Disclaimer: I still don't own the Teen Titans, but I do however, own
my ideas, and what I write.
""=a character's speech ''=a character's thoughts
A/N: Dream sequence time. If it gets confusing, I'll explain what's going on. John's having a dream right now. Plain and simple. What happens before the dream will be in a kind of flashback thing in later chapters, leading up to what happened in this chapter. Just because I couldn't think of anything else to write, and because I was scrambling to update :/
**************************************************************************** *****************
John was in the living room of the tower, sitting on the couch. The others were there, sitting with him. John was completely naked, but neither of the Titans noticed, or if they did, they didn't care. Apparently John had no idea either. He saw himself, his skin, not covered by anything, but it refused to register in his brain. Starfire was sitting next to him on the semi-circle couch, happy and optimistic as ever, her emerald eyes glowing, ruby hair flowing, and he loved her for that. Something was different though...But John couldn't tell what it was, because everything seemed so perfect. Raven was there, happy as usual, talking and enjoying herself, casually propping her legs upon the table in front of the couch, her tone filled with a mixture of glee and humor. Robin was there too, with Cyborg and Beast Boy. They were, like usual, getting along with each other and not causing anything to explode or burst into flames, or arguing or yelling. 'Something wrong here...but everything seems so right too...' John thought to himself. But this thought was interrupted, as Starfire leaned over, and gave him a warm, long hug, followed by a light kiss on the cheek. Her eyes were closed, and her thick eyelashes tickled his cheek. He was in some sort of trance as this happened, a feeling of elatedness coming over him. He blushed a deep scarlet, and he forced himself out of this trance. He lovingly and gladly hugged Starfire back, taking her hand in his. She giggled happily at his affection. None of this struck a cord in John's mind, telling him what was going on. How different everything was. But who cared? Starfire was with him, and she just hugged him, even kissed him, isn't that reason enough to think of life as perfect in that moment?
John got up to get himself a drink, and asked if anyone else wanted anything. Starfire and Cyborg agreed, both asking for a soda. John walked to the right of the couch, passing in front of Raven, who was still having fun for some unknown, unseen reason. John was half way to the refrigerator, when things burst into flames of chaos, and spiraled out of control like a damaged helicopter.
There was a large explosion. Bricks and glass flew in the direction the explosion came from. The north wall of the room was destroyed, and a figure stood on the rubble of it. Slade. John didn't know how he knew who this man was, but he did. John was closest to the wall, and was thrown back against the western wall by the blast. He flew through the air, and rotated clockwise; hitting the wall with his right shoulder while his slamming head against the wall. Several shards of glass had impaled him in his side, and stomach, blown out from the window by the explosion. Hot knives of pain stabbed into him, screaming for attention. John fell to the floor, slumping against the wall, holding his side, a grimace of pain and fear on his lips. Falling unconscious, from the blood loss and pain. Falling...The darkness would begin to take hold of him soon. 'Time to Transcend the Physical, Johnny boy! You'll like it down here! Nice and warm! Won't need any of that useless blood to keep you warm down here! No sir! We'll have loads of fun down here, everything is WARM. It's ALL warm.' A strange, warbling voice called in his head. The voice then cackled wildly, a dry sound, almost like the crunching of dried, dead autumn leaves.
John could see a figure in the air, but once again his mind refused to apply this image to any previous knowledge, and it went virtually unnoticed. Robin, Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy were on the couch still, completely oblivious to the new threat. Slade was on top of a pile of rubble, speaking in his dark, deep voice.
"I feel...cold..." John said weakly. But before the darkness took hold, he heard faint music. The song December, a solemn, slow, sad song by his favorite band; Static-X.
'So this is how it ends? My friends going into battle, and I lay here, possibly dying?' Darkness was closing in around his eyes, starting at his rim of vision and closing in. He tried to fight it, to stand up, but couldn't summon the strength. In his last conscious breath, he saw something. A girl. THE girl. Starfire... 'Eyes of emerald, hair of ruby, skin of gold, all wrapped in beautiful violet dress,' He thought deliriously. She was in the air, shooting blasts of green energy at something. Then something happened. A thin, red line appeared. A bright shaft of ruby shot from the location Starfire was shooting at. It hit Starfire, and John could see it happen in a kind of unreal, horribly clear way as the darkness clouding his vision lifted, as if he just left the haze of a fog. The beam of red cut into her shoulder, and sliced its way through the other side. Starfire's eyes grew wide, filled with shock, and she fell to the ground.
John's eyes snapped open. He swiped his hand in a downward motion, to grab his revolver out from his pocket, enraged that such a thing could happen to her. His hand came up empty. He had no pockets, or any clothing. He was completely vulnerable, and powerless.
"No..." he said weakly, staggering up from his current position, holding his side. His voice was filled with fear and anger. John looked around frantically, eyes blurring, and found his duffel bag. His guns were in there, he remembered. His bag was near the couch, were the others were at, who still had no idea of what was happening to their friends. He half ran, half staggered, unable to keep a proper pace. He collapsed near the duffel bag, and opened it. In it, like some sort of pair of saviors, were his revolvers. He pulled one out, and pointed it at the figure who was standing on the rubble, Slade. Slade had proceeded to point his laser rifle at the other Titans. He pulled the trigger twice, both ruby lances hitting Raven in the side. She was completely unaffected, but Slade appeared to be satisfied, as if he had actually done what he wanted to do. He then began shooting the others, all of the ruby beams either bounced off of them, or just fizzling out when they came in contact with the teenagers.
"Say John, how much longer until me and Starfire get our drinks?" Cyborg asked, looking back over the couch at John's battered, bruised, naked form. Apparently the teenagers were completely unaware of Starfire's plight, as well as John's. John ignored Cyborg's question, and raised his revolver towards Slade's figure. He pulled the hammer back, and pulled the trigger, but the recoil threw off his aim horribly. He was unable to control it, weakened from the loss of blood, and fear. His hands were shaking, his breathing was ragged, and he was blue in the face. He clasped his left hand over his right, to steady his aim. He aimed lower this time. He drew back the hammer, pulled the trigger. The hammer again, then trigger once more. The shots flew true this time, one bullet finding its mark in the center of Slade's chest, and then the second hitting the left side of his neck, missing his trachea. The shots hit, but did not penetrate. Slade didn't even flinch. The bullets seemed to bounce harmlessly off of Slade's armor.
These actions caught Slade's attention. He turned toward the injured gunslinger, and raised his rifle. A lance of ruby light, beautiful in its own deadly way, reached out for John. John saw this happen in the same unreal purity he had when Starfire was (killed) hit by it ('She was killed, it's my fault.'), but he was powerless to move or try and defend himself. The shaft of red light pierced John's chest, immediately cauterizing the wound because of its intense heat. It sliced through several ribs, and his left lung, ripping its way through the other side of him. John fell backwards, eyes wide, just like Starfire's had been (when she had died), only difference was this time the irises of his eyes disappeared, destroyed by shock and pain. John hit the ground, eyes still open. John dropped his gun and gripped for the hole in his chest, feeling the hole and dried blood there. He felt hot liquid in his mouth, a coppery, alkali taste. Blood. The blood filled his throat and his mouth, threatening to choke him. This time the darkness would come, and it would never leave. Another voice invaded his conscience, but it wasn't the one from before, the cackling, dry voice. It was kind, a females voice, one John recognized, and he welcomed it.
'Transcend the Physical with me John...I'm sorry it ended this way, but at least Transcend with me, we'll be able to be together...' Starfire's voice said in his head. It was kind, but sad, and filled with pain. John felt tears growing in his eyes. He felt them spill over his eyelashes, onto his cheeks. Somehow this was his fault, and he knew it. He failed the girl, and his friends, even though his friends didn't help him or Starfire, he knew he failed them. The darkness was almost complete now, and with his last breath, John thought back to Starfire.
'I'm sorry too Starfire...I can't believe it has to end this way, please, forgive me.' Then the darkness took hold.
John let out an enraged screamed in the darkness of night, falling out of bed, entangled in sheets. Instinct overrode his common sense, and he shoved his hands under the bed, eyes clenched tight in anger. He was still screaming, as his hands came out from under the bed holding his revolvers. He pointed them (unknowingly) towards the door, and began pulling the hammers back, and pulling the triggers, emptying the chambers of both guns into the door. Slumped against the wall, he was forcing his back against the wall, as if to get away from some unknown danger. He was shivering, breathing hard, still clenching his eyes shut, pulling the triggers relentlessly on the guns. He could feel his pulse pounding in his wrists, his neck, and especially his head. Twelve loud, booming cracks rang throughout the tower. They began to let out empty clicks; out of ammunition. Adding to his fear, John realized he had no recollection of where he was, and he didn't dare open his eyes.
Starfire awoke with a start, hearing a continuous scream, followed by twelve thudding, booming noises. She jumped out of her bed, pulling some of the sheets off with her. She had been awakened by screaming before, but not this type of scream. It was filled with fear, and anger, and the noises accompanying it, she had never heard before either. She rushed to the door of her room, and knocked it down, off of its hinges with a strong blow from her opened fist (a/n: Starfire=a very, very strong girl, remember?), hurrying too much to bother with opening the door. She flew to the source of the screaming and the noises, and saw that the others were rushing to it too, all dressed in their night clothes. They reached John's bedroom door, which had previously served as a single guest room out of many. They saw the indents of bullets in the door, looking like twelve, strange metallic pimples in the face of the door. The door was made of a strong steel, but the heavy calibers of John's revolvers could still hammer bullets deeply into it. Cyborg quickly ripped the door off of its hinges, and threw it aside, worried just as much as his friends about the safety of their new friend. They saw John, half covered in his sheets, on the floor. He was against the wall, next to his bed, pointing his revolvers at the door, screaming, tears falling down his face, as he tried with all his might to fight off the demons threatening him with his emptied revolvers.
**************************************************************************** ***********
There. This chapter, was a stab at an action scene, with a some angst, and possibly some horror (like the Voice in John's head, the first one, not Starfire's). This was to show the mental troubles our friend, John the Gunslinger, has to face. Fear that somehow he will fail his new friends, to cause them to hate him, something. It was a dream, yes, that's why many things were out of place, different. (Like John being naked, Robin, BB, and Cyborg getting along perfectly, Raven being happy, only Starfire rising to fight Slade, etc) It was to represent a form of perfection, to an extent. Then Slade and the Voice, representing John's fears that he will somehow ruin everything, came after him and his friends in full force. Then Transcending the Physical, Starfire dying in front of John, which is his greatest fear of all. He just doesn't know it yet (since he won't admit the connection between him and Starfire). Tell me your thoughts on this. Keep in mind, this WILL remain a romance, I just need some action and angst in here, to let out some emotions (How many times have I said that during my a/n?). So review this. And also tell me your opinion on the song December (assuming you felt the need to listen to it), by (my favorite band) Static- X. They don't do a lot of songs like that, mostly hard rock, but when they do, it's quite emotional. At least in my opinion... . Also, don't worry, the next chapter will be a sort of reflection on John's part, so we'll know how John got his room, why he was in it, what the reactions of the Titans were to his revolvers etc. I just had to do this chapter first (like HAD to).
""=a character's speech ''=a character's thoughts
A/N: Dream sequence time. If it gets confusing, I'll explain what's going on. John's having a dream right now. Plain and simple. What happens before the dream will be in a kind of flashback thing in later chapters, leading up to what happened in this chapter. Just because I couldn't think of anything else to write, and because I was scrambling to update :/
**************************************************************************** *****************
John was in the living room of the tower, sitting on the couch. The others were there, sitting with him. John was completely naked, but neither of the Titans noticed, or if they did, they didn't care. Apparently John had no idea either. He saw himself, his skin, not covered by anything, but it refused to register in his brain. Starfire was sitting next to him on the semi-circle couch, happy and optimistic as ever, her emerald eyes glowing, ruby hair flowing, and he loved her for that. Something was different though...But John couldn't tell what it was, because everything seemed so perfect. Raven was there, happy as usual, talking and enjoying herself, casually propping her legs upon the table in front of the couch, her tone filled with a mixture of glee and humor. Robin was there too, with Cyborg and Beast Boy. They were, like usual, getting along with each other and not causing anything to explode or burst into flames, or arguing or yelling. 'Something wrong here...but everything seems so right too...' John thought to himself. But this thought was interrupted, as Starfire leaned over, and gave him a warm, long hug, followed by a light kiss on the cheek. Her eyes were closed, and her thick eyelashes tickled his cheek. He was in some sort of trance as this happened, a feeling of elatedness coming over him. He blushed a deep scarlet, and he forced himself out of this trance. He lovingly and gladly hugged Starfire back, taking her hand in his. She giggled happily at his affection. None of this struck a cord in John's mind, telling him what was going on. How different everything was. But who cared? Starfire was with him, and she just hugged him, even kissed him, isn't that reason enough to think of life as perfect in that moment?
John got up to get himself a drink, and asked if anyone else wanted anything. Starfire and Cyborg agreed, both asking for a soda. John walked to the right of the couch, passing in front of Raven, who was still having fun for some unknown, unseen reason. John was half way to the refrigerator, when things burst into flames of chaos, and spiraled out of control like a damaged helicopter.
There was a large explosion. Bricks and glass flew in the direction the explosion came from. The north wall of the room was destroyed, and a figure stood on the rubble of it. Slade. John didn't know how he knew who this man was, but he did. John was closest to the wall, and was thrown back against the western wall by the blast. He flew through the air, and rotated clockwise; hitting the wall with his right shoulder while his slamming head against the wall. Several shards of glass had impaled him in his side, and stomach, blown out from the window by the explosion. Hot knives of pain stabbed into him, screaming for attention. John fell to the floor, slumping against the wall, holding his side, a grimace of pain and fear on his lips. Falling unconscious, from the blood loss and pain. Falling...The darkness would begin to take hold of him soon. 'Time to Transcend the Physical, Johnny boy! You'll like it down here! Nice and warm! Won't need any of that useless blood to keep you warm down here! No sir! We'll have loads of fun down here, everything is WARM. It's ALL warm.' A strange, warbling voice called in his head. The voice then cackled wildly, a dry sound, almost like the crunching of dried, dead autumn leaves.
John could see a figure in the air, but once again his mind refused to apply this image to any previous knowledge, and it went virtually unnoticed. Robin, Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy were on the couch still, completely oblivious to the new threat. Slade was on top of a pile of rubble, speaking in his dark, deep voice.
"I feel...cold..." John said weakly. But before the darkness took hold, he heard faint music. The song December, a solemn, slow, sad song by his favorite band; Static-X.
'So this is how it ends? My friends going into battle, and I lay here, possibly dying?' Darkness was closing in around his eyes, starting at his rim of vision and closing in. He tried to fight it, to stand up, but couldn't summon the strength. In his last conscious breath, he saw something. A girl. THE girl. Starfire... 'Eyes of emerald, hair of ruby, skin of gold, all wrapped in beautiful violet dress,' He thought deliriously. She was in the air, shooting blasts of green energy at something. Then something happened. A thin, red line appeared. A bright shaft of ruby shot from the location Starfire was shooting at. It hit Starfire, and John could see it happen in a kind of unreal, horribly clear way as the darkness clouding his vision lifted, as if he just left the haze of a fog. The beam of red cut into her shoulder, and sliced its way through the other side. Starfire's eyes grew wide, filled with shock, and she fell to the ground.
John's eyes snapped open. He swiped his hand in a downward motion, to grab his revolver out from his pocket, enraged that such a thing could happen to her. His hand came up empty. He had no pockets, or any clothing. He was completely vulnerable, and powerless.
"No..." he said weakly, staggering up from his current position, holding his side. His voice was filled with fear and anger. John looked around frantically, eyes blurring, and found his duffel bag. His guns were in there, he remembered. His bag was near the couch, were the others were at, who still had no idea of what was happening to their friends. He half ran, half staggered, unable to keep a proper pace. He collapsed near the duffel bag, and opened it. In it, like some sort of pair of saviors, were his revolvers. He pulled one out, and pointed it at the figure who was standing on the rubble, Slade. Slade had proceeded to point his laser rifle at the other Titans. He pulled the trigger twice, both ruby lances hitting Raven in the side. She was completely unaffected, but Slade appeared to be satisfied, as if he had actually done what he wanted to do. He then began shooting the others, all of the ruby beams either bounced off of them, or just fizzling out when they came in contact with the teenagers.
"Say John, how much longer until me and Starfire get our drinks?" Cyborg asked, looking back over the couch at John's battered, bruised, naked form. Apparently the teenagers were completely unaware of Starfire's plight, as well as John's. John ignored Cyborg's question, and raised his revolver towards Slade's figure. He pulled the hammer back, and pulled the trigger, but the recoil threw off his aim horribly. He was unable to control it, weakened from the loss of blood, and fear. His hands were shaking, his breathing was ragged, and he was blue in the face. He clasped his left hand over his right, to steady his aim. He aimed lower this time. He drew back the hammer, pulled the trigger. The hammer again, then trigger once more. The shots flew true this time, one bullet finding its mark in the center of Slade's chest, and then the second hitting the left side of his neck, missing his trachea. The shots hit, but did not penetrate. Slade didn't even flinch. The bullets seemed to bounce harmlessly off of Slade's armor.
These actions caught Slade's attention. He turned toward the injured gunslinger, and raised his rifle. A lance of ruby light, beautiful in its own deadly way, reached out for John. John saw this happen in the same unreal purity he had when Starfire was (killed) hit by it ('She was killed, it's my fault.'), but he was powerless to move or try and defend himself. The shaft of red light pierced John's chest, immediately cauterizing the wound because of its intense heat. It sliced through several ribs, and his left lung, ripping its way through the other side of him. John fell backwards, eyes wide, just like Starfire's had been (when she had died), only difference was this time the irises of his eyes disappeared, destroyed by shock and pain. John hit the ground, eyes still open. John dropped his gun and gripped for the hole in his chest, feeling the hole and dried blood there. He felt hot liquid in his mouth, a coppery, alkali taste. Blood. The blood filled his throat and his mouth, threatening to choke him. This time the darkness would come, and it would never leave. Another voice invaded his conscience, but it wasn't the one from before, the cackling, dry voice. It was kind, a females voice, one John recognized, and he welcomed it.
'Transcend the Physical with me John...I'm sorry it ended this way, but at least Transcend with me, we'll be able to be together...' Starfire's voice said in his head. It was kind, but sad, and filled with pain. John felt tears growing in his eyes. He felt them spill over his eyelashes, onto his cheeks. Somehow this was his fault, and he knew it. He failed the girl, and his friends, even though his friends didn't help him or Starfire, he knew he failed them. The darkness was almost complete now, and with his last breath, John thought back to Starfire.
'I'm sorry too Starfire...I can't believe it has to end this way, please, forgive me.' Then the darkness took hold.
John let out an enraged screamed in the darkness of night, falling out of bed, entangled in sheets. Instinct overrode his common sense, and he shoved his hands under the bed, eyes clenched tight in anger. He was still screaming, as his hands came out from under the bed holding his revolvers. He pointed them (unknowingly) towards the door, and began pulling the hammers back, and pulling the triggers, emptying the chambers of both guns into the door. Slumped against the wall, he was forcing his back against the wall, as if to get away from some unknown danger. He was shivering, breathing hard, still clenching his eyes shut, pulling the triggers relentlessly on the guns. He could feel his pulse pounding in his wrists, his neck, and especially his head. Twelve loud, booming cracks rang throughout the tower. They began to let out empty clicks; out of ammunition. Adding to his fear, John realized he had no recollection of where he was, and he didn't dare open his eyes.
Starfire awoke with a start, hearing a continuous scream, followed by twelve thudding, booming noises. She jumped out of her bed, pulling some of the sheets off with her. She had been awakened by screaming before, but not this type of scream. It was filled with fear, and anger, and the noises accompanying it, she had never heard before either. She rushed to the door of her room, and knocked it down, off of its hinges with a strong blow from her opened fist (a/n: Starfire=a very, very strong girl, remember?), hurrying too much to bother with opening the door. She flew to the source of the screaming and the noises, and saw that the others were rushing to it too, all dressed in their night clothes. They reached John's bedroom door, which had previously served as a single guest room out of many. They saw the indents of bullets in the door, looking like twelve, strange metallic pimples in the face of the door. The door was made of a strong steel, but the heavy calibers of John's revolvers could still hammer bullets deeply into it. Cyborg quickly ripped the door off of its hinges, and threw it aside, worried just as much as his friends about the safety of their new friend. They saw John, half covered in his sheets, on the floor. He was against the wall, next to his bed, pointing his revolvers at the door, screaming, tears falling down his face, as he tried with all his might to fight off the demons threatening him with his emptied revolvers.
**************************************************************************** ***********
There. This chapter, was a stab at an action scene, with a some angst, and possibly some horror (like the Voice in John's head, the first one, not Starfire's). This was to show the mental troubles our friend, John the Gunslinger, has to face. Fear that somehow he will fail his new friends, to cause them to hate him, something. It was a dream, yes, that's why many things were out of place, different. (Like John being naked, Robin, BB, and Cyborg getting along perfectly, Raven being happy, only Starfire rising to fight Slade, etc) It was to represent a form of perfection, to an extent. Then Slade and the Voice, representing John's fears that he will somehow ruin everything, came after him and his friends in full force. Then Transcending the Physical, Starfire dying in front of John, which is his greatest fear of all. He just doesn't know it yet (since he won't admit the connection between him and Starfire). Tell me your thoughts on this. Keep in mind, this WILL remain a romance, I just need some action and angst in here, to let out some emotions (How many times have I said that during my a/n?). So review this. And also tell me your opinion on the song December (assuming you felt the need to listen to it), by (my favorite band) Static- X. They don't do a lot of songs like that, mostly hard rock, but when they do, it's quite emotional. At least in my opinion... . Also, don't worry, the next chapter will be a sort of reflection on John's part, so we'll know how John got his room, why he was in it, what the reactions of the Titans were to his revolvers etc. I just had to do this chapter first (like HAD to).