Justice League: The New Wave (IC)

[LuckyVic]

NIGHTWING: As patient as possible... at least for him

Damian had done a lot of growing up over the last few years. There were a great many of his short comings that he had managed to overcome in that time. And even though he was loath to admit it there was still more he could improve upon, one of which was being patient. Though if one were to ask him, he was being extremely, patient even as he waited for the others to arrive so they could get on the road and figure out where these attackers were coming from. “We’re taking off! If anyone else contacts, you let them know where we’re heading. We’ll need to know who and where these people are coming from as well.” He spoke through the communications system of the Javelin. With those words he began raising the craft into the air and then high enough about the HQ so he could engage the engines and begin this mission in earnest.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Behind Enemy (Power) Lines. (tags to Static)

"Doc, trust me. just send me." Virgil ran to stand on the platform in the center of the machines while Metcalf frantically typed away and made some last minute adjustments.

"Well, here goes nothing." Metcalf flipped a breaker switch on one of the machines and a loud humming noise filled the room but at the same time the door to the lab was wrenched off its hinges and flung into the room. The metal door crash into a machine and sparks flew and before Virgil could do anything the world around him seemed to disappear and his body felt like it was squeezed through a meat grinder.

He slammed into the ground somewhere else, his senses were flooded and his body was in pain. All that matters was that it worked although the damage to the machine had thrown him off a bit. He was here and ready to fight, just as soon as he could breath again.

Central City, Missouri.
********
http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l325/chasnicollette/keystonecentral-loc2_zps4fugdcmh.png​

Static would find himself landing, perhaps quite unfortunately, on the train tracks that ran through the center of Central City. The railway would hardly make a comfortable crash-mat, and no doubt this would add to the wind getting knocked out of him and some perhaps very stylized bruises later.

It was also perhaps unfortunate that Virgil landed right in a place that Kiz had been not very long before. The wake of Kiz' passing had thrown Kobra's troops in this area into turmoil, turmoil only added to by the efforts of the Rogues with whom Kiz had allied himself. Many fires were still burning in the area, Ajagar were frozen into glacial spires, ninja were strewn about the place with their own katanas embedded in their heads and hearts at impossible, bloodless angles. But perhaps, in its way, this would also be fortunate.

Yes, there was still a frantic, up-in-arms air to Kobra's forces in the vicinity, but the fact that there was so much disarray-- and cover from the various smoking fires-- would help to conceal Static's teleported crash-landing and give him a moment to recover.

As he did recover, however, his electromagnetic senses would indeed be flooded.

The dome itself had electromagnetic properties, but the fact that its ambient-matter/folded-space composition deformed local spacetime somewhat would also prove disruptive to the local geomagnetic field. Not to mention, the clashing, flashing, crackling aurora to the west out over The Missouri River, between Central and neighboring Keystone-- this would be practically migraine-inducing to the young Lightningbender.

But on top of that-- or more accurately, beneath that, behind it, he might perceive the very thing that The Conductor had begun to detect 15 years ago not far from this very spot...

********​

He paused, then. "But I must warn you, Flash, Kid Flash. My electromagnetic senses detect something curious-- it is almost as though, for the instant when my electromagnetic pulse lit up the nearby spectrum moments ago-- I saw a second power grid layered upon that of Keystone City and her twin sister Central, as though there were twice as much power being generated in these cities as the output would suggest--"

********​

The Gem Cities had two power grids, interconnected by the very symbiosis the two cities shared. One grid existed to power the cities themselves. The other was... hidden... its wiring sneaking through the existing infrastructure... not symbiotic but invisibly parasitic.

And while the main grid had been taken off-line, that second, hidden grid was blazing with power.

All of that power, the power of two entire cities, was feeding into that strange, spacially-distorted crackle down over the river and spiking up into the sky. And that crackle was, in turn, feeding the dome.

Static would, perhaps, through the sheer noise of his flooded metahuman sensorium, recognize that these energies powered by the hidden secondary electrical grid were the very same energy as the teleport signals he and Hardware had hacked for him to get here.

Virgil had once briefly joined The Teen Titans and remained on good terms with them, and as such his communications and tracking devices would have access to The Titans' communicator frequency. If he checked his commlink, he would see that Raven of The Titans was already here, north of him up in Englewood. Perhaps he could fly out and find her, get reinforcements in this war-torn heartland wasteland?

Or he could use his powers to maglev at high speed along the very train track he'd landed upon, hopefully faster than Kobra's troops could, heh, track him. He could speed east into the woods of Granite Peak National Park to investigate the dome, get a better reading on it, perhaps try and use his powers to disrupt it. Or he could speed west deeper into Keystone towards the river and investigate the nexus of energies that thundered there.

The choice was his.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Atomic Batteries to Power. (Rose/M'gann/Luthor/Hotline)(tags to Justice League)

“We’re taking off! If anyone else contacts, you let them know where we’re heading. We’ll need to know who and where these people are coming from as well.” He spoke through the communications system of the Javelin. With those words he began raising the craft into the air and then high enough about the HQ so he could engage the engines and begin this mission in earnest.

If Kaldur rankled at Damien's executive decision, he gave no sign. After all, he concurred with Nightwing's snap judgement, and it only illustrated the value of having a "vice-leader" as he'd suggested at their inaugural meeting.

Rose opened her mouth to protest, and then closed it again. As much as she didn't like the idea of going without The Rider-- as off-putting as her fiery aura and prickly demeanor were, she was a part of the team --she had to admit that Nightwing was right. They could waste hours trying to chase down a line on their missing Harley-Harpy, and these were hours that Metropolis, New York, maybe even America-- didn't have.

Still, maybe she could do... something? Ghost Rider was powerful, they should at least let her know where to be?

Rose attempted to reach out with her mind-- but she instantly found the breathy, pulsing jumble of desire that was Karan's thoughts. And Rose grinned at her softly, and her red red eyes smoldered. She felt Karan's desire for her. And she felt her own desire for Karan.

But of course they had to wait. These things were always so complicated.

As the hangar deck opened to the roof and The Javelin roared, VTOL, into the air, Captain Jim "The Guardian" Harper spun into a single kick that sent a row of six ninjas sprawling. He touched his earpiece. "I read you, Nightwing, five-by-five. Our mutual... benefactor..." he said that word as if he were dubious as to said benefactor's beneficence "...should be in touch with you momentarily. Godspeed, Justice League."

Then the Javelin's engine's fired and it powered into a suborbital parabola that should shave massive amounts of time off of their transit.

Again tapping his earpiece, Guardian switched channels. "Ms. Irons, Dr. Roquette, maximum lockdown! Seal up the HQ! Maintain sensor-sweeps for further arriving Justice Leaguers and provide them intel, but The MetroSCU and I need to secure other targets!"

"Done!" Nat came back on the comm, and Serling hit the button throwing down bulkhead blast doors that would hopefully keep out Kobra's forces.

As the Javelin ascended, the HUD flickered and Lex Luthor appeared upon it.

He did not look quite as... unruffled as usual. Behind him the Leaguers would see a small dark room, a room which would shake occasionally with massive impacts.

"Justice League. Thank you for coming, at least most of you. It cannot have been easy to converge while taking such heavy fire, and I'm not surprised that some of you couldn't make it. Despite having recently cultivated a politician's tendency to be circumloquacious, I will be brief and efficient. As you may have already perceived, the cities of The United States of America and indeed all of North America are under considerable assault by the serpentine forces of terror-cultist Kobra. They are using a heretofore unknown ambient-matter/folded-space technology to teleport their forces seemingly at will from within an apparently-impenetrable force-dome barricade over and around the Midwestern cities of Keystone and Central."

"I am coordinating with Presidents Obama and Peña Nieto and Prime Minister Trudeau, offering my private security details where available to bolster the existing defense and police forces as well as the superhuman population. But it falls to you intrepid heroes to determine a way into the dome and shut down Kobra's teleport matrix from within before he can plunge our continent into his much-vaunted Age of Chaos. Barack has already told me that reactionary Pentagon elements have immediately floated the nuclear option-- but we have no guarantee such a weapon would even ripple a shield of this variety, and it would certainly poison what remains of America's breadbasket for decades or centuries to come-- essentially accomplishing Kobra's goals for him."

"At my instructions, Natasha Irons has preemptively programmed your vessel with the navigational data to fly to your destination, but Nightwing-- as we have less idea than we'd like what to expect upon arrival, you may find that a steady hand on manual control will become invaluable."

"Any questions, Justice League? Three nations and the whole world may indeed be counting on you."

"Hello pressure my old friend," Ruby grimaced, flicking switches on the Science station and using The Javelin's sensor suite to confirm Luthor's findings.

 

[Varshanka]

Raven/Rider - Tag (Green Arrow)

"Raven I could kiss you. How you managed to bring us to the exact spot I needed is a miracle."

“Don’t be Disgusting.” She replied as more bolts of energy blasted from her hands blowing apart several more attackers.

*****

Connor shook his head. "A slight deviation to the right. That should have been a heart shot instead it hit slightly off center. Have to compensate for that in future."

“That would be advised, Mortal.” Xarathos replied, glaring at him from inside it’s flaming armor.

Smiling he looked at the other two. "So what's the plan? Can you sense where the big boss is or where they are teleporting from so we can go knock it out or are we going to have to explore the whole place?"

“Oh Didn’t I tell you? The Boss of this level is in grid forty-seven by thirty-eight. You need to jump over the alligator, swing past the pit using the rattle snake tail, use the BFG on the zombie alien tumble through the laser trip wires and vault over the pit with scorpions and your home free. Oh, after you use the crates to climb to the forth floor. Don’t forget the health pack after the third save point.”

Sighing she looked at him, “You remind me of some people I used to hang around with. They liked video games as well.” Looking over at the Rider she lifted an eyebrow. Almost as if she was questioning the decision to bring him.

“He will survive, or not.” The Rider replied

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rogue Warriors. (tags to Kiz, Hawke, Rider, Raven)

Kiz's lips twitched, but his eyes remaining hard and sad.

"Prime." It was all he could trust himself to say without spoiling Len's sentiment.

Cold nodded back, simply.

He wasn't much of an orator. He hadn't expected a resounding huzzah to that ragtag-misfit St. Crispin's Day Speech, and Bellorophon didn't give him one.

Just assent.

And that was enough. It was plenty.

"Cool."

He looked around the cubby hole one last time. It'd been a nice respite against what was going to happen next. One way or another there'd be mounds of dead bodies by the end of the day. "Goodbye Serrah," Kiz said, nodding and relinquishing her hold on creation. Her body melted into dream and shadow, evaporating to nothing. The only thing that marked her presence was the puddle of napalm burning through the cave floor.

"She's, uh, gonna be okay, right?" Heatwave furrowed his brow as he stood, resting his flamethrower weapon on his shoulder. "Just, uh, beamed her back up?" Kindred spirits were hard to find.

In one move, like a stage magician whisking a table cloth from a dinning room table, Kiz tugged Ulark across his body. Except he wasn't the last living cave bear, but a fur coat. Kiz slid his arms through the sleeves without breaking stride.

Glider couldn't help but grin softly at that. Evan had always mocked stage magic, said that they do it all with mirrors and there was nothing he didn't know about mirrors. Well, look at this. Real magic and not a mirror in sight. Fuck you, McCulloch.

Like that magician showing nothing was up either sleeve, as he crossed the threshold and was vomited from the entrance, his left hand shot out and moved to the side of his body. What materialized was a body length shield hammered from tarnished gold.

Kiz unhooked the Key Dagger, flicking it around his finger as he walked towards where he'd felt the dome tear and powerful entities pour forth.

The Rogues fell into step behind Kiz. Cold to his right, ice gun in hand and hood back up on his parka. Heatwave to his left, goggles back down over his crazy eyes and gloved fingers lightly stroking his heat gun. And behind him floated Glider, framing Kiz like a Miyazaki-animated sunrise.

And they walked towards Englewood, where Kiz had felt the fires of Hell and the shadows of Azaroth billow into the world.

 

[kizkiz]

Central City: Kiz and Heatwave...an aside.

"Goodbye Serrah," Kiz said, nodding and relinquishing her hold on creation. Her body melted into dream and shadow, evaporating to nothing. The only thing that marked her presence was the puddle of napalm burning through the cave floor.

"She's, uh, gonna be okay, right?" Heatwave furrowed his brow as he stood, resting his flamethrower weapon on his shoulder. "Just, uh, beamed her back up?" Kindred spirits were hard to find.

Kiz looked hard at Mick before slapping his own shoulder. "Right back to the jagged hole in my soul." The tattoo there on his shoulder that had faded to just outlines blossomed back to lustrous color. There was even a trail of lifelike napalm dripping from the snake head tail. "None of them are killable. That's the problem."

 

[Varshanka]

I hate the Silence

Torn between two evils. One to the east but something more urgent, hate filled, and dripping in the blood of innocence off to the west. Without bothering to ‘discuss’ the situation, or even to communicate what it’s intentions were Xarathos turned and headed west, moving at a steady pace.

“I think it found something.. important over that way.” Raven said looking at the Archer as she levitated up from the ground and began floating after the Rider. “Sometimes I wish someone would give her a nice kick in the head. Hard.”

 

[kizkiz]

Englewood: Kiz and the Rogues (tag Chas)

Kiz knelt down on the asphalt of the cul-de-sac. Around them stood six identical houses. The front door of two were wide open. A few had broken bay windows. One had a deep furrow through the front lawn. Kiz put one of his hands in a cooled, molten indent in the asphalt. Another was nearby. He frowned, tilting his head back and looking up into the sky. "They came in through there." The edge of the dome was a few miles away. Above if a straight line was extended vertically, it'd be hundreds of feet into the air before it hit the dome. "Straight through and down to this spot." He traced the point from above straight down to where the indents in the pavement were.

He shook his head and stood back up. He followed a path of divots in the asphalt leading down the street. The street split, but the prints continued due west. He could see the burnt grass and coagulated mud through the lawn and the smashed gate door.

He stopped at the broken gate. Something had shattered it with easy force. He walked back over to the lawn, laying his hand in the grass. "Another walks with light steps. Female. A third-" Kiz cutoff and reappeared half a block down the street running south. There was a dead body with an arrow in its eye socket. Another dead black adder. "So that's three with arrows and..." He stood and did a slow circle scanning. "Ten...thirteen..." His eyes flickered over blackadders with craters in their chests and blackened eyes. "Fourteen slain by dark magic, demonic? Shadows..." He shook his head.

He ripped the arrow from the blackadder's eye socket and teleported back to the cul-de-sac. "The archer retrieves arrows that are within range, but doesn't allow foraging to let him fall behind the other two." He tossed the arrow to Len. "Does this arrow look familiar?"

His eyes moved between Len, Mick, and Lisa. "Are these three familiar to you? Allies?" He frowned again. "One wielding hellfire. Another an archer. And the third, female perhaps a shade? Two of them are very powerful, possibly outsiders..." He looked between the three faces, "Not of this earth. Not natives. The archer is mortal, I suspect."

One of the Nadeau landed on the gutter of a nearby house and cawed. A flickering of images ran through his mind. "They proceed west-southwest laying waste to ambushes and kill squads. The enemy is converging on them." He whirled the Key Dagger around his finger, leaning on his shield, dropping an arm down the length of it.

He tilted his head from side to side. "I'm inclined to let the triad gain a lead on us. Draw fire, wear down the enemy, give us some latitude. They have a high opinion of themselves. If they can defeat the enemy." He shrugged. "They didn't wait or approach us. Either they didn't realize we were coming or didn't care."

"Where are the rest of your resistance fighters? What are the odds more such as them are outside unable to come in?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Immortals," by Fall Out Boy. (tags to kiz)

Kiz looked hard at Mick before slapping his own shoulder. "Right back to the jagged hole in my soul." The tattoo there on his shoulder that had faded to just outlines blossomed back to lustrous color. There was even a trail of lifelike napalm dripping from the snake head tail. "None of them are killable. That's the problem."

Heatwave harrumphed appreciatively. "Sounds like a good problem to have."

Glider's face was unreadable for a moment. "I've heard it both ways."

********​

They traveled with Kiz.

And watched as he broke down the LZ with the practiced familiarity of a man who had seen a thousand impossible battlefields over the course of centuries.

"He's a regular CSI," Glider remarked with an affectionate smirk. "Just like Red."

Cold just grimaced. Coldly.

He ripped the arrow from the blackadder's eye socket and teleported back to the cul-de-sac. "The archer retrieves arrows that are within range, but doesn't allow foraging to let him fall behind the other two." He tossed the arrow to Len. "Does this arrow look familiar?"

Captain Cold snagged the arrow out of mid-air, and arched a brow. "Not specifically. But we've pulled a gig or two in Star City. The fact that it's green tells some kind of tale."

His eyes moved between Len, Mick, and Lisa. "Are these three familiar to you? Allies?" He frowned again. "One wielding hellfire. Another an archer. And the third, female perhaps a shade? Two of them are very powerful, possibly outsiders..." He looked between the three faces, "Not of this earth. Not natives. The archer is mortal, I suspect."

Cold narrowed his eyes. "The guy who used to shoot green pointy sticks at guys like us is dead, or as good as, so that tracks. Might be someone new. A woman casting shadows sounds like Raven of The Titans-- she sometimes runs around with Red's punk tagalong Kid Flash."

Heatwave pursed his lips, and growled: "Hellfire. There's rumors of a biker traveling the highways of the world, burning the minds of ones she deems guilty. Not me, yet, but this might be my lucky day."

One of the Nadeau landed on the gutter of a nearby house and cawed. A flickering of images ran through his mind. "They proceed west-southwest laying waste to ambushes and kill squads. The enemy is converging on them." He whirled the Key Dagger around his finger, leaning on his shield, dropping an arm down the length of it.

He tilted his head from side to side. "I'm inclined to let the triad gain a lead on us. Draw fire, wear down the enemy, give us some latitude. They have a high opinion of themselves. If they can defeat the enemy." He shrugged. "They didn't wait or approach us. Either they didn't realize we were coming or didn't care."

"Yep, sounds like superheroes all right," Glider snarked. "All up on their high horses, too good for 'guttertrash' like us. There's maybe hundreds of 'superheroes' in this world, and the really good ones are still only one in a million."

"Less now," Cold murmured, eyes far away for a moment, tucking the arrow into an inside pocket of his parka.

"Where are the rest of your resistance fighters? What are the odds more such as them are outside unable to come in?"

Captain Cold returned to the present with a cold snap, squinted at Kiz. "Bello, if I didn't make it clear when we first tapped on your shoulder, we are the resistance. The rest of The Rogues are scattered, hiding, or... worse."

He left it up in the air what "worse" meant, but he shot Glider a bitter look and she returned it, stewing furiously as her tendrils lashed the air.

Cold continued: "Sometimes I wonder if Piper didn't have the right idea, going legit and moving out to become some slick, East Coast lawyer. But only sometimes. I ain't a coward."

He paused, took a breath, re-centered himself. "Like we said, there's lots of superheroes out there. And the regular authorities, though they'd be more likely to shoot us than think we're on the up-and-up. We could fall back to the perimeter, though, check it out. Between your Kingdom Hearts thingy and Lisa's golden gliding, we could let in a reinforcement or two. Provided there are any, of course. Might be those three you've been tracking are all that's coming. Might be we're on our own in this."

 

[kizkiz]

Outside the Dome: Kiz and the Rogues (tag Chas and others)

Captain Cold returned to the present with a cold snap, squinted at Kiz. "Bello, if I didn't make it clear when we first tapped on your shoulder, we are the resistance. The rest of The Rogues are scattered, hiding, or... worse."

Kiz replied, "Scattered and hiding, implies they can be found and gathered. If they are dead or captured, that is different scenario."

He left it up in the air what "worse" meant, but he shot Glider a bitter look and she returned it, stewing furiously as her tendrils lashed the air.

Cold continued: "Sometimes I wonder if Piper didn't have the right idea, going legit and moving out to become some slick, East Coast lawyer. But only sometimes. I ain't a coward."

He paused, took a breath, re-centered himself. "Like we said, there's lots of superheroes out there. And the regular authorities, though they'd be more likely to shoot us than think we're on the up-and-up. We could fall back to the perimeter, though, check it out. Between your Kingdom Hearts thingy and Lisa's golden gliding, we could let in a reinforcement or two. Provided there are any, of course. Might be those three you've been tracking are all that's coming. Might be we're on our own in this."

"Yes, we'll poke our head out and send up a signal flare," Kiz nodded to Heatwave. "If it rouses something interesting, prime. The Triad will either be sufficient for the challenges they face or fall back. Either is to our benefit."

Barring significant blow back, Kiz blinked back to the end of the cul-de-sac, turned north, and reappeared at the end of that street. He glanced up at the house at the end of the street, fixed the edge of the roof in his mind, then reappeared on the roof. Using the roofs, he hoped through creation, reappearing on a roof just long enough to blink, reassess, and attach himself to another.

The last house of Englewood had a large yard and signs of several dogs. There was a pair of small houses, some chains plunged into the ground, and a few bowls with food and water. Yet the dogs were missing just as their master's were. "Kobra was thorough." It wasn't lost on Kiz that while skipping rooftop to rooftop that no enemy had been sighted. He turned back to the southwest, squinting like he could see whatever the Triad was up to. "They've succeeded in drawing every Kobra in this sector." Then again, if it was the Rider at work, that was to be expected. By the accounts he remembered from previous visits to this world, the Rider was one of the few Deathless left.

He'd recalled all but four of the thirteen Nadeau he'd allowed entrance into creation. Three trailed behind the Triad. A fourth watched over their cubby hole in the Granite Hills. That left nine arrayed around the area where Kiz now drew to a stop. They perched on telephone wires and gutters, cawing and squawking amongst themselves. They were made with hunger. There weren't even corpses to pluck eyeballs from here.

Kiz tilted his head up watching the perfect, spherical curve of the dome. "And you your weapons are ineffectual against it?" Without waiting for a response, he attuned himself to the edge of the backyard, where the dome cut through a shed. It was a convenient place to open a hole in the dome, as it afforded a measure of cover and secrecy if anyone was watching.

Kiz reappeared next to the sheds door, pushing against it, pulling the bolt back, and opening the door. Inside were boxes of junk, holiday decorations, and rusting lawn equipment. He stopped twirling the dagger, and instead inserted into where the dome bisected the shed. The dome resisted then relented. The Key Dagger slid in. Kiz cut through creation, leaking the Void in a series of sigils and lines that made the shape of a door. While turning the Key Dagger with one hand, he held up his other and leaked out more raw arcane energy. Amongst the perfect symmetry of the dome a new matrix of reality imposed itself. A door of the dome outlined in eternal black nothingness, swung open.

Kiz glanced back at the Rogues. "Ten minutes tops, then we return. Mick a flare or three. Five of the ravens joined them, perching upon Kiz's shoulders as he crossed the threshold. Kiz held the door open by the Key Dagger long enough for the Rogues to exit, then shut the door and removed the dagger.

"Scout up and either side," He said to the ravens, which took flight as soon as Kiz teleported through the window in the back of the shed and out into the vestiges of the Granite Hills not inside of the dome.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rogue Time. (tags to Kiz, Velocity, Beast Boy, G.R.I.D.)

Kiz replied, "Scattered and hiding, implies they can be found and gathered. If they are dead or captured, that is different scenario."

"Scattered and hiding," Cold shook his head. "When Rogues hide, they don't kid around. We pull jobs in a city whose main supervillain deterrent can search two whole cities on foot in under thirty seconds. Even without Serpentor's scumbags lowering the tone, it would take us ages to search every bolthole, foxhole, and knothole. Criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot, as they say. (Present company excepted.) But who knows, maybe they're all dead and captured by this point anyway."

"Yes, we'll poke our head out and send up a signal flare," Kiz nodded to Heatwave. "If it rouses something interesting, prime. The Triad will either be sufficient for the challenges they face or fall back. Either is to our benefit."

"You had me at 'flare,'" Heatwave rumbled.

"Kobra was thorough."

"Scaly bastard has a lock on the long con," Glider scowled, scooping up Cold and Heatwave in her embrace so that they could keep up with Kiz' flitting teleports.

They emerged beside him on his latest perch.

It wasn't lost on Kiz that while skipping rooftop to rooftop that no enemy had been sighted. He turned back to the southwest, squinting like he could see whatever the Triad was up to. "They've succeeded in drawing every Kobra in this sector."

"Thank Hellfire for small favors," Heatwave cracked.

Kiz tilted his head up watching the perfect, spherical curve of the dome. "And you your weapons are ineffectual against it? Without waiting for a response, he attuned himself to the edge of the backyard, where the dome cut through a shed. It was a convenient place to open a hole in the dome, as it afforded a measure of cover and secrecy if anyone was watching.

"About as effective as talking to yourself," Cold snarked to the empty spot where Kiz had just been standing.

A door of the dome outlined in eternal black nothingness, swung open.

Certain entities in this world could be called Openers. An innate knack for unlocking things that had been locked, turning to the outside what had once been inside, bars and gates and doors and flowers and even living things...

Timothy Hunter was one of these. Dream of The Endless. The Lady Door of London Below and all of Lord Portico's family.

And not a one of them would not have been impressed by the porthole created by Kiz' Key.

Lacking knowledge about the sheer finesse (and not-small power) this required, and heavy-laden with cynicism, these Rogues were not appropriately awed as Glider silked them through the shed wall and placed them in view of the door. The door simply was, and that was good.

"Not bad," Cold conceded.

Kiz glanced back at the Rogues. "Ten minutes tops, then we return. Mick a flare or three. Five of the ravens joined them, perching upon Kiz's shoulders as he crossed the threshold. Kiz held the door open by the Key Dagger long enough for the Rogues to exit, then shut the door and removed the dagger.

Heatwave chuckled to himself as he stepped through, brandishing his firearm. "Oh, this dry February air. Wouldn't want to cause a forest fire, would we?" And he waggled his eyebrows gleefully, crazy eyes crazy indeed.

As soon as they were in position, Heatwave aimed his flamethrower high into the sky and unleashed one, two, three gouts of flame high into the sky...

...whooping and laughing, the flames dancing a reflection in his goggles despite the fact that they were now once again under clear blue sky.

If someone were looking in the right direction, however, the sight of flame billowing up over the tree-tops might prove unusual enough to be worth investigating?

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Torn between two evils. One to the east but something more urgent, hate filled, and dripping in the blood of innocence off to the west. Without bothering to ‘discuss’ the situation, or even to communicate what it’s intentions were Xarathos turned and headed west, moving at a steady pace.

“I think it found something.. important over that way.” Raven said looking at the Archer as she levitated up from the ground and began floating after the Rider. “Sometimes I wish someone would give her a nice kick in the head. Hard.”

Connor looked at Raven and laughed at her.

"Feel free to do that. Me I would like to keep my leg the way it is thanks...attached to my body." Grinning at her he shrugged. 'Still I do get what you mean. Is she always like this when she gets this way. She seems to be a totally different person to the one I met last night."

He kept one arrow on the string as he followed the two ladies through the strewn rubble. Actually he was surprised there wasn't more damage or more enemies running around. He had expected to be fighting them off all the way to the person in charge and instead they were walking down deserted streets.

Seriously he didn't know if this was better or worse.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Be Careful What You Wish For. (tags Raven, Rider, Arrow)

Seriously he didn't know if this was better or worse.

Connor Hawke would soon have a basis for comparison to decide which was better. And which was worse.

Because very moments after he observed that they were relatively unhindered in their walk across Petersburg towards Leawood and The Central City Stadium/Sports Complex...

...a fresh wave of Ajagar and Blackadders descended upon them, converging on them from University Town to the southwest.

As Kiz would momentarily observe, nearly every agent of Kobra in the vicinity was slithering in their direction.

Perhaps it was the particular swath of violence that the three of them had carved upon their arrival.

Perhaps Kobra's lieutenant was demanding an even more ferocious response, given the havoc that had so recently been wreaked in City Center upon The Flash Museum.

Or perhaps... since The Rider could sense the malevolence gathered in Leawood... that malevolence could sense The Rider too... and was responding in kind...

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Flared Up Velocity (Tags Beast boy, Grid)

Velocity looked at the strange Armour. She was actually used to seeing people wearing strange suits like this. It was a strange fact of life when you were not surprised to see a man wearing a large technical piece of hardware near a spacial anomaly in the middle of the country. It really said something of her upbringing.

"Yes I am aware of that fact. He hitched a ride with me from our university. It is being attacked right now by people that are coming from the inside of this dome. Unfortunately although I was able to follow their transport signal here I am unable to get inside. I don't have the necessary control over my powers yet."

Sighing she looked around trying to spot another way through when the sky was lit up by three intense blasts of flame.

"I hope the rest of you saw that, because that definitely looked like a signal. I don't know about you but that looks like our best chance unless you have another way of getting in? Even if it is not a way in we might find a few more people trying to puzzle out the same thing and the more people the better. What do you say, shall we join them?"

 

[kizkiz]

Outside the Dome: Kiz and Rogues (tag Chas)

Kiz yawned, feeling the fog of four days without sleep descending on him during this lull in the action. He peered up at the sky. The sun was overhead, the day wasn't even half over. Not a cloud in the pure blue sky. If this bout of insomnia lasted much longer, he'd become catatonic. Seconds ticked by; the flames were gone.
"Huh," Kiz said, watching Mick. "It's just the one gun?" His eyes dropped, blinked, then his head snapped back up. "No bombs or fireworks?" Kiz straightened, leaning on Havel's shield.

His head swiveled around to check out Glider. His lips twitched. From one of the pockets of his fur coat, he pulled out a buzz saw blade. He'd snatched it by reflex while going through the shed. A gunslinger trusted their hands above all else. While he didn't sling any guns, he let his hands do pretty much whatever they wanted. This sleep deprived, he was more instinct than man anyway. He balanced the disc on the back of his hand, lifting it up in Glider's direction. "If you inserted this metal disc into yonder pine tree." He nodded his head at the tree in question, "Would the tree be severed in half or would the disc become part of the tree?"

Kiz yawned.

About a hundred yards away one of the Nadeau plunged from the sky. It streaked with such speed that it put a peregrine falcon to shame. A young fawn nuzzled the ground, nipping at a few buds on the end of a bush. It exhaled a gout of white breath. A bit of hoar frost still clung to the shadowed places beneath the bush in the lee of a copse of trees. As the fawn lifted its head to sniff the air, the Nadeau struck. It dove beak first and hit with the force of a javelin tossed off a skyscraper. Its beak tore through skull and emerged out the other side of the fawn's neck. Blood spurted everywhere. The fawn jerked. It bucked once then collapsed to the ground.

The Nadeau's blade claws cut with surgical skill, hewing off the fawn's snout. The claws on its other foot cut through the bone of the orbital socket, liberating the Nadeau's head. The Nadeau shook itself, tossing off blood and gore. It's glossy midnight features were immaculate like lustrous oil.

The Nadeau tilted its head, one large black eye inspecting the remains of the fawn's head. It speared the fawn's other eyeball, tearing it from the socket with a slurping sound. It tossed the fawn's honey brown eye into the air, opening its beak wide. The Nadeau caught the eye, mushing the thing into a wet mess. Unlike a normal animal, it didn't need to eat. Rather it enjoyed destroying beautiful things, devouring innocence, and inflicting pain. It pushed off the mangled mess of the fawn's skull and set off towards the southeast where the railroad emerged from the dome.

 

[Zet_Cross]

"I hope the rest of you saw that, because that definitely looked like a signal. I don't know about you but that looks like our best chance unless you have another way of getting in? Even if it is not a way in we might find a few more people trying to puzzle out the same thing and the more people the better. What do you say, shall we join them?"

That seems the logical choice. "Yes Lyls I realize that. " GRID looks to the flares. "Alright then, lets hope their friendlies."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rogue Watch. (tags to Kiz)

"Huh," Kiz said, watching Mick. "It's just the one gun?" His eyes dropped, blinked, then his head snapped back up. "No bombs or fireworks?" Kiz straightened, leaning on Havel's shield.

Heatwave snorted, weighing the gun in his hand. "Back in the day those were my tools of the trade. When I was just a punk arsonist. But then I stole this from an armored car bound for STAR Labs Keystone. And I became an artist. Firefly, Firebug, Heatstroke-- none of them can hold a candle to me. Amateurs."

He balanced the disc on the back of his hand, lifting it up in Glider's direction. "If you inserted this metal disc into yonder pine tree." He nodded his head at the tree in question, "Would the tree be severed in half or would the disc become part of the tree?"

"A little bit of both," Glider mused, tilting her head, eyes dancing at a fond, vengeful memory. "I once phased a piece of shrapnel into the heart of the man who blew me up to turn me into this... he bled to death inside. It was excruciating. I imagine something similar would happen to that pine."

Kiz yawned.

"We boring you, Bello?" Cold mused, sitting on a rock and keeping watch even as he checked the power-pack on his cryogenic weapon. "Maybe you're more of a night person."

Then they watched, with varying degrees of fascination and detachment, as that Nadeau slaughtered a baby deer and then flew off.

"Ah," Cold remarked, sardonic to the last. "The Circle of Life. Ain't it grand?"

It was Glider's turn to twitch, though not perhaps in the appreciative way Kiz had done moments ago. Looking into the eye of that raven, that carrion bird, that murdering carnivore--

--it only reminded her that she was dead, too.

And if she ever fell the rest of the way past the shores of night, what dreams may come? ...what nightmares?

She scowled and flew higher, bobbing upward into the trees, getting some distance without quite clearing the canopy.

 

[kizkiz]

Outside the Dome: Kiz and Rogues (tag Chas. Others?)

"We boring you, Bello?" Cold mused, sitting on a rock and keeping watch even as he checked the power-pack on his cryogenic weapon. "Maybe you're more of a night person."

Kiz yawned once more. "Hmmm?" He blinked a few times to get his eyes back into focus. "Is the term Lag Jets?" He tilted his head up blinking some more. "Jet Lag?" He tapped the center of his chest instead of his head though. "My soul is acclimated to another world presently running slower than this one." He tapped his head, "While my mind already expects to operate with this world's rhythms." He yawned. "It's taken as long as a year," he rubbed at his eyes. "It should be shorter this time."

Then they watched, with varying degrees of fascination and detachment, as that Nadeau slaughtered a baby deer and then flew off.

"Ah," Cold remarked, sardonic to the last. "The Circle of Life. Ain't it grand?"

"I suppose. They grow restless, because I have held them back too long. It is not so grand when a million devour your cities and lay waste to your civilization." He frowned then his brows furrowed as he watched the reaction the Nadeau's slaughter had on Glider.

It was Glider's turn to twitch, though not perhaps in the appreciative way Kiz had done moments ago. Looking into the eye of that raven, that carrion bird, that murdering carnivore, she scowled and flew higher, bobbing upward into the trees, getting some distance without quite clearing the canopy.

"You said your sister was neither dead nor aliveness, yes? Such deathless are not unknown to me. They arise through..." He paused, looking from where Glider sulked amongst the branches and Len. "Cracks? No, you'd say loop holes, yes? It's not too bad while things such as you anchor her to herself. It gets ugly when..." Kiz grew silent, his eyes unfocusing, "Ah ha!"

He scooped up his shield, Key Dagger out. "There are three some distance that a way." Kiz pointed to more east than south.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Kiz yawned once more. "Hmmm?" He blinked a few times to get his eyes back into focus. "Is the term Lag Jets?" He tilted his head up blinking some more. "Jet Lag?" He tapped the center of his chest instead of his head though. "My soul is acclimated to another world presently running slower than this one." He tapped his head, "While my mind already expects to operate with this world's rhythms." He yawned. "It's taken as long as a year," he rubbed at his eyes. "It should be shorter this time."

"Another world," Cold repeated. "I guess I've heard stranger things. Men from other planets. Pranksters from The Fifth Dimension. Merpeople. I hit up one of them black market tech auctions the other week, they had a pen they claimed was from World War Two and had a genie inside. Nobody bought it."

Clacking his power-pack back into the cold gun, he straightened. "Stay frosty though, newbie. No dozing off on the bench."

"I suppose. They grow restless, because I have held them back too long. It is not so grand when a million devour your cities and lay waste to your civilization."

"A million, huh?" Cold paused. "That's a lot of birds."

"Sounds plenty grand to me," Heatwave rumbled. "A civilization laid waste is just the kind of civilization I can get behind."

He frowned then his brows furrowed as he watched the reaction the Nadeau's slaughter had on Glider.

"You said your sister was neither dead nor aliveness, yes? Such deathless are not unknown to me. They arise through..." He paused, looking from where Glider sulked amongst the branches and Len. "Cracks? No, you'd say loop holes, yes? It's not too bad while things such as you anchor her to herself. It gets ugly when..."

"'When,'" Cold shook his head as Kiz trailed off, had he fallen into a doze after all? "'When' what? I never was clear on the physics of it-- the metaphysics? She gonna be okay? Well. For a dead chick?"

Kiz grew silent, his eyes unfocusing, "Ah ha!"

He scooped up his shield, Key Dagger out. "There are three some distance that a way." Kiz pointed to more east than south.

Squinting, Cold abandoned that line of questioning for now. Time enough for that later. "Three what? Three Kobra manning the perimeter? Or three friendlies? Any sign they spotted the salvo?"

Heatwave grinned. "I should send up another few blasts, right? Better safe than sorry?"

 

[kizkiz]

Outside the Dome: Kiz and Rogues...waiting

Squinting, Cold abandoned that line of questioning for now. Time enough for that later. "Three what? Three Kobra manning the perimeter? Or three friendlies? Any sign they spotted the salvo?"

Heatwave grinned. "I should send up another few blasts, right? Better safe than sorry?"

Kiz nodded. "Yeah a few more gouts should do the trick." He turned looking in the southeast. "Who? Not Kobra..." His eyes unfocused. "Two in green...Another in technic armour..." He blinked a few times. "Might be, although the two greens were friendly to the technic knight." He shrugged. "No other signs. If they teleport here we will kill, but if they walk then we talk." He looked at both men asking each in turn, "Understood?"

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Let's meet the Rogues (Tag's Beast Boy, G.R.I.D.)

Velocity smiled and then looked at Beast boy again.

"It is not far, perhaps you should travel under your own power this time."

Looking at both of them she continued on, "I can run ahead and check them out or we can travel together.Personally I think it would be better if we travel together. It might be better if we meet them as a group instead of individually. If there is more than one person having someone to back me up will be an advantage."

She looked towards where she had seen the blasts and thought she could spy some figures but she could not be certain. Turning to the armored figure she looked at him quizzically.

"Tell me sir, would you happen to be able to make out anyone standing in that direction," she said pointing. " I am hoping your suit has magnifying capability and you might tell us who,or what is waiting for us."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rogue Ignition. (tags to Kiz, Velocity, Beast Boy, G.R.I.D.)

Kiz nodded. "Yeah a few more gouts should do the trick." He turned looking in the southeast. "Who? Not Kobra..." His eyes unfocused. "Two in green...Another in technic armour..." He blinked a few times. "Might be, although the two greens were friendly to the technic knight."

"Green's not a dealbreaker, both sides of the law wear that one," Cold frowned. "But it's not a good sign, either, especially if we've not got anything else to go on."

He shrugged. "No other signs. If they teleport here we will kill, but if they walk then we talk." He looked at both men asking each in turn, "Understood?"

Cold ticked his head to the side in a laconic nod. "Five for fighting."

Heatwave didn't have to be asked twice-- he sent up another trio of fiery streams, by way of confirmation: if it hadn't looked like a signal before, it did now.

 

[kizkiz]

Rogue Rage. (tags to Kiz, Velocity, Beast Boy, G.R.I.D.)

Cold ticked his head to the side in a laconic nod. "Five for fighting."

Heatwave didn't have to be asked twice-- he sent up another trio of fiery streams, by way of confirmation: if it hadn't looked like a signal before, it did now.

Kiz watched the gouts of flame reach into the sky. "If that did not look like a signal before, it does now." Kiz tapped his hand against the side of Havel's shield. He whistled a random arrangement of notes. He pivoted around to look in the other direction along the north-northeast perimeter of the dome. His eyes unfocused. "Nothing from that direction."

His head swung in the other direction. "They chatter amongst themselves but do not act. One of the green points in our direction. More talk." Kiz yawned; his jaw stretching wide, cracking. "Are all Super Heros so bi-polar?"

 

[Varshanka]

A New Trinity (Tag The Archer)

"Feel free to do that. Me I would like to keep my leg the way it is thanks...attached to my body." Grinning at her he shrugged. 'Still I do get what you mean. Is she always like this when she gets this way. She seems to be a totally different person to the one I met last night."

As she contemplated whether to answer questions she had been asked, whether to give him answers he possibly didn’t want to know, the enemy attacked, en masse.

The Rider responded without hesitation with reflexes honed across many lifetimes of battle and death. Chains and sword lashed and writhed, each leaving a smoking pile of ash in it’s wake as she targeted the largest and most deadly of each attacking group.

Raven moved with the agility of a ballerina, or a gymnast, as she twisted and swayed. Deadly blasts ripping through the army of assassins, but they were being slowly driven backwards, retreating back they way they came, not from skill or overwhelming power. But from shear numbers. It wasn’t just a couple dozen, or even a few dozen. It was hundreds of ninja’s and dozens of Monstrosities. It didn’t help that there was a rather large smattering of floating spellcasters that were doing their damnedest to block and interfere with Raven’s casting.

And with ever bleeding corpse the spellcasters seemed to be getting stronger.

 

[TertiusHuman]

A large Transformer-looking thing approached and Garfield tensed, ready to go monster eel on it, then it spoke to Velocity. Garfield leaned forward to look passed Velocity at the new arrival. "Dude, you do know that I am standing right here and are not in an invertebrate form so as NOT to hear you right?"

He left it at that, with the Transformers dude clearly meaning well and not to fight them, he focused on other ways to get into the dome. His first instict was Aardvark, since they could dig massive holes and borrow through most surfaces and most importantly, he have seen one.

He approached the barrier, ignoring the talk of the other two. He tested the soil with his hands. It was compressed. That meant that the barrier had weight, he glanced around. A lot of weight. He could actually go underneath if he did the colony of worms thing, but that will take time and leave the other two behind. As Velocity asked in way polite tones if the guy in the suit could see far, he rose and dusted his knees.

"And while you are scanning, is there any way into the dome? There is fires, that means oxygen."

He paused and looked around, "Isn't there a river supposed to be here nearby? My Geology is a bit sketchy."