Crimes of Passion
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to DC or Marvel. I own Farrah/Persiana and Lance/Diablos.
Chapter 38: Fighting for Control
Persiana, possessed by a symbiote-like creature, was attacking her friends. Tigra stood up and told Batman,
"A symbiote enhances all the natural abilities of anyone it comes into contact with. In exchange, it completely takes them over, trying to permanently bond with them."
The Dark Knight threw a Batarang, to which Persiana caught it and crushed it with her foot, then spun around and swept under Wonder Girl, Wonder Woman and Flash. Batman asked,
"How do we remove it?"
Tigra explained,
"Fire or loud sounds."
That was Bea's cue as she threw a fireball at Persiana. It hit, and the bloodcurdling scream from the symbiote monster made the Brazilian model cover her mouth in horror. Diablos went in and put the fire out,
"Farrah, can you hear me?"
Farrah's face was revealed as she whimpered,
"Help…"
She came in close. Diablos hugged her, and she whispered,
"Gotcha."
Bending over backwards tightly, she delivered a suplex and Lance landed on his head. Diablos shook it off and watched as Persiana was standing back up, almost fluid in her motions. The red-eyed hero shook his head,
"Farrah, I know you're in there-."
Before continuing, Persiana unleashed a strand of black ooze from her body and slammed it in the hero's face. Struggling to get it off, Diablos reached frantically for his sword. He sliced it off and the piece of the symbiote was dropped to the floor. Not in the least affected, Persiana jumped up to the ceiling and began crawling like a spider. She spied an air vent and, launching another strand of black ooze, swung on it like a rope. The possessed Farrah slammed into the air vent grate and squeezed her body through it.
Batman radioed in,
"Shut down the Watchtower Transporter and Javelins. We have a loose creature who has taken over Persiana's body. Loud sounds and fire affect it, but we need to take it alive."
Diana helped Tigra up,
"Are you all right?"
The striped feline nodded,
"Yeah, I will be. I should've seen this coming."
Flash shook his head,
"So, what do we do now?"
Tigra looked at the air vent,
"I can follow her. I'm pretty flexible and should be able to track her that way."
Batman nodded,
"Do it."
Everyone watched Tigra scale the wall, embedding her claws into the wall and following the scent through the vents.
Diablos touched his head,
"I can sense where she's going. I'm going after her."
With that, he ran out of the room. Donna followed, hoping she could do something to help Farrah.
Meanwhile…
The entire station was put on alert. Artemis had met up with Miss Marvel and Wonder Man,
"What is happening?"
Simon answered,
"We're on alert. Persiana's been infected with a symbiote."
Carol said in disbelief,
"I doubt that."
Black ooze grappled the air vent and pushed it out. The symbiote Persiana slid out and snarled, her long tongue licking all over her face. The blonde Air Force Major was stunned,
"OK, I didn't see this coming."
Persiana vaulted in the air and did a split kick, knocking the ionic hero and the half-Kree soldier back. The red-headed Wonder Woman moved in,
"Monster, die!"
She landed a punch on Persiana's jaw, disfiguring her face.
However, a second mouth formed on the back of the were-feline. It snickered,
"Nice. We almost felt that."
The costume then shot out more black strands, covering the face and arms of Artemis. As the Amazon tried to peel it off, Persiana contorted and twisted her body in a fashion that seemed impossible. When finally free, the two mouths said in unison,
"You can't beat us."
Miss Marvel cringed,
"Ew, even Venom was never this gross."
The second mouth retreated into the costume and she glared,
"Looks like Barbie knows what a sense of humor is. We were expecting less!"
She lashed out again, launching more tendrils. They encased Miss Marvel and the blonde Major tried to break free.
Wonder Man charged in,
"Farrah, we're trying not to hurt you!"
He grabbed her from behind, but the symbiote turned her head one-hundred eighty degrees, smiling,
"A strong man, we like that."
Twisting her hips in the same fashion, she managed to kick Simon away. She returned her body into a normal position, but her instincts kicked in. Clinging to the ceiling she looked and saw an arrow go by.
Green Arrow and Black Canary saw what happened. The blonde martial artist unleashed a canary cry. Dropping to the floor, the symbiotic Persiana screeched in agony, covering her ears.
Tigra emerged from the air vent and Diablos came from another corridor, just in time to see the symbiote start to peel off Persiana's body. The symbiote tried to get away from the noise, but Diablos telekinetically slammed it into a wall. Persiana's body lay lifeless. The red-eyed hero looked,
"Farrah, are you all right?"
That was enough to break his concentration. Black Canary had tired out and was trying to catch her breath as the symbiote lunged for Diablos. Lance was taken down and the symbiote tried to possess him. Tigra covered her mouth in horror,
"Oh, God no!"
Suddenly, a beam of emerald energy encased the symbiote in a force field. John Stewart, the Green Lantern, said,
"Are you OK, kid?"
Diablos nodded,
"I'm all right."
He then noticed Farrah was not moving. He crawled to her and put his coat over her body. The symbiote had left Farrah completely nude. Wrapping the coat around her, Lance picked her up and brought her to the infirmary, hoping it was not too late.
Several days later…
Persiana slowly opened her eyes, moaning. She had to narrow them because the light seemed strong to her. She shielded her eyes until they could adjust. The lioness had a pulsing headache. She then remembered something. Farrah sat up suddenly in a panic,
"Where am I? How did I get here?"
She then realized she was naked and quickly covered her body with the sheets. She curled up and Farrah looked around,
"What happened to me?"
"You know, that is the second time I've seen you naked."
Farrah looked up and saw Diablos, leaning against the door frame. Persiana sat up,
"Lance, what happened? The last thing I remember was I was asleep at the mansion and…"
She covered her mouth in horror,
"Oh God. Then, it wasn't a dream. I really did attack you!"
The were-lioness began sobbing. Lance took her hand,
"Sweetheart, I know you never meant to hurt anyone. That thing took over. It made you do things you would never normally do."
He rubbed the back of his head,
"Well, maybe you would still attack Miss Marvel or Artemis, but I know you wouldn't hurt Wonder Girl intentionally."
Farrah nodded, remembering,
"She was going to say good-bye. I didn't want her to leave, but I…"
She laid back down,
"I couldn't control myself. I saw what I was doing, but I didn't want to give up all that power."
She looked at him,
"Do you have any idea what it's like to have that level of power? The feeling you're invincible, that, even thought you can't fly, you do."
Small tears trickled down her cheek. Lance wiped them away,
"Sweetie, you weren't yourself. You are still a very strong woman."
Farrah's lip still trembled, and she tried to smile,
"I got to cop a feel though."
Lance smiled back,
"And I got to see you naked, so I guess we're both even."
Farrah shook her head,
"No, we're not. Not until I really thank you for saving me."
She took her hand and gently caressed his face,
"You're every bit like him."
Lance cleared his throat, changing the subject,
"I should let you rest. You've been through a lot in the last few days."
Farrah tightened into a ball and fell asleep as Lance was leaving. She asked,
"Lance?"
The red-eyed hero turned,
"Yes?"
Farrah purred,
"I love you."
Diablos looked back,
"I love you, too, Farrah."
He closed the door and left.
At the end of the hall, Artemis was tapping her foot impatiently,
"Where is she? She tried to kill us."
Diablos narrowed his eyes,
"Asleep. If you had any honor, you'd respect her privacy."
The red-headed Wonder Woman glared daggers at Diablos,
"I am dangerously close to running a blade through your body, demon. That woman is a danger to us all."
The red-eyed immortal smirked,
"This coming from a stuck-up spoiled brat like you? That's a compliment."
Artemis was fuming,
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT-!"
Lance's eyes glowed as he said threateningly,
"Don't raise your voice. People are sleeping."
Artemis was irate. Her nostrils flared as she clenched her fist tightly. She wanted to hit him, and hard.
Lance shook his head,
"Farrah is not only my girlfriend, she is also best friends with Diana and Donna, your fellow Amazons. Do you want to explain why you wouldn't let her rest, or should I? I can be very convincing."
Artemis narrowed her eyes and she whispered harshly,
"I know what you did to my fellow warriors, and I won't rest until I personally see to it you suffer as they did!"
She stormed away, pushing Bast out of her way. The Egyptian goddess shook her head,
"What's her problem?"
Lance shrugged,
"Arrogance? Ignorance? A little of both?"
Bast laughed,
"You always could tick her off, couldn't you?"
She turned serious,
"How is Farrah doing?"
Lance looked down the hall,
"Exhausted. She's had it rough."
Bast then snapped her fingers,
"Hey, I got an idea. Take her to Miami."
Lance asked,
"Why?"
"The sun does a lot of good for felines, and, considering she was possessed by great evil, a little warmth and light might be a good thing."
Diablos nodded,
"It might be a good idea."
Next Chapter:
As changes are made, the roster changes for both the Watchtower and Titans East. Find out who's leaving and coming on board, and find out what plots are hatching in the next exciting chapter.