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A/N: I made a mistake yesterday with the chapters, this was the one I was supposed to update, I'm sorry Guys (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ
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A low, guttural roar rolled over the ridge, rattling crates and sending a cascade of dust into the air. Shadows shifted beyond the ridgeline, and the ground trembled with each approaching step.
From the darkness, a massive figure emerged, muscles grotesquely swollen, veins glowing crimson beneath taut, shining skin. Every thunderous step flattened brush and rocks alike, shaking the earth. His eyes gleamed with raw, unnatural fury.
Mammoth.
Zane's gut dropped. He recognized the monster instantly — and knew he was trouble. But Mammoth wasn't what made his face go serious.
It was the man walking behind him.
A lean figure glided forward with unnerving precision, silver-and-black armor catching the moonlight, rifle cradled casually in his arms. His movements were measured, lethal, like a predator who never wasted energy.
Deathstroke.
The mercenary who had gone toe-to-toe with Batman, and walked away.
Zane narrowed his eyes beneath the mask.
'They must've paid a fortune to hire him.'
Beside him, Artemis tensed, bow already drawn. "Can we handle both?" she hissed, voice tight.
"Depends what you mean by handle…" Zane muttered, slipping his robo-arm off and thrusting it into Artemis' hands. "But this will be our toughest fight yet."
Artemis didn't hesitate to put the gadget onto her right Arm, she has been practicing with Zane Robo-Arm for a while now.
After all, she knows Zane doesnt need it...
Deathstroke and Mammoth came to a stop, side by side, the perfect contrast — brute rage and surgical precision.
Deathstroke's single eye swept the young heroes. He spoke evenly, calm as a man reading a grocery list.
"Engage them hard, Mammoth. I'll dismantle the rest."
Mammoth growled. "Don't tell me what to do."
Deathstroke tilted his head, cool amusement in his tone. "Do as I say, and you won't be the first casualty."
The behemoth snarled, but the moment Deathstroke raised two fingers in a subtle signal, Mammoth roared and charged.
The ground split under his feet — BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! — as he barreled toward the line of heroes.
---
"Get back!" Connor growled, stepping forward. Zane's body shimmered with violet light as his form shifted, mask gleaming, coat snapping in the air.
With suprising synchronization, they met Mammoth head-on.
CRASH! Connor's fist slammed into Mammoth's knuckles, shockwave blasting dust and leaves into the air. Zane darted low, faster, slashing a kick across Mammoth's stomach before backflipping away.
"GRRAAAGH!" Mammoth swung a haymaker the size of a tree trunk, forcing both boys back. Trees splintered under the swing.
"Move him deeper into the woods!" Zane barked, weaving between strikes. "We can't fight him here!"
He would prefer to take down the big guy while Deathstroke was not nearby, that way he doesnt have to be on guard for sneak attacks as well.
Connor gritted his teeth, suppressing his surprise at Zane's appearance and caught Mammoth's next punch on his forearm. The impact drove him half a foot into the dirt, but he locked his stance and shoved. He hesitated for a moment, but then relented "Then let's move him!"
He didn't think his teammates needed help with the other guy.
With a roar, Connor hurled Mammoth back. The giant crashed through the treeline — KRASH-KRUNCH! — splintering pines like toothpicks as he was sent flying more than a 200 meters away. Zane darted in after him, Connor right behind.
---
That left Deathstroke alone on the ridge — facing Robin, Artemis, Speedy, Aqualad, Wally, and M'gann.
He smiled under the mask. "Six against one? Almost unfair… for you."
Robin lunged first, staff spinning. "Don't underestimate us!"
Deathstroke caught the staff mid-swing with one hand, twisted, and drove an elbow into Robin's chest. THUD! The boy wonder tumbled back, breath stolen.
Artemis' bowstring twanged, three arrows streaking in a triangle pattern. Deathstroke fired once — BLAM! — knocking one out of the air, sidestepped the second, and casually snatched the third mid-flight.
He turned it over in his hand. "Amateur fletching." Then he snapped it in half and tossed it aside.
A blur of red lightning streaked around him — Wally.
"Try to tag me, old man!" Wally jeered, circling with dizzying speed.
Deathstroke didn't turn. He closed his eye, listening. Timing. Prediction. At the exact moment Wally darted in with a cocky grin, Deathstroke spun — WHIP! — and clotheslined him with the shaft of his rifle. The speedster flipped head-over-heels and crashed into the dirt, coughing.
"Fast, but predictable, the flash wouldn't have fallen for my slow attack." Deathstroke remarked coldly.
Aqualad surged forward, blades of hardened water in hand. M'gann hovered above, eyes glowing, telekinesis pressing against Deathstroke like invisible hands.
He flowed around it all. Duck, pivot, sweep — every move efficient, surgical. His boot hooked Aqualad's ankle — THUNK! — sending him sprawling. A flick of his wrist hurled a smoke pellet into M'gann's face, breaking her concentration.
Robin scrambled up, furious. "Team, don't let him control the pace!"
But Deathstroke already was.
---
Meanwhile, deeper in the forest — Mammoth was pure destruction.
He ripped up a tree by its roots and swung it like a club. Connor ducked under the arc, the trunk exploding against the ground with an earth-shaking BOOM! Zane dashed along the splintered trunk, purple aura trailing, and drove a kick into Mammoth's jaw.
The giant barely flinched.
"Little bug!" Mammoth snarled, swatting. Zane vanished in a blur, reappearing at Mammoth's flank with a barrage of strikes. BAP-BAP-BAP!
Connor joined, slamming a fist into Mammoth's ribs with enough force to ripple muscle. The titan staggered, snarling, blood flecking his lips.
Zane landed lightly beside Connor. "He's tough. But you're hitting harder than before."
Connor smirked, eyes blazing. "Guess I finally had some real sun."
He decided now was not the time to ask about Zanes Echo form...
Zane's grin was hidden under his mask. 'He really is stronger than back then....probably two, maybe three times as strong as I am now. And I'm twice as strong as I was back then....Kryptonians are fucking cheaters."
They charged together.
Connor's blows were meteors — colossal, devastating, shaking the forest with each strike. Zane was lightning — weaving, cutting, carving openings. Mammoth swung furiously, but for the while time, he was on the defensive.
---
Back on the Ridge
Deathstroke's control was absolute.
Speedy loosed a spread of explosive arrows; Deathstroke shot them mid-air, detonations booming harmlessly away. He closed distance in a blink, rifle cracking Speedy across the jaw, sending him sprawling unconscious.
Artemis fired another rapid volley, sweat streaking her face. Deathstroke deflected, rolled under Aqualad's blades, and slammed a boot onto the metal arm she now wore, sending her flying.
Robin charged with reckless desperation, staff raised. Deathstroke caught it again, but this time Robin triggered an electrified shock through the shaft. ZZZTT!
Deathstroke's armor absorbed most of it, but his eye narrowed. "Not bad. Still sloppy."
He twisted the staff away, shattered it across his knee, and backhanded Robin across the ridge.
"Pathetic."
Only Wally was back on his feet, shaking his head. "Man, you hit like a tank. But tanks can't catch bullets."
He blurred forward again — this time zig-zagging unpredictably. Deathstroke calmly pulled a disc from his belt and hurled it at the ground. The device flared with blinding light.
Wally stumbled, blinded mid-stride — and Deathstroke's boot caught him square in the chest. WHAM!
The speedster skidded into the dirt again, coughing blood.
Deathstroke chambered a round in his rifle. "And your not faster than light."
---
Back in the woods, now miles away from where they first clashed, Mammoth was panting, bruises forming across his hulking frame. He swung wild, desperate, but Connor's fists hammered him back — each blow cracking bark, snapping branches, making shockwaves ripple through the clearing.
Zane darted in, cutting Mammoth's Achilles with a vicious strike. The giant bellowed, stumbling — just in time for Connor to drive an uppercut into his jaw.
BOOM!
Mammoth's massive body lifted clear off the ground, crashing into a boulder hard enough to shatter it.
Connor breathed hard, sweat dripping. "You've gotten faster. Way faster."
Zane straightened, mask gleaming. "And you've gotten stronger. But…your fighting skills are still lacking...."
Connor shrugged, he wasnt that great when it came to skill. Even though Black Canary has been trying to teach him.
Mammoth roared, struggling to rise again. But for the first time, he seemed afraid.
---
Deathstroke, miles away on the ridge, had the rest of Young Justice at his feet, wounded and scattered. He reloaded smoothly, watching them struggle to stand.
"Children," he said flatly. "This is what happens when you play at war."
And deeper in the woods, Mammoth's roar echoed again — but it was strained, pained, as Connor and Zane pressed him harder, realizing together just how far they'd come.
The true war had only just begun.