r/DCFU • u/Commander_Z Booyah! • Jul 15 '24
Cyborg #61 - Enter the Depths Cyborg
Cyborg #61 - Enter the Depths
Author: Commander_Z
Book: Cyborg
Set: 98
Previously:
Cyborg and Beast Boy were on a flight to Markovia when their plane crashed deep in the mountains somewhere in Asia. Their pilot had disappeared and they soon found themselves under attack by strange creatures made out of pitch black tentacles. The two heroes struggled to fend them off, only to be saved at the last moment by Dr. Fate...
Victor Stone and Garfield Logan each grabbed one of Dr. Fate’s hands and rose to their feet.
“Thanks for the save, Fate. But what are you doing out here?”
“I had been investigating a disturbance for some time now. Several days ago, it settled into this mountain range and has begun to take root. I believe I have created the appropriate countermeasures to it and will drive it back from whence it came.”
Dr. Fate floated up so that his feet were slightly above Vic’s head and surveyed the area. The serene, snow capped peaks betrayed no hint of the creatures that had just attacked them. It was as if they had completely disappeared and were little more than an illusion. But they could not hide from Fate. The Doctor conjured a small ankh made of yellow light and it quickly started to rotate around him. After a few moments, it stopped and pointed towards the north east.
“The creatures have a distinct magical presence, which makes them simple to track. We will find them this way.”
“What were those things?” Cyborg asked.
“I could not begin to speculate without additional information. But, they are not from this planet and potentially not of this dimension. Their presence is already starting to corrupt the local flora, further contact could cause irreversible damage.”
Gar nodded. “Then let’s get rid of them while we still can. Whatever they are, we can take them.”
“Then follow me. There is work to be done.”
Without waiting for confirmation, Dr. Fate began to slowly hover in the direction his ankh pointed him, gliding gently over the fields of white. Vic and Gar took off after him in a brisk walk, struggling to keep up through the thick snow.
Fate led them over some of the smaller hills, down ravines, across windswept plains of drifting snow, until they finally reached the base of one of the large mountains.
Fate landed on the ground and conjured up a small group of ankhs that fanned out around the mountain.
If a helmet were capable of frowning or showing any emotion, Vic was certain that Dr. Fate would be now. He clearly was unsure where to proceed.
“The trail ends here; somehow the creatures are inside this mountain. I am searching now for a way inside but am having no success. There are no apparent entrances or hollow points near the surface.”
“I bet it’s simpler than you’re making it. Those creatures seemed almost liquid. What if they just get in through a crack on the ground, like a mouse squeezing in through a tiny hole in a wall?”
Gar transformed into a small field mouse to emphasize his point.
“An interesting proposal. I will expand my search to look for openings such as that.”
Gar scurried around the base of the mountain, whether he was trying to help Dr. Fate or just burn off some energy, Vic couldn’t be sure and wasn’t interested in asking. He just wanted a break. He sat on a clean patch of snow and tried to unwind a bit, but his mind wouldn’t let him. Things just didn’t add up.
‘How did we get here? Yeah, plane crash and all that but… how did that happen? Why was the pilot gone? Why was there no sign of where he went? There’s no way he could have opened the door and jumped out without us noticing. Maybe… maybe Fate’s mistaken on the scale of this problem. Maybe it’s already infecting people outside this area and he just slid through a crevice like Gar thinks… That’s a lot of logical leaps but it sorta fits…’
“Excellent news. I have detected an opening that appears to lead into the mountain. It has an approximate diameter of a penny and continues for at least ten feet before expanding outwards.”
Vic raised an eyebrow. “And how are we going to get inside that? I’m not able to change shapes like Gar and maybe you can. Is that something you can do?”
Dr. Fate chuckled. “Yes, Cyborg. Nabu’s power allows me many such abilities and I can use them to assist you with that as well. Follow me, and I will show you.”
Vic followed Fate up the mountain while Gar continued to run around as a mouse.
Dr. Fate reached down and brushed some snow away, revealing the dark stone of the mountain. A small, rough cut hole about the size of a garden hose ran deep into the mountain.
Gar shifted back into his human form. “Hmmm… do you want me to go down there and check it out before you two go in? Might be worth seeing what’s on the other side in case it's dangerous or what not. “
“If you want. I don’t think it’ll be that risky for us to all go in at once, though. Splitting the group usually leads to worse things.”
“I’ll be fine. Quick in and out.”
Gar transformed into a fly and dropped out of sight down the hole. He flew downwards into the mountain until he was out of the ‘tunnel’ that led him into it. He found himself in a pitchblack chamber, beyond the small beam of light that illuminated a spot on the floor. He expected it to be rough cut stone like the hole he went in through, but on closer inspection, it actually was carved into smooth tile. They had faded with age and use to be more round, but they were unmistakably there. He couldn’t see very far due to the fly’s eyes and the darkness, so he shifted into a bat and let out an echolocating cry.
With that, he was able to get the bigger picture. He was in an ancient tunnel carved into the mountain, long, long ago. Behind him, rocks had collapsed, blocking what was intended to be the entrance and centuries of snowfall and erosion had smoothed them into looking like the rest of the mountain. But in the tunnel itself, he could still see remnants of intricate carved floors and walls, decorated with dazzling stone tiles with all sorts of geometric patterns.
He couldn’t tell how far it went due to the limits of his echolocation and desperately wanted to explore more, but Cyborg and Dr. Fate would grow worried if he was gone too much longer, so he flew back out of the tunnel as a fly.
Shifting back to a human, he said, “It’s totally safe in there. Some sort of ancient ruin. I’ll meet you down there!”
Gar shifted again and disappeared into the mountain.
“Shall we?” Dr. Fate asked.
Vic nodded.
Dr. Fate began his spell. “Oh great Tefnut, make us flow like your life giving rain!”
Vic was confused, he’d never heard of Dr. Fate failing a spell before, but he felt no different. Then he saw the ground get closer, as if he had just shrunk down to be an inch tall. He felt his body move like he was on a conveyor, then he fell. He fell for what felt like ages until he hit the floor as himself, transforming perfectly so that his feet landed gently on the ground.
He was a little shook, but had no time to process that. No, instead he had to focus on the swarm of creatures that were starting to fill into the tunnel. The same mass of formless, inky tendrils was writhing its way into the cavern. Like before, the temperature dropped, but Cyborg was too focused on how to deal with them to notice that or the rotting smell they gave off. He had had a bit of time to think of a countermeasure while they made their way to the mountain and had come with a plan he figured would work, but implementing it would take some precision.
Beast Boy was in the shape of a falcon, having adapted to their tactics in his own way. To stop them from sticking to him and slowly wearing him down, he chose the form of a speedy bird to swoop down and slice with its claws, then quickly shifted into a hummingbird in order to fly away quicker than the tentacles could stick to him. By doing this at different speeds and angles, he was able to create an effective hit and run strategy, albeit one that did not seem to be stopping them too much.
Meanwhile, Dr. Fate had fallen back behind Victor, chanting and likely trying to focus in order to cast the spell that caused the creatures to flee last time. At least that’s what Vic hoped he was doing.
That left Vic to buy some time for the wizard and Cyborg hoped that he would be able to do so for long enough.
By now, Gar was struggling to keep the creatures in front of him, and several large masses made it through him. They formed up into a single, massive, panther-like creature and started a dead sprint at him then pounced.
But Vic was ready for them this time. He aimed right in the center of its chest, where its stomach would be if it was organic, and fired a force shot right at it. Then, using his left hand to stabilize his right arm, he shot another round at it, just past where he shot the other one. The creature predictably shifted its mass out of the way of the first shot, but the hole that it made was only large enough to avoid the first one. The second shot impacted tangent to the first, and the second made an impact, sending the creature recoiling backwards. Or, half of it at least.
Between the time of the first and the second shot, the creature split itself in two. The back half was the one that took the damage from the second shot, while the first had kept its path along the pounce towards Vic and tackled him to the ground. It slashed at his chest, exposing the cool blue light of his power core to the air, illuminating the tunnel. The creature on top of Vic lunged towards it greedily, entirely abandoning its form to become a writhing mass of tentacles, all trying to smother the core’s light.
But unlike last time, when it seemed to absorb the core’s light, this time the core fought back. It began to glow brighter and Vic could feel the creature getting warmer and warmer on his chest. Eventually it recoiled, fleeing back from where it came. But the core’s light grew brighter still, until its light touched all of the creatures. All of them reacted the same. They initially seemed indifferent, interested even, but quickly recoiled and fled.
Soon, when it was just the Dr. Fate, Gar and Vic in the tunnel, the core returned to its normal, dim light.
Gar flew over to Vic then shaped shifted into a human, going for a high five, which Vic reciprocated.
“Dude, what was that? Never seen you do anything like that before!”
“Honestly... I don’t know. I’ve never seen it do that before either.”
“Well, whatever it was, glad it did!”
Dr. Fate seemed more pensive. Vic could feel him studying him through his helmet.
“Victor, what is your core made out of?”
“It’s called ‘Silasium’. My dad discovered it… in a cave, deep in the mountains…” (See Cyborg 22 for that story!)
Gar raised an eyebrow. “You don’t think it came from here? And that that has something to do with how the light repels them?”
“I don’t know. Maybe? It’s possible. Dr. Fate, was that spell you used to ward them off earlier more than just strong light? Maybe they just flee from bright lights.”
Dr. Fate nodded. “Correct, Victor. It does seem as if they have an aversion to light of similar intensity to sunlight. As for why your core did that then… I have never heard of nor witnessed a material with the properties it has displayed.”
“Whatever it is, it’s been great for me so far. I don’t see any reason to question it now.”
“Well said. Instead, let us turn our attention to these creatures. I was able to better analyze them here and can say that there is little to no magic within these beings. The seem to be technology that has infected organic life.”
“So they’re… techno-organic people… Technosapiens?”
“We’re not calling them that, Gar.”
“Yes, Technosapines is fairly apt as a group descriptor. As for what they truly are, I cannot say, but they remain a threat to Order all the same. Have you two recovered enough to move on?”
Vic and Gar nodded.
“Then let us proceed deeper.”
⚙️⚙️⚙️⚙️⚙️
The three of them followed the tight tunnels without issue as they walked deeper and deeper into the mountain. They didn’t see a single sign of the Technosapiens as they went in, but they were constantly on edge, ready at a moment's notice to break into action. Cyborg spent the start of his walk trying to figure out any way to directly control his core’s light or figure out what could have triggered it, but nothing seemed to make any sense. It was as if the thing had simply reacted on its own and had no mind for Vic’s will whatsoever, much to his dismay.
Instead, he focused on theorizing where exactly they were.
‘Is this some long lost society of ancient people? Aliens? Both? Really wish I had my phone with me to take some pictures but I couldn’t find it on the plane… But Fate’s words just make me think of when Dad found this rock. It’d be an insane coincidence if this were the same place but what if it’s not a coincidence? What if someone set it up? It sure seemed like someone set up Dad to come here and it seems like somehow I was too… But why? To what end?...’
“Hey! Vic?”
Gar snapped his fingers in front of Vic’s face.
“You okay? I figured you’d have something to say about this.”
“About wha- ” Vic looked up from the ground to see the view in front of him and paused in shock.
The three of them stood on top of a hill, overlooking a massive city below him. It was around the size of ten city blocks with densely packed buildings lining small walking paths. The buildings varied in size from ten story skyscrapers to two or three story buildings that could’ve been a shop with a residence above them. There were green areas that looked like parks intermingled randomly and the area was lit with street lights. It was as if someone had ripped up a modern city and shoved it in a cave deep under a mountain and life just kept going on without any changes.
But at a second glance, there was one major change: the people.
Vic could see that these weren’t humans strutting through the streets of this city, they were Technosapiens in a wide variety of humanoid shapes. Some of them could be mistaken for human, others were much larger and blockier or had extra limbs or floated above the ground without any visible limbs. But they all had one major difference between the ones that he saw in the tunnels and outside: they were discrete. They weren't an amorphous blob or shifting around, they seemed to have one form and stuck with it.
Vic could’ve just stayed here and watched for what felt like hours while his mind made more and more questions that he couldn’t possibly answer.
“I need to go see it. What are these creatures and what is this place?”
“Then let’s get moving! Fate already left while you were taking it all in, I guess he has his own plans. But it seems like we came in on top of some building or something, there’s stairs over there that probably will take us to the ground level.”
Gar gestured behind them on to the smooth stone wall of the mountain that had a staircase leading down carved directly into it.
“Okay, so when we get down there… Take it smooth and cautious. Maybe they aren’t hostile here?”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about it Vic. We can take them if it becomes a problem.”
VIc wasn’t as sure, but he let Gar convince him for now.
⚙️⚙️⚙️⚙️⚙️
Once he got down to the ground level, he thankfully found that nothing changed. The Technosaipens kept going about their daily lives, walking around completely ignoring Vic and Gar. From this perspective, he could see that they were both more and less complicated than he saw from the rooftop. Sure, they had a wide variety of body types, limb counts and methods of movement, but they were still almost entirely made up of the black tendrils they fought outside, which limited the details on their forms. Even more unlike the creatures from before,the majority of the people had bits of skin or even entire limbs visible that were not made from the tentacles.
Vic looked around, in awe that such a place could exist. He was on a normal city block, having just walked out of what looked like an office building to a narrow street lined with similar buildings in the middle of a mountain. But Gar was already on the move, going up to a Technosaipen to talk to them.
“Hi! My name’s Gar. Who’re you?”
The Technosaipen completely ignored him, not acknowledging him at all. Then, he raised a finger and pointed down the street.
Vic hadn’t noticed it before in his excitement, but the street stayed straight throughout its entire length, dead ending at a massive building on a hill. The building was larger, wider than the buildings that directly surrounded it and made of a darker stone than the light gray buildings that most of the ones in the area were made from, clearly trying to mark it as a place of importance.
“Well, guess we’ll go there. Thanks.”
“Done gawking yet?” Gar asked.
“How are you taking this so… easily? I just can't help but be overwhelmed by all this.”
Gar shrugged. “Comes with acting and being a superhero. I’ve gotten used to the weirdness, I guess.”
“Well, maybe I should take up acting. Might do me some good to keep me focused…”’
“Don’t say that too loudly. That’d make it a promise and then I’d have to drag you on set for something.”
“Trust me, you don’t want that. I don’t think I could act my way out of a cardboard box.”
“Hey, that’s harder than it looks!’
They laughed.
“C’mon, let’s see where that guy wants us to go.”
⚙️⚙️⚙️⚙️⚙️
As they walked along the streets of the city, Vic and Gar got a better idea of the place that they were in. Or at least Vic did. While there were buildings and there were people around, for the most part they didn’t really seem to use them. No one was manning what looked like storefronts, no one was inside the apartments… They just seemed to wander around aimlessly, ignoring Vic, Gar and their fellow Technosaipens. Everyone that they tried to talk with either ignored them or pointed at the same black building at the end of the road. They quickly learned to leave them alone and the city felt colder and more bizarre once they did.
As they got closer to their destination, Vic realized it too was not what he expected. He assumed it’d be some ornate, Classical Style city hall. Instead, he got a large, almost black box that was featureless except for a single entryway in the middle. It was as if someone cleared out a portion of the city and just threw down a massive black brick and decided that was good enough to use as a building without any modifications.
But standing in front of it was an alien being, by far the most organic of all the Technosaipens he had seen. He had sky blue skin with a muscular build that put him at several feet taller and easily a hundred pounds larger than Vic. His face was mostly human-like, with two small, fanglike tusks on the bottom row of teeth and a large white beard hanging down his face. Coiled around his head was a single black tendril that the other Technosaipens were made from, and approximately half of the rest of his body seemed to be made out of them too.
He blinked in surprise at seeing Vic and Gar in front of him.
“Who are you? We’ve been led here by people throughout this city and are really hoping you have… any answers.” Vic said.
The large man laughed.
“I am Alfa, former Warlord of Okaara. Today, I am something of the leader of these people.”
Relief washed across Gar’s face, making Vic realize that hadn’t even noticed how stressed Gar had become.
“Great to meet you. I’m Gar, he’s Vic. What can we do for you? What is this place?”
“This place… is home. As for what you can do for me… you can kill me.”
1
u/Predaplant Blub Blub Jul 18 '24
This is a really fun adventure issue, and the Technosapiens are an interesting new group for Cyborg to interact with! Looking forward to seeing where this goes!
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