Justice League: The New Wave (IC)

[ChasNicollette]

To Havok and to Have Not.

“You have such a lovely brain,” Karan smiled. And with a kiss so fast it was more of a whisper she was gone, fire burning from her eyes as she focused on HVac’s head. Maybe if she could melt his helmet that could start dropping his defenses.

Down below, that kiss was fire in Rose's heart as she practically dislocated her paracortex-- haaaaauling... strained every molecule in her body as the telekinesis that regulated her structural integrity all got poured into heaving rock. Do it for her.

Up top, Havok cued the shapeshifting metal of his armor to expand a portion of his arm into a round shield like American CrUSAder's, with the Judecca rune at the center of the shield.

Karan's heat vision-- hot enough to slag whole city blocks-- hissed and steamed against the ice that awaited betrayers in Hell.

*********​

“Blah blah blah,” Renegade mocked as she walked forwards the blame glowing in her hands, with a couple swirls in her grip she felt it’s weight and balance. And then she burst into motion hacking and slashing at Havoc as she moved around him, Giving the Rangers a chance to get in a few hits as well.

The axe blurred and gleamed and glinted and crackled as Havok whirled to meet the encroaching Renegade-- her mystic sword kicking up sparks as it clashed against the primal artifact that was The Lightning-Axe.

********​

“If you’re so transcendent, they why do you need a world? Why do you need a body? Why not just transcend to god/demon hood?” Raven asked as bolts of light, and dark, snapped out from her area and fired at Havoc.

The arm that held up the shield against Wondergirl's heat vision... that hand was still free.

And it contorted and twisted and gestured-- "THE FIVE FUSORS OF FORTINBRAS!"

--miniature suns exploded to life before him, dancing blazing targets sizzling in the rain, catching Raven's destructive spectrum of blasts before they could reach him...

"I do not need a world. I desire and deserve one! I do not need a body-- I am capable of astral travel even without copying Felix Fate's conjurings-- but having corporeal form is useful to my purposes. As for demonism or godhood... such trifles are too... limiting for HAVOK."

And then with a sharp flick of that same hand, a twist of that same wrist, he hurled the five burning globes at Raven, attempting to sear her off of the face of the moon.

 

[Wyldfire]

Down below, that kiss was fire in Rose's heart as she practically dislocated her paracortex-- haaaaauling... strained every molecule in her body as the telekinesis that regulated her structural integrity all got poured into heaving rock. Do it for her.

Up top, Havok cued the shapeshifting metal of his armor to expand a portion of his arm into a round shield like American CrUSAder's, with the Judecca rune at the center of the shield.

Karan's heat vision-- hot enough to slag whole city blocks-- hissed and steamed against the ice that awaited betrayers in Hell.

*********​

The axe blurred and gleamed and glinted and crackled as Havok whirled to meet the encroaching Renegade-- her mystic sword kicking up sparks as it clashed against the primal artifact that was The Lightning-Axe.

********​

The arm that held up the shield against Wondergirl's heat vision... that hand was still free.

And it contorted and twisted and gestured-- "THE FIVE FUSORS OF FORTINBRAS!"

--miniature suns exploded to life before him, dancing blazing targets sizzling in the rain, catching Raven's destructive spectrum of blasts before they could reach him...

"I do not need a world. I desire and deserve one! I do not need a body-- I am capable of astral travel even without copying Felix Fate's conjurings-- but having corporeal form is useful to my purposes. As for demonism or godhood... such trifles are too... limiting for HAVOK."

And then with a sharp flick of that same hand, a twist of that same wrist, he hurled the five burning globes at Raven, attempting to sear her off of the face of the moon.

Thea had been moving slowly looking for an opening, staying distant. But then it happened. Her newest curse gift screamed in her ears and she launched. Havok was multitasking hard and Thea's instinct thought it had an opening. She knew Havok was way over her weight class, but she could still do one thing. Distraction. Again Thea came at her opponent from an odd angle at speed making a move for a lower limb take down. Let's see if these claws can hunt with this guy.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Cat-Scratch Fever.

Thea had been moving slowly looking for an opening, staying distant. But then it happened. Her newest curse gift screamed in her ears and she launched. Havok was multitasking hard and Thea's instinct thought it had an opening. She knew Havok was way over her weight class, but she could still do one thing. Distraction. Again Thea came at her opponent from an odd angle at speed making a move for a lower limb take down. Let's see if these claws can hunt with this guy.

Lord Havok's intellect was superlative.

And he had fought his body to a perfection that matched his mind.

And he had crafted an armor to perfectly complement that body.

But even so, he was only human.

As he fought off a Kryptonian, an immortal warrior, and a demidemonic sorceress-- a catwoman came at him with blood-red instinct boiling in her veins...

...she swept at his legs...

...light flared...

...the same energy fist he'd used to block Batman's kick earlier snap-hissed to life in an instant, furiously backhand-smacking Thea's strike up and away...

...but she was too fast, too close, her claws still grazed him...

...claws which now, essentially, this deep into The Ixchel Curse, counted as magical weapons...

...they creased his faceplate's cheek, gashing it, sparks arcing...

"HRRRAAAAAAHHH!"

And with a roar of insufferable fury, Havok slammed Wundajin's Lightning-Axe down into the moonrock, blade first, unleashing a massive aerokinetic surge--

--a gale-force gust of wind exploded out from the axe, blasting Renegade and Wildcat back and away from him, giving him distance...

...at which point he reactivated his forcefield, preventing them from closing on him again while simultaneously preventing him from maintaining his offense.

And he took that moment-- that second to breathe-- to touch the slash of her finger-fangs in his armored cheek. And his own fingers trembled with rage and indignity.

"NONE. MAY TOUCH. HAVOK!"

And then he steadied... took a breath. Focused.

"Interesting. For all my mystic runes. I neglected to include any from Meso-American traditions. An oversight to be rectified shortly."

He flexed his grip again on the handle of the axe.

And the smartskin of his armor rippled and the clawmarks oozed shut, repairing, once again gleaming and unmarred.

"And I will gut you. Feline. For daring to compound my hideous disfigurement!"

"You will be a skin stretched upon my throne-room wall!"

 

[Wyldfire]

Lord Havok's intellect was superlative.

And he had fought his body to a perfection that matched his mind.

And he had crafted an armor to perfectly complement that body.

But even so, he was only human.

As he fought off a Kryptonian, an immortal warrior, and a demidemonic sorceress-- a catwoman came at him with blood-red instinct boiling in her veins...

...she swept at his legs...

...light flared...

...the same energy fist he'd used to block Batman's kick earlier snap-hissed to life in an instant, furiously backhand-smacking Thea's strike up and away...

...but she was too fast, too close, her claws still grazed him...

...claws which now, essentially, this deep into The Ixchel Curse, counted as magical weapons...

...they creased his faceplate's cheek, gashing it, sparks arcing...

"HRRRAAAAAAHHH!"

And with a roar of insufferable fury, Havok slammed Wundajin's Lightning-Axe down into the moonrock, blade first, unleashing a massive aerokinetic surge--

--a gale-force gust of wind exploded out from the axe, blasting Renegade and Wildcat back and away from him, giving him distance...

...at which point he reactivated his forcefield, preventing them from closing on him again while simultaneously preventing him from maintaining his offense.

And he took that moment-- that second to breathe-- to touch the slash of her finger-fangs in his armored cheek. And his own fingers trembled with rage and indignity.

"NONE. MAY TOUCH. HAVOK!"

And then he steadied... took a breath. Focused.

"Interesting. For all my mystic runes. I neglected to include any from Meso-American traditions. An oversight to be rectified shortly."

He flexed his grip again on the handle of the axe.

And the smartskin of his armor rippled and the clawmarks oozed shut, repairing, once again gleaming and unmarred.

"And I will gut you. Feline. For daring to compound my hideous disfigurement!"

"You will be a skin stretched upon my throne-room wall!"

Meso-American? The hell? Thea had always thought the curse was some sort of voodoo. The hell was Meso-American? Didn't matter. Her claws could hurt Hvac. Might be small pickings but it got under his skin. Maybe Thea could help here after all. She gave herself to her instincts. She stalked around Hvac. He had his shield up so she had nothing. But just wait. Be the patient Kitty. Wait for a big gun to drop that shield again. Let Thea's new instinct get another shot. Bob and weave. Twist and shout. Hvac was just arrogant enough to give it up again. Thea smiled just a touch. The feather weight had gotten the heavy's attention. Give it another shot or two and maybe she could buy a team mate a big hit on this twit......

 

[LuckyVic]

Damian was watching the fight, but even as he did he was watching the indicators on his hud showing the power levels of the suit. "Come on.. come on." he thought to himself as he waited for it to get to where he needed and that's when he struck.

He jumped into the sky above HAVOK. "Your reign has come to to an end MY LORD!!" he said as he released some batarangs. He watched them fly and thanks to his previous encounters, and those of the others he knew when they would hit the madman's shield. A second before they should have hit is when he unleashed another EMP.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Damian was watching the fight, but even as he did he was watching the indicators on his hud showing the power levels of the suit. "Come on.. come on." he thought to himself as he waited for it to get to where he needed and that's when he struck.

He jumped into the sky above HAVOK. "Your reign has come to to an end MY LORD!!" he said as he released some batarangs. He watched them fly and thanks to his previous encounters, and those of the others he knew when they would hit the madman's shield. A second before they should have hit is when he unleashed another EMP.

Velocity had been waiting for one of the big guns to advance. She had a plan but no time to explain it. However if one of them attacked maybe she could implement it and the others would pick up on it.

She had watched as Thea had launched her attack, but had known she would not be able to do enough damage to Havok so had held back. It was fortunate she had although she had been surprised when Thea had left gouge marks down his Face plate.

Of course he had quickly activated his force field which was a double edged sword. On one hand he could no longer attack with his armor, on the other they could now no longer get to him. The problem was he still had a whopping great enchanted axe in his hands.

It was then Batman decided to make another appearance. Flying above his head he launched batarangs at him. Velocity was puzzled for a brief moment. He was known as a master tactician and would know they would have no chance of getting to Havok. Then she smiled. He obviously had something up his sleeve and she could use it.

Obviously he was planning to take down Havok's force field to allow his projectiles to hit. They might not be able to do a lot of damage to him because of his runes but he would be surprised. Well Velocity could increase that surprise. At the moment that shield came down she estimated she would have a second or less to act. Plenty of time for her.

Her plan was to run in, Disrupt as many runes as possible and then escape as the Batarangs did there job. If this worked, maybe the others would attack and she could do the same. If not well, they would just have to think of something else.

 

[Varshanka]

The Cabin in the Woods
A Connor/Danni/Xarathos Date
After the Kobra Incident Before the Dreaming

​

It had taken Connor a few days to set everything up. He had called in a few favors, promised a few more, and spent part of his savings, but he was sure it was going to be worth it. Finally everything was in place and it just needed the person of honor.

He phoned her up and tried to put everything together.

"Hi Danni it's Connor. I was hoping you were free soon to go on that date we discussed. I have managed to get us a little cabin my buddy owns in the mountains. He normally uses it for hunting and skiing, but he owed me a favor. It has a few Polaris snowmachines he uses to get around on and he said we could use them. I checked and the weather will be good for the next week or so and it has snowed heavily this past week, so what do you say. Want to get away from all the hustle and bustle for a few days?"

Chains slithered back and forth on the ground as others held a rather rough individual off the ground. He wasn't paying the price yet but would be in a moment.

"I.. need.. to.. deal.. Hold.. a .. minute.." she replied, barely holding back the Rider.

The next second a mans screams ripped down the alley and through the phone as it clattered on the ground, smoking and partially melted, but still functional.

"This thing still work?" she asked, with a sigh, almost dreading the response, either way it was going to be costly.

Connor shrugged as he heard the screams coming from the phone. Well no one said dating a girl with someone like the Rider inside of her was going to be easy.

"Yes, I'll meet with you. When and where?"

"How about the Monastery, tomorrow morning at about 7. Pack enough clothes for four days unless you want to go for longer. I only planned for us to be there for two it being our first date and all, but my friend actually said it was free for a week. We can head up in the jeep I have borrowed and buy some food when we get closer. Is that okay with you?"

Monastery! Lovely! Closing her eyes as teeth ground together she sighed. "Very well. Seven Ante Meridiem. At the Monastery."

Clicking the phone shut she looked at the soulless smoking ruin kneeling in the alley. "Got what you deserved, just like all of us."

******

Straddling the center line of the road, She drove up the mountain to the Monastery. She'd been here before, a few decades or so back. Spent the night, gave some Penance in the Morning. Sent a few souls to burn in Hell afterwards.

Looking at the snow she shut off the bike and set it on the kickstand, her boots melting the snow in moments. Trying to touch the snow was useless. it would turn to water and then steam. The Rider hated the stuff, so.. did what it could to make her even more miserable.

Connor had been waiting for her to show. Not that he was eager mind you, it was just that he was trying to be polite.

The fact that he had been up since 5am, had packed, then repacked the jeep several times, and for the last half hour had been pacing restlessly waiting for her to arrive meant nothing.

As he saw her pull up he waved and walked over, noticing how the snow melted around her feet. A handy feature to have when walking along a snowed filled path, but not so fun if she wanted to try to have fun in the snow. This weekend might be harder than he thought.

"Hey Danni," he greeted her. "You can park your bike in the garage here. I promise none of the monks will touch it. If you want to grab your stuff and throw it in the back we can head off. It is going to take about 4 hours to get to the small town near the cabin, then another half an hour from there to my friends place."

After rolling the back into the desired spot, Dannielle slid off and walked over to him. She held a shotgun, and a small backpack. Maybe enough changes of clothes for a day could fit in it.

"I could get us there faster, my way." She told him, "If you don't mind skipping through Hell."

He was a little taken aback. Had she just offered to take him on a road trip through Hell!

He looked at her to see if she was joking and then decided she wasn't. He thought about it and then decided if he was going to go out with her perhaps he should think about it seriously.

This was a part of her and if he was serious about being in her life he was going to have to accept everything about her. Taking a deep breath he looked her in the eyes and smiled.

"Okay, if you think this old Jeep will survive the journey, let's do it. It will give us more time together and will certainly cut down on that tedious travel time."

"It might. Is there a fire at the cabin? Other than inside." She asked looking the vehicle over.

Connor had to think about that for a minute. Sure there might be a pilot light on for the gas as his friend said he would set it up for him, but he assumed Danni meant something a little larger.

"Actually I remember him saying something about a BBQ pit out the back, and that he and his buddies regularly have a bonfire up there. Will that do?"

"Gonna have to," Danni replied throwing her small bag into the back seat and climbing behind the wheel. "I'm guessing you don't want to.. steer.. while in Hell."

Connor shook his head and made his way to the passenger side, opening the door and climbing in. He made himself comfortable and then buckled himself in. He was not expecting this to be the most pleasant of rides.

Once he was in, she made a point of buckling up. "DO NOT GET OUT OF THE VEHICLE. For any reason." Starting the engine she looked at him, her eyes glowing. "Pray a bonfire is there. But do it quietly."

A ball of fire ripped from her hand and struck the ground in front of the jeep. And with a roar of the engine the snow spewed behind them as the jeep forward, and vanished.

He was surprised as she threw the fireball and he covered his face as they drove straight at it. He hoped she hadn't really seen that as he regained his composure and sat back in his seat and looked out of the windscreen. He had promised himself he was going to try not to be spooked by anything he saw, but hey she could have given him a heads up.

As his eyes adjusted themselves back to normal he gazed around and then looked over at Danni driving calmly. So this was hell? All those artists had not even come close to the real thing and he had a feeling Danni was keeping them at the outer fringes as well.

Driving the now hellbent helljeep through the nether parts of Hell wasn't that difficult, as long as you didn't care about the screams of the damned, the stench of rotting souls, or the palatable rage off the demons. Looking over at him as her flesh melted away, revealing the Rider in all it's infernally damned glory, it asked. "Ever dance with the devil by the pale moonlight?"

Skulls and bone crunched under the tires as they continued to roll forwards. Dante had been better at describing things than most. But even he hadn't been able to truly tell any mortal just what was down here. The worst smell on earth was a summers breeze to this place. The loudest most piercing scream of an engine, was a butterflies breath to the damned as they screamed in a khaotic cacophony without rhyme or rhythm.

Gears screamed as The Rider shifted gears and swerved around a Deamon with a skill that would make a motorhead drifter moan in pleasure. Ashe flew from spinning tires, and they lurched forwards into the mortal realm once more. Snow evaporated around the superheated jeep as Danni's skin returned to normal.

Putting it in park she climbed out, snow melting around her. "We're here." she said gesturing at the bonfire and the cabin beyond.

Travel time in HELL - sixty-six minutes six seconds. Ethereal time - three point thirty-three seconds.

Connor had almost laughed at the Rider's joke, then he had wondered if it had truly been a joke. He settled on grinning widely at him/her/it as it manifested itself fully and then he tried to make some sense of his surroundings.

The truth was he couldn't though. The screams of the damned were penetrating his skull and he was glad there was so many of them that he was unable to make sense of what they were saying. Just the tone was enough to tell him of the anguish and suffering that they were going through, but also the rage they still felt.

The landscape didn't offer him much solace either. Everywhere he looked was either covered in ash or bone or both, and amongst it sat Daemons and demons of all shapes and sizes, torturing the souls that were confined here.

Connor was getting very pale, but he was determined to endure. After all, he was not one of those souls and they were here for a reason. Each of them must have done something to be sent here in the first place and after seeing this, he was determined he was never going to join them.

Finally they emerged back into the real world and he breathed a huge sigh of relief. He stepped out of the Jeep on wobbly legs and stood still until he was sure he would be able to control himself. Looking around he saw they had ended up in the backyard not that far away from the cabin, but at least they hadn't hit anything.

Smiling at her he nodded. "Well that is one hell of a shortcut. I might not want to do it every time but it would certainly come in handy for getting around."

He was pleased with how normal sounding his voice was, and he headed up to unlock the cabin so they could start unloading their gear.

Turning to face him, dark eyes glowing from within, she spoke. "I go back, often. Deeper than I took you. You don't want to go deeper. You may not come back." Grabbing her backpack she slung it over her shoulder, her free hand holding her shotgun. She tried not to pay attention to the snow melting around her, making a pool of water. It would freeze when she moved away, but for now it was beginning to steam and boil.

Connor looked back as he opened the door and saw her standing in a small pool of water. He wasn't sure if it was a by product of her protecting them on their trip through hell, or if she naturally put out heat because of her bond with the Rider, but if it was the latter she was going to be getting wet a lot this weekend. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come up here.

Still they wouldn't be standing around in the snow all the time and he had promised to show her a good time and teach her how to ride a snow mobile.

He walked in and turned on the lights and then walked back out. "There are several bedrooms so take your pick and throw your stuff in one. I will take one of the others. Let me just get the stuff I packed for the first day out of the car and then I will give you the grand tour," he smiled.

Giving him a nod, Danni wandered off, looking through the place. Throwing her backpack on the bed she shrugged and added the shotgun. Not like many problems would be showing up around here. Except maybe Robin Hood’s friend. If he had a friend and this wasn’t one of his seduction pads. Certainly looked like it could be.

Not that she cared. No one tried seducing her. Not even when she had been mortal. She just wasn’t attractive enough, now she scared the hell out of people. Literally.

Walking back to the porch she watched as he unloaded things. “I can carry things you know. And the cold doesn’t bother me.”

Connor nodded as he looked up at her and then gestured to several plastic containers. "Well then, those go in the kitchen. You can help me unpack them after we get everything in."

He pulled several cooler bags out and walked in and stacked them on the kitchen bench before walking out again and grabbing his own bag of clothes. Luckily the cabin had everything else they needed. The beds had sheets, blankets and electric blankets. The bathrooms had towels and soaps, even the toilet had paper. His friend had just told him to bring clothes and food and so that is what he had done.

He chose a room, threw his bag on the bed and then returned to the kitchen. "Okay, let's get this stuff put away, a fire going and maybe a hot drink," he smiled.

Shifting the containers from vehicle to kitchen took less time than expected. She wasn't a simpering little child that was afraid of breaking a nail, or mussing her hair. And it didn't hurt that she was a tad stronger than she looked. So while he was dealing with his items she was carrying the coolers one handed.

And then collected wood for the fire he wanted. And that was a simple matter of piling logs so the would burn and shoving her hand inside. A simple thought and her hand ignited, and so did the logs.

Straightening up she walked over to the water spots from their boots and knelt, holding her hand over each spot until all the water evaporated. To her it was just something she could do. But she also didn't do this kind of thing often, or around the un-aware.

As Connor put everything away, he watched Dani easily carry in a pile of firewood that would last them several days and then get a roaring fire going just by sticking her hand into a small pile she had set up in the fire place.

Smiling he looked on as she began to evaporate the water from the floor as well. He guessed there was more than one way to use her powers and that in these environments they would really come in handy.

He finished putting away everything then began to gently heat up some milk. He had a great recipe for hot chocolate and he grabbed some rich chocolate he had brought up and crumbled it into a bowl and grated some orange zest into it. Once the milk was hot he gently added some until the chocolate melted and then he stirred that into the remaining milk.

He then poured the milk into two cups, added in a few marshmallows and then walked over to her. "Here, hope you like hot chocolate," he said handing one over.

"It's always hot when I drink it. Ever try drinking a steaming cup of pepsi or coke? It's.. gross." Danni replied taking the cup from him. He was at least trying to understand her situation.

Holding up her hand, flames began licking across it. Sin still visible underneath, but so was the after image of bone. "I have some control, but when Xar gets - angry - it's harder."

"It's like having split personalities I suppose. One has the power to burn down cities and damn souls to hell. And the other is one of the damned."

Connor smiled at her as he sipped his own chocolate. "Well it would suck having to drink everything hot all the time. However have you ever tried not touching the glass it comes in? Perhaps we can try it later on. A nice glass of something cold, ice and a straw and maybe you can have something cold for a change."

"We can try," Danni replied. Eternally doubtful.

He sat down on the couch and patted it inviting her to sit down. "Why don't you sit down and we can go over what we can do tomorrow. I was thinking of taking you on a tour of the hills on the snowmobiles if that's okay with you."

"I'm willing to try, but I can't speak much for The Rider." She replied sitting down. It was rather nice to be able to not feel the oppressive pain of mortals nearby. To not feel the hate, anger, lust, sins of those around her. To not hear the Earth crying out for Vengeance.

To just hear.. Silence.

This was probably the closest Danni had gotten to peace in the last hundred years. "I don't know how this weekend will resolve itself, but thank you for trying."

Connor smiled at her. He got the feeling she was trying to enjoy herself but was not used to doing so. "Hey no problems, I really do enjoy coming up here myself and if I can share it with a beautiful woman well all the better."

He blushed a little and sipped his chocolate to hide it. Glancing at her his mind raced as he thought of a hundred things to say but then he shocked himself by what came out of his mouth next.

"So does the Rider never allow you a moment to yourself? I would have thought you would at least get some time to enjoy 'You' time."

"No. We are both prisoners in one body. The left hand cannot leave the body, nor can the right hand." Looking over at him she watched his face. "Why do you blush for trying to compliment me? I know I am not beautiful, but you are nice to say I am."

"I have not been alone inside my own skull for over two thousand years. Mortals that beg and plead for immortality. To be Vampires and the undying are idiots and fools. The have no true comprehension of what it means. I have been called to every conflict on this planet. Seen millions of people tortured and butchered, and gave millions of soldiers that believed they were fighting a righteous cause punishment. Murder. Rape. Torture. Those are my realm. Righteous angers is the only redemption. By unrighteous anger.. I deal with."

As she spoke her eyes slowly glowed from within. A transition she wasn't even aware of as Danni spoke, and they Rider Spoke through her. With her. Flesh began to seep and sag, smoking and burning as it melted and the Rider stood up glaring at Conner. "You speak to her and try to ignore me and my Presence. But it is me to stopped that deamon from ripping your soul apart in the warehouse. It was me that stopped the False God. Not that simple Ethereal."

"I do not desire to be apart of this bonding anymore than she does. I cannot get away from the stench of her sins." Standing up the Rider looked at the cup of chocolate in it's hands. And watched as the metal oozed and dripped through it's fingers to splatter on the floor. "You have been tortured and abused, mostly by yourself. But you have not fallen over to the darkness, not yet, Robin Hood."

"You do me a solid, and I'll grant thee a boon. I'll give you and the Ethereal forty-two hours, and she'll not feel me, nor shall I come forth, for any reason. The two of thee shall be as 'alone' as you can be." Charred wood marked the place where it's feet stepped as it leaned over and looked him in the eyes. Dark flames orbs of pain and rage looking into his soul. "End the Damnation that I have been condemned with. Remove the chains that Bind me. Agree and you have your time with the Ethereal."

Connor was about to rebuke Danni and tell her she was indeed beautiful when her voice began to change and he realized he was no longer in the presence of his date. Xarathos had decided to make an appearance.

He listened to the Demon as he began to talk and indeed what he said was true. He had saved him in the warehouse and had been instrumental in saving all of them in Keystone city.

It was rude of him to deny his existence, but he was still getting used to Danni's and his 'cohabitation' situation. It was going to take some getting used to.

He gulped at the sight of Danni's face dripping away, but he refused to look away. He wondered if this was a test but this was also a part of who they were and he was determined to accept every part of it.

Hearing his deal he was overwhelmed. Danni was sure to be overjoyed, well maybe, but just how was he to free something like Xarathos from it's bondage when it didn't know how and surely it had been looking for a way for centuries.

"I want to be clear about this," he asked and he was glad to hear only a slight tremble in his voice. "Are you asking me to find you a way to separate from Danni permanently before you relinquish all control for 42 hours, or do I just have to work on it very quickly?" He stared right back at the Rider and shrugged. "I have no problems promising to work as hard as I can to free you, however you have to realize that the answer may not be the one you want. What happens if the only way for you to be rid of her is for you to permanently go back to hell? Would you be willing to do that?"

“I leave the two of you alone. Beginning from the time of the agreement for forty-two hours. But within forty-two days you must begin the separation of me and her.” Xarathos replied, making things more clear for a simple tree swinging creature that could barely comprehend the reality of the dirt between it’s toes.

Connor was tempted, he was very tempted, but that was the whole point when dealing with things from hell wasn't it? They dangled things in front of you that looked tempting but there was always a sting in the tail.

"Let me speak to Danni first and see what she has to say about this. If she wants to then it is more than likely we will have a deal, but as it is I don't think so. You and her are the same person and like it or not if I want to get to know her and date her, well, I have to get along with you as well."

Grinning he looked at the Rider. "So would you care to tell me your life story or would you rather Danni and I get better acquainted."

“I’ve never been ‘Alive’ as mortals use the term so I have no ‘life’ story to tell you.” Xarathos replied with a guttural voice that echoed the pain of untold time.

And IT was gone, leaving Danni looking at him. “Don’t. Don’t make a deal with that thing.”

Connor looked at her and smiled a half smile. "Oh I kind of got that vibe but you know for you maybe just maybe, it might be worth it." He shrugged then shuddered remembering the trip he had experienced getting here. "Then again nothing might be worth that."

Standing up he walked into the kitchen and put his mug in the sink. "Well then it looks like it is just the three of us this weekend. I can live with that. Well as long as he doesn't pop out at inopportune times."

Chuckling a little he looked at her and blushed again. "I would hate to think if I ever got to the stage of being able to kiss you he would suddenly take over. Not really a happy mental image."

"Why would you want to kiss me? What makes you think I'd let you?" Danni asked, following him. Not that it was far in the cabin. Even though it was more of a small house. Big house for poor people. Mansion for a homeless person.

Connor still couldn't believe it. "Look Danni I will say it again and I will keep on saying it. You are beautiful, well at least to me, so of course I want to kiss you. If you let me or not is entirely up to you of course although I am really hoping you do," he smiled. "However if you don't that's fine too. I just think it would be fun to get to know you."

"Understand, if you ever make a deal with a Deamon, Devil, or any kind of dark celestial, it marks the soul. It damns you. It's a violation of the natural laws. It's a betrayal of God. Which falls under my domain to Punish."

He nodded and his smile faded away as he looked at her seriously. "Don't worry I get it. No deals with the Devil."

Still this was Connor and he didn't want the mood to get too gloomy. "However much I want you to chase after me, I suppose it wouldn't be a good idea if it was the Rider doing the chasing huh," he grinned.

Deciding he had pressed his luck as far as he could he turned back to the couch and the TV. "Well the reception is supposed to be Okay. He has a huge dish out back. It picks up stations from all over the country and even some Mexican, Chinese and on a good day he says he can get some European and Japanese stations," he told her. "Or there's a huge movie library or video games. Or we can go old school and play board games or cards, it's Ladies choice."

"Um.. I don't watch tv? I see the news on occasion, but I've never had time to sit down and watch a television show. Not more than one episode though. And the last time I tried was back in the seventies. Until the drug lords started taking power and killing people. Much like feudal barons in the fifteen hundreds. Haven't seen a movie since Valentino Died. Chaplin was nice."

"As for cards. I can play poker. Never played a game board or other card games. Vegas has a lot of killings around poker tables. And on them."

"Truth be told this is probably the longest I've spent in anyones company without blood being spilled nearby. Kind of Nice to not have Xar raging in my skull. And Xar isn't male.. or female. It's, hard to explain. As a celestial being it just is. Neither male or female. Each Celestial is created for a purpose. Even if that purpose isn't designated. But when it is given that purpose, that duty, it's form makes sense. Xarathiel was a Guardian Angel. Until it's charge was Murdered, it - reacted. Badly as it turns out. The First Murder. The First Judgment."

"But i'm getting off track. Just remember Xar is not male or female. It is both and neither. It's a Fallen Celestial. I'm female so it looks female. If it possessed you it would look male. Just cause it's a deamon doesn't mean it's male."

"You said you'd teach me to ride a snowbike, and to play in the snow. Have you changed your mind?"

Connor nodded his head as he absorbed the knowledge she was imparting to him. He could take an educated guess as to the charge Xarathos was supposed to be watching over and maybe why it was bonded to Danni, but he was not going to ask. That was pretty personal stuff.

"Well your right about that, that is the reason we came up here. Let me just get my jacket on, although I am guessing you don't need one," he grinned.

He grabbed his off his bed quickly and then returned and led her outside. He figured he would have to lead her into some pretty deep snow or she would turn whatever she was standing on to water pretty quickly.

Looking around he spotted some pretty deep drifts and led her towards them. "I don't know if you are able to communicate with Xarathos, but maybe you could ask him to keep the heat down to a minimum so you could have a little bit of fun."

So saying he scooped up a handful of snow and expertly shaped it into a snowball and turning launched it at her. Of course with his aim it flew true straight towards her chest.

Watching him with a rather confused look on her face, she even arched an eyebrow, and then for a moment, The Rider was there, the ball of fluffy packed snow vaporized before it was gone again, and she stood there scowling at him.

Bending over she collected a handful of snow, but for whatever reason it had, Xarathos didn't interfere and the snow stayed in her hand. Packing it into a ball, much like Conner had, she walked through the snow, clad only in boots, jeans, and a black muscle shirt. But she wasn't walking so much as stalking, her movements carrying her along the hillside to a position above Conner.

When her snowball flew it had force more like a rocket than an arching ball.

Connor watched his snowball melt several feet before her. Actually meltwas too little of a word to describe what had happened. One second it had been flying at her, the next it simply had not been there.

He also did not like the look in her eye as she gained the hi ground and then launched her own snowball. It came at him like it had been shot out of a cannon and only his superb reflexes allowed him to dodge it.

"Hey Danni this is supposed to be fun, not war. Take it easy. Maybe a snowball fight wasn't such a great idea," he laughed. "Still..." He packed more snow and sent another ball arcing towards her and had a second on it's way before the first was halfway towards her.

"Fight with balls of snow. War. Just not deadly." Danni replied as the first ball blasted her in the chest and the second hit her hip. Neither was deadly or painful. But she'd half expected the Rider to interfere, and so hadn't bothered dodging. But apparently this was a fight she'd have to win on her own.

Send several hastily made balls at him she watched her first fly even as the second blew apart of it's own accord.

Connor laughed and allowed her ball to hit him in the hip. Damn that had some force behind it. "Throw to hard and they will burst apart on you just like that. You have to learn to control your strength."

So saying he threw off four balls he had made, aiming two for her face and two for her chest, then quickly ducking down to make more.

"Not if I condense them more. 'Packing' I believe it's called." Danni replied barely moving out of the way in time as one ball brushed her hair and another clipper her shoulder.

Ducking down into the snow trail she'd made she planned her next attack as she prepared more weapons. "You will be punished for attacking without warning."

He smiled as she ducked down. He knew he could still hit her, after all wasn't he the master of trajectory, but he decided it was more fun to make it a straight out fight.

He made a small mound of snow and then began making his ammunition, throwing the occasional ball her way just to keep her head down.

Building her own “Ammunition” supply didn’t take long, and with the Rider still ‘around’ she was able to determine were Conner was by Aura. Throwing a heavy volley of snow into the air she waited for him to move. And she’d get him. Either with falling snow balls, or the ones she still had in hand.

As he saw the barrage of snowballs arc into the air he smiled. Oh she was clever. He could already tell that most of them would hit in his general area, more than likely hitting him. Her plan was to flush him out and hit him as he broke cover.

Well that only worked if he did. Instead of dodging left or right and exposing himself, he merely pushed himself backwards keeping the mound between himself and her and waited for the snow to impact the ground and then slid back into place and launched a barrage of his own.

Like her he arced them up and over but he put several to the right and left of her as well as in front and behind in a haphazard pattern. It would be hard for her to dodge to one side or the other with any safety.

Looking up, Danni scowled, watching the snow arching up told her several things. She'd missed, or he cheated, and where he was throwing from.

One didn't survive the Crusades without learning a few things about lobbing arrows, catapults, and ballistae at the enemy. Ducking and rolling to the side faster than a normal human, but without The Riders superhuman reflexes, was a pain. And she slid to the ground with several balls hitting her.

Refusing to throw again and give away her position she chose another route. Sacking.

Connor was surprised when all his snowballs hit the ground but he did not see Danni jump up or try to run away. Maybe she had used Xarathos's power's to avoid them or she had just allowed some of them to hit her. Either way he was now not sure what she was going to do.

He now had a decent size pile of ammunition and a rough idea of where she was. Then he thought about that. Actually he didn't. He knew where she had been, but after his barrage had ended she could have moved back along her trail easily without him being able to spot her.

Now he was the one exposed and to someone of her vast experience that was not good.

It took a while. A little longer than she wanted, but she was able to see his aura enough she could tell where he was and plotted accordingly. Waiting just on the otherside of a thin wall of snow, maybe two feet worth, she watched. And when he began to move away she exploded from her tunnel and pelted him with several balls of snow.

Connor fell over in surprise as the ground literally opened up in front of him and then he was pelted with several snowballs.

Laughing he held up his hands in surrender. "Okay I give up, you win."

“Several of your snow balls hit me glancing, or non-lethal, blows.” Danni confessed as she watched him. The black muscle shirt she wore was soaked and snow was clinging to it as she climbed to her feet.

He looked at her and gulped at the sight he was afforded by her now wet shirt clinging to her body. Quickly he brought his eyes back to her face. I was not staring, I was not staring.

Getting up he looked at her and smiled. "Remind me to be better prepared next time I want to challenge you to a snowball fight."

“I have several hundred centuries experience in warfare, both large scale and singular. Tunneling, or sacking, forts and bases of operation has always been a popular alternative to frontal assault.”

"I think you are missing the whole point though Danni," he began as he moved over to her. "This is supposed to be fun, not a contest."

Chuckling he led her over to a snow drift and then had a wicked thought. "Okay, I want you to do something, but you have to trust me. It may sound weird and even feel weird but trust me you might find the results fun."

He laid down on his back in the snow and gestured for her to do the same.

Looking at the place he indicated, Danni turned around and flopped onto it, just as he had flopped into his location. She could feel the cold of the snow touching her skin, the cool breeze as it floated across the snow. She saw the bright blue and white of the sky and the clouds above. A sky much like from the old days. Days long gone before mankind began building massive conglomerations of population. Cities. Industry. Factories.

“Now what?” She asked, turning her head slightly to look at him, and see what he was doing.

"Okay this is the part you have to trust me on," he said turning his head to look at her. "I want you to move your arms and legs like you would if you were doing a Jumping Jack."

He moved his own to demonstrate what he meant.

From her point of view, his actions looked like a chicken having a spasm. In slow motion. But she complied, it seemed easier to amuse him than argue. If he did act like a crazy person at times. Moving her arms and legs until he was satisfied with whatever they were doing she lay there looking at him.

Connor was sure Danni now thought he was crazy. She had that look on her face that said, "He's harmless but just don't leave him near sharp objects"

Still he jumped up with practiced ease so as not to disturbed what he had made, then helped her up doing the same.

He led her several steps away then turned her around. "See, one snow angel made by you."

He wanted to say a few more things, but now was not the time. They had not known each other long enough and he was even going to say some things about Xarathos, good things, but he didn't know how well that would go over either. No for now it was best just to be light hearted.

"Alright then, let's head back to the cabin and I will get the snow machines out. There is still enough time left to show you the basics and have a practice ride around here. Tomorrow we can head further up the mountain."

Looking at the way the snow was packed and formed Danni replied. “It does not resemble an Angel. Either a real one, or one of snow. Why would you think it looks like one?”

“Speaking falsely, a lie, is a sin in the eyes of the Truth.” She added, her eyes glowing as the Darkness within made it’s presence known, but only for a moment. But that moment was rather, dramatic as both snow Angels became puddles of boiling water.

Sighing, Danni turned and headed for the cabin, and the snow machines. Even if she did have a demon sharing her body, it was still a female body, that walked like a female.

Sighing Connor watched as the figures melted away. He was really going to have to watch what he said around her. No lying, definitely no lying, ever. Still perhaps after living with a demon inside of her for so long she had lost the ability to see things in the grey. Too much of her view was black and white, good and evil. He could understand Xarathos thinking that way but surely Danni could still see the grey area's?

However as he followed her back to the cabin he could not help admiring the way her body moved. She was so beautiful and yet did not consider herself so. He wondered if he should just tell her exactly what he wanted. The only problem was he himself did not know what he wanted.

He moved in front of her and led her towards a small shed. Opening it with a small key he threw open the doors and then uncovered the two snow bikes.

"Well there both the same so I think I will let the beautiful woman choose her chariot," he smiled.

Walking over to the snow bikes Danni examined them. A simple enough dirt bike with a sky on the front. Collision survivability.. zero. “It’s not a chariot.” She replied picking one of the bikes up and carrying it outside.

Settling it back down into the snow she brushed hair from her eyes and looked at him, a challenge gleaming red from within. “Let’s Ride.”

Easing the other bike out he grabbed a couple of helmets and then looked at Danni. "Do you really need to wear this?" he asked.

Looking at the helmet she arched an eyebrow at him. “I wear a helmet to protect mortals from seeing my face, unless it is their time. Not for protection.”

He put his own on then showed her how to start the bike. Getting his going he looked at her and grinned. "You know you are going to have to stop taking everything so literal. I mean I won't grow tired of calling you beautiful or gorgeous or magnificent, but you have to give me some leeway. I suppose if I called you radiant you would deny that unless you were the Rider."

“We are The Rider,” she told him, straddling the bike with practiced ease.

Chuckling he waited until she had started her bike and then pointed up a small path that led up the hill behind the cabin. Gunning his engine he set off.

Following him, sort of, she ignored the path and went overland taking the harder more difficult route. But she kept him in sight, if not exactly in front of her at least he never got behind. Standing on the snow bike she stretched her knees, which lifted her ass in rather enticing ways. But that was only a side effect of straightening her knees, right?

And then she hit a rock and launched into the air, the hillside dropping away as she flipped multiple times before landing in a massive plume of snow. As the cloud cleared she was still upright, straddling the bike and watching him.

Connor had been watching her from the corner of his eye, or turning his head to keep her in view. It was not his fault that he happened to see her cute ass bobbing in exciting ways. He had to keep her in sight and that was just the way the bikes were ridden.

He had watched as she had taken off, pulled a perfect three sixty and then kept going. Riding up beside her he shook his head.

"Never ridden one and already an expert. Very well madam Rider, how about you lead and I will follow. The view is rather spectacular," this time he grinned cheekily instead of blushing, "Wherever you take us."

Tilting her head slightly, she turned the snow bike and began racing off. She was going fast. To fast for anyone normal to do. Her reflexes faster and more in tune with her body that would be expected. And if a tree branch hit her? It exploded in a plume of wooden shards.

She bounced, weaved, jumped, and swerved around tree, rocks, and animals as the bikes roared through the woods. When she did finally come to a stop it was at the crest of a hill, the cabin far below them on another mountain side.

Her breath in the air was far warmer than most, and hence created a cloud of steam before it cooled off. Her shirt was torn from tree’s hitting her, but otherwise she showed no sign of the cold or the rather deadly ride they had getting to this point.

Connor was regretting asking her to lead. It took all his skill just to keep up with her. In fact he fell behind her slowly as she plowed through small trees and areas he could not go.

Finally she stopped on top of a hill and gasping for breath he pulled up beside her a minute later. The view was spectacular and it took him awhile to realize there was an equally spectacular view beside him.

"Well that was certainly a wild ride. Anymore and I don't think you will remain clothed," he said gesturing at the state of her. "Not that I am complaining of course."

One eyebrow lilted upwards like a Vulcan before she looked down at her clothing. “Hmm, at least I have clothes back at the cabin. As for riding, it’s easy. Didn’t know you meant something like this. I’ve been riding horses for a couple eons. Motor bikes for less, but they all move the same. Mostly.”

Connor smiled. "Well I guess with all that experience I shouldn't be surprised that you are so good." Then feeling a little more bold he chuckled. "Just what other sort of riding are you good at after all this time," he asked giving her a long lingering look up and down.

From the way he looked at her, she knew what he meant. Why did guys always become pervy? At least that sin wasn’t hers to punish. “I am able, through experience, to ride just about anything. Horse, Camel, Elephant, Donkey, Motorcycle. I can drive an Car, Combine, Tractor, Semi. Don’t fly planes though, or Helicopters. Boats are a yes, but fire and water don’t mix so I avoid it.”

The way she so neatly sidestepped his question and just answered it the way she did, he knew he had overstepped an invisible line. Mentally cursing himself he decided to try and keep his mind PG. Still it was hard to do. She was beautiful and semi naked beside him.

"So anything that moves on land is a yes, water a so so, but air a no. That's handy to know. Here I thought you were perfect. Good to know there are some things you can't do," he said with a large smile on his face.

“Air is a yes, just not planes or helicopters. Being what I am.. I have wings of fire. I can fly faster and out maneuver any mortal craft. Motorcycles and Horses allow me to move amongst humanity with.. conflict. For the most part. Unless I encounter a person that needs to be punished.” Looking down at her shirt, the breeze was so negible she didn’t notice it. Hell if he hadn’t said anything she’d never have noticed.

“There are many things I can’t do. And I am far from being perfect.”

He smiled again. "Oh I knew you could do air in full Demon mode and yes I know you’re not perfect, heck no one is, but you have to give a guy some latitude to pay a lady a compliment," he chuckled. "You know if you are always going to take everything so literally you are going to get pretty bored of me saying how beautiful you are and how nice you smell, because at the moment that's all your leaving me."

“I don’t take things literally. I just prefer truth, not deception. If I was perfect, I wouldn’t be a damned soul.” Shifting on the bike she looked at the mountain side below them. COLOR="SandyBrown"]“Race to the cabin?”[/COLOR]

He smiled at her some more. "Well those last two things are the truth, but I will always try to speak it to you, even if it will not be what you want to hear."

Looking down the mountain he shook his head with a wry smile. "I am willing, but I don't think my chances of beating you are very good. Still I would try to stay out of the trees more if I were you, unless you don't mind giving me a peep show," he reminded her.

With a snort Danni aimed her ‘snowbike’ straight down the snow covered mountain side. “You only live once. Unless you’re Immortal.”

Laughing Connor revved his engine and looked over at her. "Well you are still only living once right? Just for a heck of a long time."

Then kicking his bike into gear he shot off down the mountainside determined to at least give her a run for her money this time.

And Danni was seriously planning on making him run hard and fast. With the throttle open as far as it would go, She roared down the mountain, and like she told him. YOLO.

She went over rocks and around trees at speeds that would have made a psychopath sweat. A snow cloud marked her passage better than any tire marks would have as she swerved around trees and under major branches.

Connor had shaken his head as she had passed him easily and he had struggled to keep up with her. He had thought he had skills aplenty, his reflexes and agility made him an excellent rider, but she was in a whole other class. Still he was keeping up. Barely.

And she took a huge jump, leaving the earth at eighty miles an hour on the side of a mountain. When she hit again the snow bike folded under the impact and she tumbled downwards like a limp rag doll made of shattered bone and torn meat.

He had marveled as she took the jump, although he was not as foolhardy as to even attempt it. He motored passed it keeping her in sight expecting her to land and continue her reckless headlong charge down the mountain. Instead he watched in horror as the bike literally fell apart below her sending her body cascading down the hill to finally come to rest a twisted broken mess.

It took him mere moments to make it to her side, and he was off his bike and kneeling next to her, to afraid to touch her for fear of making it worse, although how that was possible he did not know. Tears streamed down his face as he looked at her.

"Danni, Danni, you silly woman," he cried out. "You have to be okay. What happened to you being immortal?"

The sound of break bone and snapping sinew escaped her body as limbs straightened. Her spine scraped on the eardrums as it reformed. Her jaw snapped back into place with a loud pop that should have made a normal person screaming in pain. An eye pulled back and into the socket, a rather gruesome sight indeed. And she blinked, as her right ankle adjusted and returned to it’s rightful place with a grinding of bone and ligaments.

“You can let go..” she whispered. “I’m not dying. Been there, done that. Nineteen forty-three. Tank shell to the face. Blew my head clean off. Took two minutes to recover from that. Same year, jumped from a plane to assault a town. Chute didn’t open. That was a mess, two minutes recovery time. I’ve been shot, stabbed, and hung so many times I stopped counting. Instant heal. No scars.” But from the way her hair fell and her shirt set on her shoulders, she did have a scar. A hanging scar from a rope.

Connor had sat up and could not stop a grimace from appearing on his face as her bones started to pop back into place, but he had not let her go. Still he did get an embarrassed look on his face when she asked him to let her go.

Allowing her to sit up he smiled awkwardly as he looked at the scar around her neck and then chuckled.

"Okay I admit, it is one thing to be told you are immortal and another to actually see it. However please don't do that again. It's hard to see someone you have feelings for lying twisted like that."

“One day you will listen to the words coming out of my mouth. I cannot lie. The truth I speak my not be the truth you hear, but it is the truth.” Danni told him as she sat up, and then stood. Stood on legs that moments ago had been wrapped in ways that meant standing would be forever impossible. And she rolled her neck with a sickening crunching sound as it reset. “I am immortal. I can be banished to Hell, and if I’m there I can be destroyed. But on the Mortal plane – nothing can Kill me. Well, one thing can, but no Mortal has that .. item in their possession.”

Connor nodded to her but still shook his head. "Oh I believed you, but still it's like I said. It's one thing to believe with your head an entirely different thing to believe with your heart. Even though I know you are immortal and can recover from anything I am still going to react to things like that. Guess it is just human nature," he smiled.

Looking her up and down he noticed that her already tattered clothes were now practically destroyed. Looking away so she didn't think he was trying to ogle her he gestured to the back of the bike. 'Why don't you hop on and I will take you back. I would let you drive but one, I don't know if I would survive the ride and two I wouldn't know where to put my hands," he told her smiling at both comments.

Raising an eyebrow, Danni shrugged and shook her head before climbing onto the vehicle, Behind Conner. With her legs spread, and inner thighs pressed against his legs, she settled her hands on his waist. “Drop the bike, and I’ll punish you..” she warned. Even though she had annihilated her own snow bike minutes ago.

Connor turned his head to look back at her and smiled. "As tempting as that sounds, I am already going to have a hard time explaining how we ruined one bike to my friend let alone two. I will be driving very carefully."

Chuckling he turned around and began to head back to the cabin.

“I’m more than aware that you have sufficient funds to replace the vehicle. Without adversely affecting your finances.” Danni replied, leaning forwards as the snowbike moved across the snow. It was rather an interesting experience having someone else directing the vehicle. “Why wouldn’t you know where to put your hands? On my hips or waist would be the most reasonable locations. Or are you afraid I would be offended by your erection pressing against my ass?”

Connor coughed and almost swerved into a snowbank before managing to get the bike back under control. Shaking his head again he chuckled. He was definitely going to have to get used to Danni speaking her mind no matter what was on it.

"Actually yes, that was precisely what I was worried about. At least with me driving we don't have that problem at the moment. However if you were I can assure you we would."

He continued in silence for a few seconds then asked her, "Would you be offended?"

“It depends on the cause. A simple biological response to female nudity is a function of your design by The Truth. A physical response due to a psychological desire to.. fuck me.. would be offensive.” Danni replied.

“Conner.. My mortal body is two THOUSAND years old. Times have changed. I have not. Times have changed a great deal in the last fifty years in fact. But not me. I.. don’t go to bed with people. I don’t FUCK. In twenty or fifty years you’ll die. Or sooner if you’re killed. I won’t - I don’t - change. I still hold in my heart a time when Aramaic was spoken. When Latin was the language of the Slavers. People didn’t.. fuck, except with Whores and they raped their slaves. And I’m neither.”

Connor was silent as he thought about what she had said. By the time they made it back to the cabin he had digested everything she had told him.

As they got off he turned to her and smiled a little sadly. " I guess I understand what you are saying Danni but I still want to be around you. Do I want to FUCK you? Yes I do. Do I think you are a whore or a slave? Oh hell no. I think you are one of the most attractive woman I have ever met and I want to know everything about you and from the sounds of things that is going to take the rest of my life." Smiling he looked at her and his eyes twinkled. "Look I don't care if we don't FUCK as you put it. Let me ask you something. Are you adverse to hugging and kissing? If you are that might just be a deal breaker, as it is going to be pretty hard keeping myself from doing at least that to you, although I can at least try."

Sighing she looked at him. “You are very.. persistent. Yes Persistent is the word I think. Or crazy. One day at a time. During the Inquisition they would have killed you, just for talking to me. They still might. In fact I’m rather surprised the Curia hasn’t put you to the questioning yet.”

His smile widened. "When I see something I really like then I will do anything to get it." Then he frowned. "Ahh sorry that may not have come out right in this case. Look I really like you and if these Curia whoever they are want to question me so I can be with you then that's fine with me. Just one question first. Is that something you would like or am I wasting my time here? You still haven't really given me an answer to that question yet."

Walking into the mountain cabin, she paused and looked over her shoulder. “I have answered..” And then she was inside. Walking to her ‘room’ she opened her bag and removed some clothing. With a shrug she stripped down, throwing what remained of her previous clothes into a pile against the wall, she’d destroy them later.

Walking from her room to the bathroom, she wondered if The Rider would let her actually take a shower. It was behaving rather interestingly with Conner around. And he’d already seen her naked on the bridge, and she had no modesty, not after her lifetime. So she walked naked, and didn’t bother with closing the door, he’d look or wouldn’t. His choice, beside the door had no lock.

Turning the water on, she watched the steam and stepped inside. And for a minor miracle, the water cascaded down her skin.

Connor had remained outside and watched as Danni walked inside and sighed. He was going to have to rethink everything he knew about dating to be with her, but he smiled. He had a feeling she was well worth the effort.

He put the bike away and then walked inside closing the door after knocking the snow from his clothes and boots. He put the outer layers of his clothing on the coat hanger by the door and after hearing the shower running he headed for the kitchen.

He knew she didn't need to eat or drink but that didn't mean she couldn't right? He made up some Nacho's and grabbed a couple of beers and took them over to the TV. One good thing about this place was the Satellite. He turned it on and then brought up Netflix. Flicking through the movies and Drama's he eventually settled on cartoons. Okay so he was a big kid at heart, better she know that early. besides they could decide together what to watch. For now he would indulge in his guilty pleasure.

Walking down the hall, Danni dried her hair with a towel. Clad in jeans and muscle shirt sans boots or jacket she certainly looked different as she looked at the cheese and chip concoction. Grabbing the beer she downed it in a single swallow. “Sometimes I wish I could get drunk. Might make dealing with Xar easier.”

Connor laughed. "Sounds like you have the same problem a lot of speedsters do. Dad told me he tried everything to get the Flash drunk. He succeeded once as well although it only lasted for about ten seconds. He never did tell me how he did it though. Perhaps you should chat to Velocity and see if she has any advice."

“Otherworldly energy courses through my body. I drink poison and don’t get affected.” Danni replied arching an eyebrow as she looked at him. And either she was cold, or approved of what she saw. Sitting next to him she looked at the television. “What is this?” she asked.

As Danni sat down beside him he offered her the nacho's and then turned to the TV and smiled. "This is one of my guilty pleasures. I love cartoons. Anime is good but I love the old style ones as well. You can call me a big kid if you want, but I just like to escape with a bit of a laugh now and then."

He let her watch the show for a little bit and then chuckled. "This one is called Animaniacs. I watch it when I really want to laugh although my really secret pleasure is..." he looked at her and blushed, "The My little Pony show."

“Don’t ever mention it again.” Danni told him, her eyes sort of glowing from the inside as she took the remote and changed channels. Shifting across the channels ‘surfing’ as it was called she settled on a weather report.

Connor glanced at her wondering if he had offended her somehow. Looking at the screen he watched as the reporter droned on about the conditions. It seemed they were going to get some heavy snowfalls tonight and tomorrow morning but it would clear up in the afternoon and be sunny again.

"Well that doesn't sound too bad. I can think of worse things than being stuck in a cabin with a beautiful woman," he smiled. "Would you care to pick a movie or would you like to continue watching the weather?" he chuckled.

“The Last movie I saw starred Rudolph Valentino. It was black and white, and a silent picture. Not a talkie. “The Sheik, 1921.” It wasn’t very good. I saw “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” as well also in 1921.”

“What would you like to do? I don’t really do much. I chase down bad people and punish them. Fight a lot. Ride bikes and horses. Occassionally I even go to Church. Not often and late at night. I tend to.. burst into flames when I do. Freaks people out. Even a lot of Priests. Confessions go up when I do.” Shifting on the couch she looked at him.

“I work for the Holy Roman Catholic Church the one in the Vatican. On occasion. They tend to leave me alone, and I don’t go to Mass every Sunday, or start paying attention to every Priest. Though the new Pope did speak with me. Interesting individual. Just might do good things for the church, if they don’t execute him first.”

Connor was a little startled at that last development, but then if you could talk to someone that had actually walked and talked with Jesus Christ, you could probably put up with a little thing like them bursting into flames.

"I had heard he was a lot more modern in his thinking, or perhaps more true to the actual teachings of God and his Son. Still you would know more about that than me I am sure."

Screwing up his courage he looked at her and asked, "So what was he really like? It has been over two thousand years and all we have are the stories told by other people, yet you were there."

“Yes, I was there.” Danni replied, looking at the floor.

“He was wise, understanding, powerful, convincing. He spoke languages so easily. He knew all of them. They don’t mention the beggers that would come and talk to him. And he’d answer them in their own language, their own dialect.”

“He convinced me to leave me slave master, to run away and learn what he taught. But he never asked me to. He just asked if I was happy.”

Looking at her Connor wanted to comfort her but he was worried how she would take it. Then he just went for it, after all if she did not like it she could just tell him no after all.

He moved a little closer to her and reached an arm across her shoulder and gave her a hug.

"It is a stupid question I know, but are you happy now? You followed him to be happy and it has led you here so was it worth it? Would you do it all again if you had the chance?"

“Would I betray the nicest man I’ve ever met? Would I willingly subjugate myself to seeing the heads of my parents in a bag? Would I willingly set myself up to be raped and beaten? Would I hang myself to end the pain, just to find out it gets worse?” Sighing she looked up at him. “Yes. This is my Penance, and If It wasn’t me, it would be someone else. And I wouldn’t ask anyone to take this torment, just to save myself. We all get what we deserve.”

“It’s one of the reasons I do not fuck.. have sexual relations. If I get pregnant, this thing could be released upon the world. Without a chain around it’s neck. You saw the bridge event. You were there. That was me still holding on, trying to stop it’s rage.”

Connor saw the pain and torment on her face and in her words but he knew she was right. Someone had to betray Jesus and she had been picked. It said a lot about her though that sh would not change it though if she had the chance.

He hugged her a little tighter. "You know you have to be one of the bravest people I know, however you don't have to keep everything to yourself. I am happy to provide a shoulder anytime and I really enjoy hugs you know," he chuckled.

Then he looked at her with a twinkle in his eye and then looked left, then right as if looking for somebody and then back at her. "I have even been known to occasionally...Kiss a girl if she needs it," he told her and then looked at her with a mock look of shock before laughing quietly.

Resting her hand on his cheek she whispered, “If I find one I’ll let her know.” But at least her eyes weren’t glowing, and she might have even been teasing or joking. OR sort of teasing/joking. Can a demon possessed person tease or joke?

Connor reached up his own hand and gently stroked her cheek. "Oh I know where one is. Maybe not a girl as such of course, but definitely a woman," he smiled. "Oh and I kiss those too," he whispered in a teasing voice.

She looked like she wanted to say something, but her mouth closed and her words remained unspoken. Though her eyes did get that spooky glow in them again. Just for a moment, but long enough to make sure Connor knew that they weren’t alone.

Connor stroked her cheek again then nodded to show that he understood while looking into her glowing eyes. "Yes even you too," he chuckled. "Maybe one day both of you will be in agreement about that kiss."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"And I knew: there was no help, no help from you."

He jumped into the sky above HAVOK. "Your reign has come to to an end MY LORD!!" he said as he released some batarangs. He watched them fly and thanks to his previous encounters, and those of the others he knew when they would hit the madman's shield. A second before they should have hit is when he unleashed another EMP.

An EMP in and of itself would not have penetrated Havok's defenses.

He worked closely with Doctor Diehard, after all, and for Diehard electromagnetic pulses were as second nature as the act of rolling over in one's sleep. Havok's armor was EMP-hardened beyond all but the most bleeding-edge of Earth-1 hardware.

But the nature of physics on Angor was not so disparate from this world's that the fundamentals of electromagnetism had changed.

And Batman's suit was capable of modulating its electromagnetic emissions to interrupt Havok's shield right at the wave-particle duality, obstructing the very wavelengths and frequencies that erected his protections. Even if Havok had retuned his forcefield since its last use-- which he had-- Batman's sensor suite was capable of analyzing the new frequencies and adapting the jam-pulse to match.

Thus, Havok's field dropped again.

Thus, the batarangs slashed through the air towards him, unimpeded.

And with a roar of fury, Havok blew these batarangs back at Batman with the Lightning-Axe's storm-winds.

At the same instant, brave to a fault but not that bright, Bouncing Ball pelted in at full plastokinetic tilt... "EAT IT, GRANDPA!"

And with as little effort as it takes to tell, Havok swept the axe in a crushing backswing, backhanding Bouncing Ball away with the flat of the axe-blade-- the bludgeoning force of a thunder-god...

...Bouncing Ball screamed incredulous blue murder as he hurtled at the speed of a sniper-round back towards Seattle below.

At the moment that shield came down she estimated she would have a second or less to act. Plenty of time for her.

Her plan was to run in, Disrupt as many runes as possible and then escape as the Batarangs did there job. If this worked, maybe the others would attack and she could do the same. If not well, they would just have to think of something else.

...and that's when Velocity hit, scrambling the runes on the surface of his armor, marring and smudging them. And with the runes made illegible, he no longer had their benefits.

Including being able to hold aloft The Lightning-Axe of Wundajin the Thunderer, which could only be wielded by those who were worthy, or those who were of Wundajin's blood. The Sons of Ivaldi had provided Havok with a way of bypassing that restriction, of feigning worthiness...

...but now that that bypass was momentarily scrubbed, the axe became as seemingly heavy in his grasp as the entire moonbase felt against Rebel's lifting hands, and it thudded blade-first deep into the rock.

Havok snarled: "FOOLS! MISERABLE WRETCHES!"

Shapeshifting his armor to fix the runes would be the matter of an instant. The spark of a cerebral synapse.

But until then, despite the formidable strength of his armor, Havok could not wield his most powerful asset.

 

[Varshanka]

The Gang

"I do not need a world. I desire and deserve one! I do not need a body-- I am capable of astral travel even without copying Felix Fate's conjurings-- but having corporeal form is useful to my purposes. As for demonism or godhood... such trifles are too... limiting for HAVOK."

And then with a sharp flick of that same hand, a twist of that same wrist, he hurled the five burning globes at Raven, attempting to sear her off of the face of the moon.

She lost sections of her cloak to those globes, and a burn on her thigh that would heal if she managed to survive. But now she was mad. Not as crazy as Havok or any of his cronies, nor as enraged as The Fury of Vengeance. But she was pissed enough to stop caring about subduing him any more. He wanted people dead because he couldn’t have a new plaything? So be it. He could die.

Thus, Havok's field dropped again.

A twitch and Karen the Girl Wonder/Wondergirl/Wonderous Girl of Might was in his face, a right hook followed by an uppercut. Her eyes blazing fire as her booted foot came up for a follow through and a spinning back kick.

And with his hand off that owe so powerful axe, Raven ripped it from his reach , flinging back and as far from him as possible. A searing black beam of darkness ripping from her hand and targeting his skull.

****

Looking down at Connor, that which was Vengeance incarnate snapped it’s arm out, stopping the flight of a glowing axer before it hit Robin Hood in the back of the head. White fire coursed along her/it’s arm flickering for a moment around it’s head before two eyes of white glared at Havok.

“By THE WORD I AM VENGEANCE!!” And she/it leaped upwards as lightening blasts ripped downwards towards Havok with a Fury even he had never matched.

The axe blurred and gleamed and glinted and crackled as Havok whirled to meet the encroaching Renegade-- her mystic sword kicking up sparks as it clashed against the primal artifact that was The Lightning-Axe.

“Fuck me!!!” Renegade snapped as she cartwheeled away from the blast center. Yeah, she’d survive, but still pain sucked. And it slowed her down when she had to regenerate. Reaching back she pulled out a heavy caliber pistol and fired. Not at Havok per se, but more at the joints of his armor. And some of those oh so important runes. She didn’t understand all of them, the dialects were rather off. But with as long as Renegade lived, she/he/it/they had learned a few languages most didn’t even exist anymore. But they shared enough commonalities they certain targets made themselves obvious.

 

[Wyldfire]

And the 'Cat was back in. Her instincts moving her as the shield failed and everyone else took their shots. Thea came in bobbing and twitching, twisting and writhing to avoid the hell being thrown at Havok. Her claws flashed out of her fingertips again and she was a blur of slashing fury.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Velocity smiled as suddenly the big guns swung into action. She had not expected the side benefit of her plan being that Mr High and Mighty was not able to hold his axe any more, and she grinned as it was ripped from his grasp and thrown far away from him. Now she thought they had a chance.

As each of them began to launch their attacks she waited for the last possible moment before zooming in and again disrupting his runes and then flowing back out again as the attack just started to land. She didn't know how much damage was being done but she hoped that soon the armor would be overwhelmed. After all she doubted it had ever received so much punishment from so many different sources in such a short amount of time.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Looking down at Connor, that which was Vengeance incarnate snapped it’s arm out, stopping the flight of a glowing axe before it hit Robin Hood in the back of the head. White fire coursed along her/it’s arm flickering for a moment around it’s head before two eyes of white glared at Havok.

“By THE WORD I AM VENGEANCE!!” And she/it leaped upwards as lightening blasts ripped downwards towards Havok with a Fury even he had never matched.

One second Connor had thought he had been making progress with Xarathos, and the next it's arm had shot past his head so close he was sure his hair was singed on that side. Well he had definitely felt the warmth.

Still he did not mind when it pulled it back and it contained a glowing axe. Considering how close it's arm had been it was obvious he was going to be cut down by it.

Before he could thank the Demon, white flames flickered up it's arm to it's head to it's eyes and then it leaped high with a cry. Connor was surprised at the fury of the blast it let loose at Havok and he turned to see the damage it would cause.

Still he was not going to be left out of this. He pulled and released two arrows in quick succession. One was an improvement on a taser arrow, specially designed for armored opponents. It discharged at over 100 million volts. He hoped that was enough to fry some of it's circuitry. The other was a slightly higher grade explosive with a shaped head. It hit and stuck to the surface then exploded inwards thus not damaging anyone around the blast site. He normally used it to blast through walls, reinforced steel doors and the like, but in this instance it seemed appropriate.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Sturm and Drang.

A twitch and Karen the Girl Wonder/Wondergirl/Wonderous Girl of Might was in his face, a right hook followed by an uppercut. Her eyes blazing fire as her booted foot came up for a follow through and a spinning back kick.

Lord Havok's armor was capable of withstanding a great deal of punishment. After all, he had fought The Future Family over the years, and The Trog threw one Hell of a punch, The Scorch one Hell of a fireball. Even so, Wondergirl hit fast and she hit hard, and the armor rang and resounded with every hit, he withered but weathered the debilitating heat of her gaze...

...that back kick sent him hurtling away, but he activated his flight systems in mid-air and stopped his headlong trajectory.

Of course, Havok's armor had deep magic practically encoded in every molecule, so the mere act of hitting him might overcome her own resistances to such things... just hitting him might hurt her.

Nevertheless, he returned fire-- using his electromagnetic systems in an attempt to disrupt Karan's personal force-aura just as Batman had disrupted his own shields... and attempting to blast her in her moment of vulnerability using the concussive blaster in his right gauntlet. A trick he'd used against Hyperius more than once-- what was good for The Ognessonian Evovae was good for a Kryptonian.

Given the distance she'd knocked him, he used that instant to take a breather, to recalibrate the runes on the skin of his suit, the polymimetic alloy rippled...

Reaching back she pulled out a heavy caliber pistol and fired. Not at Havok per se, but more at the joints of his armor. And some of those oh so important runes. She didn’t understand all of them, the dialects were rather off. But with as long as Renegade lived, she/he/it/they had learned a few languages most didn’t even exist anymore. But they shared enough commonalities they certain targets made themselves obvious.

It made sense that, parallel worlds, their ancient languages might be somewhat divergent. But.

Even the joints of Havok's armor were utterly impervious to small-arms fire. She would need a tank shell to even crease its skin even under extreme conditions. But it just so happened that he was trying to re-establish his runes-- and as the liquid metal flowed, and the bullets struck those runes like bullseyes on targets-- the hot lead disrupted the reconstitution process and kept him-- for moments more-- from reasserting his full potential and his control over the axe.

He returned fire, however, pointing his right index finger at Renegade and unleashing a blast of atomic energy from the fingertip-- aiming for her gun, and through it, her heart.

And the 'Cat was back in. Her instincts moving her as the shield failed and everyone else took their shots. Thea came in bobbing and twitching, twisting and writhing to avoid the hell being thrown at Havok. Her claws flashed out of her fingertips again and she was a blur of slashing fury.

Havok's armor could reproduce the finest martial artistry of Angor-- but that couldn't help him against the gouging, gashing slashes of magic claws against which his armor was not designed to defend...

...so instead, as he held up his arms over his head to protect his face, head, neck, from Wildcat's rabid assault...

...he ignited his armor's electroshock defense, capable of emitting up to 100,000 megavolts of electricity, the combined power of a thousand lightning bolts, his aim to explode Thea off of him like a bird on a bare wire...

And with his hand off that owe so powerful axe, Raven ripped it from his reach , flinging back and as far from him as possible. A searing black beam of darkness ripping from her hand and targeting his skull.

Havok roared in incredulity. It should not be possible! Perhaps on one hand could one count those other than Wundajin who could move that axe even an inch. And now this "Raven" could toss it like a paper airplane with her demonic telekinesis? Nonsense!

He flung out his arm, willing his runes to reincorporate, attempting to summon the axe back to him even as Raven flung it aside...

As each of them began to launch their attacks she waited for the last possible moment before zooming in and again disrupting his runes and then flowing back out again as the attack just started to land.

--and that's when Carin hit him again, scrambling his runes, the haft of the axe slipped through his proverbial grasp--

He scarcely spared a thought to Raven's follow-up blast-bolt-- he simply shot it down in front of him with a concussive blast from his left gauntlet.

As for the speedster, he utilized his holo-imager... he could use this to project hardlight decoys of himself which, using neuromimetic telepresence, he could see and hear through even at a distance. But in a pinch, he could reprogram it-- and in this instance he projected a burst of visual feedback directly targeting Velocity's eyes... images that flickered at an incredible rate designed to overload her accelerated visual cortex and cause a seizure unless she immediately disengaged.

Looking down at Connor, that which was Vengeance incarnate snapped it’s arm out, stopping the flight of a glowing axer before it hit Robin Hood in the back of the head. White fire coursed along her/it’s arm flickering for a moment around it’s head before two eyes of white glared at Havok.

“By THE WORD I AM VENGEANCE!!” And she/it leaped upwards as lightening blasts ripped downwards towards Havok with a Fury even he had never matched.

And this.

This could not be countenanced!

A fallen spirit. Unworthy even of the Heaven that created it! Cast down, its soul stained beyond all hope of penance! It should not be able to stand the touch of The Lightning-Axe, much less heft it!

"NO!" he roared as lightning fell around him, boiling moondust to moonglass.

Still he was not going to be left out of this. He pulled and released two arrows in quick succession. One was an improvement on a taser arrow, specially designed for armored opponents. It discharged at over 100 million volts. He hoped that was enough to fry some of it's circuitry. The other was a slightly higher grade explosive with a shaped head. It hit and stuck to the surface then exploded inwards thus not damaging anyone around the blast site. He normally used it to blast through walls, reinforced steel doors and the like, but in this instance it seemed appropriate.

100 million volts was a walk in the park to Havok's armor, especially compared to the lightning that crashed around him.

And that explosive arrow-- hah! Havok had battled no less than Danny Raines, The Sapient Scorch of The Future Family, what cared he for mere fireworks?

But see, here's the thing.

Without the axe in his hand anymore, the storm that Havok had summoned had died off, the clouds no longer pelting sleet.

Which meant that Aquagirl didn't have to worry about shielding Barracuda anymore.

And though the taser arrow shattered uselessly against Havok's chestplate...

Lorena Marquez squinted her eyes, and swept her uninjured hand in a graceful tai chi slash...

...a puddle of sleet jumped up from the Moonbase's surface in a eyeblink of an instant and struck Havok's armor in a very. Specific. Spot. Supercooling it to absolute zero as Aquagirl used her near-mastery of all of water's elemental forms to turn it into a searing ice attack.

...immediately before Connor's explosive missile hit that exact spot, latched on, exploded, and the massive temperature shear caused the metal to warp and shatter even beyond the tolerances of its shapeshifting molecular bonds...

"AAAARRHH!"

Havok bellowed in pain and fury and surprise, whirling to pop a mini-missile launcher out of the wristguard of his right gauntlet, returning fire-- launching two missiles at Connor and the third one at Aquagirl.

But that was all the notice he spared them as his armor hurriedly bandaged itself.

He had a greater priority.

Lightning stormed down at him, but he flew up to meet it, flew up to meet The Rider in mid-air, again activating his electroshock defense... it wasn't a proper barrier like his full forcefield, but the bolts of chain lightning simply crackled and fizzled against the electrified skin of the armor.

As he swooped up to meet The Rider, his fingers blurred, reactivating the shielding spell The Aegis of Angelus, bulwarking himself with that holy light even as he flew on an intercept course...

...attempting to shield bash The Rider with The Aegis as he flew within reach...

...and popping clawblades like Tracer's out of the liquid metal backs of both gauntlets, attempting to spear The Rider's own forearms with the metal that still contained splinters of Angor's True Cross...

...between the fragments of The Old Rugged Cross and the pure shekinah light of seraphim shielding, Havok was living anathema to the touch of The Rider even without his runic hellice...

...and thus he attempted to disarm The Spirit of Vengeance and restore The Lightning-Axe to his waiting grasp.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Planetfall.

...and that...

...and that was when Moonbase Ex reached the sea, barely scrrrraaaaaaaping the rim of Myrtle Edwards Park on the way out onto the water, splashing down into the watery surface of The Pacific.

Displaced waves crashed upon the shore like a minor tsunami as the battleship space station asteroid parked next to The Space Needle.

But it was down.

They'd saved the city from getting crushed.

Which meant a Sandman could breathe a sigh of relief and thank Lord Morpheus, were he so inclined.

Which meant a Martian Manhuntress could collapse upon the water, her heart pounding in her chest, her molecular structure so exhausted that she could barely stay coherent, much less tangible...

Which meant a certain Rebel had her hands free again. Free to become fists. Were she so inclined.

 

[Wyldfire]

Aww hell here the girls go.......

The Electrical discharge caught Thea dead on. Literally. It hit her and went straight through her heart. The amount of power running through her burned her badly as it threw her lifeless body away from Havok. The madman could claim his first kill. For now. Before her body had even hit the ground it was contorting and shifting in almost a fluid manner. Her legs began to shift and elongate, becoming even more feline than before. Her ears shifted fully into cat ears high on her head. Her body had somehow gained a bit more bulk as it bounced and slid to a halt.

But those were not the strangest changes. The burns and scarring shifted and flowed as well. Havok had thought of Meso-American runes and symbols, and now he was getting a primer in them. The scars on her body had become glyphs and symbols, marking her as the chosen of her Mistress. Thickly enough on the scarification that they could be seen through her fur. The curse had been an idiot fools attempt at justice. By name, by nature. Thea wasn't "Cat". She wasn't her Grand. She Wasn't truly a "Wildcat". The fool that had screwed up his spell and cursed Thea "Hellcat" Grant. And this had amused the Goddess Ixchel. Hellcat by name, Hellcat by nature. But there was so very much more to this Goddess. Thea was in for a bumpy ride............

As the Moonrock Starship hit the water Jo Nash let go of it. She might be flying by the grace of a ring that felt way way too familiar, but she had been using strength. She cut loose and went tough. Till she got clear of the rock at least. Then it was ring assisted speed flight. Clear of the water and back up the rock. She saw the scene in front of her and gazed at Havok with disdain and outrage whispering "Burn Mother fucker." And unleashed her full flash vision at him.

 

[LuckyVic]

Upon seeing this Rebel unleash her laser vision upon Havok, Batman unleashed his force blasts from his gauntlets. He doubted they could do anything now that Havok seemed to have his shield back. But Damion's hope was that maybe he and a few of the others could overload it, especially since he wouldn't be able to do another EMP blast for awhile.

 

[ChasNicollette]

For Those About to Rock, We Salute You.

Taking his cues from Rebel and Batman, Braggock flexed his hands, doing the math in his crystalline brain...

...and with a surge of magmic thrust, he burst into the air, drew level with Havok, and held up both open hands with fingers half-curled, heels of both palms pressed together...

...and unleashed a cannonblast of twin fiery streamers, spiraling together in a double helix...

Kamehamehadouken!

...another storm of flame rushed at Havok.

 

[ChasNicollette]

The (Pacific) North(west) Remembers.

"I don't know this one," Ravi admitted with chagrin, standing with his hands in his pockets.

"So much for the self-proclaimed 'cape and cowl uber-geek,'" Liv grinned up at him from where she was, crouched over Bouncing Ball's unconscious form with her phone in her hand.

Ravi snorted at her. "Oh, like I'm supposed to keep track of all the wannabe costumed vigilantes running around in the local Watchmen-fetish subculture," he shook his head. "You were one of them for five minutes, this doesn't ring any bells?"

"Mm, no," Liv shook her head, "though my memories of channeling The Fog are... uh... foggy. Besides, that was a strictly no-powers crowd, not like Teen Lantern."

Her phone beeped and she glanced at it. "Okay, I've just run facial rec against The NVID, he didn't come up as a supervillain."

"Well that's a relief," came a voice from the steps down into the Seattle PD morgue. Detective Clive Babineux, Homicide, who consulted with Liv's zombie brain "psychic visions" on many of his cases. Brooklyn native, diehard Knicks fan, closet Game of Thrones fanboy.

He stood halfway down the steps, looking horrified. And who could blame him?

The outside doors to the back entrance to the morgue had been unceremoniously blown inward, a trough carved in the tile floor as Bouncing Ball had scraped to a halt.

"Who the Hell is that?" Clive demanded, gesturing sharply. "And what the Hell are you two even still doing here, DEO ordered this block evacuated ages ago!"

"Had to back up my experimental data from the rats," Ravi pointed his thumb over his shoulder to the rats in cages towards the back, vital in his quest for a zombie cure, "shouldn't've been a mo', but then we had an uninvited projectile. Dunno who he is, but I'm guessing his name is... Sonic Spinball?"

Liv grinned at Clive. "What are you doing back here?"

Clive hesitated, rolled his eyes. "I... had to save my Knicks mug."

"Hah!" Ravi chortled.

And then Bouncing Ball sat up with a start, gasping, wheezing, hands on his head, eyes bulging. "JUMPING FISH-HOOKS!"

All three of them jumped. Ravi let out a tiny girlish yelp. Clive drew his sidearm with the speed of a gunfighter.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay," Bouncing Ball mumbled to himself. "Unconscious while Dialed, stupid, stupid, brain gets all crosswired, dreams from other worlds..."

He glanced at Liv, blinked at this pale creature sitting next to him. "Gosh, you're pretty!" Then he smacked himself, giving off sparkles. "Ugh, no, I have a girlfriend, why am I so girl-crazy all of a sudden?"

Liv grinned at him affectionately, and prompted him gently. "Are you a superhero? Are you okay?"

"I'm Bouncing Ball, I'm with The Legion of Galactic Guardians 2099--" he hesitated, shook his head "--I mean, I'm with The New Justice League. I need to get back to them!"

Ravi had his phone out now too, and was staring at it in fascination. "Liv, Major's on Periscope, he's livestreaming footage from the waterfront-- the big rock in the sky's landed just offshore!"

"Then that's where I need to be," Bouncing Ball declared bravely.

Liv shot Clive a look. "C'mon, Detective. Lights and sirens? Even the big bad DEO can't say no to The Night's Watchmobile!"

"That's not what I call my--" Clive grimaced. Then he paused, looking at the fallen superhero in front of him, looking at the chaos streaming on Ravi's phone, and then looking at the pleading look on Liv's face.

"--fine. C'mon. 'I am the shield that guards the realm of men.'"

Bouncing Ball grinned. "Let's go."

 

[Varshanka]

Renegade

Even the joints of Havok's armor were utterly impervious to small-arms fire. She would need a tank shell to even crease its skin even under extreme conditions. But it just so happened that he was trying to re-establish his runes-- and as the liquid metal flowed, and the bullets struck those runes like bullseyes on targets-- the hot lead disrupted the reconstitution process and kept him-- for moments more-- from reasserting his full potential and his control over the axe.

He returned fire, however, pointing his right index finger at Renegade and unleashing a blast of atomic energy from the fingertip-- aiming for her gun, and through it, her heart.

Bad thing about a human body. It had Human senses and reflexes. Granted she’d attuned those senses and reflexes to levels that were near Kryptonian or Flash Force. But she didn’t have the levels of hyper awareness and speed that they had.

So it was that unfortunately she could perceive, or react fast enough if he had perceived that beam of death. Renegades handgun flash vaporized a hypertime instant before the beam passed through it’s heart. A hole punched clean and clear through the torso. Taking with it breastbone, heart, and spine. A neat perfect circle of death.

Dropping to the ground, it looked like she was kneeling, one foot planted firmly, the opposite knee beside her left foot. Her head bowed low as it rested on the pommel of Michael’s sword. Blank unseeing eyes stared at the ground, as the last air in her lungs flowed free from her lips.

 

[Varshanka]

Of course, Havok's armor had deep magic practically encoded in every molecule, so the mere act of hitting him might overcome her own resistances to such things... just hitting him might hurt her.

Nevertheless, he returned fire-- using his electromagnetic systems in an attempt to disrupt Karan's personal force-aura just as Batman had disrupted his own shields... and attempting to blast her in her moment of vulnerability using the concussive blaster in his right gauntlet. A trick he'd used against Hyperius more than once-- what was good for The Ognessonian Evovae was good for a Kryptonian.

She’d broken her hand. It had to be shattered. Broken at the least. Fuck she hated this asshole. Even as she was taking a glance at her hand he hit her in the jaw with some foul abomination of techno-magic. “Unghh,” she groaned as her heat beams raced up his body to his face. And she stared him in the eyes. “Cowardly man.”

 

[Varshanka]

The Rider

As he swooped up to meet The Rider, his fingers blurred, reactivating the shielding spell The Aegis of Angelus, bulwarking himself with that holy light even as he flew on an intercept course...

...attempting to shield bash The Rider with The Aegis as he flew within reach...

...and popping clawblades like Tracer's out of the liquid metal backs of both gauntlets, attempting to spear The Rider's own forearms with the metal that still contained splinters of Angor's True Cross...

...between the fragments of The Old Rugged Cross and the pure shekinah light of seraphim shielding, Havok was living anathema to the touch of The Rider even without his runic hellice...

...and thus he attempted to disarm The Spirit of Vengeance and restore The Lightning-Axe to his waiting grasp.

Stretching wide it’s arms The Rider awaited it’s foe. And when they crashed together that foul deamon damned to the Pits of the darkest reaches of Damnation, the parts that even the Light and Word did not bother with it gripped Havok with one arm, as chains encircled them both. Yes the pain of the True cross was great indeed. It’s flames cooling and darkening. But Xarathos was a Deamon Prince, and was very used to Pain and Torment.

And Danni had spent eons in Hell being tortured and abused by Deamons, Demons, Devils, and the Damned.

Besides Today was a Good day to Die. Never did get a kiss from Connor though. Oh Well.

Gripping the Havok’s axe with both hands The Rider brought it down in a blow meant to cleave his skull in two from crown to throat.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

--and that's when Carin hit him again, scrambling his runes, the haft of the axe slipped through his proverbial grasp--

He scarcely spared a thought to Raven's follow-up blast-bolt-- he simply shot it down in front of him with a concussive blast from his left gauntlet.

As for the speedster, he utilized his holo-imager... he could use this to project hardlight decoys of himself which, using neuromimetic telepresence, he could see and hear through even at a distance. But in a pinch, he could reprogram it-- and in this instance he projected a burst of visual feedback directly targeting Velocity's eyes... images that flickered at an incredible rate designed to overload her accelerated visual cortex and cause a seizure unless she immediately disengaged.

Carin yelled as she burst away from Havok. He had used an old speedsters trick on her, but he had done something to it. Somehow he had created multiple images of himself, probably with a hologram projector, and normally that would have not been a problem. She would have just created speed holograms of herself to match them and continued on with her plan.

Yet somehow these holograms had emitted something that screwed up her vision, and the more copies she made to handle them the worse it got. He had only activated it for a second but her head now felt like it was splitting in two.

It did not take her long to recover but by that time the battle had moved on.

100 million volts was a walk in the park to Havok's armor, especially compared to the lightning that crashed around him.

And that explosive arrow-- hah! Havok had battled no less than Danny Raines, The Sapient Scorch of The Future Family, what cared he for mere fireworks?

But see, here's the thing.

Without the axe in his hand anymore, the storm that Havok had summoned had died off, the clouds no longer pelting sleet.

Which meant that Aquagirl didn't have to worry about shielding Barracuda anymore.

And though the taser arrow shattered uselessly against Havok's chestplate...

Lorena Marquez squinted her eyes, and swept her uninjured hand in a graceful tai chi slash...

...a puddle of sleet jumped up from the Moonbase's surface in a eyeblink of an instant and struck Havok's armor in a very. Specific. Spot. Supercooling it to absolute zero as Aquagirl used her near-mastery of all of water's elemental forms to turn it into a searing ice attack.

...immediately before Connor's explosive missile hit that exact spot, latched on, exploded, and the massive temperature shear caused the metal to warp and shatter even beyond the tolerances of its shapeshifting molecular bonds...

"AAAARRHH!"

Havok bellowed in pain and fury and surprise, whirling to pop a mini-missile launcher out of the wristguard of his right gauntlet, returning fire-- launching two missiles at Connor and the third one at Aquagirl.

But that was all the notice he spared them as his armor hurriedly bandaged itself.

He had a greater priority.

Velocity realized her priorities had changed. Attacking Havok would have to wait, saving her team mates was what was more important.

Whisking them out of danger would be easy, but Aquagirl was next to Barracuda, and although she was an enemy and might survive the blast, leaving her there did not feel right. Green Arrow would be easier and as nothing was behind him she ran over to him and quickly moved him away from danger. She didn't move him far though and left him in a position where he could still see Havok and what was going on.

Now for Aquagirl and Barracuda. She could move them both of course, but she wasn't sure what Aquagirl had been doing, only that she had stuck by the downed enemies side all this time. It sort of made sense as well. She seemed to be like an Atlantean and the best one to keep an eye on her would be Aquagirl. So moving them might not be a good idea.

That left the missile itself. Running over to it she kept beside it and looked it over. She was glad it had been fired from a standing position and was aimed at someone on the ground for that meant it's trajectory kept it low to the ground. Unfortunately she had no idea what she was looking at. If she had more time she could do some quick speed reading about it and learn everything she needed, but she had about 3 seconds left. A lot of time for a speedster but not that long.

What little she did know was that there was two types of missiles. One that blew up on contact with something and one that was remote or timed to go off. Thinking about it this was probably the former so perhaps...

Running forward she found a large chunk of moon rock and then ran back straight at the missile past Aquagirl and then stopped sending it on it's way while starting to circle both of the two prone figures fast. This was her second line of defense. If her plan worked the missile would blow up when it hit the rock, but who knew how powerful it was. This vortex would hopefully channel that explosion up and away from both Aquagirl and Barracuda.

If she survived this of course she still had the other 2 missiles to track down and capture before they did any harm.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Grinding the Axe.

She saw the scene in front of her and gazed at Havok with disdain and outrage whispering "Burn Mother fucker." And unleashed her full flash vision at him.

Upon seeing this Rebel unleash her laser vision upon Havok, Batman unleashed his force blasts from his gauntlets. He doubted they could do anything now that Havok seemed to have his shield back. But Damion's hope was that maybe he and a few of the others could overload it, especially since he wouldn't be able to do another EMP blast for awhile.

Kamehamehadouken!

...another storm of flame rushed at Havok.

“Unghh,” she groaned as her heat beams raced up his body to his face. And she stared him in the eyes. “Cowardly man.”

Fire and force thundered into Havok from multiple directions, battering him and searing him.

He had never been hit with this much heat before, even while facing The Sapient Scorch. Getting hit by the force-beams wasn't helping either-- the rattling concussive percussions making his armor tremble like the invisible forcefields of Claudia Raines-Future, The Unseen Matron-- formerly The Unseen Maiden.

But still he endured! Havok always endures! He would wrest The Lightning-Axe back from The Rider's grip and he would unleash a tempest upon this world that even the gods would fear!

Gripping the Havok’s axe with both hands The Rider brought it down in a blow meant to cleave his skull in two from crown to throat.

And it was then that the runes reformed on his arms and hands, his gauntlets and vambraces, lighting up with power...

...and with those gauntlets he caught the haft of the axe, overriding its idiotic, narrow-minded, arbitrary assessment of his worthiness-- Havok made himself worthy!

And thus his armor whined and shimmered as it strained against The Rider, strength on strength to take the axe, will on will to control it, lightning bolts blasting out in random directions...

...this was a battle of inches...

...an inch in one direction, Havok would take the axe and lay waste to The New League...

...an inch in another, The Rider would overcome him with the help of its allies and sink that star-ore axe into his unmatched brain...

"CRY. HAVOK!"

 

[ChasNicollette]

She's Going The Distance. She's Going For Speed.

Running forward she found a large chunk of moon rock and then ran back straight at the missile past Aquagirl and then stopped sending it on it's way while starting to circle both of the two prone figures fast. This was her second line of defense. If her plan worked the missile would blow up when it hit the rock, but who knew how powerful it was. This vortex would hopefully channel that explosion up and away from both Aquagirl and Barracuda.

The backblast of the mini-missile was considerable-- if even a nearby blast had struck Sandman in his silicoid form, it would have scattered him to the four winds. But Velocity's quick thinking circumnavigated this-- literally! The explosion went off inches away from Carin's vortex, and the vortex slurped up and dispersed the heat and shattering force...

If she survived this of course she still had the other 2 missiles to track down and capture before they did any harm.

...but in helping Aquagirl, she'd helped that too.

Because they were on the ocean now. This was literally Aquagirl's element.

Lorena reached up with her unhurt hand and clenched it into a fist.

A water-spout stormed up from the surface of The Pacific, swept up both remaining missiles-- swarmed them into a globe of swirling waters--

--they exploded, popping the water-ball like a bubble, but absorbing the force of their combined detonations like the water-tanks used to absorb the force of a space-shuttle launch. God-- and Neptune! --bless water, universal solvent, incompressible medium.

The bits of missile and splatters of water fell away, raining down harmlessly upon The Moonbase.

"Velocity, gracias," Lorena called. "I'm not the boss of you-- but now that we're at sea level, can you get these downed Exremists outta here and into DEO custody? Free us up to take down the big man?"

Diehard was still on shore, bound by magic and thoroughly kayoed. Carny had apparently been sucked out of existence by the micro-singularity he'd unwittingly created. Dreamslayer had been summarily imprisoned by Raven and her Dreamstone.

But the deceased form of Shadow Suparṇa still lay in repose.

Gorgon lay unconscious, fried and twitching.

Tracer was still healing, trapped for the moment by Beast Boy.

And of course having Barracuda this close to any amount of water was a bad scene.

"Make sure they put this culo under a heat lamp or something. Someplace dry!"

 

[Zet_Cross]

GRID let loose a volley of Charged Ice Beam shots, each the size of his arm.