Teen Titans and Outsiders Giant-Sized #1

[Lissilambe]

[Lissilambe]

Ultimate
Teen Titans/
Outsiders
Giant-Sized Special

#1: The Edge of the World
Written by Don Walsh
and James Steel
Cover by Daelan

[Lissilambe]

Chapter One
The scrawny man with the bald head slid out from underneath the bank of machinery, and stared upward through the round thick glasses that nearly obscured the cruel eyes. He looked up at the imperious-seeming man looming over him. As tall and regal as the first man was scrawny and bent, this second man stared down with hard eyes set deep into the shadowy cowl of burned orange.

“Is it done yet, Sivana?” the hooded man asked in a low hiss laced with venom like his namesake.

“Nearly done now, Naja ole bean,” Sivana replied jauntily, refusing to be cowed by this maniac. He clambered up to his feet and his knobby fingers danced over the control panel. “A few last connections to run, and then we’re golden.” He glanced up at his partner as he wiped his hands on a convenient rag. “When do we make our pronouncement?”

Lord Naja stared back at the stunted scientist and gave him a curious look. He folded his arms over the green and burnt-orange robes he wore, the stylized curved snake symbol of his organization emblazoned in gold on his chest. “What pronouncement?”

“Our pronouncement of doom!” Sivana replied exultantly, his voice rising in volume as his eyes glittered behind the thick panes of glass. “When we announce to the world the doom we have set before it!”

“There will be no ‘pronouncement of doom’,” Lord Naja answered simply, shaking his head in disappointment. “You have no vision, Sivana. KOBRA does not exist to make costumed fools feel good, nor does it exist to make false boasts or idle threats.”

“Maybe I have the time-line screwed up in my head,” Sivana said as he wiped his high forehead again. “I admit, the mundane things in life elude me. That’s what my daughter was for. To keep me straightened out.” He paced around Naga, as the mastermind slowly turned to keep facing the mad genius. “I captured this ‘Vibe’ person in order to have a tap into the Speed Force, while Cain took your men and secured the programs and hardware needed to turn this ionospheric heater, which you led your forces to liberate from the European Union, into a directed charged plasma generator. Which, now that all the parts are gathered, I can hook into the brat in here,” He patted the cylinder atop the machinery he was working on, “and provide an Auroral Cannon, capable of unleashing tremendous energies anywhere on the globe. Once I’m done with the cannon, we announce our power to the world, basking in fear and respect, while waiting for whatever pay-off your KOBRA is demanding. Right?”

“No,” Lord Naja replied curtly. “Once you are done, we fire the weapon. We smash the fragile infrastructure of this world and usher in the Kali Yuga. Chaos reigns, the old age dies, and KOBRA fulfills its holy mission at long, long last.” Even though his voice didn’t change at all, remaining even in temperament and volume, Sivana could sense the rise of passions in the cult leader, and his lips pursed with great concern. “So finish the weapon, Sivana. Because I assure you, nothing stands in my way now! You wanted recognition, you wanted glory for your genius, to be acclaimed for your brilliance. Finish this weapon, and the next age will believe you a god!” Naja pivoted on his heel and strode out of the room with an icy smile on his face, and left Sivana in silence.

“Acclaim and recognition only make me feel better if I’m alive to revel in it, you myth-addled freak,” Sivana growled angrily. He looked at the machine, and down at his tools, as his mind raced through dozens of ways to proceed from this point. His scowl grew angrier from the realization of the successful solutions coming to mind.

TT*TT*TT*TT*TT

“Okay, y’all, we have a problem,” Zinda Blake announced to her passengers in the sleek, powerful jet. She swept a stray lock of bright blond hair from her brow and then tapped on the homing locator, but to no effect. “We’ve lost your homing beacon, ‘wingman. Signal’s being blocked at the source.”

In the passenger cabin, all eyes turned to look at Dick Grayson, as Spoiler, Flamebird and Jade giggled and Black Canary smirked at him. Dick ignored the laughter and looked back at his long-time team-mate, Dinah Lance. “I think our pilot’s been at the wheel too long.”

“Ah, relax, ‘wingman’. This too shall pass,” Dinah chuckled. “C’mon, let’s go and see what we can do about locking down a destination.” She stood and headed for the cockpit, Dick at her side

Jade moved up and sat down next to Red Star, seated ramrod straight, mind racing with thoughts of the mission kept hidden from his allies. “Hey, Red.”

He turned to look at the green-skinned woman and nodded politely. “Hello, Jade.”

“Looks like it’s just you, and us,” Jade said with a mischievous smile. Red Star looked over his shoulder, Flamebird and Spoiler seated behind him and waving coyly. He looked back to Jade, realizing he was the only male left in the cabin, and then looked straight ahead once more.

“Da.” He swallowed hard and folded his hands on his lap and hoped that they found the enemy soon.

O*O*O*O*O

The Outsiders streaked away the Caucasus Mountains, having gained little for their efforts. It had taken them precious days to locate a contact point for the League of Assassins, and when they had, Kasumi’s father, the legendary killer David Cain, was nowhere to be found. Refueled and up in the air again, the jet soared over Europe.

“Okay, so all we learned is that the League seems to be as clueless as we are,” Speedy recounted. “Cassandra’s father is involved, but he’s been hired separate of his League. And none of us has a clue who that is.”

“Remind me why we don't think he's working for Sivana?” Garfield Logan, the emerald-skinned shapeshifter called Beast Boy, asked, leaned back in his chair, legs propped up over the armrest.

“Not Sivana’s style,” Kid Eternity answered as he and Speedy sat at a small table and looked over various notes and programs and components they’d taken with them from Sivana’s lair back in the Rockies. “Sivana is an employee, not an employer. Heck, his having the Fearsome Five working with him is odd enough. Going to someone like Cain is just too far away from his M.O.”

“So what do we do now then?” Carla Redondo snapped. She was pacing, disliking being cooped up in the plane, bouncing around from place to place, with no control over events, and she was growing more and more irritable. Everyone kept their distance from the young woman.

“I admit, I’m stumped,” Kit replied with a slow sigh. “I’m just not savvy enough to figure out what we’ve learned from Sivana’s leftovers. Speedy?”

The young archer shook her head as well, tossing her burned out circuit board to the side. “Nothing. I am so over my head, it’s not even funny.”

The speaker from the cockpit flared to life at that point, and Mickey Malone’s voice broke into the tense room. “Hey, Kid. I’m getting a radio signal, and you’ll want to hear it. I’m piping it into the cabin for you guys.”

As the group stared up at the speaker, they heard the cruel voice of the world’s wickedest scientist fill the plane. Teeth set on edge, fingers clenched into fists as Sivana’s voice spoke.

“Listen up, and listen close, Cheese-lets. I’ve only got time to say this once. I hate, hate, hate! The idea that I need any of you do-gooders, but even I’ve messed this up. I’d hoped to get the real deal in on this, but I’m lacking a Cheese-Signal, so, junior ghost-man, it’s up to you and your brats. You hearing me, Kid? You’ll have to do, so get here and double-time it!”

The transmission stopped, and they all stared at each other, before Kid Eternity flew towards the cockpit, sliding through the wall. Speedy dashed up and through the door immediately after, while the others soon crowded in around behind her.

“Yeah, don’t worry,” Mickey assured the group as the world below them tilted and the plane started to turn north. “I’ve got a fix on the signal. We’ll be there in no time.”

TT*TT*TT*TT*TT

“Well, listen to this,” Dick Grayson announced with a grim smile. “A radio transmission on a tight-beam, so it’s a bit garbled. But I think it’s our break.” They listened to the words play out as Zinda and Dick worked at the controls to try and pinpoint the transmission point.

“Listen up…I’ve only got time to say this once…hate, hate… I need any of you… messed this up…get the real deal… I’m lacking a…Signal, so… up to… your brats. You hearing me…so get here and double-time it!”

“Reinforcements for whatever’s going on?” Dinah mused as she listened in.

“Don’t recognize the voice off-hand, but the transmission is coming from up in Norway,” Nightwing reported. “But nothing closer than that.”

“Don’t worry, gals and pals,” Zinda assured them with a cocky grin. “We may not be able to pin down the source, but I’ve got the destination. Another jet in nearby airspace, and it’s just turned north. Must be the reinforcements in question. We just have to follow them in.”

“Excellent,” Dinah said, and stood up. “I’ll get the others ready for action.” She headed out of the cockpit, and left Dick and Zinda alone.

As the door closed, Dick turned toward the pilot and folded his arms, leaning back in his seat. “So, Zinda…about this “wingman” comment?”

*Hail*Kali*

“Oooh, this is just too good to be true.” The woman excitedly rubbed the corded muscles of Lord Naja’s neck as she leaned over him. He was only in tight green pants now, his chiseled torso and chest glistening in the half-light of the monitor screen as she oiled and massaged him. “My lord, the scientist did just as you intended.”

Lord Naja-Naja leaned back into the plush, velvet seat and let the fingers of his consort caress and massage his body. His shaved head glinted in the glow of the monitor as he looked up at her and nodded. “Being Sivana, he could do nothing else. Now, my beautiful Eve, we play our final hands.”

Eve stood at just shy of six feet in height, with a thick head of curly silver locks bound in three long braids that brushed the small of her back. She was lush in body, clad tightly in a scandalous attire of flowing silks and satins, colored to match her master’s. Cruel eyes of brightest blue stared briefly at the radar screen, giving the steady blipping of the approaching jet, counting the minutes away to her revenge. She ran her fingers over that hard chest, thrilling her and him with the contact.

“And I can kill him?” she whispered into Lord Naja’s ear, nervously, as if he might change his mind. “Kid Eternity, I can kill him? For all he’s done to me and my Silk?”

Naja’s arms lifted up and he let his own hands run over her arms. “Oh yes, my Eve. Your powers can indeed kill the least of the Marvel Family.”

She giggled and kissed the top of Lord Naja’s head. “I mean, I’m the one that gets to do it, right? You’ll allow me the pleasure?”

Naja laughed and nodded as he stood up and turned to face her, looking down at her by several inches. “Oh, indeed. We shall bleed the sacrifices, and you shall be given the honor of dispatching their leader for your revenge, and then we shall usher in the Kali Yuga together.”

“Oh, master!” she cried out happily and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him hard. She broke it off and leaned back to speak. “Thank you for showing me the way.”

They chuckled together as the walked arm in arm from the monitor and into more private quarters, as the radar continued the steady beep in their wake.

[Lissilambe]

Chapter Two
“Well, that seems to be our destination,” Mickey Malone announced as the jet skirted over the icy hills surrounding Tromsø, Norway. The sprawling city itself was further in the distance, not quite a mile off laid out over and around a broad fjord. Despite being mid-afternoon, it was already dark again thanks the polar night, and the group inside the jet peered out of the windows to the large installation beneath them. Stretched out over a frozen plain, it was a central, bunker-like building reaching out to attached Quonset huts, all surrounded by fields of broad, black flat antennae.

“What is that?” Juan asked, face pressed up close to the window as the jet soared by. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I’ve read about this,” Victor Stone said. “I think. It looks familiar to what I’ve read, up in Alaska. Some kind of project to affect the…um…” He tried to remember what he’d read and his nanites streaked about and flooded his brain, enhancing dendrites and ganglia, speeding the neural circuitry as he smiled in response. “Damn! That’s it. Ionospheric heaters. Some kind of research into how to affect the ionosphere. HAARP is what it’s called back in the States.”

“Guess Europe’s got their own version then,” Gar Logan said as he peered over his new friend’s shoulder. “So you do read? Don’t worry, Vic. You’re secret nerd status is safe with me.”

“Okay, so whatever’s up, it’s down there,” Carla said, cracking her knuckles with anticipation. “Let’s get cracking then.”

“I can’t land the jet, obviously, you’ll need to jump again,” Malone announced as they passed by the complex and started to pull away. “And Kid, we have a tail.”

Kit ghosted back into the cockpit to see what Mickey meant as the others prepared for the jump. “There’s a jet behind us. I made a wide curve around the base back there, to be on the safe side, though I’m sure they’ve picked us up on radar, if they have it.”

“Safe assumption. There’s no jet on our scope though,” Kit pointed.

“I know, but I caught a shadow on the icepack below. Up here, we get just enough of the sun behind the horizon line, it plays all sorts of funky light tricks. There’s definitely another jet behind us,” Mickey explained.

“Got it,” Kit replied grimly. He flicked on the speaker and said, “Okay, make the jump and hit that complex. Speedy, I’m relying on you for the moment. I have to stay with Mickey until we land this, and look into a shadow on us. I’ll catch up as soon as I can.”

Speedy looked at the others, and pursed her lips. Her heart was already beating too fast, now having to take care of the others heaped on her, that just made things worse. She nodded though, and took a deep breath. “Okay, we know what to do. Hit the ground, meet up on the hill just south of that complex. Then we go in together. Get it?”

“Got it,” Beast Boy replied with a grin, holding his fingers up in an ‘OK’ for the girl in scarlet.

“Good.”

And then the door was open and the sky littered with falling figures.

O*O*O*O*O

Beneath the jet, there was clamped a narrow black bulge. Just barely man-sized, it clutched the underbelly of the jet tightly. Inside the cocoon, kept safe from the frozen air and tremendous speeds, David Cain held his finger to the receiver in his ear. The parabolic microphones slipped onto the craft by his men back at the Caucasus worked perfectly, and he realized that they’d finally reached his employer’s base

He waited a few minutes, to be sure that the parachuting would-be heroes were all safely away from where he’d land, and then he hit the catches to his cocoon. It detached from the jet and soared towards the ground. Cain then struck a triggering mechanism, sprouting potent memory cloth wings from the inside of the cocoon, allowing him to glide safely to the ground. He saw the second jet hurtle past and realized it was the Birds of Prey. They too had launched off their members, and he saw Kasumi’s descent. He diverted from them, and prayed that he could reach Lord Naga first. He had to complete this most personal portion of the mission. He saw the snowy hills looming fast and he gritted his teeth and fought against the powerful winds, and kept the mission foremost in his mind. He would not fail, he mentally vowed to himself yet again.

TT*TT*TT*TT*TT

“The reinforcements are dropping down around that complex over there,” Zinda pointed out to Dinah and Dick as they watched as well. “Another one of them places, like out in Alaska and Russia. What are those places?”

“Upper atmosphere research,” Nightwing said. “I’m guessing this one doesn’t have the military applications the other two have, which is why they were raided. What the hell is Cain planning?”

“I want to know why he’s not using his own people,” Dinah mused as she stood up and stretched. “We landing and intercepting?”

“No,” Dick answered. “The other jet isn’t landing, and I suspect it’s headed for the airport. Or some other nearby landing strip. We need to make sure there’s no one left on board to put the town in danger, so Zinda and I will go after it. You’ll take the others down and find out what’s going…on…” Dick leaned in toward the window, fingers tightening on the arms of his chair.

“What is it?” Zinda asked, taking a moment to look at the falling figures up ahead.

Black Canary watched Dick pull out his binoculars and zoom in on one of the figures in particular. “Who is it?”

“Kasumi,” he said through clenched teeth. “Damn. The League is involved in this.”

“Kasumi?” Dinah asked, and furrowed her brow, trying to remember her crime files from before she retired. “Wait…you mean Cain’s kid? She’s in that mess?”

“Yeah. This just got a whole lot worse,” Dick said grimly. “Get the gang down there, and I’ll join you as soon as I can. Good luck, Dinah.”

TT*O*TT*O*TT

The scattered heroes pulled themselves up from the snow, and out of their chutes as quickly as they could. Beast Boy circled overhead, his green, hawk-like form keeping a close eye on the team as they began to move towards the meeting point. The wind was fierce, making it hard going for all of them as Gar let out a raucous cry of alarm. The heroes looked up to see figures dropping from the sky toward them, and they pressed more quickly for their meeting spot.

It didn’t matter, as the other team began to land as well.

Victor Stone was watching as one of the shapes plummeted in his direction. He recognized the controlled jump, for he’d made two now, and he balled his hands up into fists and prepared. The green-clad teen known as Red Star to his homeland crashed into the hard-packed snow and immediately leaped forward, losing no moments due to his experience.

“Go no further, villain!” he demanded of Victor as he brought down an unyielding punch that staggered his target.

Victor backpedaled several steps from the potent blow and sneered at the newcomer. “I recognize the accent, Russkie. And new age of friendship or not, I ain’t backin’ down to you!” He lunged forward and responded with a hammering punch of his own, and this time, it was Red Star that staggered back, and shook to clear his head.

“You’re strong, steel-like one,” Red Star said. “But Red Star is stronger!”

“Call me Cyborg, and let’s put your money where you’re mouth is!” Vic and Red Star closed with each other, hands that can crush rock to powder clasping, arms able to throw cars straining, backs that could hoist trucks struggling against each other in a classic battle of brute force.

O*TT*O*TT*O

“Spoiler, you’re not supposed to be down here,” Jade said as she landed and glanced at the rookie. Spoiler had taken her chance after all the others had jumped, and no one was in the cabin to stop her. Inexperienced in parachutes, she found herself struggling out of it, but Jade crafted emerald scissors and sliced her free quickly.

“I can’t miss out now, not when we’re close to shutting these guys down,” Spoiler replied as her cloak whipped about her from the wind.

Gar had noticed the green-skinned girl and his eyes popped open wide. Not that the cute girl in purple wasn’t pretty, but Jade was green! He didn’t know her name, but he had to find out and swooped down low and dropped to the ground in human shape.

“Hey there, cutie-pie! Beast Boy at your service, who are you?” he asked Jade as Spoiler looked over at him after a short jump of surprise at his sudden appearance.

“Beast Boy?” Jade asked and then looked around. “Are you from the other plane?”

“Yeah,” He said with a grin. “With Kid Eternity and some newbies. Who are you?”

“Yee-hah! Thanks, green-genes, that’s given us the drop on this putas!” Carla cried exultantly, as she streaked through the snow, her superspeed blows sending Spoiler and Jade flying with the snow she kicked up as Juan approached nearby but ran to Gar instead.

“No wait!” Gar tried to say, but Jade was already reacting, erecting green wall after green wall to try and block the speeding woman, but Carla was too quick.

“I’ve got her!” Spoiler said as she cart wheeled into Carla’s path and hefted a batarang she’d lifted from Dick’s equipment.

“Don’t think so, pinta-tamaño,” Carla sneered as she landed a painfully powerful punch to the side of Spoiler’s head, sending her spinning to the side and face down into the snow.

“Carla! Stop!” Juan called out as Gar shifted into a kangaroo to jump in front of Jade and get her attention. “Yeah, stop!”

“Get with it, hermano,” Carla said as she arced toward Jade. “Help me put this one away!”

“Don’t think so, Speedy Gonzales!” Jade said as she crafted a huge emerald spring under a green floor beneath the snow. “And if you’re with her, Beast Boy, guess you’re not the good guy anymore!”

As Carla streaked at Jade, Juan raced after her, while Gar watched what the green counterpart had in mind. The spring went off and a huge wall of snow came crashing down toward the three of them. Gar shifted into a hummingbird, and flew above the icy tidal wave and watched as it crashed into the twins, and winced.

TT*O*TT*O*TT

[/b]

“Hey! Red and gold are my colors, you thief!” Flamebird demanded as she leaped at Speedy with a vicious flying kick.

The archer barely ducked to the side in time, and drew an arrow as she did so, nocking and firing. “And who are you supposed to be?” She sneered as the boffer arrow hurled across the distance.

Flamebird was prepared though. She saw that the girl was an archer, and knew that if she ducked, she’d fire. So she tucked into a roll instead of just landing, and watched the arrow sail overhead. She did notice the bulky tip and thought, Wow, whoever red arrow is over there, she’s good.

“You don’t recognize Flamebird? Partner of Nightwing? Heart and soul of the Birds of Prey? Time to get a new publicist, I guess,” Flamebird said as she rolled back up to her feet and spun, her arm at full extension and her hand releasing a pair of metallic discs zipping back at the archer.

Speedy saw what Flamebird was doing, and prepared to dive to the side as well, ensuring that one disc was too high. The second disc though, was lower, and well-placed. “Wait…Flamebird? Nightwing’s here?” She never got another word out as the disc struck her temple and sent her limp body spinning into the snow.

Flamebird snatched up the arrow and looked it over. “Duct-taped Nerf ball over a store-bought shaft? I don’t know what I find odder. That a hardened mercenary killer would go so cheap, or that she could get this to fire ten feet with any accuracy, never mind nearly pegging me from fifteen in high winds.”

She walked over to Speedy, and rolled her over onto her back, and looked over the other, hand-crafted arrows made of spare parts and cheap attachments. Flamebird reached for her radio and hoped she could reach Dinah. These weren’t reinforcements, she was sure of it. Not for Cain, at least.

O*TT*O*TT*O

Black Canary had detached from her parachute before she even touched the ground. There were no mistakes she could make, not a moment of wasted effort she could expend as she charged at her target. Everyone knew the story of Kasumi: born to legendary killer David Cain; raised by the best the League of Assassins had, or could kidnap; taught only those lessons needed to make her a ruthless, stone-cold killer; not even speech was a lesson wasted on her when they could teach her every technique for combat and murder the planet had ever known. Fifteen years of this training made the girl in Dinah’s sight nothing more than a flesh-and-blood murder machine.

Cassandra Cain turned as she sensed the approach of Black Canary, and her eyes grew momentarily wide with worry. Everyone knew the Black Canary: born to the legendary first Black Canary; raised by her loving parents as well as the greatest heroes known to history; taught to fight by the renowned “Sensei of Heroes”, Ted Grant, the Wildcat; born with speech that could shatter walls; not a lesson in crime-fighting lost on her. All of this bound together to make the woman in Cassandra’s sight one of the preeminent super-heroines of the modern day.

Kasumi watched in horror as Black Canary charged at her with fury and determination in every single twitch of her muscles. She had no way to communicate the truth to this woman, and even less desire to hurt her. Kasumi continued to watch as Dinah opened her mouth, and the posture of her shoulders, the movement of her chest screamed at Kasumi that she was about to receive the Canary Cry. Her friends were relying on her though, Cassandra couldn’t let them down. Almost in tears, Kasumi’s body reacted without a thought, launching into the air as her arm hurtled a hard-packed ball of snow and ice. The sphere smashed into Canary’s throat, stifling the scream.

Dinah felt the searing pain cut off her sonic attack, and the fury flickered in her eyes, watered with a flash of fear. Like the legendary samurai of myth, Dinah locked eyes with Cassandra, both warriors making the measure of the other in that brief half-moment before collision and both knew who the superior fighter was.

Cassandra raced off to the meeting place after helping to sit Dinah up, to keep her safe while she recovered. She saw the blinking light of Dinah’s communicator, and knew that help would be coming for her, so she turned and left, hoping she wasn’t too late.

TT*O*TT*O*TT

At the Tromsø airfield, the two jets had come to a stop, opposite of the runway, as if eyeing each other warily. The four people stepped from the craft, cautious, tense, prepared for anything. The two costumed men took each other’s measure, and marched at each other, while the pilots followed behind, ready for what would come of this meeting.

“Kid Eternity,” Nightwing growled as he came to a stop, a foot from the ghostly Marvel, eyes staring hard.

“Nightwing,” Kid Eternity replied, the red sash at his waist tugged by the ethereal wind that accompanied him. He glanced up at the tall, lithe man in bruising colors, eyes looking over the rims of his sunglasses to take in the most well-known of the Gotham Bats.

“Good to see you again, Spooky Marvel,” Nightwing said, cracking a grin and offering a friendly wave of his hand.

“Same here, Junior Bird-man,” Kid Eternity teased right back. “Mickey Malone, pilot from Morris Communications.”

“Zinda Blake, privately employed,” Dick introduced with a wink. “It’s been what…six months since we shut down Her Highness and Silk? How’s it been since?”

The pilots approached and shook hands, and then shook hands at the display they’d just watched. The two heroes started to talk shop and Mickey just chuckled.

“Good to meet you, Zinda,” Mickey said. “Say…you’re not related to the Blackhawk, are you?”

“Nope. I’m her!” she said with a prideful grin, thrusting out her chest.

Mickey was happy to enjoy the sight she offered and chuckled. “Wow. That’s great. My grand-uncle was always telling me about you guys.”

“Wait…Malone? Grand-uncle? You mean…?”

”Phantom Eagle in my blood.”

“So those were your guys, Kid?” Nightwing asked as the foursome stood between the two aircraft.

“Yeah. Good bunch of kids. Glad to know you Birds are watching out for them,” Kid replied. “Thought you guys were out of business?”

”Things are changing,” Dick replied. “What the hell are you doing with Cassandra Cain? She’s a spy you know, David Cain’s involved in this.”

“She told us. We helped her get away from Sivana and the Fearsome Five, and now we’re after one of the kids who got kidnapped,” Kid quickly filled Dick in on the kidnapped Vibe, and the events prior at the STAR Labs in Keystone, then listened in on the two raids Dick’s team had tried to stop.

“You know, I’ve got some bad, bad ideas about what this means then, Kid,” Dick said as he crouched down on the top of the ramp into his jet, looking down on Kid Eternity. “This Vibe…Sivana with his hands on ionospheric heaters…and some other group providing Cain muscle in place of his own League.”

“If they want their own men in place of trained killers like the League, that means it’s personal,” Kit replied as he nodded in agreement with Nightwing’s assessment. “Personal…like a grudge, but there’s no real sign of a vendetta. So then it’s personal, like a crusade.”

“A holy crusade…a religious mission, using HAARP and Vibe as a weapon,” Nightwing said as both men started to come to the same conclusion. “KOBRA.”

“His damned Age of Chaos, his Kali Yuga,” Kit affirmed. “We gotta save Vibe and shut them down fast!”

The pilots watched as Dick pulled out the turbo-charged snowmobile and Kid Eternity took the sky, the pair speeding into the white expanse, dread gnawing at the heroes’ hearts over the implications of KOBRA, world-wide terrorist group with David Cain and Sivana at their service.

“So…” Zinda said as she turned to look at the handsome profile of the other pilot.

“So…” Mickey nodded as he looked into Zinda’s pretty eyes. “I hear Tromsø has a kicking nightlife.”

“Want to go party up the end of the world?”

“Sounds good to me.”

[Lissilambe]

Chapter Three
The voice in Dinah’s ear helped her start to come back out of the darkness. She felt sore, but everything seemed to work as she stretched her limbs and stood slowly.

“Black Canary? C’mon, where are you?” Nightwing called through the earpiece. “You need to hear this!”

“Yeah, yeah, stop shouting in my head,” Canary said as she looked around. She saw the trail in the snow, where that witch Kasumi must have run off. “What is it?”

“Stop fighting those others, round up the troops and get them to the installation double-time,” Dick told her quickly. She could hear the snowmobile’s engine in the background, and wind rustling over his words, meaning he was pressing the vehicle all out.

“But Kasumi…” she started to say as she looked around, wondering where the others were. She noticed a splash of red and gold in the distance, moving towards her.

“Apparently on our side,” Nightwing assured her. “I have it on best authority. Those kids are with Kid Eternity, and they’ve been tracking down Sivana. Our best guess is KOBRA is behind them.”

Dinah visibly winced at that news as she saw Flamebird coming closer. “Got it. I’ll get the others and meet you there.”

“We’re gonna be moving in when we get there, so just follow on in when you show up. Nightwing out.”

“BC, I don’t think they’re the bad guys!” Flamebird called out as she raced through the snow to her team-mate. “The girl I fought, there’s no way she’s with the League.”

“Yeah, Nightwing just confirmed that. We need to get everyone together, this just got way, way bigger,” Black Canary said as she nodded. “Let’s find this girl you fought, and is that a green hawk over that way, near Jade?” she asked as she pointed to a battle out in the horizon.

Flamebird pulled out a small pair of binoculars and zoomed in. “Yep.”

“I wonder where they dug Beast Boy up from? Okay, you go and get Jade and Beast Boy to stop fighting and explain we need to get everyone together. I’ll go find this girl you fought. We have to round up everyone double-time, got it?”

Flamebird nodded and took off for the green combatants, as Black Canary took a brief moment to look off in the direction of the installation, the direction Kasumi’s trail led. “Hope the Kid’s right,” she murmured and then backtracked Flamebird’s path to find Speedy.

*Hail*Kali*

Within the complex, Lord Naja-naja, Kobra, the leader and master of the fanatical cult bearing his name, stood before a large hall, dozens and dozens of his followers assembled before him. They all knelt and stared up adoringly at the figure, his brass-colored chain glinting in the light, the sweeping dark green tabard and cloak aiding his regal look. He looked down on his people and held his hands out, a cold, cruel smile creasing his face as he took in the small army. There was no comfort in that smile, not for anyone who didn’t bear in his or her heart the mission of raining chaos over the world.

At his side, Eve stood and gave a similarly icy smile of satisfaction. Lean, muscled legs showed, slim but strong arms were bared, her body barely hidden under her scandalous attire, bearing the heraldry and colors of her beloved master. Beside Eve stood her most loyal ally, her truest friend, Silque. From head to toe she was swathed in flowing, diaphanous silken garments, blood red and curling and flowing around her like living things. Only her chocolate brown eyes showed clearly, and they looked at the madman at the podium, as he prepared to address his followers. She looked at the mass of zealots before them, and realized that there were three-times that many scattered across the breadth of this base, listening in on computers, over the loudspeakers, through communicators. She hated this. This was not what she and her beloved friend Eve were about. She felt sad inside as she listened to Lord Naja start to speak, thunderous proclamations of divine fury and bloody sacrifice that fired the hearts of all but her. She watched as Eve stared adoringly at this man, and realized they’d lost their way. Their own dream died with each word of his dream that burned into Eve’s heart and soul. But Silque loved her friend, and she wouldn’t abandon her now. She grew frightened, but resolved that Kid Eternity and Nightwing would pay for bringing them to this point, this moment of self-destruction.

“The enemy comes, my children!” Lord Naja said to them, his deep, sonorous voice filling the air and roaring through the cultists’ spirits, making them rise in response. “They think to stop us from our holy work, but they shan’t succeed! Their blood will pave the way for the blood of this poor, sad world! Nothing shall keep us from bringing forth our beloved Kali Yuga! Nothing shall keep us from at last making all humanity see the truth of our Age! Even if you fall, your spirit will soar to join the power that will crumble this sad façade of civility, this weak pretense of culture! Know that in this moment, live or die, stand or fall, you are the tide that will sweep the weak and ruined from the Earth, and make the truth stand free and tall and proud!”

Across the base, hundreds of cultists cried out in response, chanting Lord Naja’s name as Eve’s arms wrapped lovingly around one of his biceps, her head leaning into his shoulder and looking up adoringly into his face. He held his hands high, and encouraged the chanting, then brought it to an end by merely extending his fingers out straight and widening his stance.

“Now! They come! Destroy them, my children! Destroy them!”

With a resounding cry of exultation, the zealots turned and started to stream into the halls, headed to the icy plains outside, to meet the arrival of the costumed heroes and destroy them, the thunderous roar of hundreds of racing boots filling every foot of the complex.

“Come, beloved,” Lord Naja-naja said with a sweep of his cloak. “Let us go and see to the cannon.” Eve nodded as she walked alongside him, holding close, followed by the red-swathed Silque, her somber eyes watching the last minutes pass for them all.

O*TT*O*TT*O

“Listen up, and listen closely, my fearsome fellows,” Sivana said to the four villains huddled around him. He was speaking softly, and he eyed each of them closely from behind the thick round glasses. “I will not let my grand creation be used to destroy the world willy-nilly, is that understood?”

“I don’t get you, Sivana,” Shimmer snapped. “You built this…Auroral Cannon. Why, if you didn’t intend to use it?”

“I do intend to use it, but only after everyone has had their chance to tremble at the idea of it in my hands,” Sivana replied, sounding almost frustrated that she didn’t follow along. “The world must acknowledge my brilliance. They can’t do that if they don’t know I’m responsible for all this destruction. It doesn’t matter to me if I blow up everything or not, as long as the world is forced to take my threat seriously. That’s all that matters in this world! What people think of you!”

“You’re bonkers,” Gizmo sneered. “You want to stop Kobra, you stop him. I think I speak for the four of us when I say we’re outta here!”

“Oh no…no, no, no,” Sivana chuckled as he drummed his fingertips together. “You don’t understand. I created you all for KOBRA’s uses. I made all of you, and I made it so that none of you were forced to be loyal to Lord Snake-boy.”

“We appreciate that, Sivana, but that doesn’t mean you own us,” Jinx said as she stood up and draped fingers over Mammoth’s huge shoulder. “Come along, it is time to go.”

“Ahh…but it does mean I own you,” He laughed as he tapped the glass of a watch strapped to his scrawny wrist. “I didn’t make you loyal to KOBRA like I was asked. I made you all loyal to me.” The four villains stopped as a drive, an instinct deep in their genetic coding made them turn toward the mad scientist. Shimmer in particular glared in horror and fury, while Jinx shook in anger. “Now, my pets. Here’s the plan.”

TT*O*TT*O*TT

“Okay, what’s the plan?” Kid Eternity asked as he landed next to Nightwing, and the pair stared down at the main entrance of the research station. The rows of antennae stood off to the side, the array of attached huts surrounding the main building on the other side.

“I think it’s safe to say that the main controls, and power generator, are in that main building,” Nightwing said as he looked over the structures. “Vibe is probably attached to that generator, since they wouldn’t want too much loss of the power they drain from him.”

“Makes sense,” Kid Eternity replied. “Do we dare wait for the others to show up? We know for a fact that Sivana and his Fearsome Five are in there. Though they are, thankfully, only four right now. And we know Kobra's in there, with who knows how many of his cultists.”

The doors started to open up, all across the complex, as waves of orange and green streamed out, armed with machetes that glinted in the base’s floodlights. Kid Eternity and Nightwing watched from the slope as the streams turned into one large flowing river surging in their direction.

Nightwing pointed at a cultist, then another, and another and a fourth and then threw his hands up in the air. “I’d say a lot. A lot of cultists. Pardon me if I don’t try and count.”

“You’re forgiven. Guess we have our answer,” Kid Eternity agreed grimly. He shook his head and took a deep breath, something that rattled the detective at his side. Whenever a ghost took a deep breath, Dick Grayson had learned over the years, it meant that something big, and something bad, was about to happen. “We have no time to wait for our friends. You have got to get in there and save Vibe. I’ll take care of KOBRA.”

Dick was about to argue, but saw the look in Kit Freeman’s eyes behind the tinted glasses. They were hard, they were focused, and Kid Eternity’s form started to shimmer. “Good luck, buddy,” he said instead and backed off from the spectral Marvel, giving him space and starting to find a roundabout way toward the main building.

Kid Eternity took several steps to the very peak of the slope, staring down at the charging hordes. They saw him, and they charged him, and he merely looked back down, his arms slowly raising up higher, and higher. He felt like his heart would be racing, beads of sweat would be pouring down his forehead, his chest swelled with air, if he lived. Instead, he mimicked this all as his spirit tightened up. He listened to his mentor and companion, Mister Keeper, but shook his head.

“I have to do it. This is the way it has to be. We both know it.” He listened again and nodded. “I know. I know it might be more than I can handle. But Nightwing…the Birds and the others…they need this. The world needs this.”

As the horde of cultists reached halfway to the top of the slope, Kid Eternity held back no longer.

“ETERNITY!”

It was the loudest word ever cried. It rang across the heavens and tore into the spirit realm with a force unparalleled. Every erg of power within Kid Eternity was stretched to the maximum as the field behind him shimmered with slowly appearing beings. Stretching out behind him, as one powerful man stood next to the shaking, trembling Kid Eternity, who felt stretched and torn and tattered as he held his focus.

“King Leonidas, your three hundred are needed once more,” Kid Eternity said in a soft, strained whisper. The iron-hard master of war merely nodded and raised his spear to the men assembled behind him. The Spartans shouted a war cry and charged, a cry and a charge that halted even the driven cultists as they poured over the top of the hill and Kit merely offered a weak smile at the sight. The crash of bodies, the screams of pain and flow of blood filled the snow-covered field and Kid Eternity watched as he slowly dropped to his knees.

O*TT*O*TT*O

With the building emptied out in an effort to kill his friend, Nightwing easily moved through the halls. He stuck to the shadows, slipping from dark area to dark area with practiced ease and speed. He looked up toward the ceiling from time to time, following along the paths of the large pipes and cables, correctly surmising that they’d lead him to the complex’s command center.

Inside the room, Nightwing looked around the room, examining at a glance the rows of computers and monitors and mechanical arrays, trying to determine his next step. He approached one monitor and nodded as he realized it was a power regulator. Exactly what would monitor the drain from Vibe and the flow of energy into the generator and toward the beam projector. He was working out the workings when his senses alerted him at someone’s approach.

With a leap to the side, he narrowly avoided a lashing red blur. He looked at the two women and narrowed his eyes. “Her Highness and Silk? What the hell are you two doing here?”

“I am Eve now, and I’m the master’s consort,” replied the taller, less-dressed woman, as she sneered at the former identities the two women used. “Our days of being petty criminals are long over. We’re no longer toys for the amusement of yourself and Kid Eternity!”

Silque snapped her arms, tendrils of red silk flaring from her as she stepped in toward Nightwing, who leaped back from the attack, a crackle of static electricity alarming him. “This isn’t like the two of you! Grifters, sure, but this is way beyond simple confidence games!”

“Far beyond them,” Eve confirmed as she vaulted a railing and landed on the bottom-most section of the command center, near Nightwing and lashing at him with a skilled sidekick. “I have found my true love, and he has given me the power to avenge my humiliation on Kid Eternity!”

Nightwing easily blocked the kick and prepared to throw a blow of his own in return, only to find himself stuck. Despite the distance he put between he and Silque, she had still reached him, as if the material she was wrapped in had no limit to its range. He spun and prepared to use the snare to throw her, but more tendrils of red lashed out, wrapping tightly, crushing like steel and Nightwing began to feel electricity coursing through him. His insulated suit spared the worst of it, but he felt it still causing his muscles to twitch and soften.

“Ah, poor Nightwing. You shouldn’t have helped out Eternity in his need to humiliate me,” Eve replied, as she drew a sacrificial dagger from the small of her back. “A woman scorned, and all that.”

Just then, the wall tore apart and several costumed figures stormed the room. With a casual brush of his massive, black-clad arm, Mammoth powered Silque from the captive Nightwing, the red tendrils snapping away and letting the hero free himself as he watched Gizmo fire a white beam from a jury-rigged device that sent Eve spinning to the other side of the room stunned. Sivana stood in the middle of his Fearsome group and snickered in glee.

“Oh good, I’ve been saved…the Fearsome Five is here,” Nightwing deadpanned as he watched the villains move in to secure the room.

“And don’t you forget it, junior,” Sivana sneered. “Don’t you ever forget it was Sivana’s Five that saved you!”

More of the room crumbled away, leaving the center of the base a gaping wound as Lord Naja-naja appeared, surrounded by three more costumed women. He gave a smug smile of his own. “Ah, Sivana. But for how long? You have performed exactly as I expected. And so while you were busy in America, I took the Lazarus Pit you modified for me, and crafted my own metahuman agents. My Strike Force Kobra, loyal to the cause! Rest assured, no one not devoted to the Kali Yuga leaves this place alive!” He laughed hard as he raised his arms up in triumph, and signaled his women to battle.

[Lissilambe]

Chapter Four
Nightwing spared a glance to one side, then the other, taking careful measure of the eleven villains surrounding him. He tensed, knowing the inevitable collision would give him the moment he needed to spring for Vibe’s prison. Only a room away, and he glanced in that direction, and he prepared to move when these two powerful forces started.

As if on cue, Mammoth turned and charged toward the Strike Force women, preparing to bowl into them with his massive bulk. Everyone had paused to take stock of the forces, each side wondering just how much damage they could inflict on the other. The new arrivals of Strike Force Kobra were now the target of Mammoth’s charge. The woman in the middle, draped in long, flowing green gown and topped in a three-faced golden helmet, barely registered the incoming attack as the Middle Eastern woman to her right drew out wicked looking daggers and spun swiftly and the woman clad in purple leathers to her left uncoiled her whip, letting the metallic length crackle in anticipation.

But Mammoth never reached them, for Eve leaped at him, landing on the broad back and her fingers gripped the thick neck.

“Ahh!” Mammoth cried as his legs grew shaky and he staggered. Eve spun over the ample shoulders and stood face-to-face with him.

“Mmm, tasty power!” she said with a wicked laugh and drew off his tremendous powers, hurling his momentum and strength in a massively powerful kinetic bolt that scattered the Fearsome Five, sending rubble and debris everywhere. “You just stay here, dinner,” she told Mammoth, who struggled to move, but found it being leeched into her and firing at his allies in silvery kinetic blasts.

Sivana picked himself up from the sudden blast and shook his head. “Tricky. Very tricky.” He looked at the other three villains, and shook his head again. “Well, my pets, you all have a good fight. Do Daddy proud, and I’ll come and get you some other day!” He flicked a switch on his belt buckle and the rings on each of the Five shattered, as he deftly hit the second switch and disappeared in a blink.

“Sivana!” Shimmer screamed in fury as she watched the man teleport away. She stood up but before she could do anything else, her hands were bound up in the metallic coils, and fiery pain scoured her nerves, making her scream in pain and drop back to her knees.

“Mmm, Shimmer, right?” Syonide asked with a sweet, scary smile as she snapped the length of metal and it raked over Shimmer’s knuckles. “Like the leathers. Bet you and I could have lots of fun. Maybe I’ll just keep you for myself when this is all done. Think you’d like that?”

Shimmer snarled and forced herself forward a step, but Syonide made a backward leap and again snapped the length of whip and caused her bound victim to cry out in pain. “Oh no…no, no. I know about that fifteen foot thing. You stay right at the end of my sixteen foot long whip, love. I don’t think we’ll be doing an transmuting of my lungs or leathers or anything else, nope!”

Silque wasted no time as she leaped over Nightwing and lashed out at Jinx with her scarlet tendrils. Jinx was focused on Lord Naja and her hands raised up to speak commands to the air when the bonds entangled her. Silque moved in quickly, her silken bonds gagging the sorceress and tangling up her limbs, letting the electricity flow over the scantily-clad Jinx, providing far better effect on this victim. “No magic for you, sorry,” Silque said softly as she rolled in behind her, ducking Gizmo’s beam and using the bound villainess for cover from her partner.

“Get…away…bitch!” Mammoth grunted and got his fingers onto Eve, shocking her and leaving her helpless as she was tossed to the far end of the room. She crashed against the bank of computers and slumped to the floor dazed.

“Which of Trinity’s faces shall see you fall, lummox?” asked the three-faced woman in green as her helmet spun and the Face of War, furious and cold-looking, stared down at him. Mammoth, weakened by Eve, found himself grunting in pain as beams of raw force battered into him now, driving him back to the floor.

The woman called Dervish spun with tremendous speed toward the bound Jinx, the wicked, curved knives in her hands barely visible. “And now to have fun with my former partner,” Dervish said as she bounced from Jinx like a top, each time curving in at a different place, and letting the knives slice into Jinx’s body, shearing into her midsection, then across her chest, then along a leg. Jinx screamed in pain, muffled by the silken scarves, as Silque looked away but held the woman fast. “We were meant to be together, traitorous witch! Why did you betray the master?”

Gizmo was zooming across the cracked and broken roof, staring at the sudden turn of fortunes his team-mates were facing. It was clear that they wouldn’t last much longer, and Sivana had abandoned them. He looked for an easy exit to slip out of, so he could survive at least, but then he saw Eve collapse. He bit his lip and dropped down toward her.

“Hey there, tramp,” Gizmo said as he landed so he straddled her stomach. She looked up at him and lashed out with her hands, gripping his shoulders and starting to drain. “Oh no. Don’t work that way,” he snapped as he reached over his shoulder to his backpack. “I ain’t got a power like Mammoth, check fer yerself!” Eve stared up and her eyes went wide with the realization as his arm came back down in a wicked arc. She heard a terribly humming, and saw the metal cylinder in his hand but could see nothing else.

But she felt it. She felt her skin, muscle and bone tear and rend into tiny pieces as he stabbed into her chest. “Vibro-blade. Got the idea from helping Sivana examine Vibe. Mebbe I shoulda just run, but I’m not lettin’ my friends die without getting some blood fer ourselves too!”

“AHHH!” Eve screamed out as he left the vibro-blade buried in her body. She reached up and gripped the high-tech hilt, tearing the blade from her body as blood flowed like a bubbling fountain. “My…love!” she cried out, reaching for Naja, whom she saw nearby. He glanced back at her, and she screamed in pain as Gizmo started to lift away from her. “Save…s-save…me…” She coughed pitifully, her body feeling cold and her eyes growing unfocused.

Lord Naja-naja looked at his consort, draped over the floor and bleeding, and then looked away. Dispassionately, he stalked away from the Strike Force and toward the room holding the controls for his Auroral Cannon. The time had come to make the world bleed and die much like his consort was doing even now.

“There is no way I’m letting you any nearer,” Nightwing swore as he stepped in front of the doorway. “Your plan ends here, Kobra.”

Lord Naja appraised the young man clad in ebony, streaked in azure. The body held power, he carried himself with grace and skill. Naja’s eyes grew appreciative and he gave a bow. “You are a challenge worthy to my ascension. I shall send your spirit to its reward with honors.” A punch sped toward Nightwing, but the hero blocked it as he stepped in to plant his knee into Naja’s midsection, but the villain dropped his forehead into Nightwing’s own. Pain seared both men as the battle began.

Without a pause, Naja’s powerful arms wrapped Nightwing’s chest and hugged hard and sudden, as Dick felt something snap inside of him. Undeterred by the sharp shortness of breath signaling the broken rib, Nightwing brought his clenched fists sharply into both sides of the base of Naja’s neck, forcing a momentary numbness that dropped the hero back to his feet. Naja didn’t even flinch when he thrust his foot forward, powering into the younger man’s stomach, but Dick knew he’d never get out of the way of the blow in time. Instead, he chose to take the blow, feeling abdominal muscles ripple and fold while he drove his fist down with all his might into Naja’s knee. The villain cried out in pain, but also rolled over, bringing his good leg up so the muscled, callused calf crashed into the side of Nightwing’s whole head, sending him spinning and rolling to the side.

Both men pulled themselves up to their feet, panting, gasping, blood leaking as their eyes stared at each other. Once more, they closed with each other, as Nightwing’s hands battered Naja’s face and Naja slipped his leg between the hero’s own. His forward momentum enabled him to force Nightwing to fall backward. Naja cried in pain as he needed to use his ruined knee to do this, but succeeded in angling his fist to strike Dick’s sternum and the welcoming taste of the young man’s breath on his face made him smile as he felt Nightwing’s leg catch his short rib and continue the villain’s forward momentum, sailing through the air and smashing into the door. Fragments scattered everywhere as Naja landed hard in the room with the cannon’s controls as Nightwing lay on his back, struggling to regain his breath, and Naja looked up at the controls, trying to find it in him to stand one last time.

“EVE!” Silque screamed when she saw Gizmo stab her dearest friend. Jinx was suddenly freed of her bonds as the loyal companion bounded and swung through the battlefield to reach the dying woman. Her tendrils lashed up furiously, snatching Gizmo as he reached the roof.

“Shit!” Gizmo cried out as he felt the electricity pour into him. He reached for his gear, but it was too late. The fabric was tearing his harness and backpack away, ripping them to pieces as another tendril wrapped around the dwarf’s neck and thrust him hard into the floor, where he stopped moving.

“Eve,” Silque cried, tears staining the fabric covering her face as she held the dead body in her arms. “Why didn’t you listen to me? For once…just once…”

“I’m…nobody’s…bitch…” Shimmer grunted and closed her eyes so hard, tears squeezed out and ran over her cheeks. Her fingers reached out to grip Syonide’s whip. Suddenly, the coil vanished in a puff of harmless smoke, leaving only a foot hanging from the handle in the purple-clad woman’s hand.

“Time to go,” Syonide said as she started to run for the opening her team had made into the room.

“I don’t think so!” Shimmer shouted as she forced herself to run after her, legs shaking. She saw her brother getting back to his own feet and looming over Trinity. “Worm…turns…” she growled in pain.

“I do not think so,” Trinity said simply as her helmet spun and the languid-looking Face of Time spun to face them and waves of temporal distortion froze them in place, side-by-side.

Dervish grinned and licked her bloody knives clean. Trinity called out, “Kill time, Dervish. Your speed should keep you moving, just do not lose momentum.” The spinning killer nodded and started her movement, the edged human cyclone spinning with deadly intent toward the brother and sister villains, helpless before her.

At least, until the green cage suddenly appeared around Dervish, and she found herself yanked away. Dervish watched as twins streaked past her cage and snatched Shimmer from the field, their speed also allowing them to move through the field and yank the redheaded transmuter from Trinity.

Red Star and Cyborg stood shoulder to shoulder, the former’s right arm leveled at Mammoth while the latter’s left arm matched it, a metallic attachment at the end firing a coherent beam of white sound to parallel the raw blast of power coming from the Russian hero. Mammoth felt the twin beams batter into his back and he again dropped to his knees in pain.

“Sorry for your loss,” Black Canary said as she tapped Silque on the shoulder. The red-garbed woman turned to see who was behind her, and Dinah lashed out with a powerful kick that leveled Silque.

“No…” Eve whimpered as the blood coating her wound started to gain a clay-like appearance, and sealed the mortal injury up. She smiled and kicked with a leg, tripping Black Canary as she sensed the power inside the blond heroine. “I’m…a walking Lazarus Pit…” She chuckled to herself, giggling with girlish glee. She reached out for Canary only to get struck hard on the side of the head.

“No touching,” Speedy said, already stringing another boffer arrow and firing, then drawing a third and releasing. “I don’t know what you do, but I bet Canary wouldn’t like it.” The arrows struck her in the forehead, and then the nose, making her bleed and battering her backward.

“Hey there,” Juan said as he held Shimmer’s left arm, and smiled at her.

“Remember us, chica?” Carla asked, as she held Shimmer’s right arm. “You tried to drop us into tar, then lava?”

Shimmer nodded, the world whirling past her too quickly to register enough focus to use her powers.

“Good. Just wanted to make sure you realized who saved your life,” Juan said as the twins let her go suddenly and peeled away from the onrushing wall in opposite directions as Shimmer crashed into it with a loud crack.

Kasumi leaped in and without even losing a half-second of movement, lashed out with a pair of powerful blows, knocking Syonide unconscious and sending Trinity staggering in the other direction. She stood up fully as Mammoth also stood up, looming over her. “Don’t matter how hard you hit, you can’t hurt me. And I can splatter you!”

Kasumi smiled at him and shook her head, almost sadly. Then she cart wheeled to the side and left Mammoth staring at the direction she had come from, his eyes going wide.

“Yee-hah! Ride ‘em, Beast Boy!” Spoiler cried out with a laugh as she rode on the back of the charging green rhinoceros that smashed into the villainous muscle man. It was the last straw. After the pummeling he’d taken for the battle, he had no more, and with a heavy thud, he crashed to the floor as Spoiler and Beast Boy both shouted, “Timmmbeerrrrr!”

Silque rolled over and her tendrils started to creep toward Speedy, but Canary had recovered her wits. She gave a smug smile and then the famed sonic attack rolled over Eve and Silque, leaving both villainesses to fall to the ground in heaps. Speedy then stepped over and helped Dinah to her feet.

Trinity moved into the middle of the battlefield, and her helmet started a massive assault on the gathered heroes. The Face of War blasted Red Star and Cyborg, and battered debris into the twins, not allowing any of them a moment’s respite; the Face of Time stared at Beast Boy and Spoiler, freezing them in place as the horrific-looking Face of Chaos turned its baleful gaze on Dinah and Speedy, leaving them screaming at the fearsome illusions tearing at their senses of reality.

“KOBRA will prevail,” Trinity said angrily as she assaulted the heroes, the blast of War making the four heroes scream in pain as darkness threatened to overwhelm them. “The Kali Yuga shall arrive, and this small taste will herald that truth!”

Flamebird had watched from just outside, and saw the devastation, but now she was ready. She took a deep breath, knowing she had one chance at this. She wrapped her face in her cloak, closed her eyes and ran with all her might in the direction of Trinity, hoping the woman stayed true to form, and continued to choose to stand in place, tall and proud.

With a push of those muscled, smooth legs, Flamebird propelled herself into the green-robed KOBRA cultist and made her grunt and stagger. Before she could recover though, Flamebird slapped a hand against the Face of Chaos, and Trinity screamed in pain as the flare bomb went off in her direct vision.

Speedy’s world came back into focus, the floor returning to beneath her, touch and sight and sound all restoring to the way they should be. She’d lost most of her arrows, and she saw that Flamebird had given her only one shot. She grabbed the only arrow in reach, nocked it, and with a short prayer of forgiveness, released the broadheaded shaft.

Again, Trinity screamed in pain, but it was cut short as the razor-sharp arrow sliced her neck, cutting her vocal cords and making the cultist clutch her throat and stagger to her knees. Speedy had her eyes closed now, and looked away, feeling sick but her shot had struck true and she also sighed in relief.

The heroes started to stand now as Trinity sank and collapsed. Black Canary heard someone behind her and turned to see David Cain approach her. “Payback’s a bitch,” he said as he slugged her hard in the back of the head and she dropped to the ground. He turned and headed off again, following the path his daughter took.

Naja stood in the control room and prepared to activate the cannon, but Nightwing put a hand on his shoulder and spun him around.

”I was ready for that,” Naja said as he planted a sharpened piece of metal he’d snatched from the floor into Nightwing’s abdomen. Nightwing staggered back, just long enough for Naja to hit the start sequence and begin to hobble away from the room, laughing.

Nightwing staggered back to the shattered remains of the main room and cried out to Jade, who had Dervish bound up in green chains. “Get up there and block that beam!” he ordered the green-skinned woman. She stared back at him, startled.

”Me?”

“You! You can do more than make objects, so do it! Your sponsor said you can, so do him proud!” Nightwing barked, his hand clutched over his wound, and turning the fingers scarlet.

Jade heard the humming from the Vibro-cage and looked out through the tattered roof, watching the energies build up. She stared up into the air, trying to find the right mental trigger, knowing she needed to fly, not knowing how. She stared and she concentrated and she shook, and then those watching her were startled to see her turn bluish and glow blue and hurtle up into the air with great speed.

“Whoa!” she cried out in shock, her face breaking into a smile as she felt the ice-cold air meet her. “I can fly! I’m blue! But I can fly!” She darted up above the antenna array and watched as the Speed Force-laced energy build up. She closed her eyes, arms spread wide as she tried to figure out what else she could do. She reached back for her green, staining her arms that color as she remained encased in blue, and a green brick wall appeared before her as the cannon fired and battered her defenses. She shook and recoiled from the attack, but held firm as the cannon powered into her brick wall. Her forehead beaded up with sweat, and she pointed her arms toward the beam, continually trying to strengthen the cracking brick wall as she battled the auroral cannon.

Naja was hobbling as fast as he could toward his escape craft, the knee in agony, his body feeling the effects of the battle with Nightwing. It was then Kasumi stepped out from the shadows to block his path.

“Get out of the way, little girl,” he snarled but she shook her head. He could sense the skill in her and he was in no shape to battle her. But he stood defensively. “Come and get me then!”

She stepped in, one fast blow catching him in the torso and making him cry in pain, but he also grinned and spat blood over her face. Her face wrinkled up in a silent cry of eww as she prepared to finish the villain. But the grin remained as she began to guess why.

“Oh yes. A poison capsule in my tooth. But poison for my foe,” He said as the poisoned blood numbed her limbs and she dropped to the ground. “You’re young, but apparently, not too young to die.”

“No!” Cain said as he tackled Naja. The two criminals rolled away from Kasumi, as Naja sent a powerful palm strike to Cain’s jaw.

“You want to save her? Save her then! The poison will kill her soon, and you know who has antidotes,” he chuckled, referring to Cain’s enemies back trying to stop his cannon.

“We ever cross paths again, and I’ll kill you for endangering my girl,” Cain said as he stood up and grabbed Cassandra.

“Speedy, get over here!” Cyborg called to his scarlet archer. She looked up from where she was kneeling and ran to join him. He had moved next to the cage, and his arm was plugged into it with several metal cables jutting out of his fingers. He looked at Speedy, his red eye flickering rapidly. “I’ve…I’ve reached Vibe, he’s in there, talk to him…I gotta…concentrate…”

Speedy looked at Cyborg and then said, “Vibe, we need your help! Wake up, pal, and stop this! You’re in there, and we need you. The twins, they want you back! We all want you back! We can’t be a team without you!” she cried out, the words being heard by Cyborg and channeled by his nanites into the connectors. “Please, Vibe! Be our hero!”

Suddenly, the cannon stopped firing, and the controls started to spark and sputter, as Vibe reached out in his prison and redirected his energies. He heard the plea, and he refused to be weak and trapped again. Instead, he redirected the power and struggled to overload the cannon.

Jade felt a sudden relief of pressure on her wall as the cannon ceased firing, and she began to faint, falling to the ground below.

“No way am I letting a hot chick in green skin fall to her death!” Gar said as he shifted into a large eagle, flying up and catching Jade’s limp body. He struggled to stay airborne, coming down in a less than graceful fall into the snow, but he and Jade were safe in the ground.

“Time to run, people!” Cyborg said as he let the connections to the cannon disintegrate and flake away. “The Cannon’s going to explode!”

As the heroes raced for the exits, Carla noticed Cassandra lying still near the edge of the room. Without a moment’s thought, Carla streaked toward the girl, and grabbed her, as other heroes found various villains, Speedy and Flamebird pulling Trinity’s unconscious body from the installation.

As the twenty-one figures escaped the building, the cannon exploded. A huge ball of fire lifted up into the air as other explosions tore the antennae array apart, shattered the main building and threw huge piles of debris and snow into the air, causing flurries of ashen snowfall over the area. Outside, dozens of KOBRA cultists lay scattered, the snows soaked in blood, and Kid Eternity kneeling in the center, looking pale, looking dim, the ethereal breeze that tugged at his hair and sash gone. He looked over at the escape and smiled weakly, nodded and lay back into the snow to rest.

“I hate to be a worrier,” Dinah said to Dick, who she was supporting. “But I’ve tried to contact Zinda, to fly out here, and I’ve gotten nothing.”

[Lissilambe]

Epilogue
The gathered heroes crept slowly toward the two aircraft. It had been a long trek, as they tended to their wounds, and waited for the authorities to take Strike Force Kobra and the Fearsome Five from their custody. They regretted that Sivana, David Cain, Jinx and Kobra himself had all apparently escaped, but the authorities were very pleased at the defeat of KOBRA’s plan, and helped the two groups return to the airfield, and cordon off their jets.

And now, they faced the two vehicles and paused for a moment.

“Okay, Red Star, check out your jet, Cyborg, go check out your jet, see if we find any clue of what happened to our pilots,” Kid Eternity said as the group stood and waited between the two craft.

They watched the two powerhouses climb up the stairs to their respective craft, waiting anxiously for the first word to come out. That word came from Red Star, and it came quickly.

“Oh!”

The startled recoil in Red Star’s stance drew the heroes up the ramp and barging into the cabin of the sleek, advanced jet, and then all of them stopped suddenly, eyes wide, gasps and exclamations flooding the air.

“Whoa!”

“Hey!”

“You go, sister!”

“You dog, Malone!”

“Right here? In the jet?”

“…”

“Are they…?”

“Damn, she’s hot!”

“Damn, he’s hot!”

“We’re on a mission here, people!”

“This isn’t the backseat of a Dodge Durango!”

Zinda Blake and Mickey Malone looked up from under the blanket and grinned sheepishly, tucking under the blanket a little further at the nearly two dozen eyes staring at them.

“I think the kids are home, dear,” Mickey said as he glanced at Zinda.

“Yep.”

TT*O*TT*O*TT

The party was in full swing back at home. Music blared as the heroes ate food and drank sodas and got to know each other and what led them to the top of the world, relaxing in the comfort of Kathy Kane’s mansion. The actress who once ruled the silver screen twenty years prior watched the celebration with concerned eyes, and sipped at a glass of wine. She did smile as she looked at her daughter Bette, a.k.a. Flamebird, dancing in her silly red and gold costume with the strange boy, Vibe. He looks so much like Jay Garrick, she mused. And yet so different too, the black hair, the dark eyes, there was a face like that as well, that she’d seen before. She shook her head, finished her drink and walked off for the other room. She passed by the young Hispanic woman, Carla was the name she overheard, and chuckled quietly as she listened to the woman gripe about all the guys seeming to get all bothered by “that scrawny gringo chica, Speedy. What do they see in her, Juan? Juan?” She felt bad for the brother as he was elbowed in the ribs, but the rest of the conversation faded into the music and laughter.

She entered the other room and closed the door behind her. It was her film room, and she always felt at home in here. She looked at the three heroes gathered within and listened to them as they looked up at her. The feminine voice over the speaker-phone seemed to be rattling off lists of the heroes.

“Hey there, Mrs. Kane. Thanks for putting up with us all,” Black Canary said as she sipped some wine. “We’re sorry for the sudden intrusion, but we didn’t really have any other place to go with this huge mob.”

“Not a problem, Dinah,” Kathy said to her as she sat down next to the glamorous heroine. “The Birds of Prey are always welcome here. You’ve done a lot for my daughter, and I hate seeing her in that damn costume, but I know…I know she’s going to come back to me whenever she goes out. And I know it’s because of you two,” She pointed to Dinah and Dick, “so my home is your home.”

“I’m still going to get an autograph of yours before I leave?” Kid Eternity asked Kathy with a grin, as he removed his sunglasses and put them to the side on the table. “I’ve always loved your movies.”

“Of course, Kit. Of course,” Kathy nodded. “So you guys are really going to do this?” she asked as she pulled up a list of names.

“We’re imposing a lot, we know, but Mr. Morris is willing to help out as well, along with my silent partner,” Nightwing answered. “A team for training some of these new kids, giving them the chance your daughter had, giving them people they can feel comfortable with while learning.”

“And a group, led by your daughter, working to try and cut off some of the groups like KOBRA or Fearsome Five at the knees, before they get so close to their goals again,” Black Canary added.

“Bette’s ready for this?” Kathy asked, as she looked at Kid Eternity.

“We all think so, and I’ll be staying with that team too, plus we’re keeping Speedy, the archer,” Kit explained. “She’s got a lot of promise, and I think Bette will be good for her growth.”

“And yeah, Flamebird’s ready,” Dick confirmed. “I’d rather keep the twins in the Titans though.”

“They’re good with their powers, and I’d rather keep them with Vibe,” Kid Eternity countered. “There’s a mystery behind that vibro-cage, Vibe’s origin, and the fact that he has their Speed Force powers.”

“That makes sense, but I agree with Nightwing,” Dinah replied. “The twins need more training with their powers. Jade’s kind of old to be hanging with the teen Titans, so she’ll move to your group, Kit. We’ll have Gar help me train up the new kids.”

“And Cassandra should stay with your group so she can learn to be a real little girl,” Kit added with a smirk. “Vibe will stay with my team so we can get to the bottom of how he came to be in that warehouse, and we'll see if Red Star wants to stay here in the States with one or the other team.”

“It’s settled then?” Kathy asked.

“It’s settled,” Oracle’s voice came in over the speaker. “Dinah and Bette will be my contacts with both teams, so I’ll keep them in the loop on my end. Good work, guys, enjoy your party. Oracle out.” The line clicked off as the four people stood up and raised glasses, clinking them to each other.

“Good luck to the two of you. If either of you need my help, just let me know and I’ll be there. To the Teen Titans, and to the Outsiders,” Nightwing saluted.

“The future. Good luck,” Kathy added as she felt that familiar sense of anxiety fill her heart.

“To the Teen Titans,” Black Canary replied.

“To the Outsiders,” Kid Eternity answered.

[Lissilambe]

The end for now, but join us for Ultimate Teen Titans and Ultimate Outsiders, starting up soon!

[Lissilambe]

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