Hi Everyone! Z here!
Let me first start by apologizing for the late update, but I ran into a very serious problem. I originally had this chapter written and was going to post it on the date that I had told you guys but the file ended up getting corrupted and I lost all my work. See, my laptop isn't exactly the best and it's been giving me such problems lately, I tried to recover the chapter so I wouldn't have to rewrite it but sadly I had no luck and was forced to do rewrites. With that being said here is chapter 6, I tried to rewrite it close to the original chapter that I had but I'm not sure if I'm missing anything, if I am i'll be sure to add it in the chapters to come.
Also I thank you guys for kudos, reviews and followers that I've been getting. They're really helping my self esteem as a writer and encouraging me to branch out more.
But anyway thank you guys for being patient. Here is Chapter 6 and I'll see you at the end!
Chapter 6: Countdown to Destruction
"Code Red facility under lockdown, Code red I repeat this is not a drill!" A frantic call to arms from a Star Labs manager echoed on the loudspeakers . The entire facility was bathed in eerie danger lights,while scientists cowered behind there lab doors and security guards ran throughout corridors with weapons firmly in hand.
It was never a dull night in New Metropolis. There was always something of the negative nature brewing somewhere you'd least expect it. For the brave men and women workers of Star Labs, their own little private haven was about to be violated by an all too familiar threat. It started a little bit after ten o'clock. A worker recieved a call about a loud blaring unknown sound coming from the back corridors of the facility. When scientists were called to investigate they came face to face with the disturbing sight of several scientists laying on the ground. Each of the scientists were deceased, their apparent cause of death being their bleeding ears that overflowed like bathtub faucets.
The discovered bodies called for immediate action and before one could even prepare themselves, the entire facility was on lockdown. While the security guards had been sent to the front of the entrance to keep the intruder from escaping, the lab higher ups called in backup from Highfathers Palace. While the rest of the league was scattered throughout the city to keep patrol, Highfather dispatched the four members of the Doom Patrol to check out what was causing the disturbance.
In no time Mento, Elastigirl, Robotman and Negativeman were inside the facility walls, trying to track down who broke in and where they were going.
"Elastigirl to palace, where is the target located?" She inquired as she turned on her earbud.
"Star Labs security has caught footage of an unidentified female just down the hall!"
"Tell all the units to block the entrances were going in now!"
"Roger that!"
"What's the plan Boss?" As Rita shut off the communication, she, Robotman and Negativeman turned their attention to their ever fearless leader Mento. This would be the time where his army-like demeanor would kick in and he would come up with a foolproof plan in order to achieve victory.
Upon being asked the question however, Steve could not find himself too respond. He rubbed his temples in frustration while forming partial words only to stop himself once again to rethink his answer to the question at hand.
"Steve, what's wrong?" Negativeman questioned.
"Nothing's wrong, just give me a damn minute!" He snapped back at them.
His change of attitude instantly worried Rita who walked over and stood directly in front of his frustrated face. When she got within kissing distance, the heroine could see the glossed over look in his eyes while his breathing wreaked of Kentucky Whiskey.
"Why are you looking at me like that Rita?"
"You're drunk again aren't you?"
Rita's question would not get answered, in it's place was a firm left handed slap that went across her entire face.
"Rita!" Robotman urgently caught her as her body stumbled backwards.
"Don't you dare question me, woman!" Mento snarled.
"What the hell's your problem Steve?" Negativeman questioned. "She's your wife!"
"That's right she's my wife, which means she needs to know her place!"
When it came to dealing with Mento the Doom Patrol members could handle his no nonsense almost abrasive behavior, but him being drunk was a different story. When he was drinking he was angrier than usual, his temper seemed like it was always in a constant state of erupting. He was no longer the Mento they knew, instead he was more rude, abusive and intolerant.
Negativeman and Robotman often stayed away to avoid dealing with him, but Rita was the one who got the brunt of his anger. The duo had never seen him strike her before, which made them wonder how often he had been doing this when he was drunk.
"You bastard!" Negative man cried with his fists balled.
"Stand down!" Mento ordered
"Not a chance!"
"Larry no!" Rita called out
Even in his drunken state Mento prepared himself to use his powers, while Negativeman's soul self began to rise from out of his bandaged skin. Robotman and Rita could only stand idle by, while the duo were seemingly about to engage in combat.
"Someone please help!"
The infighting between the Doom Patrol members would not come, however, as a frantic cry for help pierced through every wall of the star labs facility. The team had panicked expressions on their faces as they abandoned their current objective and went back to the mission at hand. The Doom Patrol were so busy with their own problems, they failed to remember that everyone in the facility was still in danger from whoever had broken in the first place.
The woman's screams of agony left an easy trail for them to follow, and in little time they had reached another one of the many labs that the building had to offer. Upon entering inside the group was greeted by the dead body of the woman that had cried for help, like so many of the coworkers her ears were bleeding out onto the metal floor.
"Well if it isn't the dumbass patrol!" The Doom Patrol knew that the forces of Apokolips were at work in Star Labs and had expected to confront the likes of Sparrow, much to their surprise however it was a different individual. A paragon with pale skin, purple hair and a red gem in the middle of her forehead, this was the same paragon that was once the girlfriend of their ex member Beastboy. Standing before them now was Raven or rather as she was called by her master paragon Black Siren.
"Raven.!" Rita frowned seeing her almost daughter in law before her. Her thoughts soon after went toward her son Garfield, who spent countless hours being tortured over losing the woman that he loved.
"You mean to tell me you killed all those scientists?" Robotman questioned as the realization suddenly hit him.
"I had a little errand to run for Sparrow!" She gestured to a large bulky suitcase that she had in her left hand. "If those nerds wanted to live they shouldn't have tried to stop me!"
"I don't believe this!" Negativeman said. For the whole team it was hard to fathom that Raven was a killer. This was the same girl who went against her father to keep the world from suffering, yet here she was now killing innocents as if they were mere insects.
"Believe it you mummified sideshow freak!" She replied. "Now are you four going to get out of my way, or do I have to play rough?"
"You get one chance to surrender Raven!" Mento informed
"But Steve Garfield-."
"Isn't here right now and I couldn't give a damn about what he would think!" He shot back with rage. "You heard what the highfather said, the Paragon's are dangerous and need to be taken out before it's too late!"
Hearing Mento's fiery retort was more than enough to convince Black Siren that she needed to prove a point, show them that they were no match for her. Without warning the paragon inhaled a puff of fresh air into her nostrils before opening her jaw as wide as it could possibly go.
Concentrating on the muscles in her throat Black Siren started to scream as loud as she could. To the average person a scream is nothing that you would need to be concerned about, being that this was Black Siren however her screaming was a very horrible thing. The scream that erupted from her mouth was louder than any instrument, stronger than that of booming thunder and was more high pitched then a canary singing at it's highest point.
As the powers of her sonic scream left her mouth Siren focused her attention on the four warriors before her. They had no chance of defending against her, as soon as the sound reached their ears they're bodies were flung down the hallway like discarded toys from a spoiled child's rampage.
After colliding with the ground each of the Doom Patrol members withered around in pain while clutching their ears. The loud power of white noise pounded through their ear drums while the sounds around them started to fade away in the background.
"We got to do something!" Robotman exclaimed.
"My ears!" Bemoaned Mento
"I hope you guys like my new singing voice, it was a present from Darkseid after I killed Dinah Lance!"
"Dinah?"
"Poor little birdie she put up a good fight but even she couldn't stand against me!"
"Everyone get up, we have to stop her!"
Black Siren couldn't help but scoff at Mento's statement. Like these peons could stand against the power that she possessed, heck they weren't even worthy enough to worship the ground that her master walked on. Whatever the case she had things to do and couldn't be bothered to play around with them any longer. As much as she desired to kill them where they stand, she knew Garfield would never have forgiven her for committing such an act.
The more she thought about it the more she realized it would be a thousand times sweeter if Garfield killed them himself, in fact that would be the first suggestion that she would give to him once he fully came to their side.
"Doom Patrol, I said get up!"
"Don't bother brainiac, I've got more important things to do!" She countered. "If I were you guys I'd get some rest, after you're going to need it for tomorrow!"
With a final last laugh and a crude gesture involving her fingers Black Siren slithered past the team and deeper toward the exit ways of Star Labs.
"We have to stop her!" Robotman cried
"I can barely hear anything!" Negativeman added
"What do you think she meant by tomorrow?" Rita inquired
"I don't know, but I have a feeling that we're going to find out!"
The Doom Patrol wanted to pass Siren's threats off as just villain monologue but even they couldn't shake the feeling that tomorrow was going to be a horrible day. Each of them couldn't even fathom what the Paragons and Darkseid had in store for them .
-Elsewhere-
-Outside Star Labs-
For Black Siren all seemed to be according to plan. With a trail of dead bodies in her wake and the Doom Patrol powerless to stop her, she nonchalantly strolled from the gates of Star Labs and into the horizons of New Metropolis. Little did the paragon know however that while she was making her escape, her every move was being watched.
Like her, the person watching was a servant for an even greater threat, a foe that wanted to take over New Metropolis as well as the rest of the world. From a posh stretch limousine, an unknown woman in a dark robe and floppy hat was lying in wait for the signal she had been waiting for.
She purred in delight while snuggling deeper into the fabric of the limousine's back seat. In her left hand she carried a short martini glass and in the right a flip cell phone. The minute Black Siren was out of her sight , the woman dialed a few numbers on the phone before indulging in another glass while listening to the dial tone.
"Speak!" The rough and rugged voice of a strange man answered after the phone had rang several times.
"The surveillance has paid off, one of those paragons just hit Star Labs ." She replied. "You'll also be surprised to know the Doom Patrol was in there but haven't come out yet!"
"Darkseid's reacting sooner than I had expected, looks like we'll have to escalate the plans!"
"No sweat boss, just say the word and it'll be done!"
"You sure you don't want Liam to help?" He questioned. "He's gotten used to the hat already, and he's just anxious to use it!"
"I don't need any, I can handle this all on my own!"
"That's why you're my number one!" He replied. "Also don't forget to snag that brat Kate Kane while your there!"
"No problem, rest assured your will shall be done Black Mask!"
-The Next Morning-
-Unknown Area-
Garfield's eyes snapped open at the crack of thunder while lighting illuminated the world around him. The rain did little to console the hero's vision as he walked along the grasslands of an unknown mountaintop.
Garfield always hated atmosphere's liked this, it reminded him of those scary movies he and Cyborg used to watch at the tower. If he were a ditzy blonde with a double d's this would be the part where an psychotic killer would attack him in a frenzied rage. This was not a B list horror movie however, this was real life and while he wasn't expecting a killer he was still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The rain cut off any visibility that Garfield hoped to see while carefully sneaking through nature. He couldn't understand it, why didn't they attack him yet? He had been through this scenario several times and knew what was to come yet no sign of danger had approached him. Allies or not they were clever bastards with great mindsets, this is why they were chosen to keep Garfield on his toes. What better way to challenge a new hero then to put him up against the veterans of yesteryear.
As he continued his long winded stroll a secondary bolt of lightning struck over the sky, this time giving Garfield a better look at what was ahead of him. Nature's fury couldn't have struck at a better moment for Garfield because the moment the lighting hit, a single shot rang out into the atmosphere.
Taking his fighting stance Garfield stood in one position as the bullet hit the ground just a few meters away from him. As a tertiary bolt of lightning struck across the land Garfield saw Deadshot across the way, his wrist mounted gun still smoking from the previous shot.
"Hola, amigo!" The assassin greeted while loading in more bullets for the next round
"Sup, old timer!" Garfield quipped
"Old Timer!" Deadshot snorted. "Your ass is getting shot for that!"
"Bring it!"
Deadshot couldn't resist a challenge and prepared himself accordingly. After loading in the last bunch of bullets he aimed both his wrist guns before unleashing a blaze of bullets. Like a human machine gun Deadshot's weapons clicked endlessly with the bullets being aimed directly at his target's head.
Garfield's muscles tightened as his eyes locked on the heads of the bullets. His body seemed to go into a state of automotion as he started to dodge the incoming projectiles. He hopped, slid, flipped and ducked under the bullets as they rained upon all sides of him. If this were the old days he probably would have morphed into a cheetah to outrun the bullets, but because he didn't have powers he had to do it the old fashioned way.
After avoiding certain death at the hands of the projectiles, Garfield opted for the next phase of his plan. Seeing an opening he ran full speed at Deadshot in an attempt to disarm him of his weapons. Unfortunatley for Garfield, the ex Suicide Squad member saw his plan and was already a few steps ahead of him. As he came upon him Deadshot slid to the ground before tucking and rolling behind Garfield, once there the assassin sent two shots hitting Garfield in the back.
"AAAAH!" Garfield shrieked as the bullets hit his back knocking him face first into grass.
"Harley now!" Deadshot hollered
"YOOHOOO BB!" From out of the mountaintops Harley Quinn came charging into the battle with her preferred weapon, a gigantic mallet. "Time for a game of Whack a mole!"
"Awww fuck!" As if a lethal assassin wasn't enough now Garfield had to deal with his deranged clown wife.
Unlike Deadshot Garfield didn't have time to think of a strategy as Harley's hammer came just inches away from his body, thankfully he got up just in time as the weapon made contact with the ground. From there Garfield started zig zagging in different directions while Harley kept swiping at him. Garfield was powerless to fight against Harley as the hammer kept just barely missing him, while leaving gigantic mallet sized holes in the grass.
"Stay still BB this won't hurt!" Harley assured with a giggle.
"Damnit, Damnit, Damnit!" Time was running out for Garfield. He was too close within Harley's grasp to counterattack and Deadshot was currently reloading his weapons, he had to think of something soon or he would definitely lose for sure.
"I...SAID... STAY...STILL!" Harley shouted. This time instead of slamming her hammer into the ground, the clown woman threw the hammer like a spear.
"Oh fuck!" Garfield cried as the Hammer made contact with the back of his body. Bones contorted and muscles contracted in grotesque ways as Garfield felt the pain from the hammer hitting him. Once struck his body came crash landing just a few meters away from Harley.
"Gotcha BB!"
"Not for long!" Pain may have been shooting through Garfield's body, but he was determined to not give up the fight just yet. He had to get up and show them he had what it takes. Once again however his determination was dashed as a beam of frost suddenly hit his body pinning him to the grass. Before Garfield could even question what was going on, Deadshot appeared beside Harley alongside the heroine known as Ice.
"Game, set and match kid!" Deadshot said
An assassin, a deranged clown and a Ice bender were now hovering over Garfield. With all three of their abilities combine he was now no match for him, at this point there was only one solution that he could do.
"What's it gonna be BB?"
"Uncle, I give man!"
Upon Garfield's surrender Deadshot shot out a single bullet to break the ice that trapped him. As he helped the teen up to his feet, the mountain environment disappeared with a camera like flash bringing the group back into a grey tiled room.
The room that the group was in was known as the Battle Grid. With the wealth of several companies the Battle Grid was a fully functional virtual room created by Star Labs. With advanced holo mirror technology built into the walls, the Battle Grid was a training field that can mimic any environment or any hero or villain. With over a thousand programs built into the console, the Battle Grid was created for the purpose of training heroes and New Genesis warriors for combat.
"Watch it with that hammer next time Harley, I think you broke something!"
"Sorry BB!" She grinned.
"Good job everyone!" Catwoman called out. All eyes turned to the thief as she walked in from the outer doors carrying a tablet in her hand.
"So?" Garfield questioned. "How did I do?"
"Let's see, defense-A, Bravery-A, Agility, B-."
"Uh-huh. I'm diggin', I'm diggin!"
"Offense - F"
"A F!" He exclaimed. "Why did I get an F?"
"Garfield we've been through these training scenario's at least five times today, you've done well on everything else but you're lacking in the fight department!"
"Not good kid!" Deadshot responded.
"But-." Garfield wanted to argue his case among the members of the Justice League but found himself falling silent as he realized they were right. Since he got back to Highfather's tower he had been training with them for hours now yet he hadnt successfully managed to beat them, every time he either surrendered or tired them out. The teen knew that this was supposed to make him stronger but he couldn't help wonder why he wasn't fighting back, had he forgotten all his training as a titan or was something else going on?
"By the way guys Highfather wants to see us all upstairs in twenty minutes!"
"What's the old geezer want with us now?" Harley inquired
Catwoman shrugged. "Who knows, he just said it was urgent and we couldn't skip it."
"Sounds like the ideal break we need, right Harley!" Deadshot rejoiced. The assassin got close to his wife as he gave her ass a nice firm smack. The clownish girl cooed in delight before understanding what her husband had meant. In no time the duo were scurring out the door and heading upstairs, no doubt to have some of there wildest sex like they usually do.
"What about me?"
"Hit the showers kid, we'll be back after the meeting for another round!"
-Unknown Location-
While Garfield's adventure in training continued, Ryan Wilder was on a separate quest. Knowing that the Paragons would challenge Gar, Ryan thought it would be a great Idea to jumpstart her own plan to help him. A plan that she had been working on since the beginning of the Apokolips War. With the help of Star Labs as well as data she obtained from the Batcomputer, Ryan was to make sure that her secret plan would not only help Garfield get over his trauma but also turn him into the hero that he once was.
To accomplish this plan the Afro woman found herself trudging to the very private room of the Highfather himself while carrying a small duffle bag. A single door behind his throne room led to a secret door which led to a flight of stairs and ultimately an elevator. After pressing the only available button on the control panel, the vessel doors closed and started to descend to the deep depths of the unknown.
"ahhhh-hhaaaaaa!" Ryan suddenly yawned. She really needed to get her sleep schedule back on track, as thirty minute power naps and coffee just wasn't doing it for her anymore. Between taking care of Kate, and Garfield her sleep cycle had been thrown off it's course. Knowing how things were going to get around her soon, she would have too have all the energy she needed.
Perhaps it was time for one of those energy booster drinks that she was so fond of these days.
The attempt to go for the duffle bag however was interrupted as it started to move on it's own.
"Oh hell no?" A startled Ryan cried before backing herself up against the wall of the elevator. She watched as her duffle bag seemingly gained a brain and began moving back and forth in a violent manner.
"Please don't be a ghost, Please don't be a ghost!"
"I'm no ghost, I'm Lunar!" The Piparoid cheered as his head popped up from beyond the zipper of the bag.
"Hiya Ryan!"
"Oh it's you Lunar!" She sweatdropped. So it wasn't a scary ghost that was going to cause trouble, instead it was an adorable tiger cub that could cause her just as much trouble if she wasn't careful. "What are you doing in my duffle bag?"
"I was munching on some yumm yumms in there last night and got sleepy!" He admitted. After fighting against the rest of the zipper, Lunar finally managed to free himself and stepped onto the elevator so he could cuddle himself up against Ryan's legs.
"Yumm yumm's?" Ryan's face expressed confusion at what Lunar told her. "What did these yumm yumm's look like Lunar?"
"Not sure, it was dark so I didn't know what I was eating, but it tasted really good!"
"Please tell me you didn't!" Ryan slapped her forehead in frustration before looking into the duffle bag. Her ID badge, stethoscope, medical pager, and steel coffee canister were nowhere to be found, left in their place were a few crumbled pieces of metal. "Yup you did?"
"Did I do something wrong?" Lunar questioned before his eyes started to swell up with sadness. "I didn't mean to eat all the goodies!"
"`No no Lunar it's ok, don't get upset!" Ryan sweatdropped. As much as she wanted to explain to him the importance of the things he ate, she didn't have the heart to make the little cub come down on himself.
"You know now that I think about it, i'm glad you're here!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, you can help me grab this little present I got for Garfield!"
"Ooh boy I love presents!" Lunar cheered as his temperament did a full one eighty. "Are we having a birthday party?"
"Something like that,we're gonna celebrate Garfield being the awesome hero that he is!"
"Sounds like a lot of fun, when do we start!"
"Right about now actually!" Ryan commented as the elevator came to a screeching halt, soon both doors opened revealing nothing but blackness on the other side.
"Ewww Darkness, I hate the dark!" Lunar arched his back in a threatening fashion before hissing at the darkened room beyond the elevator. "You stay here Ryan I'll go find the light switch!"
"You don't gotta do that Lunar!"
"But there might be monsters in there!" He informed. "I would never forgive myself if something happened to you, let me go find the light to keep you safe?"
As much as Ryan wanted to inform him that there was no danger down where they were at, the little tyke seemed eager and serious enough to try and protect her against the big bad darkness. If that were the case then how could she say no too such chivalry. "Alright, Lunar go ahead!"
"I won't let you down I promise!" With that Lunar bravely charged into the darkness that was in the next room. Ryan kept good on her promise and leaned against the elevator door, waiting for Lunar to give her a sign. Although she had been down there a million times and knew that there was nothing to worry about, she wanted to let Lunar prove his bravery.
"So far soo good!" He called back. "Wait, what was that?"
"What was what Lunar?"
"Something just hit me in the face!" He exclaimed
A fog of confusion covered itself over Ryan's mindset as she heard the news. There was not a single soul down here, what could have possibly hit him?
"It just did it again!"
"Lunar, maybe you better come back here!"
"Don't worry Ryan, I can handle this fiend!"
"But Lunar!
"I don't know who you are ya big meany, but ya better stop hitting me or else!"
"Lunar, maybe you should come back!"
"You bully, stop hitting me!"
Ryan opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the sound of Lunar growling and thrashing about, what was to follow was also him running back and forth before a large pounding 'thump' hit against one of the walls.
"Ryan, I got him, I got him!" Lunar declared
With Lunar's call to her, Ryan rushed into the darkness herself and instantly went for one of the nearby security switches on the wall. After inputting a certain code, the lights sprung to life into the room banishing the darkness completely.
The outer walls of the room were surrounded by gigantic file cabinets, some of them labeled with letters while others were blank. The center of the room contained a single stand control pad that overlooked a floor and ceiling projector that produced a holographic image of the world. As soon as she could see everything, she instantly notices Lunar near one of the file cabinets, his paws pinned on something.
"I got him Ryan, he's kinda wormy!"
With all the fighting that Lunar was doing in here, Ryan imagined that he did come across something and managed to get the upper hand. Sadly though this was not the case, as Ryan came closer to the Piparoid she instantly sweatdropped hard, realizing what he had.
"Aaah, Lunar."
"Yes Ryan?"
"That's your tail!"
Lunar gave a look of disbelief for a few seconds before gazing down at the object that he had pinned so perfectly, the object that had a orb on the end that was also attached to his butt. "Oops!"
Ryan sweatdropped again before face slapping herself hard. The greatest defense they had against Darkseid was a tiger cub who almost destroyed his tail thinking it was an enemy, boy they had their work cut out for them.
"Well looks like there's no enemies here!" Lunar announced before getting back to his feet while his tail swished back and forth, still hitting him in the face.
"Come on Lunar, let's just get back to it!"
"What is this place exactly?"
"This is the vault Lunar?"
"The Vault?"
"Yup down here we keep all the trophies from the mightiest of heroes to the baddest of rouges." She began. "Every item has been digitized and stored into keycards for safekeeping!"
"Can I see how it works?"
"Well I don't know Lunar, I'm not supposed to take anything out of here unless it's an emergency!"
"Please just one thing please!"
"Well?" Ryan thought. Nobody knew she was down here except for Highfather and he trusted her with most of the files down here, she guessed showing Lunar an example couldn't hurt. "Alright well do just one but that's it!"
"Awesome!" He cheered
Ryan thought blindly as she went over to the file cabinet marked with an 'S'. After grabbing a random keycard from out of the cabinet, she inserted it into the control panel before typing in a list of commands that were unknown to Lunar.
"Reanimation in process, I repeat Trophy JL50 processing!" The computer announced.
After typing the last command Ryan returned to Lunar's side in order to watch the process unfold. The Vault's holographic image of the earth dissipated as both the floor & ceiling projectors started to come to life. With obnoxiously loud mechanical sounds and bright lights, the duo watched as tiny laser beams were unleashed from the projectors. Both lasers from the projectors collided on contact as molecules started to form in the center. Like a 3D printer the machine began to assemble an unknown object of a unique color, material and size. The process itself was a little under a minute and before anyone knew it, the digitized card had been fully reanimated back into it's original form.
"Woah, what is that?" Lunar wondered.
"Take a look for yourself!" Ryan responded before grabbing the object from the machine and placing it down on the floor before Lunar. The object that had be un-digitized was a small metal belt with a crescent moon symbol on it's face.
"What is it?"
"This Lunar is the cosmic belt!" Ryan replied. "This belt once belonged to my good friend Courtney Whitmore. When she had this alongside the cosmic staff she was a force to be reckoned with, she literally was just the best hero!"
"Where is she now?"
The question caught Ryan off guard and before she knew it she started to turn away from Lunar. It took every fiber of her being to keep herself composed and not break down into tears. Being asked about Courtney made the woman flash back for a mere moments. There are some things that you just can't unsee, for Ryan she couldn't unsee the demise of her friend. In those few seconds she saw Courtney impaled by SteppenWolf's spear while her Cosmic Staff lay broken in two pieces just a few inches away from her.
"Ryan, are you ok?"
"Yeah Im just fine, Lunar!" She lied before feigning her normal happy state. "I think we should be getting back!"
"You're right, let's get going!"
"Just one second!" Going back to the mission at hand Ryan went to the 'G' file cabinet before pulling out an unmarked manila envelope. "I'm glad you got a chance to see the vault for what it -."
Turning back around Ryan's jaw dropped to the floor as she looked at Lunar. The Cosmic Belt was now gone and once again the tiger was happily chewing away like there was no tomorrow.
"Lunar no!" She cried in urgency before running over to him. Opening his mouth Ryan looked deep inside to see if she could the belt back, but much to her horror Lunar had already swallowed the trophy.
"Y-Y-You ate the c-cosmic belt!"
"Sorry I couldn't help myself, it smelled so delicious!"
"Oh crap!" She was so fired for this. When Highfather caught wind of this, he wasn't going to be happy.
-New Metropolis-
-Rooftop-
Sparrow loathed this planet with every fiber of his being. He couldn't understand how he managed to tolerate this place in his past life. It was grotesque with beauty all around and physically made him sick to his stomach. How he couldn't wait until his plans came to fruition. He was going to enjoy what his people would do once they took over. He could just see it now, parademons blackening out the skies, fires burning around the land, pain etched into every sound and finally the buildings carved into a throne, the same throne where his master would sit and be ruler for all eternity. This was the goal he wanted, and nobody was going to stop him this time.
"Are you done playing gargoyle yet Sparrow, cause If so maybe we can get some work done?"
As per usual Sparrow didn't have much time with his thoughts before someone came to interrupt him. "You're late Siren!"
"It's not my fault!" She confessed before setting the briefcase she stole from StarLabs down on the ground before him. "Taurus is the only one good with technology and he wasn't exactly thrilled to do this little favor for you!"
Sparrow couldn't help but smile, of course that inferior fool was trying to stop him during his moment of triumph. "I've already contacted the master and everything's all set, do you remember the plan?"
"You cause the mayhem and I grab Garfield and the cat!"
"Exactly, we've got a time schedule to meet so let's get to it!" He said. "And remember we need Garfield in one piece, so keep that lovely singing down a bit!"
"Hmph, you're no fun!" She pouted
With the plan set in motion Sparrow grabbed the suitcase before he & Siren started to sprint across the rooftops, their target eyes set on they eyesore that was Highfather's Palace.
-Highfather's Palace-
-Hall of Justice-
"Thank you all for joining me on such sort notice!" Highfather was his usual stoic self as he addressed the team of Ice, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Mento, Elastigirl, Negativeman & Robotman before him. Despite the urgency for them to meet right now, the heroes in the room couldn't help but look away uninterested at whatever doomsday prophecy was to come. It also didn't help that they lost six comrades just a few days ago, leaving them no time to grieve or remember the brave warriors. Unfortunately whatever Highfather's meeting was about, it couldn't take them out of the numb states they were feeling currently.
"Where's Clark?" Elastigirl couldn't help but question as the Man of Steel's chair was surprisingly empty.
"Superman is currently in a solar recharge station, his previous encounter with Sparrow left him greatly weakened." Highfather responded. "Which brings me to my next point, we need to talk about the device that was stolen last night."
"Raven took it right?" Deadshot wondered.
"Black Siren you mean." Negative Man corrected
"The names are not important, what's important is that she kicked our asses yesterday." Robotman said
"She also killed Dinah Lance!"
"Steve!" Rita shouted at her husband while Catwoman's face fell.
"Are you absolutely sure about this?"
"We know what we heard. Highfather, Black Siren said she killed Dinah for her canary cry!"
"Not Dinah!" Harley cried as a few tears escaped her ducks. Deadshot was set to console his wife, but instead Catwoman stepped in and found herself wrapping the clown girl close. First Ivy, then Dinah, the once Birds of Prey team was now down to just the two of them. Despite the fact that so many had died at the hands of Darkseid, hearing about Dinah's death just seemed different for the two women.
"Are you ladies finished yet?"
"Steve please!"
"Look Highfather said he had a meeting for us and that's what were hear for, not to grieve over the weak!"
That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Turning her attention to Mento, Catwoman drew for hew claws before slashing the man deep across his face. The Doom Patrol Leader cried out as droplets of blood started to ooze from his wounds.
"Next time you get both claws!"
"You Bitch!"
Much like so many of their meetings before them, this one was set to end in nothing but fighting. The Doom Patrol started to hold Mento back while the others were poised to hold Catwoman from engaging in more fighting. The intense battle never came however as the monitor sprang to life with urgency. It's blaring lights and ringing urgency made the Justice League stop what they were doing to pay attention to it.
"What's going on?" Rita questioned
"Highfather emergency, we have an emergency!" The image of a New Genesis worker soon came onto the screen. "Highfather we're under attack, two unidentified threats have broken through the outer security and are heading toward the palace."
"Visual image now!"
On command the image changed from the New Genesis worker to the outer skirits of where the Palace was. Walking among the littered remains of bodies was Sparrow & Black Siren who were happily making their way toward the palace.
"Attacking the enemy head on that's pretty ballsy!" Deadshot admitted
"Commander dispatch all warriors immediately to that location, Sparrow & Black Siren must be contained at all costs!"
"Right Away Highfather!"
"Siren's mine!" Catwoman growled before jetting out the door.
"Selena, wait!" Harley soon gave chase to her friend before Deadshot Ice and the others followed suit, leaving Rita & Highfather alone.
"We're supposed to be a team!" Rita cried. Once again another meeting had went awry thanks to hot heads and her husband's drunken outbursts.
"This isn't good!" Highfather stated. "They're walking directly into a trap."
"What do you mean Highfather?"
"The device stolen from Star Labs it's called a warp space modifier, it was originally created to depower any boom tube controllers so Darkseid couldn't use them for invasion purposes."
"What could the Paragons want with that?"
"The negative dimension that Darkseid is trapped in, it depowers his Boom Tube controlers greatly, however with the modifier it could repower and expand the energy to a dangerous level?"
"How much expansion are we talking about Highfather?"
"With that device, one Boom Tube controller could possess the power to bring all of Apokolips through!"
"Y-you mean another invasion?" Rita's voice was lost as the news fell upon her. As if they didn't have enough going on, this news was sure to shake up the League for the worse. Five years ago they fought valiantly against Darkseid only to barely escape alive, if an invasion were to happen again how on earth were they going to survive this time.
-Battle Grid-
As the saying goes there was no rest for the weary. In a world ravaged by war and depression all around it was difficult for anyone, especially a superhero to enjoy any downtime. For Garfield his PTSD always kept him from really unwinding or being himself. Most of the time he kept waiting for some foe to appear or some crisis to unfold, anything that could possibly pull out the tranquility beneath him.
Much to his surprise however nothing of the such came. While awaiting for Selena and the others to return the titan found himself in need of some entertainment. What better way to give himself a break then to use the Battle Grid computer which was right at his disposal.
After turning down the settings and eliminating all enemies on the control panel, Garfield returned to the grid just in time to watch the walls morph into his ideal setting.
But where would Garfield pick to go?
An Oasis deep in the dessert?
Or perhaps a video game convention in Japan?
Or perhaps the fun loving Disney world?
All destinations seemed like great places to go if you wanted some time off, but Garfield had another location in mind. As blue skies morphed overhead and the metal floor turned to green grass, Garfield found himself in the one place he wanted to be, the one place he hadn't seen since the Apokolips war. The entire battle grid had now changed to reflect that of Titans Tower.
"Wow!" Garfield sighed sadly. Walking up to the virtual simulation of the tower, the titan couldn't help but lean his body against it while reflecting on the past. It was hard to believe that this place was gone. It seemed like just yesterday they had moved into this building to establish themselves as heroes. So many good times so many battles had happened in this one single structure, he honestly couldn't believe that it was gone.
"Gar, Gar!" His admiration of his old stomping ground would be soon interrupted as Ryan's voice cut through to him over the battle grid's loudspeaker. "Gar, can you hear me?"
"Ryan?"
"Gar we got an emergency, I'm shutting down the battle grid now!"
"Wait, why?"
Before he could get another moment to admire his old home, the battle grid returned to it's normal state making all the virtual images vanish back to their original states. Garfield looked curiously as Ryan and Lunar came rushing in from beyond the door.
"Where's the fire Ryan?" He questioned
"We've got a big problem, friend!" Lunar said with urgency.
"What kind of trouble?"
"Sparrow's attacking!" Ryan began. "He's blown past the front guards and his making his way toward the palace,Highfather just initiated a lockdown and instructed everyone to get to safety."
"Aww crap, should have known Sparrow would attack sooner or later!"
"The League will handle him, for now we have to get you to safety!"
"Right!"
As Garfield, Ryan & Lunar turned toward the exit to leave, an unexpected obstacle blocked their path. The obstacle came in the form of a high pitched sonic scream that cascaded across the room faster than lighting. The mirrors in the walls that made up the battle grid shattered violently as glass spilled all over the ground. Garfield & Ryan were sent flying into the back wall as the sound harshly penetrated their ears.
"Friends are you ok?" Lunar being the only one unaffected by the sonic scream, eagerly was at his companions' side trying to see their wellbeing.
"Dammit that stings!" Ryan bemoaned as she clutched both her ears. As she tried to get up from the ground, the nurse couldn't help but notice that Garfield was now out cold, a possible result from hitting the back wall so hard.
"You two didn't really think you were going anywhere did you?" High heels stepped on the broken glass as Black Siren slowly walked toward the injured duo.
"Siren!" Ryan hissed.
"Long time no see Wilder, I had a feeling I might run into you!" She replied. "And you did such a good job by hand delivering Garfield right too me!"
"No way in hell I'm handing him over to you!"
"You don't have much of a choice, I mean it's either that or death by bleeding ears!"
"Go fuck yourself Siren!"
"Have it your way then!"
But it was Ryan who was to get the jump on Black Siren. Before the paragon could even begin to open her mouth, Ryan grabbed a nearby piece of broken glass and flung it like a boomerang. The projectile was quicker then Siren's attack and luckily for Ryan slashed the woman directly across the face.
"You bitch!" Black Siren cried as she clutched her face from the pain. Ryan wasn't finished however and found herself picking up another piece of glass. This time she stabbed Siren in the head first into the stomach before kicking her away from them.
"Ryan we gotta get out here now!" Lunar cried.
"Way ahead of you Lunar!" Ryan shouted. Despite her ears still pounding from the attack, Ryan managed to gather the strength to pick up the unconscious Garfield before quickly ushering him out of the doors and down the hall.
"Ok change of plans, she dies first!" It took Black Siren a few delayed seconds but the paragon managed to recompose herself. After ripping out the glass from her stomach and wiping the blood away from her cheeks, she ran full speed out into the hallway just in time to see the trio board an elevator heading up into the palace. "This isn't over, I'll get you all!"
-Outside the Palace-
While Black Siren pursued all of her victims, Sparrow was going full throttle to make sure that nobody stood in his way. After his partner left him the Paragon found himself transforming into his full body armor. Walking through the palace gates, Sparrow easily knocked out or killed the New Genesis guards that stood in his way. Before long the paragon had traveled through several sections and made his way to the courtyard overlooking the palace gates.
As much as he could have possibly waltzed through the front door in order to cause mayhem, being in the courtyard gave him the full advantage he needed. From this one point he could see all of New Metropolis as well as every section of Highfather's palace, this would be the perfect place to start the invasion as he could cover so much ground in so little time.
Now that the location was secure it was time for the rest of the plan to unfold. Going back to the briefcase that Siren stole, Sparrow unlocked the contents known as the warp space modifier.
The Warp Space Modifier was an item that resembled a large high velocity fan. The top of the device contained a housing station for a boom tube controller while a keyboard like interface sat next to it. The inside of the device contained several vials of unknown liquid while the entire device itself was protected by an unknown metal. While the item itself wasn't much to look at, it was going to bring Sparrow the much needed reward that was coming to him.
"Stop right where you are Sparrow!" Superman called out to the paragon. Sparrow thought that his solitude would last forever but in no time the rest of the Justice League as well as Highfather and New Genesis soldiers started to converge on the courtyard.
"You're too late!" Sparrow barked at his foes before placing the boom tube controller in its slot and typing on the interface. The heroes couldn't stop him fast enough and before they knew it the machine was coming to life. The liquid in the vials surged at a fast rate while the entire device started to give off sparks of electrical energy.
"What the hell's going on?" Deadshot questioned. Through his specially made visor he could see the energy vortex known as a boom tube conjure itself above Sparrow's body.
"We have to stop him!" Highfather shouted
"You're all too late, nobody can stop me, this time Darkseid's will be done!" Sparrow let out a maniacal laugh that could be heard as far as the eye can see. The forces of light soon watched in unspeakable horror as parademons started to pour from out of the boom tube. This is what they didn't want, this is what they were trying to avoid but sadly even they couldn't stop was bringing Apokolips into earth, signaling that the heroes were once again about to be in for a fight they would never forget.
End of Chapter 6
Don'tcha just love a good cliffhanger?
I know I do.
As always I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as I had alot of fun writing it, even if I did have to rewrite it again and again. Things are gonna keep getting heavy within the next few chapters so stay tuned for more updates. I will say the next chapter wont be very long as it's already written, I just have to tweak it some more and make sure it's perfect.
If you guys can please leave a review at the bottom let me know what you thought of this chapter and I'll talk to you guys real soon!
Arigato!
Z