6873/The Joke Didn't Go Far Enough

The Joke Didn't Go Far Enough
Date of Scene:	12 March 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Batman, Crusader, Flash, Wonder Woman, Animal Man

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Batman has posed:
     For Bjorn, it starts as a nightmare. At first he sees himself looking quite different, quite inhuman. He's screaming out for help. The brute of man looks pained, as Bjorn rushes to help himself the Other Bjorn (The Other) suddenly strikes Bjorn. The Other begins to cackle in a voice Bjorn would recognize that's not his own. Fear would consume Bjorn, before The Other strikes him again.

     Nightmares cannot bring pain, but they can bring slipping into unconsciousness. And that's what happens to Bjorn. After that hit, there is no pain, but there is darkness. When Bjorn comes to, he is completely bound to a chair. Unable to move, his mouth is tapped, he can't even move his head. The Other is standing in a darkened corner, but making no movement. Bjorn is sitting at one side of a table. Across from him is a empty seat. Both are simple, wooden, a light brown set that could be found at any Goodwill.

     Stillness, and quiet shatters under the weight of a slow and rolling laugh that fills the room. "Ha...Ha...Ha...," and it comes from behind. Footsteps echo, they're coming closer. Then a talon like nail presses to Bjorn's cheek, and goes forward, as the figure moves around. The claw digs into Bjorn's cheek leaving a cut. The slender, wiry figure steps into view. Their skin is the color of alabaster. Their nails like black talons. Black leather covers most of their body. It is like they're wearing a modified duster coat rifled from a Clive Barker set. The ends of it are torn in tatters resembling particular capes. They're wearing some type of black helmet, but it's accented with a metal crown. A simple row of protruding spikes cover their eyes. Although, two slender points protrude up the slides of the crown, on the sides of the figure's face.

     Sitting down across from Bjorn, this new entity smiles at him. There is nothing else they can do really. It's like they tore their face to have a permanent smile. That's how Bjorn can notice their teeth have been sharpened to jagged points like a shark. (The Uninmportant: https://aclashofheroes.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/img_0851.jpg?w=816 )

Batman has posed:
     "Brjoooornnn," the person speaks. Something is very familiar, yet very off with that voice. "You've met my friends," one of those alabaster hands gestures to The Other. "Who I am is Unimportant, what is important is my story," speaks The Unimportant. Pulling out a deck of cards, The Unimportant begins to shuffle. "In cards," he pulls out a King and a Joker. "This is the most important card," he holds up a King. "The Ace is too unpredictable. In some games it is high. In other games, it is low. A few recognize it as both. The King is always high." Setting down the King, he pulls out the Joker. "This is wild. Utterly useless on its own," and he sets down the Joker far from the King.

     "There was a Joker in my world. What made him strong, was killing him. He wanted to go out with a smile. Hospitals were in danger, children, everything was chaos." A chuckle rumbles from The Unimportant as the memory plays across his mind. "The King was forced to end the Joker. When that happened, what made the Joker great had infected the King. This was all part of 'The Joke that Went Too Far.'" Waving a hand, "The King didn't know about the affection. It was a slow process. A few jokers about children killing their therapists here, by ripping out their throats, here. Jokes about Doctors openly killing their patients in surgery there, it all blends together," he explains it all.

     "I tried to warn people. I thought what inside had bad consequences." Another slow rolling laugh leaves the man's grin. Then his voice turns darker, which is eerie as it is pretty dark to begin with, "Well it did, for -them-." Leaning back, a look of satisfaction pulls at The Unimportant's cheeks and face. "Superman killed his own family, I made him watch me kill the League one by one. I murdered the Bat-Family too quickly. But, I brought some of them back. Improved them," and then the index fingers from each hand pressed against the King and Ace.

Batman has posed:
     Bringing the cards together, The Unimportant keeps talking, "In the wonderful blood and chaos, I saw I wasn't changing. I was evolving. Becoming something more. Something -better-. The Joker is wild, but when it's paired with something strong, it makes everything that much stronger." The cards come together, "When paired with the king, it's the strongest. Unstoppable, even," and that's when The Unimportant leans in very close, and speaks so very quiet with a predatory tone, "That's what I am."

     Leaning back, The Unimportant looks down. "And that's the problem with being Unstoppable, sometimes your world ends. It cannot handle the combination. You're stuck looking at a world that dies. Luckily, people learn things. I've learned there's many worlds, realities. I suspect you question similar, if you don't know that answer." Sighing a little bit, "That's the sad thing about the Joke that goes too far. It doesn't go far enough. You wind up alone. You figure out, conquest needs to happen from multiple angles." As the words flow, they carry a touch of sadness.

     And for the first time the Unimportant is quiet. One hand idly flops on the table. His head leans back. It stays that way until it snaps forward suddenly. "Good thing I'm playing with multiple decks," the idle hand on the table rises, and produces another Joker and King. He sets it down, and as if on cue, in the shadows of the room a woman with silvery hair steps out into the light a little bit. Most of her is shrouded in shadow. Bits of ocean blue armor with dark blue accent can be seen on her form. The armor looks like it's from centuries ago, but it looks new. A few contact marks are scattered through the armor. Some are visible to Bjorn.

     Another pair of a King and a Joker he brings into existence with sleight of hand, another figure moves forward. Like the woman before him, he is wearing armor, but this is very different in design. Most of it is a dull black. Boots, gloves, helm, and parts of the shoulder, chest is a gun metal grey. Accents of red spread across the chest down to abdomen in a blunted triangle shape. They accent the gloves, boots, and parts of the helm including two jagged points that rise from the side. If Bjorn has ever seen Apokolips, or New Genesis, he would recognize the origin. It's hard to say -which- one it is.

Batman has posed:
     More pairs come, and individuals reveal themselves. Two remain in the shadows. Red lightning occasionally surges in short little streaks across the frame of wiry male. The electricity surges through him, is part of him, and radiates off of him like a thunder god. Each tiny lick of lighting shows a black, perhaps bloody red, bodysuit. Next pair just has someone cause a hand to glow alit with yellow energy. The Other shows a Joker and King he is holding.

     "I'm making sure the Joke goes far enough. See you soon, Bjorn" and suddenly Bjorn wakes up. Whether it's with a scream, a whimper, a headshake it's on him. What keeps him from thinking this is a dream are two things. Deep down, gets a gut feeling of where and when to show up to a spot. Second, the blood that trickles down his face from a cut that mimics the one from this "Dream."

     How, and when, Bjorn passes this message to the team is up to him. It's a good week before the time, and place.

Crusader has posed:
    Bjorn was all too familiar with dreams that are all too real. He has them before, not that he liked to tell others. Last time he had a dream like this he was taken over and almost killed his friend. And The Other? The Other looked just like him, the one that took his mind, his memories, his emotions from last time. But he seemed far worse, chaotic, sadistic, cruel. He tossed and turned in his reinforced hammock as he dreamed, trying to wake himself up, but couldn't. Who was this...thing? What was everything else? He struggled more and more to wake up, to use his abilities, but to no avail in the dreaming world. However in the real world...his powers were very real.

It started with forming spikes that pieced the thick fabric. Than arches of electricity flying off his own body. And finally he drew it all in as he gathered all the electricty up. He had to WAKE UP! And when he did...he did so with a bang. All the electricty he stored up, drew in, cascaded outwards like a lightening storm. Electronics over circuited, sheets set on fire, and other items exploded, resulting in his entire shop catching fire. now on the ground he pushed himself up and felt the warm red blood on his face...something he hand't felt in a long time, even as the world blazes around him. He....he couldn't let things happen again, he won't! But right now...he had a dog to save. And a phone call to make. Actually several.

He picks up Borgi the Corgi and flees his burning store, the fire department well on it way to put it out. His first call is to his daught Solar, telling her not to come home for awhile...he refused to explain why, he didn't want her caught in the crossfire of whatever was about to go down. The second was to League. And well...let just say when Bjorn is in a panic, it shows. A league wide messege goes out, in icelandic, his language he dafaults to when worried. Voice Mail, Email, IM, if he knew anyway to contact them he would contact them in everyway. he sounded Paranoid, distressed....crazy even for when and if his words are translated he speaking of dreams, kings, jokers, aliens, terraformation, chocolate, the sun, about what may happen what has happened (with zero clarifty). In other words, he was a MESS. Worse than a mess, he was now a paranoid super powered parent of all things. It wasn't pretty.

In the comming weeks, weather or not he was contacted in the dreams again, Bjorn nightmare was reoccuring, and each one had the same signature explosion that happened in his shop. Sometime multiple times in one day (as he tried to take naps). But Bjorn was a hard man to find even so. The Most the league would know for sure out of the massive messenges he sent was the Time and Place to meet him, to find him, to prepare for a fight that he couldn't prove was real. But on the bright side...he wouldn't be in diguise there, and the League would be able to easily identify him...and needless to say he looked as crazed as he sounded.

Batman has posed:
     Bjorn's message takes the league to the empty desert in Arizona. Very rarely does reality open up for the future. It's a once every few lifetime phenomena that it opens to other worlds. Today, there is a rip in reality. Stepping out first, is The Unimportant. "The air?," his voice drawls. "Disgustingly fresh. We'll have to fix that, won't we?" he looks towards the opening. What is noticed about the first individual is a particular piece of armor. A helmet that's dark blue and silver, with horns, and familiar adornments. (Helm: ) Next is the armor, on a feminine form. All of it in the dark blue and white trim of the helm. Familiar eagles adorn the chest and shoulder in the lighter almost white color. The body of it the dark blue. Flesh peaks out at certain spots, and the dark blue flaps to the armor lack any star. Long wild strands of silvery hair protrude from the helm. A blush of an eyebrow matches the hair, the eyes are red.

     Next a streak of black and red moves. Sand kicks up like water left behind in the person's wake. If anyone is paying attention, they can tell one thing. This streak is faster than the Flash.

     Last but not least, is The Other. His face, and form, holds familiarity of Bjorn. However, it's mangled, changed, modified. To some this would be "improved." To Bjorn, it's nothing, but nightmare fuel.

     Looking to everyone, "The others are on standby. Teach them, team," and that's the word. The woman wearing armor that looks like it belongs on Ares, rushes Diana. "You're as weak as the world of man!" and goes to hit the woman hard. Diana may be able to dodge, but it's going to be hard. What she doesn't know is about the wearer. The lengths she has gone through. Where Diana has held back in certain skills, this woman hasn't and she has been doing this for decades.
% R% The Streak is still out there in the desert, if Flash hurries he may be able to catch up. However, the streak turns back. Flash gets struck in the face once, ""Iwasn'tfast'nough" and another streak past. Another blow to Flash's face, "tosave'er." Another hit to the face before the figure stops, "so I did what was necessary." The man is in black with accents of red, and even a small flash symbol near the left shoulder.

     The Other looks at Bjorn and just tries to hit him. "THIS COULD BE YOU, IF YOU TRIED HARD ENOUGH!"

Flash has posed:
"The bullet casings were compared against ballistics taken from a handgun found in the defendents possession." Barry Allen, button up shirt and tie, is seated at the witness stand testifying before a Jury in Central City a few minutes before the designated meeting time. By his calculations he had exactly three minutes to finish this up, make sure the suspect was convicted, and still make it to the meeting with the League in time to stop off at Big Belly burgers for a late lunch. "The spectagraphic examination determined that the blasting residue was an exact match with tooling marks on the slug removed from the victom confirming. Further, DNA evidence collected from the crime scene confirm that the defendent was present on the night in question."

Barry was excused shortly thereafter so that the Jury could deliberate on the evidential findings.

The Flash, however, had a meeting to attention. As soon as he cleared the court room, Barry disappears amidst a trail of orange and yellow bolts and skids to a stop with energy still crackling around his red suit as he comes face e face with the gathering of negative versions of each of them. "Boy, Bjorn, when you have a nightmare you don't pull any punches do you?" Said with a hint of his usual jovial lilt until the Streak, streaks past him with the first of a pair of strikes to the face.

"Oh... oh no he didn't... Hold that thought." The flash is fast upon the Streaks tail when the second blow connects and disrupts him from his pursuit in a spin that leaves him pushing himself up to his feet in the Arizona desert. "I see what you're trying to do." Crackling, Barry rushes after the Streak in a blur of red and orange to match the red and black, "Hey, this guys fast! Where did you say they came from again!?"

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana was certainly going to respond to a distress call from Bjorn. She knew of the fire at his store, she had hoped for the best for him and the sweet Corgi pet that she knows he has.

When the location was given, Wonder Woman utilized the alien-tech powered disc that creates the Invisible Jet to provide her with extremely fast transportation to where this was all going down and she disembarked the jet through the back, diving down to the ground with sword and shield in hand and with her hair flowing wildly and freely about her shoulders...

She came down, right into a fight? Diana lands and sees the helmed woman who instantly moves to engage her. "Crusader!" Diana calls out beyond the impending fight. She dives past the woman's attack, and into a shoulder-back roll that brings her back up to her armored feet, shield ready she charges at the woman to bash into her!

Crusader has posed:
Bjorn...Crusader...they were two different people, yet one and the same. Often apart and yet togeather as well. He hears Diana...and Flash. He knows they are there and fighting, but at this momenthe looked absolutely livied as he sees the other Bjorn, his fist clenched in rage.
    But he wasn't so far gone that he couldn't answer "...a dream" is all he answers before he crosses his forarms over each other in an X, taking the full blow of the punch that sends him flying back, creating a mound of sand. But he none the less pops back up and snarls "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO WE ARE!" before he charges The Other, breaking out his Prized Spear and straight up trying to stab him through the heart with zero mercy.

Batman has posed:
     Diana rushes toward the other woman with a bash attack, but the woman just bares her armored arm and shoulder. "THUD!" goes the shield and the other woman is unmoved. "Life changed when we got Ares's Armor, Diana. You were able to make the world of man tremble, like they should. You were able to end wars!" She draws back a hand, and a sword coalesces into view out of red energy. "You should see the trophy room," and as Diana hears Ares talk, she recognizes the voice. It has a little age to it, some distortion from the helm, but it's her own. The she tries to stab at Diana! The blow isn't meant to hit, just to demonstrate to Diana who she is dealing with. "That is what you always wanted, to bring peace. I brought it!" she screams out and the anger resonates in that voice carrying it to a scream that resonates power.

     The Streak moves in with black and red blur, with the red speed crackling. He's too concerned about talking to properly grab flash. Still the worlds roll out and may slap Flash in the face. "How many more Nora Allens must there be, Uncle Barry? YOU NEED TO BE FASTER!" the streak says with venom in his voice. Like he can lead Barry to water, but cannot get him to drink. Cannot get him to see what needs to be done. At the same time, Barry is seeing not all nightmares are mirrored reflections. Sometimes the nightmare is seeing not only what you could become, but what can happen to your family.

     Bjorn's rage carries him true as he stabs The Other. A groan of pain escapes Bjorn, and the Other brings out his own prized spear. Now, it's a jagged edge looking like a knife now that the handle has been broken. Wild, yet trained swings are taken. None of them connect, but they threaten to get close. Now, everyone can see the nightmares looking at them. They can see the power. Now, do they meet the threats head on, or try to reason with them?

Crusader has posed:
Bjorn eyes the jagged knife like spear, the broken handle. He wasn't sure what happened, but he found himself growing angrier by the moment. He did his best to ignore the pain, seemingly closing his eyes (not really) to get a handle on the situation. His forms shifts and changes from that of Bjorn...to that of the Crusader - a persona of his that is notably not so....overcome with emotion to say the least.
    "You say if we work harder, we can be like you. Yet you have yet to show us how you are better in any form." yes he saw the skill, knew it might be greater than his own, but he was trying to draw infomation. His eyes glance towards Flash and Diana, as he sends a messege over private coms <"Hate to say it, but we may not be able to beat these guys head on. A mirror match is a losing one...push come to solve, best strategy may be to not face ourselves, but face another.">

Flash has posed:
Barry ducks beneath the attempt to latch onto him, "You don't talk about her. If this is what you've become then you've completely forgot what our family is about and what her death means!" It isn't that the words haven't reached him or that he's completely ignoring the implications, but part of what makes the Flash so very effective is his ability to stare adversity of any time directly in its dark gaze and say not today Satan.

The black and red Streak moves past him and Barry turns promptly on his heels to follow, chasing after the other speedster at a blazing dash that leaves trails of orange and gold behind him. "Whoever you are, whatever you've become, it wasn't my failure that made you that way. It's your's." Barry deviates from his chase when he blurs past Diana and cuts a tight corner that drags up a smoke screen of sand as he slides to a skidding stop. "They're trying to seperate us." He says to Diana, by whom he's standing, but also Bjorn by way of their communicators. "They may call themselves a team, but we actually are one.. Diana, keep an eye on the horizon, I'm going to have a present for you." Then he's running again, kicking up dirt along his path to catch up with the black and red Streak, <"I couldn't agree with you more, buddy. Head off Diana's mirror on her next strike and I'm coming back around for your... uh... you!">

"Hey, hey Hot Topic." Barry cuts away from pursuit in a wide loop that's taking him back towards the other two Leaguers, "You call me uncle, but I can't help thinking you might have been adopted."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana knows full well who she's dealing with within seconds of hearing that voice, let alone that helmet. Her charge ended in a thud and her feet planted into the ground as she keeps the shield held up. "You have brought nothing but misery." She says to the doppleganger that she fights. When the stabbing motion comes, Diana's shield moves to deflect it off to the side with a clanging of metal to metal, then her own gleaming sword is cast out to try to remove the wielder's arm at the elbow!

The Princess of Themyscira isn't here to necessarily fight though, she's here to save Bjorn and find out whats going on. Her eyes look to where Bjorn is but she sees him lost in his own duel, and she also sees Flash mixing it up with someone of his own design as well... this didn't seem 'real' to her. Magic was at play here, magic of some kind at least.

<<"Where did they come from, Bjorn?">> The Princess keeps her heightened senses tracking that of Barry's movements, she doesn't want to openly show any signs of tracking him though because she's waiting for his attacker to follow after him, and should that 'tail' indeed pass by her is when she'll turn and suddenly swing her sword to intercept the 'evil' speedster's neck!

Batman has posed:
     And Crusader pokes the bear. Focusing energy with his free hand, The Other draws energy. The electricity isn't just shaped, it's formed. That crackle is there. However, electricity is related to other energies. The electricity crackles more and more until it becomes fire. A lance of fire goes out toward the hero. This is a skill Crusader doesn't have in his arsenal yet. Flame threatens to overtake the hero. The fire burns, and it has lost any of the electrical charge.

     "Always with the laughs. No wonder the league doesn't take you seriously, Uncle Barry. No wonder you couldn't save Nora," Barry takes off on a speech. Then the Streak focuses, the speed force crackles, when he runs the sand turns to glass. The plan is to phase through Barry, resolidify just fast enough to drivehis shoulder into barry. Barry veers off, The streak phases, but falls for whatever trap is there. However, part of the plan was to make Barry see something. Removing his mask, Wally West, an older version, stares at Barry. Apparently he earned that nickname, plus he is completely open to an attack.

     Ares braces herself, she is barely able to avoid the blow. However, she brings her gauntlets together at the bracers. An explosion of angry red energy lashes out, if Diana can do this trick, it's stronger than her own. However, she is perfectly braced for it. Now, she knows whatever attack she does will hit and be true as she, like Wally, is prone. Time to make the shot count.

Crusader has posed:
Crusader can take a whole hell of alot of damage. But considering this guy was stronger...and turned electricity to fire, it is clear this was not going to be an easy battle. It felt as hot as the lazors of apocolyps to him and it clear it wasd doing damage.
    But he couldn't let his team down, he had to find a way to change this course of fate. He couldn't answer Diana question right away. Instead he yells out "Watch out!" intended more for Diana more than anything, as he intended to follow Barry suggestion.
    But to do that he had to deal with the fire burning him....and he does so by forming a forcefield around himself. But he doesn't just try to block the flames...he tries to shape his forcefield to funnel and channel the fire towards Mirror Diana after getting initially burned!

Flash has posed:
"Wally." Barry doesn't sound nearly as surprised as he feels at seeing his nephew aged as he is standing in front of him with the black and red suit. Regardless he bobs his head in a slow nod with his hands upon his hips, building up a slow vibration as he stares upon the distracted visage of the Streak with a widening smirk setting upon his face, "You're like John Snow, Wally... you know nothing." It's an old reference, but it should still play right?

"I feel like you've swung full force into the emo bus, pal. I don't know if it was a lack of hugs... or just a general absence of a loving parent figure.. but I really want you to try smiling, huh? You might be fast, but you're quickly killing the mood. Which is saying something standing in a desert." Hands out at his sides at the little kicked up dust storm with glass formations jutting out of the sand where the pair of them have cut a speedy line around in unsymetic circles.

"Now, if I could just direct your attention-" Double pointing over Wally's shoulder, "-There. Trust me, you're going to get a kick out of this."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana knows her own motions better than anyone, so when this incarnation of Ares moves to slam her bracers together, Diana is ready for it. She doesn't dare stand in the center of it and test its might, but no, she takes to the skies in a jump that sends her above the kinetic energy blast of red power... hers golden, this red like a deep sunset.

Diana soars above it, her weapons having returned to her back and her lasso now unraveled from her side. She hovers in the air above the battlefield and her eyes move to where this 'Wally' is, she drops down over him in a diving arc anjd lashes the lasso out around the speedster to try to lasso him into an entangled trap and drag him up off of the ground so he has no where to run.

Batman has posed:
Bjorn's shield goes up, electricity passes through resistance. If Bjorn wants to block, and then redirect it, he's going to need to pump a lot of energy to make it tangible and to do this. It's not impossible given his powers. Just takes a little bit more as thermal and fire energy work a little differently. Not impossible though, just very hard to do. The Other is able to draw up this thermal energy without breaking much of a sweat. It shows the power Bjorn COULD get to. He may get a burned a bit more than he originally intended.

     Fire goes toward Ares, and she lets the fire lick at her. Does it singe? A little, but now she just looks toward Bjorn with anger. Now, she is moving toward Bjorn who suddenly has a rush of two characters on him. The Other and Ares are going to start to unload on Crusader. It's a painful experience, to say the least.

     Barry talks about Wally being emo, not doing the right thing. Kicks get mentioned and he is picked up by Diana. Looking to Barry he says, "You still aren't fast enough to save Aunt Nora. Not fast enough to save -her-. You'll be too slow, just like I was when it was my turn. I did what was necessary after," and the lasso of truth is on him. So, what he is saying is true. Whatever it is. For the moment Wally is not fighting. The lasso gives him a great way to be transport, to cut through the sarcasm and wisecracks about Hot Topic. How do you react to warning when they're wearing the lasso of truth?

     And in this moment pain surges through Barry's back. Talons clawed in and down Barry's back. They sting of Rot. Something that looks like it could be Buddy Baker is standing behind Barry. It looks like buddy with red veins protruding from every which way. It almost looks like crimson is even running from his eyes. "Let the Rot run through you," and The Rot, has two hands that are very human looking yet not. They are shaped like werewolf hands complete with blood red talons. The red flows down the hand, some of it barry's blood, most of it this transformation. Flash can see the fruits of his labor, but it may be a pained labor. At least Wally is still for a moment.
% R     And this is what Buddy Baker sees. A female Ares and something that looks like a horrific Crusader, beating on the actual crusader, a spot of flame where Ares once stood. Wonder Woman has what looks like Wally West wrapped in a lasso. He spots what looks looks like a corrupted version of himself raking talons down Barry's back, to boot. And just watching the chaos is a man in a black leather duster with a grin that's all too familiar and scary, but with that motif. It looks like the love child of Batman, Joker, and a metal ablum cover. All that figure is doing is watching. Much like The Rot before him, no one really sees Buddy coming. In short, this is just a normal Arizona night where entities are coming through a hole in reality.

Flash has posed:
That smarts.

"Low." Barry frowns as he begins to vibrate, then takes off as Wally is hoisted up in the air by Diana's lasso. It's not quite fast enough to prevent the claws from digging into his suit and the skin beneath, but it is fast enough to keep him from getting rend by the sharp edge of mirror Buddy's nasty gouging attack. There's a stutter in his step as the rot begins to spread, a stutter that nearly topples him against his own speed if not for his hands crawling through the sand as he bowls forward until his feet are back beneath him, but he's noticably slower that normal.

Which is still plenty fast enough for his intents.

With a deep grimace spread across his exposed face, the Scarlet speedster starts to build up speed around some of the dust kicked up by his and Wally's chase. The vortex also yanks large chunks of glass from the ground and creates a sharp tornado that he now has trailing behind him as he runs, pumping his arms and legs with every bit of strength he's left in his body towards Ares.

In the last few steps his legs give way and he begins tumbling across the dirt in an end over end roll that leaves him sliding a few yards past the armored amazon, but he's dragging a storm behind him in that wake regardless, even if doing so has left him staring up at the stars above with one hand cranked up beneath him trying to reach the trails of painful torn flesh between his shoulders. Pain has his back arched up at a weird angle, shifting to try and get back to his feet and keep fighting.

"Not... fast... enough."

Crusader has posed:
Crusader gets pounded left and right by the double tag team, not even getting a chance to witness the arrival of yet another Mirrored Duo. Well if Bjorn and Diana made a great team before, the Mirrored Duo were at least proof of that. But none the less, he couldn't KEEP taking this beat down. As he is beaten on he knew they needede to somehow get things swung in their favor. At least one of them was at the moment, stopped.
    Another message goes over the coms <"We need to lesson their numbers. Diana, can you toss that wannabe speedster back into the hole he came from?"> which was better then keeping him around.
    As the message is being sent out, Crusader decides on an alternative course of action. Instead of directly trying to counter attaack Mirror Diana and Mirror Bjorn....he tries to instead slam his fists into the ground to kick up a massive sand cloud to obscure vision. In these preciouse moments, praying he isn't caught...he tries to shapeshift into a duplicate of Mirror Bjorn

Animal Man has posed:
Buddy is used to sudden things happening. Sudden feelings, sudden visions, sudden places. His life has never been normal, much less sense he first dipped his soul in the Red, since it filled his veins and swam from toe to tip of him. He finds himself stepping forward as he touches the biosphere around him, connecting to every animal thing within a dozen miles square, feeling them center their energies in him. He is their champion.

He may not know very much about what's happening in front of him. Doppelgangers, demons and gods. But he knows the Rot, knows it all too well, and he sees it attacking his friend. And so, although he's a peaceful and kindhearted due by nature, Buddy Baker summons up the raw energy of the Red and unleashes it through his hands, trying to blast the fetid duplicate of himself away from Barry's back.

"NOT COOL."

Wonder Woman has posed:
The thing about the lasso of truth though is that yes, one will tell the truth when they're ensnared inside its burning grasp... but they'll only tell the truth as they perceive it. So this 'Wally' may be shouting truths, but he's shouting the truths as he sees them. Those who know Diana well, have likely been told this about the lasso because, well... everyone asks her about it, they're fascinated by the thing! Or at least, thats how it has always seemed to the Princess wielding it.

She doesn't waste any time either. She's a master of manipulating that divinely blessed length of golden glowing rope and she uses it to swirl/twirl and propel this Wally across the space between where he was, and where this crack in reality is now.

Diana whirls him about and sends him flying toward it with a reckless and careless abandon toward the Speedster's health!

Batman has posed:
     Bjorn keeps getting pounced, but sure enough he takes to the air without much. The sand in his wake does temporarily blind the two that are on top of him.

     Barry's tornado does go toward Areas. Shards start to bite in parts of her exposed flesh. She snarls and as Barry needs to worry about her speed, Ares jumps in Barry's random directly. She doesn't land too far from him, it's not where she wants to be. However, she brings bracers together causing another lash of energy. She does have her back to Diana and Bjorn.

     The Rot slides against the sands. The ground starts to look like it had been throuhg a bit of rain. Where bare flesh touches, even the land recoils, starts to wither, die, even sand starts to decompose a little bit. "The Rot can help," The Rott speaks and Buddy sees himself, fully taken over by the Rot. Plunging into his powers, the Rot starts to change his head into the muzzle of a werewolf. Right now, it's a bit horrific, as it looks like osme kind of shapeshifter from a B-Horror movie that put most of the budget in special effecots. However, the Rott moves effortlessly toward Buddy, bounding quickly. The numbers are less. The Rott has his back exposed to everyone, and Ares has her back exposed to Bjorn and Diana. However, the Other is waiting for his eyesight to clear from the kicked up stand to make a hit.

Animal Man has posed:
Buddy is disgusted by what he sees, of course, but he expects no less from the Rot. They are old nemeses now, he and this broken mirror version of life, the force of destruction and decay incarnate. Seeing the beast charging across the sands towards him, slobbering and mad, Buddy leaps into the air and suddenly plunges into that sand.

He burrows forward with terrifying rapidity, serpentining like the very snake he channels, the heat soaking into his bones and his meat as his eyes start to glow with another blast of the Red.

When he comes up, however, he comes up with elephantine strength, trying to buck the Rotted doppelganger up and away even as he rears his head back, fangs in his mouth as he opens wide and breathes Red like flame up to consume the creature if he can, his back folded impossibly back as scales sparkle along the sides of his face.

Crusader has posed:
Well Crusader got what he wanted out of this, both his assulter blinded and distracted. Which was perfect for him. He was still shapeshifted into The Other just in case, but this provided a perfect oppertunity for a sneak attack. Or rather for a sneak throw
    With Ares back turned on him and Diana, he gestures for Diana to get The Other while he goes for Areas. He charges, and hoping that Ares would confuse him for her allie....attempts to grab and throw Ares back through the rift with all the strength he can muster.

Flash has posed:
Barry, from his hands and knees, glances up at Ares towering over him and raises one hand to try and stall her with a mock plead for mercy that never actually makes out of his mouth. Because he disappears in a flash of crackling light after the flying form of Wally sailing towards the open rift in reality. Is that really his nephew? In a way, yes it is, but it's also a different Wally. Barry understands the difference more than most and can logically draw parallels between paralells, but what he cannot do is let his nephew, even a darkly tainted version, be harmed in such a haphazard way.

It's that kind of mentality that created the dark version of his alter isn't it?

The Flash is a blur of motion trailed by cracks of orange flaring off of him creating a line of glass as he slashes through the sand kicked up by his passage. Even with the pain in his back, his need to protect his family is strong enough to fight through that agony and as he snap booms against of the sound barrier, he leaps to catch Wally, turn with him so that he's not in some wild tumble, and double kick the dark version of his nephew more safely through the open portal into which Diana's thrown him.

"I am fast enough, Wally. Sometimes it's not about what you can do, it's about why you shouldn't. I hope you never have to learn that lesson."

His landing is not a pleasant one, side rolling through the sand and ultimately sliding a few dozen feet on his stomach with a final flop over onto his back. "zero out of ten, would not dream again.." There's always room for jokes. It helps divert from the pain.

Wonder Woman has posed:
With Wally thrown, Diana spins around and drops out of the sky to land with double thuds of armored boots into the dusty ground. She sweeps her lasso back in around her body so that the golden rope is now enclrcling her and in a ready position to be used again at a moment's notice, a method of storing the rope that she's used for a very long time.

Her eyes scan the fight and she sees Crusader moving to handle that of Ares, a challenging thing for her to observe but she knows that in this moment that was the right call to action.

Now, she starts toward the Other and once more her lasso is pulled off of her body and swirled through the air as she leaps into the sky and whips it out with a cracking snap of noise that sends it around this 'Other' hoping to grasp hold it and slingshot it backward toward the Rift behind her!