"Swindle" by Ed Alger (SecondLevelWriter)

Author's notes: As you may have guessed, all previous disclaimers from the past chapters and in the first story continue to apply themselves here. Everything else must go.

Chapter 12
Illusion

The final hour before dusk seemed to take weeks. Swindle stood at his post, just outside of the academy grounds, waiting to spot the Teen Titans as they approached. He knew had to make his fight with them look convincing enough to Brother Blood yet fake enough to give the hint to the Titans. The only problem was: How?

'The moment they learn that Cyborg has been subverted, they'll assume the same thing for me. Especially after what happened at the bank... I can't afford to let him do that again. I gotta stay focused this time!'

He looked out the door and saw Stone and Jinx chatting in the hallway as they headed for the gymnasium, where they would ambush the Titans later. The rogue ground his teeth just a little before snatching up his weapons and left his room to follow them.

"So, how about after this, we go to that restaurant down the street and have a nice victory dinner?" he heard Jinx suggest.

Stone chuckled, "I was just about to ask the same thing. How d'you feel about seafood?"

"Mm, sounds good to me. After that, want to do some stargazing up on the hill by the training field?"

Swindle's fists couldn't ball up any tighter. It took everything he had not to draw his daggers and drive them squarely into Stone's back right then and there. Rather than listen to the lover-talk, the rogue slunk off and made his way to his guard post. At least there, he could vent his frustrations without drawing any attention.

Twenty minutes and forty-seven gashes in the side of a tree later, Swindle saw the Titans climb over a low part of the outer wall. What made him do a double-take was the sight of Cyborg coming over the wall with them. Only when he saw the Titan stand rigidly still even after being hauled by gorilla-form Beast Boy did the rogue realize it was a copy. Still, he had a job to do, and that was to lead the heroes into Blood's trap. Of course, the headmaster never told him just how to do it...

After watching the Titans slip through a ventilation grate, Swindle knew roughly where they were headed and snickered at the thought that they will likely end up in the trap without any help from him. He ducked back into the main building and raced to the basement floors, where many of the other training rooms were. He made sure to stand where they would see him, but lead them to believe that he couldn't see them.

Sure enough, the Titans carefully crept out of one of the empty training rooms, just as Robin gave a quiet signal to wait upon seeing Swindle. The rogue gave them a few seconds to wonder if they had been spotted before nonchalantly striding across the hall into the room where everyone was waiting. He made sure to give a smirking glance back over his shoulder as he crossed through the doorway.

"If that didn't scream 'trap,' I don't know what would," Raven dryly remarked.

"Should we follow him?" Starfire asked Robin.

Their leader frowned in thought, "I don't think we have a choice... Titans, stay alert."

"Easy for you to say," Beast Boy griped while trying to work the remote for the robot double. "I still wish Cy had left an instruction manual..."

"BOOYAH! BOOYAH! BOOYAH! BOO -- !" the fake Cyborg suddenly started yelling, thanks to having the wrong button pressed at the wrong time. A sudden panic arose to silence the copy's constant shouting, ending with Beast Boy changing into a starfish and attaching himself over its face.

Raven's final comment broke the few seconds of tense silence, "There went the element of surprise, for sure..."

Meanwhile, the ambush party heard the outburst and prepared themselves while the lights were turned off. The lack of light easily hid the sight of Swindle clutching his forehead. The double doors opened and the five Titans cautiously walked into the darkness. Once they were a few feet into the room, the doors were thrown shut and the lights popped on. As the heroes regained their sight, they saw five familiar faces before them. Swindle wasn't sporting the smug smile that the other four did, of whom Stone was a part of.

"So glad you could join us for the unveiling, Titans," Brother Blood's voice boomed throughout the gymnasium. "Students, give them a warm welcome."

Stone's grin widened before he shouted the command, "Attack Pattern Alpha!"

All five leapt into action, with Stone heading straight for Robin. Jinx and Gizmo turned their attention to Starfire, while Mammoth attacked a controller-fumbling Beast Boy. This left Swindle to deal with Raven, who was not very happy to see him again.

The empath's eyes glowed a furious white, "So, this is how you pay us back? By turning on us and joining the Hive?"

Swindle got into a fighting stance, but left his daggers sheathed, "It's not what you think, Raven. You gotta believe me."

"I've learned my lesson on second chances. Azarath... Metrion..."

Raven would not complete the incantation, as Swindle ran at her at full speed and pinned her to the wall by her wrists. Before the rogue could explain himself, Raven thrust her knee into his stomach and kicked him away after he doubled over. Swindle rolled to his feet, and had to roll again to avoid Mammoth's rampaging tackle on Beast Boy's rhinoceros form. This time, Raven was able to use a lesser amount of power to propel her enemy into the air and follow up with a second blast into the far wall.

'Geez, she hits harder than I thought...' he remarked to himself as he rubbed the back of his head. Looking back up, he saw that Raven was taking advantage of the slow recovery to raise larger ammunition. Without a moment to spare, Swindle was back on his feet and charging at the mystic once again.

A successful "Zinthos!" later, the rogue had to sharply zig-zag past the flying floor and wall panels before making another attempt at pinning the Titan to the wall. Raven glided out of his path, but not far enough for him to get his arm out and grab her by the shoulder. He ducked an incoming roundhouse kick, a surprisingly sharp one, and managed to get a grip on her forearm. Without giving her another opportunity, Swindle wrenched it behind her back. To Raven's own surprise, it didn't hurt as much she anticipated. In fact, it didn't hurt at all.

"All right, what are you up to?" she growled over her shoulder.

"You said you can feel other people's emotions, Sunshine. What d'you feel right now?" he said as he placed two fingers against her temple.

"Wait...!"

The rush of conflicting energies nearly forced Raven to lose consciousness: Heartache, fear, despair, rage... like a hurricane blowing around in her head. Her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to push out this violent intrusion and keep it from loosening her control over her emotions. The empath finally let out a cry of pain as a swirl of her black energy pulsed outward from her body. Swindle finally let her go, allowing her to fall to her knees and catch her breath.

"By Azarath..." she whispered, the words only audible to her own ears over the din of battle. She looked back up to Swindle with a few rare tears in her eyes, "I didn't realize... Why didn't you tell us...?"

"I can't explain right now, Raven. Just get up and fight."

"What?"

"I'm serious, keep fighting me!. I don't want to make Brother Blood suspicious, wherever he is..."

Raven rubbed at her eyes as she rose to her feet, giving a brief nod of understanding just before summoning her powers to throw another floor panel at the rogue. The attack was easily telegraphed, but Swindle made sure he dodged it just in time as he raced for his opponent. A flurry of punches ensued, with each blow narrowly missing the target. Despite the facade, Raven couldn't help but flinch at each strike.

"I think I can safely guess what your favorite T.V. show is..." she remarked during a pause.

Swindle smirked, "A good rogue has to be able to bluff his ass off." He finished his sentence with an easily avoided sweep kick. Raven countered with a lackluster diving punch. Even for her, it was difficult to keep secret the fact that she was actually having fun.

There was a sudden explosion of "BOOYAH!" which was followed by Beast Boy's triumphant cheer. The robotic duplicate of Cyborg had finally been activated for combat. Both Raven and Swindle dove out of the way of the ersatz Titan as it plowed past them and straight through a wall. The rogue could easily see the weary and annoyed glare that Raven gave to her teammate, which seemed to be often-used.

Without his secret weapon, Beast Boy was quickly overpowered by Mammoth and tossed into the middle of the gym. Gizmo added a battle-worn Starfire to the collection with a barrage of missiles and energy blasts. Jinx blindsided Raven with a bolt of magical force, throwing the cloaked Titan just past Swindle and onto the growing pile. Finally, Stone got a hold of Robin's leg and lifted his former leader over his head before hurling him onto the heap of the defeated. A field of crackling red energy instantly surrounded them.

"It's time we ended this little game," Brother Blood's voice boomed throughout the room. Swindle's eyes darted every which way to determine its source. He'd find it when the headmaster lowered himself to the training room floor via a levitating platform. Sensing an opportunity approaching, Swindle drew his daggers and waited for everyone's attention to be focused elsewhere.

"What are you going to do, Blood?" Robin asked, keeping his voice cold and steady. "What is it you want?"

"What any arch-villain wants, dear boy. Total control of the world. And this..." Brother Blood produced a cylindrical device from his cloak, "...will help me achieve this dream!"

"A blender?" Beast Boy ventured his guess.

"A sonic amplification unit, capable of generating a blast that can decimate entire city blocks! I had this custom-made for one of my top students in this academy..."

As if on cue, the duplicate Cyborg crashed through the wall opposite of the one it had used to leave the room and was on a collision course with Stone. With nothing more than another "BOOYAH!" as its warning, it belted Stone across the face and sent him flying into a wall. The traitorous Titan had barely gotten back on his feet when "BOOYAH!", another punch threw him to the floor!

Swindle couldn't help but cringe at each utterance, 'If I gotta hear that thing yell 'Booyah' one more time, I'm gonna go stab that damn thing...'

Stone wasn't any more impressed with his double's communication skills, and expressed it with a fierce punch of his own. The false Cyborg was blasted off of its feet and thrown hard on its back. It laid still for a moment as the real one stood over it with a triumphant sneer on his lips.

"Booyah that."

No more than five seconds had passed when the robot was up again and swinging for its enemy. Stone was staggered by the blow, but this time remained on his feet to return the favor. They traded punch after punch after vicious punch, until Stone slowly gained momentum with his attacks. He finally toppled his duplicate with a clothesline tackle and followed it up with another wild volley of lefts and rights. Sparks and various technical bits flew from the fake Cyborg's face, until only a mangled metallic skull remained. The beating had also destroyed the true Cyborg's ring-mounted hologram projector, revealing him for who he really was.

A collective gasp rose from Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo, with the little tinkerer shouting, "I don't stinkin' believe it! He was a Titan this whole time! We actually trusted him!"

Jinx could only stare at her new boyfriend, now unsure of their newly-started relationship. As he watched this all unfold, Swindle chewed at his lower lip out of anxiety and glanced at the captive Titans. They won't know who to believe after this whole thing was over...

"Don't look so surprised, Titans," Brother Blood said with a droll tone. "Who else would be my top student, except one of your own? And now that he's mine, there is no one in the city that can stop me now."

The headmaster wore a confident smile as he handed the aforementioned device to his star pupil. Without hesitation, Cyborg accepted the enhancer and attached it to his sonic cannon arm. With a grin, he aimed his weapon at his former allies while Blood dispelled his force field.

"Cyborg, snap out of it! This isn't like you!" Robin said, trying to reach his former teammate.

"Please, you cannot do this! We are your friends! We always have been!" Starfire pleaded. Her words were soon augmented by those of her friends.

Cyborg only smirked, "I guess I've got new friends now..."

The soft aqua-white glow of his cannon intensified as it prepared to fire. With all eyes on the Titans and Cyborg, Swindle decided it was now or never and ran at full-speed for Brother Blood's back. The next word he heard came from Cyborg's own mouth, and it was one he never expected to hear.

"PSYCH!"

Just as Swindle was about to make his sneak attack, Cyborg had turned his enhanced blaster upon its creator. Although he had been caught off-guard, Brother Blood was still able to quickly throw up a psionic shield to deflect the massive wave of energy into the ceiling. The same shield also deflected Swindle's flying body onto the floor in a much more painful manner. The sonic blast ripped through several floors, including the generator room. Alarms began blaring as the arena was bathed in a bright red light. A computerized voice informed every last student and teacher that the generators would explode within two minutes, hinting that the complex would go up with it shortly thereafter.

"This isn't over, Titans! Especially for you, Cyborg..." Brother Blood shouted, retreating to the lift platform. He then looked back and called to his students, "Mammoth, Swindle, Jinx, Gizmo! Quickly, we must evacuate!"

As the three boys scrambled aboard the vehicle, Jinx slowly advanced toward her former love. The words she spoke were only loud enough for the two of them to hear.

"You could've been one of us..."

Cyborg sighed, "I could've been a lot of things. But some things aren't meant to be."

"I thought you cared about me."

"I did... That's why I've gotta let you go now, because I know it'll never work out between us. Besides, there's someone out there who cares about you even more. Go on, Jinx. He's waiting for you..."

Jinx's eyes shimmered with tears that she fought to contain, and her hands at her sides tightened into trembling fists. Before Cyborg could say anything else, the sorceress ran from him and jumped onto the platform with the others. The robotic Titan watched her leave without a word, and soon caught Swindle's gaze. That expressionless stare spoke volumes to him, as if he could actually hear what was going through the rogue's mind.

'I'll get you for this, Cyborg. After Brother Blood, I'm comin' after you.'

End of Chapter 12

In Chapter 13 - Both sides are hurting from their battle, both physically and emotionally. In the interim, Swindle must now find a way to mend Jinx's broken heart as well as his own. Two strangers may indeed learn to fall in love again.