Justice League: The New Wave (IC)

[Zet_Cross]

GRID looked up at the Entity. "Lysl what are we dealing with here?"

Scanning power is at full but it isn't picking up anything? No mass, no heat, nothing. It's like it doesn't exist. Your lucky I'm an AI and not a VI or your helmet would be exploding right now.

"Yeah, exploding helmets are a bad thing but I have a feeling this guy is even worse."

 

[LuckyVic]

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.

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

--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?

Batman Black's sensors were indeed advanced, but not that advanced. However his detective skills weren't shabby. He knew that RED wasn't acting like himself. That he was acting more like Todd honestly then himself.

The laser was far easier to deal with then figuring out what was wrong with Batman Red however. The suits built in automated defenses took care of that. The energy deflector to be exact. When the blast got within millimeters of the suit the beam struck the normally visible shield as the flicker of blue showed when he was hit. Batman Black saw the readout on his instruments and knew he didn't want to get hit with to many of those.

That's when he heard someone say that the Titans and the League needed to work together. But how could they do that if the Titans were currently under someone else's power. "Think Wayne.... think." he thought to himself.

 

[TertiusHuman]

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.">

In human form Garfield would have nodded, but in frog form he blinked slowly, he tilted his head

<Is this thing on? Hello? Can you hear me?>

Gar|frog croaked and then went on

<Hello from the outside, at least I can say that I've tried. To tell you I'm sorry for killing those people, but it don't matter it clearly shouldn't tear me apart anymore...>

He noticed the look on Kaldur's face and stopped singing in his mind

<Wait... that actually worked??>

 

[Wyldfire]

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.

Thea evaded the blade with the flexibility of a cat. But not so much on the follow up shield bash. She DID manage to get her arms up to absorb the impact instead of her face, but it did knock her down.

Then the whole nightmare scene began and Thea froze watching it all. The entity bothered her a lot. But it bothered something else in her even more. The part of her that was cursed and the curse itself growled in her subconscious at it. But for Thea, she stood transfixed. "Oh God, you guys I am so sorry. And here I just thought ya was bein a buncha asses."

 

[Wyldfire]

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 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...

Watching this Jo couldn't help it. Tears started coming down. She kinda knew how he felt, not bein a whole, real person. She herself had sprung full grown of seventeen years old three years ago. If it hadn't been fer th kind Nash family there'd be no telling what Jo would have become. She couldn't let him keep hurtin like this. Speed. She was on him pressed against him, her hands on either side of his face. She went tough again, just in case he decided ta launch her again.

She put her forehead against his and said "You ain't some tool, ya hear me. Yer a real person, real as any a us. And you do have a soul sweetie, an I bet it is as beautiful as those eyes a yers. An fer another thing, yer not a boy, yer a man. Think about that S on yer chest. Yer the only one left wearin it." The tears kept going and Jo kept talkin.

"The world don't need a Superboy right now. With th shit goin on, we need, hell, I need, a Superman. Come on sugah, open those beautiful blue eyes a yers an be th Superman we all need right now. Please, baby, don't leave me the only messed up person here."

She couldn't think a anythin else ta say so she just stood there holdin him. Waitin for the inevitable.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

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.

If Connor had seen the blow coming that had hit him on the jaw, he could have rolled with it and taken most of the force out of it. As it was it caught him flush and he was lifted off his feet and sent sprawling.

Still Connor had spent years training and one blow, although a very good one was not going to put him out of the fight. He still had his bow in his hand and he got to his feet, although a little shaky and quickly had an arrow on his string and was looking around for a target. That was when he noticed the lack of movement on the battlefield.

It was a strange feeling. Normally with this many combatants he would be seeing flashes of movement out of the corners of his eyes constantly as they moved in the periphery of his vision as their own battles ebbed and flowed. he would hear the sounds of battle around him and even feel the impact of blows. Now he had none of those sensory inputs.

He did a full 360 degree sweep and found the reason for it. The Titans stood motionless, above their heads was some form of black substance showing what he guessed was their worst moments.

His eyes were drawn to Red Arrows, wondering what his counterparts were. He was surprised to see him as a junkie, and just why the man had given him such a hard time. he had thought himself unworthy of the Name Green Arrow so for Connor to take it with no explanation it was no wonder he was upset. Perhaps after this he should tell him just who he was. No perhaps now was the time.

Walking over to him he took off his mask and looked him in the eye's. "Roy, Ollie loved you knowing all that you had done. He would have been proud if you had taken up his name, but he was also proud that you decided to be your own man. You did your best with your daughter and look at who you have become. You kicked your habit and you are a Titan." He grinned at the man. "As for why I am the Green arrow, well my name is Connor Hawke, I am Oliver Queens son. I think that gives me some rights to the name don't you think. Especially since he sort of said I could use it if I wanted to," he chuckled.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

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.

As Carin vibrated back out of the ground she looked around, expecting to see Silver bullet looking stunned back at her original spot, perhaps searching all around for her, and Kid flash probably raring to get back in the fight.

Instead she found all the Titans motionless with black orbs above their heads, each showing a different scene, seemingly of the worst moment in that titans life. What was also strange was that she could actually here their thoughts. As she looked from one to the other, she latched on to both of her foes and was both moved and pissed off.

Silver Bullet was like a little kid. He needed to grow up and have some sense slapped into him. Kid Flash on the other hand, well him she could sympathize with. She knew some of his story. Barry had been like a father to him and then he had sacrificed himself to save the world. No wonder he could not let him go, but he also needed to acknowledge the fact that Barry was gone and tat the world needed a flash and if he wasn't going to take up the mantle then someone needed to.

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.

Carin shivered. Whatever this thing was it was evil on a scale that spoke to her on a purely guttural sense. Her instincts where telling her to run away as fast as she could and not look back, but she couldn't. Her teammates where here and that was not what heroes did. They faced these sorts of challenges head on and defeated them.

Still she was glad the thing seemed to be concentrating on the guy she had never seen before. Keying her com's she began, "Uh guy's any idea's what we are up against and just how we are supposed to fight it?"

 

[Varshanka]

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

"If you only knew how ironic that was."

"...that's actually hilarious."

<Yukk it up, spook face.>

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..."

Watching, and listening, as ‘Dreamslayer’ the dark side of Morpheus, revealed the traumas of the Titans and ranted on about how powerful it was Raven separated from the ground, her fingers still and motionless.

Four eyes regarded Morpheus as she drifted from Titan to Titan, lightly touching each forehead for a moment. It didn’t appear that she was doing anything other than verifying they still lived.

"Uh guy's any idea's what we are up against and just how we are supposed to fight it?"

"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."

“Can’t get inside my Nightmares? Can’t control me?” Raven asked. She’d already faced her nightmares and knew they had no control over her. Not anymore. Death was waiting for Raven. And would wait forever, and beyond.

“Psychic energy without physical form.” She commented as her extra eyes finally closed. Two deep purple ones still watching ‘him’. As an Endless Nightmare wasn’t truly male or female. More gender fluid. Or all Genders at once. At least that’s what she understood.

“What do you want?”

 

[ChasNicollette]

The Big Push.

Aquagirl hurried to Beast Boy's side, raising her healing hand to not quite touch the massive gouge that Teen Lantern's trident had left in his arm. "Hold still. I think you're gonna wanna be at full strength for this."

She was on him pressed against him, her hands on either side of his face. She went tough again, just in case he decided ta launch her again.

She put her forehead against his and said "You ain't some tool, ya hear me. Yer a real person, real as any a us. And you do have a soul sweetie, an I bet it is as beautiful as those eyes a yers. An fer another thing, yer not a boy, yer a man. Think about that S on yer chest. Yer the only one left wearin it." The tears kept going and Jo kept talkin.

"The world don't need a Superboy right now. With th shit goin on, we need, hell, I need, a Superman. Come on sugah, open those beautiful blue eyes a yers an be th Superman we all need right now. Please, baby, don't leave me the only messed up person here."

She couldn't think a anythin else ta say so she just stood there holdin him. Waitin for the inevitable.

Walking over to him he took off his mask and looked him in the eye's. "Roy, Ollie loved you knowing all that you had done. He would have been proud if you had taken up his name, but he was also proud that you decided to be your own man. You did your best with your daughter and look at who you have become. You kicked your habit and you are a Titan." He grinned at the man. "As for why I am the Green arrow, well my name is Connor Hawke, I am Oliver Queens son. I think that gives me some rights to the name don't you think. Especially since he sort of said I could use it if I wanted to," he chuckled.

Ruby held Wondergirl's shield, poised, half-curled, ready for action-- holding her phone out in front of her like a weapon-- begging the timeout to reset.

"You-- you lot," she murmured, eyes darting from Superboy to Harper, "--Rebel, Arrow, is there still Dana? Or is it only Zuul?"

There were subtle flickers across both Superboy and Red Arrow's faces. Their eyes rolled around behind their eyelids like they were caught up in furious dreams. But if they could hear those outside them on some level-- like coma victims hearing visitors talking at their bedsides-- they gave no outward sign.

“Can’t get inside my Nightmares? Can’t control me?” Raven asked. She’d already faced her nightmares and knew they had no control over her. Not anymore. Death was waiting for Raven. And would wait forever, and beyond.

"I could," Dreamslayer's voice oozed through Zatanna's lips. "Your imagination is still a fertile place full of dark places for me to slither around in, don't kid yourself. Insinuating myself so undetectably into so many subconsciousnesses, attaining control both subtle and profound, this was intricate craft, its workings as precise as watchmaking, or surgery-- turning their own natural vile inclinations to my own ends, living in their pain, breathing out their impotent fury, sinking my claws into their every negativity and using it as anchorage for my grasp upon their will. But the point of this is not for me to override you. Any of you 'Leaguers.' It is to watch you hit and hurt those you care about, those who cannot help themselves, to see you suffer as those you would call allies come upon you with wrath aforethought. To twist your feelings, memories, inclinations myself, that would defeat the point of letting you experience those pure, natural pangs of agony and antipathy. This way is so much more... delicious."

“Psychic energy without physical form.” She commented as her extra eyes finally closed.

Some Endless presented as a preferred gender. Generally, Dream was male, as were Destiny and Destruction. Death and Delirium and Despair were female. Desire was the very definition of genderfluid, presenting as male and/or female and/or agender and/or pangender or any combination thereof at the drop of a hat.

But Nightmare... Dreamslayer... this was not a he or a she or a thon or a they, it had eschewed anything that would make it so personal or relatable and-- comprehensible. It was an it. A seething, primal force living under the floorboards of your mind and heart.

"Oh, tsk, 'Angel.' You're a telekinetic. You know how hard psychic energy can hit, how much it can hurt. Physical bodies are for suckers."

“What do you want?”

"Revenge," Dreamslayer chortled. "This world has taken something that rightfully does not belong to it. Something irreplaceable. I... we... are going to be repaid in full."

"But first we've made you suffer, and the world watch you suffer. Their first and second lines of defense locked in pointless battle." Zatanna gave The Sandman the side-eye with her sightless eyes, smirking at him. "Hopeless battle."

"And now I'm going to kill you as dead as hope."

It reached up, and snapped its fingers.

And a lot of things happened at once.

The Titans all lashed out again, as one-- switching targets--

Silver Bullet made to pin Velocity's arms, while Kid Flash rushed forward with a vibrating hand, aiming to shove that hand into her molecular structure and hyperaccelerate it until it was scattered as incoherent light...

Teen Lantern swung her Ring to point at Wondergirl and blasted her with a ray of pure Kryptonite, ignoring the squealing, sputtering of the Ring at the lethal force of this, overriding it--

Superboy shoved away from Rebel with teke and speed, diving for G.R.I.D. with one hand outstretched, ready to disperse The G.R.I.D. Armor like any metallic construct, ready to burst it away from Milton's body into so many components... "C'mere, Justin Bailey."

Atlee snapped her hand out, exerting her chthonic resonance to attempt to throw Braggock at The Sandman...

Roy Harper unslung the grenade clipped to one of his weapons belts and popped the pin-- "Frag out." --and threw it at the human form of Danni Ketch with unerring precision--

--as Zatanna gleefully grinned and wiggled her fingers and proclaimed: "YLOH DNAH EDANERG."

Captain Marvel flew at Batman Black, and as he did so, he cried out-- "SHAZAM!" --calling down a bolt of mystical lightning that would revert Cap to his mortal identity of Nathaniel Fawcett and fry every circuit in Batman Black's armor and every nerve in his flesh--

Starfire swooped close to Aquagirl and Beast Boy, her eyes blazing, her skin shining as she started to charge herself up to unleash a nova burst--

The Knight whipped out a slingshot and fired an explosive charge the size of a marble at Wildcat's face...

The Atom flew at Hotline's phone with full reaction-thrust, knocking her phone out of her hand--

Solstice flew at Raven, attempting to fry the creature of darkness where she stood with a breathtaking surge of light--

Grunge slapped a hand against The Knight's shield and became that same mighty metallic alloy as he ran at Renegade with fists cocked...

...and Batman Red launched a single signal-flare Batarang at Martian Manhuntress' dreaming heart.

But all of this was a distraction, a delay, a way to thin the herd and force them to react to something other than--

--Aztek.

Stepping forward.

Eyelids shut.

Sleepwalking.

His suit was crafted from impossible occult engineering and powered by a four-dimensional mirror.

If he wanted, he could vent some of that four-dimensional energy into three-dimensional space for incredible destructive power, but it drained the suit.

But if he vented all of that energy...

...it would turn the entire Pacific Northwest into a crater and in one single instant wipe out two whole massive teams of superhero defenders of the planet.

Perhaps only Wonder Girl, Captain Marvel, or The Ghost Rider could survive it--

--if Wonder Girl wasn't getting bombarded with Kryptonite, Captain Marvel wasn't returning to mortal form, and Danni Ketch wasn't drenched in holy water and under threat from a sanctified explosive device...

"Hope is dead," Aztek proclaimed in Nightmare's voice, and reached up to tap the golden sun symbol on his chest and unleash 4-D hell...

 

[Wyldfire]

Aquagirl hurried to Beast Boy's side, raising her healing hand to not quite touch the massive gouge that Teen Lantern's trident had left in his arm. "Hold still. I think you're gonna wanna be at full strength for this."





Ruby held Wondergirl's shield, poised, half-curled, ready for action-- holding her phone out in front of her like a weapon-- begging the timeout to reset.

"You-- you lot," she murmured, eyes darting from Superboy to Harper, "--Rebel, Arrow, is there still Dana? Or is it only Zuul?"

There were subtle flickers across both Superboy and Red Arrow's faces. Their eyes rolled around behind their eyelids like they were caught up in furious dreams. But if they could hear those outside them on some level-- like coma victims hearing visitors talking at their bedsides-- they gave no outward sign.



"I could," Dreamslayer's voice oozed through Zatanna's lips. "Your imagination is still a fertile place full of dark places for me to slither around in, don't kid yourself. Insinuating myself so undetectably into so many subconsciousnesses, attaining control both subtle and profound, this was intricate craft, its workings as precise as watchmaking, or surgery-- turning their own natural vile inclinations to my own ends, living in their pain, breathing out their impotent fury, sinking my claws into their every negativity and using it as anchorage for my grasp upon their will. But the point of this is not for me to override you. Any of you 'Leaguers.' It is to watch you hit and hurt those you care about, those who cannot help themselves, to see you suffer as those you would call allies come upon you with wrath aforethought. To twist your feelings, memories, inclinations myself, that would defeat the point of letting you experience those pure, natural pangs of agony and antipathy. This way is so much more... delicious."



Some Endless presented as a preferred gender. Generally, Dream was male, as were Destiny and Destruction. Death and Delirium and Despair were female. Desire was the very definition of genderfluid, presenting as male and/or female and/or agender and/or pangender or any combination thereof at the drop of a hat.

But Nightmare... Dreamslayer... this was not a he or a she or a thon or a they, it had eschewed anything that would make it so personal or relatable and-- comprehensible. It was an it. A seething, primal force living under the floorboards of your mind and heart.

"Oh, tsk, 'Angel.' You're a telekinetic. You know how hard psychic energy can hit, how much it can hurt. Physical bodies are for suckers."



"Revenge," Dreamslayer chortled. "This world has taken something that rightfully does not belong to it. Something irreplaceable. I... we... are going to be repaid in full."

"But first we've made you suffer, and the world watch you suffer. Their first and second lines of defense locked in pointless battle." Zatanna gave The Sandman the side-eye with her sightless eyes, smirking at him. "Hopeless battle."

"And now I'm going to kill you as dead as hope."

It reached up, and snapped its fingers.

And a lot of things happened at once.

The Titans all lashed out again, as one-- switching targets--

Silver Bullet made to pin Velocity's arms, while Kid Flash rushed forward with a vibrating hand, aiming to shove that hand into her molecular structure and hyperaccelerate it until it was scattered as incoherent light...

Teen Lantern swung her Ring to point at Wondergirl and blasted her with a ray of pure Kryptonite, ignoring the squealing, sputtering of the Ring at the lethal force of this, overriding it--

Superboy shoved away from Rebel with teke and speed, diving for G.R.I.D. with one hand outstretched, ready to disperse The G.R.I.D. Armor like any metallic construct, ready to burst it away from Milton's body into so many components... "C'mere, Justin Bailey."

Atlee snapped her hand out, exerting her chthonic resonance to attempt to throw Braggock at The Sandman...

Roy Harper unslung the grenade clipped to one of his weapons belts and popped the pin-- "Frag out." --and threw it at the human form of Danni Ketch with unerring precision--

--as Zatanna gleefully grinned and wiggled her fingers and proclaimed: "YLOH DNAH EDANERG."

Captain Marvel flew at Batman Black, and as he did so, he cried out-- "SHAZAM!" --calling down a bolt of mystical lightning that would revert Cap to his mortal identity of Nathaniel Fawcett and fry every circuit in Batman Black's armor and every nerve in his flesh--

Starfire swooped close to Aquagirl and Beast Boy, her eyes blazing, her skin shining as she started to charge herself up to unleash a nova burst--

The Knight whipped out a slingshot and fired an explosive charge the size of a marble at Wildcat's face...

The Atom flew at Hotline's phone with full reaction-thrust, knocking her phone out of her hand--

Solstice flew at Raven, attempting to fry the creature of darkness where she stood with a breathtaking surge of light--

Grunge slapped a hand against The Knight's shield and became that same mighty metallic alloy as he ran at Renegade with fists cocked...

...and Batman Red launched a single signal-flare Batarang at Martian Manhuntress' dreaming heart.

But all of this was a distraction, a delay, a way to thin the herd and force them to react to something other than--

--Aztek.

Stepping forward.

Eyelids shut.

Sleepwalking.

His suit was crafted from impossible occult engineering and powered by a four-dimensional mirror.

If he wanted, he could vent some of that four-dimensional energy into three-dimensional space for incredible destructive power, but it drained the suit.

But if he vented all of that energy...

...it would turn the entire Pacific Northwest into a crater and in one single instant wipe out two whole massive teams of superhero defenders of the planet.

Perhaps only Wonder Girl, Captain Marvel, or The Ghost Rider could survive it--

--if Wonder Girl wasn't getting bombarded with Kryptonite, Captain Marvel wasn't returning to mortal form, and Danni Ketch wasn't drenched in holy water and under threat from a sanctified explosive device...

"Hope is dead," Aztek proclaimed in Nightmare's voice, and reached up to tap the golden sun symbol on his chest and unleash 4-D hell...

"Yer right on one thing asshole. Hope is dead," Jo whispered and picked herself off the ground. Speed. At her absolute fastest she ran at Aztek. Plan was simple. Grab bombboy and run. Get as far away from civilization and think fast of what next. If it cost just her an Azzie it was a win. Then it hit her. An idea. Speed to strength to flight to strength and throw for orbit. Fly again if You live to throw. "Bye Supes. We coulda been good."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor was still trying to get through to Roy when he heard the entity start to speak. Backing away he put his mask back on and looked at it.

"Revenge," Dreamslayer chortled. "This world has taken something that rightfully does not belong to it. Something irreplaceable. I... we... are going to be repaid in full."

"But first we've made you suffer, and the world watch you suffer. Their first and second lines of defense locked in pointless battle." Zatanna gave The Sandman the side-eye with her sightless eyes, smirking at him. "Hopeless battle."

"And now I'm going to kill you as dead as hope."

As those last words left it's mouth Connor knew what was coming. He drew an arrow and got ready and sure enough the Titans sprung into action.

Silver Bullet made to pin Velocity's arms, while Kid Flash rushed forward with a vibrating hand, aiming to shove that hand into her molecular structure and hyperaccelerate it until it was scattered as incoherent light...

Teen Lantern swung her Ring to point at Wondergirl and blasted her with a ray of pure Kryptonite, ignoring the squealing, sputtering of the Ring at the lethal force of this, overriding it--

Superboy shoved away from Rebel with teke and speed, diving for G.R.I.D. with one hand outstretched, ready to disperse The G.R.I.D. Armor like any metallic construct, ready to burst it away from Milton's body into so many components... "C'mere, Justin Bailey."

Atlee snapped her hand out, exerting her chthonic resonance to attempt to throw Braggock at The Sandman...

Roy Harper unslung the grenade clipped to one of his weapons belts and popped the pin-- "Frag out." --and threw it at the human form of Danni Ketch with unerring precision--

--as Zatanna gleefully grinned and wiggled her fingers and proclaimed: "YLOH DNAH EDANERG."

Captain Marvel flew at Batman Black, and as he did so, he cried out-- "SHAZAM!" --calling down a bolt of mystical lightning that would revert Cap to his mortal identity of Nathaniel Fawcett and fry every circuit in Batman Black's armor and every nerve in his flesh--

Starfire swooped close to Aquagirl and Beast Boy, her eyes blazing, her skin shining as she started to charge herself up to unleash a nova burst--

The Knight whipped out a slingshot and fired an explosive charge the size of a marble at Wildcat's face...

The Atom flew at Hotline's phone with full reaction-thrust, knocking her phone out of her hand--

Solstice flew at Raven, attempting to fry the creature of darkness where she stood with a breathtaking surge of light--

Grunge slapped a hand against The Knight's shield and became that same mighty metallic alloy as he ran at Renegade with fists cocked...

...and Batman Red launched a single signal-flare Batarang at Martian Manhuntress' dreaming heart.

He was rather surprised that no one had targeted him and he was not sure if he should be insulted at that. Still Aztek had not moved so perhaps he was supposed to be his opponent, however Connor had other ideas.

He saw the grenade arcing towards Ghost Rider and heard Zantanna's incantation. He had already processed her way of chanting and knew what it had been converted too and there was no way he was going to let his maybe girlfriend get doused in that.

Turning and firing in one swift motion, he aimed to take the grenade out of the air and send it on a new trajectory towards the chanting sorceress herself. The holy water might not do much to her but the concussive blast should knock her on her butt and maybe take her out of the fight for awhile.

Once that was done he glanced at Aztek. Just what was the warrior doing? Well whatever it was it couldn't be good. Firing off another arrow he aimed at the symbol he was reaching for. He doubted he could damage the armor he was wearing but he could sure stop him touching it. The arrow contained a polymer that would coat him in a foam that would harden in seconds becoming harder than steel. It might not stop him for long but he hoped it would delay him long enough for him to think of something else, or for someone more powerful to get to him.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Just Keep Swimming.

In human form Garfield would have nodded, but in frog form he blinked slowly, he tilted his head

<Is this thing on? Hello? Can you hear me?>

Gar|frog croaked and then went on

<Hello from the outside, at least I can say that I've tried. To tell you I'm sorry for killing those people, but it don't matter it clearly shouldn't tear me apart anymore...>

He noticed the look on Kaldur's face and stopped singing in his mind

<Wait... that actually worked??>

<"Yes,"> Kaldur smiled subtly. <"Yes, I can hear you. Yes, it worked. And yes... I know that you are sorry for killing those supervillains. It was regrettable that we were forced to such actions. In time I hope that we can forgive ourselves and each other.">

<"I... actually quite like that song. It reminds me of an Atlantean opera.">

<"But more to the point... do you understand what I am telling you about Luthor? About why we are working under his auspices and his heraldry?">

 

[ChasNicollette]

Relativity.

In the adrenaline of a moment on which the world hinged, a single second could be an eternity relative to the observer.

Turning and firing in one swift motion, he aimed to take the grenade out of the air and send it on a new trajectory towards the chanting sorceress herself.

The arrow pinged off of the grenade, the grenade hurtled off-course, bouncing and rolling towards Zatanna...

Speed. At her absolute fastest she ran at Aztek. Plan was simple. Grab bombboy and run. Get as far away from civilization and think fast of what next. If it cost just her an Azzie it was a win. Then it hit her. An idea. Speed to strength to flight to strength and throw for orbit. Fly again if You live to throw. "Bye Supes. We coulda been good."

Firing off another arrow he aimed at the symbol he was reaching for. He doubted he could damage the armor he was wearing but he could sure stop him touching it. The arrow contained a polymer that would coat him in a foam that would harden in seconds becoming harder than steel. It might not stop him for long but he hoped it would delay him long enough for him to think of something else, or for someone more powerful to get to him.

In the dilated slowdown of that instant, Aztek once again activated the density control of his armor, becoming intangible...

Rebel would phase right through him.

So would the foam-bomb arrow.

It was, perhaps, to Green Arrow's benefit that the foam-bomb narrowly missed Rebel, though of course it would hardly have caused Rebel any real harm.

But Aztek was still reaching for his chestplate.

How the Hell could you disarm a bomb if you couldn't touch it?

 

[Varshanka]

"I could," Dreamslayer's voice oozed through Zatanna's lips. "Your imagination is still a fertile place full of dark places for me to slither around in, don't kid yourself. Insinuating myself so undetectably into so many subconsciousnesses, attaining control both subtle and profound, this was intricate craft, its workings as precise as watchmaking, or surgery-- turning their own natural vile inclinations to my own ends, living in their pain, breathing out their impotent fury, sinking my claws into their every negativity and using it as anchorage for my grasp upon their will. But the point of this is not for me to override you. Any of you 'Leaguers.' It is to watch you hit and hurt those you care about, those who cannot help themselves, to see you suffer as those you would call allies come upon you with wrath aforethought. To twist your feelings, memories, inclinations myself, that would defeat the point of letting you experience those pure, natural pangs of agony and antipathy. This way is so much more... delicious."

"Oh, tsk, 'Angel.' You're a telekinetic. You know how hard psychic energy can hit, how much it can hurt. Physical bodies are for suckers."

"Revenge," Dreamslayer chortled. "This world has taken something that rightfully does not belong to it. Something irreplaceable. I... we... are going to be repaid in full."

"But first we've made you suffer, and the world watch you suffer. Their first and second lines of defense locked in pointless battle." Zatanna gave The Sandman the side-eye with her sightless eyes, smirking at him. "Hopeless battle."

As Dreamslayer. Nightmare. Horromonger. Or whatever it choose to call itself in a billion nightscapes spoke. Raven continued a spell she’d began when her eyes had opened. That’s the thing about having a date with Death. And all the wonderfully wild things that had been involved in that date. Getting gut shot and hovering on the brink of endlife didn’t hurt the issue either.

Raven wasn’t afraid.

She was her fathers guardian. A High God of Darkness from another dimension. A Lucifer. A Devil. As it were. Her life had been fucked since before birth. Yeah she was lonely, and she knew she was fated to die saving the world/universe. Maybe today was the day. Maybe not. She hadn’t looked at that event, nor asked Domina.

So while Dreamhater nattered on and on, she cast her spell. She’d touched each of the Titans, linking their Psyche’s to her own. As for the Leaguers? She’d worked with them enough she didn’t need physical contact to snare them in her spell.

"And now I'm going to kill you as dead as hope."

“Bad choice of words,” Raven replied finalizing her spell. And disconnecting all the nightmares from her allies, Titan East and East as well as the Justice League, she pulled them into herself, trapping them, not in her own soul, but locking them with her father. He had to be bored with his own nightmares and horrors by now and could use something less new.

And when she pulled those Nightmares away, she left in their place, dreams. Not perfect Dreams, because those wouldn’t work. But dreams of success at kicking a drug habit. Dreams of working with Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl. Dreams for each and everyone of the Titans. For the Leaguers she left them positive thoughts. Reinforcing those deeds well done that no one had seen or commented on.

Purple darkness wrapped around a Holy Hand Grenade and sent it to Heaven. Mikael wouldn’t mind. Might even be amused. As for the big Bang Theory.. she slipped a double orb on him. One around his hand, the other around his armor. And just for good measure she opened a gate between them. Even if he did manage to push through the power field, his hand would touch the moon.

"I Meet Hope. She's Cute. And Still alive." she added, sounding as bored as always.

 

[TertiusHuman]

<"Yes,"> Kaldur smiled subtly. <"Yes, I can hear you. Yes, it worked. And yes... I know that you are sorry for killing those supervillains. It was regrettable that we were forced to such actions. In time I hope that we can forgive ourselves and each other.">

<"I... actually quite like that song. It reminds me of an Atlantean opera.">

<"But more to the point... do you understand what I am telling you about Luthor? About why we are working under his auspices and his heraldry?">

If frogs could smile, they would have looked odd.

Garfield now looked quite odd as the corners of his mouth tilted upwards.

<I think I do. We work along with his plans now to see if we can expose him to the world. If he indeed is honorable, we will have worked with an honorable man.>

The frog croaked and re-adjusted, eyes blinking as he looked at Kaldur

<Perhaps when you return, we can have a talk without cameras and mind melds. Perhaps have a milkshake and pizza...wait...do you even eat pizza?>

 

[Lunaramblings]

"And now I'm going to kill you as dead as hope."

It reached up, and snapped its fingers.

And a lot of things happened at once.

The Sandman stood and glared at this pale imitation of his Lord. As potent and powerful, as dread and terrible, as this shard of Dream was, he was not The Lord of Dream. He was not Morpheus. But The Sandman knew that this incarnation, this avatar, was far more potent than almost any mortal threat.

The Sandman stood and straightened his countenance. He shifted into a fighting stance and spoke even as he started to attempt to counteract what was being done.

"Hope lives. 'You can cut all the flowers, but you can't keep spring from coming'... Hope is real. Hope is true. Hope can overcome anything, even you False-King."

The Titans all lashed out again, as one-- switching targets--

Silver Bullet made to pin Velocity's arms, while Kid Flash rushed forward with a vibrating hand, aiming to shove that hand into her molecular structure and hyperaccelerate it until it was scattered as incoherent light...

Teen Lantern swung her Ring to point at Wondergirl and blasted her with a ray of pure Kryptonite, ignoring the squealing, sputtering of the Ring at the lethal force of this, overriding it--

Superboy shoved away from Rebel with teke and speed, diving for G.R.I.D. with one hand outstretched, ready to disperse The G.R.I.D. Armor like any metallic construct, ready to burst it away from Milton's body into so many components... "C'mere, Justin Bailey."

Atlee snapped her hand out, exerting her chthonic resonance to attempt to throw Braggock at The Sandman...

Roy Harper unslung the grenade clipped to one of his weapons belts and popped the pin-- "Frag out." --and threw it at the human form of Danni Ketch with unerring precision--

--as Zatanna gleefully grinned and wiggled her fingers and proclaimed: "YLOH DNAH EDANERG."

Captain Marvel flew at Batman Black, and as he did so, he cried out-- "SHAZAM!" --calling down a bolt of mystical lightning that would revert Cap to his mortal identity of Nathaniel Fawcett and fry every circuit in Batman Black's armor and every nerve in his flesh--

Starfire swooped close to Aquagirl and Beast Boy, her eyes blazing, her skin shining as she started to charge herself up to unleash a nova burst--

The Knight whipped out a slingshot and fired an explosive charge the size of a marble at Wildcat's face...

The Atom flew at Hotline's phone with full reaction-thrust, knocking her phone out of her hand--

Solstice flew at Raven, attempting to fry the creature of darkness where she stood with a breathtaking surge of light--

Grunge slapped a hand against The Knight's shield and became that same mighty metallic alloy as he ran at Renegade with fists cocked...

...and Batman Red launched a single signal-flare Batarang at Martian Manhuntress' dreaming heart.

As Braggock came hurtling toward him, The Sandman shifted his body, combining an aikido manuever with his own impressive geomancy. Braggock's form would narrowly missing it's intended target and instead hurtling toward Starfire from behind.

Even as he came out of the counter, The Sandman was pulling power from the Earth. A wall of stone swept up in front of The Martain Manhuntress, shattering the batarangs as they smashed into it. The Sandman shifted the wall and turned it into a tsunami of Earth that created a dome over BatmanBlack attempting to block the conflagration of the mystic lightning.

Spinning once more The Sandman would call forth a hand from the earth, swatting and attempting to grapple The Atom before it could harm Hotline. Finally, with a grunt of exertion, the Sandman disappears from view, geo-porting to appear between Superboy and GRID. As he rises the long jacket is gone, and what stands before the Boy of Steel is a solid stone man wearing the Mantle of Dream. Channeling as much power from the Earth as he dared, The Sandman would attempt a counter, not unlike the one he used on the cannonball that had been Braggock. Having materialized inside Supes guard, he hoped to shift all that scary momentum, converting the forward momentum into a twist and a toss from his hips. Driving not toward the Earth, but at the last second twisting and hurling Supes at Solstice with all the combined force of the manuever.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Getting along swimmingly.

Garfield now looked quite odd as the corners of his mouth tilted upwards.

<I think I do. We work along with his plans now to see if we can expose him to the world. If he indeed is honorable, we will have worked with an honorable man.>

<"Yes. Good man.">

The frog croaked and re-adjusted, eyes blinking as he looked at Kaldur

<Perhaps when you return, we can have a talk without cameras and mind melds. Perhaps have a milkshake and pizza...wait...do you even eat pizza?>

<"As it happens,"> Kaldur remarked with a weary but gameful cheeriness, <"I quite like anchovies.">

 

[ChasNicollette]

Quarry.

Spinning once more The Sandman would call forth a hand from the earth, swatting and attempting to grapple The Atom before it could harm Hotline.

Ray Palmer twisted and juked in the air... running up the side of the grasping hand like some sort of miniaturized parkour traceur... bounding off of it, thrusters flaring...

...too small for Hotline to see coming, her phone spun out of her hand, and she dove for it with lurid, florid curses upon her lips.

As he rises the long jacket is gone, and what stands before the Boy of Steel is a solid stone man wearing the Mantle of Dream. Channeling as much power from the Earth as he dared, The Sandman would attempt a counter, not unlike the one he used on the cannonball that had been Braggock. Having materialized inside Supes guard, he hoped to shift all that scary momentum, converting the forward momentum into a twist and a toss from his hips.

Unfortunately for Sandman and that glorious display of geomantic multitasking...

...sometimes you were the bull, and sometimes you were the china shop, and in this instance Superboy was definitely the bull.

While Braggock had the advantage of being made of rock from outer space, right now Sandman, no matter how hard, no matter how dense-- was made out of earth.

And Superboy was The Boy of Steel. Capable of telekinetically manipulating anything he touched... and currently controlled by an entity so brutal, so lethal, it was forcing these puppeted Titans to use their powers in ways more terrible and deadly than they themselves could thus far ever have imagined.

The moment Sandman made contact with Superboy to perform his superhuman aikido-- a maneuver, if it had been successful, that no less than Karate Kid of The Legion of Superheroes would have found impressive-- he made contact with Superboy's tactile telekinetic force-aura and Superboy simply imploded him to the size of a pebble with literally the effort of a thought.

Without missing a beat, Superboy's fingers still outstretched for G.R.I.D...

...ready to blow the armor apart, rather than blowing it inward.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Where the line won't break the needle.

“Bad choice of words,” Raven replied finalizing her spell. And disconnecting all the nightmares from her allies, Titan East and East as well as the Justice League, she pulled them into herself, trapping them, not in her own soul, but locking them with her father. He had to be bored with his own nightmares and horrors by now and could use something less new.

And when she pulled those Nightmares away, she left in their place, dreams. Not perfect Dreams, because those wouldn’t work. But dreams of success at kicking a drug habit. Dreams of working with Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl. Dreams for each and everyone of the Titans. For the Leaguers she left them positive thoughts. Reinforcing those deeds well done that no one had seen or commented on.

...and with that, with Raven's using the gem upon her forehead to consume and subsume the nightmares that Nightmare had unleashed upon The Titans and all the ones it might manipulate within The New League...

...she severed the finely-crafted method of control that Dreamslayer had painstakingly forged over two long weeks of sleepless nights for Titans West and East. She sucked away the foothold that Nightmare had seeded in their minds, and snapped the anchor chains like a stormwind through the gates of Hell.

The Titans, then, spared the inner torment of these long sad nights and days, were free to fall into the sleep that Raven had earlier commanded. And one by one and two by two and all at once they crumpled to sleep in peace upon the ground.

She didn't need to forge portals or telekinesis to defend Aztek or the face of the Earth from his own power source-- he dozed off before his glove could make contact and he curled there upon the paving stones of The Loop.

Even Captain Marvel, spared his transformation by the intervention of Sandman, would find himself sleeping peacefully.

Purple darkness wrapped around a Holy Hand Grenade and sent it to Heaven. Mikael wouldn’t mind. Might even be amused.

"I Meet Hope. She's Cute. And Still alive." she added, sounding as bored as always.

Zatanna, too, fell to a sorely-needed slumber, and with that Dreamslayer's voice had been silenced.

It seemed-- irritated.

It had no mouth nor face to express, but its body language seemed to pout--

Fine, then.

Have it your way.

But don't blame me if you later wish you'd taken now the easy way out.

And with that, with a blur of deformed spacetime, Dreamslayer soared up towards the mysterious object far, far above, approaching it and phasing into it without the slightest impediment.

And then, after a long moment swollen with uncertainty, a mechanical voice like a vengeful, robotic deity called down from the object and echoed across the Seattle rooftops:

"Very well. 'Justice League.' Come on up. We're ready for you now."

 

[Wyldfire]

The Knight whipped out a slingshot and fired an explosive charge the size of a marble at Wildcat's face...

Thea lunged out of the way of the marble. Almost. The tip of her tail caught the marble with just enough force and the lsdt inch of her tail vanished in the resulting boom. Thea yowled like a, well, wounded cat. She hit the ground and grabbed her tail, looking for whatever might be left, but she kinda knew it was a forgone. The wound was already starting to close. Close, not regenerate. Big difference. She healed quicker than humans, but she was a mammal, not a reptile.

This was about the time that Raven did her voodoo and the Titans went down. Thea looked at her teammates as the voice spoke up inviting them in. "I've seen Godzilla movies with this come on up and see us mentality."

 

[Wyldfire]

Edit for double post

 

[ChasNicollette]

We are cancelling The Apocalypse.

Thea looked at her teammates as the voice spoke up inviting them in. "I've seen Godzilla movies with this come on up and see us mentality."

Ruby picked herself up from the ground, glancing around her at the sleeping Titans, many of whom had been her teammates. "Yeah, Wildcat, now we're living one." Her phone bleeped at her, and she made a face. "Oh, now you cooldown. Ta, mate, still as reliable as ever."

Nodding to Beast Boy as she finalized his healing, Aquagirl then glanced at Thea's tail. "I can probably fix that for you, properly, but-- lo siento-- we'd have to injure it again."

And then she gestured sharply at Danni Ketch, and the holy water that still drenched her puffed off of her in vapor, drying her in an instant and casting the remnants of it into the broken, leaking fountain at the middle of the loop. "Sorry I couldn't do that before, too, I was a little busy keeping Rae from drowning in her own blood. Is that Earthbendy guy okay?"

Rose knelt next to the pebble, hand outstretched. "I hope so. He saved a lot of lives just now, including mine. But yeah... I still sense his mind in there."

At the same time, M'gann-- still unbeknownst to Rose, still a secret kept from the one who held her heart-- murmured to the mind of The Sandman still inside that pebble... <"Eddie! Is that you in there? How long have you been in The Waking World? I don't think I've ever seen you in uniform before...">

Rose turned, however, oblivious to the telepathic conversation, and regarded Braggock. "But you... you I can't really read at all, I don't know why. Thank you for your help. I'm Martian Manhuntress."

"I dunno how long we have for introductions," Ruby cautioned, handing Wonder Girl's shield back to her and punching in numbers on her handset keypad, "before our upstairs neighbors get stroppy that we haven't taken their invite. Better make it quick, Double-M."

And she Dialed, hoping to God that her ectypes would last her longer now that Zed wasn't getting made to hang up on her every five seconds.

4... 3... 7... 6!

H-E-R-O!

SssshhCLICK!

 

[Nevyn_Black]

Braggock was stunned by the elbow to his head, but then he stood and watched the by-play between the super heroes and this new thread, the Scary Man. He had no idea what to do, so he just stood and waited. Until he was hurled at the Sandman, only to ricochet away toward the woman who hurled bolts of green fire...

When he was young, Braggock had loved a game that resembled this situation quite adroitly. It was called Pinball. And Braggock was ready to play!

He folded into himself and became a perfect sphere, with cracks all over it's surface bubbling with flames, which allowed him to propel himself in any number of random directions, very quickly. He had in fact, become a living meteor.

His first target was Stargirl, but she would not be the last. Anyone paying attention might hear a faint sound coming from the spinning ball of flaming rock.

Wheeeee....

 

[Zet_Cross]

GRID jumped back, firing a Charged shot at Superboy.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Parting Shots.

Seconds Ago.
********​

As Braggock came hurtling toward him, The Sandman shifted his body, combining an aikido manuever with his own impressive geomancy. Braggock's form would narrowly missing it's intended target and instead hurtling toward Starfire from behind.

He folded into himself and became a perfect sphere, with cracks all over it's surface bubbling with flames, which allowed him to propel himself in any number of random directions, very quickly. He had in fact, become a living meteor.

Even as Starfire powered up to unleash a burst of nova-level energy, itself as hot as the surface of the sun--

--Braggock crashed into her from behind with incredible velocity.

Starfire could take a hit like a champ, but this jarred her hard enough to knock her hurtling through the air and throw off her energy build-up.

His first target was Stargirl, but she would not be the last. Anyone paying attention might hear a faint sound coming from the spinning ball of flaming rock.

Wheeeee....

Even as he came out of the counter, The Sandman was pulling power from the Earth. A wall of stone swept up in front of The Martain Manhuntress, shattering the batarangs as they smashed into it.

The Sandman had gotten sharply sandbagged clashing with Superboy, but he had saved Rose from the fiery explosive of Batman Red's batarang, giving her the chance to help in her own respect...

...whipping out a hand and squinting against the sight of the flaming jets, Martian Manhuntress redirected Braggock into the path of the energy blast that Solstice had cast at Raven...

...the gleaming obsidian of his surface reflected the golden light beam directly at Wondergirl instead, the yellow glow disrupting the effect of Teen Lantern's kryptonite ray and recharging Karan at the same time.

GRID jumped back, firing a Charged shot at Superboy.

The sphere of searing blue-white plasma punched Superboy square in the chest-emblem-- and because his tac-teke force-aura was far better at defending him from solid material attacks than it was from gas or energy--

--he hurtled back with a yell--

--skidding to a halt on the ground just in time for Raven's magic to free all of them from Dreamslayer's clutches, passing into unconsciousness just like the others.

And as he fell asleep, sweet dreams wafting through his mind, he mumbled: "--coulllldstillbegooood, Reb..."