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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:05:39 GMT -5
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:06:36 GMT -5
Titans: The Resistance [/b] Issue #10: “Scarlet and Silver” Pt. 4 Written by: Jay McIntyre Cover by: Vanessa Munoz Edited by: Brian Burchette[/center]
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:07:12 GMT -5
Toni blasted at the Titans with her powers, but Green Lantern blocked her easily.
"We are not your enemy," Robin said.
"You fight the Markovians?" she asked.
"Gladly," Anarky put in.
Three shots ripped between them. Green Lantern blocked two, and one went wide. Toni turned and blasted the offender.
She watched them warily for a moment, then returned to the battle.
"Help her," Terra said.
"Let's clean up," Robin agreed.
Anarky leapt into the fray.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:08:13 GMT -5
The battle was like and yet unlike the fight in Markovia. The enemy was fewer and more confused, but it was dark and they had to rely on Green Lantern's light to see anything clearly.
Granted, the Markovians were faring no better in the darkness and confusion. Given that, it should have been an easier battle for the Titans. For another thing, they were more unified as a team now than then.
But Ravager had stayed aboard her ship, and Anarky was as yet an unknown quantity, and really, the Titans didn't know what to make of Toni Monetti, nor she of them.
So things were more chaotic, confused, and neurotic.
If only he could have taken the time to appreciate it, Anarky would have loved it.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:08:45 GMT -5
But at this point Anarky did not have such advantage of perspective. This was a fight for survival, more nervous and agitating than the fight against the sniper in the forest by far.
Physically he was capable; there was no doubt of that. And he had trained himself in several arts. He had fought thugs in Gotham before the battle with the sniper.
But this was no long enemy gunner, nor a bunch of stupid criminals. These were trained, disciplined soldiers. Focused on the task of killing him.
He did a lot of ducking and dodging, more avoiding enemy strikes than striking back himself, which galled him mightily.
On impulse, he leaned backwards, and three bullets ripped through the air where he had been. Leaning forward again, he spun his staff, and it connected with the bayonets of two soldiers who had come to close range planning to take him out. The current of his taser carried along the metal of the bayonets and into the guns themselves. One man was shocked into unconsciousness; the other's bullets exploded, sending him back screaming in pain. Anarky's costume protected him from the blast but not the knockback. Dazed and shaken, he fell on his rump, losing control of his cattle prod.
A third soldier loomed above him, and it was all he could do to roll out the way in time to avoid the downward thrust of the bayonet. Recovering somewhat, he managed a leg sweep that brought the soldier down. Unable to find his own weapon in the darkness, he struggled with the Markovian for his rifle. The Markovian won, and fired. Anarky ducked to the side, and the shot missed his head by inches.
Anarky hauled off and punched the man in the face. As the soldier stumbled back, Anarky grabbed the rifle, reversed it, and shot him. The soldier fell dead.
Shaken and cursing to himself, he scrambled around in the dark for his cattle prod.
The reality was proving to be much different than the theory.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:09:19 GMT -5
Supergirl flew low over the battlefield, choosing her targets, sticking mostly to heat vision. In the big battle in Markovia, she had been a battering ram. Here she was trying to use her intelligence.
Her Kryptonian senses enabled her to see much more than the humans below, particularly if she used her x-ray vision. But that did not lessen her confusion any.
Kai-Al was....not exactly arrogant, but in her own clinical way she had decided nothing on this planet was a serious threat to her. It was a mistake.
There was a sizzling whip-crack, and a loop of purple fire wrapped itself around her leg. The impact of the blow itself was nothing.....but the power behind it burned her flesh.
She screamed and fell, curled up into a ball of pain.
The Overseer had come.
He was dressed in heavy armor, not unlike that of the Markovian Imperial Court. But its function was not heraldic, rather it was defensive. The Empress had not been totally idle since her defeat, delving into the storehouse of the treasures of war of her forefathers, spreading it amongst regional governors and lieutenants as best she could. For she had known her daughter would strike again, but not where.
The Overseer was prepared as any man could be for the Titan's arrival. Particularly in the case of Supergirl; for his weapon was magic, and that was its power against her, though he did not know it.
He only knew he could hurt the enemy. Which pleased him no end.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:09:50 GMT -5
Terra stood tall, raining rocks down on the soldiers. Though she would have been appalled to admit it, she was getting used to killing people.
The thought brought her no pleasure, but she knew it must be done. So she began to harden her heart. She had to start to grow up; it had to happen sooner or later.
A bullet buzzed past her ear. Almost instinctively, she formed a ball of rock around herself as a shield.
But that meant she couldn't see anything.
So she went underground, sinking her ball into the surface and wandering beneath, tunneling as she went.
When she came up, it was with an eruption of power and fury that sent soldiers flying.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:10:20 GMT -5
Robin was whirling and dancing, spinning his quarterstaff, occasionally throwing a kick or punch. The time was not yet right to try to grab an arm or leg and break it; too many bullets flying in too many different directions for that.
Robin kept an eye on Anarky as he went. The extremist was doing well; Robin felt so, at least, because Anarky wasn't dead yet. The anarchist was certainly scared to death, but he also hadn't lost his head.
He flipped over Anarky and slammed into three thugs on the other side.
"Show off," Anarky muttered.
Robin only grinned.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:11:02 GMT -5
Green Lantern was the first to notice something was wrong with Supergirl. He moved in and swept her up, knocking the whip from her leg as he did so. The Overseer spat curses at him as he went.
"You okay, Supergirl?" Lantern asked, genuinely worried.
"That weapon...." she murmured, "Can hurt me...."
The Overseer lashed at the Lantern as he flew away with Supergirl, but was not foolish enough to throw his weapon after.
"That one will cause problems," he said to a lieutenant. "What are you waiting for? Move!"
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:11:36 GMT -5
Toni Monetti flashed and slashed through the troopers, hurling bursts of silver power. For her in this battle there was only fear, vengeance, and rage.
Fear for her life and that of her family.
Rage, for what she had lost.
Vengeance, to make the Markovians lose just as much.
One Markovian dared to get close. Her hand clamped around his throat and squeezed, glowing with silver power. He didn't have breath left to scream before she broke his neck.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:12:34 GMT -5
Meanwhile, the soldiers of La Cosa Nostra had arrived, and they began to take on the Markovian troopers on their own terms, fighting fire with fire. Literally.
"Follow the silver angel!" they cried in Italian, rallying behind Toni in her attacks, though she herself did not know it.
They met the Markovians gun to gun, knife to bayonet, and killer instinct to murderous command. Face to face. One on one. Life for life.
The Overseer noted their coming. "Destroy them! Leave the metahumans to me!"
But Toni and the returning Green Lantern converged on him in that moment.
It should have been easy for the two of them to take the Overseer down. He lashed out with his whip, but Lantern's shield held. Lantern tried to blast him back, but the Overseer ducked. The shot barely missed Toni.
As she flinched back, the Overseer moved quickly, curling his sizzling purple whip around her throat. She screamed and gagged. "You will back off and tell your fellow freaks to surrender to my men!" he shouted at Green Lantern.
The ring translated for Eric. He snorted derisively. "You can't be serious."
"I will kill her if you do not!" the Overseer challenged. He tightened the whip. Toni began to gag, but her eyes were defiant, and she tried to shake her head. Lantern got the message, not that he would've surrendered anyway.
The Overseer leered into her face. "And what is your story, little one?"
Terra and Anarky had noted the situation and were closing in, but Toni acted first; blasting silver energy into the Overseer's armor. He stumbled back, hurt but not fallen.
Lantern blasted him in the back, and he pitched forward. Anarky's cattle prod slammed into his helmet, and electricity coursed through him. He sank to his knees.
Still coughing and spluttering, Toni hooked him under the arms and lifted, flying upwards with him on a current of silver. Up, up up.
"For my family," she whispered in his ear, and then threw him down.
He fell, screaming, and impacted on the ground hard.
Miraculously, he didn't die. But he had no less than seven broken bones.
Satisfied, Toni returned her attention to the battle, joining with the Titans in mowing down the foe.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:13:13 GMT -5
Fires were everywhere. Markovian occupying forces were losing their morale, even amongst those who had not seen the fall of their leader. La Cosa Nostra was fighting viciously. Even more than the Titans there numbers were beginning to tell. Some of them fell, but by now the Markovians were so disorganized that it was becoming lopsided.
But the Markovians had the additional problem of no place to retreat to. This was no battle out in the open with escape routes readily available. This was a total ambush of an unprepared occupying force. Knowing the Titans were out there and being able to fight them—and the secret society of La Cosa Nostra at the same time—was another matter.
And La Cosa Nostra was not interested in accepting surrenders. At last, their time had come. So one by one, the Markovians fell to the last man.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:14:05 GMT -5
Toni led her family out of the mines.
It was an impressive sight to see, in the dim fiery light. But it was tainted by tragedy; with the partial and problematic exception of her father, they were all a little afraid of her, and of the Titans. And they weren't exactly happy to see La Cosa Nostra, either.
"We cannot go with them!" Toni's father exclaimed.
"You can't stay here, either," Toni tried to say it gently. "More Markovians will come. They can take you to safety."
"At what price?" her father protested. "We have nothing!"
"We will exact our price from the riches of the Overseer," one of the Organization soldiers said.
Toni's father looked as though he was about to argue—some of those treasures had been stolen from his ancestors, after all—but wisely held his tongue.
"Please, papa," Toni said, touching him on the arm. "You cannot stay here. And besides, do you really want to?"
"...No," her father admitted. "Where will you take us?" he asked, turning to the Organization captain.
"A sanctuary. We have many such. From there you can build new lives, or help us take the fight back to your oppressors."
"We'll think about it," was Toni's troubled reply.
"Do you know who they are?" Robin asked Anarky in an undertone.
The golden mask nodded. "I can guess."
"Does it trouble you?" Robin raised an eyebrow.
Anarky shrugged uncomfortably inside his costume. "I don't like it at all, but all other options are worse."
Robin smiled thinly. "Congratulations; you're learning. Welcome to the world."
"Oh yes, very well done," Anarky gave him a mocking slow handclap. "What decisive wit from the costumed elite that presumes to educate me on the ways of the world!"
Robin just shook his head.
"If you two are done imitating political pundits," Lantern put in dryly, "I do believe some friends of mine can look after her family later. Meanwhile, Supergirl is hurt."
He had brought her back, and she was sitting up now with his help, still groggy. "I will recover," she promised woozily. "I should have anticipated that sooner or later something on this world would harm me."
"Yet it hurt you more than the silver girl," Robin mused. "Something to think about in future."
"I'll analyze the weapon with my ring," Lantern promised.
"Speaking of the silver girl....." Terra murmured.
Toni Monetti came to them, stood before them. Looked at them one by one, Anarky at the last.
"I have....no place to go myself. Nor can I go into hiding with my family. I must fight. That seems to be....what you do."
"It is," Terra agreed. "And we seem to be recruiting new members lately," she said, glancing at Anarky.
Toni followed her gaze and nodded. Anarky nodded back. In his mind, here was the one most like him, or such was his hope.
"I was Toni Monetti," she said. "But no more. That part of my life is over. Now I am....not a normal person anymore. What am I?"
None of the Titans had an answer for her. But her father, listening quietly on one side, did. Tears still glistening down his cheeks as he looked at his daughter, he spoke one word, in Latin. "Argent."
"Argent," Anarky echoed, nodding. "Silver."
The silver girl nodded. "Yes, it is right. Thank you father."
"Go well, my daughter," he answered. They touched hands, once. Even now they could not embrace.
Slowly, her father turned away and joined his family. Just as slowly, Argent turned and joined the Titans.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:14:41 GMT -5
This is how it feels to be Argent, right now:
You join the others in flight, away from the life you had always known and into a future. A future of battling the Markovians with your powers. You will learn the story of this group in time. A group that you are now part of. You are sure it is a fascinating tale. But right now you are merely cold, and tired, and hungry; the transformation into what you are has taxed your resources, and you have not eaten since the change.
It seems a lifetime ago.
You miss your family, most of all. You know there is a good to excellent chance you will never see them again. It hurts your heart that all save your father no longer knew you, and even your father was wary and distant. He would not hug you, in the end. It breaks your heart. But in a way, you understand completely. In a way, Toni Monetti is dead.
You are Argent now.
You have to start life anew.
You feel wonder and joy at the pulse and flow of your powers as you cross to the ocean, where a pirate ship and its fiery captain awaits. You feel curiosity as you meet this woman, with no doubt her own strange story.
But what you mostly know is bitter satisfaction. You cannot wait to hit the Markovians.
Hard.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:15:13 GMT -5
Robin and Terra sat alone on the deck.
"Nobody came looking this time," Robin said. "We were lucky."
"Not so much luck as timing," Terra answered. "I am sure someone will be along soon enough. Brion, probably."
"What about our new recruits?" he asked.
She looked them over, where they were in low-voiced conversation with Ravager.
"Well," Terra said, "I think Argent will do well. Anarky....we'll have to see. Besides, we're fairly new ourselves, less you forget. We've only got a month on them."
"Seems a lifetime," Robin said, looking out over the water.
"Yes," she agreed, touching his hand.
He smiled at her. "We'll see what happens."
Terra smiled back, knowing his words could be read more than one way. "Yes, indeed."
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:15:41 GMT -5
Anarky and Argent looked back and forth from each other to Ravager.
"So two newbie’s instead of one, eh?" Ravager winked. "Lemme give you a piece of advice, both of ya. I like this crew of costumes you're with, I really do. But that doesn't mean ya always have to do what they say. Give em hell."
"Be assured that at least in Robin's case," Anarky assured her, "That is entirely my intention."
Ravager laughed.
"As for me, my hell is reserved for the Empire, said Argent.”But be sure there is plenty of it."
Ravager grinned. "Good. As for you," she turned to Anarky again, "I think you and I are going to get along just fine."
Anarky stared back, not sure how to answer her. "We'll see," he finally said. "I'm not sure I want the interest of a sea predator."
"Hard to get," Ravager smirked. "I like it. And yeah, I am a predator, hon."
Anarky was capable of dealing with many things. But aggressive female attention was not one of them. He audibly gulped and backed away. Ravager laughed, and even Argent chuckled a little. But inside, Argent doubted she'd feel anything but a need for revenge any time soon.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:16:09 GMT -5
Supergirl sat on the prow, staring out. Green Lantern stood awkwardly behind her.
"I scanned the whip. It was mystical in origin," he said softly.
"Magical power?" she asked, not turning around.
"Seems so…"
"Then it would explain why my scientific training did not prepare me for it," she said distantly. "We know of magic on Krypton, of course. But we have no use for it. I will have to make preparations in future."
"Are you going to be okay?" "I am healing, slowly. Thank you for your assistance on the battlefield. Unfortunately your medicines can do nothing for me. I mean no offense by that; it is simply a matter of a differing physiology."
Lantern nodded and walked away. He was not in any way interested in her; he simply wished she wasn't so distant. But she was, after all, an alien.
The ship sailed on into the dark.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:16:37 GMT -5
Geo-Force arrived with his Rocket-Men, much too late of course.
The freed slaves and the Organization soldiers were long gone. Those Markovian forces that could have fled already had done so.
That left exactly one survivor.
"H-help me," the Overseer gasped painfully where he lay.
Geo-Force looked upon him with some pity. "Alas, the Empress would simply have you executed for your failure in any case. It pains me to say it but.....there is no point in taking you to a hospital."
"W-what?" the Overseer whispered.
Geo-Force turned away with an effort. "This place is a total loss," he told the Rocket Men. "Begin the cleanup operation."
"N-no....don't l-leave me here...kill me quick if nothing else...p-put me out of-f my mys-sery...."
They ignored him, and left him to die alone.
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Post by starlord on Oct 16, 2007 18:17:00 GMT -5
END
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