Chapter 104

Vandal Savage PoV

Moves were being made. The appropriate steps had been taken by the Light in order to remain unseen. Though of course it was only a matter of time before it was uncovered, or more preferably, stepping out into the open on its own terms.

There were several plans at play. Of course there was. With seven members all with their own goals, it was obvious that they’d be laying down their own plans as well. That said, it didn’t mean there couldn’t be any overlap between them.

A rather sizable benefit of membership as a whole. To be able to stack multiple plans on top of each other, while adding more and more moving parts. Not only does it help provide members what they want, but it had the added benefit of having them work together.

There wasn’t an ounce of loyalty within any of the founding members. A faction working on loyalty could only work for so long. That much I found out long ago. Even had I gathered only those with loyalty, it was inevitable for them to die and be replaced with someone new. And I couldn’t possibly guarantee every single member, their replacements, and their replacements replacement.

Though I was immortal, that didn’t mean I had an infinite amount of time to work with.

No, while loyalty had its uses, it was best to leave such things to other more idealistic leaders. Like Ra’s.

Despite being the most secretive member, he was also the easiest one to understand. His motives being what they were.

That being said…

There was something odd about this.

He was currently working with two other members of the Light on a plan that hadn’t originally been his own. Or rather, he only decided to act when Luthor was looking for potential support. Such help wasn’t offered freely, and Ra’s had his own ambitions in mind as well.

No one stated their true goals, but it wasn’t difficult to guess based on their actions. Luthor wanted to manipulate his little side project. Klarion wanted resources. Ra’s wanted his pawn back.

On the surface it was rather simple. The plan itself was a bit heavy handed, but more than serviceable. Everyone was happy with what they’d get. There was no reason for anything to be hidden from the Light.

So why did I feel as though there was more to this than meets the eye?

In the room where I stood, six other screens faced me. Each one representing a member of the Light, and only four of them were lit up. Currently only Queen Bee, Klarion, Ra’s, and the Brain were in attendance.

It seemed as though Queen Bee and the Brain were currently discussing some sort of exchange, while Klarion played with his familiar. The only ones quietly observing was Ra’s and I.

A few minutes passed before Luthor finally showed up. Unlike his usual confident and cocky demeanor, he was frowning. Fixing his tie idly as he poured his focus into the meeting.

It would seem he wasn’t as successful as he’d hoped.

“I see Ocean Master still hasn’t decided to grace us with his presence.”

Luthor observed, and in doing so attempting to throw off attention to himself. Something he seemed successful in doing considering the expressions of several of the other members. Unfortunately for him, there were others that were unaffected by his subtle manipulations.

“Someone’s cranky…”

Klarion loudly whispered in amusement. Cackling while kicking up his legs and causing his familiar to fall from his arms. Luthor’s eyes narrowed a sliver before completely ignoring his comment.

“This would mark the third time.”

Ra’s mentioned, rubbing his chin in interest.

Not that I could particularly blame him. I too was becoming more and more interested by the day on the radio silence from Atlantis. True, Ocean Master was the main hand that handled everything in the underwater kingdom, but that didn’t mean he was the only source of information we had.

Yet those too remained silent. Curious.

“If he can’t be bothered to show up, perhaps it’s time he was replaced?”

Luthor suggested. Immediately drawing everyone’s attention to himself. He was annoyed by his failure, but he also seemed somewhat annoyed about the silence coming from the sea. It seemed his dislike of not being able to know something was causing him to speak out.

“It’s also possible that his identity has been uncovered. In which case it might be prudent to…cut our losses.”

The Brain added his own two cents. Causing several of the members to nod along. Likely all of them were simply waiting to push his replacement. Either to have them be a puppet, or to be owed a favor.

“I trust everything is going fine on your ends?”

Luthor spoke to the other two. Ra’s gave a simple nod and opened his mouth, but was beaten by Klarion’s laughter.

“Hahaha, oh yeah! Watching those Justice Losers running around was hilarious.”

“…My people were successful in their endeavors as well.”

Ra’s added after the fact, causing Luthor to hum along. His eyes seemingly elsewhere. Queen Bee seemed to have decided to be the first to ask the question, as she opened her mouth with a smirk.

“And how did it go for you?”

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t so successful…though in return I was able to learn some particularly interesting things. I’ll need to change my approach, but it-”

“I-I gotta go!”

Klarion suddenly interrupted Luthor. Speaking up with a…worried expression before disappearing. The others raised eyebrows at his disappearance whereas Luthor simply shrugged it off with a smirk.

Each of them choosing to disregard his actions as simply being in character. He had immense power, yet was quite easily distracted, and prone to losing focus. It wasn’t all that strange for him to skip out in the middle of meetings.

But I knew better.

“…Klarion?”

He had been worried. He maybe expressive, but that certainly wasn’t one that was particularly common. Something had him spooked.

…The gut feeling I had started to worsen.

*~o~*

Artemis PoV

My back slammed against the wall. I only had a moment to register the pain before immediately throwing myself to the side. Avoiding the side kick that packed enough punch to dent the wall.

Kid Flash went to take advantage of dad being distracted, only to play right into his hands. Literally, as he was grabbed and tossed down the hall with a yell.

It wasn’t looking so good for us.

We’ve been fighting for what feels like an hour. Throwing ourselves at Sportsmaster to stop him…and this was pretty much the result. He was beating us black and blue and kicking our ass up and down the Tower.

We tried retreating and waiting for backup, but that proved to be a pretty terrible idea, as he immediately started to toss around explosive javelins. Kid Flash also was able to confirm that the fifth floor had bombs strapped up and down it.

Of course, he was only able to do that by leaving me alone to fight dad all by myself. Which was just great. I definitely didn’t mind being left to fend for myself against someone that BOTH OF US were struggling against.

Dick.

It also didn’t help that my mind was filled to the brim with questions. How did he get here? What was his aim? What can we do to stop him? And above all…

Where the HELL was everyone!?

We weren’t exactly being quiet, which should’ve alerted everyone in the Tower, yet no one showed up to help us. At the very least, Cyborg and Miss Martian should’ve shown up by now. The only explanation for why they haven’t was…

No. I didn’t need those thoughts right now. My plate was already full in dealing with dad’s bullshit, I didn’t need to worry about anyone else right now.

My weight shifted to my other leg, causing me to wince. Something had definitely fractured there. I quickly covered up my expression, but dad seemed to have already seen through it. Smirking as he idly walked forward towards me without a care in the world.

“What’s wrong, baby girl? Not feeling so hot?”

He said, giving a knowing look. Ugh, it was just like him to goad me like he’d goad Jade. Fortunately, at least it seemed like Kid Flash didn’t hear him. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure it was because he was unconscious.

…Something I was getting close to myself.

Just wiggling my arms felt like someone was stabbing me.

“You won’t get away with this.”

I spat out, narrowing my eyes as I tried to buy time. Considering my options as I tried to think of something. He was stronger than me, he was faster, but that didn’t mean he was unbeatable. I had one last arrow, a barely functional bow…and a dream.

Think Artemis! There had to be something I could do.

Sportsmaster laughed at that.

“Please, you don’t even know what I’m getting away with.”

My arm twitched. It was just a spasm, but it was more than enough to get his attention. He stepped forward, causing me to try to think fast on my feet. Maybe if I-

“SKREEEEE!”

Both dad and me quickly turned and looked out the window next to us. To the far side of the Tower, there was some sort of massive…crab looking thing. One that had already closed the distance between it and the Tower. Come to think of it, I did think I heard something loud earlier, I just couldn’t focus on it because of the fight.

Was this what was occupying the other Titans? IF so, where the HELL were they!?

This was also part of Sportsmaster’s plan. He must be aiming to destroy the Tower!

I looked over at him in annoyance, only to see that he seemed…genuinely surprised. And the way I was able to tell that through his stupid hockey mask was because he looked absolutely pissed.

“…I don’t get paid enough for this shit…”

He sighed before turning-

The entire building started to shudder. Likely due to the force of the sea…creature…thingy. Causing me to fall to the ground. Sportsmaster was still able to stand, but that seemed to be just about all he could do.

Though considering his body was turned towards the windows, it seemed pretty obvious he was considering bailing.

An ear splitting screech started up. The sound of something scratching against the walls of the Tower was worse than nails on a chalkboard. It was worse than even Jade talking!

A feat in of itself.

Sportsmaster shrugged it off, before throwing a javelin into one of the windows. Causing it to explode into shards, and giving him an opening. Somehow it seemed the glass shards missed him, but sure as hell pelted and cut me. Because of COURSE it did.

“See you soon.”

Dad taunted, pulling out and waving some sort of black device from his hands. Considering the shiny red button, it was probably the detonator. He didn’t waste any time after that before jumping straight out of the tower. A parachute exploding from his back helping slow his descent.

Ugh…the things I do…for this team…

I limped forward through the glass shards in order to get a better view. Slowly drawing my bow out before taking aim. A bit hard to calculate the wind speed, so I was just going to have to wing it.

Hoo…

Only one-shot Artemis. Make it count.

I released the arrow. Watching it soar in the air like a glorious bird before slamming into its target.

“SHIT!”

Dad swore out loud as the arrow sliced through his fingers and into the detonator. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to lose any fingers, but the detonator seemed to be pretty broken from where I was standing. And if him crumpling it up and tossing it aside was any indication, I hit it right on the mark.

Right on.

When it comes to aiming, I was still the best in the Tower. Even better than Ravager…though it was pretty damn close, even despite her being down an eye.

The screech of the Tower got louder, reminding me that there was still another threat to take care of. Unfortunately, that was a bit above my paygrade. Even if I wasn’t thrashed, I’d have trouble dealing with something that large. It’d take someone like Galatea or-

WHAM!

The crab/lobster/whatever-the-fuck suddenly fell to the side. Having taken a heavy enough punch to actually dislocate it off the tower. The sound of which caused the surrounding windows that were close to the one that was already broken to shatter.

I looked up, fully expecting to see Galatea, or Miss Martian, or Starfire, but instead…

I saw a GIANT blonde girl giggling to herself as she delivered a right hook. She was just slightly less tall the entire Tower.

…What the fuck?