Justice League: The New Wave (IC)

The Rider vs The Rider

Destroy the coin. Destroy the demon within. Send them both back to Hell where they belong.

Two thousand years the Pair known as The Rider had fought the Adversary. Had it been worth it fighting a lost fight? This.. thing before them spoke of forgiveness, but as a Fallen one, Xarathos could not be forgiven. The Light only dealt in absolutes when it came to those that had stood in it’s Presence.

Light or Dark. Good vs Evil. Celestial vs Diabolical. Followers vs Fallen. Heaven vs Hell.

It had been created to Follow. Cast out for a sin not committed. Now was a chance at redemption. Destroy this.. thing. This abomination. Destroy the coin. Destroy the demon within.

White pain flashed across the Rider fiery flesh. Streaks of silver white pain. Marks much like a scourge would make upon mortal flesh. And the closer The Coin and Xarathos became, the longer, the deeper, the wider, the more pronounced those marks became.

"Be strong," she reminded herself, an invocation of Scripture, and it was as much a prayer as it was a pep talk.

A roar of Pain/Rage ripped from it’s throat with a blast of hellfire as it brought those infernal chains to bear on it’s challenger.
 
Keep Calm and Carrion.

“Kicking of the ass, would be the preferred use of the time.” Raven replied, as she floated forwards.

"'Kicking of the ass?'" Lisa squinted, little knowing of the golden-goddess badass whose speech patterns Raven was referencing. "Who talks like that?"

“Avoid the angry one, she’s having issues at the moment.” Raven suggested indicating the Rider off in the distance, as if that actually need to be pointed out.

"Uh, yeah," Lisa blinked, having trouble getting quite up to her so-fast-you-can't-see-her speed, but managing to levitate after Raven nevertheless. "Real talk, though, I kinda feel her right now. Let's show these bastards how quickly my despair can turn to destruction...!"
 
"The Howling," by Within Temptation.

A roar of Pain/Rage ripped from it’s throat with a blast of hellfire as it brought those infernal chains to bear on it’s challenger.

Callsign: Magdalena had another second in which her CORTANA Machine Spirit could perform googolplexian calculations...

...but it came down to this.

They were at an impasse. All she could do is plead with Xarathos and fend off its cataclysmic attacks-- and she could not do either of these things forever. If she permitted Zarathos to ignite and join the battle, the battle would only consume heroes and villains alike-- and that was precisely what she was attempting to prevent.

There was only one other option. One way to tip the scale.

In the eyes of The Daemon, she was innocent. She had slaughtered dozens upon dozens of demons and demonic creatures, but she had never spilled innocent human blood-- she had never murdered. She had never raped, assaulted an innocent sentient. By the criteria of a Spirit of Vengeance, she had not transgressed the mortal sins.

This was one of the only ways she could hold Zarathos in check within her, was that he could not consume her for her sins.

And if Xarathos struck down a truly innocent being in its eyes-- violated its core edict-- the shock to its system might be enough to jar it back onto the winding jagged path upon which Spirits of Vengeance were saddled.

"'Turneth the other cheek,'" Allana murmured to herself, as the blistering chains came down.

She powered down the wards on her armor, opened the visor and the upper part of the chestplate, biogel sloshing out, her skin glistening...

...she was beautiful.

Arms apart, her sword and shield slung low at her sides, she left herself wide wide open to Xarathos' devastating attack...

...she didn't flinch, close her eyes, or look away.

"'The Spirit is willing.'"
 
Xarathos vs Innocence

Arms apart, her sword and shield slung low at her sides, she left herself wide wide open to Xarathos' devastating attack...

...she didn't flinch, close her eyes, or look away.

"'The Spirit is willing.'"

Bringing those chain down with all the force and rage it could muster, the Rider didn’t see the armour peal open. Didn’t see the naked girl inside. Didn’t see her soul. It could only see the coin and the pain that coin caused.

Daemon chain met mortal flesh in an arc of white that blasted the area like a ten tonne nuclear warhead. Concrete and steel were vaporized, loose chunks of masonry and vehicles were blown from that space and hurtled vast distances.

In that moment of space/time it seemed as if The Book of Revelations was being fulfilled in it’s totality.

And there was Silence.

And it was deafening in it’s stark contrast to the sounds of Battle that had been just moments before. Not even the echo of battle existed.

Laying on the ground, leather armour vaporized by the blast, the ruined remnants melted and smoldering around her. Not even the flicker of flame caressed her skin or hair. Unconscious and unmoving.
 
Raven converses

"Uh, yeah," Lisa blinked, having trouble getting quite up to her so-fast-you-can't-see-her speed, but managing to levitate after Raven nevertheless. "Real talk, though, I kinda feel her right now. Let's show these bastards how quickly my despair can turn to destruction...!"

“Hmm, two in three seconds. Must be a record.” Raven murmured cryptically as she drifted forwards across broken concrete, shattered, stone, bent and twisted metal. “Must be a war zone around here.” She commented. Though whether she meant it as a mockery of a joke, a joke, or just an observation was hard to tell.

“Try not to get melted. I’m pretty sure all the extra visits are spent. Plus I'm not sure anybody comes back after getting melted." she said, watching the rather small flying figure face off against The Rider.

She watched as the armour peeled back like a flower around the passenger. The rather hot and naked passanger. “Well that’s one way to go into a fight..” she added wincing as that burning fist and whipping chains descended. “Short fight.”
 
Domino Mask Effect.

Aww fuck! Ko-Ko played her hard. Hard hard hard. Retract the claws. That was about the best she could do. And go from finger points to palms. She was pissed she'd relied on the cat shit and not the fighter. Well played Ko-Ko, well played. Next round you get the Hellcat not the Wildcat.......

Please please don't hurt Nightwing.......

Damian Wayne was the most recent in a flock of Robins.

All of them had had different styles, different ways of being Robin, and yet all of them had been valid, and bad-ass-- all of them Boy Wonders.

Grayson had been the incarnation of grace under pressure, the sheer joy of being Robin.

Todd had been a trickster and a brawler, fighting dirty but fighting hard.

Drake had been a chessmaster, bringing intellect first and combat prowess later.

All of them had been trained by The Batman.

Damian had the singular advantage of having been trained by Batman and The League of Assassins... and all the other boys-now-men who had been Robin.

He could bring all their cards to the table.

Thus, when Wildcat hurtled at him, flung by a surprisingly competent Kobra--

--Grayson's training kicked in, and Damian flared his glider-wings, braking hard, bringing him to a stop seemingly standing almost perfectly vertical in the air, slapping his belt to drop a capsule down and away, and as Wildcat hurtled yowling to meet him he caught her wrists, planted his boots upon her belly, rolled with her impact--

--kicked off of her, shoving her towards the water and shoving him again towards the enemy, action and reaction--

--the sort of flawless improv acrobatics the funambulist boy scout would be side-splittingly proud of--

--as he flew at Kobra, Damian's gloves went to his belt again, coming back up with two black shuriken which he flung hard at Kobra, one from each hand--

--Kobra snarled with disdain and dismissal, simply reaching up with ridiculous dexterity to catch those selfsame shuriken in each of his hands--

--the acrid reek of ozone filled the air and sparks flew and Kobra roared in fury as the taser-rangs pumped his nervous system with disabling electrics--

--Todd, dirty pool--

--and as Damian landed in a crouch in front of Kobra, behind him over the water Wildcat would find that the first capsule Damian had dropped was an expanding impact foam that had hit the surface of the river and created a nice dry crash-mat island on which she could land safely--

--Drake, a dozen moves ahead.

He grimaced at his own joke and motioned over the river, towards Nightwing,Thea and most importantly the head bad guy, "Do you have an arrow I can borrow? You just need to aim for that guy who sees himself a god."

He had a pretty good idea of what Beast Boy wanted and as he started to pull back the string he asked, "You want to get on now? Only it is hard to catch an arrow fired from this bow."

He lined up the shot and then the arrow leaped from it and was on it's way straight for Kobra.

It was especially hard to catch an arrow when your hands were full of taser-rangs--

--the arrow thudded into Kobra's shoulder, thudded deep, and his roar of fury took on a note of incredulity, was this pain-- was this-- pain?
 
Action Comics/Detective Comics.

A flicker of motion and she was by Rose’s side, her eyes refocusing as she looked him over. “Blessed Asclepia. He’s hurt bad. Muscles, tendons, bone bruising, two broken ribs on the right, massive burns. IF he gets to a hospital he’ll be ok. Nut as it is, he’s hurt bad.” But even as she watched he twitched. “Nerve damage? Psycho muscular contractions?”

Looking up at Rose she said, ”I don’t know how to heal him…”

Rose couldn't help the quickened leap of her heart as Karan just... flashed forward out of nowhere to be there to help her.

"His thoughts are a mess, they're all scrambled-- cerebral misfires--"

--she hesitated.

"Earlier after we were done fighting The Bestowed, Aquaman gave him an electric zap and I think it healed him! He can use his power reserves to heal himself, we just need to recharge him...!"

"...but I bet you water and electricity is a bad mix."

Her eyes shone with primordial power and she held out a hand and Static's battered, shattered frame lifted up out of the pool of water and-- even more than that-- the water peeled away from Static droplet by droplet, removing the short circuit--

"Now we just need a big, big power source. The power's out in the city, Kaldur got run to safety, which just leaves--"

Maybe it was M'gann whispering in her mind's ear.

Maybe it was the fact that Rose was a Hell of a smart cookie and intuitive as Hell, a reader of people as well as a reader of books--

"--you."

Solar-powered bad-ass Karan.

Living battery. Solar Incarna.

And with that, Rose's telekinesis pushed Virgil into Karan's waiting arms, hoping to God or Whomever that the connection would spark and arc and--

--power would beget power.
 
Sometimes you tilt the windmill. Sometimes the windmill tilts you.

“Try not to get melted. I’m pretty sure all the extra visits are spent. Plus I'm not sure anybody comes back after getting melted." she said, watching the rather small flying figure face off against The Rider.

"You make almost less sense than Kiz does," Lisa frowned, "and that is saying something. But melting's not a dealbreaker, you oughta meet Tar Pit."

She watched as the armour peeled back like a flower around the passenger. The rather hot and naked passanger. “Well that’s one way to go into a fight..” she added wincing as that burning fist and whipping chains descended. “Short fight.”

Daemon chain met mortal flesh in an arc of white that blasted the area like a ten tonne nuclear warhead. Concrete and steel were vaporized, loose chunks of masonry and vehicles were blown from that space and hurtled vast distances.

"Jesus," Lisa flinched, shielding her face against the cacophonous cataclysmic flash-burst of that hit, the light of the collision still piercing right through the darksome tendrils she swirled in front of her eyes. "Does everybody on The White Hat Squad have a damn death-wish?"

Laying on the ground, leather armour vaporized by the blast, the ruined remnants melted and smoldering around her. Not even the flicker of flame caressed her skin or hair. Unconscious and unmoving.

And across from her lay Callsign: Magdalena, armor broken, body scathed, barely alive-- perhaps only the coin in her chest kept her breathing, feeding her body power when it had none of its own--

--but after that moment, in the deafness of that silence, there then came a sound.

SssshhCLICK!

And the unconscious Dame Allana Lang-- her name a near anagram for her callsign, Magdalena-- vanished in a crackle of hypertime and became Ruby Reed again.

Sprawled, aching, her soul hurting as much as her body, Hotline shifted, groaned, didn't get up. "...ow."
 
--and as Damian landed in a crouch in front of Kobra, behind him over the water Wildcat would find that the first capsule Damian had dropped was an expanding impact foam that had hit the surface of the river and created a nice dry crash-mat island on which she could land safely--

--Drake, a dozen moves ahead.

Thea hit the crash mat and leaped back to the dry land. She watched as Nightwing and Arrow got their pound of flesh. Her turn was coming, but she wasn't going to rush in. She made a slow approach. Instinct screaming for her to charge. No. We are going back to basics.

She got into range of the pissed and wounded Kobra and started with a spin kick towards his head. It would be followed by several jabs and a right cross.
 
As Green Arrow mention Gar should get on to the arrow, he jumped and flashed from sight. The arrow took flight and on the way it looked liked Garfield had missed his lift. As the arrow thudded into Kobra's shoulder, the impact dislodged a single ant, which fell from view. Only the ant grabbed hold and boldly climbed up towards Kobra's head, as Thea launched her attack, Kobra felt a pat on his shoulder, twisting his head, he looked at the flared hood of a King Cobra inches from his face.

Now Gar had no idea how this worked, but for some strange reason, it did work this time, in the corner of his eye he could see Thea's attack and the snake mouth opened and words actually hissed out, "Excusssssse meee...would you ssssssign my hoooood lord Kobra?"
 
Thanatos Gambit.

As Thea launched her attack, Kobra felt a pat on his shoulder.

And the snake mouth opened and words actually hissed out, "Excusssssse meee...would you ssssssign my hoooood lord Kobra?"

Kobra's head whipped around, and his eyes widened for a split second...

...and then narrowed again in a glower.

"What. BLASPHEMY--?"

With speed rivaling an actual cobra, he threw the taser-rangs aside and reached up to clutch this impudent heathen by the throat and throttle the life out of him--

She got into range of the pissed and wounded Kobra and started with a spin kick towards his head. It would be followed by several jabs and a right cross.

Between the pain and the unrighteous indignation, even his superhuman reflexes couldn't anticipate Thea's superhuman boot to the head.

--the impact would ratchet up through her leg, he would feel... sturdier than a normal human, but not so much that it made him indestructible, just... resistant. But then again, Thea's cabled felinoid muscles made up for a fair bit of the difference.

She rattled his skull with the kick, krek.

The follow up jabs slammed into him like bean-bag rounds, boom, boom.

But as her right cross blazed in--

--Kobra's hand came up.

Whud.

He caught her punch. And he sneered.

"Did you really think, billi," he goaded her, squeezing her fist with such force that the tiny bones of her hand would grind against each other. "that you were the only one to come back from Death as something... better?"

"But enough games. Enough... foolishness."

He raised his voice, resounding: "Elemental Woman! NOW!"

As G.R.I.D.'s Morph Ball form rebounded off of Elemental Woman's face, Elemental Woman staggered back.

And shot Kobra a look.

And nodded.

...and changed from depleted uranium...

...to enriched uranium.

She had enough control over her living atomic structure that she could ignite herself as magnesium, even though large masses of magnesium are difficult to set alight.

So too did she have enough control over her structure... that she could compress her uranium form and force it into critical mass.

"Hrrrrraaaah!" she screamed with the effort.

They had maybe seconds before the reaction completely cascaded through her.

Maybe seconds before she went off like a fission bomb and created a radioactive crater in the heart of America's breadbasket, poisoning the atmosphere, the land, destroying what farms were left here for hundreds of miles around.

To say nothing of the people-- the people they'd mystically escorted to the edge of town-- they weren't exactly outside minimum safe distance.

Such devastation could ruin the national economy for good this time, destabilize geopolitics, the whole planet would feel the impact-- a shock heard 'round the world.

The Age of Chaos could still begin.

"Faith," Lady Eve laughed to herself, as she coughed up blood, hunched on the ground, bloody lips stretched into a smile, "to Kali Yuga."
 
[/COLOR]Approaching critical mass. Milton I advise a plan of action now rather than later when we are atomized in the blast.

"I know, I know." Using his enhanced brain power he quickly ran through possible options. "Lysl there is only one way I can think of that can even remotly get our collective asses out of the nuclear fire. Activate the Ice Beam."

I understand where you are going with this and it would work but the Ice Beam is unfinished. If you use it at best it will work but afterwards your cannon will be inoperable for an unknown amount of time. At worse the cannon could explode in a sub-zero blast effectively dousing you in liquid nitrogen.

"Lysl dear, there is no choice."

I understand.

"Activating the Ice Beam."

GRID's Morph Ball form returned to normal, his Cannon icing over with a Ice Charge Beam.

Beam approaching critical mass. "So is she. Let's see who hits it first." And with that GRID fires his last ditch attack to freeze Element Woman.
 
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Divine Wind.

Beam approaching critical mass.

"So is she. Let's see who hits it first." And with that GRID fires his last ditch attack to freeze Element Woman.

"HRRRRRAAAAAHHHHH!"

Lady Eve was seconds from death.

Either death by drowning in the blood filling her lungs.

Or death in nuclear apocalypse.

It mattered not to her, so long as the work was complete.

And thus, with the very last erg of strength in her muscles, the last cry of fury in her gurgling lungs...

...she shoved off of the ground, pitched herself into G.R.I.D.'s cryonic blast...

...and shattered like glass as her body sheared apart, its own momentum instantly causing catastrophic fissures in her frozen flesh.

Like Lady Clayface, she came apart into dozens, hundreds of crystalline fragments.

Unlike Lady Clayface, she was not coming back.

And Elemental Woman was still melting down.
 
In the mind of the green cobra still attached to Kobra's back and shoulder, his neck and head was unprotected and he could strike. But Garfield felt that pang inside as he readied to strike, the attack could kill Kobra since his own venom was different, he didn't have the same DNA structure as a real cobra and it might act differently on Kobra.

Suddenly a green, male silverback gorilla sat on Kobra's shoulder, Garfield hoped that the sudden weight would throw him enough off balance to help Thea.

Oh and look...

A massive hand slammed against the arrow still lodged in Kobra's shoulder, aiming to drive it deeper
 
Raven

"Jesus," Lisa flinched, shielding her face against the cacophonous cataclysmic flash-burst of that hit, the light of the collision still piercing right through the darksome tendrils she swirled in front of her eyes. "Does everybody on The White Hat Squad have a damn death-wish?"

“Yes,” Raven whispered, as dark energy coruscated around her form. In a blink she was across the bridge and pulling Elemental Lady into a hug from behind. “Last meeting.” She whispered, and pulled The Elemental Mistress into another dimension with her.
 
Tipping the Scales.

Suddenly a green, male silverback gorilla sat on Kobra's shoulder, Garfield hoped that the sudden weight would throw him enough off balance to help Thea.

The appearance of the great green primate was damn near-instantaneous.

Despite his injuries, despite his setbacks, Kobra was still a combat machine, coiled and ready to deal out zealotry with his own two fists.

Thus, when Garfield went on like Donkey Kong, Kobra staggered-- but with reflexes that defied description rolled with the weight of this new beast in a judo throw that would hurl the ape headlong at Nightwing and Wildcat...

Oh and look...

A massive hand slammed against the arrow still lodged in Kobra's shoulder, aiming to drive it deeper

...the sudden stabbing splintering arrow driven deeper into the meat of his muscle was enough to force him to shift mid-throw, bellowing-- but still he managed to pitch Gar off of him by using the mammal's greater weight against him--

--though Gar fell short of bowling into his friends.

Down on one knee, Kobra opened his mouth to deliver still another defiant stream of rhetoric...

...but then.

“Yes,” Raven whispered, as dark energy coruscated around her form. In a blink she was across the bridge and pulling Elemental Lady into a hug from behind. “Last meeting.” She whispered, and pulled The Elemental Mistress into another dimension with her.

...Elemental Woman jumped, flinched, tried to punch or kick behind her...

"--your hands off me--"

...but Raven swallowed her up in her dark dark soul-self and they were gone.

"NO!" Kobra spat, rejecting this, rejecting the impossibility of this, and true madness boiled in his eyes.

Then he commanded: "McCULLOCH!"

But nothing happened-- until a hologram of Mirror Master shimmered to life beside and behind Kobra. Grinning.

"Ah, feck off, mate. Blacksmith sends her regrets, but turnin' our cities into a literal radioactive pile wasn't part o' our deal. An' besides which, we got a better offer. Yehr on yehr own! Ta."

The hologram shimmered back out.

And Kobra curled his hands into fists.

Swept his gaze to regard The New Justice League and their allies.

"Very well. Let us finish this."
 
Wondergirl, Static, Rose

"Now we just need a big, big power source. The power's out in the city, Kaldur got run to safety, which just leaves--"
"--you."
Solar-powered bad-ass Karan.
Living battery. Solar Incarna.
And with that, Rose's telekinesis pushed Virgil into Karan's waiting arms, hoping to God or Whomever that the connection would spark and arc and--
--power would beget power.

“Um, what do I do?” Karan asked a look on her face like a deer in the headlights. Was she supposed to like breathe into his mouth or something? Not that she wanted to put her mouth on - his. Maybe heat beams into his eyes? But that might make them boil or he could go blind.

“You want me to fly him to Helia?” She asked, still uncertain of what to do. Her leather and metal skirted legs were ready to leap straight up, taking him as high as she could go if that’s what Rose wanted. Metal shod toes ground into the dirt, ready to do whatever was wanted.
 
Connor had heard the thunderous crash and indeed had been blown off his feet because of the clash of the two titans of the spirits of vengeance. However he had been too busy fighting Kobra and talking to Beast Boy to actually see any of the details of their fight.

By the time he picked himself up and made his way back up to the road so he could see what was going on, the dust had cleared and he saw that Kobra was still fighting Nightwing, Wildcat, and Beast boy then he looked over at the remnants of the bridge.

He had expected to see his former would be girlfriend and the lady in the armor still fighting it out. Instead he saw the Rider herself laying on the ground, leather armour vaporized by the blast, the ruined remnants melted and smoldering around her. Not even the flicker of flame caressed her skin or hair. Unconscious and unmoving.

Crying out he ran towards her even as he saw a flash of light near her and he heard a small voice groaning out a small "Ow." Well that explained the new hero. Hotline had survived then, at least that was good. He however could not stop to check on her though. His whole being urged him to check on the lifeless looking form before him and he skidded to a stop and sunk to his knees beside her.

Slowly he leaned down and gently took her in his arms, barely caring as the hot leather burned into his skin. Pulling her head into his lap he stroked her hair and looked down at her face. So this was what she looked like. Funny how it took her turning into a Daemon and then having this happen to her for him to get to see her true face. Leaning down he kissed her on the cheek then whispered in her ear.

"Listen here girl. You better get up. I have a surprise for you and I am not going to look silly by not doing that. Now pull yourself together and come back to me. I have just found someone I want to get to know and I am not going to loose her now."

He sniffed and blinked back tears then he grimaced and spoke a little more firmly. "And you, whoever you are inside her. The spirit that resides inside her. You better not let her die. You bring her back to me or I will hunt you down and I will end you. Don't think I won't. I will study everything I can and make any deal I must but know this, she dies and so do you. SO. BRING. HER. BACK!"
 
Ever saw a 440 pound gorilla tossed like a rag doll?

Garfield almost couldn't believe it when he went flying. As the ground came towards him, he knew the impact would hurt him.

There wasn't any crashing impact though. A green Armadillo tucked into ball form, landed and rolled with the impetus. The Armadillo wobbled and crashed to a halt. Garfield lay in human form and held up the index finger of his right hand.

"Ow."

He took a deep breath and flashed into a new form.
 
Keeping it Current.

“Um, what do I do?” Karan asked a look on her face like a deer in the headlights. Was she supposed to like breathe into his mouth or something? Not that she wanted to put her mouth on - his. Maybe heat beams into his eyes? But that might make them boil or he could go blind.

“You want me to fly him to Helia?” She asked, still uncertain of what to do. Her leather and metal skirted legs were ready to leap straight up, taking him as high as she could go if that’s what Rose wanted. Metal shod toes ground into the dirt, ready to do whatever was wanted.

"Oh. Um." Rose blinked.

"I don't know. I guess I just thought-- it would-- happen? When he touched your sun-kissed skin?"

"Ugh, I feel stupid, hold on, let me--"

And she reached out and placed her hand on Static's forehead, trying to see if his mind was cohering again now that he was out of the water...

<"Hello? Uh-- Static? I don't know if Wondergirl has power you can use, but I guess-- I guess I don't know enough about how this works-- she's got major solar power... can you use that?">
 
Renegade

‘You talk to much,’ Renegade thought as her finger tightened once more, her breathe slowly escaping her lungs. ‘Just die already, asshole.’

So many times she’d fired the shot to end a life. So many times her blades had slipped between ribs or across carotid arteries. She’d even used piano wire and poisons. But when it came down to it Bullet and blade were the preferred tools of the trade.

The round snapped from the steel barrel, whistling in the first second of travel as it rushed with suicidal abandon towards Kobra’s mouth. Before the first bullet was half way the third and last round was on it’s way. Standing up Renegade ran, muscles and sinew snapping and changing leaping over a pile of rubble, he landed with a roll, followed by a tumbled vault.

And he was running, boots snapping on the ground as blades slipped from scabbards. ‘Lets dance, bitch.’
 
Danni Ketch

He sniffed and blinked back tears then he grimaced and spoke a little more firmly. "And you, whoever you are inside her. The spirit that resides inside her. You better not let her die. You bring her back to me or I will hunt you down and I will end you. Don't think I won't. I will study everything I can and make any deal I must but know this, she dies and so do you. SO. BRING. HER. BACK!"

Moaning as muscles, bone, and tendon protested at moving again so soon, Danni blinked open her eyes. Per normal she scowled as she looked around. “What are you talking about?” she asked, slowly forcing herself into a sitting position. “I never went anywhere.”

“And where are my clothes?” She added, looking at The Green Arrow. “If you’ve been perving on me.. I will beat your ass.”
 
RAven

Darkness erupted back into reality and Raven stepped forwards. It had been close. Very very close.

She’d shifted into the Plane of Azarath, several miles above the surface, and Elemental Woman had started falling right away. Levitating upwards Raven had translated through another gateway, and had felt the tearing of reality as Elemental Woman went off.

Keeping the gateway from ripping open, from corrupting multiple strands of otherness had taken a bit of doing. And not something she wanted to do again. But it was safe once more, and so she traveled back to the Earth Realm.

She still felt the tingle of power dancing along her soul.

She’d been ready to die. The blast would have destroyed Trigon’s prison, and him with it. If only she had danced with Elemental Lady for another second or two.
 
Like a Great Leech (Tag Karan)

Virgil felt the probing of his mind but the whisper of rose did not reach him in the haze that remained over his mind. He felt empty and hungry not hungry for food but hungry for something more primal, like air. As he grew weaker without it he became more desperate for it.

He lashed out, clawing for even so much as a AA battery. Instead he found a very handy and much larger battery holding all the energy the sun could give. He latched onto it like a great leech and started drinking up the energy like a drowning man gasping for air. Karan could feel this sudden pull, something akin to having blood drawn but far faster. His bruised flesh slowly lost its discoloration and his various cuts stitched themselves closed. Yet he continued to drink and drink.

He felt the dull ache of his broken bones sharply in his mind and his body continued to drain his reserves as it tried to heal himself. So his primal urge to refill his reserves pushed him onward, he cared little for where the energy was coming from he just wanted more. Several moments later he opened his eyes and groaned letting go of his link to Karan, stopping his draining her.
 
You can keep the dime.

SssshhCLICK!

And the unconscious Dame Allana Lang-- her name a near anagram for her callsign, Magdalena-- vanished in a crackle of hypertime and became Ruby Reed again.

Sprawled, aching, her soul hurting as much as her body, Hotline shifted, groaned, didn't get up. "...ow."

After a long, long moment, Ruby managed to sit up, and check her phone.

Her Dial was still in timeout mode. Yeah, not surprising. She didn't usually get to use it twice in a row so quick, it wasn't unprecedented that there was a longer cooldown this time.

With a twitch, she sat up, put a cigarette to her mouth and lit it with trembling fingers. A long, deep inhale, and a soft sigh of an exhale, streaming smoke out.

Then she pushed herself up to her feet.

And limped towards where Kaldur had dropped The Champion's Trident.

She couldn't use it-- she wasn't Worthy.

But she could at least keep an eye on it until they could get it back to Kaldur.

God, she hoped he was all right.

The warm gold hummed in her hands.

"Yeah," she mumbled, the cigarette bobbing between her lips as she spoke, "I miss him too."
 
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