Swindle by SecondLevelWriter (Ed Alger)
Author's Notes: Many thanks for your patience. This story will be completed, by hook or by crook. Oh yeah, and all disclaimers still apply... yada yada, you know the rest.
Chapter 18
Opposition
"Steel City... Industry Central... nothing but factories an' construction as far as you can see... smells like oil... and damn is it cold!"
It had been three days since he left Jinx and Jump City to finish his quest. After riding one last freight train into the city, he jumped off and looked to the beach where he knew the eastern Titan base was. A brief twinge of uncertainty went through him as he wondered if he was too late. Trainhopping wasn't as fast as running, but at least he was now fresh for the fight he was certain to have with Brother Blood. After fastening Jinx's gold bracelet to his belt loop, the rogue ran into the city to find that tower. It wouldn't take him long.
The tower seemed oddly quiet for a place that was supposed to be a trap. The rogue shook that thought out of his head for the moment and focused on the task at hand. There didn't appear to be any windows on the lower floors of the tower, and the floors that had windows were easily over a hundred feet up. Those same windows looked sheer, which would make grappling impossible. That left one last method to get into the place, and that was the old-fashioned way. Swipe broke out his tools.
"All those days of breakin' into the senator's mansion are about to really pay off," he muttered to himself as he worked.
A few minutes of wire cutting and rearranging, the control panel emitted a rewarding beep and the door released its pressure lock. With a bit of effort, the thief pushed the door open just enough for him to slip inside.
The entire place was dark and quiet. Too quiet. Way too quiet for a tower that should be under siege by now. Swipe took a few tentative steps in, muscles tensing as he readied himself for anything. A single, metallic form entered through a nearby doorway and waited at its threshold. The rogue grabbed a few throwing knives before recognizing the silhouette.
"Oh, Cyborg! Geez, you almost made me jump outta my skin... Listen, have there been any-"
Before the question was finished, a blast of sonic energy missed Swipe's head by inches. He looked at the impact crater in the wall behind him and turned back to who he thought was Cyborg.
"Hey! Hold your fire! It's me, Swipe! Don'cha recognize... me...?"
His words trailed off as the person stepped into the hallway. It looked exactly like Cyborg, except that it was all robot. Its circuit panels glowed a bright yellow rather than the familiar blue, and it leveled Cyborg's trademark sonic cannon at the rogue's face once more. Now that it was identified as hostile, Swipe dashed forward and made a lunging slash with his dagger. The move cleanly cut the cannon from the robot's arm, and a follow-up stab to the head put it down for good.
He didn't have much time to relax after his accomplishment, however. Three more emerged from various rooms down the hall, while several more trudged from further down the way. Swipe clenched his fists around the hilts of his daggers and ran straight at them, slicing the head off of the first one he made it to. Silvery arcs flashed in the dimly-lit hallway as the mechanoid squad was reduced to piles of scrap metal, with the last of the troop taking both daggers in its chest. With its power core ruptured, the cloned Cyborg fell over backwards like a store mannequin.
After a moment to collect himself, the rogue muttered, "Well, that was... almost therapeutic..." He looked up from the fallen robot and saw even more advancing upon him. "Dammit! How many of you guys are there gonna be?!"
Even as the opening shots were fired, Swipe leapt into the fray. Two robots were slashed through their chests, another was decapitated before it could train its weapon, and three more lost their arms and legs to Swipe's lethal blades. The rogue barely needed a moment to regain his footing, which was just long enough to see the remaining six robots charge their cannons and aim at his head.
Swipe smirked, an expression that was scarcely registered on their optical scanners, and whirled into a flurry of throwing knives. The troops were thoroughly ventilated by the attack and soon collapsed when their holed legs could no longer support them. Swipe yanked his adamantine daggers from the head of the last robot and sheathed them.
At that moment, he heard some muffled explosions coming from above him. A few even shook the walls of the tower.
"Not good... Really not good..."
He quickly searched the area for any way to move up through the tower. The elevators were no help with the power being out, so the old-fashioned method of stair climbing was chosen. Another platoon of Cyborg copies blocked the way through as they watched for intruders. The thief grinned to himself as he set his plan of attack into motion.
One of the robots suddenly crumped to the ground, the victim of a fierce stabbing. The others snapped to attention, pointing their weapons towards the only entrance and exit to the landing. A flash of movement later, Swipe was jumping from one metal head to another while the androids tried their best to shoot him down, only to succeed in shooting each other. With one last flip off the back of the survivor, the rogue plunged his daggers into its back and twisted them to ensure that the thing's power core was completely destroyed.
"I don't care how many of these things I gotta go through, I'm still takin' you down tonight!" he said aloud before racing up the stairs.
With each floor, the scene remained the same. No lights, and no people. Just more of those robots. This time, Swipe decided to slink past the guards by using his speed. Brother Blood's machines barely picked up the flicker of movement from the hallway, but returned to their work when it didn't repeat itself. Just as he was about to pat himself of the back for a job well done, he spotted a patrol headed his way. Thinking fast, he ran up the wall and dug his daggers into the ceiling. The plan seemed to work as the robots marched beneath him with no reaction. Breathing a sigh of relief, the rogue dropped back to the floor and hurried up the next staircase.
The sounds of battle were getting louder as he ascended, causing the thief's muscles to tense in anticipation. He crept to the final doorway and took a quick glance into the next room. Inside, he saw four of the five Teen Titans battling who he assumed were the Titans East. Each member had the well-known crimson glow in their eyes. There was no sign of Cyborg that he could tell. However, the one person he did see made his blood chill. It was Jinx, helping Starfire hold Bumblebee at bay.
'Jinx is here!'
Instinctively, the thief leapt into the fray and cut down four arrows as they sailed towards Raven. He then intercepted Bumblebee's electric blasts with this daggers and tossed two throwing knives back, disarming his converted friend in a shower of sparks. Just as he was about to ask Jinx about what she was doing there, a column of water blew him off his feet and across the room. Nobody had a chance to react, as Swipe had gotten back up and tackled the culprit, Aqualad.
While he held the enslaved Titan against the wall, Swipe growled, "Where's Brother Blood?"
Aqualad's only reply was a loug grunt as he attempted to break free.
"Tell me! Or, so help me, I'll throw you like a skipping stone across that pool!"
After another failed escape attempt, Aqualad desperately cried out a single word.
"HEADMASTER!"
That very instant, Brother Blood's voice boomed from all directions, "Don't worry, my students! Help is on the way!"
From every door, dozens upon dozens of cloned Cyborg robots filed into the room and primed their sonic cannons. Swipe could only stare at the congregation while his grip on Aqualad gradually loosened. He had enough time to make an astute observation.
"This... is gonna suck..."
In an instant, the mechanoids opened fire. Bright blue beams of sonic energy sent the Titans scrambling for cover while Swipe and Jinx found refuge behind a computer terminal. The rogue gritted his teeth as he glanced around the corner and saw the stairway he needed to get to. The Titans were making a move, as well, by splitting into two teams and drawing fire as best as they could. Swipe was about to make a run for it when Jinx grabbed his wrist.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"I have to find Brother Blood. I can't let him win after all the crap he's put me through!"
"And you thought you could just leave me in Jump City, wondering what happened to you? Blood has messed up my life just as much as he has yours. If you're going to fight him, then I'm coming with you!"
"Jinxie, I can't-"
"Can't what? See me get hurt? I can take some knocks if I have to. I've done it before against the Teen Titans, and I can do it against Brother Blood!"
"That's not it..."
"Then what is it? I'll get in your way? I don't have the strength?"
"I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU AGAIN!"
Amid the cacophony of battle, those seven words rang clearly in Jinx's ears. Swipe's head lowered as he continued.
"I can't... lose you... It's just not the same when you're not around..."
The hexer fought back a few tears, but firmly placed her hands on the thief's shoulders. Just as he looked up at her, she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.
"You won't. I promise."
A slow smile spread across Swipe's face, while Jinx's did the same. He nodded once and firmly took hold of her hand. Together, they made a run for the stairs and narrowly avoided being blasted by a wild shot. Neither of them looked back as they climbed, as their focus remained solely on finding the former headmaster and Cyborg. The sounds of battle soon filtered through the doorway ahead of them. They had finally reached to roof of the tower.
After carefully opening the door, Swipe peered out across the expanse of concrete. Without warning, Cyborg flew past him and slammed into a ventilation port. The thief gestured for Jinx to stay where she was and took a few tentative steps out into the open.
"Ah, Swindle!" a familiar voice called. "You're just in time to witness the rebirth of my academy. Once I've properly disciplined Cyborg, that is..."
A lance of red psionic energy blazed past Swipe and blasted Cyborg backwards all over again, this time knocking the Titan's sensors offline for a moment. The rogue turned around to see Brother Blood, only now with a full array of cybernetic enhancements akin to Cyborg's. Several sections of his metallic skin pulsed with a red glow. Whether it was from his own psychic energies or an internal power source, Swipe wasn't sure.
'What the hell did he do to himself?'
Rather than speak his mind, Swipe casually asked, "Wow, Teach, you look different somehow. Didja do somethin' with your hair?"
Brother Blood frowned at the remark, but answered him nonetheless, "I've done more than that, Swindle. I have perfected myself! When my academy reopens, so shall all of my students!"
Jinx peered out of the doorway at this moment, and caught the attention of the former headmaster. The man grinned with delight at seeing yet another of his students returning to his side.
"And I see you've brought Jinx with you. Very well done!" He began to stride over to the sorceress as he continued, "Just think... Your magic and your speed will soon be vastly improved with cybernetics! With the discoveries I've made through Cyborg's blueprints, I can mold my students the way I want them; powerful, intelligent... obedient..."
Jinx tensed as she watched her old teacher advance on her, waiting for the right time to hex him. Just before he reached the hex-caster, however, Brother Blood sensed something hurtling at him from behind. His mental shield came up just in time to deflect a throwing knife. To his surprise, it was thrown by Swindle.
"Swindle, what's the meaning of this?"
"Keep away from her."
"Wh-What??"
"I said, back off!"
Another pair of blades flew through the air towards Blood's head, and were again repelled by the shield. The teacher turned to stare down his student, his face turning grim and focused.
"Swindle, I demand that you explain yourself this instant."
"Alright. First off, my name's not Swindle. It's Swipe." After watching Brother Blood's face go blank as he vainly searched his memory, the rogue continued, "You an' Gizmo took away something very precious to me several months ago, then you left me for dead in Slade's hideout. Ring any bells now?"
Blood's eyes finally narrowed as he remembered, "So, that was you..."
Swipe smirked.
"That's right. All this time, I've been in your damned academy an' did everything you told me to just so I could get her back. I never cared about bein' your top student. I never cared about your school." The thief drew his daggers and declared, "After everything you've done to me an' what I've put up with, you owe me big-time!"
"And he's not the only one wanting revenge..." a quiet voice murmured behind the headmaster.
At that moment, Jinx's eyes began to glow with magical energy as she chanted a spell. Brother Blood reacted as quickly as he could to reflect the spell blast with his psychic shield, but it left him wide open to Swipe's opening attack. The rogue plowed into his former teacher with a shoulder tackle, throwing the larger man to the ground for just a moment. Blood was back on his feet instantly and responded with an energy-charged palm thrust to Swipe's stomach.
The impact threw the rogue onto his back, but he rolled backwards to his feet again and continued his attack. Five more knives sailed through the air at Brother Blood, only to have four of them bounce off the psychic shield like before. Just as Blood was about to chastise Swipe for making the same mistake thrice, the fifth knife caromed off of an air vent and put a dime-sized dent in his metal skin. A satisfied smirk crossed the rogue's face. After the initial exchange, Swipe had managed to deal the first telling blow.
Brother Blood's circuitry sizzled with anger at that fact. He tried to answer with a crimson blast of energy, but the rogue easily dodged. Meanwhile, Jinx was finishing up a second spell and cast it at Blood's back. The hex took firm hold this time, causing a brief surge in the former teacher's power supply. The interruption left Brother Blood with nothing else to do but withstand a hard roundhouse kick from Swipe. As he was thrown to his knees, Blood's cybernetics glowed brighter than ever from sheer frustration.
"Two against one? How dare you..."
The headmaster leapt to his feet and fixed a wrathful glare upon his adversaries. Swipe had also resisted the mind control all this time, but how? First Cyborg, then Bumblebee, and now him! It's simply impossible! To top it all off, Jinx appears to have also broken free after the explosion at the second academy. How could things have gone so wrong, so quickly?
'Wait. Jinx... Yes, she had been fairly easy to dominate when I first acquired her. Perhaps some of that mental seed still remains.'
Brother Blood focused his attention on Jinx for just a moment before having to defend against another salvo of knives. In that flash of a moment, he noticed the girl's reaction. Jinx visibly winced, as if she were trying to shake off a cold-induced headache. The teacher sneered in anticipation.
"I'll just have to even the odds."
End of Chapter 18
In Chapter 19 - Swipe's battle with Brother Blood has only just begun, and he's about to learn more from the headmaster than ever. When it comes to an enemy that can control minds, nobody can be trusted!