Justice League: The New Wave (IC)

ChasNicollette said:

On any other day, Superboy would have made a quip about that being a sick wrestling move... perhaps making some reference to the gorgeous Rebel being a Stone Cold Stunner, haha...

...but the darkness that had overridden him after he'd shaken off The Fog of Dreams was making him more focused and formidable opponent than he had been last time...

...and this time, when Rebel slammed Superboy to the ground with all of her strength, like last time Superboy used his telekinetic force aura to absorb the impact and redirect it...

...except instead of shunting it into the ground around him, he dumped the force of that massive collision into her, blasting her back with all the strength she'd used on him through the points where her hands grabbed his legs...

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Ouch. Just fucking owwie. Jo flew and instinct may be all that saved her as she shifted to tough. Bouncing and skidding to a stop. Her chimes had been well and truly ring. Back up to her feet and mad as hell. "Least ya coulda done was kiss me first Supes. Heya Catlady, we don't need that room no more."

Speed. And Jo was off again. Speakin a th Catlady, she looked like she could use a hand. In this kinda fight ya take what ya can, and in this case it was flash vision ta the Atom's back. Just a pulse and she as gone again.

And then she caught sight of miss fishnets. And Jo went at speed intent on a high speed clothesline...

Seeing Red.

LuckyVic said:

Batman black smiled, his suit was designed to protect him against such attacks. He raised his arm and fired some batarangs of his own to intercept those that RED had fired. He had his suit scan Red in order to see if there was any signs of artifical control of the Titans. Something that he and the League could take out.

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Through the shattered cloud of colliding batarangs stepped Batman Red like a phoenix through fire and he again lashed out with that crimson cutting laser, aiming to swipe it right across Batman Black's optics-- diagonally down across his chest-- and then right across his waist, where his utility belt would have been--

--a Mark of Zorro.

As for Batman Black's scan, well, it would depend on how thorough it was.

How quickly.

Tim Drake would read as perfectly normal. No bugs. No implants. No nanites.

No mystic runes engraved, scarified, or inked into his skin. No artifacts.

Well, normal-- he was suffering sleep deprivation-- lack of REM sleep--

--mental and physical exhaustion--

--his amygdala was all tied up in knots--

--and if Batman Black's brainscan ran deep enough, which would be scary impressive for a portable EEG--

--it would seem like Batman Red's subconscious mind had a whole 'nother consciousness layered on top of it. Woven in with it.

It would have been utterly imperceptible-- if Batman Red's aggression levels weren't spiking like The Chrysler Building.

But what did it mean? Who could be pulling such insidious strings with maestro precision?

The Sandman has been scattered like Dust on The Wind. To be fair it caught him off guard. But he wasn't just living earth... he was The Sandman. Hunter of Dreams. Warrior of the Dreaming. Shifting back to his corporeal humanoid form he stands on the outskirts of the battle. Taking it all in.

He catches the brawl with Braggock and Grunge. Again a small smile crosses his face beneath the Mantle. He gestures toward Grunge, freezing him mid-strike. Grunge's newly acquired obsidian form susceptible to The Sandman's geo-kinesis. With a flick of his wrist the Sandman sends Grunge into the air.

Grunge begins zipping around the battlefield, like a ping pong ball, careening at one target after another. The Sandman less concerned with how many times he connected, but hoping to put the Titans off balance playing dodge ball with their teammate.

"Leaguers, there is something, or someone else at play. Something insidious."

Kaiju-a-go-go.

TertiusHuman said:

He shimmered into human form, clutching his bleeding arm

"What a fine Green Lantern you'll make."

And then Garfield shimmered, leaving an Allosaurus in his place, with a grumble of anger, the huge dinosaur looked at Teen Lantern

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Jessica narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah. Well. I'm not scared of you."

And from her Ring poured light...

...and a gigantic squid lunged to grapple the allosaurus with constricting tentacles the size of tree-trunks...

Busting a Cap.

Varshanka said:

Kara didn’t like fighting heroes. Didn’t like it at all. Especially men. They were ‘fragile’. But desperate times equals desperate measures. So she did what she felt was needed. Standing in one place she built up seed, Much like a muscle car with the brakes on. And with Rose screaming in his face, Karan let loose those brakes and darted forwards, Dropping low to the ground as she flew forwards at speeds in excessive of Mach 4.

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Mach 4 was a snail's pace compared to the aforediscussed Speed of Mercury, but Cap was still recovering from Martian Vision to the face, which even a Kryptonian would flinch from.

Varshanka said:

So she airmed a right cross – straight in what she heard referred to as the ‘family jewels’. Why they were called that, she didn’t know, or care.

If only Rose distracted him long enough, for the punch to land.

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It was, perhaps, to Captain Marvel's everlasting chagrin that while he had The Courage of Achilles, his invulnerability was instead derived from The Stamina of Atlas. If he had had Achilles' invulnerability, then only his heel would be a weak point, and not...

"Nnnnnnngh!" he curled around his injury, clutching at himself...

...his voice dropped to a tiny little gasp...

"...holy... moley..."

And then, to add insult to injury, Grunge flew past, screaming and swearing, and ricocheted off of the side of Cap's head.

"... ah! not. cool."

ChasNicollette said:

Jessica narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah. Well. I'm not scared of you."

And from her Ring poured light...

...and a gigantic squid lunged to grapple the allosaurus with constricting tentacles the size of tree-trunks...

Click to expand...

You should be, but I WILL NOT hurt you

Of course these words came out as a series of growls and huffs.

As the tentacles wrapped around Gar to constrict him, the Allosaurus was no more. Instead a fleet-footed Carpucian used the tentacles as a launching pad to jump onto the body of the squid and a green hued Blue Hawk took to the air and dove straight at Jessica, veering sharply away and landing a few feet away in Garfield's human form.

"I am asking you nicely only one more time. Stop attacking me."

Green Lives Matter.

TertiusHuman said:

You should be, but I WILL NOT hurt you

Of course these words came out as a series of growls and huffs.

As the tentacles wrapped around Gar to constrict him, the Allosaurus was no more. Instead a fleet-footed Carpucian used the tentacles as a launching pad to jump onto the body of the squid and a green hued Blue Hawk took to the air and dove straight at Jessica, veering sharply away and landing a few feet away in Garfield's human form.

"I am asking you nicely only one more time. Stop attacking me."

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As the squid dissipated, the formless green plasma swirled back down around Jessica and coalesced in her hands as a Mossberg shotgun.

Her agoraphobia was going nuts-- oddly, the object above was helping, she didn't have to feel like she was trapped under an open sky-- and her PTSD was flaring up--

--but she was still pushing through it with anger and grief and gritted teeth.

"Nuh-no," she shook her head, grimacing, tears gleaming on her cheeks... the tears from her left eye glistening green.

"Killing all those people in Central. Clones and crooks. You're all no better than the-- the muh-mobsters that mah-massacred my friends. We need to stop you."

Deorbiting.

Lunaramblings said:

With a flick of his wrist the Sandman sends Grunge into the air.

Grunge begins zipping around the battlefield, like a ping pong ball, careening at one target after another. The Sandman less concerned with how many times he connected, but hoping to put the Titans off balance playing dodge ball with their teammate.

Click to expand...

ChasNicollette said:

And then, to add insult to injury, Grunge flew past, screaming and swearing, and ricocheted off of the side of Cap's head.

"... ah! not. cool."

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As Percival Edmund Chang got rebounded off of Captain Marvel's skull by Wesley Edmund Dodds, he managed with sheer instinct to reach out with his power...

...and as he hurtled away from Marvel, his rocky form bled off of him, crumbling away to be replaced with just the tiniest glimmery fraction of The Lightning of SHAZAM. Even just a whiff of that juice made him crackle and hum, but more to the point-- he wasn't made of rock anymore.

"Knight!" he roared.

"I got yeh, mate!" And Beryl was back on her feet, for all the hits she'd taken today she was a good soldier, and her arm-shield was up and open...

...using the lightning for electromagnetism, Grunge gave the shield an opposite charge, and the repulsion braked him in mid-air...

...he was only going a few feet per second when he kicked off of the shield in a parkour flip and landed on his boot-soles.

"Thanks," he grinned at The Knight.

"Fair do's," Beryl replied, nodding wearily but gamely.

And then Grunge whirled to find the guy who'd did this to him, who'd punked him like that...

"Fucker," he growled, and fired all the rest of his absorbed energy in a bolt of lighting straight for The Sandman.

Middle Fingers in The Air.

Wyldfire said:

Ouch. Just fucking owwie. Jo flew and instinct may be all that saved her as she shifted to tough. Bouncing and skidding to a stop. Her chimes had been well and truly ring. Back up to her feet and mad as hell. "Least ya coulda done was kiss me first Supes. Heya Catlady, we don't need that room no more."

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"Are-- are you kidding?" Superboy shook his head, lurching to his feet, he ached all over just like the last time he had tried that teke-'kido on full ultra-strength-- evidently that power stunt had cleared his head a little. "All I did was go for second base, you're the one who put me on my back with my legs in the air!"

Wyldfire said:

Speed. And Jo was off again. Speakin a th Catlady, she looked like she could use a hand. In this kinda fight ya take what ya can, and in this case it was flash vision ta the Atom's back. Just a pulse and she as gone again.

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The flash vision hit Ray right between the shoulder-blades as he went for a supermassive right cross!

Fortunately for Ray, Tim Drake wasn't the only one to integrate thermocouple tech with the skin of his suit, converting excess heat into additional power. Unfortunately for Ray, this sudden spike of heat converted into enough of a power surge that it triggered his size-changing circuitry and-- all of a sudden--

--he was the size of a flea going up against a cat the size of a human.

"Oh. Frack."

Wyldfire said:

And then she caught sight of miss fishnets. And Jo went at speed intent on a high speed clothesline...

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Moving so quickly the friction heat was practically searing his skin through his force-aura, Superboy gritted his teeth hard and swooped in from Jo's right, hoping to catch her in a literally flying tackle or at least throw her off-course...

Not that it would ultimately help Zatanna much.

She had her own crap to deal with right now.

ChasNicollette said:

"Are-- are you kidding?" Superboy shook his head, lurching to his feet, he ached all over just like the last time he had tried that teke-'kido on full ultra-strength-- evidently that power stunt had cleared his head a little. "All I did was go for second base, you're the one who put me on my back with my legs in the air!"

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That was interestin. Flirtin made him more like his self. That or she was more concussed than she thought......

ChasNicollette said:

The flash vision hit Ray right between the shoulder-blades as he went for a supermassive right cross!

Fortunately for Ray, Tim Drake wasn't the only one to integrate thermocouple tech with the skin of his suit, converting excess heat into additional power. Unfortunately for Ray, this sudden spike of heat converted into enough of a power surge that it triggered his size-changing circuitry and-- all of a sudden--

--he was the size of a flea going up against a cat the size of a human.

"Oh. Frack."

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When Ray shrank so suddenly it triggered an instinct in Wildcat. Her pupils contracted focusing on Ray and she lashed out with an open paw (hand dammit) and struck at Ray. There was enough of Thea there to aim the swipe so as to use the Atom like a hand ball. Right at Redbat.

ChasNicollette said:

Moving so quickly the friction heat was practically searing his skin through his force-aura, Superboy gritted his teeth hard and swooped in from Jo's right, hoping to catch her in a literally flying tackle or at least throw her off-course...

Not that it would ultimately help Zatanna much.

She had her own crap to deal with right now.

Click to expand...

While using speed Jo thinks and reacts at the same speed, and she caught the glimpse to her right. As Supes came in Jo pivoted putting a hand on his shoulder and pulled him into her. As their bodies came together Jo pulled her right leg up along Supes' left leg drawing him in even closer, hooking her heel behind his knee, putting them into a spin. She drew close and said quietly "Rock lil Jo sweetie." And with that she went tough and laid a deep kiss on him, letting the spin blow off the combined velocity.

ChasNicollette said:

As the squid dissipated, the formless green plasma swirled back down around Jessica and coalesced in her hands as a Mossberg shotgun.

Her agoraphobia was going nuts-- oddly, the object above was helping, she didn't have to feel like she was trapped under an open sky-- and her PTSD was flaring up--

--but she was still pushing through it with anger and grief and gritted teeth.

"Nuh-no," she shook her head, grimacing, tears gleaming on her cheeks... the tears from her left eye glistening green.

"Killing all those people in Central. Clones and crooks. You're all no better than the-- the muh-mobsters that mah-massacred my friends. We need to stop you."

Click to expand...

Her words stopped Garfield. She had hit the centre of what had been bothering him for weeks now, the same thing that plagued his dreams, his nightmares, his waking moments. The same thing that he have to hide so well since there is so many people who could read his mind if he pondered on something.

He straightened.

Opened his arms in a welcoming gesture.

His words were soft, but loud enough for her to hear him clearly.

"Do you think that none of those deaths have been weighing on me? You will do me a favor if you use that shotgun. Be a hero. Be a Green Lantern and shoot me. God knows I deserve it."

And a better target Teen Lantern would not get in that precise moment.

Well the only thing that could function on land and water and still not bee seen as too weird a creature to turn into... Garfield thought a moment and with a shrug stepped away from the tank and leaped.

A bright orange tree frog attached itself to the tank.

Strange choice since frogs were not toads, toads were not frogs and a tree frog not seen as amphibious, but in fact it was and it was better than penguin, Sea Lion or Walrus to name a few.

Garfield blinked and looked at Kaldur through the glass of the tank.

OK, why did I turn into a croaker?

ChasNicollette said:

Connor Hawke was a fighter of superlative skill-- and the more he fought, the more people he fought, the better he got. He had the potential to be one of the greatest martial artists on the planet.

But not only had Aztek been trained practically from birth by the mysterious Q Foundation to face off against some great and terrible prophesied darkness, he also had access to the collective memories and experiences of all of the men and women before him who had worn the techno-occult helmet that made him a superhero-- he was The Ultimate Man. The fact that Uno could even halfway keep up with Connor was a testament to that.

But yes, Connor was better and getting better.

Fortunately, Aztek could hedge the difference by upping his density to make him more resilient, stronger, better able to take a hit-- but getting whacked by depleted promethium still hurt like blazes. Not as bad as getting your face slammed repeatedly against a series of buildings by an old-model Amazo running with the speed of The Flash, but still not a great feeling.

Nevertheless, Aztek had time during the rapid-fire exchange of blows to weigh his options, formulate a new plan.

And to spring that plan into action.

Darting back out of the reach of Green Arrow's depleted promethium Escrima sticks, Aztek engaged the flight option of his suit-- it looked like a feathered cape spread from his arms and connected to his lower body like a gliding wingsuit-- and he swooped straight back and up from Arrow. As he swooped back, he aimed both arms at Connor and fired wired nets of his own, attempting to snag and entangle Green Arrow.

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Connor had begun to enjoy the fight with Aztek. In fact the more they fought the better he had seemed to get and he had also sensed that Aztek had been pushing himself towards new limits as well. While he hated to be fighting a fellow hero in this way, he couldn't deny the sheer pleasure he was getting from the experience. It was as if he was going up against the head monk, only this time he seemed to be making progress.

He was so keyed into Azteks style, that as soon as he made a foreign move he was ready for it. As the man backed away and soared into the air, he was already dropping his fighting sticks to the ground and pulling his bow off his back and selecting two arrow's.

He had them knocked and away, even as Aztek turned back and fired upon him. Even as he did he fired a third arrow behind the other two.

The first two suddenly sprouted thin blades and began spinning at over 10,000 rpm. As he suspected Aztek had broken off to get distance to fire something at him, but he had been expecting missiles, not nets. Still the blades on his arrows would be able to deal with them. They were designed to either set off a missiles pressure sensor, knock it off course, or damage it severely. However he had thought about nets and cables when he had designed them.

Although he doubted too many Armored villains were still using rope, or nylon nets anymore, there were still henchmen and the old standby of use what was there, so his blades could cut through anything up to good quality climbing gear, and probably some steel cabling. Mainly though it would entangle it and then bring it down, taking it away from its intended target.

Connor hoped his prop blades did their job, as the arrow behind was the one that was supposed to do the damage. He remembered how Aztek had phased just like their favorite Martian and he wouldn't put it passed him to have the opposite ability as well. Still that meant hitting him with anything was going to be next to impossible, so he wasn't going to try.

He had fired an electro static arrow with a small pulse in it's tip. It would go off in three seconds after leaving his bow pumping out a burst of electricity into the air. It only had a six foot radius, though that created a sphere larger than a lot of people realized.

As soon as his last arrow was away he dived backwards and to his left, rolling and coming up in a crouch with another arrow on his string.

American Ultra.

Wyldfire said:

When Ray shrank so suddenly it triggered an instinct in Wildcat. Her pupils contracted focusing on Ray and she lashed out with an open paw (hand dammit) and struck at Ray. There was enough of Thea there to aim the swipe so as to use the Atom like a hand ball. Right at Redbat.

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Screaming in surprise and dismay, The Atom hurtled towards Batman Red, head over heels, ass over teakettle...

...he couldn't enlarge, the size-changing circuitry in his suit had been fused by the power surge, he would need time and tools to enact repairs, he couldn't alter his mass, couldn't ride air currents...

...fortunately, air-currents were an unreliable enough mode of transportation that Palmer had long ago installed reaction control systems into his uniform.

Engaging maximum thrust, teeth chattering in his head with the g-forces, he managed to eeeeeeeeeaaaaaaase to a halt in mid-air, hovering uneasily.

"Okay. ...ow?"

At about that moment, Chase finally came back on Wildcat's smartwatch.

"Wildcat. I have confirmation from Waller. Bones hasn't taken any calls from non-governmental entities all morning. I don't know who The Titans spoke to-- if they even spoke to anyone-- but it wasn't him."

Wyldfire said:

While using speed Jo thinks and reacts at the same speed, and she caught the glimpse to her right. As Supes came in Jo pivoted putting a hand on his shoulder and pulled him into her. As their bodies came together Jo pulled her right leg up along Supes' left leg drawing him in even closer, hooking her heel behind his knee, putting them into a spin. She drew close and said quietly "Rock lil Jo sweetie." And with that she went tough and laid a deep kiss on him, letting the spin blow off the combined velocity.

Click to expand...

They slammed to the ground on Kon's back, scrrrraping along the ground and carving a trough as they skidded to a halt.

His eyes-- those wild-yonder, steely-blue Kryptonian eyes --were wide in his head. And as he broke the kiss, his head thunking on the ground below and behind him, he mumbled: "You taste like monster-truck rallies and Toby Keith songs and-- whatever the Hell grits are--"

He made a face. "...why is that a turn-on?"

Frog parking only. All others will be toad.

TertiusHuman said:

Garfield blinked and looked at Kaldur through the glass of the tank.

OK, why did I turn into a croaker?

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Kaldur smiled faintly. Aloud, he said: "Believe it or not, my fine froggy friend, as much as I have had my own doubts about Mister Luthor, thus far he has proven a staunch ally and benefactor."

At the same time, his voice in Garfield's head continued: <"He could be listening. Superman believed that Lex Luthor was a villain, though he could never, to his despair, secure proof. But Superman-- among us all, his honor was most unimpeachable-- even above my own King Orin. What you see here is our attempt to gain his confidence. And find proof. One way or the other. Once and for all. Of Luthor's honor-- or its lack.">

ChasNicollette said:

Screaming in surprise and dismay, The Atom hurtled towards Batman Red, head over heels, ass over teakettle...

...he couldn't enlarge, the size-changing circuitry in his suit had been fused by the power surge, he would need time and tools to enact repairs, he couldn't alter his mass, couldn't ride air currents...

...fortunately, air-currents were an unreliable enough mode of transportation that Palmer had long ago installed reaction control systems into his uniform.

Engaging maximum thrust, teeth chattering in his head with the g-forces, he managed to eeeeeeeeeaaaaaaase to a halt in mid-air, hovering uneasily.

"Okay. ...ow?"

At about that moment, Chase finally came back on Wildcat's smartwatch.

"Wildcat. I have confirmation from Waller. Bones hasn't taken any calls from non-governmental entities all morning. I don't know who The Titans spoke to-- if they even spoke to anyone-- but it wasn't him."

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"Kinda figured that seein as they attacked us Chase, we're fighting defensive. They're good guys, but they ain't right right now." Thea started to run, using all fours to run as fast as possible. Knight needed to be put in check. Menacing a healer is never a good thing. "Hey, Poor Brit Trash, wanna dance with yer American better?"

ChasNicollette said:

They slammed to the ground on Kon's back, scrrrraping along the ground and carving a trough as they skidded to a halt.

His eyes-- blue as the wild-yonder, steely-blue Kryptonian eyes --were wide in his head. And as he broke the kiss, his head thunking on the ground below and behind him.

"You taste like monster-truck rallies and Toby Keith songs and-- whatever the Hell grits are--"

He made a face. "...why is that a turn-on?"

Click to expand...

Jo looked down at him and smiled. "Yer always gonna be this irritatin ain't ya?" She dropped another kiss on him. "Ya okay, or ya still bat shit an I'm gonna have ta keep hitting ya?" Then she laughed once more just cause it felt good.

"An grits is made a corn. And I could never stand um so I don know how ya could taste um on me," She kinda squirmed just a bit on toppa him. "Ya know maybe that room might be a nice idea sometime." She definately musta hit her head again in the landing. Supes was actually kinda cute up close.

Putting the "tactile" in "tactile-telekinesis."

Wyldfire said:

"Kinda figured that seein as they attacked us Chase, we're fighting defensive. They're good guys, but they ain't right right now." Thea started to run, using all fours to run as fast as possible. Knight needed to be put in check. Menacing a healer is never a good thing. "Hey, Poor Brit Trash, wanna dance with yer American better?"

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Whirling away from Grunge as he spat wizardly lightning at The Sandman, The Knight twirled her blade to readiness, scowling at Wildcat.

"I'll give yeh 'elder,' Coach Grant. But 'elder' dun always mean 'better.'"

And charged at Thea, shield in front of her body and covering her lower face, glaring over the shield through her visor as her sword gleamed low and away. As she got within Wildcat's lunging radius, she suddenly whirled, spinning in place and whipping her sword up in a diagonal upward cross-slash, bringing the shield back around on the back end of her spin as a follow-up bludgeon.

Wyldfire said:

Jo looked down at him and smiled. "Yer always gonna be this irritatin ain't ya?" She dropped another kiss on him. "Ya okay, or ya still bat shit an I'm gonna have ta keep hitting ya?" Then she laughed once more just cause it felt good.

"An grits is made a corn. And I could never stand um so I don know how ya could taste um on me," She kinda squirmed just a bit on toppa him. "Ya know maybe that room might be a nice idea sometime." She definately musta hit her head again in the landing. Supes was actually kinda cute up close.

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There was an odd little place going on behind Kon's eyes. Like he was trying to get traction.

Somewhere between the pleasant feelings of new attraction despite considerable annoyance, and the crushing feelings of violation born of hearing about dozens of clones getting murdered by a fledgling Justice League.

As though... as though the darkness could only keep a hold of his actions, could only regulate him when he was sick and sad with regret and negative emotion. When he was running on anger and sadness and guilt and pain. And it couldn't maintain as strong a grip if they were... happy?

...but then the tug of war tipped back into the black, and Superboy hissed through his teeth...

"No. No. You're still with... them."

...and shoved her off of him with every joule of tac-teke in his aura.

He was, after all, able to move things touching him with his mind, and she was... touching a lot of him.

Ringslinger. Gunslinger.

TertiusHuman said:

He straightened.

Opened his arms in a welcoming gesture.

His words were soft, but loud enough for her to hear him clearly.

"Do you think that none of those deaths have been weighing on me? You will do me a favor if you use that shotgun. Be a hero. Be a Green Lantern and shoot me. God knows I deserve it."

And a better target Teen Lantern would not get in that precise moment.

Click to expand...

Her whole body shook.

Tears poured down her face.

But then she clenched her teeth.

And steadied... Steadied with a capital "S."

Then her Ring... spoke. [Recruit 2814. This unit is a training Ring. Lethal force cannot be enabled. Repeat: lethal force cannot be enabled.]

Jessica's shoulders rose, and fell.

"Yeah. I know."

And blasted Garfield center-mass with bean-bag rounds.

Hawke, meet Falconer.

Aussie_Wolf said:

He had them knocked and away, even as Aztek turned back and fired upon him. Even as he did he fired a third arrow behind the other two.

The first two suddenly sprouted thin blades and began spinning at over 10,000 rpm. As he suspected Aztek had broken off to get distance to fire something at him, but he had been expecting missiles, not nets. Still the blades on his arrows would be able to deal with them. They were designed to either set off a missiles pressure sensor, knock it off course, or damage it severely. However he had thought about nets and cables when he had designed them.

Although he doubted too many Armored villains were still using rope, or nylon nets anymore, there were still henchmen and the old standby of use what was there, so his blades could cut through anything up to good quality climbing gear, and probably some steel cabling. Mainly though it would entangle it and then bring it down, taking it away from its intended target.

Click to expand...

The nets were made of a high-tensile wire of the same mysterious alloy as the metallic portions of his armored suit. They would not cut easily, if at all. But entanglement... definitely. The whirling blades would tangle up those nets, make them useless for catching anything but those selfsame arrows, and the whole knotted messes clumped to the ground.

They were, however, a distraction.

He had calculated that Hawke would be able to disable them in short order.

But he was ready with a follow-up-- just as Hawke had been.

Aussie_Wolf said:

He had fired an electro static arrow with a small pulse in it's tip. It would go off in three seconds after leaving his bow pumping out a burst of electricity into the air. It only had a six foot radius, though that created a sphere larger than a lot of people realized.

Click to expand...

Aztek dove to meet the arrow, twitching to the side so that it passed him in the air, slicing neatly by him... but the electricity simply fizzled off of the skin of his suit. It was exceptionally well-insulated. (It could even adapt to flying in space, though Aztek himself didn't even know that yet.)

But even as he flew past that arrow... he vanished.

Flight, density-control, and X-ray vision were only most of the powers he shared with survivors of the Martian races.

He could also turn invisible.

Aussie_Wolf said:

As soon as his last arrow was away he dived backwards and to his left, rolling and coming up in a crouch with another arrow on his string.

Click to expand...

By the time Connor came up, next arrow nocked, Aztek would be nowhere to be seen.

No doubt Connor's preternatural Zen abilities would be an asset against an invisible opponent-- but his training in mimicking any move he saw would be useless against an opponent he couldn't see-- and surely there would be some sort of whiplash moment where Arrow would have to reorient himself-- try to figure out if Aztek had teleported, or--

--and in that instant the invisible Aztek swept up beside Connor and swung a hard left across his jaw with all the strength he could muster at normal human density.

Blackbird Singing in The Dead of Night.

ChasNicollette said:

And then Starfire, recharged by Solstice, blazed up from the ground and swooped down for the three of them with starbolts blazing from her hands and eyes... "HAHHHHHH!"

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Keeping up the healing mojo with one hand, keeping on Raven's healing, Aquagirl nevertheless glanced up at that ringing cry and with a sharp hiss of her own, swept her other hand across in an arc...

...water stormed out of the nearby fountain in a massive wall, like a forcefield sculpted out of water, and even though Starfire's bombing-run blew the water to steam it blocked the blasts nevertheless...

...forcing Starfire to swoop back and line up for another pass...

"Just so you don't start thinking I'll need saving all the time," Lorena grinned at G.R.I.D.

And then--

Varshanka said:

And Raven’s eyes opened. All Four of them.

Click to expand...

Hustling up while hunkered behind Wondergirl's shield, trying to get her phone to connect, Ruby skidded to a sharp stop when she saw Raven's face in its transfigured state. "Oh. Shit."

Varshanka said:

“Sleep,” she commanded her gaze sweeping across the Titans – East Coast and West Coast. “Silence.”

Click to expand...

The Titans-- all of The Titans-- shuddered and bucked, and twitched-- and scowled and growled--

--Superboy, who had become coherent again, reverted to an atavistic state, hissing and spitting like some feral Bizarro--

--resisting the call of the blackbird demidemoness the way that they had fought back against the lulling power of The Sandman's gaseous mists.

Varshanka said:

And the Rider was suddenly Gone, replaced by Danni Ketch. A human being. Unaffected by the blast of water that doused her. Soaking her to the bone, and making her shirt stick to her chest. Rolling her neck she ran forwards, and aimed a fist a Zatanna’s mouth.

Click to expand...

Zatanna squinted, dropped the spray--

--gathered her hands into fists--

--it was too bad that Connor Hawke was probably too busy to appreciate wet-t-shirt Danni--

--but Zatanna was easily changing gears into personal defense. Not only did she still have her mystic backwards speech, but no-one survived dating Constantine off-and-on without at least knowing the fundamentals of a footy-hooligan brawl.

On the other hand...

Varshanka said:

Fingers twitched and she cast a dark orb if sticky black webbing to cover and fill Zatanna’s mouth that talked to much. A second orb wrapped around Danni and moved her from the region of Zatanna's hands and potentially lethal claws.. err.. fingernails

Click to expand...

"Mmmmph!" Zatanna let out a muffled cry of surprise-- quickly attempted to fingerspell something backwards in American Sign Language--

Varshanka said:

“SLEEP!” She commanded as Dark orbs flew from her hands. Each one targeting a different Titans. Each one seeking to home in on a head and encourage mental silence. And sleep. Deep restful thoughts.

Click to expand...

As ferocious as a struggle as The Titans were putting on... there was no resisting that queenly decree from the hybrid sorceress...

...even Captain Marvel, with the Stamina of an actual mythological Titan healed from his groin injury to raise his fist to the Kryptonian and the Martian...

...he staggered...

...his eyelids fluttered...

Roy Harper, despite his catatonia, had been reaching for his fallen, cooling gun in a zombie-like trance, still under the puppetry of this darksome force...

...but his hand slowed, and he paused, and drool trickled down his chin.

Aztek, whose helmet made him a little more used to coping with voices in his head, nevertheless swayed, and put his hand on his helmeted brow. "Tez... Tezcatlipoca?"

None of The Titans actually tottered or fell... literally asleep. Even Solstice, who had already been knocked unconscious in an early salvo, didn't slip into genuine somnolence.

More like somnambulance.

They were sleep-walkers.

As the black orbs latched onto The Titans, one by one, two by two, all at once...

...whispers and flickers of images could be heard and seen.

Snatches of nightmares and dreamscapes on an endless loop.

One could see and hear above their orb-orbited heads the stuff of their tormented fortnight of sleep. Their fortnightmares.

They could see Batman Red having to fight and kill The Obeah Man and Captain Boomerang... and getting destroyed by the original Batman for allowing blood to stain The Mantle of The Bat...

They could see the horrible memories of Teen Lantern's friends getting murdered before her eyes, and melting into imagery of The New League wading through Kobra's forces and killing them...

They could hear the whispers in Superboy's mind, just soulless, just an artifice, just a programmed bio-automaton, never a real boy, that's all they'll ever think of you, look at how they treated those clones...

Red Arrow-- violent junkie with too much blood on his knuckles... what kind of a dad am I, laying awake with the withdrawal shakes and sweats as Lian cries in the room next door and her mom is off probably killing somebody... what kind of a son am I... G.A., what have I become...? ...not even man enough to save your name from some knockoff...

Aztek-- you'll never be good enough, just one more dead soldier in a war that may never come...

Wally-- Barry can't be dead, he can't be, I could never replace him, and even if I can't I'm sure not letting these assholes do it...

Silver Bullet-- ignore me at the meetings and treat me like I'm just a piece that never fit their puzzle well I'll show them I've taken my ball and I've gone home...

Captain Marvel-- My parents were killed. I was never adopted. Lonely then and lonelier now. The Titans are as close as I'll ever get to a family... I'll stick with them on this no matter what, I can't lose them too...

Zatanna-- everyone always thinks it's Constantine that kills everyone around him, but no, no, it's you that's the death-knell, you that sucks everyone down into your black hole orbit and crushes their lives in your gravity... and no matter how many times you walk away from this life you go right back in and the same thing happens again, where's the line between bad habits and just straight-up serial killing...?

All around the circle, the sick sad horror of The Titans' inner darkness ebbed and flowed like an obsidian tide.

The regret and the ache and the fear and the insecurity and the umbrage, all of it making them playthings of that dark, dark, dark, dark being lurking around the edges of their collective subconscious.

But.

But something about Raven's magic was interacting with that deep, tortuous manipulation...

...and slowly the blackness in the orbs began to trickle upwards...

...upwards into long, slender strings...

...as though soaking into and tracing up into thin thin invisible astral gossamer tendrils that had been connected to The Titans' heads all along, like dye into yarn...

...and up the strings reached...

...and came together in a spot high above The Titans' heads, linking them all to that single nexus locus...

...and it...

...shimmered...

...and all of a sudden there faded into view an arcane entity, faceless, thrumming with power...

...the kind of darkness that made the bottom of your stomach drop out like infrasound...

...and it started laughing.

Or.

More accurately.

Zatanna started laughing, muffled though it was by Raven's soulselfstuff patch-job over her mouth.

The figure levitated down, the strings all still connected to him, until he hovered just behind and beside and above Zatanna-- still in her somnambulant state.

He gestured whimsically, and the patch fell away...

...and, eyes still closed, nightmares still whispering and chittering, Zatanna spoke in a voice entirely unlike her own.

"A mortal who has known the loving touch of Death."

"If you only knew how ironic that was."

"...that's actually hilarious."

There was something about the sound of that voice that made Rose's heart clench and clutch in her chest.

Something twisted and wrong on a Lovecraftian level. Like the Devil telling you that what you thought was The Voice of God had been him all along...

...but The Sandman.

The Sandman would have no such long-distance memory problems.

He would know that voice like the hairs standing on end on the backs of his hands and arms, like the chill racing down his spine.

That voice... sounded exactly like Dream. Exactly like Dream of The Endless.

Exactly like a being who was as far beyond gods as gods were beyond mortals.

As The Sandman watches Grunge fly and then reverse moment he can't help but be impressed by the young man's talent. As Grunge hurls the bolt of arcane lightning at him, The Sandman lunges toward the bolt instead of away.

As the bolt strikes the outstretched golden palm of his left hand, The Sandman focuses carefully, shifting into silicate form. Letting the lightning rip through his form, and as it is about to exit the sandy mass, The Sandman shifts suddenly back to his humanoid form, whipping the gauntlet of his right hand toward Silver Bullet.

Then things got... bad.

As The Sandman hit the ground and tumbled forward, coming to he feet he shook off a few stray pieces of Fulgurite from his body. He watched as the nightmare visions were revealed. As the sinister entity made his presence known.

As that voice echoed in his mind, The Sandman froze. No longer paying attention to the battle that had likewise frozen around him.

The Sandman looked at the Thing before them. I sounded like Morpheus... but there was something not right. He had just spoken to Morpheus a few days prior. Why would Morpheus send him here to help if Morpheus intended to attack the Waking World? There were Laws.... Morpheus wouldn't....

The Sandman clenched his gleaming golden fists. His jaw set firmly. All pretense of the smirk and the mellow man that had been under the Mantle was suddenly gone.

"BLASPHEMER!!! YOU DARE MOCK THE LORD OF DREAMS?!" The Sandman flexed his right arm and as he did, he called forth a blade of obsidian. With gestures of his left hand he called forth a shield of granite. The Slumbering Earth responding to the call of his geokinesis.


:::::::::::::::::::::::::The Dreaming Several Years Ago:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

A younger Wesley Edmond Dodds stood on a fair green field. Across from him sttod a man glad in leather armor and wielding a long sword and shield.

"Hob, I appreciate that you are willing to teach me, but I still don't see why Lucien insists I learn European sword play. Last time it was learning martial arts in Shangri La. Isn't this all a bit too much?"

"Young man, I have seen more years, more conflicts than I care to remember some times. Especially when the night comes calling. In all those years, I have never seen anyone that failed or fell in battle due to lack of knowledge and preparation."

Without another word, or even a glance in his direction, Hob struck. Surprisingly quick and agile, Wesley barely got the shield between them. The sword struck hard. Reverberating through the shield and down his arm. Then came the combination of blows with both sword and shield. All Wesley could do was cover up and try to weather the violence of Hob Gadlings storm of attacks.

This went on seemingly forever. Everytime Wes thought he had mastered something Hob had taught him, Hob would pull out some other feint, counter or trick. Switching styles and stances with such alacrity that Wes could barely keep up.



::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Back In The Waking World. Now.:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The Sandman lunged forward. The obsidian blade singing through the air at the mockery of his Lord.

I am The Sandman. Emissary of The Dream King. You have abused the power of Dream, and now you will pay the forfeit! You are a pale imitation and nothing more!"

Meet the New Boss.

Lunaramblings said:

As The Sandman watches Grunge fly and then reverse moment he can't help but be impressed by the young man's talent. As Grunge hurls the bolt of arcane lightning at him, The Sandman lunges toward the bolt instead of away.

As the bolt strikes the outstretched golden palm of his left hand, The Sandman focuses carefully, shifting into silicate form. Letting the lightning rip through his form, and as it is about to exit the sandy mass, The Sandman shifts suddenly back to his humanoid form, whipping the gauntlet of his right hand toward Silver Bullet.

Click to expand...

ChasNicollette said:

And then Silver Bullet launched at the back of Velocity's head in a flying "FALCON KIIIIIICK!"

Click to expand...

...the bolt of SHAZAM!lightning struck Silver Bullet amidships, blowing him out of the air before his kick could possibly connect with the back of Carin's head, sending him tumbling for yards into a smouldering heap. Winded, but healing.

As it turns out, speedsters are pretty good at getting struck by lightning.

Lunaramblings said:

Then things got... bad.

Click to expand...

Lunaramblings said:

As that voice echoed in his mind, The Sandman froze. No longer paying attention to the battle that had likewise frozen around him.

The Sandman clenched his gleaming golden fists. His jaw set firmly. All pretense of the smirk and the mellow man that had been under the Mantle was suddenly gone.

"BLASPHEMER!!! YOU DARE MOCK THE LORD OF DREAMS?!" The Sandman flexed his right arm and as he did, he called forth a blade of obsidian. With gestures of his left hand he called forth a shield of granite. The Slumbering Earth responding to the call of his geokinesis.

The Sandman lunged forward. The obsidian blade singing through the air at the mockery of his Lord.

I am The Sandman. Emissary of The Dream King. You have abused the power of Dream, and now you will pay the forfeit! You are a pale imitation and nothing more!"

Click to expand...

At this outcry, Rose heard a whisper in her ghost... <"Wait. Eddie?">

The Entity, meanwhile... The Entity had no visible eyes, but the way it tilted the formless mass atop its shoulders, it almost seemed like it would have been rolling them.

It wiggled its fingers like a puppeteer, and Zatanna murmured:

"SEHSA."

And the sword and shield of stone puffed into wood-ash before The Sandman got within five steps of it.

And Zatanna spoke again in that terrible, terrible voice:

"Like all religious zealots, your thinking is too narrow to comprehend what's happening here."

"What fool are you, thinking that your god has given you more than a glimpse of his true nature? So many secrets..."

"I imitate nothing. I am Dreamslayer, Nightmare of The Endless!"

"Now. Shush."

It seemed to regard Raven with bated breath, and thinly veiled amusement.

"...grown-ups are talking."

With the sword and shield destroyed, The Sandman comes up just short of his intended strike. Tumbling, expecting an attack in return, The Sandman melds into the earth and geo-ports back away from... that thing...

He stares for a brief moment, a storm of rage, confusion... Fear. But he pushes it down. No.... The Endless are dual natured, but there is no way this is truly Morpheus. But what if it is some sort of shade of his darker side? After all, he did create The Corinthian... what if while he was trapped away some how this sliver of himself broke free from the whole... was that possible?

The Sandman stands and glares through the Mantle at this Nightmare...

Titans... Leaguers... if what this thing claims is true we are all in a great deal of trouble. The King of Dreams, Morpheus, brother of Death and Destiny, of Desire and Delirium, of Destruction... the eternal forces beyond all else... he would not abuse the powers of The Dreaming like this thing has. But now I think I know why I was called. The Endless are nearly omnipotent, but they have Laws. They cannot harm their blood. If this is somehow part of Morpheus, the Endless cannot help us now. We must stand. As one. We must find Hope in this darkness."

ChasNicollette said:

Her whole body shook.

Tears poured down her face.

But then she clenched her teeth.

And steadied... Steadied with a capital "S."

Click to expand...

The way she acted proved what Garfield had been suspecting all along. No matter how powerful the mind control, Teen Lantern did not mean to kill him or even hurt him. In fact he was quite certain that she was fighting with all she had, but she just wasn't strong enough.

Not when being hit in that vulnerable place every person has.

That deepest blackest moment you hide away.

ChasNicollette said:

Then her Ring... spoke. [Recruit 2814. This unit is a training Ring. Lethal force cannot be enabled. Repeat: lethal force cannot be enabled.]

Jessica's shoulders rose, and fell.

"Yeah. I know."

And blasted Garfield center-mass with bean-bag rounds.

Click to expand...

Thank God for small miracles, Garfield who didn't want to fight her, who didn't want to be THAT guy, who carried a burden much too heavy for his slender shoulders, who would at that moment would have accepted Death...well the ring shook him from his darkness.

The round hit Garfield centre-mass, but it did not hit Garfield in human form. Instead it struck the same Silverback Gorilla. It hurt, oh yes indeed it hurt, but with a stronger centre mass than the slender human form, Garfield took the punishment with a grumbling hiss.

It was then that Raven's spell hit Jessica and Garfield looked on as her nightmare was revealed and not just her nightmare, but also the creature in control of the Titans. His eyes widened as he saw the power it wielded through Zatanna and realized that this was not quite the same as Kobra.

He glanced at Jessica and wondered if there was a way to snap her out of that nightmare, to remove those strings. He sure as heck would like the Titans by his side if he were to face an entity called Nightmare.

ChasNicollette said:

The very split instant before Carin's fist intersected with Wally's jaw, his whole body hummed with interalized fury, tuning and retuning and harmonizing--

BOOM!

--the impact knocked him ass over teakettle, he barely got his feet under him as he skidded back--

--he wobbled--

--his ears were ringing--

--but he stayed conscious.

"Flash Fact," he murmured, through bleeding lips.

And then Silver Bullet launched at the back of Velocity's head in a flying "FALCON KIIIIIICK!"

Click to expand...

Carin had felt something as she hit Wally. Despite how fast her own hand had been vibrating, she had felt his body vibrating at a speed that had almost matched her own. When her fist had hit his jaw it had almost felt the same as when she punched a person normally. She spared a micro second to wonder how he had done that when she heard the shout from behind her.

She didn't even bother to look, but just continued to use the vibrations she had built up in her body to sink into the ground. When she had first learned this skill she had been scared to open her eyes, but now it was no problems for her. After all she could not see anything as she was in total darkness being three feet underground. It was still no problem for her to run though, after all she was still surrounded by matter even though she was vibrating through it. She used her new skill of being able to create small tornado's with her arms to propel herself forward, like a swimmer, and then popped up out of the earth a hundred yards away.

A quick scan showed her where the Silver bullet was and she couldn't suppress a small smile. Well if you wanted to surprise attack someone you shouldn't yell out before you hit them, especially a speedster. Darting towards him she prepared to launch the same punch on him she had delivered to Kid Flash. Hopefully he did not know that technique he seemed to and would be worse for wear or this was going to be a long fight.