Teen Titans: Trigon Apotheosis
Chapter 14 – Outpost Sigma Part 4: Final
"Don't do that Beast Boy!" Raven groaned as she held her head, feeling a knot already forming on the back of her scalp.
"Rae," Beast Boy said in genuine concern, "are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Raven said in a mordant tone, "Other than you nearly killing me, yes, I'm doing remarkably well. I've got bruises, lacerations, burns, and now a painful knot on the back of my head. All I need now is a stomach ulcer, athletes foot and a rare tropical disease to finish my collection."
Beast Boy signed in relief that his friend was not hurt too bad, only after that did he force a smile at Raven's attempt at sarcasm. The pain quickly receded from the not-too-serious head wound and Raven opened her eyes to find BB standing over her, his face a mere foot from her own and full with a concerned smile. Raven was not used to having Beast Boys face so close a little closer and they could…they could…!
Raven blushed at the thought and quickly used her other hand, shoving it into BB's face and pushing him back with all the strength she had. He fell back upon his rear with a hiccup of surprise. With out giving BB a chance Raven scrambled to her feet and stood tall over him, her face reflecting her every intention to get right down to business.
Thanks to him her room was a mess, the card table legs were bent and disfigured, the water pitcher had shattered on contact with the floor, and her sparse breakfast was all over the place, unsuitable to eat now. She could still feel the dull ache pulsing at the back of her head putting her into an even fouler mood.
"Why are you here?" she said sternly.
"Why are any of us here?" BB said in mocking seriousness.
"No," Raven was already getting exasperated, "Why did you come in here? It isn't to improve my health. Was it just to show me the outfit your girlfriend made for you?"
"Girlfriend?" BB chuckled as he regained his stance, " No, Raven, I only caught a glimpse of Ether while I was choosing my get-up. You should see it there is a whole closet filled full of spy wear to choose from." BB said proudly as he showed off his punk biker attire. The clothes, of which, had a holographic matrix built into it, hiding BB's naturally green skin and pointed ear. Instead he appeared so human that it was almost impossible to recognize him; only his voice, childish attitude, and toothy grin remained to give him away, but that was only noticeable to people who actually knew him.
"Too bad they didn't have a ninja suit for you to wear Raven," BB continued, even though it was clear he was agitating Raven into thoughts of violence involving him, water, and a car battery.
Raven's other thought, besides the car battery was, 'I'm not wearing no ninja suit.' However it came out as, "They have a ninja suit?" There was a hint of curiosity.
"Yeah, it'd be so cool if you wore it. Then we could call you 'Crouching Dragon, or Flying Tiger." BB pantomimed some exaggerated karate moves; Raven rolled her eyes.
"Your as big an idiot as ever." Raven pointed out the obvious.
"Thanks Rae-Rae!" BB gave a wide grin. "Speaking of which…" BB intoned slyly, "Did you finally choose your ultra cool spy-ninja alias?" Again BB pretended he knew karate.
"Actually I did." Raven said with a straight face. That got BB's attention.
"O really…" BB froze in mid-round house kick.
She hadn't really thought of one, she only said that to shut BB up. She should've realized it would only make him nag her more to know what it was.
"Yeah, really,"
"Don't be a name hog, I wanna know what to call you." BB pleaded like a child wanting candy from a parent. Raven lifted an eyebrow. Time to think fast; something she wasn't good at otherwise she wouldn't be silently cursing Beast Boy's ancestors.
"I'll tell you later." She crossed her arms while brushing off BB. She couldn't just choose a random name out of think air, it had to have meaning yet not be so unique as to look silly. BB looked ready to burst into a fit of pouting when a quirky, defiantly British voice sounded off in the hallway outside Raven's room.
"Oy! What is taking you so long, me duckies." Mad Mod spoke in that impatient teacher voice that drove school kids up the wall. He rapped his cane against the metal wall a few times for emphasis and clicked his tongue as well.
Raven had already had it with BB, she didn't want to have to deal with that self centered redheaded Brit on top of it all. She groaned in annoyance before saying, "Guess we should go before 'Old Grandpa' has a stroke."
"I heard that, you bloody brat!" Mad Mod raised his voice, emerging in the doorway at last, clearly insulted. Raven gave an innocent shrug as if she didn't know what he was talking about.
"In case you hadn't heard from the littl' green tart," Mad Mod ran his fingers through BB's hair, in the same manner he would a small pet, before "Fixit is looking to school you in current events of utmost importance." Mad Mod indicated some unseen destination with his cane. "Something I'm sure you'll both find most enlightening."
With nothing further to say, Mad Mod lead Raven and Beast Boy in silent procession with no hint or clue given as to where he was taking them. Hoping that Fixit would soon be able to take the brats off his hands.
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The three of them departed from Raven's room. When they had first brought her here she hadn't been paying much attention, but Raven began to notice some things she hadn't before. They had bunked her up in a hospital, it wasn't obvious at first given its state of disrepair, but they soon passed by a directory sign hanging from the ceiling. It had labels like, Diagnostics lab-305, Surgery-201, those sorts of things, written across them. The place hadn't seen any patients for a long time. Not surprising seeing as it was virtually stripped of anything useful.
It was an unexciting walk to the front hospital lobby. There would have been glass everywhere had someone not come before them and sloppily swept it all into makeshift piles. All of the furniture was overturned and some had been beaten into a mess of splinters.
Before stepping to the morning light, Mad Mod conjured up a worn out stocking cap, faded blue, and handed it to Raven. She noticed a slight chilly breeze coming in through the glass-less windows, but she wasn't getting the cap it because it was cold outside. He didn't need to say anything for Raven immediately put it on and made sure all of her violet hair was concealed. She though she saw a nod of approval from Moddie, but didn't care to acknowledge it.
Waiting for them outside was a 60s style Volkswagen Beetle. It obviously belonged to Moddie cause although frame wise it looked clean and normal enough, it was the brightly colored British flag and psychedelic paint job that made such a strong affirmation of who its true owner was. It was also shiny, very shiny, newly polished and everything. It was anathema to the dirt and decay that was the surrounding city streets.
"Yeeaah, no one going to notice us in that." Raven shielded her eyes from color culprit car, she would not have been surprised if she opened the hood to find the engine polished with bees wax and smelling of flowers and perfume.
"Rae, I think Moddie is smoking something strong." BB whispered to Raven.
"I hope it isn't contagious?" she whispered back.
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While the car's exterior was jovial and hippie hugging, the interior was rather somber and underwhelming. The seats were leather, but they were long past their prime. Dull in color, riddled with rips and scratches, and utterly uncomfortable. Raven and Beast Boy sat together in the back of the car. Neither one wanted to sit next to Moddie for fear of catching something viral. Mad Mod, on the other hand, had taken the drivers seat in the vehicle, on the right side, as was the English way.
"Dude, what wrong with your car? It's built backward." BB tried, mostly, to act civil in pointing out an obvious flaw.
"This is the right side ya 'tosser'." Mad Mod barked the insult, while his grip on the steering wheel noticeably tightened.
"That was an insult." Raven said, seeing the expression of misunderstanding on BB's face.
"I know that," he then tried to look angry, but he just didn't get it, "but what does it mean?"
"I'll tell you what it means," Mod rotated his head to look BB right in the eye, "It means this is the one and only way to make a proper automobile. You'd do well to remember that."
"What ever dude." BB dismissed it as being an uninteresting conversation.
"Should we paint it as tasteless as you do?"
Mad Mod just ignored her as he inserted the key into the ignition, priming the engine with no difficulty. They were soon underway with no further problems.
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Mod carefully drove his pristine vehicle down the empty city streets, not surprisingly in the left lane. No one had said anything for a near dozen minutes, yet a point in inquiry began to form on the lips of Beast boy. As far as he was concerned and given Mod's history of being over the top excessive, compulsive, feverishly animated, and in general an overall bad due with a complete disregard to common law; it bewildered BB as to,
"Why the hell are you driving so slow?" He couldn't stand it any longer. There were wide-open stretches of city track ahead of them, no one else in sight, and he doubted that any one would care if they had a little fun. "You can go faster than 15! Floor this sucker to the max!"
Mod acted as if he hadn't heard, but instead suddenly slammed on the breaks and brought the Beetle to a complete stop.
"Is this it?" Raven asked quizzically since as all she saw was a blown out gas station and the decrepit remains of a coffee shop.
BB gave huff of displeasure, "Man, this would've been faster walking."
"Patience, me duckies, you are not ready to meet his majesty quite yet." Mod spoke in a low, almost hushed tone, almost as if he was afraid of someone overhearing him, while simultaneously tossing two small pieces of cloth to the two teens in the back.
"Your kidding right?" BB frowned at the black strips of cloth, "This is so uncool."
"Tasteless and clichéd." Raven agreed, disliking it even more.
Mod didn't turn around to address their dislike for the blindfolds, but his tone hinted at the possibility that he too agreed with their concerns, "I'm very serious, his majesty's orders. We don't go any further until you put on the blindfolds."
"Who do you mean?" Raven asked, "Fixit?" A slight nod from Mod confirmed it, "He doesn't trust us then." she was confused by Fixit's strange request and Mod's sudden change of tone. Before Mad Mod had referred to Fixit as 'scrap bucket,' 'rin-tin-rust,' 'tin can,' and other such unflattering names. It appeared to Raven that he had some serious sort of leverage over Mad Mod. It would explain Mod's sudden attitude change and hushed tone when in virtual close proximity.
"His majesty may be made of metal and wire, but that scroat has a fiendish understanding of irony." Mod lamented, his head lowered in shame and suddenly, despite his youthful appearance, he gave off a feeling of a far older man.
Raven didn't know Fixit very well. All she knew was that he was an artificial intelligence of an unknown creator. He could be recognized by his irrefutable logic, cold metal exterior, unfeeling emotions, and an uncomfortable preference to surround himself in machines of his own creation instead of people.
"Is he blackmailing you?" Raven asked, suddenly and unexpectedly feeling slightly sorry for Mod.
"Your smart for a fit student, my ducky. But I'm too knackered to answer that." Mod answered plainly.
Raven and Beast boy just looked at each other, unsure of what to make of this sudden revelation. Whatever it was Fixit had over Mod, it must've been quite terrible in order to turn Mod into the disgruntled slave sitting in front of them. This was just one more question amongst a mountain of others Raven hopped would be answered soon.
"So what's it going to be, my duckies?" Mad Mod made a quick change of topics, "Put on the blindfolds now, otherwise you can forget about getting your audience."
Beast Boy still looked very uncomfortable with the idea, Raven flaunted a new total apathy for fixit and his blindfolds.
"We're going to look stupid." BB argued. Mad Mod gave a
"We all look stupid at certain time in our lived but the key is to not and mind it too much." Mod tried to comfort their hesitation. "Fixit has gone through a lot of trouble to set this up and clear you through this blockade. The average duckie would be grateful, wouldn't want to cause Fixit any more trouble."
"We're hardly average." Raven countered confidently.
"No your not. That's a very good point, I'm not either." Mad Mod turned around to finally address them eye to eye. "Fixit doesn't like average dukies, he likes his well spoken, smart, presentable." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Did I ever tell you I have a Masters in Literature?"
"Don't take this personally, but you don't seem the type." Raven gave him a sarcastic tone.
"Everything is illusion, Raven, concepts of light, sound, metaphor, nothing is real. Except for those blindfolds, which you will put on now or we turn around."
Raven was surprised to hear Mod address her by name, but instead chose to reply. "Won't people find it odd to see us with blindfolds on?"
"No, his majesty keeps a back door open just in case he has wished to keep financial transactions, or the movement of certain individuals or items hidden." Raven gave a nod to show her confidence before she placed the blindfold over her eyes.
"I still don't like this." BB said as he followed Raven's lead.
Satisfied that the two Teen Titans were now playing by the rules, Mad Mod turned back to peer at the highway stretching out before them, turning the ignition. The car returned to life with a content purr.
"If you tell anyone I said this, I will deny it to the fag end. I hope Fixit is right about you brats being worth all this effort." Mad Mod accelerated down the road meeting a speed more satisfactory of his personality. Raven and BB could see anything, but they could feel the car take off in speeds that must've exceeded at least 80 miles an hour.
"You? Concerned for us?" Raven probed with suspicion, "what are you thinking?"
"Look at this place. 50,000 people used to live in this city, now it's a ghost town." Mod said reflecting on the empty road ahead. "I've never seen anything like it. A year ago I never would've been able to imagined such a place." Somehow he came across as truly remorseful. To Raven it was further proof that the world had been turned upside down. No longer were the lines between friend and foe so clearly defined, they were become far more blurry than she liked. She still trusted Beast Boy, but that was about it. There was no telling where Mad Mod intentions lay, or Fixit for that matter. They had changed so much in just a single year it was almost impossible to comprehend.
The ride lasted an unknown, but nonetheless minute and insignificant amount of time. They made several right turns, and a couple left. At times it felt they had turned a complete circle. However, even while trying to keep track of where they were heading, there was no possible way to tell exactly where they were, thanks to the blindfolds.
Eventually Raven gave up trying to keep track of their locations. She settled down into the leather seat and, despite its unpleasantness, she fell into a shallow nap. Yet even while her consciousness slowly faded she began to question to wisdom of their trusting Mod or Fixit.