Richard points at the holographic projection of the Mark of Scath at the center of the underground lab. "This is our objective" he says. Victor, Raven and Gar looking at him with interest, waiting for the plan. "It will be arriving at the Jump City International Airport on Wednesday. This man…" a picture of a man in his sixties, almost bald and glasses over his eyes appears. "will be carrying it secretly in a black box, like this one." A picture of the man carrying the box appears. "His name is Otto Von Bork, Swiss nationality, he was the one leading the expedition that found the Mark of Scath. In every city he's been to, he has leaked to the press the day of his arrival, only to arrive one day earlier."
"Like a security measure" Victor says crossing his arms.
"Exactly. We have to assume he will arrive tomorrow; we only have to find out the exact time and flight and intercept him."
"Uhm, dude, aren't there thousands of flights arriving every day?" Gar points out. "How will we find him?"
"He will be arriving on flight D5482 from Metropolis. Twelve fifteen the time of his arrival" Kory says, speaking in a serious tone as she descends into the lab. Everyone turns to her. She looks at Richard making eye contact but neither says anything.
"How do you know that?" Victor asks.
Kory turns to him. "I had an encounter with one of the men working for Mad Mod. He will also be there."
That catches the interest of Victor, who looks at Richard. "If he is going to be there, we can catch him too." Richard nods but doesn't say anything.
"Maybe then it will not be even necessary to steal the Mark of Scath" Raven reasons, hoping to persuade them not to steal it. It is just too risky for her liking.
Richard thinks about it, but finally shakes his head. "Remember what you read down there. It is calling people to free him, just like he called Mod. Who knows who can be the next. Locking him won't stop Trigon much."
"So, how do you propose we steal it?" Gar asks.
"We can swap it with an identical box" Victor proposes, pointing at the picture of Otto Von Bork carrying the black box.
Richard nods as he appears in deep thought. "I may have an idea for him not to notice its missing."
Raven raises an eyebrow. "How?"
Richard moves to one of the side tables where a pair of glasses are, just like the ones that Kory used to infiltrate at Starlabs, next to it a thin electronic device. He grabs the glasses and moves to Kory offering them to her. Kory looks at him, not saying anything, not a hint of emotion on her face. She can sense this is his way of trying to make things right, but it isn't enough for her. She finally grabs them and puts them on. Richard then grabs a batarang and hands it to her.
"Look at it and blink twice quickly" he orders.
Kory obeys as he looks at it and blinks twice. Instantly the electronic device on the table starts making a noise. A couple of seconds later, a same-exact-looking batarang comes out of it.
Gar's face brightens. "Oh, oh, like a 3D printer!" He yells excitedly.
"It won't be of the same material, but visually, it will do the trick." Richard turns to Victor. "Can you install it on a similar box as the one he carries?"
Victor nods. "Can do, no problem."
"I will make the swap, use a fake identity with a fake profile, and arrange a meeting at the airport" Richard says. He looks at Victor. "You'll run point, access the cameras, and be our eyes." Victor nods. Richard turns to Gar and Raven. "You two will be middle point. You'll be at the airport; you must be ready in case all hell breaks loose and act if Mad Mod makes a move."
"I also will be at the swap" Kory declares, leaving no room for debate.
Richard looks at her. He doesn't say anything, not wanting to argue with her. Kory matches his gaze, firm in her position. The rest of the team alternates their glances from one to the other, not liking the way this could play out.
Finally, Richard nods. The mission comes first.
"If we are hoping to catch Mod, we should inform the police" Raven says. Hopefully, that would be enough to put an end to this.
"I'll talk to the mayor" Richard says. "He'll sure inform the lieutenant, but at least we will be on his good side. But I can't tell him we are planning on stealing it, they will be there to help with Mod."
Silence. Victor looks at the projection of the Mark of Scath on the holographic screen. "The fate of the universe depends on us succeeding on this mission and stopping whatever it unlocks." Another silence. This is serious, there can't be any room for failure on this mission.
"So, let me see if I understand everything. We will be stealing this super wanted artifact, while dealing with this Otto guy, Mad Mod and his men, AND the police?" Gar asks. "Basically, committing treason."
Raven shrugs. "Or, as we like to call it; Monday."
Its late at night, Richard enters the living room of the mansion, completely dark with the lights off. Since the flight would be arriving early, they had arranged that staying there would be the best option. Upon entering, he notices Kory sitting on the sofa watching TV, something about fungus. He looks at her.
"How long will we continue not talking?" he says.
Kory for a second turns to him, but then focuses back on the TV. "Once we retrieve the Mark of Scath everything will be alright."
Richard looks at her, he must make things right. "You got us all the intel we needed" he says. "Thank you."
Kory shrugs without looking at him. "I did what was best for the team. Done deal."
Richard thinks. Talking about the incident may be the only way to fix things, at least that's what he hopes. "Back at the apartment, before you killed Light, you chose not to tell me, why?"
Kory looks at him, turns off the TV and stands up. For the first time, a bit of emotion in her voice. "I could not… It was not your burden to bear."
Richard pauses, looking straight at her in the eyes. "But I did bear it, didn't I?" Kory doesn't say anything. "If you make your choices alone, how can I trust you?" He says in a comprehensive tone.
Kory narrows her eyes. He hasn't changed his mind; he just wants everything to be back to normal. Well, she also hasn't changed her mind. "You cannot." She pauses as she thinks. "The truth is, things between us have not been the same ever since we came back to Jump" she admits looking away.
That catches Richard off guard. He doesn't answer; she may have a point there. Kory turns to the side and tries to walk away, but he grabs her by the wrist. She looks at him.
"We don't know what could happen tomorrow, are you sure you want things to be this way?" He doesn't want to have any regrets.
Kory walks up to him, meeting his gaze. "If this is how things ends… then let them be." Without hesitation, she walks away and leaves the room.
Richard watches her go, he then sighs as he punches the wall.
Lieutenant Carson is at the back of a black police van. In front of him, five cops dressed as civilians listen to him. They are currently approaching the airport.
"Grayson informed us Mad Mod will be here. His plan is to steal a highly wanted artifact, the Mark of Scath. I have a feeling he isn't telling us all. The mission is to apprehend Mod while also keeping an eye on Grayson and his team. He is unpredictable, expect anything. We will patrol the airport as civilians, and backup will be waiting outside in case it is needed. Is it clear?" The lieutenant asks.
"Sir, yes, sir" the cops answer.
The lieutenant is walking through the airport, his men behind him. He looks around, trying to find anything suspicious. He suddenly hears one of his men through his earpiece.
"I have eyes on Grayson" he says, in the van, looking through the cameras at the airport.
"Where?" Carson asks.
"In terminal D, thirty yards in front of you, blue suit" he says. In the camera, Richard can be seen walking around in a suit, a suitcase in his hands.
"I see him" the lieutenant says as he sprints directly to Richard, walking obliviously with his back turned to them. "Out of the way! Move!" He yells to the people in his way as he runs to Richard.
He makes it to him, grabs him by the back, and turns him around, revealing a man with a beard and shaggy black hair, definitely not Grayson.
"Cosa fai?" The man yells angrily in Italian. Carson looks at him, confused. He touches his face, maybe it's a mask, he tries to pull it out. "Excusi?! Qu esta faziendo?!" The man yells again.
The lieutenant gives up and walks back. "Sorry" he says. He touches his earpiece. "Its not him." Behind him, the Italian man is still yelling at him.
"Its him" the man in the van says. Indeed, on his screen he can see the lieutenant with Richard in front of him, yelling angrily. A hundred percent facial match appearing on the screen.
"I'm telling you, it's not him!"
"And I'm telling you, facial comes back with a perfect match…" he trails as suddenly the face of Richard on the screen changes to the Italian man. The man looks at it confused. The screen showing a zero percent facial match.
Victor is in a service room, four holographic screens in front of him as well as his laptop. He smirks having watched the spectacle through the cameras of the airport.
"How did you do that?" Gar asks confused. He is seated alongside Raven at a café at the airport, watching everything happen through a tablet.
"No one is safe from the Cyborg" Victor jokes as he continues typing. He changes cameras, focusing on a man in a black coat walking through the airport. The face of the man changing to Richards.
The cop in the van notices the fake Richard through the cameras. "I got him" he says.
"Where is he?" The lieutenant asks.
"Terminal A, gate five" he says.
"Goddammit!" Carson swears. "He is on the other side of the airport!" he says to his men as they start running in that direction.
Once they walk away, a man in a black suit, with red beard and hair, and glasses passes right behind them. Leonid Kovar.
"Richard, they are on their way to terminal A, this side of the airport is all yours" Victor informs.
Leonid smirks and touches his earpiece. "Good job, Vic" he speaks in a Russian accent. He walks right to one of the gates from where the passengers of a flight are coming out. He touches his glasses. Automatically, the glasses start focusing on the different people walking right by his side, until they find Otto Von Bork, one hundred percent facial match appearing, he is wearing a white suit and is carrying the black box. "I see our man" he informs. "Kory, you see him?"
"Yes, I have eyes on him" Kory says as she watches both of them from the upper level of the airport. She is wearing a suit, the glasses over her eyes, and her hair tied back.
"I'm making my move." Leonid walks straight to the encounter with Otto. Just before he can speak, a man in a suit with white hair and beard, and an eye patch over his eye walks by his side. Leonid freezes. Otto Von Bork passing right by his side. Leonid remains in his place, not moving.
"What? What happened?" Victor asks as he watches him through the cameras.
"Deathstroke…" Leonid whispers, not fully believing his eyes. He was dead, right?
"What? I couldn't see him from the cameras."
"Neither did I. Are you certain it was him?" Kory asks.
"Yeah, I'm sure." After all, he's been dreaming with his face and the beating he provided him for the last year. Leonid thinks. If somehow, he is alive and here that changes everything, the mission now seeming a lot more dangerous. "Kory, you do the swap. I'll take care of Deathstroke." He must take him out before he can affect the mission.
Kory nods. "I will."
"Nothing changes, we move" Leonid says as he follows Deathstroke. "Vic, stay with Kory, follow the plan."
"Copied that" Victor says as he is about to close his laptop and follow the mission, when suddenly an alarm pops up on his screen. A baggage in the sorting area. The alarm quickly disappears before Victor can even speak. That didn't seem good. He touches his earpiece. "Raven, Gar, are you there?"
"Still here" Raven says, bored of having to wait.
"There was an alarm in the luggage sorting area. Go look at it, maybe Mod is down there, or I fear maybe a bomb…"
"Will look into it" Raven says interrupting. She looks at Gar. "Let's go."
"Finally" Gar says. With that both stand up, making their way to the baggage sorting area.
Kory descends from the upper level and makes her way to Otto Von Bork, who continues walking down the airport. She walks right in front of him and extends her hand. "Leonid Kovar" she introduces herself.
Otto raises an eyebrow. "I was led to believe you were a man" he says with a bit of an accent.
"Oh, that is quite a common mistake people make with me, but I assure you, it has never been a problem for myself" Kory says. "Now, if you may, I have rented a room at the VIP for our meeting." She gestures to the side.
Otto doesn't seem convinced, but ultimately, he nods. "After you."
Raven and Gar enter the baggage sorting area. They are instantly swarmed by the sight of an infinite number of cases moving through infinite conveyor belts leading each to their respective flight.
Gar is stunned. "Whoa…" He looks at Raven. "How are we going to find anyone or the bomb?"
Raven thinks. They obviously can't go checking case by case. Then again, Victor wasn't even sure that there was a bomb in the first place. Maybe she can sense it. Without speaking, she sits in the floor, closes her eyes and starts chanting her mantra. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."
"What are you doing? How is that…"
"Don't speak" Raven says interrupting him as she continues.
Leonid follows Deathstroke until he reaches the restroom, where he enters. There he finds Deathstroke with his back turned washing his hands in the sink. He looks up at the mirror and notices Leonid staring right to him.
"Can I help you?" He asks in a smooth, deep voice. Yeah, definitely Deathstroke.
Without speaking and with a glare on his face, he removes the chip from his throat. "Deathstroke" he calls in his normal voice.
Deathstroke stops and smirks. He slowly turns around facing him. "Grayson, I presume. You didn't think I would come back?"
"I watched you die."
"There are many forms of immortality, kid."
Silence. Leonid takes out a batarang. "You don't have any weapons" he says.
Again, Deathstroke smirks. "You better than anyone must know that I don't need them."
Leonid lets out an angry cry as he charges at him with the batarang. Deathstroke dodges, catches his arm and elbows Leonid on the face, and again for a second time. He then throws a roundhouse kick, but Leonid ducks and sweeps his feet, sending him to the ground. Leonid throws himself on top of him, Deathstroke catches him and sends him to the side, before he gets up with a jump.
Kory and Otto enter the VIP, where Kory leads him to one of the private rooms. There, they take a seat on the sofa, facing each other. Otto never letting go of the box in his hands.
Kory looks at him and smiles. "I must admit it is a real pleasure to have this meeting, I am deeply grateful for granting me…"
Otto raises his hand, stopping her. "The pleasure is mine to have this meeting with a fellow archeologist, now, if you don't mind, I would prefer we carry this meeting in German" he says in German, in a stern tone.
Kory looks at him, after a few seconds, she nods. "Not a problem." Luckily for her, Richard is fluent on German. Otto smiles and signals her to continue. "How long did the excavation last?" She asks.
"Ninety-four days and sixteen hours" he answers with a smile. "But we persevered and finally found it."
"How did you know where to look?"
Otto thinks about it. "Call it an archeologist's hunch." He laughs. "I knew that region was basically untouched by our profession, so I thought there must be something buried there."
"That was before or after you found out about the existence of the Mark of Scath?"
"I would say it started about a year ago. I had had multiple dreams about this golden object. Naturally, I started studying until I found out it was the Mark of Scath."
Kory thinks about it. He must also have been called by Trigon. Maybe this is the right time to ask the important questions. "Can I see it?"
Leonid is pushed against the wall of the restroom; he moves just in time to avoid a punch by Deathstroke that creates a hole in the wall. He receives a hard couple of punches to the chest, but then blocks a third one and pushes him back with his feet. Leonid then jumps on top of him, wrapping his legs around his neck and shifts his weight sending Deathstroke to the floor, Leonid on top of him. He then punches down on his enemy, but he catches him as they both struggle to overpower their adversary.
A civilian enters the restroom, instantly noticing both of them fighting on the ground. Nope, he gets out, not wanting to have anything to do with whatever is happening.
Deathstroke raises his leg and pushes him back. Both get up with a jump. Leonid looks at him.
"No trash talk this time?" Deathstroke doesn't answer.
Leonid charges at him, he faints going left, just in time to move to his right throwing a mighty punch that connects with Deathstroke's cheek, sending him straight to the floor again.
"You are weaker" he points out.
Deathstroke spits blood. "Doesn't mean I can't end you." With that, he lets out a battle cry as he charges at him.
Raven is still concentrated, trying to look for the bomb. How is she even supposed to find a bomb between this many cases? How would she know if its bomb? She suddenly stops, sensing a timer, maybe a watch? No, this object is much bigger. Her eyes shoot open. She looks at Gar. "Tray 01833, heading to the northwest corner, go, go!"
Gar nods as he crouches, transforming into a rat and running straight to the case. Raven behind. The rat reaches a brown bag in tray 01833. With his small hands, he opens the bag, revealing a bomb. Two minutes left in the timer.
Raven makes it to the bomb. Gar looks at her, as if in his rat state he could ask what to do. Raven looks at the bomb. "I don't know how to deactivate it." She touches her earpiece. "Vic, you were right, there's a bomb here. How do we deactivate it?"
Vic is in a service room at the VIP. He hears Raven. "How much time left?"
"Minute and a half."
"Fuck." He thinks. "Tell Gar, he must get inside the bomb, there you have to see how many cables are, if there are six, cut the fourth, if there are three, cut the white one, if there are four, the red one, five, the last one, is it clear? I have to go on with the plan, Victor out." Victor cuts the communication. He touches a button in his panel, his metallic skin changing to completely human in a waiter uniform. He looks down at the black box.
Raven looks at Gar, but he has already transformed into a green cockroach. She thinks he sees him nod at her before he enters the bomb.
The lieutenant and his men reach the man in the black coat on the other side of the airport. "Its him" the cop looking through the cameras informs.
Carson quickly grabs him by the shoulder and turns him around. Its not Richard. One of his men quickly puts himself in the middle. "Sorry, he thought you were someone else."
The lieutenant curses. "Grayson is jerking our chain" he says angrily. He thinks. "Run facial on either Anders or Stone" he orders.
The man in the van presses a couple of buttons. There on his screen appears Kory. "I have Anders."
"Where?!"
"Gate D, she entered the VIP along with Otto Von Bork, a couple of minutes ago."
"Fuck, Grayson, what are you playing?" The lieutenant looks at his men. "Gate D, go, go, go!" With that, they start sprinting to the VIP.
Otto nods as he crouches and opens the black box on the floor. He gets up, holding in his hands the S-like golden object, the Mark of Scath. Kory looks at it, wide eyed, its brightness reflecting in her eyes, it sure is a breathtaking sight. Otto hands it to Kory, who takes it, her eyes never leaving it.
After a few seconds, she manages to refocus on the mission. She looks at it and blinks twice in rapid motion.
In an adjacent room, Victor has another black box opened, inside, the electronic device starts printing the copy. He touches his earpiece. "Kory, continue blinking, the object is too complex for the machine."
Kory obeys as she again blinks twice in rapid motion. Otto looks at her, starting to suspect something isn't right.
After a few seconds, the electronic device finishes the 3-D print of the Mark of Scath, Victor closes his black box and places it on the lower shelf of a small cart. On the upper shelf, two porcelain cups of coffee. He pushes the cart out of his room and enters Kory's VIP room, placing it suspiciously close to Otto's box.
Otto looks at him, he is about to speak, but Kory beats him to it. "I ordered us some coffee." Otto looks at her and nods. Kory hands him the Mark of Scath and he puts it inside his black box.
At the sorting area, after a few seconds, the green cockroach gets out of the bomb. He starts growing as he changes back to Gar. Raven looks at him.
"Did you cut the correct one?"
"Yep, the fourth one" Gar says with a proud smile. However, something isn't right, Raven can sense it. She closes her eyes focusing on the bomb. It is still ticking. In that moment the timer hits zero.
"Gar, watch out!" Raven manages to yell as she surrounds the bomb with her black energy, but it isn't enough as the bomb goes off, blasting through the black shield and making the sorting area and whole airport shake, debris and metallic parts falling from the roof on top of them.
Screams, pandemonium all throughout the airport as the alarm starts buzzing and people start running terrified to the nearest exit.
Leonid and Deathstroke are still fighting when the airport begins to shake and debris starts falling. Leonid manages to move away, but Deathstroke cannot, as he is crushed down.
The hero looks at him. He appears to be dead with his eye closed, when suddenly his body starts melting, liquifying, and moving away from the debris in little droplets.
Leonid looks at it confused. "What? What are you?"
The droplets are creeping together, fusing into larger blobs. These pools shiver and run together, soon forming a muddy central mass, in the form of a body with yellow eyes looking straight at Leonid.
Leonid widens his eyes. "Clayface." That explained everything.
Clayface creates a giant fist and throws it at Leonid, who doesn't have time to react and is thrown through the wall and out of the restroom into the lobby of the airport. Leonid clutches his back, that hurts even more without his suit. He takes off his beard and red wig. Richard looks up at the oncoming figure of Clayface.
"Aren't you a little far from Gotham, Karlo?" He teases through the pain.
"You know what they say, an actor gotta earn their living" Clayface answers in his own voice.
The whole VIP room starts shaking because of the explosion. Kory looks at Otto, who seems preoccupied looking at the ceiling. This is her chance. Without he noticing, using her feet, she pushes his box near the cart, while Victor does the opposite move with his box, almost completing the swap. Suddenly, the sound of a bullet echoes outside.
Kory stops and looks at Otto. "We have to get out of here."
They get out of the room when they notice Mad Mod and Madame Rouge with Controllus and five of his men with machine guns, entering the VIP area. Mod smiles. "Hello, governa, wouldn't you by chance have something for me?"
Kory puts herself in front of Otto, protecting him and the box. "You will have to pass through me."
Controllus looks at Victor, he notices the fake box in his hands. "He also has a box."
Otto looks at him. "What?" He looks at Kory who ignores him, focusing on Rouge.
"Get me the two boxes, lads" Mod orders. He steps back and exits the VIP area, there's no way he is staying, in case this goes wrong.
With that, Rouge charges at Kory, throwing a hard punch, Kory dodges her and throws a punch of her own, but Rouge catches and sweeps her feet, sending her to the ground and jumping on top of her.
Meanwhile, Victor throws the box and takes cover behind the column as they start firing at him. He moves to the side and fires his sonic cannon hitting one of the men who goes to the floor, the rest still firing, Victor takes cover again. He looks to the side, where Controllus approaches Otto with a gun. The archeologist throws his hands in the air, instantly surrendering and handing him the box with the real Mark of Scath inside. Controllus takes it and punches him, knocking him to the floor. He then notices the other box on the ground, had they already made the swap? Not wanting to take any risk, he grabs it and runs to the exit. Victor widens his eyes; he can't get it. He makes a move to follow them, but the moment he steps out, an avalanche of bullets comes his way, forcing him to take cover again.
The lieutenant is sprinting along his men to the exit. "Come on, we are almost there!" He yells. He touches his earpiece. "Send some men to the sorting area; that's where the explosion originated."
Raven opens her eyes, her head hurting badly, blood on her forehead, she was lucky to have survived. She looks around, the area destroyed with debris all over the place. She tries to move, but finds out she can't. She has a metallic beam over her leg trapping her. She tries again, but its impossible. She releases a sigh.
She looks to the side, where she notices Gar a few feet from her, crouched, looking down. "Gar" she calls. No answers. He seems to be struggling to breathe, probably suffered a hard blow. He is gripping the grated floor, trying to remain in control. His eyes green, his body starting to grow and becoming hairy. Raven widens her eyes. "Gar, breathe, everything is alright" she says, trying to calm him.
"I… I can't!" On Gar's face she can see the struggle to suppress the creature. His claws now growing, fangs on his mouth, slowly transforming, he seems in pain as he clutches his head.
Raven must do something. She focuses on the metallic beam trapping her, becoming black with her energy as she tries to move it away, while talking to Gar. Its heavy, very heavy. "Gar, you gotta fight it, listen to me, we're going to be okay." She touches her earpiece. "Raven here, is somebody there?" She asks.
Victor answers. "Victor here, I guess the bomb went off, right?" He asks still taking cover.
"Yeah, I'm with Gar, at what's left of the sorting area, currently trapped, we need help." She looks at Gar, who continues to transform. "Please, hurry, Gar isn't himself right now" she says, panic in her voice.
Victor looks to the side. Kory seems to be struggling against Rouge, and who knows where Richard is. He thinks. Raven needs him. He can't both go after Controllus and help Raven. He makes a decision. "I'm on my way." He quickly moves to the side and fires his sonic canon hitting one of the men, then charges at them throwing a punch to one, moves to the next, takes his gun away and also punches him, dodges another round of bullets from the last man, grabs his machine gun and uses it to deliver a hard blow, knocking him unconscious. He looks behind, all five of the men in the floor. He sprints to Raven's location.
Raven looks at Gar. "You heard that? Vic is coming" she says sounding desperate to Gar. But he isn't listening, the creature is almost complete as he lets out a loud roar. Raven is completely scared.
Richard is thrown across the airport, Clayface slow walking up to him. Richard takes out his last batarang. He must make it count, Clayface is not the type of villain with whom you go blow for blow.
Clayface creates another giant fist and throws it at him, Richard dodges as he moves right and jumps on top of his arm running to meet him. The shapeshifter moves his arms around, but Richard jumps up, throws the batarang straight behind Clayface and delivers a flying kick to Clayface in the face, the villain falling to the floor on top of the batarang that goes off. Richard landing smoothly with a cartwheel. He looks at Clayface who is currently headless because of the explosion. If he had known before that that was Clayface, the fight would have been shorter.
He touches his earpiece. "Victor, where is the box?"
"Controllus has it" Victor says as he sprints to Raven's locations. "That fat fuck grabbed both boxes and ran off."
"Fuck" Richard swears. He thinks. How is he supposed to find him. As far as he knows, he could already be out. He then, out of nowhere, notices Controllus sprinting through the empty airport carrying both boxes. He lifts an eyebrow. Well, that was easy. "Found him."
Kory is pushed with great force to the wall by Rouge. Kory then grabs her, and she pushes her to the wall next to her. She hard punches Rouge in the face, prepares another one, but the assassin catches her while grinning, twists her wrist and pushes her back with her leg. Kory falls to the ground. Rouge jumps on top of her, ready to punch her, but Kory grabs a close metallic tray, blocking the punch, and then uses it to hit her and get away from her grasp.
Both look at their adversary, studying it, Kory a little out of breath, Rouge still grinning. Kory thinks, she can't continue this for much longer, in this moment, Rouge is stronger than her, and she knows it.
"Already tired?" Rouge taunts in her French accent.
Kory doesn't answer back. She raises her hands preparing to fire her green beams. Rouge looks at her. But nothing happens, Kory looks wide eyed at her hands. She doesn't have any more energy, no sun energy. "No, no, this cannot be happening." It had never happened before.
Rouge smirks. "It looks like you are out of energy."
Kory looks back at Rouge, she then lets out a battle cry as she charges at her.
Raven focuses again on the beam on top of her, she must get away quickly. Another huge roar. Raven looks at Gar, her skin a shade paler than normal, completely terrified. There is the huge form of the creature, fully transformed. "Gar…" she whispers. The creature turns to her. It lets out another roar as it charges at her. Raven turns back to the beam, she focuses, black energy surrounding it. Her nose starts bleeding because of the effort. The creature swats at her, but just in time, she manages to lift the beam just enough to get her leg out and escape.
She looks at it. A disturbed face on the creature. Raven jolts to the exit, the creature chasing behind. She rolls under a turbine, starts to crawl within the maze of pipes. The creature pulls them out from above the catwalk. Raven falls through the catwalks and quickly and stealthily escapes. The creature lets out a loud roar of rage.
She is about to make it out of the sorting area when she suddenly trips, falling to the ground. The creature hears her as it turns in her direction. Raven widens her eyes. The creature roars as it charges at her. Raven focuses on some of the debris and throws them at it, but the creature easily swats them away as it continues. Raven doesn't know what to do. The creature is about to attack when it suddenly receives the impact of a sonic cannon direct to its chest, sending it flying back. Raven looks behind. There by the door is Victor, his sonic canon raised.
He looks at Raven. "Are you okay?" He asks worried. Raven nods as she gets up. "We have to get out."
Raven shakes her head. "Not without Gar, we can't leave him."
Victor nods. He then raises his canon, aiming at the creature that is currently on the floor, his back turned. "He is not going to like this." Just when he is about to fire, they suddenly hear…
"Wait!" Gars voice echoes through what's left of the sorting area as the creature stars getting smaller and back into human form.
Victor lowers his canon. "Gar?"
Gar turns to them, now completely human with his clothes torn. "Sorry." He lets out an embarrassed laugh. "I lost control." Raven looks away. With her energy she grabs one close suitcase, opens it and throws the clothes to Gar, currently naked. "Sorry" he repeats.
"Just put on the clothes" Raven says, right now not feeling very happy with him.
Rouge throws a punch to Kory who dodges, grabs her arm and pulls forward, sending her to the ground. She then puts herself behind Rouge as she placer her arms around her neck in a choke lock and applies pressure.
"Surrender."
Rouge struggles as she tries to break free, but she can't. Kory's hold on her is too strong.
"Surrender!" she repeats applying more pressure, almost leaving her unconscious.
"Freeze!" Both women look up. There, by the door of the VIP room is the lieutenant along his men. Their guns raised pointing at them. "Hands in the air!"
Rouge smirks as she raises her arms.
"But…" Kory protests.
"Do it, Anders!"
Kory lets go of Rouge and raises her arms. Carson then takes out two pairs of handcuffs and throws to the floor in front. "Put them on, both!"
Kory is confused. "What…? But…"
The lieutenant takes the safety of his gun. He isn't playing around. Kory obeys as she reaches down, grabs the handcuffs and puts them on. The lieutenant then turns to Rouge. "Now you."
Rouge smirks. Slowly she reaches down to the cuffs. She grabs them, but just before she can put them on, she throws them at the lieutenant who moves away. The cops then shoot at her, but she dodges them with ease. Moves to one of the men, grabs him by the neck, twists it, killing him and uses him as a human shield against the oncoming fire. She takes his gun and fires at the remaining cops, killing them all. The lieutenant tries to move away, but before he knows it, he is receiving a bullet to the heart. He collapses on the floor, blood coming from his mouth as he starts choking. Rouge steps on his stomach, applying pressure and accelerating his death.
Kory looks at her, mouth agape, she had killed them all.
Rouge then turns to Kory and points at her with the gun. She smirks.
Controllus is still running through the airport, carrying both black boxes. He is about to make it out when suddenly the figure of a man steps in his way. Richard. He is smirking. Controllus gulps.
Richard signals him to hand him the boxes. Controllus obeys as he gives them to him, and Richard leaves them on the floor.
"Thank you."
Controllus laughs a bit awkwardly. "Now, that…" Richard interrupts him with a hard punch to the face knocking him unconscious.
Richard touches his earpiece. "I have both boxes. How are you all?"
"Good to hear, I'm here with Raven and Gar now, we are fine" Victor answers. Raven by his side, and Gar with a tired look on his face with his new clothes on.
"Kory is not with you?" Richard asks, a bit of worry in his voice.
"No, last I saw her she was in the VIP with Rouge…" Victor trails.
Richard widens his eyes. "And you left her on her own?! Kory come in, are you there?!"
Kory's earpiece is by its own on the VIPs floor, Richard's voice echoing throughout the room.
"Kory come in!"
The room is empty, no one to pick it up. Only the corpses of the lieutenant and cops scattered around the room.
"Kory!"
Silence.
There you have it, a bit of cliffhanger in this one. Im so hyped for the next chapter, you guys have no idea. If you are enjoying the story please like and review.