Meltdown
The clip was inserted, and one last check was made to make sure it was secured in the gun. Waller critically examined the weapon, knowing it was her last line of defense. She could hole herself up in this office; in fact it had been designed to withstand an assault by the prisoners here.
Prisoners that had been set loose by a bunch of undisciplined children. Such defenses could be tested to their limits. Yet…she didn't think that they would be needed.
Through security feeds, she had watched what had happened, observed as the entire collection of specially selected inmates went toe-to-toe with one of the deadliest assassins on Earth. The violence and brutality were a whole other level, but nevertheless, a grimace managed to crack through her stoic facade.
How much damage could one man do? Now she had an answer.
Flag hadn't returned and there was no word from the med bay. Calling in the guards from the aboveground section of the prison would be an act of futility. Whoever hadn't been struck down would need to keep the upper levels secure.
This left her to end this situation. Fine. She would. Let Slade exhaust himself, and so long as there was damage to his body armor, her handgun here ought to finish him off or push him over the edge. There was still the intention to take him alive, but sometimes even the best laid plans weren't enough and you had to take the kill.
Alive, dead, what did it matter? Gripping the gun's handle tightly, Waller made her way out of her office. Someone had penciled in a date with destiny and she was not about to keep it waiting.
The shapeshifter's body language gave away the hostility that the boy was feeling. At any second, he was going to strike, but with the distance that existed between the two of them, any action that was taken would be visible and easy to see.
Of all of the Titans he had studied, this was the one he had spent the least amount of time learning about. Between the others, a shapeshifter who restricted himself to animal forms was shooting himself in the foot. Why just animals? Why not anything else? There was no need to worry about superspeed, or alien strength, cybernetics that could morph into different weaponry, unclassified supernatural powers, or even commanding the earth.
Compared to that, the restricted shapeshifting was on the lower end of threats. Put more of an emphasis on restricted as the shapeshifter had preferred animal forms and tended to cycle through the same ones.
A mere gun was all that was needed to put this Titan down. A shame he wasted his ammo with Deadshot. Still, trying to get something out of this Titan that would make this hunt worthwhile ought to prove amusing.
The Titan with the dumb moniker of "Beast Boy" shifted into the form of a cheetah, building up speed in a short period of time. The assassin was timing it down to the second, knowing when to strike with his sword. He could feel the world slowing down, his awareness of every foot crossed heightened, and his grip on the sword handle tightening in preparation.
He could make out those feline eyes when, abruptly, the green cheetah vanished from sight. Deathstroke's single eye widened at the unexpected—
A gorilla burst into existence barely a foot in front of him, a thick arm shoving the sword to a side while the rest of several hundred pounds of primate weight slammed into the killer. He was thrown back, over the still twitching body of Peacemaker, and only then did he flip his body over itself to land on his feet, boots digging into the floor as he skidded against the flat surface.
The green gorilla was giving chase, and Deathstroke still had his sword in hand. An unexpected yet lucky hit. Now—
The primate form shifted again, taking on a smaller avian form that sped out of his sight, into his periphery, and then…nothing. Where had he gone? The dual-colored assassin whipped his head about, trying to find where the shapeshifter had gotten to.
Suddenly, his head was jerked back as a weight settled on his shoulders. A howler monkey screeched close to his ear while its grubby little hands pulled and yanked on his helmet. A cry escaped his throat—how? He reached back with an orange-gloved hand to try and grab the pest, only for the shapeshifter slip past his fingers, seemingly flowing down his back.
A pair of hooves struck him right there, and forward was he propelled. Onto his stomach, his chin bouncing off the floor, that was how the deadly killer landed. Such a thing hadn't happened to him since his special forces training.
Giving a snarl, he rolled onto his back and kicked with his feet, throwing himself back up to face the green menace and found—nothing. Nothing until the rhino appeared and nearly gored him. A last second dodge spared him the horn, but not the rest of the rhino and he was knocked off his feet and sent spinning. His back collided with prison bars, and the grunt he gave out the only sound escaping him.
A gorilla hand grabbed onto the arm in which his sword was still held. The giant monkey was in his face, saliva splattering against his helmet from a guttural roar. Deathstroke didn't hesitate as he decked the gorilla in the side of the head once, twice, then where the throat should be though his aim was a little off. The gorilla took the hits, eyes narrowed, then it roared again as it twisted itself about, flinging Deathstroke across the cell block to slam into a wall between individual cells.
The air out of his lungs spewed out, and he was panting to regain his breath. What was happening?
No time to figure out that, a roar indicated another charge, leathery hands rapidly beating across the chest as a lunge followed. Somehow, he still kept his hold on his sword, and it was far past time to use it—vanished again!
A single blue eye darted around, trying to find where the green Titan went. He couldn't have gotten far! What had he become? Where did it put him?
Instinct was all that saved him, reflexes having him leap to his right just as an elephant came crashing into the spot he vacated. The green pachyderm tossed its head about and dislodged many cinderblocks while it was at it. The truck was whipped about to try and grab at the assassin, and here a well-timed slash of his sword was attempted. He struck nothing as another shift occurred and all that was left behind was empty space.
Wolf jaws clamped down on a wrist, canine snarls growling through a green muzzle that viciously shook. Deathstroke took a step back to maintain his balance, finding his arms full of green fur and powerful muscles. The gauntlet that covered a portion of his lower arm protected against the teeth, but the underside was more vulnerable and less thick to allow for more fluid motion.
Still, this was the closest that he had become to the shapeshifter, and the assassin could overlook some discomfort for this. Pulling an arm back, he slammed a punch into canine ribs, getting a sharp yelp though the jaws did not let go. He landed a second hit, then a third to the head, and upon contact, the shapeshifter shifted once more.
The sword was still in hand. He could see where teeth grinded into his armor. So what would come next? A quick scan gave away nothing. That didn't mean much; as much as it galled him, he had to conclude that the Titan had taken on a small form. Perhaps an insect. Sure, he could crush an insect easy, but first he had to find it.
He started moving, not wanting to remain a sitting target. His every sense was straining, trying to detect the threat before he struck. Where was he? Where was that Titan? He was not this challenging the last time they had met.
Behind.
Deathstroke spun, slashing his sword in an arc, just missing the green form vanish. Whatever beast he had chosen, Beast Boy had relinquished in favor of using the speed of his shifts to dodge. The dual-colored assassin was starting to appreciate that kind of tactic, even if it was frustrating for himself.
Back around, just missing the shapeshifter once more. Trying to go for his back? That limited where he would strike next. The boy better not be falling into a pattern; it would be a mistake to do that at this level.
From under him came the next strike, the form of a hippo raising him up with his legs on either side of the massive form. Balance was thrown off so instead of attacking, he was trying to keep what little balance he still had. Hippo shifted into a donkey and Deathstroke found himself aloft in the air as gravity pulled him down into the awaiting hind legs of the equine as they lashed back. The flat side of his sword had to take the dual-blow and he was thrown back and over the scattered bodies of the injured.
His upper back absorbed the landing and he rolled over himself to get purchase back under his feet. What was charging after him was a tiger and its jaw clamped down on the sword. Now it was a tug of war for the weapon, and the assassin lost as the green big cat wretched it out of his grip and with the throw of the feline head, sent the sword flying away.
Deathstroke brought both of his fists on either side of the tiger's head, and pawed feet scrambled at the floor as disorientation overwhelmed the shifter. Clasping his hands together, the killer tried to jackhammer them downwards only for another shift to save the shapeshifter's hide. This vanishing act ended when a mighty bear reared up out of thin air.
With a roar, the green bear swiped its claws and into his side they landed. A portion of his armor was torn off, claws cutting through both flesh and fabric. The pain surprised him enough that he cried out from it. From the other direction came another swiping paw and this knocked him over and onto the floor. Despite the pain, he had tried to block only for his defense to crumble under the bear's might.
This reversal was…stunning. He was losing. He was losing to the Titan he hadn't expected much of. Huh,
It wasn't making any sense. It…no, wait. Something did make sense, but he hadn't quite grasped it yet. Blunt force trauma was starting to affect him, slow his thinking process down. Physical might wasn't winning here, now, and so he needed his brains to turn the tide.
That is, as an enraged bear roared above him, if he had the chance to.
Raven had been the first to sense it. Cyborg had made the visual confirmation. They knew where Beast Boy was, and so the four of them came charging out to try and save their errant teammate's hide.
What was he thinking? Trying to take Deathstroke on by himself?! The man had owned them one at a time then four all at once, killed and incapacitated some of their best members, so what did he think he could achieve here?
Wonder Girl didn't want to lose another one. With how much they had already lost, it was already too much.
But when they arrived at the cell block, that museum of the world's worst criminals and killers, Beast Boy was holding his own and keeping Deathstroke on the ropes. This had not been on her bingo card and so the armored blonde was stunned at the sight.
They had arrived for the donkey kick, saw the disarming with the tiger, got alarmed when the mask-wearing bastard seemed to get the upper hand, and then the bear mauling commenced. The quick shifting seemed to keep Beast Boy ahead of anything Deathstroke did and it didn't look like the green Titan was going to be letting up.
"Since when did BB switch on beast mode?" Cyborg spoke, voicing pretty much what she herself was thinking.
Yes, she had seen him, or more like caught glimpses, of how their shapeshifter fought. Sparing with him had never come up during Starfire's physical education classes. He tended to take a form and stick with it until the situation called for another, and then relied on that form's natural abilities.
Something about this was different, though, and she could not put her finger on it.
"He's angry," Raven uttered. "He is lost in his rage. His emotions…they're…"
Trusting what she was saying, Cyborg turned to their empath and urged her, "They're what?"
Raven bowed her head slightly. "There is so much turmoil. I fear…I believe he has lethal intent."
A certain memory arose unbidden in her subconscious but Wonder Girl quickly quashed it. Nevertheless, she understood what Raven was talking about and what would happen if Beast Boy followed through on them.
That threat wasn't just for her, but for all of them. She just happened to be the center of attention at the time.
"We gotta stop him," she stated, her hands balled into fists and her body braced for action.
An arm was in her way all of a sudden, and it was surprising to realize that it was Starfire's. "Wait, my friend," the Tamaranean bided.
Looking to the alien girl whom she had never held ill will towards, "But Starfire, if he does what Raven says he's going to do, we can't let that happen! Killing Deathstroke might save us a lot of grief, but doing that will only make things worse. You know who will be leading the charge after him if he does that!"
"But he will not," Starfire stated, her green eyes on the fight itself.
"You don't know that," Wonder Girl argued.
"Do you not see it? Our friend has altered his fighting style," the Tamaranean explained. "He does not hold his forms for long periods of time. He is changing shape rapidly, one body to another, and in short bursts. He does not retain it for long. It has been giving him an advantage against our foe, but I believe that he will not be able to maintain such a style without the proper conditioning to do so."
She listened, taking in every word. As she heard the explanation, the little pieces of this puzzle clicked firmly into place and she could see what Starfire was seeing. The bear form had done a lot of damage, but now there was a deer trying to gore the bastard only for another shift into something small, something they did not see from here, and then another big form from another direction, this time a large bird that was flapping its wings while trying to claw through Deathstroke's mask.
Another shift, something heavy, a cow of all things, but Deathstroke managed to keep himself from being crushed under the weight. From a cow, to a gorilla that bore any hit landed on it to throw the assassin across the cell block, and then another small form that was later replaced by a horse trying to trample their enemy.
It was happening quickly. What else was there that she didn't see yet?
"He will tire himself out before he can land a killing blow," Starfire stated. "However, he is damaging Deathstroke. If our intervention is successfully measured, we can intervene when our friend cannot fight anymore."
"And Deathstroke too beaten up to put up a fight," Cyborg finished. He was scowling, but he made no move to act because the plan laid out to them made too much damn sense.
Were they really going to do this? Would they let Beast Boy burn himself out in a one on one duel like this? Why couldn't she come up with a better idea? Why was it Starfire suggesting such a plan? Too much, it was overwhelming, but the armored blonde could not just back out now and turn away.
Taking a step ahead of them, it was Starfire who was preparing for a last second intervention here. "When the moment is at hand, we strike with all of our strength. Our friend will be depending on us to do so."
They were doing this, then. Turning her gaze back to the fight, Wonder Girl did what she could to get herself into the game. When she—they—acted, every second was going to count.
Pushing himself back onto his feet, Deathstroke found himself breathing heavily, his shoulders rising and falling with each breath he took. That amount of time was all he had as the next attack lashed out at him.
A lion roared as it swiped clawed paws at him. The assassin had learned too recently how effective such claws could be and it was taking too much energy to avoid them. Snapping teeth did not make things better, but he managed to keep out of the way long enough for the green Titan to end the attack.
This time, the shapeshifter reverted to his human form, and it seemed that he too was short of breath. Shoulders rising and falling, green eyes continued to glare at him while adolescent muscles slightly bulged from exertion. Crouched with the palms of his hands on the floor, the green-skinned Titan's body twitched randomly from…
His single eye narrowed. Was he reading this right? He knew the signs, had seen them before, but could they be trusted with someone who could change the very shape of their body down to the genetic level? It looked like the boy was tiring out, and if he was…
Right. Take advantage of this lull to take stock. What did he still have? Disarmed from his sword, running low on knives and ammo, still some incendiary devices, he had tossed his pistols earlier…but not all of them.
He still had one on his person. In case of emergency. It was tucked in a boot like a spare throwing knife was. Getting it out without getting too much flack from the shapeshifter would be tricky, but he needed to play his cards right.
"Not bad," the assassin remarked. "You're full of surprises, aren't you?"
There was no response from the Titan. Just more self-righteous glowering. Wasn't he suppose to be one of the chatty ones? Just when you think you know people.
"We're both on our last legs, and we both know it," he stated, his tone of voice becoming flat. "Let's make this quick and finish it."
The green Titan's teeth clenched together, the first sign of preparing to attack. Deathstroke bent his knees and leaned his torso forward, shrinking himself physically while holding his hands at the ready. One hand was lower than the other, bringing it closer to the one boot it needed to be close to. Wait, let the shapeshifter strike first. Survive long enough to get that gun. That's all he needed to do.
Everything seemed to slow to the point that every heartbeat could be felt. Every pound of it, the flow of flow rushing through the vessels, the strain afflicting each and every muscle, the burning both of them must have felt in their exerted bodies.
Beast Boy struck, legs pushing back and launching him forward as he began to shift. Deathstroke lower hand streaked to the correct boot, sought to retrieve his emergency firearm as the shapeshifter's body began to stretch and lengthen. The dual-colored assassin attempted to back up, use that movement to try and get the gun whose handle he had just reached ready to point at his opponent, and then changing body became more and more solid.
These shifts, were they always so quick? Even Fugate had had difficulty timing these transformations. Of all the animals that the green Titan could pick, a constrictor snake was not one he expected. Just as the gun was pulled from its little hideaway, the reptilian coils of a thick body collided with the assassin and then began to wrap around.
With a grunt, Deathstroke fell back, and now he was trapped as those scaly coils squeezed. More grunts slipped out as he could feel the air being forced out of his lungs. Pressure inside skyrocketed, the damaged armor failing to protect from it. His bones were starting to grind tighter against one another.
This…this was not a bad move. Of all the Titans to start respecting… But he wasn't about to be stopped, not here, not now, not when there were still the others to kill.
Doing his best to ignore…everything, he rotated the wrist of the hand that still held his retrieved firearm, maneuvering the barrel of the weapon until it pressed against the slithery hide of this constrictor. There, and now, his trigger finger was tensing.
The shapeshifter must have seen the gun, seen where it was pointing, and felt it too. The pressure mounted, and still, his finger tensed and pulled…
Air was such a beautiful thing. The pressure disappeared as the shapeshifter released him, changing to another form fast enough that even had the trigger been pulled, the bullet would have missed. The mask he wore restricted how much air he was getting and there was an urge to yank it off. The assassin had more control than that, and now he needed to get another wind, second, third, fourth, it didn't matter which as long as he got it.
Rolling onto his front, Deathstroke pushed himself up, found the Titan nearby and back in his human form. The quick changing was really taking a toll on him now. Still, noticing the movement that the killer was making, Beast Boy tried to attack once more.
The body began to increase in mass, hair was growing over everything, the upper body was swelling while the legs took on a canine appearance. Hands enlarged and grew claws, teeth were elongating, a snout was emerging, and bestial eyes clinched shut until—
This had been different. Every other shift had been immediate and instantaneous. This shift had been slower, much slower, enough that Deathstroke had been able to see every little change. So many features, it seemed like the Titan was trying to be more than one animal at a time, not choosing one and the result of it?
—all the changes reverted and a panting Titan was left kneeling. Curiously, the jumpsuit he wore was looser, as if it had been stretched by this new form. Someone had run out of juice.
Maybe it was the fifth wind, because Deathstroke still had another to get back on his feet. His balance wobbled, but his control remained and he stood upright. He faced this…this worthy foe. He had tried, after all, pushed him like he hadn't been pushed in a very long time, exhausted this highly trained killer, and even though he came up short, even though he had played a role in Grant's death, the slighted killer found that he still had room in his blackened heart for a modicum of respect.
"I haven't been pushed like this in a long time," Deathstroke told the overexerted Titan. His words had those infuriated green eyes looking up at him, still full of defiance. "Too bad, if you could have only kept it up a little longer… Still, as a show of respect…"
It took a lot to truly disarm him, and his spare gun was still safely in his grip. Up it was raised until it aimed right at the Titan's head.
"...I'll make it quick."
This time his trigger finger didn't tense; it just pulled. A red, glowing rope lassoed his wrist, was pulled, and his aim thrown off. Once more, another last second rescue.
But it was too last second. The gun fired and the right side of Beast Boy's head exploded with blood splatter. A scream from the Titan echoed throughout the cell block, and to confirm that he was still alive, his right hand was pressing against the right side of his face. Blood spewed out between fingers and more flowed down the front of the pained face.
That bullet might leave a mark if Beast Boy didn't die from it.
Green bolts of energy nearly grazed him and he kept his body turned while he tossed the gun to his other hand while using the captive one to grab the magical rope that had denied him a quick, confirmed kill. On the other end, the girl in armor had her feet planted in the floor, intending to not be pulled. The Tamaranean was incoming with both of her hands alight. The cyborg looked ready to come running after his alien friend and their little sorceress was hanging at the rear.
That wasn't all. Turning a corner, two more Titans came into view. Their leader and their speedster. He could see the brace still on the latter's legs. Their appearance was serendipity. Yet, that was not all. Look further to the left, and peering through a hallway, who did he spy but the taskmaster herself, Waller? Now what was she doing so far away from her secure sanctuary here? Did she want to see this with her own eyes?
None of it mattered, not when the Tamaranean was so close. He let her come, waiting while feeling the burning in his muscles from everything, and when she was not close enough to stop herself, he lunged while swinging an arm out. He closed the distance between them too quickly for her to react effectively, and the butt end of his gun pistol whipped her. His shoulder came next, and then she was over him and bouncing against the floor further down the block.
Next, he gave a tug on the lasso. The girl holding it tensed up further and dug her heels in. She understood the warning well.
"Want a rematch or should I come to you?" Deathstroke challenged.
No banter this time. Seemed the children were figuring out that no amount of bravado was going to help them. They were continuing to learn; it could be seen as a shame that killing them now would effectively shut down any and all further growth they were capable of.
None of that would balance the scales, now would it?
To do that, the Greek warrior there would go first. Point blank, against the flesh, would that armor be able to protect her? Let's find out.
Maybe it was a talent or a sign that their luck hadn't run out, but just as abrupt as the magical rope around his wrist had grabbed him, a booming voice declared, "There you are!"
Above! Deathstroke snapped his head up then threw himself to a side as Major Force slammed down where he had stood. The assassin's arm was yanked by the rope as the resistance from the girl remained. This was far from frustrating at this point.
Glowing brightly, the last remnants of ice crystals vaporizing off the massive body, Major Force bellowed, "You're not getting away this time!" a red hand couldn't be seen thanks to the energy enveloping it. His armor just had to be ruined.
However, he was now standing between the psychotic soldier boy here and the changeling behind him. If Force fired, then one Titan's death would be assured.
The Titans must have realized that. The Tamaranean was his unexpected savor as she flew right into the militaristic experiment's arm and redirected the blast that ensured. Hopefully the cell it fired into was empty or otherwise someone was fried. The force of the detonation had the killer moving and it was to try and get around Major Force. If he could position himself with the Titans behind him…
The armor-wearing girl suddenly retrieved the rope, his wrist freed as the magical object slithered away. Not that that was going to save her, except Major Force struck the Tamaranean and sent her flying away, searching and finding him quickly enough to fire another blast. He hadn't gained enough distance and so he had to pull back to avoid the attack. Damn, how to handle this?
Major Force made the choice for him, roaring as he charged at the killer. The attacks were so easily read and telegraphed; it was child's play to avoid them even with the exhausted and injured state of his body.
"Stand still and die!" Major Force snarled.
Deathstroke darted in and landed a punch to the nuclear-powered bastard's head. Even with the protection his glove provided, it still felt like hitting a solid wall of steel with the bare hand. There was no yielding, just resistance. That didn't stop him from landing a few more blows and learning that he didn't have the strength right now to continue with this line of attack.
Major Force swung an arm, but instead of dodging, Deathstroke planted his arms against the swinging limb and used it to push back against it. This had the effect of throwing him back several yards and he even flipped his body midair to slow himself. As he landed on the floor, close by was none other than his sword.
Where fists failed, let a blade try.
Incoming was the Major, heedless of any threat to him. Swiping up his sword, the assassin held the weapon at the ready, calming his mind and—
Spinning on his heel, he ducked under the punch and picked up some speed for his countering slash. The blade should have cut into the man's arm, but a sign of his exhaustion had the flat of the sword colliding with that tree trunk of an arm. Undeterred, he lashed out with slashes and slices and Force to his credit went on the defensive, blocking each attack with his lower arms.
The sword was cutting but not quite enough to break through. You could barely make out a scratch unless you were hyper observant. When he was able to actually land an appropriate hit, he could tell his weapon might be able to penetrate further judging by how it was biting into the Major's suit.
Not content to remain on the defensive, Major Force tried to fire more energy blasts at near point blank range. Deathstroke kept himself within arm's length, using the length of Force's arms to make sure each blast was fired behind him. A few more attempted blasts, a couple more slashes with the sword, one more switch up of tactics on the Major's part, and an opening was observed.
With a fighting roar, Deathstroke swung with all his might, slipped past the walking case of unrestrained rage and landed a hit on the wide torso. He continued with the slash, letting the blade cut in as deep as it could, damage as much of the suit as possible. The tip caught and got stuck, but he was still agile enough to turn a slash into a thrust while kicking a leg up to push off of his larger opponent.
The tip of the sword ripped out from in its wake an intensely bright light tore out of Major Force.
Red hands immediately clamped down on the chest. "My suit! What have you done?!" Major Force cried out, panicked. Too much pressure was applied and whatever damage that the killer had done was worsened.
He only knew the basics, an overly patriotic zealot with simple-minded thinking was experimented on and became a human nuclear reactor. How this was accomplished was anyone's guess, but how the man kept from becoming a nuclear reactor in meltdown was easily answered by the suit.
The containment suit.
There was a breach, and now all of that energy wanted to escape.
There was little time to run, but Deathstroke was determined that here was not where he was going to die. No, a quick escape was needed, and there was one little detail that may have escaped everyone.
Where everyone was positioned, whether standing, crouching, or supported, it was directly to Deathstroke's back that the nearest exit was located. The secret elevator that led down here was just yards away, and would be the fastest method of getting out of here.
The sword was sheathed, and he projected with his voice, "You have an uncontrollable nuclear reaction about to be unleashed. Minutes I say, five tops. How will you get out of this one?"
He was running now, running to those closed doors and bursting through them seconds later. The elevator doors were still open, unable to close completely thanks to the damage sustained when he had first arrived. Through the emergency hatch did he pull himself, and before he closed it, he removed a grenade from his belt.
There had been an intention to use this one for a special occasion, but right now, the explosive effects of the canidite within it had a hopefully two fold purpose. First, to make sure this exit was permanently closed, and the second to try and seal it up as the impending reaction from Major Force would be restricted by the rubble.
Dropped through the hatch with its pin removed, the hatch was closed behind the grenade and Deathstroke braced himself on top of it. The seconds ticked, and then the explosion annihilated the elevator beneath him. Because of the nature of the hatch, the hatch was launched up and with Deathstroke on it, he rode the force of the explosion upwards.
It was easier to do than to climb.
As flames billowed around him, the assassin considered the predicament the Titans were left with.
Even if Waller decided to help them, there would be no way they would be getting out of there. Their speedster would need help walking, if Beast Boy was still alive then his injuries would slow them down, the various injuries he had dealt the rest would prevent any rapid movement. Thick as the walls down there were, the kind of explosion that would come from Major Force would level everything down there.
There would be no escape for the Titans this time.
Fire tore through the wall, flames billowed out and into the cell block. Even from here, Red Robin could feel the heat and he had to narrow his eyes because even the mask wasn't shielding completely. Tons of concrete and mortar collapsed on itself and all that was left of that area was rubble and debris stacked on top of itself.
Quite a few of them had to shield their faces and ears definitely were ringing. One exception was Cyborg who had run to place himself between the explosion and the crouching Beast Boy, protecting him from anything flung their way. Still, the ear ringing was a little distracting.
Yet, that was the least of their concerns. The big man in red and yellow was bending over himself. Light shined through the blockage that was his hands, and the fact that his words from earlier, "what have you done?" were very ominous right about now.
Whatever was happening right now, it couldn't be good. Deathstroke's taunting last words about a nuclear—oh. Okay, now it was clicking together. That light, it was atomic in nature. Whatever was keeping it in, there was enough damage it could get out.
His eyes flickered around, trying to find something that he could start working with and over there, lurking in a hallway and even starting to pull back…
"Wonder Girl!" he called out and gave a jerk of his head. The armor-wearing blonde followed the direction of his head gesture and then her lasso was following suit. Out from the shadows was Waller dragged and their armored Titan was not being gentle about this.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Waller demanded, no match for Wonder Girl's strength.
Making sure that Kid Flash could prop himself against a wall, Red Robin marched his way over to the warden and retorted, "You know what's happening over there. How do we stop it?"
The dark-skinned woman gave a glance to her lackey. "Nothing. By all appearances, his containment suit has been breached. He's going nuclear in a bad way and I don't give it a lot of time."
No one here was a nuclear physicist so plan B time. "Is there another way out of here? If he can hold on long enough—"
Waller scoffed. "Of course there's another way out of here. The problem is getting to it in time. Look at you lot, are you in good condition? Can you do a sprint? Travel a hundred miles in a minute? The earth may hold much of the explosion in here, but it is still going to be an explosion and it has to go somewhere. The tunnels here will just give it a way out, and anything caught in them is as good as dead."
She wasn't wrong. Another look to the red and yellow man and the light coming out of him was brighter. Every second really did matter here, and if Waller was to be believed, they needed minutes. Longer even. How much time did they have?
No, keep thinking. If they couldn't get themselves away, what about getting that meltdown over there away?
"Can he move? Get as far away as he can?" the Titan's leader proposed.
Waller's look was a bit more thoughtful, but then she shook his head. "He's barely moving; he's doing everything he can to keep that reaction contained. That's not just with his own abilities, that takes concentration, and if he changes even an iota of it…"
There was no telling if that would mean that nuclear reaction escaped his control. Damn, options were running tight, and they were tight enough as it was. Staying wasn't an option, running would not get them far enough, and getting that man to move himself was risky enough as it was.
What could they do? What would they do? They had to do something! Anything! That light was getting brighter by the second! Come on, Red Robin, think. No one was going to do anything without hearing you out first.
A random thought, but desperate times called for anything that might offer a glimmer of hope. "What if we moved him?"
A snort of derision. "Then only one of you I would trust to get Major Force out of here is your speedster, and last I checked, he can't use one of his legs. He's the only one who could buy enough time to neutralize this situation."
Shot down, and as much as he wanted to argue, he knew she was right. Once more, he tried to think of something else, anything else. Horrifyingly, he found that all he could come up with was a blank. Is this what it was like, facing death with no way out? An inevitable, all but certain death? How many times had they been in situations like this and still found a way out? Why wasn't there one here? Why couldn't he think of one?
Raven. One look and Red Robin grimaced. She had done so much with her energy, had she recovered enough to try and get as many of them out of here? Even from where he stood, he could make out the signs of exhaustion. Still, he would need to ask.
Before that, he took in Kid Flash propped against a wall, Cyborg continuing to shield a still alive Beast Boy who kept a hand pressed to his face, Starfire who was watching the proceedings with worry, and Wonder Girl who expressed her frustration and did not act on it. Then there was Waller, all the people laying on the floor and those peeking out from open cells. The doctors. Everyone who was in this underground complex, could Raven get them out too? He might not like any of them, but that didn't mean they deserved to die because of it.
Caught up in his thoughts, Red Robin didn't see when Starfire stood straighter. Resolve flashed in her eyes and the Tamaranean turned to her stressed teammate. For a few seconds, she said nothing, but when she did, "Calm yourself, my friend. He may not be able to move of his own volition without losing vital time, but you are correct that we can move him."
His attention caught, the teen vigilante looked to his alien teammate in all of her kind and gentle glory. The expression on her face was meant to soothe, but all it accomplished was cause the hairs on the back of his neck to rise. He didn't want to see that expression on her face; he had a bad feeling about it.
"You can move him?" Waller challenged skeptically.
Starfire graced the A.R.G.U.S. agent with the same gentle expression. Without another word, the Tamaranean turned to…Major Force, that was what Waller called him, and began to approach. As she did so, both of her hands lit up with Starbolts.
Almost serene, "Please keep each other safe. We have lost much as it is. I…I would be hurt if we lost another."
"Star?" His tone was warning while pleading. Whatever she was thinking, why did it sound like…
…like she was saying goodbye?
The energy in her hands brightened in intensity and she brought both of her arms up and over her head, concentrating the gathered energy together before firing a large blast up into the ceiling. This time, he had to bring an arm up to shield his eyes because that blast was so bright, so powerful.
When it ended, there was now a hole up above. If you peered through it, you'd be able to make out the sky above the prison. The hole itself had some size, you could perhaps fit four to five people in it easy. The edges looked melted and soft, heat fizzling off of them.
Before Red Robin knew it, Starfire had flown herself to Major Force wherein she slipped her arms under his and latched her hands onto the large torso. She looked over her shoulder at all of them, seemingly taking in all of them.
"Star, what are you doing?" Red Robin cracked. He could see where this was going, but was still trying to really grasp it.
One more gentle smile graced her lips.
"Star?"
Upwards she bolted, carrying Major Force with her through the hole. Up and up she went, carrying the unstable man with her to the sky above.
Red Robin ran from here he stood, skidding to a stop just under the hole, a single word tearing out from his throat
"KORI!"
The best he could make out was what looked like an ember in the sky. When she truly exerted herself, Starfire's hair could give the impression that it was smoldering or even on fire. Against the darkness of the sky, that orange-red hue stood out, continuing to shine brighter and brighter even as it grew further and further away.
He couldn't take his eyes off the sight, couldn't look away. Watching as something horrible was taking place and there was nothing he could do to—
"Don't look, you idiot!" Waller roared at him as she grabbed him by the head and shoulders and forcefully turned him away. It was just in time too; had he been looking, he would have seen a literal blinding light fill the sky. White light poured in through the hole in the ceiling and even that was intense.
Naturally, after that came the roar of the explosion, and that roar covered the scream he could not hold back. The very building shook with a terrible tremor, yet continued to maintain its integrity and not collapse all around their heads. The lights in the complex flickered, turning on and off before dying out. Backup generators would kick in soon enough, but the glow of manmade light had nothing over the detonation high above their heads.
As order and calm regained control, and the boom was dulling, Red Robin finally craned his head back to look above and found only the ball of smoke above. That is, if it was smoke. To him…it was a temporary headstone.
They…he…had lost Starfire.
The memories, damning now, felt this was the time to rush in and guilt trip. Seeing her for the first time at a basketball court while fighting against teenaged assassins, fighting at her side against alien slavers, trekking deep in the bowels of the Church of Blood, sailing to Santa Prisca and duking it out with violent inmates there, the number of times they went to Gotham, fighting against a band of metahuman thieves and the secret organization H.I.V.E., all of the training sessions, the cooking and taste testing, comforting her when Blackfire arrived, all of the anti-Tamaran sentiment that occurred after the World Engine and the Thanagarian occupation, the times he felt that he had an older sibling instead of being an only child…
All of them seemed to circle around him. All of them were accusing him. He wasn't the leader the Teen Titans needed. They needed someone to come up with the perfect plan to save all of them, and when he hadn't, Starfire was the one to pay for his ineptitude.
Keep each other safe. Those were the words that made up her last request. How? How when they kept getting closer and closer to losing the next one? Two members of the team were now down. It felt like a third was imminent.
The ticking of the clock, much like those gears in the clock tower where he had fought off Clock King, implied that time was running out for all of them.
Just like their time here was up.
Without looking at Waller, Red Robin said in a calm, almost dead tone of voice, "We're leaving."
There was no immediate response from Waller. When she did reply, "You would have been poor recruits anyway. Follow me, you can leave through one of the clandestine tunnels. When you do, don't come back."
There was no intention to anyway.
Without another word, Red Robin returned to Kid Flash's side and helped propped him up against him. His movement helped to get the others to start moving. Not a single word was spoken.
It was back out into the wild; they were on their own once more.
One friend less.
Author's Note: I'm willing to bet some of you are surprised about the Beast Boy vs Deathstroke fight. I managed to find some occasions, both during the Marv Wolfman and George Perez run of The New Teen Titans, and the 2003 animated series where Beast Boy did have one-on-one fights against Deathstroke. Color me surprised when he not only put up a more than decent fight, but nearly won. Our favorite green Titan can certainly surprise in the most unexpected of ways. Being shot in the right eye, if you have been paying attention to the more recent storylines in DC, is another reference, this time to Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Major Force losing control, a reference to Batman/Superman: Public Enemies. In that story, it was Power Girl who ruptured Major Force's containment suit, but Captain Atom was there to handle the explosion. A shame that Captain Atom wasn't around this time.