Fortunately, Barbara was still pretty high up and the giant still a ways down, so he wasn't focused on her. Unfortunately, that was because he was focused on the large red form lying on the ground way below her, a form that seemed to be reptilian in nature.

"Ember," Barbara breathed. The dragon girl was just lying there, motionless, as the giant approached. Either she had been knocked unconscious or…Barbara decided to go with unconscious for now. But the problem was, she was still dangling at least seventy feet above her and at least forty feet above the giant. Not exactly an ideal place to plan a rescue.

"Come on Barbara," she muttered to herself. "Think."

She wanted to believe the giant was friendly, that he was just going to Ember to check on her. But she doubted it. She didn't fully know why, she could just feel it that this giant was bad news. Which still left her with how she was going to rescue Ember while dangling in the air.

She briefly wondered where Amani was but seeing as the girl controlled sand and they were in the middle of a desert, Barbara assumed she was fine. Julian on the other hand…well, she hoped he was fine but if he wasn't, there wasn't much she could do for him. Or Vader. She shuddered at the thought of him but pushed him to the side for the moment. She had to focus on Ember.

She did have a plan. It just wasn't one of her best. But with each second, the giant got closer and narrowed her window of opportunity. So, she just had to go with the half-baked crazy plan that was almost certainly going to end in her death. Then again, most of the Bat-Fam's plans ended up being that way and they almost always worked out in the end.

"Ok, here we go." She swung herself gently on the grapple, gaining some momentum until she looked like a pendulum. Then, timing it as well as she could, she pressed a button on the handle and the grapple released, dropping her.

Instantly, gravity took control and she fell, the ground once more rushing up to her. But this time, she was more prepared. She positioned her body so she was falling at an angle, headfirst, then threw her arms out along her cape, the wind catching it and allowing her to glide fast. She smiled, gaining more control and now riding the winds. But she was still falling pretty fast. And she still had the giant to deal with.

Now that she was closer, she could make him out a little better. He had reptilian legs, like a komodo dragon's, and bluish skin which matched his green-blue armor. And, as Barbara dove closer, she also noticed how the armor had carved, grotesque figures like monsters. In the giant's hand was a large trident, like Aquaman's except so much bigger and wicked-looking, and in his other was a large net, almost like he was going to go catch whales with that thing.

Barbara noted all of this in the seconds she had while diving, storing it away for now. She was coming in fast and could already make out the sneer on the giant's face as he reached Ember's prone form.

"What do we have here?" he said, reaching down.

Acting fast, Barbara released her gliders and aimed her grapple with her left hand while simultaneously taking several flash grenades from her utility belt, throwing them at the same time she fired the grapple. The grenades struck the giant in the face and went off, causing him to cry out in surprise, jumping back.

The grapple shot out, wrapping around the giant's thick arm tightly. Barbara swung down, close to the ground to help stabilize her momentum, before clicking the button on the gun again, releasing the grapple and once again dropping her. She fell to the sand below, bracing herself. She landed in a ball, rolling across a small dune, before coming up on her feet. She shook herself for a second and then moved, racing to where Ember was lying.

"Hey, Ember," she said, sliding next to the red dragon. "You need to get up, come on."

"Uhhhhhhh," came the reply. Barbara took that as somewhat good news as it meant she was still alive.

"Ember, you need to get up," Barbara repeated. "The giant is coming and I can't take him alone."

Ember's eyes flickered open and she winced a little. "I-I think I broke something," she said softly.

Barbara grimaced, not liking that. "Can you fly?" she asked.

"M-maybe."

"You will pay for that!" the giant suddenly roared. Barbara winced and turned around, facing him. This close to him, she could feel the pull that much stronger, like if she even cut herself, all her blood would just zoom out of it at once.

Ember still wasn't moving which meant it was up to Barbara to stop the giant. One problem: he was a giant. He towered above her, weapon raised high, and Barbara felt her throat go very dry.

You got this, she thought to herself. It Batman could take on all the supernatural and alien threats alongside the Justice League, then she could tackle one simple giant. Yeah, no biggie.

"Rahhh!" the giant stabbed down at her with his trident and Barbara hurled herself to the side to avoid it. She threw some batarangs at his face but only a couple actually made it there and they just bounced off.

"Where's Black Canary when I need her?" With that sonic scream, Barbara could knock the giant on his backside, no problem. In fact, she would take any superpower right about now, even Starfire's though she would never admit that to anyone.

The giant raised his trident again but instead of stabbing it down at her, he swung it like a club, laying it flat. Barbara leapt aside again, missing it by several inches, feeling the wind whip her hair as the trident passed. She rolled to her feet and then saw a shadow looming. She glanced up and saw the giant's foot coming down on her and again leapt aside. This time, as she dodged it, the impact sent her tumbling away, the wind knocked out of her. She scrambled up, trying to catch her breath and think of a plan of attack. So far, she had nothing. The only good thing was that she was distracting the giant from Ember. Hopefully it would give the dragon a chance to recover.

Then she realized something. Usually, supervillains liked to talk and brag, bluster about. Especially big ones. And mostly men, actually though some women. So, if she could get him talking about himself, then she might stand a better chance.

"Hi, yeah sorry," she called out. "Just want to say, if you're going to kill me, can you at least allow me the pleasure of knowing who will be doing it?"

The giant stopped, glaring down at her. "You mean, you don't know who I am?"

"Uh…" Barbara hesitated. "Should I?"

"Argh! Stupid mortal!" the giant growled. "I am Polybotes of the Gigantes, son of Gaea and bane of Poseidon himself."

Barbara frowned. Granted, she didn't know much about Poseidon except he'd been a pawn in the alien sea god invasion as well as the major battle between the Justice League and Legion of Doom. She thought he'd been killed off or at least vanished. But that wasn't important. She did know Gaea was considered Mother Earth by the Greeks and Romans but didn't know much else. So this giant considered himself the bane of the sea god. Felt like an Atlantean enemy.

"Ok," she said back. "That sounds…important."

"It is my destiny to slay the great sea god and claim the oceans as mine to rule," Polybotes continued, evidently not hearing her or not caring. "I will then bathe the waters with my poisonous touch, destroying it all."

Barbara grumbled under her breath. Another 'destroy-the-world' villain / 'remake-it-in-my-image.' Simple and dull. And also, how would he rule the oceans if he destroyed them? Villains like this were idiots who never thought things through. Still, Barbara couldn't underestimate him. If he was really considered the bane of Poseidon, then he have some serious god-like power, power Barbara did not have. And she didn't think her companions did either. So there was still that. Maybe Vader did, but right now she'd stick with just dealing with the giant.

She glanced over at Ember and saw the dragon slowly getting up. She just had to keep Polybotes talking for a little longer.

"So, the gigantes," she said. "Tell me about them."

Polybotes glared down at her again. "The gigantes are my brethren, destined to overthrow Olympus and the gods and remake the world in our image."

"Cool, cool," Barbara nodded. "And, uh, where are they right now? Cause, if you're all giants, I'd see them from far off but so far there's only you."

Polybotes seemed to frown. "I do not know," he admitted. "But it matters not. I alone am enough to vanquish all my foes. Beginning with you."

Barbara sighed. Guess she was out of time. She glanced at Ember and saw the dragon still struggling. No help from there, it seemed. Then it was time to think on the fly.

Polybotes grinned savagely, raising his trident up high. "Prepare to die, mortal."

Barbara prepared to leap aside again when a burst of white-hot fire erupted from the side, striking the giant right in the face. He bellowed in pain and rage while Barbara turned to see Ember rising up on her wings, unsteadily lifting into the air. She was holding her foreleg gingerly, clearly having injured it badly, but still managed to face off against the giant, a determined look in her eyes.

"Bah!" he cried, stabbing with his trident again but Ember narrowly dodged it. But then Barbara noticed what Ember didn't.

"Look out!" she cried but it was too late as Polybotes threw his net wide, catching Ember before she could escape. The net threw her off balance and brought her back down to the ground where she fell heavily, screeching in pain. Polybotes raised his trident for the kill.

"Geronimo!"

Polybotes looked up just in time for a giant curved sword to strike him in the face. He crumpled under it, falling over and barely catching himself before he hit the ground. Julian landed next to him in full giant hawk mode. In terms of height, Julian was a little under half of Polybotes. But even that was enough to do some more damage as Julian punched the giant in the face and slashed him across the chest. Polybotes growled and tried to get up but Julian punched him again in the face and then stabbed down with his enlarged sword.

Barbara winced as the sword penetrated, not comfortable with the killing. But it didn't matter as the sword barely went in, Polybotes merely grunting in pain before whacking Julian aside, sending him rolling across the dunes. Barbara saw the hawk avatar flicker before stabilizing again. As powerful as that form was, it was also clear that Julian couldn't hold it long.

As Julian got up, so did Polybotes, raising his trident above him. Julian charged forward and their weapons clashed. Julian's flickered again before he recovered, spinning away from Polybotes's next attack so he could strike again.

Barbara glanced back towards Ember who was struggling with the net a little, her injured leg giving her trouble. Barbara moved to help her when the two combatants stepped in her way. Julian was more on defense now, trying to hold his avatar together while Polybotes sneered down at him.

"You are no match for me," the giant told him. "A pathetic little demigod, fighting what you could never hope to defeat. I will relish your death."

"Relish this, punk!" Julian swung his fist out, catching Polybotes in the jaw. But the giant didn't seem too bothered by the attack. He planted his foot down on Julian's arm and raised his trident, bringing it down on the avatar form.

It instantly began to crack, flickering in and out wildly with Julian desperately trying to hold onto it. He moved to attack again but Polybotes pushed it aside easily, pressing down harder, a wild grin on his face. Julian began to cry out and then the avatar finally gave out, vanishing and leaving Julian's much smaller form in its place. Polybotes's trident slipped through and Barbara gasped but fortunately, it was too big to hit Julian dead on, instead striking the ground next to him. Polybotes raised it up again, this time intending to finish the job. Unless Barbara did something. And there was only one thing she could think of.

"Hey ugly!"

The trident stopped.

Barbara, not having any other ideas, decided to pull a 'Wally West.' Annoy the enemy as much as possible.

"If you look in the mirror does it crack?"

"What?" Polybotes asked, turning to her with a murderous look.

"Oh, so you don't have any brains either? Yeah, that makes sense."

"You will die a slow, painful death."

Barbara let out a dramatic yawn. "Yeah, heard it before buddy. Lots of times. Like so many times, it's crazy how many times honestly. And they were all scarier than you. Joker, Bane, Scarecrow, even Firefly." She listed them off her fingers while keeping a close eye in case Polybotes lost it. Judging from his current expression, she estimated that was thirty seconds from now. "I mean, you're big and all, but that's pretty much it. You say you have a poisonous touch but you just keep trying to stab me so you must be lying about that."

"You dare-"

"Seriously, your weapons are a trident and a net. Essentially a giant fork and…a net. I mean, how lame is that, honestly? It looks like you're a giant fisherman going out to sea to catch your breakfast. It's not really intimidating."

Polybotes stomped over to her, abandoning Julian. Barbara let out a breath of relief as she saw the guy groan and move to get up. A little away from him, Ember was making progress in freeing herself. But that good feeling it didn't last long as the giant now loomed directly above Barbara, threatening to stomp on her.

"I will crush you like the insect you are."

Yeah, he was going to stomp on her.

"Wow, how original," Barbara drawled, rolling her eyes, trying to sound as bored as she could while on the inside her heart was beating ten miles a minute. "Seriously, even when threatening to kill me, you sound weak. So lame, cliché. Unoriginal."

Polybotes lowered his foot, allowing Barbara another second to breathe, before he lowered his head a little to look at her closely. "Are you saying you wish for a more…dramatic death?"

Barbara really did not like the way he had asked that.

"Very well. What right do I have to deny you your dying wish." He then reached up into his hair and pulled something out. Or somethings. "My name means 'Many-to-Feed' in the old tongue. Your death will abate their hunger."

He lowered his hand and three snakes slithered out, large ones at least the size of anacondas though only as long as Barbara's arms. They had crowns of spiky white fins around their heads and deadly yellow eyes. And as they slithered forward, she could see fire brimming from their mouths.

"Fire-breathing snakes," she muttered. "That's not great."

"I hope your death is as dramatic as you wish." He smiled evilly down at her. "Now forgive me, I have a dragon to slay."

He turned around just in time to get another faceful of fire. "How do you like that?" Ember cried, flying by.

"Argh!" Polybotes snarled, ducking as she sent another burst his way.

Barbara lost focus in that, however, as the snakes approached. "Ok, nice snakes," she said in a hopefully calm voice as she backed up. "Nice, fire-breathing snakes. How about we…play a game or something, huh?"

She jumped to the side as one of them blasted out of her with its fire.

"I'm going to that as a no," she said dryly, then turned and hurled a batarang. It knocked one of the snakes on the head, laying it flat on the ground, dazed. The other two paused and then hissed in rage and attacked.

Barbara yelped as they both shot streams of fire at her. She missed one but the other burst caught the edge of her cape. She quickly rolled in the sand, dousing it before it could spread but that had been too close.

"Ok, try this." She threw some smoke grenades on the ground and then took off, running as the smoke exploded behind her, covering her escape. She didn't know how long that would deter them but at least it gave her a head start. She made for the cliff wall. There, she could shoot a grapple and head out of reach of the flames.

As she ran, she noticed Ember and Polybotes still attacking one another, Ember diving down to shoot a burst of fire at him or to attack with her claws while the giant kept trying to net or stab her. Neither was making much progress in taking the other out but Barbara could see that Ember was tiring more.

Then she heard the hissing sounds behind her and picked up the pace.

She was only a few yards away from grappling distance when some sixth sense warned her, causing her to suddenly leap to her left. Just as she did, one of the snakes sailed right by where she was, fire-breath discharging at empty air. She came up on her feet, ready to charge for the wall again but the snake quickly turned, blocking her. And before she could try anything else, the other two quickly surrounded her.

"Shit," she muttered, circling. The snakes were just watching her now, but she knew that at any second they would strike. They were just waiting, playing with her.

She was still too far away for the grapple gun. Besides, the second she pulled it out, they'd be on top of her. She could hurl some grenades the problem was they were on three sides. It was the same with batarangs. She threw at one and the other two attacked. She could always drop some smoke grenades at her feet, let it cover her. But that would probably prompt them all to attack. Still, it was the best plan she had at the moment, so it was the one she was going with.

She slowly readied herself, preparing to grab her grenades and bo staff at a second's notice. The snakes seemed to be gearing themselves up as well and just when Barbara was about to move, the air in front of her suddenly went still. She frowned, caught off guard, which the snakes took as an opportunity to attack. She flinched back, expecting to feel those fangs sink in, when they struck something midair, as if hitting an invisible wall. They fell back to the sand and hissed at her in confusion and anger.

"What the-"

"You're welcome." She turned to see Julian walking up, arm outstretched. "Just a boundary spell. Can't hold it for too long but it gives me a chance, you know."

"Uh huh," Barbara nodded. "Glad you're alright. You see what happened to Amani or Vader?"

"No. Went flying just like you after Vader…did his thing. Managed to turn into a hawk and gain some altitude for a few seconds before I saw the giant attacking. Don't worry, we'll find them. But first, let's send these slithering bastards back to hell." He raised his sword, ready to fight. As he did, Barbara noticed something else, feeling the sand shift beneath her feet. It rippled and shifted and then suddenly erupted. Barbara leapt back as it shot upwards, Julian yelping in surprise. Both of them watched as it rose up into the sky, forming a giant fist as it did and catching something midair. It then fell back to the earth, the fist coming apart and revealing Amani in the middle.

"Amani!" Barbara rushed over to her and gasped as she saw the wound across the girl's chest, blistering red. Like a heated sword had slashed her. Or a red energy blade.

"R-r-run-n," Amani muttered softly to her before going limp. Barbara quickly reached for her neck and was relieved to feel a pulse. But it was weak.

The hissing sound came again and Barbara winced, getting angry. She'd forgotten about the damn snakes. Apparently Julian's shield had dropped when the sand had shot up so now they were free to attack. She turned to face them, whipping her bo staff out when she felt something else. A pressure in the air, and getting stronger. And also a cold feeling. Just like what she'd felt before…

Her head whipped around to see the dark figure of Vader landing smoothly right behind Julian.

"Julian, look out!" she screamed, but it was too late. The boy had barely started to turn before the crimson blade erupted out of his chest. He stared at Barbara in shock, mouth open as if to say something. And then his body dissolved into a bright light, leaving only Vader in its place. He looked straight at her and Barbara felt her blood freeze.

The snakes hissed again, louder, and then two of them slithered forward, attacking Vader. Barbara allowed herself one second of hope before it was brutally squashed as he sliced the first snake in half as it attacked. Then, as the second one let out a belch of fire, he walked straight through it, the flames passing meaninglessly by him, and cut that snake down as well.

The third one, wisely, tried to flee but it was too late as it was lifted up in the air, writhing and wriggling wildly until there was a sharp CRACK! as its spine was snapped and then it was dropped limply onto the sand.

"Surrender," Vader said, pointing the energy blade right at Barbara's chest. "Or die."

Barbara held out her hands, acting carefully. At this point, she wasn't sure what else to do. Whoever this guy was, he was incredibly dangerous. For now, it was best to wait and see.

"Rahhh!"

Both Barbara and Vader looked up just in time to see the giant trident come flying through the air, missing Ember who skillfully dodged it and striking the rock wall above them.

Vader turned towards Polybotes, never lowering the blade. He regarded the giant, seemingly analyzing him. Barbara had seen Bruce done this many times before with enemies larger and more powerful than him. He was looking for a weakness.

"I will grind your bones into dust, little dragon!" Polybotes roared, now attempting to throw his net out wide to catch Ember but she was ready this time, weaving through the air and managing to escape each time, sending another blast of fire at him each time she did.

Unfortunately, she was weakening. With each second that passed, Barbara could see her slowing just a little more. It was only a matter of time before her luck ran out.

And a few seconds later, it did as Polybotes got in a good swipe with his hand, just grazing her wing that still sent her off balance, flapping wildly to regain control. The giant saw his chance and struck, throwing his net right at her. It hit her dead on, entangling her completely as her wings flapped and bringing her down to the ground. She writhed in the sand, trying to break free but only made things worse as the net wrapped even more tightly around her.

"Now, little dragon," Polybotes growled in satisfaction, walking over to her, "you die."

And then Vader struck.

Barbara barely saw him move. One second he was there, the next he had suddenly launched into the sky, as if propelled by a rocket. He soared through the air and then landed right on top of Polybotes, sliding down his backside and slicing him on the way down.

"RRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" the giant screamed, twisting around. He glared down at Vader. "Another tiny human. You…hurt me. You will pay dearly for that."

Vader didn't reply, instead just watching the giant carefully. Polybotes punched down at him and Vader moved fast, striking back with his blade and cutting a deep, red line across Polybotes's palm, causing the giant to roar again. Then Vader leapt up again, coming up to chest level and sinking his blade deep into the giant's chest.

Barbara blinked in shock as Polybotes dropped to his knees, clutching his chest as Vader removed the blade, dropping back to the ground. She couldn't believe he had killed the giant so fast. And so easily. It looked like it hadn't even been that much effort for him.

But then she saw Polybotes get back to his feet, grinning. "Stupid human," he snorted. "I am immortal. I cannot be killed by the likes of you. I can only die at the hands a god and demigod. And I see none about. The only way this ends is with your death."

"We will see," Vader replied. And then he suddenly brought his blade up, the crimson saber whipping through the air directly into the giant's face, blinding him.

Barbara shook her head. She was wasting time, watching the two fight. Her two allies were down and this was the perfect time to escape. She quickly ran over to Ember, Polybotes and Vader continuing to fight in the background.

Ember was straining against the net, stilly trying to break free. She'd managed to tear through some sections with her teeth and claws but was still too tangled up to make much more progress.

"Ember, I'm here," Barbara said, climbing carefully over to her. She pulled out a batarang and grabbed a piece of the rope and tried cutting through it but whatever it was made of was sturdy. She wasn't making any headway like this.

"Get me out of this," Ember growled.

"I'm trying," Barbara grunted, still trying to cut through but after another minute she gave up having made only a little progress. "It's too tough."

Ember sent out a burst of flame in frustration, forcing Barbara to back up. "Hey watch it! Why don't you just transform, become smaller. Then you can get out."

"Don't you think I want to? I can't change, not like this." She gestured to her injured leg. "If I shift like this, who knows what damage I might do."

Barbara looked at it carefully. "Is it broken?"

"I think so."

Barbara grimaced. She turned and saw Polybotes and Vader still going at it. Vader was doing much worse damage to Polybotes, slicing and slashing all over his body, creating what should have been lasting wounds but they all faded within seconds. Polybotes yanked some more snakes out of his hair, which was really gross, and threw them at Vader but he just cut each one down with a single stroke, continuing to attack with the same ferocity and dodging every single one of the giant's blows with ease. Still, eventually something had to give and whoever the survivor was, he would turn his attention towards them.

Barbara looked back down at the rope and thought quickly. She needed something sharp enough to break through the ropes but she didn't have anything on hand. Just some batarangs really, and they weren't sharp enough for whatever this stuff was. It would take too long to cut through it all.

Then she noticed the ropes around Ember's mouth, where the fire had hit. They were glowing and looked a little…thin. Barbara grabbed one strand of the net and starting cutting at it with her batarang. This time, she made progress, the heated rope severing more easily. Within a few seconds, she broke through it.

"Ok," she nodded to herself. "I can work with this." She turned to face Ember, holding up the batarang. "I need you to heat this."

"What?"

"Heat this up, with your fire," Barbara quickly explained. "It's the only way I can cut you free."

"Uh…but you'll burn your hand."

"My gloves are insulated, I'll be fine." Truthfully, she didn't actually know if they could handle it but she didn't have time to think about it either.

Carefully, Ember let out a small flame that really only stayed in her mouth. Barbara pressed her batarang against it, wincing as she felt the metal get hot. Once it was glowing, she took it back and began sawing away at the ropes, this time making much faster progress. It still took a few seconds to break through, but at least she was. She still winced, feeling the hot metal burn her hands even through the gloves, but she powered through it, cutting away rope after rope. After a little while, she had managed to free most of Ember's upper body, shaking off the larger parts of the net. Then, Ember turned and snapped at the rest of the net, cutting through it with her jaws and claws until she was free.

"Right," Barbara nodded. "Now let's get the hell out of here, shall we?"

"Sounds good."

They hurried across the sand back towards Amani's fallen form. As they did, Barbara watched Vader and Polybotes still going at it, neither of them looking the least bit tired. The giant had recovered his trident, swinging it wildly but never landing a single shot while Vader managed to cut deep wounds across his arms, legs, and chest. Littered across the sands were the bodies of several more of those fire-breathing snakes.

"Good, they're still distracted," Barbara muttered as much to herself as to Ember. They reached Amani's body and Barbara again checked her pulse, relieved to still feel it. "You need to fly us out of here," she said to Ember.

"That's going to be a little tricky," she replied, almost to herself. "I can carry one person, but two…it'll be slow."

Barbara grimaced. They didn't have time for slow. But if that was the best they had, then…

"Fine, let's just…" she began when she felt a tremor in the ground and heard a faint cracking sound. She turned and her eyes widened as she saw the cliffside crack open, a huge chunk of rock breaking loose. She then watched as it came crashing down on top of Polybotes who barely got his arms in front of his face, smashing into the ground and churning up a large cloud of dust and sand. It didn't seem to do much as Polybotes broke free a second later, casting all the broken rocks aside.

"You think that can stop me?" he bellowed. "I am Polybotes, the bane of the sea god Poseidon! And I will no-"

He was cut off, literally, when Vader's blade cut straight through his throat and out the other side, decapitating him. His head rolled out onto the sand and his body flopped back down, creating another cloud.

"That's not good," Barbara muttered.

Vader then emerged atop the heap of rock. The energy blade rose from its place in the sand next to the giant's head and then flew right back into his hand. He then dropped back down, facing them.

"Go," Barbara said hurriedly. "Go now."

"Right." Ember took Amani gently in her uninjured foreleg and then lifted off, grabbing Barbara with one of her backlegs. She flapped hard into the air, trying to make it into the air. But then she suddenly stopped. And then they began to move backwards.

Barbara looked down and saw Vader reaching up towards them with one hand, pulling them back to him with his power.

"Fly faster!" she cried.

"I'm trying!" Ember replied, her wings flapping furiously but they were making no headway. They were still being pulled back. Barbara threw some more grenades down at Vader but he just threw them aside with his other hand.

"He's too strong!" Ember grunted.

Barbara gritted her teeth. They weren't getting out of this. Vader would catch and kill them all. Or maybe just one of them.

She hated it. With every bone in her body she hated it. This was not how she wanted to go out. There was still so much she wanted to do, last words she wanted to share with her father, even her mother, her friends and family. And Dick. There was so much she wanted to say to Dick. But it was too late now.

"Drop me!"

"What?"

"I said drop me!" Barbara repeated.

"Are you crazy? No!"

"It's the only way. You two can get out of here while I distract him."

"I'm not going to leave you to d-"

"Ember," Barbara interrupted, "either some of us make it out or none of us. Don't let it be none of us."

Ember hesitated and then Barbara heard her mutter softly, "damn it," before her claw loosened and Barbara fell. She landed on the ground and instantly was up and running right for Vader. She made it about a yard before she was suddenly lifted off the ground and held up in the air, helpless.

Both hands held out, Vader held both Ember and Barbara firmly, drawing them both towards him. Barbara slumped, her gambit failed. Now they were going to die anyway.

"Alright, you heavy metal freak!" she yelled at him. If I'm going down I pro-" she stopped, feeling a pressure around your throat. She started choking, her larynx being squeezed by an invisible force. She grasped at it with her hands but there was nothing there.

"Your prattling annoys me," Vader told her. "I wil-"

He was interrupted when a sand fist smacked him right in the chest, sending him flat on the ground. Instantly, Barbara dropped to the ground, the pressure holding her up and choking her both gone. Ember was free too and in her grasp, Barbara saw Amani's hand raised slightly.

"Go!" Barbara yelled. This was their chance. Ember regarded her for a quick second and gave her a small nod of thanks before taking off, flying up the side of the cliff. Barbara turned back towards Vader, throwing some more flash grenades at him. This time, he was still a little too stunned to deflect them and they went off right in front of him, distracting him even more.

Barbara readied her staff again and charged, hoping to actually be able to do something this time. She leapt the last few feet, bringing her staff down when it and she suddenly stopped midair before being violently thrown aside. She struck a sand dune and rolled down it, groaning. She briefly looked up and smiled as Ember disappeared over the top of the cliff, out of sight. She was safe. Hopefully.

Then a shadow crossed over her face and her heart accelerated. She moved to get up but that invisible force returned, holding her in place.

"You surprised me," Vader said. "That will not happen again."

That was the last thing Barbara heard before everything went black.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Like I said, Vader is going to be staying a while cause he's the baddest of the bad. Also, I just want to add where I took him from in terms of the timeline. If you read the comics like I do, it's right before the War of the Bounty Hunters crossover last summer. If you don't read the comics, a little after Empire Strikes Back.

Sorry for any Julian fans, but he was never going to make it.

KiraReaper: Sorry for the wait and that you're going to have to wait a little longer. But don't worry. When Captain Cold arrives, he'll be as awesome. He's one of my favorite comic book villains and I'll do my best to bring that version here.

chekhov' .squad: i'll do my best. just to be clear, we're talking the Transformers from the movies right?

AACM25: Homelander's body is as tough as Superman's so Percy's sword would bounce off him. In terms of passing through cause he's mortal, well there is an explanation for that. The same reason why Harry and Hermione can't disapparate away from the world.

I also know a lot of these chapters are just character debuts but that's the point. There's a lot of characters coming from across the Multiverses. But the mystery of this place will continue to be explored.

I will try and do both manga and anime but I also have a lot on my plate right now so it'll be a while before characters can make their debut. Sorry.

Also, does anyone else realize we're getting Stranger Things, Kenobi, The Boys, Ms. Marvel, and Umbrella Academy from late May to early July? Damn this summer's packed and I like it.

Thanks again for reading this story. Please leave a review if you can.