Chapter 25 : Anarky Reigns pt II

Word Count : 14856

And I'm back, with another chapter! After, what... five months? I'm really sorry about that, I've just had a very busy time. I've had college studies, a new puppy to look after, writer's block and a part time job as a cook for a tourist agency. But that's all behind me, and I'm ready to resume my duties here. And as a bonus to you all, this is my longest, and most action-packed chapter I've written to date, with the much anticipated rematch between Krieg and Ravager.

But before we get to the actual chapter, I want to give a big shout-out to Messiah-Emperor's brother. The guy was awesome enough to draw this cute little picture of Krieg and Ravager together titled RavangerxKrieg. Go check it out for yourselves, it's available on deviantart under the username Ferdicus. And once again, thank you very much, Messiah-Emperor's brother, you're just simply awesome.

But enough chitchat, let's get on with the story, shall we?

Chapter 25: Anarky Reigns pt. II

Was this the Emperor's punishment for having strayed from his path? Sure as hell felt like it to Krieg, pinned down in one of the towers with broken ribs and a bullet wound to the shoulder. 'Accursed sharpshooter,' he thought furiously as he peeked over the edge to unload another series of blind shots at where he suspected the enemy to be hiding. Like the last three times, he was rewarded with gunfire from a completely different direction than the one he aimed at.

"Artemis, you see him?" he asked through the mind link as he ducked into cover again.

"No, the bastard's too good. Wait, I've got something else," a few moments of silence followed before a string of Vietnamese curses spilled over the mind link. "I've got multiple hostiles entering your tower, Krieg! They'll be on top of you any minute now!" well, things seemed to be going from bad to worse here. No matter, Krieg had been in worse situations and won. So he slowly and carefully crept back inside the tower, waiting for those idiots to come up and join him.

The first one to clear the stairs received a kick that broke his knee before an elbow to the face that knocked him out. The second one froze up momentarily in shock, and that gave Krieg all the time he needed to yank the gun out of his hands, bash him in the head with it and kick his unconscious body down the stairs where he knocked his compatriots over like a bowling ball. But one of them managed to untangle himself enough to wildly spray bullets up the stairs, forcing Krieg to seek shelter and abandon the chokepoint.

It took them a few seconds, but they were soon piling up the stairs and into the tower, where Krieg was waiting for them with a drawn kukri. Not giving them a chance to bring their guns to bear, he leaped straight into their midst. The first one had his gun knocked aside before a boot was planted in his balls. As he fell over screaming in pain, Krieg had slashed his kukri through the cheek of another enemy before driving an elbow into the face of a third victim. Someone tried to take him on head-on, he received a kukri to the shoulder and a knee to the forehead. Another had drawn a knife of his own and leaped at Krieg, screaming like a wild animal.

Someone had actually managed to get his gun up and was aiming at Krieg, so he acted quickly by grabbing the knife-wielding thug and dragged him forward as a shield. Seconds later, the storm of bullets came, splattering everyone with blood as the crazed gunman emptied and entire clip into his hapless compatriot, all but blind to the fact that Krieg was unharmed. 'I am forbidden from killing, but I did not technically kill that man,' Krieg reasoned to himself dispassionately as he threw the corpse aside. Not that he cared about justifying himself, he was mostly just rehearsing in preparation for the reprimand he knew he would receive.

But that was neither here or now, fighting was. The gunman had run out of bullets, and he was desperately trying to reload. Krieg was not about to give him that chance and attacked. Another enemy tried getting in his way, Krieg ducked low and sliced his Achilles tendon. Yet another tried to stop him, he received a sliced off nose and a shattered kneecap. And as those two fell over screaming in agony, Krieg pushed on and leaped at his intended target. He desperately brought his gun up to block Krieg, but Krieg merely struck it aside with his kukri before head-butting him hard enough to completely shatter his nose.

The second that he fell over unconscious, Krieg spun around and made ready to receive the next opponent, only to realize that there were no more opponents. Those not unconscious were lying on the floor in too much agony to do more than moan and mewl. 'That's it?' Krieg asked himself in confusion. Was this really the best they could throw at him?

"Hostiles neutralized," Krieg reported as he sheathed his kukri. "Artemis, still no sign of our elusive opponent?"

"No, there's still nothing out there,"

"Aqualad, should I help them?"

"Negative, Miss Martian. We don't know how many more there might be. Hold position for the moment,"

"Nice work by the way, blondie, getting stuck up there while we have to deal with all the bad guys,"

"Shut it, Kid Mouth, we're actually dealing with a world-renowned assassin out here,"

"Both of you, stop it, we've got more important things to worry about,"

"Dammit! Why won't this flame spewing bastard stand still?! He's ruining my clothes!"

"Hey, KF, I could use your help back here!"

"On my way, Rob!"

"How many are there even down there?"

"Superboy, cover me!"

This endless chatter in Krieg's head was slowly driving him insane. At least, that was what it felt like to him, as he rubbed his forehead. Too much talking, too little action, in his humble opinion. Finally, he grew tired of standing around doing nothing.

"I'm going down there," he announced as he sheathed his kukri and strode towards the stairs.

"No, wait! Hold your position for the moment, Krieg, you could be walking into a trap!" came the urgent order from Aqualad. But for once, Krieg was tired of taking orders.

"No disrespect, sir," he lied. "But I do not intend to just sit up here while a dangerous criminal is roaming about below me," he could sense how Aqualad desired to continue the argument, but he obviously thought better of it.

"Just try to restrain yourself," he implored instead, obviously feeling just how annoyed and frustrated Krieg was. And in Aqualad's experience, a frustrated Krieg was a dangerous Krieg. Just before he could answer his superior, Krieg heard a weak moan. One of the thugs was trying to crawl towards the stairs. Krieg stomped down as hard as he could on that fellow's left hand, letting him scream for a bit in pain before he kicked his head like a football, granting him blissful unconsciousness.

"No promises," Krieg finally answered before striding down the stairs.

Well, this mission sure could have been going better. For the moment, it even felt like nothing was going right here. Spread out, pinned down, and outnumbered, there was obviously plenty of things that had gone wrong. But for the moment, the one thing Aqualad wanted to really complain about was the set of circumstances that had landed him behind a pipe while a trigger-happy pyromaniac with a flamethrower and jetpack was drenching every visible surface in flames, all while cackling like a lunatic.

"Struggle all you want, fish boy, but I know your weakness!" Firefly screamed maniacally. "Sooner or later, you'll have to make a move, or get turned into a human-sized fishstick!" sadly, he was right there. Already, Aqualad was drenched in sweat, and he barely had the strength left to manipulate his water bearers. If this continued, then he would be finished. That was when Superboy once again reminded both of them of his presence as he leaped at the villain, roaring in anger. Alas, like the last time, Firefly just moved slightly to the left, causing Superboy to harmlessly hurtle past him.

"Close, but no cigar for you!" he shouted mockingly as he fired a few incendiary grenades at the Kryptonian. All they did was make him even angrier.

"You really think those are going to stop me?" Superboy shouted in rage as he tried leaping at Firefly again, who once again just flew out of the way.

"Throw enough shit at the wall, and some of it got to stick sooner or later," was the only reply he received from the villain before fire and smoke rained down yet again. And this just drained Aqualad even further as he staggered away from the fires, sweat cascading down every surface of exposed skin.

"We need help down here! Firefly is keeping us both pinned down!" well, that was not entirely accurate, seeing as Firefly's weapons did not even harm Superboy. But then again, Firefly was too mobile and maneuverable in the air for Superboy to hit him, let alone catch him.

"Kinda hard at the moment, we're busy with Electrocutioner and his goons over here," Robin reported over the mind link.

"Still holed up here topside, that damn Russian won't give me a clear shot," Artemis grumbled as well.

"Krieg, what is your position?" Aqualad desperately asked, hoping that at least one of his teammates was in a good position.

"On my way. Encountering resistance though. ETA unknown," Krieg replied, no doubt beating criminals bloody and raw at that very moment. But Aqualad had no more time to dwell on that, because Firefly had apparently grown tired of fruitlessly trying to fry the Kryptonian and turned his sights on the Atlantean.

"Let's fire up the oven, I'm in the mood for some crispy fishsticks," the pyromaniac gleefully shouted before bathing Aqualad hiding spot in searing flames. Using all the strength he could muster, Aqualad formed a water shield to protect himself as he desperately tried to find a better position. Alas, the heat was proving to be too much for him, draining his already depleted strength and evaporating his shield, yet he stubbornly tried to endure. All the while, Firefly could be heard cackling maniacally.

"YES! BURN, BABY, BURN! BURN UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING BU ASH LEFT!" he screamed in delight, savoring every second of agony he inflicted on the poor Atlantean. But in his highly perverse moment of triumph, he had forgotten about a certain angry Kryptonian. Said Kryptonian reminded Firefly about his presence with a roar of anger as he tore a pipe loose and threw it like a javelin at the airborne villain. Seeing the danger just in the nick of time, Firefly let out a very undignified yelp as he dived low to avoid the makeshift projectile.

Sadly for him, he never even had time to let out a sigh of relief before he realized the danger he was in now. With his drop in altitude, he was now only a few feet above the floor, and within easy reach of the very much angry teenager that was barreling down towards him like a bull seeing red.

"Oh fuck me!" Firefly exclaimed as he spewed out more fire like it was going out of style while desperately trying to regain some altitude.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Superboy roared in anger as he pushed through the flames, either not noticing or not caring that his clothes were being turned to ash. But it did the trick, it saved Aqualad, who hobbled away to a safe distance to recover. It pained him to leave his friend to fight alone, but they both knew he was more of a liability against this opponent.

"M'gann, what is your position?" Aqualad called through the mental link.

"Still circling the island," she responded.

"Forget my last order then. Go and help Artemis deal with the enemies topside," he had wanted to keep her in reserve, to maintain the mind link and provide a quick extraction should the need arise. But things had changed, the whole mission had gone wrong, and now he just needed to salvage whatever he could.

"Krieg. Robin and Kid Flash are closer to you than us, link up with them and work your way down to us," he also ordered as the walls shook slightly. Seemed like Superboy was going a little overboard against Firefly.

"Affirmative," he received in response from Krieg. Now he would just have to hope that no further surprises would come along and ruin it all. Somehow, he got the feeling that was exactly what would happen.

"Man, this stinks," that complaint originated from an utterly annoyed bus driver currently driving down the dark road. Though calling him a bus driver would probably be a little misleading, considering the bus he was driving was built to withstand small-arms fire and the passengers were all dressed in orange prison clothes.

"What's there to complain about? We're just dropping these assholes off at Arkham, and then we're heading back to station for coffee and doughnuts," a guard standing next to him commented while idly cradling a shotgun in his arms. He received a loud scoff from the driver.

"And that is exactly why this stinks. These guys should be in Blackgate, not that nuthouse," he stated sourly, for the prisoners being transported were not your average nutjob or thief that plagued Gotham on a daily basis. These were ruthless and hardcore killers with zero conscience and criminal track records longer than the bus they were sitting in. Mercs, murderers and terrorists who had been hired by various mob bosses for a turf war. Thankfully, the timely intervention of Batman and Gotham PD had put a stop to that before it even broke out.

"And you know full well why they're not there. With those damn supervillains still in control of the place, we've got nowhere else to stash them," and it was truth in the guard's words. The police station did not have the room or the security to guard over fifty experienced killers, some of which were rumored to be ex-military, and Blackgate was off limits to them for the moment. Arkham was thus the only installation in the city that could safely house these men.

"Still doesn't mean I have to like it," the driver grumbled, receiving a reassuring pat on his shoulder.

"Hey, look on the bright side, at least we got an armed escort for these guys. And the mob is hardly going to waste men and money to rescue simple hired muscles," the guard assured him, casting a quick glance at the two police cars driving ahead of them. He did not look, but he knew that another car was behind them alongside a SWAT van. Some might call this kind of security overkill, but those who had served in Gotham's police would call it adequate.

"Yeah, I guess so," the driver finally relented, silently cursing Gotham's youth. At least he assumed he should be cursing Gotham's youth, because who else would find it funny to smash all street lamps lining the road? As if it was not dark enough as it was at this time of the night.

"Are we there yet?" one of the prisoner asked with a bored tone, looking like he might fall asleep at any time.

"Shut it," one of the guards on board ordered as she brandished her shotgun at him, and the prisoner wisely complied.

"I'm telling you, those guys almost seem like they want to pick a fight," the driver commented, causing the guard next to him to shrug.

"What can I say? They're bored, they're not easily intimidated and they know they're going to get sent into the same place as some of Gotham's worst psychos," he commented. The driver was about to say something else, but then hesitated as something else caught his attention.

"Why are they stopping?" he asked with furrowed brows as he saw the two cars ahead of him come to a sudden stop, forcing him to hit the brakes as well. Guards and prisoners alike cast confused looks to the front of the bus, wondering what was going on. The guard next to the driver leaned forward to get a better look, and saw something that the driver had missed.

"Who's that standing in the middle of the road?" he asked out loud. Confused at first, the driver squinted his eyes out the window, before widening them in shock.

"Holy shit, that's one big dude!" he exclaimed, for standing on the road was what could only be described as a giant in red armor. A strange helmet adorned its head and an even stranger staff was clutched in his hand.

"This could be trouble," the guard commented as he fingered his shotgun, and the driver had to nervously agree with that assessment. Meanwhile, one of the cops in the front car had stepped out with a drawn gun.

"I don't know who you are, but step aside right now or we'll consider you a hostile!" he shouted to the giant, who gazed at him with a look of boredom. How they even knew that it was boredom, none knew, they could just feel it. Then, the giant made a move, raising his free hand and snapping his fingers. The results were instantaneous, as the cop who had confronted him burst into purple flames. The poor man screamed in agony, flailing about as his flesh was melted off his bones like cheap butter.

The other cops had frozen up in shock and terror at the sight, only snapping back to their senses when their comrade was naught but ash on the road. They began to desperately scramble out of their cars, but the giant was faster. He slammed his staff into the ground, unleashing a burst of foul energy. The car in front of him promptly vanished in a ball of multi-colored fire, along with everyone in it.

"Eat this, motherfucker!" one of the four cops from the second car, who had managed to get out and drawn their weapons, shouted before they fired with everything they had. They might as well have been throwing ping pong balls at the giant, as their bullets just harmlessly bounced off his armor. The giant did not even try to defend himself, and just stood there soaking up the fire.

The screams and gunfire had meanwhile alerted those at the back of the column that something was wrong, and they were piling out of their transports with guns held at the ready.

"Alright, boys, lock and load!" the SWAT captain shouted, right before a wall of darkness rose up from the ground, cutting them off from the rest of the column.

"What the hell is-" one of them began before a beam of light burned right through his chest, leaving a gaping hole where a heart should be. Cries of alarm were raised as a second beam of light struck the police car, turning it into scrap in a fiery explosion that sent SWAT and cops alike the ground from either shrapnel or shock.

"Shoot the bastard!" the captain shouted as he struggled to his feet, a piece of metal stuck in his leg.

"But where is he?!" another shouted, just as a second blast incinerated his head.

"Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!" one of the cops kept repeating in a panic, obviously not used to this.

"Fire at will!" the captain shouted again as he began spraying bullets in every direction, his men swiftly following his lead in lying down a wall of lead. More beams of light came at them, burning through men like they were dry paper. But that did not terrify the men. No, what terrified them was an inhuman roar that heralded the arrival of a familiar face for Gotham PD.

"It's Killer Croc!" one of them screamed in terror as the reptilian behemoth came running straight at them like an out of control train. His first victim was a SWAT officer, who had enough time to scream in absolute terror before Croc ran right over him, utterly pulverizing him under his massive weight. The second had his chest ripped wide open by a single claw swipe and the third had his head bitten right off.

Bullets impacted against Croc's thick hide, but they did nothing more than anger him further as he roared like an animal before going to town with claws and teeth. The sounds that then dominated that fight were flesh tearing and men screaming.

"Who the hell are these guys?!" the driver asked in alarm inside the bus. They could all see the fruitless struggled against the giant outside, and they could hear the slaughter going on at the back.

"It doesn't matter either way," the guard that had kept him company so far commented nonchalantly, completely unfazed by both hearing and seeing his comrades getting butchered.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" the driver asked in disbelief, stunned that his friend would be so callous about it all.

"Because you'll still be dead by the end of it," was the only warning he got before he felt the barrel of a shotgun pressed against the side of his head. With no mercy or hesitation, the guard pulled the trigger, splattering his friend's brains all over the place. The three other guards with him were shown no mercy either as he spun around and emptied the last rounds into their unsuspecting forms.

"That was too easy," the guard commented to himself as he threw the shotgun aside and picked up the keys for the cuffs keeping the prisoners tied to their seats. The prisoners meanwhile were looking at the turncoat with confused and suspicious looks, which only grew stronger as he began to unlock their cuffs.

"What the hell is going on?" one of them asked as he glared at their apparent savior, who simply gave him a cruel smile in return.

"You'll see soon enough," was the cryptic answer before he went back to freeing the rest of the prisoners. While that was going on, things were not looking that good for the cops still outside the bus. No matter how many bullets they pumped into the giant, they did nothing but scratch the paintjob on his armor. But a second later, they had something worse to worry about as one of them thought he heard something land right behind him.

Turning around, he found a lithe woman dressed like a samurai waiting with a drawn katana. Those were the only things he was able to register before he was cleaved in half down the middle. His two halves did not even have time to hit the ground before the samurai had decapitated his partner, who never even saw the danger. By the time both of them had hit the ground, the samurai had already leaped over the police car and slammed into the third cop boot first.

As he went down, the fourth cop spun around to face the new threat, but the samurai was faster as she cut his arm off with one downward swing, spinning with the swing to deliver a decapitation to the third cop trying to get up. She kept spinning until she was facing the fourth cop again, and silenced his screams of pain with a sword thrust right through his mouth and out of the back of his head. With that, she kicked the now dead corpse of her sword and swung her sword through the air to throw off excessive blood.

"Well done, Katana," Azkillon complimented as he strode past the dead cops without even so much as glancing at them. Katana just nodded in recognition. By that time, they were joined by the Shade, Doctor Light and Killer Croc, who was munching on a leg like it was a drumstick.

"That was too easy," Doctor Light commented cockily as he stretched his fingers.

"Agree. Isn't SWAT supposed to be the elite of law enforcement?" the Shade asked mockingly, receiving a shrug from Killer Croc.

"They're at least tasty," he added nonchalantly as he continued eating. It was by that point that they were joined by the turncoat guard, confidently walking out of the bus without the barest hints of fear, the prisoners following him more cautiously. But just as the guard was about to walk past Katana, Jericho stepped out of the body, leaving the guard behind as he groggily shook his head like he had just woken up from a deep slumber.

"What… why…" were his last words uttered before Katana decapitated him before finally sheathing her sword.

"I guess that was the last one," she announced monotonously while the prisoners had gathered in a group opposite of Azkillon and his gang, watching them warily.

"Good, then we can proceed with the next step," Azkillon stated before turning his full attention to the newly liberated prisoners. "Gentlemen, I have… a proposition for you all,"

"Where the hell are you?" Artemis whispered quietly to herself as her eyes scanned every inch of the prison, trying desperately to find her elusive quarry. But no matter how hard she looked, she found nothing, and that was frustrating her to no end. Nearly everyone else on the team was suck in a fight at this point. They needed help, and here she was stuck in a tower.

She desperately wanted to go and help them, but she knew that it would be suicide to try that. KGBeast was still out there, just waiting for her to poke her head out a bit too much, and that would be the end of her. Despite how much it pained her, she needed to be patient here, waiting for her enemy to make a mistake.

"Artemis, are you there?" M'gann's voice suddenly rang in her heard. Thankfully, she had been expecting that, so she did not freak out.

"Yeah, I'm in the third tower, facing in towards the prison," she answered. A few moments of silence followed, and then Artemis saw a slight distortion in the air in front of her.

"Get into cover, girl, before he sees you!" she frantically called over the mind link.

"Oh, right. Sorry," M'gann spoke, right before the distortion moved and landed right next to Artemis.

"You know where he is?" M'gann asked uncertainly.

"No, the bastard's too well hidden," Artemis answered sourly. A short moment of silence followed her reply, as they both scanned the prison below them.

"Uhm, Artemis?" M'gann suddenly began uncertainly, drawing the blonde's attention.

"Yeah?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. M'gann hesitated momentarily, clearly wondering how best to say, but eventually she pushed on.

"Are you sure he's done there?" she inquired.

"Considering he almost blew my head off about five minutes ago, I would say so," Artemis answered, causing M'gann to flinch slightly.

"Thing is, I can't feel anyone else but us out here," M'gann explained. It bought Artemis's mind to a grinding halt.

"What?" was all she could come up with saying. Only the two of them? That could not be. The bullet riddled wall behind her was testament to that. But she did trust her friend's skill. Only one way to find out. Slowly, she began poking her head over the cover.

"Artemis, what are you doing?" M'gann asked worriedly, but Artemis ignored her for the moment. Higher and higher did she rise, until her head and shoulders poked over the edge. Then she dived back in like a startled rabbit when a bang echoed across the silent night and a bullet whizzed past where her head had been a second earlier.

"I'd say he's still there," Artemis stated dryly, causing M'gann to lower her head in shame.

"But I was sure that I didn't feel anyone out there," she said in confusion, clearly not understanding how that could be so.

"Whatever the case, we need to find him quickly and take him out so we can go help the boys," Artemis answered, bringing out a determined nod from M'gann.

THIS! WAS! BORING!

That was Ravager's primary thought as she leaned against the wall. She could almost hear the fighting going on all over the prison, and here she was guarding some anarchistic nutcase. She wanted to fight so badly right now! Could he not speed up his damn work, whatever the hell it was, so she could go and see some action?

"Come on, man, aren't you done soon?" she whined loudly, not caring that she sounded like a spoiled brat. By this point, she was willing to imitate Kim Kardashian to get some action. Sadly, Anarky was completely unmoved.

"Patience, I'm almost done here," he answered absentmindedly, to Ravager's great irritation.

"That was what you said half an hour ago as well," she countered grumpily as she glared at him, causing him to shrug his arms in an uncaring fashion.

"Details, details," he dismissed without any worry. But his dismissive attitude only increased Ravager's already great ire. But before she could say or do anything, Anarky pressed a final button and stretched his fingers in satisfaction.

"And we're done!" he announced proudly, causing untold amount of relief for Ravager.

"Finally! Now I can go and kill something!" she declared with a bloodthirsty gleam in her lone eye.

"Yes, but before that…" Anarky began as he rose from his seat, giving Ravager warning feelings in her gut. Those feelings proved true when Anarky drew a gun and fired at her. Thankfully, her speed and reflexes were far greater than a regular human, so what was meant as a headshot hit naught but empty air and what was meant as a heart shot struck her shoulder. But those must have been some strong bullets, considering it went right through her scale armor.

'Did that just happen? Did he just do what I think he did?' was the first thought that went through her head when the bullet went into her. Then the stinging pain came with the gun wound. 'He did it, he actually did it. He shot me. He shot me! HE SHOT ME!' and then after that, came a powerful dose of anger. 'Oh, you are so fucking dead. I don't care what you're trying to pull, you're dead meat!' all of these thoughts went through her head at the speed of light, with only a few seconds passing in real life.

The wound in her shoulder caused Ravager to give out a low hiss as she stumbled back momentarily, giving Anarky enough time to rush past her and out of the office. Ravager growled like an enraged tiger when she saw this and gave chase, intent on tearing that traitor apart limb from limb. 'I knew we couldn't trust that nutcase, I just knew it,' she complained to herself. 'But did anyone listen to me? Nooooo, I'm just the hired muscle, what could I possibly know about who the bosses could trust?' as she burst out into the corridor, she found that Anarky had rallied the eight guards that had been stationed outside.

"Ravager's betrayed us! Kill her!" he screamed at them before taking off down the corridor, vanishing around the corridor. The guards meanwhile looked amongst each other in confusion before one of them shrugged his shoulders and aimed his gun at Ravager. But by that time, Ravager had already drawn her swords and closed the distance between them. First swing cleaved the gun in two, second swing cleaved the man. Next victim tried to bring his gun to bear. He received a sword through the heart for his trouble.

Leaving the sword stuck there, Ravager snatched his gun and emptied its magazine into another guard at point blank range, spraying blood and gore all over the place. A fourth guard, shell-shocked by the blood splattered over his face, had no time to react as Ravager retrieved her sword and attacked. One of her swords sliced his stomach wide open while the second took his head before she moved on to the next victim.

He at least had managed to aim his weapon, but got no further as both his arms went flying in a shower of blood. He was given enough time to let out one scream of agony before a pommel strike crushed his Adam's apple. The sixth one fired a spray of bullets that Ravager ducked under. As she came back up, she drove one of her swords straight up between his legs, forcing it up along his spine. She left him wailing in pain as she shoved him aside and left her sword in him, going after the next soon-to-be corpse.

Said person was aiming a shotgun at her, seconds away from pulling the trigger. Seconds was all Ravager needed to close the distance as she cleaved the shotgun in two before grabbing hold of the startled guard and leaping right over him, aiming for the one behind him. She slammed into his skull boots first, driving it into the wall with enough force to squash it like an overripe watermelon.

Leaving his head a mess of gore and bone pieces splattered over the wall, she grabbed the last guard again and spun him around to drive her sword straight through his mouth, pushing it all the way until the crossguard slammed into his jaw. As a finishing touch, she dragged the corpse over until they were cheek to cheek, brought out a cellphone and took a selfie. 'This one's going up on Facebook,'

With that little speed bump dealt with, she retrieved her swords and set off after Anarky again. Killing those stupid goons had sated some of her killing urges, but she was still simmering with rage over this betrayal. A small part of her wondered why the hell he did betray her in the first place, but most of her just wanted to do some really cruel things to him. One thing was sure, she was going to make Anarky wish he had never been born.

But then she stopped dead in her tracks, for she had seen something far more important than Anarky. Single eye wide in surprise, she could not believe her luck. 'Here I wanted to play with someone, and then I find this,' a naughty grin slowly spread itself across her face, and a predatory gleam entered her eye. With giddy steps, she practically skipped down the hallway, sneaking up on her favorite toy.

Fast and furious was how one could describe Krieg as he rampaged through the infernal guards trying to stand in his path. One of them tried to knock him out with a baton, but he just sidestepped the swing, grabbed his head and slammed it straight into the wall before spinning around to drive an elbow into another's face. Letting both of them collapse to the floor unconscious, he kicked aside a gun before striking the gunman with a haymaker.

Yet another guard with a gun tried to shoot him, but he grabbed the gun and pointed it away from him. First kick crushed the man's left knee, second crushed his right and a knee strike to his head as he knelt finished him off, right before Krieg ducked under someone trying to hit him with a crowbar. He turned to face the attacker just as he came back with a second swing two-handed.

Krieg stepped close and grabbed both arms under his armpit, right before he broke them both at the elbows and head-butted the guard into unconsciousness. But they would not take the hint and just kept on coming, so he snatched up the crowbar and used it to crack one's shoulder, another's hip and the last's balls. None of the trio stood back up, and were content to remain on the floor, wailing like newborn babes. That left just one guard, pointing a shotgun at him with trembling hands and a wet spot in his pants.

"S-s-stay b-bac-k-k! I-I'm wa-warning y-you!" he stammered out in terror, tacking fearful step back for every step Krieg took forward.

"You have two choices, either drop the gun and I will go easy on you or keep pointing it at me and join your friends back there," Krieg warned as he pointed a thumb back the way he came. Had Krieg not been wearing a gasmask at that point, he would have smelled the stench of excrement coming from the criminal as well. Hesitantly, the criminal dropped the gun and raised his hands in surrender.

"A-alright, y-y-you w-win," he feebly admitted. Krieg then proceeded to walk up and drive a knee up between the criminal's legs, causing said criminal to scream like he was at an opera before collapsing to his knees.

"You said you'd go easy on me," the criminal complained with a more high pitched voice than before.

"And I did. I didn't break any of your bones," Krieg calmly countered before a fist to the face knocked the criminal out. At last, the way was clear, and he was only two levels above Robin's and Kid Flash's position. Hopefully those two buffoons had been able to hold out against their enemies. Not that he cared about lives, but he was concerned about the success of the mission.

"Yo, Krieg, you getting here anytime soon?" speak of the devil. Well, at least that confirmed that Robin was alive.

"Almost there," he responded as he made his way towards a staircase ahead of him. He never reached it as two strong arms suddenly grabbed him from behind around his throat and pulled him back. Completely startled by the move, his first instinct was that he was under attack and he should strike back. But then he heard the voice of her attacker.

"Soldier boy! I've been missing you so much! Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I could have come to meet you sooner! Have you been okay without me? Of course not, you just can't get enough of me! And I just can't get enough of you!" Ravager squealed happily in his ear, spinning him around while hugging him like he was a damn plushie. The sheer ludicrousness of the scene he had been dragged in caused Krieg's mind to temporarily short circuit as he realized that yes, that was a notorious assassin with more kills to her name than years she had been alive currently hugging him.

Of course, once he had regained his scrambled senses, fiery rage began pumping through his body. 'Oh, the bitch is soooo dead right now,' he thought to himself in fury. Nobody humiliated him like this and got away with it, especially when they had already escaped once before.

"Ravager…" he spat out like the name was the most heinous curse in existence. "Release me this instance so that I can break your spine and crush your jaw before dismembering you," to his even greater ire, instead of being terrified of his threat, Ravager appeared more amused as she openly laughed in amusement.

"You sure know how to sweet-talk a girl, Krieg," she teased before leaning in uncomfortable close so that her mouth was right next to where his ear was. "If you like, we can go somewhere more private where we can do all kind of things to each other," she whispered huskily. Someone must have tampered with the temperature in there, dropping it below sub-zero. After all, that could be the only reason that he felt shivers going through every part of his body after her sentence, right?

"I can assure you, you will not enjoy what I'm about to do to you," he snarled as he reached for her face with his electric glove. Ravager was faster as she let go and spun him around until they were face to face, revealing her wicked grin to Krieg.

"Wanna bet, handsome?" she asked teasingly before tripping him, sending him flat on his back.

"Catch me if you can!" she shouted before running down the hall, her mocking laughter ringing in his ears long after she had vanished around a corner. By that point, Krieg was boiling with rage. 'Infernal woman! I'll wring her neck like a chicken!' forgetting everything about the mission, he jumped back up on his feet and ran after Ravager, in the opposite direction of where his team were.

"Hey Krieg, where the hell are you?! We're getting overwhelmed here!" Robin frantically called over the mind link, but Krieg barely paid attention to what he said.

"Ran into unforeseen setbacks. Unable to provide support," he responded hastily before dismissing that small distraction. All his attention was on catching Ravager and make her wish that she had never been born.

Fire was everywhere. No matter which way Aqualad went, there were more flames there ready to drain his almost nonexistent reserves of energy. Damn pyromaniac was completely obsessed with torching everything in sight, and whatever the hell he was using as fuel was potent enough to keep burning even when sprayed on stone and metal.

"What's the matter, kiddies? Can't take the heat?" Firefly called out mockingly as he spewed out another wave of fire, bathing everything around him in the flammable substance. The Superboy came leaping out of the fire like a daemon out of hell. Like the last few times, Firefly just cackled and avoided him.

"That trick's getting old real fast, kid," he taunted, spewing out more fire to punctuate that statement. Aqualad meanwhile staggered over to a series of pipes, trying to use them as support so as not to keel over completely. But as he leaned against the surprisingly cool metal, he could hear something. Over the roaring fire, the constant wail of Firefly's jetpack and Superboy's rage-filled screams, he could barely hear something else. Something that sounded suspiciously like rushing water.

Intrigued, he tried to pinpoint the source of the sound. It was not all that hard, he was after all leaning against the source of the noise. His eyes suddenly widened in understanding. A water pipe! Without hesitation, he brought out one of his water bearers. Calling upon the last vestiges of strength left in his dried up body, he managed to form a thin sword which he used to cut the pipe wide open.

Blessed cool water proceeded to drench Aqualad, soothing his cooked skin and rejuvenating his depleted frame. For a moment, he just closed his eyes and basked in the feeling of cold water drenching him. But alas, there was still a mission to complete, and his friends needed his help. Fortunately, he now had both the strength and the means to fight back. Opening his eyes again, they now burned with a fierce determination that would see Firefly's own flames snuffed out.

The tattoos on his arms came alive with blue light as lighting danced along his arms. The water that had pooled at his feet then rose into the air at his command, bursting more pipes open and releasing a torrent of water, one that the Atlantean seized control of. He raised his arms into the air, the water following his movement like an extension of his body. Then, he sent it rushing forward in one giant tidal wave.

Completely lost in his own world of cackling pyromancy, Firefly was completely unaware of the danger. Only when he seemed to hear a strange rushing sound did the thought occur to actually observe his surroundings a bit more. Turning around in bewilderment, his brain had enough time to see and process the fact that there was a giant indoor tsunami coming right at him before said tsunami slammed into him.

Tumbling end over end in the churning water, Firefly's impromptu bath only ended when he was slammed straight into a wall, at which point the water receded and Firefly was left to slide down to the floor in a drenched heap.

"Ow," was the only word he could say that adequately summarized how he felt. Of course, that was when he felt a shadow falling over him. Letting his eyes move to the owner of the shadow, he found Superboy grinning at him while cracking his knuckles.

"You have no idea how much I'm going to enjoy this," he said with a menacing grin.

"I just can't catch a break, can I?" Firefly asked rhetorically, right before the beating started.

Emotions rarely came to Krieg easily. More often than not, it required a severe trigger to bring anything out of the stone-cold soldier. Ravager had just climbed up to number 1 on that very short list. Running down the corridor with naught but rage on his mind, Krieg could not stop thinking about the one-eyed girl and how he would beat her bloody and raw. Finally, he caught up with his quarry, casually leaning against the wall. Obviously, she had been waiting for him.

"I knew you'd follow, I'm just too irresistible," she teased with a sultry tone, stepping up to face Krieg.

"Shut up and fight, criminal," Krieg snarled as he cracked his knuckles, receiving a bloodthirsty grin.

(A small tip here. When I wrote the fight scene between these two, I played Mortal Kombat X Rap by JT Machinima and Rockit Productions - "Fatalities" in the background. Damn did that beat fit perfectly with the fight)

"Why, if you're so eager to play with little ol' me, all you had to do was ask," she said as she began approaching him. Krieg's patience by then had run dry, and so he rushed at Ravager. An overhead blow was deflected before she sidestepped a knee strike. Krieg took a spinning kick to the back, stumbling forward before steadying himself and turning to face his opponent. A fist came right at his face, but he caught it and twisted it to the point of almost breaking it.

Ravager just grunted in discomfort as a sweeping kick from her knocked Krieg off his feet. He landed on his back and quickly rolled aside to avoid a dropkick to the head. Jumping back up, he attacked with a fist to the side that was deflected, followed it up with a boxing blow to the head that was dodged and drove an elbow into the back of Ravager's head. She fell over from the blow, but turned it into roll that placed her back on her feet, just in time to receive Krieg's next attack.

A blow to the head was stopped as Ravager grabbed it and used it to drag Krieg forward into a waiting knee strike to the guts. As he doubled over from the blow, Ravager rolled over his back and gave his ass a kick that sent him lurching forward. Struggling to keep his lunch in place, he turned to glare hatefully at the smirking Ravager, who just waved innocently at him. Growling lowly in his throat, Krieg attacked again with a barrage of kicks and punches that Ravager easily deflected.

"Come on, is this the best you can do, soldier boy?" she taunted as she kept evading each strike like it was child's play. "What happened to the big bad boy that I played with in Los Angeles?"

"He was waiting for you to get distracted," Krieg retorted, right before he struck right at her head. She sidestepped the attack, but never saw the knee that slammed into her side, causing her to stagger from the blow. Krieg was upon her in and instant, ramming a fist into her guts before grabbing her head and head-butting her over and over.

That ended when both his arms were suddenly slapped aside and a haymaker snapped his head back. A spinning kick from Ravager put some distance between, giving her enough time to recover from her beating. But even as she spat out blood from her mouth, she was grinning like a lunatic at Krieg.

"Now THAT'S more like it!" she announced joyfully before she dived back into the fray. Sneering at the one-eyed criminal, Krieg swung a fist at her which she ducked under before coming back up with a double fist blow to the stomach. Biting back the pain, Krieg slammed both his elbows into her back before driving up a knee into her. Yet still she refused to go down, so Krieg cranked up his electric glow and reached for her.

Ravager leaped back, and Krieg lunged for her face. But she managed to avoid the attack and grabbed the outstretched arm. Krieg had no time to react before Ravager dragged him forward and swung her leg up high to strike him in the head with her boot, slamming his head straight into the wall as a bonus. Disoriented from the blow, Krieg struggled to stand straight as he backpedaled to avoid the sudden barrage of blows from Ravager.

But Ravager was relentless, striking left and right with dozens of blows that left stinging marks all over his body. She went for a knockout blow, but overextended herself and Krieg sidestepped her and hit her straight in the throat with an arm. The blow temporarily robbed her of a way to breathe, and she froze up momentarily as she struggled to breathe. Krieg took the chanced to tackle her to the floor and straddle her waist.

"Accursed vermin," he swore as he began pounding her with his fists. He only landed a handful of blows before Ravager's legs suddenly wrapped around his head and dragged him down hard to the floor. Slamming his back into it with all the strength she could muster. Both were battered and bruised, and so it took a few seconds for them to get moving again, at which point they rolled away from each other and jumped back to their feet. Ravager was faster and attacked before Krieg was ready.

A spinning kick hit him in the side, almost breaking a few bones, but Krieg caught the leg and swung its owner into the wall before throwing a punch at her head. Ravager just ducked under the blow and struck back with five rapid blows of her own that steadily knocked Krieg back. Not about to give in just yet, even though most of his body felt like it had been driven over by a car, Krieg powered through the blows and slammed his shoulder into Ravager, sending her tumbling back.

"I just love your aggressiveness," she said huskily as she licked her bloodstained teeth. Then she was on the offensive again. Sidestepping a punch, she slammed a spinning kick into Krieg that knocked him off balance. She was quick to follow it up with an uppercut to Krieg's head and a kick up between his legs. But she had not expected Krieg to clamp his legs together, trapping her leg in place. His crotch still hurt like hell, even with protection, but Krieg ignored it.

With his opponent held in place, he attacked with a barrage of punches to every part he could hit, striking again and again and again and again. Sadly, Ravager was still in the game, and managed to grab both his arms in her vice-like grips. Using him as an anchor, she was able to lift her last free leg up and kicked him in the face one, two, three times. With a vision that refused to stop spinning, Krieg released Ravager, who managed to land on her hands and spun her legs like propeller blades, smacking Krieg to the ground.

Landing on his back, he turned it into a roll and ended in a crouched position, shaking his head slightly to clear his vision. His opponent had meanwhile flipped back onto her feet, grinning like a lunatic as she charged at him again. But he did not move, opting to wait in his crouched position. Then, when only a few feet separated them, he struck by ramming his helmeted head straight into her guts with all his strength behind it. Ravager had the air knocked out of her lungs as Krieg pushed her back and rammed her back into the wall.

He got no further than that in his assault, as Ravager recovered faster than he would have liked and repeatedly slammed her knee into him, forcing him to let go and back off. Eager to reclaim the initiative, Ravager attacked, dodging a fist, and sidestepping a kick before striking with an elbow that was blocked, a kick that was dodged and a fist that was ducked under.

Krieg struck back with a blow to Ravager's stomach before a double uppercut almost sent him flat on his back. Shaking off the blow he attacked again with a right hook that Ravager blocked, a left hook that too was blocked and then a sudden headbutt that broke her nose. She stumbled back, and Krieg took the chance to step up and strike her again. A blow to the stomach, a blow to the side, a blow to the head, a blow to the chest, a blow to the stomach again.

Another blow was sent at her head, but she caught it and twisted it until it almost broke. Left vulnerable, Krieg took a two rapid blows to the head before Ravager dragged him forward, twirling around herself with the motion to land an elbow strike to the side of his head. But she was far from done yet as she gave him a kick that knocked him back before sprinting at him. Leaping over him, she gave his jaw a vicious kick before landing behind him where she pressed up back to back with him, grabbed his head with both hands and flipped him over her shoulder into the floor.

Every part of his body hurt so bad that moving almost felt like a futile move, but Krieg blocked it all out as he reached out with his electric glove and grabbed Ravager's leg before she could leap back and pumped her full of electricity. She went into violent spasms that only ended when Krieg yanked her off her feet and let her go. Smacking face up to the floor, Ravager was giving no chance to recover before Krieg had crawled up to her and slammed his elbow into her stomach as hard as possible, almost causing her to puke her guts out then and there.

Before Krieg could deliver a second blow, he felt well-toned legs wrapping around his waist and suddenly his and Ravager's positions were reversed, and he now received the same treatment he gave her earlier as his face was pounded by a barrage of blows. Not even trying to defend himself, Krieg managed to reach out and wrap both his hands around her throat, squeezing for all his worth. Sadly, Ravager's enhanced strength allowed her to break the hold almost instantly, but it gave Krieg the chance to throw her off him.

Both of them took the chance to jump back to their feet and catch their breaths. A lull in the fight occurred, as neither charged back in, instead circling each other. Krieg was sizing his opponent up, searching for signs of wounds or weariness that could give him an edge. He found none. That blasted girl had far more endurance than he could have ever expected. Ravager on the other hand was not trying to find a weakness to exploit. No, she was grinning like a lunatic as her lone eye ran appraisingly over Krieg's battered body.

"Oh, you're just the perfect stress reliever," she commented seductively. Krieg was unmoved.

"Do you ever shut up?" he questioned harshly, glaring at her with hate-filled eyes. Ravager just tittered at him.

"Don't be such a sourpuss here, not when we're having such a good date here," she commented.

"I fail to see how our fight can contribute to the current date of the month into being considered good," Krieg replied, utterly clueless to what she really meant. That prompted her to loudly laugh at him, adding another slight to his mind.

"You know, that innocence of yours is quite cute," she said before her earlier amused and seductive grin became far more predatory in nature. "And I'm really looking forward to stealing that innocence in the future," in response, Krieg just grunted in annoyance.

"I can assure you, there was never any innocence for you to steal," he growled out before rushing forward and swinging a fist at her. Ravager just ducked under it and leaped back, still grinning at him.

"Mmmmm… keep that ignorance up, please. It will make educating you all the sweeter," she said, right before she leaped to attack again.

"Watch it, KF, he's got his sights on you!" that warning, courtesy of Robin, had Kid Flash picking speed, becoming a blur of motion that left his would-be attacker in the dust. Then he came back around and smacked said attacker in the jaw, knocking him out. But then he let out a yelp and raced away as a hail of bullets came at him. Four thugs were trying to hit him with machine guns from a higher level.

That ended when a bola came flying at them, ensnaring one of them. A childish cackle signaled Robin's as a grapple gun brought him up to their level to smack boot first into his second victim, somersault over a hasty swing, spin around to drive an elbow into his third victim, leap over another swing and finally finish the fourth one off with a quick one-two punch, one between the legs and one to the head.

Yo, Rob, catch!" Kid Flash shouted from below as he raced past and threw Robin's escrima sticks up to him. Deftly catching them in his hands, Robin gave them a few experimental swings before diving back into the fray. Thugs began falling left and right as Robin kept dancing back and forth amongst them, dealing out painful blows with his sticks before using acrobatics to slip away from retaliatory blows. All the while, he just kept cackling.

Of course, that was when Electrocutioner showed up and began hounding Robin, relentlessly assaulting him with his electric gloves. Robin was forced to hastily backpedal, but Electrocutioner would not give. Growling like a furious animal, he attacked with ever increased aggression. Robin tried to put some distance between them, to get some room to put his maneuverability to good use.

"Stand still and fight, damn you!" but Electrocutioner would have none of that, sending one wild swing after the other at the brat, who may have stopped laughing now but was still smiling smugly at him.

"What's the matter, too fast for you? Guess you're getting slow in your old age," he taunted while dodging underneath a particularly nasty punch before darting forward to give a few stinging blows to his stomach. He almost took a knee to the face, but managed to sidestep in the last second and did a limbo move when another fist came at him.

"I'll fry you like a steak!" Electrocutioner snarled.

"Gotta catch me first," Robin countered.

"Trust me, I will," Electrocutioner promised as he lunged for the slippery child yet again. He did not get far before someone tripped him, sending him crashing face first into the floor. Though confused at first, anger quickly overrode all else and Electrocutioner jumped up to face who had tripped him. He found Kid Flash cockily facing him.

"You might want to surrender now, considering you're the last one standing here," the speedster cockily announced. That tidbit of information caused Electrocutioner's eyes to widen comically as he threw his gaze all around him. Like the hero claimed, all his goons laid knocked out. He was alone.

"So, want to do this the easy way, or the hard way?" Robin asked as he began to approach the villain, who still had one last desperate card to play. Without warning, he brought out a detonator, with his thumb poised above the trigger.

"That's as far as you go," he warned, causing Robin to freeze up in alarm. "I should probably warn you, all these cells are filled with explosives. I press this button, this whole cellblock goes up in flames, including those precious little hostages you want to save. Now you will both back off and let me leave, or I'll press the trigger," his ultimatum, revealed smugly, had both Robin and Kid Flush exchanging uncertain looks with one another.

"You're bluffing. If you did press the trigger, you'd blow yourself up," Robin stated, but Electrocutioner looked unmoved.

"Maybe I'm bluffing, try me," he challenged. And although he really wanted to accept the challenge, Robin knew he could not risk it, not with innocent lives at stake. He had met plenty of psychos who were willing to kill themselves to achieve victory. He had no idea whether Electrocutioner was one or not.

"So what's it's gonna be, kid?" he asked. A tense silence followed, as both sides waited to see what the other one would do. That silence was shattered like glass with the loud bang of a gun being discharged, a mere second before Kid Flash fell over, screaming in pain while clutching his suddenly bleeding shoulder.

"KF!" Robin shouted in alarm. Would have run over to his friend too, but a warning shot impacting at his feet stopped him short.

"Looked like I arrived just in time, comrade," a heavily Russian accented voice spoke, right before KGBeast stepped out into the open, to the great shock of Robin.

"I thought you were busy topside," Electrocutioner commented curiously.

"I gave them the slip by setting up an automated turret in my place. Should keep them busy long enough," KGBeast answered. Electrocutioner nodded his head in understanding, but then frowned when he looked at the still bleeding speedster.

"You could have easily killed him, why didn't you?" he asked suspiciously.

"This mission is probably over one way or the other. I can't get in touch with Firefly, Ravager and Anarky, so it's probably time to begin evacuating. Figured that killing a baby hero will just make the Justice League come after us harder," he answered.

"I can see the logic in that," Electrocutioner conceded, right before he turned his full attention back to Robin. "And if I were you, I'd be very careful not to make any funny moves. I still hold the trigger, and if you try to follow us, it will not end well," that that said, the two criminals began to cautiously move away from the Robin, with Robin glaring impotently at their retreating forms. Once they had placed a few meters between them, Robin rushed over to his friend.

"KF, you okay?" he asked worriedly as he helped put pressure on the wound.

"No worries, Rob, just a flesh wound," Kid Flash jokingly reassured him, but the way his whole face was scrunched up in pain said otherwise.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of here," Robin reassured him as he brought out his first-aid kit. The two villains had meanwhile reached the stairs and were about to descend them when someone tried to contact Electrocutioner.

"Who's this?" he asked gruffly into the comm system.

"Relax, it's just me," Anarky spoke from the other end. "Say, is the rest of the gang there with you?" the question caused Electrocutioner to raise his eyebrow in confusion, but he answered nevertheless.

"It's just me and KGBeast. I have no idea where the others are. Why, is there a problem?" he inquired.

"No, nothing to worry about. But could you please do me a favor?" Anarky asked.

"Sure," Electrocutioner answered uncertainly.

"Good. Please say goodbye to KGBeast from me," Anarky said, right before they all heard the unmistakable beeping of bombs being armed. All anyone of them had time to do was widen their eyes in alarm before the cellblock was swallowed in a cacophonic exploding inferno.

Deep below the earth, in the storage rooms of the prison, Anarky smiled to himself in triumph as he threw aside the used trigger.

"That should tie up all loose ends," he commented to herself, before he held up a ring pulsating with foul energy. Before him, a portal suddenly opened like a wound torn in the very fabric of reality, bleeding out pure chaotic energy. With no fear or hesitation, Anarky stepped through this tear in reality, before it closed itself up behind him, leaving no trace behind it.

Fire and smoke were what greeted Robin as he slowly regain consciousness. All around him, there were the burning remnants of a cellblock. Battered and confused, it took Robin a few moments to piece his hazy memories back together. At which point terror gripped his heart. Kid Flash! Where was he?

"KF! KF, can you hear me?" he shouted, right before he broke down coughing from the smoke. Slowly, he forced himself upright again, ignoring his protesting muscles that demanded that he stay down.

"KF!" he called again, still not receiving an answer. He began to search through the burning ruins, desperately looking for his friend. He found Electrocutioner's arm, but not the rest of him. But that was not what he had been looking for, so he kept searching.

"Help..." a weak voice suddenly spoke out, and Robin was instantly running to where it came from. He found Kid Flash lying under a pile of rubble, and he began digging through it fervently. When he finally managed to drag his friend out, he found him covered in ash and gashes from top to bottom. But at least he was still alive.

"Hang in there, old buddy," he told him as he began looking for a way out. Kid Flash needed medical attention right now. Of course, that was when KGBeast also crawled out of the wreckage, looking like he had been run over by a truck before taking a grenade to the face. But he was still standing, and severely pissed off.

"That traitorous little snake," he swore in anger limping forward with a dislocated shoulder and a broken leg. And when he saw the two heroes, he found something to vent his anger onto.

"I'm not likely to get off this island either way, so I might as well take you kids with me," he growled out as he raised his gun arm. Then he promptly fell over face first, unconscious before he even hit the ground. And standing behind him, with his fist still held where it had hit the Russian, was Superboy.

"What a pushover," the Kryptonian commented uncaringly, but then he saw the state of his teammates, at which point he rushed over to them.

"We need to get him out of here right now, he needs medical attention," Robin hastily explained to Superboy, absentmindedly wondering why he was wearing Firefly's suit but decided that it was irrelevant compared to helping Kid Flash.

"I've got him," Superboy assured Robin as he gently picked up Kid Flash, and together they made their way out of the wreckage.

In hindsight, taking on Ravager alone may not have been the most intelligent thing to do. But alas, as Krieg took another spinning kick to his chest that sent him tumbling down the corridor, it was far too late to start lamenting on could haves and would haves. There was only fight or fall, win or lose, live or die. So with that in mind, he charged straight at Ravager yet again, taking multiple swings at her that were easily avoided by the flexible girl before she retaliated with a fist to Krieg's head.

Disoriented from the blow, Krieg was too slow to avoid Ravager as she came at him with an elbow to the stomach, an uppercut to the jaw, and a sweeping kick to his legs. The second his back slammed into the floor, Ravager drew her twin swords and stabbed them into the ground, the blades crossing each other like an x with Krieg's throat trapped between them. With her opponent finally incapacitated, Ravager stretched her battered muscles as she grinned at Krieg's predicament.

"Now that was fun, but I think we need to wind down a bit. So why don't we get comfortable for a while?" she asked seductively before she straddled Krieg, leaning down so their bodies were pressed together and her grinning face hovered just above Krieg's glaring face.

"You might as well kill me now, criminal, because I will not reveal anything to you," he stated harshly, only causing Ravager to giggle at him.

"Kill you? My sweet little boy toy, where would the fun be in killing you?" she asked in amusement as a single finger kept drawing circles on his chest. "No, I have no interest in whatever you know, I just want to play with you, in more ways than one," most teenage boys would have been blushing like mad, and probably stand at full attention, but Krieg was not like most boys.

"You should kill me right now, because I can promise you this; if I ever catch you, I'll make you beg for mercy before the end," he snarled out. But that only made Ravager lick her lips.

"Oooh, kinky boy. I'm almost tempted to let you have our way with me now," she teased before she started idly toying with the straps keeping her helmet in place. "Some other time perhaps. For now, I think you deserve a reward for being such a good boy,"

"I want nothing from the likes of you," Krieg sneered with disgust. Sadly, Ravager would not take for an answer as she unclasped the helmet's straps and threw the helmet aside.

"Now don't be so hasty here, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy this one," as her fingers started grazing the edges of his gasmask, Ravager paused. "Not that it would matter in the end, seeing as you have no choice in the matter," then, with slow movements, she began pulling off his mask, with Krieg desperately fighting her all the way.

"Don't you dare, you crazy woman," he snarled out, but Ravager would not be denied as she pinned him in place beneath her.

"No need to overreact over a simple mask. Now be a good boy and stay still," she said teasingly as his mask finally came off, exposing his face to the criminal. He had hoped that his Glasgow smile would discourage her in some way, but all it did was making her pout as she let her fingers run up and down the scars.

"Awww, and here I hoped I would be the first to see your face," she commented before that wicked smirk of hers returned with a vengeance. "But no matter. Now you just need to lie back and enjoy your reward," of course, if she expected compliance from Krieg she was gravely mistaken as he began protesting.

"You can take this reward of yours and show it up yourMPPFHHMMFMMHHP!" and was promptly silenced when Ravager smashed their lips together in a fierce kiss. Eyes as wide as saucers, Krieg simply froze up. He had never experienced this, had never received training or instructions on how to handle a situation like this. And faced with such a foreign and absurd situation as this, his brain sort of momentarily ceased to function, leaving him wide open for Ravager to take full advantage of.

She forcefully pried his mouth open with her tongue and wrestled with Krieg's tongue for dominance, a fight she easily won. After almost a full minute of French kissing the hapless soldier, Ravager finally drew back, leaving Krieg completely numb in the mouth.

"Obviously not an experienced kisser, but that's something that training can easily rectify," Ravager teased him as rose back up on her feet again, though not before giving a quick grind of her hips to his. Placing a boot n his chest to keep him pinned down, she withdrew her swords and sheathed them again, still giving him that wicked grin of hers.

"Gotta go now, handsome. But don't worry, I'm sure we'll get to play again in the future," and so, with a blow kiss, Ravager strolled away from Krieg.

"See ya around, boy toy!" she called over her shoulder before vanishing around a corner. And while all of that had happened, Krieg had remained unmoving on the floor. In fact, he stayed like that long after she had left, just staring uncomprehendingly up at the ceiling. Then, finally, he uttered one sentence.

"What the hell just happened?"

It was over. Blackgate Penitentiary had been reclaimed, and most of the culprits had been neutralized. Only Ravager and Anarky had escaped. But despite this, the mission had been a colossal failure. None of the hostages had been saved, something that weighted heavily on the team's consciousness, one of their numbers had been wounded, and they had not discovered the reason behind the attack. All in all, there was nothing positive to mention in the debriefing back at the Cave.

"… and by the time Krieg rejoined us, Ravager was long since gone, and there was no trace of Anarky," Aqualad finished his report to the stoic Batman, standing in front of the battered and tired team. Silence followed in Aqualad's wake, as they all awaited Batman's verdict.

"Looking at the end results, this mission was a failure, one that nearly cost you all dearly," Batman began, speaking with the same dark and emotionless voice that he always used. Nevertheless, they all knew that he was not pleased in the slightest. And who could blame him?

"You will all be receiving detailed reports about your failures and shortcomings, plus extra hours of training with Black Canary," he announced, to the great confusion of Krieg. Really, that was it? They had failed a mission, and that was how they were punished?

"However, we understand that not all can be blamed on you. It's obvious that Anarky double-crossed his cohorts for unknown reasons, something none could have predicted on the field," Batman continued, softening his tone somewhat. Well, he did have a point there, at least. And none on the team looked keen on arguing otherwise.

"Dismissed," Batman eventually said, and the team began dispersing. Krieg made his way towards the zeta tubes, intending to return back to Los Angeles. But that would have to wait as something stopped him.

"Krieg, a moment, please," Batman stated, causing Krieg to halt in his steps and turn to face him again, a confused expression hidden behind his gasmask.

"You said in your report that Ravager had intercepted you on your way to rejoin the others, correct?" he questioned, confusing Krieg even more? Had he not heard it the first time?

"Yes, she blocked my path and refused to let me pass, forcing me to engage her before I could link up with the rest of the team," he answered monotonously. That caused Batman to narrow his eyes dubiously at him.

"Are you absolutely sure?" he pressed on suspiciously. Ah, now Krieg understood what the problem was. He did not believe Krieg.

"I can assure you, that was exactly how it happened," he spoke confidently, never once breaking eye contact with Batman, even though the dark knight could not really see it. A tense standoff followed as both stared each other down, waiting to see who would fold first.

"Very well then," Batman finally relented, even though he clearly still did not believe him. "I just hope that you don't happen to run into an unavoidable obstacle again in the future when your team needs you," a subtle warning, one that Krieg picked up on. Obviously, he was on thin ice with the League at the moment.

"I hope so as well, sir," he answered before turning his back on him and walking away. But as he left, he could not help the brief stab of guilt, but easily brushed it aside without a second thought. 'I'm already compromising with my ideals and duty, what's one more? Especially when it concerns heretics?' was how he reasoned to himself as he teleported back to Los Angeles.

Krieg was not the only one who was dealing with a bad debriefing. Many miles from where the team had reported to their commanders, Ravager had just finished her report to her commanders. Standing in a dark room with seven screen surrounding her, each screen only depicting a roughly humanoid shape made out of light, Ravager stood as still as a statue, hands clasped behind her back as she waited for her employers to speak.

"The events at Blackgate are both disconcerting and unexpected, for Anarky to betray us like that for no apparent reason," one of the screens spoke. Ravager remained silent.

"Évidemment we put too much trust in that maniaque. Still, why would he betray us so suddenly?" another one, this one with a French accent, asked curiously. Ravager still remained silent.

"Whatever the case may be, he will pay dearly for this betrayal," a feminine voice spoke harshly. And this time, Ravager could not contain herself and spoke.

"None of this would have happened if you had listened to me. I did warn you that we couldn't trust him, but did anyone listen to me? Did anyone even consider the danger?" she demanded in frustration.

"I'd watch your tongue if I were you, child," the female of the seven snapped at her in irritation.

"Now, now, no need to be so harsh. Ravager does bring up a valid point, we should have been more cautious when we inducted him into our ranks. After all, he is called Anarky for a reason," a smooth and suave voice, that sounded like it belonged to a businessman or a politician, spoke in her defense.

"In any event, Anarky's betrayal has put our plans in jeopardy. Not only was he privy to sensitive Intel concerning our operations, but he was supposed to help our plans for Belle Reve," a more dignified and cultural voice spoke up. They had already arranged for four ice villains to be transferred to the penitentiary, but had wanted to increase their numbers inside for guaranteed success.

The whole takeover of Blackgate had been a cover for Anarky to hack into the prison's security system and arrange for more of their agents to be transferred to Belle Reve. Now, not only were those plans foiled, but they had lost three more agents. All because of Anarky. Needless to say, he was not overly popular amongst those present in the room.

"No matter. Anarky is just one man. Even with the information he knows, he poses little threat to us. And while his actions have set us back with Belle Reve, it has not stopped it. In short, he's only done minimal damage to our operation," yet another voice, this one far deeper and darker than all others, confidently assured his colleagues. Ravager was not as confident, but figured it was not her problem and so kept her mouth shut.

"Still, it still doesn't answer why? He was being paid very well, had access to cutting edge technology, and had expressed interest in our ideals. So why betray us like this? What does he hope to accomplish?" the business-like one asked curiously.

"Whatever the reason, he will soon learn what it means to betray the Light," the dark one promised sinisterly.

Deep underground, far from any prying eyes, lay an ancient catacomb system. A haven for outcasts and practitioners of heathen magic in ancient times, it was now a base of operations for the Cult of the Kobra, a cult that had by now wholeheartedly embraced far darker deities than the deluded maniac they used to follow. But where there only used to be robed followers of the cult going about their daily business, there was now a new breed of scum present.

Mercenaries, contract killers, murderers, psychopaths, convicts, serial killers, assassins, terrorists. They all bore different titles, they all came from different backgrounds, and they all joined up with the cult for different reasons. They had only two things in common; they all had experience killing, and they were all prepping for war.

Walking amongst these hundreds of coldblooded killers, with Katana and Shade on either side, Azkillon observed what would essentially form the backbone of his army. Cultists were good as moles and meat shields, but he needed professional and hardened killers for the war that he planned to start.

"How many so far?" he asked without even turning to face his two companions as he kept on walking.

"So far, 300 here in the U.S., some 800 in South America, 500 in Europe, 1 000 in Africa, 300 in Australia and 1 300 in Asia. We're expecting many more to join the cause once we start targeting high security prisons, and we've been in contact with multiple terrorist organizations who've shown an interest in cooperation. Of course, this is without taking into the consideration of the thousands of cultists we've already recruited across the globe," the report was delivered by Shade, but Azkillon just waved his hand dismissively.

"I care not about the number of cultists at the moment, they're naught but cannon fodder anyway. I want real fighting men to join our ranks," he stated, receiving a curt nod from Shade.

"Of course, sir, I'll see to it," he answered, causing Azkillon to nod his head in satisfaction.

"Good. And make sure to keep it quiet. We do not want the Justice League finding out just yet, not until we're ready to take them on in the open," he ordered, the Shade giving a quick bow in understanding before scurrying off to carry out his lord's will.

"What about on your end?" Azkillon eventually asked of Katana.

"I've managed to secure the support of several mob families. They'll supply us with the funding we need in exchange for moderate protection," she answered.

"Excellent. All is going according to plan," Azkillon said with satisfaction. That was when a Warp rift suddenly tore itself open ahead of Azkillon, Katana and the nearby mercs jumping back in alarm and drawing their weapons.

"No need for that, it's just a fellow comrade rejoining us," Azkillon spoke soothingly, having not even blinked at the rift's appearance, then a figure dressed in all white stepped out with a confident swagger to his steps.

"My lord," Anarky greeted with a courteous bow. Azkillon in turn gave a small nod of acknowledgement to his agent. The foolish Light had deluded themselves into thinking they had won the man's loyalty, but there had always been that spark of doubt, of resentment against the Light, in him. Instead, Anarky had found his true calling in the service of the Chaos Gods, and had eagerly forsaken his old loyalties. For weeks, he had been working as a mole within the Light's ranks, feeding Intel to Azkillon about his competitors. But that time was over, it was time for Anarky to fully pledge himself to the cause.

"Anarky. I take it your mission was a success?" he inquired of his mole, who grinned arrogantly as he brought out a USB drive.

"Those fools never even realized that I did more than review their plan for Belle Reve. I was able to steal nearly all the information stored in their hardware. All the Light's dirty little secrets, all their shady deals and plans for the future," Anarky announced as he offered the USB to Azkillon, who simply held his hand open and telekinetically moved the drive into the palm of his hand.

"And I assume you were able to plant our agents inside their organization as well," Azkillon commented as he idly fingered the USB in his hand, with Anarky nodding his head in confirmation.

"But of course, master. Even now, they're working on recruiting more to our side. When the time comes, they will be able to strike at their former masters and destroy their organization from the inside out,"

"Good. The Light is too much of a threat to my plans to be allowed to go unchecked," Azkillon stated as he resumed walking, Anarky falling in line behind him alongside Katana. "But for now, you should get to know the team better. You will all be working extensively with each other in the future,"

"As you wish, master,"

"Now go, both of you. There's still much work to be done," with a dismissive wave of his hand, Azkillon had both Katana and Anarky bowing in subservience before walking away. All in all, things were proceeding exactly as he had planned. But like he had sad, there was still work to be done before they were ready to reveal themselves. Further recruitment was necessary, to bolster their numbers. And speaking of recruits, here came Adrian with another one.

"My lord," like Anarky before him, Adrian bowed reverently to the Chaos sorcerer when he came to a stop before him.

"I take it this is the one?" Azkillon inquired as he beheld the malnourished wreck of a human being, shivering under his scrutinizing gaze.

"My lord, allow me to introduce you to John Dee. John Dee, meet our great lord and master Azkillon, prophet of the Chaos Gods," Adrian introduced. Silence followed, as Azkillon observed each and every aspect of the skeletal being, while said being struggled not to faint in fright from facing such an imposing man… creature… thing. Honestly, John did not even know what it was he was seeing. Suddenly, the dark and imposing presence that he had felt pressing down on him vanished, and a much warmer and friendlier atmosphere took its place.

"It's a pleasure to meet you at last, Mr. Dee," Azkillon spoke warmly

"T-thank you uhm s-sir," John managed to stammer out, partially in fear and partially in nervousness. A massive gauntleted hand was gently laid on his shoulder in response.

"There's no need for such nervousness, we're all friends here after all," Azkillon assured him with a friendly smile. John could not actually see it, what with the helmet, but he could somehow feel it.

"But let's not dally around here. I'm sure you're most eager to know why you've been brought here." Azkillon began as he began guiding John deeper into the catacombs, Adrian silently following the two.

"A bit, yes," John answered honestly as he looked up at the giant, feeling quite a lot like a child, following an adult.

"As my servant has no doubt already informed you, we're an organization that seeks to change the very society we live in, forming a new future for us all to flourish in," Azkillon continued, his voice taking on a passionate air about it.

"He did mention a few things along those lines, sir," absentmindedly, John noted that they had entered an empty part of the catacombs, the sounds of the crowd slowly vanishing behind them.

"As you've probably guessed, I'm offering you a place in my organization. But I'm actually offering you something far more than that," Azkillon revealed, and that did wonders at catching John's interest.

"And that would be?" he asked inquisitively.

"Power. True power that would allow you to strike back at those who have wronged you," that revelation had John stop dead in his tracks, just as they reached a thick wooden door at the end of the corridor they had been walking in.

"Seriously, you could do that?" there was skepticism in his voice, but also hope. Hope that he could have power of his own, to finally be something more than the pathetic wreck he was now.

"That and more. I could cure you of your ailment that has plagued you for years. I can give you your dreams back," Azkillon enticed, right before he opened the door they stood outside of. Blue and purple light shone from within, as a foul and corrupted feeling washed out of the foreboding room. But John Dee cared not for such trivial matters. His mind was solely fixated on the promise that the room's content offered him, something he had desired for so long.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Mr. Dee? Step in and embrace your Destiny," Azkillon offered as he held the door open, and John stepped inside without a second's hesitation. Never once did he waver or doubt in his choice, not even when the door was closed behind him, sealing his fate forever.

Let's hope I can update the story faster in the future, but there's no telling there. Anyway, I've been wondering if maybe I should move this story to the M section, seeing as things are getting a bit graphical, and probably only going to get worse.