Beast Boy was the first to move. His green body expanded in an instant, bones twisting until he took the massive shape of a rhinoceros. His roar echoed as he charged the front line, the horn skewering a robot that burst into a shower of sparks. A heartbeat later, his skin shrank back, limbs reshaping, and the wild form of a tiger emerged. With razor-sharp claws, he shredded the toy soldiers as if they were made of paper.
Ethan advanced in perfect sync with Beast Boy, focusing on the ones that slipped past the Titan's reach. Moving through the chaos, he weaved between metallic arms and struck with cold precision, destroying the robots by aiming for their heads or chests.
The next moment, an entire pack of puppets leapt at him — metal marionettes with limbs far too long, strings still dangling from their backs. Ethan raised his right hand toward them and, with a single clenched fist, invoked the Ruler's Authority. The creatures shrieked as their bodies crumpled, compressed into a twisted ball of painted metal.
Beast Boy, now in the form of a colossal gorilla, grabbed three robots at once, smashing them into the ground before hurling the twisted remains into the ranks of the others.
The first wave collapsed into sparks and metallic screams, parts scattering across the asphalt like shattered bones.
That was when new figures emerged from within the factory. Tin soldiers, each one armed with warped muskets, leveled their weapons in unison. At the same time, porcelain dolls crawled forward on all fours, their glassy red eyes glowing as they scuttled closer with outstretched hands.
The tin soldiers opened fire on Ethan.
BANG! BANG!
He rolled and dove for cover behind a garbage truck in the middle of the battlefield.
The courtyard became a storm of gunfire. Incendiary rounds from the toy soldiers hammered against the truck, ricocheting wildly and shattering windows in the surrounding buildings.
Beast Boy roared, his body twisting again into the massive form of a triceratops. He barreled into the line of soldiers, crushing them beneath his bulk. Bullets ricocheted off his thick hide, though each impact still made him stagger.
"These bastards came prepared!" Beast Boy shouted, tearing through a robot's chest with his horns.
Ethan sprinted across the open field, each step carrying him just out of reach of incoming projectiles by the width of a hair. When one of the tin soldiers fired straight at his chest, he twisted his body, his long coat flowing with the movement like a shadowy mantle, and the shot grazed past him. In answer, his fist slammed through the soldier's metallic skull with enough force to shatter it completely.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ethan caught a disturbing movement.
The porcelain dolls.
They swarmed forward in a pack, glass eyes reflecting the firelight. Their jagged metal mouths stretched into torn, grotesque smiles, and from them echoed a chilling chorus:
" Mommy… Mommy…"
The childlike voices, warped and mechanical, blended with the hiss of grinding gears as streams of blue fire spat from their mouths, scorching the asphalt in glowing lines.
The dolls charged straight for Beast Boy as he battled the other machines.
Ethan shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos:
"Beast Boy! Get away from them!"
But the shapeshifter didn't hear him.
Ethan raised his hand, ready to unleash the Ruler's Authority and drag the creatures away, when three tin soldiers leveled their muskets and fired in perfect unison.
The projectiles slammed into his chest, the armor absorbing the impact in a burst of sparks and fire. Ethan staggered back a step, his focus shattered.
And that was all it took.
The dolls began to swell, their fragile bodies distorting like grotesque balloons on the verge of bursting. The metallic hiss filled the air, shrill, rising, like an unavoidable alarm—
And then everything exploded.
The loval became a living hell.
The blast swallowed the night in white and blue, the ground trembling as if torn apart from within. Shards of concrete flew like grenade fragments, while sparks slashed through the air in waves, raining down like malignant embers.
Beast Boy was hurled like a ragdoll against the wall. The brutal impact ripped his transformation away instantly, his body reverting to human form before crashing to the ground, gasping, coughing amidst the dust and debris collapsing around him.
Ethan surged forward without hesitation. The shadows pulsed, and in his hands materialized Ebony and Ivory. The pistols came alive with spectral flashes. He moved like a deadly dance, sliding between shattered gears and tearing apart one automaton after another that dared to approach his fallen partner.
As Ethan neared Beast Boy, he shouted his name, eyes fixed on confirming the boy was still alive. Beast Boy cracked his eyes open with effort, coughing hard before groaning between ragged breaths:
"Ahhh, dude… kamikaze dolls? Seriously? This freak is sicker than I thought!"
And then they heard it.
From inside the factory, something began to move. The metallic drag reverberated, each step heavier than the last. The shattered gate groaned and finally split apart as something massive forced its way through, the ground quaking beneath the impact.
The shadows parted, and through the smoke emerged a monstrosity: a soldier twisted and deformed, towering the size of a truck, its body forged from mangled steel and exposed gears. Its left arm ended in a colossal hammer, each swing cracking the asphalt beneath its weight. In place of the right arm, a massive circular saw spun at high velocity, spitting sparks with every savage rotation.
Beast Boy swallowed hard. — "Okay… now it's serious."
Ethan merely shifted his weight, eyes blazing behind the visor.
"Shit."
The moment the giant locked onto them, it charged. The colossus raised its hammer arm high and slammed it down toward the asphalt. Beast Boy leapt skyward, morphing into a bat to slip through the air. Ethan rolled aside at the last instant, his trench coat dragging across the ground.
High above, Beast Boy shifted again — this time into a massive gorilla. Beating his chest with thunderous force as he fell, he roared and latched onto the robot's saw arm, wrenching it backward. The metallic behemoth staggered, gears grinding and snapping under the strain, but it twisted its other arm in retaliation, slamming the hammer into Beast Boy's stomach with brutal force.
Bestboy was hurled across the lot, his body smashing into a parked car, crumpling the metal like paper.
Ethan was already back in motion. He darted forward, slipping past the saw that nearly took his head, and drove his fist with full force into the colossus's knee. Metal shrieked as the joint buckled, the leg bending at a grotesque angle. The robot toppled sideways, yet even while falling it lashed out, the spinning saw screeching wildly as it carved through the air toward him.
The young man vaulted back just in time, boots skidding across the fractured asphalt. Then he felt it — that surge of power coursing through him. The Ruler's Authority unfurled like an unseen storm. Invisible hands seized the whirling blade, freezing it mid-spin as if the very air itself had locked it in place.
With a guttural roar, Ethan twisted his fist — and the saw arm wrenched free, torn from the monster's body and hurled onto the ground with a thunderous crash.
On the other side, Beast Boy had already morphed into a massive mammoth. He lowered his head and thundered forward like a living missile, the impact devastating as his tusk caved in the robot's steel chest. Before the creature could react, his form shrank back into human for a split second—only to explode again, this time into the towering body of a tyrannosaurus rex. The jaws clamped down on the monster's remaining arm, tearing it clean off with a sickening crunch of metal.
Ethan gave no chance for recovery. He surged forward, driving a brutal kick straight into the abomination's face. The impact twisted its head a full one-eighty, wires snapping in a shower of sparks before the mutant soldier crashed to the ground, motionless.
For a few moments, only the crackle of the burning factory and the ragged breaths of the two filled the silence.
Still panting, Beast Boy managed a crooked grin.
"Hah… partner… gotta say, you might be the quiet type, but you sure as hell know how to throw down."
"…Looks like we've taken care of them all." Ethan replied, his gaze flicking toward the officers regrouping at a distance.
Beast Boy smiled and nodded.
And then, for Ethan, the world around him seemed to dissolve—replaced in an instant by the vision of one of his shadows.
Through its eyes, he saw.
Toyman.
He was no imposing villain, no elegant mastermind—just a pitiful, grotesque figure. His greasy hair hung in messy strands, cracked glasses caught the light at odd angles, and yellowed teeth showed through a crooked grin. A patchy beard shadowed his filthy face, and the tattered suit draped over his thin frame looked more like rags clinging to bone.
He dragged a child by the left arm, yanking mercilessly, while in his right hand he gripped an pistol, trembling fingers ready to fire. The boy sobbed, crying out for his mother, as he was pulled into the darkened shell of an abandoned middle school.
Ethan's jaw tightened. His fist clenched, rage building inside him like a thunderhead ready to burst.
Beast Boy noticed the sudden stillness.
"Hey… what's wrong?"
Ethan's voice came out low, cold:
"I found him. Toyman. Not far. And he has a hostage."
"Found him? How the hell—"
"Doesn't matter," Ethan cut him off, already moving away. "I'll go first."
"Dude, wait—!" Beast Boy reached out, but it was too late. Ethan only whispered:
"Switch."
And vanished.
In his place, a shadowy Hell Pride emerged, its hollow gaze fixed on Beast Boy, before dissolving into the night.
"What the hell was that?!" Beast Boy shouted, completely stunned by what he had just seen.
(...)
Inside the gym, Toyman dragged the boy across the creaking wooden floor. His laughter was shrill, almost childlike.
"Don't cry… we're just going to play a little…"
The boy screamed louder, struggling to break free.
A shadow slid across the wall.
Ethan emerged from it without a word. A pistol materialized in his hand with a dark flash — the Ivory, cold and gleaming.
BANG!
The shot tore through the villain's right hand, sending the gun clattering to the floor. His scream ripped through the gym.
BANG!
The second bullet shattered his left hand, forcing him to release the child.
The boy stumbled backward, sobbing. Ethan lowered the weapon slightly. His voice was calm, controlled:
"Do you know where your family is?"
The child hiccupped through his tears, nodding.
"Go."
The boy bolted toward the exit. From the shadows, at Ethan's silent command, a hooded figure rose and followed, ensuring the child would reach safety.
Only Ethan and Toyman remained.
The villain was on his knees, shattered hands clutched against his chest, eyes wide with panic and pain.
"Y-you're insane! I… I have rights!"
Ethan stepped forward. The pistol dissolved into smoke. His voice was steel itself:
"Animals like you don't have rights."
In desperation, Toyman yanked a twisted, toy-shaped knife from his belt and lunged with a broken scream.
Ethan caught his wrist mid-swing. He squeezed. Bones cracked, the radius bursting through flesh. The scream tore across the gym walls.
"AAAAAAAAHHH!"
Ethan's kick came like lightning, slamming into his shin. Another snap. Bone ripped through skin, and the villain collapsed, howling as he writhed in agony.
Ethan hauled him up by the collar and began pounding his face.
One. He saw the faces of the families in the ruined factory.
Two. He heard the cries of the children, the bodies of the fallen officers.
Three. He heard the woman's voice, screaming for her husband.
Teeth scattered. Toyman's face twisted, breaking under each blow.
Ethan's fist tightened, driving forward like a missile straight for the villain's skull—
Until a voice cut through the gym like a blade:
"ENOUGH!"
Ethan froze, his fist suspended in the air. Breathing heavily, he lifted his eyes.
Above, framed by the shattered window and the crimson glow of the streetlights, stood a figure with a billowing cape.
Robin.
The young leader's eyes burned as they locked onto Ethan.
"That's enough."
Silence pressed down on the gym. Ethan's chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. His fists trembled once… then loosened.
But his gaze never left Robin.
And in that moment, the line between shadow and hero had never seemed so thin.
(Continue...)
________________________________________________________________________________________
Hello everyone!
if you'd like to support me and my work, please consider joining my pantreon!
"https://www.patreon.com/c/ordernerd"
You can get images inspired by the chapters and even more chapters!
If you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to leave a comment and add this book to your library!Your feedback means a lot — it helps me know you're enjoying the story and keeps me motivated to bring you more.
thanks a lot!
By: OrderNerd