Krazyfanfiction1: Well, if you thought that was worth the wait, this chapter will definitely be worth it – the epic showdown between the Brotherhood and Perseus.

Concolor44: Pragmatism definitely is the modus operandi of Perseus, and now it's also an M.O. for the Brotherhood at well, so this is set up to be one major showdown between two major forces. That is probably a key reason Raven left the Titans – she was tiring of playing by the hero rules and strived for something more permanent, especially with her growth in power. We both know that after this battle, the world still won't be an excruciatingly peaceful place to live (Consequence of Misunderstandings).

Guardian of Azarath: If by Dust Heap, you mean Immortus, then yes. One core member of the Brotherhood is down, five to go (Brain, Mallah, Rouge, Immortus, and Phobia), not to mention the dozens of lesser members.

Okay, here we are the final chapter of Collapse from Misunderstandings – it's been a long year and a half road from the story's beginning to its end. To put this chapter in the timeline, it begins two weeks before Consequence starts and ends about a few hours after the first scene in Consequence's second chapter.

And on this posting date (June 20, 2015) marks the three-year anniversary of the posting of the first chapter of Coincidence and Misunderstandings, so it's only a fitting bookend that this story posts its conclusion the same day as the original posted its introduction, and also with the longest chapter of the story by a wide margin (over 9,400 words) - and also not only of the series but of my profile on this site thus far.

Disclaimer: Did Jinx have any screen time with Aqualad or Speedy (i.e. any verbal interactions aside from Titans Together)? If not, I don't own the Teen Titans franchise; it belongs to DC Entertainment, Glen Murakami, and Warner Bros., nor do I own the Misunderstandings story, which belongs to SilentlyWatches.

Now, let's finish the story.

Chapter 20
Conquest Over Evil

The Perseus Initiative was now loading up for the strike on the Brotherhood of Evil base. They had tried to get satellite readings of the location, but the images were not clear - it was very clear from that they likely had jammers and quite possibly anti-air weaponry, a theory Raven supported from the glimpses of the base she had ripped from Psimon's mind during his "interrogation".

So, the plan was to fly in towards Lagoa dos Patos and then they would have to boat and leg it to the island where the Brotherhood was stationed. If they were lucky, they would be able to storm the island from behind and take them down. If they weren't, they would have to settle in for a lengthy, brutally bloody siege.

Raven and Mammoth were part of the eighty-man-plus strike force sent to decimate the Brotherhood, along with Arsenal, Tempest, Ravager, and Disruptor, who was the Perseus field commander, whereas officials like Ruiz and Hollingsworth were the commanding officers but seldom took part in field work anymore.

As Raven walked towards one of the cargo planes with a MIDAS, a fifty-millimeter handheld cannon, she saw Disruptor also heading for the same plane with a mortar. Disruptor asked her, "Are you ready for this?"

Raven answered, "Yes. It's time we finally finish off the Brotherhood. And I understand you wanted me?"

"That is correct. You are probably the most experienced individual here when it comes to the Brotherhood of Evil, and I requested to the higher-ups that you come."

"Well, that, and probably my unique skillset that will enable me to handle one particular Brotherhood member." Raven slyly hinted at her order to assassinate General Immortus. Disruptor replied, "I know about your task. Anyway, I want you to be my aide-de-camp for this mission."

"Would I still be fighting?"

"Of course. You'll still be in combat, but you're also going to be my chief advisor for the battle. And having Mammoth, Arsenal, and Tempest along will prove helpful, but you were my first choice for this mission."

"Sounds good. How long do you think this will take?"

"If we're lucky, maybe a day. If not, it could be a very long time."

"Then we better get moving."

Over in Jump City, Nightwing was currently on call with the Justice League in regards of potential leads on the Brotherhood of Evil, only for some harsh realities yet to set in.

"What do you mean we're being sidelined?"

Superman explained, "The United States government has refused us permission to go after the Brotherhood. They have said that they have their own forces currently dispatched for the final takedown."

"But we're the only ones that can capture the Brotherhood."

"They mentioned that as part of the reason you aren't being sent. The Brotherhood is far more ruthless than before, haven't you forgot? Several thousand have already lost their lives, including some of our own. This is not about capturing them in their opinion, it's about finishing them."

"So they expect us to twiddle our thumbs as they proceed to deny thousands of people justice by committing mass murder?"

"We hate it as much as you do, but they do have a point. They got out of cryostasis before, so prisons are unlikely to be very useful. We would just have to end up recapturing them before they do even more damage. This time, I'm sorry to say that prisons won't work. The world has changed far more than we would have wanted it to and we're going to have to accept it. I would have wanted to finally bring down Lex Luthor, but now he's cleared out anything even remotely illegal and has one of the most positive images on Earth. Just because we don't want it, doesn't mean it isn't the truth. So, you are ordered to follow the government's guidelines. Understood?"

Nightwing could only groan, "Understood", before the feed cut, leaving him alone. While he couldn't blame the government for how they thought, but who could they possibly send that could go up against a group of dangerous metahumans? Human soldiers would get cut to pieces. So, they'd have to clean up the mess. Now, all he could do is wait for the slaughter to finish before he could head out with what remained of the Titans.

Once the cargo planes carrying the members of the Perseus Initiative landed at the Salgado Filho International Airport in Porto Alegre, Brazil, which was approximately 30.7 miles away from Itapuã, Brazil, where they would insert into Lagoa dos Patos after unloading the planes and then head another 31 nautical miles into the lagoon in order to get onto the Brotherhood base. From what they had concluded, the island was about 113 square miles (six miles wide) of which about the inner fifty square miles were the Brotherhood's encampment, leaving them with the remaining eighty-three square miles.

The planes having touched down, Disruptor supervised the unloading of the two-dozen amphibious vehicles, which had been designed by Perseus engineers to be able for both land and water travel. Each could hold up to five and another two hundred pounds of supplies, and was equipped with a Browning M2 machine gun and flares for defense. These were the top-of-the line infiltration vehicles, and also got extremely good gas mileage.

Raven walked over towards Disruptor along with Tempest, Arsenal, and Ravager, who were assigned to his vehicle. Raven asked, "So, how long until we move to the target, Michael?"

Disruptor answered, "We should be ready to move out in thirty minutes. Roy, I suggest you get on the M2. We don't want to be ambushed and not be ready. Garth, Raven, you're on the sides as defense. Rose, you're our navigator and overwatch."

Ravager asked, "Really?"

Disruptor explained, "You've probably got the best eyes, and I'm driving this thing."

She sighed, "Alright, but I want a gun." Raven then opened one of the containers with weapons and pulled out a MIDAS cannon and a scoped Mk 46 machine gun. Ravager tried to grab the MIDAS, but Raven remarked, "This is for me. The Mk 46 is yours. I have a feeling we'll be attacked by an old friend of mine, and this will prove handy."

Disruptor agreed, "Likely. If the Brotherhood knows you're here, which is a certainty, they'll most likely send Malchior to take you down. Though, I'd keep it out of sight until you've got a clean shot. Ruiz would be pissed if we lost a MIDAS."

Raven replied, "Got it." Raven engulfed the MIDAS with black magic and it vanished. Getting into the car, Raven was soon joined by Tempest right next to her and Arsenal up in front on the machine gun.

Tempest asked Raven, "You ready for this?"

Raven countered, "Are you? This is our most dangerous mission yet. We've already lost a couple of our own, and we're up against ninety percent of our teenage foes."

"No turning back now. Perhaps this will serve as much-needed closure for us, the end of all of, well most of our old enemies. Of course, there's still Slade."

Arsenal butted in, "Who the Titans completely bombed in catching, as well as that blob, the golem, and the walking electric current, plus some of the old HIVE crowd."

"That's another day, Roy. But now, it's time we finish what we didn't five years ago while bound by Richard's no-killing rule. There's something else, do you realize boys?"

Tempest realized, "If we, or once we succeed, we'll have basically ended the age of the Justice League, we'll have proved them almost irrelevant and unnecessary in this day of age. The world truly is changing."

"No shit about it." With that, Disruptor and Ravager hopped into the car, with the operation commander taking the driver's seat and Ravager coming in the shotgun seat, aiming the Mk 46.

Disruptor commented, "We've finished unloading the vehicles. Time to head out. We should be in the water in under forty minutes and at the island within the next ninety minutes if all goes according to plan."

With that, Disruptor turned on the ignition and the vehicle began heading out towards Lagoa dos Patos, followed by the other twenty or so vehicles, each manned with machine gunners and several other Perseus operatives.

An hour after departing the airport, the force had already reached the lagoon and was now heading well towards the Brotherhood base, which was another twenty nautical miles or so away. As they got closer, the members of Perseus became much more vigilant, waiting to see who was about to attack them now that the Brotherhood could begin to see them in the distance.

Disruptor asked Ravager, "You see their hideout yet?"

The swordsman replied, "It's coming up over the horizon. I'm starting to see guard towers. They'll know we're here in a matter of moments."

Then, the commander of the operation then radioed in, "Okay, we're getting near. Division Echo, you're swarming around the left side of their base. Division Yankee, the right. Separate when we're within five nautical miles of the island."

As the distance between the Initiative's strike force and the Brotherhood's base began to lessen, they could hear what sounded like a massive roar in the distance. Arsenal noted, "They've got a goddamn banshee!"

Tempest replied, "No. A dragon."

As they saw the massive form of a dragon emerge from the island, a huge swarm of aerial buzzard drones began to accompany the beast and headed towards the strike force. Raven insisted, "Malchior. He's mine."

Disruptor agreed, "Okay, Raven, take the dragon. Arsenal, Ravager, the drones. Tempest, cover us."

Tempest answered, "Yes, sir."

As the dragon breathed a massive burst of fire towards the lead vehicle, Tempest conjured a wave of water that immediately doused the fire before it even got close. Raven then hopped out of the vehicle and began flying towards the dragon. Come now, Malchior, let's play.

Malchior spotted a figure heading his way, not knowing it was the half-demon he had once used and betrayed, and sent a burst of fire her way to incinerate her.

Quickly, Raven created a shield to block it, but against his expectations, Raven actually sent the fire back hurdling towards him, forcing him to retreat to avoid being burned by his own flames.

Malchior then spoke, "Raven. I've missed you in my icy confinement. Now, I suppose we can begin to work things out."

Raven gave a loud chuckle and began, "Things aren't going to work out. You mistake me for the same girl you used years ago. Your games aren't going to work on me any longer."

"Well then, I'll have to destroy you, slowly and painfully while you try to capture me and put me back in cryostasis."

Raven smirked, "You're wrong about another thing. The rules have changed so much so." With that, Raven removed the MIDAS cannon from its storage inside of her mind and fired a single burst of fifty millimeter cannon fire. Before he could move or retaliate, all three rounds of the burst shot the dragon in the neck, fatally wounding him.

As the dragon plummeted towards the sea, Raven caught him with her black magic and then sucked him into Nevermore.

With Malchior dealt with, Raven returned to the vehicle, where Arsenal and Ravager were gunning down the drones that tried to attack, with other vehicles doing the same.

One drone evaded the gunfire and swarmed around the side towards Raven and Tempest. However, Tempest sliced it in half with a water whip.

Putting the MIDAS cannon away until she needed it, Raven grabbed dual Beretta M9's in her holsters and began opening fire on the drones. Using her powers to guide the bullets, she cut drone after drone down.

As they got within five nautical miles of the island, their vehicle began to turn left as many of the other vehicles then proceeded to head either left or right, depending on their designation as Echo or Yankee. They would surround the island and make sure there was nowhere to escape.

More of the buzzard drones continued to head towards the vehicles, but each wound up being shot out of the air by the vehicles.

Within another five minutes, the vehicles had completely surrounded the island and then began to close in on the island, landing ashore and then disboarding.

Mammoth linked up with Raven and the occupants of her vehicle, armed with a M240B machine gun. Disruptor ordered, "Close in."

Most of the remaining Initiative members got out of the vehicles, with the exception of a few, who remained there in order to ensure their protection as well as unloading the supplies. Altogether, of the eighty-plus members sent on the mission, about seventy were heading towards the Brotherhood's encampment at the moment.

Quickly moving up towards the encampment, Disruptor signaled, "Sergeant Mackavery, you're up." The late-20s Asian metahuman acknowledged, "Ten four, Lieutenant."

Sergeant Mackavery, codename Nicoda, then twisted a ring he was wearing, summoning a bird to fly towards the encapment, hopefully giving them a better view of what they were dealing with. As the bird reached the encampment, it suddenly fell down right towards the ground.

Disruptor asked, "So?"

Nicoda explained, "There must be some sort of barrier that blocks flight."

Raven commented, "Flight? Ding Dong Daddy, you son of a bitch."

Ravager asked, "Who's Ding Dong Daddy?"

Mammoth explained, "It's a long story, though Giz would be better for explaining it than me."

Nicoda continued, "They also have what look to be wards against teleportation and plasma blocks."

Disruptor realized, "So we can't get inside the base. Guess we're going to have to settle in for a very long siege."

Now, it has been two days since the siege of the Brotherhood encampment began. The Brotherhood had around 150 members, ranging from members of the original Brotherhood such as the Brain, Monsieur Mallah, and Madame Rouge to acquired members for the anti-Titans Brotherhood such as Adonis, Professor Chang, and Andre LeBlanc to new members (and established supervillains) such as Captain Cold, Livewire, and Hyena and recent HIVE graduates. The strike force from the Perseus Initiative had eighty-three members with the potential for another eighty-plus to come if reinforcements are needed, and included former Titans Raven, Arsenal, and Tempest as well as some ex-HIVE students and professional soldiers.

They had firmly trenched themselves in around the encampment, surrounding it to leave the Brotherhood no way to escape as even if they attempted flight, they also had anti-aircraft weaponry, so this would be almost purely a ground assault. They just had to break through the plasma blocks, which created an impenetrable barrier they couldn't pass through. And right now, they had spent most of their time watching the Brotherhood and strategizing how to penetrate the blocks and shields.

Disruptor went over all of the information they had garnered and attempted to discern a plan of action with some help from Raven. Raven noted, "We need to get eyes inside of their base if we're gonna have any chance in hell of stopping them from killing anybody else."

Disruptor commented, "Unfortunately, we can't get inside and neither can any sort of cameras."

"Then we'd just have to hack into a camera inside to get us a view. We'd need to get Giz."

"Okay, I'll contact him but we have to keep it as silent as possible otherwise." Pulling out his radio, Disruptor dialed in for Gizmo. On the other end of the line, Disruptor heard, "Lieutenant Beldon, whatdya need?"

The commanding officer explained, "I need you to trace for any and all electronic devices at our position. Coordinates are thirty degrees thirty-four minutes fourteen seconds South, fifty-one degrees three minutes thirteen seconds West. You got that?"

"Yeah. I got the coordinates. I have about twenty-seven electronic devices on island, including ones for the Initiative. Filtering out those, I have twelve. Eight of them are generators, one's a charger, one's the Brain, and two are communication devices, so no cameras."

"No eyes, but ears are just as important. Get us into their communications." Raven added, "Yeah, that's a great idea. The Brotherhood tapped into the Titans' communicators so they could not only get positions but also overhear us. Now, let's turn the tides."

"I got into both. One's purely for external communication, one's for internals. Get your radio transmitters."

Raven quickly manifested two radio transmitters, having moved them from the supplies and onto a table. "Gizmo, we got them. Now, what are the frequencies?"

"For their externals, sixty eight point four megahertz. Internals, sixty one point zero megahertz." Setting one of the radio transmitters for the external frequency and one for the internal, the Perseus Initiative strike force now had an ear into the Brotherhood of Evil, one that they could not detect.

"Thanks, Gizmo."

"You're welcome." With that, Gizmo and Disruptor's dialogue ended.

Raven commented to Disruptor, "Generators. If we can take them out, we can power down the plasma blocks and the anti-flight barrier."

"But position-wise, where the hell are they? Basically, we'd have to guess where they are. But thank the heavens we brought mortars."

As Raven walked away to help set up the mortars, Disruptor began listening in on the internal communications.

"How. Are. We. Going. To. Fight. Off. The. Invaders?"

"We will need to get reinforcements and break their lines." From what he had heard, it was the Brain talking with General Immortus.

"But vhat if ve zimply zneak behind them and break them, zlaughter them like de animals they are?"

"How would we be able to do it? They have us surrounded and it looks as if they have some very strong opposition."

"Indeed, Monsieur Mallah, but we still have the tunnels." Tunnels, perhaps that's also how they can get supplies.

The next day, Disruptor assembled the forces, though he spoke to many through their comms as he didn't want them to vacate the siege, and explained, "We believe that we have a plan for taking out the Brotherhood. First, we will cut off their supplies by taking out tunnels hidden beneath the surface and then we will bombard them until they run out of power and supplies. Once that happens, we will take them all out. Understood?"

Finishing, Tempest walked up to Disruptor and asked, "So, where are the tunnels?"

"Raven, find them." With that, Raven entered a lotus position and began to focus, searching for where there were what seemed to be some sort of tunnels. After several minutes of focusing, she exited her lotus position and began walking towards the side of the island. Tempest and Mammoth proceeded to follow her as they would be the ones responsible for destroying the tunnels.

Reaching the edge of the island, Raven used her powers to rip off what seemed to be an astro-turf cap to reveal a massive tunnel. Raven began to explain, "Thanks to their use of magic and science, they've managed to create tunnels that go for several hundred miles that enable them to funnel in supplies such as food and fuel, and hidden the entrance. The entrance is only about one and a half feet wide, so we can't send a person inside, but we can flood them."

Tempest then hopped into the water and then brought up a massive wave of water, sending it all into the tunnel to pass through all of its three miles towards the Brotherhood base, holding it up so none of it leaked out. Upon finishing, he commented, "Time to seal it."

Mammoth took out a block of RDX explosives and planted them at the edge of the tunnel entrance. The three backed away from the entrance as Mammoth detonated the explosives, causing the terrain of the island to crash onto the tunnel, blocking it off followed by Raven using her magic to create a permanent seal, meaning nobody could get in or out of that entrance.

Raven reported to Disruptor, "One tunnel down. Three to go."

"Good. The Brotherhood hasn't yet figured out their supply lines are cut. They will in a couple of minutes so hurry."

Teleporting Tempest and Mammoth to the next entrance of the tunnels, Raven ripped open the seal guarding the entrance and the three repeated the process, blocking off the tunnel and denying the Brotherhood valuable supplies.

Less than two minutes later, the third tunnel went down. They didn't have much time left until the Brotherhood realized that their supply lines were being cut off.

Just as the three reached the last supply line, Raven's enhanced hearing detected something, or rather two somethings. All of a sudden, they were ambushed by Hyena and Bloodsport. Hyena pounced on Tempest as Bloodsport shot at Mammoth and Raven. Blocking the rounds with a shield, Raven saw that they weren't ordinary rounds. However, they still could not break her shield though if someone got hit with them, it would be a certain death.

As Hyena tried to bite into Tempest's neck, the Atlantean fought back, trying to break the were-hyena's neck. However, as he saw Bloodsport in the corner of his eye, Hyena was just bait - if he managed to beat it, Bloodsport would kill him. Raven and Mammoth quickly realized it and soon began focusing their attention on taking out Bloodsport before he could try and take out Tempest.

Fortunately, they weren't alone on the island as four other Initiative members, including Arsenal quickly came to their assistance. Arsenal shot Bloodsport in the head with his crossbow, killing him.

With Bloodsport dead, Tempest regained his vigor and created a wave of water that washed away Hyena from him, allowing Mammoth to grab him and snap his neck.

Arsenal headed over towards his boyfriend, helping him up from the ground and asking, "You good?"

Tempest answered, "I'm good. Now, let's finish taking out their supply lines." Heading over to the last of the tunnels, Tempest flooded it with water before Arsenal planted an arrow tip at the top of the entrance. In seconds, a four inch thick cement mixture covered the entire entrance, making it impossible to break through.

Disruptor commented from the comms, "Good work guys. The Brotherhood's feeling the effects."

Now, it had been about six days since the siege of the Brotherhood began and already they had made a dent. Of the 150 members present at the base, they had already killed eight and captured one, with the dead comprising of Malchior, Hyena, Bloodsport, Doctor Polaris, two HIVE graduates, and two rogue mercenaries and the one captured being Killer Moth.

With the numbers already starting to thin, they just had to penetrate the barriers to get in. And that was where the mortars were coming in. At random intervals throughout the day, they unleashed a barrage of mortars on the Brotherhood encampment, ranging from only a few shells to northward of two dozen, further keeping them on edge.

They didn't know where each would land, but they still unsettled the Brotherhood and with their access to the Brotherhood's communications, they could hear the damage report.

Disruptor was listening to the latest damage report, which had Monsieur Mallah saying, "They hit one of the generators and took out a guard tower. We have one dead and three wounded."

"Then. Keep. Generators. Focused. On. The. Barricades. As. Long. As. They. Stand. We. Survive."

Now, the Brotherhood had lost one of the eight generators and one of the six guard towers, as well as being on rationing food and electricity. Once the guard towers were gone, they'd be able to get a much better view into the base and could better fire their mortars for much more of a devastating impact.

As he continued to listen, Raven came into his tent with a tray. Setting it down on the table, she revealed two bottles of water and two plates of prepared MREs, specifically ginger salmon and basmati rice. The commanding officer of the mission asked, "So, Raven, what do I have the pleasure?"

Raven sat down and said, "This has nothing to do with the mission. This is about a personal issue."

Taking out a Swiss Army Knife, Disruptor flicked out the blade designed for cutting food and began cutting the salmon before also pulling out a fork. He inquired, "Jinx?"

Raven joked, "I didn't know you were a telepath."

Taking a bite of his salmon, Disruptor relied, "I'm not. Why else would you come here to ask me about a personal matter over dinner nonetheless?" Raven also proceeded to pull out a switchblade and used it to cut her salmon, grabbing a fork and using it to eat her MRE ration.

"I hadn't eaten in a few days and figured now would be a good time."

As Disruptor continued to eat his salmon and rice, he spoke with Raven about her issue. "What's the problem with Jinx?"

"Nothing. She's great. Not only in bed but also as a listener."

"The first part I didn't need to hear, but what's the problem?"

"I don't know if I can live without her. We've been together for five years, and I don't know if we will be able to continue."

"Do you love her?"

"I do."

"Does she love you?"

"Yes."

"So breaking up doesn't seem to be the issue. I think it's that you fear she'll die."

"She's nearly died several times already. I've almost lost her and I can't risk it. If I lose her, I don't know what I'd do. She's my entire world. Everything I am now is because of her. Because she dared to befriend me, love me, and encourage me to break the chains set on me by Azarath and the Titans."

"Could you find anybody else to take her place?"

"No. And that's what I fear."

"Raven, I don't know a lot about love, but if you love her, nobody can take her place. You need to ensure that, make sure that she is yours. Marry her."

"Are you serious, Michael?"

"I am." Finishing up his dinner, Disruptor continued, "If she truly loves you like you love her she will say yes. Then, you will never have to let her go."

"And if she doesn't?"

"She won't say no." Raven got up and took the tray with two empty plates and two empty bottles, proceeding to leave Disruptor's tent and headed over to her own tent, which she was sharing with Ravager.

Back in Titans Tower, the Titans were monitoring what was happening with the Brotherhood of Evil, watching to see who attacked, what the target was, and who (if anybody) responded.

So far, they had confirmed the capture of about two dozen lesser members, but nobody big was seen being captured, with the biggest being a metahuman named Kinesis captured in North Korea. It seemed as if everybody important was just hiding away, waiting for some big plot.

Sitting on the couch with Cyborg, Persephone asked, "So, are we going to get off our asses and do something, or just wait for trouble to come to us?"

Nightwing, who was also in the main room, explained, "We've been sidelined from going after the chief Brotherhood location by the U.S. government, and even if we weren't, we haven't a clue where they are and their strength. They've estimated at least one hundred enemies at their last base."

A few moments later, Beast Boy came in and explained, "I just got word from Mento. The Doom Patrol has taken out a small Brotherhood refuge in Sri Lanka. They got a few small criminals but all the big ones are long gone."

"Anything on communications? Did they contact anyone?"

"Untraceable satellite communication. All call logs were deleted. They were prepared for the Doom Patrol. A sacrificial lamb to distract us from where they truly are hiding."

"And even if we knew where, we're being benched. All we can do is handle the city. The world is changing far too rapidly for us. It's like our age is over but we don't have anywhere to go after it ends."

Then, Starfire flew right into the room and began, "We have some trouble."

Nightwing then replied, "Okay, something for us to do."

Now, it had been eleven days since the siege of the Brotherhood began. So far, the Brotherhood had twenty-eight dead, including Malchior, Hyena, Bloodsport, Doctor Polaris, Evil Star, Volcana, and Fang with another fifteen wounded and five captured, including Killer Moth and Mister Twister. The Initiative on the other hand had six wounded, none seriously though.

It was becoming increasingly clear that the Brotherhood was going to lose the battle, but the Brotherhood, stubborn as they were, refused to surrender. Their escape routes and supply lines were all cut off, and they were now rationing supplies, but even at the increasing rate they were trying to preserve their supplies, they only had enough food, water, and fuel to last another three weeks at most. In addition, of the eight generators, only four were still active, and they were already being strained by the amount they had to do in order to keep the barriers up.

Now, it was time to up the pressure. Raven walked over to Arsenal and said, "I just spoke to Michael and it's time to do something we should have done days ago. Destroy the guard towers."

Arsenal inquired, "Why the fuck are we only doing this just now?"

"We needed to be sure they wouldn't have the strength to retaliate, and by now, they're struggling with starvation and dehydration. Ready up."

With that, Arsenal grabbed his crossbow and quiver while Raven pulled out her MIDAS cannon. As they headed over to one of the five remaining guard towers, Raven began to ask, "So, Roy, what do you think would happen if you lost Garth?"

Stunned by the question, Roy nearly froze, having not considered what would happen if he lost Garth in some time. What would I do if Garth was killed?

"I honestly don't know. He's basically my whole world. Is this about you and Jinx?"

"Yes. I've started wondering if I could live without her, and I realize that I can't. But what if she can live without me?"

"If she could live without you, she would have most likely done so years ago. Now, Rae, it should be clear that she needs you, just as you need her."

Finally arriving at the first guard tower, Raven aimed her MIDAS at the tower while Arsenal also aimed his crossbow. Raven fired a single round from the MIDAS at the base of the tower, immediately shattering its support and it promptly plummeted down to the ground. Arsenal kept his crossbow trained at the tower's head, making sure there was nobody inside. "We're clear. Let's move on to the next one."

As they walked over to the next tower, Arsenal asked, "So, I suppose the question is are you ready for marriage?"

"Marriage? A decade ago, I thought I wouldn't even live long enough to get married. But now, we've been together for five years. I suppose it is about time. But is she ready?"

"That's a question you'll have to answer for yourself."

Reaching the second tower, Raven and Arsenal repeated the process - Raven destroying the base of the tower, causing it to collapse and Arsenal checking to make sure there was nobody there.

A few minutes later, they reached the third tower and took it down with no difficulty. It was almost as if with the Brotherhood weakened by supply shortage so much so they couldn't even man the guard towers. Then again, the towers were at the edge of the Brotherhood's encampment, which was four miles wide, so they were incredibly distant. Probably with the shortages, they don't have enough energy to go to and from the towers.

After reaching the last tower, they were ready to destroy it but they heard SteamRoller coming in the distance, readying itself to attack them. As it got within a third of a mile of them, Raven fired a round from the MIDAS at its tread, immediately causing a crack in it. As it split apart, the tread could no longer go straight and then crashed into the guard tower, causing it to crash on top of SteamRoller. Arsenal fired an explosive bolt from his crossbow at the ruins of the tower and of SteamRoller, and the explosion quickly consumed them both.

With SteamRoller and the tower down, Raven radioed to Disruptor, "Towers are gone. Time to push them harder."

"Got it, Raven. You may want to cover your ears." Slinging the MIDAS on her side, Raven covered her ears. Arsenal, noting what Raven was doing, did the same as another barrage of mortars struck the Brotherhood base, a one hundred shell barrage that lasted for forty minutes.

Once the barrage finished, Raven and Arsenal returned to Disruptor's tent, where he explained, "Good work, Raven, Arsenal. Our latest barrage was the most damaging yet. Just listen."

Listening in on the Brotherhood's communications, they heard, "How. Bad. Was. The. Damage. From. The. Mortars?"

"They killed five more, including Key and injured seven. In addition, Brain, they hit one of our supply tents. We only have enough food and water for a week at minimum rations and enough fuel to power the remaining four generators for a few more days, which is assuming that they maintain efficiency, which they most likely will not."

"Monsieur. Mallah. Focus. All. Generators. We. Can. Spare. To. Keeping. Barricades. And. Put. Rations. At. Sub. Minimum."

Raven noted, "The final push. They're low on food and fuel. So, they're what only eating one meal a day now?"

"That's what they were doing two days ago. Now, it's like four meals a week. Of course, they don't have as many people to feed seeing how they now have thirty-four dead and five captured. Over a third of the Brotherhood is now a casualty."

"So, Mike, how long you think until the siege ends?"

"Well, Arsenal, my best guess would be within the next few days at the rate they're losing supplies."

"And now, let's prepare for that final assault."

Meanwhile, while her girlfriend was out on the final mission to destroy the Brotherhood of Evil, Jinx found herself back at Fort Pell, anxiously awaiting for her return. Radio silence was a basic requirement for this mission, so she hadn't spoken to Raven since just before she left.

Seeing how there was a high likelihood she would be needed for another mission, Jinx had opted to stay at base with Gizmo, who was currently coordinating several active missions against remaining high Brotherhood targets.

She was so alone as all but a couple of members of the Perseus Initiative were out on missions across the globe, ranging from Brazil to Papua New Guinea eliminating Brotherhood of Evil strongholds.

Today, she was in Colonel Ruiz's office, waiting for him to arrive with details of an urgent, top-secret mission. And given how few members were currently there, she was definitely going to be needed. What the fuck does Ruiz need me to do now? What could it even fucking be?

After a couple of minutes, Jinx's commanding officer finally came back into his office. Jinx asked, "So what's the task, sir?"

Colonel Ruiz began, "Sergeant Dasgupta, we have received reports that the Serbian Mafia intends to sell weapons-grade nuclear material at an auction in a few days."

That's what Ruiz called her in for? That isn't it.

"What's so special about the nuclear material?"

"They acquired it from Chernobyl, and since the accident, it's gained some metaphysical properties in all likelihood. With the Brotherhood rapidly on the decline, the Serbian Mafia took a big risk acquiring it and now they stand ready to take their place, now as terrorist suppliers. If this material was used in a bomb, we'd expect a blast that would essentially level New York City. We ran projections on the potential of this material being used in a bomb, and we'd expect over a million dead in the initial blast plus another several million succumbing to radiation poisoning within the next few days and another couple million with various cancers and possible mutations."

"Am I going in alone?"

"We don't have anyone to spare at the moment, unfortunately. The Brotherhood situation takes priority, and that's exactly what they thought when they stole the material. In addition, because of the sensitive nature of the task, you cannot leave any evidence that we hired you for this job. You move out in twelve hours. Understood?" Great, a fucking ghost job. That means it's me pilfering a gun and hoping it doesn't break apart in my hands after one shot.

"Understood, sir." With that, Jinx left her commanding officer's office, rather pissed off with her current assignment - hopefully the Brotherhood business would be done soon and Raven and Mammoth could come help her.

Now, it had been roughly two weeks since the Perseus Initiative's strike force had begun their attack on the final (and key) stronghold of the Brotherhood of Evil. Since beginning the siege, they had crippled the stronghold's supply lines, leaving them with dwindling rations of food, water, and fuel for the generators creating the barricades that prevented the Initiative from barging right in and slaughtering them all wholesale. They had gone into this with a hundred fifty ready members and now, they were down to around one hundred fifteen members, a number of whom were wounded or exhausted and starving.

This was an incredibly lopsided fight in the Initiative's favor, and their victory was now a certainty. It was now all a matter of how much longer the Brotherhood could hold out.

Waking up after a quite restful night, Disruptor walked over to Raven, who was currently getting the pieces of the fallen guard towers, and standing beside Mammoth, Arsenal, Tempest, and Ravager. The commanding officer of the mission asked, "What are you doing, Raven?"

The demonling explained, "I'm gathering the pieces of the guard towers for a bombardment over their base."

"Any particular reason?"

"So we can spare the mortars, as well as to ambush them and embarass them by having them attacked with their own materials. I'm amazed that the idea didn't come to me any sooner. Well, with the Brotherhood abandoning more of the outer camp, I can get a somewhat better fix on where the generators are. The three remaining generators."

"Excellent. Take out the generators and then they'll be doomed."

After another three minutes, Raven had collected the ruins of the six guard towers, spending another fifteen minutes breaking apart the guard towers. Arsenal wondered, "Wouldn't it be better to clump them together and drop it?"

Raven smirked, "It's like buckshot. Now, I like the spread of this barrage and we'll be more likely to inflict massive damage."

Once she had finished breaking apart the guard towers, Raven engulfed them all in her black magic and as she chanted, "Azarath metrion zinthos", they rose into the air towards the heart of the island. Once they arrived, Raven let them all drop onto the ground.

Once her payload had dropped, Raven went over to Disruptor to find out the damage she had done. Already holding the radio with the tapped Brotherhood communications, Disruptor turned it on to reveal Monsieur Mallah talking, "The attack did a bit of structural damage, but fortunately no fatalities. Unfortunately, we had a dozen more wounded and lost two more generators. We only have one left and it's draining gasoline."

Disruptor put down the radio and then radioed in to all of the members of the Initiative present, "Attention all units. The Brotherhood is on its last legs. Once the plasma blocks shut down, engage the Brotherhood at your own discretion. The key members are to be terminated with extreme prejudice. Any other member is permitted to surrender, but if you doubt their certainty, eliminate them. We have eighty, well-rested, well-supplied, and well-trained mercenaries against one hundred fifteen starved, exhausted, and likely wounded of them."

The mission commander signed off as he prepped his exo-skeleton for combat. Then, over the Brotherhood's hacked comms, they heard the Brain say, "Attention. All. Members. Prepare. For. Attack. Within. The. Next. Twenty. Minutes. Fight. To. The. Death. Show. No. Mercy. There. May. Be. Some. Former. Associates. Of. Yours. But. They. Will. Not. Hold. Back. And. Neither. Will. You."

Raven snarked, "He's certainly a talkative one."

Disruptor noted, "Let's get ready. We've got something to finish."

Then, the two went towards the front of the barricade, joining Arsenal, Tempest, Mammoth, and Ravager. The rest of the Initiative circled the barrier to ensure there was nowhere to escape. Raven swooped over to the other side so both sides would be sufficiently covered. Guns, powers, and more were all trained on the barricade which was quickly fading.

Arsenal asked his boyfriend, "Ready?"

Tempest answered, "Ready."

Only minutes later, the last generator died and with it went the plasma blocks and the anti-flight dome. Disruptor yelled, "Charge!" The eighty members of the Perseus Initiative then stormed the Brotherhood.

Quickly, Disruptor found himself confronted by Icicle with Livewire not that far away. Icicle smirked as he let loose with a burst of ice. Disruptor, shockingly, not only caught it but then backflipped and then touched Icicle right in the chest. The ice villain screamed, "What did you do to me?"

Noticing Livewire not that far away, Disruptor surprisingly let loose with a blast of ice. Within seconds, Livewire's entire body was encased in ice. Disruptor explained, "My exo-suit. I can take someone's powers while shutting them down. Which is exactly what happened to you."

Also going on, Ravager hopped across the tin rooftops of the Brotherhood's makeshift stronghold to see Katarou, who had been injured by Raven's most recent bombardment and holding a sword in confusion. Ravager leapt down and swung right at Katarou, who barely ducked out of the way in time.

Ravager spun down onto the ground, sweeping under Katarou's legs, causing him to drop his sword and enabling the white-haired mercenary to slice his head clean off.

Arsenal and Tempest ran through the encampment to quickly encounter Andre LeBlanc, armed with a harpoon and Electrocutioner. Looking totally bored, Tempest let loose with water in a pack on his back and sprayed the Electrocutioner's suit. Immediately, the villain was literally shocked by the water spray and was electrocuted.

And before LeBlanc could retaliate, Arsenal lodged an arrow into his throat with his crossbow, killing him in an instant.

Mammoth waded through the stronghold with two power gloves and an M240B in hand. Quickly sensing someone behind him, Mammoth turned around and saw Copperhead ready to pounce right on him. Just as the villain dressed as a snake jumped, Mammoth pumped him full of lead.

Quickly turning around, Mammoth spotted the Puppet King, who just like Copperhead, leaped towards the brute. Grabbing him with just one hand, Mammoth quickly snapped his neck, killing him.

As Raven strolled through the battle, she saw several Initiative members engaging a group consisting of the Master of Games, Blockbuster, and Wrestling Star.

Then, she spotted an old rival of hers - Kardiak. As the heart-shaped villain made an attempt to suck up Raven, the demonling chanted, "Caij nplooj zeeg rau nplaim taws". As black magic coated Kardiak, it was quickly turned to nothing but ash and burning embers.

Continuing her stroll through, she seemingly did not notice KGBeast aiming a sniper rifle at her head, hoping to pick off the most powerful member of the team.

For his trouble, Raven tossed a knife into his head, causing him to fall down onto the ground. Examining his body, Raven retrieved her knife and picked up his modified Kalashnikov rifle. Checking the magazine, she saw it had ten rounds.

Arsenal and Tempest, after taking down four ex-PMCs, met Professor Ojo, Key, and Black Spider. Smirking, Arsenal launched an explosive arrow that quickly blasted a hole into Black Spider and injured Ojo and Key.

With the blind Ojo stumbling around, Arsenal pulled out his Glock 18 and shot him once in the head. Before Key could strike back, Tempest grabbed him with a water whip that quickly strangled him to death.

After handling Toyman having acquired Luminus's ability (and killing him), Disruptor turned his attention to Professor Chang, who attempted to raise a plasma gun, but was promptly disintegrated by a blast of concentrated light.

Ravager leapt down from another rooftop, stabbing one of the HIVE graduates in the back before using her katana to slice a big gash into Evil Star's chest. Kicking him down, Ravager then charged right at Phobia, who attempted to slow down the mercenary by inciting one of her fears.

She never even made contact with Ravager as she first fired a double-barreled shotgun point-blank into Phobia's chest and then Ravager sliced her head clean off. Dropping the shotgun she had stolen from a fallen mercenary, she returned to the rooftops to hunt down her next target.

Mammoth, upon encountering Monocle leading four drones, dropped each drone with a single shot from his Desert Eagle before advancing right on Monocle. The villain fired several damaging beams towards Mammoth, none of which managed to hit him, only for Mammoth to grab him with his power gloves, shocking him severely before Mammoth delivered a fatal punch to the side of his head.

As two Perseus members proceeded to launch an EMP grenade at Atlas, frying his inner circuitry and destroying him, Arsenal proceeded to fire a bolo arrow from his crossbow that sent Giganta tumbling onto the ground before she could grow any more. Putting a power-suppressing collar on the former gorilla, Arsenal soon joined up with Tempest to disarm and capture Abra Kadabra.

Raven linked up with a few other fellow Initiative members as they went after the combination of Devastation, Adonis, and General Immortus, who so happened to be her target.

Focusing on the general, Raven fired two rounds from her stolen AK, hitting Immortus directly in the kneecaps, crippling him. Advancing on him to finish the job, Adonis, licking his lips with lust, leaped to finally get Raven, intending to put his hands around her sizable bust.

Instead, they landed right on Raven's hair, scalding his hands. Raising her head to the brute, Raven stabbed him with her claws both in the abdomen and then right in the throat, killing him.

The other members near Raven each opened fire with MIDAS cannons, with each impact leaving its mark on Devastation, doing more than enough damage to finally put her down from burns and blood loss.

General Immortus, pinned to the ground, raised a blaster towards Raven, but it got shot away when Raven put a bullet in his shoulder followed by a bullet in his other shoulder. Seeing that her weapon had run dry, Raven ditched the AK and lifted up General Immortus by his uniform.

The immortal remarked, "So, what now, will you put me in a prison for me that will be an eternal sentence?"

"Yes, a life sentence...for the remaining minutes of your life." Gasping in horror, General Immortus found himself engulfed in black magic as he got pulled directly into Nevermore, where his brain activity would cease after enough time, killing him permanently.

With her target down, Raven picked up Immortus's blaster and proceeded to accompany the nearby soldiers as they converged on the Brain. Now, the Brotherhood only had about fifteen members left to fight with over one hundred twenty dead and thirteen captured. In comparison, the Initiative only had four wounded, with the worst injury being a broken arm.

Encountering a wounded, stumbling Rampage, Raven decided to put her out of her misery with a single shot to her head, immediately ending her life.

Disruptor, after taking Dreadbolt captive, soon found himself cornered by Captain Cold and Madame Rouge. The villainess sneered, "Look vho's here."

Stretching an arm towards Disruptor, the team leader ducked and went for Captain Cold. As Rouge added, "That's right, run avay like the covard you are." Using Captain Cold as a human shield, Disruptor grabbed Cold's cannon and then fired the weapon at Rouge, instantly freezing her in place, just like he had done with Livewire. Snapping Captain Cold's neck upon finishing with him, Disruptor pulled out his sidearm and checked around the corner to see if anyone else was nearby, seeing two Initiative members finishing off INSTIGATOR.

Passing by the bullet-riddled body of Warp and the ashes of Mother Mae-Eye, Arsenal encountered what looked like XL Terrestrial, pinned down by a piece of Raven's shrapnel attack. As he cried out in pain, he attempted to grow large enough to remove the debris, but it was too little as Arsenal put a single arrow in his throat, ending his life.

Behind Arsenal, one of the Initiative members conjured a wave of fire and sent it right at Ding Dong Daddy, paralyzing him before the wave let go, letting the car racer die from a sudden stroke.

After twenty minutes of fighting, only ten members of the Brotherhood had yet to be captured or killed, and they were all right in the center of the stronghold.

Monsieur Mallah and Punk Rocket, seeing the swarm of the eighty members converging on them, launched one final assault on the force about to clobber them into oblivion.

Punk Rocket was dealt with sniper fire from one of the Initiative members while Monsieur Mallah found himself punched right in the gut by Mammoth, stumbling him to the ground long enough for another member of the Initiative to empty a MIDAS cannon into him, killing him.

Raven and Disruptor then materialized in front of the immobile Brain and what seemed like a teenager. Handing Disruptor the blaster she took from General Immortus, Raven went up to get the teenager. The Brain began, "This. Will. Not. Be. Our. End."

Disruptor remarked, "In case you haven't heard, you are all that remains of the Brotherhood" before firing the blaster right at the Brain, frying the circuitry and destroying him and whatever intelligence lay inside.

Placing a power suppressing collar on the teenager, Raven threw him roughly down onto the ground. Disruptor wondered, "Why was he here among the Brain's inner circle?"

Raven retorted, "Isn't it obvious, he freed the Brotherhood? He's a technopath, one with delusions of grandeur that thought releasing the Brotherhood would give him power, isn't that right, Eric Forrester?"

The teenager nervously asked, "How do you know my name?"

"Telepathy, of course. And now you've got a lot to answer for."

Two Initiative members dragged Forrester away, where he would be brought back for interrogation on what he knew and why he did what he did. Finally, a four month struggle had ended and the Brotherhood was gone forever.

Disruptor then dialed in to Ruiz and said, "It's done. One hundred thirty four dead and sixteen captured. Brain, Immortus, Mallah, and Phobia are dead and Rouge is in captivity."

"Good work. Now, can you get Raven on the line?"

Disruptor then handed the phone over to Raven, who asked, "Yes, Ruiz? What is it?"

"The Dinarian Alps. Jinx could use some immediate assistance. Got it?"

"Yes." With that, Raven phased into the ground, heading off to help Jinx with her mission.

A few hours after the Brotherhood had been finished, with the remaining members thrown in Hueco Profundo, and after Raven had gotten Jinx out of her precarious situation in Serbia, the two lay nude in their bed, where Raven was tying a pink ribbon around her finger.

The demonling commented, "There. Now, I'm officially off the market." Indeed, Raven had finally proposed to Jinx after discussion with Disruptor and Arsenal.

Jinx replied, "Yeah, there's only one person for me and that's you. We're meant to be together."

Cuddling into her fiancee's embrace, Raven said, "And that's all I want to think about now."

As the two entered their kiss, Raven thought, Life is good. I love her and I'm never letting go.

Okay, the spell Raven used to kill Kardiak, "Caij nplooj zeeg rau nplaim taws" is Hmong for "Fall to flames". And the teenager who released the Brotherhood, Eric Forrester, is the comics version of Malchior, aka the bastard that first broke Raven's heart, using Raven for his own power and benefit. And the last scene is basically a major bookend to the original, which had Raven uttering the first thought and words, so it all ties in.

Now, that's it for my entry into the Misunderstandings series - with the volume of other works I have at the moment, it seems highly unlikely that I will return to this, but nobody knows. I may get another flash of inspiration and post a twenty-first chapter to the story, which I'd bet would be taking place after Consequence.

In addition, I will have an adoptable story up on my page for anybody who wants it. Details will be up in a few days.

And for those of you with fathers, be sure to wish them a happy Father's Day.

storytell18 out.