A large black truck parks right outside of the imposing figure of the library, loud thunder flashed in the sky. From inside, Mad Mod descends, a grin on his face and the black box between his hands. Behind him Rouge and at least ten of his men, machine guns in hand. They advance, entering the library.


The sound of musket fire echoes in the sky. It's a cloudy day in Jump City, a light drizzle falling from the sky. A mass of people is gathered at the city graveyard. All of them wearing black clothes with black umbrellas, sad expressions on their faces, some of them even crying.

The mayor is currently giving a speech. In front of him lie six wooden coffins, an American flag over each one. They are the corpses of lieutenant Carson and the five cops who died at the airport. A portrait of each one next to the mayor. To the side a line of soldiers in blue uniform with muskets in hand, ready to fire again. Between the mass of people, you can see the families of the dead, women and children crying.

"Today we are not just honoring six men" the mayor says. "But six heroes who gave their lives in the line of duty. Six brave men who only wanted to make the world a better place. Ripped away from us, just like that." He pauses. "I can only speak from my experience watching lieutenant Dennis Carson grow up and work alongside him… He was a bright man." To the side, the girlfriend of the deceased lieutenant is crying inconsolably. "So young, so full of potential… he wanted to make things right, help the city where he grew." Another pause. "That's why I'm announcing a scholarship in the honor of his six heroes, to help young men in difficult backgrounds reach their fullest potential." Respectful applauses. His expressions hardens. "And to the organized crime… I am now declaring the war to you! We will not rest until this city is once again a peaceful place to live in!" Another round of applauses followed by another round of musket fire to the sky.

A few feet from them, another funeral is going on. A more modest one consisting of three figures standing in front of gravestone: Kory Anders it reads, a few bouquets of flowers next to it. They are Richard in the middle, wearing a black suit and shades over his eyes, Raven to his right, also wearing black, and Victor in the left, a bandage over his robotic side, damaged in the battle. Sad expressions all over their faces. Gar not being present, as he also had been terribly injured in their fight.


Mad Mod and his men advance through the dark library. They reach the end of it, where the secret passage is. The door swishes open, revealing the descending staircase. They start going done, single line, Mod leading the group.

They reach the end of the staircase and advance through the dark corridor. To the side, the statues of the monks look at them. Without them noticing the statues start moving.


Richard opens his mouth to say something, but quickly closes it, deciding not to. Even though this is not his first time mourning a loved one, he never was good with words in these situations. Something about her coffin finally descending underground made it click for him. Kory, she was gone, all because of his him. Maybe if they hadn't argued, if he had been more open to listen to her, or maybe as simple as if they hadn't come back to Jump, she would still be alive.

Raven looks at him, feeling a bit responsibility with how things played out. Maybe she also could have done something different.


TWO DAYS BEFORE

Raven makes it to Richard, who is in the floor tied to a chair, tears rolling freely through his face. "Richard, look at me, are you alright?" But he doesn't answer as he continues crying, whispering something about Kory. Raven turns around, for the first time, noticing Kory in the floor, also tied to a chair and blood coming out from her head. She widens her eyes. "Vic!" She calls.

After taking care of the last of the men in the room Victor comes to her side, also noticing the dead body, a hole in his robotic eye. "No…" he whispers.

"Help me with Richard and take Kory away" she orders. Victor doesn't respond as he keeps his gaze on Kory. "Victor!" They need someone with a cool head in this moment, someone who can think rationally and not be prey of their feelings. She must be that someone right now.

Victor looks at her and nods. He lifts Richard up, unties him and then moves to Kory getting her out of the room.

Raven focuses on Richard. "Richard, what happened here?" She asks in a serious tone as she puts her hands to each side of his face, trying to force him to look at her.

Richard shakes his head, still crying. "He killed her… I got him what he wanted, and... and he still killed her..." he pauses, that last part coming more as a choke. Clearly voicing it feeling like a dagger to his heart. "And now he is gone… with the Mark of Scath."

Raven shakes her head. "I'm sorry, but he didn't."

Richard pauses as he focuses on her for the first time. "What?"

"He has the fake Mark of Scath" Raven says. "I changed them during the fight. The real one is at the mansion, I couldn't let him have it, I'm sorry."

Richard looks up, thinking, then it was all for nothing, all the fighting, the exchange, everything just for handing him the fake Mark of Scath. "Its okay, you did what you thought best" he just says. He doesn't have it in himself to be angry at her, he just feels sadness running through his body in this moment. He looks back at her. "How did you find me?"

"When I made the swap, I put one of your trackers inside the box."

Richard nods, another question coming to his mind. "Gar?" He doesn't remember seeing him now, and he had given him a really hard shock to put him to sleep.

"Alive, we left him at the mansion, that's all that matters."

Richard again nods as he looks away, a new wave of tears coming to his eyes. It was all because of him, all his fault.

Victor had taken Kory to a different room, and after several hours of trying to bring her back to life and Richard's constant orders, he had finally given up. After all, there isn't much you can do for someone with a bullet on their head, doesn't matter if said someone is a Tamaranian with super strength.


Back at the graveyard, Richard decides he's had enough of just standing in silence and takes a step forward. After all, Kory would want him to say something. He takes his shades off and just holds them in his hand.


Scattered throughout the dark passage of the library are the remains of the statues, all of them destroyed by the machine gun fire, and also some dead thugs.

Mad Mod curses. "This fucking wanker! He gave me the fake Mark of Scath!" He yells as he angrily jumps around. In front of him is the altar with the false Mark of Scath directly inside the whole, where it is supposed to be. Rouge and the remaining thugs around him. "He is taking the piss!"


"I never was a religion type of person" Richard starts. "Even after my folks died, I wasn't thinking of an afterlife. I guess that's why people do, its nice to think that when you die you go somewhere, that you don't just become nothing…" he trails as he continues reflecting, a sob coming out of his mouth. "Now I would really like to believe you have not just become a nothing, that you are up somewhere looking down at me, or that your spirit is somehow around us, protecting us, guiding us through this shitty life." With his free hand, he wipes the tears out of his eyes, not wanting to cry any more. "What I can promise you is that you won't be forgotten, not by any of us."

A sad smile comes to his face. "I remembered you used to tell me about your people's deity… what was it her name?" He pauses as he tries to remember. "X'Hal, that's right, I remember you telling me how your people believed that after death you go to your heaven, where she is waiting for you alongside your loved ones... I hope you are there… reconnected with your parents."

Silence.

Raven looks down, his speech killing her internally.

Victor sighs as he walks up to Richard and places a hand over his shoulder, trying to comfort him. Richard looks at him and puts his hand over his.

"I'm sorry" he says.

Richard shakes his head. "Nah, don't worry, I'm sorry." He motions to his face. "For..."

"Call it even" Victor says. "I also gave you a pretty nice blow." Richard lets out a small laugh. It is true, he should probably see a dentist in the next couple of days regarding that missing tooth.

Victor turns around and starts walking away. Richard also turns and looks at him. "You know she didn't even want to come back to Jump?" Victor stops and turns to him. Richard continues as he turns back to the stone. "I forced her. We were happy, had peaceful lives… I just had to ruin everything as always. I guess I just couldn't stand still, I just had to go and fuck everything up. I told her I would come back here with or without her." He looks at Victor. "What does that tell you? That I preferred chasing thugs in the streets than to be with her!" he finishes, a bit of anger in his tone, anger to himself. "And now she is gone... If we had stayed, I'm sure she would still be alive."

"Richard, don't do that to yourself, it wasn't your fault" Raven says.

Richard shrugs as he seems thoughtful. "I guess that after you spend so much time chasing something, it's hard to stop, that's why I couldn't stay at peace. That's the way I was raised." He pauses. "But I won't do that, it's of poor student to blame the master, I'm a grown man, I make my own decisions…" He again pauses as new tears roll out from his eyes as he thinks back to Kory, a sad smile forming. "We really had it all."

Another long silence takes place. After a few minutes, Victor turns around and leaves the place. Raven watches him and turns to Richard, who continues looking in silence at the stone. She walks up to him.

"Richard…" she calls. He turns around meeting her gaze. She looks down. "I'm sorry…" she pauses. "If I didn't make the swap, if I had been more open to find an alternative, if…"

"Raven…" Richard interrupts her. "Really, its not your fault, you did what you thought was the best option, I don't blame you." With that he again turns to the stone. Raven looks at him. After a few seconds, she lets out a sad smile. "You know I loved her, right?"

Raven nods. "Yes, I know."

"You heard the saying that when you lose someone you love, you never forget about them, you just learn to live without them?" Raven doesn't say anything. Another sad laugh by Richard. "What's funny is that if you asked me a couple of years ago, I would say I was learning to live without another someone."

Another silence.

Richard turns to Raven. "Raven, you can go, I won't do anything stupid, I promise."

Raven doesn't like it, but she nods. "If you need us, we are only one call away" she says referring to her and Victor.

"I will."

With that, Raven leaves the graveyard leaving Richard alone with her stone and his thoughts. He looks down.

He lets out a sad smile as he thinks back at the memories of her. He talks to her as if she could listen to him. "Back when I met you and you kissed me and asked for my help... boy I was a goner." He lets out a laugh that comes off more as a choke than intended. "From the first moment you had me." He pauses. "I really meant everything I ever told you. You made me a better person, you made all of us better people…"

Victor is sitting at the stretcher in his underground lab. Tears rolling freely from his only human eye as he thinks back at Kory's last moments.

"Come on, Kory! Don't you dare die on me!" He yells as he applies electroshocks to her unconscious body. Her chest arching upward, but she doesn't open her eyes. He has already extracted the bullet from her head; however, her heart hasn't started beating. "Come on!" Another electroshock. He checks the panel on his arms, still no heartbeat.

She is gone.

Victor punches the stretcher out of anger, breaking it.

Richard continues at the graveyard. "Your smile, your optimism... you were the heart of this team, you made a difference to each one of us, we all loved you…"

Raven is at her bed in the mansion sitting against the wall. She is also crying, the room around her a complete mess of object scattered through the floor. She has lost control of emotions, therefore of her powers, but she doesn't care. All she can think about is Kory, she wishes she was there, that everything was just a nightmare, that she had done something different.

She stops as she hears sobbing coming from outside. She stands up and gets out of her bedroom. She reaches the door from where the sobbing is coming from. She opens it revealing Gars room. He is currently curled up in his bed crying, a few scars on his face. He had a really strong connection with Kory, she was the one who had first talked to him, helped him with his parent's death and his transformations. Raven thinks back to what Kory would have done.

Without speaking, Raven walks up to the bed and sits beside him. Gar stops crying and looks up at her. She doesn't say anything as she motions to her shoulder with her eyes. Gar understands as he sits up and places his head over her shoulder. He continues crying, although not as lonely as before, grateful for her presence.

"Im sorry" Gar speaks in between sobs. "He promised me he could bring my parents back" he cries.

Raven places her hand over his head, comforting him. "Shh, its okay, its not your fault." She looks up as she thinks.

"The world is now a darker place" Richard continues.

Richard enters his and Kory's apartment. Its dark, the only light coming from the window. He looks around to the mess of moving boxes. This places now seems soulless, he doesn't want to be here. He lifts the mattress of the bed and takes out a wooden box. He opens it revealing the Centaury Moon diamond. He grabs it, it clearly meant a lot to her. In that moment, he notices a picture. He grabs it and looks at it. It's a photo of them two in Argentina, both of them smiling as they hold the other, behind them is the view of a mountain. A sad smiles forms on his lips. They really had it all.

"And now I don't think I can keep this team together. You were the glue, the one who thought in everyone. I am not that, never was good at working as a team…" Richard thinks. He looks up, keeping his gaze on the stone. "But I will try, for you, I will make this team work, I will make sure we stay together." He again pauses.

A tear rolls from one of his eyes. "I will miss you… I love you…"

With that he puts on his shades and turns around, leaving the graveyard, hands in his pockets and his gaze down. The stone left standing alone.


Mad Mod angrily punches down his desk at his studio. "I want them down!" He yells. "They stole it from me!" The people around him just watch him, not daring to speak. "I want the Mark of Scath back!"

One of the thugs shyly takes a step forward. "According to our man on the inside, Nightwing and his pals are using Stones mansion as their base of operations" he informs.

"Then there we are going." Mod looks at Rouge. "And we are getting it. We are using our whole arsenal." He turns to his closest thug. "You lot, I want everyone in this!"

"Sir, what do you mean by everyone?"

"I want everyone! The lads at the docks, in the streets, the fucking lads at the pub! EVERYONE!"


Debra Martinez is standing at a newspaper office. Behind her is a PowerPoint presentation with a picture of Mayor O'Hara giving a speech. With an energetic attitude, she points at the mayor.

"Our dear mayor O'Hara, ex-police lieutenant and hero, and now almost a year as our mayor, he was elected under the promise that he would fight against organized crime and eradicate it in the city." She makes a dramatic pause.

To her side is Max, a young intern, watching her with great interest, or is it maybe lust?

Debra continues. "Since his mandate started, he has increased the budget assigned to the police department by a staggering sixty percent, creating a new SWAT squad, buying new equipment and weaponry, and making traits with, for example, the prime minister of Markovia to help with that."

She changes to slide showing a bar chart. "The crime rate peaked three months ago when it suddenly stopped and started descending this last couple of months. But what changed? The crime still seems out of control. The attack at the opera, at the city hall, at the airport…" the slide changes to pictures of the attacks. "…do we actually believe the crime rate is descending? And just in time to the arrival of the vigilante Nightwing. Added with the death of the lieutenant… We all heard his promises that if we would project, we would lower the crime rate by two hundred percent at the end of his mandate. But what is behind all this? Something doesn't add up, has Mad Mod suddenly stopped? Or we are being fed false numbers and lied to our faces?" She makes another dramatic pause. "In conclusion, there's a story here and I'm the right person to follow it" she concludes, a little out of breath.

Silence.

In front of her is a large table full of executives, most of them seem bored looking at their phones, no one even listen to her. She sighs. Noticing she has stopped one of the executives looks at her.

"So, let me see if I got this right, you are accusing our dear mayor, a hero who helped save the city, of being corrupt and making deals with the Mob?" He asks.

"I didn't say that" Debra defends herself.

"You implied it."

"Yes, sir."

The executives trade glances as if deciding if this story is worth it. Finally, one of them looks at her.

"I'm sorry, but we can't greenlight this story without evidence, and all you have here is speculation. Find real proof or change your stance to align with our interests." The executive turns to the rest of the members of the table. "Shall we hear the next one?"

Debra is below a roof outside of the newspaper building, a cigarette on her hands as she takes cover from the rain. She exhales, creating a smoke cloud around her, right now feeling greatly frustrated. How is she supposed to make a name for herself if they won't give her the interesting stories? How is she supposed to be the next Lois Lane or Vicky Vale. She thought this one was her opportunity, but they turned her down.

Max approaches her. He speaks in a shy tone. "Excuse me." Debra looks at him. "I heard your presentation, you were great."

Debra smiles at him. "Thank you, although the execs don't think the same."

"You really think he is dirty?"

"I know he isn't as clean as people think. They just prefer to believe in a world where our mayor is a hero rather than a corrupt one." She takes another puff of her cigarette.

"How are you going to get the evidence?"

Debra shrugs. She is about to take another puff when she suddenly stops. She realizes she is giving up. Would Lois Land give up? Did she give up when she discovered that scandal at Lex Corp.? Of course not, she went deeper. Debra looks at Max.

"You got a camera?"


Richard enters the living of the mansion, hands in his pockets. There he notices Victor and Gar sitting at the main sofa and Raven on the side one. All of them in silence, their gaze lost as they think back to Kory.

Raven notices him. He looks at her. "Hey" he salutes.

Victor and Gar look up, meeting him. "You are leaving?" Victor asks.

Richard shakes his head. "No, just came to check how you guys were doing."

Gar shrugs without looking at him. The kid has gone through a lot, first his parents and now Kory. Victor looks at Richard. "It's been tough."

"Raven?"

"Fine" she answers without looking at him.

Richard turns to Gar, noticing the scars on his face. He places a hand over his shoulder feeling bad for him. "How are you doing?"

Gar looks at him. "I am okay" he lets out a small laugh. "I guess i had it coming" he jokes referring to the scars.

Richard returns the laugh. "No, you didn't; I am sorry."

Silence.

Richard looks at each of them. "Look, I know we are all hurt, and we loved Kory, but we have to get up, just because we lost a soldier is not excuse for giving up."

"We are not soldiers! Kory was not a solider!" Raven snaps, her eyes glowing white and the TV behind Richard starts floating.

Victor raises his hand, trying to calm her down. "Raven, calm down."

Raven glares at him. "No, I won't calm down, she is dead! Dead! And I couldn't do anything about it! We were late!"

Richard looks at her. "Don't you think I know that!" He also snaps. "I too blame myself for it! I loved her with every inch of my body! And believe me when I tell you I would do anything to bring her back, but I can't! We can stay all day pointing fingers at each other, whose fault was it, but it won't bring her back! So enough about it! " Silence. Raven looks down, avoiding his gaze, the TV stops floating. Richard takes a deep breath, calming himself. "She died fighting for this, because she believed in doing good above her personal interest, let's not make her death be all for nothing. We have the Mark of Scath and Mad Mod will be coming for it. He will stop at nothing to get it. So, I need to know if I can count on you for one last stand, or should I take it with me and run? The matter is, I won't last long on my own, not without you."

Everyone stays silent.

Victor is the first to stand. He looks at Richard. "That fucker killed Kory, I'll make sure he pays for that, I'm in" he declares. Richard nods at him, an unsaid appreciation for Victor, his friend. He turns to the rest.

Gar thinks about it. He finally stands, looking right at Richard. "Kory would want us to stay together, I'm in."

Richard nods at him and turns to Raven making eye contact. "Raven, you are the last piece of the puzzle, we can't do it without you."

Raven looks down. They will need her if they want to have any hope of surviving, she doesn't like, but she has to. Or maybe there is another way of saving them. She looks at Richard and nods. He nods back.

Richard turns to the group. "He will want to have it as soon as possible. We can expect him to come this very night." He looks at Victor. "Vic, you and I will be the first line of defense inside the mansion, we will make they come to us, there we will fight them."

"Sounds good" Victor answers. "Two against the entire mob… I like our odds."

Richard smirks. He looks at Gar. "Gar, you'll be second line. You'll be at the staircase stopping whoever gets past us, got it?"

"But I can't be the creature, I won't be able to control it" he protests.

Richard takes a step forward placing a hand over his shoulder. "Then don't. We all know Kory for being a powerhouse, but she was also a great tactician, using her enemy's weaknesses to her advantage. Don't be the creature, don't overpower them, outsmart them."

Gar smiles at his speech. He is right, he has the whole animal kingdom at his disposal; he can stop them without turning into the creature. He nods.

Richard walks to Raven. "You'll be our final line of defense inside the lab, if we all get past, you have to defend the Mark of Scath or escape with it."

"I can be useful in battle; I can help you."

"I know." Richard kneels in front of her looking at her straight in the eyes, a trace of fear in his eyes. "The truth is, I'm completely scared... I don't know what could happen tonight. I lost Kory, I don't want to lose either of you. You are the most powerful of us, that's why I need to feel safe you are behind us protecting the Mark of Scath" he finishes.

Raven looks at him, it was a rare sight to see Richard this vulnerable voicing his feelings. She launches at him and hugs him tight. "I love you all, I don't want to lose you."

Richard pads her back. "I know, we love you too."

Gar makes it to their side and hugs them. Victor smiles as he also joins the hug.


Mayor O'Hara is at his office at the city hall. A tired look on his eyes as he reads the complete report of what happened at the airport attack. Although it is currently nighttime and well past his working day, he must stay, being the mayor in times of crisis demands it. In front of him is the muted TV showing the news about the opening of this Empire State-like skyscraper in the city in the next couple of days, not something he minded a lot. He takes a sip of his coffee when suddenly he hears his private phone buzz. He stops. He reaches to the desk drawer and opens it. From inside, he takes out a cellphone. He looks at the screen, automatically his eyes shoot wide open.

He exits his office in a hurry, his coat on one of his arms. He passes his assistant without looking at her. "Doris, I'm going out, cancel all my dates for tonight and tomorrow, will you?"

The mayor is out before Doris can even talk.

The mayor gets in his car outside of the city hall and drives off. The moment he is gone, another car starts its engine and follows him. They are Debra and Max.


Nightwing and Victor are on the second floor of the mansion, looking outside through the grand window. Its quiet outside, almost too quiet, only the falling rain being heard. In front of them stands the garden with the metallic gate.

Victor looks at Nightwing. "We sure he is coming this way?"

Nightwing shakes his head, a determined look on his face. "No, I can only assume. He is pissed, he doesn't care about plans. He will bring everything he's got in a direct attack." He touches his earpiece. "Everybody in position?"

"I'm in the staircase" Gar answers. "I'm cutting communications." With that he changes to a snake becoming one with the shadows.

"I'm here" Raven says at the lab. In front of her is the Mark of Scath. She looks at it, a thoughtful look on her eyes.

Nightwing nods. "Alright, be careful, love you, Nightwing out." He cuts the communication and looks at Victor. "Now we wait."

They watch as a gigantic cloud forms in the sky, directly on top of them. Some reddish lightnings coming out of it, followed by loud thunders.

"Looks like Trigon is on his side" Nightwing notices.

Victor thinks. "All hell is gonna fall on us." He says sounding a bit fearful. He looks at Nightwing. "If the worst is to happen, then it will be an honor dying by your side."

Nightwing smirks. "Let's make it worth it." They both share a respectful nod as they turn to the window.

No more than five minutes have passed when suddenly they hear the horn of a truck. The truck makes it to the property crashing into the metallic gates and opening them wide. Behind it a full caravan of trucks and other cars make it to the property, parking right in front of the mansion. From inside, an infinite number of thugs get out, each carrying heavy machine guns and other weapons as they get into formation facing the mansion. There are also men with mounted machine guns at the trucks. Maybe some bazookas also.

"They sure are a lot" Victor points out.

"They are here" Nightwing informs through his earpiece. "Can you count them?" He asks Victor.

Victor turns to him, a fake annoyed look on his eyes as he points at his missing eye. "I have no cybernetic eye, remember?" He turns to the window. "I would say at least sixty, for now."

"I would say eighty" Nightwing says trying to lighten the mood as more cars continue entering.

Finally, a black limousine enters the property. From inside, Mad Mod and Madame Rouge get out. One of the thugs brings him a megaphone.

"Hello, governa" Mod salutes with a grin through the megaphone. "Now, Nightwing, if you lot don't mind, I came for what is mine. We will destroy this place and take it."

"No harsh feelings?" Nightwing asks to Victor without looking at him

"Not at all" Victor answers.

With that they both get in battle stance. Both ready to follow their plan.

At the lab, Raven hears Nightwing. They are here, she doesn't have much time. She must make a decision. It's now or never. She walks up to the Mark of Scath and grabs it. She closes her eyes.

"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!" She yells. Witt that a black hole materializes around her, making her disappear.

Raven reappears, she is outside, rain falling over her. She looks up. There in front of her is the dark and imposing figure of the library. A red lightning appears in the sky falling right on top of the library illuminating it.

There you have it, the finale is aproaching, please review and I'll post it as soon as possible.