Date | The New Teen Titans #4 | View | Read the... |
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02/11/16 | The Last Day of Warworld, Part 4 | (Blog) (Forum) | Disclaimer |
Rating | Rating explanation | Last Issue: |
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T | Violence. | Part 3 |
On the ground, the Titans moved as one when the boom tube opened. Starfire carried Robin in her arms as she flew to the top of the building. Changeling turned into a green King Kong, and climbed the side. Cyborg took the height of the building in two leaps, bounding off of one of Gar's giant knees for the second jump.
Raven turned on Darkseid, her top set of eyes glowing brighter than before, preparing to fire. Darkseid turned his head towards her, and casually backhanded her without speaking. Raven's huge form dropped on the roof.
"Raven!" Wonder Girl shouted. She started forward, but Darkseid turned towards her and fired his omega effect. Donna barely got her arms up in time to block the attack with her Amazonian bracelets, and was driven backwards by the force of the blast. The strain of holding off the beams made her pass out at the edge of the roof, and she fell over the edge.
As she fell, the rest of the team was reaching the roof. Gar caught her in his giant ape paw, and laughed, "I always said Wonder Girl would fall for me someday! Hey, where’s the Warl--"
“Hm.” All came to a halt as they spotted Darkseid, who was examining Trigon's planet cannon. "I could find this... useful," he mused.
"Yeah? Well how do you find this?" shouted Cyborg, firing his sonic cannon. Starfire followed it up with a sustained starbolt barrage. Robin unbound Kid Flash and tossed the rope over by Wonder Girl.
Darkseid merely winced at the sonics, then fired his omega beams against Starfire's blasts. His beams overwhelmed the starbolts, and she was thrown on her back. "Ineffective," was his only reply to Victor.
"We can't let you take that cannon, Darkseid!" warned Robin.
"Nor can you stop me, child," Darkseid stated matter-of-factly. Glancing at the cannon, he fired his Omega Effect once again, and the weapon simply disappeared. "It is done," he said, and he turned to go.
BOOM!
As he started toward the open boom tube, a slender golden strand grabbed his wrist. "Who dares?" he asked, looking at his wrist. He wound his hand around the rope, and jerked it forward, pulling a startled Donna Troy with it.
"Wonder Girl!" shouted Starfire, but Robin put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from going forward.
Catching her by the throat with his free hand, Darkseid growled low as he looked her over. Glancing at the lasso around his wrist, he smiled only briefly. "There isoldmagic in this, girl. Magic Irecognize, but have not encountered for ages." Setting her down, he folded his free hand behind his back, and held the snared wrist towards her. "Ask your questions," he offered.
Wonder Girl could not hide her shock. Behind her, the Titans were just as stunned. Still, she recovered enough to ask, "Why are you here?"
"I have many avatars in many dimensions," answered Darkseid, "and I am aware of them at all times. When one shows up inmydomain, I wish to know why. So I came for that answer."
"'Avatar,'" Robin quoted from across the roof. "You mean..."
"...Trigon?" Donna finished.
Darkseid looked at the girl and merely nodded once.
"All this time," muttered Wally, "We've been fighting another version of Darkseid?"
Turning into a spider monkey and scratching his head, Gar shrugged and quipped, "Who'da thunk it?"
"Trigon is gone," said Donna. "So why show up now?"
"Gone?" Darkseid laughed. "Because this girl blew up a world? Trigon is a god. In his dimension,Trigon is me. You could no more destroy my avatar than you could destroyme."
As if on cue, Trigon materialized behind Donna, grabbed her by the back of the neck, and picked her up off the ground again.
"X'hal!" screamed Starfire, but Robin continued to hold her back.
"Robbie," whispered Cyborg, "There's no way we're gonna beat both of them."
Looking at the two gods holding court with one of his dearest friends, Robin said very tensely, "I know."
The demonic lord growled more menacingly, but looked Donna over in the same manner that Darkseid had. Pinching the end of her rope between two of his massive fingers he slid it through her hand far enough to see it. Squinting at it momentarily, he looked up at Darkseid and smiled."Familiar." Darkseid remained unmoved. Dropping Wonder Girl to her feet, Trigon did not bother to hide his amusement as he said, "Continue."
Donna lowered her head, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and whispered, "Hera give me strength. Athena give me wisdom." Steeling herself, she looked up at the two gods and asked, "Can Raven be saved?"
Trigon chuckled with no humor as he rolled the end of the rope between his fingers. "Easily," he said. Waving his hand, Raven turned back to her normal human form, but was still unconscious. "She betrayed m--"
"Tricked you," Donna cut in.
"Shebetrayedme!" snapped Trigon, dropping the end of the rope. "I am not sure I want my daughter at my side any longer," he said, looking at his fallen daughter.
Darkseid reached for the loop around his wrist, saying, "Enough of this game."
"Darkseid, one more question?" asked Wonder Girl.
Darkseid paused, but took off the lasso. He looked at Trigon, and the red god walked into the boom tube.
BOOM!
Looking back to Donna, he glowered, "Tread carefully, girl."
"You said you came looking for your avatar," said Wonder Girl. "But Trigon wasn't here when you showed up."
"I do not hear a question," warned Darkseid.
"You said you sense your avatars at all times," she continued. "You knew that Trigon had gone to Warworld. So why did you come here?"
For a few seconds, Darkseid said nothing. Then he looked at Raven, and turned towards the boom tube. Looking over his shoulder, he said, "All parents intervene when their children make mistakes that could mean their destruction. Not even the gods escape this truth." Walking into the boom tube, he added,"Trigon may have abandoned his ambitions for our daughter, but I have my own plans."
"Your pl--"
BOOM!
The gods were gone as was the boom tube, and only the Titans remained. Donna surprised herself with a sigh of relief. Coiling her rope as she turned back to her friends, she found them staring at her. "What?"
"'What?'" laughed Gar. "She has the nerve to ask 'what!' Really?" He slapped his forehead with the heel of his hand, turned into a chimpanzee, did a backflip, and let himself fall backwards. "That's bananas!"
"Chick stares down two gods, and acts like it's nuthin'. Man." Victor shakes his head. "Wonder Girl, you are sumpthin' else!"
"So, wait a minute," said Wally. "Did I hear that right? Raven is--"
"--Darkseid's daughter?" finished Starfire.
"And he has 'plans' for her," added Robin.
Victor asked, "So whatta we do about that, shortpants?"
Robin didn't answer immediately. He turned and looked out over the city. "For now, nothing. There are people down there that need our help."
"Perhaps I can be of some assistance with that?" came a voice from behind them.
The Titans turned to see Raven getting up to a standing position. She looked at them from beneath her hood and waited.
"You took a helluva chance, witch," said Cyborg.
"I did," she said.
They were quiet for another few moments, until Robin finally said, "Let's go."
Raven's soul self reached out, enveloping them all. There was a bamf of brimstone and smoke, and the Titans were gone.
Next Issue: The Last Day of Warworld, Epilogue. | Originally Presented In: (below) |
Please let me know what you think, and thanks! -cb | 15 Minute Writing Challenge (Just Write). |
Story, original characters and content are owned by Chris Bishop. Copyright Chris Bishop 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.
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