Author's Notes: Hey! I'm still alive! :o So sorry this story has been dormant for maybe 4 months now. (ouch) I do have reasons! Which I will explain at the end. And I have hope that I won't stay away that long again. Honestly, I can't believe I was still getting views this long after my last update o_o Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 21: Captured
"Okay, so, how do ya'll propose we get on board?" Cyborg asked bluntly as the Titans continued to gaze upon the mysterious space station.
"Maybe anyone can, it looks kinda like a space airport to me," Beast Boy commented, pointing to the various ships flying in and out of the many ports. "Hope we all remembered our alien passports."
"This isn't a time for jokes, Beast Boy. We can't assume the people running this station are friendly. We need some sort of plan," Robin said, gripping the steering wheel tightly in want of simply flying in and taking his daughter to safety.
"Well, we're all ears, man," Cyborg coaxed, staring at Robin's pod in anticipation. "This ship may have had warp drive but I haven't gone sci-fi enough to add in a cloaking device. Though that's next on the list."
Robin weighed his options. He could do what his less logical side said and just go for it and see what happens. However, his reasoning quickly overruled that idea because getting shot down or captured would lead to a very poor rescue. He began to think of sending Starfire outside to stake out the area and see if they could… but that thought stopped the moment he remembered the sad fact that Starfire wasn't with them this time. After he finished mentally berating himself, he thought they could somehow overtake a vehicle that had permission to enter the station and then fly in - only to be found that they were not the correct passengers and be taken into custody. Robin was beginning to grow frustrated when he heard Raven's microphone come to life once again.
"My offer to teleport everyone still stands," she said once she noticed the uncomfortably long silence that had fallen.
"But... isn't that dangerous... still?" Beast Boy asked a bit timidly, his tone completely free of amusement in a way that almost made Raven question if he was really himself.
"Not as much as before. This time, I know where we're going and teleporting us should be fairly simple," she replied after a moment's thought.
Robin sighed. "I hate to admit it but that may be our only option. It will leave us a little vulnerable without our ship or knowing where we are or who we're dealing with, but this seems like the best and quickest way to go. Agreed?" He looked around briefly to see each Titan nod back at him. "Alright, go ahead, Raven."
Without hesitation, the empath's eyes began to glow white as her body was encased in black energy, which then grew and expanded across the ship. It sank down into each pod and wrapped itself around each of the four present Titans and soon dissipated, leaving five empty pods in its wake.
They all appeared a second later inside an unfamiliar corridor which was assumed to be located within the station. The walls were covered in dark grey metal panels and the floor was made of black grating which revealed many levels below them that looked exactly the same. They could hear the sounds of ships landing and taking off and the constant hum of machinery, but it was very muffled and did little to fill the silence that pervaded the hallway. It took a moment for the team to gather their bearings, but soon they managed to stand upright and recover from the abnormal sensation of being teleported by Raven's magic. Beast Boy still couldn't help but shiver at the dark and empty feeling that settled over him during the journey. However, he forgot about it once he saw Raven panting slightly as she held her head in one hand.
"Rae? Are you okay?" he asked as he edged closer to her. She weakly put a hand up to stop him, closing her eyes and breathing deeply to compose herself.
"I'm fine, Beast Boy. I knew it would affect me in this way, it's to be expected." After another few seconds, she straightened up and walked past the three Titans who had been watching her carefully. "So, how are we going to track them down?" she asked in an attempt to get the attention off of herself.
Robin shook his head to focus back on the task at hand and lifted his communicator off his belt. Flipping it open, he saw the radar pop up on screen. "His ship is close. Probably a few levels up at one of the docks. We'll head that way and see where that leads us." The four proceeded to quietly, or as quietly as possible when each step they took clattered against the metal floors and echoed through the corridors, make their way in the direction indicated by the radar. Beast Boy couldn't help but feel his gaze shift back towards Raven every once and a while to make sure she was feeling better. He never saw her notice, but her peripheral vision had caught his continued concern and made her even more confused about the changeling. Cyborg also swore he saw Beast Boy's eyes keep wandering towards the girl, and made a mental note to ask him about it later.
Soon enough, they made it to the floor which was presumed to contain Slade's ship. They had so far not run into any problems, or people for that matter, and Robin was beginning to feel a little worried at the lack of activity in this sector of the station… until he heard faint voices in the single room that had an open door. He immediately stopped in his tracks, the Titans following his lead as they looked at him curiously. He brought a finger to his lips and motioned for them to gather by the door. They were soon positioned discreetly along the wall, listening in to the conversation.
"Of course you can't think we'll provide you with that much equipment for our little deal. One human-Tamaranean hybrid certainly is not the equivalent of 20 genetic manipulators, five primary injectors and two morphing capsules..."
A familiar voice chuckled and made each of the Titans cringe and Robin's hands form into hostile fists. "Well, just so you understand, those are the only terms I will accept. Any less, and the child stays with me." Robin felt his anger skyrocket at the thought of Slade using his daughter as a bargaining chip, and it took everything in him not to barge into the room and shove his fist into his nemesis' face.
After some silence, the unknown entity sighed. "Very well. We've been unable to capture any more Tamaraneans for trade and now we seem to have no other choice but to comply with your demands. Loric, show Slade to the technology bay."
Footsteps began to make their way towards the door, and the Titans barely had time to panic before Raven quickly used her energy to teleport them away. This time, they ended up at the dock which was located at the end of the corridor. They stood in silence for a moment, hesitantly glancing at Robin who looked like he was about to attack anything that moved.
"So… Slade didn't actually want the kid…" Cyborg mused after a moment, trying to initiate a little more progress on the case.
"He wanted currency," Raven answered shortly, trying to disguise her shortness of breath from her most recent exertion of power.
"Geez, he couldn't have picked a more messed up way to do it though," Beast Boy mused solemnly without a trace of amusement, shaking his head at the ground.
Robin finally spoke up, his fists not loosening in the slightest. "Kidnapping a newborn child is bad enough, but using her life as a way to get something… 'better'…" he took a deep breath to try not to explode, "is a hundred times more appalling." The other three solemnly nodded in agreement, before they all turned simultaneously to look at the unfamiliar ship docked not far from where they had gathered.
The ship appeared very high-tech and more advanced than anything found on Earth. It was several times larger than the T-ship, and wielded many more gadgets as well. Lights of various colors blinked on and off constantly from the ship's surface, and the outside was a stark black with some reflector panels that had the potential to partially cloak the ship during flight. Cyborg held back an annoyed grunt as he observed this sought-after feature.
"That's Slade's ship?" Beast Boy asked, feeling more confident that he was right this time.
"I have a feeling it was borrowed." Robin replied, looking down the the radar and confirming the engine specs. "This is the one we were following."
"So how come it still comes up on the radar? I mean, the engines would have to be running," Cyborg said, looking at the communicator, puzzled.
"Because the engines are running," Beast Boy said, ear twitching to hear the low hum emitting from the alien aircraft.
"It must have arrived not long ago," Raven commented.
"Really? Such a fancy schmancy ship doesn't have warp drive?" Beast Boy asked in a sort of mocking disbelief.
"Not every species watches as much Star Trek as Cyborg," Raven replied dryly as Robin began to slowly approach the ship. Cyborg glared at her for a moment before moving behind the leader.
The team wearily peered around the corner of a wall to see what looked like a control room one story up. A large glass panel looked into a room filled with computers and cameras - but no one appeared to be inside. And, directing their gaze to the ship, it seemed to be abandoned as well.
"Looks like the coast is clear, but be ready for anything," Robin said as he nodded towards the ship, signalling their impending advance. His eyes lingered on Raven's a moment longer than the rest of the Titans before he turned around and began to map out their course of action. Raven bowed her head in understanding while Beast Boy felt a strange feeling grip him for a split-second. Was that… protectiveness? He had a feeling Robin was expecting Raven to be their escape plan again if need be, and he really didn't like it.
As Beast Boy directed his attention back to his leader, he realized he was already gone, having somersaulted past the wall and was now quickly making his way to the reflective spacecraft, strategically surveying the area with every cover he could take. Pushing that strange feeling to the back of his head, Beast Boy morphed into a hummingbird and quickly zipped in the same direction as Robin. Raven and Cyborg followed, keeping watch from the back end of the group.
Raven felt a spike of unease radiate from the metallic entity beside her as they drew closer to the alien ship. Well aware of the fact that Cyborg was normally the confident one, she raised a brow and gave him a sideways glance.
"Anything the matter?" she asked, keeping her tone even to mask her own unease.
He looked down at her, a little surprised, until he remembered the fact that she was an empath so he didn't have to be obvious with his emotions for her to read them. He sighed. "I'm a bit worried about Rob… so much has happened to him in the past few... well, his whole life really… that if something goes wrong now, he just might snap." Cyborg's normally cheerful face became sullen as concern for his friend mounted.
Raven's face remained devoid of emotion as she regarded Cyborg grimly. "Suffering so much loss and deceit in one's life does hurt, but sometimes it ends up changing them for the better." Without any further comments, Raven began to make her way to the ship at a faster pace, leaving Cyborg to ponder her statement for a moment before matching her quicker stride.
The team soon made it to the ship's open hatch, cautiously stepping inside as Beast Boy morphed back into human form after he had scoped out the room for any signs of passengers still on board. The room, which seemed much bigger on the inside, stretched far into the ship and was lined with buttons that blinked and beeped sporadically on the many foreign machines. There was definitely nothing archaic about the ship as they observed its clean and futuristic design that utilized every empty space for some different control panel or piece of equipment.
"I didn't see anybody… but why would they just leave and keep their engines running?" he said quietly as he approached the group, a slightly perplexed look on his face.
"Seems suspicious, but let's just try to find some evidence and go before Slade or any of the others come back." Robin directed, pointing each Titan to a specific area to search. Before long, a hushed 'psst' could be heard from the back end of the spacecraft, quickly gaining everyone's attention as they followed the source of the sound.
They approached as Cyborg hurriedly typed on a computer embedded in a large machine with many different tubes and wires dangling from their ports. His eyebrows furrowed in determination as he plugged himself into the computer, rapidly downloading as much as he could from the device.
"What is it, Cy?" Beast Boy asked in a whisper, confused as to why he was so preoccupied with this particular machine as there were dozens of them in that room.
"If I'm right, which I probably am, this is the thing they used to sedate Star and Marla and project their consciousnesses into their avatars," he replied without slowing down his data retrieval. "It's got everything: life support, a transmitter, and…" he moved slightly out of the way so the Titans could view the screen, "... Marla's DNA map."
Sure enough, on screen was a detailed profile of Marla's genetics, complete with a diagram of her hybrid DNA: half human and half Tamaranean.
Before the team had a moment to gasp at the discovery, a blaring siren sounded, causing them all to slam their hands over their ears as the entire interior of the ship changed from a greyish hue to a bright red. As they started to process the newfound danger of the situation, the ship's hatch drew closed, a lock clicking in the door's mechanism and, for good measure, a thick, metal sheet rose from the floor and completely blocked the exit. The same thing happened to all the windows, trapping the Titans in a glowing red prison.
This was a complete lockdown.
"My, we seem to have some intruders," came a smooth, familiar voice from loudspeakers on the ceiling. No sooner than when everyone had identified the dreaded sound, what appeared to be a wall in front of them suddenly lifted, revealing an elaborate cockpit filled with monitors and panels which sat above the Titans, situated near the ceiling of the ship. On the floor was a barrage of hostile-looking blue-green aliens with weapons holstered on their backs and scaly tails trailing behind them. The team gasped collectively as they recognized these creatures from years before.
Gordanians.
They parted to reveal Slade in his classic black and bronze uniform, pressing his palms together as he advanced to the front of the group, clearly expecting what was happening. Confusion enveloped the team as they recollected Slade having just been down the hall and not ready and waiting for their arrival.
"You all are very persistent, I must say. Especially you, Robin," his one visible eye fell on Robin, who glared at the villain with all the hatred he felt for his arch nemesis. "You would go to the ends of galaxy just to save the daughter you didn't know you had. It really is touching." The Titans could feel the venom pouring from his voice on that final phrase, tensing up and preparing for a fight. "My apologies that this story won't have a happy ending."
With that, Slade seemingly flew backwards, out of view from the Titans. The horde of Gordanians quickly filled the gap, readying their weapons as they hissed and sneered at the young adults, outnumbering them seven to one. But this didn't deter the riled heroes as they took an offensive position, followed by Robin's voice echoing throughout the ship.
"Titans, go!"
The four spread out, each tackling several vicious Gordanians as their blasters rapidly fired blue electric bolts at the Titans. Beast Boy morphed into a rhinoceros, aiming his armored skull into a pack of Gordanians, sending them reeling backwards. Robin threw an electric bird-a-rang to short circuit several of the aliens' electronic guns, drawing his bo-staff and fighting them more aggressively than he ever had before. Cyborg unleashed his sonic cannon and blew several Gordanians off their feet until one of them managed to shoot his arm, causing electricity to course through his circuits and disable the weapon. Raven chanted her mantra and summoned her energy to grab random things from around the cabin and toss them at the enemies, hitting several of her targets and buying time for her teammates.
After several minutes of struggle, neither side quite gaining an advantage over the other as both kept recovering from the others' blows, Slade suddenly reappeared, sitting in the cockpit of the ship and chuckling to himself, his voice still being amplified through the sound system. This got everyone's attention as the fighting died down, both sides pausing as they addressed the villain.
"You're valiant fighters, indeed. I've witnessed that firsthand. We will eventually defeat you, but I'd prefer not to waste the time. I have more important things to attend to."
The Titans, still on high alert from the battle, quickly turned their attention towards Slade, readying their attack as Raven prepared to shield them from the Gordanians who could start attacking again at any moment.
"Ya'll already spent six months carrying out your little scheme, what's an extra five minutes," Cyborg snapped, his eyes trained on Slade's calm demeanor.
"That was only phase one. Phase two does not concern any of you."
Before the Titans could affirm that they, of course, had everything to do with his plans concerning their newest member, Slade signalled the Gordanians with a flick of his wrist and, with no further warning, the aliens surrounded the Titans in a broad circle, taking out their blasters and shooting a steady stream of energy towards the vulnerable heroes. Instinctively protecting themselves and bracing for impact, they soon realized that was not the purpose of the attack. The energy curved upwards into a dome, each beam uniting near the ceiling of the ship and then draping downwards to create an energy barrier around the team.
After a brief moment of shock, each Titan let their guard down as they took in the dome crackling with electricity around their heads. Each member tried a different attack to break down the wall of energy - a sonic cannon blast, an electric eel, a bird-a-rang, a spark of black energy - but nothing broke through.
Slade snickered triumphantly at their helplessness, hopping down from the cockpit and making his way towards his trapped nemeses.
"I very much enjoy the technology of this race. It has proven quite useful."
The Gordanians began to menacingly advance towards the energy bubble at the same pace as Slade, causing the Titans to quickly scope out the area for any possible escape. Within seconds, their eyes fell on Raven, who seemed even more panicky than the rest of the team.
"There's no other way, Raven. You're the only one who can get us out of this," Robin pressed, the order clear in his tone of voice.
Raven looked over the scene, fear evident in her eyes. She took a deep, shaky breath and shot black tendrils from her hands - preparing to envelop her teammates and teleport them to safety through the floor to bypass the energy wall - but as quickly as they had come, they suddenly vanished, seemingly dissolved in the air. Raven's eyes widened in terror as she felt her power dissipate just as the black energy had, feeling weakness take over her body and collapse her into the ground.
"Raven!" her teammates exclaimed, though Beast Boy's voice easily drowned out the others as he fell to his knees and placed his hands on her shoulders, turning her limp body around to face him. She had fallen unconscious.
Slade cocked his head and hummed knowingly, ringing a warning bell in the three Titans' heads as Slade again seemed ready for this situation.
"The pressure was just too much for her, wasn't it? Funny, you would think the daughter of a demon wouldn't be so easily overwhelmed." The criminals ceased their advance, just feet from where the remaining Titans stood in disbelief at their capture. Slade tossed a small, metal device into the energy bubble, the ball passing through the wall without the littlest bit of resistance. As it hit the floor, the ball opened up and flattened into a disk, expelling a white-colored knockout gas that quickly filled the confined space.
"Semi-permeable energy dome. They really do come in handy," Slade mused as the last awake Titans felt drowsiness overtake their senses. The final thing they heard as everything grew fuzzy and eventually blacked out was Slade's and his new minions' sinister laughter echoing throughout the ship's interior.
Author's Note: Oh man. That's not good. I had meant for this chapter to be longer, but I figured this would be a great place to leave a cliffhanger.
So, reasons for my absence. Primarily 1) college, 2) writer's block and 3) ALL MY NOTES WERE DELETED. A lot of my free time became devoted to doing homework :o The semester isn't over yet, I have two weeks left, but I'm spending some time reviving this story anyway. I was afraid if not now, when would I? And a few months ago I realized this chapter was not going the way I wanted, even though I knew what I was trying to achieve. So I have finally revised it a bit and fixed it up, so I hope it was not too shabby. And yep, my stupid phone deleted my notes, so that was a tad discouraging. And, okay, there is one more rather shameful reason.
I kind of phased out of fanfictions in general.
Yeah, I have periods of time where I am totally into it and make time for it and then I'll go through several months where I find something else and get totally obsessed with it and forget my last obsession. So that kinda just happened :o But I was never planning on abandoning this story! I knew I would be back, and here I am with a pretty good idea of how this story will end. It will probably be 2 more chapters, by my guess. Hope you stick around if you still remember this story! Thanks to everyone for reading!