Injustice: The Path to Hell

Birds of Prey

Chapter LXIII - Growing Rage

'What the hell did they do to you?' Robin questioned in shock at what he had just witnessed, having never seen someone heal so quickly and he wouldn't admit to being a little queasy after the sight and sound of his hand healing. 'But what are you seeing that I'm not?' Robin spared a glance at the wide-eyed, almost fearful look Aqualad had. It was a look he had never seen in the usually calm and collected, Aqualad, an infallible figure that even surpassed him and Batgirl in remaining level-headed in all situations.

Yet now he was showcasing emotions so clearly it was like reading an open book.

Robin dismissed it for now though as Esau got to his feet, snarling angrily as he glared balefully at the clone, muscles flexing and tensing, ready to pounce at any moment. His gaze quickly turned though, locking upon Killer Frost who stepped forwards, both arms raised as a cool mist wafted off them.

Before Esau had a chance to attack, two beams of ice rushed out and engulfed him completely, smashing into his body like a wave and continued to pile up, spreading out from his chest and across his whole body. Only his head remained free, but the rest of his body was entumbed in a thick shell of ice that restrained is movements.

"Boy wonder, did you find anything on those files that explained how they defeated him?" Killer Frost shouted, continuing to pile on the ice.

All the while Ravager, Aqualad and the clone moved forwards cautiously to surround him from three directions, intending to split his attention and swarm him should he try to take on only one person. A standard tactic, but effective in taking down a single-minded and berserk beast that seemed to be what Esau had become.

"Not much," Robin replied, placing Wally down beside the unconscious form of Batgirl. He was lucky that when Esau leapt to attack them, his explosive speed and power resulted in cracking the ground and freeing Wally from where he had been trapped. If it hadn't been for that, Robin doubted he would have been able to get him out of there, he had been well and truly stuck. "They lost dozens of those huge mammoth creatures if it wasn't for those telepathic Genomorphs putting him to sleep they wouldn't have been able to stop him." Robin continued to scroll through the report on Esau and his last incident before being put permanently on ice and what he found didn't paint a pretty picture.

Superhuman strength, speed, stamina and durability.

All of which seemed to grow stronger as time went on.

By the report, Cadmus was lucky to have managed to stop him as soon as they had theorised his strength had no definable upper limit. 'Which means if we don't somehow put a stop to him now, then pretty soon, we won't be able to.' Robin deduced, looking to where Esau was ragging his head back and forth in an attempt to break free from the ice, thin cracks starting to form. "Frost, keep piling the ice on and don't stop." But the cracks kept forming, growing bigger and bigger as time went by.

"I'm, fucking, trying." Frost grunted out, sweat dribbling down her face as she exerted as much as she could to keep Esau in place. "But he's fighting against me every fucking step of the way. I don't know how much longer I can hold him. So you best be ready because you're on your own once he breaks out."

"Do it for as long as you can," Aqualad said as he watched Esau struggle to free himself from the prison of ice.

Though he had originally been wary of the power Esau wielded, it was demonic in nature after all, but right now he could not afford to be distracted. The potency and depth of it were palpable for sure, shaking him to the core with how much rage was within him, but Aqualad had to keep his mind calm and focused.

Luckily for him, Esau didn't seem bothered or interested in him or Ravager.

Instead, his attention seemed entirely focused on the clone and he planned to use that and so did Ravager by the look they shared. They were both experienced in combat and more than skilled enough to have seen his lack of attention to them and knew exactly what to do. As a result, Ravager slowly and cautiously positioned herself directly behind the ice prison, out of Esau's view while the clone of Superman remained exactly where he was.

"Esau? Esau Jacobson, that's your name isn't it?" Aqualad spoke out and the berserk boy turned to look at him, growling and snarling as he continued to struggle against his icy restraints. "Batgirl, you know her, don't you?"

It was small, minuscule almost entirely unnoticeable, but it was there.

A slight pause.

It was short and he quickly went back to struggling to free himself but the three of them had seen it.

Sparing a glance at the clone, the two shared a nod before Kaldur continued.

He didn't know if it would work, reaching out to him, but he had to try. "You're close, aren't you? You and Batgirl? Yet you hurt her, she came here to help you and you hurt her. This rage of yours, it's taken control of you and you hurt someone you care for. Is that the type of person you are?" Despite his words causing Esau to pause just a little bit longer, they didn't fully reach him.

"You're only making him angrier." Superman's clone pointed out bluntly and Aqualad nodded his head.

But both quickly went on guard when a crack appeared on the ice followed by a snarl of victory.

Then, more and more appeared and the two shared one last look.

"Get ready." The clone nodded his head sharply.

Only for the prison to explode outwards, showering both with chunks of ice at that exact moment catching them both off-guard. Esau burst forth and body slammed into the clone with enough force to stop a car in its tracks, yet his opponent just took a step back before recovering and throwing a punch. This time however, Esau didn't fly away and instead stumbled a few steps back a bit before coming back with a punch that the clone caught in one hand.

This time, the strength of Esau's punch caused the clone's fist to shift a small amount and he looked surprised.

That was when Aqualad appeared, slamming a front kick into Esau's side and sending him skidding across the ground and while this happened Ravager was already in motion. Her broadswords were drawn and she quickly closed the distance between them, swords singing as they cut through the air as they closed in on Esau.

The first opened up a number of cuts on Esau's body and while not being overly strong, each swing caused a reflexive movement that forced Esau to move back. Each wound rapidly healed and with a growl, he caught one blade in his hand, its sharp edge slicing into his palm, blood dripping down the edge of its blade. Rose tried to pull her blade free, but Esau kept a tight grip on the blade and swung his other hand around in an attempt to backhand her.

She moved back, prepared to avoid it completely, but did not need to as Superman's clone caught the hand and went to throw Esau away. However, in midair, Esau's other hand came around and dug into his wrist, the clone unable to throw Esau away allowing him to land firmly on his feet. His claws then flashed, cutting deeply into the clone's skin, completely bypassing the immense durability afforded to a Kryptonian under a yellow sun.

Crying out in pain, Superman's clone dropped to his knees, clutching his chest in pain, blood flowing from between his fingers as the wound burned. So absorbed in the unnatural sensation of pain Esau caused, the clone was unable to react as a roundhouse kick struck the back of his neck and drove him headfirst into the ground.

Luckily for him, he was saved by the timely arrival of Aqualad.

Wrapping his arms underneath Esau's, he hooked them around the back of his head in a nelson hold, effectively stopping his follow-up strike as the clone lay there hissing in pain. Grunting heavily, Kaldur strained his muscles as Esau fought against his hold and while for the moment he was the stronger of the two, the distance between the two seemed to be closing rapidly the longer Esau fought.

It was taking everything he had to keep Esau in place.

"Now, Robin!" He called out and that's when Robin rushed forwards, chucking the modified taser he had taken from Batgirl's utility belt to Ravager who caught it. At the same time, Robin pulled out his own and the two took aim, firing them at Esau, these tasers far exceeded the safety parameters and limits of a normal taser for one simple fact, they were targeted to take down superpowered individuals. For them, a few seconds exposed to the amount of electricity that coursed through these tasers would cause permanent damage however, Esau and Kaldur were both far from normal.

As the electricity coursed down the wires and as soon as they struck Esau, it coursed through his body and also through Kaldurs as well. But whereas Kaldur had trained in Atlantan Sorcery, learning to conduct and create electricity, which in turn helped him build up a resistance to it, Esau had not. So, Kaldur grit his teeth to resist the writhing body of Esau while channelling his magic to course a third lot of electricity through Esau's body.

The young man in question roared out in pain, eyes wide as his body went incredibly stiff.

Yet, none let up until Esau fully slumped forwards and even just a slight bit longer for good measure.

It was only when Kaldur let Esau drop to the ground did they stop, and Aqualad dropped to one knee, taking notice of Esau's claws receding to back to normal length nails.

"Well fuck, lover boy certainly put up a fight." Killer Frost's words were an understatement.

Though it had been short, it hadn't been any less brutal or shocking.

Batgirl and Kid Flash were unconscious, Killer Frost was exhausted physically due to pushing her powers to the limits in order to keep Esau contained, he also cut the clone of Superman.

While the others were just getting over what had happened, Aqualad moved over to the clone and presented one hand. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He replied after a few moments, taking Kaldur's hand and letting the Atlantean help him out his feet. "It's just a cut, it'll heal." Giving a nod, Aqualad then turned to the others with a firm look.

"We don't have time to rest here, I doubt our presence has gone unnoticed here and with three people unconscious, it would be best to get out of here as soon as possible." He said, moving forwards to pick Esau up, only for Ravager to have beaten it to him, a slightly possessive action that made Aqualad step away. Instead, he moved on to pick up Batgirl while Superman's clone picked up Kid Flash, throwing him over one shoulder nonchalantly.

"Would it be best to, I don't know, restrain him?" The clone asked as he looked at Esau.

"I doubt restraints will work all that well," Robin answered, but nodded his head anyway. "Though I guess it couldn't hurt."

The three then looked to Ravager, who sighed. "Be quick about it. We need to get out of this place as quickly as possible."

So, another chapter is done and I hope you all enjoyed it. Anyway, if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.