Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
ROBYN
"What…?" I groan. "God my head hurts."
"That would be your sins love. Pounding in your head." An unfamiliar british voice says disapprovingly.
I manage to open my eyes, squinting through the blinding light. Standing in front of me is some slightly wrinkled old lady with bright, shiny red hair, simple rectangular glasses, and peach colored skin. Her shirt is basically the british flag, her pants are plain beige khakis, and her shoes are brown loafers. She has a brown cane with a large ruby on the top.
The room is plain, featureless, white. It's hard to even tell where the corners are because of that lack of detail.
It's at this point I also notice that me and my teammates are all strapped down to chairs. Starfire has his hands encased in, I kid you not, diamond orbs to prevent him from shooting, while Crow and Changeling have anti-magic crystals (small and yellow; the JCPD use them) embedded in their chairs. Cyborg has something attached to her chest, and doesn't seem to be able to move at all.
Curiously, my belt hasn't been taken away. Maybe that was an oversight?
"Now, you lot have been causing us plenty of trouble." The lady frowns, glaring down at us with squinted eyes. "Fighting crime, saving live… You just don't know how to stay out of adult business, do you?"
"Fuck you too." Changeling snarls, baring her fangs at the lady.
"Not only that!" The lady says loudly, ignoring my green teammate entirely. "But you kids are full of sin! You little brats have been strutting around the town, just showing off!" She glares. "Pride! Deadly sin!"
Oh god, she's going to get religious on us. Villains already suck, but the religious ones are especially annoying…
"You especially!" The lady turns to Changeling. "You're the most sinful of all! You're more cockey that all your mates put together! Not only that, but you lap up the attention of the media, that's gluttony! And worst of all, you inspire lust," at this point the redhead jabs Changeling's ample chest with her cane, "in others! No self-respecting lass would do that!"
"Awww." The green girl coos sarcastically. "Are you jealous that I'm so well-liked?"
"A perfect example of your sin!" The lady snaps. "Pride! Pride! Pride! You kids today are all so full of yourselves!" She takes a deep breath. "That's why I, Madeline Modde, will teach you brats respect, restraint, and modesty."
Changeling snorts, holding in a laugh. She clearly doesn't think ol' Mad Mod here is dangerous.
"Hey, that's a good name. 'Mad Mod'."
"Sorry lady." The green girl says, smirking. "Look, I know you're having a bad day, so how about we get you back to your caretakers, you can take your meds, and we'll forget this ever happened?"
Mod goes red in the face in indignation. "Why you- I've never been- I am not senile!" She spits furiously. "Get to class you brats!" Mad Mod slams her cane into the floor, causing pits to open up beneath us which sends us plummeting down into the darkness.
Without my vision to help me, the whirring of machinery is very acute. I shriek when I feel something grabbing at my cape. Something frees my hands only for them to be held up over my head so something can be slipped on me. My legs receive similar treatment. A few moments later, I'm shoved out into the light.
The room I'm in now looks like a math classroom. Except it has rulers three times my height, protractors that look razor-sharp, and pencils with acid-coated erasers that are currently melting the floor. The only seemingly normal things are the blackboard at the front of the room and the door all the way at the back. I'm fairly close to the front, and I don't think I'll be getting to the door before something else gets to me if I need to fight.
Glancing down at myself, I can see that I've acquired a new outfit. I've been given some sort of school uniform overtop of my hero outfit. It's a dark navy blue suit with a dark crimson tie, a knee-length skirt also in navy blue, and shiny black loafers. The green pants of my hero outfit show in the gap between my knees and feet, and I still have my gloves and mask, somewhat ruining the schoolgirl look.
I'm about to start removing my new clothes when the blackboard suddenly starts… Drawing on itself? I think that's… Okay; basically, chalk lines are spontaneously appearing on the board. It's like some sort of cartoon. It's drawing Mod's face.
Fuck I'm tired. Can't even explain things straight… I mean explain them well. Gah...
"Hello love, welcome to the class of fundamental truths!" The chalk face says, grinning at me. "One plus one is two, e equals m c squared, all men and women are created equal, and we should all live for the glory of God!"
"Those last two aren't math." My sleepy brain notes. I grimace. "Ugh, thanks for the obvious brain."
"Now, I've been chatting with Rosy lately." The chalk head says. It shrinks down small enough to accommodate a body, which draws itself into existence. "Well-respected individual Rose is. Esteemed leader, visionary, and all-around progressive individual."
Can't actually argue that. For all I know, Mod is telling the truth. "What exactly is her goal? You called her a visionary."
"Equality of course!" The chalk-Mod exclaimed, twirling her cane. "Just like you actually."
"Me?" I ask dumbly.
"Yeah!" The picture nods. "Feminism! Best thing since sliced bread it is. Rose spoke highly of you love, said that you had great potential." Chalk-Mod grins at me. "You just need to understand love, progress can't be had unless we get rid of those in our way! Not kill them of course, that defeats the point of us women having the upper hand; just a few broken limbs is all."
"Like the JCPD." I murmur. Assuming Mod is telling the truth, then Rose is more of a well-intentioned extremist than a true villain. Kinda reminds me of Batwoman to an extent, because few agree with what she does (Gotham is infamously anti-vigilante) but she does it anyway and is fully willing to ignore the law to do it.
"Exactly! You're getting it!" Mod smiles, almost gently. "See lass? We ain't your enemy here, we're all on the same side! You've already seen what Rose can pull together yeah? All those super-powered 'villains' that've been popping up over the last few days? They're all sent by Rose! She's got the resources to get real change done."
"Even the doll?" I ask, remembering the Puppeteer.
"Even Pricilla." Chalk-Mod nods. "Actually a lovely lady. Makes some very nice tea and crumpets, even if she can't eat them. Very prim and proper." Stops twirling her cane and holds out her hand. "So what do you say love? Can we come to an agreement here? Will you help us out? Be a force for real change?"
I can't say it's not tempting. I really, really want to say yes, but… I can't condone their methods. It's not the fact that it's illegal (though I'm not fond of that), but mostly because of the violent methods. I draw the line at extensive physical or emotional harm.
But maybe I can work with this; use this opportunity to take them down from the inside… No, no I can't. What would my teammates think? I've already failed them so many times already, I've been a horrible leader. I can't let them think I betrayed them, even if I didn't.
Being a hero sucks…
"I'm afraid I must decline." I grimace. "I want to join, I really do, but I don't agree with your methods. Besides, I have a team to lead."
"We figured as much." Chalk-Mod sighs, shaking her head. "Maybe someday you'll come around. After all, we've been much more upfront with you than your friends."
"What are you talking about…?" I ask, suspicious.
"Come one love, Rose ain't no slouch, she knows all about your little team." The little chalk-Mod leans on her cane, grinning darkly. "Even with that empty database o' yours, Rose still knows a lot. She did research beforehand love."
"Then why hack our files at all?" I press.
"To show you we meant business of course!" Mod laughs. "Just another show of power for you love."
"What does she know?" I growl.
"What? You mean like the location of the Batcave?" A chill runs up my spine. "Won't tell us, but Rose claims to know." The chalk drawing continues grinning, almost like it's enjoying my discomfort. "As for you Titans; that second in command of yours, the orange brat? He's got blood on his hands love. You don't fight wars by knocking people out, he's a killer. Green one too, she's done her fair share of illegal activities, murder included. Only a matter of time before they do it again, once a killer always a killer." She says this with a casual nonchalance that makes it sound all the more disturbing. "Miss Stone is probably the only one of you whose only crime is vigilantism. Even that little monster, the grey lad, left his home city illegally, for no good reason! Azarath is quite right in the way they run things; Rose modeled her plans for the city after that place!"
I… I can't say I wasn't aware of some of this before. I knew in the back of my mind that Star had probably killed before, he's in the military after all. I know enough about Changeling's backstory from research and assorted police reports to guess that she's killed her way out of captivity at least once. Crow is a surprise to me though. If he is the product of what my ideals are striving for... I've got some serious thinking to do.
I do think that Mod is wrong about my teammates being volatile individuals though. Starfire doesn't casually kill things like a normal soldier does, and Changeling, while she pretty much admitted that she would kill again if she had to, is hardly a vicious individual. She's way too relaxed most of the time, and if Crow is as broken as I suspect he might be now, then her taking care of him makes her far too empathetic to just snap and kill something without some reason like Mod is suggesting.
Anyone can become a killer, even me, even Batwoman, should they be pressed far enough. Changeling lashing out in a desperate situation is hardly grounds for distrust.
Crow… I need more information. I have a sneaking suspicion now that Crow is hiding a lot more than just his level of power. Mad Mod mentioned he left the city illegally, so the situation was bad enough for someone as timid as him to ignore authority and flee.
"That almost makes him sound like a refugee." I think, grimacing. "For all I know, maybe he is."
"You get it now love?" Mod asks, her chalk caricature growing a sinister grin. "We know things you never would have known without us. We hold all the cards."
I take a deep breath to calm myself, before looking back with determination. "Big deal, I've taken on worse odds."
"So you're still against us." She sounds disappointed.
"A crime ring is still a crime ring, no matter their ends." I say firmly. I reach down to the floor and strap on my belt, which was brought with me. "Try me. I bend, but I don't break."
A silence stretches across the room as I stare down chalk-Mod. Eventually the caricature snarls at me.
"Well fine then, you ungrateful brat!" Her personality takes a one-eighty, returning to the bitter schoolteacher persona. "We offer a kid like you a chance to join our revolution, and you say no!? You kids today, SHOW. NO. RESPECT!"
A whirring noise fills the air as the numerous math instruments around the class slowly start toppling over, threatening to slice me in half or burn me with acid. Small portions of the wall and floor open up and what looks like small turrets pop out.
"This is more what I expected." I sigh, pulling out my grapple-gun. I shoot for the ceiling to pull myself out of the way of a falling ruler. The turrets start firing at me, and I barely dodge a sharpened pencil as it whistles past my cheek. "I wish I had armor right now. I bet Cy could just ignore these."
A few birdarangs take care of the turrets as I use my grapple gun to pull myself to the other end of the room, but halfway there my line is cut by a falling ruler than nearly slices my hands off! I land on the floor only briefly before jumping again as an acidic eraser splashes down next to me.
New turrets pop out of the ceiling, and with no cover to hide behind I make a mad dash for the door, holding my cape over my head with one hand to protect my skull. I make it to the door and swing it open, but just as I'm stepping through I feel a sharp pain shoot through my leg. I slam the door shut behind me, listening to the sounds of gunfire die down. A quick glance around my new surrounding reveals that I'm in another white featureless room, save for four doors, one in each wall.
With no immediate threat present, I sit down and inspect the wound on my leg. The pencil I got shot with is actually still embedded in my calf. Luckily enough, it was slightly off-center, sliding right between the bones. It's a good thing too, the last thing I need would be a cracked tibia or fibula. Also lucky for me, graphite isn't poisonous, so having a bit of it in my blood isn't going to affect me that much.
"I hate this part." I sigh. Gritting my teeth, I yank out the writing tool. It's hardly the worst thing I've ever felt, but that doesn't make it pleasant. "There's no bits of wood or graphite left in, so that makes my life easier." Reaching to the back pockets of my belt, where I keep objects I don't need instant access to, I pull out some of my first-aid tools; a quick application of an antibiotic and a small bandage later, and I'm good to go.
Standing up, I brush off my skir- Correction, I tear off the stupid outfit Mod put on me. Fuck this thing thing, stupid gendered outfits… Anyways, I try put some weight on my bad leg, grimacing at the spike of pain in the process.
"Not too bad." I sigh. "Painful, but functional. Just deal with it until you get to Crow, then he should be able to heal you."
I suddenly let out a loud yawn now that my adrenaline rush has worn off. The exhaustion sets back in, reminding me that I'm functioning on probably only a few hours of sleep right now.
"Fuck today, fuck yesterday, fuck the day before that. I just want to sleep dammit." I groan. "Auugh…"
Annoyed, tired, and eager to get this over with, I pick a door at random and storm on though.
Every villain has a motivation. I think I'm going out of my way here to make most of the villains sympathetic, (though Rose's excuse for villainy is paper-thin at best). Rose isn't stupid though. She knew she wouldn't get anything out of hacking. She's done reasearch, and she has many, many contacts (hence why she knows about things on other planets or in other dimensions).
Rose is Robyn's foil, just as Slade was to Robin. They are a dark reflection, patronizing, and a personal enemy as much as just another villain.
The mood-whiplash is real in this chapter.
mayvicbot: Lonely Cy is lonely, and she'll be staying like that for a bit, but she does offer a more unique, and objective, view on events and relationships than the others do. Cyborg is a lot less biased by anger, annoyance, or affection.
Origami Stars: We'll definitely get more of them. I had way too much fun with them and the HIVE to just push them off to the side.
Crow was singing "Be our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast. Considering his servile nature and cooking skill, I thought it was fitting.
A person: Yes, magic is allowed in Azarath (with the permission of your master of course). Crow's fear? You'll have to be more specific, he's scared pretty much half the time I write him, but most of those fears are irrational by the standards of Earth, and are remnants from his time on Azarath combined with him not exactly trusting that everything here isn't just a cruel joke and that when he opens up everything will turn out to be fake. No, English is his first language, but he didn't exactly have a proper education growing up, so his vocabulary is a bit more limited than the others at this point. Lastly, as I mentioned to Origami Stars, we'll definitely be seeing more of them.
Oh, and you have no idea how much I was grinning while writing that chapter… I live to write these scene between Ruban and Maria.
razgriz108: You've got that right, Ruban would probably go into a blind panic of being unsure how to react, feeling unworthy, and not knowing what's expected of him. Maria is very much holding back for his sake.
Nevermore will probably be the last out of those to be shown. I'm actually not totally sure how I'll end up doing the Apprentice arc, I think it'll tie in with Red-X. Beast Within… Oh, that'll be a fun one to write, I wait in eager anticipation… Which might not be too far off from being sated. Beast Within will probably be moved up because it works so well to help with certain interactions I want to put out. Spellbound… Uhh… Totally slipped my mind to be honest. I might do something different with that. The Judas contract is something I'm mulling around in my head right now; mostly I'm trying to figure out how Crow fits in because he'll be a relatively important player in the second season.
Ruban will probably reveal his secret out of guilt or a feeling of obligation long before he realizes that Maria won't care, and that's probably a good thing so that he doesn't have to live in fear of it.
I say this because I already know when the reveal will happen, and it's not the fourth season that's for sure.
HunterMoore: I'll take your word for it. I'm a bad judge of pacing.