2.15 / Rockin' the Suburbs, Pt. 2 (Argyra, Artemis)
New
PrognosticHannya
Far Too Enthusiastic About Etymology
- Pronouns
- She/Her
AN: Sorry this took so long to post this guys, grad school applications are killing me. Seven hours of writing yesterday, oof.
PoV: Silver Sorceress
The minutes after I left Chryssa were some of the most intense of the entire fight.
I teleported my way up the battlefield, over to where Raven was fighting Blood Apostle. It was a good thing I was so fast, too, she was just about to be overwhelmed. She'd managed to disembowel one of his underbosses, but he had five more with him, along with his own significant magical might.
She, Rose and I did our best to fight them all at once, but they were just too strong. We managed to kill two more underbosses, but Blood Apostle is strong, terrifyingly strong, and used some sort of blood portal to transport us to the other end of the battlefield.
Based on the way my teleportation spell functions, I probably could have popped right back, but I couldn't have taken the others with me, so we had to work our way back to him the long way.
We've spent the past few minutes fighting through wave after wave of cultist and underbosses to get back to Blood Apostle.
Our process speeds up a bit thanks to that giant ice wall the heroes created cutting the battlefield in half, and finally, we manage to make it back to Blood Apostle, who's retreated inside the warehouse.
Which leads me to now.
I slam my staff into the door, sending the wood splintering.
Blood Apostle is inside, sitting on an ornate, skeleton-themed throne in the middle of the building, his remaining three underbosses standing around him. I finally get a good look at the man, and…
Huh, the blood mage is a redhead?
A bit on the nose, isn't it, Moirai?
"You know" the man says, "You all are the most terribly rude party-crashers. I had some wonderful events planned."
"Sorry to disappoint" I say, flatly. "I never had a mother to teach me manners."
Rose snickers from next to me, but she's the only one.
Wait, no, I can see Raven's lip twitch upwards.
Before he can respond, the door to the other side of the warehouse gets slammed inwards, and the nuisances come stomping in.
"Your reign of terror ends today, Flannigan" comes the voice of a figure I recognize from the papers as Aqualad.
I roll my eyes. Great, these chucklefucks.
Also, seriously, 'Flannigan'? That's his real name? Now there's a case of nominative determinism.
"Excellent!" Blood Apostle says, standing up, "now all our little party crashers are here. That's good."
He glares down at us, eyes burning red. "It makes you all easier to squish."
He points at Robin and Chryssa. "You two have been very irritating. Coming into my service in disguise, trying to ferret out information? Naughty naughty…"
She… revealed her identity to him?
To fucking Robin? A guy she's known for less than a year?!
I huff with irritation. No, it makes sense. He's a hero, after all. Not like us dastardly do-bad-ers.
"What's your plan?" Kid Flash says, glaring. "Why do all of this?"
Blood Apostle smiles. "Ooh, look at that! Little baby Flash wants some answers. What? Do you want my villainous monologue? My tragic origin story?"
"No" he says with a wide smile, "or maybe you're hoping I don't have one. Maybe you're hoping I raise my fist to the sky and give some dramatic evil monologue. 'I just want to see the world burn, foolish mortals! That's why I've killed all these people!' Something like that?"
Everyone — except Rose, who just smiles, the bitch — glares.
"The truth is" he says, "There wasn't some great moment of radicalization for me. I've always been a strong man, a tough man, a man of great destiny. But the world isn't built for men like me."
"I followed my father into the family business, and for a while I thought it'd help. But it didn't. I saw the rot of this world eating up my city, my people, day after day. I saw stupid, barely-literate, mouth-breathing thugs take baths in liquid gold, while good, honest, hardworking people had to struggle. Human animals get rewarded, while real people suffer."
Oh huh, so he's gonna monologue regardless then. Well, I'm not going to stop someone when they're giving me time to recuperate.
"I saw pencil-pushing, pointy-headed inspectors who weren't a tenth of the man I was, who thought they were better than me just because they had some fancy degree from some fancy ivory tower, trying to shut us down over ridiculous violations of made up laws imposed by busy-body bureaucrats trying to justify their own positions. I saw millions die in wars started by fools, for foolish goals, sending men a thousand times better than them off to die."
I narrow my eyes at him, trying to make out any of the spells he has laid around him.
No luck.
"Haven't you ever grown tired of it?" he asks. "The war, the fighting? The decrepit, horrible state of humanity? How it seems like every country, in every corner of the world, is run by weak-bellied, cowardly morons who can't stop breaking things?"
"Do you know how many genocides are happening right now? How many great bloodlines of geniuses wiped out by lines of morons that happen to have guns? How many good people tortured and persecuted for the whims of stupid, petty, selfish inferior little cretins who have puffed-up egos that don't match their abilities?"
"Probably quite a substantial number" I say flatly. "Although I object to your framing."
"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU OBJECT TO!" he screams.
A moment later he collects himself. "Apologies, apologies" he says, smiling. "Sometimes, my temper runs away from me."
"There was no one moment for me, no single instance where I broke. I just eventually came to realize…"
He waves around him. "This whole system, this whole… everything. It's a fake edifice, a mansion built from rotten wood. It props up weak and sniveling petty tyrants at the expense of good honest men. It preaches 'equality' and 'liberty' and 'universal rights' and 'tolerance', when all that really means is lifting up the pathetic and grinding the strong into the ground."
"And then" he says, the light of fanaticism overtaking his eyes. "I found someone who could change things. Someone promising to take that rotten mansion… and burn it down. Build something new on the ashes. Something where the people who should be in charge, can actually be in charge."
"Trigon is pure evil" Raven says harshly, and I can't help but flinch and glare at her as she uses the name. "Anything he's promising you, it's a lie. No matter how bad this world is, his will be a million times worse."
Although, he's likely already paying attention to this, it's not like saying his name's going to make it worse.
"Really?" he says. "Will it? A world where the people best suited to rule can actually rule? No more petty tyrants, no more stupid little bureaucrats trying to regulate and control us, no more effete, impudent snobs turning up their noses and poo-pooing people ten times better than they'll ever be. A world where the strong are no longer ground down under the weight of mediocrity."
"And you could have done it" he says, turning towards Raven. "You could have helped bring that into fruition. You would have been the perfect sacrifice for the Master."
Raven glares at him with more emotion than I've ever seen on her face.
"Your soul would have made the most pleasing screams for him, more than any other. I don't know why but I can feel it! It could have given me the power to truly enact his will, to bring a new, glorious age!"
"Raven," I say, warily eyeing the girl as her eyes take on a red tinge, "calm down, don't let him get to you."
"Oh it would have been so beautiful. Your song would have resonated with-"
"Fuck you, asshole" Raven snarls, eyes tinged red, and sends a spike of shadows directly at Blood Apostle's heart.
The cult leader disperses the spike with a shield of blood-red light, and snarls. "Franco, Charlie, everyone!" he yells, pointing at the hulking brutes around him. "Kill them, kill them all! For the Scion!"
KILL, FOR THE MASTER!
Huh, guess that's what happened to the head of the Bertinellis.
A second later, I blink back as a jet of fire washes over where I was previously standing, and I'm too busy to speculate.
PoV: Chryssa, the Golden Archer
It's been about five minutes, and the fight is going… not terribly.
Flannigan is powerful, very powerful, not to mention the underbosses he has with him, but with us and the Falcones combined we have enough capes to have them on the ropes.
Throughout the battle, Flannigan's underbosses have been chucking anything and everything they can find in the factory at us, and it's only been the efforts of Miss Martian and the Shadow Girl — Raven, I heard Sorceress call her — that have kept us safe.
Eventually, we mange to take the last underboss down. Aqualad knocks him out, and I leave him glued to the wall of the building with a foam arrow.
"Finally" Silver Sorceress says rolling her shoulders. "We could have done that ages ago if you heroes hadn't been slacking."
"Don't get too cocky" I say to her, voice hard. "After Flannigan is done, you all are next."
Ravager grins nastily. "You realize you just gave us incentive to throw you in front of his attacks, right?"
"Enough" Raven says, glaring at both girls. "We have a mutual enemy, focus on him."
"Fine" Ravager says, with playful irritation. "But don't think I'm forgetting about you two."
Flannigan sends out a wave of blood-red fire before the conversation can continue.
"So…" he says, "it's down to me then."
He smiles. "That's fine. All great prophets are tested by their Lord. I will just have to show him that I am truly faithful. And if it costs me my life?"
He sends out a massive torrent of blood and fire, glowing with the power he's channeling from his 'Master'.
"Then so be it."
I spend the next minute dodging, trying to avoid the torrent. Eventually, I find myself standing back to back with Zatanna, holding off a series of flaming bolts. A few feet away from us stands Sorceress, holding up this weird vortex that seems to suck them in.
Zatanna raises a hand. "Semalf, ezeerf!"
The fire around us stills, crackling over with the same magical ice she used to freeze the water.
"Fucking hell" I hear Sorceress groan, "a Zatara?"
She turns to me, raising an eyebrow. "You really do pick the worst people to slum it with, don't you?"
She stares at Zatanna, eyes gleaming purple, and lets out a barking laugh. "Even worse, a weak Zatara. She's not half the mage her father is."
"Although," she says with a cruel smirk I recognize from Ravager's face, "I suppose that might be why you chose her: like attracts like, after all."
I glare at her, Zatanna's anger feeding into my own through the mind link.
"Don't you say a word about my father" the black-haired witch says.
Sorceress raises a delicate eyebrow — huh, she's gone full high femme today — "Your father is an arrogant, condescending, interfering jackass who isn't half as clever as he thinks he is, and manages to use raw power and cheating to compensate for a lack of intelligence. You don't have the power, so what's left for you?"
Zatanna moves forward, and I raise a hand. "Don't, Zatanna."
She turns to me angrily.
I just smirk, eyes not leaving the silver-haired girl's. "Sorceress just doesn't like how you prove that being a petulant narcissist that doesn't play well with others is a character flaw, and not some innate characteristic of mages."
Sorceress sneers, but I can see the real rage smoldering behind her eyes at the jab. "Please, you flatter yourself. You're not worth the energy to be arrogant towards."
I scoff. "As if-"
Before I can respond. A gout of blood-red fire shoots out at her, and she has to teleport away.
Where did she… There!
I spend the next minute trying to make my way over to her. The rest of the Team looks like they've got Flannigan in hand, those counters of his are looking pretty desperate, so I can afford to focus on the real threat. I chime in occasionally over the mind link, pointing out weak spots to aim for, and ideal trajectories for projectiles, but I always keep half my focus on Sorceress.
She's up to something, I just know it. That whole "mutual enemy" thing earlier, right after defending working with Ravager? No way, absolutely no fucking way. I know her, she has something up her sleeve.
What's she doing with her left arm? It's facing away from everyone, and I think I see one of those spell-circles she uses. I try to peer closer, and-
I feel a force hit me in the back, and I go sailing forward, towards Flannigan.
I'm dazed for a few moments, but when I realize what's happened, I freeze. The battle's stopped around us. I try to move, but feel my arms restrained.
I hear Flannigan's voice hissing next to my ear. "If you want your little friend to live, you'll listen to what I have to say."
I try to turn my head, trying to see him, but my head is restrained. M'gann sends me an image, and it's all I can do to not yell in frustration.
Stupid, stupid Artemis! I got lazy, I got sloppy, and I let this hack motherfucker capture me!
I'm restrained in some type of bizarre blood construct, my limbs and head bound in place, with a giant red disc. Flannigan is leaning down next to me, a glowing knife held next to my neck. His other hand is held out, wisps of blood from all across the warehouse streaming into it.
"These" he says, gesturing with a flourish, "are the Stocks of the Hecatomb! The ultimate spell of our sect! It's meant to constrain even the most powerful of foes while we prepare to offer them to The Master."
I bite back a scream of frustration.
[Chryssa don't panic, we can get you out of this] I hear Aqualad say over the bond.
[I'm not panicking, I'm fucking pissed off! And you can get me out of this by distracting Flannigan!]
"Don't worry though" he says, smiling. "I won't sacrifice this one, even if she deserves it for being such a filthy heathen!"
[Please tell me he didn't just spit on me.]
I feel awkwardness in response, and fight down a surge of disgust. Who knows what type of germs this freak has.
"All you have to do is wait here for the next minute and half, and then I'll let her go. After my teleportation spell completes, of course."
I snarl, pulling in vain at the binding. In desperation I try using magic, but the spells fizzle out before I can even cast them, the magic of the Stocks suppressing them. [This asshole isn't going to get away just because of my weakness!]
[Zatanna] Aqualad says, ignoring my comments, [can you see any way to break the spell? Any weak spots?]
I can feel Zatanna's panic along the bond. [That's not how it works! You can't just pick apart a spell by eye! I mean, I can see the raw magic, but that's incomprehensible without an analysis spell. I'd need to actually cast one, which I can't from over here, and then study it for like half an hour to really come up with a solu-]
Her fretting is cut off when Ravager laughs, sharp and fierce.
"It seems you've made a bit of a miscalculation, Blood Bag" she says, reaching towards her waist. "A hostage may stop them, but for us…"
My stomach drops, and I feel the Team's alarm across the mind link.
[Not even she would…]
I sent back a sense of resignation at M'gann's comment. [Yes, she would. She's a villain, an assassin, that's what they do.]
Ravager slowly pulls out a throwing knife. My eyes feel drawn to it magnetically, watching my approaching doom come inch by inch.
[Robin] Aqualad says, [If M'gann makes a distraction, do you think you can incapacitate her in-]
[I don't know if I'll be-!]
"Ravager, enough" Silver Sorceress says, voice somehow booming while still staying at the same volume. "Focus on our mutual enemy."
Raven nods, glaring at the white-haired assassin.
[I think I can knock it out of her hand with a boomerang] Robin says. [I just need an opening so she can't block it].
"C'mon, Silvie, you saw this guy, he was on the ropes! We can take him without the Kiddie League here."
"I gave my word" Sorceress says, glaring at her. "I won't have you breaking it."
Ravager snorts, moving the knife back to throw. "Sure, because that's what this is about. Sorry Silvie, Rae-Rae, I don't take orders from you or your little feeli-"
Sorceress holds a hand up, blazing with silver light as she points it at Ravager. "Let me be exceptionally clear, Ravager" she says, voice calm, measured, and even in a way I last heard when she was talking to my mother. "If you throw that knife, I will kill you where you stand."
I almost choke, despite the dagger next to my neck. What?! She's-
Ravager snorts. "Like you can handle the fallout from that."
Sorceress's eyes narrow. "You once claimed that unlike your father, you wouldn't underestimate me. Don't tell me you've lost your wits now."
I bite my lip. Is she…
Ravager looks at her, assessing. "Fine" she eventually says, putting away the blade, "but only because you asked nicely."
"Excellent" Sorceress says, lips quirking up "Besides… Blood Boy here shouldn't be nearly as smug as he is right now."
Oh.
Of course.
For a moment, I thought…
Well, it doesn't matter.
Because of fucking course that's what this is. Just another opportunity to show off her intelligence, and grandstand in front of a captive audience. Can't do the right thing because it's the right thing, there always has to be a second motive.
I can't believe I actually thought better of her.
She turns to Flannigan. "What are you using as a base of that thing, a pentagrammatic aether-capture-inversion spiral? Very inefficient, very power hungry. Especially when using a magic hog like that teleport in your other hand."
I roll my eyes. Always the fucking drama queen.
Kid Flash glares at Zatanna. [What was that, you were saying? About analyzing spells by eye?]
Zatanna gapes. [I… How…]
Sorceress smirks, practically radiating triumph. "You were running out of magic before you even captured Chryssa. If I'm gambling, I'd say that in half a minute, you'll only be able to sustain one of those spells, and we'll have a good few seconds to take you down."
"And trust me" she says, eyes intent, "I always win when I gamble."
I send an impression of exasperation. [Ignore her, she's doing it on purpose. Focus on Flannigan. Robin, can do you think you can hit him with a foam capsule if I duck once he lets me go?]
"Actually," Sorceress says, muttering to herself low enough that only Superboy can hear, "I think I might be able to calculate the polarity matrices using the ambient aether flows…"
[What?] Robin says, [We are going to focus on getting you the fuck out of there! We don't even know if Sorceress is right, and even if she is, I'm not going to risk trapping you right next to him?]
Flannigan snorts, blood continuing to collect in his off-hand. "Impressively spotted, girl. Unfortunately for you, soon, it won't' matter."
Sorceress frowns, concentrating. "Quiet, you. I'm doing math."
I send across a sense of frustration. [Fates above, you can't actually be serious! I'll be fine, I'm fast enough to get out of the way. Sorceress wouldn't have said any of that if she wasn't certain about it, so get ready. We can't let this asshole escape.]
Bad enough I landed us in this situation, I won't have us sacrificing the chance to end things for good for my sake.
[Did you say 'Fates a-' Doesn't matter. Chryssa we aren't going to risk losing you on the words of some villain!]
I send across irritation. [Everything we do is a risk. And Sorceress isn't going to be wrong about-]
Aqualad glares, and I feel the determination of the entire Team behind him. [Chryssa. I am commander, and I have made my decision. We will be focusing on freeing you above catching Flannigan.]
I have to stop myself from screaming in frustration. They're going to let him get away, just because I was fucking stupid enough to get myself captured!
"Hah, got it!"
Before I can argue back, Sorceress raises her hand, and a jet of crackling green light shoots out, hitting the spell binding me. I start pushing with all my might, and slowly, the pentagram begins to crack.
[Told you.] I send irritation across the link.
Flannigan just stares at the sight, gaping.
"Shit" Sorceress says, frowning. "Should have rounded up, not down. I meant for that to be instant."
With a final heave, the Pentagram cracks, and then shatters. If they aren't going to take down Flannigan…
Before I can hit the ground, I flip over in the air, landing on my hands. I kip up, and lash out a kick at the red-headed bastard's smug fucking face.
Unfortunately, right before it connects, there's a purple flash, and Sorceress is standing there, reaching out with a spike of purple energy around her fist towards the apostate pastor.
My foot slams into Sorceresses's head, sending us both toppling to the ground in front of Flannigan.
I hear a guttural scream of rage, and watch shadows surge up to stab at Flannigan, even as he maneuvers behind his throne and our prone bodies to block them.
[Chryssa!]
I try to kick myself up and jump for the mage, but Sorceress grabs my leg. "You motherfucker, you seriously just fucking-"
"Get off of me! I need to-!"
"You get off of me! I can't fucking believe you just-"
Vwomp!
With a giant, blinding flash, which sends bloody flames flying across the warehouse, Flannigan disappears.
I stand up, disentangling myself from Sorceress. Thankfully, none of the flames have gotten on either of us.
"You!" she yells, turning to me with a furious glare. "You irritating, interfering little- argh! I fucking had him, and then you just had to go-"
"Me? You grabbed me and didn't let me get up, I could have gotten him!"
"Only because I was confused, thanks to you kicking me in the fucking head. I can't believe I actually thought you could-"
"Don't give me that! You could have taken him out at any time, but nooooo, you just had to get your rocks off proving how smart you were."
She scoffs, and disappears in a purple flash, instantly popping back up next to Ravager and Raven. She holds up a hand, one of those strange vortices from before appearing and vacuuming up all the flames around them.
She pats down her coat, smoothing it, before standing up with a glare. "I knew you were delusional, but truly, this is a new personal low."
It's at that moment the Team finishes freezing over Flannigan's flames , and run up to stand besides me.
I feel their concern blast through the mind link.
[Chryssa, are you ok?]
I send back reassurance. [I'm fine. Really, I don't even feel sore.]
They send back waves of relief.
…Is it just me, or is it really quiet in here, all of a sudden?
Slowly, I begin to realize that our two groups have arranged ourselves into lines facing one another, now that the mutual threat is gone.
"Well" Sorceress says, and it's only almost a decade of knowing her that lets me make out the boiling frustration she's barely managing to tamp down on, "I suppose it's just us now."
"Remember what I told you, kiddies" Ravager says with a smirk, pulling out a knife. "Now that the big bad preacher-man is gone… You're all ours."
Raven shoots her a look, and she rolls her eyes, putting the knife back. "Fine. Delivering them all to League Headquarters hogtied will be almost as much fun."
"You know" Sorceress says, holding up a hand blazing with eldritch light, "you really do get me, sometimes."
She lets out a dark chuckle. "I really need to take out some frustration right now."
[Shit] Robin says, as we move into a defense formation. [I don't think we can win this. Any chance we can negotiate?]
Kid Flash sends back bitter amusement. [Look at them, do they look willing to talk?]
I glare at the three capes in front of me, eyes hard. [Even if they were, they'd just stab us in the back the first chance they got. Ravager isn't exactly known for playing fair, and I can't trust she won't convince the others.]
Not with what I've seen Sorceress do so far at her request.
[What do we do?] Zatanna says, projecting worry. [I'm exhausted, I don't think I can go another round.]
Aqualad smiles. [I believe I have an idea. Two of us will need to work as distraction while the others escape in the ship, though].
Immediately, I send back the sense of me raising my hand, along with a glare challenging anyone to say anything.
I'm going to make up for my weakness in getting captured, one way or another.
[I suppose I'll go too, then] Robin says. [Chryssa and I will be able to slip away into the city more easily than anyone else.]
Aqualad sends back a mental nod. [Very well. Superboy, would it take more than five seconds to form an exit in the warehouse side?]
I feel his chagrin at our leader even having to ask.
Aqualad sends a feeling of contrition to him. [Zatanna, do you think you could magnify the brightness of something?]
I feel her hesitation. […I think I can, yes.]
I send back a sense of comfort. [Don't doubt yourself. I know you can.]
She smiles at me, sending back thankful affection.
[Excellent] Aqualad says. [Now one last thing…]
He smirks. [Robin, how many of those flash-bangs do you have?]
Slowly, we all begin to match his expression.
PoV: Silver Sorceress
Five Minutes Later
"They what?!"
PoV: Silver Sorceress
The minutes after I left Chryssa were some of the most intense of the entire fight.
I teleported my way up the battlefield, over to where Raven was fighting Blood Apostle. It was a good thing I was so fast, too, she was just about to be overwhelmed. She'd managed to disembowel one of his underbosses, but he had five more with him, along with his own significant magical might.
She, Rose and I did our best to fight them all at once, but they were just too strong. We managed to kill two more underbosses, but Blood Apostle is strong, terrifyingly strong, and used some sort of blood portal to transport us to the other end of the battlefield.
Based on the way my teleportation spell functions, I probably could have popped right back, but I couldn't have taken the others with me, so we had to work our way back to him the long way.
We've spent the past few minutes fighting through wave after wave of cultist and underbosses to get back to Blood Apostle.
Our process speeds up a bit thanks to that giant ice wall the heroes created cutting the battlefield in half, and finally, we manage to make it back to Blood Apostle, who's retreated inside the warehouse.
Which leads me to now.
I slam my staff into the door, sending the wood splintering.
Blood Apostle is inside, sitting on an ornate, skeleton-themed throne in the middle of the building, his remaining three underbosses standing around him. I finally get a good look at the man, and…
Huh, the blood mage is a redhead?
A bit on the nose, isn't it, Moirai?
"You know" the man says, "You all are the most terribly rude party-crashers. I had some wonderful events planned."
"Sorry to disappoint" I say, flatly. "I never had a mother to teach me manners."
Rose snickers from next to me, but she's the only one.
Wait, no, I can see Raven's lip twitch upwards.
Before he can respond, the door to the other side of the warehouse gets slammed inwards, and the nuisances come stomping in.
"Your reign of terror ends today, Flannigan" comes the voice of a figure I recognize from the papers as Aqualad.
I roll my eyes. Great, these chucklefucks.
Also, seriously, 'Flannigan'? That's his real name? Now there's a case of nominative determinism.
"Excellent!" Blood Apostle says, standing up, "now all our little party crashers are here. That's good."
He glares down at us, eyes burning red. "It makes you all easier to squish."
He points at Robin and Chryssa. "You two have been very irritating. Coming into my service in disguise, trying to ferret out information? Naughty naughty…"
She… revealed her identity to him?
To fucking Robin? A guy she's known for less than a year?!
I huff with irritation. No, it makes sense. He's a hero, after all. Not like us dastardly do-bad-ers.
"What's your plan?" Kid Flash says, glaring. "Why do all of this?"
Blood Apostle smiles. "Ooh, look at that! Little baby Flash wants some answers. What? Do you want my villainous monologue? My tragic origin story?"
"No" he says with a wide smile, "or maybe you're hoping I don't have one. Maybe you're hoping I raise my fist to the sky and give some dramatic evil monologue. 'I just want to see the world burn, foolish mortals! That's why I've killed all these people!' Something like that?"
Everyone — except Rose, who just smiles, the bitch — glares.
"The truth is" he says, "There wasn't some great moment of radicalization for me. I've always been a strong man, a tough man, a man of great destiny. But the world isn't built for men like me."
"I followed my father into the family business, and for a while I thought it'd help. But it didn't. I saw the rot of this world eating up my city, my people, day after day. I saw stupid, barely-literate, mouth-breathing thugs take baths in liquid gold, while good, honest, hardworking people had to struggle. Human animals get rewarded, while real people suffer."
Oh huh, so he's gonna monologue regardless then. Well, I'm not going to stop someone when they're giving me time to recuperate.
"I saw pencil-pushing, pointy-headed inspectors who weren't a tenth of the man I was, who thought they were better than me just because they had some fancy degree from some fancy ivory tower, trying to shut us down over ridiculous violations of made up laws imposed by busy-body bureaucrats trying to justify their own positions. I saw millions die in wars started by fools, for foolish goals, sending men a thousand times better than them off to die."
I narrow my eyes at him, trying to make out any of the spells he has laid around him.
No luck.
"Haven't you ever grown tired of it?" he asks. "The war, the fighting? The decrepit, horrible state of humanity? How it seems like every country, in every corner of the world, is run by weak-bellied, cowardly morons who can't stop breaking things?"
"Do you know how many genocides are happening right now? How many great bloodlines of geniuses wiped out by lines of morons that happen to have guns? How many good people tortured and persecuted for the whims of stupid, petty, selfish inferior little cretins who have puffed-up egos that don't match their abilities?"
"Probably quite a substantial number" I say flatly. "Although I object to your framing."
"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU OBJECT TO!" he screams.
A moment later he collects himself. "Apologies, apologies" he says, smiling. "Sometimes, my temper runs away from me."
"There was no one moment for me, no single instance where I broke. I just eventually came to realize…"
He waves around him. "This whole system, this whole… everything. It's a fake edifice, a mansion built from rotten wood. It props up weak and sniveling petty tyrants at the expense of good honest men. It preaches 'equality' and 'liberty' and 'universal rights' and 'tolerance', when all that really means is lifting up the pathetic and grinding the strong into the ground."
"And then" he says, the light of fanaticism overtaking his eyes. "I found someone who could change things. Someone promising to take that rotten mansion… and burn it down. Build something new on the ashes. Something where the people who should be in charge, can actually be in charge."
"Trigon is pure evil" Raven says harshly, and I can't help but flinch and glare at her as she uses the name. "Anything he's promising you, it's a lie. No matter how bad this world is, his will be a million times worse."
Although, he's likely already paying attention to this, it's not like saying his name's going to make it worse.
"Really?" he says. "Will it? A world where the people best suited to rule can actually rule? No more petty tyrants, no more stupid little bureaucrats trying to regulate and control us, no more effete, impudent snobs turning up their noses and poo-pooing people ten times better than they'll ever be. A world where the strong are no longer ground down under the weight of mediocrity."
"And you could have done it" he says, turning towards Raven. "You could have helped bring that into fruition. You would have been the perfect sacrifice for the Master."
Raven glares at him with more emotion than I've ever seen on her face.
"Your soul would have made the most pleasing screams for him, more than any other. I don't know why but I can feel it! It could have given me the power to truly enact his will, to bring a new, glorious age!"
"Raven," I say, warily eyeing the girl as her eyes take on a red tinge, "calm down, don't let him get to you."
"Oh it would have been so beautiful. Your song would have resonated with-"
"Fuck you, asshole" Raven snarls, eyes tinged red, and sends a spike of shadows directly at Blood Apostle's heart.
The cult leader disperses the spike with a shield of blood-red light, and snarls. "Franco, Charlie, everyone!" he yells, pointing at the hulking brutes around him. "Kill them, kill them all! For the Scion!"
KILL, FOR THE MASTER!
Huh, guess that's what happened to the head of the Bertinellis.
A second later, I blink back as a jet of fire washes over where I was previously standing, and I'm too busy to speculate.
PoV: Chryssa, the Golden Archer
It's been about five minutes, and the fight is going… not terribly.
Flannigan is powerful, very powerful, not to mention the underbosses he has with him, but with us and the Falcones combined we have enough capes to have them on the ropes.
Throughout the battle, Flannigan's underbosses have been chucking anything and everything they can find in the factory at us, and it's only been the efforts of Miss Martian and the Shadow Girl — Raven, I heard Sorceress call her — that have kept us safe.
Eventually, we mange to take the last underboss down. Aqualad knocks him out, and I leave him glued to the wall of the building with a foam arrow.
"Finally" Silver Sorceress says rolling her shoulders. "We could have done that ages ago if you heroes hadn't been slacking."
"Don't get too cocky" I say to her, voice hard. "After Flannigan is done, you all are next."
Ravager grins nastily. "You realize you just gave us incentive to throw you in front of his attacks, right?"
"Enough" Raven says, glaring at both girls. "We have a mutual enemy, focus on him."
"Fine" Ravager says, with playful irritation. "But don't think I'm forgetting about you two."
Flannigan sends out a wave of blood-red fire before the conversation can continue.
"So…" he says, "it's down to me then."
He smiles. "That's fine. All great prophets are tested by their Lord. I will just have to show him that I am truly faithful. And if it costs me my life?"
He sends out a massive torrent of blood and fire, glowing with the power he's channeling from his 'Master'.
"Then so be it."
I spend the next minute dodging, trying to avoid the torrent. Eventually, I find myself standing back to back with Zatanna, holding off a series of flaming bolts. A few feet away from us stands Sorceress, holding up this weird vortex that seems to suck them in.
Zatanna raises a hand. "Semalf, ezeerf!"
The fire around us stills, crackling over with the same magical ice she used to freeze the water.
"Fucking hell" I hear Sorceress groan, "a Zatara?"
She turns to me, raising an eyebrow. "You really do pick the worst people to slum it with, don't you?"
She stares at Zatanna, eyes gleaming purple, and lets out a barking laugh. "Even worse, a weak Zatara. She's not half the mage her father is."
"Although," she says with a cruel smirk I recognize from Ravager's face, "I suppose that might be why you chose her: like attracts like, after all."
I glare at her, Zatanna's anger feeding into my own through the mind link.
"Don't you say a word about my father" the black-haired witch says.
Sorceress raises a delicate eyebrow — huh, she's gone full high femme today — "Your father is an arrogant, condescending, interfering jackass who isn't half as clever as he thinks he is, and manages to use raw power and cheating to compensate for a lack of intelligence. You don't have the power, so what's left for you?"
Zatanna moves forward, and I raise a hand. "Don't, Zatanna."
She turns to me angrily.
I just smirk, eyes not leaving the silver-haired girl's. "Sorceress just doesn't like how you prove that being a petulant narcissist that doesn't play well with others is a character flaw, and not some innate characteristic of mages."
Sorceress sneers, but I can see the real rage smoldering behind her eyes at the jab. "Please, you flatter yourself. You're not worth the energy to be arrogant towards."
I scoff. "As if-"
Before I can respond. A gout of blood-red fire shoots out at her, and she has to teleport away.
Where did she… There!
I spend the next minute trying to make my way over to her. The rest of the Team looks like they've got Flannigan in hand, those counters of his are looking pretty desperate, so I can afford to focus on the real threat. I chime in occasionally over the mind link, pointing out weak spots to aim for, and ideal trajectories for projectiles, but I always keep half my focus on Sorceress.
She's up to something, I just know it. That whole "mutual enemy" thing earlier, right after defending working with Ravager? No way, absolutely no fucking way. I know her, she has something up her sleeve.
What's she doing with her left arm? It's facing away from everyone, and I think I see one of those spell-circles she uses. I try to peer closer, and-
I feel a force hit me in the back, and I go sailing forward, towards Flannigan.
I'm dazed for a few moments, but when I realize what's happened, I freeze. The battle's stopped around us. I try to move, but feel my arms restrained.
I hear Flannigan's voice hissing next to my ear. "If you want your little friend to live, you'll listen to what I have to say."
I try to turn my head, trying to see him, but my head is restrained. M'gann sends me an image, and it's all I can do to not yell in frustration.
Stupid, stupid Artemis! I got lazy, I got sloppy, and I let this hack motherfucker capture me!
I'm restrained in some type of bizarre blood construct, my limbs and head bound in place, with a giant red disc. Flannigan is leaning down next to me, a glowing knife held next to my neck. His other hand is held out, wisps of blood from all across the warehouse streaming into it.
"These" he says, gesturing with a flourish, "are the Stocks of the Hecatomb! The ultimate spell of our sect! It's meant to constrain even the most powerful of foes while we prepare to offer them to The Master."
I bite back a scream of frustration.
[Chryssa don't panic, we can get you out of this] I hear Aqualad say over the bond.
[I'm not panicking, I'm fucking pissed off! And you can get me out of this by distracting Flannigan!]
"Don't worry though" he says, smiling. "I won't sacrifice this one, even if she deserves it for being such a filthy heathen!"
[Please tell me he didn't just spit on me.]
I feel awkwardness in response, and fight down a surge of disgust. Who knows what type of germs this freak has.
"All you have to do is wait here for the next minute and half, and then I'll let her go. After my teleportation spell completes, of course."
I snarl, pulling in vain at the binding. In desperation I try using magic, but the spells fizzle out before I can even cast them, the magic of the Stocks suppressing them. [This asshole isn't going to get away just because of my weakness!]
[Zatanna] Aqualad says, ignoring my comments, [can you see any way to break the spell? Any weak spots?]
I can feel Zatanna's panic along the bond. [That's not how it works! You can't just pick apart a spell by eye! I mean, I can see the raw magic, but that's incomprehensible without an analysis spell. I'd need to actually cast one, which I can't from over here, and then study it for like half an hour to really come up with a solu-]
Her fretting is cut off when Ravager laughs, sharp and fierce.
"It seems you've made a bit of a miscalculation, Blood Bag" she says, reaching towards her waist. "A hostage may stop them, but for us…"
My stomach drops, and I feel the Team's alarm across the mind link.
[Not even she would…]
I sent back a sense of resignation at M'gann's comment. [Yes, she would. She's a villain, an assassin, that's what they do.]
Ravager slowly pulls out a throwing knife. My eyes feel drawn to it magnetically, watching my approaching doom come inch by inch.
[Robin] Aqualad says, [If M'gann makes a distraction, do you think you can incapacitate her in-]
[I don't know if I'll be-!]
"Ravager, enough" Silver Sorceress says, voice somehow booming while still staying at the same volume. "Focus on our mutual enemy."
Raven nods, glaring at the white-haired assassin.
[I think I can knock it out of her hand with a boomerang] Robin says. [I just need an opening so she can't block it].
"C'mon, Silvie, you saw this guy, he was on the ropes! We can take him without the Kiddie League here."
"I gave my word" Sorceress says, glaring at her. "I won't have you breaking it."
Ravager snorts, moving the knife back to throw. "Sure, because that's what this is about. Sorry Silvie, Rae-Rae, I don't take orders from you or your little feeli-"
Sorceress holds a hand up, blazing with silver light as she points it at Ravager. "Let me be exceptionally clear, Ravager" she says, voice calm, measured, and even in a way I last heard when she was talking to my mother. "If you throw that knife, I will kill you where you stand."
I almost choke, despite the dagger next to my neck. What?! She's-
Ravager snorts. "Like you can handle the fallout from that."
Sorceress's eyes narrow. "You once claimed that unlike your father, you wouldn't underestimate me. Don't tell me you've lost your wits now."
I bite my lip. Is she…
Ravager looks at her, assessing. "Fine" she eventually says, putting away the blade, "but only because you asked nicely."
"Excellent" Sorceress says, lips quirking up "Besides… Blood Boy here shouldn't be nearly as smug as he is right now."
Oh.
Of course.
For a moment, I thought…
Well, it doesn't matter.
Because of fucking course that's what this is. Just another opportunity to show off her intelligence, and grandstand in front of a captive audience. Can't do the right thing because it's the right thing, there always has to be a second motive.
I can't believe I actually thought better of her.
She turns to Flannigan. "What are you using as a base of that thing, a pentagrammatic aether-capture-inversion spiral? Very inefficient, very power hungry. Especially when using a magic hog like that teleport in your other hand."
I roll my eyes. Always the fucking drama queen.
Kid Flash glares at Zatanna. [What was that, you were saying? About analyzing spells by eye?]
Zatanna gapes. [I… How…]
Sorceress smirks, practically radiating triumph. "You were running out of magic before you even captured Chryssa. If I'm gambling, I'd say that in half a minute, you'll only be able to sustain one of those spells, and we'll have a good few seconds to take you down."
"And trust me" she says, eyes intent, "I always win when I gamble."
I send an impression of exasperation. [Ignore her, she's doing it on purpose. Focus on Flannigan. Robin, can do you think you can hit him with a foam capsule if I duck once he lets me go?]
"Actually," Sorceress says, muttering to herself low enough that only Superboy can hear, "I think I might be able to calculate the polarity matrices using the ambient aether flows…"
[What?] Robin says, [We are going to focus on getting you the fuck out of there! We don't even know if Sorceress is right, and even if she is, I'm not going to risk trapping you right next to him?]
Flannigan snorts, blood continuing to collect in his off-hand. "Impressively spotted, girl. Unfortunately for you, soon, it won't' matter."
Sorceress frowns, concentrating. "Quiet, you. I'm doing math."
I send across a sense of frustration. [Fates above, you can't actually be serious! I'll be fine, I'm fast enough to get out of the way. Sorceress wouldn't have said any of that if she wasn't certain about it, so get ready. We can't let this asshole escape.]
Bad enough I landed us in this situation, I won't have us sacrificing the chance to end things for good for my sake.
[Did you say 'Fates a-' Doesn't matter. Chryssa we aren't going to risk losing you on the words of some villain!]
I send across irritation. [Everything we do is a risk. And Sorceress isn't going to be wrong about-]
Aqualad glares, and I feel the determination of the entire Team behind him. [Chryssa. I am commander, and I have made my decision. We will be focusing on freeing you above catching Flannigan.]
I have to stop myself from screaming in frustration. They're going to let him get away, just because I was fucking stupid enough to get myself captured!
"Hah, got it!"
Before I can argue back, Sorceress raises her hand, and a jet of crackling green light shoots out, hitting the spell binding me. I start pushing with all my might, and slowly, the pentagram begins to crack.
[Told you.] I send irritation across the link.
Flannigan just stares at the sight, gaping.
"Shit" Sorceress says, frowning. "Should have rounded up, not down. I meant for that to be instant."
With a final heave, the Pentagram cracks, and then shatters. If they aren't going to take down Flannigan…
Before I can hit the ground, I flip over in the air, landing on my hands. I kip up, and lash out a kick at the red-headed bastard's smug fucking face.
Unfortunately, right before it connects, there's a purple flash, and Sorceress is standing there, reaching out with a spike of purple energy around her fist towards the apostate pastor.
My foot slams into Sorceresses's head, sending us both toppling to the ground in front of Flannigan.
I hear a guttural scream of rage, and watch shadows surge up to stab at Flannigan, even as he maneuvers behind his throne and our prone bodies to block them.
[Chryssa!]
I try to kick myself up and jump for the mage, but Sorceress grabs my leg. "You motherfucker, you seriously just fucking-"
"Get off of me! I need to-!"
"You get off of me! I can't fucking believe you just-"
Vwomp!
With a giant, blinding flash, which sends bloody flames flying across the warehouse, Flannigan disappears.
I stand up, disentangling myself from Sorceress. Thankfully, none of the flames have gotten on either of us.
"You!" she yells, turning to me with a furious glare. "You irritating, interfering little- argh! I fucking had him, and then you just had to go-"
"Me? You grabbed me and didn't let me get up, I could have gotten him!"
"Only because I was confused, thanks to you kicking me in the fucking head. I can't believe I actually thought you could-"
"Don't give me that! You could have taken him out at any time, but nooooo, you just had to get your rocks off proving how smart you were."
She scoffs, and disappears in a purple flash, instantly popping back up next to Ravager and Raven. She holds up a hand, one of those strange vortices from before appearing and vacuuming up all the flames around them.
She pats down her coat, smoothing it, before standing up with a glare. "I knew you were delusional, but truly, this is a new personal low."
It's at that moment the Team finishes freezing over Flannigan's flames , and run up to stand besides me.
I feel their concern blast through the mind link.
[Chryssa, are you ok?]
I send back reassurance. [I'm fine. Really, I don't even feel sore.]
They send back waves of relief.
…Is it just me, or is it really quiet in here, all of a sudden?
Slowly, I begin to realize that our two groups have arranged ourselves into lines facing one another, now that the mutual threat is gone.
"Well" Sorceress says, and it's only almost a decade of knowing her that lets me make out the boiling frustration she's barely managing to tamp down on, "I suppose it's just us now."
"Remember what I told you, kiddies" Ravager says with a smirk, pulling out a knife. "Now that the big bad preacher-man is gone… You're all ours."
Raven shoots her a look, and she rolls her eyes, putting the knife back. "Fine. Delivering them all to League Headquarters hogtied will be almost as much fun."
"You know" Sorceress says, holding up a hand blazing with eldritch light, "you really do get me, sometimes."
She lets out a dark chuckle. "I really need to take out some frustration right now."
[Shit] Robin says, as we move into a defense formation. [I don't think we can win this. Any chance we can negotiate?]
Kid Flash sends back bitter amusement. [Look at them, do they look willing to talk?]
I glare at the three capes in front of me, eyes hard. [Even if they were, they'd just stab us in the back the first chance they got. Ravager isn't exactly known for playing fair, and I can't trust she won't convince the others.]
Not with what I've seen Sorceress do so far at her request.
[What do we do?] Zatanna says, projecting worry. [I'm exhausted, I don't think I can go another round.]
Aqualad smiles. [I believe I have an idea. Two of us will need to work as distraction while the others escape in the ship, though].
Immediately, I send back the sense of me raising my hand, along with a glare challenging anyone to say anything.
I'm going to make up for my weakness in getting captured, one way or another.
[I suppose I'll go too, then] Robin says. [Chryssa and I will be able to slip away into the city more easily than anyone else.]
Aqualad sends back a mental nod. [Very well. Superboy, would it take more than five seconds to form an exit in the warehouse side?]
I feel his chagrin at our leader even having to ask.
Aqualad sends a feeling of contrition to him. [Zatanna, do you think you could magnify the brightness of something?]
I feel her hesitation. […I think I can, yes.]
I send back a sense of comfort. [Don't doubt yourself. I know you can.]
She smiles at me, sending back thankful affection.
[Excellent] Aqualad says. [Now one last thing…]
He smirks. [Robin, how many of those flash-bangs do you have?]
Slowly, we all begin to match his expression.
PoV: Silver Sorceress
Five Minutes Later
"They what?!"
