Justice League: The New Wave (IC)

[Varshanka]

"Well I guess east it is then and I would say God help anything that gets in our way, but considering who I am traveling with," he grinned "I think that might be rather inappropriate don't you."

“Careful, you may call upon the wrong God. Or you’ll piss Xarathos off.” Raven told him as she looked over his shoulder at some shadows. Looking back at him, she gave a sad smile. “Get out while you can. You’ll be happier that way. Safer.”

Twitching she shuddered. “Well that was interesting.” She murmured as she looked around. “Don’t let your guard down, some bad bad magick is in play. Immortal souls in torment. Not just humans.”

 

[Zet_Cross]

GRID hurried through the portal before the person with the moving tattoos closed it.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Nightwing had overheard the woman. He reached into his utility belt and produced two collapseable wing-dings. "Just flip these open and throw." he said in his Batman voice.

Velocity looked at the two small items Nightwing had given her and sighed. She guessed they would do in a pinch.

"Throwing wasn't what I wanted the knives for," she told him. "Ever seen what can happen when you run a fine razor's edge over an exposed throat, or wrist at over 1000mph? I can turn a crowd of those ninja idiots into red pools before you can blink, leaving you guys to concentrate on the big ones and the magic ones."

Shrugging she flicked her wrist and examined the edges of the projectiles. "Still I guess these will do in a pinch. I can always grab a sword or two later."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

“Careful, you may call upon the wrong God. Or you’ll piss Xarathos off.” Raven told him as she looked over his shoulder at some shadows. Looking back at him, she gave a sad smile. “Get out while you can. You’ll be happier that way. Safer.”

Connor looked at her and saw that she was being sincere, so instead of giving her his normally flippant comment he smiled at her in the same sort of way.

"Safer may be. Happier? No I don't think so. This is one of the few things that does make me happy anymore. Trying to make up for all of the stupid stuff I did as a kid and make the world a better place."

Looking around at where they were he shrugged and gave her a slightly brighter smile.

"Of course that doesn't mean I don't feel a little out of my depth. I really have to improve my arsenal if I want to do this thing full time. Damn dad was right and you have no idea how much that pains me to say that," he chuckled.

Twitching she shuddered. “Well that was interesting.” She murmured as she looked around. “Don’t let your guard down, some bad bad magick is in play. Immortal souls in torment. Not just humans.”

Nodding he ran easily beside her as they both followed the glowing figure of the rider. He occasionally looked back as he dodged around fallen debris, making it look casual, but he had a feeling they were being followed.

"Great, so now we have immortal souls in torment. Anything like, what do you call her," he said with a head gesture, "Xarathos? Or are we talking some entirely different form of immortal?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Footsteps (Go Higher)," by Pop Evil.

Between the various factions of heroes and Rogues that had moved through this area in the past little while, the herd had pretty well been thinned.

Not completely obliterated, mind you, but thinned.

And the Bestowed who orbited The Central City Stadium Complex needed to remain thereabouts to guard and maintain the mystical rites that supported The Bestowed across the face of three nations. But their scrying eyes had been opened by their encounter with the two spiritual powerhouses that were Raven and The Rider... they had been watching events from afar, but now their focus returned close to home.

And when Kiz the Void Binder returned his mighty presence under the dome, accompanied by such a coruscating upsurge of power as to activate the key, they saw him coming. Saw that he was not alone.

Dead women and Atlanteans and Amazons and cybernetic organisms.

And they saw the bright and burning flame that was The Ghost Rider-- Raven, Arrow, and Static in tow --carving a fresh path from the remnants of The Flash Museum on an intercept course with the brimming nexus of Void that was Kiz.

And they thought perhaps to let the frothing mad undying thing that was Xarathos collide full tilt with the fighter and binder of frothing mad undying things that was Kiz. If they were fortunate, and the prophecies of Naga Naga smiled upon them, then they would wipe each other out and further the work of Kali Yuga on their own.

Even if not, then their collision-- for good or ill-- would give Kobra's lieutenant time to consolidate conventional forces-- bringing in warriors from Keystone, and recalling the victorious from further abroad, if necessary --around the primary location at the heart of the Gem Cities' river crossing. Reinforcing their stronghold there with thick, unbreakable lines of Blackadders and Ajagar.

And it would give The Bestowed time to muster their own powers to defend the mystical nexus that filled them and their sisters and brothers with blood-soaked eldritch force.

Heroes were a nuisance, but conflict between heroes was a blessing all its own.

One could always trust in chaos.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Religious Differences. (Rose/M'gann)

[Yes, you can brag if I can blush.. ] Kara though as she blushed to her roots. A stray though crossing her mind as she considered giving Rose a kiss. Her fingers running through that long red hair, her teeth caressing that pale as moonlight neck.

Rose was determined to stay focused on the matter at hand.

They might all get killed if any of them weren't focused.

But that stray thought darted through Karan's mind and it tickled Rose's bloodstream.

She grinned softly, and her psychic tone was-- flirtatious, despite everything, despite herself, despite knowing that she shouldn't rush them into this because of reasons-- flirtatious and playfully teasing--

[You can blush if you want. You look good in red.]

“I’m..me. Just me.” Karan replied, confused by the weird guy with the scary strange tattoo’s.

"It's okay." Rose gave Karan's hand a squeeze, and then lifted off, tugging Karan towards Kiz' portal, suggesting they fly together the short ways through the trees. "We can track our mythological genealogies later. My luck I'll find out I'm part Cupid and part Psyche. But first we have to set these ass-bastards straight about Hinduism."

 

[kizkiz]

Through the looking glass. Tag everybody.

Kiz burst through the door, shield up. He didn't need to count to confirm that there were 27 Blackadders, 9 Ajagar, and 3 Bestowed. He took it all in at a glance. He'd chosen an entry point off from where they'd exited, but still the amount of power he had to release and sustain to keep the door open was immense.

All nine Ajagar charged through the backyard of suburbia. Three of them struck a train car on its side, picked it up in the air in unison, and just continued with the thing over their heads. Three-by-three they came converging on Kiz as fast as any bus could hope to achieve.

Kiz looked up to see a hail of shurikens raining down. He was tempted to disappear, but he didn't want to leave the Atlantean exposed. The Rogues were fine, flitting past in the belly of Lisa. Kiz leaned into the raining metal, catching the worst upon his shield. His fur coat absorbed stray bits.

He felt the press of the blood mages, but he had become attuned to their resonance. While the bulk of his power was tied into the key-and-door, he had enough to bolster Havel's shield, which had natural resistances to all magics that touched upon the Anti-Circle. The pressure mounted, but it wasn't oppressive just annoying. Then it was gone, and as Kiz lowered his shield he saw that both the Blackadder and Bestowed were gone. The three Ajagar with the train car remained, closing in fast. The other six were gone as well.

"Hold," Kiz growled, disappearing from his location before the door and reappearing atop the train car. What remained behind was the shield driven into the ground and reinforced by the Lasher Staff. The Ajagar didn't seem to notice.

When the Ajagar hurled the train in advance of their charge, Kiz jumped off and landed behind them. The train car struck the shield and bent around it. The Lasher Staff and whomever wielded it or in this case touched it, could not be moved. The shield was proof against most mundane damage. In combination, they were an affective shield wall through which nothing could pass. The train car bent around the door but enough space remained for people to get through and snake through an opening.

Kiz reappeared back on top of the train car just as the Ajagar arrived. He dove down between the nearest too, drawing their attention back away from the train car. He let the Rogues and first responders finish them off as he kited the trio around the area. Then he recalled the Havel's Shield and Lasher Staff.

"Nine Ajagar from where we exited further behind those houses." The path of the Ajagar was a clear corridor of destruction. "Blackadder materialized in trios at regular intervals. Bestowed there, there, and there." He pointed to the locations. He frowned. "Then they pulled out...left a token force to cover their retreat."

As the last Hero trickled in, Kiz appeared by the door, took the Key Dagger, and turned off the spigot of raw, arcane power. He twirled the key as he worked through some ideas. "It was an ideal scenario to push against the choke point, maybe even press to close the door and divide us. Call in more reinforcements." He swiveled his head around the scene. "Something has tempered their aggression."

He pointed at Velocity. "Can you sweep the area at speed?"

He turned to the Atlantean, "Are your magics able to dissected corpses? The Bestowed set up ambushes and then explode nearby corpses with super heated blood..." He raised his head, searching for a metaphor, "Like popcorn, yes? Moisture to gas, pressure rises, exploding from its confines, very effective at killing. They like to boil blood. Exploding a living body is harder, but boiling blood is still fatal."

He pointed up into the air. "And my ravens encountered something odd in the air, beware flying too high."

He twirled the key, letting it resonate with the ambient dregs of Ravana's Rakshasa-Shastra. He turned out the Atlantean, "Do you have battle formulations? Otherwise, I would advise Velocity continue to sweep as vanguard. You and I will work to negate the Bestowed. GRID, Renegade, and the Rogues as ranged. Beast Boy and Nightwing as flankers. The Manhuntress and Wondergirl as counter to Ajagar and aerial as needed. Hotline," his eyes flickered to her, "Can float in reserve near you."

 

[Varshanka]

Renegade (Tag Velocity, Nightwing)

Walking over to Renegade she looked at the woman and her array of weapons.

"Mind if I borrow a Knife or two. I don't normally use them, but against these creatures I have no problems killing."

Nightwing had overheard the woman. He reached into his utility belt and produced two collapsible wing-dings. "Just flip these open and throw." he said in his Batman voice.

Velocity looked at the two small items Nightwing had given her and sighed. She guessed they would do in a pinch.

"Throwing wasn't what I wanted the knives for," she told him. "Ever seen what can happen when you run a fine razor's edge over an exposed throat, or wrist at over 1000mph? I can turn a crowd of those ninja idiots into red pools before you can blink, leaving you guys to concentrate on the big ones and the magic ones."

Shrugging she flicked her wrist and examined the edges of the projectiles. "Still I guess these will do in a pinch. I can always grab a sword or two later."

Looking at the duo and listening to their conversation, Renegade held out her hand, two blades thin as a hair appearing in them. Obviously a sleight of hand, but it was still a good trick. “Keep them.” She said, before walking away.

Renegade fully expected everyone in this group to be dead before the fight was over. Except The Rider and herself of course. The newcomer Kiz might survive, but all his braggadocio would most likely end in his extermination.

And several others.

Others would die from over estimation of their own capabilities, and their allies.

The blonde would be destroyed trying to save the red head. The watery king/prince/thrall would burn. So easy to see how they would be cut down. Fireball and popsicle would be cut down by each others weapon. Or their own.

Such a waste, but at least their deaths would distract the true enemy long enough for Renegade to take them out.

 

[Varshanka]

Raven/Rider (Tag: Green Arrow and the follower)

Nodding he ran easily beside her as they both followed the glowing figure of the rider. He occasionally looked back as he dodged around fallen debris, making it look casual, but he had a feeling they were being followed.

"Great, so now we have immortal souls in torment. Anything like, what do you call her," he said with a head gesture, "Xarathos? Or are we talking some entirely different form of immortal?"

“I can.. feel demons. But I don’t think it’s a free one. Feels bound. Could be wrong. Maybe it’s trapped. But it’s in torment. And trust me, I know what a demon feels like in torment.” Looking over at him as she floated along, her feet inches from the ground, she added. “When this battle/conflict is over walk away from her. Keep fighting in your city, town, village country or whatever. But walk away from her. Don’t torment yourself into thinking you’ll ever be happy with.. her. With that thing inside her.”

“And stop looking back. We’re being followed. Have been for a while. They’re fast. Speedster maybe. But they keep disrupting air, and debris. Would rather you didn’t alert them to our noticing them.”

 

[Varshanka]

Karen (Tag: Rose)

"It's okay." Rose gave Karan's hand a squeeze, and then lifted off, tugging Karan towards Kiz' portal, suggesting they fly together the short ways through the trees. "We can track our mythological genealogies later. My luck I'll find out I'm part Cupid and part Psyche. But first we have to set these ass-bastards straight about Hinduism."

Separating from the ground, Karan floated up, through the trees, and with Rose. Rose’s hand felt so warm in her own, comfortingly warm. Not hot, but.. nice.

“If I do possess a mythological genealogy it will be Greek in origin. Through Themyscira and Queen Diana. But it’s really not likely.” She added as she flew along. “So, I’m gonna take the thirty thousand on the right and you got the thirty thousand on the left? I suppose we could leave the two or three hundred remaining for the others.”

 

[WiredIn]

Oblivious to the obvious

Virgil continued his pursuit, unaware that the group he was following were very much aware of his presence. He continued to glance behind him, towards the river they were moving farther and farther away from. He didn't like going away from the clear objective, and he couldn't understand why these three were traveling so far away from it. He was fighting with his base instincts, but he kept his mouth shut and continued his pursuit.

 

[TertiusHuman]

Beast Boy and Nightwing as flankers."

Garfield blinked

Well he wasn't Nightwing and since all the other were quite well stipulated, that meant that the big, bald dude meant him.

Beast Boy...not a bad name since he was not yet seen as a man in modern society and he could turn into any beast he saw...

"I like that name."

He stood in his human form next to the rather imposing figure of Nightwing, "I think I will keep it. Beast Boy has a nice ring to it...now since I am not quite into the whole battle thing, what is a flanker?"

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Under the dome~Velocity

Velocity took the two knives from Renegade and smiled. Now here were some blades she could do some damage with. Not that Nightwings throwing blades had not been appreciated, but these two were what she had been looking for.

Slipping the throwing blades into a pouch on her belt, she clipped the knives there as well and then glanced over at the portal. It looked like the bald headed guy had just let down the barrier.

In an eye blink she was looking inside as he advanced. She counted 27 Ninja's, 9 Hulk's and 3 Mages all in an instant. All of them seemed to concentrate their attacks on Kiz. Probably because he had opened the portal and they were trying to lock the others out. Well she wasn't going to be stuck out here.

Running inside she took up a flanking position. There was no point trying to take on any of the big guys. Her best bet was to take out as many of the Ninja's as possible before they became a nuisance.

Drawing her blades she began to advance on the first cluster when she saw them begin to fade. Stopping she watched as the teleport stream headed west. Well at least she knew a direction to go if they all survived.

By the time she got back, it was over.

Kiz seemed to have appointed himself the leader but Velocity looked from him to Aquaman. She didn't know this guy at all, and why she didn't really know Aquaman either she at least knew of him and knew he had the trust of the league.

"Sure no problems. How far you want me to scout? I can tell you those things teleported back towards the West though."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Ready Aim Fire," by Imagine Dragons. (Rose/M'gann)(tags Karan)

Separating from the ground, Karan floated up, through the trees, and with Rose. Rose’s hand felt so warm in her own, comfortingly warm. Not hot, but.. nice.

Karan's hand felt like laying in a sunbeam all day like a cat.

It was the most miraculous thing in a life filled with miracles.

“If I do possess a mythological genealogy it will be Greek in origin. Through Themyscira and Queen Diana. But it’s really not likely.” She added as she flew along.

"Do they have mythology on Krypton?" Rose wondered, biting her lip in thought. "You could be descended from something on that side? I don't know anything about the gods or goddesses of Mars. If they even had gods or goddesses."

“So, I’m gonna take the thirty thousand on the right and you got the thirty thousand on the left? I suppose we could leave the two or three hundred remaining for the others.”

She guided them into a swoop down in through the gateway Kiz had presented.

She made a grim, bitter face. "I'm not excited about mass-murdering anyone. Even bad guys. But I guess this is war, huh? ...I'm not sure I signed up for this. But I guess if anyone's gonna go to war... it's the one with 'Mars' in her name."

Speak of the devil, war was already happening when they got there.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"The End Run," from the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack. (Rose/M'gann/Hotline)(many tags)

For all the chance to catch their breath that they got outside of the dome, the enemy waited, fully prepared to take what wind they had out of their sails.

Kiz looked up to see a hail of shurikens raining down. He was tempted to disappear, but he didn't want to leave the Atlantean exposed. The Rogues were fine, flitting past in the belly of Lisa. Kiz leaned into the raining metal, catching the worst upon his shield. His fur coat absorbed stray bits.

Kaldur'ahm's hide was thicker than a normal human's. He could absorb stray throwing-blades without overmuch blood loss. Even if they poisoned their weapons with the venom of sea creatures, he would prove largely immune. But he was not ungrateful for Kiz' willingness to "take one for the team."

After the initial withering hail had passed, it seemed that their opponents had thought better of this crushing maneuver. At least, they were being more sparing with the offense-- perhaps they were testing this new gathering of forces?

Kiz fiercely demonstrated some measure of his power and versatility, using his shield to block and deform the onrushing juggernaut that was their hijacked train car. Kaldur could have blown the train car to shards with The Champion's Trident, but it was better to see what these newcomers could do in the heat of battle, and it was good to not be over-reliant on his new source of power.

Glider, Cold, and Heatwave assisted Kiz as he drew the mammoth-men's attention off of the influx of The League and their allies. Once Glider had gotten the other two Rogues into position with her invisibly-fast flight and intangibility, Captain Cold and Heatwave bisected a single beastly thing with their powerful weapons-- hammering him with cryonic energies from one side and pyrotechnics from the other-- crossing the streams. It screamed and sizzled to ash and steam in moments.

Leaving two for other newcomers-- Velocity had already blazed off after the vanished ninja, but the Ajagar presented enough of a threat that Aquaman reasoned that they should answer in kind and not risk their weaker fighters.

He glanced over his shoulder at Wonder Girl and Martian Manhuntress. And simply inclined his head. "Ladies?"

Rose nodded grimly, already struggling to shrug off the afterimages of fire that Heatwave had emblazoned onto her retinas... though there was a sadness in her eyes at the prospect of violence. And she extended a hand with fingers spread. Her eyes glowed a deep ruddy red light... and one of the Ajagar shot up into the air, roaring with dismay and confusion... its scream stopped suddenly, sickeningly, as it slammed hard into the dome far above-- this far from the center of the dome, the displacement effects were not enough to overcome the mammoth-man's upward mobility. Then Rose let it drop... plunging insensate into the ground not far from all of them, punching a crater into the earth and not moving again. Rose looked away, and took another steadying breath.

...this left the third for Karan.

"Nine Ajagar from where we exited further behind those houses." The path of the Ajagar was a clear corridor of destruction. "Blackadder materialized in trios at regular intervals. Bestowed there, there, and there." He pointed to the locations. He frowned. "Then they pulled out...left a token force to cover their retreat."

As the last Hero trickled in, Kiz appeared by the door, took the Key Dagger, and turned off the spigot of raw, arcane power. He twirled the key as he worked through some ideas. "It was an ideal scenario to push against the choke point, maybe even press to close the door and divide us. Call in more reinforcements." He swiveled his head around the scene. "Something has tempered their aggression."

"Indeed," Aquaman glowered. "Perhaps their tactics are meant to be as chaotic as their ultimate aims. Or perhaps there is a method to their madness."

He pointed at Velocity. "Can you sweep the area at speed?"

By the time she got back, it was over.

Kiz seemed to have appointed himself the leader but Velocity looked from him to Aquaman. She didn't know this guy at all, and why she didn't really know Aquaman either she at least knew of him and knew he had the trust of the league.

Aquaman nodded. While he had not entirely given over his trust to the stranger Kiz, trust was a thing that was earned, and Kiz was in the process of earning it. It was a good tactic.

"Sure no problems. How far you want me to scout? I can tell you those things teleported back towards the West though."

"You can trace their teleport signals?" Kaldur arched an eyebrow. "That is invaluable."

He turned to the Atlantean, "Are your magics able to dissected corpses? The Bestowed set up ambushes and then explode nearby corpses with super heated blood..." He raised his head, searching for a metaphor, "Like popcorn, yes? Moisture to gas, pressure rises, exploding from its confines, very effective at killing. They like to boil blood. Exploding a living body is harder, but boiling blood is still fatal."

"A fully trained and experienced Atlantean warrior without magical enhancement can perceive the presence of flowing water fifty feet away," Kaldur replied. "My talents with my waterbearers and now The Champion's Trident elevate those perceptions exponentially, to the extent that I have unparalleled control over all forms of molecular water. Where there is blood there is water. I should be able to detect any traps lain in wait, and counter their attempts to bring that blood to a boil. I have already had some practice at this."

He pointed up into the air. "And my ravens encountered something odd in the air, beware flying too high."

Kaldur wasn't sure who else besides Martian Manhuntress and Wonder Girl had the ability to fly-- Garfield, obviously, with his ability to shapechange into avians. "Duly noted." He glanced around him, to GRID and Velocity and others-- "Perhaps those of us with elevated and accelerated senses can sweep the area for a greater understanding of this, and indeed a more complete picture of the battlefield in general."

He twirled the key, letting it resonate with the ambient dregs of Ravana's Rakshasa-Shastra. He turned out the Atlantean, "Do you have battle formulations? Otherwise, I would advise Velocity continue to sweep as vanguard. You and I will work to negate the Bestowed. GRID, Renegade, and the Rogues as ranged. Beast Boy and Nightwing as flankers. The Manhuntress and Wondergirl as counter to Ajagar and aerial as needed. Hotline," his eyes flickered to her, "Can float in reserve near you."

Ruby met Kiz' gaze, and she didn't immediately reply, her expression illegible, her fearsome brain turning itself inside out with recriminations and rationalizations and recriminations again.

Kaldur did not approve of undermining one of their most potentially powerful assets moments before entering any fray, but-- speaking of earned trust-- Ruby had had plenty of time to earn his trust over the past not-quite decade that he had spent amongst the surface heroes. He trusted that she would come out of this in time to be a credible threat against their enemies-- he had seen her rattled before, but never for very long.

"Your proposal is acceptable," he inclined his head. "The League is still cohering as a unit, and we have not yet had time to refine our tactics and formations and maneuvers before being thrust into so dire a circumstance. But I believe in their ability to come together in the clutch of things as they have before. This is a good plan for now."

"I like that name."

He stood in his human form next to the rather imposing figure of Nightwing, "I think I will keep it. Beast Boy has a nice ring to it...now since I am not quite into the whole battle thing, what is a flanker?"

"The codename suits you, 'Beast Boy,'" Kaldur inclined his head.

If he were dismayed by Garfield's lack of battlefield terminology, he did not express this outwardly-- he kept his tone level and tolerant.

"A flanker is someone who approaches the enemy from the sides to prevent escape and facilitate ambush. The versatility of The Animal Kingdom makes you ideally equipped for cunning stealth followed by the application of force."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Dating Advice~ Rider, Raven, Static

“I can.. feel demons. But I don’t think it’s a free one. Feels bound. Could be wrong. Maybe it’s trapped. But it’s in torment. And trust me, I know what a demon feels like in torment.” Looking over at him as she floated along, her feet inches from the ground, she added. “When this battle/conflict is over walk away from her. Keep fighting in your city, town, village country or whatever. But walk away from her. Don’t torment yourself into thinking you’ll ever be happy with.. her. With that thing inside her.”

Connor smiled at her. "What, you think a guy can't be happy with a girl that has a demon inside of her. C'mon doesn't every girl have a demon or two inside of them. At least with her I know exactly what hers looks like and even what it's called," he chuckled.

He saw that she was earnestly trying to warn him off though and he sighed. "Seriously I know you are trying to just help me and thanks. However think about how she must feel. Okay I might not get super serious here, but that isn't going to stop me from going out with her and trying to bring some joy into her life." Smiling he looked at her. "Besides if she doesn't want me around all she has to do is tell me to go away. I do take NO for an answer."

“And stop looking back. We’re being followed. Have been for a while. They’re fast. Speedster maybe. But they keep disrupting air, and debris. Would rather you didn’t alert them to our noticing them.”

Connor nodded. Good so she had noticed too. "Nope don't think it is a speedster. I mean if it was I seriously think we would have been hard pressed to have spotted it. Still they can move quickly and they know how to sneak in the shadows pretty well. Maybe one of those teleporting Ninja's has been sent to follow us?"

Looking at the rider moving along without much of a worry he shrugged.
"You want to set up an ambush, or just wait until we meet up with the trapped Demons?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

Interlude: Tooth and Jump and Spring and Bite.

Punto de Tiburon.
Santa Prisca.
Now.
********​

In that instant, explosions shook the bunker-- the vats near the hatchway spontaneously started blasting apart, rocking the entire decrepit factory--

--and emerging from those vats, evidently not being used for chemicals anymore, came an army of gleaming, faceless robots.

Kobra Servitors.

Armed, and supremely dangerous.

As Kori's hands lit up searing lime green beside him with the power of her starbolts, Batman snapped out a red-and-black batarang from somewhere in his suit's wrist.

"Titans. GO!"

The battle raged.

A vast array of the humanoid robot things had lain in wait for this small batch of Titans, and yet these Titans gave back in kind.

Starfire blazed with shattering green firelight, swooping throughout the factory's palacial-high ceilings and unleashing storms of energy below.

Kid Flash buzzed like wild and fire in his own right, hurling projectiles at crushing speeds and darting his friends out of the way of Servitor attacks.

Batman fought like a man possessed, standing in the middle of the factory floor whirling a telescoping bo staff with electrically-charged ends, shattering armor and scrambling circuits at every stroke.

But Superboy... Superboy was in his element most of all. His tactile-telekinesis uniquely equipped him to fight robots... even the barest caress of his fingertips, and he could use his tac-teke force-aura to shatter the robots into their component parts. Unfortunately, he was not as invulnerable against energy weapons as a full-blooded Kryptonian would have been-- not that he let it stop him from charging into the fray.

"Yeah, bring it!" he roared as yet another Servitor shattered under his fists. "BRING IT ALL THE WAY ON!"

A Servitor loomed unexpectedly behind him, and he whirled to meet it with all the considerable speed at his disposal, too slow, too slow, its laser cannon was whining to life...

...a red bolt hit him in the center of his "S"-emblazoned chest and he crashed backwards with a roar of sizzling pain. He would heal quickly, he just had to get his hands under him and collapse the floor under the robot before it could mount a finishing move...

...but then Batman dropped out of nowhere, planting himself between Superboy and the Servitor and hurling a batarang into what passed for the Servitor's face. Cryonic energies crackled, encasing the android in a shell of ice. But before it could use its lasers to extricate itself, Superboy bounded up into the air and came down with both fists overhead... smashing the frozen-solid automaton into shards and icicles.

Superboy moved to re-engage the enemy but Batman stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Kon. They can't stop us forever but tactical analysis suggests they're deliberately stalling us. I need you to get to the mainland."

He tapped his belt and it extruded a small USB drive, which he then held out to Superboy. "I've tried uploading to The Redwing remotely, or to satellites, but the Servitors are jamming us. You need to fly this physically. Hurry!"

Superboy scowled. "Rob, you cannot be serious. I'm your main man, here, I can disperse metallic constructs-- K.F. is faster, Hell, Kori can break the light barrier with a running start--"

Batman set his jaw. "You're the only one with clearance to get into Cadmus without a fight, Kon. They're the only ones who can use this data. It has to be you."

Superboy, Kon-El, The Metropolis Kid... hesitated for all of a second. Took one look around at his friends fighting this clusterfuck of gleaming red steel. Gritted his teeth at the thought of bailing on a fight and leaving his teammates behind.

Then snatched the USB out of Batman's hand.

"Yeah. I got this."

And he rocketed straight up, blasting through the roof of the factory and soaring at supersonic velocities towards The City of Tomorrow.

Distances whipped past beneath him.

He wasn't as fast as Superman had been. Wasn't as fast as Wonder Girl was now.

But his flight was self-propelled telekinesis-- autotelekinesis-- and sheer force of will could push him to shatterneck speeds.

It was over Metropolis, blasting over the city's skyline towards the nearby Mount Curtiss and The Cadmus Project embedded beneath... that that speed was turned against him.

One of the Bestowed spacetime-shifted into place atop The Newstime Building as Superboy streaked past and smirked to herself... hissing softly. She extended her hand.

And agony clutched the still-healing laser burn on Superboy's chest, heat seared his veins, his inner ear spun like a centrifuge and he plunged helplessly to the streets below...

...crashing hard and plowing a trench for three blocks down Clinton Street, screaming and groaning the whole way down.

Trembling, shaking his head, he attempted to pick himself out of the trench, the rubble, his healing factor was fighting to catch up, his telekinetic aura flickering in and out as he struggled to maintain consciousness, focus...

...and then that Bestowed teleported next to him.

"It would seem that not just your elder and better SSsssssuperman had that nasssty weaknesssss to magic..."

"SSsssscrew you, lady," Superboy retorted defiantly.

She held up her hand again and Superboy roared in agony as she redoubled the boiling in his veins...

"...let us see if your invulnerability is sufficient to keep you from exploding when your blood boils. If so, I can always turn your gutssss to sssssnakesssssss."

"Faith to Kali Yuga."

 

[kizkiz]

Tags: Kaldur, Garfield, Ruby, Velocity

As the last Hero trickled in, Kiz appeared by the door, took the Key Dagger, and turned off the spigot of raw, arcane power. He twirled the key as he worked through some ideas. "It was an ideal scenario to push against the choke point, maybe even press to close the door and divide us. Call in more reinforcements." He swiveled his head around the scene. "Something has tempered their aggression."


"Indeed," Aquaman glowered. "Perhaps their tactics are meant to be as chaotic as their ultimate aims. Or perhaps there is a method to their madness."

"Their technic and magic sophistication does not lend itself to your first postulation. Their is either primary or secondary motivating force as well as externalities between the inconsistencies between their earlier actions and present ones. None of which we'll figure out here with our thumbs up our asses."

Garfield blinked. Beast Boy...not a bad name since he was not yet seen as a man in modern society and he could turn into any beast he saw...

"I like that name." Garfield stood in his human form next to the rather imposing figure of Nightwing, "I think I will keep it. Beast Boy has a nice ring to it...now since I am not quite into the whole battle thing, what is a flanker?"

"The codename suits you, 'Beast Boy,'" Kaldur inclined his head. "A flanker is someone who approaches the enemy from the sides to prevent escape and facilitate ambush. The versatility of The Animal Kingdom makes you ideally equipped for cunning stealth followed by the application of force."

Kiz had no idea how such a demeaning name slipped from his mouth. He blamed it on sleep deprivation. Garfield looked like he was well into early adulthood. In many cultures, after your first kill you are considered a man regardless of your age.

"It was a slip, for which I apologize. If the name rings true, then keep it." He saw so much earnest joy in the young man's eyes that Kiz decided not to tell Garfield what he really thought. Instead he turned his attention to another matter.

"The enemy while accoutremented in both technic and magic have not fought many wars. Myopia is a common ailment afflicting such combatants. This is substantiated by successful earlier engagements before your arrival. When panicked the enemy forgot they could teleport out of a burning building, instead they reverted to their baser survival instincts to their detriment."

Kiz seemed to have appointed himself the leader but Velocity looked from him to Aquaman. She didn't know this guy at all, and why she didn't really know Aquaman either she at least knew of him and knew he had the trust of the league.

"Sure no problems. How far you want me to scout? I can tell you those things teleported back towards the West though."

"You can trace their teleport signals?" Kaldur arched an eyebrow. "That is invaluable."

Kiz supplemented Kaldur. "In concentric circles at 300 feet, 900 feet, 1,500 feet, and 3,000 feet. Then as we proceed on a vector to the north-by-northwest towards whatever lies in that direction in a radial sweep out no more than 1,000 feet. If there are magical ambushes, I don't want you too far out that neither Aquaman nor myself can't render aid."

Kiz turned to the Atlantean, "Are your magics able to dissected corpses? The Bestowed set up ambushes and then explode nearby corpses with super heated blood [...]"

Kaldur replied, "[...] My talents with the Champion's Trident elevate those perceptions exponentially, to the extent that I have unparalleled control over all forms of molecular water. Where there is blood there is water. I should be able to detect any traps lain in wait, and counter their attempts to bring that blood to a boil. I have already had some practice at this."

"Should be able to? Some practice? You should be proactive. If they force us to react, they set the pace of the battle. Do not let them do this. Forty Bestowed triggering the explosion of corpses while another continent boils the blood of your Heavies will be too late. Mummify any corpse you see as soon as you see it. We can't burn or freeze them."

Ruby met Kiz' gaze, and she didn't immediately reply, her expression illegible, her fearsome brain turning itself inside out with recriminations and rationalizations and recriminations again.

Kaldur did not approve of undermining one of their most potentially powerful assets moments before entering any fray, but -- speaking of earned trust -- Ruby had had plenty of time to earn his trust over the past not-quite decade that he had spent amongst the surface heroes. He trusted that she would come out of this in time to be a credible threat against their enemies-- he had seen her rattled before, but never for very long.

"What? With great restraint, I resisted violence when you demeaned my personage. Do you wish to push me further?" Kiz's eyes continued the staring contest Ruby had entered into. She'd gotten her hand slapped, and now she wanted pity for not liking the truth?

 

[Varshanka]

Murder. Death. Kill.

"Do they have mythology on Krypton?" Rose wondered, biting her lip in thought. "You could be descended from something on that side? I don't know anything about the gods or goddesses of Mars. If they even had gods or goddesses."

Blinking Karan responded without thinking, without her lips and brain working in unison. She spoke half mechanically, emotionlessly. Like she was repeating something she’d heard a billion times but had never listened too. “Nightwing and Flamebird, Rao The Sun Lord, Aethyr, Vohc the Builder and Destroyer, Yuda, Cythonna Goddess of Ice and Death.”

She made a grim, bitter face. "I'm not excited about mass-murdering anyone. Even bad guys. But I guess this is war, huh? ...I'm not sure I signed up for this. But I guess if anyone's gonna go to war... it's the one with 'Mars' in her name."

Jumping, Kara landed in front of the last of the Trio, his hands came down like pile drivers. Slamming into her shoulders, and driving her down several inches into the ground. “Best yah got?” she asked with a twisted lip grin. Grabbing his wrists she pulled those meat hook hands off her shoulders and pulled them outwards as she twisted. Bones bent and finally snapped under the strain of two unforgiving opponents arm-wrestling.

And then it brought a foot up and kicked her in the chest. The force of the blow dislocated his own arms, and it bellowed in pain/rage. Driving itself into an even frenzy of hate and rage.

And then Kara did the unexpected. She let go and jumped up, bringing her knees to her chest she kicked with both feet.

The impact landed square on the massive brutes chest, powdering it’s breast bones, driving fragments into it’s heat as it flew backwards. One blood mage was to slow ‘porting away and was knocked unconscious as the hulking brute passed through it’s space/time. When the two of them did land, with the broken brute on top, blood bubbled from pierced lungs as the Ajagar died.

She hated what she was becoming. A killer. A murderer. Kill one to save a million. But it was still a killing. Still murder. But they wouldn’t stop.

 

[Varshanka]

Raven (Tag: Arrow)

He saw that she was earnestly trying to warn him off though and he sighed. "Seriously I know you are trying to just help me and thanks. However think about how she must feel. Okay I might not get super serious here, but that isn't going to stop me from going out with her and trying to bring some joy into her life." Smiling he looked at her. "Besides if she doesn't want me around all she has to do is tell me to go away. I do take NO for an answer."

Shaking her head Raven wondered just how lost the Green Arrow was.

Connor nodded. Good so she had noticed too. "Nope don't think it is a speedster. I mean if it was, I seriously think we would have been hard pressed to have spotted it. Still they can move quickly and they know how to sneak in the shadows pretty well. Maybe one of those teleporting Ninja's has been sent to follow us?"

“Not all speedsters are fully adaptable and up to speed with their powers and skills. It could be a newcomer to the scene of speed. But either way it does not matter.”

Looking at the rider moving along without much of a worry he shrugged. "You want to set up an ambush, or just wait until we meet up with the trapped Demons?"

“I don’t ambush, and the Rider doesn’t seem to care. If they had killed someone, or done great harm, she.. it.. would have turned and attacked them. Rabid daemon that she is.” Raven replied, “At the next junction we can stop and face them, in the middle of the street, wild wild west style. I don’t ambush, but I’m not afraid to confront. Unless we get where we’re going first?”

 

[Zet_Cross]

I have detected a communication signal with a matching frequency to the one possessed by the Atlantian. Nodding GRID goes up to Aquaman. "It seems there is a matching communication frequency nearby to one that you have."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Blessed are The Peacemakers.

"Should be able to? Some practice? You should be proactive. If they force us to react, they set the pace of the battle. Do not let them do this. Forty Bestowed triggering the explosion of corpses while another continent boils the blood of your Heavies will be too late. Mummify any corpse you see as soon as you see it. We can't burn or freeze them."

Kaldur'ahm was a being of comparatively few words, and comparatively smooth surfaces. But still waters ran deep.

He saw infrequent reason to upsell his person and capabilities with words... mere bravado and braggadocio. He had only referred to himself as The Champion and Steward of Atlantis as it seemed such formalities were appropriate at that juncture-- many such titles were being exchanged at that time.

In due course, he remained quietly confident that his actions would speak for him.

He was sufficiently capable. But just as he had not required Ruby to hype him at the first official meeting of The New Justice League, neither did he see any need to hype himself.

"It is as you say," he replied simply, without snark or derision or irony, just a statement of fact.

"What? With great restraint, I resisted violence when you demeaned my personage. Do you wish to push me further?" Kiz's eyes continued the staring contest Ruby had entered into. She'd gotten her hand slapped, and now she wanted pity for not liking the truth?

This was another matter entirely.

They had taken time enough to know each other, as was necessary before fighting beside each other. Such petty squabbles were a dissimilar expenditure-- they did not have time for this.

Not to mention-- you did not berate or belittle a member of any team of which Kaldur'ahm was leader without coming through him.

SHRIIIIIIING.

Glowing with golden light, The Champion's Trident interceded between the gazes of Kiz and Hotline, and Aquaman fixed Kiz with a glare of his own.

He was, perhaps, no Batman. But his voice of command could have split an ice shelf in twain.

"That is enough."

"You spoke tactics to her. If she wishes to respond with silent acknowledgement, then so she shall. Pray continue restraining your violence and save your considerable animus (and Anima) for the enemy."

"Long have I fought beside Hotline and I trust her to be here with us in body and mind when the battle is joined. I will trust her to keep making the right calls."

"And I will trust that to you I have made myself clear, and that we shall proceed apace with our thumbs well and truly clear of our asses."

He lowered The Trident, glanced between Ruby and Kiz to make certain there was no further squabbling or quibbling to be quelled-- Ruby simply nodded to him and moved off, working still harder to digest the truth Kiz had exposed if truth it was without engaging further with the summoner --and turned to acknowledge G.R.I.D.'s approach.

Nodding GRID goes up to Aquaman. "It seems there is a matching communication frequency nearby to one that you have."

Aquaman nodded. The others had suggested the presence of Raven...

...and though he had given the newly-minted "Beast Boy" his NJL smartwatch, he still had his T-Comm.

Drawing out of a pouch in his uniform, he clicked the device to "on" and checked the nearby transponder signals.

Raven was in the vicinity and moving closer along the rail tracks, so far as Kaldur could ascertain. The T-Comm's internal transceiver was definitely struggling given the signal interference from the dome above, the signal-to-noise ratio was insufficient to send a message without some sort of signal boost... but it was good to know there were more friends about in this dark place.

"G.R.I.D., was it? Thank you."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Your work has just begun. Someday you will find your place in the sun. (Rose/M'gann)

Blinking Karan responded without thinking, without her lips and brain working in unison. She spoke half mechanically, emotionlessly. Like she was repeating something she’d heard a billion times but had never listened too. “Nightwing and Flamebird, Rao The Sun Lord, Aethyr, Vohc the Builder and Destroyer, Yuda, Cythonna Goddess of Ice and Death.”

"Nightwing, huh?" Rose glanced at the grim avenger in black and in blue with a young face and old eyes.

And then she glanced back at Karan. "You strike me as being more of a Flamebird."

********​

The impact landed square on the massive brutes chest, powdering it’s breast bones, driving fragments into it’s heat as it flew backwards. One blood mage was to slow ‘porting away and was knocked unconscious as the hulking brute passed through it’s space/time. When the two of them did land, with the broken brute on top, blood bubbled from pierced lungs as the Ajagar died.

She hated what she was becoming. A killer. A murderer. Kill one to save a million. But it was still a killing. Still murder. But they wouldn’t stop.

Rose... couldn't look, couldn't watch.

She had to look away when she had flyswatted her own Ajagar from the dome to the ground and as... necessary... as this violence seemed right now... she could not bear to have this image-- of the woman she was growing to care about so much butchering comparatively weaker villains --burned into her brain.

A fist clutched her heart, a tightness from within.

And a voice.

Whispering in her mind's ear.

Violence so easily slips its bridle.

Destruction himself turned his back on his realm and left it to its own devices because he could not stomach the stain upon his soul.

Unbridled violence is answering with unkindness an unkind world.

That is... that is not what we are for.

We are for answering unkindness with kindness. Whenever possible.

Perhaps now it is not possible to answer with kindness.

But always remember what you are for. What we are for.

Rose nodded, and bit her lip, and scrunched her eyes.

And resolved to keep going.

And not forget.

 

[kizkiz]

Kaldur'ahm lowered The Trident, glanced between Ruby and Kiz to make certain there was no further squabbling or quibbling to be quelled-- Ruby simply nodded to him and moved off, working still harder to digest the truth Kiz had exposed if truth it was without engaging further with the summoner --and turned to acknowledge G.R.I.D.'s approach.

When Ruby turned away, Kiz yawned and walked in the direction the Agajar had charged. He cut through creation with his finger, leaving doodles leaking the Void hanging in the air. These were done at random with no apparent point other than to pass the time. He sketched with his right hand, still holding Havel's Shield on his left. He kicked a stray chunk of granite and sent it skipping along the ground twenty times before it disappeared into a storm drain.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Interlude: of Ice and Fire. (with eternal apologies to Morrison and Martin)

The Bleed.
Nowhere.
Nowhen.
Between.
Now.
********​

Every incarnation of The Doctor was the same. But every one was different.

They were all the shaman of Earth-- in this case, Earth-14 --with all the access to collective memory and subconsciousness that that implied, with all the vast magical ability to tap the living aura of that planetary organism and unlock the very power of their own imaginations.

But every one of them expressed it differently.

When Jamie Hamilton used her powers... she would sometimes engage in pyrotechnic displays and vast energetic coruscations if the drama befitted. But very much more often than not she would craft out of power instrumentation and artifacts that expressed the intention of her acts.

Thus, she had created this cocoon for herself to traverse The Bleed without drowning in it. But despite the simple wooden exterior, it was not simply a box. It contained a freefolding tesseract phenomenon by which it was far bigger on the inside than it was on the out-- those wooden walls encompassed vast interior regions.

And it was alive. A living, breathing machine. She was alive.

Jamie had realized, belatedly, that in crafting the intentions of her imagination she had created herself a shift-ship... not unlike The Watchcarrier that The Judex Luminary Authority had used to defend Earth-14 and its attendant nascent Earths before it had been blown out of orbit around Wonderworld by the traitorous Starman and the forces of The Great Darkness. A living vehicle that could survive the strange impossible incomprehensible nonworld nonrealm tweenstuff flowing betwixt the branes of vibratory universes.

And now she stood in the control room-- The Console Room-- of that craft. A bizarre, steampunkish mishmash of coral outcroppings and cobbled-together control-panels and dangling wires.

This ship-- it needed a name-- she needed a name-- now whirled through The Bleed, all its sensory awareness plumbing the depths for any signs of pursuit by The Great Darkness.

So far, of that pursuit there had been no sign.

Which left other priorities to consider.

Her long brown coat draped over one of the coral pillars-- completely ignoring the fact that the ship had been forethoughtful enough to sprout a coat-tree while it was growing --Jamie walked slowly, methodically around The Console at the heart of The Console Room, the central pillar strobing up and down (she'd decided to call this The Bleed Rotor). She flicked controls here and there, turned a dial here, toggled a switch there, cranked a crank over yonder...

...carefully adjusting the ship's vibratory frequency.

She'd realized the ship was still drawing power from Earth-14. And given the enormous expenditures of power required to traverse The Bleed, she risked wreaking untold havoc on an ecosystem she was sworn to protect. The ship needed an autonomous power source.

Traditionally, the best power source for shift-ships were baby universes, tiny unfolding vibratory planes. And hypothetically, Jamie could capture and harness any one of the myriad nascent universes that were under the watchful care of Earth-14 and The Authority-- which, she reflected with a pang of ache cold as an icicle through her heart-- was just her now.

But she had another idea.

Another option.

Pivoting the monitor-screen to face her, she rattattatted her fingers over a row of typewriter keys...

...attuning the ship to hypertemporal orbit around

Earth-395.
"Throneworld."
Now.
********​

The Tower of The Watch stood high upon The Wall that defended The Seven Kingdoms against the fearsome horrors that waited beyond that Wall to The North.

The League of The Seven had fractured, and was fallen.

Lo, these many generations they had championed The Seven Kingdoms with power, wisdom, courage-- using sword and sorcery and strength of arm and wit of mind to stay the many threats to peace and prosperity.

Each of The League had represented one of The Kingdoms. And in turn, they each represented a facet of The Seven Who Are One-- a seven-faceted god worshiped and beloved by the people of The Seven Kingdoms.

There had been Lord Kallark El of House El, representing The Father Above-- judgement and justice-- but he had vanished with The Lightning Lord while questing to bring Ser Davis "The Mountain" Bloome to that selfsame justice and had not been seen nor heard from since.

There had been Captain Will Batson of House Batson, called The Lightning Lord, representing The Maiden-- innocence and chastity-- but he, too, had disappeared in the quest to bring The Mountain down, and many legends were spun throughout The Seven Kindgoms as to the true nature of his death.

There had been Lord J'on J'onzz of House J'onzz, representing The Stranger-- death, the unknown, and outcasts-- but he had been lost to the wildfire plot unleashed in The Mountains of The Two Moons by The Malefic Pyromancer, and had died trying to save his wife and daughter and niece from the flames throttling their ancestral home.

There was Brother Harrold Jordan of House Jordan, Lord Commander of The Green Light's Watch, representing The Crone-- wisdom and light in the darkness-- but he lay now with shallow struggled breathing on the cobbled courtyard of The Tower of The Watch, his hands shattered by mighty blows and unable to wield either his blade or The Ring of The Seven-Pointed Starheart which had made him so feared and bewared in battle.

There was Lord Barthogan Allen of House Allen, swifter than shadowcats and wiser than owls, representing The Smith-- hard work and craft-- but his right leg had been cut from the hip and he fought now to stay conscious just long enough to tourniquet the wound as his blood, too, flowed between the cobbles of The Tower of The Watch.

And then there was High Lord Bruce Anthony Thomas Wayne of House Wayne, at home in darkness as ravens and as unrelenting as dragons, representing The Warrior-- strength in battle--

--and he fought for breath as their enemy's hands clenched about his throat, his own gauntleted hands wrapped around the attacker's wrists.

An attacker who hulked with power, a horned fearsome daemonic figure scooped from the night sky with horrid, nameless constellations dancing in his fathoms.

"WRITHE, THEN," boomed The Celestial Huntsman as he strangled the life out of High Lord Wayne, "LIKE AN INSECT ON A PIN IN THE GLARE OF THE SUN. BREATHE YOUR LAST, AND KNOW FEAR AT LAST."

"Hell is for the fearful," Wayne growled with what breath he could find. "The gods hate a coward."

And he dropped his left hand to his belt, snatching up a hidden blade which he snapped open like the wing of a bat, and drove its dark-forged promethean steel into the forearm of The Nebula Man.

The unholy warrior howled balefully to the skies and bashed Wayne across the skull with a crushing backhand, sending the dark knight sprawling across the cobbles, equilibrium spinning in his ears. With a grunt of disgust, The Huntsman tore the blade from where it lodged in him, tossed it away, watched the wound heal in instants.

"ONCE I REJECTED THE COMMAND OF MY QUEEN," The Celestial Huntsman intoned as he stalked towards the fallen knight. "AND ONLY ONCE. TWOSCORE AND TWELVE WORLDS AWAY, AND CENTURIES GONE. NOW HER VOICE IS FAR FROM ME, BUT I DO AS SHE BADE ME DO EVEN THOUGH I MUST WAIT A BILLION CENTURIES MORE FOR HER TO FIND ME AGAIN."

Wayne did not reply, he just... reached... reached for the claymore fallen from Harrold Jordan's shattered hands...

Scoffing, The Huntsman kicked the blade away, and ground his starry heel upon the metacarpals of Wayne's reaching hand.

Wayne did not cry out, though his breath juttered in his lungs. "If... if her sole command is mindless murder, then I find your queen mad indeed... fit for no throne..."

"NOT MINDLESS. I SEEK THE SEVEN, WHEREVER THEY MAY RISE. BRED TO HUNT AND KILL THE SUPER-MEN. I SLAY THE SEVEN, AND UNDO THEIR PROPHECY."

Reaching down, he took hold of Wayne by his tunic and dragged him up into the air, holding him aloft over his horned head, preparing to bring the knight-lord crashing down over his knee and snap his backbone.

"This... this Seven... will be your undoing first..." Wayne swore as though it were life and breath to him.

The Huntsman snorted. "I SEE NO SEVEN."

But then there came the thundering of footfalls such that even the mighty Tower of The Watch shook with each sole striking stone, and then a figure exploded through The Tower's outer wall as though a siege engine given human form.

"NEH-BUH-LOH!" she roared, shattered stonedust billowing about her, sword in hand, round shield upon her arm. "There is ONE!"

High Lord Wayne grinned a grim little grin there held high in the air. "Nebula Man, meet Diana."

The Huntsman snarled, pitched Wayne aside, scooped up his dual-ended trident-- his Nebula Rod --and whirled to face this new foe.

This was Khaleesi Dianerys Themyscira of House Themyscira, Clayborn, Breaker of Chains, Unburnt Sister of Fire, representing The Mother Above-- and while her patron was meant to embody mercy, compassion, motherhood, and nurturing-- the storm that blazed in Diana's sea-blue eyes spoke of mercy not at all.

"Red am I in battle," Diana growled, twirling her sword-- The Wonder Woman --"Red the ravens that follow at my heels. Neh-Buh-Loh. I am your death."

The Nebula Man laughed with rumbling that shook The Tower of The Watch as mightily as Diana's thunderous approach. "KILL A UNIVERSE? I HAVE LIVED FOR BILLIONS OF YEARS. I MIGHT HAVE GROWN HUGE ENOUGH TO REPLACE THIS MULTIVERSE, BUT THERE IS A FLAW IN ME THAT KEEPS ME SMALL."

"Let this be your epitaph, then," Diana snarled, charging for him, joining in battle, bringing her blade to cleave The Huntsman in twain.

The Huntsman parried The Wonder Woman with his Nebula Rod, and a cursed cosmic fire lit up in his brow, in the chakra of his third eye, and he unleashed a storming blast of power...

...Diana staggered back, catching that blast full on her shield, but she yielded not, whirling to strike again even before the afterimage of that bolt had faded from her eyes. "HIAI!"

"YOU HAVE HARMONY, SYMMETRY, AND BEAUTY IN YOU. BUT THAT SHALL NOT MOVE ME TO SPARE YOU! NOT THIS TIME, COUNTERPART OF RHIANNON THOUGH MAY YOU BE!" The Huntsman thundered as he caught The Wonder Woman in the tines of The Nebula Rod--

--"You speak a tangle of riddles, but I know of one solution to a Gingoldian Knot!" Diana whirled and gashed The Huntsman across the side with the edge of her shield, driving him back and away and tearing her blade free...

...only to expose him to a great strike, driving The Wonder Woman through the middle of his chest, spilling stars and supernovae like blood made of void and light...

...enchanted metal quivered in the core of him and he wheezed in surprise and he sank to his knees...

...The Nebula Rod clattered to the cobbles beside him...

"...confused galaxies collide within me," he mumbled. "...it pierces like the first deadly ray of a newborn sun, white-hot and sharp."

Diana drew The Wonder Woman out of The Celestial Huntsman and raised that sword over her head, ready to carve his skull from his neck. "Who passes the sentence should swing the sword," she intoned.

But.

Then.

VWORRP.
VWORRP.
VWORRP.

Strobing into existence... fading in from nothingness... there came a blue wooden box there in the courtyard, and one of its doors creaked open inward and a beautiful slender woman with long brown hair and curious attire stepped out onto the cobbles, shouldering her way into an even longer brown coat.

"Please don't finish that sentence, eh?" she drawled, sliding her hands into the pockets of her pinstriped trousers. "Not saying he doesn't deserve it, but it'd be an awful waste."

Without wavering The Wonder Woman from its place poised to fall upon The Huntsman's throat, Dianerys hooked the fallen Nebula Rod with her booted toe and tossed the weapon to her waiting hand, whirling it to level at the newcomer's chest. "Hold, strange sorceress, and identify yourself!"

Jamie paused, squinting at the gleaming weapon aimed at her, pursing her lips pensively. "Well. You wouldn't think having a pitchfork's prongs pointed at your person would be a thing that could give you deja vu, but there you have it. Oddest feeling, ennit? Like remembering something that hasn't happened yet, or happened to someone else-- s'pose I should be getting used to that by now."

"I am rightwise tired," Diana opined grimly, "of being talked in circles, pray start making sense before I treat your innards to the stiff cold winds of The North. Who are you?"

Jamie's brown eyes flicked to meet Dianerys'. "Where I'm from, I'm called 'The Doctor.' I suppose you lot would call me 'The Maester,' but y'know, that just doesn't quite have the same ring to it. Who I am is the guardian of a world so far from here they don't have distances that can measure it, and a warrior against a threat that would suck the life out of every world that's ever spun in every Heaven. And to win in that fight..." she nodded to The Huntsman "...I need him."

The Huntsman roared, surging to his feet, lunging for The Doctor, and Dianerys spun The Wonder Woman in her grip to rip him clean in half at the waist...

...but The Doctor's hand came out of her pocket holding an instrument.

Another manifestation of her power-- crafting out of the aether machines that would conduct the effect of her will and imagination.

It was white. And silver. And blue at a tip that could extend from the body of the grip.

Like a magic wand-- if magic had arisen on a world made of technic.

And the tip glowed a searing bright blue and whistled...

...and The Nebula Man screamed and clutched at his sides and fell to his knees once more before Diana could deliver her slaying blow.

His body-- all darkness with pinpricks of light and clouds of starry mass and microscopic planetoids-- his body shuddered and rippled and boiled...

Bemused but not disappointed by this effect on The Celestial Huntsman, Dianerys lowered her sword and stepped back.

"This doodad harnesses The Music of The Spheres. Normally its effects are localized and subtle... it's good at opening doors, popping locks, driving screws, all sorts..." Jamie shrugged, and then narrowed her gaze. "But this bloke. All he is is spheres. He's a walking talking living breathing universe, and I can play merry hob with his insides all the livelong day."

"This will kill him?" High Lord Wayne growled as he limped up, holding his side.

Dianerys moved to support him, but he waved her away.

Jamie shook her head. "Oh, no, I'm not gonna kill 'im. I'm gonna make sure he lives forever."

Wayne considered this, and nodded his head. That seemed... acceptable. "I am known as a great man of mysteries... but never could I discern from whence The Huntsman had come, what magic had wrought him upon The Seven Kingdoms, whose folly had summoned him. But you speak of a war that could chill the blood of the gods, if gods there are. Do you know who he is?"

Jamie nodded quietly. "The universe Qwewq was born in dark days-- in a cosmos that existed long before this one. The Presence and the architects of Heaven began construction on a new universe to replace one that was threatened by The Warbringer, The Annihilator, Mageddon, a weapon of The Old Gods. But through a miracle, that cosmos survived, heroes of a great Earth defeated Mageddon, that cosmos lived to a ripe old age, and Qwewq became redundant, superfluous. It slipped here and there through time-- tended for a while by the champions of Wonderworld-- but it was poisoned with a thermodynamic inhibitor that kept it from growing to its full size-- and as it joined the forces of fearsome, unholy predators on the far-flung future of an Earth that arose in this present Multiverse, swearing allegiance to their queen, it gave itself-- himself-- over to evil. Separated now from that queen by forces greater even than Qwewq could imagine, it now rides alone through The Multiverse as The Nebula Man to fulfill her last order to him. He seeks out teams of seven and kills them-- as there is a prophecy that only a team of seven can destroy his queen."

"While you continue to speak unplainly as a trickster, it is clear that it is not just crimes against our lands and our champions for which he must pay," Dianerys nodded. "Go, then." She sheathed The Wonder Woman. "Take him to a worthier Hell, 'Doctor.'"

The Doctor inclined her head. "Khaleesi."

And then faced the fallen Celestial Huntsman with her technomagic wand vertically upraised, extending the tip towards the heavens...

And intoned: "Qwewq, called also Neh-Buh-Loh, Huntsman of The Wild Ride of Gloriana Tenebrae, I find you guilty. Your sentence to be carried out... as the heart of a shift-ship that will work to undo all the horrible wrongs that you have done. Because if I must trap a small universe as a power source for my machine... let it be the one who has it coming!"

The wand-thing... this... sonic screwdriver... whistled and glowed once more... and through The Music of The Spheres, The Doctor channeled a proprietary form of Void Binding, etching runic insignia in the stellar flesh of The Huntsman... carving his sentence on the fabric of the worlds that even The Laws of Physics would know that Qwewq had been adjudicated...

Thus, drawing his mind and his matter out of him... drawing him out in a long thin tendril of emptiness and stardust... The Doctor channeled the stuff of Qwewq in through the door of her shift-ship, in through The Console Room, into The Console... seeping in through the cracks in the panels but not seeping out again...

...and there he would be buried, throbbing and glowing forever, feeding the ship that she might not drain Earth-14 dry of life in the quest to preserve it and all Earths.

The door to the shift-ship slammed shut.

Jamie turned to face Wayne and Themyscira. "Thank you for your hospitality. I shall do what I can to repay you."

She held up the palm of her hand, and closed her eyes... and orange fire burned in her skin for a moment, a glow not unlike the stuff of stars seen in the body of The Huntsman...

...and Barthogan Allen gasped in startlement and pain and joy as-- out of nowhere, his severed leg healed... grew from his hip as though it had never been severed, all his wounds restored.

...and Harrold Jordan sucked in a great breath of air as his collapsed rib cage snapped back into shape, and then his shattered hands were knitted once more and the light blazed anew in his Ring.

Wayne, too, glanced down at himself, and found his injuries were repaired.

Wayne and Dianerys stared at The Doctor for a moment in astonishment at her kindness-- their world was a harsh place, and even hospitality was rarely repaid so much in full.

The Doctor stared to nowhere for a moment, then turned to board her shift-ship, pushing open the door and half-stepping through it before glancing back at what remained of The League of Seven.

"I cannot fully restore your numbers. Though I can promise you that mere death could not stop J'on J'onzz in any timeline."

Her expression was one of great omen and portent, and unglad tidings: "As for the others. El and Batson. For them I am too late, and I am sorry, I'm so sorry. The Celestial Huntsman is not the only thing that has been striding from parallel to parallel, killing Justice Leagues. You need to shore up your forces and prepare, Unite the Seven. Brace yourselves."

"Darkness is coming."

She creaked the door shut behind her with a click.

And

VWORRP.
VWORRP.
VWORRP.

she was gone.