Welcome faithful and friendly readers! As a part of my continued 29th birthday celebration I bring to you chapter 10 of Fang Chronicles. I know I said I would post it tomorrow but I'll be busy all day and didn't want to keep you guys waiting.
I want you guys to brace yourselves because this chapter is gonna be wild. Im very excited cause I'm imagining this as like a Season 1 finale of sorts. With that being said there's going to be some twists, some turns, and most of all lots of action.
Also be mindful of the last few scenes toward the end of the chapter. As I've said, we're closing out one storyline while also opening up a few new storylines that I'm really excited about. I think these upcoming storylines will satisfy what people are looking for as I have been getting personal messages of what people hope to see.
I hope you guys have grabbed your favorite snack and beverage because it's time to get on with the chapter.
See you guys at the end!
Chapter 10: Rising Moon Fang Part 3
-Luigi's-
"So get this the man starts talking about this Snakebite crap, claims it's gonna be bigger than any operation that me or Falcone have had in the past!" There were two things in this world that Sal Maroni loved near and dear. The first was making more money than Falcone every chance he could, the second was the veal parmesan served at his favorite restaurant Luigis.
After his tense meeting with Falcone and Roman Sionis, the crime lord gathered most of his crew at the establishment for two purposes. The first was to enjoy their favorite meal, alongside some beers and shoot the breeze. The second was to plot their next move against the cosmetics mogul. He not only killed a member of their crew but was plotting to be big competition in the future. With Flacone already being a thorn in his side, Maroni wasn't going to take any chances, he had to stop this nonsense before it even began.
"So boss, what's the plan, how are we gonna take out Roman?" One of his subordinate asked
"Yeah especially since he's got that freaky plant chick protecting him!" Another one added.
"Boys relax!" Sal Maroni reassured while taking another bite of his veal parmesan. "Last time I checked plants aren't fireproof and neither is he. All we gotta do is arrange for a little accident at Janus Cosmetics, then poof the Roman problem is solved!"
"How soon are we gonna do this boss?" Another soldier questioned.
"By sunset." He commented. "By the time we wake up tomorrow morning, MR Sionis will be good as toast!"
"Then we can go back to taking down Falcone?"
"Exactly boys exactly!"
"Boss Maroni sir?" A blonde waitress called out as she came toward the table. "You have a visitor sir, a Mr Liam Crandle!"
"I thought I told you I didn't want to be disturbed, this is why I booked the entire restaurant!"
"I know you didn't want to be bothered sir but he says it's urgent!"
"Fine, fine, send him in, I'll see him!"
As the waitress left the crime boss once more, all the men in Maroni's army turned their attention to the opening of the restaurant. Who could possibly want to see Sal Maroni so late in the afternoon? No doubt a relative of one of their associates or perhaps it was some poor scrub who needed a loan. Whatever the case the group watched the door with curiosity.
Soon through the doors came someone the group didn't quite expect. The visitor known as Liam was a teenage boy who looked to be around seventeen or eighteen years old. Liam himself was a Caucasian and skinny with short curly brown hair and baby blue eyes. Liam was dressed in a navy suit which included a long checkerboard coat, green bowtie and fancy top hat with a single feather sticking out of the side of it.
"Salutations Boss Maroni, I'm so ever glad to meet you!" Liam greeted Sal Maroni with a warm smile as he came up to the table and extended his hand. The gesture was quickly retracted as Boss Maroni never took his eyes off his meal and simply looked the teen up and down with disinterest.
"Who's the fruitcake?" A soldier whispered to another and started to garner a wave of snickers from the men in the restaurant.
"So MR Candle."
"That's Crandle sir, Liam Crandle!
"Whatever!" He snorted with a roll of his eyes. "What do you want, can't you see I'm a very busy man?"
"I realize that sir so I won't keep you long." Liam smiled before beginning. "Like I said before my name is Liam Crandle and I am an enforcer for MR Sionis!"
The mention of Roman's name caused the entire restaurant to go silent..
"Wait, wait hold up!" Sal Maroni waved his hands defensively while trying not to laugh. "You're an enforcer?"
"Yes sir and on behalf of the boss I've come to grant you one more chance!" Liam said. "Mr Sionis mentioned that if you declined this time that I would have no choice but to kill you!"
Although Sal Maroni couldn't help but laugh in Liam's face, the rest of his crew had the opposite reaction. Taking the threat seriously each mafia soldier in the restaurant suddenly raised from their seats and unsheathed their remained calm as further threats of violence seemingly unfolded and kept his attention on the laughing mob boss.
"Is Roman serious?" Sal inquired as he kept laughing. "He sent this pipsqueak to threaten me?"
"Oh my oh my, it doesn't seem like you're willing to give it a try!"
"You're damn right,like I told him I want nothing to do with his operation!" Maroni scolded. "Since you're so bold, I'll send your body back to him as a reminder!"
"So sad you being blinded by hate, due to this you just made your first mistake!" As Liam once again continued to speak in a rhyme form the top hat upon his head began to glow slightly with an eerie blue color.
"Enough of this nonsense, boys kill him!"
Sal Maroni had expected his mafia men to make quick work of the teen with their guns but surprisingly they did not obey his commands. As he looked around the restaurant, he could see his soldiers each with strained expressions on their faces. Almost as if frozen in time the men kept their guns trained on Liam but didn't respond to the command.
"What's wrong with you guys, I said kill him!" Maroni ordered once more but again his soldiers refused to do his bidding.
"Boss, I can't move my arm!" One man said.
"Me neither!" Another cried as beads of frustration danced upon his forehead.
"I said shoot him you idiots!" But no matter how many times he gave the orders the men could not comply. Sal Maroni couldn't understand what was happening, all he could do was turn his attention toward Liam who was still grinning with satisfaction. "What the hell did you do to my men?"
"Just a hat trick is all, something to show you that indeed you'll fall!"
"Knock the rhymes off you lunatic, before I-" Maroni was set to grab his own gun in order to shoot Liam but like the others he felt his own body fighting against him. His brain cried out to his arms commanding them to lift but unfortunately they wouldn't respond, keeping him hostage to whatever strange power was going on. "I can't move either, what's going on?"
"Gentleman!" Liam began. "If you all would raise your guns, I'd like to give your boss a little demonstration!"
The top hat on Liam's head glowed once more and suddenly the men sprang to life. On the teens command each of the mafia members began raising their guns while placing them directly next to their heads. The men protested, some cried out for mercy but none could fight the orders that were given to them.
"On my mark you'll all expire, when I count to three with your guns you shall fire!"
"Wait no!"
"One!"
"Please we can talk this out!"
"Two!"
"You little runt why I oughta!"
"Three!"
The next few moments were what shocked Maroni the most. As Liam announced the final command, each of the men pulled the triggers on their guns. There was the endless echo of cannon fire as each mafia soldier blew their brains out all over the walls. The mob boss gasped in horror as he started with sixty men, then fifty, and before he knew it fourty. Like dominos each of the men fell quickly and before one could blink a sea of bodies littered the restaurant's floor while blood and brain matter decorated the checkered wallpaper.
"How the fuck did you do that?" Oh how the mighty had fallen. For one who is supposed to be so fearless and powerful, Boss Maroni was showing his true colors. Without his men to protect him he was reduced to a cowering man, who was now at the mercy of this teen with strange powers.
"I can't really take all the credit for that, instead I'll just thank my top hat!" Liam gestured to the headpiece once more which was still glowing.
As Sal Maroni kept his sights on the top hat before him he couldn't help but wonder what the boy meant. How did a top hat make his men kill themselves? Or rather how was it keeping him hostage at this very moment. It all didn't make sense unless.
"I'm the luckiest teen, thanks to this and MR Sionis I'm finally being seen!" He bellowed with the same happy rhyming tune. "But that's enough I don't want to get off track, with that being said it's time for the final act!"
"What the hell do you mean?"
"I'm going to lay off the rhymes for this one." He commented. "Now pick up your knife and slit your throat!"
"No way in hell I'm doing that!" Although Maroni was rebellious with his mouth, his body obeyed the command of Liam's hat. Although he tried his best to fight against the movement, his arms extended grabbing the knife he was using to cut his dinner with.
"Isn't neuroscience a wonderful thing?"
"You can't do this!" He wept as he put the knife close against his neck. "You're insane I tell you, completely mad!"
"Mad as a hatter!" Liam let out a geekish laugh as he watched the rest of the spectacle unfold. Boss Maroni was powerless to stop the teens final act. As soon as the tip of the knife reached his skin in one swift motion he swiped the steel across his skin. Similar to slicing an orange, Maroni's skin was fragile and easily opened up. As the blood trickled down his neck like Niagra falls, Liam walked away triumphantly as the crime boss took his final breath.
-New Metropolis Power Plant-
"Come on already, I don't have all day!" Black Siren's voice contained a mixture of boredom and anxiousness as she held Ryan tighter by the meta-human cuffs. Having arrived at the most inopportune time the paragon now managed to gain the upper hand in this situation. With Ryan Wilder as her bargaining chip, she was going to force Garfield and Lunar to surrender. So far the ex titan hadn't spoken a word, he merely found himself staying silent while he kept his gaze upon Raven's face.
His Raven, his rock, the single most important thing to him. How he thought he would never see her again. All the nightmares he had, all the praying and wishing he had done, it was all to get her back. But much like the cruelness of fate she was not whom he remembered. The woman before him had Raven's face but lacked any of the personality that he so desperately fell in love with.
This was a stranger, someone who worshiped Darkseid, someone who was about to kill one of his family members.
"Garfield!" His piparoid friend nuzzled up against him which snapped him out of his daze. "What are we gonna do?"
Garfield dared not answer because he had no solution on the subject. He knew in his soul he couldn't let his best friend get hurt but he also didn't want to face Raven. Even if he had his armor he still didn't want to do battle, he might have hurt both of them and such he wouldn't be able to live with that.
Black Siren couldn't help but yawn at the stillness of this situation. "And here I thought hostage situations would be more exciting!"
"If you had a heart you'd know why he's acting like this." Ryan spoke. "You may not care about him, but he still cares about you or rather what's left of you!"
"You're kidding right!" She snorted. "Is that why you haven't surrendered?"
"Well-."
"Oh I get it, you're hoping I come to my senses and give you back your little demon slut!"
"Don't you dare call her that!" Garfield snapped back with a beasty growl.
"Why not, it's not like she was anything special!" Black Siren stated. "I mean I get your both incredibly boring but I have hard time seeing how anyone could fall in love with that stupid pale little goth girl!"
Garfield balled his fists as tightly as they could go as he clenched his teeth with discomfort. It was hard not to get angry at this situation, especially when this imposter did away with the real Raven. "Don't talk about Raven like that!"
"Why not you know it's the truth!" She laughed. "I'm so glad the master saved me from that dull life, imagine being Raven let alone being your girlfriend!"
"Oh damn!" Ryan sweatdropped as she saw the temper rising in her friend.
"Shut up!" Garfield sneered.
"As if anyone could ever love your pathetic green ass!" Black Siren bellowed before once again going into a hysterical fit of laughter.
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Garfield's rage reached a pivotal boiling point as he couldn't take any more insults toward him or Raven. Very unexpectedly he sped at the two women. Black Siren was so caught up in laughing that she didn't see the rage filled teen coming at her like a speeding bullet.
When Garfield was in close distance he grabbed Ryan and pushed her back toward Lunar before tackling Black Siren to the ground.
"Ryan are you ok?" Lunar questioned as the Afro girl fell down on the ground next to him.
"I'm fine Lunar but I need you to get me out of these cuffs!"
"Roger that!" The Piparoid saluted with a single tiny paw before he started to chomp away at the steel meta-human cuffs.
"Get off of me!" Black Siren cried out as Garfield's small but muscular body kept her pinned down toward the dirt.
"Give me Raven back!" Garfield cried out before delivering a single punch to Black Siren's face."Give her back!" Despite it being Raven's body, Garfield didn't care. He grasped at straws and struck Black Siren in the face several more times, hoping that the impact of the punches was enough to snap Raven out of whatever brainwashing Darkseid had on her.
After the fifth punch inflicted on her beautiful face, Black Siren opened her jaw and unleashed her sonic scream at him. Garfield cried and clutched his ears in pain before the attack sent him flying backwards toward Ryan and Lunar.
"Gar you alright?" Ryan inquired as she tried to help him out.
"I totally forgot she could do that?"
"How dare you hit me!" Black Siren cried as she clutched her face. While she was definitely going to deliver them to her master at this point she couldn't guarantee it would be in one piece.
As Garfield, Ryan & Lunar backed away from the approaching Black Siren they became even more alarmed as Sparrow suddenly awakened. Having regained consciousness from being attacked early, the paragon shook the rubble off of him before joining his comrade.
"Took you long enough to get here!" Sparrow commented with a slight attitude in his voice.
"Just be thankful I didn't leave your idiotic self to die!"
"Whatever, let's just get them already!"
"You're not laying a finger on them!" Superman's voice penetrated the atmosphere as he unexpectedly swooped down from the skies and delivered a single punch to Sparrow forcing him back.
"Superman!" Lunar gushed gleefully like a fanboy before he locked eyes with the kryptonian.
"Not you again!" Black Siren cried.
"Not to worry Siren, we're here too!" Catwoman stated as she appeared from the shadows. Catching Black Siren off guard the femme fatal delivered several claw marks to her face before kicking her backwards. "That was for Dinah!"
"Alright!" Ryan cheered as the rest of the Justice League suddenly entered a fray. While Superman and the men kept Sparrow busy, Catwoman and the rest of the ladies fought against Siren.
-New Metropolis Regency Hotel-
"Jimmy, It's Carmine, I need you!" Never before in his life did Carmine Falcone ever felt such urgency. He kept his gun close to his side while the cell phone was close to his ears. He made sure to watch his back every step to make sure he wasn't followed.
"I hear ya loud n clear boss what's up?"
"I just read the paper, somebody whacked Maroni!" He announced right before he bowled his way past a group of people and onto a single elevator that was going up.
"That's great news boss!"
"No it's not!" He said. "Listen I don't have time to explain, just gather all the manpower you can and meet me at our safehouse near the Suicide Slums!"
"Boss, you're worrying me!" Jimmy stated. "What exactly is going on?"
"No questions Jimmy, just do it!" With that Don Falcone shut his cellphone and waited impatiently as the elevator made it's slow descent toward the penthouse. He knew Roman was a snake yet he still let him bite him. Despite the fact that the Daily Planet called Maroni's death a mass suicide he didn't believe it. He knew his rival better than anyone, there was no way he would even dare do something so dishonorable.
All signs now pointed to Roman wanting revenge for how they treated his so-called business offer. Knowing the cavalcade of freaks that Roman was planning on producing, he had to hurry; he didn't want to get tangled up in this more than he already had. Once he grabbed Alberto and Sofia from the safety of their penthouse then he would go after Roman and hopefully protect his self entirely.
The elevator buzzed with a delightful bell sound as the door opened toward his penthouse room. Carmine had expected to be greeted with the sight of his luxury room that he had paid oh so much money for, instead however he wasn't greeted to that at all but rather something much worse. The minute the doors opened he was greeted to the sight of Roman's enforcer Poison Mary.
"Good evening Boss Falcone!" Before Carmine could even try to reach for his gun Poison Mary got the jump on him. Planting a small kiss on his lips the woman then snatched the crime boss inside the apartment and threw him against a nearby wall.
Much like Maroni's henchman that died earlier, Falcone felt the toxin from Mary quickly ejecting itself into his bloodstream. While his body lost the strength to stand he could easily see the sight of both his children tied to chairs with gags in their mouths to silence them.
"What took you so long?" Poison Mary questioned. "These two are not exactly good conversators, I was starting to get bored!"
"You bitch!" He snarled before coughing up flem from the poison. "You don't know who you're messing with!"
"I'd beg to differ, in fact you're not much of a threat anymore MR Falcone!"
The Crime Boss was set to rebuttal against the villainess but found he could not. The skin on his lips began to turn bright green before his body started to convulse slightly.
"Looks like the poison is taking quicker effect then I thought, oh well it just makes my job a whole lot easier."
As Falcone tried to get control of his poisoned body, both Sophia and Alberto cried out for their father while trying to undo the ropes that bound them. In the background while the trio suffered, Poison Mary grabbed two items that she had on the kitchen counter, one being a gasoline can and the other being a box of matches.
"Nooo, please don't!" Was all Falcone could make out between gasping for air.
"Did you know Maroni was going to set my boss's building on fire?" She questioned. "I'm not really much of a fire girl myself but I'd hate to waste such a glorious idea!"
"Stop it!"
But Poison Mary persisted, opening the cap on the can and she slowly poured the gasoline over both Sophie and Alberto to the point where their entire bodies were drenched in it. Her boss ordered her to make them suffer, she couldn't think of a better way then what she was planning at this very moment.
"N-N-N-N-No!" Falcone's speech became slurred as he was greeted to the echoing sound of his offspring crying through the mouth gags.
"To the Falcone family I wish you guys a splendid vacation in hell!" After opening the elevator to go down, Poison Mary struck a single match and threw it at the group before leaving the penthouse. Much like an arrow hitting it's target the match hit the puddle of gasoline and soon erupted into a wave of flames.
Sophia & Alberto kept screaming for their father as the flames caught their knees soon engulfed their entire being. With the poison quickly coursing through Falcone's veins it wasn't long before he succumbed to death, the horrifying part was however that his last vision of earth was his children and his penthouse covered in hellish flames.
-New Metropolis Power Plant-
"Good news friends, the paragon armor is finally healed!" Lunar's exciting announcement was enough to break the silence between the trio. They were so busy watching the battle between the League and the Paragons that they easily forgot Gar was un-transformed. Now that he could transform again, perhaps he could finally turn the tide of this battle.
"That's great news isn't it Gar?" Ryan's voice was motivating as she turned her attention to Garfield. Strangely enough though her best friend didn't answer, instead his eyes were locked onto Black Siren doing battle with Catwoman, Ice, Harley and Rita "Gar?"
"Huh wait what?" He quizzed before snapping out of his day dreaming.
"Lunar's ready to go, I think you guys need to get back in there!"
"Oh right!" He agreed before turning his attention back to Lunar. "Come on little buddy lets-."
As the duo turned to a piparoid friend, they were greeted to a strange site. Lunar's body rocked back and forth while his tail was curled in a defensive position. The tiger cub's eyes were large like saucers while screeching sounds escaped from his mouth.
"Is he supposed to do that?" Garfield asked
"Lunar, what's wrong?" Ryan wondered.
But the cub still didn't answer. Instead his body kept with the rocking position while the screeching from his throat got louder with every second. Garfield and Ryan backed away with caution unsure of how to help their piparoid pal. Was he malfunctioning? Or was something else going on that they couldn't stop?
All was revealed as soon as Lunar screeched loudly for a final time. Shooting out of his mouth came two unknown items one big and one small. The moment the objects were out of his mouth, Lunar ceased the strange action and gave his friends a grin of relief. "Sorry about that?"
"What just happened?"
"I had a hairball!" He stated flatly.
Both Garfield and Ryan sweatdropped at the cat's explanation before turning their attention to the so-called hairballs that he had just regurgitated. Still covered in thick piparoid saliva, Ryan's mouth dropped to the floor when she realized what he coughed up.
The larger of the items was the Cosmic belt that Lunar consumed when he and Ryan visited the vault. The second item was a cog made of silver with a star on it's front.
" He coughed up the cosmic belt!" Ryan exclaimed in surprise. Despite it being covered in saliva the belt had no damage marks on it, almost as if it never left the safety of the vault.
"What kind of cog is this Lunar?" Garfield questioned before picking it up.
"Beats me, I've never seen it before!"
Before the group could inquire more about the situation, Superman went flying past them. Like a baseball being thrown into the outfield the superhero was heavily tossed into a wall where his body made a large imprint. Turning back to the battle at hand, Garfield, Lunar and Ryan came upon the sight of Sparrow coming toward them. While Black Siren was still doing battle against the women, Sparrow had knocked away most of the challengers and was now setting his sights to take down Garfield. "No one left to protect you now Garfield!"
"I wouldn't be too sure about that Sparrow!" He grinned before showing off his bracelet. "Fang Fury!" With the armor now being fully healed, Garfield wasted no time in transforming back into his Moon Fang form with some assistance from Lunar.
"Take him down Moon Fang!" Ryan shouted as she cheered for her friend.
Running full speed at his opponent, Moon Fang delivered a swift claw across Sparrow's face before headbutting him a few feet backwards on his butt.
Now that his opponent was a good distance away from him, Moon Fang opted for use of one of his cogs. But not the golden ones that he had just learned how to use.. Instead he went for the silver cog that Lunar spat out of his mouth earlier. While he wasn't sure what the cog did, he felt it calling to him, almost begging for him to use it.
At this point he had nothing to lose, it was time to put Sparrow done for good. After loading the cog into his bracelet the paragon, the entire armor became shrouded with a shimmery mist before a brand new weapon came into his hand. From inside his helmet Moon Fang gasped with shock as he instantly recognized the weapon that he had been given, the weapon that once belonged to a fierce warrior.
"Is that?" Even Ryan struggled to contain herself as Moon Fang held the item.
In Moon Fang's hands was now the Cosmic Staff, the legendary weapon that belonged to his friend Courtney Whitmore AKA Stargirl.
"How is this possible?" Moon Fang felt a mixture of emotions as he held the weapon that his friend loved . Some were of dejection as it reminded him of how he lost her while the other half was joyous at remembering how close they were. Much to his surprise his visor screen also flashed with select videos of Stargirl. Each video not only showcased her using the cosmic staff to fight villany but it also showcased some of her amazing talents as an olympic gymnast..
"Quit stalling and face me coward!" Sparrow spat before charging again, this time he resummoned his hook swords to aid him in battle.
"Here he comes again Gar!" Lunar warned.
Luckily for the paragon he had little to worry about, as Sparrow got within striking distance the staff reacted and yanked him out of harm's way. From there Moon Fang retook control of the situation by grabbing the staff and fighting back.
Landing a central hit on Sparrows torso, the paragon then landed a jab to his shoulder, foot and helmet before blasting him back with the staff's cosmic energy. Dropping his hook swords as he went backwards, paragon Sparrow was helpless for what was to come next.
Having seen how his comrade used to fight in battle, Moon Fang torpedoed the staff forward before jumping on top of it. He was surprised such a skinny weapon could hold Stargirl's petite frame much less alone the weight of the Moon Fang armor. Whatever the case the staff held strong as Moon Fang directed it, almost like a surfer riding a gigantic tidal wave.
As Sparrow got up to defend himself the staff struck him across his side before doing a complete turn and striking the other side. Powerless to defend against the cosmic staff, Moon Fang kept riding the staff and ramming into various pieces of Sparrow's armor. It wasn't long before the paragon's armor started to spark in certain areas, signaling that it was near full damage capacity.
"Let's finish him off Gar!" Lunar shouted with child-like excitement.
"Way ahead of you!" As he stopped riding his weapon, Moon Fang's feet hit solid ground before he grabbed the cosmic staff and aimed it at Sparrow. The weapon glowed with its golden energy before the tip of it erupted with a powerful beam of light energy.
Despite the overwhelming thrashing he had just faced, Sparrow dug his heels into the ground to try and withstand the energy beam coming directly at him. He considered himself the mightiest of all paragons but even he was not prepared for what was to come.
As the cosmic beam directly hit his armor he was overwhelmed by the force. Although standing strong Sparrow became increasingly panicked when his armor suddenly vaporized from all the damage and went back into his bracelet. With his human form now taking most of the brunt of the attack, Sparrow screamed out while feeling the intensity of his skin being scorched.
"Sparrow!" Seeing her comrade in trouble Black Siren quickly fled from the battle she was facing and snatched him out of the way of the beam before it could do more damage to him.
Clutching the burn marks on his body, Sparrow shot the paragon a look of hatred before flipping him the bird. "Damn you Moon Fang!"
But Moon Fang didn't care about the petty insults thrown at him, he merely twirled his staff in a showy fashion before gesturing to them to fight him some more.
"Another day, Moon Fang another day!" With that both Sparrow and Black Siren backed away slowly before retreating from whence they came. The members of the Justice League cheered on the spectacle as they were the victors of today.
"You did it Gar!" Lunar shouted with excitement.
"Nah, we did it buddy, all of us!" Moon Fang stated with a satisfied tone as he was joined by an awaiting Ryan and the rest of the league.
-Apokolips-
-Main Chamber-
The sting of failure may have been acceptable for Sparrow and Siren, but by no means was it tolerated by their master Darkseid. Having foreseen the upcoming defeat by Moon Fang and the League, the tyrant retreated to the main chamber where he had been earlier. Instead of sitting at his throne and commanding his servants the New God stood at a vast window that overlooked the rest of his empire.
"You called for me master?" Darkseid was not alone with his thoughts for long as his henchman Dessad came up from behind him.
"Sparrow failed me." He stated plainly while never taking his eyes off of the view outdoors. "I had high hopes for him, but seeing this makes me realize my suspicions about our paragon slaves are correct."
"Does this mean?"
"Yes, Dessad let us begin work on project Nova!"
-Sometime Later-
-Wayne Manor-
-Living Room-
"Ugh I don't believe this!" Ryan bemoaned before face planting herself on Bruce's writing desk once more. Today couldn't have been more of an exhausting day, between the paragon attack and evacuating all her patients at the hospital she was completely out of steam. To make matters even worse this paper was in front of her now, the paper that the Justice League had also received with urgency after they cleared the rest of the parademons from New Metropolis.
"Hey Ry?" Garfield called out his best friend's name as he opened the front door and walked into the living room. Also escorting him was Lunar who quickly jumped on the coach in order to make himself more comfortable.
"Hiya Ryan!" Lunar chirped.
"Hey guys." She murmured in a depressed tone, never taking her eyes off the desk.
"What's the matter girl?" He questioned. "We beat the paragons, saved the city, now's not time to be moping around, we should be partying!"
Instead of responding to her friend's comments, Ryan merely extended the piece of paper to him. As he took it from her hands, his eyes bugged out of his head as he read the contents.
The Note read as follows.
Items stolen from JL Vault during Apokolips attack
Item 345- Scarface puppet
Item 348- Penguin's Umbrella
Item 666- Eclipso's Black Diamond
Item 101- Weather Staff
Item 228- Fiddler's Violin
Item 229- Chest of Toys belonging to Toyman
Item 509- Sample of Clayface's Mud
Item 42- Sample of Parasites Skin
Item 30- Killer Croc's Tooth
Item 80- Cheetah's Avatar Totem
Item 298- Circe's Spellbook
Item 663- Felix Faust's Amulet
Item 404- Calculator's Laptop
Item 505- Lex Luthor's Kryptonite Battle Armor
Item 60- Deathstroke Super Soldier Serum
Item 400- Fear Gas Needles
Item 309 - Yellow Lantern Ring belonging to Sinestro
Item 100- Bloodsports Rifle
Item 52- The Joker's Joy Buzzer
Item 34 & 35- Cold Gun and Freeze blaster belonging to Captain Cold and MR Freeze
Item 290- MayFly's Sniper Gun
Item 1000- The Shade's Cane and Top hat
Item 6- A Vial of Cooper head's Poison
Item 20- Ras Al Gul's Sword
Item 49- Heatwaves Fire Gun
Item 667- 100 Depowered Black Lantern Rings
Item 2- Wildcat's suit
Item 44- Hourman's Hourglass Necklace
Item 90- Hawkman and Hawkgirls maces
Item 50- Zatanna's Wand
Item 200- DR Fate's Helmet
As Garfield finished reading the note at hand, his face contorted in confusion before he pleaded with Ryan for an explanation.
"While we were busy fighting Darkseid, someone broke into the vault from underground." She said. "They stole those significant items before taking Kate with them."
"Wait what, they kidnapped Kate?"
Ryan nodded sadly. "Yup, thank goodness they didn't search her hospital room or they would have taken this too!" Going beneath the writing desk, Ryan pulled out a duffel bag and tossed it to Garfield. Its contents inside contained the Batwoman suit alongside her utility belt filled with gadgets and the cowl with her fiery red wig.
Garfield was set to ask his friend more questions but the exasperated look on her face convinced him not too. He could easily see that she didn't want to talk about losing her mentor, it was no different about how he didnt want to talk about losing Raven.
Whatever the case, both friends suddenly looked back at each other with interest as they both got the same idea.
Without warning both of them settled onto the large sofa in front of the television set and began flipping through the thousands of channels that it had. Although there was much they wanted to express in this very moment, they just couldn't do it. They were both overloaded by such a long week that it called for the art of relaxation.
"I love this place, can we live here from now on?" Lunar asked before he jumped on the couch with them.
"I guess that's not out of the question." Ryan stated. "With some dusting, a little coat of paint, and some new furniture we might be able to bring the manor back. I'm sure Bruce wouldn't mind if we used it for the time being!"
"Not like we have a choice, It'll take them weeks to repair Highfather's tower!" Garfield added
"Yay, we have a new home!" Lunar cheered
"You do realize we'll have to figure out a way to stop the paragons, save Kate and get those trophies back now don't you?"
"I do but that's for tomorrow, tonight we have pizza!"
"Now you're speaking my language!" Ryan exclaimed before picking up the phone and dialing a number. "Hello D'agostino's I'd like to order three veggie pizzas with extra cheese please!"
"Hey don't forget about me!" Lunar warned
"Oh yeah and can you make one completely out of scrap metal?"
As the trio settled into the large sofa, they began to go about their nightly lounging. Even though tomorrow would be busy, none of that matters at this moment. For right now the only thing they could focus on was the fact that they were alive, together and had the strength to continue on another day.
-Ace O Clubs-
"You Imbeciles!" Granny Goodness's voice was boisterous throughout the bar as her holographic form appeared through the communicator. Displeased by the failure they endured earlier, the Apokolyptian woman spent a good half hour berating Sparrow and Siren. Both paragons kneeled before the hologram in discomfort as they were forced to listen to the insults hurled at them. They were thankful that this was just a holographic image, only the Gods knew what horrors Granny would have done to them had she been in the same room with them.
While the two failures received their well deserved tongue lashing, the rest of the paragons lay low in the background, sipping on their drinks and watching the satisfying show before them.
"You had him you Nimrods and you let him get away!" A frustrated Granny squawked. She became even more angry as she tried to hit them and realized that she was in holograph form and couldn't do anything to discipline them.
"It's all Sparrows fault Granny!" Black Siren waved her hands in a defensive motion while passing the blame on her comrades.
"What, me?" Sparrow shot the vixen hate filled looks. "Maybe if you had used your armor we could have double teamed him and won!"
"No way in hell I was putting that armor on, do you know how hot it was outside?"
"Shut up, both of you!" Granny wailed again, silencing any bickering between them. "The master is displeased by this course of action and demands a swift solution. Sparrow since you failed your mission you leave me no choice but to reassign you!"
Sparrow chomped his tongue hard as she dared to suggest the one thing he hated.
"Paragon Taurus, Paragon Thrust!" She called out.
Eager to please Granny and show up Sparrow, both paragons downed their drinks before coming up to the holographic image ."We await your orders Granny!"
"From now on you two will lead the assault on earth!" She bellowed. "Bring me Garfield Logan and that mangy cat Lunar, I will not accept failure like Sparrow and Siren!"
"Don't worry Granny, you can count on us to get the job done!" Doing the speaking for both of them, Paragon Taurus did his best kissing up to Granny while shooting mischievous looks at his rival Sparrow. He always knew that Sparrow was weak, despite his claims of being the strongest paragon. Now that he had failed to capture Garfield, this made it all the more easier for him to be Darkseid's favorite. With Paragon Thrust at his side, Taurus knew he couldn't fail; it was only a matter of time before this war was over and his master would remain unchallenged.
-Janus Cosmetics-
-Basement-
The elevator doors echoed with a rusty howl as it finally reached the basement of Janus Cosmetics. As the doors opened slowly both Poison Mary & The Mad Hatter exited from it's confines and through automatic sliding glass doors.
The basement of Janus Cosmetics itself was converted into a spacious laboratory to house the production of the snakebite drug. Needless to say the entire room was abuzz with busy workers. Some were in the process of extracting venom and fear toxin from hazard tanks while others were too busy picking freshly grown mushrooms from artificial cages. There were also workers on an assembly line making crisp white boxes and printing snake emblems on them, all of this to make sure the production of snakebite went smoothly.
But Poison Mary & The Mad Hatter weren't interested in any of the peons that worked for them, their interest was concerned too the back of the laboratory where their boss Black Mask was waiting for them. Conversing with their boss was an unknown tall woman who looked to be in her early forties. She was slender and caucasin, with hazel eyes, long flowing black hair that reached her shoulders and a very small nose. This stranger was dressed in a pinstripe suit with a dark green coat and short cuffed heels. She also wore oval shaped glasses and carried a large green walking cane with a sideways question mark on top.
Next to Black Mask and the mysterious woman was a bed containing the captive Kate Kane whose forehead was hooked up to a large medical computer screen.
"Welcome back you two!" Black Mask greeted upon seeing his enforcers come close to him. "I trust everything went well out there?"
"Both Maroni and Falcone have been eliminated per your orders sir!" Liam commented. "We've also taken the liberty of sending a pointed message to the other gangs in case anyone decides to show their faces!"
"Speaking of faces, whose the chick?" Mary questioned.
"Ahh where are my manners, this is Dr, Evelyn Rhyme our newest member!" Black Mask stated."MS Rhyme I'd like to introduce you to Poison Mary and Liam Crandle, our new Mad Hatter!"
"Please let's not be so formal, you may call me Enigma all my friends do!" She shot back before greeting the duo with a warm smile and a lady-like handshake.
"E Nigma?" Mary questioned in bewilderment
"How strange to have that name!"
"It's not so strange when you consider who my father was!" She laughed. "In fact this cane actually belonged to him, I modified it however to be more useful to me!"
Both Mary & Liam shot each other a look of confusion as she introduced herself. The Riddler actually had a daughter. Some woman out there actually had the gumption to not only put up with his psychosis but to bear him a child . Such a realization baffled both of the enforcers.
"I assure you I'm far from anything like my father!" Enigma said. "Instead of trying to outsmart bats all my life I've come up with something far more lucrative!"
"We'll have more time for meet n greets later, for now we've got a business deadline to meet!" Black Mask stated. "Mary you're with me, Liam stay with Enigma and begin work on Ms Kane over there!"
Following the bosses orders both Liam and Enigma hovered around Kate Kane's bed and began to work while Black Mask and Poison Mary headed back toward the elevator.
"So where's the next assignment boss?" Poison Mary questioned.
"Snakebite hits the streets at midnight, so we're going to see a certain someone about borrowing some extra couriers!"
"Where exactly is this certain someone anyways?"
"The Iceberg Lounge!"
"So Enigma is it?" The moment Black Mask and Poison Mary got into the elevator, Liam was poised to get to know his new comrade better. "What exactly is your specialty?"
"Mind games my dear hatter mind games!" She laughed. "Between your smarts and mine we should be able to crack Ms Kane's subconscious with little effort!"
"I can't wait to see what her mind hides!"
"Don't worry we'll find out soon, real soon!" As more electrodes were placed atop of Kate's forehead the duo laughed maniacally before doing their jobs. So many secrets the former Batwoman had to spill, so little time.
-Sometime Later-
-New Metropolis-
-Suicide Slums-
Black Siren stumbled to the ground, her slender form now drenched in a puddle caused by the rain overhead. Her body failed to find the strength to stand while her cranium pounded like a judge hitting the desk with his gavel.
She couldn't understand what was happening. She remembers getting chewed out by Granny Goodness before deciding to get some air. As she strutted through the streets of New Metropolis, she felt something call to her, something so powerful, almost mesmerizing. She was drawn to it like a moth to a flame, like a fish needing water.
She didn't know why but she followed her instinct, all the way to the Suicide Slums. That's when the headaches started. At first they were annoying, just a small tap and such, but before long she felt her head throbbing with agony. She never felt pain like this before, it felt as if her brain itself were going to explode.
"What's happening!" She wept. As the pounding became more unbearable, her vision started to blur where even she couldn't tell what was happening. As she suffered in anguish a figure in a black coat with a hood stepped in her path. Although Black Siren couldn't see much due to the headaches, she felt the presence of the stranger who was standing just a few feet away from her. "Who the hell are you?"
"You know me, or rather she does!" The voice stated flatly as it addressed her.
Black Siren was set to ask the stranger another question but the impact of the headaches came full circle this time. The Paragon cried out once more before her body collapsed onto the cold hard ground of the street.
The hooded figure waited patiently for a reaction and before long Black Siren's body started to awaken again. Even though the figure's identity was cloaked, they couldn't help but crack a smile as the Paragon stood up to face him. Gone were the eyes of Darkseid's minion, in its place were the beautiful purple eyes of Beastboy's true love.
"It's good to have you back, Raven."
End of Chapter 10
Hi Everyone! So that's the end of Chapter 10! I really hope you guys enjoyed those surprise endings as well as the entire chapter itself. I had so much fun making this chapter that It helped me brew some more ideas that we will see later.
So what kind of terror will Paragon Taurus & Thrust bring? What is Project Nova? What does Black Mask have up his sleeve and more importantly what's going on with Black Siren, or Raven I should say for the time being.
All these questions will be answered around the end of June when I post chapter 11. Until then please don't forget to kudo, bookmark, and comment if you love this story. Remember the more feedback I get, the more I can keep feeding you guys interesting and fresh content.
With that being said I hope you guys have a great rest of your week! I'm off to enjoy my birthday so I'll see you guys in a couple of weeks!
Love ya!
Arigato!
Z