Chapter 44
Rachel closed her eyes tight as she fell back down the length of the bus, midway down her shoulder struck the edge of her seat sending her spinning, she landed on her back and sunk into the ground, her eyes flicked open and she found that she was laying in thick,cold, gray sand, the sky above her ashy gray, she pushed herself up and took in her surroundings, the landscape curved and jutted out with sand hills and rock formation, off in 1 direction was a large structure that seemed to be the only thing of substance around, Rachel began shuffling through the snow towards it.
As she climbed a small hill she saw the structure better, It was a massive black stone carved bridge, with 2 tall, black towers on the sides of either end, in front of the entrance to the bridge was a small black stone building that appeared to have caved in on itself, the bridge seem to get larger with every step, the tall towers seemed to exist just to menace the bridge’s occupance, thick, attached near the top of the bridge were black coils that bowed as they stretched from 1 end of the bridge to the other on either side, Rachel made her way through the wrecked building and came out the other side on the bridge.
The massive stone walkway was covered in the gray sand that surrounded it, Rachel felt that the air was getting colder and the wind stronger as she crossed, it took almost 15 minutes to make it to the halfway point, where Rachel was met with a giant hole, a large section from the bridge had collapsed, she looked back the way she had come before continuing to the edge of the collapsed section, she stared down into the seemingly endless, swirling darkness of the chasm that the bridge stretched over, Rachel took in several panicked breaths as she tried to will herself to attempt to continue, the hole was maybe 12 feet from the 2 shortest points.
Rachel tested the stones on the edge and found them decently stable, she considered using the black coils to cross the gap but saw quickly that she was a far too short to reach them, instead she took several steps away and stretched her legs a little, she tried to calm herself without much success, she turned and before she could give herself a reason not too she ran forward, her feet slapping hard against the stone, the sand making it impossible for her soles to grip anything, she pushed off the edge, her fingers stretched out, she didn't even make it within a foot of the opposite edge, the stone fell away as the chasm’s darkness filled her vision.
Rachel closed her eyes tight again and she slammed right into a plexiglass door, she fell back onto her backside on a smooth sidewalk, she flung her eyes open and found a vivid orange sunset reflecting from shiny, clean windows, she shielded her eyes as the bright colors around her were harsh on her eyes, she looked up and saw the neon pink sign for a diner, she looked around and saw bright red buildings with signs for groceries, salons, barber shops, and arcades, the colors all just a little too saturated, Rachel got to her feet and her head began pounding, she needed to sit down, she pulled the diners door open and stepped in to the air conditioned room, Rachel hadn’t realized how hot and thick the air outside had been, she had taken a few steps when she saw the girl behind the counter
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The girl behind the counter was maybe 18, she had short, slightly curly bright red hair, she was wearing a light pink short-sleeved, button-down shirt with a white ascot tied loosely around her neck, the fabric bunching over her breasts as the top 3 buttons of her shirt were left undone, she also wore a pastel pink and white mini skirt, over her left breast was a pink name badge that read, Barbara, she was leaning on the counter laughing flirtatiously at something a boy sitting on 1 of the candy colored stools had said, he was wearing white wash blue jeans with a tan and sky blue letterman jacket, his black mullet slicked back, Rachel recognized them as Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson.
Rachel’s headache was getting worse, the colors were swirling together, and the air was still far too thick, she stumbled back toward the door,
“Are you okay?” Rachel heard Barbara’s voice but it sounded distant, then it was gone and Rachel opened her eyes to find herself in a rundown version of the same diner, the colors were duller, the air was thinner, and she found herself staring out the broken glass door across the street at Kara, Donna, Garfield, and the new girl and boy who had helped earlier, the girl had her upper body inside the back window of the bus as though reaching for something, the boy had his hand around the back of her belt to stop her from falling forward, she pushed herself out of the window and said something urgently to the others, whatever she said caused everyone to panic, they let go of the bus, and Kara began asking the girl questions urgently.
Rachel pushed the door open and rushed across the street,
“We have to find her” She heard Kara say, tears in her voice, Donna was the first to notice Rachel followed by the rest of the group, Kara felt them shift and turned around, she ran to meet Rachel and pulled her into her arms,
“Rachel, are you okay?”She asked, Rachel was still trying regain her breath,
“I’m fine, everything’s okay” She assured her, Kara let her go for a second before taking her face in her hands, Kara’s eyes were glassy and Rachel saw the concern drain from them, replaced with relief, they stayed like that until Donna’s voice broke their trance,
“This is super cute, but we gotta get back to saving the city” They pulled away from each other and Rachel noticed that Donna’s hands were covered in blood, she had torn out several of her finger nails when digging her fingers into the metal body of the bus, Rachel rushed over to her,
“You’re hurt” She said taking Donna’s hands and examining them, “We should get you back to the tower” Donna shook her head,
“Don’t have time for that, we got an army to stop” She said, Artemis took a step closer,
“She’s right, we need to get you patched up, plus I’m almost out of arrows” She interjected, Rachel looked at the newcomers,
“This is Artemis and Kid Flash, and this is Prophet” Donna introduced them,
“At your service” Kid Flash said, giving a quick 2 fingered salute, Rachel nodded,
“Beast Boy, Artemis, can you 2 get Wondergirl back to the tower, fix her up and refresh your gear?” She asked, they both nodded, Rachel turned,
“Supergirl, Kid Flash, round up anyone still left in the city and get them to the bunker under the tower”
“What about you?” Kara asked,
“I’ve got to go find Robin” Rachel answered, Kara took her hands for a moment, clearly still worried, eventually she nodded and let go,
“Try and keep up Krypton” Kid Flash taunted bouncing on the balls of his feet, Kara smiled at him,
“Let’s do this.”
