Supergirl: Identity

[ChasNicollette]

Valkyrie M

"We're none of us as young as we look," Rose agreed, rubbing under her nose side-to-side with a finger. "And there's archetypes we all follow behind. There was a Sandman, in those olden days, he was a big inspiration for The Bat. And Doc Mid-Nite, and Wildcat. But... as troublesome a guy as he is? There's something pure and rarefied about him. Almost spiritual, for an atheist. Like he's the purest incarnation of the shadowed antiheroic archetype ever to walk The Earth. And people respond to that. They know he's a legend and they respect it and they fear it. And rightly so. You may be his superior in might and experience, Kyle. But he's a legend, and he is not to be underestimated."

She trailed off for a moment, and gave him a worried look.

She actually felt... concerned for him.

"Keep that in mind, yeah," she murmured, "when you're 'getting his attention?' You go in there powers blazing? He will hit first and ask questions later and not only will his hits knock you for a loop but he'll ask questions so penetrating they'd make a psychoanalyst blink. Just. Keep that in mind. Yeah."

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

"I have no intentions of fighting him, and will answer whatever questions he asks within reason. I left fifty years ago. Gotham is his city now. I know that Rose, and I don't plan to make him any more aggravated than he already is at me."

I stood and walked over to the display again, looking at the exploits of Diana.
"Maybe Diana has a way to call him. Setting up a neutral meeting would be better than dropping a darkness field over the roof of Wayne Tower." I muttered to myself. "Or I could go exploring. There is much more of this world to see..."

 

[Wyldfire]

Huntress and Oracle.

The fight had already passed out of hand into the realm of dangerous as hell. Helena didn't remember anything in the files on this guy about him being as fast like a freak as he was. She'd had the displeasure once of having to train with the Flash. He'd mopped the floor with her for the majority of the fight. His ego had allowed her to get in her share of licks though. He hadn't liked that.

Boomerang wasn't that kind of fast but he had been damned close at the beginning of the fight. But he was starting to slow down, thank god. The fight had long since been reduced to hand to hand. Huntress was out of bolts and Boomer was out of his toys. The longer the fight went on, the more it was favoring Huntress.

She'd tried to engage him in "witty banter" earlier but he didn't participate. Huntress knew something wasn't right here. Boomerang had no reason to be in Gotham. Or did he? He'd been right in the very warehouse she'd gone to check on.

As she and Boomerang continued to try to beat the hell out of each other she caught a faint sound coming from Boomer. He heard it too, and seemed to know what it was, because he disengaged from fighting her and started to run for it. Huntress had been caught off guard by that tact, so he had a bit of a head start. Enough for what happened next to work.

Huntress was rounding a corner that Boomerang had just rounded when she was struck by a blinding flash of light and she heard a woman's voice say "Come on Boomerang, the boss is going to be pissed when she hears you where fingered and Mirror and I had to bail you out."

Before Helena's sight could fully return there was a small explosion from where she had heard the voice. When her vision cleared there was no sign of anyone.

"Damnitall," Helena muttered to herself as she keyed her comm link, "Oracle, this is Huntress, I just had the oddest little meeting."

The Comm woke her wide awake. "Really? Come back to the tower, and you can tell me all about it over the coffee and danish you're going to be bringing me." Barbara replied. She hated being woke up in a start and she was going to make Hell pay for it, no matter how strange or important this was.

 

[ChasNicollette]

The only indication that The Cave's population had increased by one was a kind of hypersonic hum, perhaps pitched so high that a normal human could not detect it. The gigantic penny propped up near one wall jittered a little bit, and tilted a single degree clockwise.

The bats that frequented The Cave's upper reaches dispersed in a squeaking, flapping mess, retreating into the furthest shadows of their sanctuary. Perhaps the dog might also be bothered.

But as soon as the hum started, less than a second, it was gone again.

...a teenaged boy with brown hair and a golden uniform, red lightning adorning his chest, stood before the case in which was preserved the uniform of the late, lamented Jason Todd.

"Did you know that Justice League teleport beams can be traced by the naked eye," he wondered aloud to The Cave's primary occupant, "provided that eye can move fast enough? I've been kind of performing an experiment. Jay said I should start trying to get up early and work off some energy before school, but he didn't say how. (I thought this one up on my own.)"

This was Kid Flash, also known as Bart Allen, formerly known as Impulse.

He glanced over his shoulder at The Bat, completely cavalier, but not arrogant, just sort of... thoughtless. Like it hadn't occurred to him that he might not be wanted here.

"Granted," he murmured, "I sort of lost track of you somewhere in the sky over Newark, but then I did a systematic grid search involving excited ambient matter particles by alternately blue-shifting and red-shifting the light reaching my retinas. And then I got distracted by the tail-end of an all-night DDR tournament at this arcade. But then I found your house! (How cool is that, that I found your house? I gotta tell you, tho', the secret entrance behind the grandfather clock is a little obvious, might wanna change the combo on that.)"

Swinging his gaze back to the glass case, he reached out a gloved hand and touched his fingertips to the memorial's surface.

"Heya, Robin," he murmured, not irreverently.

 

[Lunaramblings]

Bruce was still recieving a tongue bath from Ace when the dog suddenly whined. Bruce turned to find this... Kid... invading his sanctuary. Bruce's face become flushed with rage. A Very, Very uncommon sight to be sure. It was gone before the Kid finished talking.

"What the hell do you think your doing? There is a reason I don't advertise this location. If not for the way Jason talked about you this would be a very different conversation."

Bruce walked over to the case, torn between shoving this Kid away from the Alter of Jason Todd, and congratulating the Kid on his quick thinking. Bruce managed to keep his emotions in check. To remain even keeled. Made easier when he recognized the look of loss in the eyes of Kid Flash. Bruce lost a partner, a friend, a son. Kid Flash had lost a friend and a partner as well.

"You followed the teleporter here... Interesting. I think that may have even given Max pause. You also bypassed every sensor. Thats commendable Kid." Bruce eyed the way Flash looked at the case. "You know, Nightwing thinks I need to find a new apprentice. To pass on the training. Someone to take up the mantle...

With any other man the last would have been clearly a question. A request. Coming from Bruce it was less clear.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Kid Flash

Batman could put the fear into just about anyone.

But Kid Flash was fearless in a way not even armies of superspeed ninjas could penetrate. True, getting shot in the knee by Deathstroke had briefly taken the spring out of The Kid's step, but he'd come back swinging. He was growing up, bit by bit by bit, but there was still that part of him reared by video games that no amount of real-world angst and skulduggery could fracture.

Bart quirked a shaggy brown eyebrow over his future-born yellow-irised eyes.

"Are you being serious?" he wondered. "Because I'm not familiar with you being not-serious so it's hard to tell. (I heard that you made a 'Star Trek' reference once, that's kinda cool, but it ain't like you make a habit of it.) Did Nightwing also think you needed to find a sense of humour?"

His face screwed itself up, that super-expressive face of his, contorting as he wore his heart on his sleeve.

"I mean, you said him yourself," Bart mused, squinting at The Bat, arms across his lightning-slashed chest, "I got mentored by Max Mercury. And now I'm getting taught by Jay Garrick... I'm the next in line. I'm a grandson and I'm a second cousin, I even got to use the name once when Wally was dead in The Speed Force for five minutes and I was beating the snot out of Kobra all solo-style."

Bart threw out his hands in front of him, a belated sort of waving-away-ire kind of gesture, completed with belated "I mean, no offence, Bats. But I got me a mantle that beats the short pants off of being the next Robin, got nothing but love for the dude but my outfit is cooler. I'm gonna be The Flash when I grow up."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Batman looked coldly at the young Speedster.

"It wasn't an offer. Like you could ever take Jason's spot. Seems that maybe Jay and Max will train just about anyone with a touch of Speed. I am more selective. Pay your respects if you want. I have work to do."

With no further wait, Batman returned to the tests he had left on the table.

Ace, however was curious. Very curious. Ace seemed to know only one way to cure the dilemma. He bared his teeth as he pounced at the heels of Kid Flash.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Kid Flash

...but those heels weren't there by the time Ace's bared teeth clacked on empty air and afterimages.

Bart stood behind the dog, grinning softly.

"(Real superheroes have dogs, yeah?)" he grinned softly, his voice a gentle murmur as he scritched the dog behind the ears quickly, teasingly, before permitting Ace to sniff his fingers. "(You kinda remind me of my puppy Dox. Bet you'd like him. Too bad your Master is such a douchebat. Speakin' of which...)"

...and then Bart stood across the table from Bruce, facing him down over the test tubes and alembics and Bunsen burners.

"'Anyone with a touch of Speed,'" he murmured, dubious, irritated at being so dismissed.

That was almost as bad as calling him "stupid." He hated being called "stupid."

"Do I look like Christina Alexandrova to you?" he snarked, poking a finger against the tabletop with force sufficient to make those test tubes wobble. "Some kind of whacked-out affection-hog? She had a touch of Speed and Max and Jay wouldn't touch her with a forty-foot pole. Me? I'm the first to admit I don't live up to my full potential, but you're The World's Greatest Detective or something so you gotta admit that potential's there."

Bart leaned back on his heels and put his hands on his hips and scrunched his face up at Bruce Wayne.

"You're just jealous of Grampa," Bart opined. "You're just jealous of my Grampa Barry because it doesn't matter how much sneaky kung fu you got you couldn't've laid a Batarang on him, and, you're standing here with your Mister Wizard multi-billion-dollar chemistry set? Not only could he lay waste to you in a fight, but my grampa can still out-Science you and he's been dead for some crazy chunk of years."

A superfast flicker of motion later, and Bart's booted foot came up heel-down on the table, resting there as Bart stared those golden eyes across at Bruce.

"You see these?" he pointed out. "Thermoacoustic polymer, translate thunder-force footfalls into heat so my friction-aura can dissipate them, makes me like a huge percentage more efficient when I run. I designed them while I was taking like half an hour to recover from knee surgery, invented and implemented them shortly thereafter and now, even though I'm like an eighth of the scientist Grampa Barry was, I can out-Science you just by going for a jog."

Bart snorted, lowered his foot.

"I may not ever be as bad-ass as Jason ever was," Bart allowed, "but that don't mean I'm ever going to just let you guano all over me without standing up for myself."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Bruce was silent. He listened to the words. And as he did he remembered.

The arguments with Dick over the multitude of things that they seemed to never quite agree about. The nights he spent angry, lonely and down right rotten to Alfred. The way this boy stood before him, reminded Bruce of not only Dick, but of himself. And in a way of Jason as well. In that moment Kid Flash was all of the above.

"I was never jealous of your grandfather. I respected him a great deal." Bruce picks a small device off his belt. And looks at The Kid sharply. "Take this. The next time you intend to stop by call first." Bruce tosses the device at Kid Flash. "By the way, you are... impressive. At least if half the things Jason used to say about you are true."

In as close to an apology as you are ever likely to get from The Bat, he extends a hand to the young man before him.

"Don't take to long to grow up."

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

"Tutor me? I have to... like sit and learn? Come on, Kal-El. There's way too much to do on this planet than just bury my nose in a book."

Kara folded her arms in defiance but her cousin seemed to have turned into an adult.

And Kara wasn't quite ready to take on that particular responsibility.

Luckily, however, Kara was a quick study, so she figured picking up on Earths lingo wouldn't be too difficult (and it'd be far quicker now that Kelex was around).

"Look, alright. I'll submit to your educational exercises, but I want to be able to continue my combat training. Especially with her," Kara added, making reference to Artemis.

"She's really good at this," Kara said with a smile.

But Superman had no time to comment on her request.

Out of nowhere, and with no warning at all, several "boom tubes" appeared in the sky, a large armada of soldiers from Apokolips flying out to descend upon the inhabitants of Themyscira.

They all had one goal in mind: to capture the Kryptonian at all costs.

But it wasn't Superman they were after.

Last to emerge was Darkseid himself, his hands clasped behind his back as he watched his forces descend upon Paradise Island.

 

[ChasNicollette]

The Amazons, Diana, Cassie, and Artemis: "The Art of Breaking"

Thunder split the sky and the world yawned open over The Island, the gaps between dimensions pouring out death and destruction upon what once had been paradise.

Beside Penelope, one of her priestesses whispered what they were all thinking, every Amazon at once, gazing up and recognising those mouths of war. Those Boom Tubes: "Oh, Hera, no. Not again. So soon. Not again."

And Penelope smiled a broken smile and knew that this was the darkness of which she'd dreamed.

The Sun was not yet high in the sky. But she knew now, beyond the reach of doubt's shadow, that she had not dreamed the beginning of the darkness but perhaps the middle of it. And The Sun still had plenty of time to rise...

"Athena," Penelope murmured, prayerful, "save us all."

"AMAZONS!" Diana bellowed from deep in her mighty lungs, there up in the air, catching The Lasso off of her hip, her eyes blazing blazing blue blue blue. "TO ARMS! DEFEND YOUR HOME AND YOUR IDEALS AND YOUR GODS!"

Swords sang as they leaped from sheathes, and an asynchronous battle-cry rose in cacophony, Amazons shedding fear and shedding dread as best as they could, standing against this threat that had so very recently beset their shores. Swords sang, Themysciran steel, glinting magic weapons... spears clattered... bows and arrows...

The guardians had already had their armour on. But quickly, quickly, unbelievable preparedness, the remainder of The Amazons took up arms against this sky of troubles, clanking into armour and donning helmets and gripping hilts.

Io was already among them, some sort of energy-rifle in her grasp with a power-pack on her back, the weaponsmith ever a warrioress in her own right.

Phillipus caught the twin battle-axes that Ariadne tossed to her, her mahogany jaw tight with fury, and Ariadne removed a stubby thing from her belt that grew, in an instant, shunk-shunk-shunk, into a gleaming silvery quarterstaff.

Beside Diana in the sky, Cassie was there, darkly angry, her own lasso already thrumming with thunder. And Artemis, sword out and shield slung, face torn up with her hatred of Apokolips.

Diana waited only one moment more, sending a signal skyward for an ever-alert telepathic mind to catch: 'J'onn. Tell Batman we need him back on The Island, and alert Oracle accordingly. A.S.A.P. Today is Darkseid's Second Coming.'

(Far far in the sky above, green fingers touched green forehead and a singular thought speared down to Earth, a singular thought with dual targets: 'Batman. Oracle. Darkseid is on Themyscira. Diana cordially and vehemently requests back-up. Immediately.')

...just as quickly, Diana shut off the signal, and she glanced at Artemis, the Captain of the Guard, as the soldiers of Apokolips descended over them like a cloud...

Artemis raised her sword aloft. "AMAZONS!"

"Come get some," Cassie murmured softly, with feeling, and golden lightning hissed and spat from her lasso's tendrils.

Artemis lowered her sword, pointing ahead of her, staring daggers, howling death: "ATTAAAAACK!"

 

[LuckyVic]

Superman

Clark's head snapped in the direction of the first boom tube he had heard. He felt the anger filling him almost immediately. "Kara stay with Kelex, do not engage these beings unless you absolutely have to." he told her in Kryptonian He then looked up and began to rise into the sky, and even as he watched the forces of Apokolips emerge and begin to clash with the Amazons, he did not move.

He watched as more boom tubes were created, he clinched and unclinched his fists as he mentally prepared himself for what was to come. Then when the final tube opened and the master of Apokolips emerged. "Darkseid!" That's when Clark moved again, with a sonic boom of his own.

He flew fast and hard towards the being he considered pure evil. He held nothing back as he flew into the incoming hordes. When he hit a parademon it was with his full unfettered strength, his eyes were glowing red however he had yet to use his heat vision. He was saving that for Darkseid himself.

 

[Lunaramblings]

Bruce donned his mantle quickly and looked at the Speedster before him.

"Can you get us to Paradise Island? Immediately if not sooner?"

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Darkseid

Darkseid could not help but smirk as he saw the son of Jor-El take off in his direction, moving very quickly through his armada of soldiers. And Darkseid saw the look of anger in his eyes, masked as they were by that fiery glow.

"You will never learn, Kal-El."

Soon the eyes of the ruler of Apokolips burned with power, and he called upon the power for which he has been known and feared for throughout the universe: the Omega Effect.

Darkseid used with deadly precision his Omega Beams, thrusting them forward on a direct course with the Kryptonian.

Yet he was not the intended target. Twisting and bending, the Beams moved past the flying Superman, making their way towards the ground and at a cluster of Amazonians.

"You might be able to survive my blasts, Superman, but the same cannot be said for your friends," Darkseid said coldly.

 

[LuckyVic]

Superman Attacks

Clark saw the beams as they bent and hit the area were some of the Amazons were gathered. Debris was flying all over the place, and he was moving to fast to see if any had survived. But he knew from experience that few could have survived it.

"YOU MURDERER!!!" he yelled out and then released all of that anger at the dark lord in the form of his heat vision.There were few foes that he had faced over the years that could bring out such anger in Clark. Darkseid however wasn't any normal foe.

He kept blasting the evil one with his heat vision as he got closer and closer. He seemed to have the master of Apokolips realing, and when he was close enough he cut lose with a right hook that could shatter a mountain. It was just the first salvo though. Although he could stand up to Darkseid for a bit, there was a limit to his powers. Clark knew if he didn't do enough damage to Darkseid quickly enough it would be hard for him to beat him. He had to go all out. Which in it's own way was a kind of release for him, since he could so rarely do that.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Cassie, Artemis, Diana, Phillipus, The Amazons, Kid Flash, Valkyrie M, and Grace

"Wonder Woman" was a title, not a name. No mere codename assigned by press or conjured on a whim to sound interesting to a celebrity-hungry public.

It was a rank. And it was earned.

Cassie whirled and clubbed aside Parademon after Parademon, her lasso flashing out and thundering, electrocuting any enemy it tangled.

Artemis howled like a banshee, herself a Wonder Woman earned and true, hacking and slashing with her blade and bashing and swiping with her shield. She divided three Parademons clear in half with a single stroke, beheaded another with the backswing, stabbed a fifth in the face, all the while parrying energy blasts.

But Diana, beautiful Diana, she was-- whether she would admit it or not --the very personification of the title she bore. She was the One, True Wonder Woman.

And she had earned this title a thousand times over -- and she would earn it again...

She saw Darkseid's eyes boil over with crimson energy and she saw Phillipus and Ariadne and Io gathered with a contingent of bow-women and with a howl and The Speed of Hermes, Diana tore away from her place in the sky and blurred so fast so impossibly fast she moved to intercept... momentarily superluminal, too fast even for Superman to see...

She clacked her bracelets in front of herself, united the twin portions of The Aegis, crossed her wrists and the superhumanly deadly bolts of godly force slammed into her parry with impetus seemingly sufficient to split one planet into two.

The air around her skin exploded with crimson power, her whole body coruscating with the aura as the energy reflected refracted and spattered, and even her mighty body got driven from the sky. Diana, all the while wrestling against that crackling energy, got shoved down out of the sky and plunged into the rocky cliff on her back so hard that the earth shattered and pillars trembled and dust billowed.

But then the dust settled, and Diana staggered to her feet, winded but not wounded. Steam hissed up from her bracelets, and she flexed her fingers, and she flexed her jaw.

Unstoppable versus Immovable. Zeus versus Darkseid.

She glanced around quickly, and received a grateful, respectful nod from Phillipus. Ariadne was leaning heavily on her quarterstaff, but she was intact.

She glanced over her shoulder, and found the bow-women ready, Io with them.

"Fire as did The Persians at The Hot Gates, sisters," Diana growled. "Darken the sun with your arrows!"

And with a rousing cry, the bow-women unleashed a hail of arrows into the sky that very might have blocked Helios' light... though with the storm of fletchery also crackled the purple energies of Io's weapon... a reverse-polarity Purple Ray, healing power turned to deadly effect.

Parademons fell by the dozens... but still there were more. Always there were more.

And it was into this that Kid Flash appeared with a boom of sound and a blur of saffron-gold, bringing with him The Dark Knight.

"Sorry, sorry," The Kid was apologising. "'Paradise Island.' I thought you said 'Pismo Beach,' and I always take that wrong turn at Albuquerque."

"Batman!" Diana smiled. "Glad you could make it. Start killing things, would you?"

Immediately, she turned to Kid Flash. "Bart: I need Grace Choi from Metropolis and Valkyrie M from New York, can you get them for me?"

Bart hesitated. But only for a moment. He had glanced up at the sky and gotten distracted by Cassie cracking a Parademon's skull with her boot; he'd always had something of a crush on Cassie.

Quickly though, he ripped free of his distractedness and he saluted Diana. "I'malloverit."

...and he was gone.

"Okay," Wonder Woman growled, glancing up at the sky. "Kal-El is not the only one with a score to settle, New God. Pray he defeats you by the time I reach you."

And she blew aloft, again unfurling her Lasso as she flew.

Her Bluetooth headset chirruped into her ear and she takked its key and she slashed and punched and thundered through the swarms and swarms and hordes of Parademons who sought to drag her clawingly down.

"Diana," she prompted, crisp and cool and clear, all business.

She swung her hands apart and clapped her hands together with all the Speed of Hermes and all the Strength of The Earth, and the air exploded from her hands with such shattering thunder that the Parademons were momentarily driven away, screaming.

'Ma'am?' Rose blinked. 'If you're busy, I can call back.'

"That's not necessary," Diana assured her, diving deep at godly speed, whipping down towards the ground, swooping, hurtling back up to piledrive through the scattered, disoriented pack of Parademons. "This won't require my full attention. What do you need?"

'There's a lad here name of Wraith,' Rose replied with a slightly distracted tone, the way she spoke when she was dubious and squinting. 'He has some things here I think you should see. He says they belonged to this woman who died. And if they're not authentically Amazonian? They're the most brilliant and beautiful knock-offs I ever did see. (You should see this bow, looks like it could put a bodkin through tank armour at a hundred and sixty paces.)'

Again the Parademons strove to overwhelm Diana through sheer force of numbers and again she brought her hands together, sundering the sky with her thundering clap and blasting them away from her bleeding from the ears.

'Erm,' Rose wondered, 'Ma'am?'

"I'm all right," Diana dismissed, lashing her Lasso like a bullwhip and severing a Parademon's flight-pack, causing it to explode and destroy the Parademon midflight. "I'm all right. Tell Wraith I have tidings for him, too. I've sent a courier along with a request, should just be a few more moments. Stay alert."

...and then, again with a chirrup, Diana ended the call.

Behind her, off in the cacophony of the battle, the endless raging noise of battle, Diana's supremely sharp ears caught the sound of another sonic boom.

And then it caught the sound of a bellowing rebel yell: "MOMMA'S HOME, BITCHES!"

...followed by the sound of Parademon screams, and the shattering of Parademon bones.

Grace. Thank Hera.

Cassie snapped a Parademon's arm with a flick of her wrist and kicked him into Artemis' slashing sword.

Artemis, meanwhile, killed this easy prey and then ditched her round shield, taking her sword in both hands as each slice ripped the air deep and Parademon flesh deeper as her shield tumbled earthward.

Phillipus bounded off of a stone bench, high into the air, and slew a flying Parademon with each battleaxe; they were dead before she hit the ground.

Ariadne twirled like a woman possessed, breaking jaws and splintering ribs left right and centre, never stopping, never hesitating, always one move flowing into the next.

Io whooped almost loud enough to drown out her cannon as she pounded the enemy with crackling violent violet.

Grace, teeth gritted and eyes narrowed, swung a pillar like a baseball bat, wrecking Parademons as chips of marble filled the air.

And Diana of Themyscira blazed a course through the blue as she soared, at long last, streaking to help Kal-El battle Darkseid.

'Donna.' she called, in her mind, along lines that had long since gone silent. 'My sister. Sweet sister. You cannot come to my aid, I know this. But be with me. Guide my hand.'

'...I fight a greater enemy even than Ares ever was,' Diana admitted. 'Be with me. You are part of my soul; give me strength.'

She ploughed towards Darkseid, fist upraised, and there was nothing else in The Universe besides this blow. "HRRRRAAAAAAAAH!"

 

[ChasNicollette]

Valkyrie M and Kid Flash

Rose opened her mouth to suggest places that Kyle might explore that were a sight better than Gotham or The Hub or Saint Roch...

...but then the world shook nearby and windows rattled and that bulletin board almost lost its thumbtacked contents as Kid Flash skidded to a panting halt, hands on his knees, in front of Rose.

"Sorry," he rasped, "sorry. New York has a lot of embassies and I couldn't remember which one was Wonder Woman's. Had to run to Keystone and check Google Maps at my house. Anyway. Big battle on The Island. Wonder Woman asked for you. Busy?"

Rose blinked. "You okay? You look like you're going to have a heart--"

"Hadda carry Grace Choi," Bart mumbled. "She's no Anissa Pierce, but she's still pretty freaking darn heavy. (My new knee hurts.) Anyway: battle?"

Rose nodded sharply. "Five seconds."

"Take seven," Bart permitted, waving at her to hurry, holding a stitch in his side.

Grabbing that trunk and holding it to her chest, Rose rocketed off, flying back up to that balcony and vanishing into The Embassy.

Bart glanced at Kyle, as if seeing him for the first time.

"Hey," he wondered, "are you a superperson? Can you kick some serious ass? Because there's a fuckton of ass needs kicking on Paradise Island, if you're interested."

...and immediately, Rose was back, wearing a brown bomber jacket and a pair of fingerless MMA gloves, a Chinese Jian sheathed across her back, those oft-forgotten goggles strapped to her forehead.

"Let's kick some arse," Rose growled.

Bart grinned at her, getting his breath back, and then glanced anew at Kyle.

"Ya comin'?"

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

Shadows swirled around me with the moans of a thousand ghosts. In moments, I stood before the boy in my armored form.

"I think I might have some abilities that may be useful."

I looked around for Rose and saw her fly in, armed for battle. But something was mising.

"Rose, go get the bow. I don't know why, but I feel like it is needed there."

I walked over next to the speedster. He looked a bit out of breath, but was obviously still game.

"Ready when you are."

 

[Lunaramblings]

The Batman was on the move as soon as he and Kid Flash arrived, using some of the speed that had brought them here Batman turned that energy into the basis for his first attack. Thrusting hard, sending himself high into the air he launched a barrage of Batarangs at the parademons. Taking out a half dozen before he drove downward into the face of two more.

As he landed he hefted the shield that Artemis had discarded. He was parrying blow after blow, driving into the heart of the parademon ranks. he quickly tore a swath as they began to fall.

The Batman reached down to his belt to find it... empty.

"Fine. Let's do this the old fashioned way..."

The Batman looked about at the Parademons as they began to close rank. Then he looked down at his shield. With all the strength and ferocity he possessed he hurled the shield through the air. Launching it at the seemingly endless hoard.

The shield clinged and clattered off of the heads of the parademons. Sending them to the ground dead or unconcious. The shield flew as if it had a mind of it's own. Once it had traversed the circle of parademons, The Batman deftly plucked it out of the sky, Damn... I will have to thank Steve for teaching me that one..." thinks Batman, and charged once more. Kicking, punching, knees, elbows, headbutts. A flurry of motion.

The Batman fought like a man possessed. No wasted movement. No wasted breath. Every drop of energy expended for a purpose. He fought as if he had nothing left to lose. He feared not Death at the hands of these beasts.

As The Batman dropped yet another of the uncountable masses, he was struck from behind. Soon he found himself grappling with a Very Large, Very Bloodthirsty Parademon. The Beast was getting the best of it. His strength too immense. As he lifted The Batman over his head, ready to crush his spine, the Batman thought of Bane, of the injuries he had suffered years before. He felt the grip of the demon tighten. His body twisting as he is hurtling toward the knee of the Parademon.

Then there was a clang and the behemoth fell backwards. The Batman thrown into the air. He deftly lands on his feet in time to see a smiling face.

"And the Student becomes the Master." Quips Nightwing as he catches his rebounding Escrima stick.

The Dynamic Duo reunited tears through rank after rank. Fighting as one. Two halves of the same whole.

Poetry in Motion. Dark. Violent. Poetry.

 

[Wyldfire]

The warning came in while Barbara was waiting for Hell to arrive. Darkseid? Darkseid?

Barbara spun in her chair and with a series of keystrokes pagers began going off all over the country. Barabara had just hit the call for all of her outside contractors. Black Canary's signal came in affirmative, as did Huntress'. Lady Blackhawk's came letting her know the new transport she'd acquired was warming up. Liberty Belle's response came positive with the addendum that she would be bringing the JSA with her. The one that Barabara least expected to respond pinged in the affirmative. [color=green}"Good, we could use the wisdom of Solomon on this one, wait, that's right her power doesn't work that way anymore. Damn."[/color]

"I think you need to be rethinking sending everyone," a silky voice said from the shadows of the clock tower, "You know that his tactics would dictate that some stay back and on alert until we know this isn't a feint."

Barbara almost hit the roof jumping out of her chair and skin. "Damnit Catwoman, you know I hate it when you do that! But you're right. I can't stop the Society or League but I can put the majority of the rest of the contractors on patrol to make sure that this isn't a feint."

The sound of tapping keys were at a constant. Oracle was redirecting as many of her contractors as she could to as many other destinations as she could think of that would be of Apokoliptian interests.

She managed that and there were two blips still unassigned. Which one to send? She was a powerhouse of the right level, but she wasn't too stable. The other was stable and a powerhouse. No choice. Marvel was sent to watch over the Brownstone headquarters of the JSA. Firehawk was hot and in route to Themyscira.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara Zor-El

The onslaught of Darkseid and his parademons was something that Kara had never before been a witness to. All around her the Amazonians were scrambling to put themselves in order, preparing for an assault that they had apparently experience once before.

"Kal-El..." Kara said, wondering what was going on.

But she saw her cousin take off into the sky, moving much faster than a speed bullet towards the ruler of Apokolips.

"Great. He flies off and gets to have all the fun," Kara grumbled.

But soon the fun came to her, and Kara found herself surrounded by a swarm of shock troops. Clenching her fists together, it didn't take long for Kara to dispense of the parademons. She used a combination of her Kryptonian powers and her martial abilities to take care of the rest.

"Kara you must be careful," Kelex cautioned.

Displaying only a smile and thirst for battle, Kara simply shrugged off the robots advice.

"They just keep coming and coming," Kara said, amazed at how many of the shock troops were flying in her direction. Though she had impressive abilities, their sheer numbers were starting to wear her down.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Darkseid - Ruler of Apokolips

Darkseid could only smirk as he saw the Kryptonian Kal-El make heads way towards him. There was a burning passion and intense hatred fueling his rival, and it was that same fiery spirit that dwelled within himself.

Perhaps that was why Darkseid had always found an interest in the boy.

"Hrmph," Darkseid scoffed before Superman blasted him with his heat vision. Reeling backwards, Darkseid felt his body being pummeled by some of Kal-El's most powerful attacks.

But it would take more than a few punches to bring the Ruler of Apokolips to his knees.

Finally, after suffering yet another blow from the fist of the crazed Kryptonian, Darkseid managed to collect himself and parry one of his attacks. He would return the pain brought upon him ten-fold.

"Surely you must understand by now, Kal-El, that I am your master," the New God spoke coldly as he punched Superman in the stomach. He smirked and continued to insult the son of Jor-El, noticing the enraged Diana only too late.

His body was rocked by her attack, forcefully being thrown against the side of a cliff overlooking a field and many temples. Debris fell from the sky, and Darkseid was practically embedded in the rocky surface.

Hopefully his business on Earth would be over soon.

He grew tired of their petty assaults, and he desired to wash his hands clean from their filth.

"Pitiful humans," Darkseid mumbled.

"I will enjoy beating you both into oblivion," he added with a twisted smirk.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Kid Flash and Valkyrie M

Bart blinked at Kyle's transformation: "'Useful?' 'Useful' is good." ...but as with most things, the impulsive young Speedster took this in stride.

Rose made a face, perhaps reluctant to use such an elegant weapon with her inelegant battle-style. Perhaps she was reluctant to employ the signature weapon of a ghost.

But upon Kyle's recommendation, she was about to dive skyward, make another run for the building... except allasudden the bow was in her hand and she blinked.

"On the clock, people," Bart smirked, wryly, suddenly fully aware that usually, usually, others were the ones being impatient with him, rather than the other way around.

"Cheers," Rose nodded, and slung the bow across her back, diagonal across her at the same angle as her sword. "This bloke can teleport, so I'm going to assume he doesn't need directions. Let's fly."

...and Bart turned his back to her and she climbed on piggy-back style, tugging her goggles over her eyes and covering her mouth and nose with one gloved hand, remembering what it had been like to fly with Diana...

"See you there," Rose nodded to Kyle.

Puff of dust. Saffron-gold blur. Sonic boom.

...they were gone.

...and they'd arrived, screeching to a halt beside a phalanx of spear-women bravely defending one of the more-vulnerable priestesses against a contingent of shocktroopers...

Drawing her Jian, Valkyrie M bounded off of Bart's back as Bart rushed the priestess to safety, and with a low growl, Valkyrie M cast a fireball that blew those Parademons to Kingdom Come.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Diana

"Pitiful humans," Darkseid mumbled.

"I will enjoy beating you both into oblivion," he added with a twisted smirk.

Diana flexed her hand.

Her knuckles were bleeding.

Striking Darkseid was not unlike striking The Source Wall itself, the unassailable boundary at the edge of The Universe.

But Diana had beaten impossible things before.

"I have tasted oblivion once, New God," she snarled. "I am eager for you to drink deeply of the same."

...the coils of her Lasso singing in one hand, a scraped and bloody fist made out of the other, Diana steeled herself, and narrowed her eyes, and shot a lightning-quick glance at Kal-El.

"You take him low," she wondered, soft and quick, "I'll take him high?"

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

"This bloke can teleport, so I'm going to assume he doesn't need directions. Let's fly."

And with those words the two young heroes were off, leaving nothing behind but dust and eddies of swirling air.

Damn. Directions would have been helpful.

I backed into the shadows of the courtyard and let them take me home.

Back to my castle in Shadow.


I emerged by the throne. Black dragonbone and bloodwood, swathed in shadowcloth.

It was imposing, and damned uncomfortable.

And someone was standing in front of it. I looked out and noticed Strathus, my senchal. Must be open court day, otherwise he would be in his office pouring over texts and calculating up numbers.

All sound stopped, and then the sounds of beings going to one knee echoed across the great hall. Head bowed, voices silent, I could feel the aura of the reverence my people had for me.

It was intoxicating and scary at the same time. Always had been.

"Rise my subjects. I am here but a fleeting time, as matters on another world call me to action." I looked down at the being in front of the throne. "Anda, what brings you here? You are miles away from your home, and it is the harvest."

"My Lord, I came to crave a boon. My daughter, Shas'ja has been asked to join with a young crafter from Bromjal village. I am willing to acquiesce to the marriage, but according to the laws of old We are poor and cannot raise the dowry to hold the joining. I came to ask a lessening of out tithe this year. We will make it up your Lordship, but it will take time."

I moved and sat down in my throne. Anda was a valuable member of my lands and a good conservator. He had taken the science I had brought from Earth and made my holding fivefold more profitable than the others in the realm. I was of a mind to agree, but I had interrupted Strathus.

"What say you Strathus? Shall we grant this boon?"

"I was of a mind to agree to it my lord. I know how you think after all these years and I believe you would have given your consent."

I barked a laugh. "Aye old friend. You do know me well. Wed the lass Anda. And keep your debt, I make her wedding a gift of the Realm. Make it so Strathus."

He bowed his head to me, a small smile across his narrow features. "Also as I though you might rule my Lord." A small bag flew from his hand to land with a clink in front of the crofter. "Go, wed the girl and give my lord more subjects of your caliber. Honor his generosity in words and deeds, and go in peace."


Anda made words of gratitude and left, leaving me alone with my oldest subject.

"I am not here long old friend. Bring me the shield of Scazzgar, and Frostfire. I must be off as quickly as possible."

It seemed only moments passed until he returned, shield crafted from the armor of a HiveQueen and black and silver broadsword in it's dragonhide sheath.

"Here you go my Lord. Are you sure you do not wish to take Dirge?"

"Aye my friend. That cursed blade stays here. I'll not bring it to the land of my birth. I shall return anon, until then keep my house in order and my subjects fat and happy."

He gave a chuckle. "Aye my friend. Good hunting."


Need. Need would get me where I wanted to go.

"Take me to Rose and Diana. People need a hero, and I am needed on the land of my birth"

Shadow listened, bent and warped around me, depositing me into bedlam!


A figure dove from the sky, barbed spear pointed to the back of a young woman in ancient garb. I stepped forward and raised the shield, blocking the spear with it and drawing the blade from my baldric, blue coldfire erupting from the blade. The creature shrieked and came at me next while the young woman gasped and backed away, sword pointed at me. I blocked another strike, and responded, my enscourcelled blade cleaving the beast in twain.

"Please don't stick me with that miss, I am here as a friend."