SSV: Project S.T.A.T.I.C. Part 1

Chapter 2

Beth had been in the process of interrogating a group of thugs downtown when the broadcast from Courtney came on the news. She hadn't gotten anywhere with her suspects, but as soon as she saw the news feed, she abandoned her efforts. It was a lucky night for scumbags lurking in the shadows, but things were taking an unexpected turn. She stood on the rooftop overlooking Blackridge Tower with her phone to her ear, "Come on, come on, pick up…"

"Beth!" Jake's voice exclaimed over the speaker, "I'm guessing you saw the news."

"Yeah, you told me Courtney was dead," she said, pacing the rooftop, "Wanna tell me why the hell she's initiating a hostage situation?"

"I thought she was," Jake replied, "Damnit, I should have known when they couldn't find a body. Pam and I are heading to the tower now. What's your location?"

"Standing on the roof of Covers," Beth said, "Cops are swarming the area, and the clock is ticking. Why the hell does she look like she crawled out of the damn grave?"

"Don't know, but hang tight," Jake said, and she could hear him telling Pam her location, "We'll be there in a second."

Beth nodded and hung up the phone. She watched the shadows in the corners of the rooftops for her friends' appearance. Within a moment, she spotted Jake and Pam emerging from the darkness. "Alright, someone want to tell me what's going on?" Beth asked as they approached, "We've got a suspect presumed dead threatening to eat her hostages, but her only demand is to see us. How the hell does she even know about Pam?"

"That was what I was wondering," Pam said, crossing her arms, "I've been careful to avoid detection by the public, and I've used illusion spells on criminals that I've dealt with "

"That doesn't matter now," Jake said, checking his equipment and walking towards the edge, "We can worry about that later. Right now, we need to focus on rescuing the hostages."

"Okay, but the fact that there is a dead girl holding them seems like an important detail," Beth pointed out, joining Jake on the ledge, "She looks like some kind of zombie or something. Could it be a reanimation spell?"

"Possibly, but I'll have to get close to know for certain," Pam said, "Jake is right, though. We can figure this out after we deal with her. You two join the police and get inside. I'll follow behind you both in the shadows."

"So, we're not going to talk about the fact that she's literally eating people," Beth said, running a hand through her hair before donning her helmet, "Vampires, witches, demons, cults, why not add a zombie to the fucking list? Ugh, this city just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Alright, let's move out."

Pam nodded and stepped back as she sank into the darkness. Jake and Beth grabbed their grappling guns, and fired them at separate points. They had to make contact with the police before entering the building. They landed near the barricades, and the pair of them quickly put away their tools. A pair of officers let them pass, and they saw Zoey talking on her phone, growing more irritated by the second, "I'm well aware of the situation, Mr. Mayor, but that doesn't-yes, no, trust me I know. Yeah? Well, screw you and your damn bureaucracy! See if you get an endorsement from the MPD this year, jackass!"

"Problems with red tape?" Jake asked as Zoey jammed her phone into her coat pocket.

Zoey glanced over at them and shook her head, "There's always problems when it comes to bureaucrats. I've been trying to organize a strike force since we reestablished the department, but our honorary blowhard of a mayor doesn't see the use in it. We need a team to go in behind you two, or at least a way for the city to feel like it doesn't depend on you both. I can't get the authorization for funding for it, clearance to draft from the academy, or get any of those morons to see the use in it."

"Don't sweat it, we can handle this," Beth said, hoping to reassure her friend, "We appreciate the sentiment, but we've operated on our own for a while now."

"I know, but everyone needs backup every once in a while," Zoey said, taking a deep breath and gesturing to Blackridge Tower, "Nothing we can do about that now, though. Alright, I'm guessing you two saw the news since you're here. Whoever that is in there hasn't made any other demands, but she's got control over the intercom and security cameras in the place. Whenever one of my team got close, her voice came on threatening to maim one of the hostages. She's not interested in dealing with us. She only wants you two."

"That sounds about right," Jake sighed, grabbing a communicator from his utility belt and handing it to Zoey, "We'll be in touch the moment we have something for you."

"What's the plan?" Beth asked, "She's expecting us, and I'm not sure trying to get the drop on her will end well. We try to sneak up on her, she might start killing hostages."

"I guess we're going in the front door then," Jake replied, "I don't like it, but you're right. Those people have been through enough, and if she wants a meeting, then that's what we'll give her."

"There's one other thing," Zoey said, stopping them before they made their way in, "She wants to broadcast your meeting with her."

"Yeah, that's not happening," Beth said, "She can try to record it, but do not let it go to the public. The last thing we need is a panic starting if things go south."

"I'll contact the news station to let them know," Zoey said, "I just hope that you two can get this under control. We've already got a serial killer on the loose, and now we've got this lunatic to contend with. I thought that after Goth things might get back to normal, but I guess this city doesn't know what that is anymore."

"We'll stop her," Jake said, "One way or another, we'll bring her to justice. Once we've dealt with her we can focus on finding Babydoll."

"I hope you're right," Zoey said before yelling at the officers stationed near the doors, "Let them through!"

The duo walked past the officers, ignoring the gawking civilians as they walked through the glass doors into Blackridge Tower. The officers closed the doors behind them, and they hadn't made it more than a few feet before a shutter fell down and locked them in. The main entrance was pitch black at first, but the emergency lights flashed red to provide an eerie backdrop. "This isn't unsettling at all," Beth remarked as her and Jake's night vision switched on.

The sound of feedback from the intercom filled the air before Courtney's voice filled the room, "Welcome, heroes, I'm glad you decided to accept my invitation. Tell your witchy little whore to show herself. Do it now, or I'll start taking bites out of my guests."

Pam rose out of the ground and crossed her arms, "Presumptuous little nuisance, isn't she?" she asked, "I haven't been here in quite some time."

"There she is," Courtney's voice called out with a malicious tone in her voice, "Come to the basement, heroes. Enjoy the scenery on the way, and don't keep me waiting. I get particularly ravenous this time of night, and my patience is wearing thin!"

"Let's go," Jake said, his tone shifting to serious.

Pam's eyes flashed a brilliant shade of purple before dimming to a slight glow. Jake led the way through the darkness, keeping his eyes peeled for any unexpected surprises. He could see trails of blood on the floors. The body of a young secretary was laid over the receptionist desk with bites taken out of various parts of her body. Armed security guards were spread out around the room and corridor as they walked deeper into the building. Looks of terror and agony were etched on their faces, the ones that had a face left that is. Courtney had been busy, but how had she managed to get through security without alerting him? The security systems were directly linked to his home computers and the Bird Cage.

They stepped over the bodies as they made their way closer to the stairwell to the basement level. A low snarl caught their attention, and their heads snapped to the direction of the noise. A security guard stood off in the distance, but his appearance was alarming. His body armor was coated in blood, his neck had a chunk of flesh missing, and it looked like a string of blood was leaking out of his mouth. His eyes were glossed over and held a hunger in them. Jake swore he saw something slithering in the open wound on his neck, but he couldn't be certain. They froze and waited for him to make a move, but he did nothing beyond standing there and growling at them.

Beth held out one of her pistols and yelled at him, "On the ground, and hands on your head!"

The man didn't move. Jake held out an arm to stop Beth from shooting at him. "Sir, if you need medical attention, the police are out front," he called out, "The doors are locked, but if you can walk, we'll get you out of here."

"Liar," the man snarled, spittle flying from his mouth.

"Raven, I don't think there's anything that can be done for this one," Pam said, eying the growling man with concern, "He's not himself. I'm not even certain he's alive anymore."

"What do you mean?" Jake asked, glancing back at Pam before looking back at the lone security guard.

"There's nothing coming from him," Pam answered, "No emotion, no fear, no pain, he's just…empty."

"What a clever little whore," Courtney's voice filled the air again, "I suppose that you learned something while serving that monster after all. Show them to the stairwell."

"I don't like this," Beth said, clutching her pistol tighter as the security guard stumbled and motioned for them to follow him, "If that guy is dead, then how is he walking? What is going on?"

"I suspect that we'll find out soon," Pam replied, "Don't get too close to him, either of you."

"Follow," the man ordered, his voice gurgling as blood pooled in his throat.

They did as instructed, and the three of them trailed behind the unknown guard. There was blood streaks along the walls as they continued deeper into the building. Signs of struggle, but something didn't add up. The patterns of handprints and splatters looked almost more like someone had been running rather than fighting. It was almost as if a panic had broken out before Courtney made her move. The deeper they went, the worse Jake felt about things. A stomach turning smacking noise could be heard off in the distance, and Jake saw a woman hunched over the body of an office worker. Her eyes snapped up to meet his. He watched as blood dripped from her mouth while she stared at him. She studied him for a moment before bending back down to return to her meal. The sight made his skin crawl, and the sound almost made him sick.

The deeper into the tower they got, the more disturbing the sights and sounds became. The nauseating stench of decay, blood on the walls or bodies scattered throughout, and an ever-growing chorus of growls and snarls in the background. "Pretenders, liars, murderers," were just a few of the words that they could hear echoing throughout the building as they walked.

Eventually, they finally arrived at the entrance to the basement. Their undead guide stepped to the side to let them enter. He snapped at Jake as he went to open the door, but he stopped short with his rotting teeth mere inches from his neck. The second he lunged, Beth had her gun trained on him. Her finger rested on the trigger, but she never fired a shot. "Enter," the man gurgled out as he stepped back.

"I don't like this," Beth whispered as she watched him carefully, "There's no telling how many of them are in here, and we're walking into a trap. We'll be pinned down there."

"What choice do we have?" Jake asked, opening the door into darkness, "If we attack, then Courtney will inevitably kill the hostages she has. All we can do is play along for now."

"I'll get us out of here if things take a turn," Pam said, trying to reassure Beth, "Doesn't this place have a security system for situations like this?"

"Undead eating my staff?" Jake asked, "Not that exactly, but there should be automated turrets designed to stun and incapacitate intruders. Courtney used to work for me, so my guess is she disabled it somehow. The question is, how did she manage to get through security?"

"Maybe she's been here the entire time," Beth replied, following him as he began the descent into the darkness of R&D, "I don't see any other way that she could have gotten around it. Let's just get this over with. This whole experience is giving me flashbacks to Ravenfalls, and I'd rather not relive that hell if I can help it."

No one bothered to comment as they walked down the steel steps into the basement of Blackridge Tower. Jake had always hated this section of his work. Ever since his company had seized the remnants of Brunswick Enterprises, the entire vibe in the basement had changed. Some of the things Emily's company had been working on were downright horrific and bizarre. Some of the tech was unlike anything anyone in his company had seen. Bio-organic weapons and materials, items that glowed or hummed whenever someone got too close, jars of specimens that his staff was scared to open, and other oddities were stored down here or in an offsite location. The entire area was practically unnerving, and some of the creatures seemed to follow you with their eyes whenever you walked by.

"Jesus, what the hell have you had your team doing down here?" Beth asked, looking around at the various items, "This is some shit out of a horror movie, Jake."

"I believe some of these…things are from Ms. Brunswick and her old company," Pam said, noticing a particularly unique piece of ebony wood that had been carved into a shield of sorts, "That item there looks to be from a tree that grows overseas. The wood is practically brimming with arcane energy. It would seem that Ms. Brunswick was attempting to blend science and magic together."

"Remind me to have you take a look at some of these things when this is over," Jake said, walking deeper into the bowels of the basement, "My team hasn't been able to make sense of hardly anything down here, but if there's magic involved, that would make sense. Pam's right, though, the bulk of the stuff down here is from when we annexed Brunswick Enterprises. We keep them down here because we either don't understand it, or because we think things are too dangerous."

"How right you are, little bird," Courtney's voice echoed in the darkness, "You don't understand the dangers that lurk in the shadows here. Maybe if you did, then you'd have burned these items long ago. Then again, that's something an actual hero would do, and you three are nothing more than deceivers pretending to be something you're not."

"Courtney Teller, show yourself!" Jake yelled out, "We came here like you wanted, now come out and let your hostages go!"

"I'm afraid I can't do the latter, little bird," Courtney's voice called out in response, "Well, at least not all of them. I'm afraid I got a bit hungry and had a light snack on one. Don't worry, though, she'll join me soon enough in my moment of triumph."

"Damnit, we did what you asked!" Beth snapped, looking around for any signs of movement, "You said we had until midnight!"

"I lied, you naive little murderer," Courtney laughed, her voice echoing around them, "You think that just because you show up that means everyone has to listen to you? You think that people have to obey your every command? Don't make me laugh! You promise peace and salvation, but you bring only death and pain! You two stand with the very woman who enslaved this city! You followed that monster Goth into the abyss, doomed this city, and did nothing when she turned this world into her playground!"

"I was following orders!" Pam yelled, stomping her foot, "It was follow her, or join the ranks of her slaves! If I hadn't, if we hadn't, this city would still be under her thumb!"

"One good deed erases the suffering of millions," Courtney scoffed, "I can think of countless others who committed atrocities who were just following orders. If you're such a good woman, then why do you hide yourself away? Is it because you know that this city will shun you?"

"Enough of this!" Jake snapped before Pam could respond, "What do you want, Courtney?!"

"What I want is for this city to see you three for what you truly are: cowards and deserters," Courtney replied, "When I'm through, this city will burn you three in effigy. You're failures, all of you. You exist as though you are above the law, but your actions have consequences. It's time that you three learn what those consequences look like!"

"We saved this city!" Beth argued.

"After abandoning it, you mean?" Courney asked, "You three were nowhere to be found when demons overran the city, when that bitch rose to power, or when her followers enslaved the city!"

"We were stopping the invasion!" Beth yelled back, throwing her arms out and looking for their accuser, "Where were you during all of that, huh?!"

"Suffering in silence and sorrow," Courtney replied, suddenly appearing behind Beth and sweeping her legs out from under her before disappearing again, "Unlike you three, I tried to do something about those wretched collars. My search for freedom led me to a painful rebirth, one that gave me the clarity I have now. For weeks I remained trapped down here, and even after Goth was gone, nobody bothered to look for poor Courtney. This city abandoned me, you abandoned me! But that all changes tonight. I won't be ignored any longer, and when I'm through this city will see the frauds that you three really are!"

Beth climbed back to her feet and looked around. "She's fast," she whispered, "Be on your guard. Pam, can you sense her?"

"There's too much interference here," Pam replied, "The enchantments and artifacts are creating a sort of barrier, and the most I can sense is a gnawing hunger."

"Just a bit further, you three," Courtney's voice called out, "I want you three to see what misplaced faith and hope can do. Come along now, I won't bite…at least not yet."

"Form up," Jake said, preparing to advance, "Watch each other's backs. I don't want her getting the drop on us again."

"That's right, little Raven," Courtney laughed, "Cling to each other in fear. I want you to feel what I felt while you were off galavanting with that witch!"

"Jeez, did she talk this much when you two were together?" Beth whispered.

"No," Jake replied, "Something is definitely off about her."

"Perhaps you need to refrain from dating for a while," Pam said, "It would seem that whomever you become involved with develops an obsession before taking a nasty turn."

"Can we talk about my love-life later?" Jake asked, trying to keep his focus on the threat at hand, "You know, maybe after we deal with the situation at hand."

"That's fair," Pam replied with a shrug.

They came to an opening in the racks, the very one where Courtney had held her captives. One man was slumped over, a large bite had been taken out of his neck, but beside him sat another man bleeding and snarling. One woman sat close by weeping and shivering in fear. She spotted the three of them, but she seemed more terrified of them than relieved. She muttered to herself incoherently, and Pam felt a rush of adrenaline and terror radiating from her. Finally, there was another security guard sitting beside the panic stricken woman. Of the four of them, he seemed to be the only one somewhat in control of himself.

"Raven!" the guard yelled, "You've got to get out of here! She's got some kind of-ugh!"

Courtney appeared behind him and knocked him out with a blow to the back of the head. "That's enough out of you," she said, sauntering around him, "I wouldn't want anyone to spoil the surprise. How nice of you to join me. Put down your guns, Feral, or else I'll take a bite out of Mr. Alexander here."

"Can you move faster than a bullet?" Beth asked, refusing to relinquish her weapons.

"Do you really want to take that chance?" Courtney countered, "Don't be dramatic. Preserve what's left of your heroic image, minute as it may be, and do as you're told."

Beth stared at the disfigured girl for a second longer before bending down to put her guns on the floor. "There, now move away from them," Beth said.

"There's a good girl," Courtney chided, letting her hand rest on Alexander's shoulder before stepping away, "I don't need to infect this one. No, there will be plenty of time for that later. Right now, I want a word with your blonde friend. Step forward, girl, and let's have a chat. Do you recognize me?"

"You're the young woman who objected to Goth's orders," Pam replied, glaring at her.

"The very same girl you used as a demonstration," Courtney said with a smile, "It is nice to be remembered, isn't it? If memory serves, you came in with a poor girl on a leash. Let me guess, you used her and disposed of her shortly after you left."

"That girl is very dear to me," Pam said, suppressing Rage as she clawed at the fringes of her mind, "I did what I did to protect her, and I assure you that she's alive and well."

"No doubt somewhere under your thumb," Courtney sneered, "You are by far the worst offender of your little trio. A devil in disguise just waiting to strike at the hearts of the helpless."

"That's enough, Courtney," Jake said, stepping between the two of them, "We're here, just like you wanted, now tell us what you want."

"I've already told you, but why don't we ask little Allison here?" Courtney replied, placing a hand on the terrified woman's cheek, "Allison, dear, what do you see when you look at these three? Are they here to save you, to take you home?"

"N-no," Allison muttered, trembling in fear, "S-stay back! G-get away from me! Monsters, they're everywhere! Get away, get away, get away!"

"What did you do to her?!" Beth demanded.

"I gave her a little dose of something I found here that I took the liberty of perfecting," Courtney replied with a dark chuckle, "I like to think of it as a dose of reality and clarity. She sees you three as you really are now: monsters rather than saviors."

"You twisted bitch!" Beth snapped, "If you want to get to us, then fight us! We're right here, but leave these people out of it!"

"You are the ones who brought innocent lives into this, not me," Courtney said, "Make no mistake, you three, I fully intend to bring you to your knees, but first…first I want you to suffer. I want you to feel the terror and hopelessness that I felt! At this moment, fighting you would be a waste. Instead, why don't I show you what my gift can do?"

Jake noticed something protruding from the base of Courtney's neck as she circled her hostages. "Courtney, you're sick, let us help you," he offered, hoping to appeal to the girl he knew before, "I'm sorry that you got left behind, but we can still fix this. Give us the chance to make things right."

"Always wanting to play the valiant hero," Courtney chuckled, "There is no hope, not anymore. I'm not sick, Raven, I'm finally seeing things for what they are, and that means seeing you for the fraud that you are. Go ahead, see how many of them you can save. I'm eager to see how quickly you three devolve into what you do best: murder."

Courtney snapped her fingers, and a dozen shrieks rang out around them. "Fuck, now what?!" Beth yelled, looking around.

"I think those things above are coming for us," Pam answered, raising a hand and destroying the camera in the distance, "They follow her, and I'm afraid we don't have a choice other than to fight."

"I won't kill," Jake said.

"They're already dead," Pam countered, "Unless you want to end up as a meal for them, I suggest you put aside your morales for the time being."

"Try not to die too quickly," Courtney mocked as she disappeared into the darkness once again, "I'd hate for all my planning to be for nothing!"

"Son of a bitch," Beth breathed as she snatched her handguns from the ground, "We need to draw them away! We start fighting and shooting, then we're likely to give that girl a heart attack."

Jake glanced back at the terrified girl from earlier and nodded, "She's right. We have to keep them away from her, and we need to try to keep her as calm as possible until we can get her out of here. Split up, but don't let those things get too close."

Pam nodded and sunk into the shadows, while Jake and Beth fired their grappling guns to take an aerial perspective. "Did I forget to mention that my little pets will eat Allison too?" Courtney's voice called out again, "But, by all means, leave the girl to her fate. It's what you all did with me, after all!"

"Shit," Jake sighed before yelling out, "You two go on without me! I'll keep her safe in case any of them make it past you!"

"Copy that," Beth said, landing atop one of the racks and racing off into the fray.

Jake dropped down a little ways away from Allison. Whatever Courtney had done to her, the girl was already scared out of her kind at the sight of them. The last thing he wanted was to cause her further panic. There was no telling how many people were a part of Courtney's legion, though, and he tried to prepare himself for them. He could hear Beth's guns off in the distance, and he thought he heard the distinct sound of Pam's spellcraft as well. Growling, snarling, and groaning noises could be heard throughout the basement alongside the reckless charging from Courtney's undead followers. It felt so strange to think that these people could actually be zombies. Was that really possible?

Something clattered against the ground as a shriek filled the air. Jake looked around for the source, and he spotted a guard with some ooze dripping from his mouth. Maybe it was blood, or maybe it was part of whatever infection Courtney had transmitted. Regardless, Jake readied himself for a fight. He grabbed his escrima sticks from their holsters just as the guard got close. It was simple enough to fend him off; a quick sidestep, and two strikes to the back of his head sent him to the ground. Jake had hit the man with enough force that he should have been knocked out, but to his chagrin, the man pushed himself back to his feet. He bared his teeth like a rabid animal, and the guard charged at Jake a second time. Again, Jake managed to avoid his wild attack, and again, he knocked the man to the ground. The guard once more got to his feet, and Jake quickly began to realize that knocking him out wasn't an option.

Another growl could be heard in the distance, and Jake knew that another would be joining the fight soon. He had to change his strategy, but he racked his brain trying to find a way around killing them. He took two steps back as the guard rushed him again, and this time he swung hard and low when he evaded. The side of his stick slammed into the man's knee, and it buckled as Jake knocked it out of place. The guard fell to the ground with a guttural howl of pain, but he continued to try to get to Jake. He dragged his body along the ground, his eyes seething with an animalistic hunger. Jake moved away from the slow moving threat in order to prepare for the next attacker.

A woman with a large chunk of her neck missing rounded the corner, and she picked up speed as she locked eyes with Jake. He tossed one of his sticks into the air, flipped the switch on the other to bring it crackling to life, and launched a birdarang at her leg in one swift motion. Jake caught the other stick, and flipped the switch on it just as the birdarang embedded itself in her leg. She shrieked in pain and aggravation as the blade dug itself into her flesh. However, the blade only staggered her for a brief moment. He could only hope that a jolt from his weapons would be enough to subdue her. Jake stepped to the side to avoid her outstretched arms, and quickly jabbed her back with the electrified edge of one of his sticks. Her body convulsed as he pumped her full of electricity, and she fell to her knees as he withdrew his weapon. A quick spinning roundhouse to the back of her head knocked her onto her face, and he waited to see if she would get back up. To his relief, she stayed down.

Jake could hear the sounds of Beth and Pam staving off their own threats in the distance. Gunfire, shrieking, whooshing, and other noises filled the darkness around him as his friends continued to dispatch Courtney's horde. "Get away from me!" Allison screamed, her voice practically trembling with terror.

Jake whipped around just in time to see another hungry mutated man rushing at the captive young woman. Acting as quickly as he could, Jake launched a birdarang at his head. It connected, and the hungry predator was knocked off balance just long enough for Jake to close the distance. He charged at him, and launched into a flying knee attack aimed at his jaw. His knee slammed into him, and the growling menace was knocked backward and off his feet. Jake landed on his feet, and he quickly swung both of his sticks in an upward arc to hopefully pacify the monster. The man let out a shriek of pain as Jake's electrified sticks sent thousands of jolts through his body. He whirled around to watch for any more unexpected enemies waiting to surprise him.

"Monsters," Allison muttered, tears streaming down her cheeks, "They're everywhere, oh God, I just wanna go home!"

Jake felt the urge to try to comfort the poor girl, but he knew he couldn't afford to let his guard down. He moved up to give Allison some space, but he kept close enough to be able to protect her should the need arise. More guttural growls and howls sounded in the distance, and he could feel himself becoming more and more frustrated. How many of these monsters were there? One of them leapt from one of the racks nearby, and another rushed towards Allison in a frenzy. Jake tried to dodge the leaping man, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid getting pushed to the ground. He only managed to keep his bloody maw from latching onto his throat by raising his arm. The thick and slimy ooze dripped from his mouth and onto his chest as his mouth snapped at him again and again. With more effort than it should have taken, Jake struggled to bring the end of one of his batons to the man's back. His body went slack as he began screaming, and Jake pushed his legs up to throw him off.

Jake got back to his feet, and he summoned everything he had to get to Allison before the other monster could. With the speed of his soul-bound lover, he managed to sprint to Allison just before a woman could take a bite out of her neck. Jake tackled her to the ground, and began to pummel her with his sticks without mercy or hesitation. The mutated woman howled between blows, but she was silenced soon enough. Jake got up and turned around just as the former enemy was about to knock him back to the ground. His body was suddenly caught in a purple mist, though, and an unseen force flung him off into the distance. Pam walked up, blood staining her outfit, and a perturbed look etched on her face. She offered him a hand, which he gratefully accepted, and helped him to his feet.

"This is getting out of hand," she remarked as she looked for more of their undead foes, "These people don't feel, they don't think, they just act. We need to put an end to this sooner than later, Raven."

"Agreed," Beth said, dropping down near them and firing two shots at another monster rushing at them, "I don't know how many more there are, but I didn't bring enough ammo for this shit."

Jake nodded and stepped forward, "Courtney, call off your monsters! Come out, and face us!"

"Not bad, little ones," Courtney's voice called out in a mocking tone, "I'd be impressed if you three weren't so utterly pathetic."

"Oh, shut up!" Beth snapped, "You're outmatched, outgunned, and outclassed in every aspect! How about instead of insulting us, you get your ass down here and fight?! What are you afraid of?!"

"What are you afraid of, Feral?" Courtney countered her voice echoing around them, "What is the most feared vigilante I'm Metropolis scared of, hmm? What about you, witch? What would frighten such an imposing woman? I'm curious to see, aren't you?"

"This is beginning to irritate me," Pam muttered, stepping forward and demanding, "Enough of your senseless prattling, girl! Show yourself, and let's put an end to this annoying banter!"

"Hmm, the control-freak," Courtney continued on, "I bet it just burns you up inside that you have no power over me, doesn't it? This is over when I say it's over, little girl, and not a moment sooner!"

"Courtney, enough of these games!" Jake yelled into the darkness, "Enough people have already been hurt, and nobody else needs to suffer!"

"Drop the act, Raven," Courtney replied, still clinging to the shadows, "You and I both know that these people are the last of your concerns. I saw the look in your eyes while you were beating that last one. You may not admit it out loud, but you're changing, little bird. There's a darkness within you that's just waiting to burst out. Fight it, deny it, all you want, but I know you, Raven. I know you like those two halfwits beside you never will. The liar, the boy pretending to be something more than he really is."

"Has she always been this talkative?" Pam asked, trying to pinpoint her location somehow, "Or is this something new?"

"Why don't I show you three what hides behind your masks?" Courtney asked, "Let's see what you're really afraid of!"

Before any of them could react, Courtney appeared behind them with a small vial in her hand. She threw it down onto the ground, and it shattered into several small pieces. A thick cloud of green gas quickly appeared and began to grow in size. "What the hell?!" Beth exclaimed as the gas cloud grew in size.

"Now, now," Courtney said with a laugh as she hit Beth's helmet hard and caused the respirator inside to malfunction, "I wouldn't want you feeling left out, Feral. Breathe deep, heroes, and let's show the city who their heroes really are!"

Jake, Pam, and Beth began coughing as the gas slowly wormed its way into their lungs. Reality seemed to distort around them, and they began to feel light headed. "What is this?" Pam asked between coughs.

"A little sample of something I've been working on," Courtney replied, stepping away, "This is just a taste of what's to come, but I want you three to remember this feeling. We'll meet again, heroes, but it'll be when I decide. Don't worry, though, I'll be sure to send you my regards when the toxin wears off!"

The trio fell to their knees as Courtney's toxin found a home within their systems. The dizziness continued to worsen for them, but there was something else creeping into their minds. The shadows around them bent inward as their worlds started to shift. A terror unlike anything they'd ever expirenced started to eat away at their minds. They faded away from each other slowly, despite them falling to the ground one by one. Their worlds shifted to alternate realities that were drawn from their darkest fears. Their deepest secrets, darkest insecurities, and most primal fears clawed their way to the forefront of their minds. They began to cry out in a panic and terror whilst laying on the ground. The only way out of the madness gnawing at their minds was through, but to free themselves, they would have to face a fraction of their greatest fears.