Yue

 12th January

00:09 GMT +1

"-hot."

I raise a construct barrier as chunks of rock rain down around-

"Starfire, Superboy, engage the dragon." Kaldur makes momentary eye contact with Kon. "Make certain that it does not leave the area,"

-us. Kon leaps into the air. He's wearing his Nth metal armour and while that's got a ridiculous melting point it isn't sealed or insulated. I designed it to resist physical impacts, not gas attacks. Of course Leonid doesn't even have th-.

A fat blast of red energy illuminates the night sky and slams into Karfang as she pulls her way out of the hole she just blasted! She gets battered back for a moment, then takes a firmer grip on the rock and drags herself free. Up in the sky I can just about make out Leonid pointing his fists in her direction, mind completely focused on his target. He cuts out a second later and Kon slams into Karfang's head at full speed! She's staggered, but as he flies on past she's able to point her head at him and exhale a fat column of fire at his retreating feet. It briefly envelops him, only to be battered back as Leonid fires another crimson blast into her mouth.

"Zatanna, will you be able to remove any enchantment which has been placed on Osiris or Canis?"

"I don't know. The Power of Atum should make Osiris resistant to magic. And Canis should ignore anything not related to artwork."

"There's probably all sorts of artwork down there. Give a race of kleptomaniacs a few hundred years they're bound to pick up some good pieces."

"Are you able to feel their location?"

I close my eyes for a moment, then shake my head. "No, sorry."

Karfang flaps, trying to get into the air. The Bio-Ship flies upwards and opens fire on the left wing while Leonid shoots the right. The wings shudder, then she interposes glowing orange shields between herself and her attackers. Kon lunges in and smashes the shield on the left into fragments, then pulls back before she can burn him again so that the shooters can maintain their bombardment. Karfang jerks her left wing back into her side with a snarl.

"Artemis, Robin, take the Sphere. Kid Flash, go with them into the gnome warren and find Osiris and Canis. Try to avoid contact with the enemy. If you can persuade them to return, do so."

They nod, the Sphere flying closer to allow Artemis to jump into the rear seat while Richard takes the front. Artemis directs the Sphere into the air, heading for the entry point which Karfang just created while Wallace dashes into the warren entrance.

Karfang takes Leonid's blasts on the chin for a moment, then flaps hard, ignoring all incoming fire. Beryl directs the Bio-Ship's shots to her face in an attempt to blind her. I can't tell whether it works or not, but it doesn't stop her flapping. Kon lunges in once more but Karfang twists, maintaining her lift while moving her wings out of his flight path. Kon takes another blast of fire as he pulls out and Karfang ponderously lifts into the air. Fortunately, she's too distracted to notice the Sphere flying down into the mountain behind her.

"Cornwall Boy, can you drain magic from the dragon?"

"Maybe? I need to be closer."

Kaldur nods. "Be careful. You are not so resilient as Superboy or Starfire."

"Yeah." Robert nods as the winds around his body pick up. "I know."

He takes off at a steadier rate, going for height as much as closing the distance. While he should be able to drain a fae creature's magic it appears to work best at close range, and thus encounters the problem of physical teeth and mostly chemical fire.

"Zatanna-."

"Heads up, Aqualad." Wallace's voice comes in over the radio. "There's a whole bunch of… Gnomes? Heading your way."

Raquel rises off the ground, heading for the entrance. "Gnomes, great."

Kaldur looks at me. "How far from Altdorf are we?"

"About four miles."

He nods and lifts his water bearers into a guard position, one forming a shield and the other a mace. "Then we will have to prevent them leaving. Zatanna, make sure that we can see them."

"The gnomes down there didn't use the invisibility." She lifts the staff. "But I suppose it doesn't hurt to make sure."

A wave of violet mist covers the ground between us and the entrance, prompting Raquel to increase her h-. I attach a filament to her and transition her back as Karfang sends a gout of flame our way. Kon and Leonid are taking turns to pound her face but that's just irritating her. I'm not seeing any of the injuries a big lizard should take from being punched by super strong assail-. Ooh, they managed to time it so that they hit her from opposite sides at the same time.

"Raaarwgh!"

"Superboy, Starfire, focus on distracting her so that Cornwall Boy can get closer."

They respond immediately, Kon going for her tail while Leonid punches her on the nose before backing off. She snaps at him and then opens her mouth to breathe fire, but he's already backing out of range. Unfortunately, he doesn't take into account exactly how fast she can move once she's airborne. One flap and she moves forwards at a speed that's frankly unrealistic. Leonid tries to evade, but she opens her jaws and cranes her neck to bite down on his legs! He winces slightly, but apparently she's tougher than she is strong. After a moment of trying to pull free and failing, he pulls himself up into a hitting position, jams an arm into each of her lower nostrils and fires!

I create a railgun construct and load a mage slayer round as Karfang shudders, not actually hurt but definitely off-put. Something about shooting her nasal cavity doesn't trigger some part of her invulnerability. Because she can still smell? Is she immune to her own body? Whatever it is, splitting her attention between biting through Leonid and remaining in the air means that she fails to notice Robert drop down behind her head.

"What-?"

Raquel back up slightly as the first mutant gnome sprints out of the tunnel, spitting fire as it comes. She puts up a kinetic barrier, juking to the side to avoid getting roasted. The gnome runs straight into the barrier and is brought to an immediate stop. It huffs fire again, trying to burn the energy barrier with its flame. Others are already dashing out after it-.

"I'm not the only one with a barrier, y'know!"

Right. Controls are a bit awkward compared to a power ring, but I can still extend the version built into my armour. I spread it out, trying to cover-.

One of the mutants shimmers, and a violet mist marker dives through the barrier. I track and fire, my mage slayer hitting it in the centre of mass and bowling it over. Some.. other mutants follow its example, but others content themselves with scrabbling fruitlessly against an unyielding surface. Track fire, track fire, track fire.

"Are you..?" Raquel looks down, decidedly discomforted. "Killing them?"

"Not yet. Broken bones and internal bleeding. Disabling and painful, but not lethal."

"Okay. Just…"

"Ah." Track fire. "You read about what I did on my holiday."

"Yeah."

"Don't worry. I'm on Justice League rules of engagement." Realising that they're not getting anywhere, the mutants start to back off. "Though those are a little more flexible than is commonly-."

A giant mutant charges out of the entrance, runic claymores in hand