lot of people, paying through the nose, both for expertise and silence, to help build this signal emitter. They had needed people to plan out and build it. They needed to figure out the right frequencies for their true target. They needed to find a way to make this machine that would emit that signal to every single bee on the planet. They needed to build multiple machines and a relay network. It kept adding up.
It was an enormous undertaking, and they had crashed it while the prototype was still being built. Ambition, these guys had, and that was the only thing you could say about them. Being the best around? Hardly.
Speaking of, "Can you stop trying to puncture that guy's lungs with his ribs? We need him alive," he called out. Answers, of course. This meant making sure anybody still around could at least talk. With an operation like this, somebody would have seen something, a little detail that most wouldn't think about but added to the overall picture.
Pausing when he heard another grunt, he called upwards, "Hey, Star, mind giving them a hug? I think they might need one."
The Tamaranean glanced at him, thought about what he had said, then shrugged her shoulders and hovered off. Another cry, another poor victim of a Tamaranean hug, but at least that meant there was no more needless assault.
Now, the big command room with all its bells and whistles was a wreck. Fortunately, there was another terminal he could use one room over. Once back into the system, he started up his search once more for Raven. Even after everything, he still hadn't found his missing friend. There had to be something, anything, that could point out what had happened to her.
Beast Boy had joined him at some point and was rocking back and forth on his heels while keeping one hand on the mind control prevention headband Red had had him make before coming to this secret base. So far no one had fallen under mind control so he was willing to bet there was some success there. After hearing what that other psychic had to say, the one with the literal brain case, that had to count for something, right?
The shapeshifter tensed up beside him, which alerted him to company. Not more soldiers in that ridiculous armor, but one of the many metahumans who were now milling about. Turning his head, he raised an eyebrow at the large, reptilian-looking guy who had quite the sideburns on him.
"Can I help you?" the cybernetic teen asked. Memory files gave him the brief glimpses he had of this guy back from the Highland Mall ambush. He may have been paying more attention to…um…Eyeball Kid, but his own robotic eyes had gotten the widescreen view of everything and in a few of those images was Beast Boy fighting this particular guy.
What kind of superpower mutated a guy into this? Those eyes gave the impression there was a human behind them, but everything else screamed monster. That was the only reason why he felt surprised when this guy spoke with a British accent.
"What were you hoping to do here?" the lizard-like metahuman gruffly asked.
"Kick bad guy butt, that's what!" Beast Boy declared.
"Knock it off, BB," Cyborg said, quick to shut his friend up. Why try to make enemies now when everything was tentative? Turning back to this…guy, "Honestly, after being messed around with and, you know, trying to be killed, we decided to stop playing around, especially after you guys kidnapped our friend. No offense."
The lizard guy grunted, shrugging his shoulders. No offense taken? He certainly hoped so. This monstrous-looking guy then leaned on the nearest surface he could find and crossed his arms.
That was the way it was going to be? Fine. So long as nobody tried killing anybody, he'd be good with that.
"Might try looking up anything on their trafficking network," the lizard guy grunted.
Trafficking? Was that…? Now there was a feeling, the kind that nagged at him that this wasn't the first time that something like trafficking had come up. Oh wait, he had a file for that too, dated…has it really been that long? It almost felt like another lifetime ago. Looking through the dark web, finding one of those websites you really shouldn't go looking for, finding Beast Boy's profile on it…
No. It couldn't be, right? These weren't the same guys? Were they?
Cyborg refined his search programs, and then went really deep into the mainframe. He was expecting for it to be well protected and hidden—oh hey, what do you know, recently accessed twenty minutes ago. Wow, this wasn't that hidden at all, but…
This was something they used on the regular, wasn't it?
He had a bad feeling now, but he was already this deep. Without further ado, Cyborg once more delved into the dark world of human trafficking, this time from the trafficker's side.
They had run and chased after their quarry, but no matter how fast they ran, there was no catching up. It was frustrating because all it had taken was one second to slip completely out of sight, and then Immortus was gone.
Their pursuit has slowed down since Wonder Girl got the idea of checking every door they came across. Ripping them open, there would be a quick check to see what was inside, which meant a skirmish here and there as there were some of the soldiers still guarding this base. It wasn't a bad idea because what better way to slip away than to hide and let your pursuers run right past you?
This would mean backtracking later. Plenty of rooms they had skipped over. The thought of having to do that was aggravating, so catching up became an even more stressful affair.
"It's just an old man, right? Needs help pulling down his adult diaper to take a shit?" By those words alone, he knew Wonder Girl had reached the end of her patience. It was familiar territory and he knew how to respond to it.
"He had two helpers, but they were evacuating him," he answered, stopping at the latest intersection and doing a quick look down each intersection hallway. No sign of anything except that honeycomb theme they had going for them.
"I'm not sensing anyone using tunnels or anything like that," Terra reported.
Meaning that Immortus hadn't escaped on foot yet. He'd used a vehicle which Terra would also detect. So long as the geokinetic used the planet itself to monitor this secret base, they would be aware of anyone coming or going.
Red Robin pressed forward, leading the two girls behind him even deeper. They were going to have to find something, even if it were where the signal emitter was being constructed. Just…something, something to show that they were accomplishing anything. These people could not be allowed to get away; they probably had other bases throughout the country, no, the world where they could rebuild or resume.
There was a singular intersecting hallway he was about to pass, but the presence of two armored soldiers guarding the only door at the end of it caught his attention. That was a first, which meant there was something on the other side of those doors. Wonder Girl was quick to get between him and the two armed men who began to unleash rapid-fire gunfire.
Bullets were either stopped or ricocheted off of the blonde's armor, and while the firepower didn't let up, Wonder Girl threw out her lasso. The golden rope fell over the soldier on the left, the loop tightening around him, and then he was flung into the soldier on the right, stopping the barrage of bullets immediately. Wonder Girl whipped the rope back and slammed the captured soldier into the wall opposite his fallen buddy. Red Robin raced in to make sure the soldier on the right was knocked out, ending this skirmish as soon as it had begun.
"That's a change of pace," Wonder Girl remarked as she retrieved her lasso, taking a second to kick the groaning soldier at her feet in the head, knocking him out for good.
"You think something's in there?" Terra asked.
"They wouldn't be standing at post otherwise," Red Robin answered. Glancing to the armored blonde, "If you would?"
Wonder Girl did, tearing the shut doors open and allowing them access within. On the other side, there was a very noticeable change both in atmosphere and in decoration. Whereas the hallway was better lit and brighter thanks to all the yellow, this was more of a darkened chamber, soft blues lit up by an unknown light source. There was no one around though, making it seem empty.
None of them talked. There just…there wasn't anything right about this. Why had two guards protecting this room if there was nothing in it? Red Robin kept his eyes peeled, looking into every shadow he could find, but nothing. He stayed close to Wonder Girl and Terra; if there was a threat to be found here, it would be best to have everyone close if running needed to be their next action.
"So the pests find my sanctum. Your very presence desecrates this private chamber and only one punishment will suffice."
The teen vigilante tensed up. That voice, he recognized it. It was the same from before, the one that had come from Terra when she had been mind controlled and nearby brought the Tower down around their heads. They had just run headfirst into the lair of a psychic.
He didn't hear anything inside of his head, so he physically heard that voice. But where was the source? He couldn't find anything within his sight, but then slowly he craned his head back to look up.
There was the light source: innumerable holograms containing countless images whether they were pictures or texts, security feeds or internet websites, broadcasts and what might be homemade videos made on smartphones. An egg-like chair hovered in the midst of these energy-based projections, and sitting within it was a person.
Clad in gray with golden blonde hair that one could say flowed like honey, and two protrusions extending from the head, a pair of eyes lit up with unnatural light gazed down on the three Titans, judging them. The body was relaxed, no signs of tension, and the face was devoid of any and all emotion.
None of them spoke; there was something about this person that kept their typical adolescent bravado in check. It felt like there was power radiating from this person, this…woman, if that's what you could call her. It was hard to see if her body had curves in the right places for that distinction, enough distance placed between the two parties.
"Curious. I am aware of every mind here in my H.I.V.E.," the psychic continued. "I see you, but I cannot claim you." Terra began to shiver as if all of the woman's attention was on the geokinetic. "You, I recognize you. You are one of mine, but your mind has been closed off to me."
"So you're the bitch," Wonder Girl interrupted, her bravado surging to new life. "Oh, this is going to be fun. You can't hide behind anyone else anymore."
Those unnaturally glowing eyes zeroed in on the armored blonde. "And who are you to speak to a Queen?"
Wonder Girl smirked. "A Titan."
There was an exhalation of air, one that hinted at a laugh coming from the psychic. "You have bravery, confidence, and a lack of awareness. Yet, mere words will not help you here. I am Queen Bee, and you intruders are within my H.I.V.E. Since none of my drones or workers were capable of eliminating you, then I shall deal the fatal blow."
Wonder Girl said what all of them were thinking right now. "Will you give it a rest with the bee—"
As she was speaking, the air in front of Queen Bee began to shimmer and waft, taking on a golden hue. It was still transparent, you could see the sitting, self-styled monarch through it, and just as the armored blonde beside him was saying the word "bee," it lashed out.
It was so sudden, so very quick, and reflexes were the only thing that kept him out of the way. However, in his rush to move, he ran into Terra and knocked both of them over. Turned out to be a godsend as the blunder got them both out of the way.
The gold light smashed into the floor, you could feel the metal surface shuddering beneath them, yet there was no sign of any damage done. These were details to be filed away for now because it wasn't over yet. From above, these strange golden hues that were amorous in shape would propel itself like a projectile and there was more than one. It practically made the whole area of air in front of Queen Bee nothing but gold.
As he scrambled to his feet while pushing Terra to do the same, Red Robin did his best to try and dodge it all. That was easier said than done because some of that…whatever it was came way too close for comfort. One that got particularly close had not only his hair standing on edge, but he could feel a hum within it.
Wonder Girl tried to force her way through, and due to that she became the first to be hit. While in midflight, she voluntarily went head on with this gold hue whatever it was, and to the masked teen's surprise, she was knocked back. Not just by a few feet, but quite some distance away from where she had been struck.
Her armor had to be protecting her in any way it could, but the blonde-haired Titan was shaking her head as if to clear away the metaphorical cobwebs.
He took in that detail, put it together with what else he knew. It wasn't much, but the working theory was…this could be some kind of physical version of…psychic power? He never said it was a good theory, but he knew for sure that Queen Bee was psychic. She could infiltrate their minds even from a great distance, move you around like a puppet and even access your own powers if you had them.
In the end, there was only one conclusion he could come to. "Don't let them hit you!"
"No shit!" Wonder Girl spat as she held up her lasso. She flung the glowing loop at the powerful psychic only for another golden hue to capture it in midair. The magical rope grew taut, and then Wonder Girl was pulled and swung through the air until her body collided with a far off wall.
Pulling out two birdarangs, the last of his explosive ones, Red Robin flung them both out, hoping Queen Bee was distracted by the armored Titan. She wasn't, and both birdarangs were caught in that golden light. They hung in the air until they were crushed like empty soda cans and dropped down to the floor below.
Wonder Girl had recovered, and she was inbound for a hit coming from behind Queen Bee. The self-named queen still hadn't moved a muscle, and would not do so even as the air behind her egg-shaped seat lit up and more of that theoretical psychic energy was fired at the armored blonde.
As this was happened, Red Robin rushed his way to Terra's side. Despite all the commotion so far with Queen Bee holding them off, he had noticed there weren't any rocks flying around. Had the headbands failed without his notice? Both of those things needed to be addressed.
"You think you can give us some cover?" he asked of the shorter girl.
Terra glanced to him, her eyes glowing yellow but you could still make out the hint of blue that was her eyes. "I've been trying. I think this room is reinforced. "I've been trying to come in from below, from the sides, I don't want to bring the whole base down on everyone's heads."
Because even a place like this could be annihilated if the mountain it was hidden in collapsed onto it. Who knew what kind of geokinetic gymnastics Terra had to do to keep that from happening? Moving earth and rock from below seemed like a good idea, but who knew if that would further destabilize pretty much everything?
"Pick one of two places and keep at it from there," he advised. While he didn't know everything about geology, a quote he heard from somewhere seemed appropriate. "Everything with the earth is time and pressure. Give it enough time and pressure, even this room can be penetrated."
Terra frowned, seeming to ponder on his words, when she asked, "Did you get that from a movie?"
Red Robin didn't answer.
"I swear, that came from a movie."
"Just try to breach this room however you can. Wonder Girl and I will try to hold her off."
Taking off in a sprint, the masked teen now wracked his brain, trying to figure out how he was going to do his part. Queen Bee was busy holding off Wonder Girl, and doing so very well. Anytime the armored blonde tried to get close, she'd either be buffeted by hit after hit of that golden hued light, or she would be grasped by what was clearly telekinesis and thrown about.
He was running low on his birdarangs, all the explosive ones used up. His hand went to his belt, searching for anything he could use. The first thing of promise was the ol' grapple hook and line. With its firing mechanism, it could pack a punch. It would also keep him from using the boosts in his boots; no sense using everything just yet. Next, he sought out some smoke pellets and without a second thought he threw them up into the air.
The pellets detonated before the gold hue could touch them, and everything around Queen Bee was swallowed by the resulting smoke. Aiming his grapple in her general direction, his fingers squeezed and he fired the hook. Streaming behind it was the cable, loose until he chose to use the retraction mechanism.
However, just as it was about to enter the smoke, the grappling hook stopped as the golden hue wrapped around it. It was pulled, but Red Robin released the firing mechanism before he could be pulled in when the cable grew taut. The smoke was dissipating and there Queen Bee sat, eyeing the grappling hook then telekinetically tossing it away.
From above, Wonder Girl descended, using the teen vigilante's actions as a distraction to get herself into position. It was for nothing though as she herself was gripped telekinetically and then violently thrown away.
"I thought you would be worthy opponents," the powerful psychic remarked. "You take your name from the deities of Ancient Greece, do you not? Yet, you possess none of their might. Is this truly the best you can throw at me?"
Maybe it was getting to be that time to activate the rockets in his boots. Still, if she gripped him with her mind, then he would be just like Wonder Girl. There had to be a way around her powers. She didn't seem like the type to be easily confused like Psimon.
"You do possess ingenuity, though your tactics could use work," Queen Bee continued. "You found a way to prevent me from entering your minds. However, I do believe I know how to remedy that."
That didn't sound good, but what could she possibly do—there was light around his head. Well, more towards the top of his head and then he felt the headband he had worn slip off. Fear gripping him, he looked up then tried to grab the head-worn device as it continued to rise higher into the air, held in that golden glow.
It practically flew up until it reached Queen Bee who regarded it critically. "Ah, now I feel you." Then something took hold of him, starting in his head and then rushing throughout his body. His body would not respond. Did not do anything except tremble. His will tried to resist but it was as if hitting a literal mental wall. "You manufactured a way to block me. Very clever. A shame you did not conceive of a means to prevent it from being removed, though, perhaps it is best that it can be. I would have ripped it from your skull if I had to."
Wonder Girl was going in for another strike, but once again she was met with a barrage of psychic energy that took up so much space yet moved so quickly. Her flight path had her veering away, her body tilting to her left as she streaked through the air. Behind her, the psychic blasts tore into the space she had only just left though always leaving no sign that it had been there in the first place.
It started as a creak, then a groan, and Queen Bee seemed distracted by it, enough that Red Robin felt a lessening of whatever was telepathically holding him. Bursting through the floor, a large spike of rock surged upwards and headed towards the queen. The aim was off and the only thing that was truly disturbed by it were the holograms that had never once disappeared.
"Damn it!" Terra swore.
The golden lit eyes zeroed in on the geokinetic, and then Terra's headband glowed and jolted off of her head. The band crumpled in on itself, a demonstration of what Queen Bee's will was capable of doing. Once more, there was a lessening of the hold on his mind, Terra freezing up given away why that was.
Could it be that attention was required to maintain a hold on one's mind? As powerful as she was, Queen Bee would still have the flaws that every other human had. Her attention needed to be divided further.
It seemed the armored blonde had the same thought, because this time she was able to get close, her feet landing against the armrests within the egg-shaped chair. Queen Bee's head tilted back and her impassive face was inches away from meeting Wonder Girl's fist right before her telekinetic might caught it.
The armored blond growled in frustration. "You can't keep this up forever."
Queen Bee sniffed. "I do not have to."
The golden glow encased Wonder Girl, though its hue was darker than the gleam that the mystical armor bore. Once more, there was a lessening of the mental grip on him, and with her attention on the armored blonde, Red Robin found he could move one of his arms. It was tough, slow, but he forced his limb under his control and reached to his belt to slip out his communicator.
They needed more distractions. Anything to help weaken Queen Bee's grip. Who to call? Well, he had an idea, actually.
It was easier to move only his thumb, and that was to open the communicator. Next, pressing on the buttons within while the small screen displayed menu after menu until he found what he was looking for.
"You have greater protection. This helmet, I presume," the psychic said. "I can't grip this one. My power slides off of it like water. Still, I don't need to remove it to force my will on you."
Her grip on him was loose enough that he could speak into the communicator, though bringing it up to his face was a challenge in and of itself. Through clenched teeth, "I need you…to get here…now. Use your…communi…cator…if you have to. Just…get here…quick."
The large rock spike began to quiver, at least until this hive of villainy's leader asserted her will onto Terra. "You will not defy me. Remain still until I am finished with this one." Not even a noise of protest from Terra. She was a tough girl or the division of attention really was something here.
"Hey, I'm right here," Wonder Girl growled, struggling in the psychic grip and surprisingly having some movement in her arms.
Queen Bee's lips slightly smacked, words about to slip out, except someone else spoke before her.
"You said quick, and here I am!" Kid Flash declared. "Sorry it took so long, but I checked everywhere until I found—hey, is that some kind of psychic power in the air? It looks like it. Nice color. Anyway, Red, you need help with this, because I—"
And then Kid Flash was in Queen Bee's psychic grasp. His headband was coming off as well and crushed just like Terra's before. "You will wait your turn," the queen decreed. "First I shall…I shall…"
While the speedster was like the rest of them, he had a few options that Queen Bee may not have been prepared for. For one, Kid Flash's body was vibrating, almost so rapidly that he was fuzzy to look at. More and more of the psychic hold on the mask-wearing vigilante weakened as more attention was placed on keeping the fastest teen around in one spot.
For a brief moment, Kid Flash pressed forward, his head emerging from the golden glow of psychic power. "You are not the first person to try to hold me in a telekinetic hold, though you have an actual aura! Neat! But it won't stop me!"
The rock spike was trembling now as Terra began to take advantage of the diverted attention. Wonder Girl's struggling body was finding that it was capable of more gross motor movement. Red Robin quietly snaked a hand down to his belt.
"Then I will have to deal with you first," Queen Bee snarled, her eyes blazing with power. "Your mind will…"
For the first time, the smooth, almost marble-like face began to wrinkle, brow furrowing, the corners of her eyes starting to squint, and lips pulled back to expose clenched teeth. She was exerting herself, trying hard, and it was all mental.
Oh right, Kid Flash had mentioned it before. The speedster was tapping into the Speed Force not to speed up his movements, but his own thinking. Normally, a thought could occur in a fraction of a second and be replaced just as quickly. Now speed up that normal process so that it was occurring within maybe fractions of a microsecond. Queen Bee was struggling to contain that onslaught of change, and to do so demanded all of her attention.
The shaking rock spike stilled through, Wonder Girl's struggles began to become less gross and more fine, but that came at the price of Red Robin gaining more movement. He took advantage to withdraw a birdarang, grip it tightly between his fingers, and then with as much effort as he could, he threw it.
The throwing projectile did not head for Queen Bee, not initially. Because it had been one of his preferred weapons for so long, Red Robin had gotten real good at throwing them. From the way he threw out an arm, how he flicked his wrist, and down to the second his fingers released their hold, all of it came together to send the birdarang spinning through the air, curving around as it began rising up and up and up.
Reaching the apex of its curving trajectory, the birdarang began a return journey, one that had had its destination as none other than the teen vigilante from Gotham. Given enough time, it would have returned to him except that one of Queen Bee's head protrusions was in its way. With all of her effort focusing on keeping Kid Flash contained, and keeping Wonder Girl and Terra from using their powers, to holding Red Robin himself in check as more of an afterthought, she was thoroughly distracted enough that she not aware of the birdarang until its sharp, curved side struck the protrusion, metal biting into what seemed to be metal.
For a second, that was all that happened. Then the electrical discharge that this particular birdarang possessed was triggered.
Hey, he was out of the explosive kind, not the ones with the electrical discharge.
Bolts of electricity flared, dancing about in the air, and then the high pitched scream tore out of Queen Bee's throat as the discharge entered the protrusion. The pitch of the scream grew higher as volume became louder. The thin body clad in gray was spasming, fingers half clenching and half opening so rapidly that it could be mistaken as trembling.
Wonder Girl broke free of the psychic hold on her, and pushed off of the hovering, egg-shaped chair. Bolts of electricity were flowing over the chair itself, and whatever was being used to keep it afloat began to short circuit. Sparks rained out from it, and the push from the armored blond had it falling down to the floor below, taking Queen Bee with it.
It landed with a boom, Queen Bee bouncing out of it jarringly to collapse onto the floor in front of it. Not finished, the chair rolled forward and pinned the psychic down beneath it, one of its curved edges pinching down on one of the psychic's head protrusions.
The discharge finally gave out, and all was still. And dark. There was no psychic energy to light up anything, and the holograms were all gone. Only the glow of Wonder Girl's lasso provided any real light, and the four assembled Titans slowly approached the fallen leader.
Queen Bee's body continued to twitch and spasm, an occasional jolt in a limb here and there. Her eyes were wide, but the glow within them was gone, leaving behind pupils that were, oddly enough, a dim yellow. They were nearly rolled up in her head, though, so it was a bit hard to tell with complete accuracy what color they were.
"Damn," Wonder Girl commented.
That broke him out of the post-adrenaline rush he was feeling. Right, get back into the game. "We'll have to keep her sedated just in case. She's too dangerous awake until some kind of power dampener is put on her."
"She's not dead, is she?" Terra asked softly, her tone similar to that of disbelief with some hope that a long nightmare was over with.
Unsure, a quick check of whatever vital could be found were done. "For now, yeah," Red Robin said. "And if she's the leader behind all this…"
Kid Flash was standing between himself and Terra, arms slung on both of their shoulders. "Then we just hit them in a place it'll take forever to come back from! Woohoo, we won!"
They won. They had won. It…it was kind of a heady feeling there.
But it wasn't over yet. There was still one more thing to do.
Once they found Raven, then it would be over.
