The Best Superpower #241

"So, I've been wondering..." Virgil calmly remarked, tilting his head as he watched Sentry Spiders of different sizes running around us scouting the area.

"What's your superpower exactly...?" He asked, causing me to raise an eyebrow as I turned to him. "I mean, I've seen you fly, punch a demon into pieces, throw fireballs, and you've got an army of machines too. I'm a little confused," He added, scratching his head.

"I do a bit of this and that, but if I had to specify one superpower..." I said, trailing at the end of my sentence as I paused to think, and Virgil's expression instantly turned focused.

"I'd say it would be common sense," I added with a shrug, chuckling as Virgil's expression instantly turned blank, and he gave me a confused, bemused look that didn't seem impressed.

"That's super lame, dude. Everyone has common sense," Virgil said, rolling his eyes. He seemed ready to keep arguing, but he suddenly raised his hands, creating a barrier of static electricity in front of him as a gunshot echoed in the distance.

I held back a sigh and quickly moved him out of the way as the bullet broke through the barrier and disappeared into the ground. "See what I mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why block when you can dodge? Common sense," I added with a slight chuckle, tilting my head to dodge another bullet that flew right past my head.

"Come on out. We're not enemies," I said as I forcefully stomped, causing the ground to shake, moving the rubble, and forcing one man and a woman in tight-fitting costumes out of their hidey-hole.

"Hold your fire. These people are friendlies," The man, Nightwing, said, sighing as he looked at me and spoke into the communication device on his wrist. "How did you get here?" he asked, frowning as he approached me, sounding more confused than anything else.

"It's a long story. All you need to know is that I ran into this guy, and he convinced me to help," I replied with a shrug as I pointed toward Virgil, causing him to smirk victoriously.

"Either way. I'm glad you showed up when you did. We're at the end of our ropes here," Nightwing said with a nod, pausing as he let out another tired sigh. "This is Troya, and the guy with sniper doesn't need an introduction," He added, gesturing to the woman standing next to him, then to the man who tried to shoot us earlier.

Indeed he did not. I'd have to be stupid, blind, or a mixture of both not to recognize Slade Joseph Wilson, AKA Deathstroke, AKA the terminator, AKA the world's deadliest assassin. Need I go on?

"Teaming up with Deathstroke...?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "Looks like the situation is much worse than I thought," I added, crossing my arms as I turned to the mercenary, who still had a rifle aimed at me.

"You have no idea," Nightwing replied, shaking his head. "Jericho was more powerful than we anticipated. We brought a full team, but he easily defeated and forced us to scatter all over the place," He added with a wince.

"Troya and I ran into Deathstroke, and it was a choice between joining forces against a common enemy or tearing each other apart," Nightwing explained, shrugging his shoulders.

'Makes sense...' I silently mused. Jericho was Deathstroke's, so it's no wonder he's involved. He likely came here to get his son back and free him from the evil spirits.

"No one's happy about it, though. Not me, not Troya, and not Deathstroke, especially since we're stuck in the middle of a wasteland with zero supplies," He concluded, giving me a meaningful look, to which I rolled my eyes and retrieved a couple of snacks and drinks from my inventory.

"Here," I said as I offered the food and drinks to Nightwing and Troya, and I didn't forget to send a bag of chips and a water bottle flying toward Deathstroke.

The two heroes nodded gratefully and said their thanks as they dug into the food and drink, and while the mercenary wasn't nearly as polite, he was still decent enough to put away the rifle before he drank the water.

"So, what's the situation? How many people did you bring? How many are still out there?" I asked after a moment as I waited for the heroes to finish their drinks and snacks.

"We came with Red Star and Phantasm, but as I said, we got separated," Nightwing said as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and threw away the water bottle.

"I don't know if they're still out there or if Jericho and his goons caught them," He added, shaking his head as he let out a refreshed sigh, having sated his thirst.

"What about Raven? Isn't this her hometown or something?" I asked, frowning as I gave Nightwing a confused, which he promptly returned, seemingly surprised by my knowledge.

"It's exactly because this is her home that she didn't come," Nightwing said after a brief pause, quickly getting over his confusion. "Her father might catch her trail if she came here, and we don't need that guy breathing down our necks," He added, shaking his head.

'Damn...' I couldn't help but wince at Nightwing's words. He was basically saying I'll have to deal with Jericho and the Wildebeest Society on my own, even if he didn't mean it.

I've never heard of Phantasm or Red Star, so I could only assume they'd be useless, even if Jericho hadn't captured them by now. Troya and Nightwing weren't pushovers, but they were a mess and clearly in no condition to be of any use.

Even Deathstroke wasn't in the best condition, meaning I could only rely on Virgil if shit hit the fan. I didn't know how strong Jericho was precisely, but Troya was the watered-down version of Wonder Woman.

Jericho Can't be a pushover if he could beat her and a group of Teen Titans on his own.

"Sit tight and rest up then. I'll scour the area with my machines. I should be able to find where they're keeping the captives soon enough," I said after a slight pause as I weighed my options and thought about the situation.

"If there's anyone still out there, I'll find them and clear the way while I'm at it," I added with a shrug as I retrieved the machines in my inventory and sent them scattering in every direction to scout the area.

...

Beast Boy couldn't help but curse as he turned into a small snake, slithering into a stack of small rocks and disappearing as armed mercenaries chased behind him, firing their laser weapons.

"It's no use, kid. You won't go far with me on your tail," Said a short man, roughly 4.2 foot tall with a weird egg-shaped bald head. He loudly laughed as he threw a small green pellet at the rocks where Beast Boy hid.

The pallet exploded and sent the rocks flying everywhere. However, there was no sign of Beast Boy anywhere, and the man could only see a hole in the ground.

Suddenly he activated his jet back and flew into the air as the ground began shaking, and the head of a dinosaur emerged from within, its maw full of sharp teeth wide open.

"Goddamnit, Gizmo. Seriously, can you not be a pain in the behind right now?" Beast Boy said in-between coughs spitting out the dirt in his mouth as the short man threw another explosive pellet at him.

Beastboy scowled as he turned into an eagle and flew into the air before the pellet hit him. He headed straight for Gizmo and quickly closed the distance, turning into a gorilla mid-air once the latter was within swinging distance.

He roared loudly and swung his fist at Gizmo. However, the latter only grinned and pointed a gun at Beast Boy, promptly pulling the trigger and firing a blue net that engulfed the Teen Titan.

Beast Boy let out another roar as he tried to change into a fly and escape the net, but it glowed in a blue electric light and zapped him immediately, disrupting the process.

The Teen Titan could only roar in pain in frustration as he hit the ground, and several mercenaries closed in on him, pointing their laser rifles at him threateningly.

"Damn it... guess I'll have to get back into the cage..." Beast Boy said, scratching his head in frustration as he realized he couldn't escape the net Gizmo used.

However, his expression instantly brightened as an insectoid machine suddenly appeared and lunged at one of the mercenaries. Before anyone could react, several more emerged and attacked the other Society's hirelings.