HAPPY 2022 EVERYONE!
Zdala here! I hope everyone had a great holiday and even greater New Years. With that being said, 2022 is the year of the Tiger and what better way to celebrate then to read another exciting adventure of Garfield Logan & his adorable tiger friend Lunar!
I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and as always I'll see you at the end.
Oooh! And also guys don't forget to leave a review or if your bored feel free to check out some of my other stories in my profile! (I'm serious if you could please check out my other stories as they could use some more love and reviews)
But anyway enough of my words, lets get on with the next chapter!
Chapter 5 Lunar Part 2
"Paragon Moon Fang?" Garfield and Ryan stood in place, both captivated by the words that had just been spoken to them. Having escaped Sparrow once more, the duo had just unlocked the next part of their mystery. Having found Lunar brought them before this now virtual Batman, who said Garfield & Lunar were the only ones able to save the galaxy.
"As I said, I need both of you too listen carefully!" He retorted in his usual dark brooding tone.
"MR Batman!" While Garfield & Ryan were stunned by the revelations being told to them, Lunar was the complete opposite. Seeing 'MR Batman' as he called him put Lunar into a state of pure excitement, which caused him to try and tackle the virtual copy before him.
"Lunar stop that!" Batman groaned inwardly as the little cub phased through the hologram with ease only to reattempt it several more times.
"But I'm so happy to see you!" He chirped with a happy wag of his tail. "I thought for sure you were gonna leave Apokolips with me until that nasty Grandma got in your way!"
"Wait a minute Lunar, you didn't tell me you know Batman."
"Sorry it sorta slipped my mind!" He sweatdropped.
"Bruce what's this all about?" Ryan questioned. "How are you even communicating with us?"
"This is a virtual AI I implemented in Lunar's memory core, it has enough energy to explain everything to you going on with this war!"
"Oh boy story time, this is gonna be exciting!" Lunar cooed. "Do we have any snacks for this?"
"Let us start at the beginning!" With a wave of his hand the virtual Batman cast his light upon the entire reaches of the Batcave. Garfield, Ryan & Lunar huddled together unsure of what was to come but soon got their answer as the light changed the entire structure of the cave. The home base of the Batfamily seemingly vanished through the light that was being cast, giving way to a much different environment.
Garfield, Ryan and Lunar were now standing on a single raft floating in the middle of the ocean while Batman's hologram shrunk in size to now be by there side.
"Garfield, Ryan, welcome to Quadratum 5!" Batman announced.
Quadratum 5 was a world that was perpetually sunny and clear, with oceans that resembled the blue waters of the planet Earth. The layout of this strange world consisted of infinite number of mountain towns suspended along the endless sea of the world. All the buildings in the floating towns were constructed of pure diamond and gold which glistened in the atmosphere as the sun hit them. Nearly every building in Quadratum 5 was connected via walkable bridges or zip lines that went from the top of every tall building.
"Dude what is this place?" Garfield questioned.
"It's breathtaking!" Ryan added
"This was my home!" Lunar whispered. The Piparoid had stars in his eyes as he watched the waters and buildings before him as if seeing it for the very first time.
"Quadratum 5 was one of the original planets in the Tau solar system, it was believed that this planet existed before the creation of the multiverse." Batman started. " This planet has ties to Krypton, the Daxamite planet and finally earth! When I escaped imprisonment at the hands of Darkseid and his warriors I managed to hack into their systems to learn about their plans. What I learned was that the Piparoid's and Paragon technology were created by this civilization."
"What exactly is a Piparoid?"
"I can answer that!" Lunar replied with a smile. "P.I.P.A stands for Paragon, Intelligent, Power, Animal, while R.O.I.D stands for Robotic, Offensive, Investigative, Defender!"
"Uh what?" Ryan inquired obviously confused by the explanation.
"The acronym doesn't matter, just know were created as friends to the Paragons!"
"And what is a Paragon?"
"I'll show you come on!" Lunar chirped in delight as he suddenly took a step off the raft. Garfield and Ryan panicked as they expected the cub to go down in the water, but much to their surprise he ran right across it. As if he were Jesus himself, Lunar walked across the water with minimal effort until he reached the bridge leading into town.
"It's best to not let him wander off." Batman suggested. "We still have much to talk about!"
Following Batman's advice Garfield & Ryan followed Lunar's tracks, making a beeline straight for the heart of the town. With Quadratum 5 now opened up for them to explore, it was time they got down to the heart of the matter. Wherever Lunar was heading too it would explain the origin of the Paragon, and for Garfield's sake maybe give him a way to save his friends.
-With Sparrow-
-Abandoned Warehouse-
The sands of time ran rapidly throughout it's sturdy glass, as each grain hit it threatened to make Sparrow a liar and the first failure of Darkseid's elite warriors. After being struck by the missile, the Batmobile and Black Siren's fist, Sparrow awoken from his knocked out state still hurting from the damage. Unable to resume his hunt for his prey the Paragon took refuge in an abandon warehouse in the Suicide Slums of Metropolis. The warehouse was the perfect cover for him to rest, devoid of any human life, darkened and full of construction tolls incase he needed to build something.
He dare not go back to the bar just yet, from unseen eyes he had too rest from the pain that was inflicted to him. He had to also formulate another plan to capture both Garfield and Lunar before he ate away at the rest of the time he had left.
So much to do so little time.
As his mind reviewed the events that just happened, he tried to formulate a plan of where his prey might be. He knew that Ryan was probably driving the Batmobile, but where would she go for protection? Surely she wouldn't go to High fathers Tower for protection, and Star Labs was out of the question. This meant there was only one place she would go to, the Batcave.
While Bruce mentioned to them that Wayne Manor & the Batcave had been destroyed by Parademons, he wondered if that was the truth? It wouldn't be the first time that Bruce kept the truth from them and what better person to confide in then Ryan. He couldn't understand what Bruce & Kate saw in her but they obviously trusted her with alot of the Bat secrets, secrets that even he the first sidekick never knew about.
Shuffling all his thoughts aside, Sparrow refocused his idea that he should check out the Batcave. Standing up from his seating position, he flexed his muscles and stretched his joints to make sure that he was once again in good fighting strength. He couldn't afford to screw this up again, especially when the clock was ticking away so fast.
"Sooo, this is where you've been hiding!" A voice addressed Sparrow from across the warehouse. Looking toward the entrance, Sparrow's eyes came into contact with Cyborg AKA Paragon Taurus.
"Taurus!" He sneered. His face crinkled in misery as he saw his cocky teammate approach him with that scheming smile upon his face. "What the fuck do you want?"
"Siren told us what happened." He stated flatly.
"Of course she did!" Sparrow said with a roll of his eyes. If there was one person, he could count to make his life worse it was Siren. He knew that she could be vindictive but telling his rival Taurus was taking it a little overboard. "Forget what happened, I'm going to fix my mistakes now!"
"Yeah I don't think so."
"What do you mean?"
"You know I don't think It's quite fair that you got seventy-two hours when you've already failed twice!" He said. "I think we should have had the chance to prove ourselves!
"If you got a problem with the time take it up with Dessad!" Sparrow spoke before trying to pass Taurus and head for the exit.
Sparrow's quick escape as was halted as Taurus stood his ground firmly and pushed him back. The once friends stared in each others eyes as the flames of hate for one another danced within their pupils. "I'd rather take it up with you!"
The tense moment between the two Paragons was interrupted by Sparrow who all of a sudden backed away while laughing heartedly. First Siren, now Taurus, was there anybody that was not trying to upstage him at every other turn?
"What's so funny?" Taurus questioned in annoyance. "I'm serious here!"
"That's the funny part!" He responded. "The fact that you're serious!"
"What?"
"Get a grip Taurus. You don't got what it takes to lead the mission!" He quipped. " There's a reason that you were always second in command to me. Even when we were Titans, you were my co leader, co as in your weak, spineless and inferior too me. Why do you think the Master crowned me as leader and not you, it's because he needs someone he can trust not a outdated, powerless android!"
"Weak, outdated, powerless?" Taurus echoed these words in his head multiple times as Sparrow casually insulted him and resumed his journey toward the exit of the warehouse.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a mission to complete!"
"Oh no, you don't!" Taurus suddenly called out and ran toward the exit before Sparrow could reach it. This time Taurus closed the shutter doors completely trapping the two inside.
"What are you doing?"
"I'll show you how weak I am!" Taurus shouted before rolling up the sleeve on his motorcycle uniform to reveal his bracelet with a Emerald colored gemstone in the middle of it.
"You can't be serious!" Sparrow scoffed at him showing off his Paragon Bracelet.
"The rules say I can't kill you but I didn't say I couldn't be beat you to a pulp, Hail Darkseid!" Taurus yelled out proudly as he balled his fist and crossed it in front of his chest with the gemstone facing outward. Much like it did for Sparrow the gemstone blared with it's energy and soon covered his entire body. Within a mere nanosecond Taurus was changed from his normal state and into his Paragon armor.
Taurus was now equipped from head to toe in robust but sleek armor. Taurus armor was shamrock green with golden designs that went up the sides of it. The breastplate was extra bulky and resembled a military cannon. The armor also came with reinforced steel knee guards, cubed shoulder guards, and boots to protect the wearer. His right hand was shielded by a mechanized shooting gauntlet while his right contained his metallic bracelet. The Helmet of the armor was modeled after a Minotaur and like Sparrows armor it contained the oversized compartment belt.
"I'll show you who's weak!" Now fully decked out in his own Paragon armor, Taurus went for one on the golden cogs on his belt. After inserting one into his bracelet, energy flashed into Taurus hand before it took the shape of a green submachine gun that resembled his minotaur armor.
With weapon in hand Taurus aimed it at Sparrow before letting off several rounds. The Paragon had little time to react as the energy bullets came close toward him. As he prepared himself to either dodge or take the brunt of the attack, he swiftly noticed that the bullets were off in there trajectory. Off so they wouldn't hit him, but still close enough that he felt the intense heat press against his skin. In no time all the bullets hit the wall behind him, leaving the entrance riddle with holes.
"Consider that a practice shot!" Taurus bellowed as he started to step closer toward his target. "Now are you gonna fight me or do I have to turn you into swiss cheese?"
"You're gonna regret this, Hail Darkseid!" With his pride on the line, Sparrow answered the challenged and called out to his bracelet to change. In mere seconds his gemstone responded and transformed him into his full form.
Taurus wasted no time in trying to take charge of the battle, with his sub machine gun he began to unleash several rounds of energy bullet. Sparrow was quicker however and dodged the bullets leaving his usual trail of golden feathers in his place. At one point, Sparrow tried to gain the upper hand by teleporting directly behind him but Taurus was quicker and fired on him before he could get the chance to strike.
"Cheap shot!" Sparrow sneered as be tried to brush off being blasted in the chest. "Why don't you try putting the gun down and fighting me like a real man!"
"Don't get upset because I use guns and your still using your fists!"
"I'll show you!"
With that the two went at it once more, each one trying to prove that they were the stronger Paragon that was meant to lead the mission.
-Elsewhere-
-New Metropolis-
Oh how Catwoman missed the olden days.
Night after night she missed the moments of swinging off rooftops in Gotham, the cool night breeze running past her cheeks while the Batman stay on her back. Usually in the pursuit of some diamond or cat like treasure, Catwoman longed for the days where she could go back to the shadows in order to resume her life as the worlds greatest thief. While she spent most of her life tottering between villain & hero and back again, these days her thoughts were always pinned toward survival.
With Darkseid having eliminated most of the heroes and capturing her beloved Bruce, Selena thought it would be best if she make herself a permanent fixture for the forces of good. While it did bother her to operate in the daylight like most of the heroes, she did enjoy having someone to watch her back at every turn. Although she urged for the freedom of being a thief again, Selena bided her time hoping that the war would end soon. Once peace was restored on earth, perhaps she could go back to some of her usual selfish ways hopefully before she became to worn out to do this anymore.
For now she focused on the mission at hand given to her by Highfather, Investigating Janus Cosmetics. When Highfather mentioned to her that he had a secret assignment for her Catwoman didn't think much of it, that was until she was secretly briefed on why she had to investigate him in the first place. Being the master thief that she was, Highfather knew that only she could go through the darkness and figure out what was being hidden.
After using the rooftops to her advantage, Catwoman easily bypassed the heavily armed security before sneaking into one of the buildings vents. From there using the technology inside her googles, she was easily able to map out a path that bypassed all directions and lead to the office of the buildings CEO, Roman Sionis.
Like most CEO's, Roman's personal office was spacious and consisted only of a single desk with a laptop, file cabinets and a large window that overlooked New Metropolis. The only oddity that didn't seem like it belonged was a makeup mannequin head that was stationed next to the computer.
Upon exiting the vent that was inside the office, Selena focused her sights on the file cabinets that was before her. With a single claw from her gloves, she stuck it into the cabinets lock and began to pry it open.
"Selena!" A female voice rang into Catwoman's ear piece causing her to become easily startled.
"Damnit Rita I'm busy!" She angrily whispered in the lowest tone possible in order to not alert the guards. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to interrupt me when I'm working?"
"I didn't know you were busy." She confessed. "You weren't at the meeting, so I just assumed you were off getting into some trouble."
"You know that I don't do that anymore!"
"So you haven't stolen any jewelry these past years?"
Selena chuckled a bit before refusing to answer the question, instead she went back to task at hand of opening the cabinets.
"Thoughts so." Rita sighed. Selena swore she could almost hear the Doom Patrol member roll her eyes from beyond the earpiece.
"Not to be rude but what the hell do you want?" She asked. "Did you just come to say hi or do you like interrupting me when I'm trying to work?"
"I think we may have found a way to locate Garfield!" Rita said. "It seeming's that Ryan is missing, alongside the Batmobile. It's not far fetched to say that she got a lead on him before we did, problem is though I don't know how to locate it."
"And you were hoping that I know a way to find it?"
"Well do you?"
"Give me a second!" She hushed. After finally being able to open the file cabinet, the lady thief combed through folder after folder scanning for what she so desperately needed.
"What exactly are you looking for?" Rita questioned.
"Something scandalous!" She admitted.
"Wanna fill me in?"
Selena couldn't help but roll her eyes at the womans constant questioning of her. "If you must know, Highfathers having me do some retcon."
"What kind of retcon involves breaking into Janus Cosmetics?"
"The kind that involves weapons of mass destruction." She said. "And before you ask, it means that some of the villain weapons are missing."
"How's that possible?" Rita asked in a disturbed tone. "I thought most of the Society villains had died when the war ended?"
"They did the problem was not all of the weapons were recovered from the bodies, some have still yet to be recovered and were starting to worry because they haven't turned up yet."
"What's missing?"
"A cutting of Pammy's vines, Mirror Masters gun, Jervis's Hat, Atrocitus's ring, a star labs container of speed force energy and lastly Bane's venom tank!" Selena stated. "While we don't have any proof Highfather thinks that MR Sionis may have played a role."
Rita was silent after hearing this revelation, as soo many thoughts went through her mind. Where on earth could these weapons have possibly gone. While all those villains were deceased, their weapons being missing not only posed a problem for the league but also posed a problem for the earth in it's struggle against Darkseid. New Metropolis was still in recovery from the war, the last thing they needed was anyone getting there hands on those weapons and discovering the destructive powers they possessed.
"Finally I found something to shut you up." Selena laughed quietly as she heard the silence coming from the other end of the communicator. After seemingly going through all of the files in the cabinet, Selena stood at attention, frustrated that she had not found anything.
"No luck I take it?"
"I don't know." She confessed. "This place seems a little too ordinary!"
Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Catwoman's instincts soon drew her toward the mannequin head on the desk next to the computer. As she went to touch the object to inspect it, the head slowly shifted a few inches over revealing a single button. Wasting no time in pressing the button, Selena prepared herself as the file cabinets behind her suddenly shifted toward the left revealing a secret staircase that lead down into unknown parts.
"Looks like I hit the jackpot!" She purred in success.
Catwoman's victory was short lived however as the doors to the office suddenly began to react, indicating that someone was on the other side. Soon a single security guard opened the door and began to flash a single bright light through the office. The first thing that the guard noticed was the secret door exposed in the middle of the floor, this prompted him to call out to security in the building who promptly sounded the alarm.
"Well that was close!" From the safety of a ledge outside, Catwoman got out of the office in time before the guards could catch her. In her pursuit to escape however, she failed to figure how to close the door ultimately leaving it for the guard to be noticed. "You still there Rita?"
"I read ya loud & clear Selena!"
"Look after I give Highfather my report I'll help you look for Garfield & Ryan."
"Find anything interesting?"
"Beside the stairs in the floor, all the files in his cabinet seem to be referencing the same thing." She murmured. "Looks like Roman's been a busy boy!"
"What do you mean?"
"The good CEO is developing a new chemical substance, something called Snakebite!"
-With Garfield & Ryan-
In the ever most pursuit of the energetic tiger cub, Garfield, & Ryan took it upon themselves to explore the innermost regions of Quadratum 5. As they walked, virtual Batman trailed them from behind filling them in on certain aspects of this strange world.
For starters one of the most important parts, the people of this world were called Quadronites. While their name was unique, they resembled human in nature. The only distinguishing feature between them and normal human beings were the fact that they had tiny diamond shaped birthmarks imbedded in their foreheads. The diamonds looked similar to the gemstone that Lunar had within his head and according to Batman were responsible for giving the people of this world longevity and strength that rivaled kryptonians.
Beyond the citizen aspect they also learned that this was a world known for having virtually no crime, no pollution, no hate, and more worries. In a nutshell this world seemed to be polar opposite to that of the Earth. If Batman were to speak in subjects that didn't involve fighting crime, he himself could probably tell you that this was the world that the Justice League was trying to create. A world of absolute peace.
"I've never seen a place so perfect!" Ryan was the first to break the long series of silence that the duo had been having as they listened to Batman. Having been from the streets and living in prison for a good chunk of her life, Ryan couldn't image a place being so tranquil. No political separation, no racism, no religious divide, no hate for ones sexual orientation. Everything just felt so right in her heart, as if she had died and gone to heaven prematurely.
Garfield himself wasn't listening to Ryan as he himself were in a small daze. He kept in visioning himself hand in hand with his beloved Raven basking in the sunshine. The two of them together in this place, kissing, making love and just enjoying the life that was really meant for them. While he did enjoy his previous hero life, he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be a citizen here. No heroes, no villains, just a life full of piece like so many wanted.
"Garfield, Ryan look up ahead!" Batman gestured to the large clearing up ahead.
The clearing was the center of town that was surrounded by numerous homes as well as a large purple and black spiral tower. The two looked onward curiously as they could see Lunar sitting perfectly still before the tower. The Tiger cub sat perfectly still, his tail swinging wildly with excitement as he watched the virtual copies of the citizens pass him.
"Hey Lunar!" Gar & Ryan wasted no time and rushed to be at Lunar's side.
"Hiya guys!" He exclaimed. "What took ya so long?"
"Why'd you run off like that?"
"I wanted to show you my home, or at least this was my home!" Lunar said, gesturing to the tower before him. "This is the Relgam tower, the birthplace of all Piparoids!"
"So what is a Paragon anyway?"
"I can answer that!" Batman spoke. With another wave of his hand, the holo detective brought forth an image of a large hulking alien with purple skin in full titanium gold armor. The alien had facial features that resembled that of humans which also included a Hitler like mustache and haircut with sideburns.
"It's Krona!" Ryan deduced.
Garfield had never seen or heard of such a person. He found himself scratching his head in confusion while also wondering how Ryan knew who he was. "Who?"
"He's Krona, a prisoner of the Oan Sciencells and enemy to the green lantern corps, I read about him when I was working at the watchtower!"
"Your correct Ryan, this is Krona!" Batman answered. "He's a destructive scientist from the planet Maltus, one of the other planets that inhabited the Tau system alongside Quadratum 5."
"Krona had an obsession with destroying and creating worlds so he could study the effects for his research, his tampering of space gave birth to what would be called the Multiverse."
"Who stopped him?"
. "The Paragons stopped him!"
"It seems the Paragons-."
"Oh MR Batman, can I tell the story, can I, can I please?" Lunar begged as he happily bounced in front of Batman.
Batman fixed his overly serious glare on Lunar in an attempt to get him to calm down. His attempts were thwarted, however, as Lunar remained his happy face and looked him dead in the eyes. After a few minutes Batman uttered something along the lines of 'fine' or 'get on with it' before gesturing to Lunar to continue.
"Thanks MR Batman!" Lunar beamed. "So Krona had this plan to destroy our civilization so that he could make more multiverses. We had never been at war with anyone before so it was hard for us to cope with this, eventually though Quadratum 5's leader the great Xaiou came up with a solution."
To backup Lunar's words, Batman created another holographic image of the man known as Xaiou. Xaiou was a young African American man who looked to be in his late twenties. He had deep chocolate eyes, a muscular body build and long braided reddish black hair. Xaiou's choice of dress consisted of a full length black coat with a hood, silver beads and black boots.
"Xaiou used our worlds technology to create a fighting force that would stop Krona, they were known as the Paragons!" Lunar began. As he did Batman brought forth nine individuals dressed in the same black coat as Xaiou, their identities being covered by the coats hood. "All in total there were nine special citizens chosen to protect our world, Paragon Sparrow, Moon Fang, Black Siren, Hydro, Scorch, Thrust, Vipress, Tarus and Saber!"
"Each warrior was given Paragon armor and weaponry strong enough to face down Krona!" Batman stated, this time firmly retaking control of the conversation. "Once assembled the team took down Krona and handed him over to the Guardians so that he would never hurt anyone again!"
"So how exactly do you fit into all this Lunar?" Ryan wondered.
"I am a Piparoid, me and my brethren's job is to help transform, give advice, weaponry and assist the user in battle. Each host has a single bracelet that allows them to merge with there piparoid to become that Paragon warrior!"
"Once Krona had been captured Xaiou sent the Paragons to explore & protect various parts of the Multiverse. By sending them out into new territory Xaiou hoped to establish universal peace as well as understand all the mysteries around them." Batman emphasized." Eventually, the Paragons became a mighty military force and had knowledge of ninety five percent of the multiverse!"
A peaceful society with a benevolent ruler, a fighting force of heroes dedicated to peace & justice. Anybody who knows life knows that she is a fickle bitch, one minute you could be living your best life and then the next you could be in dire chaos. For Garfield & Ryan they knew that this story wasn't going to have a happy ending and gave Batman a look before he instantly started to turn the scenery again.
"The Paragon's never expected to have anyone challenge them, until Darkseid came!" The scene changed and suddenly the group was now standing upon the ruins of once was Qudratum 5.
The tall standing reinforced buildings reduced to crumbles all around; the once clear crisp ocean was now stained with the blood of citizens as they were slaughtered, the Parademon army covered the sun creating a darkening world while the forces of Apokolips followed behind there leader.
Up until now Lunar had remained his usual cheerful self, it was until he saw the image of Darkseid and his army that it spooked him. Without warning the tiger cub scurried close to Ryan and jumped high into her shirt for safety.
"It's ok Lunar it's not real!" She reassured.
She was right, while the image of the tyrant was not real it was still triggering. Ryan could soon see that Lunar wasn't the only one being effected by the images before him. As Garfield viewed the sight before him, he froze in place. His heart rapidly took up pace, as beads of sweat started for form all around his forehead. Like lightning, seeing Darkseid and the others forced his mind to have a memory, he wanted to forget.
-Flashback-
-5 Years Ago-
-Darkseid War-
"Hera give me strength!" Wonder Woman's war cry echoed into the deepest sounds for eternity as she flew into another battle against the endless army of Parademons. With her blade in hand, the amazon went on the attack slashing Pardemon after Parademon in a sequence that made it looked like she was playing fruit ninja. After killing a successfull hundred demons in a row, the amazon went for her tiara. With ease she flung her tiara like a boomerang which sliced the heads off of each foe it touched.
"I'm so glad she's on our side!" Beastboy awwed as he watched the women fight before his very eyes. He always wanted the Titans to fight side by side with the Justice League, but he wished it was on better circumstances, this was he could fanboy all he wanted too without getting into trouble.
"Beastboy heads up!" A shoutout from Stargirl forced Beastboy to remember where he was at. Looking behind him, he could see another squadron of Parademons approaching him at an alarming rate. While he wasn't paying attention, he could still easily outmatch them. Morphing into a gigantic grizzly bear, Beastboy tackled the Pardemons with his massive weight before clawing and biting them with ferocity. In no time Beastboy reduced his attackers to small chunks which he spit out his mouth and scattered all around. "Yuck, tastes nasty!"
Having defeated the Parademons attacking him, Beastboy set his sights on trying to help Stargirl who was taking on more foes then she could possibly handle. He would not get the chance, however, as his body began to convulse. Feeling the sharp point of metal hit his back, Beastboy cried out as he felt electricity surge through his entire body. Succumbing to the pain inflicted on him, Beastboy fell on his back, unable to get up.
"You little vermin, I'll teach you to kill my precious Parademons!" Granny Goodness sneered as she hovered over Beastboy with a cattle prod in her hands.
As she prepared to strike Beastboy once more, Granny received a starbolt directly to her hand. As the cattle prod fell to the ground harmlessly, Granny was pelted with several more starbolts which sent her stumbling back.
She was soon confronted by the Titan known as Starfire who went at her like a speeding bullet. Starfire delivered a single powerhouse kick to Granny's stomach before using her natural tamranian strength to uppercut her away from her friend. Her assault didn't stop there however, once Granny landed on the ground Starfire flew overhead and began making it rain starbolts upon her.
"Starfire?" Beastboy sighed upon seeing his titan comrade save him. The hero fought against the pain that was just brought upon him and managed to get to his feet.
"Friend Beastboy are you ok?" Starfire questioned as she flew to meet him. "Did the Granny of Goodness hurt you?"
"Just a scratch!" He grinned. "Come on lets take them down!"
"Yes let us continue the kicking of the bu-" There tender moment was cut short as a single spear was impaled through Starfire's stomach. The Tamaraian was silenced even further as the spear started to go upward.
Beastboy watched in pure horror as the spear went up through Starfire's head, severing her perfect body into two clean halves. Blood splattered itself over Beastboy's uniform while Starfire's brightly lit green eyes started to fade away until they were dull grey. As the two sides of Starfire hit the ground before him, Granny Goodness let out a evil laugh before wiping the blood off her spear.
"STARFIRE!" Beastboy screamed.
-End of Flashback-
"No, No, No, No, No!" Garfield cried out. The Titan fell to his knees and began hitting the ground before him.
"Garfield?" Lunar questioned concerned before jumping out of Ryan's shirt and back to the ground.
"What's going on?" The Batman hologram questioned.
"Turn it off!" Ryan ordered to Batman, immediately knowing what was happening with her friend.
"I can't we still have much more to-."
"Damnit Bruce I said turn it off!" She screamed.
"Starfire, Robin, Cyborg, Raven, I'm sorry guys!" Tears erupted from the man's ducks as his brain refused to leave him alone. Like a tape recorder he kept seeing Starfire's deaths as well as the many deaths of other heroes. These were the same thoughts that kept him up at night, the same thoughts that forever haunted him and banished his powers.
Being Garfield's nurse, Ryan went into action to try and keep him calm. Reaching into her pants pocket, she pulled out a small syringe full of clear liquid. Creeping closer Ryan carefully injected her friend in the arm before dropping the syringe and pulling him closer.
"It's ok Gar, It's ok!" Like she had did so many times, Ryan just sat there and held her friend close. While she knew loss, Ryan couldn't fathom losing so many people you care about at once. How she wished she could just take the memory away from him, to make him brave once more and unafraid to face the past. How she wished she could save him from the terror of Darkseid.
"I'm here friend!" Lunar whispered as he got near his partner. The tiger cub sat by his side and purred closely in an attempt to get him to feel better.
As Lunar & Ryan comforted Garfield, the Batman hologram stood in silence and watched over the spectacle before him. He knew that Garfield was scarred, but he never knew the extent of what was going on. As he watched Garfield soon fall asleep in Ryan's arms, Batman wondered about the fate of the war. With Garfield selected to be Paragon Moon Fang, Batman wondered if the young adult could pull through and possibly save them from impending doom.
Could Garfield overcome his trauma in order to save the galaxy?
-Abandoned Warehouse-
-As Ryan, Lunar and virtual Batman dealt with Garfield's PTSD, back at the warehouse war was waging A petty war between Paragon Sparrow & Paragon Taurus to see who was the stronger of the two warriors.
The entire warehouse had became there battlefield and deteriorated in little time as they fought. Paragon Taurus being the long-range fighter that he was continued his assault on his foe with sub machine gun in hand. Knowing Taurus strategy off the bat put Sparrow on the defensive, using his teleportation powers in order to avoid as many blasts as he can.
"Stop running and face me coward!" Taurus growled as he shot again at Sparrow, only to miss and hit a nearby support beam.
While he was no coward Taurus had a point, he couldn't keep dodging his blasts forever, he had to retaliate. To do this he went for one of his own cogs in his belt. Loading it quickly into his bracelet Sparrows weapon of choice, his hook swords soon were conjured in both his hands.
Now equipped for battle Sparrow changed direction and went directly at his target. Taurus countered with his itchy trigger finger and endlessly clicked the button on his gun. As the bullets flew at Sparrow he countered accordingly. Like a fire dancer at a luau Sparrow twirled his hook swords in fancy directions, this not only allowed him to dodge incoming bullets but cut them down as well. Taurus began to panic as a pile of bullet shells fell at Sparrow feet, to make matters worse his submachine gun also clicked emptily signaling that he had reached his ammo limit.
Seeing an opening in the battle, Sparrow flew at Taurus with both his swords. After landing choice slashes across his foes chest, Sparrow kneed him in the gut before roundhouse kicking him into a warehouse bulldozer. Taurus's cries echoed throughout the warehouse as he felt his entire body light up with pain from the collision.
"Should have stayed at the bar with the other chumps!" Sparrow criticized as he prepared himself to strike again.
"Fuck off!" Taurus hissed before quickly loading another golden cog into his bracelet. The next weapon that was brought toward the Paragons hand was an oversized rocket launcher with a single scope.
Sparrow knew he screwed up as the scope put a small green dot on his chest armor. Before he could even get the chance to retreat, he was pelted by a single grenade that exploded on contact. Sparrow cursed Taurus name as he was sent flying out of the warehouse and toward the outdoors of New Metropolis.
"Ugh!" The weight of Sparrow's armor seem to almost pin him down while his body lay limp, refusing to find the strength to get up. In serving the will of Darkseid that is what he got, blasted by a rocket launcher and a possible set of broken bones. Could this job possibly get anymore stressful?
"Told you Im better!" Although the sun blared in his eyes Sparrow could see Taurus walking slowly toward him. This time the Paragon had ditched his rocket launcher and settled on a set of cannons that were now mounted on his shoulders. "Give up yet?"
"That'll be a cold day!" Sparrow shot back. Fighting against the pain he was feeling, he rose to his feet and went for another golden cog in his belt. Now realizing the threat that Taurus represented, he had to summon a stronger weapon in order to put him down for good, and what better weapon then the same one he used on the Justice League. Fighting through the pain that stained his body Sparrow loaded in another of his golden cogs, this time he generated his two phoenix wings on the back on his armor.
With both of them choosing new weapons the duo went at it once more. For Sparrow his phoenix wings flapped vigorously expelling gold dust, while for Taurus his shoulder canons fired a solid beam of shamrock colored energy. Both Paragons launched their attacks hoping that they would be able to overwhelm one another, a different outcome was quickly reached however as both attacks caused a massive explosion on contact.
Both Sparrow & Taurus tried to shield themselves from the backlash of the explosion but found themselves overwhelmed and knocked back further away from each other. The explosion was so massive in power that it's impact spread, soon setting several of the other warehouses alongside some buildings ablaze.
"Damnit!" Sparrow fumed. He had expected that attack to take down Taurus for good but unfortunately he miscalculated, there Taurus layed still transformed and breathing. "What the hell does it take to kill you?"
"Just submit and this will be over!"
"Not a chance!" He snapped.
"Then I suggest we start again!"
"That's enough boys!" Black Siren scolded. The vixen soon appeared from behind one of the burning warehouses in order to confront her comrades. "What the hell are you thinking?"
"He started it!" Sparrow spat. Almost like a child trying to blame his broken toys on his sibling.
"I was just trying to teach him some manners!" Taurus yelled.
"Your both idiots!" She shouted. "We're trying to keep a low profile and here you two are about to destroy the whole damn city!"
"But-"
"No buts, Taurus get back to the bar now or I'll tell Granny what you've been doing!"
"Fucking tattletale!" As much as he didn't want to listen to what Siren had to say, Taurus knew that she would get off on the chance to report to Granny about what they had been doing. De transforming back to his normal state, Taurus gave a hearty middle finger to both his comrades before vanishing into the shadows whence he came.
"Hmph, I had it handled ya know!" Sparrow said as he also reverted back to his human form.
"I had no doubts, but you know the rules no infighting!" She responded. "Now I've got a present for you from Granny."
"What kind of present?"
Much to Sparrow's surprise he was handed a remote control like device. He instantly recognized it as a Boom tube controller, the devices that let Apokoliptans travel between earth and other worlds.
"This is Dessad's new and improved Boom Tube controller!" She stated. "It's not perfect but it has the capabilities to send you some reinforcements if you need it!"
"What kind of reinforcements?"
"Parademons!" She responded. "So far the tech can only support enough energy for a few of low powered warriors, once it's perfected, however, it'll be strong enough for us to bring Darkseid and the whole Apokoliptian army through!"
"This gives me a excellent idea!" He admitted as he studied the device. "What are you doing tomorrow?"
"If its about a date I'm not interested!" She teased.
"Don't flatter yourself babe!" He taunted. "But seriously, I've got a plan to trap that little green bean and the cat once and for all, problem is I'm going to need your help!"
"What's the payout?"
"I'll give you what I owe you plus triple the diamonds once we get back to the city."
"Now your speaking my language!" She smiled. "So what's this grand plan that you've got cooking up?"
As the duo started to walk away back toward the city, Sparrow filled Black Siren on his grand plan to give them the victory. As much as he hated Siren and her ways, only she could provide the information he needed for his plan. Like a modern day Bonnie & Clyde the duo laughed manically while picturing the downfall of the Justice League. With the two of them actually cooperation for once, nobody could stop them then the will of there master would finally be enforced.
-Wayne Manor-
"Ga...r." Jumbled words inserted themselves into Garfield's ear, followed by a stinging cold sensation.
"G...a...r...w!" The cold sensation was applied again, this time feeling like the coldest bucket of ice water.
"Gar...wa..k!" For a third time the cold sensation was applied, this time it resembled the coldest brush of Icy winds.
"Gar...wake..u!" The fourth time the cold sensation went even heavier across Garfield's face, this time it felt like the chilling grounds of Antarctica.
"Gar wake up!" Garfield's name was called out for the fifth time in a row. This time however, the cold sensation seemed to be applied endlessly. The chill suddenly lit fire to the titans senses, forcing his body to finally wake up. As Garfield's conscience began to align itself back with the light of the living, the teen noticed two things. The first was that he was no longer in the Batcave, but laying down on a small cot in the destroyed remains of Wayne Manor's living room. The second was that his Piparoid Lunar was standing firmly atop of his chest.
Before Garfield could even attempt to have words with the tiger cub, he felt the cold sensation go against his skin again. He sweatdropped realizing that the cold sensation wasn't water, but rather the sticky gooey salvia dripping from Lunar's tounge as he licked his entire face.
"Dude!" Garfield jolted upright in disgust and started to rub his face frantically with the blanket that had been placed over him.
"Ryan, he's awake!" Lunar cheered.
"Oooh my head!" Garfield groaned while rubbing his temples. Even though he had just woke up, his brain pulsated with pain as if he had one too many cocktails at the bar.
"Glad your awake!" Ryan called out as she came strolling into the common room, in her hands the woman carried two small bowls. The first bowl was sent in front of Lunar, and it contained large heaps of scrap metal while the second one given to Gar was filled with peaches. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I just was hit by a bus!" He answered. "What the hell was in that syringe?"
"Trihexyphenidyl."
"Tri- what?"
"Trihexyphenidyl, it's an emergency drug used for PTSD flashbacks." Ryan said. "I know your deadset against medication, but you were having a meltdown it was the only thing I could do to calm you down!"
"Oh crap,Batman!" He suddenly remembered that he had just freaked out before Batman could get to the real importance of the story he was telling. "Please tell me that the hologram is still active?"
"Nope, the battery died on that about an hour ago." She answered. "Even though you were knocked out, I did get the information from Bruce before the hologram faded."
"So?" He questioned before taking a bite of the peaches before him. "What exactly did I miss?"
"Not much just Darkseid's usual slaughtering of innocent people like always." She stated sadly. "I did learn the reason though of why he attacked Quadratum?"
"Which is?"
"Remember when Bruce said that the Paragons had knowledge of all things of the Multiverse!"
"Yeah?"He responded trying to follow along.
"Well apparently Darkseid attacked Quadratum 5 because he wanted something specific that was stored inside the memory core of all the Paragons, that secret would only be revealed if all nine united there powers as one. Before they lost Xaiou apparently depowered the original Paragons so Darkseid couldn't use them, which makes sense why he needed new hosts."
"What kind of information could, Darkseid possibly want from the Paragons?" Gar wondered
"The location of Anti Life Equation!" Ryan exclaimed
Back when Garfield served as a member of the Teen Titans, he often garnered the reputation for being brainless or being slow on the draw. In this one moment he put that old reputation to rest as even he could decipher everything that was being told to him. The Anti-Life Equation was one of if not the greatest weapon in all of the universe, granting it's owner the power to mind control all forms for eternity. This is what Darkseid lusted after, the reason why he painted the universe in the blood, the reason he tormented his troops into being unstoppable, all for this formula that would give him ultimate power.
It finally made sense why he wanted him soo much. If he could forcibly turn him into a evil Paragon like he did with the others, he would not only have the Multiverses strongest army but also the greatest cheat sheet to the Anti-Life Equation.
With all this new information as well as everything he learned swimming around in his brain a single question was poised to ask. "How do we stop him?"
Ryan bit her lower lip trying not to laugh and soon found herself picking up Lunar while putting him on Garfield's lap. "This is how we stop him!"
"Lunar reporting for duty sir!" The Piparoid barked while saluting Garfield with a single paw
"Oh right." Garfield sweat dropped as he looked at the happy cub before him. To think that the only way he could save the galaxy was by teaming up with him, boy did he have his work cut out for him. "Sooo um, where do we begin?
Upon asking the question the gemstone on Lunar's forehead began to illuminate with a strange power. The Piparoid focused all his attention on Garfield before unleashing a small shot of energy which hit the teen shoulder first. Garfield found himself falling silent as a metallic bracelet with a dark green gemstone soon materialized on his right wrist. He looked at the bracelet with curiosity before soon remembering that it was the same one used by Dick to transform into his Sparrow armor.
"That power brace once belonged to my pal Kadin, and now I'm giving it to you!" Lunar beamed. "With that I declare you Garfield Logan as the new Paragon Moon Fang."
"Im Moon Fang?" He questioned, his eyes unable to look away from the sparkling accessory before him. No matter how many times he heard that he was going to be a Paragon he still couldn't process it. Having almost died in the Apokolips war Gar never dreamed that he would get the chance to be a hero again and yet here was the opportunity now before him.
"Yup!" Lunar nodded. "You and me are a team Gar, as long as we stick together we can face anything!"
"How does that Bracelet work anyway?" Ryan questioned.
"It's simple!" He chirped. "When Gar's ready for battle, he simply has to call upon it's powers and as long as I'm with him he'll become Moon Fang!"
"I don't know about this Lunar, it's a bit much." Garfield confessed.
"I understand it is friend, but your the only one who can save them."
"Them?" Ryan questioned.
"The survivors of Quadratum 5 and the other Piparoids, they're all being held prisoner on Apokolips!" He began. "If we could just defeat Darkseid, we could save everyone!"
"Wait what about our friend Dick and the others?"
"I can help save them as well, but it is imperative that we get the other power braces back first!" He said. "Once the Paragon armors are back in our possession only then will we have a chance at taking down Darkseid and saving the galaxy."
"Eight Paragons." Garfield sighed as he suddenly remembered the info he was told before. Having to take down Sparrow was one thing but taking down eight other stronger Paragons was another, how in the world could he possibly manage that.
Before his mind could even drive off into such dribble he shook if off and regained his composure. Granted he wasn't sure if he was ready to be a hero again, he knew he had to due it. Dick, Raven, Cyborg and the others were counting on him, he couldn't just walk away without trying to turn them back to normal. He had to accept Lunar's proposal to be Paragon Moon Fang. It wasn't just his friends that needed him but the entire multiverse, he knew he had to accept his destiny and save them all from the terror that is Darkseid.
"Well Lunar guess were gonna be stuck with each other for a while huh?" He stated as he picked up the tiger cub, only to receive a face full of happy tounge licks when he did so. After giving his decision he then gave his undivided attention to Ryan. "I don't suppose you could possibly help me with this could you?"
"Hey were family, we take care of each other first right?" She asked with a sly smile. " And besides New Metropolis could always use another hero!"
"Oh yeah baby this makes us a team! "Lunar gleefully cheered before hoping back and forth while landing excited tiger licks on both his new friends.
The tender moment was soon interrupted as the trio heard a booming mechanical crash beneath them. While Lunar & Garfield were unsure of what the sound was, Ryan recognized it immediately as the secret entrance to the Batcave opening. Without warning or explanation, Ryan soon jumped too her feet while yanking Garfield & Lunar out of the bed.
If her instincts were correct, that meant that someone had infiltrated the Batcave's entrance and disabled the security. If it was the person that she thought it was they didn't have to worry but if it was a possible enemy like Sparrow then they needed to get to the Batmobile as fast as they could.
Flying down the stairs, past the clock and into the steps that lead down to the Batcave, both Ryan & Garfield were relieved but shocked too find two familar faces waiting for them near the Batcomputer. One of the individuals was Gar's mom AKA Rita Far while the other one was 1 Selina Kyle AKA Catwoman.
"Gar thank God your alive!" Rita cried as she flew up the pathway to embrace her son.
"Mom!?" Garfield had a bewildered look on his face as Rita grasped him tightly as if she were a cobra trying to kill it's prey. "M-m-mom t-t-oo t-tight!"
"You had me so worried, I thought Sparrow had gotten to you!" She cried while increasing the tension on the hug. Lunar chuckled as he watched Garfield struggle to get out of his moms vice grip, soon the titan would go from his normal skin tone to several shades of blue & purple.
"Running in the streets naked, launching missiles on a residential street, stealing the Batmobile, reminds me of a girls night out in Gotham!" Selena commented as she came close to Ryan. "You two just can't stay out of trouble can you?"
"How did you find us anyways?"
"You got a lot to learn Ryan!" She replied before giving the girl a few pats on the head as if she were a child. "Next time you wanna vanish, turn the batmobile GPS off so I can't find you."
"What have you two been doing this entire time, the whole league's been worried sick about you?"
Garfield & Ryan exchanged nervous glances, unsure of how they were going to break all the news to them without overwhelming them. As if they were connected mentally, the duo picked up Lunar together and held the tiger cub in front of the adults. Rita & Selena tilted there head in confusion as they got a gimps of smiling tiger cub for the very first time.
"Hi new friends, my name is Lunar!"
"Did that Tiger?" Rita question
"Just talk?" Selena inquired.
"It's a long story." Garfield & Ryan both sweat dropped.
And indeed a long story it was going to be. With all the information given to them by Batman, Garfield & Ryan knew they had there work once again cut out for them. Taking back the Paragon Bracelets was one thing, but defeating Darkseid and rescuing those on Apokolips would be a whole other issue. Whatever the case they couldn't focus on the negative, for now they would have to prepare Garfield. While he now possessed the powers to become a Paragon, Garfield himself needed to train. Another war was coming, this time however they couldn't afford to lose, they had to win.
End of Chapter 5
With that another one bites the dust! Just what exactly are Sparrow & Black Siren planning or more importantly does Garfield have what it takes to be Paragon Moon Fang? All these important questions will be answered in a matter of a few weeks. I also wanna warn, there is much more information and secrets about the Paragons we have yet to uncover, this chapter just touches on it a bit. As we go through the next few chapters all will be revealed that wasn't touched on today.
You guys can expect the next chapter to probably be around late February, lets say the week of the 20th or possibly earlier. My update times like I said are dependent on how much of my other works I can done on my other fics.
With that being said if you guys can leave a review, kudo or follow that would be greatly appreciated. Until then I love you guys and can't wait to bring you more content.
Arigato!
Z